Kotaku Wednesday, January 29, 2025 9:05 AM  Marvel Rivals has been given a lot of shit for its unapologetic poaching of Overwatch's ideas. From the overall format down to individual hero's kits, NetEase copiedBlizzard's homework and didn't try to change it much. That being said, it's nice that Overwatch 2 has a direct competitor to put its feet to the fire, and… |
Kotaku Wednesday, January 29, 2025 9:00 AM  Now in its ninth year, the overwhelmingly expansive sci-fi survival sim No Man's Sky is transforming yet again. Another massive overhaul to the look and feel of its planets and solar systems has arrived in the form of the new Worlds Part II update. It's the latest evolution of the game thanks to Hello Games' ongoing… |
Kotaku Wednesday, January 29, 2025 8:45 AM  The second trailer for horror movie Sinners has dropped, and it's a juicy, detailed and thrilling three minutes. Ryan Coogler, director of Black Panther, helms a period horror movie that stars Michael B. Jordan and Michael B. Jordan as twin brothers, attempting to put their lives back together by returning to their… |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 9:59 AM  One lucky gamer grabbed the deal of the century this week, picking up an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super for a huge 60% discount, just as retailers prepare for brand-new RTX 5000 series cards to hit the shelves. Thanks to this incredible Walmart discount, this gamer paid just $350 for the RTX 4070 Super, saving $249 in the process. It's rare to see any modern Nvidia GPU with a discount, but a 60% cut in price like this is almost unprecedented. It's even more surprising to see it happen with an RTX 4070 Super, a card which is only a year old at this point and which is still the best graphics card for the average gamer, at least for the time being. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: RTX 5090 review, DLSS explained, Best graphics cards |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 9:20 AM  January 29, 2025: We checked for new NBA 2K25 codes and moved one to the expired section. What are the active NBA 2K25 codes? It's another year in the NBA 2K calendar, and as is tradition there are plenty of freebies to collect. Over the lifetime of each game in the storied basketball series, 2K dishes out a slew of locker codes that can be punched in, rewarding you with everything from free packs to top-rated stars as the season progresses. In NBA 2K25, you can expect a similar slurry of goodies to come your way, helping you make the most of your time in the sports game. Of course, NBA 2K25 locker codes don't last forever, so you'll have to act fast when a new code does pop up. Fortunately, we're keeping our eagle eyes eagerly on the latest codes, which you can find below. Continue reading NBA 2K25 codes January 2025 - all locker codes MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best sports games, Best multiplayer games, New PC games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 9:01 AM  With its slimline two-slot cooler, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 Founders Edition might look practically identical to its two-grand sibling when you lift it out of its slender, recyclable cardboard box, but there's a very different GPU under that cooler. You can basically think of the RTX 5080 as half a 5090 – you get around half the GPU power and half the VRAM. Perhaps more importantly, it's also half the price. Despite all this, though, the RTX 5080 performs exceptionally well, and can still be regarded as a 4K gaming GPU. This new Nvidia top-end sub-$1,000 GPU picks up from where the RTX 4080 Super left off, and that's not a bad place to start. This GPU is already the best graphics card you can buy if you can't stretch to over a grand, and the 5080 brings support for DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Gen with it, which uses AI to insert up to three frames between each pair of genuinely rendered ones, massively increasing the frame rate, with a negligible impact on image quality. I'm also really glad to see that Nvidia has abandoned the ludicrous $1,199 price tag that held back the RTX 4080 when it was launched, and instead gone with the $999 tag of the later 4080 Super model. On the other hand, the RTX 5080 has a very similar spec to the 4080 and its Super variant in terms of basic numbers, which means it's heavily relying on new features such as Multi Frame Gen to really give it a generational edge. Is this enough? I've run the RTX 5080 benchmarks on our test rig to find out. Continue reading Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 review: Meet the new $999 graphics card king MORE FROM PCGAMESN: RTX 5090 review, DLSS explained, Best graphics cards |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 9:01 AM  No Man's Sky is consistently the most impressive comeback story in videogames. Yes, CD Projekt Red overhauled Cyberpunk 2077 after launch, and Bethesda keeps enhancing Fallout 76, but what Hello Games has achieved in the last nine years is extraordinary. The narrative of No Man's Sky was far from over when it launched in August of 2016, as Hello Games has consistently delivered free updates that take the cosmic exploration game from strength to strength. Today is no different, because after months of waiting, No Man's Sky Worlds Part 2 is finally here. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best RPG games, Best open-world games, Best space games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 9:35 AM  When is the Hollow Knight Silksong release date? Silksong is the long-awaited sequel to 2017's immensely popular Hollow Knight. We don't use the phrase 'long-awaited' lightly either, since over half a decade has passed since its announcement. Just like its predecessor, Hollow Knight Silksong is a 2D Metroidvania game set in an underground realm inhabited by bugs. You can expect to explore gloomy grottos and ancient citadels in classic platform game style, fight off their quarrelsome occupants, and unlock powerful skills and equipment. Here's everything we know about when to expect Hollow Knight Silksong, including gameplay and trailers. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best Indie Games, Hollow Knight Silksong release date, Upcoming PC Games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 9:34 AM  What are the Zenless Zone Zero banners? If you're looking to expand your roster of playable agents, then wishing on banners is your best bet. These digital gacha machines form the basis of developer HoYoverse's monetization strategy, and they should be instantly familiar to anyone who's dipped into Genshin Impact or Honkai Star Rail. Zenless Zone Zero includes several event banners that offer the chance to pull characters, weapons, and Bangboo. Banners rotate regularly, so it's important to think strategically about whether to spend your ZZZ Polychrome on the current banner, or hold off until the next one. The ZZZ 1.5 banners include brand-new agents that can shake-up your Zenless Zone Zero team comps, so get set to start spending in HoYoverse's urban gacha game. Here's who you can pull in Zenless Zone Zero banners. Continue reading Zenless Zone Zero banners - next, current, and 1.6 banners MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Zenless Zone Zero review, Zenless Zone Zero codes, Zenless Zone Zero banners |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 9:52 AM  When is the Monster Hunter Wilds release date? Following the much-lauded migration 0f Monster Hunter onto PC in recent years, we're sharpening our blades in preparation for the next installment of Capcom's high-fantasy hunting RPG. We've already seen some of the big changes coming to the RPG game series with Monster Hunter Wilds, including unprecedented mount mobility and all-new mechanics. Thanks to the power of next-gen consoles, Wilds is shaping up to be a stunning open-world game, as Ken's Monster Hunter Wilds Gamescom preview can attest. Here's everything we know about the Monster Hunter Wilds release date and all the new features to expect, from combat to cooking. Continue reading Monster Hunter Wilds release date, trailers, and latest news MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Monster Hunter Wilds monsters, Monster Hunter Wilds weapons, Monster Hunter Wilds release date |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 9:12 AM  What are the Stellaris console commands and cheats? As with all grand strategy games, the desire to have that perfect run is strong. While some of the best stories come from rolling with the punches, when you're the hero of your own tale you sometimes want things to happen in a specific way. That's where cheats come in. Stellaris has a console command feature that's common with many strategy games where you can input commands to achieve instant results. Sometimes this can be literal cheating, like giving yourself more resources or just hand-waving away a pesky rival, but there are plenty of debug commands and options to create nice visuals, like by removing the UI. We've compiled a guide to the essential commands to give you a smooth game. Continue reading Stellaris console commands and cheats MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Stellaris review, Stellaris mods, Stellaris DLC guide |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 7:52 AM  If you're after a roguelike that's a little less intense than the likes of Hades 2, cozy cooking-themed dungeon crawler Cuisineer is a delightful option. It combines isometric ARPG dungeon crawling with a restaurant management side reminiscent of Overcooked. Having already seen success on Steam, the indie game has now made its way to consoles - and alongside that launch, the PC version is getting a generous helping of new features including more weapons, events, and quality-of-life upgrades. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best cooking games, Best roguelikes, Best action games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 7:48 AM  The ever-popular Asus ROG Ally handheld gaming PC is now cheaper than ever. Thanks to this Asus ROG Ally deal, you can get your hands on this portable 7-inch Steam Deck rival for the bargain price of just $449.99, with Best Buy knocking a huge $200 off its usual retail price. This Asus handheld still ranks highly among the best handheld gaming PCs out there, holding its own against newer handhelds, including the Asus ROG Ally X, when you consider cost versus performance. It was already pretty hard to find a Windows gaming handheld this powerful for the price, but this new discount makes it an even more competitive option for gamers. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ review, Asus ROG Raikiri review, Best gaming motherboard |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 8:03 AM  How do you complete the The Tomb main quest in Black Ops 6 Zombies? As we know already, each new Treyarch Zombies map comes with a huge main questline, that you can either play through on your own accord, or wait until Directed Mode is added to guide you through. The Tomb is no different. With the arrival of BO6 Season 2 comes the fourth Zombies map, The Tomb, and a new mammoth questline continuing Maya and the gang's story. Exclusive rewards are available for completing the main quest before Directed Mode is added, so if you want to be among the first to complete the Black Ops 6 The Tomb main quest in the zombie game, here's exactly how to do it. Continue reading Black Ops 6 Zombies The Tomb main quest guide MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Black Ops 6 guns, Black Ops 6 missions, Black Ops 6 loadouts |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 7:35 AM  What makes a truly brilliant FPS game? Half-Life and Doom are good examples. Valve's 1998 icon has the structure, the story, and the hybrid level design that mixes gunfights with brain teasers. Doom, of course, is Doom. It's pure energy, the FPS at its purest and most potent. But if we're talking about the history of the genre, there's another game, launched at the very tail of what we might call the boomer shooter era, that deserves the same regard. You can now own FEAR for less than one dollar. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best FPS games, Best old games, Best horror games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 7:54 AM  What's on sale in the League of Legends Mythic shop? New skins for LoL are released all the time, with a new event arriving on the Rift every few weeks, but what happens if you missed the boat with that awesome KD/A Evelynn skin, or if you've seen a Hextech skin in a game of Summoner's Rift and want to bag it for yourself? The Mythic shop is a special storefront in the free PC game that stocks rare skins, wards, chromas, and Nexes finishers. These cosmetic items aren't available for real-world money, as they can only be purchased with Mythic Essence, so no more worrying about how much you've spent in League of Legends. The stock held in this store is rotated regularly, with some skins becoming unavailable for months, so it's best to keep up to date on what's on sale in the League of Legends Mythic store. Continue reading League of Legends Mythic shop January 2025 - what's on sale now? MORE FROM PCGAMESN: League of Legends ranks explained, League of Legends Mythic shop rotation, LoL tier list |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 7:17 AM  What are the best Viking games on PC? The Vikings weren't the most diplomatic group of settlers in history. The famous seafaring hustlers made haste across Northern Europe, causing chaos wherever they docked. Their devilish deeds remain firmly stamped in our contemporary consciousness; most are familiar with the famous stories of the Edda, the seminal Medieval Icelandic literary works to which we owe much of our knowledge of these Norse brutes. Viking games see us exploring the mythical underworlds of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice and absorbing the souls of freshly dispatched dragons in Skyrim. We also get to inhabit their gnarled leather shoes as we face off against, err, Samurai and Knights in the anachronistic chaos of For Honor. There's a wide variety to ruthlessly conquer, so read if you want to loot and pillage the best Viking games on PC. Continue reading The best Viking games on PC 2025 |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 7:45 AM  Is Monster Hunter Wilds coming to Game Pass? There's a new Monster Hunter game arriving next year, and if you're hoping that it'll land on Microsoft's subscription service in 2025, here's what we know. Monster Hunter Wilds is right around the corner, but that doesn't stop us wondering it'll be coming to Game Pass. The Monster Hunter Wilds beta gave us a taste of the weapons, monsters, mechanics, and that await in the Forbidden Lands, but getting to experience its full scope for a fraction of the price would make it all the sweeter. Subscription services are your golden ticket to gaming on a budget, so here's whether Monster Hunter Wilds is coming to Game Pass. Continue reading Is Monster Hunter Wilds coming to Game Pass? MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Monster Hunter Wilds monsters, Monster Hunter Wilds weapons, Monster Hunter Wilds release date |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 9:40 AM  When is the Pony Island 2 release date? Acclaimed indie developer Daniel Mullins has announced a surprise follow-up to 2016's cult arcade game about ponies and the devil. Another serving of metafictional genre-bending is on the cards, as Mullins returns to his inaugural game after the critical success of Inscryption, his last and most ambitious project. Pony Island 2 Panda Circus takes the retro game framework of its predecessor and dials it up to 11. Pony Island 2's announcement at The Game Awards 2023 took everyone by surprise - but if Inscryption's anything to go by, satanic sequel may well be one of the best indie games of all time. One thing's for sure, this is not a game about ponies… though we can't rule out the pandas just yet. Continue reading Pony Island 2 Panda Circus release date estimate and latest news |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 6:48 AM  January 29, 2025: We've checked for new Valorant codes. What are the new Valorant codes? Everyone likes it when they get free stuff, and it's even better when it's for hugely popular multiplayer games like Valorant. However, in the case of high-profile titles such as this, there can be long gaps between giveaways, and even then, they may not be available to redeem for long. When Riot Games does give us a few free Valorant items to redeem, they could include Gun Buddies, which you can clip onto your weapons after tinkering with Valorant crosshair codes. If you want a stylish new look to show off as you climb through the Valorant ranks, here's the latest list of codes for this highly competitive FPS game so you can get the newest freebies. Continue reading Valorant codes January 2025 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Valorant Night Market dates, Valorant ranks, Valorant crosshair codes |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 6:44 AM  What are the best free Steam games in 2025? If you're bored and don't have much spare cash, you don't need to fear a gaming drought. Steam is loaded with games you can play without spending a dime. What's more, many of them are very good indeed: games that are just as much fun to play as their full-price, wallet-destroying siblings. In recent years, free Steam games have become the norm, with some even overtaking paid-for triple-A tiles as the leaders of the PC gaming hobby. Take a quick look at the platform's most-played list, and from FPS games to MMORPGs, you'll see that a significant proportion of the most popular and best PC games on the platform happen to be free-to-play. So, because we desperately care about the health of your bank account - and honestly worry about how much money you're spending on your nasty gaming habit - we want to help you find all the best free PC games you can play right now. Continue reading Best free Steam games 2025 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Warzone loadouts, Best Warzone AR, Best Warzone guns |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 6:39 AM  Throne and Liberty is about to get a lot bigger, as NCSoft and Amazon Games prepare to launch the free-to-play MMORPG's first expansion. Throne and Liberty: Wilds of Talandre will take us to a new zone filled with all manner of challenges and activities. You can look forward to a bump to the level cap, new solo and multiplayer dungeons, more field bosses, the much-anticipated arrival tier two gear, and a wealth of lifestyle content including more fish, cooking recipes, and collectibles. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best MMORPGs, Throne and Liberty codes, Throne and Liberty weapons |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 7:01 AM  Who are the new Honkai Star Rail characters? Following in the footsteps of Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail includes an ever-expanding roster of characters. From bubbly extroverts to brooders with a dark past, there's no end to the number of fan favorites we can expect to encounter on our Trailblazing expedition. Thankfully, we've collated them all into one handy guide, so you can keep track of who they are and how they appear in the story. Most of the characters in Honkai Star Rail are available to pull from HSR banners, though the free PC game also has various upcoming characters scheduled to appear as well. Some of them will achieve greatness at the top of our Honkai Star Rail tier list, while others will still win plenty of fans thanks to their glowing personality. Either way, we highly recommend picking up free Honkai Star Rail Stellar Jade and redeeming the latest Honkai Star Rail codes if you plan to pull them all. Continue reading Honkai Star Rail characters - all new and upcoming characters MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Honkai Star Rail review, Honkai Star Rail codes, Honkai Star Rail tier list |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 6:19 AM  Gothic, ornate, but just close enough to normality that it feels real, the Raccoon City Police Department building in Resident Evil 2 is one of the greatest settings in horror game history. But it didn't always look that way. Before RE2 made it to shelves back in 1998, another version of the game came close to completion. Starring a different-looking Leon Kennedy and a Claire Redfield prototype named Elza Walker, what fans now refer to as Resident Evil 1.5 was a very, very different game, with alternate locations, more guns, and expanded escort-quest sequences. Capcom scrapped this version, but it's since been rebuilt by fans - and a new, improved restoration is available right now. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best zombie games, Best horror games, Best survival games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 6:21 AM  What are the Path of Exile 2 classes? The class you pick in Path of Exile 2 will define how you play the game. Some classes are glass cannons that opt to attack foes from a distance, while others are hulking tanks that thrive on the frontlines. While 12 classes are confirmed for the full Path of Exile 2 release date, there are only six PoE 2 classes available right now: Ranger, Witch, Warrior, Monk, Sorceress, and Mercenary. We've got a full overview of the weapons, combat style, and attributes of each one, to bring you the best one to pick for your playstyle and prior experience with the RPG game series. Continue reading Best Path of Exile 2 classes ranked MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Path of Exile 2 builds, Path of Exile 2 classes, Path of Exile 2 quests |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 6:14 AM  Krafton has announced that Dark and Darker Mobile is soft launching in the next few days, with the full global release scheduled for the first half of 2025. The game will be available to US and Canadian players for the first time ever, and it'll finally let players see what the medieval extraction RPG looks like on the go. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best RPGs, Best multiplayer games, Best fantasy games |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 6:07 AM  What are the best Path of Exile 2 builds? While the game is still in early access, we've put together the strongest builds we've found so far to get you going in Grinding Gear's massive, often complicated ARPG. There's a lot to learn about Path of Exile 2, so be sure to check out our more specific guides on each of the Path of Exile 2 classes like the Mercenary and the Sorceress, where we've also listed all the available skills. Using our PoE2 builds, you don't have to worry about potentially picking the wrong skills, ascendancies, and passives as we've got you covered from all angles. Continue reading Best Path of Exile 2 builds MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Path of Exile 2 builds, Path of Exile 2 classes, Path of Exile 2 quests |
PCGamesN Wednesday, January 29, 2025 5:49 AM  What are the best stealth games? Occasionally, the best stealth games are their own thing, resulting from a developer channeling all the mechanics into the suspense and satisfaction of killing, stealing, and infiltrating unnoticed. Most of the time, though, stealth is just one of several ways to navigate a game, as you consciously opt for the path of the shadowy rogue or incisive assassin over more forceful approaches. Nothing beats the thrill of doing things on the down low, which is why some of these are the best PC games. Stealth games highlight that neat joy of entering a space and leaving it unchanged except for the briefcase you need to extract or that one person who was your target now lying dead without anyone having noticed - the alarms going off at the precise moment you coolly walk away from the scene undetected. Continue reading The best stealth games on PC 2025 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Dishonored 2 review, Dishonored 2 character choice, Dishonored 2 system requirements |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, January 29, 2025 9:00 AM  Has any genus of graphics card been as dramatically storied as the GeForce XX80s? The RTX 3080 was a thing of beauty, only to be tarnished by the worst wheeler-dealing spree (and crypto mining misappropriation) in PC component history. Then the RTX 4080 rocked up with its laughable £1269 / $1199 price tag, a miscalculation so severe that the RTX 4080 Super looked good – despite hardly being any faster – simply for not repeating it. For the new RTX 5080's sake, you almost want it to be boring. It isn't. But then, neither is it a blood-boiler like the RTX 4080, nor a largely aspirational show-off piece like the RTX 5090. By maintaining the 4080 Super's course correction on price while tooling up on compelling DLSS 4 improvements, the RTX 5080 is an agreeable GPU from the off. Particularly, if you've got the 4K monitor to take full advantage of it. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, January 29, 2025 9:00 AM  I cherish my fairly sharp memories of the 2016 launch version of No Man's Sky, inasmuch as the contrast renders the latest additions to the wistful space game all the more dazzling. Dazzling and exhausting. What was once a relatively (and to some extent unintentionally) lean procgen exploration sim has swelled into a game of mechs, fishing, fickle weather systems, intricate asteroid engagements, starbases, nautiloids and capes. It is far bigger than it reasonably needs to be, and it's only getting more and more, er, infinite. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, January 29, 2025 6:46 AM  Friend, I regret to inform you that ant nests are computers now. Which is to say, somebody's finally made a video game version of Hex, the sentient glass hive from Terry Pratchett's Unseen University. In spooky automation-driven strategy sim Microtopia, you manage a swarm of what could either be ants who've been to the ripperdoc, or PC components who've grown legs and antennae. Your goal is to expand an insect colony that is also a motherboard, where glittering pheromone trails double as silicon circuits. The developers Cordyceps Collective have just announced a release date - February 18th - and what's this, there's a demo as well? Catch the trailer below. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, January 29, 2025 6:03 AM  Sniper At Work is the work of Cherrypick Games, hitherto known for "soothing merge-2 experiences" featuring puppy-eyed princes. The only "twos" you shall be "merging" in Sniper At Work are bullets and faces. The only "cherries" you shall be "picking" are hoodlums in sore need of a skullful of lead. The only princes you shall acknowledge are their royal highnesses Distance, Wind, and Timing. You may or may not find all that "soothing" - I won't judge. I will only repeat Nic's observation from the Maw that Sniper At Work look "a bit like Commandos, a bit like Hitman", which I would translate to "my comrade in PC gaming, if historic audience trends are any indication you shall do well here". Right, that's enough quotation marks for one article. There won't be any left for the next interview feature at this rate. Here's the trailer. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, January 29, 2025 5:24 AM  Are those ripples in your morning cappuccino? Must be the stomping feet of an ancient lizard messing up that nice whippy heart your barista made in the froth. And when I say "ancient" I mean from 1999. Dino Crisis and Dino Crisis 2 have appeared on GOG, making the classic survival horror games easily (and legally) playable on the PC once again. |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Wednesday, January 29, 2025 4:42 AM  Peripeteia feels like what I'd get if I asked a wasp to describe Deus Ex to me. It has sharp, insectoid qualities. Unwelcoming but oddly comfortable in its rusty soviet Ozymandism. The first sign of sentient life this immersive sim offers me is the greeting of a gasmasked freakdroid as I leave a warehouse. Tinny propaganda songs play from TVs too big to comfortably fit in anyone's car. The warehouse is so huge I thought it was outside until I looked up and there was writing on the sky and I realised it was a roof. I'm still messed up about it, honestly. |
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Siliconera Wednesday, January 29, 2025 10:00 AM
Capcom and GOG started selling Dino Crisis 1 and 2 PC versions not only alone, but in a bundle with the two sold together. Individually, they are $9.99 each for the first and second games. However, it is cheaper to get them in the bundle, which costs $16.99. This comes after PS4 and PS5 owners were able to purchase them in November 2024.
The announcement noted these are part of the GOG Preservation Program. This is an endeavor to make older PC games compatible with more modern operating systems and devices. The product pages also confirmed both games now offer cloud save support, improved controller support, more rendering options, and other updates. It also features all past modes, such as Original Arrange, and Operation Wipe Out for the original game, and feature six localizations including English and Japanese.
GOG and Capcom also released trailers highlighting the PC versions of Dino Crisis 1 and 2. Rather than establishing added features for the latest releases, they focus on sharing what we can expect from them.
First, here's the trailer for the original game.
And here's the refresher showing us what to expect from the sequel.
Back when Capcom released Exoprimal, we saw an increased surge of interest and response from people who remembered and wanted more from the Dino Crisis series.
Dino Crisis 1 and 2 are available for the PC via GOG alone or in a bundle. The original game first appeared on the Dreamcast, PlayStation, and PC, while the sequel only appeared on the PlayStation and PC.
The post Buy a Dino Crisis 1 and 2 PC Bundle at GOG appeared first on Siliconera. |
Siliconera Wednesday, January 29, 2025 9:00 AM
It's 1998, the year of Windows 98, Saving Private Ryan, and that horrible accident involving the Roottrees. Oh, you haven't heard about that last one? The Roottrees, members of the affluent and wealthy family, are dead. With problems of inheritance looming on the horizon for the surviving members, it's up to you to sort out their complicated and extended family tree so that all blood relatives may receive their fair share. Armed with a dial-up Internet connection, a mix of primary and secondary sources, and logic, it's time to get to work.
Our story starts with a news story proclaiming that a private jet carrying members of the Roottree family crashed, killing all aboard. The victims are Carl Roottree—current president of the Roottree Candy Company—his wife, and their three daughters. The daughters are models who work for ROOT, which is yet another business venture that the Roottree family owns. These five people, all together, were worth billions of dollars. And with all that money to return to the family's rather bizarre trust fund, a lot of people are about to receive a lot of cash. Provided, of course, that they're a blood relative of patriarch Elias Roottree, thus entitling them to it.
Following this news, a shadowy figure knocks on your door and hires you, a detective, to track down the extended members of the Roottree family. She starts by testing you to see if you can figure out key personal information on the three Roottree sisters. They're famous models, after all, and if you can't even find out basic details about their lives, then how do you hope on uncovering, say, an obscure cousin? This figure continues to visit you as you fill out more of the family tree, either to update you on the going-ons in the real world or to provide you with more sources. Completing the family tree also serves to uncover this mysterious woman's true identity.
After completing the main story, you can play Roottreemania. In Roottreemania, you once again receive a request from a Roottree family member to track down blood relatives. This time, however, you're looking for the illegitimate children that came out of the multiple affairs that various Roottree family members had over the years. This is something you figure out during the first half of the game, but America's sweetest family? Turns out they're not that sweet at all.
The Roottrees Are Dead is a genealogical mystery game, with the entire game revolving around researching a family to complete their family tree. As the game takes place in the late 1990s, you only have the most basic tools available: "NetScrape Explorer," a local library's online card catalog, and a periodical database. Starting from the most rudimentary pieces of information from your client, as well as a list of notable Roottrees, you have to fill out the fifty members of the Roottree family. This isn't even getting into Roottreemania, which adds forty more. Not only do you need to find their names and figure out their relations to each other, but you also need to fill in their profession and photo.
Finding out this information requires some careful reading of the sources you dig up. Sometimes, you even need to burrow down into some rabbit holes to uncover a key piece of information about someone. In the above screenshot, I can learn Gwynn's occupation and deduce that she's a blood relative via her mother. Another source I found in the game informed me that Gwynn is Elias's granddaughter, making her mother his daughter. But to find information on her husband and kids, I needed to look into the movies she was in, as well as track down the tabloids discussing her divorce. It wasn't as easy as it sounded, considering almost all the coverage used her husband's stage name, and it took about three other sources to find enough details on her kids to fill in their boxes.
Years and dates were important as well—albeit more so in Roottreemania. When you have, like, four generations of family to sift through, and over half of them were outside of the public's eye, it can start getting difficult keeping things straight. One source could bring up information about someone's spouse, only for another source to list a different name because of a divorce that happened. So then, which one was the first wife and what surname are they all using now? Context clues, process of elimination, and lateral thinking were all necessary factors in solving this puzzle. I highly recommend that you keep notes, either in a physical notebook or with the game's internal notebook mechanic. This makes it a lot easier to find a specific reference again after learning more context, or to have a cheat sheet for the various generations and branches.
If your forte doesn't lie with this kind of thinking, never fear! Consulting with the rubber duck can provide you with a starting point if you're really stuck. Unlike some puzzle games where it'll only give enough information to lead you in the right direction, The Roottrees Are Dead will give you the correct answer if you ask the rubber duck enough times. So people who're curious about the Roottree mystery but can't figure out a part of the family tree can still clear the story, at least.
Obviously, the best way to play the game is to solve the puzzle yourself. The excitement when you stumble upon a treasure trove of evidence and can cross-reference it with previous information you uncovered is unmatched. Not to sound like a nerd, but it reminded me of the dopamine rush from when I finally figured out a math equation I was stuck on, or when inspiration struck me while writing an essay. The more retro sites, as well as the specific databases, that I needed to look through in Roottrees brought me back to university again. It even recreated the frustration of hitting dead end after dead end in research. I even impulsively messaged a friend, "Blood is coming from my mouth and tears are streaming down my cheeks," after one too many such obstacles. Great times.
The game only confirms if you're right or not after correctly filling in the information of three to five family members. And all the details need to be the most recent. That was the kicker a lot of the times, because I'd put in someone's previous occupation or surname under the assumption that was the most recent one. Then, I'd come across a magazine or webpage that came out later with a one-off mention about how so-and-so changed their surname because of personal reasons, or how they left their job for another pursuit. With one exception, the game can be rather stringent about what you put in. It took me forever to lock in certain members of the family because I thought their job was something else.
Roottreemania, the continuation, is a lot harder, as you're looking for illegitimate children this time to determine if they're actually blood relatives. Since people covered up these affairs, you could only piece them together using more circumstantial evidence or hearsay. Filling in names proved more difficult as well. For context, The Roottrees Are Dead mode provided a full list of names when you're filling them in. If a name doesn't appear on the list, then you're barking up the wrong tree. Conversely, in situations where you only have a last name, typing in the surname can usually give you the full name of a spouse or kid. In Roottreemania, however, you need to individually punch in the first and last name of every person in the tree. As mentioned earlier, marriages and divorces could make this especially difficult. Locking in the second infidelity took me way too long.
Now, if you've heard of Roottrees back when it was on Itch, you might've seen the AI art the developer used. Midjourney appears in the credits, as well. However, the Steam version of the game uses illustrations from a human artist, which was fantastic to see. There's something very nostalgic and sweet about the art. It really grabs that, like, late 1990s to early 2000s style. The faces and shading reminded me of children's books I read back in the day. Think The Boxcar Children, The Babysitters Club, and other series from that era. My friend described it as a "riff on 1950s commercial illustrations" but with a modernized twist that hearkens to the 2000s VHS era. It's a look that I associate with a very all-American style of books and advertisements, which fits with the late 1990s aesthetic of the game itself.
Another aspect I like about The Roottrees Are Dead that has little to do with the gameplay itself is the storytelling. As you unwrap and reveal the Roottree family's dirty secrets and scandals, you can see these little snippets of entire lives and generations. My impression of certain family members changed as I found more information about them, or when I read someone else's account of their time interacting with said family member.
I won't spoil any of the major revelations that you stumble across in the game, but I will say that I appreciated how, as a multi-generational story, we can see the passage of time through their attitudes towards different issues. Relationships that were frowned upon in the past (the earlier generations) became more normalized as the years passed. Many of the older women never held jobs and were housewives, which was pretty normal in the 1920 and 1930s. I really enjoyed the secondary story of how societal norms and major events could shape a family over generations. It added a lot to the narrative, and made it more compelling, which paired well with how the gameplay felt like actual Internet sleuthing.
Putting together the puzzle of these people's lives wasn't easy. But the experience of doing so felt rewarding. It felt great to look at that complete family tree, and reminisce on how grueling it'd been to fill in. This game isn't for everyone, though. Though simplified compared to the real deal, it's still gamified genealogy research. To glean any information from the sources you uncover, you need to suss out key details in otherwise insignificant information, as well as read between the lines. If this sounds like the game for you, though, then The Roottrees Are Dead presents an unforgettable mystery to dig up.
The Roottrees Are Dead is readily available on Windows PCs via Steam.
The post Review: The Roottrees Are Dead Is a Clever and Intuitive Mystery appeared first on Siliconera. |
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