Users of the Epic Games Store have another reason to boot up the controversial launcher today. Another round of free titles are available and both are worth your time. The Devolver Digital published Ruiner and Vlambeer's classic Nuclear Throne are coming courtesy of Epic's generous coffers and both are available right now.
Ruiner originally released in 2017 to pretty generous critical reception. A kind of dark, neon take on Hotline Miami, the game is a challenging top-down shooter that attempts to mix up the kill-a-thon formula of Dennaton's masterpiece with sci-fi power-ups. Whether or not it accomplishes that task is for you to decide, but it's certainly worth booting up.
Nuclear Throne, on the other hand, originally hit Steam's "Early-Access" service in 2013 before receiving its final update in December of 2015. Heavily praised for its mixture of shoot-em-up and roguelike elements, the game felt like a much more expanded take on Vlambeer's past game, Super Crate Box. It also sported a charming art style and addictive gameplay loop.
Already gearing up for the next giveaway, Epic has announced that the 2018 hit The Messenger will be the next game up for grabs. Starting on November 14 (which is next Thursday), players will don their ninja garb and take off on an adventure that spans different generations as they attempt to deliver a message of hope to the people...or something. The Messenger doesn't take itself seriously and it's all the more enjoyable for it.
Back when the Epic Games Store was launching, the company promised it would offer new, free games every two weeks. It hasn't once missed a deadline, sometimes offering a few more on occasion (such as its Batman offering handing out six titles!) and even switching to a weekly update. Not everything may be a home run, but the amount of games given out is sure to have grown users' collections by quite a bit.
It's clearly a ploy to get users invested in the Epic Games Store launcher. Even so, the games are typically worth installing and playing, not to mention it doesn't cost users a cent. Maybe you'll never boot them up, but there's the off chance that you'll be able to work through your backlog and finally finish that copy of Lego Batman you got.
Source: VG 24/7