by Paul Robert Scott
Out of all the developer presentations at E3, Ubisoft's may find itself to be the most scrutinized. Over the past two years they have been heavily criticized repeatedly; most notably for the finished quality of Assassins Creed Unity and the lukewarm reception that Watch Dogs received on release. Nevertheless they continue to have a large following that have awaited this conference with baited breath.
Out of all the developer presentations at E3, Ubisoft's may find itself to be the most scrutinized. Over the past two years they have been heavily criticized repeatedly; most notably for the finished quality of Assassins Creed Unity and the lukewarm reception that Watch Dogs received on release. Nevertheless they continue to have a large following that have awaited this conference with baited breath.
There was an early but admission of Ubisoft's difficulties in the beginning by host, Aisha Tyler, whose over the top enthusiasm, however legitimate, merely came across as very forced for most of the show. Nevertheless, despite her being a constant, if occasionally awkward staple the real action came thick and fast soon enough.
It all started with a little humour as the audience was greeted with a brand new South Park Announcement for The Fractured But Whole (it sounds funnier when you say it.) As a sequel to 2014's Stick of Truth it did look every bit as hilarious as the first game, and also a welcome surprise as South Park stars, Trey Parker and Matt Stone took the stage.
It all started with a little humour as the audience was greeted with a brand new South Park Announcement for The Fractured But Whole (it sounds funnier when you say it.) As a sequel to 2014's Stick of Truth it did look every bit as hilarious as the first game, and also a welcome surprise as South Park stars, Trey Parker and Matt Stone took the stage.
Next came there first pleasant surprise of the conference, For Honor. Introduced by the title's own creative director, Jason Vandenberghe (who might just be the most awesome guy on the planet), For Honor takes gamers back to an age of chivalry and medieval warfare with a chance to play as Knights, Vikings or Samurai in what looks to be a visceral and gritty depiction of combat. In actuality it doesn't look a million miles off from the original Assassins Creed in many ways, but combat looks as though it may be a tactical game where players face each other down and choose the correct moment to strike. Of course, it's hard to comment based on the gameplay shown, since it is surely an unrealistic depiction of how players act in multiplayer, but at a glance this does show quite a bit of promise.
A couple of Expansions were announced for both The Crew and Trials Fusion and while these will most likely be welcome to fans there was nothing uniquely special about them. Having said that, the trailer for Trials Fusion Awesome Level Max was a cat riding a fire breathing unicorn so there was that little bit of randomness to perk things up.
A couple of Expansions were announced for both The Crew and Trials Fusion and while these will most likely be welcome to fans there was nothing uniquely special about them. Having said that, the trailer for Trials Fusion Awesome Level Max was a cat riding a fire breathing unicorn so there was that little bit of randomness to perk things up.
The Division was next up on the list. Having been put through development hell over the past few years it was no surprise to see that graphically the new gameplay looked pretty ropey, and not at all on the same level as other next gen titles. This was then compounded by the depiction of how the developers intend alliances to work in game, with teams being able to choose whether to trust other players or not while trying to survive in post-apocalyptic Manhattan. Essentially the idea is sound; you may find help from an unlikely source, only to be able to betray new friends and steal their hard earned winnings... But let's be realistic here, without some sort of balanced incentive for working together there is absolutely no way that the wider gaming community won't degrade this sort of gaming world into complete chaos. Nevertheless, for those still interested in The Division there will be a Beta release at the start of 2016 for PC, Xbox One and PS4, with a later full release in March... or at least that's the plan...
The trailer for Anno 2205 was a bit of an improvement. As new entry in the Anno franchise, this new instalment sees you building utopia like cities with a goal of building up your space program and colonise the moon. Anno may be very similar to Sim City, but there does look to be uniqueness about this title to be worth a try for any fans of management games and I'm sure it'll keep Anno fans happy.
The trailer for Anno 2205 was a bit of an improvement. As new entry in the Anno franchise, this new instalment sees you building utopia like cities with a goal of building up your space program and colonise the moon. Anno may be very similar to Sim City, but there does look to be uniqueness about this title to be worth a try for any fans of management games and I'm sure it'll keep Anno fans happy.
Just Dance 2016 gave an excuse for Ubisoft to have a music interlude. Truth be told I could care less about this particular portion, especially for the performance by Jason Derulo (whoever that is), however there was some innovation involved with the prospect of being able to now play the game through a smart phone instead of having a specially designed controller or Kinect. There was also something about a subscription service that allows you to continually stream new songs for the game.
The trailer and gameplay demo for Rainbow 6 Seige was a welcome return to some action. The fully destructable environments were focussed on quite a bit as a team of well trained troops (or mildly lucky pro gamers) stormed a fortified terrorist facility by storming through windows and breaching doors. A handy shotgun could blast through the walls and allow better shooting coverage around the room as the Rainbow's hunkered down against the enemy onslaught while defusing a bomb. All in all the action looked pretty fast paced and highly realistic when played well. The only thing that may pose some difficulty for some when it reaches general release is that it is very much a game where you need to work as a team or not at all.
The trailer and gameplay demo for Rainbow 6 Seige was a welcome return to some action. The fully destructable environments were focussed on quite a bit as a team of well trained troops (or mildly lucky pro gamers) stormed a fortified terrorist facility by storming through windows and breaching doors. A handy shotgun could blast through the walls and allow better shooting coverage around the room as the Rainbow's hunkered down against the enemy onslaught while defusing a bomb. All in all the action looked pretty fast paced and highly realistic when played well. The only thing that may pose some difficulty for some when it reaches general release is that it is very much a game where you need to work as a team or not at all.
Track Mania Turbo was a brief but welcome departure from some of Ubisoft's more usual games. The trailer and gameplay presented a fast and frantic arcade racer that looked very similar to what would come out of the mind of anyone who ever played with Hot Wheels tracks as a kid. Tracks were fully customisable with loops and jumps all over the place. It did come across as a little simplistic but at the very least it seemed a heck of a lot of fun and perhaps quite worth picking up.
Perhaps the moment most had been waiting for came with the new trailer for Assassins Creed: Syndicate. Sadly there was no sign of new gameplay or even any sign of the playable female protagonist, Evie, who at least shoed up during the Sony conference. There was a good deal of show in regards to the new environment fans will be facing in the new game with signs of a very vibrant London, with both the muck and filth of the slums and underworld, together with the upper class pomp that is synonymous with the Victorian age. Very few hints are included as to types of changes that will be included from previous AC titles, though the looks of a new grapple hook in the Assassin's arsenal looks interesting, if a bit Batman-esque. Otherwise it's still a little disturbing that Ubisoft are keeping there cards very close to their chest with this one.
Perhaps the moment most had been waiting for came with the new trailer for Assassins Creed: Syndicate. Sadly there was no sign of new gameplay or even any sign of the playable female protagonist, Evie, who at least shoed up during the Sony conference. There was a good deal of show in regards to the new environment fans will be facing in the new game with signs of a very vibrant London, with both the muck and filth of the slums and underworld, together with the upper class pomp that is synonymous with the Victorian age. Very few hints are included as to types of changes that will be included from previous AC titles, though the looks of a new grapple hook in the Assassin's arsenal looks interesting, if a bit Batman-esque. Otherwise it's still a little disturbing that Ubisoft are keeping there cards very close to their chest with this one.
The final surprise for the show was the announcement of the new Ghost Recon title, Wildlands. What appears to be an open world, multiplayer title akin to a present day version of Destiny as you play as yet another highly trained team of soldiers who spend their time taking down drug lords in your pick of way. For Ghost Recon fans this will possibly be a pleasant surprise, and to be sure the pre-alpha footage did look promising, however it is also true to say that there was nothing evidently unique about what was shown.
All in all Ubisoft's conference was more than just a little disappointing. As always there were a few interesting additions, and perhaps the biggest highlights came early on with For Honor, but it is true to say that even when they are trying to be original Ubisoft still manages to make most of their games the same as each other. The graphical style of For Honor, The Division, Assassin's Creed, Rainbow 6 and Ghost Recon all share very similar HUD layouts, character design and animation despite being worked upon by separate teams. It's almost as if individuality is lost in such a big company. It's certainly a shame, but on the plus side, there was no sign of a new Watch Dogs... This time.
All in all Ubisoft's conference was more than just a little disappointing. As always there were a few interesting additions, and perhaps the biggest highlights came early on with For Honor, but it is true to say that even when they are trying to be original Ubisoft still manages to make most of their games the same as each other. The graphical style of For Honor, The Division, Assassin's Creed, Rainbow 6 and Ghost Recon all share very similar HUD layouts, character design and animation despite being worked upon by separate teams. It's almost as if individuality is lost in such a big company. It's certainly a shame, but on the plus side, there was no sign of a new Watch Dogs... This time.
The more things change, the more they stay the same...
Well that could have gone better. Still there are some titles of interest in there somewhere.
Are you looking forward to anything from the Ubisoft conference? Let us know in the comments below!
Are you looking forward to anything from the Ubisoft conference? Let us know in the comments below!
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