Most exciting highlights of gamescom 2020

Most exciting highlights of gamescom 2020

Aug 31, 2020 8 Min Read Posted by Maik Jahn

A trip to the 90s and a friendship-breaking racing game are just some of our favorites from the fair.

Photo credit: Koch Media / Codemasters // Logo credit: gamescom

gamescom 2020 was no ordinary fair in many respects. Due to the pandemic, the entire event took place digitally. Still, we got to see amazing shows, games and esports racing action. Here’s a summary of our most beloved highlights of gamescom 2020.

The grand Opening Night Live

Every great event needs a glorious opening. For the second time, Opening Night Live kicked off gamescom with an awesome show full of exciting announcements and previews. We saw a sneak peek at Fall Guys: Season Two, an epic trailer for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, a seven-minute gameplay demo of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart on the new PlayStation 5 and much more. Even Doc Brown from Back to the Future turned up!

And of course, racing was part of the show as well, leading us to our next highlight.

Map creator feature for DIRT 5

DIRT 5 is set to hit the market in October 2020. During Opening Night Live’s pre-show, we got to see more of the game as a brand-new feature was revealed: Playgrounds is a map editor in which you are able build your own off-road tracks from scratch.

DIRT 5 MAP EDITOR FEATURE REVEALED AT OPENING NIGHT LIVE

Share your circuits with the community and take on the challenging tracks of other creators in three different game modes: solve treasure hunts and stride through mazes in Smash Attack, be the fastest time trial contender in Game Crasher or perform stunts and tricks in Gymkhana.

OverTake has already put the new feature to the acid test. Watch our game preview to find out how we liked it:

A trip to the 90s in Hotshot Racing

gamescom is not only about AAA titles, but also about finding small gems. Hotshot Racing is definitely one of those. The arcade racing game’s polygon style is very much inspired by 90s classics like Virtua Racing and Hard Drivin’, Creative Director Trevor Ley explained in a developer commentary.

GAMESCOM 2020: NEW GAME TAKES RACERS BACK TO THE 90S

Hotshot Racing is all about putting your foot on the throttle and drifting around the road circuits as much as possible – crashes and hard fights with your opponents included. Besides classic races, there are also several fun modes to discover.

For example, the game features a cops and robbers mode in which half of the players drive in police cars and have to take out the other half, who play the robbers. Jimmy Broadbent already got his hands on the game and had a lot of fun on his stream.

Hotshot Racing is set to be released on September 10, 2020 on Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Can you drive this?

Seeing all those announcements and developer talks is nice. But let’s be honest, the best thing about gamescom is trying out new stuff yourself. That’s why we headed to Indie Arena Booth, an MMO game in which you were able to virtually walk through the hallways of gamescom and play 185 indie game demos.

GAMESCOM 2020: PLAY 185 GAMES IN INDIE ARENA BOOTH

We were especially big fans of Can’t Drive This, a multiplayer mix of racing and puzzle game – as if Fall Guys and Trackmania had a weird love child. One player takes control of a monster truck and has to steer their way through an obstacle which a second player is building for them in real-time.

Together, you have to survive as long as possible. Going too slow or falling off the track will end the game. We had great fun trying out Can’t Drive This and think it’s a great choice for your next party. But be aware – this game has even more potential to destroy friendships than Mario Kart!

Closest fight possible in Fordzilla Cup

If it’s gamescom, there must be esports. Team Fordzilla held the final stages of their very first Fordzilla Cup on Forza Motorsport 7 during the gamescom weekend. And things got really exciting!

The final on Sunday consisted of two races at Brands Hatch and Circuit de la Sarthe. THR Mitch was able to win the first race with Williams Seven being the runner-up. In race two, the result was the other way around, leading to a tie between both. The viewers and racers had to wait for several minutes after the race until the winner was determined: Williams Seven became the Fordzilla Cup champion because he won the very last race at Circuit de la Sarthe.

gamescom awards for DIRT 5 and Project Cars 3

After four days full of gaming, it was time to crown the best games of gamescom 2020 on Sunday, August 30. The jury of gaming journalists and content creators chose DIRT 5 as the “Best Racing Game” over Radical Relocation and Project Cars 3.

However, Slightly Mad Studios’ new game was able to grab another prize as it was awarded “Best Simulation”. The decision led to several discussions in the community. Many fans had criticized Project Cars 3 for dropping simulation aspects like pit stops, tire wear and fuel usage. Find out more about the controversy in our article:

PC3 WINS “BEST SIMULATION” – CONFUSION OVER AWARD

What was your highlight of gamescom 2020? Tweet us your opinion @overtake_gg!

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Maik Jahn
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Born and raised close to the Nürburgring.