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THQ Game Impressions

Posted June 20th 2009 by Jacob Barnes.

Day two of E3 gave me a little more free time than day one since press conferences were over and I only had one interview with THQ later that day (or so I thought). After playing some games, I headed over to the media lounge to double check with Desiré what time my interview was and she told me it was at noon. And then I glanced at my watch, which also indicated that the current time was noon, and hurried to THQ's booth with my free lunch in hand. After getting checked in, Raha Bouda of THQ was nice enough to show me some demos of THQ's latest games.

World of Zoo (Wii, DS, PC)

This game was just announced during E3. As you could guess, it's a zoo simulation game which may or may not be a pun on another Wii title, World of Goo. The game features eleven different animal families such as giraffes and alligators, and ninety species total within those families. The species are also distinguishable between each other with different shapes and not just color changes between, say, two types of crocodiles. The cel-shaded graphics do a good job of making the game look family friendly while retaining some realism to the animals. I would probably recommend this to anyone into slower paced simulation games. This game, as well as all THQ games I was shown, are tentatively scheduled for Fall 2009 releases.

Marvel Super Hero Squad (Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PSP, DS, PC, PS2)

I started off being shown a four player brawl in a circular arena with a man from THQ, Greg, playing as Iron Man. This was the game's battle mode, which matches 20 playable heroes and villains in a battle with up to four players. He played 2 on 2, but there were other versatile options such as playing 1 on 1 or 1 on 3. Next, he showed me adventure mode, which had more of a story to it. Adventure mode features six separate campaigns with different super heroes like Wolverine, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Silver Surfer and Falcon in each level. You have the option of doing two player co-op here or complete stages with an A.I. buddy, which can be switched out at any time. Actual fighting is pretty simple to execute, with special moves for each character being done by pressing A, B or flicking the Wiimote. Some characters can fly with Wiimote controls too.

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (DS)

This is the next game in the series after the first on the DS two years ago. This is also a platformer and takes place, story wise, after the Wii version of the same name. I'm told they're actually very different games despite the common name. In this game you can choose from three different customizable forms on your adventure. Humanoid forms use standard weapons, spider forms can cling to ceilings and swing on webs and there's also a blob form. You can switch and edit these forms at any time from the start menu. We then entered a village which acts as a hub for trading drawings with people locally, among other non-game activities. The backgrounds in the town, and other environments, are hand drawn and look vibrant. Back in a level, I was shown an "action drawing" mechanic, which allows players to draw in-game elements to advance further in the level. It's similar to Kirby Canvas Curse, where you have a certain amount of ink to draw platforms. You also have a selection of colors to work with, like black for stationary platforms, yellow for floating objects and green for bouncy platforms.

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (Wii)

On the Wii version of the demo, I started off being shown how to create a character. You can give your character mean eyes, resize facial features and fill in different colors with a paint bucket tool. The THQ representative told me one person made a hot dog character with arms and legs. We ended up playing as a pre-drawn alligator, but we made it blue just because we could. The stage we played was a sky-themed world with lots of clouds and blue skies. We were prompted to draw wings on our alligator to give us a triple jump ability. Other worlds, such as a jungle themed level, prompt the players to draw a monkey tail on your character. You can also draw vehicles and other random objects related to that world.

All-Star Cheer Squad 2 (Wii)

For this demo, I was greeted by two cheerleaders who were showing off the game. It turns out they're not just hired models as they cheer competitively and do some work in movies and commercials. They also helped with the motion capture and modeling for the game. I was offered to play the demo but declined because I didn't want to make myself look silly, and I was carefully watching over my turkey sandwich tucked under my arm. So they told me All-Star Cheer Squad 2 is very similar to the first one released last Fall. This one features 39 all original songs, with the ability for the player to cut and mix his or her own music with cross fading and sound effects. The game also has about 300 different routines, with the option to choreograph your own routine and record it. Gameplay looks simple and fun and consists of holding the Wiimote in one of eight directions shown on the screen with some A and B button use. The game also has optional use of the Wii balance board. This looks fun for younger girls and even older audiences if they have a large group of people competing.

Cars Race-O-Rama (Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PSP, DS, PS2)

This is the third game in the Cars series, which THQ uses in a deal with Pixar. I was shown a city stage called Motoropolis with Lightning McQueen as our car. Steering is similar to Mario Kart Wii, with the controller being held on its side and tilted for turning. You can also make your car jump by physically lifting the Wiimote up. There's also a loose drifting mechanic and tight drifting for sharper turns on tracks. The game is split into two different modes: story mode and arcade mode. In arcade mode, you can play as 30 different cars, 15 of which are brand new to the series. In addition to the variance in playable cars, there are also 60 different race tracks to go with it. And with most of the games I was shown, this also allows for some customization with the options to change tires, paint jobs and rims by collecting parts throughout the game.

Tags: E3-09, THQ