If you’ve ever wanted to build a PC but don’t know what you should buy or which of our many bestest best components to put inside it, then help is at hand. Introducing The RPS Rig – our recommended PC build that covers everything you need to sit down and start playing your favourite PC games for less than 1000. It’s the complete package, including a monitor, headset, mouse and keyboard, so you can get straight to the action as quickly as possible.

Why 1000? Well, I reckon you don’t need to spend any more than this to get a great gaming PC, and the components I’ve picked will ensure you’ve got plenty of oomph for playing games at 60fps on max settings at 1080p, plus a bit of 1440p potential if you decide to upgrade your monitor further down the line, or you want to take advantage of our chosen monitor’s high refresh rate (and yes, it is possible to build a PC and pair it with a great 144Hz gaming monitor for less than 1000). Read on for the full spec.

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Ever since the Master Chief Collection was announced for PC back in March, fans have been clamouring for the Xbox version s classic split screen local co-op to be included in the PC port. But so far, it seems they ve had no luck. In a Reddit AMA at the time, 343 Industries community director Brian ske7ch Jarrard said it was a tricky issue, and that 343 was still looking at what can be supported . Eight months later, the collection s roll-out on PC has started with Halo: Reach – but there s no split screen to be seen.

Luckily, however, I can reveal that Rock Paper Shotgun has secured answers to the local co-op question at last. Or at least, the answers to a> local Co-op question. By which I mean, I can tell you how all the main characters in the Halo series would handle a trip to the local branch of Co-op, the UK s beloved budget supermarket. I’ve got no idea about the split-screen thing. Here s the information you were almost definitely looking for:

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Do you want to feel like James Bond? I bet you want to feel like James Bond. The James Bond who spends all his time crawling through vents and blocking laser beams with key cards. Here, watch some of Unseen Diplomacy, featuring a man using a broom to break into the lair of an evil corporation before it can delete the internet.

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Our old pal Osiris has once again done something daft in Destiny 2, so here we come to fix his time-travelling mess. Season Of Dawn, the second season since Shadowkeep, started today and it sends us to Mercury to deal with a giant weird Vex machine Osiris slapped together. He wanted to save his friend Saint-14 from the Infinite Forest, he accidentally gave the Cabal a time machine to win the war we ourselves won during the original campaign. Nice one, Osiris. Nailed it. Again. The fanciest parts of the new season are reserved for season pass owners, but newness is coming for everyone, even free-to-players.

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The final Shovel Knight campaign launched today, letting us play as the dastardly King Knight in King Of Cards, and so did its battle mode Showdown. These are the final two big Kickstarter stretch goal features that developers Yacht Club Games have been ploughing through since first launching their rad retro-styled platformer in 2014. It’s taken longer than expected but damn, backers got a hell of a deal. Have a look in the trailers below.

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Good news, Epic Store renouncers. You can now play Supergiant’s latest game without getting your fingers dirty, as Hades has landed on Steam and is no longer exclusive to Epic. The Hellenic action roguelike is still in early access, but it’s also still really good. It’s plenty polished, with swords that wallop and dodges that delight. I’ve played for dozens of hours already, and haven’t yet checked out all the new stuff in last week’s big update.

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The year is something beginning with a three or maybe even a four. Brands have become omniscient beings of pure malevolent energy coursing through the planet s fibre optic nervous system like a bad thought. Free speech is dead. Entertainment is king. Human flesh wars, as we primitive 21st centurions know them, have ended, replaced instead with proxy battles between sexy day-glo robots with narrow waists and lovely big metal thighs. Oh yes, you d better believe it s a weirdly convoluted backstory for a pretty straightforward free to play third-person arena battler. This is Overstep, and it s in Early Access, which means it s right here in my lap whether we wished for it or not.

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I was not sold at first. The opening two hours of MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries are, well, they’re fine. Standard tutorials, taking you through the controls and basic concepts, plus some entirely standard “oh no the baddies killed the man, grr” plot business. I was wary, fearing it would be a forgettable linear fairground ride about Corporal Jack Magnum (I honestly can’t remember my character’s name) getting revenge on the… guys, for killing his dad, who… existed.

Then it opened up some more, and got a bit better. More options appeared, more concepts were dropped in, and it got better again. That was how it went, over and over. Mechwarrior 5 started out fine and just kept getting better the more I played it. My complaints about it are mostly minor, and the big one is more of a lingering doubt than a real problem. Overall, it’s safe to say that, after a very long break (and discounting the underwhelming MechWarrior Online, the definitive stompy romp series is back.

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Phoenix Point DLC will be an exciting prospect for many, whether you love the game already or think (as many players do) that improvements are needed before it can realise its full potential. Our Phoenix Point DLC guide will explore Snapshot Games’s roadmap for this ambitious turn-based tactics game over the next year, with details on the first three major expansions: Blood and Titanium, Legacy of the Ancients, and Festering Skies.

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This morning is day 10 of the RPS Advent Calendar, and you know what? I think you’ve been on the computer too long. Staring at this here internetmajig.

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