Summer Game Fest 2021 Recap
The Summer Game Fest 2021 livestream took place today, on Thursday the 10th of June. Hosted by Geoff Keighley, the two hour stream included a number of world premieres revealing a number of brand new games and also gave us some greatly anticipated updates on other exciting upcoming titles.
The major reveals will be listed below, along with the accompanying trailers and clips that dropped throughout the show.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
Borderlands’ fan favourite, Tiny Tina is getting her very own spinoff game. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands was announced by Gearbox and 2K, with a release window of early 2022 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.
In the trailer for Wonderlands, the titular Tiny Tina is shown to function as the Bunker Master of the game, akin to a dungeon master in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Players will have the ability to create their very own custom characters, each with their own respective classes and set of abilities. They will then be able to use their aforementioned set of powers along with the infamous Borderlands looter-shooter gameplay mechanics to blast their way through the twisted world that Tina has created for them.
Talented voiceover artist Ashly Burch is reprising her role as Tiny Tina from past Borderlands games and she is joined by Andy Samberg as Captain Valentine, Wanda Sykes as Frette the Robot and Will Arnett as the villainous Dragon Lord.
We are likely to receive further info on this title over the next few months.
Metal Slug Tactics
The arcade classic Metal Slug is making an unexpected return to the market as a grid-based tactical RPG with roguelike elements. Although players are able to add this title to their Steam wishlists, no release date was announced for it. The game will be developed by Leikir Studio.
A description for the game from publisher Dotemu reads; “Players wield classic Metal Slug weaponry, leveraging skill trees, perks, and a super attack-fueling adrenaline system to outwit and demolish flanks of the series’ signature villains.”
Death Stranding Director’s Cut
In a short interview with Keighley, Hideo Kojima made an appearance during the stream to announce an upgraded director’s cut version of his strange 2019 game, Death Stranding.
Sony has described this new version as an “enhanced and expanded,” version of the original. The director’s cut version was revealed via a trailer that poked fun at the Metal Gear series, with Death Stranding protagonist Sam Bridges sneaking around a warehouse and considering using an empty cardboard box to use to hide from patrolling guards in the vein of Solid Snake. He then decides against it and places the box back on a shelf.
Kojima Productions are expected to announce more details regarding the game in the next few weeks.
Jurassic World Evolution 2
Jeff Goldblum was the next guest to appear on the stream and announced the new title from Frontier Developments; Jurassic World Evolution 2. The game will allow players to build their very own version of Jurassic Park in the vein of of Zoo Tycoon. It is set for release in 2021 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Among Us
Developer Innersloth then appeared to announce Among Us’ first new game mode. The new mode coming to the game is Hide and Seek. Also announced to be on the way to the popular online whodunnit are two new in-game roles; a Sheriff and a Scientist, as well as various new cosmetic upgrades, new achievements and a new map. Innersloth made a point to stress that these new features are all on the same roadmap and that there is no set order in which they will be released.
There is also a Geoff Keighley in-game mask, which will be available for a limited time as a Twitch drop.
Valorant Agent
This was an extremely brief teaser. Riot Games showed a five-second long clip of a harness and a helmet. This was apparently a tease for the next playable Agent in Valorant Agent. Not much more to say here.
Two Point Campus
The successor to Two Point Hospital is dropping in 2022 as announced by developer Two Point during the show. The game will follow the blueprint of Two Point Hospital, but will shift the puzzles from a hospital environment to a university backdrop. There will be a variation of different universities though, including a school for knights, a lab for robot development, a clown school and more.
Elden Ring
Probably the most significant news from the livestream event, was the long awaited update regarding Elden Ring. From Software confirmed that Elden Ring is coming to all consoles and PC and even gave a release date of January 21st 2022.
Also unveiled was a gameplay trailer packed with stunning vistas, grotesque monsters and plenty of imagery reminiscent of Norse mythology. In terms of gameplay mechanics, the player was shown riding a horse whilst hacking and slashing at enemies as they explored the game’s environment.
This is pretty significant, as it is the first piece of Elden Ring news unveiled since its initial reveal back in 2019 during the last E3 conference. Elden Ring is going to be an open-world game and will be FromSoftware’s largest game environment to date. It is also the brainchild of a collaboration between Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin.
The Anacrusis
The final significant reveal of the 2021 Summer Game Fest came from Studio Stray Bombay Company, who showed up to reveal a brand new IP called The Anacrusis. The game looks to be a four-player co-op survival shooter following the Left4Dead template, set on a distant future spaceship called The Anacrusis. The game will adopt the aesthetic of a 1970s retro-futuristic feel.
The Anacrusis is apparently aiming to launch towards the end of this year, however no mention of early access was made.
Summary
So, after reading through all of the reveals and watching the various trailers, what did you think of the Summer Game Fest overall? Let us know in the comments below.
Personally, I felt that it made for a decent start to E3 2021 and has me excited for what is to come this weekend.
Stay tuned for more updates regarding E3 2021 and in the meantime, you can check out our predictions for this year’s event in the podcast episode below.
You can also check out our recap of the Battlefield: 2042 reveal livestream here.
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