by mento
I thought we were done. I thought this was over. But true evil never dies, and so here we are again with another rundown of all the E3 trailers Marino was able to find across many participating social media accounts and Twitch channels (plus Keighley's protest thing). Giant Bomb's own Trailer Duder seriously goes above and beyond most years, let alone the strange times we live in now where every Todd, Dick, and Randy has a fifteen-to-thirty minute spot to talk about all the cosmetics coming soon to their live service games.
Since my main man appears to have filled the trailer section of the site with some several thousand videos - almost breaking the site in the process from what I'm told - I'm going to call rules this year:
No gimmicks this year either: just game rundowns, trailer impressions, and the likelihood of a future purchase based on what I've seen and heard. Keepin' it simple here in the 2-0-2-1.
(All done! Check all four parts this year for the lukewarmest takes imaginable.)
Showing 1-10 of 50 items
The Game: A massive multiplayer online FPS from DICE (Shrek). The Trailer(s): Seeing Battlefield footage, it always strikes me just how chaotic these games are. Like how in a similar real-world scenario (a battle or a natural disaster, since this trailer had both) I'd be dead within the first few minutes as I feebly attempt to get my bearings. I'm not saying a game that has me vividly imagining my own violent death is a disqualifier - hell, that's my go-to thought whenever I'm waiting for laundry to finish its wash cycle - but I get anxiety over playing against diehards in games like this at the best of times without worrying every moment that I'll get flattened by a helicopter I didn't see or that the building I'm hiding in is starting to fall over. I suppose that level of spectacle is why these games are so much fun though, at least to watch. (The movie trailer orchestral Kickstart My Heart cover is very dumb, but I'm a little glad we got at least one stupid remix this E3.) The Response: Nah. But only because these games aren't my bag. I'm with Jeff that the future-set ones are more compelling though. Whether that's because the weapons are cooler or there's less of a pervasive feeling that I'm witnessing an actual veteran's war trauma play out in real-time I couldn't say.
The Game: A fantasy-themed shlooter from Gearbox (Aliens: Colonial Marines). The Trailer(s): Oh here we go with Butt Stallion again. It's not that Borderlands is desperately unfunny, it's how it doubles down on all its worst jokes like it has a personal vendetta against anyone with a working sense of humor. The reception to BL2, BL3, and I'm guessing this game also tends to include justifications of the "well, the gameplay still kicks ass, so maybe turn down the voice volume in the menu and just ride out the writing as best you can" variety. I will say I appreciate the self-deprecating gag about how they're building off a D-n'-D-themed BL2 DLC because "the devs enjoyed it." Some real "well, my mom thinks I'm cool" energy. Honestly, if I wanted a funny D-n'-D video game I'd find a way to convince the new Telltale management to pick up the Adventure Zone license or something; after all, they're talented enough to make a Borderlands story palatable once upon a time. The Response: Nah. Irrespective of everything else, I'd already sworn off loot RPGs a while back for their relative mindlessness and how easy it is to overindulge. So this is a me thing, not a them thing. Hope it appeals to the usual crowd.
The Game: A military tactical RPG from SNK (Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf). The Trailer(s): A typically bombastic Metal Slug trailer for an atypically tactical take on SNK's comedic run-and-gun series with the same fantastic pixel art direction. Cover-based TBS games have been hot for a while thanks to the return of XCOM and it makes way too much sense for Metal Slug to get in on that action. Shame about SNK's current management though, and I could see a few reviewers taking a stand with a boycott despite the game's obvious appeal. The Response: Maybe. As long as one of the missions isn't "murder this busybody journalist" I might see myself finally getting into Metal Slug through this slightly less reflex-intensive avenue.
The Game: A dinosaur park simulation game from Frontier Developments (Dog's Life). The Trailer(s): Jeff Goldblum's hesitant dulcet tones as Dr. Ian Malcolm, the Jurassic Park universe's best former chaos mathematician and present professional "I told you so"er, scolds you all for wanting to build dinosaur parks like it's not going to go catastrophically wrong on you. Life finds a way, and so do difficulty curves. Nothing to show here gameplay-wise, but fortunately a Jurassic World Evolution 1 already exists to give us a pretty good idea. The Response: Maybe. I've always seen the creators of these parks as the true villains of their respective movies, with the hungry dinosaurs and terrified human survivors alike doing the best they can, so it's odd that a game where you get to be one of those architects does well enough to lead to sequels. Then again, zoo builders are popular and dinosaurs are cool, so I'm very much overthinking things. I don't play many games like this, but there's no reason I couldn't.
The Game: A 2D "Soulslike" action-RPG sequel from Ska Studios (I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES!!!1). The Trailer(s): When making a Souls-inspired game, it's important to make the world as brutal and bleak as possible. Ska Studios happens to be an expert, having made several edgy, monochromatic platformers long before they were inspired to create their own take on Miyazaki's dark universe of corpse runs and scraping spears. Salt and Sacrifice looks to continue where Salt and Sanctuary left off, quaffing magebane and devouring the hearts of fallen foes like they were groceries. The Response: Heck Yeah. 2D Soulslikes have the added benefit of being built like explormers, effectively combining two of my favorite genres. I'll take any I can get regardless, but the Salt games are near the top of their class.
The Game: A Korean MMORPG from Smilegate (Rogan: The Thief in the Castle). The Trailer(s): The trailer certainly makes the game look cool without focusing too much on what makes it an MMO: there are big crowds in the battle scenes, but they look like interchangeable NPC mooks rather than a gaggle of flamboyantly armored player characters. Maybe it's an instance thing. Either way, South Korea have more than done their part in keeping this social genre alive so given the competitiveness over there I can believe that any MMO deemed good enough for a localization won't disappoint fans of going on raids with 49 of their closest friends. The Response: Nah. Not an MMO guy. I'd love to play more RPGs from non-Japanese Asian countries though, for the change of pace if nothing else. There's some pretty well-regarded Chinese single-player RPGs popping up on Steam I could get into.
The Game: A cautious action-RPG from FromSoftware (The Adventures of Cookie and Cream). The Trailer(s): There would've been riots this E3 without some Elden Ring news, and Keighley's pre-E3 spite-stravaganza delivered not only some delicious George R. R. Martin lore and gnarly boss designs but an actual* January 2022 release date. (*May not be actual.) Presently I'm curious if Elden Ring will play more like classic Souls where you plant yourself in 90 lb armor and tank everything or will have Bloodborne/Sekiro's more acrobatic leanings; we've still got stalwart knights and shit, but the horse traversal and leaping around makes me wonder. The Response: Heck Yeah. A Souls game where every food item has eight paragraphs of description? I'm very much down for all of that.
The Game: A Vampire: The Masquerade licensed battle royale game from Sharkmob (new studio). The Trailer(s): I can't tell if it's from Vampire: The Masquerade's sudden prominence or everyone's just a big fan of What We Do in the Shadows or what, but it feels like there are a huge number of vampire games dotting the new release horizon like bats across a crepuscular sky. Having a hundred vampires going at it with guns and magic powers in the middle of a city doesn't seem very Masquerade-y, so maybe there'll be incentives to stay stealthy. If that's the case, I hope there's some aspect of those Assassin's Creed multiplayer modes where you have to pick out your fellow bloodgulpers in a crowd of NPC mortals. Weird to think this will probably be yet another V:tM game that'll see the light of day (or the dark of night, I guess) before Bloodlines 2. The Response: Nah. I like games set in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe, but I've not played any of this recent spate of them and I'm far more likely to bite into an adventure game or RPG before an online shooter.
The Game: A surreal high-speed action-platformer from Heart Machine (Hyper Light Drifter). The Trailer(s): Less a trailer and more of a brief gameplay snippet from this soon-to-be-out game. Honestly, this feels more like a reminder that this 3D spiritual successor to Hyper Light Drifter exists rather than anything designed to tell you more than what you already know if you've been following previous trailers and news. It does make me curious if the whole game will be a Shadow of the Colossus style boss rush or if fighting this big ol' manta ray is just a special happenstance. The Response: Sure. I didn't care too much for Hyper Light Drifter, though I suspect most of the blame lies with its weaker console ports. If Solar Ash feels as good to play as it looks like it does I don't think I'll stay away for long.
The Game: A four-player co-op shooter from Stray Bombay (new studio). The Trailer(s): Huh that sure looks like a single enemy type throughout the whole game, plus a single "brute" for flavor. In all fairness, I think this game is going to have a hell of a time competing with every other Left 4 Dead successor shown off this E3, largely because it appears to have the least going for it beyond its '70s cruise spaceship aesthetic (which Prey already beat them to, sorta). But since Spite Club's own Will Smith is behind it to some extent I'll wish it every success. That guy definitely knows his way around online shooters at least. The Response: Nah. I don't have a friend to play a game like this with, let alone three. The idea of playing one of these with randos is almost scarier than the zomb- uh, aliens themselves.
