Introducing What’s Hot, the GamesRadar+ Summer Preview. This year we are looking beyond the Summer Game Fest schedule and drawing attention to the upcoming video games of 2024 and beyond that we believe should be on your radar. The team here at GR+ is picking out the biggest, best, and most interesting games around and running in-depth features on each of them.
The era of E3 is over. There was a time where the Electronic Entertainment Expo could focus the attention of the entire community of video game players, the world focusing on a single week for the announcements, trailers, gameplay, and release dates which would carry the industry forward into the year. Now, with attention fractured between disparate events and virtual showcases it can be difficult to sift through the noise and connect directly with the entertainment that you are truly passionate about.
But that’s where our Summer Preview comes in. These features could include hands-on impressions from our time with one of your most anticipated games of the year, or original interviews where we sit down with the developers creating them to learn more. There will be gameplay analysis and opinion too, because sometimes games are ready to be shown but not played. Hopefully, these articles will bring you closer to the video games that you really care about, and tell you everything you need to know about the experiences you hadn’t already connected with.
Be sure to add this page to your reading list and return throughout the month of June, because we’ll be updating this coverage hub with new in-depth stories as we explore the biggest games and announcements as part of What’s Hot:The GamesRadar+ Summer Preview for 2024.
Hands-on | 33 Immortals
Coming to PC and Xbox Series X in 2024
Looking for a little more carnage in your life this summer? Then you’ll want to cut off a slice of 33 Immortals, a co-op roguelike designed to be played alongside 33 other players. It’s a compelling framework from the developers behind Spiritfarer and Sundered. Naturally, as you’re facing the wrath of god here, you can expect countless chaotic encounters and the sort of challenging boss battles that have a habit of forcing 33 damned souls to work together in harmony.
Learn more in our 33 Immortals hands-on preview
Alan Wake 2: Night Springs | Interview
Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X on June 8, 2024
Alan Wake 2: Night Springs is delivering something which was sorely lacking from the main campaign: a little levity. Where Remedy pushed its story in a darker direction, chronicling Alan Wake’s spiral through the Dark Place and Saga Anderson’s attempt to grapple with an unraveling reality, the game’s first expansion is a return to the quirkiness of the original experience. Three episodes, each driven by an elseworld’s version of a fan-favorite character – it’s a lot of frantic, lighthearted fun.
Read our Alan Wake 2: Night Springs interview
Assassin’s Creed Shadows | Preview
Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series on November 12, 2024
In setting its action across Feudal Japan, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is delivering on a longstanding dream from the AC community. What I don’t think any of us expected was for this upcoming Assassin’s Creed game to be so forward-thinking – developer Ubisoft Quebec is pushing its stealth and combat systems, routing big changes to the action-RPG framework through its dual Shinobi and Samurai protagonists. It looks incredible, and destined to be one of 2024’s most discussed releases.
Read our Assassin’s Creed Shadows preview
Anger Foot | Hands-on
Coming to PC in 2024
From the developer behind Genital Jousting and Terra Nil comes Anger Foot, an absurd first-person shooter where you effectively take on the role of extraterrestrial John Wick – marauding across Shit City to shoot, kick, and immolate a precession of merciless gangsters. Anger Foot is a caffeine-spiked fever dream punctuated by tireless techno, and as we discovered when we played the damn thing, it’s an absolute riot if you have the energy to keep up.
Learn more in our Anger Foot hands-on preview
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 | Interview
Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X on October 25, 2024
Treyarch and Raven Software are teaming up to tackle the most exciting Call of Duty installment since the Modern Warfare reboot. Raven is tackling the campaign, striving to deliver the ultimate spy fantasy as Black Ops agents are forced to go rogue to uncover a wide government conspiracy. Treyarch is handling the multiplayer and zombies sides of play, taking a back-to-basics approach to each mode while innovating through evocative new movement systems. I visited Treyarch’s offices to learn more, and I didn’t leave disappointed.
Read our Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 interview
Doom: The Dark Ages | Interview
Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X in 2025
Doom: The Dark Ages is drawing you into a time where the Slayer was wielded as the ultimate super weapon of gods and kings. It’s one hell of a setup, driving some sweeping changes to the framework of id Software‘s upcoming shooter. The studio is looking to the past to inspire its future, introducing more grounded combat with a wider reliance on navigating projectiles to harken back to the original DOOM, all while introducing a new suite of demon-slaying weapons.
Read our exclusive Doom: The Dark Ages preview
Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Preview
Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X in 2025
A decade after Dragon Age: Inquisition and BioWare is finally ready to deliver a sequel. After years of delays and name-changes, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is here to redefine what a modern Dragon Age game looks like, pushing smarter RPG systems, in-depth character customization, and combat inspired by everything from God of War to Mass Effect. If you’re finally calling time with Baldur’s Gate 3, The Veilguard is set to be your next RPG obsession.
Read our Dragon Age: The Veilguard preview
Dungeons of Hinterberg | Hands-on
Coming to PC and Xbox Series X on July 18, 2024
There’s only one cure for burnout: take a break from the big city and head to Hinterberg. Armed with little more than a tourist guide and a short sword, Dungeons of Hinterberg leaves you free to slay monsters on the alps by day and have a coffee with new friends by the lake by night. It’s a fun adventure packed with energetic combat and twisting puzzles, and a smart leveling system that plays into the wider fantasy constructed by developer Microbird.
Learn more in our Dungeons of Hinterberg hands-on preview
Destiny 2: The Final Shape | Hands-on
Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X on June 4, 2024
Bungie has been building to this for a decade. Destiny 2: The Final Shape is set to bring about an end to the Light and Darkness Saga, a storyline which commenced around the time that wizard came from the moon. This climactic expansion introduces a new enemy race, and a powerful new Prismatic subclass to combat them. Bungie has learned the right lessons out of Lightfall, and The Final Shape will make Destiny 2 irresistible once again.
Read our Destiny 2: The Final Shape hands-on preview
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree | Hands-on
Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X on June 20, 2024
Elden Ring was a global phenomenon when it launched two years ago, redefining the shape of open-world action-RPGs forever. Developer FromSoftware is pulling players into a new adventure set across the perilous Land of Shadow in Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. You’ll explore uncharted territory, armed with new weapons and equipment, but there’s no telling whether it will be enough to survive the horrors ahead.
Read our Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree hands-on preview
Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail | Hands-on
Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X on July 2, 2024
It all started to get a little intense there for a second, didn’t it? Where Endwalker focused on bringing the decade-long Hydaelyn–Zodiark arc to a close, the upcoming Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail expansion is all about new beginnings. It’s a journey to the faraway continent of Tural, a sun soaked nation packed with gorgeous vistas, fearsome foes, and plenty of opportunities to make new friends. If you’re yet to play, now is the time to try FF14.
Read our Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail hands-on preview
Flintlock: Siege of Dawn | Hands-on
Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X on July 18, 2024
If you’re in the market for an action game that straddles the fine line between the robustness of God of War and challenge of Elden Ring, then the next release from Ashen developer A44 Games is likely what you’re looking for. It isn’t a soulslike in the traditional sense, but rather an approachable, hyper-mobile action game that delivers big thrills and all-encompassing boss battles against some truly gorgeous backdrops. You’ll want to watch this one closely.
Read our Flintlock: Siege of Dawn hands-on preview
Frostpunk 2 | Hands-on
Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X on July 25, 2024
11 Bit Studios created arguably the most depressing city-builder on planet Earth with the original Frostpunk, putting the future of humanity in your hands as it battles to survive an apocalyptic blizzard. Well, the sequel isn’t any cheerier, but it is far more approachable. Smart system changes ensure that maintaining a growing metropolis isn’t fraught with frustrations, leaving you free to keep the cogs of a giant, resource-hungry machine turning with little consternation.
Learn more in our Frostpunk 2 hands-on preview
Path of Exile 2 | Hands-on
Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X in 2024
Grinding Gear Games built its reputation on Path of Exile, an action-RPG known for its spiraling complexity. With this sequel, the studio set out to build an experience that merges that depth with a wider focus on approachability – and the results are staggering. If you’ve bounced off of the Diablo 4 seasonal structure then Path of Exile 2 is shaping up to be a really viable alternative, with the game set to launch into early access later this year.
Read our Path of Exile 2 hands-on preview
Phantom Blade Zero | Hands-on
Coming to PC and PS5
Phantom Blade Zero isn’t another soulslike – it’s an irresponsibly fast action game that feels like a melting pot of ideas, harkening back to everything from Sekrio: Shadows Die Twice to Ninja Gaiden Black and Metal Gear Rising Revengeance. With its world built around Chinese martial arts and steampunk, punishingly quick combat, and surprisingly deep combo-focused assaults, Phantom Blade 0 is on track to carve its own space out of a crowded genre. The game doesn’t have a release window just yet, but we’re hoping it lands soon.
Read our Phantom Blade Zero hands-on preview
Star Wars Outlaws | Hands-on
Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X on August 30, 2024
Star Wars Outlaws is shaping up to be the scoundrel simulator that we’ve always dreamed of playing. Massive Entertainment, the developer behind The Division and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, is building out its own corner of a galaxy far, far, away – an open world Star Wars game where you take on the role of a young smuggler trying to pull off a daring Outer Rim heist between the events of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Read our Star Wars Outlaws hands-on preview
Still Wakes the Deep | Hands-on
Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X on June 18, 2024
After spending a few years off grid, the developer behind Dear Esther and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is back with a terrifying survival horror experience. Trapped on an oil drilling platform damaged in a supernatural storm, you’ll need to scramble to survive the harsh weather conditions of the North Sea and work to avoid a mysterious monster prowling the enclosure. Still Wakes the Deep is thrilling, atmospheric drama that isn’t for the faint of heart.
Learn more in our Still Wakes the Deep hands-on preview
The Alters | Hands-on
Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X in 2024
It’s difficult for survival games to stand out at a time where the genre market is so oversaturated with new contenders. Perhaps that’s a part of what makes The Alters so damned impressive, with developer 11 Bit Studios leaning on the multiversal chaos propagated by Everything Everywhere All at Once to help set it apart from the pack. Approachable base building and survival mechanics combine with smart cloning systems to make for an unmissable experience.
Learn more in our The Alters hands-on preview
Wild Bastards | Hands-on
Coming to PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X in 2024
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to take up arms as an interplanetary gunslinger, you’ll want to pay attention to Wild Bastards. Tactical first-person shooter combat combines with slick party-building systems which push you to rebuild a gang of 13 outlaws who each carry their own grudges, dreams, and ability trees. All told, Wild Bastards is shaping up to be the spiritual successor to cult-favorite Void Bastards that we never knew we needed.
Read our Wild Bastards hands-on preview
Our Summer Games Preview runs throughout the month of June, diving deep into the hottest upcoming games for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X.
