As E3 packs up for another year and the gaming industry begins to process all they soaked in over the past week, now is a good time to roll up some of the best and worst trailers from E3 2015. As far as game trailers are concerned, it was definitely one of the better E3’s. From Bethesda’s over the top gore-fest Doom trailer to Square Enix’ incredible Hitman trailer, many publishers and developers delivered the goods. Not to mention they spared no expense as the production value was through the roof. In an era where we have played and seen it all, publishers have to pull out all the stops in order to create a buzz and many did just that. On the flip side, some publishers outright shat the bed. Despite the massive list of amazing trailers this past E3, there were more than a few that left me scratching my head and in the end may have caused those publishers more harm than good.
Keep in mind this is by no means a definitive list. Anybody can come up with a list of the best trailers from the past week. As I found out, the real challenge comes in attempting to narrow the list down to three gems and three bottom of the barrel stinkers. I’m not going to lie, I agonized over this list and certainly opened myself up to some backlash. But this just makes the comments section fun, right?
Without further delay here are three trailers that had myself along with us COG staffers buzzing and three more trailers that missed the mark. Enjoy!
Three E3 2015 Gems
- Dishonored 2 (Multi-Platform)
In what was an apparent accidental leak the night before Bethesda’s first ever E3 press conference, the publisher took the wraps off Dishonored 2 by delivering a stunning trailer. It wasn’t just stunning, it was mind blowing. The original Dishonored game was a phenomenal IP, so Bethesda had to pull out all the stops in order to make all those fans from the original game satisfied. Well this time not only can you play as Corvo but Dishonored 2 will allow you to play as Emily Kaldwin, the princess from the original game. Dishonored 2 is set 15 years after The Dunwall Plague where Emily has become an Assassin attempting to discover the corruption behind The Dunwall Plague. The trailer gives us an excellent jaw dropping glimpse and for obvious reasons it makes our list of the top trailers of E3 2015.
- Ghost Recon: Wildlands (Multi-Platform)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands is easily one of the best kept secrets of E3 2015 and absolutely stunned the crowd when the trailer was first dropped at the Ubisoft press conference on Monday. Going back to its original roots, Ghost Recon: Wildlands is not set in some futuristic modern warfare but instead is set in modern days and the trailer has us chomping at the bit for its eventual release. The open world setting looks to be massive and will unquestionably be a must own for fans who have been loyal to the franchise over the years. The song featured in the trailer (Friction by Imagine Dragons) was nice touch as well and only enhances an already superb Ubisoft trailer.
- Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4)
Naming that final jaw dropping trailer on our list was a difficult task as I really wanted to include Hitman and Unchartered 4 but instead I went with a new IP. Not just any new IP but one that absolutely slapped us in the face and screamed “take my money”. Directly from the team that brought you the Killzone games is Horizon: Zero Dawn. Aside from the fact the trailer is gorgeous, there is something that feels so incredibly fresh about this one. Advertised as an action role-playing game you take control of Aloy, a female hunter and archer. Set in an amazing post-apocalyptic land ruled by mechanized creatures Horizon: Zero Dawn has all the makings of a winner and one that needs to be on your radar. 2016 cannot come soon enough!
Three E3 2015 Let Downs
- Metroid Prime Federation Force (3DS)
Is Nintendo further sinking into the land of irrelevance when it comes to their presence at E3? It wasn’t that long ago Nintendo was considered to be a part of the “Big Three” at E3. Now they have reduced themselves to a crummy digital event presentation and they didn’t do themselves any justice when they showed us the new Metroid Prime Federation Force trailer for the 3DS. Fans have been clamoring for a new Metroid game forever. So when Nintendo dropped the less than stellar 57 second trailer, fans were outraged and rightfully so, it sucked. The trailer stunk so bad fans are putting together a petition to have it cancelled. Yikes, now that is a stinker!
- Dreams (PS4)
Maybe I hit a lull during Sony’s E3 press conference or maybe it was a bad case of sensory overload by the time I hit that point in the show. Whatever the case may be this trailer left more questions than answers. What was I watching? A Coca-Cola commercial? Well at least I know what to watch the next time I am struggling to fall asleep. I understand this is a teaser trailer and we can’t expect much in the way of gameplay at this point. Yet I would like to know a little about this game which I gather is about making dreams come to life. It certainly has all the potential to be pretty, unique and creative. Yet this trailer did little to generate any kind of excitement for this IP from Media Molecule. Maybe I’ll dare to dream…..
- ReCore (Xbox One)
I could have easily gone with World of Final Fantasy which was downright awful or I could have gone with the new NBA Live game but there is no sense piling on a franchise that has taken such a beating over the past couple of years. Instead, I am going with a trailer that left me disappointed, but maybe has a few people on Twitter excited. My issue with this trailer is that it doesn’t target the Xbox One’s core audience and they showed no actual gameplay, which always has me suspicious. Xbox has a pretty good track record when it comes to exclusives but aside from some pretty visuals the ReCore reveal trailer did little to convince me to run out and pre-order this one. And judging by everyone’s lack of reaction to this game, I don’t think I’m the only one who is taking an early pass. Hopefully I’m wrong.