Jason’s Trip To The GameStop Expo

Our resident email contributor Jason Golleher took a trip to the GameStop  Expo 2012 and this is what he had to say about it, including the Wii U!

It was a great day to be a gamer. I saw the one and only flux capacitor and it was in working condition. There will be great games this holiday, trust me.   I saw Master Chief and touched his Wart Hog. I hung out with a famous wrestler and he didn’t kick my ass. I witnessed a 350 pound man almost break the chair he sat at in front of Fable: The Journey, while casting magic spells at 350 pound monsters. I met dancer gamer. I took some pictures of zombies, real ones. Speaking of pictures, I shot one of the Alien from Aliens. Beside all of that, I got to play a lot of games that are not on store shelves.  So here I am to give you my thoughts on the GameStop Expo 2012, the first expo they have brought to the public.
First of all, I have to say when I hear game journalists complaining about attending the next game expo; I really wish they were standing next to me, so I could slap them.  This was an all around joyful experience and I had to pay money to get in. I was in gamer heaven. As soon as I walked in the door and saw everyone else head to Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, I knew I was going to play a lot of games.  I saw everything they were passing up. I saw over 60 upcoming games and to be honest I played about 20 with only 5-10 minutes a piece there isn’t much to tell you except this, I really didn’t see any bad games. Most of the games coming out soon are looking really good. A few stand out among the crowd but we’ve known all along that Tomb Raider, Hitman, Dishonored, Black Ops, Halo 4, Assassin’s Creed 3, Borderlands 2, we knew that these games were strong titles.  Let me assure you, they are indeed.

There were games that weren’t even on my radar that I’m excited for now, like Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. As soon as I took my first steps in this world I was ready to purchase a PS3. I was officially in an HD cartoon and it was brilliant. Another huge surprise for me was a game called, Defiance, which is a Shooter MMO. It felt like Halo, Crysis and Monster Hunter combined, the weapons were innovative and it was a lot of fun. It will be on pc, xbox and playstation. Keep your eyes on it, April 2013. Now I wasn’t a Crysis guy but after playing Crysis 3 it is on the very top of my list. It was incredible, you absolutely have to check this one out are you will be missing out.  Metro Last Light is now on my list. I love gas masks. Sniper Elite 2: Ghost Warrior, with my grass covered uniform, I crawled through a lush jungle and took out a few targets with head shots and it looked great, well, except for the pop in. Duke is going to like it. Dog Fighter 1942 was fun and it controlled good but the loading screens were very, very long.

I played a few fighters, Unjustice: Gods Amongst Us, Tekken, Naruto which was gorgeous and Dead or Alive 5 and if you are into fighters you will love them, they have the looks and the moves. Need for Speed looks pretty realistic and Forza looked great but I’m not a racer fan. I passed up Medal of Honor, Black Ops 2, Assassin’s Creed 3 and Far Cry 3 due to lines.  They all looked great.

This is the point when I met dancer gamer and she was all about the Wii U.  Now this Wii U thing is a strange one. I played two games with it Zombie U and Rayman Legends. I think if you get use to the handheld it’s going to add to your experience but honestly it just got in the way. On top of that, I couldn’t kill a zombie because dancer gamer kept bumping into me. Oh well, eventually, I did get several gory head shots.  Zombie U is up close and personal with a lot of reloading your weapon.

Now Rayman Legends was one of the best looking games I saw period. It had very simple cooperative gameplay. I played with the demo person. She was Rayman and used the big television screen. Unfortunately I was this little avatar helper. My eyes remained glued to the handheld screen, no television for me; I was in the future of gaming and let me tell you this future of gaming stinks. My actions resembled that of some smart phone games I’ve played, such as Cut the Rope or the bubble popping games.  Personally, I don’t want to look at a handheld, I want to look at the big screen. If I wanted to play smart phone games I would pull out my phone.

Overall, this Wii U thing might work, if people have the patience to play it, because the coop was fun and apparently it really is the future? Epic Mickey 2 looks promising for Disney fans. PicMin 3 looks good in HD and Chinny will be glad to know the kid I saw playing it was grinning ear to ear.  Nintendo Land looks cool for kids but in the end I do say P U to the Wii U. On the big 3DS I played Luigi’s Mansion, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, and Professor Layton, all of which were fun and visually appealing.

I didn’t get to play Alien Colonial Marines but it looks quality enough that everyone is going to enjoy. You get to be the Alien, that’s cool.  I also watched some guys playing Resident Evil 6 it was impressive and the creatures looked really scary. I asked a few guys playing Assassin’s Creed 3 what they thought of it and they were concerned about the ship and cannon controls.  It looked amazing. Black Ops 2 seemed to be a whole lot faster than past games.

At that point I saw the flux capacitor glowing in front of me and all I could think about was going back in time until security said, “Step away from the Deloreon.” That is when I headed over to Tomb Raider. What a brilliant game, looked incredible. The only problem was, when I was waiting in line everyone handed me their phone to get their picture with the zombie girls. Can’t remember why the zombies were by Tomb Raider but I did feel for them because they were having to pretend to bite people that were posing with them. It was pretty gross at times. After I received my degree in photography I finally got the chance to play Tomb Raider with headphones. It controlled great I shot an arrow into a deer. There was a moment in that demo that triggered some level of emotion comparable to The Walking Dead game,  I am very excited for this one. As I left that demo I bumped into Agent 47 but no worries he was a nice guy, he even shook my hand.  I played the game and it is every Hitman fan’s dreams come true and the sound was explosive. Can’t wait!

I saw Master Chief.  Now funny, I asked his security, that’s right Master Chief’s security, if he would mind taking a photo of me teabagging Master Chief.  He said no. Now Halo 4, I really wanted to play some campaign but as with Gears of War: Judgement all I got was multiplayer, which was awesome, all three rounds. Gears felt just like Gears and Halo felt like Halo.  I’m a Fable fan and I have a great respect for LionHead Studios so I headed to see Fable: The Journey. After the chair was bent up by the one guy I decided not to try the demo but the designer showed me the game and graphically it looks great. I’m not sure yet as to how the full game is going to work because he was busy showing the demo to others. Since the designer was busy and only had time for a few questions I asked him what he thought was in 22cans cube, he just smiled and we shook hands. I love being a game nerd.

After that a lady called me over to see Nat Geo and Sesame Street Kinect which consist of 8 episodes from the television shows and are great for teaching children. Following playing with Bert and Ernie, I headed over to 007 Legends, which looks better than the last but felt very dated.  Dishonored, now this was awesome but also very difficult.  Put it on easy Stu, because even though it has elements of stealth, this game is a must buy, I assure you. Dishonored is a high quality title all the way. I had to leave the show early after that and as I was heading out I told the Game Informer crew to make sure and tell the Deadly Premonition developer to get on that kickstarter, as soon as possible.  They assured me that the game is being made:)  What a beautiful day to be a gamer. I can’t wait for the next Expo. Oh, it’s on!

So here is my must buy list as of today, although all the games you all have been craving were really good as well, these were my favorites. Eventually, I’ll play all the others too. I sincerely hope too.

Tomb Raider
Crysis 3
Hitman
Dishonored
Borderlands 2
Assassin’s Creed 3
Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon
Ni No Kuni, if I get a PS3

Just about every upcoming game was there but no Bioshock, Quantic Dream, Last of Us, South Park:Stick of Truth or Castlevania.  If anyone has any questions about any other games or anything at all, hit up the comments or message me. I just want to close by saying there is a lot to look forward to in this last year of this generation cycle, so get your wallets ready.