TrueAchievements staff highlights — The Sport Awards 2024
Whereas there won’t have been a lot in the way in which of updates for these upcoming Xbox exclusives, we nonetheless noticed a improbable vary of bulletins, from launch dates to world premieres, plus a beautiful why-is-this-happening little bit of Geoff Keighley riffing with (or quite, being roasted by) the long-lasting Muppet characters, Statler and Waldorf. In terms of precise video games, nevertheless, here is what stood out for us…
Blackfrost: The Lengthy Darkish II
The Sport Awards was full of so many great reveals and bulletins that it’s exhausting to select only one spotlight. Nonetheless, I’m an enormous fan of Hinterland Studio’s The Lengthy Darkish, and once I noticed these acquainted frigid vistas and dancing Northern Lights seem in that Blackfrost: The Lengthy Darkish II trailer, I immediately knew which recreation I used to be going to champion.
For those who’re unfamiliar with The Lengthy Darkish, it’s a survival recreation that sees you attempting to outlive alone after your airplane crashes within the rugged Canadian wilderness. It’s a must to handle your starvation, thirst, heat, situation of your gear, and vitality, all whereas attempting to navigate to a brand new location and battling the weather and wildlife.
At first, it may be fairly brutal, and each journey exterior of your cozy shelter is a matter of life or dying, however when you’re conversant in the sport’s survival methods, you may get right into a rhythm and actually recognize the beautiful world Hinterland has constructed. Significantly, the ambiance on this recreation is unbelievable, and there may be nothing else prefer it in a online game.
With Blackfrost: The Lengthy Darkish II, Hinterland is constructing upon every little thing that made the primary recreation so particular. Based on the developer, Blackfrost is the “first survival recreation constructed ground-up as a survival RPG.” You’ll be capable of construct your personal character, customise their attributes, and try to survive both by yourself or in co-op with friends. There are additionally new hazards to keep away from and new mechanics to become familiar with, equivalent to a brand new Will to Reside system that throws components of psychological survival into the combo.
Sadly, Blackfrost: The Lengthy Darkish II has solely been introduced for a 2026 early entry launch on Steam, so it appears will probably be some time earlier than it involves Xbox. Fingers crossed Hinterland doesn’t maintain us ready too lengthy!
The Witcher 4
If there was one factor I hadn’t even dared to hope for at The Sport Awards, it was information of The Witcher 4 — not to mention a six-minute-long reveal trailer with Ciri entrance and centre as the brand new protagonist.
This trailer was sufficient to seize a few of that very same ambiance from our first glimpses of The Witcher 3: harsh, darkish worlds, grotesque monsters, and a mistrust for all witcher-kind. The Witcher 3 launched us to some unimaginable decisions after which some completely unplanned penalties for these decisions, and it appears like The Witcher 4 will do the identical: we see Ciri attempting to save lots of a younger lady, solely to defeat the monster and discover that lady dying anyway.
I do know we should not base our hopes an excessive amount of on cinematic trailers, however it’s exhausting to not anticipate nice issues after The Witcher 3 turned out to be one of many best video games of all time. This time round, it is Ciri as the principle character and on her personal path to turn into an skilled witcher. Fortunately for all of us who’d miss him, Geralt will nonetheless function — we even heard just a few strains of that iconic gravelly Geralt voice on the finish of the trailer.
I am unable to wait to listen to extra about The Witcher 4. I’ve bought no concept when that may be, and we do not have a whisper of a touch of a launch window but, however oh wow is it thrilling simply to know that we’ll be heading again to the world of The Witcher.
Dying Mild: The Beast
I really like gore, violence, and zombies in my video video games, and I particularly liked the primary Dying Mild, so Dying Mild: The Beast was a straightforward alternative for me as a spotlight from this 12 months’s present. There have been many different improbable bulletins throughout The Sport Awards too, so I additionally wish to shout out Killing Flooring 3 as one other prime announcement.
Swinging again to my precise spotlight, although, Dying Mild: The Beast began life as DLC for the second recreation however has since grown right into a standalone title. It’s set 13 years after the occasions of the unique Dying Mild, sticking us within the, absolutely worn-out, footwear of Kyle Crane as soon as once more. The place has Crane been all this time? Caught in a lab being prodded by scientists for numerous experiments, as a result of even throughout a zombie apocalypse people nonetheless really feel the necessity to show that we’re the actual monsters.
The Beast’s setting means we’re heading again to a time nearer to when the outbreak began in Harran, so anticipate extra modern weapons in comparison with what we have been slaying corpses with in Villedor. The newest trailer from Techland exhibits a return for automobiles, grenade launchers, pistols, flamethrowers, and extra… oh, and Crane has skills linked to a mutation attributable to the experiments, in order that might be enjoyable!
Dying Mild: The Beast launches on Xbox someday in summer time 2025, and it’ll be free for gamers who personal Dying Mild 2: Final Version — bonus!
