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If you have a desire to watch your favorite games get absolutely demolished, all in the name of charity, you might want to tune into the Awesome Games Done Quick 2017 Twitch stream. And if you don't have time right now, don't worry as the whole event will last until January 15th, with each and every single run being updated to Youtube after the fact.
For those of you not familiar with the speedrunning scene and in need of a bit of an example to showcase what in the world this is even all about, I would recommend watching this year's Shovel Knight race. The gameplay is simple enough that you can always keep track of what's going on, while the commentary should keep you clued in on the "why" of things. So if you've got a bit of time to spare, give it a look. Here's the video:
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On the 31st of December the original Diablo reached 20 years of age, and in order to celebrate the venerable classic Blizzard has decided to do a variety of promotions across all of their games. Hearthstone added the Dark Wanderer Tavern Brawl, Overwatch added a bunch of new sprays, and perhaps most importantly, Diablo 3 added a brand new Diablo 1 inspired dungeon!
Its still mostly the same gameplay, but with a couple of twists to really amp up the nostalgia factor. First of all, the graphics have been downgraded in order to appear more pixelated and dark, while the camera has been greatly restricted in order to emulate how it worked back in the day. Your heroes are still able to use their full set of Diablo 3 abilities, but with no run option and much more rigid animations and sounds things should at least feel like they belong in Diablo 1.
But rather than simply blabber on and on about this new dungeon, allow me to instead show you the recently posted preview video. Have a look:
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If you were hoping beyond hope for the triple/quad tank meta to go away, you might just get your wish fulfilled in the next couple of weeks. In a recently updated PTR patch the Overwatch team has redesigned (read nerfed) Roadhog's hook, slightly nerfed Ana's grenade, and perhaps most surprisingly of all, significantly nerfed D.Va's durability despite buffing it the previous patch.
There's also a few more changes in there, things such as a minor Sombra buff and the new and improved chat wheel, so if you're interested in the brief version allow me to show you what's happening. On the other hand, if you want the full list of bug fixes and quality of life changes, you'll find the patch notes over here. Anyway, here's the most important stuff:
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Origin's "On the House" program has been going on for a while now, delivering free games every couple of months, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time they started right smack in the middle of a series. As you can probably guess from the title, its not the original Mass Effect that's currently on offer, but rather its action-orientated sequel!
Don't take that as a negative, however, as Mass Effect 2 is an excellent way to get into the series. Its fairly self-contained so you won't get confused by all of the lore, the shooting is greatly improved from the original, and in my humble opinion it contains the best cast of characters from any Bioware game so far. So if you're up for losing a couple dozen hours saving the galaxy alongside some of the most memorable crewmen out there, head on over to Origin.
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If you're like me and you've spent the past couple of days living comfortably under a rock, you may have missed a sneaky little Overwatch update. Rather than add a bunch of balance changes or cosmetics, Blizzard instead finally released the long-awaited fourth Control map - Oasis!
And for those of you wondering what Oasis might look like, you'll be happy to hear that Blizzard also released a brief preview video. On a slight side-note, I'd recommend turning up the sound a little bit before you dive in, because the Oasis soundtrack is pretty damn awesome! Anyway, here's the video:
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While this might come as a bit of a surprise, especially for those of you that bought it at launch, Diablo is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary! And given how it not only revolutionized the hack and slash genre, but also created its very own, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to hear that Blizzard has something special planned in order to commemorate this anniversary.
In Hearthstone's case this means a brand new Tavern Brawl, along with a time-limited and Diablo themed card back. So if you're up for infusing your game with the slightest touch of hellfire, now would be the time to do so as the Dark Wanderer Tavern Brawl will only stay active for a few more days. And if you're worried you might not have the cards necessary to defeat Diablo himself, worry not as he seems to be quite inept at card games.
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For those of you not in the loop with quirky indie games, Night in the Woods is an upcoming story focused adventure about old friendships, change, existential dread, and astral projection... because why not! It was supposed to release this January, but according to the most recent Kickstarter update it appears that the release date has been pushed back a couple of weeks - until early February to be specific.
Since trying to explain Night in the Woods through a single paragraph is a fool's errand, allow me to instead show you the teaser trailer. It will probably leave you even more confused, but it does a rather good job at setting the proper mood and atmosphere. So if you're interested, have a look:
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Despite the Dark Souls series becoming fairly mainstream in the past few years, there is a surprisingly small number of games that have attempted to emulate its rather slow and methodical combat style. Deck 13 gave it a damn good shot with Lords of the Fallen, only to end up being slightly too clunky for my liking, but I'm very glad to say that it appears they are going for a second attempt with their upcoming sci-fi RPG The Surge!
If you're wondering what The Surge might offer in terms of gameplay, you'll find the recently posted gameplay preview down below. Its obviously still clunky and unfinished given that its pre-alpha gameplay, but even now it seems to be incredibly faithful to the Dark Souls gameplay formula. Anyway, here's the video:
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Skyrim has seen its fair share of mods over the years, some more ambitious than others, but none have managed to create their own world quite as successfully as Enderal. When it released back in August it brought with it entirely new landscapes, gameplay mechanics, abilities, and perhaps most surprisingly, a heavy focus on storytelling. Enderal may have been made with Skyrim's engine, but it ended up as a fully fledged game in its own right!
And to further cement that fact, the main developer Nicolas Samuel has just recently announced that he is working on an expansion - Forgotten Stories. According to the current list of features Forgotten Stories is going to add 10-20 hours of new content, fill in the plot holes that were left behind in the original, and naturally, further improve upon several aspects of gameplay. Or in other words, Enderal: Forgotten Stories is going to be a 'proper' expansion!
If you're wondering what all of this might look like in gameplay terms, you'll find the recently posted story trailer down below. Have a look:
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The Long Dark, one of the rare few survival games not infested by zombies, has recently been updated with some rather significant changes. First and foremost, the clothing system has been completely reworked. Individual pieces of clothing can now get wet (which is obviously a terrible thing when you're stuck in a frozen hellhole), you can now use multiple layers in order to keep yourself warm even with fairly thin clothing, and perhaps most importantly, bulkier clothing now provides actual protection against wildlife... though you're obviously going to be a lot slower when lugging around two pairs of pants and three sweaters! And to top things off, there's even a brand new region to explore!
Since all of this is a bit hard to explain in a single paragraph, allow me to show you the recently posted developer preview. It will give you a good idea of what to expect from this update, and what exactly the developers are planning to achieve with it. Have a look: