E3 2010: Gamesblog’s 12 best games

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft, PC, PS3, Xbox 360) Another atmospheric and visually stunning trip into the Renaissance, with Ezio looking to avenge the murder of his uncle by recruiting an assassin army and taking on the Borgia clan. Lots of new features and an intriguing multiplayer mode.
Photograph: PR

Bulletstorm (EA, PC, PS3, Xbox 360) Of course, it was amazing to see Id back in contention with post-apocalyptic shooter Rage, but I’m backing People Can Fly’s hyper-kinetic, knuckle-headed blaster. After all, it’s got man-eating plants, insane kill combos and dialogue seemingly written by a 14-year-old comic book fanatic on a sodium benzoate binge.
Photograph: PR

Child of Eden (Ubisoft, PS3, Xbox 360) It was wonderful to see Tetsuya Mizuguchi, one of my gaming heroes, perform a demo of this motion controlled dance shooter at the Ubisoft press conference. Sure, it’s Rez again, but who cares, when that title is an unsurpassed audio-visual experience? And it’ll be compatible with normal joypads, too.
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Civilization V (2K Games, PC) Sid Meier’s long-running strategy epic is finally getting a proper 21st century makeover. Lovely visuals, some intriguing new features and a refreshed hexagonal map that throws up all sorts of tactical possibilities.
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Comic Jumper (Twister Pixel, XBLA) Crafted with love and flair by a team of just 10, this was E3’s hidden gem. It’s a mad, hilarious scrolling platformer, starring the world’s worst superhero on a quest to find a better story to appear in. Laugh-out-loud funny and with gameplay tuned to perfection, I only found it an hour before the show ended. Phew.
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Disney’s Epic Mickey (Disney, Wii) Video game legend Warren Spector and his team at Junction Point Studios have crafted a genuinely interesting action adventure around the iconic mouse. It’s no great looker, but it’s bursting with nice ideas, and actually has a theme: the lasting effects of our moral decisions.
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Hazard: The Journey of Life (Alexander Bruce, PC) Featured as part of the IndieCade section at E3 and developed by lone coder Alexander Bruce, Hazard is described by him as a Philosophical First Person Single Player Exploration Puzzle Game. It’s strange, though-provoking and stylish, and encompasses all that’s inspiring about the contemporary indie development scene. Find out more at Bruce’s website.
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Killzone 3 – in 3D (Sony, PS3) Another big, brawny shooter. I almost opted for Gears of War 3 (or Call of Duty: Black Ops for that matter). But I liked the raw energy, graphical prowess and steely precision of the Killzone 3 demo. And the 3D – although not perfect yet – added much to the experience.
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Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Nintendo, Wii) Despite achieving icon status in Japan, this cute little hero hasn’t played a major part in Nintendo’s plans for several years. But now Kirby is back with an inventive 2D platformer, sporting lovely handicraft graphics and bursting with typically assured gameplay mechanics. Just gorgeous.
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Limbo (Playdead, XBLA) A haunting monochrome platform puzzler, following a small boy searching for his sister in a nightmarish realm. Developed by teeny Danish studio Playdead, it won awards for excellence in visual art and technical excellence at this year’s Independent Games Festival. With good reason.
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Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge (LucasArts, iPhone) I had to include one mobile title, so here’s the highly promising iPhone remake of Monkey Island 2, one of the funniest video games ever made. The team did a sterling job of converting this titles’s predecessor, so expectations are high.
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Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (EA, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360) It’s a new Need For Speed game that returns the series to its thrilling roots, and it’s by Criterion – the British studio responsible for the awesome Burnout series. I’m interested to see what Ubisoft Reflections does with Driver: San Francisco, but really, NFS + Criterion is a sum that cannot be ignored.
Photograph: PR