Wait, did I say doubleheader earlier? Apparently there’s a third fake-E3 show today. I know, it’s hard to keep track of them all. The PC Gaming Show is our personal favorite, given its relevance to our platform of choice, but we rolled straight from that into the Future Games Show. More console-centric, it nevertheless featured trailers for a bunch more games including Red Thread’s Dustborn, Sherlock: Chapter One, Call of the Sea, and more.
You’ll find the most notable trailers of games coming to the PC below, along with the best commentary I could muster after like…six hours of trailers. “Fake E3” sure is feeling a lot like real E3 at this point.
Quantum Error
What, today’s System Shock trailer wasn’t enough for you? You need another creepy spaceship? Quantum Error looks like it’ll let you kill monster-aliens with a fire axe, which sure is a change of pace. Not sure what else to say about it, except that I really miss Dead Space and I hope this will recapture some of those vibes.
Dustborn
I still wish Red Thread got to work on more Dreamfall/The Longest Journey. It’s been quite a while since Dreamfall Chapters wrapped up. That said, Dustborn has a distinctive look about it, and I trust Red Thread and Ragnar Tornquist to do right by the writing even in a new setting. And one day, maybe we’ll get that Longest Journey conclusion.
Ghostrunner
I think we’re starting to see the knock-on effects of 2016’s Doom in other games. A lot of first-person games this week with a focus on movement and speed. Ghostrunner hands you a sword and has you slicing-and-dicing a bunch of robots, which…well, if everything is going to be cyberpunk right now, at least we can bring katanas back as well.
Call of the Sea
With In the Valley of Gods defunct, it falls to Call of the Sea to carry my hopes for a period adventure game. An archaeology game set in the 1930s, Call of the Sea seems like a great blend of puzzles and exploration, with a supernatural element layered on top. Those are…all of my interests, so consider this on my wishlist.
Sherlock: Chapter One
The good news: Frogwares is finally returning to Sherlock Holmes, and taking cues from the open-world detective systems it built for The Sinking City! The weird/uncomfortable/bad news: Sherlock Holmes is sexy now! Chapter One seems bizarre, like an attempt to further sex up the famed detective after taking a step in that direction with The Devil’s Daughter. I miss the old fatherly Sherlock of the Crimes & Punishments era, even if it’s just set-dressing for solving crimes.
Cygni
Cygni is a bullet-hell game with a gorgeous 2.5D look to it. I wish we could see a little more of the world and its occupants from our eye-in-the-sky, but these are some of the prettiest backdrops I’ve seen in a bullet-hell game, bar none. Even knowing I’m terrible at these types of games, I kind of want to check it out.
Liberated
Liberated is already out on Nintendo Switch, but apparently it’s coming to PC later this year as well. A game played across comic cels, it’s a uniquely beautiful take on the side-scroller. It also seems pretty well-suited to the current moment, given its subject matter—though I’m only gathering that from the trailer, having not touched the Switch version.
Space Crew
Bomber Crew proved pretty popular, a bit like FTL featuring a World War II bomber crew. Now, Space Crew is aiming to be even more like FTL, taking the Bomber Crew formula into space and forcing you to fend off little gray men with your custom-built ship—and somewhat useless crew.
Made of Sker
Hey, another creepy house. Inspired by Welsh folklore and set in 1898, I’m loving this trailer. Made of Sker reminds me a lot of Bloober’s games, especially Layers of Fear 2 and its surreal environs. Apparently “sound” is the key in Made of Sker, with even your ragged breathing liable to give away your position to enemies. You’ll need to hold your breath to sneak past and mistiming that can be your death. It’s a pretty interesting addition to the Penumbra/Amnesia style of horror game.
The Captain is Dead
I love a good digital board game conversion, and I love The Captain is Dead in its original board game form. That makes this a solid play for my attention, especially given the way it brings the original cards and player tokens to life. Also, this is a really solid trailer for what’s essentially a glorified board game coming to PC.
Wasteland 3
We got a look at Wasteland 3 during the IGN Showcase on Wednesday, but Brian Fargo and co. were back with more today. I’m digging the blues soundtrack in all these trailers and hoping that aspect carries over to the real game. Not enough blues in games, I’d say. Otherwise, it looks like more Wasteland 3, all snow and ice and explosions. Still sad this one got delayed, but August isn’t that far away. And get this: it’ll have day one support for Linux and Macs!
Remothered: Broken Porcelain
Remothered: Tormented Fathers kind of came and went on Steam. Some apparently considered it the best horror game of 2018, but that “some” did not include me. Maybe like Bloober they’ll improve with each game though? Broken Porcelain looks like more of the same indie-horror, so my hopes aren’t that high, but there haven’t been that many horror games lately. I’ll take what I can get.
Paradise Lost
“What if World War II didn’t end in 1945?” I’m a sucker for alternate histories, and even if World War II is well-trod ground I’m still pretty interested in Paradise Lost. Like the modern Wolfenstein games, it transposes World War II iconography to the 1960s. Paradise Lost has a much creepier vibe though, tasking you with exploring an abandoned bunker. No combat, from what I can tell. This is a pure adventure game, and I hope the final product lives up to this teaser.
Serial Cleaners
Serial Cleaner was sort of a reverse Hotline Miami. Instead of killing a bunch of mobsters you walked around and cleaned up the crime scene, while avoiding the police. It was a cute subversion of the genre, and I’m hopeful the sequel—creatively titled Serial Cleaners—can feel as fresh three years on. Regardless, few developers make trailers this stylish and weird, that’s for sure.