It’s that magical time of year again, yes that’s right Christm….no, wait…E3! Every year the entire gaming industry descends upon Los Angeles, California for the E3 convention show.
Once again Aisha Tyler returned to host the Ubisoft conference. A self-professed gamer and hilarious comedian/actor/author, Tyler has become a staple for the Ubisoft conference.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole
The Ubisoft conference began with a bang; with the reveal of South Park: The Fractured But Whole. Great name.
A sequel to The Stick of Truth is truly surprising, considering South Park creators Matt Parker and Trey Stone said they would never make another video game, considering how difficult the original was to make. The duo came out to introduce the game and story, as well as make some jokes.
They revealed that the game would be a straight-up sequel to The Stick of Truth, putting you in the shoes of “The New Kid” once again. However this time around the kids will be role-playing as superheroes, instead of fantasy characters. Parker and Stone finished off the South Park section of the conference with a fitting line: “We’re gonna get deep into your But Whole on this one”.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole is available now for pre-order.
For Honor
Next up was a new IP from Ubisoft Montreal, For Honor. The game was introduced by Creative Director Jason VandenBerghe and features warriors from various centuries including Vikings, Knights and Samurai’s. For Honor features intense sword combat between the three factions.
A 4v4 multiplayer was shown using PlayStation 4 and the brutality of combat was very much on display. A Knight battled a Samurai or two before another Knight came over and helped dispose of the foes. Every fight ended in a uber-violent kill. No details on a campaign or single-player mode were mentioned.
For Honor is coming to PC, PS4 and Xbox One in 2016. You can register now to “be among the first to play the game”.
The Crew: Wild Run
A new expansion for The Crew was revealed in a quick teaser trailer, along with Tyler stating a few impressive statistics on The Crew. The trailer shows a graphics overhaul as well as the inclusion of motorcycles and cars.
The expansion, Wild Run, will be available on November 17th.
Trials Fusion: Awesome Level MAX
A new expansion pack for Trials Fusion was revealed next, titled Awesome Level MAX. Lets you play as a cat riding a fire-breathing unicorn. I don’t believe that requires further explanation.
Regardless, the DLC will be split into two halves; Awesome Adventure and RedLynx vs All-Stars.
Tom Clancy’s: The Division
The latest demo for The Divison showed off a new area in the game known as “The Dark Zone”, which turned out to be Times Square. This area really showed off the eerie atmosphere of the game and the horrors brought on by the virus; charred bodies lay on the snowy ground while complete silence deafened New York’s center.
Various enemy types, combat, level design and the sheer scope of The Division were all on display in the demo and the game truly looks fantastic. Ubisoft announced upcoming BETA’s starting early next year for PS4, Xbox One and PC.
And finally, after a few delays, Ubisoft announced that The Division will be released on March 8th, 2016.
Anno 2205
A new city-builder game from Blue-Byte was announced. The hook of Anno 2205 is that you start out on Earth and build your city. After a long time, when you’ve earned it, you can move to the moon and start building there.
The game looks huge, deep and intense, in relation to the creation suite and resource management. Interesting new twist on the city-building genre.
Just Dance 2016
You won’t need a camera for your consoles to play Just Dance 2016. This time around you can just use your smartphone to play the game.
Jason Derulo came out and performed his new song, “Want To Want Me”, to celebrate the new Just Dance. Derulo’s song, which is currently number 1 in the charts, will be featured in the game. Just Dance 2016 is coming this October to PS4, Xbox One, PC and Wii U.
Just Dance Unlimited was also announced, which is a new streaming service which brings new songs to the game all year round. PS4, Xbox One and Wii U gamers can subscribe to the service for a fee.
Tom Clancy’s: Rainbow Six Siege
A new trailer was released for Rainbow Six Siege, a live-action trailer that showed off the global-ramifications of the story. The live-action trailer featured well-known actress Angela Bassett, (Kindergarten Cop, Malcolm X, The Rosa Parks Story), who then came on stage to explain the story of the game and her role as character Six.
Community Developer of Rainbow Six Siege, Genevieve Forget, came on stage to announce a new mode for the game, Terrorist Hunt, that can be played solo or co-op. A live demo of the new game mode was performed, which showed a team of seals infiltrate an estate in an attempt to find the kill the terrorists.
Forget said that there will be 4 new Terrorist Hunt modes. The BETA for Rainbow Six Siege will be available on all platforms on September 24th 2015.
Trackmania Turbo
Trackmania Turbo was announced for consoles. The series, which has so far been on PC and Nintendo platforms, is now coming to Xbox One and PS4.
Trackmania Turbo is a hectic racing game that allows you to race Formula 1 style cars in a variety of whacky, albeit very short, maps. Developers from the game announced 200 kinds of tracks in the game, as well as the option of creating your own tracks. Multiplayer was also referenced.
There is also a VR version of the game but no further details were announced.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Next up we got a new trailer for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. The trailer begins with a little showcase of London but then quickly jumped into some story and action with Jacob Frye. The cinematic trailer showed off the horse and cart racing/battling, the grapple hook, trains, factories, assassinations, environmental gameplay and even a good ol’ bar fight.
Marc-Alexis Cote came on stage to talk more about Syndicate, which he referred to as “the first modern Assassin’s Creed game”. 7 lucky cities across Europe and Australia, as well as LA, will get the chance to play AC Syndicate starting tomorrow.
Tom Clancy’s: Ghost Recon Wildlands
The show was just about over, when Aisha Tyler pulled back to give us one more little game. Yves Guillemot then came out to introduce the latest surprise in Ubisoft’s history of E3 conferences.
The game trailer began with a voice-over looking at the skeleton of a nun, some bullets, a gun and blood running over a table. From there it jumped to a team skydiving into somewhere in Mexico and crossing mountains before assassinating a drug lord and escaping via Humvee.
Next the trailer jumped to another drug bust at night, in the rain, on a boardwalk. Here we got to see just how pretty the engine is, even running on pre-alpha gameplay. More drug busts ensued which showcased sniping, kidnapping and interrogation.
The game is being made by Ubisoft Paris and presents a massive open world, many modes of transport, and incredible scenery from all over the world. Think The Crew meets Just Cause….with a dash of Splinter Cell. Yep.
The Wrap-Up
And that was the Ubisoft E3 2015 conference. Another great showing from Ubisoft at E3, with great details on new games and reveals for new ones.
Many were expecting to see a sequel to Watch Dogs and potential returns of Prince of Persia and Beyond Good and Evil, but none of these appeared.
What did you think of the Ubisoft conference? Were you happy with the showing or disappointed? Let us know in the comments!
