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With all the fabulous-looking games on display at E3, it's no small feat to decide on the handful that are truly the best of the best--especially when you've got a room full of opinionated editors trying to come to an agreement. Nevertheless, after long debates, some anonymous polling, and a bit of math, our winners--the very best of the best--were selected. Still, that left a number of our personal favorites out in the cold. It's here that each of GameSpot's editors has a chance to mention either a game that didn't quite make our cut or a game that did make the cut but we still feel really strongly about.
Developed by: Neversoft Entertainment
Published by: Activision
Release Date: Q4 2002
When I first saw the new Tony Hawk game, I wasn't sure what to think. The "new" goal structure seems an awful lot like the way the goals are set up in Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 and Aggressive Inline. And the only real new move in the game so far is the ability to do spine transfers. But upon playing it, I felt a whole lot better. Yes, the banishing of the two-minute-run timer means that completing every goal in one run is no longer possible, but the larger levels and increased goal count still keep things interesting. The two levels on display were huge, with a lot of cool stuff to do in them. The voicework for the skaters, who give you some of your goals, seems like a cool idea too. It also looks like Neversoft is going to balance out the scoring a bit. Hopefully, this will fix the online problems that THPS3 had, which had everyone simply doing casper flips over and over again until they had millions of points. Neversoft hasn't done wrong with the series yet, so it will be interesting to see how the new twists to Tony Hawk 4 pan out.
Developed by: LucasArts
Published by: LucasArts
Release Date: Q1 2003
I was really impressed with the look and style of LucasArts' forthcoming turn-based strategy game for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube and was surprised that the company would opt to take such an interesting departure amidst all the Episode II hullabaloo. Gladius is a game about gladiator combat and promises to be a deep, character-driven game with plenty of variety and lots of depth. It reminds me a lot of one of my PlayStation favorites, Final Fantasy Tactics--and I can only hope that Gladius has a similarly rewarding story and equally sophisticated mechanics. The flat, empty environments in which the battles take place seem a little simple, but it looks like the actual gameplay will be plenty complex. It's great to see LucasArts branching out again like it did in the old days. Hey, how about a sequel to Outlaws?
Developed by: Angel Studios
Published by: Capcom
Release Date: Q3 2002
Come to think of it, who needs a sequel to Outlaws when there's Red Dead Revolver? For me and several others on the staff, Angel Studios' upcoming Western-themed shooter was one of the coolest-looking games of the show. The developers really got the spaghetti Western look down perfectly, and the animations of all the characters in the game looked really slick. I was a little concerned when I finally had a chance to play the game, though. The controls were awkward, and I'd hoped the shooting would require a lot more finesse. I'd love to see Red Dead Revolver incorporate an aiming scheme as inventive as the rest of the game--maybe something like what The Mark of Kri is doing.
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