Many excellent titles released over the past year and all things considered, 2022 was a good year for gaming. Unfortunately, many titles were delayed due to a mixture of previously missed deadlines or unfortunate geopolitical events. With that said, here is my list of my most awaited (and announced!) PC games for 2023.
Amnesia: The Bunker
This is the recently announced successor to Frictional Game’s legendary puzzle and horror series and the sequel of sorts to Amnesia: Rebirth.
Announcement trailer
All we know about this game is that it will take place inside of a WW1 bunker and the player will have only one bullet remaining for their revolver. Also, unlike most previous Frictional games, it seems that this one will be a tad more action packed but also far more gameplay focused, with an ever-present AI enemy constantly stalking the player and multiple solutions to solve the game’s non-linear open world. Lofty goals within the horror genre.
SOMA is to this day one of the best gaming experiences I have ever had and one of the few times a game was written well enough to legit stand next to what literature may offer. Rebirth was a good game and I recommend it, but it could not quite reach those nigh peerless heights which SOMA reached. From the little we have seen of The Bunker, Frictional does actually have my attention already. Let’s hope it lives up to its pedigree!
*Also Frictional, please ditch this engine or really *heavily retool it for this title. It was for sure holding back Rebirth to some extent. And it may hold back The Bunker even more.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl & Men of War 2
2022 had promised us both of these games, a return to form for perhaps gaming’s best open world FPS franchise, and one of its most vaunted RTS/RTT WW2 sandbox titles. Both are known for amazing modding communities and great gameplay.
Alas, massive negative geopolitical events beyond the developer’s control have made the development of these games troubled.
The war in Ukraine has affected all of the region’s game developers negatively. I hope that the new year will bring them victory and later peace. There is still hope these titles can come out in 2023, so they both make this list since I personally can’t wait to sink back into the Zone or my M26 Pershing.
Company of Heroes 3
This is another delayed title that was supposed to come out in later 2022. We finally know that it should be coming next year - the 23rd of February 2023 to be exact.
Company of Heroes is a legend among PC enthusiasts for a reason. Combining good storytelling with mostly balanced, deep RTS gameplay makes for a GOTY contender, or so it has in the past. There are many new features coming with this sequel as well as an exploration of slightly less well-known fronts of World War 2. Safe to say, most RTS fans looking for a possibly excellent title will be keeping an eye out for this one early next year.
System Shock Remake
System Shock Remake is another one of these delayed games, but judging based on the demo as well as current feedback – it will be worth it.
The return to this legendary game and series will hopefully be one for the ages and show a young generation of gamers what excellent design is.
Do note – you can try out a free demo as we speak. It is obviously not the finished game, but it is sleek.
Starfield
This one is scheduled for release within the first half of 2023 and is the next game from legendary studio Bethesda Softworks.
I am a bit bullish on Bethesda these days, their many issues with their handling of Skyrim as well as Fallout 4 and 76 have made me more measure in my excitement for their titles.
Atomic Heart
Atomic Heart is an FPS with some light action RPG elements slated for release in February 2023. It follows a unique alternative history take of the 1950s era USSR, devastated by a briefer but even more brutal WW2 and mass robotization and it looks… interesting.
What really has me interested for sure is that it seems that the environments of this game are not static and seem more reactive than what we are used to seeing in modern games. That would be swell, the modern generation of FPS games is at times too safe, too static to be truly on the level of the greats of the past. But time will tell and lets hope this game lives up to its interesting premise.
And so ends our brief look at some of the hottest upcoming releases. We will no doubt see multiple new announcements next year, as well as many DLCs, expansions, and patches that would greatly expand already released titles. It is safe to say that the future of gaming looks wicked and we cannot wait to get our hands on these titles!
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