Author: Alex Kirton

Online: 404 is an upcoming open-world survival game with a slightly different approach to the genre: instead of magically knowing how to craft everything, you may have to pull out your smartphone and search the internet for the answer. Developed by Cornfield Games, Online: 404 is set within the abandoned and quarantined Leminsgale District, where players are left to survive using whatever they can find around them. The game can be played alone or cooperatively, combining survival, exploration, base building and a full story campaign. The smartphone is one of the game’s biggest features. Players don’t simply open a traditional…

The Infected is an open-world survival crafting game that gives players a large wilderness to explore while building a base, gathering resources and trying to stay alive against hostile creatures known as Vambies. Developed by DigX Studios, the game has been available through Steam Early Access since 2020 and continues to receive updates while the developer works towards a full release. The core of The Infected revolves around traditional survival mechanics. Players need to gather wood, stone, ores and other resources before using them to construct shelters, craft tools and gradually build a much larger and more advanced base. Base…

Projekt Z: Beyond Order is an upcoming first-person zombie survival shooter that combines four-player co-op, looting, weapon crafting and character progression with a World War II setting. Developed by 314 Arts, the game takes place on a secret German island where Nazi forces have been carrying out experiments involving the undead as part of a mysterious programme known as Projekt Z. Players take control of a group of survivors who must explore the island, uncover what happened there and fight their way through increasingly dangerous hordes of zombies and other hostile creatures. The game can be played alone or with…

Rerouted is an upcoming first-person survival game that drops you and up to three friends into a huge northern wilderness with one simple objective: find your way home alive. Developed and published by Tooman, the game mixes exploration, survival, crafting and co-op as players travel through forests, swamps, rivers and mountain passes while dealing with cold weather, hunger and dangerous wildlife. However, one of its most interesting mechanics could make surviving with friends considerably more difficult. Animals can hear you talking. Rerouted features proximity voice chat that can actually be detected by wildlife. Bears, wolves and other animals will react…

Ananta is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious free-to-play open-world games in development, and its developers have now given us a much better idea of just how much content they are trying to squeeze into its massive cities. In a recent interview with AUTOMATON, a NetEase representative said Ananta is being built with enough content for players to potentially spend at least 100 hours exploring each individual city. When specifically asked whether that 100-hour figure applied to each city rather than the game as a whole, the developer confirmed that it did. That is a huge claim…

Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine should be one of the easiest superhero games to sell. You have Wolverine, one of Marvel’s most recognisable characters, a studio with years of experience making blockbuster superhero games, and decades of comics, films and other material to draw from. Yet one detail in the game’s credits has once again become a major talking point online: the involvement of narrative consultancy company Sweet Baby Inc. And for me, it raises a fairly simple question. Why does a studio like Insomniac need an outside narrative consultancy on Wolverine in the first place? This isn’t an unknown character being…

Village 51 is an upcoming open world survival game that mixes farming, base building, first person combat and co op into one strange 1950s inspired adventure. Developed by Karman Studios, the game puts players in control of a rural farm surrounded by a world filled with government secrets, mysterious technology and hostile creatures. At first glance, Village 51 looks like a fairly relaxed farming game, but things quickly become much more dangerous once night arrives. During the day, players can grow crops, raise animals, expand their farm and sell what they produce. Farming appears to be a major part of…

Co-op zombie games usually encourage players to stay together, but SAFE INSIDE is taking that idea much further by making separation potentially permanent. Developed by Broken Chair Studios, SAFE INSIDE is an upcoming first-person zombie shooter where players must fight through hordes of infected while travelling between saferooms across the East Coast of the United States. At first glance, the setup will feel familiar to anyone who has played games like Left 4 Dead. Players move through campaign-style environments, battle large groups of fast-moving infected and encounter mutated creatures with unique abilities designed to exploit weaknesses within the team. However,…

WARDOGS is officially heading to consoles, but PlayStation and Xbox players are going to have to wait considerably longer than those playing on PC. Developer BULKHEAD has confirmed that WARDOGS will come to consoles in 2028, giving console players their first clear release window for the large scale tactical shooter. The game launches first on PC through Steam Early Access, with BULKHEAD expecting the Early Access period to last for around one to two years. During that time, the studio plans to expand the game with more content, improve existing systems, refine balancing and make changes based on player feedback.…

The Blood of Dawnwalker has only been out for a matter of days, but developer Rebel Wolves is already looking towards the future of its new dark fantasy RPG series. Following the successful launch of its debut game, the Polish studio has begun recruiting a Lead Writer who will help create what it describes as the “next chapter in the Dawnwalker saga.” The position will see the successful applicant join Rebel Wolves’ Narrative Team and work under Narrative Director Jakub Szamałek, helping shape the story, dialogue, cinematics and wider lore of whatever comes next for the franchise. While Rebel Wolves…