Most Anticipated of E3: Tom

E3 is all but upon us, and the hype trains are running totally out of control. Remember that bit at the end of Back to the Future Part III? That’s what they’re like this year. Where we’re going, we don’t need roads… although we sort of do, actually, because Los Angeles is like one giant freeway with a few shops next to it.

In this series of articles, VideoGamer.com staff members single out some of the games they’re most eager to see at this year’s show. Today it’s Tom’s turn.

NGP

This isn’t a game, but I don’t care. I’m excited about the NGP, and the prospect of finally seeing some games that we’ll get in the near future. Over the past year I’ve grown fonder of handheld gaming thanks to my iPod Touch, but there’s still a gap in the market: I’ve wanted a handheld with two analogue sticks for donkey’s years, and now such a device is almost upon us. The lack of twin-stick controls blighted the PSP, and the importance of their inclusion here can’t be understated.

Call of Duty has already been announced for the system, and we know this won’t be a cheap cash-in like we’ve seen on the DS and PSP over the years. Games like Uncharted should play like their big home console brothers, and hopefully dodgy camera control in handheld action games will be a thing of the past. I managed to get mildly excited about the 3DS, despite the fact that none of the launch games really interested me, but the NGP should obliterate Nintendo’s offering if it has even a smattering of good launch titles. I’d settle for Uncharted and WipEout, but a launch day CoD would be the icing on the cake.

Aliens: Colonial Marines

They mostly come out at E3… mostly.

This one has had me excited ever since it was first revealed. I love Aliens, I love first-person shooters, and I generally love Gearbox. I can’t be the only one who is longing for a game that captures the atmosphere, tension and intensity seen in the Aliens movie – certainly not going on the huge sales of the so-so Aliens Vs Predator from last year – and this one has been in the oven long enough to be something quite special. Surely SEGA won’t want to sully the license it has paid top dollar to secure.

Early screens looked incredibly promising, but a lot could have changed since then. Aliens Vs Predator was a fairly straight up, by-the-numbers take on the license, but Colonial Marines appears to be more serious. A full-on co-op campaign set within a derelict and abandoned colony on a Xenomorph-infested planet would be perfect. We already know Gearbox can do co-op as good as anyone, thanks to the excellent and multi-million selling Borderlands.

Please, Gearbox and SEGA: Don’t mess this up. If you do I’ll look sadder than that burnt doll’s head you sent me in the post.

Gears of War 3

I was happily getting on with my life, with Gears of War 3 barely registering on my radar, but then the campaign reveal trailer hit. It’s no secret that I love the first two games, but what I’d seen of three didn’t really get my heart racing. The trailer, on the other hand, looks phenomenal. From the look of it Gears 3 will contain everything I want in an action game: Plenty of set-pieces, gorgeous visuals, stunning shootouts and big, scary monsters. I’ve never managed to get into multiplayer Gears of War, so the positive reaction to the beta didn’t have any effect on me, but the latest video has pushed Epic’s latest right to the top of my most anticipated list.

Given the relatively low-spec of the Xbox 360 compared to the hardware seen in new PCs, I didn’t think the new Gears would impress me nearly as much as the original two had – but I was wrong. I’m hoping to see Cliff Bleszinski take to the stage at Microsoft’s E3 conference and give us all a beautiful tour of a never-seen-before level. Fingers crossed that this demo doesn’t feature Kinect in any shape or form; I’m not against hardcore titles getting the Kinect treatment, but they should be kept as separate entities so the quality of the main game isn’t compromised. Gears of War 3 could well be one of the Xbox 360’s last huge exclusives – if the next console is around the corner, that is – so Epic needs to go out with a bang. I don’t doubt it can deliver.

Other games I’m eager to see: rumoured Halo remake, Forza 4, Hitman Absolution, Tomb Raider, XCOM, BioShock Infinite, Uncharted 3 and SSX.