Microsoft’s E3 press conference this year was filled wall to wall with games, with only brief interludes for other news, as well as a car being dropped from the ceiling. Yes, this will indeed be a memorable E3 for Microsoft. Fortunately, many of these games seems to have a great deal of promise, and range from high profile franchises like Tomb Raider to indie games like Beyond Eyes. As excellent as those games appear to be, it’s a testament to Microsoft’s line up this year that they didn’t make this list.
Anyways, without further ado, here’s the list:
Halo 5: Guardians
Halo 5: Guardians took the place of Call of Duty as the opener to Microsoft’s press conference this year, and rightfully so. Microsoft had a lot to show of this game, which none of it had been seen before. The new Warzone game mode – a 24 player, plus enemy AI smorgasbord of Halo goodness; looks like a fresh take on the Halo multiplayer formula. It’s a mode that I’m excited to have thrown into the roster along with Big Team Battle and Team Slayer. But even more exciting was the look that we got at the single player.
Part CG trailer/cutscene, part gameplay demo, what we saw of Halo 5: Guardians single player looks like an honest to goodness Halo experience, but with some improvements. The influences of Tim Longo on this game are evident, with Locke dictating the moves of his team. Mixed in with the gameplay are some juicy story bits, including the return of the Prometheans and a new Forerunner character, as while as hints at a larger arc as far as the Arbiter is concerned. But what this demo really gives us is confirmation of the goals of Locke’s Spartan team, as well as a brief introduction to them.
The dynamic between the team is definitely one that could be interesting, especially with the tension between Locke and Buck, which is a key part of what Microsoft showed us. The other two characters remained silent, for the most part, but the few lines of dialogue here and there made them feel more like characters. There really is a lot to be excited about, and I cannot wait to get my hands on this game.
Recore
Even though all we got was a CG trailer, it was enough to get me excited for this game. The fact that its the brainchild of people developers who worked on the Metroid series (The best Nintendo series) is just icing for me. For those who haven’t seen it, the trailer follows a teenage girl and her robot dog through a wasteland, in which they encounter multiple threats that they must deal with. That on its own is pretty cool, though not necessarily groundbreaking or super interesting.
The kicker is that, in the trailer, the robot dog blows itself up, leaving behind a glowing blue ball that the protagonist puts into another mechanical construct. This hints at a gameplay mechanic that could lend itself well to a complex puzzle game. To be honest, a first person shooter/puzzle game in the vein of Portal would be welcome right now, if only to breathe new life into what has become, for the most part, a very stale genre.
Cuphead
Leading up to E3, and even as far back as late last year, I was hearing people talk about Cuphead as if it were the second coming. I hadn’t seen anything about it, and assumed that it was some sort of party game, never really feeling the drive to seek it out. Now, I regret that decision greatly. Cuphead is the first platformer I’ve truly been excited for since I first heard about Shovel Knight. What we saw at the show looked mostly like bossfights, but there were also hints at what the plot of the game will be.
What really makes Cuphead interesting is that it’s framed in the style of a 1930’s cartoon. The art style and sensibilities of the game capture this time period perfectly. While the gameplay mechanics may not be groundbreaking (I actually don’t know at this point), this game is dripping with style, and looks to have a smart sense of humor. If this game truly delivers on its promise, it could be the best platformer in years – topping even the excellent Rayman games and last year’s Shovel Knight.
Tacoma
As a massive fan of every aspect of Gone Home, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the next game from Fullbright. At Microsoft’s press conference, we got what I believe is the first look at gameplay from their upcoming space adventure. In many ways, it seems similar to what they did with Gone Home. And, to be honest were they to re-release Gone Home, but with the subtitle “In Space This Time!” I would play that game.
But despite the similarities, there are promises at sweeping changes from the formula that worked so well back in 2012. Tacoma will definitely have a sense of scale that is very different from that of Gone Home. Not only was this promised, but watching the trailer unfold, there seems to simply be more to Tacoma than was in Gone Home. Since we all know that Fullbright is capable of delivering stellar narratives, I’m not at all worried about that, and could not be more excited for Tacoma.
Gears of War 4
Even though what we saw of this game raised more questions than it answered, that only makes the game more exciting. The entire core Gears of War series is a masterwork of how third person shooters should be done, and it’s been years since our last true Gears experience. It’s been long past time for a new installment in the series, and from what we saw, this is undoubtedly a Gears of War game – though with a few improvements.
Obviously, the gameplay looks smoother, and the graphics have gotten a major upgrade. That comes with the territory of it being the first installment in the series to hit current gen platforms. But even more importantly is that the goofy, dude-bro mentality of the past games seem to be gone. In its place is something a little bit more serious, and dialogue that isn’t always so cringe worthy. It’s nice to see that the series is heading in a new direction, while still managing to hang onto the sensibilities that made the franchise so great.
All in all Microsoft had an impressive line up and I’m looking forward to playing their upcoming games.
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