Browsers can do anything. Right now I have a window open tracking my GTA:V delivery status, another that is listing cold-relief remedies *sneezes*, and a third with a video of a cat that I’m using to wipe away my snot-headed misery. If I didn’t have a browser, none of that information would be available to me and I’d be miserable. I also wouldn’t have my girlfriend. Something else that wouldn’t be available would be Silent Hunter Online, Ubisoft’s free-to-play sub sim based on their venerable series of tactical submersible combat in metal dongs. It was invite only for a while, but now it’s surfaced with an open beta. (more…)

Oh no! With a name like Ultimate Space Commando, there’s a very real chance that this could be the last game ever created. Deep down, I always knew that gaming would end as a QTE caused a planet full of aliens to explode, the light causing lens flare and bloom to bounce and refract from the shiny bald head of the Ultimate Space Commando. Imagine my relief when the trailer for the final game revealed something entirely different. Turn-based tactics, randomised maps, destructible environments, a neat inventory system and oodles of crafting. It’s a far more fitting end for PC gaming than the shrieking grind of the gears of war and you can now register as an alpha participant.

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Phosphor – who kicked up a few dust tornadoes with superpowered open-worlder Project Awakened – is forging on from the weeping ruins of a failed Kickstarter. With Awakened “on the backburner” for now, the team of former Midway standouts has turned its attention to massively multiplayer sandbox survival with Nether. The short version? Think DayZ, but in a delicately crafted post-apocalyptic cityscape instead of a re-appropriated Arma island and with the promise of community involvement from top-to-bottom. For better or worse, Phosphor claims that this riff on that Z-iest of days will be at the whims of its fans from day one. For now, however, it’s already decently far along, so go below for two tense PVP scenarios and a video interview with creative director Chip Sineni in which explains why Nether’s not just another DayZ clone.> (more…)

When last we checked in on Phosphor’s every superhero/all-the-things sim Project Awakened, morale had taken a hit in the wake of a narrowly missed $500,000 Kickstarter goal, but the developer wasn’t ready to hang up its cape, tights, shotgun, Tron light cycle, cowboy hat, ninja sword, and mechanized cybersuit just yet. There were plans on the table. Another crowdfunding drive. A playable prototype. A community driven “part-owner” program. Unfortunately, however, plans change. Now the DayZ-inspired Nether – which has been kicking around in Phosphor’s glowy green chambers for about a year – has moved to the forefront, still almost entirely community driven, but with markedly more survival and less, er, everything else ever.

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I overheard a man at Ubi’s recent Digital Days event describe Watch Dogs as “not really single-player, not really multiplayer”. I’ve no idea who it was, and it might have been a ghost, but it’s a fairly good description. Watch Dogs is an odd game. An open-world game of hacking that has touches of GTA and Deus Ex. But Like Dark Souls, it allows you to let other players into your game as sneaky opponents. There are a few ways they can get involved: you can leave the door open for anyone to wander in and they can bring their character and guns and try and take you out, or there’s a versus game where you can let a friend mess with the world from the free mobile ‘ctOS’ app as you attempt to escape their attention. I had a very> brief play of the latter as the tablet prodder. It’s not great, but it is interesting. (more…)

To hear Valve tell it, the mega-developer’s Seattle lair is a boundless, endlessly blossoming field of creativity – not some rigidly structured hive of hirings and firings. People clamber into the top secret treehouse, and then they affix themselves to whatever project strikes their fancy, or so the story goes. But it’s a bit tougher to bite those claims hook, (company) line, and sinker when not-so-good-old-fashioned layoffs strike. Earlier this year, Valve let go of around 30 employees, many of whom were allegedly involved in hardware and Steam Box endeavors. Rumblings suggested the sudden turn of events signaled a change of focus for Valve, but all we got beyond that was the world’s longest “no comment” from Gabe Newell. As it turns out, however, Valve’s Steam Box survived the Great Valve Purge of ’13, and now some sort> of reveal is just around the corner.

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Once upon a time, Terraria died. The end. That is roughly how I hope my posthumous biography is written, only my name is Nathan. I also hope my tale continues like this: But then, as if by sorcery or some really cool-looking robot parts, Terraria/Nathan sprang out of the grave and dredged up all sorts of crazy new features like a giant bee. Also penguins. That, however, is only the tip of the iceberg. Despite its diminutive numerical status, 1.2 is apparently a massive update, bringing with it copious new mechanics, enemies, menus, items, pets, and more. Dig into the loamy depths below for a highly enticing trailer.

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The latest installment of an ongoing collaboration between RPS and Dead End Thrills brings you a look at the recently released Betrayer.>

Just a moment while I stand and address the group. Hi everyone. *deep breath* I am a Monoholic. One whiff of vintage Monolith Productions and I’m back in the throes of a FEAR bender, or in a caravan park somewhere fighting ninjas disguised as Wiltshire police officers. And now this: Betrayer, an action adventure from six Monolith veterans born again indie and calling themselves Blackpowder Games. Quick, someone, chuck me that copy of Shogo or I’ll burn your house down. (more…)

Bugbear, the makers of the glorious FlatOut, recently announced a crowd-funded car crashing game, intermediately titled Next Car Game. To help tempt you with those papery things in your wallet, they’ve released a video detailing the destruction engine that the game will have. You should watch it, and make sure your hands are free so you can give it a round of applause. It’s beautiful. (more…)

Just like that time when I was a bairn and predicted the internet by placing our house phone on top of my Etch-A-Sketch (the Etch-A-Sketch had a scribble of a cat on it), I also predicted that Mighty No. 9 would easily achieve its Kickstarter goal. The side-scrolling action platform from Keiji Inafune, the creator of Mega Man, launched a hunt for crowd-funds just over two weeks ago, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to see how my prediction skills were doing. Wowsers. It currently sits at $2,173,615* of the $900,000 goal, and I’m now two for two prediction-wise. Now where’s my TV deal?

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