Beginning with one of my personal most anticipated releases is Valve's Left 4 Dead 2. From the same company who brought us Portal and Half Life, Valve will have the sequel out later this year. The initial, as well as shocking, difference players will recognize is the bright atmosphere and colorful visuals. Unlike the eerie, dark city-scape of the first Left 4 Dead - L4D 2 is set in the sweltering south of New Orleans... and in the daylight. Along with the new environment, new characters have also been introduced: Nick, Ellis, Coach and Rochelle. A new elite zombie, "charger" who runs into players at full speed to knock them apart, has also made an appearance. Despite the dramatic changes, Left 4 Dead 2 remains loyal to its specialty as a cooperative four-player game.
Halo 3: ODST which was formerly named Halo 3: Recon is Halo 3's standalone expansion that is scheduled to release this September allows the player to play as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST) instead of the enhanced super soldier, Master Chief. It features the same story line, but offers a all-new perspective on a subplot. Players cannot jump as high or run as fast as in previous Halo games which offers a more "human" type of outlook.
I'd like to turn your attention towards some less corporate products now: Pluff. Pluff is a fuzzy stuffed... thing. Pluff introduces innovative thinking to virtual pets and Pluff features sensors that are wired to react with players on the screen. Though Pluff was connected by a wire at the convention, he is normally wireless. Pluff reacts when you pet or tickle him, cover his eyes, and turn him on his back or tummy. Someone had unfortunately punched Pluff prior to my visit and harmed the sensors involved with his eyes and tickling - but I was still able to pet him and witness his tricks as I turned him on his head. Since Pluff does not rely on motors, speakers, or batteries which involve clunky hard parts, he is completely plushy and great for smaller kids. Pluff and his maker are part of the indie game convention.
While we are in the area of virtual pets, let's briefly take a look at a fun little game called ant nation for Wii. You, as the player, look over an ant colony. You have a lot of choices like giving and then leading the ants to a delicios piece of cake or cheese or stomping on them or lighting them on fire with a magnifying glass. The ants even have "levels" and the vague objective of the game seems to be to "train" the ants.
E3 consisted of three jammed pack days of walking, looking, lights, and of course: game play. Three days is certainly not enough time to wait in all the lines and play all the games. I hope that you've enjoyed the few highlights this blog has offered - I have included an assortment of photos from inside the convention.
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