From the PAX AUS 18 Showroom Floor – Adam’s AAA Round-up
We all love ourselves some AAA gaming goodness and PAX AUS delivered, yet again, some stand out titles that will be hitting our shelves in the coming months. So we hit the showroom floor, lined up in the queues and got our hands on some of these titles, here’s a quick write up of some of the amazing titles on display!
Smash Bros Ultimate
Words cannot possibly describe just how much content is in this next edition of Smash Bros. The game is incredibly massive, from your choice of characters to stages, modifiers and levels! Nintendo was nice enough to bring this fan favourite to PAX AUS this year, six weeks before its official release. Even though we’re still expecting a bunch of new characters to be introduced in that time (Ken Masters is one of the rumoured additions) they could honestly release it as it is now and no one would cry foul about it not having enough on the release day.
The game feels a lot like Smash 4 (the WiiU version) but with tweaks that should have every esports fan shake with anticipation. You can now tech throws and if you continuously love doing the dodge rolls, you’ll find the recovery and speed start to dwindle if you are overusing it! These tiny tweaks keep Smash as a casual party game you can learn in five minutes whilst having fun with your friends, as well as boosting its esports impact and (maybe) finally taking the crown off Melee as the most beloved Smash title of all time.
Expect many balance changes to each of your favourite characters and more (yes, more) content to arrive before this one is released. This could quite possibly be the final Smash release for quite some time as we can’t think (besides adding Waluigi) what else they could potentially shove in this game. A better name for this one should have been Smash: MUGEN, not Ultimate.
Tetris Effect
If you had to pick one video game that everyone’s played at least once in their lifetime (besides PONG), Tetris would be the choice that comes to most gamers’ minds. Since it’s debut in 1984 from a Russian Mathematician, this famous title has seen a bunch of remakes and clones, the latest of which (Tetris Effect) is due out in just over a week’s time!
Tetris Effect isn’t just a straight copy of its predecessors, oh no, it’s as if the original Tetris took some psychedelic mushrooms, married the video game Lumines and started a band (take your time letting that analogy sink in). At its heart, you’ll still be dropping blocks down to complete rows, but like Lumines, it’s mixed with ever-changing, jaw-dropping visuals and a kicking soundtrack! When you build enough meter, you can activate a mode where you can clear as many rows as possible for bonus points.
The version on the show floor was the PSVR version, which whilst not adding a whole lot the gameplay, it definitely amplifies the trippy display and our enjoyment of the whole experience.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Here’s a bit of a backstory. The first Ori game (Ori and the blind forest) was handed to me on a whim back in late March 2015. I’d heard nothing about the game and I went in completely blind … what transpired from there drove me to praise this game to no end on how bloody good it was,
Naturally, when news broke that it was rightfully getting a sequel I dropped everything to go check it out (sorry to that 5-year-old whose birthday cake was ruined by the way). We’re now so close to its release date and PAX AUS had a playable build on the show floor so I made sure I checked it out whilst I had the opportunity.
Like the first, you’ll be playing as Ori (at least in the demo that’s all I could control) but now with some extra tools. Someone gave Ori a lightsaber of sorts and now he can borrow under sand like its water. Like the first game, you’ll be double jumping, grapple hooking and air dashing your way around the map to navigate to your next objective, all whilst the blissful harmonics sooth your soul. Combine this with a bump to its already beautiful visuals and this has all the makings of another standout title!
Make sure you check out the trailer here:
Resident Evil 2 – Remake
Sealed behind closed doors, before embarking into the Resident Evil 2 booth I was handed a strobing flashlight. The doors were opened, I was shoved forward, quickly followed by the door shutting and the sound of a lock turning (ok that part was a lie but you get the idea). Down a dark corridor, I turned the corner only to be met with a zombie police officer growling at my presence! It was ok though, I probably needed to change my pants anyway.
Once inside I loaded up the RE2 remake and went through it, and let me just tell you all this … this game is looking absolutely stunning! As the name suggests, it’s a fairly straight remake of the original (and possibly the best) Resident evil games. You’ll once again fill the boots of Claire and Leon as they find themselves knee deep in the zombie-infested location of Racoon City.
The demo was a snippet of what’s to come but already I could see that whilst they’re definitely taking a lot of cues from its original release, they’ll be mixing it up here and there. Aiming is now a thing and depending on which part of the zombie you hit depends on which parts of the zombie fly off and how quickly they go down. Naturally, my bullets were hitting everywhere but the head (I swear I wasn’t nervous …) but eventually I got my aim in and the zombies were dropping faster than the Australian housing market. Even in the demo, there were many tense moments and I felt genuinely stressed when the walking dead were flying through windows or staggering towards me arms stretched.
This one we’ll be keeping a very close eye on. It’s stressful, scary, gross and … looking perfect in every way.
