E3 2016: BurtonReviews’ Top 5 Moments of the Show
Oh it’s the most wonderful time of the year, its gamer
heaven, gamer Christmas, it’s like all our dreams and hopes are flung on screen
for the world to cheer at, it’s time for my sleeping pattern to be put way off
base because I live in England and apparently America doesn’t want to
accommodate for the time difference but what the hell it’s a highlight of the
year. Yes, it’s freakin’ E3!
This year’s showing of games from the conference has
genuinely been a surprise and delight to see unfold as my eyes were transfixed
on my phone’s small and my laptop’s reasonably sized screen. In each and every
conference there was something to woop, toot and scream in pure glee at, sure
some conferences had more of these moments than others, and some had very
uncomfortable and very cringe worthy moments to boot too; but overall this
definitely was not a year to miss or skim over. But I know, sometimes there
isn’t just enough time in the day for 5 conferences and boat loads of content
from the show floor, so don’t worry, your old buddy BurtonReviews has your back
and is going to rundown all the big reveals, jaw dropping, involuntary clap
inducing, eye widening moments of gamer satisfaction.
(Video sourced from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDPWDkdNLEc)
1. Spider-Man Gets a New Game:
The biggest moment of the whole show for me was a sleepy
Monday morning. I woke up and checked my YouTube news feed and was greeted by
videos of the NEW SPIDERMAN GAME! So, as to be expected, I flipped out,
screaming with excitement and victory that we may get a good Spider-Man game once
again; and I got all that joy just from a video title and picture of the
webslingers face. But who was making it, were the rumours true? Was this Sucker
Punch, the masterminds behind the also super heroic inFAMOUS series? Well it isn’t
being developed by Sucker Punch but is in-fact being developed by another game
developer with their own legendary history with PlayStation, Insomniac,
developers of the Ratchet and Clank series. While I would have rather seen
Sucker Punch take the helm, seeing Insomniac above the Spidy logo still gives
me hope as their games are infused with the comedic timing and incredibly fun
gameplay the Spider-Man games have been lacking in the past. Then we get to the
trailer itself and oh my GOD! The movement looks astonishingly fluid, the voice
actor fits the role amazingly even only in this short teaser, and finally Spider-Man
is being given more scale with some set piece moments that really let the wall
crawler shine and make my Spider Senses ’a tingle. So in part I am unbelievably
excited for this game and utterly shocked it is even happening
(Image sourced from http://uk.ign.com/articles/2016/06/14/e3-2016-crash-bandicoot-comes-to-skylanders-imaginators)
2. Crash Bandicoot Returns:
The second moment that had me screaming for joy was the wish
fulfilling return of CRASH-FREAKIN’-BANDICOOT to the PlayStation stage! Everything
about this reveal was genious! From how the orchestra began playing his uniquely
late 90’s theme to the shadow of the iconic whirling protagonist following the
speaker on stage. I literally jumped out of my seat as I was seeing the
impossible happen before me, the video game that got me into videogames was
finally being resurrected. While I would’ve loved to see abit more, the
announcement of the remasters, which I can’t wait to pre-order the hell out of,
and the trailer for Skylanders Imaginator were well enough for this little
gamers heart to explode woth happiness. I mean we just saw Crash Bandicoot do a
spin attack on the 2016 E3 stage screen at the Sony conference no less! And while
Skylanders in no way interests me, that sweet Crash statue for the game has a
special place on top of my PS4 waiting for him to Crash down on (sorry I couldn’t
resist).
(Video sourced from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM0pZC0b_OA)
3. Detroit – Become Human:
My next moment that blew me away from the show was less of an
explosion of emotions but a steady rise in interest and excitement that left me
wanting this game right-damn-now! The trailer for Detroit – Become Human at PSX
already had me around its little finger. The concept of AI has been done to
death in pretty much all mediums but this story and its world already feels
fresh and new and looks to do something innovative with the tried ‘an AI has
feelings, now what’ story line. And Quantic Dream’s revolutionary style of
player choice dictating how the game unfolds not only seems to fit perfectly
with this story but be enhancing it to a whole new level as we can see in this
new E3 trailer. There were so many different ways this one scenario could have
played out that it is truly mind boggling to think of how expansive and unique
this game will become from person to person. Not only technologically wise with
the branching path ways and, of course, breathtakingly realistic visuals, but
emotionally too this trailer already had me hooked and invested in this world. This
game just cannot come faster with the creator, David Cage, even seeming
squirrely with the prospect of it being a 2017 game.
(Image sourced from http://www.psu.com/News/30303/A-closer-look-at-Days-Gone-the-PS4-open-world-game-from-Sony-Bend;-screenshots-inside)
4. Days Gone:
If you are a Kinda Funny Games listener/watcher like me, you
will have heard Colin Moriarty speak many ‘a time about how amazing Sony Bend
(developer of the PS Vita launch game Uncharted: Golden Abyss) is as a
developer and how their next game will be something definitely to keep your eye
on. Well when that game was revealed as Days Gone at the Sony conference it was
definitely a #ColinWasRight moment because this game was breath taking. And I mean
that in every way, from the astounding visuals that made it seem like actor Sam
Witwer (Star Wars Force Unleashed, Smallville Season 8) was actually on screen,
to the insurmountable number of freakers (basically zombies) on screen as they barrel
towards you hungry for your flesh, but you really need that flesh to survive. The
game harboured tones of The Last Of Us in all the right ways and while many
will, wrongly, just brush it off as another zombie game, I really think Bend
are onto something special with this game and I would highly recommend watching
he gameplay to just see why I am so excited and intrigued by this brutal and
dying world.
(Image sourced from http://www.gamezone.com/news/hideo-kojima-sheds-some-light-on-death-stranding-3440601)
5. Death Stranding:
Last, but in no way least, is the new Hideo Kojima game;
Death Stranding. The reveal of this game was perfect from top to finish. From the
gladiatorial reveal of Kojima on stage as he walked down a path of light to the
epic drums of the Mad Max: Fury Road soundtrack, to the glee in his smile in
the face of a sea of adoring fans, to the incredibly Kojima teaser trailer for
Death Stranding, it was just an applauds warranted moment all round. Now onto
the teaser, with a well-chosen song for the trailer, as Kojima always does, we
see that Kojima has reunited with his friend Norman Reedus after the heart
breaking death of Silent Hills to bring us an even crazier world of male umbilical
cords, babies that disappear to nothing but tar hand prints, Norman Reedus’
bare butt, and 5 very intimidating hovering figures over a drained ocean. Seriously
you just need to check it out and let Kojima take you on a ride because I am
not only utterly excited by the game but ultimately intrigued to find out what
the hell is actually going on.
(Image sourced from http://www.gizmag.com/sony-e3-2016-games/43840/)
And those are my top 5 moments/games of E3 2016. Now
obviously I could include everything that I loved from the show, such as
basically all of the Sony conference, the fast pace and unrelenting shock and
awe of that conference was a master class in how this is done, and how it is
done so so right! But game wise what also left a huge impression in my mind and
definitely will in my wallet is the new God of War game which looks to take the
angry old Kratos to a more emotionally dynamic level and create a really
interesting and touching story of how a man so comfortable in atrocity can
actually raise a son. There was also the surprisingly emotional TitanFall 2
story trailer that has instantly go me sold on the relationship between pilot
and mech and I can’t wait to dive into and explore as I wall run through
destroyed cities knowing this behemoth of a robot brother has my back the whole
way. In the same vein Call of Duty Infinite Warfare looks fun as hell, space
combat and zero G take downs, sign me up, I don’t care if everyone and their
mum hates it, it looks like its going to be a badass time and I can’t wait.
So there it is. Another year, another E3 in the bag, and what
an E3 it’s been. Except from maybe the PS4 reveal E3 year, this may have been
the year with the most shocks, the most fanboy satisfaction and just overall
the most excitement for this industry and where it will be going in the next
couple of years; and I haven’t even mentioned how cool this E3 has made VR look
with the Batman and X-Wing missions. It is truly a good time to be a gamer and
a good time to be alive, and I hope you’ve enjoyed tis years roller coaster as
much as me, happy E3 everybody!
Why not check out my YouTube channel, BurtonReviews, where I
upload awesome gaming montages put to badass songs or scores every Sunday.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed.
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