Lara Croft is not only back, but back to her early 20s in this intriguing series restart. Shipwrecked on a hostile tropical island, she must develop those well-known fighting and exploration skills to survive.
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This is the big one – the sequel to 2009’s 20-million-selling Modern Warfare 2. The action kicks off minutes after the last title, featuring showdown battles in New York, London and Paris between Russian ultranationalists and US spec ops forces. Relentless cinematic destruction, here we come ...
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The massively successful and highly respected online military shooter series returns, with a visually spectacular single-player campaign and agenda-setting multiplayer. The only serious competition to the Call of Duty behemoth.
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A free-roaming zombie apocalypse adventure set on a resort island suddenly over-run with the undead. A brilliant, devastating trailer piqued interested for this little known title earlier in the year, and the Walking Dead TV series has stoked interest in the undead.
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This biblical combat adventure was a critical smash in its native Japan and could be the dark horse at this year’s E3, sporting amazing visuals by Masato Kimura and Sawaki Takeyasu, the genius talent behind offbeat classics Okami and Viewtiful Joe.
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The latest epic in the critically acclaimed Elder Scrolls action RPG series is set 200 years after its predecessor, this features a new questing structure, vastly improved graphics and a conversation system to converse with dragons. With dragons!
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The final chapter in the engrossing space opera sees Commander Shepard making a final bid to save the galaxy from the dreaded Reapers. This has been one of the most critically revered adventure RPG series’ of the decade so will draw plenty of teary-eyed interest on the E3 showfloor.
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The sequel to 2009’s excellent Batman: Arkham Asylum sees the Dark Knight fighting a whole city of crooks in order to save Catwoman from execution at the hands of Two-Face. A tuned combat system and a more expansive environment are promised.
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The most important exclusive game series on PS3 continues with dashing hero Nathan Drake trotting around the globe getting into all sorts of action adventure hijinks. An improved combat system and extended multiplayer are set to add to the thrills – as is a 3D mode.
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Another muscular chunk of sci-fi blasting action, with the human race facing its final battle with the Locust forces. Expect meaty weapons, insane set-piece battles and pitch perfect multiplayer.
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The latest title in Nintendo’s much-loved action RPG series will feature intuitive swordplay courtesy of the Wii Motion Plus controller, as well as the usual sweeping fantasy narrative and lush visual design.
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The latest in the historical action adventure series will be the last to feature the raunchy Renaissance assassin, Ezio, as he travels to Constantinople and into the heart of another Templar conspiracy.
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A more action-orientated take on the stealth actions series, this time revolving around sword-swirling combatant Raiden in a plot that takes place between Metal Gear Solid 2 and 4. Expect sharp visuals, a sprawling narrative and gallons of cyberpunk style.
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Microsoft’s blistering racing sim returns with a whole bunch of exotic new super cars and intriguing support for the Kinect motion control device.
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The long-awaited massively multiplayer adventure game set in the Star Wars universe has been in development for four years and promises to revolutionalise the MMORPG sector. The exhausted Star Wars brand could do with a bit of good PR, too.
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