I don’t know why, but I was expecting a lot more out of this year’s Gamescom. Unfortunately, it ended up being mostly a dud. Still, there’s always a couple things of note to come from each show, so let’s round up a couple of the highlights.
Empire of Sin
John Romero’s Empire of Sin is a Prohibition-era take on XCOM. It’s the crossover I never knew I wanted so badly. As a huge fan of gangster movies (and games) and someone who plays XCOM a little obsessively, I was all over this from jump. The gameplay trailer that debuted at Gamescom looked great, so I’m looking forward to learning more about the game before its spring 2020 release.
Wasteland 3
That Microsoft money appears to have made a huge difference for InXile’s Wasteland 3. What was an already promising looking game showed off some significant improvements, particularly in the polish and presentation of its conversation systems. With the alpha version of the game just rolled out to Fig backers, gameplay footage has begun to pop up and it’s looking awesome.
GreedFall
Spiders hasn’t had the greatest track record, but BioWare’s left a huge void in the world of narrative-driven RPGs and the more I see of GreedFall, the more encouraged I am about its potential to fill that void. I’m not planning on pre-ordering the game at this point, especially since I’ll be playing Borderlands 3 all of next month, but I am cautiously optimistic that Spiders may come through here.
Borderlands 3
It’s no secret at this point that my hype level for Borderlands 3 is through the roof. I’ve been hoping to avoid spoilers and details, but frankly, I just can’t resist latching onto every new development. Gearbox’s “Guide to Borderlands 3” video that debuted at Gamescom has got my mind racing with all the different possibilities the game will offer. Proving Grounds, a sort of take on Diablo III’s Rifts, also sound like a great outlet for endgame mobbing.
HUMANKIND
More than anything else, I am obsessed with Firaxis’ Civilization games. With hundreds upon hundreds of hours in Civ 6 alone, I think I may have a bit of a problem. I also love Amplitude, the developers of the Endless games, which include 4X titles such as Endless Legend and Endless Space. Amplitude’s games feature beautiful presentation values, varied factions, and simply amazing soundtracks by FlyByNo.
HUMANKIND, announced at this year’s Gamescom, represents a departure for Amplitude. Instead of continuing with a new game in the Endless series, their next project takes on the Civ games directly with a new history-based 4X game featuring massive, sprawling cities and a unique twist on faction choice. Oh, and the Bach Toccata and Fugue cover in the trailer was dope. Sign me up!
What were your highlights of Gamescom 2019? Share 'em with us in the comments below!
