Factorio devs have started working on a sizable expansion pack
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Factorio's Space Age expansion has added new worlds, giant worms and even better trains!
Even though Factorio is now technically finished and quite enjoyable as it is, the developers have already started looking towards expanding the concept even further. However, instead of focusing on a bunch of smaller updates or even DLC packs, the Wube Software team has chosen to go with the oldschool 'big expansion pack' plan.
That plan, as you might expect, will be to introduce a whole bunch of new mechanics that will greatly shake up the usual gameplay formula and make Factorio feel completely fresh again. I would love to give you some actual details or examples, but the expansion is still in early development and as such everything is currently in a state of flux.
Vermintide 2 update has greatly improved bot AI behavior and survivability
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Vermintide 2's Chaos Wastes expansion will be launching this April 2021 on PC!
While Vermintide 2 is one of those games that gets immensely more enjoyable alongside a couple of friends, there is still a sizable number of people that primarily play it alongside AI companions. So in order to make their experience a lot more pleasant, as well as prepare things for the upcoming Chaos Wastes expansion, Fatshark has now unleashed a whole assortment of bot AI updates.
First and foremost, bots will now use healing items only when they are under 40% health, while also being more likely to give their healing items to players in need. This alone should make a sizable difference as previously bots would be a massive drain on the group's healing supplies, which as you might imagine, isn't exactly ideal when you're trying to guide them through the harder difficulties.
World of Warcraft is bringing back Valor Points in order to make dungeons far more rewarding
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: World of Warcraft's major Update 9.1 - Chains of Domination is going up for testing on the week of April 12, 2021.
In an effort to make acquiring new items feel a bit more exciting, Blizzard made endgame gear in Shadowlands far less numerous than in the previous expansions. While this has certainly had the desired effect of making each new piece a noticeable upgrade, the newfound item scarcity has unfortunately also made the whole set of Mythic+ dungeons feel remarkably unrewarding.
This goes doubly so for the lower level dungeons as not only do you have a relatively small chance to get the item you want, but the item itself will be of a low item level and thus easily overpowered by stuff granted through random quests, events or world bosses. In order to sort this problem out, as well as make Mythic+ gearing a lot more pleasant for everyone involved, Blizzard will soon be bringing back the fan-favorite Valor Points!
Steam's massive Lunar New Year 2021 sale is now live and will be running until February 15
- By Ash
- in News
I hope your wallet is ready, because a brand new Steam sale has just arrived! Best of all, even though the whole sale is themed after the Lunar New Year, the games on offer span pretty much the entirety of gaming, so it should be a remarkably easy task to find something new and interesting to play.
That said, if you're not exactly sure what to go for, allow me to give you a couple of suggestions. All of these are games I've played extensively over the past few years, which combined with their deep discount makes them quite easy to recommend. Here's the brief list, with a special shout-out going towards XCOM 2 as it's currently a mere €4 which is just ridiculously cheap for such a fun strategy game:
Overwatch's Year of the Ox event has arrived alongside a new Bounty Hunter mode
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Overwatch is looking to nerf Wrecking Ball, as well as buff Winston, Orisa and Reaper!
After being announced only a few days ago, Overwatch's annual Lunar New Year event has now gone live. You can expect to see a whole bunch of new cosmetics, the return of Capture-the-Flag in both competitive and casual varieties, three new challenges that reward an epic skin each, and perhaps most surprisingly, a brand new Bounty Hunter game mode.
The Bounty Hunter mode is a fairly simple concept, as you would imagine. One player is marked as a bounty and gets a whole bunch of bonuses, while the rest of the lobby needs to hunt them down as quickly as possible in order to become the bounty themselves, and so the cycle goes. It's fast, it's frantic, and it's also completely and utterly imbalanced. In other words, it's pretty good fun!
Souls-like RPG Nioh 2: The Complete Edition has now finally landed onto PC
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Nioh 2 update has finally added mouse & keyboard prompts for the PC version.
If you grabbed the original Nioh during some of the recent sales and found yourself enjoying its take on the Souls-like gameplay formula, you'll be pleased to hear that the sequel has now finally arrived onto PC. Best of all, Nioh 2: The Complete Edition has launched with all three of its DLC expansions already bundled together: The Tengu’s Disciple, Darkness in the Capital, and The First Samurai.
Rather than babble on, allow me to share with you the recently posted launch trailer. It should give you a pretty good idea of what the PC version looks like and what it has to offer. Have a gander:
Deep Rock Galactic Update 33 has added fancy new biomes, enemies and spruced up missions
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Deep Rock Galactic's April update is bringing mod support, major weapon rebalance and even nastier space-bugs.
Update 33 has been in the works for quite a while now, but I'm happy to say that the long wait was well worth it. The final version has brought with it two expansive new biomes to explore, an assortment of fun new mini-bosses and enemies to tackle, and even improved versions of Elimination, Salvage and Point Extraction modes.
You can also expect to see an overhaul of the Mineral Trade system that makes it more intuitive and less fiddly to work with, along with a fresh load of cosmetics and dances in both paid and free variants. And just to spice things up even further, there's also a brand new batch of bug fixes and balance changes, the most exciting of which are the ones that have made the original Dreadnought a lot more challenging of a boss!