Summer Game Fest and shows round-up | Team Talk

​We're back with a bang to bring you our thoughts on all the games announcements of the past couple of weeks, from Summer Game Fest, the Xbox Showcase, Nintendo Direct and back again.

While we don't have tons of gaming blockbusters hitting consoles in 2024 compared to last year, it's clear there's plenty to look out for in the next couple of years.

Side note: Thank you for bearing with us in our absence.

Once you've perused our choices, let us know what you're excited for in our Discord, or in the comments.

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by Team PTC

​@pass_controller

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Perfect Dark, Dragon Age and Gears of War | James Parry

Call me old fashioned, but while I always champion new IP and fresh ideas, like many gamers, when push comes to shove I also have a bit of a soft spot for things I've played before.

Xbox in particular had me their entire show, with the return of both N64 classic Perfect Dark and Gears of War prequel E-Day both pleasant surprises.

The former was my first experience of bots in multiplayer and built on the excellent bones of GoldenEye before it, while the latter has been the source of many outstanding single and multiplayer experiences throughout the series' varied history.

Further to that was the updated title for the new Dragon Age instalment – The Veilguard. BioWare not only had an impressive trailer to show but the reporting in the days since has revealed we're in for a balance of RPG and big action which only they can deliver.

What they have shown off suggests a more linear, story-driven experience that the series is known for, with familiar faces and some pretty visuals. Here's hoping the vibe that made the original trilogy so iconic lives on in the team that remains at the troubled developer.

Elsewhere there were certainly fun bits and pieces dotted about. A new LEGO-flavoured take on Horizon, Assassin’s Creed has a fun new setting but the jury is still out, and Star Wars Outlaws should be solid, though being a franchise piece it does have an unfair advantage…

Luckily, amongst all the big names, tons of indies also got their chance to shine. The ones shown off by the newly created Blumhouse Games particularly stick in the mind. Hopefully I'll be able to carve out more time for them this year.

State of Decay 3 and Fable | Chris Brand

Much like James, most of what caught my eye came from the Xbox Showcase. Possibly because that's the only console I own, possibly because a lot of those titles will be available through Game Pass at no extra cost and I love free stuff.

Though I struggle with horror-themed games, I can just about handle State of Decay 2 without succumbing to The Fear. Of course, it is much easier with someone to watch my back and taxi my character to our objective whilst I reluctantly make a coffee at 11:00pm as my eyes keep closing and cocaine is expensive. It's a huge improvement over its predecessor and even though State of Decay 3 probably won't be as big of a leap, it seems reasonable to expect that some new ideas will have made their way into the threequel.

There seems to be more of an emphasis on remembering the lost, which is sure to be a big part of my playthrough as all of my favourite characters eventually die. Usually due to me refusing to outfit them with the best gear, in case I lose that too. Good weapons are hard to come by but people are everywhere.

If you'd put a bet on me mentioning Fable, then congratulations, you've won fat stacks of cash. And your bookie is weird, who takes bets on stuff like that? Send me his number. The latest trailer follows the series' long-running tradition of not taking itself too seriously but things started to heat up near the end as we were, almost, introduced to this game's big bad. Maybe we'll get to see a good chunk of gameplay in next year's showcase, as the 2025 release window potentially means we've got 18 more months of me banging on about Fable.

Gears of War E-Day and Metroid Prime 4 | Liam Andrews

I missed most of the actual events of the past few weeks, but catching up on all the announcements is my preferred way to approach these shows as I can pick and choose which games to focus on.

My highlight of all the events goes to Gears of War E-Day, but it could easily have been Metroid Prime 4, which looked amazing and was something I wasn’t expecting to see released anytime soon. I’m a big fan of the original Metroid Prime (and the remaster) and I’m hoping we’ll get a rerelease of the two sequels at some point before the latest entry comes out as I’d like to get up to speed with any important story events before diving in.

I’ve played every Gears of War game, bar Tactics, which I should really get around to at some point, and enjoyed all of them so I’m really looking forward to a new mainline game. I especially like the concept of going back to the start of events, as it’s something that’s only really been explored in spin-off books (which I’ve also read) as far as I can remember.

I know it wasn’t gameplay, but the CGI trailer looked very good and did its job of getting me hyped for the game and I can’t wait to see more.