Ubisoft’s E3 2012 Press Conference Summary. All The Announcements, Trailers And Details Here!
Ubisoft certainly had the most elaborate opening of the conferences this year, complete with music, dancing, and even Flo Rida who took to the stage to add his musical talents to Ubisoft’s E3 presentation. Just Dance 4 was featured in the background, and will be arriving November 24th 2012. Aisha Tyler hosted the event, with Toby Turner (Tobuscus on YouTube) backstage for some banter.
Aisha explained that Ubisoft is all about creating unique worlds full of diversity, beauty of life, and even some grittiness from time to time. Their commitment to new platforms is important, about making the experience more powerful, with the motto ‘Life Power Play’.
Adrenaline fuelled open-world game Far Cry 3 was the first presentation, said to feature a new brand of insanity. – Full post with more details here – It’s the story of Jason who was captured and tortured, though now that he’s escaped, the island has changed him, resulting in him becoming the hunter. From the opening, it seems that Jason has become the leader of the natives, and was certainly an ‘interesting’ opening thanks to a rather close female encounter. The proper gameplay began in another situation, a sunny afternoon in the jungle. Watch the below video for an in-depth look at the title, but even at a high level, there’s lots to be excited about. From diving into the water and pulling a guard from the peer under, to stealthy bow and arrow combat, the action is fast and fluid. Jason soon comes across a house, to which he gets trapped in as it’s set alight. After escaping, setting a tiger on the enemy, and the obligatory red barrels complete with a dynamic cover system, he gets drugged, resulting in a trippy linear path full of flashing images, and is definitely an interesting new aspect to the game. Far Cry 3 is all about freedom and exploration with a colourful collection of characters, over a large amount of unique and varied islands. A short trailer showed a number of gameplay situations including vehicles such as hang gliders and jeeps, a day-night cycle, and lots of over the top action.
While it was featured earlier at Microsoft’s Press Conference, Splinter Cell: Blacklist returned for more with a CG trailer discussing the fourth echelon. Sam Fisher does indeed have a new voice, because of the way that Ubisoft is now using performance capture to record the actor’s movements, voice and facial expressions, and Michael Ironside isn’t as limber as he used to be. The trailer though showcased lots of great action scenes, including one section where Sam rappelled upside down to a window, pulled the pin on a grenade before pulling the enemy out of the window to fall below and explode a car. “Sam Fisher is a hero who reflects out time”
Avengers: Battle for Earth is heading to the Xbox 360 Kinect and Wii U, and a new CG trailer showed the range of characters who will be making an appearance including Spiderman, Wolverine, Storm, Magneto, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and more, resulting in lots of super hero battling. It’ll be arriving Fall 2012.
Moving onto the Wii U, Aisha explained that the launch of a platform is the time to create innovation with new experiences. It’s in Ubisoft’s DNA, and they’re al about pushing the boundaries, both by returning to classic franchises as well as creating brand new ones.
Rayman Legends made its debut on the Wii U (though will be heading to other platforms) and the on-stage demo gave a great idea of how Ubisoft is using the tablet innovatively. They were said to have had loads of crazy ideas, and they certainly came through with unique gameplay with up to five player multiplayer (four with Wii Remotes, one with the Wii U Gamepad). It’s colourful, friendly, and has lots of 3D elements this time around. The cooperative gameplay focused on the idea that the Wii U GamePad player can directly affect the gameplay for the other players, be helping them through the environments through combat, platforming, and puzzles. It’ll use both touch and tilt, and you really need to watch the video below as the final level shown features some amazing fast paced gameplay. It’ll be arriving for the launch of the Wii U
A trailer for Zombi U was then shown, a title that evolved from Killer Freaks From Outer Space which was announced last year. – Full post with more details – The trailer showed no gameplay, and instead focused on showcasing some very nasty looking CG scenes frozen in time as the camera paned and moved through the London landscape. The subtitle ‘How Long Will You Survive’ was featured at the end.
Giving us a taste of what they have planned for the system, the next trailer showcased clips from Avengers: Battle for Earth, Rabbids Land, Your Shape, Sports Connection, Zombi U and Assassin’s Creed 3. Ubisoft certainly have lots planned for the system’s launch. Aisha explained their commitment to innovation, creating a broad line-up of games to appeal to both core and casual.
What came next was most likely the highlight of the Ubisoft Press Conference, Assassin’s Creed III – Full post with more details -. For the first time ever, you’ll be able to immerse yourself in the history of America; it’s more than just the next step in the series, it’s a revolution. First was a CG trailer showing a large scale battle as Connor slowly moved through the open ground to assassinate his target, followed by a spectacular gameplay demo.
While the true story still revolves around killing Templars, you’ll see both sides of the conflict as the game changes and evolves over 30 years in the world. You’ll meet George Washington and Ben Franklin amongst other key historical figures of the time, igniting the conflict to create a new nation. The gameplay demo was set during the winter in New England, beginning with a little hunting, before some combat with wolves. After heading to a small camp to get his assignment, Connor stealthily infiltrated an enemy encampment, and stabbing did occur. Horse riding, chasing, smooth movement through trees and more aggressive looking combat were all on show. The deep snow impacted Connor’s movement, and it’ll be there quite a lot of the game, as you’ll be playing in both Summer and Winter, through Cities and in the wilderness.
Offering up a change of pace, the eSports genre was represented by ShootMania (from developer Nadeo, of Trackmania fame), looking to be a fast-paced twitch arena shooter, and the onstage demo had two teams face off, though with a twist. While the three players on one team had rocket launchers, the other team only had one player with a rail gun, with the teams cycling each round. It looked fun and frantic, though will certainly be a niche title. As is common nowadays, it’ll be a free-to-play PC exclusive title, and if you’re keen to give it a shot, you can sign up for the beta right now on www.shootmania.com. Shootmania was just one of the titles that Ubisoft featured in the next trailer, showcasing their support for the free-to-play and eSports arenas through titles like The Settlers Online and Ghost Recon Online.
Yves Guillemot took to the stage to wrap things up, but not without a surprise project reveal which pretty much stunned everyone. It’s a new IP called Watch Dogs which aims to revolutionise the way players interact with each other, and has been more than two years in development over at Ubisoft Montreal. – Full post with more details here – In brief, it’s an open world title which revolves around the flow of information. The game plays in third person, with the area shown on a rainy night. The character is seen hacking traffic lights to cause a pile-up, as well as listening into cell phone calls and disrupting displays, all taking place in a stunning looking near future environment. You play as Aiden Pearce, a character who’s obsessed with surveillance. Other gameplay situations involved a shootout showcasing a cover system, all while running in real-time on a PC. It’s set to launch for the Xbox 360 and PS3 also, though it will be interesting to see if they can maintain the visual quality.
That was all Ubisoft have to show, and it wasn’t exactly light on content! Loads of new trailers and gameplay demonstrations show that they certainly have a strong line-up.
Stay tuned for more from Push-Start@E3 2012, and follow us on Twitter @PushStartMedia for up to date news.