Sony
Another year and yet another superb showing by Sony at E3! God of War, is all set to make a return with an older, wiser and possibly calmer Kratos, but with the same ferocious and brutal combat that we have all come to know and love. Sony also revealed the gameplay of Horizon Zero Dawn and it looks like a sleeker and more appealing rendition of Far Cry Primal, with a healthy mixture of old school weapons and post-apocalyptic technology. It seems Resident Evil is finally ditching the FPS angle that it adopted in the past few titles and is going back to its survival horror roots, to great appreciation from gamers, in the latest iteration, Resident Evil VII.
A new Spider-Man game was also announced and it oozed with the web-slingers character coupled with some amazing stunts and sharp visuals. Lastly three new IPs were announced that left the crowd stunned. They were; Days Gone, a post-apocalypse zombie survival game, Detroit: Almost Human, a game based on an intricate network of choices. Sony dropped the biggest bombshell by unveiling the legend Hideo Kojima’s latest title, Death Stranding with a surreal trailer and much appreciation from the crowd. It suffices to say that Sony is in full swing to address the problem of a lack of good games that this current generation of consoles is facing.
Ubisoft
The highlights included Ghost Recon Wildlands’ gameplay, Watchdogs 2 gameplay, a first look at For Honor’s campaign and a few interesting announcements. Ghost Recon Wildlands seems to be blending concepts from The Crew The Division with a massive open world filled with drug lords to take down with your buddies. Watchdogs 2 set in San Francisco has a whole lot of parkour going on as the game features a new protagonist, hacking drone and more. For Honor looked amazing in its demo that showcased the art of battle melee combat system.
The new reveal Steep ended the conference on a high, the game is an extreme winter sports game set in the alps, with social sharing and multiplayer fun. A new trials game mixes the formula into an action packed shooter with Trials of the Blood Dragon for some over the top action set in Vietnamese warzones.
Microsoft
Microsoft has been on a warpath since their “TV TV TV Entertainment” disaster a few years ago and this year was another strong showing. Rumours regarding an improved console were confirmed in the form of a smaller and sleeker, Xbox One S with 4k video playback. Not only that Microsoft teased the ‘most powerful console ever built’ with Project Scorpio, scheduled to come out in Holiday 2017.
On the games front we got a look at Halo Wars 2, with a surprise Open Beta that is underway. Microsoft announced State of Decay 2, sequel to one of the most popular and well-made zombie games and this time it will feature some form of multiplayer as well as large scale base building. Forza Horizon 3 was revealed and was the highlight of the show; this time the open world racer heads to Australia with the franchise’ largest roster of vehicles. The biggest announcement was ‘Xbox Play Anywhere’ that gives Windows 10 users and Xbox One users a common license for Microsoft Exclusive games that lets them play across both devices and supports seamless cross platform play as well; a big win for Microsoft bringing their two communities together.
Bethesda
Bethesda’s E3 conference was much weaker than last year’s. Some of the announcements were indeed leaked ahead of time, but it proved that they simply do not have the games ready to host a yearly show. The conference opened with Quake Champions, a brand new game specifically designed around E-Sports given the phenomenal rate the industry is growing at. They also confirmed that 2011’s Game of the Year — Skyrim, is getting remastered for an October release.
Complete with all of its DLC, the console version of the game will support mods while PC owners that have already purchased all the content will get this version for free. More details were shared regarding the DLC plans for Doom, Fallout 4 and Elder Scrolls Online while they also announced Prey – a thriller in which the protagonist is a test subject in a psychological experiment. The conference ended on a strong note with a great trailer for Dishonored 2, which now gives players the ability to travel through time, something to look forward to indeed.
EA
EA’s E3 press conference opened strong but then fizzled out towards the end, primarily due to the lack of gameplay footage and new announcements. Highlight of the show was Titanfall 2 which showed off a new grappling hook as well as new abilities for the pilots and the titans. Its single player campaign also had an intriguing trailer hinting at self aware Ai companions and a bond between the pilot and his titan.
The usual assortments of sports games followed, ending with FIFA 17 which will now have a story mode. Complete with cutscenes, you will follow Alex Hunter as he tries to make a name for himself in one of the premier league’s biggest clubs and of course all the drama that comes with it. Just like their conference a couple of years ago, it felt like they had nothing to show. All of their Star Wars games are too far out and even Mass Effect Andromeda, which is scheduled to come out early next year, did not have gameplay ready. The conference did end with a trailer for Battlefield 1 which showcased an impressive visual design and level of destruction along with a great 64 player demo livestream.
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