Category: Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Early on in The Talos Principle 2, one of your soon-to-be robot pals says to you with a completely straight face, “We’re here to solve this puzzle, not to discuss philosophy.” I can almost see Croteam’s writing team now, chuckling inwardly to themselves as they do a big silent wink to camera from behind the robot’s eyes. You’re not fooling me, Croteam. I’m here to solve puzzles and discuss philosophy, and I know you are too. You can’t stop talking about philosophy in this game, and frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Millenia may have passed since the events of The Talos Principle, but the problems faced by this new society of advanced robo-humans (of which you are number 1000 to be ‘born’ into this world) still feel all too relevant to the issues posed by the lives we’re living today: what is the price of progress? Will we ignore the mistakes of the past and push the world toward irreparable destruction? And why have cats remained loyal to this new race of robo-people, cementing their status as the superior future pet, when dogs have devolved back into vicious wolves? There are some puzzles too, I guess. Those are pretty great as well.

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Laid-off Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and Mass Effect developers are attempting to turn this year’s “N7 Day” of Mass Effect-themed festivities into a day of mass revolt. The developers in question are a mixture of former full-time staff and former Keywords Studios QA testers who have worked on Dreadwolf under contract. They’ve organised pickets outside BioWare Edmonton’s offices in Canada, and are calling on BioWare fans to get involved on social media, while trying to engage current BioWare staff in conversation about unionisation.

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People who play videogames want “new content literally almost every single day”, according to Blizzard president Mike Ybarra – indeed, “they want new stuff every day, every hour”. I do not want new stuff every day, every hour, Mike. Frankly, the idea makes me want to burn my possessions and go spend the rest of my life under a pine tree.

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An achievement added to Baldur’s Gate 3’s GOG release has teased the possible addition of a new permadeath mode for the D&D RPG – meaning that if your whole party dies, your save will be permanently wiped. In a game where play time counts can end up in the hundreds of hours, that’s a fairly terrifying prospect.

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Fortnite returned to its map circa 2018 (or Chapter 1 Season 5 if you prefer to measure time that way) last Friday, reviving locations like Tilted Towers, Loot Lake and Greasy Grove and unlocking the battle royale game’s vaulted weapons, vehicles and items in a four-week nostalgic event dubbed Season OG. As it turns out, with the old map and items came a whole lot of players, setting a new all-time concurrent player record for the multiplayer shooter that surpasses even its previous heights in the pop-culture zeitgeist.

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Cryptic Studios, the makers of MMOs including Star Trek Online and Dungeons & Dragons MMORPG Neverwinter, have confirmed a number of layoffs due to the ongoing “comprehensive restructuring” of megacorp owner Embracer Group. The “personnel changes” at Cryptic make them the latest Embracer-owned developer to suffer job losses in what continues to be an unrelenting year for thousands of those working in video games.

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While reviewing Cities Colon Skylines 2, I didn’t actually go in that hard on public transport (beyond providing it and making it free), despite the urge. Since then though, it’s become a game where I don’t so much build a single mega-city as a series of experiments.

Naturally, those experiments devolved from a noble effort to remove the stain of cars into a sadistic urge to drive thousands of my own people on a never-ending hell march.

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In 2021, Twitter user Thomas Violence, an Australian podcaster who was working in a bar at the time, recounted that a 19-year-old had asked for a refund on their drink because they realised they were too drunk already. One of the early replies was an “ummm actually,” pointing out that you had to be 21 to buy booze in most states, and Thomas Violence responded “I’m one of the dozens of people worldwide that live in a country that’s not America“. I am reminded of this tweet a lot, and I am reminded of it whenever I log on to Puzzmo, a new daily browser-based puzzle service from Orta Therox and Zach “Zach Gage” Gage.

Puzzmo is great, and currently in a sort of gradually expanding beta where you can sign up to get a chance to be sent a log-in, or existing users can give two friends a log-in (I have used mine already, sorry). Every day you get a few different puzzles, with a subscription model offering bonus puzzles. I’ve not subbed because I’m just not built for anagram puzzles and I do not understand chess, which form about half of the daily offering, but I enjoy doing the daily fliparts and crosswords a lot. Except. The crosswords always have clues that are very specific to the USA.

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Mad dashes, daring escapes, last minute reversals: these are some of my favourite moments in multiplayer shooters. It’s exhilarating to scream towards the chopper in Left 4 Dead or a dropship in Titanfall.

The Finals is a multiplayer shooter that seems to take place entirely at this elevated pitch. In the dozens of open beta matches I’ve played, the result is as thrilling as those other games, but also exhausting. I wish it would chill for just a moment so I could fully enjoy its delights – of which there are many.

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Every weekend, indie devs show off current work on Twitter’s #screenshotsaturday tag. And every Monday, I bring you a selection of these snaps and clips. This week, my eye has been kicking doors, clicking on shoes to walk, running along walls, and fiddling with buttons on a television in space. Come check out these attractive and interesting indie games, and more!

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