We Got This Covered’s Best Games Of E3 2015

Now that the We Got This Covered team has had time to marinate on the biggest and brightest announcements from a memorable E3 event, it's now time to select our favorite games from the show. It was by no means easy, particularly when you consider just how many press conferences there were. Bethesda kicked things off on the eve of Day Zero with a lean and mean showcase, toplined by a blood-drenched Doom and a detailed look at the lush world of Fallout 4 - a world that we'll no doubt be spending umpteen hours in come November. Barely twenty-four hours had passed when Microsoft took to the stage to bolster its first-party line-up, and the Xbox One has a renewed sense of purpose under the astute leadership of Phil Spencer. Gone are the days when Microsoft was trumpeting the Kinect and the "all-in-one" entertainment system from the rooftops. Then, Sony sent the Internet into a tailspin with a press conference that was bordering on fan fiction; announcing - or indeed re-revealing - The Last Guardian, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Shenmue 3 in one fell swoop. In truth, few could have predicted a show brimming with nostalgia, and it's clear just how much the community values old games considering the rapturous reception of backwards compatibility on Xbox One. For the purpose of this feature, though, we're looking forward; forward into late 2015 and the early stages of 2016 to assemble our most-anticipated titles now that the curtain has dropped on an E3 event that will likely go down in history as one of the very best. So, why don't you join us? Joe Pring - Shenmue 3 We know exactly what you’re thinking. “How can anyone be excited about Shenmue 3 when Yu Suzuki had nothing to show off except for an announcement that the game might be a reality if the public can get behind it on Kickstarter?” No, we’re not mind readers, it’s just a logical thought that anyone would have before they’d open their arms in acceptance of a sequel that fans have been waiting to see for fourteen agonizing years. But we’re in a post-E3 world now, and Shenmue 3’s fundraising campaign has been more than just a little successful. In fact, the game reached it's $2m goal so fast that it broke records, and if that isn’t enough indication that Shenmue fans still exist, we don’t know what is. If you never owned a Sega Dreamcast (seriously, shame on you), you might even be totally unaware of why everyone loses their shit every time the word Shenmue is uttered. The long and the short of it is this; the original game, released all the way back in 1999, lit the gaming world on fire due to how pioneering some its features were. Aside from the unprecedented open world and visual fidelity (for the time), Shenmue’s world perfectly captured its setting - that of an 80s Japan that was slowly becoming more and more influenced by American culture. While the overarching narrative of the series has always been about protagonist Ryo Hazuki finding the man that killed his father, Shenmue’s draw has always been about how well it personifies the term ‘the devil’s in the details.’ Arcades (with real Sega games to play), shops, nine-to-five jobs, sleuthing and exploration - it was all there, and you were encouraged to do it in whatever order you wanted, whenever you wanted. Why are excited about Shenmue 3? Well, it’s the realization of a dream - not just of Yu Suzuki’s dream, but every single fan who has spent over a decade waiting for the dream to become reality. Will it live up to the hype? Only time will tell. John Fleury - Star Fox Zero In its early days, Nintendo's Star Fox series initially gained exposure due to being one of the first home console games to utilize 3D polygonal graphics. A few years later, the series cemented its place in gaming culture with the classic Star Fox 64. Later games strayed too far from the previously established rail shooter formula and fumbled their execution in various ways, and for almost an entire decade, outside of the 3DS remake of the Nintendo 64 entry, the future seemed bleak for the series. That's all changed after the latest Nintendo Direct stream, with the Wii U exclusive Star Fox Zero taking center stage among Nintendo's E3 announcements this year. Zero looks to make a proper return to the spaceship-based shoot-em-up action the series' first two entries are beloved for, with a new, high-definition coat of paint, new vehicles to drive, and the clever use of the Wii U GamePad's gyroscape for precision aiming. The Star Fox series looks to be making a long-awaited return later this year, and for longtime Nintendo fans, it looks like it may be worth the wait. Gareth Cartwright - Ghost Recon: Wildlands Choosing just one game that I was really excited for after E3 was probably one of the toughest decisions I've made for a long time; this year's conference was just mind-blowingly good at times! While there were a few truly worthy contenders, when I really sat down to think about it there was only one true winner... Ghost Recon: Wildlands was something I completely was not expecting to see. I've heard a few comments trying to detract from it, saying it's nothing more than The Division set outside of New York, but every little nugget of information Ubisoft revealed for it just made me more and more excited. For starters, I think that the pedigree Ubisoft have achieved for crafting huge, immersive open worlds really caught my attention when they started talking about this game; the fact that there will be entire political factions and the opportunity to embed a team into the fabric of an ambient world is something that really appealed to me. The tactical side of the Ghost Recon series has always been a gaming highlight for me, and the numerous paths to mission success that the gameplay trailers showcased demonstrated that Ubisoft are keen to make that stronger and more flexible than ever. I've always been a huge fan of there being a genuine replay value in the games I play, and the different approaches players will be able to take in this game will definitely keep me going back for more. Star Wars: Battlefront may have spoken to the fan-boy within me, but Wildlands awoke my gaming spirit like no other title at the conference. For that, I have no hesitation in calling it the best game I saw at E3 2015… Christian Law - The Last Guardian With Sony’s press conference nearly killing the competition, it’s a bit difficult to pick out just one title that got me more excited than the rest. While the Final Fantasy 7 remake trailer had the stadium collectively creaming their pants with nostalgia, what really got me excited was finally seeing some gameplay from The Last Guardian, that elusive exclusive that’s become something of a punchline in the past few years. Not only did Sony finally show off some of the impressive gameplay, but they opened their conference with this bad, doing their best to kick things off with a bang. Although the game itself looks like little more than a combination of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, it was exciting to finally witness another step in the title’s slow, steady march towards release. Whether or not it looks like something you’ll enjoy, it feels great knowing such an esteemed studio is still hard at work on something that looks a little different than what we’re used to. That’s not to slag off the gameplay trailer by any means, as the interaction between the guardian and the boy was downright adorable at times. I’m guessing since the guardian looks like a dog it’ll most likely die and bring players to tears in the end, but that’s a cliché so ingrained in the public consciousness that it would almost be worse if things ended differently. Still, it was amazing to see Sony actually offer genuine gameplay on display rather than pre-rendered cutscenes, and The Last Guardian is shaping up to be another can’t-miss title once it’s finally released next year. Let’s just hope we don’t see another trailer at E3 2016 alongside an apology for the delay. Michael Briers - Horizon: Zero Dawn Sandwiched in between The Last Guardian re-reveal and the Final Fantasy 7 Remake during Sony’s E3 presser, Horizon: Zero Dawn could have so easily been overshadowed by the headline acts — starstruck by games that even the wishful thinkers among us didn’t really expect. Such was the remarkable quality of Guerrilla Games’ showcase, though, that Horizon set itself apart from every square inch of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Here is a studio that has been refined and yet restricted by the Killzone IP in generations past; tethered to a generic militaristic shooter with an unyielding commitment to a drab, mud-brown color palette — Shadow Fall notwithstanding. Perhaps that’s why Horizon feels like a breath of fresh air. Not only did Guerrilla’s new IP arguably steal the show for the most jaw-dropping visuals, but the concept of a post-post-apocalyptic war between man and machine is so radically different from a studio that has fought the Helghast fight for Sony since 2004. When Shuhei Yoshida spoke in the aftermath of that demo, he hinted that Horizon could be nurtured into a new franchise for Sony — and we have every reason to believe him. Set in a far-future where the remnants of humanity have been relegated to tribalistic cave dwellers, Zero Dawn will follow Aloy as she explores a beautiful world wherein humans have been knocked from atop the food chain. There’s a new apex predator in town, you see, and they can only be described as towering, mechanized dinosaurs. From what we understand, Guerrilla’s eye-catching creations will serve as the crux of the story — how did they come about? Is coexistence possible? And can someone please tell us if we can train one? — and we’re already cautiously optimistic ahead of Horizon: Zero Dawn’s debut on PlayStation 4 in 2016. Chad Goodmurphy - South Park: The Fractured But Whole It was just last year when Matt Stone and Trey Parker blew our collective wigs with the release of South Park: The Stick of Truth, a licensed game that perfectly captured the essence of its inspiration. Now, out of nowhere, comes the news that the two comedic geniuses are working on another interactive romp through South Park dubbed South Park: The Fractured But Whole. And here we thought they hated making video games… I was lucky enough to be in the upper portion of Los Angeles’ Orpheum Theatre when The Fractured But Whole was revealed, and to say that the place became electric would be an understatement. Of course, things got even louder when both Stone and Parker took to the stage to officially introduce their new video game, which carries the torch forward from The Stick of Truth. In this particular outing, the crass-mouthed kids are back in role-playing form, but happen to be wearing different costumes. That’s because – as the trailer so perfectly showed us – we’ll be playing superheroes this time around, as opposed to warriors, wizards and princesses. As such, we can surely look forward to some hilariously awesome new attacks, not to mention another insanely memorable storyline. It’s undoubtedly an exciting project, and one that sticks out amongst the crowd after what was an exceptional and unexpected reveal. Not only that, but given how great The Stick of Truth ended up being, it’s hard not to be excited. Here’s hoping that South Park: The Fractured But Whole will do more than just live up to its masterful predecessor, but also push things forward in incredible ways. We know that it has the potential.

We Got This Covered’s Best Games Of E3 2015

John Fleury – Star Fox Zero