Tag: E3 2019

E3 2019: ‘Dead by Daylight’ Haunts The Switch

by Josh Jackson

Recently, the horror game genre has seen a creative resurgence. One of the games that has led that charge is Death By Daylight, a multiplayer slasher simulator where a team of victims must find a way to escape before a single killer takes them all out. Multiplayer gaming is where a platform like the Nintendo Switch excels, so seeing the demo at E3 made sense.

With the ability to play both locally and online, Dead By Daylight allows players to choose between original characters and high profile guests, (including Evil Dead’s Ash as a potential victim and Michael Myers as a killer). From there, the five players are dropped into a camp where the mostly defenseless campers must work together to activate a series of electric generators, creating a path to escape. This is all while the killer searches the grounds in an attempt to incapacitate the other players and hang their bodies on hooks. Whichever side achieves their goal first ends the bloody night victorious.

These goals aren’t as easy to accomplish as they seem, especially for the campers. Activating generators takes a long time alone, meaning it’s more efficient to tackle them alongside a partner. The thing is that these generators make noise, alerting the killer of their location. On the flip side, when encountering the killer or mortally wounded, teammates can call for help. This may allow the team to overwhelm the killer and revive their fallen partner, but with the imminent danger of losing more teammates in the process. The campers can also set traps and obstacles designed to slow the killer down, but these are all just temporary. It’s all like a gory version of PAC-Man.

Dead By Daylight on the Switch is shaping up well. Maintaining its visual and technical performance while playing locally among five consoles is no easy feat, so I left the demo impressed. Oh, and it manages to stay pretty creepy to boot. Be ready to grab some friends and slash them up when the game releases for Switch in September.

E3 2019: Hornet Returns With Excellent Platforming In ‘Hollow Knight: Silksong’

by Josh Jackson

Hollow Knight quickly developed a reputation among gamers as a beautiful, modern take on 2D action platformers. Oh, and it was excruciatingly hard. It’s only natural that fans of the first game would want to be punished even more, so Team Cherry obliged with Silksong, the upcoming sequel to the cult hit. The new game was on display at Nintendo’s booth at E3, so we jumped on the chance to check it out.

Emulating games in the “Metroidvania” sub-genre, Silksong shares many of the hallmarks that made the first game so memorable. The visuals have a dark, creepy vibe to them while being simultaneously vibrant. Each section of the grid based map confronts the player with various challenges. Be it hard to reach platforms, deadly enemies or hidden objects, searching thoroughly will always be beneficial towards advancing.

Armed with only a needle, controlling Hornet is fast and responsive. This is especially noticeable when up against the game’s deadly bosses. Using dodge rolls, slashes and air dives, Silksong follows the tried and true formula of memorizing boss patterns and attacking when it’s safe. Charging in head-first will lead to death and the frustration that comes with it, but coming out victorious is a rewarding feeling.

So far, Hollow Knight: Silksong is picking up where the first game left off and is delivering excellent platforming combat in the process. Its unique style and noticeable challenge are intact, all with new environments to explore. Check back for future updates as the game approaches release on PC and Switch.

E3 2019: ‘Wolfenstein: Youngblood’ Proves Two Is Better Than One

by Josh Jackson

Continuing their partnership with Nintendo, Bethesda is releasing Wolfenstein: Youngblood, the follow-up to the acclaimed Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, day and date with the other versions. Their previous shooters sacrificed visuals for performance on Nintendo’s platform, but with the cooperative aspect of the game being introduced this time around, would it still be able to hold up? This was the question I was hoping to answer walking into the E3 demo of the Switch version.

Playing as the daughters of BJ Blazkowicz, the Nazi fighting protagonist of the previous games, the pair are seeking out clues to the whereabouts of their missing father. Continuing the family tradition, they accomplish this by gunning down as many Nazis as possible, only this time with a wider range of technology thanks to advancements made in the 20 years or so between games. Each girl gets their own customizable loadout that can be tailored towards stealth or direct combat, and a second player can jump in and out at any point during he mission locally. When playing solo, the CPU did a good job of performing as a competent partner.

Once in a mission, the team can decide to take on challenges together or work towards separate goals. For example, one can solve puzzles or look for items while the other clears the way by taking down enemies. Larger environment led to greater freedom, but the team had to reunite when either advancing the story or moving to a new section of the map. Using an RPG-like health system, each weapon did a certain amount of damage to enemies and their HP determined whether or not they would go down. In other words, a headshot wouldn’t necessarily mean the bad guy was going depending on the situation. Still, it’s little to worry about when you’ve got a partner at your side.

Regarding the Switch version, despite the larger rooms and two-player format, it performed about as well as the previous Bethesda shooters on the platform. Up close, the character models and environments looked rough, and the frame rate looked below the usual 30 FPS, but the game stayed consistent with no noticeable performance dips in handheld mode. While the concessions made are obvious, they didn’t get in the way of delivering an action packed shooter experience on a handheld.

Grab a friend and go Nazi hunting! Nintendo owners will have what’s shaping up to be a strong co-op FPS to look forward to this summer when Wolfenstein: Youngblood releases on July 26. 

E3 2019: ‘Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020’ Lets Eggman Kick Mario In The Face

by Josh Jackson

Growing up in the 90’s, kids around the world dreamed of a day where Mario and Sonic would square off for platformer supremacy. However, none of us would have expected this dream team to come together to compete for Olympic gold medals, especially for as many years as this odd franchise has gone on for. Nonetheless, the Mario and Sonic Olympic series has continuously met this strange balance of simulating Olympic sports while delivering the personality of the two casts in a fun collection of mini-games. The upcoming version introduces three new sports; skateboarding, surfing and karate. We got a chance to try out each one to find out who’s going for the gold.

In each sport, the characters will all have certain attributes that give them particular advantages. For example, Mario is typically an all-around athlete while Sonic is fast and Bowser is powerful. This changes up a little with a sport like skateboarding, shifting their attributes to stats like technique or jump height. Almost like a simplified version of the Tony Hawk series, the player has a certain amount of time to accumulate points by stringing together tricks. These include grinding and air tricks, which are accomplished by jumping on or at the right times. Like all the mini games, this can be played either with traditional controls or with motion sensing, hearkening back to the franchise’s Wii roots. Playing simultaneously against an opponent made the game even more tense as you see their score climbing, creating a fun mode that reminds us of the skating battles of yesterday… When the motion controls wanted to register our jumps at least.

Surfing was next on the list, where each character would ride horizontally along a large wave. Weaving in and out of the peak in order to achieve maximum air allows for more tricks, and as they are consecutively pulled off, a meter fills up that will allow the player to perform a high scoring special move. Eventually, the wave will close in around the character, giving them the chance to ride through the tunnel for even more points and style. Unlike skateboarding, these games are done in sets rather than one continuous run. This made keeping track of the time of each run vital for maximizing your last few seconds of each trial.

Lastly, karate makes its way into this version of the Olympic games. While not quite Smash Bros, watching these characters fight with hand-to-hand combat was one of the more bizarrely satisfying sights I saw at the show. Almost like a rock-paper-scissors combat style, each fighter could use punches, kicks, throws and counters, each of which are strong and weak against one of the other attack types. Following a score system, a point is awarded when one player can take the other player down. Throwing seemed to be the easiest way to accomplish that, but why would you when watching tall, lanky Eggman push kick Mario right in the face is so much more funny?

While what we played won’t exactly change anyone’s mind about the series, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020 continues to feel more polished and varied as it goes on. Plus, if you ever wanted to see Bowser ride a tiny skateboard, now’s your chance! Fight for the gold this November!

E3 2019: Bow Hunting New Monsters In ‘Monster Hunter World: Iceborne’

by Josh Jackson

Last year’s Monster Hunter World went on to become Capcom’s best selling game of all time. It was such a massive hit partially due to the company’s continued support of the game long after release. However, after over a year of free updates that added new monsters, weapons, armor and missions, a full fledged expansion was announced last month. Titled Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, the reveal detailed how new abilities for old weapons, some brand new weapons, an uncharted arctic environment and some debuting monsters would breathe new life into the game. A playable demo was available on the E3 show floor, so we took the chance to try out some new techniques against the giant horned beast, Banbaro.

Hunters who have taken a break from their adventures will find that the game is easy to jump back into. Given the cold environment, hot drinks are a must before setting off to fight in order to stabilize one’s stamina for executing special moves. This is especially important since the new grappling hook will make use of the stamina meter much more frequently compared to the base game. Previously, the only way to get above a monster was to jump from above it or to vault yourself upwards using the Insect Glaive. For bow users like myself, that wasn’t a possibility, so the grappling hook is a much welcomed addition for increased mobility and combat options.

Fighting in a full team of four, we used familiar strategies to track down the moose-like monster, exploring the snow capped map that serves as a stark contrast to the volcanic and forest inspired environments of the main game. Once combat started, it was easy to be caught off guard by Banbaro’s long range thanks to its massive horns. Even when at a safe distance, the monster could pick up boulders with its horns and hit us from afar with the resulting debris coming from its smash. This only became more frequent as it became more aggressive, which was a good time to try out Thousand Dragons, the new bow technique introduced in Iceborne.

In the main game, your Slinger is like a sub-weapon that can shoot various projectiles that are found in the environment. Thousand Dragons acts as a powerful arrow that uses up all of the hunter’s Slinger ammo to deal maximum damage to the target. This gambit can be a risky one, since missing could mean using up useful materials for your fight. On the flip side, it’s a great way to dump useless ammo that you may have picked up by accident. Either way, while I clearly need more time to get used to the new mechanics since 15 minutes isn’t nearly enough time to master them, I have trouble seeing how they will be as effective as the skills from the base game. Once I went back to those, the fight became much easier to manage, even with partners who had never played before.

Once the demo was over, I felt confident that Iceborne will be the shot in the arm that the game needs to continue to grow for another year and beyond. With new monsters, weapons and abilities, we’ll all have the chance to step back into this world with renewed vigor for that next piece of powerful gear. Until then, we still have the main game to sharpen our skills with as we prepare for the tundra that awaits us on September 6.