Gaming News

Baldur’s Gate 3 PS5 Preload and Early Access Details Announced

Larian Studios has revealed the preload times and release schedule for the PS5 version of Baldur’s Gate 3, ahead of its full PlayStation release on Sept. 6 early next month. Per a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) from Larian Studios, players who have payed for the $79.99 Digital Deluxe Edition of Baldur’s Gate 3 will be able to begin preloading the game on Aug. 31 starting at 16:00 UTC, and will be able to jump into the game at the same time on Sept. 2 courtesy of early access. Meanwhile, those who have pre-ordered the $69.99 Standard Edition of Baldur’s Gate 3 will be able to begin preloading starting at 16:00 UTC on Sept. 4, in preparation of the RPG’s full PS5 release on Sept. 6, once again at 16:00 UTC. Back in July...

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Shell Ultimate Road Trips Brings You To A New Fortnite Creative Map

Shell Ultimate Road Trips encourages you to take photographs and share online using the hashtag #ShellRoadTrips. There's more to Fortnite than battle royale quests, skins and emotes. Shell Ultimate Road Trips bring V-Power® NiTRO+ Premium Gasoline-fueled driving adventures to the Fortnite Creative building platform. Players can explore and take a break from surviving the shrinking storm to explore Shell island, which offers six exotic fan-made biomes to visit. Shell Ultimate Road Trips gives you the road trip experience without ever having to leave the comfort of air conditioning. Just use the Shell Island code 0314-6322-8548 to add the map to your playlist and hit the dusty trail. Shell Ultimate Road Trips' biomes are designed by...

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Meet the Enemies of Lords of the Fallen

One of the key elements of any good soulslike is good enemy design. Imagine Demon's Souls without the Mind Flayers, Bloodborne without the vicious werewolves that roam the streets of Yhanam, Dark Souls without those wheel skeletons... I actually I did imagine that last one, and that actually sounds kind of nice. The point is, imposing beasties and nasties are at the heart of this genre, and Lords of the Fallen is full of horrific denizes that reside in both Axiom and Umbral. Wanna see? Look no further than down below as we break down a handful of enemies that you'll be facing up against in Lords of the Fallen. Avowed Laymen of the order, the next step for most pilgrims if they are successful in their efforts to join the Hallowed...

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Deceit 2 Hands-On Preview: Mixing Social Deception With Eldritch Monstrosities

Our small group of survivors enters the medical room together. “I’ve never seen how the testing machine works,” I say to the others in the room, my words piped into their ears by proximity voice chat, “is it alright if I try it out?” One of the more experienced group members says, “Sure,” then another player hops onto the testing table. I press the button to begin the test and the old-fashioned computer begins to process. When it’s finished, a giant “Infected!” warning appears on the screen, visible only to me. “It says he’s clean,” I lie, and the group begins to disperse. My Infected partner gets up from the table and each of us follows a different Innocent player from the room, ready to kill them as soon as we are out of earshot of...

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 the First Modern Warfare to Have Zombies, Includes Classic MW2 Maps

Call of Duty fans are unearthing new information on Modern Warfare 3 via a secret mobile number, confirming a Zombies mode and remakes of classic Modern Warfare 2 maps. Call of Duty YouTuber MrDalekJD tweeted to show how texting the word “zombies” to the number spotted in the Modern Warfare 3 reveal trailer sparks a reply with a zombie emoji and a link to a zombie audio file hosted on Activision’s website. Modern Warfare 3 is the first Modern Warfare game to include Zombies mode as until now, developer Infinity Ward has focused on the Spec Ops mode for PvE, leaving Zombies to Treyarch’s Black Ops sub brand. But in a post-Warzone world the Call of Duty sub brands have sort of mashed together, and with pretty much every...

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Baldur's Gate 3 Gets Accessibility Mostly Right, But There's Still Room to Improve

It’s August and the only game I’ve consistently played is Baldur’s Gate 3. I can’t stop thinking about progressing in my multiple campaigns, unraveling new secrets and areas, and even determining which character best suits a specific conversation. And as someone who’s unsuccessfully tried numerous times to play tabletop D&D because of a lack of interest, I was initially apprehensive about playing the video game version. Thankfully I’ve never been more wrong. I have three campaigns I’m currently running – a Storm Sorcerer obsessed with the arcane, a Paladin who ironically broke his oath merely 30 minutes into his adventures, and a charismatic Bard who is very eager to let Astarion continue to bite his neck. With every decision I make...

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Destiny 2 Director Promises Significant Changes While Addressing State of the Game Reaction

Destiny 2 game director Joe Blackburn has taken to Twitter to apologize to players for the standard of Bungie's poorly received August State of the Game post, and to outline changes coming to the live action multiplayer shooter. “A few weeks ago we put out a State of the Game communication that wasn’t up to our standards for what you all expect of those kinds of communications,” said the Destiny 2 game director in a 16-minute Twitter (X) video addressing the Destiny community. “It didn’t provide the high level of vision that we normally provide, and really and truly a bunch of us were heads down working The Final Shape, and wern’t able to give it the care and love that we normally put into these kinds of communications.” While some...

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Starfield Preload Start Times Confirmed

Starfield preloading begins well ahead of launch as Bethesda has revealed some players can download and install the game starting tomorrow, August 17. A tweet from the developer (below) confirmed the previously rumoured date, with Xbox Series X and S, and Windows PC players able to preload Starfield on August 17 and Steam users able to preload on August 30. This means players can have the epic sci-fi RPG ready to go the moment it launches fully on September 6. Assuring fans this release date is for real (after two delays to the game), Bethesda also confirmed Starfield has gone gold, meaning the launch version of the game is officially finished and ready for release day. Starfield is perhaps the most anticipated video game release...

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WrestleQuest Review

Nothing loves the history, spirit, and concept of territory-era professional wrestling like Mega Cat Studios’ WrestleQuest. Every line of dialogue and pixel of art pays effusive homage to the colorful grapplers of yesteryear that is borderline saccharine, but witty writing and some fun characters dilute all the sweetness and prevent it from becoming too much to bear. It’s also clear that WrestleQuest absolutely loves old-school, turn-based RPGs like Final Fantasy, but in the case of the slow-paced combat, plodding dungeons, and basic usability features that haven’t kept pace with recent decades of game design, I wish it loved contemporary role-playing games a bit more. You could also call Toy Story another heavy influence for...

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PlayStation Plus Extra Loses 8 Games in September

Sony has revealed the games set to leave the PS Plus Extra Catalog over the next month. As spotted by redditor NoLastNameForNow, eight games are flagged as leaving PS Plus on September 19, and one leaves August 31. The eight leaving September 19 are: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands – Standard Edition Watch Dogs Watch Dogs 2 Death end re;Quest 2 Deathloop Chicory: A Colorful Tale Through the Darkest of Times Nidhogg 2 Leaving on August 31 is Steep. If you’re playing through any of the games on this list as part of the PS+ Extra catalog, now’s your warning they leave soon. Meanwhile, Tekken 2 and other PlayStation classics can now finally be bought on PlayStation 5. As spotted by ResetEra user Bishop89, Tekken 2, Ridge Racer...

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British Military Band Performance Features Final Fantasy 7's Anti-Military Opening Song

This year's Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the musical and military performance taking place in Scotland, featured Final Fantasy 7's anti-military opening mission theme. As reported by Eurogamer, the performance featured the ironic rendition of composer Nobuo Uematsu's Opening - Bombing Mission, which is played in the original Final Fantasy 7 as the game's protagonists arrive to blow up an energy reactor. The song is obviously anti-military, given the game is about fighting against the evil megacorporation Shinra and its military group Soldier. The clip was shared on Reddit by Roshi20, and while many in the comments expressed their excitement at hearing the iconic tune, the irony wasn't lost either. "Military marching band playing...

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The Signal, an Unreal Engine 5-Powered Multiplayer Survival/Crafting Game, Announced

Startup developer Goose Byte has announced The Signal, an Unreal Engine 5-powered sci-fi game for 1-16 players that aims to be an "approachable, third-person multiplayer open-world survival craft game with a key focus on pushing player creativity over violence." It's set on an alien planet with numerous biomes and puzzles, with that 16-player multiplayer option coming via player-hosted dedicated servers. It's in development for PC and consoles. Take a look at the first trailer above and the first screenshots in the gallery below. Goose Byte says you can expect to "explore, create, and survive as you choose to tame or coexist with your new home" and that you'll "invent and share infrastructure, vehicles and equipment that help you...

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Blue Beetle's Fight Scenes Took Inspiration From Injustice 2

Blue Beetle's stunt team used DC fighting game Injustice 2 as a reference when coordinating the film's fight scene. Speaking to Discussing Film, director Ángel Manuel Soto revealed he and the production team were inspired by a handful of video games including Injustice 2 when creating the latest DC entry. "We used a lot of references like The Raid movies and Gangs of London for the hand-to-hand combat, which Jon Valera, our stunt coordinator, drives very well," Soto said. "We managed to make something that represented that kind of flesh-to-flesh intimacy that can exist in violence. "But, at the same time, we play with different alternatives that are fantastic and the wish-fulfilment of a young man. For example, a lot of the combos...

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Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew Review

What do you get with a talking ghost ship staffed by a quirky found family of zombies and run by a literal skeleton crew? That sounds like a setup for a Guybrush Threepwood zinger, but it’s actually the good guys in Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew. This outstanding stealth tactics game has you managing teams of magic-infused undead pirates on their mission to find a lost treasure, serve justice, fulfill their last regrets, and outwit the skeletal monkey that terrorizes their ship. The developers at Mimimi have delivered a sense of humor that drives the plot, wonderful visual and level design, and a cast of ne'er-do-wells diverse in both abilities and function. All of that means Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew sets sail as perhaps the...

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Baldur’s Gate 3 Speedrunners Are Now Rushing to Have Sex

The Baldur’s Gate 3 speedrunner who completed the game in just 10 minutes has turned their attention to new, more pressing matters: having sex. Warning: Mild spoilers for an early-game ending of Baldur's Gate 3 lie below. Read on at your own risk! Anyone who’s played Larian’s expansive Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game will know half the fun comes from working out who to romance. Your party members, from La’Zael to Shadowheart, Astarion to Karlach, are all up for a bit of action back at the camp, if you play your cards right. Romance is an incredibly popular portion of Baldur's Gate 3. Just look at how Halsin's infamous bear sex scene propelled Baldur's Gate 3 sales up the Steam charts before the game even came out. Inspired by...

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Exoprimal’s First Big Update Adds 10 New Exosuits

Capcom has released the first big update for its recently-released mech dinosaur game Exoprimal. Title Update 1, out now across all platforms, adds 10 new alpha Exosuit variants and over 30 Modules, as well as a free Skywave “Egret” skin to celebrate more than one million players. Exosuit variants are equipped with unique weapon loadouts that contrast with the standard models, for example changing the effective combat range. Here’s a rundown of the 10 new suits: Deadeye Alpha: Burst Fire – This model sports a shotgun with a short-range spread that focuses into a five-shot burst while aiming down sights, offering offensive options for any distance. Zephyr Alpha: Energy Chakram – Unlike its melee-focused counterpart, this Zephyr...

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DC Universe Online Coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X

DC Universe Online comes out on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X this holiday season, developer Dimensional Ink Games has announced. The long-running free-to-download MMO launches on both consoles in native form, and the development team is working on gameplay and quality of life improvements to go alongside the upgrade. Expect some of these improvements to launch over the next few months before the release on current-gen consoles, and some next year. No matter which version you play, you’re still playing on the same servers with your same characters and friends, Dimensional Ink Games reassured. All purchases and achievements remain if you choose to upgrade. All you need to do is log in with the same PSN or Xbox account once you’ve...

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Baldur’s Gate 3 Developer Outlines Current Roadmap for Patches and Hotfixes

Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian has revealed the current roadmap for updates to the game, including a patch that makes over 1,000 fixes and tweaks. Larian boss Swen Vincke tweeted to say the studio’s current focus is fixing issues reported by players, and insisted it is listening to suggestions. The current roadmap for Baldur’s Gate 3 includes a fourth hotfix, Patch 1, which includes over 1,000 fixes and tweaks, and Patch 2. The latter, Vincke said, will already incorporate “some requests”. Baldur’s Gate 3 has enjoyed a massive launch, and quickly became one of the biggest games on Steam ever. Players and critics have praised the freedom of choice on offer in the sprawling Dungeons & Dragons-themed role-playing game, and how well...

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Skywalker Saga Sabered to a New Historical Low, Heavily Discounted Deluxe Editions, and More!

What can I tell you? Today is going to be a day of grifting great bargains and girding one's butt-cheeks (during the Matilda's semi-final attempt this evening). Pick of the litter as of now has got to be the ludicrously low price of LEGO Skywalker Saga on Switch. I'm also all about cheap thrills with Resi 2 Deluxe, Sifu Vengeance Edition, and a pretty magical price on Hogwarts Legacy. Oh, by the by, Amazon AU are now in the Digital Video Games business. Apparently, you can now get access to an extensive selection of downloadable PC and console games, digital game currencies, game memberships, in-game add-ons as well as other digital gaming content, redeemable on PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox and PC. Obviously, if I see good prices for...

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Baldur's Gate 3 PC Settings: Best Settings for Your Gaming Experience

Baldur's Gate 3 has been everywhere lately, and it's pretty safe to say it's one of the best PC games of all time. And while we've already explored the best Steam Deck settings for the massive RPG, what about the rest of us playing the game on a more traditional gaming PC? While Baldur's Gate 3 might look like an easy game to run – most CRPGs like it are fairly soft on your hardware after all – Baldur's Gate 3 is an especially heavy game, especially in later parts of the game. Having the best processor or graphics card possible will go a long way to making the game more enjoyable during the more... busy parts of the late game. But even if you don't have a top-end gaming PC, you can still get the game to run relatively well. Larian...

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Batman: Arkham Trilogy Comes to Nintendo Switch in October

The Batman: Arkham Trilogy comes to Nintendo Switch on Friday, October 13, Rocksteady has announced. A tweet from the developer (below) revealed the release date alongside new artwork of the three games: Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, and Arkham Knight. The trilogy will come bundled in one package alongside all released DLC. The trilogy marks the first time Rocksteady's Arkham games will arrive on Switch, though not the first time on a Nintendo console as a special edition of City appeared on Wii U. Rocksteady announced the Arkham Trilogy's port at the June Nintendo Direct, showcasing the collection with a montage of footage that showed the series' best and baddest villains including the Joker, Two Face, and more. All three games...

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Diablo 4 Players Are Using a Dungeon Nicknamed ‘Dopamine Tunnels’ to Gain 40 Levels in 2 Hours

Diablo 4 players are running a dungeon so packed with monsters it lets players gain 40 levels in just two hours. As reported by PC Gamer, Diablo 4 YouTuber Raxxanterax revealed changes made by the crowd-pleasing 1.1.1 patch have enabled superfast levelling in the Domhainne Tunnels dungeon. This is a dungeon in Diablo 4 found in the region of Scosglen. It’s packed with Goatmen and Bats — even more than before after Blizzard increased monster density in Nightmare Dungeons and in Helltides to encourage players to use them to farm experience points and loot. But perhaps the Domhainne Tunnels — aka the Dopamine Tunnels — are a little too packed with monsters. In a video, Raxxanterax demonstrated how it is possible to use the dungeons’...

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Here’s What’s Coming to Xbox Game Pass Up to the Launch of Starfield

Microsoft has confirmed the Game Pass lineup from today, August 15 up to the launch of Starfield on September 6. Available today is Everspace 2 on Xbox Series X and S and via cloud gaming. Everspace 2 is a fast-paced single-player space shooter from Rockfish Games, that returned a 7/10 in IGN’s review. “Everspace 2 is the looter-shooter for space jockeys and wannabe pilots, packed with cool ship classes and action-driven arcade dogfights to keep up the pace," we said. Next up is Firewatch, available on console, PC, and cloud from August 17. Firewatch is a much-loved single-player, first-person mystery from Campo Santo, which we gave a 9/10 in our review: “Firewatch is among the best of the ‘walking simulators’ thanks to stellar...

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Bethesda Shares Canonical History of Starfield's Universe

Starfield is less than a month away but those looking to get a taste of its universe already can read up on its history. Bethesda has shared a canonical timeline of events on Starfield's website, revealing the most important moments from humanity first reaching Mars to the events of the game in 2330. Starfield's version of humanity first reached Mars in 2050 and were living in space 50 years later, though didn't get busy again until 2156 when they arrived in Alpha Centauri, a system 4.37 light years away from Earth. Some of the entries are fairly robust, offering valuable lore to those looking to really delve into Bethesda's sci-fi adventure. The 2194 entry, for example, reads: "The United Colonies positions the star station...

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Gord Review

You know all of those miserable towns you find in fantasy RPGs like The Witcher and Diablo, usually in a swamp where the locals live in a precarious balance with whatever monstrosity demands they feed it children? How do they even survive out there? That’s the idea behind Gord: A blend of roleplaying, real-time strategy, and colony simulation that should lead to making tough choices in areas like careful building, precarious combat, and tense emergent story. Instead, each of the three aspects is implemented in such a barebones way that not one of them is deeper than a quagmire or remotely entertaining. The result is about as engaging as living in a swampy, miserable town you're desperate to leave, and when you finally do and your...

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Blizzard Disables Diablo 4 Trading, Threatens to Bans Players Who Used Gold and Item Dupe Exploit

Blizzard has suspended player trading in Diablo 4 “until further notice” due to a gold and item duplication exploit, and threatened players who used it with a ban. The exploit involved one player initiating a trade with a second player, dropping the items or gold in the trade slot, then forcing the Diablo 4 client to close. From there, the player would log back into the game, with the items or gold reappearing in the player’s inventory while also remaining in the other player’s inventory. In a post on the Diablo 4 subreddit, a Blizzard representative said the developer was working on a fix for the issue and will update the community once it has reinstated the ability to trade. “Once that is done, we will continue to monitor this...

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Modern Warfare 3 Brings Back Call of Duty’s Classic Minimap

The crowd-pleasing changes for Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer continue. After confirming the return of slide-cancelling, Activision has now teased the return of the classic minimap. Infinity Ward divided fans by ditching the long-running classic minimap for its 2019 Modern Warfare reboot, forcing players to rely on the compass at the top of the HUD (Heads Up Display) to determine where enemy fire is coming from. Infinity Ward stuck to its guns for last year’s Modern Warfare 2 - Modern Warfare 2’s minimap only shows enemy player dots when a UAV is active, which means it does not display red dots when enemy players sprint or fire their weapons. Explaining the decision in a blog post published in 2022 ahead of the launch of Modern Warfare...

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How Baldur's Gate 3 Was Completed in Just Ten Minutes by a Speedrunner

Someone has completed Baldur's Gate 3, from start to credit roll, in just over ten minutes. Yes, ten minutes. A game with a 35.5 hour main story, 94 hours for a completionist run according to How Long to Beat, and it was over so fast I couldn't tell what was going on. Speedrunner Mae managed this incredible feat over the weekend using just the origin character Gale, an extremely powerful jump ability, and a specific set of choices that end the game just a little earlier than people might anticipate. Warning: Mild spoilers for an early-game ending of Baldur's Gate 3 lie below. Read on at your own risk! If you're wondering how speedrunners are sprinting through all three acts of Baldur's Gate 3 in this record time, one major component...

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The New GTA 5 Mod Promising a Living, AI-Powered Story Even as the Ethics Debate Heats Up

Artificial intelligence recently infiltrated the world of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V thanks to a new mod. The mod is called Sentient Streets, and it lets players interact with over 30 AI-powered NPCs across the mission. Each character has a unique voice from AI text-to-speech and voice cloning website ElevenLabs. The mod is designed for players to have open-ended, voiced conversations with cult members, police officers, and civilians. Sentient Streets was built by veteran modder Bloc using the Inworld Character Engine, which includes features like assigning goals, actions, relationships, and voices to AI-powered NPCs. On YouTube, Bloc demonstrated how NPC conversations work in Sentient Streets. You approach a character, press a...

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Larian 'Cooking' Ability to Change Baldur's Gate 3 Character Appearance In-Game

If you are a Baldur's Gate 3 player, frustrated that you cannot change your character's appearance, fear not; Larian Studios has confirmed that the feature is in the works. The confirmation came from Michael Douse, the Director of Publishing at Larian Studios, who confirmed in a post on the social media platform X. "Things are being cooked," Douse replied after a user requested the feature. As it stands, once you lock in your character's appearance, you can't change it. That includes your hairstyle, your tattoos... all of it. So if you're not happy with your Tiefling's undercut, you'll just have to deal with it. Thankfully, it seems like that won't be the case for much longer. Baldur's Gate 3 has become a mega-hit for Larian...

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