Remnant II is one of the best action games of last year — at least, according to me, and its Game Awards nomination — and developer Gunfire Games is set to expand it with its third DLC soon. Dubbed The Dark Horizon, the DLC launching in September will be Remnant II’s last. Gunfire is also adding a whole new game mode, and thanks to a conveniently timed addition to PlayStation Plus, subscribers can now play the challenging co-op shooter for free to prepare for the new updates.
The Dark Horizon will be arriving a little later than players initially expected. When Remnant II launched, Gunfire Games said that it would receive three expansions within the first year after release. The announcement of The Dark Horizon actually comes on the game’s first anniversary, revealing that Gunfire won’t be making that deadline after all.
“We’ve made the difficult decision to move back the release of our third DLC, so that we have more time to deliver you the best possible experience that you deserve,” Gunfire said in a post on Steam announcing The Dark Horizon.
Other than the DLC’s launch window, details are scarce on both its content and what the new game mode will entail. All Gunfire is saying for now is that The Dark Horizon is meant to be “the most expansive DLC for Remnant II,” and that the new game mode will have a unique progression system and be available for all players regardless of whether they own any of the game’s DLC. Both of the game’s previous expansions, The Forgotten Kingdom and The Awakened King, added new dungeons and weapons in additional story chapters, as well as a new character class in each.
If you haven’t played Remnant II at all yet, there’s still plenty of time to get caught up before The Dark Horizon’s release. It’s been included with Xbox Game Pass since late last year and came to PS Plus on July 16, so if you’re subscribed to either service, you already have access.
In the absolute storm of great games released last year, you may well have missed Remnant II entirely, but it’s worth a look, especially for Dark Souls fans. Ever since the original Remnant, the quick and dirty pitch for the games has been “Dark Souls with guns.” Remnant II doesn’t have From Software-style interlocking levels, but it does have other Dark Souls staples like punishing difficulty and fantastic bosses.
It also has a much heavier focus on co-op play. The entire game can be played in multiplayer, and Remnant II’s firefights only get more fun when you bring a friend or two along. Its campaign sends players to multiple different worlds to root out evil gods bent on destroying the universe, with a central hub to return to when you want to upgrade your gear or just take a break from the stress of battling otherworldly monsters.
Each time you set out in Remnant II, the world will change, as each stage is dynamically generated. While that precludes the game from having the kind of spectacular world design that defines Dark Souls and its ilk, it does make for a far more replayable game. Each delve into a dungeon brings new challenges, which makes completing the loop to earn new upgrades and level up your character more rewarding. It also keeps the experience from getting stale with multiple runs, as you can’t just develop a single strategy and expect it to work every time.
Remnant II’s classes also make it clear that multiplayer is the best way to approach the game. From support-focused healers to melee bruisers, classes are heavily specialized and they work best when paired up in a party with others that complement their playstyle. That makes the announcement of a new DLC especially exciting, since it will also certainly include a new class to shake up the balance even more.
Helldivers 2 has taken the multiplayer crown this year, but if you’re looking for another game to add to your co-op repertoire, Remnant II absolutely deserves a shot. Its oppressive atmosphere and complementary classes make diving into its dungeons a tense, rewarding quest that’s only gotten better with each new expansion. And since it’s now on PS Plus, it’s even easier to jump into ahead of what sounds like its biggest DLC yet.
