The Game Awards 2021
This year’s Game Awards was a long one, absolutely filled to the brim with announcement trailers, gameplay reveals and of course awards. There were so many fantastic things to see that we just had to sit down and discuss it all. Here’s our thoughts on all of the trailers, from stuff we already knew about, to the surprises.
Apologies that this is a little bit late… things have been pretty hectic in the Asylum lately, but I finish up for Christmas soon from work, so I’ll get a nice little break to focus on things here a little more!
Pre-Show Reveals and Announcements
Developed by just one person, Andrew Shouldice; Tunic is set to be a timed-exclusive for Xbox and it finally has a release date; March 16th 2022! We’re both really excited for this, as it not only looks amazing, but the soundtrack sounds it too. It’s been a long time coming for our adorable little fox after first being shown back in 2017, but the wait is now almost over.
King of Fighters XV is due to release on Xbox, PS4/PS5 and PC on February 17th, 2022. Here we’ve got a new character reveal, as well as details regarding the upcoming Open Beta Test that’s set to go live on PS4 and PS5 from December 17th-18th.
With Kane Hodder in the iconic role of Leatherface, after Gunnar Hansen’s passing, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre looks to be a fantastic new addition into the asymmetrical-multiplayer horror genre. Not a lot seen just yet, but looking forward to finding out more - it’s a collaborative effort from Gun Media (the dev team behind the Friday the 13th game) and Sumo Digital.
Homeworld 3 has finally had an update after being announced a few years ago. With an expected release window of late 2022, they’ve not shown off too much, but it’s enough to get the loyal fans fired up.
Developed in collaboration between Telltale and Deck Nine, The Expanse: A Telltale Series is a prequel to the Amazon Exclusive sci-fi series, and with Telltale titles, you always know what you’re gonna get - so we are intrigued. Having never watched the show previously, this has definitely gotten us interested… and adding it to the infinitely expanding backlog.
Babylon’s Fall is an absolutely stunning online multiplayer action RPG coming from PlatinumGames, with an expected release date of March 3rd, 2022. It looks super interesting - and it’s not too far away from release, either!
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is a “massive expansion” due for release in Summer 2022, along with three new amiibos: Palamute “Canyne Malzeno X”, Malzeno, and Palico “Felyne Malzeno Z”. We’ve yet to play Monster Hunter Rise - there’s just not enough hours in the day to do everything we want - but this might just give us the push we need to start.
Outerloop Games’ Thirsty Suitors absolutely blew us away. Our first instinct was that it reminded us of Scott Pilgrim, with the whole ‘battling your exes’ plot - but that is still very much a good thing. The visuals are gorgeous, the gameplay looks fantastic, and it has gone straight into our list of upcoming titles we’re most excited for. Sadly, no confirmation of a console release was given - so we’re just gonna have to do as Jala’s buff auntie says and have some patience!
Evil West is very, very impressive looking; from developer Flying Wild Hog, who you may know from the Shadow Warrior series. Excited to see how this one turns out when it launches on Xbox, PS4/PS5 and PC in 2022.
Have a Nice Death is another stunningly gorgeous title, with a very unique aesthetic; and it had us intrigued from the moment the trailer started. A very stylish looking side-scroller, this is due to go into Early Access on Steam in March; and I am praying that it comes to consoles, too.
Planet of Lana is unbelievably intriguing, with a very Star Wars vibe both visually and musically, with the soundtrack being done by Takeshi Furukawa. Coming 2022 for Xbox and PC.
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is getting a PC, Switch and PS4 port on March 10th, 2022 - ten years after its original release. Persona is currently smack-bang in the middle of its 25th Anniversary festivities, having just recently put up a Persona Soundtrack vinyl box set up for sale via iam8bit that looks downright amazing, and I am very jealous of anyone who manages to get their hands on one of those.
Main Show
Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga is one I’ve been looking forward to for ages. As a huge fan of the first game, I’ve been desperate for a sequel since playing it through to completion. It’s a game that really spoke to me, and had me deeply, emotionally invested every minute - and I can’t wait to continue Senua’s story.
Star Wars: Eclipse - WHAAAAAAAT!? This looks so good. Currently in development by Quantic Dream, it’s still in the very early stages of development, so expect to see further info rolled out over time.
Free-to-play MMO Lost Ark now has a release date of February 11th, 2022. They also revealed that a Founder’s Pack will be available for purchase, giving you a few days early access to the game.
We’ve got a Wonder Woman game in the works from Monolith Productions, the dev team behind games such as Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Can’t wait to see more about this, although it’s got no release date (or even release window) as of yet, so it’s probably still a good way off.
As soon as this trailer started, we both sat upright. “Oh my God… is this… Alan Wake!?” I whisper-screamed at Allan, as the camera focused on the character standing in the street, before turning to face the screen and the title popped up. Neither of us expected this, but we could not be more excited. Expected for release in Summer 2023, Remedy have 100% hyped us up for the release of Alan Wake II.
I honestly don’t even know what to say here. The Sonic the Headgehog 2 trailer looks fantastic - and both us and the kids are super excited to see Sonic’s next adventure - but that bizarre intro from Jim Carrey left us puzzled. Being Scottish, we couldn’t tell wtf his story of his Scottish grandfather was about. “Don’t grate it in the grinder” what!? Regardless, we love ya Jim!
Horizon: Forbidden West is yet another title that is making us very upset that we still haven’t managed to get our hands on a PS5. Set to launch on February 18th, 2022 - we’re praying to the Sony gods that we’ll be able to get a PS5 before then.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is getting an Epic Games Store-exclusive PC release on December 16th.
Coming February 22nd, 2022, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen expansion looks like a lot of fun. We’ve been out of the action with Destiny for quite some time now, as it became just a bit too difficult to keep up with the ever-growing story and mountains of content (especially when things started getting removed!), but this is making us want to dive back in.
The mere mention of Silent Hill during the intro to this trailer had us instantly interested, thinking this was an announcement of the next title in the series - but instead we got something equally as intriguing from series director Keiichiro Toyama’s new studio, Bokeh Game Studio: Splitterhead. Absurdly creepy, we can’t wait to find out more.
Inflexion Games announced their first title, Nightingale, a survival crafting game taking place in a shared world connected by portals. It looks super interesting and like it will be a lot of fun to play with friends, battling enemies and building fortresses to protect from danger.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum looks amazing, with a slightly cartoony look to the titular character, making him a bit cuter than we’ve seen him previously. Planned for release in 2022 for Xbox, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch, this is one precious game.
From Playdead co-founder Dino Patti’s new studio, Jumpship, founded in conjunction with animator Chris Olsen (who’d been working on this as a personal project prior to their partnership) - Somerville follows a family struggling in the aftermath of a cataclysmic event. It appears to tick a lot of boxes for us, and is easily one of our most anticipated titles that have been shown during The Game Awards.
Cuphead in “The Delicious Last Course” has been a long time coming - but it finally has a release date: June 30th, 2022. Expected to bring multiple different regions and boss fights, this is a fantastic announcement for fans of Cuphead.
Sonic Frontiers hasn’t had very much shown off about it yet, aside from what appears to be an absolutely huuuuuge open world. The lack of detail shown was a tad disappointing, as we’d really hoped to get to see some gameplay - or at least a bit more info than what we got - but it is still a while away yet, so fingers crossed we get to see more soon.
Yet another instance of our hype-meters being thrown out of whack during this years’ Game Awards was the arrival of Hideo Kojima. He couldn’t be there in person, but made sure to send in a recorded message to promote his good friend Guillermo del Toro’s latest movie: Nightmare Alley. We love Guillermo’s work, and this appears to be no exception - the story looks highly interesting and the cast is filled with phenomenal actors and actresses, so we really can’t wait to see this.
And again: well and truly teased. After the whole Blue Box saga we went through, the mention of Silent Hill earlier in the Game Awards (with the creator’s new game, Slitterhead), Kojima introducing the trailer for GDT’s Nightmare Alley, to this? Safe to say our expectations - or rather, our hopes - for a Silent Hill/Kojima related announcement went through the roof after having subsided entirely months ago. I genuinely grabbed Allan’s arm when Guillermo said “I hope we see another one of those”, as I’d instantly told myself we were seconds away from it cutting to a trailer for a Kojima-helmed Silent Hill. Sadly, nothing was revealed either then, or at all throughout The Game Awards, so we’re back to just rocking in a corner, waiting for the day it finally happens.
Warhammer: Vermintide II - Warrior Priest is a DLC pack containing the new playable character as well as new weapon types, abilities and more. Available now for PC and Xbox, it’s coming to PS4 in January.
Tchia looks absolutely stunning, and the various forms of traversal and changing forms looks very entertaining. Sadly it’s a PlayStation exclusive - and just like I said about for Horizon, we haven’t managed to get our hands on one yet - so hopefully we’ll be able to track one down in time for launch.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League looks insanely good. With four playable characters that you can either play solo as, switching between them on-the-fly, or play four-player co-op with some friends, this looks like it’s gonna be a lot of fun. We’ve loved all of Rocksteady’s Arkham series, which this is set to be a continuation of, so we’re excited to get stuck in.
Another PlayStation exclusive, Forspoken is set for release on May 24th, 2022. Developed by Luminous Productions, it sees you take on the role of Frey, a young woman who is transported from modern-day New York to a fantasy world known as Athia, and must utilise magical powers to figure out how to find her way back home.
After the closure of THQ, the future of the Warhammer 40K brand seemed uncertain, with multiple sequels cancelled. Under the new publisher, SEGA, we got an Anniversary Edition update back in September for PC, which evidently was a sign of better things to come, with Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II announced for Xbox, PS5 and PC at The Game Awards - ten years after it’s predecessor.
A franchise that we’ve loved for years due to its zany characters, hilarious stories and bizarre weaponry, Saints Row sees a new instalment due for release on August 23rd, 2022. Taking a different approach than the previous titles, this one looks to be a little more grounded in reality - but still with plenty of the wackiness that we’ve come to know and love.
The latest crossover, and one that will please a lot of fans, Fall Guys x The Nightmare Before Christmas sees “Santa Jack’s Challenge” running from 16th-27th December, with all your favourite TNBC characters available as little wobbly beans.
Dune: Spice Wars was announced, a real-time strategy game, set in the universe of Dune coming in 2022.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands had more footage shown, and it’s looking great. Set for release on March 25th, 2022 - this is another one we’re super hyped for.
Among Us VR was announced - giving a new spin to the popular game. We’re fairly new to the whole world of VR titles, but this is one that we definitely want to try out.
DokeV showed off a music video, once again showing the amazingly wonderful world and the characters within. Since it was first revealed, we’ve been in complete and utter awe at what Pearly Abyss are capable of, and can’t wait to get into.
A new character revealed for Genshin Impact, Arataki Itto was the focus of this new gameplay trailer - but other new characters can be seen too.
From developer Spiders, Steelrising is a stunning new action-RPG that’s set for release in June 2022 on Xbox Series X|S.
Metal: Hellsinger is a rhythm game with music from artists such as Trivium and Lamb of God. We were a little bit confused by this one at first, as upon the trailer beginning we were like “isn’t this already out?” - but evidently we were mixing it up with another title that has already released; Bullets Per Minute.
Star Trek: Resurgence is an interactive narrative game that takes place shortly after the events of Star Trek: The Next Generation - it’s set for release on Xbox, PS4/PS5, and PC (as an Epic Games Store exclusive) in Spring 2022.
Iron Galaxy’s Rumbleverse looks entertaining as heck. They’ve described it as a 40-person Brawler Royale, and it will be free-to-play and is set for release very soon.
A Plague Tale: Requiem looks bigger and better than its predecessor, which we both really enjoyed. It had such an interestingly unique premise, so we’re excited to see where it takes us this time. Releasing on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PC and Switch from developer Asobo Entertainment, it’s due for launch in 2022.
Dying Light 2: Stay Human is set for release on February 4th, 2022. This trailer gave us a lot of the same vibes that the first Dead Island trailer had - although we all know that that ended up being a bit underwhelming come release. Fingers crossed this lives up to the hype (and where is Dead Island 2, anyway!?).
CrossfireX is an Xbox platform exclusive first-person-shooter that is due to launch on February 10th, 2022 from developers Remedy Entertainment.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is a free-to-play battle royale based on the tabletop RPG Vampire: The Masquerade that is due out in 2022.
GTFO is a survival-horror game exclusive to Steam that received a surprise full launch during The Game Awards. It looks fantastic, so we can only hope it’ll come to console one day.
The Halo Live-Action TV Series looks fantastic, coming to Paramount+ in 2022. With a promising cast and a story that is set to follow Spartan-117, Master Chief himself - we’re really excited to see this.
What can we really say about Elden Ring, other than that it looks unbelievably amazing? FromSoftware’s newest title is set for launch on February 24th, 2022 - and it can’t come fast enough.
SYNCED: Off-Planet is NExT Studios next title, set for release in 2022. Described as a companion shooter, set in a post-apocalyptic future, it looks very impressive.
ARC Raiders is a free-to-play sci-fi-shooter from developer Embark Studios. It has been announced for Xbox, PS5, and PC and scheduled for a 2022 release.
The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience is a downloadable demo-experience available now on Xbox Series X and PS5 that allows you to see just what Unreal Engine 5 is capable of.
Phew - this year’s Game Awards was a busy one, eh? So much to look forward to! If there’s one thing that I am gutted that we didn’t get to see though, it has to be Fable. WHEN ARE WE GONNA SEE MORE FABLE, PLAYGROUND GAMES? WHEN!? But overall, it was a phenomenal lineup of announcements and trailers - and it was nice to see everyone all in the audience at the event again this time round.
What are you most excited for? Anything you wished you’d seen?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
