Without any prior warning, Valve has just unleashed Counter-Strike 2 as a free update!
- By Ash
- in News
After spending a fair bit of time in testing, it looks like Valve has decided that Counter-Strike 2 is now finally ready for its big debut. And so, without any prior warning and without much fanfare, Counter-Strike 2 has now been unleashed as a free update to CS:GO!
The Source 2 powered Counter-Strike 2 brings with it greatly improved visuals and audio, smoother online play, enhanced Workshop modding tools, updated ranked play, as well as a whole bunch of gameplay tweaks. The most important of these are the new smoke grenades as they no longer produce simple spheres, but rather dynamically fill the environment with smoke which can be affected by shooting or using HE grenades. Needless to say, it's an incredible change, and one that's bound to shake things up on even the most classic of maps.
Croteam's puzzle game The Talos Principle 2 is heading to PC and consoles on November 2, 2023
- By Ash
- in News
Nearly a decade has gone by since the original The Talos Principle, but I'm happy to say that the fancy new sequel is nearly upon us! According to the latest announcement, The Talos Principle 2 will be heading over to PC (via Steam and the Epic Games Store), PlayStation and Xbox on November 2nd, 2023!
Much like its predecessor, The Talos Principle 2 will bring with it a combination of challenging yet somewhat strange puzzles, relaxing music and a highly philosophical storyline that might just give you a bit of an existential crisis! That might not sound all that appealing on paper, but if The Talos Principle 2 is anything like the original, it's almost certainly going to be a unique and compelling experience.
Payday 3 has now arrived alongside a surprising amount of server problems
- By Ash
- in News
Quite a few years have gone by since the original announcement, but Starbreeze's co-op shooter Payday 3 has now finally been released. Unfortunately, it has done so alongside some serious server problems and an impressively tedious progression system that have mostly overshadowed the otherwise entertaining gameplay.
While the servers are likely to get fixed up in the next few weeks, getting the progression system into shape is going to take some serious effort as the current iteration is both grindy and unsatisfying. Basically, instead of getting experience by playing the game normally, the only way to gain experience and further your character is to complete challenges which are often very specific and also don't scale based on difficulty.
Lovecraftian fishing game Dredge has added the often-requested Boat Customization
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: It took a while, but Dredge has now launched its very first expansion - The Pale Reach!
In order to help tide everyone over until the first big DLC arrives later this year, the Lovecraftian fishing game Dredge has now launched a small update containing a highly requested feature - the ability to customize your boat's appearance! You can also look forward to a couple of new mutated crabs, a rebalance of crab pots as a whole, as well as a bunch of new shipwrecks to loot throughout the world.
As for the customization options, those can be unlocked once you've acquired the dredge crane as a part of the main story, so fairly early on. Once you have it a brand new NPC situated at Little Marrow will offer you a limited selection of paint options to mess around with, while more and more stuff will become available as you explore the world.
Broken Roads, a Fallout inspired RPG set in post-apocalyptic Australia, is coming this November
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Broken Roads has been delayed until early 2024 in order to ensure it launches as well polished as it can be.
If Baldur's Gate 3 has gotten you into a bit of an RPG mood, you might want to keep an eye on the upcoming Fallout inspired and narrative driven RPG called Broken Roads. As you might imagine given its inspiration, Broken Roads will have you chat up a variety of unique and interesting characters, undertake lengthy quests all across a post-apocalyptic version of Australia, solve dilemmas based on your character's philosophical leanings, and naturally, fight against all sorts of enemies in turn-based combat while looting everything that isn't nailed down particularly well!
What all of this looks like in action, as well as what sort of tone Broken Roads is going for, that you can check out through one of the trailers below. Have a gander:
Baldur's Gate 3's Patch #3 has added Mac support, appearance changing, and numerous bug fixes
- By Ash
- in News
Larian Studios sure are industrious, I'll give them that. It hasn't even been two months since Baldur's Gate 3 launched out of Steam Early Access, and already they've managed to release three massive updates!
The freshly released Patch #3 might end up being the most important one out of the bunch as it not only brings with it a large assortment of bug fixes and quality of life improvements, but also the often-requested ability to change your appearance, and even full Mac support. Do be warned, however, that saves made in previous versions of Baldur's Gate 3 on Mac will not be compatible with the full release. Furthermore, in order to minimize any potential compatibility issues, it's highly recommended you fully uninstall the game and remove any mods before installing the latest Mac version.
Darktide devs have revealed more about the upcoming RPG-like talent trees and accompanying balance changes
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: Darktide's Patch #13 has now arrived, and I'm happy to say it's already looking quite amazing!
[Update]: All of Darktide's upcoming Patch #13 abilities, grenades and major talents have now been revealed.
After half a year of mostly bug fixes and general improvements, Darktide will be getting an absolutely massive content update this October 4th. The definite highlight is the addition of RPG-like talent trees for all four classes, which includes a plethora of new abilities, effects and playstyles to explore.
For example, Psykers will be able to deploy a massive shield to protect their team, blast lightning out of their hands without having to use the surge staff, or even just replace their brain burst ability with homing physic shards. Best of all, this is just the tip of the iceberg!