What will you be playing this weekend? Will you take advantage of the Epic Games Store promotion to download the bullet hell shooter CYGNI: All Guns Blazing for free, or will you try your hand at the strategic mechanics of SteamWorld Heist 2?
Or maybe you will dive headfirst into the frenzy of the combat racer Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks, the gripping retro atmospheres of Volgarr the Viking 2, take on the soulslike-themed challenges of Deathbound, or check out the original approach of Creatures of Ava?
Only one week of releases and so much variety: the choice is not at all simple, the possibilities are multiple and around the corner there are titles that will certainly capture your attention for a long time: from the evocative Black Myth: Wukong to the adventurous Star Wars Outlaws, passing through that unknown that goes by the name of Concord.
Option 1: Viuleeeenz!
As mentioned, CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is among the free games on the Epic Games Store this week and we definitely suggest you claim it, because it could be love at first sight, especially if you belong to the old guard and have actually lived through the bullet hell style shoot’em-ups era.
In our review of CYGNI: All Guns Blazing we had some positive words for the debut title from KeelWorks, a small Scottish team that wanted to demonstrate their passion for this peculiar subgenre by bringing to the screen absolutely frenetic, spectacular and challenging clashes, within a short but intense experience.
Frenzy also reigns supreme in Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks, which we tried out: a free-to-play combat racer (also free, hurray!) set in the Warhammer 40K universe and based on the board game of the same name, in which we will have to face challenges aboard Ork war vehicles for glory and cosmetic items.
The Violent Battles of Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks
Violence reigns supreme in Volgarr the Viking 2 (review here), a brutal and unruly action platformer that will not fail to put you to the test and that can count on excellent level design, a splendid soundtrack and an approach that recalls the great classics of the past.
And speaking of challenge, we also addressed the topic in the review of Deathbound, a truly interesting soulslike with some brilliant ideas, above all its peculiar multi-character system and the many customizations, but which does not exude originality from every pore and currently suffers from some annoying technical hitches.
Option 2: Strategy and serenity
SteamWorld Heist 2, on the other hand, represents the more thoughtful and serene option, as the new chapter in the series by Image & Form brings back its solid strategic mechanics to deliver us a campaign that is once again full-bodied, multifaceted, full of notable characters and situations but also sequences in which tactics reign supreme.
One of the fights in SteamWorld Heist 2
Definitely less brilliant is Creatures of Ava (see the review), a “peaceful” but fundamentally insipid and repetitive adventure, which did not convince us but which is available in the Xbox Game Pass catalog for those who want to try it without risks. What do you say, shall we proceed with the download?
So back to the opening question: what are you playing this weekend?
