Best Action Game:
Mirror#DY#s Edge
Developer: DICE Sweden
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: November 2008
Shown at E3 on: PS3
Also Coming to: PC, X360
There#DY#s no more immersive way to experience a game than playing in first-person. As games continue to evolve into blockbuster entertainment experiences, it#DY#s curious that so many first-person titles have been about little more than aiming and firing. Mirror#DY#s Edge is a game that challenges all of those presuppositions. Environments are no longer static window dressing in a virtual shooting range. Mirror#DY#s Edge is a game that makes its environments the focal point of its gameplay. Players will have to read the environment and learn how to use it on the fly to escape from enemies, get to an impossibly high rooftop, or break into a secret new area. Whether or not you choose to fire a weapon (you can play the game without ever using a gun), combat is secondary to the far-flung acrobatics and trapeze-style puzzle solving.
Consider Mirror#DY#s Edge a kind of reimagining of Portal through the Jason Bourne lens. In the spirit of the best action games, Mirror#DY#s Edge draws you through a sprawling city, constantly pursued by conspiratorially-minded enemies while trying to save someone you love (a sister in this case). At a time when most action games deliver player-empowerment through explosions, Mirror#DY#s Edge is a stunning twist on action.
Best Arcade Shooter:
Galaga Legions
Developer: Namco Bandai
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Release Date: Fall 2008
Shown at E3 on: X360
Also Coming to: N/A
Xbox Live Arcade has become a great place for both arcade shooters and re-imagined classics. Microsoft surprised us during its press conference with Galaga Legions, a kinetic take on the original space shooter. The slow pace of Galaga feels pretty outdated today, but Legions revs up the speed and throws in beautiful high-definition graphics, to boot.
But it#DY#s still Galaga, and retro game fans will find all the enemy swarms and capture abilities they fell in love with in 1981. With Galaga: Legions, Namco has the potential to revitalize another of its franchises the same way it did with Pac-Man Championship Edition last year.
Read More Here.
Resource: IGN
