Top 5 Games of E3 For 2014

With E3 behind us, I wanted to look back on what was shown and come up with my top 10 most anticipated games. So many great games were announced and shown at E3 making it difficult to choose just ten. I’ve split my top 10 list between games that are coming out in 2014 and ones that are coming out in 2015 and beyond.

So without further ado, here are the games I’m most looking forward to in 2014:

5) Destiny – Going into E3, Destiny was on my radar but I wasn’t too excited about it. After seeing how ambitious the creators at Bungie were with the world building and the scope, it is now a must buy for me. I had the chance to play the Alpha demo this weekend and I loved how it felt like a living world that you can explore. Destiny isn’t a typical first-person shooter. It is trying to be something so much more and graphically looks incredible.

4) Assassin’s Creed: Unity – Every time I think I’m burnt out and done with this franchise, they pull me back in. Now the game is set in Paris during the French Revolution. Ubisoft does an impeccable job of creating engaging historical contexts that keep my attention and make for fun exploration of cities. The increase in graphical fidelity is clear with the jump to the next-gen consoles. The inclusion of 4 layer co-op could make for some very fun encounters.

3) The Witness – The Witness, created by Jonathan Blow, has slid under most people’s radar. Blow also created of one of my favorite games, Braid, so I was excited for a preview of his latest work. It looks like a next-gen version of Myst. Exploring the world and solving the mind-bending puzzles while telling a great story makes this the kind of game I love.

2) Dragon Age: Inquisition - Bioware makes games with great narratives and with their newest title, the third in the Dragon Age franchise, they look to have created a truly epic experience. With hours of gameplay, fighting dragons, making tough decisions, and tactical combat, I’m sold. Just look at the gameplay footage below and you will be as well.

1) Little Big Planet 3 – As a total surprise announcement, LBP 3 has leaped to my most anticipated game. I loved the previous two games as well as the PS Vita version. This series is full of whimsy and the new characters; Toggle, Oddsock, and Swoop are as cute as they come. Each of them has a different characteristic that work together to complete each level. I dare you to watch the game footage without a smile on your face. With all the previous levels being playable in LBP 3, there will be endless fun playing this game.

 So there you have it, my 5 most anticipated games of 2014. What are yours? Did I miss one you are looking forward to? Let me know in the comments. After looking like a slow year, 2014 is now shaping up to be a pretty good year in gaming. Stay tuned for my list of games coming in 2015 and beyond.

Why This E3 Could Be The Most Exciting In Years

With all the delays and cancellations leading into E3, which starts tomorrow, I believe 2014’s E3 could be the most exciting one yet.

Last year, we knew what was coming from the big three.  Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo had already announced their new consoles. Their press conferences would be spent on why their consoles were the one you wanted to buy. This year should be all about the games. The beginning of a new generation typically brings new IPs; Gears of War, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Etc. and this is the year those games should be announced. So move the sequels aside, tomorrow we will be introduced to all the new series that we will care about for years to come.

In 2013, Microsoft’s message was clear. They wanted to be the one box to rule them all. Microsoft made a big push to take over the living room with entertainment through controlling your TV and playing games. Also, with the new Kinect, they showed how all aspects of their system could be controlled with your voice. Problems came when Sony undercut Microsoft in price. They also were pushing the “always on” capabilities to access your games, which they had to remove weeks later when Sony, in their press conference, said you could trades games like you always have been able to do.

Microsoft has to come out swinging at E3 this year.  They are the underdog for the first time in years and I believe that will push them to refocus on the gamer. Microsoft’s fatal flaw is their lack of many first party studios. In order for Microsoft to get exclusive content or a timed exclusive, they will have to partner with third party studios and throw some money their way. I think Microsoft has the most to gain this E3 and I hope they surprise us.

Sony is in the catbird’s seat. They are currently winning the sales war and the PS4 is almost unanimously viewed as the console for gamers.  My worry is they will come out, brag about how they are doing, and rest on their laurels. The advantage Sony has is they own 12 first party studios and 14 second party studios and Sony has made it clear that most of them are working on PS4 games. So far, we only know of a couple of those games: Naughty Dog – Uncharted 4 and Ready at Dawn – The Order: 1886. Sony needs to show off their studios and the games they are working on that can only be made on PS4. With nothing announced for the fall that is an exclusive, they need to give people a reason to buy the PS4 besides potential. Sony should also show more indie titles, which have been the staples of the PS4’s success up to this point. They also need to show us games for the PS Vita. Without any first party games, the Vita will die, which is unfortunate because I love my Vita.

Nintendo always beats to their own drum. They don’t seem to care what Microsoft and Sony are doing. They stay focused on their own properties, sometimes to their demise. What I would love to see from Nintendo is a new property. Every year Nintendo has only announced sequels to existing properties. Rumor has it that this year we will see the new Zelda, which would make me and I expect many others, consider picking up a WiiU. Come on, Nintendo; surprise me with something!

The element of E3 that brings me the most excitement is surprises, especially with new properties. With most of the known games moved to 2015, this opens the door for new IPs and better games. Give me delays and surprises, with better games in 2015, and I’ll work on my backlog in the meantime. Either way, it should be a fun week for gamers. Stay tuned all week for coverage.

Contrast Review

With the launch of the new consoles, there are a few downloadable games that are available to play outside of the big, tent poll games that are beautiful in their own right. One of these is a game that is available for free on PlayStation Plus called Contrast. It takes place in Paris in the 1920s, where jazz is playing in clubs and magicians are doing shows on the streets. You play as a friend to a little girl trying to help her mother and father through problems, both financially and emotionally. They live in the shadow world and show up throughout the game only in the shadows of light.

Your unique skill is you can transfer between the real world and the 2D shadow world. You have to solve puzzles by passing between the worlds, jumping on shadows to move through the environment. You’ll have to move spotlights around to change the shadows on the wall to solve puzzles. This could have been more flushed out but the second half of the game, it falls back onto moving boxes around to set on switches to open doors. I wish they would have developed the shadow mechanic more and didn’t fall back on moving boxes around. The puzzles feel similar to Portal but aren’t as difficult.

The real downfall I found was the traversal and jumping felt really floaty and imprecise. There were many times were I knew where I wanted to go but had a very hard time getting there due to the way the jumping functioned. I also incurred a few times where I would get stuck on geometry and couldn’t get out without restarting from the last checkpoint. I feel like the developers rushed this out to make the console launches and if they could have had an extra month or two, the game would have the polish it needed.

Over the four hours or so of the story, I did find myself really enjoying the story and the shadow mechanic. I did wish they did more with it and had the extra month to work out the bugs but overall, you can’t beat the experience for the price.

Grade: B-