Graham’s already written a lovely piece on the first Screamer, but I thought I’d tackle the sequel, aptly named Screamer 2. And what a treat it is.

Much like Graham, my memories of Screamer 2 are buried in a dusty tome in the back of my brain. Shake off the dust and they come flooding back, though. I can clearly recall the white and orange cardboard sleeve it was packaged in, with ‘Sold Out Software’ proudly displayed on the front. I remember booting up the faithful Packard Bell home PC and bunging in the disc. Remember discs?

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Charming farming game Stardew Valley was great at launch and it just keeps getting better with each of the free updates. With yet another of the kind, Stardew Valley 1.5, currently in the works, I’ve wondered how we can expect continued development. Developer ConcernedApe says that he isn’t ready to commit to any specific next step for Stardew, but he’s also not ready to be done with it yet either. As for what could be coming in the future, neither Stardew Valley 2 nor more updates are out of the question.

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In all of horror, the true terror often lies in threats of things that might have been more than what really is. A jump scare that’s just a gust of wind or a monster that’s actually a hallucination, you know the kind. Here’s a truly frightening prospect then: a version of Amnesia: The Dark Descent with some very different details. Frictional Games celebrated the game’s 10th anniversary by sharing some lesser-known ideas for the game as it might have been. Some of them are a real trip.

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Now that we’ve been introduced to the Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War campaign, Activision have also unveiled what to expect from the multiplayer side of the game. There are new maps and modes, updated slides and jumps, and changes to loadout customisation. Along with all the new bits, Activision announced when you’ll get to take it for a spin. Open beta for PC players begins on Saturday, October 17th.

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I’ve already gushed about the excellent wildlife there is to find in Microsoft Flight Simulator, but for as lovely as the giraffes and elephants are, the game was clearly missing something a little… bigger. Thanks to some skilled modders, you can add Godzilla to the list of creatures to catch a glimpse of on your safaris – just, uh, don’t fly too close to this one, eh?

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There’s something slightly spooky but alluring about the remains of urban civilisation rusting away in the apocalypse covered with ivy and grasses and bright flowers. Cloud Gardens puts you in nature’s boots, directing the growth of all these lovely plant life forms in little dioramas that serve as your canvas. I could almost get caught up just looking at screenshots, but if you’re in the mood to give it a go, it launches in early access today.

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Microsoft today announced the launch date for their Xbox Series X and its cheaper sibling, the Xbox Series S: the 10th of November. What do Xboxes have to do with us, a PC gaming website? A fair bit!

1) All of Microsoft’s Xbox games are PC games too.2) Xbox gamepad is the best gamepad (fight me) and it’s being updated.3) System requirements will start creeping up again.4) Aw bless, that Series S looks like a cute wee retro radio.

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If I hadn’t got in on Crusader Kings 2 shortly after it came out, I would have taken one look at its list of DLC (currently going for £184.65 on Steam, and that’s with a discount) and noped right the hell out. Fortunately, the base game was already outstanding enough that I gladly supported it for our best games of the 2010s list. Most of the DLC was cosmetic after all, or was for realms I wouldn’t play as.

But anyway. ANYWAY. Crusader Kings III is out now, and while it couldn’t possibly incorporate eight years of add-ons, I wanted to see how it compares to vanilla CK2. Does a non-feudal ruler play any differently? Is it possible to thrive outside the default setting of kingly Europe? What’s it like to start out as an obscure chief at the distant edge of the enormous world map? Let’s find out. (more…)

The Outer… Worlds? Worlds. The Outer Worlds has today released its first expansion, Peril On Gorgon, a title which feels like it needs a campy exclamation mark.

It’s the first of two narrative expansions, and set in an asteroid colony where Science has done a Bad. It also brings a couple of new weapons and armour sets, some new music, new perks and flaws, and an increased level cap to Obsidian’s not-Fallout Fallout game.

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If your PC feels like it’s forever running out of storage, then it might be time to add another SSD to the mix – and to help you get the best deals on today’s best SSDs for gaming, we’ve rounded up all the lowest prices for them in the UK and US. This week, SSD deals are pretty scarce for those of us living in the UK, as prices have either remained static or gone up. Thankfully, US prices have kept a more even keel over the last week or so, making it a much better time to buy for those of you across the pond. Still, with a £10 off a Samsung T5 this week, there are still a couple of good SSD deals around for UK shoppers, so whether you’re looking for a cheap SATA drive or a brand-new NVMe SSD, these are the cheapest SSD deals of the week.

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