BRAVO GAMES E3 SPECIAL: PART 1

No reviews this month. Just one big-ass feature.

E3 is the equivalent of the Cannes film festival for games, but with considerably more fat and sweaty folk and far less saucy starlets. There’s the E3 booth babes, but you’re more likely to score a last minute goal against Brazil than with any of them.

Regardless, we got to check out most of the games worth your time and have compiled our verdict of what to look out for, as well as what we thought of the PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii/Revolution consoles.

PS2
Okami
Miss the Legend of Zelda but don’t want to buy a Gamecube to play Wind Waker? Then Capcom has the answer for you in Okami. Starring a wolf who has to restore colour to the world, this forty hour innovative adventure which combines hack and slash, adventure and drawing mechanics, stole hearts and minds for the second year running at E3. It got a near perfect score in Japanese gaming bible Famitsu and is loved across the board by import specialist games editors.

It’s out in Japan, but Europeans should see it the coming winter.

God of War 2
The manliest game ever just got more stubble. This picks up from the last game where Kratos defeats Aries and becomes the God of War. Thing is, all the other gods are now being moody about it, and Kratos must venture to find the Sisters of Fate to restore order to his life.

Improved fighting mechanics, graphical set pieces and puzzles make this a must-have game when it finally releases this year.

Nintendo Gamecube
Zelda: Twilight Princess (Gamecube and Wii)
Need I say more? It’s Zelda, it looks great, it plays great, it’s on Gamecube this year at the time of Wii’s release. That pun was accidental by the way.

Super Paper Mario
A 2D Mario game for Gamecube you say? With New Super Mario on DS receiving across the board praise, it’s no surprise. This was only at E3 in trailer form, but being as it was the only Gamecube game bar Zelda: Twilight Princess, we figured it worth a mention.

Xbox 360
Grand Theft Auto 4 (Xbox 360, PS3 and possibly PC)
It’s coming. The same time as the PS3 version in October 2007. That is all that’s known.

The Darkness (Xbox 360 and PS3)
And incredible game from Starbreeze, makers of Chronicles of Riddick and possibly the first first-person adventure where you feel like a monster stalking your prey. Darkness powers range from travelling in the shadows to being able to unleash a dark tentacle and throw police cars across great distances. It’s a phenomenal game that fans of Deus Ex and Riddick will not be able to put down when it's released in 2007.

Bioshock
From the makers of cult classic System Shock, the game is a spiritual sequal to the much loved survival horror game, set in an underwater utopia built in the '50s. It’s suitably creepy and disgusting and will be one to keep an eye out for in 2007.

Prey
It’s another first person game. This one blends switching between ‘versions’ of the same world, gravity, insane portal technology. psychosis and overall bizarreness in a super fantastical sci-fi adventure that I personally fell in love with a few months back when Take 2 invited me down to play it. It’s about a car mechanic who gets kidnapped for harvesting onboard an alien ship with his woman and grandfather in law. Luckily, he’s of Cherokee Indian heritage, meaning he uncovers some special powers to help him out. It’s out ‘when it’s ready’ and is almost ready last we heard. We’d wager it out for this year.

Wii (yes, they really have called it that)
Super Mario Galaxy
A return to form for Mario it would seem. Controls seem a little complex, despite promise that Wii would actually make things more accessible, but regardless it’s a hell of a lot of fun, with Mario’s ‘worlds’ being small stars he jumps to and from.

There’s supposedly hundreds of them and the game feels more Mario 64 than Mario Sunshine. It may launch this year, but knowing Nintendo, they’ll delay it to make sure it doesn’t disappoint the fans like the last game.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
The game is said to use the controller best in a traditional game setting. Using the motion sensor to turn locks on doors and pull enemies toward you, it was well received for its gameplay tweaks and the newly beefed-up Wii specs should see the game gain graphical enhancement too. Thus far, it was nominated a fan favourite by the many who played it.

Wii Sports: Tennis (yes, I know)
Loved by many, the game is a dead simple tennis game where you use the controller like a racket. It’s fun and can be enjoyed by four players. That’s it really.

Read on for part 2 >>