Posts tagged “Gamescom 2018”

Midway through totemic 80s skin-crawler The Shining there's a scene where Jack Nicholson's disheveled caretaker, scouring the Overlook Hotel for the antidote to writer's block, stumbles on a scale model of the hedge maze his wife and son are exploring outside. He glares down at it (Nicholson's eyebrows really deserve an Oscar apiece) and the film cuts to a slow zoom from above, showing us…

Tagged with 101%, feature, Gamescom 2018, preview, Reddoll, The Suicide of Rachel Foster.

It's been quite some time since we heard anything concrete about what's going on with Nvidia's BFGDs (or Big Format Gaming Displays for the acronym-averse). After their initial unveiling back in January 2018 at Las Vegas tech shindig CES, there's been a big old pile of nothing regarding these giant 65in G-Sync HDR monitors, and we still don't know when they're actually coming out, how…

Tagged with 4K, feature, Gamescom 2018, Hardware, HP, HP Omen, Monitors, Nvidia, Nvidia Big Format Gaming Displays, Nvidia G-Sync HDR.

CTRL C XCOM: Enemy Unknown CTRL V XCOM: Enemy Unknown Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

Tagged with feature, Gamescom 2018, preview, The Bearded Ladies, Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden.

VR treadmills are possibly one of the daftest things on the planet. Yes, they sort of avoid that classic virtual reality hazard of tripping over headset cables and falling flat on your face, offering a way for TRUE VR immersion seekers to feel like they're really 'in the game', so to speak, but a) they're crazy expensive, b) take up mountains of room, and c)…

Tagged with feature, Gamescom 2018, Hardware, OpenVR, shoes, Steam VR, virtual reality, VR, vroom vroom, Doom, Doom VFR.

Oh no, the village bridge is broken. But that's okay, I'll ask for help from the spider in this tree. Come down mister spider, and help me fix the bridge. “Did you break it?” he asks. Yes, I say. I walked across the bridge – really just a piece of string – and it snapped. “Fix your own damn mess!” I consider his words carefully.…

Tagged with Devolver Digital, feature, Gamescom 2018, preview, Sectordub, Pikuniku.

There’s something about Mosaic. Maybe it‘s the dark colour palette, the poignant use of lighting or the low poly aesthetic of Krillbite Studio’s second game, but I’m transfixed. Krillbite’s first title, exploration horror Among the Sleep, was an unexpectedly big success, a… sleeper hit, if you will. Mosaic is supposed to be a departure in every way, but it retains a gloomy atmosphere that makes…

Tagged with feature, Gamescom 2018, krillbite studio, preview, Mosaic.

There were a lot of games at Gamescom. A lot of them were good and interesting, but I didn’t get enough time with them to write you thousands of words, or they’re not quite done enough yet. They’re a soufflé that needs more time to rise. But I still wanted to tell you about them, these strange little soufflés in many different flavours. An alternate…

Tagged with feature, Feral Cat Den, Gamescom 2018, Gato Salvaje Studio, Hugecalf Studios, Ink Kit, Klang, Shifting Tides, Slow Bros., Snowhound Games, Storm in a Teacup, Studio Black Flag, Carried Away, Deep Sky Derelicts, Deru, Genesis Noir, Harold Halibut, Orphan Age, The Sojourn.

There’s a man staring at a fridge, and he's locked in a glass room. “Oh thank god,” he cries. “I’ve been staring at it since yesterday with no breaks. Are you here to take over?” This is a scene from Control, the upcoming psychological shooter from Remedy, the creators of Quantum Break and Max Payne. Our hero, Jesse Faden, is the newly appointed head of…

Tagged with feature, Gamescom 2018, Remedy Entertainment, Control.

The HP Omen Mindframe headset is quite possibly the most bonkers piece of audio equipment I've ever seen. It's called MINDFRAME for a start, which is both brilliant and ridiculous in equal measure, but what really sets it apart from other headsets is pretty damn cool - as in literally cool thanks to its thermoelectric ear-cooling earcups. I'll admit I was a bit skeptical when…

Tagged with feature, Gamescom 2018, hands on, Hardware, Headsets, HP, HP Omen, preview.

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is the medieval war ‘em up that often pops up to say: “Hello, I still look good.” We have seen its sieges, its horse archers, and even played some of its multiplayer sword-clashing. But at this year’s Gamescom, I played some of the single player campaign. And oh yes, that’s the good stuff. I played as Valtis, an athletic sword-swinging…

Tagged with feature, Gamescom 2018, Taleworlds Entertainment, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord.

Picture the scene if you yourself were Sam, the protagonist of Dontnod's new IP Twin Mirror. You wake up, hungover, in a cheap hotel room. You’re still in the jeans you wore the night before. Your mouth probably tastes like a tiny glue factory. A hotel staffer is hammering on the door because you’ve missed check out. Suddenly you realise: you’re not wearing a shirt!…

Tagged with Bandai Namco, Dontnod Entertainment, feature, Gamescom 2018, Twin Mirror.

At Gamescom I had a (hands off but up close and personal) preview of Shortest Trip to Earth, a roguelike space survival game that is due to go into Steam early access later this year. The team lead, Edvin Aedma, who also wrote RPS favourite Teleglitch, played, whilst I watched and made demands about what our crew should do next. I wondered why I couldn't…

Tagged with feature, Gamescom 2018, Iceberg Interactive, Interactive Fate, preview, Shortest Trip to Earth.

I've changed, man. In Dark Souls' kingdom of Lordran I was a shield-up, spear-ready warrior. By Dark Souls 3 I was happy to run around in my loincloth. And in Bloodborne, I embraced the aggressive pest control of the quicksilver pistol. But throughout all of these die ‘em ups I have remained cautious in spirit. Slow, methodical and wary of corners. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice…

Tagged with Activision, feature, From Software, Gamescom 2018, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Lovecraft seems to be the theme du jour at the moment. 2018 trends: pair tailored suits and details inspired by fetish wear with cosmic horror and old school '20s racism. I saw probably the two most prominent games inspired by Lovecraft at Gamescom, Frogwares' The Sinking City and Cyanide's Call of Cthulhu (though there were others, including a turn based, tactical affair called Stygian: Reign…

Tagged with Cyanide, feature, Focus Home Interactive, Frogwares, Gamescom 2018, preview, Call of Cthulhu, Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter, The Sinking City.

I was beaten to death by the bloke with the big eye. If you went through the zombie gauntlet of Resident Evil 2 back in 1998, you will recognise this large, gurgling sod. William Birkin is the zombified antagonist whose pharmaceutical experiments have turned Racoon City into a shambling shantytown. That’s fine. The same experiments also turned him into a bloke with a giant case…

Tagged with Capcom, feature, Gamescom 2018, preview, Resident Evil 2.