Our highlights from Gamescom 2024

Exhausted but satisfied, Phil and I head home from Cologne. Our heads are still buzzing from all the trailers and games we’ve seen and tested. In fact, we already processed some of our thoughts on the Tech-telmechtel podcast (German only).

But if you’re looking for the full lowdown, here are our highlights from this year’s game fair.

Domagoj: Starfield: Shattered Space – Bethesda goes back to its roots

Last year, I enjoyed Bethesda’s sci-fi epic. That being said, the heavily partitioned game world eventually started to get on my nerves. Instead of exploring a large, expansive world like in past Bethesda titles, I had to fight my way through countless menus in Starfield to get to the next quest marker using fast travel.

The paid story expansion Shattered Space has taken this criticism to heart, delivering a traditional Bethesda adventure in a coherent and custom-made open world. Rather than jumping back and forth from one celestial body to the next, DLC action takes place entirely on the planet Va’ruun’kai – the home of mysterious sect House Va’ruun, which you’ll know from the main game.

The world is littered with mysterious gravitational anomalies and cracks in the space-time continuum that disgusting insect monsters emerge from. According to Bethesda, the expansion will also contain horror elements with dark game areas, jumpscares and narrow corridors. Ugly alien enemies try to attack you at close range, so we should see melee weapons taking more centre stage.

The merciless alien world is rounded off with numerous sub-factions of House Va’ruun fighting for supremacy on the planet. It’s up to you which group you join. You decide the fate of the sect – and the planet.

Bethesda has already published a free update for Starfield to keep us going until the expansion is released. It includes the REV-8 – a spacecraft with rocket propulsion. I can’t wait to race it around Va’ruun’kai.

When: 30 September
Where: Xbox Series X/S, PC

Phil: Dune Awakening – spice addiction is real

I like MMOs and Funcom. Ever since Age of Conan, I’ve been trying out everything the Norwegian developer delivers. The games are often a bit rough around the edges, but there’s never a lack of ambition. Dune Awakening definitely needs some fine-tuning, but the atmosphere and potential are already impressive.

The legendary desert planet Arrakis seems empty at first glance, but it’s a desert after all. Barely five minutes have gone by and I’m already hooked on this survival game. I collect resources, conquer enemy outposts, extract blood from dead baddies – because liquid is precious – and craft my first weapons and equipment. Later, I jet over the dunes on a sand motorbike and even get to take off in an omnicopter while giant sandworms plough through the desert below me. I don’t know if it’s the spice, but I’m already experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

When? 2025
Where: PC

Domagoj: Atomfall – a winning mash-up of Sniper Elite and Fallout

The makers of Sniper Elite are venturing into a new, radioactively contaminated game world with Atomfall – and it looks incredibly promising. In the Gamescom demo, I spend a good hour fighting my way through a post-apocalyptic northern English landscape full of nuclear bunkers, bandits and contaminated zombies. And I love every second of it.

The setting and humour are inevitably reminiscent of Bethesda’s Fallout games – with a generous dollop of English flair. However, developer Rebellion claims the level design is more on a par with their Sniper Elite games. You can let off steam to your heart’s content in the finished game across a total of six huge sandbox maps. Your only overriding goal is to find out what the hell really happened during a radioactive accident at the local nuclear reactor. It’s up to you how you go about it. For example, you can literally kill all the characters across the maps. Or let everyone live and use dialogue to get answers to your questions.

The quest system is also game-specific. There aren’t any traditional missions with map markers. Instead, you find clues throughout the game world that you can explore or ignore. Some clues lead to epic stories, others, to smaller loot. The game rewards you for your curiosity and collaborative thinking. I can hardly wait to lose myself in this unique world.

When? March 2025
Where: PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Phil: Replaced – a perfect symbiosis of pixel graphics, synthwave soundtrack and Blade Runner

Replaced gets me on all levels. I was able to play three different levels of this retro-futuristic action platformer, and it gave me goosebumps.

The story about AI being trapped in a human body sparks my curiosity. Battles require skilful timing and are powerful and dynamic with a mixture of close and ranged combat. The chases are nerve-wracking and cinematically staged. There are also quiet moments that let me explore a station bursting with fine details. Definitely a world I want to immerse myself in more.

When? 2025
Where: Xbox Series X/S, PC

Domagoj: Phantom Blade Zero – fast as lightning

I have to admit, I was tense before my face-off with the Phantom Blade Zero demo at Chinese developer S-Game’s stand. The trailers released to date suggest this is another ultra-difficult Soulslike that’ll give me a good thrashing.

With sweaty hands, I grab the PS5 controller and plunge into the demo adventure. Concentrate! I don’t want to make a fool of myself in front of the developers, so I aim for a clean performance. My first impression after a few minutes of playing: damn, this game’s fast.

Its controls are based on Soulslike greats, but the tempo is way faster. The combat system of Phantom Blade Zero feels as if the black-clad protagonist has had ten energy drinks and just as many espressos. I use my swords to assail opponents with incredibly fast combo attacks and practically fly across the battlefield.

But the fast pace doesn’t mean I can mindlessly slaughter everything. If my opponents launch an attack, I either have to dodge or counter their offensives in time. However, compared to other Soulslikes, the timing feels much more generous. If an enemy hits me, I don’t lose too much health. All that tension I’d built up at the prospect of playing the game ebbs away. While it looks ultra-difficult, it’s actually much more accessible than the trailers suggest.

If I die, I’m teleported back to a checkpoint. Another difference to classic Soulslikes is that already defeated enemies remain dead. I also get to keep my experience points and items, which I like. I can hardly wait to carry on my butchering rampage in the finished game.

When: 2025-2026
Where: PS5, PC

Phil: Inzoi – incredibly comprehensive life simulation

For years, The Sims fans have been longing for a sequel or at least an equivalent alternative. Paradox recently scrapped a potential candidate called Life by You. Then suddenly out of nowhere comes Inzoi from Korean developer Krafton. The very studio that’s also working on PUBG.

Rather than just simulating a zoi, the equivalent of a sim, Inzoi replicates an entire city. You can create your own zoi and carry out tasks, such as building them a house and looking for a job. You can even control the character yourself and talk to other zois. The first thing I do is chat to a grandpa in the street and then turn the conversation to crypto. Rumours and even diseases can be spread via interactions like this. Chain reactions of this kind can happen completely independently.

Next, I adopt the character of another zoi, buy a cool car, speed through the streets… and immediately crash. Inzoi almost seems impossibly complex. I can influence the smallest details, such as my furnishings, but also details on a much bigger scale, like the entire city’s lifestyle. There’s something slightly uncanny about what the simulation in Inzoi is supposedly able to do. The game is just as impressive on a visual level. Users have already created and uploaded over a hundred thousand zois in the recently released character editor.

When? 2025
Where: PC

Domagoj: Copa City – football event manager

At first glance, you might confuse Copa City with games like Football Manager. Nevertheless, this tycoon game from developer Triple Espresso has nothing to do with managing football clubs. Instead, Copa City has you coordinating the implementation of a city’s huge football game.

You make sure that fans from all over the world come to the game by doing marketing. You’re also responsible for the safety of fans on site, as well as catering, entertainment and accommodation. At the same time, you have to make sure the game doesn’t impinge on residents who aren’t interested in football. In short, the city hosting this mega football event has to be well prepared for cheering and/or aggressive crowds; otherwise the match will be cancelled.

So far, three football clubs (Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Flamengo) and two authentically replicated stadiums and cities have been announced (Berlin and Warsaw). Other clubs and locations are to follow pre-launch at the end of 2025.

While I put the title through its paces at Gamescom, the developer tells me that since the announcement of Copa City at the Summer Game Fest in June, numerous clubs and leagues have already signed up to be involved. Including my favourite club Dinamo Zagreb. The potential for expanding this unique tycoon game is huge, and I’m excited to see how the project will develop up to launch and beyond.

When? end of 2025
Where: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Phil: Towerborne – live service, but good

Towerborne is a live service game. This means it’s constantly being expanded with new content – something that usually rings alarm bells for me. Often, «forever games» like this don’t offer the necessary quality to grab me in the long run.

However, the latest game from the developers behind the fantastic trilogy The Banner Saga doesn’t look like a typical example of this. It’s a cooperative brawler. You run from left to right with your adventuring troop of up to four people and slaughter your way through fantasy monsters in chaotic battles. There’s lots of loot, different classes, upgrades, and that’s just for starters. The game looks great, has a pleasant lightness to it and the levels only take 5 to 20 minutes. Perfect for long or short gaming sessions with friends.

When: 10 September (Steam early access)
Where: Xbox Series X/S, PC

Domagoj: Directive 8020 – space horror with consequences

Developer Supermassive is known for narrative-driven horror games, such as Until Dawn and The Quarry. With its new game Directive 8020, the studio is moving away from terrestrial horror and trying its hand at science fiction for the first time.

Earth has been destroyed. A colony ship explores space in search of new planets for humanity to live on – or what’s left of it. The only thing is, this ship crashes on an alien planet. And not just any planet: one that’s inhabited by a nasty alien organism.

In contrast to older Supermassive games, Directive 8020 is faster and more direct. It doesn’t feel like a sedate adventure title – more like a nerve-wracking stealth horror game. The hostile alien organism has spread throughout the ship in the form of growths that the creature can emerge from at any time. You need fast reaction times and patience when sneaking around to make sure you survive, as you can’t kill the thing. Fortunately, the often overused quick-time events from the predecessors have been reduced to a minimum.

Similar to previous Supermassive games, Directive 8020 will also feature several playable characters. As always, every decision you make has an impact on the outcome of the story, including the survival of individual crew members. But you need to be careful, because the alien can disguise itself as your spaceship workmates. You’ll never be sure if you’re interacting with a real human or an alien life form.

When? 2025
Where: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Phil: Crimson Desert – call me Kombo King

Crimson Desert is the new open-world role-playing game from Korean developer Pearl Abyss. It’s known for its MMO, Black Desert Online. However, in Crimson Desert, I get to play alone rather than having to share the new fantasy world with other players. In the trailers, the game looks almost too good to be true. The world looks gigantic, the graphics are fantastic and the combat system is elegant yet complex. The latter is the focus of the Gamescom demo.

After a short intro, I get to have a try at different bosses. I’ve rarely felt so overwhelmed as in Crimson Desert. For one thing, the bosses are in no way inferior to FromSoftware titles in terms of design and attack patterns. They also remind me of Dragon’s Dogma as I can climb the bosses – or at least, I could. It’s not that easy in practice. The controls require serious finger acrobatics.

I have to perform a specific combo when fighting a giant rock crab. It requires timing, positioning and targeting. Even with the help of an extremely patient member of staff, I just can’t get the combo to work properly.

I want to give up in frustration, but then it finally works. I swing around like Spiderman, then transform myself into a Sonic-like ball and crash into one of the stone monster’s sensitive spots. The Pearl Abyss rep is almost happier than I am and says: «You’re the first person to beat this boss.» If he’s just trying to butter me up, consider me well and truly basted.

When? 2025
Where: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Bonus: Secret Level – the perfect cure for the Borderlands film adaptation

Secret Level admittedly isn’t a new game, «just» a TV series. But it still belongs on our Gamescom highlights list.

The trailer for the upcoming Amazon Prime series garnered more excitement among Opening Night Live’s 5,000 viewers than any game preview. It also gave us goosebumps. Why? Because the animated series comes from the same creators as the brilliant short film series Love Death Robots. Instead of sci-fi stories with robots, each episode of Secret Level is dedicated to various smaller and larger games. The trailer features clips from Mega Man, Unreal Tournament, Spelunky, Sifu, The Outer Worlds, God of War and many more.

We can hardly wait. It has to be better than the apparently lousy Borderlands execution.

When: 10 December
Where: Amazon Prime Video