Upcoming Games: An Amazing August

This is the month it begins. From August through to November, we are going to be buried in releases, big and small. But don't worry. We'll keep you right. From the biggest games like Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls and Beast of Reincarnation to bizarre little indies like Vholume or The Cave Diver, these are some of the coolest games coming out this month.

But they aren't the only games! For everything else, check out each Monday's edition of Loading Screen, our members' newsletter, where you'll find out about every game worth knowing about in the week ahead.

Big Walk

Developer: House House
Publisher: Panic
Platforms: PC. Xbox, PlayStation, Switch 2
Release Date: 04/08

The developers that brought us Untitled Goose Game are back, and they're ready to meet the era of the co-op party game with Big Walk. A group of colourful characters scattered on an island filled with puzzles and beautiful vistas alike - but the only way you'll be able to solve the former is using the game's variety of proximity-based communication methods like voice, custom signs and even flares. Make sure you kill the Discord server for this one!

Beast of Reincarnation

Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Fictions
Platforms: PC. Xbox. PlayStation
Release Date: 04/08

A new game about monsters from Game Freak, but not a Pikachu in sight. This "one person-one dog" 3D action game with realistic graphics is a departure for the team, but there's a really strong 7/10 early-2000s feel to this one. Mixing real-time combat with action-based commands for your wolf companion, you'll be navigating a post-apocalyptic future where nature is under threat of corruption, battling bosses till you fight your way to the source.

Iron Nest: Heavy Turret Simulator

Developer: Domink Latos, Nick Nieuwoudt
Publisher: Domink Latos, Nick Nieuwoudt
Platforms: PC
Release Date: 06/08

One of many "operate a big gun" indie games currently spinning up, Iron Nest is less escape rooms and puzzles, and more about the mathematics of operating a gigantic war engine. A dieselpunk war simulator, you'll have to intercept orders, plot out targets on the map, load rounds and then flip switches, rotate dials and rotate valves until you've got a perfect firing solution. This is artillery warfare played completely straight, where a full narrative story is supplemented by procedurally generated maps and objectives so players can keep enjoying the experience long into the future.

Rogue Eclipse

Developer: Huskrafts
Publisher: Huskrafts, Outersloth
Platforms: PC
Release Date: 07/08

I'll never say no to a space dogfighter, and Rogue Eclipse is offering a vision of that genre that puts you right in the middle of massive pitched battles between fighters, carrier ships and capital ships alike, beams glittering in the void as you go. As might be expected from the name, a roguelite experience is at the core here as you improve your sleek-looking starfighter as you live, die and repeat. But what's different is the setting, an "Arabesque Futurism" that's very different to the usual Star Wars/Star Trek/Star Fox aesthetic that underpins the genre.

The Cave Diver

Developer: Ovsko
Publisher: Ovsko
Platforms: PC
Release Date: 12/08

In the wake of QWOP, Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy and Baby Steps, we're starting to see developers take the "physics-driven movement" game to new places. For The Cave Diver, it's specifically about the claustrophobic horror of wriggling through cave networks on the tips of your fingers and toes, desperately hoping there's not a dead end ahead. Rage-inducing, sure, but also deeply uncomfortable. Customisable signs help you mark dead ends, dead drops and the last site of your death, as you inch your way to glory.

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam

Developer: Expression Games
Publisher: Team 17
Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation
Release Date: 13/08

Hell Let Loose did a surprisingly good job at taking authentic MilSim features and systems and getting mainstream audiences excited about them. 50 v 50 battles, logistical management and more. But the WW2 setting was very much pitched battles. Vietnam offers a very different experience. Asymmetric warfare will mean that while the Americans get access to new tools like helicopters and mortar squads, the NVA will be digging tunnels through the forest and hiding in the trees. Recently delayed due to widespread frustration with the beta tests, the updated build appears to be far more well-liked, but perhaps some caution on launch would be warranted.

Agent 64: Spies Never Die

Developer: Replicant D6
Publisher: Replicant D6
Platforms: PC
Release Date: 17/08

Retro in the best way, Agent 64 wants to recapture the spirit of Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, with polygonal bad guys in sprawling levels needing to be taken out before they can commit dastardly deeds. Good thing you've got an arsenal of chunky guns to do so. What's especially cool here is that these games look like you remember, but with all the physics effects and particle advancements of the last thirty years. Importantly though, once you beat the campaign you'll be presented with a suite of modifiers like big head mode, bullet time and more - and that's before we even get to the split screen and online multiplayer.

Entropy

Developer: Lovely Hellplace
Publisher: DreadXp
Platforms: PC
Release Date: 18/08

Blending the PSX aesthetic of late 90s RPGs with the design aesthetic of a Kings Field, Entropy is grimy and grotesque and incredibly cool looking. Leading a party of mercenaries through a world dying of entropy, you need to fight your way through the collapse of civilisation, building allies and deciding the fate of the people you meet. All as you build your strength before marching into hell to put the chaos to rest. It's an unsurprising development from the team behind the beloved Dread Delusion, but with the turn-based RPG elements, this should allow for significantly more depth in player decision-making.

The Sinking City 2

Developer: Frogwares
Publisher: Frogwares
Platforms: PC. Xbox, PlayStation
Release Date: 18/08

Free from the Lovecraftian nightmare that was their conflict with former publisher Nacon, Frogwares are going right back to what they do best. Making weird-ass third-person survival horror games with The Sinking City II. As a puzzle-filled 1920s Arkham is submerged beneath a supernatural flood, you're just a private investigator trying to find the woman you love - and no fishman, cultist, or mind-bending horror is gonna stop you.

Brigador Killers

Developer: Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks
Publisher: Stellar Jockeys
Platforms: PC
Release Date: 20/08

From the team that brought you the cult isometric mech game Brigador, comes a much more vulnerable sequel. Inserted into the corporate homeworld that started the prior game's war, your role is to destabilise and destroy as much of their society as you can in this isometric insurgency simulator. Scavenging weapons, gear and transport is the order of the day, as you navigate lushly detailed sprite environments in your quest for justice.

Vholume

Developer: Nathan Grange, Leonard Lemaitre, Niels Tiercelin
Publisher: IronEqual
Platforms: PC
Release Date: 21/08

Every so often, we get an indie game that tries to recapture the spirit of Mirror's Edge. Usually, they end up aping the clean aesthetic too closely, or failing to capture the depth of the first-person parkour mechanics. Vholume doesn't seem to have fallen into those traps. A brutalist, melancholy aesthetic sets the tone for your need to move fast, while labyrinthine map design lets you build momentum at your own pace - setting as tight a time as you think you can manage. Plus, you can grab your friends and race through every level together.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy

Developer: Asobo Studio
Publisher: Focus Entertainment
Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation
Release Date: 27/08

The Plague Tale games have a reputation for being incredibly solid, gorgeously realised third-person action games, focused on stealth in a grim Renaissance setting. Resonance wants to do the same, but make it more about combat and puzzle solving, as you'll be playing the adult pirate Sophia rather than a pair of waifish kids. Plus, perhaps perfectly timed to ride on a wave of Greco-Classical interest, this prequel will see Sophia delving into the Minoan ruins, hunting the secrets of the legendary Minotaur, and discovering dark secrets about the Plague Tale setting,

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Volume 2

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation
Release Date: 27/08

It's fair to say that the first MGS Master Collection had... some issues. Over the course of the last three years, though, Konami have broadly improved as additions and updates impressed fans. But for the second collection, fans will finally get the chance to play MGS4: Guns of the Patriots, freed from the PS3 exclusivity that it's had for the last eighteen years. Add in Peace Walker, and the never-before re-released Game Boy Color Ghost Babel, and you've got a collection of curiosities that might surpass... any bugs that creep in.

Star Wars Zero Company

Developer: Bit Reactor, Respawn Entertainment
Publisher: EA
Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation
Release Date: 27/08

A rag-tag collection of customisable black-ops soldiers with unique skill sets, conducting secret missions to take out an overarching threat, all via turn-based battles in an overarching world map. It's X-Com - but add some lightsabers and blasters. A story-based strategy game is probably not what you'd expect from EA. Still, leadership who worked on X-Com, on top of a talented dev team, plus support from the modern Jedi game-making Respawn Entertainment, means this is likely to be a satisfying Star Wars game for more than just turn-based fans.

Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls

Developer: Arc System Works
Publisher: PlayStation
Platforms: PC, PlayStation
Release Date: 31/07

The next PlayStation live service is here, as they rely on the skill of fighting game development legends ArcSys to build a live service people will hopefully love. At least in part by recapturing the tag fighter heyday of Marvel Vs Capcom with a blisteringly fast, hyper-aggressive fighting game. They've done their homework to build appeal, though. The roster bridges the gaps between comics, old games like Marvel vs Capcom, and new games like Marvel Rivals, and they've got one of the great modern comic writers to do the core story missions, Keiron Gillen. Will a fighting game be the entry that changes the perception of PlayStation's live service ambitions?