E3 Recap: Xbox brings the games and 4K power

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You might have already heard the big news - Project Scorpio is now Xbox One X - but what else went on at the Xbox E3 press conference? Here's a (reasonably) quick recap of the best bits from the show.

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by James Michael Parry

​@james_parry

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All about the pixels

​After the reveal of a console which had already been announced and the dev kits already looked at and poured over before the event (as we noted in our E3 predictions piece), the buzzword for Microsoft's conference was undoubtedly 4K.

The performance of Xbox One X was described as "rock solid 60fps" in Forza Motorsport 7, while even the introduction video showed us ever expanding screen sizes through the years.

The easiest way to think about it, is that if you've got a 4K screen showing something, there's four times as much information as a normal 1080p display, so if it looked shiny before then it'll look even shinier, even without the enhancements the Xbox One X is promising. Of course you'll need a 4K TV to make the very most of all those teraflops.

The biggest Xbox games lineup in E3 history

​While Xbox tend to put on a pretty good show, in previous years they've been criticised by not having the games lineup - particularly exclusives - to back up solid hardware and, in the case of Xbox LIVE, services.

This year Head of Xbox Phil Spencer (that chap up the top) took to the stage to let us know there'd be 42 games on show, with 22 of them exclusive or console launch exclusive to Xbox (that's timed exclusive in English).

One of the first to make a strong impression was Metro: Exodus (above) the sequel to the fan-favourites Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light titles and was Inspired by the novels Metro 2033 and Metro 2035 by Dmitry Glukovsky. The game sees you leave the hazardous surroundings of Moscow to explore Russia's less populated areas.

​The game's setting is one of its most prominent characters once again, as returning protagonist Artyom explores the semi-frozen wasteland and a small village in the E3 reveal trailer, taking on an open-world for the first time. There's Fallout vibes here, and with crossbow in hand the survival element is quickly brought to the service as Artyom is attacked by giant mutant rats, and a bear.

The game will not be an exclusive, though it will benefit from Xbox One X enhancements, and will be out in 2018.

Ashen leads the pack in intriguing left-field titles

Of the many games on show, there was a real mixture in terms of originality, production value and intrigue. Ashen  was one title which stood out thanks to its fairly minimalist art style. The world is dark since the sun is blocked out by the titular ash, and you play a wanderer in search of a place to call home.

The only natural light comes from eruptions that cover the land in ash, and you must work with others to survive. "This is a world where nothing lasts, no matter how tightly you cling to it," mourns the synopsis, and gameplay shows the tomb-like caves you explore have floors which can crumble beneath your feat, in true Indiana Jones fashion.

Also in the eyebrow-raising category there's The Last Night, already being compared to Blade runner for its sci-fi noir aesthetic, which sees pixelated characters explore a 2D cyberpunk open-world, built with four unique districts each with distinct architecture, cultures and industries.

You'll explore the world fairly incognito as you use the various forms of transport and some platforming to move about. You'll meet a diverse, inclusive cast of complex characters to interact with through meaningful, branching dialogue, according to Microsoft, and enjoy varied gameplay such as driving down epic highways, flying drones and hacking droids to do your dirty work.

Celebrity cameo detected

Terry Crews gets sweary and shouty in the motivational trailer for Crackdown 3, which will release alongside the Xbox One X on 7 November.

It's starting to look more like an actual game now, rather than a destruction-mad trailer, but without extended gameplay it's difficult to make much of a judgement. What we do know is that the campaign will offer four player co-op this time around, and an "all-new" multiplayer mode.

As some of us have had this on pre-order since 2015, hopefully Microsoft can deliver on its promise to bring destruction like we've never seen before, still powered by the Microsoft Cloud.

A cult of personality

A big title on the anticipation-o-meter was Shadow of War, and the game was fully showed off as part of the Xbox conference, including the new Nemesis system, which now allows you to take control of enemies using the one ring (as you can see) and add them to your army.

It's another third-person, open-world action RPG, but we aren't complaining, as the gameplay takes everything we enjoyed about its predecessor Shadow of Mordor, and improves on it. There's Nemesis fortresses this time, at which you'll find plenty of enemies who may be persuaded to join your cause.

After a delay, the game will drop on 10 October, giving you the chance to make your mark in Middle Earth and experience a world where "where the environments and characters are all shaped by player actions and decisions."

Exclusive zombies

After the Left 4 Dead series arguably perfected the zombie genre years ago (Disagree? Fight me in the comments!), the games industry keeps returning to the well with State of Decay 2 (below) and Days Gone on PS4 both making big impressions at this year's E3.

For SOD2, things are looking very gory, and the setting has gone open-world - something of a theme for E3 overall (particularly for PlayStation) - as you struggle to rebuild a community in an area abandoned by the military, 18 months after the zombie apocalypse.

The game has more of an emphasis on co-op this time around, as you try to scrape together what you need to survive. Gameplay is looking solid and straightforward, and the delay to a 2018 release should give plenty of time to pack in plenty of content.

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What was your highlight from the Xbox event? Will you be picking up an Xbox One X? Let us know in the comments.