Europe’s biggest gameshow is a beast. Spanning the halls of Cologne Messe, and with E3 now out of the picture, Gamescom is a bigger deal than ever. The show also attracts thousands of public attendees, which gives the show a fairground twist in places. This year, Netflix dominated one of the halls with a faux One Piece ship, sports stadium, a Wednesday-themed cafe and a Stranger Things ice cream stall.
Elsewhere, while Nintendo didn’t have anything new to show, it had plenty of Switch 2 consoles to convince the not-yet-convinced — and some of them had Silksong. Microsoft, too, had a substantial presence, revealing an October 16 launch date for its Xbox Ally duo of handheld gaming PCs. No price, though.
While you can find all the news and previews on our Gamescom page, we’ve also drawn together all the other games we tested during this week’s show, several of which launch in the next few weeks.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
While the man who created Metal Gear moved onto walking sims and Hollywood best friends, Konami is more than happy to beef up and remaster the hits. This time around, it’s Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
I’ll admit, Snake Eater was when I fell off the Metal Gear Solid train (or nuclear mech), and it came undone by the camouflage system and the difficult-to-navigate early areas. A very tight demo, as the Gamescom crowds rushed to early demos meant I didn’t get a chance to fully test the new style control system that (thankfully) shifts crouch and action/ confirm to separate buttons and adds a degree of camera control even in third-person. But it’s these kind of quality-of-life upgrades you can expect to see.
Of course, the graphics are a huge leap from the PS2 original (or Nintendo 3DS version I bafflingly chose to buy), but the pulpy (occasionally delightfully camp) dialogue remains in place. I look forward to getting through at least the opening scenes now that the game has launched on PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.
There Are No Ghosts at the Grand
What a weird game. Not in a bad way. Things start off in the titular dilapidated Grand Hotel, with me renovating a room with PowerWash Simulator-inspired water guns, spray guns, sand blasters and vacuum. You can scan the area to get hints on what needs doing, while a naggy Scottish smartphone app will also try to help — but not really. There’s also a talking cat, apparently, called Mr. Bones the Bastard, but he wasn’t talking in this demo.
The early trailer teased a mystery that needs to be solved in the village, and while I didn’t get a glimpse of that, I was soon tasked with checking out some mysterious black gunk.
The developers even put a little more effort into the demo, with voiced lines that will likely never be heard in the retail version, teasing that the protagonist was being “onboarded” when he’s interrupted by one of the characters that populate the village around the hotel.
Seconds later, I’m riding a scooter to the dock, with a cat enjoying the ride, fixing a boat, getting a sassy soliloquoy from the woman who convinced me to drive my boat into the sea. There are plenty more songs to come as new characters join the mystery.
As a reminder, the demo started with me sandblasting tatty wallpaper off period walls. I’m intrigued.While Hideo Kojima, the creator of Metal Gear, moved on to walking sims and Hollywood collaborations, Konami is more than happy to revamp and remaster its hits. This time, it’s Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
I’ll admit, Snake Eater was when I fell off the Metal Gear Solid train. It came undone at the difficult-to-navigate early areas and the camouflage system. A very tight demo, as the Gamescom crowds rushed to early demos, meant I didn’t get a chance to fully test the new style control system that (thankfully) shifts crouch and action/ confirm to separate buttons and adds a degree of camera control even in third person. But it’s these kinds of quality-of-life upgrades you can expect to see.
Of course, the graphics are a huge leap from the PS2 original (or Nintendo 3DS version I bafflingly chose to buy), but the pulpy (occasionally delightfully camp) dialogue remains in place. I look forward to getting through at least the opening scenes now the game has launched on PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S.
We’ve got a more detailed breakdown by contributor Alessandro Fillari here, but I got a chance to get scared out of my skin too. The headline feature is the ability to play between first- and third-person perspectives. Still, it revealed an uncomfortable truth to myself: I’m a total coward and playing in third person is much less scary.
Capcom’s return to its samurai vs. demons series is satisfying and fun, especially when compared to more punishing games in the genre, like Sekiro. However, the early chapters have a pretty basic attack flow, and I’m keen to see how things evolve beyond that. At least they’ve got one thing right: a great villain to loathe.
The long-running DLC-into-sequel-into-meme-sensation is almost here, right? The demo at Gamescom remained the most popular attraction at Microsoft’s booth. Two Xbox Ally handhelds were also running the demo, which I was fortunate enough to test on. And I can say… yep, still plays like a faster, slicker Hollow Knight.
Having played it a heady six years ago, it’s now actually difficult to discern the differences between the early build and what is surely an almost-final snapshot of the game. One of the notable changes is its more elaborate lighting effects and details — things Redditors have pored over as each new trailer video appeared. I stand by my hands-on impressions from 2019, even if they have a fine vintage at this point.
But when is it coming out? Oh, September 8.
