E3 2017 Features

All of Microsoft’s Announcements at E3 2017

XBOX-ScorpioDay 2 of E3 2017 conferences start with Microsoft and their highly anticipated launch of Project Scorpio. Microsoft have been quiet for quite a while and it was good to see them come to E3 ready to make their mark with a whopping 42 games on show today. Let’s see what was announced!

Xbox One X (Formerly Project Scorpio)

No teasers or games to start the show because Microsoft opened up straight away and announced the Xbox One X. Dubbed the “Most powerful console ever made” by Phil Spencer, this monster runs at 4K/60FPS with 6 teraflops of processing power, 12gb GDDR5  graphic memory, 320gb/s memory bandwidth and a 1TB HDD to keep it all going. There was also new technology announced  which included a liquid vapour cooling system which should help keep the system cool and quiet.

With all this additional hardware you would think that this would be a massive unit but actually, the Xbox One X is somehow smaller than the Xbox One S. With additional features like HDR, Dolby Atmos, 4K Bluray playback, Supersampling (for people who don’t have a 4K TV) and the ability to have all existing Xbox Accessories & games work on Xbox One X (but even better), This console is set to blow us away.

Available on 7th November 2017 for $499 USD and a confirmed $649AUD

Forza Motorsport 7

What better way to show off your new hardware than a racing game and Forza 7 is just the way to do it. With the enhanced power of the Xbox One X, Forza 7 is looking mighty nice. You will be able to collect over 700 cars and play the game in a stunning 4K at 60FPS. More information is available over on the Xbox Website

Available on all Xbox One and Windows 10 – 3rd October 2017 (7th November for Xbox One X)

Metro Exodus

Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, this is a new Metro game based off of the Metro 2035 book by Dmitry Glukhovsky and it is looking sweet. Running in engine in 4K we return to the tunnels of the Moscow Metro but this time it looks like we can explore more of the surface world and face new beasties as nature starts to recover. While the gameplay did look very scripted and the game does look amazing, I would hold judgement for something unscripted. With working trains throughout it definitely feels like the world has developed and changed over the course of the last two games.

Available on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC in 2018

Assassin’s Creed – Origins

Set in Egypt you take control of the main character Bayek the last Medjai in an attempt to the discover origin story of the Assassin’s Brotherhood. Along with his controllable scout bird you can survey areas and plan your approach to each location and perform a variety of new takedowns. Even though this was leaked prior to E3 it was still exciting to see what Ubisoft had done with an extra year of development time. It looks like they’ve added a loot system to the game as well as enemies damage numbers and a few other RPG features. Not sure if this is a welcomed feature but the whole scene felt pretty awesome.

Available on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC – 27th October 2017

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on Xbox One

Previously released in Early Access on Steam, PUBG has taken the world by storm. Now it’s expanding over to the console market via Xbox One. If you have been living under a rock these last couple of months, PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS is a tactical, last-man-standing shooter being developed with community feedback where players must fight to locate weapons and supplies in a massive 8x8km island to be the lone survivor (or team of survivors).

Available on Xbox One – Late 2017

Deep Rock Galactic

Developed by Ghost Ship Games, this is a four player Co-op FPS hoard shooter with an interesting polygonal art style. You can destroy terrain, mine resources and fight off hoards of bug like spider creatures.

Available on PC and Xbox One – 2018

State of Decay 2

18 months after the zombie apocalypse, the military abandons a refugee camp in small-town America. Those left behind must band together to survive the fall of civilization and the rise of the undead. In State of Decay 2, it’s up to you to gather survivors, build a community, and redefine what it means to survive. It might have just been my Twitch stream but a choppy framerate trailer isn’t promising for a game of this level. Overall though a new State of Decay is a welcomed site and it’s a zombie game that’s different enough for us to care about.

Available on Xbox One and Windows 10 – Spring 2018 (Fall 2018 in Australia)

The Darwin Project

Scavengers Studios have announced a new title called The Darwin Project. A battle royale game with a cell shaded graphic style and some fast paced gameplay. No release date has been announced yet but Microsoft have stated it would launch first on Xbox One.

Minecraft 4K Update

Microsoft have decided to release a new Minecraft update for the Xbox One X. Dubbed the Super Duper graphics pack, this update is set on unifying the devices for multi-platform play across console, Windows 10, VR and mobile, making it look even better in the process.

Available Fall 2017 (Spring 2017 in Australia)

Dragon Ball Fighter Z

Running in Unreal engine 4 and developed by Arc System Works, Dragon Ball Fighter Z is looking like one explosive fighter. A teaser trailer has been released with a Spring 2018 release date. This is going to be a 2D style fighter similar to Marvel  vs Capcom 3 with multiple characters on a team, quick switching combos and flashy attacks.

Available Spring 2018 (Fall 2018 in Australia)

Black Desert Online

It looks like more games are moving from the PC over to console and the Korean MMO Black Desert Online is following suit. Black Desert is a sandbox oriented MMO featuring next-gen graphics, full action combat and an immense seamless world full of adventure and danger. Travel through the lands in search of treasure and adventure or become one of the top craftsmen in the land. No release date has been announced yet for the Xbox One version.

The Last Night

A pixel based, cyberpunk styled, 2D adventure game has been teased with no release date announced just yet. Experience action and infiltration gameplay in the great tradition of cinematic platformers and travel between districts using taxis, ferries, or monorail while trying to keep a low profile and remain undetected.

Available on Xbox One and PC – 2018

The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti

The Artful Escape is some kind of adventure, exploration, guitar-laser-light-battle game and is the debut release from Beethoven & Dinosaur. This has been seen previously at PAX Australia in 2016 but the developers say it’s “Coming when it’s damn ready”.

Code Vein

Another teaser trailer in this thick and fast barrage of content. This time it’s for Code Vein, developed by Bandai Namco studios. As the world plunges into chaos, the most unlikely of heroes take center stage to eradicate the global threat. On a mission to discover themselves and unlock their lost memories, they only know one thing for certain… their thirst for BLOOD!

Available on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC – 2018

Sea of Thieves

It looks like Sea of Thieves developers and Microsoft have learned their lesson from last year and ditched the incredibly scripted, YouTuber gaming sequence montage and instead opted for a light-hearted narrated walkthrough of the game. Sea of Thieves seems to be a little self aware and a whole lot of fun if you have a group of friends to command the high seas with.

Available on Xbox One and Windows 10 – Early 2018

Tacoma

Tacoma looks to be the next game from the creators of Gone Home and it will be interesting to see what they are able to do with a new environment. What is life like 200,000 miles from Earth? Uncover the mysteries held by Lunar Transfer Station Tacoma and its crew, living at the edge of humanity’s reach.

Available on Xbox One and Windows 10 – 2nd August 2017

Super Lucky’s Tale

Follow a cutesy adventure game with a fox character called Lucky as they explore the world around them, collect coins, interact with the locals and help his beloved sister rescue the Book of Ages from villain Jinx. Super Lucky’s Tale looks like an extremely polished and super adorable version of Conkers Bad Fur Day (Maybe it’s Conkers Good Fur Day?) and I can get behind that.

Available on Xbox One and Windows 10 – 7th November 2017

Cuphead

After all this time it looks like we finally have a release date for the challenging 2D run and gun action game Cupdhead. Inspired by cartoons of the 1930s, the visuals and audio are painstakingly created with the same techniques of the era and we would love for this to finally be released.

Available on Xbox One and Windows 10 – 29th September 2017

Crackdown 3

When you use Terry Crews to announce something you know it’s going to be awesome and the announcement of Crackdown 3 was no exception. Everything appears to be turned up to 11 in Crackdown 3 and it’s time to join The Agency step up your BOOM!

Available on Xbox One and Windows 10 – 7th November

ID@Xbox Montage

Because we didn’t already have enough awesome games, here is a montage of everything coming from the ID@Xbox developers including games like Path of Exile, Conan Exiles, PUBG, The Darwin Project and more!

Ashen

Developed by Aurora 44, Ashen appears to be an RPG about wandering a dark and barren wasteland in search of a place to call home. According to the trailer “Ashen is about forging relationships. Players can guide those they trust to their camp — together, you might just stand a chance.” No release date has been specified as yet but it will be available on Xbox One and Windows 10.

Ori and the Will of the Wisp

From the developers of Ori and the Blind Forest comes the highly anticipated sequel dubbed “Ori and the Will of the Wisps.” Introduced with some beautiful live piano background music and a wordless trailer, this game looks even better than its predecessor. Its beautiful set pieces tell a story of loss and longing which may even jerk a few tears from the audience. Unfortunately, we don’t have a release date yet but it will be available on Xbox One and Windows 10.

Life is Strange: Before The Storm

We thought we might get a sequel to the Life is Strange universe this year but instead we have a standalone prequel to keep us company. In this 3 episode prequel story we follow Chloe Price and Rachel Amber 3 years before the events of the first game. There is more information on the Life is Strange Blog.

Episode 1 of 3 Available on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC – 31st August 2017

Original Xbox Backwards Compatibility on Xbox One

Phil Spencer was back on stage to announce some additional backward compatibility features including the addition of original Xbox Games being made available to play on the Xbox One and enhanced with Xbox One X. One game that was put on display was Crimson Skies and was said to look better and play better. We hope this theme will continues with various other classic games from the original Xbox console.

Available on Xbox One – Late 2017 

Also announced was a free 4K update to a variety of Xbox One games when you are playing them on the Xbox One X as part of the “Xbox One X Enhanced program”.

Anthem

To wrap up the show we have the previously teased Anthem making its full debut here at the Microsoft conference. This time with some gameplay and multiplayer communication, the BioWare developed Anthem gives off a very similar vibe to something like Destiny but in 3rd person. Because it was developed by the same team, you can’t help but wonder if Mass Effect: Andromeda might have been put on the back burner to let this thrive because it looks amazing in comparison. You and your multiplayer team of customisable exo-suits (dubbed Javelins) explore an open world environment battling enemies, finding loot and communicating with each other with a drop in, drop out party system. Plus you can fly like Iron Man and that is pretty awesome in and of itself.

It looks like Anthem is going to be a hit release when Anthem launches in Fall 2018.

Conclusion (By Brendan) + Bingo Result

If you missed the conference and want to watch it for yourself, click HERE.

Xbox have certainly given us a stellar conference this year, with the reveal of the Xbox One X along with a solid lineup of games to complement the updated console. Forza Motorsport 7 was the first new title to show the power of the Xbox One X, with the game running smoothly on 4K at 60 fps. While there were titles we knew were coming such as Assassin’s Creed Origins and something Minecraft related, many took us by surprise including the reveal of Metro Exodus, Black Desert and Crackdown 3, along with the console announcement of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The reveal of backwards compatibility for Original Xbox titles is an added plus, with Crimson Skies being the first to launch.

It was also nice to see that Cuphead finally has a release date. The local price for the Xbox One X was revealed to be $649 AUD and although it’s not exactly cheap, the price is significantly lower to what we expected it to be. The end of this year is set to look good for Xbox and we’re looking forward to getting hands-on time with some of the new games.

Xbox Bingo Result

Now onto the all important bingo bonanza result. We did a little better than the EA conference (12/25) but some of those things are welcomed sights like the price of the Xbox One X being lower than expected. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything regarding a new Halo game, Sunset Overdrive 2 or Scalebound but we might get more information on those a little later in the year. Two conferences down and four more to go! Stay tuned to see what Bethesda has been cooking up at 2PM AEST today.