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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (360/PS3/Wii)
• Publisher: EA
• Developer: EA Bright Light
• Release Date: November 19, 2011
• Screenshots
• Trailer
• What We Saw:
I was able to take Harry through a demo level set in an abandoned warehouse on my way to investigating a ruckus at some old cooling towers. Along the way I was beset by Snatchers and Deatheaters. It's a third person spell shooter with some basic cover mechanics and a good selection of spells that Harry Potter fans have been seeing and reading about for years. Every spell has a different mechanic such as the Crucius spell shooting out a barrage of red bolts and Wingardium Levioso used to pick up objects that can be used as a mobile cover of sorts before you hurl them at your enemies. Spells are chosen from a radial wheel as well as from cycling through via the d-pad. You can zoom in on enemies when firing and some spells behave differently if they're charged up before casting.
• What We Think:
Brandon: For a series of books and movies about wizards there's not a lot of actual spell casting taking place in the Harry Potter universe so to see Harry running around, chucking bolts is an odd vision, however the switch in game type and visual palette fits the darker tone of the book. Harry isn't at Hogwarts any more so an adventure game doesn't make much sense. He's out in the real world and there are plenty of dark wizards looking to stop him. The cover mechanics are a bit dodgy as I had a hard time telling what I could take cover behind, however the spell mechanics were very satisfying with a nice range of spells and plenty of offensive options once you entered the fight. I saw some silly AI moves such as Deatheaters firing into a pile of garbage because Harry was nearby and Snatchers that would run right by Harry and not pay him any notice. The game is out in the fall so I can only assume that these issues will be fixed by then. I couldn't get any information about spell progression, but I can only hope there is some as while the spell mechanics were interesting, if they don't change much from beginning to end, the potential for boredom is there.

Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar (DS)
• Publisher: Natsume
• Developer: Marvelous Entertainment
• Release Date: July 27, 2010
• Screenshots
• What We Saw:
Like any Harvest Moon game, Grand Bazaar centers on farming, marrying and raising a family. However Grand Bazaar has several new features. Rather than shipping produce in a bin at the end of the day, the player stocks up until the end of the week where he sells items at the local market. Market day is good for earning money as well as buying rare goods. Players also have access to a windmill in order to ferment, mill, upgrade items (like the water can), create stat-boosting accessories and make gifts for each gender's five marriageable candidates. Players can also jump, adding a sort of platforming element to the game. Global and local WiFi allows players to trade and sell items with other players.
• What We Think:
  Meghan: With impeccable, adorable graphics and each new feature, Grand Bazaar looks like the best Harvest Moon to date. Its only downfall may be the market day element where players have to stand for long periods of time as they sell their produce to passersby.

Heroes of Three Kingdoms (PC)
• Publisher: Perfect World
• Developer: Perfect World
• Release Date: TBD
• Trailer
• What We Saw:
Lots of in-game footage, but I didn’t get to play it.
• What We Think:
  Toni: At last, a fantasy-based F2P MMO that doesn’t have elves or dwarves. It’s still a fantasy, but for a welcomed change, it takes place in Ancient China during the Three Kingdoms period. In addition to the setting, two major features stood out to me. One is that unlike every MMO ever made in which you have to choose a class at the start, in this case it’s your weapon that determines what skills you have. There are 18 types of weapons, and you choose a primary and secondary. For example, you can be a tank one day and a healer the next, or you can even be a hybrid class by just switching out your weapons. This eliminates the need to make alts, which is great because maintaining and keeping track of alts drives me nuts. Oh, and your weapons influence your mount’s skills too.
  The second thing that really caught my attention is the Civilization-like city management system that kicks in when you have control of a city. All of a sudden the dev was talking about taxes and keeping the population happy and well-fed and I thought, “whoa, Civ?” If you’re fed up with Western fantasy scenarios in an MMO, you may want to check out this game.

Homefront (Xbox 360, PC, PS3)
• Publisher: THQ
• Developer: Kaos Studios
• Release Date: 2011
• Trailer
• What We Saw:
This was a guided, hands-off gameplay demo. Homefront takes the player a few years into the future, 2024 to be exact, a time at which North Korea has become a dominant world power. In 2015 they united Korea. In 2018 they annexed Japan. By 2024, they had successfully invaded the United States and caused all sorts of trouble. A regular bunch hooligans, those guys.
The player wakes up in a sort of makeshift insurgent community and is adopted into the cause of fighting off these foreign invaders. It’s not entirely clear what the player’s background is, although it’s hinted that a plane crash was involved. At any rate, the beginning of the game is actually quite subdued. You explore this safe zone your new friends have set up, in which you discover, just by walking around, how they deal with such necessities as food, energy, and water. You see children playing. An Asian mother, with an American flag patch on her jacket sleeve, rocking her infant child; a strong hint that the developers are anxious to avoid stereotyping against Asian American citizens. It all goes a long, long way to setting up what Kaos refers to as “why we fight moments.” Without question the sites and sounds you encounter in these early minutes evokes a need for violent retribution, which is soon met as the player is dragged into an insurgent attack at a Home Depot-esque home supply store. What followed was a slew of your typical big guns, big explosions, shooter material.
• What We Think:
Todd: There were a lot of games at E3 this year (as there always is), in which there are a lot of guns shooting a lot of stuff and a horde of infrastructure getting all-blowed up. It doesn’t take long before you’re desensitized to it all, especially in an environment like E3. So, it’s important to me that a game gives me a reason to give a damn about why I’m sticking my neck out and why I’m littering digital avatars with bullets. Homefront did that. The quiet early moments in the game gives me a reason to slog through yet another machine gun battle. I just hope this promise carries through to the rest of the game. If it’s 15 minutes of calm followed by 10-20 hours of non-stop action I’ll turn out quick. If, however, Kaos follows up on their promise to riddle the game these “why we fight” moments then this is one I’ll be happy to play when it, hopefully, releases next year.
Bill: I think I'd like a Goliath for Christmas, thanks. This huge remote control ATV is wicked. Anyway, I like what I see from Homefront and THQ is really pushing this game hard. It had a huge presence at the show this year from banners to post show parties. The demo we saw was "tense" to say the least and while I'm tired of the gun porn we see every year, Homefront stood out as one of the better games of E3.
Mitch: I got a seriously Metro 2033/Half-Life 2 vibe from Homefront. Not because it’s bleak and gritty, but in the way it presents itself. Everything is in first-person, whether you’re falling out of a guard tower or introducing yourself to the more serene side of oppressive occupation. Seeing the player wandering a big back yard filled with struggling parents, hard-working rebels and frolicking children hit the exact note the team wants. Homefront’s setting is fantastic, and the world the team’s created is incredibly believable. As a result, the game ties you to those calm moments, before throwing you into great-looking firefights. The potential for intense, emotional experiences in Homefront is incredible.
Meghan: Another game that suffers from the Modern Warfare 2 syndrome. I'm pretty sure the player got hit by three helicopters, nearly died and then was totally okay within five minutes of gameplay. Then again, as long as the over-dramatic mid-game cinematics don't crowd the rest of the game, Homefront ought to be good. It's got a different, albeit controversial story, plenty of action and seemingly interesting goals, like raiding a North Korean base in the parking lot of a hardware store. Although I'm still not sure how that Hooters billboard stayed so intact...
Brandon: Yet another game that's quite a way off, too far to have a real opinion on it. It sure looks pretty and is loud in all of the right places. The Goliath is as cool as it was last year, able so save your behind when North Korean soldiers are bearing down on you. We saw a good mix of simple moments to get you invested in what you're fighting for as well as some badass action, but all the stuff in between is what's important and we didn't see much of that. I'm still interested in the game, particularly how the game explains some of how North Korea managed to steamroll over the world, but I still haven't seen enough to make a day one purchase, especially given that first person shooters really aren't my bag.
Danielle: It’s big, it’s bombastic, and it has a very intriguing premise: the idea of having the war brought home to America. The trailer went pretty far into establishing the concept of reclaiming the homeland and making emotional bonds with your fellow freedom fighters, and the atmosphere was genuinely interesting (taking place in a war-torn suburbia). With so many shooters crowding the market, it’s nice to see something with a fresh spin.

Hunted: Demon's Forge (Xbox 360, PC, PS3)
• Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
• Developer: Bethesda Softworks
• Release Date: 2011
• Screenshots
• Trailer
• What We Saw:
We saw an alpha build hands-on demo running on an Xbox 360. Hunted is a straight up 3rd person fantasy action dungeon crawl that thrives on co-op play.
The level we played was littered with skeletons: Skeleton warriors, archers, and various undead things. A developer played alongside as the warrior while I provided support as the female archer. Both can use magic, use cover, etc. We killed a lot of undead and used many of the duo’s various powers. (I’d shoot skellies with frozen arrows and the fighter would shatter them, that sort of thing, Teamwork people!) I also was given access to a wicked battle axe when it was my turn to use the warrior that carved up skeletons with extreme prejudice.
• What We Think:
Bill: Both Todd and Brandon sat back and watched as I played along with one of the game’s developers. Todd commented that watching me play wasn’t all that interesting but I came away with a different take. I live for co-op games like this so I can see a lot of potential in this design as both the warrior and the archer have a slew of powers at their disposal and teamwork appears to be critical for survival. When you throw in puzzle elements to break up the hack and slash combat it could provide for a hell of a lot of fun. Or it could end up as a redundant snooze fest if the gameplay gets too monotonous. It’s just too early to tell. But if it does in fact provide enough gameplay variety. – I‘m in.
Brandon: A big dude with a sword beat up on skeletons while a hot elf with a bow shot them full of arrows. Whee. Despite me being bugged at the use of piercing weapons against monsters with no flesh, the game looked pretty for being so far off and I liked the idea of being able to switch off who controls which character at certain points in the game. The game is based on co-op which means I am required to give it deep consideration but it's so far off that it's not like I'm losing sleep while waiting for it.
Todd: As much as I am interested in seeing more games come out with a strong co-op experience, this one failed to grab me. It looked alright, but the world we explored didn’t seem particularly interesting and that made it hard to see where this will fit into what looks to be a very busy first quarter in 2011.