East Coast gamers often get the short end of the stick when it comes to video game conventions or any type of industry events in general. Last year the guys from Penny Arcade hosted the first PAX in Boston, MA. The success of the event was so overwhelming that they decided to hold the event every year and move it to a bigger venue.
Upon my arrival in Boston I couldn’t wait to hit the show floor and mingle with developers and gamers alike. PAX is an incredibly interesting event since industry, press and gamers alike blur the lines and celebrate video games.
I will dive into some deeper preview coverage next week but wanted to summarize my first day here in Boston by talking about a few of those games.
The first title I went hands on with was ‘Shoot many Robots’ which is a classic sidescrolling multiplayer shooter where players can use different loadouts and battle all kinds of enemy robots. The world has gone to hell in the universe of Shoot many Robots and a ‘robot factory’ is producing several, increasingly difficult, robotic creations which will try to destroy you. Once I chose my loadout, I went into a 4 player coop game where we went up against several of those enemy types and ultimately defeated a massive boss, which shot out oil and ignited it with his flaming breath. The developers were a bit cagey about a release date and platforms but it is likely that Shoot many Robots will be available on many ‘downloadable platforms’ at some point in 2011.
Double Fine is showing their new downloadable Xbox LIVE title ‘Trenched’ which is a tower defense game set in an alternate World War 1 universe where soldiers control giant mech like robots to fight against increasing waves of an alien threat. The game played very much like a third person mech game in which I had to destroy different enemy types and stop them from taking down my air field tower along with 2 other players. The final game will support 4 player coop and have a story mode with several different scenarios. I could not squeeze out a release date from the game’s producer but it should be out in a couple of months. Trenched promises to be a lot of fun as players will work together to defeat the enemy waves while coordinating attacks with complimenting loadouts.
A game that I did not think I would enjoy is ‘Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes’ – but I did, a lot. The Ubisoft published game is the sequel to the DS title from a couple of years ago and translates very well to PSN and Xbox LIVE. After being walked through how to actually play the game, which evolves around moving certain units into straight lines and battle sequences, I found myself wanting to play this strategy / puzzle game for the rest of the afternoon. Of course, I had to make way to the next set of players eventually but I will keep this game on my radar as it releases next month.
After playing a few other games I got my hands on a Nintendo 3DS loaded with Resident Evil Mercenaries. First of all, the 3D effect works but I am not sure if Mercenaries was the best game to show it off. I needed to hold the screen at the perfect angle to get the actual 3D effect. The 3DS itself feels like a solid piece of hardware and controls well. I am certain that this console will be an absolute hit but I have yet to see a game that uses the 3D effect really well. I’d imaging a game like Boom Blox would work really well on the system. Mercenaries played well on the system and looked great also, I played through the survival mode which had me pinned against a ton of varied enemies. The object was to kill as many enemies as possible in the time allotted to me.
One of my favorite games though was EA’s Shift 2: Unleashed. Slightly Mad had a both set up with 2 D Box hydraulic racing seats and 8 foot screens which made the game an amazing experience. Playing Shift 2 in a racing simulator in cockpit view on such a massive scale was one of the coolest things I have done so far at this year’s PAX. The game itself plays a lot like Shift 1 but I certainly noticed the overhauled visuals, sound and handling. This game has some serious potential and I am looking to play more of it this weekend and in weeks to come when it releases later this spring.
There were plenty more games I don’t have time to talk about right now as well as games I still need to play like Portal 2, Battlefield 3 and LA Noire. Check back often for updates and follow me on Twitter for some sneak peaks!
