As far as pre-E3 trailers go, 2005 is a pretty disappointing year. Sure… the graphics engines are topnotch, but the wow/cool factor just isn’t there. Some trailers are even embarrassing ( Gods and Heros I’m looking at you ).

Here are most of the trailers released yesterday and today, with ratings and comments to boot:

Gears of War (fileplanet)

I admit that don’t know much about this game (yet). Seems like humans vs cyborg-aliens shooter (yes, another) atop the amazing Unreal 3 engine. This movie is worth the download just to see the Unreal Engine 3 driving a game. Now the plot sounds amazingly like Quake 4, but in GoW the battle versus evil aliens takes place on Earth. Expect futuristic settings, firefights in parks, etc. Also unlike Quake 4 this game’s trailer is far more explosive and cinematic. 3.5 stars.

Quake 4 - (fileplanet)

Quake 4 is what I hope Doom 3 should have been. Squad based combat in a hellish nightmare on the Stogg homeworld. Battle against the reanimated remains of your fallen squadmates.. who look like something out of the last few scenes of House of 1000 Corpses. The trailer has this distracting bluish hue over everything, and despite the appearance of a giant mechanized strider (*cough* Half Life 2 *cough*) the trailer seems to lack the cinematic qualities to impress. Still, I have no doubt that this game will be fun a shotgun blasting romp through hell. 3 stars.

Gods and Heros - (fileplanet)

This game sounds good on paper - an ancient Rome MMORPG where you form squads of NPCS, upgrade their weapons, armor, etc, and enter into tactical real time combat. Everquest meets a chessboard. Call out formations to tackle Cyclops, Gorgans, etc. Special combat animations couple your character to your opponent, and removes that “disconnected combat” feel of most other MORPGS. I’m all for gameplay, but these graphics are suprisingly Horizons-like, or even worse - Dark Age of Camelot before its facelift. This game is starting to slide off my radar. 2 stars.

Ghost Recon 3 - (fileshack)

A slick UI, incredible character models, and modest environments. What pisses me off about this trailer is simple - the guy who controls the character doesn’t shoot at the enemies, but 15 degrees to the right of them and into a concrete slab. I mean seriously… we’re at E3 here people. Please, put enough love into trailers where you’re at least shooting AT the bad guys. Despite this, the explosion is so jaw dropping gorgeous that it boosts my rating considerable. I can only hope the Xbox 360 can really pull crap like this off. 4 stars.

Rise of Legends - (fileshack)

Best trailer yet, and from an RTS? Go back in history and rewrite industrial design from da Vinci till now. Hulking metal robots fight Fantasy creatures around large city spires. The artwork is just fantastic and I can’t wait to see how Big Huge Games adapts their stellar Rise of Nations engine / gameplay to this new setting. 4.5 stars.

More trailers on the way!