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" Games expo E3 has come and gone for another year, and while it was one of the least surprising events thanks to a glut of leaks and pre-show reveals, there was more than enough to whet our appetite for the year ahead and beyond. Here&amp;#039;s what we thought was best from this year&amp;#039;s show. E3 2014: Vote for Digital Spy&amp;#039;s best platform and game of the show Best Shooter - Far Cry 4  The successor to one of 2012&amp;#039;s most entertaining games delivers even more outlandish ideas. Its E3 reveal showcased cliff climbing, hijacking a moving car and gliding through snow-capped mountains to a heavily-guarded enemy base. In typical Far Cry fashion, the base could be assaulted from a number of ways, whether it&amp;#039;s sneaking carefully in the shadows, by gyrocopter or even riding an elephant. Far Cry 4 is shaping up to be as open-ended and ridiculous as its predecessor, and we can&amp;#039;t wait for our trek to the Himalayas later this year. E3 2014 Far Cry 4 preview: Hands-on with gyrocopters and elephants Honourable mentions: Evolve, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Rainbow Six: Siege Best Racer - Forza Horizon 2  Despite the huge name behind it, Forza Horizon was perhaps one of Xbox 360&amp;#039;s lesser known first-party games, so it&amp;#039;s great to see an expanded sequel on next-gen hardware, one that combines Forza Motorsport 5&amp;#039;s jaw-dropping visuals and &amp;#039;Drivatars&amp;#039; - allowing friends to asynchronously appear in other people&amp;#039;s games without being online - with the fun, free-roam driving the original was celebrated for. Honourable mentions: The Crew, Project Cars, DriveClub Best Multiplayer - Destiny  Until now Bungie has been rather cagey about what Destiny actually is, but an alpha test released during E3 reveals how it all fits together. As well as match-made, co-operative Strike missions and competitive arena battles, exploring Destiny&amp;#039;s world will see you bump into other players at random, while a dedicated shopping district doubles as a Phantasy Star Online-style social hub, providing surprisingly compelling Journey-style interactions with strangers, providing just a tease of what we can expect when it launches in September. Honourable mentions: Rainbow Six: Siege, LittleBigPlanet 3, Battlefield: Hardline Best Open-World Game - Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain      Building upon the foundations of this year&amp;#039;s Ground Zeroes, the wide expanse of Afghanistan seen in the E3 hands-off demo is Kojima at his playful best. From a cigar that forwards time - allowing you to track guard placements that change throughout the day - to a horse that&amp;#039;s as much a stealth aid as a mode of transport, not to mention the ability to capture crates, jeeps and even sheep to help build your Outer Heaven, The Phantom Pain is a game with countless toys to play with, and is set to be one of 2015&amp;#039;s most entertaining open-world games. Honourable mentions: Assassin&amp;#039;s Creed Unity, Batman Arkham Knight, Far Cry 4 Best Surprise - Grim Fandango      E3 2014 was probably the least surprising show in recent memory, with almost all games leaked or revealed by publishers weeks beforehand. But one of the best moments of Sony&amp;#039;s press conference was the return of fan-favourite noir adventure Grim Fandango as a remake on PS4 and Vita, with the news delivered following an amusing fake fan letter sent from original creator Tim Schafer to Sony&amp;#039;s head of developer relations Adam Boyes. Grim Fandango: Why a revival was long overdue Honourable mentions: Rainbow Six: Siege, Crackdown 3, LittleBigPlanet 3 Best Looking Game - Yoshi&amp;#039;s Woolly World  Next-gen consoles are less than a year old and already creating some incredible looking games at E3, and yet it was Wii U game Yoshi&amp;#039;s Woolly World that was the most unforgettable. It&amp;#039;s a platformer where everything is crafted out of wool - from Yoshi himself to his eggs and even the pipes - and is filled with adorable little touches, with walls fraying at the edges to cotton wool clouds suspended in mid-air by thin string. Forget the endless battle for better frame rates and resolution, Yoshi&amp;#039;s Woolly World proves that all you need is good art direction. Honourable mentions: Batman Arkham Knight, Sunset Overdrive, The Order: 1886 Best New Game - Rainbow Six: Siege  The new Rainbow Six was a return to the tight, enclosed spaces of the PC originals rather than the flash and flair of recent shooters. A multiplayer game of a SWAT team facing off against kidnappers, classes on each side must use unique abilities to respectively attack or defend a suburban house where the walls and floor can be blown apart, and one-hit kills mean a single mistake can turn the tide. Perhaps the slowest-paced shooter on show, but easily the most tense. Honourable mentions: Legend of Zelda Wii U, Uncharted 4: A Thief&amp;#039;s End, Bloodborne Best Conference - Nintendo      It&amp;#039;s a little ironic that the publisher who pulled out from a traditional staged conference would have the best media briefing. Nintendo knocked it out of the park with its perfectly-pitched Robot Chicken sketches that poked fun at both the company and its fans, and probably the greatest build-up to a game at any E3, with executives Iwata and Reggie trading blows to introduce Super Smash Bros for Wii U. It was bizarre, surprising and entertaining, and proved that Nintendo&amp;#039;s decision to stream a digital event was the right one. Honourable mentions: Ubisoft, Sony, Microsoft Best Publisher - Nintendo  Not only did Nintendo&amp;#039;s online briefing delight, but so did its games. Just a glimpse of The Legend of Zelda on WIi U was a showstopper, while Mario Maker, Yoshi&amp;#039;s Woolly World and new franchise Splatoon prove the console has fight in it yet. And let&amp;#039;s not forget Super Smash Bros on Wii U, one of the most popular games at the show with its competitive tournament, copious character reveals (Pac-Man!) and status as debutant for Nintendo&amp;#039;s multi-game figurine service, Amiibo. It&amp;#039;s great to see Nintendo back to its best. Honourable mentions: Ubisoft, Sony, Devolver Digital What were your favourite games of E3 2014? Add a comment below! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/e3/feature/a578046/e3-2014-digital-spys-best-of-e3-awards/>