E3 2012: Top 10 Most Anticipated Games - Part One [VIDEOS]

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2012 has yet to have rumour mills working overtime, as they did last year, despite several big titles expected to unveiled at the event in Los Angeles. For example, E3 2011 presented Nintendo's Wii U and Sony disclosed details of the now-launched PlayStation Vita.

There are, however, some big games lined up and these range from sequels to critically acclaimed series to games looking for a second chance to impress, like Metal Gear Revengeance and The Last Guardian, both of whom are among those fallen franchises looking to redeem their pride. The likes of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2, Star Trek and Diablo 3, however, will be looking to capitalise on past successes and ride on their enormous fanbase.

Meanwhile, E3 2012 is also likely to witness the participation of high-profile development and publishing houses such as 343 Industries, Criterion Games, Arc Systems, Konami, Tecmo, Treyarch and others.

Keeping that in mind, IBTimes UK presents a two-part preview of some of the biggest game titles out there, which could see the light of day at E3.

Check out Part 1 of this report - Games 10 - 6...

Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2

This title is the sequel to highly acclaimed Need for Speed: Most Wanted and is being put together by Criterion Games, who have Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Burnout Paradise to their credits. Given that history then, we expect an absolutely top-class racing extravaganza. Criterio made quite some waves when they hired staff to work on an open-world racer last year and all the talk since then has been, predictably, about Most Wanted 2. In any case, the sequel - this game - is already being touted as the spiritual successor to Burnout Paradise and one infused with Most Wanted's iconic nitrous-powered cops-n-robbers thrills.

Assassin's Creed 3

Assassin's Creed 3 is a forthcoming historical action-adventure game being developed and published by Ubisoft for the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, the Wii U and Microsoft Windows. It will be the fifth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series and the third numbered title in the series. The game is set for release later in the year. Set against the backdrop of civil war in Colonial America, Assassin's Creed 3 follows the story of half-English, half-Mohawk warrior - Connor Kenway - as he gets mixed up in a series of major historical battles. Calling it an epic wouldn't be an overstatement but that's exactly what the game promises to be, as the protagonist fights his way against tyranny from Boston to New York, when his home is attacked by colonists.

Dragon Age 3

Dragon Age 3, being developed by BioWare, is to be a sequel to the hugely popular fantasy Role Playing Game (RPG) that is the Dragon Age series - Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2. There are reports suggesting this new game will be a fusion of the more popular elements from the first two games of the series, which means we could see a refinement of the combat system - focusing more on the player's ability to form a cohesive team and work to prepare and position for attacks. This should, theoretically, provide for fewer repetitive key strokes and force more careful gaming.

The game is to be set in Thedas, the fantasy world that is the setting of the first two games. However, this release will cover more geographic territory than its predecessors, with one map being described as four to five times the size of Ferelden, the setting of the first game in the series. The developers also suggested the locations could be more "French", leading to speculation it could be based in the land of Orlais.

Creative Director Mike Laidlaw confirmed the overall plot of Dragon Age 3 would be "saving the world from itself". It will primarily involve an all-out civil war between the mages and the Templars, the foundations of which comprised the main plot of Dragon Age II.

Half-Life 3

The final episode in the Half-Life 2 series seems to have been scrapped, as reports suggest Valve is all set to unleash a whole new installment of the game - Half-Life 3.

The crux of the final episode revolved around a missing Borealis ship, which was tracked down by Dr Mossman. Time has passed since Mossman's original communication regarding its discovery and the Combine were already on top of the ship when the communication was sent. Besides, some of the Episode Three production art released by Valve shows the submerged Borealis already covered in Combine technology.

However, despite speculation, Valve continues to insist there will be no talk of Half-Life 3 at E3. We hope this is not true.

Alan Wake 2

Alan Wake 2 is the sequel to the best-selling physchological thriller action game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The story follows bestselling thriller novelist Alan Wake as he tries to uncover the mystery behind his wife's disappearance during a vacation in the small fictional town of Bright Falls, Washington. The story unravels as the gamer experiences events from the plot in his latest novel, which he cannot remember writing, actually coming to life.

In the game, darkness is taking over humans, animals and objects. Humans possessed by the darkness, called the Taken, are murderous enemies that attack Wake, wielding weapons of their own such as mallets and chainsaws. They vary by speed, size and the amount of damage they can take and some can even teleport between short distances. Besides the Taken, the player has to combat flocks of ravens and animated poltergeist objects.

Click here to check out the Part 2 (5-1) of Top 10 Most-Anticipated Games Expected at E3 2012.