Another year, another EB Expo, and with it came a lot of hyped and playable games. Gamers were able to get their hands on Star Wars: Battlefront, Halo 5 Guardians and Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, just to name a few. With games, gaming tech and pop culture all on display, we went hands-on with some of the more popular games and tech on hand.
Halo 5 Guardians
Getting set to play Halo 5
Players waiting to play Halo 5
Halo 5 Guardians began with a video (narrated by Nick Offerman/Ron Swanson) explaining REQ Packs*. Inside we played a game mode called War Zone, which was a PvPvE experience
(quick note, PvP means player vs player or real person vs real person, while PvE means player vs environment)
This had both teams start on opposite ends of a huge map. They would fight non-player enemies until they met in the centre and started duking it out in a sort of King of the Hill game type. The game felt like traditional Halo games, with sheer size and scope of the map making for exciting gameplay.
I gave this game the Game of the Show award, just based on how action-packed and fun it was. (we also had a hands-on experience with the Elite controller, and it was amazing. It’s the mechanical keyboard of the console controller class)
* – REQ packs are points you earn in-game to unlock permanent cosmetic items, temporary in-game weapons or temporary usage of vehicles.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
This one was always going to be up in my list of highly anticipated games. As a person who works in the pro scene, CoD is always defined by the best players, and the consensus is that BO3 is a lot better than it’s predecessor.
The booth, run by the boys of the Australian Pro League, showed us a video (with some comments by David Vonderhaar) about all the separate specialist classes and how they mesh with different playstyles. Without getting too much into it, they’re like extra perks/weapons/equipment that add that little bit extra to the different ways to play the game.
We jumped into a game of Kill Confirmed and from simply walking around, you could tell that the gameplay calls back to BO2 and 1 with a much better movement system. The issue with AW was that the jetpacks were so unpredictable that map design often didn’t matter, as you would have bullets hailing from everywhere.
With the new movement system, BO3 offers great vertical gameplay that doesn’t compromise the map design. The smooth movements show that not only will this be a fun game, the professional spectator crowd will be a lot better off.
Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate
Straight off of the polarising Assassin’s Creed Unity, Ubisoft had to make up for lost ground with their newest instalment into the franchise. Setting us up in Victorian era London, players were able to control one of two different protagonists, the brother-sister team of Jacob and Evie Frye (aka action campaign or stealth campaign).
After playing both, you can tell Ubisoft were trying to create that distinction between play styles. Playing both, I certainly felt the Evie playthrough would be the one I choose first, as the missions give alternate paths, which meant more freedom with how you want to complete the mission.
Rainbow 6 Siege
After a video that gave us some tips on how to get good at the game, we were sent straight into a mission at Heresford Base.
Playing a 5v5, much like the Division demo, we were given one Ubisoft employee to hop on voice comms and give us the rundown on what was happening and what to do. The gameplay still felt a little jumpy, and personally, I felt like we needed a small tutorial before hitting the field (something they didn’t seem to have at Ubisoft), but I was lucky to be one of the few people who had played the alpha previously.
With the news that R6 Siege is shaping up to be a new eSport, it’ll be exciting to see how the game changes leading up to the release.
Gears of War: Ultimate Edition
For those massive fans of Gears of War, the remastered Ultimate Edition is right up their alley. Multiplayer was showcased and it was just as fun as previous Gears of War titles. Gameplay looked smooth as well, with the 60 frames per second promise looking all too true. No news was announced whether the backwards compatible GoW1 would affect this remastered edition, but for a GoW fan, the extra 90 minutes of content is well worth it.
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