7 Next-Gen Games We Desperately Want To See At E3 2014

It comes around quick, doesn't it? Seems like only yesterday that Microsoft were announcing the terribly exciting Killer Instinct and now we're already bored of it. They also announced they'd move both Heaven and Earth to stop you playing used games, you filthy cheapskate. And look how that turned out. Sony's Jack Tretton joyfully trolled them for it at the time, though, much to the delight of a whooping, Jerry Springer crowd. And then Nintendo probably revealed some stuff, too, but who really cares about that? So here's why this year's E3 will be the best one ever: Tretton recently stepped down as Sony president, Microsoft revoked all its DRM policies, and Nintendo need to prove the the Wii U is still relevant. In short, the dust has settled and all three are now more or less on the same next-gen playing field. So, all that's left to do at this year's E3 is simply reveal a whole bunch of awesome, exclusive videogames. 'Exclusive' being the key. 2014 will probably forever be known as the battle of the expensive licenses, and with so much for the teams to play for, they absolutely have to be incredible. So that's exciting. Ubisoft will probably kick our teeth in with some multi-platform goodness as well, so it's all adding up to something very special. However, I will immediately preface this by saying "no, Half Life 3 is not on this list." But not, of course, because we don't desperately want to see it, it's just that here at We Got This Covered towers, we operate within the realms of the remotely plausible. Casting Michael Cera as Wolverine? That's plausible. Activision announcing they'll give all future proceeds from Call of Duty sales to EA's cafeteria staff? Plausible. Elvis Presley himself descending from the heavens in order to spread the message 'Hamburgers are healthy'? Still more plausible than Valve coughing up the world's most wanted game. They're not even exhibiting at E3, so don't go thinking that they'll finally surprise you, either. That said, here's what we want to actually get our hands on. 1) Halo 5/ Uncharted 4 You're going to win easy money if you bet on one of these two fierce rivals getting an E3 reveal. Technically I've cheated and grouped them in together because although they may be pretty distinguishable games, their aim is the same: to be the killer, system-shifting IP for their respective consoles. Microsoft are so trusting in their beloved Halo that they built their own dedicated studio for making it. A virtual Halo factory, for all intents and purposes, and with 2012's Halo 4 slipping $220 million into their pockets on launch day alone, you'd have to have a coroner pronounce you dead if you didn't think there was another one ready to go in June. But to contrast, Sony are putting a whole bunch of stock into Naughty Dog, who have been faithfully churning out hits for them since the days of Crash Bandicoot. Uncharted 4, however, is a slightly more tacit assumption. They've basically only just finished The Last of Us, and there's still a dribble of DLC left to come as well as a confirmed PlayStation 4 version in the works. Whilst it doesn't rule out a little teaser logo for Uncharted 4 making an appearance, it does seem like it may be a bit too much of a 'cooks-spoiling-the-broth' scenario. 2) Zelda U The third wheel of the console war is Nintendo. They need positive press, and they need it soon. The Wii U is rapidly fading from the minds of gamers, ostensibly because it's just not getting any original, must-have titles. Don't get me wrong, it's had more than a handful of solid releases, but nothing that would make anyone sitting on the fence jump down with their wallet open. What could change all that? A new Zelda game. Will it happen? As far as we know, probably. What are the clues that led us to this wild speculation? Well, basically that long-time Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma has basically said so. When asked in an interview about the possibility of an original Wii U Zelda game, he stated, "I'll say more at E3 2014." Now, obviously, this is incredibly vague, and could mean he's just waiting to say that it's not actually happening yet - A Link Between Worlds is barely six months old, after all - but it seems unlikely. I imagine Nintendo would bribe him with solid gold Ferrari if he had any thoughts of taking his time. They really, really need this game to happen soon. 3) Star Wars: Battlefront Here we have another DICE developed game (EA sure are keeping those guys busy). Something about this title extra exciting though. Something about this feels right. There's no denying that the epic battles of Star Wars and the mind-blowing amazingness of the Frostbite engine were always destined to be together, like West and Kardashian. Apparently. The danger here then is that what we might end up with is simply another Battlefield game with a Star Wars skin laid across the top. Mind you, even that would be quite mega. We don't have much to go on other than a seemingly pre-rendered trailer that amounts to about 20 seconds of a bit of snow falling and an AT-AT's moving foot. It was enough to illicit rapturous cheering from last year's E3 crowd, though, but it's been alarmingly quiet since then. And with the demise of another next-gen (Boba Fett-centred) Star Wars game 1313 at the hands of infinitely rich Disney, it doesn't leave much room for hope. But we'll keep our fingers crossed. EA are almost as rich these days anyway, though that's probably down to in-game microtransactions - and one thing our fingers aren't crossed for is having to pay $4.99 to get a purple lightsabre. The DICE developers seem positive though, with studio head Patrick Söderlund stating that the project is "a match made in Heaven." 4) Mirror's Edge 2 Give the people what they want. Frequently forgotten English rockers The Kinks said that over 30 years ago, but this simple and unarguable idea is - much like them - often overlooked. People have been clamouring for a parkour part-two since DICE's initial experiment in 2008, but rumours and speculation have always led to nothing. We've recently found a bit of solace in DICE's Battlefield 4, where a TV commercial in the foyer of a Chinese hotel can be seen displaying the ad "Do you like: to run? Do you like: heights? Do you like: color red? FAITH" Faith, of course, being the free-running, red shoe wearing protagonist of the original. It may simply be that DICE are reminding us of their previous work, and we've certainly seen Mirror's Edge Easter eggs in previous Battlefield games, but this time there's a bit more to go on. Like an actual trailer at last year's E3. Still, even that ended with the tagline "Coming... when it's ready." It's been a whole year though, so surely there'll be something to get our hands on by now? Please? Guys? Hello..? Or maybe DICE are just too busy, what with the endless Battlefield DLC (or simply just trying to fix the damn game). Or, maybe it's Mirror's Edge 2 that's eating their time up? 5) Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Why do we so desperately want to see this game in action? Because we paid $40 for the first level already, and we'd just really like to finish it. As offensively brief as it was, Ground Zeros was a pretty good little game, and we absolutely know that the best is yet to come. Hideo Kojima seems to be tackling aim at some pretty taboo subjects here, as he's done in Metal Gears of the past - most obviously the notion of phantom limb pain, the sensation of agonizing physical suffering in an arm or leg despite it no longer being attached. With many soldiers returning from the war in the Middle East disabled by IEDs, this is Social Commentary 101. Kojima's contemporary allegories are always entertaining, and the prospect of spending more time with Snake is always appealing, too. In short, we can't wait to sink our teeth into it. 6) The Division Here, in a word, is why we're excited for Ubisoft's The Division: Snowdrop. I mean, have you seen this game engine running?? It's better looking than an oil painting of Scarlett Johansson laying on a bed of Faberge eggs. It really is. How? I couldn't possibly say - I assume some kind of witchcraft, though. Whatever it is, it's immensely impressive to behold, and really marks the first proper glimpse of an engine built from the ground up with the next generation of consoles in mind. The plot concerns a bunch of people trying to survive in a city wiped out by some man made pandemic. So far so generic, and although it looks sensational, we can't help but wonder whether or not this will actually have any bearing on how good the actual game turns out to be. We say this because had a few rounds with Watch Dogs now - Ubisoft's other delayed IP - and for all its next-gen sheen and kinetic gameplay videos, its seeming so far like a Grand Theft Auto clone with a couple of hacks switched on. Not that this is a bad thing, but it reminds one to not judge a book by its cover. Or a video game by its engine. But damn, did I mention that The Division looks really, really incredible? Oh, right. 7) The Last Guardian A couple of years ago I wrote a piece about my E3 predictions for games that would be playable in 2012. Since The Last Guardian had been revealed two years previously, I thought it was a safe bet to say Sony would finally let us have a go on it. Perhaps that was wishful thinking. Perhaps it still is. Either way, we've seen nothing about it for four years now, and it's starting to break our hearts. It began development way back in 2007, and from the small tidbits we have actually been shown, it looks like it will live up to its impressive pedigree. Developers Team Ico worked wonders on the PlayStation 2, creating critically acclaimed, commercially successful works of stunning, thought-provoking, interactive art with both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. More recently there have been signs of hope, too, with the Sony's president Shuhei Yoshida stating that he has been waiting for the right time to re-introduce the game since it has been "re-engineered." That could only mean for the new PlayStation 4 technology, right? And what better time to reintroduce it than the world's biggest games fair? Team Ico's games' creator Fumito Ueda also said in August of last year that the game was indeed still in development, but Sony's Japan studios were giving it a back seat in order to finish Knack. Well, now that ridiculous, boring piece of shit is finally behind us, we're all praying that the development of the game that the whole world would rather be playing is sitting up front again. Personally, I want this game to happen almost more than I want the next breath in my body. Here's hoping. What games are you waiting to finally see unveiled at E3? Let us know in the comments below!