TSA Talks EGX Special

Since the site is very EGX themed this week, with Hands On articles, videos, podcasts and lots of other content appearing after our trip to London, we thought it would be nice to talk to you about the event itself.

So, rather than picking out three news stories and rambling on about them, we’re going to ramble on about what we loved at the show, what surprised us and what our favourite moments were instead. If you were there, feel free to share your own opinions in the comment section below.

The Expo had a lot of games on show, and we all have a lot of different opinions. Naturally, then, the first question posed to the staff members that visited EGX asked their favourite game of the event:

Kris: It’s a tough call, but I have to go for Sonic Generations. An honourable mention goes to Batman: Arkham City, but even Bats can’t compete with Sonic in my mind. We’ve been told so many times that a Sonic title will be a “return to form” but Generations seems like it actually could be. No, it’s not Sonic 1 again, but it’s been expanded in the right places and feels fantastic. As long as they just stick to the sort of levels we’ve seen and skip out the in between bits that have haunted recent Sonic titles, we could have a real hit on our hands.

Peter: I personally loved Batman: Arkham City. It just feels so much more fluid than the previous game and that Batman universe which Rocksteady have created is such a great world to be in. Rage also felt really good to me. I heard a lot of people saying they didn’t enjoy it but I played a few minutes of it and found myself putting the controller down, not wanting to spoil it for when I get the review code through!

Josh: There were so many great games there! Uncharted 3 was easily my standout favourite though. Between the fantastic single-player and behind-the-scenes stuff shown off at the developer session, to the really strong multiplayer build out on the show floor, it basically cemented itself as my one absolutely-definitely-preordered game for this fall. Oh, and Nolan North was amazing.

Blair: It’s really hard to pick a favourite when there were lots of fantastic games; Skyrim, for example was absolutely stunning, even in forty minutes of playtime; Batman was great, too. My favourite, however, had to be either Rayman Origins or Super Mario 3D Land – two games that I wasn’t that excited for, either – they’re now at the top of my November list and I can’t wait to get my hands on them.

Bear in mind that we hadn’t played a lot of the games before, so there were bound to be some surprises. Let’s hear what shocked us the most.

Kris: Sonic almost comes top here, in light of the demo I really wasn’t expecting much at all. However, it’s got to be Ninja Gaiden 3. I went in to the show having zero interest in the title and with almost no experience of the series (I think I played a demo once). After being told it was good I thought I’d give it a go and it was great. I wouldn’t put it up as best in show, but given I came in with no interest and left with it stuck firmly in my head it’s definitely a big surprise for me.

Oh and Halo being, basically, broken in my opinion. I don’t know what 343 have done to the Reach engine the multiplayer’s using but it’s certainly not good. The amount of motion blur and hyper-sensitive look controls came close to rendering it unplayable.

Peter: I was most surprised by Halo: Combat Evolved. They had a few machines set up as multiplayer but it felt really sluggish and the motion blur around the edges of the screen seemed massively over-used. It just wasn’t fun to play. It looked fantastic when others were playing though, so perhaps the settings on my machine had just been tweaked badly but I could only put up with it for five minutes before the frustration of not being able to turn any quicker than a first-world-war tank set in.

Josh: Both SSX and Need for Speed: The Run surprised me with how good they were, compared to my expectations. SSX is a lot more free-roaming than I expected, and was a lot of fun – I’m very glad they ditched the whole “Deadly Descents” thing. With regard to Need for Speed, I think EA have really screwed up in showing off those on-foot sections so prominently. I played through two stages of pure driving, and it works perfectly as a slightly less arcadey refinement of Hot Pursuit. That mountain/snowy/avalanche stage is great too, a nice way to mix it up.

Blair: Rayman Origins really surprised me, as I’ve said. It’s such a great 2D platformer and it really exceeded my (non-existent) expectations. I don’t know what it was, but when I finally got my hands on the game I was hooked and went back five or six times over the three days, finding the secret areas and knowing the perfect routes through the levels. Then there was Zelda; I was surprised that I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would – I’m a massive Zelda fan but Skyward Sword just didn’t do it for me. Perhaps it was because it’s really not a game suited to quick sessions in a crowded area.

It wasn’t all about games, mind. There were a lot of other great moments at the show, when we weren’t in front of a console. So let’s hear what everyone’s high point was (watch out for a theme here).

Kris: The high point for me was hanging out with everyone from TSA. Yes, that’s probably hugely soppy of me, but it was just fantastic fun and everyone got on without a hitch. I’d say the fact I’m actually capable of doing interviews on camera without visibly shaking was a pretty good feeling as well, wasn’t expecting that result.

Peter: My high points were probably not really anything to do with the show. It was great to meet everyone and socialise with the guys from the site that I’ve been emailing back and forward with for years. If I had to pick something related to EGX it was probably meeting Tim Willits. That guy was one of the people responsible for Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake which were all big games for me growing up so actually getting to meet him was a big deal for me.

Josh: Honestly, for me, it was having everyone round to the TSA house and getting to chill out and talk games with a bunch of very funny, very friendly people. Obviously it was great to meet Peter, Al and the others, but getting to meet the actual people that read the site and engage with the community was a fantastic experience. You’re all ace.

Blair: Very predictably, I’m going to say that it was meeting the people that I’ve only known from the internet – seeing everyone in real life was great; some people surprised me, some people didn’t but everyone was amazing to meet. Playing games with people from the internet without having to rely on an online connection was amazing, and I hope I can do it all again. Oh, meeting Nolan North and having him sign my Uncharted 2 was quite brilliant too.