The PlayStation 5 may still be a year away, but the time to strike while the iron is hot with game announcements for that platform is right meow. So who’s the first studio to throw their hat into the PS5 ring? None other than Gearbox, who together with Counterplay Games had something new to show off at The Game Awards 2019.
Called Godfall, the game bills itself as a “looter-slasher” where players will hack their way towards victory by defeating challenging foes and then wearing the spoils of war. So pretty much Diablo but with a few twists along the way. Here’s the trailer for it, in case you missed it:
In a more descriptive bit of PR, Gearbox went further into the details of Godfall:
Godfall is a fantasy action RPG that utilizes high-impact third-person melee combat to engage players as they hunt for loot, don legendary armor sets, and defeat vicious enemies. As players face challenging missions in the world of Godfall, enemies and bosses will reward fans with head-turning loot as they are vanquished. Godfall can be played entirely in solo, duo or three-player coop, providing fun for all.
“We’re thrilled at Gearbox to have been chosen by Counterplay Games to bring their creative vision of Godfall to gamers on the PlayStation 5 and PC” said Steve Gibson, President of Gearbox Publishing in a press release.
As we continue our mission to entertain the world, Godfall is a perfect fit with Gearbox Publishing. Playing with your friends and gearing up are some of the things we love most.
“We’re innovating with Godfall to provide a fresh take on action RPGs by rewarding skill-based offensive gameplay and making every hit matter,” added Keith Lee, Creative Director of Godfall and CEO of Counterplay Games.
Namely, we want to feed into that yearning for the next best piece in your character build, so we plan to provide plenty of loot to players to ensure there’s meaningful impact to gameplay and playstyles.
You know what? I’m a sucker for these kinds of games and I’m dead keen to give it a bash when it arrives on the PS5 in late 2020 and as yet another Epic Games Store exclusive on PC.
Last Updated: December 13, 2019
HairyEwok
December 13, 2019 at 10:16
Anything that’s trying to innovate on a recipe that is already working is a nono for me, I’m not sold on this so for now I’m going to call it Godawful.
Pariah
December 13, 2019 at 10:16
Without innovation, even if it’s working it’ll stagnate and get old and samey. Innovation is what drives the industry forward. We need more of it. What you’re saying is Call of Duty was right for so many years. Same game, new name. “If it works, why change it?”. That’s a dangerous mentality.
HairyEwok
December 13, 2019 at 10:22
Call of Duty, tried to innovate and change (never forget the Fish AI and wall running) and got back lashed, why is it that when they returned to something that has been done, tested and worked all of a sudden their game is hailed a masterpiece.
Pariah
December 13, 2019 at 10:22
Adding superficial fish AI is not innovation. It’s just marketing mumbo-jumbo for “we did nothing significant, but look at this superfluous feature!”. Don’t mistake that for innovation.
Without innovation we’d have no Real Time Strategy games. At all. We’d have no Borderlands. No DOOM. We’d have no Sekiro. And yes that last one innovated on the Dark Souls design in many many ways – and created a masterpiece.
Sometimes attempts to innovate fail. But those failures are important. Better to fail so either you or someone else can learn from those and do it better, and create better experiences for us all.
Original Heretic
December 13, 2019 at 10:22
Without failure there is no progress.
Admiral Chief
December 13, 2019 at 10:36
Indeed. The D went from crying in the shower to crying in the weekly burn of the week https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/75343bbf251400690577e2f187356a60be9326d2593cd876b5b064b4163b8f27.png
Pariah
December 13, 2019 at 10:36
That’s a fake. Hands look human sized.
Admiral Chief
December 13, 2019 at 10:36
I enlarged the pic 3x
Pariah
December 13, 2019 at 10:36
*squints eyes*
Math checks out. Ok, I believe you.
Original Heretic
December 13, 2019 at 11:03
I hope Geoff gets it this week. Ya know, for PUTTING YOU IN YOUR PLACE!
HairyEwok
December 13, 2019 at 10:41
Anthem can also be considered innovative and completely viceral as devs like to say, and that in all honestly is still one hot steaming pile of manure. Look, I don’t hate innovation, back in the day when corporates didn’t have a say on a games design you got some really fantastic games, but due to that change in todays gaming eco-bubble, anything that’s innovated with some kind of corporate finger stuck in that pie is just a mess. Yes out of the hundreds of games that came out in the last decade there’s a few great ones that innovated, but those are also the games that didn’t have any huge contribution.
TLDR; Fuck corporates who ruin games.
Pariah
December 13, 2019 at 10:41
Anthem has many great, great ideas. If you look at it as a tech demo instead of a game, it’s actually amazing. I wish it had more actual game to it, because it’s still the most fun I’ve had this year in a game from a mechanical standpoint. It failed in content and story (the 2nd half was missing, essentially, and little to nothing outside of the main quest). If they can learn from their failure in that regard, and produce a proper story-driven version of that – then it has a real shot at being something special.
And that’s what I mean. Learn from failures. And it’s ironic that you say “fuck corporates” because they’re the ones least likely to actually innovate. Innovation can fail, and that is costly. Corporates don’t really like that risk.
HairyEwok
December 13, 2019 at 11:03
I can’t look at Anthem as a tech demo because it was released at full price to the public as a finished game, not a tech demo. I agree Anthem can be a great game, if they released what was shown at their E3 2017 tech demo then we would have one AMAZING game, the people loved it, showed love for it and were absolute amped for the game, then release day came and we got that garbage, and why? because corporates found that what people showed love for as too risky…. Yes they’re building the game up AGAIN from the ground up and that’s great, but if corporate didn’t have a say in it in the first place they wouldn’t have to.
Innovation has it’s place in certain genres but not all of them. Anthem is also a fantasy action RPG that tried things and failed, basically what I’m saying is I’m too scared Godfall ends up like another Anthem, where the game shown is great but the game released is shit.
Rather stick to a good working recipe and launch a great game the first time rather than ending up getting slam dunked by the community and end up making 2 games that should’ve just been 1.
Pariah
December 13, 2019 at 11:18
I guess we’ll agree to disagree on this one. I’d rather have 3 failures and one amazing new genre-defining game than 10 safe games that all play the same.
Though I will say – I’m not excusing Anthem’s failures. It had plenty. It was a real disappointment in many ways. Mostly because the bones are there for something special.
And funny enough, now I think about it, there’s far more going for release Anthem than there ever was for release No Man’s Sky. And look how that turned out.
HairyEwok
December 13, 2019 at 11:19
Agree to disagree then. If Godfall innovates and makes a huge success redefining the genre then It’ll be great, but until then I’m not too optimistic about it due too past releases in the genre.
Pariah
December 13, 2019 at 11:19
Fair enough. 🙂
I guess I’m always the optimist in these cases.
CrAiGiSh
December 13, 2019 at 10:41
Keen to see some gameplay.
That armour/sword concept has my attention 😀
G8crasha
December 13, 2019 at 11:19
I.e. Borderlands in a new set of clothes!
Pariah
December 13, 2019 at 11:46
By the sounds of it, something like the love-child of Borderlands and Dark Souls.
Darren Peach
December 13, 2019 at 11:46
But where is the gameplay ?