As the ocean of press
releases slowly sinks into the earth, four PC video game journalists stand
alone in the aftermath of the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Join Charles Battersby, Ari Runanin
Telle, Jonathan Gann and Fergus Halliday as these battle-scarred correspondents
recount the brutal battle of hype that nearly destroyed LA this week.
What Was The Best PC Game?
Ari: Battlefield 3. Say what you will about
how much PCs can cost sometimes, but this is what can be achieved with the
platform. Sure, Battlefield 3 will come to the current generation of consoles,
but how good will those look and how well will they run? Battlefield 3 is a PC
game through and through, and so far it looks incredible. Right now, I can't
imagine this game being anything other than spectacular.
Jonathan: Battlefield 3. By
far. There are plenty of other games that are catching my eye, but I'm hoping
Battlefield's back-to-basics approach ends up going far.
Charles: The Old Republic. I’ve been hot for this game since I
first heard rumors about it. The
only unexpected news I got from E3 was that I’ll have to use EA’s new Origin
service to play it. If anything
can ruin this game, it will be this sort of meddling from the publisher.
Fergus: While it's not a PC
exclusive I'm really looking forward to Kingdoms of Alamur: Reckoning. I've
been closely watching to see what comes out of 38 Studios for quite a while now
and they certainly delivered. I haven't been looking forward to a fantasy RPG
like this for quite some time, in fact I'm probably looking forward to it more
than I am Skyrim.
Most Over-hyped thing?
Fergus: The Wii-U. I really
felt the whole thing was over-hyped. It was good to see that Nintendo was
moving onto a more graphically powerful console but it felt really bizzare to
me and didn't excite me like a new console probably should. I felt
really underwhelmed by it despite the hype behind it.
Ari: Motion gaming is probably the most
over-hyped thing at E3. It was in 2010, and it still is in 2011. The reason
motion controls work on the Wii is because Nintendo lowers the bar for entry
into gaming, which is what Sony and Microsoft are attempting to do. However,
since Kinect and Move use more advanced motion technology, they require more
calibration and fiddling than a normal Dualshock or Gamepad or keyboard. Kinect
outright doesn't work many times, and Move has lengthy calibration times. The
Wii? You plug it in and play it, and you've started playing a game in about 3
minutes. Sony and Microsoft are raising the bar for entry to new gamers, and
making their old, hardcore gamers feel nervous in the process.
Charles: Kinect. I’m glad the Zumba fans have their thingy, but nothing
unveiled about the product this week actually makes me want to buy the thing.
Jonathan: I don't know about
over-hyped, but I think Microsoft may have spent a little too much time
showcasing Kinect features and not enough time actually showing games.
Least Impressive PC Game
Charles: Brothers in Arms
Furious 4. I really enjoyed the
first two Brothers In Arms games, along with the mobile versions of the
series. They were realistic,
tactical WWII games. This new one
is full of campy, silly humor, staring a troupe of quirky antiheroes full of
“Attitude”. A game that should be
“Band of Brothers” has become “Inglorious Basterds”.
Ari: Ghost Recon Future Soldier has been in
development purgatory since 2010, and it shows. It doesn't have the near
legendary wait time that Duke Nukem Forever has, but it does have a strange
sense of pity around it whenever I see it. Now Ubisoft is throwing in Kinect
features for the Xbox 360 version, which comes off as little more than a
gimmick. Every time it's shown at E3, it looks worse, so it might be time for
Ubisoft to throw in the towel, cut their losses, and release the game. Maybe
the next Ghost Recon game will be good?
Jonathan: I'm probably going to get punched in
the face for this, but I was heavily disappointed in the presentation of Modern Warfare 3
(but then again, Activision always manages to disappoint me in some way or
another). There appears to be a Spec-Ops focused survival mode, though, and
cooperative modes are always on my radar.
Fergus: Gotham City
Imposters- I can't understand the point of this game. I like the idea of a
multiplayer FPS that incorporates superhero tropes and gadgets but I thought
the graphics were downright terrible and that it was terrible use of the Batman
license overall. It's a shame because there are so many possibilites that
you could follow up on with a Batman multiplayer focused game. 
Console Exclusive we want
Jonathan: Man, that's a
tough one, but as a jerk answer, I'll say Rhythm Heaven. No, really. I
absolutely loved it on DS, and the inclusion of a Wii version is seriously
making me regret not having one right now.
Ari: Uncharted 3 looks incredible, and I
wish it were coming to PC. I really wish that the technical geniuses over at
Naughty Dog would flex their muscles on the PC, because I can't imagine what
they could achieve. At the same time, I wish that Uncharted 3 would be released
on the PC, just because I want to play it so much after the trailers that have
been shown. Uncharted 3 will definitely be one of the year's best, and it's a
shame it's exclusive to the PS3.
Charles: Halo Anniversary
Edition. PC gamers got a port of
the original Halo, and it was OK, but I’d damn well like to play this new HD
version on a proper gaming rig.
Fergus: Overstrike - I used to love playing the
Ratchet and Clank games back when I had a PS2 and the trailer for Insomniac's
new co-op game had my spine tingling. I really wish that was coming to PC.
Oh and DUST 514, having recently got into EVE Online, I wish that that game was
coming to PC.
Is E3 Too Console Focused?
Jonathan: One could say so,
but for each of the big three, that's what they sell, and it's not easy to
showcase PC features specifically, so it's not like any of the PC manufacturers
out there are going to come to the show. Valve's lack of presence was
disappointing, but I think that they've learned that E3 is for tangible products
more than the digital downloaders.
Ari: Yes. Part of the
problem is the fact that the PC doesn't really have a main manufacturer such as
Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo. Therefore, if you're on the convention floor, you
can't just stroll over to the "PC" booth. There are no
"first-party" PC games. All the games that are demoed tend to be
shown on the PS3 or Xbox 360, even if there is a PC version. The only game this
year that I can remember being demoed on the PC would be Battlefield 3. Right
now the games on PC are being held back by their console counterparts, and I'm
always reminded of that at E3. Even Rage, the next Id shooter, is being shown
on consoles. There's something inherently wrong with that.
Fergus E3 is always going to
be more console focused than PC Gamers would like but even though PC gamers
have events like Blizzcon and Quakecon to hear from big PC developers it would
still be nice to see more PC games shown and announced at E3, I thought EA and
DICE did a great job of pushing the PC version of Battlefield 3.
Charles: You betcha. Hardcore PC gamers have our own
conventions, and most of the PC exclusives are MMO’s, casual games and indies.
Smaller developers aren’t going to get much of a return on their investment in
a giant flashy E3 booth. Then there’s the PC’s focus on digital distribution;
why go for a mainstream media blitz when most of your customers are coming from
online advertising and social networking?