The Obligatory E3 Post

Another E3 has come and gone, just like it does every year in June at this point. This year wasn't quite as exciting as last year's show but I feel like we got a decent enough idea of what's in the pipeline for several developers as well as the three console manufacturers. This post more or less is going to cover the 5 things I was most excited about from the show and maybe a little bit of what I found disappointing or have mixed feelings about. So lets get started.

Detroit: Become Human

Now this had been on my radar since it was originally revealed last year and the previous Kara tech demo that tied into it. I have a soft spot for Quantic Dream ever since Heavy Rain was released for the PS3. To this day it's one of the best games I played on that console. With Detroit they plan to give us a noir thriller set in a futuristic Detroit where androids have become commonplace. The problem that arises from this situation is that some of these androids begin to malfunction when they begin to gain sentience and experience emotion. The gameplay demo and trailer shown at E3 clearly display this with a story scenario in which a malfunctioning android has killed their owner and taken a hostage leading to a tense standoff with the player controlled android crisis negotiator. As per usual, Quantic Dream is blending their unique, almost point and click adventure style with some advanced visuals that are blended with performance capture. If this small gameplay sample is an indication of how the final game will be then I'd say they have a solid title on their hands.

God of War

Another Sony exclusive that was unveiled during the press briefing. God of War sees Sony's Santa Monica studios pivot to Norse mythology after Kratos' last adventures which should be some interesting territory for them to cover. It's not just Kratos that they're bringing to the table though as the demo features the addition of Kratos' offspring was a AI companion, similar to Ellie in The Last of Us. Naturally with the power of the PS4 visuals have been pumped up beyond that of any previous God of War game and look incredible at this early point in development. And thankfully combat looks to remain just as smooth and brutal as previous titles; making this a hotly anticipated sequel(or is it a soft reboot into a new mythology?).

State of Decay 2

Sadly this is the only game from the Microsoft showing that I had any interest in. While I never played the original State of Decay I did follow it's development pretty closely when it was originally announced as a potential multiplayer title. A multiplayer zombie survival game sounded like an excellent idea at the time especially given how online multiplayer had been flourishing. Sadly that concept proved to be too ambitious at the time and eventually the game that released was a single player affair. State of Decay 2 promises more of that survival style gameplay that was introduced in the first title but with the added caveat of 4 player co-op in a persistent game world. Sounds like Microsoft will finally realize that original concept. 

Death Stranding

Sony, Kojima, Norman Reedus. Do I really need to say anymore? Yes, probably. So there was no gameplay footage but it was nice to have Kojima pop up with his new title in this post-Konami world. Considering everything that went down between him and his former employers following the release of Metal Gear Solid 5 it's good to see that he's still keen on collaborating with the same minds that were working on Silent Hills with him. The trailer revealed really gives us no clue about what the story is about or what type of game it is but it's effective at getting people interested so there's that. Looking forward to seeing more, Kojima-san.



Days Gone
If you haven't noticed, this list is Sony heavy because that's where a majority of the really good titles were actually shown. Sony Bend's title rounds out my list as it hits a nerve similar to The Last of Us in that it's another post apocalyptic, single player focused experience. The game was revealed early on in the conference and also closed out the show with an impressive live demo that featured some unique zombie horde mechanics and an incredible amount of on screen enemies. Needless to say this went from a relative unknown, new property to being pretty high on my list. Plus the game stars Sam Witwer in the lead role and who doesn't love Sam Witwer?



Assorted Blurbs
So I have a few other games that are worth mentioning but not for a full write up like the ones above.

The Last Guardian - Don't get me wrong, I'm super pumped for The Last Guardian. After coming back from being vaporware last year I got pretty excited about it but the biggest thing to mention from its showing this year was that it has an official release date. So bring it on.

Resident Evil 7 - Pretty big surprise here in the fact that it was revealed; even more surprising is the direction the game is taking. We've gone from a third person action-horror game to a first person horror-thriller scenario ala P.T. Might be one to keep an eye on but I didn't much care for the actual demo that was released.

Batman VR - I mean..it's Batman..in VR. Aside from a trailer we didn't get anything else but the idea itself is enough to pique my interest.

ReCore - I remember being very interested in this when it was initially revealed but frankly the little bit of gameplay I saw looked fairly basic. I really hope there's more to the mechanics than what they showed on stage this year.

Titanfall 2 - I bought into the first Titanfall game. It was highly entertaining but the player base dropped dramatically afterward. The sequel looks to be building on what was essentially a solid game but with added weapons, gear, and new Titans. I mean there's a grappling hook now. As Uncharted 4 has shown us, every game can be enhanced with grappling hooks.

Watch Dogs 2 - Another sequel that I'm cautiously optimistic about. The first game didn't leave a very good impression but that could be more so because of the debacle with it being delayed for so long and the downgrade in graphics. Promotion for the first game was never handled very well. The second game has a chance to take what was a really good concept and strip away the more annoying, almost Assassin's Creed-esque issues with the first game and give us a really entertaining title.

Ghost Recon: Wildlands - I'm kinda crazy for co-op games. 4 player co-op seems like a really good idea. Four player open world, tactical co-op sounds amazing. But Ubisoft has a certain kinda track record that makes me a little uneasy about the prospect of this game. The gameplay looks good but it's another title to be kinda cautious about.

Microsoft - Okay, Microsoft is worth a blurb for the fact that their show was kind of lackluster but they mentioned two interesting things. The first was a planned update to the X-Box Live firmware that will bring with it a feature called Play Anywhere. What this will allow is for you to take your X-Box One purchased game and play it not just on your X-Box but also on your Windows 10 PC. Not just some sort of remote play feature but the full fledged title being available on PC. As someone who spends increasingly more time on PC instead of on my consoles this is a welcome feature. On top of this Microsoft let slip their plans for an updated X-Box One dubbed Scorpio which will have greater graphically capability, bringing consoles closer to the goal of 60FPS games and 4K resolution graphics. No official details yet but at least you get the sense that Microsoft is really starting to get a good idea of how to handle the future of their console.

So this is my list. While I saw quite a few other games during this year's E3 coverage, these are the things that really stood out to me from a major publisher/developer standpoint. Feel free to comment with any thoughts on the titles that interested you at E3 2016.