The Game Awards 2021 Overview

Yes folks it’s that time of year again as the industry came together to celebrate it’s best while more importantly providing an all important trailer showcase for the gaming year ahead and after a disappointing E3 it was a pleasant surprise to be given a slew of exciting titles to look forward to as well as the signs that the industry is starting to focus on the current gen with several titles exclusively for the new machines and not providing ports for either the PS4 or Xbox One. 

Still before we get into the trailers, here’s who won what. 

List of Winners

• Game of the Year: It Takes Two
• Best Game Direction: Deathloop
• Best Narrative: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
• Best Art Direction: Deathloop
• Best Score and Music:Nier Replicant
• Best Audio Design: Forza Horizon 5
• Best Performance: Maggie Robertson, Resident Evil: Village
• Games For Impact: Life is Strange: True Colors
• Best Ongoing: Final Fantasy XIV Online
• Best Indie: Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Best Mobile Game: Genshin Impact
• Best Community Support: Final Fantasy XIV Online
• Innovation in Accessibility: Forza Horizon 5
• Best VR/AR: Resident Evil 4 VR
• Best Action Game: Returnal
• Best Action/Adventure: Metroid Dread
• Best Role Playing: Tales of Arise
• Best Fighting: Guilty Gear-Strive
• Best Family: It Takes Two
• Best Sim/Strategy: Age of Empires IV
• Best Sports/Racing: Forza Horizon 5
• Best Multiplayer: It Takes Two
• Best Debut Indie: Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Most Anticipated Game: Elden Ring

WORLD PREMIERE TRAILERS

Tunic
(March 16th, 2022)

Tunic was announced a few years ago at E3 and since then, there’s been very little updates on the progress. Luckily, this year for TGA, there was both a gameplay trailer but also a release date. The fox Zelda game that had us very excited in its first look definitely does live up to expectations in the latest trailer as it shows us some of the level designs, gameplay mechanics as well as some of the creatures in this land. Its cute, colorful and charming plus its an Xbox Exclusive so hopefully potentially an Day One Xbox Game Pass selection?

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Multiplayer horror games are definitely making its rounds. With Dead By Daylight having a rather massive success and acquiring a bunch of licenses, including one for Leatherface, its a surprise that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the next up in the line. Of course, this game seems to be pretty early in development and is pretty much a teaser trailer and doesn’t show a whole lot of gameplay so it’s hard to say how the developers plan to approach this. 

The Expanse: A Telltale Series

Telltale Games makes its return this year with an announcement for their next Telltale series direction. This time, they are heading into space action as they do their take on the TV show, The Expanse. 

Babylon’s Fall
(March 3, 2022)

Babylon’s Fall is PlatinumGames upcoming co-op action RPG as it takes one player or up to 4 players for a combat up the Tower of Babel. There are multiple play styles with different weapons with their own skills and abilities to unlock.

Thirsty Suitors

Annapurna Interactive has been acquiring some fun titles in the last few years. Thirsty Suitors looks like another quirky indie game where a girl called Jala has to confront her mistakes by battling her exes and reconciling cultural differences and find herself. In the trailer, there’s a mix of turn-based battles, cooking and skateboarding. I sure looks like it could be a ton of fun to dive into a world where there’s a ton of stuff to do. There’s no release date yet but this looks colorful enough to keep an eye on. 

Evil West (2022)

Demons and many different weapons and fighting styles await you in this upcoming action Western with a Wild West hero. The game itself is third person and looks like there’s a lot of different monsters to defeat in general.

Have a Nice Death
(Early Access March 2022)

Have A Nice Death looks like a cute 2D roguelite featuring Death, the boss of the underworld as death explodes off the charts and he runs off to give a lesson to his minions according to what this trailer seems to portray. Its a little silly and quirky but somehow it could be a fun time especially since the whole trailer felt a little like Hollow Knight., a little fight versus a world full of big and small enemies.

Planet of Lana: An Off-Earth Odyssey (2022)

Presented by the man who scored The Last Guardian Takeshi Furukawa, Planet of Lana is a sci-fi odyssey adventure that follows a young girl and her friend as they traverse through a planet full of machines and creatures on a rescue mission. The art style looks really nice and the world seems intriguing.

Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga

Ninja Theory’s new game offers a new level of cinematic immersion in gaming as they reveal the gameplay trailer for the sequel of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice titled Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga. It dives back into the character of Senua with the voices in her head as she and others battle a giant of some sort. It definitely looks immersive and impressive to say the least if the gameplay feels as smooth as watching a movie. 

Star Wars Eclipse 

The great minds at Quantic Dream helms the next Star Wars Eclipse which seems like it will add a new direction to the game. Its still a cinematic trailer but judging from Quantic Dream’s normal narrative choice-driven style, it could be a wonderful gaming experience full of profound decisions that affect every outcome of the game. 

Wonder Woman

While it might have been another cinematic trailer the game is being developed by Monolith who previously gave us both Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and it’s sequel Shadow of War with early word being that we can expect a similar model including the return of their nemesis system for their second dip into the world of DC after the arena battler Gotham City Imposters.

Alan Wake 2

Its been a whole 11 years since the release of Alan Wake. While the first game is primarily an action game with horror elements, Alan Wake 2 will be a survival horror game. The first look at the teaser trailer reveals the tone and atmosphere of the setting, it absolutely  has a creepy vibe, almost like the setting of the IT films where its both rainy and gloomy.  Alan Wake 2 is set for release in 2023.

Horizon II: Forbidden West

The sequel of Horizon Zero Dawn, subtitled Forbidden West takes Alloy into the world where the machines are out of control and the land is dying. She goes through a variety of settings as well: underwater, snowy lands, deserts, etc. Horizon Zero Dawn was a fantastic game and it will be interesting to see where the story takes Alloy next.

Slitterhead

At this point, most people have lost hope that a decent Silent Hill game will be making its appearance in the gaming world. In 2020, however the creators of Silent Hill gathered to create Bokeh Game Studios which finally released it first trailer for Slitterhead. The trailer is positively creepy, especially revealing a little of the creature design, which looks absolutely horrific. 

Nightingale

Nightingale is an upcoming survival crafting game which allows for both solo and co-op gaming experiences. It delivers a shared world and community building where there are magical realms to explore. The world itself from the trailer looks pretty intriguing in this reveal. There’s an old-timey feeling to it that adds to the artistic and visual element. You can sign up at playnightingale.com . 

Somerville

As one half of Playdead builds their own studio Jumpship, Somerville finally gets a full trailer on this upcoming game. At first glance, the art style and atmosphere is in line with the other Playdead games. This game is set in a rather dystopian world that seems to be invaded by something and there seems to be the same fear of running away from whatever is lurking about. Most of these games are no narrative so it will be hard to pinpoint without experiencing the whole thing. Somerville does look really great and one to look forward to. 

Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course
(June 30, 2022)

First announced back in 2018, the much awaited DLC will finally be coming out in the new year bringing with it new levels, bosses as well as a new playable character with Ms. Chalice. Promising more of what made the game such a classic, hopes are high that it will recapture the magic while Netflix also have a series in the works. 

Sonic Frontiers
(Holiday 2022)

Currently very little details have been released other than this being touted as the first open world adventure for Sonic. Of course attempts to deviate from the classic 2D side scrolling adventures have previously delivered mixed results so it remains to be seen if this latest attempt to reinvent the wheel will pay off. 

Tchia
(Spring 2022)

Tchia is a game inspired by New Caledonian cultures as it centres around a colorful and positive environment surrounding a little girl with her adventures. The trailer highlights the many things that she can do and includes customization of her character as well as some happy music playing. It sure feels like a wholesome and relaxing adventure game.

Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League (2022)

Rocksteady return to the world of DC after the Arkham games with the Suicide Squad which will blend open world gameplay with four player co-op action as players can either go solo switching between the four Suicide Squad members or team up with three friends to save Metropolis in a game promising to be big on action, foul language and carnage. 

Forspoken
(May 24, 2022)

Forspoken is a game about a New Yorker transported to a fantasy land trying to find a way out. Its set in an open world atmosphere with some villainous rulers over the land. The trailer itself shows some unique traversal gameplay and mechanics. The story and world seems rather intriguing as well as they do in fantasy worlds.

Saints Row
(August 23, 2022)

Originally slated for a February release the reboot has now been pushed back to August due concerns over quality. It of course remains to be seen how the fan base will react to a more grounded direction for a series which has thrived over pushing a more comedic alternative to GTA. 

Dune: Spice Wars

It’s been quite a while since we had a Dune game but with the film currently reviving interest in the property it’s exciting to see a new game in the works with this one coming from Shiro Games who previously gave us Northgard. Based on the literary property than the film it will be exciting to see how it adapts this expansive world. 

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
(March 25, 2022)

Presented by Ashley Burch and Will Arnett who both voice characters in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, this game looks like a ton of fun. Its a world beyond the Borderlands and yet the art style and the quirky humor are all still there. The trailer itself shows off the tabletop realm and a whole lot of things to do with weapons and and fantasy elements.

Among Us VR

Among Us VR is a fairly straightforward reveal in itself. While everyone’s having fun with this game, the question we still want to know is whether there’s enough people owning VRs to play this with friends especially Among Us goes up to 10 people rounds and a lot of the fun is in having the most amount of friends possible. Unless of course, they later announce more details that you can play with non-VR friends?

Steelrising
(June 2022)

Steelrising is probably one of the intriguing titles here as its trailer focuses on a world full of machines and marionette characters. The world looks imaginative and dark. While it sheds just a cinematic trailer onto what this world holds, it will be interesting to see what else this game will offer specifically in terms of gameplay.

Star Trek: Resurgence
(Spring 2022)

From the creators of Telltale’s Batman & The Walking Dead by their newly formed studio, Dramatic Labs, Star Trek Resurgence is an interactive narrative choice-driven adventure with their take in the Star Trek verse.

Rumbleverse (2022)

A battle royale wrestling game set in Grapital City where 40 players will get to brawl till one person is left standing. It’s typical Battle Royale fare with a strong comedic leaning if the trailer is anything to go off. It remains to be seen if the brawling mechanic will help it stand out from what is already a saturated market with Apex Legends and Fornite still holding their place at the top of the pile; it remains to be seen if it’s different enough to stand out. You can however sign up for the Beta now. 

 A Plague Tale: Requiem (2022)

A Plague Tale: Requeim is the sequel of A Plague Tale: Innocence which continues the journey of the siblings as they try to start their new life. The first trailer for the game looks very good as it seems a little similar to the first game but in a different setting and expands the story. 

Dying Light 2: Stay Human (Feb 4, 2022)

Announced way back at E3 2018 it looks like we will finally get to play the much hyped follow up to the 2015 original with the sequel being set 20 years after the first game with a new protagonist and a choice system where the players choices will shape the world they journey through. 

CrossfireX (February 10th, 2022)

CrossfireX is an upcoming Xbox exclusive first person shooter with a competitive multiplayer but also has a cinematic single player campaign to play as well.

GTFO (out now)

GTFO is an extreme co-op horror shooter that had its early access on Steam in 2019. The game was fully released the night of the Game Awards. The game plays as a 4 person co-op where the team of prisoners have to work together to complete objectives to leave this complex which is overrun by monsters. 

Arc Raiders (2022)

The debut game of Embark Studios is a free to play multiplayer cooperative player versus environment action shooter set to release in 2022 as the players team up together to defend their home amidst the landing of a threat from space.  

Elden Ring
(February 25, 2022)

Being crowned two years in a row the Most Anticipated Game at The Game Awards is definitely a sign that this game is going to be a heavy hitter for next year. Of course, the name of George R.R. Martin being tied to it gives it a ton of hope, especially for The Game of Thrones fans. The cinematic trailers that we’ve seen so far, especially this one, looks great. The world and the characters and the mystery behind what to see is full of imagination and really does amp up the anticipation. But a cinematic trailer is still just cut-scenes at best, seeing as it does come out in 2 months, it’s probably time to drop some gameplay. 

Matrix Awakens
(download for free)

Presented by Keanu Reeves & Carrie Ann Moss, they both share the upcoming Matrix Resurrections film trailer as well as the Matrix Awakens game which is free to download right now on PS5 and Xbox X. 

FILM AND TV TRAILERS

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (April 8, 2022)

Nightmare Alley Trailer (December 17th)

Halo (Streaming 2022)

Matrix Resurrections (December 22, 2021)

OTHER GAME ANNOUNCEMENTS

• The King of Fighters XV: Beta on Dec.17th for PS4 and PS5 with 8 available characters
• Chivalry 2: New map & weapon & Free weekend play for all Dec 9-12
• Monster Hunter Rise: Massive Expansion: Sunbreak, out Summer 2022
• Lost Ark: Play free February 11th
• Destiny 2 DLC The Witch Queen – February 22, 2022
• Warhammer Vermintide: Warrior Priest
• Fortnite: Chapter 3 
• Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Google Play Games on PC in 2022
• Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intergrade – Epic Games Store on December 16th, 2021
• Vampire Masquerade: Blood Hunt released in Spring 2022 on PS4 & Steam
• Homeworld 3 is slated for release in Q4 2022

E3 2021 Day 1 Highlights: Ubisoft Forward, Devolver Digital, Gearbox

E3 crept up on us before we knew it. While mostly everything is still in a virtual set-up due to the pandemic, we’ve changed out approach to only cover the highlights of what stood out to us in the different showcases over the next few days. Day 1 kicked off with Ubisoft Forward followed by the quirky Devolver Digital Showcase and wrapped up with Gearbox Entertainment.

UBISOFT FORWARD 2021

Considering that E3 is the showcase for the year ahead, it’s obviously very disappointing that Ubisoft usually the highlight of the E3 conference calendar came with such a disappointing slate padded out with updates for existing titles and trailers for their TV / Movie projects and just so much cringe worthy presentation….is it too late to get Aisha back?

So let’s cut the fat from the steak as here are the few highlights from the show. 

Rainbow Six Extraction (September 16th)

Normally we don’t have a lot to say about Rainbow Six Siege as over the six years of the game’s launch, we’re not exactly big players of online multiplayer games or into e-sports. However with Back 4 Blood on the horizon the Rainbow Six team keen to not be outdone bring us Rainbow Six Extraction 

A tactical shooter game which is a 1-3 player co-op experience set in a world battling an alien threat (see completely different). The game will also bring back many of the popular operators with a strong emphasis on risk and reward with captured players going MIA and can’t be playing until their team members save them. 

The show did offer a good look at both gameplay and the different alien threats along with their design including a look at how the alien threat is a parasite that evolves in the different containment areas on the world map. Though for fans of Left 4 Dead you can’t help but feel that nagging feeling of familiarity.

Rocksmith+ 

Following in the footsteps of Just Dance, the Interactive Music Learning will be offering its own mobile version as well as the expected subscription service. The big plus being that it will require no gear other than your guitar and your phone which will double as a mic.

Certainly this is a smart move for the evolution of the game, with the subscription certainly providing a more appealing draw to the most casual learner not wanting to shell out on a full priced game for a hobby they might not stick with.

You can sign up for the closed beta – rocksmith.com/beta

Rider’s Republic (September 2nd)

No, it’s not Steep 2 even though everything on offer is essentially the same so you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a sequel to the open world winter sports sim. As with that game, you have the freedom to go and do what you want while competing in a variety of extreme sports from jet powered wingsuits and BMX’s to snowboarding in a natural playground packed with landmarks and competitions that you can have fun solo or with your friends. 

Far Cry 6 (October 7)

Another cinematic trailer for the game showcasing Giancarlo Esposito as the main villain Anton Castillo but nothing that we havn’t seen before.

Surprisingly the most interesting part of the presentation was Far Cry 6 Season Pass which includes Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon as well getting to play the iconic villains from Farcry 3 to 5 with their original voice actors returning and Ubisoft promising that this DLC will “Delve into these iconic villain’s twisted minds, uncover their backstories, battle their inner demons, and reunite with familiar faces,” when the game is released in October.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (2022)

The next Nintendo and Ubisoft collaboration is here as the next game in the Mario + Rabbids is announced and titled Sparks of Hope. Sparks being the Rabids and Lumas morph. This time, the new adventure takes place with an entire galaxy to explore via spaceship. There are new elements added to the genre and claims to still be easy to play but hard to master for those looking for a challenge. That being said, this is a Nintendo Switch exclusive. 

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (2022)

Ubisoft always presents their surprise first looks as the big ending to their showcase to wrap things up. Much in that style, they offered up a first look at the upcoming Avatar game boasting the use of their Snowdrop engine.

What we got here though was another cinematic trailer for the upcoming first person action adventure game in an open-world experience which promises a whole new story from the upcoming film(s) but really all it did was bring back memories of the last time they tried to turn the film into a game back on the Xbox 360 and PS3.

And all the rest from Ubisoft Forward below…

• Just Dance 2022 returns with it’s yearly update on November 4th with special guest: Todrick Hall (exciting if you know who this is I guess)
• Year 6 of Rainbow Six Siege brings with it Crossplay with PC, Stadia, Luna
• For Honor, Trackmania, The Crew 2, Watch Dogs Legion: all packed with new updates and seasons
• Brawlhalla: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are being added as playable characters
• Ghost Recon Breakpoint will have some upcoming updates in celebration for the franchise’s 20th anniversary
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: A wide slate of free updates and upcoming second expansion, The Siege of Paris coming in Summer 2021
• TV series: Mythic Quest, Season 2 on Apple TV 
• Movie: Werewolves Within: in theatres June 25th and On Demand July 2nd

DEVOLVER MAXPASS + 

Devolver Digital’s showcase has always been a skit of over the top performances while dropping their upcoming independent games set to be published in the coming year. This year is no different as they use a backdrop of having Maxpass+ with premium access to their games and end it in a rather clever way. For a half an hour show, it’s quite entertaining overall with this unique approach with a few interesting indie games to look forward to.

Let’s check out of some of the highlights of the show:

Trek to Yomi (2022)

The past few years have been a good few Japanese samurai games that’ve been released and mostly fairly big budget AAA titles. Taking it back a step is Trek to Yomi which is not only black and white but also a side scroller combat game. The art style and the combat both look really good in the fairly short trailer but might be an intriguing one to discover. It’s being released on the new generation consoles and PC. 

Phantom Abyss (Steam Early Access June 22nd)

Multiplayer games have definitely been a huge focus and yet, Phantom Abyss takes on an asynchronous multiplayer first person experience through a temple full of obstacles as you chase after phantoms of other players that failed their attempts. The angle definitely sounds unique enough but it just depends whether the game is focused more on trial and error and luck or is there something more to it. It is heading into Steam Early Access on June 22nd so not too long of a wait to find out how it plays out from concept versus reality. 

Wizard with a Gun (2022)

Wizard With A Gun is an upcoming sandbox survival game which can be played as multiplayer co-op or single player, much like Don’t Starve. In fact, looking at the art style and certain elements, the similarities are definitely there. The colors however are much more vibrant. The world does seem more magical as you do play as wizard characters and that adds a lot more combat and different fantastical enemies to encounter. Magic, crafting and building: Wizard With A Gun does seem to have its own angle. It’s expected to release on Nintendo Switch and PC. 

Inscryption (2021)

From the creator of Pony Island and The Hex comes Inscryption, a card-based odyssey that looks like a lot of things from a card game/deckbuilding roguelike and a board game design. It also has a unique inked art style and some kind of adventure going on which involves escape room puzzles blending to create a psychological horror game. The idea is definitely unique in its various elements but the story is still not revealed yet. There’s still a lot of unknown about this one but you do have to appreciate that unlike other companies that give cinematic trailers over gameplay, Inscryption took the opposite path. 

Other games mentioned in Devolver Digital showcase:

• Death’s Door (July 20th, 2021)
• Devolver Tumble Time (2021, Android & iOS)
• Demon Throttle (2022, Nintendo Switch Physical Exclusive)

GEARBOX ENTERTAINMENT

Another quick showcase to get through as Gearbox Entertainment hosts a half hour show mostly boasting a few games and spending a good portion of the time on the movie set of the Borderlands film currently in production. The key points to note for the Borderlands movie is that its directed by Eli Roth and stars some popular names like Cate Blanchette, Jack Black, Kevin Hart. Of course, this is a gaming showcase considering its part of E3 so here’s a quick look at the few games presented… 

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

There’s no doubt that Borderlands is a fabulous universe that Gearbox created. Taking on a standalone game from the franchise and bringing out a story circling Tiny Tina who was part of the fantastic Borderlands 2 DLC prior to this, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands centers around this character in a looter shooter set in a new fantasy environment. They reassure that this requires no prior knowledge of Borderlands to dive into. In this fantasy world, it’s filled with its own adventure full of goblins and dragons for starters along with other enemies. There’s no doubt that this announcement is the highlight of this showcase. 

Tribes of Midgard (July 27th)

Developed by Norsfell and published by Gearbox Publishing, Tribes of Midgard is an upcoming survival role-playing game which can be a single player experience but best played as a co-op with up to 10 players. You play as a Viking and have to collect resources and build the tribe and village while also defending it from the threats like giants that will come to destroy it. It launches on Playstation 4, Playstation 5 and Steam. 

Other updates from Gearbox:

• Godfall is coming to Playstation 4 in August 2021 and will have an expansion, Fire and Darkness
• Homeworld 3 is in production

That wraps up the highlights of Day 1 of E3 2021. What games caught your attention? Let us know in the comments.

The Game Awards 2020 [Recap & Trailers Highlights]

The Game Awards took place virtually on almost all online platforms available in a lot of countries around the world. Running at a whopping 3.5 hours, it brought it a line of presenters with Keanu Reeves, Gal Gadot, Tom Holland, Nolan North, Troy Baker and ending with Christopher Nolan presenting the Game of the Year awards. Of course, there was also a ton of world premiere trailers which is what everyone sits through these few hours for in hope of finding some new games to look forward to in the coming few months. 

Here’s the list of the winners for The Game Awards:

Best Score/Music: Final Fantasy VII Remake
Best Action/Adventure Game: The Last of Us Part II
Best Family Game: Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Best Community Support: Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
Best Debut Game: Phasmophobia
Best eSports Game: League of Legends
Best Performance: Laura Bailey (Abby – The Last of Us Part II)
Best Ongoing Game: No Man’s Sky
Best Art Direction: Ghost of Tsushima
Best Action Game: Hades
Best AR/VR Game: Half-Life: Alyx
Best Sports/Racing Game: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skate 1+2
Most Anticipated Game: Elden Ring
Best Narrative: The Last of Us Part 2
Games For Impact: Tell Me Why
Best Multiplayer: Among Us
Best Indie Game: Hades
Best Audio Design: The Last of Us Part II
Best Role Playing Game: Final Fantasy VII Remake
Best Simulation/Strategy Game: Microsoft Flight Simulator
Player’s Voice: Ghost of Tsushima
Best Fighting Game: Mortal Kombat 11 
Innovation in Accessibility: The Last of Us Part II
Best Mobile Game: Among Us
Best Game Direction: The Last of Us Part II
Game of the Year: The Last of Us Part II

And now for the trailers that caught our eye. Those not talked about will be listed at the bottom.

Shady Part of Me (Available Now)

Shady Part of Me reminiscent of Little Nightmares as its story’s protagonist is also a little girl who is caught in the dark with only her shadow as a companion as she traverses through this world, with the trailer revealing the little creatures and obstacles. It definitely looks a promising title and what’s better is that it’s available now on consoles, PC and Switch. 

NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139… (April 23, 2021) 

NieR Replicant ver. 12247487139… is the upgraded prequel of NieR: Automata originally released in 2010 exclusively for Playstation 3, (hence the crazy string of numbers at the back). After the fairly successful run for NieR: Automata which boasted some great combat and narrative, this game certainly comes with some anticipation. 

Remakes nowadays are absolutely everywhere but then, with the hype of NieR: Automata, it’s definitely breathed new life into this franchise so well worth a remake. 

Super Smash Bros Ultimate – Sephiroth (December 2020)

Just when you thought that they were done adding characters to the already stacked roster, Nintendo pulled out this surprise addition which will no doubt make both Smash and Final Fantasy fans alike very happy, even if at one point it looked like he’d impaled Mario on trademark blade.

Perfect Dark

After 2 years for the announcement of Xbox Studio’s The Initiative, their first project has been revealed as a dive into the Perfect Dark series, a secret agent thriller set in a near future world. The trailer is a cinematic trailer of following a surveillance diving through buildings until it reaches Agent Dark. Its world looks very pretty from the trailer but at the end of the day, it’s still a cinematic trailer and we will need to wait for the gameplay to see how the experience will be. 

Back 4 Blood (June 22, 2021)

If this brought to mind memories of Left 4 Dead then you won’t be surprised to learn that the team behind this zombie co-op shooter includes members of the Left 4 Dead team, while Turtle Rock Studios lets not forget also gave us the underappreciated Monster Hunter Evolve in which players played as either the monster being hunted or one of four hunters tasked with hunting it down. Needless to say if original developers have no interest in continuing the series this studio feels like a perfect second choice.

While we initially thought that we would only get to see the cinematic trailer which smacked off all the things which made Left 4 Dead such a fun title while playing as the much longed for spiritual sequel to the original games as we got the character banter, zombie mutants, fun weapons and locations as well as 20 foot monstrosity!!

Back 4 Blood closed Alpha starts on December 17th so sign up now – Back4Blood.com/Alpha

The Callisto Protocol (2022)

After years of remakes, Dead Space is a space horror game that has been anticipated. While The Callisto Protocol isn’t a Dead Space game, it is made by Dead Space creator Glen Schofield. The cinematic trailer is one that reminds us a lot of Dead Space right away. Its one that shows a lot of promise but then it’s got some big shoes to fill and one of the games that has a longer wait time as its set to release in 2022. 

Open Roads

The next game by Fullbright, the developers of Gone Home and Tacoma is Open Roads, a narrative story about a mother and daughter who goes on a road trip to trace clues left behind by the grandmother’s diary . The artwork looks beautiful and the story seems intriguing especially helmed by Fullbright who are rather good storytellers plus its voiced by Keri Russell & Kaitlyn Dever, which is definitely exciting. No release date yet but one to look out for. 

Season

In our pandemic times filled with lockdowns and solo activities, Scavenger Studios upcoming game Season is one that follows a bicycle road trip adventure game where it’s about exploring a new world and collecting memories and artifacts. It’s one that seems rather atmospheric and could be a touching little story depending on what the angle here is. It’s set for a PS5 release but thus far, no release date set yet. 

Ark II

Taking the unexpected stray away from the multiplayer game format that Ark is known for, Ark II showed a cinematic trailer with a CGI ripped Vin Diesel protecting his family while killing some dinosaurs. Vin Diesel and dinosaurs sounds like quite the combo and probably one of the big surprises of The Game Awards. The question now is what are the plans in terms of what this game will be: will there be multiplayer or is this a more ambitious single player game? It has no release date so far so we can only hope that more information will be dropped in future events about the direction it will choose to take. 

Paired with this announcement is an Ark: The Animated Series which is set to release in 2022 and lists a fantastic line-up of voice cast including Vin Diesel, Elliot Page, Michelle Yeoh, David Tennant, Karl Urban and Russell Crowe. That’s a pretty stellar line-up for an animated series. 

Returnal (PS5, March 19, 2021)

Despite the release being leaked before the show his third person shooter is a psychological horror about a woman stuck in a continuous loop forced to live, die, repeat not unlike it’s fellow Playstation stablemate Deathloop both of which will be exclusives for the console. 

Super Meat Boy Forever (December 23, 2020)

For years we have been eagerly awaiting a follow up to the breakout indie hit and now seemingly out of nowhere we finally might get to see the next chapter of the Meat Boy saga as rejoin our hero who since his last outing has settled down with Bandage girl to start a family. However when Dr. Fetus returns and abducts their child Nugget it’s time to leap back into action this time being joined by a host of new characters and abilities while maintaining the same frustrating and addictive gameplay as the original. 

It Takes Two (March 26, 2021)

Hazelight continue to be the studio to watch with their innovative game let alone their ongoing quest to revive the couch co-op as they follow up their prison break game A Way Out as this time you and a friend will play as either Cody or May. Two human-turned-dolls who while going through a rough patch in their marriage are forced to work together as they travel through a magical world to find a way to break the spell in a game which already looks set to blend different types of gameplay from platforming to puzzle solving. 

Evil West (2021)

A new title from developer Flying Wild Hog Studios who previously gave us Shadow Warriors and now return with a supernatural western with players taking control of Jesse Rentier one of the last agents of a secret vampire hunting organisation and with a dark force threatening the American frontier its down to him to stop it. 

Armed with the usual firepower of the old west, Jesse also has a multipurpose gauntlet which we got to see a couple of its abilities during the cinematic trailer including wolverine claws and even the ability to channel lightning. Over the course of the game you will be able to unlock new gadgets and perks with the option to play co-op makes it another title to watch out for. 

Scarlet Nexus (Summer 2021)

Originally revealed back in May, here we finally got to see more of the gameplay and story or should that be stories as players will get to experience the dual perspectives of Yuito and Kasane two new recruits psionic soldiers battling a supernatural threat called “The Others”.

Players will be able to move objects with their mind as well as borrow the abilities of your teammates with the action looking fast and frantic, which alongside the stunning graphics only makes us all the more excited to finally get to play this one. 

Ruined King: A League of Legends Game (2021)

Set in the League of Legends world, we finally got to see our first gameplay trailer for this single player spin off and while the plot might still be a mystery, the game will see you forming a team alongside three of the game champions all of which will bring different skills and attacks to your party in this turn based combat game. 

Mass Effect Untitled Sequel

While Mass Effect Andromeda might not have been the continuation to the massively popular original trilogy anybody wanted and that’s without going into the problematic ending of the original game, there was still that thrill in this cinematic trailer of seeing Liara again as she walked across a snowy planet ending with her picking up a piece of N7 Armour and ending with the promise that Mass Effect will continue. What this means in terms of the storyline is unclear at the moment and considering that Asari live for centuries we could be looking at a completely new timeline. Certainly consider us excited for this one.

Other titles announced at The Game Awards

• Loop Hero
• Tchia 
• Sea of Solitude: The Director’s Cut (Nintendo Switch)
• We are OFK (interactive series, Spring 2021)
• Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Season 3 (Dec 15)
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Gates of Oblivion (2021)
• Monster Hunter Rise (March 26, 2021) – Demo on January 2021
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War: Season One
• Among Us – New Map: The Airship (early 2021)
• Crimson Desert (MMO, Winter 2021)
• Dragonage
• Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (March 2021, free upgrade for all players)
• Overcooked: All You Can Eat – Swedish Chef (Available Now as Free Download)
• Elite Dangerous: Odyssey (Early 2021)
• F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torch (Coming Spring 2021)
• Evil  Dead: The Game (Coming 2021) – looks like multiplayer
• Ghosts N Goblins Resurrection (Feb 25, 2021 Nintendo Switch)
• Endless Dungeon
• Scavengers – Closed Beta now – www.playscavengers.com
• Hoods: Outlaws & Legends (Play early May 7th)

That’s our highlights of The Game Awards 2020.
Did you watch The Game Awards?
What announcements caught your attention?

Future Games Show 2020 [Recap & Thoughts]

Summer Game Fest introduces something along the lines of what The Games Awards usually would provide with world premieres and exclusive trailers, except without the awards part. Future Games Show 2020 was hosted by Nolan North and Emily Rose online as they introduced each game while giving time for some developers to talk a little about their game and what to expect. 

Quantum Error (TeamKill Media)

Quantum Error is a first person shooter horror game taking place in a research facility that is on fire. Playing as the firefighter captain, what starts out as a rescue mission quickly is more than it seems. Its expected release in summer 2020 on Playstation 4 and later on for Playstation 5. You can find more info on their site HERE.

World Premiere: Dustborn (Red Thread Games)

Dustborn is an upcoming story -driven action adventure, looking like a comic book story, that follows a group of misfits and outcasts on a road trip across America. Using narrative choices, aka the power of words, they need to navigate different different situations, like persuading characters.  Feeling a little like Life is Strange, this is one to keep on the radar. Dustborn is expected to release on PC and consoles. 

Ghostrunner

Ghostrunner is a hardcore fast-paced slasher action game. Looking at the trailer, its in constant first person motion with quick reflexes to kill and survive this cyberpunk world. Its main goal is to fight to the top of a mega structure to confront the Keymaster at the top level. 

Call of the Sea (Out of the Blue)

Call of the Sea is a first person adventure game set in 1930s where the female protagonist is on an expedition in corners of the South Pacific in search of her husband missing from a previous mission. The game is introduced as a balance between puzzle solving and strong narrative. The protagonist, Norah is voiced by Sissy Jones (Firewatch) and aims to tell a story of both mystery and emotional journey.  Call of the Sea is an Xbox/Windows 10 exclusive. 

Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One (Frogwares)

After some success with previous Sherlock Holmes, Frogwares continues with this franchise but this time around they take it back in time to play as a 21 year old Sherlock before he becomes the legend now. Set in the late 19th century where Sherlock Holmes returns home to investigate the mysterious death of his mother, it keeps the open world exploration and now has expanded to being able to interact with the world like people on the streets. Much like its previous games, the detective features as well as taking the right actions to make the correct deductions will lead to different results. Its set to release on PC and console in 2021.

Cygni: All Guns Blazing

Cygni: All Guns Blazing is an old-school shoot-em-up that looks like Galaga and Ikaruga on steroids, all set in a stunning sci-fi city.  

World Premiere: Morbid: The Seven Acolytes 

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes is a pixelated top-down action game that looks like Bloodborne meets Zelda with a healthy dose of pixelated gore, we love to see this get a release for the Switch especially.

Cris Tales

Cris Tales is a love letter to classic J-RPG which plays with the concept of time allowing in real time on one screen to maneuver through the past, present and future. In the developers words, “learn from the past, act in the present and rewrite the future..”. This is also a game which wears its love for the genre on it’s sleeve citing the likes of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 among it’s inspirations.

Hot Shots Racing

Release date: Summer 2020

Lucky Mountain Games’ creative director is Trevor Lay who prior to begining work on  Hotshot Racing had already put in stints with both EA and Rockstar Games and now he wants to bring racing back to it’s arcade roots with the likes of Daytona USA, Virtua Racing, and Sega Rally serving as the inspiration and Sumo Digital providing additional support whose previous games include Sonic All-Stars Racing and Outrun 2006 a perfect fit for such an old school arcade racer.

Neon Abyss

From the creator of Worms, comes another irrelevant 2D action side scrolling shoot ’em up which looks fantastically nuts packed with rogue-like dungeon system. Its set to release on July 14th, 2020 on consoles and PC. 

Skater XL

While the wait for Skate 4 continues, this looks set to help fill the void while certainly tapping into those old school Tony Hawk vibes which itself has a remaster on the way combing the first two games. Its available on Steam Early Access. 

GTTOD Get To The Orange Door

An Xbox exclusive combing run and gun antics with a real Tron Vibe and currently has a free demo to try out on Steam. 

Waking 

Waking is a third person action adventure game set within a coma as you explore a world made up of your own memories in this Inception style adventure.

Space Crew

From the makers of Bomber Crew comes this pixelated take on Star Trek. Space Crew is expected to release in September 2020. 

Maid of Sker

Maid of Sker is a first person psychological survival horror game inspired by Welsh folklore. Its main game mechanics is focused on being stealthy and using a weapon with limited ammo to create sounds to distract the blind enemies walking the hotel grounds. Three different difficulty levels will be introduced which won’t change the scare level but changes the AI reaction. Its expected to release later this year on consoles and PC. 

Future Hits Montage

Rapid fire clip show showcasing titles without full trailers including:

• Smite
• Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
• Carrion
• Unbound: Worlds Apart
• ANNO: Mutationem
• Doggone
• The Almost Gone
• Inkulinati
• Alaloth: Champions of the Four Kingdoms
• Wave Break
• Cloudpunk
• Windjammers
• Hammer Ting
• Stage Hands!
• ArcheAge: Unchained

The Captain Is Dead

The Captain is Dead is a retro sci-fi themed game which is set to tap into the current board game obsession especially as more games get digital versions. The Captain is Dead set to release in 2020. 

Blankos Block Party

Blankos Block Party is reminiscent of Little Big Planet as you play living vinyl toys in a fully customisable world running with both NPCs and other players on their colorful environment. Its expected to release seasonal content regularly. They don’t have a release date yet but it will be in 2020. 

Main Assembly

Main Assembly is a sandbox game which allows you to essentially make anything you want bringing to mind Sony’s Dreams certainly the vehicle construction options look fun. Its currently out on Steam Early Access. 

Last Oasis

Last Oasis is a survival MMO.  The debut from the Polish development team Donkey Crew who here present a future where the Earth has stopped spinning. The result being that the planet split into two extreme environments, one blistering hot and the other cruelly cold. Its currently on Steam Early Access.

Wasteland 3

Brian Fargo, the producer of the original Fallout returns with the most anticipated sequel to Wasteland 2 set for release on Xbox One, PS4 and PC on August 28 and once again featuring the same top-down action of the previous games.

Remothered: Broken Porcelain

Remothered: Broken Porcelain is a survival horror game written and directed by the Italian video game artist and director Chris Darril. It serves as both the prequel and sequel to the original 2017 game Remothered: Tormented Fathers the game will serve as the middle part of his Remothered trilogy as two young girls attempt to solve the mystery of the Ashmann Inn. Its set for release on August 25, 2020 on PS4, PC, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

Rogue Company

While looking similar to Fortnite, the focus of Rogue Company will be more on team play while promising cross play, including the Nintendo Switch. You can sign up for the alpha at www.roguecompany.com.

Outriders

Upcoming Square Enix game Outriders is a third person co-op shooter from Polish producer People Can Fly and featuring four different classes all with their own special abilities which have been revealed over the course of the trailers we have seen since the games announcement.

Disintergration

Disintegration is a hybrid first-person shooter and real-time strategy game from V1 Interactive taking place in a world were human brains integrated into robotic bodies outnumber natural humans. The evil posthumanist faction seek to wipe out the last “uncanned” humans. With you playing as Rohmer Shoal, the integrated outlaw gravcycle pilot, who thinks that humanity should be allowed to exist without being hooked into man-made hardware. It will be released on June 16, 2020 on PS4, Xbox One and Steam.

Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost is one of the more ambitious titles for the next gen consoles and set in a world were World War 2 never ended this mystery adventure game follows a 12-year-old boy who finds a mysterious Nazi bunker while roaming a post-nuclear Polish wasteland.  The game is said to be a journey through the five stages of grief, which will be reflected in dialogue, character interactions, and the environment with your choices gradually affect the game’s characters, as well as its visual style, environment and sound effects.

Operation Tango

In Operation Tango, teamwork is key as you team up with another player to play the roles of an agent and a hacker to save the world from evil forces as you infiltrate enemy strongholds, hack computers, break into secured rooms, and navigate areas filled with enemies and turrets. Many of the solutions push players to solve puzzles in what is promised to be a “Feel-Good Spy Thriller”. Its set to come out at 2021.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits

Little is know about this new IP from Ember Lab being developed for the PS5 as you play a young female hero facing off against forest-dwelling creatures using a magic staff that can also take the form of a bow-and-arrow while using magic to rid the world of evil, and most importantly save those doe-eyed cottonballs.

Serial Cleaner

Serial Cleaner is a top-down action game that casts you as a crime-scene cleaner. Its off-kilter hand-drawn art style is immediately captivating alongside the unique player which sees you disposing of bodies and mopping up blood puddles while avoiding guards, while the prospect of hidden movie levels makes it only the more intriguing. Its expected to release on 2021.

A packed show and certainly a step up from the PS5 launch, but what are you most looking forward to?

Let us know in the comments section below.

Summer Game Fest: Playstation 5 Event (Recap + Thoughts)

E3 might have been cancelled but another version of it spreading over the next few months called Summer Game Fest with different studios and collaborated showcases to share some upcoming games both AAA and independent titles.

The first to kick things off is Sony Playstation who is bringing their PS5 reveal as well as their upcoming games. Kicking off with a reel of Playstation 4 games that have been released, we jump into a show that shares both upcoming games and the different elements of Playstation 5.

Here’s the recap of this year’s online Playstation event!

Playstation 5 Reveal

 

So we finally got out first look at the next generation of gaming and the latest edition to the Playstation family with’s unusual book design let alone the return to white which we’ve not seen from Playstation since the PS1. Hopefully there will be an option for black to avoid the sticky paw prints showing up on the box otherwise our order for the new hardware will include a can of spray paint.

The box is expected to be released in two formats with one having a blu-ray compatible disc drive and a lower priced version being based around digital downloads which when we have seen it previously as with the PSP GO really didn’t future proof itself much less your games library making it possibly a better investment to spend that extra to get the drive

Backwards compatibility has been rumoured amongst the usual shop talk with plans for the console to be able to play PS3 and PS4 titles again pushing the argument for investing in a disc drive.

Still for those of you who like to know the specifics of what’s in the box

• CPU: 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz.
• GPU: 10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23GHz, RDNA 2 architecture.
• RAM: 16GB GDDR6.
• Storage: Custom 825GB SSD.
• Expandable storage: NVMe SSD slot.
• Optical drive: 4K Blu-ray drive.

You will also get a copy for GTA V which no doubt will have most players scratching their heads despite the reassurance that the game is being further expanded when what most gamers want is GTA VI

 

The controllers remain largely the same outside of looking like they have been ripped out of Mass Effect with the touch pad still bafflingly remaining with the light moved from the front to the side of this pad…again not sure who wanted these features kept.

We also see the addition of a speaker / microphone built into the controller which hopefully won’t be on all the time should you be subjected to the foul mouthed ramblings of the squeekers. We also get the share button for the social media minded but likely this will just end up filling the hard drive with mispresses as it currently does when we have seen this elsewhere.

The are ongoing plans for more VR tech aswell as a new camera both peripherals it seems that they are determined to make a thing despite hardly making an impact currently on the general gaming populous.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

 

 

After the success of Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man, their next game is now in the works focusing on Miles Morales’ story which no doubt delight those fans of the first game initially excited to see him in the original game preview only to find that his parts of the game were sneaking missions.

While there was some discussion as to whether this game is a spin-off, its since been confirmed that this will be a standalone title and while the trailer showcased new suits and moves, little is known at this point about the story. Luckily its not too long of a wait as its expected to be released in time for the holidays.

Gran Turismo 7

 

Almost every change in Gran Turismo’s franchise as lead to some new way of being immersed in a new racing simulator. Gran Turismo Sport has kept its game going very well by giving monthly updates of adding new cars and tracks. As this upcoming title is in the making, we can only expect what else they can add to the game. Of course, they did talk a lot about anticipating a campaign mode, which will be interesting.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

 

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the sequel to 2016’s Ratchet & Clank, also developed by Insomniac Games and will be a Playstation Exclusive. This time, the game still takes the third person shooter and platformer perspective as the duo heads into their next adventure. The gameplay shown in the trailer gives some idea on how the dimensional rift between alien worlds will look as well as some of the action parts of how the shooting elements will work and the different weapons.

Project Athia

 

Square Enix games are always something to look forward to. Project Athia looks incredible beautiful visually. However, its only a little teaser trailer that was shown with a little bit of in-development gameplay. Its a game with a female protagonist and seems to have some adventure elements in a world of danger with big creatures. Visually, its very appealing but seeing as Project Athia is still just a working title, the game is definitely still early in development. Its one to probably look forward to in the future.

Stray (Annapurna Interactive) – release 2021

 

A third-person adventure game but really it’s a cat simulator, in which the player controls a stray cat (with backpacks and all) exploring a cyberpunk city, populated by robots. It has open world elements, with a focus on the atmosphere and art while bringing to mind “Three Robots” from Love Death + Robots.

Returnal (Housemarque Game)

 

Returnal is an upcoming game developed by Housemarque Games. The player controls a space pilot stranded on an alien world. Every time she dies, the world regenerates. The game will combine first-person shooter and roguelike elements.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure

 

We should have expected the return of Little Big Planet and of course, Sackboy is back for the PS5 and now on a 3D plain moving away from the usual side scrolling fun in makeshift worlds. It remains however to be seen if the freedom to customise will be carried across to this game or not.

Destruction AllStars

 

Destruction AllStars is developed by Lucid Games and is an upcoming vehicular combat game, exclusive on Playstation. Being gamers of Carmageddon and Twisted Metal at some point previously, its nice to see more of these car destruction derby games appear. It’ll be interesting to see where this game will differ from its predecessors.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits

 

We’re always excited to see games with female protagonists. Set in a oriental story with a lot of oriental music to pair with it, Kena: Bridge of Spirits seems like a cute and action-packed adventure. The cuteness is from the little black creatures surrounding the main character but also the different creatures that she has to fight. Visually, this game looks pretty good in its world, character and creature designs. This game is set to be a Playstation 5 console exclusive.

Goodbye Volcano High 

Developed by Ko-Op, Goodbye Volcano High is an upcoming narrative adventure game set in a world of anthropomorphic dinosaurs circling a group of friends navigating through their final year in high school.  Its set to release in 2021.

Oddworld: Soulstorm

 

Picking up from the remaster of the original game New N Tasty this latest trip to Oddworld will be both a continuation of that game as a remake of Abe’s Exodus while using the power of the new hardware to really create some spectacular moments as we see throughout the trailer.

Certainly of all the games we saw this was one of the stronger arguments for upgrading your console especially for those with fond memories of the original games and looking to see it expanded further.

Ghostwire: Tokyo

 

When GhostWire: Tokyo was first announced, it was really just an intriguing idea. This year, Playstation brings it a step further revealing some gameplay to this upcoming horror IP. The Tokyo backdrop is great for this horro set in the paranormal realm with all the different types of spirits haunting the city. At the same time, we get to see some of the gameplay from its fighting mechanics to enemies. Its definitely one that looks like it will be a lot of fun.  Its set to release in 2021 as a Playstation 5 console exclusive.

Jett: The Far Shore

 

Set for release at the holidays, Jett: The Far Shore is an upcoming cinematic adventure game that is an interstellar expedition on an ocean plant looking for a new place as the future is facing oblivion.

GodFall

 

When GodFall was announced as the first game on Playstation 5 with a not-sure-what-to-expect sort of trailer back at The Game Awards last December, it hasn’t quite been on our minds. This latest trailer is definitely a deeper look as it reveals the gameplay for this upcoming action RPG. Visually, the world and its enemies look cool but then there are hints of reminders of some previous games in the same vein except this one seems to have some cool weapons to master and set in a different sort of world. Its set for release at the holidays.

Solar Ash

 

From the creators of award-winning Hyper Light Drifter, Solar Ash looks visually like its previous game and is pretty much a successor. It still features a masked character but this time heading into The Void.

Hitman III – January 2021

 

Agent 47 is back for his more assassinations with new locations including Dubai while promising the usual blend of stealth and cunning kills which we have come to expect from the series.

Little Devil Inside

 

Little Devil Inside is probably the quirkier trailer so far in this event. It follows a man on an adventure while having a parallel to the routine life of an old man. Where do these two cross their path and what is the correlation will be where it’ll be intriguing to see. The game shows off a lot of fun creatures and definitely feels more light-hearted.

NBA 2k21 – Fall 2020

 

You know what it is so your either excited or not about the yearly update to the franchise.

Bugsnax – Holidays 2020

 

From creators of Octodad, this quirky title promises 100 different bugs for plays to hunt, capture or just stumble across as you figure out the mystery of the island. If you’ve played Octodad then you pretty much know the tone of what to expect in their games and this feels right up the alley especially as soon as the strawberries turned around and scurried around with eyes.

Demon’s Souls

 

As a lot of games gets their remake, Demon’s Souls is the next action RPG in line which was originally developed by FromSoftware. Its remake however will be developed by Bluepoint Games.

Deathloop

 

Arkane Studios has developed some great games before. When Deathloop was first announced, it already looked intriguing. This time, we’re seeing a little more in this latest trailer. Its noir-esque setting, focus on stealth and first person shooter elements all looks like a ton of fun especially as its as its title says: a loop. The story is about rival assassins caught in a time loop and when you die, you just restart the loop again. Of course, the goal here seems to be to break out of the loop. This one looks like potentially a lot of fun.

Resident Evil Village

 

Set a few years after the event of Resident Evil: Biohazard as you play as Ethan once more, this time investigating the mysterious village of the title which is somehow linked to returning series stalward Chris Redfield. Retaining the first person perspective of the last game, fans will be hoping it can continue the revival of the franchise that Biohazard began. Resident Evil 8 is expected to release in 2021.

Pragmata-space-astronaut-saving a girl to the moon – coming 2022

 

Probably one of the latest titles in this batch to expect release in 2022, Pragmata is an upcoming game from Capcom set in a future with an astronaut and a little girl. There’s not a lot to go on except a first glimpse of sci-fi elements so one to look forward to future trailers.

Horizon II: Forbidden West

 

Originally planned for the PS4 this middle part of the planned trilogy now continues on the PS5 as Alloy continues her quest to stop the HADES system from destroying all life on earth. With shots of a post apocalyptic San Francisco the journey is expected to be an epic one especially as we saw shots of deserts, lush forests and icy wastelands as well as featuring new tribes and machines to defeat.

That’s it for this recap and thoughts on Playstation 5 Reveal Event!
What are your thoughts on Playstation 5? Which games are you excited for?

The Game Awards: Winners & Trailers

Taking place in Los Angeles last night the 2019 Video Game Awards is always one of the big events of the year where the excitement is not only for the awards but also the trailers being premiered which in previous years have tended to overshadow the awards themselves. But before like the gather audience and folks tuning in around the around we allow ourselves to get distracted by the trailers here a quick rundown of this years winners.

The Game Awards 2019 Winners

Game of the Year: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision)
Best Game Direction: Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Fresh Indie Game: Za/Um (Disco Elysium)
Best Independent Game: Za/Um (Disco Elysium)
Best Performance: Mads Mikkelsen (Cliff/Death Stranding)
Best Action/Adventure Game: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision)
Best Ongoing Game: Fortnite (Epic Games)
Best Multiplayer: Apex Legends (Respawn/EA)
Best Mobile: Call of Duty: Mobile (Timi Studios/Activision)
Best Sports/Racing Game: Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fuelled (Beenox/Activision)
Best Family Game: Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Next Level Games/Nintendo)
Games For Impact: Gris (Nomada Studio/Devolver Digital)
Best Action Game: Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom)
Best Art Direction: Control (Remedy/505 Games)
Best Narrative: Disco Elysium (Za/Um)
Best Role-playing Game: Disco Elysium (Za/Um)
Best Audio Design: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward/Activision)
Best Strategy Game: Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Intelligent Systems/KOEI Tecmo/Nintendo)
Best AR/VR: Beat Saber (Beat Games)
Community Support: Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Best Score & Music: Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/SIE)
Best Fighting Game: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Sora/Bandai Namco/Nintendo)
Esports Game of the Year: League of Legends (Riot Games)
Best Esports Coach: Zonic
Best Esports Event: League of Legends World Championship 2019
Best Esports Host: Sjokz
Best Esports Team: G2 Esports
Content Creator of the Year: Shroud
Best Esports Player: Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf

Compared to previous years were we have seen one game usually dominate the proceeding it was a pretty mixed spread we were left with once the dust had settled with some big surprises such as Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice beating out Death Stranding twice for not only Game of the Year but also picking up Best Action / Adventure a result only made the more surprising when you consider that Death Stranding has certainly been one of the most acclaimed games of the year ultimately only picking up the awards for Best Score and Mads Mikkelsen’s performance.

Both Fortnite and Apex Legends continued to show their dominance as the Multiplayer games of choice with the bubble yet to burst for Battle Royale games while the continual (and surprising) updates for Super Smash Brothers saw it losing none of it’s dominance as one of the top titles for the Switch. Destiny 2 being included though is kind of a sad reminder of how far the game has fallen in the passing years but hey, at least they can pride themselves on having the best community support…right?

In terms of surprises Disco Elysium was certainly the biggest one as the indie title took on and beat out the Triple A competition to pick up 4 awards including Best Narrative and Best RPG.

Trailers

While the award winners were certainly a mixed field this year with no one game dominating the field compared to previous years. Still in much the same way that the Superbowl is an exciting showcase for movie trailers so too are these awards for upcoming game announcements and trailers and certainly the show gave us the following titles to look forward to.

World Premiere: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is gearing up to release their second DLC expansion. The Rise of the Phoenix will include Iceman, Gambit and Phoenix as well as new modes  such as Danger Room Mode and Gauntlet.

Salaam (Junub Games)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a way to highlight new developers with meaningful games, Junub Games presents an in-development footage of their upcoming game called Salaam which shares the experience of the journey of a refugee to help bring the world to see the lives of others in the world and the road that this developer has taken to get to where he is. Salaam is expecting to release in 2020.

Maneater (Tripwire)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having been announced in the 2018 PC Gaming Show and finally getting a more fleshed out trailer at PC Gaming Show this year, Tripwire comes back this time with a more concrete trailer as well as a release date for their shark simulator where you play as a shark and eat, explore and evolve against the humans. Maneater will release on May 22, 2020.

World Premiere: Humankind (Amplitude/SEGA)

 

 

Humankind (not to be confused with Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey) is an upcoming historical turn-based strategy game with a unique in that it aims to be a customizable experience to make it a world that the player creates in a world that they rule as the leader. This customization will expand well beyond the avatar and include culture and other social elements which has us certainly excited to see how it this plays when it comes out next year.

World Premiere: No  More Heroes III

 

 

 

 

 

 

No More Heroes III  continues the series which is as much a curiosity on Nintendo’s roster as it was when the first game landed on the Switch. Now returning for a third round on the Switch it would seem the franchise has not lost a beat in the years which have passed since the last game making this one to mark on the calender when it’s released 18th January 2020.

World Premiere: Final Fantasy VII Remake

 

 

 

 

 

Can we believe that the actual release of Final Fantasy VII Remake is finally happening! With the March 3, 2020 release drawing closer it was almost expected to see a new trailer. However this time, we’re getting not only cinematic but what everyone wants to see: gameplay!

Its definitely an impressive little game as a remake that will make it quite impressive to see how it all comes together as it will be a different 3D experience compared to the original, even if the story stays the same. It definitely one to anticipate.

World Premiere: Xbox Series X

It may be still a year to go before Xbox Series X launches but Phil Spencer makes an appearance to tell everyone of how this console generation will “power your dreams” and is expected to launch Holiday 2020 with all of their 15 game studios developing exclusive titles to look forward to.

Of course, what is an announcement without showing off at least one of these projects in development and it comes as no surprise that its the one from Ninja Theory.

World Premiere: Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory)

 

 

 

It probably wasn’t a huge doubt in everyone’s mind to expect something in the Hellblade world or sequel of sorts and the project that Ninja Theory is working on is the sequel called Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II.

Sure we might not have gotten much from the in-development trailer which was mostly cinematic while showcasing a rather unsettling world and soundtrack.

Control: Expeditions

 

 

 

 

Control came into The Game Awards strong with a ton of nominations in various categories but essentially going home with one win for Art Direction. However, they will be releasing their first DLC expansion with a new game mode called Expeditions on March 26, 2020 and for Control players, this is a free update so the good news just keeps coming.

World Premiere: Godfall

Of course, we can never leave Playstation out when it comes to new console launch as Playstation 5 is also expected to launch in times for the holidays 2020. Without something more than that, they show a new IP called Godfall which is set in a fantasy land and will be a reinvented loot-driven combat slasher which can be played alone or in co-op and will be a Playstation 5 exclusive, expected to release Holiday 2020 (maybe timed with the console release).

World Premiere: Bravely Default II

Warframe: Empyrean

Warframe always has a lot of new things to offer. While its not a game that we follow closely over here, their latest expansion Empyrean will be out right now and free to play.

Magic: The Gathering – Theros: Beyond Death

It seems there is a lot of Magic: The Gathering news this time around. As the game introduces new card and new story expansion.

World Premiere: Prologue (playerunknown)

Not exactly sure what to say about this trailer as its literally a teaser from the playerunknown team. Is it a new map or a new story or a new game? You can find more info at playprologue.com. From the looks of it, its just a new gaming exploration for the PUBG team.

Fortnite + Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

With gaming currently enjoying such cross appeal Hollywood is keen to make crossovers happen in every franchise. With Fortnite‘s growth, this coming weekend will see their crossover event with Star Wars: Rise of the Skywalker, boasting a Whisper Glider at the beginning drop and some celebrities joining into the event and of course, a personal invitation message clip from J.J. Abrams.

World Premiere: Sons of the Forest

The developers of 2014’s The Forest, Endnight announce their next project and it is the sequel of their survival game in the form of a demon-hunting game called Sons of the Forest.

World Premiere: Ruined King: A League of Legends Story

League of Legends is a big deal in the eSports world especially as this year, they do take home the eSports Game of the Year as well as the Best eSports Event, so the gaming audience is definitely there. With that said, this is just one of the two League of Legend stories to be announced.

World Premiere: Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance

Montreal studio Tuque Games takes on the new Dungeons & Dragons game called Dark Alliance which will be an action role-playing game that will bring friends in to “slay together”. Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance will be coming in Fall 2020.

World Premiere: Apex legends: Mirage’s Holo-Day Bash

In the list of eSports and multiplayer games getting a ton of announcement, the only holiday themed one is with Apex Legends as they have this screen Mirage interaction with host Geoff Keighley. It was an entertaining way to introduce Mirage’s Holo-Day Bash event.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Moon Studios)

Its no secret that we’re big fans of Ori over here at Game Warp. The first game was a brutally hard experience but its story and visuals truly are excellent and Ori and the Will of the Wisps looks equally as charming. Perhaps what makes it even more charming for Xbox owners is that it will release on March 11, 2020 and be available on Xbox Game Pass.

Check out our podcast review HERE.

Steam Game Festival

Everyone likes free games and also free demos to upcoming games. Steam Game Festival is currently going on until December 14th 10am PST on a variety of games to try out the free demo. While this is just available on Steam this year, The Game Awards is hoping to have it available across all the platforms next year. These are the games that you can try out:

• Wooden Nickel
• Carrion
• Acid Knife
• System Shock
• Chicory: A Colorful Tale
• Tactical Galactical
• SkateBIRD
• Moving Out
• Heavenly Bodies
• Roki
• Spiritfarer
• The Drifter
• Eastward
• Haven

World Premiere: Weird West (Wolfeye Studios)

Previously Arkane Studios is now changed to Wolfeye Studios and teamed up with Devolver Digital, they are opening up a new game called Weird West

Set in the alternate West, a land of opportunity, ancient powers and strange entities roaming the landscape. The game shows creative art visuals with a top down style in this upcoming action role-playing game which will appeal to fans of Wasteland 2.

World Premiere: Magic Legends

The second Magic announcement goes to upcoming MMO called Magic Legends. The trailer looks pretty cool with all werewolves and humans and all the fun stuff that the Magic world has to offer. We’re not an expert over here in the franchise. If you are, then you might want to sign up for the beta today HERE.

Path of the Warrior

Oculus Game Studios is hard at work making immersive VR experiences and Path of the Warrior is their latest offering which is available now.

Ghost of Tsushima

Ghost of Tsushima is no doubt a highly anticipated title. Up to now, they have been releasing very good trailers with a good mix of cinematic and gameplay. Being the longest trailer at the show this year, this new trailer offers up a more in-depth look at the story they are telling while giving a nice look at the blood and animation and the vivid colors and a combat scene suitably paired with The Game Awards Orchestra. Ghost of Tsushima will release in Summer 2020.

Gears Tactics

Gears is one of the most beloved franchises in the Xbox Exclusives world which they have built up over the course of the popular third person shooter series only to shake things up this time with turn-based tactical combat strategy game which will no doubt instantly appeal to the XCOM fans

Paired with movie cinematic and a deep story, Gears Tactics will have 40+ hours campaign and will be both a personalized and brutal gaming experience. As with the more recent Gears games, Gears Tactics will be available on Xbox Game Pass upon release on April 28, 2020.

Naraka Bladepoint

Hailing from a Chinese studio 24 Entertainment, Naraka Bladepoint looks surprisingly nice as it start off with a slice of Peking Opera and deliver some vibrant colors and a female protagonist clad in red, with hints of both Chinese and Japanese styles with blades as weapons in this upcoming multiplayer ninja melee combat game set for release in 2020.

World Premiere: Nine to Five

No doubt a wacky way to start off a trailer to see this pastel colors with dancing bunnies with machine guns jumping around but it quickly swaps over to a much more serious mercenary going in for another day at the job in this upcoming first person shooter that will have a focus on strategic gameplay and emphasize on creating teams and making tactical changes to different issues the game will have. You can now sign up for the alpha HERE.

Black Desert Mobile

Black Desert Mobile is now available on Android and iOS.

World Premiere: New World

New World starts off its trailer a little like watching a game version of the movie Annihilation with a lot of creative beauty to come and focus on a fallen statue with multiple faces with draws people from everywhere in search of its power to fall to its corruption. Seemingly led by a female protagonist, this game tells the tale of the search for a promise of power and immortality and the journey and adventure ahead. The trailer is still quite vague but there’s definitely more to see as the release date is in less than half of year set for May 2020.

World Premiere: Convergence: A League of Legends Story

The second League of Legends upcoming game in development is teamed up with Double Stallion Games as the story focuses on the character Echo who creates a device that can manipulate time and tells a rich story of the perils of messing with time.

World Premiere: The Wolf Among Us 2

The Wolf Among Us 2 is a sequel that we’ve been waiting for (at least Kim is) and there was some incredible excitement to hear that this is still happening. There’s still a cautious excitement as Telltale Games did announce before about their closing down and now is working on a new project so as anticipated as this is, its going to be one to see whether it pans out as announced. Telltale Games does need a new engine so we will see what comes of this project. Consider us skeptically optimistic.

Fast & Furious : Crossroads

Calling in the likes of Michelle Rodriguez to announce the new installment to the Fast & Furious franchise seems absolutely perfect. Fast & Furious: Crossroads seems like an arcade racer of sorts imitating the crazy heists and driving tricks that the movie shows off.

How well it will work out is still a little questionable much like the graphics which feel kind of dated. But they did bring in Vin Diesel to bring up the hype and then had them both announce the Game of the Year award as a fantastic way to close up the Awards show in general which they get cool points for. Crossroads is expecting to release May 2020.

With that, this wraps up the trailers and awards recap for The Game Awards 2019!
Any surprises in the The Game Awards? Which games are you most excited for?

The Game Awards 2018: Winners and Trailers

Coverage Recap written by Kim & Elwood

The Game Awards took place on December 6th this year yet again at the Microsoft Centre and hosted as usual by Geoff Keighley in this fifth instalment. This show highlights typically highlights a lot of AAA titles however, its perk is the vast amount of trailers showcased every year to carry us into 2019 with a lot of anticipated titles hanging in the air. Its grown into quite a huge event with Steam streaming as well since last year with their own giveaways and a lot of the nominees also having sales in both PC and consoles after The Game Awards.

Kicking off the show and picking up on the idea of community and healthy competition between the platforms we saw at E3  this year the show started in style with the three heads of state Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aimé, Playstation Shawn Layden and Xbox’s Phil Spencer all coming on stage to talk about common love for game and united together to celebrate creativity and the role video games play in everyday life to welcome all players together. After their speech, it follows quickly with a musical performance celebrating the nominees with Hans Zimmer taking the lead.

The Game Awards of course can’t be mentioned without looking at the many awards given out. Here is the list of the winners in each category:

Game of the Year: God of War (SIE Santa Monica Studio)
Best Ongoing Game: Fortnite (Epic Games)
Best Game Direction: God of War (SIE Santa Monica Studio)
Best Narrative: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Best Art Direction: Return of the Obra Dinn (3909 LLC)
Best Score/Music: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Woody Jackson/Daniel Lanois)
Best Audio Design: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Best Performance: Roger Clark – Arthur Morgan (Red Dead Redemption 2)
Games For Impact: Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
Best Independent Game: Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
Best Mobile Game: Florence (Mountains)
Best AR/VR Game: ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission
Best Action Game: Dead Cells (Motion Twin)
Best Action/Adventure Game: God of War
Best Role Playing Game: Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
Best Fighting Game: Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works)
Best Family Game: Overcooked 2 (Ghost Town Games)
Best Strategy  Game: Into the Breach (Subset Games)
Best Sports/Racing Game: Forza Horizon 4 (Playground Games)
Best Multiplayer Game: Fortnite (Epic Games)
Best Student Game: Combat 2018 (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences)
Best Debut Indie Game: The Messenger (Sabotage Games)
Best Esports Game: Overwatch (Blizzard) (surprised it wasn’t Fortnite)

Best Esports Player: Dominique “Sonic Fox” Maclean (EchoFox)
Best Esports Team: Cloud9 (LOL)
Best Esports Coach: Bok “Reaper” Han-gyu (Cloud9)
Best Esports Event: League of Legends World Championship
Best Esports Host: Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere
Best Esports Moment: C9 Comeback Win in Triple OT vs. FAZE (ELEAGUE)

Content Creator of the Year: Ninja (Tyler Blevins)
Industry Icon: Greg Thomas (Visual Concepts)

Trailer Reveals

World Premiere: Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo)

No a lot is shown for Sayonara Wild Hearts, developed by Simogo, previously known primarily for their mobile games. One of the more known titles could be Year Walk which shows a storytelling depth in this studio’s game design and narrative abilities. Sayonara Wild Hearts is shown as “A Pop Album Video Game”. This definitely hints a heavy focus on music. Whether it is rhythm or not is still left to be seen, although at one part it looks a bit like mobile rhythm game, Lost in Harmony. Not a whole lot could be derived from the trailer itself but it will be launched first on Nintendo Switch.

World Premiere: Journey to the Savage Planet (Typhoon Studios)

Showing off a short teaser trailer for this upcoming adventure game by Montreal independent studio, Typhoon Studios which sets its game where the player is dropped off on a strange alien world by Kindred Aerospace and left with no abilities but high hopes to solve the mysteries of this savage planet. There isn’t any gameplay to show yet as its still early in development but Typhoon expects to have more to show in 2019.

World Premiere: The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe (Crows Crows Crows)

The Stanley Parable trailer breaks the fourth wall in this hilarious trailer as it pokes fun at its sensational nominations in 2013 but zero wins as it gets dominated by The Last of Us that year in The Game Awards. Ultra Deluxe is the console port packaged with not only the game from 2013 but added on with new content and new choices and endings to further the fun. Nothing like a good laugh in the preshow to get into the spirit of things, especially since this console release may probably coincide yet again with The Last of Us 2‘s release.

World Premiere: Among Trees (FJRD Interactive)

Independent games and their teaser trailers are always so very vague. Looking a lot like Fe in terms of color scheme and Shape of the World in terms of the wilderness aspect comes this short trailer called Among Trees, developed by FJRD Interactive. Its visually very attractive but there is still a lot of unanswered questions, mainly what the game actually is about. It is heading to Steam Early Access in 2019 so hopefully the wait won’t be too long for more details to be revealed. Consider us intrigued.

World Premiere: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order (Team Ninja)

Exclusive on Nintendo Switch 2019

Rocket League DLC: McLaren570S Car Pack

There’s always some fun goodies to announce for this title which continues to hold the attention of both gamers and esport fans alike. This new DLC pack for McLaren 570S Car Pack is available now adding to an already stacked selection of content which has been pushed out since the games release.

World Premiere: Far Cry New Dawn (Ubisoft Montreal)

Far Cry 5 was released in February earlier this year and had some pretty positive reviews. However If you haven’t played it yet, this announcement is bound to spoil the ending of the game as they talked about the ending of Far Cry 5 which leads into this post-apocalypse world setting for the next instalment called Far Cry: New Dawn. If you haven’t caught up yet you still have time over the festive period with Far Cry New Dawn set for release on February 15, 2019.

World Premiere: Hades (Supergiant Games)

From the developers of Bastion & Transister, Supergiant Games announces their next project which stays true to their style but still looking like a ton of fun especially when its tagline is “There is no escape”. Hades looks humorous and packed with lots of fighting. Best part is that it is now available on Early Access on Epic Games Store which also gave us a bombardment of titles currently set to be added to the store in the new year.

World Premiere: Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey (Panache Digital Games)

The trend of AAA developers moving to their own independent projects is still quite the highlight of this year as we see Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey pop up developed by Panache Digital Games. Ancestors is a single player open world exploration survival game set in Africa ten million years ago and you play as apes as you move through the millions of years.

The game is expected to release in 2019.

World Premiere: Scavengers (Midwinter)

Scavengers is a debut game developed by Midwinter, a Seattle-based studio. The story trailer showed off the space setting with this co-op survival shooter also coming competitive element to it.

The game will be heading into playtests in 2019 which you can sign up for via ScavengersGame.com .

Dead By Daylight (Behavior Interactive)

Dead by Daylight has been releasing new chapters with a lot of iconic killers added to their rosters. Behavior Interactive expresses the desire to at least keep it alive for the next five years with consistent new content. This time’s world premiere shows off their newest chapter called Darkness Among Us which sees the game finally landing creepypasta, Jeff the Killer.

World Premiere: Anthem (Bioware)

Anthem is EA’s new IP announced already two E3 conferences ago. Up to this point, Anthem has only released a lot of multiplayer gameplay trailers. This time though they finally premiered a story trailer to highlight their world and not only as they word very nicely, “an armored superhero in a fantasy world”.

Currently Bioware are aiming for a February release.

World Premiere: Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled

After the massive success of the remastered Trilogy which sparked the current wave of remastered classics (Wipeout, Spyro) and which see the Mario-Kart-esque racer getting a second lease of life after it fell under the radar of most gamers on it’s original release building a strong cult following since then, so it’s great to see it getting a second lease of life when it’s released June 2019.

World Premiere: The Outer Worlds (Obsidian)

Developed by the original creators of Fallout teaming up again is a new world by Obsidian called The Outer Worlds. This game is a single player role-playing game set in the edge of the galaxy at the frontier of space where the corporation has bought and sold at inflated price. A setting that looks set to create an interesting world with a tone somewhere between Fallout and Borderlands making it certainly one to look out for.

The Outer Worlds is expected to release in 2019.

Dauntless (Phoenix Labs)

Coming soon – April 2019 this game which looked like Monster Hunter World reskinned to look like Fortnite as players will team up to hunt the monster-like Behemoths in hunts which the developer has stated can take up to 20 minutess to complete while promising a combo system to add to what promises to be some giant monster action reminiscent of Evolve.

Frostfall expansion – playdauntless.com

World Premiere: The Last Campfire (Hello Games)

Cute and imaginative, The Last Campfire is a game that has some little adorable creatures looking a little like a mini Yarny wearing a shirt. The trailer itself doesn’t really show much of what the game style is but the game visuals are so captivating and its hard to not have our hearts stolen and really intrigued to see more news on this upcoming title.

World Premiere: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corp)

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds finally gets a Playstation 4 launch on December 7th coming with exclusives of their own like parachutes, and Nathan Drake outfits and The Last of Us Ellie’s backpack. However the most exciting thing about this world premiere for the show was for their new snow map which is now available to play for PC gamers.

This new map is 6 by 6 and the element of snow makes it hard to cover your tracks and will feature new weapons as well as a snowmobile.

Console gamers meanwhile will have to wait until January 2019 or maybe hope Santa brings them a gaming PC.

World Premiere: Atlas (Studio Wildcard)

The latest title for Ark Survival Evolved creators is Atlas, a massive open world survival MMO which visually looks like a fantasy version of Sea of Thieves only with a lot more depth it seems with the developer promising that the game will host 40,000 players and were other than global domination players can participate in  tasks like building armadas, claiming territories, forming empires. The map is unquestionably huge with different regions featuring their own ecology creatures including mystical ones to discover. Continuing the Xbox revolution this title will also be landing there first.

Ashen (Annapurna Internative)

Set in a sunless world and tells the story of a character seeking a home, Ashen combines open-world exploration with co-operation and competition with other players as you combat the numerous in-world monsters, while character growth is controlled more by equipment than stats with Talisman’s found in game being used to upgrade powers and abilities. One certainly for fans of King’s Quest or DayZ.

Crackdown 3 (Sumo Digital)

It’s always a hilarious time when we see any promo for Crackdown 3 while at the time leaving us all the more surprised we haven’t had a release yet. Terry Crews heads this newest trailer. Perhaps nothing very relevant to the game itself but two things came out of it. The first is that Crackdown 3 will be included from Day 1 of launch on Xbox Game Pass and second the release date is February 15, 2019.

World Premiere: Dragon Age: The Dread Wolf Rises (BioWare)

Nothing much to report from this trailer but after all the development issues its exciting for fans of the series to know they will finally be seeing a fourth game in the franchise.

World Premiere: The Pathless (Annapurna Interactive/Giant Squid)

Giant Squid has a beautiful team put together and after their success with Abzu there is a lot of  intrigue in what they have to offer for their next project. Suffice to say that it’s exciting to see that they have stuck close to the veins of their previous game. The Pathless’s trailer shows off a lot of great elements such as the ninja styled main protagonist having an eagle companion and the prospect of large wooded areas and flying sections combined with fantastical creatures and a stunning sound The Pathless is one to look out for when it gets a release in 2019

Check out our podcast review of Abzu HERE.

Survived by (Humanhead Studios)

Survived by is currently free and available on Steam Early Access now.

World Premiere: Stranger Things 3: The Game (BonusXP)

Stranger Things has had a lot of love on Netflix and despite a slight stumble with their second season, the third season is still highly anticipated. This upcoming game for developed by BonusXP who made the first mobile game for show with this latest title set tie into the third season and of the show which keeping in the tone will be 16-bit style co-op and goes some way to make up for the now cancelled Telltale Game.

World Premiere: Mortal Kombat 11 (NetherRealm Studios)

Ed Boone bamboozled us when he was there to present the award for Best Sport/Racing Game but before the nominees, it cued in the trailer for a new Mortal Kombat game trailer. While it might not have given us any gameplay it’s safe to say that the general tone of the trailer certainly gave the impression that this title won’t be toning down any of the trademark violence or gore of the series as longtime as showcased with this showdown between Raiden and Scorpion.

While details are still limited it has been promised that like Injustice 2 characters will have customisable elements enabling players to make characters their own like never before.

Fans can in the meantime look forward to a community reveal event on January 17th with the global launch set for April 23rd.

World Premiere: Psychonauts 2(Double Fine Productions/Starbreeze Studios)

Despite being delayed till 2019, there is still a lot of excitement for this sequel to the cult favourite which after a 13 year wait it’s great to see that the fan backed sequel still has a lot of the original game charm, quirky humor and colourful characters as players travel to the Motherlobe, a secret fortress of mind secrets.

Devil May Cry 5 (Capcom)

Showcasing the now trademark fast paced action of the series, this latest entry in the series looks set to harness the full power of the current gen consoles with Dante and Neo, this time being joined by a third new character known only a V. Subtly be damned if this already doesn’t look like another fun hack N’ slash.

Xbox fans meanwhile can enjoy a demo now.

Fortnite (Epic Games)

It’s funny to think that the game has only been out for year for how ingrained it’s become in the gaming community with this 7th season set to introduce a new festive theme

For you creative types the introduction of the new Block Creative Mode will allow players to experiment even more with the game while also getting to harness their inner game designer as the development team continue to harness the community spirit which has unquestionably made the game so popular.

Rage 2 (Bethesda)

The more we see of this game the more excited we get and with this latest frenzied trailer consider that that excitement to be at an all time high with Bethesda serving up a delicious gameplay stew with Vehicle combat like we saw in Mad Max aswell as first person action and humour akin to Borderlands and Bulletstorm. Unquestionably this is one to look out for!!

World Premiere: Super Smash Bros Ultimate (Nintendo)

Opening to a preview of Challenger Pack  whose first release will be Joker from Persona 5 furthering the selling point that this really is the biggest Smash Bros ever but also featuring more crossovers than ever before. Each of these additional fighters coming with their own themed stages as well as music while of course making is all the more keen to see who else is waiting to be revealed. While there was no new trailer for the which has now finally been released we did get to see a nice montage of gameplay footage soundtracked by the Game Awards orchestra providing a fitting close to the awards.

An entertaining if overblown runtime, but with the huge selection of trailers on show it made it still an event worth tuning in for, so perhaps like the Superbowl some of us are more interested in what trailers are being shown than who winning. Needless to say 2019 is not only like an exciting year for gaming but looking at the list of titles we personally want to play its also looking like an expensive one.