Being the world’s largest gaming event, it was of course a disappointment that the global gaming community didn’t meet in Cologne this year due to the pandemic. Nevertheless Gamescom managed to hold an impressive 4-day online event, providing their usual excitement to gamers worldwide—with countless announcements, reveals, trailers and more exhibited.
Here, we’ll summarise the key takeaways from the event, foregrounding the biggest title announcements and takeaways from Gamescom 2020.
Games
The New Dragon Age
Seeing as it’s over half a decade since the last Dragon Age release, fans are excited by even small nuggets of information—and that’s, of course, what we got. BioWare teased the new title while, in a talk with the developers, they discussed how the new title looks to innovate on old tropes. That means new characters, concepts, wildlife, architecture, locations and, of course, story.
Unknown 9
A world premiere teaser trailer for Reflector Entertainment’s upcoming Unknown 9: Awakening provided some tantalising teases for what this 2021 title will hold. So far, we know that it’s a narrative-driven game that features a protagonist who can manipulate the world around her—seeing spectres and influencing her perception of time in the process. It’s coming to PC and next-gen consoles, so it’ll surely utilise the potential of those upcoming systems.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Serving as a direct sequel to the original Call of Duty: Black Ops, released in 2010 the upcoming FPS helmed by the usual Treyarch is set to release in November this year. The most exciting development is the inclusion of optional objectives and multiple paths in single-player missions, providing narrative shaping moments which may very well separate this title from previous Call of Dutys.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond
Respawn Entertainment’s upcoming Medal of Honor reboot, created from the ground up for Oculus VR has long been an anticipated title for VR enthusiasts—but as we near it’s release date this Holiday it’s gathering much wider traction. But as another example of an established studio producing for VR, it may turn out to be much more than a sequel to the classic series.
Star Wars Squadrons
With an in-depth look at a single-player mission, Star Wars Squadrons looks to be graphically incredible with solid mechanics and crisp interstellar sound. The game will be slightly smaller in scale than other recent Star Wars titles, but was revealed to be fully playable in VR.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Coming next spring, this reprise of the classic Lego Star Wars series will feature content from all nine films. In this gameplay teaser we saw Luke Skywalker with a lightsaber, Anakin in a pod race, Darth Vader and, of course, some space action.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
Although this title has been on everyone’s radar for a while, as an upcoming reboot of the classic franchise coming to the PS4 and Xbox One in October, we received a peek at the “Flashback Tape” feature, which directly harks back to the 1990s origins of the series.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
In the second look at gameplay for the title coming to the PS5, we saw the two heroes chasing down Dr Nefarious after falling through a portal. Equipped with classically whacky weaponry the game appears to focus on mobility amid frantic combat. The demo also showed of the “Rift Tether” which allows Ratchet to reach otherwise inaccessible location through inter-dimensional manipulation. The release date is yet unknown.
DLC
Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part 1
The first part of a larger narrative expansion for this year’s Doom Eternal is a beefy addition, piling on plenty more demons to slaughter, new arenas and of course new weaponry. One of the most exciting on display were giant demon skeletons which become part of the environment. Interestingly, it was mentioned that you’ll be able to play the expansion even if you don’t own the base game.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light
The upcoming DLC for Bungie’s free-to-play title promises to add a new elemental power—Stasis. This will, of course, be able to freeze enemies in order to deliver devastating finishing blows. This, alongside frost, storm and avalanche attacks, may seriously change the way the game is played.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
In classic Blizzard fashion, we were privy to an impressive animated short film, one of four which Blizzard has planned approaching Shadowlands’ release on October 27. It’s slideshow like presentation followed the story of a man who was betrayed by his student and, upon obtaining great strength from a convent, began seeking revenge.
With every new announced title and snippet of gameplay, it’s clear that the coming years will be very good for gaming. But with plenty more titles receiving trailers, announcements and in-depth looks be sure to see all the updates on Gamescom’s site or checkout the Youtube video below for the entire event: