Every year in June, the video game industry gathers in L.A. for the biggest convention of the year: E3. It's kind of like an Apple event, only people still watch it in 2018, and your old headphones work just fine. It's also first and foremost a hype parade, a showcase of the biggest video games in the pipeline designed to make you feel very good about the video game console you have spent money on. It's sometimes annoying and also sometimes nice, because I enjoy feeling pandered to.

In the event that you don't have a dozen hours to watch days of press conference footage, I've picked out a few of the coolest things shown at E3 2018:

Assassin's Creed Odyssey

The Assassin's Creed games were always fun jaunts through history, like museums but with more stabbing. They also weren't terribly housebroken—controlling your character wasn't always very fun. Last year's Assassin's Creed Origins rebuilt the series from the ground up, taking us to Ancient Egypt for a gorgeous story of revenge that brought the series into modernity. This year, AC is back with Odyssey, which takes place in Ancient Greece and places an even greater emphasis on storytelling and action. It's the most exciting the series has been in years. Available October 5, 2018.


There have been a lot of Spider-Man games over the years, but none have looked this good and fun since maybe the video game adaptation of Spider-Man 2. This new Spider-Man—exclusive to Playstation 4—isn't tied to any particular movie, and freely makes use of material from both recent Spidey comics and classic ones. It's a game that looks bright, refreshing, and fun—and it'll also be in our hands real soon. Available September 7, 2018

Dying Light 2

2015's Dying Light was an under-appreciated gem, a game that asked you to parkour your way across a city plagued with super-zombies, fashioning weapons out of whatever spare parts you could fine. Tense, dense, and thrilling, the game didn't really make waves, so it's a pleasant surprise that it's going to get a sequel. And that sequel looks dope, taking just about everything from the first game and putting it in a world that promises to respond to your actions, changing in unforeseen ways based on how you decide to handle the challenges it throws your way. Release date TBA.


Every year, you hope for a game that makes you stop and say holy shit. This year, that game is Sable. Just look at this game. With an art style reminiscent of European comics and a trailer that features Japanese Breakfast, it's not hard to be excited at the very sight of Sable. Games tend to be homogenous in their art direction and style, even on the indie side of things—so while there isn't a terrible amount to go on (it's described as a coming-of-age exploration game), it's almost certainly worth checking out just to take in the art. Coming 2019.

Death Stranding

The next game from Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima has, for a couple years now, been mostly inscrutable. The only thing anyone could say for sure was that it starred Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen, and maybe it was about a pregnant man and ecological disaster? This year, however, we got a glimpse of what the game might actually look like, and it's fascinating. Reedus (and therefore, the player) appears to be a courier in a verdant, empty post-disaster world, with some kind of fetus-powered gear? And there's an invisible monster and also Léa Seydoux? Look, we didn't say it made sense, just that it made more sense. Don't hold your breath for this game, but absolutely keep an eye on it. Release date TBD.

Cyberpunk 2077

In a similar vein, Cyberpunk 2077 is a game that likely isn't coming anytime soon, but is worth getting hyped for. The next game from the makers of The Witcher 3—the high water mark for modern role-playing games—is a first-person role-playing game set in a vibrant future dystopia. If the aesthetic doesn't sell you, you should know that The Witcher 3, while not for everyone, is as genuinely good as everyone says, full of interesting stories and decisions while being largely devoid of video game bullshit that wastes your time. Add to that a setting lifted from Cyberpunk 2020 a 1980s pen-and-paper cult classic, and the end result seems like the most fascinating big-budget game in a while. Release date TBD

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Over the past few years, the games made by Japanese studio From Software have gained a fervent and widespread following, and I, unfortunately, am among them. From's games—the Dark Souls series and Bloodborne are the most famous—are challenging, intricate action-horror stories that aren't terribly friendly to new players but all-consuming once they click for you. Sekiro is their latest—and most approachable-looking—work, in which you play a ninja with a supernatural bone-arm fighting monsters and men. It looks like a great introduction to From Software's games, and a great new challenge for fans. Coming early 2019.

Jump Force

Too ridiculous to ignore, Jump Force is a giant fighting game starring popular anime characters from series that really don't have much to do with each other at all. So there's Goku from Dragon Ball, Naruto from Naruto, Ryuk from Death Note, that dude from One Piece, and plenty others I'm sure we haven't heard from yet, in one big ridiculous fighting game. Sign us the hell up. Coming 2019.

Metro Exodus

The Metro games have a uniquely mean approach to video games' preferred post-apocalyptic settings. Based on a series of novels by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, what makes the Metro games compelling is that they're often experiences that barely bother to give a shit about you. You're lucky if you find a good gun, luckier if it works, and almost never have the information—or even the capability—you need in order to make the "right" decision in many of the games moral dilemmas. Metro Exodus is the third game in the series, and also its biggest—likely both a good place to jump on and a gripping introduction to the Metro world. Available February 22, 2018.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Low-key one of Nintendo's best franchises, Fire Emblem: Three Houses will bring the strategy series to the Nintendo Switch, and all of its anime melodrama with it—and I can't wait. Where a lot of strategy games tend to relish in excessive stats and variables, Fire Emblem has long managed to keep things pared back and streamlined without removing any sort of challenge. A good Fire Emblem level feels like a puzzle first and a war game second, with one shoring up the other if you ever start to feel your interest sagging. And with Three Houses' new look that brings fully animated characters onto the field for more immersive fights, it's likely that we'll have a hard time putting this one down. Coming 2019.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Honestly the only good thing to come out of E3. Sorry, other games, but this is going to be the game that goes on the moment there's more than two people in my home and a silence lasting longer than five seconds. The latest version of Nintendo's big party fight game proudly features every character who's ever been in a Smash game, along with a few new ones (like Metroid villain Ripley) and the return of eight-player madness. Get ready to judge people based on their character choices all over again. (Ness players are the Jonathan Franzens of Smash and I will hear no other arguments.) Available December 7 2018.