Now that Dead Space 3 is a cover shooter and Ghost Recon's bought into on-rails turret sequences, you could be forgiven for thinking that innovation (noun, a. "new stuff that I in theory want but as a rule won't actually buy") is dead - crushed beneath the wheels of risk-averse publishers, always on the lookout for another cashcow. You couldn't, actually. A familiar label doesn't always equal a want of ideas, as the games below unambiguously demonstrate.
Publishers might be holding their best tricks back for the next round of console hardware, but the latest sequels are stuffed full of surprises. You don't have to be new IP to push the boundaries/envelope/boat out. Indeed, it's usually safer otherwise.
37 comments so far...
Clanger67 on 19 Jun '12 said:
Pretty much agree with all of them except Fable,lost my faith in the Fable series.Far Cry 3 definitley,Halo 4 looks and sounds good,MP seems to add a lot.You could also add to that list Dishonored and GTA V hopefully.If i only get my hands on FC3,Dishonored and GTA V that would be me well happy well after this year is over.
msbhvn on 20 Jun '12 said:
I know you're the official magazine and all, and have to draw people's eye to Microsoft Game Studios games, but to suggest the Fable series is innovative in any way other than becoming more insultingly simplistic with each successive game is going a bit too far. And Fable: The Journey a "hardcore Kinect game"? Really?
Thos. on 20 Jun '12 said:
I think I'll go elsewhere for the next generation. I bought the original Xbox on launch day for Halo, and Halo 4 will probably drive me away. Killstreak bonuses and persistent unlocks have killed it for me personally.
While no-one has managed to develop anything on Kinect that interests me in the slightest, the Wii U controller looks brilliant - it's almost like Microsoft's Smart Glass, but with, like, actual buttons for controlling things
It looks like while MS are going more casual, Nintendo are coming back the other way.
OXM ETboy on 20 Jun '12 said:
But Fable has innovated. The third one was a bit of an acquired taste, but it turned the inventory into a chamber, attempted to compact all the second game's progression systems into evolving weapon renders, and offered us an endgame built around kingship and total environmental change. It also has a level which is basically a giant piss-take of turn-based board games. It's got a lot wrong with it, but it does try.
As for the Journey - it pains me to play the "I've played it, you haven't" card, but... I've played it, you haven't
Though admittedly, I appear to be the only chap who thinks Steel Battalion's worth a damn, so my opinions about Kinect games probably warrant a pinch of salt.
shiftymorgan on 20 Jun '12 said:
Steel battalion was awful from the demo,
It started off with good intentions and I was trundling away quite happily but then my kinect decided I was doing the hokey kokey and went bananas.
Tried again and it went again and then bananas.
The kinect isnt good enough for small micro movements and sadly wrecks the game.
bamozzy on 20 Jun '12 said:
Of that list the only one I will definitely NOT be buying is Fable!
Crysis 3, Bioshock Infinite, Watch Dogs are also absent from this list but should be on it - GTA5 could also be included but with so little information about it yet it is hard to see if it will be genuinely innovative or just a more polished GTA4 (not that is a bad thing)
SkinnerChinner on 20 Jun '12 said:
Honestly, the only game on that list I'm interested in (and definitely getting) is ACIII. None of the others interest me in the slightest...
stealth on 20 Jun '12 said:
Are those all joke posts? halo is the farthest thing from innovative
CunningSmile on 20 Jun '12 said:
Because your much vaunted JRPGs are cutting edge aren't they with game play that has remained unchanged since the late '80s?
Why hasn't this guy been banned yet?
msbhvn on 20 Jun '12 said:
Seconded. It's not like he even reads the comments after he s***s all over them, or the warning he's had.
I thought innovation meant doing something new, not doing the same thing in a slightly different way?
VapiricDragon on 20 Jun '12 said:
those games are innovation.......well I guess this site had to write what it could
OXM ETboy on 20 Jun '12 said:
He has been banned. As has his "friend", VapiricDragon. Try harder, stealth.
Clanger67 on 20 Jun '12 said:
Yeah that means cvg will be getting some more grief now then.
CunningSmile on 20 Jun '12 said:
Cheers Ed.
Stealth Omega on 20 Jun '12 said:
Not only can i not really be banned. I have an infinite amount of ips and emails
so its really a waste of his time to keep banning something that takes 1 second to create
His power got to his head, he banned me for no good reason after I rarely if ever post on here. I wanted to discuss the matter. And hes being a baby
OXM ETboy on 20 Jun '12 said:
This is brilliant.
You can't kick me out of the band! I AM the band.
Just FYI everybody - I sent the chap a warning note a couple of weeks ago, telling him to be more constructive in threads. His response: "eat slugs".
Clanger67 on 20 Jun '12 said:
CunningSmile on 20 Jun '12 said:
I'm also wondering about the 'Infinite IPs' claim. That would require an awful lot of band width so is he to blame for how slow my internet goes sometimes?
OXM ETboy on 20 Jun '12 said:
Two new account creations in the past few minutes.
/charges up Banhammer
bitlover on 20 Jun '12 said:
you banned based off a harry potter joke? Wow the mods here really are as dimwitted as they say
Bezza89 on 20 Jun '12 said:
Who uses different IPs to recreate an account? How desperate are some people for attention, though ironically we're all giving it to him. That's irony right? I don't know.
OT - Kind of agree with the notion the games aren't really innovating and are more trying to offer something fresh in an otherwise stale franchise, they should be applauded for at least having a go.
Clanger67 on 20 Jun '12 said:
jonfox on 20 Jun '12 said:
is name calling suppose to bother me? But I suppose i can lay low, there wasnt anything further i wanted to comment on its just funny he banned off a harry potter joke
Clanger67 on 20 Jun '12 said:
Alright i will bite once i don't care what bothers you or doesn't.You must be about ten years old for all your attitude.Doesn't really bother me you don't get to my age without running into countless dick heads what's one more.
clanger on 20 Jun '12 said:
you are being gotten too which is hilarious..........
you dont know my age bro
You realize i am only posting because your being bothered is like crack to me
OXM ETboy on 20 Jun '12 said:
Ignore him, everybody. I'm sure he'll get bored eventually.
On topic - what do people think of the Far Cry 3 pick? Is that a question of new style, old substance?
xboxsandN on 20 Jun '12 said:
A generic shooter will always be a generic shooter
farcry is way past its expiration date
Clanger67 on 20 Jun '12 said:
Yeah i am really looking forward to FC3.I like it seems more like one than two.Plus despite it only being twenty seconds on the E3 vid. looks like stealth might play a big part with the bow.Plus the hang glider is back what more can i say.
Bezza89 on 20 Jun '12 said:
Dunno, I loved Far Cry Instincts for petes sake. Thought FC2 was even better, the fire, graphics, gameworld, and am partial to the jamming guns, breakdown cars - it added a sense of panic. The story was surprisingly good for an FPS too, more should take a story and implement themes - Ayn Rand for Bioshock, Heart of Darkness for FC2 and Spec Ops.
The only problem was stealth, actual stealth lol. You're in a bush on a mountain, you fire at someone a mile away, everyone else sees you instantly. Facepalm. I liked the respawning checkpoints too - Dragons Dogma has this and no one has complained, they're literally the same enemies appearing in the same places every time you walk by. It adds something to do in the world, it was just dealt with wrong, give me a chopper dropping off the enemies or something.
FC3 looks to be FC2s strengths with FC1s setting, none of Instincts, and actually possible stealthing about.
Clanger67 on 20 Jun '12 said:
Yeah didn't want to sound like i hated two.I liked the gun jams etc.The spawning was too much though,in DD if i killed a Chimera and realised i was on the wrong path say,it wasn't there straight after on the way back.They overdid that in two.I agree if it is mostly two in ones setting with some added Stealth,should hit the spot.
CunningSmile on 20 Jun '12 said:
I really like Farcry Instincts (sucker for anything with werewolf overtones) but found FC2 was just too broken. Great ideas but the constantly respawning bad guys, the rapid degradation of weapons and vehicles and the malaria just added up to a game that was more hard work than fun. Hopefully FC3 can hit a happy medium.
And what is with the bow and arrow use in games this year? FC, Tomb Raider, Crysis 3 and AC3 to mention a few everyone seems to be competing in an old fashioned arms race.
OXM ETboy on 20 Jun '12 said:
It was a weird one, FC2. One minute it's one of the most atmospheric, plausible worlds on the shop, the next it's all shonky artificial checkpoints and scripting. On balance I enjoyed it, but you have to work hard.
Bezza89 on 20 Jun '12 said:
Is there a bow and arrow in far cry?
CunningSmile on 20 Jun '12 said:
Could have sworn I saw a trailer with a bow being used but i could be mistaken as almost everything at E3 this year seemed to be blurring into one
Clanger67 on 20 Jun '12 said:
Yeah the first twenty seconds of the E3 vid. he has a bow and takes the first two or three guys out with it.
Clanger67 on 20 Jun '12 said:
Agreed all we need next is a Robin Hood fps/rpg.Might make quite a good game actually if it was a bit like Assassins Creed.
bamozzy on 21 Jun '12 said:
Far Cry 3 does look quite generic but also looks like it could be fun. Nothing about it really stands out and separates it from games that have come before. However it does look and sound more promising than Far Cry 2. It certainly isn't on my 'Must Buy' list as I think there are bigger and better games coming out at a similar time. It is a game that I would consider buying at some point in the future if the price is right and I am not buying anything else.
It is one of those 'Average' games in the fact that what it does it will probably do well but not ground breaking or better than others in the same genre.
Black Ops 2 for example is quite ground breaking for the series in terms of its SP campaign and it is making Zombies much bigger with more game modes too - I don't know much about its MP. Halo and Crysis are both looking very impressive and have new additions to their series. We of course have games like AC3, GTA5, BioShock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Watch Dogs, Aliens etc also all due out so this game really isn't jumping out as being a 'must buy'