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

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Monday news, part two:

Starfield players uncover some of the best XP farms in the game through obliterating cosmic wildlife: 'even in a video game this feels wrong'
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfield-players-uncover-some-of-the-best-xp-farms-in-the-game-through-obliterating-cosmic-wildlife-even-in-a-video-game-this-feels-wrong/
Good news, my friends: Starfield players have entirely abandoned human morality in their quest to invent the most effective methods of XP grinding possible, turning the game's rambling planetary plains into a kind of Victorian safari hunt. I'm discomfited, disturbed, and would quite like to unlock the manipulation ability, so might give this a try myself.

Even Counter-Strike's devs called this wonder-bug the 'Smooth Criminal' before they had to beat it
https://www.pcgamer.com/even-counter-strikes-devs-called-this-wonder-bug-the-smooth-criminal-before-they-had-to-beat-it/
"Release notes for today are up" began the fairly typical message from the Counter-Strike 2 dev team, before things take a turn: "Shamone." The world's greatest competitive shooter has in recent days been delighting players with a bug that has been christened the "Smooth Criminal", after Michael Jackson's dance moves that accompany the song of the same name, and feature exaggerated leaning postures. In-game players have been strafing and, thanks to this glitch, would sometimes appear to glide with the top half of their body leaning out in an odd manner: no doubt a thriller for them, but plain bad and dangerous for those on the receiving end.

WoW Classic Hardcore squad clutches a world-first clear of Naxxramas—after the heroic sacrifice of their guild leader
https://www.pcgamer.com/wow-classic-hardcore-squad-clutches-a-world-first-clear-of-naxxramasafter-the-heroic-sacrifice-of-their-guild-leader/
There's something about World of Warcraft Classic's Hardcore servers that just seems to generate good stories. Any other day, face planting in one of the game's hardest raids wouldn't be a blip on the radar—but here a single slip-up can cost you everything, elevating an already vicious encounter to a matter of life and death.

Microsoft mashes up Modern Warfare, Halo, Diablo, Starfield, and more in a genuinely weird trailer celebrating its Activision Blizzard takeover: 'This is home now'
https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-mashes-up-modern-warfare-halo-diablo-starfield-and-more-in-a-genuinely-weird-trailer-celebrating-its-activision-blizzard-takeover-this-is-home-now/
Generally speaking, videogame trailers are a promotional, sometimes informative type of thing: "Here's our new game, here's what it looks like, here's when it comes out," and all that. But today we've got something different to share with you: A trailer celebrating Microsoft's $68 billion swallow-up of Activision Blizzard, which finally happened today following the long-awaited green light from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority.

Red Dead Online players get a trick but no treat, with the same DLC pass returning for the third Halloween in a row
https://www.pcgamer.com/red-dead-online-players-get-a-trick-but-no-treat-for-halloween-with-the-same-dlc-pass-theyve-had-for-the-past-three-years/
The relaunch of Red Dead Online as a standalone title in late 2020 was something of a false dawn for its ever-optimistic community. Rockstar maintains the title but has been in a cycle for several years of repeating content, and it could fairly be said that this playerbase has been surviving on rations ever since 2020. This led to one of the best in-game protests I've ever seen, where a ton of RDO players gathered together in summer 2020 dressed up as clowns to protest the lack of substantial updates.
Well, dust off those red noses and fetch the greasepaint: Rockstar has announced RDO will be receiving Halloween-themed content for the holiday period, called Halloween Pass 2, which was originally released for Halloween in 2021, and then repeated in 2022. It's fairly typical of RDO holiday event passes, consisting mainly of accessories themed around the event that players unlock by ranking up through 15 levels: blood-stained clothes, scary masks, skull lanterns, wicked-looking scissors… you get the idea.

The Lollipop Chainsaw remake is now just a Lollipop Chainsaw remaster, but that's apparently what the fans demanded
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-lollipop-chainsaw-remake-is-now-just-a-lollipop-chainsaw-remaster-but-thats-apparently-what-the-fans-demanded/
We learned in 2022 that Lollipop Chainsaw was back, although it wasn't clear what "back" meant until a few weeks later, when original producer Yoshimi Yasuda said that a "remake" of the game was in the works. But now it seems that fans might want to dial their expectations back a bit: Yosuda now says that Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP, as it was recently entitled, is not actually a remake, but a remaster.

Rocket League trading site founder will never 'build a product based on the decisions of another company' again after one decision from Epic puts him out of a job
https://www.pcgamer.com/rocket-league-trading-site-founder-will-never-build-a-product-based-on-the-decisions-of-another-company-again-after-one-decision-from-epic-puts-him-out-of-a-job/
Rocket League's player-to-player trading system will be turned off in December. For someone like me, the news comes as a mild disappointment—I got my favorite set of wheels in a trade with a friend, but I haven't used the feature in years—but for Berlin-based designer Laurids "Vicegold" Düllmann and a few others, the announcement means losing a job.

Sam Lake says Alan Wake 2 will get free DLC that is 'pretty significant'
https://www.pcgamer.com/sam-lake-says-alan-wake-2-will-get-free-dlc-that-is-pretty-significant/
Remedy's Garth Marenghi simulator Alan Wake was followed by two DLC episodes, The Signal and The Writer, which continued on from its climax. At EGX, Remedy's creative director Sam Lake confirmed that the upcoming sequel, Alan Wake 2, will also receive DLC—both paid and free—after its launch.

If you scream while playing Don't Scream you have to restart the game
https://www.pcgamer.com/if-you-scream-while-playing-dont-scream-you-have-to-restart-the-game/
Some games tell you everything you need to know in the title. Don't Starve is a classic example. It's a game about how you need to eat to live. Don't Scream is the same, only there's an added layer of challenge. It's a horror game where, if you scream in real life, the game starts over.
Of course, that means you need a microphone to play it. As Don't Scream's Steam page explains, "You must calibrate your microphone in-game so that every whimper, jump, or even a minor squeak is registered as a scream, increasing the challenge." That doesn't mean you can't make any noise—low talking is acceptable—but even a "quiet gasp" counts as a failure. "You could bypass calibration to shout through scares," the developers go on to explain, "but it'd spoil the thrill. For a genuine horror experience play as designed."

I'm kinda liking this badly translated action roguelike where you can wield an extra gun with your butt
https://www.pcgamer.com/im-kinda-liking-this-badly-translated-action-roguelike-where-you-can-wield-an-extra-gun-with-your-butt/
One weird demo out of the whole Steam Next Fest has charmed me, and for reasons I rarely get charmed by: It's delightfully janky, strange, referential, and crude. Apocalypse Party is certainly chasing the roguelike action trend, but it's so off-beat and willing to let you craft absurd combos to slaughter fantasy zombies and monsters that I ended up charmed instead of repulsed.