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

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Wednesday news, part two:

Valheim celebrates the launch of 'hard mode' by offering up a custom-made viking tankard for the fastest and hardest speedrunner
https://www.pcgamer.com/valheim-celebrates-launch-of-hard-mode-by-offering-up-a-custom-made-viking-tankard-for-the-fastest-and-hardest-speedrunner/
A patch for the open world survival game Valheim went live on the public test server back in June that, among other things, added world modifiers that enable players to change the game's difficulty in various ways. With that update, called Hildir's Request, now fully live, developer Iron Gate is celebrating in an appropriately viking-ish fashion with the Trial of Tyr, a speedrun competition that challenges players to race through the entire game—in hard mode—on their own.

Konami confuses things further, now says Metal Gear Solid collection will run at 1080p and 60 fps
https://www.pcgamer.com/konami-confuses-things-further-now-says-metal-gear-solid-collection-will-run-at-1080p-and-60fps/
In scenes reminiscent of a convoluted codec conversation, Konami has been tying itself up in knots about what exactly players can expect from Metal Gear Solid: The Master Collection Vol. 1. It's now issued a statement to VGC clarifying the target spec for the games is 1080p and 60 fps on PC, following erroneous reports (based on what Konami reps said) that the games would be running at lower resolutions and framerates.
Note that this still leaves it clear as mud as to whether these games will be rendering at 1080p or merely outputting at 1080p. Based on what Konami reps told PCG's Wes Fenlon at a recent hands-on, the former seems unlikely: There's no way Metal Gear Solid is rendering at 1080p, with the resolution seeming to be the original 240p or a similarly low resolution.

Starfield has 'a lot of surprises that we haven't talked about,' Todd Howard says at Gamescom
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfield-has-a-lot-of-surprises-that-we-havent-talked-about-todd-howard-says-at-gamescom/
Gamescom's Opening Night Live showcase kicked off with a brand-new live action trailer for Starfield and an appearance by game director Todd Howard, who said that despite everything we've been shown so far, there are still "a lot of surprises" in store.

Destiny 2 is scrapping its current seasonal model in favour of three 'episodes' per year
https://www.pcgamer.com/destiny-2-is-scrapping-its-current-seasonal-model-in-favour-of-three-episodes-per-year/
Bungie is making a big change to the way it tells stories in Destiny 2. The seasonal model the game has employed so far is being dropped in favor of "episodes," which will provide players with larger chunks of standalone storytelling that the studio says will deliver "a new, innovative way for players to engage with Destiny 2 throughout the year."

Destiny 2's The Final Shape expansion will add new Arc, Solar and Void supers
https://www.pcgamer.com/destiny-2s-the-final-shape-expansion-will-add-new-arc-solar-and-void-supers/
Bungie just wrapped up a showcase in which it pulled the curtain back on The Final Shape, the concluding expansion in the saga that has been running since Destiny launched way back in 2014. Last week, game director Joe Blackburn was at pains to point out that this livestream was intended to appeal to as broad an audience as possible, but when you've got developers giddily dropping lines like: "The Witness wants to use the Pale Heart of The Traveller to enact the Final Shape", I think it's fair to say that there's still quite a lot to unpick, even for veteran players like me. Having watched the showcase, here's the stuff that stood out.

One of our favorite action RPGs of 2019 shows off 4 years of updates at Gamescom
https://www.pcgamer.com/one-of-our-favorite-action-rpgs-of-2019-shows-off-4-years-of-updates-at-gamescom/
We liked the action-RPG Last Epoch an awful lot when we most recently looked at it, calling its skill system "a brilliant new twist" on those offered by Diablo and Path of Exile. But that was in 2019, and we haven't heard anything from the game since—until tonight, when Judd Cobler, founder and CEO of developer Eleventh Hour Games, appeared on the stage at Gamescom's Opening Night Live to show off its upcoming Runes of Power update and the powerful new Runemaster mage class.

I'm begging MiHoYo to show me more Zenless Zone Zero than this
https://www.pcgamer.com/im-begging-mihoyo-to-show-me-more-zenless-zone-zero-than-this/
It takes some real detective work to figure out the mystery that is Zenless Zone Zero, the upcoming action (roguelike?) game from Genshin Impact developer MiHoYo.

Diablo 4's long-desired loot filters are 'definitely part of our backlog', says general manager
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4s-long-desired-loot-filters-are-definitely-part-of-our-backlog-says-general-manager/
Diablo 4's Season of the Malignant proceeds apace, and it's been quite the journey of patches after its rocky introduction in July—it's had horse buffs, weird multiversal glitches, and some genuine improvements to enemy density. The waves might be choppy, but the SS Sanctuary isn't sunk just yet.
Another glimmer of hope has surfaced on the horizon—it's either a sign of good things to come, or a frustrating half-answer to the absence of a much-desired quality of life feature. Loot filters are pretty bog standard for ARPGs at this point—which left plenty baffled when Diablo 4 launched without one comprehensive enough to handle its late-game load of loot.

Diablo 4 Season 2 revealed: It's about vampires, and will include some much-requested updates
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4-season-2-revealed-its-about-vampires-and-will-include-some-much-requested-updates/
Vampires will be the next threat in Diablo 4: They're coming in the second season, which Blizzard has dubbed the "Season of Blood."
Starting on October 17 in Diablo 4's Seasonal Realm, you'll create a new character and gain "vampiric powers" to battle against swarms of vampires. Each of the classes seem to have new modifications to their skills in the Gamescom Opening Night Live trailer. If it's like Season 1, you'll loot powerful season-specific items that augment your abilities.

How to watch the Future Games Show at Gamescom livestream
https://www.pcgamer.com/how-to-watch-the-future-games-show-at-gamescom-livestream/
From our friends at GamesRadar+, the Future Games Show at Gamescom returns tomorrow with a bunch of games to show off, including Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin, Tiny Glade, and Star Trucker.
Hosted by Troy Baker (The Last of Us) and Erika Ishii (Apex Legends), the show will include "eight world premieres," a VR showcase, and a segment dedicated to games that will have demos you can play after the show.
>> That tomorrow is today.

Killing Floor 3 is a 'gruesome graphical vision' in Unreal Engine 5
https://www.pcgamer.com/killing-floor-3-is-a-gruesome-graphical-vision-in-unreal-engine-5/
Someone's finally done it: they put the number three on a co-op zombie FPS.
Valve is of course allergic to the number, stopping at Left 4 Dead 2, and that series was spiritually continued by Turtle Rock with Back 4 Blood, whose name alludes to it being the fourth game in the co-op zombie FPS series, despite no third game existing. It started to feel like the number really was cursed, but Tripwire has now grounded us with the announcement of Killing Floor 3 at Gamescom. No tricks: just the third game in a series of good co-op zombie shooters.

Typical Valve: Left 4 Dead 2 gets a 'minor update' with notes as long as your arm, and names an alligator
https://www.pcgamer.com/typical-valve-left-4-dead-2-gets-a-minor-update-with-notes-as-long-as-your-arm-and-names-an-alligator/
Valve has released a new update for Left 4 Dead 2 showing that, whatever the fans may think, someone over there is certainly paying attention to all their complaints. It makes substantial, not-so-substantial, and in some cases slightly bonkers changes to the game. Try this on for size: "Restored the knife's original horizontal swing trajectory." Knife is once more the best! Though the skillet will always hold a special place in my heart.

Cult of the Lamb gets a cool crossover with one of our favourite survival games
https://www.pcgamer.com/cult-of-the-lamb-turns-into-a-survival-game-as-part-of-a-crossover-with-dont-starve-together/
The maudlin, fantastical, and rather excellent survival game Don't Starve launched in 2013, followed three years later by co-op sequel Don't Starve Together. For the game's 10th anniversary developer Klei Entertainment has announced a two-way collaboration with 2022's brilliant Cult of the Lamb, a roguelike town sim with a winningly grim sense of humour that's an all-timer in the "one more hour at 2am" category. Both games are receiving content based on the other, and Cult of the Lamb especially has gone all-in.