Myst was a masterpiece, but it hasn't aged well. Its structure is rigid and its puzzles are obtuse, but there's still something about that beautiful, mysterious island that's just aching to be explored. There have been sequels, but Jonathan Blow's The Witness might just be the first proper successor.

It too takes place on a strange island filled with puzzles and weird technology. But it's also a completely open world, letting you explore wherever you want at your own pace. "Once you get out of the tutorial you can literally walk anywhere," says Blow. "It lets the player follow their curiosity."

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Here's the thing about the Arkham series: Bruce Wayne is a complete psychopath, even by Batman's usual standards.

This wasn't all that clear in Batman: Arkham Asylum, the original game that combined fast-paced brawling with hidden object puzzles and endless gliding. But as soon as he got put into the open world of Arkham City, it became evident that the most fun thing to do was swoop around the city and drop down on unsuspecting groups of inmates complaining about how hungry and cold they were. "It's the freakin' Bat!" they would shout, as I goaded them into a fight and then threatened to torture them for information about Riddler trophies. …

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All it took was a failing console to spark Nintendo's creativity.

As the Wii U struggles with consistently disappointing sales, Nintendo has tried to reverse its fortunes by releasing some of its most exciting and inventive games ever, including the likes of Mario Kart 8 and the whimsical Tomodachi Life. But at E3 in Los Angeles, the company has taken things a step further, announcing a huge range of creative titles for its home console. Soon you'll be able to use your Wii U to build your own Super Mario levels and explore a vast open world in the first HD Legend of Zelda. The next Super Smash Bros. is filled with an almost overwhelming amo …

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I saw Tom Clancy's The Division twice at E3, and if not for the title cards, I might have thought I was seeing two different games. At Microsoft's press conference, it was a strategic team-based shooter with a thudding bass soundtrack and a firefight on the steps of New York's James Farley Post Office. Its bouncy, ironic Christmas music made it feel a little like Die Hard.

At Ubisoft's show a few hours later, it was a quiet tragedy. A sobbing woman sang "Silent Night" as the camera panned over an empty house, time-lapse video subtly depicting a child dying and a man begging for his life. Blood spattered on the window of a New York brownston …

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Sony's Project Morpheus has only been public for a few months, and without the wealth of community projects that Oculus has, its demos have been thin. Today, though, the company finally showed off something undeniably fun. The "Street Luge" tech demo is like a roller coaster that you control, dodging and turning by tilting the headset. If you've got a low couch or beanbag chair, which Sony kindly provided for us, the movement feels natural, though you quickly realize that you don't need to shift your entire body weight and just start twitching your head. We've seen a growing ecosystem around virtual reality at E3 this year, and while we stil …

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While waiting in line to play Alien: Isolation, I heard screams from inside the demo room. A few minutes later they were mine.

The latest game to tackle the Alien universe is perhaps the scariest thing on display at this year's E3, a first-person survival experience unlike just about any big-name video game before it. One of the most important things about the game is its name - this is Alien, not Aliens. Whereas the series, both in film and game form, has shifted towards action, Isolation takes its inspiration from the original Ridley Scott horror masterpiece. The premise is nearly identical in both experiences: you're stranded on a space …

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