Our 13 favorite games from the 2024 summer gaming showcases

GamesOur 13 favorite games from the 2024 summer gaming showcasesWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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There are no convention center booths to stick ribbons on anymore, but we’ll keep the tradition going virtually with a list of the PC Gamer staff’s favorite reveals from this years' various showcases.

Our Top 3

Putting a comprehensive ranking together would be kinda silly (not to mention time-consuming) but we’ve got our picks for the top 3 games from the summer showcases that we universally agree have us extra-hyped.

1. Doom: The Dark Ages

DOOM: The Dark Ages | Official Trailer 1 (4K) | Coming 2025 - YouTubeWatch On

DOOM: The Dark Ages | Official Trailer 1 (4K) | Coming 2025 - YouTube

Rich Stanton, Senior Editor:I’m exposing myself as a lover of simple things but the reveal for Doom: The Dark Ages had everything I want from a new entry in the series. It’s changed-up the theming big-time with the jump back to a medieval-ish setting, where of course you still have access to an army’s worth of guns, and the new shield saw weapon feels brilliantly judged to me. The success of the Doom reboots, for me, came down to their breakneck speed of movement, the game rewarding you for aggression and ballsy plays, and this weapon offers temporary cover, deadly ranged attacks, super fast movement options, and is basically a chainsaw when you get up-close. I mean… where do I sign up?

Doom: The Dark Ages was also a breath of fresh air in the context of all these other trailers, because barring a few seconds' worth of intro cutscenes at the start, the trailer gets right into how many ways you’ll be able to eviscerate hellspawn. It shows the shotgun blasting off huge chunks of demons' bodies, the shield bloodily whizzing through massed ranks, and best of all Doom Guy just sticking a big boot into a massive baddie. From one angle this game is as simple as they come. But sometimes you don’t want complexity. You just want a big level, jam-packed with nasties, and a beautiful array of tools that will turn them into little bloody chunks. In that respect, The Dark Ages was a shining light.

2. Perfect Dark

Perfect Dark - Gameplay Reveal - Xbox Games Showcase 2024 - YouTubeWatch On

Perfect Dark - Gameplay Reveal - Xbox Games Showcase 2024 - YouTube

Ted Litchfield, Associate Editor:Perfect Dark’s always had this mystique for me as the M-rated N64 game my parents never let me play⁠—I had to sneak in and watch my older brother shoot up those cyberpunk megacorp buildings. Despite that secondhand nostalgia, Perfect Dark’s disastrous Xbox 360 outing and the seemingly troubled development of its reboot gave me little reason to expect much of it.

But boy howdy, this looks like an immersive sim. This looks likeDeus Ex. Everything from the corporate sterility of its near-future Cairo to the social stealth and exploration on display in the demo set off my classic PC sicko senses. Maybe the most unexpected pleasant surprise of the whole weekend.

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3. Among the Wild

Among The Wild reveal trailer - PC Gaming Show 2024 - YouTubeWatch On

Among The Wild reveal trailer - PC Gaming Show 2024 - YouTube

Chris Livingston, Senior Editor: There are lots of creature collectors and farming sims out there, but none of them look quite like this. The critters in Among the Wild are somewhere between cute and disturbing, and the game’s first-person perspective lets you look right into their goofy faces when you pick them up. That alone shot it straight to the top of my wishlist.

Plus, the devs at Nuggets Entertainment told me that unlike a lot of creature collecting games, these critters aren’t necessarily helpful on your farm. “They’re more of a pain in the ass,” they said. That means if one is carrying a piece of lumber or a fish around, they’re more likely to abscond with it rather than deliver it to you. I can’t wait to meet them and see just what a nuisance they can be.

Other reveals we really loved this year

In no particular order, here are more game trailers, announcements, and reveals we were excited to see at this year’s summer showcases.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

[ESRB] Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Extended Gameplay Walkthrough | Ubisoft Forward - YouTubeWatch On

[ESRB] Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Extended Gameplay Walkthrough | Ubisoft Forward - YouTube

UFO 50

Day of the Devs: UFO 50 #SummerGameFest - YouTubeWatch On

Day of the Devs: UFO 50 #SummerGameFest - YouTube

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

METAL GEAR SOLID Î: SNAKE EATER - Official Trailer #1 - Xbox Games Showcase 2024 - YouTubeWatch On

METAL GEAR SOLID Î: SNAKE EATER - Official Trailer #1 - Xbox Games Showcase 2024 - YouTube

Rich Stanton, Senior Editor:I know I’m setting myself up for a fall here, but Konami’s remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater really has reignited my hype for the Metal Gear series. The approach the developers are taking is faithful, perhaps overly so, with the core of the game remaining identical but a major overhaul to visuals, more contemporary controls, and other minor touches (such as the original’s injury system now resulting in permanent scars).

I tried not to get hyped. I really did. But this remake looks absolutely gorgeous, and the densely packed jungle it’s recreating was always an amazing place to tootle around in. Some fans don’t like the new look of the main characters but I think they look as they should, and seeing things like the new CGC and reloading animations, which faithfully recreate the look of the original while being so much more detailed, makes this feel like something Konami is taking a great deal of care over.

Is Delta going to set the world alight? I suspect it may prove a little archaic for some. But for me, this showing suggests it’s going to be a real work of preservation on one of gaming’s standout classics. It’s been too long, Konami. Time to show us if you’ve still got it and, on this showing, it just might.

Cairn

Cairn Interview and Trailer with Emeric Thoa and Audrey Leprince | Summer Game Fest 2024 - YouTubeWatch On

Cairn Interview and Trailer with Emeric Thoa and Audrey Leprince | Summer Game Fest 2024 - YouTube

The promise of meeting “unexpected companions,” hearing from people on the ground, and being forced to decide what Aava is willing to sacrifice to achieve her dream hints at a narrative element not really touched on in the trailer that I hope will round out the actual climbing. I’m not quite hooked at this point, but I’m definitely intrigued.

DeathSprint 66

Deathsprint 66 trailer - PC Gaming Show 2024 - YouTubeWatch On

Deathsprint 66 trailer - PC Gaming Show 2024 - YouTube

It’s thoroughly deranged and pleasingly simple, and I’m eager to spend some time racing against human opponents when it eventually dashes out of cover.

The Talos Principle 2

The Talos Principle 2 | Road to Elysium Reveal Trailer | Coming June 14 - YouTubeWatch On

The Talos Principle 2 | Road to Elysium Reveal Trailer | Coming June 14 - YouTube

Andy C:It’s hard to overstate how jazzed I am that more Talos Principle 2 is coming. If I had to pick only one thing to play out of all the showcases that have aired over the past four days, this would be it. More puzzles, different perspectives, character growth in the aftermath of the world-changing events of the base game—I am hype! And that doesn’t happen very often, so you better believe I am putting it on this list.

Bogdan’s Cross

Bogdan’s Cross Reveal Trailer - Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2024 - YouTubeWatch On

Bogdan’s Cross Reveal Trailer - Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2024 - YouTube

Andy C:I don’t know why, but that Bogdan’s Cross trailer hit me like a surprise left. It could be the mournful music—I’m a sucker for that stuff, you could set the Three Stooges to a lone, distant Highland pipe and I would stand at attention and shed a single manly tear—but after watching the video several times I think what really grabs me is its underlying essence of steadfastness in the face of futility. Bogdan’s not going to make it home (that’s just a prediction, but one I make with confidence), so what’s left when all hope is gone? Faith, I suppose. But what happens when that starts to crack under the pressure too?

And he’s a goddamn teddy bear!Yeah, I want to know more about this game.

Generation Exile

Generation Exile trailer and developer interview | PC Gaming Show 2024 - YouTubeWatch On

Generation Exile trailer and developer interview | PC Gaming Show 2024 - YouTube

Chris L: The concept of generation ships spending hundreds of years to reach their destination is kind of fascinating already, and a city builder set on a generation ship sounds like an interesting challenge. If you’re low on resources, you can’t just dig deeper or explore further to find more: your ship is self-contained and you only have available what you brought with you. Sustainability is a feature in some city builders, but it’s an absolute necessity in Generation Exile.

Crescent County

Crescent County reveal trailer - PC Gaming Show 2024 - YouTubeWatch On

Crescent County reveal trailer - PC Gaming Show 2024 - YouTube

Chris L: This life sim that’s somehow chill as heck but also has pulse-pounding races made Crescent County an instant click for my witch-list. Move to a cozy but sprawling island, make deliveries on high-tech broomstick (you’re a witch, if that wasn’t clear), and customize and upgrade that motorbroom so it can drift, phase shift, and even rewind time. Plus, there’s people to meet and crush on and a home to decorate, all in a gorgeous open world. Yes please.

Croakwood

Croakwood Announcement Trailer - YouTubeWatch On

Croakwood Announcement Trailer - YouTube

Chris L: Frogs are cute. Little towns are cute. Building a little town for frogs is, at minimum, quadruple cute. A surprise announcement from Texel Raptor, developers of chill theme park builder Parkitect, introduced us to Croakwood, a relaxing town-building and management game with a piece-based building system and lots of handsome little froggy citizens to inhabit the village you create. I’m gonna hop right in as soon as it’s released.

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Our Top 3#

1. Doom: The Dark Ages#

2. Perfect Dark#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

3. Among the Wild#

Other reveals we really loved this year#

Assassin’s Creed Shadows#

UFO 50#

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater#

Cairn#

DeathSprint 66#

The Talos Principle 2#

Bogdan’s Cross#

Generation Exile#

Crescent County#

Croakwood#