This week is the week of Halloween, a period bountiful in horror games, but I write about horror games all the time anyway. Even when I'm writing about happy, upbeat games, I'm actually writing about horror games. I'm worried that if I double-down further on morbidity I might foul the Maw's humours and give it jaundice. So let's see if we can satiate the creature with some nice, breezy open worlders and RPGs instead. I'll throw in a single horror game just to keep up appearances.
On Monday 28th October, strafe the gobbos in roguelite FPS Sulfur, serve wholesome garbage to hungry ducks in open world cooking RPG Fruitbus, or ply the Weird West in turn-based Civ-style exploration sim ColdRidge. On Tuesday 29th October, Max Caulfield returns in dimension-hopping mystery Life Is Strange: Double Exposure, but perhaps you'd rather run a horrible toast shop. On Wednesday 30th October, a moment of reflection and perhaps, a quick bout of Poncle-influenced beat 'em up Karate Survivor. On Thursday 31st October, we turn up the volume with the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. There's also a Horizon: Zero Dawn remaster but I'm not linking that, because ffs, it came out on PC a whole four years ago. Instead, why not try Tlatoani: Aztec Cities, in which asymmetry is an offence to the gods. On Friday 1st November, finally, shake off the dust and make for the horizon in back-packing RPG Albatroz.
In obstinately refusing to foreground horror games this week I have, of course, left the creaky cellar door wide open for you to stuff the comments with your spookathon recommendations. Please do! Find our weekly news liveblog below. Hope you have an absolutely frightful week.
Watchmen author Alan Moore has written for the Guardian about how he thinks fan cultures have shaped politics and wider culture (there's a cheeky reference to Gamergate). "An enthusiasm that is fertile and productive can enrich life and society, just as displacing personal frustrations into venomous tirades about your boyhood hobby can devalue them," Moore comments. "Quite liking something is OK. You don’t need the machete or the megaphone."
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Here's some music for Californian readers, who probably aren't awake yet. I think a Silent Hill spin-off set in Los Angeles would be tops.
Warframe's update/expansion Warframe: 1999 will launch in December. I saw a bit of this at Tennocon - it takes the sci-fantasy blaster back in time to the turn of the 21st century, where you'll start by exploring a deserted shopping mall.
One from last week: What Remains Of Edith Finch developers Giant Sparrow have shared a bit about their untitled next game. It casts you as "a field biologist studying both mundane and fantastical urban wildlife" and takes inspiration from "Ico, Windosill, Spirited Away, and David Attenborough nature documentaries, along with the spirit of early animators like Winsor McCay and Walt Disney who used (for the time) cutting edge technology to build something that didn't feel technical at all but instead felt weirdly alive."
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
The Ian Games Network have an interview with Bloober about their recently announced time-diving horror game Cronos: The New Dawn. There's some stuff in there I like - 12 Monkeys is an inspiration! - but I'm sad to hear that Bloober seem to want make more conventional, actiony fare in future. "It was like, 'let's end the chapter of the adventure games," comments producer Jacek Zieba. "Layers of Fear, Observer, and The Medium, [games that were] strange, experimental, with fixed camera tools. 'Okay, let's finish with that.'"
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
As reported by PCGamer, Vermintide 2 is getting a progression rework head of the release of Versus mode. It's all quite gristly, but a broad aim is to make life easier for newcomers who might be drawn to the new PvP functionality.
I wish Alice B was still here so that I could ask her to write up Vampire Therapist's new Couples DLC, based on her preview impressions and interview with developers Little Bat Games. I also wish she was still here because I wish she was still here.
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– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
30 TUESDAYS OF NIGHT
The Maw contracts! An opening, by Jove. Seize the opportunity to reload the 18-pounders and wipe the ash from the emitters. FEED IT.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
You'll have to wait till "the midst of 2025" for another proper update about Bungie's Marathon reboot, game director Joe Ziegler has revealed in a developer update video which is mostly just him talking to the camera. Ta, EG.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
As reported by PCG, Path Of Exile 2's original 15th November early access launch has been delayed by three weeks to perform "server side infrastructure work".
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
As passed on by the folk of Resetera, bothOxenfree games are currently 90% off on Steam. You can get them for the price of a 2010 sandwich.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Larian's voluble publishing director Michael Douse has praised Dragon Age: The Veilguard on the twitbox, comparing it to a "binge-worthy" Netflix show, with "giga-brain genius" combat. "I’m extremely happy BioWare gets to stick around - presumably - in these uncertain (because of moronic corporate greed) times," he added. Do tell.
I’ve been playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard in complete secrecy (behind my backpack at the office in front of a giant window, in the kitchen). From me, you may be wondering “is this a game compatible with my experience during BG3” so I’ll tackle it from that perspective.
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– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
We've got a few staff absences due to illness today, and Graham is on holiday hunting grouse in Iceland or something, so the site might be a little quiet.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Oh, and we're going to have a comments outage at some point this week, possibly today, while they move us to a new system. So it might be quiet in general! Savour it. Ah, this reminds me of that time I had to write a four-page essay called "silence is golden" as punishment for dicking around at school. On page four I wrote "silence is nowhere near as golden as my arse", knowing full well that my smug maths teacher would tear up the essay without reading it.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
The Stasis: Bone Totem devs have announced a 3D first-person survival horror in which you play an escaped lab chimpanzee with a fancy modular gun and a pet rat. I judge this promising.
Are there enough horror films with "day" in the title to last us to Friday? I dare to dream. FEED THE MAW.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
The big news from last night: Concord will remain offline forever and Sony have closed developers Firewalk Studios. "Certain aspects of Concord were exceptional," Sony Interactive Entertainment boss Hermen Hulst commented in an email that has now been published online, "but others did not land with enough players, and as a result we took the game offline. We have spent considerable time these past few months exploring all our options. After much thought, we have determined the best path forward is to permanently sunset the game and close the studio."
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Ubisoft have shamelessly ripped off AliceO's fictional universe by releasing an 'NFT' game, via IGN. Sounds fake to me! And incredibly stupid! And fake!
– Nic Reuben
The vatican have unveiled an anime mascot, via Siliconera. This reminds me that I once unsuccessfully pitched Brendy a 'the most dangerous popes in gaming' feature. In fairness to Brendy, there are only a couple, but it occurs to me that it's now fully within my power to write the piece. Keep an eye an out for the world's premiere investigation into dangerpopes.
– Nic Reuben
Handsome turn-based 4X with a pinch of autobattling Songs Of Silence will leave early access on 13th November. Ollie loved the demo back in October 2023.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
PUBG Corporation and Krafton have announced Project Arc, a top-down 5v5 spy-fi shooter with a colourful aesthetic. Feels like a bad time to announce one of those, but there's an interesting emphasis on stealth and line-of-sight. Here's the Steam page.
As reported by Eurogamer, EA's CEO Andrew Wilson has told investors that Apex Legends 2 ain't happening anytime soon. The key paragraph:
Typically, what we have seen in the context of live service-driven games at scale is, the 'version two' thing has almost never been as successful as the 'version one' thing. And so actually the objective right now is to ensure that we are continuing to support the global player base that we have, and deliver them new, innovative, creative content on a season-by-season basis, as well as build these other things, but build them in a way that players do not have to give up the progress that they've made or the investment that they've put into the existing ecosystem. Anytime we cause a global player community to have to choose between the investments they've made to date and future innovation and creativity, that's never a good place to put our community in.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
An email heads-up from reader WhatifRedoranbughousescouldmove, to keep us going in these comments-free times:
"Would have fed the Maw directly, but that's not possible at the moment. So I'm here to put it on a intravenous and keep it nourished. Rebellion have just released a new Speedball game on to Steam Early Access. It looks a little too colourful. Would love to see it using the Amiga/Bitmap Brothers palette. But still. New Speedball! And it can still be changed."
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
THURSDAY OF THE DEAD
Thanks I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze - you've saved me about 45 seconds of thinking time this morning. I will now use those 45 seconds of thinking time to FEED THE MAW.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Nightingale developer Inflexion have shut down their UK office and are "restructuring" their Canada studio. According to GI, at least 22 people have been affected. "Like many other studios over the past few years, we have been hit by the stark realities of the industry, and after exploring every possible option, we've had to make the difficult decision to let go of some of our remarkable and talented team members," reads a statement on social media.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
NexusMods have changed their policy towards paid mods, as reported by PCGamer. They'll let people link to paid stuff with a few caveats. In brief: no using deliberately stripped-down free mods as promotion for full paid mods; no patches or addons for user-generated content that requires payment to unlock; no free mods that need a paid mod to function; no collections that require paid mods.
Disillusion ST is a randomised maze game in the LSD Dream Emulator tradition with optional combat and collectible card game elements.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
In High Times, you make donuts and help people fix their relationships. I'm mostly here for the sprinkles.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Another maze game. Wait, this one's about labyrinths! It's from the creator of Purgatory Dungeoneer and is called Labyrinth of Wild Abyss: LayeRedux. "Enjoy 50 hand-crafted labyrinths and the misery of only being able to run," fae summarise below.
In just over 72 hours "Labyrinth of Wild Abyss: LayeRedux", a horror game about paranoia and persistence predation, releases on Steam. Enjoy 50 hand-crafted labyrinths and the misery of only being able to run.https://t.co/4j3D8MLtOgpic.twitter.com/b8V5xP16gx
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– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
A wild MiniMatt appears! "Poor Maw, left to starve from lack of functioning comments system," he writes over email. But what's this, he's got some news for us: original DayZ creator and RocketWerkz boss Dean Hall is making a spiritual successor to Kerbal Space Program. Hall has been chatting about it and sharing footage on the reddits.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Afternoon music: My Poor Brain, from the Foo Fighters.
OMUT gets a Maw post because 1) Slavic absurdist horror shmup that reminds me slightly of Thumper 2) the developers Madame Cyclone introduce themselves as "a trio of miserable men on the brink of collapse".
We enter day three of no-comments RPS. All of my fingernails and toenails have grown by three metres because there is nobody around to comment upon them. I've started writing angry notes-to-self pointing out typos and missing Steam page links, just to feel something. The big question is whether the code-monks of Ziff Davis will finish reciting their catechisms over the new system before Saturday morning and the (in theory) publication of What Are We All Playing This Weekend?
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
SeekerX - a Maw Wrangler of Distinction - has emailed with a vintage "Halloween titbit". Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open, a Malyasian papercraft ghost game which Alice B rated, is currently on sale (and still has a demo).
Dying Light franchise director Tymon Smektala has been talking to GamingBolt about upcoming spin-off Dying Light: The Beast. Apparently it has a smaller open world than Dying Light 2, with a greater emphasis on environmental storytelling. Parkour is still central, but you can also drive vehicles. "The idea was that even if there are less structures, buildings to climb over and run through, we decided to make every one count – so there’s almost no buildings that you can just enter through the main door," Smektala said.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
A heads-up from PCG - Dragon Age: The Veilguard doesn't warn you when you're about to undertake a quest that locks off incomplete sidequests.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
I keep forgetting to check out the early access version of forest witch fable Reka. They've just updated it with various Halloween discoverables such as a candle-making table. Oh, and the ability to pick up and cuddle your cat.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
No Stone Unturned is a hard-boiled mystery RPG about a murdered chicken. I hope it's funnier than I've just made it sound. There's a town-building element, too.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Apologies everybody, we've just learned that the new comments system rollout will take till Monday. So no commenting this weekend. Feel free to email though! My details are on my bio.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
One more before I go: Age Of Respair is a 3D Unreal Engine 5 homage to vintage castle builder Stronghold. It's the work of former Saber Interactive and Coalition developers, and they're hoping to catapult it over our walls sometime in 2025.
