Larian pitches early access as a chance to dig into the guts and help iterate over the next however many months. I suspect many just want to peek at what they’ve done with the series. It was obvious early on that this wasn’t going to be an Infinity Engine tribute act, a la Pillars Of Eternity. But neither is it just Original Sin 3 (one of the more tiresome sneers, given that a D:OS3 would fundamentally be a welcome thing)....

It’s a hefty test. You can try out “eight different multiplayer maps set in both Italy and North Africa”, “compete in 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 matches”, as well as “play Skirmish vs AI, Annihilation Mode and create Custom Games”. You also get to try out “all four factions and the twelve Battlegroups”. Battlegroups are sets of abilities, hooked up to an intriguing system that lets you choose three possible Battlegroups at the start of game then lock yourself into one while you’re mid-match....

TaleWorlds have published all the updates in their update 1.4.3 patch notes but they also give the highlights for busy lords on Twitter. One of the biggest lifesavers—quite literally I imagine—is the return of auto blocking. Eager players had already created an auto block revival mod but TaleWorlds have apparently relented and chucked it into the game themselves. In singleplayer you won’t need to use your lightning reflexes to select a direction to block anymore, just timing the shield block itself....

In his Battlefield Portal preview, Brendy already saw some of the fun you can have with Portal - such as taking tiny maps and throwing 128 players on them, handing everyone RPGs, or changing player run speed to have everyone zooming around. But there’s so much more. Like, so, so much. For starters, Dice say when the game launches, they’ll have a bunch of pre-made classic maps ready and waiting for you....

It’s out in early access now. Here’s a trailer from last month, which sets thing up: Or, to steal Alice’s joke from when she named it one of the best demos of the Steam fest, “Timberborn is set in a world where humans have pissed their society up the wall and beavers have evolved to take their place. So, like, 20-30 years in the future.” As beavers, almost everything you construct is made of timber and you always need to stay close to the water so you can use it as a power source....

But did you know that our favourite space engineer also has lots of secret talents too? When Dead Space originally came out in the back end of 2008, his corporate overseers at EA sent Mr. Clarke to do all sorts of odd jobs before he popped off on the believeable, but bleak USG Ishimiura. Golf caddy, professional skateboarder, even a part-time dragon slayer. Heck, he’s recently been back on the second gig train with his stint in Fortnite just earlier this week....

Best Among Us Mods Our list of best Among Us mods has everything you could possibly want to help give your favourite multiplayer game a fresh lick of paint, from new roles and different types of game rules to better tools for sneaking and stabbing people in the back. You can either click the links below to go straight to the mod in question, or you can just carry on reading the whole thing....

On this page: How to unlock the M16 Best M16 loadout setup Best M16 Perks and Equipment How to unlock the M16 in Warzone Unlocking the M16 won’t take long at all, and you might already have it available if you’ve been playing Warzone for a while. All you need to do is rank up to level 10, either in Cold War, Warzone, or both. By logging in with the same account, you’ll be able to carry over your progress and unlocks from each game and use your M16 with all the bells and whistles you’ve already gained....

Our best Kastov-74U loadout aims to improve the recoil control so that you can land hits easier, while maintaining its snappy handling and mobility that make it so strong in the current meta. With this Kastov-74U setup, you’ll find yourself charging around and gunning down enemies with remarkable precision. Below, you’ll find the best Kastov-74U loadout, including the attachments, secondary weapon, perks, and equipment that you need to use....

How to unlock new skills in Saints Row In Saints Row, you gain a new skill every time you level up. Saints Row doesn’t have a skill tree as such, but each time you level up, you’ll get your mitts on the next skill in line; and, naturally, bigger level number equals more impressive skill. Ed described this as being akin to a battle pass system after playing the preview, and it’s a good comparison if you want an idea of how linear skill progression in this game is....

Bloodborne PSX developer Lilith Walther tweeted the trailer on Friday: I appreciate the Akira reference, too. Although there are no other details, the trailer says that the game will come “when it’s ready.” Bloodborne PSX launched in January after years of development. Despite the novelty of the idea - what if Bloodborne was a PSX-era game? - the actual results were surprisingly robust. The free game, which you can grab from Itch, covers the opening areas of Bloodborne up until Father Gascoigne, with impressive commitment both to the PSX aesthetic and to replicating Bloodborne’s Victorian horror....

Those there city maps with AI squadmates do remind me of Brutal Doom’s story campaign, which has plenty of both. Brutal Doom already played quite differently to ye olde Doom so sure, continue down that path under a whole new name. I was surprised by one thing I didn’t see: no execution animations, one of Brutal Doom’s most famous features. Maybe they’re passé now Id Software are doing ‘glory kills’ in official Doom?...

This game’s setting is familiar - a broken medieval world where humanity is dying out, and what’s left in its place are big ugly monsters guarding the areas you want to get to. The special thing about Mortal Shell, though, is in the title itself. Throughout the game you’re able to find “shells”, or bodies of fallen warriors, that you can hop into to make your way through this ruinous land....

There’s very little stress and no need for detailed schemes, reflexes, or micromanaged tactics. As long as there is food, more buggos will come, and as long as there are buggos, they will loosely move in the direction you command, dying in droves but succeeding in aggregate. It’s a good time that asks for little but a point to attack and a desire to consume everything in your path. I’m actually surprised at how much I want to keep playing it....

Season 1 of Call Of Duty: Vanguard doesn’t kick off until December 1st, but there is a Preseason already taking place. While it’s not as big as the full seasons are going to be, there are still some goodies worth grabbing if you’ve already attained max Military Rank before then. Read on for more details of how Season Level and Prestige Rank work in Vanguard, and what rewards you can claim for increasing your Prestige....

First off, Warzone now has an objective-based game mode called Payload. It pits two teams of 20 players against each other in a race against the clock. Namely, one team has to escort two beefy trucks through a series of checkpoints, while the opposing team attempts to stop them by purchasing barricades or even entire buildings. I’m excited to give it a go, mainly because it’s something truly different from their usual twists on last-man standing modes....

These videos appeal to my nosiness. Through Kofi, I get to see all the people behind their cool threads. I wish we had a Kofi equivalent in Call Of Duty: Warzone. I need to know who’s behind some of the player weapons I’ve picked up. Why that camo? Why those attachments? Seriously, who are you?

As you can see from the images above, The DG1 SDV is quite a small little thing with just a single fan to keep itself cool and a smattering of blue LEDs down one side. No other desktop GPUs were shown to press during CES, although I’m sure there will be other, larger versions available to buy once Xe has its official launch later in the year. Indeed, Intel told Anandtech that they’re only producing small quantities of this DG1 SDV right now so that software makers can start getting themselves ready ahead of Xe’s release date....

Does Chivalry 2 have crossplay support? Yes, Chivalry 2 does have crossplay. This means you’ll be able to play with and against players who are on different devices and consoles to you. PC players, Xbox players, and Playstation players can all busy themselves chopping each other’s heads off with no issue. There is no crossplay setting in Chivalry 2’s menu: it is automatically enabled and there’s no way to turn it off....

The devs say the new story bits were filmed using the same tech as Disney’s Mandalorian, Extended Reality (XR). It’s shot in live action, with actors (like Ncuti Gatwa who played Eric Effiong in Netflix’s Sex Education) doing their performances in front of actual screens with the Grid world behind them. It’s a bit nicer than green screens, because actors can actually feel more immersed in what they’re doing. Plus, a very cool thing to use for games!...