X10 Roundup: Part 2

Posted by Balaam in Frontpage, Gaming, Gaming News, Gaming Previews | 1 comment

Microsoft hosted their X10 event in San Francisco this week, revealing news which I have conveniently summarised below.

Crackdown 2 was confirmed for a June release date (UPDATE: which in the last few hours Microsoft have said was a mistake), an announcement accompanied by the screenshots and box-art below.

Peter Molenyeux started the sure to be ridiculous hype-train for Fable III at X10.  He claimed that Fable III will be “an RPG without a health bar or experience”.  He also demonstrated that weapons and equipment will change aesthetically to suit your moral alignment similarly to how your character did in past games.  The aesthetic changes in the world, characters and items seem more pronounced in general than in past games, where in the last game you may have had a halo, in this game you will have expansive angel wings that emote towards other characters, it all looks a lot more organic.  Molenyeux also commented on the fact that, as ruler of the kingdom of Albion, you will be able to pass law and rule the kingdom as you please.  This obviously ties into the political landscape of Albion and reflects the moral choices on a larger scale.

“Touch” was also mentioned numerous time, Molenyeux thinks that more intimate interactions between characters will build a larger emotional bond between the player and the game.  It has been heavily rumoured that the “touch” mechanic means Project Natal integration but this is yet to be confirmed.  Overall, Fable III looks to be a solid if slightly rushed follow up to Fable II and if the Natal integration comes to fruition this could be an extremely interesting prospect.

The video below is the first of the Fable III developer diaries and includes gameplay footage (subscribe to our YouTube channel where we will post the rest of the series).

X10 brought little new info on Splinter Cell: Conviction apart from the announcement that a beta invite for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier will be bundled with the game.  This new trailer hit also hit.

And The Rest…

• Microsoft flaunted their exclusive FFXIII 250gb bundle, disregarding the fact that there is no original artwork on the thing, a half arsed job compared to the beautifully engraved FFXIII PS3 bundle in Japan.
• Lost Planet 2 was announced to launch for May 18th with split-screen co-op, it’s shaping up well.
• Alan Wake was disappointingly canned for the PC.
• Perfect Dark XBLA was confirmed for March, looks fun.
• Valve announced “The Passing” DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 will release in March and will entail the new survivors meeting the old survivors.  Interestingly there will also be a new brand of special infected called, “The Fallen”.
• Valve then bizarrely announced a new campaign for Left 4 Dead, yep the original, coming a month after the L4D2 one.