Culture 12 min read

Everything Announced This Weekend at E3 From 'Anthem' to Doom

XBOX was kind of absent from this year's E3. | Barone Firenze | Shutterstock.com

XBOX was kind of absent from this year's E3. | Barone Firenze | Shutterstock.com

This article recounts all of the major announcements over the last three days of the E3 conference. This includes all Electronic Arts (EA) announcements from studios like Bioware and DICE.

It also includes all announcements from Microsoft and XBox One game developers, as well as Bethesda Softworks. Yes – they did confirm Elder Scrolls VI and Starfield.

EA, Microsoft, and Bethesda all had their E3 conferences this weekend. That means some HUGE announcements got made and you may have missed them.

Or you might have seen a bunch of disjointed articles about a bunch of different releases.

This article takes all of the major announcements and puts the information and the trailers in one convenient place because who has the time when you can play Fortnite?

Let’s dive in with EAPlay and Bioware’s “reveal” of more Anthem gameplay. And no: there were no Dragon Age 4 surprise announcements. I know, I know…I’m crying, too.

It all Began With EA and Anthem

Bioware did not shock fans with any surprise Dragon Age or Mass Effect announcements. Known for their specific attention to character-driven story arcs, this new trailer left many viewers feeling underwhelmed.

But the trailer shows off much of Anthem’s core mechanics involving the importance of team play and how you can navigate air, land, and water in your javelins (which are basically Iron Man suits).

We learned that you will have a “home instance” and share some parts of the world.

Bioware billed the game as an open-world action role-playing game. You play as a freelancer wielding a javelin and you have to defend “The Anthem” from abuse by “The Dominion”.

“The Anthem” is a leftover tool from “The Shapers”. With all of these vague nouns, you would think this game was Destiny. Like Destiny, you will need a persistent internet connection to play Anthem.

We also saw some gnarly monsters and diverse environments on top of the four different javelin classes and some of their abilities.

There won’t be multiplayer features at launch, nor will there be any of Bioware’s famous romance options as of yet.

You can play it on PS4, Xbox One, and PC when it launches February 22, 2019.

More Star Wars News From DICE and Respawn

Hot on the heels of Solo’s release, EA announced not one, but two Star Wars games.

Firstly, you have DLC for the tragically loot-box-scandal-plagued Star Wars: Battlefront II. Though the loot box scandal left a bad taste in player’s mouths, this new DLC seeks to take on the Clone Wars.

Perhaps the gamers will change their tune if this DLC goes well.

I’m more interested in knowing whether or not those two characters from the Battlefront campaign are Rey’s parents.

Respawn gave a seemingly impromptu announcement about its Star Wars project.

You might recognize the name Respawn from the recently successful game Titanfall 2. That game featured no paid-for DLC content and only featured cosmetic-based microtransactions.

We know that the game will be called Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, but not much else.

This Game That Reminds me of This Other Game

Sea of Solitude takes a unique approach to exploration games.

It features facets of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Silent Hill, and 3D platformers. But it really reminds me of this game Submerged that came out 3 years ago.

If you watch the trailer, you can see some similarities in style and mechanics. But Submerged contains no combat and takes about six hours to complete.

Sea of Solitude will release sometime in early 2019.

Other News From EA That Wasn’t Anthem or Star Wars

Other than the big news from Bioware and Respawn, the EA announcement didn’t hold too many surprises for E3 watchers. The other news is as follows:

  • Old school strategy game Command & Conquer is getting a mobile game
  • Unravel Two spins a new yarn in its co-op adventure out right now
  • Battlefield V got a new trailer featuring in-game footage
  • A new Madden NFL Overdrive trailer for the free update available on August 15, 2018
  • FIFA 19 also got a trailer with a release date of September 28th, 2018

Microsoft Debuts Halo Infinite and Teases Gears of War 5

In a bid to show off their future 4K abilities, Microsoft wowed audiences with Halo and Gears of War trailers that, admittedly, looked incredible.

As a long-time Halo fan, Halo Infinite has my mind buzzing with all kinds of questions.

The game will take place after the events of Halo 4 and 5 where Cortana went all HAL9000 “I can’t that Dave” on Master Chief.

But if you watch until the end, the person in the Spartan armor inserts something into their helmet/brain. That something looks like a data crystal chip a.k.a. a Cortana chip.

CONSPIRACY!!!

XCOM-Style Gears of War Game Coming, too

I am all too familiar with the love/hate relationship gamers have with strategy games. My favorite games I use to torture myself are some in the XCOM family from Firaxis.

Microsoft confirmed that the turn-based strategy game Gears Tactics is in the works.

The Gears of War 5 announcement trailer showcased Kait Diaz, the Gearsverse character, traversing snowy environments. The team also fought zombie robots.

It will feature online co-op, as well as local split-screen co-op with 4K capabilities.

Next Forza Locale may be Scotland/Britain Inspired

Forza games offer pretty decent racing and car experiences and consistent quality. They’re like the Honda of racing games from Microsoft, the Honda of game developers.

Forza Horizon games offer different experiences with all sorts of cars.

Forza Horizon 4 is an XBox exclusive, but PC players can also use it thanks to Xbox Play Anywhere. This allows users with Xbox game copies to play the game on PC, as well.

This game releases October 2nd of this year with a shared online world for seamless play.

Noone Asked for Another Devil May Cry, but Here we are

I jest a bit since this series’ last release took place in 2008 (ignoring the Ninja Theory release in 2013 which the presentation failed to mention).

The trailer shows us some typical Devil May Cry stuff: demons, gunplay, and gore. As far as the plot goes, the trailer doesn’t reveal much beyond clever quips and action shots.

E3 revealed that the game will come out sometime in Spring 2019.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Maintains Hair Physics

I absolutely love the direction the new Tomb Raider games took. And boy — does core developer Crystal Dynamics really get those hair physics right.

The third installment of the successful reboot sees Lara Croft tackling some guilt and remorse for the consequences of her actions to curb the baddies over at Trinity. While not much else is known, we do see some pretty obvious set pieces in the new trailer.

The game will release on September 14th of this year and yes: I definitely pre-ordered.

Witcher Devs Producing Boardgame Inspired Game

Many people laud the Witcher series by developer CD Projekt Red as one of the best open world game series of all time. E3 revealed the latest project from this studio to be a game I had totally forgotten about.

Cyberpunk 2077, inspired by board game Cyberpunk 2020, takes the stage with robots, leather jackets, and mass wealth inequality with neon backlights.

The graphics look insane, but I remain cautious given how badly some people can interpret cyberpunk. We also can’t tell much about gameplay mechanics or plot from the trailer.

We don’t know a release date for this game as of yet.

Everything Else Microsoft Unveiled

Microsoft also announced two expansions for Sea of Thieves along with:

  • Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice trailer with a 2019 release
  • Crackdown 3 starring Terry Crews with a (hopefully) February 2019 release
  • a trailer for Metro: Exodus which looks insanely cool
  • a new game in the Life is Strange universe called The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit which will be free to download June 26th
  • skating game Session which, alarmingly, doesn’t have Tony Hawk in it
  • Just Cause 4 now featuring…tornadoes? Coming December 4, 2018
  • Ori and the Will of the Wisps coming in 2019
  • a Cuphead expansion
  • Dying Light 2 with no set release date
  • Jump Force crossover fighting game from Bandai Namco

The tech mogul company also announced a new XBox system in the works and its acquisition of several indie studios. The studios acquired include: Undead Labs, Ninja Theory, Playground Games, and Compulsion Games.

Bethesda Showcases Fallout 76 Gameplay

As predicted, Fallout 76 will be a survivalist multiplayer game. Todd Howard referred to it as “softcore survival”, so thanks for that insight into your hobbies bro.

Each server will only hold a few dozen players at any one time. You can drop in and out, preserving your progression as you come and go.

As with Anthem, developers said that you can play these games solo, but they are set up to be played as a part of a team. This also means that rivalries and alliances can be forged in the heat of battle on each server.

The tone remains very similar to the rest in the Fallout series and is set in West Virginia.

E3 revealed that you can get your hands on this November 14, 2018.

 Doom Eternal, Rage 2, Prey DLC, Starfield, & More

We already knew a new Doom game was coming along with Rage 2. But man, oh man, did we get so much more than we bargained for at the Bethesda E3 announcements.

Perhaps most unexpected was the announcement of Prey DLC Prey: Mooncrash. The DLC claims to offer totally unique experiences every time you load up the DLC.

As a fan of the base game despite its lackluster ending, I’ll be picking this one up.

Todd Howard and company also announced an Elder Scrolls mobile game which looks…fine. It’s fine. It isn’t Elder Scrolls VI, but you know Todd Howard, it’s fine.

Tooooooootally fine.

(it’s not fine)

But this E3 Starfield trailer does have me decently excited.

It Looks Like That one Dude’s Prediction may be Right

In our article about Fallout 76, we resurrected a random 4Chan post from an anonymous user. This post accurately predicted the details and release time of Fallout 76. It included other predictions including information about Starfield.

This announcement trailer reveals little except that this is totally 2001: A Space Odyssey inspired with both the music, feel, and (from what we can tell) design choices.

We don’t know much else except that this video accurately sums up gamer reaction.

Okay, but you get to Play as Blazkowicz’ Twin Daughters

Bethesda, known for its sprawling open world games like Fallout, isn’t exactly known for its exceptionally linear story-telling. But the Wolfenstein games disprove this belief.

Wolfenstein II: A New Colossus is one of the best games of 2017. The next installment in the Wolfenstein collection involves the main character’s children: twin daughters.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood will take place in the 1980s following BJ and Anya. You can play the ENTIRE GAME as co-op or solo if you want. How cool is that?

There is no set release date yet from E3, but it will come out next year sometime.

The Division 2 Gameplay Trailer has me Hype as Heck

I don’t know if you were as into the first Division as I was, but this one looks even better. This announcement took place in Microsoft’s presentation, but the publisher is Ubisoft.

The gameplay walkthrough has you following a team of players (much like the original Division trailer from E3 2013). The team simulates what gamers in the real world might say and do such as “ammo here” or “follow me”.

Of course, Kit personifies me as a gamer in this exchange from the trailer:

Other Normal and Probably Good Player: “Kit, we gotta get you leveled up…”
Kit, Probably a Filthy Casual Like Me: “I knowwww, please…HALP…I’ve been…busy….”

This sequel will take place in Washington D.C., releasing on March 15, 2019.

We Finally got a Kingdom Hearts 3 Release Date

All your favorites are there: Sora, Donald, Goofy….Olaf from Frozen? That’s right — there is a Frozen level including Anna, Olaf, and the snow queen herself (Elsa).

This adds to the confirmed worlds from Tangled, Monsters Inc., Toy Story, and Big Hero 6. Elsa’s appearance also seems to make Sora feel Some Type of Way™.

Square Enix confirmed a January 29, 2019 release date for the long-awaited game.

Elder Scrolls VI Location Predictions Begin

This 37-second teaser trailer basically reveals nothing about the next Elder Scrolls game. However, people are already guessing where the game will take place.

Bethesda did not hint at any release dates in their announcement. All they said was that this game won’t be released until “next-gen” consoles come out. No surprise there.

Upcoming Presentations for E3

Square Enix has their own conference tomorrow at 10 AM PT/12 PM CT/1 PM ET. I’m sure we will see more Kingdom Hearts 3 news and visuals (and merchandise).

You can also catch the Ubisoft and Sony presentations tomorrow, as well. But Nintendo’s won’t be until Tuesday at 9 AM PT/11 AM CT/12 PM ET.

What was your favorite part of this weekend’s E3 announcements?

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Juliet Childers

Content Specialist and EDGY OG with a (mostly) healthy obsession with video games. She covers Industry buzz including VR/AR, content marketing, cybersecurity, AI, and many more.

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