E3 is usually considered as the top gaming event of the year, followed by Gamescom. However, it seems like the roles have reversed this year as fans witnessed more big announcements at Gamescom than E3.
In recent years, Gamescom has established its importance among fans, for gaming or otherwise. This year was equally enthralling and a number of interesting stories came out of the event. Here's a look at eight such stories from this year's event.
No Level Cap for Fallout 4
While this was never a part of either the actual event or Bethesda's presser in Gamescom, but during the expo, Bethesda, via their Twitter account, announced, "To our fans who've asked: Fallout 4 doesn't end when the main story is over and there is no level cap. You can keep playing and leveling." As compared to the previous Fallout games, where players were forced to pick and choose the attributes they wanted to level up, Fallout 4 allows players to progress and level up long after the single player campaign is done and dusted.
New Mafia 3 is Set in 1968
Not only the emergence of a new Mafia game was a surprise, it was also revealed that the game would finally let go of the previous 1930-50s' setting and replace it with a more modern late 1960s' setting. As compared to the last two games that featured fictionalised versions of New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago and more, Mafia 3 has been set in real New Orleans, with new protagonist Lincoln Clay.
Halo 5 to Offer Campaign 'Twice As Long' Compared to Halo 4
Although single player campaigns in each of the Halo games haven't been anything less than enticing, the common complaint in all of them has been with the size of the campaign. Usually, Halo games offer campaign that aren't that big and leaves a lot to be desired. However, things are looking up for Halo 5 with 343 Industries announcing that the new game's campaign will be roughly twice as long as the previous game's. And, if the developers stick by what they have promised, expect the lengthiest single player campaign in the history of the Halo series, for Halo 5.
World of Warcraft's Next big Expansion is Called Legion
Legion will basically be the sixth World of Warcraft expansion that's been pushed out by Blizzard for the game. Legion will see the game's level cap rise to 110, with the addition of the Broken Isles continent, plus more new raids and dungeons to master. The timing of the announcement was perfect, after it was recently announced that WoW's subscriber base has dropped to 5.6 million subscribers, which has been the lowest since 2006.
Halo Wars 2 is Very Real
Talking about Halo 5, this isn't the only Halo-related title that's making all the news. One of the biggest surprises of this year's Gamescom was the announcement that Halo Wars 2 is currently in development. Sure the entire CGI-heavy trailer for the same may not have struck any chord for us, but it was worth it the moment the words "Halo Wars 2" showed up on the screen. The game is currently set for a 2016 release for Xbox One and PC.
Quantum Break Finally Has a Release Date
It's been almost two years since Quantum Break was first shown off at E3 2013. However, it took Remedy Games until 2015 to come up with a solid release date for the game. Well, it's not like the game is coming out anytime soon (April 2016, to be precise), but at least we have a release date. That's an upgrade, right? The game's initial date may have been pushed to the extremes but we are expecting a captivating end product when the game finally goes gold and is ready for retail.
First Official Look at Dark Souls 3
Even though Dark Souls 3 was announced at this year's E3, it was at the Gamescom that we finally got the first glimpse of the beauty (albeit behind closed doors). The gameplay trailer spanned for more than 15 minutes and even offered a quick glimpse at one of the several boss fights in the game. As we reported earlier, the game looked so much like Bloodborne and had a movement and combat system that were faster than both the Dark Souls of the past.
WWE 2K16's Graphics Still Doesn't Impress
You would wonder what 2K Sports need to do to get over the criticisms it had to digest for WWE 2K15. Well, the answer is surely a follow up game for the next year that will address all the issues of the past. But as it seems, the developers still have a lot of ground to cover since whatever we saw for WWE 2K16 was almost bland. We are talking, of course, about a graphical overhaul. Sure, the new WWE title is offering a massive roster of 120 wrestlers, apart from restoring of a number of classic features missing from the previous game, but what about the dated graphics? We are sure you can do better than that!
Which were your biggest moments and stories from this year's Gamescom? Let us know in the comments section below.
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