I booked my ticket months ago, before many games had been announced (all three days eventually sold out, as they had done in previous years, so it paid to think ahead). Up until about a month ago, there still weren't that many games that I was interested in - some great titles, no doubt but nothing that really grabbed me. However, over the three weeks prior to the show that changed - Fable III was announced, as were Kirby's Epic Yarn and Little Big Planet 2 and all three were on my 'wanted' list, particularly the first.
Fable III was the game that I most wanted to see and it was as good as I had expected, though it did look, graphically, VERY similar to Fable II (no bad thing in my book but I wonder if that is indicative of the fact that the 360 has been taken as far as it can in terms of graphics), although the Albion being depicted is now that of an industrial era. I'd already pre-ordered the game and booked a day off work for the day of its release (as it's released during half-term, all that remains to be done is line up the grandparents for child-minding duties) so I'm not the most subjective reviewers. One criticism though - I completely failed to get one of the Fable III t-shirts that were being given away by Lionhead staff.
PlayStation Move and Xbox 360 Kinect were demonstrated but I find it very difficult to care about motion tracking devices/games. I own a Wii, so I consider that that particularly itch has been well and truly scratched and nothing I saw at the Expo changed my mind. I'm sure the technology in both new pieces of kit is better than that housed in the Wii but not so much as to make me care. More importantly for Sony and Microsoft, I don't think that their target market of casual gamers will care enough to about upgrade from their Wiis either. With rumours of a 'Wii2' around the corner (though I think Nintendo will have a job itself in convincing Wii owners to upgrade, even as market leader) the Sony and MS offerings look a little desperate.
There were several games exhibited that were sequels in series that I don't really care about - Gran Turismo 5, Gears of War 3, Killzone 3, Medal of Honor, Motorstorm Apocalypse - and a couple where the previous games are still uncompleted in my Pile of Shame - Fallout: New Vegas and DragonAge II. I've no interest in playing the former and I don't want to 'skip' a game to play the latter, so these, undoubtedly well-executed, polished products, didn't interest me that much.
There were some surprises at the Expo - games that I hadn't really thought about but have now moved onto my wanted list. inFamous 2 and Castlevania Lords of Shadow both fell into that category. I enjoyed the first inFamous game, although it wasn't without its flaws but the sequel, despite seeming to have a default camera point closer to the main protagonist (a revamped Cole), looked more polished than its predecessor. Cole still has his cool electrical powers but not to the extent of using them to 'encourage' the developers - its about a year until this is released.
Castlevania Lords of Shadow looked absolutely gorgeous. I've never been a Castlevania fan - I had Symphony of the Night special edition on PS1 but never really liked it and sold it to fund my 360 purchase. Lords of Shadow isn't really that much like a Castlevania game, to its credit (with me, anyway). It's a third person action adventure, heavy on the (whip-based, naturally) combat and - from the excerpt at the show anway - huge bosses. Win!
Most hilarious stand was that for DefJam Rapstar - watching geeks karaoke rapping was as fantastic as it sounds. Also the noisiest - the MC didn't seem to shut up the whole show and certainly earned his money.
Not legal tender. Cooler than the Ben Franklin, though
The most intriguing stand was that for Nintendo - part of the stand was cordoned off and shrouded in blackout curtains, with a snaking line of gamers queued up outside. I reckon you could show anything in such a way at a show like this and get a queue outside of it but this one was probably merited a queue. The game that was being previewed inside was Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, latest in the long-running series. I didn't queue up - I hate queueing for anything - but I now wish I had, as I found the level of secrecy intriguing (and I'm a fan of the Zelda games).
There were undoubtedly some stellar triple-A titles being shown at the Expo - unfortunately, with a few notable exceptions, those triple-A titles weren't the ones that I was interested in. I also found that, while slicker, the move to the larger venue left it a bit 'colder' than in previous years - last year's venue, at Old Billingsgate Market, with its labyrinthine layout was more enjoyable. That being said, I reckon I'll be back next year...
For what it's worth, the 30-something gamer Eurogamer Expo awards!
Game of the Show - Fable III (please see note on lack of subjectivity above)
Meh of Show - Move, Kinect
Mystery of Show - Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Yuck of the Show - Saw II
Disappointment of the show - not getting asked for ID by the bouncers on the 18+ zone
Headache of Show - watching monitors showing 3D gaming without 3D glasses
Surprise of Show - Castlevania Lords of Shadow
You're old enough to be an 18-year old's dad. Although you still dress a bit like one. ;)
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