With the Electronic Entertainment Expo — E3, parishioners — just one week away, we’ve still got a slew of games to preview. Welcome to Day Seven!
***DAY SEVEN, June 7th — MAFIA III, FIFA 17, GEARS OF WAR 4***
Archives:
“DEACON E” Esko @eskobts
MAFIA III (Hangar 13/2K Games – PS4, X1, PC, Mac – October 7) – I always feel weird about this kind of thing, jumping into a franchise suuuuper late with zero knowledge of the previous games. There’s a lot included that might excite me, but, of course, will be B.A.U. for the longtime Mafia gamers. I imagine Grand Theft Auto 5, minus 4-decades, plus an immersive story, and tons of historical accuracy. The story is told pure documentary style, which can be cool, but also seems to have a bit of potential to be boring. Yet, they’re boasting about adding more people on the streets, more crowd interaction, and just more liveliness overall. Sounds awesome. It’s great to feel like the city exists beyond just the main characters, with people on the streets doing people things.
(cont.) The one thing that deters me from most old timey games set in the past is the weapons. It’s cool at first but eventually, the bad guys show up and I miss my laser sights and remote mines. That’s not a dealbreaker for me, however, as I’m sure I’ll get over it like I did with not being able to jump in The Evil Within. Mafia III‘s storytelling is what excites me; Hangar 13 has done a lot to make the story and character development of the game very engaging, edgy, and intelligent. Anything that can mix those 3 things with open world fictional violence, has my support.
“CARDINAL” ROBERT BEXAR @robBex2
FIFA 17 (EA Vancouver – PS4/PS3, X1/360, PC – September 27) – GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!! One of the best-selling sports games is getting a new face lift this year when EA Sports releases FIFA 17 this September. They will launch it with a new engine, Frostbite, which is currently being used mainly for shooters like Star Wars Battlefront and the Battlefield series. This inclusion will make for a faster, quicker and prettier game (just look at new Chelsea gear-wearing Eden Hazard‘s player likeness in the trailer below!). Rumor has it that the storyline could be molded after the NBA 2K series, so that’s something. While no gameplay has been released, EA Sports has promised a much bigger reveal this Sunday at the E3 News Conference and, all the more likely, hands-on during its off-site EA Play event.
“APOSTLE” LANCE PAUL @Lance_Paul
GEARS OF WAR 4 (The Coalition/Microsoft – Xbox One – October 11) – You may call me an “old school” gamer, but I’m all very campaign first (multiplayer last) when it comes to shooters. So nothing has me more excited at E3 2016 than the new Gears! While last year’s E3 — and the 6-months ago MP beta — was a tad lackluster to this JD Fenix (new hero 25-years later, Marcus’ kid, also 1 of 3 new playable characters) supporter, it still showed me enough to keep the faith. Not only will you have to face the most terrible and yet brilliant set of alien creeps (The Swarm) yet, you’ve got Windflares (tornado hurricanes) to worry about.
http://youtu.be/o3f8VgQ_dqk
(cont.) The key to success? Well, first: storyline, storyline, storyline! Or at least a narrative far better than what we’ve had in the past. Despite what Design Director Cliff Bleszinski saying “Gears ain’t Shakespeare,” something more coherent than the lovechild of Arnold and Stallone meets Stargate is needed! Gears also broke new ground with the “Chainsaw-Bayonet,” so something to rival such an epic weapon will be needed. The return of the Horde mode is a must; and seeing what The Coalition does to top this insane mode should be the game’s top highlight at E3. Finally, we want and must have more functioning vehicles–nothing like that “other” classic Xbox series of old, either.