The Game Awards were packed with announcements and new games again this year. These are the highlights from the GlobalESportNews editorial team.
Full of World Premier
release date announcements and new trailers, you probably don”t know where your head is after a night full of Game Awards. Lucky for you, you have us for two reasons:
- We”ve brought you all the Game Awards announcements in one overview, so you know at a glance what happened in the night of 9 December.
- We have picked out our ten highlights for you here, so that you don”t have to change the article right now, but can first take your time to look at the game cherries that have been picked out.
Curtain up for our very personal highlights of the Game Awards:
Hades 2
(Genre: Roguelite – Developer: Supergiant Games – Platforms: PC – Release: 2023 (Early Access))
One of my absolute favourites of the last few years was the surprise hit Hades, which also earned a whopping 90 deserved rating points in our GlobalESportNews test. I am all the more euphoric that there is now to be a second part of this action role-playing masterpiece.
In Hades 2 we play an underworld princess instead of the son of Hades Zagreus, who stands her ground together with the Olympians (whom we still beat up in part 1) against the time titan Kronos. Hades 2 remains true to the fantastic battle system from its predecessor: we plough through monsters at the speed of light, benefit from divine gifts and once again have a small arsenal of different weapons at our disposal. So if you loved Part 1 like I did, you might also be happy with the sequel. An Early Access is planned for 2023 and you can wishlist it now (on Steam).
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
(Genre: Role-Playing Game –Developer: CD Projekt Red – Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X – Release: 2023)
I know I”m boring, but my highlight remains Phantom Liberty because I don”t yearn for any other game (okay, Jedi: Survivor comes close) in 2023. The fact that the new trailer makes me rejoice like in a braindance is not so much due to the spectacle, Idris Elba or the hinted gameplay facets, which colleague Steffi s trailer analysis sums up so well. No, I simply want more time in this fascinating world! For more story, more depth!
Since Edgerunners I”ve been craving the backstory of the cyberpunk world so much that, as an absolute pen&paper muffle, I bought the Cyberpunk Red rulebook to browse through the world history of Night City. And that”s exactly what Phantom Liberty promises me more of: V gets more involved in political intrigues of the NUSA government than in the main game, interacts with secret agents and so on. Gosh, what I”m up for!
Hellboy: Web of Wyrd
(Genre: Action – Developer: Upstream Arcade – Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PS4, Xbox One –Release: tba)
My comic book shelf is groaning under the weight of Mike Mignola”s thick Hellboy tomes. For the last few weeks and months, I”ve been hard at work clearing out some space and cleaning out old volumes. But Hellboy is definitely not going anywhere! I love Mike Mignola”s comics for their fantastic drawing style, complex universe and, of course, the hard-boiled no-bullshit attitude of their titular hero. So far, there have been shockingly few video games based on the hell-boy!
This makes me all the more excited about the announcement of Web of Wyrd: An Action-Adventure with Roguelite-Mechanics, in which I get to swing the fat stone fist in the role of Hellboy. At first glance, the story of Web of Wyrd seems rather unimpressive – as is usual for the comics: an agent disappears, Hellboy investigates. I”m very curious to see what Mike Mignola has come up with for the game, he and Dark Horse Publishing are working closely with the developers from Upstream Arcade.
Of course, my favourite thing about Hellboy: Web of Word is that it relies on a very similar art style to Mike Mignola. As a fan of the comics, I”m definitely all fired up for Hellboy.
Judas
(Genre: Shooter – Developer: Ghost Story Games – Platforms: PC – Release: 2023)
I am absolutely addicted to BioShock. Hardly any other game manages to grab me so with its atmosphere and drown me in this gloomy and dystopian melancholic mood. While BioShock 4 currently makes no effort to satisfy my hunger for a sequel, one particular announcement at the Game Awards 2022 catches my attention: Judas.
The sci-fi shooter reminds me a lot of my beloved BioShock in the trailer – and that”s no coincidence. Because behind Judas is none other than BioShock creator Ken Levine! Even the short trailer makes my stomach tingle with excitement and I can hardly wait to plunge into another crazy world full of crazy factions. And I don”t think we have to wait too long, because the release date was given as “soon”.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
(Genre: Action-Adventure – Developer: Respawn Entertainment – Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X-S – Release: Mar 17, 2023)
God, oh God. I didn”t even know which terrific trailer I should have chosen. There was just so much in it for me! Baldur”s Gate 3 surprised me with Minscs return! Diablo 4 was given such a fantastic CGI trailer that the goosebumps on my arms will probably be there for the rest of my life. And yet I choose Star Wars Jedi: Suvivor as my highlight. And that has a very simple reason: I love new gameplay!
I already know Baldur”s Gate 3 pretty well, I spent over 40 hours in Early Access. And Diablo 4 is no stranger to me by now either! After all, I ve only recently been able to play it for almost 16 hours. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, on the other hand – I was very curious about the new features. And it really does look like another spectacular Jedi extravaganza! Cal Kestis takes on the Empire again, lets his light blades fly, even gets to deal with B1 battle droids! Battle droids! Which, by the way, is another sign that we need another Jedi game in a time when Jedi weren”t exotic. But well, that”s another topic.
Additionally, so much interesting new gameplay content. Mounts, battle partners, lore powers. I am so ready for this game! The only thing I could have done without is the silly crusader blade. That laser parry bar has always been rubbish in my eyes. But well, maybe I”m wrong and that will be the best weapon of the whole game!
Baldur”s Gate 3
(Genre: Role-playing game – Developer: Larian Studios – Platforms: PC – Release:August 2023 )
leave out weaknesses. But there are reasons for that: Up until now, Baldur”s Gate 3 left me pretty cold.
Not because I doubt its qualities, but because it seemed to me more like an Original Sin 3 than a true successor to one of my absolute favourite games. I simply lacked the emotional chain to the world and the characters. That is, to what I personally associate most with Baldur”s Gate. Whether the battles are in pausable real time or turn by turn, I couldn”t care less, but I want to feel the same thing I felt at the turn of the millennium.
The videos and info so far haven”t been able to trigger that for me, but the Game Awards trailer ended my indifferent attitude in one fell swoop. This narrative voice, these allusions to the “Dungeons & Dragons” setting, this reunion with a good old acquaintance at the end.
Until the Game Awards, Baldur”s Gate 3 was just a role-playing game hopeful for 2023. One of many. But now, for the first time, I”m really looking forward to coming home again.
Replaced
(Genre: Role Playing Game – Developer: Sad Cat Studios –Platforms: PC, Xbox Series, Xbox One – Release: 2023)
I”m brazenly lying to you right now. Actually, my highlight of the Game Awards was Hades 2. But a certain someone has already snatched that up (editor”s note: Sorry not Sorry). So let”s talk about Replaced perhaps the most beautiful game I”ve seen in a long time – in fucking pixel art.
Lighting at its very best, virtually the pixelated “Chef”s Kiss”. Wind and weather effects that you can really feel on your skin. Camera work like something out of an Oscar-winning film. And what exactly is Replaced about? No idea, to be honest. Something about an AI trapped in a human body. But in terms of optics, I”d also play the mundane everyday life of a bus driver in Munich”s city centre.
Replaced has made us squirm long enough after its 2021 announcement. 2023 can”t come soon enough!
Dune Awakening
(Genre: Survival – Developer: Funcom – Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series – Release: TBA)
There aren”t many books and movies as perfect for a survival game as Dune. The unforgiving desert, where one wrong step already attracts the monstrous sandworms and pulls everything into their enormous maw, is simply predestined for the genre! At first thought, you might think that a huge desert planet doesn”t bring much variety into the open world – that”s probably what the Harkonnen think, too, who only want to exploit Arrakis for the valuable spice.
But in the books it is wonderfully described that you only have to go to the right places: In the trailer, for example, we already see one of the hidden research labs rampant with plants. I can”t wait until we catch our first glimpse of a sietch. These are huge caves where the indigenous Fremen live. The render video from gamescom not only has me
Diablo 4
(Genre:Action Role-Playing Game – Developer: Blizzard – Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One – Release: June 6, 2023)
Now, though, I”m a simple man at heart who really, really liked the Game Awards trailer. Not because it announced a release date of 6 June 2023, so that the temperatures in my attic flat should adjust to the hellish heat in the game. But because the trailer scene with Inarius and Lilith illustrates what we already liked when we played the game: the ambivalence of the story. Of course, you might think that Inarius, as an angel, is on the side of good – but look at his entourage in the trailer: Do they look like the good guys? Lilith, on the other hand, as a demon, has the image of the enemy – but it is she who is attacked here and commands a weak-looking horde of devils.
This reflects how this estranged ex-couple – the “parents” of humanity, after all – are portrayed in Diablo 4 itself: The lines between good and evil are not quite that sharp. And I already like that a lot, because the story of Diablo 4 unfolds a surprising narrative potential. And yes, I didn”t expect to ever say that about a Diablo.
Also, the angels of the Diablo universe just look awesome. Sorry, it”s like this.
Banishers
(Genre: Action Role Playing Game – Developer: Don”t Nod – Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, – Release: Late 2023)
As Red mac Raith, we explore an alternate version of 17th century North America and rid it of ghosts as well as rather scary looking monsters. However, our lover and fellow ghost hunter was fatally injured during one of these missions. Now, together with her, we are looking for a way to free her.
Banishers makes me curious not only because of the fancy trailer, but also with its relatively unused scenario of an American wilderness haunted by ghosts. It also promises to be a story-focused experience and already convinces me with its premise, I remain curious!
What was your highlight of the Game Awards? Let us Know in the Comments!
