Ubisoft Forward was the name of the company's E3 Presentation this year, symbolized by their franchises literally moving forward during their pre-show event. When the show itself properly began though, we finally get our hosts, Neelam Kumar and Youssef Maguid, giving us a rundown of the upcoming showcases, first showing off Rainbow Six Extraction.
Rainbow Six Extraction Gameplay Shown Off
Rainbow Six Extraction got a cinematic storyline trailer, where we see multiple characters interacting with what appears to be a futuristic world filled with some alien creatures.
Rainbow Six always played a bit fast and loose with its setting, the inclusion of alien-like creatures to shoot and extract offers a more arcade-style of gameplay, a cross between X-COM and Left 4 Dead as a comparison. The more action-heavy trailer showed off some cool weapons and character archetypes, from sticky bombs to electrical grenades, and even difficult creatures nicknamed an apex to fight.
Extraction is described by Game Designer Alicia Fortier as a 1 to 3 co-op experience where you need to fight off against alien threats. The focus of Extraction is to literally extract operatives out of the clutches of these aliens, and if you succeed, you can add them to your team and lead to upgrades for their characters. The risks and rewards you will see are what you need to worry about, as if you fail the mission you lose all progress made on your operatives, including upgrades and progression.
The aliens are described by Bruno Lalonde as an evolved form of the parasites found in the New Mexico map from previous Rainbow Six games. The map actually changes as you go through the maps, dealing with a myriad of enemies such as the long-range spikers and the shriekers. The black goo-like substance, called the sprawl, can actually slow down your progress.
We finally end the section on Rainbow Six Extraction with a gameplay demo, which showcases a lot of the game’s mechanics. Despite the action-heavy approach of the trailer, stealth tactics are still needed to survive, from infiltrating areas to silently taking down enemies, especially as the Archean variants slowly change and become more of a threat. We also see some nice gameplay mechanics, from setting up chokepoints to lure enemies into kill zones, to using grenades to take down elite enemies, like the showcased Lurker.
Rainbow Six Extraction is coming out this year on September 16th, and will feature cross-play. Check out the gameplay described above here.
Rocksmith+ Announced
The guitar learning game, now a decade old, is getting an upgrade with Rocksmith+. You can connect Rocksmith+ with an app now on your phone or table, and play music real time with a real guitar. A lot of the features add good quality of life changes, such as community videos, training videos, practice sessions, and online interconnectivity that actually brings guitarists across the world together.
Arthur Vornego of Ubisoft San Francisco is thrilled to share the interactive music subscription service to the public. Connecting your guitar to a PC, console, or mobile device is the major draw here, as is the fact that there is no extra gear needed now. Players can even create or add arrangements of their own songs with the Rocksmith Workshop, where you can get some real-time feedback for your own growing skill.
Rocksmith+ also has standard features like adaptive difficulty and progress tracking that now monitors your improvements across all songs you play. They even added a tab-reader for players who are looking to improve their tab-reading skills.
Rocksmith+ is all about learning music in an interactive way, and it currently has a closed PC beta that players can register for today.
Riders Republic Release Date Announced
Riders Republic takes the stage next, with the massively multiplayer game getting some new content to play through.
We see Riders Ridge, a new stomping ground where you can manage your riders career, customize your characters style, and of course, join up for some multiplayer action with up to sixteen players across multiple tracks.
Riders Republic offers a ton of different game modes, from snowboarding atop a place called Mammoth Mountain, to off-road biking in the middle of a heavy woodland area. You can even ride bikes across a canyon instead of using personal flying bodysuits if you want to!
Things also slow down a bit, allowing you to just explore the landmarks across the map. All of this of course is just to accumulate stars to build up your repertoire of gear, clothes, and events you can participate in.
Riders Republic then goes crazy by showing off mass races, giant competitions with up to 64 players at a time duking it out for glory. To say its chaotic would be an understatement, but it is a good way to cap off Riders Republic, which is scheduled for a release on September 2nd, 2021.
Rainbow Six Siege Crossplay Announced
Rainbow Six Siege gets a plug, stating that it has over 600,000 concurrent players in it after six years. Pau Vlasie, the IT director of Ubisoft Montreal, notes that June 30th will add more crossplay and cross-progression for the game’s upcoming Google Stadia Launch. Later this year, we will also see cross-play for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, something that is a long time coming for Rainbow Six Siege fans.
The mini showcase ends with a brand new animated trailer starring the character Thunderbird, an indigenous woman who now joins the team.
Ubisoft Live Games Getting Updates
Other updates are shown for a bunch of current live games in Ubisoft’s catalog, including For Honor, Trackmania, The Crew 2, and more. Brawlhalla has a nice one where the Ninja Turtles are joining the game as fighters, while Watch Dogs: Legion sees Aiden Pearce and Wrench return with a new bit of content, called Watch Dogs Legion: Bloodlines.
The Obligatory Just Dance 2022 Section
Just Dance takes center stage, getting loud quickly with another round of dancing fun. The hook this time is a new special guest joining the fun, singer, dancer, actor, and choreographer Todrick Hall. Hall will be creating an exclusive version of his songs for Just Dance 2022. Hall re-wrote his own work, creating something unique for Just Dance 2022.
Just Dance 2022 will include 40 songs and releases November 4th. Check out the announcement here.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla Updates and DLC Siege of Paris Shown
It is time to get your Viking on with some more fun in Assassins Creed Valhalla.
Senior community developer Karen Lee introduces the next chapters in Eivor’s story, from time-limited festivals, new quests, and gameplay modes to be a part of. Karen Lee notes that new community features will be added to the game, including the likes of one-handed swords into your arsenal, and of course, bug fixes galore.
Wrath of the Druids gets a small shout out as the latest content, but Lee then mentions the Seige of Paris, the next expansion where you go to war-torn Francia, participate in black box infiltration missions, earn new weapons and gear, while uncovering new secrets for Eivor to control.
Lee then mentions that the new discovery tour of the Viking age will be coming this fall. More of a simulation than anything else, you can collect useful rewards while living in the world of the Vikings.
The showcase ends with another teaser to something unique for the future...a gate to who knows where. Assassin's Creed Valhalla will also be the first Assassin's Creed with DLCs planned into multiple years, with more to come next year.
See footage of the new content here.
Ubisoft TV and Film Highlighted
Ubisoft then decided to showcase their film and television work, starting with the critically acclaimed Mythic Quest on Apple TV plus. We then get a trailer of Werewolves Within, a movie based on the Ubisoft game that is designed to be “a whodunit with teeth.” Werewolves Within is scheduled for a June 25th release and will be on-demand in July.
Far Cry 6 Season Pass Detailed
Far Cry gets some mentions next, showing us some gameplay of Far Cry 6. Like everything else with Far Cry, the villains will take center stage, with a group of characters accosted on a fishing boat as they are fleeing to the United States. The games primary villain, Anton Castillo, takes the boat because his son, Diego, was smuggled on board, but the screen goes dark as Castillo’s henchmen shoot up the rest of the passengers.
Ubisoft goes into a showcase of some of the villains of Far Cry, including Vaas, Pagan Dim, and Joseph Seed. All three of these characters even return in new DLC for Far Cry 6, where you play as these iconic characters in their own surreal adventures that really dive into their psyche.
We also get a plug for Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon, which joins our trio of villains as Far Cry 6 DLC.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope Officially Announced
The Rabbids and Mario return with a new CG trailer showing off the accidentally leaked sequel to Mario + Rabbids, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. The games trailer is a nice blend of the quirky comedic showcase of Mario and friends, the zany antics of the Rabbids, and some new fiends joining the fray, including a lazy Roselia Rabbid and some Luma Rabbids across a space-filled journey.
The designer of Mario + Rabbids comes on to talk about the expansion of the scope of the series, by planet-hopping to take on Cursa, an enemy that will prove to be a major challenge for players. You also have the Sparks, allies who are a mix of Rabbids and Lumas to join you this time around.
New action elements will be introduced into the game, offering more challenge for players who felt the previous Mario + Rabbids game was too easy. With a colorful cast of characters to meet with and the same fun tactical battles to play through, Mario + Rabbids is a great, refined sequel that improves on the quirky nature of this crossover series.
Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope will be released for the Nintendo Switch next year.
Check out the gameplay trailer here.
Avatar Frontiers of Pandora Announced for 2022
CEO Yves Guillemot comes on the screen to showcase, to give nothing but praise for the employees at Ubisoft while they worked through adversity this year due to COVID. He also thanks to the players personally for the trust they put into Ubisoft, as well as their partnerships with other companies, including Nintendo.
Guillemot then intros the first look to a game built in their Snowdrop engine, a collaboration with James Cameron’s Avatar.
Yes, you read that right, Avatar. The Cameron movie has had several films in development for a while, but while a game for Avatar has been in the works as well, it is somewhat surprising to see it get a showcase at Ubisoft today. Visually it matches the alien landscape and style seen in the film quite easily, where the Na’vi take on humanity in aerial battles across lush, alien jungle landscapes.
The game itself is titled Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and will be released in 2022. Check out the trailer here.
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