Gamescom 2011 Wish List

With Gamescom coming up this week, you can imagine the excitement here at Gaming Cuisine. I decided to come up with a wish list of games I hope are exhibited at Gamescome 2011. Some of you may not be familiar with Gamescom, as it is a newer trade show.


 Gamescom is the world's largest games event with 254,000 visitors, more than 4,400 journalists and 505 exhibitors from 33 countries attending the show in its second year.
It was first held August 19 - 23, 2009. Gamescom 2011 will be held August 17 - 21, located at the Koelnmesse exhibition center in Cologne, Germany. Organized by the Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware (German Federal Association of Interactive Entertainment Software), it is used by many video game developers to announce and show off their latest game, and game-related software and hardware.

Now on to my Gamescom 2011 wish list (in no particular order):
 

One game that will hopefully be shown at Gamescom is “Battlefield 3”. This game is one of the most anticipated first person shooters of 2011. DICE, the creators of Battlefield 3, have made a giant leap forward since “Battlefield: Bad Company 2”, which was released in March of 2010. Using the Frostbite Engine for the second time, DICE accomplished a lot with “Battlefield:BC2”. “Battlefield 3” will be using the brand new Frostbite 2 engine, created specifically for this game. It will produce more advanced physics, sound, and graphics than previous engines they’ve used. Additionally the new Frostbite 2 engine can realistically portray the destruction of buildings and scenery to a greater extent than witnessed in “Battlefield: Bad Company 2”.

                          (Battlefield 3)                            

Another cool feature that DICE is using is an animation technology called ANT (ANimation Toolkit) which has been used in EA Sports games such as “FIFA”. ANT will be used to create more realistic soldiers, with abilities to transition into cover and turn their head before their body, as well as drag fallen teammates into safety. This makes the game look virtually flawless. Battlefield looks to be not only one of the most realistic games ever seen, it’s also likely to be one of the best FPS experiences to date. At E3 in June, 2011, DICE showed some of the multiplayer maps for “Battlefield 3”, and game play from the single player that left me with my jaw wide open. I hope that DICE reveals even more footage at Gamescom to fill our gaming canteen until it’s release on October 25, 2011.

Next on my list is "Modern Warfare 3" (MW3). Those of you who played "Modern Warfare 2", know it delivered an incredible FPS experience. The story was intense, action packed, detailed, and all around amazing, and MW2 excelled online. The first game play trailer for MW3 was released on May 23, 2011, and delivered the same feel carried throughout the Modern Warfare series.

                                                (Modern Warfare 3)

Luckily E3 2011 was around the corner with a live demo to satisfy the cravings for the eye candy that MW3 had given us a few weeks before. Infinity Ward ensures that the Modern Warfare series runs at a very high frame rate on all systems, and MW3 will run at a stunning 60 frames per second. Unfortunately no multiplayer footage was shown at E3 2011. You can imagine how “Call of Duty” fans in attendance, along with fans partaking of this deliciousness via the internet, felt after no multiplayer footage was shown. A trailer of a game-type returning from MW2 called "Spec Ops" was released to give us a sip of tea as to what we can expect for multiplayer. It is my wish that MW3's multiplayer be shown in it’s fullest at Gamescom 2011 so that we can refill our bellies until November 8, 2011, when the game is released.

The third game on my list is “Assassin’s Creed: Revelations”. When Game Informer unveiled AC:R on May 5, 2011, I was completely floored. I don’t believe many fans of the game were expecting the return of Ezio Auditore, or Altaïr Ibn La-Ahad. “Assassin’s Creed: Revelations” will be the third and final chapter for Ezio, and will finally solve the questions about what happened to Altaïr. “Assassin’s Creed: Revelations” will be the first game in the series with the ability to play as three different characters. The first two I have already mentioned, the third character you will be able to play as is Desmond Miles. Desmond is a character in the previous games who uses a technology called “The Animus” and “The Animus 2.0” to visit his ancestor’s memories.

                                       (Assassin's Creed: Revelations)

As can be seen, the theme for my wish list is multiplayer. There has not been a lot of multiplayer footage released for this game. There have been many interviews with Ubisoft about the multiplayer, screenshots, a trailer, and some short videos describing new features, but there hasn’t been any hands on experience, or demos covering it specifically. Most of the online gameplay that has been shown has been on one map. Hopefully they will show more of the multiplayer and single player at Gamescom. The Assassin’s Creed series has been some of my absolute favorite sandbox titles.

Running around the streets of Gotham City has been a dream of mine since I was a kid. With wish list game number four, “Batman: Arkham City”, coming out on October 18, 2011, I will at long last be able to fulfill this lifelong dream. With what Rocksteady Studios has up their sleeves, Arkham City is looking to be a competitor for the 2011 Game of the Year. It is bigger, darker, and much more detailed than “Batman: Arkham Asylum”. In Arkham

                                              (Batman: Arkham City)

Graphically, Arkham City looks phenomenal, and if the story is as good as that of Arkham Asylum, I’m probably going to be glued to the TV playing this game for a long time. There has already been a lot of gameplay footage released, covering Arkham City, but would it really hurt to show it off a little bit more at Gamescom this year? I don’t think so. One feature that hasn’t really been shown to the public is the games “Challenge Mode”. Rocksteady has said that there will be many more challenges than in Arkham Asylum, and that alone gets me hungry to play this game! I can’t wait to beat up the thugs of Arkham City, and find out the plans of each of the big bosses (such as Two Face, Penguin, and The Joker), so I can put a stop to the madness created inside. All of this of course, as the caped crusader himself!

Last on my Gamescom 2011 wish list is “Halo: Anniversary”. I have been a huge Halo fan since it was released on the Xbox in 2001. I have thrown many parties dedicated to Halo, and it has been a big part of my life for over 10 years now. 343 Industries is currently working on the highly anticipated “Halo 4” and they are doing something special to celebrate Halo’s 10 year anniversary. The cool thing about this game is that it is identical to the original, but with updated graphics. As I have talked to people about this game, one thing that has been a concern is that 343 will try to change the story. Rest assured though, “Halo: Anniversary” is running on two engines to ensure the only way they change the game is graphically.  

                                                  (Halo: Anniversary)

The first engine is the original code running as it was written 10 years ago. The second engine is an in-house engine used by 343 to give the game a huge face lift! Something I am very excited about is the ability to change from the new graphics, to the original graphics at any time! This is made possible by the two engines running simultaneously. I hope that much more of the single player is shown at Gamescom 2011, as well as more multiplayer footage. If there is one thing  the Halo series is remembered for it’s the multiplayer. They are also bringing back the original multiplayer maps from the original game. Another thing that gets me excited is the online cooperative gameplay that will be added, something that wasn’t possible 10 years ago. This is looking to be an incredible gift from 343 Industries. I am very excited to jump back into Halo, and what better way than with “Halo: Anniversary”?

There you have it folks, the top 5 games I hope to see displayed in more detail at Gamescom 2011. Until next time, keep on gamin’ on!

-Mike “HunterZero” Clark