A Plague Tale: Innocence E3 2018 Preview

This was the second time I was able to check out A Plague Tale: Innocence while at E3 since I had first saw the game the year prior. I was presented the game in a similar format both years with it being a behind closed doors presentation with questions at the end. This time around the game is much closer to the full version with them showcasing an actual level, apparently the fifth one currently. A certain change-up from the year prior which was apparently just a demo to set the tone and give ideas for what they were aiming for with the full version.

Almost a tease of the experience and this new version is a huge improvement in terms of scale and visuals. In the game you play as this girl, she's guiding along a young boy which is her brother across a hostile landscape. It's during a time of great plague with rats everywhere. This era is of course the Middle Ages, in France. These creatures are your main enemy, along with soldiers that are lumbering around. The rats can count up to 5000 on the screen at once which is disgustingly charming. They really want to deliver that aspect of horror across a very realistic environment. You can actually see most of what the demo I was shown below in the video as it's edited B-Roll granted from E3 2018.

A Plague Tale: Innocence is set to launch during the first quarter of 2019, it'll present 4k resolution and have HDR support on Xbox One X which is great. This is a single player journey that's entirely narrative driven. It's a third person adventure presented in a linear fashion that gives the feeling of it being open in scale. There are choices in how you tackle situations, but you're largely pushed along the path. While rats are a huge part of this, the boy you're guiding is key and an important asset to take care of. If you're away for too long he'll become uncomfortable which could alert guards, you'll have to be careful.

You're armed with little aside from a swinging sling shot type weapon that can be upgraded at work benches. This can be used to generate light whether that's permanent or temporary or even knock light away from enemies. This then causes the rats to munch them up. A highlight of rats I want to mention is a huge colony of them bursting from a horse. It was sickening and awesome, this was right after stepping through a battlefield of dead soldiers, this is going to be one creepy game. I can't wait to see how the full release turns out and I'm eagerly awaiting A Plague Tale: Innocence.

Read our A Plague Tale E3 2017 Preview
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