Monthly Archives: June 2018
New Exclusive Level Coming To Crash N. Sane Trilogy
A new level is being added to the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy when it launches on Xbox One, Steam, and Nintendo Switch on June 29.
The level, called "Future Tense," is a "culmination of all Crash ideas and abilities." It has been built exclusively for the N. Sane Trilogy, and will also come as a free update to the PlayStation 4 version.
Future Tense, which will become Level 31 in Crash 3, will be accessible from the main hub area, and although it will be available from the start of the game, players won't be able to explore the entirety of the level until they have upgraded Crash's abilities.
The physical PS4 version of the N. Sane Trilogy will also be refreshed to include both Future Tense and Stormy Ascent, a cut level from the original Crash Bandicoot which is currently available as paid DLC.
Opinion: Xbox Is Playing For Tomorrow, But They’re Playing to Win
Microsoft’s E3 press briefing was the one we needed, the one we deserved, and arguably their best one ever. They came into E3 2018 with fan confidence, perhaps, at an all-time low. Sure, the Xbox One X is a fantastic piece of hardware, but less-than-glowing review scores for Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2 did nothing to change the negative narrative surrounding the quality and especially quantity of Xbox’s first-party output. In unleashing 50 games total at E3 -- including 18 with exclusivity -- and five new first-party game studios, Phil Spencer and the Xbox team made it clear that while the current-generation battle with Sony may be lost -- at least in the hardware installed base department -- Microsoft is playing for the next round and they’re playing to win.
Why Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Is Adding Romance
Assassin's Creed Odyssey is venturing into territory the Assassin's Creed franchise has never fully immersed itself in before in an attempt to fully honor the premise of making history your playground. Explaining this new creative direction as "putting choice at the core" of the Odyssey experience, Ubisoft's new Assassin's Creed is going to be incorporating romance options into the gameplay. The two playable characters, Alexios and Kassandra, will have a wealth of romance-able characters, a decision narrative design director Mel MacCoubrey says will help personalize the experience for each player.
"With our focus on relatedness between the player and the game, we wanted a story that would impact people, so we wanted to tell a personal story. In Assassin's Creed Odyssey, we're telling a story of a family that has been torn apart and a family tragedy," she told IGN during a group interview at a Ubisoft press event at E3 2018. "We thought it would be better to place those romances in the world, to have their own stories to be able to develop those stories further, instead of forcing an opinion on you as a player."
AC Odyssey is Re-Redefining the Series
Despite having the title and setting spoiled by some pesky pre-E3 leaks, I still enjoyed plenty of surprises in my lengthy hands-on demo of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. The setting is one of the most interesting (and beautiful) historic locales we’ve seen from the series yet, and the ways in which Ubisoft Quebec is trying to once again redefine the nature of the franchise provide both welcome nostalgia and innovative changes that have me eager to jump into the full game when it releases later this year.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Release Date Announced
Ubisoft has announced that Assassin's Creed Odyssey will be released on October 5, alongside a trailer and a host of gameplay details.
Set in 431 BC, before the events of 2017's Assassin's Creed Origins, AC Odyssey takes place during the Peloponessian war in ancient Greece. Transforming the open world action-adventure game into a proper RPG. Odyssey enables players to fight for either Athens or Sparta in the conflict, as well as experience branching decision-based story paths with one of two playable characters.
Other additions include new customizable combat abilities, as well as a new mix-and-match approach to gear and armor. You can read all about our extended demo of AC Odyssey here, as well as check out gameplay and interviews with the development team.
E3 2018: The Crew 2 Open Beta Starts Later This Month
Ubisoft announced The Crew 2 open beta begins June 21.
Previously, Ubisoft held a closed beta for The Crew 2 on PS4, PC and Xbox One. The closed beta ran from May 31 through June 4.
The Crew 2 comes out on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC June 29, 2018. The open-world racing game takes place across a redesigned USA and lets players collect vehicles like cars, planes, and boats.
Anyone who preorders the Ubisoft-store exclusive Motor Edition can begin playing the full game June 24.
Transference Coming This Fall to VR and Consoles
Transference will come to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One — as well as VR — this fall.
Originally unveiled at E3 2017 as a VR experience, Transference is co-developed by Elijah Wood's film production company SpectreVision and Ubisoft Montreal's FunHouse. The first-person exploration game — which mixes in live action — was initially planned for this spring.
Last year, IGN's preview of Transference noted that the game was unsettling yet intriguing.
For Honor: Marching Fire Revealed
Ubisoft has revealed a new expansion to For Honor titled Marching Fire, which will be available on October 16, 2018.
Marching Fire, described at Ubisoft's E3 conference as the game's “biggest and most ambitious addition so far”, adds a new Chinese faction, the Wu Lin, with four new fighters.
Each Wu Lin fighter will have an individual name and backstory, and will initially be available only as part of a paid DLC bundle, but will later be paid for individually with the game's Steel currency. The bundle will also come with a new, as-yet unspecified "unlimited PvE mode".
It will also add a new 4v4 mode, Breach which is set around a castle siege. Breach will be free for all players. Further tweaks and additions, including graphical enhancements, were promised, but haven't yet been revealed.
Ubisoft Announces Star Fox Tie-In for Starlink: Battle for Atlas
At E3 today, Ubisoft revealed that Star Fox will be a pilot in its upcoming spaceship game, Starlink: Battle for Atlas.
Starlink's official site says Fox will (of course) be exclusive to the Nintendo Switch version of the game, and that he "came to Atlas in pursuit of Wolf O'Donnell and his crew, and he has teamed up with the Starlink initiative in their fight against Grax and the Forgotten Legion."
According to Ubisoft, you'll be able to play through the entire campaign as Fox including Switch-exclusive missions, and "other friends from the Star Fox universe" will also appear.
Starlink: Battle for Atlas Release Date Announced
Starlink: Battle for Atlas is out on October 16 for Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch, Ubisoft announced at its E3 2018 press conference.
The action-adventure game features a toys-to-life element by letting players add weapons and other mods to a real toy ship that results in augmentations their in-game ship. The toy ship attaches to the player's controller.
As part of the announcement, Ubisoft also announced a collaboration with Nintendo, which includes Star Fox and his Arwing will be available in-game exclusively on Nintendo Switch.