Tuesday, June 5, 2012

E3 2012: ubisoft

Ubisoft was once mainly known for Rayman, then they partnered with Tom Clancy and became one of the biggest game companies around with the Splinter Cell series. Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed and Just Dance are among their growing portfolio of games.

Lights dim at the LA Theater and the show begins with your keynote standard ESRB warning on screen. Hit the lights and it's a Flo Rida performance with Just Dance 3 advertised in the background! Aisha Tyler is our host tonight, it seems she's been mentioning her "lady wood" on G4. She is known for being a self proclaimed "gamer" and is a video game voice actress, also a voice on Archer. She is joined via webcam with backstage correspondent Toby Turner.

Read on below the jump for the series of ups and downs from the show.

Behold the Farcry 3 trailer with onstage gameplay. The trailer features some scantily glad, tattooed women on a island somewhere. The level they are playing shows a lot of underwater swimming, a lush looking jungle some brutal melee fighting and (becoming a trend this year) some bow and arrow action. This game is definitely earning it's MA rating. It's a very pretty game, don't be put off. Exploration, hallucinations, open world, and a cast of insane characters. not to mention it is just trippy looking. Dan Hay, producer, is there to support his title.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist is up next. Biggest Splinter Cell game to date. Launch trailer shown more of the stealth and "fluid fighting" with Sam Fisher the game's star. We saw some of this previously at the XBox conference. Another stunning looking AAA game.

Aisha returns to the stage, again talking about her "girl wood". She introduces Avengers: Battle for Earth. I've been wondering when we were going to get an Avengers game. No gameplay is shown just a teaser trailer featuring beautiful CG footage of Wolverine vs Carnage, Spider-man and Storm vs Magneto. It ends with a zoom out revealing the movie cast of Avengers looking over a city under attack.

TobyTurner confirms he gets "girl wood" too.

Ubisoft Senior Game Manager, Michael Micholic, comes to the stage to demo Wii U Rayman Legends. A new character is invented for the touch screen control of the Wii U. Similar to other Wii games like Lost Winds and Mario Galaxy. This new Rayman will be a mix between touch and button based controls. Co-op up to five players and will support existing Wii motes. Looks like touch controls can be used to create score multipliers and access out of reach items to support the controller based players.

Aisha drops that Rayman Legends will be a launch title for Wii U as well as a new title, Zombi U.

The Zombi U teaser trailer is basically a still image of a English double-decker bus crashing (ala Dead Island's teaser). The camera continues to pan around the scene revealing a zombie infestation. Trailer includes a guy blowing his brains out. Wii U exclusive. No gameplay is shown.

Aisha touting the Wii U as being a system for everyone, from core-gamer to casual. This is followed by a montage of goofy families playing together.

Assassins Creed 3 has to be one of the biggest games coming this year. It is being shown off by all the major companies. This is the first time AC is taking place in America. During the American revolution to be specific. The trailer begins showing a bald eagle watching a large battle with the British. Very good looking game; it looks like the History channel. A young George Washington looks on as our favorite assassin goes to work on the British army without fear. Killing a dozen or so soldiers making his way to the general: Tomahawk kill. I got goose bumps. This shows us the games new protagonist, Conner, means business. Producer, Francois Pelland, confirms Washington, Lafayette and Lee will all be characters you meet in the game. A second gameplay demo follows. Focus on running through a snow covered woods, hunting a deer and gutting it. Getting attacked by wolves. then Conner strolls into a patriot camp to get a lead on his next kill. Moving on, Conner takes out a nearby British encampment. Neat how he can traverse the terrain through trees. A third "sneak peak" is a montage of different seasons and landscapes you'll be playing in.

Toby joins Aisha on stage. talking about "E Sports" on Twitch TV and the people that tune in to watch. I'm not exactly clear on this part of the show, it wasn't presented well. Seems like they are highlighting "ESports" a league of competitive gaming. A new title in the ESports series, a first person shooter title called Storm. Joe Miller and Ms Harvey, pro players come to stage to introduce a live match. More pro gamers come out, the Rocket Angels (girls) versus the Railgun All-stars (boys) duke it out live on shootmania.com. Seems to be a three on three team illumination match. ESports are available online and free to play.

Post match there is a montage of other ESports games: Trails: Evolution, the Settlers Online, Ghost Recon Online among others.

Ubisoft co-founder and CEO, Yves Guillemot, is on stage with a new product.

The trailer begins with a news report about a black out, a computer virus is the culprit. In this game there is a central operating system for the whole country. Great typography in this trailer. "Turn Out the Lights" is written on screen. Jonathan Morin, creative director of Ubisoft Montreal, describes the game. Imagine having control the entire computer infrastructure. Gameplay shown is the open world variety; strolling down a city street. Looks to be set in modern day or a very near future. The story is complete censored from television for profanity. Seems your character is able to control most tech in the game; turn off cell phones or render car breaks useless. This will be a third person style game. Some cool guns fights and murdering are shown. The game seems very dark in appearance and mood. Finally a title is revealed: Watch Dogs.

Aisha ends the show asking everyone to come play the games on the expo floor "Do that Shit". Classy.

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RELATED LINKS:
E3 2012: microsoft keynote
E3 2012: home viewing guide

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