The Electronic Entertainment Expo can be a peaceful and fun celebration of all things gaming. But it can also be a bloodbath between multibillion-dollar corporations. This year’s conference fell somewhere in between. There was an undeniable competitive spirit among the publishers and hardware developers, resulting in some of the strongest and weakest E3 press conferences in recent memory. So it begs the question: Who triumphed and who floundered at E3 this year? More importantly, we break down the can’t-miss games coming soon.
Best press conference:
I’ve been an outspoken critic of Microsoft’s handling of the Xbox One since the day it was announced. Every little error felt like a colossal disaster, which is why it’s ironic that the year I predict another failure for the company is the same year Microsoft finally triumphs.
The company came out strong with a trailer for Halo Infinite and was quick to follow it up with the exclusive indie title Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Microsoft is finally figuring out how to compete at E3 — bring the games and fans will come. And the games kept coming: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice by developer From Software, a gameplay trailer for Fallout 76, Crackdown 3 and so many more. The presentation ran the risk of overstuffing the conference, which I feared Sony might also do. Thankfully, every game at least had a trailer or discussion of some kind, with imminent releases stealing the spotlight.
Microsoft’s strongest move was its acquisition of five new studios, including Ninja Theory — responsible for 2017’s Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice — and Compulsion Games, developer of We Happy Few. It’s a sign that the company is playing the long game with the Xbox One, and that it is finally ready to compete with Sony in exclusive titles. In addition, Microsoft has shown that it’s going to continue to support its current exclusives like Sea of Thieves with new DLC despite mixed reception.
After years of mediocre showings, Microsoft had nothing to lose at E3, and the company seems to have renewed its interest in the Xbox One. If it can maintain that interest, Microsoft just might come out of this generation with a much-needed win.
Worst press conference:
Electronic Arts has had a tough year. Its press conference didn’t help. The intro featuring a Ranger and Colossus from Anthem flying around the audience shooting at a creature was cool, but ultimately pointless since Anthem wasn’t discussed until the tail-end of the conference. Opening with this kind of teaser would work if it went into the game after an introduction, but it teased a game that the audience had to wait almost ninety minutes to see very little of.
When Oskar Gabrielson, DICE general manager, promised to show Battlefield V gameplay, there was hardly any actual footage to be seen. This is an issue that plagued the entire press conference — too much talk, too little game. The gameplay shown was inconsequential and boring, and the game that EA showed extensive footage of was a mobile game that drew no crowd reaction.
Even the reveal of a new Star Wars game was lackluster. There was no title graphic, no trailer, just Vince Zampella of Respawn Entertainment sharing the title and release window of “holiday 2019.” It felt tacked on and like a cheap attempt to lighten the mood before introducing Star Wars Battlefront II’s DLC, inspired by Solo: A Star Wars Story. To give credit to EA, they were fairly open about the loot box issue, with design director Dennis Brannvall saying “clearly, we didn’t get it quite right.”
The entire conference was bogged down by over-explanation, bland gameplay and an over-reliance on already announced games. There was never a moment that genuinely wowed the crowd, even Anthem, EA’s biggest upcoming title, failed to show us anything new. EA could have used E3 2018 as a way to reignite interest in it and make amends for its past mistakes. But clearly, they didn’t get it quite right.
Best game of E3: Marvel’s Spider-Man — Sony, Insomniac Games, Marvel (Sept. 7) PS4
By far one of the most pleasant games of E3 2018, Marvel’s Spider-Man had a strong showing by giving fans two gameplay demos. The one shown at Sony’s press conference was chock-full of villains including Electro and Rhino, and the other showed off Spider-Man’s open-world web-swinging. At long last, gamers will get to feel the excitement of swinging through New York on a current console. The groundbreaking web-swinging mechanics from Spider-Man 2 (2004) will finally be implemented into a modern game. Wall-crawler fans have been anticipating this for years.
What makes Spider-Man so exciting is that it does exactly what fans expect from a Spider-Man game. There’s web-swinging, wall-crawling and beating down bad guys in New York. The tone set by developer Insomniac Games looks light and fun, and there’s an obvious reverence for the comics. Sept. 7 can’t come soon enough.
Other top games to watch for:
Sekiro: Shadow’s Die Twice — From Software (Coming 2019), Xbox One, PS4, PC
Sekiro: Shadow’s Die Twice is the newest game from the masters of challenge: From Software. The medieval aesthetics of Dark Souls are long gone and the steampunk horror of Bloodborne is nowhere to be found. In Sekiro, From Software is taking players on an all-new odyssey through ancient Japan-inspired environments. Even though it isn’t a Souls game, it’s still a From Software game which means players will be challenged at every step. With a grappling hook arm, Sekiro looks like Dark Souls with a greater emphasis on verticality than previous From Software games.
Fallout 76 — Bethesda Game Studios (Nov. 14, 2018), Xbox One, PS4, PC
The prospect of another Fallout game so soon after Fallout 4 seemed ludicrous. Adding multiplayer to the series, however, has turned a lot of heads. Players can finally connect with friends and strangers in the wasteland and fight Deathclaws together, a prospect that few thought would be a reality. Having a release date as soon as November certainly doesn’t hurt the hype, and giving players access to nuclear weapons is definitely a selling point. Bethesda seems to be trying to make up for Fallout 4’s lack of innovation. Multiplayer in Fallout is an aggressive change, but a welcome one.
Kingdom Hearts III — Square Enix (Jan. 29, 2019), PS4, Xbox One
Few games invoke a wave of nostalgia quite like Kingdom Hearts. Whether it’s for old Final Fantasy games or for classic Disney films, this series has managed to find a niche audience that has been anxiously waiting for the third entry since Kingdom Hearts II (2005). The footage that Square Enix has shown promises larger maps, faster combat and bigger moments than any Kingdom Hearts game before. Half of the fun of this series is seeing which Disney world the game goes to next, and if there are more beyond the eight announced worlds, there’s plenty for fans of the series to be excited about.
The Last of Us Part II — Naughty Dog (Release date TBA), PS4
Cinematic gameplay has been a core element of every Naughty Dog game since Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (2007). The Last of Us (2013) was no exception. The sequel’s trailer, released back in 2016, was just enough to get fans excited but wanting more, and E3 2018 brought just that. Stealth was central to the original game and the conference demo proved that The Last of Us Part II will have plenty of sneaking around. The rain-soaked level shown has Ellie sneaking around a group of aggressors, picking them off one by one before she gets caught, forcing her to move quickly around the level as she kills the remaining enemies. Every moment had me gripping my seat.
Chris Berg’s top games of E3 2018:
This was a crazy year for E3. After multiple leaks seemed to derail any sense of surprise left in the show, the conferences shocked us in ways we couldn’t have seen coming. A sudden revival of Andrew W.K., an extended flute solo and three separate Kingdom Hearts III trailers that made me firmly doubt my sanity. Mixed in with this cavalcade of nonsense were plenty of video games, some of which looked damn good.
In addition to signing off on Split Tooth’s top pick of Marvel’s Spider-Man as this year’s top game, here are the four E3 titles that I couldn’t stop thinking about.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate — Bandai Namco Entertainment (Dec. 7, 2018), Nintendo Switch
Super Smash Bros. is a Mecca for Nintendo fans, a sacred ground of combat admired by casual and hardcore players alike. With each entry, Nintendo has packed the platform fighter with new features, new characters and an exhausting amount of new content. The excess is wonderful, but for Ultimate, Nintendo appears to be centering its focus. Rather than hyping a dozen new fighters, this edition is bringing back every past combatant from Pichu to Solid Snake. Rather than focusing on huge new features, this team is taking a full cycle to focus entirely on polishing the series, which is a very exciting proposition.
Cyberpunk 2077 — CD Projekt Red (Release TBA), PS4, Xbox One, PC
E3 has a long-standing tradition of showing demos behind closed doors, meaning they are only put on display for press with reserved appointments or developers with close connections. This is typically done when games aren’t quite far along enough to show to the world. As a result, I haven’t actually haven’t seen gameplay of Cyberpunk 2077. The latest open-world RPG from the beloved creators of The Witcher has been in the works since 2013, and it’s sounding like the wait has been worth it. Detailed character creation (including a dedicated ‘Cool’ stat), variety-filled combat and seamless transition from narrative cinematics to gameplay make this sound like a generation-high achievement. Now, if only we could all see it for ourselves.
Dying Light 2 — Techland (2019), PS4, Xbox One, PC
Zombie games were a dime a dozen at E3 2018. Days Gone, The Last of Us 2, State of Decay 2, The Walking Dead: The Final Season and Overkill’s The Walking Dead (yes, those are two different games) cluttered the show floor. But of this apocalyptic spread, only Dying Light 2 stood out. Building on the strong shooting fundamentals of the first, Dying Light 2 is bringing a level of narrative ambition to the table unseen in most AAA releases. Headed by RPG luminary Chris Avellone (Fallout: New Vegas, Divinity: Original Sin) and some of the writers behind The Witcher 3, this sequel is proposing an amazing degree of choice and consequence. In a massive open world, a functioning economy of goods and needs will shift under the choices made by the player in key moments. Various gangs will rise and fall, coloring the city streets in different forms of power, justice and corruption. And just like in the first, it will all be overrun by the undead by sunset.
RAGE 2 — Bethesda Softworks (Spring 2019), PS4, Xbox One, PC
The first RAGE was not a game worth writing home about. Id Tech 5’s technically ambitious game was short on story, hindered by the technology of the time and haunted by a lengthy development period. It is best remembered for a baffling cameo on Breaking Bad, where Jesse Pinkman plays it with a Playstation 2 light gun. But somebody found something worth reviving in RAGE, and those somebodies were Avalanche Studios, the developers of Mad Max and Just Cause 2. This fresh perspective has loaded RAGE 2 with an astonishing speed, fluidity and personality. It’s an eye-catching title bound to impress when it hits early next year.
Feature image courtesy of Bethesda Game Studios
Update: Jun. 17, 4:17 p.m. This post has been updated to include Chris Berg’s picks.
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