[X360] X06: The Barcelona Top Five secondo IGN

[.:|Physalis|:.]

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Now that the sangria is completely out of our systems, focusing on what actually happened at X06 this year is a little easier. This year, Microsoft rose above the fray and demonstrated character, future thinking, and some seriously big guns. Sure, some of that was easy given that it's a Microsoft event and there are no competitors. But the big M threw out a handful of serious announcements and then backed it all up with a gaggle of games.

For instance, this year's most hyped game, Gears of War, was playable, and there certainly wasn't any lack of Halo. Just the opposite, in fact; we got three Halo announcements. So much for not overshadowing Gears of War. Director Peter Jackson talked with a mostly ethereal tone about an interactive story-based experience that's not a game, yet not a movie, and convinced some folks while others were simply impressed that he showed up in Barcelona at all.

The show consisted of first-, second-, and third-party games, PC games, and Xbox Live Arcade titles bringing up the rear. All of the titles we originally saw at E3 re-appeared, sans Too Human, which was delayed until next year along with Crackdown, Mass Effect, and Forza 2 (but at least the latter three showed). Approximately 70 games were discussed in all, about 47 were fully playable. Among the most impressive of the bunch, however, is only one real surprise (Alan Wake). Thankfully, two-fifths of the games we picked are hitting stores this year.

The simple criteria we have for the top five best picks is as follows: the games had to be playable by somebody at the show. Halo Wars, for instance, was ineligible to make the top five, as was Halo 3, because the first showed only in CG form and the latter didn't show at all. we structured these in descending order, the the first one is fifth, and the last one is numero uno.

That's it. Onward to the top five...


5. Alan Wake
Developer: Remedy Entertainment Ltd.
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Genre: Action-adventure
Number of Players: 1
Release Date: TBA

Alan Wake is one of those games that sounds moderately intriguing on paper, but uninteresting until you actually see it. When you hear other people talk about it, a part of you just falls back in the couch and yawns. We finally saw the game in action and Remedy (creators of Max Payne 1 and 2) has outdone itself in all the right ways (at least in the demo). The technology behind the game illustrates just how fantastic next-generation real-time lighting, shadows and reflections can be while also demonstrating an enormous landscape and instant weather patterns like rain, fog, and even twisters that destroy buildings in real-time. The demo at X06 was very intriguing; Remedy's Sam Lake blends reality with surrealism and adds in a strong punch of horror. Actual gameplay wasn't fully revealed, which always makes one wonder, but the game looks great, the demo gave us a real shock, and it looks like Remedy is well on its way.



4. Gears of War
Developer: Epic Games
Publisher: Microsoft
Genre: Third-person shooter
Number of Players: 2-8
Release Date: November 12, 2006

Epic's game appeared once again in playable form, but this time you could play the single-player campaign, co-op, and multiplayer modes. Technical issues such as sticky surfaces, unfinished animations, and grenade throwing were generally solved, which made the multiplayer games far more fun than at E3 in May. The visceral appearance of the chainsaw attacks, however, seem more like Halo 2's energy swords; they're really exciting at first, but the feeling might wear off quickly. Nonetheless, Gears of War still looks great; it's a solid third-person shooter, and IGN learned there are tons of little things that Epic hasn't even show us yet. Gears is also one of only two remaining Microsoft-published titles for this fall. We're still impressed, but now we just want the whole enchilada, not just little nibbles.



3. Rainbow Six Vegas
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Squad-based first-person shooter
Number of Players: 1-16
Release Date: November 7, 2006

There is nothing quite as sweet as sneaking through a flashy Vegas hotel with squad of friends and moving in for the kill on a bunch of no-good terrorists. Ubisoft wowed us with its real-time demo at E3 and each time we see the game, we're alternately ecstatic that it's coming out this fall and scratching out heads in disbelief that it really is coming out this fall. Ubisoft has cranked up the AI, given us Ghost Recon-like graphics and shaders, and thanks to the unbelievable flash town that Vegas is, you're going to fully enjoy a bonanza of special effects. The worm cams and enemy tags, and the streamlined HUD make this potentially one of the best games in the series (and make up for the last Rainbow Six game, which fell by the wayside). Ubisoft is set to impress again.



2. Mass Effect
Developer: BioWare
Publisher: Microsoft
Genre: RPG
Number of Players: 1
Release Date: TBA 2007

Once again the Canadian company BioWare showed us why it's the number one rated RPG developer in the West. Mass Effect shows off the next-generation hardware with some of the most impressive set of character animations we've ever seen in a game -- with never-seen-before eye movement, body language, and facial expressions. We witnessed an impressive 3D planetary map, which visually portrays the rich galaxy you'll eventually explore, and we learned more about your squad's AI. The Mako, your jump-jet powered six-wheeled vehicle, also makes its first appearance in real-time play, and it too is totally impressive. Like Gears of War, we've just seen snippets of action and combat, but considering how much larger BioWare's game is, there is very little not to like here. If only it were already 2007...



1. BioShock
Developer: Irrational Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Genre: First-person RPG
Number of Players: 1
Release Date: Spring 2007

Following its excellent E3 debut and the 15-minute video (exclusively premiered on IGN), Irrational came to X06 with a one-two punch of pre-rendered video and a totally new in-game demo behind closed doors. All the things that have been said about BioShock before are still true: The art direction is gorgeous, the technology is impressive, and the gameplay comprises shooting, spell-casting, technology manipulation, and the use of your brain, all while following a System Shock 2-style story that is sure to needle, thwart, and haunt you. The behind-closed-doors demo showed off pure gameplay in the form of multiple on-the-fly choices and instruction on how to kill the unbelievably tough Big Daddy (the big dude in the diving suit). Flaming teddy bears were telekinetically thrown across the room, grenades were magically caught and hurled, and irritant was cast to distract splicers and other creepy former humans. If anything, we're more psyched about BioShock than ever.