Auto Added by WPeMatico
I’d say Black Friday 2023 is fast approaching, but given how many early sales have launched, you might say it’s already here. Hence, it’s time to start rounding up all the best Black Friday PC gaming deals on price-slashed gear that’s actually worth owning. From cheap yet quick SSDs to handy gaming mouse upgrades and maybe even the latest graphics cards, this is your complete guide to getting the best savings on quality gaming kit.
It’s time for another edition of Ask RPS, where we answer reader questions put forward by RPS supporters. Today’s question is a nice, warm, fuzzy one, as it’s all about the good times we’ve had playing games in co-op with friends and family.
It comes courtesy of Aerothorn, who asks: What is your favorite co-op gaming memory? (along with the additional clarification that these memories don’t need to be confined to designed-for-co-op games, but could also stem from playing a single-player game with a friend. “I used to play Descent with me piloting and my friend gunning!” they said).
So which games make us think of happy times with pals and good company? Come and find out below.
As a staunch Nintendo head in the early console days, I would say my affection for PS1-era games is… present, but not particularly palpable. For me, the PlayStation One was mostly a machine to play Final Fantasies VII through IX on, and not much else (it was a very belated and cheap second-hand purchase, I should note, and games were still sufficiently expensive back then that maintaining two healthy game libraries for both the family N64 and my new Squall box was nigh on impossible). Nevertheless, I’ve been increasingly fascinated by the revival of PS1-era games in recent years, and it’s been interesting to see which modern games have been “demade” in this style – see Bloodborne PSX – and which ones have made it their own from the off – see Signalis, Heartworm, and many others.
Crow Country is the latest game I’ve seen to take up the PSX mantle, and it combines the chunkiness of Final Fantasy VII-style character models with the grimy survival horror of something like Resident Evil to brilliant effect. Made by SFB Games, the same devs wot made the also excellent Tangle Tower, it’s currently got a very good demo up on Steam at the moment, and it’s got me thinking: what do you like most about PS1-era games on PC, and which ones are your all-time favs?
World of Warcraft‘s expansion pack The War Within, out next year, comes in several flavours. There’s the standard version of the pack, which includes access to previous expansions, currency for cosmetics and a level 70 character boost. The Heroic edition gives you all that plus a mount, a pet and extra in-game cash. And then there’s the most expensive Epic edition, which includes a pet, two toys, 30 days of game time… and three days of early beta access to the game, yours for $89.99 in the states.
Naturally, World of Warcrafters are rather concerned about the last bit. It’s the first time Blizzard’s long-running MMO has taken the paid early access approach, recently adopted by Starfield and Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – there have been early access betas in the past, but they’ve been doled out by lottery. Blizzard’s game director Ion Hazzikostas has now moved to reassure the grousers and gripers, promising that The War Within’s Epic edition won’t give minted early worms the edge over those poor peasants who scoop up the less pricey versions.
This winter’s dismally received Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was created in “less than a year and a half”, with staff working overtime to make up for mid-development changes of direction, according to a new report published on the day of the latest Activision shooter‘s release.
I like to think my Steam Deck OLED review was a sufficiently broad piece of opinioning, but in the spirit of plurality – and because we already did it with that Steam Deck Second Opinion video – I wanted our head honcho Katharine to give her take. She’s also been getting to grips with the Steam Deck OLED behind the scenes, and happens to be an expert on portable gaming devices with organic light-emitting diode screens. An expert on yearning for them, anyway.
The original Risk Of Rain was a chaotic, 2D sidescroller about turning a tiny character into a wandering projectile swarm. It’s sequel mimicked the systems but switched from pixel art to 3D – and in my eyes lost a little of its readability in the process.
Enter Risk Of Rain Returns, a full remaster of the 2D original with higher resolution artwork, new survivors, and slicker multiplayer. It’s out now.
Braid: Anniversary Edition is finally on the way. Originally announced back in 2020 with a 2021 release date, the revision of the classic puzzle platformer will finally release on April 30th, 2024. Aside from completely re-painted artwork designed for modern resolutions, it also has fifteen hours of developer commentary.
Starfield‘s cast of sidekicks includes cowboy dad Sam Coe voiced by Elias Toufexis, also known as the voice of Adam Jensen in Deus Exes Human Revolution and Mankind Divided. This wasn’t the role Toufexis was originally hired for, however. The actor revealed that he and fellow voice actress Cissy Jones, who voices romanceable party member Andreja, were originally hired to voice Starfield’s protagonist.
Samsung’s 980 Pro SSD may not be the company’s PCIe 4.0 NVMe flagship any more, but it’s still a fearsomely fast SSD in its own right that comes very close indeed to the 990 Pro in real-world performance tests. The 2TB model is currently discounted over at Amazon US, where you can find it for just $103 rather than its usual $128 – one of the best prices we’ve recorded for a 2TB drive of this speed and quality.
