There will be a lot of news, articles, reviews, and other things going up on the site throughout E3 2021 week. You should definitely check out everyone’s great work. However, as the newcomers at The Outerhaven, we decided to band together and give our thoughts on most of the E3 presentations that happen during this week. And if Day 1 could be summed up in a few words, the term “a mixed bag” is putting it lightly.
Since these articles are not coming out right after the showcases themselves we aren’t going to go through everything that was announced. This is more of a review of the day as a whole. So both Kyle Simcox and Sean Garmer will each have some short thoughts, their favorite game announcement, and a letter grade at the end.
Ubisoft Forward
Ubisoft’s show was your standard affair and decently entertaining. Thanks to the digital nature of this year’s E3 presentation, things were much more straightforward. Ubisoft would make an announcement, do their usual spiel and then possibly give us one final glimpse before moving on to the next announcement. In the past, Ubisoft tended to feel as if things were droning on as their presence at E3 often turned into some theater performance.
This year, however, was much better and everything felt like it was given its fair amount of time. Rainbow Six: Extraction looks like a fantastic co-op shooter that’ll scratch that itch made by Left 4 Dead and Rider’s Republic just looks like a blast for adrenaline junkies. It is unfortunate that Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope leaked because it has been a very quiet year and Ubisoft is notorious where leaks are concerned. Thankfully, Avatar was a very nice surprise as it seems to be fully embracing the new generation of consoles. – Kyle Simcox
Favorite Game: Rider’s Republic
Final Grade: B
I think we should remember that this is just another Forward event and not really tailored specifically for E3 itself like they would have been in years past. Looking at it through that lens, this is a very solid presentation that gave you information on games we mostly knew were coming outside of the big surprise, (which unfortunately was leaked before the event). However, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope still delivered on the hype and gave us another game in this Strategy genre mash-up. Finally seeing Avatar is a nice feather in the cap, Rainbow Six: Extraction looks like a fun co-op shooter too.
Quite frankly, Riders Republic probably had the best showing in terms of going from fairly maligned to something that could certainly develop a following. I also am now more intrigued by Rocksmith than ever before since it includes Acoustic Guitars as well. The best part may have been the revelation that the Far Cry 6 DLC will let you play as the villains of the previous three Far Cry titles. The villains are usually a major highlight of the Far Cry games and that’s a really cool addition as DLC.
Overall though, Ubisoft kept the show going at a good pace, didn’t stay on anything too long, and gave fans of their recently released and older service titles something to look forward to as well. – Sean Garmer
Favorite Game Shown: Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope
Final Grade: B.
Devolver Digital
“What the hell is this,” should be a tagline that Devolver Digital uses for its conferences from now on. Unlike some other conferences, Devolver actually manages to turn E3 into a performance that is entertaining, if not a little weird. This years’ digital format really helped them go full throttle into the absurdity they’ve been bringing to the show the last few years and taking shots at the industry and its reliance on monetization. Also, props to Hazel for being able to stand there and keep a straight face while they blasted her with streamers. I just wish Nina would have gotten that win….. Oh, and they also showed some video games. Trek to Yomi and Phantom Abyss were some of my favorites and I can’t wait for other players to see how much I died in the dungeon. – Kyle Simcox
Favorite Game Shown: Trek to Yomi
Final Grade: A+
Devolver Digital probably had their best E3 conference ever here. They went from being super weird and gory to taking an actual gaming controversy and making a meme out of it for 30 minutes and then quadruple downed on that with their game reveals, merchandise, website, and sales all being under the Devolver Max Pass + banner. As far as games go, they showed off some interesting stuff. Devolver always manages to have a wonderfully eclectic mix of titles in their repertoire Wizard With Gun has a fantastic art style and stands to be a fun multiplayer title. Trek to Yomi certainly carries with it some intrigue and is Devolver’s first current-gen only title. The Demon Throttle gameplay was a fun blast from the past, and Death’s Door continues to be their shining beacon. Every time I see that game I just want it to come out in that instant. The trailer shown here left me feeling the same way.
Overall, Devolver certainly delivered on the laughs, but they also showed off the games as well. They also somehow tied all of their previous showcases into this one. Bravo! – Sean Garmer
Favorite Game Shown: Death’s Door
Final Grade: A +
Gearbox
I don’t really know what to say about Gearbox other than the fact that I don’t understand why they had this show in the first place. Their only interesting announcement was Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, but the Summer Games Fest received all the glory for that one. Randy Pitchford was on location for the Borderlands movie but viewers did not even get a glimpse of that, other than some words from Eli Roth, Avi Arad, and Kevin Hart. No trailers were shown for the movie and no gameplay was revealed for Wonderlands. Not counting Borderlands news, the only other announcement I felt was worthy of noting was that Godfall is getting Co-Op matchmaking. There was actually quite a lot about Godfall’s future content updates and they announced a PS4 version was coming out on August 10th. Purchasing the PS4 version also nets you a free upgrade for the PS5 version as well, so, at least one game got some real attention at their show.
Other than that, Gearbox absolutely dropped the ball. There wasn’t anything worth checking out and Randy being on location for the Borderlands really just felt like a troll since we learned literally nothing. – Kyle Simcox
Favorite game: Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
Final Grade: F
The only saving grace for this thing is that it was 30 minutes. At least someone had the wherewithal to make it short because what was shown off here runs the gambit from confusing to middling to why are we seeing the same trailer again? Tiny Tina’s Wonderland could certainly be the start of another franchise for Gearbox. I’m actually intrigued due to the fantasy setting and the voice cast. However, we literally received no new information. Homeworld 3 was weirdly used as an interstitial and Tribes of Midgard and Godfall coming to PS4 could have easily been just solo announcements on Twitter. Kevin Hart was perhaps the only redeeming portion of the entire presentation. Randy Pitchford at the movie set would have made sense if there was an actual trailer or new information given out about the Borderlands film. However, there wasn’t much on that front either, which makes me wonder why this event even happened at all. Overall, unless you absolutely love Gearbox’s failed attempts at humor I would just steer clear of this entirely. – Sean Garmer
Favorite Game Shown: Tiny Tina’s Wonderland
Final Grade: F
Be sure to join us tomorrow for our thoughts on Day 2 of E3 2021. Until then, check out all of the E3 related articles on the site and keep it locked here for more information as the days pass on as well.