The biggest night of the year for new game reveals has just ended with first looks at The Wolf Among Us 2, Gears Tactics, Bravely Default 2, and more.
After more than three hours of adverts, live music, adverts, trailer premieres, adverts, award announcements, and yet more adverts, The Game Awards 2019 are finally over. And, as usual, they’re not exactly what everyone was expecting.
The reveal of the Xbox Series X name and console, as well as Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, was a huge surprise and undoubtedly the most significant bit of news from the night – although PlayStation 5 exclusive Godfall was also a very welcome surprise.
You also got the first trailer for Fast & Furious: Crossroads, a (vague) release date and trailer for Ghost Of Tsushima, and two new single-player League Of Legends spin-offs.
What was equally surprising though was what wasn’t there, with Half-Life: Alyx allegedly being pulled just at the last minute – although no-one seems to know why.
Despite all the evidence that a new announcement is imminent, there was also no word on a new Crash Bandicoot game and nothing on a new Batman title – although that project has been hinted at for so many years now it’s become more of an urban legend than the Dark Knight himself.
Another surprise was how little Nintendo had to show, even though they’d gone to the effort of promoting the event. In the end they didn’t have any first party titles, just DLC for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, Suda51’s No More Heroes 3, and Square Enix’s Bravely Default 2.
There were many other smaller announcements throughout the massive three-hour long event, which we’ll try to summarise below. Although some trailers were mere seconds long and showed absolutely nothing, so all the information you really got was the name and publisher.
Maneater
It was announced on PC back at E3, but now this tongue-in-cheek shark simulator is coming to consoles too and will be out on 22 May next year. The trailer starts out relatively sane, and reminiscent of 2006 game Jaws Unleashed (itself inspired by Ecco The Dolphin, by the same developer) but then starts getting whacky with Sharknado style hijinks like evolutions and jumping out of the water.
No More Heroes 3
A typically bizarre trailer for Suda51’s sequel was shown as part of The Game Awards’ pre-show event (alongside Civilization clone Humankind), which at first seemed to be implying it was something to do with A Boy And His Bob and then… well, you can see for yourself. Although the trailer above is the extended version that’s even weirder. The game’s out sometime in 2020.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Surprisingly, Square Enix’s blockbuster-to-be was also only in the pre-show section of the show but while it is technically a new trailer it didn’t really show much that was new, just different shots of one of the early boss battles and some more from Aerith and Tifa. At this point we don’t think anyone needs any further convincing about the game, which is still scheduled for 3 March.
Mortal Kombat 11
Along with A Plague Tale: Innocence, Mortal Kombat 11 was offering a sizeable discount on purchases during The Game Awards, with 50% off in its case. Although the real new was that the Joker DLC will be released on 28 January. There wasn’t any gameplay, but we get to see Cassie Cage in her Harley Quinn outfit to make things a bit more thematic.
Control Expeditions DLC
After winning the award for best Art Direction, it was a good night for Control, as developer Remedy unveiled a free challenge mode called Expeditions, which should be available to download right now. The also gave a very brief glimpse at the first paid-for DLC expansion, which is called The Foundation and will be out on 26 March.
Bravely Default 2
The closest thing to a big reveal from Nintendo was actually a Square Enix game, with an unexpected sequel to 3DS title Bravely Default from many of the original developers and Octopath Traveler’s Team Asano. Confusingly, there already is a sort-of sequel, in 2016’s Bravely Second: End Layer, but since it didn’t have a number at the end of its name we guess it doesn’t count. Still, Bravely Default is great – probably our favourite retro Japanese role-player of the generation – so another one is more than welcome.
prologue
Perhaps the most pointless reveal of the night was whatever the hell Prologue is supposed to be. It’s by PUBG creator PlayerUnknown, aka Brendan Greene, and is set in a forest and… that’s all we know. There’s no indication of format, although it will almost certainly start off on PC. Whether it’s a shooter or something else is impossible to guess but apparently it’s not anything to do with Battle Royale. ‘Our aim with this game is to give players unique and memorable experiences, each and every time they play’, is as close to a description as Green has offered, which suggests maybe something to do with procedural generation?
Sons Of The Forest
The follow-up to The Forest also didn’t explain an awful lot but it was a pretty effective trailer, with some very weird goings on that had an almost Silent Hill style vibe with the weird demon woman near the beginning. There was no indication of formats at the end, which could mean a next generation release, but again it’ll probably start with a PC beta or early access.
Dungeons & Dragons Dark Alliance
You can see what they’re going for with this trailer, with the in-your-face camera view and Game of Thrones style battle in the snow, but it all comes across as very silly, especially when the dwarf gets involved. How similar it’ll be to the original Dark Alliance games, which were action-based spin-offs from Baldur’s Gate, remains to be seen but it’s definitely co-op so they must be aiming for roughly the same idea. The game’s out next autumn.
Ori And The Will Of The Wisps
This was a bit of a disappointment, not in terms of the trailer – which looked gorgeous as usual – but the fact that the game has been delayed exactly a month to 11 March. Whether it’ll also come to Switch, like the first game, isn’t clear but it probably won’t do so until at least a year after the initial release.
Weird West
It’s not the most inspiring trailer but as the first game from Wolfeye Studios, which was founded by some of the key people behind Dishonored and Prey, Weird West is worth taking note of. The top-down viewpoint is very distancing, especially for a game with a horror atmosphere, but given the pedigree of the developers, and the promise of another deep sandbox style action role-player we’re definitely interested. The formats were unclear but it’s already up for pre-order on Steam.
Magic Legends
Of all the adverts that keep interrupting The Game Awards, half of them seemed to be for trading card game Magic: The Gathering. But there was one related video game announcement as well, with a new MMO by Perfect World. They’ve been talking about making the game for years but since the trailer is pre-rendered there’s not much to judge it by. They’re calling it an MMO action role-playing game, which is going to make for a hell of acronym, and you can try and sign up for the beta here.
Path Of The Warrior
The only VR reveal of the show is a first person homage to scrolling beat ‘em-ups such as Final Fight and Streets Of Rage. It’s by Twisted Pixel, who we could’ve sworn went bust after disastrous Xbox One launch title LocoCycle, but we guess not. The cartoonish art style isn’t going to please everyone but it seems a good fit for VR and it’s also coming out on Oculus Quest.
Gears Tactics
Not to be confused with mobile game Gears Pop!, this is a proper console and PC title that looks very much like XCOM mixed with Gears Of War. It’s by Brink developer Splash Damage and in terms of production values seems pretty close to Gears 5, with the promise of a 40+ hour story campaign. Although the dialogue in the trailer is bad enough that that may not entirely be a good a thing. The gameplay looks solid though and it’s out fairly soon, on 28 April.
Naraka: Bladepoint
Even more Tenchu-like than Ghost Of Tsushima, you could be forgiven for thinking this was a straight clone. But it’s actually described by Chinese developer 24 Entertainment as a ‘a raucous online multiplayer combat title’. We can’t say we really got that from the trailer but it looks good whatever it is. There’s no clarification on what formats it’ll be on, but it is due out next year.
Nine To Five
Despite what the trailer initially implies this is a military shooter set in a dystopian future where everyone’s a mercenary for hire. Studio Redhill Games include a lot of ex-Remedy and Wargaming developers amongst their staff, so there’s every reason to expect good things – even if we do secretly wish the game was the cartoon one from the start of the trailer. It wasn’t entirely clear, but Nine To Five seems to be a free-to-play PC game, at least at first, and you can try and sign up for the alpha here.
New World
As far as ideas for new video games go, an MMO where you’re trying to colonise other countries doesn’t seem like the most politically sensitive choice. There’s a heavy fantasy element to New World though so, perhaps like the similarly themed GreedFall, it might all work out for the best. It’s out on May 2020 from Amazon Gaming and again there’s a beta to try and sign up for here if you’re interested.
Surgeon Simulator 2
Purposefully bad video games (or films or anything really) are usually the very worst idea possible but somehow Surgeon Simulator manages to pull it off. The sequel’s announcement trailer is pre-rendered, so there’s no clue as to what the game is really like, although there is the hint of a co-op mode in the final game, which is out next year.
The Wolf Among Us 2
A sequel to comic book tie-in The Wolf Among Us was already underway before Telltale Games went bust, but to find out it’s survived their demise and is carrying on with the original voice cast is great news, as the original is one of their best ever series. The ultra short trailer tells you nothing though, with not even a hint of a release date.
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