What I Am Looking Forward To At E3 2015

We are now about two weeks out from E3 2015 and I have been making appointments with many publishers and developers, which had me thinking, which games that I know will be there, am I most excited for.

Number 1 – Disney Infinity 3.0

For anyone who knows me, I am a Star Wars and Disney fan, so being able to combine the two in a game is quite exciting. Disney Infinity has over the past two years added a lot of ideas and content and while some if it has worked without issue, some ideas needed some more time, so with time under their belt I can’t wait to see what more they add.

Of course the biggest draw this year is Star Wars and they have confirmed playsets for Episodes 1-3, 4-6 and the upcoming Episode 7, but I am also excited to see what the community does with that content as well. I myself have started to build pod racer courses from the old Nintendo 64 game, so I can experience pod racing again, but I am excited to see what people do with platforming and Jedi’s and space battles.

The new toy box games look cool as well, Sumo Digital has been brought on board to make the kart racing components as great as they can, if you know the name they worked on the excellent Sonic racing series. Farming is another new toy box game, which will mix elements of Minecraft and Farmville, but also allow you to level up your sidekicks, the possibilities this mode offers are interesting for sure.

Number 2 – Call of Duty Black Ops 3

With Treyarch back at the helm I am fully hoping that we can get a game that makes more sense than last years, Treyarch have become my favourite developer on the Call of Duty series and they have had 3 years in which to  develop this new one, so hopefully lives up to it's potential.

Being able to take command of new weapons and characters in different locales is interesting, but it's the blending of technology into the soldiers that looks interesting, meaning that your character will always be connected to the others on the battlefield. Multiplayer is sure to get some enhancements and as Treyarch have made the multiplayer their own over the years with the Zombie mode, I can’t wait to see what they do.

Number 3 – Star Wars Battlefront

Another Star Wars game on the list, well of course, given that the movie was going to be released this year, the smart thing to do would be tie in as much product around it as possible. Star Wars Battlefront looks nice, visually I mean, but it's how it plays that I need to see.

The series started out as a fan mod for the original battlefield, so to see the game creators get a chance to make their own, it builds up the excitement. I hope that game is able to feel like Star Wars but on a larger scale, it has been some years between entries in this series and we have had more focused experiences, so the large scale battles are so tempting.

Of course, the lack of space battles might be a pain, but hopefully they can balance the game with other features, that teaser trailer looked great, now it's time for the gameplay to match.

Number 4 – Guitar Hero Live & Rock Band 4

It has been some years since we last got entries in either of these games and after some time away they are both coming back, but where one is sticking to the tried and true method, the other is trying something different.

Guitar Hero Live is stepping away from the animated bands, instead choosing to use real live footage to help sell the fact that you are the lead guitarist in a band. It is in interesting approach from a visual stand point, but it's not just that, they are also changing up the guitar. Instead of the 5 buttons previously, you will now have 6, but they are stacked atop each other, so two rows of three. This could change things for all, or it could hurt, only time will tell, of course once you add Guitar Hero Live TV into the mix, where you can stream a massive amount of songs, there is a lot going for this.

On the other side of the equation, Rock Band 4 is sticking with it's cartoony bands and it's 5 button guitars. While what is offering in terms of new things is still hidden, what changes are coming are interesting, but perhaps the most exciting thing is that it is embracing it's past. If you are like me and you have a collection of plastic instruments you could not throw away, well they will be of use again as Rock Band 4 will support all previous Rock Band gear and maybe others, but the fun does not stop there. The game will also allow you to collect all, I repeat ALL of your previously purchased DLC from the last console generation, which means you will have quite a library of content to select from.

How this will play out depends to be seen, but I can’t wait to get some hands on time with the games at the show to see.

5 – Unknown Surprises

Going into a show like E3, there are a lot of things that people expect to see, new Call of Duty, new Skylanders, Mario, Master Chief and more, but it is the unknown items, things you might never have considered that can really make the show. Last year Nintendo surprised everyone with an online shooter and Splatoon was quite a hit, having now just been released, it was a welcome surprise to be sure.

Microsoft have surprised people with announcements like Final Fantasy coming to Xbox or Tomb Raider being an exclusive, even the third parties get in on the act now, with Ubisoft announcing three amazing looking titles three years in a row. So while it is nice to have an idea of what is coming, it is the unknowns that really make E3 something special.