Tim and I had a chance to check out the actual exhibits and demos on the game floor today, and it was one of the most epic days of my adult life. The lines were long as shit, everything is overpriced, I broke my phone, misplaced my head writer, and I am currently sunburned beyond recognition, but we were on the floor all day with controllers in our hands and both of us have news from the pits.
Forza 6
Yeah, you knew I was going to wait in line for this one. Although I didn’t get a chance to interrogate Dan Greenawalt, I did play through the demo...twice. The playable demo had three races. Race one was racing a new Ford GT through the streets of Rio De Janeiro. This was not the same track from the original Forza Motorsport, at least not as I remember it.
Race number two was a night race at Sebring in a Lamborghini Huracan. Driving at night makes a huge difference in the game as I could not recognize the track until I was entering the long straight before the blocks.
Race number three was a race in the rain at Brands Hatch in an Audi TT. Turn 10 has done a surprising job with the rain dynamic as puddles will cause the car to hydroplane and the Audi, despite being a nimble AWD sports car, had to fight for traction the entire race. Weather and night racing is truly a game-changer for Forza, and the new tracks are a very welcome addition.
Rise of the Tomb Raider
The new Tomb Raider was not playable at E3, but I was treated to a twenty-minute demo of the game. The demo picks up where the Ubisoft briefing demo left off. Jonah and Lara have been separated by an avalanche and Lara has to focus on surviving the night. She finds a campsite, gathers wood for a fire, and makes a crude bow and arrow. Naturally, Lara isn’t the only one interested in the lost city: a malevolent army of mercs in the employ of a group called Trinity has set up shop in the area and immediately start hunting Lara. Lady Croft crafted some special arrows with a poisonous area effect and takes the fight to the bad guys. She also crafted a molotov on the fly and firebombed a group of baddies...right before a giant bear kicked her ass. Apparently, tombs in the new game have guardians and giant bear is number one on the list.
The Crystal Dynamics rep walking us through the demo promised a play area at least three times larger than Shipwreck Island from the reboot. If the rest of the game is as good as the twenty minutes I saw, the new Tomb Raider is going to be a kick ass game.
Fallout Shelter
While Doom and Fallout 4 were not present on the Bethesda floor, Fallout Shelter was playable. I’m not usually a phone game guy, but this seems like a pretty big game on a small device. A few minutes with the game just isn’t enough time to take it in, but it left me wanting more. The game is free and available now, so go ahead and download it.
The indie Cuphead was featured on the Xbox floor and looks awesome. The old Popeye style of animation made me smile every time I walked by and they had a solid line the entire day. Players were battling a giant carrot, an aggressive potato, and a pair of fighting fish. It has to be seen to be believed. I’m really looking forward to playing this one in the near future.
Tim and I will be at E3 all week, and we’ll keep the info rolling in.
