Now I move on to the Ubisoft Forward Showcare as part of the Summer Game Fest 2023. Ubisoft hasn't had much good in their conferences and this year their conference from them was problematic with a moment where the screen going black for a few seconds to also moments where the sound would just get cut off making the show almost unwatchable. I was at times enjoying what was going on till then the sound was cut off every now and then throughout the conference, which was annoying.
But there were still some announcements showcased in the Ubisoft Forward Stream with also some in depth look from the developers as well talking about each of the games in full at the end of the conference show.
So, Ubisoft started the showcase off with yet another announcement of a Just Dance game which is the 2024 edition. Same deal, same game, nothing to talk about and it is getting seriously old just seeing a Just Dance game appear in their conferences every year.
The next to be showcased was Avatar Frontiers of Pandora with devs and James Cameron going into detail about the storyline setting and gameplay which will be in First Person. Look I can say the game does look really nice but the issue is that do we really need an open world Avatar game let alone one in First Person? Avatar is also not really a thing anymore and the Avatar movie sequels keeps on getting delayed. Well at least the first Avatar sequel got released after a whole series of delays but still with this new game there is still chance that it could ruin the Avatar series as a whole.
Ubisoft's online game XDefiant has had a successful closed beta launch and it is announced that it will go into open session with launch on consoles. They also planned a road map for it and so far, it is looking solid.
There was more gameplay shown for Prince of Persia The Lost Crown and they were able to show off the time mechanic which makes a return alongside great platform and fast paced combat. The screen went black during the reveal which was really bad.
Next to be shown was a new animated series coming to Netflix called Captain LaserHawk A Blood Dragon Remix which is an insane over the top funny action series. Something like this should have been saved for its own podcast or show instead of being on a gaming showcase.
They did throw in a quick video showing what is coming to previously released games, new DLC for Mario & Rabbids Spark of Hope including a new planet and also Rayman becoming a playable character. A new session for For Honor is coming, Roller Champions is getting a collab with Jet Set Radio and Master Chief & The Arbiter from the Halo Series are coming to Brawlhalla.
A new The Crew game is coming out in the form of The Crew MotorFest. The new race tracks and cars look pretty good.
Ubisoft did announce some new Assassin's Creed games coming soon including an Assassin's Creed VR game with Assassin's Creed Nexus and also an Assassin's Creed game on mobile with Assassin's Creed Codename Jade. An Assassin's Creed game in VR sounds cool but a mobile Assassin's Creed isn't really something to look forward to.
Of course, they talked about the upcoming Assassin's Creed Mirage and even showed some new gameplay for it. It will abandon the RPG aspects and it will focus on being more linear with focus on stealth and parkour, it will have the Black Box design which was introduced in Assassin's Creed Unity and Assassin's Creed Syndicate as well as Eagle Vision to scout for nearby enemies. It looks amazing and I am glad to see that it is returning to its old roots but still doing things to keep players on their feet.
A previously announced game Skull & Bones has a Closed Beta coming in August but this is a game that is going to have to do a lot of things to be able to do decently especially for a game that has been delayed long enough.
To end the conference of we got a first deep look into the upcoming Star Wars game with Star Wars Outlaws, it will be an open world game telling the story of outlaw scoundrel Kay Vess and the game taking place between The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi. The gameplay shown off showcased Third Person cover based shooting alongside the use of stealth and also the use of her little companion friend who will pick up items for her. It also showed off vehicle driving and also space battles alongside branching dialogue which allows you to pick how the storyline plays out. The game also uses a wanted system where if you are caught doing things, you'll end up attracting attention from the Imperial Empire and have to escape from them otherwise the more you cause trouble for them the more reinforcements and other methods will be used against you. So, it is a good-looking Star Wars game and I'm sure Star Wars fans are looking forward to more from this game.
On top of the technical problems their Beyond Good & Evil game once again remains missing in action again. Either they are still working on the game or don't care much at this point but they would need to do some serious work with that game with all the next gen consoles out.
So, while the games they showed were good the technical problems really left the Ubisoft Forward Showcase to be a messy showcase and what a shame it was Ubisoft.
Written by Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
Log in to comment