Earlier this year, we previewed some of the hotly anticipated games to come out in 2013, but little more than a trailer could be revealed then. However, with E3 taking place from June 5-7, game publishers are racing to build as much hype as possible for their big-ticket games, giving us a chance to take a closer look into the in-game footage.
Here are some of the latest game trailers released, and our take on them.
Tomb Raider
The Square Enix/Crystal Dynamics reboot of the classic adventure series looked good then, and looks even better now, judging from the new game footage. The latest trailer confirms what developers have been pushing all along: A Lara Croft whose sexuality has been toned down, and in place of it is a girl who has to battle the elements, bad guys, and snarling wolves with little more than a bow and arrow. And oh, she also “hates tombs”.
The trailer also emphasised heavily on the survivalist gameplay, with the storyline that would definitely appeal to Lost fans. The downside? The game’s release date is pushed to March 5, 2013.
Watch the trailer here.
Dawnguard
Those who have finished Skyrim’s main quest line would welcome Dawnguard, the first DLC for Skyrim. When announced a few weeks ago, there was little more than a poster to go on, but Bethesda recently unveiled a trailer that revealed much more.
It appears that you can choose to become a blood-sucking vampire bent on plunging the world into darkness, or be part of the Dawnguard, vampire slayers sworn to protect humanity. Either way, the storyline looks twisted and disturbing, with new monsters and involves a fair bit of sneaking around dark corners.
Watch the trailer here.
The Last of Us
Finally, we have a new trailer from highly anticipated PS3-exclusive The Last of Us. The visuals look great as ever – almost cinematic, you could say – and the gradually built tension in the storyline is reminiscent of The Walking Dead. The latest demo scene unveiled in mid-May showed how Ellie, a 15-year-old girl, and Joel, an older man, drive into a trap set by other survivors of the zombie-like apocalypse.
According to Venturebeat’s Dean Takahashi, who saw the in-game demo, “the hand-to-hand melee is fierce, while the pace of the fighting is slow”. In one scene, “Joel picks up one of the attacker’s guns and then picks off rivals while hiding below the counter in an abandoned restaurant,” Dean Takahashi described. “He creeps down aisles and hops over barriers to get the drop on the bad guys… The action moves from melee to stealth.”
Watch the trailer here.
