Top 7 Biggest Disappointments
– E3 2013
There is something about E3 that makes most of us gamers feel
like a giddy little school girl, this is nothing to hide nor deny. Intertwined
with all of this excitement comes several letdowns that sometimes get
overlooked because of everything amazing that actually happened. I will be
writing about my Top 7 Biggest Disappointments at E3 this year, but keep in
mind, I will strictly be about actual game titles or companies’ lack of
development, or over development, in attempt to try stray away from the console
wars.
#7 – Rare and Killer Instinct
I have never been an XBOX gamer, but
when Microsoft announced that they will be working with storied developers at
Rare to revive a franchise once lost in history to be an integral part of the next-gen XBOX gaming line up, I was very much
interested in what they had to say. Now I knew going into E3 that the nostalgic
bear and bird duo Banjo Kazooie was most likely not going to be making an
appearance. That left Microsoft and Rare with two titles that could be big
successes with an older group of gamers, either Perfect Dark or Killer
Instinct, the latter of which has been yearned for by gamers for years. I was
quite pleased that Killer Instinct had been picked and shown off for the XBOX
One, but I couldn’t help feeling just a bit empty. There was something
different about this game that I used to love when I was younger. The design of
certain characters and the uniqueness of the characters’ move set were all but
gone. There was nothing truly special about this fighter anymore, from what I
had seen. It felt more like a mod of Street Fighter. It had lost its
distinctiveness. Now to be fair, this could be that this is still in
development, coupled with the wall that nostalgia has put up making my
expectations just that much higher. Regardless of this, I have found that this
announcement was not what it was hyped to be, at least for me anyway.
#6 – Disney Infinity
This game is childish, right? NO.
This game actually looks amazing. I have the opportunity to play as Perry the Platypus
wielding a frying pan as a weapon while roaming Andy’s Room from the Toy Story
series. Not to mention the opportunity that Star Wars characters and worlds can
almost definitely be featured. While none of this may actually be news from E3,
and it may sound that I love this game, which I will, the thing that bothers me
most, and is a huge disappointment, is that it is set up like Skylanders where you have to actually
collect the toys and figurines, along with buying expansion packs, to actually
experience all of this awesome Disney world. While this is much better than the
game that killed my buddy Spyro the Dragon, mainly due to the sole fact of it
being Disney, I still have to say I am quite disappointed that I would have to
use toys to fully experience this game.
#5 – Racing Games
I would like to preface by saying
that some of these games did actually look pretty cool with their full and
seamless multiplayer integration into a single player experience, The Crew being the most interesting. The
problem I had this year with this is that there was an oversaturation of racing
games being announced, with something like 5 major games being showcased that
more or less do the same thing, simulate a more realistic driving experience.
It is not that these are bad games, some actually look great, it is just the
same problem I have with hyper-realistic FPS titles, that there are too many
games that are more or less the same as each other having a large amount of
time for them to be showcased, while leaving less time for newer games that we
have not seen before. I understand that racing games are many times great
examples for showing off new technology and a good introduction into a next
generation of gaming, it still does not cover the fact that too much time was
focused on this one genre of gaming leaving less time for new games of likes we
haven’t seen before.
#4 – Retro Studios
Nintendo has always been famous for
their IP and brand exclusives, with one of their most successful and well-known
studios being Retro Studios, responsible for games such as Metroid Prime and Mario Kart
7, both of which are fantastic games. This year at Nintendo’s E3 Nintendo
Direct, many people wanted the return of a proper Metroid game that would wash
out the horrible taste the Metroid: Other
M left in everybody’s mouth. I personally wanted a revival of the Star Fox
or F-Zero series for Wii U. What we got was completely out of left field.
Donkey Kong Country Returns: Tropical Freeze. For one, DK Country Returns was
just released not too long ago on Wii, and ported over to the 3DS only last
month. These games are incredibly fun, yes, but they do not need to make a
sequel of this series when they just released a game not too long ago, compared
to the wait of three big series that fans wanted most. While I will still
probably enjoy the new Donkey Kong Country game, especially with the return of
Dixie Kong, I will still be missing three stellar series that Nintendo has
almost forgotten except for their inclusion in the Super Smash Bros series.
#3 – Titanfall
This disappointment is very simple;
I cannot play in on Playstation 4, only on my PC. L Microsoft, you certainly have a
winner here.
#2 – Star Wars: Battlefront
I know many of you are wondering why
I call this a disappointment; this is a game we have all wanted for a while. I
am overjoyed that this game actually exists, well at least is being worked on.
The problem I have is that is all we know. We didn’t even see anything from the
trailer except the title and some clouds. What is the game supposed to look
like, to feel like? There was absolutely no atmosphere set so that we know what
this game will be like. It has been stated the Battlefront III was in
development before, but we didn’t see anything from it and it got canned. I
fear the same thing will happen again. The likelihood of this happening a
second time is probably very low, but it still puts doubt in my head only
because we did not see anything to indicate that even the developers know what
it looks like. So until I see more, I will still be somewhat skeptical, while
still being so excited that I will probably soil myself. Let’s all hope that
this isn’t a trap!
#1 – Naughty Dog
They made The Last of Us, probably one of the greatest games ever made. I
know that they wanted all of their attention drawn to last week’s release of
this game during the craziness that was E3 and the next generation of console
gaming; but I am still upset. No trailer, no teaser, no announcement and not
even just holding up four fingers. That is all I wanted. Where is the
announcement of the game that they are working on for PS4. We all know that
there is a team working on something. This is Sony’s flagship team of
developers, yet we did not get an announcement for Uncharted 4, or even this
miracle of a game, the next Crash Bandicoot. All I wanted was to hear something
from this K9 on what they are working on next. I love them to death, and I
understand their situation with The Last
of Us and its release date, but why do you have to keep me waiting longer
for the game that will most likely define the PS4 in the next-generation? Alas,
we should just enjoy its newest masterpiece for the time being.
- Jordan B.
