As they’re wont to do, like kids sneaking peeks in their holiday presents, some regular Fortnite dataminers have gone snooping through the game files in today’s 12.5 update looking for clues to Fortnite’s future.

They’ve unwrapped what might be a big one: something that appears to be a new, smaller map for Fortnite all about partying and minigaming with friends rather than fighting for victory royales. According to the data leakers, a new map called “Papaya” will have obstacle courses, fishing, and skydiving with friends among other activities.

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It’s always been hard to accept the beat ’em up’s idea of depth perception. Here’s a genre that asks you to punch and kick on a single wafer-thin plane, before slowly readjusting your 2D sprite a few millimetres deeper into the screen, to make a tentative punch at a foe somehow just out of reach, as if everyone exists as a sort of juiced-up Paper Mario goomba. Streets Of Rage 4 proudly holds that tradition aloft, like a big chicken drumstick. It is a solid game, in the sense that it is a handsome, tightly made thump ’em up, but also solid in the sense that it remains anchored in place by the genre’s rules and regulations. Between a rock and a chokehold, for better and for worse.

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Power Armor, which is heavy plated apparel that makes you look like a space marine, can be found lying around in specific locations in Fallout 76. While most Power Armor has a standardised design there are some unique designs out there. So if you want to swagger into battle with Nuka Cola branded Power Armor, this is the place to learn where to find it. (more…)

Dozens of game companies have banded together to offer a free video game to NHS staff, with over 85,000 keys up for grabs in all. That’s sweet, that. I’ve received a wee peek at the giveaway and seen its lineup includes big-name desirables like Doom Eternal, Dreams, and Fifa 20, and games for platforms including PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, Vita, Android, iOS, and Oculus cybergogggles.

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Good news, Oculus Rift S hunters. Stock levels for Oculus’s best VR headset have shot back up over at Overclockers UK today, marking the first time anyone’s been able to get hold of the headset in absolutely ages.

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As you may know by now, Riot’s new tactical FPS, Valorant, has an anti-cheat system that’s come under fire over the last few weeks for allegedly being a bit invasive. The reason for this is that the software, named Vanguard, runs a kernel-level driver at start-up, giving it full administrator privileges. For obvious reasons, this has raised concerns that Riot are giving themselves access to, well, everything you have tucked away in that PC of yours. They’re trying to alleviate concerns now, though, by making Vanguard appear in your system tray, and allowing you to shut it down from there if you don’t want it constantly running.

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Jett is one of the most mobile agents in Valorant, and her ultimate ability is notorious for wiping out entire squads at the best of times. But with such a high skill ceiling, you’re going to need all the help you can get to truly master Jett. Hence, this Valorant Jett guide.

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Today’s the day for Ubisoft to announce a new Assassin’s Creed game, or at least to reveal where they’re taking the globetrotting murder simulator next. This is happening through the unconventional medium of an artist drawing a picture on a livestream, which when finished will show the game’s landscape and the murderer who’ll roam it. Some earlier unconfirmed rumours claimed the game would be Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok, a Viking-o-rama, though other guesses I’m seeing in stream chat range from Scotland to Rome so… who knows. Come watch the stream and join in the guessing game.

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Train Station Renovation

is coming out on Steam Early Access later this week. If it sounds like the sort of game published by PlayWay, you are correct, because it is. I was initially intrigued by it because train simulation games and renovation simulation games are both quietly but enduringly popular. The idea of a crossover between the two felt both odd and necessary at the same time.

It is a game where you go to derelict train stations and un-derelict them, picking up rubbish and replacing furniture and what have you. It sounds quite boring, and honestly it sort of is, except it also sort of isn’t. Having played the first couple of levels, I can confirm that Train Station Renovation, far from being mundane, feels frankly bizarre. It has left me with nothing but questions. And lots of screenshots of sweet, sweet graffiti. (more…)

War never changes, but sometimes old wars wind down so we can have a bash at new ones. Dice are waving goodbye to Battlefront 2 with today’s final update, letting people duke it out on Scarif – better known as ‘that planet from the end of Rogue One’. There are other new bits and pieces, but the big picture news is that Dice are shifting their efforts to the next Battlefield. The end of Battlefield V is nigh too, you see, with one last big update due in June.

What lies over yonder war horizon? We don’t exactly know, but we do know something with Battlefield in the name is planned for next year.

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