E3 is just hours away and I can’t wait to hear all the cool stuff people are making that I will want to play when they come out. So much so I’ve decided to make some lists highlighting games I hope to see making their appearances on their respective stages.
Microsoft, despite being overshadowed by Sony’s bombshell price and DRM policy(or lack thereof) last E3, actually had a good showing last year game-wise, and while I don’t own the system, there are games I look forward to seeing them have that could convince me otherwise.
The first one is one they have not been shy in showing off recently and would in fact be a returning game from last year. That would be none other than Insomniac Game’s Sunset Overdrive
I’ve loved Insomniac’s work on Spyro, Ratchet and Clank and Resistance series’, but Ratchet has always been my favorite as a 3D platformer with inventive weapons and heaps of Insomniac charm. That felt like it went a way a bit (or a lot) with their last outing Fuse, but it looks like the charm tank was just building all that time until it burst out all over Sunset Overdrive. The game play seen here looks great and I’m really sad this isn’t coming to PS4, but Insomniac really wanted control over their own IP and it seemed that Microsoft offered them the best deal for that, so you have to respect their reasons for platform exclusivity. All I know is that it’s looking like the moment I ever pick up an Xbox One this game would be pretty high on my list.
Also up there would be the easy answer at a Microsoft press conference, 343 Industries’ Halo 5: Guardians
I’m not the biggest fan of where popular first person shooters went with the genre ever since Call of Duty 4, but I have always had a soft spot for Halo, and space marines are always a welcome sight in my eyes over regular marines. I don’t know much about it besides it’s going to be more Halo, so that’s nice. The team at 343 did an excellent work at picking up the reigns from Bungie for Halo 4, and I expect the same level of quality will be seen in this sequel.
While not a direct sequel, I also expect the same level of quality writing in SWERY’s next outing D4
Now those aren’t games you expected to see next to one another are they? SWERY managed to make the wonderfully absurd and ridiculous send up to Twin Peaks that is Deadly Premonition, so I look forward to experience pretty much anything else he’s behind simply to see what that would entail, and D4 is definitely piquing my interest. All I’ve seen of it so far are some one handed Kinect quick time events in an action sequence on a plane, but the fact that it’s being designed as a kinect game you play sitting down and with one hand specifically so you have the other hand free for popcorn definitely makes me want to see more of it, and while its on this list, it’s pretty unlikely that it will be seen on stage outside of a sizzle reel, but I can dream.
If there’s one thing I dream about more though, its the heavily rumored third party exclusive game from Platinum Games
Platinum Games is behind some of my favorite action games that have a style that is distinctly their own. They are responsible for the best games people-including myself-never buy. I don’t always pick up their games, but I am always interested in what they work on, and if the rumors are true, then we could see a new game from Platinum appear on Microsoft’s stage tomorrow, and if it is, whatever it ends up being, you can guarantee it will be stylish.
This next one is just for me, as it’s definitely not in a genre that’s currently in style, but one that’s ever so dear to my heart, and that would be a new Banjo Kazooie
And when I say a new Banjo Kazooie, I don’t mean like Nuts n’ Bolts. I would absolutely love for a new straight-up 3D platformer be made for the Xbox One, or any console for that matter. Banjo games are really fun, and with Rare now effectively out of making Kinect games due to the new Xbox One SKU, it would be nice to see them work on one of their old properties again, even if pretty much no one is left there that worked on them.
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