Last week I wrote about the Nintendo stand, at the MCM Expo which took place in London on the 29th May. Nintendo however were not the only publishers in attendance. This week I bring you Activision…
Activision’s stand was at the side of Nintendo’s, not as large as Nintendo’s stand, however it still remained impressive. The main game on display, the one which was getting all the attention for all the right reasons- Transformers: War For Cybertron. Yes I managed to see this game in the flesh – I even managed to play part way through one of the early levels in the game.
I have to confess, since this game was announced I’ve had my doubts. Transformer games generally don’t live up to the franchise, always leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. With trepidation I took hold of the controller, waiting for the level to load. Then Cybertron was in front of me, I was following Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.First things first the Transformers themselves look absolutely amazing. Yes they do look slightly different to the G1 cartoon incarnations – and they look nothing like their film counterparts. I can live with that though, as this is set before these events, what I really, really loved though was the nods to the original cartoon. Bumblebees head resembled more of the traditional G1 style cartoon – complete with the two little horns that I always loved and remembered.
You could tell who the characters were straight away, no second guesses needed. The lighting techniques and visual impact as you’re running around Cybertron – amazing. The game looks sooo stunning, and then you see a Decepticon airship dropping off Megatron’s lackeys. I was there, sucked in and for the first time that I can remember, I was enjoying a Transformers computer game. The controls were rather responsive with the control layout proving to be very easy to pick up. To transform for instance all you had to do was press the left analogue stick in. With a tap you were in vehicle form – complete with weapons. The weapons seem to pack a nice big punch, with different weapons being available in each form – vehicle or robot.
This game looks set to change the lacklustre attempts at a Transformers game, it shows real potential. Hopefully this will be the Transformers version of Arkham Asylum – I can’t wait for the finished product.
Around the corner, quite literally from this amazing game, Blur. Yes Blur – the new racer was on display for all to see and play. I have to say racers are not my strongest game; however I was pleasantly surprised with this new title. Good graphics, controls nice and responsive and good old fashioned fun! However enough of that, for more on Blur – check out our review.
Also on display was the trailer for upcoming Spiderman game Shattered Dimensions. The game is looking rather different, to previous games adding the twist of four different versions, of our favourite web-slinger. Not much was really revealed about this title, which was a shame this was one game I eagerly await more news on. Again it has so much potential…
The last game on show was the new Shrek game. Based on the new film, Shrek Forever After sees you taking control of several of the main characters from the movie. The game is your typical movie/platform/puzzler affair. With four player multi player and locations in Shrek’s alternate reality, this seemed definitely a title for the young ones.
