We’re still a few weeks out from announcing our own Game(s) of the Year list, but 2016’s first Faux Video Game Oscars event happened last night: The Game Awards, the show that Geoff Keighley spun out of Spike’s old Video Game Awards.
And as with every year, the awards themselves took second stage to the non-stop hype train of trailers for next year’s games, from brand new game announcements to fresh gameplay trailers for high-profile titles we already knew were inbound. What an honor! So inside, you’ll find all of the World Exclusive Reveals™ from last night’s 2016 Game Awards. That means Mass Effect: Andromeda, Guardians of the Galaxy: A Telltale Series, and more.
Bulletstorm: Full Clip
The “World Exclusive Reveal” train started before The Game Awards even officially started, with Gearbox and People Can Fly revealing Bulletstorm: Full Clipa.k.a. Bulletstorm: Remastered Edition. Or, if we’re being hopeful here, Bulletstorm: Maybe They Fixed The Damn PC Port This Time Around.
Death Stranding
Next up: A lengthy speech from Keighley honoring Metal Gear Solid mastermind Hideo Kojima, whose award fell into some weird limbo last year in the aftermath of the Kojima/Konami fallout.
Oh, and once Kojima had his award well in-hand he showed off another weird trailer for his upcoming game Death Stranding. Not as weird as “Norman Reedus naked holding a baby,” but this time we got “Dismembered baby doll floating down a canal.” So yeah, still pretty weird.
Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series
One lengthy music performance, a single award, and 20 minutes later, we got another reveal. This time? Telltale expands its staple of superhero-themed adventure games to include Guardians of the Galaxy. Not much to go on here. Just a brief teaser, but one that still garnered quite a bit of buzz nevertheless.
Dauntless
Another incredibly short teaser, this time for Dauntless, an upcoming action RPG from a who’s-who of developers that stem from BioWare, Riot, Capcom, and Blizzard. There’s not much to go on in the trailer, but the official press release says:
“Dauntless is an online co-op action role-playing game (RPG) set in an untamed science-fantasy world. Players take on the role of elite warriors known as Slayers who protect humanity by hunting ferocious Behemoths.
The world of Dauntless has been shattered by a cataclysmic event, creating a vast array of uncharted and majestic floating islands. Behemoths, as cunning as they are vicious, consume the land, and it’s up to the Slayers to hunt them down before they destroy what remains of the world.”
Dooooooooooooooooom
Tired of boring ol’ video game trailers? Let’s take a break for some live Doommetal.
Next page: Many more new games and gameplay trailers
Prey
More Bethesda, this time with a look at Prey. The best part? Some excellent bizarro-1958 footage at the beginning, rocking that Cold War vibe. And wow, Preylook pretty.
Now just cross your fingers it runs better than Dishonored 2.
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Well, it’s not coming to PC but you’re in luck, person who doesn’t care if we stay on-brand: Here’s some Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild footage. No look at the upcoming console/handheld hybrid Nintendo Switch though—this demo stuck to the ol’ Wii U. Boo.
Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment
Moving on from Nintendo to Nintendo-alikes, retro platformer Shovel Knight is getting a prequel—Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, in which you’ll play as one of the villains from the original game. It looks very pretty, and that’s about all I can say.
Halo Wars 2
A trailer and some important information from Halo Wars 2. To the left you’ll find the ol’ World Premier, which features some gorgeous CGI and not a lot else.
But just as important: Apparently the OG Halo Wars: Definitive Edition is releasing not day-and-date with the sequel as I thought, but in mid-December. I don’t know how it’ll play on the PC, but seeing as it’s an RTS…well, I assume this mouse-and-keyboard debut will perform quite a bit better than the original’s Xbox 360 controls. It may be worth a look.
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier
As the show crossed the two hour mark, we were treated to more Telltale. In case you hadn’t heard, the third season of The Walking Dead (subtitled A NewFrontier) starts in December, and tonight we got our first real look at it—including an almost-all-grown-up Clementine.
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Mass Effect: Andromeda is supposedly launching in March, but BioWare’s been surprisingly coy when it comes to actual game footage—just a dribble of scenes in trailers that primarily focused on CGI interludes.
Until now! With The Game Awards we got our first look at someone running around and actually playing. It looks…well, like a bigger and shinier Mass Effect. Like, the original Mass Effect, complete with a Mako stand-in you drive around.
It made for a pretty decent way to close out the show. After all, I don’t know whether Mass Effect will be the best game of 2017, but it’s certainly one of the biggest releases. Conspicuously missing still? A release date. Yeah, March is the rumor, but there’s still no confirmation. We might be waiting a while.