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

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Monday gaming news, the second part:

Dawn of War 4 developer King Art knows what you all really want: 'Overwhelmingly, it's singleplayer content and the campaign'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/dawn-of-war-4-developer-king-art-knows-what-you-all-really-want-overwhelmingly-its-singleplayer-content-and-the-campaign/
One of the weird things about being a lover of RTS games—aside from the fact that it sometimes feels like the games industry has left us behind—is how often the people making these games, and certainly the ones financing them, seem to forget that the initial popularity of the genre was driven by high-quality singleplayer campaigns.
Folks look at StarCraft 2, the RTS that's dominated the genre for 15 years, and think it's all down to competitive multiplayer and esports. And that's how we got Stormgate: a game designed by veterans, built to tap into the love of Warcraft 3 and StarCraft 2. And it launched with an unfinished, uninspired campaign, and has struggled ever since then.
(...)
King Art Games, the studio behind Dawn of War 4, hasn't forgotten this.
"That was one of the things that we, as King Art, brought to the table," Jan Theysen, creative director and game director, tells me. "We are known for making narrative-driven games, and the campaign for Iron Harvest was very well received. So for us, this was super clear: campaigns will be one of the big pillars for the game."

Metal Gear Solid Delta still lets you wait two weeks for a boss to die of old age⁠—or mess with your system clock to cheat him out of his final fight
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/metal-gear-solid-delta-still-lets-you-wait-two-weeks-for-a-boss-to-die-of-old-age-or-mess-with-your-system-clock-to-cheat-him-out-of-his-final-fight/
PC Gamer senior editor Rich Stanton called Metal Gear Solid Delta a "safe, but excellent" remake in his review, but the extent to which Konami faithfully recreated even the most minute aspects of 2004's Snake Eater has been tickling our lizard brain nostalgia centers. You can still wait until sniper boss The End dies of old age, and you can still muck about with the system clock to do it.

Enshrouded's next big update is bringing way more water to the survival RPG than I expected
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/enshroudeds-next-big-update-is-bringing-way-more-water-to-the-survival-rpg-than-i-expected/
Since Enshrouded launched into early access in January of last year, players have been clamoring for water. The big, beautiful world of Embervale already has lots to offer, especially since you can build on or modify the terrain just about anywhere on the map you want… but would a couple rivers and lakes here and there be out of the question? We like that sorta thing in our big open world games.
This week at Gamescom, Keen Games revealed that Enshrouded's next big update would finally get players wet, with a whole new biome dedicated to water. And while I was expecting a few rivers and ponds, there's a lot more to it than that. Here's the trailer to whet (ha) your appetite, but I also got to watch a short demo of the new biome and talk to Benjamin Westphal, Enshrouded's lead game designer, about the Wake of the Water update, which arrives later this year.

Even more games are moving out of Silksong's way: 'I feel like a little krill trying not to get eaten by a blue whale'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/even-more-games-are-moving-out-of-silksongs-way-i-feel-like-a-little-krill-trying-not-to-get-eaten-by-a-blue-whale/
When I was your age, videogames were released at a rate of about seven per year, so there was plenty of room for everyone and we were all thankful for what we got. It's a bit more crowded these days—nearly 19,000 new games were released on Steam alone in 2024—and so, inevitably, some of them are left with a choice: Get their toes stepped on, or move.
It happened before, probably most notably with Cyberpunk 2077 back in 2020, and it's happening again right now: Team Cherry announced yesterday that after long years of waiting, Hollow Knight: Silksong will finally be out on September 4—just two weeks away!—and that's got other studios scrambling.
>> The article lists three games that have been delayed.

After stretching the definition of 'beta' for 8 years, Escape From Tarkov is finally hitting 1.0
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/escape-from-tarkov-1-0-release-date/
Escape from Tarkov, a primary influence on the extraction shooter genre, is still technically in beta, if you can believe it, but it won't be for long.
Eight years after opening its doors to players, Tarkov will finally hit 1.0 on November 15, 2025, a day after Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 releases.

Marvel Rivals dev's transparent, 18-minute breakdown of how ranked isn't rigged fails to placate players who hate losing
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/marvel-rivals-devs-transparent-18-minute-breakdown-of-how-ranked-isnt-rigged-fails-to-placate-players-who-hate-losing/
To prove to the growing number of players who think Marvel Rivals' ranked mode is rigged or somehow unfair, the official X account dropped a video that reveals a surprising amount of detail about why that's totes not the case.

Survival climber Cairn is getting a free-solo mode, letting you channel your inner Alex Honnold when it launches in November
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/survival-climber-cairn-is-getting-a-free-solo-mode-letting-you-channel-your-inner-alex-honnold-when-it-launches-in-november/
I've been continually impressed by Cairn ever since it was announced in June last year. The survivalist climber features one of the best climbing simulations I've experienced yet. If that seems like a bold claim for a game that isn't out for another few months, don't take my word for it, you can also try it yourself, since there's a Steam demo available.

This deckbuilding card battler where you bargain with the devil looks like Inscryption mixed with Battle Chess
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/this-deckbuilding-card-battler-where-you-bargain-with-the-devil-looks-like-inscryption-mixed-with-battle-chess/
Here's an intriguing little number that slipped through the cracks amid the deluge of game announcements pouring out Gamescom. The Killing Stone is a virtual card battler interweaved with a twisted folk horror narrative, where you play against demons and the devil himself in papery duels to the death.

Two years after launch, Assassin's Creed Mirage is getting surprise free DLC adding a second city to the game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/assassins-creed/two-years-after-launch-assassins-creed-mirage-is-getting-surprise-free-dlc-adding-a-second-city-to-the-game/
Ubisoft has announced that 2023's Assassin's Creed Mirage will not only be getting a substantial-sounding surprise DLC before the end of the year, it's going to be a completely free update to the game.
Details are scant, but Ubisoft said the DLC would consist of a "new story chapter and missions" set in a new zone separate from the base game's representation of medieval Baghdad. This addition of a new open world area is particularly surprising given that Mirage was the first single-city Assassin's Creed game since 2015's Syndicate.

We just got a free expansion pack out of nowhere for one of the most underrated FPSes on Steam⁠, and it adds a second open world to the one we already had
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/we-just-got-a-free-expansion-pack-out-of-nowhere-for-one-of-the-most-underrated-fpses-on-steam-and-it-adds-a-second-open-world-to-the-one-we-already-had/
Echo Point Nova is one of our favorite recent FPSes here at PCG: Four player hoverboard shooting in an open world of floating islands that feels like Titanfall with all the safeties off. A steady stream of free updates has only made it better, crescendoing yesterday with the launch of a free expansion pack.