inFAMOUS 2 brings a powerful, more visceral Cole MacGrath to the PlayStation 3 console with a thirst for electricity and the talent for either ice or fire. inFAMOUS 2 and Sucker Punch have listened to quite a lot of player demands, and others not so much. Utilizing various shocks is still integral to the Cole’s superhero experience, while the storyline itself along with the side-quests have dramatically improved in gameplay other than defeating a lot of small enemy types. There might still be repetition with inFAMOUS 2, but the adventure itself picks up as the title carries its own weight. inFAMOUS 2 synthesizes use of clever dialogue, a greater looking environment in New Marais, and the promise of more variety and less repetition to make a title that is everything more than its predecessor with a greater shock capacitance.

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F.E.A.R. 3 is a title that has its roots in one of the best horror introduction PC games of all time. The graphics might be antiquated, but Alma comes with her own set of bloody surprises in a new light along with her two sons.There are frights along with realistic sounds, all of which are weakened through horrid A.I. and the aeonian repetitive mission structure supplemented with mediocre level designs to contribute to one of the most disappointing F.E.A.R. experiences in the F.E.A.R. franchise along with the failure of F.E.A.R. 2. The dark nature of F.E.A.R. 3 is not in the small thrills it has to offer, but in the level of how blasé the game becomes after the 4^th interval and how it can bring about Alma’s mediocre wrath on a person.

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Alice: Madness Returns attempts to cart the wildly popular insatiable thirst of darkness, fantasy, and a level of morose violence to the screens for gamers worldwide through a Victorian melodramatic narrative along with visuals that are simply stunning. Alice: Madness Returns  manages to bring about a level of soporific fantasy through a narrative, though while somewhat entertaining, creates a title which lacks in other respects in terms of any meaningful gameplay or cohesive asides from cutscene to cutscene and  mission to mission. As the descent into Wonderland brings about a level of contrasted madness from the confines of Alice’s mind, it also brings about an apparent madness in the form of the entire product that Alice: Madness Returns creates, painstakingly missing its mark to honor the genius of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

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The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 was an event full of exclusive titles not ready to be out for a good 6 months, to titles ranging into 2012 and beyond. WhatIfGaming was able to see every single title on the show floor and behind closed doors, while getting some of the best industry exclusive interviews and most-demanded questions from our readers directly. Mass Effect 3, Elder Scrolls V: Skryim, Hitman 5: Absolution, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Star Wars: The Old Republic and a myriad of amazing titles along with some of the best people and industry professionals with an indelible positive attitude made E3 2011 unforgettable. WhatIfGaming was graced with an extraordinary number of VIP Badges, Behind Closed-Doors previews, along with the various exclusive event invitationals reaching an all time high. Along the way, we even helped our fellow masses standing in line to come along with us as part of an E3 on-site exclusive access contest previews (where we took some lucky winners from the enormous 3 hour waiting lines into the events with us). It is with a level of dispiritedness that the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 is now over. It is time to look forward, ahead to newer and better releases, and to sanctify titles in this year’s WhatIfGaming’s Best Of E3 Awards 2011.

Criteria: The Best of E3 Awards, a subcategory for the WhatIfGaming Prizes, are given solely to those video games that demonstrate a pure excellence in the field for which they are not only nominated but also chosen. These awards only apply to playable games at E3 given a few exceptional categories.

Nomination & Selection Process: Compared with other site awards, the WhatIfGaming Prize nomination and selection process is long and extremely rigorous. This is the sole reason why WhatIfGaming Prizes have grown in importance over the years to become the most important prizes in their field. Forms, which amount to a personal and exclusive invitation, are sent to 275 (2011) selected individuals to invite them to submit nominations from the latest builds per video game. Self-nominations are disqualified. For WhatIfGaming Prizes, inquiries are sent to such people as developers, industry experts, analysts, among others. After our deadline passes, the nominations are chosen by permanent committee of 5 selected individuals from staff and only the final stage of nominees remain per category. From all of these, a winner is chosen.

The names of the nominees are not publicly announced, and neither are they told that they have been considered for the WhatIfGaming Prize. Some are announced publicly by practice. Nomination records are revealed on request approximately 2 years after each respective award year.

WhatIfGaming: Ted, it is such a pleasure seeing you again here at E3 2011. Insomniac Games and Naughty Dog are truly stealing the show here this year.

Ted Price,  President & CEO Insomniac Games: Oh yea, it is definitely great to be here and show off what Insomniac Games can do and continues to do.

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WhatIfGaming: Ken, I just want to thank you for this interview again, it has been a long while since we met back during the reveal for BioShock: Infinite.

Ken Levine: Oh yea, yea. It is always fun to meet up with someone I was getting along with so well.

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Duke Nukem has finally returned from the graces of the mid-1990s timeline giving the overly caustic delayed development a final close and a newer product on gaming shelves today. Unfortunately, the long-awaited return of an icon has sadly faltered with no bounds to save it from the graces of over-hyped testosterone, one-line movie quote wonders, beautiful references to girls, and what Duke Nukem does best: decimating alien life forms. While Duke Nukem Forever provides a level of mediocre gameplay and semi-decent design in terms of the pacing between the shooting and the transitional sequences of the game itself, it all transforms to one of the biggest tragedy examples of a video game after a point in time due to the repetitive structure of the consequential differences between what truly makes an icon himself, and what makes a former-icon feel antediluvian in machismo and persona until his very death on the screen.

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WhatIfGaming: So to clear up any misconceptions, this title is NOT Fable 4?

Peter Molyneux, Head of Lionhead Studios: Oh heavens, no. We have a lot more planned for Fable 4…should it come to that point, but at the moment, we want players to see Albion the way they have not seen it before: from that first person perspective that is constant and ever-loving.

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Special interviews include Razer, a look into Sly Cooper 4: Thieves in Time, and very amazing people. More exclusive special previews and interviews will arrive over the course of the next few days from special game developers such Ken Levine for BioShock Infinite, Peter Molyneux for Fable: The Journey, the Hitman: Absolution team, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Dylan Jobe for Starhawk, Don Mattrick of Microsoft, Dan Greenwalt of Turn 10, and finally Ted Price of Insomniac Games.

WhatIfGaming: Thanks for taking the time to interview with us, it seems to be quite busy around the multiplayer booths.

Adreane Meunie: Yes, it is busy but we like to think it is because people have made a connection with Revelations.

WhatIfGaming: What is one feature of AC: Revelations you want to tell our readers? Kind of general, but the first thing that pops into your mind.

AM: We really listened to players about singleplayer and multiplayer altogether, and we feel there are a lot of changes that have been done, from moves to the actual modes of

multiplayer and even the HUD lining. They will really enjoy all parts of the game.

WhatIfGaming: One thing multiplayer wise, are there more “perks” so to say or abilities with Assassin’s or are they new. We saw a mix of old and new.

AM: We wanted to keep a feel for Brotherhood in multiplayer but an even better version of this title. That was our main focus on everything and it is something we feel people will enjoy. That mix of different and also nostalgic.

WhatIfGaming: Does Ezio come with anymore new innovations when he comes to assassinate people? Earlier on he would first assassinate one person, then 2 at a time, what does it seem like now?

AM: It is definitely great with his new Hookblade and many more things such as crafting weaponry that people will love to see when the game is released.

WhatIfGaming: Thank you for your time!

WhatIfGaming: What films influenced this title?

AC: Just about any film you can imagine. The CG trailer kind of showed that we wanted to create this tone of an island where everything is just going badly.

WhatIfGaming: I won’t bother asking why this is different. From the play-through I really saw there was a key difference in free-roaming and a core storyline. Rather, do you all believe this game is actually worth it? Some readers e-mailed us saying they felt like it was an unnecessary marketing strategy to make money off of a lacking Zombie genre of games.

AC: I don’t think so, not completely. Obviously we knew there was a freedom to the title. There was a core lack of Zombie games, but even if there wasn’t it wouldn’t stop us from making it. What did you think about it?

AC: Just about any game you can imagine. The CG trailer kind of showed that we wanted to create this tone of an island where everything is just going badly.

WhatIfGaming: I loved it so far, but the rest still remains to be seen. Currently I cannot really make a fair assessment of it until review time. But it was interesting for certain, and one scene was a bit thrilling.

AC: And that’s what we wanted. We wanted players to be focused on the story of the survivors in the main single-player storyline, which is certainly large and an aspect out of this world. The story is mature, very dramatic, dark. It’s these things we were trying to go for.

WhatIfGaming: Well here’s to hoping to see it finished in September. Thank you again.