G-pinions

So, Thomas A. Mc Sheabraham and I trekked to the burbs yestereve to take in the sights and sounds of traffic, capitalism, Walmart and eventually, an Xbox 360. It was the first time I had laid hands upon the system since May, and my how I missed her silken grasp. Even if she wasn't quite done justice in the worst kiosk man has ever seen, the experience was a happy one. To be more specific about this kiosk, you couldn't have been more uncomfortable with a Wallymart employee's arm crammed elbow-deep in your nethermost cavity whilst ferrets tore feverishly at your retinas. One could quite easily get the impression that not only do they never want you to touch a 360 again, but that they would prefer you never set foot inside their store or look their mother in the eye. Basically, you're having to crane your neck skywards to see the image on their shit TV while the display tries desperately to yank the controller out of your hands. Fortunately, we persevered and saw through the moronic setup, and I'm here with some brief impressions of the three games that were actually playable.

Call of Duty 2 - Intense. And good. While it may not be as creative as PDZ or even Quake 4, I think it will end up feeling the most refined, and quite possibly the most exciting. The great A.I. is immediately noticeable in both your squad mates and enemies, as each battle feels unique and dynamic. The weapons are fun to fire, even if you're not sure how much you're helping some of the time, and the chaos can definitely get to you after a couple of encounters. Like most of what you've seen of the system's games, things are intermittently gorgeous. Tiny grenade poofs and character models aren't so hot, but smoke plumes and getting shot in the face looks incredible. It's definitely the most exciting, unpredictable action war game I've played in a while, and seems poised for a great debut with the system.

Kameo - A wee bit disappointing, unfortunately. While everything looked as good as ever, it just didn't feel quite right to me. The controls are incredibly simple, but not quite as responsive as I was hoping for (especially after tearing through Ratchet: Deadlocked a few days before, the embodiment of perfect action controls). In retrospect, they remind me a bit of the new Conker - well-intentioned simplicity and old-school aesthetic, but not responsive and functional enough to work well in a dynamic three dimensional world. I'll still be picking up the game at launch, but I'm looking forward to it more from all the recent great buzz around it and not quite as much from my own impressions. I'll keep my chin up...

King Kong - Oh boy. This game is going to be ridiculous, in the best possible way. It started with a classic gaming moment which I was quite happy to share with Toms: the game starts you in a dark, drearily-lit cave leading out into a rainy field, with two characters talking to you. As soon as the characters walked away, Tom ever so gently bumped the controller, throwing us into the realization that this was actually the level, and not some sort of gorgeous cutscene. Screenshots don't do it justice, as the game is simply stunning in motion. The ground shimmers with moonlight, the trees sway nervously, and when a T-Rex screams at you, you fucking run. Despite Tom's inadequacy to not get eaten by said terror, I managed to spear a Pterodactyl out of the air and distract it for a few fleeting seconds - before it ate Jack Black for the fourth time. I later played a Kong section, which was quite different but no less cool. You feel as brutishly powerful as you look, and tearing a dinosaur in 'twain felt oh so good. Swinging around was sweet too, and more similar to Prince of Persia than you'd think. Whether this was a final build or not, it kicked ass. Even if it's not a big step up from the Xbox version, it looks incredible and plays as well as anything else Ancel has made. Highly anticipated.

Edit: Holy crap, this is our 360th G-Pinions post! Creepy, no?