Aaah Gamescom, the Valhalla for gamers everywhere. Sweaty convention halls, hour-long queues, overpriced food, ... it's all worth it to catch the barest glimpse of up-and-coming games. Or you can just read this article!
There's no need to tell you that Gamescom is the biggest soft-and-hardware (there is a lame joke in there somewhere, I can feel it) convention in Europe. Hell, some of you might have even been there (I envy you!) and were able breathe in the atmosphere firsthand (I hope you brought deodorant).
Gamescom is more than just a relay of information however, the stands, the merch, being around so many like-minded people, meeting popular streamers, and of course declaring your love (or seething hatred) for games and developers alike ... there is nothing quite like it.
Here at Outpost we've been following the stream of data that poured out of Germany and we've selected some highlights that we think would make excellent additions to our mighty gaming rigs in the near future*.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War
I always look forward to returning to Tolkien's epic fantasy world, even if this game sometimes plays fast and loose with the lore of it. Having forged a new ring of power in the last game the dynamic duo of Talion and Celebrimbor are up to no good and the orcs will feel it in their ... neighbourhood?
The story seems to be light in this sequel with a bigger focus on expanding the awesome combat of the first game along with improving the Nemesis System (for the likes of me I still don't know why other games haven't picked this up yet). You'll be able to import your arch-nemesis, favourite follower and eventually raise a massive army to become a royal pain in the ethereal behind of Sauron.
Gamescom also gave us a sweet new trailer: Take a look.
Assassin's Creed: Origins
You never know what you miss until it is gone so, after taking a year-long hiatus, we're hoping this game will scratch the Assassin's Creed itch that has been bugging fans of the series.
No more are we going forwards in time (which is a bit sad as I would have liked techno-assassins tbh). Instead we're going a couple of millenia back to before the assassin's order was even founded! Ancient Egypt is so mysterious and grand it has to be good right? And speaking of grand, the open world map promises to be the biggest one yet!
Gamescom gave us not one, but two epic trailers and we've heard there'll be animal taming! Do you have any idea how scary a pet hippo is? Those things are two-ton death machines!
Age of Empires IV
After announcing there will be definite remasters of AOEII and AOEIII, Microsoft dropped a bombshell by announcing the production of Age of Empires IV. Our Saturday Brawl people are going to be so happy!
We don't really have much information about it yet, apart from this cool trailer!
Destiny 2
Destiny 2 is officially coming to PC and that should make many an Outpost gamer excited as that means we'll be able to show those graphics in sweet, sweet 4K.
There's a lot we can talk about: clans, cinematic story, limited character continuity, etc ... but I think I'll just show you the launch trailer and let you drool on that for a bit.
Star Wars: Battlefront II
Do we really need another Star Wars game? The answer is: yes, yes we do. Star Wars is life.
EA hasn't really wowed us with the previous iteration of the massively popular online shooter, but they seem to be pulling out all the stops for this one. At the very least it looks graphically impressive and seems to draw from just about every Star Wars movie ever made (I wonder if we'll see the Ghost as well, that would be awesome!)
If the game is as good as this trailer there might be some hope yet ... a new hope even.
Of course that is not all that came out of Gamescom. There were other major titles like 'The Evil within II' (which releases appropriately on Friday, October 13th), Anno 1800, Fifa 2018, Sea of Thieves, and who knows how many other games for PC, Xbox, PS4 and mobile! I have probably angered half our gamer community by leaving out their favourites ...
You can always take that anger and use it to petition my boss to let me go there next year. You know, for the sake of Outpost article quality and stuff. I'd certainly be very grateful!
*Warning: bad puns incoming!
