E3 Roundup - Microsoft

This post is coming a little late since I've been wrapped up watching the conferences but in case you're not able to watch it [click here to see the full conference] yourself here's everything you missed!

Microsoft started the show with a bang announcing the name for Project Scorpio as Xbox One X. To be honest this name was a little disappointing to me, then again I've never been overly impressed with Microsoft's console name choices.

Launching on November 7, 2017 the X will be the most powerful console to date. With the ability to provide true 4K we will get some truly beautiful looking content. With a whopping 6 teraflop GPU, 12 GB DDR5 RAM, and a custom 8-core AND processor clocking in at 2.3 Ghz we get a ton of power in a sleek package, and the best part for many people looking to upgrade is that all your current peripherals will work with the X right from day 1.

We got a chance to see some of the impressive power with the introduction to Forza Motorsport 7. Containing more than 700 cars Microsoft announced a 6 year partnership kicking off with the world premiere of the Porsche GT2RS Flagship super-car. Forza 7 runs in native 4K and 60fps on the X and looked beautiful.

Following Forza 7 we saw an impressive looking trailer from 4A Games, announcing Metro: Exodus, marking the third entry the franchise. Metro will launch in 2018, however no word on an exact date when we can expect it.

"...the birthplace of the brotherhood. - Jean Guesdon"

Moving forward from science fiction to history, we are thrown into Ancient Egypt. Beginning with some cryptic looking scenes it becomes suddenly very clear as we see the symbol of the Assassin on a shield. I was honestly somewhat surprised to see this title unveiled at the Microsoft conference and not saved for Ubisoft but none the less it was a happy surprise. I don't think I could be more hyped for this game. Assassin's Creed Origins tells us the story of how the brotherhood began. We go back to where it all started to the first people to call themselves Assassins. Origins will have more RPG elements added and features Bayek as the protagonist. From gladiator fights on horseback to sending falcons up to survey the environment from above this whole game looks phenomenal. My only problem now is that I am torn. I would love to play this on the XBox X, but I have every other entry on the PlayStation and I try where possible to keep my series on the same console for consistency sake. I'm not sure what I'll buy it on but you can be sure I'll have it in my collection and play the heck out of it come October 27. 

Brendan Green, known better to most as PlayerUnknown came on stage to talk to us about Battlegrounds which is coming exclusively for Xbox One this year, and following up with enhancements soon after for the X. 

Diving back into the realm of sci-fi, we see a trailer for a new co-op game dubbed Deep Rock: Galactic. This game will feature stylized visuals, XBox One enhancements and will have interactivity on Microsoft's Streaming platform Mixer (formerly Beam). 

It didn't take long to figure out that the trailer that followed, which showed us deserted landscapes, and characters gunning down zombies was State of Decay 2. The graphics on all the games shown thus far have been stunning and this was no exception. I suppose I'll have to get around to playing the first one before it launches in Spring 2018. 

Another multiplayer title is shown to us in The Darwin Project. It appears this Xbox One exclusive is a multiplayer competitive survival game. 

Moving onto something a little lighter we get the family friendly Minecraft. Now we will see cross play between several platforms including windows 10, XBox, and the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately for those PlayStation users out there no cross play is underway, and from what I've been seeing it's due to the past vulnerability that Sony has had with security. Very unfortunate for my wife as that's her console of choice. Looks like I'll have to buy it for the PC now. Another new addition for Minecraft is the ability to get player-made skins and textures as well as other content across platforms other than PC where they were not previously available. A free 4K texture update called the "Super Duper Graphics Pack" will also be coming for Minecraft this fall and features improved lighting and shadows.

The next trailer was instantly recognizable as Dragon Ball. This fighting game is the much rumored Dragon Ball Fighter Z and has beautiful 2.5D cel-shaded visuals. You'll be able to battle with or against others in 3v3 battles in early 2018.

Also coming early 2018 and exclusively to Xbox One, is a medieval fantasy MMO titled Black Desert. Black desert will also feature Xbox X enhancements and 4K visuals.

The next title, a side scrolling game called The Artful Escape features paper like visuals (and reminded my wife of Broken Age). You play as a guitar wielding character and to be honest, I'm not too sure what the story is about as the trailer was brief as was the one that followed for Code Vein which is coming 2018.

We got a more in depth look at Sea of Thieves next, which if you are unfamiliar with it, is Rare's Multiplayer Pirate adventure game. Sea of Thieves looks to feature underwater exploration, where characters can haul treasure scavenged from sunken wreckage back to their ship. We also seem to be able to explore on land as we come ashore on Devil's Ridge and take down some skeletons as we explore. Heavily emphasizing co-op play you see that while one player is hauling treasure, others will need to have his back and protect him from hostile enemies. Trading treasure chests and launching attacks on others ships comes in Sea of Thieves in early 2018. 

Following this in depth look we got a glimpse of the sci-fi title Tacoma which launches this summer on August 7.

The very cute Super Lucky's Tale features an adorable little fox who you guide through this platformer's bright colorful world full of quirky character NPC's and acquire tons of collectible items. This reminded me of Skylanders or Spyro and it looks like it will be a blast to play when it comes out November 7.

Next we FINALLY get a release date of September 28th for the Disney-esque platformer Cuphead.

Doing a total 360 from these cute and cuddly worlds we get Yelled at by Terry Crews as he introduces one of the games I'm most excited to play: Crackdown 3 which is coming November 7th 2017.

We get a quick montage of a bunch of smaller scale titles coming to XBox, including Observer, Fable Fortunes, Dark and Light, Hello Neighbor, Riverbond and more, after which we see an announcement for the episodic sequel to Life is Strange. The first of 3 episodes called Before the Storm will launch August 31st. 

Next we see some footage for Shadow of War which is a massive expansion on the Middle Earth world and comes to us October 10th. Featuring stunning visuals I can't wait to play this if it is half as good as the first entry to the series. 

The trailer for Ori and the Blind Forests' successor, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, has a different feel to the first one. Showing the destruction caused by monsters in Ori's world we see an adorable owl only to learn that his/her parents have been killed in the devastation wreaked by monsters. Get your tissues ready before watching the trailer folks. No release date was given however so you have time to steel yourself before you play.

Microsoft then announced that backward compatibility is being expanded even further to include original XBox titles including Crimson Skies. Not many details aside from that they will look and play better were given but we were promised we'd hear more later this year. In addition to backward compatibility some already released titles will see XBox One X enhancements including Final Fantasy XV, Forza 3, Gears of War 4, and Halo Wars 2. 

The price of the XBox One X was then confirmed to be $500USD, before EA's Patrick Soderlund took the stage to fully introduce us to BioWare's new IP which we got a teaser for at the EA presentation. Anthem is a huge open world game where you and your friends play as freelancers who explore the unknown and aim to protect humanity. Each player will have a Javelin,and a customizable exosuit. Each Javelin will feature it's own play style and you'll be able to play it in 2018.

That's the end for Microsoft's presentation but I"ll be back with more from E3 as new information comes out during the various conferences.