Top 10 PC games at E3

5. Mass Effect 3

Another game that won’t be with us till 2012, but at least it’s scheduled for a Q1 release date. This is the third and final part in Commander Shepherd’s fight to save humanity, and possibly all those other ungrateful races, from the Reapers. Like everyone else we were rather keen on Mass Effect 2, so this is a pretty safe bet.

Improvements revealed to date, and not many are needed to be honest, revolve around more agile and movement around the battlefield and easier movement into and out of cover – we expect it to play closer to Gears of War in this respect. The developer is also promising team-based AI for your enemies, so that they support one another. An intense hail of gunfire to allow a compatriot to flank you would be a great step forward for games.

Graphics look to have stepped up another notch, though as long as the gameplay isn’t broken and the plot comes to a suitably climatic finale, then whatever other changes are made will just be icing on the cake.

A banker, it’s impossible to see BioWare going wrong with this final instalment

6. Star Wars: The Old Republic

Coming out later this year, though MMOs are notoriously prone to slipping their release dates, this could be the game that not only takes a significant dent out of World of Warcraft’s subscription base, but could also act as a ‘gateway drug’ to the wider gaming community who have always wondered what all the MMO fuss is about.

BioWare has taken the template of its incredibly-successful Knights of the Old Republic single-player RPGs (last seen in Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords) and opened it up for team play online. Even if you like to explore solo, you won’t be totally alone, as your character can have companions to help plug the deficiencies in your own character class.

Cover mechanics, a la Mass Effect, make a rare appearance in an MMO. BioWare also promise that characters will be more flexible than in most games in the genre, so parties don’t need particular classes to undertake particular tasks, or to fight at full effectiveness. Classes include Troopers, Smugglers, various Jedi and Bounty Hunters. So that’ll be 10,000 Boba Fett wannabes on every server from day one.

MMOs often don’t look their best on teh crowded and hectic show floor of E3, but with a more action basis and being so close to completion, there should be something worth seeing.

That creature looks familiar, but the chance to play Jedi with others is certainly a first