The Tip Top Ten of E3

Well, E3’s all over (including the shouting) and by and large it was a pretty good bash, especially compared to last year’s table-top/car-boot sale thing. There was a shocking amount of stuff up for perusal, so much so that I could barely bring myself to check the RSS feeds at one point – that “1000+ articles unread” indicator was just taunting me. But at the end of the day… there have to be winners! And these are mine – an alphabetically-ordered list of the ten most exciting games from last week’s coverage. You will probably disagree, but hey – this is my song! 🙂

Alan Wake (360, PC)
Yes, it’s taken ages. Yes, it looks a bit like Alone in the Dark. Yes, his flashlight beam looks like some kind of laser sword. Yes, I am still very excited that this could be the survival horror to save survival horror. If only they can actually get it finished.

Assassin’s Creed 2 (360, PC, PS3)
I was a sucker for the first game and despite not appearing to be that different, this certainly gets the old juices flowing again. Watching the very entertaining gameplay demo at the Sony show was like revisiting an old friend. And no doubt I’ll be doing just that in the run up to Christmas.

Brutal Legend (360, PS3)
Tim Schafer, Jack Black, classic metal imagery, classic metal tracks, Lemmy, Ozzy Osbourne… what could possibly go wrong with this project? Oh, that’s right – sour grapes from Activision. Let’s hope they don’t keep it off the shelves, because I’m super-excited about this one!

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (360, PS3)
Out of nowhere, Lords of Shadow suddenly became a Castlevania-based God of War rip-off rather than a common-or-garden God of War rip-off. But rather surprisingly… it looked rather impressive. A 3D Castlevania that actually works? Satan’s ice-skates on stand-by.

God of War 3 (PS3)
What can I say? What do I need to say? It’s God of War. On PS3. Just the same, but shinier. But when the previous games were already smashing, what more do you need?

Just Cause 2 (360, PC, PS3)
In from the left-field, this one caught me completely off-guard. Having paid it basically no attention at all, a ten-minute developer walkthrough of some of the things that are possible in the (frankly gorgeous) engine made me a convert on the spot. Attaching enemies to missiles and then firing them off? Yes please!

Mass Effect 2 (360, PC)
I loved the first one to pieces, so obviously I can’t wait for the sequel. Bigger, better, more is all I wanted and… that looks pretty much like being exactly what I’ll get. Please make sure you iron the rough edges off the engine this time though, Bioware.

Mini Ninjas (360, PS3, Wii, DS)
A cartoon ninja adventure from the guys who make Hitman? I dismissed this almost instantly when I first heard about it, but I was wrong. The gameplay videos look great – a cross between Okami and Wind Waker. And you can possess animals. Looks amusing, looks pretty, looks unusual. Looks like one to watch!

Scribblenauts (DS)
A DS game? Yes! But not just any old DS game. Where else could you pit God against the great Cthulu and see who wins? An astonishing idea, made even more astonishing by the fact that it actually seems to work… and on a humble DS to boot. Holy crap!

The Last Guardian (PS3)
Last but most definitely not least – Team Ico’s latest. I know basically nothing about it, but I want it. It will be awesome. The idea of this somehow being a letdown is just complete nonsense. So there.

So there we go – a healthy mix of stuff, I think, and believe me there were plenty of games which could have equally made this list if I hadn’t limited myself to my favourite ten. The future’s bright, no? Better check my bank balance.