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Instead of giving you a bunch of new buildings and transport systems to toy around with, Cities: Skylines' latest expansion has taken things in a bit of a different direction. As you can probably guess from the name alone, the Parklife DLC gives you the ability to freshen up your city through the addition of amusement parks, nature reserves, city parks, gardens, zoos, and the list goes on. These appear to be relatively minor additions, but from what I've seen so far they really go a long way towards making your city feel a lot more lively.
If you're wondering what all of this looks like in-game, however, wonder no more as the developers have recently posted a brief launch trailer. It's not the most detailed video around, but it'll give you a pretty good idea of what to expect from the new Parklife DLC. Have a gander:
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If you ever wanted to give Overwatch a try, now would be a perfect time to do so. The recently introduced Anniversary 2018 update has brought in an absolute ton of new and old cosmetics, as well as all of the previous seasonal events, including both PvE and PvP game modes. So whether you're a fan of wacky game modes or just good ol' competitive play, the current version of Overwatch has you covered.
The most important reason, however, is the simple fact that Overwatch is having a free weekend on both PC and consoles until Monday, May 28th. Besides the above mentioned Anniversary 2018 update, the free weekend will give you access to all 18 of the currently available maps, all 27 of the heroes, all of the cosmetic loot boxes, and naturally, all of the game modes. Long story short, you will have access to everything Overwatch has to offer, with the only exception being the competitive mode, for obvious reasons.
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[Update]: Development on The Wolf Among Us 2 has started once again despite Telltale shutting down!
While Telltale has created some of the most interesting and compelling narrative-driven games out there, they have unfortunately also fallen into the trap of thinking 'more is better', which has resulted in some thoroughly mediocre games like the Games of Thrones series. With that in mind, I am more than happy to announce that The Wolf Among Us 2 has now been delayed to 2019 as Telltale wishes to focus on quality above all else.
"This delay comes as the result of a few fundamental changes here at Telltale since we first announced the game last summer," reads the brief announcement. "Most importantly, we're committed to exploring new ways to tell our stories. Taking this extra time will allow us not only to focus on quality but also to experiment and iterate in order to craft something truly special."
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After being teased a couple of days ago, Total War: Thrones of Britannia has now made its way to macOS as well. Much like the previous few Total War games, the port has not been handled by Creative Assembly, but rather by Feral Interactive. If the name doesn't ring any bells, you might recognize them from their work on the macOS and Linux ports of Total War: Warhammer 1 and 2, Dawn of War 3, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and the list goes on. So while I haven't tried it myself, chances are high this port is a quality one as well.
As for whether Thrones of Britannia is a quality Total War game, that is a bit of a tricky question to answer. You can find a more detailed explanation in my review, but Thrones of Britannia represents two solid steps forward for the series in terms of innovation, but also a rather unfortunate step backwards in terms of complexity. So if you're a long-time fan of historic Total War games and you're comfortable with using mods, then I do believe it's worth a try, but if you're a completely new player I'd say it's probably a good idea to wait for a couple of months until all of the major issues get fixed.
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If you're up for a game that is truly unique, you might be interested to hear that the "hacking simulator" Hacknet is currently free on the Humble Store. The promotion will only last for another ~18 hours, however, so do make sure to grab it as soon as possible.
I can't exactly give you my opinion on it since I haven't actually played it, but from what I've seen online it is fairly well regarded. It is without a single doubt a niche game, you're going to spend your entire playthrough looking at a terminal after all, but if it concept intrigues you then I do believe its worth a try. At the end of the day it is completely free, so why not?
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Dark Souls Remastered was supposed to arrive on May 25th for PC, Xbox One and PS4, but for some reason the PC version is now already live and available for purchase. From what I've played so far it doesn't appear to be any sort of early build, so if you were itching to give the Remastered edition a try, feel free to jump in at any time.
In terms of improvements, the Remastered edition has brought in slightly better visuals, significantly improved performance across the board, 60 FPS even in the depths of Blighttown, better online connectivity, as well as a small visual overhaul of fog gates and bonfires. It's nothing too spectacular, but if you're curious about what the 'new' Dark Souls looks like in action, allow me to share with you the recently posted launch trailer. Have a gander, it's quite an exciting one:
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While it might not look like it on the outset, Vermintide 2 is a game where even the smallest numbers can have a massive impact. It's all about making sure you have enough power to reach certain breakpoints that ensure you kill enemies in one or two less attacks, which multiplied by the hordes upon hordes of enemies quickly turns into a huge advantage for the knowledgeable player. Unfortunately, Vermintide 2 is also a game where getting the currency necessary (Green Dust) to properly optimize your character is needlessly tedious, especially for players that only queue for the hardest difficulty setting.
As such, I am more than happy to announce that the developer Fatshark seems to finally be working on a solution. As briefly teased on the official forums, it would appear that we'll soon be able to downgrade Orange and Blue Dust in order to Blue and Green Dust respectively, thus making the whole system a lot less complicated and a lot less restrictive. All of this is a work in progress, however, so don't be surprised if the system undergoes some major changes before release.
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In a bit of a surprise update, Valve has now introduced a four-day "Spring Cleaning" event to Steam. From now until May 28th you will be able to earn a new badge for your Steam profile by checking out some of the games in your backlog, giving games you've barely played a second chance, or just by trying out something new from an assortment of games that are free for the weekend.
The first two options are barely worth noting since forcing yourself to play specific games in return for completely pointless Steam badges isn't exactly an enticing proposition, but the free games are definitely worth a look, especially since all of them are actually quite good! Here's the full list:
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Dark Souls, my absolute favorite game of all time, will be getting a Remastered edition on May 25th for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, while the Switch version will be coming at some point this summer. While I would love to tell you the Remastered edition will bring with it a plethora of improvements to the somewhat lacking end-game, the reality is that Dark Souls Remastered is mostly concerned about making the game run as smoothly as possible across all in-game areas.
In other words, Dark Souls Remastered will bring with it slightly better visuals, significantly improved performance across the board, silky smooth 60 fps even in the depths of the accursed Blighttown, better online connectivity, and perhaps most surprisingly of all, a completely unnecessary change to how the bonfires look. If you're curious about what all of these improvements and changes might look like in-game, you'll find the answers you seek in the recently posted and fairly lengthy launch trailer. Have a gander:
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Sunset Overdrive is an open-world shooter/adventure game that released for the Xbox One back in the ancient times of 2014. It received some rather favorable reviews on launch, though also a considerable amount of criticism due to its somewhat immature and over-the-top humor.
If this sounds like the type of game you'd like to mess around with, you might be interested to hear that Sunset Overdrive appears to be heading to PC as well. As discovered by Gematsu, the Korean game rating board has just now rated "Sunset Overdrive PC", which makes this about as credible as a rumor can possibly get.