Well well well, Lets kick this off with Left 4 dead.
There are so many things that can be said about Left 4 Dead, It’s not every day that a co-op based game comes out, and actually turns out amazing. There is just something about L4D that makes it so much fun, I can’t specifically pinpoint it but it just has that formula that keeps you coming back for more. It keeps you coming back even in demo form! I cannot imagine what the full game is going to be like, with that been said lets talk a little bit about it
Firstly the graphics, its undeniable that the source engine is quite old in game years but the good thing about Valve is that they made the source engine incredibly well and made it very upgradeable, not only does L4D look amazing it runs amazing as well, with an incredible amount of characters on screen at the same time and no slowdowns, it is very impressive. The lighting effects look equally as awesome as everything else in the demo.
Sound, oh the wonderful sound. In a game like L4D you can always expect the best in sound, although the weapon sounds almost seem like recycled half life 2 or counter-strike sounds, but those sounds were never bad to begin with. It’s the ambient sounds and the zombie sounds and the soundtrack that gives the game its spooky on the edge of your seat always intense feel.
The matchmaking system works really well and I never experienced any sort of lag during all of my playthroughs, Valve looks to have another winner on its hands. I won’t be surprised to see high review scores all around for this amazing experience.
Mirrors Edge was a giant surprise to me, I had been somewhat watching this game over the months not expecting much from it, but EA seems to be pushing out more games these days that are quite good. Just from my first playthrough of the Mirrors Edge demo I had said to myself at the end “I must buy this game!”
It takes such a simple concept and pushes it in the innovation department to make it feel unlike anything that we’ve played before, it almost feels like a plat-former in a way. The graphics are very bright and give it a really nice feel, there is indeed a lot of white like most people have been saying but its not a bad thing. Every game has a theme and a color scheme to go along with it to give it a certain feel.
I’ve always been a sucker for being able to physically look down in a game and see your characters body it makes it feel more grounded to reality and connect you with the character you are playing because it makes you feel as if you are playing that person. The overall feel of the new first person view is just really really cool, the game really makes you feel like you are this person, and it gives you this very rewarding feeling when you pull off a complicated maneuver like running up a wall and 180 jumping off it Ninja Gaiden style onto a platform behind you.
Overall It’s an exciting season for video gamers everywhere, there are new huge titles around every corner, so many games so little time!
