Support NeoGAF

[Kangu]

Absolutely. I don't know why there aren't more titles out there that ape the RTCW multiplayer. Some have tried but none have come close of matching it imo. It's hard to go back and play some idiotic death match crap or regular capture the flag bullshit after playing Wolfenstein.

Holy shit! I'm not the only one! I always thought Enemy Territory's objective based multiplayer was so far superior to any other FPS that everything else was unplayable. It never seemed to be as popular as games with OMG capture the FLAGZORS or DEATHMATCH so I asumed I was just wrong, seeing as I am somewhat of an FPS noob.

 

[Owzers]

"Unless I missed something significant, the biggest pieces of news to me involved the Too Human Trilogy (which looks terribly generic, IMO) and id making it's first game for a console from the ground up."


Mass Effect - Bioware Xbox 360 exclusive trilogy. That might be a big piece of news....now if you don't remember it.....maybe you didn't care about X05 too much to begin with...or maybe you just forgot. Either way, the game will be huge and with the game alone X05 was hardly a disappointment.

 

[Raven.]

From all the talk, I was expecting a Halo teaser, some square-enix exclusives, and some new footage of additional multiplatform or exclusives from the other big boys(capcom, namco, konami). Overall, I expected them to show more games than they did, but I guess it's logical they'd focus on launch/near-launch games and wouldn't show lots of longer-term projects/games.

 

[Helznicht]

It was a flop:

No Shadowrun = X05 loos3r


But at least we heard Oblivion is still lined up for launch.

 

[Drek]

But at least we heard Oblivion is still lined up for launch.

Launch or is it still "close to launch"?

I don't know, didn't really spend a ton of time watching footage from X05, but to me it wasn't bad. People just need to face the music and accept that Rare isn't delivering a system showcaser with PDZ. It'll look good, but ultimately it'll live and die by its gameplay, especially the multiplayer, which by all acounts is quite good. Really to me it revolved around just two games, Too Human and Mass Effect.

Too Human sure looks the part, but I'm iffy on SK's ability to deliver a quality game. Its now some action/shooter too? Eh, to me its a wait and see. They've delivered quality gameplay before (Blood Omen) but I was real unimpressed with Eternal Darkness.

Mass Effect has my interest, but thats more from a jaded Bioware fan standpoint. I'm of the opinion that they've been going downhilll since BG2:ToB expansion because they're basically dumbing down their games and aren't building them on rock solid engines to boot. I'm refering to both the bugginess of their games as well as the nerfed battle systems they now use. The BG series' battle engine made for challenging, strategic battles that were truely enjoyable, hence the Icewind Dale series where you basically hack n' slash in the same battle system. Starting with NWN though their battle systems have just been weak. Very little strategy, very little challenge, and very little real interaction on the part of the player. If Mass Effect is a return to why I started playing Bioware's games in the first place I'm all for it, but if its another shallow game that only pays lipservice to being open ended I'll pass. But hell, I'm the fool who kept coming back after NWN for KOTOR and Jade Empire, so I guess I should know better by now.

 

[open_mouth_]

X05 was awesome. It could have been even better, but it was a very solid show for MS and I'll tell you why.

1) Rare is back! I've heard nothing but positive impressions about Kameo from the journalists. Not only does it look great, but apparently it's very fun. Remember the old days when we'd get to play great platformers at the launch of a new console? Those days are finally back. Kameo is going to be huge and that little fairy will become one of the 360's spokespersons PD0 has also received plenty of accolades from the vast majority of journalists that played it. It looks crisp, innovative and fun. Will it be as big as Halo was for Xbox? It doesn't need to be, thankfully, and it probably won't be, but it'll be BIG in it's own way.

2) It has the "oh shit, that looks hot!" factor. Many "next-gen" looking games from the get-go will entice lots of hardcore and casuals alike. PGR3, Kameo, PD0, Madden, Oblivion, GRAW, NBA 2K6, RR6, etc. etc. etc. And there's still about a month or more for games to be polished up a bit some more.

3) Best. controller. ever.

4) TONS of 3rd party support. Microsoft's 3rd party support from all over the world rivals even Sony's in many ways (japan still falls short somewhat, but still). There's so much 3rd party support that almost every genre is being conceivably covered with quality offerings and that's the other thing... almost every single game shown or announced for 360 looks to be, at worst, "B" games with many potential "AAA" games. Nearly 'TURD Free! OMG WTF!?! Nearly 20 launch games and over 200+ more games in development for '06.

5) Guaranteed big hits in the works: Halo 3, Gears of War, Too Human Trilogy, Mass Effect, Fable 2, Forza 2, Shadowrun, Ninja Gaiden 2, Marvel MMORPG, Crackdown, Banjo, Splinter Cell 4, Castle Wolfenstein, etc.

 

[Agent Dormer]

No complaints here. X05 exceeded my expectations.

:lol :lol :lol

This made my morning.

 

[PhatSaqs]

 

[seanoff]

I agree with Jolly, it was a bit flat.

My Theory (therfore IMO, disagree at your leisure)

MS are used to announcing a new Windows eg XP and promoting a bit and then have it appear, from then on and sell bucket loads without too much real effort.

They don't know how to wow people. Showing E3 pre-alpha games was admirable but stupid. Gave people a negative 1st impression. The MTV show was appalling. MS's marketing has been flat.


Sony OTOH went here's what u can expect and people were jizzing their pants. No pre-alpha games here, just vids of what's coming and regardless of what was or wasn't CGI or impossible, round surfaces on robots(Shog), the positive vibe was planted. Then MGS4. again positive vibe.


Even Nintendo are only showing what's woweee. Completely different controller. Out of the park online service. Show actual games later when they're nearly ready. But make a positive first impression.

 

[StoOgE]

I like the premise of this thread. The guy askes us if X05 was a hit or not, and then if anyone says it was, he comes in screaming "fanboy". Great stuff.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

 

[Redbeard]

What about RR6 at X05 impressed you? No new trailer or anything, the demo was the same at TGS.

Hands-on with launch games, PDZ rocks (suck it haters), new Bioware RPG trilogy, new Wolfenstien, Too Human, etc..

It sounds like your taste just isn't in line with these games.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

What about RR6 at X05 impressed you? No new trailer or anything, the demo was the same at TGS.

Hands-on with launch games, PDZ rocks (suck it haters), new Bioware RPG trilogy, new Wolfenstien, Too Human, etc..

It sounds like your taste just isn't in line with these games.

I'm just impressed by RR6 in general. It's one of those games that has just grabbed me from the get go- but then again, Namco hardly ever fails me.

 

[Zeo]

I believed the hype that X05 would be this HUGE blow out with TONS of awesome impressions, new games, and a FINAL launch list.

The only thing that excited me was Mass Effect, and that PDZ is looking a little better, gameplay wise.

 

[B E N K E]

The announcements from Microsoft were pretty huge.

- Mass Effect - a trilogy of RPG's with a big online component (yet to be revealed) for the team that created SW: Kotor.

- Too Human - looks really good technically and should be interesting gameplay-wise. Also a trilogy.

- Crackdown. Forget the trailer. That's not what the game looks like. But when I saw it in action it impressed with some interesting new play mechanics for a free-roamer. I hope the story gets a little more interesting than "take out 21 kingpins and upgrade your skills". But nonetheless it looks solid gameplay-wise.

To undertake and commit to two trilogies is a strong commitment and I have every faith in Mass Effect delivering the goods. Too Human, is harder to predict, but the things Dyack told me has me hopeful.

Other than that. Over 30 playable games present. Some in perfect condition (Condemned) others in a state of despair (Saint's Row). Some disappointing (Dead Rising being surprisingly shallow though it might suit some) and others surprising (Ninety-Nine Nights and King Kong).

The Halo movie thing was cool. Not because of who's the executive producer, but because Weta will be working on the sets.

The id announcement didn't feel too earthshattering to me. By the phrasing I gather Wolfenstein will be on other formats at some point and it's ids smallest franchise. Still there is reason to hope the game will deliever.

Superman Returns had it's moments during its presentation. Metropolis was impressive.

Overall it was a nice balance from Microsoft's part. Nothing too big that would overshadow the launch titles (Halo 3 or perhaps even Fable 2), but three new potentially big franchises exclusive to Xbox 360 and a lot of support as well as a number of really great launch titles.

 

[siamesedreamer]

It was a flop:

No Shadowrun = X05 loos3r

Some things are best reserved for E3.

 

[Ceb]

What's with all the hubbub about trilogies?

"Oh, Xenosaga will be a 9-part epic. MEGATON!!!"

I'll judge the games when I play them, and figure out whether or not I'll want a trilogy. Wouldn't have wanted two more Eternal Darkness sequels, for example...

 

[krypt0nian]

What's with all the hubbub about trilogies?

"Oh, Xenosaga will be a 9-part epic. MEGATON!!!"

I'll judge the games when I play them, and figure out whether or not I'll want a trilogy. Wouldn't have wanted two more Eternal Darkness sequels, for example...

I think the "hubbub" is that the commitment is there. That alone is big news.