Johnnysworld

I intended to cover the Summer Game Fest, but nothing really caught my eye. Horizon Adventures, the LEGO spinoff, looked cool, although I feel Sony may be running the series dry. Phantom Zero Blade looks incredible, and I think that was about everything that caught my eye.

Switching gears (get it, Gears of War?), all eyes were on Xbox since everyone wanted to know what the green label was doing after acquiring nearly half the industry. Turns out, Xbox had some sauce to show during the Xbox Games Showcase, and as a PlayStation guy, this was pretty good.

That said, the underlying message was patience. Xbox is painting a beautiful picture of games, yet some don’t have release dates attached to them. Others release next year, which isn’t fair, but it’s not soon by any means either.

Let’s talk highlights.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is serving peak

I love the newer DOOM titles since it’s mindless fun. When rumors swirled DOOM would be coming back, I was hyped. DOOM: The Dark Ages brings the Doomguy back, well back to the literal name of the game.

Violent action, Dragon riding, a weird gun that shoots skulls like some twisted Ratchet and Clank contraption; we’re so freaking back. I did find it hilarious that it’s the Dark Ages, and yet this super god soldier is ripping demons to shreds with shotguns. The shield addition looks neat also!

We have to wait until 2025, but it was a good start to Xbox’s show. Just please for the love of God, don’t bring back those Mercenary jerks from DOOM Eternal. I lost years of my life because of them.

Perfect Dark could be the Dishonored title the culture needs

So, there’s been a whole lot of silence on this title since its reveal in 2020. Hell, you could go back to 2018 when the idea was starting to form.

The silence has been broken, for the time being, with a new trailer debuting at the showcase. Three minutes showed some sick gameplay in this mix of Mirror’s Edge and Dishonored. The visuals look incredible as Joanna Dark roamed “The Cascade” in search of her target.

No release date has been attached, which is a little sad given it’s been in the works for so long. All in all, I was impressed with Perfect Dark‘s reveal.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard arrived, but it feels… off?

For my first Dragon Age game, Dragon Age: Inquisition was really fun. I couldn’t tell you what happened, but when the big reveal happened at the end, I was excited about a potential sequel.

We’re here, or at least almost here, and what was once titled Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has been finally revealed, albeit with a new title, The Veilguard. Watching the trailer, and the vibes don’t feel right.

Granted, I’m not the most knowledgeable, but the trailer gave off super cheesy vibes like the Borderlands movie. It almost feels like this isn’t the sequel to Inquisition based on the trailer alone. We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but it feels off, which isn’t a good sign for a studio that’s needed a hit for some time and a game that’s been in hell forever.

“We’re so back” CoD fans every year (it’s me, I’m the CoD fan)

Yes it feels weird to include CoD in the Xbox segment, but Microsoft now owns the iconic franchise so here we are. Gotta say it was weird having Phil Spencer talk about the game, but alas, here we are.

Treyarch is back, and boy are they fuckin’ cooking. Black Ops 6 is the next entry in the yearly CoD cycle, and it’s also the debut of CoD on Xbox’s platform. 

Anyways, I’m a bit of a Treyarch stan, and while I like MW3, I think Cold War is probably the best next-gen CoD we’ve gotten. Black Ops 6 is upping the ante in nearly every way, with new omnidirectional movement, new animations, a full-on campaign set in 1991, and the return of the freaking classic Prestige Mode.

It seems silly, but given the widespread love for MW3 undoing all of MW2‘s wrongs, Black Ops 6 has the chance to bring CoD back. It’ll be on GamePass later this year (I shuddered typing that), and I’m excited to get back into the mix. I gottasay, I applaud Treyarch for keeping the story tied together for 16 years, starting with World at War.

I’ll probably do a full dive when the COD Next event kicks off in August, so stay tuned to this space to see if I followed through.

Other Notables

• Starfield: Shattered Space got a reveal, and I could’ve sworn I was watching a Ghostbusters game reveal.
• Gears of War is returning, a la Gears of War: E-Day, a prequel to the series focusing on the good old days. Who am I kidding, they weren’t good, this happens literally as all hell breaks loose.
• Fable made a reappearance with a new trailer. As someone who’s never played, I’m intrigued.
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is probably the cleanest turn-based RPG I’ve ever seen. Will I play it? Probably not, but that trailer was something else.