RPS Verdict: Monster Hunter Wilds

Is it wrong to eat a dinosaur that wants to be eaten? What if it asks you to make a little hat out of its gall bladder? What if the gall bladder has different opinions on the matter? Discover the answers to these and more as our merry band of conservation enthusiasts/trophy hunters discuss Monster Hunter Wilds!

Nic: Life, the absolute bastard, has kept me away from the Monst. Let me experience it through you. What’s the best Monst so far?

Brendan: I am fond of the squiddy critters that slop about. The Nu Udra is a giant gloopy octopus that feels like a stand-out fight partly because of its many, many arms, but also because of the environment you fight it in. It’s horrible (in a fun way) to wade about in the oil of this region, and try to avoid the flames that inevitably start to spread. Another later squid-like beast has some horrible knifey hands at the end of its tentacles, but I’ll let the readers discover the rest of that creep’s tactics by themselves.

Ollie: I’m partial to the Yian Kut-Ku myself. It was the very first monster I ever fought in any Monster Hunter, back in the days of Monster Hunter Freedom on my PSP. And all these years later, I still recognised all its moves, and it made the whole act of beating up the big fire-breathing chicken even more enjoyable and satisfying than it already was.

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EA hand Command & Conquer modders the source code for Tiberian Dawn, Renegade, Red Alert and Generals

EA have restored and released the full source code for several antique Command & Conquer games under the GPL license, in a red letter day for series modders. The games in question are the original Command & Conquer (aka Tiberian Dawn), Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Command & Conquer Renegade and Command & Conquer Generals, plus the latter’s Zero Hour expansion. That’s a lot of refurbishable strategy game to get your head around.

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The Gothic Remake demo reveals an RPG powered by wheeling, dealing, and growling

I’ve never played 2001’s Gothic, developed by Piranha Bytes, but Sin has an article from 2016 about why it is “more believable than modern RPGs”. In that piece, she paints an absorbing picture of a magically quarantined penal colony, where three factions of prisoners enjoy an uneasy truce. In this crammed ocean vent of a setting, fights generally end in defeat rather than death, reputation isn’t just a points gauge, and the player character’s centrality is an accident. It sounds pretty thrilling.

I am still searching for this RPG in the Steam prologue demo for Alkimia Interactive’s Gothic reboot. There are certainly some intrigues afoot, and I’m quite enjoying the desolate quarry scenery, but I’m distracted by aspects of the presentation, not least the fact that the prologue character looks like a Funko Pop incarnation of Highlander’s Christopher Lambert.

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Haste: Broken Worlds is silly-fast, momentum-based fun, and there’s a demo out now

I’m sorry to announce that I am yet again going to speak highly of a game about going up and down hills, real quickly like. Haste: Broken Worlds, from Clustertruck and Totally Accurate Battlegrounds devs Landfall, is very much about the haste first and the broken worlds second, sending you hurtling across the inclines of its cartoon gauntlets at what Chris Morris would call terrifying legspeeds.

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Relieve some road rage by smashing up the city in the demo for Deliver At All Costs

Some things I have smashed through in the demo for Deliver At All Costs: fire hydrants, surf boards, barns, an entire laundromat, street lamps, palm trees, garbage cans, several pedestrians, mailboxes, food stalls, fish markets, brick walls, a lookout tower, dumpsters, housewives, the city fountain, and a row of unsuspecting sunbathers. This toy-like messabout is proof of one thing. Almost every problem can be solved by driving a 1950s truck straight through it.

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Former Metro devs reveal singleplayer FPS La Quimera, a Latin American cyberpunk shooter with Hollywood credentials

Ukraine-based independent games studio Reburn have just announced a new shooter, La Quimera, which I would summarise as Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Cyberpunk 2077 playing kiss-chase in the near-future jungles and neon sprawls of Latin America. It’s got world and narrative writing from Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn, and is playable in single player with three-person co-op support. Here’s a trailer.

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I found a great deal on this HP OMEN 45L RTX 4080 gaming PC, down to just $2199.99 with this coupon code

Fancy a gaming PC deal that makes sense? HP is slashing $800 off its flagship HP Omen 45L RTX 4080 Gaming PC, bringing it down to $2,199.99 from a painful $2,999.99. That’s a hefty discount, which includes a $100 off coupon code: SURPRISEPC100. If you’ve been waiting for a proper gaming rig without selling a kidney, this might be it.

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“Most of the devs” at The Callisto Protocol studio Striking Distance laid off

Late last week, former Striking Distance concept art director Jesse Lee took to LinkedIn to reminisce on their time at the The Callisto Protocol studio. “Thinking back to the very beginning of Striking Distance Studios, to today – nearly six years later. Most of the devs were laid off, and it is hard to sum it all up right now,” wrote Lee.

The layoffs were confirmed this week in a statement from parent company Krafton to PC Gamer, which you can find below. Apologies for spoiling anyone’s game of official statement bingo but, yes, it contains the word “agile”.

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Upcoming Civilization VII expansion release dates seemingly leaked by Nintendo

The release dates for an upcoming expansion pack for Sid Meier’s Civilization VII have seemingly leaked via the Nintendo Store. The first part of the Crossroads Of The World collection, slated for “early March” in the official roadmap, is indeed listed on the leaked image as due on March 4th, 2025, with the second part due on March 25th – lining up with the roadmap’s “late March”.

Specifically, March 4th brings three separate items: the Ada Lovelace, Carthage, and Great Britain packs. On the 25th of the month, they’ll be joined by Simon Bolivar, Bulgaria, and Nepal.

The are some discrepancies on the UK Nintendo store, however, with the release dates for each of the packs from the first set also listed as 25/03/2025.

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