Ubisoft’s live stream at E3 showcased some impressive titles. With 11 games and one expansion, Ubisoft had quite a lot going on. They unveiled a few new games with a lot of promise, and took a look at some of their more long-standing franchises as well.
You can watch (or rewatch) the Ubisoft conference on YouTube, or keep reading below for a brief recap.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Starting off strong, Ubisoft introduced Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, confirming the Rabbids crossover leak that happened a few weeks ago. In a team up with Nintendo, Ubisoft has stepped up to make a Mario game unlike anything else. The brief gameplay teaser showed off the game’s exploration aspect, as well as its turn-based tactical combat. The combat included some fun mechanics — like the ability to perform combo moves and use pipes to move around the battle area. With classic Mario concepts mixed with the silly Rabbid-esque style of humor, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle should appeal to a number of different fan bases when it releases in August this year.
Assassin’s Creed: Origins
An Assassin’s Creed game might have been an expected reveal from Ubisoft, but that doesn’t diminish the hype that Assassin’s Creed: Origins is bound to generate. With a drastic change in location and time period, I’m particularly excited to see how this one turns out.
Ubisoft set up a 30 minute live stream after the conference to show off Origins‘ features. A lot of the same gameplay that AC fans have come to love are still around, but the reconnaissance eagle feels like a nice addition to the player’s arsenal.
The Crew 2
The Crew 2 is a new racing game that has truly embraced a variety of motor sports. The trailer shows cars and planes racing through city streets and forested off-road tracks, and even boats navigating rivers and the open ocean. Beautiful environments and the expansive race options are making The Crew 2 out to be a brand new experience for the racing world.
On top of everything, beta access is available for those who can’t wait until the early 2018 release.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole
The classiest title from Ubisoft this year, South Park: The Fractured But Whole has a focus on the cast of South Park playing as superheroes. Fans of the previous South Park games, as well as the show, will be sure to get a kick out of this one as well.
Unfortunately, only a trailer for the game was shown, but a demo was accessible at Ubisoft’s booth.
Transference
One of the most interesting titles that Ubisoft talked about was Transference, with a planned release date of Spring 2018. With a mini-movie to show off, Ubisoft and SpectreVision (a partner on this project) took some time to tease a bit about a possible future VR game.
The video spends some time discussing how VR can fit into making players “feel like [they] are in a movie,” but it’s unclear as to how this is going to be incorporated into the game. There is a creepy vibe throughout the whole video, which makes it seem like a horror or psychological thriller. But until more information comes along, we’re stuck with speculation.
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones was one of the most impressive titles from Ubisoft’s lineup. Based on the naval combat from Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, players take on the role of a pirate, and can join up with other friends in a multiplayer mode to pit their ships against an enemy team’s and see who really rules the open seas. This team-based game mode boasted different classes of ships, with each type specializing in some aspect of combat — like ramming, long range shooting, and more.
A sign-up for beta access for Skull and Bones is available on the official website. But be warned…Ubisoft says this is a dynamic world that will react to you as much as you react to it. And there are far more dangerous enemies than pirates lurking in the open waters — like the mysterious kraken, which makes a short appearance as the video comes to a close.
Just Dance 2018
The new Just Dance 2018 was announced, with an interesting song compilation to boot. Colorful lights, some fun dance moves, and an appearance by singer/songwriter Bebe Rexha were about all that was shown during the announcement of this newest installment.
A release date of October was announced, but Ubisoft didn’t spend much time on this one.
South Park: Phone Destroyer
Another addition to the South Park games, South Park: Phone Destroyer is a new mobile game. In a play on the classic kid’s game, Cowboys and Indians, the cast of South Park adds in all sorts of other groups to battle against each other — with knights, clerics, buccaneers, princesses, and choir boys joining the fray (just to name a few). No substantial gameplay was revealed during the trailer, but glimpses of scenes imply that it is some kind of battle game.
Starlink: Battle for Atlas
Coming in Fall of 2018, Starlink: Battle for Atlas appears to be a science fiction, ship-based game. The game looks like it allows for on-the-fly component swaps, to allow players to tackle challenges no matter what their current equipment load out. Components can be gathered in game, but they can also be collected as figurines that attach to your console controller and can just as easily influence your options in game.
Coming to all consoles, Starlink promises freedom to play your way, hopefully providing enough options for all manner of people to find something to enjoy.
Steep
Last year, Ubisoft announced Steep, the open world extreme sports game. This year the company is giving us an expansion for it with the “Race to the Olympics” DLC that takes place in PyeongChang 2018. With a winter Olympics theme, the footage displayed a lot of races — hinting at a more competitive style of play coming with its release on December 5th.
Far Cry 5
Far Cry 5 was no real surprise, but there was still plenty of new information to dazzle everyone. The gameplay looked similar to other Far Cry games — but judging by some of the scenes shown, it looks like the player might be getting a little help from friends. It seems that companions will play a much more pointed role this go round, with the player having the ability to position them specifically and use them for other purposes — whether it’s having Nick Rye drop bombs from his plane, or having your dog Boomer attack enemies and fetch guns for you.
So far, these companions look like a fun addition to an already enjoyable franchise.
Beyond Good and Evil 2
14 years after Beyond Good and Evil‘s original release, a sequel has finally been announced. Technically a prequel, the trailer debuted by Ubisoft shows off a cast of wild characters — including a mob boss style pig man and a British monkey with a robotic arm attachment. While there was no gameplay footage for Beyond Good and Evil 2, this teaser was a fun ride, and will certainly hype fans of the original as well as new players to the series.
That wraps up everything we saw at Ubisoft’s E3 conference this year. What was your favorite reveal from the show? Let us know down in the comments!
