Lara Croft impressed the GN staff at last year’s E3, and continues to do so every time we see her. Eddie fell in love with the way Crystal Dynamics is portraying the inexperienced young girl in Tomb Raider, humanizing Lara by emphasizing the physical, mental, and emotional tolls that this, her first adventure, will take on her as she matures into the hardened veteran gamers are familiar with. The mysterious and very dangerous island setting turns Lara into prisoner, and makes Tomb Raider her first visceral story of survival.
In the heart of a dark jungle, Jake’s transformation from tourist to tribal warlord showed surprising character development in a sea of static caricatures. Sandbox play and uncertain sanity look to turn this tightly controlled, dynamic shooter into a full package, complete with intriguing competitive and cooperative multiplayer options. Plus it has a bow (#yearofthebow, yes!) and Dan‘s nomination for Best of E3 2012.
Splinter Cell Blacklist looks to continue the Sam Fisher tradition of being a total badass, with players reaping the full benefits of controlling the very talented Fourth Echelon agent. The mix of action and stealth will see a host of improvements, taking Conviction‘s interrogation and mark-and-kill mechanics to the next level, and putting players in the perfect scenarios to play out just what they would expect from a spy-action film. Add air-strike support and UAV control thanks to Fisher’s role as head of Fourth Echelon, and you’ve got the formula for Mike‘s next addition to GN’s Best of E3 2012 nominees.
Pikmin 3 was Nintendo’s big game for E3 2012, playing the role of Miyamoto-san’s flagship franchise title for the launch of the Wii U later this year. Jason got his hands on this new pint-sized adventure, and once again felt the magic of the whimsical, minion-strategy play, enhanced by the increased power and interface options of the Wii U console. The demo was short, but the experience was sweet. What tiny places will we be exploring come wintertime, and how will those cute little Pikmin help us find our way?
Like Smash Bros. before it, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale aims to bring together all of the characters gamers have grown close to over the years, and pit them against each other in one-on-one… on one.. on one, free-for-all combat. Building super meters and unleashing the fury on your frenemies is exciting and action-packed through every match, and the added wild card of hazardous environments from PlayStation history make things all the more interesting. Jason had a blast playing as and against characters such as Kratos, Sweet Tooth, Nathan Drake, and Big Daddy, earning PS All-Stars a place on GN’s Best of E3 2012 nominees list.
More of the same Rayman Origins fare, Rayman Legends brings the bizarre, French, multiplayer platformer to the Wii U’s touch screen. Combining a rock ballad with the demanding timing during running segments, using the touch screen to manipulate the environment, and a solid control scheme on the Wii U pro controller are convincing enough improvements to this endearing property to make this a leap that Dan and the rest of us are looking forward to.
Eddie said that no other playable title at E3 2012 was as much a joy to play as the truly unique Unfinished Swan, which tasks players with finding their way through an unpainted canvas world using nothing but blobs of paint to elucidate the path forward. The sense of discovery and curious exploration presented in a way as of yet offered to gamers earned this small, downloadable title a spot on GN’s list of Best of E3 nominees.
The Last of Us is survival. The way Naughty Dog is planning to put players in the shoes of a man who toes the line between hero and villain in order to make it another day in a post-apocalyptic Pittsburgh, with enemies who are as much victims as antagonists, looks to buck industry trends of black-and-white, good-versus-evil campaigns. The development studio’s pedigree precedes it, and shades of the Uncharted franchise are already evident in the game’s combat systems and narrative. If those things weren’t enough to make it onto our list of nominees, Mike was there with a Best of E3 placard to slap some sense into us.
Assassin’s Creed III was GamerNode’s most anticipated title heading into E3 2012, and it most certainly lived up to our expectations, making it our second team nomination for our Best of E3 awards. From the revelation that Connor will at some point find himself battling aboard Caribbean ships, to our introduction to the Colonial city of Boston, to the more tangible intricacies of climbing and combat that will permeate the entire experience, we are sure that this game will once again reinvent Ubisoft’s crown jewel franchise, and further impress us come fall.
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