Fallout New Vegas Developer Diary #4 – Factions

Posted on by
Reply

It’s Friday, so that means Obsidian Entertainment have released another Fallout: New Vegas developer diary. In this latest developer diary, the team behind Fallout: New Vegas tell us a bit about the different factions in the game and how interacting with them can change the dynamics of New Vegas.

The developers explain how they want the Fallout: New Vegas player to interact with a large number of different groups, and that there are no ‘black and white’ decisions. There is no good, or evil and Fallout: New Vegas is developed in such a way that the player will have a hesitation before joining a faction, while they think about whether it’s the right thing to do.

We’re also told a bit about the main factions competing for power in the Fallout: New Vegas Mojave Wastelands. The New California Republic, or NCR for short, are the government of the New Vegas area. However, we’re told that the NCR has grown to big for its own good and is now struggling to control its territory and protect its citizens.

Meanwhile, Cesar’s Legion are a group of slavers coming from the east and conquering all that they come across. They’re fighting against the NCR, with the two factions in a stalemate at the Hoover Dam, the most important point in the New Vegas area.

The third major faction in Fallout: New Vegasremains rather mysterious, but what the developers do reveal is that its led by ‘Mr House’ and he doesn’t want NCR to take control of the New Vegas strip.

In addition to these three major factions, Fallout: New Vegas will have many smaller factions each with their own politics and ideologies. The developers say the decisions you make as to which of these you help will really make a difference to the Fallout: New Vegas game world. Of course, you also have the option of playing Fallout: New Vegas and not helping anyone at all…

You can watch Fallout New Vegas Developer Diary #4 – Factions, below.


For a more in depth look at Fallout: New Vegas, be sure to check out our preview. Alternatively you can watch the previous Fallout: New Vegas developer diaries about The Story, Tech & Sound, and Art Direction.

And while you’re at it, why not read advice from Fallout: New Vegas senior designer Chris Avellone about breaking into the games industry.

Fallout: New Vegas is release on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC on October 22nd.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts about the freedom of choice in Fallout: New Vegas? And what faction can you see yourself joining?

As usual, leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Eurogamer Expo: Enslaved Developer Session with Ninja Theory’s Tameem Antoniades

Posted on by
Reply

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West hits the shelves today, and after getting a decent hands on with it at Eurogamer, I hope its successful title for developers Ninja Theory. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West has been received positively by the gaming press, and arguably rightly so given the effort that Ninja Theory went through to produce their latest title.

Ninja Theory Chief Designer and the main man behind Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Tameem Antoniades hosted a Sunday developer session at the Eurogamer Expo, and it was very interesting indeed. The session provided a massive insight into the development and production of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and was well received by the audience. Many who attended the Ninja Theory developer session had been queuing for up to an hour, but the wait was surely worth it!

Tameem Antoniades provided a very interesting talk, which would have been useful to any Train2Game student. However, if you didn’t manage to make it to the Ninja Theory developer session, fear not, for I was there. So here’s a look at the development of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West.

For those unfamiliar with Ninja Theory, they’re a development studio based in Cambridge, and were responsible for the highly acclaimed, PlayStation 3 exclusive, Heavenly Sword back in 2007. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is their first multiplatform title but it looks set to improve upon the already excellent story telling of Heavenly Sword. Ninja Theory’s next title will be DmC, a reboot of the Devil May Cry series.

But for the past three years, the main focus of Ninja Theory has been on producing Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. To start the Eurogamer developer session, Tameem explained that the original concept of Enslaved was to produce a game based on “a buddy road movie” exploring the relationship between two main characters.

But of course, an idea alone can’t make a game, so what Ninja Theory did next was to produce a concept trailer. Tameem explained that this trailer was pieced together by Ninja Theory, using various clips from unrelated films and TV programmes to show the main themes behind Enslaved.

The concept trailer is three years old, and we in the audience were lucky enough to be the first people to see it in public. The trailer was very cinematic, and full of robots, martial arts and Eastern themes. At this point the game was called Monkey: Journey to the West, but needed to be changed to Enslaved: Odyssey to the West for copyright reasons.

We then got to see another trailer for Enslaved, and this too was a first public viewing. In order to try and get a publisher on board, Ninja Theory produced a CGI trailer for Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. This was produced almost three years ago and shows that the original concept of Enslaved was a lot darker than the game that’s been released today, but it was very impressive nonetheless. Tameem Antoniades stressed the importance of game studios producing good concept trailers, explaining that “Better trailers are more likely to be signed up” If that isn’t sound advice for Train2Game students, I don’t know what is!

The Ninja Theory Chief Designer then went on to discuss developing the art style of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, complete with plenty of images to illustrate the changes that occurred during development.

In the beginning, Monkey looked a lot more like a primate, with Tameem explaining that the character was originally based on a Gorilla in Barcelona zoo. The concept art for Trip was rather different to the somewhat innocent character in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. The original designers were darker, more gothic, some would say sexier: the concept designs of Trip in a very low top raised many an eyebrow.

Tameem explained that when Ninja Theory were casting for the role of Trip, they sent this concept out work to agencies in order to get women who actually looked like the character. However, the developers were surprised when 40 girls turned up, in costume, in the same outfit as the rather oddly dressed Trip! Who knew that actresses were so enthusiastic about playing roles in games?

Next, we were shown concept art for locations in Enslaved, and once again these looked very impressive. Tameem was keen to explain how Ninja Theory wanted the concept art to be evocative. Of course the next step was to take the concept art and put it in a 3D environment. These art style tests involved creating 3D landscapes with cameras panning all around them in order to make sure they had the right feel for developing further. All this effort before even a single game level is produced!

We also got to see some exclusive character style and animation tests that were produced early in the development of Enslaved.  Tameem explained that this was much like casting the characters, with every movement they make in-game based on these original tests. Naturally, Monkey’s movement style is rather beast like with his own distinct style of running and jumping. Meanwhile, a more comic character in the form of Pigsy is slower, and bumbles a lot more. Still, in these basic tests it was entirely possible to see that the characters were already taking shape…and that was before the actors got involved.

Ninja Theory are well known for their use of actors and motion capture in games and Enslaved is no different. We got to see yet another exclusive video showing Andy Serkis – who plays Monkey – performing tests for motion capture in order to research facial movements. This involved the actor spouting random lines, most of which made no sense whatsoever! Tameem explained that when it comes to the characters faces, the only thing that’s added artificially is the eyes.

We also got to see plenty of clips showing the actors doing what they do best, acting! It was amazing to see how the main actors were interacting with each other, and items around them, then seeing their movements translated perfectly onto the characters in the in-game world. Motion capture in games surely has to be the way forward. The acting in Enslaved could equal that of any film.

Tameem closed the Eurogamer developer session by discussing writing for Enslaved, and the influence of Hollywood screen writer Alex Garland. We were shown an early scene from the game in which Monkey and Trip needed to get over a bridge. The dialogue went on for awhile, and Tameem explained how Garland pointed how scenes, in both films and games, should conform to “one scene for one purpose” We then got to see the final cut of the scene, with flowed a lot better than the original version. Apparently, Antoniades and Garland then repeated this process for most scenes in the game.

As you can clearly see, a lot of work went into producing Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, with development from concept to release taking three years. If you want to learn even more about the game, you can take a look at this developer diary from Ninja Theory.

Still not had your lust for information from developers tended to? Then why not read about the Shogun 2: Total War developer session from Mike Simpson of The Creative Assembly.

So, what are your thoughts on the Enslaved developer session? Does it provide you with a better insight into how games production works? Has it made you keener to produce games?

As usual, leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

GoldenEye 007 for Nintendo Wii trailer

Posted on by
Reply

GoldenEyeEurocom has released a trailer for their upcoming Nintendo Wii remake of the classic N64 title GoldenEye 007. It’s hard to believe that the original GoldenEye 007 game was released on the N64 13 years ago all the way back in 1997. Eurocom say that this update is the GoldenEye for today.

Of course, Bond is a bit different now compared to the early 1990’s so the first major change -discounting the massive graphical upgrade- is that you’ll be playing as Daniel Craig’s Bond, rather than the Pierce Brosnan of the original GoldenEye. Daniel Craig himself provides the voice work, so GoldenEye 007 looks set to have that authentic Bond feel.

The story has also changed in some areas, in order to make GoldenEye 007 relevant to today’s world. Of course, the new updated GoldenEye 007 will give you the opportunity to use Bond’s famous gadgets, but with a modern twist. For example, the original GoldenEye 007 saw you using a watch to scan documents, while now you’ll use a mobile phone.

What the updated GoldenEye 007 for Nintendo Wii will retain is the wide variety of options as to how to complete missions. Do you go in all guns blazing? Or will you choose to be a stealthier, smarter bond?

Naturally, the new GoldenEye 007 retains the N64 versions awesome multiplayer, with classic characters like Oddjob and Jaws making an appearance. You can check out both single player and multiplayer footage from GoldenEye 007 in the trailer below.


GoldenEye 007 is scheduled for release on the Nintendo Wii on November 5th, and will be published by Activision.

So Train2Game, are you interested in the revamped GoldenEye 007? Do you think it looks impressive for a Nintendo Wii title? And what classic games would you like to see get remade with modern technology?

You can leave your thoughts about GoldenEye 007 here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

World of Warcraft tops 12 million subscribers

Posted on by
Reply

World of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft now has over 12 million monthly subscribers, according to publisher Activision. This achievement the Blizzard MMO comes in the wake of World of Warcraft expansion pack two, World of Warcraft: The Wrath of the Lich King, being released in China.

The impressive thing is that the number isn’t a cumulative total of every single person who’s ever subscribed to World of Warcraft, then perhaps stopped playing. Rather, the numbers from Activision show that there are 12 million people worldwide who are currently subscribed to World of Warcraft.

Wow, that’s a lot of money being made from World of Warcraft subscriptions.

“The support and enthusiasm that gamers across the world continue to show for World of Warcraft reaffirms our belief that it offers one of the best entertainment values available today,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment.

“We are as committed as ever to taking the game to new heights, and we look forward to demonstrating that with Cataclysm in December.”

Yep,  the momentum of World of Warcraft looks set to continue, with this announcement following the confirmation that expansion pack number three, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, is set to be released on December 7th.

The definition of a World of Warcraft subscriber according to Activision Blizzard is as follows:

World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees’ territories are defined along the same rules.

So Train2Game, are you a World of Warcraft subscriber? If so, what keeps you coming back for more? If you’re not a World of Warcraft subscriber, what puts you off the game?

You can leave your thoughts on World of Warcraft, or World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Shogun 2: Total War – Eurogamer Developer Session Preview

Posted on by
Reply

The Eurogamer Expo offered us numerous treats in the form of games to play, but there were also plenty of Developer Sessions. These talks involved top industry experts not only showing off footage of games, many of which aren’t released until well into next year, but also gave the audiences a fantastic insight into the world of full-time video games development. If any Train2Game students braved queues and made it into any of the developer sessions, it was worth it!

Judging by the size of the queue to see it, the Shogun 2: Total War developer session with creator Mike Simpson, was one of the most popular of the Eurogamer Expo. Naturally The Creative Assembly man didn’t disappoint, offering fantastic insights into the history of the Total War series, the development of the game, and what new features we can expect from Shogun 2: Total War.

For those who may be unfamiliar with Total War, it’s a series of strategy games that combine turn based and real time features, produced by Sussex based developers The Creative Assembly. Each game in the Total War series has been based on a specific period of history with emphasis on units, weapons and scenarios that are true of the era.  The Total War series is exclusive to the PC and each game, beginning with of Shogun: Total War in 1999, has been highly successful.

But how did the critically acclaimed Total War series begin? Mike Simpson was entirely truthful with the conference hall when he said Shogun: Total War began “by accident.”

The Creative Assembly originally wanted to develop an RPG based around ancient Chinese novel, Monkey: Journey to the West. (Yes, the very same text that inspired Enslaved: Odyssey to the West!) However, development of this idea proved difficult, so The Creative Assembly decided to go for a different angle.

ogun 2: Total War soldiers

Mike Simpson freely admitted that the main idea behind Shogun: Total War, was to produce a Command & Conquer clone and base it in Sengoku period Japan. The production took another turn when the 3D effects card became available, allowing the developers to design Shogun: Total War in an entirely 3D landscape. The strategy game, based around warring clans and with the aim of uniting the whole of Japan, was released in June 2000 and became a massive success.  The Total War idea evolved over a decade with the release of Medieval: Total War, Rome: Total War, Medieval 2: Total War, and Empire: Total War. Each game was a historically accurate representation of the era it was based in.

Now, ten years on from the game that started it all, Creative Assembly are developing a true sequel to Shogun: Total War. But why now, why develop Shogun 2: Total War at this stage? Mike Simpson gave a simple answer, because they wanted to! Feudal Japan is the studios favourite historical era and they feel there is fan interest in a Shogun 2: Total War game.

Those attending the Shogun 2: Total War developer session were treated to information about new features in the game. These included a new skills and experience system used for upgrading units, and unique Battlefield Heroes, single powerful characters who are upgraded through an RPG style level up system.  Mike Simpson also told the audience about the introduction of siege battles into Shogun 2: Total War, catering for the unique design of feudal Japanese castles. Shogun 2: Total War will also feature “something revolutionary” when it comes to multiplayer, with The Creative Assembly keeping their cards very close to their chest with this one. The new features for Shogun 2 definitely look like they’ll expand on the already excellent gameplay of the Total War series. As Mike Simpson pointed out, every feature in Shogun 2: Total War will be based on a total of 14 years of coding and development.

Shogun 2: Total War Naval Units

We got a look at a Shogun 2: Total War gameplay demo on the halls big screen, and visually it looks very impressive. Weather and environment are set to play a big role in Shogun 2: Total War battles, which can change dynamics for the up to 56,000 soldiers that can be involved. Simpson talked us through a battle between two of the nine Shogun 2: Total War factions and demonstrated how different units, abilities and tactics will be essential in the quest to unite 16th century Japan. Naval battles will also be a part of Shogun 2: Total War and the audience got an exclusive look at some of the new units.

Of course, Shogun 2 isn’t all about real time strategy, with turn based decision making also making up a massive part of Total War games. This part of Shogun 2: Total war takes place on a fully 3D and rather beautiful map of the game world. Naturally, the aim is that your faction starts off in one corner of the country, before eventually exploring the rest of the game world and becoming the Shogun of all of Japan.

During the turn based part of Shogun 2: Total War, you can attempt to gain the upper hand over your enemies by sending individual characters including Ninjas and Geishas to take out enemy generals, or sabotage towns. These ‘events’ now have their own movies, two of which Mike Simpson showed the hall. You can watch the Shogun 2: Total War (rather bumbling)Ninja Assassination event video below, and get yourself a look at the new 3D world in the process. Creative Assembly’s community manager Kieron Brigde talks us through it.


Mike Simpson says there’s no specific release date of Shogun 2: Total War as of yet, because the game will only be released when it’s suitably playable. However, we can probably expect Shogun 2: Total War to arrive on the PC sometime during 2011.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Shogun 2: Total War? Are you a fan of the Total War series? If so what do you think about the new features? And what do you think about the early development of the series?

You can leave your thoughts on the Eurogamer Expo Shogun 2: Total War developer session, here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West hands on at Eurogamer

Posted on by
Reply

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West from Ninja Theory is a game that I’m very much looking forward to.  The title is released on October 8th, but it was available to play at the Eurogamer Expo.

Of course, the Eurogamer Expo was a busy event so I needed to wait until almost the end of the show on Sunday before getting to spend quality time with Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, but boy, was it worth it. It provided me with probably the best 30 minutes of my entire Eurogamer Experience.

Be warned, if you plan on purchasing Enslaved: Odyssey to the West in the near future, don’t want to know what happens in the first two chapters, you should read no further. Here be spoilers.

But why not enjoy this fascinating Enslaved: Odyssey to the West developer diary instead?

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

For those unfamiliar with Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, its an action adventure game developed by Cambridge based developers Ninja Theory. It’s loosely based upon the ancient Chinese novel, Journey to the West, but with a futuristic adaptation to the classic tale. The story focuses around two characters, a man named Monkey and a woman called Trip. Monkey provides the player controlled muscle of the partnership while Trip provides the brains. However, this is a forced partnership with Trip having placed a Slavers headband on Monkey in order for him to help her travel across a post-apocalyptic North America and get home. Monkey is therefore compelled to aid Trip, because so long as he wears the head band, if she dies, he dies.

But, this isn’t how the game starts and when Chapter 1 begins Monkey and Trip don’t know each other.  However, they’re both trapped inside pods on a slave airship and through Monkey’s eyes we see Trip escaping thanks to her technological skills. Soon problems start within the airship and Monkey is able to escape from his broken pod, thus putting the player in control of the main character.

With explosions throughout the airship, and clever camera angles, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West immediately feels like a cinematic experience. The opening section is more or less a tutorial explaining how to run, climb and jump through a variety of increasingly dangerous sections of the ship. Monkey is following Trip at this point but unaware of who Monkey is, Trip is closing doors behind her, thus forcing Monkey to jump and climb around the ship.

Combat is also introduced in Chapter One of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West through a series of battles with Mechs. The controls are simple but combat is satisfying enough. Monkey can employ a mix of heavy, light, ranged and counter attacks. However, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West isn’t a mindless hack and slash affair, and you’ll need to be tactical in order to succeed. Beat a mech during battle and Monkey can finish them with one of many nice finishers that will be seen from a variety of different angles.

After fighting off some more Mechs, and some more fast paced climbing and jumping, Monkey escapes the airship…through clinging to the outside of Trips’s escape pod.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

When Monkey comes round he discovers that Trip has placed the aforementioned Slavers headband on him, and as you’d imagine, he’s not best pleased. Its here we get our first taste of not only the relationship that’ll develop between Monkey and Trip, but also the quality of the acting in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West.  As you’ll know if you’ve watched one of Ninja Theory’s Enslaved developer diaries actors including Andy Serkis used motion capture to film the scenes together and they really do stand up against anything you’ll see in a film.

Of course, it helps that Enslaved: Odyssey to the West looks fantastic. The game may take place in a the warn torn, post apocalyptic environment of North America, but this isn’t  yet another game filled with brown pallet after brown pallet. The second Chapter of Enslaved is filled with an assortment of bright colours as you make your way through a New York city which may have been partially destroyed by war, but that doesn’t prevent nature reclaiming the city.

Unfortunately, my busy schedule meant that shortly after starting Chapter 2, I needed to stop playing Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. However, my taster was enough to convince me that it’s going to be a great game.

Later on in the week, I’ll give you an insight into the production of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West I gained by attending one of the Eurogamer Expo developer sessions.

In the meantime, you what are your thoughts about Enslaved: Odyssey to the West? Is it a game you will be buying? Or would you rather stick to franchises that you know? Maybe Enslaved is a game you’ll buy once the price drops?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts on Enslaved: Odyssey to the West here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Call of Duty: Black Ops gets 3D support

Posted on by
Reply

Call of Duty: Black OpsCall of Duty: Black Ops will have full 3D support say publisher Activision. That means so long as you have a 3D-ready HD TV or a PC with active shutter 3D glasses, you’ll be able to play Call of Duty: Black Ops in 3D.

Activision claims that 3D will deliver ‘true depth of field and an unprecedented level of immersion that is perfectly suited for the Call of Duty Black Ops experience.

“Development of stereoscopic 3D began as an R&D project, but once we saw what the technology brought to the Call of Duty experience, what a great fit and how immersive it was, we knew that we had to develop it for Black Ops. Aiming down the sights of your weapons, flying in helicopters, rappelling down mountains, and moving through highly detailed environments are just some of the awesome experiences you will have in 3D with Black Ops. “said Mark Lamia, Studio Head of Treyarch, the developers of Call of Duty: Black Ops.

He added: “we made sure the experience is seamless for gamers to use with a simple menu option to enable stereoscopic 3D or disable it at any time whether playing in the [Call of Duty: Black Ops] single player campaign, multiplayer or Zombies.”

This is the latest in a line of Call of Duty: Black Ops announcements.  Only last week did Activision confirm that Call of Duty: Black Ops will see the return of the popular multiplayer zombie mode, originally introduced in Call of Duty: World at War.

Call of Duty: Black Ops will feature an all star cast and is set for release on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC on November 9th. For a taster of what you can expect from Call of Duty: Black Ops, you can watch a multiplayer trailer here.

So Train2Game, what do you think about this latest Call of Duty: Black Ops announcement? Will playing Call of Duty: Black Ops do much to enhance the game? Or do you think it’s too early for Activision and Treyarch to be pushing 3D into Call of Duty: Black Ops?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

FIFA 11 breaks records with 2.6 million sales

Posted on by
Reply

FIFA 11FIFA 11 has become the fastest selling sports title of all time. Publisher EA has confirmed that 2.6 copies of FIFA 11 were sold worldwide in the mere days that it’s been on sale.  The popularity of FIFA 11 has already grossed EA $150 million in sales.

EA state that other ‘notable accomplishments’ for FIFA 11 since the games release include:

state that other ‘notable accomplishments’ for FIFA 11 since the games release include:

  • FIFA 11 sell-through is estimated to be up 29 percent over last year’s record-breaking launch. FIFA 11 is estimated to have grossed more than $150M at retail.
  • October 1-2 – the first two days after FIFA 11 launched in Europe – was the busiest two-day period for online gaming in EA SPORTS history. Fans registered more than 18.6 million online connected EA SPORTS game sessions overall, including more than 11.3 million of FIFA 11, in that two-day period.
  • FIFA 11 has earned 58 review scores of 90 or better around the world, including perfect marks from Gameblog.fr, Eurogamer Italy, PlayStation Life Style and Match magazine and Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK. GamesMaster Magazine (UK) proclaimed that FIFA 11 is “the best football game ever,” while OPM UK raves FIFA 11 is “as close to footballing perfection as we’ve ever seen in a videogame.”

President of EA Sports, Peter Moore, has lauded the record breaking success of FIFA 11.

“This is a landmark achievement for EA SPORTS – we’ve shattered sales records at retail, critics are praising FIFA 11 as being one of the most authentic and innovative titles ever, and fans are connecting and competing with other gamers around the world and have logged a record number of online connected game sessions.” He said.

Moore also announced that FIFA 11 ‘The Ultimate Team’ DLC, due for release in November, will be free.

“We’re thrilled at how fans embraced FIFA 11 last weekend, and we are excited to be able to offer one of our most popular game modes – FIFA 11 Ultimate Team – for free this November.”

The release of the much anticipated FIFA 11 saw retailers engaging in a price war in order to attract customers, while its success naturally saw FIFA 11 topping the GFK Chart-Track All formats software chart, whilst becoming the third highest selling debut week title in the UK.

If you’re still yet to be convinced by FIFA 11, find out how you can play not only the FIFA 11 demo, but also the PES 2011 demo in this previous Train2Game blog post.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the success of FIFA 11? Is it good for the games industry? And have you played FIFA 11?

As usual, leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog or on the Train2Game forum.

Summary: Eurogamer Expo 2010

Posted on by
Reply

EurogamerTrain2Game was at the Eurogamer Expo over the weekend and naturally so was I. During my time inside Earls Court not only did I get hands on time with a number of upcoming games, but I also attended some very interesting Developer Sessions.

Future blogs will go into much more detail about my impressions of the Eurogamer Expo, but here is a summary of what I saw, what I played, and  some initial impressions of what I found out.

Killzone 3 looks good in 3D…probably.

The first game I played at the Eurogamer Expo was Killzone 3, which can probably be considered odd that I’ve not played a Killzone title before. (Though I did almost buy Killzone 2 once) The main attraction of Killzone 3 was not only an opportunity to play a game that’s not released until February 2011, but to experience a game in 3D for the first time.

I excitedly sat down, put the PlayStation 3 controller in my lap, then picked up the 3D glasses. Unfortunately, 3D glasses don’t fit over regular glasses, which marred my entire experience. My time spent playing Killzone 3 was effectively played in double vision! It’s bound to be a good game, but I couldn’t get to grips with Killzone 3 due to my need for regular glasses.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood introduces a new type of multiplayer experience.

The Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood multiplayer mode got its first public showing in the UK at the Eurogamer Expo and due to its popularity, I didn’t get much time to play the game. However, after watching others play the Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood multiplayer mode, it’s clear that it certainly does bring something different to the multiplayer table. This isn’t just aiming weapons in the direction of your enemy and hoping for the best, it’s all about stealth and cunning as you try to take out one specific target. Expect more on Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood later this week.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is rather impressive.

As the evening arrived, the Eurogamer Expo started getting quieter so I was able to sit down and spend a good half hour playing Ninja Theory’s upcoming title Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. I played through the first chapter and a half of the game, and this short introduction suggests that everything is fitting into place nicely. There’ll be a full article about my time playing Enslaved: Odyssey to the West later this week. And in addition to this you’ll see…

… insights into the development of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West.

Ninja Theory’s Tameem Antoniades provided and interesting Developer session about the production of Enslaved. He took us through how the game was made right from the basic concept, through character design, to script writing with Alex Garland and ‘filming’ the scenes using motion capture. Again, expect to see more about this later in the week.

Now of course this isn’t everything I experienced at the Eurogamer Expo, but is just a mere taster. In upcoming blogs not only can you expect to see more about these games, but also about others including Medal of Honor, Gears of War 3 and Marvel is Capcom 3.

In the meantime, what were your highlights of the Eurogamer Expo?

As usual, leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog or on the Train2Game forum.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm coming December 7th

Posted on by
Reply

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm goblinsWorld of Warcraft: Cataclysm will be available from December 7th. The release date of the highly anticipated expansion to World of Warcraft was revealed by publisher Activision Blizzard.

The Cataclysm expansion pack will dramatically change the world of Azeroth, and allow World of Warcraft players to take part in new missions, level their World of Warcraft characters up to level 85 and play the worlds’ most successful MMO as two new races – worgen and goblins.

The official announcement about when World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is released comes after rumours on fan sites including MMO Champion and WoWHead. CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Morhaime, says World of Wacraft: Cataclysm will be good for both old and new Wow players.

“Cataclysm includes the best content we’ve ever created for World of Warcraft. It’s not just an expansion, but a re-creation of much of the original Azeroth, complete with epic new high-level adventures for current players and a redesigned levelling experience for those just starting out.”

“With the help of our beta testers, we’re putting on the final polish, and we look forward to welcoming gamers around the world to enjoy it in just a couple of months.”

Activision Blizzard keenly point out in their press release that the first two World of Warcraft expansions, The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, both broke PC game sales records upon their release. These PC game sales records were broken earlier this year by another Activision Blizzard title, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. The publisher must therefore be expecting another big payday when World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is released on December 7th!

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will be available on DVD-Rom and as a digital download at a ‘suggested retail price of $39.99’ If you’re so inclined you’ll also be able to pick up a World of Warcraft: Cataclysm ‘special Collector’s Edition packed with bonus items will be available exclusively in retail stores for a suggested retail price of $79.99’

The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm beta test is currently underway, and you can sign up for a chance to participate on the official Battle.net website.

So Train2Game, are you a World of Warcraft player? If so are you interested in World of Warcraft Cataclysm? Are you already tempted to attend a midnight launch? And could World of Warcraft Cataclysm replace Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty as the fastest selling PC title of all time?

You can leave your thoughts on World of Wracraft: Cataclysm here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.