Ever since its first trailer released several months ago, Dead Island has been one of my most anticipated upcoming games. The sheer irony of a lush island paradise marred by walking human decay carries a rare yet growing appeal. Now the game is almost upon us.

At E3, Gamer Limit spent some quality time with the title, along with representatives from Techland and Deep Silver. After about 40 minutes poring over the nooks and crannies of the fictional island of Banoi, I must say that no other game captures the elements of survival and fear quite like Dead Island. It’s enough to make this my E3 top pick.

With any proper zombie story, it’s all about the survivors. That’s where we start — in a church among the few who were lucky enough to escape the outbreak. No sanctuary here, however. The place is ruined with debris scattered about, windows boarded up. It doesn’t feel like a safe haven at all, as stress lines every face and weighs in every voice. We meet Howard.

Howard doesn’t know whether he is immune to becoming a zombie like we are, and he’ll be damned if he’s going to risk infection finding out. Therein lies his problem — Howard has been separated from his wife and kid. They’re out there somewhere and they’re alive, he can feel it. That’s why he looks to us.

Quests are one of the pillars of Dead Island and they do well to set it apart. Most other zombie games focus on escape, which often translates to reaching a singular goal. They may try to ratchet up the tension with a time limit and sudden shocks, but once you get from point A to B, there isn’t much left to warrant a replay. Dead Island disrupts this model by making you beholden to your morals, and your character responsible for the living.

Choose to help these people or not. The fact remains that these people rely on you. And in a way, your progress relies on them, as quests will at least determine what parts of the island you visit and the sometimes critical items you pick up along the way. After quick deliberation, we accept Howard’s quest: place posters around the island imploring his family to meet him at the church.

Dead Island spills over into RPG some as in addition to quests, there is a surprising depth in weapon and character progression. Before heading out, we visit a workbench to repair the various weapons we had. Expect workbenches to be scattered throughout Banoi.

Brand manager Peter Brolly from Deep Silver pointed out that from the workbench, you can also upgrade your weapons based on the cash you pick up from felled zombies and goals achieved. Where before I had a pitiful blade, I all of a sudden have a military grade knife with a serrated edge. Not enough to feel invincible, just brave enough to finally head outside.

Once in the open, we don’t meet zombies right away, but we hear them. The buffer is enough to get us immersed in the island town, but keeps us on our toes. Signs of violence are everywhere with spatters of blood on the concrete, crumbling facades, toppled cars, et al. Once the walking dead do surface, our teeth are clenched and we are raring to go to work.

There is no rigid progression of zombies in Dead Island. The faster, more powerful ones stand alongside the more decayed, frail ones. They come in droves and they come alone, ensuring you don’t know what you’re going to get once you turn the corner. Supporting that imperative to survive, the game forces us to think just a little more critically, work closer as a team. Dead Island is designed for co-op, after all.

We are assured that the game is built to scale as well, adjusting to the number of people you’re with. It also promises that your campaign can continue even if someone drops out in the middle of a mission. In other words, if you all of a sudden find yourself playing alone, you won’t have to face a four player difficulty (unless you want to).

Albeit, whether you’re an envoy of four or an army of one, strategy is a necessity when dealing with the Banoi nightmare. As I swing a hatchet I picked up, a stamina bar at the bottom of the screen depletes. That same bar gets smaller and smaller as I run. Coupled with degradation of weapons and limited bullets, Dead Island is as much a game of conservation as it is first person melee, e.g. true survival.

We really had to watch how we fought, mind our range, all to just keep on living. You can definitely go gung ho on a zombie at your discretion. Not all situations call for it, however. In the end, there are always more than one way to achieve a goal.

While it pays to have a few people waiting in the wings as you step back to take a breath, Dead Island also gives you the tools to hold your own. For instance, the ability to quickly side step by pressing jump and left/right — time it just right with a machete swing and you can get a clean decapitation along with a spire of the reddest blood. This was my favorite move in the demo.

I counted five zombie types on this poster mission, among them one that exudes noxious gas, of course the ram zombie and one bloated zombie that explodes upon impact. Good thing you have the ability to throw knives and retrieve them from the again dead corpse.

Speaking of throwing knives, we were also able to check out a few special abilities. My character, Logan, was especially great at the art of jettisoning blades. So much so that when you press B on the 360 controller, he goes into a trance like state, zeros in on all enemies and launches them rapid fire. Another character goes into rage mode throwing a flurry of powerful fists.

Like everything else in the game, you must earn these skills. Through a series of skill trees, you have the choice to level up into different abilities that can prove critical in clutch situations. This is based on the number of kills and your ability to stay alive, of course.

One more thing about my early trip through Banoi. Everywhere I looked, tropical flora reached over the man made, as if they’re competing for space. The weather system oscillated quickly between heavy rain and dry spells. You could nearly feel the humidity.

The color palate that all this encompasses, the mix of the dark dead grays, fertile greens and literal blood red create yet another intriguing juxtaposition. It’s hard to dismiss that beyond all the killing and striving, it’s a downright beautiful game. September 9 can’t come soon enough.

Barring objections about the name, the Nintendo Wii U was received with great applause and excitement at this year’s E3. The first thing many people did when the doors opened to the West Hall was rush to Nintendo’s massive booth to get a glimpse of the hardware and its capabilities. And the lines never let up for the entire three days.

The reward for waiting more than an hour and a half in line was a chance to experience several demos: Shield Pose, an editable video of Link battling a ginormous spider, Battle Mii, Chase Mii, Super Mario Bros. Mii, that questionable video of the bird, and Ghost Recon Online. The prognosis – hopeful.

That’s about all I can be after experiencing these demos. To be honest, I was among the joyous, clapping giddily at Nintendo’s E3 press conference when I saw the introductory video. The longer I thought about it, however, the more it seemed like Microsoft’s introduction to the formerly named project Natal. Natal promised big things. Fastforward to today, the Kinect still has several gaps between its lineup and its declared power. Experiencing the Wii U first hand was marked with ambivalence because it feels like the same situation.

We’ll get into that later. First, let’s talk about the some of the demos.

Chase Mii was the first game I played. I call it a game despite Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aime calling it a prototype. I call it a game because it contains the essentials – ground rules, a set mode of play and a challenging yet achievable goal. It was fun to boot.

The demo starts with four Miis standing apart and one more standing in the middle. The outside players don iconic Toad mushroom costume while the one in the middle is dressed like Mario. The object is to tackle the Mario Mii before time runs out. I liken it to a hybrid hide-and-seek/tag/race.

The highlight of the game is of course the Wii U controller. When you’re the one being chased, the entire experience is on the controller’s 6.2 inch screen. It’s big enough to fit a global map that displays everyone’s location, and a 3rd person view of your fugitive Mii. Whereas the other four players use the familiar Wii sticks and share the TV’s standard split screen — they have no way of telling where you are except for a distance counter and sight, thus encouraging a team effort.

Being the fugitive Mii offers the rare feeling of being the boss in the game. The other players are trying to beat you; they strategize and plot; they work as a team. After some time passes, a star becomes available and all of a sudden you’re invincible. I took that time to taunt the other players by bumping into them and laughing triumphantly.

That boss feeling was replicated in Battle Mii, and again was made possible with the new controller. This time, two players using the nunchuks control laser wielding, Samus suit wearing Miis. Their goal is to blast the third player, the one using the Wii U controller, who is whirring around in a spaceship, out of the air.

Okay, these are great demos that show off the very unique interactivity you can have in a multiplayer game. Most likely, Nintendo will bundle these games with the console purchase, similar to what they did with Wii Sports. What remains to be seen is whether developers will adopt this concept for core titles. Remember, universal appeal is one of the philosophical tenants behind this new console. Seeing a similar aspect in a core game will show how great the Wii U can be in capturing their declared audience.

Speaking of core titles, Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Online was the only one at the Wii U area. Another ray of hope, the demo packed massive quality despite being an early version. The interface is incredible to say the least.

Players tap on the touch screen to cycle through weapon customizations. When you’ve made your choice of, for instance, the barrel, you simply swipe it toward the TV and that piece is saved. This is far better an interface than that demoed in Ghost Recon Future Soldier for the Kinect — don’t get me wrong, choosing gun parts with a wave of my hand and mimicking gun play is intriguing, but when it’s time for a three hour shooter fest, I can see the arms getting tired.

My favorite parts of the Ghost Recon Online demo were the map and drone, again leveraging the touch screen. The map reacts to the motion of the controller via the gyroscope. Players can zoom in and out, set rally points and launch drones with more simple taps. Essentially, pausing the game for logistics is a thing of the past with the Wii U. Furthermore, the concept of a HUD is eliminated as everything is moved to the device in your hands.

So, why am I so fixated on the controller? It’s the crux. It’s what makes the Wii U exceptional, instead of just another HD console that happens to be from Nintendo.

From a hardware perspective, it’s a wonder how they built it. So light in my hands, it felt close to fragile. Yet, there are two circle pads in addition to the D-pad, A/B/X/Y, L/R bumpers, ZL/ZR triggers, camera, rumble, microphone, sensor, stylus and speakers that startled me the first time I heard them. I also spied a screw piece just under the triggers that has me thinking tripod support.

Demos and hardware aside, that leaves Internet browsing, continuous play when someone takes over the TV, controller only games and so on with big question marks. These were nowhere to be found at the Nintendo booth.

Considering that Nintendo recently confirmed the console will have no DVD/Blu-Ray capability (see Q8 in the E3 Q&A), we’re already starting to see the real Wii U emerge, the one with limitations. It’s bound to happen, after all. The Wii U we saw at E3 must reconcile with the one we buy in stores, and like an inspiring politician, we will have a reckoning of all its promises.

I still remain hopeful, albeit. It’s fascinating hardware. So, I venture to enjoy the promise of a great console as I wait to see whether it is fulfilled in 2012.

Last year, Zombie Studios gave the world Blacklight Tango Down. A competent FPS focused on multiplayer, it released for Xbox Live, Playstation Network and PC.  The title provided all we’ve come to expect from the genre. And although it wasn’t the most unique game out there, the title managed to surprise many with its depth and production value, especially since it was released at a price point of $15.

Zombie aims to surprise us again with its sequel Blacklight Retribution. Top of the surprise list – it’s going to be strictly a PC game. Coming in at close second – it will be free to play. While the latter may be off putting to some, our hands-on with the game at E3 proved that there is much to be excited about.

While most shooters are focused on going bigger – bigger set pieces, bigger explosions, bigger f’ing guns – hardcore FPS fans will be content to know that Blacklight Retribution will be focused on getting better.

One of the stand-out features that made Tango Down a favorite was its in-depth customization feature. Players were able to choose from hundreds of customizations to tailor their weapons and character, instead of choosing between classes. The Armory in Retribution runs with this aspect, offering even more customizability; and this is where our private demo began.

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A cursory glance of The Armory offers the typical weapon selection screen. Your gun hovers there as you begin to click through the options. The difference becomes clear, however, once you dig in.

I was able to spend several contemplative minutes going through every aspect of my pistol, swapping out the standard barrel for an elite silencer, attaching a red dot open sight, cycling through several buttstocks before making my choice, and so on. When I was done, it didn’t even look like a pistol, but more like a monster engine of death.

Zombie Studios really took a play from simulation racing games like Gran Turismo for their level of customization and tuning, and it showed right off the bat. I went through the same customizations for my rifle, but players would do well to note that the game also offers an auto-custom feature if they want to go straight into major p’wnage.

The mode of the day was team deathmatch, four-on-four, which had an even pace. The featured map was a gritty, dystopic city center full of alleyways and balconies, enough space to run around but not enough to dilute the action. Once the game is released, it will have all the multiplayer modes we’ve grown to love in a FPS, and Zombie plans on dropping new, free maps approximately every two months.

Several people from Zombie Studios and publisher Perfect World sat in and played against us. While it seems like an unfair advantage to play against people who have been with the game day in and day out for who knows how long, I thought I held my own, especially when one of them gave out a frustrated sigh and said, “goddamit Francisco,” after a clean headshot. Then came the hard suits.

Hard suits in Blacklight Retribution can be described as light mechs. Imagine how you’d feel after a beautiful kill streak, turning the corner to be greeted by one of these armored vehicles hammering bullets into you like a nail gun drives nails into cheap wood. That’s how I felt.

New to the Blacklight world are weapon depots, where you can purchase these hard suits and other heavy artillery like rail guns, based on the amount of kills you get, objectives achieves, etc. So instead of preset perks, you can make a strategic purchase based on the current state of play to turn the tide of the battle. That also means your enemies can do the same.

Another tactical feature of the game carries over from Tango Down – the Hyper Reality Visor, or HRV. It allows you to peer through walls and see all nearby enemies and friends. The trade off is that you cannot wield your weapon when it is activated, forcing you to use it more in a reconnaissance capacity.

On the software side, the game is powered by the latest Unreal 3 Engine and DirectX 11. Recall GDC ? Yes, that engine. With how crisp the demo was, there is no doubt the finished product is going to be one of the most visually sharp FPSs out there.

Care for the minimum specs?

• OS: Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7
• Processor: Dual Core Processor
• Memory: 1GB RAM
• Graphics: ATI x1800+ / Nvidia 6800+
• DirectX: 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 2 GB Space Free
• Sound: DirectX 9.0c compliant sound card

Put it all together and you have one hearty FPS. For the price of free and things are sweeter yet. I’m personally looking forward to Blacklight Retribution going live.

Have you heard of WayForward Technologies? Well, if you’re a fan of Nintendo consoles the answer is…well actually still probably no. They have an unfortunate track record of making awesome games that just don’t seem to sell. They’re the guys behind awesome games like Contra 4, the Shantae series, Lit, and (my personal favourite) A Boy and His Blob.

BloodRayne: Betrayal mark’s WayForward’s first entry on the high definition consoles. So now that WayForward are on your system of choice, with an established IP to boot, you’d better not ignore this one.

Fans of the BloodRayne series might be a little surprised to find that WayForward has drastically changed the game with Betrayal. Instead of a direct sequel to BloodRayne 2, WayForward has played to their strengths and created a 2D side-scrolling action platformer.

On the combat side of things, Betrayal is centered around finding new and unique ways to dispatch your foes. Rayne can hack and slash enemies with a pair of blades or shoot them with her pistol. Ammunition is limited, so relying on close quarters combat and combos will be your bread and butter. Speaking of close quarters (and food) Rayne can heal herself and dish out some damage by sucking the blood of her enemies.

While it looks relatively easy, after some hands-on time with Betrayal, I can tell you that is far from the case. For a two dimensional action game, Betrayal has a great deal of depth. If you’re a high score junkie, a main draw of the game will certainly be it’s arcade style. Honing your skills to avoid enemy damage and pull off impressive, gory combos will earn you the points necessary to run up those online leaderboards.

Visually, Betrayal is gorgeous. Everything from the colours, to envrionments, character models, and animations, they’re all absolutely beautiful. It’s not only pretty from a technical standpoint, but it just oozes that signature WayForward style. I don’t ever think I’ve seen anything this violent be so adorable and charming, but somehow Betrayal pulls it off.

BloodRayne: Betrayal is landing on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade later this summer. With fifteen levels, tight controls, a gorgeous art-style, and over six hours of side-scrolling arcade action this is one game that I can’t wait to sink my teeth into.

If you saw the Microsoft press conference in its entirety, you saw Double Fine’s simulated family play Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster for the Kinect. Even if this game isn’t for you, know that this is a proper title regardless of genre – gameplay is intuitive and accurate, visuals are sharp, and overall it is true to its audience unlike many titles out there.

Sure players above 7 years old may likely pass it up. This is not the game for that crowd, however. This is for the child and his/her family; and for them, it is perfect.

Tucked away in a corner of the Warner Bros. booth was where you could find Double Fine at this year’s E3. A rather large man from Double Fine greeted me and asked me if I wanted to play. Sure, I said, setting down my computer bag. Given the height difference, I was naturally Elmo to his Cookie Monster.

There was no new gameplay beyond what they showed off at the press conference. Albeit, to actually play the game is best for an impression. After the play date, I must honestly say I was surprised.

Getting into Once Upon A Monster is effortless. Even a child can do it, which is the point. The premise has the player searching for a lost children’s book sharing the same title as the game. One navigates through chapters (levels), using hand swipes to turn the pages, opening up both arms to fly into the chapter of choice.

In true Sesame Street fashion, each chapter touches upon a life lesson. The chapter we demoed focused on why you should be yourself — a straighforward message matched by straightforward gameplay.

The first part had us mimicking GrrHoof, a behemoth of a monster trying to be a small bunny-like Puffalope. Creeping, stomping, hopping and throwing my hands up, Elmo matched my movements for the most part. There were a few times where he struck poses slightly different than mine (picture the tiny red monster slightly leaning and sticking one leg strangely out while I’m standing straight), but I chalk that up to the game’s stage in development. The bug catching portion of the chapter was perfect on the other hand.

Overall I have to give Once Upon A Monster two thumbs way up. Barring the minor tick mentioned above, gameplay is spot-on, the graphics are lush and things are only going to get better with Double Fine at the helm. I don’t have children, but there are two things that are certain if I did: I would groom them to be better gamers than I, and I would pick this game up first day of release this Fall, no questions asked.

While everyone was huddled around Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City, Gamer Limit sneaked in a lengthy session with the series’ upcoming handheld title. Resident Evil: Revelations for the Nintendo 3DS at once feels like a natural extension of the franchise, following Jill Valentine and her new partner, Parker Luciani.

Getting into this game will surely be easy both for diehard fans as well as those who had fell out of touch over the years. Whether there is a desire to play this game is another story altogether.

On the plus side, Revelations is visually stunning. The power of the hardware and the depth of 3D lend themselves to crisp graphics. Even with the smaller screen, players are sure to feel closer to the action, the world, the characters, etc.

At the same time, the touch screen relieves the player from having to pause the game for map viewing and inventory control. Map viewing, switching weapons and using items are as easy as tapping on the corresponding touch screen icon.

When it comes to puzzles, players can also expect to take part in some stylus action. In the demo, I had to open an electrical panel by tapping on the screws on the touch screen (meh). Then, I was greeted with a somewhat challenging puzzle where I had to reorganize power nodes to get the electricity to flow correctly (okay *nodding*). How the nodes got screwed up in the first place, especially since I was able to walk through that door moments before, is anyone’s guess.

The demo upped the tension by throwing ample amounts of those white-skinned, flesh bag enemies at me, while providing little ammo. The pressure to be precise with gunshots and conserve resources can be an anxious situation, especially with a mini-horde of monsters coming at you. This was the demo’s main strategy to get you to feel that ‘Survival Horror’ quality Resident Evil is known for. That’s it.

And when I say that’s it, I mean that was pretty much all the demo had to offer — enemies, puzzles and inventory conservation. First impression, Resident Evil: Revelations, minus the 3D and touch screen functionality, seems like the same ‘ol Resident Evil. Not much strikes me as surprising or all together engaging.

Capcom is promising a brand new storyline, of course, following Jill and Parker as agents of the BSAA (Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance). The majority of the action takes place on a seemingly abandoned freighter ship in search of Chris Redfield, timeline between Resident Evil 4 and 5.

The maritime setting will also introduce new underwater enemies. During a video screening of gameplay not available in the demo, we caught a glimpse of Jill’s partner in action, swimming through a portion of the ship, incapacitating humongous shrimp/stingray monsters with a brand new weapon — the pulse grenade.

Essentially a grenade of pure sound, it has been said to ensure an instant kill. To say the least, it all has me incredulous of the final product. Will the pulse grenade be balanced in the end, so not to make the game too easy? Will the storyline, puzzles, gameplay offer something new to make this a stand-out title? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Licensed games rarely live up their source material. Too often publishers will rush out titles to coincide with the release of a major Hollywood blockbuster or give developers too little time and funding, relying on the power of name recognition alone to sell units, rather than quality gameplay. Luckily, Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine bucks this trend.

Hit the jump for some hands-on impressions of what is shaping up to be one of the most exciting titles you’ll see on consoles this fall.

The world of Warhammer 40,000 has its roots in Games Workshop’s tabletop miniature wargame. The game has a rich, detailed backstory about a dystopian future set in the 41st millennium. Mankind has taken to the stars, forging a vast galactic empire. However, in the far reaches of space threats have emerged, both alien and from within, and they threaten mankind’s very existence. Forces such as the Imperial Guard and Space Marines, giant genetically enhanced super-soldiers, are all that lay between “Holy Terra” and annihilation.

Space Marine focuses on Captain Titus, the leader of the Ultramarine’s second company. Orks are invading an Imperial Forge World, essentially a planet that is solely dedicated to the production of arms. Titus, along with a company of his Ultramarines and Imperial Guardsmen, have been sent to stave off the invasion and prevent the Orks from stealing an important piece of Imperial military technology.

Space Marine‘s gameplay is most easily compared to that of Gears of War. Relic Entertainment and THQ’s latest title combines third-person shooting with visceral hack and slash gameplay. Titus has access to a wide arsenal of Imperial weaponry ranging from plasma guns, to bolters, and my personal favourite – the chainsword. The results? Absolutely fantastic.

Combat is fun but challenging. While at first it may seem like you can wade your way through enemies without fear of bodily harm, it soon becomes apparent that this is not Dynasty Warriors. Tactics are required unless you appreciate getting sent back to loading screens and checkpoints due to your reckless behavior. Captain Titus is a badass, but even mighty Space Marines need to use tactics in the face of such strong opposition.

The most glowing compliment I can give Space Marine is the fact that it has succeeded where Kuju Entertainment’s PS2 first-person shooter Firewarrior failed. Having played Games Workshop’s tabletop games in my childhood and imagined what it might look like to see a battle in action, I can truly appreciate what Relic Entertainment is doing with Space Marine. They’ve brought my childhood fantasies to life, somehow capturing my imagination and reproducing it perfectly in videogame form. I was excited for the game from its first announcement, but having played it now, I know one thing for certain: I can’t wait to get my hands on the final product this Fall.

Join myself, Francisco, and Kyle as we run through everything at E3 from the press conferences, to hands-on and eyes-on impressions, to our thoughts of E3, and, of course, our personal game of the show. Sit back, relax, and take in the almost two hours of audio magic. Also, be sure to hit us up with your thoughts on E3 2011 in the comments section.

The final thing I did before the Los Angeles Convention Center closed its doors and the ESA bid us adieu (until next year) was see EA’s latest installment in its extreme snowboarding franchise. Gamer Limit was whisked into a small dark room with a small group, sat down on a benches (made of snowboards!) for a look at the newest Snowboard Super Cross title.

Little did I know it at the time, but SSX was about to become my most anticipated title of 2012. Hit the jump to find out why.

I’ve been a casual fan of the series since the outset. While I’ve only played a couple of the games, I can’t even begin to fathom how many hours my buddies and I sank into SSX Tricky in the college dorms. Unfortunately, the series has slumped off a bit since those golden years and the developers will be the first ones to admit it. Luckily, EA is back and ready to reboot the series. So get ready, grab some Mountain Dew and prepare for some extreme snowboarding!

EA’s presentation started off with some of the title’s more technical aspects. For SSX, EA reached out to NASA to obtain 98% of the earth’s topographical data. Using this information, EA has created a menu system, inspired by Google Earth, that lets you go to every mountain range on the planet, zoom in on the most iconic peaks in that range, and give you multiple drop points to traverse on your board. It sounds impressive and looks equally impressive in practice, I’m just hoping the actual game can live up to the wonderful presentation the boys at EA Canada delivered.

While EA is going in a slightly more believable direction with this one, fans of the series can rest assured that it will be as extreme as ever. The SSX series has never been about simulation and it isn’t about to start down that path now. EA Canada wants to “make awesome feel easy”. While they’ve analyzed the entire planet’s topography, they’ve been going in and taking some liberties to exaggerate the terrain and provide as entertaining of an experience as possible.

The new SSX‘s three pillars are “Race it, Trick it, and Survive it.” The demonstration’s first pillar involved dropping into Mount Kilimanjaro’s frozen volcanic crater for an extreme race to the bottom. The EA representative said they were going for a “Burnout on snow” vibe with racing. They want you to feel dangerous, over-the-top speeds where you feel as though you are on the brink of losing control.

Next, it was off to the Himalayas and Makalu, the fifth largest mountain in the world, to see how tricks work. EA is very proud of SSX‘s new physics engine and wants players to be able to grind anything. So if you see an edge that looks sharp enough, chances are you can grind on it. Makalu borders the Great Wall of China, and EA took some liberties to make sure players could have some fun tricking off of one of the most iconic set pieces on the planet.

Finally, EA is introducing a new feature called “Deadly Descents”. Essentially, these descents come down to nine different “boss battles”. Players will brave the elements to take on some of the most deadly mountains on the planet. Each of the nine boss battles will feature a different peak with a different aspect that makes the hill so incredibly deadly. By the end of the game players will battle rock, snow, ice, wind, thin air, cold, gravity and more. The E3 demo featured Denali (Mount McKinley), the highest peak in North America, for the snow challenge.

In the Denali stage, players must create an avalanche and make it to the bottom of the mountain before the tidal wave of snow drowns your on-screen counterpart. It sounds easy enough, but the representative in control of the demo only managed to make it halfway down the mountain after having played the demo all week.

What made the avalanche so impressive is that it was entirely dependent on the player. Between the data received from NASA and the physics engine, EA has created some truly impressive dynamic terrain. The angle and speed at which a player hits the slope will affect the snow accordingly. Hitting a slope that is at or near the angle of repose will start an avalanche. This means that rather than being scripted events, avalanches will be different every time you play depending on your actions.

While I had some hands-on time with the game it wasn’t anything near as extensive as they showed off in the hands-off demonstration, but what little I played felt good. I hung around afterwards to speak with one of the developers, and wound up helping with a little debugging. Apparently, the NASA data is so accurate that they’re constantly having to tweak the courses and work out the “toilet bowls”. They have a little more than six months before the title’s January release date, and I’m sure they’ll work out the bugs. SSX is looking great so far, I’m stoked.

With PlayStation Move’s release last year, Sony opened a world of possibility for publishers to give Wii titles a second chance at success as HD experiences on the PlayStation 3. Such is the case with Sega and Headstrong Games’ House of the Dead: Overkill: Extended Cut. The Guinness Book of World Records may have called Overkill the most profane videogame in history but, like many hardcore titles in the Wii library, it certainly didn’t break any records for sales.

So, here it is again for Sony’s waggle wand complete with 3D visuals. Impressions await after the break.

House of the Dead: Overkill was a fantastic Wii title. For the first time in the series, Sega turned development over to British developer Headstrong Games. It may not have been a particularly long experience, rail shooters rarely are, but it managed to be enjoyable, entertaining, and most of all – absolutely hilarious.

With Extended Cut, all of the comedy gold seen in the grindhouse-inspired original is back with additional content to boot. So, whether you’ve yet to experience Overkill, or want to play it again with additional levels, or experience it with HD,3D, and Move support, strap yourself in and prepare for one of the most profane and hilarious titles of the generation.

While, I have plenty of great things to say about the game in general, I would be lying if I said I enjoyed my time with Extended Cut on the E3 showfloor. Rather than letting players use the Move and sub-controller, the demo featured a lightgun peripheral. In comparison with my previous experiences with the Wii version, I found Extended Cut difficult to control. I’m not entirely sure if that’s a product of the Move’s increased accuracy and unsteady hands or the lightgun, but either way it didn’t feel good.

My other complaint lies with the fact that Sega showed Extended Cut off in 3D. I would have much preferred to see it in 2D to see how much prettier Overkill looks in HD, instead of seeing another mediocre example of gimmicky 3D bullshit. Overkill wasn’t the prettiest game on the Wii. It had style and plenty of gore, to be sure, but it was a far cry from gorgeous Wii shooters like Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles in the graphics department. Instead of getting to see it remastered with crisp, smooth visuals, it looked like dogshit.

Regardless, I’m still excited for a chance to play through this iteration of the title, if only for the promise of more hilarious unseen interactions between Agent G and Detective Isaac Washington. House of the Dead: Overkill: Extended Cut lands on the PlayStation 3 just in time for Halloween. Look for it in stores on October 25th.

One of the greatest things about E3 is the Entertainment Software Association’s (ESA) partnerships with groups such as IndieCade, or International Festival of Independent Games. With IndiCade, you get to experience games otherwise unavailable through traditional channels. Case in point: Deep Sea. Just two laptops sitting in busy corner of the IndiCade area, the game attracted those curious about the unusual peripherals one needs to play.

The brainchild of sound designer, Robin Arnott, it is definitely an experiment in sound gaming and fear. Having gained quick notoriety for making one player faint at South By Southwest (SXSW), of course we wanted to try it out.

To explain the above picture: Kyle is donning a mask tightly secured to his head. In that mask, he sees nothing. Instead, he’s guided only by the sounds he hears in the accompanying headphones. His goal is to listen for the groans and clicks of monsters, rotate his deep sea submersible using the joystick and fire a missile off into the monsters’ gullets before they eat him.

Deep Sea was designed to achieve greater immersion, and I have to say it meets its goal if not more. When I played the game, I found myself automatically putting my head down as Kyle does in this picture, shifting my attention to the sounds coming to me through the headphones and tuning out the blaring West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center (not an easy feat for the sensory overload that is E3). The game definitely gets the job done of pushing the player to rely solely on his or her ears, while letting the imagination do the rest.

As far as the audio is concerned, there is just enough to fill the mind’s pallet — scratchy, intermittent radio communication with the fictional team observing your progress, distant ululations of beasts you only see in your dreams and elegant water FX that correspond with your movements and breathing.

Breathing definitely plays an important factor, as the harder you breathe the louder the bubbling sounds. I imagined myself in a high tech water suite that expels my CO2 while gathering necessary oxygen from the water around me. The thing is, the louder the bubbles get the harder it is for you to hear the monsters. Again, just enough. Just enough to modify my breathing patterns as I imagined the beasts getting closer with every passing second.

Therein lies the challenge with Deep Sea. The longer you spend trying to hear the the monsters, the closer they come. You miss a shot, you waste more time. The more time you waste, the higher your anxiety level and the harder it is to control your breathing. It’s a vicious cycle. Couple that with a stifling mask, this wholly new gaming experience can be terrifying for some; as it may have been for that poor soul at SXSW.

A shame that Deep Sea won’t be available en mass, one console including headphones, mask and laptop costs several thousand dollars. However, you can expect more from Mr. Arnott as he’s currently working on new IP that is also focused on the senses. This time it will be something more positive, incorporating synesthesia, or the blending of senses rather than the deprivation of them, and the Kinect.

Street Fighter X Tekken, one of the last frontiers of crossover fighting games, showed in full force at E3. The Capcom booth hosted 6 consoles and a big screen mainstage, complete with fighting sticks and long lines of eager gamers. The Capcom version of this double crossover, the demo featured familiar art style and gameplay from the latest installment of the Street Fighter franchise.

As expected, the biggest adjustment for fans of both titles has to be made when playing Tekken characters. However, it still promises an experience that is on track be one of the greatest crossovers yet.

Now, as you may already know, SFXT is a tag team based game. To get a feel for this feature as well as how a Tekken character acclimates to Capcom’s fighting ring, I chose Hwoarang and Ken. Apparently, these characters compliment each other very well.

As expected, Ken’s entire toolchest of moves is open and available to use; and one technique in particular, the Dragon Punch, plays well into Hwoarang’s aggressive and up close fighting style full of rushes and kicks. For the most part, Hwoarang’s moves carry over, translated into the traditional Street Fighter circular and zig-zag joystick motions. For a Tekken fan, this may take some getting used to; but the range and power of his trademark kicks is still there and you should find his balance in short time.

No matter what character is used, the tag feature offers more than just an opportunity to regain health. Using the launch combination (low, medium, high punch/kick) makes for a great tactic to start a juggle, pressuring the opponent and prolonging the immediate combination. One can also experiment with certain teams to find the right flow and accommodate style.

Unlike the cartoon-like launches in the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 crossover, there is a definite weight to the characters in SFXT. It makes sense for the Street Fighter world which is based more in technique and tactics, rather than hyper fast, ADD action. There is one downfall to the tag feature, in my opinion — once a character is taken out, the round is over, even though you have another in reserve. In the end, this is one complaint to an overall positive reaction.

Not included in the demo was a promise for the same online play features found in Super Street Fighter IV as well as some surprises. As to what the surprises are, Capcom has set its PR to slow leak, already revealing Cole McGrath from the InFamous franchise as an exclusive playable character for PS3, with other characters sure to be revealed soon. You want more on the current character lineup? See the following E3 trailer.