The Best Video Games Premiering at E3 This Year

Image via Complex Original

The first Homefront game had an unusual setting: a United States that had the honor of being occupied by the glorious People's Republic of Best Korea. It used many of the standard military shooter tropes, but it presented America as an occupied state where the once-proud people found themselves fighting as underdog guerrillas.

Despite the game's merits, the developer, Kaos Studios, went out of business shortly after release in 2011. The sequel survived a long and treacherous road, and is being developed by a new team, on a new engine, with a new publisher. Players have seen gameplay footage from last year's E3, but the publisher pushed the release off until 2016, so Deep Silver will need to show off this title at E3 to prove that it will be worth the wait.

Back in 2008, DICE was known for making shooters. Mirror's Edge had some guns, but most of the gameplay involved running away from people with guns. Despite being wildly different from what people expected, Mirror's Edge carved out a cult following due to it's innovative first-person jumping mechanics, its dystopian storyline by Rhianna Pratchett, and its lead character, Faith.

The new game will be a prequel, but not much else has been explained about it since it's reveal at E3 two years ago. The most interesting information about the project came in a tweet from Pratchett, which said that neither she nor any other member of the original team were working on the new game. A false rumor that controversial game critic Anita Sarkeesian was working on it generated a wildfire of outrage, so DICE would do well to show more of the new Mirror's Edge at E3 if they want to keep fans optimistic, and prevent more rumor mongering.

This game is a risky proposition. It's a new IP, from a developer with no major games to its credit, and it was originally intended to be a last-gen game. Red flags are everywhere, but that's the sort of risk that publishers have to take if they want to innovate. It's a survival horror game, but it isn't about slaughtering zombies; it's about a group of teens trapped in a cabin in the woods with a psycho killer on the loose. Playing as the horror movie trope of "stupid kid just askin' to get killed" will be a new experience for gamers. Some trailers and gameplay have appeared online, but Sony will be showing more of it at E3, and they might be able to assuage the fear of the new.

The first Deus Ex was an exceptional example of the narrative shooter. Players controlled a cyborg agent named JC Denton who lived in a cyberpunk world where every conspiracy theory imaginable was true. In 2011, a prequel called Deus Ex: Human Revolution was released with a new set of mechanics, as well as a new protagonist, Adam Jensen. Fans of the old games were skeptical of Jensen at first, but Human Revolution had an intriguing story, a rich world, and fun new mechanics that included brutal melee combat with Jensen's retractable arm blades. The title has just been announced, and E3 2015 is the developer's chance to build hype and prove that Jensen is more than "The New Guy" and able to hold the franchise on his own.

The Mass Effect series was conceived as a trilogy that would follow Commander Shepard's fight against the Reapers. However, Mass Effect introduced layers to a vast galaxy, filled with new races, planets, and a history that dates back millions of years. There is much more to explore in this setting beyond Shepard's journey. At last year's E3 the developer, Bioware, revealed a "Conceptual Prototype" for a new game in the series, but there has been no tangible information on the story, setting, or how it relates to Commander Shepard's adventures. 

Bioware recently cancelled development of Shadow Realms, which means that the resources planned for Shadow Realms have to go somewhere, and this new Mass Effect game might be where Bioware is focusing their efforts.

The 2013 reboot of Tomb Raider revived this franchise. It took the most iconic woman in video games and showed players who she was before becoming that icon. The inevitable sequel Rise of the Tomb Raider is coming exclusively to the Xbox One and 360, and is slated to arrive by the end of the year. 

The game has been teased since last year's E3, but only with animated cutscenes, and not actual gameplay. The developer, Crystal Dynamics, confirmed that Lara Croft will have new weapons and items to craft this time around, and that Rhianna Pratchett is returning as lead writer, but there is little else known about it. Hopefully this year's E3 will give players more information and a chance at hands-on play.

After Grand Theft Auto IV had run its course, Rockstar took that game's engine, removed the gritty crime drama, and filled it with cowboys. The horseback riding, rootin' tootin' action was fun, but Redemption offered players a very nuanced story. The main character, John Marston was a bad man trying to do good. Players could help the good folk of the West, or they could play the game as a villain who even tied damsels to railroad tracks.

A sequel to Red Dead Redemption hasn't been confirmed, but Rockstar left this franchise buried on the lone prairie for five years, and it would be the best use of all the modifications they made to their RAGE engine for GTA V.