Digiexpo opened today in Helsinki, Finland, and naturally I went to see what was happening there. I knew beforehand that Wii and Gears of War would be available to try out there, but to my surprise a handful of PS3 games were also presented in playable form.
PS3
When I entered the hall I first headed towards the PlayStation area (what did you expect?), and although there was no news about PS3 being presented I felt let down when all I could see was PSP stands. That is, until I noticed a dark-classed area that stood high above the rest of the PlayStation ground. I raced up the stairs and then came the moment I had been waiting for, the moment I lost my PS3 virginity. There were four PS3s inside the circular space, with 1080p LCDs attached to them. One of them was running MotorStorm, the next Ridge Racer 7, and the other two were running Resistance. I felt my hymen break.
While I waited my turn to try
MotorStorm, I noticed the PS3 units sitting under the LCDs. Due to my excitement and uncontrollable drooling, I hadn't noticed them until that moment. I must say the PS3 looked even bigger than I expected, nevertheless, I liked the way it looked now that I saw it in front of me for the first time. Too bad no touching or rubbing was allowed. Oh, I tried to listen whether the unit is as silent as it's said to be, but that was impossible in all the surrounding noise.
Eventually I had to stop ogling the unit, when my turn came to play the game. I chose the motorbike and off I went. The game looked amazing, with all the foliage, shadows, and flying mud and engine parts. There was occasional slow downs, nothing catastrophic though, and I must agree with some of the comments that the game felt a bit too slow. Until I found the boost button, and flew like a greased lightning. Apparently the game has unlimited boost(?).
The controls were good, but I didn't like the idea that throttle is handled by shoulder trigger (R2), instead of X button. BTW, I liked the feel of the new L2 and R2 buttons. I enjoyed my brief moment with the game, and it's definitely going to be on my shopping list next year. Although there might be one annoying flaw with the game. A flaw, that should be very familiar to those who've played FlatOut. The irritating crash animation you get every time you crash onto something. I really, really, hope it can be skipped, or perhaps set entirely off from game options.
Next I went to try out
Ridge Racer 7.I assume it was running at 1080p/60fps like previously mentioned, because it looked noticeably sharper than the other two games. And unlike in MotorStorm, I witnessed no slow downs in RR7. A standard arcade game, but very enjoyable one, mainly due to the controls. I absolutely loved the way the drifting has been changed since RR5. And no more does the speed go as much down as it did in RR5 when you pumped to the street corners or other cars. The part of the track where I drove inside a tunnel under a waterfall looked marvellous, and the wet road had even an effect on handling of the car. Perhaps not a must-have title, as in its core it's just another arcade racer, but I think I'll buy it when the time comes.
Time for Resistance. First of all I have to say I'm not going to get this game, due to the exclusion of keyboard and mouse support. And for some odd reason the shooting was handled by R1, instead of R2.
The graphics were crisp, and the animation and fire looked fantastic. I also liked the game's sounds, especially those of the weapons.
My very brief moment with the game was nothing but embarassing. It just felt awkward to try to control it with a pad. Although my girlfriend's sister's boyfriend, who plays in some Halo clan, seemed to have no troubles playing it. Resistance could be a game for you if you like to play FPS games with a pad. It seemed like an enjoyable game, especially the part where the big mechanical spider entered the warzone. I'd buy the game instantly if KB&M would be supported, sadly that isn't going to happen.
All in all, the experience of playing few of the PS3 games for the first time was very positive, and I was amazed by the graphics eventhough I've seen and played few of the 360 games. Not to say the 360 games look inferior, but nevertheless, the PS3 games made an impression on me.
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Wii
After leaving the PlayStation area I headed towards the Wii area. I briefly watched some people play The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Mario Galaxy, Wii Sports and Mario Soccer (or something like that), sadly Red Steel wasn't there. I tried
Excite Truck myself, which was also the first time I tried the new controller. I was surprised it actually worked in a racing game (damn, I forgot to try whether the MotorStorm demo had motion sensing included), although too careless or strong movements sent my truck somewhere in the woods. I like racing games with speed and jumps, but the level of speed in Excite Truck was at times a bit too much. Overall, it seemed like a fun game.
I have to say none of the Wii games got me excited, but that's the way it has always been with Nintendo. I'm not saying the games weren't good, they just weren't for me.
The graphics of the Wii games totally underwhelmed me. I know it's not the focus of the platform, even still, they looked like games from the previous generation.
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360
From the land of Wii, I walked towards the 360 area. I had hoped to try out Lost Planet, but to my disappointment it wasn't there. But there was a large area completely devoted to
Gears of War, with five units running the game, three of them with larger Samsung LCD displays attached.
After some guy left, I jumped on the bag chair to have some chainsawmachinegunfun. Then something weird happened. When I picked up the controller, a text appeared on the screen advicing me to take out the CD and wipe it with soft cloth. There were no personnel around, apart from the blood-drenched bodybuilder in marine outfit. Unlike the PS3s the 360ies weren't put inside plastic cases, so I opened the disc tray, and to my amazement there was no disc inside. Luckily at that point some other guy left and I got to try another 360.
The game looked and sounded marvellous; the shadowy rundown surroundings, the splattering blood, the distant shouts and gunshots. Frighteningly vivid.
I honestly thought in some ways Resistance looked better than GoW. Most notable difference was the level of antialiasing, at times the aliasing in GoW really caught my eye.
Oddly, none of the consoles at Digiexpo had control maps attached to them, and of all the games I tried, Gears of War suffered the most due to its more complex controls. I tried to do some of the stuff I've seen in the videos, like sprinting or using the chainsaw, but failed. A friend of mine tried it next, I don't know whether it was because he's used to the Xbox controller or what, but he was immediately on first name basis with the game. I decided to be the voyeur and watch them play from the side, which proved to be much more satisfactory for me.
Gears of War seems to be a game to look forward to, and I think I'd get it myself if it ever comes to PC. Eventhough it's a third person game, I found myself wanting to be able to play it with keyboard and mouse.
