Competitive Playerunknown s Battlegrounds is a strange beast. Teams rack up points across multiple games for eliminating others and being one of the last few left alive, in various amounts depending on the tournament. That usually means that you can tell who s going to win before the end, but not this time. Home team South Korea had pulled ahead early and stayed there until the last game, where Russia pipped them to the post. And down at the bottom of the table, Great Britain managed to save themselves from last place by a single point.
You tear home from school, barge through the front door, sprint upstairs to your desktop and…you’re back at school again. The classroom has proved a popular setting for PC games through the years, flipping what’s usually—let’s face it—a dull place into one full of drama.
Some of the schools and universities from videogames are magical, and we'd have given our favorite yo-yo to study at them (we really loved that thing), while others are murderous nests of vipers that you’ll be lucky to make it out of alive. We’ve sat through lessons at all of them all to bring you this list: here are the best and worst schools in PC gaming.
In my primary school, we had a spooky basement that nobody dared to go into. Looking back, it was probably just where teachers kept the spare foam footballs—the ones that weighed a tonne when it rained—and the rounders bats (English baseball, basically). The rooms under F.E.A.R. 2's Wade Elementary School are genuine hell. A twisted test facility where kids are sedated, genetically-modified and experimented upon, before the scientists wipe their memories and send them back above ground for their math exam.
The underground facility also houses Abominations, humans injected with chemicals until they turn violent, which are kept in cells of their own filth. It's not fully clear what part those monsters play in the experiments with children, but whatever happens, you can bet it's a lot worse than detention.
Grade: F
Think your school dinners were bad? Try attending Fallout 4's Suffolk County charter school, where the only food is blobs of bright pink goo that dye your skin salmon.
To secure funding from the government, principal Jackie Hudson entered the Nutrition Alternative Paste Program (NAPP), which is about as appetizing as it sounds. Any outside food is confiscated, so the Glee Club's annual bake sale offers not warm cookies and muffins, but different-colored cups for your daily gloop. Yay.
The school is abandoned during Fallout 4, but you can hear about the nightmare meals in audio logs, and see their effects firsthand. All the feral ghouls guarding the school are the colour of lobsters, poor things.
Grade: D-
In PUBG dropping the kids off at school would be the worst decision a parent could make. Dead centre of Erangel, PUBG's original map, School is a guaranteed clusterfuck. Dozens of parachutes spring open in the airspace above it as players scramble for loot on the roof and then dive into the corridors of death below.
The building itself doesn't give you much idea of what it would've been like to study there, and everything is worn down by the bullets of millions of chicken dinner hunters, but it looks like a fairly grim building, and one I doubt will ever open its doors to students again.
Grade: D
Imagine thinking you've been accepted to the most prestigious school in the country only to find out the whole thing is an elaborate, violent hoax orchestrated by a mechanical bear. At Hope's Peak Academy, you follow the villain's rules. The only way to 'graduate' is to kill another student and get away with it. Every death launches a courtroom-style trial during which your brilliant peers try to catch the murderer.
Those students are a fascinating group of oddballs, with weird senses of humor and extravagant backstories, and getting to know them is a joy. In trials, you interrogate a subject and then fire 'truth bullets' (literally, bullets of truth) at their dialogue on-screen, blasting holes in their argument. It's some of the most fun you can have in a classroom—if you can get over being a plaything for an evil animal.
Grade: C
The students at Bullworth Academy are split into exaggerated cliques—jocks, nerds, preppies, and greasers—and students are pelted with eggs or sprayed with fire extinguishers on a daily basis. But as Samuel noted when describing how much he loves the game, part of Bully's charm is how it captures an idealised version of teenage life.
Lessons are short minigames that don't outstay their welcome, and all anyone cares about is petty rivalries, awkward romances, and going to the funfair. "It's like school life without the shit bits," Samuel wrote, and if you can put up with being pigeonholed into a clique for your whole life, it might be a fun place. If you want to learn anything you might struggle, but the upside is you get to see hero Jimmy beat up every bully in class. And what kid doesn’t want to see that?
Grade: C+
I still remember the first time I saw the College of Winterhold, nearly eight years ago. I was trudging up the road from the south, huddling against a blizzard, when its stony outline loomed up through the whiteout, an island of dark rock in a sea of snow.
The slender bridge connecting the town to the college, perched atop a pillar of icy rock, is gorgeous, and if you look south the whole of Skyrim stretches as far as your draw distance will allow. The life of an aspiring mage isn't easy and scurrying around after magical artifacts at the behest of your elders is a bore, but it's worth it to study in this isolated, beautiful corner of Skyrim.
Grade: B+
Harry Potter is a PC gamer, apparently. Aside from a trio of mobile games and a couple of forgettable console releases, all of the franchise's games have come to PC, including all the main games accompanying the books and a couple of solid LEGO adventures.
All those different games mean everybody that's played one will have a different memory of Hogwarts. For me, it's trying to sneak by Argus Filch in the Philosopher's Stone, my sister and I taking turns on the keyboard and cowering behind our desk chair when Filch inevitably catches us. "Oh dear, we are in trouble," he says—I still shudder at those words.
For others, it's the joy of exploring Hogwarts in the LEGO games, where the school is a lavish, detailed hub, and a design that would influence later games in the series. Whatever your memory, the wizarding school is no less magic on PC than it was in the books.
Grade: A-
One of the best expansions in The Sims' history, University added a whole new age group, young adults, and let you follow them to college. They attended class (sometimes), pulled pranks, and started pillow fights in their student digs. Swooping from the sleepy rows of houses in your chosen neighbourhood to a vibrant college campus felt like entering an entirely new and more exciting game.
There, you could join secret societies that let you hack straight As into your school record, graduate into four new careers and, most importantly, streak across the university quad. It wasn't all fun and games, and you had to work to pay for tuition by training other sims or filling shifts in the local coffee shop, but it was a welcome break from the real world.
Grade: A-
Usually after the Steam summer sale horror show, the Steam Charts offer us some respite in the lull between AAA releases and allow us to celebrate the successful release of a bunch of indie games. But as you’ll have noticed if you’ve looked at 2019, nothing follows the rules of sense and decorum any longer. So it is that last week and this, we’ve had charts that feature only a single recently released game.
So this week we’re taking a trip!
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has settled into a regular update cadence. Every month there's a new PUBG update and a new set of patch notes to look over, detailing new season details, balance changes and bugfixes. We're picking out the important details and compiling them here.
We are excited to introduce the Survival Mastery system, where players can develop their less-than-lethal aspects of PUBG gameplay. This companion system to Weapon Mastery, which allows players to progress their skill in gunplay, will also introduce new ways for players to express their personalities on the Battlegrounds with new rewards and PUBG ID.
Survival Mastery is a new progression system where players increase levels by gaining XP based on the players’ survival patterns. The system operates all the time without being affected by seasons. The Level cap for Survival Mastery is 500.
Players can earn XP in the following situations:
The match summary timeline recaps all survival actions performed in a match. Players can check survival actions they have performed in their previous match in a timeline sequence from Mastery > Last Match Tab. The activities below will be shown in the timeline, along with other XP earning activities:
In Mastery > Survival tab, players can check their recent survival playstyle from the analysis of all players’ data. Survival style tracks your recent playstyle by analyzing data of all the players playing PUBG. It includes the following information (The 3 most prominent of these traits will be displayed):
A new system where players can express themselves while show their progression and Survival Mastery rewards. PUBG ID includes Survival Mastery Level, Player ID, Emblem, Background, and Poses. Players can view and change from Mastery > Survival tab.
Players are able to view the PUBG ID of other players who were either a teammate from the previous match, the player who killed you, or a player you killed.
EmblemsFor every 10 levels (5, 15, 25…), players are rewarded an emblem.
BackgroundsFor every 10 levels (10, 20, 30…), players are rewarded a background
PosesFor every 100 levels (100, 200, 300…), players are rewarded a pose. Poses are the highest reward in the system and players can change their pose using the Survivor tab and PUBG ID. Player poses utilize the player’s equipped clothing. Other skins such as vehicles and weapons aren’t currently utilized for poses.
BP RewardsBP will be granted for levels without other rewards
The DBS is a double barrel pump-action bullpup shotgun that can only be initially obtained from Care Packages. DBS has two internal magazine tubes that allow the user to load up to fourteen 12-gauge rounds. Thanks to those combined firing mechanics, DBS can produce massive bursts of damage in a short time span.
Upper rail of the gun allows a Holographic, Red Dot Sight, and 2x to 6x Scopes. Maximum effective range to deal damage with the DBS is 100 m.
Improved shotgun consistency
Adjusted shotgun balance: All shotgun pellets now use more realistic ballistic curves (speed decrease over time). All shotguns had their recoil effects updated.
Damage multiplier changes:Headshot: From 1.5 to 1.2Torso: From 1.0 to 0.9
S686:Maximum effective range set to 80 mIncreased reload speed by 20%
S1897:Maximum effective range set to 80 mPump action speed increased by 20%Pump action will no longer temporarily un-ADS the player
Sawed-Off:Maximum effective range set to 80 mMaximum increased probability range set to 50 mIncreased number of pellets fired to 9Decreased damage per pellet from 22 to 20
Duckbill attachment: Pellet spread multiplier increased from 0.8 to 1.0
Updated Weapon impact effects:Both decals and particle effects are now more directional allowing players to better understand the direction shots are coming from. Size and characteristics of the effect depend on both the surface being hit and the class of the weapon being fired.
Quality of Life improvements for healing items:Healing items can now be activated while moving and your player will be reduced to walking speed and continue using the item while you move at walking pace. Previously, you had to come to a complete stop to start healing.
Canted Sight reticle type:Can now be adjusted, along with brightness, similar to the Red Dot
IMPROVED ZOMBIE MODE
Zombies now have stronger physical capabilities
Zombies now have much more health and stronger healing power
Zombies can now drive vehicles
Moreover, we are developing a virus infection feature, which is one of the core elements of PUBG Zombie (PUBZ) content. Internal tests are ongoing for various features to make the zombie mode matches more diverse and exciting. We look forward to your feedback on the improved zombie mode
PUBG PARTNER ICON
In Custom Matches, an icon will be displayed in front PUBG Partner’s nicknames. This icon will only be shown in the match information section and waiting room
Once Update 4.3 is released to the Live Server, you will find the following new items in the store:
The replay system has been updated. Replay files from previous updates are now unavailable for use.
PUBG's update 4.2 brings a lot of adjustments and tweaks. Objects that were previously indestructible can now be destroyed, including traffic cones in Mylta. Car engines can now be toggled with "Z" which allows for some interesting silent tactical maneuvers by rolling down slopes with the engine off. There are also dynamic weather effects on Erengal that transitions overcast weather to rain, hail, and fog. A few changes to master volume controls should be helpful as well.
Oh, and there's been a fix to a fun old audio annoyance: "constant collision noises could be heard when a vehicle was stationary against an object or terrain."
Vehicle Handling Improvements
Improved vehicle handling of the Scooter, Snowmobile, Snowbike and Motorcycle with Sidecar, thus improving overall driving stability. Motorcycle with Sidecar off-road driving control and stability has been greatly improved.
Altered Blue Zone Edge Visual Effect
To improve the gameplay experience, the rolling shimmer effect seen while at the edge of the Blue Zone will no-longer be seen at the center of the screen where the player is aiming.
Improved Visibility of Reticles Against Bright Backgrounds
Visibility of all sight and scope reticles against bright backgrounds (such as Vikendi snowfields) has been slightly improved.
Throwables Friction Adjustment
Adjusted the friction force of throwables to make rolling movement more consistent and predictable.
Smoke Grenades
Friction force has been increased to slow rolling speed and cause them to roll a shorter distance after impacting surfaces.
Stun Grenades & Frag Grenades
Friction force has been decreased to speed up the rolling speed and increase distance they can travel after impacting surfaces.
Vehicle Engine Toggle
Vehicle engines can now be turned off/on by pressing ‘Z’. The engine can be turned off while driving, after gaining momentum and can be used for quiet, tactical maneuvers. Once the engine is off, pressing ‘W’ to accelerate or ‘Z’ will start the engine again. Vehicle engines will automatically be turned off if the vehicle stays at a standstill for 8 seconds, or 2 seconds after the driver disembarks.
Sound quality of life improvements
Added master volume preview
The master volume can now be previewed while in the menu, to better allow users to set their preferred maximum volume level. This can be founder under Settings – Audio – Sound – Master volume and by clicking on the ‘play’ button.
Added Instant Volume Reducer
This new feature temporary decreases the volume of games sound effects to facilitate more clear communication with teammates. Use ‘F7’ to reduce game master volume, while maintaining the volume of voice chat. Use ‘F7’ key again to return to the original volume
For the more details on PUBG’s sound improvement plans please read Dev Letter – Sound Improvement Plan.
Overcast Weather added to Erangel. When a match starts with overcast weather on Erangel, the weather will change dynamically over the course of the match between overcast, windy, hail, light rain, heavy rain (rain with lightning and thunder), and fog.
Destructible objects on Erangel
Additional destructible pylons and barricades have been added to Erangel. They can be destroyed by vehicles, weapons and explosions, but do provide a limited amount of cover until they are destroyed. Some existing objects which were previously indestructible are now destructible, such as the traffic cones in Mylta.
Vikendi Ambient Noise Adjustment
Volume of Vikendi’s ambient wind noise has been reduced.
Removal of PUBG Esports Signage
As MET Asia Series and PUBG Nations Cup have now concluded, in-game signage across various maps and the starting plane has been removed.
In-game HUD Improvement
Helmet and vest health is now better visualized on the UI, along with Backpack capacity. Weapon firing mode is now represented visually by icons, instead of text.
To reduce unnecessary clutter, certain HUD and UI elements are no-longer displayed when waiting to start a match. Game version number, server identifier and other information is now located beneath the minimap, instead of the HP bar.
Store UI Improvement
BP purchasable items are now marked with a BP icon in Store to better differentiate BP and cash items.
Made performance improvements to mitigate client hitching/stuttering in certain situations.
Added Erangel Visual Update option to Custom Matches. Erangel Visual Update will be called “Erangel” and the previous version will be called “Erangel Classic”. All game modes will be playable on both Erangel variants.
Team leaderboard UI seen in observer mode has been changed to allow 4 character team tags (previously 3).
The replay system has been updated. Replay files from previous updates are now unavailable for use.
New skins are available at in-game Store once PC Update 4.2 hits live servers.
New BP purchasable items
Twitch Broadcaster Royale Group 9 skins
More information will be released via an official announcement for Group 9 of Twitch Broadcaster Royale skins will be released after Update #4.2 arrives on live servers.
Added Regional Esports Baseball Bat skins in celebration of 2019 Phase 3 of PUBG Esports. Added Rabbit Season Set items, which can be found in the Featured Page of the in-game Store.
Quick analysis
PUBG 4.1 revamps a lot of weapons and crams in loads of small quality-of-life features. Some standouts include the ability to heal while moving slowly, continuously use bandages, see the trajectory arc of the crossbow, and auto accelerate with cars like you can while running.
This update also brings the first big rebalancing to vehicles, so read through that carefully to understand how they'll work going forward. There are also big changes to Erangel's blue zone that should speed up matches.
For the complete rundown, including visual updates, UI updates, and bugfixes, check here.
Weapon & Item Balance UpdatesBuffs
Increased base damage of Kar98k from 75 to 79.Increased per pellet base damage of S12K from 22 to 24.Increased per pellet base damage of Sawed-off from 20 to 22.Increased per pellet base damage of S686, S1897 from 24 to 26.Increased effective damage over distance for all SMGs.
Slightly increased damage multipliers for SMGs:Torso 1.05 (previously 1.0), Limb 1.3 (previously 1.25).
Increased damage multipliers for Crossbow:Torso 1.4 (previously 1.0), Limb 1.2 (previously 0.9).
ADS zoom for default crossbow sight increased by 3%.Laser sight attachment dispersion multiplier for pistols was decreased from 0.5 to 0.3 (non-ads shooting with pistols will now be 70% more accurate when laser is attached).
Nerfs
Reduced base damage of M24 from 79 to 75.Reduced base damage of Beryl M762 from 47 to 46.Reduced base damage of AKM and Groza from 49 to 47.Reduced base damage of M416, G36, QBZ, SCAR-L and AUG from 43 to 41.Reduced maximum bullet travel distance of all shotguns from 1000 m to 150 m.
Changes
Duckbill attachment now distributes bullets vertically instead of horizontally.Crossbow will now have a visible tracer following the trajectory of the bolt for easier aiming.Added top rail to Uzi to allow Red Dot and Holographic Sights attachments.
Vehicle Balance Update
Buffs
Improved handling of RWD vehicles (Buggy, Mirado, Rony, Motorbike, Snowbike, Snowmobile, Scooter, Tukshai).Regular and three-seater motorbikes stabilization improved.Increased maximum speed of Scooter from 90 to 105 kph.Greatly improved handling of Buggy and Increased Buggy’s wheels durability by 50%.Increased max speed of Buggy from 92/115 to 100/125 kph (no boost/boost).Increased HP of UAZ from 900 to 1200.Increased HP of Tukshai from 500 to 1000 as well as increased max speed of Tukshai from 70 to 85.
Nerfs
Decreased HP of Mirado from 1000 to 900.All motorbikes will now consume roughly 50% more fuel than before.Decreased acceleration and boost multiplier rate for Dacia. Maximum speed will stay the same.Dacia and Mirado vehicles speed will now be reduced by around 15% when driving on surfaces like sand, mud, grass, dirt.When driving on rocky surface with any vehicle, friction will be decreased by 10% making them more difficult to control.
Introduced BRDM-2 specific vehicle damage modifiers per game mode.Increased damage taken in Solo mode by 80%.Increased damage taken in Duo mode by 40%.
Changes
Implemented new Buggy and Mirado sounds.Visual effect while using boost has been removed and replaced with high RPM engine sounds.Improved aiming while inside vehicles to be more steady.Improved the FPP camera view inside most vehicles.
New Features
Added auto-acceleration to vehicles (identical to auto-run feature)Auto-Acceleration can be activated with ‘=’ key just like auto-run.
Added “locking” mechanism to BRDM-2.Only teammates will be able to enter BRDM-2.When all teammates exit the BRDM-2, it will unlock, allowing any player to enter.
Added Car Audio feature to play preset music while inside a car.Only the driver can control this feature.Car audio will stay turned on even after players exit the vehicle.Turning the audio On/Off while inside a vehicle will play random music every time.Use F5 key to play or stop the music, Use F6 to change music. The mouse wheel can be used to control music volume.Music will stop playing automatically after a full song.Music can be stopped by destroying or flooding the vehicle.
Healing and Boost Item Improvements
Healing and boost items can now be used while moving.You’ll be limited to walking speed only.Press the use or run/jump keys to cancel healing/boosting.
Bandages will now be used continuously until the player fully heals to the maximum of 75% health, or runs out of bandages, without the need to manually use bandages multiple times.Press the use or run/jump keys to cancel healing.
First Aid Kits can no longer heal additional damage you receive after the healing starts.Previously, if damage was taken after the 2-second healing period had started, any additional damage received would be healed if the total healing amount was still 75% or less.
Med Kits and Adrenaline Syringes now stack in the inventory, rather than occupying one inventory space per item held.
Visual Effects Improvements
Optimized and reworked the visuals of the Molotov Cocktail.Optimized and improved weapon and vehicle shaders.
Optimized and improved Frag Grenade explosion effects.Different effects will be used depending on the surface the Frag Grenade explodes upon.
Optimized and differentiated muzzle flash effects for each weapon.
Radio Message Marker Distance Adjustment
The maximum range of automatic marker placement using Radio Messages has been reduced from 500m to 300m.
Erangel Blue Zone Balance Changes
"We’re making changes to the Blue Zone on Erangel thanks to player feedback and changes in gameplay since the most recent Erangel rebalance. The experimental Blue Zone was trialed on the test server during the Erangel Visual Update, and based on player feedback we have applied a few more adjustments."
The size of the safe zone in early phases has been reduced.Blue Zone waiting time in early and mid-game phases has been reduced.Movement speed of the Blue Zone during some mid and late phases has been decreased.Blue Zone waiting time for the final phase has been reduced.
Turntable Added to Erangel
Added a new playable Turntable which can be found across Erangel.Turntables are spawned randomly on Erangel. Press the use key to turn the music on/off.Turntables can be destroyed.Music played on the Turntable can be heard by all nearby players.Music will stop playing automatically after one song.
It’s never a good sign when Skyrim’s back in the Charts. It means mischief is afoot. And not the good kind. In this case, it’s Bethesda’s Quakecon sale, meaning a whole bunch of the dreariest of usual suspects return to droop our eyelids and weary our souls. And Nier and Flibble Glibble Pants are both on sale yet again. In fact, this week’s top 10 features precisely one game released in the last TWO YEARS>.
So this week I think I shall describe to you the feelings I feel when I see these games appearing once more.
According to a recent study by civil rights group the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), 74% of people who play online multiplayer games have experienced some form of harassment, with 65% experiencing severe harassment, which may include physical threats or stalking. And that’s only the start of their downpour of awful numbers, which cover bigotry, extremist views, which games have the worst occurrence rates, and more.
Pros: A bright makeover; ruin porn aplenty.Cons: Risk of revolution; mayor is creepy voyeur.In brief: Get back amongst it like you never left.Rating: >
While cheap air fares have opened up far-flung places like Mexico and Thailand to stag & hen parties, there’s a lot to say for celebrating your last weekend of freedom somewhere familiar. After larging it in Miramar, Sanhok, and Vikendi, we found ourselves reminiscing about favourite spots on Erangel, old banter-related accidents, and one particularly rowdy night out round Rozhok. It was decided: we would return to the traditional hen heaven of Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds to see how it’s changed over the years.