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

[JEMC]

This is the second part of the Monday gaming news:

Space Marine 2 adds a new free class, the Techmarine—an engineer with the unbeatable combo of an automated sentry turret and a gigantic axe
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/space-marine-2-adds-a-new-free-class-the-techmarine-an-engineer-with-the-unbeatable-combo-of-an-automated-sentry-turret-and-a-gigantic-axe/
Almost a year and a half on from its hugely successful launch, Space Marine 2 is still going strong with impressive post-release updates. And if there's one thing I love, it's watching developers add more and more lovingly crafted Warhammer nonsense to their games.
Case in point: today's free update adds a whole new class to the game's PvE and PvP modes. The Techmarine is the nerd of the space marine world, tasked with keeping their chapter's vehicles and equipment in good working order. But because this is Warhammer 40,000, even nerds are scary, which is why the Techmarine boasts a giant servo arm and a mounted gun on his backpack, and carries around an axe big enough to decapitate an elephant.
>> Sadly, they’ve also launched a $5 voice lines DLC that players don’t seem to like (link)

A medieval MMO that shut down in 2023 after 6 years of early access and less than 1 year of full release is making a surprise comeback
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/a-medieval-mmo-that-shut-down-in-2023-after-6-years-of-early-access-and-less-than-1-year-of-full-release-is-making-a-surprise-comeback/
The medieval MMO Gloria Victis shut down in 2023, "mostly due to financial reasons," developer Black Eye Games said at the time, but also because of burnout. The game had been in full release for less than a year when the studio threw in the towel, which was disappointing, but there was six years of early access prior to that, and development had begun even earlier.
But now—which is to say, at some point in the indeterminate future—it's coming back. Black Eye closed alongside Gloria Victis, but Gamigo has picked up the license and is bringing it back as a free to play game.

If you love Marathon's vectorheart style but not its PvP, get your aesthetic fix from the gorgeously overstimulating demo for this time trial FPS instead
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/if-you-love-marathons-vectorheart-style-but-not-its-pvp-get-your-aesthetic-fix-from-the-gorgeously-overstimulating-demo-for-this-time-trial-fps-instead/
There are so many reasons I should be excited for Marathon, and many of them are aesthetic ones. I have a particular weakness for the stark, colorful, striking designs of its vectorheart-inspired art style that pairs cold sterility with bold, borderline-obnoxious color intensity. It's like someone built a game from the desktop wallpaper I had—and the posters I wish I could afford—as an early-2000s preteen.
There's just one problem: I'm not an extraction shooter guy. Luckily, thanks to the demo for Cicadamata, another shooter has stepped in for me to pin all my aesthetic anticipation on.

After deciding to make a MOBA, Quantic Dream also decides to release it at the same time as the Marathon server slam, the first Horizon Hunters Gather playtest, and the Steam Next Fest
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/after-deciding-to-make-a-moba-quantic-dream-also-decides-to-release-it-at-the-same-time-as-the-marathon-server-slam-the-first-horizon-hunters-gather-playtest-and-the-steam-next-fest/
There's a lot going on in the world of videogames right now. The Marathon server slam is the big attention-getter of the moment, but Sony also got the first playtest for Horizon Hunters Gathering going on this weekend for some reason, and of course the Steam Next Fest is wrapping up over the next few days, and there's a lot of very cool stuff coming out of that.
On top of all that, Spellcasters Chronicles is now in early access on Steam, a much lower-key affair but still interesting because it's being developed by Quantic Dream, and is absolutely nothing like anything Quantic Dream has ever done before. The studio's previous games, like Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human, are all adventure (or action-adventures, if you want to get fiddly about it), but for Spellcasters Chronicles the studio decided to give 'er hell with a MOBA.

Occult deckbuilder The Killing Stone is introducing a 'dynamic' scare system originally considered for BioShock 2: 'It's very fun as a gamedev to be surprised by something in your own game'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/occult-deckbuilder-the-killing-stone-is-introducing-a-dynamic-scare-system-originally-considered-for-bioshock-2-its-very-fun-as-a-gamedev-to-be-surprised-by-something-in-your-own-game/
BioShock 2 was a bold follow-up to Irrational Games' 2007 FPS, putting you in the lead-weighted shoes of a Big Daddy and flipping its objectivist critique on its head. But 2K Marin's sequel may have been bolder still if some of its developers had their way on the project. Early plans for the sequel included far more dynamic encounters with its fearsome Big Sister enemies, letting them get the jump on you whenever they fancied.
(...)
Nonetheless, Pittman says the idea "stuck around in my brain ever since", and now he's finally getting to use it in the current project he's working on. That project is the occult Deckbuilder The Killing Stone, currently in early access development by Question, an indie studio formed by Bioshock 2's director Jordan Thomas.

Desert Strike spiritual successor Cleared Hot's next update brings better Steam Deck support and arcade missions, but I'm more excited about using my winch to slingshot missiles back at enemies: 'I've been waiting months to work on this again'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/desert-strike-spiritual-successor-cleared-hots-next-update-brings-better-steam-deck-support-and-arcade-missions-but-im-more-excited-about-using-my-winch-to-slingshot-missiles-back-at-enemies-ive-been-waiting-months-to-work-on-this-again/
Sometimes in life, you just need to climb in a big helicopter and blow stuff up from an isometric perspective. Some people (me) might even say it's an essential part of the human experience. Yet this foundational tier on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs has been cruelly denied humanity for decades.
Fortunately, thousands of players are now one step closer to self-actualisation thanks to last year's launch of Cleared Hot. Not Knowing Corporation's helicopter action game brings back the destructive joys of 1992's Desert Strike and its environmentally diverse children.
Currently hovering in Steam early access, the spiritual Strike successor is preparing to winch up its next update from the Hellfire-blasted ground. Chapter 1B will bring a bunch of new features to the experience, which I'll discuss shortly. But the addition I'm most excited about is to something that's technically already in Cleared Hot that shows why it has so much potential.

Owlcat just teased a new Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader DLC, and it's all about everyone's favorite relic-hoarding necron, Trazyn the Infinite
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/owlcat-just-teased-a-new-warhammer-40-000-rogue-trader-dlc-and-its-all-about-everyones-favorite-relic-hoarding-necron-trazyn-the-infinite/
The next Warhammer 40k CRPG from Owlcat is already on the way, but Rogue Trader isn't done just yet. Owlcat just revealed the 2023 RPG's next DLC, and it stars a prominent character familiar to anyone steeped in Warhammer lore: Trazyn the Infinite, an obsessive collector of cosmic curios. For those unfamiliar with 40k lore, he's an evil robot.

An inaccessible zone in World of Warcraft: Midnight has players convinced it's a clue for the next update
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/an-inaccessible-zone-in-world-of-warcraft-midnight-has-players-convinced-its-a-clue-for-the-next-update/
Blizzard is always fighting a quiet war with World of Warcraft dataminers who scoop info out of the game files that they aren't always supposed to see yet. These days, the discoveries are relatively minor, but they can still hint at future updates that haven't been announced yet.
During the alpha and beta testing period for the Midnight expansion, players found an island that wasn't accessible by normal means and would kick you out if you stepped foot on it. That area, Atal'Utek, is still around in the final release and more players are starting to realize that there's something fishy going on with it.
>> There are several more articles about WoW: 1-Players are slaying frogs once again (link); 2- The lead composer is happy about not using AI (link); 3- Players want Blizzard to turn the volume down of a beam in the sky (link); and 4- There may be hints of the future big bad (link).

Doom: The Dark Ages director says the upcoming DLC is 'basically like a sequel': 'It's just ginormous'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/doom-the-dark-ages-director-says-the-upcoming-dlc-is-basically-like-a-sequel-its-just-ginormous/
Doom: The Dark Ages is big. But can it get bigger? Game director Hugo Martin seems to think so, as he mentioned in the Slayers Club Live stream that went up on YouTube yesterday. While playing through the base game, Martin took a beat to say "I'm not gonna lie, the DLC is nothing like this. I can't say too much. I'm just gonna say that what I have been playing, I haven't been playing like this."
As reported by Gamesradar, Martin had a lot to say, albeit in extremely vague terms: "It's so big. Look, guys, I know that it's been, ultimately, a while since we shipped the main game and you're waiting for the DLC, but just know that it's freaking huge. It's basically like a sequel. I mean, that's what it feels like, it's just ginormous."

Looks like Boltgun 2 will be the Warhammer game to finally give the setting's horniest Chaos god its due
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/looks-like-boltgun-2-will-be-the-warhammer-game-to-finally-give-the-settings-horniest-chaos-god-its-due/
Warhammer's plague god, Nurgle, has proved surprisingly popular with videogame developers, with top-villain billing in games like Vermintide 2, Darktide, and Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters. He was also featured in Boltgun, with his grotesque nurgling servants mooning us and proving annoyingly hard to hit. They'll be returning in Boltgun 2, along with the previously revealed servants of Khorne and Tzeentch, but as the latest trailer shows, Slaanesh is also along for the ride.

Teardown's massive multiplayer update arrives next month, bringing a full co-op campaign, competitive modes, and a free-roaming sandbox
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/teardowns-massive-multiplayer-update-arrives-next-month-bringing-a-full-co-op-campaign-competitive-modes-and-a-free-roaming-sandbox/
After more than two years in development, Teardown's hotly anticipated multiplayer will finally arrive in March. It's no tacked-on affair either, with developer Tuxedo Labs bringing a full suite of options to play with pals in its chaotic destruction sim.

Citing Halo, FEAR, and Half-Life 2 as inspirations, Sprawl: Zero waves goodbye to boomer shooters and heralds the arrival of the Millennial FPS
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/citing-halo-fear-and-half-life-2-as-inspirations-sprawl-zero-waves-goodbye-to-boomer-shooters-and-heralds-the-arrival-of-the-millennial-fps/
Indie gaming has spent the last decade slowly working its way through the visual and mechanical styles of yore, starting with 2D pixel platformers before moving to boomer shooters and then PS1-era horror games. As such, it was only a matter of time before they began gazing lasciviously at early noughties blockbusters. I was only chatting to someone the other day about when we'd see our first retro shooter either running in or inspired by the Source engine.
It turns out the answer to that was "today." Sprawl Zero is a newly announced FPS that cites games like Halo: Combat Evolved, FEAR, and Half-Life 2 as inspirations. It features time manipulation, gravity manipulation, and graphics so sepia you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a Hollywood film depicting a Middle Eastern country. Move over, boomer shooters, the Millennial shooter has arrived!

The creators of Postal just announced a new FPS where you play as a victim of the Postal Dude's original killing spree, which is certainly an angle
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-creators-of-postal-just-announced-a-new-fps-where-you-play-as-a-victim-of-the-postal-dudes-original-killing-spree-which-is-certainly-an-angle/
I did not expect Running With Scissors to announce a new FPS where you play as a victim of one of the massacres depicted in the original Postal. Then again, I find it wise not to expect anything from Running with Scissors. The developer made its name on stoking outrage with its largely terrible games, though I will concede that Postal 2 was, despite its many, many flaws, ahead of its time in certain ways.
Even so, Flesh & Wire is a twist I didn't see coming. Described by Running With Scissors as a "horror first-person shooter", it puts you in the shoes of Angel, a young woman seeking vengeance against the Postal Dude after being caught on the wrong end of his rifle during his 1997 killing spree. The game will involve tracking the Dude across the Arizona desert, battling military forces and your own traumatic memories as you search for vengeance.