Tom Clancy's The Division at the Xbox media briefing at E3. Photo / AFP
"Now this is a next-gen game," gamers everywhere shouted. Every one of the journalists I spoke to at the show brought it up. And the creative, non-violent ways you could take control of situations appealed to many.
But when Watch Dogs was released, it wasn't quite the game Ubisoft had initially promised it would be. The graphics had been scaled back drastically, and as it turns out, most of the ways you take control of a situation in Watch Dogs require weaponry.
Not only that, but the game seems somewhat disjointed, like Ubisoft Montreal couldn't quite make up their minds about whether the game should be serious or silly.
Watch Dogs is far from a bad game, but it's not what the hype had built it up to be. Following its reception by critics and gamers has been interesting - while it's been generally well-received by reviewers, Metacritic shows it's been much less popular amongst gamers. (That said, communities of gamers have been known to bomb Metacritic with negative reviews when they feel slighted.)
Assassin's Creed Unity at the Ubisoft booth at E3. Photo / AP
I've played Watch Dogs a fair bit myself, and was relatively underwhelmed. Then there's a game like Murdered: Soul Suspect, which gave me essentially exactly what I was expecting. I wasn't expecting it to be the next big hit, and as a result I feel I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed Watch Dogs.
Don't get me wrong, Murdered is deeply flawed, but it's a low-stress, easily consumed kind of game. That was what I was expecting from the trailers, and that was what I got. And so I found it relatively enjoyable, if far from a gaming masterpiece.
Objectively, Watch Dogs is a much better game. Subjectively, I'd rather possess a cat and do some kitty parkour than hack a city. And in this case, gamers seem to like Murdered better than reviewers did.
While I'm warning you not to get too pumped about these very controlled trailers - especially when the finished product is years away - it's also not really your problem.
Gamers are right to get excited when publishers promise something incredible. There are loads of games coming out of E3 that will sweep gamers - myself included - off their feet and have them fantasising about something new for the next two years or longer. Some of those games will deliver, and some of them won't.
Watch Dogs.
But it shouldn't be gamers' responsibility to filter through the bad stuff and find the good stuff. A large part of public relations - and that's all E3 really is - is managing expectations to avoid a backlash like the ones that followed Watch Dogs, or Duke Nukem Forever, or Sim City. But selling in huge numbers seems to be all that matters sometimes, and never mind the negative reaction - these people have already paid for their pre-orders, anyway.
Journalists can act as a filter, but up until the game's release they're often given only carefully-crafted snippets of games. Then there are the non-disclosure agreements restricting what you can and can't talk about - all in all it makes it difficult even for seasoned reporters to work through.
Be optimistic about the future of games - I honestly think they're getting better all the time. But be cautious, too. If something floors you a couple of years out, make sure you keep up with it - the truth will only truly be revealed in the ramp-up to a game's launch.
- nzherald.co.nz
