It’s E3 time again and much like the first snow fall is the harbinger of winter, the Microsoft E3 Media Briefing is the traditional start to the week of E3. Microsoft’s focus this year, as Phil Spencer pointed out in his opening remarks was games, games and games. The presentation stuck to that mantra the entire 90 minutes.
Not surprisingly, Microsoft first trotted out Call of Duty Advanced Warfare and announced that once again, all CoD DLC this year will arrive first on Xbox Live. Now, Phil Spencer did say that this Call of Duty was exciting and new. Then the on-stage playthrough began and other than a few mechanized units, it still looked like a military shooter. And what would a military shooter campaign be without a pulled-straight-from-Hollywood story beat of a comrade in arms you must leave behind so that you can survive. Yes, that’s in there. Call of Duty Advanced Warfare is releasing on 11/4/2014.
Next up, Dan Greenwalt from Turn 10 Studios came out to Forza Horizon 2, but before that announcement, he dropped that the Nurburgring would be released as DLC for Forza Motorsport 5. A map long awaited for by fans and players, the Nurburgring is available now and it is free. They finally showed off Forza Horizon 2 with its 200 cars, day/night cycle, clubs that can hold up to a thousand people and dynamic weather. They were also excited to have people’s Forza 5 drivatars in Forza Horizon 2.
Evolve was trotted out next with exclusive beta and DLC coming to Xbox being the big announcement. Didn’t look like anything too new from what they’ve shown previously. Players can be one of four classes: Assault, Trapper, Medic or Support. You can also play as the monster for a little 4-v-1 action. Exciting stuff from the Left4Dead guys.
Probably the thing that excited me the most was the next game: Assassin’s Creed Unity. Set in late 18th Century in Paris, at the beginning of the French Revolution, Unity’s big reveal at this E3 was the addition of 4-player online co-op. Four separate assassins infiltrating a French mansion.
The trailer for Sunset Overdrive was fantastic, because I actually started writing in my notes “Another boring military shooter…” in drab browns and grays and pow one of the characters comes busting through the door in spectacle of lights and sound. Extremely colorful and full of tongue in cheek game play, Sunset Overdrive is definitely one game I’ll be keeping an eye on in the coming months. The game releases on 10/28/2014.
There is new DLC out right now for Dead Rising 3 that looks to play more with an arcade feel to it. Dress up as a myriad of Capcom characters and destroy hordes of zombies. Definitely following the lines of Far Cry Blood Dragon, the DLC embraces not taking itself too seriously. It’s called Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha.
Harmonix was on stage next to not only remind people that Kinect games still exist for the Xbox One with Disney’s Fantasia Music Evolved, but that they’ll be releasing a digital-only Dance Central Spotlight. So, it looks like Harmonix is doubling down on Kinect. Dance Central Spotlight will be released on Xbox One on 9/28/2014 and Fantasia will be on 10/21/2014.
Lionhood Studios walked out and demonstrated Fable Legends. A four-player co-op experience focused on loot and adventure. The kicker seems to be that someone can also play as the villain. As the villain, you can set up enemies and traps for the adventurers to walk into; orchestrate the battle. You can sign-up to be a part of the beta at Fablelegends.com.
Before trotting out all the Halo news, Microsoft reminded us that Project Spark is still a thing. More bland information, except for that they’re building a Concur’s Bad Fur Day in Spark. Microsoft also showed a beautiful game from Moon Studios called Ori and the Blind Forest. I felt more of an emotional connection to those three minutes than I did the entire previous hour.
343 Industries’ Bonnie Ross came out next to announce Halo The Master Chief Collection. All the numbered Halo franchises on one disc. And much like late-night infomercials, there’s MORE! In the Halo The Master Chief Collection, you’ll also receive the Halo Nightfall live action series and be allowed into the Halo 5 beta this holiday season. A big announcement, which must be great for Halo 2 multiplayer people, but that the engine for the Halo 2 multiplayer is exactly the same.
They ended up the briefing showing the Limbo guys showing off Inside. It looks interesting and creepy. Something I’m totally in to, was the premiere announcement of Rise of the Tomb Raider. Definitely need some more Lara Croft. Microsoft also showed some amazing The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt footage as well as Phantom Dust, The Division and Platinum Games‘ next title called Scalebound. Lastly was showing the Xbox One Crackdown. The cinematic trailer for Crackdown looks amazing, but I don’t know how they will recreate the experience.
Overall, I don’t think Microsoft really broke the bank on risk during their media briefing, but they really made good on everything they said they would. For the rest of 2014 and into 2015, I’m with Microsoft – Bring on the Games!