E3 Ubisoft Conference 2018 Title

E3 Ubisoft Conference 2018: A Solid Show with No Big Surprises

Ubisoft have a lot to follow up on after last year, including Beyond Good and Evil 2, Skull and Bones and a wealth of their traditional titles. What will the E3 Ubisoft Conference 2018 bring?

Early acknowledgement of the Assassin’s Creed leak, saying the conference will be more exciting than a key chain.

Opening with a musical number as a person in a panda costume in a marching band makes it’s way into the conference surrounded by carnival folks.

This is Just Dance 2019. Being introduced in a lavish show featuring a marching band medley of classic hits.

And that’s it.

Beyond Good and Evil 2

Now straight on to a cinematic trailer for Beyond Good and Evil 2. A ship literally sails through an ice floe, as the crew make small talk and act in a chummy manner.

Then the ship stops dead as theyre hit by a massive storm which destroys almost Everything.

Then a massive ship turns up and literally clamps down on the protagonists.

Villains appear on the deck. Including:

Jade is back. And attacking Peyj and his crew.

 

It’s still a prequel, and will feature the player being a space pirate captain, engaging in a space Opera as they explore the universe.

They’re showing pre alpha gameplay of Ganesha city, a bustling religious metropolis.

Solo or co op play, with flight and vehicles to get around a massive open world.

Space Monkey programme. Open invitation for people to create works for the game.

Working with Joseph Gordon Levitt’s media company, Hit Record, to collaborate with players on making art and media for the game.

Idea is that everything is actually being worked on, with the players.

I’m not thrilled about this, as it seems a little bit like not paying fans to contribute to the game. More details will help.

Rainbow Six Siege

We literally just saw Para Bellum launch.

Talk today is about the community. 35 million players now.

Sneak peak at an upcoming documentary on pro siege players. Another Mindset.  It looks fairly well shot.

Trials Rising

A man has ridden a motorbike in to the stage on in an evil kineival suit, then pratfalls on to a TV stand. Trials is all about crashing and getting back up again.

Trials is back, with Ubisofts’ Redlynx and Kiev working together.

Competition is the big thing here, working with the players more than ever here.

Now Professor FatShady is here. He’s a YouTube who gives an advice for how to play trials. He’s been asked to design and create all the tutorial content, as well as 20 other community members who have helped shape the game.

Closed beta coming later this year.

Releasing on Feb 2019, On PC, Xbox, PS4 and for the first time on Switch.

Gameplay footage set to classical music as players perform ludicrous stunts in Trials Rising.

The Division 2

We saw a fairly extended gameplay sequence at Microsoft yesterday, so now the Creative Director is here to talk us through the game.

Some literal snowdrops (the Game is built on the snowdrop engine) appearing as the game begins showing off a Cinematic Trailer of people surviving in a commune in Washington DC. Outside, the city is a ruin, with lawless criminals murdering and stealing, while innocent people cower in fear.

The city is decaying and dying, literally as the streets fill with refuse. Mini dictators enforcing martial law on the remaining populace.

Thankfully, the brave men and women of The Division are here to fight all the lawlessness and save Washington DC. It’s very poe faced.

Aim of the game is to save the civilians and Innocents from tyrants in DC. 

Story based campaign where your actions have a significant impact.

New progression path at the end of the main campaign. Choosing a signature weapon, specialising to unlock additional tools and abilites. Idea is that a player can be completely unique to their own playstyle.

8 player parties, specifically for Raids which will be in Division 2.

Launching with plans for major frequent updates. Year one opens with 3 DLC. New story, new areas and new activities in each. All completely free for all players.

In game footage to finish this off. Lovely looking environments that show DC and the capital buildings in stages of collapse. Now we’re seeing a cinematic version of the gameplay sequence from yesterday’s microsoft conference.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

A band has appeared as a new game has been teased. Celebration of the upcoming Donkey Kong dlc for Mario and Rabbids Kingdom Battle on June 26th.

A compilation of various in game music, only featuring the barest hint of the DK rap.

We’re getting a lovely overview of the environments and enemies for the expansion.

Grant Kirkhope writes good music, so a mini live  concert to break up this conference is no bad thing.

Skull and Bones

Cinematic trailer of pirates finding a new Pirate Utopia and the battles that followed.

No heroes in Skull and Bones. Piracy is dead in the Caribbean, so the pirates are all moving to the Indian Ocean.

Reactive and evolving world, revealed through a fortune teller. These will be world conditions that influence the missions. Eg, Fair winds which increases the amount of ships on the sea.

Gameplay now. Start on a land based hideout. Choose a ship for each mission, then crew and outfit your ship for the mission.

There seems to be a lot of variety here, in terms of weapons, sails and more.

Deception and distraction as a strategy, flying a Portuguese flag to get past a Portuguese fort.

Boarding action following cannon battling. Then escaping where possible. Ability to Invite other players in the overworld to join your team to fight bigger odds.

Possible for many smaller ships to try and challenge a bigger one. Ships have their own class abilities, like more cannon shots in a flurry.

Ramming is confirmed to be in the game. Potential for allies to then betray each other for loot.

Beta is still looking for signups.

Basically, if you liked the sea combat in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag, this will be for you.

Transference

Elijah Wood is now on stage talking about Spectrevision, his media production company, and Ubisoft Montreal to talk about Transference.

Game about first person exploration, in other people’s minds.VR and traditional platforms, horror game built around shifting through the personalities and minds of a family.

Live action sequences, first person exploration. This game looks deeply unsettling as a family explore their demons and are manipulated by a father figure. Attempt to escape a corrupted mind.

Available Fall 2018.

Starlink: Battle for Atlas

From Ubisoft Toronto.

Third person Ship combat,  cartoony, melodramatic and vivid.

Toy ship attached to the controller, which can be modified to change player weapons and abilities.

Open world gameplay, forge alliances with local factions, upgrade your pilots and ships to defeat an encroaching evil that threatens the whole Atlas System.

It’s Star Fox. It’s literally Star Fox gameplay. But also Fox McCloud just turned up on screen. Well this was completely unexpected.

This is a collaboration between Nintendo and Ubisoft again, and Miyamoto appears to have just turned up in the audience. Now he’s being thanked by Yves Guillemots.

The Starlink toy for the Arwing looks very impressive. It’s prototype has just been unveiled and handed to Miyamoto.

Available on all consoles on October 16th 2018, with Starfox only on Switch.

For Honor

They’re thanking the fans for their passion and commitment, through all the updates and feedback to the game.

Celebrating E3 by giving away the PC starter edition on Uplay. For Free.

The world of For Honor is expanding. Cinematic Trailer of a knight mid combat wandering through a time stopped battlefield.

Chinese faction joining for Honor. Huge new variety of weapons, expansion called For Honor: Marching Fire.

New faction, new fighters, new single player combat.

Update will also answer a frequent request, a mode called Breach based around a castle siege.

Defend/Take the Castle.

Release is 16/10/18.

The Crew 2

This is out in a few days. Releases on June 29th, Open Beta from June 21st. Preload available right now.

New in engine trailer to get people excited:

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Ubisoft Quebec Production.

As the leaks predicted, this is an assassin’s Creed game set in the Peloponnesian islands of Greece, with ship based combat.

“Write your Odyssey across the mountains and the seas.”

Game described as a “Roleplaying Journey”

This is literally based around the Peloponnesian War where Athens and Sparta fought.

Been being built for the last three years.

RPG experience, shaped by your actions and choices.

Choose your character. Can play Alexios (m) or Kassandra (f). Share the bloodline of Leonidas (the one from 300) and bear Leonidas Spear.

This magic spear appears to give special abilities, and is likely the answer to the hidden blade in other games.

Change to the way they tell stories, as the player can make dialogue choices about missions.

Gameplay trailer to end the sequence.

We’re seeing Kassandra in action now. These environments are stunning, verdant Grecian landscapes that seem fully lived in.

Mercenaries hunt the player, leading to ongoing fights against fighters.

Full RPG style upgrade trees and skills, with item management.

Those conversation trees hint at romance options, including same sex options. And if there was ever a time it would be historically accurate, well, this is it.

Large scale conflicts, which the player is in the middle of. Lots of characters on screen battling.

Weapon switching mid combat is a feature, along with finishing moves.

And there’s a Minotaur. Which means magic is probably in the game.

Yves now takes the stage, along with all contributors, to say thanks and to take about the positivity of all games.  Ubisoft always put together a good show, so it’s hard not to be impressed even when they’re just performing elaborate dance routines.