I Expect You To Die 3: Cog In the Machine is notable if only for being the third entry in a series on VR games. Most VR titles can consider themselves lucky if they get a sequel, let alone attain the hallowed status of "trilogy". Then again, few VR games have found a formula that is as dependable and repeatable as Schell Games' collection of spy capers. Much in the same way that the James Bond series has a set structure and tropes, only I Expect You To Die's blueprint involves pastiche and puzzles rather than cars, gadgets, and variously objectified women.

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The Electronic Wireless Show podcast returns to one of our recent previous messes to discuss Payday 3. More specifically, we look at the post-launch changes the devs are making in an effort to improve matchmaking and wait times. Specifically, we use this to think about games that have changed their reputations after a rocky start, what with Cyberpunk 2077's recent 2.0 update. What are the circumstances that allow games to do that? Why are they such outliers? How do we think about reviews in the context of something like No Man's Sky?

We've also been playing some big recent games, so tune in for discussions of Assassin's Creed Mirage, a call for pirate games, and a hilarious misunderstanding about Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor.

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Assassin’s Creed Mirage is, so says the Alice B review, "the most enjoyable Assassin’s Creed game for years." That’s thanks in part to a returning focus on classic AC stealthing in a single, densely detailed city, and this back-to-basics approach extends to the technical side too. Mirage cares not for being the glossy poster child of ray-traced glamour; it’s just a game that looks pretty nice and runs well on PC, older hardware and Steam Decks included.

It also keeps its list of graphics settings relatively brief, though there are a few in there that can dish out some extra frames per second at little cost to the visuals. Here it is, then: your complete guide to Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s PC performance, from its refreshingly reasonable system requirements to its best settings combinations.

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It's rare to see 32-inch 4K 144Hz monitors under $500, but that's exactly what you can get on Amazon US at the moment thanks to a hefty discount on the Aorus FI32U. This HDMI 2.1-capable model suits PC, PS5 and Series X use, uses a Fast IPS panel I've recommended many times before and even comes with some extra features worth knowing about. First, here's the link to the deal:

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The price of Steam Deck SSD upgrades continues to fall, as Integral's 2230-sized PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD has dropped to £69.95 at Amazon UK. That's a great price for a drive that more than doubles even the highest capacity Steam Deck sold by Valve, and makes a tremendous upgrade for 512GB and 256GB Steam Deck owners too.

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Last time, you decided that improvised environmental weapons are better than skipping across a timeline flowchart. I can't say I'm too surprised, considering that timeline flowcharts are rare and that I did illustrate t'other with multiple screenshots of Kazuma Kiryu smashing men with bicycles. Now if Kiryu had been jumping between timelines... ah, we can't speculate, that's not scientific. This week, I ask you to choose between cutting something unnecessary and adding something unnecessary. What's better: quick restarts, or a diegetic HUD?

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What exactly is The Alters? It's a question I've been itching to get answers to ever since Frostpunk and This War Of Mine developers 11 bit Studios first announced their strange new game at notE3 last year. Until now, all we've had to go on is a cryptic CG announcement trailer that showed a gaggle of identical clone-looking men in bright pink medical gowns, all of whom seemingly live inside a giant wheel full of shipping containers. It didn't really tell us anything about what the game actually is, or how it plays, and we've heard precious little about it since.

Happily, I've now seen about an hour of The Alters in action at this year's Gamescom, and first impressions are very promising. This is indeed a game about sort-of clones living in a big wheely shipping container, but these containers are actually modules you'll be building in XCOM/Fallout Shelter-style chunks to advance the capabilities of your big wheel base as you work to escape the broiling heatdeath that's slowly enveloping the planet. You'll also be venturing out onto the planet's surface to gather resources, all while managing your crew of clo- sorry, alternate selves - as you assign their daily work tasks, and then there's the fact that, well, you're all chuffing different versions of the same person and the literal embodiment of what your life might have been like if you'd done X instead of Y, or Y instead of Z. It's a fascinating blend of ideas, and if 11 bit can stick the landing, I reckon it could end up being something really quite special. Here's everything I learned.

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When I was a computer science student, I developed a messaging app called HYPE with a few of my (more-talented) peers. It worked really well, and we even used it to talk during lectures, but of course we never released it out into the world and after leaving uni it was abandoned. Years later, I saw the brand called HYTE and my immediate reaction was "They stole our idea!"

Of course, my reading comprehension is poor, and HYTE - the iBuyPower PC case company - is unrelated to my unreleased, unannounced Linux-based chat app.

And so it falls to me to tell you that if you don't have a knee-jerk reaction to four-letter words that look like acronyms but aren't, and you like small PC cases, you might be interested in this US deal for the HYTE Revolt 3.

This critically-acclaimed Mini ITX PC case is down to $112 at Newegg or Ebay, a cut below its regular price of $200 and MSRP of $250. $112 is a bloody brilliant price for this case, especially as it comes with a pre-fitted 700W 80+ Gold SFX power supply.

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Lexar has been making flash storage since 1996 - in fact, their 'JumpDrive' USB sticks were synonymous with the format for a decade or more - but over the past few years they've switched to producing high-end NVMe SSDs, including our current best cheap PCIe 4.0 SSD pick: the Lexar NM790.

Today you can pick up the massive 4TB size of this high-end PCIe 4.0 SSD for just £170.97, a nice discount from the next-best price (Amazon, £187) and a sizeable departure from its original UK RRP (£199) by using code TECHDEAL10 at the checkout.

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Cooler Master probably aren't the first people that come to mind when it comes to mechanical keyboard, but they've produced a fair few models over the years including some rather lovely ones. Today you can pick up one of my favourites from their collection, the SK652, at a decent £15 discount from Scan in the UK. That brings the price of this low-profile, full-size mechanical keyboard to £35, quite a fair price for a keyboard of this size and quality - especially when you get a free XXL mousepad thrown in for free.

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