E3 2017: New “Spider-Man” Game Features Miles Morales and Wilson Fisk, While Ubisoft Introduces Mario to the Rabbids
0With E3 at its halfway point, it’s time to recap everything that happened at the press conferences he;d by Sony, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts and Nintendo.
ELECTRONIC ARTS
Let’s start with EA, which only announced two new titles, ANTHEM and the new prison break game A WAY OUT. The company used the rest of their press conference to hype up their major sports franchises and STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT II.
Actress Janina Gavankar, who will be playing the lead in the new single player campaign, hosted the Star Wars portion of the presentation, which showed off a multiplayer mode and touted increased customization, including many new vehicles and special abilities. This time around, players will be able to play as Iden Versio, an Imperial elite special forces soldier, in a story mode that wasn’t present in the original game.
EA Sports also announced new additions to their games including a story mode in Madden 18 called ‘Longshot,’ which looks like Friday Night Lights: The Game. The story mode will also be present in FIFA 18, which can now be played with a friend. We were also given a quick look at NBA LIVE 18, which appears to combine street ball with classic NBA action.
UBISOFT
Ubisoft focused its presentation on new games, including a very mysterious VR game that Elijah Wood and his production company are producing which looks amazing, and a new title for the Nintendo Switch that pairs up Mario and Rabbids called MARIO + RABBIDS KINGDOM BATTLE.
We were treated to a bunch of new trailers including THE CREW 2, which adds dirt bikes and planes to the original action; a gameplay demo of FAR CRY 5 complete with Boomer the dog; a new game titled SKULL & BONES, which looks a lot like Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, minus the assassins; and an announcement trailer for BEYOND GOOD & EVIL 2, which is a prequel to the first game that was released in 2003.
NINTENDO
The highlights of the Nintendo presentation included announcements about METROID PRIME 4, new Kirby, Yoshi and Pokemon games for the newly released Switch, a new take on Mario in SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY (which I can’t wait to get my hands on) and new DLC content for BREATH OF THE WILD.
SONY
Insomniac’s new SPIDER-MAN game was the belle of the ball at the Sony presentation, though we also saw new trailers for some previously announced games, as well as a couple of surprises.
We saw a new trailer for UNCHARTED: LOST LEGACY, which is out in August; a longer trailer for the post-apocalyptic zombie game DAYS GONE; MONSTER HUNTER WORLD, which is expanding the popular Monster Hunter series to consoles; a look at the new installment in the GOD OF WAR series that’s due in early 2018; a new expansion for this year’s HORIZON ZERO DAWN; a new co-op mobile horror game called HIDDEN AGENDA from the makers of UNTIL DAWN; and a bunch of new games for PlayStation VR, including Bethesda’s SKYRIM, new shooter BRAVO TEAM, MONSTERS OF THE DEEP, which combines Final Fantasy and fishing, and thriller THE INPATIENT, which takes place in a mental asylum.
Sony also gave us a look at French video game designer David Cage’s new game DETROIT, which is very cinematic-looking in the same vein as HEAVY RAIN and BEYOND: TWO SOULS. This time around, we are playing as an android leading an uprising in a futuristic city that is controlled by corporations.
Last but not least, we glimpsed the impressive new SPIDER-MAN game, which looks very action-packed and similar to the successful series of ARKHAM games that put us in the shoes and suit of Batman. The trailer also showed us some characters in the game, including Wilson Fisk and Miles Morales. This game looks to be a must-have for the PS4 this year.
We’ll be back with more E3 updates throughout the week, so stay tuned for more coverage.
Jack Traven | Contributing Writer