There have been many great games revealed and shown off at Gamescom 2019, but often my favourite part of the show centres around hearing of newly revealed announcements and gameplay for upcoming under-the-radar titles. Usually they are very different, or niche, and you never know which will end up being the next massive critical and commercial success. So that being said I gathered up a wonderful little diverse collection of games for you perusal, games from Gamescom that really stood out to me. Some are out now and some are on their way, but whichever, they are well worth keeping an eye on.
RAD
RAD is a 3D action roguelike developed by Double Fine Studios and published by Bandai Namco. It looks absolutely insane.
You play as a teenager in a post apocalyptic world fighting to save the world from some unknown evil. To do this you have to travel through a highly radioactive wasteland called the Fallow. The further you go, the more powerful you become, but only through wild changes that happen to your body because of the radiation.
These changes give you new abilities and change the gameplay, but they also carry a visual effect; think the pickups from “Binding of Isaac.” See, every time you die out in the wastes you restart with a new person and the journey begins all over again.
RAD has a unique 80s-90s nostalgia induced visual style, almost Saturday morning cartoon like, and it looks like an experience you could dump many hours into. It has just been released and our review is already live. Make sure you check it out.
Wasteland 3
Wasteland 3 is InXile’s long awaited sequel to their excellent isometric RPG Wasteland 2; refreshing and revitalizing the Wasteland franchise.
At Xbox’s event the newly acquired studio showed off an excellent trailer that shed light on much of the gameplay system, giving a slightly more detailed look at the game than other trailers have. If that is anything to go by, Wasteland 3 looks likes it will have everything of its predecessor, but improving in almost every way.
It certainly looks nicer and much more streamlined; more at place on a home console as opposed to Wasteland 2 which occasionally felt cluttered. It’s clear that there has been much more production value put into this sequel.
I am unbelievably excited for this game and you should be too. InXile is one of the best in the business when it comes to making engaging and complex rpgs and Wasteland 3 looks to be no exception to that rule when it is released in 2020.
Kerbal Space Program 2
Did anyone see this one coming? The surprise reveal of the sequel to the huge cult classic Kerbal Space Program came out of left field for many, but if the epic cinematic trailer is anything to go by this game will continue the insanely addicting spacecraft building simulator gameplay.
While it doesn’t show much, the trailer details a humorous montage of the lovable green creatures getting into all sorts of horrible crashes; destruction and death is obviously typical.
However the biggest addition shown are the new colonies that the player can create on the planets that they land on. This seems like a perfectly natural growth from the first game, and a good way to continue the player experience past the ship crafting phase.
Kerbal Space Program 2 is due to be out in spring 2020.
Creature In The Well
It’s rare to see truly original game ideas coming out of this long-established industry, especially the kind of experiences that players have never tried before.
Creature in The Well is one of these games. It is a hack and slash top-down pinball game, and if you have a hard time picturing that, I don’t blame you.
You play as a robot known as a BOT-C and it is you who is found delving down into a dormant facility to reactivate it. A terrible and mysterious enemy known as “the creature” is trying to stop you, but by using your sword you can bounce energy balls to turn on dead machinery, solve puzzles, and fight the creature. Much of the machinery is reminiscent of pinball bumpers and such. You gain new equipment throughout the game that apparently radically changes your playstyle depending on what you have equipped.
It has a gorgeous and surprisingly detailed cel-shaded look that’s a joy to see, whilst the story behind it all promises be a surreal and moody sci-fi tale.
Creature In The Well is due out September 2nd 2019.
Little Nightmares 2
Little Nightmares II is easily my most anticipated game that has been revealed at Gamescom; the sequel to the well received artistic horror platformer Little Nightmares.
The trailer shows off new locations away from the original setting, a new playable character, and even the addition of combat. It’s appropriately creepy with shots of burlap covered watchmen and creepy teachers banging on rulers. Needless to say it looks absolutely terrifying and mental, maybe even more so than the last game.
This was a pleasant surprise as I don’t know how many fans actually expected a sequel to the original, but now we get to live in the wonderful timeline where it actually happened.
You’ll want to keep an eye on this because if it’s half as good as its predecessor, it will be an excellent experience. In fact, while you’re at it, go buy and play the first one if you haven’t already – you will not regret it.
Little Nightmares 2 is due to be out in 2020.
So there you go, a collection of some of the most under-the-radar games from Gamesom 2019; games that we should all be looking forward to. Leave your thoughts down in the comments should there have been any reveals or trailer of other awesome games I foolishly left out, and let us know which ones you are most looking forward to.
