Gamescom 2010 Preview

Curry wurst. Two words that say a lot about the Germany of today. A mix of old (sausage) and new influences (curry). Needless to say it's extremely popular, and we will try our best not to have too many over the course of the Gamescom week. Apart from the curry wurst, there are other things to get excited about.

Almost all the major players are in Cologne this year. Sega are staying at home, and Capcom are sulking at a nearby hotel (probably unhappy about the German's hatred for zombie related violence), but apart from them everyone is there. For Microsoft and Sony the new motion controlled peripherals will be heavily featured, while Nintendo are banking on a rather solid line up of DS and Wii titles.

Petter Mårtensson:

Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2 was officially revealed at Gamescom last year, without going into many details about how the game would actually play. Fast forward to Gamescom 2010 and Arenanet have spent the last couple of months hyping the game, revealing more and more about what features we can expect from it. A dynamic event system, personalities, a more open quest system than in most other MMOs...the list goes on.

Hopefully Gamescom will give us a lot more information about how this all comes together, and we're hoping that we'll get at least some time to at least see the game in action - if we can't get our grubby hands on some hands-on time. Guild Wars 2 has a lot to live up to, and hopefully we'll return home from Gamescom armed with the knowledge that Arenanet is doing a bloody good job with it.

The Secret World
Ever since The Secret World was shown for the first time, I've asked (or, well, some might say "bugged") Funcom's PR-guys for more information it about whenever I've had the chance. Sadly they have tended to dodge the question, mostly trying to steer the conversation back to Age of Conan. But not this year! With Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer ready and released, it looks as if the Norwegian MMO company is ready to shift gears and will be bringing The Secret World with them to Cologne - including creative director Ragnar Törnqvist (which Bengt interviewed about the game at GDC back in February).

Bengt Lemne:

Dead Space 2
Visceral Games had a bit of a coming out party with Dead Space a couple of years back. Although I certainly looked nice along the way, few expected it to turn out as well as it did. Fast forward a couple of years and the pressure is on. EA are banking on Dead Space 2 to be a winter blockbuster, and all the ingredients are there as far as I can tell.

There were a few negatives in the original Dead Space, I could have done without the "space rock shooting" mini game, the controls were a bit counter intuitive at times, and throughout the game I felt like a pawn ordered around by others.

Visceral Games have obviously taken all the criticism in. We've have left the USG Ishimura behind for a space station called "the Sprawl", meant to take us closer to home and scare us in more familiar surroundings such as a school or a church. Isaac Clarke has grown a will of his own, and he will be more of a fully fleshed out character this time around. Minute, but important changes has also been made to the control scheme, one thing being that you can now reload without aiming.

Overall, Dead Space 2 looks spectacular at this stage, and we can't wait to get our dirty paws on it. It headlines a really strong EA line up in Cologne, with the likes of Crysis 2, and Dragon Age 2 alongside it.

Fable III
Given the success of its predecessors there has been surprisingly little fuss surrounding Fable III. It's coming out in just a few short months, people! I've really enjoyed the evolving world of Albion, and Lionhead seems to have gone even further this time in their attempts to allow you complete rule of the world. To be a king, and have your touch determine the faith of an individual or all your people. I like the concept, the idea, and with a simple yet addictive combat mechanic, and morphing weapons Fable III looks like it will foul us into believing its left all it's role playing roots behind. But I think we can safely rest assured that it's there somewhere, and that we will be allowed to play a role of our own design to a greater degree in Fable III than in most other games in the genre.

Steve Hogarty:

Portal 2
The worst thing about Portal 2 being your most anticipated game of Gamescom is that it strips you of any sense of individuality. Well done, you are but one of the millions of people who want to play this game. You are not the unique snowflake your mother said you were.

The best thing about Portal 2 being your most anticipated game of Gamescom is that you're unlikely to come out of next week feeling disappointed. I wouldn't trust it coming from any other developer, but when Valve say that this is the best game they've ever made, I nod and accept it in quiet admiration. Portal was a masterpiece, and this sequel will be longer, will feature more characters, more tools, more puzzle elements, and greater variety in environments. My only worry is that Valve mentioned they might keep the placeholder voice of Wheatley - the first personality orb you encounter - especially when the animator who provided the voice hinted that the person being considered for the final role has him "over the moon". My guess? It'll be Michael Caine. I hope I hope I hope.

BioShock Infinite
Still can't quite make those two words feel right as they tumble out of my gob, but everything else about Irrational's BioShock sequel feels absolutely right. What I loved most about the original was the setting, the characters, the atmosphere, sound design, the music, the plot - pretty much everything bar the bit where you shoot people and fire bees out of your hand - and if BioShock: Infinite "only" turns out to be BioShock in a new place, then I'm sold. BioShock is all about places.

I admit I was disappointed to hear it'd be a sequel at all, rather than an original IP, but that trailer is enough to crack the most hardened of cynical hearts right open. And that setting, let me gush about that floating city again: it's the sort of considered and original art design that makes me look at any game with space marines in it and seeth at the tediousness of it all. Refreshing and unique, BioShock: Infinite just has to prove it's got more up its tightly buttoned sleeve than a pretty metropolis tethered to a balloon. Personally, I think it's going to nail it.

The Locals:

The German games industry has in many ways been the victim of a flourishing local market. Small and medium sized developers have a large enough home market to focus on, that very few major games have come out of the otherwise technologically advanced nation. This year at Gamescom Germany has two major action titles to be proud of: Crytek's Crysis 2 and Yager's Spec Ops: The Line. Perhaps it's telling that these titles are published by American publishers (EA and 2K Games), as German publishers have struggled to establish themselves outside of their home market.

Crysis 2 is a technological showpiece that Crytek hopes will help sell their cross-platform engine to other developers. It promises the same kind of sandbox action experience as the first game, but in a totally different environment - the lush jungles have been replaced by the urban jungles of New York City. This allows for more verticality in the gameplay, and even more destruction.

Spec Ops: The Line is the rebirth of 2K's Spec Ops series, and a Heart of Darkness inspired take on the third person tactical shooter. Imagine a Dubai overrun by sand, and ruled by a Kurtz-like Colonel as you try and track him down and get him home.

A more traditional German looking title is Arcania: Gothic 4, the first game in the series developed by Spellbound (Desperados, Chicago 1930), and it's sure to garner a lot of attention in the public section of the showfloor.