BORDERLANDS is the best of the E3 2008 bunch from Take-Two(2008).
© Take-Two
Mania Manifesto: Top 7 Video Games at E3
By: Damon BrownDate: Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Release Date: Monday, July 21, 2008
Each week, Mania special correspondent Damon Brown, author of Porn & Pong: How Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider and Other Sexy Games Changed Modern Pop Culture, offers his unique take on society, entertainment and other issues of critical concern to Maniacs. You can also find Brown writing about technology, sex, music and video games for Playboy and New York Post.
#7: Spore (all systems, September)
THE SITUATION: Start as a water-based embryo, eat smaller creatures and grow in size until you become a land-based being. Then keep growing until you’re planet sized.
WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST?: It’s all about personalization. You get experience points to modify and augment your being with dangerous incisors, bloated bellies or other fun (or dangerous) body parts, and, once you populate a universe with your creatures, you can have them hang out in other players’ universe. Like most Will Wright games, there is no grand goal here – just grow and create your own monsters. And, believe it or not, Spore actually lives up to the media hype.
#6: DC Universe Online/Champions Online (DC on PlayStation 3, Date TBD/Champions on XBox 360 and PC, Date TBD)
THE SITUATION: Sony Online Entertainment is creating a brand-new online massively multiplayer game based on the DC universe. Meanwhile, Take-Two Games is combining City of Heroes and City of Villians to create Champions Online.
WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST?: They both looked interesting, but the only thing either company had to show was a pre-packaged prerendered glossy trailer. What a tease.
#5: This Is Vegas (XBox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, Date TBD)
THE SITUATION: One of many new open-world games, This Is Vegas stars an out-of-towner with $50 in his pocket who, through ambition, luck and coercion, becomes a Sin City high roller. Midway spent more than three years recreating the strip, though the names have been changed to allow more creative storytelling.
WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST?: From Gulf War sims to true crime street violence a la Grand Theft Auto, everyone seems to be going ultrareal and ultraserious. This Is Vegas is as funny and as fun as hell. Visit the local dance club and burn up the floor doing The Running Man, or cheat your way to winning at Blackjack, or start trouble at the Excalibur-inspired casino and whoop the Burger King-like mascot’s ass. There are also wet t-shirt contests. Vegas is a popular virtual backdrop, but rarely do we get a chance to do what actually makes the city fun.
#4: Castlevania: Order of Ecclasia (Nintendo DS, Fall)
THE SITUATION: The storyline is fuzzy, but you play a heroine with magical powers who must defeat one of the great vampires.
WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST?: Old-school fun. Like the notable Wario: Shake It! for the Nintendo Wii, Order of Ecclasia is a good-looking 2D platformer with cool weapons and intimidating boss battles. In fact, the bosses like Frankenstein and water dragons took up virtually one whole DS screen. After viewing the horrid Castlevania fighting game, Nintendo Wii owners should rightfully be jealous. Castlevania only works in 2D. When will they learn!?
#3: Mercenaries 2: World In Flames (XBox 360 and PlayStation 3, August 31)
THE SITUATION: The oft-delayed sequel to the 2005 hit, Mercenaries 2: World In Flames has the three original bounty hunters causing more destruction for hire. There are six different countries to work for, and more than 16 square kilometers (about 10 miles) of land.
WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST?: Two reasons why: easy co-op and unbelievable destruction. There are no specific co-op missions, so play it on your own and, if your buddy wants to jump in via XBox Live or PlayStation Network, he pops up arcade-style (this was a wonderful new trend at the show in games like Lego: The Batman Game). Secondly, literally everything in the world can be destroyed and, no matter how long the game, stays destroyed. I personally leveled an (innocent) ten-story building with a rocket launcher in about ten seconds. (Hint: Aim for the base.)
#2: Afro Samurai (XBox 360 and PlayStation 3, Spring 2009)
THE SITUATION: Timed for the new season on Spike TV, Afro Samurai stars number one on a violent-filled journey inspired by the anime. The action game has full dialog from Samuel L. Jackson, Kelly Hu and Ron Perlman.
WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST?: One of the most visually stunning games at the show, Afro Samurai is just as gory and as smooth as its inspiration. Enemies can be sliced in precise patterns and the individual ninja AIs work together as a group – they do coordinated attacks to keep you off balance. Also, Ninja Ninja’s talk is just as dirty as the unedited DVDs.
#1: Borderlands (XBox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, Spring 2009)
THE SITUATION: A group of mercenaries visit a desert wasteland a la Mad Max in search of a rare, important artifact. Along the way they fight ruthless bounty hunters, demonic beasts and other enemies. It is multiplayer, possibly across the different systems.
WHY IS THIS ON THE LIST?: This has some serious potential. Bringing a co-op massive adventure to the consoles is always a good thing, but the visuals are sharp and distinctive, the enemies vicious, the vehicles inventive and the unfinished storyline already entertaining. Characters level-up RPG style and – the best part – Take-Two created a random weapon generator: Based on a set number of variables, you and your teammates can come across more than 500,000 different weapons. Sick.
Read Damon’s blog at www.damonbrown.net.
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