If you need to catch up on other E3 goings on, keep an eye on our news feed, and check our round ups of the other big shows. We’ve got tonight’s Xbox and Bethesda showcase, the Square Enix stream, the the Ubisoft Forward stream, plus all the games from Netflix’s Geeked Week, Geoff’s Summer Game Fest, and a Double Fine’s Day Of The Devs.
Naraka: Bladepoint - new giant anachronous chainsaw weapon
Naraka is a 60 player battle royale game that we have, in fairness, seen a lot of trailers for. But only one trailer has featured a large magical chainsaw, and that’s this one right here. It joins the other weapons in the roster, including that most RPS favourite of weapons: the grappling hook. Naraka’s coming out on August 12th.
Dodgeball Academia - new game announcement
Coming from Humble games and out later this year, Dodgeball Academia combines super cute 2D cartoon art with a Pokémon-adjacent team building for dodgeball battles. You play as Otto, in a world where dodgeball is more important than basically anything else in the universe, to the point that there is a whole school for it. Alongside the dodgeball games, there’s a whole RPG story thread to follow. It looks like Scott Pilgrim and I’m into it.
Rawmen - new trailer
Another new trailer for Rawmen, the food-themed free-for-all arena shooter. It’s for 2-8 players and we got a peek at it already at the Guerrilla collective, but this trailer is a bit longer and is not interrupted by developer commentary.
Dying Light 2: Stay Human - developer interview
Techland’s narrative director Piotr Szymanek took us on a deep dive of their upcoming zombie parkour ’em up, Dying Light 2: Stay Human. We heard some more details about the game’s backstory and the origins of Black Monday, the day the zombie apocalypse was unleashed onto the city of Dying Light 2. It’s pretty grim stuff, but hey, no one said zombie origin stories were going to be pretty. Long story short, you’ll be looking for your long-lost sister when the game releases on December 7th 2021.
They Always Run - new trailer
What’s more scary than a mutant bounty hunter? A mutant bounty hunter with a third, small arm on the middle of his back. Protagonist Aiden makes the most of this situation, though, and the premise does make for a stylish 2D side scrolling action game, that’s for sure.
Orcs Must Die 3 - new trailer
This 3D tower defense game was previously a timed exclusive on Stadia, but it’s coming to other platforms (including PC) on July 23rd. Lead design director Jerome Jones popped up to give a few details on the traps, tools and game modes you get to hold back the green, tusky hordes. Who among us has not unleashed a tornado onto a battlefield?
Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong - new trailer
If there’s one thing sure to pique my interest it’s games made in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe. Swansong’s trailer and description make it sound a bit like Life Is Strange for the undead. It’s an RPG set in Boston, and you play as three different vampires with different abilities. The choices you make as you try to untangle the truth can have big consequences and decide the fate of the city. Swansong was revealed last year but it’s looking way more fleshed out now, and this trailer is for just one of the three protags - Leysha, who is driven to protect her daughter at all costs.
Gigabash - new game announcement
Gigabash is a new multiplayer arena brawler that sees classic kaiju doing battle with each other. Godzilla vs Kong, eat your heart out. Up to four players will be able to duke it out in destructible cities, and it looks like a real hoot.
Lemnis Gate - new trailer and developer interview
We got another look at Lemnis Gate’s FPS turn-based time loop ’em up this evening, showcasing new weapons, abilities and enemies you’ll be facing off against when it arrives on PC on August 3rd. Each turn / loop lasts just 25 seconds, and you’ll be putting these skills to use in several different modes - Retrieve XM, Seek and Destroy, Classic Deathmatch and Domination. There’s also an open beta arriving next month, so you can try it out for yourself.
Next Space Rebels - new game announcement
What if Kerbal Space Program was shrunk down to rockets in your backyard? That’s Next Space Rebels in a nutshell. Instead of building enormous space rockets, you’ll be building pint-sized space machines and uploading your launches to the game’s fictional internet to win you lots of likes and subscribes. It’s launching (literally) this Autumn.
WarTales - new game announcement
A strategy RPG game where you lead a small team of mercenaries on a far-reaching adventure, across a hostile and unforgiving landscape that has way more snow and turn-based battles with wolves than I’d personally be comfortable encountering. It’s coming from the makers of Northgard, so you know there are some strategy chops there, but WarTales is also part management and part survival. You need to keep your mercs fed, alive and healthy in a grim, plague-riddled world.
Ixion - new game announcement
This new space settlement management game got its first fancy cinematic trailer today, which culminated in some mad bloke blowing up the freakin’ moon. Come on guys, don’t hurt the moon! It’s not yet clear exactly what Ixion will be like to play, but we’ll find out in 2022.
Far: Changing Tides - new game announcement
A surprise reveal of a sequel to the melancholic but beautiful landship game Far: Lone Sails. Far: Changing Tides promises us more in a similar vein, but this time you’re on a lonely little regular ship - as in, a ship on the sea. Okomotive’s latest sees you control Toe, a stalwart little hero who finds themselves trapped in a drowned world and makes a bid for freedom and answers when they find an abandoned ship. It’s launching “late calendar 2021”, so, soon-ish - but nothing more precise yet.
Lakeburg Legacies - new game announcement
In this medieval matchmaking game, you’ll be building an epic legacy of noble sprogs with… cards? Turns out ye olde times did have their version of Tinder after all. In any case, Lakeburg Legacies looks lovely (and quite different from developers Ishtar Games’ previous back catalogue, tactical roguelike RPG The Last Spell and survival management sim Dead In Vinland), and while there’s no release date just yet, you can wishlist it on Steam right now.
Silt - new game announcement
In this monochrome deep-sea diving adventure, you’ll be flippering your way through all sorts of nautical horrors. From the looks of things, you can also do some mind control on friendly piranhas that can (somehow) bite through metal chains. Neat! You’ll be able to hop into the bodies of all other manner of neighbouring fishies, too, to presumably solve lots of Metroidvania-style puzzles. I’m intrigued! No release date just yet, but you can wishlist it on Steam.
Gloomwood - new gameplay footage
They didn’t actually show this during the stream - they did a whole bit about how they were getting bumped for Gabe Newell - but Gloomwood is a retro-lookin’ horror FPS that in my opinion is cool enough to have bumped Gabe (or at least could have bumped one of the preceding trailers that weren’t even new). I’m a massive fan of the Victorian setting and overall old-school Thief whiff coming off it. Gloomwood is still just coming “SOON”, which is a pretty ominous way to put it, but you can download and play the alpha demo right now via Steam.
Soulstice - new game announcement
If its name didn’t already give it away, this new third person action game has, well, big Souls vibes. Or perhaps it’s more Sekiro. It certainly looks fast and furious, with big swords and even larger than life bosses standing in your way. It’s coming in 2022, and you can watch an extended gameplay looksie on their website.
Arboria - new trailer
In this procedurally generated dungeon crawler, you’ll be facing off against all manner of plant-based nasties. With fast and fluid combat, you’ll need to ‘grow’ your set of abilities by mutating into stronger and stronger forms. A bit like Biomutant, but if it were a moody humanoid that was also a 3D action roguelite. Find out for yourself when it launches on Steam in August 2021.
Tinykin - new game announcement
I can’t get enough of the 3D world with 2D sprites design choice that a lot of games seem to be making right now. Tinykin is a puzzle platformer where you play as Milo, who is both a) an alien and b) way smaller than normal, so you end up exploring e.g. the inside of an acoustic guitar. The titular tinykin are little friendly sprite fellows. Think Pikmin, basically, but freed from the tyranny of platform exclusivity.
Chernobylite - new trailer
We saw a tiny glimpse of this spooky FPS during the first Guerilla Collective stream, but now we’ve got even more footage to feast on in this extended gameplay montage. Here, you’re infiltrating a power plant, busting open safes and exploring downed helicopters. Together with the earlier look we saw of its robotic enemies, it certainly looks intriguing. We won’t have to wait long to find out more, either, as it’s launching on July 28th.
Sacrifire - new game announcement
The next game from the makers of Warsaw, this RPG adventure borrows the same kind of 2D-HD look as Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler to give this classic tale a modern-looking twist. Its combat sure is a surprise, too, with the trailer hinting at a blend of real-time and turn-based combat. Even better, it’s scored by JRPG legend, Motoi Sakuraba. Consider my interest well and truly piqued. No release yet, but you can back it on Kickstarter.
Icarus - new trailer
The first episode of Dean “DayZ” Hall’s new survival game Icarus edges ever closes and in this new trailer you and your mates take on one of the planet’s dangerous bears. Honestly, I think that bear just wanted a nice cuddle, really. No need to stick all those arrows in him, you big meanies. It’s launching on August 11th.
Mechajammer - new game announcement
How many cyberpunk RPGs do we need? At least one more, as always, and Mechajammer is a particularly cool and grimey looking one. It’s kind of 2.5D, with a style halfway between pixel art and low-poly that I really enjoy. The combat is turn-based, and you can choose what style you want to employ (i.e. on a sliding scale of stealth to guns blazing), as well as recruiting a team of miscreants. Check out the Steam page for more (and to wishlist).
Songs Of Conquest - new trailer
Revealed a couple of years back at the PC Gaming Show, they’re back once again with the trailer behaviour for a taste of gameplay from this turn-based strategy doo-dad. Songs Of Conquest has your usual kingdom management and land conquery, but battles especially are a bit different. There, your field of combat becomes a field of hexes, and you need to get properly strategic with placing and commanding your units. Look out for it some time in 2022.
Citizen Sleeper - new game announcement
In this stylish, futuristic RPG, you wake up each day, do your job and go back to sleep again. Unfortunately for you, your body is dying. Is there a way to fight back? You can upgrade your bod to prevent your “planned obsolescence”, but you must do so at your own risk, because once you do, “they” will be coming for you. Explore, make decisions and maybe hack the planet to save your own skin. Will you be able to survive? Find out when it launches in 2022.
Project Warlock 2 - new game announcement
Project Warlock 2 is a doomlike - a lo-fi FPS with a lot of blood everywhere, and the USP of throwing spells into the mix as well. The original was a hit when it launched back in 2018, and was made while the dev was still in high school. Now he’s back with a sequel (and, presumably, some graduating exam results). You can wishlist it now on Steam, where it is excitedly revealed that PW2 has “8-SIDED SPRITES! VERTICALITY! AUTOSAVES! QUICKSAVES!! MANUAL SAVES!!!” E3 2021 may be over but our memories live on - see everything on our E3 hub. Many more big game showcases and streams are still to come this summer, leading up to Gamescom, so see our summer games stream schedule to stay up to date.
