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Ubisoft took their turn on the stage for their turn at hyping up the crowd at E3 2015, and they showed off details and reveals for games in their most loved franchises as well as revealing a few surprises. Mostly it was made of games we expected, although the rumours about Watch_Dogs 2 being there were proven not to be true.
The press conference started off with a trailer for a game no one saw coming – South Park: The Fractured But Whole. The sequel to the Stick of Truth game that the creators said they’d never make (but decided to do anyway), this time we see the characters playing through a superhero themed game. I’m not a fan of South Park, but I did get a laugh when they realised that they were no longer doing an RPG and paused the action to change costumes.
Next we had another new and unexpected game announcement: For Honor, a team game for up to 8 players (2 teams of 4 players) involving a lot of melee combat. It was shown off with a beautifully animated trailer that followed a common thread of combat across several different battlefields with a different fighter for each. There was also a live demo and it seems that hits will be given more emphasis through camera shake on screen, in an attempt to better immerse players in the game. It certainly looks as if it’ll have promise and players can sign up at forhonor.com to get more information about the game.
Onto the titles and franchises we did expect to see the first up was The Crew’s new expansion announcement. Wild Run will come with loads of new content such as vehicles, maps and gatherings and will be released on November 17th.
The Division was also featured, with news on a Beta coming on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC early next year and the release date being announced as March 18th. They also talked about an area in the game called the Dark Zone – a quarantined area of the world which you can enter and showed a clip of gameplay that showcased the multiplayer elements, how you can choose to work together or not, finding loot and towards the end became a really good lesson on why you should never trust your best friends in a video game.
Games were announced for the Anno series, with Anno 2205 showcasing a nearish-future version of the city building game and Trackmania with Trackmania Turbo taking the series to consoles with a colourful and interesting set of racetracks with loops, twists and turns; as well as the ability to do your own tracks. Trials Fusion also announced Awesome Levels Max expansion with a perfect trailer that involved rainbows, a gun-toting ginger cat and a fire-breathing unicorn. Brilliant.
Just Dance 2016 was of course there, with the news that a camera is no longer needed to play the game and that you can use your smartphone as a controller for the game. More tracks, more dancing, more colour, more wonderfully danced avatars of course. The big news announced though was that a streaming service for the game called Just Dance Unlimited was going to be launched to allow users to get updates of fresh tracks to play, through a monthly subscription fee. The game will release in October for all platforms, with Xbox One, PS4 and WiiU getting access to the Just Dance Unlimited service.
There was more information on Rainbow Six: Siege including a rather awesome trailer that ramped up the tension and emphasised the importance of mission completion. Terrohunt was also announced to be making a return in this game, with a live demonstration of a mission on-stage which showcased some beautiful teamwork and co-optional play. Beta access will start from September 24th and it will include both the PvP and Terrohunt gamemodes for players to try out.
Another one of the big games we expected to see there was Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate and the idea of twin assassins with a gang of people backing them up set in Victorian London sounds amazing. We got a nice little trailer which included a Victorian horse-drawn carriage chase. Shame that it featured just one twin and it was the male one. Maybe I’m being a bit harsh but this is the same franchise that once talked about how it was too difficult to animate female assassins and got flack for it. I’d have loved to see her in action, but at least they did make a trailer for her even if it was shown during Sony’s press conference instead. If you’re interested, sign up at assassinscreed.com.
Finally they wrapped up with one last surprise game reveal: a new Ghost Recon game that emphasised the open-world possibilities and that there are many different ways of completing a mission. The trailer for Ghost Recon Wildlands showed the way that three different methods could result in a mission complete. Also, there was a lot of talk of not fearing death and quite a bit of blood. We’ve already talked about what position we’d take if we played, and I’m going to be causing havoc.
All in all, Ubisoft’s press conference was a lot how we expected it to be. Most of what was expected made a showing in some form and with big showy trailers too. There were some surprises though and I do look forward to seeing if games like For Honor become a success.
Also, Trials Fusion’s trailer was the highlight. Because it was ridiculous.
The Bethesda conference started out tonight with Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb interviewing some Fallout cosplayers outside the venue. There were some impressive costumes on display. They also interviewed the person at the front of the line, who said he has been waiting 6 years for Fallout 4 and looked quite sweaty and dehydrated.
After a replay of the reveal trailer of Fallout 4, the hosts then moved on to discuss the change in color palette and how the world looks much brighter. And of course, there is a dog.
After some more discussion about Fallout, they moved onto Doom. And played the trailer (which admittedly is 4 seconds long) 4 or 5 times in a gag that got tired very quickly.
Bethesda moved on to an opening montage of their games and then brought out Pete Heinz to the Skyrim theme to introduce their first ever E3 conference. First up on the presentation was a history of Doom, along with Marty Stratton, the Executive Producer of id Software. The first reveal of Doom was interesting to say the least. We started out with a marine moving through a futuristic facility, using the shotgun to take on hordes of enemies. There was plenty of blood and gore on display, but the game looked very sluggish on screen. Granted, the game seemed atmospheric, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t actual gameplay. Also, there was a slow motion effect when switching weapons that seemed very out of place. Also on display were several gruesome executions. Of course, it wouldn’t be Doom without tons of weapons, and all of them were on display. Shotgun, super shotgun, plasma rifle, machine gun and the chainsaw. The chainsaw kills were particularly gruesome, but the same animations were repeated several times. Granted, it is a demo.
Multiplayer on the otherhand, looked fast, snappy and, with one player snagging a powerup and transforming in to the revenant. It was bloody and frantic looking. They also showed off the new map editor called Snapmap, which allows players to create new maps easily and quickly. They then closed out the Doom segment with a look at hell. The area was grim, creepy and awesome, showcasing some hard fights with high powered weaponry like the rocket launcher. Near the end, the Cyberdemon made an appearance and then they…cut the trailer right as the BFG was charging up.
Moving back to the wider picture, Bethesda announced Bethesda.net, their own platform for launching all of their games . The next game to be shown off was Battlecry, which looked somewhat like a TF2 clone. While I wasn’t impressed, it may be for some people. They also announced that you can sign up for a beta of the game and it will be coming in 2015.
The next major highlight has to be Arkane Studios coming out on stage. This is the team that brought us Dishonored, and they jumped straight into a trailer for the sequel. Perhaps the biggest reveal was that you will be playing as either Corvo, orEmily Kaldwin and she apparently has the Outsider’s Power. The trailer was stylish, fast paced and stunning. Dishonored 2 will be available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Also announced was Dishonored Definitive Edition, an enhanced version of the game which includes all DLC for Xbox One and PS4.
Next up was a peek at whats coming to Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. The realm of the Orcs was shown, as were several new areas that looked to be dungeons. Mobile also played a part in the presentation, with the company showing off an Elder Scrolls themed card game called Elder Scrolls Legends. Only art assets were shown, but no actual gameplay. It will be free to play on PC and iPad.
The final presentation was for Fallout 4, after some rather forced jokes about it being the end of the show. Todd Howard director of Bethesda Game Studios took the stage to show off the new game, first talking about the power of games to transport the player to new worlds, and the experiences that they deliver. They then launched into a montage of concept art for the game, showing some impressive concepts and ideas, including what the world looked like before the bombs fell.
Character creation was up next, allowing you to simply drag your character’s face in real time to create your custom avatar. You can also play as a female. The new game starts before the bombs fell, which is an interesting change from the established formula. As the characters you created head for the vault, a bomb goes off and the screen cuts to black. However, Bethesda refused to reveal much more of the story. They instead cut to post bomb gameplay, 200 years into the future. The open world looked impressive. And, of course, they showed off the dog, highlighting the ability to give the dog contextual commands by simply pointing at the environment and pressing a button. A brief combat section was shown, showcasing the VATS targeting system before moving into a montage of various areas in the game. There was an impressive level of detail on display, although Bethesda’s character animations still leave a bit to be desired.
They also provided a look at the new Pip Boy, showing off the various menus and highlighting the idea of a latered armor system. You can also insert game tapes into your Pip Boy and play Fallout versions of classic games on it. You will also be able to get a real Pip Boy with the collector’s edition of the game, including an app for it for iOS and Android. Keeping with the mobile theme, Fallout Shelter was shown off. This is a 2d game that has you in command of a vault and its dwellers in a kind of cross between the Sims and Progress Quest. The game will be free and they claim it will have no paywalls and they announced it would be available after the conference. Unfortunately, its iOS only.
Jumping back to Fallout 4, they showed off a mode that allows you to build your own settlement and fully customize every aspect of it from lighting to defenses. They were quick to note that it is completely optional, but you will be able to create multiple bases and craft all manner of things. This transitioned into the weapon crafting system, which allows you to use almost any item you find in the game world to modify your weapons and your armor. They then closed the Fallout segment with a combat montage set to trademark Fallout period appropriate music. And…a Teddy Bear cannon…..
Fallout 4 will be released November 10, 2015.
The presentation closed with a thank you from the studio. All in all, a strong showing for Bethesda’s first ever E3 conference.
Toy Soldiers has always been a blast to play. A mix of tower defense and third person shooter, taking place in a kid’s playset and fought by plastic toys and model vehicles? I’m sold. Last year, Signal Studios gave us a look at the newest installment in the series, War Chest. It featured Unicorns and fairies fighting it out against the Kaiser and his German army. This was already pretty cool. But then, today, Ubisoft casually informed everyone that He-Man and GI Joe will also be featured as playable armies. On top of that, they announced that there are two more armies left to reveal.
Naturally I’m excited. In fact, just watch the trailer while I try to cram 5 year old Digmbot back into his mental closet.
Are you excited for Toy Soldiers: War Chest after this announcement? Let us know in the forums!
Yesterday we had a teaser from Blizzard about something new coming to the game of Hearthstone soon. Today, we found out just what was coming and the guesses were right on the money: it’s a new Hero for the Warrior class.
The Hero in question is Magni Bronzebeard, king of Ironforge. He’ll come with his own voiced emotes and Hero Power animation, although the Power itself is still the +2 Armour that Garrosh had previously. Blizzard’s blog post to announce Magni also makes it clear that he’s not alone, there will be more New Heroes coming soon.
Currently the Heroes are set to be a purchasable thing, priced at around £6 for British players and $9.99 for the North American territories with the Hero itself coming with a unique cardback themed after them.
So far Blizzard have set no release date for Magni or the other upcoming New Heroes. Although I’m guessing that we’ll know once the rest of them appear.
Heroes Emerge: New Hearthstone Heroes Are Coming!:[x]
Well, seems Blizzard have a mysterious new Hero in store for Hearthstone possibly. At least, that’s what the latest Innkeeper’s Tale seems to be hinting at…
The blog post seems to be a teaser for a new Warrior Hero, but so far there’s few details to go on. The only thing we have is the silhouette above and a clue from a Tweet sent out by Blizzard from the @PlayHearthstone Twitter about the new teaser
It’s pretty obvious that the character will be a Dwarf, but no bets on whom or if they’ll keep the Armour ability that Garrosh has or will come with a new Hero Power. Personally, I’d hope for the latter option.
Blizzard have said before that adding new Hero classes would be difficult because of the need to balance a whole host of new class-exclusive cards as well as the Hero Power every class is equipped with. However, adding new Heroes that are of the exisiting classes seems a good way to add new playable characters without having the trouble of balancing a whole bunch of new cards. Maybe we’ll see alternate Heroes for the other classes too if this is what the teaser is hinting at.
