On an average day, about a dozen new games are released on Steam. And while we think that's a good thing, it can be understandably hard to keep up with. Potentially exciting gems are sure to be lost in the deluge of new things to play unless you sort through every single game that is released on Steam. So that’s exactly what we’ve done. If nothing catches your fancy this week, we've gathered the best PC games you can play right now and a running list of the new games of 2019.
Pathologic 2
Steam page
Release: May 23
Developer: Ice-Pick Lodge
Price: $34.99 | £27.79 | AU$49.95
The long-awaited sequel to the disturbing 2005 original, Pathologic 2 is a narrative driven horror game set in a rural town beset by a mysterious plague. You're tasked with replacing the dead local healer, and you've got 12 days to get to the bottom of the plague and, presumably, to help deal with it. There are some prominent survival elements–you'll need to eat, drink and sleep–which means you won't want to be wasting any time. If you loved the first Pathologic or its HD remake, this is a complete no-brainer. But if this is the first you're hearing of the series, and the idea of a bizarre, unsettling, Russia-made horror game sounds appealing to you, definitely give it a shot.
Splitgate: Arena Warfare
Steam page
Release: May 24
Developer: 1047 Games
Price: Free
This free-to-play FPS is basically a hybrid of Halo and Portal. In other words, the fast movement and low time-to-kill is supplemented by the use of player-created portals, which appear to work the same as they do in Valve's classic puzzler. That's a pretty crucial twist in the standard FPS traversal mode, but studio 1047 Games insists that it'll be "equally accessible to first-time and veteran FPS players". Whatever the case, it's free, so you can test that out for yourself.
American Fugitive
Steam page
Release: May 21
Developer: Fallen Tree Games Ltd
Price: $19.99 | £17.99 | AU$28.95
American Fugitive is a top down, open world action game in the mould of early Grant Theft Auto instalments. You're Will Riley, a guy seeking vengeance on the murder of his father. To add insult to injury, Riley was himself wrongly accused of committing that murder, so as you can imagine, he's not a happy man. There's lots of break-and-enters and police shootings, as Chris discovered last week when he played it. It also looks really nice, and a nice departure from the urban settings we're used to seeing in games like this.
Clam Man
Steam page
Release: May 23
Developer: Team Clam
Price: $9.99 | £7.99 | AU$14.50
Clam Man is a bright and breezy point-and-click adventure game starring a man who is a clam. Or at least, the man has what appears to be a clam for a head. Whatever the case, the clam / man hybrid is a middling office worker suddenly thrown into "an adventure full of danger, suspicion and mystery", and the only way to pass through this calamity is via pointing and clicking. The game is more about interacting with the game's myriad strange characters than it is brain teasers, but the Steam page promises an "Anime fight scene".
Fission Superstar X
Steam page
Release: May 22
Developer: Turbo Pelvis 3000 inc.
Price: $14.99 | £11.39 | AU$21.50
Here's the week's obligatory rogue-lite, this time in the form of a sidescrolling space shooter. As the video above demonstrates, Fission Superstar X boasts beautifully high-detailed pixel art and all the usual trappings: high difficulty, randomly generated levels, lots of different crew members and playable ships to try, and very granular ship modification. "Travel from Planet X to Earth while fending off endless waves of attackers," the description reads. "What is the payload? A "superstar" nuclear bomb. What is the mission? To make her famous! Does it makes sense? Ask the "scientist" who built that thing!"
These games were released between May 20 and May 27 2019. Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.
