The two newest games offered for free on the Epic Games Store couldn’t be more different. In a corner, grim management sim Prison Architect, in which you carefully house and profit from criminals. In another corner, God come down, an ARPG shooter game about looking stunning and smashing monsters to bits.
The last time I played it, Prison Architect was a great game. It includes the construction and management of the satisfying Theme Park and the dynamic, emergent acts of Dwarf Fortress. It also tackles its heaviness with appropriate seriousness but not stuffiness. Does this praise still hold true after recent updates and DLC? I’m not so sure, but I bet there’s still a strong core. You can get it for free from its Epic Games Store page.
Godfall is an alien beast. From the creators of the brilliantly discontinued card game Duelyst, this is a co-op third-person action game with a gaudy aesthetic. Or as Alice B said:
Godfall is epic, overload, sci-fi fantasy, so it’s a lame’s idea of what’s cool and I love it. It’s like video this guy would make a DragonForce video if he had an unlimited budget. It’s The Lord of the Rings via the Monster Hunter fashion Tumblr. It’s Blade Runner’s “tearful” speech, but it’s as if it were performed by Jareth the Goblin King in his MC Escher castle of stairs, spinning some magical crystal balls. Oh my god, it’s Jupiter Ascending. Did you see that? The movie where Channing Tatum is a literal but winged dog soldier, and Douglas Booth tries to marry Mila Kunis who is the reincarnation of his dead mother? That’s it, that’s it that’s it.
Which sounds, to be honest, pretty amazing. Alice also likes to fight.
However, what is offered for free is a bit complicated. Instead of Godfall as it was released last year, this is Godfall Challenger Edition. It’s a stripped-down version of the game that offers three endgame modes and a taste of high-level loot, but not the full game. This same version caused quite a stir last week when it was made available for free to PlayStation Plus subscribers, who normally get a free version of the entire game. Godfall’s Developers deny that the Challenger Edition is a trial, say it’s a new feature limited edition that usually costs £12/$15.
In any case, if you get it for free and liked it, you can now get the full version for one discounted price, also via Epic.
Both Godfall Challenger Edition and Prison Architect are free to keep as long as you get them anytime between now and December 16th.
