- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update #2]: Project Zomboid's Update 41.73 has added scores of small but highly welcome changes.
[Update]: After years of requests, Project Zomboid devs are now working on adding NPCs.
After a fair bit of time in development, Project Zomboid's highly ambitious Build 41 has now finally been unleashed! It brings with it native support for online multiplayer so you won't have to fiddle with annoying workarounds, as well as a whole bunch of graphical improvements and extra animations to make the gameplay feel smoother.
You can also expect to see new weapons alongside a combat overhaul, better vehicle handling, a new injury system, more interesting zombie behavior, and even a new city to explore. Best of all, at least as far as atmosphere is concerned, Build 41 has brought with it a complete soundscape overhaul so the world should sound a lot more lively than before... even if its inhabitants are anything but.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Among Us VR has now been unleashed onto Steam VR, Meta Quest and Rift/Rift S.
If worrying about getting stabbed in the back while you endlessly fail the card swiping minigame just isn't terrifying enough, you'll be pleased to hear that the team has now found a way to make it even more stressful! According to the newest developer update Among Us is getting its very own VR version, so you might want to start practicing your swiping!
The exact details are currently still few and far between, but what I can tell you is that Among Us VR will focus on all of the "core mechanics of teamwork and betrayal" from the original. However, despite the two versions being fairly similar, Among Us VR players will only be able to stab cooperate with other VR players.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: The Stone of Madness is a highly stylized stealth/tactics game from the Blasphemous team.
If you're a fan of Blasphemous' blend of Souls-like action and Metroidvania-style exploration, I have some bittersweet news to deliver. The Game Kitchen has just unleashed a chunky free update that offers a whole assortment of new content to explore, though sadly this will also be the very final update for Blasphemous as the team is now going to fully focus on the sequel.
In terms of gameplay details, the Wounds of Eventide update brings with it new levels, bosses, items and secrets to explore around for. Most importantly of all, there is also a brand new "fate" for Cvstodia to uncover - a series of events that will lead directly into the 2023 sequel.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update #2]: After exactly a year in Early Access, Sons Of The Forest's Version 1.0 has now been unleashed!
[Update]: In a bit of an unexpected, though not unwelcome twist, Sons of the Forest has now launched into Early Access instead of going for a 'proper' release.
After spending a fair few years in Steam Early Access, the survival-horror focused The Forest launched back in 2018 to mostly positive reviews. For good reason too, because while The Forest may be slightly janky, it's also a highly immersive experience and one that has stuck with me over the years.
If you've never played it, this would be a pretty good time to dive in as the fancy new sequel, Sons of the Forest, has just received a release date! You can expect to see it unleashed for PC on May 20, 2022, which gives you more than enough time to explore the entirety of the original's forest and the madness that lies beyond.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: The Queen & the Sea expansion has now arrived and so far it's looking quite solid!
It's only been a short while since the Everyone is Here update brought with it a massive assortment of fun crossover items, cosmetics and weapons, and already we have more content coming! This time around we're not talking about a mere update, however, but rather a proper new expansion - The Queen & the Sea.
Much like the previous DLCs, The Queen & the Sea will bring with it two endgame biomes to explore: the Infested Shipwreck and the Lighthouse. These will run in parallel to the High Peak Castle and Throne Room levels, which also means that there will be a challenging boss waiting for you at the very end. So in order to make the experience as memorable as possible, beating the boss will also give you a brand new ending!
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update #2]: I've now reviewed World of Horror's version 1.0 and I'm happy to say that, despite some issues, it's a highly enjoyable roguelike!
[Update]: It took a while, but World of Horror will be launching on October 19th, 2023!
After an excellent start in Early Access, updates for the Junji Ito inspired horror-adventure World of Horror sadly slowed down significantly. However, now that The Ceaseless Curse update has arrived with a fair bit of new stuff to play around with, I can only hope development will speed up again as I sure could use more 1-bit madness in my life!
Speaking of the new update, The Ceaseless Curse brings with it two new characters with their own unique perks and abilities: the witch and the ex-cultist. Additionally, the update has also added character-exclusive events exploring their backstories and their connections to the story, so expect to see a lot more variety in random events than before.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Hyper Light Breaker is a freshly announced roguelite action-adventure from the Hyper Light Drifter team.
Solar Ash, developed by the team behind the excellent Hyper Light Drifter, is an upcoming action-platformer that will have you traverse a black hole in an effort to save your planet. In order to do so you'll need to utilize a large suite of movement mechanics in order to grapple across massive gaps, slide through the remnants of long-lost civilizations, and naturally, fight some absurdly large bosses Shadow of the Colossus style.
Since trying to explain all of this through words alone is a bit of a pointless venture, allow me to share with you one of the trailers. It should give you a pretty good idea of just what Solar Ash is trying to do. Have a peek:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Ever since its initial Early Access launch, Risk of Rain 2 has seen a steady stream of content updates. All of this eventually culminated with the massive Anniversary update back in April that brought with Bandit as a new survivor, sprinkled in new skills and items, as well as new monsters and even a boss.
Things have slowed down considerably since then, though thankfully it's not because of any sort of bad reason. Instead, it's because the Risk of Rain 2 team is currently working on the very first expansion - Survivors of the Void!
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: The Isle of Bigsnax expansion has now arrived, and while it's not exactly lengthy, it's still a pretty fun ride.
According to a recent announcement, the adorable (and occasionally adorably horrifying) Bugsnax will be heading over to Steam in early 2022. It will not be doing so empty-handed, however, but rather alongside a free expansion - The Isle of BIGsnax.
As the name would imply, The Isle of BIGsnax will have you wonder across the newly risen island of Snaktooth in search of ancient, massive species of Bugsnax, as well as the secrets of their existence. Along the way you'll be able to complete around 30 quests and 100 challenges, toy around with 200 decorations to help make yourself feel at home, and most importantly of all, give your Bugsnax friends fancy little hats to wear!
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Satisfactory Update 6 has reworked the Spire Coast, added ammo types and even an explosive boom box.
After spending a fair bit of time in testing, Satisfactory's rather chunky Update 5 has now finally arrived. First and foremost, Update 5 brings with it massive improvements to the build system so you'll now be able to construct things closer together, build in batches by using the new "zoop!" mode, and even switch between the various build modes with ease.
Continuing on with the theme of making things more convenient, vehicle pathing has also underwent major changes and so vehicles will now be both more reliable and more likely to avoid obstacles without going completely off course. Trains on the other hand have received two nifty new additions - a signaling system that lets you block or reserve paths, as well as an improved timetable system so you can now even further dictate how each train should behave.