Missing in Action – The No Shows of E3

E3 may have been a hot bed of exciting new announcements, with such instant classics as “You’re in the 1950s Exploitation Movies”, which promises to be a laugh an hour, and “Wii Noise”, but the real treat was seeing our most fiercely anticipated games, demoed live and in-game.

While screens around the convention centre blared images of Gears of War 2, Animal Crossing and Resistance 2, some titles completely forgot a convention was on last week. This article delves into the top games that were a no-show at E3 2008.

Alan Wake – Xbox 360, PC

While Max Payne is off filming a flick with Meg from Family Guy, the creators at Remedy Entertainment should be hard at work on their new game, Alan Wake – right? Well, they either forgot they were making a game, or were working so hard that they missed E3. Here’s hoping for the latter.

Alan Wake is a jaw dropping free-roaming game set in Bright Falls, Washington. The best selling horror author attempts to cure his insomniac at a secluded sleep clinic in the sleepy mountains. Turns out he gets back to sleep, but the hell born monsters from his books are ravishing the land and trying to kill Wake; it’s a tough balance to keep.

Beyond Good and Evil 2 – Xbox 360, Playstation 3

UbiDays 2008, Ubisoft announce Beyond Good and Evil 2 with an enigmatic, minimalist trailer. The fans go wild. E3 2008, Ubisoft announce Party Babies for Wii. Girls aged 5-12 go wild.

Beyond Good and Evil is a cult classic among gamers, and rightfully so. The game has some brilliant characters and superb ideas, as well as an addictive critter photo-snapping sub game. We can’t wait for BGE2 to hit PS3 and 360.

Tekken 6 – Playstation 3

Tekken may be out in Japan’s Arcades, but PS3 owners desperately wanted a slice of the fighting pie at E3. With no release date set, we must assume that Namco is just giving their all to Soul Calibur IV, out August 1st.

The game features a whopping 41 brawlers, including a Giant Panda, a laser shooting Robot, a sumo wrestler and Namco’s personification of America; a hideously obese man named Bob.

Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena – Xbox 360, Playstation 3

The Chronicles of Riddick, a first person shooter and brawler based on the animated and live action films, was a big hit on Xbox and PC in 2004.

However, when Microsoft couldn’t get Escape to Butcher Bay to cooperate with Xbox 360’s backwards compatible tools, Starbreeze said “screw it – we’ll do it again”.

Not wanting to rest on their laurels, the game will feature improved graphics and visuals, multiplayer and a brand new addition to the story, involving an assault on a mercenary ship called the Dark Athena.

Maybe Vin Diesel just wants to show off his game The Wheelman, before hyping up Riddick. I am, alongside everyone else who missed this game the first time round, hoping it’s not canceled.

All Points Bulletin – PC

The guys behind 2007’s awesome Crackdown, Realtime Worlds, are working on an upcoming MMO for PC. Called APB, the game is split into Horde and Allian—I mean Criminal and Law Enforcement. The two factions will constantly be struggling for control of the city, 24 hours a day. Characters can perform missions to earn money and buy new weapons, vehicles and an array of strange and unusual headwear.

The game has been seen at a few conventions and expos, but was a no-show at E3 this year.

Brütal Legend – Xbox 360, Playstation 3

Jack Black and Tim Schafer? Just get Jackie Chan and Shigeru Miyamoto in there, and the world might explode.

Brütal Legend (complete with nonsensical, Mötley Crüe styled umlauts) is a whirlwind tour through the pages of Heavy Metal history with countless references, voice work by Jack Black, Motorhead’s Lemmy, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford and Ronny James Dio, and new songs and guitar solos from Wolfmother, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Dio and more.

The game, floating in Shcafer’s head since The Secret of Monkey Island, has finally formed into a full game, but was a no show at E3.

Indiana Jones – Xbox 360, Playstation 3

Indiana Jones; been there, done that, survived a nuclear explosion in a lead refrigerator. Now we’re too concerned with Dark Knights and Iron Men. While the new Indy game, featuring some neat physics tech (beaten to the punch by GTA 4, of course), is not necessarily based on the Crystal Skull flick, it wouldn’t hurt to ride on its coat tails.

Wipeout HD – Playstation 3

“There is a specific technical problem with WipEout that we have to solve. I can’t go into details but it is a really, really tricky technical problem that no region has been able to solve at the moment,” said Sony Europe boss David Reeves.

Maybe its that Wipeout HD is so fast, that it will literally shatter your brand new Plasma telly. The game should be out in 2008, but there was no sight of it in E3’s spacious halls.

Team ICO Game – Playstation 3

There are not many companies that could garner this much excitement and hype with a picture of a chain plunging into a hole. Team ICO, creators of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, were a no show at E3, besides Jack Tretton mentioning both games at the Sony Press Conference in an unbearable lead up to the beautiful, world shattering announcement… which never quite came.

The new game will more than likely be shown at Tokyo Game Show, which starts October 9th.

Splinter Cell: Conviction – Xbox 360

Secret Agent Sam is on the run from the feds, but did a little too good of a job at hiding, as he was nowhere to be found in Ubisoft’s booth or press conference.

The game features Sam Fisher, sporting the grizzled, homeless look as he goes all Assassin’s Creed on the collective ass of the public. He must make the life changing decision of whether to run past, or carefully squeeze past the woman carrying a pot on her head; the latter resulting in a cheeky bum pinch.