Ah yes Grim Reality, my old friend. For a few days there, I was able to blissfully forget the responsibilities of life, the pressures of work, the constant barrage of bills, housework, and dental appointments that accompany the every-day slog, in favour of sweet, sweet video games. There were some highs and some lows, but generally speaking, the 2012 EB Expo was a grand ol’ time, and one that I won’t soon forget.

As a fan of the Alien vs. Predator series (of games, not the movies — they were abhorrent), my initial reaction to hearing about Aliens: Colonial Marines was one of concern. Predator was my favourite choice for multiplayer, and arguably the best of the single player campaigns. Fortunately, my fears were quelled by my hands-on multiplayer demo with Gearbox’s foray into Ridley Scott’s universe. Aliens are rad, and mowing them down with pulse rifles is — yes, you guessed it. Even more rad.

Jason Imms visits the Crysis 3 booth at the EB Expo after an enormously long wait in line, to discover a game where pistols rule and the AI is… strangely omniscient.

Sporting some of the longest lines at the EB Expo, Halo 4 was finally on show and giving players a chance to try their hand at a round of team deathmatch. The very first thing to strike me was that this is a Halo-ass Halo game. 343 Industries gained access to the entire Halo code-base when they took over from Bungie, and it shows. This is most definitely still the same Halo, despite a change of developer….

Apart from being the largest event on the gaming calendar this weekend, EB Expo was also the most prominent item for the competitive gaming scene, bringing together the worlds of Call of Duty, FIFA, StarCraft, Shootmania, Street Fighter, Marvel vs Capcom and more.

On Friday, EB Games revealed the lineup for the EB Games Expo 2012, which this year is taking place in Sydney rather than Brisbane. The Expo will run from October 5 to 7 at the Sydney Olympic Park, and will feature games such as Aliens: Colonial Marines, Assassins Creed 3, Borderlands 2, Call of Duty Black Ops 2, Forza Horizon, Halo 4, Hitman: Absolution, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, South Park: Stick of Truth, Tomb Raider, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown – so in other words, basically all the big name games coming out in the release-festival that is Q4 2012. For more info, you can check out the EB Expo Page.

Source: Press Release