World of Warcraft's Shadowlands pre-patch has landed onto the public test servers
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: World of Warcraft's Shadowlands expansion has been pinned for an October 2020 release date!
If you've been itching to give World of Warcraft's Shadowlands expansion a try, but you've been unfortunate enough to not get selected for beta access, I might have a bit of good news for you. The Shadowlands pre-patch has now landed onto the PTR (public test servers), and while it might not be the real deal, it does offer a taste of what is to come!
Speaking of which, there's three major things to check out in the pre-patch, though not all of them are fully finished just yet. The first is the new leveling experience that not only offers a much more informative start for new players, but also allows you to level through whichever zones and expansions you like. And best of all, the whole process is significantly faster than on the live servers!
Risk of Rain 2 has left Early Access alongside the massive new Update 1.0
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update #2]: The original Risk of Rain is getting a remaster with new content, improved multiplayer and smoother gameplay.
[Update]: Risk of Rain 2's Anniversary update has brought in a whole bunch of exciting new content.
After an extremely successful stay in Early Access, Risk of Rain 2 has now finally been deemed ready and released in full. All of this has been accompanied by the rather hefty Update 1.0 which brings with it the Captain as a brand new survivor to shotgun-blast baddies with, a new stage and enemies to mess around with, as well as a couple of new challenges and items to discover.
What exactly this might look like in gameplay terms, that you can find out through the recently posted trailer. Have a gander, it's a rather brief one:
Dirt 5's release date has been pushed back until October 16th
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Dirt 5's release date has been pushed back once again, this time to November.
Dirt 5 was originally supposed to release this October 9th, but due to the developers needing a little bit of extra time in order to get everything ready for launch, it's release date has now been pushed back. However, unlike the somewhat ambiguous Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 delay, Dirt 5 has only been knocked back a single week and will be coming to PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this October 16th.
You can get a pretty good idea of what Dirt 5 will bring to the table, as well as how it differs from its predecessors, through the somewhat recent features trailer. Have a gander, it's a rather informative one:
Steam's Tiny Teams Festival is offering discounts on games created by micro studios or solo developers
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
As the name would imply, the newly launched Tiny Teams Festival is here to celebrate games crated by small studios, or even a single person! Besides highlighting a variety of current and upcoming games made by such small teams, there's also a bunch of nifty discounts and demos to check out. You can check out the full list of games, as well as a stream showing them off in action, over at Steam.
As for me, allow me to share with you a couple of my favorites while they're still on a discount. Every single one of them is brilliant, so if you're even remotely curious about what they have to offer, I'd definitely recommend looking into them further. Anyway, here's the brief list:
Cyberpunk 2077 preview shows off the three distinct origin stories and various high-powered weapons
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed yet again, this time until December 10, 2020.
[Update]: CDPR has released the minimum and recommended system requirements for Cyberpunk 2077.
Much like the original Dragon Age, it looks like Cyberpunk 2077 will have distinct origin stories that will slightly shape your whole experience. The 'Street Kid' and 'Nomad' origins are pretty much exactly what you would expect. The first has you grow up fast and tough as a part of gang in a poor neighborhood, while the second has you take on the role of a freedom-seeking nomad that's living out their life at the fringes of society.
Both of those are fairly standard origins for a Cyberpunk protagonist, which is why I'm both surprised and pleased to say that the third one will have you take on the mantle of the baddies as an executive in one of the corporations! Obviously, there will be some sort of fall from grace in order to ensure the actual game happens, but even so, it's not often that we get to see a Cyberpunk-style story from the perspective of someone that has had it all!
RimWorld's new Update 1.2 has added difficulty customization and a bunch of new content
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: RimWorld is getting the massive free Update 1.3 and Ideology expansion in July 2021.
While perhaps not as big as the Royalty expansion, the newest Rimworld 1.2 update has brought in a whole host of improvements and additions. The most important of these are the new options that allow you to toggle an assortment of threats and disasters, adjust quest rewards and harvesting yields, and even offer the ability to disallow things like traps, turrets or mortars!
So if you're like me and you like to create interesting challenges for your poor colonists to suffer through, this update should come in quite handy! Not only can you now make your experience absolutely brutal in every respect, but you can also remove some features you might find irritating in order to make it a more compelling experience overall.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has been delayed again, this time until 2021
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: After many, many delays, Bloodlines 2 will be re-revealed in September 2023, though you can now refund your pre-order if you wish
[Update]: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has lost its Lead Narrative Designer and Creative Director.
If you were itching to get your hands on Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 this year, I'm afraid I have some bad news. According to the latest announcement, Bloodlines 2 has now been delayed until 2021, with no specific date set just yet.
The reason, as is quite often the case these days, is that the team needs a little bit more time in order to make sure everything is as polished as it can be. And honestly, given how janky some of the recent previews have looked, this delay is most definitely a positive thing in my book.