This year’s edition of E3 felt like it lacked a little oomph compared to previous events, which seemed to offer a wider array of announcements from long anticipated titles to out-of-the blue reveals. 2018 was more a year of cementing expectations and fleshing out already hyped games. This was in no way a bad thing and we were in fact treated to our fair share of great moments. Here are the top five announcements from E3 2018.
1. Ghost of Tsushima
A snippet of katana-wielding samurai Jin Sakai’s in action was a highlight for sure. Not only did the game play demo present a vibrant world full of detail, it gave us insight into what the game is set to feel like. And oh boy, it is looking good right now. Sucker Punch should be proud of their Ghost of Tsushima
2. Cyberpunk 2077
A trailer from CD Projekt Red is an event in itself, but when it concerns the one game that has been on every serious gamers’ radar for the past 6 years, curiosity quickly turns to obsession and near-unmanageable anticipation. Enter the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer. In conjunction with some choice words during various interviews from the developers and a closed-door demo, the trailer set the bar for an open-world playground oozing with attitude, technology-infused violence, and a racy city with a poignant selection of sub-cultures and characters.
3. Beyond Good And Evil 2
Stealing the show at E3 2017, Beyond Good And Evil 2 returned this year with a trailer revealing returning characters, offering up a better understanding of the game’s overall vibe, and a stunning flyover of the city of Genisha, the game’s main hub. It was a confirmation of sorts, a reiteration of a game well on its path to development. E3 needs these types of announcements and we are thankful this one featured in 2018. Beyond Good And Evil 2
4. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Last month’s accidental (not so accidental) leak of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was fully fleshed out earlier this week. Not only did we get a reveal trailer, we got a generous chunk of gameplay, a veritable encyclopedia of details, notably an emphasis on Odyssey being an RPG game, building upon the foundations of Origins. For the first time in a while (bar Origins), it feels like Ubisoft have cooked up an Assassin’s Creed game worthy of release. Lesson learned.
5. Death Stranding
The build up to the release of Death Stranding has felt interminable so the game play featured this year was a breath of fresh air, a long overdue way of contextualizing the game in a visual sense. We weren’t disappointed either, the demo retains all of the mystic and eerie other-worldliness of the two previously released trailers. Though people will inevitably say that all we really saw was a CGI render of Norman Reedus haul packages over increasingly treacherous terrain, we did meet two new characters modeled on actresses Léa Seydoux and Lindsay Wagner as well as get a feel for the atmosphere Kojima is aiming for with Death Stranding.
