Every Game We Played At This Year’s Not-E3 Summer Game Fest Extravaganza
Gif: Bandai Namco / Ubisoft / S-Games / Sega / Massive Damage
Summer Game Fest, aka Geoff-con/Keighley-palooza, has come and gone. The E3 replacement included multiple online showcases and onsite events, each aimed at drumming up excitement for a flood of upcoming games. Which games rocked? Which ones sucked? Which ones will become video game industry touchstones while the rest fade from memory? We tried to play as many of them as we could to find out.
After flying back from LA, throwing all our dirty laundry in the corner, and passing out, we started gathering every single game we got a chance to actually go hands-on with during Summer Game Fest, from Marvel Rivals to Phantom Blade Zero, and all of the indies in-between. In some cases, we only got mere minutes with the the games as their developers and brand managers pitched us on what made them great. But for other games, like Star Wars Outlaws, we were able to roam new worlds at our leisure and chew on them for a while.
We saw loud monster truck races, real-time strategy battles, Souls-likes, sidescrollers, hotly anticipated Overwatch knockoffs, and much, much more. Every game we got a chance to try out is here for your perusal, along with details on where theyâll launch and when.
Release Date: October 15, 2024
Platforms: Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC
Amazon Gamesâ New World has had an interesting few years. Billed as an MMORPG and launched in 2021 on PC, itâs now being repackaged and re-released as New World: Aeternum for a console drop. Weirdly, Amazon is also shifting the marketing approach for New World: Aeternum: it has all of the base game material, the Rise of the Angry Earth expansion, and a slew of new contentâand the team is calling it an RPG, not an MMO, even though itâs still an MMO. Yes, I am also confused.
Aeternum clearly wants to court new players while also attempting to not alienate the exist fan base, but Iâm not sure how well this will work out. My hands-on was fairly brief, but showed off the new story content and new characters. At first, the RPG elements were obviousâthereâs a cool story at play here, your build can be varied, your approach diverse, but then after getting through the on-boarding process, it hard-pivots back to an MMO. And a kind of boring one at that.
If you already play New World, you wonât be annoyed by the tedious crafting and leveling that comes standard with an MMO. But if you havenât (and thatâs clearly who Amazon is trying to court here), why the hell would you sign up for an RPG just to play this? If the full game launch is more fleshed out in terms of solo gameplay that isnât as tedious, New World: Aeternum could be a solid RPG. Weâll have to wait and see. â Alyssa
Release Date: Early Access July 30
Platforms: PC
If you loved StarCraft II youâll probably like Stormgate, a real-time strategy revival project led by some ex-Blizzard developers. Itâs free-to-play with an emphasis on 1v1 competitive modes, though additional content and campaign missions will be available in the paid version. The team recently revealed its third faction called the Celestials which turn the traditional resource extraction, base expansion, army creation loop on its head due to an intricate set of mechanics that allow players to explore, expand, and attack all at once.
I was able to demo the game ahead of the event and chat with the team at Summer Game Fest and it looks good and plays great. Iâm still not sold on if it can break out beyond the hardcore, esports-minded crowd itâs initially pitched at, but itâs snappy, matches are quick, and Iâm excited to play more. I never got into StarCraft but love the genre, and have been on the hunt for an old-school RTS that can fill that void in my life. â Ethan
Release Date: October 15, 2024
Platforms: Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC
Budokai Tenkaichi fans, we are so back. After playing half a dozen matches against AI-opponents, I canât wait to get my hands on Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero and relive all of my favorite DBZ highs and lows while getting ultra sweaty online, if the netcode allows it. It sucks that local versus is limited to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber but itâs better than none at all. I have a sneaking suspicion that Iâll find plenty of things to complain about once Iâve spent dozens of hours with the finished game, but thatâs also part of the Budokai Tenkaichi legacy. A flawless series it was not, but what I saw of Sparking Zero made it feel like Bandai Namco is serious about making it more than just a next-gen nostalgia cash-in. â Ethan
Read More: Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Hands-On: Shaping Up To Be The Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Sequel Fans Deserve
Release Date: August 29, 2024
Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC
The newest game in the Monster Jam series, Showdown is exactly what it says on the label: you drive around massive monster trucks across several different game modes and three major locations. There are 1v1 races, traditional multi-truck races, and a destruction mode that rewards you forâyou guessed itâdemolishing shit.
During my Summer Game Fest hands-on, I struggled a bit with steering my monster truck, and flipped over a lot. Luckily, thereâs a simple ârespawnâ button that blinks you back a few feet and sits you upright, but I did not do well in any of my races because I couldnât keep the damn thing from tipping over. I was told that I could use the right joystick to better control my truck, as Showdown has independent suspension, but that just made me even wobblier.
I can see Monster Jam Showdown being a fun game to pick up and play with friends while having a few brewskis, and for fans of the series, this will probably satisfy them, but this isnât really my jam. Teehee. â Alyssa
Release Date: TBD (beta this summer)
Platforms: PC
Battle Aces is another RTS led by ex-Blizzard developers. You might have caught it during the Summer Game Fest showcase where it debuted with a flashy anime trailer that set many viewers up for crushing disappointment when the words âreal-time strategyâ eventually followed. But Battle Aces isnât your standard RTS. Itâs much closer to something like Clash Royale, the mobile deck-building tower-defense game.
In Battle Aces you unlock new units, build a âdeckâ out of the ones you want,â and then go into battle against opponents on a super small map where matches are only expected to take about five minutes or so. Resource extraction is all automated outside of investing in a limited set of additional base nodes, and building units is almost instantaneous. Where the strategy comes in is trying to counter-play against your opponentâs army, capitalize on big swings to cripple their resource extraction, and incrementally build up advantages until you crush their final base Dota-2 style. As with Stormgate, competitive play isnât where my RTS love lies, but Battle Aces felt approachable and low commitment enough to pique my interest once itâs out. â Ethan
Release Date: July 19, 2024
Platforms: Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PS4, PC
I love tower defense. I love Capcom action games. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess combines the two into a Japanese folklore-inspired adventure where you guide a maiden from one demonic gate to another across a mountain until all of the evil spirits have been banished. It was one of the best demos I played at Summer Game Fest, and luckily most players wonât have to take a risk on buying it to find out whatâs so special about it since itâs coming to Game Pass. As someone who put dozens of hours into the original Dungeon Defenders, Iâm so glad tower defense sickos are about to get what feels like a big-budget action strategy game with some of the visual flair of Okami. â Ethan
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