Lost Soul Aside

Taking inspiration from the likes of action games, developer UtilZeroGames’ upcoming Lost Soul Aside is looking like a promising hack and slash game. Players take control of a warrior and a shapeshifting companion as they make their way through a world where technology and fantasy coalesce together in a beautiful way. The combat is fast and frenetic, and the visuals are absolutely stunning – which is why you should definitely keep an eye out for Lost Soul Aside when it releases in the near future.

Project: The Perceiver

One of the more recent announcements in the list, Project: The Perceiver can best be described as Ghost of Tsushima meets Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Set against the backdrop of ancient China, the game follows an artist who dies moments before completing his masterpiece – but is brought back to life by a mysterious force following which he embarks on a quest to save his land from intruders. The combat is stylish yet retains a methodical flair to it, and the open world looks gorgeous with stunning vistas and a grand sense of scale.

Project GRAY

Currently in development at In-D, Project Gray puts you in the shoes of a native who has gained some special abilities thanks to an advanced civilization that has landed on its shores. Now, it’s up to him to stand up to the aliens and drive them away from this planet. Project GRAY started life as a one-man project and it’s still some ways from release, but it looks gorgeous with some dynamic gameplay that revolves between traversal and combat flawlessly.

Mumbai Gullies

Mumbai Gullies is a story about the protagonist rising through the ranks of Mumbai’s underworld throughout different time periods. The game is open-world, so it seems fair to expect a number of surprises while exploring every nook and cranny of this faithfully recreated rendition of the Indian city of dreams. Mumbai Gullies has the potential to morph into a grand hit, and we really hope that it does exactly that.

Airtight City 2.0

Airtight City 2.0 sees players assuming the role of a soldier who is powered by millions of souls, and if you think that premise is interesting – wait until you see the game in action. The combat looks absolutely brutal with our armored protagonist seamlessly switching between weapons and abilities to get through hordes of enemies. Airtight City 2.0 doesn’t have a release date at this point, but stay tuned to learn more.

IGI Origins

Toadman Interactive is bringing back a beloved franchise with IGI Origins, which looks like everything we would want from a modern entry in the series. IGI Origins presents itself with a fresh coat of paint thanks to updated visuals, and the hybrid gameplay loop of action and stealth is sure to captivate gamers once again when it releases for all major platforms sometime in the future.

Moon Mystery

Moon Mystery – at its core – is a game about uncovering the many secrets that lie undiscovered on its surface. Cosmonauts ask some pretty intriguing questions about our race to the moon, such as what was the real reason behind the mad race to reach the moon. It’s pretty rooted in alternate history and sci-fi fiction, and the gameplay seems to put equal amounts of attention to combat and exploration – which has us salivating for the final release.

Bramble: The Mountain King

Bramble: The Mountain King might seem like an ordinary adventure game at first glance, but upon further inspection – you will soon realize that it’s so much more than just that. The story (which is inspired by dark Nordic fables) sees you embarking on a grand adventure to rescue your sister from dark threats that haunt these lands. The journey will be punctuated by interesting set-pieces, gargantuan threats, and emotional story beats that should make Bramble: The Mountain King a game worth looking into.

Little Devil Inside

Neostream Interactive’s Little Devil Inside has been a long time coming, and suffice to say – it looks really promising. The trailers showcase our explorer characters going through a mundane personal life as well as an adventurous professional life as they search for monsters. The game will be open-world, and the minimalist cartoony art style really draws you in.

Aftermath

Aftermath puts you in the shoes of Charlie as he trudges through a city in vain hopes of finding his daughter, all while dealing with perils of an inhuman invasion. Apart from that, Aftermath will also put a lot of focus on Charlie’s own mental health issues such as PTSD which will have huge ramifications on gameplay as well. Aftermath looks really intriguing, and while it doesn’t have a release date just yet – we are really looking forward to playing it.

Vigilancer 2099

Vigilancer 2099 is all about your player character taking up on bounties to pay off some huge debt. Envoidant Studios’ upcoming action adventure is steeped in references to famous works of cyberpunk art, but it also has enough flavour of its own to help distinguish it from the rest of the pack. The visuals look gorgeous, and while gameplay details remain scant for now – Vigilancer 2099 certainly has our attention.

ILL NESS

Not to be confused with Project ILL from Clout Games, ILL NESS is another upcoming different survival horror experience from publisher ASDStudio. ILL NESS is inspired by a classic horror fiction novel Dreamcatcher, and it paints a bleak and dim world where survival seems unlikely – but you must trudge through all odds to remain alive. It looks absolutely brutal, and it’s currently set for a 2022 release date – though that would be updated soon.

Where Winds Meet

Much like Project: The Perceiver that we discussed before, Where Winds Meet is an open-world action RPG that’s set against the backdrop of ancient China. And it also tells a story that’s deeply personal to the protagonist, as he faces a moral dilemma between upholding his code of conduct or use everything in his power to defeat his enemies. The combat and traversal are looking pretty fast paced, and they all culminate to form a dynamic gameplay proceeding that looks really enchanting.

Pioner

In so many ways, Pioner looks like a true next-gen survival game. GFA Games’ paints a bleak world on the brink of destruction, and that gives way to interesting gameplay elements like well-designed first person combat, PvP elements, and base building among others. Pioner will be coming to PC sometime in the near future, and more details will be revealed soon.

Paranormal Tales

Digital Cybercherries’ upcoming Paranormal Tales is a collection of stories about people who went missing in a dark forest, and players must play through footage of those recordings to find out the mystery behind those disappearances. Paranormal Tales utilizes a rather unique bodycam perspective, and the developers are teasing some disturbing horror elements that are likely to get under your nerves. And that has us excited to know more about it, and hopefully we will get to play it soon.

Previously, we have covered many such promising projects like Black Myth: Wukong, Mystery Moon, and Outbreak Island just to name a few. Developer DuiXiaoHe’s upcoming Airtight City 2.0 recently dropped a trailer, and it has fans salivating to know more about the game, its many inspirations, and other details of interest. To that end, we can’t help but ask the question – what the hell is Airtight City 2.0? 

Airtight City 2.0 is a third-person hybrid action shooter, and it is currently being developed by a single person. It’s also the developer’s debut title, and it’s looking like a really ambitious project for a single man at the helm. Coming back to the game then, Airtight City sees players controlling what seems to be a cybernetically enhanced soldier as he embarks on a quest to bring peace and justice to the world.

The game’s description states that the protagonist’s suit is powered by the collective energy of millions of souls, and the story will involve a lot of blood and violence. In addition to that, the story will also be based on a central theme of non-individualism, which is a rather odd choice when it comes to telling a story with such an empowered lead character. But that also makes it a rather unique narrative setup amongst the barrage of games with similar characters, so we are also excited to see what’s in store for the final release. 

The story might be intriguing (which is a great thing), but most players are going to be jumping in for the gameplay – and it looks slick, to say the least. Airtight City 2.0 effortlessly blends shooting and melee combat together for an experience like no other. The moment-to-moment gameplay involves slashing and dicing through hordes of enemies as you try to make your way through the opposing forces. Our player character is equipped with plenty of weapons, ranging from a simple pistol and assault rifle to a katana and supercharged knuckles and a lot more. 

Long-range weapons will obviously be used to deal chip damage to enemies from afar, and you can also use them to break shields – as seen in a sample trailer. Once those defenses have been destroyed, you can get in closer and deal with a flurry of strikes from your weapon of choice. DuiXiaoHe doesn’t shy away from violence, and each attack and brutal and is accompanied by the appropriate splatter of blood and broken limbs. Furthermore, our player character will also have access to a suite of special abilities that can be chained together to create even deadlier combos – including but not limited to a kinesis ability that will lift an enemy into the air before blasting them to smithereens.

While the game’s fast-paced combat looks like standard hack-and-slash at first glance, the developer has said that this isn’t going to be the case. Instead, there’s going to be a ton of focus on how players use the tools in their arsenal – so we can expect varied enemy types that would require changing tactics and strategies every now and then.  All in all, it’s a pretty robust combat system with plenty of things going on – and we really hope that DuiXiaoHe ends up stitching it together in a neat package that has both accessibility and depth.

Of course, given the fact that Airtight City 2.0 is an action RPG at heart, there’s going to be some focus on progression as well. Though the game isn’t looking like it’s going to have stat-based progression, players will most likely get more powerful gear as they make their way through the game. So while you might start the game slashing through enemies with a katana, you would get a heavy hammer for defeating your enemies further down the line. The abilities would most likely be showered in a similar way, which would increase your overall power level and make your character ready for the endgame.

And this brings us neatly over to the levels, which are looking pretty linear from what we have seen of the game. While some might take it as a criticism, it could actually work in the game’s favor by forcing players to master the combat system since there wouldn’t obviously be a lot of leeway for movement and dodging – which would also lend a pinch of survival horror to the gameplay proceedings as well. The levels themselves have a decent amount of variety amongst them as well, ranging from a portside dock to claustrophobic facilities and many more. Of course, we’ll have to wait for the final release to know more on this matter. 

It’s also important to talk about the overall presentation of Airtight City 2.0, and suffice it to say – it looks absolutely gorgeous. There’s a consistent theme in the art design, which is pretty astonishing when you consider everything is being juggled by a single person at the helm. Apart from that, the technical aspects are also looking really competent – with high-quality texture work and plenty of post-processing effects like volumetric fog and rain all culminating in a clean and crisp visual presentation. But the most amazing thing about Airtight City 2.0 in terms of visual presentation is that developer DuiXiaoHe has garnished this presentation with plenty of embellishments such as how the katana keeps spinning after you throw it in the air or how the player character exerts a cloud of smoke as it charges up for entering Demon mode. These neat little things add up to make Airtight City 2.0’s visual presentation rival that of AAA studios – which is a really great thing. 

And finally, there’s the topic of the release. Airtight City 2.0 will be releasing for PC, but details surrounding the actual release dates are scant at the moment. Of course, that’s not a surprise by any stretch – considering that it has just been revealed and is being worked on by a single-man studio. The game is also being self-published by DuiXiaoHe – which is being done through Patreon funding. 

At the time of writing this feature, the developer is working on a demo – with the intention to bring more developers on board for the project and also garner more fan interest in the game. As such, it’s rather obvious that Airtight City 2.0 is still some ways from its final release. That said,  DuiXiaoHe is pretty consistent with development updates on the matter, and hopefully – the developer would be able to assemble a team for the project.

In conclusion, Airtight City 2.0 is looking like a really promising game with a ton of its own style and charm. And we really hope that DuiXiaoHe is able to capitalize on that potential and craft a game that stands true to most of its promises, and then some more. 

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.