E3 2016 Post-Mortem Part 2: Best of the rest and missing in action

With the press conferences wrapped up, I’m once again turning my attention to the other half of the event. Much of the media coverage at E3 2016 built on what was shown at the company conferences, but the following five games (in no particular order) slipped in after the main pressers to give us additional updates or simply made their own mark on the show floor.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The next Zelda game revealed itself at Nintendo’s Treehouse event this year and fans were bestowed with a twenty five minute long gameplay demo. With Breath of the Wild, Nintendo seems to be going for a more interactive approach with the open world; Link can climb hills and cliffs, chop down trees for resources and cook food items for healing purposes. The combat seems incredibly flexible, with a wide range of crude weapons that can be used in multiple ways. For example Link grabbed a long branch to use as a spear, but he can also throw it at opponents. The game’s graphical style seems halfway between the classical look seen in Ocarina of Time and the cell-shaded look of Wind Waker; no matter which way you look at it, the game looks beautiful. Nintendo has always had a knack for pushing art design over technical prowess and this has allowed its first party titles to look fantastic, despite not being able to push the same polygon counts as the other consoles. 

The first open world Zelda game may be incredibly exciting for long-time fans of the series, but it’s got to live up to; Skyrim and The Witcher 3 have both created stunning worlds which are also packed with things to do. It’s also likely that the game will be a dual release across the Wii U and the upcoming NX when it releases in 2017.

2. Civilization VI

Despite not being present at the press conferences, Civilization VI still made an appereance at E3 2016 with a twelve minute long gameplay trailer narrated by the ever popular Sean Bean. It’s typical Civilization fare; you build cities, grow and connect them while also standing against other competing factions. One of the biggest additions this time is that of districts; whether it’s a military garrison to boost your forces or a religious site for increasing culture. There’s been a bit of a negative reaction to the game’s cartoony look but I don’t have much of an issue with it personally; this is probably down to my time with the often overlooked Civilization Revolution on the PS3. It definitely dumbed things down for a console audience, but the core gameplay was still incredibly addictive and enjoyable. Civilization VI may be playing it safe at this point, mostly iterating from Civilization V, which is still widely enjoyed alongside its two expansions. Can the next numbered entry make great strides in pushing the long-running series forward? We'll have to wait till October to find out.

3. Yooka-Laylee

Rare may have been back in the spotlight for Sea of Thieves at Microsoft’s conference this year, but a small band of developers who used to work for the company have broken off to form their own studio with Playtonic. Their first game? Yooka-Laylee, a bright and vibrant throw-back to the simpler days of mascot based platformers. Having received oodles of support and backers on Kickstarter, it became the highest funded game in UK history. From the offset the game definitely has some shades of Banjo-Kazooie in it; with massive platforming levels that beg to be explored. Yooka and Laylee are packing all the moves to get through the game from a speedy roll to Laylee’s hover for extending jumps. It’s great to see 3D platformers returning to gaming, a throwback to a simpler time when the likes of Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon and Super Mario 64 sat on top of the industry. While the full game won’t be finished until the first quarter of 2017, the toybox demo which gives a peek into the game’s environments is set to release to backers in July 2016.

4. Injustice 2

The surprisingly good Injustice: Gods Among Us managed to strike its own niche in between Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat in 2013. Now the sequel is looking to build on that layer, adding new characters while maintaining its original combat system. The debut trailer dropped before E3 this year and was followed up with a gameplay debut on the show floor. According to Ed Boon and Netherealm Studios, Injustice 2 is looking to bring in both the casual and hardcore crowds with this newest entry. New characters are aplenty with the likes of Supergirl and Gorilla Grodd making their presence felt. The presentation also looks great, with stronger detail in the game’s environments and character models. With all that said, the game’s gear system has me sceptical; it allows for more customisation of each character, but at the same time there’s an opportunity to sneak in some microtransactions and grindy RNG systems. With Mortal Kombat Xhaving already copped some criticism for this, I’m hoping the same thing doesn’t happen for Injustice 2.

5. Mafia 3

After it had a tricky time standing up to likes of Grand Theft Auto and Saint’s Row, I believed the Mafia series had been written off after 2’s somewhat lukewarm reception in 2010, but the open world crime drama returned to the spotlight at E3 this year. Following its debut trailer last year, the first gameplay footage of Mafia 3 was shown to the public. Twenty two minutes in all showed off the game’s setting: New Bordeaux (based on New Orleans), which is made up of ten different regions in the American South. In the demo protagonist Lincoln Clay assaulted an enemy mob’s sex trafficking ring, confronted a corrupt politician on his casino boat and decided which of the new “underbosses” should get the conquered territory. I’m especially intrigued by the latter feature in that it introduces player choice, a first for the Mafia series. On the whole it feels like Mafia 3 is going for a more personalised experience as opposed to the more straight-forward mission based approach of the first two. You start at the bottom and work your way up, expanding Clay’s influence as a mobster. I’m hoping this doesn’t come at the cost of story; Mafia 3 is Hangar 13’s first game and they’ve got a fair few expectations to meet. The game’s graphics had some great lighting systems, but also seemed a bit rough around the edges as well. If the game sticks to the franchise’s strengths of deep narratives and rich settings, it should make for a full-blown comeback this October.

Missing in action

There were many big games to get excited about at E3 this year, but there are always those who skip the show for their own individual reasons. I already mentioned the likes of Crackdown 3 and Star Citizen in my press conference round up, but here are several others which were absent from E3 2016.

• ·         Red Dead Redemption 2, Agent and Rockstar Games

One of the biggest rumours going into E3 2016 this year was the next game from Rockstar, believed by many to be Red Dead Redemption 2. With the original 2010 game being such a smash hit, expectations are bound to be soaring in the heavens and the company isn’t known to fuel the hype train at major events. The developer instead chooses to release a set of trailers which gradually reveal more about their games, leaving the core gameplay to surprise on launch. It’s possible that the company may also be working on the obscure Cold War thriller Agent, which hasn't been heard from in years. I imagine that Rockstar Games is simply taking its time, as it often does with games that are often the biggest and most ambitious in the entire industry. Before too long, Rockstar Games are sure to come out with their latest project; it just so happens that they prefer to do it outside of a major gaming event.

• ·         Final Fantasy VII Remake and Shenmue 3

Sony’s E3 2015 presser dropped jaws because of some major announcements. The Last Guardian returning after years of obscurity was one thing, but announcing both Final Fantasy VII remake and Shenmue 3 in one go left fans drooling, ecstatic and even in tears. After years of waiting, both games were finally being developed which put Sony at the top of the heap at last year’s show for many. You’d think Sony would have shown both games again this year, giving an update on how they are progressing but no. There was no sign of either game this year which is quite baffling, even disappointing to say the least. My guess is that Sony wanted to turn people’s attention to some of the newer games and announcements they had to make. When you have a four hour montage of people bursting with joy over a new game, you’d best be ready to keep them up to date and keep the excitement going; Sony didn’t manage to do that this year.

• ·         Sucker Punch

I consider myself a fairly big fan of Sucker Punch Productions, one of Sony’s most prized exclusive developers alongside Insomniac Games and Naughty Dog; they’ve been producing stellar titles across three console generations including the Sly trilogy and InFamous. With the exception of InFamous 2 in 2011, every single game I played from them has been superb, blending engaging platforming and third person action brilliantly. With their last game, InFamous: Second Son released in 2014, I was eager to see what they had planned next, presumably on the PlayStation 4 but the company chose to sit E3 2016 out, leaving the spotlight to Insomniac Games and their upcoming Spider-Man title. It’s possible they may be taking a break from development, much like Naughty Dog.

• ·         The PlayStation Vita

Following up on my mention of it last year, Sony’s PlayStation Vita was nowhere in sight at their conference this year. Several years ago I wrote a feature on this blog discussing the Vita and why it failed to catch on from a lack of quality games to questionable business decisions. Now it seems that they’re finally conceding defeat over the once promising portable system; Nintendo’s 3DS and the wildly popular mobile space have crushed the Vita in its entirety, leaving Sony with a huge wasted opportunity. Abandoning the handheld is disappointing, but it also allows more funds to be placed towards the PlayStation 4, the company’s flagship system in the gaming business and with the huge success enjoyed by that system, who can blame them?

• ·         Nintendo’s NX

Nintendo’s treehouse event had only two games with a substantial amount of time dedicated to both, but they could have added that one missing ingredient to make it more engaging. We all know their new system is on the way; Codename NX is still a mystery to the masses and Nintendo is still being fairly tight-lipped on it. The company had a rough time with the Wii U; lacklustre advertising led to a poor start and third party support eventually dried up, leaving the system miles behind the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Personally I always thought the Wii U was a glorified DS in console form. Despite having some solid practices for downloadable content, Nintendo failed to realise that their quality first party titles are no longer enough to convince people. In many ways they continue to hold that stigma as an uncool “kiddie company” as well. If the Japanese company wants to hold their ground in the console race, they need to get the console noticed, while also fixing their mistakes with third parties. We may well catch some proper information about NX later this year, but they missed out on an opportunity at E3 this year to get their fans excited for new hardware.

(All images used for the purposes of review and criticism under fair use)

The third and final part of my E3 2016 Post-Mortem will sum things up while also including my own personal awards section.

Apple’s WWDC 2016: Thoughts and impressions from a technology scrutiniser

Apple’s 27^th WWDC has come and gone. What did I think of it? It depends on where you sit with the corporation’s practices. With four main operating systems on display, Apple has spread across many technology products from the personal computer to the fitness watch. To kick things off, CEO Tim Cook took to the stage to introduce Apple’s aims and goals alongside a carefully considered reflection of the horrific events in Orlando; a very respectable thing to do before the conference began in earnest.

WatchOS 3 came first, with performance and reliability being put front and centre. Apple also added a function for wheelchair users which was a nice touch. The Apple Watch looked very natural and easy to use, making use of a drawing interface. The company is now setting its sights on accidents and emergencies with the SOS function. Their intentions appeared noble, but giving away medical information and locations makes me wary.

Apple TV had a basic showing with the corporation putting its money behind tvOS 2 and apps as the future of TV. Single-sign on was a big selling point, though condensing every account into one login raises some eyebrows over security.

Apple’s insistence on linking all their products together will still be a sore point for many and that brings added dilemmas for security. The idea of integrating into cars, homes, businesses and in some cases emergency services may make sense to Apple’s stakeholders, but as a consumer I feel more than a little concerned about the amount of personal data we’re handing over. With one break-in attempt, hackers could have access to your private details, payment systems and more across all of your devices.

The developers at the event and around the world got plenty of morsels to salivate over as Apple announced it would be opening Siri up to third party developers.  It’s coming to Macintosh computers as well, which will soon make use of the new macOS Sierra software. With a snarky jab at Microsoft, the personal assistant launched into a demo with Software Engineer Craig Federighi; it works similar to its iPhone counterpart, which ended up feeling underwhelming. They need to progress their assistant forward with new functions and processes.

IOS 10 was shown off with 10 new features which were mostly iterative at best and pointless at worst. It’s the one part of the event that ended up outstaying its welcome. The text and bubble effects on messages weren’t all that exciting; they’re desperately trying to capture the feel of a face-to-face conversation with secret text and other options. Far too much emphasis was placed on emojis too as the company pranced about, declaring themselves “hip” with the young crowd in the process. Luckily the embarrassing moments were kept to a minimum…

Some of the smaller components in iOS 10 seem fairly useful, especially the new phone app which cuts down on all those annoying spam calls by marking them on your iPhone’s screen. But yet again, the issue of security popped up; with iOS 10, you’ll be able to access notifications, music, and the phone’s camera without unlocking the screen. It’s another relaxed barrier that aims to be more convenient for the consumer while peeling back a layer of privacy.

For the most part, talk on security was lost amidst all the new features meant to inspire developers; we need some substantial assurance that all the data we’re giving to Apple is completely safe and secure. End to end encryption and differential privacy were discussed briefly for IOS 10 but the corporation was mostly focused on those attending the event. With Macintosh computers set to make use of facial recognition, there should have been more points addressed across all software platforms as opposed to just iOS.

The final piece of Apple’s line-up was Swift Playgrounds. With the original Swift already faring well with developers, Apple turned its attention to the developers of tomorrow. To tie in with the conference’s opening, Tim Cook took to the stage again to talk about their efforts in bringing coding and development to young people all over the world. It was a really strong and involving effort on Apple’s part; we may yet see coding make its way into our ICT school curriculum at some point or another.

Ultimately WWDC 2016 went well in terms of presentation but the features presented were mixed at best. It told the developers what they wanted to hear, gave the corporation plenty of exposure, but didn’t really have much in the way of surprises for the common consumer. Personally I didn’t see any wildly unique or different features in any of Apple’s software that would sway me to run out and buy their products straight away. They need to back up their style with substance next time.

WWDC Image (Hero Image at top): Labelled for reuse on Google Images:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0nKqR-BjEg

Apple Watch Image (Second Image): Labelled for reuse on Google Images: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apple-watch-selling-points.jpg

WWDC Poster (Third Image): Labelled for reuse and sourced from flikr user Iphonedigital: https://www.flickr.com/photos/iphonedigital/23876600184

Wrong Crowd Album Review

Release date: 10^th June 2016

Published by RCA Records

Wrong Crowd, the latest album from British artist Tom Odell, offers a varied set of tracks mixed with a more concentrated and developed fictional tale at its centre.

With his debut in 2013, Tom Odell found a substantial audience with “Another Love” (Which went Platinum in three separate certifications) and “I know” among others, his unique voice making its mark in a scene filled with all kinds of young artists. Following a Critic’s Choice Brit Award in 2013 and a widely publicised rendition of Real Love by the Beatles a year later, Wrong Crowd sees the singer branching out and experimenting with both genres and a larger scale.

In Wrong Crowd, Odell has gone for a focus driven by narrative with many of the songs; they all revolve around a man dealing with his past alongside the cycle of relationships, interactions, attachment, and rejection. This results in a much wider array of emotions and tones. Where Long Way Down was mostly comprised of sombre, emotive folk tracks, here we’re given a reflective, inward-looking style which morphs into regretful, contemplative and back again. Tom Odell has been known to inject his own experiences into his work and he continues to do so in Wrong Crowd, making for another relatable set of songs. “Wrong Crowd”, “Concrete”, “Silhouette” and “Here I am” all succeed at being more impactful while also getting across the themes of the album’s internal story.

While several of Wrong Crowd’s songs stand out for their louder vocals and band integration, Tom’s popular use of the piano is still a constant presence as well; “Constellations”, “Still getting used to being on my own”, “Jealousy”, and “Somehow” are incredibly relaxing, sticking to the basics established in Odell’s debut three years ago. The final third of the album is a less favourable component; some of the ventures into pop have a bit too much going on with their components, distracting from Tom’s strong vocals; “Magnetised” and “Daddy” slightly weaken the album overall, but they are the only songs where his greatest asset is diminished.

Apart from a few moments where the implementation of more instruments gets in the way of his voice, Wrong Crowd is a very successful second course from Tom Odell. Variety and the way it weaves its own little plotline are its greatest strengths.

Rating: B

E3 2016 Post-Mortem Part 1: Ranking the Press Conferences (Second Half)

PC Gaming Show

The good

• ·       A varied focus swapping from guest developers, games, hardware and the state of the platform as a whole

Most companies at E3 follow a fairly traditional structure; the host announces a game, we watch it in either a demo or trailer, the developer says a few words and so on. But the PC Gaming Show once again stuck to its own patented style along the lines of a talk show, featuring a great mix of games, developer discussions, and hardware talk alongside other insights. The talk show style of presentation gave way to far fewer moments of awkwardness and kept the focus on where we all expected it to be.

• ·       The sheer number of games on display

Coming at a rapid pace, we saw games of just about every type at the PC Gaming Show in 2016 from first person shooters, simulation games, real time strategy, and role playing titles alongside updates and advancements to games such as Killing Floor 2 and ARMA 3. It was a very strong promotion for the diverse PC library as a whole, which is sure to bode well for creativity on the platform. With most companies inserting their usual franchises into their conferences each year, the PC show wasn’t afraid to spread out, while also homing in on more niche titles for specific audiences.

The bad

• ·         No Star Citizen, Civilization VI or other big franchises

While we got a ton of games at this year’s PC Gaming Show, there were a fair few big companies that were absent. The biggest of these were Star Citizen and the recently announced Civilization VI, which were both nowhere to found. Both games are prime examples of how PC is often leaps and bounds over consoles in terms of technical prowess and catering to the hardcore crowd. The only major title that received a fair bit of attention was Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and that demo also felt rather brief. For a conference that focuses entirely on PC, it needs to have more games which use it as a main platform and dedicate more time to them.

In conclusion

Once again the PC Gaming Show struck a good chord with the gaming audience as a whole with a down to earth tone and plenty of interactions between the host and the developers. It was also arguably the most varied conference of the bunch too with some talk from AMD on the latest PC components alongside countless game genres; strategy, simulation, role-playing, it was all there. But again, much like with the other conferences I’ve talked about thus far, it was lacking any major surprises or those big games that would really show off the PC as a platform. We may have had that talk from Warren Spector at the end but that’s a case of telling, rather than showing. It seems that the PC Gaming Show is now a regular presence at E3, but they need to add that extra oomph to become as well known as the other big companies.

Rating: 7/10 (Good)

Ubisoft

The good

• ·         Deeper demos and gameplay for the bigger titles

Following last year’s disappointing focus on trailers rather than demos, Ubisoft saw fit to make up for it by putting a fair few games on display, rather than leaving them to those who attended the event or putting them back to the show floor. Ghost Recon: Wildlands, For Honour, South Park, Watch Dogs 2 and Steep were all present and accounted for which worked a lot better towards creating genuine excitement.

• ·         South Park: The Fractured But Whole and Steep gameplay debuts

Last year I had a really hard time getting excited for many Ubisoft titles, but this year the company also turned things around in that regard; it was all thanks to the new South Park game and winter sport game Steep, which was saved for the end of the conference. Based on what I saw, South Park: The Fractured But Whole looks to push forward with both the turn-based combat and the crazy humour that made 2014's Stick of Truth so memorable. Steep is looking to be almost a compilation of all the best winter sports games such as SSX rolled into one, with a sprinkling of those social multiplayer components that have grown in popularity such as friend challenges. Steep is being produced by a relatively new team who are based close to the Alps; there’s a lot of potential for authenticity and the environments on display looked fantastic. Provided they don’t suffer from the dreaded Ubisoft downgrade syndrome, Steep could be another great game under the French company’s belt.

The bad

• ·         That awkward opening…

The start of Ubisoft’s conference was strange to say the least; a group of dancers dressed up in wacky outfits pulled out their best choreography to show a quick view of the latest Just Dance. I don’t fault the dancers, just their inclusion, but on the bright side, the awkward moment was quickly shifted aside with Ubisoft taking the time to emphasise their solidarity with the victims of the Orlando shooting last Sunday. It’s a bit silly that the company is continuing to milk Just Dance even after the motion gaming scene has been and gone; it seemed to be thrown in there just to say: “Look everyone! Just Dance is still a thing! Go out and buy this year’s iteration which offers little other than new songs!.” They really do need move on from franchises like this.

• ·         The Mic trick… again…

Unfortunately with proper demos and gameplay comes Ubisoft’s most lacklustre trend at E3; the idea of acting out gamers interactions on stage. Once again the company just couldn’t resist as Ghost Recon: Wildlands was chock full of cooperative jargon in a desperate bid to show off the game’s options for teamwork. Let the gameplay speak for itself Ubisoft; you don’t need to talk over it in a bid to make it seem cooler. In the end, they’re just making themselves look foolish by attempting to imitate the gaming community. It really sticks out amongst all the other conferences when Ubisoft is the only company to do it.

In conclusion

Though Ubisoft is still falling back on the same tired tricks that often pop up at their press conferences, 2016 was still a worthwhile improvement. The demos and gameplay on display were more extended and detailed than the other companies. They realised that to get people excited for their upcoming AAA releases, you need more than simple trailers and followed up with actual gameplay. Some of the games may have been more impactful than others, but Ubisoft’s presser still went fairly well in the end.

Rating: 7/10 (Good)

Sony

The good

• ·         The fantastic presentation style and pacing

Set in the Shrine Auditorium, Sony’s conference was very different to every other company this year, feeling almost like a performance rather than a media briefing. A full orchestra composed by the likes of Bear McCreary stood behind every game, delivering an empowering impact to the bigger games at the event. The talk from executives and presenters was kept to a minimum, allowing the games to make their own mark on the community. As a result, Sony’s conference felt far more compelling to watch overall.

• ·         Hideo Kojima’s return and the announcement of Death Stranding

Following some heavy troubles with Konami and Metal Gear Solid 5 last year, Hideo Kojima made a thunderous return at E3 this year to an epic stairway sequence; from here, the famous developer was given free rein to show off his new game. He’ll be reuniting with Norman Reedus for Death Stranding which portrays a very surreal theme and setting; with the developer and his company having full creative control over the project, there’s nothing stopping Kojima from making one of his biggest and best games yet.

• ·         Countless games with genuine excitement being built

Sony’s conference had the games and very rarely moved away from them. It all started off with a bang as Kratos stepped out of the shadows and into the new God of War, which looks to tell a more intimate and emotive story in an all new setting in Norse Mythology. From there, the big games continued to pour in; Horizon Zero Dawn got a fully-fledged gameplay demo for its beautiful looking world, The Last Guardian got a release date for October 2016, Detroit: Become Human had all kinds of player choices woven into its trailer and Resident Evil 7 is finally making a much needed return to horror by picking up where the cancelled P.T left off. Even Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, a game being torn to pieces by the gaming community since its debut left me feeling rather surprised by the direction the developers were going. Sony’s approach put the games front and centre all the way through and that was the best decision to make for E3 this year.

The bad

• ·         A few muted moments in the middle

Sony delivered in spades when it came to games and giving off a massive sense of scale, but there were some baffling additions to the line-up. A trailer for Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Why have underwhelming games like that at a press conference? Some of the VR demonstrations were also very basic, being simple accompanying side projects attached to big games such as Final Fantasy 15. While these didn’t take the impact away from the bigger games, it did end up slowing the conference’s momentum a bit.

• ·         Closing with Days Gone

In spite of all the brilliant looking games at Sony’s conference this year, Days Gone was a questionable way to finish things up. It’s an open world zombie survival game that appears to be following up on what both Uncharted and The Last of Us have already done. While the game apparently has much more to show, according to developer Bend Studio but the demo didn’t have a lot of show. It’s a fairly standard third person action game with the same zombie hordes that defined World War Z and Dead Rising; but instead of striking out on its own, I felt like it was thrown in to give the conference that set-piece moment. Naughty Dog is no doubt taking a break from things after the release of Uncharted 4 and Bend’s attempt to fill their absence was average at best. Let’s hope they can improve the game for next year.

In conclusion

Sony’s event this year was more than just a conference this year; it was an experience. With its cinematic flair, countless quality games and solid pacing, the company set itself apart from its competitors while also providing the biggest and best announcements of any of the conferences. 2016 is easily their best year since they first announced the PlayStation 4 three years ago. The only caveats were some weaker announcements in the middle and the somewhat lacking demo for Days Gone at the end.

Rating: 8/10 (Great)

That wraps up my discussion on the E3 2016 press conferences. For the next part I'll be looking at some of the games that had their own developments on the show floor.

(All images used for the purposes of review and criticism under fair use)

E3 2016 Post-Mortem Part 1: Ranking the Press Conferences (First Half)

EA Play

The good

• ·         EA Originals (Indie games)

Following up last year’s collaboration with the very nervous developer of Unravel, EA has taken things a step further with EA Originals, an initiative designed to serve promising indie developers who wish to get their games wider recognition. Only one game was shown; “Fe” from Swedish developer Zoink Games. It’s good to see EA broaden their reach in the indie space and expand on something they brought into play last year.

• ·         Battlefield 1 multiplayer reveal

Though it wasn’t part of EA’s official show (and the repeating of trailers did raise some eyebrows), Battlefield 1’s multiplayer debut was without a doubt the best moment they had to offer. The three match setup had 64 players playing on the sides of the British Army and German Empire, with some of the major highlights including the changing weather patterns, destructive tanks and gargantuan airships flying overhead. It may have been pre-alpha but from my point of view, EA has almost nothing to worry about this year; Battlefield 1 is looking to make a big comeback from the failures of Hardline and Battlefront, while also seeking to trounce Call of Duty Infinite Warfare in the process. As long as DICE ensures the net code and servers are ready and stable for launch, we could be in for a brilliant shooter later this year.

The bad

• ·         An underwhelming showing for Mass Effect Andromeda

The most disappointing aspect of EA’s conference was the small amount of information given about Mass Effect Andromeda. After almost four years in development, it was a shame not to see proper gameplay or any details on story. The game is looking fantastic based on the thin sets of footage we saw, but the fanbase wanted to see more than a simple behind the scenes look. Mirror’s Edge Catalyst suffered from this same issue last year where more effort was put into showing the development teams, rather than something concrete about the game itself. With the game itself less than a year away, it's a little suspicious that we haven't seen any information about the final game.

• ·         The iterative approach posed by Titanfall 2

We all knew Titanfall 2 was on the way at EA’s conference and what we saw at E3 was competent at best; the game looks and sounds as solid as its predecessor but it failed to do anything beyond that to really impress. It’s hard to get excited when the game is A. Fairly similar to the original; B. Living in the shadow of other movement focused shooters such as Call Black Ops 3 and C. Offering little in the way of surprising new features and components. While it’s true they are offering a single player campaign alongside six new titans, Titanfall 2 will need to do more in order to stand out when it releases on October 28^th this year.

• ·         The marketing jargon of sports games

While the sports presentations were toned down, the developers of FIFA were still content with babbling on about the same old “improvements” that are constantly displayed every year. It’s all marketing hype and no development substance. At the very least it didn’t drag on like the last couple of conferences presented by the gaming corporation, but surely EA could reserve this information for the FIFA game website rather than clogging up their conference with it? It’s the one aspect of EA’s press conference that came close to dragging the whole thing down.

In conclusion

EA’s pressers still have a sizeable hill to climb before they reach the heights of the other companies. In all honesty though, their 2016 offering was a fairly decent improvement over previous years. The greatest strength EA had this year was better pacing; the sports games and pointless mobile sections were drastically reduced whilst Battlefield 1 picked things up towards the end. Despite the celebrity appearances still being quite intrusive, they weren’t complete wastes of time like Pele was last year. To push on, EA needs to follow up with some stellar games later this year, but as for their conferences I would expect more exciting things to be shown off in the future. For example EA’s collection of upcoming Star Wars games whizzed by in less than ten minutes without much attention paid to them.

Rating: 6/10 (Fair)

Bethesda

The good

• ·         Quake Champions debut

The classic FPS trifecta is complete… With great success on Wolfenstein: The New Order and the more recent Doom reboot, Bethesda is now turning its sights on the arena focused multiplayer shooter Quake. The series hasn’t been seen since 2005’s Quake IV and it served as a strong opening for Bethesda’s presser. The trailer was entirely computer generated, but there were a few hints of what Champions is going for; it’s aiming to update the formula with defined characters and specific abilities to make each of them more mobile. Considering the amount of effort Bethesda has poured into the other two shooters, it's reasonable to expect the same for Quake Champions.

• ·         Prey Announcement

Arkane Studios had a big presence at E3 this year; we all expected to see the sequel to Dishonored, but first they came out with something unexpected. A strange trailer showed a man’s repetitive cycle, almost as if he was living the day over and over again. Things started to get sinister as the man’s eyes became bloodshot; an alien infection perhaps, before transferring to a dark and gloomy space station where a questionable experiment is taking place. The new Prey appears to be a mixture of first person shooting and maybe a fair bit of survival horror. While it has abandoned the Blade Runner-esque tenets that made Prey 2 so promising, I’m nevertheless excited to see what Arkane Studios can do with the license. Having already proved themselves with Dishonored, another solid title should be on the way in a year or two.

• ·         Dishonored 2 gameplay demo

Dishonored 2 had a strong follow up to its debut last year with a full on tour of the game's setting following by plenty of proper gameplay. Assuming the low chaos ending of the original game, the demo began with Empress Emily Kaldwin and her protector Corvo getting caught up in another flurry of assassinations and political schemes. It then transferred to the island of Karnaca, where Emily proceeded to sneak through the dust district to assassinate a target. While the powers Emily Kaldwin possesses are definitely new and interesting enough, the story already looks highly intriguing; how will things change depending on whether you choose to play as Emily or Corvo? How will the conflict between the Overseers and the Howler gang factor into the missions? What imaginative steampunk settings await in the new setting? With another stand-out art style and building on strong foundations, Dishonored 2 looks to be a strong sequel in every way, though I’m guessing they’ll save the whole “freedom of choice” thing for the stage demos on the E3 show floor.

The bad

• ·         A fair bit of time dedicated to showing off awards and accolades

Bethesda’s conference last year was strong because it got straight to the point with all the games we wanted to see; this year’s pacing was a step down from that. Bethesda saw fit to lavish praise on all the awards games such as Fallout 4 and Doom received. It’s nice that these games got great recognition but it ended up distracting from the games at Bethesda’s conference. If the company is going to have another press conference next, they should consider cutting this down to free up more time for more exciting things.

• ·         Skyrim Remastered; a slightly redundant project

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is arguably the biggest game ever released by Bethesda Game Studios; it’s also one of the most popular, still clocking in a huge following five years after its release. Remasters have been a popular trend in this console generation and now the gargantuan RPG is next in line to receive this treatment. The problem? Why should Skyrim Remastered be released on PS4 and Xbox One when mods on PC can improve on its presentation several times over? While Skyrim is set to continue Bethesda’s push towards mods on consoles, these will be extremely limited; despite the new release, both versions will already be obsolete when compared to its PC counterpart. It’s one remaster that may make sense for console owners, but to me it isn’t worth paying out full price again.

In conclusion

Bethesda’s conference wasn’t as good as last year’s but that was a tough act to follow. The games shown were relatively solid, with the return of Prey being the biggest surprise offered up. Dishonored 2 was also particularly strong, though I would have liked to have seen multiple playthroughs of the same level to show off the game’s freedom of choice. A solid presentation all around, just lacking a wow factor that would have made it more memorable. We could have done with less promoting of the awards won by Bethesda games as well.

Rating: 7/10 (Good)

Microsoft

The good

• ·         A strong variety of titles on show

Microsoft’s show this year pretty much picked up where last year left off; once again it was all games and no gimmicks only this time there were all kinds of games to show. We started off with Gears of War 4 right away, before bouncing around all kinds of different titles from fighting games to new IPs. In terms of presentation, it kept me interested as I was never really knew what was coming next and kept watching as a result. There’s no doubt that Microsoft has realised that they need more than just the same franchises over and over again; they’re willing to diversify, even if the strong variety wasn’t quite backed up fully. I’ll get to that further down.

• ·         Improvements to Xbox Live

Microsoft’s online gaming service has long been known for making top standards in online multiplayer and this year they saw fit to improve on it further with smart features that set it apart from PlayStation Network and bring it more in line with Steam. Forming a sense of social community was a key focus as three main features were announced; “Clubs” which allow players of specific games to meet and chat with others, “Looking for group” which aims for easier pairing up in multiplayer focused games and finally “Arena” Microsoft’s foray into the tournament scene open to anyone on Xbox Live. Making the £40 subscription worth paying for is always a positive step and it's clear that Microsoft is still intent on delivering that.

• ·         Microsoft getting back on track with Project Scorpio

Microsoft closed out it’s presser with a big announcement, that their next console is on the way and it plans on being the most powerful console ever built. With a whopping six teraflops of power, 320 gigabytes of memory bandwidth and 8 CPUs overclocked to apparently outmatch even the PS4 Neo, Phil Spencer touted Scorpio as “the console 100% for you guys”. There’s some big promises being made here and if Microsoft can pull this off, they’ll be in for a chance to get fully competitive in the console market again. More to the point, it shows that Microsoft has completely shut the door on the deeply flawed approach that threw them to the rear of the pack three years ago, once again being focused entirely on games rather than gimmicks and multimedia.

The bad

• ·         Underwhelming AAA demos and too many trailers

Microsoft’s strong variety came at a cost though; there were simply too many trailers and not enough gameplay demos. Battlefield 1 had nothing to show, opting to repeat the same trailer featured at EA’s event. Tekken 7 and Killer Instinct didn’t have any matches on stage and DLC trailers for games like The Division had little to no impact.

The few demos that did get shown were either brief or simplistic, just as they were last year. From a gameplay standpoint I felt that Gears of War 4 bears some resemblance to the Gears 3 demo five years ago, only with flashier storm effects and some pretty corny dialogue thrown in for good measure. If Microsoft is looking to stave off franchise fatigue, this isn’t the way to go about it; their biggest franchises need to be progressive, showing proper innovation, especially with several of them debuting on current generation hardware. Final Fantasy 15 and Scalebound both blended together with both games featuring third person action as the characters took on gigantic beats with the help of comrades. Rare promised that their IP Sea of Thieves is one of their most ambitious titles to date, but the brief gameplay shown came off as quite simplistic. Microsoft needs to back up their strong pacing with some proper demos as well as trailers next time.

• ·         The Minecraft demo: Veering towards levels of cringe

The cringe worthy moments from Microsoft’s E3 pressers have been abandoned in recent years, but one particular moment came close to regressing to it; Minecraft was presented in a very awkward way by two presenters who were perhaps trying to appeal to a younger crowd. The “Mictrick” as Jim Sterling calls it was once again used to ill effect as the presenters attempted to relay how people play Minecraft. It isn’t as overzealous as Ubisoft, but it was noticeable and ended up overshadowing the announcement of cross-play and new add-ons for the wildly popular indie game which Microsoft purchased in 2014.

• ·         No Crackdown 3

Following its announcement two years ago, many were expecting the first gameplay of Crackdown 3 to make an appearance at E3 this year. Unfortunately the long awaited sequel was conspicuously absent, leaving other exclusive titles such as Sea of Thieves and Scalebound to fall back on what little gameplay they had to offer. The lack of Crackdown 3 is a disappointment because it is promised to be a showcase of Microsoft’s Azure cloud technology with complete freedom of destruction, something which none of its competitors can offer or match. I haven’t seen games do destruction so well since Red Faction Guerilla in 2009 and Battlefield 4 in 2013; it was an opportunity to show off how Xbox is pushing the boundaries and Microsoft failed to capitalise on it.

In conclusion

Microsoft’s conference was quite good, though that was mostly down to the wide variety of games they had to show. Their biggest weakness was much like last year’s; despite having a good pacing, many of the exciting bits came from games which weren’t exclusive to Microsoft systems. Sure, some of them may be coming to Xbox first but the console as a whole needs to do more than come out with new hardware to stay relevant. Heck I couldn’t spot a single game that was a true exclusive on the current Xbox One console.

It seems that Xbox itself is becoming more and more like PC every year with Microsoft having accepted that they won’t ever catch up to PlayStation 4 this generation, so instead they’re integrating with PC to make up for their failings. In the process, this has drastically reduced the Xbox One’s prospects; why buy the less powerful console when you can play many of its games on PC anyway?

As for Project Scorpio, it’s a sure sign that Microsoft is on the right track from a business standpoint, but without any exclusive games at the moment, I’m left more puzzled than excited for it; with all this PC integration and the subsequent reduction of exclusives on Xbox One, can we expect Scorpio to stand on its own rather than joining up with Windows 10? And how long can it last before PC hardware catches up? We’re bound to find out more over next year but if Microsoft wants to carry on in the console business, it needs to have those killer games that can only be done on Scorpio, something which the company is still lacking.

Rating: 7/10 (Good)

Check back later this week for the other half of my thoughts on the E3 press conferences.

(All images used for the purposes of review and critique under fair use)