Microsoft at Gamescom 2015

This past week, Microsoft had a showing at Gamescom in Germany, showing off things you didn’t see at E3. Quantum Break (which had been shown since E3 2013), Crackdown (which had been hinted at since E3 2013) and Platinum Game’s Scalebound (which was shown off at last year’s E3) along with a few surprises. While most of the cool stuff isn’t coming out til 2016, there was plenty at the show for Xbox Owners to look forward too.

Quantum Break

We Saw more of Remedy’s Quantum Break. The time-travel heavy game will launch alongside a companion TV series. Players take control of Jack Joyce, played by Shawn Ashmore (X-men), as he attempts to stop former friend Paul Serene, played by Aiden Gillan(Game of Thrones, The Wire), who is the sinister head of Monarch Corp. At the end of each chapter, you’ll take control of Paul and make choices that will affect the next act. Jack Joyce can make use of his time travel powers, and the combat seems similar to what we seen in both Max Payne and Alan Wake. It’s interesting to see how the live action show syncs up with the game’s events. Like Alan Wake before it, Quantum Break could be a sleeper hit when it hits Xbox One on April 4th of next year.

Crackdown 3

After two years of hints, we finally saw Crackdown 3 for the first time. Suiting up as an agent (this time players can select a female model), players return to pacific city to take down an all new group of crime bosses. The game promises more of a story, although like its predecessors, it won’t rely on cutscenes, keeping players in the action. The real highlight of the game is the multiplayer mode, which uses the Xbox’s cloud computing to render a fully destructible city. Microsoft is hoping to release Crackdown 3 sometime in summer 2016.

Scalebound

Platinum games showed up to demonstrate their new game Scalebound which we first saw at E3 2014. Playing as a young man named Drew, a young man from the modern world who somehow is bound with a dragon named Thuban. The two are linked together, and if one dies, the other dies. Drew has various combat abilities he can use, and he can call on Thuban do assist attacks. Players can also customize Thuban, changing his appearance, and granting him new abilities. The footage shown at Gamescom also hinted at 4-player co-op. No solid release date was given for Scalebound, but it’s slated for a holiday season 2016 release.

The Rest
Microsoft had several other reveals as well. Microsoft will be getting DVR functionality, and the Xbox 360 backwards compatibility, announced at E3, will be available this November with over 100 titles. Windows 10 launched a few weeks ago, so many of their announced were geared towards that as well. Xbox Live will be coming to Windows 10, and it will feature titles with cross buy (buying one version unlocks it on all available Microsoft platforms) and cross play (players on one format can play with players on another). Koji Igarashi showed off to demonstrate more of his kickstarter funded Castlevania successor, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. The game will be hitting both Xbox One and Windows 10 and will feature cross-platform co-op. Killer Instinct will also be hitting PC, and will also feature cross-platform gameplay. Speaking of KI, the game will receive a third season in March 2016. Also, if you purchased Rare Replay, you can play as Zitz from Battletoads. Microsoft showed off a slate of independent titles which will be coming to the system, such as survival horror game We Happy Few, Ark: Survival Evolved, and Sheltered, a bomb shelter simulator. Cities: Skylines will be heading to Xbox one. Ron Gilbert, creator of Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island took the stage to show off Thimbleweed Park, a pixel art adventure game which looks like a spiritual successor to Maniac Mansion. Mojang (Minecraft) was on hand to show off their upcoming Xbox One exclusive platformer Cobalt. They also released a new version of Minecraft, which is a Windows 10 Beta. If you already own a previous version of Minecraft, you can get the beta for free just by logging in. Microsoft also announced a early-access platform, similar to Steam’s Early access. Starforge, Sheltered, and Ark will be among the games coming to it when it launches. On the console games front, we saw more of Homefront: Revolution, Dark Souls III, FIFA 16, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and other games. Finally, there was one more surprise:

That’s right! Halo Wars 2!

That’s all for Microsoft. If you got an Xbox One, you got plenty to look forward to, and if you don’t got one, you’re gonna want to cop one soon. We’ll be back later on with third party Gamescom announcements, and this October with Sony’s presentation at Paris Game’s Week.