So often the bleeding edge of games tech, yet so often fundamentally the same underneath: there’s a reason we can’t get enough of pretend shooting pretend people in their pretend faces. It is a pure test of skill and reflex, a game about movement at least as much as it is about violence, and done right it is absolutely delightful>. And hey, sometimes you get a decent gimmick or story thrown into the mix.

These are our favourite 50 first-person shooters on PC, from 1993-2017. Your favourite is at number 51.

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Arma developers Bohemia Interactive today launched Project Argo [official site], a 5v5 multiplayer tactical FPS built upon Arma 3, as a free public prototype. It’s one of the first games from their Bohemia Incubator label, also launched today, under which they’ll tinker with experiments and prototypes. Some of these Incubator games will be scrappy and some may never be finished, which is why Bohemia plan to make many of them free. Bohemia have also put Ylands, their Minecraftbut, into the Incubator. Ylands is not free but does have a free trial. … [visit site to read more]

Phew, finally we get some new names in the Steam top 10 (previous weeks here’n’that), after the chokehold of the Steam Summer Sale is loosened. I did not expect that number 1, but I really> did not expect that number 10.

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Arma 3 [official site] has jetted off on its summer hols with the launch of its Apex expansion today. Apex sends those surly soldiers to the sunny South Pacific to adventure on the tropical archipelago of Tanoa. Naturally, they’ve snuck a few fun toys into their luggage – one can hardly hit the beach without a thermal-masking uniform. A big update launched aside Apex too, with changes for all Arma 3.

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No new indie millionaries this week: we’re still looking at the consequences of the Steam Summer Sale, so the weekly list of best-sellers is entirely devoid of new releases. Hordes of people who’d sat on the fence about 2015’s big games jumped on the discounts, and that means many familiar names. Of course, you discerning bunch went and bought all the games we recommended instead, didn’t you?

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A shorter than usual weekly Steam best-sellers chart this week, primarily because almost everything is explained simply by the words “Steam Summer sale”, but partly because I’ve already spent a chunk of today compiling a big list of Sale recommendations to help our beloved readers’ purchasin’ decisions. You can have a pithy and/or explantory line about each game next week, promise. Meantime: these are the ten best-selling games on Steam last week. Expect next week’s to look wildly different, thanks to the ongoing and regularly changing sale. … [visit site to read more]

Arma 3 will jet off on its summer hols to the sunny South Pacific on July 11th, developers Bohemia announced during E3 this week. The military sim’s Apex expansion [official site] introduces the archipelago of Tanoa with 100 km of sun, sea, shanty towns, sugar cane fields, and submachine guns. Along with a new area, it adds new vehicles, men, weapons and whatnot. Observe the customary E3 moving pictures:

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Phew: we have nine different names in the top ten sellers on Steam last week, rather than the recent trend for various pre-orders and season passes splitting the vote excessively. Question is, has Joe/Jo Public responded as rapturously to DOOM as Ian/Iana Critic has?

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Maybe you think you’ll like shooting things, but you’re not sure what flavour> of shooting. Are you the type who likes tense, simulated military manshoots you can play with dozens of friends in wide open areas, with missions you make yourself and vehicles you can pilot and drive? Good news! Arma 3 is free on Steam this weekend.

Or are you the type who likes slightly-silly, rapid paced, run-and-gunning against chums and zombies? Good news! Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 multiplayer is free on Steam this weekend.

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“You can imagine the editor as a military-themed Mario Maker on PC,” says one Bohemian in a video showing off the new editor coming to Arma 3 [official site] later this month. It certainly looks a lot friendlier than Arma editors of yore. Sure, folks have already managed to turn Arma into everything from a zombie apocalypses to a job simulator, but more approachable tools mean even more people making stuff. I am always in favour of more people making things. The more readme files the merrier, I always say. Missions and mods too, I suppose. Here, have a look at the new editor:

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