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

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The Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Helldivers 2 blasts to the top of Steam's global top sellers chart, becoming Sony's biggest PC release as it launches alongside PS5
https://www.pcgamer.com/helldivers-2-blasts-to-the-top-of-steams-global-top-sellers-chart-becoming-sonys-biggest-pc-release-as-it-launches-alongside-ps5/
In another victory for democracy, Helldivers 2 has dropped from orbit right onto the summit of Steam's Global Top Sellers list, becoming the biggest Steam launch in Sony's history despite some initial server issues.
According to Steam DB, Helldivers 2 achieved the highest peak concurrent player-count for any Sony published game on Valve's digital distribution service when it launched yesterday, with 81,840 players banding together to thwart Super Earth's alien nemeses. That's over 8,000 players more than God of War achieved on its PC launch two years ago.
It's currently the best-selling game by revenue on Steam, having knocked the Pokémon-pummeling phenomenon Palword off its perch and beating out longtime occupants of the list like PUBG, and Valve's own money-spinning stalwarts Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2.
>> That's old news, because now it has doubled the numbers at 155,926 players.

Steam has two new deals:

• The first one is Animal Revolt Battle Simulator, with a 60% discount until the 18th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1215390/Animal_Revolt_Battle_Simulator/
• The second one is TerraTech, 80% off until the same 18th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/285920/TerraTech/

There's a new Humble Bundle: the Mind-Bending Masterpieces Bundle, with up to 7 games to get during 18 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/mindbending-masterpieces.

And Fanatical has the following deals:

• The new Star Deal is Command: Modern Operations, 69% off during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/command-modern-operations
• The Star Wars Collection, with 14 games, will be 80% off during 6 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/star-wars-collection
• The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Complete Bundle features an 82% discount during 6 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/stalker-complete-bundle
• And the BYO Leap Year Bundle features 20 titles to choose from for your 1, 5 or 10 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-leap-year-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

A native AI assisted Super Resolution feature is coming to Windows 11
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-native-ai-assisted-super-resolution-feature-is-coming-to-windows-11/
Even if we don't get a Windows 12 release this year, the Windows 11 24H2 update is shaping up to be a big one. With AI all the rage, and both AMD and Intel integrating AI specific hardware into their latest CPUs, AI assisted applications are definitely going to appear thick and fast. Microsoft is developing an interesting one, by introducing an AI assisted super resolution feature that's likely to appear in the 24H2 update.
PhantomOfEarth (via Neowin), a user on the website formerly known as Twitter, posted a couple of screenshots from the Windows 26052 preview build. They reveal Microsoft is working on a new feature it calls Automatic Super Resolution. Enabling it allows you to 'Use AI to make supported games play more smoothly with enhanced details'.
>> So now there's four of them: Nvidia, AMD, Intel and now Microsoft doing their own thing as well.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Unofficial PC Port Is Playable From Start to Finish, Let’s You Access New Game+
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/marvels-spider-man-2-unofficial-pc-port-playable-new-game-plus/
The unofficial PC port for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is currently in a great state. While it still has some visual bugs and graphical glitches, the game is fully playable, from start to finish. Not only that but it allows PC gamers to enjoy its New Game+ Mode. What’s really ironic here is that the PS5 does not feature yet a New Game+ Mode. Sony and Insomniac Games plan to add it in March 2023. So, in a way, PC gamers can enjoy features that are not present in the official PS5 version. What sorcery is this? At the end of the article, you can find a video from the latest V10 PC build. As you will see, the game is not yet fully enjoyable. However, this video showcases its New Game+ Mode. So yes, this is the real deal.
>> Meanwhile, the team behind this project has launched the min, recommended and max specs requirements to play the game.

Brutal Doom V22 Public Test Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/brutal-doom-v22-public-test-available-for-download/
Modder ‘SGtMarkIV’ has released a public beta version of version 22 for Brutal Doom. To celebrate this announcement, the modder also shared a new video that highlights the new features of this build.
Brutal Doom V22 features several new improvements, sprites, animations, and a Horde Mode. According to the modder, almost every gun received a new paint job, and now they are pixel-perfect.
As said, this latest version adds a new Horde Mode. The Horde Mode pits you into an arena against several waves of enemies and a boss battle at the end. Supplies are limited, and new parts of the arena open as you finish off waves.

Rockstar’s Midnight Club 2 just got an RTX Remix Path Tracing Beta Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/midnight-club-2-rtx-remix-beta-mod/
It’s no secret that a lot of PC gamers love Rockstar’s Midnight Club 2. So, if you are one of them, you might get excited about this mod. Hemry81 has just released a beta version of his RTX Remix Mod for it, which adds full ray tracing/path tracing effects to it.
Now as the title suggests, this mod is still in a beta phase. Despite that, the mod comes with some improved textures for the road. So, it’s at least more than a mere mod based on the NVIDIA RTX Remix Runtime.
In short, I suggest keeping your expectations in check. This has a lot of potential, but it still needs a lot of work. So, make sure to watch the video at the end of the article to get an idea of what you can expect from it.

Half-Life 2 Total Conversion Mod, Entropy: Zero 2, Gets Brand New RTX Remix Path Tracing Screenshots
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/entropy-zero-2-new-rtx-remix-screenshots/
Last month, we informed you about an RTX Remix Path Tracing Mod for the Half-Life 2 Total Conversion Mod, Entropy: Zero 2. And today, we present you some new screenshots from its latest build.
These screenshots showcase some of the new assets that the modder has created. And while the mod still needs a lot of work, these latest WIP screenshots look really good.
Now the good news here is that you can download the latest beta of this RTX Remix Mod and try it yourselves. C2_1 and C5_1 are broken with the game crashing at launch. On the other hand, C3_1 should be completely playable now. C0 and C1 can also be considered “playable” now, though they do have some bugs.

GAMING NEWS

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Patch 1.15 fixes the DLSS 3 Frame Generation stutters
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/like-a-dragon-infinite-wealth-patch-1-15/
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has released a new patch for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Title Update 1.15 brings a number of bug fixes and resolves some crashes. Moreover, it fixes the stuttering issues that could occur when enabling DLSS 3 Frame Generation.

Beneath is another indie FPS inspired by FEAR, will have destructible environments
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/beneath-fps-fear-destructible-environments/
Camel 101 is currently working on a new first-person action-horror game that seems to be heavily inspired by the first FEAR. This indie game is called Beneath, and it promises to have destructible environments like those we enjoyed in older classic FPS titles, like Far Cry and (duh) FEAR.