Steam Next Fest 2022



Hey, it's me. I've been absent since... February?!

Yeah, the plan for lots of reviews has gone down the toilet. You know the story. Seen it a thousand times before when it comes to online projects. IRL stuff and college took priority, and I had barely any energy left to write, or at least not enough to reach the quality standard I want.

But now I'm on break and the Steam Next Fest is going on, so I took the chance to write about it. For those unfamiliar Next Fest is a week-long event with thousands of game demos to try out.

So I wanted to list a few of the ones that caught my eye. Starting with...







Developer: Replicant D6
Self Published

This one is a clear homage to the classic N64 Golden Eye, with the aiming system and everything. While familiar with it, I got no nostalgia for the N64 era, so even less for Golden Eye itself, but I had a fun time with the demo.







Developer: Free Lives
Publisher: Devolver Digital

Anger foot is about kicking doors and clearing rooms while loud music blares out. The easiest comparison you will hear people make is to call it a first-person Hotline Miami. While it's a shallow comparison there is some validity to it. Odds are, if you like Hotline Miami you will like Anger Foot. It's fun and got the potential to be another big Devolver hit.

I've played an itch.io demo of this one a while back before Devolver picked it up, and this demo already shows notable improvements and some visual upgrades.

I only have 2 gripes. First, is the repetitive music, which I know, is part of the vibe it is going for, but it could use some more variety. Second, ranged enemies' accuracy and fire rate, they seem to fire projectiles but they are so fast that they might as well be hitscan, getting immediately blasted by 2 guys with guns when first entering a room is not that fun. This discourages and contradicts the "storm into rooms with all the anger in the world" and slows down the otherwise adrenaline-fueled pacing.







Self Published

I like what I see, running in GZDoom, Apocalyptic Vibes is the closes I've seen an indie game achieving that stalker-like mood on a smaller scale. The oppressive atmosphere, the decayed environments, and even stale bread. It's all there.

It consists of quiet exploration while scavenging for resources followed by combat encounters. While it runs on GZDoom if you try to play like it's doom you gonna have a hard time, and maybe even think like the combat is unfair. I know I did.

Later on, I realized the crux of combat is focusing on quick headshots and searching for advantageous sightlines. The latter aspect was really well implemented in terms of the level design. The feeling of isolation is punctuated with rather obscure but very moody Shoegaze/Post-punk tracks, which I love and I'm even listening to it right now while writing this.

This one was a surprise find to me and now I'm looking forward to its release.



/// Cultic




Developer: Jasozz Games
Publisher: 3D Realms

If you kept up with Realms Deep you know this one.

Crunchy first-person shooter, aiming to bring back that BLOOD energy. The demo offers one decently long level to play.

You got your usual suspects for weapons, but there are a few surprises like a china lake grenade launcher, molotovs, and my god, that lever-action rifle, truly sublime. Oh, and of course, it wouldn't be a blood spiritual successor without some TNT bundles.

Blowing up and mowing down cultists is as engaging as it was in 1997. Solid shooter with the potential to be "a big one" in the boomer shooter community.

Only criticism, due to the crunchy graphics and limited color palette, enemy visibility can be an issue at times. Although I feel like this has improved in this version compared to the first demo released 1 or 2 years ago.







Publisher: Super. com

Deadlink was another surprise find, you play as a cyberpunk corporate super soldier undergoing simulation training. The simulation works as a setup for the die/repeat rogue-lite element, unleashing you into intense combat arenas that get progressively harder.

The main driving force behind the gameplay revolves around marking and killing targets, prime and detonate. Hitting enemies with your abilities like grenades, disruption pulse, or the grappling hook will "mark" them, once killed they explode in a shower of health and armor akin to modern Doom. Save from a few ammo and shield orbs around the arena, this mechanic is the only way to sustain yourself and thus a good performance in a fight is essential for survival.

Controls and plays really well. The looks, sounds, and music are really good. The weapon animations are superbly done. Recommend giving it a try.







Developer: Jacob Dzwinel
Publisher: Humble Games

It's the real deal the trailers have been showing, holy shit this is great. It's an immensely satisfying brawler. Combat mechanics seem fairly simple at first, but there seems to be some depth to be unlocked as the game goes on.

Still, even if its just what's available in the demo for the rest of the game, it would remain supremely fun. What's here is already very solid and it feels like "the next step" when it comes to topdown action games, maybe since Hotline Miami.

Flat recommendation, no caveats.






Developer: Rose-Engine
Publisher Humble Games, Playism

Seen this one around before in my Twitter feed and it always looked stylish and cool. But man, to get to experience a small vertical slice of it was awesome. Everything from a visual and auditory standpoint is mouth-watering good and incredibly immersive. From visuals to UI design and sounds, I was sucked into Signalis dark retro-futuristic mood from the get-go, even while browsing settings in the menu, the sound and UI are that good.

From the demo, it's gonna be a classic survival horror and it's oozing with style from all sides. Loved it. Another flat recommendation, Looking forward to this one.







Developer: Trepang Studios
Publisher: Team 17 Digital

It's a banger. And no, before you ask, there is no Trepang 1. Trepang2 carries that DNA and legacy of the bombastic shootouts from F.E.A.R. down to the monster the SPAS-12 was.

Movement is smooth, gunplay is even smoother, bullet-time feels great, and the addition of the ability to cloak for a few seconds is a smart choice, allowing for a quick repositioning when caught in a bad situation.

The music fuels the adrenaline with some solid breakcore. I don't know how much of a story this game is gonna have, honestly with gameplay this good I don't even care if it has none, but I'm curious about what's up with the protagonist, subject 106.

The game looks nice and runs like a dream even on my poo poo machine. You should give it a try. There's nothing quite like turning grunts into soup with a SPAS-12.



/// Selaco



Self Published

Another game running on the GZDoom engine, this one doesn't even need an introduction if you have been keeping an eye on the indie FPS scene, so that's good because I'm running out of steam and words to describe fun. Really solid and impressive work all around.




I love what the Next Fest brings, to be able to rapid-fire through thousands of demos and find that one unexpected hidden gem is always great.

The Event runs until the 20th of June, so get in there and play some demos!

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