E3 delivered relatively little in the way of genuine surprises – the bulk of what was shown was much as we expected. But with plenty of new footage on display there's still plenty to look forward to in the next year or two. Putting aside sequels and familiar intellectual property, here are five that particularly stood out.
Cyberpunk 2077
Coming to: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
From CD Projekt Red, the developer behind The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt comes Cyberpunk 2077, a first-person perspective open world role-play game based on the tabletop role-play game Cyberpunk 2020. The noirish city setting may not be the most original, but combined with highly-customizable player characters and play styles, branching dialog a la Mass Effect, and hopefully some solid action, we're hoping for something stellar from 2077. One thing's almost certain – with a development team said to be bigger than that for Witcher 3, this will likely be a massive massive game.
Ghost of Tsushima
Coming to: PlayStation 4
Bad news for those suffering from open-world fatigue perhaps, but like Cyberpunk 2077, Ghost of Tsushima is another enticing take on the format. Here, developer Sucker Punch Productions transports the gamer to 13th century Japan, at the time of the Mongol invasions. An action-adventure rather than all-out role-play game, this samurai game promises stealth alongside the sword-fighting and horse-riding you'd expect. Coming from the developer of the Infamous series, Ghost of Tsushima will hopefully deliver a game befitting this time and place in history.
Skull and Bones
Coming to: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Cynically, one might say this is the boat bits of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag stripped out to make its own game. But the gameplay shown to date suggests something rather deeper, with highly customizable ships to take to the seas and into battle, either single player or online. Developed by Ubisoft Singapore, this will inevitably have some Black Flag in its DNA, but since those were arguably the strongest aspects of the game, that's no bad thing. Non-Xbox owners looking for an answer to Sea of Thieves take note.
Maneater
Coming to: PC
Perhaps the most out-there game on this list, Maneater sees the player assume the role of a bull shark in the waters off the US Gulf Coast. The idea of a single-player role-play game based on a shark may sound laughable, but developer Blindside Interactive promises "deep stats," including the ability to upgrade select parts of the shark's anatomy. Role-playing aside, Blindside promises "visceral, heart-pounding action." We're yet to be convinced, but this is one to watch if you're a PC gamer after something a little different.
Death Stranding
Coming to: PlayStation 4
Despite new footage coming out of this year's E3, we're still really none the wiser about Hideo Kojima's forthcoming deeply (and hopefully richly) weird action game. The visuals look stunning, featuring facial-scanned and motion-captured performances from Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux, Mads Mikkelsen and Lindsay Wagner, but also beautiful other-worldly landscapes. Yet another open world game, Death Stranding is sure to set itself apart with Kojima's trademark oddball creativity. The game promises to play with the notions of life, death and time in ways that are meaningful to the actual gameplay.
Have your own favorites from E3? Let us know in the comments.
