Xbox Games Showcase and Ubisoft Forward - Newsletter #17
Welcome to the Seventeenth Edition of the Everglow Games Newsletter, We here want to provide you a place where you can view all the most interesting news, articles and videos related to gaming of the week. We also provide a view of games showcases and upcoming game releases of the week. This is your one stop shop for all things gaming.
Xbox Games Showcase / COD Black Ops 6 Direct
Image Credits: Bethesda Softworks
There were a lot of games shown at the XBOX Games Showcase, so I will only talk through some of them briefly. I was not expecting to like so many things out of this show but so much of it was eye catching but it does tie back to what I think is XBOX’s strategy going forward is to win on the software side as they have lost on the hardware side. I do hope that this pushes them to get back to competing on the hardware side as it will push both Sony and Microsoft to innovate and move forward instead of stagnate like they have in the past when they are wining on the hardware side of console gaming. It will be interesting as to what happens over the next couple of years. You can watch the full showcase here.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - 25th October 2024
The Xbox showcase did start with a bang with the campaign trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, . I always say to myself I am not that interested in Call of Duty anymore but then I always end up playing the campaign, I have to be honest this year actually interests me more than previous years, more because they have said that there is going to be huge amount of mission variety and locations which is one of the things I have always loved about Call of Duty. There was a separate 25 minutes walkthrough direct after the main show to give us more details on the game which you watch here. Check out the showcase trailer here.
Doom The Dark Ages - 2025
A sawed-off shotgun and a saw shield, Doomguy picks these up and goes to battle at the start of the trailer. You can charge the sawshield up it looks like and through it with it bouncing back to you, all the while slicing your enemies in half, you can also ram into a bunch of smaller enemies to disperse them and with any shield as you would expect you can block incoming attacks and projectiles. A couple cool glimpses we saw is Doomguy helming a huge mecha Doomguy and lastly we saw the ability to fly a mount around. Doom looks like it is about to get a whole lot more fun and and a whole lot more chaotic. I love the previous two games, this one looks like it is a prequel story. One thing that does concern me is the music (but I hope it is a misplaced concern); the music in the first two games are integral with how the game plays and makes you feel and unfortunately there was falling out with the music producer Mick Gordon. The trailer did have the Heavy Metal genre of music playing but until we get some gameplay walkthroughs it will be difficult to know whether my concerns misplaced or not.
Metal Gear Solid: Delta Snake Eater
This is the remake of Metal Gear Solid 3, the original game is one that I have heard so much about from the internet as being on of the best in the series however I have yet to play it so if this remake turns out to be good it just may be one of the best ways to play it. In the trailer we saw cinematics and gameplay which to my untrained eye looked nice and pretty so I am excited to play it however no release date was given. Watch the trailer here.
Perfect Dark
I was expecting this game to be in the show but I was not expected to be interested as much as I did. In the trailer we saw a first person view, parkour and bullet time which has hooked me, I got a real sense of being able to play a game like I was John Wick. We do also see some cool spy gadgets as well like being able to scan rooms ahead. I do hope there is an interesting story along with interesting missions - we shall have to wait and see.
Fable - 2025
While I have to not played any of the previous games, I did like the fantasy setting with many different environments, sword fighting, cool creatures / monsters and what looks like it could be an interesting story. The world looks quite expansive and on the surface seems like it has many similarities with The Witcher 3. Check out the trailer here.
Indiana Jones The Great Circle
I know the last couple of movies have not been the best but I think it could make for great tomb raider style game with many puzzles, platforming and action. In the main cut scene shown the humour did not quite hit but it can be forgiven if gameplay is good. The gameplay will be in first person view and you will be able to use your the classic Indiana Jones whip. Watch the showcase trailer here.
Wuchang Fallen Feathers - 2025
From the brief glimpse we saw of the game, it looks like a soulslike action-RPG style of game. It has sword fighting, difficult bosses but also what looks like possibly magical powers, It also seems to have a Chinese setting. One to look out for and find out more. Check out the trailer here.
Atomfall - 2025
Another game set in the aftermath of a nuclear disaster but this time set in Britain. To me the most interesting part is that it is set in the UK where I live so I would love to see some environments and easter eggs that I recognise. We know it is set in the countryside and in the trailer we see the towns that are protected by mechs and what looks like the army. We also see some supernatural looking cave looking areas. In the game you are to explore, scavenge, craft, barter and fight while going through the story. Check out the trailer here.
Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl - 5th September 2024
I have been excited to play this since the game was announced and I even thought after the Ukraine War started that we would likely not see this game for long time however credit to the team as GSC Game, they have persevered and produced a game that looks very pretty. The game is obviously set in Chernobyl where the nuclear disaster happened and if you played the previous games then you will know that there are many threats in the aftermath of the disaster such as Radiation, anomalies, monsters and even humans. There was nothing much more to see in this trailer over the previous trailers to be honest but definitely worth a watch if it the game interests you. Check out the latest trailer here.
Gears of War: E-DAY
In this announcement trailer there is only a cinematic was shown where we see Marcus Fenix struggling in a fight against one of the Locust Horde and while there was not much shown - I thought it was a nice way to end the show however I don’t expect to see this game for at least a couple years.
Ubisoft Forward
While there were not a whole lot of games shown, they went into quite a bit of detail into a couple of the games which I will be focusing on, both of which I am quite interested in. This showcase started off with a very beautiful orchestral performance by The Hollywood Chamber Orchestra. I always love to watch the Ubisoft showcase each year as regardless of what you think of their games, the showcase has some sceptical aspects to it. In this case the orchestral performance went strait into scenes from Star Wars Outlaw and that is something I really enjoyed and appreciated. Later on in the show we get a performance by Taiko Project to start of the Assassin’s Creed section of the showcase which was another awesome performance. Watch the full showcase here.
Star Wars Outlaws - 30th August 2024
We saw a more in depth view of the game and what we expect to see while playing the game. What is pretty awesome is that the environments of the ships, cantinas, planets and even space all looks pretty unique and awesome where there seems to been a lot of care put into the looks of every areas. We also see a seamless transition from getting into your ship and taking off into space which is pretty cool. The previous newsletter I did say that the ship flight and fighting seems a bit arcady and I hope to see less of that, while I stand by that it is arcady, I don’t think it is as bad as I initially thought but I do think for me it will be clearly the least enjoyable part of the game. We do get to see another seamless transition from space to hyperspace travelling from one planet to another and even entering the atmosphere of the planet looks good without making the whole sequence overly long. The game seems like a game version of the Han Solo film and I think that is pretty cool as I quite liked that movie (controversial opinion I know) but I think that it suit a game quite well as you get to choose which syndicates to align with to achieve the goals. One thing I love is that they have gone with a “animal” sidekick instead of a droid especially as they made the sidekick very cute. Watch the extended gameplay walkthrough here.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - 2026
Nothing much was shown apart from a 2026 date, however I did want to mention it as I loved the original couple of games and I have hope that this remake (It was not mentioned that this is a remake but I am assuming it is) will be good. Watch the teaser trailer here.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows - 15th November 2024
While we have seen the trailers for this game previously, here we got a more in depth view. I have to say that the way that Japan is depicted in games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Ghost of Tsushima is so beautiful. At the start of the extended gameplay sequence shown we see Yasuke riding through a forest on horseback and then eventually coming out through a tori gate and the view of the landscape it pretty stunning. One thing I did wonder as I was watching the gameplay if that there is an option to play the game in Japanese, also will the dialogue be Japanese like or more western like (I was getting the feeling of the latter during the sequence). We got to see both Yasuke’s and Naoe gameplay where Yasuke is more brute like and forward on attacking and Naoe is mostly stealth and Ninja like. I think that it gives us a balance and also a variety of options when playing. Personally I lean towards the Ninja stealth style of gameplay so I will probably choose this more often if there is choice given. Watch the extended gameplay walkthrough here.
TLDR News
Sumo group is laying off 15% of its employees and shutting down Timbre Games. Sumo group have several studios under them who help develop games like Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Little Big Planet 3, Team Sonic Ready and more. We hope that everyone who are layed off will be ok. (VGC)
Valve is being sued in the UK for £656 million ($843 million) by childern’s digital rights campaigner Vicki Shotbolt. The claim is that Valve is over charging gamers and abusing its dominant market position. The case does need to be authorised by the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal however a similar case against Sony was authorised to proceed in Nov 2023. (PC Gamer)
Cool Stuff
With the trailer for Doom the Dark Ages only just shown at the XBOX Games showcase on 9th June, a modder added the sawshield into the original games Doom and Doom 2.
Upcoming Games releases this week
Vampire Therapist (PC) - 17th June
Still Wakes the Deep (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) - 18th June
Blud (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) - 18th June
Chocolate Factory (PC) - 18th June
Thistlemine (PC) - 18th June
1Bit Castle Remake (PC) - 19th June
Republic of Pirates (PC) - 19th June
Tavern Talk (PC) - 20th June
Aarik and the Ruined Kingdom (PC) - 20th June
Crab God (PC) - 20th June
Drug Dealer Simulator 2 (PC) - 20th June
Everafter Falls (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, PC) - 20th June
Tarisland (PC, mobile) - 21st June
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S) - 21st June
Current and Upcoming Free/Subscription Games
PC - Epic Games Store
Redout 2 - 13th May to 20th June
PC - Steam
Tell Me Why - 1st June to 1st July
XBOX Game Pass games
Octopath Traveler (Cloud, Console, and PC) - Available now
Octopath Traveler 2 (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S) - Available now
Depersonalization (PC) – Available now
Isonzo (Cloud, Console, and PC) – Available now
The Callisto Protocol (Cloud, Console, and PC) - Available now
Still Wakes the Deep (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S) – 18th June
PlayStation Plus Essential
EA Sports FC 24 Standard Edition (PS4, PS5) - 7th May to 17th June
That’s it for this week on Everglow Games.
See you next time!
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