AMD has a new Crimson ReLive 17.10.2 driver package available that is supposed to deliver significantly improved performance in several games compared to the previous 17.10.1 driver release.

According to the release notes, Radeon RX Vega 56 owners who run Destiny 2 at 2560x1440 will see up to a 43 percent improvement in performance by installing the new driver package. Radeon RX 580 owners will see an even bigger bump, up to 50 percent at the same resolution, AMD claims.

AMD's Crimson ReLive 17.10.2 release is also optimized for Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Assassin's Creed Origins. The performance jump is not quite as tall, but still noteworthy—in Wolfenstein II, AMD says Radeon RX Vega 56 and Radeon RX 580 owners will up to 8 percent and 4 percent better performance, respectively, at 2560x1440. And in Assassin Creed Origins, AMD says Radeon RX 56 owners can expect up to 16 percent faster performance at 2560x1440, while Radeon RX 580 owners will see up to a 13 percent boost at 1920x1080.

Those are the only examples AMD provided, and likely indicative of the highest gains observed across multiple scenarios. Nevertheless, they leave plenty of room for impressive gains with other hardware and resolution combinations, especially in Destiny 2.

The new driver release provides initial support for the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, along with support for compute workloads for up to 12 installed RX 400, Radeon RX 500, or Radeon RX Vega cards in Windows 10. As part of that, AMD added a new toggle in Radeon Settings under the Gaming, Global Settings options to switch between graphics or compute workloads on selection Radeon RX 500 and Radeon RX 400 series graphics cards.

There are a handful of fixed issues in AMD's latest driver package, too. They include:

• Radeon Software may not appear in the uninstall options under "Apps and Features" on Windows operating systems after a Radeon Software upgrade.
• Minor corruption may appear in PUBG in some game locations when using Ultra graphics settings in game.
• Radeon Wattman may fail to apply user adjusted voltage values on certain configurations.
• Hearts of Iron IV may experience a crash or system hang during some scenario gameplay.
• Radeon Settings gaming tab may not automatically populate games detected on the users system.

Go here to grab the new driver package and read the full release notes.

Former BioWare guy Manveer Heir recently gave an interview in which he said that Electronic Arts is prioritizing more open-world games, because they're easier to monetize and can go on more or less indefinitely. Yet in this recent GamesIndustry report, current MachineGames guy Tommy Tordsson Björk said his studio is doing exactly the opposite with the upcoming Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, because cramming in multiplayer would detract too much from the story it wants to tell. 

"The only way we can create these super immersive narrative experiences is if we can solely focus on the single-player," Tordsson Björk said at Gamescom, which actually took place in August. "Having a multiplayer component in this work process would just dilute it all. That's the danger if you try to do two things at once." 

MachineGames considers its Wolfenstein games to be action adventures rather than shooters, "because we feel there's so much more to them than just shooting," he added. Obviously the core gameplay is all about the guns, but Tordsson Björk said it's the setting and the story that really put it over the top. 

"It's a fictional setting, of course, and it's a crazy story, but we tried to stay honest and tell it as honestly as we can. That's our goal," he said. "There are so many things you aren't seeing. We're definitely pushing the limits, but at the same time continuing what makes Wolfenstein really special: the drama, the human relationships, with dark humor and violence. It's pushing them all, on all fronts." 

It will never stop feeling weird to me to think of Wolfenstein as a character-driven game with a strong emphasis on the underlying narrative. I don't want to oversell the point—Wolfenstein 2 remains, at its core, a game about killing Nazis by the truckload—nor do I think it represents a broader overall shift in how the industry approaches the genre. But it is a nice change from the attitude that led to a multiplayer mode in the famously story-focused shooter Spec Ops: The Line, an addition mandated by publisher 2K Games that lead designer Cory Davis described (very angrily, I'm guessing) as "cancerous" and "a waste of money." 

Bethesda announced the Wolfenstein 2 system requirements and PC-specific features today. Get the lowdown here.

Just a few days in advance of the release of Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, Bethesda Softworks has revealed the system requirements for the PC version of the game, as well as the advanced settings we'll be able to play with, which will include an FOV slider, colorblind modes, and no fewer than five anti-aliasing modes. 

The "Can I Play, Daddy?" (720p and 60 fps at low settings) 

• CPU: Intel Core i7-3770/AMD FX-8350 or better
• GPU: Nvidia GTX 770 4GB/AMD Radeon R9 290 4GB or better
• RAM: 8GB
• OS: Win7, 8.1, or 10 (64-Bit versions)
• Storage: 55GB

The "I Am Death Incarnate" (1080p and 60 fps at high settings)

• CPU: Intel Core i7-4770/AMD FX-9370 or better
• GPU: Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB/AMD Radeon RX 470 4GB or better
• RAM: 16GB
• OS: Win7, 8.1, or 10 64-Bit
• Storage: 55GB

Regardless of where you are on the hardware scale, Steam and a broadband internet account are also required, and AMD GPU drivers apparently no longer support Windows 8.1—but seriously, why are you still running Windows 8.1?

"Many on the team here are dedicated PC players and there’s been a lot of engagement in making sure we accounted for and went above and beyond to add lots of additional settings for PC players," executive producer Jerk Gustafsson said. "Everything from unlocked framerates, field of view slider, to lots of advanced visual settings like lights, shadows, reflections, the list goes on!"

It does go on, in fact, right below.

Advanced visual settings:

• Lights
• Shadows
• Directional Occlusion
• Reflections
• Decals
• Motion Blur
• Image Streaming
• Volumetric Quality
• Decal Filtering
• Deferred Rendering
• Chromatic Aberration
• Depth of Field
• Resolution Scaling

Anti-aliasing options include, but are "not limited to," TAA, FXAA, SMAA, and TSSAA. And for gamers dealing with color vision deficiency, Wolfenstein 2 will offers modes for protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia.

"We’re also taking full advantage of Vulkan, allowing us to push improved performance across the board in ways that simply weren’t possible before," Gustafsson said. "The minimum hardware requirements are set to ensure a high-quality experience, and with Vulkan players should see solid performance on a variety of system configurations. However, if you’re aiming for 1080p with high framerate and settings, you would need to bump towards our recommended specs."

There are no plans for mod support in Wolfenstein 2, although Gustafsson said MachineGames would love to support them, and "hopefully we will find an opportunity to do so in the future." He also said that the technical issues that caused texture pop-in and crawling framerates in Wolfenstein: The New Order at launch have been addressed as well.

"The New Colossus version of the id Tech engine is no longer mega-texture based, which means we have a lot more control over when and what textures are being streamed in," he explained. "With that said, there will always be texture streaming, but in a way that will cause a lot less risk of noticeable issues."

As for BJ's rumored head transplant, Gustafsson scoffed but didn't actually deny it: "A head transplant sounds extreme. Where do you guys get these crazy ideas from?"

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus comes out on October 27. Many, many digital Nazis will die as a result.