10 Most Exciting Games Showing at E3 2009

Following the Electronic Entertainment Expo’s decision a couple years ago to morph into a kindler, gentler “media & business summit,” throngs of voices in the gaming press began lamenting the departure of the glitz, fog machines, neon tubing, theatrics, etc. Those tear-choked pleas were answered this year as event organizers promised gamers a return to the more-is-more days of yore.

Due to such assurances of divine bombast, there was an enormous amount of pressure on this year’s E3 to deliver at least a pound of gooseflesh to attendees and liveblog-watching gamers around the globe. Granted, nobody expected any console announcements (the economy is in recession, after all). But we knew there’d be fantastic games announced, and lots of them. What we didn't realize is just how many exciting projects the game publishers would confirm to be in development.

Read on to discover the 10 games that Paste is gnawing its balled fist over this very second. Then leave a comment to let us know what you’re most excited about.

9. Assassin’s Creed II [Ubisoft]

The first installment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise wowed gamers with lump-in-throat, high-altitude acrobatics and living, breathing recreations of 12th-century Middle-Eastern cities. The sequel jumps forward to Italy during the Rennaissance and the game’s E3 gameplay demo explains that this game’s new protagonist, a Florentine noble, will benefit from friends such as Leonardo da Vinci, who serves as his own personal inventor. Care to take da Vinci’s famous flying machine gliding across a Venetian night sky filled with blooming fireworks? Get ready. 

(Platforms: Xbox 360/PS3/PC, Release date: TBA)

8. Shadow Complex [Epic Games]

The company that brought you the Gears of War franchise has just announced that it’s working on a title for Xbox Live Arcade that blends a classic 2D side-scrolling approach with modern gameplay features and hi-def visuals. The game presents an original story set in the world of Orson Scott Card’s best-selling novel Empire. 

(Platform: Xbox 360, Release date: TBA)

7. Heavy Rain [Quantic Dream]

Ok, I realize word of this game has been circulating for a while now. So maybe it’s not a brand-spanking-new announcement, but we finally have a slick E3 ‘09 trailer to show us what’s in store from the talented folks at Quantic Dream. You hear a lot about games being adapted into Hollywood movies; well, this one looks like it’s going to arrive on the PS3 with precious little adapting left to do. 

(Platform: PS3, Release date: late 2009)

6. Agent [Rockstar North]

Sony has announced yet another tantalizing PS3 exclusive—a new IP from the Edinburgh-based studio responsible for Grand Theft Auto. Rockstar Games founder Sam Houser calls Agent “the ultimate action game” and “a game we have wanted to make for a long time.” While no game footage has been released at this time, we’re told it’s set in the late 1970s world of counter-intelligence at the height of the Cold War. PS3 holdouts may be getting the itch very soon, if not the line of credit it takes to afford Sony's console. 

(Platform: PS3, Release date: TBA)