The Xbox E3 2015 Round-Up
It's safe to say that the Xbox One is on its way up, after the train wreck showing a few years ago when it was all about Kinect and that always online nonsense, this years showing was all about games, games, games...and holograms. Read on for all the details
To save filling this entire article with YouTube videos, we've put link's to all the reveal trailers in the title of each respective game. Give them a click and you'll be taken straight to the launch trailers to feast your eyes upon.
Halo 5
Kicking off with the Master Chief making his come back is no bad way to start a show and while we've already seen some of the Guardians in previous shows and the beta, it's looking to be shaping up fantastically. With updated controls, the shooting looks more accessible than ever and the Warzone gameplay mode that was shown had me anxious to get back into some competitive Multiplayer space shootouts.
Warzone brings a new type of Multiplayer with 24 player versus on huge maps, filling these maps is Covenant and Forerunner enemies that you need to eliminate. There's also bases to capture and enemy strongholds to destroy, it's basically everything rolled into one big package. Hit the link above to find out more. There was also some single player shown too, as Locke and his team of fellow Spartan IV hunt down the Chief, everything can be played in drop in/out co-op with 4 players.
Warzone brings a new type of Multiplayer with 24 player versus on huge maps, filling these maps is Covenant and Forerunner enemies that you need to eliminate. There's also bases to capture and enemy strongholds to destroy, it's basically everything rolled into one big package. Hit the link above to find out more. There was also some single player shown too, as Locke and his team of fellow Spartan IV hunt down the Chief, everything can be played in drop in/out co-op with 4 players.
Halo 5 will be out on October 27th 2015.
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| It's red vs blue again, pick your sides now |
Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune teams up with the makers of the Metroid Prime series to bring another game set in a post apocalyptic world, as a mysterious young woman with a robot dog. Half way through the trailer, your dog sacrifices itself to protect you by blowing itself up to defeat an overwhelming number of angry machines. Leaving behind a large glowing blue orb, the girl places it inside another, much larger robot, and her companion spins back to life. With some beautiful art direction, this is something I'm personally going to be keeping an eye on.
ReCore is currently set for Spring 2016
Backwards Compatability
This one seemed to blow everyone away except me, the Xbox One will now be able to play Xbox 360 games. How this works is the Xbox One now has a 360 emulator running through its software, so any games you've previously downloaded may be playable on the Xbox One. I say maybe as there's only going to be around 100 titles available when it launches later in the year, however if you're in the Xbox Preview Program, there are a selection of around 15 titles already available. The reasons for the restrictions on the games are mainly legal licensing issues and old USB devices as well as the original Kinect will not function with an Xbox One. If you have games on disc, you can put them in the Xbox One and then download a version of it to run through the 360, much like you do with standard Xbox One games. From within the game you can use the Xbox 360 guide to chat to friends and check achievements, all of which transfer over as they use Microsofts Cloud saves.
Backwards Compatability is scheduled for release for free in Autumn 2015.
Fallout 4
Fallout 4 had a brief showing during the Xbox Conference, the big news was mod support. While not a console exclusive, Xbox will be getting mods shortly after the PC version has them and then they'll be available on PS4 as well, and best of all, mods will be free so excellent news for everyone!
We'll have a full write up of all the Fallout 4 news soon. Fallout 4 will be out November 10th 2015.
PvZ Garden Warfare was a real surprise hit for me, so hearing a sequel is coming is music to my ears. Things have changed since the first game, gone are the gardens of the suburbs, the zombies won the battle and we're playing on their grave cover turf now. Each team has some new characters to play with, all the old classes are in there to. The Zombies are finally getting a melee specialist in the form of a zombie in a super hero suit and a sniper who looks like a pirate, a small imp like zombie who can call in a mech suit to wreck shop just like in Titanfall. The plants have new units too, one of them is a big Rose, a sweet one that looks like a heavy gunner and a crazy looking orange that looks like a sentry turret.
PvZ Garden Warfare 2 will be sprouting out in Spring 2016.
First of the non game related shockers, there's a new controller for the Xbox One coming and it's got way more than just an extra headphone jack. With 4 paddles on the back which will making driving more fun, as you can put gear shifts on them more like an actual race car and interchangeable button configurations if you like that sort of thing. The D pad can also be switched out for a strange looking dish to roll your thumb around and even greater precision on those twin sticks, which can also be size adjusted to fit your thumbs better. There's also a locking mechanism on the triggers for those that like a tighter squeeze on the old shoulder buttons.
The Elite should be available before the end of the year.
Petrol heads should be pleased as Forza is now over the horizon and back on the tracks again in the latest iteration of Turn 10s driving simulator. With 24 player online racing and a ridiculous amount of cars, and with the new Elite controller there's probably not been a better time getting back in the racing seat.
Forza 6 will be available on September 15th 2015.
Dark Souls is back to kill you repeatedly all over again, not a whole lot of details here with just a trailer for show. City cover in ash? Check. Creepy monsters wandering around? Check. Zombie King rising from the grave? Check. Expect to have your face ripped off and your butt throughly kicked early next year when the game is released.
Ubisoft showed off a bit more of the Division, which is getting an Xbox exclusive beta in December. It's multiplayer has also been shown off which reminds me of Kane & Lynch (stay with me here) Entering the Dark Zones of Manhatten, you're free to team up with random people to take on some of the survivors and steal their loot. Once you're at an extraction zone, you're free to either help your new found team mates, or screw them over and steal everything they have.
The Division was also announced to be out in March 2016.
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| So where are we headed? |
Rainbow Six Siege also had some juicy details, as well as the game itself, both Rainbow Six Vegas 1 & 2 will be bundled into the package. These will be the Xbox 360 versions which you can now play thanks to the backwards capabilities available in the coming months. That's 3 games for the price of one!
Xbox Indie games seem to be growing in both number and quality, there's far too many games for me to write about from the short montage video so I've cherry picked a few and you can watch the rest by clicking above.
Cuphead is like no game you've ever seen, with visuals straight out of a 1930s cartoon and a soundtrack to match, this fast paced side scrolling shooter looks set to be next year's big arcade style game.
Beyond Eyes has you play as a blind girl leaving the safety of her home for the first time and using her other senses to navigate the strange new world around her.
From the makers of Gone Home comes Tacoma, an exploration game where you travel around a lunar space station, trying to find out what's happened to the rest of the crew.
Xbox...Early Access?
Xbox is going to be running a games preview program similar to how Steam currently does its Early Access program where you can play games that are still in development. However unlike Steam, Xbox will let you play a free trial before you throw any of your hard earned money at your TV screen. A couple of games are already on the Xbox One Preview right now, Elite: Dangerous and The Long Dark can both be found in the Xbox Store if you do a bit of searching.
HoloLens
A few weeks back, Microsoft announced its plans to invest in Oculus Rift, bundling Xbox One controllers with the VR head display as well as having Oculus support on the Xbox, the bombshell that really hit though was Hololens. An untethered holographic projection display that has to be seen to be believed. This is something you have to see for yourself. If you only watch one of the videos linked in this article, make sure it's this one. Actually it's so impressive, I'm putting the video right here, this could be the future of gaming right here!
In the demo of HoloLens, a special build of Minecraft is created on a table top. If you've got a 3DS, it looks similar to how the AR Card games work, the difference is while using HoloLens, you don't need a special card to make it work, just a flat surface. I've been fairly unswayed by all the Virtual Reality tech up until now, and I am a bit skeptical about how good it really works. Let's not forget that Kinect looked really good when it was first unveiled but in my room at home, it didn't really work like that. I still really want to try HoloLens for myself.
Remember when Rare were good? That's something I've heard a lot in the last few years, relegated to making Kinect Sports games and Avatar stuff, I can see why people have lost a bit of faith in them. Well remember no more as 30 of Rares all time classics are coming to Xbox One for the bargain price of 30 dollars! (That'll probably end up being £30 over here) Rare Replay collects together games from all generations ranging from Battletoads to Banjo through Conkers Bad Fur Day to Killer Instinct, and all the way to Perfect Dark and Viva Piñata, even Jet Force Gemini is in there! One of my personal favourites. This is all in celebration of Rare turning 30, seeing a pattern yet? Oh and if you're one of those gamerscore chasers, Rare Replay has an insane 10,000g to earn in it.
As well as the old stuff, Rare are also bringing a new game, a massive open ocean multiplayer pirate game which looks a cross between Assassins Creed Black Flag and Monkey Island. Sea of Thieves brings ship to ship combat in a big way, with players taking different roles onboard, be you the captain sailing it or manning the cannons to devastate other pirates who are trying to board you. It all looks very neat, looking forward to seeing even more of this. For now it looks like Rare is back!
Lara Croft is back again for some more tomb raiding action, the E3 trailer was all about surviving the mountains while looking for some ruins. Climbing a snow covered mountain with her friend Jonah, ice tries to impale Lara as she clambers up some cliff faces and an avalanche tries to bury her under tons of sleet. There's also some scene's with Lara being thrown in a cell and using her trusty ice picks to wreck a wall among other things.
Tomb Raider is out on November 10th 2015.
Tomb Raider is out on November 10th 2015.
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| Hang in there Lara! |
Missing Gears of War? Well there's 2 games coming soon, there's the Gears of War Ultimate Edition, a remastering of the original game, I was kind of hoping for the trilogy, but after seeing the troubles that the Master Chief collection has been through, maybe one game is fine. With the backwards compatability I'll be able to play Gears 2 and 3 anyways. It's bringing all the entire original up to date along with some new content thrown in there. There's also a beta up right now so go get on your Xbox One and check your messages for download instructions.
Gears Ultimate is headed to Xbox One in August 2015.
Secondly is Gears 4, throwing some new characters into the meat grinder that is the Gear Universe, we see a pair of COG soldiers chasing down a new monster in a very dark city. If you're a fan of the chainsaw gun you're in luck as it's still here, along with the Gnasher shotgun and the snub pistol. If you purchase the Gears Ultimate Edition mentioned above, you'll get early access into the Gears 4 beta.
Gears 4 is set for release near the end of 2016.
Want to see the whole event for yourself? See the full video below.
Gears 4 is set for release near the end of 2016.
Want to see the whole event for yourself? See the full video below.
Phew! That was a whole lot of news! So how was that for an E3 showing? Did Microsoft hit all the right notes or leave you wanting more? Let us know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @chaosriotzero
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