The Game Awards 2024 Trailers
The Game Awards aired tonight, with over three hours of presentations, announcements, and awards. Accompanying the live ceremony was a series of trailers for upcoming games. If you skipped the live show and want to shuffle through the good stuff (aside from the awards themselves, if those matter), here are the many trailers shown throughout The Game Awards (and you can watch the whole livestream at this link):
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
This looks like fun. I never played the old Ninja Gaiden games – at least, not that I can remember – so I don’t have any particular affection for the series, but it looks fast-paced with good graphics and plenty of action.
One Move Away
I really don’t understand games like this. I mean, I know they must appeal to someone, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. You just… move? Why is this fun? But then, I never got The Sims, either, so what do I know?
Slay the Spire 2
This doesn’t do it for me. The graphics are good, but it looks silly and dull.
Thick as Thieves
This one reminded me of the beginning of Guardians of the Galaxy, with the various thieves trying to beat each other to the booty. I’m not sure if the trailer gives much of a sense of the actual gameplay, though; is the thieving competition the whole game? It looks fine, I guess, but it doesn’t knock my socks off.
Shadow Labyrinth
Another old-school-style game. This looks like it could be fun.
Steel Paws
This one is just a quick cinematic teaser for a Netflix Games exclusive. Looks silly.
Kyora World
It looks like an old school platformer, but not a very interesting or exciting one. Once you get past the nostalgia factor, it doesn’t look like anything special.
Rematch
It’s a soccer game, so your enjoyment will likely depend on how much you like soccer. I don’t.
Solasta 2
Another underwhelming trailer, although the cinematics were nice.
The Witcher 4
This appears to be the centerpiece of the trailer reveals, which makes sense because it’s The Witcher. The big reveal here – which isn’t much of a reveal since people assumed this is the way The Witcher 4 would go – is that Ciri is taking over for Geralt as the hero of the game. It’ll be interesting to see whether fans of the series accept that. The trailer is all cinematics, so there’s no real sense of gameplay, but I suppose Witcher fans know what to expect.
Elden Ring: Nightreign
I assumed Nightreign was another Elden Ring DLC like Shadow of the Erdtree, but according to IGN, it’s “a standalone co-operative spin-off set in a world parallel to that of 2022’s Elden Ring.” I have to play Elden Ring sooner or later because everything new they release concerning this game looks incredible, and Nightreign is no exception. The graphics, the gameplay, the monster designs, everything is very cool.
Untitled Project by Fumito Ueda of GenDesign
The graphics are good, but I don’t know what anyone is supposed to make of this trailer.
The Outer Worlds 2
The trailer starts off kind of funny with the “Part 2” gag, but the gameplay doesn’t look overly interesting to me. It’s more of that cartoonish look they give to a lot of shooters now. They also went with the trick of using a beloved classic rock song to hook people, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t tap my foot to Bachman Turner Overdrive, but it doesn’t make me want to play the game.
Split Fiction
Two girls arguing about whose story is whose while fighting through a simulation that isn’t even real in the game. Lame.
Steel Hunters
This looks like it could be fun, with cool, fast-paced action and good graphics.
The Long Dark 2: Blackfrost
It’s a bunch of cinematics that tell you nothing about the gameplay.
Borderlands 4
I never played any Borderlands games (although I’ve had The Handsome Collection sitting in my downloads for a couple of years; it was a free monthly game a while back), so I don’t know what to make of the Borderlands 4 trailer from that perspective. To me, it looks kind of silly and cartoony.
Tekken 8
Tekken 8 looks like a great time, a fast-paced fighting game with excellent graphics. I know these were probably cinematics, but they seem indicative of what you can expect from the gameplay.
Virtua Fighter
This was a tease for a Virtua Fighter Direct.
Project Century
Project Century looks like it could be really cool. It appears to be an action game, and I like the fighting style and some of the enemies.
Turok: Origins
I dig it. They’re going third-person instead of the first-person perspective of the original Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and its sequels, but the gameplay looks cool.
Helldivers 2: Omens of Tyranny
This is an ad for an update to Helldiver 2 – in other words, an attempt to get people playing it again. Kidding aside, it’s a cool trailer; it’ll be interesting to see if this brings about a Helldivers 2 resurgence.
Warframe: 1999
I like the look of this one. It has excellent graphics and cool-looking action that doesn’t kiddie it up. Good stuff.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword
This looks awesome! It’s a mystical action game in which a samurai uses martial arts to fight demons, zombies, and the like. This appears to have been a series dating back to 2001, but I somehow never heard of it; regardless, Way of the Sword looks terrific.
The First Berzerker: Khazan
This looks great, too! It’s just cinematics, unfortunately, but they sure are pretty, and the look and tone bode well for the actual game. I love the sound, too, with those dragon guards sounding almost like attack dogs when they yelp.
Dungeon Fighter: Arad
This is very much not for me.
Dying Light: The Beast
It certainly looks creepy, but I’m not sure how much fun it’ll be to play.
Squid Game Unleashed
I suppose it was only a matter of time before they made a video game out of Squid Game, the Netflix sensation from a couple of years ago (and, they hope, this year). The Netflix mobile game looks goofy and stupid, but I haven’t seen the show, so maybe it fits the tone.
Stage Fright
I have no idea what’s going on right now, but I know that I want no part of it.
Game of Thrones: Kingsroad
They’re doing everything they can to keep this franchise alive (short of George R.R. Martin finishing the books, of course). This is one of those games where you play as “random nobody video game character” instead of any of the ones from the show that you’d much rather play as. But the gameplay looks like it could be fun.
The Last of Us Part II: Remastered
It is what it is; you probably know if you like it by now.
Mafia: The Old Country
I never played any of the Mafia games. I like the idea of setting one in Sicily at the beginning of the 20th Century to show how the Mafia came to America (presumably). Not much gameplay, but it could be fun.
Dispatch
Sending superheroes to various crises sounds much more fun than playing as a superhero. Because who didn’t want to be a random SHIELD agent instead of an Avenger?
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
Hey, remember the 80s? This trailer is dull as dishwater, and you don’t get much of a sense of the game.
The presentations at this year’s Game Awards are the usual mix of great, good, okay, and lousy. There were some genuinely cool-looking games in the mix, though.
Let us know what you thought of the trailers from The Game Awards in the comments!
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