Xbox at E3 2018: Everything Announced at Xbox’s E3 Showcase
Jun. 11, 2018Microsoft partnered with a lot of gaming studios to showcase not just their own console exclusives, but also some of the other hot and upcoming titles from other studios. In fact, the whole presentation consisted of a total of 18 exclusives and 15 world premiers of games. So, without wasting any time, let’s get right into it:
Halo Infinite
According to 343 Industries, this new game will be “the next chapter of the legendary franchise,” and it will be available on both Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs. However, there is no information yet about the game’s release date yet.
Next up, we have FromSoftware, who is working in close collaboration with Activision, and their next game is called Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
The basic concept of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is to give players control of a “hard-hearted warrior whose mission is to rescue his master, a young lord, and exact revenge on his arch nemesis.” Sekiro will take place in the Sengoku period of Japan and will probably have the same style of intense combat action and difficulty, as other titles from FromSoftware.
While Bethesda’s E3 conference is only a couple of hours away, Bethesda Softworks’ Todd Howard chose to reveal the first trailer of their upcoming title, Fallout 76, at Microsoft’s E3 presentation.
The next game on this list comes from Dontnod Entertainment, which is set in the universe of Life is Strange. Called The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, the game will be a self-contained story.
The story follows Chris, a 10-year-old boy who dreams of adventure. The game is based on an original story and aims to allow players to experience the fantasy world of a child’s imaginations. Apart from the trailer, Dontnod also states that the game will “give you glimpse into Life is Strange 2’s brand-new story… but only if you’re clever enough to piece the clues together.”
What’s more is that the game will be available for absolutely free on the Xbox Store from June 26th.
While the first trailer had showcased skyscraper-scale destruction, the new trailer falls closer in line with the supercop gameplay of the original Crackdown. It features Terry Crews’ character, who runs around and shoots things. Oh, and he apparently love to yell, like, a lot!
Something that we had been waiting for a long time is finally happening. Nier: Automata, which was a timed exclusive for the PS4 consoles, is making its way over to Xbox.
A special Become As Gods edition will hit the Xbox Store, bundling the base game, the 3C3C1D119440927 expansion, and a slew of in-game skins and accessories, including a Grimoire Weiss-themed robot companion. The Japanese RPG had a mind-bending story, conceived by Nier and Drakengard director Yoko Taro, and a snappy combat system refined by Bayonetta developer PlatinumGames.
The eagerly anticipated first-person shooter, Metro Exodus, was also showcased at Microsoft’s presentation, revealing a new trailer along with the release date for the game as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=686FVeMU-o8
Similar to previous Metro games, there’s plenty of mutated creatures being gunned down, but most importantly it looks like the tense, unsettling atmosphere isn’t lost amongst the bombastic gunplay. Apart from that, the ongoing narration highlights that there will be a strong emphasis on storytelling, which is good news for those that have been following Artyom’s journey from the start. The gameplay demo opened with a man giving a speech about survival, before quickly showing off a variety of weapons and customization options.
For those of you who are Disney fans, this might be the biggest announcement from Microsoft’s conference for you.
As the conclusion to the core trilogy of games, focusing on Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s adventures through Disney-themed worlds, the third game looks to expand its scope even further while still showing that it has still got its charm and plenty of heart. The new trailer sees Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy encounter Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Sven, and Kristoff from Frozen. Other characters featured are Rapunzel from Tangled, Hercules, and the Monsters Inc.crew.
Sea of Thieves‘ world continues to evolve in the wake of The Hungering Deep. Over the next few months, Cursed Sails and Forsaken Shores will deliver new features, declare new challenges and show new threats. Cursed Sails is said to add a new ship type, and Forsaken Shores will add a whole new area to set sail.
The Cursed Sails DLC is set for July, while Forsaken Shores will follow in September.
Forza Horizon 4 will see players traveling to Britain and will feature the same arcade style open-world gameplay that Forza Horizon is known for. Apart from being heavily optimized for Xbox One X, with a 60 FPS mode, the major addition to this year’s Forza is dynamic seasons. Seasons will change throughout the gameplay and dramatically affect how the world looks and how cars will drive. Forza Horizon 4 also features a shared open world, where the other cars that players encounter are actually other players, who’ll you’ll be able to race against and with in real time.
Microsoft also announced a new surrealist adventure game from Compulsion games and publisher Gearbox, We Happy Few.
The game takes place in a psychedelic, fictional version of England, where players must survive as society disintegrates around them. It’s a dystopian future that tells an alternate, darker version of World War II — one where the ramifications of the war are still felt all the way in the 1960s. There’s also the influence of drugs, plenty of mime-looking coppers to run away from and a combination of survival, RPG and even roguelike elements to navigate throughout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rG9noTfb4A
Bandai Namco will release Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition on Xbox One this winter, which aims to bring back the classic RPG game to the Xbox One.
The game which launched exclusively on Xbox 360 in the West, all the way back in 2008 is all set to get a remaster, which will include additional content as well as characters. As evident from the trailer, the studio hasn’t changed much in the past decade, but the cutscenes from the still look as beautiful as they did then.
Tales of Vesperia will be coming to Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch this winter.
The Division 2 moves from the frigid winter of lower Manhattan to the sweltering, swampy heat of Washington, D.C., in the summer. The extended gameplay demonstration showcased Division operatives accepting missions, cooperating to complete them, and the high danger posed by the post-apocalyptic landscape in the nation’s capital. It seems as if the sequel will be picking up where the new and improved version of the original left off.
The trailer shows Lara solving puzzles inside of a Mayan temple, then making a dangerous escape down a rushing river. The trailer refers to a “cleansing,” an event she triggers by pulling a knife from its resting place inside the temple. The action-adventure title’s gameplay is a mix of set-piece traversal, combat with more traditional series of puzzle solving. While the original two games in the series were developed by Crystal Dynamics, Square Enix’s Edios Montreal studio is taking the reigns for this next installment, which is being called the final chapter in Lara’s origin story.
Montreal-based indie developer Crea-ture Studios has showcased their upcoming skating game, Session, and boy, does it look fantastic.
Session is played with a dual-analog control scheme, à la Electronic Arts’ old Skate series, where each stick controls one foot. When not skating, players will be in Filmer Mode, capturing footage of their tricks for the purposes of editing and sharing it. The camera system for Filmer Mode is inspired by the VHS-quality skate videos of the ’90s, according to the developer. That being said, not much is known about the gameplay at this time.
As of now, there is no word on when Session will be out for interested users. However, it will be a timed exclusive for Xbox One.
Black Desert is an MMORPG based in a fantasy realm ruled by magic and disturbing creatures. The game’s trailer showed off some of the characters that players will be able to play as, and demonstrated some of the environments players will be able to explore.
One of the biggest anticipations of this year’s E3, Devil May Cry 5 was finally showcased during Microsoft’s presentation.
During Microsoft’s E3 press conference, Bandai Namco announced a new 3D fighting game called Jump Force along with a reveal trailer. If you’re a manga or anime fan, this one is probably the best news you’ll hear all year.
The game brings together four huge franchises into a single game – Naruto, Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Death Note. Nods to each franchise were featured in the trailer and a few of your favorite characters were shown battling it out in what seemed to be a destroyed metropolitan area in the United States.
The trailer focuses on how dire the situation of the survivors of the zombies has become, while also showing off the verticality of the gameplay. As explained by the game’s narrative designer Chris Avellone, each players’ decision will impact the world they interact with, in a different way, modifying the storyline accordingly. “It allows you to carve out your own world,” Avellone explained, before stating that things will get even darker during the night.
While there is no news about a release date yet, Dying Light 2 is expected to release for both Xbox One and PS4.
Playing as Rico Rodriguez, players will go up against “The Black Hand”, the world’s most powerful private army in the fictional South American country of Solis. The game brings back the much-heralded wingsuit from the previous installment, along with the parachute, helicopters, fighter jets, tanks, boats, and cars that will be available to Rico as he blows his way through the massive, open world.
One of the most interesting takes at Microsoft’s GoW franchise is Gears Pop, which is coming to your mobile devices pretty soon.
If you thought Gears Pop was the only game from the franchise, think again, since the most awaited sequel to the franchise is finally here – Gears 5!
Gears 5 will star Kait Diaz as the main protagonist. While there aren’t many details about the story known as of now, the new game has been described as “the biggest, most beautifulGearsworld ever created.” It will have support for 4K Ultra HD resolution, HDR, and will run at 60 frames per second.
Gears 5will be available on both the Xbox One and Windows 10 when it does release next year.
Right when Phil Spencer was about to leave the stage and bid everyone goodbye, the biggest announcement of the event was here – Cyberpunk 2077!
Apart from all the games that Microsoft showcased, they also announced that they had acquired not one, but a total of 5 gaming studios.
The Initiative, Undead Labs, Playground Games, Ninja Theory, and Compulsion Games; are all now a part of Microsoft Studios. These studios will continue to operate with Microsoft’s resources and are expected to release Xbox exclusives in the coming time.
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