You see a lot of games at Gamescom, sometimes too many to process. Hundreds of companies spread across two halls (with two levels per hall)… it’s a lot to take in all at once. Still, games companies will try their best to make their games stand out, and many succeed. Go to Twitter and tune into all the games writers you follow, and you’ll all see them reel off a list of what, for them, were highlights of the show.
You’ve read our daily round-outs, now it’s time for the final verdict – the Best in Show. Bear in mind that there were a lot of games that we didn’t get to see, and some games that whilst we know were good, didn’t have the best presentation at the show. Also, we don’t want this article to be too long, so consider this a small selection of highlights, plus the winner who impressed us the most:
Company of Heroes 2 – THQ style=greyItalic
We’ve seen a lot of Company of Heroes 2 in recent months (almost too much – there’s only so much you can write about a game in any length of time), but at Gamescom we managed to sit down for an hour and a have decent old-fashioned hands on session – it was great. We got to try out a tutorial level and a 2 v 2 AI skirmish match, and we really got a good sense of the game. It’s Company of Heroes, through and through, and whilst we worry a tad that not enough ‘new’ is going into the game, what is there already is very robust. Stay tuned for our hands-on report.
Wargame: AirLand Battle – Focus Home Interactive style=greyItalic
Apparently, the Americans rather like the name, but then they would. Still, we won’t let something as small as unimaginative US Army nomenclature spoil what is already looking to be a great, great game. For those of you wondering or worried at the fact that it’s a stand-alone expansion and not a sequel (like what happened with Napoleon and Empire) there are good reasons for this state of affairs, which we’ll go into in our preview. Rest assured though, that the improvements are already looking great, and the amount of new content being poured into the game (especially the single-player) stuff will make it all worth it.
DUST 514 – CCP style=greyItalic
Gamescom was an especially exciting time for CCP as it was the firs time the worlds of DUST and EVE Online were properly connected. It was some low-level server thingy that we don’t really understand, but history will remember that the first real step to CCP’s vision of two joined worlds started at Gamescom 2012, and as we mentioned in the round-up there was also a new build of the beta in show. If we’re being honest, there are technically better shooters out there, but having played the beta and then played the new build (Which has incorporated some key feedback from the FPS community), we can say that the mechanics are good enough to allow you to enjoy the wider experience of the game. For the first time in the console space, player battles will have a grander meaning, and clans will enjoy the level of community and involvement that the EVE players already enjoy. We’ll have more to say in our coverage in the coming week.
Total War: Rome II – Creative Assembly style=greyItalic
As close a runner-up as you can get, the only reason Rome II didn’t win the Game of the Show award is that, compared to the winner, they showed very little of the game (to be fair, the winner is out later this year and Rome II won’t be till next year). Don’t get us wrong, the Sacking of Carthage demo looked fantastic – great visuals, great action, the human touches are fairly well done, and we are definitely excited to see more of this game… but it was little more than a demo, and a very scripted one at that. The professional in us wants to adopt an air of cautious optimism at the moment, as we know very little about the rest of the game (Historical Battles, of which the Carthage demo is one, aren’t even a major part of the game). But seriously, well done to the Creative Assembly team for what they’ve accomplished. We hope to see more soon.
And the Winner is….
Omerta: City of Gangsters – Kalypso Media style=greyItalic
The highlight of our very first day of Gamescom, Omerta: City of Gangsters is definitely a game to be excited about, and specifically got the award because of it’s unique make-up, the amount of content we were shown, and how interesting that content looked, even with only a brief glance. To be honest, any of the shortlisted games could have won it, but we had to pick one, right? Omerta is a little bit special though.
Coming from the same guys who made Tropico, this is a Prohibition America game, that combines the economy and management aspects of Haemimont’s previous work, with the combat and style of a classic Xcom game, and it works surprisingly well. You create your own character and slowly build up your gang of six people, and then go from rags to riches in Atlantic City. The campaign mode is split into several ‘mission’, which takes place in separate areas of the city (and modelled after the 1930’s town), and follows the tail of two brothers, but there’s also the standard skirmish mode, as well as some interesting multiplayer modes. It’s scheduled for a 9th November release on PC and Xbox 360
And there you have it. Thoughts? Comments? There were plenty of other interesting games at the show – Dishonored, Assassins Creed III, Star Trek, Beyond: Two Souls… the fact that they didn’t make it into our shortlist simply means that they didn’t make it in. Until next year.
