Have you heard the one about Humble making a new Bundle? It’s a good one. Rather, it’s a Very Positive one.

Following on from the original ‘Very Positive’ Bundle back in May this year, Humble has brought the idea back for another go – in the Humble Very Positive Bundle 2, funnily enough. The collection of games brought together here all feature Steam ratings of ‘Very Positive’ or above and while we can’t always rely on those ratings as proof of a game’s intrinsic qualities, as recent happenings have taught us, rest assured these games are quite good>.

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As exciting as an expanded Nemesis system and an itsy busty spider might sound for Middle-earth: Shadow of War [official site], Warner Bros. had been sitting on a hot, juicy, and thrilling marketing blast. Now they have finally let rip: heck yes Shadow of War will have optional microtransactions to hasten powering-up in this singleplayer game. Come on gang, give me a “Hell yeah!”

I said give me a “Hell yeah!”

No? I thought one of you Willennials would at least do it ‘ironically’. (more…)

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War [official site] expands on its predecessor’s innovative Nemesis System and its believable NPCs take us one step further away from the static worlds of most open world games. I’ve been thinking about how that works, and why so many games make me think of The Truman Show.

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When Middle-earth: Shadow of War [official site] arrives in October, players will be fight alongside their worst enemy from the first game with their dearest friend. Warner Bros. today added the ‘Nemesis Forge’ to Shadow of Mordor, which can transfer your top Nemesis and most loyal follower over to the sequel. The Nemesis system was the most exciting idea of Mordor — and one that far too few games have copied, both Adam and John will tell you — as random foes became unique recurring loathed enemies, changing and growing after each fight.

Oh, but if you haven’t played Shadow of Mordor, good news: it’s free to play in full this weekend, and on sale with a big discount too. … [visit site to read more]

It’s warm! Luckily the RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show, have come together to talk cold games, like chilly survivalist city-builder Frostpunk. That’s because Adam is back from E3 and can tell us (Brendan and Pip) all about it. He’s also played Destiny 2 and Middle Earth: Shadow of War, the lucky sod. Spill the beans, Adam! No wait, don’t. We need those.

This week’s back-to-normal-length episode also sees us talking about Darkest Dungeon‘s latest expansion, The Crimson Court, esoteric desert survival RPG Kenshi, and some news about GTA V and the sad fate of its modders. Also: the return of our patch notes quiz, Patch Adam, this time featuring Dwarf Fortress. … [visit site to read more]

Each year E3 rolls around like a giant evil worm, crushing all that’s good and pure. BUT that worm also announces lots of exciting gaming news as it wreaks its carnage upon the Earth. Here we have gathered every announcement, reveal, and exciting new trailer that emerged from the barrage of screamed press conferences over the last few days. And lots of it looks rather spiffy.

A rather enormous 47 PC games were either announced, revealed, or updated upon, with new trailers, information, and released dates that will all be missed by at least three months. We’ve collected the lot, with trailers, in alphabetical order, into one neat place, just for you. … [visit site to read more]

Open worlds are dynamic. Sometimes they live and breathe. Occasionally they are systemic. Their stories and incidents are emergent.

That’s what the voices say, from stages and in trailers, but the pictures tell a different tale. Anthem‘s big reveal felt like a series of echoes rather than a glimpse of the future, Assassin’s Creed: Origins is sprinkling loot and stats across Egypt, and even Metro has sandbox ambitions now that it’s making an Exodus to the surface. But what we’ve seen is more scripted than the teleprompted speakers at one of these E3 press conferences.

Putting the witty, system-led smarts of a Middle-earth: Shadow of War video on the same stage as the rest almost seemed cruel.

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“A wizard is never late,” said Merlin in that documentary about New Zealand. “Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.” I forget what happens after that – probably not much – BUT the quote felt applicable to this entirely separate bit of news where the open world combat of Middle-earth: Shadow of War [official site] is being delayed for release until 10 October 2017. Unless you’re Merlin in New Zealand because they have a different release date anyway.

Let’s unpick this! … [visit site to read more]

There’s a moment in the 16 minutes of footage of Middle-earth: Shadow of War [official site] below where the clipped voice-over refers to the “RPG systems” as player finds some new armour. It seems odd to me to think of that as the RPG system though when the rest of the game greatly expands the original’s Nemesis system and is about relationships forming dynamically between procedurally created characters. That sounds more like roleplay, to me. Watch it below, it’s cool.

… [visit site to read more]