The Demos we tried on Steam Next Fest

GEARSHIFTERS

Alexandros Gekas: I have a fondness for top-down vehicular combat games from the days when I was an amusing little kid (let's say now) playing Remedy's Death Rally. Gearshifters is a roguelite combat racer where the player has to complete tracks with various standard objectives unscathed, destroying enemies that have set their sights on him and trying to defeat the boss hiding at the end of the track. In between missions there is the possibility of upgrading and customizing the vehicle so your chances of successfully completing the route increase progressively even if it takes a few tries to do so. The technical area is beautiful and the handling is precise and enjoyable, while the available route in the demo (with three stages and a boss) is of the perfect length to encourage another attempt.

Overall I got very positive impressions from Gearshifters and I'm optimistic that it will offer us something different but of high quality in the saturated genre of roguelites. Red Phantom Games' game is expected to be released in 2021.

GRIME

PG: "How I miss a beautiful metroidvania game designed in Unity" I was thinking a few days ago, reminiscing about the excellent Ori and the Will of the Wisps along with the void it has left behind. After the vaccine and after the nanochip transferred thoughts in the form of cookies to the Internet, Steam listened to me and dropped GRIME on the main page. Its visual field more surreal and less "fairy tale beautiful" can be described. However the game is love from the first minute. Hard metroidvania, in the philosophy of Dark Souls more than Blasphemous: methodical battles, levelling system that takes into account scaling with weapons, hidden secrets diffused in the levels. GRIME invites you to plunge into the photorealistic depths of its world and squeeze every stone for its juice. And it promises you that it will bring out your own.

The game's demo lasts about 1.5 hours, long enough to explore the map inch by inch, take out the first boss and get you intrigued enough to press F6 for the "Wishlist". Releasing in 2021 and probably a serious contender for metroidvania of the year, since Silksong seems a long way off.

Panagiotis Mitrakis: While I can't say I share Paul's enthusiasm, GRIME seems to have some depth to its mechanics and a wacky sci-fi setting enough to keep me in my seat. I hope the final product will have a stronger "identity" and more variety in art design and environments, as I'm fed up with the drab grey of caves and stone.

ROGUE LORDS

PS: Rogue Lords belongs, as is obvious from the name, to the wider genre of roguelites and puts you in the shoes of... the devil! Yes, Satan himself. The disgusting humans with their demon hunters managed to send you back to hell ten years ago, but now it's time for the big comeback and revenge. So recruit some of the most famous monsters of history and fantasy like Count Dracula, the Headless Horseman and Bloody Mary and set out to teach the humans a good lesson about who's really the boss. The map progresses from event to event in the manner seen in other popular roguelites such as FTL and Slay the Spire but with more free movement on the map and combat, when you need to engage in it, is conducted in rounds with a total number of action points to spend as you see fit.

One great originality of Rogue Lords is that, like the devil you are, you can... steal! If you have a diabolical essence (which acts as both a mana and health bar) available and you see that the battle is not going favorably, there is always the possibility to activate the devil mode and directly interfere with the rules of the game, refilling your units' health bars, annihilating those of your opponents, stealing skills and status effects and other similar... devilish things! The interesting gameplay combined with the aesthetics that are clearly influenced by Tim Burton won me over and I think it's worth keeping the game in mind if you're a fan of the genre. The release is set for autumn 2021.

UNMETAL

AG: Are you one of those gamers who nostalgically remembers Kojima's old, orthodox, passe Metal Gear, before it fell into 3D shenanigans? Then you owe it to yourself to check out Unmetal, a stealth-action game that serves as an ode to 80s action movies while adding a generous dose of self-deprecating humor. Our hero, a tough guy who spits bullets and pisses whiskey named Stephen Jesse Fox is arrested by mercenaries for a crime he didn't commit and recounts how he managed to escape, acting as the game's narrator himself. The developers take full advantage of this narrative mode by changing many of the map elements before your eyes as our friend Jesse is a completely unreliable narrator!

The game's graphics are beautiful and clearly evoke the era they pay homage to, however the truth is that on full screen they are probably lower resolution than I would personally like. Other than that though, Unmetal has plenty of charm, it's usually genuinely humorous rather than cold, and the gameplay judged on its own without the satirical elements can easily hold the player's interest. Unmetal's release seems to be close as it is listed as "summer 2021".

DREAD TEMPLAR

PM: Old-style first-person shooters have experienced a second youth in recent years. Dread Templar is one of them. From the first few minutes of engagement, it's obvious that it pays homage to Quake. From its visuals, atmosphere, metallic riffs and general gothic feel, Dread Templar brings to mind id Software's legendary game. Levels are labyrinthine, secrets are well hidden (usually), ammunition is thankfully plentiful and character movement is swift. An important mechanic is bullet time and anyone who has played Max Payne understands exactly how it works.

The graphics of course could not be anything other than a detailed retrospective (sic). Welcome the fact that scattered throughout the levels are collectibles that upgrade our weapons, which of course have a secondary fire mode. If anything needs improvement it's the geometry of the levels, as there were times when the character would get caught in ledges in the environment so that we couldn't dodge monster attacks in time. No release date has been set, but according to its Steam page it is expected sometime this year.

TINY THOR

PM: 2d platforms are available by the kilo in the Steam store, so much so that it's becoming difficult to find quality work among the mediocrity. From Tiny Thor, although I had it on my wishlist, the truth is that I didn't expect much from it. Appearances are deceiving though and we're dealing with a very fun game with a good handling feel. The visuals are reminiscent of Amiga games (for some unspecified reason it reminded me of Flink), with plenty of detail and vibrancy in the environments.

Η κάμερα βρίσκεται σε σχετικά μακρινή απόσταση για να έχουμε καλύτερη αντίληψη του χώρου γύρω μας και κυρίως για να μπορούμε να εκμεταλλευτούμε το βασικό μηχανισμό του παιχνιδιού που είναι η ρίψη του Mjolnir. Αυτό μπορεί να χρησιμεύσει για να χτυπήσουμε εχθρούς από ασφαλή απόσταση, απρόσιτους διακόπτες κ.α. ενώ ο τρόπος που σημαδεύουμε και το πετάμε και κάνει γκέλες σε τοιχώματατα και ταβάνια θυμίζει τη ρίψη των αυγών στο Yoshi’s Island. Αν και δεν πρόκειται για metroidvania, διάφορα απρόσιτα σημεία και το ξεκλείδωμα του διπλού άλματος στο τέλος του demo προϊδεάζουν για δυνατότητα δεύτερης επίσκεψης επιπέδων που έχουμε τελειώσει. Το Tiny Thor θα κυκλοφορήσει «όταν είναι έτοιμο».

 TORMENTED SOULS

PM: The first game I rushed to try as soon as I found out that there was a demo available. Something about the images, something about the trailer I'd seen before, convinced me to give it a chance. Tormented Souls wears its influences proudly, which are none other than the early Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark. The adventure begins in an abandoned hospital, where Caroline is investigating the disappearance of 2 little girls. The atmosphere of the game is fantastic and credit should be given to whoever wrote the music that accompanies it. The game is a completely old-school experience, with fixed camera and tank controls - it's worth noting that the more modern control mode is also available where the character moves according to the direction you click (however, the heroine maintains her movement over the change of viewing angle).

The puzzles made a very positive impression on me. Here you can see the more adventurous origins of AitD. The interaction points have separate screens where there are more than one point of interest that need some action from the player's side. Even item management includes searching for moving/detachable parts, inscriptions, etc. Combat, though slightly clunky, works, with escape clearly being a better solution in some cases. However, the models of humans and some monster animations when taking damage that are a bit abrupt have room for improvement. The overall impression I got is positive and there's a good chance we'll see a gem. No release date has been set for the title, beyond vaguely into 2021.

Steam Next Fest ends on the 22nd, but typically most demos may continue to be available after the festival is over. Either way, happy testing!