The 15 Things We're Most Excited About From E3 2014

Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft all impressed spectators at this year's E3 with titles from the Halo, Mario, Legend of Zelda and Metal Gear Solid franchises.

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The year after new video game consoles drop is always a good year for gamers. In turn, this means that the E3 after those consoles drop is a good E3. It might not always be mind-blowing, but at this early stage in both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One's respective lifespans both Sony and Microsoft have plenty of ideas for the future—and plenty of new games to show off. And don't forget about Nintendo either, who debuted plenty of refreshing titles for both the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U.

Whether you're into blockbusters or indie games, traditional genres or virtual reality, PC gaming or handheld play, E3 2014 was definitely a major success. To collect our thoughts on the expo, and to let you know what you should be looking forward to in the gaming sphere, here are 15 things we're excited about from this year's show.

Oculus Rift

Oculus Rift is the kind of thing you need to see to understand how revolutionary it is, but once you've strapped the virtual reality headset to your face and experienced something like CCP's Eve Valkyrie or Adam Orth's ADR1FT all the hype just clicks into place.

The moment it hits you is when you move your arm and expect to see it in the virtual world, because that's how real that world seems to you when you have the headset on. As competitors like Sony's Project Morpheus crop up, the Rift inches closer to its final form, and it gets better with every new version.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Mega Halo fans couldn't possibly ask for a better buy than The Master Chief Collection. Debuted during Microsoft's press conference, this package includes Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4, plus all their multiplayer maps and their original multiplayer engines, all mixed up in online matchmaking together.

You can literally jump from a Halo 2 map (now graphically overhauled like the anniversary edition of Combat Evolved) straight to a Halo 4 level, without missing a beat. In fact the only thing that would make it better is if they released Halo: Reach and Halo 3 ODST as expansions, but for now it's probably best to focus on the Master Chief.

Bloodborne

Demon's Souls and Dark Souls fans have wondered for a long time what series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki has been up to ever since it was announced he wouldn't be working on Dark Souls 2. It turns out he was busy with Bloodborne, which judging by our early impressions might turn out to be a better sequel to Dark Souls than even the wonderful Dark Souls 2 was.

The gameplay is achingly similar, but in other areas, like Bloodborne's more modern, Victorian-esque setting, the game couldn't look fresher. Also, shotguns.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

The Phantom Pain may be the MGS game that can finally rope in all the gamers who take issue with this beloved series. From its huge open world to its more forgiving combat, The Phantom Pain looks like the biggest shake-up the franchise has had in recent memory.

You can still crawl around inside a cardboard box, but now you can pop out of the box and shoot people, like you should have been able to do all along. It even has horses. Now let's hope it doesn't also have another dozen hours of cut scenes too.

No Man's Sky

Hello Games' No Man's Sky first debuted last December during Spike TV's VGX program, but it wasn't until Sony's press conference the day before E3 this week that we really got a good look at it. And boy is it pretty.

The game lets players explore a procedurally-generated universe, discovering and naming their own planets while fighting battles in space. You can fly seamlessly from the surface of a planet through its atmosphere and out into space, and then back again. Look for it on PS4 late this year or early next—hopefully.

Destiny

One of Bungie's greatest strengths is world-building. Just look at the staying power Halo has had over the years. So, to see the studio building a brand new world with Destiny is very exciting indeed.

Also exciting is the game's seamless multiplayer experience, which will see players encountering one another on missions without ever knowing they've been matched up. It looks like Halo, it has space travel, and you can meet other people on the fly. Get hype.

Rainbow Six Siege

A new Rainbow Six game is the last thing you might have expected to see during Ubisoft's press conference on Monday, but you can't complain when it looks as good as Siege. But unlike past RS titles this is no story-driven campaign shooter.

Instead, what we've seen of Siege involves teams of five facing off to maintain control of a hostage in a house where everything is destructible, and you have the equipment needed to breach through ceilings and walls, spy on your opponents, and do more badass breach-and-clear type stuff. This is definitely one to watch.

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

More Hotline Miami cannot possibly be a bad thing. The original game was insanely bloody and equally as stylish, and we're hoping the sequel can up the ante.

Judging by what we've seen at E3 so far, that will definitely be the case.

Rise of Tomb Raider

Last year's Tomb Raider reboot gave Lara Croft a new origin story, freeing her from the shackles of the bouncing-boob polygons that have plagued her since her PS1 beginnings. And now that she's a real character, Crystal Dynamics is going to treat her like one, it seems.

The sequel to the reboot debuted during Microsoft's press conference, and its trailer opened with Lara in therapy, dealing with the trauma of what happened to her in the last game. That's something you don't see everyday in this industry, and it will be exciting to see where they take this.

Evolve

From Left 4 Dead developer Turtle Rock Studios, Evolve is almost exactly what you'd expect it to be: a four-player co-op shooter in which players must rely on one another to succeed. But instead of fighting endless legions of zombies, in Evolve you fight one giant monster—and that monster is controlled by a fifth player.

At E3 this week they unveiled a new monster, Kraken—though Lovecraft fans know it's really a tribute to the many-tentacled god Cthulhu. The game's class-based system means players really need to work together to take these creatures down, but that will make it all the more rewarding when they do.

Sunset Overdrive

Sunset Overdrive may turn out to be the game that Dead Rising should have been all along, especially considering that it's another Xbox One exclusive. From Ratchet and Clank and Resistance developer Insomniac Games, it may be the most colorful game seen in the last decade.

It's wacky for sure, but with a crazy arsenal and reality-defying traversal—you can basically grind and bounce on anything in the environment—it looks like a ton of fun. And of course the mutant apocalypse will spring from an energy drink. How did we never see it before?

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.

Nintendo did something different this year and actually announced some new properties instead of just continuing to rehash Zelda and Mario for another year like it usually does. One of these, Splatoon, is a fun-looking and colorful shooter. But the other, a 3DS game called Code Name: S.T.E.A.M., looks even better.

It's a turn-based strategy game set in Victorian London during a fictional Steam Age in which you control a squad of steam-powered superheroes assembled by Abraham Lincoln to battle an alien invasion. It plays like XCOM, and looks pretty nuts. Just try not to think too hard about it.

Assassin's Creed Unity

Another year, another Assassin's Creed game. And another reason to get stoked.

Unity is the first game in the series to offer four-player co-op missions, and if that's not enough then the game's conflict-rich French Revolution setting should pique your interest. The only downside is it probably doesn't have any ships like the last two games did, but the re-designed combat and traversal mechanics should make up for that.

Alienware Alpha

Plenty of companies have tried to bring PC gaming to the living room, and plenty more will try in the future. But with the Alpha PC, Alienware might finally succeed.

The minuscule computer will launch later this year as a Windows-based machine, and users will be able to upgrade it to Steam OS as soon as Valve gets its shit in gear and actually finishes the operating system. Until then you can launch the Alpha straight into Steam's Big Picture mode and play with any game controller that can connect to a PC. The best parts? Nvidia built a custom graphics chip for it, and this PC will only cost $550.

Star Wars: Battlefront

The only disappointing thing about Star Wars: Battlefront's reveal at E3 this year was that we didn't get to see more of it. The game—developed by Battlefield studio DICE—debuted during EA's press conference, but they only showed a developer diary-style video, with little actual information.

That doesn't mean we can't be excited about a new Battlefront game, though.