14 DAY TRIAL // I have already decided that Dragon Age: Inquisition is my Game of the Show for the recently ended E3 2014 trade show, but the decision was heavily influenced by my personal taste when it comes to genres, by my long-time loyalty to BioWare and by my appreciation of the previous two titles in the franchise.
The three days of the event have managed to show me a number of other notable video game experiences that have the potential to impress players in the coming months, as long as the epidemic of delays does not affected them.
Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4 offered a demo that gave the player three ways of approaching the same missions, with fairly different results and experiences for those who managed to get access to the title, but the right way to play was certainly to use an elephant as a battering ram and terror weapon to assault an enemy outpost.
I spent just about 30 minutes playing the new Ubisoft title, but it was enough to be impressed by the ferocity of the combat and the upgraded intelligence of the enemies, who seemed to surprise plenty of those who tried the experience out.
Ubisoft seems to use the series as a testing ground for some of its weirder ideas and it clearly has the potential to deliver even more surreal moments than its predecessors.
Batman: Arkham Knight
The third game in the Batman series, which marks the return of Rocksteady to the franchise, is another surprise because it manages to take an entirely new concept, the fast and heavily armed Batmobile, and integrate it almost seamlessly with the rest of its core mechanics.
The development team has shown how the vehicle can morph from one version to another and how it can be used to both take out enemies in big brawls and to solve puzzles.
The only potential weakness of the title is that main villain Scarecrow does not have the same amount of respect among fans that The Joker enjoys, but if Rocksteady manages to deliver a solid story, that might change in early 2015.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
I have already written about the quality of the demo that BioWare delivered for Dragon Age: Inquisition at E3 2014 and about the way the title seems to easily mix engaging combat, a lot of choice for the player and a story that spawns an entire continent.
This is the type of complex video game that I might have to play for five or six times, two of them thoroughly, in order to try out different decisions, to see how party composition affects the combat and to explore all nooks and crannies of the beautiful game world.
On October 7, I might have to take time off just to be able to immerse myself in Dragon Age: Inquisition.
The Rest of the Pack
During E3 2014, a number of other titles that have a lot of potential that they need to build up on were presented.
This War of Mine was a highlight, developed by a smaller team and designed to show how war affects individuals, with no attempt to hide the ugly nature of modern armed conflict.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is looking as good as ever and the open world structure could make it a huge hit.
Civilization: Beyond Earth could change the core mechanics of the turn-based strategy franchise in order to attract new players and keep fans of Alpha Centauri satisfied.
The 2014 edition of E3 was a good one and there are plenty of titles that gamers will be happy to buy and play in the coming months.