E3 2021 Recap and Highlights

Perhaps not the most exciting E3 ever, this year’s gaming conference nevertheless offered several enticing game reveals despite the blows suffered to development due to the pandemic.

Highlighted here are only some of what was revealed.  

Kicking off E3 this year was the incredible trailer for Elden Ring

Eldren Ring 

What perhaps kicked off E3 2021 and has generated the most hype is FromSoftware’s new game, Elden Ring, developed in collaboration with George R.R. Martin, the author behind the Game of Thrones book series.  

Very familiar to those who enjoy FromSoftware’s titles, Eldren Ring looks to be akin to their other games with punishing boss fights, a dark gritty world which has some surprises along the way.  

Eldren Ring releases on January 21st, 2022. 

Starfield 

Perhaps one of the most anticipated games of the future is Bethesda Game Studio’s first new IP in over 20 years – Starfield. At the Bethesda/Microsoft panel we finally saw a teaser trailer for this new game which surprisingly also showed the expected release date – November 11th, 2022.  

Whilst the teaser was nothing substantial, Todd Howard later went on to do interviews which shed a bit more light on the project. As is to be expected given their recent acquisition by Microsoft, Starfield will be an Xbox exclusive title.  

No doubt we shall see more of it in the coming months but for now Bethesda fans can rejoice over a new open world RPG from this studio.

Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2  

A surprise reveal, Nintendo made several splashes at their panel with Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 gameplay being shown. Showcasing several new abilities and what looks to be some character model changes, Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 looks to be quite different from its predecessor.  

Boasting a sky map of Hyrule, it appears that Nintendo has not held back in their ambition to go even bigger than the original Breath of the Wild.  

This game is expected to launch some time in 2022.  

Delayed due to poor graphical fidelity, Halo Infinite made a splash with their dedicated multiplayer livestream

Metroid: Dread  

Another Nintendo shock was the announcement of Metroid: Dread, the first 2D Metroid game in many years. With all new weapons and powers, this seems to be a return to form with some traditional Metroid gameplay which also has a slight twist.  

Fans do not need to wait much longer, as this drops on October 8th, 2021. 

Guardians of the Galaxy 

Rumoured to be in development for a while now, Square Enix announced their next Marvel project with Guardians of the Galaxy. Being developed by Eidos Montreal, Guardians is a single player third person adventure game, where we assume the role as Star Lord. Controlling our companions separately, this game will hopefully have learned many lessons from the struggles of Square Enix’s other Marvel game, Marvel’s Avengers, which continues to face its fair share of issues.  

Guardians releases later this year, on October 26th, 2021. 

Halo Infinite 

Halo Infinite was delayed just before the new console drop so it was not surprising to see its return at Microsoft’s E3 conference. With visuals looking better than before, the publisher shared several story campaign moments which looked promising. However, focus was primarily on its multiplayer gameplay. 

We already knew its multiplayer would be free to play, but they also revealed new details. Battle passes will exist as will seasonal events, but unlike its competitors battle passes will not expire, meaning you can purchase an old one and this will still be valid.  

Fans have been looking forward to this game for months and Halo Infinite is expected to drop in Holiday 2021.  

Obsidian surprised everyone with a reveal for a sequel to their open world RPG, The Outer Worlds

The Outer Worlds 2 

Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds was a large success for the company and in a surprise reveal, they dropped a teaser trailer with the announcement of The Outer Worlds 2. As is their usual fashion, the trailer was lighthearted and hilarious, but little else was revealed as this game is likely still very early on in development.  

The Outer Worlds showed quite a bit of promise so we shall see what else this studio has in store for us.  

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora 

Fans have known for a while that Ubisoft has been working on an Avatar game, inspired by the James Cameron movies, but nobody expected it to be showcased at E3. With a pretty long trailer, Ubisoft showcased its rendition of this world which was very familiar to those who saw the original film.  

No actual gameplay or release date has been revealed yet but fans should keep an eye on this game moving forward.  

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands  

Leaked and now announced, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a Borderlands spin off game, with emphasis on fantasy elements and player creation. Gearbox has promised that this game will serve as a good jumping on point for fans who never played the original Borderlands titles, as well as serve as a mix up of their traditional formula for old and returning fans of the series.  

Little else is known yet, but fans have much to hope for in the future.

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