It’s no secret to anyone by now that Ubisoft has always been a gamble with their presentations. Because, sometimes you have truly good years, and sometimes you have really bad ones. Even so, I’m still not quite sure what to make out of Ubisoft’s E3 2018 press conference. Nevertheless, let’s not just talk about it, let’s go step by step.

Being Ubisoft, you know they just had to start with the announcement of “Just Dance 2019“. It just wouldn’t be E3 without a new “Just Dance” announcement + a live performance on top of that. That being said, it wasn’t anything special and was just more of what we expected from it. Well, at least the Panda had some fun with it.

Anyways, the one thing I know everyone wanted to see got a story trailer.  Yep, you guess it.”Beyond Good and Evil” 2 received a brand-new trailer that showcased its colorful cast of characters. The characters look phenomenal, and with distinct personalities, it makes me want to buy the first game just to see who all these people are.

In the trailer, the ship is placed on some sort of space ice barrier before it falls away and is taken in by a much larger ship. The characters then see a familiar face in a character named Jade, and it cuts to black as she charges them. Other than that, the game will showcase fan art that can be submitted to them, as it’s a large universe and art of all kinds will be welcome.

Next up with got “Trials: Rising“, a physics-based puzzle game on bikes released a trailer in the only way Ubisoft knows how: by having a guy in a showman’s suit work his way to the stage and talk about it. I don’t have much to say about the game personally as it isn’t personally my type of game, but it could possibly be a fun time. The game is set to release in February of 2019.

“The Division 2” released another trailer. This one starting off in a closed-off community that seems to be doing well for itself, as a girl runs to the top of its gate and releases a paper airplane. At this point, we get to see beyond the gated community, as we see several busted cars, a dying horse, and an assault on some poor soul in the street. We get to see that the streets all almost empty, full of trash and sewage. Several makeshifts graves can be seen as a woman is taken to a group that seems to be executing those who break some sort of rule. The trailer looks very nice and paints a beautiful picture of this broken world.

For the Switch, we now have a look at a DLC for “Mario and Rabbids Kingdom Battle”, called “Donkey Kong Adventure“, along with a nice musical performance from Critical Hit composed by Grant Kirkhope. This DLC brings Donkey Kong into the party, as we get our look at the jungle environment and all that it entails. Furthermore, brand-new enemies, bosses, and more have been added to fit the jungle aesthetic of the new area. The area, by the way, is huge, as we get to see it from a bird’s eye perspective. The DLC is set to release June 26th of this year. On June 25th for season pass owners.

Next up we have a pirate game, this one an MMO, I believe. “Skull and Bones“, a game set to release next year, allows you to build up your own ship, plunder enemies, explore the seas, board enemy ships, and basically do whatever a pirate can do. The game does warn you to be looking out for other pirates, as there is no honor amongst thieves. Frankly, I’d be the one to lookout for in online play, as that’s just what I do. This is a game I will be looking forward to, personally.

We also get our first look at a VR horror game. “Transference“, which plays from the prospective of a child who seems to be stuck in some sort of digital nightmare memory of his father’s creation. It appears to be one of the games that you have to play before you can speculate on it, but given how it looks, I’d be more than happy to try it out on release. The game will release Fall of 2018.

“Starlink: The Battle for Atlus” was the next game to get a moment at Ubisoft’s presentation. Showing off their cast of characters, and the ships that you’ll be using, it also made sure to use footage of how ships would be customized, through the use of a toy which is reconfigured in the real world that is connected directly to the game. It’s a neat idea, but I’m not entirely sure I want to spend extra money on an outside accessory when I’m already playing a full-price game.

Maybe in the future when I have more money. As a promotional, Fox from the “Star Fox” series was shown off as a character that will be in the game, and Miyamoto himself in all his glory took the stage to accept a model of Fox’s ship that’s connected to the one in the game.

“For Honor” had some time to shine as it announced a new type of character, all the way from China, we now have four new types of characters from China’s warring factions. With the expansion, titled Marching Fire, a new mode will be added, known as Castle Seige. This expansion will be releasing October 16, 2018.

Another title that Ubisoft fans would be familiar with, “The Crew”, also got some love with “The Crew 2”. The game is to be released on June 26th, but an open beta will be available on June 21st, but the game can be pre-loaded now for quick access. We get to see motor sports of all kinds in the trailer to show a variety of activities to be taken across the United States.

Lastly, it wouldn’t be an Ubisoft E3 conference without showing of a brand-new title from their most famous game series “Assassin’s Creed” (me, i’m definitely fed up with the said series already). So Ubisoft introduced the whole world to their new AC title “Assassin’s Creed Odyssey“, the game is set in Greece as one of two protagonists, a male and a female, and certain story aspects change depending on who you play as. The game is far more open and less linear than other games in the series, as there are a number of side quests, one can do at any point in time, and certain choices that change the experience.

This has me questioning with so many free choices, how can the series have a set timeline of any kind? Nevertheless, maybe I’m looking too much into this. The game seems alright. I mean, sure, it definitely borrows a lot from Origins, especially the eagle, which is now the eagle of Zeus. The protagonist is the descendent of Leonidas and carries his spear. It’s very possible that the weapon is one of the precursor items, but that remains to be seen. The game is set to release in October.

And that just about does it for Ubisoft’s reveal. Yes, really, that’s a wrap. Because there weren’t all that much surprises and whatnot to be found at Ubisoft’s E3 2018 press conference, and it hit the marks I expected them to hit. That being said, there isn’t a lot I’m really excited for. For me, “Beyond Good and Evil 2“, “Skull and Bones“, and “Transference” are the one’s I’ll be keeping an eye on, but frankly that’s just about it.

Entertainment Value: 3/5
Games: 3/5
Surprises: 2/5

Verdict: 2.5/5 (D+)
Quite frankly, Ubisoft’s E3 2018 press conference was a fine conference, and nothing was terrible about it. It was very clean. The games were nice, but other than that. There was nothing that really made it stand out this year. It was very average. There were few surprises, all the regular notes were hit, and frankly, I wanted more from them so that I could at least give them a 3/5 overall. However, at the end of the day, it did what it had to do, and that was fine.

Credit:
Robin Ek – Editor and co-writer.

***Disclaimer***
This is a personal opinion of the writer, and it doesn’t necessarily represent the other writers (nor The Gaming Ground´s) opinions.

Justin Easler
Senior editor
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @masterjayshay

More by Justin Easler:

• “Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 5” is coming to PC and consoles on March 17th, 2022
• Ubisoft’s E3 2019 press conference – A pretty decent presentation for the most part
• Square Enix E3 2019 press conference – Probably Square Enix’s strongest E3 in a long time
• Bethesda’s E3 2019 press conference – Some pretty awesome games but not so many surprises
• EA’s E3 2019 press conference – More of what you expect, yet still underwhelming

Tags: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Beyond Good and Evil 2, E3, E3 2018, For Honor, The Division 2, Ubisoft