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

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Wednesday news, part two:

Descenders Next is the follow-up to my favourite extreme biking sim, but it won't have bikes at launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sports/descenders-next-is-the-follow-up-to-my-favourite-extreme-biking-sim-but-it-wont-have-bikes-at-launch/
One of my favourite PC gaming experiences of recent years is hurtling down Mt Slope in Descenders without falling off my bike in spectacular limb-mangling fashion. It's the perfect "just one more go" game: think Tony Hawk or SSX, but with bikes. The main course was procedurally-generated trick gauntlets, but the sprawling hand-made bike parks—of which there ended up being dozens—grew to be the main course for me. I even quite enjoyed falling off my bike: sometimes my hapless rubbery avatar would go flying miles into the air.
A sequel, Descenders Next, is set to hit Steam and Game Pass in 2025. I was pretty excited about this news until I read the fine print: Descenders Next is an "evolution" of the original that will grow to cater for a whole range of extreme sporting varieties. When it launches it won't even have bikes. Instead, it'll focus on boarding sports: snowboarding and mountainboarding. 

A Dead by Daylight and Five Nights at Freddy's collaboration was just announced, something I am shocked has taken this long to happen
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/a-dead-by-daylight-and-five-nights-at-freddys-collaboration-was-just-announced-something-i-am-shocked-has-taken-this-long-to-happen/
If you asked me to name a handful of major horror videogames, Dead by Daylight and Five Nights at Freddy's would undoubtedly be two of the first names to leave my mouth despite never playing either one. The former has cemented itself as one of the most popular asymmetrical multiplayer games, while the latter rewired the brains of teenagers and Twitch streamers alike. Hell, even we scored it 80% in our Five Nights at Freddy's review.
It's surprising, then, that these two juggernauts have somehow failed to cross paths. Until now, that is. As spotted by GamesRadar, a crossover is in the works and is set for sometime next summer. That's an awful lot of notice for a collaboration, and I can't help but think that means something pretty darn big is in the works. 

'I hate the thought of Balatro becoming a true gambling game': LocalThunk is making sure casinos can't get their hands on his game even after he dies by literally writing it into his will
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/i-hate-the-thought-of-balatro-becoming-a-true-gambling-game-localthunk-is-making-sure-casinos-cant-get-their-hands-on-his-game-even-after-he-dies-by-literally-writing-it-into-his-will/
Balatro creator LocalThunk is determined to ensure his game will never find its way into the hands of gambling companies or casinos, so much so that he's had it explicitly written into his will.

Alan Wake 2 fan notices a sound cue gives the game away about its villain early on, Remedy sound dev gasps 'Finally someone noticed'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/alan-wake-2-fan-notices-a-sound-cue-gives-the-game-away-about-its-villain-early-on-remedy-sound-dev-gasps-finally-someone-noticed/
Surely the best kind of easter egg is one that gives the whole game away ahead of time, but which you'd never notice on your first time through. Baldur's Gate 3 does it with its music, BioShock did it with its revive system, and, hey, I guess Alan Wake 2 did it as well. Spoilers ahead for, you guessed it, Alan Wake 2.

It turns out that Elden Ring players can kill Shadow of the Erdtree's final boss with the power of friendship and a strange bug
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/it-turns-out-that-elden-ring-players-can-kill-shadow-of-the-erdtrees-final-boss-with-the-power-of-friendship-and-a-strange-bug/
An Elden Ring player who goes by Los Ch. ロス stumbled upon a ridiculous bug for Promised Consort Radahn, the final boss of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. After further investigation, it looks like this strat is replicable. 

Bloober Team knows fans don't really trust it with the Silent Hill 2 remake, so it's asking for the next-best thing: 'Give us a chance'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/bloober-team-knows-fans-dont-really-trust-it-with-the-silent-hill-2-remake-so-its-asking-for-the-next-best-thing-give-us-a-chance/
Bloober Team, it's fair to say, is not everyone's cup of tea. Some people like what they do quite a lot, and others, well, not so much. So when Konami announced the Silent Hill 2 remake in 2022, and that Bloober was making it, the reaction was not universally enthusiastic. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Bloober Team CEO Piotr Babieno acknowledged the apprehension but said the studio has come a long way over the years and expressed hope that fans will "give us a chance" to prove what it can do.

Once Human is revealing the inner Sims player that even my loud FPS friends have inside them
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/once-human-is-revealing-the-inner-sims-player-that-even-my-loud-fps-friends-have-inside-them/
I'm starting to think I made a mistake by missing the boat on playing Once Human. Because despite its shooter-focused facade, it sure seems like everyone is just spending all their time building houses in this free-to-play survival game. Dammit, I love building houses.

The maker of this beautiful retro city builder wants to include events like bank robberies, police chases, and zombie outbreaks
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/the-maker-of-this-beautiful-retro-city-builder-wants-to-include-events-like-bank-robberies-police-chases-and-zombie-outbreaks/
When I first saw isometric city builder Metropolis 1998 back in January, it shot to the top of my wishlist because it lets you design and decorate every single building in your town. That's awesome. It's also oozing with pixelated charm thanks to the chunky retro graphics, making it feel like a nostalgic throwback but with modern features.
In exciting news for city builder fans, the demo for Metropolis 1998 was just updated to include five whole months of new features, so there's lots more to play with. What's got me especially interested is the development roadmap packed with features that are planned for the 1.0 launch, and some really interesting "aspirations" developer Yesbox Games hopes to include post-1.0.

Helldivers 2's loudest players go nuclear over another unpopular nerf, but Arrowhead CEO keeps calm: 'Some are going 'Buff everything!' Others are saying 'It's too easy!' Most are just playing.'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/helldivers-2-s-loudest-players-are-going-nuclear-over-another-unpopular-nerf-but-arrowhead-s-ceo-is-keeping-calm-some-are-going-buff-everything-others-are-saying-it-s-too-easy-most-are-just-playing/
Helldivers 2 got its biggest update in months today: the Escalation of Freedom patch adds a new highest difficulty (Level 10), a swamp planet biome, new enemy types, and missions. It's a great day to return to what is still easily my game of the year so far, but in the loudest corners of the Helldivers 2 community, conversation around today's update has been dominated by two bullet points in the patch notes. The fan-favorite flamethrower got nerfed, and the subreddit has gone nuclear over it .

Arkane founder Raphael Colantonio will reveal more about his next game in a few days, says fans of Dishonored and Prey 'will be happy'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/arkane-founder-raphael-colantonio-will-reveal-more-about-his-next-game-in-a-few-days-says-fans-of-dishonored-and-prey-will-be-happy/
Arkane Studios founder Raphael Colantonio says WolfEye Studios, which he co-founded after leaving Arkane in 2017, will reveal more about its new game in a few days, and that fans of his previous first-person games are going to be happy.

I thought Diablo 4 had already evolved into a great action RPG, but its latest season just made it even better
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/i-thought-diablo-4-had-already-evolved-into-a-great-action-rpg-but-its-latest-season-just-made-it-even-better/
My sorceress isn't even halfway to Diablo 4's max level and she's frying rooms full of monsters with lightning like I was playing an endgame build. After a hugely successful season 4, Blizzard didn't need to reinvent the mucus-slick wheel, but Diablo 4 season 5 frontloads the fun with the most exciting loot drops I've seen in the action RPG, period.