Gaming’s biggest convention, E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), concluded last week. Press conferences were held, trailers shown and exciting big reveals were made. Updates and highlights included big name titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Halo Infinite, the next generation of Xbox and more! Read on to find out what upcoming titles you should keep your eye on.
Cyberpunk 2077
CD Projekt Red, the developer behind The Witcher 3 that won multiple Game of the Year honours is back with one of the most talked about games at E3 – Cyberpunk 2077.
Teased since May 2012, it’s finally been given a release date. And much to the delight of those in attendance, it was Keanu Reeves (who plays Johnny Silverhands in the game) who announced it: 16 April 2020. He truly is… breathtaking.
In Cyberpunk 2077, you’ll play as V, who’s a fully customisable character. Choose between male or female, or maybe even… A transgender?
An advertisement for Nvidia’s ray tracing tech showcased a screengrab of an area in Cyberpunk 2077 and in the middle of that image is an in-game soft drink ad. Zoom into it and you’ll see that the female figure in the ad clearly has a penis.
In a Polygon interview with Kasia Redesiuk, the art director responsible for all the in-game fiction media of Cyberpunk 2077, explains that “in [the year] 2077, especially with how much body modifications are available, I think people just mix and match however they want, however they feel”. She adds that “even society is more open to different kinds of relationships”.
So, does this mean players get to choose transgender characters? “This is something that we are still discussing internally,” Quest director Tomaszkiewicz says in an interview with Polygon. “But stay tuned, we’re going to have an update about this for sure, whenever we make a call on that.”
Cyberpunk 2077 releases on 16 April 2020 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One from $69. For pre-orders and more information, click here.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
From the creators of Titanfall and the popular battle-royale Apex Legends, comes Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. It’s a single-player Star Wars game set in the period after the end of Revenge of the Sith and follows the story of a young Jedi padawan on the run from the Galactic Empire.
The 13 min gameplay trailer showcased movement, platforming and most importantly lightsaber combat. The lightsaber has always been OP (overpowered), slicing through everything and everyone like a hot knife through butter. But not anymore. Respawn has stated that it has focused on “thoughtful combat”. According to Game Director Stig Asmussen, “it’s more about really figuring out what is the best angle to get on your enemy, and what’s the best way to take them down.”
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order releases on 15 November, 2019 for PC, P4 and Xbox One from $69.90. For pre-orders and more information, click here.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel
With 14.27 million copies sold worldwide, the best-selling Zelda game returns with a sequel currently in the works.
The trailer doesn’t show much gameplay but the fact that it’s a sequel suggests that the timeline could be after events in Breath of The Wild. As for the release date, no specifics have been given but since the sequel takes place in the same world, perhaps it could be here sooner than we think? We can only hope!
Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel will launch on the Nintendo Switch. Price and release date TBA. For more information, click here.
Halo Infinite
After Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, perhaps the next most tantalizing tidbit of information is that Halo Infinite (Halo 6) will be launching with Mircosoft’s new console.
Sadly, it wasn’t a gameplay trailer but what do we know from the developers is that the storyline will focus on Master Chief with “his greatest adventure yet to save humanity”.
Will there be multiplayer? Specifics remain sparse but there will be a split-screen feature for local multiplayer. Other than that, we just have to wait for an entire year until it releases.
Halo Infinite releases in Q4 2020 with Project Scarlett and on PC. Price TBA. For more information, click here.
Watch Dogs Legion
Play as ANYONE. Literally. The sequel to Watch Dogs 2, Watch Dogs Legion is set in post-Brexit London and unlike its previous title, you’ll be playing as more than one character. In fact, you can literally play as anyone you come across in London and their backstory will influence the type of stats they will have. Time to recruit Granny across the street.
For example in the demo, Derek Adyebo the NPC is addicted to adrenaline and deals 100% extra damage, but may randomly drop dead and die. And when they’re dead, they’re gone forever. Permadeath in Legion is a thing. The game is that deep.
Watch Dogs Legion releases on March 6, 2020 for PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Google Stadia from $70. For pre-orders and more information, click here.
Borderlands 3
Coming sooner than you thought, the FPS-RPG genre in Borderlands 3 is back with all its gun totin’ glory. The gameplay is similar to the shoot-and-loot system of its previous titles. Besides a new planet with new cities to explore and new villains to take down, it really does look pretty much the same as the previous Borderlands game before it.
But because of the procedurally generated weapons from dropped loot, there’s that incredible 1 billion weapon combination in the game to look forward to. Replayability for every edition of Borderlands has always been high and you should expect the same or even more for Borderlands 3!
Multiplayer support now includes local split-screen co-op. There’s also a rumour of cross-platform multiplayer. More ways to play with friends is always a welcomed bonus.
Borderlands 3 releases on September 13, 2019 on PS4, Xbox and PC (Epic Games Store 6-month exclusive) from $82 onwards. For pre-orders and more information, click here.
Marvel Avengers
With all the hype that Marvel has created with its cinematic universe, it’s no surprise we’re seeing a game being developed for it and about time too. From The Hulk to Iron Man, you’ll get to play as most of the Avengers but will it live up to the MCU hype? People on social media don’t seem to think so.
https://twitter.com/CharlotteBeyond/status/1138273200515665920
Well, they finally announced the avengers games, oh boy, that announcement was something else, haha#SquareEnixE3 #Avengers pic.twitter.com/JdCw44Bidw
— BenTheSadfleck (@BenSadfleck) June 11, 2019
Well, whatever the case, there’s still an entire year before it gets released. Long enough to make improvements and changes from what was shown.
Marvel’s Avengers releases on 15 May 2020, on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Stadia from US$59.99. For pre-orders and more information, click here.
FIFA 2020
EA’s been improving on every FIFA game since it started releasing in 1993. So what’s new for this year’s release? From a gameplay perspective, the physics of the ball and player’s movements, shooting, dribbling, and shooting have all been improved. For example, there’ll be more realistic ball trajectories, so deflections from ball spins and which part of the player’s shoe it makes contact with will play a part as well. All in all, you can expect even greater football physics realism from this year’s release.
Also. besides the standard fare of eleven-a-side matches, this year’s FIFA 2020 features Volta Football. Remember the ol’ days of Fifa Street? It’s back as the new Volta Football mode. Play 3v3, 4v4, 5v5 in both indoor and outdoor matches in cool futsal courts all around the world.
FIFA 2020 releases on September 27 2019, on PS4, Xbox One and PC from $79.90. For pre-orders and more information, click here.
CONSOLES & INNOVATIONS
Project Scarlett
As expected, Microsoft officially announced that the next generation Xbox is in the works. Though we still don’t know what it looks like, they did confirm the specs on the next generation console, dubbed “Project Scarlett”.
With the custom AMD Zen 2 processor, Microsoft claims that it will be four times as powerful as the Xbox One X. It’ll also feature ray tracing support, GGDR6 memory and up to 120fps gameplay and 8K resolution. Not only that, there’s finally backward compatibility on the Xbox console. This means you get to play any game from the previous four generations of Xbox. Finally.
For more information on Project Scarlett, click here.
Google Stadia
The Netflix of games. That’s probably the easiest way to describe what Google’s Stadia is. Basically, this subscription service allows you to play just about any modern games on any screen you own without having a machine to power it. Instead, Google’s servers will handle all the processing crunch of running games via the cloud and beam it all to you.
At E3, Google announced the premium version of Stadia aka Google Stadia Pro that allows for 4K gaming and free access to a curated pool of games. The cost? Cheaper than you think – $13 a month.
Also, Google announced a list of games that will be available on the platform. Some notable titles include Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Borderlands 3, Destiny 2 and DOOM Eternal. For the full list, click here. Rockstar, the developers behind GTA and Red Dead Redemption 2, has also been confirmed as a Stadia developer.
If cloud gaming really takes off, it could drastically change the gaming landscape. Imagine not having to build $1K gaming PCs anymore to play resource intensive games. And cheaper than a monthly mobile subscription!
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