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E3 2019: Ubisoft makes a big splash with Watch Dogs Legion and Jon Bernthal’s actual dog

E3 2019: Ubisoft makes a big splash with Watch Dogs Legion and Jon Bernthal’s actual dog
PUBLISHED ONJune 10, 2019 10:07 PMByIlyas Sholihyn

Ubisoft just wrapped up their E3 2019 conference with a respectable amount of news and announcements, including deeper dives into upcoming games we already know of. 

No Skull & Bones update from the Ubisoft Singapore team, however, but the publisher did make a big splash with Watch Dogs Legion — an unabashedly political look into the state of Brexit. 

Then there’s Jon Bernthal, who made Yet Another E3 Celebrity Cameo that came close to dethroning Keanu Reeves’ Cyberpunk 2077 bit. Mostly because the Punisher actor brought his actual pooch Bam Bam on stage during the Ghost Recon Breakpoint showcase. 

Check out the highlights below. 

Watch Dogs Legion 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3orYqGDSDUk[/embed]

The show kicked off proper with Watch Dogs Legion, the third entry into the open-world action-adventure series. Leaping far from the playful, colourful tone of San Francisco in Watch Dogs 2, this one’s all about rising against the threat of an authoritarian regime in London. 

But really, the coolest bit of the showcase is that players can take control of absolutely anyone — there’s no one protagonist. Take on multiple roles, recruit anyone with the proper skillsets into the team as you see fit, and you best not get too attached to the fully-voiced, fully-realised characters with extensive backstories, because permadeath is real. Looks ace, bruv. 

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: Story Creator Mode

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLJGDiATv_s[/embed]

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is expansive enough as it is, but things are getting bigger with its new Story Creator Mode. “You can pretty much write whatever you want,” said Ubisoft Montreal’s Ellie Rhodes. 

Objectives can be stitched together, dialogue can be written for NPCs, fan favourite characters can show up to give quests. It’s pretty much a full-fledged modding tool that lets the community build their own stories and let others play them. Plus, it’s totally free to all players. Can't wait for the day someone adapts the entire Shrek movie into the game. 

Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A6eaEL2EN4[/embed]

Always Sunny in Philadelphia star and creator Rob McElhenney made a surprise appearance on stage, and for a moment we thought Ubisoft would be making a game out of the long-running dark comedy. But no, he came out to promote his new Apple Plus TV series Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, where he’ll be starring as an egocentric creative director of a game fictional development studio.

From the looks of the trailer, the show could be a Silicon Valley-style satire, but this time it’s taking on the world of game development. Ubisoft's involved in crafting the fictional video game, most likely. 

Rainbow Six Siege: Operation Phantom Sight

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X69RICP2js[/embed]

There’s a new operator in Rainbow Six Siege, and he’s a spy type with a dapper suit-and-tie-and-bulletproof-vest outfit. 

Brawlhalla: Adventure Time Crossover

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQWPLKHv2TU[/embed]

Adventure Time may have ended on Cartoon Network, but the adventures of Finn and Jake continue in free-to-play platform fighter Brawlhalla. Adorable. 

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint (and Bam Bam) 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ7aKKVpIbk[/embed]

After Keanu Reeves’ appearance at the Xbox conference yesterday, Jon Bernthal coming out on stage to promote Ghost Recon Breakpoint — where he plays the big bad — was no surprise at all. What was surprising though, was the appearance of his rescue pit bull Bam Bam trotting alongside him. Overall, Bam Bam was a Very Good Boy who looked pretty indifferent being out there. 

Oh, and AI teammates are coming to Ghost Recon Breakpoint, so you can solo the entire campaign. Then there’s a confirmed tie-in with Terminator: Dark Fate, where a T-800 is coming to the game, probably teleporting itself from wherever Gears of War 5 is set in. The new Ghost Recon is up for beta testing on September 5. 

Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi31RjPCeHg[/embed]

It’s a crossover episode. Ubisoft goes into mobile gaming with Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad, a title that will unite characters in the Clancyverse, including Splinter Cell’s Sam Fisher, a turret-toting Division agent and Nomad from Ghost Recon. 

Just Dance 2020

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRwU7HEHR9g[/embed]

Just Dance is still around? Shocking, but not as shocking as this dancing crew that burst onstage to promote Just Dance 2020 — thought we left dancing during E3 presentations behind years ago. It’s coming out Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Stadia, and… Wii. 

For Honor: Shadows of the Hitokiri

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMY31oipf5U[/embed]

For Honor has a new limited-time event till June 27, and it’ll focus on the Viking and Samurai factions. It’s a new game mode that’ll have players collecting souls during kills. Should be fun — if you're still playing For Honor, that is.

Rainbow Six Quarantine

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh6-UB7SAtM[/embed]

There’s a new Rainbow Six title coming out next year, and it looks… creepy. Rainbow Six Quarantine will be a 3-player tactical co-op first person shooter, and from the teaser trailer, it’s likely that you’ll have to take on monsters of some kind. 

The Division 2 expansions

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q0JQU-NMs8[/embed]

The Division 2 goes free-to-play! But only from June 13 to 16. It’s all to build hype over its upcoming content expansions, which will arrive in episodes over the rest of the year. More story missions, a new mode, and a new raid incoming. Oh, and that film adaptation they’re doing with Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain? It’ll be out on Netflix, though they didn’t put up any release date. Won't be Ubisoft's first rodeo with ol' Jake, who was involved in that Prince of Persia flick — and we all know how that turned out. 

Uplay Plus

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YslOBiUIxxo[/embed]

Everybody’s getting into the game subscription business right now. Ubisoft’s own take on Xbox Game pass and EA’s Origin Access is UPlay Plus, a PC game subscription service launching this September with over 100 Ubisoft titles. It’ll cost $14.99 a month (pretty steep compared to its competitors), but it’ll work alongside Google Stadia, which means access to big games like The Division 2 or Watch Dogs Legion on all screens. But the means you’ll have to fork out the cash for both Ubisoft’s and Google’s services. 

Roller Champions

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFdyq9I1HZo[/embed]

This one feels like Ubisoft’s take on a Rocket League-type game. Roller Champions is a three-on-three roller derby game where players have to… toss a ball into a ring while skating around a track? It’s free-to-play, so it could even turn into a proper esport title if enough people are playing it. 

Gods & Monsters

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZUx1sXB12c[/embed]

The folks behind Assassin’s Creed Odyssey are diving deeper into the Greek mythos with a new Ubisoft IP called Gods & Monsters. It looks like you’ll be tasked by the Greek gods to kill deadly creatures, but less Witcher grittiness and more Fortnite cartoonish vibes. Coming out in February 2020. 

 

ilyas@asiaone.com

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