Nicholas Bale
With the release date of the highly anticipated third part of the Deus Ex franchise just around the corner, a number of journalists were flown from around the US (and me, taking a train from Ottawa), to Montreal to see first hand the final version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Read More.
In a comfy hotel lounge, I got to check out the latest in the Serious Sam indie collection: Double D. This sidescrolling addition brings a lot of action, a lot of enemies, and a pile of guns. Literally a stack of guns. Did I mention there's gun stacking? Read More.
Serious Sam is not a complicated series. You shoot things that come at you, then you shoot them some more, then more things come at you and you shoot them, and then you go to the next area to find more things to shoot, and possibly blow up if you are so inclined. Read More.
It's hard to update one of the most popular strategy titles to ever come out on the PC. Various attempts have been made, some decent, some poor, but as far as I know, none have reached the level of popularity that the original had. The developers of the newly-rebooted X-COM have decided to sidestep this minefield, and instead created a pseudo-strategic first-person shooter, instead of a duplicate of the original. Read More.
I had a chance to play some rounds of Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon at E3, a game I had been looking forward to since I heard of its announcement. Billed as a sequel to the cult hit Earth Defense Force 2017, it's all about shooting giant alien invaders with the most ridiculous weapons you can find. Read More.
In a closed booth, I got a chance to sit down and watch some gameplay from the upcoming
Final Fantasy XIII-2. Billed as a direct sequel that takes place right after the first one, you'll Read More.
Behind closed doors, members of the press were given a sneak peak into the return of Agent 47, the skilled assassin from the Hitman series. The last game came out in 2006, so there's a lot of time for the developers to learn what works for the series and what doesn't. Read More.
Sitting in a comfortable and quiet room in Activision's booth, I checked out a pre-alpha demonstration of Prototype 2. No longer playing Alex Mercer, you are now James Heller, a man who lost his family to the protagonist from the first game and is out for revenge. Read More.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I walked into the booth for Prey 2. The first game, a linear corridor shooter with some cool portal mechanics, but otherwise a standard shooter. Prey 2 looks to change, well, pretty much everything about the first title, adding in an open world to explore, a mission-based story structure, and first-person climbing mechanics that I've never seen before. Read More.
In one of the most popular booths and games of the show, I watched a developer play through a few areas of the newest chapter of the Elder Scrolls series. After the smash-hit Oblivion, I was curious to see what Bethesda could do with the series, and the answer was fairly clear: more. Read More.
At Atlus' booth, I was given the opportunity to play their new action-adventure combat game, Cursed Crusade. In this title, you play Denz and Esteban, two crusaders in the middle ages, two crusaders cursed to die, unless they can find a way to stop it. Read More.
Sitting down with Atlus in a quiet room gave me the chance to check out Catherine, the action/adventure puzzle title that you could call 'odd' the same way you could call the sun 'mildly warm'. Describing it isn't exactly an easy task, so here's my shot: Read More.
The Witcher 2, (or Wiedzmin 2, for the Polish-speakers out there), is an excellent RPG that came out on May 17th of this year. A self-proclaimed "hardcore RPG", a title it deserved, it's full of choices, character depth, huge areas, numerous quests, and an impressively high difficulty. Read More.
In a small booth, I got to see the sequel to one of the most enjoyable action-RPGs of two years ago – Demon's Souls. Announced a little while ago, Dark Souls continues the tradition and style of the first, placing the player in constant peril with little hope of escaping alive – but making it feel so much better when you do. Read More.
The first Torchlight came out at the beginning of last year, a fairly unexpected title full of good art, simple but fun gameplay, and loot. It was your basic dungeon crawler formula, polished to a bright sheen. Its biggest flaw, however, was the lack of multiplayer, instead forcing people to play through adventures on their own. Read More.
