In order to dispel any feeling of doubt, I thought this years E3 was fantastic. I am not the biggest gamer, but I used to be. Perhaps this is because the games as of late have not appealed to me. Plus, I began attending college a couple of years ago and only had my laptop with me. That being said, I still follow news in the gaming community. I find it very interesting, and love watching gameplay videos on YouTube. However, this E3 made me want to play video games like I once did. With titles such as Fallout 4, Uncharted 4, Halo 5, and Gears of War 4, there was a lot to be excited about. I am going to break up my thoughts on E3 based on the conferences (excluding Nintendo because I never was a big nintendo person).
The Bethesda Conference
This is the conference that really blew me away. I have been a huge fan of Bethesda since The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, and they have been delivering consistently good games since then. A couple of weeks ago the trailer for Fallout 4 was released to the world. While it was good, I was not particularly blown away by it. After seeing the game in action at Bethesda’s conference, consider me blown away. Not only are the graphics really good, but the gameplay looks like a big step up from the previous installment. Some details of the story were dropped, and it seems like they are taking the game in an interesting direction. Not only does the game seem to improve in almost every single way, but it has some additional features that make it even better. For example, the game features a construction mode similar to Minecraft. You can take any material in the game, and use it to construct buildings or even customize weapons. Fallout 3 had so many possibilities that it was so overwhelming, and I cannot imagine what it will be like while playing this game. Other than Fallout 4, the other two standouts during the conference were Doom and Dishonored 2. I have never played a Doom game before, but it looks like a lot of fun. There is a lot of blood and gore, and it looks like the gameplay is fast and furious. I also really like the graphics. They look great and more artistic than realistic. No gameplay was shown for Dishonored 2, but I am very excited for the game to be released. I thought the first one was great, and this one has the potential to be even better.
The Microsoft Conference
Along with Bethesda, this was a really great conference. First of all, the game that were announced and displayed looked great. The games that really stuck out to me were: Halo 5, Gears of War 4, and Rise of the Tomb Raider. Of the three games, Rise of the Tomb Raider looks unbelievable. It definitely resembles the Uncharted series in many ways, but that is not bad at all. The graphics look stunning, and the game seems like it will be quite the experience. Both Halo and Gears of War look like more of the same, but that is also not a bad thing. The gameplay may look the same, but the graphics look amazing and I am hoping for both games to tell some engaging stories. The biggest thing (in my opinion) to come out of Microsoft’s conference was the fact that Xbox Ones are now backwards compatible, and the demonstration of the Hololens. Hololens looks absolutely incredible. I cannot imagine it coming out anytime soon, but it truly represents the future of gaming.
The Sony Conference
While this conference was slightly a disappointment (No Backwards Compatibility) it offered a huge array of games to look forward to. The big four (for me) are Star Wars Battlefront, Uncharted 4, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and No Man’s Sky. First of all, Star Wars Battlefront looks amazing. I used to play Star Wars: Battlefront 2 so much when I was younger. I only hope this game can recapture the spirit from the original. Uncharted 4 looks (predictably) good, and I have to say I am blown away by the graphics. Each game from Naughty Dog really sets the bar for graphics, and Uncharted 4 is doing a great job upholding that bar during a time where most games are releasing beautiful graphics. The gameplay looks very familiar, but definitely tweaked since last time. Horizon: Zero Dawn looks simply amazing. The graphics are gorgeous, the gameplay looks fun, and the premise is very interesting. This game certainly caught my attention and I cannot wait to see more. Finally there is No Man’s Sky. This game looks epic. It looks so unbelievably big, and while it may not have the best graphics, it will make up for it with limitless content. Of all the games shown in Sony’s conference, this one drew me in the most.
Closing Remarks
As I said earlier, this years E3 was great. Microsoft struck a nice balance between showcasing games and updating their technology. Sony focused more on the games, but that resulted in many great reveals. However, Bethesda just brought it. They had some great reveals and had a fantastic conference that delivered exactly what fans wanted. With any hope, next year’s E3 will be even better.