5. Firewatch
In this first-person adventure, you take the role of a ranger in charge of keeping a wilderness area safe and free of hooligans defacing government property. At E3 they showed some footage of rock-climbing, fixing broken cable wires, and best of all banter between the protagonist and a woman on the other end of the radio. I’m not usually one to like this style of game, but it looks like there’s some decent game mechanics and an interesting plot. I’m also a huge fan of witty banter between characters, which is one of the main reasons I’m excited to put out fires in this upcoming indie title. It’s slated for this year, but does not have an official release date. Hopefully it won’t get pushed back to 2016.
4. Rainbow Six: Siege
Next up is the Tom Clancy game Rainbow Six: Siege. This game debuted at last year’s E3 as well, and it had me stoked then. Now, with more information about the various game modes and some insight into those modes, I am even more excited to play this tactical FPS.
I have been waiting a long time to play a game again that puts tactics at the forefront of the game instead of simply pointing a gun and shooting. I’m sure there will still be a fair share of that, but I think that with the added game modes it will require teams to work together in order to take back hostages, defuse bombs, and secure locations. I’ve signed up for the beta and hopefully I’ll get a chance to try it out before the game releases on October 13th.
3. Star Wars: Battlefront
When this game was announced last year, people across the interwebs weren’t as excited as EA had hoped, myself included. A beloved franchise was finally resurfacing with the much acclaimed DICE studios taking the reins. However, information was released that made many people skeptical of the upcoming Star Wars game. Many people disliked how few maps there were and the size of the teams, a factor that the previous games strived to make unique about the series.
I feel that at this year’s E3, EA showed off some new footage that has at least made me excited for this game for the first time. The gunplay looks fun, the fighter jets look like they’re easy to control, and the lightsaber duels look like they’ll be taking up most of my time with the game. With the footage that was shown, I am now excited to play with and against my friends at home on the couch or online when the game hits store shelves on November 17th.
2. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Now that it is officially set for a late 2015 release on PS4, I am stoked for this game. I am a huge fan of the series and cannot wait to play as Nathan Drake one last time. Even though the showing at E3 had a little bit of a tumble with getting started, the gameplay they showed off at the end of Sony’s press conference was spectacular. Drivable vehicles, witty banter that almost solely makes the series for me, and unmistakeable Uncharted action are just a few of the reasons that I’m excited to go on another treasure hunt on October 9th.
1. Fallout 4
For the grand finale, one of the biggest nukes of E3 2015: Fallout 4. It’s been seven years since Bethesda has made a Fallout game, and they seem to have improved upon it drastically. They pulled the same trick with Skyrim back at E3 2011, and announced it within five months of its release. They managed to keep any concrete evidence of its existence a secret since the first ruminations surfaced on the internet.
There’s an interesting mystery tied into the story: How did the player character survive 200 years in a vault after seemingly blowing up with the drop of a nuke? To that list of improvements we can also add the vast, open-world of Boston and the new customization system. Everything has been improved upon. Fallout 4 seems to add some of the gaming industry’s favorite game mechanics, like building a settlement to call home, into the base game. Add in the Fallout humor, along with a plethora of other great mechanics that they have refined in their extensive experience working on RPGs, and you have the makings of my potential game of the year. I can’t wait to slay Deathclaws and have my pet dog fetch me wrenches in the wasteland of Boston when Fallout 4 is released November 10th.
Hope you like my list. Let me know what you’re looking forward to in the coming year, now that E3 is over.
