Malevolent AI mastermind SHODAN famously has no love for pathetic, fleshy humans. But what about the self-aware, puzzle-solving androids of The Talos Principle II?
Croteam and Devolver Digital’s philosophical open-world puzzle game has previously been played by Portal’s GLaDOS (https://youtu.be/GGiI_ybK8mY), who pointed out some alleged similarities between it and another game featuring lasers and cubes.
But now it’s time for gaming’s other favorite misanthropic hyper-intelligent AI to have a go, courtesy of original SHODAN voice actor Terri Brosius.
System Shock’s infamous Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network, or SHODAN to her friends (if she had any), has been playing The Talos Principle II too, and she has some thoughts about these humanoid machines who consider themselves humans.
Talk about hard to please. But ignore SHODAN. Her circuits are full of hate. The Talos Principle II is great (critics have called it “a masterpiece,” “thought-provoking” and “genius”) and it’s available right now on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
Also, to celebrate the ninth anniversary of The Talos Principle, we’re offering deep discounts on the entire series on Steam—including, for the first time, 20% off The Talos Principle II (currently $23.99) until Jan. 4. There’s never been a better time to dive in and put your brain to the test: https://store.steampowered.com/app/835960/The_Talos_Principle_2/
Frozen District is excited to share the final preview trailer of their eagerly awaited House Flipper 2 game on their YouTube channel. This reveal, highlighting the game’s advanced features and gameplay enhancements, precedes its official launch on PC, scheduled for December 14, 2023. The game will also be available on console platforms in March 2024.
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown unveils The Racer, an unprecedented trailer presenting another playing style, for the most competitive drivers. After The Cruiser, aimed at those who just love the driving experience, this episode illustrates the social interactions and competitive aspect of the game.
Challenging other players is one of the many experiences offered by Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. Naturally, one of the core audiences in its design were those who want to measure themselves against others, test their limits and hoist themselves up to the top of the rankings.
A whole bunch of competitive content
To slake these players’ thirst for adrenaline, the MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online game) offers a host of activities: Circuit, Domination, Sprint, Time Trials, and other online competitions, in which the rules and environments make for highly varied challenges. These include the Instant Challenge, a feature which enables players to set up a head-to-head with a rival. If the challenge is accepted, a finish line is generated at random on the map. To give it all some extra spice, the participants must wager their precious Solar Coins.
Customising your cars, another way to mingle
Any self-respecting competitor must take an interest in the mechanics of their speedster if they expect to test themselves against other competitors. To meet this need, there are workshops accessible in every district on the island. These can enhance cars’ performances, but also their visual appearance. These genuine preparation workshops are part of the various social hubs in which players can interact with each other and check out their competitors’ plans for inspiration.
Other aspects of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown will be presented in the forthcoming trailers and promote various ways of getting the most out of the game and the richness of the Hong Kong Island setting.
On its 1:1 scale recreation of Hong Kong Island, take part in an extraordinary competition, Solar Crown, organised by the influential organisation Radiant. Behind the wheel of exceptional speedsters, by prestigious brands such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Dodge, Apollo and many others, you can freely explore the island with its wide variety of environments or take part in the highest-profile competitions on Hong Kong Island. Beyond your cars, which reflect your inspirations and rewards for your progress in the game, you can customise your game experience in your own image: choose your clan, Sharp or Street, and cultivate your style to impress others, stand out from the crowd and defend your clan. Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown has retained the DNA of the earlier editions, bringing a contemporary, updated look to the multiplayer racing game, offering the players luxury, exceptional cars and competition.
Get ready to immerse yourself in the Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown experience in 2024 on PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Assetto Corsa Competizione, the official GT world challenge racing simulator developed by KUNOS Simulazioni and published by 505 Games, introduces console cross play for the first time in a free update, today on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Key Info:
Drivers on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S can compete in all online modes with each other as of this free cross-platform online multiplayer update
These include Public Multiplayer’s casual and quick-paced races, Competition Servers that offer hour-long races with advanced settings enabled, and Private Leagues that offer their own rules and race organizations
Assetto Corsa Competizione continues its ongoing support of the community with free and paid updates, new tracks, new cars and cosmetic features for a customized experience
THQ Nordic, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and YUKE’S Co., Ltd. today released the Beat The Elite DLC for AEW: Fight Forever®. This marks the second DLC drop of Season 2 and introduces the new offline single-player game mode “Beat The Elite.” Beat the Elite (€ 6.99 / $ 6.99 / £ 5.79) is now available to AEW:Fight Forever players on PS4™, PS5™, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
In the highly competitive “Beat The Elite” mode, players face 10 randomly selected wrestlers from AEW’s world-class roster. The last fight will always be against one fighter from “The Elite” such as Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson and Adam “Hangman” Page. Winning all those matches will reward the player with different in-game cosmetic items, depending on the difficulty setting selected.
AEW: Fight Forever Season Pass 2 also includes:
3 new wrestlers
37 new move-sets
60 new attire options
The new AEW Dynamite arena
“Beat the Elite” game mode
On Dec. 27, the Nintendo® Switch version will get the Season 2 content that is already available on the other Fight Forever platforms. These DLCs include Dynamite Featuring The Acclaimed and Beat The Elite, in addition to AEW: Fight Forever Bring the Boom deluxe edition.
AEW: Fight Forever is available for PS4™, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo® Switch at an SRP of € 59.99 / $ 59.99 / £ 49.99.
Twin Sails Interactive and developer Sparrow Night announced today that News Tower, the newspaper tycoon management sim, will launch into Steam Early Access on Feb. 13, 2024. Become a press mogul in 1930s New York in pursuit of the truth and profits! Expand your business, recruit new employees, and search for the decade’s most newsworthy stories for the front page.
As the publisher of a down-on-its-luck newspaper, your goal is to turn fortune around and build a media empire! Recruit and manage every profession necessary for success, including reporters, photographers, janitors, ad salespeople and lawyers. Uncover exciting news across the globe, matching your editorial line with readers’ interests, but watch out for powerful factions like the mayor and the mafia trying to peddle influence. Build and optimize your tower to ensure the well-being of your employees and meet your printing deadlines while balancing editorial quality and gaining new customers!
Key Features
Investigate Scoops Around the Globe: From cat disappearances to historic events like Prohibition and the Great Depression, you’ve got to break the news while it’s hot! Follow leads across the world and choose which angles to pursue to develop each story. Will you maintain the integrity of freedom of the press, or trade influence with different factions in the city?
Compose Your Newspaper: Each week you’ll oversee everything from the telegraph desk to the typesetting, laying out your paper with the articles you’ve produced. Hard-hitting journalism, sensational gossip, income-generating ads – you decide what makes the cut!
Build & Optimize Your Tower: Manage the layout of your operations, improve your production processes, and hire the right people for each job. But don’t neglect the well-being of your employees while you’re chasing profits, or the final product may suffer!
Grow Your News Empire: Start small and conquer New York by expanding your distribution to famous neighborhoods like Wall Street, Central Park and more, unlocking new upgrades and readers with their own interests.
Red Barrels, the indie development studio behind the critically-acclaimed and terrifying Outlast franchise, will deck the halls with boughs of gory in its Winter Kills update for the survival horror multiplayer The Outlast Trials.
With new cosmetics and challenges, quality of life improvements like full controller support, and more in-game lore to discover, survivors of Winter Kills will reap the bounty of true suffering. The event starts today and will continue throughout the Festive season, concluding Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at 10:00 EST / 07:00 PST / 16:00 EU.
Winter Kills Update Highlights
Winter Kills Program – Experience the new Cold Snap and Find the Gifts variators. Survivors of Winter Kills will reap the bounty of true suffering.
Winter Kills cosmetics – complete exclusive trials and challenges to unlock festive-themed character and sleep room enhancements.
New MK-Challenges – pay another visit to the Courthouse for two new tests (Escape the Courthouse and Destroy the Evidence).
New Evidence Documents – continue your investigation into the shady Murkoff Institute.
Introducing Cell Decoration Bundles – new deluxe decoration packages for your personal cell.
Controller support – full controller support with vibration and new controller layouts.
Plus… even more additions, improvements, balancing, fixes and much more. Check out the full Patch Notes for details.
Launched into Early Access on PC during May 2023, The Outlast Trials has been a phenomenal success, with over 1.5 million copies sold worldwide. Red Barrels recently confirmed that is bringing its survival horror multiplayer to PC, PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox® Series X|S and Xbox One® on March 5, 2024.
PlayStation 5 players can now drive virtually through the streets of Munich. Publisher Aerosoft and developer ViewApp are today releasing the digital PS5 version of CityDriver at a price of €39.99.
CityDriver for PS5 contains both the content of the PC version released in June and the Autobahn Nord expansion released in November. The latter adds highway and federal road sections to the game world of the simulation, including parts of the A9, B471 and A99 as well as new points of interest such as DIY stores, recycling centers and dealerships.
Players complete varied missions in and around Munich in detailed replicas of vehicles of various classes, with different engines and automatic or manual transmissions. To get to know their vehicle better, they can first put it through its paces on the test track of the traffic training area, taking evasive action, making 3-point turns and parking.
In the realistically recreated city, players can follow the road’s laws and rules in real traffic situations with other vehicles and pedestrians and complete a variety of missions.
Landmarks, historical buildings, statues, road signs and other local objects, reproduced in incredible quality using Unreal Engine 5, are waiting to be discovered.
Publisher Kalypso Media and development studio The Dust S.A. have released a second Developer Diary in their series of behind-the-scenes videos detailing the upcoming dark-fantasy adventure game, The Inquisitor. This video, entitled “The Team Behind the Tale” highlights members of the development team as they discuss their inspiration to work on the title along with their favourite moments in creating an immersive fantasy world.
The Inquisitor is a dark fantasy adventure game set in an alternate-history version of the 1500s in which Jesus did not die for our sins, but instead broke free from the cross and killed the non-believers. Players will take on the role of Mordimer Madderdin, an inquisitor in the service to the Church of Christ Vengeful. The Inquisitor is at its core a story-driven fantasy adventure game with a focus on detective elements, adding action and puzzle mechanics to the mix.
In the video, viewers will meet three members of the development team, Game Designer Damian Pawlak, Writer Przemek Wróbel, and Head of Production Kuba Karolewski, as they discuss some of the aspects of the game which they have found most interesting during their time in development.
The Inquisitor will be released on February 8, 2024, on Windows PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
Today, KOEI TECMO America and developer Team NINJA released the third and final DLC for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, including the addition of fresh new stages, a new Divine Beast, a new weapon category, and more! The dark fantasy action RPG is now available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, and PC via Windows and Steam®.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s haunting storyline continues with the release of DLC Vol. 3’s “Upheaval in Jingxiang” as Yuan Shu, fueled by his hatred of humans, secretly plans to build a world of demons. New stages include an abandoned waterside village, a castle, and even an abandoned mine where kidnapped victims are now transformed into demons. A new tree-like monster Shuyao has also been added to the carnage. Encounter the demon, then watch as it sprays poisonous spores from its long tree branch-like limbs.
To help in the fight is the new weapon category, the Whip, along with a new Divine Beast, Chenghuang – an animal reminiscent of a white fox with horse-like legs and two appendages resembling dragon horns jutting out from its spine. Players will actually be able to ride Chenghuang into battle, attacking enemies while galloping around them. This is the first time in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty that a human character and a Divine Beast are united in action, allowing the player to experience an unprecedented feeling of fighting together with the Divine Beast.
Other enhancements found in DLC Vol. 3 include a new difficulty level, a new stratagem system, and an expansion to the Thousand-Mile Journey end game content that allows players to advance further than levels 101-1000. The expansion also adds to the benefits and rewards — like Legendary Armor — that can be obtained.
Additionally, a free update was recently made available that includes a collaboration with Team NINJA’s popular Soulslike game, Nioh 2. The free update features a battle mission against Nioh 2 boss and deadly demon “Mezuki”! Players who clear the stage will be able to obtain the “Scampuss Hat” as a special reward.
For more information on Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, visit the official site, Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/koeitecmous and Follow us on Twitter @WoLongOfficial and @koeitecmoUS.
