Imsim Core Decay looks polished, but maybe too Deus Sexy for its own good

Ivar Hill and Slipgate’s Core Decay is a Deus Ex and System Shock-flavoured immersive sim that’s all about the ABCs. A, of course, stands for Attacking by means of things like energy rifles, electro-batons and shotguns. B is for back-stabbing, referring to the stealthy player who may stack objects so as to clamber into vents, and whack guards deftly in the noggin to escape detection.

And C is for Conversing, referring to the act of wooing civilians – who thus far seem miraculously unbothered by your menacing hooded appearance and sepulchral accent – so as to procure door codes and the location of keycards. You can see all these approaches in the game’s new trailer, below.

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Earthless is a Homeworld cardgame, and a pretty good time

Blackbird Interactive’s next big thing is Homeworld 3, out February 2024, but Homeworld 3 has a little cousin, Earthless, which tells approximately the same tale of a big colony ship fleeing across the galaxy, but takes the form of a deck-building roguelite cardgame. Never one to say no to a bout of space strategy, I fired up a preview key over the weekend, and while I wouldn’t say my pulse has jumped to hyperspace, I’m certainly enthused.

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Best early Amazon Prime Big Deal Days PC gaming deals 2023

Amazon Prime Big Deal Days is both too hard to say and weirdly close to the most recent Prime Day. And yet, as expected, it’s set to be stuffed senseless with computer kit; there are already dozens of offers on SSDs, gaming mice and keyboards, and laptops ahead of the main event on October 10th-11th. Also: loads more. This guide to the best early Prime Big Deal Days PC gaming deals (urgh, see?) will pick out the highlights for your consuming convenience.

The majorest of major disclaimers: these early deals aren’t yet subject to the defining rule of Prime Big Deal Days, specifically that its juciest savings will only be for Prime members. In other words, any deals on this list, right now, are available to everyone.

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In Frostpunk 2, it’s not the cold that’s your enemy, but human nature

In the frozen hellscape of Frostpunk, you eked out your existence in hours and days, clinging to your heat- and life-giving generator at the centre of your fledgling city like there was literally no tomorrow. In 11 bit Studio’s forthcoming sequel, Frostpunk 2, the apocalypse is yesterday’s news. Now you’re dealing with “what happens when you survive the un-survivable,” as the game’s co-director and design director Jakub Stokalski neatly puts it when I sit down for a hands off presentation at this year’s Gamescom. And to do this, Frostpunk 2 is going big, measuring its time not in days, but weeks, months and even years.

“If we want to show the evolution of societies and different utopias/dystopias, we need breathing room,” says Stokalski. “And this breathing room really is in the scale, both in the physical sense but also in the sense of time. It’s difficult to show meaningful social change in the space of a month, so the time ticks now in weeks and months, and in a long playthrough you’ll get up into years, so you can see the consequences of your choices.”

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Paradox show off Foundry, a factory game of infinite size

Paradox have announced that they’re publishing Channel 3 Entertainment’s Foundry, a first-person factory management sim set in an… “infinite” world. Factories with no maximum size limit? Oh dear. I had a hard enough time shucking off my addiction to Dyson Sphere Program, in which you can build a factory that encloses the sun. I dread to think how much time I could waste away playing this.

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GTA VI will be revealed this week, if you believe the fans

Rockstar are about to properly announce Grand Theft Auto VI, going by some hectic speculation surrounding a TwiX image for GTA Online‘s upcoming in-game Red Happy Moon Tee festival. A child in the ways of the internet might glance at said image and merely conclude that if you play GTA Online at any point this week, you can scoop up a seasonal cosmetic. But look again with unclouded eyes, young one. What does your heart say to you?

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Ion Fury: Aftershock launches today with bike combat, bouncier bullets and remixed enemies

Ion Fury: Aftershock, an expansion pack for Voidpoint’s retro FPS featuring new weapons, enemies and game modes, launches today 2nd October 2023, and there’s a trailer below awaiting your fervent appreciation.

Well, assuming you’re not Matt Cox – in our review of the main game, he deemed it an experience in which “old-school decisions too often trump good ones” and “a blast from a past I never lived through”, concluding that “Ion’s tongue might be in its cheek, but I’ve got little interest in what it’s saying.” Ouch. Still, Steam user verdicts are markedly more enthusiastic, and what kind of jaded soul would turn his nose up at a Cluster Shot launcher with bouncing bullets? Bouncing bullets, Matt.

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