Four games to look forward to! [Steam Next Fest]

It’s once again time for Steam Next Fest, and as usual, it will absolutely drown you in a variety of demos. Unsurprisingly, many games are terrible, but if you are willing to trudge through the sludge of cheaply made asset flips, there are a few gems to dig up from the muck. I managed to locate four so far. One of them I have played before, but it has improved massively since its initial presentation. The three others are completely new to me, which fills me with excitement for the future!

---

The first one of these games is The Precinct. The demo is very short, and mostly consists of a tutorial, and a few story segments. However, the potential is certainly there. Think of it as a top-down Grand Theft Auto-like game of old, but instead of playing as a degenerate thief and murderer, you are now a rookie cop, hell-bent on cleaning up the corrupt city of Averno. I got the impression from the intro that Averno is very similar to Detroit from the 1987 movie Robocop. Those of you that have seen it, know that Detroit is not in a good place in that film. So that should tell you everything about the state of things. The Precinct is definitely something to look forward to!

The second game is Amerzone – The Explorer’s Legacy. It’s a remake of an adventure game from 1999 that goes under the same name. I do own the original, but I have never played it. Meaning that my frame of reference is nil, with this demo being viewed as a stand-alone thing. Regardless, the demo impressed me with its classic adventure feel, while looking modern and very pretty at the same time. Now, I didn’t play too much, to avoid spoiling story elements, but man, it sure had a great feeling throughout the little I played. The presentation in combination with the mystery of the long-lost Amerzone really sold me on the premise. This is another title to look forward to, and if curious, why not try the demo for yourself?

The third game is The Stone of Madness. It’s a Commandos-like game going by gameplay, which means a lot of trial and error. Not something I have much patience for anymore as I’m getting older. But in this case, I just couldn’t pass up the setting, visuals and the general story concept, despite my personal reluctance. The Stone of Madness takes place in some kind of monastery for the mad in the 1700s. You play as a team of lunatics, trying to escape this house of despair. That’s not all. It seems this monastery is part of the occult, or something to that nature, hiding away terrible secrets of what they do to their patients residing here. In other words: something sinister is going on, with a touch of the demonic and otherworldly. Right up my alley! Beyond the cool atmosphere, I found the gameplay enjoyable as well, even if it will probably drive me mad at some point in the full release. That would be fitting, considering.

Now for the fourth and final title. Echoes of the Living is a demo of a game I have tried out before. They released their first demo back in 2023, and I was impressed by it then already. However, it has been some time since, in which the developers certainly have made use of. The overall presentation has seen a big boost in the visuals, and so has the story aspect. For those of you who don’t know what Echoes of the Living is: it’s a survival horror in the veins of the classic zombie romp Resident Evil 2. Everything that made that game great is included, from (mostly) static cameras, to tank controls and an atmosphere that screams you-are-about-to-get-eaten. I’m happy to see that the game has improved as much as it has. It spells confidence in the creation, and this in turn makes me confident that this will be a great title in the future when it’s finally released.

---

And that’s my top four so far. Four games that in my opinion are truly worth waiting for. Remember, you can try these demos yourself, as long as the Steam Next Fest is still running. It will end on the 21st of October, so it’s time to stop procrastinating, and download some demos!

Thanks for reading.

/Thomas