The latest Path of Exile update has added new skills and massive performance improvements
- By Ash
- in News
If any of you played Path of Exile at some of the higher levels then you're most likely aware of how laggy things can become when you open a Strongbox and spawn an entire screen full of enemies. In most other games this would be a minor annoyance you can simply ignore, but since Path of Exile both supports and encourages playing in the perma-death mode it is a bit more serious than that!
To Grinding Gear Games' credit, however, they have done major reworks of the engine over the past few years in order to combat these issues, and the latest 2.4.2 patch is an extension of that effort. As for the results? In the couple of maps I've tested out so far the newly added (and currently experimental) 64-bit DX11 client did not suffer more than a few milliseconds of stuttering, even while using my patented 'fill the screen full of glowy stuff' build. Quite impressive given how taxing POE can get on the CPU!
The next Total War: Warhammer DLC will introduce the Wood Elves faction
- By Ash
- in News
Its been quite a few months since Total War: Warhammer first arrived, and much to my pleasure Creative Assembly is showing no signs of stopping just yet. The King and the Warlord DLC arrived only last month, and already there is an announcement for the next piece of content.
As you can probably guess from the title alone, the Realm of the Wood Elves DLC will bring with it the Wood Elves faction along with new Legendary Lords, exclusive units, a mini story campaign, and a variety of other features. But rather than simply ramble on, allow me to show you the announcement trailer as it features pretty much all of the above. Have a look:
The Overwatch: First Strike graphic novel has been officially canceled
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Overwatch is getting its very own novel starring Orisa and Efi - The Hero of Numbani.
While you probably won't notice this in-game, Overwatch has quite an expansive and story-rich world. Unfortunately for us lore fans, there are very few ways to actually learn more about it. The occasional animated short helped expand upon some of the concepts, but when it comes to figuring out what really happened with the original Overwatch crew we're pretty much just stumbling through the dark.
This is why the Overwatch: First Strike graphic novel was so significant. It was to be our first glimpse into the early days of Overwatch, and more importantly, into what exactly happened between Soldier 76 and Reaper that set them so far apart. Sadly these are going to be stories for another time as Blizzard has announced that the First Strike graphic novel has now been canceled. As for the reason why, this is what they had to say:
The Elder Scrolls Online is free-to-play until Monday, November 21st
- By Ash
- in News
When The Elder Scrolls Online first arrived it really wasn't anything special, just another generic MMO in a sea of other generic MMOs. However, after many months and a whole bunch of patches Bethesda has managed to turn it into something a bit more unique, and more importantly, something a bit more exciting to play!
All of this culminated with the most recent "One Tamriel" update, so if you're interested in seeing what The Elder Scrolls Online looks like nowadays I'd recommend you check out the video below. Have a gander:
Planet Coaster, a theme park management and creator game, is now available on PC
- By Ash
- in News
Twelve years have passed since RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 took the genre by storm, and now Frontier Developments is back once again with an equally impressive game! As you can probably guess from the title alone I'm talking about Planet Coaster - a theme park creator and management game that has so far received overwhelmingly positive reviews.
If you're wondering why that is the case, a simple explanation would be to say that it offers an unparalleled freedom in creating your very own, unique theme park. You can construct a park within a medieval castle, or one set among the clouds themselves, or if you're feeling particularly mature - one shaped entirely like a penis, because why the hell not! But rather than simply list out what you can do, allow me to instead show you the launch trailer as it only features in-game footage... though I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you if you were hoping to see Wangsville ParkTM:
Here's 17 minutes of unedited gameplay from Space Hulk: Deathwing's singleplayer campaign
- By Ash
- in News
Space Hulk: Deathwing has had numerous cinematic and gameplay teasers over the past few months, but seeing any sort of actual gameplay footage has been rather rare. But with the official release date only a couple of weeks away, Focus Home Interactive has decided to offer everyone a bit of a treat - 17 minutes of unedited gameplay footage from Space Hulk: Deathwing's solo campaign.
What might come as a surprise, however, is that whoever recorded the video didn't shy away from showing some of the less than stellar aspects of Space Hulk: Deathwing. Now while some of the voice work and enemy pathing might still require a bit of work, the actual gunplay and the act of mowing down hundreds of Genestealers does seem to be pretty damn satisfying! But enough rambling from me, have a look for yourself:
Dishonored 2 now has a Steam beta update available in order to help with performance issues
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: There is now an even newer patch available.
While Dishonored 2 is mostly regarded as a great game, it unfortunately launched on the PC with some rather annoying technical problems. There were frequent crashes, problems with loading times, an unstable performance that can drop the framerate down to a single digit, and other such lovely little bugbears.
Bethesda and Arkane Studios are currently working on a variety of changes to combat these issues, and while the patch isn't yet available for general use, you can try out the beta version and see if it helps. As of right now the Steam beta update features a fix for sensitivity being tied to the framerate, an improvement to AMD cloth physics that could greatly increase the framerate at certain points in the game, and a fix for Dishonored 2's occasional fiddling with CPU task priority.