For those of you who don't know, E3 is the Electronic Entertainment Expo held in California every Spring and provides a preview of Video Games currently in development. Today's blog will introduce many of the highly anticipated titles scheduled for release over the next year.
The Halo franchise is Microsoft's flagship series for the Xbox 360. Developed by Bungie studios in Kirkland, Washington, the series has two new upcoming titles. The first, Halo 3: ODST, a stand-alone expansion of the Halo 3 story, hits stores September 22nd. The story of ODST takes place two weeks prior to the events of Halo 3 and for the first time in the series, gives players control of a character other than Master Cheif Petty Officer John-117, this time introducing 'The Rookie', an unnamed member of the UNSC Marines' Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs) or "Helljumpers". The story revolves around his deployment to New Mombassa as he tries to uncover the fate of his 4 missing teammates, aided by the city's AI known as the 'super-attendant'. Sci-Fi Fans should also be happy to note that one of the games main characters, Dare, is being voiced by Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer.
The second is Halo: Reach. Not much has been released concerning storyline except that it plays as a prequel to the original Halo: Combat Evolved title.
2007 saw the release of Bioshock and established 2K studios, who had previously co-developed Bethesda's Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion, as a new front runner in the arena of game development. Reviews for the first title were exemplary, with an emphasis on its deeply woven storyline. An L.A. Times reporter best encompassed the general reception of the game by saying, "Sure, it's fun to play, looks spectacular and is easy to control. But it also does something no other game has done to date: It really makes you feel."
With the original Bioshock having garnered countless awards and the coveted 'Best-In Show' award at E3 2007, the pressure is on and the stakes even higher for 2K with the release of Bioshock 2.
Finally, Several years after it's release, Sony's Playstation 3 system is finally getting it's just desserts, with some of this years most anticipated titles being released exclusively on the PS3. Scheduled upcoming titles encompass a wide variety of genres, from traditional fantasy role-playing games to mature rated thrillers. Sony, having lost many previously loyal-fans to Microsoft's Xbox 360 system and it's huge catalog of titles, will undoubtedly be re-establishing much of its old fan base with three much talked-about games previewed at this years E3.
The first is Heavy Rain, an adult mystery thriller developed by French studio, Quantic Dream. In it, you play four different characters, all on the hunt for 'the origami killer'. It's next-gen, adult geared approach to story development and game play has many people in the industry speculating that it will be the game to watch for in 2010.
This years most anticipated title was thanks to Square-Enix. First premiering at E3 2006, Final Fantasy XIII has been a close kept secret. Outside of the few game trailers and snippets of information released by Square-Enix over the past four years, not much is known of the title. Originally slated for exclusive release in Blu-Ray form on the PS3, Square has since established that the title is also in development for a multi-disc release on Microsoft's Xbox 360 platform. Both are slated to hit shelves in 2010. As well, two other titles, set in the Final Fantasy XIII world, Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3) and Final Fantasy Agilo XIII (PSP), are in development, Though there is no word yet on weither the latter will receive a North American release.
Last but not least, the biggest surprise of E3 this year was also courtesy of Square-Enix. After the showing of the new English Final Fantasy XIII trailer, Square shocked the pants off the audience with the worldwide premiere of their new, nex-gen Massively Multi-player Online RPG, Final Fantasy XIV, also being released in 2010 on both the PS3 and PC.
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