New on Steam: After a 21-year wait, this blockbuster story has finally arrived

This week sees the return of an acclaimed role-playing game, along with dinosaur parks, ninja action, tower defense, and hellish shootouts.

More than two decades after its predecessor and after a turbulent development, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is finally being released this week. But not everyone is diving headfirst into the vampire underworld, whose story completely won us over in our review.

Those who prefer building dinosaur parks to sneaking through Tokyo as a ninja or shooting their way through hell with friends will find a surprisingly varied release week on Steam – as every Monday, we provide you with a complete overview.

Highlight of the week: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

The sequel to the legendary 2004 vampire RPG, Bloodlines 2 transports you to the dark underworld of modern-day Seattle. You take on the role of the ancient vampire Phyre, who awakens after a long period of dormancy and must regain his lost powers while navigating the shadows of the city between rival vampire clans and political intrigues.

As the story unfolds, you’ll make important decisions, hunt for your next blood meal in dark alleys, and must always be careful not to break the Masquerade—the secrecy of vampire society.

What’s special about Bloodlines 2: For the first time, you experience the story from two perspectives. In addition to the playable Elder Vampire Phyre, you also slip into the shoes of the Malkavian detective Fabien in dream sequences, who is always present as a voice in Phyre’s head. In these interludes, you solve some of his old cases, some of which date back to the 1920s.

Whether you choose to be a bloodthirsty monster or a charming creature of the night is up to you. The only important thing is to remain undetected, because breaking the masquerade can have fatal consequences for your vampire.

More exciting Steam releases of the week

Monday, October 20, 2025

• NINJA GAIDEN 4: After more than a decade, the legendary action series returns with a new main installment. In Ninja Gaiden 4, you once again slice your way through hordes of enemies as super ninja Ryu Hayabusa – this time with the support of a new character named Yakumo. The game combines the tried-and-tested, fast-paced hack-and-slash action with modern convenience features: those who want to can tone down the brutal difficulty level, but veterans can look forward to a merciless Master Ninja mode.

• Lessaria: Fantasy Kingdom Sim (Early Access): Majesty fans, take note! Lessaria is a spiritual successor to the old fantasy classic Majesty and lets you manage a kingdom indirectly. Instead of giving orders to individual units, in this RTS city-building mix you build a settlement, hire heroes such as warriors, mages, or rangers, and hope that they will voluntarily carry out your orders. So you place bounty markers on monsters or treasure chests and watch as your somewhat headstrong heroes take care of them—or not.

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

• Jurassic World Evolution 3: In the third installment of Frontier Developments’ building strategy series, you once again build your own Jurassic Park. On various islands and continents, you build enclosures for over 100 dinosaur species, including new prehistoric stars such as Oviraptor and Mosasaurus. The management aspects have also been expanded: Not only do you have to master research, visitor flows, and disasters, but you can also use your gene lab more extensively than ever before to create your own dino hybrids. A story-driven campaign pits you, as park manager, against an animal rights activist, while sandbox mode allows you to experiment freely.

• Painkiller (2025): This reboot of the cult shooter Painkiller promises familiar demon slaughter with fresh ideas. In the role of a sinner cursed by God, you once again shoot your way through purgatory to earn your salvation—in style, with the iconic stake gun, shotgun, and other wacky weapons. The levels are brimming with grotesque enemies: From screaming hordes of skeletons to giant boss monsters, everything a heavy metal heart could desire is here. Only the new co-op focus is likely to be unpopular with many veterans.

• RV There Yet? : A chaotic co-op road trip comedy for up to four players. In RV There Yet?, you and your friends are in a rickety RV on your way home from vacation—but the direct route is blocked, so you have to drive through dangerous wilderness. Teamwork is essential: one person steers the vehicle over rough terrain while the others scramble around inside to remove obstacles with the winch, for example. Along the way, you have to keep a constant eye on your provisions – grill burgers, make coffee, keep EpiPens handy! The quirky comic graphics don’t hide the real challenges: only by working together and repairing your RV, refueling it, and pulling it through rivers will you reach your destination safely.

• World of Sea Battle (Early Access): Ahoy, landlubbers – in this new free-to-play MMO, you’ll set sail in the golden age of piracy! World of Sea Battle immerses you in a vast open Caribbean game world packed with historical flair. You command authentic sailing ships, from small schooners to mighty warships, and fight sea battles against AI pirates or other players. The economic system is reminiscent of classics such as Patrician: you trade goods between colonial ports, invest in trading posts, and can even build production chains or fish the seas empty. Those who prefer to fight can join a guild and seize entire islands in large-scale PvP naval battles. The naval battles are surprisingly tactical: wind direction, ammunition type, and the timing of your broadside determine whether you win or sink to the bottom of the sea.

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

• Dispatch: Superhero story meets Telltale adventure – Dispatch is a story adventure with a management twist. You play Robert, formerly known as the superhero Mecha-Man, whose suit has given up the ghost. Without his powers, Robert now has to supervise a bunch of weird ex-supervillains as a dispatch manager. You send these forcibly recruited scoundrels on emergency missions around the city via telephone, each with their own quirks. What makes it special is that your decisions in the dialogue have a massive impact on the course of the story. Similar to a good TV series, you move from week to week, get to know the characters (even Hollywood star Aaron Paul lends his voice to one character) and juggle bureaucracy with heroic missions.

• Politics The Game: Political satire from Poland – this wacky adventure lets you become a member of parliament. In Politics The Game, you start out as a newly elected member of the Polish parliament and try to bring your own party to power. To do so, (almost) any means are acceptable: you give fiery speeches, vie for votes in bizarre mini-games, haggle with lobbyists in back rooms, and can even use superpowers to manipulate debates (keyword: call coffee breaks or stage minor scandals).

• Cut That Wire: Four players, a ticking time bomb, and at least one liar—this party game is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat! Cut That Wire is based on the social deduction principle à la Among Us, but in a much more explosive scenario: All players are chained to explosive devices, and colored cables are scattered around the room. Only one correctly cut wire will defuse all the bombs – but which cable is the right one? Everyone receives clues about the safe color, but be careful: one of the four is a secret saboteur who wants to blow everyone up.

Thursday, October 23, 2025

• Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted: The tower defense legend is back on the lawn! Replanted is a comprehensive remastered version of the first Plants vs. Zombies from 2009 – with fresh 4K graphics, an expanded soundtrack, and lots of new game modes. In addition to the classic campaign (house, roof, backyard against the undead neighborhood), there is now a cooperative multiplayer mode in which two players work together to plant plants and fend off zombies. In the roguelike mode Rest in Peace, permadeath applies – you fight your way through endless waves of zombies with a limited selection of plants, and if you lose, you start all over again.

• PowerWash Simulator 2: The surprising cleaning hit gets a sequel – time to unpack the pressure washer again! In PowerWash Simulator 2, numerous new dirty locations are waiting to be scrubbed sparkling clean by you: from an amusement park full of sticky carousels to a dusty museum to entire streets covered in mud after a mudslide. Fresh tools such as an industrial vacuum cleaner and special cleaning agents that get rid of stubborn dirt. You can now also clean simultaneously in four-player co-op, including split screen or cross-play online.

• MISERY: This co-op survival horror game evokes the flair of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – but with friends! In MISERY, 1–5 players are thrown into a radioactive exclusion zone riddled with mysterious anomalies and nasty creatures. Every day becomes a struggle for survival: you scour the ruins of a destroyed city for food, ammunition, and building materials, while mutated monsters roam among the decaying prefabricated buildings outside. Together, you build an improvised bunker as your base, craft weapons and equipment from scrap, and discuss your next steps around the campfire.

• Tormented Souls 2: Classic survival horror is making a comeback – Tormented Souls 2 picks up where the surprise hit of 2021 left off. Once again, you take on the role of Caroline Walker, who, after the terrible events at Wildberger Hospital, now stumbles into a new horror with her rescued sister Anna. Plagued by visions, Caroline travels to a remote sanatorium in the Chilean mountains to break Anna’s curse. There, you’ll find old-school horror at its finest: fixed camera angles, tricky puzzles, and limited resources. Caroline must use ammunition and healing potions sparingly as grotesque creatures—from surgically mutilated patients to ghostly nuns—seek to kill her.

• GODBREAKERS: In this frenetic co-op roguelite, you take on the gods themselves. Godbreakers is an action-packed hack-and-slash marathon that can be played by up to four players. Choose from different hero archetypes, dive into procedurally generated levels, and fight your way through hordes of mystical enemies. The highlight: if you weaken a powerful enemy enough, you can absorb their ability in the middle of battle and use it against everyone else in a so-called Godbreak attack! For example, you can steal the fire boss’s flame whirlwind and then unleash it yourself to reduce the next room full of enemies to rubble and ashes. Between chaotic battles, you permanently unlock new weapons, heroes, and synergies, so every round entices you with a different build.

Friday, October 24, 2025

• Once Upon A KATAMARI: Roll Through History! is the motto of the first new Katamari game in 14 years. In Once Upon A Katamari, the almighty King of the Cosmos accidentally destroyed the Earth and all the stars while playing with a magical scroll. Oh dear! So, as the little prince, you once again roll a sticky Katamari ball around to collect everything you can and restore the night sky. This time, however, you’ll be traveling through time: collecting dinosaurs and prehistoric plants in the Stone Age, rolling through the snowy Ice Age, or plundering a feudal samurai village in ancient Japan. In addition to the nostalgic single-player campaign with a brand-new soundtrack, there is also the online mode KatamariBall, where you compete against each other in a 4-player competition to see who can roll the biggest Katamari in the shortest amount of time.

• Super Fantasy Kingdom (Early Access): Roguelite meets building strategy in this unusual genre mix. Super Fantasy Kingdom lets you build your own little kingdom, gather resources, construct buildings—and then defend them against waves of monsters. You build farms, mines, workshops, and even brew potions in your fantasy settlement. But beware: after a short construction phase, the first goblins will attack! Fortunately, you can assemble a group of heroes (knights, archers, mages, etc.) to defend your city walls. Each run only lasts about 20-30 minutes, because if your defenses eventually fall and the village goes up in flames, you start over – but with some permanent upgrades that make the next run easier.

• VEIN (Early Access): Another survival game? Yes, but this one is aimed at hardcore fans of DayZ, Rust, and Project Zomboid. Vein puts you in a zombie apocalypse where you fight for survival online, either together or against each other. You start out with nothing but the clothes on your back in a procedurally generated city overrun by the undead. Now it’s time to loot, craft, and hide! You search houses for canned food, medicine, and parts to build barricades or weapons. Thanks to a detailed health and wound system, even an infection or broken bone can mean the end for you if you don’t have bandages. During the day, you cautiously explore the area—at night, the zombies become stronger and more aggressive, so it’s better to stay in a safe shelter!
  

  That’s it for this week! Was there anything that caught your eye—or are you perhaps even completely caught up in vampire fever? And what highlight are you most looking forward to right now? After all, there are a few big releases coming out this month—The Outer Worlds 2, for example, is coming out next week. Have fun gaming, and see you next time on New to Steam!