Several highlights await you on Steam this week.
If you’re not exactly a Harry Potter fan, things looked very bleak last week, because apart from Hogwarts Legacy there was hardly any exciting game release. But this time there should be something for everyone again, because the magic school open world is followed by a week on Steam that threatens to burst with exciting titles.
So let’s save a too long intro and jump into the re-release of the week together!
The highlights of the week
Returnal
11:48
Returnal in the test – tough, but damn good shooter
Returnal is still one of the best shooters on the PlayStation 5 in 2023 – and is finally coming to Steam. Here you play the astronaut Selene, who is stranded on a mysterious alien planet and fights her way through the different areas in the best Bullet Hell style, which change with each death.
The PC version has everything a PC gamer could wish for: mouse and keyboard support, ultrawide support, DLSS and FSR2 to improve performance, and improved graphics with 4K and new ray tracing options.
Wild Hearts
2:33
Wild Hearts’ battles look monstrously good in the cinematic trailer
Wild Hearts from publisher Electronic Arts makes generous use of the great example Monster Hunter: you create your own character, hunt huge beasts and loot their remains. From the collected materials you forge new equipment and can then slay even more powerful monsters.
The whole thing relies on an aesthetic Japan setting of the feudal era, in which you can also use magic and fantastic weapons.
Wild Hearts
The first game that Monster Hunter could become dangerous
Pharaoh: A New Era
11:29
Pharaoh: A New Era – Building Remake preview video
The construction veterans among you should still have fond memories of Pharaoh, because the unofficial sequel to Caesar 3 was one of the best games of 1999 – yes, that’s a long time ago! With Pharaoh: A New Era, the favorite game of our editors Markus and Géraldine is now getting a full-fledged remake in which you build cities in ancient Egypt including huge pyramids – be sure to keep your eyes peeled for our test on Wednesday!
More releases of the week
Monday February 13th
Perseus: Titan Slayer: In this action roguelike, you fight as the Greek legendary hero Perseus against the titans and meet gods like Zeus, Poseidon or Hermes.
karagon (Early Access): A survival game with the typical elements such as base building, but in which you can craft huge robots that you can then ride.
Tuesday February 14th
Wanted Dead: An extremely stylish shooter from the creators of Ninja Gaiden, in which you use katana and firearms to take down your enemies. The developers have put a lot of effort into the finisher animations in particular, as the trailer shows:
2:14
The finishers from the cyberpunk hack & slay Wanted: Dead actually belong in the cinema
Wednesday February 15th
Operation: Harsh Doorstop (Early Access): A really completely free tactical shooter without any monetization, which aims to compete with hardcore shooters like Squad.
Plan B: Terraform (Early Access): In this building game you actually have to terraform whole planets. So you not only build cities, but also rivers, mountains and forests.
The Last Starship (Early Access): The new game from the creators of Prison Architect offers construction again – but this time in space. You tinker your own ship, equip it with weapons and explore the universe with it.
Thursday February 16th
Wild West Dynasty (Early Access): A mixture of open-world role-playing game and building game – it already worked pretty well in the quasi-predecessor Medieval Dynasty. You can already read our test today:
Wild West Dynasty
The building RPG survival mix can now also story!
Hellcard (Early Access): A roguelike deck builder that relies on a special turn-based combat system. For your party of three classic fantasy classes, you can either hire AI teammates or fill them with friends in co-op.
Friday February 17th
The Settlers: New Alliances: The new settler game doesn’t really deserve the name if you listen to the many fans of the former build-up series – because the new part will offer significantly more real-time strategy than comfortable settling. Here’s why Maurice doesn’t have high hopes for The Settlers:
12:24
The Settlers: New Alliances – This is how Ubisoft wants to save the problem game. Oh well.
Spacebourne 2 (Early Access): A single-player open-world in space where you either travel on foot or in your spaceship. There are said to be plenty of occupations – from bounty hunting to trading and mining to piracy.
What game are you looking forward to this week? The selection of highlights is really big this time. Write it to us in the comments!
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