Motocross 2000. (PSX) EA’s new dirtbike racing game, a sort of excite bike rippoff… looked good in video, but when I actually played it, I found the control to be a bit lackluster.

WinBack by Koei. (N64) I was quite impressed with this game for the 5 minutes I actually played it. Seems like a soft of Metal Gear Solid and Syphon Filter, you are some sneaky shooty crazy red laser target using badass that.. walks around and smokes fools. You back up against walls and crates just like in MGS, graphically it’s a little more like Syphon Filter, but in N64 style. I will be keeping an eye on this one.

Wipeout 3 (psx). Although I didn’t actually play it, I watched it played, and sad to say the graphics did not seem improved from WOXL. I’ll give it a play later and see if its much different.

Pod Racer (n64). Played for a bit, it was ok, nothing great.. another racing game, IMO.

E3 day 2 impressions – dave toister

Dynamite Cop (DC) – basically exactly the same engine as DieHard Arcade for Saturn, you run around to different areas, kinda final fight/ fighting force style, and shoot, pound, kick, and smash your enemies to death, then move to the next area. It still has the crazy ‘hit button quick between cinemas’ thing that DHA had, and just about everything else about the game is identical.. except of course the story, characters, and levels. But engine wise it’s the same. Graphically it’s a slight step up from DHA, but not as impressive as the dreamcast surely could have made it.

Driver (psx) – pretty fun, although the few levels I played didn’t offer too much as far as impressive areas to drive in. the control is a bit loose, like destruction derby, but like DD the collision and damage is very nice and feels realistic. There is a chase mode, pursuit mode, and numerous other modes, including simply a video mode where you can watch a bunch of awesome pre-made chase scenes around various cities. One thing I noticed is there was a little less traffic on the road as compared to say, Midtown Madness, and again the control is a little loose, making it hard to turn corners perfectly. … however I think it’s the type of game that just needs a bit of practice, then turning precisely would probably be a snap.

Gran Turismo 2 (psx) – although I haven’t got to play this yet, I must note that it has something that will make me very interested in getting it: muscle cars. I saw on a video between at least 5-8 different 60/70’s style muscle cars, like a camero SS/RT and a few others.. looked really cool. I’ll try to play it later today. ‘

Digital Control Pad by SAITEK (for PSX, PC) a standard dual analog setup, except for one crazy feature: tilting. That’s right, for all those gamers that love to twist and turn the pad while they play, this pad actually DOES STUFF when you do that. For example, in the game I played (Porsche Challenge) if I tilted the pad forward, I would drive forward, and if I tilted it left, I would turn left, etc. Seemed like it could be fun for those who really like to ‘get into the games’ to some extent. I’ll scan some pix and send them when I get home (from the presskit).

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (PSX) - Ah, good classic resident evil gameplay in a whole new environment. While I don’t know the exact story behind it, I can say this much: you spend most of the time (from what I played anyway) walking around the trashed up city, much like in the beginning of RE2. You are (I think) Jill again? Anyway you are in some sexy short top and short shorts, and of course have the pistol and knife, and various other items. The few puzzle I solved included typical RE style stuff, like replacing one item with another to keep a latch from raising when you take the 2^nd item, etc.. also, the crazy loading screen doors are just like RE1, with some wood and some metal, etc depending on what you open or go to. The zombies are nice and varied in look, and overall it seems like a good solid title.

GT2 (psx) Played some GT2, basically just like the first one.. they only had the viper and a beetle playable, so there’s not much I can really say about it, other than its pretty much the same as GT1.

M-SR ? (DC) a new racing game on the DC, graphically quite good, but the control was a bit hard on turning. It’s a city track based racing game, however there isn’t any traffic or intersections really, its more just the background as you drive through the various tracks. Fairly descent for a racer, although it only had time trial available to play.

?? Buggy (DC) some new buggy racing game, reminds me of Sega Rally in many ways, because the cars are rather slidey on control. It wasn’t very completed though, so it could just be a gameplay tweak that wasn’t done. The tracks looked nice, and there were a lot of dunes and bumps to fly over, but the buggies (and hummer, 4x4, etc) didn’t really seem to get much speed up. Graphically it ran at a nice 60fps but there were a few glitches … but if I recall it was only 40% done.

MK:Special Forces (PSX) – after playing MK:SF for a little while, I think the best description is a mix between tomb raider and fighting force. Granted it was still early, but I wasn’t exactly thrilled with what I played. The graphics were so so, and the gameplay was rather sluggish. Attack moves were basically like fighting force, but you could jump up like in TR and grab and climb (but alas, no shimmy), and you could push boxes and shit. We’ll have to see how this one turns out.

MK4 Gold (DC) – 5 new (well actually returning) characters, including Kung Lao, Kitana, Mileena, Baraka,

E3 impression part 3 – dave toister

Dukes of Hazzard racing. (PC and PSX). Although the version I played was only about 40% done, it looks to have promise. The single player mode is story driven, with missions to complete and the like. The multiplayer allows for other car choices, but the single player missions go along with the story. There are points where you will be (of course) driving the general lee, daisy’s jeep, boss hog’s caddy, and cooter’s pickup. Many DoH characters will be in the game, including of course Bo and Luke, who you control in the single player story (yes, you can see them inside the car when it drives), Daisy, Boss Hog, Rosco, Flash, Ennis (but no Clitus), and our old friend Sheriff Little will play a significant role in the game.

Strider 2 (Capcom Arcade) - rich 3d backgrounds, but… 2d sprites. Rather odd combination, I thought at first perhaps the 2d character sprites were just placeholders, but after talking to a Capcom rep he said that they were to stay. The gameplay was solid, and the 3D backgrounds look really cool. Although the 2d characters seem a little out of place at first, I got used to it after a few minutes of playing. The gameplay was classic Strider quality, but now you have much more control over the sword.. multi angle, combo swinging, etc. Quite fun, I must say.

Bubbles, water… music…it all comes together.

E3 impressions 4 – dave toister

Atari – Pong (PSX) take pong. Add some crazy 3D graphics. Add crazy penguins and rollers and crazy soccer modes. You then have.. new pong!

DieHard Trilogy 2 (PC) not all that impressive. Graphically it was superior to the first, but the gameplay was a little bland, and it wasn’t really much fun.. The control was a little wacked on the adventure and driving versions, and using the mouse for the gun part was just dopey.

MK Gold (DC) oops, forgot to finish my last thing.. anyway, the 5 returning guys are Baraka, Mileena, Kitana, Kung Lao and Cyrax. Looked about as good as the arcade version, the new guys didn’t have any moves other than the standard ones, so it really wasn’t much to play other than to see the new character models. Note that the select screen on the press kit is different that the one they had at E3.. at E3 all the new guys were on the very top, filling up a new top row… in the press kit screenshots they are mixed in, and also it shows Noob and Goro on the select screen.