E3 2017 Post-Mortem Part 1: Ranking the Press Conferences (First Half)

EA

The good

• A great showing for Star Wars Battlefront 2

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 had a lot to prove, considering how shallow and lacklustre the original was. It was a poor value product rushed out to meet the release of Star Wars Episode VII in 2015. But since its announcement earlier this year, there’s plenty of signs that developer DICE has taken feedback onboard and are committed to delivering the complete package this time around. All three galactic eras and a single player campaign are in the box from the offset and all DLC will be completely free. EA rounded off their press conference with a multiplayer demo, beginning with a tweet from actor John Boyega showing how they took criticism onboard and set out to make the sequel better. From here they launched into gameplay; Assault on the city of Theed on Naboo between droids and clones. Making use of a class system and battle points to call in additional weapons and vehicles, Battlefront also looks set to deepen its gameplay and strategic options, a huge step forward after the casualised original. While some inconsistencies and the return of microtransactions might leave their mark, Battlefront 2 is nevertheless working to make a substantial improvement on the flawed original.

• The return of local coop with A Way Out

Seemingly inspired by Prison Break, A Way Out is a nod to those older titles that focused heavily on closed team play, particularly the likes of Army of Two and Kane Lynch. Supporting full cooperative play both online and off, the range of team based activities including not only the breakout but the escape into the wilderness. Whether it can rise above the stock clichés of TV drama is another story. The developers clearly have some experience in cooperative games, their last title being Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons but at the same time EA’s previous experiment with this style and tone didn’t turn out too well. 2015’s Battlefield Hardline from Visceral Games stood out as incredibly unimaginative, not to mention an overpriced expansion masquerading as a full game. The developers should go beyond the standard fare and work to create a more unique experience that makes full use of cooperative play.

The bad

• More talk of sports games that dragged… again…

Sports games constantly drag down EA in the eyes of the hardcore crowd and 2017 was no different. This year saw a few British commentators drag things out on stage with a quiet audience checking their watches to see when the boring stuff would come to an end. More jargon about the newest FIFA, Madden and NHL games. It’s quickly becoming redundant talking about this every year; but so long as the execs and shareholders want it in the conference, the sports games aren’t going anywhere…

• The incredibly awkward appearance of YouTuber Jesse Wellens

During the presentation of Need for Speed: Payback, Jesse Wellens showed up to have a quote-on-quote “talk”. Sadly, just like the football legend Pele, this was a pointless appearance that dragged the conference out with a desperate attempt to appear hip and cool in front of crowds. While getting FPS streamers in to play Battlefront 2 made some sense, here things were incredibly awkward with both Wellens and the game design lead on Payback stumbling over the script and taking up time that could have been dedicated to other games.

• Little to no appearance of other Star Wars games from the publisher

With a complete monopoly on Star Wars games thanks to a deal with Disney, EA began laying plans to task each of its developers with creating games that would flesh out the franchise across all genres. But outside of Battlefront 2, we didn’t see anything else from the so-called EA Star Wars division. This would have been an opportune time to unveil new titles, particularly the renewed possibility of Knights of the Old Republic 3. It’s a shame that even with their ownership of the Star Wars license, EA seems to be trudging along, letting DICE carry all the weight on their shoulders when it comes to delivering well-produced titles. They should include more details about other upcoming Star Wars games next year.

In conclusion

EA’s conference may not have been the worst of this year’s show, but they didn’t do a whole lot to impress. Outside of Star Wars Battlefront 2, there was very little to get excited about here. The same old boring talk of sports games made a return and some studios such as Bioware were nowhere to be found, instead relegated to a short teaser for Anthem that showed up at Microsoft’s conference instead. It isn’t quite the worst conference this year for me though; at this point, I pretty much expect the same missteps to show up every time, thus lessening their disappointment factor.

Conference Grading: 5/10 (Mediocre)

Microsoft

The good

• A strong variety of games on show

Microsoft’s focus on games above all else has really improved the pacing of their conferences and they stuck with that structure again this year. While I could have done without the endless use of the word “Exclusive” (Which really doesn’t mean anything when all games are coming to PC as well), there was still a lot to choose from. Bigger demos for titles like Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, a fast and frenetic barrage of indie games to show off MS’s commitment to fuelling new talent and concluding with the debut of Bioware’s new IP Anthem all contributed to good pacing. It’s just too bad that none of the software shown is exclusive to the much-touted Xbox One X.

• The return of Crackdown 3 and Sea of Thieves’ tongue in cheek showing

With the cancelation of Scalebound earlier this year, Microsoft needed to put more emphasis on the bigger titles it had left and at E3 2017, it definitely did so. After being missing in action last year, Crackdown 3 returned to the Microsoft stage with a crazy appearance by Terry Crews which went a way towards showing off the manic destruction that will take place. Four player co-op alongside the same orb-collecting level-up system all tied together with a great-looking cell-shaded art style. It’s all looking every bit as fun and addicting as its predecessors, but the addition of destructible environments powered by Microsoft’s Azure engine could push it over the top, allowing 3 to take its place among the best Xbox titles released.

As for Sea of Thieves, developer Rare’s wit and charm shone through in the demo which took the audience through ship battles and exploration. Four players took up the mast, working to search for treasure and sail the stormy seas, each holding different. While the combat looks a bit stiff and shallow, the game still looks intriguing for all its shared world promises. The ability to run into other players on both Xbox One and PC is a strong selling point, and launching yourself out of a cannon to attack the enemy is sure to be a wacky moment in online play. The burning question is whether Sea of Thieves turns out to be another No Man’s Sky; a game with heaps of potential that turns out incredibly lacking on release. With its release date slated for 2018, there’s still plenty of time for Rare to flesh the world and deliver plenty of things to do for players.

• Backwards compatibility for original Xbox games

Microsoft knew it needed to create another incentive to buy an Xbox One, so they patched in backwards compatibility to win over those on the fence a couple years back. Slowly but surely the list of compatible games has grown and the corporation went a step further at E3 this year with the announcement that original Xbox games would be coming to the Xbox One. When it launched in 2001, Microsoft’s original system had plenty of hidden gems so it’ll be a good incentive to get more consoles off the shelves. The underappreciated Crimson Skies was the main title on display for backwards compatibility this year but there’s plenty others including Psychonauts, Blinx the Time Cat among others.

The bad

• Games that are already on PC coming to Xbox

This is a trend that started last year; the slow but gradual blend of Xbox with PC and the subsequent loss of its identity as a gaming console. It’s questionable how long the Xbox One X, for all its power, will last when modern PC’s often outclass it. For example, 4A Games’ Metro Exodus looked great at the show, but a rather scripted demo and its release on PC dampened the impact it could have had; the game looked great and all but how does it compare to the format that Xbox has been pairing up with since last year? And so things went for just about every game at Microsoft’s conference. Not a single title was coming exclusively to the Xbox One X; not cross-play with PC, just the Xbox console. It also didn’t help that several games such as Players: Unknown Battlegrounds have already been on PC for many months already. It ended up reducing the impact of Microsoft’s conference, despite their well planted focus on games above all else.

• Minecraft in 4K, not all that exciting

After purchasing it in 2015, Microsoft has worked to refine and expand Minecraft’s long-standing popularity. Cross-play between consoles (With the baffling absence of Sony consoles) was announced which is a positive benefit to bringing console communities together. But then the Super Duper Graphics Pack was showcased putting the block graphics of the popular indie title into a higher resolution. Showing off this pack seemed silly considering Microsoft’s mission to make the most powerful console on the market. Plus, when you consider how modders have already made several updates and improvements to Minecraft’s technical presentation, this announcement landed with a dull thud.

• Forza 7: Same old racer… but with the new Porcshe 911!

Continuing Microsoft’s insistence on pressing on with the same old franchises, FORZA 7 made its debut at E3 2017, only this time with the gimmick of the real Porcshe 911 making an appearance. This gimmicky choice alongside hardly any new features and the inclusion of two racing drivers who weren’t really playing the game on stage didn’t do the new Forza any favours and instead came off as a very unexciting reveal, one brought in to pander to car companies. Does it really have any place at E3? Not really, even if you are shooting for authenticity.

In conclusion

Microsoft seems confident with its new souped up version of the Xbox One but with every passing year, the console has fewer and fewer things to call its own and that trend continued in 2017. They can toss around the word “exclusive” all they like at their pressers but without games that can only be found on the Xbox One X (I’m fairly sure Halo 6 will also come to PC at this point) the system is already at a disadvantage before its release later this year because many will simply buy Microsoft games on their computers. In my opinion, the only reason to purchase an Xbox One X right now is if you can’t afford a super-powered PC. Even with all its processing power, both it and the PS4 Pro are sure to be outdated by PC tech within a year or two. Microsoft’s conference had plenty of games just like it did last year, but it didn’t go beyond that to make a real case for purchasing the Xbox One X.

Conference Grading: 6/10 (Fair)

Bethesda

The good

• Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus Reveal

After a surprisingly great return in 2014, Machine Games have taken up the reins once again for the next title in the rebooted Wolfenstein series. This time B.J Blaskowicz is heading to a United States firmly under the control of the Third Reich and based on the extended debut trailer, everything we enjoyed about The New Order is here and accounted for; likeable characters to root for, fast and ferocious FPS combat alongside the addition of new facets. B.J hopped aboard a reprogrammed dog to torch Nazi troops with a flamethrower, before delivering grisly justice to an SS officer with help from a fire axe. It’ll be interesting to see just how twisted the US has become in an alternate history 1960s.

• Dishonored: Death of the Outsider Reveal

The Dishonored series has made a great impression over the last five years and that trend is looking to continue with “Death of the Outsider”. This one is likely to be very lore-heavy, homing in on the titular stranger who bestows chosen individuals with unparalleled powers. The idea of this figure meeting his end is enticing enough, but a new leading protagonist alongside the possibility of more creative powers adds even more intrigue. Much like Daud’s tale in the original Dishonored, Death of the Outsider looks set to fill in missing gaps of the story as well, providing a strong value incentive when it finally releases on the 15^th of September.

The bad

• The continued dragging out of Skyrim

For the second year in a row, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim made an appearance at Bethesda’s show. It’s a great game but does it really need to show up every conference? Last year was already tired enough with the release of the Skyrim Special Edition and its remastered graphics but now six years after it originally launched, Bethesda is really pushing it. It’s great that the game is coming to Nintendo Switch and VR but is it worth dedicating a whole chunk of your press conference to such an old game? A skin for Link from The Legend of Zelda that could easily be modded in? These announcements all rang hollow at Bethesda’s show this year and stood out in all the wrong ways as Bethesda continues to milk a six-year-old game, rather than pushing forward with new ideas.

• Creation Club and the return of paid mods

Back in 2015, both Bethesda and Valve took a lot of flak from their communities for attempting to implement a side of the Steam Workshop for paid mods, claiming it was a means to pay the modding community for their arduous work and creativity, especially for Skyrim. After an intense backlash, the system was quickly taken offline and the mods remained free to download and use. Now in June 2017, the controversy is making a comeback with Creation Club for Skyrim and Fallout 4. At the press conference, Bethesda announced the new feature which will allow content creators to upload their mods and sell them through an application or website. Some might say that the mods won’t be paid and that the scheme is merely a way for Bethesda to engage with the modding community, creating a seal of quality as it were. But this quickly went south from one of the final shots in the announcement trailer. A small box saying: “Purchase credits” all but confirms that Bethesda will implement a paid system, exploiting the community and take a portion of the profits for themselves. Whether Bethesda will fully engage with Creation Club as a service is unclear, but the decision to make paid mods will undoubtedly divide the modders, especially on the PC scene.

• Very little in the way of fresh new titles

After their break-out debut at E3 2015, many hoped that Bethesda’s standout showing would keep going in the years to follow, but despite having enormous success with their resurrection of classic FPS titles their creative juices are starting to run dry. The return of Quake with the arena based champions already made an impact last year and was expected this time around. Bethesda needs to do more to keep surprising audiences or it won’t have much to stand up to the larger gaming publishers anymore. There was a general lack of excitement from everyone this year, both in the audience and the presenters on stage. Without much to show in the way of new titles, Bethesda could only manage to fall back on its older games, drastically limiting the excitement of its new titles.

In conclusion

Sadly, Bethesda’s third offering at E3 was their most disappointing show by far. There was little in the way of new games, but it was the Creation Club and paid mods rearing their ugly head that really let people down. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus was the best title they had on show but outside of that, things didn’t get much better. Bethesda’s focus on continually remastering old games, putting others in virtual reality then charging full price for them and offering little to progress made them easily the weakest of all the companies in 2017.

Conference Grading: 4/10 (Disappointing)

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

Check back in a few days for the second part of my E3 2017 Press Conference Round-Up…