THQ came to E3 2012 without a huge booth. Rather they held appointments upstairs in a suite for a more intimate setting. They brought Metro: Last Light, DarksidersII, and Company of Heroes 2, and boy what a show it was.
The first show of the day was Metro: Last Light. As we sat down on the comfortable chairs that THQ provided and put on the headsets, I knew right away that this was going to be one hell of an experience. I will openly admit that I never got a chance to play Metro 2033, but after seeing the demonstration for Last Light, that is about to change.
The demo started off with two Russian soldiers that are searching through a desolate landscape for supplies. At first glance the city reminded me a bit of Fallout 3, but that superficial similarity where it ends. Freaky creatures started jumping out—that’s when it feels more like Dead Space. At one point—and this is one of my worst fears—a spider-like creature jumped out and landed on the player’s face, forcing you to grab the creepy thing and squish it with your bare hands. What I really liked was how the blood splattered all over your gas mask. Throughout the whole demo, you are constantly wiping away blood, rain, and debris from your gas mask—all while you are collecting filters in order to go forward. Sounds a bit annoying at first, but it definitely adds to the immersion of the game.
Later in the demo the player was exploring a dark room with only his flashlight mounted on his gun. When he entered a dimly-lit room to investigate, a much larger creature leaped on top of the player, and as he was struggling to get the creature off him he did the thing that anyone would do—grab the nearest shotgun and blow the creature away. It is moments like those that kept me at the edge of my seat… and I was just watching someone else play!
The next scene, the player went to explore a crashed plane. As he entered the main cabin of the plane, he started having brief flashbacks of what actually happened to the plane in its final moments. Finally, when he got to the pilot’s cabin, the flashback became a full recollection of the horror that the pilots experienced. You could not see their faces, but their body language, the panic to try to regain control of the plane as the ground is vastly getting closer, was visceral and disturbing.
Metro: Last Light is shaping up to be one hell of a title when it drops in 2013 for the XBox 360, PS3 and the PC.
Next up in the THQ showroom was a hands-on demo for Darksiders II. I was greeted by Mathew “Sledgehammer” Everett, Community Manager for THQ, and Jay Fitzloff, Producer for Vigil Games, as they excitedly showed what Darksiders II has to offer.
If you played the first Darksiders, you will quickly realize that Death is much faster and more agile—you will find yourself rolling and dodging more than you did when you played as War. The first time I got to really see a difference between War and Death was when they fought each other later in the demo. The gameplay reminded me of playing Ninja Gaiden or God of War, full of wall climbing, ledge jumping, fighting multiple enemies with lots of blood spilled. Next, add in the loot element of Borderlands—finding items that enhances Death’s defenses, attack power and other stats along the way. Certain items will require Death to be at a certain level before you can equip them, and all items that you equip will affect how Death looks.
The combination between your regular attack and the heavy attack felt truly 1:1 with what I wanted Death to do on the controller. Darksiders II uses a two-weapon system and, depending on which secondary weapon you are using, you will be able to unleash some wicked combos. At the time of the demo I picked up a hammer, and the combination of the Scythe and Hammer was amazing. There are three types of secondary weapons that Death can equip: (but not CoH2 keys: V6Z7B-PMGML-CF40T)
- Light Weapons – include Gauntlets, Claws, Tonfas and Bucklers and all share lightning speed and low damage levels. These weapon are perfect for capitalizing on a limited window of opportunity.
- Redemption – Death eventually acquired one of Strife’s pistols, just as War did in the original Darksiders. In general, the pistol doesn’t do a lot of damage, but is the weapon with the longest range in Death’s arsenal. The pistol is useful for taking out small flying enemies that would otherwise be out of reach, damaging approaching creatures before switching to melee, or as a way to keep a combo count racking up.
- Heavy Weapons – include Hammers, Maces, Axes and Polearms, and are much slower than their light counterparts and Death’s Scythes. They feature a slow wind-up time but are able to deal huge amounts of damage with each hit.
With Darksiders II fluid combat, huge environments to explore, and gameplay that slowly expands, it will become one of those titles to pick up to help get you through the slow summer season. Darksiders II is scheduled to release on August 14th for XBox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. A Wii U version of Darksiders II will be released sometime during the holiday season.
Last up for THQ was a hands-off demo for Company of Heroes 2. The original Company of Heroes is the most critically acclaimed Real-Time Strategy game of all time. I’m glad Relic Entertainment has now decided to develop a proper sequel and showcase it at E3. It seems that waiting for technology to catch up to what they wanted to do with the game is going to pay off.
The original Company of Heroes took place on the western Allied front of World War II. Company of Heroes 2 has switched theaters to the Eastern front, and is now played from the point of view of the Russians. At the time, the Soviet Army lost a million soldiers. Perhaps we can rewrite history and do a bit better.
They started the demo by looking closely at individual infantry soldiers, rendered in great detail as the troops ran through the snow. Each unit was high-stepping, and not on a flat surface that was painted white. One great thing about this level of detail is that the snow will melt when it is under heat from a flamethrower, just as one example.
Unit actions and the effects of terrain, smoke, trees and other obstructions were demonstrated. The cover system, which is really similar to Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War II, has improved—troops can hurdle over cover and automatically move into cover and defend themselves when idle. Craters caused by mortar fire can serve as moderate cover for a few soldiers. Soldiers’ line of sight can play a huge part in the battlefield, especially when the troops are fighting among trees. Obstructions such as trees cause dark patches in the soldiers’ field of view. At one point, a heavily smoking, half-destroyed tank acted as a deadly screen that hid a German machine gun that executed a surprise ambush.
Enemy troops will operate on more than just scripted actions—every tactic available to players will also be used by the enemy. Any given battle will theoretically play out differently even given the same parameters. With the addition of vehicle abandonment, I watched a tank that lost its crew to enemy fire become an important objective that would turn the tide of battle, and enemies on either side of the conflict had the opportunity to reclaim it.
Finally, we witnessed the ruthless Order Number 227 instituted by Stalin in 1942. Relic showed us a cutscene in which the commanding officer declares the fleeing squad to be traitors, and then orders his own men to kill them all. I thought Relic did an excellent job showcasing why the Eastern Front was considered one of the bloodiest war campaigns in history.
At the time of the demo, Company of Heroes 2 was running on DirectX9, but when the game is released in 2013 we will see the game operate under the power of DirectX11. As a fan of RTS, I cannot wait for this title to drop.
That was it for me at THQ, and it was quite the ride. These three major titles will keep gamers busy for a good long time.
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