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

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Monday news, the shorter part two:

Star Wars Outlaws aims to recapture that Imperial Agent storyline magic by keeping the fate-of-the-galaxy stuff at arm's length
https://www.pcgamer.com/star-wars-outlaws-aims-to-recapture-that-imperial-agent-storyline-magic-by-keeping-the-fate-of-the-galaxy-stuff-at-arms-length/
I love the Sith and the Jedi—space magic and laser swords have always been a winning combo. But I've also always wanted a more ground-level look at the Star Wars universe, especially in gaming. For example, the Imperial Agent storyline from BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic works so well precisely because it's more concerned with intergalactic politics and spy thriller nonsense over mystical force mumbo-jumbo.
I had a similar yearning when I played through Star Wars Jedi: Survivor recently. I was enamoured by its colourful side characters, to the point where moody Jedi fugitive Cal Kestis felt bland in comparison. Star Wars Outlaws is shaping up to fill that average-joe shaped hole in my heart, as a recent GameInformer interview with narrative director Navid Khavari suggests the game'll be far more concerned with the setting's grimy underbelly.

Baldur's Gate 3's lead writer on romances: 'sex is not the goal, it's just sex'
https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3s-lead-writer-on-romances-sex-is-not-the-goal-its-just-sex/
"I know we made them too thirsty," Baldur's Gate 3's lead writer Adam Smith jokes about the RPG's companion characters. "We're aware of it. The internet has told us this." We spoke with Smith during yesterday's PC Gamer Chat log podcast, where he shared his thoughts on the nuances of party relationships in Baldur's Gate 3.

One of Call of Duty's best-known developers has left Treyarch after nearly 20 years
https://www.pcgamer.com/one-of-call-of-dutys-best-known-developers-has-left-treyarch-after-nearly-20-years/
David Vonderhaar, one of the most prominent and longest-tenured senior developers on Activision's long-running Call of Duty series, has announced that after nearly 20 years at Treyarch, he is moving on to other things.

Dave the Diver gets a major quality of life update and the players love it: 'Tears in my eyes,' one dedicated fan says
https://www.pcgamer.com/dave-the-diver-gets-a-major-quality-of-life-update-and-the-players-love-it-tears-in-my-eyes-one-dedicated-fan-says/
Dave the Diver is a game we didn't see coming. On the surface it's a cute indie management game about going fishing and running a restaurant, but underneath all of that lies a compelling narrative, varied and delightful gameplay, and one of the best games of 2023. And now it's even better, thanks to a major new quality-of-life update.

Overwatch 2 director opens up about having the worst-reviewed game on Steam: 'Being review-bombed isn't a fun experience'
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-2-director-opens-up-about-having-the-worst-reviewed-game-on-steam-being-review-bombed-isnt-a-fun-experience/
Overwatch 2 debuted on Steam last week and was immediately hit with so many negative user reviews that it's now the lowest-scoring game on the platform.
(...)
In a blog post reflecting on the release of its newest season. Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller said, "although being review-bombed isn't a fun experience, it's been great to see lots of new players jump into Overwatch 2 for the first time."

Vampire Survivors has couch co-op now
https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-survivors-has-couch-co-op-now/
Weird little hit Vampire Survivors has far and away kicked off an indie trend, but don't relegate it to the past quite yet. The roguelike bullet heaven's 1.6 update dropped this week, bringing an entirely new couch co-op mode to the game alongside the brand new and much improved game engine the developer has been working on since last year.

Another King of Dragon Pass successor, Six Ages 2, plunges its world into chaos
https://www.pcgamer.com/another-king-of-dragon-pass-successor-six-ages-2-plunges-its-world-into-chaos/
Everyone loves the part of mythical history where the gods are fighting each other and the firmament of the world is going to come crashing down. I can't imagine the people who lived during it liked it very much, though, which is what we're about to find out in Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out, a story-driven strategy and resource management game from the same storied legacy as King of Dragon Pass, when it releases on August 21st, 2023.
>> That's today.

Wayfinder devs apologize as server woes lead to a poor launch reception
https://www.pcgamer.com/wayfinder-devs-apologize-as-server-woes-lead-to-a-poor-launch-reception/
Colorful fantasy action MMO Wayfinder, the latest from Ruined King and Darksiders studio Airship Syndicate and Warframe publisher Digital Extremes, has hit a very harsh reception from early adopters as sheer volume has caused server troubles and extended wait times for those most interested in the game—this Early Access release costs $20, but the full game scheduled to launch in six months will be free to play.

Sling cards to save the planet in this free ecological strategy game
https://www.pcgamer.com/sling-cards-to-save-the-planet-in-this-free-ecological-strategy-game/
Beecarbonize is a free real-time card game that launched earlier this month with an interesting proposition: Manage industry, ecology, society, and science to take on your ultimate opponent: Climate change. Your ultimate goal is to find any of a number of hypothetical, practical, and fanciful solutions among the cards, and producing such a "golden card" will lead you to victory.

Astarion's voice actor directed Baldur's Gate 3's infamous bear scene: 'I did not know they were gonna use Astarion as the model'
https://www.pcgamer.com/astarions-voice-actor-directed-baldurs-gate-3s-infamous-bear-scene-i-did-not-know-they-were-gonna-use-astarion-as-the-model/
I was able to sit down with Neil Newbon earlier this month to talk about his role as Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3. During which, we talked about his love of tabletop, as well as the more sensitive aspects of playing the character. We also chatted a bit about what it was like to mocap a certain scene that's been making the rounds on the internet.

The next game from the Battle Brothers devs is a sci-fi tactical RPG that 'takes everything beloved' about their last game and 'improves it tenfold'
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-next-game-from-the-battle-brothers-devs-is-a-sci-fi-tactical-rpg-that-takes-everything-beloved-about-their-last-game-and-improves-it-tenfold/
Overhype, the studio behind the really rather good Battle Brothers, is beating its swords into plasma rifles for its next game. Called Menace, it's another turn-based "brutal tactical RPG" in the vein of its predecessor, but it's trading in grim low-fantasy for a "grounded sci-fi strategy experience". I think grounded might just be another way of saying grim, judging by the number of people howling and turning into clouds of vapour in the trailer.

Fresh off a fantastic Quake 2 remaster, Nightdive would once again like Tim Sweeney to know it's ready and eager to do the same to Unreal
https://www.pcgamer.com/fresh-off-a-fantastic-quake-2-remaster-nightdive-would-once-again-like-tim-sweeney-to-know-its-ready-and-eager-to-do-the-same-to-unreal/
Friends, I have a confession to make. You might have seen one or two stories on our website about Baldur's Gate 3, an overall pretty solid RPG that practically everyone on staff here has been pouring hours and days of their lives into. But not me. I've been distracted by another venerable series, a contemporary of the original Baldur's Gate games and the first game I ever remember laying my hands on. I've been playing Quake 2.
Nightdive's Quake 2 remaster, to be specific—an incredibly thorough and caring touch-up of the original id game from 1997, and the follow-up to the studio's equally excellent Quake 1 remaster from 2021. It's fantastic, and—unsurprisingly—Nightdive has no intention of stopping there. Over on Twitter (X, whatever), studio CEO Stephen Kick is (once again) angling for Epic to let him give Unreal the same treatment.

Konami ties itself up in knots trying to clarify whether the Metal Gear Solid collection will have mouse and keyboard support, but it seems like a yes
https://www.pcgamer.com/konami-ties-itself-up-in-knots-trying-to-clarify-whether-the-metal-gear-solid-collection-will-have-mouse-and-keyboard-support-but-it-seems-like-a-yes/
Konami's announcement of Metal Gear Solid: The Master Collection Vol. 1 was both long-awaited and arrived with a few eyebrow-raising details. It won't just include Metal Gear Solid 1 through 3, for example, but the earlier 2D games: including the non-canon game Kojima wasn't involved in and apparently dislikes. The PC version's Steam listing also popped up with the unwelcome news that the games would not include mouse and keyboard support, which seems rather bizarre (especially as there exists an old PC version of MGS which does have keyboard controls).
Now it looks like the publisher is slowly righting the ship, even if it's not yet ready to make a public commitment to the default PC control scheme. At a recent Konami press event to hype up the collection, we spoke to Konami brand marketing director Ben Kinney, who addressed the issue without giving the firmest commitment.