Crimson Desert 

Currently in development at Pearl Abyss, Crimson Desert is an open-world game brimming with unrivaled ambition and vast swaths of potential. The game puts you in the shoes of a warrior who must battle insurmountable odds to save his kingdom from peril, and that journey is characterized by varied missions and complex game systems that are closely knit with one another to create something that looks truly mesmerizing and fresh. 

Death Stranding 2 

Death Stranding was not everyone’s cup of tea when it was released, but many fans eventually warmed up to this peculiar kind of cargo-hauling experience and came to appreciate its design and the meaning behind its world. Kojima is hard at work on Death Stranding 2, a sequel that will most likely showcase the true potential of a Strand game with its gameplay innovations and narrative developments. The teaser is chock full of questions waiting to be answered, and we are definitely excited to see what’s in store.

War of the Worlds 

Developed by FlipSwitch Games, War of the Worlds is a game that tells a story of humans trying to survive against an alien onslaught. It features shades of both action and horror as you slowly tiptoe around urban neighborhoods in search of a safe haven from all the commotion happening outside. It looks like a pretty open-ended game that allows different forms of gameplay ranging from driving to exploration and much more, and the multiplayer aspect also allows you to assume the role of aliens and experience the narrative from a new angle.

inZOI 

inZOI is a new life simulator that lets you live out a virtual life to the fullest as you try to keep tabs on hunger, happiness, and other meters of each individual that you control. It boasts incredible levels of fidelity thanks to the power of Unreal Engine 5. inZOI has definitely managed to impress us with its vast array of gameplay options and the sheer breadth of choices you get within its sandbox elements.

Mouse 

Mouse’s concept of creating a violent first-person shooter with the jovial art style of cartoons might sound like something straight out of a fever dream, but it all surprisingly works while looking absolutely bonkers. The animation work is immaculate, and the gunplay seems really fun. Add to that a noir-inspired story that would most likely have morally gray characters and twists and turns galore, and Mouse becomes a really interesting game that’s worth keeping an eye out for.

Zoochosis 

Clapperheads is hard at work on the upcoming Zoochosis, a game that puts you in the shoes of a zookeeper of a very peculiar zoo. As the only person with the responsibility of keeping the animals safe and sound, you must keep inspecting these creatures for signs of mutation or infection – and deliver rapid response vaccines to keep things in check. Zoochosis also manages to throw in shades of horror with its dark and dreary aesthetic, and fierce mutations that can lead to scary outcomes. 

Screenbound 

Screenbound is one of the most creative ideas we have seen in recent memory, combining a 3D world with a 2D world in a very interesting fashion. Certain elements of the game world are only visible in the 3D realm, while others like the enemies are only visible on a 2D screen glued to the hands of the protagonist. There’s definitely some inherent jankiness or frustrations that might come from such a gameplay mechanic, but it would be interesting to see how the developers tackle those challenges and create something that’s as fun as it is unique.

Unrecord 

It’s easy to mistake Unrecord’s trailer for actual real-life footage, and that statement alone speaks volumes about its spectacular attention to detail. Everything from the texture work to the lighting and the animations has been created with extremely high levels of fidelity, and it makes great use of Unreal Engine 5’s graphical feature set to deliver something that genuinely feels like a step up from current-gen games. In addition to the visuals, Unrecord also provides an interesting gameplay loop that combines action elements with tactics to create something that’s both thrilling and engaging.

Light No Fire 

From the developer behind No Man’s Sky, Light No Fire feels like the natural evolution of the formula found in Hello Games’ debut title. Light No Fire is set against a massive open world that’s about the size of the Earth built to scale, and that vast space is filled with procedurally generated map geometry and a diverse cast of flora and fauna spread across multiple biomes. It truly feels like a world ripe for exploration, and it would be interesting to see Hello Games’ morphing its past learnings into an entirely new universe. 

Project TH

Heavily inspired by the likes of Splinter Cell or Hitman, Project TH is an upcoming action-adventure stealth game that puts you in the shoes of a covert operative who must make his way through enemy-infested mazes and complete objectives without raising alarms or commotion. Project TH impresses with its photorealistic visuals and smooth-flowing animations, making it a perfect showcase for the power of current-gen gaming systems.

Europa 

Set against the backdrop of an alien world, Europa is a tale about the last human alive trying to survive in a world that plays by its own rules. It features a cartoony aesthetic that has a distinct charm to it, and that also lends a really relaxing vibe to the overall experience. The gameplay entails exploring the many biomes spread throughout its world, solving puzzles, and taking part in missions that will test your survival skills to the fullest. 

Exekiller

Exekiller is a game that presents an interesting dichotomy of the past and the future. It takes the familiar setting of the American Wild West that is usually associated with horses and cowboys, and meshes those elements into a futuristic dystopia ruled by capitalism and technology. Apart from the more aesthetic elements, Exekiller also features a complex gameplay that prioritizes player freedom with the ability to craft your own narrative in a world brimming with choices and an open-ended combat loop. 

Paranormal Tales 

Built using Unreal Engine 5, Paranormal Tales does a great job of actually seating you into the horror. It showcases multiple horror vignettes from different perspectives like a bodycam or a VHS tape, but the more impressive part of the game is how it plays on the fear of the unknown with a stunning atmosphere and appropriately ominous sound design. 

Black Myth Wukong 

Game Science’s upcoming Black Myth Wukong remains one of the more interesting takes on the Souls formula, and that largely boils down to how the developer meshes those ideas with its own and in doing so creates something that’s just as recognizable as it is fresh. With a beautiful art design and compelling fast-paced gameplay, Black Myth Wukong has no shortage of impressive elements to its presentation. 

Pragmata

Currently in development, Pragmata looks like a wonderfully eccentric experience that raises more questions than it answers. The short teaser trailer showcases lunar travel, otherworldly beings, and an astronaut who apparently has to save Diana. While it’s difficult to make sense out of such visuals, they are definitely enchanting to say the least. While details about the gameplay remain shrouded in mystery for now, it is apparently inspired by modern action games so that’s something to look forward to as well.

There are many developers that are working on crafting new and exciting survival games that address this very criticism while still retaining the same feeling of being one lowly prey in a hostile world. One such game is FlipSwitch’s upcoming War Of The Worlds, which has a couple of distinguishing elements that help it stand out from the crowd. To that end, we ask the question – what the hell is exactly War Of The Worlds?

As mentioned before, War Of The Worlds is a survival horror game that’s currently in development at FlipSwitch Games. The developer previously worked on a game called the EmergeNYC, which sees players assuming the role of a fire brigadier as they answer distress calls from all across the map. Featuring primitive graphics and janky gameplay, EmergeNYC obviously didn’t enjoy the most positive of critical or commercial reception, but we can surely hope that critical learnings from this project will help make War Of The Worlds a better and more-polished experience than what came before.

Set against the backdrop of an open-world where humanity is on the brink of extinction, War Of The Worlds puts players headfirst into a raging battle between the collective human armies and the invading alien forces. As you can imagine, humans are on the verge of defeat – and as a lowly citizen, you must hide from these hostile forces and find a way to survive – either by hook or by crook. But that’s not all, as your character has a greater destiny planned ahead of them. You also need to survive long enough to find a way to defeat the aliens which would be carried out through a story mode that the developer claims will blend neatly into the survival mode.

As such, the moment-to-moment gameplay revolves around scavenging the many environments for resources and keeping tabs on everything from your hydration levels to hunger and drowsiness. Each of these stats will have knock-on effects on your character, so they need to be kept in check to keep functioning with full efficiency. In addition to the towering alien presence, the military or fellow human NPCs in the open world might also attack you for precious resources.

War Of The Worlds puts a lot of focus on the survival aspect of the experience, and you will have very few opportunities to fight back against the imposing opposition that are the aliens. Sure, you could hop on to a military vehicle and try to gun down alien ships through machine guns and rocket launchers – but don’t expect to get much out of it. In order to defeat the aliens the right way, you will have to focus on surviving as long as possible – which should unlock new story chapters organically and give you ways and opportunities to turn the tides of the battle.

War Of The Worlds’ open-world is an interesting one, mostly because of the fact that it isn’t centered around the player existing within that space. Instead, the world is indifferent to your presence most of the time as events and conflicts will dynamically take place throughout the map – and you can actually hear distant cries and gunshots when you are at a particular distance from these places. You could use that information to avoid going to that place, or you could enter the fight and try to procure as many resources as possible. It’s an interesting concept, and one that we would want to see in all its glory when the full game releases in the near future.

The open-world itself will also be fairly large, featuring plenty of neighborhoods to scour for resources and other vital items for survival. Players will be able to hop on cars to get around places quickly or escape from a dangerous situation, but alien towers overseeing the entire map might blast you if they catch a glimpse of you.

Apart from the single-player survival mode, War Of The Worlds will also feature an interesting multiplayer game mode. You could hop on to the game as a part of the human team, where your goal is to survive for 7 days wherein you will find ways to defeat the invading forces. Or you could assume the role of an alien where you will have to battle the remainder of the human armies as you try to capture the planet. As the alien, you will also have the option to commandeer new vehicles and fire weapons – which should make for an interesting spin from the single-player offerings which are obviously light on action.

War Of The Worlds’ visual presentation is nothing to gawk at, although you could say that its beauty lies in its simplicity. The draw distance doesn’t look impressive, and assets at faraway distances like trees are of pretty low quality. The animations and environments also don’t look all that great, so the game would definitely need a glow-up before the full release hits.

And that brings us over to the release side of things. War Of The Worlds is already available on Steam through Early Access, and the team is hard at work adding new content and polishing issues with the experience. As of now, the current build only contains a free roam survival mode with only 5 story chapters – but the full release is set to offer larger maps, a co-op mode, and the aforementioned multiplayer mode. The game is being self-published by FlipSwitch, and is being funded by Patreon. The developer aims to get the full game released by the end of next year, and while that might sound as a realistic deadline – it’s best to keep expectations in check since delays are pretty frequent in such cases.

In conclusion, War Of The Worlds is looking to be a really interesting take on the survival game, and coupled with the interesting multiplayer mode and dynamic open-world – this game could end up being a smash hit amongst fans of the genre. FlipSwitch has something really valuable on its hands, and we are hoping that it manages to make good on most if not all of its lofty 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.

The classic novel from H.G. Wells that has been made into films and is now being made into an arcade game.  War of the Worlds will be a two-dimensional, rotoscoped cinematic side scrolling platformer where the main focus it to get away from all the madness going on along with puzzles to solve along the way. Developer Other Ocean Interactive, says it will be out this summer for Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network.  We will have more coverage on it as it’s revealed at E3.  Check out the full press release below.

Emeryville, CA – June 2, 2011 – Other Ocean Interactive, the acclaimed independent developer with a mastery of creating modern games with a retro feel like Dark Void Zero and the XBLA conversion of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, revealed today it is currently in development of The War of the Worlds. Coming to Xbox LIVE®Arcade and PlayStation®Network, The War of the Worlds is an upcoming 2D cinematic platformer inspired by the seminal work of beloved author H.G. Wells that pits players in a story of survival as a lone person trying to escape chaos and destruction amidst an alien invasion in 1950s London.
Other Ocean will be providing a first look at the title to select press during the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, June 7-9, 2011. Press interested in scheduling an appointment should contact Jerry Whitehead at Reverb Communications (jerry@reverbinc.com).

In development under license from Paramount Digital Entertainment, The War of the Worlds is a dark and breathtaking new vision of the classic H.G. Wells novel, retold as a single player, 2D action-adventure. The gameplay narrative parallels the timeline and events from the 1953 movie adaptation, but introduces a new story arc, characters, locations, and sub-plots.

With gameplay paying homage to classic cinematic platformers such as Flashback, Out of This World and Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee, players follows the exploits of an unknown everyman struggling to escape the Martian invasion of London and rescue his family. Forced to think through insurmountable odds, players will outsmart an army of alien tripods and other menacing war machines as they make their way through a landscape of total devastation.

“As a developer, we are extremely fortunate to have access to this beloved franchise,” said Mike Mika, Head of Development with Other Ocean Interactive. “The team and I are huge fans of the original rotoscoped cinematic platformers of early PC gaming. This is a dream project for everyone on the team. Having the ability to approach the game in a completely retro way and pay homage to one of our favorite periods in gaming is more than we could ask for.”

The War of the Worlds will be available on Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation Network in summer 2011.