E3 2011 is over, all of the biggest gaming news of the year is in the bag, and our Los Angeles soldiers are returning to the UK shattered, slightly chubbier - and thrilled by the prospect of what they've witnessed.
Here, the editors of the UK's biggest games magazines give CVG their opinion of this year's standouts - and the one title that will live longest in their memory.
"You saw the trailer at the E3 conference. You've probably read more about it than any other game at the show not running off the all-powerful godmother of PCs. And you'll almost certainly call it a predictable choice. But even so, our pick of E3 has to be Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, a game which looks so good every time we see it that it's become supremely difficult to write about without simply resorting to lists of superlatives.
"No game on PS3 has done visuals like those we saw in the conference demo, as Drake is thrown from side to side on a boat battered by violent storms on a wild sea. No game does set pieces like the one I saw behind closed doors of Elena and Drake chasing a massive twin-engine jet down a runway that culminated in a spectacular back-and-forth mid-air fistfight in an open cargo hold. And no game is as regularly cited by fellow developers as far afield as the likes of FIFA 12 and SingStar as the one everyone else strives to be. Naughty Dog wins again, and though that statement's becoming a familiar one, that's a great thing for gamers.
"Elsewhere, PES 2012 was Borderline astounding for me - not in terms of overall quality, but in the sense that last year's game was so far behind FIFA 11 in terms of on-field gameplay, and that most definitely isn't the case any more. This is a much slicker, more immediate experience, which harks back to the halcyon days of PES's last PS2 years: zipping balls around in tight spaces, admiring the almost human AI of players off the ball (diagonal runs across and around defenders, something FIFA still hasn't quite nailed, are a particular joy), and introducing an intriguing set piece concept where you can control a specific player on a corner, free kick or throw in, rather than the actual kicker himself. It doesn't play perfectly - keepers still need a bit of work (and we've been saying that about PES for many years) - but no game at the show surprised me more in terms of how far it has turned around since a previous iteration.
"Finally, I'm also duty bound to mention Xcom. I'm about as good at strategy-based shooters as Ryan Giggs is at keeping his night-time dalliances out of the red-tops, so I had no expectations whatsoever as I trudged in to see it. Now I do. And they're bigger than Imogen Thomas's injunction-spawning whammers.
"The tactical element - managing and utilising your own team of agents in specific missions as you seek to eliminate an alien race - appears deep and detailed without being overwhelming, and areas of it look just enough like 2K stablemate Bioshock to have at least earned my curiosity. Course, it's hard to tell whether the shooting is actually any good till we actually go hands-on with it, but my gut reaction is that us worshippers at the Sony altar are going to benefit massively from this series making its PS3 bow at last. Meanwhile, Payday: The Heist was unquestionably the PSN game of the show - and a brilliant surprise."
Check out everything that happened at E3 2011 - all the news, screens, video, reaction and rumours - in CVG's special round-up page. It's been a pleasure sharing the week's events with you.
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Comments
20 comments so far...
pRM8 on 10 Jun '11 said:
And there I was thinking they would have given that award to Kinect Sports: Season 2...
dragonjim on 10 Jun '11 said:
arkham city
Padua on 10 Jun '11 said:
How quickly they forget Uncharted 2
I am really looking forward to Uncharted 3 but would have been more excited if it had been God of War 4.
Seriously... not even a teaser trailer ?!
Reality Check on 10 Jun '11 said:
That ship level was just AMAZING!
Yeah best game at E3 + i can't understand why anyone would chose those other so called games console over the amazing PS3. It must be brainwashing from these sad sites & TV ads LoL
liveswired on 10 Jun '11 said:
As a ps3 owner Uncharted comes in 2nd with Skyrim a solid 1. But of course an official magazine has to back its horse.
hi0marc on 10 Jun '11 said:
No surprise they absolutely adore all things uncharted in that magazine. I prefer it to the told manic CoD obbsession they had
Barca Azul on 10 Jun '11 said:
I can only find the multiplayer video on the store, where is the one he is talking about?
Hitman looked very good and batman too!
Imaduck on 11 Jun '11 said:
Shocker!
Personally, I'd say either Skyrim, ME3 or Bioshock Infinite were the best SHOWING. UC3 was purdy and stuff, the boat idea was cool, but I didn't see anything particularly exciting or unique shown. So basically, UC3 will no doubt be incredible, but as a showing, I didn't think it matched the ME3, BI or Skyrim footage. There was a lot more than just the on-stage footage. Incredible stuff.
HeavenlyGamer on 11 Jun '11 said:
PSN store!
Mini-Nev on 11 Jun '11 said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKWolSBGSxk
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6JoW-zo ... re=related
djreplay on 11 Jun '11 said:
I want to see the demo he saw, share the goods guys.
gmcb007 on 11 Jun '11 said:
This is really a suprise....
Uncharted looked brillant but I honestly think Skyrim took the prize.
TheLastDodo on 11 Jun '11 said:
Not really a surprise when its coming from the official PlayStation mag. Mass Effect 3 and Skyrim looked great but were they PS3 footage?
When it comes to PS3 games, you can count on one hand the games that can rival what Uncharted offers, and at least we know it was actually PS3 footage.
gmcb007 on 11 Jun '11 said:
Sarcasm my friend. Remember how you used it the other day?
rbt2 on 11 Jun '11 said:
Of course it's UC3. Best game series PS3 has had. I'd have AA and Skyrim following very close behind but Uncharterd will go down as the defining PS3 game without doubt.
In my not so humble opinion, natch!
TheLastDodo on 11 Jun '11 said:
I wasn't been sarcastic, I meant every word I said
. Greatest videogame series of all time bar none, don't blame me if YOU can't handle the truth 
.
BenThomasFoster on 11 Jun '11 said:
I smell bias. like i can smell my arm pit's.
On serious note.
1.Skyrim(My body just won't be ready for this ever)
2.Bioshock Infinite( we knew it vwas going to be special, we know know it's even more special than special)
3. Tomb Raider (I thought it was going to be just ok, now it looks like it could be an uncharted beater(uncharted athough pretty cool looked more scripted than COD))
4.Mass Effect(nothing amazing but thats in away a good thing)
5.Forza 4 (Looks like the greatest racing game ever createde i'm just sayin)
budge on 12 Jun '11 said:
Good to hear that PES is looking good.
BADavid on 12 Jun '11 said:
To the people whinging about bias... really? Okay, so the Official PlayStation Magazine picked a PlayStation-exclusive title, fine, but it's not as if Uncharted 3 wasn't a worthy contender! I'm personally more interested in Skyrim but U3 is still looking like a day-of-release purchase for me, few games are so polished and engrossing all the way through. The desert setting initially didn't leap out at me, but I was completely sold on the cruise ship level.
YouStoleMyKill on 13 Jun '11 said:
meh Skyrim is guna be lame uncharted 3 deserves this award and anymore it'll get cough cough goty