Our Ten Most Anticipated Games of E3 2018

Posted by Dave 05 JUNE 2018
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Put that frame you were having on your pool table on hold. It’s that time of year again! E3 2018 is nearly upon us and rumours are starting to fly. For those of you not in the know, E3 is the Electronic Entertainment Expo - held every year at the Los Angeles Convention Center in LA, California - and is the premier event of the gaming calendar, when announcements, videos and demonstrations of the newest games are shown off to the public.

Basically, it’s Gamer Christmas.

If you’re looking for the complete schedule in UK times, E3 have released this handy chart that shows the times of every major presentation and when they’ll take place in GMT:

 

E3 2018 Schedule

 

This year promises to be a big one, with presentations from all of the biggest companies in the video games industry - Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and more - showing off their newest and shiniest projects. Some like to announce what’s going to be shown off beforehand, and some like to keep it as a surprise, so we can’t be sure of everything that’ll happen until we see it. However, armed with rumours and hearsay as well as some hard information, I’ve compiled a list of ten of my most anticipated games of the show.

 

Spider-Man (PlayStation 4)

 

Spider-Man

 

Since his debut on the Atari 2600, Spider-Man has seen some great games in his time (see Spider-Man 2: The Game on PlayStation 2) as well as some awful ones (stay away from Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six on the NES at all costs).

The new Spider-Man game is a PS4 exclusive and looks like it might recapture the magic of some of the best Spidey games, where you can actually swing around a city catching crooks and cracking wise. Insomniac Games - of Ratchet and Clank, Spyro the Dragon and Resistance fame - look to have created a game that lets you inhabit Spider-Man in all of his wall-crawling glory, though of course we’ll have to wait until we get our hands on it to be sure.

 

 

We already have a release date for Spider-Man: you’ll only have to wait until 7th September to do whatever a spider can.

Fun Fact: Insomniac Games were offered the chance to create a game based on any Marvel property they wanted. Spider-Man was their first choice.  

 

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

 

Red Dead Redemption 2

 

As the third game in the series (people always forget Red Dead Revolver), Red Dead Redemption 2 continues Rockstar’s adventures in the Wild West, complete with shootouts at high noon, train robberies and lassoing cattle.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a prequel to the first Red Dead Redemption, making the numbering even more confusing, but that’s not going to detract from the fun. The last game was a massive hit, and Rockstar are also including an online component in the same vein as Grand Theft Auto Online. When this one comes out I’m looking forward to robbing stagecoaches with an online crew, or more likely just being shot in the back by someone who claims to know my mum.

 

 

Red Dead Redemption 2 will be released on October 26.

Fun Fact: Rockstar’s last game, Grand Theft Auto V, is the third best-selling game of all time (sitting just below Tetris and Minecraft).

 

Cyberpunk 2077 (Windows, almost certainly Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

 

Cyberpunk 2077

 

Pretty much everyone loved The Witcher 3, so the next game from CD Projekt Red is always going to draw a lot of attention. While it’s not 100% confirmed that E3 will see them showing off Cyberpunk 2077 - which they’ve been working on for several years already - rather than another game, if it turns out to be something else like a match-3 puzzle game or a digital pet for mobile devices, there will be riots.

Based on a tabletop game set in the far future of 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 will be a role-playing game of making choices and choosing your own path through the dystopian Night City, with (hopefully) the same level of maturity and unpredictability that made The Witcher 3 so popular. 

 

 

We still don’t have a release date for Cyberpunk 2077, though we may get one at E3. Don’t hold your breath though.

Fun Fact: Cyberpunk 2077 will be CD Projekt Red’s first game not based on The Witcher books.

 

The Last of Us: Part II (PlayStation 4)

 

The Last of Us Part II

 

No-one really expected a sequel to The Last of Us; the story came to a natural conclusion at the end of the game, and developers Naughty Dog seemed happy to concentrate on the Uncharted franchise, so the announcement of The Last of Us: Part II came as a surprise in 2016.

With protagonists Ellie and Joel returning from the first game, and a promise of more scavenging, sneaking and getting eaten by infected zombie-like beings, hopes are high for The Last of Us: Part II. The first game is considered to be one of the best games of the PS3 generation (by sensible people, anyway), and with better technology and more experience, Naughty Dog have a good chance of also making the best game of this generation.

 

 

No release date has been announced yet, but hopefully E3 will change that.

Fun Fact: Long before The Last of Us and Uncharted, and even Crash Bandicoot, Naughty Dog (under the name JAM Software) started out by making Math Jam for the Apple II.

 

Battlefield V (Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

 

Battlefield V

 

Despite being numbered as the fifth, Battlefield V is in fact somewhere around the sixteenth game in the long-running Battlefield series (and the previous game was Battlefield 1; these people do not care about numerical order). As with the preceding games, it will involve large-scale multiplayer first-person action, vehicle driving, and lots of guns.

Battlefield V is set in World War II and will feature grand campaigns across multiple maps and game modes, and has already courted controversy for its inclusion of female soldiers in the game. Even more shockingly, however, the developers have stated that there will be no loot boxes (which in other games allow you to spend real money to gamble on gaining an advantage in the game), probably as a result of the backlash over Star Wars Battlefront II. Regardless of any controversy, the Battlefield games always offer a great spectacle and a wonderfully chaotic online experience.

 

 

Battlefield V is due to release on October 19th. Not long to wait!

Fun Fact: Before they became DICE, the development studio Digital Illusions made some of the best pinball games for the Amiga: Pinball Dreams, Pinball Fantasies and Pinball Illusions.

 

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (probably Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

 

Assassins Creed Odyssey

 

Surprising no-one, a new Assassin’s Creed game is coming soon. It has come as a surprise announcement, however - possibly even to Ubisoft themselves - as a leaked photo of some merchandise forced them to acknowledge the existence of the new game.

Assassin’s Creed games all follow a similar formula: run around an open world in a historical setting, climbing buildings and collecting millions of items while following some sort of nonsense story about Assassins, Templars and modern-day evil corporations. Despite this they have enjoyed great success, due to the care and love poured into creating their environments and general feel. This new instalment in the franchise looks to be set in ancient Greece, which means probable appearances by Alexander the Great and a lot of Spartans.

 

 

We know virtually nothing about Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey yet - this announcement comes to you hot off the presses. Expect it to arrive next year at the latest, or possibly this year sometime.

Fun Fact: Assassin’s Creed was initially intended as a spin-off from the famed Prince of Persia series.

 

Kingdom Hearts III (Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

 

Kingdom Hearts III

 

Kingdom Hearts games inspire a special kind of fandom, and that’s putting it mildly. Square Enix haven’t hosted an E3 conference for several years, but this year they’re stepping up and actually showing off Kingdom Hearts III in all its glory.

Since being announced in 2013, the third proper game in the franchise will feature Sora and Disney characters Donald and Goofy, as well as characters from newer Disney properties such as Toy Story, Big Hero 6 and Tangled. Mixing these with Final Fantasy characters, despite sounding like bad fan fiction, gives the game a unique feel and a chance to upend expectations. Fans of the series have been rabidly demanding news on Kingdom Hearts III for years, and this looks to be the E3 that will satisfy them.

 

 

Kingdom Hearts III doesn’t have a release date yet, but it’s rumoured that we’ll actually get one at E3.

Fun Fact: Kingdom Hearts III is the twelfth game in the franchise, which still makes its name more sensible than games like Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and the incredibly named Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue.

 

Metroid Prime 4 (Switch)

 

Metroid Prime 4

 

We still don’t know a lot about Metroid Prime 4 (though hopefully we’ll know more by the end of next week), but rumours are flying. We’re not even certain it’ll be shown off at E3, but having been announced last year with a teaser screen, it seems likely.

The first three Metroid Prime games were developed by Retro Studios, but the rumour mill suggests that Bandai Namco may be involved in the latest game. Working with a third party on the Metroid franchise has worked out in Nintendo’s favour previously (last year’s Samus Returns, developed by MercurySteam, was well-received), so we’ve got high hopes for where the franchise goes next. There’s always the possibility that it may not be featured in Nintendo’s pre-recorded presentation, but my fingers are firmly crossed.

 

 

We should have a release date for Metroid Prime 4 soon, or I’ll be writing a sternly-worded letter to Nintendo.

Fun Fact: Gunpei Yokoi, producer of the first Metroid game, worked on prestigious projects such as Donkey Kong and the Game Boy, as well as less prestigious projects including the Bandai WonderSwan and the Nintendo Virtual Boy.

 

Rage 2 (probably Windows, Xbox One and PlayStation 4)

 

Rage 2

 

Rage was well-received when it released on Windows, Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2011, with its mix of first-person shooting and vehicular combat, but the sequel has been unconfirmed for some time. After Walmart Canada inadvertently leaked the game’s existence, Bethesda confirmed that it really exists and promised to tell us more at E3.

Made as a result of collaboration between id Software and Avalanche Studios, Rage 2 promises to provide more of the same insane action seen in the first game, turned up to 11. After all, id are most famous for the Doom franchise, while Avalanche have made the gloriously insane Just Cause games. With monster trucks engaging in high-octane combat, Rage 2 should be the best sort of mindless fun.

 

 

Rage 2 still doesn’t have a release date, but again, E3 should rectify that.

Fun Fact: Rage 2 was temporarily cancelled in 2012, but only so that Doom could be made. Apparently nothing stands in the way of the grandfather of shooters.

 

Super Smash Bros. (Switch)

 

Super Smash Bros Switch

 

We’re not even sure that the name is confirmed, but we do know that we’ll be seeing a lot more of Super Smash Bros. at E3 this year, as it’s the one game Nintendo have promised to show off.

With its balance of insane explosive action and well-balanced fighting, Super Smash Bros. has been appealing to gamers since the first one hit the N64 in 1999. Bringing together Nintendo staples such as Mario, Pikachu, Donkey Kong and Link in fighting arenas, the basic gameplay has remained the same: beat the pulp out of your opponents before knocking them off the screen. Expect the newest version to feature all of the same characters from previous games, as well as the Inklings from Splatoon and (almost certainly) a few more surprises.

 

 

Super Smash Bros. doesn’t have a release date but should be fully playable at E3, so it can’t be too far from hitting shop shelves.

Fun Fact: Designer Masahiro Sakurai and the late Satoru Iwata worked on Super Smash Bros. as a secret project in their spare time, until it was in a good enough state to show to the higher-ups at Nintendo.

 

Honourable Mentions:

I’m still holding out hope for some news of Final Fantasy VII Remake and Shenmue 3, optimistic though that may seem. Just a couple of years ago the very notion of both games would have sounded completely insane, so I’m glad to live in a world where they’re still coming one day. Even if that day is the same day that we see Half-Life 3.

 

So that’s my round-up of my ten most anticipated games for E3 2018. The event kicks off next week and there’ll be a lot more than just ten games to check out, but I think those will be the most exciting we’ll see. But E3 always has surprises! Last year no-one was expecting a turn-based strategy game featuring Mario and the Rabbids, but we got it, and it was actually good. The year before it was the Crash Bandicoot remake. In 1995 we got a brand new and unexpected console in the Sega Saturn (though that turned out to be a bad idea). We’ll just have to see what happens next week, but rest assured that here at Home Leisure Direct we’ll be watching keenly to catch all of the latest gaming news.

Let me know what games you’re most excited about, and your favourite E3 moments, by getting in touch with me through the comments below, via Facebook, Twitter, Google +, or by emailing [email protected].


Written By: Dave Morgan

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