From the entire E3 for the big three (with the exception of Nintendo), all the talk has been about peripherals and games for the peripherals. It seems like Sony and Microsoft (Mostly Microsoft) are beginning to lose their touch with the core gamer dishing out crap we don’t even care about. Innovative or not, these overpriced motion controls are trying to grab the attention of casual gamers who probably wouldn’t want pay for the system, peripheral, and the 60 dollar games that they come with. E3 2010 wasn’t a complete failure with a few great games to show off.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1

Surprisingly after many sub-par Sonic games, Sega has decided to make a decent downloadable title. Dimps, the developers of Sonic Advance 1 through 3 and Sonic Rush have been working on the title. Sonic 4 introduces Sonic 1 & 2 all over again with similar boss battles, gimmicks, and special stages. It may not be the best idea but it’s good that they have played it safe instead of introducing shit that would allow the game to be broken. At E3, Sega shows us the first level in Sonic 4, Splash Hill Zone which is obviously an homage to Green Hill Zone. Splash Hill Zone contains everything you would expect from the “grass cliche” zone of a Sonic title ranging from standard loop-de-loops to your Green Hill turbo tubes and Emerald Hill corkscrews. The biggest surprise that Sega had to show for the game is Dr. Eggman’s first boss machine from Sonic 1 which has made it’s return. Sega had introduced phases for bosses in Sonic 4 in which the boss would have a standard pattern until damaged enough times. The boss would go in a “berserk” mode where it would be more aggressive with its attacks e.g. the Egg-Mobile literally spins to try and smash the red iron ball on Sonic. The only really thing that is revolting is the fact that the music is utter uninspired shit… or rather it wasn’t composed well. There have been many comments on the physics of the game and how there wonky and they should realize that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be good. The only major flaw is being able to spam the homing attack which makes Eggman look like a joke even during an aggression phase. It’s about time that Sega stops popping out shitty Sonic games even though it may not be as developed as the classics. (<- Debatable) Good thing for Sega is this isn’t the best Sonic title shown at E3…*GASP*

Sonic Colors

Okay this is the last Sonic game on the list but I gotta admit, two good Sonic titles being developed at the same time; this is a new record. Hate it or love it, Sonic Colors plays similarly to the day stages in Sonic Unleashed without the werehog and the constant spamming of the boost button. Dr. Eggman (or Robotnik, whatever floats your boat…) has built a gigantic amusement park in same where he has captured these alien creatures known as Wisps held hostage and Sonic must race through the perils in Eggman’s twisted amusement park. There are wisps that show up in levels to help Sonic progress through the stage while giving him access to alternate routes along the way. While running through various levels of the game, the game will change from a 2.5D perspective to 3D and vice versa like in Unleashed. While the game is in a 3D perspective, there will be minor platforming to do and it is more of racing against the clock to get to the next part of the level as fast as you can. However, in the 2.5D Perspective, Sonic will have to use his platforming skills to get across to the next area. Two stages were shown in the demo with a boss battle for the first. The game begins with Tropical Resort Zone which takes the look of a “tropical resort” and tosses it into outer space. The second zone revealed is called Sweet Mountain Zone which is an entire level of Sonic racing through mountains of hamburgers, donuts, and other detailed dessert. Two specific wisp powers were shown in the demo at E3 along with two partial levels. The first of the wisp powers is a Laser Spindash which allows Sonic to bounce through a 3D section of the stage and destroy all enemies caught in the dash. The second wisp power is a drill that allows Sonic to dig underground at super-fast speeds, allowing access to hidden areas and faster routes making it a mini-game of its own. Sonic Colors has been praised for the games graphics especially on the Wii and quality music that tosses Sonic 4′s OST in a garbage bin. From what I have seen, I think it is the level design that definitely deserves praise. One of the weak points in Sonic Unleashed were the levels filled with cheap death after cheap death from countless bottomless pits and terrible drifting at extreme speeds that the game expected you to master. In Sonic Colors there doesn’t seem to be a deranged learning curve that prevents you from just popping in the game and having fun which is a major plus. The boss shown is a huge merry-go-round attraction which Sonic must loop around to avoid projectiles and smash the core from within. The full boss wasn’t shown with Sega cutting the hit points of the boss to three, teasing us with an epic adventure waiting to be revealed on the release date. Sonic Colors is also being developed for the DS using the same exact engine from Sonic Rush and it’s sequel, Sonic Rush Adventure. Improvements have been made with less bottomless pits and the wisps give Sonic many different abilities such as different shields. All three Sonic titles were announced to be released 4th Quarter, 2010.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

The Castlevania series has always been a success when applied in a 2D environment but has always failed when a 3D title was released. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow may be the franchise’s saving grace in 3D. Gameplay is very much similar to the God of War series in which you whip your weapon around to mercilessly slaughter your foes. Except for a chain with blades on both edges, the player controls Gabriel Belmont who wields a whip like the other Belmonts in almost every Castlevania game. The story begins with the main character, Gabriel Belmont who fights against supernatural creatures as a member of the “Brotherhood of Light”. His wife, Claudia is killed by a supernatural and is stuck in a phase in which she is neither alive or dead. Gabriel seeks to find the God Mask to bring her soul back while fighting off the factions of the Lords of Shadow. The whip known as the “Combat Cross” will be Gabriel’s main weapon which is upgradeable. His whip will be used for solving puzzles and crossing gaps and pits instead of just combat. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow shows very high quality in its graphical fidelity and legendary voice acting with some of the greatest such as Patrick Stewart and Jason Issacs. Konami explained that it will stay true with the Castlevania series retaining werewolves and of course, vampires. Like with Sonic, there is more then one game of the same series that was revealed at E3.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

Konami had also announced a second Castlevania title known as Harmony of Despair. This downloadable title has the gameplay mechanics from Symphony of the Night and adds six player co-op. The game consists of various dungeons where each player must ascend to each boss and defeat the boss as quickly as possible. The experience point system has been taken out and replaced with characters finding weapons across the map to get through the level quicker either in co-op or competition. It’s a shame that you can’t play as any of the Belmonts and can only choose up to the recent main characters from Alucard (Symphony of the Night) to Soma Cruz. (Dawn of Sorrow) It’s really a disappointment that it was announced as an XBLA exclusive when the fans from the Nintendo era (Castlevania 1 through 4) or the Sony era (Symphony of the Night); neither which are affiliated with Microsoft. Come on Konami, at least make a PS3 release…

Shank

An interesting downloadable title by EA, Shank is like a 2D Devil May Cry complete will all the badass gun and swordplay with a comic book style. Shank plays like the obscure SNES title, Ninja Warriors being a beat-em-up on two-dimensional plane. Even though you can only move left and right like your traditional 2D platformer, Shank offers a variety of weapons to slaughter your enemies as well as athletic abilities to get from one place or another. The demo shown at E3 2010 starts you off with a blade, two guns with infinite ammo, and a few grenades. With these weapons, players could pull off a variety of stylish combos by slashing, throwing, and shooting airborne enemies while keeping ground against surrounding enemies. Shank offers platforming abilities seen in games like Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi ranging from running off walls to doing acrobatic jumps to gain leverage. Shank has yet to have a release date to be announced.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

A spinoff of the Assassin’s Creed series, Brotherhood carries off from the end of Eizo Auditore da Firenze’s journey in Assassin Creed II. Eizo continues his journey to Assassinate the sacred Templars who are eager to end his life. The demo shown at E3 begins with an epic strike from Templars who are attacking Ezio’s adobe. In Brotherhood, Ezio can now mount cannons to fire at enemies and also has a few new counter attacks against enemies. Combat remains the same in which, countering is the key to defeating enemies. The game is said to take place in Rome where Ezio will train assassins that will serve to help him defeat the corrupt Templars. A new online multiplayer component was developed for Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. Multiplayer has been explained to be similar to single player in which one player will try to assassinate another using stealth and gaining points for the amount of creativity and stealth that player uses. Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood has been announced to hit stores November 16, 2010.

Mafia II

Mafia II is the sequel to the highly acclaimed Mafia from 2002. The sequel of Mafia takes place in an open fictional city called Empire Bay. The game pays homage to many mafia themed movies. The story is centered around former WWII veteran, Vito Scaletta who comes back from the war finding his father dead and mother in debt. To pay off the debt Vito begins working for a crime family and eventually rises to becoming a made man. The game is open-world with ten square miles to explore containing over 100 areas that can be accessed from apartments and stores to warehouses. 2K Czech has revealed that a game will feature a lot of destructibility to add during combat. Combat has been re-tooled and plays similar to recent third person shooter such as Gears of War and Uncharted adding a cover system to gameplay. Unlike the Grand Theft Auto series, Empire Bay will be fully opened with no restrictions from the start of the game. Many weapons from the first game make a return along with new World War II era contraband such as the MP40 and M3 SMG. Mafia II is shaping up to be the best open world game to be released as of this year. The game has been announced to be released in North America on August 24, 2010.

E3 2010 hasn’t really given the boost that prior E3′s have had with the exception of Nintendo. Crappy motion controls and peripherals have been forced into the spotlight while many games have been overlooked due to the embarrassing conferences from Microsoft, to Ubisoft, to Sony, and most importantly Konami which failed to show off any new Metal Gear Rising. Hopefully things will turn up for the better at Tokyo Game Show this fall.