This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.
04.06.2024 - 16:09 / digitaltrends.com / Giovanni Colantonio
This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.
Publisher Annapurna Interactive’s next title, Flock, has a new summer release date. The oddball nature-classification game will launch on July 16 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam. It will launch as part of Xbox Game Pass on that date, too.
Flock is the latest game from Richard Hogg and Hollow Ponds, the indie team behind Wilmot’s Warehouse and I Am Dead. It’s a cozy exploration game where players ride through the skies on the back of a bird and categorize different animals. Digital Trends has an exclusive release date trailer for the game, which gives a glimpse of what players will do in the world.
The two-minute trailer plays like a calming nature documentary, with a David Attenborough-like voice narrating Flock‘s gameplay. It emphasizes the core gameplay loop: finding critters, using songs to charm them, and flying alongside them once tamed. It also highlights the role of hover sheep, which can create wool that’s used to craft cosmetic hats.
RelatedDigital Trends demoed Flock last December at a Day of the Devs event during The Game Awards. At the time, I complimented the game’s relaxing nature identification gameplay loop and its silly sense of humor. “While my demo would only give me a taste of its central progression, tasking me with identifying a certain number of creatures or courting them to fly alongside me, that was enough to know I’ll be taking to the skies when it launches next spring,” I wrote at the time (Flock‘s release date would later move to summer 2024).
Flock launches on July 16 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam.
This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.
This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.
This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.
There are some video games that just feel impossible to follow up. That was the case with 2021’s Before Your Eyes, an incredibly unique indie that players controlled by blinking thanks to eye-tracking technology. It’s a thematically ingenious game that turns “blink and you’ll miss it” into a gameplay mechanic. It’s a perfect idea — almost too perfect. How can you possibly match something so tightly crafted?
This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.
This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.
This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.
This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.
My favorite thing about going to an event like Summer Game Fest isn’t playing big-budget titles I’ve been anticipating for years — it’s finding stuff I’ve never heard of. Last year’s show introduced me to Cocoon, which ranked high on my own year-end list for 2023. This year, I once again have found a hidden gem on the Summer Game Fest show floor that’s become my most anticipated game of the fall: Rusty Rabbit.
When I first heard that Blumhouse was going to start publishing video games, I had some very specific expectations in mind. The movie studio is behind some of this generation’s most beloved horror films, so I expected it to go a cinematic route for its games. Perhaps we’d see an approach similar to Until Dawn, giving players an interactive slasher movie loaded with A-list actors. That’s not the case.
This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.
During Summer Game Fest, Meta revealed a new story trailer for Batman: Arkham Shadow. While the clip only delves into story, an accompanying blog post confirms that the gameplay staples of Rocksteady’s Arkham series are all coming to VR.