Our favorite upcoming cyberpunk FPS will let you explore satellites and get crossed over on the court this September

Fortune’s Run is one of PC Gamer’s most anticipated games of 2023, a fast-paced, acrobatic FPS/immersive sim in a grungy sci-fi future that’s like the original Deus Ex meets the Star Wars Expanded Universe. In a new trailer at the PC Gaming Show, Team Fortune shows off some of the new features coming to the game’s free demo, as well as its early access release date of September 1.

Fortune’s Run’s new trailer begins with a slapstick kerfuffle of a docking sequence at the game’s “fully simulated centrifugal gravity space station level,” before cutting to the interior of the shuttle where protagonist Mozah is quickly recognized and a firefight ensues. We get a combat sizzle reel showing off new enemies and locations coming in the game’s early access release, as well as a peek at some new features added to Fortune’s Run’s demo that you can play right now.

The big ticket item is dual wielding, which Team Fortune told me to think of “like power stancing” in FromSoftware games. “Some weapons allow you to carry a second one [offhand], which opens up a new moveset and/or a greater ammo pool.

“However, you can only use the power stance until you run out of ammo, because you can’t reload with both hands full.”

Previewing the revamped demo, I noticed Fortune’s Run now has more optional tutorials and a gentler onramp in general for new players, but that’s balanced with cannier enemy AI that had me scrambling for healing items way more often.

But all of that’s secondary to the new basketball minigame. Fortune’s Run already opened with a Looking Glass-style, physics-simulated b-ball court, but now there’s an NPC you can one-on-one with and this guy can hoop. He had me like “Mom, can you pick me up? I just went 11-0 against a frog man who sounds like KotOR Rodian.” To quote Team Fortune, “he’s been practicing for a year.”

Team Fortune’s also implemented a Dark Souls-style asynchronous online message system, complete with some familiar templates. You can leave messages for other players courtesy of the new, ahem, box of crayons item, and I love how they show up like in-universe graffiti instead of the floaty, glowy floor blocks of the Souls series. You have to keep an eye out for Fortune’s Run’s messages if you want some handy tips or just to be informed of a “plump sort ahead” or “fort, night.”

Fortune’s Run continues to be one of my most-watched projects, and its September 1 early access launch isn’t long off. In the meantime, you can play its new-and-improved demo level, Trouble at Club V’heni. I’ve currently got 10 hours clocked since the demo’s initial release last Fall. You can also check out Team Fortune’s slick, ’90s mag-inspired website, wishlist the game on Steam, or support the team on Patreon.

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