RoboCop: Rogue City

RoboCop: Rogue City recreates the atmosphere of the classic 80s action flick while adding dollops of actual police work, like investigating crime scenes and patrolling around. However, its combat is straightforward. Walk towards the enemies, blast them to smithereens with a range of weaponry, get some upgrades, and repeat. It’s fun though, and fairly compelling as you evolve into a nigh-unstoppable killing – er, law enforcement machine.

Everspace 2

For all the talk about its multiple systems and extensive side content, Everspace 2 is a space shooter, first and foremost. There are several ship types suited for different needs, and the range of weapons, including EMP missiles, mines, gauss cannons, and much more, can get pretty ridiculous. Still, coupled with how natural the movement feels, it’s easy to jump in and destroy with impunity. Just don’t wander into a system with higher-level enemies by accident.

Resident Evil 4

The original Resident Evil 4 is already a masterpiece in terms of combat, and while the remake doesn’t fundamentally alter the formula, it does enhance it. With QTEs removed, you can now parry at will, making for some awesome moments like stopping an enemy’s chainsaw with a knife. Otherwise, the feedback from popping heads and kicking enemies into each other feels better than ever, and weapons get new Exclusive Upgrades to further enhance their capabilities.

Dead Space

Motive Studios put in significant work to revamp Dead Space’s graphics and exploration, and it’s certainly one of the most stunning games of the year. However, it went even further with the gameplay, introducing the Peeling system. This gave enemies layers, with different weapons having unique effects when targeting limbs, making combat more visceral. Of course, the improvements to the Zero-G sections, new rooms, and puzzles also didn’t hurt.

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon

FromSoftware’s latest has an involving story, but if you’re in it just for the action, there’s plenty to go around. There is a plethora of weapons to choose from, including shotguns, missile launchers, beam rifles and plasma, and it can get somewhat overwhelming to fit it all into a single build. Still, the extensive customization helps, so if you want to be a glass cannon with insane damage or hover endlessly and rain fire down, you can do that. It also helps that there are so many bosses to test your builds on and provide a worthy challenge.

Quake 2: Enhanced Edition

The surprise release, developed in collaboration with Nightdive Studios, turned a classic into one of the more underrated shooters of the year. Along with enhanced visuals, it sported quality-of-life features like the Compass to more easily navigate levels, accessibility options and new attacks for enemies like the Berserker. With the base game, The Reckoning and Ground Zero, Quake 2 64, a new episode, Call of the Machine by MachineGames, and the id Vault, Quake 2: Enhanced Edition is an absurd amount of value and recommended for the id faithful.

Metroid Prime Remastered

After numerous rumors, a remaster of Retro Studios’ classic finally arrived for the Nintendo Switch. Shock of shocks, it’s still incredible, with the exploration, level design, puzzle solving and combat on point over two decades later. The revamped visuals garnered the most attention since they went beyond a simple remaster. However, the new dual-stick control scheme and narration options also make this a worthy revisit for fans. Even if you’re not a twitchy shooter fan, Metroid Prime Remastered is worth playing.

Starfield

There are a few things awkward about Starfield, but admittedly, its gunplay can be pretty fun. Iterating further on Fallout 4, the shooting – especially from first-person – feels more fluid and responsive. More weapon types are welcome, but taking threats down with old-school ballistic weapons or flooding them with Microgun fire is equally enjoyable. If you’re more about space shooting, shipbuilding can be fun, and taking your creation into space to obliterate anything and everything is cathartic.

Remnant 2

One of my personal favorites, Remnant 2 is everything about the first game turned up to 11. Its build-crafting is expanded thanks to the new Archetypes. The biome generation is also phenomenal, presenting wholly different worlds, bosses and enemies to fight in each run. Above all else, the shooting and movement are fantastic, mixing the tense Souls-like dodge-rolling with unique weapons that feel amazing.

THE FINALS

THE FINALS is more than just a gun game, mixing all-out environmental destruction and fast-paced movement with strategy and teamwork. Nevertheless, scoring a triple-kill with the pump-action grenade launcher or three-tapping someone with the revolver feels great. It’s this mix of free-flowing gunplay, seamless traversal and more unmitigated chaos, whether you’re chasing down a vault or guarding a bank with all the random nonsense you can muster, that makes THE FINALS so addictive.

Trepang2

Monolith Productions may never revisit the F.E.A.R. franchise, but thankfully, there’s Trepang2. Don’t let the cliché premise stop you – it boasts fast-paced action with all the slow-mo and brutality you could want. Sliding, using enemies as shields before tossing them, melee combat, and much more enhance the experience further, and the presentation is on point throughout.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

It’s weird to put Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on a list of best shooters, given its focus on gathering, exploration, investigation, and peacefully co-existing with nature. However, when it’s time to hunt, the bows and spears feel great to use and are all the more effective on RDA AMPs and soldiers. The shotgun also feels nice and hefty, and chaining together slides and leaps to reposition and effectively slaughter your enemies is fun.

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered

Turok 3 is far from the best game in the series, focusing more on a linear campaign with underwhelming dialogue and little replay value. However, it’s still fun, thanks to Nightdive Studios’ remaster, with the environment, characters and weapons receiving hefty visual updates. The feeling of sniping enemies from afar or unleashing hell with the Cerebral Bore is also intact.

System Shock

Nightdive Studios had a much bigger shooter release this year with System Shock, a remake of Looking Glass’s 1993 classic. Everything about it is sublime, from the revamped visuals to the feedback from the weapons. It’s not your average run-and-gun shooter thanks to the scarcity of ammo, but that’s part of the appeal, and all the little improvements, including the revamped cyberspace, make for an immersive experience.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

CD Projekt RED leaned in with the decision-making and consequences for Phantom Liberty, conjuring a memorably tragic tale. However, it also cooked well with the combat, partly thanks to the changes in Update 2.0 – from slide reloads and air dashes to finishers – but also due to the new Relic tree abilities. There’s nothing like launching an enemy into space with overpowered Gorilla Arms or launching multiple explosive shots from the arm cannon. With movement feeling more fluid than ever and new threats to tackle, Phantom Liberty represents the peak of the title’s combat.

The newest addition to the game is a survival mode, where you will be completing escalating challenges through a series of maps all while keeping tabs on a hunger meter that must be replenished by consuming pick-ups. It looks pretty fun, and should be a perfect fit for players wanting more out of the amazing core gameplay loop of Trepang2.

In addition to this, the DLC also features new weapon skins, player outfits, throwables, and cheat codes to give players something to work towards. Such content additions are always welcome especially for a single-player game, and more so at a time when games like Mortal Kombat 1 are charging players for premium Fatalities.

Inspired by the F.E.A.R. series, Trepang2 is about a soldier with no memories who possesses exceptional powers. They’re now on a path of vengeance, taking on mercenaries with different weaponry and gun-fu. Along with slow-mo for dodging bullets, invisibility and close-quarters combat, players can dual-wield weapons, toss enemies at each other and slide around.

Trepang2 is a throwback in many ways to old-school shooters and received critical acclaim for its high-octane, responsive combat. You can check out our review here, where we awarded it an 8 out of 10 (with the story and visual clutter during more intense gunfights proving problematic). Stay tuned for details on subsequent updates in the meantime.

Team17 and Trepang Studios have announced that Trepang2 will soon be coming to consoles. The first person shooter will launch for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S a little under a month from now, on October 2.

The shooter is now also available for pre-orders on consoles, while those who pre-order it will also get access to an exclusive in-game outfit.

In our review of the game’s PC version, we awarded it a score of 8/10, saying, “Trepang2 doesn’t really care about its setting and story. Instead, it just wants to give you some guns, the ability to slow down time, and just set you loose on some corrupt corporations and a shady cult. It features fantastic gunplay and some excellent enemy AI to play around with, and despite the visual clutter, you’ll quite likely find yourself having a good time.” Read the full review through here.

https://twitter.com/TrepangStudios/status/1698688106403172498

The answer to all of those questions is a resounding yes. Trepang2 is an incredibly fun game. Sure, the game features a story of some description revolving around a shady, heavily-armed cult and a company that seems to be partaking in some highly unethical science experiments on humans, but all of that is largely unimportant in the greater context of the game. Trepang2 wants you to pick up guns, run-and-gun-and-dropkick your way through its levels and take out some high-value targets. The story, while there, can be quite easily missed, and cutscenes telling you what’s going on are few and far in between. Instead, you’re just going to end up having too much fun actually playing the game to care much about why you’re gunning these people down.

"Trepang2 wants you to pick up guns, run-and-gun-and-dropkick your way through its levels and take out some high-value targets."

Trepang2 kicks things off in an interesting way. You seem to be captive in some sort of secure facility, when all of a sudden, some mysterious folks kill a few guards and destroy the TV you were being forced to watch, allowing you to start trying to escape. Your character doesn’t have any of their memories, aside from the fact that they seem to be a super soldier. You’ll discover other details about the game’s world through text logs that you can pick up along the way, but the storytelling remains rather minimal throughout.

Right off the bat, the tutorial level gives you your two most important abilities aside from guns—Focus and Cloak. Focus lets you slow down time to line up your shots, while Cloak allows you to go lightly invisible as long as you stay away from your enemies’ direct lines of sight. Pair these abilities with even just your basic pistol and the action really begins to ramp up. Since stealth is entirely optional is meant to give you the ability to kick off fights with an ambush or grab a quick breather in the middle of a shootout so you can reposition, the action throughout a mission essentially feels non-stop, punctuated by some moments of peace when you’re just navigating further into the level.

When it comes to options in combat, you have quite a few aside from just shooting at things. You can slide at will, knocking opponents off their feet—this is incredibly useful against enemies with shields. You can also grab stunned enemies to use as human shields, and if you find the right power-up, dual-wield weapons. While the possibilities don’t seem as vast as they should for a game focused on its combat, the simple baseline offers a lot of opportunities to rain down absolute carnage on your targets.

"You can also grab stunned enemies to use as human shields, and if you find the right power-up, dual-wield weapons."

Trepang2 also promotes replayability in a rather interesting way. Along with the game’s light story, you’re also given a list of high-value targets that can only really show up in specific missions, and some on specific difficulty options. If you want to take down the main man behind the cult’s weapons supply, you’re going to have to play the game on a higher difficulty, for example. Interestingly, the game allows you to pick from any of its five difficulty modes right from the beginning, and switch around if you start finding things either too easy or too hectic.

Alongside the combat, the music in Trepang2 also goes incredibly hard. Featuring a largely electronic synthwave-styled soundtrack, Trepang2 will have you headbanging to hard bass drums and grungy synths as you mow down your enemies in slow motion. Outside of combat, the game features an atmospheric soundscape, letting you hear enemy chatter and the missions’ own sounds alongside some light music humming in the background. Needless to say, when it comes to getting in the right state of mind with Trepang2, you’re going to want to keep the music turned all the way up. It’s just that good. It also certainly helps that the sound effects are incredibly punchy, with just about every weapon showing off its stopping power with just its sound design.

The art direction is where the praises for Trepang2 start slowing down. While the game definitely looks good, and some of its levels can offer a surprising amount of variety despite the game largely taking place in hallways and corridors, it tends to suffer quite a bit from visual clutter. For example, early on in the game, you’re told to use your flashlight with care because enemies will be able to make out your position if they see light from your flashlight. 

"It tends to suffer quite a bit from visual clutter."

In actual combat, however, you’re going to find the flashlight incredibly important just to try and make out where your targets might be. It’s quite easy to miss enemies just because of the sheer amount of debris and sparks flying around in the middle of an intense shootout, and unless you’re incredibly good at twitch aiming, using Focus becomes borderline mandatory to try and line-up a headshot.

Trepang2 doesn’t really do much to tell you what’s going on around its world aside from descriptions of high-value targets and a few text logs, but the important thing is that the game is so damn fun that you won’t really care about the story. Playing especially on the harder difficulties highlights some clever enemy AI and forces you to use just about every option in your arsenal, and the fact that the game allows you to toss a grenade in slow motion and shoot it in the air to cause a massive explosion should really be all you need to know to learn whether you’ll enjoy Trepang2 or not. Pair this with a fun synth-heavy soundtrack, and a fair bit of emphasis on replayability with its various high-value targets, and you have a shooter that can deliver a pretty good time.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Street Fighter 6

Street Fighter 6 is the first mainline sequel in the series since 2016 and the first in a long time without producer Yoshinori Ono at the helm. It returns to its roots of fighting on the streets but also introduces new combat mechanics like the Drive System for unique parries, reversals, dashes, and stronger versions of Special Moves called Overdrives. There are 18 fighters available at launch, from veterans like Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Dee Jay to newcomers like Marisa, Manon, JP and Jamie, with a wide range of play styles.

Fighting Ground is where you’ll find Arcade Mode for each character, Extreme Battle for zany fights with unique gimmicks, Training and 1v1 battles, and online matchmaking for Ranked and Unranked fights. Battle Hub is where the real online competition is, with players meeting up in a virtual arcade to duke it out for supremacy (with rollback netcode and crossplay supported). You can also take a break and partake in retro titles like Street Fighter 2.

Single-player fans have World Tour, where you create a custom fighter and explore environments like Metro City from Final Fight, challenging everyone and becoming stronger. You encounter characters like Luke and Chun-Li who can act as masters, participate in mini-games like breaking boards, and customize your character with sweet cosmetics. Of course, there are other cool features like Real-Time Commentary, which provides simulated commentary from a range of professionals like Steve “TastySteve” Scott, James “jchensor” Chen, Thea Trinidad, and much more.

Street Fighter 6 releases on June 2nd for Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC. Whether it becomes a massive success or not, it’s looking much better than its predecessor did at launch.

We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie

MONKEYCRAFT of Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series and Katamari Damacy REROLL fame is back with a remaster of We Love Katamari. REROLL retains the same gameplay loop that fans know and love. You have a Katamari and can roll it around on things to gather them up, thus making it bigger. The Katamari has to be the same size as other objects to roll them up, so there’s some strategy required to grab everything.

Royal Reverie is the new content with players controlling the Great King in his youth as he undergoes the same Katamari rolling to become worthy of the throne. This results in five new challenges, which should test the skills of long-time players. Put all this together with some sleek-looking visuals. We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie is out on June 2nd for PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Diablo 4

Diablo 3 launched in 2012 and went on to sell over 30 million copies by 2015, yet it took this long to get a sequel. Nevertheless, Diablo 4 is nearly upon us and features yet another world-ending threat. As the Wanderer, you’re…wandering around and seeing all this evil business before taking it upon yourself to stop it. After all, who can say no to sweet loot?

With five classes, each with unique skills, play styles and specializations, there are several ways to customize your monster killer. Despite a more visceral, macabre story rife with suffering, Blizzard won’t overtly restrict you. The five regions are mostly free to explore with side quests, World Events, World Bosses, Whispers of the Dead, PvP via the Fields of Torment, +100 Dungeons, Strongholds, and much more to conquer with tons of loot to collect and Aspects to draw on.

Of course, post-story, you get to the real meat – the end game. You’ll progress through World Tiers, add affixes to Dungeons to turn them into Nightmare Dungeons for more rewards, encounter Helltides, complete Capstone Dungeons, fill in Paragon Boards, collect Uniques, and much more to chase on the path to power. If you brave all that and somehow hit max level, a pinnacle boss awaits at the end. And hey, if that’s not enough incentive, Blizzard is begging you to buy the game in their latest live-action launch trailer. Why not do ’em a solid for $70?

Diablo 4 is out on June 6th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and PC, with Deluxe and Ultimate Edition owners gaining access on June 2nd.

Layers of Fear

Previously called Layers of Fears and now known as, uh, Layers of Fear, this follow-up from Bloober Team and Anshar Studio remakes the first two games and the Inheritance DLC in Unreal Engine 5. It means prettier-looking visuals with more impressive fire effects, particles, textures and lighting. Some new mechanics have also been added, like the oil lamp for burning away ink splotches and fighting off the Artist’s wife in the first game.

The main appeal is the new content surrounding the mysterious Lighthouse and The Final Note DLC. The former sees players controlling the Writer, who is holed up inside the lighthouse and discovers aspects of the other Layers of Fear stories. The Final Note takes place from the perspective of the Artist’s wife and gives some more context to their relationship.

Layers of Fear seeks to link all these stories together with ray tracing, 4K and HDR support. It’s out on June 15th for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5, and probably worth checking out for those who didn’t play the original games.

Aliens: Dark Descent

The quality of games based on the Aliens franchise is hit or miss post-Isolation, but Aliens: Dark Descent looks promising. Releasing on June 20th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC, it focuses on a Colonial Marine squad which crashlands on the backwaters planet Lethe and quickly finds it swarming with Xenomorphs. As the commander, you lead a Marine squad through various locations, purging enemies throughout. It’s a tactical squad-based strategy title where you issue commands to units in real-time.

There are five classes of Marines with different weapons, specializations and abilities to customize them with, and each level offers various paths. They’re also persistent, so any motion trackers and shortcuts unlocked will carry over when you return. However, the Xenomorphs will adapt to your strategies eventually.

Keeping your squad healthy and sane while managing resources is key. If any of them fall, you’ll need to train replacements since death is permanent. With various tactics and enemies to encounter, Aliens: Dark Descent looks like a tense but fun action strategy experience while maintaining the scary atmosphere of the movies.

Crash Team Rumble

You’ve seen Crash and friends in kart racers and platformers, but what about a 4v4 multiplayer game with MOBA elements? Not the most enticing proposition, but Crash Team Rumble does have a lot going for it. It’s developed by Toys for Bob of Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time! fame. Along with the titular bandicoot and his sister Coco, you can play as his arch-nemesis Neo Cortex, an alternate-universe Tawna, and Dingodile, among others.

The objective of each match is to gather Wumpa fruit and deposit it in your goal. The opposing team will try to stop you, though. Each character has unique abilities and roles, with Scorers gathering the fruits, Blockers attempting to stop them and Boosters activating Gem Pads for powerful assists. There’s a decent amount of strategy involved, but platforming and understanding each map is the key to success.

Crash Team Rumble launches on June 20th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC, with crossplay support. Though it has post-launch seasons and battle passes, you earn heroes and their abilities by completing in-game challenges.

Final Fantasy 16

Square Enix’s next mainline Final Fantasy, and perhaps its biggest single-player game, was first announced in September 2021. However, it’s been in the works for longer, starting with its concept in 2015. Final Fantasy 16 is darker and more brutal than its predecessors, taking place in Valisthea, with six nations battling over the Crystals. Many of them have Dominants on their side who command powerful Eikons like Titan, Ramuh, Bahamut and much more.

The story focuses on Clive Rosfield, who becomes a Branded after the invasion of his home in Rosalith. With the power of Ifrit, he’s somehow capable of harnessing the power of other Eikons, adding their abilities to his repertoire. Final Fantasy 16’s combat is fully real-time with hack-and-slash mechanics, dodging and combos to chain in various insane ways. Only Clive is playable, with party members coming and going depending on the story.

By exploring the massive world, divided into four large zones, Clive seeks to defy his fate and comes into conflict with the other Dominants. Thus far, Final Fantasy 16 has looked very impressive with its visuals, enemy design, combat and presentation (which includes over 11 hours of cinematics). With a hefty campaign and side content, not to mention New Game+ and end-game challenges, it promises to be a brave new beginning for the franchise when it releases on June 22nd for PS5.

Fans won’t have to wait too long to get their hands on it since a demo goes live roughly two weeks prior, with progress carrying over.

Sonic Origins Plus

Sonic Origins may have turned heads due to its convoluted chart of pre-orders and price, but Sonic Origins Plus may be a more worthwhile proposition. It features the base game with Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2, Sonic 3 and Knuckles and Sonic CD. You also get all the previously released DLC content like Mirror Mode, Extreme Missions, backgrounds, music and new character animations.

The Plus Pack is new and adds 12 Sonic games from the Game Gear era, including Sonic Drift 2, Tails’ Adventure, Sonic Triple Trouble, Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic Blast and more. Granted, not all of them are the best, but there is some nostalgia value. Also, you can play Amy Rose in all of the base titles or control Knuckles in Sonic CD. Sonic Origins Plus launches on June 23rd for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch

Trepang2

Do you miss the days of F.E.A.R. with its slow-mo kills and fast-paced action? Trepang2, from the appropriately named Trepang Studios, may feel that niche. As an amnesiac soldier on the run, you have powerful abilities to assist in mowing down hordes of foes. Slow-mo, like in F.E.A.R., lets you quickly empty a clip for massive damage, but you can also turn invisible and snap necks, slide, take an enemy hostage, throw them or just kick them in the face.

It’s over-the-top and more than a bit ridiculous (like the reloading animation for when you’re wielding dual shotguns), but that makes it fun. Trepang2 releases on June 21st, exclusively for PC.

Amnesia: The Bunker

Frictional Games’ latest survival horror title in the Amnesia series is taking a semi-open world, sandbox approach. Set in an abandoned bunker during World War 1, Amnesia: The Bunker sees Henri Clément, a French soldier, trying to escape. It’s easier said than done when the darkness is overwhelming, a vicious monster is on the prowl, and he only has a revolver with one bullet.

Exploring the environment and scavenging resources while evading hazards and the monster forms the main gameplay loop. The sandbox approach means multiple solutions to different problems. However, the monster also constantly adapts to your actions. Every death and respawn sees the world randomized, which means you’ll need to stay on your toes to survive. Solving questions like how you ended up in the bunker and where your allies have gone is also paramount.

Amnesia: The Bunker has suffered several delays since its initial announcement, but seems to be on track for its release on June 6th on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Here’s hoping it reignites interest in the franchise while delivering a terrifying narrative.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

The underrated Capcom adventure finally comes to contemporary platforms. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective launches on June 30th for Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch, and sees Sissel, a recently deceased individual turned ghost, trying to find his killer. He only has a few hours to do so but can possess objects for puzzle-solving and go back in time.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective was renowned for its aesthetics, soundtrack and unorthodox mechanics. The remaster packs some new musical arrangements (though you can always switch back to the original tracks) and a brand-new track. You can also check out artwork in the Collection tab, play the Ghost Puzzles from the iOS version and complete new challenges. All this is in gorgeous new HD visuals with a revamped interface and higher frame rates.

Dordogne

Developed by UN JE NE SAIS QUOI (French for a pleasing indescribable quality) and UMANIMATIon, Dordogne is a narrative adventure focused on Mimi. In the past, she explores the area of Dordogne, which is rendered in gorgeous hand-painted watercolors, to remember the times spent with her late grandmother.

There are photos to collect, a journal to maintain and much more as Mimi explores caves, kayaks and ventures into forests. It affects Mimi in the present, as she solves puzzles her grandmother left behind. Dordogne promises to be “a heart-warming narrative experience” when it launches on June 13th. It’s coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

F1 23

After last year’s overly safe entry, F1 23 is doing things differently by…bringing back Braking Point (but with a “2” at the end). The gameplay sees changes, with F1 2014’s Red Flags returning, new vehicle physics, the option for a 35 percent race distance, and the arrival of F1 World.

F1 World features daily and weekly challenges with a seasonal cadence, and players can unlock new cosmetics and liveries for customization. As you advance through the ranks, your Tech Level improves, lending more parts and upgrades for Team Members to your car and unlocking even more events. Since it links all the modes, a new Safety Rating system is in place to match players who focus on clean driving.

There’s more to look forward to, including two new tracks, the return of classic tracks and Precision Drive tech for more responsive racing via a controller. F1 23 is out on June 16th for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Thankfully, it supports Dual Entitlement, so buying the game on one generation of console grants ownership to the other.

Park Beyond

If you’ve been craving a new theme park simulator, Tropico 6 developer Limbic Entertainment has you covered with Park Beyond. As the Visioneer, it’s your job to design and manage amusement parks, create and research rides, terraform the environment, place shops and appeal to your visitors in various ways. Everything is customizable, with thousands of props available to mess around with.

There’s a Campaign Mode where you team up with Cloudstormer and face Hemlock in a war of the parks. However, you can also unwind in Sandbox Mode and build to your heart’s content (or make things much more difficult). Whether it excels over classics like Rollercoaster Tycoon or not, Park Beyond does look pretty appealing. It launches on June 16th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

Crime O’Clock

A hidden object game with a twist, Crime O’Clock is about exploring the maps of multiple eras and preventing crimes like hacking, theft and murder. You’ll take in the machines of the Steam Age, venture underwater to the Atlantean Age, explore beautiful Milan in the Information Age, and even venture to the cyberpunk future in the Aeon Age.

There are markers to investigate, and you’ll have to find clues to piece everything together and find success. However, this isn’t the end, as maps can change and new cases open up. While these crimes are happening in isolation, there’s a common link throughout the eras – it’s your job to find it. EVE, an AI, will accompany you as you hold sessions to deduce clues and solve puzzles.

Crime O’Clock releases on June 30th for PC and Nintendo Switch.

That being said, most modern FPS games tend to follow the rather rigid blueprint laid by modern shooters and other titles that do something interesting or fresh in terms of mechanics are a rare sight to behold especially in the AAA market. That said, the indie scene fares much better in this regard, with plenty of emerging AA and indie developers doing a great job of providing unique experiences like so many modern shooters and this feature series is dedicated to highlighting such promising games.

Trepang Studios’ upcoming Trepang2 is one such game that we will be looking at today. Trepang2 is shaping up to be one of the most brutal looking FPS games of recent memory, and the game features some interesting gameplay mechanics and design choices borrowed from popular PS2 era shooters with some of its own tricks that should hopefully result in an experience that’s equal parts fresh and nostalgic for long time fans of the genre.

The game puts you in the shoes of a soldier who wakes up in a jail cell with no memory of his past life. And being the hot headed berserk that you are, you immediately take up arms and set out on a quest to exact revenge from who captured you in the first place and hopefully regain your memories in the process. As you can imagine, it’s an incredibly straightforward narrative setup with minimal characters and exposition – so it’s obviously best not to expect a deeply engrossing story with Trepang2.

But that’s not something that should be taken as an objective criticism of the game. Of course, it would be a pleasant surprise if Trepang Studios ends up telling a compelling story with Trepang2 – but when the core gameplay is what’s driving the experience, it’s best to polish those mechanics to an immaculate sheen and keep distractions to a minimum.

And when it comes to the core gameplay, Trepang Studios seems to have brought their A game to the field. As mentioned previously as well, the action here looks extremely brutal in all the right ways. The weapons feature sounds that are appropriately punchy and intense, and firing each shot also results in realistic amounts of recoil as the weapon flails around the screen to depict the force of each shot. The developer has done a great job in terms of nailing the game feel here – which deserves praise because most AA and indie games tend to lack behind in this particular aspect.

Players also get a couple of supernatural abilities to use during combat encounters. Firstly, you have the ability to slow down time which enables you to fire off a buffet of shots in rapid succession to clear out entire groups of enemies in the blink of an eye. It looks absolutely slick in action, and has a ton of utility as well. Furthermore, you can also use a cloaking ability which turns you invisible for a short amount of time – which can be really useful for flanking the enemy between firefights. While such supernatural abilities aren’t something entirely new for first person shooters (it’s a clear throwback to Max Payne), it has been some time since we have seen them implemented in such an effortless fashion.

Thankfully though, the fun doesn’t just stop there. You can also grab an enemy from up close and use them as a human shield to block out incoming fire before hurling that dead body into another enemy and knocking them out in an instant. Furthermore, you can also cause enemies to slip by sliding towards them and toppling them over for a tactical advantage. All in all, the combat loop looks to be supremely fun and the developer has done a great job of stitching these abilities together in a way that results in a cohesive experience.

Trepang2 might be a shooter at its core, but the comprehensive suite of abilities at your disposal certainly makes it feel like a modern character action game where the focus is less on defeating your enemies and more on doing it in absolute style. Just take a look at the gameplay trailers and observe how the action feels like a meticulous ballet of last minute swerves and thoughtful use of the player’s supernatural abilities – and you’d get a sense of what we’re trying to say here.

But endlessly mowing through waves of enemies is sure to get monotonous after a while, regardless of how fun the actual combat system might be. Thankfully, Trepang2 is also set to feature stealth sections where players will have to remain hidden from their enemies and make their way through dark corridors and crawl through claustrophobic air vents – which should hopefully help in creating some variety in the gameplay. That said, the stealth gameplay also seems to be fleshed out with proper vision cones on enemies and what looks to be adequately functional light and dark mechanics. As such, you can use the element of surprise to your advantage and ambush your enemies from the dark.

But for all the merits that we previously discussed, Trepang2 also seems to be suffering from some important issues that are worth noting. The enemy AI seems pretty basic at this point, which will probably make it really easy to clear out entire rooms of opposition without much hassle. While this could be a direct result of trying to give the player a sense of a power fantasy, it could easily backfire and make the game’s encounters mundane after a while.

Furthermore, the environment design seems to lack in terms of visual variety. It looks great from a graphics standpoint, but as you can already see in the gameplay trailers – each room looks almost identical from the last. Combine that with the maze like levels and seemingly no objective markers to boot, Trepang2 could end up being a frustrating experience if players don’t enjoy traversing through these labyrinthian environments.

As one can already gauge by playing the free demo on Steam, Trepang2 is a game that doesn’t take much time to really get going – but what remains to be seen is how the developer will morph that instantly gratifying experience into something that’s consistently enjoyable right through to the end. Will players get more powers as they progress? Or will there be boss fights that require smart usage of your supernatural abilities? Or will the game have set-piece driven sequences?

Of course, we’ll finally get to know what’s in store when the game releases in June 2023 for PC – but these are the biggest questions that will ultimately decide how the final release ends up faring in the eyes of both critics and fans alike. That said, there’s little to detract from the fact that Trepang2 looks like an incredibly stylish throwback to shooters like Max Payne. A well realized combat loop and the apt portrayal of brutal firefights is what really makes this game well worth keeping on your radar. We have some really high hopes from Trepang2, and hopefully it will stand true on all of its promises.

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.

TREPANG2 puts you in the shoes of what looks to be a military officer on a quest to exact revenge from his fellow squadmates after “everything is taken away from you.” Of course, the gameplay is what matters here – and TREPANG2 seems to have a beautifully flowing combat loop – as you continually utilize bullet-time to massacre legions of soldiers and monsters in a plethora of different environments.

The game is in many ways similar to Rockstar’s Max Payne and F.E.A.R., the former of which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Details on the release front remain scant for TREPANG2, except for the fact that it will be available on PC via Steam sometime in 2022.