By: Brandon Wolfson
Every year, once E3 has passed there has always been some games that just did not get as much attention as other games. There are many factors of why this happens, whether it’s a big name sequel or a game that has a giant publisher to back the game. Since many video game fans have seen the next Legend of Zelda, Call of Duty, Dead Space, Killzone 3, 3DS, Move and Kinect , there are a slew of amazing looking titles to look forward to that have not gotten the attention of the mainstream media and deserve their due. Fortunately, that’s why The Campus Gamer is here.
El Shaddai: Ascension Of The Metatron – (PS3/Xbox 360)
Upon first glance El Shaddai looks like a painting. That is probably because the game has Takeyasu Sawaki as the director, he was the art director for Okami. The producer of the game is Masato Kimura, he worked on Okami as well as Devil May Cry, Super Mario Kart, and F-Zero. Right off the bat you have talented staff working on the game what was a part of Capcom’s former Clover studio. The story will be quite weird and involve killing Gods in some kind. The game play is resembles Devil May Cry/Bayonetta/God of War. Keep your eye out for this beautiful looking game because nothing else seems to look like it on the market. It looks like a water color painting come to life.
Hard Corps:Uprising – (XBLA/PSN)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTZuSZ7ZQnA&feature=related [/youtube]
Hard Corps is a spiritual successor to a Contra game on the Sega Genesis called Contra Hard Corps. It seems that Konami has separated the series to focus on two different IP’s. The gameplay is exactly what you would expect if a new Contra game was released in 2010. HC features wonderful art direction as it is developed by Ark System Works (Guilty Gear and Blaze Blue) and features 2D HD sprites to compliment the art style.The gameplay is the same classic run and gun style that is best played with your friend to tackle screen size bosses and dodge all sorts of bullets coming your way. Look for this on the downloadable services on the PSN and XBLA
Dust – (XBLA)
Dust has to be one of the best looking games that I have ever seen. It looks like Vanaillawares own Odin Spere and Muramassa The Demon Blade which are full retail releases. The game play is 2D HD side scrolling action/RPG that plays very much like Muramassa (Wii) and a 2D Devil May Cry. The best part is that this is a downloadable XBLA game so expect a cheap price tag on this beauty.
Child of Eden – (XBLA/PSN)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EfjJeRzQ5M [/youtube]
Child of Eden can be described as a “music driven” on rails shooter that plays like Panzer Dragoon and Star Fox. It is the follow up to the old Dreamcast game REZ and developed by Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Like REZ (which you can buy off the XBLA for 800 points) CoE rocks the trippy drug infused visuals that separate it from most games. If anybody has watched the E3 conferences, CoE was the opening game in the Ubisoft presser. It has been confirmed that the game will support Microsofts’s Kinect and no word on if it will support Sony’s Move upon release as of this time. If anybody is interested in techno music, trippy “acid” like art style and is a fan of Star Fox than definitely take a look at this game.
Rayman Origins – (PSN/XBLA)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwrHV43RR64 [/youtube]
Another 2D game recommendation that will be available for digital distribution, Rayman. In what would be perhaps the most surprising E3 announcement is the return of Rayman. Not a Raymen Rabbid game but a full blown return to Raymens 2D roots. Not much is known about this sequel but its pretty graphics and 2 player coop play.
Vanquish – (PS3/Xbox 360)
If I have to choose one game that I am hyped most about it would be Vanquish. Vanquish, developed by Platinum Games (Bayonetta, Okami etc) and Shinji Mikami (creator of Resident Evil). Vanquish is Mikami’s first game of this console generation and looks to be his follow up to Resident Evil 4 (game play wise) Mikami was the one that revolutionized the 3rd person shooter in Resident Evil 4 with the over the shoulder aiming and looks to take the genre a step further with Vanquish. Armed with a suit with jet packs and a gun that morphs into other types of weapons, the main character in the game is a one man wrecking crew as he destroys giants mechs and while shoving giant missiles down the throats of huge bosses all with a cigarette in his mouth. This is one game where smoking will save your life. Vanquish is best described as a Japanese take on Gears of War. Instead of moving slow and clunky it moves very fast, fluid and stylish. Look for Vanquish on store shelves in November.
There we have it. I am sure that I have missed a few games here like Silent Hill, Never Dead and some others but I will sure to be covering those titles in the near future. Stay tuned.
