E3 Impressions: Microsoft, Part 1

I know it's been about a week since E3 but I finally have some time to post some impressions of what I thought of what was presented to us by Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. What I'll do is do a series where I'll look at each company individually. Where a game is going to be on more than one system, i.e. Modern Warfare 2, I'll put it with the system I am most likely to buy it for.

I think Microsoft definitely had the best showing of the week. They started out strong by showing us a great preview of Beatles Rock Band. I am not 100% sure if I am going to buy this or not. If I do, it will be the game only as I don't need anymore plastic instruments laying around. To be honest though, I am starting to feel a little oversaturated with all the music games available. I think I'm going to take a break from them for a little while. Really, I think a steady stream of DLC is a far better way of releasing new music than putting out a new disc every year. The Beatles game is a bit of an exception though but with only 45 or so songs on the disc, it seems like a drop from the normal number in a Rock Band or Guitar Hero release.

There were a couple of games that Microsoft showed off that have me really excited. The top of the list being Modern Warfare 2 from Infinity Ward, who gave us Call of Duty 2 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. After watching the gameplay video they showed off, I have to say I am drooling at the mouth for this one. I mean, c'mon, you get to ride snowmobiles like something out of a James Bond film or True Lies, the last really good Schwarzenegger movie. Please for you to enjoy, the gameplay video shown off at E3:



Left 4 Dead 2 is another game that really has me excited. I, like a lot of other people, was quite shocked that another Left 4 Dead game is coming out only a year after the first one. Perhaps they could have just released some more DLC for the first game but if they give us another 4 or more full scenarios like the first game and some more online multiplayer modes, I have no problem buying another full priced game. I do have to admit that I am really looking forward to whipping out the chainsaw and hacking up some zombies.



Microsoft of course also showed off some new games from the Halo universe. The one game everyone already knew about, Halo: ODST, which comes out this Fall. Include with the new game is a second disc containing all of the Halo 3 multiplayer modes, which are playable with anyone who is using the Halo 3 game disc. Now, I'm not the biggest Halo fan but I think this is a very smart move.

The other new Halo game was Halo: Reach, which caught everyone off by surprise. There is some information about it in the link I posted above for ODST. It appears to be some sort of a prequel. Here is the teaser they showed off though:



The last game I'm going to mention is Brutal Legend, before this post gets too long. This game is from the guys at Double Fine, who gave us the fantastic Psychonauts. This one looks like it'll be a Tenacious D game though, especially with the inclusion of Jack Black. I'm a huge heavy metal fan and I think this game looks like a complete blast. I definitely can't wait to play it.



I think that's it for today. Next post, I'll give my impressions on Project Natal to wrap up what I thought of Microsoft's showing at E3 this year.