E3 has come and gone. And I got to say...it was a pretty great year. The emphasis was almost exclusively on the games (though very few PC or 3DS games as friends have noted), which was great after last year when it was all about the new consoles. The conferences on the whole were really fun too, except for EA of course (either have finished games to show off or don't show them at all!).
So for this post, I will list my picks for the twenty best trailers and five best demos I saw at this E3. To distinguish, I define demos by substantial time given to the gameplay that highlights someone actually playing it. A trailer can include gameplay clips, but if it is edited to be more a trailer in presentation. Other than that, a trailer is pretty easy to define, whether it is a gameplay footage, live action, pre-rendered cinematics or whatever the case.
So with that, let's watch some trailers:
Top 20 Trailers
20. The Last of Us Remastered
This one, along with the next trailer, is at the bottom for technically cheating. It seems a bit underhanded to pimp out remastered versions like this at a big convention like E3. It’s still a solid trailer if you can handle the fact that they spoil huge moments from the game (which they specify in the trailer for some weird reason(…then SPOILER ALERT.
19. Grand Theft Auto V (Remastered)
Hey look, another Rockstar trailer. These guys are among the best trailer editors in the business and even a remastered version of their recent hit gets a special trailer. Great song choice, imagery and overall flow to highlight what will make this version great.
18. Destiny
Ok…so after getting my hands on the alpha for Destiny (thank
you Ethan), I’m a little more positive in Destiny’s capabilities to be fun. I
haven’t quite been blown away yet though and the trailers aren’t doing much to
improve it. Not to say they are bad trailers, but they are just solid if unremarkable
previews of the gameplay.
On the flipside, it is great news to learn that everyone’s
favorite Lannister Peter Dinklage will be your guide through the entire game! I
had just assumed he would be a bit part like most celebrity roles in these
kinds of games, but was I proven wrong. He was the highlight of the trailer and
made it more memorable in my eyes.
17. Halo: The Master Chief Collection
The Halo 5 trailer last year was my best in show pick just
for how epic, beautiful, and well crafted it was. This one…less so.
Not that it isn’t pretty to look at, nor that it isn’t a
happy surprise that Keith David is reprising his Arbiter role. It’s just that
seeing a remastered version of the Halo 2 cutscene where Master Chief destroys
the Covenant cruiser is good, but nothing spectacular. It’s more a promo than a
proper trailer, but it does get you super excited for this incredible deal!
16. The Crew
It’s a trailer that excels almost exclusively in its
simplicity. All we do is watch a fast motion clip of cars driving, but
something about this image blended with the soft music is disarmingly soothing.
It really gives the feeling of being on a road trip/race with your friends,
which I assume is the developer’s exact intention.
15. Magika 2
It is easily one of the funniest trailers to come out of the
convention. It manages to keep the cheeky vibe of the Magika series while
promoting the values of the upcoming game flawlessly. Plus, you got to feel
sorry for the poor kitty!
14. No Man Sky
This is only not a demo because it wasn’t really played when
it debuted at its press conference and because of how the music combined with
the compressed footage. There, that’s my reason.
This is certainly one of the strangest titles to come out of
E3, but not for bad reasons. Other than almost making me go blind by its bold
color choices, it also highlights incredible ambition with the gameplay on
display. I may not be in love with it like everyone else, but I am intrigued.
13. Ori and the Blind Forest
It’s not a radically terrific trailer, but it has the visual
style and playful tone that makes me eager to see how this game turns out. For
some reason, I got a very distinct Miyazaki vibe.
12. Inside
Limbo is a terrific little indie game; so hearing that its
developers have a new game coming immediately draws my attention. And sure
enough, this moody, artful and suspenseful trailer has got me so eager to check
it out.
11. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
This game continues to look like a heck of a lot of fun.
While the trailer didn’t exactly do anything wow worthy, it is a solidly put
together glimpse into the story and play style of this acclaimed action series.
Plus, it looks freaking pretty in motion and there’s still another year of
polish to go!
10. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Metal Gear trailers should wow us in the very least. Whether
it’s the story, the characters, the set pieces or just the visuals alone, we
should walk out of a trailer feeling like we saw something we never have
before. And while this one does have some gorgeous visuals and the frightening
image of Big Boss rubbing someone’s ashes on his face (the heck?), it was a
great trailer but it lacked those memorable moments.
The biggest issue, in my opinion, has been the whole jukebox
style of trailers Kojima has done for this game. Most of the trailers have been
highly stylized, visually impressive displays of gameplay set to whatever song
Kojima has on his iPod. It ends up being a pretty music video rather than a
trailer that sells us on gameplay and story, which there’s surprisingly little
of in this trailer. Where last year’s highlighted a lot of ambitious story bits
and gameplay concepts, this one is just a reminder that it looks pretty.
That said, that pretty factor is still as impressive as it
ever has been. The facial animations, the camerawork, the lighting effects and
everything else is jaw-dropping. Metal Gear games pride themselves in pushing a
console’s hardware to the limits and this game will do just that. All that the
game has to do now is sell us on the story and maybe I’ll have a bit more
enthusiasm.
9. Rise of the Tomb Raider
This reboot’s first entry was a fantastic game that is
finally getting the love it should have gotten from the get-go. With all the
talk about how it “underperformed” in sales, I feared we would never get a
sequel to see where the story goes from here. Happily, I stand corrected.
It’s a very well produced cinematic, but it scores points
mostly from the emotional content. We see Lara talking to a shrink about the
stuff that happened in the first game, which is good because her shift into
psycho killer mode was a bit surreal in terms of story. However, it is clear
that this Lara is evolving into the version we remember from the early games
minus the sex appeal. Just listening to her final lines makes me excited to see
what directions this story goes.
8. The Division
This is another of those games I’m not entirely sold on, but
the trailer is definitely a labor of love. The time-lapse mechanic is used with
some refreshing twists to show the emotional trauma of whatever it is that
caused this apocalypse. And while it never showcased any one character, it did
give a good feel of the cooperative element the game is banking on.
It looks as gorgeous as any pre-rendered trailer should too.
Every little effect is rendered superbly here, whether it’s snow, fire, or the
gruesome looking blood. It also shows how far we’ve progressed in facial
animations in even smaller games, though there’s one trailer later on that will
top anything else on the list.
So yeah, still not sure about the game, but I’m glad this
trailer was as good as it was.
7. Abzu
If there were a video game trailer equivalent for soothing
elevator music, this would be it. The moment the music picks up and the
stunningly artistic visuals are put on display, I felt a sense of calm wash
right over me. You really feel like you’re pulled into this underwater world
full of colorful images. I still have no clue what it’s “about” (if it’s about
anything), but it was one of the standouts in the artsy trailer crowd.
6. Valiant Hearts
Of all the “sad and poetic” trailers that came out this
year, this one was the most effective. Oddly, it’s the cartoon design that made
it more emotional. Where most trailers get their pathos from the de-saturated
look, this one uses an expressive and “cute” palette to contrast the horrors of
WWI as they really are. It doesn’t hurt that the animation is just gorgeous,
almost like Castle Crashers without the exaggerated comedy designs.
And while the game doesn’t really make the actual gameplay
clear (is it an adventure game or what?), it sells itself on emotion and story.
There’s a definite War Horse vibe in following this service dog as he’s passed
from soldier to soldier, recounting their stories and letters of their
experiences. Or at least I’m assuming that’s the gist of what’s going on.
Either way, it sounds like a compelling presentation of an era we don’t see
enough of in gaming.
5. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Talk about gorgeous trailers. I almost couldn’t hear the
dialogue being spoken because I was in such awe over how breathtaking the
visuals were. Naughty Dog has been a frontrunner in this department for a
decade and this is just...I don’t know how they do it. These were some of the
most realistic and expressive facial animations I have ever seen…and I played
The Last of Us.
The only thing that knocks this trailer slightly is that
it’s too short. It’s just a teaser, but I still don’t really have a feel on
what kind of game this will be just yet. The one thing I want most is for this
to feel different than the last game, which I feel slightly suffered from a
“been there already in Uncharted 2” problem. The title “A Thief’s End” is
certainly ominous though, so we shall see what happens.
4. Dead Island 2
Simple in its concept and elegant in execution, this is one
of those fun trailers that keeps you entertained even when you remember that
it’s just another zombie game. Unlike the excellent but misleading trailer for
the first game, this one exactly sells the tone for what to expect. It just
feels like fun as we watch this neighborhood and our central character slowly
transform into a zombie nightmare. So yeah, it didn’t really wow me, but it is
just fun to watch.
3. Assassin's Creed Unity
It’s definitely an Assassin’s Creed trailer with everything
we expect them to have (pretty pre-rendered visuals, an anachronistic song
choice, lots of stabbing, at least one jumping moment). However, where last
year’s trailer failed to gel these elements together into a memorable trailer,
this one stood out for creating a haunting, mesmerizing look at the French
Revolution.
The biggest praise for this has to go to Lorde’s cover of
“Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” While it is a bit counter intuitive to the
motive of the assassins, it somehow fits the bleak vibe the story of the
trailer is going for. The minimalist music and chant-like pacing feel scary
when mixed with this scene of a civilian uprising against what I assume is the
Bastille or something similar. The trailer is also edited fantastically to hit
all the right beats of the song to emphasize narrative points. Aesthetically,
the song was an inspired choice.
However, the trailer is also effective in selling the co-op
experience this new game is aiming for. I’m not sure how well it will play out,
but it really gave the feeling of a united experience to tackle an objective.
It also continued to sell the idea of these assassins being the greatest
fighters ever, even if the actual gameplay isn’t always as hectic.
2. Bloodborne
While I am not a huge Dark Souls fan (not because they’re
bad but because it tests the patience of a usual patient man like me), this
trailer had my full attention when it debuted. Something I’ve always admired
about the games of Hidetaka Miyazaki (the Demon/Dark Souls mastermind) is the
gothic art design he infuses into them. This was probably the freshest and best
work I’ve seen so far, with a Victorian nightmare aesthetic that looks like the
nightmarish alleys behind Sweeney Todd’s barbershop. And when you see the
creature design…*shudder* chillingly effective.
Once we see the main character come into play, however,
things continue to pick up. The sight of hacking monsters with that giant
shaving razor (tell me you didn’t think that when you saw it) and the
blunderbuss shotgun shows off some much potential for fun. If it’s maybe
slightly more forgiving than Dark Souls in telling you where to go, I may have
to actually try it out.
1. Far Cry 4
It started the Ubisoft convention with a bang and I’m still
thinking about it since then. One of the many great things about this trailer
is how much it gets you into the story. In the five minutes we watch, we
understand where we are, who we are, who the villain is and how brutal things
will become. All trailers should get you to care about what’s happening and
this one sells its premise in spades.
All of this is aided by a spectacular performance from Troy
Baker as the new big bad Pagan Min, an obvious but welcome stand-in for Vaas
from Far Cry 3. Unlike that psychotic pirate though, Pagan seems to be a
different kind of evil that feels more powerful. He’s not just some ruthless
hobo with a shotgun. He’s the leader of this whole area. You can feel it in the
way he acts, the way the soldiers respond to him and his…fabulous attire. Also,
it takes a bold criminal to take a selfie of the two of you while completely
covered in blood from a fresh murder.
And, needless to say, the trailer was so gorgeous. Not THE
most impressive visual display of the year (that’s between Batman and
Uncharted), but it shows a lot of promise for what is to come. Fluid
animations, dynamic lighting, a solid frame rate and expressive character
design really go a long way in any game.
So all of this combined, plus a nice end song choice, made
this the trailer that most impressed me this year.
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