You missed PAX East 2022? No problem. We collect 13 particularly exciting PC games and news from this year’s game fair for you.
It feels like 2022 hasn’t really started yet, and already another game show has passed us by. In this case, this year’s PAX East, which took place from 21 to 24 April. If you didn’t have the event on your radar, we can’t blame you. After all, PAX EAST takes place in faraway Boston and in this country the points of contact remain manageable.
All the more important that we present you with a small, compact summary: In the following article you will find 13 games that we consider particularly exciting and that were somehow relevant at PAX East 2022. Be it because there was new information or trailers or the corresponding titles were playable on site: We present 13 of our personal highlights to you.
Table of Contents
13 Highlights of PAX 2022
Evil West
(Genre: Action-Adventure – Developer: Flying Wild Hog – Release:2022 – Platform:PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One)
Evil West was announced quite a while ago, namely at the Game Awards 2020. Since then it had been suspiciously quiet about the title, but at PAX visitors could now play for themselves for the first time. Initial reports from the trade fair praised the combat system, which cleverly combines melee and ranged attacks and is reminiscent of God of War.
For example, you can hold enemies in the air with combos or target weak points from a distance with a rifle. Brutal finishing moves serve as medkits, a bit like in Doom Eternal. The setting of Evil West is pleasantly fresh and sends us into battle as a grim Western hero á la Call of Juarez Gunslinger on behalf of an occult vampire hunter organisation against zombies and demons.
Not only conventional weapons such as revolvers are used, but also high-tech weapons – for example, a kind of electrically charged combat glove that sizzles enemies with lightning. We learn new attacks via a skill tree. Incidentally, Evil West is being developed by Flying Wild Hog, who can look back on a lot of action experience with the Shadow Warrior series. Too bad: There was still no release date announced at PAX!
World of Horror
(Genre:Point & Click – Developer: panstasz – Release:2022 – Platform:PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch)
A horror game inspired by Junji Ito and H.P. Lovecraft? World of Horror has been on my radar for a while for that reason alone. However, I’m exercising patience until the final release, after the title launched into Early Access back in 2020. Now, at PAX EAST 2022, some lucky visitors were allowed to play into two new chapters of World of Horror on site. I’m just a little envious.
What exactly the roguelite adventure by Polish developer panstasz has to offer has already been revealed to you by our colleagues Dennis and Géraldine: once in text form and once in podcast form. Of course, you can also get a concrete impression in this eerily beautiful trailer:
The Last Worker
(Genre:Action-Adventure – Developer: Oiffy, Wolf & Wood Interactive Ltd – Release:2022 – Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch)
The first screenshots of The Last Worker are somewhat reminiscent of Portal with a colourful comic graphic filter. And if the gameplay is even close to Valve’s classic, then that alone is a selling point for me. In The Last Worker, we also experience the story from a first-person view, having to solve puzzles while grappling with a deep story about an increasingly automated world and the struggles that come with it.
At PAX East 2022, The Last Worker could already be played and left a good first impression. The narrative adventure is scheduled for release later this year and will be playable in both normal and VR modes.
Turbo Overkill
(Genre: First-person shooter – Developer:Trigger Happy Interactive – Release: April 22, 2022 – Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)
You long for uncompromising action like back in the first Unreal Tournament or Doom? Then Turbo Overkill from the thematically very appropriately named developer Trigger Happy Interactive might be interesting for you.
The fast-paced shooter lets you rampage through a contrasting cyberpunk world and maltreat enemies with numerous futuristic weapons or your chainsaw leg. The latter, however, does not hinder your mobility in any way, because mobility is very important here.
Thanks to nimble forward-dashes, wall-runs and a handy grappling hook, you can dash through the often very vertical levels and collect pick-ups and power-ups. You can even jump over the bonnets of the flying cars from time to time.
Turbo Overkill started its Early Access phase on 22 April 2022 (Steam) and also offers a demo there with which you can try out the game for free.
Dolmen
(Genre: Action RPG – Developer: Massive Work Studio – Release:2022 – Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One )
Games that hit the Soulslike notch are now a dime a dozen. But if you’re already looking for the next title in the genre after Elden Ring, you might want to keep an eye on Dolmen. In terms of gameplay and atmosphere, it is strongly oriented towards the great role models such as Dark Souls or Bloodborne, but comes with a rather unique sci-fi setting. Similar to The Surge, but different.
The Last Oricru
(Genre:Action RPG – Developer: GoldKnights – Release: 2022 – Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S )
The role-playing game by the Czech developer studio GoldKnights mixes the Middle Ages with science fiction. We slip into the role of Silver, who is stranded on an alien planet and gets directly involved in the power struggles of three factions. But The Last Oricru is not just an Elex clone, because unlike Piranha Bytes’ open world, the focus here is on far-reaching player decisions, replay value and tough battles à la Dark Souls.
At PAX East 2022, there was a new demo with previously unseen content to play. You can also easily download this on (Steam) and make your own picture of the role-playing game with the big visions.
Paper Cut Mansion
(Genre: Action-Adventure – Developer: Space Lizard Studio – Release:2022 – Platform:PC)
Paper Cut Mansion impresses at first sight with its unusual art style. Just like in the popular Paper Mario series, everything in the game world looks as if it has just been freshly made. But what is the roguelite with a horror setting about?
As a policeman named Toby, you go to an old mansion where supernatural occurrences are unsurprisingly commonplace. You explore the mysterious house, solve puzzles and, of course, also have to defeat enemies and avoid traps. What’s particularly nasty about it is that if you die, there are consequences, because in this game there is a perma-death!
So caution is paramount as you roam the corridors. And what’s all the fuss for? Your task is to fully unravel the history of this place. The end of the game, by the way, is supposed to differ depending on how you’ve done in the course of the adventure.
Tales from the Borderlands 2
(genre:Unknown – developer:Gearbox – release: 2022 – platform: PC and consoles)
What exactly Tales from the Borderlands 2 or season 2 of Tales from the Borderlands will be, nobody knows at the moment. Except, of course, Gearbox, who are responsible for the sequel to a criminally underrated Telltale adventure game. But there are currently no trailers, screenshots, details on gameplay or story.
The Borderlands developer only hinted that the game will be released in 2022. Concrete information will come sometime in the summer. Until then, keep your fingers crossed and hope that despite the new story and new characters, there will still be a reunion with Rhys, Fiona (and Loader Bot), even if Telltale no longer has its fingers in the pie.
Homeworld 3
(Genre: Real-time Strategy – Developer: Blackbird Interactive – Release: 4th Quarter 2022 – Platform: PC)
At PAX, there was actually news about our two favourite space strategy series: Homeworld 3 is getting a cool Collector’s Edition, which appeals exactly to space nerds like me. Because it contains a big, fancy mothership model with sound and LEDs that, together with the included miniature fleet, almost makes me forget about the actual game.
No Place for Bravery
(Genre:Action RPG – Developer: Glitch Factory – Release: 2022 – Platform: PC, Switch )
No Place for Bravery relies on an intense mix of high-quality 2D pixel optics, an impressive soundtrack and intense battles. The action role-playing game wants to address moral dilemmas and the reflection on decisions made as part of its plot.
As already mentioned, the combat system will play a central role. Parrying and precise timing are important here, every mistake is punished. Sounds a lot like a Soulsborne title and basically it also reminds us a little of Dark Souls from a top-down perspective. The parallels also continue with the character, who is able to resurrect after dying and jump back into the fray.
By the way, the character is called Thorn. He is an experienced warrior and is looking for clues to his missing daughter. Thorn knows how to defend himself, but that will only be of limited use to him on his journey through the dark world. For the enemies are not only numerous, but also deal out powerful blows.
Superfuse
(Genre: Action RPG – Developer:Stitch Head Entertainment – Release:tba – Platform: PC)
Elements
(Genre: Action-Adventure – Developer: Wreckit Games – Release: 2023 – Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch )
Ouh, okay. I still have to get used to the creepy and colourful graphic style and the doll-like faces of Elements. They make me feel a little uneasy, at least at the moment. On the other hand, Elements doesn’t promise any new ideas in terms of gameplay, but some that have already proven themselves in the past.
A bit of Breath of the Wild and a bit of Minecraft are packed into the open-world role-playing game about two siblings who fulfil their destiny and thus save the world (or something). Yes, Elements really doesn’t come across as particularly innovative. But hey, if it works? You can see exactly what to expect in the announcement trailer from 2021.
The adventure was also represented at PAX East 2022 and it might well be worth keeping an eye on Elements.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
(Genre: Beat’em Up – Developer:Tribute Games – Release:2022 – Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch )
For fuck’s sake, even I as a Power Rangers fan have to grudgingly acknowledge: What’s currently going down with the Ninja Turtles is better than any party-size pizza. On the one hand, the Cowabunga Collection is an absolutely fantastic collection of 13 (!) Turtles classics for modern platforms, and on the other, Shredder’s Revenge is a completely new beat ’em up that looks absolutely great so far.
During my civilian time on archaeological excavations, I secretly played the legendary Turtles in Time in the construction trailer instead of working; and this is exactly where – with the best of all Turtles games – Shredder’s Revenge picks up! Either solo or in co-op, I fight my way through colourful levels as one of the Turtles, beat up Shredder’s henchmen, dismantle the familiar boss opponents and (hopefully) have a blast doing it.
As unimpressive as such mainstream retro revivals may be, Shredder’s Revenge is pretty high on my wish list, because publisher Dotemu has already shown with the terrific Streets of Rage 4 that they know exactly how to bring a classic back into the present.
Signalis
(Genre:Action-Adventure – Developer: rose-engine – Release: Fall 2022 – Platform: PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One)
Plays like a (classic) Resident Evil or Silent Hill and is reminiscent of a mix between Alien and Akira. Signalis already has what it takes to become my next personal horror hit. Because here, in addition to small puzzles and head-scratchers, there are desperate fights for survival and excessive resource management. And then, of course, there’s Signalis’ idiosyncratic graphic style, which already has me under its spell.
The horror title was playable for the first time at PAX East, but I’ll have to wait until autumn 2022. Until then, you can get an idea of Signalis for yourself with the help of the atmospheric gameplay trailer:
What games, announcements and news from PAX East 2022 caught your eye and stuck in your memory? What is your personal highlight of this year’s game show? Let us know in the comments!
