DOOM Dark Ages

It's been 4 years since the last DOOM game and I think it's safe to say fans were ready for a new jaunt in the DOOM marines shoes. The last two games have been fantastic, capturing the heart-pumping gore-a-thon from the original games and a blistering soundtrack to boot. It's a shame that the relationship between Mick Gordon and Bethesda has now broken down. In the trailer, we see a new time period, as the title suggests. Sporting a new blade-laden shield and riding a Dragon: this could be a match made in hell. 

Perfect Dark

So I'll be honest, while I was aware of Perfect Dark back in the N64 era, I never actually played it. It was also very well received in 2005 when it came out on the Xbox 360. Since then fans have been asking for a new game and this year we can finally see gameplay. The action and pacing seem to have a more thoughtful design, looking more like something inspired by Deus Ex. One minute you are using various tools to copy biometric data and the next you are engaged in some very fancy close combat. The climbing and traversal also look like something you would find in a Dying Light game. Hands-on will of course be the true test, but I think most people who had heard this was a doomed project can breathe a sigh of relief.

Flight Sim 2024

When Microsoft Flight Simulator came out in 2020 it felt like a massive leap forward in this genre. The concept of the entire planet at your fingertips was a tantalising prospect. For the most part, they delivered this through some very clever software that meshed real mapping data together with a game engine that looked gorgeous. The big issue for me was that when flying over places I knew well, major details were just missing such as churches and well-known buildings. Also, the ground detail was hit-and-miss depending on where you were flying. 

It now seems in this 2024 version, this series has taken another large jump towards realistic environments. In the trailer, we see some astounding ground details, including beautiful oceans and dense forests. To give all this new detail some context, it seems there will be new professions for players ranging from rescue, to crop dusting and so much more. I suspect you will need to have a beefy rig to get the most out of this as the 2020 game was already a very demanding game. However, if what we see in this trailer is legit, then flight enthusiasts are going to be in seventh heaven.

Mixtape

I grew up in the 80s and am a massive John Hughes fan. For these two reasons alone, the trailer for Mixtape grabbed me immediately. While in some ways the setting for each John Hughes film was different, the trials and tribulations of adolescence were a constant theme. I reference these films because I saw various references such as the side-on sequence running through the yards has to be a nod to the end of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. 

From the trailer, it is hard to say how engaging moment-to-moment gameplay will be. Seeing the kids skating down a red leafy outroad with the town down below jolted memories of so many films and had some real Goonies energy. The art style looks well placed for this type of emotional adventure and reminded me a lot of Life is Strange, both in terms of the graphical style and the small-town setting. The assets do seem to have a lot of detail and they have used the wonderful stop animation effect you see in films like Into the Spider-Verse. Even if this turns out to be an adventure lean-on gameplay, the soundtrack is already guaranteed to make us smile. 

Stalker 2

There is a reason that fans of the original Stalker have been clamouring for a modern sequel since 2007. Shadow of Chernobyl was the original Stalker game, set in the actual location of the 1986 disaster. It built a deep story that saw you hunting another Stalker in the exclusion zone. There were also supernatural elements that came in the form of artefacts and anomalies. These were dangerous entities that had been formed by the radiation now smothering the whole area.

In the new trailer, we can see the huge leap in visual fidelity with gorgeous environments, rust-encrusted structures and the bleak desolation we remember from the first game. Yet now everything pops with details as you would expect for a game being forged in Unreal Engine 5. As many of you know, this game has been crafted in the backdrop of the very real Ukrainian War and for this alone, these developers deserve our unwavering support. Stalker 2 is set to be released on September 5th 2024.

Indiana Jones 

I grew up watching Indiana Jones films, usually at Christmas off a well-worn VHS tape. It is a crying shame what Disney has done to the last two films and as far as I'm concerned, Indie retired after the last Crusade.

So have faith in Machine Games because they have earned it. The ‘new’ Wolfenstein games (as I call them) have been such a joy to play through. They not only show a high level of skill for creating a single-player shooter but more impressively, they brought a one-dimensional character like B.J. Blazkiwicz to life. In this latest trailer, we see Indie on his usual Nazi-infested treasure hunt, making his quips and punches count. Troy Baker as the voice of Indie is uncanny and the facial animation is almost as impressive. What little action we saw was the standard Jones stuff: whips, tombs, skeletons and so on. I hope we get a more in-depth gameplay preview before release. 

South of Midnight

So apparently this was unveiled a year ago but I must have missed it, so for me, this was a new one. I love the lower fps in the cut scenes, it makes it seem like stop motion has been used. I've also loved seeing the younger gamers trying to comprehend what they are seeing, as surely higher is better? Normally yes but in this particular situation, the lower fps gives the games story scenes their own style. 

Once the player takes control the fps flips back to normal speed. The combat looks like a standard affair of attacking and dodging, but traversal really reminded me of the Infamous games. Overall this looks like a very well-presented title that will also deliver in the gameplay department. We will have a wait for this one as it is set for a 2025 release. 

Metal Gear Solid remake 

It still bothers me a lot when I think about what has happened to the Metal Gear series. It seemed like Snake was only just testing his feet in the new Fox Engine and boom: Konami buggered it all up. Now Kojima is sailing his own ship and we have already had a taste of his creative talents in Death Stranding (I'm one of the people who loved it). After making some truly awful decisions with the MGS IP (Survive), Konami finally seems to have something decent on its hands. 

A full remake of the 2004 game Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater in Unreal Engine 5 is what we have here. In a lot of ways, this is what many fans have been asking for, it's just a shame we aren't getting any new games. However, this looks really solid (sorry) and the trailers show some jaw-dropping details. I love that when Snake knees the soldier upward a layer of rain is visibly displaced. Thankfully David Hayter is reprising his role as Snake, so this really is set to be a complete return to form. 

Phantom Blade

I don't know a great deal about this one so I'll keep it brief. I think the general idea is that you have received a fatal condition and it is your goal to seek revenge on those who have done you wrong. This action combat game looks like Bloodborne had a baby with Elden Ring. The environments all look good and the monster design has a real flair. There is one scene where there is a dead horse strung up in a tree, which to be fair you don't see very often. The thing that really stands out is the way two combatants connect and blades clash together with real precision. 

Space Marine 2

I grew up playing 40K so my ears always prick up when I hear there is a new game on the horizon. There have been a lot of games over the years based both in the 40K setting and also the fantasy side of the coin. I'm not sure why but I missed the first Space Marine game but after seeing the trailers for this sequel I am most certainly on board. The action looks intense and the sheer number of enemies on screen is very impressive. It seems the Tyranids are the main adversary for this jaunt which is awesome as they were the army I used to play the most. My only criticism is that we are already getting a season pass and four-day early access for preordering. I honestly hate this crap but I guess this is where we are now.

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2

The first Kingdom Come Deliverance took me back to when games were less about flashy graphics and more about pure simulation. The original game was sold as a mediaeval life simulator, which also included activities around the wars and fighting. Learning how to hunt, to build a home and even how to read. So while this type of game isn't for everyone, it really is heaven for those who have been waiting for this exact experience.

Once again, we step into the shoes of Henry. You start the first game as a peasant and while the game was massive it still felt like the story was kept on a modest scale. It almost feels like the first game was Henry in training for what was to come in this second game. The trailer shows a huge increase in the size of conflicts with castle siege weapons being shown off. The criminal system has also seen a massive upgrade both in terms of possibilities and consequences. The map we play on is twice the size of the first game and they now say there are over five hours of cut scenes.

Tears of Metal

So this trailer came out of nowhere, something like if Braveheart crossed over with… actually I can't think of a game like this. At the end of the trailer, we see the tag lines roguelike, co-op and hack-n-slash: which certainly gets my attention. How many games are there where you charge into battle against hundreds of enemies while hacking down whole swathes of them with a single swipe. The graphics look very stylised, which seems to fit well with the ultraviolence on display. With larger humans resembling dump trucks, I cannot wait to see what else the game has to throw at you. 

There is also some army management to get stuck into as well as a campaign map to work across. It will be interesting times to see how coop progression works and what friends take away from being in your session. My only concern is if the combat is a little too light and floaty.