By the IWG Games Team
Ubisoft have become one of the more revered gaming companies in recent years, having been responsible for such successful franchises as Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell and Rayman. The wonderful Aisha Tyler returned to host their E3 press conference last night, during which a range of upcoming titles were unveiled, each to be released over the course of the next year.
Ubisoft have become one of the more revered gaming companies in recent years, having been responsible for such successful franchises as Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell and Rayman. The wonderful Aisha Tyler returned to host their E3 press conference last night, during which a range of upcoming titles were unveiled, each to be released over the course of the next year.
The intense opening moments of Far Cry 4 Kicking things off with a teaser showcasing the first five minutes of the highly anticipated first-person shooter, Far Cry 4, Ubisoft went full-board in making sure to satisfy all of their fans for years of loyalty.
The teaser showcased the gorgeous wintery scenery of the Himalayas, Far Cry 4's setting, which presents a grave contrast to the tropical setting of all previous games. We were then given a close insight into the mindset of the unnamed protagonist, as well the game’s choice of villain, a self-appointed king of a fictional country named Kyrat. After being captured by enemy soldiers, you are forced to watch this mysterious antagonist illustrate his own charming, albeit somewhat ostentatious, personality and mix it up with an almost bipolar ruthlessness when he executes one of his own soldiers for failing to carry out orders correctly. You can check out the opening cinematic in full here.
Both The Crew and Tom Clancy’s The Division made a welcome return as well this year after debuting at 2013’s E3 summit. It was announced that The Crew would begin accepting Beta Testers towards the end of July with an actual release date in mind for October.
The teaser showcased the gorgeous wintery scenery of the Himalayas, Far Cry 4's setting, which presents a grave contrast to the tropical setting of all previous games. We were then given a close insight into the mindset of the unnamed protagonist, as well the game’s choice of villain, a self-appointed king of a fictional country named Kyrat. After being captured by enemy soldiers, you are forced to watch this mysterious antagonist illustrate his own charming, albeit somewhat ostentatious, personality and mix it up with an almost bipolar ruthlessness when he executes one of his own soldiers for failing to carry out orders correctly. You can check out the opening cinematic in full here.
Both The Crew and Tom Clancy’s The Division made a welcome return as well this year after debuting at 2013’s E3 summit. It was announced that The Crew would begin accepting Beta Testers towards the end of July with an actual release date in mind for October.
New York ruined in Tom Clancy's The Division The game itself is an massive-multiplayer online driving game, where you form a ‘crew’ of four friends and can race from coast to coast in modern America, visiting such famous cities as New York, Boston and L.A. as you journey. The game could be likened to a more scaled-up, driving-only version of Grand Theft Auto Online in that regard – only with the whole of America available, as opposed to simply one island state. It has been promised too that the game will contain no loading screens between regions, which is very ambitious. Although no gameplay was shown of The Division, as was the case last year, a cinematic showing the back-story to the game was instead - giving us more information about the condition of the setting. The game's story revolves around the survivors of a post-apocalyptic New York, which has been ravaged by a deadly virus – leaving various small groups of surviving men and women to battle it out with one another for dominance in the ruins. One such group comes across a victim of another, and liberates him from them. Their numbers outmatch the opposing group, which then flees - but another turns up in its place, with deadlier weapons. The cinematic ends just as a fire-fight is about to ensue. You could check out all of the action for yourself here.
Most interestingly than both of those though was, of course, the official reveal of the first Assassin’s Creed game for the next-gen systems, entitled Assassin's Creed: Unity. The game sees you adopt the role of an Assassin named Arno in Paris during the early months of the French Revolution.
Most interestingly than both of those though was, of course, the official reveal of the first Assassin’s Creed game for the next-gen systems, entitled Assassin's Creed: Unity. The game sees you adopt the role of an Assassin named Arno in Paris during the early months of the French Revolution.
The Brotherhood comes together in Assassin's Creed : Unity Curiously, Arno has a strong British accent which seems at odds with his surrounding Frenchmen. This setting is notable because it has been long requested for many years for fans of the series, and so to finally see Paris in glorious next-gen HD is truly a sight to behold. Ubisoft went on to introduce the new components of Unity, such as the four player co-op mode (which was shown to be optional!) as well as an array of new weapons. Paris itself is bristling with life, so much more than the locations of previous games. The gameplay footage they showed had Arno intervene in a public execution, and then take on a commanding role in what appeared to be the infamous Storming of the Bastille along with his three fellow Assassins. The game will be available at the end of October, this year.
Whilst the new information and footage for Unity was intriguing, it was disappointing that there was a lack of comments regarding the highly secretive Assassin’s Creed project, allegedly entitled Comet, which is also under production at Ubisoft.
Whilst the new information and footage for Unity was intriguing, it was disappointing that there was a lack of comments regarding the highly secretive Assassin’s Creed project, allegedly entitled Comet, which is also under production at Ubisoft.
Saving a hostage in Rainbow Six: Siege It wouldn’t have been right of them to end things without a surprise reveal however, and a surprise reveal we got – in the form of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege. It has been six years since a Rainbow Six game was last released, and it was received well by the incumbent audience. The gameplay type seemed to be a solely online multiplayer experience, with this particular match featuring two distinct teams. One was an armed gang who had a hostage and were fortifying a house, whereas another was a SWAT team descending on them from above to take down the gang and get the hostage out alive. Although graphically stunning, as with all Ubisoft creations, the actual game engine was the real gem here. The game allows the environment to be physically interactive in terms of how much damage you can do, as was pioneered in the Red Faction series many years ago. This design feature allows for much more flexible battles compared to other first-person shooters, and the scaled-down maps allow for varying strategies throughout, such as using tiny drones which can scout areas ahead by venturing under doors unseen. This allowed the SWAT team to get a full view of the situation with the armed gang, shoot through the walls, blow holes in the floor in order to get down to the next floor, kill the gang, free the hostage and even then break through windows in order to escape.
Whilst only a demonstration, this prototype is certainly giving us goosebumps about what we could potentially expect from Rainbow Six: Siege, which will probably be available later next year.
Whilst only a demonstration, this prototype is certainly giving us goosebumps about what we could potentially expect from Rainbow Six: Siege, which will probably be available later next year.
One of this year's stand-out additions however came from a new game called Valiant Hearts: The Great War. The game has made its various appearances throughout last year, but this new trailer really played with our heartstrings. We don't want to say anything else other than that. Just watch the trailer below to find out why we were so completely taken by it.
It runs on a modified version of the engine used for the recent Rayman Legends game, and it's so admirable to see a company reusing the same great technology in different ways.
It runs on a modified version of the engine used for the recent Rayman Legends game, and it's so admirable to see a company reusing the same great technology in different ways.
What did you think of the Ubisoft conference?
Whilst dismayed at the absence of Assassin's Creed: Comet, we were taken away by Ubisoft's epic amount of gaming diversity. From racing across the United States in The Crew, to helping liberate Paris on AC Unity, to surviving the horrors of the Western Front in Valiant Hearts: The Great War. But if you think differently and wish Ubisoft had shown more, then get in touch with us on Twitter or via our Facebook page.
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