I'm honestly not much of a gamer anymore. And that is because I've grown up, not due to lack of interest; I just have more things that interest me in the real world. Though I do still keep my finger on the pulse of modern gaming, and that means that I usually pay attention to something called the Electronic Entertainment Expo; also known as 'E3'. This used to be an event that gamers wished they could attend, but was only open to special people, and the Press. This year, there were a lot of interesting games; Watch Dogs, HALO 4, Sleeping Dogs (apparently there is a dog theme coming upon us), a new Hitman, some new content for Skyrim, many more. The one thing everyone is talking about is a game called Star Wars: 1313. Not much is known except it is aimed for a mature audience - compared to the usual Teen-rating and below, previous entries in the series have had - and that it is about bounty hunters. They showed a video of what appeared to a mission intro (probably the first mission) and that was pretty well it for gameplay. This got LucasArts the award 'Best of E3' from GameSpot.
Honestly, I am a bit saddened that GameSpot gave this the 'Best of E3' title. It really shows how low the requirements are. This is coming from someone who is a big Star Wars fan. I have read most all teh books, have played almost all the games; I still revisit Jedi Academy, Tie-Fighter, and X-Wing: Alliance from time to time, as well as The Force Unleashed.
I want to look forward to this, but I just can't. All I saw in the gameplay videos was a bunch of flashy scenes with nothing being brought to the table: third-person shooter mechanics that look like a blend of Grand Theft Auto IV and Mass Effect 3 with prettier bump mapping and slightly more interesting physics is apparently all that is needed now to give you an award. Keep in mind that this game is still more than a year from release. The speculated release for this is Dec 31, 2013.
In other videos the developers talked about it, but they all had the same bullshit things that everyone making this kind of game have to to say. '... different ways to play the game', '... equipment and physics engine will make play through unique', '..yada yada...'. If I had a buck for every time I've heard these statements regarding games that developers are creating, I'd have loads of cash in the bank. The downside would be a series of aneurysms from disappointing play-throughs followed by being forced to listen to the same developers give lame-ass excuses or Peter-Molyneux-esque apologies when the games, magically, don't live up their pre-release-hype-ridden promises.
I *might* take another look when an actual demo is available that shows more than just what the color will be available for the car. I want really see how the car handles, what features it has; I want to know whether I will get bored of driving it for a short time or not. Maybe I'm just getting old... or maybe game critique websites and businesses are not holding up their end of the deal. E3, many years ago, showed games and products that was more than just a commercial; it showed damn near finished products and those were the ones people paid attention to. They didn't care about something that was almost two years away and may or may not get cancelled. I really wish we were back in the golden age of reviewers and Press when a bad review could shatter a developing company and publishers were held to better standards.
