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

[JEMC]

Monday news, part two:

Riot unveils League of Legends' summer event and, by jove, I think that's just Vampire Survivors
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/riot-unveils-league-of-legends-summer-event-and-by-jove-i-think-thats-just-vampire-survivors/
I admit it, when I turned up at Riot's LA HQ to learn about its League of Legends summer event, I was fully resigned to having the snot kicked out of me. My MOBA experience consists of a couple hours spent in an apartment where two Russian lads were getting incredibly heated about something happening in Dota 2, and that's about it. My task, as I saw it, was to Forrest Gump my way through proceedings before reporting back to one of PCG's actual MOBA-knowers.
So imagine my all-body bafflement when Riot unveiled Swarm | Operation: Anima Squad, the ungainly name for the "brand new PvE game mode" that makes up LoL's 2024 summer event, and I was pretty dang good at it. Not because I'm some kind of MOBA idiot savant, mind you, but because the entire thing is basically Vampire Survivors. Four-player, LoL-themed Vampire Survivors, sure, but Vampire Survivors nonetheless. I don't know what "jungling" is, but an auto-shooter? I know that very well indeed.

Xbox executives just cannot give a straight answer to questions about Tango Gameworks
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/xbox-executives-just-cannot-give-a-straight-answer-to-questions-about-tango-gameworks/
Earlier this year Microsoft announced the closure of four major studios on the same day, among which number was the Tokyo-based developer Tango Gameworks. Founded in 2010 by industry legend Shinji Mikami, best-known for creating Resident Evil, the studio developed the (excellent) Evil Within games as part of an eclectic output, with its most recent release the well-received rhythm beat-em-up Hi-Fi Rush. 

'Seems the Spear is cursed': Even in an otherwise good Helldivers 2 patch, the FAF-14 Spear can't catch a break as it starts crashing games
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/seems-the-spear-is-cursed-even-in-an-otherwise-good-helldivers-2-patch-the-faf-14-spear-can-t-catch-a-break-as-it-starts-crashing-games/
All being said, Helldivers 2's latest patch appears to have been a solid hit with players, which is a relief. While the game's never going to claw its way back to its stratospheric 400,000 player peak—a normal thing for most live-service phenomena—it's nestled into a very respectable 50,000-player average. Doubly so considering everyone and their Mohg is playing a little game called Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, right now.
Well, there is one exception—it's a good patch for everyone but the Spear—a rocket launcher I am about to humanise to a weird degree, because for some reason I just feel so bad for the little guy. In case you don't know your history, the FAF-14 Spear has been a bit of an underdog since launch. Chiefly, because its targeting system was utterly busted.

Cyberpunk life sim Nivalis is now set to come out in spring 2025, and I'm more excited for it than ever
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/cyberpunk-life-sim-nivalis-is-now-set-to-come-out-in-spring-2025-and-im-more-excited-for-it-than-ever/
I'm not generally a life-sim guy but I am very eager to dive into Nivalis. A big part of that arises from the strength of Cloudpunk, the previous game from developer Ion Lands, which I really liked, but Nivalis itself—based on the admittedly not-a-whole-lot we've seen of it so far—looks brilliant too.

Pirate game not seen since 2010 will finally release this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/becalmed-at-sea-for-over-a-decade-this-piratical-hack-and-slash-game-is-releasing-later-this-year/
Who among us hasn't heard the tale of Captain Blood, the seafaring scoundrel who—according to the press release I'm looking at—was "the most manly pirate captain ever to drink grog while romancing maidens across the Spanish main?" Well, presumably most of us, because the last time anyone saw his game was in 2010 before it disappeared and went into indefinite development hiatus.

Diablo 4's adding a wave-based roguelite mode in Season 5
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diablo-4s-adding-a-wave-based-roguelite-mode-in-season-5/
Diablo 4's fifth season will have an interesting-sounding new mode—an activity called Infernal Hordes that's something like a roguelite. Using an item called in Infernal Compass, players will be able to enter the Realm of Hatred and fight timed waves of enemies. Those enemies will drop burning aether, and between waves you'll be able to choose "Boons & Banes" that let you get more aether. 

Larian gave Baldur's Gate 3 its acclaimed reactivity by approaching it as 'weird Dungeon Masters'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/larian-gave-baldurs-gate-3-its-acclaimed-reactivity-by-approaching-it-as-weird-dungeon-masters/
There are plenty of things to love about Baldur's Gate 3, from the way its tactical battles never feel like filler to the best-in-class performances that bring its characters to life. But what marks it out from almost every other RPG, especially those that take 60+ hours to play, is its reactivity. Events and lines of dialogue are constantly referencing specific things you did and said earlier on, choices you made all the way back to the character creation screen, without ever making you feel like it's cheating by collapsing the possibilities down to a more manageable number.
Speaking at BAFTA's "An Evening with Baldur's Gate 3", Larian's co-founder and CEO Swen Vincke, writing director Adam Smith, and lead writer Chrystal Ding gave some insight into just how much work went into ensuring Baldur's Gate 3 was so reactive. 

Check out this hilarious indie about a robot reporter working for a sci-fi newspaper
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/visual-novel/check-out-this-hilarious-indie-about-a-robot-reporter-working-for-a-sci-fi-newspaper/
Have you ever wanted to be an unpaid, intern robotic journalist at a space newspaper? Of course you have, think the developers of Times and Galaxy, a raucous new indie that has you take to the hyperspace lanes in a flying newsroom to be a cub reporter on the eponymous news publication, or "holopaper" as they're calling it in the far future.

More details on MS Flight Simulator 2024, including full 3D landscapes in 30 biomes
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/more-details-on-ms-flight-simulator-2024-including-full-3d-landscapes-in-30-biomes/
Brand new details about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 are out, giving us some real detail about improvements we'd only guessed at after the trailer earlier this month. That includes the overhaul of the world modeling including the new 3D ground map, visual improvements to environments of all kinds, huge expansions to the scope of the world, and information about the new commercial aviation activities.

Its five year plan complete, Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic releases its industrial city-building into 1.0
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/its-five-year-plan-complete-workers-and-resources-soviet-republic-releases-its-industrial-city-building-into-10/
A little over five years after it launched into Early Access, city builder Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic has released its completed 1.0 version. Standing out from other city builders by its emphasis on industry, transportation, and the use of material goods in manufacture, Workers & Resources has a reputation as a hardcore simulation that's quite good at its chosen areas of focus. If you've ever disliked how buildings in other city games just pop up without the requisite amount of steel, wood, concrete, and bricks produced and delivered beforehand—well, this one's probably for you.