After a few days of high anticipation following the leak of Giancarlo Esposito’s involvement in Far Cry 6, Ubisoft Forward delivers in droves to satisfy hungry gamers. There is so much shown for the 45-ish show, but it was carefully curated to have your eyes set on the screen every moment. There are announcements, release dates and some next gen confirmations given. It was truly an exciting stream for me, as Ubisoft is one of my favorite publishers. Let’s dig in!
Watch Dogs: Legion
The stream starts off strong, by showing us an animated short film set in the world of Watch Dogs: Legion. The film is an adrenaline filled high speed chase between a hacker and the security agents known as Albion. The trailer is very stylized and flashy, and gives us a real look at the London we’ve been waiting to see more of. After the short film, a new story trailer gave us an inside look at a couple of the antagonists we’ll be going up against. The first is the Albion security force, who’s CEO Nigel Cass is bent on taking over the city, and will use force if necessary. The second was Mary Kelly, crime lord of a syndicate, that deals in the less than savory shadiness.
One of the biggest things shown at the announcement of the game last year, was the fact that we could play as anyone. Ubisoft doubled down on this, and showcased just how it works. Everyone in the game is playable, from civilians, police, Albion personnel, and so on. This type of game mechanic makes it so that everyone has a unique experience playing the game. All dialogue can be said by any character you play as. For example, they showed a scene done with a young woman, and then did it again with the notorious old lady from the announcement video.
The really cool thing is that every character has unique abilities. If you play as a construction worker, you can shoot people with a nail gun. If you play as an Albion security officer, you can infiltrate the organization from the inside. Overall, the trailer was very entertaining and reminded me of the Guy Ritchie movie, Snatch. The writing is witty, but at the same time, it had its grim moments. The segment ended with a release date for the game, set for October 29th, 2020. The game will be playable on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, and Stadia. Later in the stream Phil Spencer (Xbox), announced that the game will be part of Xbox’s Smart Delivery on next gen.
Hyper Scape
The next big game in the spotlight was Ubisoft’s new title, Hyper Scape (currently in open beta), which showed off its own world. The game takes place in a game, which is inside of another game, which is reminiscent of The Oasis, if you’re familiar with Ready Player One. The overall story is about a big bad organization called Prisma. People that are going into the VR world of Hyper Scape, are beginning to disappear in the real world and it’s suspected that Prisma is behind it.
After the trailer, there wasn’t anything else about how the story would tie into the gameplay. My favorite thing about the trailer was seeing a cow with VR goggles on, it made my day. The game is played as a battle royale in a city called Arcadia. The city is filled with powerups for players to pick up, and use to turn the tide of the battle. The game is cartoony and very pleasant to look at. It reminded me of Overwatch, and that’s a good thing. A really cool aspect of the game is that people watching the game on Twitch, can actually influence what happens on the battlefield. There is no release date as of yet but it is a PC game. I personally would like to see this on consoles as well, but things could change. If you join the open beta, you’ll get a 30 tier battle pass for free by either playing or watching on Twitch.
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
Following that segment, we got an extensive deep dive into Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. The game looks absolutely stunning and detailed to really make the world and time period feel alive. To accomplish this, they actually sent the development team to Norway and England to see and feel how the Vikings lived. The story starts with the Vikings looking for a new land to start their lives. You’ll play as Eivor, the leader of your viking tribe, and use your army to conquer the new land ahead. Eivor can be played as male or female, which seems to be the new and welcomed norm for AC games.
The fighting system has been totally reinvigorated to show how brutal viking combat was. New weapons such as viking harpoons, throwing axes, and shields will be used to crush your enemies in battle. You can dual wield any weapons you’d like, you can even go dual-shielded if that’s your cup of tea. The enemies have also been given a set of their own new skills, such as using the bodies of fallen warriors as weapons. We’re also told that this is actually going to have the largest variety of enemy types in an AC game to date.
Settlements will play a big part in the gameplay, with chances of expanding and improving them. You and your viking army can pillage towns and take their resources as your own to build up your settlement. Or you can use another tactic and sneak into towns donning your cloak, to uncover opportunities within to recover resources. Hunting and foraging the land for food will be integral in keeping Eivor going as well. This harkens back to those Far Cry 3 days, when hunting was an important part of improving your character.
We’re also promised massive climactic assaults on hostile fortresses. We saw a couple of snippets in the gameplay shown, and it looked really awesome. The areas of the game looked beautiful and very distinct from each other. There were snowy landscapes, medieval towns, and lush forests that truly captured my eyes. They’ve also said that there’s a lot of attention to both Norse Mythology and England’s pagan roots that will take place in the story. The game has a release date of November 17th, 2020 and will be playable on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, and Stadia.
Far Cry 6
The last big announcement was for the piste de resistance, Far Cry 6. It was a story trailer that mostly centered around Anton Castillo’s (Giancarlo Esposito) son, Diego. The trailer starts out with a very stylized approach, with lots of reds detailing key elements of what’s going on in the world during this game. After that, is when we meet Diego, who looks like an ordinary kid who’s just listening to music. His father walks in and the mood changes immediately. We see rioters and protesters outside of Castillo’s mansion in the middle of the city. It appears that this dictator’s time is coming to an end, and he knows it. He talks to his son about him following in his father’s footsteps, and becoming a leader. His start to becoming a leader? He’s tasked with dropping a grenade on a captured group of freedom fighters. The trailer ends just before we see whether or not Diego drops the nade.
Everything that was shown, is exactly what Far Cry is known for. The villains in this franchise in particular, are always the most intriguing part of what makes the stories so great. Vaas Montenegro, Pagan Min, and Joseph Seed are just so well acted and they truly leave their mark, and are the reason why we remember these games as time goes on. Judging by his appearance so far, it looks like Anton Castille will be joining their ranks. Far Cry 6 has a release date of February 18th, 2021 and will be playable on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, and Stadia.
Other Noteworthy Moments
Brawlhalla will be released on IOS and Android on August 6th, 2020. The controls are customizable and it will be completely cross-platform too. If you pre-register, you’re given a free skin. Tom Clancy’s: Elite Squad debuted a short film that included characters from a bunch of Tom Clancy titles, including Sam Fisher. If you pre-register for the game you’re given Montagne’s Tier 2 weapon. Rainbow Six: Siege and Might & Magic: EOC both had thank you videos for their dedicated fans. Although there was nothing new from either of them, it’s nice to be shown appreciation by the developers. I’ve been playing Siege since its release and have always been vocal in my praise for the game.
Lastly
I am very pleased with all of the games displayed during this show. This was a breath of fresh air as EA’s State of Play was a bit of a dud in my opinion (aside from Star Wars: Squadrons). This isn’t everything though, as Ubisoft says that another Ubisoft Forward would be happening later in the year. Most likely, it will happen closer to the holiday season. I’d assume that early Fall, given that the new consoles would be only several weeks away.
Did you watch and enjoy the show as much as I did? Hit me up on Twitter and let’s talk about it further!
