Ubisoft
It has been quite the week leading up to E3 2015 with a steady stream of incredible reveals, leaving you wondering, “What exactly will there be to announce at E3?” From the “Fallout 4” reveal, the return of rhythm gaming, and YouTube taking on Twitch; the gaming industry is charging full speed into its biggest week of the year. Fortunately, the fun hasn’t stopped. Bethesda kicked off E3 as the first developer conference, and it was spectacular. Microsoft followed up with an unbelievable conference of their own. Returning to the developers, Electronic Arts had some exciting announcements of their own. With Ubisoft in line next, will the third time be the charm for them? Here is everything you needed to know about the 2015 Ubisoft Press Conference, live from E3 2015 on Monday, June 15.
The conference kicks off with a trailer for a new “South Park” RPG, following up on “The Stick of Truth.” Cartman and everyone is back with their respective outfits, only this time, Butters is the villain as “Professor Chaos.” It looks to be packed full of all the goofiness of the previous title. “South Park: The Fractured But Whole” –read that out loud. Aisha Tyler comes out to introduce Matt Stone and Trevor Parker. Despite claiming, they were not going to make another game after the previous, they decided the last one helped them learn that they could do another, so they decided, “F*** it, let’s do it.” Stone promises to get deeper into the backstory. No release date is announced, though, and Stone and Parker leave the stage.
Tyler thanks everyone for attending and welcomes everyone to the Ubisoft event. Much like EA, Tyler emphasizes Ubisoft’s desire for fan feedback. She then makes way for Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft.
Guillemot expresses his love for the creators and players of games. He claims that Ubisoft has always taken risks, and insists that they will continue – starting with a new IP in a new genre, out of Ubisoft Montreal. It leads with lots of medieval characters with era-appropriate weapons, destroying each other. The camera moves all around the battlefield, focusing on all kinds of different combat, ranging from one-on-one melee to some larger scale encounters. It’s brutal, gritty, but not excessively gory. “For Honor” displays an impressive, but entirely CGI trailer for its debut.
Jason Vandenberghe, Creative Director for “For Honor,” takes the stage. He describes a first-person experience in battle, describing it as “visceral.” It’s a 4v4 melee-focused battle game. They transition to a gameplay demo, which showcases four player-controlled knights surrounded by a plethora of AI-controlled characters, charging into battle. We see a 2v2 battle take place, and shows off a little more brutality here. It feels like a more focused, team-oriented “Ryse: Son of Rome.” The AI battle in the background while the players have a defensive-heavy battle by themselves. Vandenberghe announces the demo will be available to play tomorrow morning at E3. You can register at ForHonor.com to get more information and be among the first to play.
Tyler returns to the stage, to talk about more fan-feedback inspired projects. She talks about an upcoming expansion to “The Crew” which shows off dirt bikes, monster trucks, rally cars, and drag racers. “The Crew: Wild Run” is coming Nov 17.
A new trailer starts showing horses and bullets, beautifully rendered. It then reveals a cat riding on the back of a unicorn, teasing “Trials Fusion: Awesome Level Max.” It’s a DLC coming out July 14 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. “You’re a cat riding a fire-breathing unicorn,” what more convincing do you need?
Tyler proceeds to discuss “Tom Clancy’s: The Division,” one of the most highly anticipated Ubisoft games to date. Ryan Barnard, Game Director for “Tom Clancy’s: The Division,” takes the stage to introduce “The Dark Zone.” He emphasizes the team-oriented experience, and shows off a gameplay demo. It looks to be Time Square on New Year’s Day, virtually abandoned outside of the operatives wandering the streets. The players hop a fence and slowly investigate the new area. The road is littered with corpses and abandoned Army Vehicles as a voice in the background mentions something about a “Quarantine being in effect.”
They come across some enemies and begin to plan out their attack before being ambushed from behind. A gun battle ensues, and they fight their way towards a crate, in which they find an LMG. The operatives also show off some fancy gadget along the way. The “players” continue an unnatural conversation, discussing plans to avoid some tough enemies and call for an extraction. They then have to hold off for 90 seconds, and a helicopter arrives. The original players decide to take out those who joined them, but then one agent assassinates everyone and runs off with the loot. “Huge dick move,” Tyler says as the demo comes to a close.
“Tom Clancy’s: The Division” is available at E3 now, and the beta will launch on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC early next year – coming to Xbox One first. The game will release March 8, 2016 on all platforms simultaneously.
A new game trailer for the “critically acclaimed city builder” begins. It shows off a beautifully rendered, modern cityscape. A futuristic vehicle flies in, and then the trailer cuts to a moon-like environment. As the vehicle crests over a hill, a tremendous moon base is reviled. The camera pans out to reveal the massive scope of the environment, then cuts to a close up of a spaceship launching back to Earth. “Anno 2205” coming Nov 3, continues on with a gameplay demo. It looks very much like a futuristic “Sim City,” only with space travel and slightly more majestic environments. Lots of cliffs, oceans, and islands are shown off, before again teasing the space-travel and moon base. The game looks extremely pretty.
Tyler is now in the crowd, talking to Jacob Frye,” from “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.” After an awkward exchange, she then talks to Jason Altman, Executive Producer of “Just Dance 2016.” Altman announces that the “biggest music game franchise of all time” no longer requires a camera to play the game. A cellphone app will allow players to connect to their console and use it as a controller, presumably like a Wii Remote. Jason Derülo then comes out performing his latest hit single, “Want to Want Me,” indicating that it will likely be in the latest installment. Tyler discusses Derülo’s success and Derülo talks about being a fan of the franchise. Tyler confirms the single will be in the game when it releases this October on Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Along with the launcher, users on the latest generation get the unique “Just Dance Unlimited,” a streaming services that will feature over 150 tracks. No pricing details were revealed, but it is subscription based.
A new CGI trailer starts up, with a woman talking about attacks all over the world. It’s probably a “Rainbow Six Siege” teaser. It shows the “unknown” enemy crafting some sort of biological weapon, before the woman declares the reactivation of her force created from the world’s elite operatives, confirming that it is, in fact, for “Rainbow Six Siege.” Tyler starts to introduce the game, emphasizing the fully-destructible environments packed with close-quarters combat. She introduces Angela Bassett, who plays “Six,” the head of the counter-terrorism unit. Bassett discusses the experience of playing a video-game character. Bassett leaves the stage, and Tyler hints at more details on the single-player experience.
Genevieve Forget, Community Developer for “Rainbow Six Siege,” takes over to discuss more about the single player and co-op experiences. Terrorist Hunt is back as Terror Hunt, with the most advanced AI in any “Rainbow Six” game to date. A live gameplay demo takes place, where they’re trying to disarm some explosives. They start out by surveying the area together, then deciding to scale the building and head to the room top. Some of the characters are utilizing shields while others are picking of enemies with their silenced pistols. They send out a recon drone that drives around to scout out the location of the explosives and terrorist locations.
The team busts through a wall with a sledgehammer to create a new flanking route. An explosion downs a teammate and they revive him. They move into a hallway, using a riot shield for cover, and unload on a group of enemies. They begin to divide and conquer to finish clearing. They start to defuse, but have to hold off enemies coming from everywhere, including behind the players. After another intense battle, the bomb is disarmed and the demo ends.
Forget announces that was just one of four Terror Hunt modes that will be in the game, including Terror Hunt Classic (which will likely be purely enemy elimination). It's available now for E3 and the Beta starts on Sept 24, available on all platforms, with both PVP and Terror Hunt.
Tyler returns, emphasizing that was the first time she’s actually seen the team win and that it’s real gameplay. She then discusses Classic Arcades, and moves on to “Trackmania Turbo.” A preview for the game shows off a very colorful environment. A helicopter drops off a racecar which lands on the racetrack and takes off in stride. It hints at four-player split screen and the trailer ends with a bang. Francois Alaux and Tommmy Francois take the stage to discuss the game and play through a demo. Alaux races through a level against ghosts, switching freely between first and third-person views. He easily gets a gold medal on his first try. There are 5 difficulty levels, over 200 tracks, and a track builder mode which randomly generates tracks on the fly with the press of a button. He immediately plays the new track, this time not doing quite as well. The demo also shows off a new environment, “Rollercoaster Lagoon.” They also announce there will be a VR demo at E3.
Tyler comes back to announce “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.” It starts off with a CGI trailer, cutting between shots of a bird flying above London and shots of alleyways and streets around the city. “Devils Acre 1866.” We see Jacob Frye – in game this time – spying on someone from atop a building, with some friends. He pulls on his hood, jumps down onto a carriage, and hijacks it. He chases down another carriage and abandons his previous one. He then bails off a bridge, rescues himself, and hops onto a train to continue his pursuit. More shots, this time indoors, are shown in some sort of steel factory. He sets a man on fire, chains him up, and walks out as his crew comes in to take on the other thugs.
Cut to a tavern, and Frye walks in to talk to enemies. They refuse to join his cause, so he begins beating them up in a very un-fair bar fight. He uses his hidden blade to slice-and-dice, then spares one as he walks out with his crew. A crow flies off and the trailer ends.
Marc-Alexis Côté, Creative Director on “Assassin’s Creed Sydicate” takes the stage to talk about the game. He confirms the London location during the Industrial Revolution. He also confirms the ability to play as both Evie and Jacob Frye.
Guillemot returns to the stage for one final announcement, talking about a revolutionizing a franchise. A group, which has been working in secrecy, has been developing the game. A trailer begins with a skull and a voiceover talking about fighting an enemy that doesn’t fear death. Blood drips down the table and a helicopter is heard. It cuts to a guy parachuting over a huge valley and mountain. A few more join him as they head down the mountain. One pulls out a sniper rifle and they begin to scope out the area, suddenly taking out a target. They start a chase down a dirt road, mentioning that they’re chasing after a truck of cocaine.
Now the mission completely changes to something more stealthy, but close-quarters. A drone is shown flying around, then the voiceover returns briefly in the same environment. He smashes a bottle over a guy’s head, and it cuts to a third mission. This is outside in the daylight, and quickly cuts between, what appears to be, multiple approaches for the same mission. A cinematic begins with a man who’s pinned to a table by knives, being tortured by some guy covered in tattoos. It features a massive open world with a large variety of environments, and players traversing all of them as while as fighting battles throughout. “Tom Clancy’s: Ghost Recon - Wildlands” is revealed, no release date, and that caps off the show.