The new Steam Next Fest for October 2024 has begun and as usual, there’s a veritable treasure trove of demos available for upcoming PC games. The downside is that some gems might slip through the cracks, given how many demos are released at the same time. In this article, we’ll try to give you an overview of the five games (plus another bonus five) we believe are worth checking out.
Let’s start from the top. So far, the most played demo is the latest playtest of Delta Force, TiMi Studio’s upcoming tactical first-person shooter game based on the historic franchise. Back in June, we were told the developers planned to launch early access in October, although that schedule appears to have been delayed. Anyway, this new playtest also features Asia and South America servers in addition to North America and Europe, allowing more players to jump into the fray with a decent latency. Across the Steam Next Fest week, Delta Force players will be able to check out four Havoc Warfare modes (Attack/Defend, King of the Hill, Siege, and Blitz) across two maps (Cracked and Ascension), while the extraction mode Hazard Operations has three maps available. This playtest also includes 45 weapons, 9 vehicles, and 12 props.
Do you miss the old days of Grand Theft Auto 1 and 2? If so, there is no better cure than The Precinct, even though the game in development at Fallen Tree flips GTA on its premise and puts you in the shoes of a rookie beat cop who just graduated from the Police Academy.
The Precinct mixes action with sandbox elements. In the game, you’ll patrol the streets and respond to calls to take on criminals, from drug dealers to bank robbers, choosing your own approach in car chases and shootouts. As a cop, you can get various forms of backup, from spike strips to roadblocks and fellow police cars. A full-fledged day/night cycle with dynamic weather should make you even more immersed in the fictional city of Averno, set in the 1980s East Coast.
Fans of games like NieR: Automata and Code Vein should definitely check out AI Limit, which has a demo out now on PC for the Steam Next Fest and on PlayStation 5. As in many Japanese games, the setting of the debut title from Sense Games is post-apocalyptic Earth, following various wars and disasters. Players will venture out into the dangerous world from the last human refuge of Havenswell, trying to uncover the truth behind all the destructive events. The AI Limit demo lets players experience the first level in its entirety for an estimated two hours of gameplay.
Enemies include elite and boss battles, and the level has several secret paths that hide weapons and items. Once you finish the demo, there’s also a Boss Challenge mode.
This impressive looking Unreal Engine 5-powered real-time strategy game is based on the novel from best-selling saga sci-fi novel originally published by French writer Bernard Werber in 1991. The game expects you to build up your economy, manage your units, gather information on the battlefield, gain new powers, and strengthen your defenses. When you run out of space, there’s always the option to conquer other nests. The full game, out on November 7, also includes a 20-hour campaign and even multiplayer modes.
Our final pick is New Arc Line, the intriguing magic-meets-steampunk cRPG in development at Dreamate Games. In the Steam Next Fest demo, players can pick from two classes (either a Voodoo Shaman or a Diesel Engineer) and two races (Human or Elf). The events of the demo take place a little further into the main story, in a small part of the Harbour Slums, where players are tasked with investigating the Leprosarium and finding out why a doctor is not making her rounds to help the poor community affected by the deadly Iron Plague epidemic. For more about New Arc Line, check out our Gamescom 2024 Q&A.
