May MCM Expo 2011 Gaming report
Another year, another May MCM Expo, the biggest annual nerd gathering in the entire United Kingdom! And of course where there’s nerds there’s bound to be video games, and where there’s video games there’s an excuse for game journalists to do overly descriptive write-ups in order to make up for a slow pre-E3 news week. So we at Push-Start present to you the 2011 May MCM Expo Gaming report!
Just as a forewarning though, I apologise profusely if some of these photos I took ain’t of the best quality; as anyone who’s been to the MCM Expo will attest to, the event hall fills up to well over maximum capacity very quickly. This little nuisance gave me no room for a tripod and a very limited amount of time to get some photos before it became too crowded to do so. Also I suck at photography; that possibly didn’t help.
If there’s one thing you’re going to see more than anything else at the MCM Expo, it’s questionable and deeply disturbing instances of cross dressing. However, the next most common spectacle is mouthwatering (or sometimes cringe worthy) merchandise of every possible shape or form. A vast majority of it is aimed squarely at anime addicts who apparently need to buy the stuff in order to survive, but as there’s a rather large crossover between those guys and gaming fanboys, it meant that there was still more than enough gaming loot to go around too.
Only a few stalls were selling actual games however, and usually it was rare (but reasonably priced!) SNES/N64 titles or GameBoy bargain bins. The rest of the gaming stuff was mostly action figures of varying quality and value, many of which could easily be obtained from larger gaming stores these days, that is if you don’t include the stuff from…..
The Square-Enix stall! It seems rather than showing off any new software (possibly because they don’t really have any at the moment), Square instead opted to showcase and sell items from their Play-Arts Kai range of gaming figures. As you might expect, a lot of the stuff on show was indeed Final Fantasy related, but there was also a huge amount of high quality merch based on popular 3rd party IPs such as Halo and Metal Gear Solid! Utilising both my inhuman self control and the looming threat of an expensive trip to L.A for E3 next week, I was able to resist bankrupting myself at this point; allowing only an inexpensive Metal Gear wall scroll from a nearby stall as my soul extravagance of the day.
As with every nerd gathering like this, cosplay (dressing up as fictional characters) plays a big part of the show. There’s not barrier for entry or anything, you could throw on a cowboy hat and call yourself John Marston if you wanted to. As a result most of the costumes tended to vary between: “ok”, “Bought on eBay” or “JESUS CHRIST BRO, PUT SOME DAMM CLOTHS ON!” For the sake of your sanity I shall not elaborate on that last one.
Of course there were a few rare standout instances of brilliance that were no doubt the result of genuine dedication and some fairly deep pockets, but the only one that made me stop in my tracks and whip out my camera was this incredibly authentic looking Duke Nukem impersonator in the photo above, who came complete with double babe accessories! And yes, I think the one on the right is going to give the Duke a bit of a surprise if he takes “her” back to Duke HQ tonight.
But enough of that silliness, now it’s time for what really matters: what games could you actually PLAY at the Expo? Well I take my hat off too Nintendo for putting together what was easily the most impressive booth at the show, ominously titled Nintendo UNLEASHED. “Man, I can’t wait to show you all the pictures I took of this sick Nintendo booth!” is what I wish I could say at this point, however after taking the above picture I was then informed by Nintendo event staff that there was to be ABSOLUTELY NO PHOTOGRAPHS WHATSOEVER. Yes that’s right, Nintendo didn’t want a certified member of the press taking pictures of their elaborate demo both (complete with blogging desk for journalists) at a publicly accessible event. So rather than using pictures of what games they had on show, I shall instead paint beautiful mental image within your minds eye using only the almighty powers of written word! Or you could do a Google Image search; it’s up to you really.
Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii)
This one was probably the most interesting of the lot, although sadly not for good reasons. Back when it was first announced it held the not so prestigious distinction of being literally the ONLY RPG on the Wii that wasn’t a sequel or a franchise extension, although I have heard that it’s in some ways intended to be a spiritual successor to the prematurely ended Xenosaga series on the PS2. Those of you either gasping with horror or jumping with joy at that thought should probably calm down; if there were really any similarities between Xenoblade to that convoluted Sci-Fi space opera then I was sadly unable to notice them. Instead it appears to be a much more down to earth run of the mill fantasy JRPG, full of spiky hair and adolescent boys with cartoonishly massive swords. The combat system was equally cliche; a free-form open world MMO style affair that’s very similar to Level 5’s surprisingly popular White Knight Chronicles.
The only thing about it that I found really striking was the graphics, and I don’t mean that in a good way. I’d seen a fair few screenshots of it every now and then over the past year, so I had a general idea of what to expect. However it wasn’t until I saw the game in motion that I realised something: the graphics are absolutely hideous. Yes, I realise graphics aren’t everything and that the Wii isn’t exactly a powerhouse, but honestly the amount of aliasing and the ultra low-poly environments were deeply reminiscent of low tier PSP games, or at the very least some mid range PS2 titles. If “Project Cafe” really is as powerful as the rumours say, then Xenoblade is going to paint an extremely harsh contrast to whatever first generation JRPGs end up on that thing.
Dead or Alive: Dimensions (3DS)
A curious choice considering this game is already wildly available. Either way, I won’t bore you with outdated but still very bouncy details, that’s what reviews are for.
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3Ds (3DS)
For once I’m actually forced put my cynicism aside, I’m still extremely annoyed that Nintendo would rather remake an old game than work on original projects for the content starved 3DS and all that, but they’ve really done such a bang up job on this title that I can’t help but be impressed. From what I’ve seen, It’s immediately evident that a lot of love and care has go into updating this classic for modern sensibilities without losing the experience that made the game so iconic in the first place. What’s more, the massive graphical overhaul looks extremely smooth yet subtle, providing a fabulous showcase of the 3DS’s capabilities as a high end handheld gaming device; something that it sorely needs at the moment. I think without a doubt this will be the fledgling platform’s first “must have” title for both returning fans as well as those (such as myself) who missed out on Ocarina the first time. And second time. Oh, and the third. Yeah, and that fourth time to.
I would’ve loved to have some juicy hands-on details to go with that sales pitch I just gave, but in true Nintendo tradition there were only a handful of active demo units of it available, and unsurprisingly a prohibitively long queue quickly formed around them. Yes, Nintendo tend to make a habit of this sort of thing; the 2 hour line up for the single curtained off demo of Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword at last years Eurogamer was a testament to that.
Wii Play: Motion (Wii)
If when reading the name of this title you instantly assume it’s just another soulless collection of crappy minigames that Nintendo will then bundle with something useful in order to ensure that it climbs up the sales charts on no merits of it’s own, then you are a deeply pessimistic individual that really needs to chill out. You’re also totally correct by the way, so let’s not dwell on this one.
Solatorobo: Red The Hunter (DS)
It was a bit of a weird choice by Nintendo to showcase this thing; I think they might have been running out of ideas at this point. Solatroobo is a spiritual successor to an obscure PS1 game called Tail Concerto, and much like that game it seems to be a very bare bones action-adventure game where you play as an anthropomorphic dog riding a giant robot of some kind. The graphics and art-style are fairly impressive for a DS title, but combat seems rather limited; consisting of nothing but picking up and throwing enemies at each other over and over again until they explode. Judging by that, I’d say it’s quite possibly aimed at kids rather than people like me who are old enough to actually remember what the hell Tail Concerto was. Interestingly enough, it’s actually developed by CyberConnect2, who are more commonly associated with stuff like this or this rather than furry shenanigans.
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
I’ve been told this was playable at the booth somewhere, but I somehow managed to miss it even though I walked through the booth on several occasions. It makes me feel kinda dumb considering it was probably one of the most significant games of the show in many respects, and easily the one I wanted to play the most!
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Why Warner Brothers Interactive felt the need to built a gigantic booth to promote a game that’s been on sale for ages (by video game standards anyway) is anyone’s guess. Again, if you want to know more, then just read our review.
Wow, at least they also set up this cool looking Arkham City stand surrounded by other Batman related apparel! This must mean they had the game playable right? Nope! Instead they had Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters, which I’m sure you’re probably thinking is just as good if not better! Well sorry to burst your bubble, but I regret to inform you that it’s apparently nothing more than a mediocre God of War style character action game, much like Marvel’s Thor: God of Thunder. The only interesting gimmick it had going on was the drop-in multiplayer co-op, so unless both you and a friend have a massive hard-on for the lantern, it’s probably worth avoiding.
Making it’s official debut in the UK, SUPER Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition made it’s presence known with one of Capcom’s signature huge open booth/lounge things, which I’m fairly certain contained several people playing Marvel vs Capcom 3 instead. I know this probably goes without saying and stuff, but SSF4AE (to give it it’s “short” name) looks a hell of a lot like SUPER Street Fighter 4. In fact it’s fair to say anyone who isn’t a fairly serious practitioner of Street Fighter would struggle to tell how it’s any different at all besides the addition of 4 “new” characters, two of whom are mealy alternate versions of Ryu and Akuma (because there just ain’t enough of those ya know?).
But that’s to be expected considering many of the major enhancements in SSF4AE are distinctly under the hood jobs such as minor balancing tweaks or extra options for online multiplayer battles. Obviously if you’re part of the competitive Street Fighter scene then Arcade Edition is a must buy as it will likely be the new torny standard from here on out, however I’d advise the more casual players to just wait around for the next full-on title in the series rather than get involved with this stopgap entry. However if you’re still interested in upgrading to Arcade Edition then don’t go rushing out to trade-in your vanilla version of SSF4 just yet; in addition to a stand alone retail title, Arcade Edition will be available as a relatively inexpensive DLC pack for owners of the …uh… Un-Arcade Edition. You may also be interested in the little sneak peak we managed to get of the achievements!
I think Red Faction Armageddon was both a pleasure and a disappointment really. The awesome Geo-Mod technology that allows you to pull apart your surroundings bit by bit looks even more awesome than it did in Red Faction: Guerrilla, and now many of the new abilities and weapons leverage that tech by allowing you to turn just about any piece of nearby junk into improvised projectiles. However the gameplay seems to now be confined to dark narrow corridors instead of the bright wide open sandbox world that Guerrilla used, and what little narrative the series had has now been forced down the rather generic humans vs aliens route. Unfortunately without a much more extensive session with the game it’s still too early to tell if this new direction is a good or a bad thing for the series.
[Sadly that random ghost guy in the photo isn’t part of some elaborate special effect they had going on; the place was getting rather crowed at this point so it proved exceptionally difficult to get a clean shot of the booth.]
In a moment of raw stupidity I totally forgot to actually go inside this booth after getting a photo of it, but that might be for the best as I only have a very limited amount experience with the series and am thus not exactly the most qualified person to comment on how Fea- sorry I mean F.3.A.R compares with it’s predecessors. However from what I can tell the basic premise seems to be the same as before; it’s a first person survival horror shooter that relies VERY heavily on tightly scripted events to spook the player when they’re not busy unloading lead into something fleshy and/or bullet time diving across the room. The only major new feature that I know of is that former antagonist Paxton Fettel is now playable, and he relies on less conventional combat techniques such as demonic possession and telekinesis in favour of just more dakka. Wow that actually sounds pretty cool now that I think about it…….. dammit!
The GameSpot UK booth near the centre of the convention hall was for some reason almost entirely full of demo units for games that were playable at other the other booths I’ve mentioned so far. However, tucked away in one corner I did find a playable build of Shadow of the Dammed. Considering it’s the latest game directed by developer mega stars Goichi Suda (AKA Suda51) and Shinji Mikami, you’d think they’d make a bigger deal about having it there, but I guess that would’ve meant less room for another Mortal Kombat unit. Anyway, it was a pretty unique game; a Resident Evil 4 like 3rd person shooter, but with a wild Devil May Cry sort of punk motif and a heavy dose of cheesy grind house horror styleings. Defiantly one to keep an eye on!
In a more obvious position they also had an Xbox 360 Kinect version (also available for PS3 Move) of Child of Eden. Sadly I didn’t get a chance to play this as it was being hogged by a 3 year old in a Thor costume, which I think everyone nearby silently agreed was far too adorable to interrupt but would also look far too creepy to photograph. But anyway, it’s an easy enough game to describe as it’s essentially the same as it’s PS2/Dreamcast predecessor Rez; a first person on-the-rails shooter with an extremely funky art-style and music that changes dynamically to what’s happening on screen, only this time it has gimmicky motion controls that will make you appear rather silly when playing it. It certainly looks very nice indeed, and I imagine fans of Rez will be instantly drawn to it, however I think the more typical gamer might find it’s simplicity a little bit off-putting. Although that’s not to say they’re exactly spoilt for choice when it comes to decent Move/Kinect stuff at the moment, so perhaps they might bite the bullet on that one.
As per tradition, hack’ n slash specialists Koei had a huge presence at the show, once again demonstrating their inexplicably strong fanbase in the UK. Unsurprisingly the first title of theirs that caught my eye was the one about giant robots, namely Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3. Now I’ll be the first to point out that not much (read: almost nothing) has changed on the gameplay side of things since previous version; you still just chose a character then mash the square button while stuff explodes on screen, but by God does looks a hell of a lot better than it did before! They finally decided to drop the rather shoddy looking CG art style and have instead gone for a far more appropriate anime like cel-shaded look. I was so impressed by this new art direction that I may indeed give the series a second look, even after Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2 turned out to be a boring grind fest even by Dynasty Warrior’s lofty standards.
Then again I’m sure there’s plenty of Gundam fans out there who only care about who’s playable in this edition rather than what it looks or plays like, so hopefully they’ll be pleased to hear that the roster has been significantly expanded with new mecha from more recent iterations of the Gundam franchise such as Unicorn and 00, as well as previously overlooked classics like Stardust Memory and Wing. To be honest it’s still about as niche a game as you can possibly get, but I think they’ve done a much better job of properly appeasing that niche on this occasion!
Koei’s other big showpiece was their new PS3 exclusive title Bleach: Soul Resurrección (yes it’s really spelt like that, I have no idea why) and, to the shock absolutely no one on the planet earth, it has more than a passing similarity to Dynasty Warriors. Again, all you do is chose a Bleach* character then button mash your way though hundreds of enemies while some crazy J-Rock blares away in the background. Childishly simple? Yes. Satisfying? Also yes. Koei should probably just make that their official slogan.
*For those of you that are 19th centaury time travellers or something to that effect, I’m referring to the absurdly popular Japanese anime/manga franchise, and sadly not the chemical solution.
Uh.. yeah. They also had demo units of Champion Jockey open to the public, which I have to say was truly a sight to behold. In fact, so overwhelming was it’s magnificence that none could find the strength within themselves to even approach close enough to actually play it. Even then, I dare not even try to describe what I saw from my distant vantage point for fear that I would mealy sully it’s divine majesty with my crude mortal words. What I’m trying to say here is that is was a game about riding horses, so no one gave a toss.
Although this isn’t really a game in itself, I don’t think I could ever talk about a Koei MCM Expo booth and not mention the ungodly amount of flyers they hand out here every year. Sadly I forgot to pick any up for myself this time, but I kid you not that my bounty from previous Expo visits decorate my wall in a manner not too dissimilar from this image of the booth itself.
Another traditional Expo participant, members of DDR UK where out there strutting their stuff on some obscure Japanese import rhythm action games with their usual brand of reckless abandon. That is, except for one booth that seemed to be playing some kind of Smash Brothers style party game simultaneously on 3 separate TVs. I didn’t ask why, hell I’m not even sure if real time communication is possible with whatever plane of existence DDR maniacs call home.
While not technically available just yet, I think a large amount of the people who actually care about this game have already been in the beta test or at the very least have been binging on footage from it. If not, then there’s always our beta impressions article to get you up to speed. If even that proves too arduous a journey for you, then here’s the lowdown: you still play as a brown space marine who hides behind brown chest high walls in order to shoot at brown stuff in the brown distance with your brown guns in a much better looking but still predominantly brown environment.
Relative newcomers Zen United had quite a small (for a publisher) booth, but it was rather hard to miss due to the… “interesting” colour scheme they had going on. Since stepping onto the scene they’ve more or less acted as the European representatives of fighting game developer Arc System Works, and as such are mostly known for handling the European localisations of the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue franchises. However, as I’m sure you can probably tell by this photo, they had their hearts set on hyping up the lesser known Arc System title Arcana Heart 3 that day.
It’s essentially your standard anime fighting game, only with an entirely female cast designed around various “moe” stereotypes, as well as a unique gimmick where your available special moves are determined by a combination of which character chose and what elemental “Arcana” you select to support them in battle.
Oh, and bizarrely those PSP demo stations housed the soon to be very irrelevant port of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger rather than its upcoming (as in, it’s out today in the US) successor BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II; not sure what that was about.
Atari’s booth was a bit of a sorry sight as it only had two very minor downloadable titles on display. The more interesting of the two, not that that’s saying much mind you, was Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale. It’s a fairly mundane but functional dungeon crawler action RPG that I can tell was defiantly trying to do an impression of the long forgotten Dark Alliance PS2 games. But unlike those games of yore, just about every aspect of its combat system, user interface, setting and overall design can easily be filed under “painfully bland”. Supposedly it’s the first in a trilogy of titles, but judging by it’s current critical reception I wouldn’t be surprised if this district of the Forgotten Realms stays forgotten.
The game next to it was called Warlord, which, unless you’re either quite knowledgeable or pushing your mid 30s, you probably won’t recognise as a remake of an old school Atari 2600 title. It seems to be yet another part of Atari’s recent initiative to make poorly received XBLA remakes of every retro IP they haven’t lost during one of their many financial crises, so I hope you’ll understand why I chose to invest my time elsewhere rather than get some hands-on time with it.
And finally we finish off with Konami, who just like every other year were very busy drawing in new addicts for their long running Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game. The only actual game they had on show was Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Decade Duels, which to cut a long story short is very similar to the fantastic Tag Force Yu-Gi-Oh games on the PSP, only with all the good parts taken out and a bunch of overpriced DLC packs thrown in to take their place. While crappy games are never a good thing, Decade Duels is especially depressing for fans of the recently expired “5D’s” series of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, as this will almost certainly be the last game to bare that title before it gets replaced with the comparatively rubbish looking Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.
And so there we have it! That’s just about all video game stuff I was able to lock my eyes on at the event. Tune in again later this year for the October edition of the MCM Expo Gaming Report, where hopefully we’ll see some as of yet unannounced E3 titles take centre stage!