Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[JEMC]

The very long second part of the Monday news:

That procgen road trip game is getting a genre-shifting prequel
https://www.pcgamer.com/that-procgen-road-trip-game-is-getting-a-genre-shifting-prequel/
Road 96, 2021's procedural road trip sim, is getting a prequel. Road 96: Mile 0 takes place a little bit before the politically tumultuous times of the first game, putting you in the shoes of a pair of teenage protagonists from opposite sides of the tracks. You'll play Zoe and Kaito—characters from the original Road 96 and Lost in Harmony, another of the developer's games, respectively—as they roam the "luxurious condominium" of White Sands, where Kaito's parents work and where Zoe fits right in.

Overwatch 2 director: New ranked system suffers from 'poor comprehension,' will change in future seasons
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-2-director-new-ranked-system-suffers-from-poor-comprehension-will-change-in-future-seasons/
A lot of Overwatch 2 players aren't happy with the sequel's new ranked mode, and Blizzard is starting to agree. In a new blog post meant to address recent player complaints, Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller said improvements to Competitive mode, including "more clarity" around what ranks mean, are coming over the next several months.

The Dead Space remake will blur out 'disturbing scenes' if you want it to
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-dead-space-remake-will-blur-out-disturbing-scenes-if-you-want-it-to/
Dead Space (opens in new tab) is a disturbing game. One of its most iconic moments is the discovery early on of the helpful hint, "Cut off their limbs," scrawled on the wall in blood. It's a famously violent, frightening gore fest from start to finish. But if you're not into that sort of thing, a new filter in the Dead Space remake will give you the option to blur out the worst of it.

Bungie reveals technical culprit behind Destiny's vanished triumphs and 20-hour downtime
https://www.pcgamer.com/bungie-reveals-technical-culprit-behind-destinys-vanished-triumphs-and-20-hour-downtime/
In the company's This Week at Bungie or TWAB update, the Destiny developer clarified the series of events that led to a number of players missing in-game titles, a bug that required a rollback of player progress and 20 hours of downtime for the popular looter shooter/MMO/Guardian-em-up game (credit to Massively Overpowered for the spot).

Slay some demons with the power of rock in Power Chord's full release
https://www.pcgamer.com/slay-some-demons-with-the-power-of-rock-in-power-chords-full-release/
Delightfully-themed Demonic Deckbuilder Power Chord has unleashed its mightiest lineups, arriving out of Early Access and into a full release. In Power Chord you "Assemble Earth's mightiest musicians, each with their own unique cards and gear, to fight your way through the hordes and destroy the only guitar powerful enough to reopen the scratch between worlds."

17-year-old D&D Online is getting a 'mini expansion' this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/17-year-old-dandd-online-is-getting-a-mini-expansion-this-year/
First spotted by Massively Overpowered, Standing Stone Games, developer of the long-running D&D-based MMO, Dungeons & Dragons Online, just revealed its 2023 roadmap for the game. Standing Stone is celebrating D&D Online's 17th anniversary with a new free dungeon and three character archetypes, as well as a "mini-expansion" launching sometime between April and June.

Who's up for a bit of WW2 Tactics? Second Front releases this week
https://www.pcgamer.com/whos-up-for-a-bit-of-ww2-tactics-second-front-releases-this-week/
There are people of a certain kind who will play any game which is set in World War 2 and has hexagons at least once. I am one of them. Thus it is with excitement I tell you that Second Front, a tactical, turn-based WW2 strategy wargame from studio Hexdraw and publisher Microprose, will release on January 31, 2023.

28-year-old shareware shooter Terminal Velocity is coming back
https://www.pcgamer.com/28-year-old-shareware-shooter-terminal-velocity-is-coming-back/
In 1995, Terminal Reality released a flight sim with simplified controls closer to an FPS that let you fly over alien planets in a souped-up space jet. You zapped enemy installations and ships, flew through tunnels into each planet's core, and tried not to get totally disoriented when you went upside down. It was a good time, and one of the only shareware games I ever owned the full version of.
Terminal Velocity is about to return in a "Boosted Edition" that's being remastered by the same studio, and promises to include "smoother gameplay, upscaled graphics, a fast framerate, and improved sound, as well as achievements".

Check out this Ultima-style RPG with a modern indie flair
https://www.pcgamer.com/check-out-this-ultima-style-rpg-with-a-modern-indie-flair/
Here's an RPG I'm gonna toss at you for for an odd reason: it looks in many ways like a game that came straight out of the '90s. Aside from a more modern pixel art style and a lighting engine, Caves of Lore could well be a lost game from the days of the later Ultima games.

Ubisoft rumored to be working on multiplayer Far Cry as well as inevitable Far Cry 7
https://www.pcgamer.com/ubisoft-rumored-to-be-working-on-multiplayer-far-cry-as-well-as-inevitable-far-cry-7/
According to sources cited by Insider Gaming, Ubisoft has two Far Cry games currently in development—a mainline singleplayer sequel, and a separate multiplayer spin-off, though they began as a single project.

Choose-your-own-murder game Loretta comes out next month
https://www.pcgamer.com/choose-your-own-murder-game-loretta-comes-out-next-month/
The store description calls Loretta, "a psychological thriller that makes the player an accessory to the heroine's crimes, leading her through a self-crafted nightmare." It's essentially a point-and-click adventure where you're a 1940s housewife who has committed murder, with flashbacks letting you decide how exactly that happened and then how you're going to cover it up.

The Kerbals are doing some cute animations on the basics of spaceflight
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-kerbals-are-doing-some-cute-animations-on-the-basics-of-spaceflight/
Kerbal Space Program is releasing a series of tutorials in the weeks leading up to the February 24th, 2023 release of Kerbal Space Program 2. Rather than explicit game tutorials, however, these are primers in the very basics of spaceflight presented for those who might not be rocket design enthusiasts and/or actual NASA engineers and/or astrophysicists.

This rendercore shoot 'em up is the first Vampire Survivors riff to really make me feel something
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-rendercore-shoot-em-up-is-the-first-vampire-survivors-riff-to-really-make-me-feel-something/
I liked Vampire Survivors, a lot. Indeed, we all liked it so much that it inspired a wave of imitators, some with genuinely bright ideas and clever twists. Picayune Dreams, though, which recently got a beefy free demo on Steam, is the first one to take that horde mode, bullet hell gameplay in a new direction, to repurpose it instead of just following the leader (credit to Alpha Beta Gamer for the spot).

A free Per Aspera expansion lets you urbanize a green, verdant Mars
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-free-per-aspera-expansion-lets-you-urbanize-a-green-verdant-mars/
Mars terraforming simulator Per Aspera has released a new, free DLC called Home about making Mars more livable. New features expand the process of terraforming Mars to include deeper, broader coverage of flora and larger, more habitable open-air cities for Earth's population to move into.

A surreal first person adventure based on a cult animated series just dropped its first gameplay trailer
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-surreal-first-person-adventure-based-on-a-cult-animated-series-just-dropped-its-first-gameplay-trailer/
On Friday, Peruvian artist Joel Guerra revealed a new trailer for ENA: Dream BBQ, a first-person adventure and adaptation of his staggeringly popular series of YouTube shorts starring the character of the same name.

Dead Island 2 will have cards instead of a skill tree
https://www.pcgamer.com/dead-island-2-will-have-cards-instead-of-a-skill-tree/
It's wild to think that Dead Island 2 may only be a few months away. (...)
In a recent quickfire interview with Game Informer (via the NME), Dambuster's lead narrative designer Khan and creative director James Worrall answered 86 questions about Dead Island 2, covering its Los Angeles location, attention-grabbing trailer, and how the skill system will work, among other things.

Fight through the Greek afterlife with blade and shot in this grimy, gilded FPS
https://www.pcgamer.com/fight-through-the-greek-afterlife-with-blade-and-shot-in-this-grimy-gilded-fps/
"Slay hordes of creatures on the black sands of Purgatory and sell their gold-stained corpses to craven priests," Perish's description on Steam begins. "Kill magnificent bosses and use the proceeds to gain access to Elysium, a place of cosmic revelations." Say no more, I'm in.

Warzone 2's wiping DMZ progress and players don't quite know how to feel about it
https://www.pcgamer.com/warzone-2s-wiping-dmz-progress-and-players-dont-quite-know-how-to-feel-about-it/
Call of Duty is trying out something new with DMZ, and the reaction is all over the place. It's a server wipe of faction tiers (i.e. completed missions) and players' inventories, which is fairly common in this style of RPG-lite shooter but new to Call of Duty.

Microsoft says Sony isn't telling the truth to EU regulators about Call of Duty
https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-says-sony-isnt-telling-the-truth-to-eu-regulators-about-call-of-duty/
The back-and-forth between Microsoft and Sony over the former's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues. This time, Microsoft chief communications officer Frank Shaw has taken to Twitter to accuse Sony of misleading EU regulators over Microsoft's plans for the Call of Duty franchise in the event the acquisition goes through.
>> I don't know if it's true, but I have the feeling that the EU regulators won't like to be lied and that, if proven, Sony may face further problems because of it.

Krafton belatedly realises making every game PUBG-related may not be a great strategy
https://www.pcgamer.com/krafton-belatedly-realises-making-every-game-pubg-related-may-not-be-a-great-strategy/
Krafton, the South Korean mega-publisher that owns PUBG: Battlegrounds and most recently released The Callisto Protocol, has published a strategy note about 2023 (spotted by Eurogamer) that's based on a talk livestreamed to its employees.