PAX 2008: Assorted Hands-On

PAX '08: Motley Hands-Happening

Eventide with a shiny Media badge, not every chance we devi play a game on the PAX show level is a 30-hour walkthrough by the developers – a lot of the time, it's just a quick few moments to elate the accountant as you browsing the show floor with everybody else.

So, Here are some of the titles I got to spend some hands-prompt with, and some brief thoughts to go with them!

Battleforge (EA Phenomic, PC)

Battleforge is a double cross between a streamlined, fewer-complex RTS deed of conveyance and a collectible card game a lanthanum Magic. At that place's no base-building or resource-harvest home; instead you capture monuments and give them to one of four colors (red, blue, purple and green). You pot then instantly "play" cards that you've chosen before the game starts – for instance, a stronger squad of Red monsters testament want you to control uncomparable Red memorial and one repository of any other color. While many of the cards are controllable units, some are also structures (like towers) or actual spells that can Be instantly played in real sentence.

It's an interesting conception, even if the current RTS gameplay isn't anything innovative. While PvP testament certainly be part of the game, I was told that in that location will also be an emphasis on chemical group cooperative dally with adequate to 12 players (with a comparison drawn to WoW raiding). That part wasn't playable at PAX, but it's certainly a … unique melodic theme as far as a RTS is concerned.

Legend 2 (Lionhead, 360)

The build of Fable 2 happening the floor was identical to the one from E3, indeed I won't tread ground Susan Arendt already snow-clad, with a 10-minute fight demo completely lacking any of the things (equivalent the customization or the character building) that makes Fable, Fable. The main draw of Apologue was never the combat, but that was all they had happening display.

As far as the combat is solicitous, I'm not truly partial of the choice to have to each one of the three main buttons permanently sacred to scrimmage/ranged/spellcasting, which feels like a mistreat back from the first base game. As someone who prefers the "spellcaster" route, I dearly missed being healthy to map spells and abilities to the controller as I proverb fit. If I wanted tercet different spells, I could do that; if I wanted a sword strike ability, I could do that also.

While I think the modern spell system – you hindquarters set spells in a tier that charges up the longer you hold the clit, and then you can either spam weak spells or wait longer for Thomas More devastating ones – is actually in truth fashionable, every bit is the manual aiming … I can't help only feel equal it'd be an flatbottom stronger system if combined with the flexibility of the first game's control.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels (Lucasarts, Wii)

A good fighting game kick in the Stellar Wars universe would give birth the potential to be amazing. Combining the Ace Wars existence with the Wii's motion sensor controls also has the potential to equal amazing, letting gamers work forbidden puerility dreams of vacillation their very ain lightsaber. Alas, whatever potential drop is on that point simply fails to be realized. Lightsaber Duels attempts to mimic the stylized art of the (admittedly fantabulous) Clone Wars animated shorts, merely really just comes hit as ugly.

I'm a fan of fighting games and by and large try to move beyond just mashing buttons, but I scarcely couldn't get the pay heed of how the game limited, resulting in haphazard and random Wiimote waggling in an effort to do something. While I feel that it was certainly far from a complete build, the entire thing just felt confusing, unpolished, and unintuitive to manipulate. When two players attack at the same fourth dimension (assumedly – I wasn't able to figure stunned what in peculiar triggered these bits), there's a short sequence as the characters lock sabers and try to overcome each other, ending in a psychometric test rewarding the player with the quickest reflexes. Information technology was kind of caller the first time more or less, but seeing the same animations all clip aft that became tedious very, very quick.

Just put, the game just felt slow and sloppy. Given that it was a preview build, there's a chance that this could change before unblock, just I wouldn't hold my intimation for it being worth any more than just a rental.

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm (Bandai Namco, PS3)

All told, I've seen maybe two episodes of the uber-nonclassical (so I hear) ninja-themed anime Naruto, and I couldn't possibly aid less about the franchise either way. I gave Ultimate Ninja Tempest a fling simply for the hell of it – and was breathless away by how very much of a hint of fresh beam information technology was after my fiasco with Lightsaber Duels. Despite my lack of interest in the show itself, I found Ultimate Ninja Storm to be a genuinely good game that obsessed well even along the PS3 controller (that I fall out to be less than acquainted with).

The controls are tight and nonrational. Three of the quadruplet face buttons match to different basic moves – X jumps, O is the basic melee attack, and Square is a fast ranged strike, throwing varied ninja implements depending on the character. Triangle temporarily boosts your "Chakra" for a short historic period of meter, and can be used in combination with any of the other three for a more powerful ability. For example, pressing Triangle and X wish execute a quick dash alternatively of a normal jump. The shoulder buttons call your teammates to jump in for an assist Beaver State two, potentially prolonging combos.

The game itself is certainly easy on the eyes, and the cel-shading looks absolutely fantastic. The characters move and attack fluidly, and while there was quite an bit happening on the screen at once I never ma also overwhelmed or like I wasn't in control: Ultimate Ninja Storm felt very easy to just pick up and play. While fans of the series are almost surely going to pick it up, it might beryllium Worth a rental even if you've never seen an episode of Naruto in your life history, because I had an unexpected blast.

https://www.escapistmagazine.com/pax-2008-assorted-hands-on/

Source: https://www.escapistmagazine.com/pax-2008-assorted-hands-on/