E3 2015 news – My favorite moments from the gaming supershow

Fallout 4

-Incredible looking visuals which really make the world come alive, despite it being a post-apocalyptic wasteland

-Crafting (weapons, armor and structures) from the myriad items that are found in the landscape which were at one time seemingly useless except for ammo in the junk cannon. You’ll be able to build settlements and people will occupy buildings (including merchants) as well as generators to power turrets, computers, lights and other things. As well as crafting tons of weaponry. Something like 50 base weapons with hundreds of attachments to create unique weapons.

-VATS making a comeback but now the action isn’t paused indefinitely so you’ll want to act quick

-Sidekick dog buddy

-Begins before the bombs drop and lets you choose what your parents look like and creates a composite for your character

-Set in and around Boston

-Releases on November 10, 2015

Dishonored 2

-Female protagonist this time around (Emily Kaldwin, the daughter of the empress from the first game). You can also play as Corvo as well, and apparently there’s a point close to the beginning of the game where you choose who you will play as the rest of the game. You’ll play through the same missions as each but from different situations and viewpoints. They will have different powers too and Corvo’s powers will be upgraded and modified. Doesn’t look like there will be co-op despite two different playable characters.

-Set on Serkonos, one of the other islands near Gristol, where the first game was set in the capitol city of Dunwall. In the Empire of the Isles which contains Gristol, Tyvia, Morley and Serkonos.

-Much more colorful than the original game but the setting still has that feeling of a society on the brink of collapse

-Some really interesting/creepy looking clockwork enemies

-Seems like this city is dealing with another plague

-Sounds like you can also play through this one without killing anyone

-Release slated for Spring 2016

Doom 4

-A move back to the style of the original games – no reloading guns, favorite weaponry making a comeback, fast and frantic gameplay, no regenerating health but killed enemies drop health and armor, double jumps and other old school shooter mechanics.

-Takes place in both military base and hellish settings

-Lots of cool execution and finishing moves to use in close quarters. The flip side is that enemies can pull off similar maneuvers so prepare to see your space marine get torn to pieces after doing the same to so many of the denizens of hell.

-Several well-known enemy demons and monsters making a return in Doom 4

-Release slated for Q1/Q2 2016

Mass Effect: Andromeda

-Takes place in the Andromeda galaxy, not our galaxy. Not sure if humans will be the main race or what but it seems likely since the teaser trailer shows a humanoid figure in N7 armor

-Also shows a vehicle, which could be the Mako, which seems to suggest vehicular transport will be a viable option for the first time since the original

-Release slated for holiday 2016

Star Wars Battlefront

-Made by EA DICE to it’s safe to say it’ll be reminiscent of the Battlefield series

-You’ll be able to play as heroes, Luke and Vader are shown in the gameplay trailer but I’m sure more will be available

-Not sure if or what kinds of vehicles you can pilot. I read that larger things like AT-ATs will be on rails but maybe you’ll be able to pilot TIE Fighters, X-Wings or AT-STs.

-Multiplayer and co-op will be available but not sure the number possible

Just Cause 3

-All the insanity you’d expect from a Just Cause game now with lots of destructible environments.

-Reminds me of the “Mercenaries” games from PS2, which is a very good thing.

-Playing as Rico Rodriguez, you work to take down a military dictator on the Mediterranean island of Medici.

-The grappling hook makes a comeback with even more uses and now you can use multiple grapple tethers at once.

-The parachute is much more stable now and you can launch strikes from above with both one-handed and two-handed weapons while gliding on your parachute.

-There’s also a brand-new wingsuit that lets you effortless sail through the skies at higher speeds

-Over 80 vehicles to pilot including fighter jets, sports cars and even monster trucks

-Doesn’t seem to be any co-op or multiplayer unfortunately but there are many online challenges with leaderboards

-Release date – Sept. 1

For Honor

-An intriguing third-person action game which will have single and multiplayer campaigns. But the biggest thing – and really only thing – you need to know about For Honor is it will feature Knights vs Samurai vs Viking battles. Let that sink in.

-Historically grounded, meaning no magic or wizardry – just close combat between three of the most highly-lauded warrior groups of the past.

-Gameplay videos reminded me of Dynasty Warriors in that human players take on the role of hero characters in massive battles with numerous computer controlled warriors all around.

Horizon Zero Dawn

-A unique third person action game set in the distant future.

-You play as a member of a tribe of, I guess, techno-cavemen who live in the ruins of our world and hunt – and are hunted by – giant, robotic animals.

-Hints at some sort of societal collapse which may have been caused by humans or machines which led to the strange future these people inhabit

-Not much revealed about the actual story but it’s an intriguing concept and the gameplay looks pretty interesting

Final Fantasy VII remake

-FINAL. FANTASY. VII. HD. REMAKE. That’s really all I need to say.

-Pretty sure nothing about the story will be changed, just that every aspect of the game and gameplay will be getting an HD upgrade. And considering that FF7 was perhaps my favorite RPG of all time, I wouldn’t want anything about the core game to be changed.

Fallout 4 revealed

Yesterday, Fallout’s homepage on the Bethesda Softworks website changed into a countdown which ended this morning and finally, after what felt like decades of waiting, the developer announced this morning that Fallout 4 is finally happening.

No info outside of the trailer has been released, such as platforms or a release date, but I think it’s safe to assume it’ll be on both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and most likely PC as well. I saw rumors that it’s going to be cross generation (on PS3 and Xbox 360) but I don’t think they are true.

From the trailer alone, it seems like a portion of Fallout 4 may be taking place before the bombs fell, or at least, as they are falling. If I had to guess, it may be a portion of the game’s opening sequence, taking on the role of an older family member of the eventual main character (who goes on to leave the Vault) during the time when the war begins and the Vaults become active.

And while it’s not known for sure, it also seems likely that Fallout 4 will be taking place in and around the Boston area, which was inferred during the events of Fallout 3 when you meet a character from a place known as The Institute in Rivet City, which is described as being north of the Capital Wasteland and many believe is M.I.T., the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The visual style of the trailer is really, really slick, keeping the distinct art style from Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas but upgrading every facet to be more colorful, detailed and striking. It also seems like there will be much more urban environments in Fallout 4 than previous games. There are a few shots of a larger cityscape in the trailer which I can only assume is part of Boston or at least The Institute. And like previous games, The Enclave and Brotherhood of Steel seem like they will be playing a large role in the game. Outside of the fact that it seems you can recruit a sidekick (specifically a dog as featured in the trailer), as far as story details go, your guess is as good as mine.

My only reservation about Fallout 4 from this initial trailer is that the overall environment looks a little too similar to Fallout 3. However, I’m hoping that perception changes as time goes on and more information becomes known.

With E3 coming up on June 16-18, I’m hoping more info will be made known about Fallout 4. And since I have to believe Bethesda has been working on it since New Vegas came out about five years ago, here’s hoping that they have a lot to show with all the eyes that are going to be on E3 and that the release date is sooner rather than later.