This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, the biggest celebration of gaming in the world, and a place where all the newest games are revealed, saw a stunning slew of games released with strong female protagonists. It's great to see that finally gaming it's shedding off it's one dimensional protagonists to embrace more of diversity, letting users identify with who they want to be with their gaming avatars. As always this year was explosive as ever with some incredible games revealed. Here are the best of what was unveiled.
The Last of Us 2
Sealed with a kiss and punctuated with brutal violence. The Last of Us 2, sequel to the award winning game from Naughty Dog, warmed our hearts with a beautiful kiss between Ellie, the protagonist and her girlfriend. Like a red apple in a dying forest, the rest of the demo showed Ellie survive against a group of cultists in a return to the post apocalyptic world. There was no glimpse of Joel, Ellie's guardian from the first game.
Cyberpunk 2077
While the latest game from the studio that created Witcher 3 has been on the cards since 2013. This year we finally get a clear glimpse into the world of Cyberpunk 2077's world. You get to chose from a male or female character called V, and you drive, run and gun around a massive futuristic city that seems to combine all your favourite Cyberpunk fiction in one place. With it's retro-futuristic neon styling to it's bold visual language, Cyberpunk 2077 is undoubtedly different.
Ghost of Tsushima
From the makers of the famous Infamous series, comes a game that's a radical departure from their usual body of work, but somehow looks perfect. Set in the year 1274, during the mongol invasion of Tsushima island, the trailer gave us a glimpse of a lone samurai in a beautiful land. There was major Witcher 3 vibes, from the game world to the action. Which was very reactive, with some interesting platforming.
Fallout 76
The next game in the popular post apocalyptic series Fallout 76 is set just a few years after the underground vaults open. Letting you create and play as your own vault dweller to go out into the wasteland to rebuild society. Set in West Virginia, the game is an online game that can also be played offline as a single player experience. Though, with the lands teeming with all manner of beasties, it's best if you have a bunch of friends along.
Assassins Creed Odyssey
The latest Assassins Creed was unveiled, and it's set in Ancient Greece. During the conflict between Sparta and Athens, as well as the zenith of Greece's philosophical and scientific discoveries. You play a descendant of the famous Spartan Leonidas, of 300 fame, as you journey around a beautiful, recreated Greece, fighting on land, sea as well as in large scale battles. The best part is you can choose to play as a male or female protagonist. The game looks a lot like a reskin of Origins and set way before the story of the foundation of the order of Assassins. So perhaps Odyssey tells a completely different story from canon, we'll have to see.
The Division 2
Having it's share of ups and downs, the first Division game emerged victorious. Letting players play as elite agents tasked with taking over and protecting the peace after a virus hits New York. Now the action moves to Washington DC, taking the Massively Multiplayer Online Shooter into another theatre of war, telling a different story. By the looks of the gameplay, it seems to be less of an urban sprawl of the Big Apple, and more of a vegetated area, with lots of foliage. The game also features three new specialisations, so color us interested.
Gears of War 5
With a female lead, the next generation of Gears races ahead with the 5th instalment. An Xbox exclusive, you play as Kait, who is on a personal mission to seek answers to her dreams. While Gears of War 4 seems to be a setup for a new series of games, 5 seems to be quite intense. Our only worry is that it looks same old, same old. Hopefully, the game will go the way of God of War and reinvent itself.
Forza Horizon 4
The latest Forza Horizon 4 is one of the best games revealed at E3, if not the best racing game. Sporting some incredible graphics as cars race across realistic tracks, getting dust and dirt on them. The game is set in Great Britain and features a dynamic weather system as well as the onset of seasons. Each bringing it's own set of thrills and spills with it.
Wolfenstein Youngblood and Doom Eternal
In addition to the reveal of a new Wolfenstein game, featuring the twin daughters of B.J. Blazkowicz, ID Software also revealed Doom Eternal. Youngblood takes the fight to a whole new level, featuring not one, but two protagonists, with which you can co-op play. Doom Eternal gave us an glimpse of an hellscape before the Doom Marine steps in to the backdrop of a melted building. It's that modern take Hell on Earth we've all been waiting for.
Dying Light 2
With game design legend and master storyteller Chris Avellone attached to Dying Light 2. A game about parkour and some intense zombies gets a whole lot better as he showed us how the decision tree works. Where the way you save a water supply could positively or negatively affect the world. Not to mention, at night, the zombies get truly scary.
Rage 2
Id Software announced and gave us an in depth look at Rage 2, from Avalanche studios, the people who gave us the Just Cause games as well as Mad Max. Featuring a dusty post apocalyptic world filled with menacing mutants featuring some incredible first person shooter gameplay that was fast, brutal and filled with weird gadgets and wicked guns. Also shown was the vehicular action, as you take down enemy cars with an assortment of armaments from your armoured vehicle. Rage 2 is definitely the Mad Max game sequel we deserve, with a helpful serving of Doom thrown in.
Other Glimpses
In addition to in depth looks at these games, we also got announcement trailers of a new Elder Scrolls VI, exclusively for next generation consoles, as well as a new intellectual property from Bethesda called Starfield, which looks very sci-fi. EA verbally revealed a new Star Wars game called The Fallen Order. Nintendo revealed Mario Party as well as a new Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Sony revealed a game called Control from Remedy entertainment, featuring their usual time stopping mechanics. The samurai souls game is back with a Nioh 2 reveal. From software had two reveals, one in the form of Shadows die twice, which featured a ninja with a gruesome prosthetic arm, the other is an odd creepy VR game called Déraciné. Microsoft gave us a taste of Halo Infinite, teasing the return of Master Chief. We did see Just Cause 4 and way too much of Kingdom Hearts 3 and Rise of the Tomb Raider.
