E3 Trailers That Require A Second Look

As all the info comes in from E3, it becomes clear: we either expected the trailer and there is nothing to show or we didn’t expect a thing and they want to hit us right where it hurts.

I don’t have much of a desire towards first person shooter games, but a trailer like Tom Clancy’s The Division really makes me consider my gaming choices. Perhaps the guys that direct trailers like these should be tapped for full-length movies instead. While gameplay trailers are available for several of these games, the trailer that really gets you is the cinematic.

The Division

The Division opens with a normal New York city, slowly devolving through the eyes of an apartment, without actually seeing the characters. The incredible “stop-motion” of the trailer tells more in a few minutes than some movies can tell in hours. At the end of it, we are reminded that shooting the bad guys is still a primary focus here, but the trailer was cool.

No Man’s Sky

Another stand out has to be No Man’s Sky. I still couldn’t tell you what the game is really about, but everything about the trailer exudes a world with excellent technology. Your visor can identify most plant and animal life in seconds. The transfer from land to space is nearly seamless. The space combat is the least impressive thing about this trailer as the battle goes back into an atmosphere and shows incredible detail on the rocks and plants flying by.

The game sounds like it will be just as much about the exploration as the combat. If the trailer has proven anything, the exploration will be wonderful.

Valiant Hearts

Valiant Hearts doesn’t have a trailer about realistic graphics or a cool interface that so many games push for these days. Instead, it is an experience with an unexpected art style and a sad story told by narrator and a dog. And let me tell you, that poor dog jerks your heart-strings by the end. A trailer like this tells me that the writers behind this project have a solid idea how to put a story together. This kind of trailer promises a much deeper gaming experience than your next shoot ’em up game. 

Assassin’s Creed: Unity

Assassin’s Creed has always given us an excellent trailer. One of the best parts is learning what time period the Assassins universe wants to portray this time: Unity‘s story will be set during the French Revolution. The trailer exemplifies the revolution by making the players part of one of the most significant moments in revolution: the storming of the Bastille.

Cinematic trailers keep getting better, but do they serve to just impress us with the newest and shiniest graphics without really showing us the game? An excellent trailer such as the well-known slow-mo Dead Island trailer can truly bring attention to a title that might otherwise fly right by.

Any trailers catch your attention on visuals alone this week?