Wednesday 15 June 2016

E3 2016: Ubisoft's Conference [Events]

Ubisoft's conference was interesting enough. They had to have the usual dancers for Just Dance - which opened the event - doing a movement filled dance routine to Don't Stop Me Now. Not much was said on it, but the game will be coming to all current platforms, including PC and Nintendo's NX.
The first big game came in the form of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands. A trailer giving context to the story was shown off first. Then there was a talk on how this is the largest world Ubisoft have ever made, how it'll give you the freedom of choice to do things the way you want. It then moved on to a gameplay mission being shown off. The usual online co-op played out, with a group of players working their way to the objective in different ways, coordinating moves and plans with each other. It looked interesting enough, though of course the experience will be different depending on who you get online with. The game will be releasing March 27th.

We then get to South Park: The Fractured But Whole. A trailer about criminal activity in America is shown, then talk into the South Park game begins. Following on from The Stick of Truth, you are still the new kid, though this time the group have swapped games to be superheroes - hence the criminal activity trailer. With typical South Park humour, the game begins with your character swapping from one game to the next, getting dressed up as a superhero. Here you can mix and match powers from different classes to create a unique hero. Once that's done, a gameplay/cutscene mix gave us the next part of the game, with the group talking about the backstory of your superhero, again in the typical South Park fashion. After a talk about the combat, which has been improved to allow you the freedom of movement, it was then said anyone who buys The Fractured But Whole - either pre-ordered or after release on December 6th - would get The Stick of Truth for free. To end off the full trailer was shown.
Tom Clancy's The Division had DLC talk, with the first - Underground - being set under the streets of Manhattan. Here you'll be heading into enemy territory to take out a new threat. Every time you head underground, it will be a new challenge with randomly generated missions to take on. The release for other platforms was confirmed as August 2nd. The other DLC - Survival - has you in a storm-torn city, evading hostiles while getting the materials needed to survive. Away from the paid for DLC, three outfits will be available for the game from other Tom Clancy games.

Two virtual reality games were shown off next. The first was Eagle Flight, taking place in a Paris that nature is slowly reclaiming. The game is a three on three Capture the Flag game, with each person taking the role of an eagle, and shooting others with their caws to take them out and get the food to their nest before the other team. The second VR game was Star Trek: Bridge Crew, where you and friends take the role of a bridge crew as you explore the galaxy. Both games look good, but play value is yet to be determined. In other words, they look like games to play for short amounts of time.
For Honor was then shown off, first with a trailer of the world being torn apart from underground which causes the three factions to start warring with each other. Gameplay followed of the normal hack 'n' slash variety as a group of Vikings storm a Samurai base. The campaign is made up of each faction driving enemy forces back from their bases. The game releases February 14th.
A sequel to Grow Home was announced - Grow Up. It has an August release. Trials of the Blood Dragon mixes the two series together, and was announced to be released after the show - meaning it is available right now. Then talk of the Assassin's Creed movie followed, which has a release of December 21st.

Watch Dogs 2 looks bigger than the first, with a propaganda trailer making way to show off the world of San Francisco Bay. The trailer moves into gameplay, showing numerous abilities available with hacking. Multiple missions will show up on the map, with the routes to get to them colour coded. Gameplay of a mission was shown off, which gave a greater look at the hacking abilities and the ways to use them in missions. The game has a November 15th release. It was announced that Sony have exclusive rights, first with a movie being made for the series, and with the DLC being available first thirty days before other platforms. A story trailer followed from this, with the announcement of a limited edition having a remote-controlled robot from the game included with it.
The last game up was a bombshell indeed. An open world game - not about shooting or driving - set on a mountain range. This is Steep, an extreme winter sports game that focuses on the experiences you have on the mountains. This is clear from the fact you can share replays instantly from the map - or Mountain View, as it was called - as well as set challenges for others to beat score or time. Armed with a wingsuit, parachute, snowboard and skis, you can jump to set points on the mountain from the map and take a cruise down it. The trail lines on the Mountain View show where you came from, and are the way to sharing your replays. Being online, the game allows you to meet other players on the mountain and meet up, though you can ghost yourself to stop them messing you up if you so wish. It releases in December.

Of all the games Ubisoft showed, Steep is the one I'm most excited about. I've loved the extreme sports games a lot over the years, and to return once again to winter sports is great. I'm so interested in Steep that I registered for the beta. The mountain range looked absolutely beautiful, and I'm sure the full game will be just as much. I had interest in the first Watch Dogs, though slowly lost that interest over time. The second looks to be better, so I might give it a chance. Eagle Flight is something I might play if it didn't need VR equipment. The game might be better for that, but we'll see when more information is released for it. Having yet to try out modern VR tech, I can't exactly say whether it would be for me. My sister's a fan of South Park, me not so much. She has already pre-ordered The Fractured But Whole, and I'll be trying out the first game. I might find something to like.

E3 is soon coming to a close, but Nintendo have yet to have their full say. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild looks stunning in that art style, and is definitely more open than any Zelda game before. Pokémon Sun and Moon is also looking an improvement, though full details will come tomorrow with the Nintendo E3 post. I've decided to join the two days into one - and include the special Pokémon video in that - so tomorrow will be fully Nintendo focused.