E3 2017 was full of new gaming announcements and gameplay reveals. We were lucky enough to be on the show floor getting hands-on with the latest titles and we played more games than you can imagine, but these were the ones that we left wanting to play more of.
The Far Cry franchise has always been a great time, but Far Cry 5 is set to take the franchise to a whole new level. It’s set in America for the first time and it’s clear the game is going to tackle some serious issues. The gunplay is as fun as ever, you can now fly airplanes and you can have a dog sidekick. I was worried that the Far Cry series would begin to become stale, but it was still a genuinely great time and I’m also excited to see where they take the story. The E3 demo had me taking on a certain part of the religious cult before bombing some silos in an airplane. Obviously, I spent quite a bit of time fishing too. That’s definitely my favourite thing about the Far Cry franchise. The ability to waste hours getting lost in the world.
Far Cry 5 will release on PS4, Xbox One and PC on February 27, 2018.
I’m pretty sure this is going to be on every best of E3 list and it’s more than deserving. Going off the insane E3 trailer, I wasn’t sure what to expect walking up to the Nintendo Switch demo unit, but I walked away feeling excited about getting my hands on the full version. It’s been a long, long time since we had a 3D sandbox Mario game and Super Mario Odyssey looks to take it further than I ever could have imagined. You can become so many different things in the game and it appears that there will be more moons (instead of stars) to collect than ever before, which is set to keep us going for ages. I played through two specific levels (New Donk City and the Sand Kingdom) which were both very different. I had the task of rounding up musicians that were hidden all over the place in New Donk City, which has me intrigued to see what other kind of missions you’ll be undertaking in the game. Mario also has his signature move set (yes, even the triple jump).
Super Mario Odyssey will release exclusively on Nintendo Switch on October 27, 2017.
Many people (myself included) thought that Sony probably wouldn’t announce any PlayStation VR games, but they dropped two Supermassive games. After playing them, I’m not only stoked to have two more VR games to play this year, but I’ve realised that Supermassive is one of the best developers in the industry. The Inpatient is a prequel to Until Dawn and is more creepy than you could possibly imagine. It’s a similar style of game, with you choosing your own path through the story, but VR really changes the game and immerses you further than you could imagine.
Similarly, Bravo Team has made me feel that a first-person shooter could work in VR (even more so than Far Point did). I used the Aim Controller to make my way through a scenario weaving in and out of cover like a pro. It’s the kind of game that anyone can pick up and have a genuine great time with and unlike Farpoint, I didn’t experience any motion sickness due to Super Massive’s brilliant handling of movement in both titles.
Inpatient and Bravo Team will both launch on PlayStation VR in 2017. 
I didn’t play a whole lot of Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, but after going hands-on with Shadow of War at E3, it’s one of my most anticipated titles. I spent well over an hour with the game trying to take over one of the many regions within the game. Combat was satisfying, the enemies had an immeasurable amount of personality and I felt absolutely lost in the world. It builds on everything the first game presented and that sweet, sweet nemesis system is still rad.
Middle-Earth Shadow of War will release on PS4, Xbox One and PC on October 10, 2017. 
Similar to Far Cry , I was worried about the future of the Assassin’s Creed series, but after an extensive play-through, I’m keen to jump into the land of Egypt. It’s a brand new setting, new character and there’s a bunch of new gameplay mechanics that should bring this series back to the forefront again. I was having an absolute ball chasing down wildlife and infiltration enemy bases. There’s also a brand new horde mode which puts a big emphasis on the new combat system. It’s brutal and you will be punished if you’ve not mastered attacking and the counter system.
Assassin’s Creed Origins will release on PS4, Xbox One and PC on October 27, 2017. 
Heavy Rain is one of my favourite games of all time, but Beyond Two Souls definitely left a lot to be desired. I’m convinced after playing through the E3 demo that Detroit Become Human is going to be much closer to Heavy Rain and provide one of the best interactive experiences on PlayStation 4. I was able to make choices that genuinely felt like they impacted the rest of the story and that’s important in a game like this. I also didn’t have long to make those decisions, which put even more emphasis on how important they are. I don’t want to know anymore about the game, but I just want it, right now.
Detroit: Become Human will release exclusively on PlayStation 4 in 2018.
