Travis’ Scraps From E3
We were all busy busy bees at E3 this year so naturally there were a few things that slipped by when it was time to write some articles. Here some some E3 goodies I would like to comment on.
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest
<img src="/images/20090605-lotr-aq_aragornvsspider.jpg" width="520" height="270" title="Suprisingly fun, but will it really be a good adventure for "all" ages?" loading="lazy" /> I wrote a short blurb about this earlier, but I had a chance to revisit the demo with a developer walkthrough that added to my experience. I played through a different portion of the demo, this one set in the mines of Moria. Aragorn (and pals) battle through numerous goblins, orcs, and spiders. The entire demo lasted for a significant amount of time and did not encompass the entire area of Moria. It’s confirmed that the tomb of Gimli’s ancestors as well as the bridge where the balrog appears will be apart of this area. The mines are also massive enough to allow for multiple paths and explorations as Aragorn works on side quests. What’s really cool is that a second player can pick up a wiimote and jump in any time (super mario galaxy style). They control a little target on screen which is basically the direction Gandalf is pointing. Even when Gandalf isn’t around he will be following Aragorn and so the player can shoot fireballs or lightning or even whack at enemies haphazardly with his wizard staff for those times Gandalf does appear on screen. It’s a nice addition, and more interesting than collecting the star bits in Galaxy, but I’m wondering what the developers plan for when Aragorn and Gandalf are separated.
As previously stated, it’s a surprisingly fun accessible adventure designed for all ages, but I think it’ll prove best for families and younger children. It’s a slightly easier Zelda game, essentially. On the other hand, Zelda is a great game for all ages already so did it really need to be made more accessible? These are questions I hope to answer in a later review.
Rabbids Go Home
Would’ve been an interesting launch title. The glorified tech demo where you can shake around a wiimote with a Rabbid inside it (you kind of have to see this to fully understand it) was neat, but the game itself was fairly stale in the gameplay department. A good sense of humor though, so likely another good game for kids… albeit really young kids.
Lego Rock Band
It’s rock band with lego characters. A “super easy” mode has been added so that as long as you strum you’re good to go. That’s a decent explanation for the entire experience honestly. Expert still exists so there is some significant rock for you if you want it. It features some more “fun” songs like “Final Countdown” and “Kung Fu Fighting” so it’ll be perfect for families who don’t want to root for some arguably questionable T rated songs if they want to play with their children. Since most gamers seem to have kids so they can have people to play games with it seems like a solid buy if you are into that.
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
Gorgeous and a light gun game. That’s about it. The headshots don’t seem to be any more forgiving than they were in Umbrella Chronicles.
High Voltage Software
Wow, what great guys! Seriously. Our appointment with them was the best moment of E3 for me. These are some developers that actually care about their games Also, High Voltage M&Ms! Not sure why Kevin and I think these are so cool. We got to see Gladiator AD and The Grinder “behind closed doors.” Expect an article about those in the coming days.