Day 2 for me means Halo! The first thing I’m doing this morning is going to the main
theater for the Halo panel. I was
worried it was going to fill up, so I bailed right after breakfast and made it
down there as fast as I could. The main theater is a good five or six blocks
from the convention center and that is something I feared would make me late.
Needless to say, I was ninety minutes early and I wasn’t even close to the
front of the line. The wait wasn’t even
that bad because every person I waited with was as big a Halo fan as I am if
not more so. What I found to be even crazier is a lot of people around me had
Surfaces and Window Phones. Talk about being in the midst of a Microsoft crowd.
There were a lot of people doing cosplay as well and that was really cool. One guy
was in full Master Chief gear and it was by far the best I have ever seen. He
nailed the gear down to every scratch on the armor as well as the proper
plating on the shoulders. It was great. When we got in and the panel finally
started, all the cosplayers were called up to the stage. One guy used this as
an opportunity to propose to his girlfriend and she fortunately said yes. It
was pretty neat.
The panel itself was pretty cool as well.
Frank O’Connor was the host and the man is a comedian by nature. He came out
and introduced himself and the crowd went nuts. He waited for it to get quiet
before he said, “that was the correct response.” Classic. Frankie is actually
one of my inspirations in becoming a writer. I use to read his weekly update
with Bungie both leading up to the Halo 2 and Halo 3 releases and they were
inspiring to me because of how he used words to engage an audience.
Being that this was a panel, we were treated
to some new exclusive reveals. The really cool one was that Halo 2’s remastered
campaign includs audio as well as visual. Not only that, but the audio from the
original game can be swapped out whenever the player switches from old to new
giving us the best of both worlds. The updated weapon sounds are amazing and
they literally feel impactful. The rest of the panel was pretty formal, giving
us relatively old information and a nice little promotional video to their Halo
channel. We did get a history on the newest remastered map to be revealed. Lockout
is the fifth announced map that is bring fully remastered and we were given a
deeper look into what it looks like now. I can assure you that it is absolutely
stunning.
After the panel finished I began making my
way back towards the convention center. It was during this walk that I realized
I was right next to Frankie. Holy crap that was amazing. I shook his hand and
let him know how much I appreciate his work. He’s a pretty nice guy and fun to
talk with. I finally met up with my Uncle and we wandered around the center for
a little bit. We stumbled upon the Cards Against Humanity area which is in the
basement of the building. They make you walk down this insanely long hallway in
order to get there, all while taunting you the entire way with signs that say, “Man
this hallway is long, huh?” I remember playing this game a couple of years ago
at PAX East and it has gotten really popular since. So we both decide to buy
it. I saw the Bigger, Blacker Box, which I assumed was the full game and all
the expansions. It was only fifteen dollars, why not? My Uncle went for the
regular game and that ran for twenty five dollars. It wasn’t until we were
leaving that I began wondering why his was more expensive. I opened the Bigger,
Blacker Box and realized it was empty. The purpose of it is to hold the game and
all of the expansions. Eff me, right? So later in the day I went back and
purchased the full game and I’m glad I did, it’s so much fun.
Back to the expo floor. We couldn’t decide
what we wanted to play, but before we did anything we had to stop by a booth
where my Uncle was trying to win a free game by solving a series of riddles.
While we were there I hopped back onto Fenix Rage (refer to day one blog for
info). I really enjoy that game and the developer there was surprised when I
told him I was playing it yesterday. I guess they weren’t getting many repeat
gamers? I suppose that may be weird at an event with hundreds of available games
to play. My Uncle didn’t win the game, he got two answers wrong, but they were
giving him a second chance to figure them out. Before we did that, it was time
to play some games.
The first line we hopped into was Forza
Horizon 2. I have to admit, walking around with the Bigger, Blacker Box was
kind of a pain. Not because it was heavy, because it wasn’t, but because
EVERYONE had to know where on earth I got it. So I was naturally annoyed after the
fifteenth time I gave instructions to someone. Not a big deal I guess, just me being
a grump. The line for Forza was very small and we had controllers in our hands
within ten minutes. I’ve really got an itch for racing games this year and they
are not in short supply. Forza is the third one I’ve touched so far this
weekend. Yes, it’s very fun. I love the graphics and the gameplay. The car was
a little hard to control at first, but I got the hang of it just in time to do
some crazy off roading through a beautiful country side. I like Forza better
when they do an open world because it feels less like a simulator. Not to say
that Forza 5 is bad, I just prefer things differently. I would definitely recommend
at least trying this game out.
The next game on our list was Halo: The
Master Chief Collection. It’s located right next to Forza and, unlike most of
the games, the line wasn’t capped. We waited about forty minutes before getting
our first hands on look at the newly remastered Lockout. Halo fans will know
which map I’m talking about here. I was expecting to stomp some ass because I
was a beast at Halo 2. There was only one problem though. I haven’t played that
game in at least five years. I was so out of practice and, thanks to newer Halo
titles, I was spoiled by being able to sprint. I forgot you can’t sprint in
these games and something that is so nostalgic for me felt very alien and slow.
Nevertheless, I held my own as I re-learned the ropes. I managed to get eight
kills before the match ended, but my teammates weren’t as lucky as me. They did
very poorly and we wound up losing 50-20. The new map is beautiful though and
it’s amazing that something ten years old can look so great again. Lockout was
one of my favorite maps and this new look really breathes visual life back into
it. The map can be interacted with as well. On the main platform in the middle is
a large piece of glass where you can view the area beneath. That glass, with
enough explosion power, can be broken, changing the dynamic completely. There are
also stalactites placed across the map that can be shot down in the attempt to
change the pace of the game. I did shoot the one in the middle down, breaking
the glass in the center, but it was too late to matter.
Right next to the Halo booth is the Sunset
Overdrive booth. Why the hell not? We already tackled two big Microsoft games,
might as well go for the hat trick. We stood in line here for close to an hour.
While we patiently waited we got to watch as other people enjoyed the game. At
one point a very beautiful woman came up next to us and tried getting the
attention of the exhibitor running the booth. I was too busy checking her out
at first to notice, but it was Naomi Kyle from IGN. She is a very striking
woman indeed, but still, I don’t like people who cut the line! Ha, journalists
get special privileges and we all know that. During our time in line my Uncle
solved the final two riddles he needed for a free game (remind me to ask him
which game it’s for). That’s nice. Our bellies were rumbling by the time it was
our turn to play. I have to be honest, I was a tad skeptical going into Sunset
Overdrive, but after the three wave survival mode (which was eight player
co-op) I felt relieved. It’s very simple to control and the gameplay is just as
frantic and fun as it looks. There were so many joyful explosions that I could
hardly contain myself. My Uncle and I both walked away from it as believers and
we hope we get another opportunity to play it before the weekend concludes.
After we finished our Microsoft tour we
decided to run across the street to the Cheesecake factory. My Uncle enjoyed it
so much two days before that he wanted to try it again. My feet were killing me
by the time we got there, so sitting down was a nice break. Regardless, by the
time we finished eating, the show floors were getting ready to close down. But
not before my Uncle ran up to redeem his free game. While he did that I watched
this random marching band do a performance for the PAX attendees. They were all
dressed up as different video game characters. They were so good and so loud
that cars in the street actually stopped driving to watch causing chaotic
honking and yelling. Considering the craziness that is PAX, watching this band felt
like the perfect end to day two. We went back to the hotel to recharge for Day
3.
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