It’s Monday and these are the gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Tactical Breach Wizards sold 'twice as well' as Suspicious Developments' previous games, but more importantly, it failed catastrophically to lose an IGF award: 'All we can say is we're sorry, and we'll try to do worse'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/tactical-breach-wizards-sold-twice-as-well-as-suspicious-developments-previous-games-but-more-importantly-it-failed-catastrophically-to-lose-an-igf-award-all-we-can-say-is-were-sorry-and-well-try-to-do-worse/
Tactical Breach Wizards, the fantasy turn-based tactical strategy about busting down doors with a team of Navy Seers and Necro Medics, is an excellent game. But did you know it is also an award losing game?
Since its launch in 2024, Tactical Breach Wizards has not only enjoyed commercial success and near-universal critical acclaim, but it has also embarked upon a wholly precedented run of game award losses. All of this is explained in Suspicious Developments' latest newsletter, clips of which were shared on BlueSky by fellow PC Gamer contributor Jeremy Peel.
The full newsletter—which was shared directly by Jeremy—reveals Tactical Breach Wizards was received very well by players indeed. "By revenue, Wizards sold twice as well as any of our previous games, so we are in the increasingly rare position of remaining fully independent, self-funded, and safe for the amount of time it takes to make a videogame when you're very slow at making videogames," Suspicious Developments writes.
The newsletter goes on to say that this successful launch led "straight into awards season, during which we did our best to continue our history of being nominated for but ultimately losing a healthy number of awards." In keeping with this tradition, Suspicious Developments says it "proudly" lost the Golden Joysticks, two BAFTAs, a DICE award, and a Hugo "an especially great honour given how few games have ever successfully lost a Hugo."
Not everything went according to plan, however. "As many of you will know, we weren't able to lose an IGF award for Excellence in Design. We're still trying to figure out exactly what happened, but long story short, we won it," the newsletter explains. Suspicious Developments apologised for this flagrantly victorious error, resolving to address the issue as soon as possible. "All we can say is we're sorry, and we'll try to do worse."

GOG has four sales/promos:

• Greatest Manager Promo features games up to 90% off during 5 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260228_greatest_manager_promo
• Hack 'n' Slash Promo also has games with up to 90% discounts and will also last 5 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260228_hack_n_slash_promo
• Historical Promo come with games up to 90% off and will also last 5 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260228_historical_promo
• Weekly Deals is a bit more generous with up to 95% discounts, but will also last the same 5 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260228_weekly_deals_1_march

Steam has five new deals and four new sales/events:

• Get To Work will be 40% off until the 8th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2706170/Get_To_Work/
• POOLS , that has a demo, will have a 50% discount until March 8: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2663530/POOLS/
• Labyrinthine is going to be 60% off until the same 8th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1302240/Labyrinthine/
• Emissary Zero also has a demo and comes with a 35% discount that will last until the 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3176060/Emissary_Zero/
• Ritual of Raven will be 50% off until March, the 15th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2066520/Ritual_of_Raven/
• And these are the sales/events:
  • GamesAid 2026 Charity Sale is back with games up to 90% off. The sale will last until March 8, but the deals will end between tomorrow and the 9th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44589593/sale/GamesAidCharitySale2026
  • The Muv-Luv Alternative 20th Anniversary Sale has games up to 60% off and will last until the 14th: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/36850264/sale/Muv-LuvAlternative20thAnniversarySale
  • Rogue Bots Sale has roguelike and roguelite games starring machines. There are many upcoming titles, demos and games on sale with up to 75% discounts. Some deals have already ended (sorry/not sorry) while the rest will end between the 4th and the 15th of this month: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45723254/sale/RogueBots2026
  • Hooded Horse shows somw of its upcoming titles and puts its games on sale with up to 80% discounts. The deals will end between the 6th and the 13th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38719421/sale/februarysale2026

Humble Bundle has the new Mega Man Charged Up Collection, with up to 9 games to get during 17 more days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/mega-man-charged-up-collection

Fanatical has two new deals:

• The Star Deal is Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, 46% off. It started yesterday and will last another 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/rune-factory-guardians-of-azuma
• Build your Story Rich Adventures Bundle has 17 titles for your 3+, 5+ or 7+ game bundles during 34 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-story-rich-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Older NVIDIA Drivers Boost RTX 40 Series Performance by Up to 70% in Resident Evil Requiem with Path Tracing
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/older-nvidia-drivers-boost-rtx-40-series-performance-by-up-to-70-in-resident-evil-requiem-with-path-tracing/
Now, here is something really weird happening with Resident Evil Requiem. From the looks of it, there is a bug in the latest drivers that can negatively affect the performance of the NVIDIA RTX 40 series in Resident Evil Requiem when using Path Tracing.
While testing the game, owners of the NVIDIA RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 noticed unusually low performance. In some cases, the RTX 4090 was even slower than the RTX 5070 Ti when using Path Tracing. As players have since discovered, the culprit behind this unexpected performance loss appears to be the drivers.
By simply downgrading the driver to version 576.88, you can improve performance by up to 70%. This isn’t a placebo effect. This is the real deal.
Reddit’s user ‘DiesIrae13‘ saw a 60% performance boost when he went from the latest GeForce 591.86 driver to the 576.88 driver. On the other hand, Sebastian Castellanos got a 70% performance boost in the main street area.

NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 595.71
https://videocardz.com/driver/nvidia-geforce-game-ready-595-71

HIGHLIGHTS
Game Ready for Resident Evil Requiem
This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new games supporting DLSS 4 technology including Resident Evil Requiem. In addition, there is Game Ready support for Marathon which features DLSS Super Resolution and NVIDIA Reflex.

FIXED ISSUES
Fixed Gaming Bugs

• The Ascent: Intermittent black bar on top of screen on GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs [5859818]
• Total War: THREE KINGDOMS: Green artifacts appear on GeForce RTX 50 series [5745647]
• FINAL FANTASY XII The Zodiac Age crashes with fatal error after driver update [5741199]
• Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019) displays image corruption after driver update [5733427]
• Quantum Break: Performance drops significantly on Act 4 Part 1 [5607678]

Fixed General Bugs

• 595.59: HW monitoring softwares not detecting all fans on the GPU [5934264]
• 595.59: One or more fans not spinning on GPUs after driver update [5934333]
• Blackmagic Design: AV1 decode crash with multiple obu in one packet [5671098]

>> Hopefully, it also fixes the above problem.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Latest RPCS3 Update Brings Big Visual Improvements to Killzone 2 & 3, Resistance 2 & 3, and All Ratchet & Clank Games
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/latest-rpcs3-update-brings-big-visual-improvements-to-killzone-2-3-resistance-2-3-and-all-ratchet-clank-games/
The team behind the best PlayStation 3 emulator, RPCS3, has released a new version of it. This new version brings major visual improvements to Killzone 2 and 3, Resistance 2 and 3, as well as all the Ratchet & Clank games.
Going into more details, the latest version of RPCS3 comes with major Z-culling improvements. Thanks to them, lights will no longer shine through the environment. Moreover, textures will now be rendered properly in Killzone 3.
The next major feature of the new RPCS3 is the improved Texel Remapper. The new Texel Remapper resolves the visual issues that could occur in numerous games that have water. Water will now be displayed correctly.
According to the team, Resistance 2 and 3 should now be properly rendered. These games can now be finished from start to finish, with proper visuals. However, players may still encounter some crashes. They are also still very GPU and CPU heavy, which is why they are not listed as “Playable”. However, if you can brute force your way, you can now play them.
To showcase these new improvements, the RPCS3 team shared a new video. This video compares the previous and the current versions of RPCS3. As such, it will give you an idea of the aforementioned improvements.

Super Mario Galaxy Comet Observatory Fan Remake in Unreal Engine 5 – Download Here
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/super-mario-galaxy-comet-observatory-fan-remake-in-unreal-engine-5-download-here/
Earlier this month, we informed you about a fan remake of the Comet Observatory level of Super Mario Galaxy in Unreal Engine 5. And today, we are happy to report that this fan remake is available for download.
Created by ‘Kitsune Fuzzy’, this remake lets you explore the Comet Observatory. And, although the artist used a 3D model for Mario himself, he did not include any audio or music from Super Mario Galaxy.
As the artist claimed, this should be enough to avoid any DMCA issues. Still, this is Nintendo we’re talking about. Therefore, I suggest downloading this fan remake right now. For all we know, the big N may take it down tomorrow, next week, or in a month. So, better to have a backup of this remake.
It’s worth noting that this fan remake of Super Mario Galaxy is quite GPU demanding. The artist did not optimize the demo for low-tier or mid-tier GPUs. So, make sure to keep that in mind. This isn’t a tech demo you can use to evaluate the performance of Unreal Engine 5.
You can go ahead and download the remake from this link. At the end of the article, you can also find a new trailer for it. This trailer will give you a glimpse at its visuals. So, if you don’t fancy downloading it, you can at least watch the trailer.

For A Few Brahmin More is a new DLC-sized expansion mod for Fallout: New Vegas
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/for-a-few-brahmin-more-is-a-new-dlc-sized-expansion-mod-for-fallout-new-vegas/
Modder ‘Ashtonlp101’ has released a new DLC-sized expansion mod for Fallout: New Vegas, called For A Few Brahmin More. This mod brings new free content to the game. As such, it’s something that a lot of FNV may find interesting.
Going into more details, For A Few Brahmin More features two main quests and six side quests. It also comes with over 2K lines of fully-voiced dialogue. Moreover, it brings 28 custom interiors, 9 new weapons, two potential player homes, and numerous new armors.
As Ashtonlp101 noted, the mod also comes with gameplay integration loops, as well as reactive consequences (which resemble a TLD system).
Players will find Coalition Flyers around the southern Mojave towns. These are the Goodsprings, Primm, and Novac. Reading one will prompt the Courier to enlist with the Cowboy Coalition, but they’ll be interrupted by a Booth Baron agent who warns them against doing so. From there, the player must choose how to proceed.
>> The article has an almost 2 minutes video.

Mortal Kombat Trilogy HD Fan Remake Is in Active Development
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/mortal-kombat-trilogy-hd-fan-remake-is-in-active-development/
It appears that two MK fans are working on an unofficial HD Remake of Mortal Kombat Trilogy. This project aims to overhaul all of the game’s sprites and characters. NOSTALGICK and Interloko have been working on this for quite some time, so let’s take a look at it.
For those wondering how such a thing is possible, the simple answer is AI. NOSTALGICK and Interloko have used AI to remake in HD the 2D sprites of a few characters.
Right now, the duo has enhanced the 2D sprites of ten characters. All of the male and female ninjas have been improved, as well as Baraka, Rayden, Sheeva, and Nightwolf. They have also enhanced two stages: The Bank and The Roof.
(...)
There is currently no ETA for when the first public version of this fan-made HD Remake of Mortal Kombat Trilogy will come out. Naturally, though, we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
>> The article has a 10 minutes video.

HardBorne Is a Massive Overhaul Mod for Bloodborne With New NPCs, Quests, Bosses, and Weapons
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/hardborne-is-a-massive-overhaul-mod-for-bloodborne-with-new-npcs-quests-bosses-and-weapons/
A team of modders has released a massive overhaul mod for Bloodborne that PC gamers can enjoy, called HardBorne. HardBorne makes a lot of changes to its core gameplay mechanics. At the same time, it adds new NPCs, quests, bosses, weapons, and items to the game. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
As the name implies, HardBorne aims to make Bloodborne significantly more challenging. One of the biggest changes is the healing system. You’ll no longer have 20 Blood Vials to spam during fights, effectively making HP management trivial.
HardBorne reworks healing to function much more like a classic Dark Souls game. You start with 4 healing vials, and throughout the game, you can find items that increase your carrying capacity up to 10. Think Estus Flask and Fire Keeper Souls.
To preserve Bloodborne’s iconic aggressive combat, the mod increases HP Rally regeneration by a substantial amount. This means your primary method of healing is to strike back before your orange HP bar fades. The good news here is that the window is fairly generous at the start. As you progress, you’ll also find items that further boost Rally recovery and enhance the effectiveness of your healing vials.
The team has also reduced the damage from parrying and riposte. It was just too much, and they felt it trivialized some fights and bosses. If you really want to parry, though, you can always pick the parry specialist class, and that has a boon to parrying damage to make it on par with the vanilla game.
Hunter’s Dream has significantly changed. You will find new NPCs there to meet and talk to, including a new shopkeep. On top of that, each map has a new NPC quest giver. They will give out the quest for that map, and it will be your job to figure out how to complete it. They will also have other quests that you can do, usually by finding one of the new mini-bosses that are on every map and beating them.
Almost all enemy placements have been changed or modified in order to give you that “oh crap” feeling once again. Furthermore, every map now has an element or physical damage that enemies are weak to, and one that they are strong against. This is to encourage you to use more than one weapon. Bosses on those maps also have this system implemented.
All in all, this is a cool overhaul mod that a lot of die-hard Bloodborne fans will appreciate. If you are one of them, you can download HardBorne from this link. To install it, you’ll have to copy the dvdroot_ps4 folder into your BloodBorne shad folder and overwrite what’s there. As I said, you can play this mod on PC via the shadPS4 emulator.
>> The article has a slightly over 2 minutes video.

Finally, you can play Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes inside Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain thanks to this mod
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/finally-you-can-play-metal-gear-solid-5-ground-zeroes-inside-metal-gear-solid-5-the-phantom-pain-thanks-to-this-mod/
Metal Gear Solid 5 famously released in two highly disproportionate parts, with its short (but highly replayable) prologue Ground Zeroes releasing roughly a year before the full-fat Phantom Pain.
This has always struck me as an odd decision. Prior to Ground Zeroes' release, Hideo Kojima claimed he split off the prologue because he wanted to give fans something to play. Yet I've always believed pressure from Konami played a big role, especially given how The Phantom Pain itself was noticeably unfinished (though still brilliant) when it launched, and Kojima's departure from Konami shortly after the game's release.
In any case, I've often wondered whether the two games would be spliced together at some point, especially since Konami renewed its interest in making games. And after a fashion, it has finally happened, though neither Konami nor Kojima were involved.
Once again, the modding community has rappelled from PC gaming's transport helicopter to execute this ambitious reunification mission. Created by modder RLC and uploaded to Nexus Mods by CapLagRobin (via GamesRadar), the simply titled "Ground Zeroes" mod for The Phantom Pain grafts the standalone prologue mission into the larger 2015 experience.
Getting Ground Zeroes to work in The Phantom Pain requires a bit of prep. You'll need to install Snakebite Mod Manager and the latest version of Infinite Heaven, which is a location & mission addon system. You'll also need to download the US Naval Prison Facility map. Oh, and you'll need to own both TPP and Ground Zeroes.
Once you've downloaded and installed the mod, it will add the Ground Zeroes mission to the mission list on the iDroid in the helicopter. The mission will also trigger automatically after players complete Episode 1 of The Phantom Pain, suggesting it acts more like a flashback than a prologue.
It somehow even includes fulton support in Ground Zeroes, which apparently was a nightmare to get working because GZ has ceiling collision issues that don't exist in MGSV: TPP. The mod comes with a full list of known issues but most (not all) are relatively minor things like shaders not working properly in cutscenes or missing audio, which hopefully over time we'll see a few fixes for.
>> The only media in the article is the 2013 Phantom Pain GDC trailer.

It's taken 2 decades to appear, but this fan-made spiritual successor to Command & Conquer: Renegade has finally hit 1.0: '12 years of beta testing has led us to this'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/its-taken-2-decades-to-appear-but-this-fan-made-spiritual-successor-to-command-and-conquer-renegade-has-finally-hit-1-0-12-years-of-beta-testing-has-led-us-to-this/
Back in the primordial mists of 2007, when BioShock was the apex predator and open world games were only just evolving, a group of modders revealed plans to create their own successor to EA's ambitious but underwhelming first-person shooter Command & Conquer: Renegade. Conceived in response to Renegade 2's cancellation, Renegade X aimed to do what EA wouldn't using the hot new tech of Unreal Engine 3.
Now, almost 20 years later, Renegade X is finished. To be honest, I thought Renegade X was finished already, distantly recalling news about a release from many moons ago. But it turns out that release was for its playable beta, which Renegade X has remained in since 2014.
After more than a decade of testing, however, Developer Totem Arts put the finishing touches on its 1.0 version earlier this week, announcing the launch on its forums. "After 20 years of development, and after 24 years of rock 'n' roll time, we've got a present for ya, writes Totem Arts founder FobbyGen. "12 years of beta testing has led us to this: Renegade X 1.0."
The full version of Renegade X brings large-scale, team-based combat across over 30 maps, with all manner of vehicles from tanks to planes, and even devastating superweapons like orbital cannons and nuclear strikes. The 1.0 update primarily focuses on bug and balance fixes for the game. But there is one major addition, a new map called CnC-City. This is Totem Arts' long-awaited adaptation of the similarly-named C&C-City from the original Renegade, and really the last thing Renegade X had yet to adapt from the original.
The release was accompanied by a new trailer, which does a fantastic job of showcasing the scale and spectacle of Renegade X's combat. It's worth noting that Renegade X's multiplayer comes with both full online functionality and extensive bot support, and there is also a single-player campaign called Black Dawn that was released way back in 2012, though I imagine the multiplayer is substantially more polished than that at this point.
You can download Renegade X via Totem Arts' website. While its spiritual successor to the original Renegade may finally be finished, Totem Arts isn't done. The studio is also working on Firestorm, a first-person reimagining of Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun. Totem Arts says Firestorm is even more ambitious than Renegade X, with more devastating superweapons and a multiplayer game mode that's "very different" to Renegade. "It’s going to be out of this world," FobbyGen proclaims. Given what Totem Arts achieved with Renegade X, I'm inclined to believe them.
>> The article has the almost 2 minutes trailer of the 1,0 release.

One of the most impressive Star Wars mods in history just got a huge update, and co-op is on the table for the future: 'It has been almost a year-long journey to get to this point'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/one-of-the-most-impressive-star-wars-mods-in-history-just-got-a-huge-update-and-co-op-is-on-the-table-for-the-future-it-has-been-almost-a-year-long-journey-to-get-to-this-point/
If you like Star Wars games, you may occasionally lament that there just aren't enough of them. You may even lament that some of them are just too hard to revisit, aged as they are by decade upon decade of jank and compatibility issues.
TIE Fighter: Total Conversion might address both of those woes, given that it's both a port of 1994's TIE Fighter into 1999's X-Wing Alliance but also a substantial upgrade in its own right with its own tweaks—worth playing even if you've never touched the original. Oh, and it just got a massive update per a release trailer and in-depth update breakdown video released Feb. 27. In other words, there's never been a better time to dive in.
As the update breakdown explains, there are a few headlining changes. For one, the game is now split into separate installers for its "Classic" and "Reimagined" versions, which tinker with the original to varying degrees. There's also stability improvements, including new "side process" executables which should help the game's performance keep up with the team's ambitions.
Speaking of, each concourse room⁠—the in-game menus which got an animated facelift back in 2023—has been given an HD upgrade with new art, animations, and more. "Every single aspect has had a major facelift," explains mod developer Angel in the video.
"It has been almost a year-long journey to get to this point, and whilst I'm sure there will be plenty of bugs, issues, and other things to address after release, we finally got it out there." As Angel lays out in the video, getting this far took rebuilding TFTC for the 2025 version of the X-Wing Alliance Upgrade mod—twice to account for both versions in the new update.
The future is even more tantalizing; in the above video, Angel says that considerations for upcoming updates include co-op and a third game version that sets the current balance pass into stone so future updates can push things even further. The sheer scale of what's been done on both projects is dizzying, which was already true when PC Gamer senior editor Christopher Livingston called it TFTC "the perfect mod" five years ago.
>> The article has one of the new trailers.

After 4 years, I'm pleased to report I've inadvertently discovered Squid Game mods for GTA 5 are actually really good now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/grand-theft-auto/after-4-years-im-pleased-to-report-ive-inadvertently-discovered-squid-game-mods-for-gta-5-are-actually-really-good-now/
When Squid Game first exploded onto Netflix in late 2021, its influence on other forms of popular culture was immediate. The GTA 5 modding scene was captured by the zeitgeist, but it must be said that Los Santos and Blaine County's slant on the dystopian murder game show left a lot to be desired.
Defined by janky scripts, boring assets and dodgy AI, even the best-looking standalone variations lacked depth and purpose. The projects that pervaded the GTA roleplaying space arrived with some decent ideas at the time—and, crucially, swathes of keen contestants—but ultimately lacked the execution needed to keep folk returning.
I wasn't exactly looking to check-in on the Squid Game GTA mods space, then (I am, admittedly, still to get round to watching seasons two and three of the show itself), however I am happy to report it's in really good shape today.
Over the course of the last six months, in fact, it appears a whole host of neat fan-made projects have followed the conclusion of the show's third outing last summer. As you might expect, the iconic Red Light-Green Light gauntlet has received the most attention—but this time with scripts that actually work, configurable timers, smart detection logic, properly defined elimination rules, and in thematic terms, NPC behaviour that meets the show's darker themes and GTA's zany tone somewhere in the middle.
From the spaces I've sampled over the last few weeks, both standalone and those baked into FiveM RP, some mods drop you into fenced-off murder boxes, while others adopt custom maps with spectator cameras and scripted announcers. As you might expect, players now want more, with player progression, custom challenges and dedicated tournaments just some of the requests filling comment sections on the likes of GTA 5-Mods.
>> Other than the headline picture, there’s no media of this mod.

Heroic madlad is working multiplayer into Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and the brass ring of the whole thing is functional 2-player Farkle
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/heroic-madlad-is-working-multiplayer-into-kingdom-come-deliverance-2-and-the-brass-ring-of-the-whole-thing-is-functional-2-player-farkle/
Online multiplayer wasn't invented in real life until the Peace of Westphalia, but why should that stop determined modders? Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2—2025's Game of the Year, don'cha know—is looking a whole lot more populous than usual, thanks to some madlad mod-makers who have combined forces to bring a multiplayer mode to 15th-century Bohemia (spotted by GamesRadar).
It's early days yet, but in footage shared on Reddit, modder Marczuk Michał showed off their "experimental" mod that adds spectral fellow players to your KCD2 experience. "Each player sees the other as a ghost NPC—position and rotation are synced in real time," reads the description on the project's GitHub page.
It's more roadmap than product at this point—and mods being mods, may never get any further than the state it's in today—but I'll be damned if I'm not kind of impressed anyway. Michał first posted about their mod a couple of weeks ago, showcasing something pretty basic that mostly featured unanimated ghost-players warping around. A week on? The ghost-players are animating now, and the model "casts shadows, wears real items (armour + sword), and has smoother animations."
I sure wouldn't bet money on this ever getting as far as, say, TES3MP, or other mods that add multiplayer to games decidedly not designed for it, but I'm cheering it along anyway. There's something inherently funny—and ambitious to the point of madness—about crowbarring multiplayer into crunchy singleplayer RPGs like this.
>> No media about this mod either.

Cyberpunk 2077 Unofficial DLC 2 Adds Over 50 New Locations
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/cyberpunk-2077-unofficial-dlc-2-adds-over-50-new-locations/
Modder ‘Jon Cross’ has released an unofficial DLC 2 fan mod for Cyberpunk 2077 that adds over 50 new locations to the game. So, since this mod brings new free content to the game, I highly recommend downloading it.
Going into more details, the Unofficial DLC 2 Mod adds 20 new apartments, 12 bars, 7 clubs, and 3 mansions. It also adds a Roller Coaster, a Rooftop Pool Party, a Shooting Range, an Underground Casino, and a Mall Movie Theater. In total, we are looking at over 50 new locations that you can visit and explore.
The good news is that the mod should not conflict with any missions related to the base game or Phantom Liberty. As such, it should be safe to install and use it, even if you haven’t finished the game yet.
You can go ahead and download the Unofficial DLC 2 Mod from this link. Do note that you will also need the Appearance Menu Mod to open many doors and restore elevators that are permanently shut after completing some missions. There are also some other mods and tools that you’ll need to install. So, make sure to read its “Requirements” section.
>> The article has some screenshots.

GAMING NEWS

Battlefield 6 Title Update 1.2.1.5 Releases on March 3rd – Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/battlefield-6-title-update-1-2-1-5-releases-on-march-3rd-full-patch-notes/
EA and DICE have announced a new update for Battlefield 6. Title Update 1.2.1.5 will come out on March 3rd, and the teams have shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this new patch brings to the table.

The Witcher 4 will be shown at Unreal Engine Fest in June 2026
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-witcher-4-will-be-shown-at-unreal-engine-fest-in-june-2026/
In its latest podcast, CD Project RED confirmed when we’ll see new footage from The Witcher 4. According to the team, the game will be shown at the next Unreal Engine Fest event, which takes place in June 2026.

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.

And this is the third part of the Monday gaming news:

ConcernedApe finds out not everyone will be hot for the blacksmith in Stardew Valley's upcoming 1.7 update: 'You've all been dying to marry Clint... right? ...guys?'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/concernedape-finds-out-not-everyone-will-be-hot-for-the-blacksmith-in-stardew-valleys-upcoming-1-7-update-youve-all-been-dying-to-marry-clint-right-guys/

Steam Next Fest's top demos were packed with gnomeslop hijinks, open world piracy, and vampire card battling, but then—well—Marathon happened
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/steam-next-fests-top-demos-were-packed-with-gnomeslop-hijinks-open-world-piracy-and-vampire-card-battling-but-then-well-marathon-happened/

Marathon Server Slam update: Bungie says if you're not getting enough PvP action, maybe you're just not looking for fights in the right places
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/marathon-server-slam-update-bungie-says-if-youre-not-getting-enough-pvp-action-maybe-youre-just-not-looking-for-fights-in-the-right-places/
>> I’m posting this one here because by the time you may read it, the server slam may have already ended.

PSA: You can adjust your mouse sensitivity in Resident Evil Requiem, but the setting's not in an obvious place
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/resident-evil/psa-you-can-adjust-your-mouse-sensitivity-in-resident-evil-requiem-but-the-settings-not-in-an-obvious-place/
>> Also, the actress that played Grace says that Capcom wanted to go back to horror (link) and Leon is now married, apparently (link).

One of my favorite Next Fest demos turned out to be this speedrunner's delight modeled after 3D Sonic games, which just added ranked multiplayer races
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/one-of-my-favorite-next-fest-demos-turned-out-to-be-this-speedrunners-delight-modeled-after-3d-sonic-games-which-just-added-ranked-multiplayer-races/

I completely missed a new item being introduced to Minecraft in my excitement over its new baby mobs, and you bet I'm going to hoard thousands of them
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/i-completely-missed-a-new-item-being-introduced-to-minecraft-in-my-excitement-over-its-new-baby-mobs-and-you-bet-im-going-to-hoard-thousands-of-them/

Battlefield 6 explains how its Javelin anticheat system works—and it kind of boils down to 'just trust me bro'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/battlefield-6-explains-how-its-javelin-anticheat-system-works-and-it-kind-of-boils-down-to-just-trust-me-bro/

So I bought the Xbox Ally X

I was gonna wait for Panther Lake but with the way things are going, the prices might be nuts by the time it comes out and bestbuy was selling this at a discount. So I managed to buy it for $800 USD. It was an open box but it looks brand new and came with everything. The main reason I got this over the others is because it seems to mix everything just well enough compared to some of the others. Like the Lenovo Legion Go 2 has an OLED screen but it's extremely heavy. MSI Claw has the worst software of the bunch and Intels drivers from what I have seen is still not quite there yet, especially for old games which is the primary reason I got this handheld.

So far this thing has been great. It's better than I thought it would be and yea, there's certainly a level of windows jank when installing certain games and yes you do have to spend a few hours initially updating and configuring. But after that, it's pretty smooth sailing. I changed my power settings from sleep to hibernate and that changes the experience a lot. During sleep, it did occasionally spin up the fans for no reason while in hibernate, it really does feel like the Steam Decks suspend and resume function and even works in game. And Windows Desktop I'd say is superior to SteamOS desktop as things like the keyboard has a lot of context awareness. For example when I was signing into rockstar social club and needed to enter verification code, the keyboard automatically had the numpad enabled.

The gaming experience has been far better than any other handheld devices that I have owned thus far. The battery lasts a long time, the speakers is insanely good, the VRR display helps greatly with harder to run games and it's super comfy. Even though the screen is 1080p, I'd consider it more of a 720p handheld if you really want that 60FPS+ at high to max settings with ps4 era games. Emulation experience has also been great with many detecting it as an xbox controller instead of having to remap manually. 

So overall, I am happy with my purchase. I was pretty disappointed with the Switch 2 as the battery life was horrid and the screen could have been better. So this feels like the perfect handheld but granted much more expensive.

The Zotac gaming zone costs peanuts at the moment, in the UK at least.

Last week I bought a (barely) used Meta Quest 3 with Elite strap and a clip-on battery pack.
My prescription lens clip-ins arrived this Saturday.

Very nice VR headset with awesome pancake lenses and great PCVR compatibility.
It is very light and comfortable (better than my HP Reverb G2 and MUCH better than my PSVR2) and the passthrough quality is way better than the black&white PSVR2 passthrough.

My old Oculus Rift account still existed, so I finally have access to the Rift exclusive PCVR titles again, f.e. Lone Echo 1 + 2 and Stormland.
Some of these Rift games are crossbuy with the Quest store, so I can play them standalone without PC, f.e. Star Wars: Vader Immortal.

I had planned to wait for the Steam Frame, but the last reports hinted that Valve's new headset will be further delayed and expensive.

The sidequest store has a very cool Virtual Boy emulator, where you can change the base color of the stereoscopic games to any other RGB color of your choice and zoom in or out for a better field of view. So I saved 80 bucks for the new Virtual Boy hardware plus a "Nintendo Online Expansion Pack" subscription for a much better experience of these niche games.

Congratulation to both of you, Jizz and Conina, for your new "toys". I can already see that you'll enjoy them a lot.

I feel lousy now with my new UHD Blu-ray 4K player that arrived today...

Edit: This one here, but for about 35€ cheaper.

Hey, good for you!

What are you going to use it for? I hope it's not to watch movies on PC, because I read earlier this year that you can no longer do that on modern PC hardware (here, on Club386).

Well, that's a bummer.

I chose the UHD 4K for those movies, but otherwise it's mostly because I have a huge list of games on discs that I want to try and play with the new Dosbox Pure, As Windows 11 24H2 has broken support for several of those games and finding hacks or mods to get around those issues is getting more and more difficult.

Another reason is that through 30 years on PC I have amassed a ton of data that I'd love to archive, so the MDisk functionality was pretty important to me. And believe ir or not, I have almost an entire external hard drive full of pictures my wife took with her phones, which I also would love to store somewhere more permanent and save the drive for other purposes.