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The first time I’ve ever truly cared about failing to get a cheevo “We don’t go to Ravenholm…“Half-Life 2’s sixth chapter heading warns, and when you arrive at the outskirts of this abandoned mining town, you immediately see why. This headcrab and zombie-infested cess pit is an absolute horror show right from the off. Moans and screeches assault your ears from every nook and cranny of this dark murder hole, and if the hoarse crow calls and suspiciously high number of propane barrels weren’t enough to put you off, the bloodied torsos lodged against its log cabin walls by deep set saw blades certainly will....

Tell me your secrets I love these things, these spinning speech bubbles inflated with knowledge straight from theFPScoalface. So do Valve, judging by how dev commentary has appeared (in identical, node-activatable form) in most of their games since. They’re interesting and illuminating, don’t interfere with the game unless the player wants them to, and help build design literacy. Why, then, don’t more games offer commentary as well? Prior to Lost Coast, there were very occasional attempts at introducing the DVD commentary concept to games....

A Song Of Ice And Dust is the last post-launch addition in the roadmap TheSaints Rowreboot received quite a cold reception when it came out last year, with our Alice Bee calling it fun but ultimately confusedin her review. Now, developers Volition are closing out their post-launch plans for the game with an extensive update, a third paid expansion, and a Steam release. All coming this month. Saints Row’s third expansion - A Song Of Ice And Dust - is coming out next week on August 8th, although specifics on what’s included are a little light....

Learn what’s included in the Starfield Constellation Edition and each of the other editions What’s in each of the Starfield editions, and which one should you choose?At times it feels like the whole world is waiting with bated breath for the arrival ofStarfield- Bethesda’s first non-Elder Scrolls non-Falloutgame in nearly 20 years. And Microsoft are doing their very best to persuade prospective players to fork over their cash sooner rather than later with a plethora of differentStarfieldeditions and a pre-order bonus for ordering any edition ahead of theRPG’srelease on 6th September....

A robot ranger, a turret-loving engineer, and more Upcoming tactical CRPGDark Envoycaught my attention when it wasannouncedlast year, mainly because it has the undeniably cool combo of high fantasy magic and steampunk firearms. Casting you as a refugee adventurer, you’ll be shooting and/or spell-flinging across the war-ravaged world of Jäan, and you can even bring a friend along for the ride in co-op. We already knew all that good stuff, but the developers have now released a new video that delves deeper into the game’s classes and specialisations....

Nearly 20 years later, Half-Life 2 feels contemporary all over again Civil Protection officers are shorter than I thought they’d be. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very much a Short King myself, but I assumed the gas mask-wearing enforcers of City 17 would be more vertically intimidating. As I defiantly refuse to pick up litter inHalf-Life 2’s opening sequence, I find the approaching officer and his raised electric baton to be weirdly adorable....

Let’s get to work With the month ofUnpackingconcluded and itsrude boyfriendsymbolically vanquished, I’ve been put in charge of choosing the nextRPS Game Clubgame. And seeing how about 40% of what I write about is related to theSteam Deck, I thought it’d be nice if we took a break from that and chatted about something completely - ahaha no, just kidding it’s totally gonna beAperture Desk Job. APortalprequel without the portals, Aperture Desk Job is a “playable short” that casts you as an entirely desk-bound testing lackey in a functional, if still largely awful, Aperture Science....

$100 off MSRP and a competitive price for these specs. I feel that 2560x1440 and 144Hz+ is still the sweet spot for most PC gaming, offering enough resolution to justify the larger size while providing a responsive experience for fast-paced shooters and the Windows desktop alike. This particular model uses a Fast IPS panel with a rated 0.5ms GtG pixel response time, and I tend to like these monitors quite a bit - they have the usual IPS qualities like wide viewing angles, accurate colour reproduction and decent brightness, while offering motion handling on par with the best TN monitors....

Out now in early access, it’s small but perfectly formed I don’t know about you, but I’ve beenimmensely enjoyingthe seeming renaissance of tower defence citybuilding games recently. The grimdark horrors ofAge Of Darkness: Final Standmight be a bit too hard as nails for my personal liking, but there’s something about the act of building up my little settlements and defending them against ever-larger nightly hordes that just unlocks something in my brain that says, ‘Yes, more of this, please’....

Vote now! Last time, you overwhelmingly decided thatgoing on the roof is better than one in the chamber, you little rapscallions. You’re going to get in so much trouble when someone finds out! This week, I have death on my mind ahead of the much-belated scattering of my dad’s ashes, so let’s talk about death. ‘The long sleep,’ some say. ‘Making the little flowers grow,‘Lee Hazelwood will tell you. ‘Big D,’ I think is what several anonymous e-mails I’ve received were referring to....

Stuck on the Wordle word for August 2? Read our hint or find the answer below! Need a hint for today’s Wordle answer?If yesterday’sWordlethrew you off with its pesky double letter, then strap in for another tough brainteaser. If you find yourself struggling with this tricky challenge, then you’re fortunately in the right place! Every day, Wordle presents its legions of players with a deviously simple quandary: can you guess the right five-letter word within just six guesses?...

Larian Studios explain how the parasites tie into the RPG goodness Four years ago,Baldur’s Gate 3wasannouncedwith a trailer that showed how a human could succumb to the small illithid tadpole stuck inside his noggin, thus becoming a mind flayer. The process begins with excruciating headaches, escalates to fingers twisting by themselves, and culminates with an octopus head spouting out of the body. That gross transformation is what you’re (maybe) trying to avoid at the start of Baldur’s Gate 3, but developer Larian Studios have now explained how the parasites “tie into” itsRPGsystems....

Microsoft announce the next fortnight’s comings and goings Microsoft haveannouncedthe next batch of games coming to Game Pass, and just like thelast line-up, indie gems are carrying this fortnight’s offerings. August begins with veneratedA Short Hike, which crosses paths with fellow hikerDeath Strandingon its way off the Game Pass mega mountain. I’m almost jealous that some of you get to play A Short Hike for the very first time, which is a lovely, low-stakes game about climbing an island’s peak any way you wish, all while helping its residents with their own funny little problems....