In the world of gaming, there is no event bigger than the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). E3 2013, poised on the cusp of the next generation, was three packed days of game unveilings. The following is a humble helping of highlights, beginning with some lesser known franchises that will see a new day.
If you didn’t play Mirror’s Edge, I weep for you. Dubbed “The Little Game that Could” (actually I think I’m the only one who says that) its parlour-like agility and refreshing emphasis on non-lethal combat, it spawned a powerful following. Well, a prequel is in the works. It will be arriving some time in 2014 and the in-game footage featured at E3 captured the same intensity fans remember from the original.
Though it was only a teaser trailer, when I saw “Star Wars: Battlefront” appear across the screen, I got chills. Many a night was devoted to this classic series back on the original Xbox and it became the go-to game with friends. A next-gen version of this multiplayer monster will be brilliant, especially with Battlefield 4 developer DICE at the helm.
The Dark Knight returns to fight another day in Batman: Arkham Origins. The Arkham series has been good to the World’s Greatest Detective, combining meaty combat with a blend of gadgetry and open-world detective elements unique to the character. As the name suggests, Origins is a prequel, taking place before the events of 2009’s epic Arkham Asylum. The game will have a few new features, such as the addition of the Batwing to allow faster travel between locations, as well as a blending of gadgets from the previous two games, but the overall gameplay, in all its glory, will remain solidly familiar.
On the Wii U, as fun as the Mario Kart 8 looks, and as excited as I am to see titles like Zelda, Assassin’s Creed IV and Batman: Arkham Origins come to the Wii U, the Nintendo title I think I’m most excited about is Super Mario 3DWorld. Remember Super Mario Bros 2 and how each character had their own special abilities? Same goes for this new iteration, only this time all four players can play simultaneously. Part open-world gameplay and part 2D scrolling fun, this game is poised to capture that nostalgic Super Mario thrill I remember from my days on the original Nintendo.
Kingdom Hearts, a series typically relegated to portable consoles, is finally coming to home consoles. This fantastic action-RPG blends original characters with those from Disney and Final Fantasy. At Sony’s conference, Tetsuya Nomura – you might know his work from a little game called Final Fantasy VII – announced that Kingdom Hearts III would be coming both to the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.
And then there are the heavy hitters, the ones that will break sales records and have gamers lining up for midnight releases. Battlefield 4, Killzone: Shadow Fall, Destiny, and Call of Duty: Ghosts all are games that look incredible and have garnered huge publicity already. Intense action combined with superb presentation make these games the must-haves of 2014. And then there’s the grand finale: Final Fantasy XV. Need I say more?
Games aside, E3 was also the time when Microsoft and Sony announced pricing for their next-gen consoles. Unlike the console wars that swept this generation, the PS4 comes in under Xbox in price, retailing for $399 sans camera while Xbox One comes with a camera for $499. The price seems like a minor difference, especially considering how the “guts” of both machines this time around are remarkably similar, but that $100 may have a number of Xbox gamers, especially those that were on the next-gen fence, saving some cash and going for the PS4.
