Gamescom 2022 has come and gone, showcasing hundreds of upcoming titles. You can spend days going through the announcements and still miss some really cool new titles. So we decided to bring together a fairly random selection of titles, many of which might have escaped your attention. Judging each title on their Steam page content, this series of articles highlights a few big names and plenty of obscure new titles.
In this first edition, we welcome the return of a classic survival horror title, step into the shoes of a teenage witch, hit the trenches of World War 1, build cities on the back of a turtle, descend into a Lovecraftian hell, and much more…
(Also, don’t miss Gamescom 2022 – All The Game Announcements And Trailers From Opening Night)
Alone in the Dark [Steam Link]
It’s a great time to be a horror game, so why not bring back one of the genre’s lost titans? Alone In The Dark once defined survival horror, only to be eclipsed by Resident Evil and then forgotten thanks to an incredibly buggy reboot. Now it’s back – not a straight remake but rather a ‘love letter’ to the original game. Whatever that means, it looks creepy!
Blacktail [Steam Link]
Mixing folklore, first-person bow combat, witchcraft and some engaging Fable-style consequential storytelling, Blacktail looks pretty unique. It’s a strange game in a fantastical setting, where your actions towards good or evil will change how the world behaves. With dashes of Alice in Wonderland, Blacktail is not an average shooter…
Aka [Steam Link]
Relax and take it easy in this exploration and crafting game that’s all about not rushing. Your character retires to a group of islands. Nothing seems to stress you out in this adorable open-world game. Meet the locals, do missions, plant some crops, make a lovely home for yourself, and take lots of naps – preferably in a steamy hot bath. We all wish we could retire this well.
Super Catboy [Steam Link]
This game is so retro that you’d think the trailer comes from the early 1990s – a time when side-scrollers ruled and 16-bit pixel graphics was the pinnacle of gaming power. Super Catboy might as well release a special cartridge edition for how much it embodies the action platform genre’s golden age. Expect old-school action and jumping, plenty of enemies, and super-sweet combos. You can already taste the Friday night pizza and making sure you don’t get the faulty controller…
Conscript [Steam Link]
Conscript is a pretty unique entry into the survival horror genre: play as a soldier looking for his lost brother in the trenches of World War 1. The game takes heavy inspiration from classics such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill – even the retro isometric graphics takes us back to PlayStation 1-era visuals. Not everyone will like the throwback look, but Conscript looks like a dark, atmospheric and intense game.
Fall of Porcupine [Steam Link]
Starting a job in a small town, a doctor aims to save her patients, get to know her new home and make friends with the locals in this beautiful adventure game. Fall of Porcupine mixes narrative with side-scrolling adventure and mini-games: cure people’s ailments, explore the town, and uncover some local mysteries. You can’t but love the stunning art style – we hope the rest of the game rises to the occasion.
World Turtles [Steam Link]
The idea of a world on a giant space turtle’s back has inspired many things, so why not a colony-building strategy game? Help a tribe of Meeps flourish on the back of their space turtle: expand across the map, build settlements, and work with other tribes (or not), all while adapting to the environment that changes as the turtle travels.
Trepang2 [Steam Link]
A soldier with no memory – but plenty of firepower and dangerous abilities. Naturally, they set out for revenge in this super-violent shooter that seems like a mix of the recent Doom games and the FPS classic, F.E.A.R. Use your fists and guns alongside a range of supernatural talents, such as slowing down time and becoming invisible. Trepang2 is very violent and graphic, built for hardcore FPS players.
The Last Case of Benedict Fox [Steam Link]
Benedict Fox is a private investigator with a unique skill: bound to a demon, he can discover clues from the dead. But the mansion he’s investigating hides a lot more than some departed souls. Expect demented revelations and nightmare creatures in this gorgeous-looking Lovecraftian Metroidvania side-scroller with chilling locations, impressive combat and a story that will drag you all the way down into the darkness.
ZERO Sievert [Steam Link]
Fans of Project Zomboid should take a look at ZERO Sievert. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, you must keep going in this top-down shooter with survival and crafting elements. The pixel art style delivers vast procedurally-generated worlds you explore to find loot, modify weapons, take on quests, and avoid the bandits and mutated wildlife that roam a desolate future. But unlike similar survival games, this title emphasises the shooter element in a combat-heavy experience.
