E3 2018 Archives - GeeksHaveGame

June 13, 2019June 13, 2019

DYING LIGHT 2 [E3 2019]: Fright Knight.

DYING LIGHT 2 (Techland Publishing/Square Enix – PS4/X1/PC – 2020) – Picture it. You’re living in a city where the environment is beyond repair, people have divided into factions, and the water is about to run out. No, I’m not talking about California in 2019, but District 2 in the immersive world of Dying Light 2..

Set 15 years after the original game ended, the world has gotten darker and the plight more dire– all good for you as a player, of course, since Techland brings in new techniques, abilities, and mechanics.

There’s an interactive component to DL2, so the choices you make as you go through the story all influence the outcome. Stay and help a friend or chase a foe, and your story goes a completely different way. Because of this and the various side missions, it is playable multiple times and would be a different experience each time.

Visually, the game is even more stunning than the original. The cities blend aspects of our modern monoliths with the vibes of medieval fortresses, making your characters modern knights in an apocalyptic wasteland.

As always, the undead are there, hiding in abandoned buildings and dark corners, just biding their time until the sun goes down and they can come out to play. More city interaction, beefed-up parkour abilities (and a paraglide) and enhanced UV light mechanics help you master your surroundings.

Reveal wise, Techland did a great job showing off their game, despite the lack of hands-on gameplay at E3.. again. The new interactive features were shown off and the presenters were enthusiastic and sold their product– and their comfy seats, open bar and welcoming environment didn’t hurt.

If you like survival games, dig a post-apocalyptic storyline, or want a game with excellent visuals, Dying Light 2 seems like it’s definitely worth adding to your “to buy” list. 4/5 Bibles.

-Sarah Obloy

June 27, 2018February 28, 2019

THE GEEKDOM GAMESCAST [Episode #2]: E3 2018 Wrap-Up!

June’s almost over which means the Big Show in video games has come and gone. In a special second episode for the month, the Gamescast has reunited to bring you all the news in our E3 2018 Wrap-Up!

Or DOWNLOAD this episode HERE!

Youtuber, Streamer, and GHG gamer contributor “Aztec” Artez Bailey joins Myke & Moody to talk about every press conference, every game they got to play, sneak peaks of releases that no one got to see, and so much more.

Find out who won the console press conference war this year, who had the most lackluster showing, and what games surprised us the most. This ep a hands-on, behind the scenes look at the biggest con in video games.

So enjoy the show, and keep gaming. 🎮

June 26, 2018June 26, 2018

FALLOUT 76 [E3 Trailer]: You Will Emerge.

From the Bethesda E3 showcase, watch the “You Will Emerge” introduction to multiplayer in Fallout 76!

All-new graphics, lighting and landscape technology brings to life six distinct West Virginia regions to Fallout 76. From the forests of Appalachia to the noxious crimson expanses of the Cranberry Bog, each region offers its own risks and rewards.

Take a tour of Fallout 76’s new and untamed wasteland you’ll explore on November 14.

-From Bethesda PR

June 20, 2018

TOM CLANCY’S THE DIVISION 2 [E3 2018]: And Knowing is Half the Grind.

Despite being a long-time PVE player, I wasn’t exactly excited for my behind closed door time with Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 — a series I had only tried but hadn’t clung onto. E3 is over and now I’m a fan.

GHG — Artez, Moody and me — was given a good 30-minutes plus to play 4-player co-op in the same Washington, DC demonstration from the Microsoft press conference. Everything about the controls felt great, although heavily complicated if you hadn’t touched the first; gunfire and special weapons were easy to handle, unique, and addicting to test as we traversed our mission through the state capital and the barren wasteland surrounding it. Much like Manhattan in the previous game, Massive and Red Storm plan to recreate a 1-to-1 ration of Washington. Comparing this environment to that of the DC we’ll see in Fallout 76 and The Walking Dead action game will be interesting.

If you watched the demo, you were probably just as blown away seeing a crashed Air Force One aircraft and monument museum (infiltrated by the True Sons enemy faction) as we were in our run/communicate/shoot/cover hands-on. While not much is known on how the story campaign will play out, the most RPG elements I saw dealt with gun Specializations. Once you equip these special weapons (level 30 = very deep into gameplay) — powerful crossbows, grenade launchers, hive drones, 50-cal snipers, etc. — The Division 2 goes from your standard tactical shooter into something quite rewarding. When the tough gets going, you can also call on a group of NPC’s to get your back during a firefight.

The rest is a mystery. Eight-player raids were announced at the conference, yet nothing concerning PVP (i.e. The Dark Zone from D1) was shown. PVE is very solid, and that’s only the half of it. With another Tom Clancy franchise gamers care about, let’s hope The Division 2‘s hype (come March 15th) feels worthy to the faithful community and new players alike. 3.5/5 Bibles.

-Jenn Casals

June 19, 2018

DYING LIGHT 2 / OVERKILL’S THE WALKING DEAD [E3 2018]: ZombiE3.

Funny, how, coming off a bad case of pneumonia among other internal not-so-fun disasters, I went into this past week’s trip to Los Angeles for my first ever E3 feeling like the Dead–and the two games I couldn’t wait to get my hands on were Dying Light 2 and OVERKILL’s The Walking Dead game. Hey, I’m a sucker for shooting gross things. The following details how much Techland’s Dying Light sequel improves on the first, and how poorly my “Monsignor” boyfriend just can’t PC.

Dying Light 2 had a great presentation. When GHG checked into our behind closed doors hands-off demo, little did we know we would literally, if not apprehensively have to be “hands-off” with actual zombies greeting us in a dimly lit red corridor. Very cute, Techland. Our presentation also wasn’t without humor; Dying Light 2‘s lead designer and self-proclaimed “Best Dying Light 2 Player in the World” (and I mean, “duh”), Tymon Smektala, was super pumped to show us the many improvements from the original and show us how “great” he was at a game he pretty much built. Besides looking better in 4K as most gamers saw in a surprise reveal during Microsoft’s press conference, Smektala and his team’s aim to set focus on the narrative…

Techland doesn’t want to make yet “another” zombie game. They want a memorable one, and bringing in admired RPG writer/designer Chris Avellone (Knights of the Old Republic 2, Fallout 2, Divinity: Original Sin 2 is just the first step. Or there’s just something about the number two. Each decision you make in DL2 will have severe consequences that drastically change the game. It all depends on which side of the poltical pond you want to swim in, and each decision you make and which faction side you take (either douchie “peacekeepers” or anti-government “smugglers”) all lead towards an entirely different gameplay.

While DL2 still has its intense parkour, FPS sensibilities and terrifying day/night cycles (said to not be so frustrating as the first game although we never got a chance to see it in the demo), the more robust RPG nuances and modern day medieval city setting are no doubt a welcome change. 4.5/5 Bibles of the Dead.

If Washington D.C. wasn’t a theme running this past week at E3, I don’t know what is. Like we watched in a pair of E3 reveals such as Fallout 76 (technically West Virginia) and The Division 2 (my next hands-on article), OVERKILL’s highly anticipated The Walking Dead game featured a pair of 4-player co-op missions near the monument; our team’s goal was to recover water from a rival group. While that sounds as simple as unzipping a passerby E3 geek’s backpack on the showroom floor, our team had to make sure we could gather enough gear, fight off hordes of zombies (but of course) and teach Travis how to use a keyboard. Trust me, the struggle was real.

Although I’m not entirely sure it was him that caused our downfall (OK, OK–it wa…), playing an instant 4-player co-op TWD game was a nice fun surprise. Melee felt great, communication (at least wth the 2 other girls) was on-point, and teamwork felt essential. We stil got our asses kicked. While directing camera angles were a bit shifty, this should wind up easier on a Xbox or PS pad with the second joystick. At least in this gameplay demo, we were limited to who I’m guessing are characters from the comics (sorry, I watch the show.. and it seems AMC ain’t having that in this game). Good news is that OVERKILL Software and Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman’s Skybound imprint have a solid relationship that equates to an authentic feeling world. Just make sure you stay quiet in it. 4/5 Bibles.

-Jennifer Casals

June 18, 2018

CONTROL [E3 2018]: ‘Legion’ of Room.

Hearing from Remedy Entertainment just a week or so leading into E3 was a pleasant surprise. It was, perhaps, even more of a surprise to discover that the Max Payne/Alan Wake developers unleashed their next IP, initially codenamed P7, to the world at the Sony Press Conference. Yeah, Remedy has been known for their more Xbox friendly titles, including spring 2016 Quantum Break. But what Control does for Remedy compared to that last effort, which was critically approved but didn’t exactly break down sales numbers, is a direct objective…

This is far from an ambitionless project from Sam Lake; Control just doesn’t have/need gimmicks (watch episodic TV as you play, etc.) to make it notable. At first, Control, indeed does look like the Starbucks-drinking stepchild of Quantum Break— with its twisted third-person gravity-altering sense of physical reality, and promising deep story. It may owe more in its allegiance to FX’s Legion and the novel-turned-recent-flick Annihilation than The Matrix, and the timing couldn’t have been better.

One of the questions I asked during my 20-plus minutes behind closed doors with the game was the diversity of locations. In fact, the entire game will take place in the FBC’s (Federal Bureau of Control) Oldest House.. of course, one room can expand to an entire other world. See, told you it will remind you of Legion/Annihilation (if not Poltergeist). Gameplay appeared to be very methodical, as each scene and story beat felt like a puzzle in itself (think: Metroidvania). Control surely isn’t a game for rapid-fire Titanfall of Duty bros.

Visually, Remedy’s latest was easily one of the most impressive at the expo. The lighting immediately caught my eye, and I swear I’ve never seen an office building — arguably the dullest of video game backdrops — look this outstanding. Watching Jesse Faden creep through the haunted halls of the FBC felt very real, and I’m guessing trying to separate what sections of “The Big House” are active reality, reactive reality, and inactive reality will provide the most titillating moments of our mission. Jesse will also pack supernatural Objects of Power to get through all this mind-fuckery — launch, shield, dvade and levitation. Her Service Weapon also forms into a physicals-altering handgun and shotty–def the coolest characteristic about Control‘s combat yet. 3.75/5 Mind-Bending Bibles.

-Travis Moody