E3’s right around the corner now and in the big show, we’re going to be seeing a lot of awesome games filled with win. EA will be bringing in the biggest lot, from what I can tell. In this post, we check out which games are worth getting excited for. And there is, of course, the entire EA Line-Up right below:
• Dead Space
• FaceBreaker
• Hasbro Family Game Night
• Littlest Pet Shop
• Madden NFL 09
• Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
• Mirror’s Edge
• iPhone/iPod Touch Games from EA Mobile
• The Sims 2 Apartment Pets
• Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 for the PSP
• Zubo
• MySims (PC)
• MySims Kingdom (Wii, DS)
• Spore
• Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09
• Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
• Command & Conquer Red Alert 3
• Crysis Warhead
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
• SimCity Creator (Wii)
• NBA Live 09
• NCAA® Football 09
• Skate It
• Rock Band™ 2
• Left 4 Dead
Definitely a mouthful. Check out the slightly more detailed looks by hitting the jump!
Dead Space
Consoles: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Genre: Third-Person Survival Horror
Science Fiction horror isn’t new to video games. We’ve seen System Shock, Doom, and many more. What makes Dead Space special? Dead Space will put an important focus on dismemberment (or as the devs are calling it, strategic dismemberment). Playing Isaac Clarke, an engineer, you will use improvised weapons to take on “necromorphs”, who will be dismembered or will sprout new limbs. With an animated movie and a comic series coming out, EA seems intent on making it as big as Halo.
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
Consoles: PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Genre: Sandbox Action
Set in Venezuela, Mercenaries 2 will bring in a whole lot of exciting features to the great sandbox formula: destructible environments, co-op and a fire effects engine that will let you set fire to oil, foliage and such. And what pyromaniac will not like that? New vehicles and new stuff in general will make this an exciting action-fest.
Mirror’s Edge
Consoles: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Genre: First-Person Action
A game I have my personal eye on, Mirror’s Edge could very well be the next Portal. Set in a futuristic dystopia were surveillance reigns supreme, you will play as Faith, a “runner”. In the game world, runners are essentially top-secret couriers used to transmit sensitive information. With a notably different art design, Mirror’s Edge will twist the First-Person Shooter genre by putting an emphasis on agility, movement and melée rather than guns and shooting. With neat parkour tricks and a whole new and fresh world, this is definitely a game to look out for.
Spore
Consoles: PC, Mac
Genre: Real-Time Strategy, Various
Perhaps this year’s most innovative and highly-awaited title, Spore comes from the awesome factory of Will Wright, Maxis. In Spore, you command nature by creating an entire species of creatures right from the cellular stage, into the age of civilization and over to the point where you go around for some galactic expansion. The game will be very varied in scope, blending several different genres, but it is most importantly an experiment in procedural generation and user-generated content. So will this kick off a Video Game 2.0 revolution? That remains to be seen.
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
Consoles: PC
Genre: Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game
Warhammer’s foray into the MMO world appears ambitious, perhaps spurred by the success of World of WarCraft and Age of Conan. Set in the fantasy world of constant war, Warhammer, the game will have massive Realm vs. Realm battles and a complex hierarchy of your characters. Warhammer Online will put quite a bit of focus on customizability, allowing you to make your character truly unique. But the question is, Will it Blend? Will it topple World of WarCraft’s monopoly over the MMO world?
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
Consoles: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Genre: Real-Time Strategy
The third game in the Red Alert sub-series of the legendary Command & Conquer franchise will pit you in a battle of Allies vs. Soviets in a parallel universe where World War II never happened. The game will feature a brand new faction, the Empire of the Rising Sun (we all know where that one is) and will feature ludicrous characters, including armoured attack bears for the Soviets and Macross-esque units for the Rising Sun. Also expect Tanya to return, and a much more detailed emphasis on naval warfare.
Crysis Warhead
Consoles: PC
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Crysis Warhead will be a spin-off (not a sequel) to last year’s supercomputer-guzzling hit, Crysis. It’s most notable feature is that it will actually run on mid-range computers and will have lower system requirements than Crysis. Oh, and it will have a new and updated version of the CryENGINE 2, which should offer even more photorealistic beauty. As far as the story goes, it will play parallel to that of the original game, as you will play as Sergeant Michael ‘Psycho’ Sykes. Expect new vehicles and brand new, fully customizable vehicles in this $30 deal.
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
Consoles: PC, PS3, Xbox 360, DS
Genre: Action
In this Lord of the Rings version of Star Wars: Battlefront, you will play as either a soldier of good or evil. The multiplayer appears to be exciting, as with all Star Wars: Battlefront. The game will involve participation by Weta Studios for creation of the props and other material. With content that was cut from the movies and other what-if scenarios, this will be a treat for Lord of the Rings fans, or anyone who’s up for a good multiplayer game of fantasy slashing!
Rock Band 2
Consoles: PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
Genre: Music
The sequel to last year’s Rock Band and the competitor to Activision Blizzard’s Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Rock Band 2 will feature a “battle of the bands” mode where you fight in tournaments organized by Harmonix. Harmonix has ambitiously stated that the game will be directed at those who want to sing and play the guitar, as the game will feature a solo mode that will allow users to transition from “expert” to “real instruments”.
Left 4 Dead
Consoles: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Developed by Turtle Rock Studios (now part of Valve), Left 4 Dead will feature four survivors of a zombie apocalypse, battling it out against infected players. With an emphasis on team-based and co-operative play, this will put an interesting twist on the classic zombie shooter genre.