The hype train has officially left the station. The yearly media circus that is the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) officially launched yesterday, where all the biggest names in video games vie for your attention and your pre-orders.
There’s a lot of noise coming from Los Angeles, but here’s a quick list of the biggest and most exciting announcements to drop at E3.
Click the links to jump to the publisher:
On Sunday, Bethesda fired the first shots with their “E3 showcase,” announcing Fallout 4, Dishonored 2, and a new Doom. None of this was terribly surprising, but none of it needed to be — these titles are enough to get people excited.
The new Doom – simply titled Doom – promises “badass demos, big effing guns, and moving really, really fast.” The double-barreled super shotgun, the chainsaw, and the legendary BFG made an appearance on their demo, all to bloody delight. Doom is slated for launch in Spring 2016 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
The Victorian steampunk Dishonored 2 takes place a decade or two after its predecessor. Little Emily Kaldwin is all grown up, and she’s a masked assassin like her Uncle Corvo. Both Corvo and Emily are playable characters in this version, and, like the first Dishonored, it’s possible to play with completely in shadows or with gun’s blazing, if that’s your thing. Dishonored 2 doesn’t have a date yet, but it’ll be available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
And then, there’s the big one. To much excitement, Game Director Todd Howard brought us our first look at Fallout 4. Set in post-apocalyptic Boston, you play as the sole survivor of Vault 111, awakening 200 years after the nuclear fallout. The wrist-attached Pip Boy is back as your main system control – handling your S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats and the V.A.T.S combat system.
A real-life Pip-Boy will be available in the game’s collector’s edition, which can house your smartphone running a Pip-Boy app for a second screen – which is pretty damn awesome. (You can just run the app without the Pip-Boy housing on your arm, but… why would you?)
Fallout 4 emerges from the Vault on November 10, 2015 on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. A bonus for Microsoft fans, Fallout mods will be available on both Xbox One and PC and can be freely transferred between both systems.
Ubisoft tends to rest on the weight of its big titles – Assassin’s Creed, Tom Clancy, Just Dance – but this year’s press conference, hosted again by lady boner enthusiast Aisha Tyler, had a few surprises.
And it started with Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Despite saying that they’d never make a game again, the duo literally said “fuck it” — and South Park: The Fractured but Whole (say it three times fast) was born.
Moving from Obsidian Entertainment to Ubisoft San Francisco, the game premiered in a trailer that captures that classic South Park humor, but little else. No gameplay was shown, but the trailer does show a shift from the mystical Lord of Rings parody to a superhero parody starring Coon and Friends. Given the surprise smash that was South Park: The Stick of Truth, it will be exciting to see what The Fractured but Whole squeezes out. (Nailed it.)
The new Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate showed some beautiful pre-rendered footage, including some horses with a rather unfortunate future, but not much else. Our Victorian assassin (not to be confused with Emily Kaldwin) sports a hookshot-like device in addition to his canesword and hidden blade and, apparently, beats up guys in a pub for fun.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege and Tom Clancy’s The Division had demos (again) — both look like fairly intense experiences, but neither looked all that different from their showings at last year’s E3. At this point, let’s just get our hands on them already.
Lastly, in an impressively effective trailer featuring real gameplay, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands got its world premiere from Ubisoft Paris. Feature what looks like a large, open world that is apparently overrun with drug dealers. Like Far Cry, objectives can be pulled off with stealth or gunfire, but Ghost Recon appears to give you the option for attacking by air or by ATV, which should give some different options for play.
Unlike Bethesda, EA seemed to go for quantity over quality, but a few games stood out.
First things first, Mass Effect: Andromeda. Last year, all that was announced was that Mass Effect was still a thing. This year, all that was announced was that Mass Effect is still a thing and also has a name. But I love the franchise so much, I’m still pretty damn excited.
Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, a prequel to 2008’s Mirror’s Edge, that promises “no levels, no leading screens” in the white-colored city that eventually brings rise to the Faith we know. Catalyst is slated for release on February 23, 2016.
EA’s various sports titles are all back for another year – you’re shocked, I know – and it was, accordingly, met with little aplomb.
But then, Star Wars: Battlefront appeared. Just watch this multiplayer gameplay and tell me that this doesn’t tickle your inner nerd.
Lastly, the new puzzle-platformer Unravel was announced, where you take control of Yarny, an adorable little being made of red yarn.
All of the news from the Xbox and Sony press conferences will be up later today, so keep an eye on OTF. We’ll bring the round up the big news.