Boy, does Microsoft love ’em some video games! What? No, 2013 never happened, what are you talking about?
This morning Microsoft took to the E3 2014 stage and worked up a sweat trying to make up for their PR blunders of last year, showing nothing but games for 90-minutes while attempting to recast the endless procession of Xbox One policy 180s as them letting fans shape the future of Xbox.
The “We listen to the fans!” stuff was a bit groanworthy, and they did little to answer the question of what sets the Xbox One apart now that most of its most distinctive features have been stripped, but some of the games did look pretty impressive. Hit the next pages for a recap of all the most important stuff that happened during Microsoft’s 2014 E3 Press Conference…
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
The Xbox One is getting a collection of all four numbered Halo games on November 14th (sorry, no Reach or ODST). Halo 2 will be getting the full remake treatment as part of this collection. The Master Chief Collection will also include Halo: Nightfall, the Ridley Scott-produced live action series that will serve as a prequel to Halo 5: Guardians. Speaking of which, buy Master Chief Collection and you can get in on the multiplayer beta for Guardians. This collection is going to cost, like 100 bucks, isn’t it?
Here’s a brief Halo 5: Guardians teaser…
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Microsoft’s briefing featured a lengthy chunk of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare footage. The game has jetpacks and mechs now! Wonder where they got that idea?
Looks…pretty Call of Duty-ish. Definitely one of the less impressive things given a major showcase at the Microsoft briefing (unless you’re really into floating glowy particles).
Assassin’s Creed Unity
The new next-gen Assassin’s Creed features co-op play and looks kind of amazing (although certain parts of this “gameplay” footage looks very scripted).
Fable Legends
The new Fable looks to do away with a lot of the sim-ish aspects of past games in the series in favor a more straight-ahead Gauntlet-like action game. The twist is that one player can play the evil overlord and place all the game’s villains and traps.
Eh, I dunno. Seems a bit dumbed down, and the art style isn’t great.
Sunset Overdrive
Sunset Overdrive started by sticking it to cover-based shooters (wonder what the Gears of War team thinks about that) in a fun pre-rendered trailer, then delivered some fantastic looking gameplay footage.
Man, this game is looking good. This is the game that’s going to make the Xbox One.
All the Other Stuff…
– Microsoft is doing their timed-exclusive thing, with DLC for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Evolve, and Dragon Age: Inquisition hitting Xbox One first.
– Speaking of Dragon Age: Inquisition, it’s looking pretty darn good…
– …but not as good as The Witcher III: Wild Hunt.
– Conker is coming back! Uh, as a character you can use in Project Spark. Hmmm.
– Microsoft loves indie games now! Or at least they love them enough to give them the montage treatment.
– The next Tomb Raider is called Rise of the Tomb Raider (woof) and will take place in a psychiatrist’s office apparently.
– Tom Clancy’s The Division still looks really, really great.
– New Crackdown! Where you knock down entire skyscrapers to kill a single guy! That seems awfully inefficient, but being rad is rarely efficient.
So, what do you guys think of Microsoft’s showing? Is the Xbox One suddenly looking a little bit more appealing, or have they dropped the ball again?