E3 2014 : For Microsoft, it’s all about the games (+ more trailers)
The Xbox One had a rocky start. Microsoft clearly had a different vision for the console when it was first conceived, but the public had a different opinion. And the Redmond giant seems to be a great listener.
In this year’s E3 conference, Microsoft was all about gaming. No TV capabilities, no web surfing, no social, no living room; just games, games and more games. Here’s what they unveiled:
Call of Duty : Advanced Warfare
Call of Duty is massive, and Xbox has its latest and greatest. Advanced Warfare is a futuristic shooter, which has all the bells and whistles you’d expect from the series, like mech suits, augmented soldier armour etc. No release date was given.
Forza Horizon 2
Forza Horizon 2 is an Xbox exclusive and will be released this fall, on September 30th. More tracks, more cars and everything you love about the Forza series will be present.
Evolve
Evolve is the futuristic team shooter from the creators that gave Left 4 Dead to the world. Xbox One will get a beta this fall, plus an exclusive DLC.
Assassin’s Creed: Unity
The newest Assassin’s Creed takes place during the years of the French Revolution and will allow you to play together with three more players, for the ultimate in co-op play.
Dragon Age : Inquisition
The gorgeous landscapes of Dragon Age were shown, and of course dragons. Xbox One gets to have an exclusive DLC too.
Sunset Overdrive
Another Xbox exclusive, this game looks like pure fun. It’s action based, third person shooter that is totally over the top in just about everything: colourful graphics, gameplay, jumps, shootouts, you name it. It looks ridiculous and that’s exactly the reason we’re already interested in it.
Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha
It’s the game title of the year. No doubt about it; Capcom is not taking itself very seriously. It’s based on Dead Rising 3 and it allows you to have various Capcom characters and have fun with it. The proper Dead Rising 3 will be getting a DLC later this year too.
Fantasia : Music Evolved / Dance Central : Spotlight
Harmonix announced those two titles for those of you who like to party and dance; they are Kinect based of course and promise hours of dancing for the whole family.
Fable : Legends
The land of Albion is back, with great next-gen visuals and the chance to be the villain for once. A multiplayer beta will launch this fall for everyone to check out.
Project Spark
Even though it’s not a new game, Microsoft added it in its lineup as well just to present the famous alcoholic squirrel, Conker (of Conker’s Bad Fur Day fame, an old N64 game), who is an Xbox One exclusive.
Ori and The Blind Forest
Not only heavy hitters were shown; Ori and the Blind Forest is a 2D platform game with great graphics, which is dark and interesting enough to peak our interest.
Halo : The Master Chief Collection
Of course it wouldn’t be Xbox without Halo; the game that single-handedly catapulted the past Xbox consoles to the No.1 spot. An Xbox exclusive (of course), The Master Chief collection is essentially Halo 1 – 4, remastered and repackaged in one game for your playing pleasure. More than 100 multiplayer maps are included and also…
Halo 5 : Guardians
Yes. It’s coming in 2015 and it’s going to be huge. But if you want early access, you can have it in late 2014; players who bought the Master Chief Collection will get access to the multiplayer beta of Halo 5 which launches late 2014. So yet another incentive to buy the game.
Inside
Limbo was a sleeper hit, and one of the best platform games we’ve played. Its developers are hard-working on a new game, called Insider, for which they didn’t reveal much, other than it looks like it takes place on a rather dystopian future. Which is just the way we like it.
Rise of the Tomb Raider
You missed Lara didn’t you? Set for a holiday 2015 release, Lara goes through therapy and then does the tomb raiding stuff we all love.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The trailer cause quite a stir a few days ago, and Microsoft gave us a good view into the gameplay of the game, where you had to hunt down a Griffin. Which was weird for me, being a Saab enthusiast and all. The game looks awesome and we can’t wait to play it.
Phantom Dust
This was a sort of a cult classic for the original Xbox, and its revival sure turned some heads. Not much was shown gameplay-wise, other than two mages going after one another.
Tom Clancy’s The Division
You know what to expect from Tom Clancy games, and this one is no different. We saw a gameplay session with 4 players battling it out on Times Square. Looked pretty good I must say.
Scalebound
If Dragon Age wasn’t enough for you, Scalebound looks even more promising, with more ridiculous monsters and the hero battling them wearing headphones. Which, come to think of it, is interesting in its own right.
Crackdown
Explosions. Cel-shaded graphics. Fully destructible environments. More explosions. I don’t think you need to know anything more really. Watching an entire skyscraper go down is satisfying at its own right.
Indie Games @ Xbox
Last year Sony scored a touchdown with the indie focus they had, and Microsoft realised it; hence the ID @ Xbox section. We got a chance to take a peek at many indie games, such as Aztez, Forced, Knight Squad, White Night, Spectra, Cuphead, Hyper Light Drifter, Divekick, Habitat, Hellraid and more.
