3. Gears of War 3: This one should be obvious after the story arc that was left following Gears of War 2 – After all, I’m not saying that the series has a narrative that can stand-up against a lot of games, but it is more interesting than most, no doubt. Humanity is fighting to survive as are the Locusts with the Lambent making it perfectly clear that they aren’t screwing around whatsoever about eating the faces of everyone they can get their slimy claws on. With Dom more emo than ever after having to put Maria out of her misery and Anya finally stepping up and throwing on her Ass-kicking pants, it seems that we can all agree on one thing beyond a shadow of a doubt – Dom’s beard looks pretty awesome. With the promise of new game mechanics that will hopefully shake up what we’ve all gotten used to over the past several years along with a mech suit that people will be virtually team-killing to get their hands-on, Gears 3 will most likely shape up to be the big obstacle for Killzone 2 when it releases early next year. In the meantime though, be sure to wipe the drool up after watching whatever Epic decides to show off at E3.
2. Halo: Reach: The final Halo project that Bungie has publicly stated they’ll have a hand in, it’s almost a sad thing to see them go – but reassuring that they’ll hopefully move on and accomplish bigger and better things in the future. All the gale force publicity surrounding Halo: Reach, it isn’t a far stretch to say that people are really damn excited for the game – if by no other indication than the fact that there have once again been announced standard, limited and Legendary editions of the game. I’m sure all of us know at least one person who can’t wait to get their hands on the game, but with Bungie aiming to create a grim, dark story set during the Fall of Reach – this one just might be the bang the Halo universe was looking to go out on.
1. Project Natal: It would seem like I wouldn’t need to mention this – but I have to despite that fact it isn’t a game. Natal might revolutionize the way we play video games or it might flop, but I think with everything that we’ve seen and heard about it in the time between now and last year’s E3, we just want to finally know how much it will cost so we can either bitch about it being too expensive or not. Well, that and we’d all like to know whether or not it’s going to work exactly as promised. In all fairness, I don’t think it will be perfect right out of the gate, but it’s nice to know that Microsoft will have something in their arsenal capable of directly threatening the Wii and keeping pace with the PlayStation Move. Suffice to say, without the inherent competition that’s been around since Nintendo and Sega first went at it, where would the fun be. But, I for one can’t wait to see what Natal has in store for all of us and it definitely deserves it’s spot at the top of this list.
Bonus. Valve’s Surprise: Valve supposedly has a surprise up their sleeve for E3. While we’ve already been told that it isn’t a sequel to Portal, which has been pushed back to 2011, it still is a bit of cause for speculation. Given that Valve has consistently brought their work to both the PC and the 360 – this is, without mincing words, a big f-ing deal. What could it be? Half-Life 3? More Left 4 Dead content? This is one of the big questions that we’ll all have to wait until next week to have answered – and in the meantime be sure to not hold our breathes so as to avoid passing out.
What are you looking forward to the most this year for E3? If you could get there, what would be the first thing you would run and check out? Click here for our hub of Electronic Entertainment Expo news and write-ups, as well as follow our Twitter (click here) feed for quick thoughts/pictures. Go ahead and hit up our forums to share your opinions, but in the interim be sure to stay tuned to PlanetXbox360 for the latest news, features and reviews for everyone’s favorite Microsoft console.
