You might think that "Make America Nazi-Free Again," backed by the "NoMoreNazis" hashtag, would be a fairly uncontroversial position to take, especially for a game like Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus. Nazis, after all, are the Universal Bad Guys, and whether it's at home, or far, far away, kicking their asses is always a good idea. Yet somehow, not everyone saw it that way.

To its credit, Bethesda isn't trying to soften or backpedal on the message. In fact, Pete Hines, the studio's vice president of marketing and PR, is doubling down on it. "Wolfenstein has been a decidedly anti-Nazi series since the first release more than 20 years ago. We aren't going to shy away from what the game is about," he told GamesIndustry. "We don't feel it's a reach for us to say Nazis are bad and un-American, and we're not worried about being on the right side of history here."

"[In the game] freeing America is the first step to freeing the world. So the idea of #NoMoreNazis in America is, in fact, what the entire game (and franchise) is about. Our campaign leans into that sentiment, and it unfortunately happens to highlight current events in the real world."   

He clarified that Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus wasn't developed as a commentary on the current political climate in the US, echoing comments made in August by developer Machinegames. He called it a "pure coincidence" that it's coming out at a time when Nazis are marching in American streets, but added that it's "disturbing" that some people find its out-loud anti-Nazi stance to be controversial.

"This is what our game is about. It's what this franchise has always been about. We aren't afraid to embrace what BJ stands for and what Wolfenstein represents," Hines said. "When it comes to Nazis, you can put us down in the 'against' column."

The Wolfenstein series actually debuted way back in 1981 with the top-down stealth game Castle Wolfenstein, and its 1984 follow-up Beyond Castle Wolfenstein. But it became more widely known as an FPS series in 1992 with id Software's Wolfenstein 3D, a game about killing Nazis, and the prequel Spear of Destiny, which was also about killing Nazis. The series was rebooted in 2001 by Activision with Return to Castle Wolfenstein, a game about killing Nazis, but went dormant again until the release of Wolfenstein, a game about killing Nazis, in 2009. Bethesda acquired the series along with id Software and gave it a powerful character-driven twist in 2014 with Wolfenstein: The New Order, a game about killing Nazis, and then followed up a year later with Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, a "standalone expansion" prequel about killing Nazis.   

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus comes out on October 27. Here's Machinegames explaining some of the different ways it will enable you to kill Nazis.

The third patch for Larian's hit RPG Divinity: Original Sin 2 is now live on Steam, and it's a big one. "But big is good because this update should address the most important issues you’ve been flagging," Larian wrote. "In addition to the obligatory bug fixes and balancing changes, this patch contains a number of content changes that should make your journal clearer and your journey through Arx smoother." 

A few highlights, chosen solely because I find them amusing out of context: Spider legs will now properly prevent players from being webbed; Voidwoken chicken should not be able to absorb Source points; fixed a crash "if you choose to sleep again with lizard after you put on all equipment and the thieves were already killed" (what?); reduced the Chicken form running distance to six meters; and "made Siwan bleed because dialog says Siwan is bleeding." 

Hey, if the dialog says Siwan is bleeding, then Siwan's gotta bleed. The full patch notes are below.

Improvements and changes:

• Improved and added several quest status updates in the Journal
• Fixed several quests not closing properly or when expected
• Spider legs now correctly prevent player from getting Webbed
• Tweaked frequency of certain automated dialogs
• Fleeing from combat now pops up the waypoint menu instead of moving you to nearest waypoint
• Added several improvements and hints in Arx that tie people together,  and that introduce places and characters (e.g. added a thief  corpse/ghost in the death-fog storage room)
• Save/load screen has been reskinned
• Removed camera shake from poison damage over time 
• Smoke now blocks Attack Of Opportunity
• Lowered Persuasion difficulty in Arx
• Pressing the right mouse button now stops all characters’ movement chained to the current character 
• Reskinned lobby and serverlist
• Improved Taunting in favour of the Taunter
• Optimised performance on certain AI actions
• Filter states on inventory are now saved
• Made the surfaces created by intersection temporary, but long-lived, instead of infinite (also fixes some surface puzzles)
• Reactive Shot now uses equipped weapon stats to calculate damage
• Reduced survivability and base damage of Bone Widow
• Reduced Chicken form running distance to 6 meters
• Small reduction in XP gain in Reaper’s Coast and Council of Seven areas
• Fixed melee and rogue archetypes ignoring characters with Stench talent
• Fixed Windego’s skills if you meet her in Council of Seven
• Made several changes to Captive Deep-dweller in the third round of the Arena in Reaper’s Coast
• The puzzle to get to Reimond now has a perception check on the hidden wall, and the wall supports lockpicking
• Voidwoken chicken should not be able to absorb source points
• Updated stats, skills, loot and archetype of Zaleskar
• Lobby browser now shows map names alphabetically
• Controller UI shows button hint in dialog windows when you can scroll
• Controller type can be auto detected and button hints are shown accordingly
• There is now a button to immediately go to the Recipe window (H by default)
• In the rune screen, you can now see all runes in all your party members’ inventories

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed crash that could happen when putting parent containers into child containers  
• Fixed crash when you accept a party invitation from a client that has left the game 
• Fixed crash when attacking ground with a projectile strike type of skill (via script or modding)  
• Fixed a crash that could happen when loading game or returning to main menu (destroying AiGrid)  
• Fixed crash if you choose to sleep again with lizard after you put on all equipment and the thieves were already killed  
• Fixed a Story Patching issue. This prevented certain previous storyline fixes to not be applied correctly.  
• Fixed a blocking issue in the Hall of Echoes: not having the cloud appear after completing the third part of the ritual and talking to a God  
• Fixed a blocking issue with characters playing dead during the Kraken combat  
• Fixed a blocking issue when selecting the option “pick up” when talking to the Parrotplant in Arx  
• Fixed a blocking issue when saving during Braccus’ dialogue in the endgame scene 
• Fixed a blocking issue that could happen in a dialogue with Dallis in the endgame scene  
• Fixed a blocking issue where characters would still be considered in  combat in the endgame scene, and nothing would be clickable  
• Fixed blocking issues caused by story scripting setting items offstage   
• Fixed a blocking issue with the Pilgrim Door not opening in Arx  
• Fixed a blocking issue with the crypt puzzle where blocks would rotate  45 degrees instead of 90 degrees in multiplayer or in savegames  
• Fixed a blocking issue that could happen when being teleported while in the middle of casting a skill  
• Fixed issue where Gwydian could end up being non-interactable (kill magisters without triggered Gwydian and voidwoken)  
• Fixed an issue where some companions would not be recruitable after the attack on the Lady Vengeance  
• Fixed magic mirror portrait rendering  
• Fixed magic mirror showing encumbered icon  
• Fixed scrolls not scaling with primary attribute  
• Fixed desync when using Enrage which could cause lack of crits  
• Fixed a bug where instakill surfaces would make it impossible to resurrect a character inside them  
• Fixed several instances where Reactive Shot would not trigger correctly  
• Fixed Reactive Shot being triggered by invisible characters  
• Fixed Dome of Protection ignoring vision blockers  
• Fixed melee attackers sometimes being able to still attack enemies on a higher ledge  
• Fixed issues with statuses not being set during dialogues which could cause other issues in turn  
• Fixed some quest markers not showing up for all party members  
• Fixed a bug with the cat following the last of the players, not the first one  
• Fixed an issue with Malady having the wrong alignment  
• Can no longer unassign all characters from a player  
• Fixed clicking through NPCs, picking up items (often by accident)  
• Fixed certain limbs not triggering the correct dialogs in Council of Seven  
• Fixed jump skill issue that allowed players to end up in unintended locations  
• Fixed combat turn order being broken after character could no longer get a turn  
• Fixed Magister Julian sending the player East instead of West  
• Fixed several minor dialog text issues   
• Fixed several dialog flag issues   
• Fixed certain waypoints not being activated correctly  
• Fixed several issues with nodes in dialogs not playing voice file  
• Fixed several issues with Lovrik encounter  
• Fixed issue with spirit vision sometimes not working after save/load  
• Fixed incorrect gender in certain cutscenes  
• Fixed being able to teleport into the Magic Mirror room  
• Fixed bartering screen where “Balance offer” would show incorrect gold amount after something was changed in offer  
• Controller mode: fixed summons not being able to delay their turn  
• Fixed not getting up after being knocked down or teleported after using Play Dead skill  
• Fixed issue where disarming a knocked down character would cause character to stand up straight  
• Fixed issue where certain origin moments were queued one after the other  
• Fixed issue with story call ItemTemplateRemoveFrom not searching  recursively through all inventories inside of the parent inventory  
• Fixed wrong vision cones (shift) when player has points in Sneaking ability  
• Fixed issue with White Magister ship not always moving correctly  
• Fixed pipe exit to escape Fort Joy being easily destructible  
• Fixed a repeating issue in Beast’s recruitment dialog  
• Fixed pathfinding issues on Lady Vengeance  
• Fixed issue with poison surface not spawning correctly under undead party members  
• Fixed evidence chest not having a tooltip  
• Fixed several issues related to stealing  
• Fixed previews of Attack Of Opportunity not always reflecting execution  
• Fixed AI endlessly complaining about doors being stuck (they will only nag once, e.g. in Arena’s treasure room)  
• Fixed issue where character could be stuck in combat mode and could never sheathe their weapon (desync issue)  
• Fixed queueing actions not always picking up item by default   
• Fixed an issue with skills disappearing from Skillbars or being un-memorised when dragging them around in the skillbar  
• Fixed make war issues near Gods in Hall of Echoes  
• Fixed not having anymore source if you want to bless each God in the Hall of Echoes  
• Fixed notification being sent about un-memorising skills even if character was not under control of the player  
• Fixed issue when attacking Gareth as he is carrying Jonathan  
• Fixed possible endgame combat blocker (combat would not start automatically)  
• Fixed recipe categories  
• Fixed dead characters getting stuck in Arx Arena combat due to horror sleep status  
• Fixed turn order issue in the fight for the Lady Vengeance  
• Fixed a bug where mask of the shapeshifter could shift you back to original shape  
• Fixed Dream Undone and All-Father, Life-Shaper achievements triggering incorrectly  
• Fixed several issues with Lohse’s shapeshifted form  
• Fixed volatile voidlings having incorrect level in Reaper’s Coast  
• Fixed Arx Death room having puppets that endlessly spawn and die instantly during combat  
• In multiplayer, use client language setting for showing origin names  
• Fixed mirror image of a hero character sometimes being wrong  
• Disabled trading with Kemm when he arrives at Arhu’s  
• Fixed being moved to a different region altogether after teleporting into Windego’s cell  
• Fixed Tarquin not telling you about Godslayer and not showing up at the Graveyard  
• When Malady mentions Tarquin, now set map marker on Tarquin instead of Graveyard cause Tarquin could be at 3 spots  
• Fixed bug where clearing a keybinding would not be saved  
• Fixed “glass weapons” not breaking when using with a skill  
• Fixed issue with Arx pipes puzzle: blessed blood would not propagate correctly  
• Fixed resurrecting sometimes not adding you to combat  
• Fixed not being able to receive skill from an item if you already memorised it but don't meet requirements anymore  
• Fixed a bug where dismissing henchmen seemed to give them a free talent point after you spent it already  
• Fixed being able to use projectile strike skills on items or characters that were out of sight range  
• Fixed characters teleporting automatically   
• Fixed being able to cast Swap Ground out of sight  
• Fixed not being able to talk to Gwydian Rince under certain conditions  
• Fixed being able to use fast targeting to find invisible characters  
• Fixed leaking PPGammaCorrection shader  
• Prevented party management tutorials from playing inside split screen character creation  
• Prevent flee tutorial if no waypoints available  
• Fixed creating water on top of electrified cursed blood: now leaves electrified water  
• In controller mode, fixed talking to ghost when ghost was on top of his corpse  
• Fixed visual effects (e.g. camera shake) playing eternally for second player if he joins game in the middle of the effect  
• Fixed issue with the camera not going correctly to the origin presentation camera in controller mode  
• Fixed AI still using taunt when near death or when no allies left  
• Smoke cloud after using laser ray is now blocking vision  
• Fixed source lich alignment issues and repeating dialogs  
• Made Siwan bleed because dialog says Siwan is bleeding  
• Fixed Almira trade table sometimes generating items of wrong quality  
• Fixed a bug where Illusionist dungeon objects could become invisible after save-load  
• Fixed Qanna fighting and talking while petrified  
• When memorial dig sites are unlocked on map, difficulty check now turns to trivial so you can find them  

UI Fixes:

• Fixed journal map camera clamping   
• Fixed controller journal marking read quests as new when changing tabs  
• Fix Take All button sometimes missing on containers  
• Fix context menu displacement in splitscreen controller UI when opening inventory  
• Fixed text cutoff issues in some UIs  
• Fixed AP bar sometimes disappearing in controller mode when switching characters  
• Controller mode: now show HP bars of characters while it’s not your turn  
• Controller mode: “invite to party” no longer bypasses the diplomacy manager  
• Fixed bug where icon of dismissed character would still be shown in party manager  
• Scrolling through more than four characters in the character-sheet UI now looks good and understandable  
• Selecting a stack in the crafting UI now shows item splitter  
• In controller mode, the Skillbar can now be used in combat when it’s not your turn (for browsing, previewing)  
• Fixed issue when in controller mode player would teleport character or  use waypoint while in selector mode, camera would not follow character  but would still be locked on selector  
• Fixed item tooltip still showing after opening a book, blocking the view of the book 
• Overhead damage numbers displays are now offset, reducing overlap  
• Fixed missing strings for loca in Roll UI  
• Fixed text cut offs and button positioning in Inventory and Character Sheet  
• Fixed scrollbar in inventory sometimes not showing  
• Fixed message boxes with really long text  
• Fixed adding to wares sometimes moving wrong item when shift clicking item in inventory  
• Fixed up/down key assignment confusion on keyboard hotbar UI  
• Fixed close buttons in controls options not showing warning if there are unsaved changes  
• Fixed width of statuses in examine UI  
• Made longer enemy names fit enemy health bars  
• Fixed max gold amount not fitting in icon slot  
• Fixed some cooldowns in skillbar showing zero when it should be one  
• Fixed how main menu and some UIs in GM would handle the Escape button  
• Fixed dialog cutoffs in split screen when players are in different dialogs  
• Can now copy paste in direct connect message box  
• Fixed magic mirror throwing an invalid error message about tags  
• Fixed “mute sound” option in controller mode menu  
• Voice label in character creation was sometimes showing wrong name when choosing origin character  
• Updated backgrounds in the credits screen  

 GM Mode:

• Fixed issue that dragging items to inventory went directly into equipment slot  
• Fixed issue with loading a savegame while having new active mods  
• Fixed a crash related to equipment  
• Fixed broken stats for spawned equipment  
• Fixed names and labels of several building blocks  
• Fixed crafting being interrupted by global pause  
• Fixed Music Assets in mood panel  
• Fixed several issues on level binding screen  
• Removed some items from GM menus that shouldn’t have been available  
• Fixed an issue that could happen where a GM couldn’t seem to place an  item or character in a certain spot when not using drag and drop  
• Fixed issue with adding physical and magical armour to characters  
• Fixed roll dice UI not showing up on top of some other windows  
• Fixed copied GM Campaign not showing in the list of My Campaigns until player launches GM Campaign Manager screen  
• When GM possesses creature, fixed UI showing tags instead of custom stats  
• Fixed duplication and saving of a shapeshifted character   
• Fixed issue when GM possessed a creature and could use the party management screen (invite/make war)  
• Character sheet in GM now uses shortest possible names for stats  
• Fixed Vignette half showing after spamming show/hide  
• Fixed being unable to make choice on vignette screen if skill bar is active in controller mode  
• Fixed player slots drawn outside of the border in the connectivity UI   
• Fixed ambiance not being saved in GM level  
• “New vignette” string can now be localised  
• Fixed "delete" button of exported monsters and items  
• Fixed groups update after exporting any monster or item  
• Fixed dragging newly created monsters to encounter pane  
• Fixed magnifying glass not opening sticky UI when expected  
• Fixed MoodPanel sometimes breaking after loading  

Sound:

• Closing inventory / stats now makes sound  
• Fixed some drop item sounds  
• Fixed drop sound when splitting items  
• Trying to equip item without meeting the requirements makes sound now  
• Fixed music changing to wrong state when switching party members  
• Fixed voice of black ring reaver ghost in RC  

Modding:

• Fixed: not being able to publish campaign after user sets dependency add-on for GM  
• Added extra osiris call CharacterResurrectAndResetXPReward() which resets the resurrected flag of the resurrected character.  
• Fixed having to create stats twice before it would be committed  
• Notify user of mods without valid story

Congratulations on making it all the way to the end—as a reward, here's information on how to set up Divinity: Origin Sin 2's mod tools, which can make the already excellent GM Mode even better. 

Ever wanted to drive the Batmobile in GTA Online? Soon you'll be able to! Kind of. The GTA community has known about the Vigilante, pictured above, and other vehicles coming in this wave of updates for a while now, but today Rockstar has officially teased it for the fall. It looks like a slightly updated version of the Batmobile from Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie, along with the back tyres and rocket booster of the Tumbler from the Christopher Nolan Batman movies. It'll pack some ludicrous firepower, too. I'm sure Batman would approve. Ben Affleck's Batman, anyway. 

Also coming to GTA Online is Coil Cyclone super car and the Hunter chopper. If you're bored of the Buzzard, the latter might be a worthwhile purchase. It looks pretty cool, although this decal is just asking for trouble in a public server: 

In other GTA Online updates, the previously teased transform races are coming to the game later this month. You'll instantly transition between land, air and sea across the Los Santos landmass in this mode, and Rockstar says to expect skydiving portions, which I fully expect to fail at when my character repeatedly smacks into the side of a building. 

A dogfight mode is coming to GTA Online, too, building on the existing air-based modes in Smuggler's Run, as well as a mode called Condemned, where one player is the target unless they can kill another player, at which point they become the target. 

Plenty to get on with there, then, until the next major update comes to the game—assuming competitive modes, racing or the Batmobile are your sort of thing. 

IO Interactive has outlined what's coming to Hitman this month, and asks players to "save the date" for an announcement on October 24.  

By way of ten Featured Contracts, the 'Master Scarecrow' Challenge Pack, and a further ten player-made Curated Contracts, the bald butcher has his work cut out for him over the next few weeks. The first two of those three will land on October 13, which marks the first Colorado-based Challenge Pack, while the third is expected "later in October".  

Alongside the roadmap, IO says it'll reveal some new Agent 47-related stuff on October 24. "That’s the date when we will reveal brand new content for the game," says this update post. "We’re going to let the announcement itself do all the talking, but there is one thing we want to clarify before then; this upcoming content is not 'Season 2'. We’re saying that now to keep expectations in check."

Keep your eyes peeled, then, and we'll report back two and half weeks' time. 

Planning goes a long way in Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord's Captain Mode, but what of its single player? Taleworlds has now outlined how 'influence' acts as a currency that'll determine the strength of your army. 

In this Steam Community update, the developer explains that influence can be earned in a number of ways—not least murdering bandits, enemy parties and conquering opposing settlements. "Influence points can be spent to determine the outcome of some faction decisions and to make requests to allied lords," so says Taleworlds, which in turn lets allied lords follow you. 

Determined by the power of their party, allied lords command certain influence costs. Taleworlds continues: "It is the leader of the army which gains all of the influence for the army’s victorious deeds, [for example] capturing a city will result in a huge influence boon for the leader, so spending influence to build an army is actually an investment, and sometimes even a gamble. If an army leader can no longer afford to spend influence then the army will start to disband."

A number of factors determine influence upkeep, such as army morale, how far the army has travelled from home, and how good or fraught relationships between armies, commanders and lords are at any given time.   

The update post—which also includes details on the game's updated UI—can be read in full in this direction. 

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord's launch date is yet to be revealed.  

If you played the original Call of Duty, its 2004 United Offensive expansion, or Call of Duty 2 one year later, you'll probably remember Carentan. The French rural town was one of these games' most iconic maps—and now a modern interpretation is heading to Call of Duty: WWII. 

Available at launch as a Bonus Map for Season Pass holders, Carentan sees players battling "through the destroyed buildings and fortified streets of this war-torn French town in an all-out battle for a strategic German stronghold," says Activision. Activision hasn't said whether or not the map will be available to all players down the line, but we've reached out for confirmation either way. 

At present, there's not much to go on beyond that brief description and this image:

Here's the original in motion, courtesy of YouTube person grievousmichel:

Call of Duty: WWII is due November 3, 2017. In the meantime, read Tyler's words on why its recent beta was pretty damn fun.

When J.R.R. Tolkien sat down to write The Lord of the Rings, I wonder if he ever imagined that his fantasy world would one day involve people spending real-world money on imaginary treasure chests stuffed with cockney orcs. Imagine going back in time and trying to explain that to him.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War has microtransactions, and people are mad. And I sympathise, because microtransactions are depressing. The crass commodification of an artform. A gaudy fast food joint popping up on a quaint village high street. An airline charging you $10 for a tiny, weak beer when you already dropped $200 on your damn ticket.

I reviewed Shadow of War and not once did the game flash up a message trying to sell me shit. There’s a Market option on the pause menu, but I never bothered clicking on it. I figured I’d wait for the microtransactions to be intrusive or hamper my enjoyment in some way before getting annoyed at them.

But to give you an idea of what exactly Warner Bros. are hawking, here’s all the stuff currently available in the Market menu. Note that there are two distinct currencies in this weird made-up economy: Gold and Mirian.

Featured

Assassin’s War Chest (240 Gold)“Recruit three Orc Assassins to eliminate your enemies.”- 3 Orc Assassins: At Least 1 Legendary, 2 Epic

Olog Reinforced War Chest (260 Gold)“Recruit three Orc Followers, including at least one Olog.”- 3 Orc Followers: At Least 1 Legendary, 2 Epic- 2 Consumables: Training Orders and Spoils of War Boosts

Loot chests

Silver Loot Chest (750 Mirian)“Contains two pieces of Gear, including at least one Rare.”- 2 Gear Pieces: At Least 1 RareGold Loot Chest (150 Gold)“Three pieces of quality Gear, including at least one Legendary and an XP Boost.”- 3 Gear Pieces: At Least 1 Legendary, 2 Epic- 1 Two-Hour XP Boost

Mithril Loot Chest (400 Gold)“Contains four pieces of guaranteed Legendary Gear and an XP Boost.”- 4 Gear Pieces: All Legendary- 1 Two-Hour XP Boost

War chests

Silver War Chest (1500 Mirian)“Recruit a pair of Orc Followers, including at least one Epic follower.”- 2 Orc Followers: At Least 1 Epic- 1 Consumable: Either Training Orders or a Two-Hour Spoils of War Boost

Gold War Chest (200 Gold)“Recruit three powerful Orc Followers, including at least one Legendary Follower.”- 3 Orc Followers: At Least 1 Legendary, 2 Epic- 2 Consumables: From any of our Training Orders and Two-Hour Spoils of War Boosts

Mithril War Chest (600 Gold)“Recruit four Legendary Orc Followers and gain a Legendary Training Order.”- 4 Orc Followers: All Legendary- 1 Legendary Training Order

Boosts

Two-Hour Player XP Boost (100 Gold)“A potion that boosts your experience gain by 100% for two hours.”

Two-Hour Spoils of War Boost (100 Gold)“A potion that boosts your Spoils of War gain by 100% for two hours.”

Ah, yes. That famous potion of Lord of the Rings lore that boosts your experience gain. I think Gandalf mentioned that in The Two Towers.

So yeah, it’s the usual microtransaction nonsense. Earn XP faster. Unlock better gear without actually having to earn it by killing captains and warchiefs. And free high-level orcs for your army without having to dominate them yourself.

Here’s how the two currencies work according to WB.

“Gold is awarded in small amounts at specific milestones and for participating in community challenges. It can also be purchased through the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store and by adding funds to your Steam Wallet using real money. Everything a player can buy with Gold can also be earned in the game over time for free, but Gold gives players the option to acquire these items immediately. No Gold purchases are necessary to enjoy the complete game experience. The main story campaign and progression have been balanced and tuned based on the player being offline.”

“Mirian is a form of in-game currency that players earn by playing the game. Along with Gold, Mirian can be used to purchase Loot Chests and War Chests from the Market. Mirian can be acquired by defeating Treasure Orcs, destroying Gear for Mirian, destroying Orc Followers for Gear (which can be destroyed for Mirian), and finding Mirian stashes throughout the game.”

I’ve asked WB how much Gold actually costs on Steam. If I get a response I’ll update the article. It isn’t possible to buy it in the review version.

Mirian flows into your fantasy bank account constantly, mainly through trashing old gear when you find a better sword, dagger, or whatever.

WB is keen to stress that buying loads of Gold won’t give you an edge over other players. “Gold does not give you any advantage over other players,” they say. “A player who invests enough time can progress the same amount and have access to the same content as a player who purchases Gold. Gold is not required to progress or advance in the game at all."

I got a Gold War Chest free with my review copy of the game, so if you’re interested in what’s actually in them, here’s what I got.

- Lorm the Shy, a Legendary ‘Cursed Dark Slayer’ follower

- Ronk Beast Butcher, an Epic ‘Cursed Feral Destroyer’ follower

- Bûbol the Shredder, an Epic ‘Poisonous Terror Tank’ follower

And as for reports that Legendary orcs only appear in loot chests and not in-game, that’s a misunderstanding, as our own Leif Johnson confirms here:

Playing the main story myself, I never felt like I was missing out on anything. I didn’t think about the microtransactions. But that’s my experience. I still had fun befriending and beheading orcs in Shadow of War regardless of their existence. Microtransactions in $60 games is definitely bad news, but for me they didn't hurt the game—open world bloat and poor storytelling are its biggest issues. Read my review to find out what I thought of the game. 

We'll have more on how and if loot boxes affect the online content and post-game content after launch.

From Father Theodore's horrifying flame-throwing henchmen, to its monsters made of limbs and occult-flavoured baddies, The Evil Within 2 is gearing up to surpass its forerunner on the twisted terror stakes. Now, Bethesda has revealed the hardware you'll need to power Sebastian Castellanos' latest jaunt into the unknown.

Much like its forerunner The Evil Within 2's recommended specs are quite demanding, however its minimum requirements shouldn't cause too much of a scare. 

Minimum

• OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit versions).
• CPU: Intel Core i5-2400/AMD FX-8320 or better.
• 8 GB RAM, 40GB free HDD space.
• GPU: NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB/AMD HD 7970 3GB or better.

Recommended

• OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit versions).
• CPU: Intel Core i7-4770/AMD Ryzen 5 1600X or better.
• 16 GB RAM, 40GB free HDD space.
• GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB/AMD RX 480 8GB or better.

It's worth noting Bethesda says: "We'll be altering this post as we get nearer to launch with more information", on this Steam Community post. 

The Evil Within 2 is due October 13, 2017.

It was a year ago, almost to the day, that Double Fine showed off some Psychonauts 2 "prototype gameplay" in a recreated version of the original game's summer camp. The elements on display "looked nice but weren’t designed to be part of the full game," the studio explained in a Fig update. "They were simple spaces that didn’t incorporate any of the tricky platforming and open exploration we want to be be central to Psychonauts 2." The new video released today, however, is much closer to what the final game will deliver. 

"The 'First Playable' is an area of the game that we’ve built to test our new pipelines and workflows across all departments—art, animation, tech, design, cinematics, etc," Double Fine wrote. "We’ve tested all of this a lot during pre-production, but this is our first big attempt to create a fully arted up, fully playable chunk of gameplay with all the systems, art, gameplay, and tech working in the same place." 

The segment is basically a "vertical slice," although the studio isn't using that term because it implies "a level of polish and completeness" that isn't currently there. But it's a fully playable area with "player movement, combat, quests, experience, UI all working together with scratch dialogue and audio, some rough visual effects, textures, lighting, even a cut-scene," which enables the studio to test and iterate on the systems—and show off what it's doing. 

There is, around the midpoint of the video, an unexpectedly up-close look at a goat butthole, and it's not entirely just a cheap joke: The Fig update also digs into "how a goat gets made," from simple sketches to more detailed drawings, a 3D model, texturing, and animation, which actually involved a real visit to a goat farm so the subtleties and nuances of goat movement could be properly captured.   

"It takes nine goats to the say the F-word," Double Fine boss Tim Schafer explained helpfully. "I've done a lot of goat porn. Graffiti. Goat porn graffiti." 

Double Fine is also "pretty close" to sharing details on backer rewards, which it expects will be shipped out in three batches: "One batch of stuff that doesn’t take too long to make (shirts for example), another batch of stuff for the more complex or custom things (like action figures) and a final batch for stuff that requires the game to be complete." Backer surveys should start arriving "really soon," it added. 

Psychonauts 2 is still far from a proper release date, but the last time we looked it had an "estimated delivery" window of summer 2018. More information about what's cooking is up at psychonauts.com. 

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is a familiar sequel. Developer Monolith Productions hasn't made any astronomical changes or additions to the excellent foundation that was Shadow of Mordor. Instead, they've polished tried-and-true ideas and layered in quality of life improvements. Andy was unimpressed by the story and general bloat, but the stellar Nemesis system is smarter than ever, and that clutter means Mordor is overflowing with things to do. So much so that it's easy to miss some of the finer points, many of which will make your life much easier. With that in mind, I've put together a list of essential pointers for Talion's second album.  

Buy abilities first and upgrade them later  

Shadow of War showers you in skill points from the word go, but you're still going to want to spend them efficiently. To that end, you're better off purchasing all of your base abilities before fleshing them out with individual upgrades. This opens up the game in several ways. You'll have more options in combat and gain access to special skill challenges which reward experience and money. You'll also get a feel for the abilities you like most and how you use them, which will help you tailor the upgrades you get later. You can only equip one upgrade to each ability, so choose wisely.

Abilities work on a parent system, meaning you have to unlock them in order from left to right. I recommend knocking out some basics like executions and mid-air shots, and then focusing 'shadow strike,' which lets you teleport to and instantly kill enemies from absurd distances. Shadow strike unlocks some dubious stealth options and really speeds up traversal. And speaking of basics: rush through the first act to unlock several awesome core abilities which I won't spoil here. Reaching the second act will also blow the Nemesis system wide open, unlocking new features like death threats and outposts. 

You have a 'might' meter 

In Shadow of Mordor, abilities worked on a combo system. Once you got your combo high enough, you could use certain abilities. This was indicated by your combo meter turning red and certain button prompts appearing. Well, the combo meter is functionally gone in Shadow of War. In its place is a 'might' meter which fills as you land hits and other moves. Once it's full, you can spend it on a special ability like an execution or an AoE. Thankfully, unlike the combo system, you don't have to spend might immediately. You can keep your bar full between encounters and then spend it when you want. This totally depletes your might, and it takes quite a while to build might in the early stages of the game, so execute frugally and pick up some upgrades that help build it.  

Really though, the main reason I wanted to call attention to the might meter is because it took me hours to notice it. This is partly because it's hidden away in a tiny bar in the corner of your UI, but also because I had such tunnel vision from my Shadow of Mordor run that I didn't pay it any attention. I honestly thought execution procs were random for the longest time. Do as I say, not as I do.

Captains are smarter than ever… 

Fundamentally, the Nemesis system hasn't changed much, which is a good thing. But those wily Uruk captains have made some improvements here and there. There are many more unique traits you'll want to make note of before targeting a captain, as well as special new abilities like tribe bonuses for pikemen and assassins. On top of that, they've got some new toys. You'll encounter captains brandishing poisonous and cursed weapons which deal heavy damage over time and can quickly send you packing if you aren't careful. 

More impressive is the new 'adapt' system. Captains will actually learn your strategies and adopt counters to them mid-fight. This punishes spammy attacks and puts you on a timer, which breathes quite a bit of life into fights. Let's say you're fighting a shield-toting defender-class captain. The best way to hit him is to vault over his shield and attack him from behind. Great! Vault away. But get the job done quickly. If you vault over him too many times, he'll gain the skill 'vault-breaker' and start blocking your approach. Captains can also adapt to overcome weaknesses if you give them time, so be sure to end them quickly.  

...But also have more weaknesses 

It's not all good news for the captains, mind. Talion's got some new tricks himself, and if you use them wisely you'll be gutting Uruk with the best of them in no time. For starters, there's a critical distinction between weaknesses and mortal weaknesses. If a captain is weak to ranged attacks, you'll be able to damage him with your bow. If a captain is mortally weak to ranged attacks, you can damn near one-shot him with a charged headshot. The same goes for explosions, stealth attacks, executions and so on. Mortal weaknesses are your best friend. Apply liberally until dead.

There's also a new 'dazed' status ailment that directly counters the adapt system. Captains can be dazed by exploiting their fears or weaknesses. Set them on fire, poison them, cover them in morgai flies, brutalize one of their guards in front of them—whatever it takes, daze them. Because when a captain is dazed, all of their immunities go out the window. Poof. Gone. Immune to executions? Defends against stealth? Blocks all ranged attacks? Not anymore. Dazed captains are not only totally defenseless, they'll often stagger around for a short period. If you save up some arrows and might before dazing a captain, you can often end them right then and there.

You can upgrade gear 

The process of acquiring and improving your gear is considerably more involved in Shadow of War. First of all, you actually change items this time instead of just slapping new stats onto the same old swords. This creates an addictive, almost Diablo-esque loot grind, and there are a few key rungs on the ladder to The Best Pants. On top of swapping out old gear for new stuff with bigger numbers, you can improve the quality of your epic and legendary items by completing their skill challenges. These can be found in their item descriptions, and once complete, will unlock new passive abilities. However, you also have to spend some mirian (the free currency, not the paid one) to apply these abilities. Epic and legendary items will often outpace higher-level common items, especially if you upgrade them, so it's worth doing their skill challenges. Additionally, there are now legendary set bonuses, because the Diablo comparison wasn't clear  enough already. You can also dismantle gear to get mirian to fuel other exploits, so don't get too attached to anything. It's all fuel for the grind.