IncGamers' E3 Awards page 2

16 Jun 2009 at 16:26:19 by Staff Writers

Best Games of E3

Mafia II

As a big fan of the first Mafia game (on PC at least), I was hoping the 2K guys would show some juicy footage of the sequel during the E3 presentation and I wasn’t disappointed. Narrative and atmosphere look to play a big part in Mafia II and the cinematic story-telling in the demo was very nicely handled. But it was the talk of the evolving sandbox setting that impressed the most as 2K explained how the city’s appearance and atmosphere will change as the game charts Vito Scaletta’s rise from hired goon to made man over a ten year period.

• Read the IncGamers E3 Mafia 2 Preview
• Watch the IncGamers Mafia 2 video interview
  

Mass Effect 2

I’m sure that picking an incredibly high-profile sequel isn’t the thing that all the cool people will be doing, but sod it: Mass Effect 2 looks stunning.The first game was a cinematic stunner with some of the most impressive cutscenes and conversation sections I’ve ever seen (not necessarily the dialogue itself, but half of those conversations could have passed for cutscenes.) This was married with amazing environment design, an entertaining plot, and, uh, slightly average combat and driving  sections. Mass Effect 2 looks to be the same but better: more dynamic conversations, environments that are both more stunning and more numerous, and vastly improved combat, inventory management, and planetary exploration. Combine this with the ability to import your saves from the first game, which actually changes the universe based on your actions in the prequel, and I’m sold. BioWare look to have taken all of the criticism of the first game on board and it really shows.  More sequels like this, please.

• Read the IncGamers E3 Preview

Project Cube

Square Enix does Geometry Wars, with gallons upon gallons of blood. Geometry Wars is XBLA crack, and Square Enix’s take, which is still using its working title, does just enough things different that it enthralled me, and can’t simply be dismissed as a copycat. Why is it a surprise? I had no idea it existed, and stopped by to play for ten minutes while waiting for an appointment. Following the appointment, I went back. Who would have thought that Geometry Wars by Square could be so incredible? Or so bloody?

• Read the IncGamers E3 Preview

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