E3 is an event of mixed emotions, for yours truly anyway. It is both an exhilarating event to watch but is also agonizing. This has nothing to do with the event itself, of course, rather the excruciating and torturous wait for the release of the game you have just seen.
But mostly, E3 is a joy to follow and leaves the gaming community excited for what’s ahead in the next 12 months or so. With this in mind, here are the top 10 games to look out for at E3.
10. Days Gone
When Days Gone was showcased at last year’s E3, to say zombie fans were excited would be a rather large understatement. Using the full power of the PlayStation 4, the Sony Interactive developers at Bend Studio revealed a zombie shooter fans have been crying out for for years. With 100s of undead running at main character Deacon St. John, we saw him obliterating the horde that appeared before him.
Days Gone will be set in an open-world environment, where it is promised there will be multiple ways to complete objectives. Stealth enthusiasts will be able to utilize silent-takedowns, but if sneaking isn’t your forte, then going in all guns blazing like a maniac will also be an option.
The zombie genre shows no signs of slowing down, and if Days Gone is as good as it looks at the moment, this could be a dead-set for game of the year.
9. Super Mario Odyssey
A game that wasn’t revealed at E3 but at the Nintendo Switch presentation at the beginning of the year, Super Mario Odyssey looked fantastic during this presentation leaving Mario fans wishing away the months until the title is released.
Going back to the ways of Super Mario 64, Odyssey returns to the type of level exploration which was what made the Nintendo 64 title such a classic. For the first time in the whole Mario franchise, real world locations will also be used. Well, real-world inspired locations such as the New York City-inspired ‘New Donk City’.
With a penciled in release date of Q4 2017, hopefully, Nintendo will have a definitive release date for us during the presentation of the latest adventure of everyone’s favourite plumber.
8. God of War
Confession time. I have never really been a fan of the God of War series. Sure, I have played them, and yes, at times during my playthroughs I have enjoyed myself, but I have never felt that strongly about them. When Kratos’ latest adventure was revealed, however, I did become extremely excited.
The contributing factor for my sudden excitement for the series was the switch from Greek to Norse mythology. Simply, I just find it more interesting. Secondly, is from what was showcased. The game engine as been newly built from the ground up and will no longer just be a mindless hack and slash. There will be several RPG elements, such as crafting. There is also the addition of Atreus, Kratos’ son. Players will be able to control Atreus at specific points during the game, but it seems he will act more like an additional resource as opposed to a secondary character.
Plus, Kratos now has an axe. Axes are cooler than swords, and that, my friends, is a fact.
7. Assassin’s Creed: Origins
One of the worst kept secrets in gaming history. Even before all the screenshots and steelbook leaks of recent months, Ancient Egypt had been touted as a possible destination for the series two years ago.
Assassin’s Creed, again, much like God of War, is a series I have never really been bothered with. Apart from the incredible Black Flag, I have found all the other games extremely repetitive and, well, dull. My interest was piqued when the Ancient Egypt setting was being thrown around as a possible destination. That, doubled with the fact that Ubisoft planned to build the game engine from scratch, got me excited for an Assassin’s Creed game for the first time, well, ever.
Ubisoft could potentially ‘win’ E3 this year as their line up is looking astounding.
6. Splinter Cell
This is now just purely speculative. Just in case you missed the news this week, we reported that Ubisoft had filed a new trademark application under the name ‘Splinter Cell’.
It has been pretty much four long years since we were choking out the bad guys as series hero Sam Fisher. Blacklist, the last instalment in the stealth franchise, was a great entry in the series but was vastly different from the previous releases. It was a hell of a lot more action-oriented, and series veteran Michael Ironside had been replaced.
As Ubisoft have just filed the franchise name, could a reboot be in the works? This could very well be the best surprise to come out of E3.
5. Crackdown 3
The original Crackdown (which was released 10 years ago!) is a bit of a cult hit. It is a game that everyone seems to remember fondly but never gets talked about much. It is always a game where if someone is naming their top 10 games of last-gen, Crackdown makes the list only when they are reminded. Well, if the previously released reveal trailers are anything to go by, Crackdown 3 is a game that will also be remembered.
It seems forever ago that the third game in the series was announced. We have been promised the same open world fun as fans of the series have come to expect. Destructible environments will also be a feature.
With no release date set in stone, Microsoft will surely, finally, let us know when Crackdown 3 will be available.
4. State of Decay 2
Proof again that zombies are alive and well in the video game world. The original State of Decay was a brilliant game. I sunk an unholy amount of hours into the survival sim. What made it so great was its simplicity. Go out, find some stuff, shoot some zombies, return. But, keeping your merry band of survivors alive became a fun challenge.
The sequel promises to be even better. With three maps, each one bigger than the original’s one map, exploration will be a big part of State of Decay 2. Details have been scarce, to be honest, but this will be one of Microsoft’s big reveals, so we can expect a lot more information to come.
One thing we do know is that there will be the option to play online with up to three friends. It is rather unlikely a real-life zombie apocalypse will ever happen (sigh), so surviving in State of Decay 2 with three buddies will be the next best thing.
3. Spider-Man
Swinging into the public eye during last year’s E3 conference, Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac’s PS4 exclusive Spider-Man was a big surprise.
Spider-Man has generally fared quite well in the video game world. It is one of the few big outside franchises that has not really ever had a bad release.
Cast your minds back to 2004 when Spider-Man 2 was released. How fun was it to swing around New York City, beating criminals and generally saving the day? Fancy doing all that with the almighty PS4 powering such an adventure? Well, that is exactly what has been promised. With loads more details set to be announced by Sony, Spider-Man could again, potentially, be many gamers’ game of the year.
2. Call of Duty: WWII
EA unquestionably won the battle of the first-person shooters last year. Shooter fans were desperate for the return of historic shooters, and EA listened to its fans and released Battlefield 1. Call of Duty went in the complete opposite direction. Infinite Warfare got a lot of slack upon release, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Activision and Sledgehammer Games have listened to the majority of the Call of Duty fan-base and will now bring the series back to WWII. They are really going ‘back to their roots’ with no regeneration of health during the campaign mode and, thankfully, no unlimited sprinting.
More details regarding the famed multiplayer will be revealed at E3. We do know that the multiplayer will feature a Destiny-like hub called The Headquarters where players can, well, do whatever it is they do in Destiny.
With a rumored dark and mature campaign mode and a revolutionized multiplayer, it seems Battlefield’s triumph could be short-lived.
1. Star Wars: Battlefront II
Surprise, surprise, my number one game is Star Wars, and for a very good reason. 2015’s Battlefront was great but not perfect. There was no campaign mode, there were no space battles, and it featured no Prequel content. Battlefront II looks to fix all three problems.
With the Assault on Theed multiplayer reveal set for E3, players will get a first look at the Prequel era B1-Battledroids and the Clone Troopers in action. The visuals released already look stunning, especially the recently released screenshot of Theed. Developer DICE have listened to another major complaint from the 2015 reboot and have included a single-player campaign mode, which is very different from any other Star Wars game.
Players will take control of Iden Versio who is part of an elite troop of Stormtroopers known as Inferno Squad. Taking place after the events of Return of the Jedi, Versio and her squad will try and keep the Galactic Empire alive after the death of Emperor Palpatine.
With content across all three timelines and no season pass, Battlefront II is lining up to be one of the greatest Star Wars games of all time.
Well, that’s it folks. Feel I’ve missed any titles? Let us know in the comments below and check back here at Gaming Respawn for coverage of E3.
