A week has passed since I attended EGX 2022 in London. For those who don’t know, EGX is one of the biggest gaming conventions in the UK. After a lacklustre return last year, I was eager to see what they had on offer this time around.
Before I get to that, many people often ask me, “what is it like to attend conventions as a wheelchair user?” The simple answer is difficult. Navigating through crowds, queuing for long periods, low-level access, and more did present problems for me as a wheelchair user. To their credit, the staff and exhibitors at EGX always go out of their way to help me when I was in a difficult sport, helping out in whatever way they can.
Now for the games themselves! Hopefully, you have read my earlier piece on Sonic Frontiers. If not, find it here. Sonic was undoubtedly the biggest surprise of the show, ultimately my personal favourite game of the show. It wasn’t the only big-name game that was playable, with Street Fighter 6, Wo-Long: Fallen Dynasty, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 all playable. Wo-Long and Call of Duty have recently had a demo and beta, respectively, so I wasn’t personally too concerned about queuing up for them.
I did get hands-on with Street Fighter 6 on two occasions. Playing a total of six one vs. one matches. I am only a casual fighting game player, but I was immediately impressed by the stunning art style and the slick gameplay. It felt like a step up for Street Fighter in presentation terms, making the game look and feel more impactful than ever. I only wish combos were easier to pull off. Options in the final game should allow control tweaks to help with this.
The massive lineup of indie titles was a massive shining light of EGX 2022. Both already released titles like Eastward and upcoming titles like Wildfrost were on show. There were so many indies that it was overwhelming. That I didn’t actually play as many as I would have liked! Wildfrost stood out, a rogue-like card game in the vein of Slay the Spire.
As did an already released game you may not have heard of, CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience. Developed by Delve Interactive, the game highlights an experience that, unfortunately, millions of people worldwide go through. It presents as potentially a simple side-scrolling game initially, but it has much more depth. With the game being randomly generated and having rogue-like elements. Including over one hundred thirty perks to unlock. At the end of the day, no amount of unique gameplay will outshine the messaging behind this game. That messaging and highlighting of the homeless experience is why you should check out this game.
The final game I want to highlight is another already released one… Unspottable. I’d never heard of this game and immediately purchased it when I got home from EGX. A multiplayer game that tasks you with blending into a crowd of identical characters while trying to find other players and eliminate them with a swift punch. This is made harder by the well-designed NPC crowd, which moves at random as real players would. Not to mention each map has different things to help or hinder you. For example, one map has spotlights you need to avoid otherwise, you’ll be revealed to other players. It was great multiplayer fun! The most multiplayer fun I’ve had this year. Definitely worth a look if you haven’t heard of it. It is available on all platforms.
Wrapping up EGX 2022
EGX 2022 was a definite step up from last year. While not as much was on offer when compared to pre-pandemic years. With a nice mix of big-name upcoming titles and highlighting indie games. It had something for everyone, and I definitely came away wanting to purchase games that I had no interest in or hadn’t heard of previously. That’s why these events are so important, and EGX seems to be back in form this year after a lacklustre show in 2021.
