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After spending some time in beta, the first big Dishonored 2 update is now available across all platforms. It brings with it a New Game+ mode that allows you to combine Emily and Corvo's abilities into one ridiculously overpowered character, as well as a variety of balance and performance fixes.
If you're interested in all of the details you'll find the full patch notes by heading over to Steam. But if you're just interested in all of the PC specific changes and optimization, here's the brief list:
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The entire concept behind Ubisoft's For Honor can be summed up with one ridiculous sentence: Have you ever wondered who would win in a battle between a medieval knight in full plate, a bloodthirsty and half naked Viking, and a honorable Samurai wearing that one armor everyone knows about? And while it might be a simple concept, it is one that has a ton of potential given how each of the three factions sports vastly different weaponry, armor, and even fighting styles.
So if you're interested in learning more about them, or just figuring out why exactly For Honor even has a 'story' campaign, you can find the four newly released videos right below. We'll first start with the story preview, and then move on to a champion from each of the three factions. Have a look:
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Cyanide Studios, developers you might know from Blood Bowl and Styx: Master of Shadows, are currently working on a video game adaptation of the pen&paper RPG Call of Cthulhu. The details are a bit light given that its still in an early stage of development, but it is going to be a story focused RPG with a heavy dose of psychological horror and stealth mechanics mixed in.
As for the story, you will stepping into the shoes of a lowly investigator sent to discover the truth behind the death of a famous artist on a backwater island. This premise alone is enough to carry a horror game, but things are bound to become even worse for our protagonist as it appears that the dreaded Cult of Cthulhu is involved in the murder. It is going to be up to you to push your sanity to the very limits in an effort to uncover what should never be known and hopefully make it out not only alive, but also as more than a blithering madman.
And since psychological horror depends solely on the player's immersion in to the world, the visuals and the overall atmosphere are some of the most important aspects of gameplay. With that in mind, I am very glad to say that Cyanide's version of Call of Cthulhu seems to most definitely be on the right track. But rather than just blabber about it, here are all of the images so that you can see for yourself (click on them for a bigger version):
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Torment: Tides of Numenera, the spiritual successor to the brilliant Planescape: Torment, was supposed to release later next month - a fact that worried me a great deal given the amount of bugs still present in the game. Thankfully, according to the most recent physical edition trailer, the release date appears to have been delayed until February 28th, giving the developers plenty of time to correct what was broken.
And if you're wondering what exactly still needs work, the answer is performance and combat. Even though Torment: Tides of Numenera is a fairly simple isometric RPG it still manages to stutter and drop frames on my rather powerful machine, which means its most likely a nightmare for someone that's playing at around the minimum recommended settings. As for the combat, you can find the details by heading over to my review, but long story short, it sucks! However, you might be glad to hear that the developers are well aware of how much it sucks, and have announced shortly after that review that they are working on completely revamping the combat - an update that hasn't arrived just yet.
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While I'm still not sure if this is the beginning of a new trend, or just the culmination of many months of work, but the updates for Star Citizen seem to be rolling in fast and faster. A couple of weeks ago the developers previewed the very first, and quite barebones version of the 'Star Marine' FPS combat module, and already we're getting a brand new video showcasing what exactly you can mess around with in Star Citizen's persistent universe.
So if you're interested in watching a couple of developers explode and shoot their way across the stars, you'll find the preview video right below. Have a look:
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[Update]: Unfortunately, Duelyst will be closing down its doors on February 27, 2020.
For those of you that might not know, Duelyst is a hybrid between a card game and a turn-based strategy, though the emphasis is most definitely on the CCG aspects of gameplay. And since cards are the lifeblood of these these types of games, you'll be glad to hear that Duelyst has recently been improved with a brand new expansion - Rise of the Bloodborn.
There's 39 new cards to collect, a brand new keyword in the shape of Blood Surge which activates when you use your General's Bloodborn Spell, as well as a variety of minor changes and additions to make the holiday season a much more pleasant one. If you're interested in all of the new cards and mechanics you can find the full list by heading over to the official website.
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The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth and Afterbirth do not officially support modding, but as with any even remotely popular game people have found ways to add their own little twist to the gameplay. If you browse around you'll find numerous mods that add custom bosses, balance changes, items, and other such things, but almost every single one of those mods is just that - a single mod.
The upcoming The Binding of Isaac: Antibirth, however, is less of a mod and more of a fully fledged, fan made expansion! There's a bunch of new characters to toy around with, ~90 new items to collect, ~16 new bosses to die against, ~4000 new rooms to explore, a new secret final chapter, and most importantly, an improved co-op mode. If you're wondering what all of this might look like in gameplay terms, wonder no more as the developers have also released a brief trailer. Have a look:
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If you've been itching to start playing Rainbow Six Siege again, but couldn't really find a good excuse, you might be glad to hear that there has recently been a rather large update. It has brought with it numerous balance changes, Bartlett University has been redesigned for PvP, shield Operators have been buffed, and most importantly, Tachanka - the great memelord, is now finally useful!
For those of you that might not have much experience with Rainbow Six Siege, Tachanka has been the absolute worst Operator for the past year, purely because his gadget involved him standing perfectly still behind a turret, just waiting to be shot in the head. Well, after an entire year of being the laughing stock of the entire RSS community, Tachanka has finally taken the next step forward by adding a shield in front of his turret! If you're interested in all of the details, here's what Ubisoft had to say about his minor rework:
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While I had a decent amount of fun with Battleborn, there is one element that bothered me from the very moment I started - the inability to play all of the characters! In Overwatch you can quite literally play any hero from day one, while in Battleborn you have to spend a long time grinding specific challenges and levels in order to get to your favorites. For a free-to-play game this might be okay, but Battleborn costs €50, so having the majority of the cast locked behind arbitrary goals is a ridiculously terrible idea when it comes to keeping players interested for a long period of time.
It may have taken them so long they have lost most of their playerbase, but you'll be glad to hear that Gearbox has finally woken up and is now working to address most of the core issues that plague Battleborn. The upcoming Winter Update will make all 25 core heroes free for everyone, credit rewards have been increased in order to provide new players with a leg up, there is a new training mode that teaches you how to play each hero, and a variety of other, most welcome additions.
If you're interested in all of the details, and I really do mean all of the details given that the video is two hours long, you'll find a recording of the most recent developer stream down below. On the other hand, if you don't have two hours to spare, here's a somewhat brief summary of what to expect from the Winter Update:
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If you were hoping to try out Ubisoft's upcoming medieval murderfest For Honor ahead of its February 14 release date, you'll be glad to hear that there is a large closed beta planned for January. While the exact start date isn't known just yet, the signups are currently open, so head on over to the registration page and fill in the brief form.
But rather than simply offer a gameplay demo with this beta, Ubisoft is planning a massive War of the Factions event to answer, once and for all, the hardest question in all of history: Who would win in a three-way fight between a bunch of Vikings, Knights, and Samurai? The faction you choose doesn't really matter, but what does matter is that you ensure your side wins as many matches as possible given that each of the factions will receive a reward at the end depending on their ranking. What exactly these rewards will be, Ubisoft hasn't announced just yet, but I think its safe to assume its going to be something awesome given that this is their big marketing event, so don't let your side down!