THQ Nordic is on a roll lately, I’m really looking forward to see what they will do with Timesplitters, they just bought the IP again. My guess is that developer Dambuster will make a new one or remaster the older games. (We can hope right?) Anyway, I got myself invited for the THQ trailer presentation. Here is what LifeisXbox saw, I was too late with getting a hands-on with something (pretty disappointing) but what I saw was really decent. THQ is back and the gaming industry should be very glad about that!
After getting a drink and something to eat we got directed to the theater screen, here I met another Belgian journalist (Stijn from Invader), we previously met at a Plantronics press event. We were welcomed by two THQ people and the main character from Townsmen VR, not in real life of course but on the theater screen.
Townsmen VR steals the show, isn’t coming out on Xbox…
THQ Nordic bought the German publisher HandyGames in July 2018, known for Xbox games like Aces of the Luftwaffe or Clouds & Sheep 2. Available on Steam early access is Townsmen VR, which sadly isn’t coming for Xbox. Ignoring it isn’t an option for me though, for two reasons. First of all, the hands from Townsmen had a prominent place in all other trailers from THQ Nordic and secondly the game looked like crazy fun! I won’t really go into detail as to why, but please check it out if you have an Oculus – Vive or OSVR.
The second game they showed was Biomutant from Experiment 101. I don’t think this game needs an introduction right? Besides Darksiders 3 I think this will be one of the more successful games, commercial wise. The trailer didn’t really show anything new and was surprisingly short too.
I won’t be silent for this one …
After Biomutant came a big surprise for me Fade to Silence from Black Forest Games. It is a mix of all kind of genres, the atmosphere made me think about The Darkness and the basic gameplay Shadow of War. What is really special about Fade to Silence is the perma death feature, you have six lives and that’s it. You’ll also have to manage a town, collect resources and more. It looks very promising and I’m really curious to see if they can connect all the dots from the different genres and don’t make it too frustrating for gamers.
Next up, Wreckfest. This crazy car combat game is finally releasing on consoles. The FlatOut developer has had positive feedback from the community, with some considerable issues in the development time I was really glad to see it turn out great. This is another THQ Nordic game that I’m definitely checking out on my Xbox One X.
THQ Nordic and developer Mimimi announced the return of Desperados in 2019. The shown trailer was promising and to say it bluntly was Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun in a Wild West-setting. Looking forward for this pretty rare real-time tactics genre, I’m confident that the developer will make something good from it.
Last but not least …
I was extremely disappointed that I couldn’t play it, I’m a huge Darksiders fan and if I’m honest the trailer let me down. Developer Gunfire Games doesn’t seem capable enough to release a new game that is up to the Darksiders standard. Especially the visuals and animations look very dated. It is coming out November 27 and I honestly expect very mixed opinions. I wasn’t convinced and while talking with some other journalists the average impression wasn’t good. Again, I didn’t play it so I can be terribly wrong of course.
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