Titanfall drops in at this year's E3

Nearly three years after its formation by former Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella, Respawn Entertainment finally unveiled their game, Titanfall, as the exclamation point on Microsoft’s E3 press conference. Titanfall is first-person shooter featuring a hybrid gameplay mix of on foot pilots and mechs called Titans. Despite being multiplayer only, the game aims to blend fast-paced round-based multiplayer with the cinematic singleplayer aspect of modern shooters. Built on the Source engine, Titanfall is designed to offload physics calculations and AI to servers, making matches run smoother and faster on consoles. You can see the full reveal trailer showcasing more of the story of Titanfall below. Scheduled for release in spring 2014, Titanfall will be exclusive for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC.

Garrett returns as the master Thief in these screenshots and trailer

A new cinematic trailer was shown for Thief during Microsoft's press conference this week. The trailer focuses squarely on Garrett, the master thief of the city out to take what he wants. While no gameplay was shown, the game is playable behind closed doors on the E3 show floor, with small showcases of gameplay on various stage demos. However, Eidos did release some new screenshots from the classic first-person perspective that you can see below. Thief is slated to come to the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC sometime in 2014.

Geralt of Rivia returns for one final hunt in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

CD Projekt RED unveiled the newest gameplay trailer for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt during Microsoft's E3 press conference on Monday. While the trailer is pretty standard, showing off the high visual fidelity the series has been known for since The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, there are also several shots entirely in CG. Like their previous Cyberpunk 2077 trailer, CD Projekt RED managed to sneak a small message in the trailer right before the title unveil. Below is a screen capture of that message, but if you can't make it out, the entire message is posted below. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is due sometime in 2014 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

New Watch Dogs blackout demo in time for E3

Watch Dogs, the stand-out game from E3 2012, is back this year again with a brand new CG trailer and lengthy gameplay demo during the Sony press conference. The demo shows off the interconnected city of Chicago and the various ways players can manipulate the environment to plan their escapes. It’s nice to see hacking in game that uses it as a gameplay mechanic rather than a simple minigame. The demo also highlights second-screen capabilities with a tablet. Watch Dogs is coming to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and PC on November 19, with Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions coming later in the year.

Saints Row 4 is clearly the Citizen Kane of video games

A new Saints Row 4 trailer released just in time for E3. The President of the United States is stuck in a Zin simulation and it's up to the Saints to get him free, including Pierce, Kinzie, Shaundi, Shaundi from Saints Row 2, newcomer Asha Odekar, the return of Benjamin King from the first Saints Row, and Keith David as himself as the Vice President of the United States. Unlike the Power-induced trailer for Saints Row The Third, this trailer plays accompanied by dramatic music that would fit more appropriately for an Oscar-nominated movie. All of this, of course, while the President of the United States shoots aliens in the streets of the city naked. Saints Row 4 releases on August 20 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Lara Croft and the steady hand of death

Tomb Raider is easily my most conflicting game this year so far. Don’t get me wrong, the controls are precise, the transition from the old blocky grid-like movement to modern free form running is great, and the visual fidelity is outstanding, especially with TressFX enabled. But there’s one small section of Tomb Raider I’ve gone back and forth on, changing my mind whether it’s executed poorly, or its subtle nuances make everything fit together.

Fast cars and cops are back in Need for Speed: Rivals

EA announced a new Need for Speed game, Rivals, will be coming later this year. Though it's not the first Need for Speed title to use Rivals (that honor goes to the 2005 PSP exclusive Need for Speed: Underground 2: Rivals), it will use the same Frostbite 3 engine appearing in other EA games, including Battlefield 4 and Dragon Age 3: Inquisition. Need for Speed: Rivals aims to combine the open-world of last year's Most Wanted with the exciting police chases of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Surprisingly, Criterion Games, who announced at E3 last year it would oversee all future Need for Speed games, is not developing Need for Speed: Rivals. Instead, a Gothenberg-based studio called Ghost Games will be handling development. However, the creative director of Most Wanted and Hot Pursuit, Craig Sullivan, joined Ghost Games to oversee the project. Along with the return of Autolog, Rivals will include a new feature called AllDrive, allowing players to seamlessly drop in and out of single and multiplayer races. Need for Speed: Rivals arrives for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on November 19, with Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions coming at a later time.

Call of Duty: Ghosts is real and coming this November

Following the announcement of Call of Duty: Ghosts with a live-action teaser trailer, the first gameplay trailer appeared at last week's Xbox One presentation. Along with the trailer, developer Infinity Ward showed a behind-the-scenes look at the new engine powering Ghosts, comparing soldier and dog textures from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to Call of Duty: Ghosts. You read that right; Call of Duty: Ghosts will feature a dog as part of your squad that can help sniff out bombs and, presumably, play fetch. While plots details are sparse, Call of Duty: Ghosts is set sometime in the future, 10 years after a global event leaves the United States crippled and no longer one of the world's strongest countries. Call of Duty: Ghosts releases for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and PC on November 5, with Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions following shortly.

Set sail with Edward Kenway in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag

As previously rumored, the next installment in the Assassin's Creed series is indeed heading to the high seas with Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. This time taking a step back in history, rather than moving forward, with Edward Kenway, father of Haythem Kenway and grandfather to Conner from Assassin's Creed 3. Set during the golden age of piracy, Kenway sails through the Caribbean encountering historic pirates such as Blackbeard and Anne Bonny while plundering treasure from the the king he once served, attempting to redeem himself as a 'man of quality' to his family. Black Flag will improve on the sailing and naval combat first seen in Assassin's Creed 3, giving players the option to explore the open sea as well as deserted islands. Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is due to release for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and PC on October 29, while PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions will arrive sometime later in the quarter.

Saints Row 4 PAX East Demo

If you weren't able to make it to PAX East in Boston back in March, Volition and their newly-minted publisher Deep Silver recently released a video showing off the gameplay demo they were showing for Saints Row 4. The video highlights some of the crazier parts of Saints Row 4, including a virtual Steelport, the dubstep gun, superpowers, a mech-suit, and aliens. Originally created as the expansion Enter the Domintarix for Saints Row: The Third, whole parts including missions, story, and voice-acting were thrown out in order to not feel like an expansion, instead going for a full-fledged sequel where the player is the President of the United States. As the the video above shows, the more eccentric parts of Enter the Dominatrix remained. Saints Row 4 releases on August 20 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.