Team Talk | What was your highlight of Gamescom?

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While the crowds might not have descended on Cologne in Germany for the biggest gaming event of the year, Gamescom still brought together the biggest trailers and game reveals it could muster, virtually, starting with the 2-hour Opening Night Live stream.

We’ve pondered the selection and picked out a few of our favourite moments. Be sure to let us know what you’re looking forward to in our comments section.

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by James Michael Parry

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@James_Parry

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by Team PTC

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@pass_controller

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James

It might have been an easy sell for an unapologetic franchise die-hard, but the showing for Star Wars across the board was cause for excitement.

We already knew about it, but EA Motive’s latest Star Wars: Squadrons, which puts you behind the cockpit of both Rebel and Empire ships after Return of the Jedi, showed off its single player offering. There were a few different types of missions mentioned, and hopefully the different ship types have plenty of variety too, but one thing’s for sure, the recreations all look extremely detailed and faithful to their cinematic counterparts.

There was more galaxy-based combat on show in a gameplay trailer for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. This is familiar ground, of course (we’re up to the sixth installment since 2005), but even the most recent Star Wars-themed outing managed to move the entire concept forward in some key gameplay areas, while holding onto what makes these games so fun to play.

The prospect of having all nine main films to play with at the same time is nice, but it’s really the sense of scale shown in the snippets in the trailer which gives the impression this is really trying to do the series justice.

As if that wasn’t enough, we also got news of some themed items in The Sims 4, no doubt sowing the seeds for hundreds of Force-powered families, ideal for streams and YouTube videos.

The Skywalker Saga is looking Crait.

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Sam

Gamescom 2020 didn’t do much for me. I’m excited about several of the featured games, but most didn’t present anything new or of substance during the digital event.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart left me impressed following its initial reveal, though the footage that capped off Opening Night Live largely retread the same ground. It was a similar situation with Mafia: Definitive Edition, which received a short trailer when just a couple of days prior lengthy previews were all over YouTube.

Dragon Age 4 is another I’m looking forward to that didn’t show particularly well. We’ve known it’s on the way for years, but still we only get looks at concept art and character models; well, that and what could be empty promises from BioWare.

Indies fared better, as they did during last month’s State of Play, with Little Nightmares 2 and 12 Minutes putting in strong showings. Bridge Constructor: The Walking Dead also proved surprisingly compelling, mostly for its sheer outlandishness.

Finally, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond left a sour taste due to questionable marketing. The classic series’ return looks impressive, which is why I got all excited to see Oculus Quest as a supported platform. Take a moment to check the smallprint, however, and it becomes clear that there isn’t actually a dedicated Quest version. Instead, you’ll need a compatible PC and an Oculus Link cable… which kinda defeats the purpose of owning an all-in-one VR headset, no?

You'll still need a beefy PC to enjoy Respawn's Above and Beyond.

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Liam

DIRT 5 is a game that continues to pique my interest, even though I’m not that much of a racing fan (though I did enjoy Codemasters’ GRID reboot). I’m not exactly big on map editors, either, but DIRT 5’s playground mode shown off during the stream looks surprisingly robust, and the teaser for a vampire mode, which I assume is a vehicular take on infection, has me intrigued.

Elsewhere, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War continues to sound promising, although as a fan of the original Black Ops, it’s still a bit weird hearing Mason, Hudson and Woods without their original voice actors. I especially like the idea of the campaign’s optional objectives and nonlinear elements, and I look forward to experiencing them as my hastily made protagonist - character creators be damned!

Star Wars Squadrons was the highlight of the show, however, and I am thoroughly looking forward to its release next month. Everything I’ve seen of the game so far has me convinced it could very well be the modern-day Rogue Squadron I’ve been waiting for, and even though I’m going to be picking it up on Xbox One, if I end up getting a PS5 I’ll be seriously tempted to double dip just for VR support.

Probably the closest we'll get to a new Rogue Squadron.

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What were your highlights from Gamescom? Let us know below or in the forums.