Five Excellent Console Games Heading to the PC

One of the best arguments against our declaration that PC gaming is the future is the large number of games that historically have only come to consoles. In recent years, however, that sad trend has reversed, with more and more “exclusives” eventually timing out and finding new homes on Steam or other PC distribution platforms. And the future looks bright, as evidenced by the following five games finding their way into the hard drives (and, perhaps, hearts) of PC gamers in the coming months, often as improved versions with new features unavailable on consoles.

State of Decay

The zombie sandbox game that has delighted console players in all its buggy but highly engaging glory for months is set  to arrive on PCs later this year. State of Decay is already a tremendous amount of fun, and developer Undead Labs has promised higher resolutions, improved frame rate, and better performance in the updated version (which will also include all the critical patches that have already appeared on the console version, smoothing out some of the game’s roughest edges). What we’re mostly excited about, though, as is the case with many of these games, is what the PC modding community will do once State of Decay lands in their eager hands.

Castlevania: Lord of Shadows Ultimate Edition

The best-selling Castlevania game of all time hits PCs on August 27th in the form of an Ultimate Edition that features two new add-on chapters, Reverie and Resurrection. The third-person action adventure take on the Castlevania formula met with mixed critical response, but was well received by fans as a refreshing new direction for a franchise that was in danger of stagnation. As well as the new storylines, the Ultimate Edition will take advantage of PC hardware to push higher resolutions at 60 frames per second, and includes new weapons, skills, and environments.

TowerFall

While the Ouya may not be the first console you think of when killer exclusives come to mind, Towerfall is the Android box’s closest thing to a killer app. The 2D archery combat platformer has won fans by virtue of its addictive local multiplayer and frenetic competitive action. Creator Matt Thorson has promised a massive amount of new content for the PC version, including new archers, power-ups, and towers, as well as a fully fleshed out single-player mode.

Guacamelee: Gold Edition

One of the most surprising treats on PSN in the last year, Guacamelee, proves that there’s still life in the side-scrolling beat-em-up. The Gold Edition on PC will include both the Costume Pack and The Devil’s Playground DLC, and if you pick it up in its first week, you’ll get a 10% discount and Drinkbox’s other downloadable title, Tales of Space: Mutant Blobs Attack for free. Guacamelee: Gold Edition is scheduled to hit Steam on August 8th.

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut

One of our favorite quirky titles of this generation, Deadly Premonition is the Twin Peaks inspired vision of mad Japanese genius Swery 65. Originally an Xbox 360 exclusive, an expanded version was recently released on PS3, and now PC gamers will get to experience that Director’s Cut for themselves. On top of the fresh content and improved graphics from the PS3 version, the PC version will include exclusive new DLC. The game recently passed the Steam Greenlight process and will be available sometime around Halloween.