On Tuesday, I was given the chance to check out Microsoft Canada’s X’09 event, held in the heart of downtown Toronto at the This Is London Nightclub. Braving the chilly Canadian weather and blistering winds, I arrived at the event and entered its darkened corridor after making my way past security. Once I was signed in and checked my coat, I headed around the corner and was pelted with an onslaught to the senses in the form of huge TV screens, green spinning lights and adrenaline surging music.
The lower floor of the club was lined with a stage on one side, with The Beatles Rock Band and Rockstar showing off The Ballad of Gay Tony beside them. Across from them, on the other side of the room, there was a wall of screens showing off Serious Sam HD, NHL 10, South Park Let’s Go Tower Defence Play! and Left 4 Dead 2. The center of the room featured a huge playing area for Halo 3: ODST and also featured a set of three screened racing set ups for people to check out Forza 3 in some serious style, complete with vibrating racing chairs and racing wheels to give that extra “oomph”.
The ultimate Forza 3 experience
In the rear of the club, Activision and Ubisoft had set up shop and were allowing people to get hands-on with Tony Hawk’s RIDE and the upcoming rhythm title DJ Hero as well as a set up of allowing those lucky enough to attend the event, a glimpse of Splinter Cell: Conviction. Beside the RIDE and DJ Hero area, there were sounds of gunfire and hollering coming from behind an ominous black curtain, which as it turned out was Infinity Ward showing off Modern Warfare 2.
Splinter Cell: Conviction looks absolutely incredible and is a nice change of pace for Sam Fisher. Although the gameplay we were shown was brief in length and didn’t tell us much about the game in general, it definitely showed that Sam is a mean man in his old age and the game has certainly taken a turn to the violent side, as specifically shown when Sam interrogated an officer by bouncing his head off near by objects to complete an objective. The stealth is better than veterans of the series will remember and the kills are quick and brutal.
When it was time to move on, I grabbed myself a coke and headed over to the sights and sounds of mass zombie slaughter. I took up a controller as the EA PR Rep started up a co-op session of Left 4 Dead 2. With Nick and Coach at my side, I grabbed a shotgun and we slowly started forward towards a very impatient mob of zombies. As they rushed forward, all hell broke loose with blood and body parts flying every which way.
Out of the corner of my eye, I needed to do a double take as I saw Coach swinging a guitar, smashing zombies like he was on stage at an AC/DC concert. If you have played the original L4D, then you will know the gist of the gameplay as it is pretty much the same with some new additions. The melee weapons are a new addition that glaringly stand out and are plentiful in options, giving you choices that include a frying pan, nightstick, bat, and the already mentioned guitar.
