E3 2017: Crackdown and Mayhem, Mario and Middle-earth among the best at show

North America's annual video-game trade show took place in Los Angeles last week. For the first time, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) sold tickets to the public—15,000 of them. The Straight braved the crush of humanity so you didn't have to. In a full week of pomp and pixels, here's what stuck out for us.

The Xbox One X console from Microsoft

It was the only new hardware revealed this year, but the specs can't be denied: the Xbox One X will be the most powerful console available when it releases in November. It includes a 4K Blu-ray player, too, which allows for more entertainment options, as well as backwards compatability for select orignal Xbox and Xbox 360 titles. The $600 price tag is high, but those who are looking to future-proof their gaming experience won't hesitate to get access to the best possible visual fidelity from their games. The Xbox One X will be on shelves November 7.

Star Wars Battlefront II 

2015's Star Wars Battlefront convinced us that we were actually in the universe of the Force. Star Wars Battlefront II, coming on November 17 from Electronic Arts, gives us an original Star Wars story that was missing from the first game. Developed in Montreal by Motive, one of Electronic Arts' internal studios, the single-player campaign mode flips the perspective and puts us in the role of an elite Imperial special-forces soldier in the moments after Luke Skywalker has killed the Emperor and the second Death Star has been destroyed. Even though the game's multiplayer makes it easy to play as the Dark Side, there's something profoundly unsettling about shooting X-wing fighters and rebel soldiers within the context of a story. It feels wrong. But you'll get over it. 

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Set between the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, the Middle-earth games from Monolith Productions are open-world games in which the actions of the players and events of the game impact the nonplayer characters. This "nemesis system" means that every play-through of Middle-earth: Shadow of War will be different. In this sequel to Shadow of Mordor (2014), the ranger Talion, to whom the elf lord and wraith Celebrimbor has bonded, has to assemble an army with which to confront Sauron. He does this by carefully recruting orc and Uruk war chiefs that he then leads into siege battles against the fortresses held by Suaron's overlords. Shadow of War releases on August 22.

Destiny 2

Bungie's games always manage to hit my sweet spots, and Destiny 2 is no different. With a more explicit narrative that has your Guardian being stripped of Light and humanity being exiled to the reaches of Earth, Destiny 2 will also do a better job of telling the story of the world through "adventures", mini-missions that you can play solo or with your team. Developer Bungie is also introducing clans, a more formal social-group system, as well as the ability for matching, so clans can fill out their rosters and solo players can find groups with which to play through raids. All that and new subclasses, new weapon classes, and a different upgrade system. I'm ready for Destiny 2, which arrives on September 6.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto put his stamp of approval on this game. That means something. Developed by Ubisoft for the Nintendo Switch, gamers who are fans of the XCOM strategy titles should look to this as a way to teach their kids how to play XCOM when they're older. You'll also find that you'll enjoy this whacky take on the Mushroom Kingdom as much as your kids. It's got a delightful sensibility and some great additions to the turn-based combat. There's the drive-by attack, for example. During a move action, characters can actually get a free melee attack on an enemy before taking a combat or item action. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle comes out on August 29.

Crackdown 3 

The first Crackdown was a glorious surprise, providing an extreme and extremely fun futuristic world that was open for running and gunning. Crackdown 3, coming on November 7, continues the fun, putting you in the guise of an agent alone on the island of New Providence, which is under the control of the evil TerraNova corporation. There are no straight-up missions in this game. Instead, you roam around, collecting tokens and saving the city, one badass criminal at a time. All the while, your agent becomes better at doing the things you're doing. Run and jump a lot and your agility improves. Fancy those heavy weapons? You'll get better at using them. 

Agents of Mayhem

Developed by Volition and published by Deep Silver, Agents of Mayhem is another open-world action game that is decidedly over the top. Mayhem is an agency of characters that—although not "good" in the purest sense of the word—are better than the agents of their enemies in Legion. With a sarcastic sense of humour and irreverance and a willingness to satirize mainstream culture, this is a game and a world in which you'll want to spend some time. Better yet, it releases on August 15.

Super Mario Odyssey

The first full-fledged Mario platformer for the Nintendo Switch is much more than a platformer. Sure, there's running and jumping and avoiding the usual enemies and collecting coins. But all of that is in an open-world context. The Odyssey is Mario's flying ship that he uses to travel to different worlds, where he needs to collect moon pieces to fuel the next journey. Exploration is encouraged in Super Mario Odyssey, which releases on October 27. You'll find hidden passages that lead to secret treasures, or catch a glimpse of somehthing shiny and have to figure out just how to get to that private place. 

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

This game will only cost $50 when it releases for PS4 on August 22. This is a bigger experience than that expansion-pack price, as large as the original Uncharted game, I was told. The game looks to build on Naughty Dog's ability to deliver compelling and complex characters while giving players a chance to become a wisecracking adventurer. The Lost Legacy features two female protagonists, Chloe and Nadine, who have a contentious and fractured friendship. Their independence and loyalty to each other is tested in this story about the search for a mythological Hindu artifact. 

Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

A direct sequel to the first Lego Marvel Super Heroes, the villain in this one is Kang the Conqueror, who pulls places out of time and puts them in Chronopolis, a place out of time. While players start out as the Guardians of the Galaxy, you can ultimately unlock more than 200 characters. In addition to the solo and co-op modes, this game also has a four-player battle mode that you can play competetively or cooperatively.