The Steam Winter Sale has kicked off but don t let that distract you from all the other gaming bargains out there this week. Whether you re looking for stuff you actually want or just another game to add to the ever-growing pile you will never clear, we ve got the best deals right here. Get that last gift or maybe grab a bargain for yourself – you made it through 2016, you deserve it.
Bloated blood-burping bumbleflies, electrotears, and so many more secrets are now buzzing around the basement in The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, thanks to the release of a huge and hugely impressive community-made expansion. Yes, the second official expansion launches in a fortnight but before then absolutely do check out the free Antibirth [official site] mod. Antibirth is mahoosive, adding new characters, new enemies, new bosses, new items, new music, new… it’s really big, and really well-made too. Also, this trailer is all sorts of creepy: … [visit site to read more]
I am fascinated by anything which let’s me peek behind the curtain of indie game development, whether it’s to see the effort that goes into making games or it’s a look at the realities of being in business for yourself. The video below falls into the latter category. It’s a 2016 GDC talk, posted to YouTube last month, in which Grey Alien Games’ Jake Birkett talks about how he survived in game development for eleven years without a hit. If the name doesn’t sound familiar, he’s the developer of Regency Solitaire, which was one of our favourite games of 2015.
The Growth Project is a work-in-progress which is halfway between gardening and either pinball or crazy golf – I haven’t decided which yet. It’s currently pay-what-you-want on Itch.io so I figured I’d flag it up as it has some really pleasing succulents on the desert levels! I felt absolutely terrible for interrupting a couple of dung beetles, though… … [visit site to read more]
Last time, we had a sniff around AMD s latest entry-level pixel pumper, the Radeon RX 460. It was not impressive. This week, it s time for the 460 s nearly-but-not-actually competitor from Nvidia, the GeForce GTX 1050. Except I ve actually got the 1050Ti, which is in turn the 1050 s slicker, slightly more expensive sibling. So, can the Ti win where the 460 failed and deliver good-enough gaming at an affordable price? … [visit site to read more]
Given that the term “exclusively” in video games often has an invisble “until a deal we can’t tell you about expires” attached (if you’re curious: this is visible only by the light of a blue moon), it’s probably not a surprise that Crytek’s PlayStation VR exclusive dinosaur adventure Robinson: The Journey [official site] is now headed for a PC version. Yup, Crytek may be closing several studios and laying off staff but they’re not done just yet. In January, the cybergoggle dinoventure will hit PC for Oculus Rift goggs. … [visit site to read more]
Debate’s long raged/wanked on about whether we in the West should really call the Resident Evil series by its Japan-given name, Biohazard. With the demo for the upcoming Resident Evil 7 [official site], that debate is over. There could be no more fitting name for its new house of horrors than Resident Evil. … [visit site to read more]
The Black Mesa [official site] gang have shared a first look at Xen in their Half-Life remake. You might remember that they launched Black Mesa without Half-Life’s oft-maligned final chapter, set in the alien world of Xen, because doing it right was taking yonks. You might further remember they’re planning to launch Xen in summer 2017. You might… well, I> was surprised by this first peek at a Dear Esther-lookin’ cavern. … [visit site to read more]
Batten down the wallet hatches, stow the pounds below deck, eat the fivers – barely a month after the closing of the Autumn sale and its awards, the Winter sale has descended on Steam like a terrible maelstrom, demanding tithes and sacrifices, disappearing all who stand in its way and eating their hearts. I don’t know where this metaphor is going. The sale is either a storm or an Aztec god. Make up your own mind. … [visit site to read more]
Telltale’s The Walking Dead [official site] comes back into our lives after just over two years away, but is it a welcome return with fresh water and bandages, or a shambling wreck of fetid corpse. It’s the second one. It’s fucking awful>. Here’s wot I think: … [visit site to read more]