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With the warm-up acts now safely out of the way, the stage
was set for the joint forces of Xbox and Bethesda to show everyone else how an
E3 digital showcase was done. The presentation featured back-to-back games,
with trailer after trailer giving extended looks or outright new reveals at 30 games
– 27 of which arrive on Game from Day One.
Want to know what you missed? There was certainly a lot to get
excited about, so we’ve put together this round-up blog covering all the major
teases, trailers and gameplay demos that were shown. Here’s what you’ll soon be
playing on your Xbox…
Todd Howard opened the show with an in-game teaser for
Starfield, the hotly anticipated Sci-Fi RPG from Bethesda Game Studios. It was
a very atmospheric teaser, truth be told, with a just a brief glimpse of astronauts,
a rickety spaceship and an oh-so serious voiceover which served to set up the tone
of the game’s universe. “It’s all that we’ve been working towards.” Xbox
Players likely feel the same.
The teaser may have been totally pre-rendered, but it still
served to highlight just how optimistic Starfield is set to be compared to the
Fallout franchise. It was confirmed to be an Xbox console exclusive and was
given a release date of November 11th, 2022.
It wouldn’t be an E3 conference without at least one game
giving us a post-apocalyptic setting to explore. This came early on during the
Bethesda/Xbox showcase, courtesy of GSC Game World’s STALKER 2. The gameplay
video showed a lot of sneaking around in the irradiated Earth, as well as some gunplay
against some terrifying mutants.
There appears to be a heavy emphasis on story as a lot of the
in-engine gameplay concentrated on Russian dialogue and storytelling around a
campfire. If you’re into the Metro series this will likely do it for you –
STALKER 2 looks just as beautiful, too. It’s coming exclusively to Xbox Series
X|S and will be a day one release on Game Pass.
It seems like such a match made in heaven that it’s
surprising it hasn’t happened before now. Soon, players who enjoy playing Sea
of Thieves with friends will soon get to do so with characters from Disney’s
iconic Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Captain Jack himself made an appearance,
as did his arch nemesis Davey Jones, indicating that it will be a rather
expansive piece of content.
The Pirates of the Caribbean crossover comes as part of an
epic new original storyline arriving exclusively on Xbox consoles this June 22nd.
It’s titled Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life and will be made free for all
existing players.
It’s been so long now since Psychonauts 2 was originally
announced, you’d be forgiven fir wondering whether the game exists or not at
all. Luckily, today’s Xbox E3 presentation proved that Double Fine hasn’t lost
its touch when it comes to zany humour and charming characters. The game looks
better than ever in this explosive new gameplay trailer.
The biggest Psychonauts 2 news, though, was that it finally
got a release date. You’ll be able to enjoy another mind-hopping adventure as
Raz this August 25th. And, of course, like every first-party Xbox
game Psychonauts 2 will be free to Xbox Game Pass members on Day One.
Physics and being friendly with other players are both out
the door in every game of Gangbeasts. Today Xbox revealed a new game called
Party Animals, which seems to be tapping into a similar vibe by letting you and
friends control a roster of crazily cute animals that compete in crazy games. Though
not given an exact release date, Party Animals is expected to release directly
into Xbox Game Pass.
Party Animals places a large focus on online multiplayer and
competing with friends, as you might imagine, and the games on display
certainly looked anarchic. Grab a controller, choose a fuzzy fighter and have
fun trying to be the last animal standing.
Halo Infinite is the Xbox exclusive game that doesn’t seem
to ever want to come out. However, 343 Studios made up for its many delays by
showcasing a fresh look at the game’s story as part of today’s Xbox/Bethesda
digital E3 showcase. It again centred heavily on Master Chief’s relationship
with Cortana, showing him still on the hunt for his precious AI friend.
The Halo Infinite potion also really hammered home the fact
that Halo multiplayer will be free to play when it launches later on this year
in the holiday season. Whether you’re playing on PC or Xbox, Halo Infinite’s
many competitive modes will be free to access for all and entirely cross play between
platforms. This news was accompanied by a deep look at the multiplayer’s
gameplay, and seems to strike the perfect balance between the new and familiar.
No hard release date was given.
One of the moodiest trailers of the night came courtesy of
Focus Home Interactive, with the reveal of A Plague Tale: Requiem. It’s a
third-person action-adventure game that very much looks to be keeping with the
original game, A Plague Tale: Innocence, again concentrating on the bond between
sibling characters.
The trailer shown was just CG, but the hordes of rats look
just as terrifying as ever. It will come to Xbox as a day one release on Xbox
Game Pass some time in 2022.
To celebrate a year since the release of Obsidian
Entertainment’s Grounded, the game will soon be improved with more content via the
new ‘Shroom and Doom’ update. It adds all kinds of new stuff such as hats, the
ability to sit (not kidding) and more mushrooms. The big tease at the end of
the trailer, though, was the menacing Brood Mother, who doesn’t look like
someone you’ll want to cross during you’re miniaturised garden adventure.
Having not been the subject to any rumour or leak heading
into tonight’s digital showcase, it was a genuinely surprise to see that,
despite also working on Avowed, Obsidian is now also working on a direct sequel
to The Outer Worlds. The trailer also found the time to poke fun at how must E3
trailers for Triple-A games go, indicating that the satirical humour has been
kept intact.
Another big surprise for Xbox’s E3 showing was the news that
Forza Horizon 5 would be coming as early on November 2022. Playground Games’ creative
director Mike Brown revealed that the game will feature a new campaign mode
called the Expedition, where players will drive through environments seeking for
new places where the titular Forza Horizon festival will take place.
This time players will be driving through Mexico, which will
be rendered using top-notch visuals thanks to the next-generation of Xbox
consoles in the Series S|X. Multiplayer was also discussed a little, with Forza
Horizon’s drop in/drop out gameplay once again returning. A new mode called the
Events Lab will allow players to create their own tracks and experiences. There’s
no two bones about it, Forza Horizon 5 looked absolutely stunning in the
gameplay shown. Almost every location has been created to deliver photo-realistic
visuals, which when combined with Horizon’s trademark arcade racing gameplay,
should make for a stunning Xbox exclusive this November.
The Xbox/Bethesda showcase ended with a trailer showing Arkane’s
latest game, RedFall which will also be its first Xbox exclusive game since the
platform acquired them earlier this year. The trailer did a good job at depicting
all the crazy characters that will feature, and was presented in the style of
cult classic 80s movies. There was creepy red text to break the action up and
everything. Needless to say, this is an open-world horror shooter worth keeping
an eye on.
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