X019 took place in London between November 14th-16th and I was glued to the coverage on Mixer, emitting the odd squeak and generally getting excited with all the games and features that were being revealed. With a very welcome expansion to Xbox Game Pass being the main highlight for me personally, there were still a lot of other things to get excited about. I’d like to present to you here my favourite five things that were shown at X019, not counting the Game Pass bits. So buckle up, and here we go…
Crossfire X
Crossfire X appears to be an intriguing possibility, due to come to the big black box in 2020.
Crossfire X is apparently one of the most played games in PC history, with over 650 million registered players to date. In the story of the game, in so far as a story is required in a competitive online first person shooter, we see two mercenary corporations doing battle. Choosing either to play as “Black List” or”Global Risk” operatives, teams of players have to work together in order to achieve victory in objective based game modes.
The X019 video featured a visit to the studios who are developing the game, these being Smilegate Entertainment in Korea and good old Remedy Entertainment in Finland, in addition to Xbox themselves. The gameplay footage shown was suitably fast and furious, with very satisfying looking gunplay and interesting looking maps, with many ways to sneak up behind your enemies and take them out.
Looking at the list of game modes available on PC, I can’t help but find myself really looking forward to this. With a promised single player campaign (yay) and a battle royale mode (boo), there shouldn’t be any lack of things to do. It will also be a free-to-play game, and with promised unique content available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers, the future for this game looks very bright indeed.
Everwild
A new game coming from Rare is always of interest to me, and their new IP, Everwild, does look like a thing of beauty.
While it’s not a new Banjo-Kazooie game (when is that coming, Rare?), now, I’ve watched my son play Breath of the Wild until I’m blue in the face, I certainly got a similar vibe from the gameplay on display in the reveal trailer. A world that is full of loads of different animal species, with Rare’s trademark cartoon style, makes this very much on my radar.
As Rare boss Craig Duncan put it “The Everwild team is focused on building an experience that allows for new ways to play in a natural and magical world. Everwild will give you memorable, engaging and meaningful experiences for players everywhere to share. We cannot wait to share more with you in the future”. While there did seem to be, to me, elements of Viva Pinata to the trailer, with the human type characters in the game seeming to care for the animals and almost set up farms, it does seem that there are enough differences to set Everwild apart.
This is definitely one to keep an eye on.
Grounded
A new game from Obsidian? Why, with these trailers you’re really spoiling us, Microsoft.
After the utter triumph that is The Outer Worlds, Obsidian can do no wrong in my eyes and as such I’m going to be all over any new announcements from them. Grounded is being billed as a survival game, set in a suburban backyard. Now, my garden is fairly overgrown, but I like to think I’d be able to survive okay in there, but in the game it appears that, in a nod to classic 80’s movie Honey I Shrunk The Kids, we are approximately the same size as ants. This is obviously going to make the whole survival thing that little bit more difficult, with all the dangers a garden can throw up when you’re only tiny.
The trailer showed an army of bugs to contend with, from friendly appearing ladybirds up to giant spiders to battle.There appeared to be an eating mechanic as well, with a tiny aphid on a spit being cooked. With a building mechanic that looks very much like Fortnite, and collecting resources and crafting weapons all present and correct, plus four player co-op, this is looking very exciting indeed.
I’m very interested to see what Obsidian can do on the survival game front, as obviously they are known for RPGs…
Project xCloud
Project xCloud, even while it is still in the testing phase, looks like it is going from strength to strength.
It’s now having the roster of games increased, to a massive 50+ titles, including some very big hitters. How big you ask? How about Devil May Cry 5, Gears 5 and Forza Horizon 4, big? Imagine being able to play these games anywhere you have a internet connection, on your phone or tablet?
Microsoft also announced that the range of controllers that they are going to allow to be used is going to increase as they will ensure third party controllers work, up to and including Sony’s Dualshock 4.The future looks even brighter, if you can believe that. With the roll out next year onto Windows PC, and expanding into many more territories, including Canada and India, this looks like a program that is going to run and run. In fact, reading around about the program, the thing that excites me most is the fact that there are more than 3.500 games currently available on the Xbox One which are already working on Project xCloud.
With all future games being developed for the platform, I’m really looking forward to what Microsoft show us next.
Bleeding Edge
Bleeding Edge is a game that has captured my interest, more for the team it is coming from than for the actual game, if I’m honest. You see, the developers, Ninja Theory, have made a lot of games that I’ve enjoyed playing in the past, and the one thing that has always stood out has been the combat systems.
From Devil May Cry to Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (and even further back to Enslaved:Odyssey to the West), fighting in these games has always been brutal, visceral and fast paced; seeing these skills translated into a 4v4 team based brawler is an intriguing prospect.
With a release date finally announced for next year, and the announcement that the game will come straight to Game Pass on release, my interest is very high. Obviously the characters are all suitably bonkers, from Buttercup with detachable buzzsaw arms to another that sounds right up my street, Nidhoggr, a Death Metal rocker! The gameplay on show was fast and furious, with a strategic edge to it, as certain characters seem to be able to counter others, and so on.
Honorable Mentions
X019 also showed off numerous other games, ones that look to be pretty stunning, with my jaw dropped by Microsoft Flight Simulator. The draw distances, the plane models, and the freedom that the game seems to give you all looks to be amazing. You can also throw in to this honorable mentions section the delights of Carrion, which looks very interesting; being the monster rather than fighting the monster. The rest of the ID@XBOX sizzle reel looked great as well, and I can’t wait to get my hands on them, again via Game Pass at every opportunity.
So, these were the five things to come out of X019 that excited me the most. How about you guys? What are you looking forward to the most? Let me know in the comments below!
