The PC Gaming Show at E3 showcased a lot of upcoming games on the independent gaming side of things, putting focus on some past projects, though there were still a few teasers to get excited about. Take a look.
Evil Genius 2: World Domination (Rebellion)
While we didn’t get to see any actual gameplay footage, it’s a super fun concept to get to build your own Bond villain style lair. Sure, the 15 year wait since the original does add an element of expectation but it’s also a chance for a whole new generation to discover how much fun it is to play the bad guy. Sign up to win a chance for access to closed beta at evilgenius2.com
World Premiere: Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2
Another cult favourite – the original being kept alive and even fixed by its online community – finally can play the sequel 15 years after the original. The new game sees players adapting to a unique take on the vampire mythos where a large portion of the population are suddenly turned into vampires with the player being one of these newly formed monsters. Taken under the wing of another vampire, the other newly created undead attempts to deal with this radical shift without such guidance. Expected in the first quarter of 2020, it will no doubt add to what is already shaping up to be a strong gaming year.
Starmancer
Using a retro graphic style, this management sim will see you building your own space colony as you expand and develop ways to support your colony and connect with other colonies while defending against enemies who want to crush you.
World Exclusive: Chivalry 2
Following on from the 2012 original, this sequel will expand the medieval battlefield to 64 players as well as introducing horses. Swordplay mechanics have also been revamped along with the combat system to give it a much more realistic feel than before while enabling you to battle multiple enemies. Arriving Early 2020, the game will come first to Epic Game Store as an exclusive for the first 12 months.
Mosaic
Set in a cold and monotonous world, Mosaic is a dark and atmospheric adventure game coming later in 2019. The trailer is merely a teaser and leaves out a lot of what the game will be about. However, the art style and the atmosphere definitely has that inside gloominess to it that might just work.
Midnight Ghost Hunt
This first person ghost hunting game will see you playing as both ghosts and ghost hunters with the ghosts hiding from the hunters until midnight when the ghosts get to hunt the hunters who in turn will have to survive until evac time. You can sign up for alpha at midnightghosthunt.com
World Exclusive: Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy
Taking the gameplay out of the dungeons and into the wider world to assemble adventures which span multiple generations everything about the game sees Ludomotion here attempting to build on the first game with a completely new graphic style forming the foundation as the minimalist 2D has been switched out for shaded top-down 3D. At the same time, choices in one generation will affect gameplay for another generation as the world shapes around the players choices.
Funcom
- Mutant Year Zero: Seed of Evil – July 30, 2019
- Conan Unconquered – May 30, 2019
- Moons of Madness – Halloween 2019
World Exclusive: Conan Chop Chop
What was initially assumed to be a joke, surprisingly turns out to be real game as you play as a stick figure Conan or one of his companions Pallantides, Valeria, or Bêli hacking their way through the randomly-generated world of Hyborian. It brings back fond memories of Castle Crashers while the option for up to four players to team up only adds to what looks like a fun indie title and arguably the best use of the Conan property to date. Conan Chop Chop will be released on September 3, 2019.
Last Oasis
Set in a post-apocalyptic where Earth has stopped rotating, this survival MMO sees its players constantly scurrying away in their spider-like machines to escape the burning sun. Last Oasis is heading to Early Access on September 3rd.
Age of Wonders: Planetfall
Age of Wonders: Planetfall is a turn-based strategy game which lets you choose which faction at the beginning to join while one of the highlights has to be one of these factions can ride dinosaurs into battle. At the same time, the game includes colony-building as the game will use the spaceship that the player lands in to be the starting point for its colony base. Planetfall is a tactical game and while the map view is one to maneuver around, each point of interest will zoom into play. Battles in this game from the simpler early ones at 2 to 3 minutes to later battles ranging up to 30 minutes. Ages of Wonder: Planetfall will be released on August 6.
Zombie Army 4: Dead War
From the makers of Sniper Elite comes the latest installment of their zombie horde killer and while the cinematic trailer didn’t give us much to go on and more randomly cloud Hitler. Still the nine minutes of gameplay released since show some fun touches and bolt on’s your team can use to try and give themselves an edge. Sure, it’s fun to massacre a horde of zombies but will it have enough to sustain your interest outside of that.
Remnant: From the Ashes
It’s always exciting to see games all moving towards the cooperative angle, encouraging friends to join up in different adventures. This upcoming co-op action shooter is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth with different environments shown off in its trailer. The game is set up as odyssey-like quests. One of the unique elements of Remnant:From the Ashes is its dynamic generation system which will make every game’s experience different while the loot are all legendary items that will coincide with the specific quest. This fully co-op game will release on August 20, 2019 on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC.
Griftlands
From the developers of Don’t Starve, Klei Entertainment’s upcoming deck-building roguelite, which is as much about how you interact with characters as how you can defeat them, has changed a lot since it was first teased. Attacks being dealt by picking cards while combined with Dragon’s Lair style animation really makes the game stand out. Griftlands lands on July 11, 2019 in alpha on Epic Game Store.
Planet Zoo
From the makers of Planet Coaster this management sim will see you building and running your own zoo picking up from were the 2013 Zoo Tycoon left off with its Xbox release. Much like with Planet Coaster, the game will offer even more freedom to run wild with your ideas while also featuring a wide variety of animals which all look incredible. The focus will also be on running a modern zoo with the focus being on education and conservation than just displaying animals. You can start building your own modern zoo on November 5, 2019.
Shenmue 3
Fans have been waiting since 2001 for the completion of the Shenmue trilogy and thanks to a Kickstarter campaign, fans will finally be getting it. While the game has certainly had a graphical update, let’s hope the same can be said for the gameplay especially when the first games certainly benefit from the haze of nostalgia.
Songs of Conquest
Inspired by the likes of Total War and Heroes of Might and Magic, this promises to be a classic turn-based strategy game as you assemble your troops and build up your civilisation. You can sign up for closed alpha at songsofconquest.com
Per Aspera
Per Aspera is a base-building strategy game where the mission is to terraform Mars. It will release sometime in 2020.
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
Bringing to life a long time ago, and by that, the setting is Africa 10 million years ago to where life starts with apes, this upcoming survival game lets the player go through evolution into different species. The goal is to explore, expand and evolve the next generations. It will release on August 27th first on Microsoft Windows and later on consoles.
Auto Chess
Auto Chess is the official game sprouted from a Dota 2 mod with the same title by Chinese developer Dragonest which will be exclusive to Epic Game Store.
Cris Tales
Cris Tales is an upcoming love letter to classic JRPGs which has stunning visuals and has the unique take of simultaneously seeing the past, present and future. You can currently play debut demo on Steam now while the full game will release sometime in 2020.
Valfaris
Drawing from games like Contra, Valfaris is a “metal-infused” 2D action platformer. The trailer showed off scene after scene of boss fights paired intense heavy metal.
Maneater
The first shark simulator since maybe Jaws Unleashed is this open world RPG or “SharkPG” where you start out as a young shark pup with a dream to eat his way to the top of the food chain. Sure this is a fantastical portrayal of sharks but it certainly looks like some mindless fun.
Terraria: Journey’s End
Journey’s End is the penultimate free expansion for 2011’s action-adventure sandbox game which has gathered a lot of its players with constant updates since its release.
Telling Lies
Being the spiritual successor of Her Story, Telling Lies revolves around the same concept of watching videos to piece together a story. The story this time involves four different characters whose story will help solve the case of a stolen NSA hard drive. Starring some familiar faces like Logan Marshall-Green, Alexandra Shipp, Kerry Bishé and Angela Sarafyan, this game is much bigger than Her Story with at least 10 hours of footage. Its due to release later in 2019.
Genesis Noir
Genesis Noir probably takes the prize in confusing its audience on what exactly is going on with what is supposed to be a “cosmic adventure”. Whatever that means, it seems to be an ambitious title with a lot style but that really is all there is at this point since the information is fairly limited. Perhaps when a release date is announced at some point, it’ll show something a little more concrete.
El Hijo
A spaghetti western based around stealth and a six year old is certainly a new take on a genre better known for its focus on gunslinging gangs and grizzled leads. The plot of the game seeing El Hijo whose mum left him in a monastery to save him after bandits razed their home, but bored with monastery life he sets out on his own adventure. Using the shadows, baskets and tubs and use toys to distract people you’ll have to certainly get creative. Painted in warm colours and an interesting graphical style this could be a sleep hit worth keeping track of.
Baldur’s Gate 3
The most popular RPG of all time finally gets a sequel from Divinity: Original Sin 2 creators Larian Studios and Wizards of the Coast. Yes , the game is still a fair way away from a release date but considering how long its been since the last game you can understand the excitement of the fans to finally have a new addition to the series.