As I have now stepped through the dread portal to my 30s, I have noticed with horror that I sometimes start sentences with, “When I was young”, which is basically the same as, “In my day”. Might as well fall into my own grave now. But I do think – no, honestly, listen – that children’s entertainment isn’t as fun and grim as it used to be. Every parent I know complains mightily about a small pig at the moment, but if you go back in time then you have to pass through the terrifying talking phone on Wizadora and the unrelenting misery of The Animals Of Farthing Wood before you even get to old women being eaten by wolves.

Point is>, I am firmly of the opinion that kiddies are made of sterner stuff than we often give them credit for – and if we’re going to teach them that monsters are real we should then take the next logical step of teaching them that you can kick seven shades out of the monsters, cut them open and get your granny back. All of which is to say that I have played the first four or so hours of Immortals Fenyx Rising, and I think Ubi’s Ancient Greek-themed action adventure (no not that one) might have managed the titanic feat of being something that children and adults can genuinely both enjoy.

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Spook-o-ween is almost upon us, dear readers. And while there’s not a single fun-sized Snickers in sight, trotting up to old Mr Epic Games Store’s front door this week has treated to two new freebies – Double Fine’s charming Costume Quest 2 and the decisively less whimsical Layers Of Fear 2. Same as before, they’re yours to keep until this time next week, when they’ll be replaced by two new frightful freebies.

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I have watched the trailer for Tenderfoot Tactics three times now. It looks: weird. It’s a turned-based tactics RPG with lots of roaming in a minimalistic yet super pretty open world. You play as a goblin escaping some spooky fog that has doomed your homeland, and along your adventure you collect other goblins to help you figure out what it’s all about. Have a gander at the launch trailer for yourself below.

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Call of Duty: Warzone

just received a brand new shotgun, with Infinity Ward patching it in with little fanfare to speak of. That doesn’t mean you should ignore the JAK however, as it’s a real beast when set up correctly. There are a few different builds to run with, given that slugs, frags and dragon breath are all an option here. In this in-depth best JAK-12 Warzone guide I’ve highlighted the best all-round option for running the JAK-12 when playing Warzone. You’ll find info on what attachments to use and why, as well as some stats for the new shotgun.

• Best JAK-12 loadout in Warzone
• Warzone JAK-12 stats
• Best Perks for JAK-12 loadout in Warzone

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Best JAK-12 loadout in Warzone

Let’s get right into it. The JAK-12 is best used in hip-fire mode, at close to medium range. You will rarely need to aim down sights with this build, instead trying to get as close to your target as possible to down them in either one (at very close range) or two shots. Because of this, I run with the FORGE TAC Marauder suppressor. Not only does it suppress your weapon, it increases the gun’s effectiveness when hip firing.

• Muzzle: FORGE TAC Marauder
• Barrel: ZLR J3600 Torrent
• Laser: 1mW Laser
• Ammo: 20 Round Mags
• Rear Grip: Stippled Grip Tap

In terms of the barrel, I tend to switch between the ZLR J3600 Torrent and the ZLR J-2800 Influx. Both are solid options but the Marauder increases range, while applying a fairly negligible decrease in movement speed. If you’d like to move faster you can swap it out for the Influx. You’ll move faster but will need to get in closer for your shots. The 1mW laser is a great way to up your accuracy here.

One of the downsides to the JAK-12 is its tiny ammo capacity. The 20 Round Mags are essential for this build, allowing you to move from target to target without having to reload. Don’t worry about the 32 Round Mags, they are excessive and incur some pretty hefty penalties to your speed.

Finally, we have the Stippled Grip Tape. Equipping this to the JAK-12 will speed up your sprint to fire speed, and as long as you have one of the barrels mentioned previously on the gun, you’ll see a negligible change in aim stability.

Warzone JAK-12 stats

Now that I’ve given you my picks for the best JAK-12 build in Warzone, let’s take a look at the shotgun’s specific stats. I’ve collected the stats for the base weapon, and then the stats once the FORGE TAC Marauder is equipped.

• Damage Profile (Head | Chest | Stomach | Limb):
  • 204 | 204 | 204 | 204 (0-4 metres)
  • 96 | 96 | 96 | 96 (4-7 metres)
  • 54 | 54 | 54 | 54 (7-23 metres)
• Rounds Per Minute: 295 RPM
• Magazine Size: 8
  • With Attachments: 20
• Reload Speed: 3.128s
• Aim Down Sights Speed: 304ms

With the FORGE TAC Marauder:

• Damage Profile (Head | Chest | Stomach | Limb):
  • 204 | 204 | 204 | 204 (0-5.3 metres)
  • 96 | 96 | 96 | 96 (5.3-9.3 metres)
  • 54 | 54 | 54 | 54 (9.3-30.6 metres)

As you can see, having the FORGE TAC Marauder is a great way to increase your range with the JAK-12 shotgun. You’ll have a little extra when chasing down an enemy, which can really make the difference in Warzone.

Best Perks for JAK-12 loadout in Warzone

Finally, let’s take a look at the perks you should be using with this JAK-12 loadout. First off, equip Double Time so that you can close in on enemies faster. Then, make sure you have Ghost, it’s basically an essential in Warzone, especially as the matches progress towards the final circle. Finally, I tend to go with Tracker. It’s a great way to pin down enemies in buildings, and with your JAK-12 you’ll be pretty much unstoppable in close-quarters.

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That’s the best JAK-12 loadout I’ve found in Warzone so far. For a look at how it stacks up against other weapons, head to our Warzone gun stats page. You can also check out our best shotguns guide, to see some other options if you’re looking to use a shotgun in Verdansk.

I won’t lie to you listener, the ratio of games to not-games chat on this week’s episode of the Electronic Wireless Show is pretty… it’s pretty low. This may be the least amount of games chat we’ve ever done. Nevertheless: here is a podcast. This time it is about autumnal games – not games about the season, but games that are cosy, that are good to play when the evenings are drawing in and wish you had a log fire to sit in front of.

Although perhaps not, because on one of many tangents Nate describes how one time a pigeon wrapped in a binbag fell down the chimney in his childhood home. So. Other topics not related to games include hyperforeignism, and what member of a family is, psychologically and emotionally speaking, representative of the concept of autumn. There is also a very tense Cavern Of Lies, where Matthew does impressions of Baldur’s Gate characters (only slightly undercutting the tension). Reminder: Matthew is, incredibly, not a professional voice actor.

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Frankly, it’s about time someone took the expansionist nations of Sid Meier’s Civilization VI down a peg. This month’s free update for the hegaxonal society generator adds the Pirates multiplayer scenario, daring you to wear in those sea legs by becoming the most feared fleet commander on the high seas. Plunder trade routes, inspire fear, flee the forces of burgeoning imperial powers… hang on, Sid, haven’t we been here before?

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The [cms-block] continues to be sold out almost everywhere, but when it does finally come back in stock, is it worth spending that little bit extra on one of the more expensive versions of Nvidia’s new flagship GPU? I’ve been testing the enormous MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio to find out.

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Mojang have decided that as of next year all of their games will require a Microsoft account to play, including Minecraft Java Edition. Don’t panic just yet, because while this does mean that you’ll need to log in with Microsoft to play the Java edition, it’s not being merged with the Windows 10 (or Bedrock) version of Minecraft. You’ll still be able to mod your game and use Java servers. Mojang simply say that one of the big reasons for the move is increasing account security.

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I’d put two thumbs up if they weren’t busy dodging jagged platters of death. Disc Room is Nokia’s snake for those who shrug off mortality. Devil Daggers for people who want to set their FOV to 360 degrees. Anyone who has lived for eons in the seven circles of bullet hell might play it happily and shelve it alongside some good ones. It might even become a quiet favourite. For the rest of us, who dip in and out of “hard games” once or twice a year as if it were a swimming pool in English weather, Disc Room is positively boiling, eye-watering in its demand for concentration. If you told me last night I would be hooting with joy at a video game sight as familiar as disembowelment by saw blade, I would have told you to hang up the call and go have a lie down. But here we are.

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A new 14-minute gameplay video gives a close look at the oozing sphincters and glistening meaty protrusions of first-person shoot-o-adventure-horror Scorn. It’s still Gigered to the gills, as expected, but I will say even I was surprised to see door control systems activated by frigging an orifice with a gristlegun.

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