The tough luck continues in Dead in Antares, the newest addition to the long-running series about people trying not to lose their heads in bad situations
In 2015, you died in Bermuda. In 2018, you died in Vinland. And I'm sorry to say that your luck's not going to get any better in 2025, as you and your small crew fling yourselves into the cold void of space so you can die again, this time in an entirely different solar system. (Hey, at least you're seeing some sights.)
Dead in Antares is the third entry in the awkwardly named Dead In series, and broadly similar to the previous games: The squad's in a bad spot and the only way out is through, which is to say managing everything from basic necessities—food, water, sleep—to more advanced complications like salvage, repair, and energy and resource management.
Maybe most important of all, though, is keeping your team of 10 from melting down or throwing hands: Each of them has their own "past, ambitions, and secrets," and managing their relationships in extremely stressful situations will be key to getting everyone home—or not, as the case may be.
Beyond the simple "don't die" angle, Dead on Antares promises a "full RPG progression system" with turn-based combat and a story "filled with unexpected twists" leading into one of four possible outcomes. The kickoff is a bit cliched, yes—a crew of specialists is sent into space on a desperate quest to find the resources that can save a dying Earth—but things get more interesting when the team runs into a wormhole that's not supposed to be there.
Antares Prime, your unintended destination, is a world "full of danger and mystery"—why can't anyone ever crash someplace nice?—but bigger questions soon present themselves: Was all of this just bad luck, or is something more sinister at play?
Creative director Matthieu Richez said Dead on Antares will be "less RNG-heavy" than the previous games in the series, and will put a greater emphasis on story and character interactions "that will feel more fluid and natural." The exploration and survival systems have also been reworked to better fit the game's sci-fi setting, which he said felt like a natural evolution of the series following the "contemporary and historic settings" of Dead in Bermuda and Dead in Vinland.
"Setting the story on a completely fictional planet is a really cool sandbox for designers to create interesting new challenges with the survival aspects," Richez said. "If you need weather that makes it rain poisonous jellyfish every other day, you can do it. We try to keep everything plausible from a scientific point of view, but the freedom it gives us is perfect to achieve a better balance from a systemic point of view."
Dead in Antares doesn't have a solid release date yet but it's set to be out sometime in 2025, and will be available for PC on Steam.
2025 games: This year's upcoming releases
Best PC games: Our all-time favorites
Free PC games: Freebie fest
Best FPS games: Finest gunplay
Best RPGs: Grand adventures
Best co-op games: Better together