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A gamer checks out Screenburn
Walking around Screenburn, I have to say, was a little disappointing. For all the hype this year, I was expecting more than a handful of displays and demos, but there were a few encouraging signs of life.
There were a few highlights. Probably the most hyped game is “Lord of the Rings: War in the North.” Set firmly in the Tolkien universe during the events of the “LOTR” movies, the game features three new characters and new part of Middle Earth to explore. You guessed it, it’s the northern part.
The game features three characters, a male dwarf warrior, a male human ranger and a female elf mage. All three are equally playable, take your pick. The game features online and in-person co-op or single-player modes. It’s produced by California-based Snowblind and is expected out sometime in 2011, although representatives at the booth couldn’t get more specific than that.
The cinematics look solid and game play looks fairly straightforward. It’s a pretty linear role-playing game. Reminded me of “Dragon Age,” but with less room to explore thanks to a linear story line. The booth rep said that fans of the” LOTR” series will get the opportunity to cross paths with the “Fellowship” characters, but will also experience a completely original story.
This may be a good title for those going through “Dragon Age II” withdrawal in a few months, if it’s out by then.
Moving over to the Austin-based Red Fly Studio booth, they were touting their new game “Thor” for the Wii.
For those that have ever dreamed of wielding Thor’s hammer, this might be as close as you can get. External Producer Chad Barron said the studio spent a lot of time focusing on making the motions with Wii-mote as close to the experience of wielding the hammer as possible.
“Thor is a brawler,” Barron said. “We focused on how to use the motion controls to make sure the player felt like they were holding the hammer.”
Barron stressed that this is not your typical movie tie-in game. It doesn’t follow the plot of the movie in any way, but is set in the Thor Marvel universe. It’s also very different from the Xbox 360/PS3 versions in that it has different bosses and different features.
It was certainly a hit with the folks checking it out at the both, particularly the younger set. The game is hitting shelves in May.
Over at the “Mortal Kombat” both, the line was pretty long, but no representative was available to speak with me. The game is due out in April. Watching the demos it looks like a high-definition reboot of the original I grew up with, with a few key differences: more blood and more skin, at least for the female characters.
From what I could see, this is a typical fighter game with flashier graphics and skimpier outfits for the female characters. I was pretty turned off by the whole setup.
For those that enjoyed the original, this will likely be a welcome update as the graphics appear smooth, although those playing the demo appeared to get away with a lot of button mashing.
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