Aisha Taylor hosted once again, and I hate the fact that she's the best host at the show. There's something undeniably charming and annoying about her, like she doesn't know what the fuck is happening, but at the same time she knows exactly what's going on.
What's really interesting is they actually faced their criticism head on, addressing it at the beginning of the show and talking about the importance of user feedback throughout. Ballsy move, but it's just the kind of PR boost they could use.
Alright, enough about the company, let's look at the games.
South Park: Fractured But Whole
A sequel to Stick of Truth that takes on Super Hero tropes. Stick of Truth was amazing, and this looks like it's just as self aware as the first game was.
Even better was Matt and Trey coming out on stage. These are two guys that see right through the bullshit of gaming culture, and every time the show up its a guarantee they'll poke fun at the very industry they're talking to.
For Honor
I only caught snippits of this, as Twitch kept having a shit fit trying to stream. Initial impressions are it's a dynasty warriors type game with multiplayer. That's some pretty cool ideas, and I dug the bits of gameplay I did catch. The dude presenting it was an absolute boss though, he looked like a viking in the game.
The Crew Wild Run
Despite mediocre reviews, people apparently play The Crew. To celebrate that it's getting an expansion pack with more cars and new game types. That's all the details revealed at the show.
Trails Fusion Unicorn Cat Thing
Ok, Twitch shit the bed at the worst time possible it seems, because it came back online and there was a cat riding a unicorn and I have zero context for this. Apparently it's some new content for Trials Fusion, and it looks fucking dope. I really wish I saw the trailer for this.
The Division
We got to see a little more about The Division, including debut gameplay of The Dark Zone, an in-game pvp zone where players can risk it all for high end loot while interacting with other players.
Alright, the gameplay itself was fine, but god damn companies REALLY need to stop using that awful scripted banter. It sounds weird, out of place, and just doesn't make me want the game you're selling me. This is the second time this has happened with The Division, and I think it's the same group of people.
Anyway, we got to see a firefight with AI, rudimentary stealth, and player VS player interaction, as well as how to get out of the Dark Zone. All in all, it looks cool, and the release date was finally revealed as March 8 , 2016
Anno 2205
I was honestly surprised to see Ubisoft even talking about an Anno game. Maybe the recent success of Cities Skylines have them looking at the genre a little harder. Considering they once renamed an Anno game here in the west for fear of under-performing sales, it's nice to see the long running city sim at E3.
It looks like this is a direct sequel to Anno 2070, which was already a futureized version of the old Anno games. This time the end-game is to colonize the moon, as well as Earth. I can dig it.
Just Dance
I've never played a Just Dance game and really have no plans to, but other people seem to like them. This time around you can use your phone as a camera device and there's a new music streaming system for year-round updates.
I feel really bad for no knowing who that black guy was. I seriously though Ubisoft just brought out a black guy to sing and dance.
Siege
Rainbow Six takes way to long to write.
Anyway, Angela Basset is playing Six, your commander, giving orders I guess. That's neat.
The actual interesting part was the gameplay, including not-scripted banter with real players. I like the idea of destructible environments creating dynamic gameplay. No one mentioned it, but the player character at one point was female, and that's pretty cool.
Track Mania Turbo
The long-running PC race-sim is coming to consoles, complete with insane track design. I've never played a Track Mania game, but seeing the demo has definitely got me interested, and it looks like a classic arcade racer.
There's 200 tracks shipping with the game, but the neat feature was the random track builder that dynamically generates a track. That's got a lot of potential, although I hope it's a bit longer then the 8 second demo we got.
They didn't mention it, but it's implied by the trailer that there will also be split screen, which is a nice inclusion in this day of forced online interaction.
AssCreed Syndicate
Another year, another Assassin's Creed where I'm a witty white guy stabbing people. The trailer was pre-rendered, so take everything with a massive grain of salt.
The setting, as already confirmed, is London in 1686. This means firearms are much more prevalent then previous games, and indeed they appear several times throughout the trailer. There's carriages, a grappling hook, and a gang of ruffians.
Ghost Recon: Wildlands
Emergent open world drug cartel hunting. That's all we know about GR:W so far. It's a return for the Ghost recon games, and will let you hunt South American drug cartels however you want.
There's the option to go in shooting, of course, but stealth was also shown, as was just total chaos. Four player co-op is all but confirmed as well. Details are sketchy, as this was their end-of-show surprise.
Ok, one more show for today, then keep it locked here for tomorrows coverage. Also, I never mention it, but there are social media buttons, so fee free to share this and all my writing around.
