Eurogamer Expo 2009

Feature

Join Hooked Gamers as we discuss all the great games on show at this year's Eurogamer Expo that took place in London at the Old Billingsgate convention hall on October 30th and 31st. In layman�s terms it functions as a small-scale consumer equivalent of a show like E3.

November 19th, 2009 by Joseph Barron

Split/Second (360) � hands on demo
This new racing IP from Disney and Black Rock was, without a doubt, the most exciting game at the show. On display was the same level that was shown at E3 earlier this year, but going hands-on for the first time was far more exhilarating than any of us ever expected.

You race on cars and tracks very reminiscent of the PS2 burnout games, blazing past you at incredible speed and with stunning visual detail. Even the HUD design is ingenious, with everything displayed just underneath your car, taking up very little on-screen space, so you can see much more of the environment.

What you will see doesn�t tend to last long though, as racing at speed and with precisions earns you bonuses which you can use to trigger explosive events in the environment to take out your opponents. In the Airport circuit in the demo this ranged from small explosions of concrete from the surrounding barriers, to topping the air-traffic control tower onto rivals, to even crashing a landing jumbo-jet and having it slide down the runway spewing fire in all directions. The cheering and shouting around the booth was clear testament to just how much fun was being had by everyone playing.

It is the sort of game that needs to be seen to be believed. And that is why it was Hooked Gamers� Game of The Show at the 2009 Eurogamer Expo in London.

Honourable mentions

We played so many games at the show that we could only pick the best to talk about in some detail. Here are a few more that caught our eye, but didn�t make it into our main discussion.

Dark Void (360)
Like Gears of War, but with a jetpack involved. It didn�t look like there was much more on offer from the demo.

Lost Planet 2 (PS3)
Just as good looking as the first, but now takes place in a jungle. If you liked the first game, but hated the setting, then this one might be worth a look.

Need for Speed: Nitro (Wii)
A great arcade racing game. Think Ridge Racer, but with graffiti and hip-hop.

Red Steel 2 (Wii)
The second in Ubi Soft�s FPS and swordplay title. Now using Wii Motion Plus and feeling much more refined, though still a little clumsy.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (Wii)
A crossover fighting game combining popular Anime characters with those from the Capcom universe, showing an insane level of OTT animations and combos. Definitely one for the really hardcore fighting fans!

More photos

We will definitely be there again next year!