Games Galore: Sega's Spring Showcase - Page 3

The kart racing was great, and we look forward to seeing just how deep that mode is upon the game's final release.  In fact, Super Monkey Ball 3D pretty much convinced us that the 3DS is going to be this Christmas' hot item (despite its release in late March).  Seriously, put your order in now for one – we're excited and once you see it we think you will be too (more on the 3DS from us closer to launch).

With our time at the showcase winding down, our next stop was Shogun 2: Total War… or is it Total War: Shogun 2 (seriously, even their Facebook page says it both ways).  It looks like a real time strategy game for the ages, with an incredible amount of depth, beautiful graphics, and depth… a whole lot of depth.  Did we mention that there is a whole lot going on in the game?

Although it looked like nearly all of the game was available, we spent a ton of time going through the tutorial.  As with other Total War titles, what you're looking at here is a serious real-time strategy game, one where you're going to want to employ tactics beyond just "defeat the enemy by sending wave after wave after wave of humanity at them in order to crush them with sheer volume."  We actually did employ that strategy in one battle and it worked, but the losses we took were significant and upon finishing the battle, the game suggested that the cost of the victory was too great (we felt very special when we were told that such a response from the game was unusual). 

Beyond being deep, Shogun 2 looked fantastic and it was easy to get the game going even if we didn't have a perfect feel for all the nuances.  It's clearly a game that you're going to be able to spend a ton of time playing over and over gain.

The last title we saw yesterday was Conduit 2, a Wii-exclusive sequel to the original Wii-exclusive The Conduit.  The new game picks up immediately on the heels of the original and features a greatly expanded game world.  Rather than being a linear title, Conduit 2 operates on a Hub system (at least it does once you get to the Hub in the game) and you can go through a lot of it in an order of your choosing.  The new Conduit also sports boss battles (with monster-sized bosses), more guns, more bonuses, MotionPlus and Classic Controller support, and more types of baddies.  It definitely feels like they took a decent title and have expanded it enormously. 

Article Author: Josh Lasser

Josh Lasser, formerly known as "TV and Film Guy," and complete with a Masters Degree in Critical Studies in said areas, gives his opinions on TV, Film, and Entertainment in general. All of which he does in a shameless attempt to try to get paid to do the exact same thing. …

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