E3 First Impressions

This week at E3 we got a chance to see the Warhammer 40K Online trailer and talk to some of the developers from Vigil Studios about the game. Of all the IPs out there for game worlds, 40K is very complex and has an incredibly passionate fan base. From what we saw the team over at Vigil has just as much passion as the fans and for me that is an excellent start.

By now you have all watched the trailer and so you know about as much as we do on the game. My only disappointment with what we saw is that it was not enough. Then again it is still deep in development and the team at Vigil was honest about the process and setting up a schedule for information that will keep fans happy and not give away too much too soon. Nothing is worse than waiting for information on the game, but at least THQ is taking the fans seriously and has a plan to keep us happy throughout development until the game is launched.

Enough of that though, let's talk 40k. Not only did the THQ booth have the coolest looking Ultra Marine costume of any costumes at E3, they also had a Khorne Berserker and a massive Ork. If you can get past the booth babes here at E3, these were definitely the best costumes at the show. Not only were they showing Dark Millenium, they also had a trailer for Space Marine, the shooter game they are working on.

The Dark Millenium trailer looked great. The best part is that it was an actual gameplay trailer. Even though Blur Studios is amazing, it was nice to see a gameplay trailer for a change. The biggest thing the team was talking about is the use of vehicles in the game and how players will be able to use them. A major part of the table top, we saw bikes and Ork buggies.

In terms of factions (which was a major question I had for the devs that they cannot answer yet, grrrrr...) they showed the Space Marines, Chaos Marines, and Orks. We asked them about Eldar and smiled and said, you won't be disappointed. Even though this is the burning question on everyone's mind right now, I have a hope that faction warfare will be in the game, I just pray to the Emperor that it is more than two faction warfare.

The game play looked great, there were Titans in the world and marines blasting away with their bolters. Orks wildly driving around and screaming as Orks do. At one point in the trailer we do see the UI pop up and I have to go back and pause it to see what they are working with and if any clues to the design of the game come up. There appeared to be a lot of different Space Marine chapters in the game just by seeing the armor sets they were wearing. Things do move fast in the trailer, but many of the fans I saw at the show were pleased.

For me as a 40k player now for over fifteen years, I was happy. Even though there weren't a lot of answers in terms of the design, of the game what we saw looked good. Good enough to be action packed and have life to it. Seeing gameplay early on is a great sign and there appeared to be a lot of different environments to fight over. From open fields, to ruined buildings, to chapels and in door encounters. I am not setting my hopes too high yet for the game, only because the information is just not there yet. For me, and it`s something I discussed with the developers, is that if they get the faction system right and have a great PvP focused end game, the game will be fun. We really look forward to hearing about these elements in the future. Rest assured we will do out best to get all the information for you as it THQ looks to release more news. For now the show hit the floor with a bolter blast. The trailer looked fast paced and fun and all we can do is hope for a bright future. In talking with the team they definitely have one thing on their side and that is passion for 40k and that is a great place to start.