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[Update]: The System Shock Remake has now arrived, and it's looking quite good so far! The console versions are also on the way, though those will be coming at a later date.
It took nearly seven years and a whole bunch of delays for us to get here, but the end of the road is finally in sight! If everything goes according to plan, the System Shock Remake will be fully unleashed at some point in March 2023.
The System Shock Remake will bring with it all-new HD visuals, updated controls, an overhauled user interface, entirely new sounds and music, and even a bit of extra performance from the original voice actor of SHODAN. And just to spice things up even further, the System Shock Remake will also bring with it a couple of new enemy variants in order to provide the players with all sorts of new challenges.
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[Update]: The balance patch has now gone live, while the cosmetics focused Update 10.0.5 will be launching on January 24th with grey/white transmog and the cosmetics-focused Trading Post!
In order to start off the year on a good note, the World of Warcraft: Dragonflight team has now announced a sizable new update. Once it arrives this January 10th the patch will beef up a variety of underperforming classes and specializations in an effort to make them a more competitive option in endgame PvE and PvP content.
Before you get too excited, it's important to mention that the vast majority of the buff are purely numerical, so any sort of mechanical problems you might have with your favorite class will have to wait a little while longer. That said, there's a ton of seemingly massive tweaks coming with the January 10th update, so I'm fully expecting the meta to get a proper shake-up regardless.
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[Update]: It's official - Returnal will be launching onto PC this February 15th, 2023! It's also worth mentioning that the PC system requirements have been slightly adjusted. The most important thing to note is that you'll only need 16 GB or RAM for the recommended 1080p/60fps settings rather than the previously stated 32 GB.
If you're in the mood for blasting apart all sorts of bizarre alien creatures with a constantly shifting arsenal, you might be interested to hear that the PlayStation 5 exclusive third-person roguelike Returnal is heading over to PC. The exact release date has not been announced just yet, though you can expect to see it arrive in the near future.
Similarly the exact list of improvements has not been revealed, but given the teasers and the rather spicy system requirements I can only imagine the PC will be getting some sort of major upgrades. The biggest indicator here are the recommended settings as the developers are suggesting 32 GB of RAM, which is double the usual recommendation from even the biggest AAA games.
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[Update]: The Horde Mode XL update has now arrived, and I'm happy to say the new weapon progression system is looking quite good!
While the name might imply it's some sort of cheap cash-grab, World War Z is actually a surprisingly solid co-op shooter that had a lot of love and care poured into it. In fact, despite launching World War Z all the way back in 2019, the Saber Interactive team has just announced a brand new update for it!
Once it arrives this January 24th, World War Z's Horde Mode XL will bring with it a truly absurd number of zombies to fight, by which I mean over 1000 at a time! What this sort of madness looks like in action, that you can get a little sneak peek at through the teaser trailer below. Have a gander:
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[Update #2]: Overwatch 2's likely final Season 2 update has now nerfed Roadhog, Sojourn, Kiriko and Orisa.
[Update]: Overwatch 2's Lunar New Year 2023 event has now landed alongside Capture the Flag and very little else.
In order to add a little bit extra pizazz to the currently ongoing Season 2, Blizzard has now unleashed the new Battle for Olympus free-for-all deathmatch mode. The whole event will last until January 19th and, true to its name, offer you a gigantic brawl between seven heroes (Junker Queen, Reinhardt, Ramattra, Roadhog, Pharah, Widowmaker and Lucio) with super-powered ultimates and ridiculous power spikes.
Widowmaker is able to petrify her enemies, Pharah can soar across the sky while using her rocket barrage, Junker Queen wields the power of lightning, and Roadhog has decided that chucking boulders out of his gun is a highly entertaining way to spend the evening. Needless to say, the new game mode is an enjoyable little distraction, though definitely not something you'd want to commit a serious amount of hours into given that it's more of a novelty than anything else.
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[Update]: Steam's sizable Summer Sale 2023 has now arrived and will stick around all the way until July 13th.
After tallying all of the votes cast during the recent Steam Winter Sale, Valve has now unveiled all eleven winners of the Steam Awards 2022. Unfortunately, as is often the case with popularity-driven contests, the winners are quite uninspired as it's mostly just a bunch of super-popular games rather than ones that might better represent their category.
First things first, allow me to share with you a quick rundown of the eleven categories and their winners so you'll have a better idea of what I'm yammering about:
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If you feel like your backlog just isn't big enough, even with all of the holiday sales and giveaways, you might be interested to hear that Kerbal Space Program and Shadow Tactics: Aiko's Choice are currently free to grab. Simply head on over to the Epic Games Store, add the games to your account, and you'll be good to go.
As always, there is a bit of a time limit you'll need to keep in mind. In this case the giveaway will be ending on January 12th, though once you've claimed the games you'll be able to keep playing them for however long you want. So take a few minutes now and grab the freebies before you forget all about them.
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The Christmas themed Wintersday event has only just ended, and already Guild Wars 2 is preparing for a brand new celebration! So if you're in the mood for food, fireworks and fighting, make sure to mark January 10th on your calendar as that's when the Lunar New Year 2023 festival will be going live.
In on order to participate you'll simply need to head on over to the freshly redecorated Crown Pavilion in Divinity’s Reach, after which you'll be able to explore the various activities and mini-games. Why exactly the Canthan festival doesn't take place in Cantha itself now that we can actually visit it, that I'm afraid I have no answer to.
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[Update #2]: Overwatch 2's Lunar New Year 2023 event has now landed alongside Capture the Flag and very little else.
[Update]: Overwatch 2's Battle for Olympus update has arrived with a fun novelty game mode and some truly awful challenges.
In order to help spice up the latter half of Season 2, as well as showcase some of the new mechanics and ideas we might see in the upcoming PvE missions, the Overwatch 2 team will be releasing the Battle for Olympus event this January 5th. The whole thing will last until January 19th and will offer you a chance to dive into a new free-for-all deathmatch mode where each of the seven featured characters will be redesigned and powered up to a ridiculous degree.
Widowmaker will be able to petrify her enemies before destroying them with an easy headshot, Pharah will be able to continue flying around while using her rocket barrage, while Roadhog will be able to not only become huge, but also shoot boulders out of his gun! As for Junker Queen, it should come as little surprise to hear that she has the power of lightning on her side given that the big fancy Mythic-tier skin at the end of the Battle Pass makes her look a bit like Zeus!
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[Update #2]: The PC version of The Last of Us Part I has now arrived, though sadly alongside a bunch of technical trouble.
[Update]: It looks like The Last of Us won't be alone as the PlayStation 5 exclusive third-person roguelike Returnal will also be launching onto PC in early 2023.
Following in the footsteps of Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the comprehensive remake of the original The Last of Us is now slowly getting ready to launch onto PC. You can expect to see it arrive alongside the prequel chapter Left Behind on March 3rd, 2023.
No list of PC specific features or improvements has been revealed so far, but whether that means there won't be any or it they have simply not been announced yet, that I'm afraid I don't know. Personally I think it's the latter given that the PC system requirements are still shrouded in mystery. In either case, I'm not too worried about The Last of Us Part I's graphical fidelity as the remake already looks quite lovely on PlayStation.