It just so happened that both Gamenscom Correspondents of Gamenscom this year visited the German Cologne for the first time. So we were fascinated at the famous cathedral, risking to miss all meetings, uncertainly studied local cards of the city, caught a taxi, standing right in the middle of a dangerous section of the road, and in the evening, on the way to the hotel, we waved away from the homeless people who for some reason invited us to drink with them Dubious liquids. All these misfortunes (like many others: see. the corresponding note at the very end of the report) still did not stop us from looking from two dozen of different games, talking with their authors, playing ourselves, and most importantly – tell you all about it to all of you. The next almost three dozen pages should be enough to make a clear idea of what you and I will play at the end of this and beginning of the next year.
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Star Wars 1313
Happy number
A new game in understanding what universe George Lucas was shown in a small office … At the Activision Blizzard stand. Moreover, to the show, we were invited by the same PR man who, half an hour before, arranged for us an interview on the new Call of Duty. But there was no time to find out on the basis of which two companies made friends this time: the developers have already warmed up a hefty screen. Lucasarts showed not only the very technoderma with E3, small video caps from which have been walking on the Internet for several months now, but also new documentary frames about the creation of a game, where bearded people spoke again, as many people, including filmmakers, work on Star Wars 1313. The demo itself worked in real time on a loudly buzzing PC, in which, according to the developers, Nvidia hid some such incredibly powerful video card that you better not know.
[[Bullet]] shows that no one has yet worked on gameplay: the hero fights in the demonstrated version exactly one and a half seconds.
The authors immediately emphasized that the projected project, which is in the initial stage of development, is actually only an alpha pitch. Only the concept is more or less approved, and otherwise the game is finished daily and painted over. Even the main character in the coming months can change dramatically. According to the plot, you will have to manage a young and daring mercenary, who, in the company of a more elderly comrade, goes to the level of 1313 of the inside of the planet Coruscant, which is one giant city. There, the hero will plunge into the rotten life of criminal elements and reveal some incredibly vile plot. The mentioned level ideologically fully corresponds to its unlucky ordinal number – incredible chaos reigns there, lawlessness and disassembly, and even droids can rape in dark alleys.
[[Bullet]] So far, all available shots from Star Wars 1313 are blurry underground paparazzi.
A light sword and stages with force, of course, no one will trust the mercenary (although the authors do not exclude that some Jedi or Sith can still meet during the game). Instead, the players will open a slightly unusual gaming process for Star Wars, where you will have to use various high -tech gadgets, shoot a lot, roll between shelters, and sometimes even crawl along vertical surfaces, pound enemies with a butt on the head and push it out from the cliffs. Here you feel in many ways Uncharted , that probably only benefits. Moreover, visually the Star Wars 1313 is simply amazing – from facial expressions, animation, special effects and billion details caught breathing. The fact that the project is created on Unreal Engine 3, does not decisively fit in the head. After a lively demonstration on the big screen, it becomes clear why the developers in every possible way avoid talking about targeted platforms – on the consoles of this generation, we are unlikely to see the game.
Star Wars 1313 is one of those few projects that make it possible to look at the possibilities of hypothetical Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 prematurely. And although with the game itself it is not enough to understand at least to observe such spectacular showdowns in a distant galaxy. We will be interested. It is a pity that when the game reaches the counters, then such a visual level will surely become commonplace.
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German electric art
The results of the Electronic Arts press conference
As in the case of E3 2012, she held her press conference on Gamescom EA as safely and calmly as possible. The main announcement, the new part of Army of Two, the company announced a week before the event, and at the exhibition itself slowly showed everything, told and reported any specific facts. There was no particularly shocking news – it was clearly felt that the publisher was feeling good and, glancing, represents his standard game line for the next six months. They started a show with a demonstration of the game process The devil’s Cartel (see in detail about it. The next page), and then everything smoothly flowed into the appearance of Peter Moore, who protected the memorized speech about the gathered friends, a happy future and other standard things that listen to conferences are usually the most boring of. But the situation immediately saved the situation in a hockey uniform, who rolled out onto the stage, frightened Moore, cheerfully eranding off the stage, and became the starting point for the show yourself understand what sports simulator.
Further, one game replaced the other as fast as if someone feverishly switches the channels on TV. The publisher showed a new trailer, called one or two developers on stage who shared funny facts, giggled and reminded before leaving their projects. NHL 13 , where very, very many European teams will be represented (a little more only in FIFA 13 , Our review is already in this issue), then Need for Speed: Most Wanted And Medal of Honor: Warfighter. The executive producer of the latter, meanwhile, stated directly from the stage that in the multi -user mode, players will be able to fight for their own nations, which will serve as a magnificent interpretation of interethnic hatred in the game, as well as brutal murders on racers (we hope, virtual). We are looking forward to!
Before processing, the new part of Command & Conquer looked pretty impressive. We hope that it will not be about online.
The publisher did not forget about his other games. On the screen every now and then replaced each other Battlefield 3 , Dead Space 3 , Crysis 3 , Simcity And even Star Wars: The Old Republic , which they are now trying to pull out of the swamp of failure. Soon the peppy Peter Moore returned to the stage and started talking about Origin. A bunch of users, crazy innovations, as well as coming to Mac OS. The news about the digital platform among the audience was not met, but, apparently, the company has long been accustomed to this.
[[Bullet]] Each time we write about EA sports simulators, which, they say, is a little more-and you can’t distinguish from a living broadcast. And really, after all, just a little left!
In general, everything went quite expectedly: Electronic Arts prepares the next parts of already large series and eagerly looks towards Free-to-Play. Pretty shocking news – Command & Conquer: Generals 2, Which is almost heard from the announcement of the announcement, as such is canceled, it will become part of a more global conditionally-free game called … Well, yes, commander & Conquer. The solution is very unexpected, but still logical. To risk the release of an exclusive PC game on a traditional model want less and fewer large companies. For example, a conference Ubisoft In general, it was almost completely devoted to F2P projects: on parole, the rails moved and Silent Hunter , And The Settlers , And Heroes of Might and Magic. So, if you are still playing exclusively on a computer, be prepared for the fact that soon the traditional single games on this platform will almost not remain.
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Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel
Army revenue
The fate of the Army of Two series is more likely not ups, but falls. The first part from the side seemed to be a new word in cooperative action, but in fact, even a strong, peppy, but not as revolutionary as I would like, a militant, where it was fun to give a partner under the ass and encouraging him on the back under the squalling enemy fire. One way or another, the game shone brightly by his own Militari-Sharm, who had not yet had time to get bored, and this was quite enough for everyone to continue to continue immediately. Army of Two: The 40th Day, alas, could not deal with the problems of the original, and in addition offered a whole bouquet of new diseases. The levels became worse, the dynamics fell, all interesting situations disappeared somewhere. The second part was sold twice as worse than the predecessor (even taking into account the incomprehensible to anyone the PSP version needed), and met it a million times colder-and who after that hoped for the appearance of Army of Two 3?
[[Bullet]] It is possible that after the adventures in The Devil’s Cartel, new fighters will also choose their work as a calmer.
So the announcement Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel , held shortly before Gamescom, turned out to be a pleasant surprise. True, while the game existed only in the letters of the press release, some doubts crept in-the faceless names of the heroes (Alpha and Bravo, seriously scared away?), and this whole topic of the struggle against the Mexican drug cartel (the lot of second -rate militants). Yes, and the first shots somehow did not inspire: the Frostbite 2 graphic engine was raped to recognize, and the central characters, who for an incomprehensible reason were made by the strange doubles of Salem and Rios from the first two parts, cannot boast of the color of their prototypes. But it was worth the presentation to the action began, everything immediately fell into place. The spectacular murder of a helicopter pilot in Slo-Mo, an exploding technique with the salvation of a comrade in the last second … Everything is bright, juicy and with sparks-looks great, and most importantly, it gives the hope that the third part will consist of such moments that earlier in Army Of Two for some reason more often found only in KAT scenes.
[[Bullet]] Nothing is known about new cooperative chips, but you can always just stand with shoulder and shoulder and shoot from the hip!
Moreover, a violent young man is taken up for the matter. Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios have been familiar to you, deciding to tie with a cheerful fingertip and choose the life of an office plankton. Former heroes now manage their small military office, go in strict costumes, argue about the falls and ups of the shares at dinner, and also periodically give orders and tips for the younger generation of hired killers. New heroes, of course, are desperately trying to resemble their bosses, but it turns out dryly: soldier's jokes no longer go away, and the recruits somehow do not strive to put each other and throw their caps. We hope that they will nevertheless understand the release of several catchy obscene expressions and jokes of at least the level of secondary school.
Army of Two at one time shot mainly due to a joint campaign, and the experience of The 40th Day showed that this point is not enough for success, especially when the cooperative became the standard for almost all the action of this generation. So we really hope that the authors still have several surprises, in addition to large explosions. Which, you can’t refuse, are now really impressive.
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Keep your pocket wider
The results of the Sony press conference: what independent PS3 developers are doing and how the company saves Vita
At the Sony press conference, which was held on the eve of E3 2012, the corporation announced and showed wonderful things, but for some reason it greatly deprived her youngest console-PS vita (which things are going sadly now). The wave of panic and suicides among fans did not cause this, but upset many players who sincerely believed in the technical power of the new generation portable prefix, as well as in the promised stream of hits. As a result, only because of the weak attention to Vita, many media for some reason called the Sony conference the most failure on E3, although the platform holder performed more than worthy. The Japanese corporation with some frightening samurai endurance listened to all the negative in her address, smiled and retired to make plans for the future.
[[Bullet]] The editorial office of "Gambling" has long and tenderly loves Littlebigplanet, but, to be honest, the series begins to tire.
Little joys
Sony has almost completely devoted to the PS Vita event in Cologne. Even a few announcements associated with the PlayStation 3, as a result, flowed into the news about the portable console of the company: many new free games for subscribers PlayStation Plus, which will also appear on Vita, the new DLC for Littlebigplanet 2 , which will turn Vita into a tablet controller (Wii U answer, but only a pair of projects will maintain this method of management and only after the purchase of special DLC). The name of the portable prefix almost the entire conference was continuously rang in my head. For example, the presenter did not have time to name a couple of new characters from the PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (Sakboy, Dante and Ratche with the clan), as right away under the pathos melody loudly reported the game for Vita. A similar situation has touched the other two games – Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time And Ratchet & Clank OFORCE, which before that were expected only on PS3. In addition, they confirmed on the stage that, having bought these three projects for PlayStation 3, the player will get digital copies for PS Vita completely free of charge. Here it is, the real magic of the announced Cross Buy program, which, generally speaking, is very useful: why players should pay twice for one game, especially if the versions do not differ in any way?
[[Bullet]] from the experience of Heavy Rain, Tearaway, it may well begin with the instructions on how to put the main character in origami technique.
But all this seemed a prelude to something truly grandiose. For example, to the abnormal trembles of the announcements, the rumors of which on the eve of the event were some indecent number (most of all the premieres of the new IP from SUCKER PUNCH ).
So it should have turned out according to Sony: after a couple of general news, the announcements of new projects followed and the first details about the already known. The announcements concerned PS vita, the only catch was that they all have older brothers on large gaming systems. IN Killzone: Mercenary , Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation And Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified (About the last two cm. Our individual notes are further at the course) there seems to be the spirit of senior versions, but there is no getting away from the technical restrictions on the portable console. So the company still continues to release big games on a small console, cutting them in significant places. But a new game has stood out from Media Molecule , Creators of the Littlebigplanet series. Tearaway It looks great. She is funny, light and, most importantly, does not try to parody large blockbusters. The main role is in the main role-a sweet boy-courier, the whole world is as if cut out and composed of paper, and objects at the levels are controlled, including with your fingers: for example, you need to drum on a trampoline so that the hero takes off.
Rain, dolls and wonderful books
At the very end, when the Italians who were sitting on the side of us already ceased to understand where they are, and the girl who actively photographing the first part of the conference on a hefty tablet buried herself in the screen and played detachedly in Angry Birds , The long -awaited sounded: "And now there are three announcements". On the street the sun immediately looked out, and everyone immediately got rid of sleep, because it was obvious that Ps Vita Sony had already reported, and now the time came to PlayStation 3. While the possible projects that Sony were going to present to the public today, the first trailer went in my head with a whirlwind: the first trailer went: Until Dawn. The horror under Move about seven heroes who climb into a terrible abandoned house, get out of the fancy of hell, and then Jokabet Casino try to survive until the morning (about their controller of movements, the platform holder does not forget). The two remaining announcements were much brighter. Both games are created in the walls of talented Japan Studio , Both look cool. Rain – a meditative adventure about the invisible hero, gaining outlines in the pouring rain, and Puppeteer – Bright phantasmagoric platformer about a puppet theater and a boy with scissors trying to find a way home.
[[Bullet]] Hope, Until Dawn will not fall into the set of the mini-game "Dernie with his hand to go further".
I did not forget Sony and about the project announced on E3 Wonderbook. True, the company this time did without living demonstrations, and showed only trailers of games: funny and colorful Diggs NightCrawler , detective investigation in the spirit SAM & Max, as well as a joint project with BBC about walking with dinosaurs – that is what is called, Walking with Dinosaurs. Yes, Wonderbook is still a project, like a children's audience, but no one will condemn anyone if the adults look at this matter like that. At least for general development!
[[Bullet]] This Pighon Mucle is the main character Diggs NightCrawler.
In general, the conference is not a bad language conference does not turn, too much new things showed too much. There is not enough only some rod, the nail of the program, the announcement of something very more and very much expected. But with large games, the PS3 seems to be a complete order, so it remains only to wish good luck ps vita.
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Dust 514
Cosmic dust
An amazing Dust 514 project, which we really did not really take place in the magazine for the end of the development, refers to that special category of games that are much more interesting for people to read and listen to all the subtleties, what, in fact, is to watch or play. And the subtleties here are as follows: this is the first full-fledged F2P game on consoles (because of this, for obvious reasons, it ignores Xbox 360, where the conditionally paying model simply does not work), and also the first game that supports the complex cross-platform cooperative in games … of different genres!
[[Bullet]] used to say that there is no class division as such, but in fact, gameplay for heroes with different weapons is noticeably different.
The fact is that DUST 514 exists in the universe of a tender beloved online specialists of our editorial office of MMORPG Eve Online , although there is nothing between them in the mechanics, of course,. While PC players are exploring the Universe, conclude galactic coalitions and arrange universal wars that last months, PS3 users will engage in much more mundane things-local battles on the surface of the planets. The games are united not only by the general universe, but also by global chat for players and a single economic structure, and here you can order an orbital bombardment, which players from Eve will need to provide. You will be surprised, but the economic part is even more important than bombs from space: since DUST 514 is free by itself, and equipment and equipment here need to be bought for money, EVE magnates who are interested in certain wars can hire and sponsor entire armies.
[[Bullet]] technique in DUST 514 is monstrously managed. Here on this thing, for example, we immediately kissed with some kind of futuristic booth.
On Gamescom people from the Icelandic studio CCP Games (this is their first game since the release of EVE itself, although the development office is in Shanghai – away from unpronounceable volcanoes) showed how a single global card works, talked a little about how much time they pay to ensure that all the designs of the world and objects in Both games were completely coincided, and then put us to play. The beta version of the game is now available to the PlayStation Plus subscribers, the Bild was brought to Cologne, but we did not notice a particular difference, except that the version worked more stably. And at this moment, we, familiar with EVE, became exclusively superficial, it became boring: in separation from all the miraculous innovative things of Dust 514 described above, there is a level of the most ordinary online shooter of the level Section 8 At the time of the release. Local space war. A bunch of astronauts with bundles runs around some slurred structures, somewhere above them a couple of analogues of “Banshi” flies from them Halo , The tanks uncomfortable in management are swarmed, but it is not felt at all. Although there is a suspicion that the first orbital blow would immediately put everything in its place!
But the authors, it seems, do not even try to convince us with the fact that in Dust 514 you can play as the most ordinary shooter, and such brown things as ballistics, animation and design of cards, developers, it seems, do not excite them at all – they are at all It is important that you are deeply interested in the position of the economy in EVE, monitor the reports of the global fronts, and in parallel, probably swinging your own ship on PC while playing the shooter. And this approach, of course, has the right to exist, especially since such complex cross-platform experiments are best set on a devoted and verified audience. And for the results of this experiment, in any case, it will be interesting for us to observe.
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Dishonored
Bad reputation
We’ll make a reservation right away: to make an intelligible impression of such a large and complex game as Dishonored is impossible during a superficial acquaintance at the exhibition. Therefore, when we learned that we can play the new game Arkane Studios for an hour, we’ll even be more upset-it’s just that you get up, but you already have to run to some other presentations and meetings! So it happened. It was not possible to truly immerse yourself in Dishonored for the allotted sixty minutes, but what they took to the top, to be completely frank, is not so impressive.
[[Bullet]] For some reason, a luxurious ball came from half a dozen cripples, and all with weapons!
The location presented in demo resembles voil levels from Deus Ex. There is a space through which you can more or less freely move, there is a goal and many ways to achieve it (including those about which the authors themselves did not even suspect). The main character, the exhausted master of the Korvo blades, who was innocently condemned for the murder, under the cover of darkness delivered by boat to the magnificent mansion, where the carnival for nobles just began. Around – gloomy Victorian houses painted by Viktor Antonov, prickly fences and already familiar guards on tall devices similar to steam troops. Our goal is an important person at the festival, but, how to get to it, we have to decide right on the go.
[[Bullet]] We got a stand with PC, and next to colleagues from other publications played PS3, and for some reason their game looked several times more beautiful.
Passing this mission several times, we found at least two obvious ways and one non -obvious. You can, using a teleportation, get through a high fence that fences the courtyard at the house, join the party of high -lumatic aristocrats who went out into the street to breathe (Corvo, we remind you, always wear a mask), choose a pass that has fallen from one lady, return to the guard at the entrance and calmly pass to the ballroom. You can, sneaking on the other hand, get into nearby abandoned houses, fight with sick gopnik plague, delve into dusty cabinets and, having made several spectacular jumps from one window to another, go to the black entrance. There is a small battle with a bored guard, and here we again fall on the festival of the rich (this time, however, under the howl of sirens). As for the non-obvious way, we somehow managed to twist the guard at the entrance in such a specific way that she was forced to open the central gate to get to us,-then Corvo called on carnivorous rats, overcame everyone and squeezed everyone into the mansion. Then they rebooted four more times and tried to do the same thing – it did not work!
The problem of Dishonored is that separately all its components seem to be its own. If, having properly tuned in, to perceive the game as a whole, it immediately captivates, but at first it is annoyed by an outdated picture, then a rather conditional design of levels, then the animation curve, then fights that have not been evolved since time Dark Messiah. So, in order to once again make sure that everything is fine with the game, we immediately contacted the authors upon arrival and talked with them again about everything.
Gamemenia talked with the main people who, in fact, came up with Dishonored, by creative directors Rafael Kolantonio and Harvey Smith
We watched all the affordable gameplay video on the game and even played ourselves. It is difficult not to notice that you get a truly comprehensive, hardcore game, which is now few: the player will be able to control animals, teleport to any point at the level, use magic-and all this in an unusual setting and with a unique artistic style. Explain how you managed to convince the publisher to spend money on your entire experimental game?
It was a gradual process. At first we wanted to make a game in a mundane setting (covered by London Plague 1666). But then we began to add new layers like magic and technology, and the more we moved in this direction, the more we liked, so we decided to give ourselves the will and discarded any connection with reality, creating our own, not like anything like world. After that, in particular, we added teleportation and all other incredible things.
Another question about complexity: very few games have as many possible options for passing as Dishonored. It is clear why there are few complicated games – it is very difficult to polish all the components of the game when there are so many of them. It was not scary to start a super -chimbical project?
It was very scary, but at the same time exciting and wildly interesting. We make games because we want to give players some unique experience, and we get great pleasure from the process.
In your last game, The Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, you, with permission, did all. Despite the fact that the huge inscription Dark Messiah hung in the main menu from the very beginning, no one could guess that the dark Messiah was actually a player. You again decided to crank a similar trick? Maybe Dishonored. – outburst), on the contrary, does not belong to the main character of the game?
This time we decided to reflect the essence in the title corresponding to the mood of the game: according to the plot, Korvo was dishonored by false suspicion of a crime that he did not commit. At the beginning of the game – he is a man of honor endowed with great power. But how to dispose of her and who the corvo will eventually become – depends only on the player.
And Korvo, presumably, the whole game will be silent, like Gordon Freeman?
Basically, yes, but sometimes it will be possible to choose response options in dialogs with NPC. We did not want to impose a characteristic hero to the players so that they could come up with their own version of Corvo.
And all KAT scenes will be exclusively from the first person?
Yes, we want the player to the maximum to identify himself with the hero.
We could not help but notice that the characters of the new Bioshock and Dishonored are similar: caricature, even a little cartoon faces and figures. Random coincidence? Maybe similarity is caused by the restrictions of the engine? Or is your Victorian style sets such motives?
If you play these two games one after another, you will understand that they are significantly different, although both, of course, are stylized. From a visual point of view, we immediately wanted to make a game in a nuclear -resistant style, here without options.
A year ago, as soon as we learned that Viktor Antonov was involved in the development, we were terribly delighted. But how much is it involved in the process? He is fully responsible for the visual style?
Victor is our director for visual design, and he works tightly with the art director Sebastian Mitton. These are amazing and incredibly talented people who are one hundred percent involved in the process. They are responsible for the appearance of the game.
We can’t help but ask. What happened to The Crossing? We will ever hear about her?
Being an independent studio, we financed the development from our own pocket, until we, unfortunately, ended the money. The Arkane office has a fascinating demo of the game, but since it lay on a shelf for a long time, we managed to switch to other projects.
Harvey, Rafael, that you yourself love in Dishonored the most? For which, roughly speaking, it is worth playing?
Raphael: Frankly, I love moments of surprise when someone manages to go through a task in my eyes in a way that I did not even know about.
Harvey: I agree, I, too, but since I need to come up with an original answer, then … the possibility of choosing. You choose, to be secretive or cut everyone right and left, pump a particular ability that from many ways to get into the protected territory, to perform sidekvests or not, and so on. The moment after the moment you create your own unique story that is not like others. You yourself establish the rules. Like RAF, more than anything I love games that combine the first -person battles, stealth and role elements, like S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Far Cry 2 , System Shock 2.
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Dragon Commander
He was bend here!
Small recognition: before I began to dig a media background on Dragon Commander as part of preparation for Gamescom, I was firmly sure that this is the game exclusively about how the mighty dragon burning crops and sheds, and all this global strategic insanity-it So, for a checkmark, only distract. Actually, the key preview of “Gambling”, written based on the results of a visit to the office of the developers, contained, among other things, the lines “there are only dragons and nothing but them”, and almost all arts and screenshots show exclusively fire -breathing monsters in various poses. So it is quite surprising that the dragons almost did not flash during the Cologne presentation all the time.
But two strategic modes of game flashed: global wargam and nimble RTS high in the clouds. Dragon Commander – this is primarily such a chamber, directed, fabulous and very specific slice device Total War. In one minute, high -luminous (quite, however, caricature) men sit in a luxurious office and decide the question of whether it is permissible to trade with human organs; A mummy skeleton takes part in the discussion, which, on the issues of organs, I think, is not too competent. At the other moment, this is already a classic wargam with a global card, units-physhes and complex strategic techniques. Finally, enemy chips are found on the same field and the battle in real time is launched. And no one is used to walking on the ground here, all showdowns are exclusively high in the sky.
[[Bullet]] We are very interested in how, in principle, you can, in principle, agree on something serious with such a company.
Surely talk about how interesting it is in Dragon Commander to communicate with advisers and move the chips through the fields until it is early, but the RTS mode can be evaluated now-the developers have arranged a small multiplayer match among themselves. Visually all this reminds Divinity 2 , If he were mixed with the works of Jules Verne and added a little hypertrophied madness in the spirit of almost Red Alert 2. Sparkling cars, guns of gatling, lightning from the most unexpected places … Just watch how they swarm somewhere under the clouds is a special pleasure.
[[Bullet]] such angles will be able to admire only when you control the dragon; It’s easier to move units by lifting the camera higher.
But as for the pace and the device of the battles, you remember more Supreme Commander. "Landscape" seems to be completely absent, huge armies converge the wall on the wall, there is no contextual advantage, and your victory or defeat depends solely on how quickly and competently you give orders. Well, or control the dragon: when the focus shifts to the flying monster, the game turns into an action from a third person in the spirit of an old " The eyes of the dragon ", Moreover, alas, at about the same technical level.
It is sometimes difficult to believe that all these elements are dragons, wargam, diplomacy, strategic battles, complex Divinity universe – parts of one big game. But it is all the more interesting to study each piece separately. Maybe there is something else in Dragon Commander that we don't even suspect? Check, the next review is at Gamere.
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Divinity: Original Sin
Not a sin at all
Divinity: Original Sin should be respected at least for the simple reason that it is a thoroughbred PC game that correctly evaluates the current position and value of the computer-game market (for nothing that the console release can still happen later). Larian no longer winds up any “role blockbuster” around his sweet universe, as was the case with Divinity 2. Although the latter just had a chance to become what the Original Sin became eventually, but the publisher, how the authors were sadly state, did not want to make an old-fashioned PC-game, and even with step-by-step battles. Of course, the world, history and quests from the game last time have not disappeared anywhere, but there was a rudimentary action and many more pseudo -carbon -budget elements "so that like BioWare". So you can perceive Original Sin as "Real Divinity 2". When we, after the presentation, asked the developers why they generally wanted to return to the concept of the Old Believers isometric RPG, they answered very simply: “Because we want it so, it is very cool!"Holy people.
During the presentation, only out of the corner of his eye to look at step -by -step battles, but one can say for sure – barrels with gunpowder in the game will come in handy.
So, Original Sin – a prequel to the second part, telling the story of three characters with his cockroaches at once. About the plot, as well as about all the smallest changes and innovations in the mechanics, we have already told you in the August issue, and on Gamescom we managed to understand, let’s say, the ideology of the game. In the soul, this is a classic role -playing game with a large world, a bunch of quests and uncompromising freedom (so uncompromising that you can grab almost any interior item as a weapon), but it is hidden in such a way that it is convenient to pass in a cooperative with relatively short sessions. According to the authors, they optimize the game for netbooks (outwardly everything is neat, but no more), and in general it is designed to fall asleep somewhere in a cafe and have fun and have fun a pack of quests.
Heroes can not only fight with some kind of improvised broom, but, for example, to put a pan on their heads.
If the quests from developers end, you can make your own: in the Larian Cologne, the game editor has been presented, and technically the game is so simple and flexible that designers collect the entire game in this very editor on their own. It is really easy to use it, as you might notice: you arrange houses and bushes, designate simple triggers – and rushed!
The next morning after we were at the Larian stand, it turned out that someone had stolen two system units in these beautiful people. The studio, frightened that all their materials will immediately get on the network, set a reward of five thousand dollars to anyone who will help return computers. At the time of writing these lines, no Internet builds, thank God, did not flow, but the information that the authors were worried not only for the Original Sin and Dragon Commander, but also for some other game, the first developments on which were at the unfortunate systematic. Really Divinity 3? One way or another, we would really like to look at the full -fledged third part, when no one stands behind the authors and does not say what and how to do.
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Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation
Heels, makeup
Immediately after the announcement of Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation, the opinion was that the game will be hastily collected and cheap option of a full -fledged license plate (previous portable parts were just like that). Even a woman in the main characters did not seem to be intriguing, although there was nothing like that in the series earlier. But the Cologne demonstration was able to dispel many doubts that have accumulated on fragmentary information about the project. Of course, the game did not look better, because it may not be, but in technical resources PS Vita is seriously inferior to the current generation home consoles, but the developers from Ubisoft Sofia were still able to discard this issue to the second, or even the third plan.
[[Bullet]] Why suddenly such a cute girl generally took up a weapon, it was not possible to find out yet.
The eighth of March
Behind closed doors showed a small excerpt in which Evelyn, the main character, had to complete the task quite ordinary for the series – to get into the guarded territory and kill the poor fellow with a cross above his head, taking the secret documents lying in his pocket in his pocket. And if in other games of the series you, in fact, have always had only two options for passing such moments (unnoticed and get a goal or break through with force, simultaneously blocking a couple of dozens of guards, bards, drunks and simple onlookers, which were stupid by hand. Hero), then at Liberation, developers were able to make serious variability even in this familiar scheme. Interestingly, most of the innovations owe it to the female sex of the new character, and plus everything – its aristocratic origin. For example, shops appeared in Liberation, going into which the heroine will be able to wear various outfits, radically changing not only her appearance, but the style of playing. For example, expensive clothes will immediately emphasize Evelyn’s solidity, which will allow her to smash weak -lecharacted warriors, give bribes and just look down on everyone.
[[Bullet]] The worst of all liberation looks when there are many statists in the frame.
The first version of the passage demonstrated by the developers was quite familiar: Evelyn, whistling, jumps from the roof to the roof, cuts off a couple of sentries and with a delicious “chok” jumps directly onto the head of an unsuspecting goal. Then he unleashes a face with a nearby soldiers, whom Assassinha quickly kills, and then hides in sunset. The combat system works with an amendment on the possibility of a portable console – you can mark enemies, just poking your finger at the screen, and the heroine further does all the dirty work herself. Answering questions from the audience, the developers confirmed that this features of the Liberal Management will not be limited, but they could not talk too much.
[[Bullet]] Judging by the posters on the right side of the screen, Evelyn has already managed to do things.
High style
To demonstrate the following method of fulfilling the mission, the developers ran into the aforementioned dressing store and dressed in a magnificent aristocratic outfit with a hat and an umbrella, who correctly protects the heroine from a sunlight. In such a wardrobe, Evelyn can hardly breathe and talk, so you will definitely have to forget about parking and jumping into the haystack. Instead, a wealthy woman, wagging her forms, makes his way to the hourly and gives him several sonorous coins. Well, who will look obliquely and suspect the daughter of a local merchant in some ways? In the forbidden slums, Evelyn attracts the attention of a nearby soldier, who, at the first request, willingly agrees to accompany the defenseless girl in dark alleys. Having grilled with the bodyguard, Evelyn without any problems picks up directly to the right officer, and then, clapping his eyelashes and smiling coquettishly, asks him to follow the dark alley, where they have not yet had time to wash the earth from the intestines of the previous victim. After a moment, a deadly dart flies from the sunscreen of the bodyguard in the eye, and the officer receives sharpening under the kidneys and falls asleep peacefully. Well, then the heroine without problems scores from the scene of the crime, having shitting some and shooting the umbrella of others.
[[Bullet]] If the heroine whispers something sweet in his ear for someone, it is likely that he will not live soon.
Satisfied with the reaction to the shown episode, representatives of Ubisoft again restart the mission and send Evelyn to change clothes. This time the heroine comes out in the clothes of a simple maid. Of course, the new style opens up new opportunities. Having smelled the smell of a spanned sundress and rat droppings, the guard will immediately cover his nose and will not particularly peer into an honestly working woman. You can, for example, bend to other workers, take a box with tomatoes and easily get through the checkpoint. In the forbidden territory, armed with a broom, Evelyn serene begins to sweep dirty paths, gradually getting to his goal, of course, not causing any suspicion. In addition, simple workwear and a fetid smell are what causes respect among other workers, as well as drunken drunks. If you ask them, say, to put them to the arrogant patrol, which all the time stares not to where Evelyn is needed, then nonsense friends are unlikely to refuse help.
The developers promise many surprises – and plot turns that will connect Assassin’s Creed 3 And Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberal, and exclusive content waiting for players who buy the game for PlayStation 3, and for PS Vita. True, they are not in a hurry to specify and are asking for patience.
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to close your eyes to the poverty of the interiors, no matter how you try, after all, Assassin’s Creed has always been a spectacular, spectacular game. It is constantly that you have to catch yourself thinking that it would be better to try all these female tricks in a big and expensive game. Maybe next time?
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XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Unidentified elements
The developers began their presentation with a direct question for the audience: “Guys, there are fans of the original X-Com?»Many hesitated, but after a few seconds they raised their hands almost everything, although some continued to rotate their heads perplexedly, bashfully staring around. Surprisingly, no one began to laugh at anyone. The developers only introduced newcomers to the course of business, simultaneously a hundred times admitting love to the game, which they are busy with a remake. In Cologne, it finally became clear that the new XCOM is one great recognition of love for the original game. In our two previews, we already analyzed the updated mechanics in detail, but the first love of remake was sincere. And when you yourself pick up a gamepad, in a minute you feel it with all the cells of the body.
Ufology for dummies
Previously, a lot of conditionally good could be said about XCOM. About all this fidelity to the original, neat work with classic attributes of the series, and so on. But for some reason, for some reason, on an absolute machine, they write it in the category of “good games, which are probably worth playing if a free minute falls out”. In part, such a frivolous attitude is due to the fact that the original part was too long, partly because gameplay rollers were completely inexpressive.
All women in the game are impenetrable harsh, even a harmless girl in the laboratory will never smile at you.
Perhaps because of this, almost everyone who tested the game for an impermissible penny for 40 minutes, left the stuffy room shocked and immediately started talking about the “game of the year” with colleagues. On Gamescom, perhaps not a single project was surprised as the new XCOM. The point is not that during the game some crazy secret element opens up, turning over how video games work, there is no at all. As the developers promised, in Enemy Unknown, players will appear, in fact, a classic X-COM, supplemented by very funeral graphics and the mechanics of the original, developed and adapted to modern realities. But this, as it turned out, is quite enough to begin to continuously praise the game now.
We did not have time to reach such pieces in Cologne. What will be there further, you can only guess.
According to the plot, you will lead a special purpose squad collected by the Council of Nations, which will fight an alien infection, which is insolent to such an extent that attacks on civilians and stabbing are held in the centers of the largest cities of the globe on a regular basis. By golly, as if we are not talking about a highly developed race of friends from Mars, but about some gopniks from Detroit's dysfunctional quarters. The player’s task is not only to collect men later, fly to Paris or Moscow and shoot gray reptiles from lasers. As in the original, under the mask of one game, as many as two. The first is the global Geoscape, in which the situation on the planet is signed before the eyes (who panic, where everything is very bad, and who more or less copes), as well as the nuances of the work of the controlled organization (what the staff is doing, what research is conducted, whether the engineers do it New plasma rifles or arrange races on humanoid robots, whether faithful fighters train or sit idle). Of course, the player will need not only to observe what is happening and endure lawlessness, clenching his teeth, but also regularly give a million orders, determining the direction of development of the XCOM organization. The second mode is step-tactical, where the player controls the quick response team directly and goes in turn with alien enemies. Having calculated the number of available steps, you will have to not only shoot from machine guns, lasers and grenade launchers, but also throw enemies with grenades, deceive, bypass from the flank, and sometimes just hide, spending all points of protection of the fighter, which was pressed from all sides, which remains two days before retirement.
Crazy special forces
The demonstration version of the training task began, where all the nuances of management are explained on the fingers, teach to hide behind shelters, walk carefully or serene to rush along the level, tinkling with equipment, and break through the windows in the spirit of Asian militants. The voice in the headphones courteously suggested where to go and what to press, until our team was ambushed. The Russian soldier Vasily, who was constantly cursing and was unhappy with everyone (as it turned out, was not in vain, as a result, only he survived). No toy from the e3-roller, by the way, was in sight, all the fighters look and behave as expected as it should. Actually, everything works as we have already told more than once, there is nothing especially to add.
The multiplayer will allow you to assemble a team from creatures from any planets, but most likely it will end in classic “people against aliens.
But not some chips or functions are unique here, namely the very forgotten sensations from the first two parts of the X-Com. Each member of the detachment after a couple of battles becomes native, and any loss of heavy load falls on the heart: it is impossible to revive the fallen comrades in the game – the death is permanent, and all acquired skills and love invested in the infantryman remain in the place of his death. Ilya Yanovich, after meeting with the game, later three days in a cold sweat told everyone how he tore his hair when the mucous alien, bypassing the detachment in the building, killed two of his fighters at once, one of whom had already passed three difficult operations at different points globe. Now it is very awaiting the release to take revenge.
Half of success on tasks – in a well -chosen composition of fighters.
At Gamescom, the developers brought the version for the Xbox 360, and, contrary to suspicions, it was controlled completely comfortable, the desire to take the mouse in the old fashioned way did not arise for a second. Firaxis decided not to resort to experience Civilization Revolution , And they focused on the development of a game that works exactly the same on all platforms, and they successfully coped with the task.
XCOM: ENEMY Unknown turned out to be a really deep tactical game, which I did not want to let go of. Coiling in the various tactical capabilities of the Geoscape mode, the impatient intonations of scientists who are waiting for your decision about the fate of the alien samples received, the difficult choice of the next mission is to go to Germany for a scientist who will become a useful member of the organization, or to immediately fly to China, where the level of panic has long been in "Red" zone.
In addition, Firaxis also announced the network mode, where players will need to arrange step -by -step showdown not only by detachments consisting of people, but also with the support of various alien individuals. All this now I want to carelessly devote the precious clock of my life, and nothing remains to wait.
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Call of Duty: Black Ops – Declassified
Classification is not amenable
Sony still demonstrated the portable version of Call of Duty: Black Ops, with a “scope” announced in the June E3 (where they showed a black picture and festively abandoned that the great series will appear on Vita, everyone quickly rejoice). For a press conference, within the framework of Gamescom, they prepared a slurred cutting of a single campaign, consisting of dozens of short fragments, where the player angrily shoots the enemy, wall, fence, wood, car, and then cuts the man with a knife and jumps out the window. Unfortunately, little was able to understand from the video, in addition to the fact that the gloss and scope of the full Black OPS 2 owners cannot be seen as their ears.
The next day, Sony arranged a thirty -minute closed show, where four employees fought in the network game. This time, the frames did not flicker like crazy, but this almost did not change the initial opinion of the game. Even funny (memorized, however, in advance) comments of employees did not particularly help the cause.
[[Bullet]] to aim normally when several enemies appear on the screen at once, even the developers do not work.
No matter how you look at Desclassified, but in front of you still seems to be circumcised from all sides Call of Duty. Even if you forget for a second that the signature multiplayer of the series, which was shown in the Cologne, has already fed up a little, then the project looks somehow gray. The series has never been famous for the outstanding appearance: the roots of the engine Quake 3 One way or another, they got out here and here. But what the project looks like on PS vita is some step into the abyss. The only example that comes to the mind for comparison is cheap Polish shooters.
[Bullet]] The levels of declassified look relatively decent, but seem too tight.
There are certain hopes for a single campaign, which is represented by short missions, designed for 5-10 minutes of the game. In fact, this is all that is known about her, since Activision First of all, I decided to concentrate on the network component, which was presented with a shocking phrase: “For the first time on the portable console, a real branded multiplayer series will appear”. Of course, about a network game similar to a large Call of Duty, there is no question of Vita. The maximum number of players is four, so the size of the cards here are appropriate. Moreover, the cards turned out to be so microscopic that the developers who arranged a demonstration, now and then responded under the nose of each other. It is clear that they needed to laugh loudly from them and show in every possible way how fun and great, but from the outside it looked, frankly, not too convincing.
Unfortunately, Call of Duty: Black Ops – Declassified once again proves that making an attractive shooter on a technically weak platform is not an easy task. But we are still holding fists in the hope. The devoted fans, however, is enough that the portable version will reveal the plot secrets between the first and second parts of Black Ops, and everyone else, probably, should only be strained if you really lack a shooter for five -minute trips in this life in this life bus.
Debt allows
Jay Pourier, Director of Development of a brand from Treyarch, in an interview with Gamery about Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, the principles of the studio and Batman
Jay, please tell us how, in principle, they come up with a new part of Call of Duty? The series is annual, it is difficult to constantly generate something new! You just sit down at the table and exchange ideas?
All guys in our studio are real Call of Duty fans, just maniacs. But only fans can understand in which direction you need to move your favorite series. The exchange of ideas is constantly happening, plus everything in stock there are always things that we wanted to realize last time, but could not or did not have time. A complex, in general, process. As for the specifically Black Ops 2, the first part served as the impetus, first of all, the plot that many players were remembered. We tried to imagine, what if we move events further, in the fifties of this century, the stories of heroes developed? And then all other ideas were already twisted around this.
There is no sensation after each new part that, they say, everything, finish, the limit will be reached, there is nowhere to go?
Eat! This is the focus. You constantly think how to raise the bar even higher, surpass yourself.
You have to constantly work, release one part after another, all the time to come up with something new. How in such an environment it is possible to find time to catch your breath, look around, study some other games, evaluate the level of modern industry?
It is difficult, but it is definitely possible, we succeed! (laughs) We are not only Call of Duty fans, we are all enthusiastic players, we constantly play all interesting things, we notice interesting finds for ourselves, we are inspired. You can not work in isolation. This is the secret of Treyarch – here everyone is constantly sitting with lit looks and think about how to make our new game even better.
And in those parts that Infinity Ward releases, also play?
Of course!
I will explain the nature of the issue. A few years ago, when Modern Warfare 2 was in development, we talked with people from Infinity Ward and, in particular, asked how they are World at War. And they said they really want to play, but they still can’t – there is no time!
Hehe! So, I am a very happy person, because I am engaged in games, what I like, and at the same time I have time to play in various other games!
And I don't want to do other games? We really liked your games about Spider-Man!
Yes, we miss him! I will definitely tell the team that you remember them! But while we are focused on the new part of Call of Duty.
Call of Duty in its modern form is a game quite unique in narrative, there the story is constantly perceived from the first person, through actions, without kilometers of boring dialogues. You are trying to somehow develop this quality?
Yes, and for this we have David Goyer, the screenwriter of Batmenov Christopher Nolan!
And you have already seen the Renaissance of the Dark Knight?
Yes! In my opinion, amazing!
Is it possible to say that Goyer made the story of Call of Duty is darker and more serious, just like he did it with Batman's history?
Yes, this is exactly what he did!
Only we will be very bored by Gary Oldman. Invited some other stars to replace him?
Yes, but so far I can't talk about it, mystery. In general, we have many surprises in stock!
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Female gaze
Gamemenia met in Cologne with Megan Marie, the commercial manager of Tomb Raider, and she, in its own way, in a way, answered the sore questions
At first, the new part of Tomb Raider seemed exclusively a game about the survival of a frightened girl on the island. She learns to get fire, builds a bow, fights with wolves. But during the presentation on E3 it turned out that it was also a very bright action, inspired by Uncharted, and this part of the game is completely different from the previous one. The question may not arise here: maybe there is some part of the gameplay, about which we do not know anything yet?
Oh yes, you have noticed it very correctly! Here the fact is that we very carefully approach what layers of gameplay and when to demonstrate. After all, we are still dealing with a very famous hero, almost an icon of video games, so it was important not to scare the loyal fans at once. So we feed the information in portions, and approximately in the order in which certain mechanics will meet you in the game. When everyone is already accustomed to the new image of Lara, we showed the action, then switched to research. We still have several surprises in reserve! But I can immediately say that this is not a “just game about survival” and not “just action”, there a lot of things are mixed there.
And how do all these mechanics work together? The same Uncharted in this sense is built very simply: here we shot, here we crawled, here we have puzzles. Not that it somehow interfered, but the structure is straightforward. C Tomb Raider is the same story, or everything is mixed in some special way there?
It is mixed! The nuance is that there are nonlinear moments in the game, there is an element of research, so we can not always say for sure that when and in what sequence the player will do. So it was very important, mixing these mechanics, keep the balance. Of course, different mechanics are tied to various contextual moments on levels, and all these points had to be arranged in such a way that it was interesting and diverse as where the player did not act. Difficult task, but we tried.
And what part of the gameplay dominates?
The dominance of what has once done Tomb Raider Tom Raider’s. Something between action, research and puzzles. The approach to the restart of the series was this: we are isolated from the previous parts everything that fans fell in love with, modernize, improves, and then collect it again.
It is interesting to know how, in principle, the team decided that the time came for a complete restart? So they sat down at one point and decided that it was time to throw the old Lara Croft into a landfill?
There were many reasons. The studio only finished work on the previous trilogy, and Legend, Anniversary and Underworld immediately conceived as a whole, as ideologically connected games that share one mechanics and technology. When the planned trilogy ended, the team did not need to immediately start the active development of a new part. There was time to take a breath, refresh your eyes, make out your mistakes and think thoughtfully what and how to do next. Moreover, all changes in gameplay became possible only thanks to the decision to restart the entire history. Lara is young, she does not know how, and the player will have to learn everything with her, go through all the trials together. And this is already a completely different experience. With this approach, you feel more clearly a spiritual connection with the hero.
But what about Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light? It was something unplanned? Maybe you have some more plans for such small funny games in the universe?
Honestly there are no plans. We are now completely focused on the total reloading of the series, so far not to this. It was such a small experiment.
And it’s quite successful!
Yes, very successful! The team's eyes burned when they worked on it. Pretty unusual sensations: take the old hero, old developments, and try to collect with their help a completely different game with completely different rules. It was a great risk, we were not sure of success, but worked with full dedication, and in the end all our most daring hopes were justified. Perhaps The Guardian of Light is my personal favorite. The most beloved part is serious!
What do you think, and what other Wednesday you can place Lara Croft, in addition to isometric action-headed? Maybe she would have taken root in some other genres?
Ha, but I don't even know! (laughs)
Well, the races probably can't do?
Probably not! I did not notice for Lara traction to sit in some cards! And for a first -person shooter, she, I think, is unlikely to suit!
But the subsequent games in the Tomb Raider series-they will rely on this part, or you have some plans to redo everything over release to release?
Of course, they will rely on this part. We initially tried to conceive everything in such a way that the new mechanics could be enough for several games ahead if it is gradually updated. So we are trying to create a certain foundation for the future franchise, workpiece, and lay the foundation. As the very first part once did it, and then Legend.
That is, in future games there will also be elements of the open world?
It is assumed that yes, they will.
Then it is very interesting to know how this very open world works. There is a set of a mechanic, there is an action, there are territories. How all this is joined with each other? The player at any time can leave somewhere?
It is important to understand that we are not fixated on the concept of an open world. There are games where you can decide at any moment where you go and what missions to fulfill. But our game is different. We are very careful with narrative, because it is important for us to tell a whole story. This is the first adventure of Lara. Her first treasures, first murder. I would like to convey the plot as spectacular as possible. If you go strictly according to the plot, you will see, of course, most of the game and the chips we invented. But not all. There are places where you can get distracted by research. Somewhere Lara can return several times to study the area and find some secrets. Some locations can be slipped in different ways, but it all depends on the player. That is, the game has a completely clear rod.
And who is the main enemy in the game-nature or still people?
Good question. Depending on what stage of the game we are talking. At first, of course, nature is bad weather, predators – But you have already seen in which Lara relations with some survivors! She's not the only one on the island. In general, with whom Lara will have to meet and who has any goals – This is still the secret, we do not want to spoil.
You know, we, for example, are a little tired of too short games of modern action, most of them easily pass in five hours, this is a day or two games. And Tomb Raider, which is pleasant, seems to be a game, the passage of which can pull with his head for a whole week. We were not mistaken?
Well, we have not yet considered the average number of hours necessary for passing, but, according to my feelings, you can defeat it for 12 hours if you rush forward and kill everyone. But if you try to explore the world, try different ways of passing, carefully study levels and secrets, then you can get stuck in it for a long time. I constantly observe how my colleagues roam new locations, try some different tactics in battles, and realized that the game is really voluminous. I myself have not yet studied it yet! I'm still looking for treasures, all of it is discovering something new for myself! So I'm afraid to even imagine how much time all can take from a person from the outside.
We wait, we will not wait to try ourselves! And finally: Tomb Raider is already rarely called the real "game of the future". It's not only about technology, but in the general level of game. You look – and you understand that this is a real leap, a breakthrough. As you think, Tomb Raider can be called the "game of the future"?
On the approach to creating – Certainly. This is a mixture of many mechanics and genres, namely for various, complex games – the future!
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Remember Me
Memorable moments
The announcement of a completely new IP is always a joy. And although Remember ME turned out to be renamed and taken under the capcom wing project, previously known as Adrift, the solemnity of the moment did not spoil the solemnity of the moment – because it is new, beautiful and about cyberpent!
The game takes place in 2084 in neo-pairing. Robots fly along the rainy streets of the capital of the capital, croissants and mums, pumped men in military uniforms go and viciously pushing simple passers -by, clearly upset by modern life. During the presentation, the main character, Nilin, an experienced “memory hunter”, receives an instruction from his curator, who politely asks to “remove” some objectionable Frenchman. We will learn the location of the goal by hovering in the memoirs of the patrol who accidentally hit the eyes, and then we begin to climb the buildings and various bulging surfaces until we rest the window with the future dead.
The heroine of the game tries not to kill anyone on his own, but if necessary, boldly passes into hand -to -hand Medical.
Here, of course, ears stick out Assassin’s Creed. And not only in the heroine’s love to crawl along vertical surfaces, but also in plot insanity on memory manipulation. But if in the case of Assassin’s Creed the game action, in fact, occurs in the memories, to which access using a fantastic device, then in Remember Me everything is somewhat different. Nilin is able to fly into the backs of the brain of the desired characters and not only learn some necessary information, but also manipulate with the consciousness of people, turning them into experimental rabbits.
On memory operations, many corporations in the world of the game built a big business.
For example, during the demonstration, the heroine dug up the targets in her head, Frank Forlan, interesting memories of the four-day prescription, where he, having drunk a bottle-two of a very drunken one, had a fight with his beloved woman. With the help of small manipulations (remove the bottle from the table and throw it under the feet, and then remove the gun from the fuse) Nilin manages to leave the poor fellow in the head of the poor fellow, where he accidentally kills his mistress in a drunken fiber. After a few seconds, Frank is so uncontrollable paranoia, as if he would be arrested now for the murder, that he decides to deprive the hypothetical pursuers of such pleasure – he takes out a gun and shoots his head. The mission was fulfilled, and, most importantly, the heroine did not even have to kill anyone on his own.
On such manipulations, the game process Remember Me will be built. We suspect that the main character will still have to lick their hands, but we hope that the developers will try to do this somehow as interesting as possible, because Nilin shows with all their appearance that shooting people is bad. Among other things, you will have to confront with a former employer, who at a certain moment saw in the heroine a threat and erased her memory. I think he will have to regret it more than once.
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The Last of Us
Actors playing the main characters of the new Naughty Dog Aquen Cologne: a veteran of the gaming voice acting Troy Baker reincarnated in Joel, and the film actress Ashley Johnson, probably familiar to you as the daughter of Melly Gibson in the film “What Women Want”. For forty minutes they told the assembled journalists what it feels like to work on such a large and all expected game.
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Trox: I am lucky because I have never sat without work in my life. I am also a player, and for me it is always cool to be part of what later becomes the public. I voiced Snow from Final Fantasy XIII, two -faced from Batman: Arkham City, tired of working on Call of Duty and took part in many JRPG, and now I have taken up The Last of US.
Ashley Johnson: This is my first video game. I myself am an avid player, so going through this whole process was incredibly cool. In particular, Troy says that Naughty Dog has its own way … to do things! To be part of this particular game, to participate in Motion Capture is really great. I feel incredibly lucky.
Trox: Now, due to the fact that the recording of the cat scenes from living actors in creating video games is used everywhere, the bar is very high, players are always waiting for incredible things. And since most modern games want to be like a movie, many turn to this method to really breathe life into their characters. But at the same time, many games were made only with the help of acting voice acting. One actor sits in a booth with a microphone, sometimes you are forced to listen to the replicas of other characters, sometimes not, sometimes you need to read replicas of other characters, sometimes not. The main difference is that, working alone, I would act in one direction, but, working with Ashley, a completely different acting game is much more organic. It is one thing when you do your job individually, and another – when several people work on this, as Ashley and I in this case, actually developing our characters and delving into history. This was the main thing that I thought about – it will be very cool.
The character I play – Joel is a brutal man, a person who can really be called survivor. He remembers the world how he was before this terrible epidemic. During the casting, I caught my eye with one line-“for Joel there was just a couple of features that he is about to cross, and this has become a kind of emotional anchor, to which I tied myself, because it is a very accurate characteristic.
Ashley Johnson: Ellie is a fourteen -year -old girl, the only teenager in the quarantine zone of the city. This zone is all that she ever knew, she never went beyond her. She is an orphan and was born after the epidemic. Therefore, this is the only world that she generally knows. She, too, seems to have survived, but in a different plan … I think you yourself will see.
Trox: We are in excellent relations with Nile Drakman, scriptwriter of the game. He is a very open, very accessible person for contact. Take a typical working day. Neil says that we must take off this scene … Well, August 15. What is firing, because it is already. Well, we will gather together to read the script, discuss everything, we will understand what place this scene occupies in the entire history, where the characters come from, all these basic things and so on. The three of us, with Nile and Ashley, sit and discuss this scene, discuss our remarks, ask questions, express ideas – everything takes several hours. And then we climb the stage, which is nearby, and rehearse four to five small pieces all day. Typically, these pieces last 60 seconds, maybe a little longer. And then we take them off for two days.
Ashley Johnson: You know, Neil is an incredible writer. A bunch of once during the period between how we get scenes and read the script, discussing it together, some things change. The character that you live a year and a half becomes very clear to you, so you often know how he should have done. And when I tell Nila that it might be nice to add one or the other, it turns out to be very open to this. And really cool that the work is so joint.
Trox: There are typical things that the actors are used to doing during the preparation, and it seems to me that specifically in the case of The Last of us, the only way the actor can prepare himself is to be ready for anything. I can lock myself in the toilet and read the necessary lines a thousand times, close up on them, develop an excellent idea of how I want to play them. But everything can easily change exactly at the second when I see how this scene was going to play Ashley. The main thing we are trying to do is to understand the characters, climb into their heads and figure out in situations in which the heroes were. And, of course, be prepared for any changes. This is one of the important reasons why we are so kind to Joel and Ellie: we really listen to them and understand specific situations. Like our characters, we deal with situations that no one is ready for. If we leave this room right now and the whole city is on the verge of disaster, no one will be ready for this. It is impossible to prepare for this.
Ashley Johnson: Ellie can only imagine what it feels like to live in an ordinary world. I try to imagine the nuances of life in one specific city daily, where there are many strange rules. I still work on this, and my understanding of Ellie, who did not know another life, except for life in this post -epidemic world, is growing every day.
Trox: In a video demonstrating how we write down movements for the game, you can see small microphones that stick out on our foreheads. During such scenes, we record about 90-95% of all replicas for the game. Many sounds recorded in such scenes, such as breaking the door and so on, cannot be simulated in a booth for recording a voice. You can try, but I still doubt it.
Ashley Johnson: I remember the time when Troy was a casting … I got the role of the first, and then we already began to look for a man for Joel's role. There were a lot of candidates. Honestly, I don't remember how many Joeles we saw. Troy was one of the very last when he left the room, we all looked at each other and understood – this is our Joel. We instantly arose “chemistry” with him, we immediately felt like good friends, as if we have known each other for a million years.
Trox: In one of the scenes, Ellie asks Joel about how he learned about the upcoming ambush. And he replies: "I was on both sides of the barricades". This perfectly demonstrates what kind of character Joel turned out to be, how good Ellie’s intuition is and how they get along together. No matter how much we thought that we can do any hell alone, but the reality is that everyone needs everything: you need other people who help to overcome problems and enjoy all sorts of positive things. I really like that Ellie is still trying to find value in nostalgia and sentimentality, while Joel wants to forget about these things is to leave the past in the past. And the fact that Ellie continues to dig out some memories (you will see this over the course of the game more than once) is still important for my character, because a person who has experienced so much should not concentrate only on the present.
[[Break]]
Blitzkrieg
Briefly about other important games Gamescom 2012
– That Dead Space 3 will be a good horror, you can understand from the previous parts. The authors remained to convince everyone that this is a good action. In Cologne, the authors tried to do this, devoting a demo of the weapon. In the course of the game, Isaac Clark opens access to various upgrades, some act on himself (for example, the hero will become less susceptible to his own shells, if suddenly the range of his weapon is too great), others affect certain types of weapons or shells. But the main thing is that Isaac will be able to collect one large super-barrel from several spare parts, which at the same time, for example, lets some kind of poisonous green slurry, and pours necromomorphs with fire. The authors allowed our crafts to try our crafts in a special arena, where the hero is endlessly on the hero. We confirm: the action from Dead Space 3 is really what you need.
Dead Space 3
– IN Epic Mickey 2 it was possible to play, but to understand how good such a big and complex game is, it is impossible to get on a superficial acquaintance. We can only assure that Mickey Mouse itself is still charming, but as a platformer the game has become more convenient and responsive.
Epic Mickey 2
– While we stood in line for Rambo: The VideoGame , The colleagues who passed by recommended that we run away from all legs, because this is the worst game that they have ever seen, and if we stay, we will regret the rest of their lives about it. Well, we ran away.
– About Need for Speed: Most Wanted There is decisively adding something specific to our report from the past number: everything is fast, beautiful and with special charisma. It was possible to play on PC, and the lines of the stands were lined up such that they would have to stand in them no less than an hour.
-Either we missed the Tykunami, or there are some more subtle reasons, but a new Simcity perceived surprisingly fresh. Although, in essence, only the graphics have changed, well, all the things that accompany natural progress: the interface is prettier, management is clearer than. It is a pity that all rich online functions can only be tested after the release.
Simcity
– Deadpool It turned out exactly in that you are expecting from him – an accelerated by three times and a strongly simplified version Batman: Arkham City. The combat system is similar, the management seems to be, but the game itself, of course, is about completely different: gross jokes of the hero, Marvel Circus and idiotic costumes.
Lego Lord of the Rings
-If you completely ignore Lego games in recent years, possibly after the release Lego Lord of the Rings You will have to return to them. Firstly, the authors reproduce scenes from films with some completely incredible care (at least as much as the designer allows), and secondly, it is as funny as it was seven years ago in the case of Star Wars. Probably simply because the Universe obliges.
