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E3 Roundup

Ubisoft's conference

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E3 Roundup
gamingboulevard.com

2016 Marks Ubisoft's 30th year in the game industry. As such, this year's E3 conference was treated as a celebration. Using nearly every minute of a two hour time slot, Ubisoft announced the return of plenty of old favorites and a few new titles. Here's a quick look at every game Ubisoft featured this year.


"Just Dance 2017": After an awkwardly long dance number to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now," Aisha Tyler took the stage for the fifth time as host of Ubisoft's E3 press conference. The big announcement with "Just Dance 2017" was the inclusion of all gaming platforms, including PC this October. The Nintendo NX will also be included when it launches next year. This is only the first title for Ubisoft's conference but already the NX is falling behind the competition -- not a great start.


"Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands" The "Ghost Recon" franchise is known for four-man, squad-based military operations. Now the series moves south to tackle drug cartels. Though the military shooter genre is being dominated by the likes of "Call of Duty" and "Battlefield," "Ghost Recon: Wildlands" continues to focus on special forces operatives over the everyday soldier. Dominic Butler, lead game designer of Wildlands, explains that the game is an exploration of a "what if" scenario.

What if Bolivia were taken over by a Mexican drug cartel? How could an alliance between government and drug lord be undone when both sides are getting filthy rich in the process? The answer: drop spec ops behind enemy lines to create havoc and dissolve the bonds that have solidified between the Santa Blanca cartel and Bolivia's corrupt local governments.

Key features include open-world gameplay, the option to tackle the cartel solo, or as part of a four-member co-operation and the ability to operate vehicles -- including helicopters, armored cars and dirt bikes. Butler promises "beautiful environments sets across a variety of different ecosystems that will challenge and influence your gameplay at every step of the way, all of [which] takes place in the largest action adventure open world Ubisoft has ever done."

"Ghost Recon: Wildlands" appears to be a lot like "The Division" on the surface, but the absence of a leveling and looting system, along with a much more realistic damage system, show that these two games will be wildly different. Butler ended his time on stage with the announcement of a March 7, 2017 release date.


"South Park: The Fractured but Whole": Jason Schroeder of Ubisoft San Francisco came to the stage after a dramatic video to introduce Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of "South Park." The game is described as a sequel to "The Stick of Truth." The kids of South Park are now playing super heroes, but have gotten in an argument and now find themselves in a dispute. Jokingly, Trey Parker said that Marvel wanted to title the latest Captain America movie "The Fractured but Whole," but the name was already taken, so they went with "Civil War" instead.

Players will reprise the role of the new kid. Though at the end of "The Stick of Truth" the new kid became the king and was seen as a cool kid, this is a new game with new rules and (most likely thanks to Cartman) the new kid is "back to being a douchebag again."

Character setup, shown in a short video, is redolent of "DC Universe Online," in the fact that players can pick and choose specific attributes and abilities to make themselves a one-of-a-kind hero.

Combat is still restricted to the turn-based style to allow for narrative during fights. However, the combat system has been revamped to allow for movement between moves. Pushing and pulling have been added to allow players to move and be moved by their enemies. The addition of knock-back moves will create opportunities for extra damage if a character hits a set piece -- such as a car, or is knocked into an ally character for a team combo attack. Finally... farts. Farts have been made even more powerful than they were in the last game, giving players the ability to rearrange the attacking order.

Last second announcements revealed that all copies of "The Fractured but Whole" will be packed with a copy of "The Stick of Truth" for free, while a pre-order of the game will unlock a copy of "The Stick of Truth" that can be played immediately. "The Fractured but Whole" will be released on Dec 6, 2016.


"Tom Clancy's The Division": New details were given regarding the next expansions to the popular third person shooter. Three new outfits that celebrate Ubisoft's past, present and future will be available to Ubisoft Club members on June 28. The next expansion, "Underground" will also be available on Xbox One and PC on June 28 while PlayStation 4 gamers will have to wait until August 2.

A sneak peek into the "Survival" expansion was shown with a vague release date of "coming soon" announced after. The only detail given was that it would also come to Xbox One and PC before PS4.


"Eagle Flight": Ubisoft's contribution to the virtual reality world comes in the form of an intuitive flight simulator. "Eagle Flight" puts players in the mind of an eagle in paris, controlling their flight only with the movement of their heads. to attack with a screech, players need only to press a button on their controller while looking at their opponent. a successful hit will result in an explosion of feathers and one less eagle to worry about.

A live, three-v-three competition between creative director at Ubisoft Montreal Charles Huteau, inventor and founder of Oculus VR Palmer Luckey, head of publishing at Oculus Jason Holtman and three others demonstrated the game's multiplayer mode "Capture the Prey." The players simply had to grab a rabbit carcass and transport it to their team's nest. The players were able to dive and weave through the obstacles of a virtual Paris without problem, proving the natural comfort of the game's mechanic.


"Star Trek Bridge Crew": Senior Creator at Ubisoft Red Storm David Votypka continued the VR theme and presented the brand new title. The game crams four players in a virtual version of the bridge of the USS Aegis while they navigate the universe. Klingons attack and the team must work together to defend themselves and either fight them off, or run for their lives. Unfortunately, from what was shown at E3, "Star Trek Bridge Crew" is a button pushing simulator. If pushing real-world buttons to make an on-screen avatar push virtual buttons is something you find enthralling, look forward to the release of "Star Trek Bridge Crew" this fall on all major VR platforms.


"For Honor": Last year, Jason Vandenberghe of Ubisoft Montreal was on stage to give the world a tiny taste of this game. He returned this year to quench our thirsts for more info. "For Honor" is about a medieval world in which no one can be trusted. A natural disaster has made the survival of the human race extremely difficult and war is not only necessary, but desired. A woman named Apolleon and her Black Stone Legions are hell bent on preventing peace from ever coming to fruition as the world is torn apart by war.

Vandenberghe also revealed the presence of a campaign mode in the game, encouraging players to fight for a higher rank, become a knight and join the Black Stone Legions and force the enemy out of friendly territory. Fans of the "Dynasty Warriors" franchise are sure to enjoy the brutal combat of this gritty world when it is release on Feb 14, 2017. Anyone interested in playing the Alpha test can sign up here.


"Grow Up": Producer Pete Young from Ubisoft Reflections introduced the audience to the sequel to last year's adorable title "Grow Home." Bud will return to explore new environments, sow seeds and use magical plants in an attempt to reach the moon. "Grow Up" will release in August on PS4, Xbox One and PC.


"Trials of the Blood Dragon": The makers of "Trials" and "Blood Dragon," an expansion for the popular first-person shooter "Far Cry 3," have teamed up to make a new "Trials" game. Back flip on dirt bikes and shoot enemies while racing to the finish line in the same side-scrolling style gamers have always loved. "Trials of the Blood Dragon" is available now for PS4, Xbox One and PC.


"Watch Dogs 2": Trying to hack into what makes a good game, Ubisoft is giving the original IP another attempt. Aiden Pearce has been abandoned for a cooler, younger protagonist, Marcus Holloway. The city of Chicago has also been scrapped in favor of San Francisco. In "Watch Dogs 2," Marcus is motivated to out a political figure who is using social media to influence the public -- not a far fetched scenario. "Watch Dogs 2" is Scheduled to release on Nov 15. Ubisoft is dedicated to extending the life of the series with scheduled DLC, committing to a 30 day head start on all content for PS4.

A "Watchdogs" movie was also announced during the conference with no hint to a release date or cast.


"Steep": Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft presented this new project that combines the thrills of extreme sports with an open world game designed that allows players to explore legendary peaks of the Swiss Alps. Players looking for a relaxing experience are able to choose between free style skiing, snowboarding, paragliding and wing suits to descend the mountain at their own pace. The views are breath taking; outside of challenges, players can stop whenever they like to take it all in.

Adrenaline junkies, on the other hand, have have the freedom to slice down the mountains while performing extreme stunts: hitting big jumps and tricking or finding the fastest, if not the most dangerous, paths down the face of the famous Matterhorn and Mont Blanc.

The primary focus of "Steep" is social gameplay. Anytime a player attempts a challenge, other players in the area can follow, triggering a competition. In other areas, players from the community will appear to create the feeling that players are part of a high profile ski club.

There is an open signup for Beta tests here. "Steep" ships for Xbox One, PS4 and PC this December.

Ubisoft's conference was two hours long. If you'd like to watch it for yourself, head here.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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