Gamescom is over for another year, and like any respectable gaming website (ha), I need to give out a few awards. Let's get right to it.
Game of the Show
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
I gave Evolve the award at E3 this year because it does look like a special game, and I don't know if it's just because I'm starting to get burnt out on it or what, but I'm not giving it to Evolve this time around.
I think I have to give it to Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor because while I am well aware of the game and what it is promising, getting to see it in action more just left me more excited. I don't feel like I'm getting burnt out on it. Both Middle-earth and Evolve are revolutionary to some extent, but I dig Mordor more.
Surprise of the Show
Silent Hills/PT
It's really hard to beat a new Silent Hill announcement, especially when it's done suddenly and in the form of a seemingly unrelated teaser trailer.
Aside from that, I was really intrigued by Wild and I'm curious by what it's going to offer.
Press Conference of the Show
Sony
Even though the Microsoft press conference felt bigger with the emphasis on bigger titles, Sony had two of the biggest surprises of the show for me -- as mentioned above -- and it was just a solid collection of lesser-known games. There is a time for AAA titles and a time for indies, so I'm not really putting more importance on either, so it is literally just Wild and the announcement of the Silent Hills teaser that put it over the edge for me.
Disappointment of the Show
Dead Island 2 Has No Story, Assassin's Creed Unity Has Microtransactions
I was wondering why we had Dying Light and Dead Island 2 coming out fairly close to one another, but Gamescom has shown that they are a lot different. Though they have some similar elements, Dying Light has more parkour and more story, so it'll be more like the first Dead Island but better.
Dead Island 2, on the other hand, seems to be endless with no real narrative to drive it forward. Even though the first Dead Island, and Riptide, didn't have amazing stories it was still something. So unless I'm completely misunderstanding, I think Dead Island 2 will get boring because doing missions is not what it's all about. Give us something else.
I'm also disappointed with Ubisoft because there is no fucking reason for a AAA title to have Microtransactions. I always thought Ubisoft was a company we could love, but they seem to be going down an EA route in some ways. They aren't nearly as bad, but Ubi... don't mess this up. There is no justification for this, even if they claim it won't affect gameplay and you can acquire all the stuff without spending money. How do we trust that progression hasn't been tweaked to accommodate the cash grab?
Unrealistic Desire For Gamescom
An Announcement of a New Perfect Dark
Before Gamescom, there was talk of a new Rare game that wasn't focused on Kinect. I'm all for that. While other people said a new Conkers (which would be awesome, don't get me wrong), Banzo-Kazooie or even a Diddy Kong Racing, I wanted a new Perfect Dark because I loved the first one and Perfect Dark Zero, even if Zero was a bit of a step down. Alas, no such luck. I knew this though, because PD doesn't seem to be the series that people want to see Rare revive. I don't get it though, because Rare became truly legendary with Goldeneye for the N64 and Perfect Dark is actually a better game.
The Trend of Gamescom
4 vs 1 Multiplayer, Player Invasion In Single-Player
There is no doubt that this year, the trend of Gamescom was a focus on 4 vs 1 multiplayer. When Evolve was first shown, everyone thought it was really cool. It still is, but games like Shadow Realms, Dying Light and I think a couple others are now jumping on the bandwagon. I'm not criticizing it, I'm just simply saying that it seems to be the newest trend in gaming.
There is also a focus on having multiplayer that blends seemlessly into the single-player experience. We've seen a few games in Gamescom like this, such as the new Metal Gear, Dying Light, etc. I'm iffy on this because when I'm playing a single-player game I want to enjoy the single-player without fearing that I'm going to miss out on stuff in my campaign because I'm not playing multiplayer. It's still a very cool idea, however.
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