Bloodlines 2 will be re-revealed in September, though you can now refund your pre-order if you wish
- By Ash
- in News
If after a lengthy period of utter silence you're now itching for some actual information about the state of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, I have a bit of good and bad news to share. The good news is that not only is Bloodlines 2 still in development, but the team is now offering refunds to anyone that pre-ordered any edition of the game!
“We acknowledge it was a long time ago that many of you pre-ordered Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2,” explains the developer update. “As development continues, we will be updating the game’s editions and bonus content, and we want to provide the best value to those of you who supported us via digital pre-order after all this time. We are thus offering refunds to anyone who has pre-ordered any edition of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2.”
Diablo 4 has now finally arrived, and while there are some notable issues, it's pretty good fun
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: Diablo 4's Season 1 will be launching on June 20th with new quests, items, boss and fresh start.
[Update]: Diablo 4 has massively buffed experience gains in Nightmare Dungeons and Helltides.
After many years of waiting filled with all sorts of teasers, previews and developer blogs, Blizzard's much-anticipated ARPG Diablo 4 has now finally arrived. Well, while it may have some noticeable flaws, I'm extremely happy to say that it was worth the long wait!
I'll have a full review up in the near future once I explore a bit more of the late-game, but here's the short version for now: Diablo 4 is a highly polished ARPG with excellent moment-to-moment gameplay mechanics and a fun world to run around in, though also a couple of annoying problems. The three big things holding it back are the somewhat messy plotlines towards the end, a curious lack of quality-of-life features found in Diablo 3, as well as an overly harsh level/damage scaling system.
Frictional Games' claustrophobic, non-linear horror game Amnesia: The Bunker has now been unleashed
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
In an effort to shake up the usual formula, Frictional Games have made the freshly released Amnesia: The Bunker a non-linear experience with a focus on emergent gameplay and replayability. In other words, Amnesia: The Bunker brings with it a semi-open world to explore, a fair bit of randomization to keep things interesting, multiple solutions to many puzzles, and most importantly of all, a seemingly Alien: Isolation inspired monster that will actively try to hunt you down!
Since trying to describe a horror game through words alone is a futile effort, allow me to share with you the launch trailer. That one should give you a pretty good idea of what sort of atmosphere Amnesia: The Bunker is going for, as well as what the gameplay's like. Have a little peek:
Overwatch 2's Season 5 is nerfing snipers, buffing Lifeweaver and bringing back soft crowd control
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: Bad news, I'm afraid. It looks like Overwatch 2's downsized PvE content will be locked behind a $15 purchase.
[Update]: Overwatch 2's Season 6: Invasion preview shows off the Story Missions and new Flashpoint game mode
As I've said in my review for the original Overwatch, there is nothing more annoying than being one-shot by someone you can barely even see, let alone interact with. Unfortunately, snipers have only gotten more obnoxious since then, especially in Overwatch 2 as the removal of the off-tank role has given them far, far more room to work with.
However, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon! After listening to the community complain about Hanzo and Windowmaker for many years at this point, Overwatch 2's Season 5 will finally be taking steps to address their most problematic aspects. As such, Widow will have a much greater damage fall off and will need to either land multiple shots or fight from closer range, while Hanzo will lose his ability to one-shot 250 health heroes on top of his Sonic Arrow ability getting more recognizable for the enemy side.
PowerWash Simulator is getting a VR version and Warhammer 40k crossover this year
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: PowerWash Simulator has unleashed a Warhammer 40,000 crossover DLC filled with heavy machinery.
It would appear that the success of the Lara Croft and Final Fantasy VII crossovers has really encouraged the PowerWash Simulator team to try to go for bigger and more ambitious additions. As such, not only is PowerWash Simulator getting the previously announced SpongeBob SquarePants crossover at some point this year, but also a Warhammer 40,000 themed update!
Whether this is going to be a free update like the first two crossovers or a paid DLC like SpongeBob, I'm afraid nobody outside of FuturLab currently knows. That said, since the crossover was announced during the Skulls 2023 event celebrating 40 years of Warhammer, I'm definitely expecting the whole thing to be a bit more bombastic than the usual update, so it's quite likely it'll be a piece of paid content. That is purely speculation on my part, however, so it's still entirely possible we'll be able to spray down an Imperial Knight without reaching for our wallets.
It took almost a decade, but the ambitious System Shock Remake has now finally landed onto PC
- By Ash
- in News
After nearly eight years in development, during which the game evolved from a humble HD remaster to a full blown remake, System Shock has now finally been unleashed onto PC! The modern remake brings with it completely redone visuals, revamped controls, a greatly improved interface, a bunch of new enemies to mess around with and locations to explore, as well as a wide assortment of quality-of-life improvements and gameplay tweaks to make everything feel just a bit smoother.
The best thing, however, is that System Shock is actually quite good! Despite the odds being heavily stacked against it, System Shock has somehow managed to strike a nice balance between being a nostalgic homage to the original game and a proper immersive sim in its own right. So unless the whole thing topples like a house of cards in the latter parts that I haven't reached yet, I think the System Shock remake is likely going to be the definitive version of the game moving forward.
MTG Arena has now banned Fable, Bankbuster and Invoke Despair in order to shake up Standard
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: All cards for MTG Arena's The Lord of the Rings crossover set have now been revealed.
In an effort to revitalize the tabletop Standard scene, Wizards of the Coast has recently decided to extend the Standard rotation from two to three years. While this new change brings with it a variety of benefits, there is also a pretty big downside - overpowered and overplayed cards will now plague format for an additional year!
So in order to ensure the transition goes by as smoothly as possible, the Magic: The Gathering team has now issued bans for three of the most omnipresent Standard cards: Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, Reckoner Bankbuster and Invoke Despair. Here's a brief rundown of why each of them was hit: