[X360] Summer Showcase

[.:|Physalis|:.]

Over the past couple of days here in New York City, Microsoft has been in town playing host to a few NYC game journos, giving us the opportunity to test drive all the latest titles you'll be seeing soon and even some peripherals, like the Xbox 360 camera.

The games I'll talk about are Gears of War, The World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions, Dead Rising, Call of Duty 3, NBA 2K7, WWE: Smackdown vs. Raw, and Tony Hawk's Project 8. Check out my impressions after the break.


Gears of War

CliffyB and a few of the Epic boys were here to show off what appeared to be the same single-player build showcased at E3. There wasn't a whole lot new here; however, having Cliffy personally walk you through got the adrenaline pumping to finally play this game on Nov. 12 Emergence Day.

For those that don't know, here's the basic rundown of what to expect: the game's story takes place over a 36 hour period (this is not how long it will take to play); the A.I. can basically do everything you can do -- so no mindless zombie drones here; third-person camera view; 4v4 multiplayer; you have a friggin' chainsaw on your gun!

And that about does it. As mentioned in my sit down with Cliffy earlier, the game is all about intimate violence. The action feels perfectly paced, and the visuals are nothing short of stunning. While going through the level, I didn't notice any particular screen tearing or slowdown and there were no frame rate issues either. So, by all means, the game looks good ... I'd even say demo-good. Though, Cliffy was very quiet on a possible demo coming anytime soon.

Whether or not the team can really pull it off in the final product remains to be seen. But, they've got a good start going.


World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions

Not to be confused with the previously announced XBLA poker title, the World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions is a retail game by Activision that simultaneously launches with the Xbox 360 camera on September 19.

To differentiate itself from the aforementioned XBLA game, WSP will take full advantage of the camera by not only letting you see the other players, but also map your purty little face to your character. No more moving sliders to get that perfect result, now you can just snap a few pics and be done with it.

Also, the game features a very robust single-player mode where you move up through the ranks and can participate in tournaments as large as 2,000 different players. There are around 30 pros involved who you'll recognize if your an avid viewer of poker on ESPN and various other networks.

After asking how the game would improve upon traditionally poor A.I. in poker games, I was told that the team behind the game went to the actual pros and asked them various poker-specific questions, and tweaked the A.I. accordingly. Seeing as how it is a next-gen game, the poker A.I. problem should be solved -- at least it oughta be.

Back to multiplayer. Players can set up to 9 to play at a table and host up to 21-player tournaments. As incentive to actually wanting to win -- rather than just going all in every time -- the game uses what are called collector chips that will unlock various hints and other content in the game. If you lose to someone, they could take your precious chip.

I was a little taken aback by this strategy as it really didn't seem to be much of an advantage or incentive. The XBLA version's idea of having a persistent bankroll and big money tournaments seemed more logical whereas in WSA, there is no continous bankroll. So, in essence, players will have to rely on finding a good steady set of friends to play with. Otherwise, you're gonna get a lot of Halo 2 kiddies ruining everyone's game each time you sit down.


Dead Rising

Let's get the most pressing question out of the way first. We all know this anticipated zombie killer will be out next week, but what we don't know is when the demo will hit Xbox Live so those still wary about it can test it out. I asked and (predictably) didn't get much of an answer. I was basically told, "Next week, probably, but maybe earlier."

So, there you have it. Maybe soon. Perhaps.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, I got to take hold of the controls and actually play this sucker. We all know the story, background, blah blah blah, but how does it play?

It plays fairly well, but not as clean and crisp as I would have liked. I didn't feel that certain sense of preciseness that I wanted. For instance, when trying to hit a zombie with a table or chair or whatever, I felt as if I couldn't line up correctly, that there was just this general sense of a "hit area," so to speak. When zoomed into first-person mode, again, it wasn't the smoothest thing in the world to aim.

Though the controls weren't perfect, it was, however, hella fun to play. The various weapons, zombie dodging, and variety of gameplay make this game what it is -- pure, gory fun. And who doesn't like that, huh? Zombies, that's who!

Let's not be mistaken though, this is not just a "kill as many zombies as you can" game. I was promised that Dead Rising actually has a compelling storyline and plot. Hmmm, zombie killer with a plot. I'll take it.


Call of Duty 3

Not only will this be a 360 and Wii title, but I was also told it will be a PS3 launch title as well. So, Sony fans, you're on notice.

As for the game itself, it's more of the same in the single player. But, after the disastrous multiplayer last year in CoD 2 for the 360, the CoD 3 team put an extreme amount of focus there.

Supporting up to 24 people, multiplayer will resemble something closer to the Battlefield series. You will have different classes to play and vehicles to use, there will be six different game modes, as well as a persistent online ranking system. As far as the lag we all experienced in CoD 2, I was told they're doing all they can to ensure that would not happen again. I'd keep your fingers crossed on that.

Two big additions making their way into CoD 3 are what is called "Battle Actions" (which are more in-depth button sequences) and branching mission paths (your commander may tell you two different ways to approach an enemy, giving you different ways to not only finish the game, but replay it).

As far as looks, this game is beautiful; most notable were the explosions and resulting smoke cloud. I can honestly say I've never seen anything look as realistic as this. If someone saw just that, there's absolutely no way they'd know it was a video game. Out of everything, I was most impressed at how real those 'splosions looked. Bravo, Treyarch.


NBA 2K7

Another year, another sports franchise game is out. The first thing I noticed when I sat down with the game is the way it looked. It was much more polished than 2K6, and actually looked like a next-gen basketball game this time around.

But, besides a graphical improvement, the game will now feature signature styles for star players. However Shaq dunks the ball or Steve Nash licks his fingers, you'll see it in this game. What a difference a year makes.

Also new is an included story mode called 24/7 Next. You play a streetball nobody and try to work your way up the circuit to God knows where. I'm not exactly sure why 2K decided to throw this mode in. I'd rather see more depth or improvements in the single player and multiplayer side, rather then some rinky dink story mode that most of us will never touch. Either way, it's there if you want it. But, I'll pass.


Tony Hawk's Project 8

I've got a confession to make: I hate Tony Hawk games. I played and appreciated the early efforts, but after a while, it just got to be really old for me. The series was just completely done in my mind, and after seeing that piss poor 360 version last year, I had completely buried it.

Thankfully, the guys at Neversoft were thinking the same thing. So, although Project 8 (by the way, another PS3 launch title) isn't completely revamped, it is improved enough to make those like me who gave up on the series pick the controller back up and skate.

But why? First, the game looks incredibly smooth and polished. With its Matrix-like slowdown effects and use of the control sticks for various moves, this game finally deserves that "next-gen" tag.

And, rather than just picking easy, medium or hard, the game is an open world where you're given more points depending on how well you do different tasks. Overall, it's a definite improvement from having to do goal A or B to move on.

I didn't have many concerns about the game, and that says a lot coming from someone who had been completely fed up with the entire series.


WWE: SmackDown vs. Raw

Why THQ decided to show off the game at this stage is beyond me. Still in development, the game was pretty much the buggiest thing I've ever seen out of any pre-Alpha or Alpha build. While playing the game, the rep from THQ and I had the game freeze on us several times, and really couldn't do much as the collision detection wasn't there for a lot of the moves. And lets not even get into the obnoxious load times. Keep in mind though, this was a very early build.

That being said, the game seems to be your standard fare wrestling game with all the bells and whistles you'd expect. There's not much to say about this game, because, really, it is what it is. Much like other sports games, there's just not much you can do with a wrestling game. You make your custom wrestler, do the storyline thing, bash some heads, and jump off some ladders. Been there, done that.

There are minor improvements here or there, so I'm sure if you're a huge WWE fan, you'll soak up this game in a heartbeat.

As far as the PSP version and its infamous load times, I was told that that will be fixed and won't be an issue this year. We'll just have to all believe it when we see it.