It’s the most exciting time of year to be a video game fan, as almost every notable video game publisher is getting ready to drop new showcases highlighting upcoming games. Across Summer Game Fest, Xbox Games Showcase, and the next Nintendo Direct, we’ll have a ton of new video games to be excited about. Although titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 have already been confirmed for some of these shows, the fun part of this summer gaming marathon is predicting what’s going to show up.
There are five announcements in particular that I’m hoping to see during this summer’s showcases. From games that have leaked, but not been officially confirmed to titles announced years ago that have gone dark since, each of these will likely jump to the top of my personal most anticipated list if they are shown off during a showcase this summer. With some luck, they’ll be out not long after.
The reemergence of Metroid Prime 4
Metroid Prime 4 is running out of time to resurface. The Nintendo Switch’s fall 2024 lineup is looking barren, and the launch of the system’s successor is on the horizon for 2025. It has been over five years since the project rebooted under Retro Studios and almost seven since its initial announcement. Nintendo needs a big game this fall that isn’t just a remake or rerelease, and I think Metroid Prime 4 can be that game.
Metroid Prime Remastered from 2023 showed me how intricately those games were designed and why that Metroid subseries is considered so special. I hope Metroid Prime 4 can live up to those expectations and serve as a last hurrah for one of the most popular video game consoles ever made. Nintendo has confirmed that it will hold a Direct sometime this June, so if it does show up this year, it will likely be during that showcase.
BioShock 4 finally gets unveiled
Continuing the trend of long-awaited fourth games, I have my fingers crossed for BioShock 4. In December 2019, 2K confirmed that this long-awaited sequel was in development at Cloud Chamber Games, but we haven’t gotten a glimpse at what they are working on yet. Historically, BioShock has been a series that has pushed the boundaries of narrative delivery in video games. Although series creative director Ken Levine is now working on Judas at his own studio, I’m interested to see what a new generation of developers inspired by the original BioShock can come up with for a sequel.
For now, I am a little more excited for Ken Levine’s Judas than Cloud Chamber’s BioShock 4, but that’s mainly because we’ve seen some of the former and nothing concrete about the latter. Summer Game Fest has teased that 2K will “reveal the next iteration in one of 2K’s biggest and most beloved franchises” during its showcase. While this could turn out to be Mafia 4, Borderlands 4, or Sid Meier’s Civilization VII, I hope it’s the next entry in the BioShock franchise.
A medieval-themed Doom game
One of the biggest rumors going around ahead of 2024’s summer showcases is that id Software and Bethesda will reveal a new game in the Doom series. Sites like Insider Gaming are reporting that it will show up at the Xbox Games Showcase as Doom: The Dark Ages and take place in “a medieval-inspired Doom world.” Putting a medieval twist on Doom’s hellish heavy metal aesthetics is a radical idea, so I hope there’s truth to these rampant rumors.
Both 2016’s Doom and 2020’s Doom Eternal are industry-leading games that turn first-person shooter combat encounters into puzzles to be solved by using the right weapons and strategic on-the-fly thinking. I can’t wait to see how id Software applies that kind of game design to weapons more fitting of a fantasy world. The Xbox Games Showcase is shaping up to be a meaty one this year, with titles like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Avowed, and Black Ops 6 coming soon, but if Doom: The Dark Ages does appear, it could become the show’s crown jewel.
Horizon Zero Dawn gets the Lego treatment
A May 30 State of Play gave us a look at some of this fall’s biggest PlayStation 5 games: Concord, Until Dawn, and Astro Bot. However, we did not see one game that has been very heavily rumored recently called Lego Horizon Adventures. As its name suggests, Lego Horizon Adventures is reportedly a Lego game set in the same universe as Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West. PlayStation clearly considers Horizon a top-tier franchise now, so the prospect of exposing it to a whole new, more kid-oriented audience through Lego is an interesting move if these leaks are accurate.
Specifically, I’m curious about whether Lego Horizon Adventures would simplify gameplay like TT Games’ Lego titles do, or find a way to bring the series’ trademark hunting and trap-laying mechanics into Lego form. As for where this game could show up, I’m not quite sure. It didn’t show up at the State of Play, but PlayStation is listed as an official Summer Game Fest partner, so it could appear there.
Mid-gen upgrades for the Xbox Series X and PS5
For over a year now, we’ve heard rumblings of PS4 Pro and Xbox One X-like mid-gen console refreshes for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. We even have leaked, official documents discussing them. Although it might not feel like it, we’re already almost four years into this console generation, making this the perfect time for us to receive an updated, slightly more powerful version of the current consoles as a stopgap before the arrival of the next-generation platforms from Sony and Microsoft.
If either of those consoles is going to launch this fall, then I’ll want to know about them soon. I’m sure general audiences will want to know as well so they can start setting some money aside for them. The Xbox Games Showcase would be the perfect place for Microsoft to show us what’s next for Xbox, especially during a year when people are doubting its future with hardware. I’m also disappointed that the PS5 Pro wasn’t mentioned during the State of Play. Hopefully, Sony finally unveils the upgraded console sometime this summer — if it really exists that is.
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