E3 2013: The Crew

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3 2013, hit Los Angeles yet again with a ton of awesome gaming news. And although I wasn't in attendance, I kept up with some of the news and will be posting some of my favorite announcements.

First up is The Crew from Ubisoft Reflections and Ivory Tower. The racing genre has never been high on my list, but after watching this engaging trailer, this new IP is on my next-gen watch-list. The beautiful visuals set to an exciting score are the perfect combo. Get comfortable. You're going to want to watch this several times. All I'll say is: I've lost count.

We're only a week removed from its announcement and there's plenty to be excited about. I think the top reason you should keep an eye out for this game is being able to drive alongside three of your friends to complete missions. You can jump in and out of games at any time. I can already picture which Xbox Live friends I'll be driving with. The thought of taking our co-op antics on the road to Chicago or Los Angeles sounds pretty amazing.

The depth of customization, if maintained, is guaranteed to hook in car enthusiasts as well as provide less car savvy players with a nice learning opportunity. It was reported that players will be able to strip a car down completely and build it back up to tailor your vehicle to fit an upcoming mission. With iOS, Android tablets and the web, you can play with the specs of your vehicle away from your console and have it street-ready when you return.

The second video shown at E3 is a mission walk-through. It briefly shows how the customization works before the four players are sent out on their mission to take down an armored truck. The video ends with...well you probably want to see it yourself. So check it out.

The rides currently listed to be available are: Chevy Camaro RS 1969 and Camaro SS 2010, Ford Mustang GT 2011 and Focus RS 2010, Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) and 2013 370Z (Z34) and the RUF 3400 K.

The Crew is slated for a Q1 2014 release. It will be available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. For more information visit the game's site here.

What do you think of The Crew? Are you a racing game fan? If not, is the gameplay seen here enough to warrant a test drive? What kinds of vehicles would you like to see in this next-gen racer? Sound off in the comments.

Comic Cover of the Week

Happy New Comic Book Day! This is a big week for comic book and video game fans. Monday kicked off E3 2013, we have new comics and Friday sees the world release of Man of Steel. E3 has been as awesome as expected. There has been a lot of gaming announcements; some expected and some unexpected. Check back later as I'll be increasing the gaming content on CBL beginning with some E3 news.

As for Superman, I've seen mixed reviews on Twitter and other sites. It's well known I am not much of a Superman fan but I want the film to succeed. So this will be an interesting weekend on Twitter and news sites as everyone will be rushing to voice their opinions.

Jumping back to comic books, here is Rafael Albuquerque and Dave McCaig's cover to American Vampire: The Long Road to Hell #1.

This image sticks out immediately due to its color scheme used by McCaig. While the amount of red is minimal, the color always carries a certain weight. The bloody katana and teeth suck (couldn't resist) you in. You can't see much detail of the character, but you can feel the rage. And yes, it's well documented the katana is my favorite weapon, so Rafael gets extra points for that.

I've been behind on this series, but enjoyed the third trade which included the American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest mini. If you pick up this one-shot, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Comic Cover of the Week

Happy New Comic Book Day! As always, there are tons of good books in stores today. Some of my recommendations are East of West #3 and Spawn #232 from Image Comics as well as Suicide Risk #2 from BOOM! Studios. I also found out Larfleeze will have an ongoing series starting this month. I have no interest in that book, but find it funny enough to mention this once. And never again.

Let's welcome back Mark Brooks as he graces Fearless Defenders #5 with another fantastic cover. He knows how to hit our multiple interests. First it was a cover resembling action figure packaging, now it's video game time.

As I've said before, I'm a fan of Brooks' art. I've also been a gamer for most of my life. Here, Brooks shows off some of Marvel's greatest women in a character selection screen reminiscent of Street Fighter. The fighters represented here are Valkyrie, sporting some new duds, and She-Hulk, in her Marvel NOW! FF costume. While I really don't care for the new FF costumes, I like She-Hulk enough, so it's okay. We are talking Mark Brooks here, people. I'm sure he can make anyone look good.

Quick side note: there are actually quite a few video game related covers this week. I say keep them coming. Long live comics and video games. Now go out and buy some books.