The Maw: what's new in PC games this week?
Once Human, Anger Foot and a helping of cosy alchemy
Live
Happy this week, everybody? Following last week's slight (and perhaps slightly editorialised) dry spell, there is a non-zero quantity of promising new PC games in the offing, and they cover a nice spread of genres.
On Tuesday 9th July, we've got Once Human, a free-to-play multiplayer open world survival shooter set in a world polluted by sanity-eroding Stardust. On Wednesday 10th July, there's the early access launch of Time Treker (sic), aka Vampire Survivor but with anime mecha. Thursday 11th July unleashes the first-person stomping of Anger Foot, and the Viva Pinata-adjacent gardening thrills of Horticular. And on Friday 12th July, the SNES-style horror maze running of Super Dark Deception, the cyberpunk deck-building of Zero Division, and the fungal-fingered scholarship of The Last Alchemist.
As ever, you can keep track of the latest developments in the tumultuous realm of PC gaming via the liveblog below, and make vicious jokes about our puns in the attached comments thread. Also as ever, the liveblog is sponsored by the Maw, the reeking, raging embodiment of the endless hunger for News, whose million lamprey gullets we strive ever to fill with, as the case may be, articles about dogs in Zenless Zone Zero, or people getting mad at Call of Duty. Please let us know if you stumble on anything that could make decent Maw fodder.
Long-in-gestation space sim Star Citizen is free to play till 19th July, if you've been wondering what all the fuss is about.
Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is a 2D platforming metroidvania set in a world inspired by Japanese myth. Squid Shock Studios and creative director Chris Stair have penned a Steam blog describing how they're adapting folk stories like that of the Yogen no Tori. Here's a trailer to wash that down.
Oh boy, another Steam promotional knees-up - this one's for Independent Game Festival award winners, and runs till 20th July.
The designer of Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride is making an undersea Lovecraftian horror game, Feed The Deep.
GET ME THE WEEKEND, FRIDAY
I can almost taste tonight's Victory Takeaway. FEED THE MAW.Planet Coaster 2 is here and LOOK AT ALL THE WATERSLIDES.
If you've been struggling to make sense of the Microsoft Game Pass pricing changes and new subscription tiers, this might help.
Tako no Himitsu: Ocean of Secrets is an action-RPG in the spirit of Game Boy Advance classics like Golden Sun, in which six heroes and their octopi chums try to save the world. Steam demo over here.
Barraka is a claymation-style escapade set in a spooky town fair from Basque developer Zomorro Studio. Seems pleasantly cursed.
Protagonist-switching soulslike Deathbound (dare I call it Killer7-esque?) has a release date - 8th August. It's "set in a callous world where Faith and Science clash." There's a demo on Steam.
Arc System Works are bringing back side-scrolling face-puncher Double Dragon in jaw-evaporating 3D. "Experience the same simple and intuitive gameplay, with controls and balance refined for the modern era," reads the release. Here's a *grits teeth* trazzer.
GET ME A COFFEE, THURSDAY
Paging Dr Cthulhouise? Somebody shoveled a Sonic the Hedgehog story into the Maw last night and now it's having one of its "turns". Please fetch my largest pair of pliers and as much rubber tarpaulin as you can find - this is going to get worse before it gets better. FEED THE MAW, carefully.Coin Factory is one of those unabashed numbers-go-up games. "Combine and level up factories, explore numerous synergies at your own pace, and unlock multiple tiers of buildings." As far as capitalism simulators go, this one looks pretty mellow.
Plucky Balatro challenger Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers is out 8th August.
As reported by Windows Central, Microsoft are raising the price of PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (which includes PC Game Pass). Here's a PDF with all the regional price changes. For users with recurring billing, the new prices will come into effect on September 12th 2024, so there's still time to cancel.
GET YE AHEAD OF THURSDAY, WEDNESDAY
The Maw festoons and filibusters. Feed it, FEED IT.Bloodless is an indie Sekiro-like, with a free demo on Steam. Feast your eyes upon the trazzer below (are u happy now Edwin?!)
Here's a sizeable launch FAQ for open world survival shooter Once Human, which releases today.
Yaoling: Mythical Journey, meanwhile, is a creature collecting Eastern fantasy RPG with visuals that remind me of the lovely tiny MMO Book Of Travels. It's out 16th July.
I like the looks of Rawmen, coming to Steam and Epic Games Store. It's a team arena shooter but with food. You get to roll around as a giant meatball. It's free-to-play and out 23rd July.
According to Okami director Hideki Kamiya, the widely acclaimed Zeldalike was a massive flop at launch. "It was a huge failure," he said, in a Youtube chat with former Platinum and Tango Gameworks developer Ikumi Nakamura, who also worked on Okami while they were both at Capcom's now-defunct Clover Studio. "If it had been successful, Clover would have probably continued." Ta, EG.
EA are changing the Apex Legends battle pass system - from Season 22 onwards, you can only buy them using real world currency, and there will be two, separately sold battle passes per season. As VGC reports, the move has not been well-received.
GET YE BEHIND MONDAY, TUESDAY
The canaries in the quarantine chamber have begun speaking in Morse code! The airlocks are fruiting at the seals! FEED THE MAW.A short piece from me about Hollow Home, a game about the city of Mariupol during Russia's war on Ukraine.
Played a bit of Mushroom Musume and liked it. Here's my fungus daughter Alia.
"Sorry, we all have to go back to saying 'hail' - I'm not sure my nerves can take another 'hello' actually."
Language EVOLVES Edwin. It's here to stay-stay, I'm afraid.
Elden Ring is getting a fan-made anime adaption, and there's a tray-tray kicking about. Cheers, Eurogamer!
"Tech-Noir Tactics” All Walls Must Fall is now free to keep on Steam. "A bloody good time-troubling tactical shooter,” decreed Adam Smith (RPS in Peace).
Summer Games Done Quick 2024 wound up last night, raising a total of $2.5 million for Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders. Well done, speedrunners!
Team Folon are perilously close to releasing their total conversion mod Fallout: London. The final builds are even now sitting in GOG's inbox.
Forbes are of the opinion that The First Descendant has all but straight-up copy-pasted icon designs from Destiny 2.
On a similar note, Ubisoft executive producer Mark Rubin has responded to complaints that XDefiant is rather buggy right now, commenting that unlike Call Of Duty (one of Rubin's previous gigs), the new game has been made using an engine that isn't designed for first-person shooting.
A new story trailer for Metaphor: ReFantazio.
The latest Lethal Company update - the "Cruising Update" - adds a fancy new car for you to haul scrap in. Also two new creatures and weedkiller.
GET YE BEHIND ME, MONDAY
The tentacles have gotten into the cooling system again. FEED THE MAW.