Although the 2017 Ubisoft E3 conference is one of the smaller conferences at E3 so far, they sure know how to make up for lacking in “size” with plenty of “girth” to go around. The conference has had some nice surprises overall, and a few confirmations on circulating rumors as well. With it being Ubisoft, some open world games were bound to be on their way, and boy were they… so here is the lowdown on what went down at Ubitown.

Beyond Good and Evil 2

Here is one I never thought I would be typing… if Duke Nukem Forever is the “King of Development Hell”, then Beyond Good and Evil 2 is the Queen. This sequel has been in development for YEARS, rumors and concept art has been leaked and it was suspected that the sequel would never see the light of day. Well, nearly 15 years later, here it is and it’s absolutely glorious!

The trailer starts off with a gorgeous Blade Runner-esque Neo-Chinatown shot, and depicts the dealing of a golden statue for a data disc. When one of the characters is double crossed with the statue being fake, a large chase scene occurs. After the trailer the developers stated that the game will feature some sort of online component but the player will be in control of the story, and unfortunately, that’s about it and “it will be out when it’s ready”.

Skull and Bones

This one is a fresh new IP by Ubisoft, but you may get a sense of deja-vu when you see gameplay from it. When Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was released, it was hailed for its Naval battles, with this leading to many fans wanting a game consisting of just that without any of the sci-fi elements. Well, this is just that game, but wait for it… it’s open world… and… multiplayer. Although you can apparently play the game solo, you and a group of Scallywags helm a ship on a quest to loot as much booty as possible, but you aren’t the only Pirates on the seas.

The trailer shows gameplay of multiple Pirate factions battling in Black Flag Naval fashion, after weakening a player’s ship, the attacker then boards said ship and proceeds to execute and loot anything not nailed to the floor. Essentially the last Pirate ship standing wins the game and the booty. This is apparently only one of several game modes. The trailer ends with the “Almighty Kraken” devouring two large pirate ships and any treasures they may hold.

The Crew 2

While the game had quietly been announced earlier this year, little was known about the sequel to the open world multiplayer driving simulator, The Crew. Through an expansion titled ‘Wild Run’, motorbikes were added to the roster of available rides in addition to countless types of cars. The trailer shows a new protagonist making his way through a career driving a multitude of vehicles. These include race cars, sports cars, motorbikes, dirt buggies, boats and airplanes. With the sequel, like its predecessor, spanning the entire United States, it’s sure to boast an expansive with diverse map to traverse with friends and strangers alike. The Crew 2 is planned for an Early 2018 release.

South Park: The Fractured but Whole

In the sequel to the successful (and infinitely hilarious) South Park: The Stick of Truth, the gang recruit “the New Kid” (that’s you) to join their Super Hero group who possesses a powerful asset… a magical ass. Like the previous title, it’s an RPG adventure with enough farts, swears and politically incorrect humor to make any South Park fan blush. While fans of the show are probably already on board, while not being a big fan of the show, the humor in the trailer peaked my interest for the title a little bit, if I’m being honest.

With the creators of the show being closely involved in development, this has the potential to be as huge a success las its predecessor was. South Park: The Fractured but Whole will be splitting our sides this October 17th.

Far Cry 5

So there wasn’t much new revealed about this upcoming entry in the long running Far Cry franchise, but we did get to see some real gameplay this time that looks very satisfying. The trailer shows the player with another character approaching a group of cult members, who are taking a group of citizens hostage, and after taking out several of them, the NPC calls in reinforcements. It appears that everyone and everything in this town is for hire.

We have Guns For Hire (friendly hillbillies with guns), Friends For Hire (truckers apparently) and Fangs For Hire (animals like; dogs and bears, that will kill on command and/or retrieve enemy weapons for you). The use of airplanes for air strikes was also highlighted in this new trailer. The title doesn’t seem to be taking itself so seriously this time around, and that appears to be a great step in the right direction in my opinion. Far Cry 5 has been scheduled for a February 27th release.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins

This is one of my most anticipated titles of the year, and in my opinion, it has delivered and then some. Having taken their time, the Black Flag team has painstakingly crafted a historically accurate recreation of Ancient Egypt. The trailer displays an improved build of the proprietary AnvilNext engine, boasting many different rendering improvements, especially the lighting techniques being used.

Many different landscapes are shown, ranging from the familiar sand dunes, to lush forests and smarmy swamps. Also, Ubisoft has showcased an entire ecosystem of wildlife, which would make Assassin’s Creed III jealous with envy, this is no doubt the most ambitious Creed world ever crafted to date, and has been slated for an October 27th launch.

Steep: Road to the Olympics Expansion

With Steep, a large scale snow-sport, open world simulation game being released earlier this year, its season pass owners may be a bit pissed off with this particular announcement. This expansion, apparently an official tie-in to the 2018 Winter Olympics, will bring with it a variety of different winter sports to the title. These include Downhill, Snowboard Cross, Slopestyle, Ski Cross, Halfpipe, Parallel Giant Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Big Air, Slalom and Ski Halfpipe. I have no clue what most of these are but they sure sound fun don’t they.

The troubling part is that this doesn’t SEEM to be part of the season pass that some players payed for. With only an extra map and one additional sport added, I am one of those that who have purchased said pass, and I’m confused as to why this expansion isn’t part of the pass itself. Aside from that, the expansion looks like a blast and will be release by December 5th.

Final Thoughts

The rest of the conference consisted of console exclusives, several for the Nintendo Switch. One of the biggest surprises was a direct collaboration with Nintendo on one of their biggest IPs. Here is the rundown of what was announced.

• Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Wars – Think XCOM 2 but with Mario characters and Rabbids playing dress up.
• Just Dance 2018 – A new Just Dance game… and that pretty much sums it up.
• Transference – Not a lot to say about this one other then it’s a VR game starring Elijah Wood.
• Starlink: Battle for Atlas – An Amiibo-like business model aimed towards sci-fi figure collectors.

The Ubisoft 2017 E3 conference may not have been as lengthy as say Microsoft’s conference, but it was in no way short on the surprises. If you are a fan of open world Ubisoft games, or looking for some new promising titles, Ubisoft has probably peaked your interest. So, stay tuned here at Pixel Judge for our upcoming summary of Sony’s E3 conference and whatever else E3 decides to throw our way.