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Space Combat in TOR is a lot like Starfox; GW2 Gameplay Footage – a New Reason to Get Excited

Gamescom 2010 brings us two videos this week from the MMO big’uns: TOR and Guild Wars 2. Both of them have been met with some mixed reception but, from where I’m sitting, there’s cause to get excited. Let’s start with the space combat video from TOR.

Here, if you haven’t seen it yet, have a look:

Oh, wait. That’s not Star Wars, that’s everyone’s favorite Super Nintendo fox: Starfox! Seriously though, the space combat in TOR looks so similar, it’s not even funny. Now that you’ve seen the Fox, here’s the real combat video.

Pretty close, right?

Starfox was one hell of a game. It still holds up as one of the best lighthearted space combat console games out there. It’s definitely on rails in that the camera propels you along, but you have the freedom to maneuver around the screen to dodge and attack however you wish. Starfox offered quick, fun, and most importantly, very repeatable gameplay. For what seems like a late minute addition to the game, Bioware couldn’t have chosen a better model. Honestly, between the graphics and setting, that trailer looks like they’re going to out fox the Fox… which Nintendo itself has tried to do ever since. It may not add much to the world aspect of TOR, but it will definitely be a fun game — and there’s a lot of value in that alone.

The second video we have is a snippet of Guild Wars 2 gameplay.

Ravious handles the major criticism very well, so I’m going to focus on what excites me the most about this video: the combat is flashy! I know that seems like a small thing, but combat animations totally paint how you perceive a one of the biggest chunks of the game. What we’re seeing here is fast paced, colorful, over the top, and I love it. Compare it to a game like LotRO and LotRO will wind up looking dull by comparison. Hell, compare it to any other game than Aion and the competition will wind up looking dull. It’s just that good.

And, damn, check out the armor detail on that dev’s character.

So far, I’ve been “hypothetically” excited for Guild Wars 2. Everything Arenanet has been saying sounds great. The screenshots and trailers are excellent. This represents something real and it’s nice to have a tangible example of the game to get excited about. Even if they’d released no other information, this video alone would be enough to make me an 80% sell. Fun combat means a fun game (Aion), the rest just gives it the depth and longevity to be something great (not Aion).

Now, I’m off to edit Episode 24 of the Multiverse. I know, I’m breaking my resolution to do it on Mondays. I planned to, really I did, but my first spyware outbreak in more than a year has slowed me down a bit. I guess that will teach me for googling “blood elf pr0n” when I should be recording.

Hump day!

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