Koch Media E3 Presentation

Earlier today as part of the E3 Digital Event and Summerfest, Koch Media made several announcements during a 2 hour event including that they had formed a brand new premium gaming label called Prime Matter.  The launch of Prime Matter brings together 13 new games under the one label with Koch Media at the helm but with all creative direction and game development to be completed by the original developers listed in the recap below.

The show started with a bang with this announcement but only got better from there.

Spoilers for the show below this point along with this recapper’s opinions so if you would like to watch it in it’s entirety without spoilers first then watch the full video below and then continue this article.

 

The show is  chock full of interesting new gaming IP and some that were quite surprising. Our recap below includes announcements and any footage or trailers shown.

1) Painkiller Announcement

• A new game coming to the series after 15 years from Saber Interactive studios
• It is in the early stages of development at this point so more to come later on any details

I have to say that even though this was a quick announcement only the amount of excitement level that it caused was a 10 for me.  I can not wait for a new Painkiller game, especially if it is being made by ex iD Software team members who have given us the excellent FPS in the Doom series.

2) The Chant

• Produced by developer Brass Token
• A psychedelic third person survival horror game about self enlightenment and when it all goes wrong
• It is inspired by not only horror films of the 1970’s but also Resident Evil 2, Alone in the Dark and Eternal Darkness games.
• Features an over the shoulder camera angle and a fair amount of melee combat situations
• Utilises the Unreal Engine with scanned in characters for realism

I am sure that this title will warrant a look for any and all fans of these specific series and I can’t wait to see more details on this in the coming year.

3) Kingdom Come Deliverance

• Announced that it will be coming to the Nintendo Switch
• Saber Interactive assisting with the port
• Community feedback was the drive to bring it to the Switch console
• Also, the Farkel dice game from the title is being made into a boardgame and they are releasing Medieval soap bars as well.

4) Final Form (working title)

• An FPS game that is a long way from completion
• Produced by Reikon Games out of Poland
• It is an action packed sci-fi FPS about being on a space mission with no ability to return
• The gameplay is all about the power of movement of your cybernetic robotic body
• Will share more in the future as updates are available
• Sneak peak video below

While the gameplay shown is pre-alpha and rough it looks like a good direction and I would like to see more in the future.  Keen to see what the story includes as well.

7) Dolmen

• A lovecraftian RPG produced by Massive Work Studios in Brazil
• Our hero needs to save the alien species and help the company he works for save it’s investment
• This hardcore game is all about fighting all different types of monsters and dying a lot!
• It is inspired by the Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Dead Space and Mass Effect games
• It is set in a sci-fi universe where the humans are afraid of what they don’t know and the setting is presented to the player as a world they can fear and enjoy at the same time
• World Premiere video below

This is a game that I cannot wait to see more of in the coming months.  Really looking forward to experiencing this story on the next generation of consoles on release.  This presentation was a real highlight of the whole presentation and easily my best game of the show.

8) King’s Bounty II

• This is the first game that will be released under the new label Prime Matter and is produced by 1C Entertainment
• Set in the country of Nostria
• The game is a high fantasy, third person RPG with a tactical fighting system mixed in
• Multi-platform game
• Motion capture providing hours on hours of cutscene content to experience
• First look gameplay trailer below

As a fan of tactical style games, I am curious to see what RPG elements are implemented with this new title and how they are executed.  Look forward to additional gameplay demos in the coming months.

9) Scars Above

• Third person action adventure game from Mad Head Games
• Shooting
• Crafting different types of ammo with elemental effects that affect the enemies in different ways
• Search for data and using it to progress by solving puzzles
• An alien object appears near earth and an astronaut team is called to scan the object and while this is taking place one of the astronauts Kate is transported to an alien planet.  She needs to solve and learn about the place in order to survive.
• It is both a scary and strangely beautiful world.
• The team of character is made up of:
  • Kate – A strong, capable and caring person.  A scientist not a soldier who ends up in a situation where she needs to fight for her life.  She is brave and tough but vulnerable.
  • Commander Richard Robinson – Leader of the four person team
  • Tamara – Scientist and astronaut
  • Mike – Communications expert
• Check out the world premiere gameplay trailer below.

This looks like the most developed game in this bunch and the gameplay was solid.  I would compare it to a mix of Uncharted, Tomb Raider and Death Stranding from the gameplay and story that was seen.  Hope to see more on this one and perhaps a release date announcement in the next few months.

10) Encased

• Isometric Dystopian sci-fi RPG scheduled for release this Spring (Fall USA)
• A sci-fi post apocalyptic game by Dark Crystal Games
• The game takes place in a dome controlled by the Cronus Foundation
• The overall concept is from old school 90’s to 00’s games
• Mechanics, abilities and perks have been put in which control the core gameplay
• Story is about exploring the anomalous zone in the dome and is set in the 1970’s
• This is the perfect timeframe for the game as we wanted it so that satellites are not surrounding the planet and the Cronus Foundation dome can stay hidden
• The player has five wings of the Dome to choose from:
  • Black wing – Security and Police
  • White wing – Medics and Scientists
  • Silver Wing – Management
  • Blue Wing – Technicians and Engineers
  • Orange Wing – Ex-convicts that were freed to go to the dome to do various manual labour tasks
• It is inspired by hardcore RPGs and the Fallout series of games
• Trailer below

This game seems as you will spend a ton of time exploring every wing of the dome and finding out what secrets are under it and what is Cronus trying to keep hidden from the rest of the world.  Encased should be some good fun once it releases.

11) Echoes of the End

• Action Adventure game produced Myrkur Games in Iceland
• It is a marriage of a cinematic experience with the narrative choice driven storytelling of RPGs
• Voice actor Alice Hamilton is the lead protagonist Ren
• She is a person trained from birth to be a weapon in the service to the crown who is burdened by purpose and is chained to that.
• Alice is amazing and really portrays the character well
• More detail to come in future updates

I am intrigued by the concept but aware that we have something like this in Hitman already so will need to see a bit more before knowing if this will be a must play experience.  Looking forward to future updates.

12) The Last Oricru

• Gothic Hardcore Action RPG from the team at Gold Knights
• A challenging and skill based RPG set in a sci-fi medieval world
• The idea is to show the player that the choices that they make will change the world around them
• Will require multiple playthroughs to get the full story
• Each player can decide their own path and the future of the whole planet by who will win the war
• If you go to the dark side and become evil in the game then it will be very painful for you to get through the game
• Co-op is going to be a key feature of the game and situations can be solved differently in co-op than in single player
• Be prepared to die a lot!

Interested to see where it is going but with no gameplay footage shown hard to tell what the experience will be.

13) Payday 3

• A sequel to Payday 2 from 2013 announced
• We see payday as the ultimate bank heist game
• We are years away from release
• Teaser graphic below

Payday 3 while years away at this point is a great announcement to end this show with.

Koch Media also announced that they will be starting to stream 3 days a week with publishers and known streamers working together to bring fresh content weekly.

This was a good presentation by Koch Media and I would give the 13 games in this review a 8/10 on the excitement meter.

Rob for One More Game