Now that E3 ’06 is over it’s time to take stock of the games that appeared for the PS3. Which games made you think the PS3 price is worth it. Which games made you think they were alright but not what you were expecting on a PS3 & which games made you think “what a load of rubbish/I’m sick of CGI!!!”.

The highlights:

I’ll start with the obvious MGS4: Guns of the Patriots. Although it wasn’t actual in-game footage the movie itself, going off past MGS games, was using the in-game engine as Kojima only uses in-game visuals for his movie sequences. Boy does it look good & as it’s still a PS3 exclusive, it’s one of the main reasons to own a PS3. Next up is the 1st game that uses EyeToy, The Eye of Judgment, which reminds me of the anime Yu Gi Oh! It was something different & it looks like it could work well. It will be interesting to see where Sony takes EyeToy on PS3.
The other big PS3 exclusive that was unveiled, Final Fantasy XIII, looks set to take a futuristic turn if the video is anything to go by but it still looked fantastic & I’m convinced the video contained some in-game action. Along with the MGS series, Final Fantasy is another reason to own a PS3 just to play this game.
Next is my choice for ‘Game of the Show’, Assassin’s Creed. It looks absolutely fantastic & although it was only shown behind closed doors, it’s received a lot of good press. It looks like a proper ‘next-gen’ game & unfortunately there wasn’t too many of them at the show. Heavenly Sword was one of the few games that actually looked like the CGI that was shown from last year & was one of the highlights of the show for me. Finally Call of Duty 3 looks absolutely fantastic & epitomises what next-gen visuals should at least look like.

Other games that showcased the capabilities of the next-gen consoles include Resistance: Fall of Man (looks fantastic), Mercenaries 2: World In Flames (a definite must have for me), although not a confirmed game, Heavy Rain looked very impressive & the “actress” really showed off a diverse range of emotions. Although Virtua Fighter 5 was not playable on PS3 at E3 it was there in arcade form, it’s a PS3 exclusive & looks great although I would like to see more interaction with your surroundings. WWE Smackdown v Raw 2007 looked great & the wrestlers looked just like their real life counterparts. Work still needs to be done on lip sync & crowd animations not to mention adding commentary & voices to the wrestlers. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas looked incredible & exactly how next-gen games should look. Yet another FPS, Medal of Honor: Airborne also looked impressive but I would’ve liked to have seen the game in playable form. Sonic The Hedgehog looks very good with no hint of pop up but the camera always plays a big part in these type of 3D games & it could ruin a good game if done incorrectly. Virtua Tennis 3 is graphically very impressive during the close up ‘TV style’ shots between points & seems to have captured the sport very well. Tony Hawk’s Project 8 although not in playable form if it uses THPS 3 as it’s inspiration it will be a must have for skateboarding fans.

Disappointments:

Games such as Fatal Inertia, Full Auto 2: Battlelines, Bladestorm: The 100 Years War, MotorStorm, Madden 2007, Tekken 6, Haze, Mobile Suit Gundam, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Vision Gran Turismo, Genji 2, Wardevil, Hellboy, Warhawk, John Woo’s Stranglehold, Ridge Racer 7, Armored Core 4, Interstellar Marines, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom all failed to show anything special or failed to grab you by the throat. The majority of them were only shown in movie form & weren’t playable & the games that were playable (Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Warhawk, Mobile Suit Gundam, Genji 2 etc) just didn’t show enough for me. Graphically they didn’t scream next-gen visuals & they also looked very basic in gameplay terms.

The Biggest Disappointment:

Killzone’s absence was a big disappointment. It was THE game that Sony used at E3 ’05 to hype up the PS3 & although most people realised that the finished game wouldn’t look like the CGI shown last year, Sony needed this game at E3 to look very close to what they claimed it would in playable form to convince everybody that the PS3 IS that powerful. Vision Gran Turismo also looked no better than the PS2 version & I’m wondering where the series goes from here.
The fact is none of the games have matched the visuals from last year but that isn’t a surprise & it hasn’t really damaged the PS3 thanks mainly to games like MGS4, FFXIII, Heavenly Sword, Resistance: Fall of Man, Call of Duty 3 etc which have showcased the PS3 in a positive light.

I was also dissapointed by Capcom’s showing at E3. No Devil May Cry 4. No Resident Evil 5. WHY!!!! I guess we will have to wait until the Tokyo Game Show in September.

In Summary:

Although Sony had a poor press conference they managed to make up for it with the games that were shown on the floor at E3. However the fact that there seemed to be no 100% complete games at E3 has me slightly concerned as to the quality of launch games available alongside the PS3 or immediately after it’s launch. There is speculation that Resistance, Call of Duty, The Eye of Judgment, MotorStorm, Heavenly Sword etc could be launch games, there has been no official word from Sony & until I know for sure what games are going to be available I won’t be pre-ordering a PS3 & I’m sure other people share the same view as me.

Also don’t forget the above mentioned games are all 1st gen games so imagine what the games will be like in 2,3 years time when developers have really got the hang of the PS3’s hardwear….