Sunless Skies, the sequel to Sunless Sea, will be coming to Steam Early Access later this month
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Sunless Sea is one of the most intriguing games I've played in the past few years, mostly thanks to the utterly bizarre yet still somehow grounded story. Unfortunately, despite absolutely loving it I never actually managed to reach the end due to a combination of permadeath, randomness, and incredibly punishing difficulty that encourages grinding over anything else. As such, I am very glad to say that the developers are giving the concept another shot with the Sunless Skies sequel, this time around with much more player-friendly gameplay mechanics.
Instead of sailing the murky seas, however, in Sunless Skies you will be exploring space itself... though its not the same one as we know. You'll need to balance your resources carefully, keep a close eye on your crew as terror and madness might consume them at any moment, and naturally, try to survive against pirates, ancient leviathans, and even greater horrors that lurk in the endless darkness. To me all of this feels like a heavily modified version of Sunless Sea, but I don't consider that to be a bad thing given how much more room the developers have to further flesh out the gameplay and introduce even stranger locations to explore.
The Mac version of BioShock Remastered will be coming later this year
- By Ash
- in News
BioShock Remastered, as you might imagine from the name alone, is a greatly improved version of the original classic. It comes with 4K resolution support, high resolution textures and models, full controller support, director's commentary featuring Ken Levine and Shawn Robertson, as well as Challenge Rooms to test your combat skills.
It released on PC and consoles back in 2016, and after one hell of a wait it appears that BioShock Remastered will also be making its way to Mac as well. The release date hasn't been announced just yet, but you can expect to see it at some point later this year.
As with most ports these days the Mac version will not be handled by the developers themselves, but rather by Feral Interactive. If the name doesn't ring a bell, you might know them better from their work on the Mac and Linux versions of Dawn of War 3, Total War: Warhammer, XCOM 2, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and the list goes on.
Path of Exile's most content-rich expansion so far, The Fall of Oriath, has now arrived
- By Ash
- in News
Path of Exile: The Fall of Oriath has now arrived, bringing with it so many changes and additions that its almost impossible to summarize all of it. There are now six new acts to explore, which means there is no longer a need for multiple difficulty levels and constant replaying of the same few zones, as well as a whole bunch of new enemies, spells, bosses, mechanics, talents, items, and cosmetics to toy around with. And all of this is just the tip of the iceberg, so if you're interested in all of the details you will find the patch notes over at the official forums.
You can get a brief glance at what all of this looks like in-game via the recently posted and quite action-packed trailer down below. Have a look, its well worth the two minutes:
You can now grab Killing Floor 2 (and a few bonus games) for $12 via the Humble Monthly Bundle
- By Ash
- in News
The Humble Monthly Bundle is a $12 subscription service that instantly gives you access to one game, and then a whole bunch more next month. Last month the featured games were Pillars of Eternity and NBA 2K17, while this time around you're looking at the co-op shooter Killing Floor 2.
If you're interested in my opinions on Killing Floor 2 you'll find a detailed overview in my review, but for now here's the short version: "Killing Floor 2 set out to do exactly one thing - to modernize and improve upon Killing Floor 1 without actually straying too far from the original formula. In this regard I would consider it an absolute success. The classes are much more balanced, the weapons are somehow even more enjoyable to use than ever before, and the new map design philosophy has managed to make each match feel all the more exciting. So if your wish for Killing Floor 2 was to get a new and improved version of Killing Floor 1, then by all means, consider it granted!"
Conan Exiles' upcoming free expansion will lead you on a journey to The Frozen North
- By Ash
- in News
If you've already explored everything Conan Exiles has to offer, you might be glad to hear that a brand new expansion will be coming in the near future. The Frozen North, as you would expect from the name alone, will allow you to journey across a gigantic new zone, fight against a variety of new and deadly enemies as well as the environment itself, and also engage in some new crafting disciplines such as brewing, beekeeping, and cooking. Long story short, there is a lot of new content coming!
For those of you itching to get a bit of a sneak peek at what all of this new content will look like in-game, here's the recently posted and decently lengthy developer-guided preview video. Have a look:
Total War: Warhammer's latest video shows off the various savage beasts in Norsca's arsenal
- By Ash
- in News
Total War: Warhammer will be getting the newly reworked demonic vikings of Norsca on August 10th. Anyone who pre-orders or purchases Total War: Warhammer 2 within the first week of launch will be getting the DLC for free, while everyone else will be able to buy it individually at a slightly reduced price.
As you might expect from any new faction, Norsca will come with its own unique Legendary Lords and starting positions (Wulfrik the Wanderer and Throgg), the ability to dedicate themselves to a specific god of Chaos, as well as a variety of new units and monsters. It is exactly this last part that the latest Total War: Warhammer video showcases, so if you're interested in what sort of beasts Norsca has in their arsenal you'll find your answers right below. Have a look:
Stellaris: Synethetic Dawn is an upcoming story pack that lets you cast off the shackles of biology
- By Ash
- in News
A few months have passed since Stellaris received the Utopia expansion pack, and since this is a Paradox game we're talking about it was only a matter of time before the next DLC was announced. Much like the first Leviathans story pack, the upcoming Synthetic Dawn will add a bunch of new mysteries and ancient remnants to uncover, as well as the ability to play as a fully robotic civilization!
As is tradition the details are currently in short supply, but what I can tell you is that all of the robotic factions will have unique mechanics and event chains that allow them to expand as a robotic conscience, eventually culminating in a massive galaxy-spanning AI network. Since there is very little else to share, here's the official list of features that arrived alongside the announcement. Its not much, but it will hopefully give you an idea of just what Synthetic Dawn is aiming to achieve. Have a look: