E3 2010: What we Want to Hear at E3

While E3 isn’t officially here until Tuesday, journalists and developers are making their way to Los Angeles and setting up shop for the week of chaos to come. Audun and I are here and are looking at our crazy schedules for this week, wondering what to expect. We thought it would be fun to put together a brief preview of what we expect to hear on the show floor.

From Square Enix’s mostly North American-developed titles to SEGA’s new Sonic 4 and Sonic Colors, there’s certainly a lot to look forward to. There’s also Kow Otani working on Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes, John Guscott’s return to the colorful world of de Blob in de Blob Underground, retro goodness with Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, and a new take on a classic franchise with Castlevania: Lord of Shadows.

So which titles make our top list for most anticipated soundtracks of E3 2010? Hit the jump to find out.

Jayson’s Picks

3. El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (Ignition Entertainment)

While I know this game isn’t on a whole lot of people’s radars yet, I’m really excited about this one. The Japanese teaser site for the game features ethnic sound effects and an intense choral piece that immediately piqued my interest. Ignition Entertainment only last week announced that the game would be coming to the United States for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and I’m fairly certain that the Biblical setting will provide a great backdrop for some excellent music. Any guesses as to who may be responsible for the music? Hopefully we’ll find out on the show floor.

2. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Konami)

I know it’s sort of an obvious pick, but I’m really looking forward to hearing this game at E3. With the game in the hands of a new developer and a relatively unknown composer in the videogame industry, I’m really curious to hear what it will sound like. This is the first big Castlevania title to come out since Yamane’s departure, and while Konami insists that the game will feel like Castlevania, I’m a bit skeptical regarding the music. I hope it doesn’t turn into a typical cinematic film score, but I guess we’ll know more soon, right?

1. de Blob Underground (THQ)

I am a huge de Blob fan, as you may recall from our extensive coverage of the first title. John Guscott did amazing work with his army of live performers, and he’s set to do so again on both the Wii and DS. I’m not sure if he’s writing new music for both titles, or if the Wii version’s music will be ported over to the DS game, but I’m dying to know more. While the first de Blob only featured 10 tracks, it was still one of the best soundtracks of the year, so I hope we get even more awesome music this time around.

Audun’s Picks

3. Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (Capcom)

Now the second game in this series has a legendary amount of fan made “music packs” of never ending mixtapes. Since the original soundtrack wasn’t that memorable and music editing was relatively easy to achieve on the Dreamcast version, hackers soon found their way around it and inserted their own music to compliment the intense crossover action taking place on screen. I myself had a pack of Barry White and Tom Jones music. Even so, I’m very excited to see what Capcom will dish out musically for this new and sure-to-be-awesome title.

2. Sonic Colors (SEGA)

No matter how bad Sonic games can sometimes be, you can always be assured that the music is gonna be awesome. From the 2D platformers with their J-pop vibes to the 3D action adventures with their melodic rock hitters, it’s going to be really interesting to see what SEGA will do with this new mysterious platformer set for the Wii. Will Jun Senoue return yet again?

1. Metroid: Other M (Nintendo)

Yeah, this is a highly unoriginal pick, but Metroid is a very special series to me and this game seems to get more amazing each time more is unveiled. Musically this game seems to be aiming for a very atmospheric and cinematic style while featuring full on arrangement or allusions to old classics from the series. It’ll be highly interesting to see if Kuniaki Haishima can handle such a highly regarded series without straying too far away from what fans expect and accept, but sometimes a bit of fresh blood can pump a lot of life into a project.

So, what titles are you looking forward to learning more about? Any soundtracks that you’re particularly excited to hear?