Category: Rock, Paper, Shotgun

I think Nuclear Throne is one of those games that will always be at least just a little bit relevant, in some shape or form. There are other indie games I’d rather play more than it from its era, but it kind of feels like the best representation of that period in indie games too. Throwback pixel art, a unique spin on both bullet hells and roguelike, a bangin’ soundtrack, it’s got the right mix of things to help it stand the test of time. And here we are now, the game approaching its 10th anniversary, arriving with a new update.

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Sloclap’s foot-to-ball game Rematch is very good, and has been doing very well, with over three million sales to date, but some of us yet grieve for a time when kicks were reserved for torsos and limbs. Which is to say, some of us have been hoping that Sloclap might return to the martial arts realm in which it has hitherto made waves.

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Right, so, you’ve read the headline. There’s now a Cyberpunk 2077 mod that adds a rubbish chute to Megabuilding H10 with full animations and everything, so that you can exit V’s default flat via a big slide down to ground level.

It’s a totally unnecessary thing for someone to have spend time adding to a video game. It’s a totally unnecessary thing for a person to download and add to a video game they’ve bought. It’s also totally glorious, to the point that none of that other stuff matters a jot.

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Ok, so you remember how Stellar Blade arrived on PC and immediately there were more smutty mods than you could shake a fleshy stick at?

Well, the new Zone Kit modding tools Stalker 2 got as part of yesterday’s big patch have done something similar, but with memey jank.

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French studio Don’t Nod have laid off workers across multiple departments. The full number is unconfirmed, but multiple affected staff have posted about their departures on LinkedIn, including Lost Records: Bloom & Rage principal cinematic artist Mary Pouliot, technical artist Laurent Dufrense, and QA lead Sandra Cormier.

It’s been a rocky year or so for Don’t Nod’s staff. Last September, the studio paused two unannounced games and said they’re altering others, also unannounced, to be more appealing to a “wider audience”, following warnings about an 11% decline in operating revenue for the first half of 2024. Chairman and CEO Oskar Guilbert attributed this to (the excellent) Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden performing “well below expectations” commercially.

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Kindly Father Internet has dispensed a few new details for The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, Rogue Trader dev Owlcat’s recently announced RPG adaptation of the sci-fi book and TV show series. It sounds like it’s operating within the fine tradition of spin-off stories that are always a step behind or a room across from the live action celebrities.

I refer to games like The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, in which the noble human ranger Alsogorn, the stout dwarven warrior Simarli, the shieldmaiden Eowynnish and the other members of the Followship of the Ring pitch in with Gandalf, Faramir and co in scenes that might have been lifted from Petey Jackson’s cutting room floor. Except that turning the Balrog bridge fight into a five-way Final Fantasy slapfest is just naff.

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Thilmann had always sneered at apocalyptic portents. Comfort blankets, he thought. The warming wool of fire and brimstone and an end to all that is and will ever be, pulled up over arrogant fools, shivering from just having come to terms with their own mortality, afeared they’d miss out on the important parts. It is the ultimate comfort, he always said, to believe that you’ll tie with creation at the finish line, celestial mechanisms sputtering out in time with your own squishy innards. And yet, he could not help himself sensing finality on the wind. Louder even, it seemed, than the goading arena crowd about them.

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Today’s lineup is stacked. Two big hits from the Lies of P series are on deep discount over at Fanatical, and there’s a shiny preorder deal for Borderlands 4 with multiple editions up for grabs. If you’re itching for fresh horror-laced action or chaotic looter-shooting, you’re in luck. Use the FANATICAL15 code and you can scoop both Lies titles for under $26 each, which is downright criminal given how much content they pack in.

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A work-in-progress version of Dune: Awakening‘s first big post-release patch is now testable on Steam, so you can hop in and check out the changes Funcom’s making early doors before it rolls out for everyone in a few weeks.

A bunch of the changes the game’s devs teased or confirmed during their recent AMA and letter to players haven’t found their way into the patch, or at least this early version. Though, you’ll at least be able to try out PvE in the Deep Desert, something folks have demanded en-masse.

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has a sizeable game update that promises to finally get the game’s A-Life system working as intended. For those just joining us – perhaps because you only popped into existence the second you entered my field of view – A-Life is developer GSC Game World’s noughties-era buzzword for the pervasive simulation of NPCs throughout the open world, leading to unpredictable interactions and conflicts and the general sense that things are happening without your input.

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