Summary
Happy this week, all! I regret to inform you that the videogame developers have been at it again. Sometimes, I find that the promising new releases distribute themselves evenly throughout the week, like butter perfectly spread over just the right amount of toast. And sometimes, as with this week’s haul, they congregate weirdly on Thursday and Friday. It’s as though they were trying to get away from me, like rats ambushed in the pantry, pawing frantically against the weekend’s closed and bolted door. Haha! Hahahaaha! There is no escape, cheese-filching squeakmonsters! Down you go! Down you go into the Maw! If you think characterising new videogames as a rodent infestation is unkind, I quite agree. Rats are sociable, adaptable, and admirable creatures who deserve better than to be compared to stupid videogames. In any case, I am only being macabre because this is the month of Halloween – hence the conspicuous abundance of horror in the list below. Monday 5th October Veillombreis a side-scrolling multiplayer horror in which up to 16 players must survive a night in a mansion. Peek through keyholes, barricade windows against the invisible terror outside, possibly betray each other if that’s your bag. Mycopsychosys: Project Jupiteris an early access investigative narrative RPG about civil servants fighting a plague in Spain. You will know the joys of both office life and quarantine zones. Tuesday 6th October Star Wars: Galactic Raceris about repeatedly driving go-faster flycycles into chunks of, what do they call them, Space Destroyers? And blowing up. Based on the 15 minutes I’ve played, anyway. Wednesday 7th October Absolutely Nothing Goodis a first-person horror set in a roadside store. Are there any roadside stores in videogames that aren’t haunted, at this point? Heartbeats Anniversary Editionis a juiced-up Steam port of a striking iOS narrative logic puzzler about war, from the people behind Felix The Reaper. Thursday 8th October Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revivalis a first-person adaptation of the pleasantly trashy torture demon franchise with the sweet puzzle boxes. Julian has already spoken to the devsabout how they’re depicting real-life consensual bondage. Echo Weavercalls itself a “metroidbrainia” but I will forgive it this disgrace, because I enjoyed the SGF demo I played a while ago. It’s a timeloop story set in a biomechanical utopia that is being devoured by fungus. Silver Pinesis a side-scrolling trip through a nightmarish American town. You’re here to find a musician and whack shadowbeasts with a crowbar. “Silent Hill?” No, you want the next left on the freeway. Invokyris an early access co-op puzzle horror inspired by Jumanji, in which you play a boardgame that causes the surrounding house to shapeshift. Friday 9th October Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisenis the expanded edition of the Capcom action-RPG some people got mad at for having NPCs who caught cold from dragons and went crazy. The first game’s Dark Arisen expansion was terrific, so I have fair hopes for this. Car Park Capitalis the frightful 90s-style early access tycoon sim in which you try to convert a map full of happy pedestrians into frustrated and depressed motorists. Permafrostis an early access survival game that takes place in the second act of The Day After Tomorrow, basically. Truckfulis a folksy open-ended small-town delivery driver game, featuring real-time cargo physics and OH MY GOD, A GHOST TRUCK. Sealed Fortressis a turn-based dungeon-crawling RPG in which a group of three brave the corridors of a messed-up castle. Expect non-linearity, smaller DMG numbers, and soup. As for what the Treehouse are up to this week: Julian is flushing sedans down toilets, James is pining away for want of very large seasonal features to plan, Mark is kind of leaping between vehicles mid-race, Jeremy is our man from Belmont, and Ollie is heroically robbing locks. Yes, I think that’s sufficiently garbled. Have a good week, and let us know what we’ve missed.