The GTA 6 trailer is finally here. Check out what Rockstar Games has been creating in this debut look at Grand Theft Auto 6, confirmed to be releasing for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S – let's assume a PC version is coming later on.
]]>Fallout 76 continues to add more new content to the experience. On December 5, 2023, the game will receive Season 15: The Big Score.
]]>I've not played a huge amount of Dungeons & Dragons, but I get why those kids from Stranger Things won't stop banging on about it. It turns out all those librarians in the 90s were right: using your imagination really is cool and fun! Indeed, our ability to conjure fiction from the ether is fundamental to the ongoing success of D&D. Making up stories with friends is very much a good time, and if you get to kill a goblin or two in the process? Well. That's just gravy.
Built upon the foundations of D&D's fifth edition ruleset, Baldur's Gate 3 attempts to translate the fundamentals of the game into digital form. But how successful is it at doing so? Can a video game - with all the rigidity that comes with the medium - replicate the freedom of a table-top role playing game?
]]>When Geoff Keighley announced in 2020 that he would be filling the space left by the recently cancelled E3 with his own gaming festival, none of us suspected that from that point on we would be doomed to an endless stream of livestreams from now until the heat death of the universe. Did 2020's summer of gaming ever end? It did not. It is a constant. Like the stars in the sky or the ocean blue. Geoff is here. He has a game to show you. It's probably a horror game set in space. Doesn't that look great? Now let's take a look at the first game by a new studio comprised of ex-Bioware devs.
Yep, that's right. Not-E3 2023 is over (I think?) and once again I've commanded team RPS to dig their microphones out of storage before forcing them to tell me about their favourite game from the cavalcade of directs, showcases and presentations that have replaced my once beloved E3 weekend.
]]>We got a proper look at Starfield (which my brain autocorrects to "Garfield" every single time I read it) on Sunday thanks to a dedicated 45 minute long presentation that showcased the game's various systems, planets and characters in granular detail. 45 minutes is a long time to devote to one video game, you could argue. Todd Howard wasn't even wearing a leather jacket, which sort of felt like seeing Scooby Doo without his dog collar. Like, I'd still know it's Scooby Doo, but it wouldn't look right, you know?
Anyway, all this is to say that the presentation was long. If you're still interested in finding out what was revealed but don't have the time to watch it, however, then good news! I have created a shorter video that highlights the 12 most exciting new details Bethesda showcased as part of the Starfield direct. That's cool, isn't it? Who needs Todd Howard when you can listen to me, a tired man wearing an unironed t-shirt, telling you about the game instead.
]]>We're three weeks away from the release of the Resident Evil 4 remake, and in preparation of its imminent launch Capcom chucked over a fresh batch of in-game footage for us to talk about. The 17 minute long video showcased various sections from the game, including a late-game boss fight and a greatly expanded early area that sees Leon exploring a series of creepy caves.
As Rock Paper Shotgun's Resident Resident Evil Liker, I took it upon myself to obsessively study each individual frame of this video file to uncover its hidden secrets. Surprising even myself, I was able to extract 17 new details about Leon's refreshed holiday to rural Spain. That's one new thing for each minute of the footage! That wasn't intentional! What a pleasing coincidence!
]]>Boo! Did I startle you? GOOD. I'm currently competing for the title of trickster-in-chief here at RPS, and I'm never going to have a chance of receiving this promotion unless I reach my daily scare quota. If only there was a way I could package together a collection of scary stories as told my colleagues and claim them all as my own.
Aha! I got you again! They don't call me the Merry Trickster Of UK PC Gaming Websites for nothing! You've been Halloween'd, my friends! To celebrate spooky season, I gathered seven members of the RPS treehouse to tell me about one moment from a PC game that scared them the most. The results were exactly as I expected. Some recounted events in classic horror games that shocked them senseless, whereas others told me anecdotes about games that most wouldn't consider scary at all. The result is seven tales of spooks that are sure to chill your bones this All Hallows' Eve.
]]>Early last week, I had the opportunity to get hands-on with the demo for The Devil In Me, the upcoming fourth entry and season one finale of The Dark Pictures Anthology. I'm a big Dark Pictures fan, but had some reservations about this latest outing due to its subject matter, which this time around draws more inspiration from real-life serial killers than supernatural legends. Still, by the end of my 90 minutes or so with the game, my feelings had evolved considerably, and I'm happy to say I'm now way more excited for it than I was. In fact, I think this could easily end up as the best Dark Pictures game yet.
]]>As Ed detailed in his review earlier this week, Gotham Knights is a bit of a disappointing dud. I've also been picking my way through Gotham City as various members of the bat family, weightlessly punching dudes in alleys before crafting new sticks that hit 2% harder than the one I was using before. Despite a relatively good looking rendition of the iconic gothic metropolis and a pretty engaging story, Gotham Knights ultimately failed to capture my imagination.
It didn't help that throughout my time with Gotham Knights, I was thinking about the Arkham series. Rocksteady's trio of Batman-em-ups are essential superhero games, titles that redefined the genre and provided a template that still feels contemporary to this day. Aslyum, City and Knight fully immerse you in the Batman fantasy, successfully crafting a depiction of the caped crusader that was deadly, capable and - perhaps best of all - human.
]]>A while back, I was wondering where all the Steam Deck accessories were. Valve themselves have the case covered, including a decent hard case with even the cheapest 64GB models, and it’s not difficult to pick up one of the best microSD cards for the Steam Deck. Otherwise, and especially with delays to Valve’s official dock, there’s not much out there from the usual PC hardware suppliers.
I therefore turned to the makers and sellers of Etsy, where a kind of indie Steam Deck accessory market has emerged. Soon, I’d bought (with my own money, you’re welcome ReedPop) a selection of unique, handcrafted, sometimes questionable gadgets and appendages, and promptly packed them onto a train for independent appraisal by a newly minted Steam Deck owner. Specifically, RPS vid bud Liam.
]]>It wouldn't be Gamescom without a Geoff Keighley liveshow to kick it all off, would it? Tuesday's Opening Night Live showcase featured a huge amount of trailers to gawk at, a baggage carousel of content that moved at a blistering clip. Despite its two hour runtime a lot of interesting (and in most cases, new) titles weren't given a huge amount space to breathe, their moment in the spotlight frequently cut short by another trailer waiting impatiently in the wings.
]]>Valve recently ramped up production for the Steam Deck, with more and more pre-orders being fulfilled every single day. As a result, a few of us here at the RPS Treehouse have finally received that much anticipated email letting us know that our little handheld baby is ready to be personally delivered by Gabe Newell dressed like a big stork. Editor-in-chief Katharine was the first to receive their shiny new Steam Deck, following hardware editor James who's had a review copy since February, so we were keen to hear her first impressions of the console.
]]>PAX East 2022 may have taken place all the way back in April, but we still have a few bits and pieces left to talk about from our time in Boston. Namely: the 12 indie games included as part of the event's PAX Rising Showcase, a booth that's been a fixture of PAX for over a decade that allows developers to show off their upcoming projects to those attending the show.
]]>Not E3 2022 is over. It's done. I think? I mean there's a Nacon showcase in July but, I mean come on now, we can't start classing events that occur outside of June as being part of the event formerly known as E3 can we? That would be preposterous. Before long it would spool out across the entire year, absorbing every month until E3 is a constant series of video events that could happen at any point. Do you want to live in a world where Geoff Keighley is allowed to drop a World Premiere at 4PM on Christmas Day? It doesn't bear thinking about, really, does it.
]]>It gets easier every day to find out which games will simply run on a Steam Deck; the list of Steam Verified-rated games is regularly extending, and SteamDB are keeping track of Playable and Unsupported games as well. Still, while these may be old favourites that you’ve already sunk hours into on a desktop, you might still be wondering how these games play when transplanted to the smaller screen and gamepad-ish controls of a handheld.
Liam was wondering it, anyway. Thus, he picked ten difference game genres from the most-played on Steam, asked me to play at least one game that would broadly represent each, and report back on which are the most (and least) suited to life on the Steam Deck.
]]>I’ve spent over 40 hours with Elden Ring and I’m still not very good at it. At this stage I’m less of a worthy Tarnished warrior on their way to be crowned the Elden Lord and instead more of a Mr. Bean type, accidentally succeeding through sheer incompetence alone. I can’t explain it, but my method of defeating Godrick had the same energy as Bean making a sandwich, in that I think the game eventually just took pity on me and let me win the fight to save me any further embarrasment.
I’m coming to terms with the fact I may never finish Elden Ring. I'm only in the second proper area, but I'm finding encounters to require a level of patience I simply don't possess. Its boss fights are simply too hard. But if I’m struggling this much at such an early stage, what else could Elden Ring possibly have to offer? What types of monstrosities lurk in the farthest reaches of the Lands Between, and how difficult are they to defeat? Spoilers, naturally, below.
]]>2021 has been unfairly hammered by critics. Sure, it's not a classic year like 1998 or 2007, but there's been some decent games out over the last few months. To be fair, though, this MSR also highlights some of 2021's lowlights, so it's not like quality was that much of a concern when we were choosing our games.
]]>Spin-offs are dead handy. You take an established character that's already known, stick them in a new environment full of fresh characters, and you've got yourself a Frasier. Bingo bango, job's a goodun. It's a format that's done the business in television, so no wonder video games have followed suit.
]]>Humans are boring. All fleshy and feelings and Netflix. Like this quiz, robots don't have hidden agendas. Robots want to wish Paulie a happy birthday, and we want to entertain you for quarter of an hour. It's the perfect match.
]]>We've had to branch out for this episode of our weekly quiz. The rivalry has dominated Earth, so now it's time we looked to our cheesy friends on the moon.
]]>What's better than one video game? Two video games! What's better than two video games? Two video games for the price of one video game! What's better than two video games for the price of one video game? Boost bars, but we're contractually obligated to talk about video games on this show.
]]>A kiss and a cuddle is our reward for being agreeable with the object of our desires. Video game romances are rarely nuanced, sure, but it's still nice to feel wanted, isn't it? Plus, you might get an XP boost out of it, so everybody wins!
]]>The video games industry is fixated on what's coming next. But, as a famous man once said, "building the future and keeping the past alive are one in the same thing." Solid Snake at the end of Metal Gear Solid 2 was absolutely bang on, wasn't he?
]]>I know I've already mentioned it in the strap, but I should probably just let you know the end result of this week's Mystery Steam Reviews now. It'd be in line with this MSR's theme. But, my goal is to entice you past this opening paragraph that appears on the latest page, so click the thing and then watch the thing, alright? If you're reading this after clicking through, know that you are the real hero.
]]>They'll be there for you, when the rain starts to fall. They'll be there for you, like you've been there before. They'll be there for you, because they're programmed to be. They're your virtual friends, not your real ones.
]]>Waffling on for a few sentences feels especially wrong this week. So I won't.
]]>For decades now, developers have taken flack for either turning popular movies into subpar video games, or for trying to make their games more like what you see at the cinema. Two fair points.
But, if you're flinging muck at those in the interactive space, an equal amount should be reserved for the directors and screenwriters that have tried to turn video games into films.
With that in mind, let's now celebrate those video game movies in this week's Mystery Steam Reviews!
]]>A lot of video games have silly names and there's no reason for it. It just confuses the potential player. Why call it Mass Effect when you could instead call it Kiss Kiss Bang Bang? So, for Mystery Steam Reviews this week, we're celebrating those video games that tell it like it is.
]]>It's very hard to praise or admonish a game that's in Steam Early Access. If you want to be one of the cool kids and jump in before anyone else, you can, but you have to remember that the devs are basically telling you that the game isn't quite ready yet. But we're not concerned with those video games that are still in the oven. We're here to feast on some 1.0 goodness.
]]>I know you're ready to put the Electronic Entertainment Expo to bed for a year. I am too. I'm looking forward to playing a video game this weekend, instead of watching trailers for things I can't download yet. I still haven't played Chicory yet, and all I've wanted to do over the last week is colour in pictures of cartoon dogs. But we can't move on just yet.
]]>Countless livestreams, announcements and gameplay reveals later, E3 2021 is done and dusted. While it was most certainly an improvement on last year's months-long mess, there was still a lot shown off in a very short space of time. If you missed or completely forgot that Breaking Badman Giancarlo Esposito mentioned Adolf Hitler last Thursday, this recap video is exactly what you need in order to catch up.
E3 2021 was a weird one. There were some cool reveals like Arkane's Redfall, and people lost their minds over Elden Ring, but it was definitely light on WOW moments. Also, there were a few strange things, like that bit where Randy Pitchford bothered celebrities on a movie set for half an hour. Still... Forza Horizon 5 looks great, doesn't it?
]]>A lot of people play video games to escape reality. And, what better way to escape the boredom of every day life than to hop on a spaceship and play astromurderer. The Mystery Steam Reviews boys are heading to space.
]]>Previously, on Mystery Steam Reviews, we've focused on video games that got high review scores, and some other games that got lower scores. But, we here at Rock Paper Shotgun believe words are better. Two words in particular, in fact: Bestest Best.
]]>We're no strangers to globetrotting. We've focused on the UK, Mars and New York. This week, Mystery Steam Reviews highlights video games set in Japan.
]]>It's good to get a different perspective on things. To see the world through another's eyes can really broaden your horizons.It can also mean that you're controlling an irritating blonde boy when all you want to do is sneak around the oil rig as Kojima's gruff war man. But, the ill will towards Jack isn't in the spirit of this week's Mystery Steam Reviews, so just ignore that one!
This edition of MSR is all about single player video games that have multiple playable characters. Basically, the games that occassionally push their supporting cast into the foreground.
]]>One thing video games have over most other mediums is that you can change the outcome. When cinemas properly open up again, and we all get to see big blockbusters on the massive telly, it's not like Major Fistipunch's fate will depend on whether or not you looked at his Gauntlets Of Hurtiness in the fourth scene.
So – shining a spotlight on one of the things that makes games special – this week's Mystery Steam Reviews revolves around video games that don't go the linear route and have multiple endings. Although, if you do want to watch a film that has multiple endings, you should check out Clue. You should watch Clue anyway, because it's tremendous.
]]>Wikipedia defines a spiritual successor as "a product or fictional work which is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous work, but does not explicitly continue the product line or media franchise of its predecessor, and is thus only a successor 'in spirit'."
The amount of games that are – for my money – wrongly considered spiritual successors is wild. But, to be fair, I believe we did well this week. I think you could call every game in this week's Mystery Steam Reviews a spiritual successor. And that's good, because if you haven't picked it up at this point, that's the theme.
]]>Video games and mythology go so well together, don't they? Dragons and swords and sexy gods are made for this medium.
This week's Mystery Steam Reviews celebrates those aforementioned beasts and hotties, as we focused on video games based on folklore.
]]>When the embargo lifts and the discourse begins, I'm pretty confident the only thing developers are looking for is a Bestest Best from Rock Paper Shotgun. It is, after all, the highest honour that can be bestowed on any video game.
Some video games publications like doling out numbers, though. And, like the MSR that focused on games with Metacritic scores of 60 or lower, I'm very thankful for them today. We wouldn't have an episode of Mystery Steam Reviews this week without you. So, thanks, number-givers.
]]>Prototype 2 has loomed over Mystery Steam Reviews for months now. That episode of MSR, which was about video games with bald protagonists, spawned a question that has been asked countless times since: New York or Mars? This video hopefully goes some way to answering that question.
]]>There was a time when the video game playing public didn't question silent protagonists. It was just accepted that the person you were controlling wouldn't say a word. These days, though, you can't shut them up.
But, we're not discussing the talkative lot on this edition of Mystery Steam Reviews. We're highlighting the strong and silent types, this week.
]]>We don't like numbers round these parts. We're more interested in telling you whether a game is worth your time with words. One person's three star review is another's seven out of ten, so it's just better to evaluate games via text.
However, there are a lot of folks that think otherwise. They enjoy giving scores to games. And, without them, we wouldn't have a Mystery Steam Reviews this week. So, thank you, score-givers.
]]>Do you love products? I know I do. You can eat products, you can wear products, you can smear products all over your body. Products are terrific.
Publishers and developers have heard that you enjoy products, so they've taken to advertising some in their games. That's why we've centred this week's MSR on those video games that are trying to sell you stuff, like Lilt. Mmmmm, Lilt. The totally tropical taste.
]]>Sure, we did an animal-centric episode of Mystery Steam Review a few weeks ago, but horses are like the animal kings of the video game world, so these majestic bastards get their own MSR all to themselves.
For the next edition of Mystery Steam Reviews, we've run another poll on the Rock Paper Shotgun YouTube channel, so go and vote if you want to have a say in what next week's MSR is all about.
]]>Actors and celebrities were popping up in video games long before Keanu became breathtaking. Granted, all the stars of Heat magazine haven't made the jump, but there's definitely been an influx of famous faces over the last 10 to 15 years.
And that's great, because it meant we had options when sorting out this week's Mystery Steam Reviews.
So, we ran a poll on the Rock Paper Shotgun YouTube channel, with four different choices for this week's MSR. After some stiff competition from horse games, video games with real-life likenesses won out in the end.
]]>Sure, we could've tried to tie this week's Mystery Steam Reviews into the bedlam of Handforth Parish Council's December Zoom call, or whatever happened during the American equivalent of the FA Cup on Sunday, but we decided to change things up this week.
Last Thursday we put a poll up on the Rock Paper Shotgun YouTube channel asking you what you wanted us to focus the next MSR on. And, whilst open-world video games gave it a run for its money, the winner was video games with animal protagonists / playable animal characters.
]]>I played about 10 hours of the 100-hour Persona 5 when it launched on PS4, and I might've played about 10 minutes of a Dynasty Warriors a few years ago. Yet, here I am, telling you why you should be interested in the Persona 5-Dynasty Warriors crossover, Persona 5 Strikers.
]]>If you've got Xbox Game Pass for PC, you should've played The Medium by now. It is a game made for Microsoft's Netflix. It's not the worst, but it's not the best. It's a good, ol' fashioned okay video game.
It got us thinking about other video games that feature playable characters with special mind powers. There's no shortage of these folks, so that's what we decided to focus on for this week's Mystery Steam Reviews.
]]>It feels like an absolute lifetime ago since Lady Gaga belted out The Star-Spangled Banner with a gold crow on her chest, but myself and Matthew still wanted to mark the momentous occasion in U.S. history by celebrating some video game presidents.
And, as I'm sure Joe R. would agree, there's no better way to celebrate the inauguration of the United States of America's 46th commander-in-chief than with a themed edition of Mystery Steam Reviews.
]]>Video Game Land was pretty quiet until LucasFilm Games popped up and decided to announce they were working with Bethesda on an Indiana Jones game, and then, only a day later, they said they’d partnered with Ubisoft for an open-world Star Wars game. Licensed video games are back, baby.
Loads of people are missing their cinema fix at the minute, so we decided to celebrate film in this week’s Mystery Steam Reviews. It’s Mystery Steam Reviews: The Movie: The Game: The Quiz.
]]>Ian Hitman is arguably the greatest bald video game protagonist of all time. He makes his smooth skull work for him like few others. He even has a barcode on the back of his head to draw attention to it, the absolute ledge.
Because Hitman 3 is on the horizon, and we waxed lyrical about the first two Hitman 3 levels on this week's episode of The PC Gaming Weekspot, we decided to celebrate those video game characters that choose to rock more manageable hairstyles in this week's Mystery Steam Reviews.
]]>Most videogame documentaries look like early '00s webcomics. There's usually a couch, some talking heads, maybe the occasional establishing shot of a building, to let you know that the couch is inside a building. Archipel is something else entirely. A YouTube channel dedicated to creating documentaries about Japanese artists and creators, it has raised the bar - and mostly just by making people go outside.
]]>During this week's episode of The PC Gaming Weekspot, we said goodbye to the absolute bin of a year that was 2020, as we looked to the future and chatted about all the games we'll be playing throughout 2021.
However, given that 2020 is pretty fresh in our minds, we thought we had a better chance of looking very clever if we focused on games that came to PC last year for this week's Mystery Steam Reviews. So... welcome back to 2020, everyone!
]]>The best thing about this festive season is that it means the hell year of 2020 is almost over, and we can all run into the warm embrace of 2021... because 2021 is guaranteed to be better, isn't it? Like, straight away.
Anyway, before the big red home invader comes down your chimney, The Weekspot Boys are here to give you an early festive gift of a Christmas-themed Mystery Steam Reviews.
]]>It's pretty hard to jack out, isn't it? Cyberpunk 2077 is everywhere you turn. Whether its stories about CD Projekt Red's bonus system or an overabundance of dildos, the biggest game of the year has been dominating The Video Games Discussion.
Naturally enough, The Weekspot Boys are riding that wave, so grab that cable that's coming out of your head and stick it into the USB port or whatever and enjoy this futuristic Mystery Steam Reviews.
]]>Because of all the Dragon Age 4 and BioWare talk over the last week, we thought we'd challenge each other on western RPGs in this week's Mystery Steam Reviews.
Little did we know — and as Matthew correctly identified on this week's episode of The PC Gaming Weekspot — we definitely made a few wrong choices and got the bad ending in this.
]]>I come to you today with important news: there is in fact more than one video game out this month.
Yes, that one video game is quite a biggie, and it's definitely the one most will be picking up this December, but that doesn’t mean everyone is champing at the bit to play it. Maybe you’re not interested in the Deus Extra RPG that is Cyberpunk 2077. Perhaps you want gangsters, underwater puzzles, two-headed dogs!
So, if you’re one of those people, and you're looking for a new game to play over the festive period, look no further than this list of the top 10 video games to play on PC this December.
]]>While most of us on this side of the world will be waiting a few weeks to crack open the boxes of biscuits, our American cousins had their big food day last week.
So, in tribute to The Land Of The Full and their recent holiday, we’ve made ourselves both very hungry and awfully thirsty by focusing on games that involve food and drink for this week’s Mystery Steam Reviews.
]]>In the past couple of weeks, the internet has been full of Smart Delivery-this and DualSense-that. No one can escape the buzz surrounding the launch of the two new video game boxes.
That's why this week's Mystery Steam Reviews — a quiz segment on a weekly video podcast called The PC Gaming Weekspot — revolves around all things PlayStation and Xbox.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
]]>Firstly, you'll be glad to hear that everyone stuck to the brief this week. Not a single international incident. Purely because of that, this one is a success in my eyes.
And B, this week's Mystery Steam Reviews focuses on video games that look older than they are. It's faux-retro video games! In other words, fairly modern games that use a pixelated art style.
]]>After a pretty rough run-in with someone that Kasuga thought was his pal, the protagonist of Yakuza: Like A Dragon has ended up homeless in Ijincho. But, that's not much to worry about, because he's got the power of positivity and the realistic Nanba by his side.
And these two lads are ready to do some recycling and get some jobs!
This is LollaYakuza #03: The Town At Rock Bottom.
]]>The quiz segment of The PC Gaming Weekspot regularly brings about some heated discussion. But, more often than not, both myself and Matthew know that it's all in the spirit of competition. When all is said and done, there's still a level of respect there.
This week's Mystery Steam Reviews is different. I knew focusing on games set in Britain could bring some controversy, but I genuinely wasn't expecting what happened.
]]>A few of us are having a grand old time in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, which I am now informed is the 22nd entry in Ubisoft's flagship series about exploring different historical settings, meeting interesting people, and brutally murdering them for your own gain.
Valhalla is Viking flavoured, set during the invasion of England known as The Great Heathen Army (great band name). Though you spend a lot of time pillaging and raiding, you also do a lot of open exploration, discovering strange standing stones, hallucinogenic mushrooms and odd quests involving nudists and betrayal mysteries. That, in fact, is my favourite thing about Valhalla: the freedom and trust that it gives you.
]]>I don't think I fully appreciated how long Yakuza: Like A Dragon was going to be when I started this let's play series.
Still, the sincerity and scenery-chewing of its characters will get me through this mammoth task quite easily, I think. It'll have to, because we're still very much in cutscene city at the moment.
This is LollaYakuza #02: Bloody Reunion.
]]>Let's just pretend that Halloween is this weekend and we were very timely when choosing the theme for this week's Mystery Steam Reviews, okay?
Okay...
GHOSTS! GOBLINS! SCARY THINGS! Yes, because it's that time of the year again, we decided to test each other's horror game knowledge (via Steam reviews) on this week's episode of The PC Gaming Weekspot.
]]>I've been looking forward to Yakuza: Like A Dragon ever since the RPG combat was first shown off. Sure, I thought it was an April Fool's at first, too, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. There needed to be a clean break between the old protagonist and coolest dad in the world, Kazuma Kiryu, and the new boy in town, with the coolest hair in the world, Ichican Kasuga. And what better way to do that then with a couple of absolutely massive changes.
If you're unfamiliar with Yakuza, all you need to know is it's the perfect mix of melodrama and karaoke. And it makes me a very happy boy. And, for that reason alone, I thought it would be nice – given the hell year that refuses to end – to share that joy with you.
So, welcome to LollaYakuza. Obviously the name was the first thing I thought of.
]]>The PC Gaming Weekspot has everything you could ever want from a weekly video podcast about PC gaming. We chat all the latest news, we review the newest games, and we get cross with one another while we try to guess video games from just their Steam reviews.
This week is an emotional rollercoaster.
]]>The PC Gaming Weekspot is a good way to spend around two hours on a Monday evening. We go through all the big news in PC games, we chat about the new games we've been playing over the last seven days... and we also get furious with one another during the quiz segment.
Fun times!
]]>Today's Daily Death is a return to form, if that "form" is steady mediocrity. What I'm saying is, I reach beyond world one, but not much further. I'm much (but not that much) better than this.
]]>Every Monday evening, my pal and I get cross with one another for around three quarters of an hour. Things are mostly cordial, light-hearted and fun during The PC Gaming Weekspot (our live, weekly video podcast), but Mystery Steam Reviews just brings out the worst in us.
Still... it's good craic.
]]>I take back every good word I ever said about moles, but I'd also like to file a petition against horned lizards. Also altars. I hate so many things in this, my favourite game.
]]>For those that don't know, The PC Gaming Weekspot is a live, weekly video podcast that myself and my former VidBud Matthew Castle do every Monday evening over on the Rock Paper Shotgun YouTube channel. It's a recap of the last seven days in PC gaming, with chat on the latest news, as well as some reviews on the latest games. But there's one segment we do during The Weekspot that's grown into a monster. A monster that I think you'd like, which is why I want to share it with you.
]]>I was worried about being overcautious after yesterday's terrible run, in which I died on the second level. Spoilers: I was not cautious.
]]>It's a law of the universe: any exceptionally good Spelunky daily run must be followed by an exceptionally poor run. Yesterday was execptionally good, and so...
]]>Today's episode of the Spelunky daily includes spoilers for the game's first four worlds. Yes, this is my humble brag way of saying I got to world four on the daily challenge.
]]>Welcome back to the Daily Death, in which I record my attempt at the Spelunky 2 daily challenge, and encourage you to do the same with your own runs. Today: the world's luckiest lava droplet.
]]>I return for another attempt at the Spelunky 2 daily challenge, in video form.
Oof, the ending of this one was frustrating.
]]>Now that Spelunky 2 is out on PC, its daily challenge mode is available to play. If you don't know: the daily challenge is a single chance to play a set of Spelunky levels that are the same for everyone playing that day. It was my favourite way to play Spelunky 1 and it's unchanged in Spelunky 2. Part of the fun of the daily challenge is playing it yourself, and then watching other people try the same levels to see how they fared in comparison.
And so, hop below and you'll find a video of me trying today's daily challenge, while muttering over the top of it.
]]>The PC Gaming Weekspot, RPS' weekly look at PC games news, returns this very night (right now, in fact, 6pm BST) for the RPS VidBuds to entertain you live and on your screens. This week Colm and Matthew will be taking a look at the Halo Infinite delay announced last week, new details on Dead Space developer Visceral Games' cancelled Star Wars game, Epic Games taking on Apple and Google over Fortnite, and more! All with interaction and input from you, the viewer, as you get involved in the chat.
]]>I know I'm probably biased, but for my pocket change you won't have a better time on a Wednesday night than watching our dear VidBuds Matthew and Colm hammering the heads off people in The Outer Worlds. The thing is that even in RPGs with deep choice systems, like Obsidian's space cowboy adventure, most of us don't actually do the evil thing, do we?
This is why Matthew and Colm are taking it upon themselves to be as nasty as possible and see where it gets them. They're hoping to get the worst, most horrible ending they can, the big corpo scumbags. Let us take on the karmic tarnish to your soul so you don't have to - that's the RPS guarantee! And you can watch them stream this live, right here, at 6pm BST!
]]>Our charming and knowledgeable VidBuds are beaming live, direct to your living room (providing your living room has some way to access YouTube) once again this week, with the second episode of their new regular show, The PC Gaming Weekspot!
Let the lovely lads keep you company while you eat your dinner, as they chew over all the week's most interesting PC gaming news. This time that includes live reactions to any news to come out of Cyberpunk 2077's second Night City Wire (which also aired tonight), Rocksteady's teasing of a new Suicide Squad game, and the Baldur's Gate 3 delay - plus much more! And you can watch it all right here on dear old RPS, right now at 6pm BST!
]]>Folks, the time has almost come. Yes, Horizon Zero Dawn's PC release is mere days away. Soon, Guerrilla Games' former Sony exclusive will be unleashed on a new segment of the game playing public like a big robot dinosaur set free in a water park.
We here at RPS are looking at HZD from several angles, so while Nate is down in the wordmines right this second, and hardware editor Katharine puts together more excellent hardware and performance focused analysis, myself and Matthew are here to bring you a delicious video review. The adventures of future post-apocalypse warrior Aloy are a sight to behold on PC. In fact, I'd go so far as to say this is probably the best version of Horizon Zero Dawn you can get your paws on.
]]>You could accuse Digital Extremes of being a bit on the nose with their latest Warframe expansion. The world is in the grip of a pandemic and up they pop at their annual TennoCon convention (now streamed, for full social distancing) with Heart Of Deimos: a gooey, pulsating update revolving around a trip to a moon in the grip of a parasitic infestation. But unlike real life, on Deimos you can distract yourself from lockdown woes by riding a giant dragonfly. Imagine steering one of those bad boys to Durham Castle.
]]>After posing the question ‘who actually takes the evil path in games?’ I was surprised to see the answer is ‘most RPS readers, actually’. I’m not sure if this speaks more to my delightful innocence or your inherent gitishness. Either way, Colm and I (your RPS Vid Buds) continue to step out of our comfort zone as we pursue the nastiest outcomes in The Outer Worlds. We’ve built a grade-A space bastard - manipulative, but handy with a gun when words won’t do - and murdered a dentist. It is off to a good start. So join us live for part two.
]]>Mums, eh? Can’t live with ‘em, literally can’t live without ‘em. Sadly, some take this as a certificate of ownership, allowing them to subject their offspring to the worst things imaginable, like offering them as a guinea pig to a class of trainee hairdressers. A perfect storm of nerves and scissors. Sorry, I should probably keep this for therapy. The point I’m getting to (ignoring the ones jammed into my 11-year-old head) is that whatever their faults, no mother has anything on Othercide’s matriarch, birthing an army of warrior daughters to fight a flood of meat monsters. No thermal spa voucher for her next Christmas.
]]>Has anyone, in the history of gaming, actually made the bad choice? I can see the renegade dialogue option staring at at me, but are we 100% sure it’s wired up to something in the game? I have my doubts. And it’s those doubts that have led to this, a new streaming series where your loyal RPS vid buds attempt to pursue the worst endings imaginable.
We plan to tackle games in their entirety over a number of weeks, starting with the moral murk of 2019’s The Outer Worlds. It’s short and has great potential for evil (like some RPS staffers I know) and should be a good time for all involved. Well, all those watching.
]]>Are you looking forward to the Assassin's Creed Valhalla soundtrack just as much as the actual game? If so, then you should check out our latest music quiz, which focuses on all things Assassin's Creed.
Because the masses have been eating up online quizzes during lockdown, RPS' video wing has been testing the waters to see if you, the video game playing public, also enjoy them. And it turns out you do. And that's lovely.
]]>Having bounced off the opening exposition of Death Stranding on PS4 last November I was not anticipating falling in love with its craggy exploration on PC. And yet here I am, some 40 hours under my belt (along with a pair of spare boots and 30ft of climbing rope) and readily committed to 40 hours more. Underneath that initial hit of lore, acronyms and holographic Guillermo del Toro (yes) lies a brilliant take on open world exploration; a full body cleanse of the genre’s worst habits.
]]>Superhot: Mind Control Delete is the standalone follow-up to phenomenal FPS puzzler Superhot. It's been in early access for a while, but if you already own Superhot, you'll get Mind Control Delete for free when it comes out on July 16th.
Mind Control Delete has a lot of cool new enemies that are effectively slight variations on the shimmering silhouettes that chased after you in the original. While I do enjoy the armoured ones that have one single red limb for you to aim at, my favourite is definitely the Gary Rhodes-like spiky boys. Land a bullet on one of these lads and they explode, sending bullets flying in every direction. Wonderful slow-motion chaos. My least favourite, as you've probably guessed from the title of this post, is the dog.
]]>I dread any ‘soulslike’ game arriving in my inbox, as it normally means having to make a video based on the first fight shot from different angles, as I couldn’t get any further. So it speaks to the appeal of Cold Symmetry's Mortal Shell that I persevered long enough to put together an entire video preview, and find a delightful lute to jam on in the middle of a swamp. Less loot, more lutes: the campaign starts here.
]]>The Biomutant reveal feels like a lifetime ago. Announced at Gamescom in 2017, the kung fu... cat/panda/bear-thing captured the imagination of everyone with that first trailer. And, despite some delays, the excitement for Experiment 101's open world RPG has been growing ever since. No wonder, I suppose. You are a kung fu cat/panda/bear-thing, after all.
]]>I play Minecraft to build pleasing little houses, and so new block types are the most exciting things that can be added to the game, as far as I'm concerned. I'm pretty happy, then, as the new 1.16 "nether" update, which launched this week, has added loads. What's more, they're almost all found in the titular nether - Minecraft's weirdo hell dimension, which was pretty underwhelming for the first nine and a half years of its existence - so I can now build pleasing little houses IN HELL. The new nether is a grim and varied wonderland, containing everything you need to do the sort of wholesome homesteading you'd do in the regular world, only with eerie-looking materials, in an unsettling wasteland. It's brilliant. And so, to show you everything you can do in Minecraft 1.16, I've built a special house using only blocks that can be found in the nether, and recorded a relaxing, mid-2000s-MTV-style video tour around it. Please, come and join me:
]]>RPS threw Deus Ex a 20th anniversary birthday bash earlier in the week with a superb oral history of the game’s creation. Did you know that there was going to be a pirate island at one point? That and many other gems await you. To continue the ‘fun’, the RPS vid buds thought we’d revisit the game in a stream. If that earlier feature was the main party, then I guess we are handling the morning after clean-up. Sponging the wine out of the carpet. Unspooling the cat from streamers. Trying to work out where we put Warren Spector’s coat. It’ll be fun.
]]>I never got SpongeBob Squarepants. When he was in his pomp, I was in that awkward pre-teen phase where I thought I was too old to just enjoy it as a cartoon, but not quite old enough to be part of the older folk that watched. Because of that, I never played Battle For Bikini Bottom when it first launched in 2003. I have a vague memory of it coming out, but it just looked like your bog-standard, middle-of-the-road, collect-a-thon 3D platformer to me. And, for the most part, it is.
]]>Myself and Matthew are continuing Rock Paper Shotgun's not-E3 E3 2020 video coverage with some pre- and post-show chat on EA's EA Play Live 2020 show, starting at 11.40pm BST. We'd love it if you came and watched us talk absolute wallop at an ungodly hour. I will be caning some Nescafé Azera to stay up. Inhaling granules straight from the tin.
]]>Without good, honest workers stripping apart old spaceships, the galaxy would be much more crowded. The reason you never see Luke Skywalker run into traffic is because of the hard work done by the great tradesmen of the Milky Way. If you've always been more interested in carefully dismantling spaceships rather than flying them, Hardspace: Shipbreaker is definitely something you should check out.
]]>The RPS Vidbuds are getting involved in all the not-E3 fun this year. After their livestream of pre- and post-PC Gaming Show analysis, they're upping the ante by playing as many of the Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition demos as possible. See both slices of lovely upcoming games, and Matthew Castle shouting about Toblerones probably. The stream starts at 7pm BST, and you can find the video embed after the jump.
]]>The PC Gaming Show is happening right now as I type this, bringing a steady couple of hours of new PC games, new trailers, and plenty of other announcements. Vidbuds Matthew and Colm are currently pouring it into their heads in preparation for a post-show reaction stream. You can hop below to watch the show itself and hang around afterwards for their expert analysis.
]]>To support the ongoing protests against police brutality and systemic racism, the Rock Paper Shotgun video team is amplifying Black streamers in an effort to raise money for the great organisation that is the NAACP. Last Tuesday we all watched as Tianna Mercedes put us all to shame by playing a blinder in Call of Duty: Warzone. Today, we've got the excellent NNESAGA on to show us her skills in The Sims 4. She'll be kicking off at 5pm BST.
]]>As people across the globe gather to protest against systemic racism and police brutality, the RPS Video Team has decided to use its platform to amplify Black voices in the gaming community and raise support for Black communities. This Tuesday we’ve invited Tianna Mercedes to host a Call of Duty: Warzone stream on our YouTube channel. Not only will she give our audience a rare taste of someone who can actually play games well, but she will raising money for the NAACP.
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