Written by Meagan Lemons
Flying into Seattle on Thursday was hectic. Even with an early morning flight, bus transportation put us at the hotel by about 2 p.m., and after running around getting passes and calling to confirm meetings, by the evening we were ready to unwind and play some games. So, we headed on over to Activision’s pre-convention party where they showcased their latest games for the press and I was able to get a feel for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 and Blur, as well as sit in on a demonstration of Tony Hawk: Ride.
Title: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS
Game developer: Vicarious Visions
Link: http://marvelultimatealliance.marvel.com/
Release date: 9/15/2009
I tried Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 for the PS3 first. The demo was four-player ready with a pre-made team consisting of the Fantastic Four characters. My colleagues and I picked up controllers and began beating up bad guys in a warehouse of sorts. The controls were simple enough and responsive, and I felt pretty awesome pounding heads in as The Thing. The only environment we saw was fairly detailed but dark, but that didn’t seem to lead to any real confusion. An Activision PR person talked to us a bit while we were playing and told us about something he called “fusion moves”, which apparently allow you to combine attacks with an ally for an even-more-awesome attack. However, even after he told us how to do it, we never could quite figure out how to set one off, so, sadly, I don’t have much to report on that front. All together, though, the game looks and feels good and is likely to be enjoyed by Marvel and Action RPG fans alike.
Title: Blur
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Game developer: Bizarre Creations
Link: http://www.blurgame.com/
Release date: 11/03/2009
Next was Blur, a racing game whose heavy use of motion blur effects makes its name appropriate. I ran a local multiplayer race against someone at another machine. The first thing I noticed was that the controls were super sensitive and difficult to get used to during just one race, but I did start to get the hang of them after the first lap or so. It’s hard to say much more about the game from just one race on one track, but I can say that the track we raced on was challenging with a good variation of straight-aways for picking up speed and tight curves to drift around. It’s a really beautiful game that does a good job of giving you the illusion of speed, and once you get used to the controls a bit it’s a lot of fun to play.
Title: Tony Hawk: Ride
Platform: Wii, PS3, Xbox 360
Game developer: Robomodo
Link: http://www.thride.com/us/
Release date: 11/17/2009
Last was Tony Hawk: Ride. My colleague teetered on the realistic skateboard peripheral for this one while I sat on the sidelines to watch. The game is played by acting out the motions that you want your avatar to perform. If you want him to grab the board during a jump, you grab the board. If you want him to slide on a pipe, you kick up the board in the direction of the pipe. Surprisingly, my colleague didn’t make as much of a fool of himself as I had expected. The controls seemed pretty intuitive, although he did complain that the sensors in the board didn’t seem to pick up his movements sometimes. The tricks one could perform seemed limited as well, but more off-roading than we did might mean more opportunities to perform new tricks. Aside from the brand names plastered on everything from the scenery to the tips on the loading screen, it looked impressive. The $120 price tag might turn a lot of people off, though.
All-in-all, Activision had a wide variety of games to show appealing to an equally wide variety of gamers. They all look and feel polished and they’re each scheduled to ship before this December so you’ll be able to get a hold of them for the holidays.
