Left yearning for something new

E3 20102: Microsoft, EA and Ubi Soft:

Hey, guess what, it’s that time again! Who’d of thought E3 2012 would come around so fast revealing all of the E3 mysteries from Microsoft, EA and Ubi Soft. Sony also played their preverbial hand but we’ll cover that next week alongside Nintendo.

Microsoft kicked the door down with an excellent showing of Halo 4.

While the gameplay looks tried and tested, the visual style certainly looked impressive showcasing some of the best graphics this seven-year-old console is capable of housing.

Back in the helmet of Master Chief, you awake from cryosleep which is how Halo 3 concluded the muc ih loved series’ trilogy but in true videogame fashion they’ve somehow evaded that with a whole new trilogy which seems to add on to the existing on.

Story nitpicking aside, the game has the traditional Covenant enemies with a slight redesign and a whole new antagonist, which is still unknown to myself – it looks to be a brand new challenge for Master Chief lovers round the world.

Resident Evil 6 was played on stage and visually looks incredible which seems to be the thing for all the videogames shown at E3 2012.

It has most definitely gotten away from what made the series a survival horror with some over-the-top action sequences and while I was disappointed with the always-on action there definitely is some promise there.

Other highlights were the SmartGlass app for connectivity with the Xbox 360. Acting similarly to the Wii U GamePad tablet device, SmartGlass will provide extra information for you whilst watching Game of Thrones or playing a videogame such as Halo 4.

While I’m not entirely convinced this is the future of the Xbox brand it’s good to see we’re not being forced to buy a brand new Microsoft tablet for this feature.

All iPhones, iPads and Android devices will work with SmartGlass and that is a serious turning point for Microsoft. Remember the Zune? Nope, didn’t think so.

After a whole bunch of “Entertainment” showcasing it felt good to see a whole slew of sequels which to be honest, never really grabbed me.

Forza Horizons, Splinte Cell: Blacklist, FIFA 13 and Madden 13 weren’t all that exciting to me but a pleasant surprise was to be found with the new Tomb Raider game.

UbiSoft showed us Assassins Creed 3 which looked incredible and Watch Dogs (of which I’m not entirely sure what it is but looks promising) and the typical Tom Clancy sneak ’em up game Splinter Cell was shown, but again failed to excite.

EA’s highlights were a new Criterion (Burnout) developed Need for Speed game and SimCity but yet again, there’s simply nothing new.

The industry is playing safe and for the most part, it made me yawn. A lot.