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Gaming
Releases, platforms, and the people making the games.
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What we've been playing - "Asking what the point of playing it is would be like asking why you should bother seasoning a meal"
Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little about the games we've been playing. This week, Victoria almost sleeps through a foundational child-powered gaming moment; Bertie sounds a bit like a grumpy old man; Chris has a few more thoughts about Mixtape; and Connor plays a game that isn't RuneScape would you believe it. Read more
Lenovo’s most powerful RTX 5090 gaming PC just dropped to a record-low price
Lenovo's highest-spec variant of its Legion Tower 7i Gen 10, gaming PC packs in some real top-tier components to the point it reads more like a veritable wishlist for most folks - an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processsor and an RTX 5090, plus 64GB of DDR5 RAM and a 2TB SSD, which probably make up more of the cost of this machine than you might expect in the current climate. Usually, this powerful PC carries a hefty $6899.99 retail price, although with coupon code GAMEON10, it knocks over $2000 off the list price, making it $4657.49 from Lenovo directly. It is still a hefty cost in any case, but if you want to configure a PC yourself using similar components, than you're looking at nearly $6000 - the 5090 and the RAM make up around two-thirds of the price of the configured spec here, and cost nearly as much as the entire pre-built PC. In the UK, this PC is still nearly £5000, and not on any form of discount, unfortunately. The important thing to note also is that you shouldn't click the 5% off clickable coupon on the product page, as it removes the auto-applied coupon we want, meaning you'd end up paying more for the same prebuilt. Read more
"We are not trying to dismiss handmade work or disrespect creators" - studio behind popular party game Party Animals backtracks after AI video contest outcry
Recreate Games has apologised after an AI-focused video contest for its popular casual brawler Party Animals drew significant community criticism, insisting it was "not trying to dismiss handmade work or disrespect creators". Read more
Forza Horizon 6 review - the king is dead, long live the drift king
I blast out of Tokyo, off into the countryside. At first, the roads run alongside waterlogged rice paddies, through flat and open country. Soon, though, I hit the coastal highway which winds its way over deep blue sea and past fishing villages. Carving north, I navigate snaking passes straight out of Initial D and slide upwards through their narrow switchbacks. Then, as I climb, everything opens up again. Wide alpine roads sweep past green hills offering a spectacular view of Tokyo far to the south, the snow-capped peaks to the north, and Mount Fuji sitting stoically to the west. For a moment, it reminds me of the fabled alpine spaghetti you can find if you tour central Europe’s most breathtaking regions. Continuing my ascent, I soon hit snowy ski trails, steep stretches encased in permafrost and banked by looming snowdrifts. Read more
Subnautica 2's early access roadmap is here
Subnautica 2 developer Unknown Worlds has outlined what to expect in the early to mid-term of its early access release. Read more
Lovecraft gets the Indiana Jones treatment in Call of the Elder Gods, but is something missing in this Call of the Sea sequel?
For all its rip-roaring Indiana Jones adventure, its ancient civilisations, and pulpy supernatural peril, Call of the Elder Gods' true heart is perhaps its tatty leather-bound journal. That won't be a surprise to anyone that's played Call of the Sea, its well-received predecessor, but it's gratifying to see that - for all this follow-up's bigger, bolder ambitions - the original's first-person narrative adventure charms and smart, deductive spirit remains. Read more
"A great score is not heard" - From Indiana Jones to Star Wars, musical legend Gordy Haab on becoming a caretaker of some of video games' most prolific franchises
American composer Gordy Haab is a force to be reckoned with, pun absolutely intended. His catalogue of video game work includes composing scores for the likes of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Star Wars Squadrons and, most recently, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. He is arguably our generation's John Williams, perfectly encapsulating everything we have heard and loved from those iconic scores gone before, but with that extra dash of Haab seasoning. Read more
"It's a UGC platform, there is always going to be dog s***" Garry's Mod creator says as S&box's latest update aims to punish AI-generated thumbnails
S&box, Facepunch Studios' open source game development platform/spiritual successor to Garry's Mod continues to fight a battle against AI-generated games early doors. After Facepunch founder Garry Newman was quick to confirm the studio would be "taking action to promote human creativity and push obviously AI-created slop off the main page" following S&box's launch to mixed reviews, the game's latest update has taken aim at punishing creations with AI-generated thumbnails. Read more
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II releases next week, strategically spicing up Warhammer Skulls' barrage of battletool bignumber news
In good news for fans of little painted fellas who stand about menacingly, Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II finally has a proper release date. It's out on May 21st, arriving alongside the annual Warhammer Skulls showcase that typically offers a range of updates on games you have to decide whether to write out the number 40,000 in full when covering. Read more
Zero Parades: For Dead Spies review
One of the first things I learn about myself in Zero Parades is that I'm a fuck-up – an omnishambling bad omen with cropped hair and unfair cheekbones. Before I was put on ice, I was supposedly one hell of a spy. But that was then, and this is now. The veteran spy fallen from grace is not a new story, but in careful hands, it is almost always a great one. There are so many tiny little things that go right and wrong for an agent in the field: an indifferent tsunami of luck and skill and wildcard entropy that keeps going until the last plastic domino lands on the worst outcome. This is how I end my story as Cascade, an operant who looked her mistakes square in the eye, and believed that maybe, just maybe, the dice and the stars would align for her. They didn't. Read more
"We will probably get some flack": Subnautica 2 may feel polished for an early access game, but it was important for the team it launched unfinished
It's been more than a decade since the original Subnautica dove into early access. The deep sea survival game spent four years there as developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment added new features, biomes, and polished the whole thing up with the game's players. It may be difficult to remember just how incomplete it was in 2014. As Subnautica 2 releases into early access today, its developers are very aware that players may be expecting a game much closer to completion than they'll get their diver's gloves on. Read more
As the Stop Killing Games initiative advances, blocky racing game Lego 2K Drive is being delisted tomorrow
The Stop Killing Games initiative, which is fighting against the full termination of games, recently made it to the European Parliament and has pushed publishers like Ubisoft to make their games accessible when the servers are shut off - The Crew 2 is the most recent win. Now, 2K games is delisting casual racing game Lego 2K Drive this week, but it'll remain playable online for another year and work offline once support ends. Read more
Bungie set a date for Marathon season 2 and ramp up the challenge for the end of the current one
In the blink of an eye, Marathon season 2 is almost upon us. Bungie have shared more concrete words of what to expect in the upcoming season, titled Nightfall, mostly related to how the big reset will work, but also how this season will be wrapping up too. Read more
"Predatory as hell" Subnautica 2 EULA sets $50 max damage payout limit, bans VPN use, and has fans very concerned
Subnautica 2's EULA - that’s end-user license agreement - has been picked apart by curious fans, who have discovered a handful of eyebrow-raising clauses such as a ban on VPN use as well as a maximum payout of $50 in the case of a user suffering damages. Read more
No, Mixtape will not be delisted "due to music licenses expiring"
Mixtape publisher Annapurna Interactive has laid out in no uncertain terms that no, Mixtape will not be delisted "due to music licenses expiring". Read more
Canned Lord of the Rings MMO now formally cast aside, Amazon claim they've still got a game "that does justice to Tolkien's world" in the works
Amazon's Lord Of The Rings MMO, previously thought dead amid mass layoffs, is now very much conclusively deceased. Though, the coporation say they're still exploring "a compelling new game experience that does justice to Tolkien's world". Read more
Phasmophobia admits it "missed the mark" and prepares "to earn back this community's trust"
Phasmophobia maker Kinetic Games has apologised to players for issues with its long-awaited 'Player Character Update', admitting it "missed the mark" and "didn't deliver on our promises to you". Read more
After seven hours in early access, Subnautica 2 feels more like a remake than a sea-quel, but it has plenty of room to grow
Like the original Subnautica, released into early access an unnecessarily long time ago in 2014, Subnautica 2 pumps fresh life into the often-grindy survival genre by depriving it of air. Out in early access today, it's a familiar but engrossing meditation on ocean exploration, with a backstory that inclines towards the abyssal dread of SOMA. You begin the game as a crash-landed space colonist, downloaded into a 3D-printed body by "Noa", a softly overbearing corporate AI. Your goal as Noa's "Qualified Investigator" is to work out why your ship crashed, and what happened to all the other colonists Noa revived before you. Read more
Terraria marks 70 million sales and 15th anniversary with a promise to "continue beyond" its next big update
Terraria developer Re-Logic has insisted that it is committed to ensuring "the world of Terraria remains and will remain vibrant" as the sandbox game marks its 15th anniversary. Read more
I've cruised from St Louis to Chicago in American Truck Simulator's Illinois DLC, out today, and visiting the Windy City doesn't disappoint
Alright, first of all, a disclaimer. I can't confirm whether American Truck Simulator's version of Chicago - famously nicknamed the Windy City - is authentically blustery. For one, you can't get out of your lorry in ATS. Sure, the flags you can see from inside the cab are fluttering, but that could be some form of arcane developer trickery. For two, I've never been to real world Chicago, so have no idea just how windy it is as a point of comparison. What I can confirm, having hauled some pickups from St Louis to Chicago in ATS' Illinois DLC - out today, May 14th - is that driving into the latter for the first time is as memorable an experience as the best of the truck sim's other motoring metropolises. Read more
Xbox is now XBOX, apparently
Xbox has been rebranded as, er, XBOX. Read more
Moss: The Forgotten Relic is a shinier, VR-less fusion of the two beloved puzzle platformers that's out this summer
There's always a twinge of sadness when a game designed for VR later gets ported to be played on a regular screen, primarily because it's just not technically the realm the game was made for. That's sad to me! On the other hand, I do not own a VR headset, so I do win in those instances as well. Like today, for instance, as the Moss series is getting a VR-less version, with both games combined into one neat package. Read more
The Subnautica 2 fish self-defence debate rages on, as the game's non-violent themes clash with player desire to fend off underwater threats
Subnautica 2, like its predecessors, has a strong theme of pacifism running through it. Rather than killing aggressive fish, the game instead provides tools for players to avoid or distract creatures to save their own hides. Now that the Unknown Worlds’ controversial sequel has launched, however, this dedication to non-violence has proven frustrating to a subset of the community. Read more
For Control: Resonant's creative director, the series has always been "the Remedy version of an RPG experience"
I wouldn't label Remedy's Control as being much else outside of a shooter. It flirts with horror, it dabbles in sci-fi, but if we're talking mechanical genres, shooter fits it best. Then the sequel, Control: Resonant, got announced and turned out to be an action RPG. The bones of the original game are still evidently there in some ways, though in a recent interview, creative director Mikael Kasurinen shared that right from the series' early days, he's long thought of it as an RPG. Read more