CES11: Capcom's 'A' Games

We spent some time in Capcom's suite, and as always, they brought their 'A' games. We saw 5 of their upcoming titles, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Okamiden, Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, MotoGP 10/11, and of course, Marvel vs. Capcom 3. As MvC3 has enough content to warrant a post of it's own, we'll go over that a little later, but for now, dig in to Capcom's other offerings.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (DS) January 2011
I've heard about it, read about it, watched the videos but never quite seemed to care for it to go out of my way to make mention of it. After spending some time with the game however, I've taken quite a liking to the title. Designed by Shu Takumi, the mind behind the prolific Phoenix Wright series, Ghost Trick has the pedigree to be something special, but will it have the substance? Right now, all signs are pointing to yes. The artwork and character style -- like the Phoenix Wright titles -- are colorful, unique, and busting at the seams with style. The animation really stuck out to me, as characters moved smoothly and gracefully, enveloping their own personal styles. It was like watching a big-budget anime play out on the dual screens. I found the gameplay -- a truly unique puzzle solving experience which requires the lead to possess and control inanimate objects in order to complete tasks -- to be quite fun, with the grounds for evolving from enjoyable to flat out addictive. Don't make the same mistake I did by glossing Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective over, give it a well-deserved look, and when you're done, check it out again because you most likely missed an awesome detail the first time around.

Okamiden (DS) March 2011
Capcom has handled the marketing for Okamiden flawlessly, which isn't surprising seeing as how adorable the main character is. You take control of Chibiterasu, offspring of Okami's lead (and MvC3 combatant) Amaterasu. While related in blood, this adventure is not a direct sequel at all, but a spiritual successor. From what we played, we got to see a stage which utilized Chibi's Galestorm technique, via the Celestial Brush. The Galestorm was key to Chibi and partner Kurow overcoming the treacherous winds faced while attempting to successfully reach the next area, which appeared to be a mountain peak in the sky. Upon reaching the top of the peak, a miniboss rhythm battle ensued, where you had to slash at drum notes created by the decidedly Caribbean band. The stylus was in full effect throughout, reacting precisely the way you would want it to, and keeping well in line with the awesome functionality introduced by the original Okami. Our hands on wasn't quite in depth enough to garner a true decision on Okamiden, but there is some potential for good here, as well as the potential to disappoint.

Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 (XBLA, PSN) February 2011
Hot on the heels of the success Bionic Commando Rearmed found, the next installment attempts to plug in the gameplay holes of the original. It's not the first time we've played Rearmed 2, but it is maybe the most quality time we've spent with it, and we learned much under the informative tutelage of Capcom's reps. By now you must know that the ability to jump has been added it, and that completing the game without jumping nets you a nice trophy or achievement. What I didn't know was that there is a separate mode to play that restricts the moustached Nathan Spencer's jump, so you wont accidentally fuck up your achievement. The special abilities are a nice touch, adding elements like grenades, heals over time, and so forth. Unfortunately, there is still no online multiplayer, and I was a little let down by the operation of the local multiplayer. Basically, the camera follows the first player, therefore if the second player lags behind, they have a 5 second time limit to get back onto the screen. If they don't, it's life over for them. If the second player just happens to be the more seasoned BCR2 player, they're assed out, say in the situation that the first player screws up a jump and plummets 10 stories down. At any rate, the lack of online multiplayer for this $15 title is marginalized (if that's possible) by two details: 5-6 hours of gameplay, and online leaderboards for both the single player story, and the always entertaining challenge rooms.

MotoGP 10/11 (X360, PS3) March 2011
Capcom pushes out MotoGP 10/11 with all the content of the recently completed 2010 season, to go along with future free downloadable updates for the 2011 season, such as real time stat and ranking updates among other unique features. It was my first time playing, and I found the controls and physics to be punishing, if only because I'm terrible at racing games. Fans of a realistic racing experience and crotch-rockets alike will appreciate the gameplay of 10/11. For those of you like myself, who just cheese it for the duration of the course and use the nearest wall as your brakes, the offer of player assists turns the game from more of a sim to an arcade experience, more forgiving to the casual or beginner virtual racer. Another nice addition for the bike-newbs is the implementation of a dotted guide-line which shows the the best place to position yourself for the challenging turns, and also scales from green to red, offering a hint of what speed you should be shooting along at. Local co-op is available in Career Mode, with a second player hopping in as a mate to help your team take the pole position. Online racing pits you against a racing-record 19 competitors, assuring that you will need plenty of practice and hours logged to finish in the top 3.

All in all another solid showing from Capcom, though nothing new or groundbreaking was introduced. It was good to see them in Vegas, and I hope to see more software developers use CES as a booster for their upcoming IPs in the future.

Check in next week for more photos from Capcom's display!