As loyal readers know, is Earth Defense Force 6 is one of my very favorite games. My wife and I have collectively put hundreds of ours into it, mostly on the Steam Deck, Valve's portable gaming device. Many of those hours were spent in online co-op, a key selling point of the EDF series. Sadly, however, we can no longer play together from ...
PowerWash Simulator is a sleeper hit (other than the unfortunate VR version), so it makes sense that other developers would draw inspiration from it. That's clearly the case with Spray Paint Simulator from North Star Video Games and Whitethorn Games. As the name implies, this one involves painting environments instead of washing them. It will support 2-player online co-op, and it's due out in May.
We've been intrigued by 33 Immortals ever since it was announced at the Xbox Games Showcase in 2023. It promises to be the first 33-player online co-op game, a very unique number. Players will become damned souls and then team up with others to participate in large-scale raids against huge hordes of enemies and massive bosses. All that, plus Ro...
One of 2023's best Castlevania-style platformers was Gal Guardians: Demon Purge from PQUBE. As such, there's a good chance that the sequel, Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark, will end up knocking our socks off this year too. We'll find out when the digital version comes along at the end of March. Physical collectors won't be left in the cold, however, because the physical PlayStation and Switch editions now have a firm June 12 release date.
Remember how fun Advance Wars: Portrait of Ruin was in co-op? It's not often that you find a turn-based strategy game that's so easy to play AND also supports the co-op. That's why we're pumped for Warside, the upcoming strategy game for Steam from Lavabird and First Break Labs (makers of Cthulhu's Reach). It plays a lot like Advance Wars, and we're dying to play it with friends.
Long ago, Technos was one of the big Japanese developers, gifting the Double Dragon series and many other fine games to the world. Sadly, the studio closed its doors in 1996. Happily, however, Arc System Works bought the Technos name and library in 2015 and has produced several quality games since then. 2020's Double Dragon & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle compiled an impressive selection of Technos' NES games. This year, Arc System Works will follow up with Super Technos World: River City & Technos Arcade Classics.
Even though we haven't covered Killing Floor 3 all that much, please don't mistake that for a lack of enthusiasm. Killing Floor 2 is one of my all-time favorite co-op shooters, and I thought the Killing Floor 3 closed beta was pretty terrific. Some other players must've had a different impression, however, providing lots of constructive criticism to Tripwire, the series developer. Hence, Killing Floor 3 has been delayed from its original March 25 release date to a nebulous "later in 2025" release window. Darn it!
Remember when Variable State, the developer of Virginia (the game, not the state), announced a PC shooter called Polaris would be coming in 2024? Well, it actually came out in early 2025, but that's pretty common in game development. The important part is that Polaris is here, baby, and it sells for only ten bucks.
What's a surefire way for a Steam game to reach more Steam users? Steam Deck support! That's just the tack adopted by Cthulhu's Reach from The Fine Arc and First Break Labs. This Steam Early Access title is a horror-themed bullet heaven shooter that features 4-player online co-op. Now that it's safely playable on Steam Deck, players can battle the terrors of the deep on the go.
The original Gal Guardians: Demon Purge is a fantastic Castlevania-style co-op platformer, so it's great news that it'll soon have a sequel. Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark will arrive on consoles and PC in March - not too far from now! What's more, PQUBE has released a free demo on Steam that allows players to experience the opening of the game and its 2-player local co-op support.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind has received a few updates since launching last year, tweaking the gameplay and making for a better experience. The most recent update does that and goes one step farther by adding a new skill point system to differentiate the various Power Rangers and give players upgrades to work towards. If that's not enough, Digital Eclipse and Atari have announced that online play will be getting an upgrade later this year as well.
Digital game releases are the primary distribution model for indie games, but that doesn't mean that some gamers don't want physical versions. Those guys like to look at their cases on the shelf, you know! And some of them will be pleased to learn that Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind from Digital Eclipse and Atari will be getting physical releases on May 30. I say "some" because only the PlayStation 5 and Switch versions will get physical releases. Everybody else will need to grab the game digitally.
