Street Fighter V devs will finally be improving the netcode with next week's update
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: The netcode update has now arrived, and while it's solid, it doesn't appear to be the miracle cure many had hoped it would be.
If there is one problem that has followed Street Fighter V since its launch, it would be the netcode. I won't even pretend to understand the technical reasoning behind it, but basically, the netcode would sometimes mess up and end up causing artificial lag for one of the players. Needless to say, this is far from ideal given how precise fighting games tend to be, especially in the higher echelons of competition.
In a surprising twist, a community member called Altimor released a patch last month that pretty much corrected the above mentioned problem. Since it was a completely fan-made patch there were still some bugs and occasional problems, but for the most part the patch did exactly what it set out to do. And more importantly, it managed to highlight the exact issue to Capcom who are now working on an official fix!
Valve's Half-Life: Alyx has officially been pinned for a March 23rd release date
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: Half-Life: Alyx has now been released, and I'm pleased to say it's been well worth the wait!
[Update]: Half-Life: Alyx now has three new gameplay previews, each one showcasing a different style of movement.
A little while ago Valve unveiled their very own (and very expensive) VR device - Valve Index. In order to show off just what the Index is capable of, as well as hopefully further the cause of VR gaming as a whole, Valve also announced that Half-Life: Alyx will be their first fully-fledged and VR-exclusive game.
The story in Half-Life: Alyx will take place between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2, and as the name itself would suggest, will focus on Alyx Vance and her father as they attempt to weaken the Combine's grip on the planet. When it comes to the gameplay, that you can learn more about through the original announcement trailer. Have a gander, it's an interesting one:
World of Warcraft: Classic has added the Blackwing Lair raid and new Level 50 class quests
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: I have some good news to share! World of Warcraft: Classic has now added one of my favorite classic raids - Zul'Gurub!
If you're sick and tired of clearing Molten Core over and over again, rejoice as World of Warcraft: Classic has now added its second raid - Blackwing Lair. Expect to see a whole bunch of fire-breathing enemies, powerful items, amazing-looking Tier 2 armor sets, as well as a whole bunch of bosses that seemed to be quite a bit harder all those years ago!
You can get a pretty good idea of what Blackwing Lair looks like in-game, as well as what sort of challenges you'll get to face, through the recently posted (and rather nostalgic) teaser trailer. Have a peek:
Real-time strategy Door Kickers 2 will be coming to Steam in the second quarter of 2020
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: After years in development, Door Kickers 2 has now entered Steam Early Access.
Door Kickers 2 was originally supposed to release in 2016, a mere two years after the original, though KillHouse Games ended up delaying its launch to 2017 in order to get everything nice and polished up. As you might imagine, the new release date didn't end up working out either. And as 2017 rolled over to 2018, new information about Door Kickers 2 became incredibly sparse, to the point that I simply wasn't even sure if it's actually in development anymore.
Thankfully, it would appear that my concerns were unfounded as KillHouse Games have just announced that not only is Door Kickers 2 still alive and kicking, but that it will be released onto Steam Early Access this year! The exact release date hasn't been revealed just yet, but you can expect to see it at some point in the second quarter of 2020.
Minecraft's newest snapshot update has greatly improved the Nether and player equipment
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: The Nether update has been pinned for a June 23, 2020 release date.
Mojang is slowly but surely trying to improve Minecraft's end-game, and what better place to start than the accursed Nether - a region with very little interesting geography or reasons to stick around. As such, I'm happy to say that the latest snapshot (beta) update has not only expanded the amount of biomes found within the Nether, but also added Hoglins as new NPCs to help spice things up a bit.
Perhaps most importantly, at least as far as gameplay is concerned, there is also a new high-level material found only in the Nether - Netherite. This new material can be used to upgrade Diamond equipment into Netherite versions which comes with higher toughness, durability, knockback resistance, and even speed. And if that wasn't enough of a reason to go and upgrade your gear, the new Netherite set also looks quite fetching!
Darksburg is a co-op focused hack & slash from the developers behind Northgard
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
After successfully getting Northgard through Steam Early Access, Shiro Games are now attempting to do the same with Darksburg. However, while Northgard is a strategy game through and through, Darksburg is a co-op focused hack & slash with both a classic PvE mode and a Left 4 Dead inspired PvP mode.
You can get a bit of an idea of what Darksburg looks like, as well as what the actual combat is about, through the recently posted launch trailer. Have a gander, it's a fairly short one:
DayZ is entirely free to try out on Steam from February 13-17
- By Ash
- in News
If you're curious about DayZ and you've somehow managed to avoid giving it a try all these years, consider yourself quite lucky. In celebration of the newly released Update 1.07, DayZ will be entirely free to try out from February 13-17. All you need to do is head on over to Steam tomorrow, click on that giant green button, and you'll be ready to steal canned beans from other players in no time.
As for Update 1.07, it has brought with it the new Repeater Carbine which uses .357 rounds, as well as new 12ga rubber slugs which can be used to deal non-lethal damage with any of your favorite shotguns. The global lighting system has also received some noticeable changes, especially during night time, while the map itself now has a variety of new amusement parks for players to explore.