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The PC Games That Impressed at E3 2013

E3 is notorious for its unveiling of new consoles and hardware among a plethora of new games, whilst remaining quiet on PC exclusive titles and PC gaming hardware, and E3 2013 is no exception! Over the day Sega showed off its PC-exclusive strategy game Rome: Total War II, but the only PC booth that had people had huddled around it was Bohemia Interactive which was showcasing its zombie apocalypse survival MMO DayZ Standalone and its new combat sim Arma III which is about to fall into its beta phase. Xbox One and the PS4 stole the show as expected, and most of the revealed titles in this E3 such as Titanfall ,The Elder Scrolls Online, Fifa 14 and the new Final Fantasy game are cross platform leaving a small amount of focus on the PC in this year's E3. However it seems Apocalypse survival game DayZ is the jewel in the PC’s crown and the over popular mod for ARMAII is entering early alpha for its standalone (the game was originally a mod) and today we will be checking out what these three PC exclusive games had to offer the audiences of E3.

e3 2013
We will start with Rome: Total War. I was a Empire Total War fan and it was good to see another strategy game announced at E3. Rome: Total War is penned in for release in September 2013 and we can’t wait to get stuck into this strategy beast.


This new Rome: Total War trailer highlights the story of Cleopatra, with the team at E3 showing first glimpses of the campaign map and a taste of the battle action. After pursuing his former co-consul Gnaeus Pompey Magnus to Egypt in 48BC, Caesar found himself embroiled in the civil war between Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIIIth. Caesar, along with the 13th Legion of Rome, became besieged in Alexandria by Ptolemy’s forces. However, Caesar’s increasing support for Cleopatra led to Ptolemy fleeing the city.


Realizing he needed more armed forces, Caesar called on his ally, Mithridates of Pergamum, for assistance. Mithridates heeded the call and marched from Asia Minor with his army, crossing onto Egyptian soil in 47BC. Ptolemy sent a force to intercept them, but this was summarily defeated. Free now to maneuver , Caesar took the 13th, combined forces with Mithridates, and marched on Ptolemy’s position.
 rome total war 2


The developers also displayed a fact sheet that outlines some stuff we already knew but also confirms some stuff we already expected from the game. Specifically: there will be cooperative and competitive modes for the campaign with lots of different civilizations to play as. There will be hundreds of unique units “from siege engines and heavy cavalry to steel-plated legionnaires and barbarian berserkers.” Fortunately the game features in depth graphics customization so people with low - mid range gaming machines should still be able to squeeze out some decent frames per second with the Rome: Total War 2. The game looks awesome as seen from the trailer above and we can’t wait to get the game in the office and take charge of Caesar's army and try to take over Europe.


total war rome 2


Next we jump into a game that has been taking up way too much of my time. DayZ Standalone is THE zombie apocalypse game that has been anticipated since late last year when it was announced. The game was originally penned in for release at the end of 2012 though Dean “Rocket” Hall (Lead Developer) deemed it unsuitable and didn't want it to go down the same route as The WarZ which recieved widespread criticism in its quality and alpha like state upon release.


Bohemia Interactive’s Matt Lightfoot gave viewers a world’s first look at the standalone version of DayZ at E3 which recently had  footage leaked on YouTube, but this “leaked footage” seemed to show the game in the first part of alpha and was not representative of the game's final gameplay.


Viewers get a look at the new loot and gear systems; menu interface; character models; animations; environments and much more. Plus you learn the pro “crouch” zombie avoidance manoeuvre.

dayz standalone


DayZ doesn't have an official release date though rumors have spread internet wide that a closed alpha for 100 DayZ contributors (Reddit users/twitch streamers/Bohemia staff) will be released in late June. Bohemia Interactive decided to completely rehaul the game with an MMO-like client and sever architecture rather than knock out the quick and dirty port fans were looking for and it seems this attention to detail was worth the wait. I really hope the game utilizes GPU architecture much better as the current mod has multiple FPS and Lag issues and these seem to have been ironed out from the video above. I’m massively looking forward to this game and I will be covering the preview and review as soon as it is announced.


dayz standalone


Finally we jump into the new version of the combat sim that made DayZ so popular. In fact there is already a mod of DayZ on the ARMA III architecture that doesn't run too great. ARMA III is the newest version of the ARMA series and has been in open Alpha for the past few months.


I've been playing through ARMA 3 and the graphics really look beautiful. The game feels like you’re there and the combat realism is second to none. The video shows us how versatile the game is and any fans of the tactical combat simulation genre have this game and this game only to look forward to. The game is yet to have a confirmed released but the beta will be rolling out in waves in the forthcoming months.


arma 3


These PC games are the ones that stole the headlines for me over at E3 over the past few days. To see the full list of games coming to the PC please CLICK HERE. The PC games lineup at E3 was completely overshadowed by the multi port/console line up, but these three imminent titles are something to look forward to for the time being.

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I'm a lifelong gamer and share my passion with the world in the form of streaming my games on twitch.tv - www.twitch.tv/terrorhertz and making YouTube videos about all the games I enjoy. I'm also a budding games journalist here :)

My gaming journey began in the Christmas 1992 when aged 6, I got my Sega Mega Drive with Sonic One and World Cup Italia 90. Since then I have played and own pretty much every console since then, just check my collection video on my YouTube channel.

Now days I mainly play PC games and got into the PC side of things when I started playing Everquest in 2005. This game opened my eyes to the mmorpg genre and since then have played most MMO's of which World of Warcraft was my most played. Right now I'm playing and streaming DayZ and FIFA with a few other games thrown in here and there. I'm a games journalist and write weekly articles and monthly reviews and previews whilst also uploading 3+ videos weekly to my YouTube channel where you can find loads of awesome HD gaming videos - www.youtube.com/terrorhertzhd

I've worked as a hardware/software technician for Apple the past 4 years and really enjoy working with computers. I have built/modded/overclocked PC's since around 2007 and it's a massive interest of mine. My other hobbies include video editing, carp fishing, golf and playing guitar.

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