STACK #129 Jul 2016

GAMES

FEATURE

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proposition. Even for folk not versed in the Warhammer universe, the sight of rampaging trolls, giants and orcs clashing in frenetic battles with dwarves and humans (there’s also a steam tank) whilst a griffin and a wyvern duel in an aerial dogfight high above the battlefield is a sight to behold. There’s still a long way to go from what we saw in the demo, but early signs look extremely positive.

We always enjoy a visit to the Ubisoft booth, except for the sonorous blast of noise that originates from the Just Dance stage situated in the centre of operations. If you time it right, you won’t need to hear Jason Derulo sing, “Want to Want Me” thirty times. Last year, the final game we played at E3 was Rainbow Six: Siege and it left a lasting impression on us, so it seemed fitting then that this year it was the first game we played with Ubisoft, who should be commended for having practically every game on their booth playable. Our mission was to infiltrate an embassy, seek out and terminate some explosives, and kill all the enemy AI terrorists in the process. Moving methodically from room to room, checking left and right, and finally finding an explosive device led to a defensive sequence where the players were tasked with holding off incoming waves of adversaries. Strategy is vital and can come in the form of providing a fire arc behind a player armed with a protective siege shield, or blowing a hole in the wall to initiate a crossfire position, catching and shooting terrorists dead before they can enter the fire zone. The first level was played on normal, and both bombs were successfully defused. The ‘hard’ difficulty level was set for our second attempt and all five players were dead before we had chance to secure the first explosive. Siege is an exciting game where every mission can be approached using varied strategies, and where your fellow team members are vital to your survival. Since its big reveal in 2013 at the Ubi press conference, the need to play The Division has been paramount for STACK , and our wish was granted in a three-player co-op mission where we began in a bleak, deserted Times Square. Our mission was to enter the quarantined Dark Zone, eliminate any opposition, retrieve some supplies, and head to an extraction area. With every gameplay clip shown up to this point, we’d marvelled at how well the Ubi dev team demonstrating The Division had communicated with each other, issuing tactical advice or highlighting waypoints. We

the controls here immediately felt leaps and bounds (pun intended) tighter than Unity . A further addition is the ability to apprehend a horse and carriage, and these are surprisingly responsive to use. The demo we played had a distinctive Gangs of New York feel to the combat sequences – using the revolver mid- scrap without having to stop and breech-load a weapon brought a greater fluency to melee. We always enjoy the Assassin’s Creed historical settings and mid-18th century London at the height of the British Empire is as good as any. Ghost Recon: Wildlands was the only game on the Ubi stand that we couldn’t play. This was understandable given it was only announced at the press conference, but if we had to hand out a best presentation at E3 award, the two Wildlands presenters would’ve won hands down. The four-player drop-in/drop-out co-op demo began in Bolivia, where the Ghosts are tasked with tacking down an informant known as Alvarez. This is the largest game ever undertaken by Ubisoft and purportedly has the best AI the publisher has ever created. Players have complete autonomy over how to take on and defeat the expansive Santa Blanca drug cartel controlling the country. As expected with Ghost Recon, strategy is paramount, when the four operatives descend on a village looking for intel on Alvarez. Our hosts explained

would've liked to report that the same level of communication existed between STACK and the other two players, but the moment the headsets were in place, the only words spoken between the three of us was the player to our left saying, “f-ck, I’m dead again”. Cover is important in The Division – a few hits from the enemy and it’s all over, so staying protected is essential. Players can move from cover to cover, targeting the opposition in a series of running firefights. When we finally reached the extraction zone, the two other co-op teams were also in the vicinity, so we did what any self-respecting gamer would do – kill each other. This was just a snapshot of the open-world RPG shooter, so expect more at Gamescom next month. “Awright, geezer, we’re edding to London” for the next Assassin's Creed. We're a fan of the Creed franchise so were eager to see where Ubisoft would take Syndicate after the maelstrom that accompanied the release of AC: Unity . Set in 1868 during the Industrial Revolution, the series has made a few new additions to the most modern setting in an Assassin’s Creed game yet. First up, you can either play as Jacob Frye or his sister Evie, fighting to take back London from the Auld Enemy, the Templars. New mechanics include a rope launcher enabling swift traversal of buildings, although you can still climb and

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