SLUG Breaks Hi-Tech Ground @ E3

Let’s be honest: The economy is in the shitter. Mom and Pop stores aren’t the only ones permanently shutting their doors while the unemployment rate is at record numbers. Shit man, Six Flags just filed for bankruptcy. The land of roller coasters and log rides can’t even catch a break. You would think that every industry was a turtle lying on its back in the sun (fucked), but such is not the case when it comes to the world of gaming. That impressive fact was proven time and time again at the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo (a.k.a. E3) at the Los Angeles Convention Center. In times of economic woes, the world wants–scratch that–demands entertainment. Communities require something that allows them to escape the horrors of everyday life, and the endless rows of E3 exhibitors and vendors were eager to showcase their future products to satisfy those incessant cravings.

The three-day extravaganza began on June 2 in the City of Angels’ newly renovated downtown district. On a side note, I have a theory that whenever an ESPN Zone eatery or a Starbucks move into a neighborhood, the area in question can no longer be considered a “ghetto” or “dangerous.” For the past two years, the world’s largest video game convention had been closed to the general public, only allowing fellow industry members and the press the opportunity to partake in the festivities, but this year marked the reopening to any and all gamers desiring to witness the impending future of the video game trade.

Day One – A Stranger in a Technologically Strange Land

As I stepped off the Los Angels Metro, I was confronted with a towering inflatable Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and a perfect replica of the Ghostbusters’ vehicle, Ecto1, promoting the June 16 release of Ghostbusters: The Video Game (see complete review in SLUG’s Video Game Reviews Section). The convention is separated into two massive exhibit halls, West and South, with the larger corporations in the latter wing. I decided to start on the smaller end of things to avoid crowds and gain somewhat of a grasp on this massive gathering of technology.

The first stop on the shoelace express included an exclusive hands-on demonstration at the Bethesda Softworks booth with two of their upcoming titles, Wet and Rogue Warrior.

Wet, slated to release on September 8, is a third-person shooter that follows Rubi (voiced by Eliza Dushku) a freelance transporter that’s been double-crossed by her employer and is out for bloody, gory revenge. Surrounded by effects and environments offering several homages to 1970s action flicks, this shoot em’ up, chop em’ up, massive piles of corpses everywhere adventure is the closest to a Kill Bill video game as you can get—and it’s fantastic!

As for Rogue Warrior, the story follows excerpts from real-life Navy SEAL Richard Marcinko’s (voiced by Mickey Rourke) fictional military actions during the Cold War. This first-person shooter feels all too familiar and only attempts to separate itself from the pack by presenting horrifically violent death scenes, which become increasingly tiresome after 10 minutes of gameplay.

After getting my feet wet (pun intended) with E3’s offerings, I moved onward to the Playstation 3 arena, which embodied the largest chunk of the West Hall’s floor space and operated more like a douchy nightclub than a company displaying their upcoming titles. Due to the amount of games available in this section, I’ll provide you with the title and my initial reaction after witnessing their presentations:

Ghostbusters: The Video Game – I’ve always wanted an expansion to the Ghostbusters saga, and now with a feature film planned to release in 2012, this captivating venture provides a provisional bridge allowing players to become a recruit in the field of paranormal extermination.

SingStar: Queen – It’s a well-known fact that nobody can sing like Freddy Mercury. The game’s demonstrator and I proved that wholeheartedly with our rendition of “Under Pressure,” but this additional chapter to the home karaoke franchise should make for some fun drunken “Bohemian Rhapsody” nights. Scheduled to release on August 18, 2009.

Tekken 6 – I remember playing the first Tekken over a decade ago, and after five additional episodes, it still feels exactly the same. Why pay $59.99 for a few new characters and stages? Save your cash and locate something more innovative and enjoyable. Scheduled to release on October 27, 2009.

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