PAX Prime ’11: Activision Wrap Up

I somehow got into Activision’s pre-PAX party last Thursday, and in addition to taking beer and a trip through the buffet line that was probably meant for a more reputable media outlet, I got to preview some of their upcoming games. Here’s what I saw.

Prototype 2

This one wasn’t playable, but they were giving behind closed doors (read: still buggy as hell) presentations. The main character has changed, Manhatten has split apart, and the developers have tried to find a way to top kicking a helicopter out of the sky.

The increases in the quality of the AI were nice, but at least a couple of times our hero (or whatever he is) jumped off a building into the middle of a group of townspeople, trying to play it off cool. None of the AI characters in this stealth heavy game seemed to notice. The developers assured me that it’s still a work in progress, but it was clear they had their work cut out for them.

The last game made a big deal out of the (somewhat) accurate chunk of New York City represented in game, but the developers have kind of given up on that in favor of something interesting and fun. There are three sections, each with varying levels of infection and security. Throwing “realism” out the window also allowed for more interactive environments.

Conscerns from the first entry in the series have supposedly been heard and are being addressed, so hopefully this one turns out well.

X-Men: Destiny

Hoo boy. The combat is rough, the characters you know and care about are mostly in cut scenes, and the three new characters you do play as leave quite a bit to be desired.

As far as I could tell, the three newbie X-Men are a jock, a Japanese school girl who sounds more like she’s from Ohio than Osaka, and Dude Bro the Bro, dude.

I’m sure the usual teen angst/social commentary storyline will be interesting to some, but everything I saw in the demo said pass.

Spider-Man: Edge of Time

This latest Spider-Man game sees Spider-Man “Classic” and Spider-Man 2099 working together in their respective times to defeat a powerful, time traveling nemesis that seeks to destroy both their worlds.

Cool concept, but at this point it has one fatal flaw: Web-slinging sucks. It’s just not fun to swing around in the game. And what’s worse is it seems the developers agree, because they’ve included the option to button-tap jump around many of the levels, bypassing swinging for much of the game.

The development schedule for a Spider-Man game should read:

1. Make fun swinging mechanic
2. Make the combat passable
3. Shoehorn in a story if we have time

Developer Beenox seems to have done the exact opposite.

If they make a full comic book tie in of this one, I’m sold. I just can’t endorse a Spider-Man game where playing as Spider-Man is the worst part.

Goldeneye 007: Reloaded

$60 for this is insulting. Just go play Goldeneye: Source instead.

Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure

This was the surprise of the show for me. Somehow the developers at Toys for Bob have talked Activision into another peripheral driven game, but unlike that stupid Tony Hawk skateboard, this one actually works.

The game ships with a “portal” (plastic stand full of gypsy magic) and three RFID powered figurines of characters from the game. Players pick their character, plop them down on the stand, and after about a second, boom, they’re in the game. Want to swap out mid-level, same process, same nearly-instantaneous load time.

The figurines aren’t just for looks either. They also serve as the save game for that character. Want to play over at your friends house? Just take the figure and throw it in his game.

The next part is the coolest to me. What if you have a Wii and your friend has an Xbox 360? The figures work cross platform.

The game itself is a top down action/RPG. Explore the level, fight the bad guys, level up your character. There is also co-op play and PVP, both local only. The PVP reminded me a bit of Power Stone. It’s an arena brawl with lots of environmental effects and traps. I didn’t get as much time with it as I did with the resto of the game, but it seemed fun.

Beyond the three characters in the box, there are about 30 planned at this point, avaliable to buy in the videogame (or toy) sections of any store that sells such things. The extra characters will retail for about $7. Some characters will be rarer than others, but the developers assured me that they won’t be sold blind, like Magic cards. Just dig through the stack to find the one you want.

The game, portal and three characters (Spyro being one of them) will cost $69.99 on Wii, PS3 and 360, and $59.99 on PC.

We didn’t officially have a “Game of Show” award, but if we did my vote would go to this.