The Epic Games Store recently published its 2025 Year in Review, highlighting a record-breaking $400 million spent on third-party PC titles—a 57% increase over previous years. Total PC player spending hit $1.16 billion, supported by a catalog that has now expanded past 6,000 games. While these figures show aggressive growth, the platform still faces a long road to becoming a true competitor to Steam. Steam’s entrenched community features, social strength, and significantly larger library of niche and legacy titles continue to keep the majority of the gaming population rooted in that ecosystem. To keep the momentum, Epic is maintaining its developer-first approach, allowing studios to keep 100% of their first million dollars in revenue and offering flexible in-game payment solutions that bypass store fees.
Botany Manor: 19th-Century Estate Puzzles
Botany Manor free on Epic Games Store this week
Currently, you can claim Botany Manor for free until February 12 at 11:00 AM ET. This is a first-person puzzle game set in a Victorian estate where you play as a retired botanist researching how to bloom rare, forgotten seeds. It requires you to investigate clues throughout the manor, such as temperature charts and ancient textbooks, to solve the environmental conditions needed for each plant. If you prefer to have it on Valve’s platform, the Steam Store currently lists it at its full $24.99 price point. For a middle ground, the G2A Marketplace has keys available for approximately **$5.40**, which is a significant drop if you miss the Epic window.
Pixel Gun 3D: Poison Retro Set
Pixel Gun 3D
The second freebie this week is the Poison Retro Set for the competitive shooter Pixel Gun 3D. This DLC pack is a high-value claim for active players, bundling three poisonous variants of top-tier weaponry: the Digital Sunrise sniper, the Laser Cycler backup, and the Wave of Poison. It effectively gives you a pre-built, retro-themed loadout without the usual grinding or in-game currency cost. This set usually retails for $24.99 on the Steam Store, so claiming it on Epic for $0 is the most resourceful way to gear up before the rotation on February 12.
Store Engagement and Future Social Features
Epic’s Free Games Program remains its strongest hook, with 662 million titles claimed in 2025 alone. The report also notes that 78% of these games saw all-time peak concurrent player records during their free week on the store. Looking toward the rest of 2026, the company plans to launch “Epic Web Shops” and a completely rebuilt launcher architecture this summer to address long-standing stability and speed issues. They are also planning to introduce game-independent party systems and voice chat in the second quarter, features that are essential if they hope to eventually bridge the social gap that currently gives Steam its primary competitive advantage.
The work of security forces ranks among the most important in our society, and there’s no doubt that without their operations, it would descend into absolute chaos. The sight of a soldier, police officer, or even a member of special forces has always stirred in me not only respect but also curiosity. You probably won’t be surprised that I spent a substantial part of my childhood playing soldiers with a friend. Fortunately, I never came even remotely close to the kind of danger this work entails. Thanks to Ready or Not, I got to experience firsthand that wearing such a uniform conceals not only incredibly brave labor but also some pretty nasty stuff.
Weplaygames Youtube Channel: Ready or Not tactical FPS gameplay
Command Weight
You’re wondering what could be harder than doing the job of a special forces member? Well, the job of their commander. That’s exactly the role the creators of this tactical hardcore shooter put you in. In the singleplayer portion, which doesn’t hide any deeper story, you’re put in charge of several officers who will accompany you on various missions. You’ll primarily be eliminating terrorists, attempting to arrest wanted individuals, protecting civilians, or defusing explosives. That doesn’t mean, however, that you’ll only be barking orders, as was the case in the SWAT game series.
Ready or Not – Gas station mission 2
You’ll also be monitoring the mental state of your unit members. Officers are psychologically affected by injuries sustained in combat, the death of a colleague, or difficult situations where civilian casualties occurred. They can gradually find themselves stressed or depressed, which can also mean their complete departure from the team. It’s up to you whether you decide to be a good commander, care for them and send team members to therapy—which means their temporary removal from the squad—or be ruthless, firing them at the first opportunity and replacing them with new ones.
The stress system thus only functions as long as you want it to. In practice, this means that if instead of sending your officers to therapy you fire them and subsequently hire one after another, you won’t be penalized in any way. Hiring new officers costs nothing, and for many, this can mean an easy way to circumvent the system. If you don’t really immerse yourself in the game, you’ll miss out on a rather essential element revealing the issues of this profession. Although… it depends how you look at it. It’s still a game where massacre follows massacre, but while I wouldn’t want to in any way dishonor the work of these forces, the truth is that their deaths are rather rare. After all, these are trained unit members who are prepared for almost anything.
Ready or Not – Ready for breach
Missions That Stick
With my own eyes, I was deployed with my team against a gas station robbery, a hospital massacre, a village full of cultists with an atmosphere reminiscent of the horror game Resident Evil Village, a nightclub seemingly inspired by the John Wick films, or the lair of a crazed streamer. The believability of the levels is enhanced by meticulously crafted environments full of thematic elements that, upon closer examination, excellently connect the given cases. These aren’t just mere backdrops, quite the opposite. Each mission has a unique atmosphere that I’ll probably associate with this game forever. Ready or Not simply succeeds in showing an undistorted reality where in one second you can make a mistake that will mean lots of blood and unnecessary loss of life. And when I say unnecessary, I mean truly unnecessary. Among the terrorists and criminals move civilians whose survival is just as crucial as the actual neutralization of the enemy.
Ready or Not – Police station outside
Split-Second Calls
And here comes the risk factor. Correctly assessing a situation where it’s just an unarmed civilian is often complicated by their very behavior. Imagine, for example, a situation where part of your unit gets into a firefight and you, in haste and trying to support them, encounter a person who doesn’t comply with repeated commands to raise their hands and instead pulls out a phone. Even in relative calm, this is a situation that’s difficult to resolve. Let alone in chaos, during which your colleagues are dying nearby.
Even though the game is primarily designed as a cooperative title, the singleplayer portion can bring you at least a partially realistic view of the effort these forces put in, which most of us can’t even initially imagine. On the other hand, the game would be much better suited to dialogue cutscenes and perhaps the opportunity to peek behind the curtain of the daily lives of these forces, who must cope with the loss of their colleagues in addition to their own duties. Unfortunately, that didn’t make it in. Instead, I could only examine the unused detailed station environment and local characters who just stare at you without a single line of dialogue or mind their own business. The storyline, if it can be called that, is spread only across briefings that I could replay via audio track before deployment, yet I still felt that the story didn’t make it into the full version.
Ready or Not – Team ready
SWAT’s Heir
That doesn’t mean, however, that you won’t enjoy the singleplayer with AI colleagues playing through the same missions as in co-op. If you were a fan of the SWAT series, I wouldn’t be ashamed to call Ready or Not its spiritual successor, offering you more extensive options. You don’t necessarily have to kill enemies but can first incapacitate them with a flashbang and thus force them to surrender. In these cases, however, speed plays a major role, because if you don’t pacify the gunman in time, even after securing the firearm, they can pull out a backup weapon and make a big mess. But it’s not just the enemy who can do this—there are also non-lethal means like pepper spray or a taser in the arsenal, so completing the sub-task of arrest instead of killing doesn’t have to be necessarily unrealistic.
Ready or Not – Hotel hallway
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better opportunity to try out the work of special forces. Still, I regret how close VOID Interactive studio came to perfection, yet some refinement is still needed even after the PS5 release that came later. I’m curious myself whether other types of rewards will be added beyond what’s currently available. Those are only cosmetic and exclusively clothing, not weapons, which are open from the start along with all other accessories. Each playthrough earns a grade at the end based on meeting certain criteria, such as whether your colleagues and all civilians survived. If you achieve the required grade, you’ll unlock, for example, a new tattoo or perhaps boots. But it won’t add any bonuses.
Where Co-op Lives
If you’re getting this title primarily for co-op and you actually have people to play with, I dare say you’re not looking at dozens but easily hundreds of hours of fun. I myself already have over 80 hours in the game and enjoyed most of them. Coordination of your team is key, and if you opt for anarchy and a solo approach, you’ll die. All of you, to the last man.
Ready or Not – Heavy armor loadout
Now it’s time to move on for a moment to the negatives. I can say right away that the enemy AI is sometimes simply unfair and equally demanding regardless of how many players you’re currently playing co-op with. It often happened to me that I carefully checked a room corner by corner and the strike came through a window. I admit, it’s realistic and I could indeed lose my life that way. However, any passage through the same level by the window often meant instant death or serious injury and absolutely perfect enemy accuracy. But it’s not just predetermined locations—for example, peeking through a hole in a fence. I barely glimpsed anything and took a bullet to the head. And that’s something that after 20 minutes of walking through the level really started to bother me, although we’re talking more about the higher difficulty.
Fortunately, similar situations don’t happen that often, and in practice it means that while you won’t avoid the occasional cursing, the playthrough with your friends will still be really fun. Especially if you surround yourself with a team that strives for professionalism. If you really want to enjoy co-op, you should determine right at the start who will be breaching doors with a ram, checking under them with a mirror, covering with a shield… And most importantly—who will take on the role of commander. Uncoordinated movement through the level primarily means failure. Unlike a progression where you report the status room by room. And maybe in retrospect I’d recommend going through at least part of the aforementioned singleplayer, which can adequately prepare you for potential command.
Ready or Not – Server room
Loadout Depth
The selection of equipment is rich. Besides specialization in carrying a shield, ram, or mirror, you can choose between different types of explosives and stunning devices. The type of armor and bulletproof vest is also important. While in lighter gear I could carry more ammunition, in heavy gear I could withstand more but had to conserve bullets. So everything depends on what playstyle suits you best. Personally, I preferred to choose more durable armor with fewer magazines for a more cautious approach than light armor with more ammunition. And this goes hand in hand with the arsenal of weapons. It’s rich and offers submachine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, and pistols. The feel of shooting is different for each weapon. They differ in recoil, animations, sound, and you simply know which weapon you’re currently using. You don’t need any colored skin or print to recognize the given weapon. A single shot is enough. And if Ready or Not excels at anything, it’s definitely the awareness of what power each of your rounds represents.
Ready or Not – Gas station mission
Tactical Pace
This is also aided by the slower pace. Ready or Not is first and foremost a tactical shooter that isn’t characterized by sprinting and frenzied shooting across the entire map. The freedom of movement is quite verified for players. Such common leaning left and right from around corners can be done smoothly and in increments here. Just as you can move your body up and down from standing to crouching. Thanks to this, you can examine each room and space to the smallest angle and thus avoid overlooking a possible enemy. Furthermore, immersion is characterized not only by magazine check options but also quick reloading, which although you’ll lose a half-empty magazine, you’ll load a new one into the weapon much faster. Or you can just swap the half-empty one for a full one when you know a bigger firefight awaits and you don’t want to get into a situation where you have to reload during combat chaos. I mustn’t forget the alternative aiming when hip-firing. The implementation of lasers when hip-firing deserves praise. They don’t serve here merely as a cool accessory that only shines where you’re aiming, but I actually achieved more accurate close-range hits with it than when using traditional sights.
Ready or Not – Securing a civilian
Your Rules, Your Mistakes
And it’s precisely in the absolute freedom and options of what and how you do things that the real fun lies. You find out that an armed enemy is standing right behind the door? You can get them by shooting through the door. Want to attack from the side? Or send each team through a different entrance? It’s entirely up to you. Even if it’s a stupid idea, you can go and kick down every door you encounter. Or first pry them open or shoot out the hinges with a shotgun. But without prior checking whether someone is standing behind the door or whether there’s a trap set right behind it, you can lose everything. You hold your life, including your unit’s, only in your own hands. So it happened to me a few times that I didn’t have time to think about potential danger and while clearing a hallway of residential units, I didn’t think to check the upper staircase, which resulted in one member after another starting to die, and if I hadn’t run upstairs, I would have been left completely alone. And in the case of scarier missions like Relapse, that wasn’t exactly what I was looking for.
Ready or Not – Using mirrorgun under the door
In case you maintain a cautious yet smooth pace of movement for your or other units, it will have an almost cinematic impression. I often even caught myself deliberately stopping in passage and examining individual environmental details. This is sometimes processed excellently to an absurd degree. You can see all sorts of inscriptions, flyers, objects hiding references to various game series or jokes. Although the game looks really great for the most part, some compromises that are occasionally an unwelcome thorn in the side are disappointing. Light bulbs cannot be shot out. Maybe that’s to some extent good, because the lighting across the entire game is more than solid. When I was admiring from a window overlooking the sea, I saw how it was divided by boundaries of repeating textures. Not a nice sight. On the other hand, it’s hard to estimate what’s behind this shortcoming. After all, it’s a background element and no title gets by without limitations.
Technical Rough Edges
It’s also too noticeable when members of my crew look identical to each other. The game offers customization of your character’s appearance, so there should be something to choose from. I wouldn’t be surprised, however, if the developers didn’t have time.
Ready or Not – Taking cover behind a shield
This suspicion is also manifested in insufficient optimization and overall technical state. Constantly disappearing random loadouts, enemies loading in at higher distances from which they can immediately shoot at you and often even hit, or unnecessarily long loading screens. I believe this will still be fixed; it’s clear that certain sacrifices had to be made for some aspects of the game before release. And speaking of those sacrifices, their screaming is unforgettable. Surprisingly, it’s not the civilians but mainly the shot enemies. These are often accompanied by screams that would wake the dead. Nice long screams…
Sound Design That Matters
Even though there’s no storyline and cutscenes in the game, the character dialogues and for example the audio recording of the briefing really do listen well and partially awaken a desire for the presence of a real story. Besides music, ambient sound also adds to the atmosphere, when for example after hitting a car its alarm goes off, in tunnels there’s an absolute echo, and each step of your colleague or enemy is distinctly audible. The musical backdrop is chosen differently for each level, but primarily it’s electronic music called breakbeat, which characterizes the given location more. What amused me most was the use of Bach, during which I as commander fell in battle while a string orchestra played. Simply classic. The weapons are also excellent sonically, which I’ve already raved about.
Ready or Not – Post-game rating
Despite obvious shortcomings such as balancing and bugginess of the AI or unfinished mechanics, this is a title that brings a unique experience. At the moment, it’s even the best tactical co-op game where you and your friends will have fun for more than a few dozen hours. You’ll simply melt over the sounds of gunfire or fallen enemies and won’t even have to use several hundred rounds to do so. The variety of levels is helped by the use of different color palettes and detailed environments, thanks to which you’ll feel as if you’re really deployed in a different place each time. All this is wrapped in an immersive execution in which each piece of equipment isn’t just a nice accessory but an actually functioning piece of gear that corresponds to reality
Final Words
Ready or Not offers the opportunity to taste the work of special forces, thanks to which some may create a much better picture of just how complex and underappreciated labor it truly is. Risking one’s own life to save civilians shows not only immense courage but also a dark side where the slightest mistake can turn into absolute catastrophe. Although it’s not the only title that has managed to at least partially approach the extreme conditions of this profession, I’m convinced that Ready or Not has succeeded in getting by far the closest so far. Poor coordination and leadership can put you in situations where you won’t be sure whether you’ve gotten lost. And once you lose control of your surroundings, you’ll barely have time to pull the trigger.
About the Game
Title: Ready or Not
Type of Game: Tactical First-Person Shooter
Developer: VOID Interactive
Publisher: VOID Interactive
Release Date: December 13, 2023 (PC Full Release); July 15, 2025 (Console Release)
Platforms: PC (Windows), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
I missed that Styx: Shards of Darkness – Deluxe Edition was part of the free games in the last update, but Epic has indeed provided both entries of the goblin-assassin saga for free this week. Yesterday’s rotation officially retired the tower defense hit Bloons TD 6, shifting the store from colorful monkey strategy to gritty, dark-fantasy infiltration.
The Styx Double-Feature: Two Masterclasses in Stealth
Styx Shards of Darkness
Until January 22 at 11:00 AM ET, you can claim both Styx: Master of Shadows and Styx: Shards of Darkness – Deluxe Edition for zero dollars. These aren’t modern “action-stealth” games where you can easily fight your way out of a blunder; they are pure infiltration titles where being spotted usually leads to a quick death. The Deluxe Edition of the sequel is particularly resourceful as it includes the Akenash Outfit and the Dagger of Akenash, giving your clones and assassination attempts a technical edge from the start. While these typically retail for $19.99 each on the Steam Store, you can currently find keys for the first entry on G2A for roughly **$2.60** if you miss the Epic window.
Narrative Ambition: ‘Detroit: Become Human’ at 80% Down
Detroit_ Become Human_20220122223252
For those looking for a cinematic heavy-hitter, Detroit: Become Human is currently sitting at an 80% discount on Epic, bringing the price down to $7.99. The game follows three androids as they navigate a futuristic dystopia where their choices determine the fate of both their kind and their human creators. It is one of the most polished interactive dramas ever made, featuring branching storylines that actually respect your decisions. If you are looking to shave a bit more off that price, the G2A Marketplace (affiliate link) is offering Global Steam keys starting at **$9.53**, ensuring you can secure this AAA title for under ten dollars regardless of which store you prefer.
Tactical Carnage: ‘Hell Let Loose Deluxe’ at Record Lows
Hell Let Loose Tobruk – Flamethrower
The massive World War II tactical shooter Hell Let Loose has its Deluxe Edition on sale for 67% off right now. This is a noteworthy deal considering the base game was a featured Epic freebie back in January 2025. The Deluxe version provides the essential 50v50 combined-arms experience, along with several cosmetic packs, such as False Front and Lethal Tide. It is a game that prioritizes communication and squad-based tactics over individual kill counts, making it a perfect pick for players who want a more realistic combat loop. Between the free Styx bundle and these deep discounts, this week provides some of the highest value-per-hour gameplay we’ve seen in the new year.
The holiday sprint has officially cooled down, and Epic is swapping the daily chaos for a much more manageable weekly rotation. Yesterday’s final 24-hour gift, Chivalry 2, is no longer up for grabs, but the replacement is a heavy-hitting double feature. From today, January 1, until January 8 at 11:00 AM ET, you can claim both Total War: THREE KINGDOMS and the sci-fi newcomer Wildgate for zero dollars. This shift signals a return to form for the storefront, moving away from “mystery” reveals back into a predictable schedule that actually gives you time to play the games you’re hoarding.
Total War: THREE KINGDOMS
This is arguably the most polished entry in the long-standing strategy franchise, set during the legendary collapse of the Han Dynasty. It isn’t just about moving thousands of soldiers across a map; it’s a character-driven epic where personal rivalries and diplomatic betrayals dictate the fate of ancient China. The “Romanticized” mode turns your generals into superhuman warriors capable of taking on entire units solo, while the “Records” mode keeps things grounded in historical realism. If you happen to miss the free week on Epic, the Steam Store is currently running an 80% discount through January 5, and the G2A Marketplace (affiliate link) often has keys for roughly $9.00, making it a resourceful pickup even after the giveaway ends.
Total War – 3 Kingdoms massive straegy
Wildgate
Providing a sharp contrast to the slow-burn strategy of the Three Kingdoms, Wildgate is a 2025 arrival that focuses on high-stakes PvPvE extraction in deep space. You and your crew are dropped into hostile sectors where you have to balance hunting for ship upgrades against the threat of rival players and lethal environmental anomalies. The combat is a hybrid of first-person shooting and tactical ship-to-ship maneuvering, requiring genuine coordination to survive the extraction phase. While the Epic giveaway is the best current deal, the Steam Store has it for 60% off until next week. If you’re looking for a second chance later, G2A typically lists keys around $1.80, which is basically pocket change for a modern sci-fi title.
Wildgate – Multiplayer FPS Adventure
A Resourceful Start to the Year
Securing these two titles adds over $90 of retail value to your library for nothing, covering both the grand-scale strategy and the competitive shooter niches. Total War provides a campaign that can easily eat up a hundred hours of your January, while Wildgate offers a fresh loop for your weekend squad sessions. Make sure you hit the claim button before the next rotation on January 8 to start 2026 with a significantly more valuable library.
Sony has officially launched its massive holiday sale, and it is a complete blowout. For those who skipped the release-day prices, the PlayStation Store has slashed costs on some of the biggest games of the year, alongside a mountain of older classics. Most discounts are sitting comfortably between 50% and 75%, with a few standout titles dropping as low as 85% off.
This is a deep sale that covers hundreds of titles, so whether you are looking for a massive RPG to sink your winter break into or a quick indie hit, the value here is hard to ignore.
The Big 2024 Newcomers
The most notable part of this sale is the aggressive pricing on very recent releases. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, which has been praised for its immersive realism and full Czech dubbing, is already at 50% off. You can find that same 50% discount on Assassin’s Creed Shadows, making it a great time to jump into feudal Japan.
The discounts keep climbing from there. Cyberpunk 2077, which has become a masterpiece after its recent updates, is 55% off. For horror fans, Alan Wake 2 is a steal at 70% off. If you’re looking for a budget-friendly pick Hogwarts Legacy is available for a fraction of its original prices.
The sale is far from limited to these headlines. Deep discounts are also live for Astro Bot, Baldur’s Gate 3, Space Marine 2, and Star Wars Outlaws. Whether you’re hunting for a 100-hour epic or a casual co-op game, this is likely the best time to buy before the new year.
The world feels a little quieter today, and the screens we retreat to feel a little colder. On Sunday, December 21, 2025, the heartbeat of the modern shooter stopped. Vince Zampella—the man who spent three decades teaching us that a game could be more than just pixels, that it could be a visceral, heart-pounding extension of our own reflexes—passed away at the age of 55. As reported by Game Informer, this isn’t just the loss of a corporate executive; it feels like losing the captain of the ship. Zampella was the architect of our digital camaraderie, the man who understood that a “game” only works when it respects the player’s time, skill, and passion.
Vince Zampela tragicaly killed in car accident
The Midnight Silence on Angeles Crest
The tragedy that claimed his life is a jarring contrast to the high-octane worlds he built. According to primary reports from NBC4 Los Angeles and the California Highway Patrol, the incident occurred at approximately 12:45 p.m. in the rugged beauty of the San Gabriel Mountains. Zampella was driving a Ferrari 296 GTB on the Angeles Crest Highway when the vehicle veered off the road at mile post 62.70. The car struck a concrete barrier and was consumed by fire almost instantly.
Terrifying moment of Vince Zampella’s deadly crash. RIP:(. Beware of mature content
Zampella died at the scene, and a passenger—a soul whose identity remains shielded by the privacy of a grieving family—succumbed to their injuries later at the hospital. The Straits Times notes that while investigations are ongoing, the gaming community is less focused on the mechanics of the accident and more on the massive, hollow space his absence leaves behind. It is a cruel irony that a man who mastered the art of “controlled chaos” on our screens lost his life to the unpredictable reality of a mountain road.
Vince Zampella Died Battlefield.jpeg
The General Who Redefined the Frontline
Vince didn’t just make games; he set the tempo for an entire industry. His career began with a refusal to accept the status quo. At 2015, Inc., he gave us the storming of Omaha Beach in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, a moment so cinematic it felt like the screen was sweating. But he was just getting started. When he co-founded Infinity Ward, he didn’t just create Call of Duty; he created a language. The “hitmarker,” the snap-to-aim, the prestige system—these weren’t just features; they were the new DNA of interactive entertainment. As The Game Business highlights in their career retrospective, Zampella took the chaos of war and turned it into a finely tuned instrument. If you’ve ever felt the rush of a “Level Up” guitar riff, you were experiencing the mind of Vince Zampella.
The Resurrection of the Shooter
Perhaps the most inspiring chapter of his life was his “second act.” After a messy, public split from Activision in 2010 that would have broken a lesser creator, Vince didn’t retreat. He built Respawn Entertainment from the ashes. He gave us Titanfall, reminding us that we could touch the sky, and Apex Legends, a masterclass in surprise and precision. Even when he stepped into the Star Wars universe with the Jedi series, he treated it with the reverence of a fan and the skill of a master.
Most recently, he had become the “fixer” for Battlefield, leading the franchise back to its former glory. Just ten days before his passing, Zampella appeared at The Game Awards 2025, where Battlefield 6 took home the trophy for Best Audio Design—a final, poignant reminder of his obsession with quality. We didn’t know it was a farewell.
A Legacy Measured in Muscle Memory
To describe Vince’s impact through a clinical table of dates feels insufficient for a man who lived with such intensity. His 55 years were a relentless pursuit of the “perfect feel.” Born in 1970, he spent over thirty years evolving from a developer to the visionary leader of Respawn and the savior of Battlefield. He wasn’t chasing trends; he was the one the trends were trying to catch. His work earned him countless Game of the Year honors, but his real trophy is the muscle memory of millions of players worldwide.
The industry tributes have been a tidal wave of grief. Electronic Arts (EA) confirmed the news to PEOPLE, calling it an “unimaginable loss,” while long-time friend Geoff Keighley spoke of a man who gave developers the “freedom and confidence to be great.” But for the players—the ones who feel the weight of his absence every time they fire up a console—the tribute is simpler. We play on. We defend the points he designed, we master the movement he perfected, and we remember that the light on the gaming horizon is a little dimmer today.
Rest in peace, Vince. You didn’t just change the game; you became the standard.
If you were hoping for another gritty shooter or a mainstream AAA title, today’s reveal might surprise you. Epic is continuing its streak of “hidden gem” picks with Sorry We’re Closed, a 2024 survival horror title that feels more like an underground art project than a standard video game.
Sorry We Are Closed Survival Horror
Forget the tired tropes of the genre; this is survival horror with a high-fashion, punk-rock soul.
The Premise: A Literal Race Against Hell
You play as Michelle, a woman living a fairly mundane life until she is cursed by a powerful archdemon. You have exactly three days to find a way to break the curse or face eternal damnation. It’s a tight, stressful narrative where your dialogue choices and actions directly influence which of the multiple endings you’ll hit.
Why It’s a Great Grab
The “Third Eye” Mechanic: Michelle can open her “Third Eye” at any time to peer into a twisted, demonic version of her world. This isn’t just for show—it’s how you find secrets, solve puzzles, and reveal the literal hearts of your enemies to hit their weak points.
Old School Meets New School: The game uses the classic fixed-camera angles of Silent Hill and Resident Evil, but shifts into a slick, first-person arcade shooter perspective when you aim your gun. It solves the “clunky combat” problem of retro horror while keeping the cinematic tension.
Arthouse Aesthetic: The visuals are a wild mix of low-poly PS1 models and vibrant, neon-soaked colors. It looks like a “Club Kid” fever dream, making it one of the most visually distinct games Epic has given away this year.
Sorry We Are Closed – Gameplay kills
Last Thoughts
Sorry We’re Closed usually goes for $20. It’s short, punchy, and perfect for a weekend playthrough. If you want something that prioritizes atmosphere and unique storytelling over budget-bloat, this is a must-add to your library.
You have until December 22 at 11:00 AM ET to claim it for free
The Epic Games holiday marathon continues, and if you were expecting another flashy, neon-soaked adventure like yesterday, think again. Today, December 20, Epic is taking us into the dirt, the dark, and the downright cursed with stealth FPS Blood West.
This is the fourth game in the lineup, and it further cements the fact that the “mainstream blockbuster” leaks were way off the mark. Instead, we’re getting a gritty, low-poly masterpiece that feels like a lost artifact from the late 90s.
Blood West – Retro graphics
What is Blood West?
Imagine if the original Thief games had a baby with S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and then that baby was raised in a haunted version of the Wild West.
You play as an undead gunslinger—literally brought back from the dead by mysterious spirits—to “clean up” the frontier. But this isn’t a power fantasy. In the Barren Lands, everything wants you back in the grave, and usually, it only takes a couple of hits to put you there.
Blood West – Killing spree
Why It Stands Out:
Methodical Stealth: This isn’t a “run and gun” game. If you try to play it like Call of Duty, you’ll die in seconds. You have to scout environments, crouch through the brush, and pick your shots carefully.
The Voice of a Legend: Fun fact for stealth fans—the protagonist is voiced by Stephen Russell, the same legendary voice behind Garrett from the original Thief series. It adds a massive layer of “immersive sim” credibility to the atmosphere.
Eldritch Horror: You aren’t just fighting outlaws. You’re up against wendigos, bird-men, and Lovecraftian abominations. The “Weird West” vibe is thick, dark, and genuinely unsettling.
RPG Depth: It features a deep perk system and inventory management. You’ll spend just as much time weighing the benefits of a cursed artifact vs. a silver-plated revolver as you will actually pulling the trigger.
The “Ugly-Beautiful” Aesthetic
Don’t let the “retro” graphics fool you. The low-poly, pixelated look is a deliberate choice that makes the lighting and shadows feel much more oppressive. It’s “boomer shooter” tech used to create a survival horror experience that feels massive, with three huge open-ended maps to explore.
Blood West – Naked Zombiewoman
How To Get It
Blood West (usually $24.99) is free on the Epic Games Store right now. You have until December 21 at 11:00 AM ET to add it to your library.
If you’re tired of modern games holding your hand with quest markers and regenerating health, this is the challenge you’ve been looking for. Just remember: in these lands, ammo is more precious than gold.
