In a sea of new PC games due out in 2022, Ian Evenden has picked 35 wor th waiting for

NAILING DOWN the games of 2022— what’s left of it, at least—proved to be trickier than in previous years. There is a distinct lack of concrete release dates out there, with developers preferring to take an ‘it’ll be done when it’s done’ approach instead of killing themselves with 80-hour weeks as they crunch toward an unwise deadline.

And that’s just fine. After all, the more game developers who are left alive, the more games we get to play.

There’s also a dearth of big names.

There’s no Call of Duty coming out this year. No new GTA, unless you count another re-release of V. No Assassin’s Creed nor Far Cry. No Halo, no Doom, no Civ... the list of absences goes on.

This leaves room for the other players, at least. We see a great number of new games that aren’t sequels, spin-offs, or remakes (though there are still examples of all three) and an awful lot of games with ‘TBC’ where their release date should be. If this represents a healthy correction for the game industry after years of crunch-based horror stories, then so be it.

Our PCs will be ready when the time comes.

© 2K GAMES

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

A Borderlands spinoff, Wonderlands returns to the fantasy role-playing game of Assault on Dragon’s Keep for a first-person shooter that can be played solo or in a four-player co-op. There’s the usual randomly-generated loot system to ensure interesting new guns keep coming, but while Borderlands forced you into pre-existing characters, Wonderlands has a looser character generator, with a class system allowing you to put your own stamp on who you are.

• Out: Now

• playwonderlands.2k.com

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

Is there anyone who hasn’t played this yet? A somewhat repetitive series going since 2005, The Skywalker Saga brings together Lego versions of all nine Star Wars films into the best Lego game experience since the last one. The big change this time is that it’s more of a third-person shooter than before, with a shiny graphical overhaul. The floaty movement of the original games has gone, replaced by clever environmental effects such as Han Solo’s aimed shots and the protocol droids’ ability to score side missions.

• Out: Now

• www.starwars.com/games-apps/lego-star-wars-the-skywalker-saga

Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong

A narrative RPG rather than an out-and-out throat-ripper, you’re given control of three vampire characters who are often surrounded by humans. Despite this, they need to upgrade their supernatural powers and make moral choices in situations where there’s no obvious right answer. Each character has different views on how best to hide themselves from humanity, leading to more problems for the player to solve. Despite being based on the fifth edition of the Vampire: The Masquerade tabletop RPG, you don’t need to have played that game, or the Bloodlines videogames, to get stuck into Swansong. Out: May 19 • vampire-swansong.com

© NACON, WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT , BIGBEN INTERACTIVE, GSC GAME WORLD

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

Knowing STALKER, the heart of the title may be literal, a giant organ hanging from an irradiated tree, pumping nuclear fuel into countless zombies. Or it might be a metaphor. Who knows? On paper, this sounds like a rehash of the first game, as brave souls make their way to the exclusion zone in the hope of recovering priceless artifacts and not being eaten by horrible monsters. Enough time has passed since the last game, however, for the developers to have learned a new trick or two, so we suspect this cross between an FPS, horror game, and immersive sim may have plenty of surprises as its non-linear story makes its way toward one of several potential endings.