“Gears of War 4”, “Forza Horizon 3” and a new console are the highlights of Microsoft E3 conference

Next up in our E3 run down is Microsoft’s conference which was solid enough if lacking any show stopping moments. The games all looked big and fun leaning on the side of lighthearted with some very interesting indie titles thrown in. If you own an Xbox or a Windows 10 PC, here are T.A.P’s highlights from the show:

Gears of War 4

Release Date – 11th October 2016

Microsoft started in a big way showing off arguably their most anticipated exclusive in the new Gears game. What’s obvious is that The Coalition have created something that’s absolutely stunning (apparently it’ll be very very windy in the future) and the little campaign teaser we got certainly gives the impression that the story will be intriguing to boot.

Forza Horizon 3

Release Date – 27th September 2016

Xbox’s marquee racing title is also making a comeback with ‘Forza Horizon 3’. The australian based racer promises crossplay over Xbox and Windows 10 PCs and boasts the biggest locker of cars in a Forza game yet. Looks like it’s your move ‘Gran Turismo’, you’ll have to be pretty special to overtake this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTSUgXkfooA

Final Fantasy XV

Release Date – 30th September 2016

We were expecting this at the Sony conference but regardless we got yet another look at the hugely anticipated role playing game coming out later this year. Yes it looks impressive but the trouble we’ve had with ‘Final Fantasy XV’ is that whenever anyone actually gets on a controller to play the game, it tends to look stilted and unintuitive to control; bascially unappealing. Here’s hoping it’s just hard to translate over video because like many other ‘Final Fantasy’ fans from yester-year, we’re hoping this is a return to form for the classic series.

Inside

Release Date – 29th June 2016

From the creators of ‘Limbo’ is all you need to know in regards to this game and whether you should be interested in buying it. ‘Limbo’ was one of the truly stand out indie titles in recent years and it’s ability to create a tense, overbearing atmosphere is reflected in the trailer for new game ‘Inside’.

We Happy Few

Release Date (Xbox Game Preview) – 26th July 2016

Easily the most interesting game from Microsoft’s 2016 conference, ‘We Happy Few’ is a drug-addled nightmare that combines aspects of Orwell’s ‘1984’, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and ‘Bioshock’. The trailer has more than piqued our interest and as ever, it’s great to see giant publishers like Microsoft bringing such interesting titles to everyone’s attention.

Gwent

Release Date (Closed Beta) September 2016

Fans have been clamouring for it and sure enough the most fan friendly developer in the world has delivered: ‘The Witcher 3s’ playable card game ‘Gwent’ is getting a standalone release with what looks like a completely overhauled system. Can this be a ‘Hearthstone’ challenger? Only time will tell.

Dead Rising 4

Release Date – Holiday 2016

In a very christmas themed video, Xbox showcased their zombie slaying brawler ‘Dead Rising 4’. For some reason Xbox seems to have cornered the market on lighthearted, fun zombie games and ‘Dead Rising 4’ looks to uphold that proud legacy. Check out the trailer below and imagine just what contraptions you’ll be knocking together to slay a horde or two of zombies.

Scalebound

Release Date – 2017

The Xbox (and windows 10) exclusive dragon based adventure game Scalebound was indeed delayed till 2017, but the latest gameplay trailer suggests it’s something worth waiting for. Let’s be honest, we haven’t had a decent dragon riding game since ‘Panzer Dragoon’ back on the Saturn so we can wait a few more months for something as good looking at this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-ZVMU_KA-M

Sea of Thieves

Release Date – 2016

I’ll be honest, this demo had me giggling all the way through and it’s good to see such a storied developer as Rare getting something meaty to work on instead of Kinect games. This light hearted pirate romp seems to have multiplayer at it’s core and it looks like something you’ll be wanting to convince your mates to get an X1 for.

Halo Wars 2

Release Date – 21st February 2017

Well it woudn’t be Xbox without thier key franchise and this year we get another edition of the ‘Halo Wars’ series to quench that Masterchief thirst. The tactical RTS game was given an utterly stunning cinematic trailer so here’s hoping the gameplay can live up to thrilling world the trailer has promised.

New Consoles announced

To cap all these new games off, Microsoft announced the advent of two new consoles into the Xbox One family. Firstly there’ll be the Xbox One S a (much!) smaller version of the X1 which will retail at the bargain price of $299 and will be available from August.

On top of this Microsoft has officially confirmed the rumours and announed ‘Project Scorpio’ an attempt to bring a new higher spec Xbox One to market by Holiday 2017. The Scorpio promises to be the most powerful console ever built and will certainly have Sony bosses taking note if it’s going to compete with the rumoured Playstation Neo.

That’s it for the Xbox Press Conference. If you had any faves you think we missed out – let us know in the comments below.