E3 2014 has been one of my favorite shows so far. That’s mostly due to the huge amount of games that not only came out of nowhere and surprised the heck out of me, but because the a few of the known quantities also managed to make pretty good showings.
Here are a few of my picks.
Favorite surprise: Fantasia
Fantasia was completely out of my radar for this year’s E3. After Microsoft’s killing of Kinect, I had zero hope of seeing anything worthwhile for it at the show. And boy, was I mistaken. Fantasia makes an incredible case for that thing – it’s simple, easy to play and doesn’t take too long to play, much like games I used to enjoy when I was a kid. I would totally play this if, you know, I wanted to buy a Xbox One… which I still don’t.
Favorite multiplayer game: Rainbow Six Siege
What a blast, in more than just one sense of the word. Siege is just about what I didn’t know I wanted out of Rainbow Six. After having months of joy playing the Vegas section of the franchise years ago, I’m glad to see Ubisoft giving ‘Six ago, even after the failure and cancellation of Patriots. Siege is pretty much the natural evolution of Vegas that I never knew I wanted. But I do, a lot. It’s still far off, but it was so much fun as my last game of the show. What a way to close things off.
Favorite indie game: Not a Hero
Devolver’s lot outside of E3 was something to behold. As a very late scheduled appointment, made to be taken after show hours, there honestly wasn’t a whole lot going for. I’m glad it was just the opposite. The amount of indie games being shown there was fantastic, and so was the variety. Sure, Not a Hero isn’t an indie game about not killing people, but it does that so well and like Fantasia, it’s a simple concept to grasp that’s put together so well that I had to keep playing. I can’t wait for it to be out and see the amazing runs people who are way better than me in games are gonna be recording.
Favorite ‘very very early on’ game: The Devil’s Men
Daedalic is very good at making adventure games – that much is obvious. Getting to take a look at their latest game only made that sink deeper. The Devil’s Men is a gorgeously put together adventure game that has the ambition of blurring the line of the early age adventure games that were brutally unfriendly and what we’ve been seeing recently with Telltale, which are all about decisions. Daedalic is taking its time making The Devil’s Men feel like a smarter game for smarter players; it also happens to look gorgeous in the process.
