E3 Aftermath

Also shown off inside the E3 showroom was some incredible looking gameplay for the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II. From developer Relic, the creators of such titles at Company of Heroes and Homeworld, comes the next big thing in the real-time strategy genre. Take a look.

The release of Dawn of War II marks the first Games for Windows LIVE title where gamers have the full support of being able to play along with Xbox 360 owners without having to pay for an Xbox LIVE Gold membership. While this is definitely good news, I find it ironic that no Xbox 360 version of the game has been announced. I guess those playing Dawn of War II will be playing against those playing Gears of War II! (I know, I know. I wasn't supposed to mention that game.) Or perhaps we'll hear about a 360 version at some point; we'll have to wait and see.

Recently delayed until early 2009, Sony's potential killer app has had gamers talking ever since the showing of the faux real-time extravaganza at their E3 press conference back in 2006. And when actual footage of Killzone 2 was released, there was little to be disappointed about. This year's E3 has produced even more gritty details about the upcoming "Halo killer" for the PlayStation 3, this time in the multiplayer arena. Here are the high points from Guerilla Games' long-winded presentation given by Senior Online Game Designer, Eric Boltjes.

• Support for online matches for 2 to 32 players via the PlayStation Network
  
• Matchmaking system available for players who desire to join matches with players of their own caliber
  
• Extensive badge and medal system spanning 12 military ranks to progress through
  
• Eight multiplayer maps
  
• Five multiplayer game modes
  
• Six character classes including engineer, medic, scout, assault, and saboteur
  
• Live video feeds of each spawn point available to view before choosing to respawn
  
• Squad support for up to four players per unit with the ability to respawn on your squad leader
  
• Clan support for up to 64 players via Killzone.com
  
• Dedicated leaderboards for comparing stats with other players

This year's E3 conference also brings us a live preview of DX10 rendered S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky, a prequel to 2007's long-awaited hit PC title, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl. Clear Sky is scheduled for release on August 29th and looks to rival pretty much any game you can throw at it. With that in mind, I invite you to sit back, relax, and most importantly, be amazed - be very amazed!