How serious is Croteam and Devolver Digital's fourth instalment of Serious Sam? With all its motorbike-riding, shotgun-wielding, and limb dismemberment-ing, I'd say it's pretty darn serious. It's also "brutally bigger", reports Serious Pip, after going behind the scenes in Planet Badass for this month's cover feature.

Elsewhere inside, Phil hitches mounted weapons to vehicles and gets a feel for emphasised squad play in Battlefield 5. Rick Lane investigates the future of immersive sims, and Andy discovers how Fort Deadlight, Pillars of Eternity 2’s standout quest and setting, came to life. Look out for our E3 roundup, too. 

Previews this month include Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Metro Exodus, Imperator: Rome and more. Reviews, on the other hand, include Jurassic World Evolution, Vampyr, Cultist Simulator and many more. This month's issue also comes with a free game—Serious Sam's Bogus Detour. 

Issue 320 is on shelves now and available on all your digital devices from Google Play, the App Store and Zinio. You can also order direct from My Favourite Magazines or purchase a subscription to save yourself some cash, receive monthly deliveries and marvel at our exclusive subscriber covers. This month's is *chef kiss gesture*: 

This month: 

• Pip goes behind the scenes with Serious Sam 4: Planet Badass.
• Phil gets a feel for emphasised squad play in Battlefield 5.
• Rick Lane investigates what’s next for immersive sims.
• Andy explores the making of Pillars of Eternity 2's Fort Deadlight.
• Jurassic World Evolution, Vampyr, Cultist Simulator and more reviewed.
• Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Metro Exodus, Imperator: Rome and more previewed.
• Our E3 roundup.
• Our motherboard group test.
• And much more!

You see some sights in the Los Santos taxi business. From La Puerta to Paleto Bay, Vinewood to Chumash. Gangsters, gun runners, drug dealers, con artists and, as I now know too well, trophy hunters all thrive beneath the city's lustrous veneer. Someday a rain will wash all the scum off the streets. 

I'm back behind the wheel in Los Santos Life RP, a dedicated roleplaying server within GTA 5's FiveM open source community mod. Several months out of prison, I've had my taxi licence reissued and I'm working 12-hour days, seven days a week for the Downtown Cab Co. I'd love to tell you my newfound work ethic means I've left my days of robbing banks, committing fraud and making a general nuisance of myself behind, but I can't. There are just too many questionable people in this town. And that definitely still includes me. 

Lifeinvader is GTA's answer to Facebook. Located in the game's affluent Rockford Hills area, I pull up outside its headquarters and await my hire. I sound my horn, and a trio of loud and excitable chaps spill from the building into my cab. They direct me to Legion Square—the server's spawn point and unofficial central hub. They chat for a bit amongst themselves before turning to me.  

"Do you like hunting, driver?" one of the men asks.  

One of the most wonderful things about Los Santos Life is how committed some of its visitors are to their characters. I'm sure this is true in other roleplaying communities, but doing so within credible, real life-aping worlds interests me more than within high or low fantasy settings. Players often assume backstories, accents, personalities—they dress their profiles in clothes consistent with their income, and splash for vehicles true to their jobs. A journalist isn't likely to show up to work in a three-piece suit, for example, nor would you expect a builder to drive a supercar. 

I tell the man that hunting isn't really for me, despite the fact I eat meat. I'm branded a hypocrite and briefly teased by the three of them. I'm told to "get some balls" and that, "seriously, you'll love it if you try it." I continue to shrug them off till they eventually return to their own conversation. And, wow, do they seem clued-up on trophy hunting.

Like, really clued-up. They chat about their parents' "game rooms", different types of guns and ammunition, and the most strategic ways to subdue wild animals before execution. They mention real places and names like Philip Glass (this man, not the composer), Kendall Jones and Walter Palmer. I recognise the latter as that dentist who paid $50,000 to slaughter a lion in Zimbabwe, and I Google the others, which makes for depressing reading. If this is roleplay, I think to myself, it's really fucking good roleplay.  

As I pull up alongside Legion, the group's conversation turns to San Andreas. They talk about hunting in North Chumash and selling their spoils to the slaughterhouse Downtown. They've been patched out since, but both hunting sites and abattoirs were visitable locations within LS Life's modded GTA 5 map until recently.  

I'm now thrown. This lot could have simply studied real world trophy hunting to suit their in-game characters' narratives—but they appear so convincing. I decide to call their bluff. I tell them that, if they're up for it, I'll accompany them on their next trip up north and see what the fuss is about. They agree, and we arrange to meet back at Legion after I've dealt with my next hire.

I return to find two of the original three waiting for me at the square. I'm told one of the group is otherwise engaged, and that he'll hook back up with us at the abattoir later on. It's better with three anyway, I'm assured, as we're less likely to scare off our prey in a smaller group. We pull onto the Great Ocean Highway and head for the hunting site. And the lads start at it again. 

The discussion pinballs from bounties, to "going rates", to the thrill of the kill and, again, I'm unsure what's real, if anything, and what's for show.

By approaching the roadside kiosk, we activate a marker that switches our clothes and equips us with hunting rifles. We set off up the dusty track and wade deeper into the woods. A rabbit darts in the opposite direction and—BANG. It's down. Panicked, a deer surfaces from behind a tree. BANG. It's gone too. The boys contain hushed laughter, and congratulate one another as they go. They turn to me and point towards the crest of the hill ahead. 

We're deep into the trees now, in search of a bigger target. We spot a cougar. One chap motions to the left and then to the right. They split off in either direction, and it's clear they want me to take this one on. I pause… I take a breath… I raise my gun. The cougar's in my sights. I pause for longer still. I steady my grip. I take aim.

BANG! 

I fire a warning shot into the air, and the birds above scatter. I reload. BANG. I shoot the chap on the right in the leg before, BANG, I finish him off with one to the head. The cougar bursts into life, screams, circles, and pounces on the hunter to the left. He howls as the imposing cat throws him to floor and tears him apart. The boys are dead. And before the lion turns to me, I leg it back to the taxi. 

Upon death, Los Santos Life makes players wait ten minutes before respawning. During this time the recently deceased can seek help from emergency services roleplayers. I've no idea how many EMS staff are online, but I book it back down the Great Ocean Highway nevertheless, racking up multiple automated speed fines as I go. Cars whizz past on either side as I rocket down the median, and as I reach the outskirts of the city I almost collide with an oncoming ambulance.      

I pull up outside the slaughterhouse, and the third guy is waiting for me. 

"That was quick," he says. "Where are the others?" 

I tell him they're already inside, and that I'd dropped them off before nipping to the clothes shop round the corner to change my outfit. I let him lead the way into the back, through the swing doors, past the hanging meat carcasses, and put two in the back of his head. No witnesses, yeah? 

If you disagree with someone's ideologies in real life, you'll ideally have a polite conversation about it. In this roleplaying server, I instead became a Travis Bickle-like character, taking justice into my own hands and giving the hunters an ironic fate. I suppose we could've just talked it through, before we wandered off into the woods to hunt pretend animals. But that wouldn't have been very GTA, would it? 

Soulsborne sleuth Lance McDonald has returned to Lothric—this time with the suggestion Dark Souls 3 once planned a PvP battle royale multiplayer mode.

In his latest Dark Souls alpha cut content video, McDonald visits the third game's High Wall of Lothric area. He discovers three items absent from the final game—the Ceremony Sword of Darkness, the Ceremony Sword of Flame, and the Ceremony Sword Battle Royale Eclipse. In order to explain the latter, it makes sense to first look at the former. 

Below, McDonald says the Sword of Darkness' description reads: "When used, perform a ceremony to envelope the world in darkness. For playable version, select this item to perform an eclipse ceremony". He explains the item can only be used in a specific context that he's unable to recreate in-game—but is able to work around it by changing a flag in the game's executable.

Doing so transports McDonald to a new, unseen version of the High Wall that's plunged into darkness. It's referred to in the game's data files as its 'Moonlight Ceremony' state.

McDonald says the Ceremony Sword of Flame's description reads: "When used, invade a world that has been enveloped in darkness. For playable version, select this item to perform an invasion ceremony." While he can't say for sure, McDonald suggests both swords would have allowed players to host and invade player-created moonlight ceremonies respectively.  

McDonald then talks to a third item, the Ceremony Sword Battle Royale Eclipse. It comes with no description, but McDonald says it "may have been another way for players to engage in multiplayer events in moonlight ceremonies." He then explains that the term 'battle royale' has been used in the Souls series to describe multiplayer arena modes. He adds: "We might assume that Dark Souls 3's Moonlight Battle Royale Ceremony was an extension of the PvP arena concept."

All of which means Dark Souls 3's cut interpretation of battle royale probably wasn't the PUBG/Fortnite-flavoured, fight-to-the-death set up we're now so familiar with. We can dream though, right?  

Other neat discoveries of McDonald's include the suggestion that Oceiros' baby wasn't always invisible, and the idea that Pontiff Sulyvahn was once the final boss.

If you're yet to play Dark Souls 3 and fancy it, it's going for £9.99/$14.99 in the Steam Summer Sale.    

Five Nights At Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon has just released a brand new game in the series, and it's a neat, customisable take on the classic survival horror formula. Dubbed Ultimate Custom Night, the free instalment allows you to populate your playthrough with a selection of 50 animatronic characters. 

Described as "the ultimate FNAF mashup", you'll be stuck in an office haunted by living (and violent) animatronics, but it's a bit different this time. Of the 50 available characters (all of which have appeared in earlier FNAF games), you'll be able to drop them into the game and set their difficulty level (which ranges from 0 to 20). "From your office desk, you will need to manage two side doors, two vents, as well as two air hoses, all of which lead directly into your office," reads the Steam description.The description continues: "This time you will have to master other tools as well if you want to complete the ultimate challenges, tools such as the heater, A/C, a global music box, a power generator, and more. As if all of that weren't enough, you'll also need to set up laser traps in the vents, collect Faz-Coins, purchase items from the prize counter, and as always, keep a close eye on not one, but two, Pirate Cove curtains!"

Ooft, those pesky Pirate Cove curtains.

There's a challenge menu featuring 16 themed challenges, voice acting, and unlockable office skins and cutscenes. As I mentioned before, it's completely free. Here's a trailer:

As you'd expect, there was a fair bit of consternation when it emerged that long-time Snake voice actor, David Hayter, would not voice the character in Metal Gear Solid V. The fact that Keifer Sutherland replaced him might have taken the edge off a bit, but there were many who felt betrayed by the decision (Hayter himself said he's got "no particular love" for Hideo Kojima. Ouch.) 

But don't worry: Hayter is back as both Naked Snake and Solid Snake. The catch? It's as playable characters in Konami's Super Bomberman R, which has recently shed its Nintendo exclusivity and made it to Steam. The characters arrive as a free update, and you can watch a trailer celebrating this fact below. Hayter seems happy.

As for the game itself, I'm sure it's great if you're into Bomberman, though its quite pricey at $40. The ratings on Steam so far are "mixed". 

DayZ standalone was released in Steam Early Access in late 2013. I bought it a month later in January, and spent over 250 hours with it before I stopped playing in October of 2014 (for reasons I'll explain below). Other than to get a gif for this incredibly important article about how much I hate chopping down trees in games, I haven't set foot inside DayZ in nearly four years.

DayZ is planning on a 1.0 launch in 2018, and recently began testing its new engine on version .63 experimental servers. I decided it'd be a good time to revisit Bohemia Interactive's open world survival game, to see what's changed and what hasn't, and give the new engine a spin.

What's it like leaving a game in the midst of its development, and returning to it years later to find it, well, still in the midst of its development? There have obviously been some changes since 2014, but in ways both good and bad, DayZ feels pretty much like the same game I played years ago.

Zombies are still completely unpredictable

I know it's the experimental server, and it's currently missing a lot of features as they're being brought into the new engine. But it's still just so weird that when I left four years ago, the zombies were in the same state they currently are on the .63 experimental server. They're more or less completely unpredictable. It's honestly like I never left.

I put a little compilation of some of my zombie encounters above. As you can see, sometimes they respect things like doors and walls, while other times they ignore them. Sometimes they'll get stuck on fences, other times they leap over them. Sometimes they try to claw me to death, sometimes they run over and just sort of stand there until I kill them. Bullets can be instantly fatal or have absolutely zero effect.

I'm not really judging. Games take a long time to make. I imagine switching engines midway through development means having to re-do a lot of work that was already done once. But it's still hard to see a zombie walk through a wall in DayZ all these years later and not be left with a sense of disbelief.

Also unpredictable: the hotbar. In the last clip above, where I run out of ammo and seem to just give up defending myself, I'm really trying to use the hotbar to switch from my gun to my axe. Sometimes I can easily flip between weapons, other times (like this one) it's completely unresponsive. But hey, that's what happens in an experimental build of an Early Access game.

People are still unpredictable, too

Toward the tail end of my original 250 hours of DayZ, I'd begun to sour a bit on the experience of running into other players. Originally, it was my favorite part of the game because players were wonderfully unpredictable. Some would be nice and helpful, others completely indifferent, still others deadly or cruel. There were times I spent days running around far inland without ever seeing anyone, only to open a door in a random village and find myself face-to-face with another player. I loved it: meeting someone created an incredible amount of tension because you never knew what to expect. I met monsters, saints, roleplayers, serious players, and complete goofballs. I even had a little tumblr set up to keep a record of my encounters.

DayZ seemed to change, though, slowly throughout 2014, into a game where nearly everyone just shot first and asked questions never. That's fine: all's fair in the post-apocalypse, and no doubt due to being burned one too many times, being tricked or trapped or tortured or just gunned down, it no longer made sense to risk your life and loot by approaching and talking to other players.

But the tension of not knowing how someone would act was my favorite part of DayZ, and with just about everybody adopting a kill-on-sight philosophy, it lost a lot of that tension and mystery.

This week on the experimental server felt a bit more like the DayZ I loved. One guy greeted me and made chit-chat, which turned out to be a distraction for his two pals who ran up behind me and punched me to death. A few players said hello but ran by without stopping. One guy invited me to come with him as he looted, and shared his spoils with me. And once I was taunted and mocked by several players hiding in a locked police station before I found one of their pals AFK outside, at which point I hacked him to death with a machete before being shot in the back when I fled.

I don't know what the regular DayZ servers are like these days, but on experimental there's a healthy mix of people who want you dead, people who want nothing to do with you, and people who are interested in hanging out and working together.

The sprint meter is more realistic but I still don't like it

I've written before about my dislike of sprint meters in open world games: when it comes to running around, stamina as a resource is anti-fun. I even talked to Brian Hicks about DayZ's new sprint meter recently, and now I've gotten the chance to try it for myself. It doesn't ruin the game or anything, but I'm still not a fan and I honestly hope they remove it before 1.0.

There's a lot of running in DayZ—at times, it feels like there's nothing but running. It's not so much the specifics of the speed of travel that concerns me, but the disruption the meter lends to it. Having a meter deplete and then have to refill as you trot for a while is just kind of a nuisance. Sprint restrictions are one part of realism games could do without, and DayZ is no exception. Just let me run full speed all the time. Less real, but more fun.

The UI is a big improvement, mostly

Back when I played DayZ you were informed of your status with a series of text messages in the corner of your screen. It was useful and no-nonsense information, but there was something that felt annoyingly low-fi about it.

"I feel thirsty.""I'm thirsty.""I need a drink.""I feel like having a drink.""I want to drink something.""I really need to drink.""I'm dying of dehydration."

These status messages arrived for everything from thirst, hunger, bleeding, sickness and food poisoning, and pain in various parts of your body. They could also get annoying when it came to body temperature, especially when it also dealt with the dampness of your clothing, how much you were moving, and if you were in the sunlight, meaning new messages could appear every few seconds informing you of fractional changes to your comfort level.

Now represented by icons for health, sickness, blood loss, temperature, hunger, and hydration, you can see your status at a glance. Some of it feels unnecessary: when running and sprinting at top speed, I can kind of assume I'm burning through calories and that my hydration levels are falling and don't really need those downward arrows to point it out constantly. But it's a more elegant and appealing system, even if it doesn't give you quite as much specific information.

I no longer fear ladders

Ladders: the silent killer. I mean, the ladders were silent, but players would be screaming with rage. In my DayZ days they were simply a no-no. You did not climb a ladder for any reason, because ladders would kill you. You'd reach the top and then you'd fall off. You'd reach the top and somehow continue climbing, and then you'd fall off. You'd climb off and move away, then find yourself rubberbanded back on again. And then you'd fall off. DayZ's ladders were the worst.

But no more, it seems. I haven't had any issue climbing ladders on the experimental branch. I even climbed almost to the top of the radio tower at Altar, and then climbed all the way back down. No problems. Ladders, at last, are not the most dangerous killers in DayZ.

I'm not sure if the guns are good or not

The experimental server, as far as I could tell, didn't have a whole lot of guns on it yet, or at least didn't have a whole lot of different kinds of guns. Plus, half the time I had a gun I had the wrong ammo or mags for them. So, I can't really speak to how the shooting is on the new engine yet.

I love the fiddly nature of the guns, though. How you have to manually open a box of ammo, load the mags one bullet at a time, then stick the mag into the gun. Even if I don't do a lot of shooting in DayZ (and when I do I don't do it well) I've always enjoyed the level of simulation put into the weapons.

Eating and drinking takes a lot longer

My memory isn't perfect, but I don't remember eating and drinking taking quite so long in DayZ standalone as it does in .63. If this is a change, I think it's a great one. Realistically, no matter how hungry you are, it's going to take more than a few seconds to consume an entire can of beans or spaghetti. The process of opening cans, filling bottles, and everything else around eating seems to take longer too.

I know, Mr. Anti-Sprint Meter hates being told how long he can run for but is happy to crouch in a bush for a solid few minutes to eat canned pasta and tinned sardines realistically. What can I say? I like what I like.

It's great to be back

As for why I quit the game in the first place, it was due to writing a piece for Rock Paper Shotgun back in 2014, where I promised if I died during a session of DayZ I would never play it again—a sort of perma-permadeath. It was a dumb idea, and naturally I died dumbly (and almost immediately). Returning to DayZ is pretty much me breaking my dumb promise, though if I'm looking for a loophole, I'm only playing it on the new engine. Perhaps a different engine means DayZ is now a different game?

Despite the changes and a new engine, it definitely doesn't feel like a different game, so maybe I'm just a lousy lying promise-breaker. Either way, I'm happy to be back into it again, warts and all. 

Ubisoft’s new open world racer has some impressive scenery, whether you’re bombing along the Pacific coast or through the Nevada desert at sunset. But when I  slowed down and took a closer look at its cities, I noticed something strange. The storefronts that line the streets are truly bizarre, like they’ve been generated by some malfunctioning computer. Maybe they have? I don’t know the tricks developer Ivory Tower uses to build these gargantuan maps. But I do know that, close up, its version of the USA is bloody weird.

We'll have a full review of The Crew 2 tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy some French ravioli and pizza pizza grilled pizza.

This eatery not only serves burgers (the best, apparently), chicken, and pizza, but grilled coffee too. I can’t say I’ve ever grilled coffee before—I prefer soaking it in boiling water myself—but maybe it’s a local tradition in LA?

This French restaurant boasts a range of classic Gallic dishes including, uh, ravioli, fettuccine, and tortellini. Culturally ignorant restaurateur or some kind of bold fusion cuisine, perhaps? It's difficult to tell.

This raises several questions. Why would anyone ever need 24-hour access to an antiques shop? And if it’s open all day, why is it closed? Maybe the auctioneer stepped out for a few minutes to grab a cup of grilled coffee.

The peculiar placement of this ATM is one of The Crew’s most alluring mysteries. Why has it been placed in some old vacant lot? And hidden away from the street behind a fence? One can only guess.

City living can be expensive, but luckily there are places like this motel where you can rent an apartment for the low, low price of just $3B.9B a month. And it’s open 7 days a week, which you’d hope somewhere you live would be.

Ah, yes. Because when you fancy a beer, the most important piece of information a bar can provide is how fresh its drinks are. Cold drinks? Pfft, just tell me how fresh they are, buddy. I need that fresh beer.

This gift shop appears to have a sideline in facials, waxing, nails, and body massages, which is some impressive diversification. And they've been doing it since 1924 apparently. They loved bikini waxes in the roaring '20s.

If you thought a hot, steaming mug of freshly grilled coffee sounded good, try chicken grilled coffee on for size. And don’t forget to order that Californian classic to go with it, the pizza pizza grilled pizza. It’s grilled!

Good luck getting into this San Francisco restaurant for a slice of pizza pizza grilled pizza, because someone appears to have stolen the stairs. Another small business destroyed by crime. This city's going downhill. Literally.

Do you need munti-functional spray paint, whatever that is? Or how about a weirdly specific 77 different kinds of paint? Then Paint Store, the store that sells paint, is here for you, my friend. You want paint? We got it.

Now this one is a real enigma. The signage claims it’s a pharmacy and a grocery store, but look inside and you see what is clearly a high-end fashion boutique. I’m so confused. But maybe it's an art thing.

This multi-tasking store provides every service a person could ever want. Furniture, tailoring, cleaning, appliances, and SHOE. Because sometimes you just need a single shoe. Not a pair, but a solitary shoe.

You can get a room for the night, your car fixed, breakfast, a spa treatment, and your armchair fixed in this establishment, all under one roof. Now that’s what I call a diverse business. And so efficient. Sign me up for a loyalty card.

Do you need circular dots? Then Circular Dots has you covered. What even are circular dots? Well, uh, I have no idea. But this store sells ‘em, and that’s good enough for me. Circular dots. Dots that are circular.

It’s a shop, but what does it sell? There’s a picture of a woman with billowing hair in the window. Maybe it sells them. But who knows, really. All I know is that it’s a shop, and sometimes that's all the information you really need.

I don't know what this shop sells either, but I do know that it's the best. And if you need the very best of some unspecific item, then this mysterious store is clearly the place to spend your hard-earned money. It's the best.

Clothes boutique Alessandra is sadly going out of business. But the benefit for its customers is that if they BUY ONE they get SECOND ONE, which is nice. LA is an expensive city, so deals like this should be taken advantage of.

Ah, so that’s where they all come from.

Back in my day (where we navigated the world using a paper booklet called an A-Z and dinosaurs roamed free), The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit would have been a disc demo nestled on the front of our magazine. These days it’s a free download over on Steam and acts as an interactive teaser/mini episode to draw you in for Life is Strange 2. 

Captain Spirit is the alter-ego of 10-year-old Chris. Chris lives with his dad and loves the world of superheroes and supervillains. It’s both a playspace and a respite from the scarier or more difficult elements of his life, like dealing with the impact of his father’s drinking.

I can’t speak to how realistically Dontnod have explored that strand of childhood trauma. Instead I’m evaluating the experience as someone looking to lose themselves in another person’s story, exploring their world.

Captain Spirit plays similarly to the original Life is Strange in that you walk around the 3D environments and choose how to interact with various objects. There is some light puzzling where you can find keys to unlock doors or set up a play scene in the garden to act out a superhero encounter. 

Both the presentation and references planted around the world tie Chris’s experience to the broader Live Is Strange-iverse. You’ve got the indie folk soundtrack and clusters of slow-panning establishing shots which build a similar mood to the earlier game, and then there are mentions of Blackwell Academy and of teens who hop on freight trains to more directly reference the preceding games. But, those moments aside, Captain Spirit tells its own story, and it’s one which feels very hit and miss. 

Watching Chris play with toys—particularly when he’s talking to a teddy dressed as a superhero sidekick via walkie talkie—is charming. The game also sometimes lets you press E to perform an action in character as Captain Spirit so the imaginary world and the real one bleed into each other in a small but meaningful way—I was reminded that I still pretend I’m a basketball player when I dunk balled-up waste paper into the bin and celebrate accordingly.

Chris’s father’s drinking affects pretty much every aspect of the experience. Sometimes it’s achingly sad and effective. Generally these were moments where the devs used a lighter touch like the ability to play Chris as a kid who takes on household tasks because his father can’t. The game also sets up a sense of menace and of unpredictability in the house which meant getting Chris to play one of his mother’s records felt like a real gamble in terms of whether it would lead to a confrontation with his dad. 

But other options feel like they come from an adult directing the action and not a vulnerable and resourceful kid. The game also tends to be heavy-handed when it wants to provoke emotion. Take the basic setup for example: it’s the Saturday before Christmas and Chris’s dad has absolutely pinky-promised they will go out and get a real pine tree. 

A child dealing with a heavy-drinking parent at Christmas is low-hanging emotional fruit, so the supporting fiction needs to work hard to “earn” or contextualise that emotion instead of piggybacking off it. Without getting into spoilers, I’d say it’s only partially successful in that. 

The game is capable of provoking anxiety or empathy, but it often tips into mawkish territory. This is a problem which marred several episodes of Life is Strange, so it’s not a surprise. But Captain Spirit has far less time to cultivate relationships with the characters; it’s easy to feel overtly manipulated, and harder to overlook abrasions. 

There’s one last caveat here which relates to my experience of the first Life Is Strange. Part of the appeal of Life is Strange was the personal resonance of the story of Max and Chloe. They were important to me in a way that was never dimmed by the game’s flaws. That wasn’t true of Captain Spirit for me, but players with a stronger affinity for the story of Chris and his dad will likely be less irked by the elements which left me cold. 

Free-to-play battle royale shooter H1Z1 is getting a new map today called Outbreak, an 8x8km battle royale arena that features "new terrain, points of interest, and art and textures". And keep your eye out for few areas familiar to long-time players of H1Z1, because the map includes several landmarks from the original map (though they've been redesigned). You can see video of some of those landmarks above, such as Pleasant Valley and Misty Peak Dam, and there's an announcement trailer and some screenshots below.

"Alongside the new map, the update includes changes to gameplay mechanics that allow players to recapture the classic feel of H1Z1," reads the press release sent to PC Gamer. "This includes new run and jump movements and animations to create a faster and more responsive system that keeps combat fun and intuitive. Classic audio cues also make their return with this update."

This is great news for H1Z1 players. While the existing battle royale map has undergone a lot of changes over the years, it's still a map originally designed for what is now called Just Survive, Daybreak's open world survival sandbox. With Outbreak, H1Z1 will be getting a map specifically built with battle royale in mind.

Outbreak is available for solo players, duos, and squads of five. Find out more about today's update here.

After filing against Epic Games last month, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds developer PUBG Corp has now dropped its lawsuit against the creators of Fortnite. 

As reported by Bloomberg, PUBG Corp sent a letter of withdrawal to Epic's legal team earlier this week. The case has now been closed, says Bloomberg, however it's unclear if a settlement was reached in the process.

As told by Shaun last month, the Korea-based PUBG Corp filed an injunction against Epic Korea in January, alleging copyright infringement. The Seoul Central District Court was to rule on the perceived infractions, but Bloomberg reports the case as terminated on the local court system's website. 

In the wake of Fortnite Battle Royale's announcement last year, PUBG executive producer Chang Han Kim explained that while PUBG uses Epic's Unreal Engine 4, he was concerned Fortnite was "replicating the experience for which PUBG is known" at the time.  

Chinese multinational investment conglomerate Tencent owns a percentage of both companies.

We've reached out to both PUBG Corp and Epic Games for comment. We'll update as and when we hear back.