At 1am last night, Xbox began the most critical step on the path to launching a new console — they started talking about the games. The latest episode of Inside Xbox was the first stop on the Xbox 20/20 video tour and was all about the kind of third-party developer support fans can expect on the Xbox Series X. Based on what we saw last night, Xbox have a broad range of talent and ideas to pull from.
Bright Memory Infinite
This Crysis looking shooter features guns, superpowers and what looks a little bit like Souls combat. It’s being developed by FYQD-Studio, which is not actually a huge team of AAA developers as you might have expected from a trailer that looks like the one above. No, FYQD is one man — Chinese developer Zeng Xiancheng. Bright Memory has done well in its native China, telling an episodic story across numerous installments. It originally released on Steam in early access in January 2019, but is now being spun into a full AAA release for next-gen hardware.
Dirt 5
It wouldn’t be a console launch without a racing game in the mix, and in lieu of a new Forza title, DIRT 5 is happy to step in. Particle effects, lighting, weather, vehicle damage and track detail have all been dialed up to 11 to provide the requisite visual feast of a launch window racer. DIRT is always a ton of fun and we look forward to spending more time with this new entry in the series.
Scorn
We don’t even know. H.R. Giger meets our nightmares? Maybe don’t eat anything before you watch this one.
Chorvs
Space ships and sci fi badasses — what’s not to love? Chorvs is a new space flight combat shooter title from developer Fishlabs. The trailer combines the aesthetic of games like Control with the frenetic pace of a Shmup. We are intrigued.
Madden NFL 21
In the same way that it wouldn’t be a console launch without a racing game, Xbox 20/20 wouldn’t be a video game showcase without a sports title. Madden NFL 21 comes to the Xbox One X looking as crisp and lifelike as ever. We will have to see how it compares to the Xbox One X version later this year.
Trailer courtesy of IGN.
Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2
An unsettling trailer, yes, but also one of the most fun trailers of the entire broadcast. The day-to-day experience of being a vampire can easily fall to constant hedonism, and that’s exactly what’s going on here. This trailer also provides one of our clearest looks at gameplay yet. We are extremely keen to get our hands on this sequel to the 2004 cult classic.
Call of the Sea
What do you get when you cross Sea of Thieves with Firewatch? Apparently you get Call of the Sea, a narrative adventure title about a woman from the 1930’s who is trapped on a deserted island in the south pacific. We are very interested to hear more.
– The Ascent
The twin-stick ARPG shooter is alive and well in the next hardware generation. The Ascent is a solo or co-op Action RPG set in a dystopian cyberpunk world. This one looks like it’s going to be great fun with mates and we’re excited to start grinding that loot out.
The Medium
One for the Silent Hill fans. The Medium is a psychological horror adventure game about a split in reality. It looks hella spooky and, if you needed further proof of its horror credentials, it features a “dual soundtrack” by Arkadiusz Reikowski and Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka.
Scarlet Nexus
Xbox @ Japan: PLEASE NOTICE US, VIDEO GAME SENPAI. Xbox has never been able to crack the Japanese video game market. As its fourth major console looks to embrace the kind of JRPG titles that make its competition beloved in Japan, will Xbox finally break through?
Second Extinction
This game looks like the kind of deeply dumb sci-fi story a fourteen-year-old boy might write. If you’ve ever wanted to mow down dinosaurs with a huge machine gun and three of your friends, boy do we have the game for you. We don’t want to be mean, but for us, this was easily the least interesting game of the entire Xbox 20/20 broadcast.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
If you didn’t already know that Yakuza: Like a Dragon was a turn-based JRPG, you would never know from watching this trailer. This is technically Yakuza 7, but has recieved a bit of a title change for its release in the West. It features a brand new leading man and drops the series long-running reliance on arcade beat-em-up fights for more traditional JRPG combat. Another strong attempt from Xbox to finally crack the Japanese market that has eluded them for so long.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
This is a terribly short trailer, and oddly packed with in-game cinematics. As first looks go, this Assassin’s Creed Valhalla trailer is pretty disappointing — doubly so when you consider that Xbox reminded viewers every few minutes of its impending premiere during the broadcast. We’re sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of it as we move closer to launch but, for now, we were hoping to see just a little more.
Which brings us to the end! You can watch the entire Xbox 20/20 stream in handy embed below!
Which was your favourite? Which are you looking forward to playing the most? Are you hype for the Xbox Series X? Give us your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter!
