Best of E3 2016

Just as quick as it came, E3 has gone. Here is a short look back at some of the best games from the biggest event in gaming (at least for a few more years anyway).

Most promising gameplay trailer/demo

• Titanfall 2- Video
• Dishonored 2- Video
• Ghost Recon Wild Lands- Video (w/ the ICONIC Ubisoft press conference canned chatter.)
• Horizon: Zero Dawn- Video
• God of War- Video
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild- Video
• Agents of Mayhem- Video
• Civilization VI- Video

Runners Up: Civilization VI: Everything I've heard about Civ 6 makes it sound like the team at Firaxis is making some smart changes to the regular Civilization formula. From the new district system to the way the tech tree will be influenced by the location of your cities sound like incredible ways to keep the game fresh well past the 500 hours I will likely put into this installment.

God of War: As much as I love all the God of War games (yes, even Ascension), I also love the new direction the newest entry seems to be heading. It is a massive change, but after this many games, it may be the most exciting thing God of War had ever done.

Winner: Horizon: Zero Dawn: This game fully captured my attention with its unveil last E3, but every time I see more of it, I can't help but get excited. If the game is half as good as it looks, PS4 users may be in for something special.

Biggest Announcement

• Fallout 4 VR
• Elder Scrolls Online removing level restrictions
• Confirming of Project Scorpio/Neo
• Resident Evil 7 in VR
• Crash Bandicoot Remasters.

Runners Up: Elder Scrolls Online removing level restrictions: Changing one of the core tenants of MMO game removing level restrictions for content is unheard of. This may be an idea that other MMOs adapt, possibly changing the way this genre of games is made.

Fallout 4 VR: This is a big announcement because Fallout 4 is the first marquee game to appear on VR. Whether or not it succeeds will remain to be seen, but that does not take away from this major announcement.

Winner: Official confirmations of Project Scorpio/Neo: After months of rumors and leaks, finally having Sony and Microsoft officially confirm the upgraded consoles is a big deal for obvious reasons. While the others are major news for a part of the industry, this is a massive change for the entire industry.

Most interesting new IP

• Vampyr
• Prey
• ReCore
• Death Stranding
• Tacoma
• The Last Guardian
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Agents of Mayhem
• Cuphead

Runners Up: Vampyr: This game makes it on here because of the track record of developer DONTNOD. Remember Me had a fantastic concept that wasn't executed well and Life is Strange had a similarly great concept and pulled off some of the most memorable things I've seen in a long time. No matter what people think of their games, Vampyr shows that DONTNOD can sure as hell come up with some enticing ideas.

Horizon: Zero Dawn: My hype for this game knows no bounds. If all I knew about this game was robot dinosaurs, it would still make this list. More games should have robot dinosaurs.

Winner: Death Stranding: Two words: Hideo freaking Kojima. Even more words: Hideo freaking Kojima not being restrained by the Metal Gear franchise. I can't wait to hear more about this game

Most likely to disappoint (aka the Hopefully I'm wrong award)

• Battlefield 1 (Company track record in recent years.)
• Titanfall 2 (previous game)
• South Park: The Fractured but Whole (trailers weren’t great)
• Watch Dogs 2 (Track record, Tonal Dissonance, missing opportunities to tackle interesting topics)
• The Last Guardian (Too much hype)
• Mafia 3 (major tonal dissonance)

Runners Up: The Last Guardian: This is an obvious choice for this category. The only reason it doesn't win is because it heavily resembles its two legendary predecessors. With Shadow of the Colossus being one of the 3 games that I've ever given a 5-star rating, The Last Guardian does have the possibility of being downright masterful. But then again, it is The Last Guardian and for that, it makes this list.

Watch Dogs 2: Let's be honest. This is still the sequel to a game with more problems than most people care to count. While this game does have some interesting ideas, the gameplay demo at Ubisoft's press conference made the whole game appear to be aiming in the worst possible direction. Instead of tackling some of the topics it could (pervasive government spying, power electronics hold over us, exploring how our E-lives affect our actual lives, any of the many themes that could be explored by having a black main character), this game very much appears to be a meme-filled, flat out lame hacker power fantasy that has "typical Ubisoft open world game" written all over it.

This was a tough category to decide. Each of these games has a very real possibility to disappoint but as far as hype is concerned, one sticks out slightly above the rest.

Loser: Battlefield 1: Maybe most of the hype for this game results from the MASSIVE backlash toward Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, but at a glance Battlefield 1 honestly looks like just another Battlefield game with a different aesthetic and a few new gimmicks. Going beyond this, if Battlefield's 4 and Hardline are anything to go by, this game may be the surest lock to disappoint.

Best press conference

• EA
• Bethesda
• Microsoft
• Ubisoft
• Sony

Runners Up: Bethesda: Bethesda was in a unique position with their conference showpieces from last year already being released. A healthy dose of Dishonored 2, as well as some exciting announcements regarding Skyrim and the future of Fallout 4, made this a great conference throughout.

Sony: This year, Sony was focused on their first party exclusives in a way they weren't last year. The show was great throughout but showing Days Gone as their finale felt like a strange decision especially considering that the game didn't look great and they could have finished with God of War, Horizon: Zero Dawn, or even The Last Guardian. It was a great conference but it had a few missteps and a few bizarre decisions.

Winner: Microsoft: Much like last year, Microsoft brought a ton of fantastic looking games and even though they aren't exclusives in the traditional sense, almost none of those games will be on non-Microsoft platforms. The fact that they ended their conference with the official unveiling of Project Scorpio only drove home what was an all around enjoyable and focused show.

Most likely to be Game of the Year (when released)

• The Last Guardian
• Mass Effect: Andromeda
• Civilization VI
• Tacoma
• Dishonored 2
• Horizon: Zero Dawn

Runners Up: Mass Effect: Andromeda: Although there wasn't much shown of this game, the fact that it carries the Mass Effect name is more than enough for me to believe that it will be a fantastic game.

Dishonored 2: The original Dishonored is one of my favorite games of the last generation. The sequel looks to be building upon what succeeded in the original. If the story holds up, this may be at the top of my list at the end of this year.

Winner: Horizon: Zero Dawn: This gets the nod because I will always give the edge to something brand new over a sequel unless that sequel has Mass Effect in the title. It says a lot that in a year where a new Mass Effect is actually releasing, Horizon: Zero Dawn is still my most anticipated game of next year. The interesting world Guerrilla Games is creating coupled with all of the gameplay footage makes this game look incredible. If it can actually live up to the hype I have been giving it throughout these awards, it very well may be 2017's Game of the Year. But then again, last year I gave this award to Batman: Arkham Knight and that ended up being one of the most disappointing games of 2016. So honestly, who the hell knows?

Thanks for reading.