STACK NZ Jul #64

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FEATURE GAMES visit
JULY 2015 JB Hi-Fi
of the first time we played
Doom, and its influence
remains as relevant today
as ever. So it’s good to
see it return on a new
generation of hardware.
If shooters are your forte,
you know you’re going to
play this, and judging by
the gameplay trailer, you’re
going to have a lot of fun
doing it.
The original Dishonored
was our game of the year
in 2012 and we had an inkling
that a follow-up was due, but the
official unveiling of Dishonored 2 was
a wonderful surprise; this time around
players can take the role as either Corvo or
Emily Attano. Is this up there on STACK’s list of
most playable titles for 2016? You bet.
We always enjoy watching other people
play racing games, mostly because we're not
particularly good at playing them. This was the
case as gamer after gamer attempted to steer
Forza Motorsport 6 around a course without
hitting the wall after only ten seconds. Outside
the view of a spinning vehicle hurtling towards
the barriers, Forza 6 looks almost too real.
It’s a beautiful looking title, right down to the
realistic damage. Want 450 customisable cars,
1080p and 60frames per second? You’ve got it.
There’s a reason the Forza franchise is at the
top of the racer chain.
It’s difficult to describe Microsoft’s HoloLens
without experiencing it in person. We managed
to get into the presentation, which culminated
in a blistering Halo 5 multiplayer match towards
the close of the show. It was a priority for many
to see HoloLens, after the Minecraft demo
during the platform holder’s press conference.
Its must-see status was further confirmed
when Steven Spielberg dashed in before us.
More augmented reality than VR, the demo
commenced with headset fitted snugly to our
craniums, before being told to make our way
down a corridor, following a waypoint projected
onto the lens. Once inside a room, we were
briefed by a crystal clear image of a 3D Spartan,
who gave us a rundown of the objectives
for the ensuing multiplayer game. We were
reminded of the chess match in Star Wars: A
New Hope, and although, as widely reported,
the field of view is limited, the mesmerising
HoloLens offers an entirely different experience
to Sony’s Project Morpheus. The future is here,
and we’re ready to embrace it.
Our Halo 5 12 v 12 match was called
Warzone. Different objectives throughout
the allocated game time enabled players to
rack up points and upgrade weaponry – these
objectives can range from capturing the
opposition's position, to fighting and defeating
AI enemies. Happy to report we won the
match; Halo 5 looks and plays incredibly well,
and there will certainly be plenty of Xbox Ones
under the Christmas tree this year.
The games industry needed an E3 like this
one, bristling with quality games that were,
for the most part, playable, and pushing tech
like VR to within reach of the gaming public.
The show convinced those who believed that
console gaming is dead to reconsider. The
challenge now is to maintain that momentum,
but for the next two years at least, there's a lot
to be positive about.