The Game Awards of 2020 were a totally different ceremony — the cautionary measures undertaken due to COVID-19 and high-profile guests such as Christopher Nolan and Gal Gadot brought a different vibe to the proceedings. However, for many the greatest attractions were still the announcements and reveals.
If you missed the show or just want a condensed cheat sheet with all the new titles coming our way soon, you’ve come to the right place!
The pre-show was dominated by indies. Devolver Digital introduced Loop Hero, a classic pixel-art roguelike as the best game of 2021.
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After that, Awaceb studio’s open-world adventure Tchia was introduced.
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Next was Douze Dixièmes’s Shady Part of Me. This puzzle-platformer adventure looks like a spiritual successor to Little Nightmares.
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Myst, a remake of the title from 23 years ago, was just released for Oculus Quest.
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After a short break and some live music performances, the first gameplay trailer of NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139 was shown.
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The last reveal of the pre-show was Century: Age of Ashes — a free-to-play action game where you can fight your foes riding a dragon in the sky!
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Sephiroth, the ashen-haired antagonist of Final Fantasy 7 dedicated the first trailer of the main show to himself. This handsome villain will be featured in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a playable character.
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Next was a reboot of the Perfect Dark franchise. The Initiative is responsible for bringing this early 2000s first-person series back from a decade of hibernation as an exclusive for Xbox X/S.
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Turtle Rock introduced their zombie apocalypse shooter called Back 4 Blood.
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Focus Home Interactive showed Scavengers, a third-person shooter about surviving in a frozen world.
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After that came a trailer for a medieval-themed multiplayer game titles Hood: Outlaws & Legends, a PvPvE entry that has remarkable resemblance to older Assassin’s Creed games.
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My favorite reveal was The Callisto Protocol, the new title from Striking Distance, led by Glen Schofield. Schofield — famous for creating the Dead Space series. As one might guess, The Callisto Protocol is a survival horror featuring some famous design elements from Dead Space, from the grotesque monsters to minimalistic HUD elements on the back of the characters. Schofield stated that his team is trying to create “The single most scariest game for PC and consoles.” It was also officially stated that The Callisto Protocol is canonically set in the universe of PUBG! How on earth – or other planets- could these two totally different titles be interconnected is a question that can’t be answered just yet!
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Fatshark studio announced a first-person action game called Warhammer 40,000: Darktide that uses the core gameplay mechanics of the Warhammer: Vermintide series.
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Annapurna Studios showcased their adventure title called Open Roads.
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ZA/UM studios announced a next-Gen version of their critically-acclaimed game Disco Elysium.
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Bioware revealed a new Dragon Age. The cinematic trailer let fans meet some old faces like the Elven mage Solas, but the simple title suggests that it may act as a reboot of the series because there are no numbers or secondary titles attached.
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Amplitude revealed a spiritual successor to Dungeon of the Endless called Endless Dungeon.
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Pearl Abyss showed off a story-driven action-adventure Crimson Desert featuring a highly photorealistic look and gameplay mechanics similar to those seen in titles such as Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor.
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A PS5-exclusive 3D adventure game called Season debuted.
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Ark 2 from Wildcard studio features actor Vin Diesel as its protagonist.
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A gameplay trailer for Outriders featured character powers and abilities.
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In F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch on Steam, a side-scrolling action-platformer, players take the role of a cute rabbit with a mechanical arm that blows away everything on its path. The combination of powerful melee combos with the cute and lovely character design makes F.I.S.T. a title to look forward to.
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Evil Dead: The Game looks like Dead by Daylight in the universe of Evil Dead.
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A new chapter of Elder Scrolls called Gates of Oblivion was revealed with a cinematic trailer.
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Star Wars: Tales from Galaxy’s Edge was introduced, but before you get too excited, I should say that it’s a VR title for Oculus Quest 2.
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Flying Wild Hogs revealed a gory Western-themed beat-‘em-up called Evil West featuring hordes of vampire beasts.
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Next was Ruined King: A League of Legends Story. As the name suggests, this turn-based RPG is the first story-driven, singleplayer installment in the League of Legends universe.
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Respawn’s Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond was shown.
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An upcoming 4X strategic game from Amplitude Studios was shown named Humankind.
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The biggest and final surprise of the show came from a developer who presented earlier, Bioware. A short cinematic trailer rolled out in the final minutes of the show featuring a character traveled through space and landed on a frozen planet, uncovering a piece of metal beneath the snow with an N7 symbol carved on it. The message was simple and clear — Mass Effect will continue.
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In 40 years, I’ve never been able to get off Pac-Man’s initial screen. So no surprise I’ve also never progressed beyond the original Mario’s first screen (& people wonder why I prefer turn-based games!). That said, I still think of Mario as a gaming icon of wholesomeness. I was truly shocked when the trailer made it look as though Sephiroth had impaled him! Whoever came up with that was brilliant – it was memorable!! They should get a special marketing award!! 🏆
Actually, I was shocked at that scene! It was like watching Tom tear Jerry to pieces! But as you have said, they managed to turn our greatest terror into a memorable laugh! They should consider “The Best Trailer” award and give it to this one!