The Xbox One Slim is real
It’s been rumoured for a while that the current gen of consoles would receive halfway house updates this year. Sadly for Microsoft, the next iteration of the Xbox One leaked before they could properly and formally announce it. The new Xbox One is white, features a slimmer build, internal power brick and boasts better insides capable of outputting at 4K. Not bad for anyone wanting to dive in now, and hopefully we’ll hear more about the updated hardware at Microsoft’s own press conference this Monday evening.
Titanfall 2
This E3 has been one of the leakiest in recent memory, but EA’s conference on Sunday evening gave us our first proper glimpse of Titanfall 2. The sequel from Respawn Entertainment not only builds on the excellent format of the original, but adds new titans, customisation options, and a fully fleshed out single player mode for players to dive deeper into the lore of Titanfall, if you can believe there is one. It will hit stores on October 28.
Mass Effect Andromeda
One game that does have a rich backstory worth paying attention to is Mass Effect. This was one of the most anticipated games of EA’s show, and while we didn’t see much developer BioWare showed off a sneaky behind-the-scenes dev diary expanding more on the game. It looks stunning; a real evolution for the franchise, while still capturing what made Mass Effect’s spacefaring so spectacular.
FIFA
One of the most unexpected announcements of EA’s show, but this year’s FIFA game will add The Journey - a narrative focused on a rookie footballer as he rises through the ranks to professional stardom. It boasts some big ideas, allowing you to ‘live in real football worlds and meet characters full of depth and animation’ alongside real life managers like Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho, the latter of which took to the stage during EA’s show to awkwardly endorse the latest game. Oh, EA...
Star Wars
EA’s partnership with Disney on Star Wars has been hot property since last year’s excellent Star Wars Battlefront proved how great Star Wars games can be when done right. We found out that Battlefront is getting a sequel next year, and that Amy Hennig - the ex-creative genius behind the Uncharted series - is still working on a narrative focused Star Wars game with a dedicated team at Visceral. Sadly, it’s far, far away, and we won’t see it out until at least 2018.
Battlefield 1
Initially announced back in May, we got our first proper look at Battlefield 1 in a gorgeous gameplay trailer full of rainy fields, desert sands, horses, motorbikes, enormous zeppelins, biplanes and more explosions than anything else at the show. EA then enlisted the likes of Jamie Foxx, Zac Efron and Terry Crews for no reason at all, to engage in a huge 64-player online match to show off the new game. It looks great, and is coming to all current gen consoles and PC this October.
Skyrim Remastered
Fans have been asking for it for years, but Skyrim is finally being remastered for PS4, Xbox One and PC. Bethesda has been working on the remaster for the past few months and it looks beautiful, adding all new tech to the now five-year-old RPG sandbox, as well as mods for the console audience. Even better: PC owners of the original game will get the Special Edition as a free upgrade, and it includes all DLC. It’s also out this October, meaning that you may as well book the month off now.
Dishonored 2
Already announced for a November 2016 release, Arkane Studios’ creative director Harvey Smith gave a short gameplay demo for the new Dishonored, elaborating more on the duality between its two main characters, and how the game will be its own unique experience depending on who you choose to play as - Corvo, protagonist of the original game, or his princess daughter, Emily. The game looks beautiful, expanding on the distinct style of the original game in an all-new plague-infested city - Karnacka.
Prey
We also got a short look at Prey - a “reimagining of the original IP” from Arkane’s Austin based studio. It’s not a numbered sequel, and takes cues from the original while carving its own path. Details are very light at the moment, but it takes place in the year 2032, aboard a spaceship called the Talos. You play as Morgan Yu, who becomes embroiled in a series of alien experiments designed to improve humanity. Your survival is reliant only on your wits, sci-fi abilities, and the alien tools you’ll find aboard the ship. Prey comes to Xbox One, PS4 and PC in 2017.
Fallout 4 DLC
As well as announcing Skyrim’s remastered special edition, Bethesda Softworks game director Todd Howard revealed that last year’s critically acclaimed Fallout 4 is receiving three new DLC packs, including Nuka World - a large expansion featuring all new locations. Nuka World will be the game’s final piece of additional content, and will arrive in August after two updates to the game’s settlement building mechanics. After that, Bethesda also announced they’re working on a VR version of the game to run on the HTC Vive.Just imagine the possibilities.