Pre-E3 blowout day four: PS3

We can't wait

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
This is it. The one game everyone wants to see. The PlayStation 3 hardware and Nintendo's Wii might take center stage this year, but Solid Snake's the real headliner, lurking just behind the curtain as he always does. And from what our colleagues who've been sworn to secrecy tell us, the surprises he's going to hit us with will completely blow our jaded gamer brains away.

The Metal Gear Solid games have always been technically impressive - plenty of people who saw the second game unveiled in 2000for thethen-new PS2thought it was the prettiest thing they'd ever seen - so we're expecting Guns of the Patriots to take advantage of the PS3's capabilities like no other game at E3. Because the game is planned for sometime next year, we'll most likely just see a new trailer, but it's possible we might see actual gameplay in some form.

In either case, we're looking forward to more details on fast-aging superspy Solid Snake and the bio-mechanical Metal Gear clones he'll have to fight. There's also been a lot of buzz lately about whiny pretty-boy Raiden and how he's going to return as an ultra-likable badass. We're not holding our breath on that one, but given what else this game seems to be capable of, anything could happen.