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After going through nearly a decade of development hell which even saw the game change studios mid way through, Dead Island 2 has now finally been unleashed for both PC and consoles. The most shocking thing, however, is that it's actually quite decent!
It's not a high-brow game by any stretch, and you can definitely feel the decade long development drag it down at times, but smashing zombies over the head with an assortment of silly weapons is, unsurprisingly, a good bit of fun! Just don't expect much from the story because oh boy, it sure is a giant mess.
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[Update #2]: Diablo 4 has now finally arrived, and while there are some notable issues, it's pretty good fun.
[Update]: It looks like Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard won't be going through after all.
If you missed the recent Diablo 4 beta, or if you're simply itching to dive in again ahead of the June 6th release date, you'll be happy to hear that Blizzard is planning one last beta test - the Server Slam! The event will be running from May 12-14 on PC, Xbox and PlayStation, and most importantly, will be entirely free to enter for everyone.
The Server Slam test will give you a chance to play through the prologue and the entirety of Act 1, with the big limit being that you can't go past level 20. That said, this is still a sizable chunk of content to plough through, so if you're on the fence about Diablo 4 and its gameplay style, giving the beta a try should help clear things up for you.
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[Update]: Steam's sizable Summer Sale 2023 has now arrived and will stick around all the way until July 13th.
If you're tired of the endless stream of shooty-shooty action games and want a more cerebral experience, you might want to check out the freshly launched Steam Puzzle Fest. As the name would imply, the Puzzle Fest brings with it sizable discounts on all sorts of puzzle games, as well as free demos for quite a few of the newer ones. The whole thing will last until 10am PT on May 1st, so you should have more than enough time to browse through the list and check out whichever games tickle your fancy.
For those of you that aren't sure where to even begin with, allow me to share with you a couple of my favorites. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of puzzle games the following crowd really managed to win me over, so definitely check them out if you're into the genre (or want to be). Without further ado, here's the brief list:
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[Update]: Dota 2's Patch 7.33d has nerfed Vanguard, Octarine Core and some of the overperforming heroes.
After a couple of fairly subdued patches that did little to shake up the gameplay, it looks like the Dota 2 team has decided to go all-out with Update 7.33. As such, not only does the freshly released update bring with it an absurd amount of balance tweaks, but it has also massively expanded the map, added a whole assortment of new things to fight over, reworked a bunch of heroes and core gameplay mechanics, and the list goes on for a very, very long time.
I'll avoid going into too many details as we'll otherwise be here for an hour, but here's a quick rundown of the most important bits and pieces that were added with the extended new map:
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[Update]: Amnesia: The Bunker has now been unleashed, and so far it's looking quite good! Best of all, there's even a free demo!
In an announcement that comes as quite a surprise, Frictional Games have now revealed that their highly atmospheric, first-person horror game Amnesia: The Bunker has been delayed. It's not the delay itself that comes as a shock, mind you, but rather the fact that it's only been pushed back a single week!
"We're pushing the release date of Amnesia: The Bunker back by one week, and it will now be coming out on May 23rd instead," reads the brief update. "This will give us a little more time to polish the game and make sure everything is perfect before launch. We appreciate your patience and hope you are looking forward to playing Amnesia: The Bunker. It will be worth the wait!"
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[Update #2]: The day has finally come - MTG Arena has now made its way onto Steam!
[Update]: MTG Arena's Aftermath mini-expansion is coming on May 11th with 50 new Standard-legal cards.
After a fairly lengthy round of teasers, MTG Arena's massive March of the Machine expansion has now finally been unleashed. It brings with it a whole host of new cards to mess around with, a bonus batch of popular legendary creatures from previous sets, and most importantly of all, an entirely new card type to shake up the gameplay loop - Battle.
Your Battles enter play on the opponent's side of the board with a certain number of counters on it, sort of like a Planeswalker. Once you bring those counters to zero through either damage or effects that remove counters, you'll be able to flip your Battle to its backside and unlock a fairly powerful reward. Notably, "destroying" Battles directly will not flip them - you need to remove all of the counters 'fairly' to get to the good stuff!
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[Update #2]: Darktide's Rejects Unite patch has now arrived, and unfortunately it has done so alongside some serious technical issues.
[Update]: Darktide's Patch #9 has brought in a new batch of free cosmetics and the ability to go shirtless!.
If you've been playing Darktide for any serious amount of time, you've probably noticed that certain specials like Pox Hounds, Poxbursters and Mutants have a tendency to glitch out. Nowhere is this more obvious than with the Pox Hounds as they can frequently shrug off blows that would stagger bosses, home in on players despite them dodging and sliding, or best of all, violently vibrate before suddenly biting one's face off.
Thankfully, with today's Update #8 all of these problems seem to have finally been fixed. As such, Pox Hounds now have lag compensation so dealing with their nonsense should be a lot more reliable, while Poxbursters won't randomly be immune to stagger when you're desperately trying to push them away. You can also expect the Mutants to act in a smoother and more realistic fashion, so no more instant turns and absurd chases around boxes.
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[Update #2]: I'm afraid I have some bad news. Overwatch 2 will be drastically downscaling the scope and amount of its long-awaited PvE missions.
[Update]: Overwatch 2's April 25th update has rejigged Lifeweaver's keybinds and buffed a bunch of his abilities.
After having us wait for quite a while, the Overwatch 2 team has now finally unleashed the next support hero... and it's quite an interesting one! To put it simply, Lifeweaver is a mobility focused support that can mess with the positioning of both enemies and allies, which as you might imagine can lead to some insane (or insanely bad) plays.
First things first, allow me to share with you the gameplay trailer as that should give you a pretty good idea of just what Lifeweaver's toolkit is trying to do. Have a peek, it's quite an intriguing hero design:
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[Update]: Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has arrived, and it's thankfully not a disaster.
If you were itching to see just what Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has to offer once it finally arrives this May, I'm afraid I have some bad news. According to the freshly posted announcement, Suicide Squad has now been delayed yet again, this time around until February 2nd, 2024!
"We have made the tough but necessary decision to take the time needed to work on getting the game to be the best quality experience for players," reads the brief developer update. "Thank you to our amazing community for the continued support, patience and understanding. There is much more to share in the months ahead and we look forward to seeing you in Metropolis next year."
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[Update #2]: Magic: The Gathering is extending its Standard rotation from two to three years in order to help the floundering format on tabletop.
[Update]: MTG Arena's March of the Machine expansion has now arrived with a new card type, improved duplicate protection, and the ability to select your favorite card style!
I hope you're not feeling overwhelmed by the constant influx of new cards, because even though Shadows Over Innistrad Remastered has only just arrived, the MTG Arena team is now getting ready to unleash a rather massive Standard expansion. Not only that, but once the March of the Machine set arrives this April 18th it'll do so alongside an entirely new card type - Battle!
Each Battle enters play with a certain number of counters on it, sort of like a Planeswalker card. In order to unlock the special (and often quite powerful) effects found on the flip side of each Battle you'll need to reduce those counters to zero by either attacking said Battle or by using certain types of spells to damage it or remove its counters. Notably, destroying Battles directly will not flip them - you need to remove all of the counters 'fairly' to get to the goodies!