I wasn't too hot on Lies Of P when I played its first demo way back when. I felt it was so close, too close>, to Bloodborne in everything from the cadence of the Chalamet puppet's jog, to the "duhhnng" noise of pickups, and the gothic sheen of its streets. At the time I thought it was a bit of a duff pretender, honestly.

But a good chunk of time with it at this year's Gamescom has swivelled my head back in its direction. Having clacked through some dingy streets, fired blue gloop from my arm, and fought the literal King Of Puppets, I've come to realise it has the potential to be a magnificent Soulslike in its own right.

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The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro is down to £169 with this deal at Amazon UK - a great price for one of the best wired gaming headsets for PC and PS4/PS5, which debuted at £249 and normally costs around £200. I've been using one of these headsets with my PS5-based racing setup for months, and I've found it comfortable, good-sounding and very convenient to use thanks to the included second-gen GameDAC.

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Here's a strong pitch:

Want a 2TB NVMe SSD for less than £60? You've got exactly that with this Amazon UK deal, courtesy of Lexar. The NM610 isn't the fastest drive around, with a PCIe 3.0 interface and sequential speeds that top out at 3300MB/s, but it delivers a huge amount of storage space for very little money - while being around six times faster than SATA SSDs.

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I don't remember this at the time, but there were complaints about Skyrim's map when it came out, because it was just an extreme zoom out on the world. It wasn't dense with information; the map markers were often kind of an "it's in this area" guideline that were even less helpful if what you needed was in a barrow or otherwise underground. Starfield raises the bar by taking the bold step of having a map that is almost not a map.

I'm referring here to the planet surface map. The starmap is, like a couple of things I've experienced since being hustled through quite an accelerated inciting incident (Starfield's equivalent of Patrick Stewart dying in a sewer after he's charged you with saving the world), reminiscent of Mass Effect. You can select different galaxies, which have one or two solar systems in them, and then can zoom down and select specific planets or moons or whatever to warp to. Once you're wombling about on the surface being a naughty little space captain - or whatever, I don't judge what you're up to - well baby, I hope you like blue voids with a bit of topography.

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Woah! Last week Gamescom 2023 happened, the biggest consumer event for video games in the woooooooorld! The Electronic Wireless Show podcast gives you our definitive take on what was hot> and what was not> from Geoffcom's Opening Night Live, and points you towards some of the previews and interviews our crack team has from the show floor. This week there's plenty to talk about re. What We've Been Playing as well, because James has been cramming in a bunch of small games. Fun!

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Lord Of The Rings: Return To Moria is a survival game that certainly shares something in common with both Valheim and Deep Rock Galactic: you and a few buds sink pits and set out on expeditions to mine ore, batter monsters, and push further into the darkness. Having watched its game director Jon-Paul Dumont steer me through a 30-minute demo, I’ve come away with the impression it’s far more than just a cheap LOTR pretender. The game strikes me as a real competitor, with well thought out story beats and crafting treats to make Moria’s restoration a hearty adventure… or, if you'd prefer, the equivalent of a Powerwash Simulator.

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Officially unveiled at this week's Panic Games Showcase, Arco is a triptych of revenge stories set across the deserts, plains and forests of a fantastical, South American-style landscape. It's a part of the world we don't often get to see in games, and its stunning pixel art (and tiny cute little llamas) instantly caught my eye when I got to play an early mission from it at last week's Gamescom. Made by four developers spread across the globe, the official genres listed on its Steam page describe it as a tactical turn-based action adventure RPG where you guide four separate heroes in their fight against the ominous sounding Red Company. But just saying it's turn-based is doing Arco a disservice, I think, as it's also a little bit real-time, a little bit simultaneous turns, and all> pretty brilliant, if you ask me. Here are some very early impressions of it.

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Last time, you decided that a stress-free co-op helper is better than timed dialogue choices. A double victory for carefree living, there. I don't understand; how do you get anything done without the constant feeling that everything is about to collapse around you? Weird. Still, we must move on, for science. This week, I ask you to choose between a sharp shock and a deep dive. What's better: interrupt attacks, or a lore codex?

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Want a cheap and cheerful standing desk for working or PC gaming? This electric option from Songmics has been reduced to £116 when you tick the £20 voucher on the product page and has plenty of five-star reviews, making it a good value pickup.

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A month after the 2TB WD SN850x dropped to a historic low price of $99.99, our top PCIe 4.0 SSD pick has returned to this price over at Newegg when you use code LDCV29378 in your shopping cart. This is an awesome price for this drive, and a worthy pickup for anyone building a new PC or upgrading an existing one with more game storage.

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