The newest free release from the Epic store comes courtesy of indie developer Thomas Happ and continues Epic’s hot streak for providing high tier games at the low, low price of $0.
The game in question is 2015’s Axiom Verge, a Metroidvania inspired side scroller that follows protagonist Trace, a scientist trying to survive in a strange and futuristic world after waking up from a serious injury.
The craziest thing about the game is that is was made by one person, the aforementioned Thomas Happ. In fact, Happ was the sole developer, artist, and musician for the game. Axiom Verge was merely a passion project for Happ, who worked on the game in his free time between 2010 and 2015. Considering its ahem “limited” development team, I wouldn’t fault you for immediately assuming that Axiom was just another half-assed side scroller- although I would definitely correct you.
When it was released in 2015, Axiom received near-universal critical and commercial acclaim and as of today sits at an impressive 87% on Metacritic. This isn’t new for Epic, who has given away a slew of hard hitters over the last few weeks. The list of Epic’s previously released free games includes Subnautica (87% on Metacritic), Super Meat Boy (87%), What Remains of Edith Finch (88%), and The Jackbox Party Pack (78%).
It’s kind of crazy that Epic is able to drop so many quality titles for free, especially considering that all it takes to access them is an Epic account. Meanwhile on Playstation, a one-year PS Plus subscription retails for $59.99 USD, and in terms of the quality of their games, Playstation only managed a 71.1% average on Metacritic in 2017. Xbox faired a little better with 77.19%. It’ll be interesting to see if Epic can keep up with their output in the coming months. The ball is in your court, Sony.
