Joystiq E3 impressions: This is Vegas

We'll make a promise to you: not once in this preview will we reference the "Things that occur in Vegas" advertising slogan that seems to pop up every time someone mentions the mecca of mischievousness in the middle of Nevada. Except for that one time. No more.

This is Vegas is a game dreamed up by an assistant. Senior Associate Producer Trevor Ellington told us the real story behind the Sin City-based open-world humor game: an executive assistant at Midway came up with the idea of a game that replicated all of the wild fun to be had in Vegas, and thus was born TiV. During the demo we saw here at E3, the game presented four various scenarios: Fight, Party, Game, Drive, but by the time the game is released in 2009, they'll all be melded into what's supposed to be a sandbox of a good time.

First up, we saw the "Fight" scenario -- the main character (t-shirt dude) stands outside a replica of Caesar's Palace in front of a wrecked car. Apparently, he's responsible for the wreck, but it's not his car, and the car's owner and buddies are unhappy, so a fight ensues.

Immediately, the unique look and feel of This is Vegas jumps off the screen -- Elkington says that Surreal didn't want to make "the same old brown and gray" world as other games, and it's apparent that the art designers at the company have been earning their keep: everything is neon and shiny, and the HUD is as flashy as the casinos and people that populate the games background, as orange swirls and spirals curl their way across the screen every time an objective is met or given. Even during gameplay, the game has a kind of a magic feel to it -- every punch throws out sparks when it lands, and when a character is defeated, their casino chips fly out in a burst of color and roll across the sidewalk.

After our protagonist dispatches the annoyed car owners (pressing LB after building up a "buzz meter" provides a satisfying uppercut knockout cutscene), the other side of the game appears: the humor. Instead of security guards, mascots burst out of the casino to attack, and the sight of our guy beating up someone in a Burger King costume elicits a chuckle. It's not laugh-out loud funny, but it's not bad. But there is a glimpse of better humor -- after a while, the character is joined by a fighting minion named "Frankie" (a familiar face in Vegas -- "we did a lot of research in Vegas," says Elkington, "it was a tough job, but someone had to do it"), who spouts out a dead-on voice impersonation. When the virtual Ol' Blue Eyes calls a baddie "ya mook," it's actually pretty funny.

Next up is the gambling demo, and surprisingly, it's the most boring thing we see. Elkington says Surreal wanted to take out "the boring parts" of gambling, and so they've implemented an "advantage system", i.e. "cheating." Instead of playing Blackjack straight, you can press B to see hidden marks on the cards on certain dealers, but do it too much, and you'll activate your "suspicion meter," which will get you thrown out of the club. We'd think there's enough suspense in wondering whether to hit or stay on 16, but not so: though you can play the games without all the flash, it seems like Elkington doesn't think you'd want to. The other disappointment is that there will only be three casino games in the released version: blackjack, slots, and hold 'em. Not that those aren't great games, but the real beauty of Vegas is that you can bet on anything, and This is Vegas looks like it might fall flat on that one.

Finally, we saw a "Party" scenario -- our hero showed up at a club, and was asked by the hottie DJ to get the place hoping. He does this through a series of minigames -- there's a bartending game, which works like a more advanced version of Tapper, where you need to switch back and forth between a few spots pouring beers, lighting cigarettes, and serving cocktails, and a rhythm combo game on the dance floor. It's simple stuff, but there's enough flash and chaos to it to be interesting, and each of the minigames earn you points toward the larger goal of the mission.

This is Vegas is worth checking out (it comes out next year for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC) in that it tries to do something different with the now-classic Grand Theft Auto premise -- instead of running around a dirty city and killing mobsters in cars, you're running around a shiny city and trying to cheat them at parties. It has a very unique and stylish look which works very well, but for all of its Vegas-y charm (there's a parody Strip in the game -- the Luxor pyramid has turned into a Mayan pyramid, and Caesar's has become Olympic Palace), it seems a little light on the thing that make Vegas the most fun: the gambling.