Xbox had its own stream on Tuesday night which was technically part of Gamescom, but the event started in earnest last night with Opening Night Live hosted by Geoff Keighley. This one was a lengthy affair, wrapping up in just about two hours — but it had to be, considering all the news and trailers on show. If you didn’t get to watch it, here’s what you missed.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
Firaxis, the developer behind the XCOM franchise, revealed its newest project. Midnight Suns is a tactical RPG — what else from Firaxis — with some familiar faces and an all-new custom hero designed for the game. You’ll get a proper look at gameplay on 1 September with another trailer from the studio. The game is slated for release in March 2022.
Halo Infinite release date and a special edition
The release date for Halo Infinite was revealed to be 8 December. Originally expected to release as a launch title with the Xbox series X, it was pushed back due to that still-present global pandemic. This new trailer looks to add a bit of narrative to the game’s multiplayer mode. Although releasing on 8 December, that’ll just be the free-to-play multiplayer mode. The campaign, co-op and creative Forge mode will follow in due course.
Microsoft is also releasing a new Halo Infinite themed special edition of the Xbox series X console. It’s not yet known if this, like the Forza Horizon controller, will be available in SA but we can dream.
Horizon Forbidden West delayed
Horizon Forbidden West is coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on 18 February 2022! Pre-orders will begin next week, on 2 September. Are you ready to continue Aloy's journey?https://t.co/aMD8LIWbf8 #HorizonForbiddenWest pic.twitter.com/bRP3kToGji
— Guerrilla (@Guerrilla) August 25, 2021
In some less exciting news, Sony’s sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Forbidden West is delayed to 18 February 2022. While it hadn’t had a concrete release date before now, it was originally meant to release towards the end of this year. Now it seems like that was just what the devs were hoping for, rather than a solid commitment. It’s not all bad news though, the first title has received an update that unlocks 60 fps on the PS5. That update should be available to PS5 owners now.
Saints Row gets the reboot treatment
The over the top open-world action franchise, Saints Row, will receive the reboot treatment with a new title coming out on 25 February 2022. It’s expected to be available on last-gen and current-gen consoles as well as PC. So far, the start of next year is looking chock-full of promising titles.
New World open-beta announced
New World, developed by Amazon Game Studios, has had relatively positive reviews during its closed beta. The game will soon be open to all. During the newest trailer at Gamescom, it was revealed that the open beta will run between 9 – 12 September. Hopefully, we won’t see any more GPUs bricked this time around. The game is set to launch on 28 September and is already available to pre-order on Amazon and Steam for R430 for the standard edition.
Death Stranding: Directors Cut trailer
Although Death Stranding game director Hideo Kojima doesn’t like the term ‘directors cut’, that’s what it says on the cover so that’s what we’re calling it. The new trailer shows off what he means by ‘additionally produced’. We generally enjoyed our time with the original game so we’re keen to try this version.
2/2
In the game, it is not what was cut, but what was additionally produced that was included. Delector's Plus? So, in my opinion, I don't like to call "director's cut".— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) July 12, 2021
Call of Duty: Vanguard campaign trailer
Following the recent announcement of Call of Duty: Vanguard and ahead of the open-beta multiplayer weekend this weekend, during the Gamescom stream Sledgehammer gave us a rather scripted look at what we can look forward to in this nearly 10-minute trailer. The game is set for a 5 November 2021 release if all goes to plan.
Gamescom and a few indie games
The following titles revealed at Gamescom, while not major titles, still impressed us enough to include them. Even if it was only because they confused us, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Cult of the Lamb
Despite the cutesy visuals and the fact that you play as a lamb, make no mistake, this next title from Devolver Digital looks like it’s going to rock a few boats. After you’re saved from execution by a powerful being, you’ll need to build up a cult of loyal woodland creatures to repay your debt. We can’t wait for the 2022 release.
DokeV
We can’t decide between Cult of the Lamb and this for the most bizarre trailer at Gamescom so far. And if we’re completely honest, we’re having a hard time trying to describe the gameplay of DokeV. Just going on the trailer, there’s longboarding in what appears to be an open world and people who appear to be children fighting what appear to be monsters called Dokebi — legendary creatures from Korean mythology. Your guess is as good as ours when it comes to the rest. The song was kinda catchy though.
Sifu
Sifu looks like it’s going to be channelling classic martial arts movies into a video game. From the trailer, the animations look very fluid and slick so let’s hope that carries over into the gameplay as well. You’re looking at a 22 February 2022 release for this one.