Ubisoft Forward is set to air this Sunday, June 12th, with anticipation growing for some big announcements, gameplay reveals, and more. The fate of many Ubisoft titles were left up in the air when last year saw the company delay heavy-hitters like Watch Dogs Legion, Gods & Monsters, and Rainbow Six Quarantine. Now, they're teasing the return of Watch Dogs Legion to appear at their upcoming event, along with Assassin's Creed Valhalla. If previous rumours are also true, then we're in for a few surprises as well like a possible Far Cry 6. READ MORE: Xbox Games Showcase Announced for July 23rd To tease fans, Ubisoft recently released a short trailer for their upcoming Forward digital event, showing a handful of game clips from a variety of their games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs Legion, the newly announced battle royale Hyper Scape, Ghost Recon Breakpoint, and more. Interestingly, some fans have pointed out that the line-up is missing Beyond Good & Evil 2. Either Ubisoft is keeping it for a surprise reveal, or the game isn't ready to be shown again yet (since it's big reveal in 2017). The same can be said about Gods & Monsters, which is also nowhere to be seen. To add to the hype, Ubisoft is promising players Watch Dogs 2 for free on PC during the show. If you're still on the fence about the Watch Dogs series, then this might be a great time to try it out and get you ready for Watch Dogs Legion. On the other hand, Ubisoft has a wide range of IPs under their name, and it's anyone's guess what else will be shown at the event. Since this is a show meant to replace their traditional E3 presentation, then it's safe to assume that we're in for a few surprises and hopefully, some big gameplay reveals that we've been waiting for. Ubisoft Forward will take place on June 12th at 9PM CEST / 9PM CAT / 8PM BST.

Xbox has announced that it will host an Xbox Games Showcase on July 23rd, highlighting big upcoming releases for their next generation console, Xbox Series X. Much like the PlayStation 5 reveal event, it seem like this is the big Xbox showcase to look forward to. Geoff Keighley will also host a pre-show of the event on the same day, around an hour before the main show starts. So far, little is known about this event, but it looks like it will certainly be Xbox's biggest show of the summer. READ MORE: Review: Iron Man VR The date and time for the Xbox Games Showcase is set for July 23rd, 2020, at 9AM PT, or 6PM CAT. Previously, Xbox hosted their Inside Xbox event which revealed a few interesting third-party titles such as The Medium and Scarlet Nexus, though it looks like the Xbox Games Showcase will highlight their first-party games and hopefully, some third-party stuff we have yet to see. The event will take place a little under three weeks from now, and anticipation is mounting for Xbox's own dedicated show that will presumably bring the same level of excitement as the PS5 event. Xbox Games Showcase July 23rd 9am PT@SummerGameFest Pre-Show at 8am PT with @GeoffKeighley on @YouTubeGaming#XboxGamesShowcase pic.twitter.com/zGr5AnFwic— Xbox (@Xbox) July 6, 2020 We don't know much about the event, but we can speculate on a few things. Namely, this might be the show where Xbox drops the price of the Xbox Series X, and if rumours are to be believed, they'll also have a more affordable, digital model available at launch. We're anticipating our first Halo Infinite gameplay, and hopefully a concrete release date on that as well. Meanwhile, the next chapter in the Fable series from Playground Games is rumoured to be announced as well. Forza fans may also have something to look forward to if the next Forza Motorsport or Horizon 5 is revealed. Finally, while it was only announced last year, this could be a good chance for Microsoft to showcase our first Senua's Saga: Hellblade II gameplay. Xbox Games Showcase will take place on July 23rd, 2020. What are your predictions?

When developer Camouflaj set out to make a virtual reality experience that puts us inside the helmet of Iron Man, we were ecstatic with joy. The concept always seemed like a childhood wish come true since the character exploded in popularity thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and its pairing with VR lends itself heavily to that immersive feeling of being Iron Man. For the most part, Camouflaj have nailed that same giddy feeling that Tony Stark felt when he first donned the suit in the original film, but is only hindered by some odd game design choices and technical hiccups. Iron Man VR takes you across a handful of chapters of a new story in the universe (disjointed from the MCU), where Tony comes face to face with the villain, Ghost. For most of the game, the objectives range from taking flight, hitting objectives and quest markers, and taking out drones issued by Ghost. The story is deceptively simple (as it should be for the rather straight-forward virtual reality experience it touts), but it does a decent enough job at getting us invested in Tony's struggles both in and out of the suit. ...getting these basic controls down is one of the biggest initial hurdles you'll face in the tutorial. Taking flight as Iron Man is one of the most exhilarating VR experiences I've ever had. When you first learn to fly, it can be quite a daunting task. Using the PlayStation's motion controllers, you can control Iron Man's thrusters by tilting your wrists down to push up, and tilting it back (while tapping the triggers twice) sends you hurtling forward in true Iron Man fashion. You also control basic turn movements by extending your arms outward to redirect your trajectory. However, getting these basic controls down is one of the biggest initial hurdles you'll face in the tutorial. It took me several tries to get the hang of it, but when I did, it all felt quite intuitive and very responsive. When combat happens (and it happens frequently), you'll have to manage your flight controls with shooting and a few nifty gadgets. This is where it can be quite overwhelming, especially with the amount of reflexes it demands from players who aren't in-tune with the pace of aerial battles. There's a lot going on that you have to constantly pay attention to, from maintaining your speed and altitude to making sure you hit your targets with pin-point accuracy. It never feels like the game provides a fair balance of challenge, but it does have a lot of ingenious mechanics to help ease these frustrations if you nail each aspect of combat and flight. That said, it demands a lot, but with enough perseverance, you'll find an extremely rewarding experience here. In between the big story missions, your home acts as a hub space where you can interact with Pepper Pots, Nick Fury and others, and tackle a variety of side objectives. The worst offender is timed trial-like quests that have you fly through rings to achieve the quickest time. Early in the game, it throws these heavily timed restrictions at you while you're still learning the controls, and I found myself wandering off the beaten path so much for two opposing reasons: feeling like Iron Man is incredible, but getting used to sharp turns while dashing, punching and shooting became slightly tedious after a while. Thankfully, the downtime provided in the hub areas are a much needed breather from the more taxing main quests. The biggest praise I can give Iron Man VR is its astonishing level of immersion. This is one of the most immersive VR games I've played in recent memory, and made me laugh with joy every time I nailed a particularly tough course or challenge. It's probably an outdated meme at this point, but it's the most apt pro I can think of: Iron Man VR really makes you feel like Iron Man. Virtual reality adds so much to this experience, that it's hard to believe we're at this point in gaming. The levels are lovingly recreated from the comics (some even lifted straight out of the MCU), and the environments are detailed enough to be passable, though don't quite measure up to the aesthetics of more artfully designed VR worlds like Farpoint or Moss. It's probably an outdated meme at this point, but it's the most apt pro I can think of: Iron Man VR really makes you feel like Iron Man. Voice acting, on the other hand, is commendable. Josh Keaton, who plays Tony Stark, could've easily chose to replicate Robert Downey, Jr's snarky wit and personality, but his portrayal of the character is a bit more subdued while also occasionally nailing the various quips associated with Tony. He makes for a charming protagonist without ever feeling like a copy of the MCU's portrayal, which is what the game needed to succeed at. Jennifer Hale is endearing as Pepper Potts, though it's obvious that she tries to channel Gwyneth Paltrow in some cases. Unfortunately, for everything that Iron Man VR gets right, it comes with a few technical and design issues. There are a lot of loading screens that break the immersion. Upon booting up the game for the first time, I was even concerned that it had stopped working because of how long the loading screen took. These happen frequently, from bouncing in and out of areas to loading in quests. These problems persisted on both the base PS4 and PS4 Pro, with the base console suffering the most from those long loading times. Towards the latter half of the game, missions really ramp up in difficulty and I found a bit of frustration in that unexpected spike. Overall, Iron Man VR is a noteworthy achievement for VR gaming, though in a world post-Half Life: Alyx, it's a bit difficult to forgive some of its shortcomings and repeated mistakes that plagued earlier VR experiments. The controls are intuitive, though somewhat frustrating to get the hang of initially, and the unparalleled feeling of being Iron Man shines in every moment we don the iconic suit and take flight. It's a bit baffling that it chooses to rely so heavily on some storytelling tropes and virtual reality gimmicks that sometimes pulled me out of the immersion. It doesn't help that the game is also plagued with long loading screens. Other than that, Iron Man VR is an admirable effort and a terrifically immersive journey, though that feeling of "more could've been done" always lingered in the back of my mind. *Review code provided by PlayStation

Last week, GameSpot revealed that Giancarlo Esposito, best known for starring in Breaking Bad, was working on a massive upcoming game. The details of this game were kept secretive until a media outlet accidentally let slip that the "big game" Esposito was talking about is actually Ubisoft's upcoming Far Cry 6. The article, posted on Gamereactor UK, has now been taken down (adding further credibility to this claim). However, the internet swooped in to quickly grab screenshots of the article and report on it. READ MORE: Horizon Zero Dawn: PC Versus PS4 Pro Early Graphics Comparison Thanks to Gematsu (who took a screenshot of the article on Gamereactor's website), we now that Esposito will be working on Far Cry 6. The UK publications wording makes it seem like they're fairly confident that it is the truth, so we're taking their word for it, though we do recommend still taking it with a tiny pinch of salt. We won't have to wait long for confirmation, though, as Ubisoft Forward - a digital event featuring new announcements from Ubisoft - will happen this Sunday, July 12th. It's likely that the long-rumoured Far Cry 6 will also be revealed at the event. Esposito is widely known for playing the electrifying villain, Gus Fring, in the hit television series, Breaking Bad. His intimidating presence as an actor certainly makes him an ideal fit for the Far Cry universe, as Ubisoft's franchise has always prided itself on some terrific and well-written lead villains (if he is playing the lead villain). Namely, both Vaas Montenegro from Far Cry 3 and Pagan Min from Far Cry 4 stole the shows in their respective games, while the crazy Seed family of Far Cry 5 made an admirable attempt though never quite reached those heights. We believe Esposito has it in him to make a memorable villain, though we'll just have to wait an see if this report pans out. Far Cry 6 is reportedly in development.