Gaming News: Hidden Gems From the E3 Floor Show

Share on Facebook posted 06-09-09 by Angelo D'Argenio

Amid all the hype and hoopla surrounding the high-profile games unveiled at the major E3 press conferences last week, some really kick-ass new additions to the gaming world went scandalously unnoticed down on the convention floor. These hidden gems include indie games that didn’t have enough money or marketing to make it into the spotlight as well as remakes or sequels that simply weren’t popular enough with the mainstream to make E3’s big stage. Not to worry. Our ninjas were on the case, tirelessly surveying the hundreds of new games on display to bring you this roundup of strong titles you should definitely not let slip through the cracks.

Tekken 6

Tekken was one of the games that revolutionized 3-D fighting as we know it. From the original, to the largely successful Tekken Tag Tournament, all the way up to our current iteration of Tekken 5, the Tekken series has captivated many with its long strings of button combos and 3-D-environment-oriented gameplay. Now Tekken 6 seems to be going one step further, not only by expanding the roster of playable characters beyond anything we have seen, but also by including both a create-a-character mode and an adventure mode, in which some of your favorite characters even get to play around with miniguns!

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

This sleeper is the first 3-D Castlevania game we have seen in a while. For a long time Castlevania has been making its mark with 2-D open-world platformers, starting with the originals on the NES, perfecting the formula with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the PS1, and continuing the series on the DS and PSP handhelds. Although 3-D Castlevanias have more often than not been received poorly, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is looking to change all that. The game’s creators seem to have taken a page from the God of War book by integrating fast beat-’em-up gameplay with many context-sensitive events. If the game manages to retain the old-school Dracula fighting feel of the other Castlevanias, this game might actually give God of War III a run for its money.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

One of the first big rumors to hit gamers’ ears back when the Wii was still young was that Silent Hill, the renowned Konami horror franchise, was going to be making its way onto this motion-controlled platform. Then all details about the project faded into obscurity, and skeptics stuck their tongue out at Nintendo fan boys, saying, “Ha ha, you were wrong and your system sucks!” Well, revenge is sweet, because Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is in fact coming to the Wii, and it looks better than ever. The game is a retelling of Silent Hill 1, the one that started it all, with updated graphics, a brand-new gameplay system, and a revised and retranslated story. And since horror is much easier to express with current-gen graphics than it was with the PS1’s hardware, we can expect to be gleefully peeing our pants in terror very soon.

Nier

OK, the pun at the end of this trailer made us groan, but overall this game looks pretty impressive. No one knows what the heck this game is about, but the trailer has some dude wielding a sword as big as his body and beating up zombies, demons, and strange black fly-swarm thingies — and that’s awesome. The game is done by Square-Enix, which does set off some warning sirens, as they are better known for their RPGs and for systematically failing at any other genre in which they attempt to make a game. Still, since it appears everyone wants to get their hands dirty with God of War-esque action titles, it may not be a bad idea to give this Square production a shot.

Quantum

Quantum is a game by Tecmo that is supposedly going to revolutionize the action genre, which is interesting, because when was the last time you heard of Tecmo doing anything other than Ninja Gaiden? The game looks to be a mix of action and shooter gameplay, focusing on teamwork and featuring a wide variety of combo maneuvers. More importantly, the game seems to feature an open, ever-changing world in its “tower” landscape, perhaps alluding to a game engine in which the dungeons and locales are randomized. I don’t think any of us could ask for more out of an action game where we get to beat up mutant vampires all day.

Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead revolutionized gameplay with its A.I. Director, an invisible helmer guiding the game along as if it were a movie. Left 4 Dead 2 is going to feature massive upgrades to the A.I. Director as well as new guns, new melee weapons, new zombies, new characters, new ammo, and even new game modes. The A.I. Director in this one can change daytime to nighttime, alter the weather conditions, and even change the path you need to take to complete a level, making each time you play through the game a truly unique zombie movie experience.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

A while back, Capcom demonstrated something phenomenal with Megaman 9, which was done with old-school NES graphics, even though it was an entirely new game. They proved that retro gaming has a tremendous pull on the current gaming market, since Megaman 9 posted record sales. Now it appears as if Squaresoft is following in their footsteps by releasing a sequel to a classic adventure, Final Fantasy 4, in SNES style via Wiiware. Many people say that JRPGs have never gotten better than they were in the SNES era, so it’s nice to see Squaresoft returning to its roots and giving gamers the pixelated RPGs they yearn for.