The excitement is building to next week's E3 Media and Business Summit in Los Angeles (man does that sound like some kind of soulless seminar at some Holiday Inn but we aren't in charge of the naming of the event) where over 5,000 journalists have been invited to attend the largest single gathering of game publishers in North America. Big Download will be covering the event all next week but this week we are counting down our top 25 most anticipated PC games we hope we will get to see and maybe play at the event.

On Monday we went through our 25-21 picks so if its Tuesday it must be time for the 20-16 picks on our list. As we mentioned previously, these are just our predictions on what games will be shown at the event; many of these titles have not been officially confirmed to be at E3 as of this writing. Also, there's no Activision or Vivendi Games/Blizzard titles on this list due to the two publishers bypassing E3 but a press conference by Activision on Tuesday during E3 is highly expected to show some upcoming titles from that publisher (and maybe Vivendi/Blizzard as well). With that out of the way let's look at our picks for the next five games on our list
20: Red Faction Guerrilla

Developer: Volition Publisher: THQ

The first Red Faction title was an innovative sci-fi first person shooter that was one of the first to truly embrace destructible levels and environments. The second game didn't get as much acclaim as the first but continued the original's take on making it easy to destroy buildings and whole levels. Now developer Volition and publisher THQ return to the game's Mars setting for Red Faction: Guerrilla and this time the title can switch between first and third person action. The game promises to once again bring lots of debris to the forefront. Everything from a hand held sledgehammer to a mech-like vehicle that can truly plow through everything is scheduled to be in the title and we hope to play a new section of the game at E3 2008. We expect the PC version to look great as well thanks to higher resolution support.

19 The Agency

Developer: Sony Online Seattle Publisher: Sony Online Entertainment

The spy motive has been put through the ringer lately in the movies with over-the-top gadgets and action replaced with a more realistic approach. However, Sony Online's upcoming action MMO The Agency promises to bring more of a old fashioned James Bond theme to its game with exotic locales, cool weapons and great looking people. Technically the game will appear on the PS3 as well as the PC but Sony Online's experience on the PC will assure that The Agency will look and play great on a rig. The big question is whether gamers will accept The Agency's more action oriented MMO theme rather than the typical fantasy turn based approach. We hope to learn more about their plans for the game at E3 next week



18: Warhammer Online (PC Exclusive)

Developer: EA Mythic Publisher: Electronic Arts

We have seen Warhammer Online at more than one E3 at this stage as well as many other press and consumer events but it looks like we are finally just a few months away from playing the final full version of Mythic's long-in-development fantasy MMO. Based on the Games Workshop tabletop war game, Warhammer Online promises to have all the features that other fantasy MMO have had (single player quests, monsters to fight and loot to gather, etc) plus a new version of the Realm vs Realm team based multiplayer gameplay that Mythic first introduced in their Dark Age of Camelot titles. There will also be public quests that anyone can join in for some quick questing with others. Can Warhammer Online live up to the hype and its long development cycle? We hope to get some answers at E3 next week.


17: Mercenaries 2

Developer: Pandemic Publisher: Electronic Arts

Pandemic's first Mercenaries games (published by Lucasarts) was an impressive action-oriented open world title set in a near future setting of South Korea. The original title was a console only game but for the sequel Pandemic and its new owner/publisher Electronic Arts decided to release a PC version as well as its console ports and we couldn't be happier. The same mercenary squad of three characters featured in the first game return to action and this time they get to blow up stuff real good in a near future Venezuela run by a mad dictator (the real Venezuelan government has accused the game of being a front to encourage a toppling of their leadership, something that Pandemic has repeatedly denied). Features expected to be in the title include being able to hijack vehicles (including in-the-air helicopters) lots of destructible buildings and even a way to light up oil slick to cause huge explosions. We really hope the PC version gets the attention it deserves.

16 Left 4 Dead

Developer: Valve/Turtle Rock Studios Publisher: Valve/Electronic Arts

While some people await word on when Valve will reveal games like Half-Life 2 Episode 3 or Portal 2, the successful PC developer and its new subsidiary Turtle Rock Studios have been working for some time to finish up Left 4 Dead, a co-op themed shooter that's all about a group of humans trying to get out of a city completely infested with zombies. Valve and Turtle Rock have emphasized that while you can play this game alone, it's designed specifically to encourage people to play in teams of four to fight off the zombies. If you like playing as the infected you can do that as well. In fact there are different types of zombies you can play from the smoker (who attacks and grabs humans with its long tongue) to the the boomer (who first vomit that blinds players and can attack more zombies). While Xbox 360 and PS3 versions are in development, Valve has always put the PC versions first on their list so expect things like Steam achievements, constant patch support and new content to be released on a regular basis. We can't wait to play a new build at E3.


On Wednesday: We go through our E3 2008 PC game picks for 15-11 which include three PC exclusive titles and a sequel to one of 2005's best PC game. Stay tuned.

Check out part 3 of our feature article right now