Tag: gamescom

Gamescom 2024

On the morning of August 21 here in Australia, Gamescom 2024 went live. And dropped a Santa sack of goodies onto the web. Here’s a highlight reel of what happened…
In the 30-minute preshow we got; Dave the Diver crossovers with Balatro and Potion Craft coming October, life sim Inzoi, and game announcements for Sniper Elite Resistance.
Then in the actual main show a teaser for Borderlands 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 coming October, Goat Simulator Remastered coming later this year, Persona 3: Reload DLC – Episode Aigis pitting you against Joker from Persona 5 coming September, Kyle Crane returns in Dying Light: The Beast, Arc Raiders got a price tag and release for 2025, Path of Exiles 2 is coming to early access in November, Xbox mecha fans are getting a closed beta in August for Mecha Break, Little Nightmares creators are returning in Reanimal, while Supermassive Games is continuing the series in Little Nightmares 3 coming 2025, more info into the upcoming survival MMO Dune Awakening, Marvel Rivals will release December, Civilization 7 is coming February 2025, be the Batman in VR with Batman: Arkham Shadow, Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is coming to Xbox and PC December, and Peter Molyneux took to the stage to announce Masters of Albion

“So I’ve looked at Dungeon Keeper – I’ve taken some things that I’ve wanted to explore further with Dungeon Keeper. I did the same with Black & White – I’ve taken some things from Black & White. I’ve done the same with Fable.”

The Monkey King Rises

The highly anticipated action RPG, Black Myth: Wukong, has officially launched. Based on the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West,” the story follows the transforming Monkey King as he is faced with regrets, sacrifice, and fate all while seeking redemption. Developed by Chinese studio Game Science, the game is filled with Chinese folklore and mythology and has garnered a massive hype.
Since its release, Black Myth: Wukong has quickly climbed the charts, and at the time of writing Steam’s second biggest game ever with 2.2 million concurrent players.
However, the release has not been without controversy/ragebait. A leaked streaming agreement explicitly prohibits content creators from discussing politics, China, or feminist topics. While this was not extended to journalists who did not receive the same brief, it has raised concerns about censorship and the influence of the developers’ guidelines on free speech.

Now for some Gaming Bytes

Nerfs ahoy with Sorcerers in Diablo 4’s Season of the Infernal Hordes getting buffed… a little too much. The Fractured Winterglass item was causing so many Splintering Energy procs in one build it was causing server lag. A nerf was quickly released halving the procced spell numbers but doubling the damage. This still halved the damage output of the sorcerers and you’re only hearing about it because it is the build I play and I’m salty.
Helldivers 2 released a new update full of “balancing” nerfing flamers and more. The backlash has led to players purposely failing Major Orders, traitorous player killing, and more generally – uninstalling the game.
A PSA to Counter Strike players: Don’t go out and get the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro or Wooting’s Snappy Tappy keyboards for that sweet SOCD strafing because Valve has just banned them and if you use them, you too can get hit with the ban hammer.
And at Devcom 2024 those attending were surveyed and 90% of the devs say that games don’t need microtransactions and games can be “…financially successful just by being Buy-to-Play.”

And finally some game releases

Hey look, it’s another power up team-based shooter called Concord coming to PC and PS5 Friday August 23. Then on Monday August 26 World of Warcraft’s newest expansion The War Within releases. Tuesday August 27 why not chase taxes and collect debt in Debtors Club on PC. And Wednesday August 28 clean up the cutest afterlife as a cat in Crypt Custodian coming to PC and all major consoles. And in more cat themed adventures, why not become a giant monster cat and destroy cities in Monster Run: Downfall of the Empire on PC. Or you can shout PARKOUR in Supermoves coming to PC.

This week on Zed Games Hazel leads the charge with Caroline and Maylee talking this week in Gaming News, Gamescom 2022 announcements, and the long awaited review of Disco Elysium from Caroline, with a strong endorsement pre-record from Paul.

Opening Night Live at Gamescom

Gamescom, the worlds largest gaming trade show is currently happening in Cologne, Germany. Geoff Keighley, the founder of the game awards and part time Dorito King hosted Opening Night Live to kick off the occasion filled with 2 solid hours of game announcements.

Kicking off the show was a game called ‘Everywhere’ headed by ex-Rockstar lead Leslie Benzies who had been previously responsible for the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ series from ‘GTA 3’ through to ‘GTA Online’. The game developed under his new studio Build a Rocket Boy is an ambitious open world and multi world multiplayer title featuring 3^rd person action and driving and looks to have multiple visual styles and a goal of allowing player creativity. There aren’t many details at this point but it certainly looks like one to watch.

Sony revealed a new controller for the Playstation 5. The Dualsense Edge wireless controller allows users to customise their button mappings, travel and dead zones and save their setups to profiles as well as changeable stick caps, back buttons and stick modules. Price and release details to come later.

‘Moonbreaker’ is the anticipated new title from Unknown Worlds who were previously responsible for ‘Subnautica’. They have teamed up with popular writer Brandon Sanderson to create a fantasy tabletop style strategy game wherein miniature figures fight it out. Embracing the theme these figures can be custom painted in game with impressive fidelity.

‘Dune Awakenings’ jumps aboard the sandworm of popularity that has burst from the earth of the recent film series. This survival mmo is developed by the team at Funcom Oslo who brought us ‘Conan Exiles’.

Do you remember 1988’s cult film ‘Killer Klowns from Outer Space’? Well the executive producer of the ‘Friday the 13^th‘ game certainly does as they’re heading development of a ‘Dead by Daylight’ style multiplayer game using the IP. In a unique combination the game will see 3 players taking the role of the Killer Klowns and 7 players as the humans trying to survive.

The last reveal of the night was the re-reveal of the long delayed and troubled ‘Dead Island 2’ which is now on its 3^rd developer and is now so far along the announcement included a polished 10 min gameplay segment. The colourful, open world, zombie FPS based in sunny Los Angeles and a release date of Feb 3 2023.

There were many other reveals however including details for ‘New Tales from the Borderlands’, ‘Under the Waves’, ‘Return to Monkey Island’, ‘Atlas Fallen’, ‘The Outlast Trials’, ‘The Calisto Protocol’ and the Pinocchio Souls Like ‘Lies of Pi’. To check out the full lineup you watch the official presentation.

Destiny 2 Showcase

Bungie also held a showcase detailing upcoming ‘Destiny 2’ details including the new expansion ‘Lightfall’ which takes us to the previously hidden neon city on Neptune, Neo Luna. To help explore the new metropolitan environment players will get Destiny equivalent of a grappling hook. There were many other details for upcoming content and user experience in the showcase and included an upcoming crossover with ‘Fortnite’. Check out the Presentation here.

Say Goodbye to Project Cars 1 and 2

Project Cars 1 and 2 will be delisted later this year as car and track licensing deals expire.  Those who own the game will be unaffected but if you were hoping to pick them up sometime your time is getting short. The games will be removed from sale on October 3^rd and September 21^st respectively.

PSVR2 release

Sony has confirmed via twitter that the Playstation VR2 will release early 2023. The price point is still under wraps.

Game Releases

Pac-Man World Re-Pac (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC), Soul Hackers 2 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – August 26

Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC), Immortality (Xbox Series X/S, PC, iOS, Android), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC), Tinykin (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – August 31