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

[JEMC]

Four days of gaming news. I hope you’re ready:

Subnautica 2 devs say it's 'an exploration game first,' expanding on the first game's 'masterclass' in player-driven discovery
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/subnautica-2-devs-say-its-an-exploration-game-first-expanding-on-the-first-games-masterclass-in-designing-player-driven-discovery/
If you check the Steam listings for the Subnautica games, you'll find the "Survival" tag prominently featured—mostly on account of the gathering, and the crafting, and the risk of drowning in an overtly hostile biosphere. In an interview with PC Gamer ahead of its upcoming early access launch, however, Subnautica 2's developers say that's something of a misnomer.
"We often talk about Subnautica being a survival game when we're speaking publicly," said Subnautica 2 lead gameplay designer Anthony Gallegos. "But internally, we often focus on the fact that it's really an exploration game first, and the survival mechanics operate as something to support exploration."
>> More Subnautica 2 articles: 1- The lead game designer says the game helped cure his sea terror, only to bring it back with the new apex predator (link); 2- It now has a firm release date… (link); 3- That release date has caused one game, Outbound, to move forward its launch date by three days to avoid competing it (link).

After a glitch accidentally gave away a beloved RPG for free, the developer is letting you keep it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/after-a-glitch-accidentally-gave-away-a-beloved-rpg-for-free-the-developer-is-letting-you-keep-it/
Two weeks ago, a "glitch" caused one of developer inXile Entertainment's games to temporarily be completely free on the Xbox/Microsoft Store. That's a pretty big mistake to make when you're a business. That game was Wasteland Remastered, a classic RPG reborn back in 2020. But this debacle was even more troublesome because the version players snagged wasn't actually working.
Naturally, when this bug was discovered, inXile and Microsoft patched the hull and revoked the license, removing the game from the accounts of anyone who managed to grab it while it was mistakenly free.
Normally in these very abnormal circumstances, that would be the end of the story. It wasn't supposed to be free, so it's pulled from players' libraries. But the developer has actually made the decision to not only let players keep the game if they claimed it, but also to fix it.

Cyberpunk bartending sim VA-11 Hall-A devs' first game in 10 years finally launches this summer
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/cyberpunk-bartending-sim-va-11-hall-a-devs-first-game-in-10-years-finally-launches-this-summer/
VA-11 Hall-A developer Sukeban Games unveiled a new trailer for its second game, .45 Parabellum Bloodhound, last week. We got a few more story and gameplay snippets from the anime-style action game, as well as a release window of this summer, just in time for VA-11 Hall-A's 10-year anniversary on June 21.

I played the MindsEye mission about the alleged game saboteurs, and it sucks so bad
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/i-played-the-mindseye-mission-about-the-alleged-game-saboteurs-and-it-sucks-so-bad/
The big MindsEye mission Blacklisted is out, and with it the promised revelation of "evidence of the sabotage" that has been alleged multiple times by Build a Rocket Boy (BARB) co-CEOs Leslie Benzies and Mark Gerhard. As a sort of sicko appreciator of MindsEye, I was looking forward to playing it, and last night I finally did.
Friends, you may be less shocked than me to learn it sucks. Hard.

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 will have destructible terrain elements: 'That forest, if you don't like it, you don't have to keep it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/total-war-warhammer-40-000-will-have-destructible-terrain-elements-that-forest-if-you-dont-like-it-you-dont-have-to-keep-it/
One of the things on our wishlist for Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is a cover system, and the Total War: Show & Tell makes it clear that we're going to get our wish. And also, if we don't like that cover, we'll be able to blow it up.

The Empire's most OTT lord finally gets his due, portrayed by a YouTuber hamming it up in Total War: Warhammer 3
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/the-empires-most-ott-lord-finally-gets-his-due-portrayed-by-a-youtuber-hamming-it-up-in-total-war-warhammer-3/
The Total War Show & Tell included info on the historical games and destructible terrain in Total War: Warhammer 40,000, but a sizable chunk of its midsection was there to get us up to date on all things Total War: Warhammer 3. Including, right off the bat, game director Rich Aldridge saying to expect a patch "addressing some issues players have seen around idling AI and clustering around settlements. That will be coming very soon."

Obsidian returns to The Outer Worlds after 3 years to add a whole new weapon type, fix bugs, and delist its OG version
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/obsidian-returns-to-the-outer-worlds-after-3-years-to-add-a-whole-new-weapon-type-fix-bugs-and-delist-its-og-version/
Regular readers of PC Gamer dot com slash author slash Joshua dash Wolens will know that, so far as I'm concerned, no videogames news is as exciting as "An old game is getting a patch for some reason." Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 hitting 2.7 out of nowhere? Ecstasy. Pillars of Eternity getting turn-based mode? Hold me up, I'm feeling faint.
Today's resurrection: The Outer Worlds 1. Specifically, its Spacer's Choice remaster edition, which got a relatively minor update today "to test our release pipeline and fix a few issues that are in the game," and will be getting a far more stonking one in the hopefully near future: "The second patch will be larger bringing performance fixes, lighting changes, a host of other quest and gameplay fixes, and bringing in a brand-new feature to the original game: grenades!"
Which is pretty cool, if you ask me, but it's all leading to something more ambivalent: the original version of The Outer Worlds is getting delisted from PC storefronts come May 27. If you already own that version, fret not: it won't disappear from your library. As an added bonus for original-version owners, they'll all get the Spacer's Choice edition free, just so long as it's in their library before May 27.

Indie dev apologizes for rough game launch, commits to turning it around: 'The critique is fair ... we got work to do'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/indie-dev-apologizes-for-rough-game-launch-commits-to-turning-it-around-the-critique-is-fair-we-got-work-to-do/
The narrative FPS Industria 2 caught my eye in 2024 with a creepy trailer that gave me serious Half-Life 2 vibes. Set years after the original game, it tells the story of a woman trapped in a rather awful parallel dimension that's being ravaged by an out-of-control artificial intelligence. It looks and sounds very cool, but the launch has not gone well, to the point that the developer has apologized.

Hit cowboy co-op shooter's servers are struggling, developer says its service provider 'is currently drinking mojitos instead of helping'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/hit-cowboy-co-op-shooters-servers-are-struggling-developer-says-its-service-provider-is-currently-drinking-mojitos-instead-of-helping/
After dominating the Steam Next Fest in February, the robot wizard cowboy shooter Far Far West is now out on Steam, and it's a hit. So much of a hit, in fact, that the servers are struggling—with confusion.
The issue doesn't appear to be one of simple capacity, based on a Steam update from developer Evil Raptor, but that the sudden and unexpected influx of eager players is being misinterpreted by the machine.
Update: Progress is being made: Evil Raptor says the servers are up, but the promo codes still aren't working. "We're still working on a fix and we HOPE that the servers are gonna hold from now on," the studio wrote in new announcement on Discord.
>> Meanwhile, players have one demand: a yeehaw button (link).

Blizzard decides 'Limitless Rage' barbarian items should actually have a limit after watching them rampage through Diablo 4 dealing quadrillions of damage
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/blizzard-decides-limitless-rage-barbarian-items-should-actually-have-a-limit-after-watching-them-rampage-through-diablo-4-dealing-quadrillions-of-damage/
The battle against Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred's main villain Mephisto is finally over, but the battle against the villain that has haunted the game since it came out might never be over: Items that mysteriously break the game have reared their ugly heads again.
In a hotfix earlier today, Blizzard disabled the Limitless Rage legendary item aspect because it was, well, too limitless. Every barbarian using it with two specific other items could ramp up their damage into the quadrillions, trivializing Diablo 4's hardest monsters.

There's a game coming out this year where you fight your Steam backlog, and it's more dangerous the more you've spent
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/theres-a-game-coming-out-this-year-where-you-fight-your-steam-backlog-and-its-more-dangerous-the-more-youve-spent/
I'd wager most PC gamers are grappling with a backlog—the only thing that truly divides us is whether it's a source of pride or filthy shame. Steam, GOG, and other digital storefronts just make it too easy. I'm a busy guy, am I really going to make time to play through all of Tex Murphy: The Pandora Directive? It's going for $2 out here, who cares!
But those are the fun backlog stories. The less fun ones are when you pick up a game like Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous for full price and, you know, you'll finish it one of these days, but everyone's hopping on Overwatch 2 and you can't just abandon your premade. And so it sits there, rotting, hoping one day you remember it long enough to get past the first act. Those are the stories Game Quest: The Backlog Battler hopes to rub in your face.
It's a goofy horde battler by developer Nic Taylor where you literally fight your backlog. They're represented by sliding floppy disks and various stats affect their behavior and abilities—Steam games you've barely played (up to 2 hours) are your enemies, and the more you paid for them, the more damage they do. If they have a high Metacritic score, they can fly, and you'll need to swat them all to death with a keyboard.

The creator of Infinite Craft has a new game where you explore a secret-filled social hub as your mouse cursor
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/the-creator-of-infinite-craft-has-a-new-game-where-you-explore-a-secret-filled-social-hub-as-your-mouse-cursor/
Within moments of opening Cursor Camp, laughter erupts out of me like the clumsy bark of a circus seal as I do something I've done hundreds of times before—wiggle my mouse cursor back and forth in time to a song I'm listening to—because someone else on screen has followed my lead. According to the flag by their cursor, they're in India. We'll probably never see or speak to each other for the rest of our lives, but this ghost of an interaction is a minuscule joy we can share from thousands of miles away.
These are the sorts of things that get me all weepy about games like Journey and even Club Penguin, the latter of which Cursor Camp reminds me of in the best way possible. It's by Neal Agarwal, the browser game developer behind oddities like Infinite Craft and The Password Game. My first impression suggests that Cursor Camp isn't as surprising or ambitious as Infinite Craft, but it offers a kind of experience I crave and is extremely hard to find these days.

Warcraft 3 Legacy is finally back on Battle.net
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/warcraft-3-legacy-is-finally-back-on-battle-net/
Part of the reason criticism of Warcraft 3: Reforged was so pointed was that the remaster didn't just suck on its own terms. As Fraser Brown wrote at the time in his review, "Unfortunately, if these things are putting you off, you can't simply return to Warcraft 3 Classic and forget about them. The original has been added to the new client, so the connection problems, lack of competitive ladders and other issues are now shared between them. This might be the first time a remaster has made its predecessor worse."
While subsequent patches ameliorated some of the issues with Warcraft 3 Reforged, it still isn't perfect. For starters, plenty of custom maps don't work if you play Warcraft 3's classic version from the Reforged launcher. Which is why it's nice that, out of the blue, Blizzard has finally relented.
As the announcement says, "All players who own Warcraft 3 now have access to the original 1.29 client from the Battle.net App. To install it, click the Game Version dropdown on the bottom left corner of your Battle.net Warcraft III playscreen and select Warcraft III - Legacy TFT 1.29. Please note: The Legacy client supports offline and LAN play only."

It wasn’t so bad, right?