Overwatch 2 will be testing whether 6v6 is worth coming back to in Season 14
- By Ash
- in News
If you've been paying any attention to Overwatch 2 throughout the past year, you're probably well aware of how prevalent 6v6 has been as a topic of conversation. And it's really no surprise since it was one of the more controversial parts of Overwatch 2's launch, and one that required the most drastic changes in order to facilitate - changes that, depending on who you ask, made the gameplay worse.
So in order to check if this is just people looking at Overwatch 1 through rose-tinted glasses, or if 6v6 is actually something that would benefit the game, Blizzard will be running two different experimental 'formats' throughout Season 14. Here's a brief rundown of what to expect:
Nightdive Studios are working on remastering the ambitious 2002 survival-horror The Thing
- By Ash
- in News
The 2002 video game based on The Thing was a squad based survival-horror that tried to emulate the movie's constant sense of paranoia by letting your teammates, some of which could've been by your side for a very long time, get infected and transform into monsters at the least opportune time. However, while it was quite an exciting and unique concept, the actual execution left a lot to be desired, at this is without even mentioning all of the various bugs that plagued the game.
As such, I'm delighted to say that Nightdive Studios are now working on a remastered version! The appropriately titled The Thing: Remastered will come with a visual overhaul including improved models and textures, new dynamic lighting, support for 4k resolution and 144 FPS, and the part that excites me the most, an assortment of gameplay improvements.
Project Zomboid's Update 42 will rework crafting and greatly expand Engineering/Electrical skills
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Despite its numerous advances over the years, some of Project Zomboid's systems and features are currently still in a placeholder state - they work, but only just. The best example of this is the entire Electrical skill as not only is there very little to do with it, but actually increasing your skill level is such a monumentally grindy task that most people probably haven't even explored what little content there is.
Thankfully, it looks like the upcoming Update 42 will be changing all of this for the better. First and foremost, the entire crafting system will be getting overhauled in an effort to make a unified and expansive system that will be able to work with anything from simple crafting stations to complex machines and appliances. This will also bring with it a rework of every single crafting skill as the new system will allow for more customizable recipes and a greater degree of complexity, both of which will be needed if you're planning to make a functioning post-apocalyptic society.
MTG Arena will be getting the entirety of competitive Pioneer this December 10th, 2024
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: MTG Arena's Pioneer Masters set has arrived with an avalanche of competitive staples.
Quite a few years have gone by since Pioneer Masters was first announced, but it looks like the long wait will soon be over. According to a recent announcement, MTG Arena will be getting the entirety of competitive Pioneer on December 10th, 2024 thanks to the Pioneer Masters set.
What this means is that MTG Arena will not have every single card that's currently legal in Pioneer, but rather any card that has seen even fringe competitive play. And if any random card ever becomes popular and successful enough to reach top 8 in a major tournament, Wizards of the Coast have said they'll make sure to add that as well.
Dota 2's Patch 7.37e has arrived to mop up some of the recent balance problems
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Dota 2's truly excellent Crownfall event has been extended for a few more weeks.
A fair bit of time has gone by since the last major, gameplay-focused update, so unsurprisingly Dota 2 is currently in a bit of a stale place given that everyone knows which heroes are the best at which role and why. In order to get everyone out of this routine the game will need a little shakeup, which is exactly what the freshly released Patch 7.37e is hoping to achieve.
With that in mind, it's worth noting that Patch 7.37e doesn't bring with it any sort of massive changes, but rather a variety of minor buffs and nerfs that will nudge a hero's winrate only by a percentage or two. This way the meta will hopefully get its much-needed shake up while Valve will get a bit more time to work on the traditionally chunky update that tends to launch a few months after The International tournament.
Factorio: Space Age Beginner's Guide - Nine simple things I wish I knew before I first started
- By Ash
- in Tips and Guides
It took the combined efforts of around 400,000 people to get the first man onto the Moon, so it's understandably a bit daunting when Factorio's new Space Age expansion asks you to start up an interstellar empire all on your own. Thankfully, Factorio does a pretty good job of breaking down super complicated tasks into manageable chunks, as well as automating much of the tedious stuff. With just a little bit of preparation it's entirely possible to make your first journey across the stars a nice and smooth one.
So in order to help you out, I would like to share with you a list of things that I had to learn the hard way and wish I knew from the very start. These aren't going to be ideal build orders or tricks to hyper optimize your base as I'm by no means a Factorio expert, but rather simple advice to help you prioritize the important stuff and avoid many of the pitfalls I fell into head-first. And without further ado, let us begin!
Factorio: Space Age Review - A tale of space bricks, suffering and triumph
- By Ash
- in Reviews
I can only assume Factorio exists in some sort of a magical time bubble. Every single time I sat down to play the new Space Age expansion I'd spend an hour tinkering with my space ship or exploring a new planet, only to then get up for a drink and realize an entire day has passed, it's now 5am, and I need to wake up for work in an hour!
If you're curious about what exactly makes Space Age so addicting, as well as what sort of challenges you'll have to brave in order to start an interstellar empire, all me to share with you my thoughts after spending way, way too much time playing Factorio this past week.
