Top Ten New Video Games for E3 2012
The first game in the X-COM series was X-COM: UFO Defense (1994) that was released by MicroProse for DOS (but had a MS Windows version as well). X-COM: Terror from the Deep followed in 1995, and then X-COM: Apocalypse (1997), X-COM: Interceptor (1998), X-COM: First Alien Invasion (1999), and finally X-COM: Enforcer (2001), with the last two titles in the series being slightly less well-developed and satisfying than the first titles.
This re-imagining of what can honestly be declared a classic game from a classic game series is by all accounts going to be a first-class and sincere game that in some ways in more than simply a recasting of a classic, but an homage to a game series that heavily influenced entire generations of games on PC (both DOS and Windows) as well as consoles and it may surprise you to learn, an Mac and on Linux/Unix as well... Examples include the games Abomination: The Nemesis Project, The Dreamland Chronicles, the Laser Squad series, and the celebrated "UFO" series, one of which was an early online MMO.
It shouldn't be any wonder then that X-COM: Enemy Unknown made the list for the Top Ten New Titles at E3 2012!
09 -- Beyond: Two SoulsPublisher: Sony Computer
Developer: Quantic Dream
Platform: PS3 Exclusive
Release Date: Q1 2013
Fans of the studio Quantic Dream will likely recall with pleasure their 2010 title Heavy Rain -- in fact during the presentation at E3 our hosts mentioned that much of what they learned in the creation of Heavy Rain went into the creation of Beyond: Two Souls -- which is being trotted about as the spiritual successor to Heavy Rain, but really it is not. In fact its core and game play have nothing to do with Heavy Rain, and while fans of that game will not find in this one anything close to a sequel will, nevertheless, find much to enjoy here.
The protagonist for the game is Jody (played by Ellen Page), a flawed character who begins the adventure with a major strike against her -- she is being sought by the police for treason! The second strike against her (well, not really a strike) is that she has a physical link to an invisible entity called Iden who is some sort of supernatural being -- we do not really know what he is other than that he is a supernatural ghost-like or perhaps other-dimensional being. In fact one of the primary elements for game play is the question what is Iden? And what is on the Other Side? (or Beyond?)
Our exposure to Beyond came in two parts -- the brief introduction at the Sony Press Briefing, and a much more in depth presentation at the Sony Exhibit. Game play comes in two basic modes: play as Jody, and play as Iden, with Jody having more of a full-access to the world, whereas with Iden (who is controlled by the six-axis control, tilting left and right for orientation and using the buttons to interact and make actions). In addition to controlling Jody, Iden can breifly take control of certain other entities -- to a limited extent -- but his real strength is the ability to move about, listen to the conversations of other characters, and have limited interaction with the environment more or less remotely.
The game begins with a sleeping Jody on a train while Iden explores about as the train is stopped by the police and he learns that they are there seeking Jody -- who he then returns to and awakens her to warn her of the threat. What followed was a chase through the train (which starts rolling again in the midst of it) in which she must evade the police and escape the train, and then manage to jump from the train and escape more pursuing cops in the woods -- in what was obviously a prolonged tutorial mode in which we learn how to control both characters and what they are capable of.
The promise of what can be done with them, the basic story, and the challenges that were shown demonstrated a strength and depth that made this stand out and solidly secured it 9th place in our list!
08 -- Unfinished Swan
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: SCE Studio Santa Monica
Platform: PS3 Exclusive (PSN)
Release Date: TBA 2012
The Unfinished Swan was originally revealed as a game demo at the 2009 Independent Games Festival and largely due to its unique approach and play style, garnered a lot of back-channel attention including personal recommendations via email and listserv; in fact that was how we first heard of the game here at GU.
At its very core it is a world in which all color is absent and present simultaneously, but can only be revealed through the indiscriminate lobbing of balloons full of black paint that upon impact will reveal that which is concealed from you but that require your imagination for full comprehension and sometimes that is not enough...
The player begins within a game world that is solid white and often spatially disorienting because the sensation of motion tends to rotate between small and firm motions intermixed with rare colors and sounds that you have to see in order to hear in wild and quick rotation -- which is very disturbing in a game played in the fashion of an FPS.
To fully appreciate this you really REALLY need to watch the video embedded above -- in fact if you only have time to watch a single video among all of the video that are attached to this feature piece, we hope that this will be the one you choose to watch.
You may be wondering then how such a game could possibly make the list of new titles in the Top Ten, but the answer to that question is really actually very quite simple... It made the list because Unfinished Swan is an incredibly clever, fascinating, and highly addictive game whose primary purpose and point is the pleasure and awe of exploration and the pure joy that discovery often can lead to.
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