Dota 2's Patch 7.35c has arrived with much-needed nerfs to overplayed heroes and items
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Dota 2's Patch 7.35d has reworked hero bans and brought in yet more balance changes.
The Dota 2 team is currently working on a massive update called Crownfall, which will more likely than not include the Ringmaster hero teased back in 2023. So in order to help tide everyone over until the update finally arrives, Valve has now unleashed the rather humble Patch 7.35c.
As you would expect, Patch 7.35c is mostly focused on nerfing the overly strong heroes that have been plaguing the game for the past few months. Nature's Prophet now does less damage, Meepo isn't nearly as tanky, Lion's mana drain has finally been toned down, Faceless Void is a little bit weaker across the board, while the smurf-favorite Arc Warden is now easier to take down in the early game.
Helldivers 2 has now landed onto PC and PS5, and so far it's been amazing
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: Helldivers 2 will soon be getting the EXO-45 Patriot Exosuits teased all the way back at launch.
[Update]: My 70+ hour review of Helldivers 2 is now out, and I'm delighted to say that the game is phenomenal!
Despite being a huge fan of the original, I must admit I was somewhat worried about Helldivers 2 during the lead up to its release. For the longest time the only bits of gameplay we were allowed to see were short, highly edited snippets - usually a telltale sign that a game that just can't hold your attention on its own merits.
However, I'm pleased to say that my worries were completely unfounded! Playing Helldivers 2 for the past couple of days has been a blast, even with the server issues making co-op occasionally annoying. I especially have to commend the audio-visual design as using explosive weaponry in Helldivers 2 is absurdly satisfying, and doubly so when you get some of the bigger toys to play around with. The sound effects, the fireball and dust the explosion causes, the enemies ragdolling into the sunset - it's basically perfect!
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has recently arrived, and it's thankfully not a disaster
- By Ash
- in News
After a seemingly messy development and plenty of delays, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has now finally been unleashed. And you know what? Despite the endless red flags and blaring warning signs, it's thankfully not a disaster!
It's not particularly great either, don't get me wrong, but it's got a decent bit of charm to it. I especially have to commend the combat as it feels exciting and has a good flow regardless of what character or build I tried messing around with. Things do start to get repetitive after a while, which is a bit of a problem for a looter shooter, but since the core gameplay is fun that can eventually be fixed.
Two years after its original launch, Horizon Forbidden West is coming to PC on March 21st
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Horizon Forbidden West has now landed onto PC without any of the technical issues that plagued the original game!
It took quite a while, but Horizon Forbidden West - Complete Edition will finally be making its way to PC on March 21st. As you would expect from something called the 'Complete Edition', the PC version will come bundled with the Burning Shores DLC, digital artbook, soundtrack and comic, as well as a couple of cosmetics to unlock over the course of the campaign.
As for the PC port in specific, Horizon Forbidden West will feature an unlocked frame rate, ultrawide and support for triple monitor setups, support for various upscaling technologies, and naturally, a plethora of settings to mess around with in order to (hopefully) find just the right balance between fidelity and performance. What all of this looks like in action, that you can check out through the recently posted trailer below. Have a gander:
MTG Arena's Murders at Karlov Manor set is arriving on February 6th alongside surprise guests
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: MTG Arena's Alchemy: Murders at Karlov Manor mini-set is launching on March 5th, and it brings with it a potential teaser for 4-player games!
Instead of having Draft Boosters and Set Boosters, Magic: The Gathering will soon be consolidating both into brand new Play Boosters. These Play Boosters will contain 14 cards, will be fully draftable, and will have a chance to contain some fancy cards from days gone by, including some with unique new artwork.
For MTG Arena in specific, these Play Boosters will be present in Limited formats, while the current 'normal' boosters will continue to be given out as rewards and will remain available for purchase through the in-game store. So if you don't play Limited or care about the older formats like Historic, Timeless or Explorer, chances are you might not even notice anything has changed.
Starship Troopers inspired co-op shooter Helldivers is getting a highly ambitious, third-person sequel
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update #2]: Helldivers 2 will soon be getting the EXO-45 Patriot Exosuits teased all the way back at launch.
[Update]: My 70+ hour review of Helldivers 2 is now out, and I'm delighted to say that the game is phenomenal!
Following in the footsteps of games like Risk of Rain 2, Arrowhead Game Studios have decided to really shake things up for the sequel to their 2015 co-op shooter Helldivers. As such, not only is Helldivers 2 going to be bigger, better and more polished than its predecessor, but it'll also forgo the restricting top-down view in favor of a more personal and higher fidelity third-person one.
When it comes to the actual gameplay, it should come as little surprise to hear that Helldivers 2 will equip you with an assortment of absurdly overpowered weaponry and throw you into the meatgrinder against equally absurd numbers of enemies. Add to that a plethora of toys that all cause copious amounts of friendly fire, a constant stream of chaos and nonsense, as well as overly patriotic, Starship Troopers flavored dialogue, and you've got yourself the building blocks of a (hopefully) highly entertaining co-op game.
Many years after being canceled, Vermintide 2's PvP Versus mode is now coming back
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Vermintide 2's A Parting of the Waves update is adding a brand new map and shield-bearing enemy.
Back in 2019, Fatshark announced that they're working on a PvP-focused Versus mode for Vermintide 2. Unfortunately, the new game mode ran into some sort of trouble during development as Fatshark quickly stopped talking about it, and eventually seemed to have given up on the idea entirely.
As such, you can imagine my surprise when I decided to fire up Vermintide 2 and was struck with the announcement that Versus is now back! More specifically, it's currently in alpha testing so it'll likely be a while before it's officially out, but the important thing is that it's now once again in active development!