Last Token Gaming Convention Coverage – Comic Con San Diego

By Jordan Nelson

Comic Con is a magical time of year, where we get to see all kinds of new things. We get to meet new people, we get to go to parties that Stan Lee is at and completely ignore him because we are drunk off the open bar, and most of all we get to rub it in people’s faces that we went and they didn’t. Ne-ner-ne-ner-ne-ner! Anyway, here are my takes on some of the forthcoming gaming titles I got a chance to sample at the annual nerd mecca of San Diego.

Transformers: Devastation:

The new Transformers game is a great nostalgia piece. The art style brings you right back to the old cartoon, while still rendering smooth and beautifully. The play style is that of a 3D fighter game: you do combos, roll, and transform in some cases. While the gameplay itself was very easy, I had a little difficulty while playing Grimlock as the combo that I was required to do to pass the tutorial would not go through whilst in Dino mode. The game doesn’t tell you this and I only found out after an exhausting amount of time, closer to a few minutes….but still. As far as actual combat goes, the game is very easy. Enemies telegraph their attacks far ahead of time, giving you a huge dodge window. When I played. I didn’t get hit by the boss once. That aspect is why I think this game will be better for younger gamers. The cinematics were gorgeous, the whole art style was warm and vibrant! The only problem was the easy combat. 7/10

Yoshi’s Wooly World:

I pulled into the Nintendo gaming lounge while I was at Comic Con and was expecting this game to be a HUGE hit. It seemed like there was going to be some really innovative things shaping the new Yoshi world when I first saw the trailer, but boy was I wrong. The gameplay felt like it was taken straight from the old Yoshi’s world game. Nothing seemed new or exciting, and it had the same hard to judge mechanics in it that the previous game did. Whether it was due to the inane jumping and floating only to miss your platform, or because you couldn’t easily jump and throw one of your eggs to get to the next area you needed. The only thing that even remotely made this game new was the yarn building aspect to it, but even that has been seen in other game styles. You find a yarn egg, throw it at an outlined area, and it builds it. You don’t get to manually aim your egg though, as it is on an up/down aim trajectory path that you have to time in order to make your shots. I was expecting a lot more from this game, but to me it felt like I was playing a mod of a MUCH older game. 5/10

Fable Legends:

Fable has always been one of my favorite games. I love the stories, I love the growth, and I love how your decisions influence how your character grows and how others perceive them. When this game was first announced I jumped out of my seat with joy. I had been waiting for them to make another game that could be played like DnD, with a dm vs players. Legends has by far the best game rendering of any of their previous games here. It is beautiful, through and through. The way it’s set up is a fantastic idea and is implemented very well. While the DM does seem rather underpowered at the moment, I think they have a great concept here. By far, my favorite game I played at all of Comic Con. 9/10

Need for Speed Forza:

It’s a car game.

But seriously, it’s a car game with great graphics. Not much seemed different in this Need for Speed when compared with any other game that I have played. It had standard tracks from the movies, cars from the movies, and seemed to be very popular amongst the other guests. I can only assume that it was half way decent, seeing as how I don’t really enjoy this game type, but if racing games are your thing, you’ll love this new Forza. 5/10 from me, 8/10 if you’re a racing game type of nerd.

Mad Max The Game:

Mad Max was a HIT of a movie; action, thrills, suspense, twists and turns, and then some. If that is what you are looking for in this game though, prepare to have your expectations met. The game has plenty of action, plenty of cars, fighting, and a nice small story. I feel that it was lacking in the sense that it had none of the empowerment for women that the movie did. Everything is very male centric, which isn’t a bad thing, but it certainly deviates from what I thought was one of the best parts of the movie. This game is packed with fights, vehicle upgrades, and even a dog, so it can’t be all that bad. As a standalone game I’d give it a 9/10. As a companion to this last movie, though, I give it an 8/10.