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E3 - Hands On Impressions - Konami
Continuing with brief hands-on impressions from the most interesting booths at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, we turn our attention to Konami. Read on for info about Castlevania, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Gradius, Metal Gear, and more..
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, showing for multiple platforms, was a delight. With awesome-looking cel-shaded graphics, and Batman-the-TV-series type 'CRASH!' and 'THUMP!' voice balloons accompanying the action, this goes a long way to recreating the fun of the original arcade and SNES games, with multiplayer arcade-styled fun to the fore.
- Bloody Roar 4 was showing for PS2, picked up when Konami bought a controlling interest in developers Hudsonsoft a year or two back. It seemed high on the B-list of fighters - not essential, but hardly Final Fight Revenge either.
- Castlevania:Lament Of Innocence for PS2 is a 3D action title that finally puts to rest those horrid N64 Castlevania games, with somewhat Devil May Cry-styled action gameplay, big bosses, and a camera that behaves most of the time. It's still got that oldschool feel, but some of the rooms felt a bit large and empty in places. Still, promising, though it's easy to think about how the Rygar title for PS2 seems to have made the transition a bit better.
- Gradius V for PS2, the latest sequel to the all-time classic sideways-scrolling shooter, was showing on a single machine round the side of the booth. It looked good, with 2D action but great use of 3D scaling in the background, and the traditional power-up stacking system that's always worked so well. If you're not a fan of this genre, you won't be converted, but it's a worthy successor.
- Cy Girls for PS2, some kind of girl ninja/hacker action title, really didn't look that hot in the playable demo on the booth, but the video trailer there showcased some more interesting action, so it may improve as release date nears.
- Silent Hill 3, which seems to come out as soon as next week in Europe, and in a couple of months in other territories, looked very much like a straight sequel to the previous two titles. Basically, it's very spooky, the gritty lighting still works, there's scary giant rabbit costumes outside deserted amusement parks.. you get the drift.
- Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand, the innovative GBA title from Hideo Kojima that will include a light sensor in the cartridge, was difficult to evaluate on the show floor, since there was only a video running and GBAs running the title were only viewable through glass. But the isometric graphics look good, and the presence of a light meter on screen at all times mean you'll either going to be cheating and cupping your hand over the sensor, or running in and out of your cellar a lot when the game is released.
- we dealt with Metal Gear Solid:The Twin Snakes over in our previous Nintendo booth article, and sadly both this title and Metal Gear Solid 3 were only running in trailer form on the E3 show floor. So there's not much more to say about MGS3 right now than 'set in jungle', 'nice graphics', 'mysterious'. Look out for full trailers of both popping up online as E3 winds down.
For further impressions, screenshots, and media try IGN.com, Gamespot, Gamers.com, Gamerfeed, or all the other usual suspects. More hands-on impressions soon.
- Bloody Roar 4 was showing for PS2, picked up when Konami bought a controlling interest in developers Hudsonsoft a year or two back. It seemed high on the B-list of fighters - not essential, but hardly Final Fight Revenge either.
- Castlevania:Lament Of Innocence for PS2 is a 3D action title that finally puts to rest those horrid N64 Castlevania games, with somewhat Devil May Cry-styled action gameplay, big bosses, and a camera that behaves most of the time. It's still got that oldschool feel, but some of the rooms felt a bit large and empty in places. Still, promising, though it's easy to think about how the Rygar title for PS2 seems to have made the transition a bit better.
- Gradius V for PS2, the latest sequel to the all-time classic sideways-scrolling shooter, was showing on a single machine round the side of the booth. It looked good, with 2D action but great use of 3D scaling in the background, and the traditional power-up stacking system that's always worked so well. If you're not a fan of this genre, you won't be converted, but it's a worthy successor.
- Cy Girls for PS2, some kind of girl ninja/hacker action title, really didn't look that hot in the playable demo on the booth, but the video trailer there showcased some more interesting action, so it may improve as release date nears.
- Silent Hill 3, which seems to come out as soon as next week in Europe, and in a couple of months in other territories, looked very much like a straight sequel to the previous two titles. Basically, it's very spooky, the gritty lighting still works, there's scary giant rabbit costumes outside deserted amusement parks.. you get the drift.
- Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand, the innovative GBA title from Hideo Kojima that will include a light sensor in the cartridge, was difficult to evaluate on the show floor, since there was only a video running and GBAs running the title were only viewable through glass. But the isometric graphics look good, and the presence of a light meter on screen at all times mean you'll either going to be cheating and cupping your hand over the sensor, or running in and out of your cellar a lot when the game is released.
- we dealt with Metal Gear Solid:The Twin Snakes over in our previous Nintendo booth article, and sadly both this title and Metal Gear Solid 3 were only running in trailer form on the E3 show floor. So there's not much more to say about MGS3 right now than 'set in jungle', 'nice graphics', 'mysterious'. Look out for full trailers of both popping up online as E3 winds down.
For further impressions, screenshots, and media try IGN.com, Gamespot, Gamers.com, Gamerfeed, or all the other usual suspects. More hands-on impressions soon.
I've read some write-ups on Botkai and, while the premise is pretty innovative (and will probably be more than enough to get at least a large handful of people to buy a GBA just to try this thing out), it's making a lot of assumptions about the users patterns.
As I understand it, at certain points throughout the game, the light censor kicks in and will adjust the brightness of the display accordingly...while the reviewer mentions that people will be doing their damnedest to 'cheat' and enhance their experience (by intentionally putting themselves in a situation where the lighting will provide for the best gameplay options), it won't always be possible...what about people who play outside on their breaks while at work? Try as they might, I don't see them getting around the all encompassing brightness of the dreaded day star (or lack thereof if their shifts are at night).
The concept is definitely an inspired one that is meant to involve the player in the game in a whole new way (by encouraging them to place themselves in actual surroundings that will make the game more fun to play (kind of like a convergence of virtual environments and real ones, isn't it?)...but it seems flawed and may end up alienating those who only play their GBAs in short bursts, either by choice or by circumstance.
Again, it looks like another title that I'll have to reserve judgement on until it's in my hands (or at least a friends).
"How like you to drag your keyboard to a gun fight." - Aaron Bedard (BANE)