E3 2014: Thursday Recap

Noah Hwang ’18 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

On Thursday, there was a much better opportunity to get hands-on with the games, as well as exclusive demonstrations and VIP game demos. Many people had left to go back to whatever country they hailed from, or had already had their E3 fill. Nothing much different to write about in terms of overall atmosphere, but look out for a photo album coming soon with a multitude of photos from the event. Here is a few additional games that were demoed throughout the day.

The Sims 4

The Sims 4 – in a word, awesome. Although there was no hands-on time with this game (which is currently still in Alpha build,) EA’s and Maxis’ new simulation game offered a lot of new content. One of the biggest changes they toted during the 30-minute demo was the Sim characters’ tendency to be “smarter, with [bigger] personalities.” This is represented through a new emotions system, where you can quickly view their state (such as very angry, angry, happy, or excited.) These emotions allow for a wider range of interactions with both the environment and other people. During the demo, the employee controlling the game took advantage of her Sims’ “very angry” state to showcase their new “enraged situps” command, which helps both restore their emotional state and trains the fitness skill faster.

The Sims 4 also features a new character creation system. Users can directly click and drag on the body part they want adjusted, allowing for greater ease of use and precision during customization. Their trait and life goal system also featured a few new traits, as well as old ones.

Their UI was also streamlined and easy to navigate. Everything was tucked away neatly into corners, avoiding the large bars and circles seen in previous Sims games. Overall, it made for a much better user experience, with the refreshed graphics being displayed much more prominently.

Another feature they showcased was their new “gallery” function. Users can now upload their Sims, houses, and more onto a type of in-game store. Other users can browse and download the custom-created content into their game. Additionally, the building system saw some minor changes. Users can now relocate entire rooms, expand walls, and adjust wall heights or foundation heights with ease.

At the moment, The Sims 4 is showing a lot of promise. With a revamped UI, the addition of the gallery, and the new emotions systems, look for this game around the time of its September 2014 release date.

Battlecry

Battlecry, the new free-to-play shooter from Bethesda, echoes the class-based game play and art style of Team Fortress 2 with the smooth, parkour-like movements of Mirror’s Edge. This third-person shooter, which is currently in pre-alpha, was available for a hands-on demo with appointment. The game is surprisingly developed for a pre-alpha. For those who don’t know, Battlecry pits two factions against each other – the Royal Marines and the Cossacks. Both factions currently have 5 classes, with “more to be added” and 3 available for play at the time of the demo (the sword wielding Enforcer, the agile Duelist, and the long-ranged Tech Archer.) You can switch between classes at any time; combat consists of standard attacks with several abilities on cooldown. There is a neat “adrenaline” function earned by participating in combat, which can be used to temporarily empower your character or activate their ultimate ability. You can also double jump, dash, and use a grappling hook system to navigate one’s way around the map. The gameplay itself was very smooth – there were no problems jumping around, kiting enemies and exploring the watercolor art style. Combat feels a little stale, with a sort of ‘hit each other until you die’ feel. The developers also stated that while this game is F2P, there will be a skin system that you can purchase. These skins are purely cosmetic and will not affect gameplay. If you’re interested in shooters, and have enough space on your PC, check out this F2P game during it’s late 2015/early 2016 release. Beta coming in 2015.

Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha

Yeah, that’s the name for Capcom’s newest game on the Dead Rising IP. If you couldn’t figure it out by reading possibly the longest name in video game history, Dead Rising 3 is going to follow suit with the insane, bloody, comedic, and zombie-slaughtering theme of Dead Rising 1 and 2. This time, the game takes on a more arcade twist. You can party up into teams of 4, and you all choose a character with varying stats a la any fighting game. The game takes place on timed stages, with objectives such as “kill 750 zombies” or “race to the finish.” Although you work together, there are 1-4th place rankings shown after every round, which adds a nice competitive feel to the game. If you enjoyed the first two Dead Risings, or simply love arcade style games, keep an eye out for this game as it releases on PC this Summer.