Unreal Shines at E3 2015
E3 2015 has come and gone. Ive never been one to pay much attention to the annual conference since most of the attention seems to be centered around games for the current console generation. But after skimming through some of the trailers that were revealed, something struck me. Quite a few of the interesting PC titles announced this year were being built on the Unreal Engine by Epic Games.
It wasn't just the sheer number of Unreal powered games that took my notice, but also their variety. From a full scale MMORPG, to several online shooters, and even some experimental stuff for upcoming virtual reality headsets.
Here's a quick sampling of some of the Unreal Engine powered games that made an appearance at E3 2015:
Publisher: NCSoft Developer: NCsoft (Team Bloodlust) Release: Q4 2015 (NA/EU)
Not exactly a new game, but this action oriented fantasy MMORPG is finally coming to North America & Europe. NCsoft has taken its time with this one, it was first released in Korea back in 2012. Despite its age and use of the older Unreal Engine 3, Blade & Soul still looks georgous. The live action combat combined with an indepth story and world to explore mean this one will be worth the wait. NCsoft has already announced that the game will be available by the winter of 2015 in English, German, and French.
Publisher/Developer: Epic Games Release: Q4 2015
Fortnite is an original title being developed by Epic Games. Similiar in theme to games like Dungeon Defender and Orcs Must Die, Fortnite is my most antcipated game on this list. Co-op survival games like Enfo's were some of my favorite back in the Warcraft 3 custom map days and its great to see games like that making a comeback. And like Enfo's, Fortnite will have a competitive PvP mode though the primary focus will be on team based cooperative gameplay. As for first internally developed game powered by Unreal Engine 4, Epic Games is hoping to craft a game that's both fun for players and a showcase to other studios on what their new engine is capable of. Based on the trailers I've seen so far, I'm sold!
Gigantic
Publisher/Developer: Motiga Release: Q4 2015
No list of upcoming games would be complete without at least one MOBA. The genre has exploded in popularity and every major studio has rushed to release their own take on it. Gigantic mixes the third person camera angle found in Smite with stylish animated graphics. The game will focus on objective control and have more of a shooter gameplay feel than League of Legends or Dota 2 which still look and control like the RTS games they evolved from. Attacks and skills have to be manually aimed and can be dodged in real time.
Publisher: 2K Games Developer: Gearbox Software Release: Q4 2015
Developed by the same studio behind the popular Borderland series, Battleborn offers the same combination of RPG and FPS gameplay. The game has a full feature campaign that can be enjoyed cooperatively as well as a competitive MOBA-style multiplayer mode called Incursion. Battleborn is being developed for both the PC and consoles (PS4/Xbox One) and will likely be a retail game rather than free to play. The company itself labels Battleborn as a ‘hero shooter’, but for all practical purposes its a MOBA with a healthy dollop of PvE content included. Like Smite and Gigantic, gameplay in Battleborn will be live-action rather than the point-and-click format found in traditional MOBAs.
EVE: Valkyrie
Publisher/Developer: CCP Games Release: Q1 2016
Originally intended as a VR tech demo, EVE: Valkyrie has since evolved into a major project for CCP Games, the studio behind the space sim MMORPG EVE Online. Valkyrie puts players in the cockpit of advanced space fighters and pits them against one another in fast paced dogfight style gameplay. EVE Valkyrie released a new trailer at E3 and so far the game looks awesome. Scheduled as a release title for both Facebook’s Oculus Rift and Sony’s Project Morpheus, EVE Valkyrie will be available on both PC and the PlayStation 4 console. Hopefully it will prove more attractive complimentary game to the EVE fanbase than their FPS title Dust 514 did.
While the five games mentioned above are the ones I’m most interested in, nearly 70 games appearing at E3 this year used the Unreal Engine. Of the non-MMO titles, I’m looking forward to the new Kingdom Hearts and the new King’s Quest Here’s a full unfiltered list, which are you looking forward to?
ABZU, ADR1FT, Alone in the Dark: Illumination, ARK: Survival Evolved, Ashen, Atom Universe, Bacon Man, Batman: Arkham Knight, Battery Jam, Battleborn, Battlefleet Gothic: Armada, Bierzerkers, Blade & Soul, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Cairo’s Tale, Chronos, Dungeon Defenders II, EVE: Valkyrie, Fable Legends, Fated, Fortnite, Gears of War 4, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, Gigantic, Goat Simulator: Mmore Goatz Edition, Godling, Hellblade, Henry, Into the Stars, Joe Montana Football 16, King's Quest, Kingdom Hearts III, Life Is Strange, Loading Human, Mercenary Week, Mighty No. 9, Mortal Kombat X, Recruits, Red Goddess: Inner World, Redout, Relics of Gods, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, Rocket League, Rumble TV, Sea of Thieves, Shape of the World, Shenmue III, Shiny, Space Hulk: Deathwing, Street Fighter V, Summer Lesson, Swing Racers, Synthesis Universe, The Assembly, The Green Means: Plastic Warfare, The Flame in the Flood, The Solus Project, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Time Machine, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5, ToyBox, Vampyr, WARP: Warriors of the Red Planet, What Remains of Edith Finch, World War Toons, XCOM 2, XING: The Land Beyond.
Lifelong gamer always looking for the next virtual adventure. I'm still waiting for the next big MMORPG. Until then, you can find me hopping between multiple games.
