E3 2018: Here Comes the BOOM!

Here we are, many many words and 25 games later, my final E3 post for 2018 is here.

Can you even believe it? This means that at least 4 times this month I put my game controller down for long enough to actually do something constructive! Take that people who call me lazy!

Jokes aside, over the last few weeks I’ve shared with you my top picks for when you just want to play with friends, for when you feel like going on an adventure and for making your inner child happy, but what about when you want to do none of those things? what about when you just want to run around and shoot things in a visually stunning way? Well then, you’ve come to the right place. You know the drill by now, I list 5 games that make me giggle with excitement and I tell you a bit about them. At the end of this post you leave me a comment telling me which games make YOU tingle in all the right ways.

So without further ado, here are the 5 games from E3 2018 that will definitely bring the BOOM:

Gears 5

PC; Xbox One

Anyone who knows me knows I swear by PlayStation, PC and then, of course, Switch, but what they might not know is that there was a stage when my mind wasn’t so made up about which platforms I preferred, there was a time when I owned … wait for it … an Xbox (cue loud, disbelieving gasping noises) but yes, it’s true, I did own an Xbox and for just one reason:

Gears of War

Back when Gears of War first came out you couldn’t simply play it on PC, no, if you wanted in on the magic you needed an Xbox and without a doubt, it made owning one worth it.  The number of hours that I spent playing Gears of War with friends, our Xboxs linked, was unreal and now, my love, my darling, is back – just without the “of war”. Gears 5 will continue on from where 4 ended, only this time, we control a woman named Kait who breaks the chain of command to take her squad out on a ‘personal’ mission. I’m really excited about this title. I feel the time has come to invite my ‘squad’ over for an old-school LAN and some Gears.

Battlefield V

PC; PS4; Xbox One – Single and Multiplayer

I’m just going to come out and say it: this is the year for badass women in games – and it’s about time. Battlefield V looks amazing, and it also looks like everything you’d expect from a Battlefield game – only this time there are a few boobs bouncing here and there. Set in World War 2 there are new multiplayer modes and that means there is a brand new Battle-Royale mode because if you don’t have Battle-Royale in 2018 are you even 2018 right? We also have a Grand Operations mode which is an expansion of the Operations mode from Battlefield 1. There really isn’t much I can say about this other than it looks like it’s going to be everything a good shooter should be.

DOOM Eternal

PC; PS4; Xbox One – Single and Multiplayer

A game that needs literally no introduction:  If you’ve ever played a game or spoken to someone who has, then you’ve heard of DOOM. DOOM is the first game that I have any memory of, it was my mom’s favoUrite and I remember just sitting watching her for hours, and them sometimes, if I was really good, my mom would put me on her lap and let me put my hands directly over hers (as well as I could with my little baby hands) and I would just pretend that I was the one moving the character and playing. DOOM Eternal starts off where the previous game ended: you are on earth and the forces of Hell have overrun it. And you, are Earth’s only hero.

BOOM

Mavericks Proving Grounds

PC – so far

I want it on record that on this date I declared that Mavericks Proving Grounds is going to be the next “big thing”.

P.S. If you read this in the future sometime and it turns out that it isn’t the next big thing, then jokes on you, you should never have trusted a blonde.

Seriously, the game looks good, and this is coming from someone who is 100% over Battle-Royale games… unless I’m somehow winning in which case, they can stay. Maverick’s Proving Grounds is the first ever 1000 player Battle-Royale game, and no, I didn’t miss type there. A few key points that set it aside from its competition: there is a character progression system, the environment is created to give you away, you leave footprints, if you’re hurt you leave blood trails, you flatten plants, you can spook the roaming wildlife and if you use something, like a med kid, your character leaves the empty packaging behind.

Oh, and if looking for environmental clues isn’t your thing, then you can just BURN EVERYTHING WITH FIRE!

Ghost of Tsushima

PS4 – Single-Player

This is one of those games that made me go “wow” when I saw it.  There is something special about putting away the guns and picking up a Katana instead. Ghost of Tsushima lets you take control of Jin Sakai, the last samurai.  The game is set during the first Mongol invasion. Your mission is to defeat them and continue the fight for freedom and independence. There is a HUGE open world for you to freely explore and fight in. The developers have tried to make everything as realistic as possible so there is no “fast travel” other than by horseback and your map doesn’t have any personal waypoint. Basically this is a super cool game for everybody else other than me. If I play it, Japan will fall because I’ll miss the entire invasion after getting lost…

Annnnd that’s a wrap.

E3 2018 is officially over, the actual event and my belated covering of it.

I chose to cover E3 this year not just because I needed post ideas (shhh.. don’t tell Sam) but because I feel like this year was a really important year for gaming. I sat and watched through the conference. I watched the trailers for every. single. game that was mentioned. I watched so many trailers that I started to feel like my mom was right and that my eyes were going to turn into squares if I didn’t take more breaks, but I watched them all because this year, for the first time in many, E3 felt ‘inclusive’ and diverse.

There were games that had woman in the driver’s seat (Looking at you, Wolfenstein), there were games showing love to the LGBTQ community (Last of Us), there were games with badass woman of colour (Beyond Good and Evil 2) and there were games just throwing it back to most of our childhoods to remind us that gaming is meant to be fun (Battletoads). Some people might not like the change that is in the air. Some people might think that it is too little to late. But me? I think it is a really good start at helping everyone know that they are welcome in the gaming world.

I see you E3. I see you, and I approve.

Now that you’ve (hopefully) read all of my previous posts, and you’ve seen all 30 of my personal picks, it’s time for you to tell me which ones I missed.

Which games or moments did you love from E3 2018 and which game are most excited for? Let me know in the comments below. 

I'd love to chat to you some more.

 

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