WWG reported last week on a rumor that the next Assassin’s Creed game, set to be revealed at E3, will be called “Origins,” and will be built around a “vast open world experience” set in ancient Egypt. The image indicates that the player must “follow Shadya to Khenut’s Villa,” possibly (probably?) a reference to an Egyptian Queen of the Fifth Dynasty, wife of King Unas, and possibly the mother of Queen Iput I. (And horses, too, but let’s face it, the nags are always in there and boats are where i

Cooler Master has added another case to its growing MasterBox series, one that is both affordable and features customizable trim. All we have at the moment to go on are press photos, but based on those, the MasterBox Lite 5 seems like an attractive case out of the gate. Cooler Master also provides downloadable 3D printing schematics for the top and bottom trim for users who want to customize things even further. The MasterBox Lite 5 is a compact mid-tower with support for standard ATX components

Spartan Fist, the upcoming first-person melee brawler from Hot Tin Roof studio Glass Bottom Games, has the kind of succinct description that I really like: “Punch dudes, get paid.” Find different fist upgrades that can change your abilities, and enjoy the visceral satisfaction of punching your enemies,” the studio said. “Spartan Fist juxtaposes gory violence with punky vibrant voxel characters to cultivate a feeling of ultimate punching satisfaction.” “There is [a reason for maintaining continui

Yet according to a Redditor named RabbitMix, that’s exactly what happened in a recent, very unfortunate incident involving a bullet and his copy of The Elder Scrolls Anthology. “At first I thought a light bulb had burst but soon noticed the cloud of drywall dust in the air and a bullet hole to the left of my monitor.” The officer joined in the search for the bullet, according to RabbitMix, which eventually led to the discovery of the hole in The Elder Scrolls Anthology box. I opened the middle o

There are plenty of examples of interactive computers in games, whether you’re hacking terminals in Fallout, reading emails in Deus Ex, or punching turkeys in Doom 3. But in these examples the game IS the computer, and it can make for a uniquely immersive experience. UplinkIntroversion Software / Out now / WebsiteBecome a hacker for hire, breaking into secure computer systems, stealing top secret data, and selling it to rival corporations. KingswayAndrew Morrish / Summer 2017 / WebsiteIn this im

Strafe claims all three as a nostalgia-driven, twitch-shooting roguelike FPS. It’s out today and marks the occasion with a suitably retro ‘Official Movie Trailer.’ I wouldn’t normally advocate for a trailer pushing the five minute mark so freely, however this one is worth the pseudo jaunt down memory lane. For more involved thoughts on what Strafe has to offer, you might like to check out Omri Petitte’s review. Strafe is out now on the Humble Store for £14.99/$19.96 (do you see what they did the

The final stretch goal Divinity: Original Sin 2 offered during its very successful Kickstarter campaign last year was a Game Master mode. While it isn’t a perfect marriage of the two game systems, it opens the door to a very cool new way to play D&D. I also got a chance to sit down with Larian CEO Swen Vincke as he tried to recreate the opening of the studio’s very first game, Divine Divinity, as a campaign in Divinity: Original Sin 2. One way it absolutely succeeds is in giving the game master

Back in March, James reported on Methanhydrat’s Dark Souls Mouse Fix—a mod for the original Dark Souls which made mouse and keyboard play viable on PC. The mod’s latest update—version 1.4—comes with a respectable number of nips, tucks and adjustments to the original idea and, having just now taken it for a whirl, Dark Souls finally feels at home with mouse and keyboard support. The old binding system has been replaced by an entirely new one. See the Binding System section in the readme for detai

Emily Is Away Too is Kyle Seeley’s indirect and more sophisticated (but only just) follow-up to 2015’s Emily Is Away. Earlier this year its creator suggested a May launch was likely, and we now have a hard release date: May 26. “Emily is Away Too is the spiritual successor to the critically acclaimed original,” says Seeley. Let this trailer will transport you back in time:Again expanding on its predecessor, Emily Is Away Too is said to have “multiple” endings tied to the choices you make in-game

Part of what makes simulation games so enjoyable is the thought of mastering their multiple moving parts. Farming Simulator 2017’s latest DLC lets you do the latter with the introduction of the Big Bud 747. The aptly named ‘Big Bud Pack’ is the game’s latest DLC, which also adds the 747’s smaller 450 counterpart. According to the comments on this Steam community thread, Farming Simulator 2017’s Big Bud Pack expansion can be downloaded as of 4.30pm BST/8.30am PST, however it appears to be availab

SMAC Games and Mode 7’s Tokyo 42 has drip fed us slivers of its gorgeous neo-futuristic world since its reveal last year—showcasing the grim business of murder, its multi-layered missions and frantic Cop Drop minigame, among other things. Now, it’s finally got a PC release date: May 31, 2017. “Your time is precious,” says the following announcement trailer, “so here’s Tokyo 42 in 4.2 seconds”, before doing this:On the off-chance you’ve missed Tokyo 42 until now, you can see there that it’s a sty

First unveiled in 2013, you’d be forgiven for assuming that Dead Island 2 had been taken out the back and quietly strangled. Originally in development by Spec Ops: The Line studio Yager, Sumo Digital announced in March last year that it had taken the project over. It turns out the game is still in development, and that the publisher is “excited by the progress the team are making with Deep Silver’s most successful IP”. To be honest I’m surprised it’s still in development, though a “successful IP

Forza Horizon 3 is briefly departing from its broier-than-thou summer festival vibe to dabble in Hot Wheels. So basically, Turn 10 is introducing mid-air loop-the-loops and boost pads, in addition to a line-up of cars more suited to racing on tracks like these (and all emblazoned with the Hot Wheels logo, of course). It’s a very good concept on paper, similar though it might be to Trackmania and GTA 5’s recent fling with adamantly-unrealistic stunt racing. Now, thanks to a recent livestream, you

What happens when you combine the immediately compelling vertical shooting of roguelike Downwell with the tension of one-hit-kill multiplayer fighter Samurai Gunn ? That’s the recipe indie developer Omrii followed for the demo of his game Showdown, a gorgeously minimalist versus multiplayer game that borrows liberally from Downwell and other games. Omrii submitted a build with local multiplayer to the recent Amatueur Game Dev General demo day , a frequent recurring game jam. It’s missing the bou

A new Agents of Mayhem trailer released today introduces three of the first agents to join the team: Hollywood, Fortune, and Hardtack, collectively known (to themselves, at least) as the “Franchise Force.” We spent a little time with Volition’s Saints Row follow-up Agents of Mayhem back in April, and it didn’t go super well. I get a similar vibe from this trailer: There’s clearly an effort underway at establishing its Saturday morning cartoon-styled comedy bones, but will it be funny? Let’s just

Risk of Rain was a very good and extremely addictive side-scrolling shooter rogue-like, released back in 2013 when people weren’t yet fed up with the genre. That’s because it’ll be a 3D, third-person shooter. “Risk of Rain 2 is our first fully 3D project,” the studio wrote on its blog. We are really happy with the core of Risk of Rain – and we’re finding it plays even better in 3D. The full blog post is over here, and naturally enough, no release date or even window has been specified.

But which PC is the best for your many important tasks? If you survive the How to keep playing PC games in the post-apocalypse . Sure, it’s easy to break into other people’s PCs, but your own password will be guessable as well. You might even call it a laptop computer, though technically you can put in anywhere—on counters, desks, and the floor—but not actually in your lap. Best PC for keeping your email manageable: TranStar Corp NeuroQuadPreyProsClutter-free workspaceNo clunky caseIs probably n

I’ve always had a soft spot for cooking in games, but now that my literal soft spots are melting away, I find that it’s turning into a passion. In my view, the best games let us excel at and spend time with relatively humble things, like cooking. Single-player games might have more realistic cooking mechanics, but MMOs let you share your food with other people. Weirdly, some games have backed away from rewarding cooking experiences. And right now, rather than taking memorable cooking experiences

We fantasized a few days ago about “the end of Steam,” and how we’d go about buying games if Valve’s big-dog digital store didn’t exist. “Whenever we announce a change to the Steam Store, we’re always really interested to read the discussions that follow. Players who browse the store looking for a game, and players who arrive already knowing the title they’re looking for. “In those cases, this section will help you understand whether or not this game is something the Store would recommend to you

Blizzard said a couple of weeks ago that the Overwatch mech pilot D.Va was on her way to the Heroes of the Storm lineup at some indeterminate, but presumably not-too-far-off, point in the future. “While in Mech mode, D.Va has high health and mobility, allowing her to dive in and ‘bully’ the enemy team. In Pilot mode, D.Va deals high damage but has low health. When in Pilot mode, she can use her Call Mech ability to re-enter Mech mode after a cooldown period has passed. A detailed breakdown of D.