Wednesday, for those of you not regularly on the Internet/alive, was Back to the Future Day. In the second film, Marty goes to the far flung future of October 21, 2015, and things are pretty whackadoo. There are hoverboards, self-lacing shoes, and an ostensibly unopenable Pepsi bottle.
Somehow, most of that came true, and people got pretty excited about it. I love—love—those movies, but everyone’s excitement for it kind of ruined them a bit. It’s like when your parents start quoting memes to you. The love just kind of…evaporates.
I’m still not sure why folks got amped for it all. Maybe it’s the same reason the Internet turns into a buzzing mass every April Fools’ Day. Or I guess up until October 20, 2015, people were still expecting the movie to be clairvoyant in some capacity? Let’s stop thinking about it and watch some trailers.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate — London Calling
The song is a bit on the nose, but this remix kind of makes it work. Ever since the first game, Assassin’s Creed as a franchise has always had cool-feeling trailers. They alone made you want to be an Assassin. And it’s kind of a bonus that (apparently) Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is good. Like, not just not broken but also quite fun. (It’s about time, Ubisoft!) It’s out today for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Hitman — Join the Community
I appreciate the effort, but it’s not great to put people on camera that aren’t used to articulating critical thoughts into words. Sure, there’s an air of authenticity to it, but it’s also a bit painful to watch. In fact, the only reason I have this in the recap is because all of the actual game footage is stupidly gorgeous. To get truly excited, you’d be better off watching the 15-minute playthrough from last month with IO Interactive’s community manager. Hitman comes out for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on March 11, 2016.
Fallout 4 — Luck
Capping off the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. video series, Bethesda Game Studios describes to you how luck can help you survive the wasteland. I like the Fallout games and I’m looking forward to Fallout 4, but these old-timey video presentations have a tendency to go long. They’re kind of worth watching just because it’s funny how gruesome they can get. Fallout 4 comes out for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on November 10, 2015.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege — Fall 2015 Gameplay
While the premise for the game isn’t anything new (flashback to Counter-Strike), the execution is what’s important. And after putting some time into the beta a couple weeks ago, I can say I’m confident in still being somewhat excited for Rainbow Six Siege to come out. Blowing out walls and blasting away the enemy never stops being cool as fuck. Anyways, Rainbow Six Siege releases on December 1, 2015, for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Rise of the Tomb Raider — Woman vs. Wild
“Choice is extremely important.” That’s what I took away from this trailer, which is otherwise four and a half minutes of reminding you that it’s basically Tomb Raider all over again. (I’m not complaining! I just think it’s worth noting how very apparent that fact is.) It’ll be neat to see actual story consequences unfold from gameplay choices you make. Or maybe I’m too hopeful. I guess we’ll find out when it comes out on November 10, 2015, for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
Halo 5 — Advanced Tactics
The most interesting thing about this multiplayer-centric video (343 Industries is really making a push for eSports coverage) is that it’s also the best trailer so far at getting across why Halo 5 single-player is so good. The preview time I’ve spent with it is really encouraging precisely because of all these mobility enhancements. It takes that strangely fast yet slow pace of Halo combat and adds swift moments of cool to it. Also the Magnum is back to being kick-ass. Halo 5 comes out for the Xbox One on October 27, 2015.
Life is Strange — Finale Launch Trailer
Wow. Now that is a great trailer. Even if you know nothing about the series (which has been ongoing since January of this year across four previous episodes), this might get you intrigued. The music is great and is reveals just enough to tease you but it doesn’t give everything away, as many trailers nowadays are want to do.
Its entire premise also might be a commentary on choice in games, and it does so with a fantastic story. Episode five of Life is Strange is already out for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC, so you really have no reason not to give it a whirl.
Tales from the Borderlands — Finale
Another five-part episodic adventure game comes to a close and another great trailer, but then again Telltale Games has always told pretty good stories and made pretty good trailers. I like, though, how dire this particular episode seems to have gone. (I’ll have more to say once I finish it.) There are some tantalizing dramatic implications in where these characters undoubtedly end up. All five episodes are out now for basically every device you own that has a screen.
The first episode, in fact, is free on Android, iOS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. You can read what I thought about it as I watched a theatre full of fans played it collectively by yelling at someone with a controller.
