It’s that time of the year again. E3 is on the horizon and we’re expecting more news, previews, trailers and screenshots than we can handle. But it’s the announcements that we’re most looking forward to.

Leaks, rumours and industry whispers may have spoiled a few of this year’s surprises, but the rush of a new announcement is unmatched. That’s why we’ve got together to come up with a list of games we would most like to see revealed at E3. We might not see all of them unveiled in L.A. this year, but these are the ones we most desire.

It’s also worth noting that unfortunately we’re not psychic. So while we’d love Bioware to come up with a new RPG series to rule them all, Epic to reveal the ultimate action masterpiece and someone to unveil a decent bloody Kinect game, we have no frame of reference. That’s why this list is stuffed with sequels. Let’s hope there’s some new things revealed too.

Dead Space 3

This one’s a dead cert. We already know it’s coming in this financial year and we’re assured that it will feature co-op with an imaginary alter-ego ripped from Isaac Clarke’s deranged noggin, a Hoth-like setting and a tad more action including Gear of War-eque rolls and cover. 

That’s quite a lot of leaked info for a game that is yet to be formally announced, but Dead Space is one of this generation’s best original series, a truly horrific delight. We just can’t wait to see it for ourselves. Let’s just hope that the rumours of a change to first-person perspective are untrue. Now that would be terrifying.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2

Word on the street is that Most Wanted 2 is being made by Burnout Paradise and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit devs Criterion. If the rumours are true we could be in for a real treat, as those two racers are among the very best this generation has to offer. The very best.

The most exciting bit though? Criterion was spotted hiring staff to work on an open world racer last year. Could Most Wanted 2 be it? A spiritual successor to Paradise infused with Most Wanted’s nitrous-powered cops ‘n robbers thrills sounds like a brilliant idea to us. Fingers crossed that this one comes to pass.

Splinter Cell 6

It’s been over two years since we last saw Mr Fisher sneaking, shooting and slamming faces into urinals. Now would be a great time for a return. Indeed, we already know that Ubisoft are woking on the project, all we have to do now is dream up what we think it’ll look like, then hope it gets announced.

So, what do we reckon then? Splinter Cell: Conviction was a perfectly decent game, let down only by its extended action sequences. And while action seems to be the direction in which Ubisoft are taking many of their big series - hello Ghost Recon - we’d love to see Sam go back to his roots with a proper stealthy adventure. How about the tramp chic look from the original Conviction reveal too? That was cool. You know what to do, Ubisoft.

Diablo 3

Blizzard has made no secret of the fact that it’s working on a version of Diablo for consoles, repeatedly stating that it has a small team on the job. But with the PC version of the game now shipped, and the servers looking at least a little more sturdy, E3 would be the perfect time for a proper reveal.

What makes us all the more eager for a version of Diablo 3 is that there’s not really anything like Blizzard’s loot filled clickathon on current consoles. Sure, Torchlight is a great little series and there are a few other, lesser examples, but Diablo 3 would sweep aside all pretenders to the crown in a heartbeat. There’s no guarantees we’ll see it at E3, but it’s a devilishly exciting prospect nonetheless.

Dragon Age 3

Forget all that stuff about dumbed down sequels and disappointing endings, BioWare are amongst the best RPG developers in existence, if not the best. Nobody makes a good old-fashioned swords and conversations game like they do. That’s why we can’t wait for an official reveal of the third chapter in the Dragon Age saga.

We already know that BioWare are working on the game, they were advertising for staff over a year ago. There’s even been talk of a multiplayer mode, but we’re just going to cover our ears and pretend we didn’t hear that. Regardless of the shortcomings of the previous game, any title from BioWare is cause for celebration. With Dead Space 3 and Most Wanted 2 all but guaranteed to be announced, it might be asking a lot for a Dragon Age 3 announcement as well, but hey, when we want apples, life gives us lemons… or hopefully, dragons.

Half-Life 3

Look, you can’t stop us from hoping can you? Half-Life 3 is the most anticipated game announcements on the planet right now and has been for quite some time. Indeed, the wait has been so long that expectations Valve will actually announce the bloody thing are low. But do you know what? That’s just their style. The timing is right for a proper announcement.

And why not, eh? Portal 2 shipped ages ago, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive can’t demand that many resources and Dota... well, that’s a separate thing. The return of Gordon Freeman, Alyx Vance, Dog and all our Combine chums would blow the roof off the L.A. Convention Center and probably the staff and readers of this website too. Please Valve, we beg you.

Homefront 2

The original Homefront wasn’t perfect, but it did show promise. While the single-player campaign may have been a little rubbish and a lot short, Homefront’s multiplayer had something good going. With Crysis devs Crytek now in charge of the series, let’s see what they can achieve with a proper sequel.

We can at least say that an announcement at E3 is unlikely due to their lack of presence at the show, but what would be better for their investors right now than to see their big selling new IP make an appearance? After all, Homefront did sell over 4 million copies, making it one of THQ’s best-selling owned IP titles. Following the company’s recent financial troubles and the announcement that it would be focusing more on core games, the timing is spot on. Don’t write this one off yet.

Bully 2

Come on, you know you want it. Rockstar want it too, kinda. Last year, VP Dan Houser said that the company would “see what we can do” with Bully once Max Payne 3 had shipped. Well guess what? Max Payne has shipped and we demand more Bully!

The blueprint set by the original game back in 2006 (current-gen versions hit in 2008) is so flexible that you could slap it on just about any education-based setting and it would still shine. Run-down inner city school? Yup. Posh university? Yup. That dodgy language college above the Cash Converters in Tottenham? Probably not. Of all the games listed here, Bully 2 is second only to Half-Life 3 on the excite-o-meter, but Rockstar do things their way and on their own terms. It’s unlikely, but we can still hope though, right?

Destiny

We already know quite a lot about Bungie’s next four games. We know what year they’re coming out, we know when their most significant add-ons will hit and we know what platforms they’re coming on. But that’s all the boring stuff. What we really wanna know is exactly what Destiny is, because all we have at the moment is rumours and speculation.

One thing that does seem likely is that Destiny will take the sci-fi FPS genre into action MMO territory, if the various leaks, hints and rumours are to be believed. But what does that really mean? How will the world look? Will they create a character to rival Master Chief? What about the universe? We’d like to find out. Bungie may not want to announce the game at this year’s E3, but following the recent outing of its contract with Activision it might as well. Bring it on.

Alan Wake 2

Alan. It’s not the most heroic of first names, is it? But then neither is Gordon and that didn’t stop Half-Life being the bee’s knees. We’ve had Remedy’s XBLA stop-gap in the form of Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, now it’s time to get down to business. Get looking through your “messy drawer” for some fresh batteries, we’d love to see a proper sequel announced at E3.

There has only been the merest of squeaks regarding a potential Alan Wake 2, with no details whatsoever about the actual gameplay. That’s just the way we like it. If Microsoft can keep their powder dry and not leak the details of their E3 presser days before it actually happens (like the last few years), we could be in store for a nice little surprise when Mattrick and co take to the stage on June 4th. Then again, we could not be. That’s the beauty of these lists… we decided what we want to see!

So there you have it, those are our picks for the games we most want announced at E3 2012. What did we miss, what did we get wrong and are we giant idiots? Let us know in the comments.