Hundreds of games, 350,000 visitors and roughly a billion years’ worth of hyperbole, the gigantic GamesCom exhibition is over for another year. Although never as packed with announcements as the E3 event in Los Angeles, there’s always plenty of new stuff to discover at this European behemoth.

So, putting aside all the usual mega franchises (you don’t need us to tell you that there are new Call of Duty, Battlefield, Dragon Age and Fable titles), here are the revelations that got most people talking as they fought through the madding crowds.

Alienation (Housemarque, PS4)

Finnish shoot-’em-up specialist Housemarque produced one of the few must-have titles of the next-gen console launch period – the gorgeous Resogun. Now the team is working on another PS4 exclusive, Alienation, a frenetic twin-stick shooter, allowing teams of players to mow down swarming aliens. OK, so Robotron-style co-op experiences aren’t exactly rare, but this studio is a true artisan in the shooter genre and is bound to introduce new mechanics and flourishes. It’s due out in 2015.

Hellblade (Ninja Theory, PS4)

British studio Ninja Theory has produced some of the most visually arresting titles of the last decade in the form of Heavenly Sword, Enslaved and the underrated, Devil May Cry reboot, DmC. Now it’s back with another stylish stab-’em-up, which, judging by the title and the look of the lead character, has at least a passing relationship with Heavenly Sword. Although initially a PS4 exclusive, it will be coming to other platforms, but there are no release details just yet.

Life is Strange (Dontnod, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)

Memorably described by IGN as “Gone Home meets The Walking Dead,” this episodic narrative adventure is the latest work from Parisian studio, Dontnod, the creator of last year’s cult sci-fi title, Remember Me. This time the action follows a student who returns to her small Oregon town to meet old friend Chloe and investigate the disappearance of local girl, Rachel Amber. The set up looks similar to all the current titles from episodic specialist Telltale Games, but here, the lead character has time-travelling abilities, adding a wrinkle to the formula.

P.T./Silent Hills (7780s Studio, PS4)

Sony uploaded an interactive teaser for this nerve-jangling horror romp just before Gamescom, and then revealed that the project was, in fact, a new Silent Hill title from Hideo Kojima and director, Guillermo Del Toro. So okay, this long-running psychological terror series is hardly “new” but it was the PT demo that had everyone talking with its creepy haunted house setting and unsettling looping corridors. Plus, Silent Hills, as its known, looks set to be a very singular take on the franchise when it releases in … oh who knows, this is a Kojima production.

ScreamRide (Frontier Developments, Xbox One)

Again, this is not exactly a newcomer – its a sort of offshoot from the ageing Rollercoaster Tycoon series. But developer Frontier Developments is doing something fresh with the ‘build your own theme park’ concept, setting it in the future and adding physics-defying rides and destructible environments. It was also one of the few new announcements at Microsoft’s Gamescom press conference. Expect it on Xbox platforms in spring 2015.

Shadow Realms (BioWare, PC)

Despite the fact that “Shadow Realms” may be the most generic name ever given to a fantasy-themed action adventure, this new project from BioWare Austin looks intriguing. Monsters from another dimension have invaded Earth and now it’s up to a small group of humans with currently unexplained super powers to fight them off. Like Evolve and Fable: Legends it features asymmetrical multiplayer, allowing four friends to co-op as humans, while a fifth perhaps less popular member of the social group controls the invading Shadowlord. It’s hitting the PC in late 2015.

Superhot (Superhot, PC, Xbox One)

Although you play an assassin in this hyper-stylised first-person project, it’s much more like a weird spatial puzzler than a shooter. Cleverly, time only moves when you do, so you must carefully navigate a series of armed encounters by ducking and strafing enemy bullets, then pausing to work out the next move. Imagine a maze game crossed with a “bullet time” action title – and for the ultimate first-person bullet dodging thrill, it supports Oculus Rift. The game is due out in June 2015. But there’s a prototype on the website of the game’s eponymous dev team.

The Tomorrow Children (Q-Games, PS4)

The latest title from Pixel-Junk creator Q-Games is set in a post-apocalyptic world devestated by a 1960s Russian experiement to meld all human minds into one super-consciousness. Somehow, somehow, it failed, plunging civilization into chaos and destruction. Now, you must enter the Void, a sort of sci-fi Marxist collective, and save the world from monsters, while abiding by the strict rules of this surreal Communist society. It’s okay, head of Q-Games Dylan Cuthbert does a better job of explaining it. There’s no release date just yet.

Until Dawn (Supermassive Games, PS4)

Originally intended as a PS3 title then seemingly lost in development hell, Suppermassive’s horror adventure has returned as a next-gen title, complete with a glittering voice cast (Hayden Panettiere, Rami Malek, Brett Dalton) and a graphical overhaul courtesy of the Killzone engine. It looks like a creepy haunted house yarn with eight friends holed up in a remote mountain shack – but when the gruesome deaths start, there are hundreds of plot-altering decisions available to the player, providing a true sense of involvement and , of course, nightmarishly escalating terror. Which is something we all enjoy.

Wild (Wild Sheep Studios, PS4)

Michel Ancel, the brilliantly talented creator of Rayman and Beyond Good and Evil, has a new studio named Wild Sheep, and a fresh project – the intriguing open-world simulation, Wild. Set ten thousand years ago in a huge rural environment, players can take part either as human tribespeople or as several species of animals, fighting to survive against the elements and predators. Little else is known just yet, but Ancel is promising a completely different experience every time you play. We’re thinking a sort of pre-historic Sims meets Tokyo Jungle. That would be amazing.