E3 is almost upon us, my friends! It’s the time of year when we more or less spend a few days finding out which leaks were legit and which ones were fake. That doesn’t mean the event is any less exciting, though. I’m still making my pants tight thinking about the games that I know will be shown off on stage, as well as the promise of at least a few surprises we will get smacked across the face with.

Before this video game circle jerk kicks off, I’m going to dive into what I’m excited about as well as what I hope to see (no matter the likelihood)

The Excitement

Apex Legends

Apex Legends punched gamers in the face a few months back when it got a surprise release. Not only was it a well-crafted battle royale game, but it was (and still is) free to download. Sure, there were some insanely-priced skins, some of them being as high as twenty bucks each. But they are all cosmetic, and they never tempted me. I admit I have spent a few bucks on the game, but I have no problem supporting a good game with purchases here and there.

The issue with Apex is that compared to other games in the genre, it has been slow to add any substantial content since release. The biggest update was Season 1, which added a new playable character, Octane, as well as battle pass rewards. Though Octane is a great addition to the game, the battle pass left a lot to be desired. It’s a lot of grind for underwhelming rewards.

Since this post is about things I am excited for, and I just spent a paragraph shitting on the game, let’s get to why I’m excited to see what Respawn has to show off about the game’s future. I really think they will have some great stuff to showcase. They’ve already promised much better content for season 2, and a set of challenges is already live in the game to keep people occupied. Who knows, maybe they’ll even announce a new map. I know that’s a stretch, but I can dream, can’t I? Even if I’m wrong, I’m betting they’ll be showing off some juicy bits. New weapons? Map updates? New Legends? I’m in.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Please don’t fuck this up, EA. Please…

Electronic Arts has had a, um, less-than-stellar run with the Star Wars franchise. Star Wars 1313 was cancelled, the Battlefront reboot was as barebones as a AAA title could get, and Battlefront 2 was so mired in controversy I don’t have enough time to cover it right now. And most recently, the open-world Star Wars game from the director of the Uncharted games was cancelled. Needless to say, Fallen Order needs to deliver.

It’s reassuring that the game is being developed by Respawn. They may have only developed three games so far, but all three of them have been damn good. Here’s to hoping we finally get a Star Wars game worthy of its namesake.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

Anyone who know’s a thing about me probably knows I love the Zelda series. That said, I’m not well-versed with anything prior to Ocarina of Time, so the announcement that Link’s Awakening was being remade gave me a… good amount of excitement. Not only do I hear a bunch of good things about this game, but it’s essentially a new Zelda game to me. I’ll be getting to experience this whole game for the first time, and I can’t wait to see more of it.

Halo Infinite

Halo Fucking Infinite (working title). This is the series that turned me into an Xbox fan, and I have loved killing aliens across the galaxy for the last eighteen years. My trigger finger is itching more than ever at this point, as we are currently in the longest period between a mainline Halo game since the series began. There’s light at the end of the tunnel though, as the announcement of Infinite last year blew everyone’s socks off, and we know gameplay will be shown off at Microsoft’s conference. With the return to the classic Halo art style, I won’t be surprised if this is the best series title since Halo 3.

The Hopes

Dead Space Revival

Look, I know this is a stretch, but I will be hoping for this series to return until it happens or I die. Dead Space is my favorite horror franchise, and the series promised to bring the terror to Earth before being put on ice indefinitely. To add insult to injury, developer Visceral Games was closed by EA a few years ago. All that said, I know there is a slim chance we will ever see a follow-up to DS3. But if it does happen, I’ll be happy to jump back into Isaac Clarke’s boots.

Perfect Dark

Rumors have been swirling about a Perfect Dark revival for years now, but the fact that rumors even exist makes this more probable than the return of Dead Space.

I’ll say it now. Perfect Dark is better than Goldeneye. It took the gameplay of the James Bond classic and made numerous improvements on it. Additionally, it had a fully voiced script, cool reload animations (which were new at the time), a massive arsenal, and endless customization options in multiplayer. To top it off, it leaned heavily into sci-fi themes, which is always a draw for me.

Perfect Dark Zero may have been a lackluster game in comparison to the original, but it was still a fun game that didn’t so much set the game back as much as it just kept it where it was. A new game could very well change that.

Rainbow Six Outbreak

Who remembers the Outbreak event in Rainbow Six Siege last year? It was a limited-time event that took player out of the PvP game modes that they were used to and instead dropped them into a Left 4 Dead-like co-op situation. Almost everyone who played it loved it, but Ubisoft stuck to the limited-time plan and we haven’t seen the mode since.

When you pair the recent rumors of a new R6 title with the statements from Ubisoft saying they want Siege to continue into the next console generation, a logical theory would be that they may be preparing to announce a spinoff game inspired by the Outbreak event. Siege was just the testing ground.

The company has done this before. They’re currently in the process of making a full game out of the naval combat component of the Assassin’s Creed series, because fans love destroying their enemies on the high seas. One thing is for certain, though: I’d play the shit out of a Rainbow Six zombie game.

Splinter Cell

As with Perfect Dark, information of a new Splinter Cell has been thrown around for years now. And it’s not just rumors in this case. Far Cry: New Dawn had a huge easter egg where you could get Fisher’s signature suit, and the stealthy agent himself made an appearance in Ghost Recon Wildlands. Could this be the year that he makes a proper return? His last big outing was in 2013’s Splinter Cell Blacklist, which might be the best game in the series. I just want to don those green goggles again.