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

[JEMC]

The second (and last!) part of the news:

In the wake of Nuketown, Treyarch gears up to tackle players’ biggest issue with Black Ops 6: The map pools
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/in-the-wake-of-nuketown-treyarch-gears-up-to-tackle-players-biggest-issue-with-black-ops-6-the-map-pools/
Treyarch is getting ready to add even more maps to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's multiplayer once Season 1 is out, and they've released a little sneak peek so we can see what's coming.

Don't expect a big Mass Effect reveal this week: BioWare says N7 Day will be 'quieter' than previous years
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/dont-expect-a-big-mass-effect-reveal-this-week-bioware-says-n7-day-will-be-quieter-than-previous-years/
We know BioWare is working on a new Mass Effect game: It's been teasing it since at least 2021 with cryptic tweets and video clips that, for some of us, have led more to aggravation than anticipation. Given all that, and the fact that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is now out in the wild, some fans are no doubt hoping that the next N7 Day, which is now nearly upon us, will serve up some sort of proper reveal. Alas, it almost certainly will not.
"We hope everyone is enjoying their time in Dragon Age: The Veilguard," BioWare posted on X. "It’s only a few days until N7 Day and this year will be quieter because of launch. Be sure to check back then for a little fun, though!"

Two months after the disastrous Seekers of the Storm expansion, Gearbox details its Risk of Rain 2 rescue plan, and players are actually pretty excited
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/two-months-after-the-disastrous-seekers-of-the-storm-expansion-gearbox-details-its-risk-of-rain-2-rescue-plan-and-players-are-actually-pretty-excited/
A little more than two months after releasing Seekers of the Storm, its first expansion for Risk of Rain 2, Gearbox Software has shared its plan for the long-term future of the expansion, which it hopes will "build Seekers of the Storm into something that can be celebrated by the community for years to come."

A remake of strategy classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 has proven divisive among its fanbase
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/a-remake-of-strategy-classic-romance-of-the-three-kingdoms-8-has-proven-divisive-among-its-fanbase/
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (RT3K) is a sprawling strategy series that has changed immensely over the four decades of entries Koei, now Koei Tecmo, has released since 1985. For its vast panoply of characters and broad gameplay where you focus on a single person as your own avatar, 2001's Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 is particularly fondly remembered not just in the series stronghold of East Asia but in the West because it got a proper release on PlayStation. The recently released remake of RT3K 8, however, is catching fan flak for being less of a remaster that respects the original and more of a remake that tries to bring in elements from the series' more recent releases.
>> Fits with the discussion Darc Requiem and I had yesterday about Dragon Age.

There's a Halo 2 nostalgia party going on in Halo Infinite and you're invited
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/theres-a-halo-2-nostalgia-party-going-on-in-halo-infinite-and-youre-invited/
When Halo Studios (formerly 343) announced this year that it was moving on from Halo Infinite to focus on what's next, I took that as a sign that the days of significant Infinite updates were coming to a close. To a degree that's been the case—the free-to-play Halo that finally became great last year slowed down in 2024, with recent seasons consisting mostly of forgettable cosmetics and (much appreciated) maps made by the community.
Infinite's latest season, The Great Journey, has some actual weight behind it. In honor of Halo 2's 20th birthday, the studio commissioned seven throwback Halo 2 maps from the community and put together a playlist with a 2004 ruleset. Oh, and there's a new gun: The MA5K Avenger, a rapid-fire variant of the assault rifle that fills the role of the SMG (a gun that first appeared in Halo 2). Similar to last year's Halo 3 Game Fuel celebration, the Infinite scene is one big nostalgia fest right now, and dammit, it's working its magic on me again.

It sure looks like a Warcraft 2 remaster just leaked ahead of next week's anniversary event
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/it-sure-looks-like-a-warcraft-2-remaster-just-leaked-ahead-of-next-weeks-anniversary-event/
Blizzard appears to have let the orc out of the bag a week early: ahead of its planned Warcraft Direct celebrating 30 years of its most famous series, a logo for Warcraft 2: Remastered has appeared on its internal servers.

The ex-GTA lead whose blog got the kibosh from Rockstar chats San Andreas' worst bug and why 'anything that isn't visible to players tends to have swearing in it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/grand-theft-auto/the-ex-gta-lead-whose-blog-got-the-kibosh-from-rockstar-chats-san-andreas-worst-bug-and-why-anything-that-isnt-visible-to-players-tends-to-have-swearing-in-it/
The original GTA trilogy on PC—not the biffed-up Definitive Edition of 2021—is still the best way to play those games. Not least because of fan projects like SilentPatch, a mod that fixes a whole bunch of bugs and errors still left over in Rockstar's PS2-era opuses (opi?), and that got a meaty ol' update just over a week ago.
In fact, it's such a good patch that it's earned the endorsement of Obbe Vermeij (via GamesRadar), former Rockstar technical director who worked in that role on GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas, 4, and several handheld games. "Games have bugs and GTA is no exception," Vermeij wrote. "If you want to play the original games I would recommend installing SilentPatch."
>> Welp. I’m sure Rockstar will take that well and not try to shut down SilentPatch at all...

If you're using any kind of stagger build in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, do this side quest for the Lords of Fortune right away to get a best-in-slot ring
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/dragon-age/if-youre-using-any-kind-of-stagger-build-in-dragon-age-the-veilguard-do-this-side-quest-for-the-lords-of-fortune-right-away-to-get-a-best-in-slot-ring/
If you've been theorycrafting in Dragon Age: The Veilguard any, you'll probably have come to the same realisation I have. Most builds in the game can be split into two categories: Make stuff hurt, or stagger them. Weapons in particular seem evenly split between offering damage values or huge stagger numbers, the latter especially true for the big, stonking two-handers you'll be using (if you've got good taste, that is).
Well, turns out, the game has a killer unique ring for you that's basically best-in-slot for any stagger build, whether you're a based Slayer like me or something lame like a Spellblade Mage (sorry, Robin). It's called the Call of the Hall ring, and it's your new best friend.

20 years later, Konami just finally revealed who played Eva in MGS3 and how she acted making out with Naked Snake
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/20-years-later-konami-just-finally-revealed-who-played-eva-in-mgs3-and-how-she-acted-making-out-with-naked-snake/
Metal Gear Solid is a series about mystery. Who are the Patriots? What's become of the Philosophers' Legacy? What did the Boss really get up to in WW2? What was that noise? Whose footprints are these?
But none of Kojima's tricksy riddles measure up to the biggest mystery of all: Who on Earth is Suzetta Miñet, the actor credited with playing MGS3's Eva—a motorcycling Bond girl with the serial numbers filed off—back in 2004? Players have been trying to puzzle it out for years, and yet Konami, Kojima, and Eva's actor have kept schtum. Until today. Until less than an hour ago at time of writing, actually.