Alright, it's been a while but we're back again to cover the PC Gaming Show, the Xbox Showcase and the Ubisoft Forward. After this, that's it, that's all, we're done here. PC Gaming Show The Most Questionable Stuff 3. Road to Vostok (???) Choosing to look down on a game for overt familiarity from the word ‘go’, even if all it has done at this point is have its existence announced to the world, is not inherently an act to be proud of. Much of gaming iterates and builds upon what came before, much of the medium as it stands (for good or ill) exists because someone looked at a past work and were inspired to develop their own take on the material. How many excellent games would cease to be if people decided that “it’s just a clone of X” was a valid argument in itself? I establish this now to make it clear that I do not roll my eyes at Road to Vostok for taking the form of a sparsely-populated shooter set in a post-apocalyptic wilderness area… but rather because it loo
Alright, it's been a while but we're back again to cover the PC Gaming Show, the Xbox Showcase and the Ubisoft Forward. After this, that's it, that's all, we're done here.
PC Gaming Show
The Most Questionable Stuff
3. Road to Vostok (???)
Choosing to look down on a game for overt familiarity from the word ‘go’, even if all it has done at this point is have its existence announced to the world, is not inherently an act to be proud of. Much of gaming iterates and builds upon what came before, much of the medium as it stands (for good or ill) exists because someone looked at a past work and were inspired to develop their own take on the material. How many excellent games would cease to be if people decided that “it’s just a clone of X” was a valid argument in itself?
I establish this now to make it clear that I do not roll my eyes at Road to Vostok for taking the form of a sparsely-populated shooter set in a post-apocalyptic wilderness area… but rather because it looks like the most mundane, artistically uninspired version of that concept. Nothing shown in its PC Gaming Show teaser gave the impression that Vostok was delivering an experience substantially different - or more interesting - than its peers.
2. Atomic Picnic (???)
As best I can tell, this seems to be aiming for a Fortnite-style online looter-shooter experience, albeit with a 3D anime look applied to the characters. Beyond the possibility of fighting some eldritch monsters, I cannot bring myself to feel excited for something pitching itself as the niche version of an already-available, far more popular game.
1. Hidden Door (???)
I really don’t want to be too harsh to the team behind this project, which is less a video game than it is a medium for generating role-playing campaigns with AI assistance. The CEO appeared earnest in intent, and based on the existence of works like Tabletop Simulator there is clearly a market for digital applications catering to group role-playing exercises.
It just doesn't feel like this is the best moment to take a swing at something so dependent on AI to function. We've just witnessed an industry-wide, multi-union strike in Hollywood where a major concern of those protesting was how studios and companies were eyeing artificial intelligence as a way to keep churning out material while allowing them to not pay artists their worth. There's also the matter of machine learning living or dying by the care and consideration of its human architects; many a chatbot and algorithm-based system has run into trouble because the creators weren't conscious of their own biases, didn't account for widespread exploitation or failed to safeguard against the AI succumbing to hallucination.
The Most Promising Stuff
4. Critter Cove (Q1 2024)
Yes, it’s impossible to deny Critter Cove has more than a passing resemblance to the likes of Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, right down to the homestead construction and adorable anthropomorphic cast. But it’s a winning approach for a reason, the 3D art style on display here is charming and I’m intrigued by the apparent inclusion of deep-sea exploration and travel between isles by boat.
3. Ebenezer and the Invisible World (November 3rd)
A side-scroller in that familiar non-linear Metroidvania style does not in itself stand out from the pack; the last decade or so has seen an influx of interesting games borrowing notes from Metroid and Castlevania, ensuring any new take on the subgenre has to work extra hard to stand out and prove its worth.
Pairing the Metroidvania game flow with a retelling of A Christmas Carol, positioning Ebenezer Scrooge as an unlikely action hero in a version of Victorian England visualized through exquisite hand-drawn animation? Now that’s a strong hook.
2. Fortune's Run (??? for full release; currently in Early Access)
Though we’ve seen quite a few first-person shooters broadly evocative of the early 3D shooters that dominated so much of the late 90s, Fortune’s Run feels like the first in a while whose affection for the period runs deeper than just aesthetic preference.
Yes, it’s a delight to see classic 2D character and object sprites interacting in a grimy, low-polygon 3D space, but that’s surface level stuff. The flow of the combat, relying as much on melee weapons and close quarters combat as on firearms, seems to have shades of Duke Nukem 3D or Shadow Warrior to it. Furthermore, the constrained nature of the game’s apparent space station setting suggests more than a passing familiarity with vintage Id Software design.
1. Last Train Home (???)
Talk about something you don’t see every day. Last Train Home looks to depict the aftermath of the First World War and the subsequent turmoil of the Russian Civil War from the perspective of Czechoslovakian veterans just trying to get home to their newly formed republic. The choice to focus on a lone train’s complement of soldiers and medics is an intriguing one, and could lend higher stakes to the resource management and tactical combat shown in the trailer. I’m very keen to see what comes of this.Xbox Games Showcase
The Most Questionable Stuff
2. Senua's Saga: Hellblade II (???)
I won't sugarcoat this: I bounced hard off of the original Hellblade. While I appreciate what it was going for with its protagonist Senua’s condition and respect Ninja Theory for embarking on such a bold departure from their previous work, something about the feel of combat and the overbearing bleakness just didn’t click with me.
Thus, this first true look at Hellblade II leading with abstract imagery and a heavy helping of grunge, minus anything substantial indicated about plot or game feel, is making what I’d consider to be a hard sell.
1. Fable (???)
A lot of folks have been eager to see what’s become of the reboot to this generally well-regarded series, once helmed by the now-defunct Lionhead Studios and its chronically overpromising co-founder Peter Molyneux. Though a trailer was shown at the Games Showcase, the amount of new information about the next Fable was… basically non-existant.
We could perhaps say that the glib self-awareness to the humour in the trailer suggests this new Fable will have some degree of parody inherent in the writing. It may be that Richard Ayoade showing up as a denizen of this fantasy setting speaking to a presumptive documentary crew - or, given that this is medieval fantasy, some other chroniclers of history - means he’ll be in the game proper. A broad sense of tone and perhaps one character is not a ton to go on, especially when the question of how this reboot will distinguish itself - or justify its existence - still looms large.
The Most Promising Stuff
2. Clockwork Revolution (???)
Set aside for a moment the obvious resemblance to BioShock Infinite, or the temptation to generalize this project as “What if that game’s middle act was good, actually?” The premise of a carefully cultivated steampunk cityscape being potentially undone (or perhaps liberated from tyranny?) by the protagonist’s dalliance with time manipulation is a strong starting point, and developer inXile Entertainment’s pedigree when it comes to richly-detailed role-playing games speaks for itself.
1. Persona 5 Tactica (November 17th)
From where I sit, the blend of tactics gameplay and the particulars of the Persona series’ turn-based combat appears seamless, the concept of 5’s Phantom Thieves spearheading a resistance effort feels in keeping with that game’s characterization, and the super-deformed approach to the art style is adorable. This has all the makings of a standout spin-off.Ubisoft Forward
The Most Questionable Stuff
3. Ol' Gonad Face himself, Yves Guillemot, showing up
Is it the most professional or respectable choice in the world to single out one particular industry executive at one particular conference? Perhaps not. Does it necessarily fit with this round-up's stated intent of focusing on the games? Not exactly. Is this exceptionally petty and rude? Absolutely.
Guillemot straight up has this one coming, though. He's the boss of a company that fosters a toxic work culture and allows for managers and executives to engage in various forms of misconduct, made worse by the allegations that Guillemot is aware of and permits such behaviour if the games produced under such unconscionable conditions still meet a certain standard of quality. His complicity and indifference in such serious matters ensure that I, and others, will never cease reminding the world of this testicle-faced man's failures.
2. Assassin's Creed Mirage (October 5th)
From the outset Ubisoft has been pushing this as some kind of return to basics, a smaller and more focused reminder of the series’ supposed strengths. Its Baghdad setting and focus on the Mid-East branch of the proto-Assassins is clearly designed to evoke the original game’s memory, albeit paired with a user interface and game feel closer to those of the newer titles. It is, in conception, a rose-colored appeal to nostalgia for a bygone age, an expression of longing for what once was… except we’re talking about an ongoing series of games that started in 2007, not the fucking ruins of a fallen empire from millennia ago.
The more that is shown of this game, the more contempt I feel. Mirage’s moment-to-moment play appears to be going through the motions without much to distinguish it from its predecessors, the continued fixation on fleshing out the minutiae of the Assassins and Templars’ origins leads me to suspect the narrative will be hours upon hours of treading water and layering on more convoluted worldbuilding details, and I don’t trust Papa Ubisoft to NOT find a way to fuck around with unwanted monetization or some degree of open-world busywork.
The team can claim their intent is to tighten things up and avoid the bloat of past games, it doesn’t change the reality that this entire endeavour is fueled by a desire to recapture the glory of a series that was never THAT glorious to begin with.
1. XDefiant (???)
So what we have here is yet another military shooter game in the post-Call of Duty 4 mold, being marketed based on its appeal to Twitch streamers and (presumably) the competitive gaming scene, looking like it stole colour scheme and map layout notes from Overwatch but without the compelling personalities and endearing 3D cartoon style. I guess that tracks - “hollow imitation without heart or passion, purely for mindless profit” is just the Ubisoft way.
The Most Promising Stuff
2. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (December 7th)
This will be an interesting case study in how the unstoppable creative force that is James Cameron interacts with the deep-rooted, stubborn-as-hell tendencies of the blockbuster side of the games industry. For what it’s worth, Frontiers of Pandora looks astounding, coming across as a natural extension of how Pandora was depicted in the films. If the exemplary spectacle and world design of Avatar really can overcome Ubisoft’s adherence to their own open-world formula, we might have something special here.
1. Star Wars Outlaws (TBA 2024)
Dubious as I am of most AAA attempts to expand the Star Wars universe these days, I can’t deny Outlaws at least makes a more interesting pitch than most. The focus on criminal and outsider elements at the margins of Star Wars is a nice change from the norm, the lead actress seems to be enjoying her role as a Han Solo-esque figure named Kay Vess, and the game at least looks the part with its highly detailed take on Star Wars’ worn-in 70s sci-fi aesthetic. Also, I will never turn up my nose at an adorable space axolotl pet or a commando droid companion.
-FIN-
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