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

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The second part of the gaming news:

Total War: Warhammer 40k shows off its first full battle live, providing its biggest info dump yet
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/total-war-warhammer-40k-shows-off-its-first-full-battle-live-providing-its-biggest-info-dump-yet/
As the closed beta for Total War: Warhammer 40k grows ever closer, we're getting to see a lot more gameplay. The first reveal was at our very own PC Gaming Show, and then a couple of weeks back, courtesy of BiliBili, we got to see a kind of battle report overview of the same encounter with narration.
In the latest Alpha Strike livestream, Creative Assembly showed off that same battle, but ran it three times through from the player's perspective. We got to witness the Astra Militarum trying to defend a river crossing against the Orks, and learned a lot more about ranged combat, cover, reserves, army abilities, and other juicy details.

FromSoftware reveals final stats of new Elden Ring classes, and one of them already got a tiny nerf
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/fromsoftware-reveals-final-stats-of-new-elden-ring-classes-and-one-of-them-already-got-a-tiny-nerf/
In a new message on X, "The Everything App," FromSoftware has revealed the final names and stats of the two additional classes coming in Elden Ring's $5 Tarnished Edition DLC. The Idus Knight looks sick as ever, while the Heavy Knight appears to have gotten the gentlest, most tender of nerfs since we saw their stats leak from a Tarnished Edition playtest last year.

Crisol studio lays off all employees less than 6 months after launch, warns that full closure is a 'feasible possibility'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/crisol-studio-lays-off-all-employees-less-than-6-months-after-launch-warns-that-full-closure-is-a-feasible-possibility/
Less than six months after the release of the survival horror shooter Crisol: Theater of Idols, developer Vermila Studios appears to be in trouble. The studio has not officially closed, as one former employee had claimed, but CEO David Carrasco confirmed that employees have been let go and that a full shutdown "is a feasible possibility."

Star Wars Zero Company reveals cast, including fan favorite actors from Clone Wars animated series
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/star-wars-zero-company-reveals-cast-including-fan-favorite-actors-from-clone-wars-animated-series/
Ahead of a showing at Comic-Con in San Diego, StarWars.com has revealed the main cast of Star Wars Zero Company, the squad tactics game by ex-Firaxis XCOM vets. The topline for big Star Wars freaks: Dee Bradley Baker and Matt Lanter will be reprising their long-running roles as clone troopers and Anakin Skywalker respectively.

Thick as Thieves won't be getting any more content updates: 'To be frank, this is not the outcome that any of us want'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/thick-as-thieves-wont-be-getting-any-more-content-updates-to-be-frank-this-is-not-the-outcome-that-any-of-us-want/
OtherSide Entertainment's stealth game Thick As Thieves launched in May of this year, but felt like it should have been in early access. It only had two maps, and though its campaign changed the objectives as it bounced you back and forth between them in either co-op or solo play, it felt thin. Frustrations like the specifics of how its time-limit system worked and the absence of options like rebindable keys at launch didn't help.
While the first post-launch content update did give us rebindable keys at least, it wasn't enough to fully turn around the fortunes of Thick as Thieves. Which was a problem, because the other game OtherSide was working on was cancelled, and now it's had two rounds of layoffs leaving fewer than 10 employees remaining.
"Working in the gaming industry is at times delightful and at other times heartbreaking", says a message posted by game director Jeff Hickman, and ain't that the truth. Hickman goes on to confirm that "only a very small team remains" and therefore Thick as Thieves won't be receiving any further content updates. "To be frank," he writes, "this is not the outcome that any of us want, but we're facing the reality that ongoing development of extra content, modes and systems is not a viable path."

Forget Ultra settings, Halo: Campaign Evolved looks nearly as good with everything set to Low
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/forget-ultra-settings-halo-campaign-evolved-looks-nearly-as-good-with-everything-set-to-low/
I've been squirrelled away in the PC Gamer office all week testing Halo: Campaign Evolved on all manner of hardware, including a beastly rig with an RTX 5080 and Ryzen 7 7700X3D. To my surprise, the difference between Low and Ultra is incredibly subtle and, frankly, not worth the performance hit.
>> The article has some comparison screenshots. Here are other news about the game: 1- Turn off motion blur because it’s terrible (link); 2- Those that paid extra to play before the others haven’t been able to (link) (ha, ha).

You have 3 days to obtain Big Boss rating in Metal Gear Solid 1's free-to-play period on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/you-have-3-days-to-obtain-big-boss-rating-in-metal-gear-solid-1s-free-to-play-period-on-steam/
I fulfilled a childhood ambition over the past week: I finally got the notoriously elusive Big Boss rating at the end of Metal Gear Solid 1, a feat I've simultaneously been drawn toward and terrified by ever since I first played the game on my PS1 in 1998. How did I do it? Stick-to-itiveness, gumption, and raw skill.
Also, cheating. I played the much easier Japanese version of the game and exploited a couple of speedrunning skips in order to hasten my progress. Hey, it counts.
Anyway, my challenge to you, reader, is to accomplish the same thing in the ongoing free-to-play period for Metal Gear Solid 1 on Steam, which expires Monday, July 27 at 10 am EDT / 1 pm PDT / 6 pm BST. You should probably do it the non-cheating way. It was cool when I did it, but for you? A bad look. I don't make the rules.
>> The collection is also 50% off until Monday.