The 10 Most Promising Games From PAX East

The Penny Arcade Expo - or PAX for short - is a grand annual celebration of gaming culture, and last weekend gamers from across the American continent descended on Boston for PAX East. A festive occasion, PAX is a chance for people to come together and enjoy their shared passion for video games. As a result, the convention is awash with developers keen to impress crowds with their latest projects, and this year PAX East showcased some of the most interesting up and coming indie games due to release later in 2016 and beyond. Not only were we treated to some stunning new gameplay footage from several already eagerly anticipated titles, but an array of newly announced games also made their stage debut. With literally hundreds of stunning new announcements, we’ve compiled our top 10 games of the show. Be sure to keep an eye out for these stunning new indie titles in the months to come - you won't want to miss them. Shadow Warrior 2 Developer Flying Wild Hog are back with a new Shadow Warrior game following on from the success of the rebooted title back in 2013. The latest iteration changes the formula considerably though, with a far less linear environment and the ability to play its largely open maps cooperatively. Quite apart from looking absolutely stunning in footage shown off at PAX East, Shadow Warrior 2 has added a stack of clever new mechanics and its gameplay looks to be hugely entertaining. This is a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, allowing players to eviscerate enemies in an endless manner of comically violent ways. It’s gory, over the top and a refreshing change of pace from the current range of military first person shooters. To call Shadow Warrior 2 mindless entertainment might not be giving the game quite enough credit though, as it does incorporate RPG elements, customizable weaponry and some clever procedurally generated level design. That being said, this is still a tongue in cheek title that looks destined to put a smile on the face when it debuts later this year across PS4, Xbox One and PC. Pyre Pyre is the latest title from SuperGiant games, and as you would expect from the team that bought us Bastion and Transistor, it’s absolutely gorgeous. Bright and colourful, Pyre is a visual feast for the eyes, but thematically it’s very different from SuperGiant’s previous games. To categorize it by genre is quite tricky; part adventure title, part sports game, Pyre features narrative driven gameplay interspaced with a sports game that looks like a cross between a MOBA and Quidditch. In Pyre, you control a band of outcasts trying to escape a purgatory-like world. In order to do so, they must compete in a series of “Rites” against other wonderers also trying to escape. The “Rites” are a 3v3 game in which the player must carry a ball into the opposition’s goal. Players can only control one party member at a time, and each member has a set of different attributes and abilities. Rather like a MOBA, the game features ability cool-downs allowing extra sprint speed or a chance to incapacitate other players. Pyre certainly offers something different and SuperGiant games once again demonstrate the indie gaming scenes strive for creativity. Pyre is currently slated for a 2017 release. Seven: The Days Long Gone It’s been quite some time since top-down, isometric RPGs have been popular, but that hasn’t stopped newly formed studio Fools Theory from creating their new title Seven: Days Long Gone. The brain child of several former CD Project RED employees involved with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Seven: The Days Long Gone looks like a stunning hybrid of the Witcher and Diablo series. Gameplay revealed for the very first time at PAX East showcased a vibrant fantasy environment that incorporates both steam and cyberpunk elements. Isometric gameplay might be an old school perspective, but Seven puts a fresh spin on things with a heavy emphasis on free traversal and parkour. It’s an interesting concept, especially given that isometric games of old were always fairly linear and one dimensional in nature. By comparison, Seven’s level design looks deep and the developers were keen to reiterate the open nature of the world map. Seven has no confirmed release date as of yet, but expect this one to arrive sometime in 2017 on PC. Let It Die Grasshopper Manufacture’s latest free to play title, Let It Die is a hack and slash Rougelike heavily inspired by the Dark Souls series. The game’s director, Goichi Suda, or Suda51 as he’s commonly known, isn’t normally reputed for such tonally dark titles, but given his track record for highly innovative and creative video games, Let it Die represents somewhat of an exciting prospect. Similar to a Souls game, Let It Die features plenty of loot and weapon variety that players can equip to shape their character depending on preference. The combat is fast paced, with PAX footage demonstrating some frenetic scenes of duel wielding carnage, but the games mechanics still necessitate dodge and parry tactics so expect plenty of strategic gameplay to defeat enemies. To keep players on their toes, defeated enemies also leave behind ghosts that will attack you again when re-treading previous areas. Let It Die is a PlayStation 4 exclusive title due out in 2016. Outlast 2 Outlast was one of 2013's big surprises and arguably one of the best horror experiences in years, so the game's newly revealed sequel, Outlast 2 has quite the shoes to fill. From what we saw during PAX East, there is every reason to believe that the second game is poised to deliver a similarly brilliant experience. Aesthetically, Outlast 2 looks sublime, and the demo’s corn field chase stealth sequence alludes to an eerie rural setting. This is a game brimming with tension and suspense, in which players can expect plenty of item and weaponry management in order to survive. Indeed, there weren’t any offensive weapons featured in the demo and players had to rely on evasion tactics to escape their creepy pursuers. As in the first game, Outlast 2 restricts your vision, this time by way of a night vision camera with limited battery life, and the limited ability to see in combination with the games crisp sound design is superbly effective at creating a terrifying ambience. Outlast 2 is due for a late 2016 release on PC, Xbox One and PS4. Beat Cop Beat Cop is a delightful new indie point-and-click adventure game from developer Pixel Crow, and is a throwback to the old school of video gaming in every sense. Animated with sublime pixel art, Beat Cop’s colourful pallet is an entirely suitable compliment to its 1980s setting, and the game world looks to have a delightfully comedic vibe to it. In Beat Cop, players take control of a disgraced police officer who has been reduced to writing traffic tickets rather than chasing crime. That might not sound like most interesting premise, but as you converse with neighbourhood locals, and delve deeper into the games plot, you find yourself caught in an illegal drug ring. The game features an intriguing time based mechanic as well, in which each action performed causes time to move forward. Given that not everything can be achieved in a single day, players are forced to prioritize different circumstances, shaping the ebb and flow of the story. It isn’t necessarily a unique feature to Beat Cop, but it certainly adds an interesting new dimension of gameplay, and players can expect plenty of replayability from its branching narrative. Beat Cop is due to release on PC in Q4 2016. Thumper There are no shortage of PlayStation VR launch titles, a point that Sony has been very keen to point out, but Thumper might just be one of the best of them. Dubbed a “Rhythm Violence” game by indie developer Drool, Thumper is a mad mix of traditional rhythm games like Amplitude and rail shooters like F-Zero. Don’t expect much of a story here; Thumper is a VR game that you strap into and get lost in. A sensory overload when played in VR, Thumper features all the sorts of thrills of your favourite carnival ride, and could be one of the most exhilarating and immersive VR titles in development. Bound for both PC and PlayStation later in 2016, be sure to add Thumper to your list of must play VR titles. Hob Developer Runic Games showcased more gameplay footage of their latest title, Hob during PAX east, and this wonderful little adventure game looks totally stunning. Set on a vividly colourful and mysterious world, Hob inspires the same sense of exploration as a Zelda game and all the wonder and intrigue of a title like Shadow of the Colossus. Although Hob's gorgeous aesthetic describes a seemingly tranquil environment, the game is riddled with hidden dangers and hostile lifeforms. Gameplay centres on exploration via traversal through the use of the protagonist’s metal arm, which allows the player the ability to grapple to different locations and move obstacles. According to the development team, world shifting is also core mechanic in Hob, as it constantly alters during the plot, either locking away or revealing new areas. Interestingly, the story is revealed only through the discovery of new areas, and players are given very little narrative to go by during the initial sequences of gameplay. It’s a fascinating concept and the allure of Hob’s cryptic environment makes this game one to keep on your radar for 2016. Cuphead Cuphead is the long awaited run and gun 2D side scrolling title from developer Studio MDHR, and we were treated to more footage at PAX East this year. Clearly inspired by 1930s cartoons, its gorgeous, cel shaded graphics and brilliant audio design scream the classic cartoon design of that era. Gameplay is centred on boss battles that can be selected in any order, but the big news from PAX is that MDHR have now added traditional platforming sequences to the games level design. Cuphead could be destined to join the ever growing ranks of recent highly successful 2D scrollers such as Shovel Knight and Fez. From what we’ve seen so far, the game's aesthetic and challenging gameplay certainly looks as though it’s likely to be a 2016 standout, and quite possibly one of Xbox One’s best indie titles. Dead By Daylight Dead by Daylight is a multiplayer survival horror game in which a team of 4 must play cooperatively to survive against a single antagonist controlled by a 5th player. Rather like Evolve, the game antagonist is indestructible and cannot be overwhelmed, and players must rely on evasion to survive. The goal is to light several generators across the game map in order to open a doorway that leads players out of danger. Of course, those playing as the villain are tasked with hunting and killing the opposing defenceless team members. Though the demo only showcased one assailant known as “The Hunter,” the game will feature several different classes, each with different attribute and abilities that afford various advantages and disadvantages. The game features procedural level generation which randomizes each map and won’t allow for players to become too familiar with any given location; a clever solution to a multiplayer game that emphasizes horror and tension. Dead by Daylight will be available June 2016.