Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor brought a demonstration of it’s flagship Nemesis system to EGX today, and it was thoroughly impressive. Shadow of Mordor has been developed by Monolith studios and is set somewhere between the events of the Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring where you play as a ranger of Gondor resurrected by one of the most powerful elves to ever live after your death to exact your revenge and his own against Sauron and the forces of despair.

Possibly one of the most amazing things is that in a completely single player game it looks distinctly like no two play throughs of Shadow of Mordor will feel the same or yield the same tales, this is a game to talk about but it seems like gamers will rarely if ever be talking about the same things! When I tell you that it looks like every single orc will be different to one another and even the lowly grunts if left alone long enough can rise to become warlords then you will understand exactly why this game is so exciting and full of promise.

With all the enemies being randomly generated from a list of traits and evolving as they perform actions within the world this system will bring an interesting challenge to an already expansive and lovingly crafted game. It will be interesting what this system can do and we will find out over time no doubt hearing some amazing tales.

Looking forwards to ? Tell us if you are below and why!

We’ll be bringing you more on this promising title in the very near future.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt took the stage today at EGX in London, showing off the open world of the game. They began by reintroducing us to the concept of a Witcher, the game’s titular adventurer’s and monster slayers. Another key theme in the beginning of the presentation was the idea of landmarks, as well as the fact that everything you see in the distance can be travelled to. This point was quickly followed with the fact that while the game will let you go where you want, it might slaughter you mercilessly if you do. The flip side of this is that the game will also reward you for skill, meaning that if you can survive an encounter that is nominally above your level, the game will reward you for that skilled play.

Moving on, the developers talked a bit about the organic nature of the world. If you defeat a group of bandits that have taken over a village, the villagers will come back. But, the rotting bodies of the bandits may also attract monsters. This could lead to a situation where the villagers are killed by the monsters as a direct result of your actions. This type of cause and effect is indicated to be a significant factor in the world of Witcher 3. This even carries to the interactions between enemies later down the line. Actions that might effect characters early on will also have repercussions further into the game. This could determine when and where enemies spawn, boss encounters, etc. If you’ve helped a leader of this group, they might be neutral or friendly to you. Branching is a main theme of the game, and it seems to have more wide reaching implications than many previous games that have experimented with the idea.

Moving a bit further, it was revealed that what we had seen was only a tiny portion of a much larger map, which was then revealed to be only half of the full map in the game. The effects you have on one area of the game will affect other areas around the wider world. The game also has more armors than the previous games, including ones which can be crafted. When asked about the idea of good and bad in the game, the developer also responded with the idea that actions are more shades of gray in Witcher 3.

Also, the presenter was HILARIOUS. Watch this space, once the presentation is up, I’ll add it to this article

Vlambeer showed off the latest version of their procedurely generated game, Nuclear Throne today on-stage at EGX.

The talk was mainly on how the game did ‘random’ and how it worked to make the game what it was. Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with mutants, the game itself has been many years in development, originally conceived during a MoJam and having been called Wasteland Kings originally until last year when they announced a name change. There are currently eleven different characters to play and unlock and each stage is randomly generated, as are the loot, the enemies, the power-ups/mutations available when enough radiation is collected from drops and fallen enemies.

The levels themselves are generated through programs called ‘workers’ who perform actions based on a series of numbers fed to them to carve out the levels for the players. They also determine where loot gets placed and chests, with enemy and explosive barrel placement happening after the ‘workers’ have done their job. There are 7 worlds, over 30 different mutations which can benefit or hinder, and the game has so far been updated most Saturdays for the last 40 or so weeks.

Vlambeer said at the end of their panel that a new character called Rogue was coming soon, as well as a new Oasis world type. There will also be leaderboards added, after-game (or after-Throne) content and more to come.

At EGX today, Steve Papoutsis took the stage to present Battlefield Hardline. Steve is the General Manager of Visceral Games as well as Executive Producer of Battlefield Hardline. He took a somewhat different approach to his presentation, choosing to focus on his childhood and his life as a video game developer. It was an interesting talk, leading up to a trailer for Battlefield Hardline’s Hotwire Mode. This is a car centric mode which Steve described as “mobile domination”. The trailer and presentation are below.

At EGX today,

Tom Clancy games come with a certain set of expectations- fluid tactical combat, third person perspective- and often gamers associate this franchise with innovations in stealth and third person combat. It seems like the newest entry in the legacy of Tom Clancy will deliver. The Division, an online only third person shooter /RPG ,is a stunning game set in beautiful urban vistas with a dark undertone which comes with the theme. The game is set in pandemic New York where you play as an agent trained to deal with said pandemic.

The talk at EGX this year was about their attempts to make The Division an immersive game and so far all the signs are positive. They have gone to what appear to be huge lengths to make the game responsive, engaging and visceral. The new Snowdrop engine which has been developed for the new generation and specifically The Division is based on creating ‘living worlds’ that feel real and almost like they’re breathing around you.

The Division’s main focus seems to of been seamlessly blending responsive and futuristic tactical views with a lavishly reimagined New York where the environment changes and breaks around you. A small detail that was mentioned as an example is when it is snowing in the game snow gathers on the players shoulders and slowly melts when the players go indoors- this is just an example of the attention to detail the development team is boasting about and to me it sounds like they’ve given this everything to make it immersive and to make it feel strong, real.

The talk also focused on how they wanted to avoid the use of cutscenes, instead using a futuristic UI to feed you interactive information and even removing the conventional map and instead having what they call the mega map which is like a hologram that displays around the player model and allows you to interact with what appears to be a 3D model of New York to set markers, plan routes and prepare yourself for the challenges of a pandemic torn New York.

Another point that was made in the talk today is that the Division apparently has a phenomenal destruction engine within the game which sounds promising and like the team behind the Division really want you to be able to break up the world around you to suit your needs.

Do you think developer Massive is onto a winner? Let us know in the comments below!