Surprise!
The Electronic Entertainment Expo is always filled with surprises, ranging from "oh that's cool" to "HOLY SWEET MERCIFUL CRAP WHAT IS THAT?" 2013 delivered the goods, giving us a few moments that made us question what we had just seen.
We've listed a few of the biggest shockers here, from price reveals to a few unexpected franchise returns. Technically the show's not done yet, so we may have to add to this list later on, but for now check out the biggest jawdroppers of this year's show.
Killer Instinct is back, but with a c-c-c-c-c-catch
The major surprise of Microsofts press conference was the news that Killer Instinct is finally brawling its way back to the spotlight. The brief teaser during the presser showed off the ninja Jago, Sabrewulf the werewolf, and Glacier the icy warrior.
Unfortunately, our excitement was tempered when we learned of a different surprise: Killer Instinct will be a day one, downloadable, free-to-play game where Jago is free but the rest of the cast must be purchased. We cant remember the last time we were disappointed like that.
Battlefield 4's collapsing skyscraper
We knew Battlefield 4 was going to be amazing. Heck, we'd even already gasped in awe as jet planes slid across a sinking carrier in the 'Angry Sea' campaign demo during the Microsoft conference. But nothing could prepare us for this.
After fighting in the massive, sprawling cityscape for a few minutes in a multiplayer demo (amazing enough with 64 players), the team take an elevator up to the top of a skyscraper. Minutes later, the same skyscraper is razed to the ground. Unbefriggin'lievable.
Plants vs Zombies in a whole new way
EAs opener turned one of the most successful social games around into a third-person shooter of epic proportions. Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare takes the tower defense style of PvZ to a whole new level.
Fighting over the shoulders of our plants is a welcome new perspective, even if the switching between characters gets a little tedious. Were more than happy to wage war in this garden.
EA reveals Star Wars Battlefront
The teaser didnt show much at the beginning, just a man walking through a blizzard with nothing but white around him. The sudden Hoth Speeder crash, coupled with the leg of an AT-AT soon after, sent fans of both games and Star Wars into a frenzy.
Thats all we needed, just the speeder and the AT-AT, to know that wed be hooked to every last word uttered about the next Star Wars Battlefront. When you release a game on everyones wish list, approval points are bound to skyrocket. Speaking of which...
Faith is back in the return of Mirror's Edge
The next Mirrors Edge got to see the light of day, and it shined on incredibly well. The free-running parkour game we loved so much is finally making a return, this time as a prequel story for Faith.
Brief moments of gameplay and pre-rendered footage were shown, but were also interested in the storyline. If none of the events during Mirrors Edge occured, then whats before it? Were not sure, but we cant wait to find out.
Ubisoft announces Tom Clancy's The Division
For the second year in a row, Ubisoft drops a brand new IP on us at the end of the Ubisoft conference, an online open-world shooter called The Division. Basically, money ruins the world, and the Division has to pick up the pieces. Oh, and the action shown in the trailer looked pretty damn cool.
Are we crazy, or is Ubisoft trying to send a message? First they tell us that technology can be turned against us at any time in Watch Dogs, then they tell us that money causes the world to crumble in The Division. Whats next, a television wave signal turns frequent TV watchers into mindless drone zombies? Hm...thats actually interesting.
Final Fantasy Versus XIII makes an appearance... as Final Fantasy XV!
Final Fantasy XV (aka Dont Call Me Final Fantasy Versus XIII) made a big splash at Sonys press conference, finally giving us a peek at a game weve been hearing about since 2006. Seriously, its been so long without news that the re-branding to FFXV makes total sense.
But who would have expected it to look quite this frenetic? Looking like a cross between Bayonetta and Square's PS2 launch brawler The Bouncer, FFXV is an all-out action fest. And it looks far too good to be true. Thankfully, so much real-time gameplay was shown off later, it clearly is true. Mummy.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is a thing that exists! It's real!
Alright Square, rebranding Versus XIII was a good idea and were impressed, talk to you la...wait, you have another teaser? Ok, lets watch and see whaOH MY GOD THE LEGEND IS REAL. Kingdom Hearts 3 LIVES, and it will be coming to both next-gen consoles.
In a small teaser demo we saw a giant wave of Heartless chase Sora through Twilight Town while Sora decided how to take on the horde. It was brief, but the statement at the end of the clip says 'now in development'. And that's all our hearts needed to hear.
Jack Tretton had to wait because the crowd was chanting 'Sony'
Microsoft told us how much wed have to dish out for the Xbox One earlier in the day, but Sony played every single trump card they had on Monday night. No used game DRM for first party games (Tretton would later state that third parties can decide for themselves), lending games to friends, no online check-in system, no always-online requirement...it was like Sony looked at a list of the Xbox Ones features, and made sure to address them.
Even after all that, the one piece of news that trumped everything else: $399, a full $100 below Xbox One. The equivalent of Sony saying to Microsoft: "It's on. Like Donkey Kong."
Super Smash Bros gets a Mega upgrade
We knew that wed see the next Smash Brothers game for the first time. We had no idea what in store for us when Nintendos E3 Direct played the trailer. Showing us the difference between 3DS and Wii U? Cool. Unique stages to each system based on where the source game was launched? Excellent. Animal Crossings Villager playable? Awesome, were down with that.
However, just like in 2006 with Solid Snake, the biggest surprise came when the trailer seemed to be over: Mega Man is coming to Smash Bros!! Sporting the classic NES style, Mega Man jumps into the fray using both his trusty Mega Buster and an assortment of weapons from defeated Robot Masters (The MetalMan Blade is there, so were cool). We couldnt believe it!
Shock and awe
Now that the conferences are over, it's time to check out the show floor...which means most of the surprises are done and over with. Now that we've shared our biggest jawdroppers, what about yours?
Leave us a comment with your top surprising moments of this year's show, and look for more E3 2013 coverage from us throughout the week!
And if you're looking for more, check out E3 2013: Every next-gen exclusive detailed and Super Smash Bros Wii u roster: Who we want in the cast.
