crash bandicoot
When Chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios Shawn Layden took the stage at E3 2016 to the music of Crash Bandicoot, the audience watched in stunned silence. After the crowd realized what was happening, they lost their minds, cheering so loud that it was difficult to hear Layden explain how Crash Bandicoot was being revived for the PlayStation 4. It may have disappointed some that instead of a brand new game, Crash’s original adventures are being remastered and he will be added to the roster of playable characters in the next Skylanders, but this could pave the way for the full-fledged return of gaming’s popular box-smashing marsupial.

god of warLeaked concept art hinted at a Viking reboot for the God of War franchise prior to E3, but fans were still surprised to see Kratos appear onscreen during Sony’s E3 2016 press conference. What was even more surprising was the new direction the series is going in, with Kratos fathering his son in the world of Norse mythology many years since the conclusion of the third game. Despite being much older, Kratos is looking as intimidating and intense as ever, and the new God of War will likely be a flagship title for PS4 when it finishes development.

death strandingThe conflict between Hideo Kojima and Konami dominated headlines in 2015, and with Kojima’s new studio not even a year old, no one expected him to be in attendance at E3 2016. Not only did Kojima show up, however, he also shared a cinematic trailer for his first post-Konami game, a mysterious title called Death Stranding that looks to be a blend of the sci-fi and horror genres.

the legend of zeldaThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was one of the highlights of E3 2016, with a dazzling gameplay presentationthat took the gaming community by storm. We knew going into the show that Nintendo planned on bringing Zelda to E3 in a big way this year, but what was surprising is how it is breaking away from series norms. Perhaps the most notable of these shifts comes with the fact that the new Zelda will use voice acting for the first time in franchise history, which will presumably result in an even larger focus on story than its predecessors.

prey's new directionThe Prey franchise is no stranger to development hell, with the first game releasing 11 years after it originally began development, and undergoing numerous iterations. A similar fate has befallen the sequel, which has morphed from an open world sci-fi bounty hunting game to a first-person sci-fi horror title about evil black goo and human experiments. It remains to be seen if fans will embrace this new direction for Prey, but with Dishonored developer Arkane Studios at the helm, there’s a good chance it will exceed expectations.

resident evil VllCapcom has been terrifying people with its “Kitchen” virtual reality tech demo for the past couple of years, and at E3 2016, we learned that demo laid the foundation for Resident Evil VII. Resident Evil VII will be playable from beginning to end with PlayStation VR, and will also be played from the first-person perspective – two drastic changes for the main series Resident Evil games. Luckily, fans won’t have to wait too long to see if Capcom’s gamble pays off, as Resident Evil VII will be available on January 24th, 2017.

spider-manRumors of a Spider-Man video game in development for PS4 have persisted for months, with many pointing to Infamous studio Sucker Punch as the developer. On the contrary, when Sony finally revealed its Spider-Man PS4 project at E3 2016, it announced the developer to be Insomniac Games of Ratchet & Clank fame. Insomniac hasn’t really made a title like Spider-Man before, so it will be interesting to see if the critically acclaimed studio is able to do the web-slinger justice.