10 Reasons I'm Excited for E3: Part 1 Company: GameVortex.com Product: E3 2011 I've been covering E3 shows for at least a decade and, at the risk of sounding both pretentious and jaded, every year I have a harder time "getting up" for the event. Yeah, I know, the idea of getting to go to a huge show just to play games months ahead of release sounds great, and I sometimes forget just how blessed I am to actually get the opportunity, but the truth is, it's hard work. Sore feet, little sleep and deadlines, deadlines, deadlines.... Truth is, the spark usually ignites the minute I see the convention center for the first time, but with the industry's newest trend of basically announcing entire E3 slates well ahead of the show, even that excitement has diminished just a bit. This year, however, I'm unusually excited for the show. My secret? Keeping myself as out-of-the-loop as I can without actually removing myself (which, would make my job and this article incredibly hard to write). I rarely have a massive list of games I have to see at E3. I follow the big names, but always wait to see what catches my attention amongst the cacophony of brightly lit monitors vying for my attention. There are, however, a few titles I'm excited for. In the next week, I share what I'm looking forward to and why. There's no specific order and, at times, the reasons behind my excitement are a bit arbitrary. Regardless of reasoning, here's the first five. Expect the next five later this week. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Xbox 360/ PS3/ PC - Bethesda Game Studios (Bethesda Softworks) If this list was in order, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim would earn top honors. I'm a sucker for exploration in games and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit to the number of hours I spent roaming Oblivion's massive game world. Skyrim looks poised to offer just as much land to explore, this time through the dragon-inhabited land of Skyrim, which lies in northern Tamriel. Skyrim sticks to the open world gameplay found in Oblivion, though Bethesda is tossing in a few major changes. The first is the removal of the class system. Rather than choosing a class before you begin playing the game (which, if you think about it, is kind of a silly idea anyway), you instead develop your character as you play. Rather than leveling in a traditional sense, you'll level individual skills, earning access to a series of branching, skill-specific abilities. Another change is the new Radiant Story system, which "replaces" the Radiant A.I. found in previous games. Similar to previous games, NPCs will "do their own thing," though now Bethesda is promising more interaction with their environments. The new system will also offer randomly-generated encounters, leading to side-quests built specifically for your character. Nothing else to say other than I'm completely buzzed about getting the chance to cover Skyrim this year. Expect excited Tweets. Saints Row The Third Xbox 360/ PS3/ PC - Volition (THQ) Second only to the hours spent roaming Tamriel are the hours I've lost causing mayhem in Stillwater. The Saints Row series has lead to some of my most cherished gaming memories, so I'm excited to see what new ones I'll make with Saints Row The Third. I thought Saints Row 2 was a better sequel to GTA: San Andreas than GTA 4, so I expect plenty more over-the-top, "GTA by Michael Bay" antics... and I'm sure Volition will deliver. You'll still play as a player-created character, who is unceremoniously dropped into the city of Steelport. This time you're going up against Phillipe Loren, the leader of an international crime organization called The Syndicate. Storylines still weave between the three factions as they battle for control of Steelport. Now, however, gaining Respect will not only open new missions and territories, but new perks for your character. THQ also recently announced a new initiative called "Initiation Station," which allows players to upload and download characters. As someone who spends just as much time customizing my character as I do playing the game, I appreciate this sort of thing. Dark Souls Xbox 360/ PS3 - From Software (Namco Bandai Games) Keeping with the theme of "Hours Lost to Games," Demon's Souls sucked more time from my schedule than I ever imagined. Other than ChronoTrigger, it is one of the few games to hold the distinction of causing me to miss multiple meals and forget that time even existed. Dark Souls isn't a direct sequel to Demon's Souls, though it is a bit of a "Legeacy" project. Demon's Souls earned a level of fame (or infamy depending on your outlook), for pushing players to their very limits. It also wasn't above hitting them with a cheap hit now and again either. Dark Souls promises all of the same, but is also ramping up the difficulty. You know, describing it, I don't know why I'm looking forward to it. Then again, as any poor college student will tell you, eating and sleeping aren't that important. X-Men: Destiny Xbox 360/ PS3/ Wii - Silicon Knights (Activision) I know little to nothing about X-Men: Destiny, which is exactly why I'm interested in it. X-Men: Destiny introduces three new mutants to the Marvel Universe in a story scribed by Mike Carey of X-Men: Legacy fame. As one of the new trio of mutants, players will enter the war between humans and mutants. Gameplay revolves around player choices, primarily as it relates to which mutants you choose to team-up with during the story. X-Men: Destiny is developed by Silicon Knights. Although the company took a massive tumble after Too Human, the comic geek in me is still interested. Batman: Arkham City Xbox 360/ PS3/ PC- Rocksteady Studios (Warner Bros. Interactive) I don't care if you are a Marvel or DC - if you missed out on Batman: Arkham Asylum, you missed out on one of the best superhero games ever. Not only did it manage to hit the tone of the comic series just right, it absolutely nailed every aspect of Batman's character, right down to his "Emergency Batcave." Arkham City takes place about a year after Asylum. Former Arkham warden Quincy Sharp is now mayor of Gotham. His first action is to redevelop a large section of the slums into a military-grade prison in order to hold both Arkham and Blackgate's inmates. As long as there are no escape attempts, the prisoners are free to do whatever they want within the prison's walls. Batman keeps a constant watch over the prison, though only chooses to enter when Two-Face announces plans to execute Catwoman. The original got nearly everything about Batman right, and Arkham City incorporates many of those elements along with a few new surprises. Gameplay is still split between action and stealth elements, though with a greater emphasis on solving puzzles via Detective Mode. You'll still use the mode to find clues, though the mode is now presented as "Augmented Reality." You'll also be able to perform basic CSI analysis at crime scenes, as well as track criminals around the city. If gameplay isn't enough to get you pumped, Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill will voice Batman and the Joker. If anything, E3 2011 promises to be one of the more exciting shows in recent years. Look for my final five later this week and, in the mean time, hit me up on Twitter and let me know what you're looking forward to so we can be sure to cover it. -Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker Related Links: Twitter Poll: What Are You Looking Forward To? Game Vortex's Review of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion on Xbox 360 PlayStation Illustrated's Review of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion on PS3 Game Vortex's Review of Saints Row 2 on Xbox 360 PlayStation Illustrated's Review of Saints Row 2 on PS3 PlayStation Illustrated's Review of Demon's Souls on PS3 PlayStation Illustrated's Review of Batman: Arkham Asylum on PS3