Whilst we couldn’t see any of the single player, this was a great chance to test out the game’s flaunted combat system. And boy is it visceral! It’s a really intuitive system that’s a cut above most other games in the genre, that involve some careful blocking and counter-attacking with timed button presses. It’s also really fluid, as you can swap who you are beating in real time.

 

 

Furthermore, there are some sick finishing moves, and an option to go into a kind of x-ray mode, so you can see all the bones you are breaking! If the single player story can be mixed in with the combat well, and there is enough variety in the gameplay to support a fully fledged story, this should be an excellent title once it launches in early autumn.

 

 

Finally we got to spend some time with Capcom, who invited us into a party to play a little co-op on three levels of their highly anticipated new PSP title Monster Hunter.

 

Having never played the series before, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but turned out to be pleasantly surprised to find that it is essentially a fantasy version of Phantasy Star Online.

 

 

You get a group of four adventurers, team up and work together, and go hunt down a mythical beast that travels through the world. It’s a little different to phantasy star, as it’s less linear, it’s more about killing a single beast, and that beast is not only huge and tough, but will move about the world too. It seemed a pretty tough game, but for those that like some action RPG/ MMO-lite action, it seems like it should hit the spot for PSP owners, especially in the graphics department!

 

 

Finally, Activision were showing some videos of Marvel Ultimate Alliance Fusion & Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, but unfortunately there were no actual games to play.

 

Both titles looked good, but it was just CGI movies, so it’s difficult to tell how close the actual games will be to what was on display.

 

 

Ultimately, I’d have liked to see some more games, especially stuff that isn’t quite so nice and tied in with comics or Japanese culture, but it was still a great day and great opportunity to see and play some awesome unreleased games!

 

See you next year !