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

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Wednesday news, part two:

A new Fallout anthology stuffed inside a mini-nuke is set to drop the day before the Fallout TV series on Amazon
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-new-fallout-anthology-stuffed-inside-a-mini-nuke-is-set-to-drop-the-day-before-the-fallout-tv-series-on-amazon/
If you're a big Fallout fan, or a big PC game collector, Bethesda's new Fallout S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Anthology might be worth a moment of your time. It's a collection of every mainline Fallout game ever released, stuffed inside an alarmingly lifelike Fat Man mini-nuke.
The new package is essentially a repeat of the Fallout Anthology Bethesda released in 2015, with a couple of differences. For one, it includes Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, neither of which existed when the first anthology was released (although it contained an extra space for Fallout 4, since it dropped just ahead of that game's release).
The bigger difference is that while the original anthology included games on disc, this one does not. Instead, the mini-nuke is packed with seven Fallout 76-style "perk cards," each one printed with a Steam key for one of the games in the collection.

Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader gets a 'gargantuan' patch that makes over 1,800 changes to the game, in an overhaul so drastic it gives you a free shot at respeccing your party
https://www.pcgamer.com/warhammer-40k-rogue-trader-gets-a-gargantuan-patch-that-makes-over-1800-changes-to-the-game-in-an-overhaul-so-drastic-it-gives-you-a-free-shot-at-respeccing-your-party/
I was excited about Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader when I previewed it in 2022, but the final product left a lot to be desired, according to Jody's review. The game's sweeping sci-fi drama was undermined by tedious combat in which "there's never one interesting tactical battle when there could be three samey ones to grind down your resources," he lamented, while the experience was further hobbled by an infestation of bugs.
Yet Jody notes in that same review, "if you played Owlcat's previous RPGs at launch, you'll be familiar with the feeling you're playing the worst version of the game" and "it's not impossible that Rogue Trader could get a significant overhaul." Well, that overhaul has just arrived. Yesterday, Owlcat issued the mother of all patches. In fact, it's less of a patch and more a whole new pair of trousers, an overhaul so extensive that the developers have added a special item into the game that lets you respec your characters.

Dead by Daylight's next killer is 'an evil so heinous that investigating it almost immediately invites death'
https://www.pcgamer.com/dead-by-daylights-new-killer-is-an-evil-so-heinous-that-investigating-it-almost-immediately-invites-death/
The identity of the next Dead by Daylight killer is now known, but also not known: It's The Unknown, "an evil so heinous that investigating it almost immediately invites death."
The unfathomable new killer is coming to Dead by Daylight on March 12 in All Things Wicked, the next chapter of the popular asymmetrical multiplayer horror game, but can be previewed from now through Monday in a test build on Steam.

Game devs commiserate with the Helldivers 2 team by sharing their own server launch horror stories: 'You can only attempt to prepare for scale'
https://www.pcgamer.com/game-devs-commiserate-with-the-helldivers-2-team-by-sharing-their-own-server-launch-horror-stories-you-can-only-attempt-to-prepare-for-scale/
Helldivers 2 is one of my favourite games of the year so far. I also barely get to play it at the moment, thanks to a payload of server problems that've knocked its Steam user review average down to "Mixed."
(...)
Like rugged veterans trading war stories in a smoky bar, other developers responded to Pilestedt's exasperation with their own brutal game launch experiences. One particular quote tweet shone a bright, glaring light on how chaotic a game launch can be—written by Christina Pollock, a writer and game developer who worked on Dauntless, a Monster Hunter-esque game that launched out of its beta phase and into crossplay in 2019.

Helldivers 2 patch 'tunes' those civilian extract missions that were murdering everyone as Arrowhead continues to manage login queues
https://www.pcgamer.com/helldivers-2-patch-notes-civilian-extract-quickplay-black-screen/
Last week, Helldivers 2's simulated galactic war saw its first narrativized twist when the Automaton menace launched a surprise attack on the Xzar system. The event unlocked new planets and civilian extraction missions which proved so difficult that even experienced players couldn't complete them. This led many to assume the abnormal difficulty spike was either a bug or an intentional tipping of scales in the robots' favor by Arrowhead Games to challenge Super Earth's liberation streak.
Both scenarios are still on the table, but the latest Helldivers 2 patch, version 1.000.10, might bring relief: Arrowhead has "tuned" the difficulty of civilian extraction missions. Version 1.000.10 comes only a few days after the release of 1.000.009, which reduced the difficulty of the "defend event." I managed to log in long enough to test out the patch and confirm the civilian extraction mission that gave our group trouble just a few days ago is now a cakewalk at lower difficulties.

Sony isn't happy with Bungie: PlayStation boss wants more 'accountability' from the studio on money and deadlines
https://www.pcgamer.com/sony-isnt-happy-with-bungie-playstation-boss-wants-more-accountability-from-the-studio-on-money-and-deadlines/
In a Q&A session with analysts following Sony's most recent financial report, PlayStation chairman Hiroki Totoki praised the creativity of Destiny 2 studio Bungie, but also said he wants to see more "accountability" for development budgets and schedules from the studio's leadership.
>> Bungie may be regreting being bought by Sony (or anyone else, to be fair).

Minecraft just launched add-ons, which are mods, not to be confused with the previous add-ons that were also mods, and won't replace mods for Minecraft Java
https://www.pcgamer.com/minecraft-just-launched-add-ons-which-are-mods-not-to-be-confused-with-the-previous-add-ons-that-were-also-mods-and-wont-replace-mods-for-minecraft-java/
It's no secret that Minecraft's enduring success has been in part thanks to the dedication of its modding community. All this time though, mods have largely been the territory of Minecraft Java, the version of the game available only on PC. As of today, the cross-platform version Minecraft Bedrock has launched "add-ons" through its in-game marketplace which, yes, are essentially also mods, free and paid.
If you're doing a double-take because you thought Minecraft already had "add-ons," you're not wrong. That's how it had been referring to community-made additions for Bedrock already. It seems the term is now being reserved for add-ons which can be added to existing worlds, and which can be combined or removed at will, rather than being tied to a world pre-made for the mod in the way of past Bedrock add-ons. This isn't the first time that Minecraft nomenclature has been confusing—looking at you, Minecraft for Windows (Bedrock).
"Add-ons let you add new blocks, mobs, items, recipes, and other content to both your existing worlds and new ones," Mojang says in today's announcement, so they're pretty similar to some of the things Minecraft Java mods have been doing for years. They can also be used in multiplayer Minecraft Realms.

6 years after it closed for good, a free-to-play hero shooter is making a comeback as a paid game with 'zero microtransactions'
https://www.pcgamer.com/6-years-after-it-closed-for-good-a-free-to-play-hero-shooter-is-making-a-comeback-as-a-paid-game-with-zero-microtransactions/
The MOBA-hero shooter Gigantic made a good impression when we first checked it out in 2014, but it didn't catch fire with fans, and in 2018 it closed its doors for good. But following a surprise "limited time throwback event" in October 2023, Gearbox has now announced that it's coming back for real as Gigantic: Rampage Edition, with a closed beta set to kick off in just a couple days.

Finally, a game that lets me time travel to medieval Europe with an AK-47 and a pickup truck
https://www.pcgamer.com/finally-a-game-that-lets-me-time-travel-to-medieval-europe-with-an-ak-47-and-a-pickup-truck/
When I clicked on the trailer for Kingmakers, a new "action/strategy sandbox" game from Redemption Road Games, I was mildly interested by the thousands of simulated soldiers duking it out in an open field Mount and Blade-style. There really aren't enough medieval combat games out there, and Kingmakers looked like a promising one.
Then at around the 24-second mark, Kingmakers shows its real hand. You don't play as any typical 14th century knight. You're in fact a, well…you really should just watch it for yourself. Meet back here in 113 seconds.

DPS heroes rule Overwatch 2 now, but Blizzard isn't ready to nerf their controversial new ability quite yet
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-2-season-9-patch/
Play a single match of Overwatch 2's newest season and you'll know immediately just how powerful DPS are now. Their new role passive reduces the healing their targets receive, which has had a huge impact on how a typical Overwatch team fight plays out. Support and tanks get shredded and the game's meta has started to bend in favor of the fastest heroes, like Lucio and Winston.
In the next patch, coming tomorrow, Blizzard won't be nerfing the DPS role passive, which reduces healing on targets by 20% for two seconds, despite how contentious it is in the community. "I think we need more time for players to really adjust and feel it out, and understand how to play with it and how to play around it," lead hero designer Alec Dawson said on a stream with Overwatch streamer ML7 today.