Ubisoft’s Celebrity E3 Press Conference.
Ubisoft is known for having the most awkward celebrity presenters at E3. Thankfully the only awkwardness tonight is Aisha Tyler’s massive size next to absolutely everyone from Ubisoft… and a couple bad sex jokes… ugh.
I can’t help but just start off with the E3 trailer for Watch Dogs. It’s a really cool trailer but I’m very disappointed that there was no gameplay shown. It sounds like there will be more to show in the coming days at E3, so keep an eye out for it. Still, I would have liked to see it.
We can loop all the way back to the beginning of the presser which opened with Jerry Cantrell showing off the new “session mode” in RockSmith 2014. I have no idea how it works but it’s touted as the “fastest way to learn guitar”. Even if that’s not true, I like the idea of being able to jam along with a full band alone in my apartment.
A random thought, what ever happened to Ubisoft’s Laser Tag game? That came from the year of weird gizmos and gadgets. (Wii pulse monitor anyone?)
I’m just going to leave this here. It’s nice to see South Park: The Stick of Truth still exists after THQ’s demise. Coming this holiday season.
Some of the other things shown didn’t really have much traction with me, but Ubisoft always have some interesting new gameplay ideas. They revealed Rabids Invasion, a new interactive cartoon on TV. Using the Kinect to interact with your TV show, a bunch of kids pointed and screamed at the TV for points during the show. The game isn’t something I want to try but the idea is interesting.
They also showed off a new racing game. Like everyone else during the next generation of console hype. The one thing you can always expect from a new generation in gaming is racing games showing off the tech in the systems. While The Crew doesn’t seem like a fun game (it’s basically GTA but you’re locked into cars), but it introduces a recurring theme of always online persistent worlds for the new consoles. The game has no solo mode, you are always connected to the online world. While it’s an interesting idea, I hate the idea of paying full price to have access to a service. And how will the servers hold up?
Then there’s Assassin’s Creed Pirates of the Caribbean edition. Maybe I’m jaded to the whole franchise at this point but the trailer I saw, while nice, was kind of bland. Like with Watch Dogs, I was expecting to see a bit more gameplay here.
Lastly, they showed off a cool Tom Clancy co-op game. The Division. You can drop in and out of the online world with your friends and control helicopters with your tablet. It looks cool but I find it hard to get excited about co-op games. Trying to find friends to play is not always an option, especially at the launch of a new console. Also, it seems fair to note that none of this is new tech. Left 4 Dead has existed for awhile.
Games shown:
Old Generation Games:
- RockSmith 2014
- Splinter Cell: Blacklist
- Rayman: Legends
- The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot
- South Park: The Stick of Truth
New Generation Games:
- The Crew
- Watch Dogs
- Just Dance 2014
- Rabids Invasion (TV/game)
- Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag
- Trails Fusion
- Trials Frontier
- Tom Clancy’s The Division
Overall Ubisoft has a pretty solid lineup. Featuring games coming soon for our current systems and games coming up at in 2014 for the new consoles. From the “hardcore” to free-to-play to children’s and casual. Even having a good mix of sequels and new property, they showed it all. While I might be bored with Assassins Creed, it will sell. Plus, it still looks good. I didn’t even mention Splinter Cell above, a game I look forward to checking out, simply because I didn’t like the trailer. Ubi is usually pretty good with trailers but they dropped the ball with that one. A lot to look forward too in the coming months.
