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Virtue and a Sledgehammer review – a haunting sci-fi drama about breaking walls, AI faces, and your heart
PC

Virtue and a Sledgehammer review – a haunting sci-fi drama about breaking walls, AI faces, and your heart

It’s been well over a week since my final swing of Virtue and a Sledgehammer’s righteous whacking stick, and I’m still finding it difficult to shift the game from my thoughtspace. Having tempted me in with promises of cathartic, base-instinct vengeance against a town of roboticised arseholes, it’s since had me picking through the rubble of my own demolition spree, not so much looking for meaning as trying to parse the abundance of it. I’d gladly invite you to join

"Every piece is unified": Dark Messiah of Might and Magic returns with co-op, an Adventure mode, a level generator and New Game+ in the 64-bit Community Edition
PC

"Every piece is unified": Dark Messiah of Might and Magic returns with co-op, an Adventure mode, a level generator and New Game+ in the 64-bit Community Edition

First announced back in March, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Community Edition is a fan-made mod (for Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, obvs) that spruces up Arkane's 2006 RPG, including upgrading it to a newer version of the Source engine. Details have been scarce since then, but an updated Steam page confirms what other additions the mod – which is being made with the blessing of both Valve and original publishers Ubisoft – is making. Read more

STALKER 2's latest update expands its A-Life NPC simulation bubble, seemingly without a scary performance tax
PC

STALKER 2's latest update expands its A-Life NPC simulation bubble, seemingly without a scary performance tax

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has a new update out, 2.1, which builds on the excellent 2.0 patch by upgrading that most beloved and contentious of STALKER series features: the A-Life system that governs simulated NPC behavior. With the 2.1 update. It's now possible to whack up the distance at which A-Life NPCs (who, unlike scripted characters, will wander around, fight others over faction turf, and sometimes hunker down for a campfire-side guitar sesh) are visualised, while audio tweaks can mak

Life is Strange makers Don't Nod face layoffs and possible insolvency, French workers union STJV state
PC

Life is Strange makers Don't Nod face layoffs and possible insolvency, French workers union STJV state

Le Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo, a French game workers union, have released a statement detailing the current status of Don't Nod, the studio behind Life is Strange and Lost Records: Bloom and Rage. The studio's fate has been precarious for some time, but STJV now say that the studio has announced ("to financial press before the employees, as has been its MO") that it is under a "safeguard procedure" to avoid complete insolvency due to an inability to pay off its debts. Re