We’ve got a lot planned today in the RPS Video Dungeon
. Assassinating targets in Hitman 2 while blindfolded, building fantastical houses in The Sims 4 against the clock, the 1st Annual RPS Nidhogg Tournament, and even an RPS video channel fan favourite (for I think two of you and one of your dogs), Reviews Roulette. It’s live as we speak, too – or any second now – all to raise money for British Red Cross.
With the latest TFT item updates, there’s only one significant alteration that’s relevant. Giant Slayer has had a small buff, but that’s about it as Riot seem more focused on system changes and champion/trait alterations for the time being. Still, up-to-date cheat sheets can help a lot when playing TFT.
The Apex Legends Christmas event kicked off over the weekend, and nothing says Christmas like a train full of blood sports. Mirage is hosting an Xmas bash, only instead of trading gifts they don’t need, guests are invited to shoot each other while vying for control of a festive train. It’s round-based, with the train routinely making stops so teams can ambush each other. It’s decent. I like that the train plays songs.
There are also a heap of unprecedentedly absurd Christmas skins that let you dress Octane as a reindeer (Dasher), Caustic as Santa (Claustic), and Gibraltar as a massive bear.
It’s been a while since the big TFT purge, but we’ve seen some interesting developments with the meta – mostly the dominance of a particular hyper-roll build. The next patch should be arriving within the next day or so, and there are hints that this patch will address the balance by nerfing key champions of the “Eggroll comp”. Here are some things potentially coming in the TFT 9.24 patch notes, as well as the full 9.23 patch notes for those wanting to keep up t0 date.
It’s been a tough weekend for a lot of people. And there’s a tough season coming up, too. Despite Saint Nick’s PRs working over time to make us all cheerful, Christmas can actually be a sad and stressful time, can’t it?
Listen: it s ok to be sad. It’s fine. You feel what you feel. So, I asked the RPS hivemind what their gaming happy places were, so we could all share them together. They might turn out to be places you’d like to visit too.
Doom made is grand return in 2016 and it somehow catapulted id Software’s classic to a new, even bloodier level. If you haven’t delved into the reboot yet, then don’t worry too much about multiplayer, maybe dabble with the level creation tools, but definitely play the campaign.
Sundays are for distraction. Here’s the best writing about videogames from the last week.
Nathalie Lawhead blogged about games as found objects and virtual relics. They mostly talk about games that are strange and small, preserved idiosyncratically across human memories and decade-old hard drives. It reads a bit like a very good Have You Played collage, with bonus rumination about the value of small storefronts and personal discovery.
A great many games were announced this week, including a Resident Evil 3 remake, Hellblade 2, the revival of The Wolf Among Us 2, and a new BioShock. A lot of the week’s news came from The Game Awards, the thinly-veiled marketing extravaganza, but not all. Read on for more of the week’s PC gaming goings-on in our News Digest, and do also check out our Weekly Updates Update for some of the week’s big patches.
Do people want a remake of Piranha Bytes’ 2001 fantasy RPG Gothic? Maybe, series owners THQ Nordic think, so they’ve made a prototype of a remake and last night gave it to fans to see what they think. This prototype looks all shiny and new, obviously, while also modernising other parts of the old formula. The company say that if people like this wee teaser, they’ll go ahead with remaking the whole thing. If not, they won’t. The prototype is available now to anyone who owns a Piranha Bytes game on Steam.
This is your reminder that you only have one full weekend left to do Christmas shopping. But there’s still time to open door 15 on the RPS Advent Calendar. Switch off your targeting computer for this one.