Trailer Park for the week of July 15th
Written by
Randy Kalista on 7/19/2007 for
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Wow. How about that E3, eh? Gameplay montages, developer walkthroughs, ringside interviews -- but to maintain the better part of your sanity you might've given up trying to view them all. You probably caught the Biggest of the Big Ones though -- Resident Evil 5, Metal Gear Solid 4, Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, Killzone 2 … You note the pattern though, right? All of them have a sequel number tacked onto their name. And yeah, they're all going to rock, but what about the challengers? The new cats in the sandbox? This week, the Trailer Park looks at some attention-getters whose sequels are still just twinkles in the developers' eyes.
Army of Two E3 2007 Trailer
These guys look more and more impressive every single time I see them -- "good game" pats on the butt and all. And now, with this particular trailer, EA writes their socio-political agenda somewhere between the lines (the lines informing the public that more than 40 percent of total occupying forces in Iraq comprise of private corporate contractors). The narrator exudes a tangible Lord of War aloofness to it all, minus the Nicholas Cage doughboy-ness.
Rating: B
The Bourne Conspiracy E3 2007 Trailer
I'm just as cinema-phobic as the next guy when it comes to game titles immigrating from Hollywood Land. But there's no a trace of Internet Movie Database star power, Robert Ludlum's name prefixes the title like he's already a seasoned Tom Clancy, they're integrating the film's shaky-cam fights (bravo!), and -- amidst all the crash-boom-bang action -- there's an unspoken promise that this story will unravel in Memento-inspired chapters. (Personally I can't wait to see the Christian Right's response to the sequel's tagline: "Be Bourne Again." Just kidding.)
Rating: C+
Legendary: The Box E3 2007 Intro Cinematic
This looks like a fast-forward version of what happened after the Ghostbusters uttered those timeless words: "Everything was fine with our system until the power grid was shut off by d***less here." Or it could be what it's like as a citizen from SimCity 4 when a player gets bored and indulges a disaster rampage. Or what happens when you take notes on a caffeinated-binge brainstorm session with J. J. Abrams. I'm not docking any points for it looking more ambitious than its graphical engine can handle, but somebody needs to slap that guy for opening Pandora's friggin' box, regardless.
Rating: C
Mass Effect E3 2007 Trailer
Just as our own Chuck Husemann openly declared his growing (and unhealthy) obsession with Mass Effect, developer BioWare managed to unleash the most seething, diabolical antagonist E3 had the privilege of witnessing this year. Saren -- the spoken of antagonist -- clutches a genocidal agenda and a racial prejudice that WW2 games can't go near with a ten-foot pole; a throat-scratchy intonation that's dry, fearless, and dramatically peeled-back at the edges; and overall, Saren makes the good guy, Shepherd, sound completely unprepared to take on this planetary threat. "I'll find some way to stop him"? Just going of this trailer, Shepherd, no. No, you won't.
Rating: B-
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 E3 2007 Around The World - Japan Trailer
Yeah, I lied. There's a "2" at the end of this one's title. But these little guys have completely taken center stage in this series -- and this video packs the best comedic timing and physical comedy of anything shown at E3. Ray-who?
Rating: A-
Pull into the Trailer Park next week as we examine the trailers that trail E3.
* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company.
About Author
Randy gravitates toward anything open world, open ended, and open to interpretation. He prefers strategy over shooting, introspection over action, and stealth and survival over looting and grinding. He's been a gamer since 1982 and writing critically about video games for over 15 years. A few of his favorites are Skyrim, Elite Dangerous, and Red Dead Redemption. He lives with his wife and daughter in Oregon.
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