Good old Microsoft. When not sending someone over in a MSN Messenger Buddy costume to spook us all, they take the time and effort in prepping and inviting the local media over for some R&R at a renowned bar like Harry’s. Yesterday afternoon, we had a little bit to drink (German, Finland, what-have-you) and a lot to play, as the South-East Asia team showed off their latest wares and games up for play in the next few weeks and months to follow.

Halo 3 ODST (Xbox 360)

We’ve talked about Halo 3 ODST here, but what about the highly touted Firefight Mode, which combines the Horde Mode of Gears of War 2 and the charm and weaponry of Halo 3? Luckily, there were four machines ripe for playing.

My random team of journalists started off with the Security Zone, which you can see pictured above. Covenant dropships will be circling on the far end of the level, shooting off turret guns whenever one of us was spotted. At the same time, shield-bearing Jackals, Acolytes, and Brutes with Spike Guns started swarming the playing field.

Basically, all four of us share a number of lives, and it’s game over if all of them are spent dying. Friendly Fire is turned on, so we also had to be careful not to chuck our plasma grenades around like mad. So far, we manage to survive about 10 minutes worth of combat, with the final few minutes with moi acquiring a Gravity Hammer from a lone Brute. It’s still the same one-hit kill melee weapon Halo fans know and love, and still makes that satisfying crashing sound whenever it lands a hit. Completing a round nets the team extra lives, but it wasn’t much use as we only had 10 minutes worth of playtime.

Chad Hodge, one of the few behind the workings of the Halo franchise, was kind enough to let us test out a new never-seen-before map, a night time level set in New Mombasa. Here, each team member has to make use of their visors so that they can see in the dark. The visor isn’t effective when there’s artificial light around, so make sure you have it turned on at the right time when everything goes black.

Before capping this off, the game is coming on September 22nd, with the game packed with 2 CDs. One is Halo 3 ODST with Campaign and Multiplayer mode, and the other are Halo 3 maps that can be used for Halo 3 ODST and an invite to the multiplayer beta of the upcoming-until-next-year Halo: Reach.

Forza Motorsports 3 (Xbox 360)

(stolen from GameAxis August 2009’s PipeVine)

One thing racing games nowadays have going for is the ability to be as beautifully rendered as possible on an HD TV. So it’s no big surprise that Forza Motorsports 3 will have ten times the polygons used for each car compared to its prequel, as said by John Wendl of Turn10. I was hyped up by the intro, which featured a bunch of famous car models driving in what seems to be choreographed automobile ballet on a race track. There will be 400 cars to drive and to unlock, including the signature Audi R8 V10, and cars from Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Audi (among others). Unlike a certain PS3 racing game, you WILL see damage and dents done to your ride if you’re not too careful on the road.

Not only will the game run at 60fps with its gorgeous environments and tracks from real-life locations, but the game would be a breeze to play for newbies in racing. Auto-assists options will ensure that you kid sister or brother can drive around the tracks with relative ease via a button press and following the patented “green line” that leads you to the optimum route of the course .Turning them off makes the control just like a racing simulation. On top of that, there’s rewind feature which turns back the clock by 10 seconds so that you can re-do a certain part of a race if you mess up.

I’m not so big on racing (unless the game rhymes “Burnout Paradise”) but with the expected customization options increased tenfold (which John couldn’t share unfortunately) along with intuitive racing and eye candy, racing fans would probably go “Gran Turis-who?”.

Shadow Complex (Xbox 360)

The new demo on tap was in fact anything but. It was the full game displayed, with no 12-minute countdown timer. But that isn’t going to stop us hotlinking our impressions here.

Alan Wake (Xbox 360)

Alternate Universe Emoboy's enjoying his brooding time at the vista point of Norway.

We had Oskari Hakkinen of Remedy showing us a teensy little bit of Alan Wake, which was more or less the same build shown at this year’s E3. The premise is this: you are a writer named Alan Wake who somehow has his recent horror work reimagined and coming to life in the sleepy town of Bright Falls. All you have armed onto yourself are your wits, your pistol, and your flashlight.

As you traverse the horrors of a quiet Pacific Northwest town, the narrative flow and transitions is akin to a TV show, with a “previously on Alan Wake” segment recounting the events that unfold to lead up to where a player left off. The game has a Twin Peaks vibe to it, and it shows through the landscape and overall tone. The town of Bright Falls is a quiet place with deep dark secrets hidden beneath it.

The keyword for Alan Wake here is survival horror and combat, with more on the survival bit than combat. “Sometimes it’s better to run than to fight,” states Oskari as he makes Alan Wake run off from a horde of “shadow creatures” out to get him in the demo area. Inanimate objects controlled by said dark forces also hurl themselves at his direction, to which Alan can respond by dodging or using cover to his advantage. At one point, he had to start an electric generator to turn on a spotlight via a quick-time event to ward off the horde of shadow creatures tailing after him.

He then proceeded to lead Alan Wake to an empty house and barricaded the door. It gets eerily quiet, when all of a sudden a bulldozer comes to life and proceeds to crush the house down. What happens next? We don’t know, as the demo ended then and there. And until it comes out early next year, we’ll have to wait and see how it unfolds.