Each year, E3 brings the biggest and brightest of the video game industry together to showcase their forthcoming titles and technologies. With tens of thousands of people from all across the sector in attendance, this is the ideal chance to grab gamers’ attention and whet appetites for the next big things to hit the market. With 2015’s trade show almost ready to open its doors (running between the 16 – 18th June), what can we expect to see?
Post-Apocalyptic Fun Meets Star Wars
Last week, the first trailer for the eagerly-awaited Fallout 4 exploded across the internet, teasing fans with glimpses of a ruined Boston, Deathclaws, Super-Mutants, and more. Developers Bethesda will be presenting a gameplay demo which promises to build on what we glimpsed in the trailer, hopefully answering a few questions: will players get to experience the pre-atomic world we saw footage of? Will the V.A.T.S. System return? What new elements will this game bring to the series?
The next big title most of us want to see more of is Star Wars: Battlefront. As the third main game in the series never arrived (a few PSP titles were released, which expanded on the original two instalments’ gameplay with new features), fans have been waiting almost ten years for a fresh main instalment. While this reboot definitely takes a few departures (the single-player story mode will be vastly different, space-based battles are out, and teams are said to be smaller), it still looks set to provide some incredibly immersive action, with amazing reverence for the films; this is also based solely on the original trilogy – so anyone hoping to play as clone troopers or CIS-bots will be disappointed.
Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst is also expected to appear, likely with a presentation of in-game footage – the first title may have been released some years back, but there are still plenty of fans keen for more of its first-person parkour action. The reboot of the Need for Speed series may also be presented, rounding out EA’s big three.
Assassins, Soldiers, and Shooters
Ubisoft will be presenting three titles: Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, set in a Victorian London which looks to have been recreated with impressive detail, definitely an under-used setting in video games; Rainbow Six, another instalment in the game based on Tom Clancy’s fiction, will be presented in some form – as it’s released later this year, we expect to see plenty of gameplay; lastly, post-apocalyptic action game The Division, set in New York City, will also make an appearance.
Square-Enix has already said they’re waiting until later on in the year to show us Final Fantasy XV (is it really that long since the mighty seventh game?!), but Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the newest entry in the beloved cyberpunk series, will be featured during their show.
Activision is likely to attract plenty of attention with Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Destiny, and Skylanders Super Chargers. As well as Fallout 4, Bethesda will be showing off Doom – a new take on the first-person shooter that basically kick-started the genre: how will this fare against such giants as COD? Early footage has just hit the internet, and the brief glimpse is a bloody, action-packed assault on the senses – will a deeper insight raise or lower expectations?
What about other titles like Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, LEGO Jurassic World, and Just Cause 3? These are almost definite to make a big impact, with the Metal Gear franchise still well-loved by many.
As well as the slew of games we’ll see at E3, new technology will also be seen. Three major virtual-reality systems – the Oculus Rift, Project Morpheus, and HTC Vive – will all hit the market within the next year, and companies will want to show off the new tech’s potential here.
