Sluggo’s 100 Games of E3 2011

21. DIABLO III
Date TBA || PC || D/P: Blizzard
Blizzard skipped E3 this year, so it’s altogether possible that we might not get any more details on Diablo III may until Blizzcon this October. Will the game release in 2011 or will we have to wait until next year? Sadly, E3 told us none of this.

22. DmC
2012 || X360, PS3 || D: Ninja Theory, P: Capcom
It hasn’t been the easiest going so far for Ninja Theory’s Devil May Cry reboot. Fans have not responded well to Dante’s new, younger look, and the trailer released for E3 was criticized for looking like the same action seen in the previous games. Apparently, to a lot of fans, “old gameplay + giving the characters a Twilight makeover” was not the direction they were hoping for.

23. DOOM 4
Date TBA || X360, PS3, PC || D: id Software, P: Bethesda
id announced this a while back and has confirmed that not only is it still in the works, but that it’ll get turned around and released a lot faster than the seven years it took to get Rage done. Otherwise, id was mum on the subject at E3 2011, predictably focusing all their attention to Rage‘s launch this September.

24. DOTA 2
Date TBA || PC || D/P: Valve
The full-blown sequel to the Warcraft III custom “Defense of the Ancients” scenario was officially announced to be in development at Valve in 2010, with lead designer IceFrog leading the charge. But Valve skipped E3 this year, so further details, which have already been few in coming, will have to wait for some other time.

25. DRAGON’S DOGMA
Mar 2012 || X360, PS3 || D/P: Capcom
A new hack-and-slash fantasy-action game from Capcom, the team working on Dragon’s Dogma comes from a variety of games like Resident Evil 4 and Devil May Cry 4. Players will slice through the game as a member of a party, and demos shown at E3 focused on the fighter class.

26. DRIVER: SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 30 2011 || X360, PS3, PC || D/P: Ubisoft
After a 7-year hiatus, Tanner and the Driver series makes their first appearance on the current crop of consoles with a game set on the streets of San Francisco. Picking up after the events of Driv3r, Tanner starts the game in a coma but has a supernatural ability to view San Francisco from above and even possess the driver of any car on the road, which might sound ridiculous in terms of plot but could set up some interesting driving missions. E3 also gave Ubisoft a chance to show how this “shift” ability would work in multiplayer, where one person is being chased by the field, creating a world where almost every car in the city could be after you.

27. DUST 514
2012 || PS3 || D/P: CCP
One of the most fascinating games shown at E3, Dust 514 is a strikingly attractive Unreal engine-powered MMOFPS set within the Eve Online universe… and it’s PS3-only. In some ways, it’s almost like a completely separate game within Eve Online played on a different platform: Eve players can actually issue contracts that Dust players can accept to try and take over certain planets, and the economies of the two games are linked, sharing the in-game currency of ISK. Whether CCP can deliver on this, and in a timely manner, is something that will be watched closely.

28. ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM
Nov 11 2011 || X360, PS3, PC || D/P: Bethesda
A game that will inevitably walk off with a number of E3 awards, the latest Elder Scrolls game features greatly improved graphics, the ability to play in first or third-person, over 150 dungeons, and a giant, open world with tons to explore. Dragons play a large role in the game, factoring into the main storyline, offering epic boss fights and providing special shout powers you can absorb from their defeated souls. The demos shown at E3 offered a healthy sampling of gameplay from various parts of Skyrim, and it’s hard to imagine any fan of Bethesda’s earlier games isn’t positively drooling at the footage offered at E3.

29. F1 2011
Sept 20 2011 || X360, PS3, PC || D/P: Codemasters
Multiplayer is a big focus for F1 2011, as the much-requested splitscreen support is being added for the console versions, and online play is being upped to 24 cars (16 humans + 8 AI cars). A co-op feature is also going under the hood, allowing two players to work together to win a championship, and of course, new rules and rosters for the 2011 season.

30. FABLE: THE JOURNEY
TBA 2012 || X360 Kinect || D: Lionhead, P: Microsoft
A mild surprise from Microsoft’s press conference was Lionhead’s Peter Molyneux debuting Fable: The Journey, an Xbox 360 exclusive designed completely around Kinect to do everything from casting spells, using items and even snapping reins to ride horses. Not much else about the game was revealed, so it’s unknown whether this will be a full-sized Fable game or a smaller, linear spin-off meant to take advantage of Kinect, but the latter seems more likely.

31. FAR CRY 3
TBA 2012 || X360, PS3, PC || D/P: Ubisoft
One of the nicest surprises of E3 2011, Ubisoft announced Far Cry 3 at its E3 press briefing to huge applause. Not a continuation of either of the previous Far Cry titles, FC3 will return to the formula of the first game, dropping you on a tropical island and giving you huge environments to explore and fight through. The game’s E3 showing featured lots of in-game footage and live gameplay, and generated a lot of excitement with a combination of lush locations and offbeat characters.

32. FIFA 12
Sept 30 2011 || X360, PS3, WII, PC || D: EA Canada, P: EA Sports
Soccer … err, football may not be as popular here as on the other side of the pond, but EA has big plans for the successful FIFA series, including a “tactical defending” system, precision dribbling, and an advanced collision system (which all of EA Sports’ offerings this year seem to boast in some form). But maybe the biggest addition is a new online feature called “Football Club,” where you’ll have a persistent career profile that will extend across multiple versions of FIFA.

33. FINAL FANTASY XIII-2
Early 2012 || X360, PS3 || D/P: Square Enix
A rare “proper” sequel within the FF series, E3 was a chance for the game’s developers to tout how the game will be more “player-driven” than “story-driven,” another way of saying the game wouldn’t be as linear as its predecessor (a common review complaint). Square came to E3 armed with a hefty amount of gameplay footage, introducing several new characters and showing off how areas of the game have evolved since FF XIII.

34. FORZA MOTORSPORT 4
Oct 11 2011 || X360 || D: Turn 10, P: Microsoft
One of the world’s most popular car racing franchises returns to the starting line in October, offering plenty of car porn to go with the racing experience. Via a partnership with Top Gear, you can explore many of the cars in the garage, pore over every inch of the vehicle and enjoy a guided tour without stepping foot on a track. In addition to playing in the traditional manner or with any number of racing wheels, a great deal of Kinect functionality has been implemented, including camera tracking that lets you look left and right by slightly turning your head.

35. GEARS OF WAR 3
Sept 20 2011 || X360 || D: Epic, P: Microsoft
After some delays, the final (?) entry in the Gears trilogy is set to hit the Xbox 360 this fall, so Epic used E3 to show off a few more pieces of gameplay featuring Baird and Cole as well as a revamped “Horde 2.0” mode. Epic’s Cliffy B promises this will be the largest Gears campaign to date, so all that’s left at this point is to sharpen up the lancer and wait for September to roll around.

36. GOD OF WAR: ORIGINS COLLECTION
Sept 13 2011 || PS3 || D: Ready at Dawn, P: Sony
Jonesing for more big-screen God of War? Announced at E3, this September, both God of War PSP games (Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta) will hit the PS3 with HD remasters, complete with 1080p support, 3D support and trophies.

37. GRAND THEFT AUTO V
Date TBA || Platforms TBA || D/P: Rockstar
It’s been 3 years since GTA IV, and while Rockstar has enjoyed much success with other titles like Red Dead Redemption and the just-released L.A. Noire, there were high hopes that, even if Rockstar did their usual shunning of E3, that some kind of announcement or teaser trailer for GTA V might show up in one of the press conferences. And while the game is generally assumed to be in development, the official announcement will have to wait.

38. GHOST RECON: FUTURE SOLDIER
Mar 2012 || X360, PS3 || D/P: Ubisoft
It was a busy E3 for the latest entry in the Ghost Recon series, which shifts back to a third-person view and focuses on advanced technology and squad-based co-op play. It initially showed up at Microsoft’s press briefing with a slick trailer and a look at the game’s “gunsmith” feature, where, via voice commands and Kinect, you can completely disassemble a weapon and rebuild customized hardware. But the game will work just fine with regular controllers as well, as was demonstrated during Ubisoft’s press conference via a live 4-person co-op demo.

39. GHOST RECON ONLINE
TBA 2011 || PC || D/P: Ubisoft
Not to be confused with Future Soldier, Ghost Recon Online is a free-to-play game being developed by Ubisoft’s Singapore studio. The game is scheduled to go into beta testing sometime this summer and release for the later in 2011 for the PC, with a future Wii U version also announced. Not many details were released at E3, other than there will be several classes of soldier to play as, and that the game will be supported via premium content.

40. GUILD WARS 2
Date TBA || PC || D: ArenaNet, P: NCSoft
If you were hoping for big Guild Wars 2 info out of E3, you’re out of luck. ArenaNet has a busy tour set up for this summer, but E3 isn’t on it – they’ll be attending ComicCon in July, GamesCon and PAX in August, and while there have been reports that a beta will happen this year, there’s no sign of the game coming any time before 2012.

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