19 June 2016
Microsoft once again kicked off Monday in E3 week, and with a nice surprise right before anyone walked on stage. The sleek and slim Xbox One S which is 40% smaller than the original console and looks brilliant in bright white. When big boss Phil Spencer appeared on stage we were set more major Microsoft news. Cross play is coming to Xbox One and Windows 10. Similar to Sony with its PS4, PS Vita cross play. This means that all future Xbox titles (from some point) will be playable on PC. This also means that the term Xbox exclusive will no longer exist. The new phrase is "Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive". Which coincidently was played in a deep dramatic voiceover before every game trailer.
Speaking of which there were a good number of them. Gears of War 4 had ample stage time, and I still don't get the appeal with the series at all. Still looks like a gritty third person shooter blasting aliens away, or whatever they are. Forza Horizon 3 however was right up my street. Predictably revealed but this game looks gorgeous, it's guaranteed arcade racing fun, and is probably still the biggest hook for me buying an Xbox. Set entirely in Australia with the brand new Lamborghini Centenario featuring as the cover car, this was the highlight game for me.
We got a glimpse of Inside, the new game from the developers behind Limbo, which seems as though it's been in development way too long. Then a very intriguing trailer popped up. First it looked Fallout-esque with old cheery music playing. Then very Bioshock-esque when the character styling was revealed. The voice actors were a little too British, but I was fixated on the screen thinking what is this game? It gets super creepy towards the end which I love. I'm definitely interested to see more on We Happy Few. Watch the trailer below.
Phil Spencer back on stage then introduced a bunch of new features coming to Xbox. Most notably a 'Looking for Group' feature which is a great idea on console. The number of times a party is just short of the correct number of players, or more likely, the number of individuals who are looking for a party to join, have no way to achieve this. Unless a dedicated fan site is setup for this very purpose - as was the case with Destiny. Sony could really do with a similar feature.
Back to the games and Gwent attracted some rage on Twitter, solely because it's another card game trying to latch onto some Hearthstone success. We finally saw some new gameplay footage of Scalebound. I was impressed with the scale of the monster crab in this boss fight but couldn't help but think this is no God of War. The main character's cheesy attitude and headphones also seem more annoying than before. Granted it's a new idea but it just doesn't work for me in a massive boss fight. The last game from Microsoft was Sea of Thieves. A game I've heard much hype for from certain critics. It turns out it's a multiplayer co-op and PvP pirate game. The hired gamers playing the demo were having a hilarious time (most likely reading from a script) but again it looked like a fresh idea. Unfortunately it's not for me as the art style and gameplay did seem tailored to a younger age group.
Lastly, Phil Spencer returned once more, to confirm the dreaded upgraded console midway through its lifespan is real. Project Scorpio is official, apparently it will be the world's most powerful console (with ample Teraflops...), and most importantly it will run Xbox One games perfectly. No images or release window was revealed but surely early adopters of the Xbox One will be pissed off by this. Microsoft can say all they want about the consoles play the same games, the fact is they will run better on the upgraded hardware, improving the game experience. Meaning most dedicated fans will have to fork out cash for the Scorpio when it launches because they want to experience Xbox games in the best possible way. This reveal was a surprise to many, and officially confirmed before Sony - where leaked details of their new console were made public long beforehand. This begged the question, what will Sony do?