The Autumn Steam Game Festival has arrived with a whole bunch of indie games in tow
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: The Steam Game Festival has returned once more to showcase a bunch of new and upcoming indie games!
If you don't follow indie games all that frequently, yet you still like giving them a try if the concept seems unique enough, you might want to check out the newly launched Autumn Steam Game Festival. As the name would suggest, the Steam Game Festival is all about highlighting unique and interesting indie games, as well as giving players a chance to personally try many of them through the freely available demos.
The Steam Game Festival will last until October 13th, so you should have plenty of time to browse through the games and see if anything piques your curiosity. And if you have a bit of free time, you can also check out the various developer previews, gameplay overviews and interviews that will be streamed on a daily basis.
World of Warcraft has revealed the full list of changes arriving with the Shadowlands pre-patch
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: My Shadowlands review is now live, and I'm happy to say things are looking pretty good for WoW!
[Update]: Shadowlands pre-patch has now arrived with revamped leveling and tons of new customization.
While the Shadowlands expansion has been delayed until later this year, the good news is that the pre-patch will be arriving this October 13th to help tide you over. The pre-patch will not only set up a whole bunch of things for Shadowlands, but also tweak a variety of older content in order to make leveling new characters a lot more enjoyable.
As such, expect to see character levels squished down from 120 to 50, with item levels and stats going downwards alongside them. Best of all, under the new system you'll be able to level in whatever expansion you prefer, all the way from level 10 to 50. So if you're like me and you miss seeing the latter parts of Warlords of Draenor's questing experience, you'll soon have a chance to do just that!
Wasteland 3 update has improved loading times by up to 60% on PC
- By Ash
- in News
While Wasteland 3 is a pretty fun RPG to mess around with, it unfortunately has a hefty amount of bugs and optimization issues. Out of the latter category, the loadings times are by far the worst offender as it can sometimes feel like you're spending more time staring at the loading screen than actually playing the game.
With that in mind, you'll be happy to hear that Patch 1.1.2 has now arrived with some major improvements. According to the developers, the update should reduce loading times by up to 60% on PC and 25% on console. In terms of raw numbers, their test hardware went from a 38 second load time to a mere 13 seconds. Naturally, this will be different for every single PC out there, but it should still be a noticeable improvement.
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit is being Remastered this November 6th for PC and consoles
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered has now arrived for both PC and consoles.
If you're a fan of the 2010 Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, you'll be happy to hear that EA is currently working on a remastered version. The aptly named Hot Pursuit Remastered will bring with it support for 4K resolutions and 60 FPS, higher resolution models, better shadows and reflections, a longer draw distance, and a whole bunch of other visual improvements.
Naturally, the gameplay itself will be getting spruced up a little bit as well. You can expect to see new achievements, cosmetics, an updated photo mode and gallery, quality of life updates and bug fixes, and perhaps most importantly of all, every single piece of DLC already bundled in.
Valorant is getting a chilly and zipline focused new map this October 13th - the Icebox
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: Valorant's Act 3 update has now brought in the very first new map - Icebox.
[Update]: Valorant's new animal-focused Agent Skye is looking to be an absolute powerhouse!
Even though the recent update has made it so maps are a lot less likely to repeat, Valorant is still in dire need of more maps. Each one is essentially its own mini-game with its own unique rules and tricks, so the more quality maps we have, the more enjoyable it is to just rush from one match to another.
As such, I am pleased to say that the upcoming Act 3 update will add the Icebox - a rather chilly map filled with storage containers, heavy machinery, and most importantly of all, ziplines! Here's a brief teaser of what you can expect to see this October 13th:
Baldur's Gate 3 has now launched into Early Access with around 25 hours of content
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: After three years in Early Access, Baldur's Gate 3 has now launched to overwhelming praise!
[Update]: Baldur's Gate 3 will be leaving Early Access in August 2023.
After going through the briefest of delays, Baldur's Gate 3 has now finally launched into Early Access. This initial version brings with it approximately 25 hours of content spread across the first act of the campaign, 6 player classes, 9 races and subraces, as well as 5 unique characters you can recruit.
As for the full version, it is estimated that Baldur's Gate 3 will spend about a year in Early Access. During this time you can expect to see updates that slowly flesh out the second and third act, add new characters and races, and as is tradition, fix up the various bugs and balance issues. In other words, Baldur's Gate 3 will be going through pretty much the same process as Divinity: Original Sin 2.
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne update has added the legendary Fatalis and Arch-Tempered Velkhana
- By Ash
- in News
After bringing in Alatreon and Frostfang Barioth as nifty little end-game challenges, Monster Hunter World: Iceborne's fifth major update has now added two more beasties to test your steel against. As you might expect from the title alone, the dynamic duo consists of the legendary black dragon Fatalis and the Arch-Tempered variant of Velkhana.
You can get a good idea of what both of them look like in action, as well as what sort of cosmetics have arrived as a part of this update, through the recently posted trailer. Have a peek, it's pretty fun stuff: