E3 2010: Ubisoft Press Conference Summary

Right after EA, Ubisoft showed off their lineup of games. It had its share of awkward hiccups, but some of the games were impressive at best. Here is the summary of the Ubisoft press conference of E3 2010.

 

Child of Eden
Leading off the Ubisoft press briefing was Rez creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi's latest masterpiece, Child of Eden. Mizuguchi-san himself performed the stage demo of the game (fully supports the Kinect motion controller), and the look and feel of it is very similar to Rez. Think of that game, but more of a first-person shooter music-driven game (it does make sense that Child of Eden is a spiritual successor to Rez). It was sort of an epilepsy waiting to happen, but the demo was nothing short of extraordinary.

 

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Unfortunately, there was no teaser trailer for a third Assassin's Creed game. Instead, Ubisoft showed a trailer and some gameplay footage of the next expansion to Assassin's Creed 2. Picking up where Assassin's Creed 2 left off, Ezio must lead the Assassin Brotherhood to victory against a never-ending battle with the ever-persistent Templars. Ezio will have access to new gadgets and weaponry, but it's still pretty vague how the multiplayer aspect of the game will work. Looking forward to hearing more.

 

Shaun White Skateboarding
Not only does Shaun White rake in the gold medals in snowboarding, but he is also a champion in skateboarding. And it makes sense that the 'Flying Tomato' gets his own skateboarding game. Shaun White himself presented the demo. The game is basically focused on "creating your own skate park," and "bending reality to your own will." As you skate around the city, you can create new paths to rack up as many points as you can, on the fly. Seems that Shaun White is trying to change the way we look at skateboarding games, but we'll see how it fares during release.

 

Kinect-focused games, Innergy--Laser Tag!?
Perhaps one of Ubisoft's more...interesting presentations were its Kinect-focused games. First off was Innergy; it's kind of a Vitality Sensor kind of thing, and the demonstrator had Ubisoft host Joel McHale practice his breathing. How? Guiding a little fish through a maze...by breathing. It's an interesting approach, and I hear it helps your breathing as well.

 

Originating from the Microsoft press conference, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved returned for a second go. It was basically the same demo from the latter conference, and also a pretty decent way to approach a gamer's fitness. But perhaps the weirdest moment of the conference was the entrance of Battle Tag. It's basically a laser tag game, complete with a laser gun, and motion detectors meant to be strapped onto your body. I have no further words to say about it. See it for yourself.

 

Driver: San Francisco
John Tanner is back, and will once again pit him against his arch-nemesis, Charles Jericho. The Driver: San Francisco demo showed Tanner chasing Jericho through a bustling city. The newest feature of the game is that Tanner can switch from car to car in case he crashes. It brings some fluidity to the gameplay, because who hates crashing and have to start over a level again. This allows players to keep intense chases going for as long as they can, and it's a neat mechanic to keep track of. Driver will also remain a sandbox game, so don't worry.

 

Rabbids, Rayman
Ubisoft's adorable Rabbids are back, and will be going through a multitude of time periods, causing loads of mayhem as they go. A trailer was shown, as well as the announcement of the game being a Nintendo Wii exclusive. Rayman Origins was also announced, and another trailer was shown. From the looks of it, Origins will be a side-scrolling, co-op platformer.

 

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Ubisoft's best gaming showcase was definitely Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. An impressive demo at best, players will work with either AI partners or human players to complete every mission. Of course, a soldier of the future has new doodads in his arsenal. More sophisticated, more lethal weaponry is already a given, but invisibility camo is a definite must-have. The stealth kills and coordination was a sight to see, and is shaping up to be one of Ubisoft's finest titles of this year.

 

Personal thoughts
Ubisoft's press briefing was probably the least exceptional for me, but some of the games and Kinect stuff were intriguing. The Innergy thing had a neat component to it; if it helps my breathing and health, I'm all for it. The weirdest thing about the conference was definitely the whole Laser Tag gimmick. I'm not a bit interested in it, especially the presentation of it. Don't get me wrong; Laser Tag is awesome, but this could more or less cater to the younger breed of gamers.

 

Future Soldier was definitely Ubisoft's strongest point. I also thought Child of Eden was fantastic, but unfortunately, there was no announcement of Beyond Good & Evil 2 at all. It was disappointing, to say the least; there's always next year, yeah? Oh yes, Joel McHale, as a host, did alright. Some of the jokes may not have clicked, but he lightened up the mood at least.