Ah, PC gaming. It's just like regular gaming, but it's for PCs. Whether or not that makes it an inherently better gaming experience is a debate that has raged across dimensions, ages, and literally every form of internet-based communication ever conceived. But regardless of where you stand on the topic, one thing's for certain: there are some pretty dang cool video games coming to PC in 2022.
In fact, some of them are so cool that they've managed to capture the attention of the fantastic people populating the digital offices of TheGamer (no spaces). Pull up a very, very comfortable gaming chair and allow us to regale you concerning the PC games we're most hyped to see occupy our hard drives over the course of 2022.
Potion Permit
By Meg Pelliccio
Potion Permit is an open-ended sim RPG where instead of becoming the usual hero who saves the town, you're the local healer. You'll be tasked with diagnosing the different illnesses of the townsfolk based on their symptoms, then you'll need to hunt down ingredients to brew the perfect remedy. Using your trusty tools, you can gather ingredients from the surrounding area or defeat monsters in order to claim their parts.
After getting the required items, you'll use your cauldron to create medicine, vitamins, and more - with more recipes becoming available as you progress. You won't have to face this daunting task alone either, as you'll be accompanied by your trusty canine companion who can help you hunt down items. As you continue to help the residents, you'll also befriend them and you'll be able to improve the town with new public buildings and open up brand new areas to explore. You'll also be able to add a little personal touch by crafting or purchasing furniture for your own home too.
Ark 2
by Andrea Shearon
Vin Diesel likes Ark. The Fast and Furious star has apparently played thousands of hours of the series, even reporting bugs along the way. During 2020's Game Awards, Studio Wildcard revealed that the celebrity mega-fan would star in a sequel to its prehistoric survival-crafting adventure game, Ark: Survival Evolved. Ark 2's only trailer debut was a bit of a fever dream, full of repeated, "is that Vin Diesel?" questioning and confused reassurances of "yes, that's Vin Diesel."
I'm just like Vin Diesel—minus the successful acting career and millions of dollars—in that I really love Ark. I've spent countless hours hunting dinosaurs with friends, accidentally eating poison mushrooms, and becoming lunch for Megalodons. I'm pretty bad at the whole thing, but Ark is a bit like junk food and I feel drawn to it even when I probably shouldn't be.
The original game has slowly found a few more narrative beats in recent expansions, and those are all fine and good, but as long as Wildcard gets its survival, crafting, and dino-taming systems down with a bit more polish, I'm easy to please. Ark 2 is aiming for a 2022 release on PC and the newest generation of consoles, picking up where the original story leaves off in Genesis: Part 2.
Gotham Knights
by James Troughton
Arkham Origins wasn't great. Playing it is like slipping into Sideshow Bob's shoes as he steps on all those rakes — one is the dreadful Black Mask twist, one is all the bugs, and one is the uninspired gadgets. Still, the combat and boss fights are peak Arkham. It ain't all terrible. With everything the studio has since learned and without the ankle weight of the Joker dragging it down, Gotham Knights has some real potential. Dotting about as the Bat-Family with your buds is the most exciting pitch for a co-op game. Period.
We've seen evil Superman a bazillion times but Red Hood, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, and Nightwing all kicking ass in the wake of Bruce's death, fighting The Court of bloody Owls, is something we've yet to ever see in games. It's uncharted territory, exciting uncharted territory.
Goodbye Volcano High
by Stacey Henley
Just as Goodbye Volcano High was my most anticipated PS5 game of 2022, and most anticipated overall game of 2022, as well as previously being my most anticipated game of 2021 before it was delayed, Goodbye Volcano High is — shockingly — my most anticipated PC game of 2022. Though its console exclusivity made me opt for Saints Row as my top Xbox pick and Bomb Rush Cyberfunk as my Switch pick, no such issues exist with choosing it for PC.
It's Life is Strange, but hand-drawn and with a non-binary dinosaur as the protagonist. A non-dinory. Maybe? Is that anything? Anyway, Goodbye Volcano High. It looks good. I hope it is, I'll feel pretty stupid putting it on so many lists if it's rubbish.
Suicide Squad
by James Troughton
I'm tired of evil Superman; Injustice, Zack Snyder's Knightmare, Brightburn, The Boys, Bizarro, and now this new Suicide Squad game — it doesn't bloody end. What if the good guy wasn't good is such a basic premise that has the potential to be fun but when it is hammered home more than 'what if the good guy was good?', it gets stale. Glowing praise for a game that I'm excited about, eh? Well, it's Rocksteady, the Arkham aficionados that managed to pull one of the best superhero series out of their derrière. I do have a modicum of trust, still.
We have a rag-tag team of interesting characters in a co-op setting: King Shark, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and bloody Boomerang. They aren't as obscure as some of the choices James Gunn made, but it fills the four roles I wanted out of Avengers that ended up being boring to play — Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Boomerang. Why wasn't Boomerang in Marvel's Avengers? Marvel does have a Boomerang character. Well, he's a villain. Anyway, Hulk barely deals damage meaning that he doesn't feel like a strong brute, and Hawkeye's arrows whittle down enemies' health bars at a snail's pace. Combat in that game is a chore.
If Rocksteady has a handle on one thing, it's combat. Its games feel intrinsically superhero, like the pages of a comic book from the whams to the bams to the world-shaking slams. Throw four distinct personalities together that you can play with friends to fight the Justice League and you have a tipsy turvy fun time. It's exciting that we'll be able to dive into the world of DC's angels and devils with our mates next year (if the launch date doesn't get pushed back) from the two studios that helmed the Arkham games. Evil Superman might be a tired trope but I can't wait to pummel the poor sod with a giant shark.
Company Of Heroes 3
by Harry Alston
Company of Heroes is back, and it looks better than ever. There is a lot to get excited about: beautiful graphics that render the best-looking Mediterannean theatre we've seen in a WW2 game; whole new levels of depth, including a real-time full campaign map that lets you take control of various parts of combat, and a brand new engine that blows the older games to pieces.
CoH is, by its own definition, an Action RTS. It's not a genre that gets a lotta love these days, but wow-ee, if it's time for a revival surge of the format then Company 3 might just be the game to do it. The first Company of Heroes was a great game, and while the second had its positives, it wasn't nearly as well received. Hopefully, the third title in the franchise revitalizes the game and gets it back to its former glory.
Darkest Dungeon 2
by Damien Lykins
Is Darkest Dungeon 2 technically debuting as an Early Access title in October 2021? It sure is. But assuming it follows a similar development rhythm as its predecessor, this means we're likely to see its full release in 2022. And yes, I am most certainly looking forward to it. Call me a masochist, but Darkest Dungeon hurt in all the best ways — feeling the ice in your veins while you make a risky combat decision just to see it pay off is a rush like no other, and seeing a hero teetering on the brink of madness rally the party as the RNG decides that their poor, battered soul is actually feeling virtuous today? Exquisite.
These are the moments that defined Darkest Dungeon for me, and the sequel looks like it's hitting all the same buttons, just in a bigger and better way. True roguelike run mechanics wherein your past accomplishments serve as boons in the next playthrough? Taking your upgradable stagecoach through delectably dangerous road trips through the corrupted countryside? Tell Reynauld, Dismas, and Meg Pelliccio to saddle up, because we're headed into hell with smiles plastered across our faces. Mostly smiles.
The Outlast Trials
by Amanda Hurych
Both Outlast and Outlast 2 scared the living daylights out of me. Their masterful blend of jump-scares, tension building, and setpiece chase sequences made my "escapes" from Mount Massive Asylum and that Arizona town of cultists the most frightful experiences of my gaming life. Developer Red Barrels is not resting on its laurels, however. They are moving on to fresher, better, and potentially scarier pastures.
The Outlast Trials takes the familiar trappings of the Outlast games and molds them into a cooperative experience. Early trailers and bits of information we've picked up along the way showcase a new take on the psychological horror that has always been present in the series. Personally, my favorite thing to do with horror games (most of which are single-player experiences) is to grab a friend and pass a controller back and forth as we flee from horrors and shriek our way to the game's ending. The Outlast Trials looks to remove that extra step of passing control between buddies by placing them in these "trials" together, right from the get-go. I'm hoping the mingled sound of our screaming will be music to my ears come 2022.
Kerbal Space Program 2
by Trevor Ford
I love space, I love games, and I love explosions. Two of these led to a discovery of the third when Kerbal Space Program first hit my barely functioning Dell laptop in 2012, nearly a year after the initial release date. Jebediah Kerman and I spent a long summer whittling away time before my freshman year of college, starting with rickety machines held together with tape and dreams that barely scraped the upper atmosphere before eventually blowing past Sputnik on our way into the great beyond. KSP makes every flight, every meter of altitude gained feel such an achievement that it doesn’t feel laborious to rebuild an entire ship because an error was made in the very core concept. While sending Kerbals to space doesn’t garner a rocket science degree (officially anyway), the knowledge built from building flight paths is worth at least a print-out certificate.
Kerbal Space Program 2 promises to bring the same joyous space and physics exploration, with updated concepts, engines, graphics, and all other modern hoohah we take for granted in every current-gen title. So while I wait, I’ll shine my helmet, unfold my blueprints, and look to the stars and wonder if Jebediah Kerman is still floating amidst the galaxy I can only see.