Raising the steaks Dragon’s Dogma series director Hideaki Itsuno has announced that the meat you can cook over campfires inDragon’s Dogma 2is, in fact, “real meat”. There’s been a certain amount of PlayStation-instigated speculation about whether the meat is CGI-generated, followingthe last round of Dragon’s Dogma 2 previews. Speaking to Japanese site4Gamer, as translated byAutomaton, Itsuno revealed that the game’s scenes of sizzling flesh are derived from live action film of steaks being grilled - partly for the sake of authenticity, and partly to save money versus creating computer models of meat products....

Command & Conquer, Dungeon Keeper, Sim City 3000 were already on GOG If you wanted to buy any of the games in theCommand & ConquerUltimate Collection,Dungeon Keeper, or Sim City 3000 - but didn’t want to do it on GOG where they were already on sale - then rejoice! EA has made these classics and more, and for some reasonThe Saboteur, available on Steam for the first time. You can see the full list of gameshere....

The ultimate guide to understanding all the different Elden Ring stats Need some help understanding what the different Elden Ring stats actually do?As with mostRPGs, there’s a wealth of different stats that govern the strengths and weaknesses of your character inElden Ring. But understanding what those stats actually do is harder in Elden Ring than most games. That’s why we’ve worked to put together the ultimate guide to all of Elden Ring’s stats....

Chapter 5 Season 2 launch pushed back several hours after an “unexpected issue” After cracking open its virtual Pandora’s Box using the magical key of “shooting it with a lot of bullets”,Fortnite’s mythical next season is due to roll out later today. Chapter 5 Season 2 - or Myths & Mortals, if you prefer - will bring a pantheon of god powers, locations from Greek mythology and, uh, Korra from theAvatar: The Last Airbendersequel, who has a gun now I guess....

Our Dragon’s Dogma 2 diary continues with police brutality and the arrival of David Blaine High was the sun and gladsome the breeze when Dragonkin Skywalker, Donald Duck and the Lady Galadriel arrived in the city of Vernworth, there to make new friends and disturb the peace. Oh sorry, let me back up a bit: this is the second chapter of myDragon’s Dogma 2 hands-on diary, in which I experiment with fielding a party consisting exclusively of spell-casters....

Get to work Developers Arrowhead said thatHelldivers 2’s mechs were"ready for deployment"a couple of days ago, but what they didn’t tell us was how to unlock them. And in what I think is a rather refreshing live service twist, it’s up to us honourableHelldiversto liberate the planet of Tien Kwan if we want those sweet, sweet mechs. Get me in there, chief. Posting a call to arms on theirXwitter, Arrowhead say that the mech’s production factories are under attack on Tien Kwan....

Can I get a rock and stone? I won’t deny that the rock’s pleasures can be simple. As a single-target nuke, its damage potential is immense, knocking chunks out of bosses and dispatching most elite underlings in one blow. It is satisfying beyond words to turn the tables on Ragers and Mutants, overwhelming their inhuman sturdiness against bullets and blades with a single brick to the chin. Credit to the Orgyn, also, for having such a good arm....

Need a hint for today’s Connections? Read our guide for help with Connections #271 This guide is for a previous day! Looking for today’s solution? Check out theConnections hint and answers for Thursday 12th December! Want a hint for Connections today?Piggybacking off the monumental success of daily puzzle gameWordle, the New York Times has another fantastically popular word game out now. It’s calledConnections, and if you haven’t played it before, now’s the time to start....

A bloody mess Which brings us to Vampire: The Masquerade - Justice, the beleaguered series' first prowl through the rain-slick streets of VR. In theory, this should be exactly my cup of haemoglobin; a gothic, linear stealth game where you use your vampire powers to sneak across the rooftops of Venice. In its mechanics and design, Justice aspires to be a cut down version ofDishonored. Unfortunately, it’s in the cutting down where most of its problems arise....

Putting discount frame gen to the test in a new RPS feature Welcome toShould You Bother With, a new, hopefully somewhat regular RPS column where I’ll investigate the quirkier niches that PC gaming hardware has to offer. Through trial and testing, together we’ll find out which of these products and features are technological red herrings – and which are the genuine innovations that deserve your attention. First up on the lab table:AMD Fluid Motion Frames!...

But only if you actually send in feedback Tactical Breach Wizardsis having a beta playtest, with space for around 2500 players over the next month or so. New to Tactical Breach Wizards? It’s a grid and turn-based room-clearance puzzler in which you control a gang of door-kickers who happen to be armed with spells and magical artefacts, rather than plain old riot shields. It’s the work of Suspicious Developments, the studio founded by former videogames journalist and - engage mystic rite of disclaiming - RPS contributor Tom Francis, and lets you do things like chain lightning bolts around cover and knock people into mystic portals or out of windows (a Suspicious Developments staple)....

Midgaard as nails Polish developers Mighty Koi have announcedThe Night Wanderer, a new sci-fantasy SoulslikeRPGwith metroidvania level design – yes, yes, tick those genre boxes! - in which you are a grim bearded swordsman exploring an alien world that looks a bit like pre-industrial Scandinavia. Said grim bearded swordsman is Vuko Drakkainen, an elite mercenary embarked on a solo mission to Midgaard, “a planet inhabited by beings remarkably reminiscent of the people of our Early Middle Ages”....

A decade after The Great War Valiant Hearts: Coming Homepicks up after the events of the original interweaving narrative between five characters during the First World War, following four new characters (plus returning dog pal Walt) in Harlem Hellfighter James - who inspires a jazz soundtrack based on the Hellfighters’ introduction of jazz to Europe - nurse Anna, German diver Ernst and British pilot George. Now, it’s come to PC thanks to a port from devs Ubisoft Da Nang, whose work on the PC and Xbox/PlayStation/Switch versions apparently makes them one of the first Vietnamese studios to release a console game....