Ubisoft Conference Recap - E3 2015

The Ubisoft conference kicks off with a trailer for a new South Park game, poking fun at the original game’s combat and pointing towards Butters as the new antagonist and the kids playing as superheros, titled South Park: The Fractured But Whole (say it out loud and you’ll get it). Aisha Taylor is joined on stage by South park creators/voice actors to discuss the expansion. They will be working with Ubisoft San Francisco on the project.

Next up, a gameplay demo for a new IP titled For Honor, a multiplayer-focused sword fighting RPG in the same vein as Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is shown with two teams with four human players and droves of AI soldiers fighting each other, one team being composed of Knights and the other Samurai. Vikings were confirmed as a third playable faction; no release date or platform availability was mentioned.

The Crew is on next with a trailer for a new expansion called Wild Run. Another jump is made to yet another trailer, this one for a new Trials Fusion expansion titled Awesome Level MAX, depicted of course by a cat riding on a fire-breathing horse. If you weren’t confused enough, another abrupt transition, and now The Division is the game being discussed.

The Dark Zone will be the subject of this showcase, an area of the city with great loot, but where “anything can happen” and “you can trust no one.” A gameplay trailer shows the players jumping over a fence and walking in a crouched stance as they move around in the area, soon running into some enemies, and then some other players. The two groups join forces to take on the AI enemies together before and moving further in. The group eventually get to an extraction zone, where the original group of players decide to turn on the other group in order to obtain their gear, indicating that there will be a Dayz-like system of possible but not required PVP in the Dark Zones. Betas are announced for all three platforms and will take place early next year. The release date is set for March 8th 2016.

Next up is a trailer for a new city-builder, most likely a new entry into the Anno franchise. A trailer reveals that the game will include city building on the moon with the game being branded Anno 2205, with a Beta being announced for later in the year. The closing trailer indicates that you will also continue to build cities on Earth as well.

Aisha is now talking to a gentlemen dressed as a Assassins Creed Syndicate character sitting in the audience, though surprisingly Just Dance turns out to be the next game on the chopping block. Just Dance 2016 is coming, and you can use a smart phone if you don’t have a camera attached to your console. Jason Derulo is now on the stage for a performance to promote the game. Just Dance 16 will also have a streaming service for Xbox One, PS4 and Wii U when it launches later this year.

A CGI trailer for the singleplayer component of Rainbow Six Siege is next, with Angela Basset, the voice actor of the Rainbow Six team operator, simply called Six, taking the stage afterwards. From the discussion between her and Aisha, it sounds like the character will play a major role in the game’s singleplayer which will have a strong narrative focus. The community manager for the game is on next, revealing that the mode TerrorHunt will return from the Vegas series for both solo and co-op play.

Some gameplay from this mode is shown, with the players infiltrating a building by repelling up the walls, jumping through the windows and slowly clearing the structure. Eventually they plant a bomb defuser and defend it while it automatically disarms a bomb. A beta is also announced for September 24th 2015 including both TerrorHunt and PVP modes on all platforms.

Next up is the announcement of a new Trackmania, subtitled Turbo, which will for the first time be coming to next-gen consoles. A gameplay trailer shows classic Trackmania gameplay with cars adorned with various countries flags racing around elaborate tracks at high speed. The game will have four environments with five difficulty levels and a total of 200 tracks. Of course, the track-builder mode will also be returning for players to create and share custom tracks.

Syndicate, The latest entry in the annualized historical Assassins Creed franchise is up next, with a lengthy CGI trailer to show the setting of Victorian London and introduce some of the characters. The trailer includes a horse-cart chase and a brawl in a bar. Creative Director of the game comes on, revealing there will be dual protagonists, a brother and a sister.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is now on stage to introduce something new from a group of developers in Paris. A gameplay trailer shows a group parachuting into South America, running down a mountain and assaulting a drug compound. In another clip, the group is seen attacking the compound sneakily at night. The new game is revealed to be set in an open world, and turns out to be a new Ghost Recon titled Wildlands.

Aisha returns briefly for closing remarks, and Ubisoft’s conference has ended.