Microsoft has never been much for real earth shaking surprises at E3. Halo, Gears, a little sports here, a little hardware there, etc. This year they knew they had to step their game up after a weak Xbox One launch and first year.
Overall they had a decent showing. Dark Souls III was a stunner, as was the new, modifiable Elite controller. Backwards compatibility was announced for Xbox 360 games, but before you go losing your mind, it appears to be some sort of "backwards compatibility*", asterisk definitely intended. No idea how that shit is going to work. It does not seem like it will be as simple as "put your 360 game in the Xbox One disc drive". Shame.
Here's my list of what really jumped out at me during the conference.
ReCore : New IP from Inafune which seems to involve switching out orb-like "cores" into different robots which then aid you in a lonely looking action adventure game. Looks brilliant and inventive - I'm a sucker for robot companions.
Rare Replay: I'm a hardcore Rare fan. The day Rare was sold to Microsoft is still the worst day of my life. That being said, this collection doesn't look too bad. $30 for 30 games is a good deal no matter how you slice it. If Conker's BFD has online multiplayer it could be a console seller. Please Lord give us back Live & Reloaded multiplayer!
Sea of Thieves: "...I had a dream once", Captain Blackeye will say, if you hunt him down in Jolly Roger's Lagoon in Banjo Tooie. The dream is now real. Rare is nearly done with their long shelved pirate adventure. If it plays like it looks this game has a lot of potential.
Dark Souls III: 'nuff said.
Cuphead: Indie action platformer that looks like a 1930's Disney cartoon, complete with grainy stock. A brief clip of this title turned a lot of heads at last years E3. It seems it has been expanded into a full title. Old school action platforming with a cool, unique setting - this is what the video game industry needs more of.
Gears 4/Halo 5: A staple of Microsoft E3. I will never get to see Banjo Threeie at a Microsoft E3, but I get one of these two every year. Gears 4 looked, aesthetically, quite impressive except for being too damn dark. The game itself seemed a little stale. The encounter and gameplay felt so scripted. Same problem with Halo 5. The world of Halo 5 seems so cluttered. Everything is so well animated but there is just too much of it. We'll have to wait and see more of these two before a final judgement is passed.
This is a smaller sampling of the highlights. If you want to watch the conference in its entirety, you can find it on Youtube here.
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