So there we have it, Microsoft’s E3 2018 conference is over. They certainly made some noise, getting a few cheeky exclusive premiere trailers. In this article, I give a brief breakdown of the main titles featured in the event with a summary at the bottom.
Halo Infinite – Not much given away about the impending release, just the trailer being showcased in what others have speculated looks similar to the world in Halo’s first release. At least we know there’s more Masterchief on the way, and that’s no bad thing!
Sekiro Shadows Die Twice – From what little I saw it appeared to be an immensely violent samurai hack and slash game set in a beautiful far-eastern landscape. Looked the part and certainly one to watch. I’ll happily predict this will not be on the kiddies xmas list!
Fallout 76 – A prequel set before the events of previous Fallout games, the game is apparently 4x the size of Fallout 3, set in West Virginia and the trailer was conveniently blaring out to country road. Players will emerge from Vault 76 in the Shenandoah Valley, tasked with rebuilding society a quarter-century after nuclear weapons have devastated the land.
Crackdown 3 – Looks like one ridiculously impressive creative playground, it seems insane but incredibly fun to play. Will be a launch day one release on the Xbox game pass for subscribers.
Ori and the Will Of The Wisps – a sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest. An expertly crafted trailer was revealed with the platformer looking as elegant and graphically pleasing as always.
Nier Automata – Nice little reveal to be released in 2weeks on the 26th including all DLC previously released. An impressive RPG title that was very well received on the PS4. Great to see Microsoft build up their back catalogue with more quality role-playing and adventure games, striving to attract new audiences.
Metro Exodus – wow, this is looking game of the year material already. Gritty, stunning visuals and brutal landscapes in post-apocalyptic environments. Gameplay mechanics are shown in the trailer looking great, very violent with plenty of carnage. Possibly my pick for best trailer shown during Xbox’s conference.
Some Sea of Thieves content will be floating ashore soon. A brief trailer followed to a lukewarm reaction.
Kingdom Hearts III – was showcased in the universe of frozen with English voiceovers and shown all the promise and charm of previous entries. The hype for this is going to be huge come launch! The game just looks better and better every time a fresh trailer comes out. Just had it’s release date of 29th January 2019 confirmed, I CANNOT wait. (How cute does Donald look btw?)
Forza Horizon 4 – Pretty graphics and flashy cars set in Britain. Offering a fully dynamic weather system to accurately reflect British weather during each season, this impacts the world around you. Winter will result in lakes and terrain covered in snow and ice for example. New social commands/interactions provide fresh events and experiences around the Horizon community. Pleasantly surprised at how fresh this still is after so many games in the brand. Confirmed for Xbox game pass with a release set for October 4th 2018. The wait isn’t long.
Tales Of Vesperia definitive edition – Released a decade ago and regarded by some quarters as the best RPG going, the western release of the definitive edition should help grow the brand further afield around Europe. Set to retail this winter.
The Division 2 – Set In Washington DC, America is on the brink of collapse following a pandemic. Avert civil war in a city riddled with problems, ruined by urban warfare.
The Awesome Adventures Of Captain Spirit – A game about a young boy trying to live a fantasy superhero dream. Set in the critically acclaimed life is strange universe.
Devil May Cry 5 – 10years since the previous instalment. One of gaming’s most fashionable icons is back. Dante returns to slay more demons in DMC 5, a short trailer was showcased and it looked the best it’s ever been. Check it out below
Tunic – A cute indie platform title with an adorable fox in a big world and easy listening soundtrack.
Jump Force – An anime 3D beat em up featuring Naruto, Dragonball Z, Death Note and One Piece. In what looked like a pretty unique and awesome universe with plenty of large-scale blasts and stylish special effects.
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider – The trailer showcased another action-packed adventure for Lara Croft featuring puzzle solving, a dangerous adrenaline-fueled getaway down a river and as always plenty of shootouts and exploring.
Session – A new skateboarding game that looked fun with plenty of energy about it.
Black Desert – an MMORPG based in a fantasy realm ruled by magic and disturbing creatures. The trailer showed off some of the characters that players will be able to play as and demonstrated some of the environments gamers will be free to explore.
Dying Light 2 – This game looks scary…yes, I kid you not, like don’t turn the lights out, hide under your duvet kinda scary *gulp*. My oh my, did Techland do a good job showing it off. The narrative has a multi-directional take as your choices impact the world and factions in the game. Whilst those hair-raising zombies that create hell when the lights go out are back. This is parkour in an extremely dangerous world.
Battletoads – Very little was given away except the fact it will support 3 player couch co-op mode (whatever that means), the crowd reaction was positive. I hadn’t heard of this title previously but it turns out Battletoads first released as an action game way back in 1991 for the Gameboy.
Just Cause 4 – Square Enix released a stunning new trailer in the anarchic open world that is Just Cause. Rico Rodriguez once again returning to take gamers on the ultimate thrill ride.
Three new gears titles have been announced, Gears 5 the main instalment in the story timeline centred around female protagonist Kait Diaz. Then we have Gears pop a mobile tactical gears game styled with funko-pop like textures. Lastly, it’s Gears Of War Tactics for PC. A strategy, turn-based style game.
Finishing off with the excellent Cyberpunk 2077, I like others thought at one point it was watchdogs 3. To see Cyberpunk 2077 finally get a trailer after so long was a welcome finish to the event.
The direction of the game appeared to indicate some sort of revolt against the authorities. As one male character noted the city is sky high for violence and many live far below the poverty line than elsewhere in America.
Microsoft really plugged the Xbox game pass, with many exclusives being available on release and as of today Fallout 4, Elder Scrolls Online and The Division are now accessible for monthly subscribers. Phil Spencer also declared the ownership of numerous companies including Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, Playground Games, and Compulsion games which going forward will be a huge plus for them in terms of making exclusive titles for this console and future generations. The event seemed to feature a mix of adventure/RPG titles with some FPS’s. All in all, I felt it was a relatively strong E3 showing for Microsoft this year, much better on the software front than previous E3’s. The Cyberpunk reveal at the end was a shock that got a loud pop. It would have been nice to see sequels to games like GTA, Splinter Cell, Max Payne and more, but I guess you can’t have it all. Here’s hoping Sony announce some great multiplatform games.
