The Monday news, part two:
My Little Pony-inspired fighter Them's Fightin' Herds launches on April 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/my-little-pony-inspired-fighter-thems-fightin-herds-launches-on-april-2/
The whole "brony" craze seems so long ago now. It came from a different era where the worst we had to worry about was someone liking a kid's cartoon slightly too much. And yet Them's Fightin' Herds—a project that started life as a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fangame—is finally being released from early access next month.
There are still undiscovered Stardew Valley secrets, creator believes
https://www.pcgamer.com/there-are-still-undiscovered-stardew-valley-secrets-creator-believes/
There are lots of cheeky little secrets that developer Eric Barone has put into Stardew Valley. There are little hidden animations on the title screen, spotting Santa and his reindeer in the shipment menu on December 25, and a whole affair with the Mayor's lucky purple shorts.
But out of the handful of secrets that dedicated players have found, Barone says that there are more, well, he thinks so anyway. If you thought you had found all of Stardew Valley's secrets, its time to boot up your farm again.
F1 2019 is free to play on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/f1-2019-is-free-to-play-on-steam/
F1 2019 is an extremely good racing sim: "Generous, stable, and thrilling as ever," we said in our 91/100 review. But, like open-wheel racing itself, it's also kind of a niche thing. And yes, I know F1 has a major international fanbase, but when was the last time you watched a race? Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that the game is free to play on Steam until March 18.
>> And it's also 70% off.
The Complex is an FMV 'interactive movie' that might not suck
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-complex-is-an-fmv-interactive-movie-that-might-not-suck/
Traditionally, FMV games have not been great. The combination of bad scripts, terrible effects, and abysmal acting can sometimes come together in an ironically fun sort of way, but that will only get you so far, and eventually even the most committed MST3K fan has to admit that it's just not much fun. The situation has improved in recent years, though, with games like Her Story and Telling Lies (which, not coincidentally, come from the same developer), as well as Late Shift, a fully live-action, HD FMV thriller released in 2017. The genre looks set to take another step forward at the end of March with a new game called The Complex, which like Late Shift was filmed in London with real actors on real sets, and apparently with a real budget. It's written by Lynn Renee Maxcy, a story editor on Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, and stars Michelle Mylett (Katy from Letterkenny), Kate Dickie (Lysa Arryn from Game of Thrones), and Al Weaver (Leonard Finch from Grantchester).
Save the fish and otters in eco-management game Among Ripples: Shallow Waters
https://www.pcgamer.com/save-the-fish-and-otters-in-eco-management-game-among-ripples-shallow-waters/
Among Ripples is a game with a brilliant concept: A management tycoon game that has you saving the world rather than exploiting it. Your job is to save damaged freshwater ecosystems in northern europe, which may not be the sexiest idea but is actually the sexiest idea ever if you ask your secondary school environmental science teacher about it. In the game, you and your team of field scientists have to stock lakes with critters like dace, perch, pikes, otters, ducks, and my personal favorite: crayfish. (Or “crawdads” as they’re known where I’m from.) As a kid, nothing scared the everliving pants off me more than when you were wading in the creek and suddenly there was a pincer-toting mud bug scuttling about.
Flesh-warping RPG Geneforge is coming back, remastered and full of new content
https://www.pcgamer.com/flesh-warping-rpg-geneforge-is-coming-back-remastered-and-full-of-new-content/
Science-fantasy RPG Geneforge was released in 2001, and following a successful Kickstarter campaign by creators Spiderweb Software it’s getting a remaster in 2021. Geneforge was a unique game, a science-fantasy indie RPG adventure from a time before indies could reliably go big or successful via distribution platforms like Steam or GOG. (I played it on a burned CD copy in 2002. Sorry, Geneforge devs.) Geneforge had players as a Shaper, a wizard with the ability to literally create new forms of life, then use your twisted monsters in turn-based combat. The remastered game will feature improved interface, graphics, and game design, but won’t make any major changes to the game story. It was originally planned to include a few new characters, storylines, and abilities, but the success of the Kickstarter means more is coming.
Classic super-customizable RTS Warzone 2100 is completely free on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/classic-super-customizable-rts-warzone-2100-is-completely-free-on-steam/
It seems that we’ve done you a great disservice, nerds. We haven’t spoken about the very rad old real-time strategy Warzone 2100 in almost seven years and we haven’t yet alerted you to the fact that it’s completely free on Steam. First released in 1999, Warzone 2100 is a game all about a sprawling spaghetti pile of a tech tree you can use to customize your units to your heart’s content. Original developers Pumpkin Studios released the source code in 2004 and a fan community has kept the game alive and in development ever since… culminating in a release on Steam. The campaign story of the game is fully playable, following the story of an organization seeking to rebuild human civilization after a nuclear holocaust in the late 21st century. It is delightfully dated. The multiplayer and skirmish modes are also fully functional.
Roundguard is Peggle mixed with a dungeon crawling roguelike
https://www.pcgamer.com/roundguard-is-peggle-mixed-with-a-dungeon-crawling-roguelike/
Not since the bizarre alchemy of Peggle World of Warcraft Edition has someone dared such a feat, to combine the dark arts of a pachinko-like puzzler with the fantasy adventure—much less the vaunted roguelike. Yet here we are. Roundguard released this week on Steam, a “bouncy dungeon crawler with pinball physics” and it looks like a complete joy. It did the convention circuit last year and netted a few awards, like the PAX 10 and Indie Megabooth Selection. It also has a thumbs-up from Jason Kapalka, co-founder of PopCap, on its Steam page: “Like Peggle had a baby with Diablo! It’s an awesome dungeon-balling adventure!” which is a horrible pun but I will forgive him just this once.
Counter-terror board game Labyrinth now has a digital adaptation
https://www.pcgamer.com/counter-terror-board-game-labyrinth-now-has-a-digital-adaptation/
This is the first major release to come out of the partnership between GMT and Playdek that was announced in 2018. Playdek previously released Twilight Struggle, a superb game by former Firaxis XCOM designer Ananda Gupta. I’ll admit I’m rather disappointed they dropped the game’s full subtitle. Labyrinth is sold physically as Labyrinth: The War on Terror, 2001 – ?. Sometimes I like to get kind of depressed when I read my game shelf. You can find Labyrinth: The War on Terror in Early Access on Steam.
People are finding ways to kill with Call of Duty: Warzone's "nonlethal" tossed rocks
https://www.pcgamer.com/people-are-finding-ways-to-kill-with-call-of-duty-warzones-nonlethal-tossed-rocks/
It's no secret that a lot of people are playing the new free-to-play Call of Duty: Warzone battle royale. As reported yesterday, it already has 15 million players. Warzone has a fun Battle Royale twist, the Gulag, where players go on death to fight in 1v1 matches for a shot at rejoining the fight. While you're waiting for your chance to fight in the Gulag you stand on a balcony over the match to watch the current duel. From this balcony, you can throw rocks at combatants for a single, pitiful point of "nonlethal" damage. However, players are already finding a way to kill with it, both due to an apparent bug and by sheer creativity.
Warframe’s Tennocon 2020 is cancelled, but Operation Scarlet Spear goes forward
https://www.pcgamer.com/warframes-tennocon-2020-is-cancelled-but-operation-scarlet-spear-goes-forward/
Warframe is having a big year, but that big year will involve annual gathering Tennocon taking place online rather than in-person. That’s too bad, because last year’s event was the site of some really cool announcements and birthed our story about the long struggle of Warframe to reach its original design vision. “Due to the widespread concerns surrounding Coronavirus (COVID-19), we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel the attendee event portion of TennoCon 2020,” said Digital Extremes’ official announcement. Despite the event not taking place in-person, Digital Extremes does still plan to hold it online so that players can “digitally share in the magic and excitement of TennoCon on July 11.” Warframe is having a momentous year, finally reaching the game’s 15-year-old design vision and having pushed its largest update ever earlier this year.
Halo 2 for PC will go into testing later this month
https://www.pcgamer.com/halo-2-for-pc-will-go-into-testing-later-this-month/
Following the surprise launch of Halo: Combat Evolved earlier this month, 343 Industries is primed to start testing the next major instalment in the series. Both Halo 2 and its Halo 2: Anniversary remake will likely go into testing by the end of the month, alongside Forge and Theater for Halo: Reach.
Wolcen Studio prioritizes bug fixing and stability over new content
https://www.pcgamer.com/wolcen-studio-prioritizes-bug-fixing-and-stability-over-new-content/
Fraser Brown summed up action-RPG Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem with the words "As bloody as it is buggy" in his review, noting problems like "Dungeon entrances not working, my inventory freezing, my character vanishing" among others. Since its launch Wolcen Studio have been patching the game, fixing various broken skills and other problems. Now the developers have announced that they're going to prioritize "bug fixing, game stabilization, quality of life, and recruitment" over the creation of new content.
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous has raised $2 million on Kickstarter
https://www.pcgamer.com/pathfinder-wrath-of-the-righteous-has-raised-dollar2-million-on-kickstarter/
The days of videogame developers routinely raising millions on Kickstarter are behind us, but that doesn't mean it's no longer possible, as Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous has just shown. It's Owlcat Games' next project, a top-down RPG using the same setting and rules as Pathfinder: Kingmaker, but where Kingmaker raised $900,000 in crowdfunding three years ago, Wrath of the Righteous has now closed its campaign with $2 million.
Control – The Foundation adds a new ability and gun upgrade that let you reshape the environment
https://www.pcgamer.com/control-the-foundation-adds-a-new-ability-and-gun-upgrade-that-let-you-reshape-the-environment/
Control's first expansion, The Foundation, is due out next week, but you can get a brief taste of what to expect in a new trailer, above. Jesse's new job won't stop spitting out more problems, the latest among them a crisis in the titular area underneath the Oldest House, where the astral plane is bumping up against reality. That's probably bad.
Hunt prey as a wily fox in striking hunting game Rev
https://www.pcgamer.com/hunt-prey-as-a-wily-fox-in-striking-hunting-game-rev/
Hunting games tend to simulate the act of humans slaughtering animals for 'sport', but here's a less icky alternative that puts you in the role of a fox. Or, rather, foxes. Set in a gorgeous bunch of ruins in a beautiful woodland, Rev has you locating animals (deer, rabbits etc), before creeping up on them, and charging up a powerful attack.
