The second annual Game Awards, hosted by Geoff Keighley and held in Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, had a bevy of world premier trailers. Of course, there were some absolute shockers and a few especially underwhelming trailers this year. Come with me on this journey as we explore some of the best and the worst trailers of the Game Awards!
Far Cry Primal
Announced back in October 2015, Far Cry Primal takes place way back in the days of cavemen. With the help of your saber tooth tiger buddy and various prehistoric weaponry, you, as Takkar the hunter, work to defend your tribe from opposing tribes while rising in the ranks of your tribe to eventual become leader.
When the first trailer for Far Cry Primal dropped, I was worried that the game would largely revolve around the same combat system that was present in the Far Cry 4 Shangri-La portions. Unfortunately for me, my worries were realized as evidenced by the trailer. For the uninitiated, the Shangri-La parts of Far Cry 4 stripped you of all of your guns, explosives, abilities, and removed you from the game’s open world and placed you in smaller, more controlled environments. After venturing into Shangri-La a few times, you eventually unlock a machete, bow and arrow, and are given an undying ghost tiger that you can order to stealth kill enemies.
In the context of Far Cry 4, I didn’t find these segments all that fun to play. It was like being in kindergarten during free time; the teacher would walk in and give you a bunch of toys to play with and then, all of a sudden, your personal favorite toys were taken away and you were given toys you didn’t necessarily want to play with. But in any case, this trailer looks to be built entirely around fighting with your saber tooth tiger buddy. So maybe it won’t feel as constrained this time around.
Psychonauts 2
In what will probably be remembered as the craziest, out of left field moment of the Game Awards (save for Jade Raymond’s Best Performance presentation), Psychonauts 2 got a surprise reveal trailer. Psychonauts is a basically a game where you play as a kid that has the ability to enter the minds of people and help them overcome their personal problems. It’s one of Double-Fine’s many games that have become legendary in terms of it’s intensely imaginative premise and execution. It’s also looked at as a portal into the mind of Double-Fine’s creative direction, Tim Schafer.
However, despite being a critical success, Psychonauts was a commercial failure, selling around 100,000 units. Since then, however, Psychonauts was able to earn it’s way into the hearts of many over the years until it became considered a cult classic. Although nothing much is known about this newly announced sequel, it’s certain that Psychonauts 2 has quickly shot up to a lot of people’s most anticipated games list. Now if only it can reach it’s funding goal on Fig…
Batman: A Taletell Games Series
This one had to be one of the most divisive trailers shown at the Game Awards. Batman: A Telltale Games Series debuted with equal parts excitement and disappointment as the trailer did little more than quickly retell Batman’s origin story and announce a 2016 release. It’s obvious why there would be a lot of excitement for this game, Telltale is (now) known for crafting incredible stories while utilizing the pseudo-point-and-click adventure game play that they pioneered.
The disappointment, however is a much more complicated case. Many share the sentiment that Telltale is probably spreading themselves way too thin by picking up way too many projects at once. At the time of this writing, they are slated to make a new season of their acclaimed Walking Dead series, this new Batman title, a second Walking Dead series, Game of Thrones season two, and a still unannounced Marvel game.
Not only that, but there are still a slew of complaints about the engine that Telltale’s games run on. Every game that has come out thus far has had issues with stuttering or even just outright glitching out, albeit in hilarious fashion. But in any case, if anyone can tell a good Batman story, it would probably be Telltale.
Quantum Break
In terms of a trailer being incredibly underwhelming, look no further that Quantum Break’s latest trailer. Granted, this is just my opinion, but boy, I wasn’t picking up anything it was putting down. Quantum Break has changed a lot since the first time we saw it back in 2013. Back then, we basically had an entirely different cast than what we have now. But seriously, this trailer just felt like the game was screaming “Hey guys! Remember me?! Remember me?! Hey! Remember me!” And sure, a trailer was a nice way to remind everyone that the game still exists. But it wasn’t a great trailer to begin with.
Since it’s initial reveal, we’ve been well aware that the game was all about stopping time and whatever consequences that may have. And then we’re given this trailer, and it basically just tells us those same things all over again. It was totally the weakest trailer shown at the Game Awards, and that’s saying a lot. Lest we forget, there’s Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn…
Seriously?