E3 Expo 2012: Last Day
(CBS NEWS) This may have been the final day of Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012 (E3 Expo 2012), but we were still just as busy as the previous days, trying to get our hands on as many awesome games as possible. First up was a trip to Konami's booth to preview the long-awaited Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. As a fan of the Metal Gear Solid series I have been concerned seeing this new direction that Revengeance is taking Metal Gear in. After my hands-on time with the game, some of those concerns do remain, but I also have a new appreciation for this direction and gameplay style. Mega-publisher Electronic Arts (EA) was our final stop for the day and for E3 Expo 2012. With so many games shown by EA, I'll just stick to two: Dead Space 3 and Need For Speed: Most Wanted. Both are the latest games in their respective franchises and both brought out the skepticism in me, but for different reasons. With Dead Space 3, co-op gameplay is being introduced. As a huge fan of all things survival horror, this news really ignited concerns for me. The fear and intensity of a survival horror game can be greatly diminished when co-op enters into the equation. Thankfully, co-op in Dead Space 3 is completely optional. If you want to play solo, you can, and you won't have another character following you around through levels. I was surprised to see Need For Speed Most Wanted at the EA booth. NFS games had completely fallen off my radar a few years ago after the regrettable NFS Undercover was released. For this latest racing game, EA offered a hands-on multiplayer demo, though I would have liked to learn more about the single player mode as well. The demoed multiplayer events began seamlessly in-world (no lobby or returning to the main menu) and the vehicle handling had just the right amount of arcade-style control that I like. NFS Most Wanted may have inspired me to give this franchise another chance. So with the end of the our EA tour, another E3 came to a close. I know many gamers overall are disappointed by the lack of major announcements and surprises at this year's event. At at the first part of the week I certainly agreed with that sentiment. But after seeing so many great games, my opinion has changed. The Last of Us, Watch Dogs, Tomb Raider, and ZombiU in particular demonstrate what the best in the industry is capable of and made the E3 2012 exciting and more than worthwhile for me.