Finally, PC gamers get their day in the sun. This year's E3 featured a show specifically for the so-called "PC master race," appropriately named the PC Gaming Show, hosted by the famous eSports commentator Sean "Day9" Plott. Aside from seeing more of the already-announced titles coming to PC, there were also some new titles revealed for the first time.
Blood And Guts Galore
First up was Killing Floor 2. Tripwire Interactive's John Gibson talked about the sequel's current progress on Steam's Early Access Program. In today's must-have mentality in games, Gibson wanted fans to have patience, as development is still ongoing, so that when it launches you can bask in the glory of all the bloody goodness that it has to offer.
A trailer was also shown featuring the same gory gameplay that made it famous along with some new features. This includes user-made content in the form of maps and free downloadable content at some point after launch called "Incinerate and Detonate," which includes new weapons and perks for your character.
For those who are afraid to lose their progress from the first game, have no fear. All stats and upgrades will carry on to the second game, even in its Early Access form.
But there was one more surprise from Gibson by way of a new title. Its trailer showed military combat in what seems to be Vietnam. Complete with the right music to reflect the time and all of the arsenal from the United States, we finally get to see Rising Storm 2: Vietnam.
To The Deep Space
Next up was the heavily-funded ($84 million) Star Citizen. Cloud Imperium Games director Chris Roberts spoke via video, and provided another update to the game's progress, specifically with the motion capture for the game's notable characters and cutscenes.
Team Red
AMD, the show's biggest sponsor, also made an appearance with Richard Huddy, the company's chief gaming scientist (what a title), as its representative.
Huddy recapped the news from earlier in the day about the R9 300 lineup of GPUs, as well as AMD's involvement in the rising popularity of virtual reality. We'll hear more from the company later from its head, Lisa Su.
Hi Jensen
Square Enix was also on hand to show off the sequel to Deus Ex: Human Revolution, called Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
Set two years after the events of the first game, the world is mostly divided between regular humans and augmented humans, the latter of which are being heavily discriminated and forced to live in packed and dirty ghettos.
Before we saw the game, we got a look at its new engine, called Dawn. With the new engine, colors are deeper, lighting is more realistic, and small particles like air density are more visible, all of which adds to the immersion.
As far as gameplay is concerned, we saw Adam Jensen in stealth mode as he uses a new array of weapons and abilities to stay one step ahead of his enemies. We saw an extended half-hour version of gameplay earlier today, so keep an eye out for that soon.
Total War Fantasy
Creative Assembly took us on a quick ride through its series of Total War series from the fields of Rome, the hills of Japan, and the snowy tundra of Russia. However, its next title strays from history in favor of fantasy tabletop gaming through Total War: Warhammer.
The game is currently in pre-alpha, and we were treated to various art concepts of the many characters and weapons that will appear in the game. We'll see more of the game later in the week.
Microsoft Shows Its PC Side
Fresh from yesterday's Xbox press event, Xbox head Phil Spencer made some time to talk about how PC and Xbox will work together with the upcoming Windows 10.
But first, the return of a classic: Killer Instinct was announced and will make its way to the PC. He was then joined onstage by two developers from Fable Legends and Gigantic.
Once again, we saw more gameplay from Fable Legends, the next part of the long-running series, which recently became a free-to-play title. But don't worry, there are plans to continue to support the game throughout the years through new quests and more content for your soon-to-be favorite characters.
Gigantic is another game we saw at the Xbox event. Players participate in a five-on-five fight involving elements of both shooters and multiplayer online battle arenas. Obviously, some characters will require more finesse than others, but there should be a diverse collection so that gamers of all types will have no difficulty playing it. A beta is planned for August of this year.
The Coalition's Rod Fergusson also arrived to announce that Gears of War: Ultimate Edition will make its way to Windows, bringing graphical upgrades, new content, and improvements to the multiplayer aspect. With a new operating system and DirectX 12, fans old and new can play as Marcus and Dom once again.
Roam The Road
There was a surprise from left field as the team behind Euro Truck Simulator is bringing the game to the U.S. with American Truck Simulator. Pretty soon you'll be able to drive the trucks you see on the country's numerous highways.
Virtual Reality
CCP Games is one of the grand developers for PC with the popular EVE Online. Tonight, it showed off its first foray in the VR realm with EVE Valkyrie.
Instead of actual gameplay, we saw Plott's first experience with Valkyrie the night before. Unfortunately, there was no new gameplay shown, just the same trailer we've seen numerous times before. The company's home turf is on PC, but it's also found new territory on the PlayStation 3 with the shooter Dust 514. It's walking through uncharted territory again with VR, and we'll be sure to check it out sometime this week.
From Zombies To Space
RocketWerkz's Dean Hall, known for creating the popular DayZ, spent some time talking about the risk involved in the Early Access game, specifically noting sudden changes in development, or a mass amount of refunds for a game that's not even finished.
However, he also talked about his upcoming game Ion. Showing the same trailer from yesterday's Xbox event, Hall provided more details about his game, featuring a 3D environment with a Diablo-like camera setup.
Back To The Future
Strafe was next onstage, this time with a live demo. The procedurally-generated game will include a series of rooms as the player battles multiple enemies. Obvious influences to the game include Quake and Doom, so fans of those games and overall pixel-based gory shooters are going to have fun in this retro-based shooter.
An Expansion To Pillars
Classic RPGs are making their return through games like the Kickstarter-funded Pillars of Eternity, which has a newly announced expansion called "The White March: Part 1." The expansion will offer new abilities, companions, and a higher level cap for your character.
Even with the game's success via crowdfunding, the CEOs of Paradox Interactive and Obsidian Entertainment talked about the dangers of funding a Kickstarter campaign, as well as the risks involved for development teams who wish to pursue funding through that avenue.
Another Voyage In Space
David Braben of Frontier Developments talked about a new title coming next year called Planet Coaster.
The trailer showed a man with various creations occurring around him such as the appearance of an amusement park with comical laughs throughout, including a cute T-Rex mascot.
Online Gatherings
Guild Wars 2 now has an expansion called "Heart of Thorns," which will now include guild halls. The trailer showed massive halls that need to be claimed from enemies by you and your friends. Afterward, you can create new structures such as a war room and workshop to evolve your once-crumbling home to a massive palace worthy of any guild.
Additional features include decorations, a huge portal for your guild to use together for guild quests, and your own personal arena for team practice -- or to invite other guilds for more intense fights.
Another Look At 47
Io Interactive is again showing the next part in the assassination series that we saw last night. Various slow-motion scenes show the dark and gruesome environment surrounding the professional killer. Specifically, we're looking at the combination of two previous titles, the graphical look of Hitman: Absolution with the large open areas of Hitman: Blood Money. The result should be a beautiful game combined with more space to move -- meaning more ways to kill your target. The game comes out on December 8.
Fury Revealed
As promised, AMD head Lisa Su made an appearance to talk more about the company's new high-end GPU, the R9 Fury X. She also introduced a tiny R9 Nano, measuring only a mere six inches in length, with the supposed capability of playing games in 4K resolution.
Su also showed off Quantum, its 16 teraflop and two Fiji-architecture GPU gaming system encased in a small form factor, and we also saw the GPU powering Quantum in a little more detail.
Wargames
Bohemia Interactive, known for its tactical ARMA series, revealed a new expansion for ARMA III featuring a new terrain called Tanoa. Its trailer showed an island paradise littered with thick jungles, volcanoes, quarries, industrial docks and local towns. This new type of terrain is a welcome change to the traditional scenery of the military simulator, so it should be interesting to see how players adapt to the island.
A Blank Canvas
We saw Beyond Eyes yesterday, but we got more details about the game tonight. Our character plays a blind girl, and as she moves around the blank space, we see more parts of the painting-like canvas fill up with details such as fences, gates and grass, which gives us an idea of how the girl interacts with a world that she can't even see.
Splash Damage finally has its own game. After collaborating with big-name developers to help make popular games such as Gears of War and Batman: Arkham Origins, the development team now has its own title called Dirty Bomb.
The trailer features a band of mercenaries as they attempt to steal money. Players can choose from a few characters such as Rhino, a heavy gunner, or the assassin named Phantom. You can play the game for free now on Steam.
Tacoma
Fullbright's Steve Gaynor also showed up to talk about Tacoma. Unlike Gone Home, the exploration will take place in space. One big aspect of the game is utilizing zero gravity to propel yourself to other sections of the seemingly abandoned space station.
Be Afraid
Frictional Games wants to frighten you more with its latest title called SOMA. New footage shows the character traversing down a dark hallway (surprise, surprise) and meeting the great unknown. The game is due on September 22.
Zombie Wasteland
DayZ also appeared at the show. The game has been in Early Access for a year and half, and it's coming to beta soon, but that's not stopping millions of players from trying to survive in the harsh environment.
New features include a single-player option, support for Steam Workshop (which should make it easier for modders to place their creations in the game), and the release of the software tools that were used to build the game, so you can create your own version of DayZ.
The Red Planet
Bohemia Interactive also showed off a space-based simulation game called Take On Mars where, you guessed it, players have to work together in multiplayer mode to survive on the Red Planet. However, features such as realistic physics and destruction mean that you can have your own crash-based fun, as well. It's currently available on Steam's Early Access program, with a beta version coming later this summer.
Cliff's Back
Famed developer Cliff Bleszinski is back after a short break from game development with a new dev team called Boss Key Productions, and they're making a first-person game called Project BlueStreak. Powered by the Unreal Engine 4, we saw a few glances of the environment, which includes an Asian-inspired garden (complete with a dragon) and futuristic hallway with the traditional flashing lights and steel doors.
Gun In The Dungeon
A PC show isn't complete without Devolver Digital, and the company showed a new game in its lineup called Enter the Dungeon, a procedurally generated dungeon crawling title, but instead of the traditional weapons like a sword or bow and arrow, it will use guns, which means a more intense and fast-paced gameplay with a touch of difficulty, specifically with the bosses.
A Staple In The Industry
A big, yet expected surprise is Blizzard Entertainment, which showed off its new multiplayer online battle arena, Heroes of the Storm -- specifically, a new expansion to the game. Taking some of its already existing properties in the new game, Blizzard is adding characters from the Diablo series to the MOBA with an entire pack called "The Eternal Conflict."
Characters include the terrifying King Leoric, with a multitude of skills such as the ability to turn into a wraith after his death and slowing enemy players down and setting them up for a quick kill from your allies. He has another skill that unleashes his madness by swinging his massive mace that not only greatly damages enemies, but also heals him, as well. There's also the addition of the monk hero, which will be the first support-based player in the game. It's still under development, but players won't have to wait long with the new pack coming June 30.
Also, we heard more about Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void. After nearly two decades, the storyline surrounding the three races will finally come to an end. As always, there's a new cinematic trailer showing what we can expect from the game. However, the trailer shows three prologue missions focusing on the Protoss Zeratul called “Whispers of Oblivion,” a free addition to the game. We won’t see the story for a while, but multiplayer fans will see the game in July with a beta version.
One More Time
The last game shown was No Man's Sky. The space exploration game featuring procedurally-generated solar systems used to be showcased exclusively for the PlayStation 4, but it's also making its way to PC.
It's really impressive that a team of only 10 people is making a game with such a massive scale. It's one of the most anticipated games since it was first announced, and although there's nothing specific yet, there's a promise of a release date soon.
The Best Way To Play
Even without this show, it's fairly obvious that PC is still a powerhouse in gaming. However, this showcase provided PC loyalists a chance to see what's in store in the upcoming months and years. We'll see some of these games at the E3 show floor, and just like the show, we'll play it on PC.
Follow Rexly Peñaflorida II @Heirdeux. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.
