Fighting Game Moments @ E3

E3 has came and went, ladies and gentlemen. And there were quite a lot of information regarding the fighting games that are already out, or about to be released in the future. Let’s look back at what was mentioned during E3.

Killer Instinct Season 3

During Microsoft’s E3 conference, there was a trailer for Gears of War’s General RAAM revealed for Killer Instinct. RAAM became available to use immediately right after the trailer ended. I hope you got more room for your hard drive because this update is 26GB.

I tried out RAAM for the first time, and he has some useful tools in his arsenal (despite his slow walk speed). His Kryll Shield is unblockable if you charge it (which causes a stagger), and it can be cancellable. His command grab, Kryll Rush, is a great combo ender that can leave a Krull Swarm on hit. But Emergence… my god, it destroys projectiles. I haven’t fully explored the character’s Instinct mode, but I hear it provides camouflage and the Kryll Shield is enhanced. Luckily, there's a full character breakdown on YouTube that you can check out.

After the reveal, Microsoft announced that they will provide $100,000 for the KI Ultra Tour. We don’t know the details on how it’s going to be provided to the offline and online community, but it’s good to see that the Killer Instinct community is still going strong.

If you have the Ultra or Combo Breaker edition, he is officially out right now. For free owners, he is free to use from June 13 to June 19.

The King of Fighters XIV

SNK shown a lot more with KOF14 during this week of E3. I know there are people who are still scared due to the fact that SNK is revisiting the 3D realm once again, but don’t worry people: the gameplay is still 2.5D, similar to Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and others. From the look of things, the game is looking very solid so far, and the roster is impressive.

If you have the time, Level|Up did a stream at E3 covering this game. They covered the features that will be in the game, along with a sweet Exhibition featuring AS|Reynald (EVO 2013 KOF13 Champion), Romance, Oda-San (KOF14 Producer), and the WNF crew.

The game is set to be released in August 23 in North America and August 25 in Japan, right after the Summer Jam X tournament. If you are serious about playing KOF, be sure to join tournaments for it. Like I said: Support Your Community.

Injustice 2

Last week, Netherrealm Studios and WB Games revealed the teaser for Injustice 2, followed by a gameplay trailer during the ESL League. Storyline-wise, it will continue where the last game left off where Insurgency Batman tries to undo everything that Regime Superman has done while fending off a new threat.

The Gear System is the latest addition to Injustice, which provides an RPG-like element that allows players to customize their character as they please. Character level will max out to Level 20, and it will have four attribute categories to build up: . Injustice 2 is also the first fighting game to have a Loot system.

For the competitive players, there will be a tournament regulation for the Gear modifications. We don’t know what it will do, but it is good to have a balance between competitive and casual players.

As of right now, Superman, Batman, Flash, Aquaman, Gorilla Grodd, Atrocius, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman have been confirmed for the roster. Ed Boon mentioned that there will be a huge roster for Injustice 2, and it will be using the GGPO netcode once again just like Mortal Kombat XL.

Injustice 2 will be coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on 2017.

Street Fighter V

When Street Fighter V came out for PlayStation 4 and PC back in February, it was a treat for the competitive players, but a disaster for casual players because of lack of single player modes such as an Arcade mode for example. But it does have the highest number at entrants at EVO with 4,000+ players competing. Sure the game has 8 frames of lag which was intentional by Capcom, and the Zenny system was scrapped, but it’s still a solid game nonetheless.

We saw a couple of things that are coming out for Street Fighter V, such as the Cinematic Story Mode, Ibuki, and alternate stages. The Cinematic Story Mode allows you to play as the other DLC characters before they are released. That’s right, you can play as Balrog (Boxer), Juri, and Urien before they come out.

We also got a preview of how Balrog (Boxer) would play in Street Figher V, and I gotta say: his playstyle is completely different. For starters, his jabs aren’t useful anymore, and he lost his headbutt anti-air. How he will fare against the cast is unknown at the moment.

Ibuki and the Cinematic Story Mode will be available for free at the end of June. 

Tekken 7

Tekken 7 was shown at Xbox’s E3 conference a couple days ago. The showdown between Akuma (Gouki) and Heihachi was the first thing people saw on the trailer. Right after the trailer, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 became free to download for Xbox Live Gold users. If you haven’t done that yet, you might want to take that advantage before it’s too late.

It has been mentioned by Katsuhiro Harada that Tekken 7 will have a robust Story Mode which will have no loading screens. The gameplay will be based off of Fated Retribution, which means that we will see the Rage Drive, special intros, and more. Keep in mind that Akuma is the only character that doesn’t have a Rage Drive since he has an Super Meter.

Outside of E3, there were more information about the game concerning the arcade release which will also be part of the console release. During the special exhibition between Tokido and Nobi (EVO Tekken 7 champion), the game recently revealed a new stage, Mishima Building. Players fight on a moving elevator which transitions to the rooftop in later rounds.

During the Kelot Cup, Bandai Namco announced a business model for the arcade release of Tekken 7 Fated Retribution. The game will be getting a long time support once the arcade version comes out, meaning that they will be adding more characters along the way. There will be a special event for Tekken 7 Fated Retribution in mid-July.

Tekken 7 Fated Retribution will be coming to arcades in July, while the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Steam will be released on the first quarter of 2017 as Tekken 7. This will mark the first Tekken game to get a PC release.

If you are interested, Bandai Namco has the Tekken Tour going on right now for tournaments and conventions. Be sure to stop by and try the game out.

Looking at all of this, I gotta say once again that this is looking good for fighting games this year. The FGC is looking forward to playing these games at tournaments. KOF is coming out in August, Killer Instinct just revealed and released a new character, SF5 is getting new content, Injustice and Tekken coming out next year… The hype is too strong right now!

Until then… Train up, Fighters!

LOOK WHO CAME:

Virtua Kazama   

Inquisitive Raven   12

Larx   7

Isuma   5

Batthink   1