Sometimes, in the business of critiquing games, there comes a moment where you have to ask yourself if your expectations of the creators behind projects are too high. Are you holding people, and their work, to too great a standard? Would you be strong enough, focused enough, bold enough to make the choices that lead to this game existing in the first place? Can you really say that, in their position, you’d do better than they ever could? I think about all of that, and then games like GORDY fall into my lap to remind me that having standards is important too. Sometimes, games are hollow, ambling, and slapdash in their construction - being able to acknowledge those failings and examine them in detail helps us understand and celebrate how other games prevail where this particular experience fell short. And if there’s one thing to be said in GORDY ’s favour, it’s that it isn't lacking for teachable moments, however much I may wish it did. Developed and published by MyGrandfather Games...
Rather Interesting - Maneater
You're a shark in this one, you eat people. It's the reversal on Jaws I never expected nor thought I needed in my life, yet cannot imagine a world without. Silly malarkey, but of a breed that I appreciate thoroughly.
Runner-up - Sable
Drawing upon much more offbeat influences than many in the post-apocalypse genre (Belgian comics and Studio Ghibli films were specifically name-checked), the unorthodox look of Sable's world makes me positively eager to see more of it in action.
Has Potential - Two Point Hospital
My biggest hang-up here is not having familiarity with Two Point Hospital's spiritual predecessor, Theme Hospital. Beyond that, everything I've seen and heard tells me this'll be a quirky and charming hospital sim with a lot of fun scenarios to play through.
Runner-up - The Walking Dead: The Final Season
Not having followed up with Telltale's run of Walking Dead titles since Season 2, I find that the alterations made to the comic-style aesthetic and the prospect of this being Clementine's last outing are nevertheless sufficiently interesting hooks as "reasons to play" go. However, I can't shake the feeling that this could end up a casualty of Telltale Games' recent internal turmoil. We'll see.
Not Especially Impressive - Overkill's The Walking Dead
Looks like another co-op zombie shooter in the making. I liked Payday: The Heist and appreciated aspects of Payday 2, but the game Overkill is pitching here just doesn't look that far removed from the likes of Valve's Left 4 Dead.
Runner-up - Satisfactory...?
I guess, gun to my head, Satisfactory didn't precisely woo me with its promise of yet another sci-fi assembly line/manufacturing sim - oh but this one's in first person, so it's sort of different.
That quibble aside (and the game above noted), most of what PC Gaming showed off seemed at least somewhat promising. Good stuff on the whole.
Sony
Rather Interesting - The Last of Us Part 2
A sweet kiss between two women, intercut with some truly grueling protracted fights that illustrated Ellie's growing brutality as a survivor. If you wanted a sequel to The Last of Us to declare loudly its intent to build upon and intensify its predecessor's strongest points, this is a compelling case for Naughty Dog getting it right.
Hype's not quite the words I'd use here, but I'm certainly engrossed by what's been set up so far. Now to stick the landing.
Runner-up - Ghost of Tsushima
We're getting a whole heaping of samurai goodness in the near-future, but Sucker Punch came out of the gate swinging with Ghost of Tsushima. Set during the 13th century amid the invasion of Japan by the Mongol army, this project seems aimed to deliver an astoundingly well-realized vision of its medieval Japanese setting WHILE ALSO seeming to be an intense sword combat game where fights are as swift as they are brutal.
Has Potential - Resident Evil 2
Capcom's track record is spotty, especially the further past the 90s we get, but when they're on few quite match up in quality or creative drive. And this project - coming as it does so soon after the success found with Resident Evil 7 - looks like it might be another reminder of that legacy.
Resident Evil 2 was a pretty good follow-up to one of gaming's seminal horror works, even if it suffered from the laundry list of issues that plagued many a 90s horror game. So a from-the-ground-up remake to bring the game more in line with the refinements introduced in Resident Evil 4 makes sense, and probably has the greatest chance of resulting in a solid game on launch. Fingers crossed here, Capcom.
Runner-up - Control
Remedy Entertainment of Max Payne, Alan Wake and Quantum Break fame are back, and they're doing... something. There's guns, there's cubic architecture, there's rooms and areas that seem to change shape - some serious Antichamber vibes coming from some of the footage shown. I really want this one to work out, partly because it seems exceptionally off-kilter (among my favourite of moods struck by games) and partly because it just feels good to see Remedy doing their thing.
Not Especially Impressive - Uh...
Look, barring the weirdness with how it was presented (the change in venues mid-way through, 'twas odd) Sony's conference was damn classy through and through. Now just handle your damn shit regarding Fortnite and cross-platform play, and we're square.
To be continued... in Part 4! And yes, after that, we're done here!
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