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I got some hands on time with Sega and From Software's Armored Core 4 which made two things very clear: playtesting games without having any idea what the controls are makes for a frustrating experience and that the game likes to lock up the PlayStation 3 a lot.
While waiting for booth girl to wipe off the otaku palm grease from my controller, I saw the demo units go down over a dozen times. You can see one of the dudes from From Software rebooting the thing. That's right—the PS3 units at the top of the case are for display only. They're running the game off of Tool kits right now. Yes, that's totally normal, but I found it amusing. (I'm sure I'm the only one)
The game actually looks amazing. The few moments that Sony showcased during their press event were a very good representation of the demo level. Featuring a very gloomy, hazy and heat-rippled desert city, the mech run and gun action was solid Armored Core stuff. The lighting was very unique, the only light sources being a setting sun clouded by smoke and dust or the bright light of your mech's afterburners and energy shield. And that gritty filmgrain look? Very cool.
I'm hoping the rest of the game looks this good, as it's fighting for my PlayStation 3 launch window dollars.
