Ubisoft premiered its new series of digital press conferences titled Ubisoft Forward today. This conference focused on showing off a number of upcoming titles and touching on some pre existing ones. Let’s take a look at what Ubisoft had to show gamers today.
Watchdogs Legion
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Ubisoft Forward Opened with a short CGI film highlighting life in London in the world of Watchdogs Legion. This slick video presentation was followed up by another video which dove into the deeper lore of the game. Introducing gamers to some of the primary antagonists they will be facing off against. After Ubisoft was done showing of the story they let players have a closer look at how the multitude of recruitable characters can change the way gameplay unfolds in Watchdogs Legion.
The main selling point of Watchdogs Legion has been the fact that the player is capable of recruiting any citizen of London they choose. Each character will require the player to complete a recruitment mission to earn their loyalty. Once the character has been recruited they will bring their own strengths to any mission the player chooses to employ them for. Several examples were given including a construction worker who could wade into combat with a giant wrench and nail gun, a drone specialist who could take enemies out via proxy through remote-controlled allies or even unique stealth options for characters who have employment with the player’s enemies.
This highlighted stealth option was the biggest eye-catcher of this sequence. As long as the player doesn’t do anything strange while controlling someone with clearance to enemy areas they can move about freely collecting intel. It offered a potentially unique stealth experience.
During this gameplay demo one also couldn’t help but notice just how many different animations Ubisoft has put into Watchdogs Legion in order to give every character moves and actions that feel authentic to who they are. From the hard brawling tavern goers who jumps into the air to deliver that extra hard haymaker, to the precision assassin whose moments look straight out of John Wick, every character’s actions shown looks authentic to their background.
Ubisoft wrapped up their Ubisoft Forward coverage of Watchdogs Legion by showing the games release date of October 29th.
Brawlhalla
Ubisoft Forward took a quick moment to announce that its popular fighting game Brawlhalla will be arriving on iOS and Android devices on August 6th. The big feature highlighted in the announcement video was it extremely customizable button interface. As the game utilizes smartphone touch screens, Ubisoft appears to have given gamers the freedom to organize their buttons in whatever configuration works for them. Customizability is always great to see. The video also confirmed these new versions of Brawhalla will be cross playable with all previously existing versions of the game.
Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad
Next up for Ubisoft Forward players were shown a cinematic trailer of the upcoming mobile game Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad. This trailer, while containing no actual gameplay, emphasizes how players will need to work together to take down targets by utilizing teamwork and every character unique abilities. And it shined a spotlight on returning Ubisoft legend Sam Fisher.
Hyper Scape
The next big feature at Ubisoft Forward was Ubisoft’s upcoming battle royale game Hyper Scape. This coverage was kicked off by detailing the setting of the upcoming release.
Set in the year 2054 Hyper Scape takes place in the virtual city of Arcadia. As players battle each other throughout the city they can utilize lots of weapons, as well as skills called hacks that can be found throughout the game. Ubisoft also highlighted the games Twitch extension features. This feature allows viewers to watch matches to cast votes to change aspects of the game in real time. These aspects seemed to encompass elements like time of day and weather.
Ubisoft also announced an open beta for Hyper Scape which is going on now.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Next up was a deep dive into Ubisoft’s next entry into the long-running Assassin’s Creed franchise: Valhalla. Ubisoft opened by emphasizing how they were focusing on showing players more of the Viking story than just the raids and battle the group has become synonymous with. Ubisoft looks to expand gamers’ knowledge of all aspects of Viking life through the upcoming title.
After talking about the lore of the game Ubisoft took some time to talk about Valhalla’s fighting system. Promising a revamped combat system focusing on the ferocity of Viking combat, players were shown new options for dispatching foes such as the Viking harpoon, to being able to duel wield any combination of weapons and even a brand new stun mechanic that will be introduced in the game. Oh, and lest we forget, the wrist blade is returning to Assassin’s Creed.
Ubisoft also showed offer some of the numerous ways players will be interacting with the world of Valhalla. From leading teams of Vikings on small scale raids for supplies to improve the players’ settlement to world exploration and even full large scale battles that will capture pivotal story moments, Ubisoft Forward did an excellent job showing off the wide array of tasks players can expect to undertake when the game releases on November 17th on all current-gen, and next-gen consoles.
Far Cry 6
Ubisoft Forward wrapped up with a cinematic trailer of Far Cry 6. Introducing players to a character referenced in the trailer as simply El Presidente, we are given a glimpse into the characters’ ruthlessness. This along with the announcement of a release date of February 18th, 2021 was all that gamers were given today. I expect more will be revealed at future Ubisoft Forward events.
And that’s a wrap for this Ubisoft Forward Recap. While there were some disappointing omissions in this showcase, the absence of Gods and Monsters was a personal let down for me, Ubisoft nonetheless gave gamers plenty to look forward to. If you are into the company’s trademark brand of open-world gaming there looks to be plenty on the horizon for you.
