We complain about E3 getting smaller and smaller in recent years but it's still a big show with a ton of games to cover. Unfortunately there's a finite amount of time and we can't write up every game at the show let alone see them all. With that in mind we've put together these quick summaries about some more of the games we did see at E3 2008.

Alpha Protocol

Publisher - Sega
Developer - Obsidian Entertainment
Platforms - PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Official Site

News from E3 - The idea behind Alpha Protocol is to mix a little bit of Mass Effect's role-playing and shooting with a setting and characters out of James Bond, or perhaps "The Bourne Identity." Alpha Protocol puts players in the shoes of Michael Thornton, an elite government agent who's in the business of protecting national security. One of the more interesting things we saw in the demo was a conversation system that uses a countdown clock to force players to pick from their dialogue choices. Obsidian promised a large variety of outcomes strictly from the dialogue options and using guns instead of talking is always an option. With a modern setting and some nice shooter combat this could be an RPG to keep on the radar.

Battlestations Pacific

Publisher - Eidos
Developer - Eidos Studios, Hungary
Platforms - PC, Xbox 360
Official Site

News from E3 - Sequel to Battlestations Midway, which I never played, Battlestations Pacific is a naval RTS set during World War II played from the perspective of individual units. Players control entire fleets but can also jump into the cockpit of individual planes and take out objectives themselves. I spent most of my time during the demo attacking an enemy beach with a variety of planes and the flight model leans more towards arcade gameplay that something like IL-2 Sturmovik. Even the strategy elements are simplified when compared to something like Harpoon II but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The single-unit perspective gives everything a cinematic flair and makes the action fun to watch.

BioShock PS3

Publisher - 2K Games
Developers - 2K Marin, 2K Boston, 2K Australia, Digital Extremes
Platform - PS3
Official Site

News from E3 - It's the same BioShock we all know and love but now on the Playstation 3, and with a couple of exclusive new features such as a new difficulty mode, "Survivor," and trophy support. Wisely refusing to tamper with the narrative and structure of one of the best FPS games in recent memory, 2K Games has also added some downloadable content in the form of "challenge rooms" that are playable outside of the main game. These rooms are made up of puzzles with multiple solutions where the player will use weapons, plasmids and the environment to overcome obstacles. The challenge rooms are currently listed as exclusive to the PS3 so it's unknown if they'll ever make their way to the PC or Xbox 360.

Borderlands

Publisher - 2K Games
Developer - Gearbox
Platforms - PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Official Site

News from E3 - A role-playing/shooter in a post-apocalyptic environment? No, it isn't Fallout 3. It's Borderlands, 2K Games' new co-op action game. The brief demo of Borderlands showcased some of the co-op vehicular combat, including driver and gunner switching seats on the fly, and an almost obscene number of unique guns. The press release states, "choose from an arsenal of hundreds of thousands of weapons," but I'd take a handful of solid guns over a thousand crap ones. I'm not sure "lots of guns" is a back-of-the-box worthy feature so we'll have to wait and see how it's implemented. Borderlands is built from the ground-up as a cooperative game, up to four players, so it could be a nice alternative when you want to tear through a Fallout-esque world in a dune buggy with some friends.

Champions Online

Publisher - 2K Games
Developer - Cryptic Studios
Platforms - PC, Xbox 360
Official Site

News from E3 - Cryptic Studios, the developer behind NCsoft's City of Heroes and City of Villains, are now working on a new superhero MMO titled Champions Online. Based on the pen-and-paper Champions RPG, Champions Online has a more animated art-style where the characters and objects have a black outline making them look more like drawings. We watched as the developers took us through a small instanced area resembling "Westworld" where the robotic denizens of an old-west-themed amusement park have gone rogue. The combat is faster than most MMOs and the enemies will drop energy and health boosts to keep the action moving so players don't have to rely on potions or rest-time to regain their strength. The game will not have any preset classes but instead will allow players to customize their characters and abilities in any way they want. Champions Online is aimed at the more casual MMO players but might also rope in the hardcore players looking for a new superhero fix.

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