The first Layers of Fear was about a painter gone mad, and Layers of Fear 2 is about a film director gone mad. The whole "artist gone mad" theme is pretty attractive (at least to me), and taking the role of an actor stranded on an ocean liner at the mercy of said nuts film director is very enticing indeed. That's the stuff of horror. 

The seafaring sequel has a confirmed release date: May 28. Its confirmed for Steam, and as we've previously reported, it features narration from none other than Tony Todd, ie, the Candyman guy. 

The Steam description is up and promises a "classical, ominous soundtrack". Like its predecessor, it appears to be a non-violent affair, or at least, you won't be bludgeoning baddies over the head with conveniently placed wooden boards or anything like that. James wasn't hugely enthusiastic about the first game, but this sequel has a promising premise.

Here's the most recent trailer, in case you missed it:

The goal of Steambirds Alliance is to defeat Meowza, we're told—a cat that is presumably enemy of us, the Steambirds, because cats and birds so rarely get along. It makes sense. It also makes sense that we'd need an alliance to take on the felines, as most birds are not very big, and the most interesting thing about Steambirds is how many players can join up: it's a 60-player co-op bullet hell shooter.

If you want to go after the "cat bosses," here's your chance: We have 500 Steam keys for the Steambirds Alliance closed beta to give away. The first session begins Friday at 10 am Pacific and ends Sunday at 6 pm Pacific, but there will be more sessions in the future.

If you want a key, just enter your email address in the form below (we won't see it, and Godankey won't keep it). Friday morning, 500 randomly-selected entrants will be emailed keys.

You can also find the entry form here if the embedded form above doesn't work.

Steambirds Alliance is scheduled to release this summer. For more, here's the official site.

Risk of Rain 2 is a near-perfect 3D translation of the 2D side-scroller it's based on, and it's a fun and exciting third-person shooter besides. As we said earlier, even in Early Access, it's well worth your time, especially if you can play it with friends. It also gets exponentially more fun as you earn new characters to play with. But earning all of them isn't a simple task, so I've put together a guide to all of Risk of Rain 2's character unlocks.

Here's an overview of how each character plays and what you need to do to unlock them.

Commando

To unlock: Start the game!

Commando is the default character, so you'll play him at least a few times at the start before moving onto someone new. But even after dozens of hours, I still go back to Commando. His cooldowns are relatively short, and his well-rounded abilities do a good job teaching how Risk of Rain 2's combat flows.

Commando's basic attack is fast and easy to aim, and his piercing secondary ability is much more effective when you take time to line up a juicy group of enemies. He also has a basic but handy dodge to help you get out of danger, and a rapid-fire ability which can stun most enemies in a pinch. Commando is easy to pick up and fun to play, so don't assume he's weak just because he's the starter survivor. 

 MUL-T

To unlock: Beat the first level five times. 

MUL-T is a flexible fighter with a unique ability: It can swap between two basic attacks at any time. One is a short-range, fast-firing nail gun which is good for crowds and bosses, and the other is a long-range sniper rifle which excels at picking off flying enemies. Swapping your basic attack will also swap your Equipment (your 'Use' item), making MUL-T the only survivor who can use two different Equipment items simultaneously.

MUL-T's other abilities include a speedy dash which you can use to get away from enemies or run right into them for heavy damage, as well as a cluster of grenades which deal modest damage but stun enemies considerably. MUL-T is all about swapping primary attacks effectively while using your dash and stun grenades to control big targets and crowds. This robot's a lot of fun to play, especially since you have two equipment items to experiment with.  

Huntress 

To unlock: Clear the first three levels without dying. 

Where the Commando excels at single-target damage, Huntress is the queen of AoE. Her auto primary attack is slow and relatively weak, but her abilities are incredibly good at melting groups. Her secondary ability, a ricocheting glaive, can bounce between up to six enemies, so you should only use it when you know it'll hit at least two enemies. If you throw it at a lone dude, it'll disappear after just one hit, which is a waste of precious damage.

Huntress can also lay down a rain of arrows at a target location, dealing damage over time to everything nearby. This ability is your go-to boss DPS, and holding the charge mid-air can also put you out of range of many ground enemies. Finally, Huntress has one of the best escape abilities in the game: a straight-up teleport. This ability sends you where you're aiming, meaning you can also use it like a jump. Huntress was my favorite character in the original game, and she's every bit as strong in Risk of Rain 2. 

Engineer

To unlock: Complete 30 levels. 

The Engineer is all about placing and defending turrets. Don't get me wrong, he has other cool abilities—deployable proximity mines, a bubble shield which blocks all external attacks, and a basic attack that fires volleys of bouncy grenades—but turrets are his bread and butter. Once deployed, your turrets will automatically attack all nearby enemies for massive damage.

Here's the kicker: They benefit from all the items you pick up. In other words, if you get an item that boosts your attack speed, it'll also boost your turrets' attack speed. This synergy causes some items to scale wildly, with an Engineer fan-favorite being the Bustling Fungus, which basically turns your turrets into healing stations. The thing is, your turrets have a pretty long cooldown, meaning you can't throw them down willy-nilly. So the ideal Engineer fight looks like this: Find a big group of enemies, place your turrets right in the middle of them, throw down a shield and some mines, and watch those puppies go to work. 

Artificer  

To unlock: Spend 10 Lunar Coins to free her from the Newt Shop. Enemies drop Lunar Coins randomly, so grab them when you see them. The blue portal to the Newt Shop will open randomly when you clear stages, but you can spend one Lunar Coin at a Newt Altar (before activating the Teleporter) to make it appear. You'll find the Artificer in a block of ice next to the big Newt himself.

The Artificer is a true-blue mage who wields fire, ice, and lightning. As you'd expect from a mage, her abilities are all about managing cooldowns and combining elements. For example, her basic attack is a fireball that works on a charge system. Once you run out of charges, you won't be able to attack. Your fireballs recharge quickly but this ability can still be disorienting at first, especially if you're used to someone like Commando who can spam his basic attack with impunity. Once you get used to it though, the Artificer's fireball is incredibly strong.

Her other abilities correspond to specific elements. First, she has a lightning orb which she can charge up before releasing to increase its range and power. This deals heavy damage and stun on impact, and it will also zap nearby enemies as it flies through the air, so try to aim it between multiple small enemies and toward one big dude. Then there's her ice wall, which freezes enemies in place and insta-kills them if they're below 20 percent health. This ability isn't strong on its own, but it's a potent finisher.

The Artificer doesn't have any sort of dodge or teleport, so you'll also need to use this ice wall to control crowds. Finally, you've got a good old-fashioned flamethrower. This deals heavy damage but has extremely short range, so it's best used on enemies stunned by your lightning orb. Watch your cooldowns and grab some mobility-boosting items and you'll be slinging spells with the best of 'em. 

Mercenary  

To unlock: Clear seven levels to reach the Obelisk. A Celestial Portal will open when you clear your seventh stage. Inside you'll find an Obelisk located at the end of a floating path, so make your way to it and choose to "Obliterate" yourself when prompted. This will immediately end your run and unlock the Mercenary. You can Obliterate yourself again to earn five Lunar Coins to help you unlock the Artificer, or you can take the Celestial Portal back to continue your run. 

As the only current melee character in Risk of Rain 2, Mercenary plays very differently from the other survivors. You might think that a dude with a sword would feel clunky in a third-person shooter, but you'd be wrong. Mercenary has one of the most frenetic playstyles of the lot, and played correctly, he can devastate bosses and groups alike.

His basic attack is just a close-range sword swipe, but honestly, you'll barely use it. Mercenary's abilities have such low cooldowns that you can chain them together almost indefinitely. His secondary ability launches you into a horizontal sword spin on the ground and a vertical spin mid-air, while his final ability teleports you to the nearest enemy and launches an extended flurry of attacks. Did I mention you're totally invincible during this flurry?

These two abilities can be strung together using Mercenary's dash. It not only stuns and damages enemies you dash through, it can also be used three times in rapid succession as long as you keep hitting enemies. Oh, and Mercenary can double jump by default. Ya dig?

For those who’ve made extra room on their hard drive for Rainbow Six Siege’s 60GB test server, Ubisoft has launched a new Bug Hunter program aimed at rewarding players that proactively report new Siege bugs in need of squashing.

Any player who reports three “acknowledged” test server bugs to R6Fix, Siege’s official bug support portal, is eligible to earn unique in-game items. For a bug to be acknowledged by the developers, you must be the first to report it and it has to be reproducible. Three bugs may seem like a lot of work to earn a prize, but the scale of Siege's maps, characters, gadgets, and modes practically makes it an ant hill—give it a few kicks and a bug will surely emerge.

The first reward is a new weapon charm that might earn a chuckle from players familiar with the early days of Siege. The “raptor legs” charm is a reference to the infamous bug of the same name that caused an operator’s legs to grow and bend in ways that legs never should. A dark time from which we will hopefully never return. Raptor-legged Frost is the charm on offer for now, but Ubi has more prizes planned for the future.

The Bug Hunter program is a cool idea to encourage more players to use the test server for its intended purpose and not just trying out new operators or balance changes (guilty! 🙋‍♂️). Since the program is limited to test server bugs only, it seems the rewards are PC exclusive for the time being. More details about the program can be found in Ubi’s official blog post. 

Blacksad is an Eisner-winning comic series created by Spanish authors Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido about John Blacksad, a hardboiled 1950s private dick in New York City. He is also a cat—a big, burly Felis catus—who lives in a world populated by other anthropomorphic animals. And in September, he'll be the lead character in a new "investigative narrative game" called Blacksad: Under the Skin. 

The setup is simple and straight out of the film noir playbook: Boxing club owner Joe Dunn is dead, and rising young fighter Bobby Yale is missing. Dunn's daughter Sonia takes over the gym, but discovers that its finances are in worse shape than anyone realized. Looking for a way out, she hires Blacksad to get to the bottom of Yale's disappearance, a job that will take him "to the darkest, most dismal depths of New York." 

The game will feature puzzles, quick-time events, and multiple-choice dialog options that will "directly influence the development of the character and the story's ending." More than 30 characters will appear in the game, some from Blacksad comics and others all-new, and the gameplay will be backed by "a jazz soundtrack to rival the very best of Hollywood’s film noir." And really, you cannot overestimate the value of a quality jazz soundtrack. 

Blacksad: Under the Skin is being co-developed by Pendulo, which isn't a huge outfit but has some very good narrative games to its credit including Yesterday and Runaway: Twist of Fate. It's also billed as "an official and all-new story for Blacksad, set in the comic book series' unique world, perfectly recreated for gamers," which should be pleasing for existing fans of the books. 

And even if you're not, hey, noir detective stories and kitties? Sounds like it could be a lot of fun. It's set to come out on Steam on September 26.   

EVE Online's developer CCP Games caused quite a stir a few weeks ago when it permanently banned Brian Schoeneman, a real-life lobbyist who leveraged his real-world political experience to get elected into EVE's own council of in-game politicians. 

At the time, CCP accused Schoeneman, known in-game as Brisc Rubal, and two others of using confidential information protected under a non-disclosure agreement to gain a financial edge in-game—EVE Online's own version of insider trading. But today, after conducting a full investigation, CCP Games has announced they got it all wrong and the affected parties have been unbanned.

"We have completed our review of the Brisc Rubal investigation and determined that our initial findings were incorrect," reads CCP Games' apology. "Neither Brisc Rubal nor the other players implicated in this incident breached CCP’s confidentiality, the terms of the Non-Disclosure Agreement, or used privileged information to obtain an in-game advantage."

Schoeneman is a maritime law lobbyist and lawyer in the United States. Back in May of 2018, he began campaigning to be elected to EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management (CSM), leveraging his real-life political experience to prove why he was suited to the job. 

EVE Online's CSM acts as intermediaries between developer CCP Games and its playerbase, lobbying for various changes to the 15-year-old MMO while also providing feedback on highly confidential, upcoming features.

On April 8, in a now-deleted blog post by CCP Games, Schoeneman and two others were accused of using that confidential information to engage in illicit in-game transactions, and Schoeneman was banned permanently. The two other players involved received one-year bans. But considering all three players were high-ranking members of The Initiative, one of EVE Online's biggest alliances, the news was especially troubling to the thousands of Initiative pilots who suddenly found themselves without leadership.

Shortly after, Schoeneman released a statement denying CCP Games' accusation that he broke any non-disclosure agreement or conducted any illicit transactions. "The claims that I would risk my reputation by providing proprietary or otherwise confidential information to members of my own alliance for personal gain are false," he said in a statement.

Unfortunately for Schoeneman, CCP Games can ban its players for any reason. EVE Online's terms of service, which all players must agree to, state that "CCP reserves the right to close, temporarily or permanently, any user’s account without advance notice as we deem necessary."

Regardless of whether Schoeneman and the two others were innocent—as many suspected they were—CCP Games had made their decision.

Then, last week, CCP issued a statement that it was conducting a more thorough investigation into the incident. "As should be expected, we will issue a full and frank apology for any mistakes for which we are responsible, as well as provide appropriate reparations to those affected by any erroneous actions we’ve taken." CCP Games said at the time, which sounded all too much like a preemptive apology.

Today, that investigation revealed that the initial evidence presented to CCP Games was inconclusive and that Schoeneman and the two banned players were actually innocent. "We made a mistake here and we offer our formal apologies," reads CCP Games' apology. "First, to Brisc Rubal and the two other players involved, both for making the allegations and for the disturbance and stress caused by the way in which we handled this situation. Second, for not collaborating with due care with the members of CSM 13, who have acted responsibly throughout. Lastly, we owe our sincere apology to the EVE community for this error. We take full responsibility for any confusion and mistrust caused by our initial assessment of the situation."

This announcement has rocked the EVE community. Over on the EVE Online subreddit, a thread containing the statement has nearly 300 comments already with players expressing exasperation and anger at CCP Games. "What an absolute cluster-fuck on CCP's part," reads one comment.

I reached out to Schoeneman for comment and he forwarded me a joint statement with CCP Games that says he "has accepted CCP Games’ apology" and that he "holds no ill-will or residual acrimony against CCP."

Unsurprisingly, Schoeneman has decided to resign from the CSM and doesn't intend to run in next year's election.

Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2's fleets are already larger than its predecessor's, but can you really every have too many giant space cathedrals? Of course not. So developer Tindalos Interactive has bumped up the points cap yet again, at least in the new Massive Fleets mode, giving you a hefty 4,000 points to spend. That's nearly four times the normal amount. 

As well as letting you field lots and lots of ships, the mode also unlocks special ships from the campaign, including the Imperial Phalanx and Tyranid Ancient One. So you get more ships and better ships. 

Watch the Massive Fleet mode in action in the video below. 

Don't expect it to be balanced. Balance still geared towards 1,200 battles, and Tindalos says it's "impossible" to keep track of all the potential strategies that admirals will be able to use with so many ships under their command. Also, it's going to be a bit more of a performance hog, so you might want to play around with your graphics settings. 

As someone who spends far too much money on Warhammer 40K models based purely on aesthetics and how jealous I'll make people, an extremely gratuitous, unbalanced mode sounds right up my street. 

The Massive Fleets mode is out now. 

At a glance, Project Winter is reminiscent of The Long Dark, but surviving its low-poly snow fields is only half the battle. At the beginning of a game, two of the eight players are designated as traitors. They each know who the other traitor is, and are tasked with preventing the group from escaping. The non-traitors must suss them out before being shot in the back.

It's a fun-sounding idea, though a tough design challenge. Playing the similar party game Mafia (or Werewolf) is always a good time, but I've never been all that attracted to digital versions of the game, because lying directly to your friends' faces is where the fun's at. In that respect, Project Winter provides multiple communication avenues: "proximity-based voice chat, private voice chat radio channels, text chat, and emotes."

A lot of Project Winter's success will hinge on the effectiveness of those tools and the quality of the playerbase. It's a game that's easy to ruin, since it relies on everyone committing to acting.

Right now, reviews are mixed on the Early Access version, but it seems like many of the complaints are simply that there aren't enough players in the game, not that Project Winter fails in its execution, which is promising.

Recent reviews are more positive. When Project Winter releases in 1.0 form on May 23, maybe it'll get a little boost in player count. We'll plan to check it out then to see how it's come along since its Early Access launch.

It's been eight years since the last Modern Warfare shooter, but the 2019 edition of Call of Duty may take the series back there—that's the rumor making the rounds after a video of four US football players getting an early preview of the game turned up on YouTube. 

Four players—Riley Ridley, Christian Miller, Jacques Patrick, and Tajaé Sharpe—posted about the event on Instagram, and were able to avoid revealing anything about it (except that it's "super cool" and "lit"). But a short video clip of the play session, slowed for clarity, has an awful lot of people convinced that someone in the background says the words "killstreak" and—here's the big one—"Modern Warfare 4." 

What do you think?

Personally, I'm not convinced. One of the comments on YouTube says it's "probably just pareidolia," and after googling what that is, I'm inclined to agree: I hear the words because I'm seeing the subtitles. Even with that I don't really pick up "modern," just "warfare 4," and after I took a break and then listened without watching, it was much more difficult to pick up anything coherent.

On the other hand, years of that rock-and-roll music has destroyed my hearing, so maybe the words clearer than my decrepit 'drums are able to detect. Either way, the odds of a return to Modern Warfare look pretty good at this point. As noted by GamesRadar, this isn't the first time that Modern Warfare rumors have surfaced, and Activision Blizzard CFO Dennis Durkin hinted at a blast from the past of some sort during a February earnings call, describing it as "a great step forward in the franchise that is also rooted in some of the franchise's most important history." And unlike last year's Black Ops 4, the 2019 game will have a singleplayer campaign.

With the second season of Star Trek: Discovery over, you might be looking to fill the hole in your life with something else Trek-shaped, and free-to-play MMO Star Trek Online's upcoming major update might just fit the bill. Rise of Discovery continues the crossover with the show, this time featuring Captain Lorca and Commander Landry, voiced by Jason Isaacs and Rekha Sharma. Watch the trailer above.

The first season of Discovery left some unanswered questions about Lorca, while Commander Landry had an unexpected and bloody exit, so Rise of Discovery aims to fill in some blanks and give us a bit of backstory about the pair across two episodes. It's set before the events of the first season, and players will need to help the commander rescue a stranded Captain Lorca and deal with the Klingons of House Mo'Kai. 

While Star Trek Online is set in the post-Next Gen era, it frequently dips into the other eras thanks to time travel, Star Trek's favourite MacGuffin, so you can make TOS or Discovery captains but still play with everyone else in the current era. You don't need to make a new captain to play through the Discovery episodes, however. 

As well as the new episodes, Rise of Discovery introduces a new Tier 6 reputation, Discovery Legends, which will net you rewards for Task Force Operations. Discovery themed, naturally. Tier 6 vessels, meanwhile, are being converted into free-for-all ships, available to players of any level. They'll scale to the player's level, so everyone can take them for a fly. No longer will you have to stare at them on space stations and dream about the future. 

More details on the update and the changes to Tier 6 ships will be available ahead of of Rise of Discovery's launch on May 14.