Bethesda started off the events on Sunday and gave a pretty strong presentation. One of the first out the gate from them was a new entry in the Doom franchise just titled Doom. The gameplay started off a little slow as not only the encounters came at a slower pace, but the enemies lacked any real sense of danger. The enemy projectiles came slowly and without accuracy. The enemies that attacked in close range were way too slow to attack. The next segment that took place in the hell level picked up the pace and threat. We got to see enemies coming in numbers and with ferocity. The game overall is visually pleasing despite being dark, which is suitable to the type of game it is. The weapons shown offered some nice variety and the melee take downs looked satisfying to pull off.
What definitely caught my attention however was SnapMap. SnapMap is an editing tool that allows players to make their own maps in the game for both single player and multi-player. A lot wasn't shown with it, but Bethesda confirmed that it will be deep and that you can share maps with other players.
Bethesda's next couple of announcements definitely caught my attention. They brought a new mobile game titled Fallout Shelter that is a simulation game where the player manages the lives of the survivors of the Fallout shelter. We got a a brief, but substantial look at the game before it was announced that the game would be available right after the conference ended.
Fallout 4 was the last game to be shown at the conference and it was an excellent way to close off. Our first look gave us insight on the creation feature. From what was demonstrated it looked like creating a character took little effort and I also thought that skin tones and hair texture looked pretty decent for a change. The reveal of the weapon customization was another surprise and interest to me. You can basically build guns from the ground up in this game with over a hundred possible combinations and this extends to the power armor and houses.
With the Microsoft conference following I found only the Cuphead trailer to be entertaining. The announcement of the new controller was ok, but with the price being $150 and me not really having an interest in the Xbox One, it wasn't anything of note. The Gears of War 4 presentation was memorable only because the game was far too dark to make out anything. That was it for Microsoft.
I missed the Ubisoft conference so I can't make comment on it, but I heard I didn't miss anything. Sony's presentation was definitely a contender for best. They announced three games that have long been requested by fans: The Last Guardian, Shenmue 3, and the Final Fantasy VII remake. Three history making surprises all in Sony's conference. I have a bit of indifference to all three of the revealed games: The Last Guardian's footage looked like Ico which I found boring, I never played a Shenmue game and not to mention it was it's Kickstarter campaign announced, and while I love Final Fantasy, VII is one of my least favorite entries.
Horizon: Zero Dawn the new game from Sony's Guerrilla Studios was presented with a demo on the show floor and the game looks marvelous. It is an action-rpg game set in a post apocalyptic future. The setting is a bit different from most other post apocalyptic games. Nature has overtaken the landscape of cities, people are dressed in animal pelts, and the fauna are now inorganic. The world is filled with robotic life. In the demo we see robotic versions of antelope, a t-rex, and a bird. We can see that the game will have stealth elements in it as during the first encounter the main character Aloy hides in brush as she goes for a kill on a robotic animal. The encounter with the robotic t-rex known as ThunderJaw was the real meat of this demo. We got a good insight into the combat. Aloy was using a bow in this fight with a variety of arrows at her disposal. At one point she hits ThunderJaw with an explosive arrow that knocks off a cannon off its back that she uses to fire electrical shots at the mechanical creature. She takes it down with a well aimed shot at a glowing piece in its center with an up close cutscene triggered attack for the finishing blow. The combat and graphics in this game looked astounding and I can't wait to see more of it.
Nintendo decided to go with a digital event this year and while many found it disappointing, I found it to be among the best conferences shown. All of the games Nintendo announced and showed all featured gameplay. None of the videos were just cgi trailers which I have a problem with most of the time. We also got an interesting look into of the parts of Yoshi's Woolly World that a lot of players probably don't think about, but the creation of the amiibos. The amiibos in this game are so adorable and it was nice to get to see the creator and learn about the process of making them. Nintendo also announced a new Mario Tennis, which excites me, a new Zelda titled The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes, two new Animal Crossing games, a release date for Xenoblade Chronicles X, and some new Star Fox Zero footage.
The Treehouse was the meat of their show as we got to see extensive gameplay of several of their games including Star Fox Zero, Mario Tennis Ultra Smash, The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes, and a new racing game called Fast. It was a pretty satisfying event for me, with the only disappointment being in the announcement of a spinoff Metroid game that looks nothing like Metroid.
The PC conference didn't really have much to talk about. There was a bit too much tech talk and not many games shown and the ones shown, didn't catch my interest. I have to say that I did like the host better than the other ones. I was still disappointed in no reveal for Half-Life 3. That would've been the icing on the cake, but otherwise a fantastic E3.
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