1. HomefrontHomefront had a lot of promise behind it. Instead of being an ultra-futuristic space shooter or one taking place in a famous historical war, it would take place in the near future and tell the close-to-home story of a battle between scattered U.S. Forces and an oppressive Korean government. It was something different and held a lot of expectations as a new force in FPS gam

4. Final Fantasy XIII

The Final Fantasy series has been through a lot of changes over the years. Starting as the originator in high fantasy and RPGs on this side of the planet, it evolved into a tech-punk sort of story featuring characters with ridiculous hair and equally ridiculous weapons, and has got to the point where no one knows what to expect next. XIII was the first to appear on the current console generation so naturally, fans were hyped, particularly PS3 fans who needed exclusives. But then, the news broke that XIII would be appearing on the Xbox 360 as well. This sounded almost like a death knell for the PS3, and many were saying that if Metal Gear Solid 4 jumped ship as well, the system was finished. Meanwhile, after delay after delay, Final Fantasy XIII was released four years after its announcement at E3 2

5. Crackdown 2

Crackdown was something of a surprise hit when it arrived on the Xbox 360. It had a hand in starting the “superhero sandbox” subgenre, which games like InFamous and Prototype expanded on, and garnered its fair share of fans. The success ensured that a sequel was on the way, eventually announced at E3 2009. The main focus of the promotion was that it would feature multiplayer, which was naturally appealing to those wanting to take down multi-million dollar crime syndicates with their buddies. About a year later, the game was relea

See the latest trailers and get the inside scoop on all of Capcom’s most highly anticipated games for 2010 and beyond: Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, Sengoku Basara, Okamiden, Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, Ghost Trick, Dead Rising 2, and more. On top of all that, hear details on an exciting new game announcement by Capcom legend Keiji Inafune, the father of Mega

Flourishes — charged up versions of each character’s basic attacks — and an AOE attack that sacrifices one heart piece, are also at the player’s disposal as they fight their way through the many enemy types that have pervaded the Fable universe. While the appearance of hollow men, hobbes, and balverines might suggest that this is a Fable game for fans to look forward to, the experience of playing it does

Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski, executive producer Rod Fergusson and New York Times bestselling author Karen Traviss provide the first look at the biggest game of 2011, including a live game demo and key announceme

Just looking at the game on a strictly technical level makes it abundantly clear that this is not the Fable fans will be expecting. Much of the interesting design that Lionhead has established has been made more palatable and also less visually appealing. In plainer terms, since that’s what the game was shooting for, the project looks too “kiddy.” But even that would have been understandable if the game had decent collision detection or didn’t constantly suffer from frame-rate probl

Setting aside the speed and leaping that Epona brought once unlocked, the relationship between Link and his trusty flaxen Belgian goes much deeper. Answering only to her master’s song, and carrying him into combat and across Hyrule, Epona was also able to endure any physical attack thrown at

For the past few years, Bethesda’s E3 presentation has been a highlight of the show, offering fans a look at what the award-winning company has in store for the next year. This year’s show will look to put many of the rumors surrounding the recently announced Fallout 76 to rest, give fans an extended look at Rage 2 , and offer some updates for The Elder Scrolls: Legends . Surprise game announcements and reveals are also expected, including a potential Fallout 3 remaster, so Bethesda may very well steal the show ag

Chances are you’ve heard this scenario before: a new game is announced at a big event like E3 or PAX. You’re told what the game will contain and you’re instantly excited. Time passes and more information is released, increasing your excitement, and fan theories stir the interest even more. Finally, perhaps after a delay or two, the game is released, but it ultimately fails to live up to your expectati

Final Fantasy XIII had to deal with a ton of controversy on its release. Very linear gameplay and a problematic fighting system hurt the appeal of the game, while its story also failed to deliver. Despite the criticism, there are loyal fans who fiercely defend it. In the end though, FFXIII , followed by the disappointing MMO FFXIV have caused some to wonder if Final Fantasy as a series can survive in today’s gaming mar

Maxis Studio ( The Sims and Spore video Adventure Games treasure maps) has just announced their next project, a brand new, Sci-Fi Action-RPG based on the DNA of Spore . Join key leads from the dev team, Thomas Vu, Paul Sottosanti and Lauren McHugh, for the first game reveal to the pub

On the occasions when everything works exactly as advertised, Fable: The Journey proves to be good – if simplistic – fun. Using Gabriel’s gauntlets to launch enemies into the air, and then decimating them with a well-placed blast of magical energy, can be extremely satisfying. Sequences in which Gabriel and Theresa flee from The Corruption, Seren galloping at a breakneck pace as the surrounding landscape is overtaken and defiled by The Corruption’s crimson mass, are among the most intense, graphically potent set-pieces The Journey has to offer. Sadly, those occasions are too few and far between, and the game is constantly undermined by its finicky, imprecise Kinect contr

The previous games were developed around the time where accessibility wasn’t as intentional, yet it still had interesting visual elements that helped in gameplay. Outlines were present around characters and interactive objects, the UI was fairly well presented and clear, the subtitles weren’t perfect, but they were there. If the studio follows its learnings from Forza Horizon 4 as well as other Xbox Game Studios titles such as Gears 5 , I’d be excited to see more players enjoy and experience the g

There’s already an enormous ad for the game in Los Angeles , so while Sony hasn’t formally announced that it will be at the show, E3 attendees should be able to count on seeing more of Kratos’ next Adventure Games missions come Mon

Another cool feature is that of photograph locations throughout the map that when touched display a viewpoint from the original Xbox game. This is quite nifty as it allows you to match up with your television and see exactly what has been improved for the Anniversary edition. It’s also said that backgrounds for key players have been written and are viewable upon meeting them, but I was unable to find how to access these. A title update will be supposedly be released on launch day, so perhaps they will become easier to find then. The only real negative of the experience is that it doesn’t show the NPCs that can be interacted with on the map. Unfortunately, this makes it so you can’t rely solely on your tablet/smartphone, which is a bit of a bummer.

The final new feature in Fable Anniversary (besides achievements) is that of SmartGlass, something that is weighing heavier and heavier in overall experience these days. As admitted by Lead Designer Ted Timmins, it was basically implemented here as way to test the technology’s capabilities for future implementations. Thanks to that, there are actually a few interesting features that the app offers. Unsurprisingly, it’s basically an interactive map, but they’ve worked with Prima to also provide the locations of key items and characters (without going into too much detail). While this may seem a bit like cheating at first, it’s helpful enough only to ensure that you won’t get lost and makes it so you won’t result to using a full-blown strategy guide.

Part of the enjoyment of open-world exploration is that there’s potential to hide things away. Being able to visit a library at the Guild would be great for lore-hungry players. And in Fable, players were able to break in and sneak around villagers’ houses and rob them. But I’d like to be able to see character backstories, so even though robbing is an evil deed in itself, the possible guilt from robbing someone could potentially make you feel even wo

Fortunately, The Journey’s combat is better than its driving. Gabriel’s left hand controls the Push spell, which can be used to manipulate objects in the environment – including enemies – while his right hand deals damage with (eventually) one of three magical attacks : Bolt, Fireball and Shards. Letting loose with the game’s spells is easy enough: bring the appropriate hand to your shoulder, and “push” toward the spell’s target. Incoming attacks can be blocked by holding your left arm horizontally in front of yours

When you do eventually decide to stop snickering over the fact you have to purchase condoms in order to prevent a coinpurse-draining pregnancy in any of your wives (or to avoid nasty STDs from Albion’s ladies of the night), you will be happy to learn that the Quests in this game are varied and entertaining. Even the simplest quest will occasionally blindside you with a deeply profound choice. This is where the morality system really shines, but some would say it is unbalanced. To become a truly evil character you need not leave the first town you are set down in, but to actually max out as a good character will take you a significant amount of hours. To me, unlike the unbalanced economy, the ease of being an evil character and the difficulty of being a good character are as realistic as it can be. It is much easier to rob and steal than it is to take daunting quests and help improve the world you live in. It is up to you to decide whether you will take the instant gratification and ease of an evil character or the more rewarding and difficult path of a pillar of heroism in the society. The quests in Fable II embrace this fact and, while not giving you enough overtly good options, make the game incredibly replayable. You will never, ever be at a loss for something to kill time with in Albion.