I went to Gamescom 2019, the world's biggest gaming consumer event - find out what games you won't want to miss
Whilst Gamescom isn't a show for big announcements and breaking news, it's still a huge event. The fact it's the world's largest gaming event should have prepared me for its scale. But it wasn't until I entered the first hall and realised that this was only one of eleven that it hit me quite how large the event really is! The pure size of it, makes it impossible to see and do everything on offer, but we did give it our best shot, so in no particular order here are some of my highlights from the event.
- We got our first glimpse of Kojima Productions Death Stranding at Gamescom, and I have to say, I am all in! I'm not totally sure what it is I'm all in on, but I cannot wait to find out
- I had fun playing Roller Champions, a multiplayer roller derby game very much in the vein of the Rocket League. The game itself was fun, furious and really satisfying laying a big hit on the other players
- 2K had the most impressive stand, complete with a playable NBA 2K20 demo. It also featured an impressive Borderlands 3 live show with a talk from art director Scott Kester focused on how the team have modernised the much loved franchise, whilst still retaining the humor and irreverence that made 1 & 2 so special
- Sega had me feeling all nostalgic as they highlighted the mini Genesis and Mega Drive consoles. We had the chance to play some of my favourite games growing up on a giant Mega Drive controller - anyone for a quick game of Streets of Rage or Road Rash?
- At Square Enix we saw the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, something I'm now even more excited about having somehow let the game pass me by first time round. We also had fun with Donald Duck on Kingdom Hearts 3
- The one thing I've been asked about most since returning home from Germany was my opinion on Google Stadia. I was super excited to get a hands on go with Mortal Kombat 11 and I'd forgotten quite how many amazing characters this game had! It was hard to choose who to fight with, but after three rounds of bouts with Sub Zero, Baraka, and Kano I emerged victorious - although a little disappointed that the game crashed on us twice. So I'll reserve judgement on the Stadia for now - until I see it in action I'm going to have to put a little dampener on the Stadia hype train
This is just a brief rundown of some my favourite games, but honorable mentions to Farming Simulator, Empire of Sin, Unforeseen Incidents and World of Tanks. Gamescom was an incredibly tiring but fun experience and I'm very excited about the direction of travel for the gaming industry as a whole. Finally, I was told by friends, that I couldn't leave Cologne without trying Haxen (pork knuckle) and it did not disappoint!
