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[Update #2]: Crash Bandicoot 4 will be slide-jumping onto PC in 2021.
[Update]: Contrary to the rumors, Crash Bandicoot 4 will not have microtransactions.
While this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise given how comprehensive the recent leaks were, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time has now been officially announced. You can expect to see it land onto both the PS4 and Xbox One this October 2nd, with the PC version lagging slightly behind as usual.
As for the actual gameplay, I'm very happy to say that Crash Bandicoot 4 will be following in the footsteps of its predecessors. Expect to see a variety of new power-ups, multiple playable characters including Crash, Coco and Cortex, as well as a whole assortment of colorful levels to endlessly replay in order to collect all of the dastardly boxes.
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[Update]: These changes have now gone live alongside the release of Open Queue as an alternative competitive mode.
Brigitte is in a bit of a curious position right now. Instead of being the anti-flanker hero like she was originally designed, she is actually far better at enabling Tracer and Genji to rampage across the enemy backline thanks to copious amounts of armor.
However, it would appear that Blizzard is not happy with this development, as they have now released an experimental update that has quite heavily nerfed Brigitte. The experimental mode has also brought in some nice D.Va and Junkrat buffs, as well as a minor nerf to Ashe's dynamite. Here's the full list of changes:
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[Update #2]: Path of Exile's next update will have you plan and execute high-stakes heists!
[Update]: Path of Exile's next major expansion will add macOS support.
Through the newly launched Harvest update, Path of Exile has now added the ability to grow and harvest your very own crops. However, given that this is Path of Exile and not Stardew Valley we're talking about, the plants in question are of the highly murderous sort and will happily try to snack on you should you disturb them!
The way all of this works is quite simple. You'll need to run across the entire world beating up enemies and collecting a variety of seeds, after which you will be able to plant them with the help of a newly added NPC. The seeds will eventually grow into a horde of enemies that you'll need to personally clear out, and the bigger the payoff you're looking for, the more deadly the creatures you'll need to tackle.
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[Update]: Voxel-based Earth Defense Force: World Brothers is launching on May 24, 2021 for PC and consoles.
If you're like me and you love a good bit of cheesy action, you'll be glad to hear that Earth Defense Force 6 has now been announced. No exact release date has been given just yet, but you can expect to see it arrive at some point in 2021.
Unfortunately, the same lack of information extends to the gameplay as well. However, even a cursory glance at some of the new screenshots should be enough to tell you that Earth Defense Force 6 will likely follow in the exact same footsteps as its predecessors. In other words, expect to see massive hordes of aliens and overgrown insects, a plethora of over-the-top weaponry to deal with said invaders, and most importantly of all, some of the cheesiest voice acting on this side of the universe.
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After spending about a year being exclusive to the Epic Games Store, the PC versions of Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human have now also made their way to Steam. As an additional little bonus, all three games are 10% off until June 25th, though it might still be wise to wait until the upcoming Steam Summer Sale before diving in.
When it comes to the PC versions themselves, they all bring support for 4K resolutions and 60 FPS, the ability to play with either a gamepad or keyboard & mouse combo, as well as some relatively minor improvements. You can get a bit of an idea of what this looks like in gameplay terms through the recent Steam trailer. Have a gander:
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[Update #2]: Newest update has buffed Viper, nerfed Raze, and rebalanced Brimstone.
[Update]: Riot has now released their plans for Valorant's future content updates.
If you've been playing Valorant over the past few weeks, you've most likely noticed that the balance in Unranked matches is all over the place. Sometimes you'll face off against enemies that seem to have dedicated their entire life to playing Valorant, other times you'll have players that move like they have never gripped a mouse before in their life, and occasionally you'll even get both groups at the same time!
Thankfully, all of this nonsense is now over. The newly launched patch 1.02 has finally brought in a Competitive Mode that will separate players across a wide variety of ranks, thus ensuring that you'll always face off against appropriately challenging opponents. That said, there is a bit of a catch. Not only is the patch currently available only for the US region, but the Competitive Mode won't be going online before Riot is happy with the server performance and stability.
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[Update #2]: Evil Genius 2 has been pushed back to 2021, with no concrete release date set just yet.
[Update]: Rebellion has released a brief preview highlighting everything shown so far.
As the name might suggest, Evil Genius 2 is a satirical simulator about trying to take over the world through a wide variety of dastardly means. In gameplay terms this will usually involve building and upgrading your evil lair, recruiting and outfitting an assortment of villains and henchmen to do your dirtywork, confronting the forces of justice whenever they try to stop you, and naturally, building a giant doomsday weapon to ensure your dominion over all.
While the premise itself is quite simple, the actual gameplay does have a fair bit of complexity to it, as you'll see through the recently posted and rather detailed developer preview. Have a gander, it's a pretty informative one:
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[Update #2]: Planetside 2's January 2022 update has brought in the new continent of Oshur and underwater-based gameplay!
[Update]: Planetside 2's The Shattered Warpgate update has brought in a giant chunk of new content.
I don't know what has happened with Planetside 2 in the past few months, but I fully support its new direction. After just recently adding the Bastion Fleet Carriers as floating fortresses, Planetside 2 has now also extended the 'bigger is better' mantra to ground vehicles by introducing the most massive tank yet - the Colossus.
To put it simply, the Colossus is a beefy, five-player tank that is capable of spearheading an assault while targeting both ground and air opponents. That last part is particularly interesting because instead of simply trying to angle its gun upwards and hope for the best like the standard tanks, the Colossus is capable of going into siege mode that gives it both a powerful shield and an anti-air laser to melt both fighters and carriers alike!
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I hope you're not tired of the various giveaways that have been popping up over the past month, because there is a brand new one you might want to check out. The game in question is Injustice: Gods Among Us - Ultimate Edition, and it's currently entirely free to grab over at Steam.
The only catch is that the giveaway will end on June 26th, so do make sure to snatch a copy sooner rather than later. As for what exactly the Ultimate Edition brings to the table, that would be six additional characters, over 30 cosmetic skins, as well as 60 new S.T.A.R. Labs missions to toy around with. Nothing too extraordinary, but still a nice little bonus.
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[Update]: The Grail Knight has now arrived, and as expected, he's pretty darn fun to play.
This June 23rd Vermintide 2 will be getting a rather significant update. Not only will it add the long-awaited weather and lighting variations to all of the outdoors maps, but it will also introduce the very first DLC career - Kruber as a Grail Knight!
If you know anything about the Warhammer lore, however, the presence of the Grail Knight career is likely to be quite puzzling. I say this because Grail Knights are exclusively Bretonnian, and they're a result of a lifelong quest for justice, chivalry, and the favor of the godlike Lady of the Lake. It's not exactly something you can just become after a drunken night out at the town, especially not as a Sigmar-worshiping Empire citizen like Kruber.