Ubisoft E3 Press Conference Recap: For Honor, Steep, Star Trek: Bridge Commander, and More
Ubisoft's showing at E3 2016 revealed an absolute bevy of upcoming games. Here's a quick recap.
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Ubisoft's E3 2016 conference just came to an end, and—boy howdy—the French developer had a whole lot of games to show us this year. You can catch an archived version of their two-hour show below, along with a brief recap of everything Ubi had to offer.
Just Dance 2017
Ubi kicked off their conference with a live dance performance set to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" to announce the upcoming Just Dance 2017, set to release on all current consoles this October, and the Nintendo NX in 2017. As the name implies, it will just involve dancing. (But you probably knew that.)
Ghost Recon: Wildlands
Up next for Ubi is Ghost Recon: Wildlands, which showed off the series' stypical military action set against the developing nation of Bolivia. The story involves a Mexican cartel turning Bolivia into a narco state, leaving the player to square off against the ruthless cartel in the face of a corrupt government. Wildlands includes solo play, as well as four-player co-op. In the live gameplay demo, the player and his co-op partner investigated a camp to find the location of a vital target, then jumped on a helicopter to travel there. In general, Wildlands emphasizes teamwork in order to meet objective; in typical Ghost Recon fashion, finding and killing the target involved teaming up to gain the advantage on unaware enemies, and jumping in a variety of vehicles to pursue him as he fled. All told, Wildlands combines the focus on stealth and planning of Ghost Recon with the massive scope of Far Cry. It'll be available on March 17, 2017, presumably for all major platforms.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole
Possibly one of the more disgustingly clever titles since Ratchet and Clank put that schtick to bed, The Fractured But Whole takes place where The Stick of Truth left off. The main character—The New Kid—has been knocked back down to "douche" status in this very South Park takeoff on superheroes. The footage shown went into some very basic character creation stuff, with every different type involving your typical tragic back story—the one on display revealed "The Speedster's" mythic origins beginning with him seeing his dad having sex with his mom. (And boy, it feels pretty weird to describe South Park content in a matter-of-fact manner.) The fighting system now involves movement, as well as knocking enemies into props and other characters for extra damage, and a special fart move that can rearrange turn orders. Pre-purchasing gets you a copy of The Stick of Truth for free, and the game will release for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam on December 6.
The Division - Underground
This new expansion for the online shooter will have players fighting a dangerous threat underneath the streets of NYC. This content will release on June 28 for Xbox One, and 30 days later for the PlayStation 4 and PC. Ubi also showed a teaser for more upcoming DLC titled "Survival," but didn't give any other details on this upcoming expansion.
Eagle Flight
Finally, some honest-to-god VR that isn't just a Minecraft thing. The live demo of Eagle Flight saw four players jump into the heads of the winged predators in a battle to grab some prey and drop it off in their respective nests. It's definitely an imaginative experience, even if you have to wonder what, exactly, the eagles are firing out of their beaks. Eagle Flight will be available for Oculus Rift and other VR platforms this fall.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew
In what seems like the most inevitable product from an industry run by nerds, Ubi also showed off some early footage of a Star Trek VR game, with some former cast member on hand to beam about their experience. It's not quite clear how the game works, but it looks as if Ubi wants to replicate the experience of sitting on the bridge of The Enterprise for the sake of boldly going places and such. Bridge Crew will be available this fall on all major VR platforms.
For Honor
A fairly vague CGI trailer shed more light on a new IP about a post-apocalyptic setting with the greatest warriors of all time fighting for no particular reason. (That's not snark—the narrator says as much.) For Honor's creative director then took the stage to enigmatically give more information about the upcoming game, then a live demo started in which a horde of vikings stormed a samurai fort—or whatever samurai call the place they hang out. Based on the small amount of gameplay shown, For Honor looks like it largely involves brutal melee combat against hundreds of enemies in a manner somewhat similar to Dynasty Warriors. The live demo capped off with a more intense axe-versus-katana fight that saw the lead viking doing some serious crotch-chopping. For honor will be available—presumably for all major platforms—on February 14, 2017.
Grow Up
Ubi also revealed a trailer for the sequel to their cute robo-game Grow Home, titled Grow Up. It'll be available for all major platforms in August of this year.
Trials of the Blood Dragon
Out now—because E3 is the best time to release a game—Trials of the Blood Dragon takes the same tongue-in-cheek '80s-ness of Far Cry: Blood Dragon, and transforms it into a sort of side-scrolling toy commerical from the early '90s. If that brand of nostalgia is your thing, then go get yourself some on the platform of your choice—but only one of the platforms it's actually on.
Watch Dogs 2
Ubi showed off Watch Dogs 2, which takes the subversive underground hacking action to the streets of San Francisco. The live demo saw the protagonist sending a drone to gather intel on a corrupt political campaign, then infiltrate the building himself to take people out and disrupt technology with a variety of gadgets. Even if the hands-on stealth gameplay feels kind of rote at this point—especially when guns come into the equation—the various ways you can interact with the world remain the main attraction of this series. Watch Dogs 2 will be available November 15, 2016 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Steep
In a gaming landscape that's sadly lacking snowboarding games, Ubi is looking to fill the void with Steep, which also takes on other extreme snow sports. Based on the live demo, Steep places a heavy emphasis on racing against your friends online, an act that's aided by the game's "Mountain View" system that lets you zoom out at any moment to see what gnarly trails you've carved out of the snowy landscape. Steep will launch this December for all major platforms.