Reviewing Red Dead Redemption 2 a year after its console release is like happening upon a frontier homestead after it’s been attacked by bandits. It s a game that has been subjected to every take under the sun, and stripped to the bone by internet vultures; every last secret dug up, every mechanic scalped and scrutinised, until no magic remains. I, adopting the role of world-weary sheriff, look upon this crime scene and mutter under my breath, what in tarnation happened here? A deputy pipes up: SEO, boss. F**kin SEO. (My inner dialogue is written, of course, by David ‘Deadwood’ Milch.)

I myself arrive at the PC version with 80 hours of Xbox One grit in my boots, but this won’t be the case for everyone. I mean, the idea of making it a year without having RDR2 thoroughly spoiled seems impossible – but it must apply to someone. What surprises me, with this PC release, is just how much a lick of paint can re-imbue such well-trodden ground with a refreshed sense of wonder. And if you did make it here all innocent and unspoiled, you are in for the definitive version of the definitive Rockstar game, warts and all. So let s pretend we haven t already waded through the swamp that is The RDR2 Discourse, if only for the length of time it takes me to tell you wot I think.

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Red Dead Redemption 2 is finally live on PC, and scores of players are already queuing into all the Showdown and PvP modes on offer in the game’s enormous Red Dead Online component. While many will be entirely content just to gallop around in Free Roam, if you’ve got more of a competitive streak then you’ll no doubt be interested in queuing up into these PvP playlists yourself. This Red Dead Online modes guide will explain how each of the 16+ PvP modes in RDR2 actually work, along with tips on how to reach the top of the leaderboard in each one.

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Was there ever any doubt that Red Dead Online would include a Battle Royale mode for players to duke it out until only one is left standing, bloody and victorious? Make It Count takes several of the hallmarks of the battle royale genre, but pares down the standard formula into a very fast-paced and concise mode for up to 16 players. It’s far from easy to win with any consistency in this mode, but our Red Dead Online Make It Count guide will give you our top tips on how to maximise your chances.

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There are a great many different competitive PvP modes available in Red Dead Online, but few are as intriguing and unique as Fear of the Dark – a limited-time Halloween-themed mode which pits six Hunters against two supernaturally powerful Night Stalkers in an objective-infused deathmatch. Learn the ins and outs of how to play and win as both sides in the below Red Dead Online Fear of the Dark guide, and you’ll need never fear the dark again.

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Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1660 Super is in a bit of an odd place right now. It’s a teensy bit faster than its non-Super sibling, the regular old GTX 1660, but not quite fast enough to really a proper impact on your minute-to-minute gaming performance. But given the GTX 1660 was already pretty close in speed to its more expensive cousin, the GTX 1660 Ti, is the GTX 1660 Super actually a way of getting Ti levels of power on the cheap? I’ve made some lovely bar graphs to find out.

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The dramatically named Korean developer Pearl Abyss has three new games whirring away on their development PCs. The developers of Black Desert Online are working on three new MMOs: one shooter from the creator of Counter-Strike, one child-friendly jaunt, and one fantasy game. The three games have a proper reveal planned for on November 14, during Pearl Abyss Connect at G-STAR 2019. For now, we know they’re called PLAN 8, Crimson Desert, and DokeV, alongside a handful of other details.

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The final member of AMD’s Ryzen 3000 CPU family, the ultra powerful Ryzen 9 3950X, finally has a release date – as do AMD’s freshly-announced 3rd Gen Threadrippers. So far, AMD have only teased two Threadripper/Dataduke CPUs, but these will be launching on November 25th together with their Ryzen 3950X sibling. If you like a CPU with more cores than your can shake a stick, step this way. We’ve got all the core> (sorry not sorry) information right here.

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Last week, Blizzard once again returned to Anaheim for Blizzcon 2019. But rather than welcoming Blizzard to his city for their annual convention, Rep. Lou Correa – a Democrat congressman for Anaheim, California – accused them of fostering online radicalisation in World of Warcraft. Less than a month after finding themselves in the US Government’s crosshairs for their mishandling of a Hearthstone championship protest, Blizzard’s handling of fraught politics may once again have landed the studio in hot water.

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I cruised through dozens of fights before disaster struck. A scuffle with a cultist saw my ship scuttled, thanks to me forgetting to man the water pumps. A foolish oversight, but I d at least had the foresight to buy a lifeboat, which saved me and my crew from a quick and merciful death. The days dragged in that tiny boat, as we drifted in diminishing hope of rescue. We sang songs. We rowed. We swapped stories, and then blows.

Eventually, the others tried to eat me. I leapt overboard, and found myself adrift again – this time alone. It took several more days for some sailors to find me, on the cusp of starvation. I d survived, but with such a setback that I felt compelled to load a save.

It says a lot that by far the most interesting thing that happened to me in Abandon Ship still had such a limp conclusion. Longform FTL with pirates, alas, isn’t nearly as good as it sounds.

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Has it been a year already, Hitman 2? With 12 months of murder in the bag, IO Interactive have eyes on the next step in Hitman 47’s next adventure. Whatever form Hitman 3 takes, though, there’s still a good deal of death left to dish out. November will be Hitman 2’s biggest month yet, with no less than 2 new special events landing each week – starting with a new challenge pack and two legacy escalations landing today.

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