Ubisoft Forward returned to the E3 stage, making announcements for major IPs including Watch Dogs Legion, Rainbow Six Extraction, Assassin’s Creed and a new Just Dance.
Rainbow Six Extraction brought alien zombies into its tactical shooting, with a story trailer explaining the source of an outbreak from an alien asteroid. The compound would spread to infect large human populations, prompting a new Rainbow Six team to infiltrate these areas and save valuable assets. The zombies would be inspired by alien spores, with different types to either swarm or blow players up. There was also footage of projectile zombies, which players need to manage with bullets or special grenade types. The trailer also showed off special operators platers can customize and take into the field. Of course, the game is best played over multiplayer in a squad.
Rainbow Six Extraction was given a release date of September 16, 2021. The reveal would pave the way for a detailed breakdown, including mission types. Players are taking on the alien threat in drones, as the parasite would send legions of them across the field. This happens as squads are performing different objectives, from destroying parasite nests or rescuing different VIPs. Other missions see players holding off zombies as specialists collect data or open up new areas for exploring infested settlements. Its gameplay demo put a team into a three person squad, investigating a new site which reportedly housed parasites.
Players took on standard Grunts, which players could quietly eliminate with special ammo. After placing trackers on nests, a point person would clear the floor of toxic goop by shooting it. Inspired by Rainbow Six Siege‘s mechanics, players could flank enemies by destroying some walls and scout ahead with special scopes or drones. But players can quickly shout “let’s rock” as swarms of grunts start to deploy the boomer-type Breachers. Players can still stealthy take them out to minimize confrontation with dangerous types like the Spikers
Rainbow Six Siege also uses REACT tech, which tailors weapons and equipment to fight the horde. It’s essential to defeat bigger enemies like the brute-like Smasher. Players will be seeing plenty of REACT’s presence across levels, with a few story events revolved around the mysterious organization. As Lurkers and Tormentors can buff up enemies, they have a bigger chance to down players. But teammates can be revived via an extraction as they become stuck in an Aliens style hive.
Ubisoft’s flagship Rainbow Six Siege received a few updates, with the game launching on Stadia June 30, 2021. Crossplay and progression coming to Stadia and other systems also comes on the same day starting on PC, Amazon Luna and Stadia. The feature opens up for every other platform in Early 2022. An animated trailer showed off a brand new Thunderbird operator, using their nature-adept skills for tactical infiltration.
Rocksmith blends real life guitar lessons with a community driven game. Practitioners can take up a real guitar and sync their strums with on-screen chords. This opens up the chance to progress with experience, while the Rocksmith application tracks sound and pacing. Players can also connect with others for practicing or direct feedback. Rocksmith + offers a collection of real songs at launch, with players being able to learn the chords as artists played them. Its subscription also opens up an editing suite, which lets users create, alter or customize their own compositions. As an ester egg, players can even learn their way through some classic Ubisoft game soundtracks among the library of tracks. The progression lets rockers go at their own pace, with levels acting like lessons which ramp up with difficulty. Users can now sign up for the Rocksmith + beta, ahead of a live service launch sometime later in 2021.
Riders Republic returned with a new trailer, showcasing its massive races in a blend of extreme sports. Like a triathlon on steroid-laced energy drinks, racers will be competing in droves. But it’s not just the traditional triathlon which would be featured in the game. Players can take on a few minigames to rack up points, including a halfpipe for snowboarding and a custom playground with others. Players can also practice across canyons, alps and other wide areas in an open world mode. Tricks, wins and other points earned from experience can be funneled into new customization. It’s where players can access new clothing, bikes, snowboards, wingsuits and more ways to deck out their racers. The high-octane races will also let players bring out their jetpack fueled vehicles, starting September 2, 2021 when the full game launches. Players can now register for the Riders Republic beta ahead of time.
Just Dance 2022 was announced with the appearance of artist Todrick Hall, who would be headlining some of the game’s exclusive tracks. Players will work it through some of the latest tracks in 2021, with opportunities to bring some of their premium libraries over. According to Hall, some of his own tracks were altered to make dancers move. His exclusive track will also be part of a music video featuring players. Just Dance 2022 comes as an annual release for all major systems, including the Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox and PlayStation systems.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla players will be receiving even more story content across 2021 and beyond. The free updates will add additional raids, mastery challenges and quests. The second upcoming expansion will see players invading Paris, with black box infiltration missions making a comeback. Players will also receive new weapons they can use in a number of raids and against new enemy types. Ubisoft announced that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla unlocks Discovery Mode. This turns the game into an educational open world program, where players can control various NPCs, learn their lifestyles and study up on fun facts across England. It’s also a mode that was present in the past few Assassin’s Creed games, while players can expect an update in Fall 2021.
A new Far Cry 6 cinematic gave viewers a slice of Giancarlo Esposito’s character, as he meets protagonist Dani Rojas earlier than expected. Like other Far Cry villains since Vaas, Anton Castillo uses his power to control Yara. But the angrier Castillo also hopes to corrupt his young son Diego as the next dictator. At age 13, Diego sympathizes with Dani and the other rebels across the story. According to Ubisoft, Far Cry 6 will offer some post-launch content, which will actually let players become the franchise’s previous villains. Players dive into Vaas, Pagan Min and Joseph Seed. Each will be taking on enemies made from their dementia, while each story explores their motivations behind previous games. These levels would be included with Far Cry 6‘s seasons pass. Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon content was also teased, suggesting a new level or remaster was on the way.
Super Mario and the Rabbids return in a sequel of Kingdom Battle, which blended XCOM-style strategy to whimsical effect. In Mario & Rabbids Sparks of Hope, The Rabbids have gone intergalactic, with a new opposing force enslaving mystical stars. Mario, Luigi and the other Rabbids grab new weapons to fight the threat. This time around, the crew explores brand new world across their starship, opening up some new level design and themed bosses. It’s also the grounds for improved combat, which now lets players customize their arsenal with new abilities. Like Super Mario Galaxy, the new story will focus on Rosalina and the Lunas. Players can use different elements through the Lunas in combat. Environments can also be explored in a semi-linear open world, which shifts into a battle box. The project was teased with a 2022 release window.
Ubisoft Forward closed off with a first look of the new Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora sequel game, which used their next gen Snowdrop engine to render lush game jumbles and other mystical beings. Pandora glowed with its bioluminiscene, with sun rays bathing on massive ridable beasts. The Na’vi are back with armor to take on the heavily equipped RDA. Both will be fighting in another massive battle over the planet, with explosive ray tracing taking front and center behind Avatar‘s effects. Like the original game, players can use their environments to their advantage with a bit of added open world experience from Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry. It’s still unknown if the sequel will keep its third person shooting mechanics in favour of first person, which was shown from a Na’vi in the trailer. But interested players will have to wait until 2022 to learn more about Frontiers of Pandora.
Ubisoft Forward’s event was just the tip of its digital iceberg. Its preshow dropped new updates behind For Honor, which will feature a new testing ground on top of its Battle Pass System and new fighters. Its Mirage update was made available days ago, with a new hero teased for July 22, 2021. Watch Dogs Legion received a new trailer for the Bloodline DLC, which brings Aiden Pearce back into the playable fold. He can be used across the entire game as an operator, while Pearce himself becomes caught up with London’s underworld. After a lengthy torture, Pearce is assigned to recover an important hacking device, which also unleashes his skills and abilities across the streets of London. Watch Dogs Legion Bloodline is available in the Season’s pass starting on July 2021.
