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I'm sure I don't need to inform you of this, but it's almost Halloween. You could probably tell from the excessive number of cobwebs on peoples houses, large swashes placed on doorsteps and the slight spooky chill in the air, but there are some of you that will have forgotten all about the festivities. Whatever shall you do! It's almost Halloween and you've not yet got a costume and you need nay, require, a costume for the parties and trick or treating. That's where I come in. Here are some absolute banger costumes you can put together this Halloween that are conveniently gaming related and hopefully easy to put together. Control's Jesse Faden (Image credit: Remedy) This is yet another; you have the components in your home to make this outfit work; sort of costume. Jesse, the protagonist of Control is dressed as a more or less ordinarily stylish woman with a black leather jacket, black jeans, and boots. Really, anyone can dress like Jesse, but her main identifying feature is her red hair, and telekinetic abilities. So maybe get a cheap red wig, if your hair isn't already of that colour, and for the abilities that's easy. Simply attach a piece of string to an empty water bottle and your wrist. No one will know how you're levitating that bottle, ooOOoooOO spooky stuff. A costume and a party trick in one. Resident Evil's Jill Valentine and Ethan Winters. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Capcom)Image 2 of 2 (Image credit: Capcom) Resident Evil features quite a number of characters you could cosplay easily but I'll highlight the classic Jill Valentine and the more recent Ethan Winters. For the former, there are two options of costume, the original Valentine boots, mini skirt, white top draped around the waist and blue top. Splash a little blood on your hands and your face and boom you're classic Jill Valentine. What might be easier for others might be the more recent interpretation of Jill where she's wearing black jeans, combat books, and two tank tops. If that's not enough, I'd recommend cutting up an old back top to make some straps around your leg or arm, or even some string for her leather necklace. Add that additional fake blood (which you can find a few recipes for here) and you're set. Now for Ethan Winters. Ethan dresses like a bloke you'd see on the street so it's not too hard to find something appropriate. I'm going for Resident Evil Village Ethan with this list of items. You need dark blue jeans, brown shoes a black or grey t-shirt under a grey hoodie that looks appropriate for hiking. And if you have it a yellow-green outdoor coat, which admittedly, might be a little niche. But if you don't have that, I hope instead you accept a paper bag or cardboard box. Ethan's face isn't revealed in either Resident Evil Village or 7, so to compensate, why not hide your face too? Placing a paper bag over your head with some eyeholes is a great way to reference his obscurity and add a little fun to your costume to people who don't know much about the Resident Evil series. And with Ethan's incredible healing abilities, you might not even need any fake blood. Trombone Champ (Image credit: Holy Wow) Trombone Champ's videos have been a blessing since its release. Just yesterday I chuckled at a rendition of In The End by Linkin Park on Twitter. It's really good, trust me. What's great about Trombone Champ is that the musician just kind of looks wide-eyed with some back concert dress on. Just dress in all black and you're kind of set, maybe even add a blazer. The important part is obviously the trombone. I own a trombone, a strange flex, but I don't expect everyone to. Instead I suggest printing off a picture of a trombone and finding some sort of instrument in your house that can sound appropriately terrible. Maybe a kazoo, that recorder you had as a kid, or maybe even a harmonica. Be the champ of any instrument you like and toot your little heart out. Don't forget to make it sound terrible for accuracy. Team Fortress 2's Scout (Image credit: Valve) Scout is among the easiest and most recognisable FPS characters you can dress up as this Halloween. A red t-shirt, rolled up grey sweatpants, long white socks, black trainers and a baseball cap gets you very close to the character's get up. Then to accessorise you can add some bandages to the hands (perhaps a ripped up white t-shirt), a sling backpack or bum bag around your torso, and a headset and you are set. Really these are quite common things you might have already and, even when missing the bag or the headset, your costume would be pretty convincing. And hey if you've got a baseball bat lying around, you've got the full set. Stray's cat (Image credit: BlueTwelve Studio) Okay, okay, let's go with something a little more classical Halloween. No I don't mean Nightmare on Elm Street, I mean witch, devil and of course cat costumes. Many of us have worn cat ears at some point on Halloween. It's low effort and makes you look good for the crowds you meet. But rather than just putting on cat ears, why not add a little backpack and be the cat from Stray? You can carry all your necessities as well as look cute. Bonus points if you can find some glow sticks to add to the back of the backpack to add some of that neon flair the game has in oodles. Disco Elysium's Kim Kitsuragi (Image credit: ZA/UM) Kim might not be the easiest person to cosplay for Halloween, but hey at least you'd look stylish. What helps here is that Kim has a variation you might be able to pull off easier. If you're playing on hardcore mode Kim actually wears a black version of his bomber jacket, an item of clothing that's pretty common. Then you just need some reading glasses, black shoes, and green trousers to complete the outfit. If you want to style the bomber jacket a little more, feel free to add a sticker or two to the jacket to make it look like an official aerostatic joint. Phasmophobia's Ghost Hunters (Image credit: Kinetic Games) The highlight of Phasmophobia are the ghosts themselves, but when there are a load of ghosts about at Halloween, why not pretend to be a ghost hunter instead? The ghost enthusiasts in Phasmophobia are pretty plain truth be told but that means really you can wear whatever you like: what's important is the gear you take. There's a full list of possible accessories you take with you as a ghost hunter and they vary from flashlights to books to cameras to glowsticks. You can even take a salt shaker. There is such a variety of stuff you can use to ham up your costume and be accurate to the game that your home must contain a few pieces of crucial ghost hunting equipment. This costume is even better if you have a friend or two make up the other hunters on your team so you can all fight evil together. And squat in corners screaming when it doesn't go quite to plan. The Sims (Image credit: EA) If you're really desperate and you need something by this evening, there might be no easier costume than becoming a Sim. It might require just a little DIY, but as my colleague Mollie Taylor exclaimed, "the classic make a plumbob and hot glue it to a headband to be a Sim never fails". There are a few tutorials on how you could make one at home on the internet but the simplest answer might be to draw one on each side of a piece of card and attach it with a stick to an alice band. If you're going to a party, make sure to put on the Simlish version of the Black Eyed Peas' Simlish banger Friddy Dope on and you're set. View the full article

Genesis Alpha One, a roguelike FPS about building, maintaining, and navigating a ship through a galaxy that's very eager to kill you, did not blow our doors off when it came out in 2019. It had some interesting ideas, we said in our 59% review, but failed to pull them together in an interesting or compelling way. It's been through a number of updates since then, and while I can't say how much it's improved, now would be a great time to find out because it's free in GOG's Halloween Sale. The underlying premise certainly sounds like fun, in the way that so many "fun" things in videogames would be absolutely horrific if you had to deal with them in real life: "In a near future ravaged by wars, corrupt regimes and devastating pollution, influential corporations have created the Genesis program in a last-ditch attempt to save humanity. As the Captain of a Genesis starship, you journey into uncharted space on the ultimate mission. Build and manage a space vessel, farm resources, deal with terrifying alien infestations, clone creatures and explore a vast, randomly generated universe." This is the deluxe edition of Genesis Alpha One, by the way, which along with the base game includes the art book, soundtrack, and Rocket Star Corporation DLC. And very generally, people seem to dig it: It's got a 3.8/5 overall rating on GOG, and "mostly positive" user reviews on Steam—not universally beloved, but interesting enough to be worth a look, especially when it's free. The Genesis Alpha One freebie isn't the only thing going on at GOG: There's also the whole Halloween Sale itself, which has some pretty sweet deals including Cyberpunk 2077 at half price, Disco Elysium at 75% off, Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition at 60% off, and Prey Digital Deluxe for a tenner, which is a stupidly good deal. My favorite part of GOG sales, though, is always the really cheap stuff, which in this case can be found in the Sweet Treats category, which has a minimum discount of 89%: Memoria for $2, Styx: Master of Shadows that's also $2, Edna and Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes for $2, Leisure Suit Larry in Wet Dreams Don't Dry for $3, Ken Follet's The Pillars of the Earth for $2, Candle for $1, and on it goes. GOG may be aiming to become a more mainstream digital storefront, but this is the kind of stuff that I come out for. Genesis Alpha One is free on GOG until 10 am ET on October 30. GOG's Halloween Sale is live until November 3. View the full article

A new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive update has added probably the feature that fans of this hardcore competitive FPS most wanted. Yes, praise Valve indeed, because now you can buy a storage unit packed with every glitter sticker from the upcoming Rio Major for the low price of $65. Don't all rush at once! In all seriousness this is a fairly significant move for the game, though not an unprecedented one: way back in CS:GO's history Valve had allowed players to buy 'sets' of Major stickers, though it hasn't been like that for years. These stickers consist of team logos, event logos, and 'autograph' stickers with the John Hancock of various players. What is this storage unit stuffed with virtual paper all about then? I'm speculating but it seems an attempt to de-couple the fandom side of CS:GO esports from the more speculative side of its in-game market, in which limited-time cosmetics, such as tournament stickers and skins from the Majors, are hoarded by speculators and in some cases shoot up in value over time. This is an oddity of CS:GO's marketplace. It's really two marketplaces, if not more: one where average players swap cosmetics around and crack open the occasional case; and one where the game is very secondary to the purported value of its rarest collectibles. So these storage units, in theory, allow players who want to get into the Rio spirit and have all their team's stickers to do so, with the paper versions at least being somewhat reasonably priced: £17 for 145 stickers. This does mean that the paper and glitter Rio Major stickers are extremely unlikely to accumulate in value, not that they were ever likely to. The money in CS:GO stickers is in the gold and holographic variants, and notably these storage units do not have an option with gold and holographic sticker variants. So those who just want the Rio Major stickers can buy them, and shinier versions if they want, while those who enjoy speculating on CS:GO's marketplace fluctuations still have somewhere to hang their hat. (Image credit: Valve software.) No, it's not the Source 2 upgrade we were all hoping for. But this is a change that simplifies things for a bunch of players and, if so inclined, allows them to dive into this side of the CS:GO esports scene without buying a bunch of individual stickers or, even worse, endless capsule keys. CS:GO also sells a viewer pass for the tournament, which comes with an in-game event coin, access to the Pick 'Em challenge, graffiti, flair, and access to various other event offers. The coin seems pretty neat: this one gives out souvenir tokens that can be turned into golden goodies (these can also, of course, be bought separately). As ever with CS:GO, 50% of the proceeds go to the players, teams and organisations competing in the tournament. That's not even it. Never one to miss a trick, Champions Autograph Capsules will become available for purchase shortly after the Rio Grand Final concludes. View the full article

Need to knowWhat is it? A Wild West mystery with a frog detective. Expect to pay: £4/$5 Release date: October 27, 2022 Developer: Worm Club Publisher: Superhot Presents Reviewed on: RTX 3080 Ti, Intel i7-8086K, 16GB RAM Multiplayer? No Link: Official Site The Frog Detective series is distilled joy. Simple, brief, but extremely funny and occasionally heart-warming, they're the sort of games that defy you to feel blue when you're done. And Frog Detective 3: Corruption at Cowboy County is the best of the lot. When we last saw our amphibious investigator, he'd just received a call from his supervisor, the contents of which were a mystery until now. Thanks to Mary the rhino and her top notch acting skills, a recap sets the scene, with Mary playing both the detective and his boss. It's Oscar-worthy stuff. Naturally, the phone call is all about a new case, this time in Cowboy County. (Image credit: Worm Club) There are three things you should know about Cowboy County. 1. It was, until very recently, lawless. 2. Everyone is pretty nice, especially the outlaws, who just want to help people. 3. Nobody rides horses. Now, before you get upset about the lack of equine antics, there is a silver lining. The main mode of transport in Cowboy County is the most noble of steeds: the scooter. And you'll get access to one right away, allowing you to speed around the tiny town and pull off sick stunts. This does eventually come in very handy, but mostly it's just a hoot, facilitated by small hills that turn the town into a skatepark. Upon arriving in Cowboy County, you'll quickly learn what you're here to do, but also that the problem has already been solved. A sheriff was needed, but the best detective on the force, Lobster Cop, has already found someone to bring law and order to the town. Typical! He's a mole, he's called Mason, and he's extremely creepy. Luckily, the game does not end there, because there's another case that requires Frog Detective's skills: the town's hats have all gone missing. (Image credit: Worm Club) If you've slipped into the presumably slimy skin of Frog Detective before, you'll be very familiar with police procedure. The town is full of potential suspects, and to uncover the truth you'll have to chat to them, solve their problems, and gather up items to help you find out where the hats went. You can't have a cowboy town without hats. That's illegal. And you're a detective, as you'll keep reminding people. Usual suspects Among the residents of this lawless but simultaneously chill burg are Dusty the koala, a cowboy poet; Rhonda Dynamite, an outlaw mouse with a fantastic name who really wanted to be sheriff; and Craig, a bull who's sick of people asking him to join secret societies (except the secret ghost hunting society, which he'd love to join, if only they'd ask). Every conversation veers between absurdly silly and extremely clever, eliciting more laughter in a couple of minutes than most comedic games manage to tease out across their whole runtime. Yes, I'm looking at you, New Tales from the Borderlands. There's the panda artist who's willing to illustrate Frog Detective's adventures for a measly "two million money", which our less-than-frugal hero thinks is a pretty good deal—though too expensive for his seemingly non-existent salary. Sticking with the artistic theme, you'll also have the opportunity to help create the world's best cowboy poem (it really is something special). And you might even learn a few things from the critiques of the criminal justice system or Frog Detective's terrible advice for securing your personal information. There's even a bit of romance! This game has it all. (Image credit: Worm Club) While the puzzles are really just fetch quests, Frog Detective 3 never devolves into busywork and will keep you chuckling away for the whole 90 minutes. The only time it evoked even the hint of a scowl was when I was tasked with collecting four cactus flowers, which grow in abundance, only to discover that what I actually needed was four specific flowers, which look only slightly different from the rest. It still only took me a couple of minutes to find them all. Really, these tasks are just a vehicle for more charmingly weird chats, though there are a couple of inventive ones—still not headscratchers, per se, but a bit more involved and surprising than the rest. And speaking of surprises, Frog Detective's final case is full of twists and turns, like a snake contortionist, and even reframes the previous cases while tying them all together in a more-than-satisfying conclusion. The whole thing is unexpectedly elaborate—or as elaborate as it can be while still maintaining its whimsical, leisurely vibe. If I'm gloomy, it's only because there won't be any more Frog Detective. He's one of a kind, and I'll miss his lack of cynicism and upbeat personality just as much as his aptitude for crime solving. We need fewer hardboiled misery guts and more froggy goofs. But if the series has to end, this is a great way for it to go out. View the full article

Looking for details on Nahida in Genshin Impact? This five-star character isn't playable quite yet, but this upcoming Dendro hero is set to arrive very soon. Now that you've had time to explore Sumeru, you might be turning your mind to who you want to wish for next. If you're holding out for Nahida, it makes sense to get a head start on collecting her Ascension materials. Nahida is also known as Lesser Lord Kusanali, and she resides in the Sanctuary of Surasthana. There's plenty of mystery surrounding this five-star Dendro character and nobody seems quite sure who she is. That said, everything we do know about this Catalyst-wielding hero is right here, so read on to find out more about Genshin Impact Nahida, including her abilities and Ascension materials. Release date When you can wish for Nahida in Genshin Impact Nahida's banner, The Moongrass' Enlightenment, will arrive in the first phase of the 3.2 update on November 2. This event wish will run alongside Yoimiya's banner re-run, Tapestry of Golden Flames. Abilities Nahida's abilities Here are Nahida's abilities, passives, and constellations. Normal Attack: Akara NormalPerforms up to four attacks that deal Dendro damage to opponents in front of her.ChargedConsumes a certain amount of Stamina to deal AoE Dendro damage to opponents in front of her after a short casting time.PlungingCalling upon the might of Dendro, Nahida plunges toward the ground from mid-air, damaging all opponents in her path. Deals AoE Dendro damage on impact with the ground. Elemental Skill All Schemes to KnowSends forth karmic bonds of wood and tree from her side, dealing AoE Dendro damage and marking up to eight opponents hit with the Seed of Skandha.HoldEnters Aiming mode which will allow you to select a number of opponents in a limited area. During this time, Nahida's resistance to interruption will be increased. When released, this skill deals Dendro damage to these opponents and marks them with the Seed of Skandha. The aiming mode will last up to five seconds and can select a maximum of eight opponents.Seed of SkandhaOpponents who have been marked by the Seed of Skandha will be linked to one another up to a certain distance. After you trigger Elemental Reactions on opponents who are affected by the Seeds of Skandha or when they take damage from Dendro Cores (including Burgeon and Hyperbloom damage), Nahida will unleash Tri-Karma Purification on all connected opponents, dealing Dendro damage based on her ATK and Elemental Mastery. Elemental Burst Illusory HeartManifests the Court of Dreams and expands the Shrine of Maya. When the Shrine of Maya field is unleashed, the following effects will be separately unleashed based on the Elemental Types present within the party. If there are at least two party members of these Elemental Types present when the field is deployed, the affects will increase further.PyroWhile Nahida remains within the Shrine of Maya, the damage dealt by Tri-Karma Purification is increased.ElectroWhile Nahida remains within the Shrine of Maya, the interval between each Tri-Karma Purification is decreased.HydroThe Shrine of Maya's duration is increased. Passives On All Things MeditatedNahida can use All Schemes to Know to interact with some harvestable items within a fixed AoE. This skill may even have some other effects.Compassion IlluminatedWhen unleashing Illusory Heart, the Shrine of Maya will gain the following effects: The Elemental Mastery of the active character within the field will be increased by 25% of the Elemental Mastery of the party member with the highest Elemental Mastery stat. You can gain a maximum of 250 Elemental Mastery in this manner.Awakening ElucidatedEach point of Nahida's Elemental Mastery beyond 200 will grant 0.1% bonus damage and 0.03% crit rate to Tri-Karma Purification from All Schemes to Know. A maximum of 80% bonus damage and 24% crit rate can be granted in this manner. Constellations The Seed of Stored KnowledgeWhen the Shrine of May is unleashed and the Elemental Types of the party members are being tabulated, the count will add one to the number of Pyro, Electro, and Hydro characters respectively.The Root of All FullnessOpponents that are marked by Seeds of Skandha will be affected by the following effects: Burning, Bloom, Hyperbloom, and Burgeon Reaction damage can score Crit hits. Crit rate and Crit damage are fixed at 20% and 100% respectively. Within eight seconds of being affected by Quicken, Aggravate, Spread, Defense is increased by 30%.The Shoot of Conscious AttainmentIncreases the level of All Schemes to Know by three. Maximum upgrade level is 15.The Stem Manifest InferenceWhen nearby opponents are affected by All Schemes to Know's Seeds of Skandha, Nahida's Elemental Mastery will be increased by 100/120/140/160.The Leaves of Enlightening SpeechIncreases the level of Illusory Heart by three. The maximum upgrade level is 15.The Fruit of Reason's CulminationWhen Nahida hits an opponent affected by All Schemes to Know's Seeds of Skandha with Normal or Charged attacks after unleashing Illusory Heart, she will use Tri-Karma Purification: Karmic Oblivion on this opponent and all connected opponents, dealing Dendro damage based on 200% of Nahida's attack and 400% of her Elemental Mastery. Damage dealt by Tri-Karma Purification: Karmic Oblivion is considered Elemental Skill damage and can be triggered once every 0.2 seconds. This affect can last up to ten seconds and will be removed after Nahida has unleashed six instances of Tri-Karma Purification: Karmic Oblivion. Ascension materials (Image credit: miHoYo) Nahida's Ascension materials Character You'll need to hunt down specific Ascension materials to level up Nahida. The Nagadus Emerald items are dropped by Dendro Hypostases and Jadeplume Terrorshroom enemies in Sumeru. The former also drops the Quelled Creeper. The other items needed are: Kalpalata LotusFungal Spores/Luminescent Pollen/Crystalline Cyst Dus Kalpalata Lotus is a flower found growing on cliffs in the Sumeru region. And lastly, the Fungal items are looted from the Fungi enemies found in both The Chasm and Sumeru areas of Teyvat. Talents There are more Ascension materials to collect if you want to level up Nahida's talents. These are: Teachings/Guide/Philosophies of IngenuityFungal Spores/Luminescent Pollen/Crystalline Cyst DustUnknownCrown of Insight The Ingenuity items are rewards for completing the Steeple of Ignorance domain on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The Fungal items are dropped by enemies of the same name in The Chasm and Sumeru, and the Crown of Insight is a reward from various seasonal activities, like Midsummer Island Adventure or Thunder Sojourn. You can also get this item as a one-off reward by upgrading the Frostbearing Tree in Dragonspine or the Sacred Sakura in Inazuma. There will also be a fourth talent Ascension material, but it's not currently known. Looking at other characters' materials, the missing one is likely to be a drop from a weekly boss. I'll update this guide as soon as the information is available. View the full article

World War 2 may be among the most fertile ground we have for videogame excursions, but compared to all the harrowing trench battles and standoffs in ruined French villages we all have under our belts, the naval aspect of the war is less well covered. Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter is setting that right though. Available now in early access, Daedalic's latest WW2 release puts you in charge of a Fletcher class destroyer and gives you unprecedented historical detail onboard as you hunt for sneaky U-boats. Here's the crucial intel from HQ before you raise the anchors and embark out into the misty mid-century seas with nothing but explosives and maps for company. It's a hardcore sim that newcomers can get to grips with too (Image credit: Daedalic) The level of historical research and meticulous detail goes appropriately deep here. If we had a radar for such things here at PCG, this game would be so low into the murky depths as to be undetectable. Not only is your Fletcher class Destroyer forensically accurate to historical records in its appearance, the way you operate it and engage with enemies is true to the period too. And it's all presented in fully 3D models and scenes, rendered with impressive atmosphere, including the bridge, the combat information centre, the sonar room, the gun director, and the lookouts' station. If the thought of using authentic attack procedures and equipment to manage a massive naval vessel mid-battle sounds like sweaty brow territory though, you can automate certain aspects of the job and just focus on the parts you want to. Handy if you're coming to the game without prior knowledge. A Fletcher-class Destroyer of your own (Image credit: Daedalic) The US Navy's Fletcher-class Destroyer was a key part of the allied forces' offensive deployment in the battle of the Atlantic from 1943 onwards, carrying out not just U-boat hunting attack missions, but also escorting other vessels, just as you're tasked with in the game. The Destroyer was still part of the USN's fleet through the Korean war, and even into Vietnam. It's a potent piece of historical naval equipment, built with meticulous period details all reflected in its 3D scenes. Procedural battles (Image credit: Daedalic) Encounters in Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter happen organically, with multiple procedural elements ensuring you don't end up slogging through familiar battles. Not only do randomised weather and time of day factor into each encounter, enemy attack patterns are also varied according to the profiles of their U-boat captains. Any opponent you encounter may either be aggressive, sneaky, patient, or cold professional. That forces you out of any comfort zone you might have forged out there on the misty tides, analysing enemy behaviour and adapting your engagement strategy on the fly. When things get spicy out there and the depth charges start flying, the cinematic soundtrack has four layers of intensity to it, ramping up for dramatic effect in the heat of battle. 10 battle stations to man manually—or leave to your crewmates (Image credit: Daedalic) Hopping between the bridge, SONAR, combat, gun director, lookouts and external view, you're not just the captain of the Destroyer, but the entire crew, too. Switch between battle stations to follow every action of a combat engagement manually, or automate some for AI crewmates to streamline your job. Each battle station's complete with period-authentic equipment arrays that you'll need to learn and master if you want to sink your first U-boat. Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter is available now on Steam early access. View the full article

Well-heeled auctioneers R.M. Sothebys know a thing or two about big-ticket items, and this November it is selling one extraordinary car in London: a 1990 Ferrari Testarossa Pininfarina Spider ‘Special Production’. This is not your daddy's car. In fact this car is so rare and unusual that Sotheby's listing for the item almost has to be read in hushed tones. I'll get on to the car's history but what matters here, for the nerds among us, is that this is the exact model of Ferrari that inspired the design of the car in Yu Suzuki and AM2's arcade classic Out Run. The game was released in 1986, and the only Spider Testarossa that Ferrari ever made was produced in the same year. And it looks like someone at Sothebys knows their golden age of videogames because, alongside the usual sales material, the auction house has produced a video showcasing this stunning car. The message of this advert seems fairly clear: drive this car incredibly fast and illegally, and leave those police sirens in the distance. Oncoming traffic? No problem in this baby! Out Run fantasies aside, the history of this car reads like a movie script at points. "Given the right level of status—and the bank balance to back it up—almost anything is possible in the world of collector cars." Yes, I too am a rich man, please go on Mr. Sotheby. "Behind doors which even the most astute of collectors may struggle to unlock, cars considered too wild for mainstream manufacture are created; bespoke projects straight from the imagination are brought to life. Perhaps one of the greatest examples of a collector’s vision made reality is this striking and rare Pininfarina-made drop-top, representing the peak of 1980s excess." In other words, this is not just a sexy red car. It's one of only seven custom Testarossa Spiders ever made by the Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina, each of which is finished in a unique fashion. The cars were originally commissioned by Brunei royalty, and this example has never been registered for road use and has only 413 kilometres on the odometer. Such is the fate of a dream machine: life in a garage. Or it was until now. In 2021 the car was restored at two factories in Italy: first the contemporary Pininfarina factory in Cambiano, where the convertible hood was restored and repainted, after which the interior was refreshed. It was then given a full mechanical overhaul to be returned to "like new" condition. Or as Sothebys puts it, this is "an alluring piece of automotive history—justifiably qualifying for “unicorn” status in certain car enthusiast circles." It's the Out Run car. It's ludicrously desirable, illegally fast, and a little bit like blue skies come to life. The car goes on-sale November 5, and is estimated to fetch between £1.4 to £1.8 million. Hey, I'll give you fifty quid for it. Final offer. View the full article

Need to knowWhat is it? A medieval sandbox where you can trade, raid and become a monarch. Expect to pay: £40/$50 Release date: October 25, 2022 Developer: TaleWorlds Entertainment Publisher: TaleWorlds Entertainment Reviewed on: RTX 3080 Ti, Intel i7-8086K, 16GB RAM Multiplayer? Yes Link: Official Site The kingdom of the Aserai was perpetually at war, swapping towns and castles with rival lands, borders shifting constantly, refugees fleeing across the desert as raiders and looters took advantage of the chaos. Bad days, except for me, an opportunistic clan leader, mercenary, small business owner, caravaneer, occasional blacksmith, eventual king and very successful war profiteer. Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord keeps you busy. Even more so than its predecessor, Bannerlord's setup is a dream come to life, splicing together roleplaying, strategy and medieval duels in a big ol' sandbox. It's Chivalry, Crusader Kings and Total War in a single expansive package, and for me there isn't another combination this seductive. (Image credit: TaleWorlds) When it launched in early access, there was already so much to play with that it hardly felt early access at all. Along with the cosmetic and quality of life improvements it boasted over its predecessor, it also promised more management wrinkles thanks to its much-touted political and clan systems. Jumping in again for this review I was equally smitten, but as I moved from nobody to mercenary and then from lord to king, I started to notice the gaps within each system, and the sacrifices that were made to create a game this broad. This isn't apparent initially because there is, at first, simply so much to do. Straight out of the serviceable tutorial you'll be able to travel the length and breadth of the gargantuan map, engaging in banditry, trade, mercenary work or swearing your allegiance to one of the kingdoms. You'll complete quests, expand your clan with companions and new family members, and once you've become powerful enough you can even carve out your own nation, or rise up the ranks of an existing one. Making history All these diversions create the perfect recipe for sleepless nights as you try to become Calradia's most famous, or infamous, person. And this is all happening in a dynamic world where the AI is just as capable, if not more, initially, of dramatically changing the world. You're living through the annals of a fictional history, watching lands rise and fall even when your own contribution is minor. The result is a strong sense of place, as you start to attach major events to specific locations and grow ever more familiar with the world. The city of Ortysia became a significant focal point in my campaign. Over the course of several years it changed hands many times, as three kingdoms constantly squabbled over it. And I had a mercenary contract with all of them, at one point or another. I made quite a bit of cash from spilling blood for various nobles. It felt serendipitous, then, that it would be my first conquest after I became a vassal of the Aserai king. And thanks to my good relationship with the monarch, I was given control over it. My first settlement. (Image credit: TaleWorlds) Each village, town and castle can be explored in-person, but you can also do everything from chatting to its residents to purchasing workshops all from the convenient menu. You interact with settlements directly by buying property, creating caravans and, as a ruler, embarking on construction projects and assigning a governor. Things like a settlement's prosperity, loyalty and security can also be enhanced directly, but they are also indirectly affected by things like banditry and wars. They are always in flux, and watching them grow or suffer reinforces the stakes of these wars and crises. If a settlement is ravenous for butter and another one has it in abundance, you're probably going to make a lot of profit. In practice, though, there isn't actually much management involved in running towns and castles. You hop in, pick a construction project and then make sure there aren't any issues needing dealt with in the villages connected to them. These issues are usually basic things like needing more grain or bandits making a nuisance of themselves, which can be solved through simple quests. These quests don't even need you to be involved—you can just get one of your companions to do it. It's all very hands-off. This is also true of trade. It doesn't start out this way, though. At first you'll be ferrying goods between settlements yourself. If a settlement is ravenous for butter and another one has it in abundance, you're probably going to make a lot of profit. This direct route, even if it ceases to become efficient when you have a kingdom to run, remains the most engaging method of earning some cash. Becoming a small business owner, less so. (Image credit: TaleWorlds) A workshop's success is determined by various factors, like the prosperity of the town it's located in, but that's not particularly helpful information when you can't see how such relationships are calculated. The management screen simply shows how much money the business has and how much it makes. The only way to interact with it is by selling it or changing it to another kind of business. This leaves you with little to do once you've slapped down the cash to buy one—these aren't really businesses you get to run. Creating a caravan is similarly hands-off. You get no control over its route, and no opportunities to make any tweaks. You don't even get to decide what it's hauling. You can see how much money your companion is earning for you, but not how they've earned it. The only time I had to pay attention to them is when they got attacked and captured, after which I could free them or just wait for them to inevitably free themselves. So yes, you can live the life of a merchant if you want, but it's not where you'll have the most fun. Really, it's designed to supplement your hoard, giving you some helpful passive income to pay for troops and equipment. God of war (Image credit: TaleWorlds) It was during Bannerlord's titanic wars that I was at my happiest, whether I was riding with my own crew or part of a massive army full of AI lords. You control your character directly in battle, unless you're just sending in your troops alone—the equivalent of an auto-battle option. So you'll run or ride around the battlefield, stabbing and slicing at your foes, but at the same time you'll have troops to command, assigning them orders from a long list. The level of control you have is greater than even some pure strategy games. Few things are quite as fun as just commanding everyone to charge at the enemy all at once, though. Multiplayer (Image credit: TaleWorlds)Bannerlord features multiplayer matchmaking and custom games for its four modes. Team deathmatches and sieges will see you fighting in 60v60 battles where you earn cash to buy better classes. Skirmish, meanwhile, is more intimate, with 12 players in two teams. Captain mode lets you put your leadership skills to the test by giving you squads to command. The fights often evoke Chivalry, without the dismemberment, and while the sandbox may be the star attraction, the fantastic combat system makes the multiplayer nearly as appealing. Fights are simultaneously precise and messy. Directional attacks let you do fancy footwork to find an opening in your enemy's defences in one-on-ones, but when you're in the scrum things become a delightful cluster'frell', with hundreds of warriors all trying to batter each other. There's hardly any room to swing a sword, so everyone's just desperately trying to create space and murder a few foes. Ranged troops seem to be the most powerful, but nothing beats the joy of slamming into a group of archers or the back of a row of spearmen while on a horse. The impact of your horse alone does damage and can send battlelines into disarray, making your steed feel like a superweapon, but if you get surrounded by spearmen you'll still go down in seconds. Thankfully, on the default settings, your character will be knocked out instead of killed, and your troops can still win the battle for you even if you're seeing stars. (Image credit: TaleWorlds) Sieges are even more exciting, with the addition of fortifications, trebuchets, battering rams and narrow corridors filled with death really upping the intensity. Surviving boulders being dropped on your head, smashing down the gate and then coming face to face with a heaving mass of angry defenders is a thrill. I've fought countless battles in both the campaign and the multiplayer modes, but I always remained hungry for more. The various scales, setups and my growing combat proficiency thwarted the risk of these conflicts becoming stale. As my skill at riding and wielding a polearm increased, I unlocked new abilities, slowly building a warrior who's a master at charging into the fray and terrifying everything with a killer horse. My reckless tactics were the source of many injuries among the troops, but that's why I never travelled anywhere without my medic. People pleaser The aim of all this conquest is the creation of a lasting legacy. As you hire companions, get married and have a family, your clan will grow, giving you more opportunities to expand your influence. At first you'll probably just add them to your party, but you'll soon start putting them in charge of caravans or giving them their own parties to control, leaving them to make their way in the world. It's incredibly satisfying to see your clan's income suddenly explode because your friend has joined a massive horde that's sacking every castle in sight. If you're playing in the campaign mode rather than the free-form sandbox, you'll have a family straight away: a trio of siblings, two of which are children that you can develop as they approach adulthood. You can still start a family in the sandbox, of course, and the only thing you'll miss out on is the campaign quest, which serves as a loose framework for all the conquering you were probably already planning to do—it's not a great loss. (Image credit: TaleWorlds) While these characters have backstories and traits, like the trading system they are really just tools rather than fleshed out RPG pals. What really matters is how they'll serve you. Sweet-talking traders will be good at running caravans, while companions with things like Shieldbearer in their name are best suited to warfare. Through their experiences and your nurturing hand, they'll evolve into even more effective tools, and you have just as much control over their progression as you do over your own character. While these characters have backstories and traits, like the trading system they are really just tools rather than fleshed out RPG pals. After you become a vassal, or create your own kingdom, you'll need to start making pals outside of your clan, getting the other nobles on your side to back you up when you put forward new policies or declare yet another war. If people aren't voting your way, you can give your vote a boost by spending some influence, which vassals generate passively or by performing helpful acts, like slaughtering lots of enemies. It's a straightforward system, but one that does give you a lot more control than the others. Wars and policies naturally have massive ramifications, letting you shape the future of your kingdom, as well as its rivals. (Image credit: TaleWorlds) Even though I've enjoyed the occasional bit of politicking, I'm disappointed that so many of the systems I liked in their first draft haven't really gone anywhere. They are functional and helpful, and because of their number they provide plenty of diversions, but on their own they often end up feeling surprisingly shallow. That said, more depth doesn't always equate to a better game. The basic characters, hands-off business management and simple political system stop you from getting bogged down with just one facet of Bannerlord. You can still play it your way, but there's an expectation that you'll conquer your way into a position of power, at which point you'll have so much on your hands that you won't want to spend hours worrying about minutiae. Treat the game like a war sandbox where you dip into trade, management and politics and it starts to make a lot more sense, and feels more satisfying as a result. While I've had to reassess my expectations, Bannerlord remains a massively engaging romp that produces some of the most impressive battles in gaming. And thanks to the diligent community of modders, it's only going to get better from here. View the full article

Remember Halo Infinite? It seems like only yesterday everyone was jonesing for the grand return of Microsoft's flagship FPS, and initially at least Halo Infinite seemed to do the job. It felt and looked great, the surprise launch of multiplayer didn't hurt, and then… well, it seems to have somewhat faded into the background. Infinite has struggled to maintain momentum and, with hindsight, that may be because it's been launched in such a piecemeal fashion. Halo 3 probably represents the pinnacle of this series, and part of why was that it launched as such a complete and comprehensive package. Everything was in there. With Infinite we're still waiting on campaign co-op and, much more importantly, Forge mode. If anything can give Infinite's competitive and community scene a kick in the pants it's Forge, Halo's bespoke level and mode creation suite. Forge finally arrives as part of the game's winter update, which is scheduled for November 8, alongside campaign co-op for up to four players. The latter comes with a mission replay option so groups can hop around completed sections as they wish. Forge apparently boasts "thousands of new objects" alongside various additions and improvements: here's 343's official deep dive into the featureset. Definitely the most interesting element of this is the scripting and how players will be able to incorporate bots (as well as pistols that fire rockets), but the most important thing now is just to get it in peoples' hands. The winter update also brings a new free battle pass, two maps constructed in Forge by 343, and some new modes including a CTF variant. I like Infinite well enough but it's a struggle to go back to: the initial wave of enthusiasm has long since peaked and the nostalgia's worn off. It feels overly familiar now and not in a good way. What gave the older Halo games the long tail for me was never grinding the campaign on nightmare or playing endless double team (though I did plenty of that) but the daft side that Forge allows to sing: Halo karts, grifball, the meat-grinder mode where one spartan with a minigun faced an army of swords, and the endless array of good and bad maps to bounce around in. For a game called Halo Infinite, it's beyond time it started delivering those possibilities. View the full article

F1 Manager 2022, which—if your memory stretches back that far—you might recall released on August 30, will no longer be releasing major updates after its next one. In a post to the game's subreddit, a Frontier community manager said that, "To ensure upcoming F1 Manager projects realise their potential," the game's next scheduled update will be the "last significant update that addresses player-reported feedback, or suggested changes and additions". The community was not thrilled. "Any potential updates following this would be minor patches that do not noticeably affect gameplay," continues the community manager's post, and "Key reports and requests around F1 Manager 2022 from the community that are yet to be resolved" will instead be taken forward and "prioritised as we create future iterations in this franchise". Further posts from Frontier on the subreddit even describe specific, ongoing bugs that won't be fixed in this game but will be addressed in future releases. It would have been better not to say that last bit at all. It turns out that telling people you're still paying attention to their complaints, but only so you can fix them in the next game, isn't much of a crowd-pleaser. Already the subreddit is awash with fans decrying the decision, pledging not to buy another Frontier game, and pleading with the company to reverse the move. A complaint from user xford, who says they started out "pretty forthright that I thought they'd continually improve the game," but now believes it to be a "a disappointment and frankly a terrible way to launch a series," does a good job of summing up the disappointment (and with a lot less all-caps cursing than some other complaints). It's a remarkably quick turnaround for a game as generally well-liked as F1 Manager 2022, and fans have been quick to point out the inherent weirdness of ending significant updates for the game before the real-life F1 2022 season is even finished. Nevertheless, Frontier seems to be dead-set on shifting its development focus onto future games once the next update is released. It's a shame. We rather liked F1 Manager 2022, giving it 79% in our review and even declaring it more interesting than watching actual F1. For the devs to pump the brakes so hard on the game less than two months after it came out is an unexpected and undesired shift for a game that felt like it had potential, and I can't imagine it'll predispose many people to pick up the next game when it comes out. View the full article

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's prestige and rank systems can be quite confusing at first. Whether you’re a newcomer to the series or just want to know exactly how prestige is going to work moving forward, this guide explains the system in detail. From Daily Challenges to what happens after you’ve hit Military Rank 55, there is quite a lot to cover. You may not be able to become as prestigious as the Amsterdam level in the campaign, but you’ll get fairly close. Modern Warfare 2 prestige and ranks explained The Modern Warfare 2 prestige system works similarly to past entries in the series, such as Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard, meaning that they’re tied to seasons. Season 1 begins on November 16, so there are a few weeks to wait before you can start gaining prestige. Although the season isn't live yet, you can still start the journey to reach Military Rank 55. Once Season 1 begins, you’ll be able to reset your rank level back to MR 1, and you'll gain a prestige level instead. You can then build up to MR 55 again, obtain the next prestige rank, and rinse and repeat. Progressing through these levels will reward you with additional default loadouts in multiplayer, as well as the option to customize them alongside Warzone 2.0 weapons from Rank 4. In addition, you’ll also gain access to weapon platforms to tweak around in the Gunsmith, both lethal and tactical equipment for your multiplayer loadouts, and the perks, field upgrades, and killstreaks that you’ll need for online modes. Modern Warfare 2 Military Rank: How to get Player XP To increase your Modern Warfare 2 Military Rank, both before and after you’ve obtained any prestige ranks, you’re going to need player XP. While you can easily obtain it by performing the classic actions across multiplayer modes, such as kills or headshots, there are quite a few additional tasks that you can tackle to level up faster and more efficiently. Here are the ways to level up your Modern Warfare 2 Military Rank: Perform actions such as kills and headshots during multiplayer matches Complete Daily Challenges across multiplayer and Special Ops Complete Career Challenges across multiplayer and Special Ops Complete Bonus Challenges In multiplayer, there are three main categories of daily challenges: A general task such as getting 15 kills while aiming down sights or winning matches, a weapon challenge like getting five Sniper Rifle kills or five headshots with an SMG and a special objective that requires specific Loadout equipment, such as Field Upgrades or Perks. Moreover, if you complete all three Daily Challenges, you’ll gain access to a Bonus objective. This gives you two possible tasks to tackle, but you only need to finish one to obtain the extra XP. As for Special Ops, there are a few variations. The first challenge is generic and can be tackled in any mission. The second and third challenges can either follow a similar vein or be co-op specific. As for the Bonus challenge, this also grants you the choice of one of two Mission Challenges. Both the third and Bonus Challenges will also net you Special Ops Stars, which are needed to progress through the Special Ops Kits. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Activision)Image 2 of 2 (Image credit: Activision) As for Career Challenges, these work a bit differently. You can expect to see similar tasks that involve kills and match wins, however, others involve using specific weapons or more arduous tasks such as getting Longshots. Unless you main snipers, then you're in for a bad time. In multiplayer, some of these challenges can have multiple milestone steps. This means that you can start obtaining XP somewhat earlier as opposed to having to fully complete a challenge—although there is additional XP awaiting if you do so. Career Challenges are also a good way of obtaining Calling Cards on occasion. Across Special Ops, the challenges are split into Intel Collection and Career Star Unlocks. In short, there is no shortage of activities to pursue. You can expect some additional challenges during each season as well, which will be unlocked at prestige-level milestones. That is all you need to know about the Modern Warfare 2 prestige and ranks across multiplayer! Best of luck with the grind ahead of Season 1—while it does seem like it’s going to be a busy time, at least the launch is bound to keep players busy so they can stop spending ludicrous amounts of money on Burger King skins. View the full article

There have been a frankly incomprehensible number of Resident Evil films over the years, and they've all existed somewhere on a spectrum from mediocre to terrible. Even more damning, none of them have ever been able to match the level of cheap, gawky charm that's embodied in the original live-action cutscenes for 1996's Resident Evil 1. Someone out there has decided to do something about it: the people over at the Residence of Evil YouTube channel are coordinating a project that will see some of the original cast members of RE1's cutscenes—the actors for Chris Redfield, Barry Burton, and Albert Wesker—come together once more to create a short film in the spirit of the original game. They've already created a short teaser (featured above), and are hoping to fund a "more in depth short film with higher production value" with money from their Patreon. The teaser that Residence of Evil has already made is pretty impressive for something shot on a less-than-shoestring budget. You've got the original actors, a helicopter flight shot on green screen, and the dialogue is appropriately cheesy as we watch Barry fly Chris to a tense encounter with Wesker, who's just, like, hanging out in the middle of the desert for some reason. Classic Wesker. It's not the first collaboration between Residence of Evil and the old games' live-action cast. Before shooting this teaser, the channel shot a comedy skit featuring Chris Redfield and the real-life model for the RE3 Remake's version of Carlos Oliveira, and there's a 40ish-minute interview with some of the original RE1 cast, too. I hope they manage to shoot their planned, longer film, if only because it's always fun to see actors having fun with their old and iconic roles (though in the case of the RE1 cast, the game was pretty much their only major role before they moved on to other things). Much in the same way that I enjoyed seeing TF2 spring back to life when its voice cast decided to raid the American west coast for sandwiches, it'll be cool to see '90s Resident Evil return for a bit in the form of a cheesy short film. View the full article

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer is finally here but you may be wondering where to find the MW2 hardcore mode, and you're not alone. This multiplayer mode puts a more challenging spin on combat, with limited HUD elements, less health, and friendly fire enabled. It's a popular choice for many. If you've already finished Modern Warfare 2's campaign and you're eager to start testing your mettle in multiplayer, you can certainly do that with other multiplayer modes. But if you're keen to jump into MW2 hardcore mode, here's what you need to know. For everyone wondering, Tier 1 is not in the game at launch, but will be available soon. Stay frosty October 28, 2022 See more Where is Modern Warfare 2 hardcore mode? If you want to know how to play hardcore in Modern Warfare 2, you're out of luck for now. The hardcore mode isn't available at launch but Infinity Ward has confirmed that it will be added at a later date. There are still plenty of other multiplayer modes available such as Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, and Hardpoint but if you're after the extra challenge that Hardcore offers, you'll need to wait a while longer. To make things slightly more confusing, Hardcore has been renamed to Tier 1 in Modern Warfare 2, so you'll need to keep an eye out for the newer name whenever future updates roll out. View the full article

If you're in the market for a good quality X670E motherboard, the chances are that you've recoiled at the prices of many of them. The electrical complexities of the platform, on top of wider economic issues have caused a spike in prices to levels that would have been considered laughable a few years ago. But let's not forget there are two versions of the X670 chipset. X670E includes one x16 or two x8 PCIe 5.0 expansion slots while the non-E version sticks with PCIe 4.0. However, both versions can include PCIe 5.0 M.2 slots depending on the motherboard. High-end motherboards are more likely to be X670E models. Part of the reason X670E boards cost a lot is because of the high-quality signalling required for both PCIe 5.0 expansion and M.2 slots. PCIe 5.0 x16 for graphics cards means nothing right now, so if you don't need to tick that feature box (and you really don't), an X670 board is a perfectly viable option. We have the Gigabyte X670 Aorus Elite AX in for review. At $289 / £349 / AU$599, it's priced a heck of a lot lower than high end X670E boards. But does the Elite AX have to sacrifice a little or a lot to come in at that price? As an X670 non-E board, it drops PCIe 5.0 slot support, yet it retains a single PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot. Not that you'd expect to save hundreds of dollars from that alone. It still has four M.2 slots, along with quality connectivity, I/O and a VRM with capable cooling. The Elite AX is not some cut-to-the-bone cheapie. X670 Aorus Elite AX specs (Image credit: Gigabyte)Socket: AMD Socket AM5 CPU compatibility: AMD Ryzen 7000 desktop processors Form factor: ATX Memory support: Up to DDR5-6666 (OC), Up to 128GB Storage: 4x M.2; 4x SATA USB: Up to 2x USB 3.2 Gen2x2, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 10x USB 3.1 Gen 1, 8x USB 2.0 Display: 1x HDMI 2.1 Networking: AMD RZ616 Wi-Fi 6E; Realtek 2.5G LAN Audio: Realtek ALC897 7.1 Channel HD Audio Price: $289 / £349 / AU$599 The board isn’t what I’d describe as beautiful. It seems to have various oddly matched metallic highlights, as if Gigabyte rummaged around the factory to find heatsinks to include. But they don't lack functionality. The heatsinks are effective, particularly the VRM one, which would have been considered huge just a few years ago, though sadly Gigabyte opted not to include its excellent finned heatsink design on this model. The primary M.2 heatsink isn't as big and chunky like those you'll find on high-end boards. Time will tell if it's adequate enough to keep a hot running PCIe 5.0 SSD cool, especially if it's sitting adjacent to a GPU pumping out heat. In total there are four M.2 slots made up of the aforementioned primary PCIe 5.0 x4 one, plus a further three PCIe 4.0 x4 slots that are cooled by a single large heatsink. There are four SATA ports to round out the storage complement. And get this, there are no RGB LEDs on the board itself! We've definitely hit peak RGB. Though if you love a splash of lighting, the board includes a mix of RGB and ARGB headers, with five in total. Other highlights include a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 type-C header, power, reset, and CMOS clear buttons, and a Thunderbolt 4 header. Image 1 of 7 (Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 7 (Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 7 (Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 7 (Image credit: Future)Image 5 of 7 (Image credit: Future)Image 6 of 7 (Image credit: Future)Image 7 of 7 (Image credit: Future) The board comes with a 16+2+2 phase VRM with 70A power stages. As you’d expect, it’s not as beefed up as that of boards at double the price, but it's hardly a secret that the average user simply doesn’t need to shove 1000W or more into a CPU. Throw a Ryzen 9 7950X with PBO enabled into the Elite AX and you won’t have a problem. Your cooling will hit that 95C operating temperature of a 7950X long before the VRM gets stressed. Even if Zen 5 or Zen 6 CPUs take a step up in TDP, it’s hard to imagine the Aorus Elite AX struggling to power them. So, the cooling, storage, and VRM is more than enough to suit most users. Is the I/O lacking then? Hardly. The Aorus Elite AX includes AMD's RZ616 Wi-Fi 6E and Realtek 2.5G LAN. You'd expect to miss out on USB 4 at this price, but the rest of the USB count is stellar. You get a 3.2 Gen 2x2 type-C port, two Gen 2 ports, six Gen 1 ports, and four 2.0 ports. That's 13 rear USB ports! There's a HDMI 2.1 port for use with Ryzen 7000's newly included integrated graphics along with a BIOS flashback button. The audio is nothing special, with an aging Realtek ALC897 codec taking care of things. An S/PDIF output would be nice too, but apart from that, there's not much to complain about with regards to connectivity. System Performance Image 1 of 6 Image 2 of 6 Image 3 of 6 Image 4 of 6 Image 5 of 6 Image 6 of 6 Gaming Performance Image 1 of 5 Image 2 of 5 Image 3 of 5 Image 4 of 5 Image 5 of 5 Though benchmarks don't reveal a lot unless something is particularly amiss, it's good to see the Aorus X670 Elite AX consistently topping the various benchmark lists. Though it's only a percent here or there, it's always preferable to lead the pack, rather than trail it. Test rigCPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X Graphics: Zotac GeForce RTX 3080 Ti AMP Holo RAM: 2x 16GB G.Skill Trident Z5 DDR5-6000 C30 Storage: 2TB Seagate FireCuda 530 Cooling: Cooler Master PL360 Flux 360mm AIO PSU: Corsair AX1000 In general, the X670 Aorus Elite AX feels like a mature offering. Not every motherboard manufacturer can say that for all of its boards. We need to remember that we are at the very dawn of the AM5 platform. There will be years of AGESA updates and tweaks to come. Comparing the first generation X370 boards at the time of the Zen 1 launch to now, I believe AMD is in a much better position this time. Like just about every other board manufacturer since the debut of UEFI BIOS interfaces, the X670 Elite AX's aesthetic changes are minimal. If I have a criticism, it's that it's a little feature light. For most users that won't matter. We're not talking about Gigabyte's extreme Aorus Tachyon here. Once you enable XMP and install your Windows, many gamers may never return to the BIOS, and most of us really don't need to. (Image credit: Gigabyte) The attractive price of the X670 Aorus Elite AX comes as a bit of a shock when looking at all too many high priced X670/E boards. The attractive price of the X670 Aorus Elite AX comes as a bit of a shock when looking at all too many high priced X670/E boards. It doesn’t have the all out feature checklist of high end boards, but if you’re someone who runs an M.2 drive or two and GPU, then you’ll lose next to nothing. If you must have a PCIe 5.0 slot for a GPU, the Asrock X670E Pro RS is an option well worth considering, though its VRM and cooling aren't as good as that of the Aorus. In fairness to the other manufacturers, they also have very competitive boards in this price range, and they should not be overlooked. But, if nothing else, the Elite AX shows that manufacturers are getting a bit greedy at the high-end of the market. If you absolutely must have USB4, 10G LAN or Thunderbolt, you'll have to pay a LOT more for it. For the mainstream market, a board like the Aorus Elite AX is where it's at. View the full article

Hello TrulloF, Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. TrulloF joined on the 10/27/2022. View Member

All the Wordle tips, tricks, and hints you could ever hope for are right here, alongside links to our helpful guides and archives. Of course you'll also find the answer to the October 28 (496) puzzle here too—however you want to solve today's Wordle, I've got you covered. I'm sure I said "OK, now I've got it" at least three times as I was wrestling with today's challenge, but every freshly unearthed yellow only pushed me away from what seemed like a sure answer just one guess earlier. I'm just glad I got to the answer before I ran out of tries. Wordle hint Wordle today: A hint for Friday, October 28 This word is used to describe quiet, stealthy movement. Someone carefully tiptoeing around in the dark or avoiding the creaky stair on their way to grab a cookie. You'll need to find two vowels today. Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day If there's one thing better than playing Wordle, it's playing Wordle well, which is why I'm going to share a few quick tips to help set you on the path to success: A good opener contains a balanced mix of unique vowels and consonants. A tactical second guess helps to narrow down the pool of letters quickly.The solution may contain repeat letters. There's no time pressure beyond making sure it's done by midnight. So there's no reason to not treat the game like a casual newspaper crossword and come back to it later if you're coming up blank. Previous answers Wordle archive: Which words have been used The more past Wordle answers you can cram into your memory banks, the better your chances of guessing today's Wordle answer without accidentally picking a solution that's already been used. Past Wordle answers can also give you some excellent ideas for fun starting words that keep your daily puzzle solving fresh. Here are some recent Wordle solutions: October 27: CARRYOctober 26: FLOUTOctober 25: FOGGYOctober 24: FAULTOctober 23: MUMMYOctober 22: SPIELOctober 21: GROVEOctober 20: DENIMOctober 19: QUIRKOctober 18: EXIST Today's Wordle answer (Image credit: Josh Wardle) What is the Wordle 496 answer? You're almost there. The answer to the October 28 (496) Wordle is SNEAK. Learn more about Wordle Every day Wordle presents you with six rows of five boxes, and it's up to you to work out which secret five-letter word is hiding inside them. You'll want to start with a strong word like ALERT—something containing multiple vowels, common consonants, and no repeat letters. Hit Enter and the boxes will show you which letters you've got right or wrong. If a box turns ️, it means that letter isn't in the secret word at all. means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. means you've got the right letter in the right spot. You'll want your second go to compliment the first, using another "good" word to cover any common letters you missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn't present in today's answer. After that it's just a case of using what you've learned to narrow your guesses down to the right word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words (so no filling the boxes with EEEEE to see if there's an E). Don't forget letters can repeat too (ex: BOOKS). If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, and if you'd like to find out which words have already been used you'll find those below. Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle, as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle, refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn't long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. Surely it's only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes. View the full article

When it comes to PC related DIY enthusiasm, it's hard to go past the Raspberry Pi community. This credit card sized, cheap as the potato variety of chips computer has been lending itself to impressive projects for years. Whether you want to build your very own vending machine, have a spy ready backpack, or a cat powered doorbell, the Pi is the perfect companion for all these projects. But we live in the world we do, so some people just aren't happy with what this little miracle of a computer can achieve. It's not enough that something that can fit in my wallet can achieve clock speeds of up to 1.5GHz. Someone just had to go and push the limits on this poor little trooper, and boy did they. Tom's Hardware spotted this incredible feat of delidding hubris, where Ivan "Merocle" Huleshov managed to get clock speeds up to 2.5GHz on a Raspberry Pi. To achieve this, Huleshov took a Compute Module 4 Raspberry Pi, and very carefully took a knife to take the top off the CPU, then applied some serious cooling to keep it stable. You can get a look at the process in his YouTube video which is also at the top of this article, or check out the Reddit thread. The Compute Module 4 Raspberry Pi is a great choice for starting builds that don't need all the extra stuff that comes with the standard Raspberry Pi 4. It allows for a carrier board to be connected to customise your power choices and allow for use of a PCIE slot. It doesn't look like Huleshov is making much use of that here mind, instead he's just pushing this Pi to its absolute limits, just for fun. Perfect peripherals (Image credit: Colorwave)Best gaming mouse: the top rodents for gaming Best gaming keyboard: your PC's best friend... Best gaming headset: don't ignore in-game audio While the clock speed is impressive, it's not unprecedented. Overclocker Claude Schwarz achieved a 3GHz clock speed on the same machine, but only managed to maintain it with an ice spray for coolant, and potentially some reprogramming. While Huleshov's attempt appears much more stable, and only requires a five lines config.txt file, it similarly still requires a helluva lot of chill to run. For the Raspberry Pi to maintain stability at these speeds, Kuleshov explains that the temperature must be kept under 6 degrees Celsius. That's 42 Fahrenheit, or just a little over freezing temperature. That's going to require a fairly nice cooling setup if you want to get that stable 2.5GHz clock speed to run. Raspberry Pi CM4 CPU lid removal video.Watch out for the sharp knife.Thanks to Reddit now I know it's called deliddinghttps://t.co/7EzkOpzql4October 27, 2022 See more Of course, if you want to achieve the same lofty clock speeds, you'll want to be incredibly careful. Delidding a CPU voids any warranty, and can often go wrong leading to a completely broken device. The nice price point of a Raspberry Pi makes it an inexpensive practice tool, but the tiny board also adds its own challenges. Still, it's always impressive to see just how hard a chip can be pushed, be it a Raspberry Pi or a Ryzen Threadripper Pro, with a nice helping of liquid nitrogen. View the full article

The Winter's Expansion is a trio of largely unrelated extras for last year's Resident Evil Village. We've got a third-person camera for the main campaign, new characters for the game's arcade-ish Mercenaries mode, and best of all a brand new (short) story set long after Village's end, starring protagonist Ethan's daughter. The third-person camera is worth the $20/£16 price on its own for horror fans prone to motion sickness. No more fighting off headaches or nausea as blood-drinking fly-daughters and muscular werewolves try to damage Ethan's hands in cruel and unusual ways: just an engaging over-the-shoulder experience from beginning to end. The optional new perspective generally mixes well with what was already in Resident Evil Village. Combat, puzzles, and crawling through tight spaces almost feel as though they've always looked this way—although I did catch a few unaltered first person animations here and there, which in one instance left a third-person Ethan briefly standing next to a pair of floating scissors. The new camera works with pre-existing saves, if you've got a half-finished campaign save to go back to. The extra Mercenaries characters feel like the weakest addition to the set. Three new fighters join the mode, although only Chris and his surprisingly disappointing punches are unlocked by default. Both playable bosses are sadly locked away behind some relatively strenuous in-game achievements, pouring water on any simple dreams of hopping in and tearing everything to shreds as the main game's better bosses. As technically welcome as the new characters may be once they're unlocked, they can't help but draw attention to the fact Village expects players to pay for fewer Mercenaries extras than other Resident Evils gave away for free. The biggest addition is the short new scenario, Shadows of Rose, which finally gives us an expressive face to match the Winters family sass. Rose is a fun character to spend an afternoon's gaming with, and like her dad finds the right balance between bouts of heroic determination, understandable vulnerability, and sweary exasperation at the latest byzantine puzzle or mutated boss. (Image credit: Capcom) Sadly the new powers she brings to the fold—the ability to temporarily stun enemies and reduce path-blocking growths to dust—feel a little underutilised. I never found an opportunity or the need to use those powers more creatively. The scenario itself is equally straightforward, with even the mildest of puzzles accompanied by explanatory notes or hand-drawn maps or in extreme cases literal glowing arrows pointing directly at the door I needed to go through. The Winter's Expansion is clearly a budget release, but the trouble is it so clearly feels like a budget release. It's DLC built around projected profits rather than a story. Almost everything Rose speaks to or shoots at is a pre-existing model that's either been dressed up a little differently or pulled directly from one of Ethan's adventures. Rose herself reuses several distinctly "Ethan" animations even though it makes no sense for her to pour first aid medicine over her left hand or slightly mess up a handgun reload the same way her dad's digit-challenged appendages do. I found it hard to walk into a "new" room and not immediately think "Oh yeah, I remember this part from the first time around," a feeling that wasn't helped by major old areas often being reused in a way that closely mimicked their main campaign counterparts. House Beneviento once again contains the best scare in the game, this time riffing on Doctor Who's infamous "Blink" episode. This approach is clearly a practical way for a developer to release something new at this astonishing level of graphical fidelity without charging a ton. I enjoyed the story, even if it was predictable. But I couldn't help picturing a disapproving accountant standing over the writers' shoulders 24/7. Winter's Expansion is a strange bundle of DLC. There's a little bit of everything for everyone, a collection designed to contain just enough worthwhile material in each of its three separate areas to prompt as many wallets to open as possible. It does succeed in its calculated task—but only just. There's no denying that Village is definitely a more rounded game with these extras than without them: there's just not quite enough of any of it when viewed in isolation. The sparseness of Mercenaries' new features—especially as Chris was already a fully playable character in the main game—and Shadows of Rose's overly enthusiastic recycling of props, people, and plot points that the vast majority of players will by definition already be well aware of make it a little too easy for anyone other than extremely motion-sensitive fans like myself to utter the cursed phrase "Looks nice, but I think I'll wait for a sale." Image 1 of 5 (Image credit: Capcom)Image 2 of 5 (Image credit: Capcom)Image 3 of 5 (Image credit: Capcom)Image 4 of 5 (Image credit: Capcom)Image 5 of 5 (Image credit: Capcom) View the full article

In a post on 2K's official website, the publisher revealed that Firaxis will be adding four superheroes as post-launch DLC to Midnight Suns. Deadpool, Venom, Morbius, and Storm will each have additional story content, base upgrades, and cosmetic skins. The first DLC, featuring Mr. Pool, is set to release in "early 2023," not too long after Midnight Suns' December 2 release date. His inclusion was pretty heavily foreshadowed by a Deadpool-themed takeover of the Midnight Suns Twitter account. Or maybe that was the real Deadpool? These guys always hire social media managers when they get famous. According to 2K's announcement, Venom is already a boss in Midnight Suns' campaign. We can probably expect some good patter between him and his fellow Midnight Sun and sworn enemy, Spider-Man. Hopefully things don't get too awkward at the Abbey though. Presumably Dr. Michael Morbius, the Living Vampire was already in the works for Midnight Suns before his feature film's curious fall, rise, and fall again. Like with Spidey and Venom, I'd expect some good, Baldur's Gate-y adversarial banter between Mr. Morb and Blade, a noted vampire hunter. Storm is curiously enough only the second X-Men character revealed for the roster after Wolverine. We're starting to tap out my limited comics knowledge here, but I will say that her powers are cool and I think Halle Berry did a good job with the character 20 years ago. 2K didn't reveal pricing for the season pass, but it will be included as part of Midnight Suns' $100 "Legendary Edition." That puts us in the ballpark of $40 for the DLC pass on its own, or $10 a character. If you're looking for more Midnight Suns ahead of its release in December, be sure to check out our guide to everything we know about Marvel's Midnight Suns. View the full article

As spotted by PCGamesN, the Global Executive Vice President of PC Gaming, Henry Cavill, has once again publicly held forth on the hobby. Yet more proof that at least one handsome, successful person also likes the same things we do! Cavill appeared on Josh Horowitz' Happy Sad Confused podcast on October 26, in an interview primarily focused on his return as Superman. The really good bit, the PC gaming bit, runs from about 36 minutes to the 38:30 mark. "How much time have you been carving for your gaming life?" Horowitz asks the Witcher star. Cavill hems and haws slightly, before settling on "a fair amount," explaining: "When I say 'a fair amount,' that probably means 'a lot' for those who don't game." "Just four hours a day?" Horowitz quips. "Errr… Maybe more." Cavill replies. We've all been there. The actor went on to explain he's been playing Total War: Warhammer 3, the latest entry in a series he was honored in with an ingame unit. Cavill also mentions that while most of the people in his life are supportive of his hobbies, he's elicited some pained responses from acquaintances when showing off his miniature collection. (Image credit: Sega) After briefly touching on a promotional Wrath of the Lich King Classic statue Cavill recently received from Blizzard, Horowitz asks him if he has any interest in game development. "I don't know," the actor replies. "I think there's so much work that goes into those, and I'm not sure I want to peek too far behind the curtain and see all the ones and zeroes." A measured response, but I have to disagree. Making a game is easy: all you have to do is make only good levels, throw out the bad ones, and remember to put the graphics in. So development's out, but Cavill didn't necessarily rule out voice acting. If this is the good timeline, maybe we'll get him on board for Owlcat Games' Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader. Unfortunately, he's probably got his hands full with all the Witchering and super shenanigans. View the full article

The first time I've thought about Burger King in ages was earlier this week, when I learned that the fast food giant had teamed up with Activision for a Call of Duty promotion that's a real whopper: Buy a burger, get an exclusive operator skin based on fictional fast food chain Burger Town. My hopes were dashed (and my colon thankful) when I realized that of the supposedly 40 countries offering the Call of Duty meal, the United States is not among them. Of course, Call of Duty players swiftly proved that if there's an exclusive goodie to be had, regional marketing disparities won't stand in their way. Soon after the Burger King/MW2 promo began, listings for the Burger Town skin started appearing for sale on Ebay. At the time of publishing, over 30 Burger King codes have sold for anywhere between $20-$40. Apparently the codes themselves aren't region-locked, so those outside the promo canopy can punch them into the official Call of Duty site to reap the rewards. To get an idea of just how badly some people want this burger skin, which I must clarify is actually just a normal guy wearing a Burger Town shirt, $40 is about 10 Whoppers worth of dollars, or over half the price of Modern Warfare 2 itself (though it's possible some sellers are selling to themselves to artificially inflate prices). That's way, way too much dough to drop on any singular cosmetic, but I get why longtime CoD players feel the urge—the frequent appearance of Burger Town is one of the series' longest-running easter eggs since the chain's debut in the original Modern Warfare 2 (2009). It's not clear what sort of dark dealings at Activision prevented the Burger Town promotion from including the US of A, Call of Duty's hometown, but I doubt whatever's meant to replace it can match this absolutely ridiculous ad created for the Burger King event. A lot to unwrap there: the surprisingly faithful recreation of Modern Warfare 2's HUD, the way they crawl through air vents like a secret agent when a true CoD protagonist would simply breach the door, the guy's callsign being "Burger Six," the way Burger Six makes himself an ice cream cone and immediately chucks it on the ground. It's all great, with the only low point being the reveal of a very unappetizing Burger King meal as a grand prize. And that's not even as far as this semi-global burger bonanza goes. As shared by Activision Blizzard chief marketing officer Fernando Machado, Burger Kings across the world have received a total Call of Duty glow-up. Here's a BK in Puerto Rico with Ghost's imposing frame where normal doors used to be: Welcome to the #MW2 @BurgerKing in Puerto Rico Credit: Facebook/Dillysway pic.twitter.com/UjVHKcHz0XOctober 25, 2022 See more I'll shed no tears for missing out on La Casa Del Whopper's food, but I do admit that dumb Burger Town shirt with included white man does call to me. He could and should be considered the new official mascot of CoD. View the full article

Nvidia has a limited-time offer for six months of "Priority" access to GeForce Now, its cloud gaming service, for only $29.99, $20 off its usual price of $49.99. GeForce Now gives members access to a virtual gaming PC capable of cloud-streaming games from your existing Steam, Ubisoft, and Epic libraries onto pretty much any computer or mobile device, so long as that device is connected to a relatively speedy internet connection. The monthly plan for Priority is still $9.99, so the bi-yearly plan is by far the better choice. There seems to be no way of buying multiple memberships and stacking them on top of each other to take advantage of the discounted price. However, if you do find a way, shoot me a message. The most significant difference between Priority and free memberships comes down to the quality and length of your cloud gaming sessions. Priority allows streaming up to 1080p at 60 fps and RTX features like ray-tracing. In contrast, free members are limited to one-hour game sessions, which means you'll have to re-login every 60 minutes, and you'll have to wait in a virtual line if servers are packed. GeForce Now is great if you want to play PC games but don't quite have the hardware in your personal gaming rig to get the performance you want. I'm a big fan of playing Fortnite on a browser at my desk during lunch. Don't tell my boss. More importantly, this gives you a fast pass to premium servers for six hours of uninterrupted gameplay. Your next machine (Image credit: Future)Best gaming PC: The top pre-built machines from the pros Best gaming laptop: Perfect notebooks for mobile gaming The RTX 3080 tier of the Geforce Now remains unchanged, with the yearly plan going for $99 and $19.99 for the monthly plan. This membership gives you access to a virtual RTX 3080 powered-gaming PC. If you have a fancy TV or high-end gaming monitor, this tier lets you stream games up to 4K at 120fps and, as it turns out, works pretty well if you're using an Nvidia Shield. A fairly decent internet connection of at least 15Mbps for 720p at 60 fps and 25Mbps for 1080p at 60 fps is required for optimal gameplay. Nvidia also recommends that your latency in competitive games be less than 40 milliseconds from one of its data centers. You can use this handy guide to see if your home or work network is up to the task. Unlike Xbox Pass, which gives you access to a fairly large library of games, GeForce Now requires you to own the games you want to stream on various platforms. The GeForce Now app is also available on Samsung's 2022 lineup of QLED Smart TVs, which seems like the perfect TV for console-less gaming. View the full article

The latest This Week at Bungie post grapples with one of the Destiny 2 community's hottest topics: Weapon crafting. Specifically, the balance thereof. For an inveterate Destiny addict such as myself, the addition of crafting has been a net positive, enabling me to build a perfect arsenal, painstakingly curated with enhanced versions of the exact perks I want. For less committed (some might say saner) players, the process of tracking down crafting patterns and then leveling up the weapons can be time-consuming and tedious. So much so that I think the recent emphasis on acquiring patterns—for which you have to find multiple rare 'red box' drops of the same gun—has become Destiny 2's core seasonal loop, and not in a positive way. Frustration with that process is playing into the current complaints about the seasonal model having become too samey. Even I'm willing to admit that dumping hours into the Shuro Chi raid encounter just because it's the most efficient way to farm trash mobs for weapon-level progress is not the sign of a healthy system. Change is on the way, but we'll have to wait until next year's Lightfall expansion to enjoy the full benefits. In the post, Bungie identifies multiple pain points it's seeking to address and explains how it plans to do so. Here's a truncated version: Deepsight weapons (ie "red boxes") are too common and clog up players' vaults while they wait to extract the crafting currency. To alleviate this Bungie will be adding new ways to earn crafting currencies, and weapons that don't have crafting patterns will no longer drop as Deepsights (which is good because that was always confusing).Better bad luck protection. The aim here is to prevent players from getting blue-balled by RNG when it comes to unlocking the specific pattern they want. It isn't entirely clear what the new system will involve, but Bungie promises to "provide opportunities within the crafting system to deterministically choose what weapon to target."Reduce loadout stress. Right now, players feel forced to play with "bad" Deepsight weapons just so their crafting currency can be extracted. Again, the path to how to prevent this isn't clear, but Bungie promises to "reduce player incentives to equip a suboptimal Deepsight or crafted weapon" as part of the leveling process.Make Adept raid weapons matter again. Ever since the addition of crafting, the value of Adept weapons (which drop from Master content) has been reduced. Why bother sweating your balls off in the hardest raid on offer for a drop that will be outclassed by one you can build yourself? Here the answer seems to be giving Adept weapons access to enhanced perks, although Bungie does note it's not going to be "full, freeform crafting." It all sounds like good stuff, and honestly not too much of a surprise. Adding crafting to a looter shooter was always going to have a seismic effect on the perceived value of both the gear itself and the player time required to create it. It would have been a miracle if the system had been perfect straight out of the gate, so a substantial amount of tweaking was always to be expected. Before these systemic changes arrive in Lightfall, Bungie also announced that it is bringing crafting to the weapons of the Deep Stone Crypt raid next season, which starts on December 6. It's also going to refresh the perk pools of those guns. "Our goal is to keep the most beloved combinations and drop the rest to make room for new perks," said senior design lead Chris Proctor. "With Deep Stone Crypt specifically, we looked for new perks that synergize well with the perks that originated with Deep Stone Crypt: Reconstruction, Recombination, and Redirection. (I.e., new perk combinations could look like: Reconstruction + Focused Fury, or Fourth Time's the Charm + Redirection)." The Deep Stone Raid arsenal is already stacked with absolute bangers like the Succession sniper rifle and Heritage slug shotgun, so giving those access to new and powerful synergistic perks is pretty mouthwatering. Proctor gave three examples of possible combinations, all of which look disgustingly good: Heritage (Slug Shotgun): Reconstruction + Focused Fury Posterity (Hand Cannon): Voltshot + Rampage Trustee (Scout Rifle): Rapid Hit + Incandescent Proctor saidd that the revamped Deep Stone Crypt guns are also getting their own origin trait called "Bray Inheritance." He didn't say what benefit it will confer though, so let the speculation begin. Whether all this is enough to quell the grumpiness about the existing excesses of the Crafting system... the inevitable answer is probably not, but at least players can now see concrete change is coming. And regardless, I now know I'll be spending much of next season high above Europa getting reacquainted with my good buddy Taniks. Who knew he'd be back again! (Image credit: Bungie) View the full article

Fallout has been a computer game, a tabletop game, a mobile game, a YouTube series, and will soon be an Amazon TV series. What could possibly be left for the post-apocalyptic RPG? How about a Lego game? That exists now too, unofficially, thanks to YouTuber and game developer ThrillDaWill, who spent the past several months working (and not working) on a game that combines Lego with Fallout. You can see the results in the video above, beginning with an impressive mini-movie, the type you might see at the start of an official Fallout game. Then ThrillDaWill shows off some footage of the game, and even better, some peeks behind the curtain of its development, including a friend testing an alpha on Discord. Lego Fallout really has lots of Fallout features in it, including VATS, a Pip-Boy, stimpacks, raiders, a Fat Man, and a gloriously realized wasteland made out of Lego. And here's the best part: you can download and play it yourself for free. I couldn't resist giving it a try. Lego Fallout starts in a Vault, naturally, and after winding my way through the narrow passages I came upon a skeleton with a Pip-Boy, a pistol, and some ammo, which is typically what you'll find in a Vault. I shot a few Lego-ified rad roaches, then exited the Vault to find a vast, sprawling Lego wasteland while the famous Fallout theme played. The world is massive, decorated with ruined houses and vehicles and a few stashes to find with weapons and ammo. I quickly ran into a pack of raiders, and even using VATS my pipe rifle didn't do much to stop them. After respawning at the Vault entrance I got a bit further, and I even ran into a friendly NPC who suggested I visit a crater to find some useful goodies. I made my way there but ran into some enemies in hazmat suits who made pretty quick work of me. Lego Fallout is a bit light on stuff to do besides scrounge gear and get into shooting matches in the overworld, but it's still pretty impressive and looks absolutely outstanding (my GPU grudgingly agreed). It's honestly hard to not want an official Lego version of Fallout after playing ThrillDaWill's version. Who do I talk to about that? Does anyone have Mr. Lego's phone number? I did have a couple issues playing: adjusting my screen resolution screwed things up and I had to delete my AppData folder so I could readjust it again. The game also froze once while I was trying to fiddle with other settings, requiring a manual shutdown. ThrillDaWill says "I am still working on additional bugs and stuff" so it sounds like there may be more updates in the future. Still: it's fun. It's Fallout in a ruined Lego world. Who wouldn't be into that? You'll find the free playable Lego Fallout and other projects on ThrillDaWill's itch.io page. View the full article

After years of incremental updates, Steam Big Picture mode is finally getting a long-awaited overhaul. Valve announced on Thursday that Big Picture mode's new interface—the same one used on the Steam Deck—is now available for testing. "This update has been a long time coming, and we’re very excited to start gathering community feedback," Valve wrote. The Steam Deck launched in February with SteamOS 3, which is essentially an all-new version of the gaming-focused operating system Valve's been working on for years. The original version of SteamOS, launched alongside the doomed living room PC Steam Machines, was built on top of a version of Linux called Debian. SteamOS 3 switched to Arch Linux, which let Valve iterate more quickly. Valve's plan has always been to carry over the user interface work it's done for the Steam Deck to the desktop Big Picture mode, but clearly whipping the Deck into the shape has been the priority this year. Big Picture Mode is still perfectly serviceable for living room gaming, but visually hasn't changed much since it launched in 2012. Since using Big Picture remains the only way to access Steam's mighty controller configurator tool, the new interface is a welcome update. Here's Valve's quick overview of what's changing: New Home Screen, where you can continue playing recent games, and see what’s new with the games in your library.New Universal Search, that searches across Library, Store, and your friendsNew controller configurator, designed for ease-of-use of picking, adjusting, or creating custom controller configurationsOptimized Steam Store for controller navigationUpdated in-game overlay, with access to achievements and guides (Press Steam / Guide / PS button while in game)New system menu, for quick navigation to different parts of the interface (Access this with the Steam / Guide / PS button)New quick access menu, for access to notifications, friends list, quick settings, and more. (Access this with Steam + A) The update is accessible to anyone who uses the Steam Client beta (Steam Settings > Account > Beta participation). To use it, though, you'll need to create a Steam shortcut on your desktop and append -gamepadui to the target field, as in the image below. Valve's collecting feedback and bug reports in the Steam Big Picture discussion forum. View the full article