Looking forward to what Ubisoft have to show
Ubisoft will have normally showcased their stuff by now and while some outlets have been pandered to again, getting hands on, the rest of us will have to wait until the games out. With the Ubisoft Forward event, this is their dedicated time to shine and while they have confirmed a few games will be shown, we don’t know the format, or how long it will even be, so let’s take a look at what we know and what might be.
We shall kick it off with the three confirmed games:
Assassin’s Creed is the money maker for Ubisoft, not in terms of sales post release, that falls to the games-as-a-service group, but it is the biggest name for them and has been for years now. Once the studio confirmed they were going to take more time to make the games better, people took notice again and Origins did some amazing ground work, Odyssey took it even further and now it is time fo Valhalla.
Will the norse entry be the one to take it higher, honestly based on what I have, no, people claimed that Origins was just a Witcher 3 clone and Valhalla proves that point. It thankfully, will not be as massive as Odyssey, but there will still be ship sections in the game, so it is keeping one foot in the past still. Valhalla seems to want to expand the series to a new region, but not expand the gameplay and after a second break, we might have hoped for more, but it seems not to be.
Watch Dogs Legion should have been out by now, but the team behind it, asked for more time, in order to ensure that the game was the best it could be and given how you can play as anyone in the game, extra time to make sure it works is something I am sure we are all ok with. Set in a more downtrodden location, as grim as Chicago, but as wacky as San Francisco, London seems to be a blend of the best parts of the past.
The concern is that being able to get a new character at anytime, will lose investment in those you have played as already, and while I really liked the system, having played it at E3 2019, over the course of a long game, it might be too much. The other problem is the hacking in the Watch_Dogs games has always felt like it is more of an afterthought and not core to the experience, as it is more hacking for dummies than actual hacking. Legion could be the big step forward the series needs, but it will fight with its history to stand tall and that is a big ask.
Hyper Scape, even though people in Europe are playing it now, is the game that is the biggest unknown of their show, from both the games we know about and those we don’t. Every man and their dog seems to have an idea for a battle royale game and while as a genre, I don’t like them, there is no denying they do very well.
There does not seem to be a lot to separate this from other entries in the genre, at a gameplay level, the changes are in the world and that could be the big thing. Most other battle royale games all take place in large maps, that are all open terrain with a few buildings, whereas Hyper Scape is way more vertical and that could be the big draw. From early matches I have seen, I get a feeling of battle royale meets Quake and that seems fun to me, even with my aversion to the base genre.
Now, with the confirmed games done, let’s take a look at the ones likely to come, even if they are not confirmed:
Roller Champions is an odd game, a multiplayer only title, where you join up in teams to score goals, all the while skating in an oval, it is Roller Derby amped up to 11. The game appears basic at first, but there are a host of systems in play that will add challenges in, the more you play it, the question remains, will it be enough.
So far, the game has had a few technical tests and things appear to be ok, but there is not a lot of variety in the gameplay, even the arenas are mostly the same. With cross-play enabled, it could gain a significant audience, but sadly there is no word on if the game will be given that feature, while not the worse if it is missing, would be a big loss. Much like Trackmania and Trials, this could be a very niche series, but I can see it doing pretty well in its little space.
This is the one that needs to be shown, and it needs it bad, not only was the game debuted at E3 2019, it then went radio silent for 12 months, until it leaked in error onto Stadia, giving some players access to the game. Early reports have it as a greek themed, Breath of the Wild, which on its own, could be fun, but if it is just a clone, then maybe not.
Members of the team developing the game have come out and said that they have made major changes to the game and it will look very different when we next see it, at Forward (which makes it weird is has not been confirmed). A large open world, where you can take on quests, kill monsters and just explore sounds like fun, with Ubisoft being able to create some fun worlds to explore, there seems like little could be bad about it, the concern is that radio silence, another game on this list has been silent for ages and that is never a good thing.
This was not confirmed as showing, but let’s face it, if Just Dance 2021 or whatever they call it, is not present, the world will be ending in July. This is a money maker title, if there ever was one, the core programming was done years ago, they now just need to sync up the moves to the new routines for whatever songs they choose.
Just Dance Unlimited does pretty well for the studio as well, so expecting that to be announced again, is a good thing, though I would like to see them add more songs, not included in past games. As for platforms, expect it to hit everything, but those looking for the Wii, you are out of luck, last years entry was the last one.
Rainbow Six Siege is not a Rainbow Six game, no matter how much gamers or Ubisoft will try to sell it as one, there is no story, there are no stakes that play out over hours, one game and you are done. Which is why I am happy to see them going back to the old way with Quarantine, now it is not going to be a traditional title, but more of a blend between the two.
The game was included in the delay-a-thon that took place last year, but it was never formally dated, but like a few other titles, since it was revealed, there has been little disclosed about the game. We know it will be for three players and will feature alien parasites that invade the bodies of humans, yeah, look it is a little out there for a Rainbow Six game, but given the quiet, it might have changed.
While not a big name series for most people, The Settlers has been quietly doing the rounds on the PC for decades, yep, it is the oldest IP on this list. The game was first revealed back in 2018 at Gamescom and while the developers have been sneaking out tidbits, there has not been a full gameplay reveal since it was shown.
It is unlikely that we will get that here, given the entire presentation is 45 minutes in length, but a new trailer, with a tease of a future date is quite possible. As one of the longest running series, still in development, there is little more to say about this next entry, purely because we don’t know anything about it.
That is the list of what else should show up, now though, we have to deal with what is unlikely to appear, for one reason or another, so let’s get to it.
Oh Skull and Bones, where are you? The game was shown off a few E3’s ago, people were hyped and then the wind died down and the sails were pulled in, since then, nothing and no explanations as to why. The game is dated for March 2021, but given it has been a few years since we last saw it, unless it is near complete, that might slip.
The last time we saw it, we got a nice trailer, which you can see below, and while nice, the lack of information is concerning, for now we just have to cross our bones and hope this one is still sailing and not sunk.
Much like the one above it Beyond Good and Evil 2 had a killer E3 reveal back in 2018 where it had a nice trailer, to follow up the 2017 re-reveal of it, but since then, the space monkeys have been quiet. Given how silent the game has been before, this is not a major cause of concern, but it is still weird to see.
The game had two major E3’s then nothing, it would be like if after E3 2019, Cyberpunk 2077 made no reveals at all, that might help put it in perspective. Will the game show, doubtful, if they showcase this, they will want to do it on their own, so as to not take away from other games, but like The Settlers, we might get a tease for more at another date, check out the last trailer for the game below.
This one is here, purely because there are so many people talking about it, with Giancarlo Esposito rumoured to have finished voicing a videogame character, many people have him as the villain in Far Cry 6. Is it too soon for more Far Cry, yes, yes it is and purely because Far Cry 5 bombed, it had bland characters and a weak location, but after Pagan Min, anyone will see bland by comparison.
Now, a new entry could be something special, maybe it will be set in Australia, perhaps northern Japan, or the south of South America, honestly it is anyone’s guess at this point, but what I do hope for, is that the game has evolved a lot.
