'Crackdown,' 'Quantum Break,' 'Scalebound' among stars at Xbox Gamescom event
Explosive action game "Crackdown 3," the extensive cast for "Quantum Break," and well-anticipated adventure "Scalebound" headlined Xbox's media briefing at Gamescom 2015 on August 4.
"Crackdown 3" is a return to a beloved Xbox 360 classic.
A fallen metropolis, now ridden with criminal networks, faces the player's law-enforcing Agent of Justice and up to three of his or her chums.
Dismantling that hierarchy of crime is what it's all about, while leaping all over the city and, almost inevitably, razing it to the ground.
Up to four players can participate in the same multiplayer campaign, within what are said to be "100 percent destructible environments" and a sample of that destruction visible in the trailer (youtu.be/d_nZ1xYyj6A)
Integration with Microsoft's Cloud tech means that online servers will take care of the really heavy lifting -- working out how a building's materials should collapse under sustained assault might be a prime example -- while players get themselves in no small amount of bother while eradicating crime in the least peaceful way.
Microsoft Studios is anticipating a Summer 2016 start date for the game's multiplayer mode.
In "Quantum Break," time is supposed to be the player's greatest weapon, though it looks like traditional firearms form a large part of their armory too.
Stars of film and TV are featured in what promises to be a dovetailing of live-action episodic content and console-based antics.
Shawn Ashmore ("X-Men: Days of Future Past"), Aiden Gillen ("Game of Thrones"), Dominic Monaghan ("The Lord of the Rings" trilogy), Lance Reddick ("Fringe") and Amelia Rose Blair ("True Blood") have all been cast.
Its studio is well known within the industry for Xbox 360 and Windows PC game "Alan Wake," which tapped "Twin Peaks", "The Twilight Zone," and Stephen King's material for inspiration; now it's going one step further in creating its own game-based TV series.
Gamescom also brought with it an April 6, 2016 release date for "Quantum Break" as well as a new trailer (youtu.be/CrGK5pker2A).
"Scalebound" was Microsoft's other big exclusive, in development at the Japanese studio behind such hits as "Bayonetta 2" and "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance."
Fans therefore expect a visceral all-action affair with a slice of self-awareness about it; the Gamescom trailer unloaded a ton of slashing, dashing, and fire-breathing with the main character taking on a squad of armored enforcers, aided by his very capable giant dragon of a pet (youtu.be/e5ldMjl-n3c).
