The 2009 edition of the Electronic Entertainment Expo was one to remember. There were tons and tons of great games on display and the press conferences were just filled with surprises. I can honestly say that this was probably the most exciting E3 since I began following video games back in the late 90s. Without further ado, here is the very best of a very good crop:
GAME OF THE SHOW
Mass Effect 2
The sequel to one of the best games ever made has already been dubbed The Empire Strikes Back. BioWare has improved their action-RPG hybrid is just about every conceivable way. The story continues the story of Commander Shepard, but this second act is much, much darker, and if you're not careful he can die at the end of the game. The action has been refined to the T, with a Gears of War-like cover system and a much more responsive control setup. There is limb-based damage on enemies and combat has been refined to be much more fluid, not to mention the addition of a bevy of new weapons to add to your deadly arsenal. Even the amazing cutscenes have been upgraded to include physical actions that you can trigger to disrupt dialogue mid-speech...even push someone off a ledge. One of the biggest complaints of the original in its shoddy framerate has been beefed up to a silky-smooth 60 frames-per-second. The only thing that could possibly hold this game back even one tiny bit (and this wasn't shown at E3) is the criticism of cookie-cutter side quests in the original, something that BioWare claims they have done away with. Mass Effect 2 is not only the game of the show, but it has tremendous potential to be the best game ever made. Hyperbole? Maybe, we'll have to wait til Q1 2010 to see. But possible? Absolutely.
Moment of the Show: PROJECT NATAL revealed
Microsoft's new motion-sensing, voice-recognition, 3D depth camera has all sorts of potential to be something that takes the concept of waggle to unprecendented new levels by removing the need for any controller at all. And for hardcore gamers, the technology doesn't means that traditional gamepads need to be abolished either, as Natal can be used in tandem with anything... even non-game devices such as skateboards. This is definitely something to keep an eye and could be the future of the entire industry. Microsoft seems to agree, saying that its importance is the equivalent of a whole new platform launch and they expect Natal to carry the Xbox 360 through at least 2015.
Honorable Mentions
Scribblenauts is a close runner-up for game of the show. The developers have gone through tomes of just about everything form encyclopedias to dictionaries, etc, to compile a jaw-dropping database of items that can be summoned at your command to solve clever puzzles. Your imagination is the limit. Box quote that. Splinter Cell: Conviction is also a very notable game as well, coming out of a 2-year slumber coming out looking more impressive than ever. Many people compare the new Sam Fisher to Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne. Joystiq calls it BadAss: The Game. In any case, it looks mighty impressive. Star Wars: The Old Republic, besides from just generally looking totally awesome, also seems like it could revolutionize the stagnant MMO genre by injecting story and dialogue that you usually find in immersive, focused, single-player games. God of War III and Uncharted 2 both look absolutely stunning and refine their respective franchises to near-perfection just like Mass Effect 2 seems to be doing. Brutal Legend, Assassin's Creed II, and Alan Wake all get nods for originality as well, from art design, setting, themes, gameplay presentation, etc, these games are anything but interative. Finally, Modern Warfare 2 gets the final mention just for being Modern Warfare 2, and it will likely shatter all sorts of records, potentially even that monstroosity of an open day that Halo 3 had. Oh yeah, and Perfect Dark being ported to Xbox LIVE Arcade with all original features, smoothed-up graphics, 60 frames-per-second, and online multiplayer, coming this winter (with twin-stick controls!). This is a dream straight from my middle school self.
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