Every year I head to EGX over at the Birmingham NEC to check out the latest games, meet old friends and new acquaintances for future opportunities for Invision Game Community. This year was no different and I had my eye on a few games I wanted to check out and some contacts I have never had a chance to meet.
First was a game from the creator of RollerCage from the PlayStation One era, a game coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and the Nintendo Switch known as GRIP. We met up with our close contact from Wired Productions who guided us through the game running on PC at the event. Now my partner normally does not like racing games, but she rather enjoyed this one. Instead of using hover technology like Wipeout, it is literally based on gravity and speed, you hit the sound barrier you will know it, you can flip slide, jump, smash, shoot and much more, in this futuristic gravity defining racer. GRIP is looking really good so far and I can not wait to get my hands on the game when it gets its release later this year. Wired Productions will bring more tracks, more vehicles to the game past its current early access phase and once released, they aim to keep bringing more content.
Next was something I was looking forward to Everspace for Nintendo Switch. When we arrived to check the game out the developers were in no state to answer a load of questions, two of there systems were still downloading the game on a mobile network. So what did information did we get out off them? how about Everspace running at 30fps and 720p docked and handheld, with docked offering improved graphical performance. You will be able to buy the game in both digital and physical in and around December 2018. The game runs really well on the switch and looks as good as it did on the original Xbox One, well as close as possible. I got a chance to play the development version of the game and I was truly impressed and can not wait to get my hands on this game towards the end of the year, its a shame they where to busy, but to be honest, we can wait for the game as from what we had seen it is looking GOOD.
After Everspace I moved over to Ubisoft, and Starlink, I had to play this on Nintendo Switch. The game was still running to the E3 demo, so it had not been updated to the most recent release so I was gutted about that as the game seemed to have performance issues when watching it from afar. I did ask about this and was assured that the game will be running as smooth as butter on release. So for this game, I had a PR person sit with me and give me all the info I needed. First off was all the toys you will need to get to experience the game, currently at around £250 with the base game. Every weapon and every ship is different and will offer a different play style and an advantage on the battlefield. If you do not fancy holding the ship on your controller and all the weapons around your desk, digital versions will be available once you used them once, but they will only be available for 7 days, a bit like a trail. After the 7 days, you will need to use them again to register ownership, and then you will have digital version again for 7 days. You can even lend your ships, pilots, and weapons to your mates to test for 7 days if you are feeling kind. There will be no digital release of this game from what I know there will only be hard copies of the game available, I am hoping that there will be a digital variant regardless and a way to purchase everything digitally, but I doubt it will happen. I reckon though that 7 days is a bit short and should be increased for one simple reason, holidays are normally around 2 weeks + traveling as no parent wants to carry toys with them, so maybe increase the digital version from 7 days to 20 days.
If you are looking for a space shooter with Starfox, a great story made by some great developers then Starlink should be it based on what I had seen, I am just hoping that the demo is only a small fragment of what this game will offer once its released in October, because I can not wait for it.
I then went over to play Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, I have not much to say about this game apart from ‘Give me more Assassins Creed’, it played well, the combat was sweet and entertaining. The short amount of time I had playing the game was not enough to give me a definitive decision if the game is going to be good or not, however, if Origins is anything to go by, then this game should be amazing once it is released.
Those where the main games I wanted to check out, but there where a shed load more, HITMAN 2 was there, so was a PR contact I have not met, but have been dealing with him for over 5 years. I got into Hitman 2 and had a short play, for me HITMAN was amazing but the episodic options and the wait between each episode release sort of upset me as by the time the next part came out I was deep into another game. I am glad this time that HITMAN 2 will be returning to its roots, a full game on release and no waiting around. I guess there will be DLC, a season pass but that is nothing new and we can decide to purchase or not.
Square Enix was there with Kingdom Hearts 3, Dragon Quest 11, Final Fantasy XV windows version and switch version, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, life is strange and a few other games. Kingdom Hearts 3 offered everything fans want, from Square and Disney, even all the original voice actors, the game is amazing and will be amazing when it’s released. Bandai Namco had their foot in the door with a shed load of games, biggest game for me with Ace Combat 7 due for release in 2019 and SoulCalibur VI and I can tell you now they are both looking amazing.
I checked out Diablo 3 on Nintendo Switch, and I was shocked how well it played in handheld mode, however, the demo was rubbish, but it did show me how the game is played on a console, and its simple, not as good as it plays on PC. But I am a huge fan of Diablo and having this on a console, that I can play on the go is a must have, would I purchase the game on Xbox one of ps4, not a chance.
There were loads more at this years EGX, from board games to indies to AAA, you can also spend your hard earned cash on merchandise, to PC’s and peripherals, and if you are an eSports fan, EGX has everything for you.
