E3 2017: 10 TANTALIZING FIRST GLIMPSES OF NEW GAMES – PART 1

As this year’s gaming hype-fest comes to a close in Los Angeles, we have been bombarded with trailers, reveals, press conferences, and over-the-top promotions to keep us going for the rest of this year and the next. It has certainly been one of the better conferences with all platforms acquitting themselves well (for once) and most importantly, focussing on the games!

There have been plenty of surprises and revelations this year, so here at HeroIndex.net we have put together our 10 favorite first glimpses of upcoming games that were shown for the first time at E3 2017. Unfortunately, this does mean games that had already shot their bolt before the conference do not qualify, no matter how good the likes of Battlefront II and Destiny 2 looked in their new trailers.

If you’d like to know about the games listed below, just click on the title and we will whisk you away to best footage currently available for the new games (just promise you’ll come back, yeah?).

10. THE WAY OUT

Release: Early 2018

Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One

This co-op only prison break game is directed by Josef Fares, who is previously responsible for charming and heart-rending Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. Two players can pick either the roles of Leo or Vincent (locally or online) to navigate an escape from their incarceration and are given multiple paths to solve the various obstacles they face.

Anyone who played the superb, game-changing co-op in Portal 2 should feel right at home here in what was one of the more unique offerings at this year’s E3.

9. ASSASSIN’S CREED: ORIGINS

Release: October 27, 2017

Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One

After a much-needed break, the Assassin’s Creed franchise is hoping to make a triumphant return by going back to the start of the rivalry between the Templars and the Assassins. Ancient Egypt is the setting this time and from what we’ve seen at E3, the game has been given an extra layer of polish and new gameplay features that have been sorely lacking in the recent iterations of Ubisoft’s stab-em-up series.

It’s understandable if you’ve developed either fatigue or trust issues (or both) with the franchise of late but this does look like a significant departure for the franchise on the current evidence. The last time Assassin’s Creed stepped out of its comfort zone, we got the scintillating Black Flag so let’s hope Origins can reach the same standard. Speaking of pirate games…

8. SKULL & BONES

Release: Late 2018

Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One

If you were thrilled by the sea-faring nature of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag but you could take or leave all those missions where you had to wait in some bushes while some ner-do-well finished their expositional duties, then Ubisoft has clearly heard your wishes. Skull & Bones takes all the naval aspects of Black Flags and puts them into a huge multiplayer open world for players around the world to work together or compete with each other to land the best booty.

No word yet as to whether Skull & Bones will be free-to-play or retail but if the game is as shown and is purely a non-narrative multiplayer experience then the former is more likely. Either way, the footage we’ve seen so far suggest there will be some fierce rivalries developing on the high-seas that are bound to leave some feeling a little salty.

7. METRO EXODUS

Release: 2018

Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One

4A Games’ Metro series has never quite gotten the mainstream success it has perhaps deserved with the previous two entries in the games series based on the post-apocalyptic novels of Dmitry Glukhovsky. That might be about to change, however, since stealth/survival horror is all the rage again these days and this series has always mixed both with fluid first-person shooting to produce compelling adventures through the wastelands and underground tunnels of a decimated Moscow.

Gameplay-wise there doesn’t seem to be too much new on offer in what we’ve seen so far but so long as 4A continue to finely balance accessibility with verisimilitude then more of the same is welcome. But the Metro games have always relied on atmosphere as much as mechanics and the former looks to have been significantly enhanced by the greater graphical fidelity offered by today’s consoles. Could this be enough to finally shine a brighter spotlight on to one of the most underrated franchises in gaming? Let’s hope so.

6. WOLFENSTEIN II: THE NEW COLOSSUS

Release: October 27, 2017

Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One

The granddaddy series of all shooters puts us once again in the shoes of BJ Blazkowicz as he battles against the Nazis in an alternative history where Hitler won WWII. If you haven’t played Wolfenstein: The New Order then you’re missing out on one of the finest single player campaigns of the current generation, not to mention one of the best written as well, but obviously enough of you have to justify the continuation of this franchise’s magnificent return to form.

This time round it looks like The New Colossus will be doubling down on its distinct tech (essentially a steam-punk Metal Gear Solid) by giving BJ a new suit of foldable armor to play with. So long as the shooting is as smooth as the last entry and they can match the Tarantino-esque writing too then The New Colossus should enthrall existing fans and newcomers alike.

UPDATE: You can now read Part 2 of our 10 TANTALIZING NEW GAMES OF E3 2017 here.