Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Konami and Kojima Productions teased, yet again, with a lovely trailer for their massive new instalment in the Metal Gear saga. As gorgeous and exciting as the five-minute plot-based video was, it even left a die-hard Metal Gear fan like myself scratching my head in confusion at what on earth was going on. It is safe to say that, as many have already speculated, the game will be focusing on protagonist-turned-antagonist Big Boss’ descent into villainy, touching on what producer Hideo Kojima even admits to being very sensitive topics. The half-hour gameplay demo shown to attendees E3 was recently released online, showing the full applicability of the mechanics we saw in Ground Zeroes (released earlier this year) in The Phantom Pain’s open-world setting. While there is not yet a release date for the game, and the shown gameplay was presented on for the PS4 version, the game will likely also be coming to Xbox platforms, just like Ground Zeroes.
Fable Legends
For those familiar with the Fable franchise, Fable Legends might seem like a bit of a pace shift from previous titles. Typically, the games have driven much of their amusement by allowing the player to heavily customize their protagonist in appearance and moral standing, with a large focus on roleplaying with NPCs within the game. The new Xbox One exclusive is taking a very different approach: it is a game intended for five-players to play with simultaneously online— four players taking the roles of one of the pre-designed heroes, while the fifth takes up the cloak and mask of the villain who plots and schemes to make the other four fail. The four heroes fall into their own classes: a rapier-wielding rogue, a crossbow archer, a gigantic sword-and-shield woman, and will-based magician. The villain role is quoted as having more of a top-down, real time strategy feel to it, placing traps and baddies through the use of Xbox’s SmartGlass capabilities. It is a very bold shift in genre for Lionhead Studios, and without a release date in sight for the game, it will be some time before we see if it a successful venture.
Legend of Zelda
Nintendo always has some of the best E3 presentations— and they don’t even have to do much. Just flash a photo of Mario on screen and people will lose their minds. Really, that isn’t that far off from what happened for the yet-unnamed WiiU Zelda title. The teaser showed the return of cell-shaded graphics (which I personally adore), a new spider enemy that shoots lasers like something right out of the Halo franchise, and a horseback Link in a beautiful but uncharacteristic blue tunic and ponytail— details which made many suspect that the protagonist was a female version of Link. While such speculations made the comments of any online article relating to the game rather… unpleasant… I will personally say that a female Zelda protagonist would be very cool and very refreshing. Just like a delicious iced cappuccino.
In less ambiguous projects, Hyrule Warriors, based on the hack-and-slash Dynasty Warrior series, has shown several minutes of gameplay, even teasing with Zelda, Midna, and Impa as playable characters, although interviews claim that Link will still be the character throughout the main ‘story mode’. Many Zelda fans have voiced clear concerns at the genre shift from the adventure and puzzle-based gameplay of most entries in The Legend of Zelda series, but creators claim there will still be some familiar tricks and easter eggs in there for the fans to enjoy. Besides, it is not as if it is the first time there has ever been a different genre Zelda spin-off. And I think the blue scarf looks cool.
Star Wars: Battlefront
While there are undoubtedly far more Star Wars video games in existence than necessary, very few people will deny the fun and success that is the Star Wars: Battlefront series. After nothing but a ten-second tease of a new entry at E3 2013, this year saw the reveal of much production footage… but still very little actual gameplay. What we have seen looks great, though, with some sneak peaks at both the Hoth and Endor maps. With the Disney acquisition of LucasFilm (and, consequentially, LucasArts), many had lost hope in a sequel to the previous titles. The new developer, EA Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment (DICE), has been careful in naming not as a sequel to Battlefront II, but more as a much-needed reboot of the series. The game is anticipated to release in late 2015, although no official date has yet been announced.
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