We’ve hit the middle of May, so the birds are singing, the thunderstorms are thundering, and games are… oddly not really releasing. Some are, which we will talk about this week — but it looks like a lot of titles avoided releasing this week for fear of being crushed by DOOM: The Dark Ages. Which, of course, we’ll be talking about this week!

Outside of that, we’re going to look at a new hack and slash dungeon crawler (The Slormancer), and a new open world survival title (RuneScape: Dragonwilds). Here’s hoping next week brings us more goodies!

In 2025, I’m not entirely certain I need to tell you what DOOM is: it’s one of the most iconic first-person shooters to come out on PC since well, the beginning of PC gaming. DOOM: The Dark Ages is the official prequel to DOOM (2016) and DOOM: Eternal, taking place in medieval times. You play as the Slayer, the walking weapon against the legions of Hell — and this time, not only do you have a mace and shield (which gets sawblades and can be thrown like Avenger’s Shield) but also there are times you pilot a giant mech to deal with the overwhelming forces of evil. Strap in for some ultraviolence, as id Software once again reminds us they don’t miss, and we are to rip and tear until it is done.

If you’ve been following my write-ups of games for the past few months, you know I have a special place in my heart for goofy action-adventure titles and dungeon crawlers. The Slormancer has you playing as one of three classes: the Knight, the Huntress, or the Mage, to defeat the hordes of The Slormancer.

What makes The Slormancer stand out to me is the way abilities work in the game, reminding me a lot of Noita: you can pick abilities and select special nodes on their skill trees, allowing you to craft your own unique abilities and spells, which also works alongside the Ancestral Legacy you pick. Become a walking magical nuclear weapon (or don’t) as you burn through the Slormancer’s minions as you go to face them head on.

Immediate heads up:

I’ll be the first to admit, I have no history with RuneScape. The closest I’ve gotten to playing RuneScape was to watch Josh attempt to break this game over his knee, but it definitely gave me interest and I felt it was something I should bring to your attention! I think we all know the basic gameplay loop in these games by now: build some shelter, gather some food and water, and begin to punch trees until you can craft yourself an axe, then chop down trees to make yourself a hammer, etc. RuneScape: Dragonwilds differentiates itself by allowing you to learn magic that allows for you to do things like explode ore veins or chop down an entire line of trees at once.

Of course the game is in Early Access, so it’s going to be changing quite a bit as they continue to develop it. It would seem that the developers are listening to the playerbase, which should lead to a wonderful end game product. It already looks bright and colorful and plays rather well, so here’s hoping the Jagex team behind Dragonwilds listens to balance feedback!

A roguelike deckbuilding game with mecha and time travel? Where do I sign up? Aliens have invaded Earth (as they do), and it’s up to you and your choice of one of three different mecha and one of 10+ pilots to fight off the invasion and save humanity. Are you up to the task?

Combining grid-based combat and card battling, each mech tackles combat in their own unique way — and that doesn’t even take into account your pilot’s unique abilities, which can turn the tide of battle. Make a bad play and miss your opportunity to rain down destruction on some aliens? Don’t worry, use a Chrono Token to rewind time and let the battle play out the way it was always supposed to, with humanity on top.

Get StarVaders for $25 on Steam.