Every spring, the video game community shuts down and converges in California to show off the latest and greatest video games that will drain the free time and free will of guys like me in the upcoming year. The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 for short) is always a salivating experience, with video game Web sites sending correspondents to obtain screen shots, direct-feed movies and trivial tidbits from the hottest new games and posting them on their sites almost every 15 minutes (seriously, it's like CNN covering a war … it's insane).\nAnd this year was no different.\nAs an avid gamer, I followed E3 this year primarily so I can budget how much money I'll have left for food and rent after I dump my soul on the counter at Electronics Boutique. Here are some of the games that made a big splash:\n"Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" (PS2): After conquering the 1980s with its homage to "Miami Vice" and "Scarface," Rockstar Games has chosen to pay respects to the 1990s and Compton in the sequel to "GTA: Vice City." San Andreas isn't a city, rather a state that will contain three Vice City-scale cities (I like the word city), modeled after L.A., San Francisco and Las Vegas. You can buy more structures and businesses (that now pay out), break into houses, assemble gangs to go with you on missions and even condition your character to be in shape for better attributes. "GTA" has also received a graphic overhaul and a new engine, meaning this incarnation will feel more like a new game than a simple sequel. Still no sign of multiplayer, but whatever … combine all the new bells and whistles with a soundtrack that will probably include gangsta rap and grunge, and you've got a game that is going to own all of us for months.\n"Resident Evil 4" (Gamecube): Gone are the clunky controls that make your character feel like a tank, replaced with an engine that emphasizes firefights as well as unbelievable scares. Regarded as one of the most exciting, beautiful and scariest games ever, "Resident Evil 4" finds our hero in a village being attacked by zombies. But not the old slow kind, rather those new hip zombies that run fast and scream a lot. With weapons like sniper rifles and rocket launchers to combat chainsaw-wielding villagers and a story that's rumored to progressively turn the protagonist into a zombie as the game goes on, "RE 4" looks like it will reinvent the survival-horror genre. Get online and find some footage of the game for yourself … you won't regret it.\n"Halo 2" (Xbox): I don't even own an Xbox and I'm excited for this. There's a new duel-wielding option that lets you fire two completely different weapons at the same time, making the now-infamous multiplayer mode that much more intense. There's also a vehicle-jacking system that lets you take a slow-moving vehicle from an unsuspecting enemy and the ability to shoot out wheels and engines of a vehicle to disable it. With a single player mode that is much more immersive and story-driven, "Halo 2" is shaping up to blow its predecessor away.\n"Viewtiful Joe 2" (PS2 & GC): If you played the first "Viewtiful Joe," you already know the joys of one of the best video games in years. The cel-shaded, side-scrolling action game from Capcom is back with a sequel that promises more of the same spectacular time-altering gameplay that made the first "VJ" such an addictive game. New to the series is a two-player co-op mode, with the addition of Joe's girlfriend, Sylvia, as a fully playable character. There's also a replay option that let's Joe go back in time and repeat attacks for more damage. If you're a fan of old school gaming, the "VJ" series is a modern embodiment of everything that made older games so great.\nMadden 2005 (PS2, Xbox, GC): After last year's outing, I never thought the Madden franchise could be topped, but it has. The game gets even deeper this year with quarterback controversies, disputes over playing time, personal problems between players, local and national press coverage of events in the league that affect your team morale and statistics, the ability to create your own fans and (finally) the Super Bowl as it was meant to be played, complete with inflatable helmets, pyrotechnics and your coach getting doused after winning the big game. Sounds like an armchair quarterback's dream.\n"Half-Life 2" (PC & eventually Xbox): Kicks the crap out of every other game you've ever played. Fully interactive environments, context sensitive scripted events, the ability to hurl metal objects with a magnet gun, using hormones to attract aliens and make them do your bidding and unbelievable firefights. The only justice I can do to this game is to tell you to go watch the numerous online videos of it. Games like this make me want to invest in a brand new computer.\n"Killzone" (PS2): PS2's response to "Halo" is way behind, but it might just do the trick. IGN's "PS2 Best In Show" is a FPS that takes place in an urban environment and emphasizes strategic battles that involve defensive strategies. The style of the game looks great, with a gritty, neo-apocalyptic look to it. The story is being just as carefully developed as the game itself, as it attempts to create a massive narrative to supplement the highly-regarded gameplay.\n"Metroid Prime 2: Echoes" (GC): The sequel to one of the best games for Gamecube is sporting a much-needed multiplayer option as well as an intriguing gameplay mechanic that divides environments into "light" and "dark." To kill "light" enemies, you must use "dark" weapons, and vice versa. Also added are more weapons, an assassin pursuing Samus and a new visor to aid in intergalactic warfare.
Say goodbye to sunlight ... the best of E3 is here
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