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Top 10 Games I'd Love to see at E3!

With E3 just around the corner I have some expectations about what will be shown, but this list is about the games I'd love to see however unlikely it may be - but hey, a guy can dream!

10. The last Guardian

Although theories and speculation are rife about this game since it's inception in 2007 I actually am expecting to see something on this game, the original was a truly brilliant game and I hope Sony avoids butchering this classic, which I assume is why the development cycle has been so long, although this isn't always a good thing (i'm looking at you duke!) if executed well and with exclusivity to the PS4 this could really bolster hardware sales also.

9. Max Payne 4

This is a franchise i'd love to see get another addition to the brilliant trilogy, the stories are expertly crafted and delivered, the action is fast paced, gripping and who can forget how bad ass bullet time was! I'd love to join the pill popping gunslinger in another adventure, although we're unlikely to hear an announced anytime soon.

8. Half Life 3

Now I know what your thinking, this should have been higher on my list but while I am a huge fan of the half life games and how they've impacted the world of gaming, I cant help but feel that this game will not live up to the colossal amount of hype surrounding it - nevertheless I'm sure that valve will not allow a beloved franchise like this to be sub par, just give us something Gabe!

No Caption Provided

7. Shadow of the Colossus 2

I adored this game, it was fun, difficult and compelling, the shear scale of the colossi alone had me in awe the first time playing it, not to mention that superb soundtrack that really rounded off the experience. This was a truly epic game and I would love to see it get the sequel it so rightly deserves.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbqtXlXRl4

6. Rainbow 6: Patriots

Coincidentally Rainbow 6 takes the number 6 spot on my list, it seems that showing games early and then delaying them has become somewhat of a staple in their marketing strategies (watchdogs and the division spring to mind), after hearing about this game around two years ago we've had news that they essentially brought it back to the drawing board. This game looked like it was shaping up to be a top class shooter and i'm excited to see what they do with it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTrgNxeUWw8

5. No Man's Sky

Since it's trailer and announcement at the VGX awards I have been eager to hear more about Hello games studio's new game, everything about it excites me, it's exploration based on the gorgeous procedurally generated planets, the gameplay, the presentation, soundtrack and discovery mechanics to name a few. this has all the makings of an exceptional game, but alas the studio has had an issue with flooding which has of course pushed back development but I hope it gets somewhat of a showing at E3 as i'm eager to see more.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJLmWV7BF4w

4. Resident Evil 7

With the two previous iterations being to put it nicely, not the best in the hugely successful series, i'm very interested to see how Capcom will get back on the right track with these games as the change from a survival horror to a pretty generic action game has hurt the franchise quite a bit - but nevertheless Resident evil still has huge amounts of potential and I cant see Capcom making the same mistake for a third time.

3. Mirror's Edge 2

This game is without a doubt one of my favorite games of the previous generation, it provided a real interesting spin on a pretty stale genre, the idea was relatively simple but ingenious, granted the game was a tad clunky and the story wasn't the greatest, but the experience is simply one not too be missed and deserved a lot more notoriety than it got. I feel that now is the ideal time to transform this single proof of concept into one of the great franchises thanks to the next gen platforms, fingers crossed it makes an appearance at E3.

2. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

(****WARNING SLIGHT SPOILERS****) First of all let me be clear that I am a HUGE metal gear fan, and have absolutely no doubts that this will be an exceptional game, I do however have a couple of concerns about its direction as apposed to its predecessors, I fear that it will take itself too seriously, I did not like the way ground zeroes story panned out - most notably the way in which they handled the returning character Paz.. I felt it was completely unnecessary, it seemed like Kojima went out of his way to make you feel uncomfortable for the shock value, metal gear has always had a light hearted approach to serious situations, but ditching that in favor of this much, much darker approach is not the way metal gear should be going in my opinion (No more cardboard boxes!?).

No Caption Provided

My other concern is about Metal gear online, this was without a shadow of a doubt my favorite online game, and after sinking 1500 + hours into it i was extremely upset to see the servers shut down, It was everything I wanted in an online competitive shooter, tight interesting mechanics, quality game modes, features such as becoming an instructor, RPG elements, in game currency to change the aesthetics of your character and a brilliant scaling level and emblem system; not to mention the fun I had competing with my clan in survival and the bi - weekly tournament for unique rewards; bearing all this in mind i have very high expectations of MGO 2 and am a little less optimistic after hearing development had been handed to a western developer, now on the contrary this may in fact end up improving on the concept, all I hope is that it is just that - an improvement on the original concept and not a complete change. Needless to say I will be keeping a close eye on MGS V, and im sure Konami will not disappoint!

1. Fallout 4

Not really a surprise I know but I am so excited to hear any news on this game, or at least an official conformation that it exists, it's killing me! this has to be the most anticipated game of this year and with good reason, plus after the Elder scrolls online release which in my opinion was pretty disappointing, us hardcore fans need another top notch iteration to satiate our appetites, Fingers crossed we will see something at E3!.

If your interested in what i'd like to see in Fallout 4 check out my wishlist right here and also comment on what you would like to see in a new fallout game

My Fallout 4 Wishlist!

There you have it, the top 10 games i'd really love to see at E3 2014; but i'm interested to know, what are the games you would like to see at E3? or even to see have a sequel? leave your answers in the comment section & Thanks for reading!

My Fallout 4 Wishlist!

I'm obsessed with both the fallout series and the elder scrolls series, I play them religiously, create content and even read the novels ( I literally live and breathe the stuff I swear) so naturally it's killing me to know that there is without a doubt a new fallout game in the works, and not a even a peek at the game ( thesurvivor2299 website you tease!) while I've been waiting I've come up with 10 Wishlist features that i'd love to see implemented into fallout 4.

    • More NPC's in towns and battles - Current gen has put some severe limitations in this regard but next gen will allow Bethesda to have full creative reign. Sure the great battle with liberty prime in fallout 3 and the battle of hoover dam were epic but they were really underpopulated, i'd love for them to feel more alive as this would really hit home the importance of these events rather than feeling like a very lackluster experience, especially considering that it's involving two main military factions colliding in battle over a key strategic objective. Towns also suffer from this, only having a few NPC's in a town that could hold much more, especially in places that feel as though they should be lively and bustling with people like the Vegas strip.

    • Improved combat - The combat in my opinion has never had the same impact as i assumed it should, hitting someone with a sledgehammer should differ from a combat knife or machete; it all seems floaty for lack of a better term, although skyrim improved this a great deal from previous iterations in both series it can do with being refined further, give it more feeling and less forgiving. Gun play also suffers from this, while in VATS you can get away with it you can't escape that its pretty bad out of VATS, I think they should model it after a more current FPS (and 3rd person shooter) but not any, they should make it more akin to the metro series as I feel it will tie in well with the survival, bleak atmosphere and create some fun, tense moments - not just backpedaling and taking pot shots at everything till it goes down.

    • Improved Crafting - While crafting has been present its barely a factor in either of the Fallout games, the weapons aren't necessary and ammo creation is awkward, plus with the rate and type of weapons that spawn you can get a really good gun at early levels, an abundance of ammo and caps come ridiculously easy killing the feeling of having to work for a decent gun. I think they should change the rate of weapon and ammo spawns, this will give players an incentive to scavenge for ammo & weapon crafting parts and make survival aspect of the game more apparent.

    • Animation Revamp - Skyrim has corrected this hugely, so I have no doubt that it will be fixed but it is in dire need in the Fallout franchise, the awkward run and weapon animations (Namely melee) and the severe lack of facial and idle animations for NPC's really detract from the immersive nature of the world.

    • A meaningful Hardcore mode - Although some steps were made to implement survival choices into the franchises, much more could be done to this as it was simply too easy, food was easy to come by, limbs were fixed for a low price or with the abundance of doctor bags and it was easy to heal with stims by exploiting the backpedal speed. I think a lot can be learned from the modding community in this respect, especially in skyrim as they had mods that made you take everything from calorie and nutrients, to your body temperature and cleanliness into account (along with respective custom cleaning & eating animations); this accompanied with in depth hunting and camping options will really create a true survival experience.

    • Modes of Transport - This is a feature that the whole fallout community want to see and I think it will fit perfectly with the huge, gorgeous content filled worlds that Bethesda are so adept at making, i hate walking past broken cars and motorcycles thinking ' why can't I just fix this car up and use it'. the inclusion of vehicles will greatly dissuade players from simply fast traveling everywhere, or tediously walking through previously explored areas. However they should not be added without meaning; there should be a trade off - they should be difficult to maintain, fragile and possibly need fuel, and the global fast travel system should be changed to complement this, with a sort of hub based system where you pay a caravan etc to travel to main cities and points of interest depending on where that specific service will travel too.

    • Housing/ Base system - This seems quite a popular thing in gaming at the moment, and some mods have done this brilliantly but I think that its an overdue feature to be implemented with interesting mechanics into the fallout franchise, sure you can get a few pre-built locations but nowhere that you can really customize as your own, you could possibly even build it yourself similar to what's seen in hearthfire for skyrim; and defend it from raiding parties and other threats the waste can throw at you.

    • Interesting Character creation - While character creation is quite in depth cosmetically I feel that it could be improved upon, the choices I made with the exception of wild wasteland (awesome) had little effect to the game. adding a custom background for your character, with certain bonuses depending on your choice for example say if you was a bounty hunter you would receive combat bonuses, or medicinal bonuses if you was a trained doctor - this would be a really neat addition along with a trade off when inputting skill points to make you specialize, and not be amazing at everything.

    • Improved User interface - The user interface has always been awkward on PC, with me almost always installing a mod to sort it out and save me from the endless scrolling through bland static menus, not only this but a change to the UI in game would add to the immersive nature; by making it smoother, dynamic and only displaying relevant information when needed it will allow the player to take in the impressive sights that no doubt this game will have in abundance.

    • A meaningful Karma / popularity system -Whether I choose to be an a**hole or a saint, i want my choices to have a meaningful effect on the game world, I want my infamous exploits to be relayed to other inhabitants and for them to react to it. also if i do something so evil say Nuke a town full of innocent people I shouldn't be able to come back from that; seriously, I leveled a whole town how are you cool with that?!.

These are just a few of the features I hope make it into the game, I have the utmost faith in Bethesda to make a top notch game, now come on Bethesda its been long enough, Give me something!

My opinion on the state of VR, and its applications

Virtual reality has always been an interesting topic in the world of gaming and with good reason, although previous attempts (I'm looking at you Virtual Boy!) have missed the mark, I think with the technology available today we can make that dream a reality, although it will take some time to perfect; the incredible potential as seen in the early iterations of project 'Morpheus' and the oculus rift cannot be ignored.

we've come a long way from the battery powered, 384 x 224 resolution days of the virtual boy some problems there are many problems that still present themselves, such as:

  • Motion sickness & motion blur
  • Display coverage
  • Applications (gaming, watching movies etc)
  • Control schemes
  • comfort

the main function of this headset is to immerse the player into a fully realised 3D experience - and in a product that relies solely on immersion as it's goal, there are too many immersion breaking challenges that need to be overcome, the topic of motion sickness plays a huge factor in the usability of these headsets of course, why would you want to use a system that makes you feel like vomiting every time?, in certain games this problem is more obvious, take Unreal tournament 3 for example, the movement speed in that game is extremely high, but the change in acceleration immediately in the opposite direction is equally high with barely any slow down period, resulting in the body feeling a sort of simulated G force, with no effects to the body, this in turn results in confusion and ultimately sickness, Although the feeling of motion sickness varies from person to person it has been said that the new build of the Oculus rift has eliminated a lot of motion sickness issues in some content, this shows promise but for the VR headsets to appeal this problem must be overcame or for the most part stamped out. Motion blur and frame rate issues can also tie into this, they can break immersion and in the worst case scenario contribute to motion sickness - a way to combat this would be to increase frame rates, but this cannot be guaranteed as there are optimization issues, screen tearing, texture popping etc that can occur in both console and PC versions of games, also another factor with PC's can be that simply everyone's system specifications are different - how can you develop a stable game that will run at or over the necessary frame rate threshold on these systems varying in power? do you effectively gate off that part of the audience that will not be able too, or make them reduce their graphical quality which will in itself break immersion? this I can see being a large factor in VR technology as it advances.

in many of the tech demo's I've seen and read ( Morpheus mainly) there are some 'dead spots' in the displays facial coverage - points at which you can see your hands holding the controller or Playstation move, this can be an immersion breaker in some cases and while not a big problem, the disparity between seeing your in game character holding a sword and shield for example then looking down and your holding a standard controller. while i don't see this as a huge problem personally I could see this being an issue for some.

while the benefits of it's usage in gaming are apparent, i can see this tech being used in other industries, the two I can see the most promise in are the movie industry, and in the medical field also, i'll explain:

ever been on an extremely long flight trying to watch a film on a tablet or mobile phone? or simply don't want to watch the awful selection of in flight movies on offer? then this tech is for you, imagine being able to sit back, relax and watch a movie in a cinema like experience complete with a huge panoramic view and crisp audio, while not worrying if your elbows are nudging the guy next to you or even just relaxing at home, I can see VR becoming a staple of this industry, with companies tailoring specific experiences (like that seen in the game deep) that take advantage of the devices motion tracking technology. To a certain extent VR is already being used in the medical field to deal with mental illness - mainly post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The national alliance on Mental illness currently use it to help soldiers deal with PTSD gained from the stresses of war.

Control schemes I feel will be a great point of contention with this system. do you use the headset motion tracking? use PlayStation move or a normal dual shock? this will be a choice purely based on the preference of the gamer and/or game they are playing for example your not gonna try and play a twitch shooter like Call of duty using head tracking and/or PlayStation Move (unless your fond of dying or want to break something in your house) but I think , why should this tech make you feel like you have to use motion to play all games? i'd be content just using the headset as I would a monitor because it would be a damn site more immersive than my current set up and I don't have to flail around trying to hit someone with a sword on a game like skyrim, this also benefits those of us who are unfortunately stuck with the small bedroom where movement is restricted to a couple of paces.Comfort i feel is going to play a big role in the headsets, it's great that you are immersed, but will you want to play more if the headbands make you sweat? or the size of the headset is restrictive or in the worst case the display gets steamed up? this could be a deal breaker for me personally as I need to feel comfortable while enjoying the game, especially in a game like the elder scrolls of fallout in which i could loose hours playing.

These are a few of the opinions and concerns I have with this technology from a gamer's point of view, but I am extremely excited to see where this technology ends up in 10 years, and i truly believe this will take off and revolutionize the way we view and interact with media in the future, but only time will tell.