Abzû's delightful ocean is free on the Epic Games Store
Come on in, the water's free.
Come on in, readers. The water's free. Giant Squid's chill dive 'em up Abzû is once again opening its waters for free on the Epic Games Store. Someone must've thought it pairs well with the horrors of war, mind, because it's joined this week by Rising Storm 2: Vietnam. Both will be free to download and keep for the next week, at which point they'll be replaced by pigs and monarchs.
A chill exploration game in the vein of ThatGameCompany's Flower or Journey (both of which feature in Giant Squid creative director Matt Nava's resume), Abzû is a game about finding wonder and serenity as you dive through shimmering shoals and gorgeous reefs.
Abzû's been out for a good while now, and this isn't even its first time as an Epic freebie. But it sounds like an utterly delightful experience, one Pip Warr adored in her review. "Abzû is a beautiful game. It’s a game stuffed with fish and colour and movement and music. I love those things. Sometimes you feel like you’re actually inside an episode of Blue Planet".
Naturally, it's been paired with a game so far on the other end of the tonal spectrum as to cause whiplash. This week's other free game is Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, Tripwire Interactive's excessively lethal multiplayer shooter. It's one of those stripped-back, "realistic" shooters in the vein of Insurgency: Sandstorm, an unforgiving battlefield with minimal UI and a punishing tension that'll have you dying to stray bullets over and over and over again.
Abzû and Rising Storm 2: Vietnam are free over on the Epic Games Store 'til this time next week. After that, they'll swim off to be replaced by porky horror Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs and regal manager Kingdom: New Lands.