PAX '08 Saturday Journal

I'd like to say that I woke up early next morning after the craziness of the first day, but that would be an misrepresenting fallacy.  And like any red-blooded gamer, I slept in as much as my excitement to get back to the show floor would allow.  However, after a quick bite of lunch, I was lured back the hub of epic nerdom now in full Saturday swing at the Seattle Convention Center.

Only at a gaming convention :)Neeeerrrrddddssss!

The first item of the day was to attend the Fallout 3 demo in the main theatre.  Sure enough, I was met by another line to get into the very popular Bethesda demo.  So I dutifully got in line, but noticed as the time came to start the demo came and went, the very long line of eager fans had stopped shuffling forward.  We waited to be told something like "sorry, no more room" but to no avail.  Be the near the end of the line, I and others around me gave up hope and started leaving.  However, it was at this point we realized we could see perfectly by crowding near the entrance to theatre.  So crowd we did, edging out the fans nearer to the front of the line who still clung to a remnant of hope for getting seated. 

The quest Bethesda demoed had the player having to choose to set off a nuclear device in one of the two settlements, the other becoming the players new residence.  First off, the game looks beautiful, showing a noticeable improvement to Bethesda "Gamebryo" engine used for it's previous success Oblivion.  The combat, however, is far more visceral than Oblivion featuring exploding body parts and flying heads.  Attempting to show off the improved gore, Bethesda demoers used a pnuematic punching glove to remove an unsuspecting raider's head, much to the delight of the audience.  The demo ended with the character choosing to unleash atomic devastation on the frontier settlement of Megaton, resulting in the one of the best atomic explosions I've seen in a game thus far.

Fans rocking out to Guitar Hero World Tour in the exhibition hall.

Next up was back to the show floor for some hands on with games.  Lines for the big titles made seeing many things a difficult proposition, so I prioritized.

First was Mirror's Edge, EA's new take on the wall climbing, rooftop jumping parkour genre made famous recently by Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed.  I'm glad to see the complaints about the first person perspective in the game have died down, because the immersive quality of the camera movement really adds an extra layer of apprehension as you make impossible leaps from roof to roof.  The addition of the "queasy dot" to stabilize the reference point of gamers is a nice add for motion sick inclined.  I also though EA nailed a very important aspect to this game, the death falls.  When you miss a jump you go tumbling in a sickening free fall all the way to the bottom, the camera shaking violently as your velocity increases.  This game looks to be incredibly fun when it comes out for 360 and PS3 later this year.

Next up was Left 4 Dead, Valve's new squad based Zombie survival/horror shooter.  In the game you play one member of a squad of four players traversing a level filled with cramped corridors and lots'n'lots of Zombies.  One worry I had about this game is how well it could force players to really work together as a team, or even stay close to each other.  The game's level design does a lot to ensure that nobody goes to far, and squad members appear as glowing outlines when move out of sight.  The great part about this game is it feels like it really will let you play through you and your roommates' Zombie survival plan.  However, will playing with total strangers be as fun?  I'm still a bit skeptical.

As long as I can keep 10 year olds out of my squad, it will be fun

I walked by most of the other booths and watched some stuff being played, but I only had time to really play one more game on the floor.  So of course I choose my personal favorite, Fallout 3.  The demo we were allowed to play started us off emerging from Vault 101 into the light of the post apocalyptic wasteland with nothing but a pistol and the classic blue/yellow uniform of the Fallout vault inhabitants.  

Inside Vault 101 of the Fallout 3 demo

The game will play as an FPS if you want it to, and works quite well in the mode.  However, the unique element of the game is the V.A.T. (Vaultec Automated Targetting) system which allows the player to pause the game and individually select different targets on an enemy's body.  This is definitely a throw back to the series' RPG roots, but will mostly likely please RPG and FPS fans alike with the way it breaks into a cinematic camera angle to show the results of the shot, often ending up in ridiculous head explosions.  I found myself using the targetting system as often as I could, enjoying the strategy that it introduced into the game ("do I disable his leg so he can't run at me, or should I shoot his gun hand to make him drop his weapon?").  If you aren't looking forward to this game already, it's not too late to start.

By now the hall was closing at it was time to hit up the main theater again for Ubisoft's Farcry 2 demo in the main theater. 

Farcry 2 demo in the main theatre. Burn it!!! (inside PAX joke)

The demo featured a mission to eliminate a target, and then escape the enemy encampment before getting noticed.  The game definitely looks like it's been hit with a Crysis stick, meaning it looks exceptionally good.  Farcry 2 takes place in the Africa, trading out the jungle island greens of the original for warm Savannah yellows and tans.  A big feature of the Farcry 2 is the realistic spreading of fire in the brush.  So if you throw a molotov cocktail to light up an enemy guard tower, the Savannah around the building will catch fire and start spreading toward you.  You can also use this to your advantage by laying down spreading wall of flames between you and your aggressors to prevent them from rushing or flanking you.  

It aint Farcry 2 without the hang glider

The demo also showed off a new death mechanic which allows you to be rescued off the battlefield by people you've befriended in the game.  When you lose all your health, they will come and drag you back while providing suppressing fire.  When you get back up, they will continue the fight with you.  However, if they die while attempting to save you, the die permanently, encouraging you not to waste your friendships in futile firefights.  

Deforming the terrain with the noise brush

The last thing the demoed was the map editor, which drew several instances of spontaneous applause and cheering.  Using realtime terrain deformation, you can form mountains and valleys is seconds.  You can also given them a more "weathered" look by using an "aging" brush which adds randomized noise to the terrain.  Painting on textures and folliage is also as easy as selecting a larger brush and sweeping it across the map.  You can also add constraints to the brush like "only paint slopes greater than 60 degrees" or  "only paint elevations higher than 10 meters" allowing you to easily apply textures to the sides of mountains or the bottom of river beds.  You can also switch your texture palette at any time and change your dry Savannah to a dense mountain jungle, all without having to repaint any of the textures or folliage. 

Custom map with the Savannah palette

One quick menu switch and the Savannah is a dense Jungle

If anything, the editor looks too complicated to be approachable by most gamers, but it certainly will please the industrious level designers out there, and make Halo 3's Forge mode look laughably restrictive (for now).

Will Call was bit lighter by the end of day two

I was all conventioned out at this point and decided to call it night before the start of Saturday's beefy concert venue.  Day two wasn't quite as crazy as the Friday, but it's hard to call any day you get to play hands on with some of the most exciting upcoming games anything other fantastic.  Or maybe I should say PAX-tastic?...

Stay tuned for the third and final installment of my PAX 2008 journal.