E3 2018: Jason’s Top 5 Games of the Show

E3 2018 has come and gone at this point, and wow were there a ton of great titles to get amped about. But, as with all things, only a few can be king.

The best E3 ever?

I don’t know if that subheading is 100% accurate, even in the realm of my opinion. But honestly, it’s close. E3 of 2018 was absolutely loaded with awesome stuff and big announcements. And while some of those games announced won’t see retail till next year, it’s still tough not to get excited.

For a longtime fan, I can’t not get excited for the likes of Halo Infinite and Battletoads. That’s true even though there’s nothing to really even talk about yet. In the case of the Toads, there wasn’t even a trailer.

There were plenty of games though, that do warrant actual excitement and interest. Probably too many, now that I think about it. Still though, I’ll try and narrow the dozens of titles I’m targeting down to a top five. With maybe, maybe, some honorable mentions…

Doom Eternal

Of course I’m more excited for Doom Eternal than anything else this year. Even though, you know, it’s probably not coming out this year. Still, the quick glimpse that Bethesda showed off included a whole mess of nods to the classic PC franchise like Hell on Earth, plenty of demons, and the return of both the Arch-Vile and the DoomSlayer’s sleeveless armor. I know, that’s not all that interesting, but it gets the current designs even closer to the classics, and that’s awesome.

I can’t wait to see more this August at QuakeCon.

Gears Tactics

A year ago, I probably wouldn’t have been all that excited about Gears as a turn-based strategy game. But that was before I played Mario + Rabbids and finally (finally!) got why the genre is so much fun.

We published a Make this Game a while back about a Gears RTS, and I completely fell in love with the idea. While I’d still like to see a real-time strategy take on the Gears universe, I’m more than down for a little Tactics action too.

Cyberpunk 2077

In development for what seems like hundreds of years, CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 has seen the light of day. And what did that light reveal? Possibly the Game of the Year for whenever this one finally hits.

A massive open-world, incredible character designs and locales, first-person gameplay, and a very mature narrative all combine to make Cyberpunk the singular RPG that I cannot wait to play. I will gladly pour a whole mess of hours into this one. Sorry in advance to whatever else comes out that month/season.

Resident Evil 2

Still the greatest entry in Capcom’s survival horror series according to me, RE2’s remake is looking like a masterpiece. Unveiled at Sony’s press event, the game looks like a completely new adventure, remade from the ground up for modern consoles.

The game will feature new takes on classic locations, newly redesigned scenes and events, and some of the most incredible graphics in RE history. This is one not to be missed for fans, and those who are interested in Resident Evil, but too caught up in its convoluted narrative to dive in. Start here.

Marvel’s Spider-Man

No, I’m still not a fan of that brutal costume. Still though, there’s no denying that behind that big white spider is a game that looks freaking amazing. Harkening back to the best Spidey titles of old, Marvel’s Spider-Man will let you loose as the web-head, swinging through a massive NYC loaded with stuff to do and villains to fight. And man, does it look good doing it.

With rumors of some Avengers and others being in the game, and a promise of additional Spidey-suits that you can don (thank God), this fall can’t come soon enough.

More?!

Of course there are more. While I have my top five above, I also had to dole out a few honorable mentions. And they are:

• Battlefield V
• Metro Exodus
• Gears of War 5
• Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
• Rage 2

But it wasn’t all great

As great as the show was, there was also a heavy dose of disappointment. With what? Games that were no-shows. There was a whole mess of stuff that I was dying to see finally debut that just didn’t appear for some reason. Likewise, there were six games that were rumored, that turned out to be just that, and some that I personally thought we’d see that didn’t materialize.

Nintendo gets the brunt of my ire here, as their Metroid Prime 4 was not even mentioned, and there was no classic/New/3D Super Mario either. I felt fairly confident they’d announce something along those lines. Oh well. There was also no new Donkey Kong Country, and the seemingly dead F-Zero series stayed that way.

EA also did some talking about Star Wars: Fallen Order, and then promptly showed nothing of it. Way to go. And while we’re talking about “nothing”, Rocksteady’s rumored Superman game, NetherRealm’s hinted-at Mortal Kombat 11, and Square Enix’ seemingly vaporware Avengers title was absent too.

So there was some disappointment, though overall I can’t complain too much. This past E3 was a kick in the pants show, and there’s no shortage of awesome stuff to look forward too.