Eurogamer Expo 2014

[iup=3574614]Skippy[/iup] wrote:

[iup=3574612]Alpha eX[/iup] wrote:Just got in, already a queue outside. Madness!

It doesn't even open for two hours! I'm still eating my cornflakes

I think the queue started about 7am but as pointed out, it's much nicer weather than last year!

It's pretty mental inside at the moment, there is no calm before the storm this year

I once went to Amiga Format Live, back in the magazine's prime when it sold, IIRC, around 140k copies.

Came home with Wing Commander and Monkey Island, so was quite happy.

Will exchange a can of Overcharge for a bottle of water, had two already...

I would help with this request but i have no idea what you look like

I'll be there tomorrow.

I'm not sure why I'm going but I have a ticket.

I have no idea what any of you guys look like.

We may pass each other like ships in the night.

In hindsight I should've checked here before going, went all four days.

What I liked at EGX:
Project Cars - Looks amazing, handles like a dream, possibly my most wanted game this year.
Forza Horizon 2 - As above, but won't be able to play again.
DriveClub - Looks incredible, plays like PGR but with wider tracks and more aggressive AI.
Shadow of Mordor - Brilliant stuff, combat is like Arkham and the nemesis systems seems deeper than I thought.
Nuclear Throne - Brilliantly bonkers.
OlliOlli2 - Great fun again, love the new look and the new areas are a massive improvement.
Elite Dangerous x Oculus Rift = I want to live there!
Galak-Z - Great shooter/adventure, weirdly it feels like the original Zelda in space.
Bloodborne - I died in about 2 minutes....bring it on!
Broforce - Exactly my type of game.
Futuridium - A mix of Rez/Star Fox, really looking forward to it on Wednesday.
Smash Bros Wii U - Oh my!

What I didn't like:
LittleBigPlanet 3 - Really doesn't feel like the same game I know and loved, it just felt a bit lifeless.
Sunset Overdrive - An hour of waiting (my longest wait) what a slow game this is, it's fine when you get on the rails, but it just feels slow and kind of boring/pointless. Maybe the setting of EGX wasn't right for this.
The Order 1886 - RAD need to either show off a better portion of the game or delay this further, it just seems like a very average shooter with some weird QTE style events, not what I was expecting. Like Sunset Overdrive it might not demo well at an event.
Nintendo's queues - Seriously they were massive! I couldn't even get on Splatoon
Price of food/drink - £2 for a small bottle of water? strawberry float off

I was there on Thursday and Friday with three friends. Two of us had never been to an exhibition as big as this and we were both blown away by it. I was already prepared for the queues so it didn't really impact on the experience, apart from the Dragon Age queue at 2-3 hours meaning it was a no go for us.

The best experience: Playing Alien Isolation with Oculus Rift! I was a nervous wreck when I came off it but it was worth it. It was pot luck that I got this game after an hour of queuing too. I'd already played the demo the previous day putting it at the top of my wanted list and playing it with the VR headset really showed off the kit and the game, although I think this combination would be a bit too scary for me! Every time the Alien was about to get me gave me a heart attack, particularly when it got me from above and when it spotted me in the air shaft and running after me pierced me from behind. On one occasion its claw appeared over the headset! I probably jumped and swore to the amusement of those in the queue.

Other highlights:
Bloodborne (and the charismatic Sony guy sorting people in the queue - he was brilliant). I only played it as I accompanied my friend in the queue but I was very impressed. I didn't have the patience for Dark Souls but I really feel I want to give this game a fair shot. It was visually beautiful and my crow cloaked agile character was striking too.

The Evil Within. In the Sony booth we tried out Alien a few times between us and then we all watched as one of us made their way through a level of Evil Within. I hadn't even followed this but it's now getting bought.

Fable Legends. Mainly because the 4 of us could all team up. It was so much fun we queued again the second day in a longer queue while listening to the xbox stage talk about the game and hand out cloaks. I wanted one but even when we won against the villain in the game only two of us got cloaks.

Sunset Overdrive: I wasn't as impressed as I thought I'd be as what was on show just felt like another multiplayer game with a bit of tango thrown in. I would have preferred to just mess about in the open world main game, grinding and doing what the hell I liked, instead of thinking of competing for a score on my first ever go - I came last, this annoyed me. That aside I did enjoy using the various, and rather unique, weaponry on offer and taking down the huge mutants while grinding. Still hyped for the actual game.

The Order. I was shocked when the opening had infact stopped and it was actually gameplay! Steampunk heaven basically with weapons to die for. Only criticism we found was if it didn't add more variety to the gameplay it would get boring quickly. But in the short level I played I liked it very much.

Alien developer session. I think I was just a bit excited by the whole of egx so going to a developer session was pretty cool, especially being on the game of the exhibition in my eyes.

Splatoon: We sneaked into a closed queue at the end of Thursday to play this. It's a pity I wasted time shooting the walls but nevermind. I had fun playing it but needed more practise with the controls as I'm not used to the wii U controller. It was satisfying sneaking around in the paint though and splashing it everywhere.

Destiny: Would have liked to have tried the SP but it has to be said having two full teams go head to head right there was pretty cool. The hover jump function was satisfying!

Drive Club. A smooth racer that felt good to play; something I could do with on the PS4.

Other stuff:
Assassins Creed Unity presentation - I'm excited to scale Notre Dame. Got a rather nice free map too.
Lego batman 3 - the usual lego treat.
Trials DLC - only a very quick go, if you like Trials you'll want this.
Infamous First Light - more pretty super powers.
Sherlock - it seemed interesting but we didn't have time for its slow pacing. I did like it's implementation of the TV series' display of Sherlock's thinking.
Far cry 4 - I went up in an aircraft to shoot from above but got shot down flying around not knowing what I was doing...
New and Tasty - couldn't get my friend off it.

Didn't get chance to try:
Hyrule Warriors
COD
Batman Arkham Knight presentation
Yoshis Woolly World
Battlefield - although I watched people playing it
and various indie titles.
Shadow of Mordor

sounds really good, i haven't been to one yet but i heard it was going to be in birmingham next year which sucks if true as the NEC is out of a city area.

Unlike people here, I decided to not queue for anything.

I was happy to watch. So impressions...

The Crew looked terrible. The handling of the car looked like it was on a pole.

Project Cars - Handled very well, most impressive version of Silverstone I've ever seen. However, I thought the AI was terrible. The cars all seemed to be on rails.

Occulus Rift - Played some jet pack game from Fireproof Games (it was a tech demo). It was bloody brilliant. Such a great immersive experience. It's the next big innovation from gaming in my opinion.

It's very easy to access though, right on the West Coast Main Line. Brings it within reach of far more of the country. Oh, and Excel is a pig to get to. I could be very tempted to go along.

They should do one in Cardiff, just because it's closer to me, and I'd go.

[iup=3578375]degoose[/iup] wrote:sounds really good, i haven't been to one yet but i heard it was going to be in birmingham next year which sucks if true as the NEC is out of a city area.

Very easy to get to though. It's probably a swap deal - this year Rezzed (The much smaller one which tends to be indie focused) was at the NEC with EGX Proper at London, so they're seemingly just switching it around.