Summer has finally arrived! This year’s Summer Game Fest was hosted by Geoff Keighley. Each year, this video game festival showcases announcements, exclusive videos premiered worldwide, and other surprises. The event gave us an insight into upcoming announcements, including the official release date of Sonic x Shadow Generations and exclusive gameplay footage for Star Wars Outlaws as well as additional upcoming content for Alan Wake II, and Monster Hunter Wilds. While quite a few announcements were made and games were presented, here are the ones that struck us the most.
LEGO Horizon Adventures
Guerrilla Games / Studio Gobo
For action and adventure enthusiasts on PlayStation, the Horizon series is a must. I am a huge fan myself, having fully completed both games in the franchise. In the opening video of the Summer Game Fest, we saw Aloy in LEGO! Guerrilla Games is collaborating with Gobo Studio on a family-friendly and reimagined version of the Horizon universe.
Aloy is seen from a young age, raised and trained by Rost, a veteran hunter. Seeking to know her true destiny, Aloy sets off on an adventure guided by the millennia-old hologram of a scientist named Elisabet. In her quest, our heroine will face Helis, the leader of a cult of sunworshippers following a mysterious Ancient Evil .
Designed for a collaborative experience, the game enables two players to have fun both in person and online. There will not be a split screen on this game when a second player joins the game. This is a rare feature on a LEGO game!
LEGO Horizon Adventures will be available at the end of the year on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Alan Wake II
Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games
Alan Wake II had mixed reviews. The horror game won several awards at the 2023 Game Awards, including Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, and Best Art Direction. The only negative about it was that only a digital version of the game was available. This will no longer be the case because during the Summer Game Fest, Sam Lake announced the launch of the Deluxe and Collector’s Editions of Alan Wake II this fall. Fans will thus be able to add them to their physical collection.
This was not the only announcement during the event. The game now features first additional content, and adds three episodes to the story. The set, named Night Springs, has been available since June 8th and adds three playable well-known characters from Remedy’s extended universe. Did you recognize them?
The Deluxe and Collector’s Editions of Alan Wake II will be available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC in fall 2024.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO
Spike Chunsoft / Bandai Namco Games
Expect even more dynamic, colourful, and wild battles in Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO. The well-known heroes from the Budokai Tenkaichi series return to face off in arenas with destructible scenery. With larger-than-life powers, there is no doubt that players will have a blast in this new adventure where characters can join hands for maximum carnage.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is available for pre-order for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and will be released on October 11, 2024.
Phantom Blade Zero
S-Games / Studio
Announced as an exclusive for the PlayStation 5, Phantom Blade Zero stands out as a unique action game. According to the developer, “You will find Chinese kung-fu, complex steampunk machines, occult arts, as well as intriguing elements that do not fit into any of these categories.” Although we already knew this game was being developed, the Summer Game Fest 2024 gave us an insight into new in-game footage.
Our main character’s name is Soul. Seriously injured after being wrongfully accused of the murder of the patriarch of the powerful secret organization The Order, Soul is in bad shape. His healer has provided him with a remedy that will last only sixty-six days. That’s the amount of time he has to find the mastermind behind the operation. He will encounter countless powerful opponents and monstrous creatures along the way.
Phantom Blade Zero will be available for PlayStation 5. No release date has been announced yet.
Celebrate video games with Play at Best Buy and win incredible prizes
June is always an exciting time in the video game industry, and we are expecting incredible announcements. Our annual tradition of celebrating video games with Play at Best Buy is back this year. The contest will run from May 31, 2024, to June 20, 2024.
There are a number of prizes you could win for Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation, and Meta! For all the details and how to enter the contest, click here! All the best!
The Summer Game Fest kicks off summer for gamers
With more than forty announcements, the Summer Game Fest makes for a great start to summer for gamers. We had some nice surprises, like the announcement of Civilization VII for 2025 and Batman Arkham Shadow, which will be released exclusively for Meta Quest 3. We also got a glimpse of Star Wars Outlaws, but for this one, I recommend following our articles as in-game images will be revealed in more detail during Ubisoft’s UbiForward 2024 presentation on June 10.
If you watched the presentation, feel free to let us know which games you enjoyed during the Summer Game Fest 2024 in the comments!
See all video games available on Bestbuy.ca
Shop for digital download video games offered on BestBuy.ca
