PAX East 2011: Top Picks

Although my mind is still in a whirlwind after PAX East, here's a rundown of the top five titles which impressed me the most this past weekend.



Title: L.A. Noire
Publisher: Rockstar
Developer: Team Bondi
Genre: Third Person Action, Mystery, Film Noir
Drop Date: May 17th, 2011
Rating: Mature
System(s): Xbox 360, PS3



A dark and gritty open-world detective story based in the city of Los Angeles' most corrupt year in history, 1947. You become Cole Phelps, a WWII hero and up-and-coming detective in the LAPD force. Using classic investigating techniques, you search crime scenes and interrogate suspects to work your way through the ranks (traffic, patrol, homicide, vice, and arson) via a storyline based on real life cases. True to Rockstar's style, you can stick to the primary thread or break out and explore an intense replica of late 1940s Los Angeles. (Keep in mind, the free roam is not as accentuated as in the GTA series.)

L.A. Noire sounds serious in synopsis, and it is. This game tailors more to an adult experience for the player, including a full frontal nude scene for your first homicide case. The storyline is heavily affected by your ability to successfully interrogate and investigate in-game leads. Although the move to more genuine gameplay is exciting, I have been most impressed by the dedication the developing team, Team Bondi, put into collecting facial expression data to create believable and realistic interactions between suspects and the player during questionings.

As a frustrated conqueror of the Agatha Christie series of games, I have high hopes for L.A. Noire to enliven the genre with genuine story, technology, and game design. Oh, and a happy lack of motion controlled doorknob turning.


Title: Bioshock: Infinite
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Irrational Games
Genre: First Person Shooter, Science Fiction, Steampunk influences
Drop Date: Someday in the future, hopefully before the world ends.
Rating: (probably) Mature
System(s): Xbox 360, PS3, PC


Although not technically a prequel to a prequel (and unconfirmed as being even part of the same universe), chronologically you garner a little perspective of a group still slightly resembling a society with plasmid-based abilities in a 1912-era flying city. A civil war with many recurring political, theological, and eugenic based divisions akin to real life hot topics, has broken out in the hopeful utopia in the sky, Columbia. You are an ex-detective enlisted by a veiled outside group to find and retrieve the young Miss Elizabeth from the two waring factions ... and her bestie Mr. Large Brass Robotic Pigeon.

There has been no real statement on whether there will be a multiplayer mode included as in Bioshock 2. They did mention they have been exploring the idea, but would prefer to only include original gameplay differing from typical Halo or CoD-esque styles.

Sadly, they did not demo any gameplay at PAX, but nonetheless I have been looking forward to this game since they announced it. It admittedly sounds like a rehashing of multiple 'anarchy' based plot lines, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. More like the story you always wanted to see mesh together and are damn happy to see it. The graphics look beautiful as always and you can bet they'll stick true to their emphasis on legitimate story telling in this upcoming title.



Title: The Darkness II
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Digital Extremes
Genre: First Person Shooter, Horror Survival
Drop Date: Autumn 2011
Rating: Mature
System(s): Xbox 360, PS3, PC





A direct sequel from the original The Darkness released in 2007, you continue Jackie Estacado's story after he having slaughtered the Mafia boss who had attempted to assassinate him. Like the first game (based on a comic book), telling a story is a major piece of the gameplay. That, and the usual horrific disfigurement of all who stand against you.

PAX East was the world wide release of their first playable demo, before only releasing a handful of screenshots onto the internet (they don't even have a wiki page yet). The demo was a side piece, not showing much of the actual plot, other than a decrepit looking creeper nailing you to a cross and demanding you overturn the Darkness to him immediately. He proceeds to try to sway you with a haunting of your beloved girlfriend Jenny, whom you were forced to watch die in the previous game by the Darkness as a sign of submission to its power.

In terms of game mechanics, the biggest difference from the original is the ability to quad-wield your tendrils and regular ammunition weapons. So now you can rip a man's heart out while scoring a headshot on that twat that's trying to take advantage of when you're 'vulnerable', or rip the door off a taxi to use as moving cover while firing off some shots.

The carnage, as always, is delightful. During the 25 minute demo (after a three hour wait), I giggled like a maniac schoolgirl while impaling enemies with steel rods and tossing dead bodies like rag dolls. My learning curve was a little slow, I had trouble remembering to use the shoulder buttons for my tendrils as well as shooting with the bumpers and managed to get lost in the NYC subway system I've actually used for two years. The game is still in development, but as is I was thoroughly entertained.

The Darkness did have a multiplayer mode, but it has often been looked down upon as lack luster and laggy. No comments if the sequel will have a revamped model.

If you have yet to play the original IP, I highly recommend picking it up from your local Gamestop for a whopping 5 dollars lifted from your pocket.


Title: Battlefield 3
Publisher: EA Games
Developer: EA Digital Illusions EC
Genre: First Person Shooter, Realistic Modern War
Drop Date: Autumn 2011
Rating: Mature
System(s): Xbox 360, PS3, PC


First off, Battlefield fans will not be let down by the newest installment. My compatriot Philip, a hardcore fanboy, nearly wet himself during the beautiful demo we sat through. I'm not embellishing when I say beautiful, Battlefield 3 utilizes a Dice engine called Frostbite 2 that had my jaw dropping the entire time. A bit of a tech geek-out, the light filters and 3D sound effects made me feel like I was literally on the front lines with a helicopter above my head and sun glaring in my eyes. It also exhibited realistic earthquake damage and a collapsing seven-story hotel after you shoot out a sniper with an RPG. It was by far the best game graphics-wise on the convention floor.

Graphics are not all the title focuses on, though. Fans of the franchise will be interested to here on the new emphasis placed on the one player mode (that is, an actual plot and at least sufficiently intelligent NPCs), especially since most previous releases focused on multi-player content. Not to say they've skived on PVP play, although they were wary of releasing any info on multiplayer play, one dev did mention they would not stray far from the static classes and overall play style of Battlefield 2. (One possible difference we did notice was the implication of health regeneration, as was used in the single player demo. This may be exclusive to that mode.)



Title: Portal 2
Publisher: Valve
Developer: Valve
Genre: First Person Puzzle, Platform, Comedy
Drop Date: April 19th 2011, Pushed back from April 18th. :(
Rating: Everyone 10+
System(s): Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Mac


This is where my fangirl-ism shall be unleashed. Portal 2 is the IP I have been looking forward to in 2011. Me, and damn near every gamer out there. The new and shiny multiplayer capabilities have been circulating the internet for a while, so Valve mixed it up and previewed the first six minutes of the game at PAX East. Their demo was the most entertaining 15 minutes of my entire weekend, in true Portal style, the personalities of the characters add dimension to an already well defined world with snarky humour and ridiculously in depth voice acting.

You continue as Chell, the original rebel in your quest for cake, after having been in 'relaxation stasis' for just a couple centuries or so. Aperture Science has taken a turn for the worse, and it's up to you to help rebuild the laboratory for the rogue robotic life forms who have made it their home.

Wheatley, a now independent personality core of GLaDOS, apologizes for having possibly turned your, and a couple other thousand test subjects', brains into mush in their forgetfulness. As the two of you are exploring the facility, you happen across GLaDOS herself who is not happy to see you in the least, seeing how you might have attempted to murder her in the previous title. She decides to be the bigger woman and put your differences aside for the greater good of science, but a woman scorned isn't always the most reliable overlord, so who knows what's in store.

A strong aspect of Portal has always been the NPC characters you interact with throughout the game. GLaDOS is now joined by the smarmy Wheatley and the CEO of Aperture Science, Cave Johnson. Stephen Merchant, mastermind behind the original awkward UK comedy The Office, voices Wheatley with typical British sarcasm and dry wit. Cave Johnson is voiced by J.K. Simmons (well known as the J. Jameson in the Spiderman movies) with his typical gruff humour, a perfect fit for the ridiculous character.

Interestingly, there is a completely separate storyline for the multiplayer mode, with the common string of portal gun usage and GLaDOS being her manipulative self. With two players, there are more complicated puzzles requiring teamwork to maneuver through levels as well as opportunities for interesting new gameplay options, such as online players temporarily switching to split screen view with their partner. Online and local multiplayer play will be available, with voice communication as well as in-game emotes that can be used to annoy the hell out of friends or strangers to relay your directions.

Both campaigns alone are longer than the original game individually, giving you a strong independent title worth being shipped as its own entity. If you haven't played the original, shame on you (and please do, you're missing out on life.)


Sadly, I missed out on both of the RAGE demos (even when arriving over an hour and a half early). I did hear that the gameplay itself was a bit flat, but the graphics were as stunning as the screenshots have belayed.