E3 is back! Was it any good?
E3 is back! Was it any good?
Written by Ruin Hatter
After the 2020 cancelation of E3 due to Covid-19 E3 came back but like many of the
events over the last year, this one was held completely digital. The first day began on June 10th
with the Summer Game Fest and ended today. As of the time of writing this article the only two
big name companies left for presentation are Bandai and an EA Play Live presentation with a
time still yet to be announced.
E3, once the shining jewel of games shows, had found over the last few years dwindling
attendance and many larger companies pulling out of the show to launch their own showcases.
This year’s E3 was looking to reclaim some of that former glory, putting a number of top
companies at the forefront of this year’s show. With Covid-19 having put many conventions and
such on hold. While the pandemic did help boost sales to the industry it damaged its ability to
develop games due to the many lockdowns and quarantines that took place worldwide. Eager
to show off what they have achieved thus far companies lined up to show off their latest wares
to a consumer base eager for some new content.
Jumping in right off is Devolver Digital. This company has been known for doing some
pretty wild presentations and this year was no different. Showing their off the wall sense of
humor Devolver Digital showcased some of its upcoming titles.
Trek to Yomi was the first on the plate. A side scrolling samurai adventure was done in a
black and white noir style. The game looked slick and fast and still had that “indy” sort of feel to
it.
Phantom Abyss came next, think of it as a racing sim meeting Indiana Jones. You play
as an explorer racing through a temple trying to dodge, jump and swing past trap after trap.
Phantom players surround you as they are ghosts of other players. You’ll be able to see where
they passed a test and the moment they failed. It looked pretty fun and probably good for a night
with friends.
Wizard with a Gun came next. Touted as a multiplayer survival sandbox adventure. The
game had a feel of a cartoony diabloesq style play. The animation was close to Darkest
Dungeon. It definitely held a creepy sort of vibe.
Inscription is a card based board game that seems to have similar feels to Hand of Fate.
The game plays out actions that directly affect your character in what has become a game of life
and death. Having played both Hand of Fate games I really enjoy this kind of game when I just
want to relax with a single player experience. The addition of a horror element is fascinating and
should be a really good game.
A number of people were looking forward to Ubisofts presentation and while some
walked away with mixed feelings it definitely presented some interesting titles.
The title to make the biggest impression was Rainbow Six Extraction. Based in the same
current universe as previous titles and using the same operators. Players will now be facing off
against alien invaders. Using new gadgets that operate under the former game mechanics
players will now work in thi co-op survival title. The biggest point of interest was the game
prisoner mechanic. If your operator gets captured by the alien invaders you’ll not be able to play
them until you go and rescue them. This title could be interesting and is worth watching.
Next came Farcry 6. The Farcry series has been a fan favorite for sometime now though
many would place the height of the series back at Farcry 3. Farcry 6 comes in right away with
acting muscle in the name Giancarlo Esposito, Gus Fring of Breaking Bad fame, as the games
antagonist Anton Castillo. Ubisoft showed a nice trailer for the game and definitely showed the
drama this series is known for.
The final two offerings from Ubisoft left some people scratching their heads a bit. The
first was a Mario and Rabbids crossover called Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. It’s a goofy
3D platforming style game to be released on Nintendo Switch. Safe to safe many wondered if
this was a crossover anyone even asked for.
Last came Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. It was the first unveiling of the game and
showed a beautifully rendered trailer. Honestly other than being pretty and showing you playing
as a Na’vi there wasn’t much more that was offered. Though a new Avatar movie is slated for
release at some point. It seemed weird to release a game with a franchise that’s sort of in limbo
right now and not exactly relevant.
Gearbox’s presentation was…well..a bit cringe. In fact, it may have been the worst of the
bunch. The presentation started off with a tired old cheesy 80’s style training video. The
narration was pretty standard. It didn’t manage much emotional response or felt very engaging,
more bland and trying to be something more than it was. Shortly after that we are greeted by the
face of Randy Pitchford, founder and CEO of Gearbox, on the set of the Borderlands movie
currently being filmed. It felt a bit more self promotion about the movie then the games and the
cast’s interviews that took place felt and looked very uncomfortable. Now let’s talk about the
games…lord help me let’s talk about these games.
First up is Homeworld 3. The first Homeworld broke ground as being the first full 3D RTS
game. Set in space, it plays out like most RTS games we’ve ever played. With the RTS market
having really died off fans of the genre may have something to look forward to with this title but
having absolutely no information about it left a few wondering.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderland was another game that no one knows anything about. In true
Pitchford style, the magician is looking to use a little smoke and mirror to sell a game. Seeming
like some dragon hybrid of Borderlands and using the exact same art style it’s hard to tell what
this game is exactly. I guess time will tell though I wouldn’t be holding my breath on this one.
The Viking inspired game Tribes of Midgard. Is a survival adventure game that seems to
fly along the lines of Valheim. Where Valheim went with a more almost Minecraft graphics sort of
feel. Tribes of Midgard has gone with a more cell shaded art design that really makes things
pop. The game has an indie sort of casual feel to it and with co-op gives friends a reason to
group up and defend the World Tree.
Godfall has received a graphic upgrade as well as a new expansion. The upgrade will be
free for PS5 players who own the first one on the PS4. The new expansion is offering up some
nice cosmetic pieces as well as additional playable content. I will say while the cutscenes look
amazing the actual gameplay looks a bit shoddy still and like the fidelity one would expect of a
full graphic upgrade.
The presentation ended with an even more awkward interview with Kevin Hart on the set
of the Borderlands movie by Randy Pitchford. Honestly Hart looked like he couldn’t have been
done with that interview soon enough.
To me the presentation that stole the show had to have been Xbox and Bethesda. With
Microsoft having purchased Bethesda back in March 9th of this year, the idea of what these two
companies could bring to the table. Admittedly I’m not the fan of Bethesda as I once was.
Fallout 4 and Fallout 76’ were not very good. Skyrim may have been one of the best games
Bethesda has released in ages. Even with the insane number of re-releases, Skyrim had bugs
that had been there since day one back in 2011 when it was released still persisted when Skyrim
was released on the Nintendo Switch. Bethesda has rocked some fan confidence and some had
hoped that with Microsoft in control that would remove Todd Howard from his head role of
Bethesda. This wasn’t the case as it was Todd himself that presented over the Bethesda part of
the presentation. It would be the first game trailer shown that would be none the less then Todd
Howard’s pet project Starfield.
Starfield could be in many ways simply described as Bethesda’s Star Citizen. With an
ambitious scoop of a fully interactive universe to explore. That’s all we know..well almost. We
know that the game will be an Xbox Exclusive and available day one on the Game Pass. This is
a very smart move as you’ll have a large player base to make this game feel truly alive.
Stalker 2 was announced for release on April 28 in 2022 and will also be a Game Pass
day one game. Fans of the first Stalker title will be eager to get their hands on this one. The
trailer shown for it looked quite good and the gameplay seemed really fun and a bit deeper then
I was expecting. I’ll be keeping an eye on this one and perhaps even give the first one a go
myself.
The Back 4 Blood announcement has me honestly the most excited of all! The team that
brought you Left 4 Dead has come back with an all new title. Left 4 Dead was by far one of my
favorite games back on the Xbox 360. Though I did play the sequel I found it had fallen short of
what a masterpiece the first Left 4 Dead was. Likening back to its predecessor Back 4 Blood
seems to reach for that gritty feel the first game gave you. The voice lines heard thus far feel
fitting and no campy or over the top. The characters and environments feel real and lack the
cartoony coloring of the second Left 4 Dead. The action seems just as fast paced and frenzied
as before if not turned up a few notches. Eight playable characters grace this roster and much
like the modern superhero shooter type games each has its own unique abilities. They are
going to need them. Cause coming at them is a swarm of parasite infected zombies and
mutated creatures that have just as varied abilities as our survivors. Back 4 Blood will likely
make a number of Game of the Year lists. Back 4 Blood will be released this year on October
12th.
Another huge announcement was a collaboration with Disney bringing Captain Jack
Sparrow and many other notable characters to the Sea of Thieves universe! This is pretty cool.
The voice acting is spot on, the animation is good and it was fun to see these characters
brought into a world I know of. I wished I had played more Sea of Thieves but this content might
be enough for me to really sink into the pirate life. The expansion brings a whole brand new
storyline with it! For content creators of Sea of Thieves this was probably the most exciting news
they have had in some time. “A Pirate’s Life” is set to release for free on June 22nd.
FPS enthusiasts saw the trailer for Battlefield 2024. A Game Pass day one game set to
release on October 22nd of this year. The Battlefield franchise heads back to the future. Set
three years from now the game goes back to a modern take on warfare moving away from the
WW1 and WW2 backdrops from its last two games. Battlefield 2024 will have a dynamic
changing battlefield. Events and reactions of the players to those events will affect the battlefield
and change how each game is played. It should be interesting how this all plays together. Many
games are moving away from the static battleground like we get with COD. Where it’s always
the same and nothing changes. 2024 looks to offer a new and more dynamic experience then
ever before. I say this with bated breath as Battlefield 5 simply wasn’t that good and never seem
to even gleam a bit of the success or at least admiration Battlefield 1 did. With no game play
shown it’s tough to tell how this game is going to wash out and I’d definitely hold off on those
pre-orders until we see more of what this title looks to offer.
12 Minutes is an interactive thriller that is filled with Hollywood voice talent. The game is
a “Groundhogs Day” scenario in which a man stuck in a time loop has to work his way out. Not
really my personal cup of tea but if you like these kinds of games the voice acting alone is worth
your time.
Halo Infinite was also shown with a beautiful trailer. It felt like pretty much every other
Halo game but fans of the series are likely to be very excited about this. It was mentioned that a
free online multiplayer would be available at the same time as the story driven game would be
released. It is slated for release this holiday season.
Diablo 2 Resurrected, the remake of the classic, is set for release on September 23rd.
With online co-op, updated graphics and available across all Xbox and pc platforms. This was
my favorite Diablo game and to see it done up this way is really exciting! The game looks great
and the gameplay even after this time would definitely hold up. This is one a lot of us are waiting
to get our hands on.
Atomic Heart was a cool trailer that had a Fallout feel with a bit of telekinesis thrown in.
The game caused a few whispers around the gaming circles and should be interesting the more
we get to know about it.
SquareEnix was honestly disappointing as well. There isn’t too much to really dig into
here so let’s just get to it.
They did announce Guardians of the Galaxy and were very persistent that this was a
single player story driven game. Notably because their multiplayer Avengers title flopped so
badly nearly bleeding all of its player base. The game looks..kind of cheap. The character
models look shabby and though the game offers costume options they sort of fit? It’s a lot of
what we’ve seen before. Recycled old lines and stories repainted in a new way. Honestly
nothing special or noteworthy.
The first Final Fantasy games are getting polished and re-released as a bundle. Final
Fantasy 1 through 6 will be coming to Steam..yeah that’s really all there is to that. Old games
being sold to us again..yay.
SquareEnix also showed a road map of content for their Avengers game but honestly it
was about as interesting as a piece of bread. What goodwill there was left for this game had
long since been drained out. Those left playing it are true diehards as the games monetization
and unruly grind sucked what fun there was to be had from it.
Babylon’s Fall is an action rpg that dials in heavily on stunning visuals. The game play
comes across very hack and slash. The trailer was fun to watch but in terms of what Babylon’s
Fall is anyone’s guess.
The final big announcement was a new Final Fantasy title “Strangers in Paradise”.
Another super flashy trailer with not a lot else to go on. The game’s cut scenes look really good
and the voice acting sounded great. I really want to dig deep into a new Final Fantasy game and
I’m hoping this is going to be the one to draw me back in.
We are going to end this off with Nintendo. Nintendo was the last truly big company to
make their presentation and I was interested as to what they planned on showing this time
around.
Tekken fighter, Kazua, will be coming to the Smash Series very soon. So fans of both
games will be happy about this addition. To me Tekken feels like it’s been out of the loop for a bit
now and much of the Smash audience may not even be fully aware of who he is or why he can
turn into a demon. But the montage of him dropping Smash characters off the cliff was good for
a laugh.
Life is Strange is being released once more this time of the Switch. If you enjoy these
narrative type games this one should be worth your attention.
Mario Party Superstars will be making its way to the Switch soon allowing for online and
local wireless LAN play. Sporting over 100 mini games this was always a favorite of mine to play
with friends while having a few drinks.
Slated for October 8th Metroid Dread will be making its way into our hands. Going back
to the 2D style that game came from back on the first Nintendo system. I was honestly surprised
they chose this direction for the Metroid series as the Prime games had been focused on
Samus being played in first person view. I’m honestly a bit excited to see the return to the old
2D gameplay as I’m a fan of the “Metroidvania” style games. This one was one of the first so it
should be interesting to see the modern takes on the classic style.
Finally in 2022 a new Breath of the Wild game will be released. The trailer didn’t show
too much other than what presume is Gannon’s castle being lifted high into the air. There was
talk about the skies above Hyrule being a new area of play for the characters making the world
even bigger. As to how exactly this will play into the overall game play hasn’t been made known
yet by Nintendo.
There was a lot more to this year’s E3. Indy titles were shown far more than any
previous E3 and could be another sign that indie devs are simply growing in number as the
triple A dev market becomes less welcoming to young developers. A number of games looked
great but lacked any real information. Too often I feel we get a lot of spit and polish in these
shows but not a lot in terms of something really to lean into. Back 4 Blood is still for me the best
game of the show and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. A few other titles looked promising.
Without a doubt Microsoft showed why the Game Pass is the best deal in gaming. As it felt
every other game was going to be on Game Pass if not on their day one! Overall the show has
been pretty good these last few days. Also I think going forward we really should just leave E3
as a virtual event. This just feels a bit better overall than to make a trip just to get shown a