E3: PC Gaming Show 2018

Posted on 14 Jun 2018 by
Sawyer Scherbenske

For a conference that showed very little last year, this year was a comparative blowout. While most of the games shown off weren’t the large franchise-starters that Microsoft or Sony showed off earlier, they had more games with more actual gameplay content shown off than any conference before.

Satisfactory

Kicking off this year’s PC show was Satisfactory by Coffee Stain Studios. It looks like a high-budget version of Factorio, but with 3D graphics, first person view, and complexity abound. Players will have to explore the map on foot or from a vehicle, mine resources in various biomes, and use those resources to build up your factory until you…rule the earth maybe? Whatever the goal is, you’ll have industry at your side to complete it.

Neo Cab

You take on the role as one of the last “neo cab” drivers in a futuristic cityscape. “Cab” may be in the word, but you’re rated on your performance from 1-5 stars for each person you pick up, and it’s up to your passengers to where they need to be all why avoiding the “Capra.” There’s a reason you’re one of the last drivers, and it seems to be because these Capra folks are hunting you down while you look for your friend who’s gone silent. Who’s your friend? How many passengers are there? How will Capra get you? Will they tip me? We’re not really sure, but this indie title seems like a neat idea for a futuristic yet dangerous Uber simulator. No release date for Neo Cab yet.

Proving Grounds

If Fortnight or PUBG’s 100-player battle-royale games just aren’t big enough, then Proving Ground is proving itself with 400. Just like other BR games, Proving Grounds goal will be to be the last survivor, however the formula will be shaken up a bit by “dynamic” environments with footprints, muddy areas, and possibly even environmental effects. If it sounds interesting, there’ll be a beta opening on August 18th that you’ll be able to sign up for starting now. Players who sign up here before June 17th will even get an exclusive E3 content pack stuffed with in-game cosmetic items.

Sable

Sable, much like Journey, is a game about exploration, desert, and a comic book art style that is so unique that there’s nothing out there that even looks like it. At the heart of the game is the same sense of exploration and worldly curiosity that’s driven many indie games before it, but Sable seems dedicated presenting the player a beautiful and new 3D world and have the player build their own stories around what they find on their journey. Sable is set to release on PC, but no release date yet.

Ooblets

Taking the prize for most heart-meltingly adorable game this E3 is Ooblets. Taking a page from Pokemon, Ooblets is all about collecting a team of ooblets and having them battle in what looks like dance battles. The main difference is that instead of capturing them out in the wild, you grow them in your garden, and depending on your combination of plants you get different ooblets.

We had a showing of Ooblets last year as well, but Doublefine have clearly bumped up the number of creatures, animations, and options significantly since then. I can’t wait to get a better look at this Katamari-esque world, and hopefully buy plenty of ooblet plushies soon. Ooblet is set to release on PC, but no release date yet.

Maneater

Maneater is a single player action RPG where you’re the most threatening shark in existence since Jaws. If that doesn’t say it all right there, Maneater puts you in the gills of an enormous shark in the Gulf Coast, and your goal is to simply survive by any means necessary. If the trailer is any indication, you’ll be eating a lot of people, sealife, and causing general havoc along the entire shoreline. Maneater is set to release on PC, but no release date yet.

The Sinking City

The Sinking City from Frogware will be a third person detective game where you sleuth out clues in a scary, almost paranormal rendition of 1920’s America. Detective games are what Frogware specializes in with their last game being a pretty solid Sherlock Holmes game. The whole trailer had an almost insane feeling about it, and with the tentacle motif in the title could be harkening back to Lovecraftian horror, but we’ll see. There’s no release date for The Sinking City quite yet.

The Walking Dead

It’s been six years since Telltale started The Walking Dead and Clementine’s story, but the final season is coming this August. The story will once again be focusing on an older Clementine who’s seen more than her fair share of death in her young age. She seems better equipped than ever, but so should the player because active combat is entering the series for the first time. Players will have free control to move, dodge, and choose how to attack during combat instead of being locked into a series of quick QTE’s like before. Get on developing some reflexes and decision making skills soon, because The Walking Dead’s final chapter is coming out August 14th.

Hitman 2

The assassination genre has been booming lately, but Hitman’s unique, comical take to its characters and setting really set it apart from any other series. From the trailer footage, it looks like it’s retaining that levity that’s made it so popular. It’s flashy, but it retains playing dress-up with Agent 47, along with the over-the-top assassinations that the series has been known for. It looks like it’ll be a good, goofy death parade to play through come November 13th.

Stormland

The most impressive VR game this E3, Stormland, will be a 2019 release where you essentially play Johnny 5. What’s most impressive is that this VR game has open world navigation, motion controls, and combat that uses those motion controls to both shield and shoot. It looks very technically impressive, but we’ll see more of how it plays next year when it’s closer to coming out.

The Rest

This list is just scraping the surface of the most impressive games that were at the PC conference. On top of the new games announced above, there were trailers for large updates for pre-existing games like Warframe, Hunt: Showdown, and old Yakuza games coming to the west. Besides those, there’s also Killing Floor 2, Overwhelm, Jurassic World Revolution, Nightcall, Star Citizen, Genesis Alpha One, Just Cause 4, Overkill’s The Walking Dead, Don’t Starve: Hamlet, Noita, Two Point Hospital, Anno 1800, and Rapture Rejects. Some noteworthy absences include Borderlands 3, Titanfall 3, System Shock 3, or Splinter Cell, which we know are currently in development, but must be too early yet to show anything.

The sheer number of games that were shown at the PC conference was staggering. Most of the games shown are coming out sometime next year, but judging by the innovation on display, I’m glad they’re choosing to take their time instead of shoving out a rushed product. With everything at this show and a large amount of what the previous shows have already shown coming to PC, it’s never been a better time to be a PC gamer.


Comments (0)