STACK NZ Jul #64

FEATURE

GAMES

A Show To End All Shows? Was E3 2015 good? You bet. We had boots on the ground in Los Angeles to cover it and tell you why it was the best show in years.

a beeline to Take Two, moving around a large crowd snapping pictures of the life-sized Battleborn figurines standing guard on the corner of the booth. During the Battleborn presentation, Gearbox announced that there would be 25 playable characters in this MOBA-styled title, which features single-player story missions and multiplayer modes to boot. Best of all, we got to try it out, jumping into a five-player co-op game. Selecting Oscar Mike, a character that most players of first-person shooters will recognise (I know, it’s a predictable selection to make, but he looked so cool), our 20-minute session felt like it was over in five. It’s colourful, varied, and

I t's customary for attendees of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, held annually in Los Angeles, to conduct a post mortem once the doors have closed on another year of showcasing the video games and related tech we can expect to be playing over the next twelve months and beyond. Journalists, retailers and industry analysts dissect the highs and lows of the show that, in recent times, has failed to deliver on pre-event promises. This year, however, was different. Aside from the most ardent pessimists, there would be few who wouldn’t agree that it was one of the best in recent memory. The rumours leading up to E3 suggested that publishers would be all about content, content, content; and it needed to be. Big generation-defining releases for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have been lacking since the consoles launched in 2013, so anticipation (and demand) for quality new-gen titles was at fever pitch.

features a cracking score. Although Gearbox have yet to reveal too much of the game, again, it’s a title we’ll be keen to play on launch.

Still buzzing from the rousing media conferences, and equipped with a decent pair of trainers and a bag of lollies to assuage the jet lag, we hit the floor literally running at midday, following the crowds surging onto the show floor like the Encierro in Pamplona. First up was

Last year, the final game we played at E3 was Rainbow Six: Siege and it left a lasting

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