Ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Tom Hoggins rounds up the most highly anticipated games of the year
Next week's E3 promises to be chock full of exciting video games and new information. Here, in no particular order, are the 35 games we are most looking forward to seeing in Los Angeles.
Fallout 4
Announced this week with no little fanfare, more info will be unveiled on this epic jaunt through post-apocalyptic Boston. Will we be getting it as soon as this winter, as rumoured?
Halo 5: Guardians
343 Studios have been coy with details on Master Chief’s latest, teasing us with a missing hero, a new character and ‘a mystery that threatens the entire galaxy’. With the release date looming, expect a fairly hefty info drop at the show.
No Man’s Sky
The hyper-ambitious space exploration sim from a small team in Guildford, No Man’s Sky has captured everyone’s attention with its near infinite, free-form, procedurally-generated galaxies. Can it live up to its promise? And what do you actually do? We’ll find out more next week.
Volume
Mike Bithell’s follow-up to Thomas Was Alone is an exciting stealth adventure given gravitas with acting chops such as Andy Serkis and Danny Wallace. A steadily expanding publicity drive has brought the indie game to widespread attention, and will continue in Los Angeles.
Guitar Hero Live/Rock Band 4
The plastic instrument revival is in full swing. Both games will be jostling for space on the stage at the show and it will be fascinating to see which garners the most positive feedback.
Batman Arkham Knight
One last E3 drive for the Caped Crusader and his fancy car ahead of its 23 June release.
Dishonored 2
As yet unannounced, Arkane’s follow-up to their brilliant steampunk stealth adventure is surely in development. Rumours have recently surfaced that Dishonored 2 isn’t ready to be shown at E3, but Bethesda’s unusual step of hosting their own press conference means some news must be imminent. Expect a confirmation, but perhaps not any gameplay. We live in hope.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Despite the delay until next year, Nathan Drake’s latest global jaunt is high on everyone’s ‘must-see’ list. Expect high-falutin' action and spectacular visuals, but with the writers behind The Last of Us now on script duty, will we see a more sombre Nate?
Dark Souls III
Masochists rejoice! The rumour is that, fresh off fearsomely challenging neo-Victorian RPG Bloodborne, original Dark Souls creator Miyazaki is back at the helm for the next fearsomely challenging medieval RPG. Will we see it at E3? Developer From Software wrote “this E3 will be dark”. My skill at decoding such enigmatic tweets suggests yes, yes it will.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Cult cyberpunk RPG Deus Ex returns, and will be one of the cornerstones of Square Enix’s press conference on Tuesday. Action! Augs! Release date? Hopefully.
Quantum Break
Remedy Software’s experimental time-bending shooter which ties into its own TV show has gone rather quiet. We had hoped to see good progress at E3, lest it be slipping into another Alan Wake-style prolonged development. However, Remedy has said that it will be waiting until Gamescom to reveal any more information.
The Last Guardian
The idea that Team Ico's perpetually absent adventure about a boy and his gryphon would finally re-emerge at E3 2015 seemed fanciful at best. But if rumours are to be believed, that is exactly what's going to happen. Don't go breaking my heart now.
Doom
A new Doom —one of the founding fathers of the first-person shooter— feels like a marquee event. Developer id Software will be unveiling new info on this reboot at Bethesda’s press conference. If the publisher’s relationship to MachineGames brilliant Wolfenstein has any bearing, there is plenty of room for optimism.
The Division
Some concrete progress on Ubisoft’s ambitious massively multiplayer shooter would be welcome. The New York apocalypse action looks great, but constant delays (now to 2016) are a concern. Fears could be assuaged in LA.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Cor blimey. Another Assassin’s Creed, guv? This one set in London and had a pretty thorough announcement in May. You will still get a big presence at E3, though. Expect a spectacular, more polished demonstration, probably at the Xbox or PlayStation conference, as well as Ubisoft’s own.
Battleborn
Borderlands developer Gearbox takes aim at a first-person shooter spin on the popular MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) genre. Fascinating to see how this pans out. Chances are the team are a little busy with this to announce Borderlands 3, as hoped, but you never know.
Crackdown
Last year we got an announcement trailer. This year we want some building-hopping, car-throwing, thug-bashing gameplay.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Following Black Ops II and Advanced Warfare, Call of Duty remains in the future this year with robots to shoot and super-soldiers to control. Developer Treyarch has promise to break the “left trigger, right trigger, dead” Call of Duty tradition. We shall see, eh?
Disney Infinity 3.0
We all knew Star Wars was coming to Disney’s toy-to-life franchise, now it’s time to find out how it fits into Infinity’s toy box.
LEGO Dimensions
More toy-to-life shenanigans, this time with Lego. With a vast catalogue of fiction to choose from —Portal, The Simpsons, Scooby Doo, Doctor Who— the possibilities seem endless. Squeezing those possibilities into a fun game? That’s the challenge. Lego veteran Traveller’s Tales is on the case, though, and they’ve done a pretty fine job so far.
Just Cause 3
Rico Rodriguez visits his home island… and proceeds to blow stuff up and use his grappling hook to get up to mischief. The Just Cause games are enormous fun, we’re hoping JC3 is shaping up just as well.
Mario Maker
Create your own Super Mario levels? Gimme.
Mass Effect
We got but a glimpse of the new Mass Effect at last year’s show and Bioware have kept schtum on their sci-fi opera sequel since. Except to say ‘don’t call it Mass Effect 4’. Shepard is gone, then. But where next? Surely we’ll find out more next week.
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
Controversy over Hideo Kojima’s reported falling out with Konami aside, The Phantom Pain remains on track to be one of this year’s most fascinating and ambitious titles. Nevertheless, a successful progress check here should calm any nerves.
Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst
Two years ago we got the news that cult free-running adventure Mirror’s Edge is making a return. One year ago we got a sliver of development progress from creators DICE. And finally, ahead of the this year's E3 the new game has been unveiled as Mirror's Edge: Catalyst, which the developer says is 'not a sequel' but a reboot of sorts that 'landed on a vision that honors the first game.'
Rise of the Tomb Raider
The announcement that the follow-up to Crystal Dynamics successful Tomb Raider reboot would be Xbox One exclusive caused some consternation last year. Expect Microsoft to go big with Lara in an attempt to win over fans.
Scalebound
Last year Microsoft was successful in repositioning the Xbox One as a proper games machine, after a tricky start to its ‘entertainment’ lead life. The news that they’d snagged Platinum and Hideki Kamiya’s new fantasy game as an exclusive was one for the purists. We don’t know much about it yet though, so let’s hope for more info this time around.
Skylanders Superchargers
The original and, frankly, best in an increasingly crowded market. Skylanders toys-to-life will now feature vehicles. It’s a money spinner for Activision, sure, but the quality of the games are rarely in question.
Until Dawn
Fascinating horror game starring Hayden Panetierre in which a group of teens are stalked by a crazed serial killer. Its narrative focus and player choices that are promised to create a ‘butterfly effect’ might not be the best fit for a frantic trade show, but a glimpse before its August release would be welcome.
XCOM 2
Despite the success of Firaxis’ reboot of sci-fi strategy XCOM, this time its PC only. The developer has promised this will make for the best game they can deliver. Next week should give us a clue as to why.
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Monolith Soft’s mech-filled follow-up to brilliant RPG Xenoblade Chronicles has already released in Japan to rave reviews. Doesn’t stop us wanting to get our hands on it in the West.
The Legend of Zelda
Following a delay, Nintendo has stated that the newest Zelda is unlikely to be shown at E3 this year. But that doesn’t stop us craving another look at a more free-from, expansive version of one of gaming’s finest series.
New Hitman
Ok, so the last game was trash, but there’s no way we’re giving up on a series as cunning and subversive as Hitman. The announcement of a new, Silent Assassin focussed game could be just the tonic to wash out the taste of Absolution.
Star Wars: Battlefront
It’s been a long time coming for a new Star Wars Battlefront, the tactical shooter series. It’s coming later in this, the most Star Warsy of years, and EA has promised a new wave of content and information next week.
Star Fox Wii U
The first Star Fox game made in-house by Nintendo since Star Fox 64 was announced last year, incorporating the Thrustmaster tank and gyroscope aiming. This year we’ve been promised we can play it. We’re barrel-rolling in delight.
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