On an average day about a dozen new games are released on Steam. And while we think that’s a good thing, it can be understandably hard to keep up with. Potentially exciting gems are sure to be lost in the deluge of new things to play unless you sort through every single game that is released on Steam. So that’s exactly what we’ve done. If nothing catches your fancy this week, we’ve gathered the best PC games (opens in new tab) you can play right now and a running list of the 2023 games (opens in new tab) that are launching this year.
Superfuse
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: January 31
Developer: Stitch Heads Entertainment
Launch price: $25 | £21 | AU$36.50
Take Diablo 2, replace its oppressive dark fantasy vibes with an edgy comicbook veneer, and you have yourself Superfuse. Launched into Early Access last week, Superfuse offers the usual primal pleasures of clicking hordes of foes to death, but it offers a slight twist on build crafting. There are only three classes, but you’re able to “fuse” together special moves towards some pretty hectic results. Writing about the game last year, Andy Chalk, mentioned a “staggering number of possible skill combinations”, which is of course complimented by the usual oodles of loot. Four player coop is supported, as is solo play, but do note this current Early Access build doesn’t include the whole story campaign: that will be completed over the next year, along with the addition of new features and content based on feedback.
Perish
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: February 3
Developer: Item42
Launch price: $18 | £15.74 | AU$26.05
Perish is a first-person shooter roguelite set in a hellish underworld blending sci-fi elements with dark fantasy. The presentation is what stands out at first, but the most exciting thing about Perish is its online cooperative play, which supports up to four-players. That should take the edge off the lingering threat of permadeath as you and some buddies rage through “dilapidated temples, volcanic foundries and ancient shipwrecks” wielding weapons ranging from battle hammers through to flamethrowers. If you dig the likes of Ziggurat, City of Brass and Gunfire Reborn, this could provide some additional moreish ‘n’ murderous fun.
Prototype原型
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: February 4
Developer: Veronika Orfeeva
Launch price: Free
Here’s a grim, narrative-driven adventure game that evades easy description, mostly because the Steam page keeps things tantalizingly vague. Set in a near-future Hong Kong amid ever rising political tensions, Prototype原型 is the developer’s attempt to “convey the voice of those who are dismissed and forgotten in the stream of indifferent progress”. What stands out most is the sinister monochromatic pixel art, which gives Prototype原型 the aura of contraband software found on a ye olde CPC 464 floppy disk, discovered somewhere in the bowels of a long-forgotten dystopia.
I’m Looking For 3024 People
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: February 3
Developer: Bakodun Game Studios
Launch price: $18 | £15.07 | AU$26.55
What the heck is this? Let’s see if I can explain: it’s an alternate reality game that was originally designed to only accommodate 3024 players: if you didn’t get in quickly, you’d miss out forever. That concept has since been abandoned—as has a controversial NFT implementation—but what remains is no less perplexing. This is an adventure game at heart, but in order to complete it you’ll need to reduce the game tab, because it’ll send you across the internet, into Discord channels, and on the receiving end of live webcams. The “point” of the game is to infiltrate a dodgy corporation known as Grebi Interactive, but watch out: apparently you’ll “be involved in a horrific experiment conducted within the company”. Sounds fascinating.
Interference: Dead Air
Steam page (opens in new tab)
Release: February 3
Developer: Fear of Corn
Launch price: $13.49 | £10.25 | AU$19.35
In Interference you’re tasked with monitoring a security booth in a slightly creepy research facility. When all hell breaks loose—as it is wont to do in creepy research facilities—it’s up to you to save the day, but only via the use of the security booth tools at your disposal. That means communicating remotely with stranded facility workers, fiddling with needlessly complicated control panels, or… completely ignoring the chaos. Seriously: you can opt to watch TV, or play word puzzles instead. Interference has a branching narrative that is designed to be replayed, so make sure you do try inaction at least once.
www.pcgamer.com
