The Best Upcoming Games From WASD 2023

Last week, we popped into WASD and were given the chance to play dozens of upcoming games, from theme park management titles and rhythm-based adventure games to first-person and fast-paced shooter-footers. Take a look at our list of the best upcoming games from WASD 2023.

Anger Foot

Anger Foot is a fast-paced, first-person shooter that challenges you with shooting and kicking anthropomorphic enemies to clear them from slums, sewers, and skyscrapers, all on your search to find your stolen pair of trainers.

The demo I played involved me running through hallways and rooms, kicking down doors and knocking down enemies before managing to access guns and using them against the deranged yet colourful creatures. The game is moreish, thanks to its fast-paced nature with hard bass beats and quick level system, and it’s definitely a title you’ll keep wanting to play into the early hours of the morning.

Anger Foot is being developed by Free Lives and published by Devolver Digital, and it will launch on PC in 2023. You can try out a demo of the game on Steam right now.

Warning: The trailer may potentially trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy.

A Highland Song

A Highland Song is an upcoming rhythm-based adventure game from developer Inkle Studios. The game follows Moira McKinnon who’s never seen the sea and, after living with her mum in a small house on the edge of the Scottish Highlands for 15 years, runs away when she receives a letter from her uncle Hamish urging her to come to the coast.

The 2D side-scrolling game has a strong focus on Moira’s journey through the Scottish Highlands, but there’s plenty of entertainment to be had. In the demo I played, I climbed hills to reach tall peaks and then attempted to solve puzzles that required me to locate Moira’s next destination in her immediate vicinity by matching it with hand-drawn notes. Along the way, I climbed, traversed secret paths, bumped into an NPC with a dreary warning, and jumped up and down hills to a beautiful soundtrack by Scottish bands Fourth Moon and Talisk.

A Highland Song releases later this year for the Nintendo Switch and PC. Keep an eye out for our upcoming preview of the game over the next few days.

Cuisineer

Cuisineer is a hybrid restaurant management game and dungeon crawler. Developed by BattleBrew Productions, the game follows Pom, an adventurer, who returns to her hometown of Paell to find she’s inherited the family restaurant which is severely in debt and on the verge of collapse. Pom decides to re-open the shop, and when not working must embark on journeys through unique dungeons to defeat enemies and collect ingredients to keep the business afloat.

The demo I played started in one of the game’s unique biomes – a lush forest – before I headed to Paell to meet the town’s villagers and run the restaurant, an experience that proved hilarious as frustrated customers were forced to wait for the only table I placed to become free. The restaurant management and procedurally generated dungeon-crawling gameplay work seamlessly and offer a unique experience with adorable visuals and lots to explore and unlock.

Cuisineer will launch in 2023 for PC.

Park Beyond

Park Beyond is an upcoming theme park management game developed by Limbic Entertainment, which sees you create the theme park of your dreams as a newly-hired architect for a struggling theme park company.

I was given the opportunity to play a level of the game in Park Beyond’s story-driven campaign mode. During it, I held meetings with upper management to decide on an abandoned park’s theme before I was sent to the park to revamp it. I fixed up pathing, placed some rides, and attended to customers’ needs by adding shops, toilets, and food and drink stalls. A modern take on the classic Theme Park titles, but arguably with more wackiness.

Park Beyond will launch on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles on June 15th, 2023.

Dead Island 2

Dead Island 2 is an upcoming action RPG and a sequel to 2011’s Dead Island. Set 10 years after the original game in Los Angeles, you’re tasked with surviving the zombie apocalypse while uncovering the truth behind the outbreak and the reason you’re resistant to the pathogen.

The demo I played focused on a mission located around Santa Monica Pier, which required me to explore the beach and the pier, all while facing mutated variations of zombies and collecting resources for crafting. The demo was gruesome and bloody but downright fun, even with the frequent waves of zombie fighting.

Dead Island 2 launches for PC and all PlayStation and Xbox consoles on April 21st, 2023.