Tom Towers coverage appears in normal case (strangely for him). Phil Fogg's coverage is in italics. All image captions are from Mr. Fogg.
Faster Than Light
Was it an angel that descended from heaven, live on stage at E3? Was it Lucifer, losing his wings halfway down? Or was it just Hideo Kojima?
Billy Jean, is not his lover, she's just a girl that says he is The One.
8-Views of Death Mountain
Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!
Zelda will finally fulfil the fantasies of the multitudes. Bullet points in place of a 30-year-old formula. But how exciting, how wondrous these bullet points appear to be when fully realised.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!
But let us not forget in our ecstasy the beauty of a single motif repeated. Each repetition revealing another aspect of the subject, or allowing us the opportunity to revel in the eccentricities of its author[s]; concentrated by the constraints of working to a formula.
Remember! Remember! Remember!
And let us ask, also, what constitutes Zelda? The aesthetic sensibilities, the mythology, the gameplay mechanics…or the formula itself? In retaining the aesthetic sensibilities and mythology sans the formula, do we serve any purpose greater than the gratification of our desire for nostalgic fulfilment?
Remember! Remember! Remember!
Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!
Amnesiac Chameleons
Apparently a series or two made a drastic departure from their roots. Apparently a few series were rebooted in a classical, yet contemporary style. But so closely did they resemble other games, I can scarcely recall what series they were.
It was nice, however, to see God of War 4 introduce a character that the majority of its fanbase could at last relate to.
Son, Get me a beer. I mean dear, get me a deer.
As the demographic of console gamer contines to age, Kratos, in his flabby-dad period of life, with his less than sensitive parenting style, spoke for the rising anger in the average (really) white male in bluntly un-ironically pulling his son away from his playthings to get him to go kill a deer, providing an aural mnemonic for the familiar refrain, "go get me a beer".
Besides that, bringing 40-year old Corey Barlog back onto the God of War team is greatly encouraging. He was present for the original and creative director for God of War II, arguably the best in the franchise. He left the studio under strange circumstances, and his return could only be capped by that of David Jaffe retaking the helm.
Moving God of War into an isolated natural setting with a companion at your side seems to be the Sony way these days, and surely God of War's reboot will not be the Last of These, judging by Sony Bend's new game.
The Tortoise and the Hair
Do developers not realise that beards are now a passé symbol of the hipster? Killzone 3 got the timing right. Broken Age got the contemporary depiction right. The former was released in 2011. The latter’s full-bodied beard was sported by a hipster lumberjack.
The millenial pioneers of beard.
Choruses from E3 (in conclusion):
The world is ending.
We want to be one of the lucky few to survive the world’s end, whether it is brought about by the Spanish flu, The Great War, technology, zombies, the unknown…or Ganondorf. Fulfilling this desire, videogames have now charted the extent of the decline of Western civilisation, going from the Not-Quite-As-Great-but-Still-Pretty-Good War, to The War on Terror and its echoes of The Cold War, to the cataclysmic beginning of the end: The Great War itself; complemented by a general sentiment steeped in the apocalyptical, present in much of the catalogue on display at this year’s E3.
Incidentally, The Last of Us and Tomb Raider were really very successful.
Game Under’s (Tom Towers) Game of the Show: Forza Horizon 3
We at Game Under love the way Australia separates earth and sky. Go horizon! Go! Go!
It actually did look quite good, and I enjoyed that for the first time since Midway's Cruis'n' The World, that Australia is being depicted in a racing game, albeit sans kangaroos. Horizon: Zero Dawn was actually a game that came closer for my E3 GOTY, but ultimately I am most anticipating Detroit continuing David Cage's vision of gaming.
We'll have much more to say, including my views on Microsoft's approach, in the next episode of the Game Under Podcast.