When I played Borderlands for the first time, I knew within minutes that I was playing a game that could go on to spawn many sequels as a successful IP.<\/p>\n
The weird, cartoonish visual style, oddball characters and quick pace were enough to sell me, but the RPG package it came in was what really hooked me (yes, I am an item whore). <\/p>\n
Despite all the DLC which has come since the original release, a sequel seemed almost a certainty, so its absence at E3 really stood out. The sales of the original were surely better than any Gearbox could have hoped for with a brand new IP, so it seems odd that they’re not cashing in on it at this point. <\/p>\n
Many Borderlands fans felt that the character-leveling RPG element of the original was a little lacking, so the sequel is wide open to offer a little more depth. I’m still confident we can expect a Borderlands sequel at some point in the not-too-distant future, but I would have liked to have seen something at E3.<\/p>\n
Half-Life 2: Episode 3<\/strong><\/p>\n I’ve got a bone to pick with you, Valve. I’ve been waiting a damned long time for this, and still you give me nothing. Now I get it, you’re working on DOTA 2, and granted I am pants-wetting excited for that. But it’s been a helluva long time since I’ve swung a crowbar, and I think I’ve waited long enough. <\/p>\n I’m sure I wasn’t the only one heaving a sigh of bitter disappointment when we still got nothing from the Half-life world out of E3. Easily one of my all-time favourite game series, I was desperately hoping for something, anything to let me know that Valve hadn’t forgotten that their flagship IP still exists. I’ll have to just be content with DOTA 2 for now.<\/p>\n Look at him, look how sad he looks. Poor guy just wants to hit something.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Anything Good for Kinect<\/strong><\/p>\n There was plenty of attention given to Kinect itself, but as far as decent Kinect titles go it was pretty much a no-show. All the games that use the device were pretty limited in their application, and Microsoft is yet to show us a decent title that makes extensive use of this technology.<\/p>\n It seems Kinect may turn out to be somewhat of a fad stepping stone onto bigger and better things (Or just a fad? Ed) , and I will continue to stay away from it until something comes along that actually makes it worthwhile. Despite all the song and dance, there was an extremely disappointing lack of games to back the tech.<\/p>\n God of War 4<\/strong><\/p>\n I’m pretty surprised we didn’t even hear a whisper about this. Being one of Sony’s biggest PS3 exclusives, one would think they would be eager to get as much attention on it as possible. With the enormous success of the previous games, any God of War reveals are bound to get a ton of press.<\/p>\n The main reason I’m surprised this had no E3 showing is that the rumours of a 2012 release date are rife on the interwebs. If that’s true, now’s the time to start turning the cogs on the hype machine.<\/p>\n Rockstar, Rockstar and also Rockstar<\/strong><\/p>\n There were three potential Rockstar candidates for E3 – none of them showed. <\/p>\n Agent is a Rockstar game which, since its announcement in 2007, no one has really heard much else about. All we’ve really been told recently is its going to be a PS3 exclusive; aside from that the lid has been closed up tight – and that didn’t change at E3.<\/p>\n Grand Theft Auto V is the obvious absentee, although we have seen Rockstar do this in the past. They like to wait for the post-E3 lull before dropping their hype bomb, thus making sure it doesn’t get overshadowed by other announcements. <\/p>\n Then there’s Max Payne 3. a game which I predicted to be a disappointment, so I was eager to see some news that could potentially allay my fears (or confirm them). As with the other Rockstar titles, however, Max Payne 3 was a no show. Perhaps they were too busy with LA Noire to get it E3 ready.<\/p>\n Yeah… I’m still not sold on homeless biker Max Payne.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Respawn Entertainment<\/strong><\/p>\n Last year, gaming press all over the world exploded after Vince Zampella and Jason West were abruptly fired as lead developers on Infinity Ward, the creators of Modern Warfare 1 and 2. Following this was a mass exodus of nearly half of the remaining Infinity Ward members, as 46 people handed in their resignations. <\/p>\n Zampella, West and other ex-Infinity Ward employees went on to form Respawn Entertainment, ironically funded by EA, Activision’s biggest competitor. While we know they’ve been working on a new shooter, unfortunately we didn’t get to see any of it at E3. It will be very exciting to see what such talented developers can do with the freedom to do as they please.<\/p>\n![](\"\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/gordon_freeman_268287718.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/max_payne_144831784.jpg\")
<\/p>\n