Gaming

Gamescom 2023: Best trailers you missed

Little Nightmares III, Alan Wake II, Tekken 8

Published

August 23, 2023

Luigi Leonardo

While the formerly annual E3 conference left the summer of 2023 wanting, Gamescom is still alive and kicking. Today, on the first day of the week-long event, the event started with a massive bang. Geoff Keighley is back again, wowing audiences with the latest trailers for upcoming games. Here’s a quick rundown of the best ones you might have missed.

Little Nightmares III

When Little Nightmares II came out, no one knew if Tarsier Studios was going to return to the franchise. The studio already expressed disinterest in creating a third title. However, Bandai Namco doesn’t want to leave the grimdark world just yet. In a surprise announcement at Gamescom, the publisher is returning to the universe by recruiting Supermassive Games — most known for Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology — to create Little Nightmares III.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage

It’s less than two months before the launch of Assassin’s Creed Mirage. The upcoming title will take the franchise back to its stealthier roots in the Middle East. Before the launch, Ubisoft released a new trailer to whet everyone’s appetites. Though the new teaser doesn’t reveal much about the gameplay, it hints at the stealth-based gameplay coming back to the series.

Tekken 8

Street Fighter 6 laid down the gauntlet for the fighting game genre. Now, the biggest titles are fighting to catch up. Starting off the returning salvo, Tekken 8 finally announced its launch date. Featuring a new trailer, the upcoming fighting game will launch on January 26, 2024.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III

Earlier this week, Activision Blizzard announced the next entry in the Call of Duty franchise. Modern Warfare III will continue where the second one left off. To further the hype, the third entry released its second gameplay trailer featuring a quick look at the campaign.

Diablo IV: Season of Blood

As the first season of Diablo IV continues its malignant trek to a conclusion, the team revealed the second season coming to the game. Titled the Season of Blood, the upcoming season will feature vampires and vampiric powers. Plus, an upcoming character will be voiced by Gemma Chan, who also graced the stage at Gamescom. The second season will start on October 17.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Cyberpunk 2077’s first expansion, “Phantom Liberty,” is coming out in a few weeks. While the original title went through a rough launch, CD Projekt Red went on a redemption tour to improve the game’s faults. Besides adding new content — featuring Idris Elba — the game will also rework some mechanics including a new perks system and a whole slew of new vehicles.

Alan Wake II

One of the most anticipated titles coming this year, Alan Wake II previewed its gameplay with a new trailer. Adding a bit more realism this time around, the sequel will mix live-action with generated graphics. It will also shift to a style more tailored to survival horror while keeping the surreal visuals introduced by the first game and its spiritual sequel, Control.

Gaming

There’s a new Batman Arkham game coming

Exclusive to VR

Published

May 3, 2024

Luigi Leonardo

The world of Batman Arkham is not done. Despite concluding the trilogy with the successful Arkham Knight, the series occasionally makes a comeback. Now, it’s time to make another trip to the immersive grimdark world. Batman: Arkham Shadow is the next entry to the series, exclusive to the Meta Quest 3.

The franchise’s trips outside of the main trilogy are a mixed bag. No disrespect to those who actually liked the game, but Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League just was not it. Though the game promised a return to Rocksteady’s iconic Arkham formula, the resulting game was a live-service mess. Arkham Origins was, at least, a decent play. Finally, the franchise’s first foray into VR, Arkham VR, was lauded for its gameplay but criticized for its length.

Arkham Shadow brings the franchise back to virtual reality. While the previous VR-exclusive was already a marvel of its technology, the upcoming title represents an evolution for hardware. Based on the official teaser, it will have updated graphics, giving Arkham City just that extra bite of darkness.

Currently, the trailer does not reveal anything about the game’s mechanics. More details are scheduled for release during the Summer Game Fest in June.

Though Arkham Shadow is certainly set in the eponymous universe, Rocksteady is not helming the development. Instead, Oculus Studios and Camouflaj are behind the title.

As for confirmed lore, the title looks like it will feature Ratcatcher, the villain who — surprise, surprise — controls rats. You might recognize the villain from 2021’s The Suicide Squad, directed by James Gunn.

Gaming

Dragon Ball Sparking! ZERO: New trailer, more characters revealed

It’s master vs. apprentice this time

Published

May 3, 2024

GadgetMatch

Today, Bandai Namco has released another trailer for Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO. The clip focuses on master-apprentice duels this time, expanding on what we know so far about the upcoming latest installment of the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi fighting game series.

In the trailer, we see an epic series of battles between master and apprentice pairings. These include Piccolo against Gohan, Master Roshi against Krillin and Yamcha, Trunks versus Gohan, and a lot more. We also see Android 17 and Android 18 and one-armed Gohan towards the end of the trailer.

Even better news: it has been confirmed that 10 more playable characters have been included to the roster:

Gohan (Kid)
Gohan (Adult)
Gohan (Future)
Gohan (Future), Super Saiyan
Trunks (Sword)
Trunks (Sword), Super Saiyan
Videl
Beerus
Whis
Master Roshi

After the announcement of 24 Gokus and Vegetas, as well as 11 more characters about two months ago, the build-up definitely continues for the fighting game. With more and more playable characters, that means endless combinations for players to enjoy, all while indulging in stunning visuals powered by Unreal Engine 5 and tailor-made for new-gen consoles.

Bandai Namco previously released exclusive gameplay footage from the title two months ago. This gave fans a preview upcoming fighting game’s 3D action-battle mechanics, with no less than rivals Goku and Vegeta leading the way.

The latest trailer, meanwhile, just let fans dive further into the graphical capabilities of the title. From the lightning-paced combat highlighted in the master-apprentice showdowns, to the characters’ in-action effects itself, Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO is building itself as a visual masterpiece.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam).

Gaming

TEKKEN 8: Brand new story, 2nd DLC character announced

Season 1 roadmap unveiled

Published

May 2, 2024

GadgetMatch

Enjoying TEKKEN 8 so far? The title’s upcoming roadmap for the rest of 2024 has been revealed at EVO Japan, giving fans more reasons to keep playing Arika and Bandai Namco’s beloved fighting game.

There will be an all-new story coming to TEKKEN 8‘s Story Mode, which will be released in the future. Additionally, Lidia Sobieski has been confirmed as the second DLC character. She will be joining the roster this summer. It can be recalled that Eddy Gordo was the first character DLC for TEKKEN 8, joining the roster last April 4.

No specific date has been mentioned yet regarding Lidia Sobieski. Lidia made her franchise debut back in TEKKEN 7 as a DLC for the Season 4 Pass.

Meanwhile, adjustments to the battle system will be rolled out starting this spring. The game’s development team continues to work on improving balance and player experience. New modes such as Ghost vs. Ghost and Online Practice, on the other hand, will also be added at a later date.

Moreover, a new summer-themed stage, “Seaside Resort” will be available for free. Lastly, a brand new story will also be part of another free update in autumn. This new story will involve no less than Eddy Gordo.

ALSO READ: TEKKEN 8 closes a violent chapter to begin anew

TEKKEN World Tour

Also keeping TEKKEN fans busy for the next few months is the TEKKEN World Tour. The sixth season of this global tournament kicked off recently. Players across the globe compete to earn points and earn their place at the finals to be named The King of Iron Fist.

There will be a total of two Master+ events, 10 Master Events, and 14 Challenger Events worldwide for competitors to join. For more information on tour partners, event dates, locations, and signups, visit tekkenworldtour.com.