Ubisoft always packs a punch at E3, whether it be through its explosive third-party library or a surprising new IP, the publisher always manages to shock and impress in equal measure.
We saw new info on Watch Dogs 2, For Honor, Ghost Recon Wildlands and South Park: The Fractured But Whole. Our full liveblog with all the trailers is below.
Ubisoft E3 press conference: Livestream replay
Ubisoft E3 press conference: As it happened
1450: Closing thoughts from games editor Brett Phipps
“A thoroughly entertaining conference that felt more like a comedy show peppered with game announcements, Ubisoft delivered some cool stuff along the way.
While not wowing with it’s new IP, nor did Wildlands exactly do much to keep the momentum on its hype train, Fractured But Whole continued to be my most anticipated game of the year and the funniest moment of E3 thus far. Watch Dogs 2 looks to add far more personality to a series that took itself far too seriously.
“If Aisha Tyler can present every press conference from now on, that’d be swell.”
1443: Steep
Brand-new IP for Ubisoft. Here’s the blurb:
“Defy and master the world’s most epic mountains on skis, wingsuit, snowboard, and in paraglide. Go solo or drop in side by side with other players. Record and share the most insane stunts ever captured. Dare your friends to try out your custom lines, then challenge the world to beat your best tricks and relive your most epic wipeouts. The mountain is yours to explore. So strap in, suit up, and drop in.”
It’s essentially an open-world extreme snowsports game. Definitely a surprise, will be interesting to see how it works in practice. Anybody else getting SSX vibes?
There are two trailers, one short and one gameplay, below.It looks super intense, with some fairly horrible skiing and wingsuit crashes included for good measure. The tone is is rather like SKATE’s Hall of Meat, which is a good thing in my book.
1427: Watch Dogs 2
Rather spoiled a few days ago, we’re getting all the details on Watch Dogs 2.
We have a new walkthrough trailer, below:
Also under discussion is a Watch Dogs movie, but there aren’t too many details here.
Finally, for Watch Dogs 2 DLC, PS4 players will get a 30-day exclusive over Xbox and PC players.
1420: Assassin’s Creed movie
Movie producer Frank Marshall arrives on stage to talk about the Assassin’s Creed movie franchise.
“There’s a lot to look forward to. It’s the multi-layered mythology that comes from the game and putting you into the story… Being able to have that wish-fulfillment you have in the game, being able to see the world through genetic memory that our character has.” Not really complete sentences, but you get the picture.
We have a new behind-the-scenes/Michael Fassbender interview trailer, which I’ll embed when it’s on YouTube.
Here’s the trailer from last month:
1417: Trials of the Blood Dragon
In the best trailer of E3 so far, we see Ubi’s new game Trials of the Blood Dragon that combines the world of Trials motocross with Far Cry Blood Dragon. You’ll be riding minecarts, running on your feet and shooting, riding through multiple dimensions and travelling through time. IT LOOKS AMAZING. It’s out now on PC, Xbox and PS4. Surprise!
1414: Grow Up
Following on from last year’s well-received Grow Home, Grow Up sees you following adorable robot BUD into the skies. Use seeds to create plants to bounce yourself ‘all the way to the moon’. It’ll be out in August on PS4, Xbox One and PC.
1359: For Honor
Full cinematic and gameplay trailers for Ubisoft’s new For Honor franchise. The focus is on swordplay and melee combat, and it looks extremely cool.
Here’s the cinematic trailer:
Here’s the gameplay walkthrough:
The combat looks incredibly meaty and satisfying, and it’ll be interesting to see how the game feels in the flesh. The combination of Vikings and Samurai is, frankly, mouth-watering. This could be a lot of fun.
Brett Phipps:
“If the creative director of For Honor, Jason Vandenberghe, has managed to translate even half of his passion into the game, it’ll be amazing. It’s clear the man cares deeply about this project and has a clear vision for what he wants it to be, the idea of a brutal melee game that sees warring factions compete for supremacy is definitely something I can get on board with.”
Release date is Feb 14th 2017. Romantic.
1350: Star Trek: Bridge Crew
It’s a VR Star Trek game where you can your pals look after the Starship USS Aegis. You have to manage the ship, make all the decisions and keep the Starship truckin’. It actually looks pretty fun if you can get four VR-capable PCs in the same room. The gameplay trailer here sees former Star Trek stars Levar Burton, Jeri Ryan, and Karl Urban playing the game and having a whale of a time.
1346: VR
We’re watching a live VR competition in Eagle Flight between Ubisoft and Oculus.
Brett Phipps at the show:
“While Eagle Flight VR is a nice way for Ubisoft to show its willingness to develop for VR, it’s just another tech demo with very limited scope. We’re still yet to see a big-name developer create a truly engaging and unique VR experience that feels like it’ll keep us invested in the tech for hours at a time”
1337: The Division
Underground DLC detailed. You and your team are fighting against “a dangerous threat beneath the streets of New York City”. Each battle will be unique, apparently. Release date is June 28th on Xbox and PC, August 2nd on PS4. Ouch if you’re a PS4 owner.
New expansion announcement: Survival. You’re out of supplies now and you have to find a way to survive. Trailer below:
1322: South Park: The Fractured But Whole
Matt Stone and Trey Parker are on stage to discuss the new South Park game, which follows on from The Stick of Truth.
Trusted games editor Brett Phipps:
“As a massive South Park fan this is kid in candyland time. Having Trey and Matt on stage talking about The Fractured But Whole has got more laughs than all the other conferences combined, and the gameplay footage is equally hilarious”
A short bit of gameplay footage shows this as a superhero game, with pickable classes and powers to make a custom hero. Cool! The gameplay footage we’ve seen so far is quite frankly hilarious. This should be a hit.
Combat has been overhauled in order to match the superhero vibe. You can move your character during combat and strike from multiple directions. You can push and pull your enemies and knock them into props, too. Your superhero powers will of course come into effect here.
Your farts can rip the fabric of time itself. I can’t believe I just wrote that. This lets you pause time and rearrange the battle to your liking if needs be.
Release date is December 6th. You’ll get Stick of Truth for free along with it.
1308: Ghost Recon Wildlands
New story trailer for the game announced at the end of last year. The trailer focuses on a Mexican drug cartel, who has taken over Bolivia to produce coaine, and a powerful leader who rules with an iron fist. He doesn’t seem like a very nice guy. Don’t worry, in come the Americans to shoot everything up and overthrow him. Trailer below:
It’s an open-world game, playable solo or with four-player co-op. We’re about to see some gameplay footage.
Trusted Games Editor Brett Phipps:
“Ghost Recon Wildlands sets up a very interesting premise. The idea of exploring Bolivia as a Narco state with up to three pals could be great. Getting the chance to see how it works from a gameplay perspective is important, though. With Destiny and The Division beings games about numbers masquerading as shooters, I hope that Wildlands puts the guns first and plays much more like Far Cry.”
The gameplay footage we’re shown shows comes co-op play. Amusingly, the pair say they’re going to play stealthily and immediately shoot their weapons unsilenced. Good work. the protagonists’ buddy shows up in a helicopter, dropping him off at a camp. The world looks pretty, if a little sparse.
You can watch the gameplay trailer below:
Brett Phipps:
“We have the same “natural” conversation we got in the first Division gameplay, and visually the interiors look a little flat. This may be fun to play as a group, but to watch it quickly loses its edge.”
We’re now in a small town, and the buddies are wreaking havoc. The environments strike us as a little dead; where are the civilians and everyday life?
This gameplay has now been going on a little too long. The fake banter between our heroes is wearing thin.
Release date: March 7th 2017.
1305: Just Dance 2017
First game confirmation of the event, Just Dance 2017 is launching in October and coming to the Nintendo NX in 2017.
1302 local time: Song and dance
Ubisoft kicks off with a musical number backed by Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now. Very colourful.
Trusted games editor Brett Phipps is in the crowd. He’s very impressed:
“The Ubisoft Press conference is 30 seconds old and we have a dacing panda, Queen, a fat rey Mysterio and a Lion and Giraffe having a dance off, this is amazing”
Watch: Our predictions for E3 2016
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
