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

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The Wednesday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Despite 'Mixed' Steam reviews and a touch of AI slop, strategy city builder Anno 117: Pax Romana has the best launch in series history
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/despite-mixed-steam-reviews-and-a-touch-of-ai-slop-strategy-city-builder-anno-117-pax-romana-has-the-best-launch-in-series-history/
The latest game in the long-running Anno strategy city builder series has had a great launch week—depending on where you're standing, at least. Anno 117: Pax Romana, which released on November 12, has been met with "Mixed" reviews on Steam and has been the target of complaints about the use of AI to create in-game assets.
But, according to Ubisoft, that hasn't stopped the city builder from breaking a few records.
Anno 117: Pax Romana is "the fastest-selling title in the franchise’s 25-year history," Ubisoft said in an email to PC Gamer. Ubisoft also said that with an average of 85 on Metacritic (PC Gamer's Anno 117: Pax Romana review scores it an 80) and a 94% "Recommended" on OpenCritic (with an average score of 84), Anno 117 has become "the highest-rated Anno in the franchise's history."
>> Some real numbers would be welcome.

You can pick up the System Shock remake, SS2 remaster, detective imsim Shadows of Doubt and more in a $20 bundle right now, and if you already own some of them you can trade them in for something else
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/you-can-pick-up-the-system-shock-remake-ss2-remaster-detective-imsim-shadows-of-doubt-and-more-in-a-usd20-bundle-right-now-and-if-you-already-own-some-of-them-you-can-trade-them-in-for-something-else/
I credit/blame the 2010s rise of the pay-what-you-want videogame bundle for the fact my Steam library has over a thousand games in it. How many of those have I actually played? Please mind your own business.
These days, videogame bundles and the sites you get them from are just part of the furniture: barely worth noticing unless they happen to cobble together a real collection of bangers. But now things are happening. A new site, bearing the perhaps unfortunate name Digiphile, has been established by ex-Humble Bundle vets. And yes, its first bundle is a real collection of bangers.
The Return of the Immersive Sim bundle features, ah, a bunch of immersive sims. Good ones, too! And possibly even ones you don't already own, which feels like a rarity in the bundleverse.

GOG has new Weekly Deals, featuring games up to 95% off during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20251119_weekly_deals_3_november.

Steam has three new deals and two new sales:

• Commandos: Origins will have a 20% discount until the 2nd of December: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1479730/Commandos_Origins
• News Tower , that has a demo, is also going to be 20% off until Demember 2: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1649950/News_Tower
• Deceive Inc. gets a 90% discount until the same December the 2nd day: https://store.steampowered.com/app/820520/Deceive_Inc
• And these are the two new sales:
  • Capcom Black Friday Sale brings games up to 87% off. The deals will end between the 1st and 2nd of December: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33273264/sale/blackfriday
  • Square Enix Black Friday Sale is more generous, with up to 90% discounts until December the 2nd: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/1012195/sale/squareenix_blackfriday2025

The Humble Store presents the Koei Tecmo Black Friday Sale, with games up to 80% off during 12 days: https://es.humblebundle.com/store/promo/koei-tecmo-black-friday-sale.

Yesterday’s Star Deal was so popular that Fanatical has had to launch a new one today: Stray will have a 54% discount during 48 hours or until they run out of keys: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/stray.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Fallout 4 Receives Huge Fan Expansion Adding 20+ Locations, New Radio Station, and Classic Fallout Mechanics
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/fallout-4-receives-huge-fan-expansion-adding-20-locations-new-radio-station-and-classic-fallout-mechanics
Fallout 4 fans, here is something for you today. Modders ‘Tenhats’ and ‘Shreddah4’ have released a new huge DLC-sized fan expansion for Fallout 4, called Misery Island – Isles Of New England. This is a must-have for all Fallout 4 fans. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
This new DLC-sized Mod adds a detailed new worldspace with 2 fully functional settlements, 20+ locations, 8 interior cells and many small points of interest hidden across the map. The modders have filled the world with custom Weapons, Armors, Clothing, Food, Junk and more.
Furthermore, players will find a brand new Radio Station, as well as a new custom Pipboy Map. There is also a vast Random Encounter system that includes both vanilla random encounters and brand new ones.
And that’s not all. The mod packs some game mechanics from older Fallout games. For instance, it has skill checks and weapon schematics. There is also a series of Lore Friendly Quests with optional side objectives and custom quest icon animations. Plus, you’ll find a new weather climate that features a blend of custom weathers alongside Far Harbor and Commonwealth weathers.
>> There’s a 2 minute video in the article.

Half-Life Black Mesa: Blue Shift Remake Gets Caretaking Update
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/half-life-black-mesa-blue-shift-remake-gets-caretaking-update
HECU Collective has released the Caretaking Update for its remake of Half-Life: Blue Shift in the Black Mesa Engine, Black Mesa: Blue Shift. This update brings important fixes, tweaks, and changes to this fan remake. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
Half-Life: Blue Shift was an expansion of Half-Life that came out in 2001. Developed by Gearbox, this expansion allowed you to experience the events of Half-Life from the perspective of Barney Calhoun.
In Black Mesa: Blue Shift, players will relive the Black Mesa Incident as Gordon Freeman’s best friend, Barney Calhoun. This fan remake currently has the first five chapters of Blue Shift. These chapters are Living Quarters Outbound, Insecurity, Duty Calls, Captive Freight, and Focal Point.
It’s been almost a year since the release of Chapter 5. During this time, the modding team has been working on completing the next chapter, Power Struggle. Still, they felt the need to also release an update so that they could further enhance Chapter 5.
So, Focal Point will now be filled with various audio recordings left behind by the pioneers of the Borderworld. This will expand the story behind the early Xen expeditions. It will also reveal how everything went terribly wrong.
The team has also added a new scene at the end of Focal Point to smoothly transition into Power Struggle. There are new voice lines, animations, and small details throughout every chapter. HECU Collective has improved the lighting, performance, combat, and overall atmosphere in Focal Point. They also added new background animals, interactive objects, and other small details to make the world feel more alive. On top of that, they made several optimizations to physics, lighting, and general map performance.
>> The article has two videos.

Mass Effect 3 redeemed to glory as modder puts its ME1-style elevator back in
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mass-effect/mass-effect-3-redeemed-to-glory-as-modder-puts-its-me1-style-elevator-back-in/
Nightmarishly, it's possible there are people reading this who were either unborn or incapable of forming long-term memories when Mass Effect 3 released in 2012. If that's you: consider it a blessing, because my chief recollection of that era is everyone being very upset about it on the internet.
What were they upset about? Well, they said it was a lot of stuff to do with the endings and your choices across the series not mattering that much. I know better, though. In their heart of hearts, in the deep, festering reaches of their collective subconscious, the gamers yearned for the lifts. The first Mass Effect was beloved. It was also a game about standing in a lot of lifts. These things are not unconnected.
Now, a doughty modder has restored the third Mass Effect (in its Legendary Edition form) to the pristine condition of its predecessor. Glorious Elevators (LE3) comes from Linkenski, who also put in the work to restore the original setup for ME1's Saren fights to the Legendary Edition and created, ah, Miranda Buttfarts Restored.
"Glorious Elevators return to Mass Effect beyond the first game," declares our modder. "Originally Mass Effect 3 actually had a working elevator right up until its finaling phases. Because the game was stuck on PS3/Xbox 360 as the lowest common denominator at the time, they couldn't optimize the game any further and ended up with load times just as notorious as Mass Effect 1 was originally known for."
But in 2025 my PC vibrates with parts potent enough to wound god, and there's no need to cut out these little additions. So Glorious Elevators sticks them back in. Using the lift in the Normandy? Rather than a humdrum load screen, you will whirr your way up or down in (something resembling) real time. I know. I'm excited too.
It is, I admit, a pretty minor thing, but I find this kind of obsessive, detail-oriented modding rather admirable and more than a little fascinating. Plus, I hear tell it's a banger. "It's better than the elevators in ME1, and adds to ME3's signature seamlessness and slickness," boasts Linkenski. "That's why this is a must-have!"
>> While the article has a couple screenshots, none of them are from the mod.

GAMING NEWS

Assassin’s Creed Mirage Update 1.1 Rolls Out With 28GB Download and New Free Content
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/assassins-creed-mirage-update-1-1-rolls-out-with-28gb-download-and-new-free-content
Ubisoft has just released Title Update 1.1 for Assassin’s Creed Mirage which is 28GB in size and adds new free content to the game. So, let’s take a closer look at it.

Doom: The Dark Ages Update 3 Now Live With Ripatorium 2.0 and Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/doom-the-dark-ages-update-3-now-live-with-ripatorium-2-0-and-full-patch-notes
id Software has released Title Update 3 for Doom: The Dark Ages which introduces Ripatorium 2.0, and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s take a closer look at it.

First-Person RPG, Fatekeeper, Gets 8-minute Gameplay Trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-person-rpg-fatekeeper-gets-8-minute-gameplay-trailer
THQ Nordic has released an official gameplay trailer for its upcoming first-person RPG, Fatekeeper. This trailer packs 8 minutes of gameplay footage from it. The trailer shows some of the game’s environments and enemies, and gives us a taste of its deep melee-based combat system.