At this point, it’s almost tradition that Gamescom Opening Night Live draws to a close with a collective sigh. Again I send my prayers to the stars that the OmniGeoff may one day concede – and this goes for the equally interminable likes of Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards – that shorter, more focused is always better. Imagine the sustained enthusiasm you could generate without all that flaccid, glassy eyed filler! And so in that spirit of relative brevity, here’s a quick list of some of the slighty under-the-radar announcements from this year’s show (and pre-show) that managed to get us quite excited.
Denshattack!
One of a couple of Opening Night Live standouts relegated to the pre-show warm-up, Denshattack! is the work of developer Undercoders. And it’s easy to imagine the studio’s pitch for this one as ‘what if Jet Set Radio but runaway trains?’, given its cell-shaded aesthetic and tricking, grinding action would be pretty familiar if it wasn’t for the fact it switches out skateboards for graffiti-strewn, gravity defying locomotives.
Story wise, it sees players rail-riding across Japan, traversing vibrant countryside and urban city sprawls, all in a quest to defeat the sinister Miraidō corporation. You’ll ollie and kickflip in a bid to win over rivals and rack up points, with everything from magical mecha girls to moving castles making an appearance too. It looks an absolute blast and it’s coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC next year.
Valor Mortis
I’ve fond memories of developer One More Level’s cyberpunk action-parkour adventure Ghostrunner. Or at least, I’ve fond memories of its first couple of hours, after which everything is lost in a bright red haze of pure fury. The point, though, is it was Pretty Good (Eurogamer’s Bertie Purchese said it more eloquently in his review), so there’s every reason to be curious about what One More Level is doing next now the Less Good Ghostrunner 2 is behind it.