Tokyo Game Show 2013 Highlights Part 2

Tokyo Game Show 2013 Highlights Part 2

Then there's the combination of the SUV and a digger, which creates a tank-like vehicle that makes Christopher Nolan's Batman Tumbler look like it was designed by Playmobil. All of these vehicles (both standard and 'combo' editions) have second player functionality, so no need to worry if there's only one car/bike/Rollerhog between two.



However, that's not to say that you have to roam the world together. There's no tethering in Dead Rising 3's co-op, with players able to go solo at opposite sides of the map if they so choose. Be warned, however, the difficulty scales up when playing in tandem, so going it alone could end up being a bloodbath.



There's also no limit on who can play with who, meaning your level 30 character can join my level one game. Interestingly, if you complete a mission in co-op that you haven't yet got to in your single player game, you're given the option of skipping it. When you do stumble across it on your own game all of the stats and narrative decisions you built-up in co-op are applied to your game. Of course, completing the game in this fashion will make for a heavily disrupted narrative experience, but this demo puts no emphasis whatsoever on plot integrity.

Another Xbox One exclusive, Crimson Dragon, was one of the few titles in the Microsoft booth managing to generate queue times equivalent to those of the other major publishers in attendance. It may be the "spiritual successor" to Panzer Dragoon, but things have changed somewhat since that particular cult classic found an obsessive audience on the Sega Saturn.
Crimson Dragon is an odd mix of on-rails and free-flight gameplay. The bulk of the mission on show locks your dragon on a flight path and asks you to aim and shoot at enemies using the right analogue stick to awkwardly control both camera and crosshairs. Things then move into free-flight mode for boss fights, with you using the left stick to guide your dragon into the best positions possible for both offence and defence. Initially this was planned as being Kinect-only, so those of us still less than enamoured by motion controls can rest a little easier.



A couple of Crimson Dragon's more interesting features are centred around online functionality. You're able to "rent" other players' dragons to accompany you on missions you're struggling with, resulting in them appearing in your game with the same upgrades and additions the owner applied to them. Rather than having direct control over the second beast, a set of Kinect voice commands triggers them to attack, retreat and change speed. Having your dragon rented rewards you with in-game currency which you can spend on further items and upgrades.



There are also three player co-op missions, which I'm told will be where the game's most difficult challenges are to be housed. However, these were not on show this time around and there was no clue as to their number or structural differences (if any) from single player. For a game that has already been confirmed as being available at launch for a mere $20, Crimson Dragon hardly seems light on content.

So that's it for another Tokyo Game Show. Now for the Eurogamer Expo...