20 June 2015
Bethesda
Considering this is the first time Bethesda has had its own conference at E3, and it was held a day before anyone else, they really nailed it. The near 20 minute gameplay demo of the revitalised Doom was an awesome gorey way to kick things off. I've never played a previous Doom game before but you can always tell by the crowd reaction when gameplay moments hit the sweet spot. One being the first shotgun shell splitting a demon into bits, and another being the chainsaw sawing an enemy clean in half from the head down. In fact there was a pre-emptive cheer even when the player picked up the chainsaw beforehand. It was a brilliant demo and I'll be tempted to buy it when it launches some time in 2016. Dishonored 2 was officially revealed as expected, and I really enjoyed the stylish CGI trailer but I doubt I'll get into that series.
Then Todd Howard took to the stage - the Game Director behind Fallout 4. I was expecting lengthy gameplay footage after the reveal trailer was shown a few weeks back, and they showed more than we could have hoped for. The pre-nuclear blast world looked beautiful with its alternate-future-retro styling, and the character creation seemed incredibly accurate. In the post apocalyptic world, V.A.T.S. returns with bloodier animations and you could hear the crowd 'awww' when the dog was introduced who will be your companion throughout the story. From the second gameplay demo (yes, second) the new build mode and gun modifying look like great additions to the series that you could spend hours tinkering around with. Having initially been on the fence for Fallout 4 after not properly getting into Fallout 3 (shock I know) I'm now completely sold and can't wait for its prime time release in November. The surprise from Bethesda was Fallout Shelter. Despite being a mobile game it won everyone over with its Fallout cartoon charm and comedy elements. Unveiling and releasing this to the world on the very same day was a stroke of genius too, keeping every Fallout fan occupied somewhat until the main game's launch.
Microsoft
The biggest announcement at Microsoft was the backwards compatibility feature, allowing Xbox 360 games to be played on Xbox One. This really seemed like a stab at Sony however it's not available until 'Fall 2015' and only for a limited number of 360 games. This feels very familiar to PlayStation Now where Sony almost promised all PlayStation games (across generations) could be played on PS4. Instead only a few PS3 titles are currently available to stream via the service. I'd also be quite annoyed If I was one of the many people to switch from Xbox 360 to PS4 this year.
As for the games they showed off, they were mostly predictable. Perfect for Xbox fans but none tempted me to buy an Xbox One. The new Ford GT descending from the ceiling was cool for Forza 6, and Rise of the Tomb Raider will eventually come to PS4. Speaking of which, I wasn't amazed by the gameplay trailer. The ice climbing scene was just too extreme and she would never have survived most of the jumps and falls. I know it's a very fine line with action adventure games starring humans to be epic and not ridiculous, but I just thought it was trying too hard, possibly due to its similar comparisons with Uncharted. I also thought Lara looked completely different to the 2013 game - still pretty but not the same which bugged me. My last point on Tomb Raider is the release date being the same as Fallout 4. This seems suicidal. Especially with the game only launching to half the console market in 2015, and Fallout releasing on all platforms, the new Lara could really suffer in the sales department. Perfect for PS4 owners though!
The best demo at Microsoft was actually seeing Minecraft played on a coffee table using HoloLens. The way the world plunged into a hole, and the camera swooping through the house was awesome. I was genuinely blown away by it.