Cubed Issue #7, E3 2016 | Page 15

SAMUEL GILZEAN
France ' s biggest games publisher didn ' t bring anything groundbreaking to E3 this year , but they had a lot to show .

A Far Cry From Perfect

Out of all of the third-party publishers who grace the stage at E3 , Ubisoft is the one which consistently delivers a great conference packed to the rafters with breathtaking new announcements , jaw-dropping gameplay demos and surprising reveals . This year was no different , and even though the show undoubtedly outstayed its welcome , the overall experience was just as jam-packed with outstanding content as we have come to expect from the French giant . So without further ado , let ’ s get into the hot new announcements .

After opening with an acid-trip from the 1980s in the form of a kaleidoscopic
Just Dance 2017 dance number , the publisher showed
off a lengthy demo of the hotly anticipated Ghost Recon : Wildlands – complete with the traditional cringey voice-coms that Ubisoft loves to feature in their demos . The
open-world co-op shooter will feature the largest world ever created by the company , and will release next year on 7 March .
After this , audiences were graced with a fantastic demonstration of the brand new South Park game ; South Park : The Fractured But Whole . Ditching the fantasy RPG motif , the game is instead satirising modern society ’ s obsession with superheroes , with the focus falling upon a parody of Marvel ’ s Civil War storyline . An overhauled combat system , coupled with the series ’ typical comedic prowess ,
paints The Fractured But Whole as a more than a simple sidekick to the brilliant Stick of Truth . Expect big things when the game launches on 6 December .
During the brief interlude between major announcements , the new The Division DLC was given an appropriately depressing new cinematic trailer , alongside a 28 June release date for Xbox One and PC . Expect the PS4 version to drop on August 5th , together with three exclusive outfits to celebrate thirty years of Ubisoft ( these are coming to all versions .)
Up next , the continued push of VR by the major industry players continued , with the publisher revealing an extended PvP demo of Eagle Flight , in addition to Star Trek :
Bridge Control . The latter sees you and a group of friends take command of the Enterprise , an experience undoubtedly out of reach for the majority of gamers .
Once this was all over , audiences were graced with an in-depth look of For
Honour , including the revelation that the game will indeed feature a singleplayer campaign . The game will release on Valentine ’ s Day next year - the perfect romantic gift for your loved one .
A few smaller games followed ; amongst them Grow Up - a sequel to Grow Home – and Trials of the Blood Dragon , a neon-infused collision between the Trials games and Far Cry 3 : Blood Dragon respectively , which is available now on all
major systems .
The penultimate game was Watch Dogs 2 , which was granted considerable stage time . Lots of awesome-looking gameplay was shown off , though I was personally disappointed the new game wasn ’ t called Listen Cats . Here ’ s hoping for the inevitable sequel .
The conference ended in typical Ubisoft E3 fashion , with the surprise reveal of a major unannounced title . This year it was Steep , an open-world extreme snow sports game , coming this December . It was a somewhat chilly ending to the show , failing to garner any of the significant buzz that has been seen in past years . This might one mountain too Steep for even Ubisoft to climb .
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FROM LEFT : SOUTH PARK TAKES ON SUPERHEROES IN ITS LATEST RPG ; EAGLE FLIGHT PROVES COMPETITIVE GAMES DON ' T HAVE TO BE VIOLENT TO BE FUN , AND GROW UP BRINGS BACK ITS
BEAUTIFUL VECTORISED GRAPHICAL STYLE .