Strategy game from hell Solium Infernum gets a week delay to February 22nd

League Of Geeks’s remake of cult strategy game Solium Infernum is having its release date pushed back by a week, the studio have announced. It will now launch on February 22nd, instead of its original date of February 14th – which is a damn shame, if you ask me, as nothing screams “romantic Valentine’s night-in” like trying to backstab your other half in a bid to rule hell in Satan’s absence. Alas, we’ll just have to make do with the altogether more pedestrian date of a regular Thursday in February, as the team need just a bit of extra time to ensure it’s “as polished as possible” before release.

Read more

Paralives heats up the race to be the next Sims with early access release in 2025, confirms no paid DLC

After years without a new The Sims game, it seems like three are likely to land in fairly close proximity – sort of, anyway. We know that Paradox’s ambitious competitor Life By You will arrive this June (assuming no more delays), while EA’s own free-to-play evolution of the OG life-sim series – currently codenamed Project Rene rather than The Sims 5 – is probably still a while off yet. Dropping somewhere in the middle will be Paralives, the promising Patreon-funded up-and-comer led by indie dev Alex Massé, which has been given a fresh look and confirmation of a release date sometime next year.

Read more

Homeworld 3’s new Steam demo has atmosphere, but I’m not sure about the controls

Good news, star admirals with decent CPM! Gearbox and Blackbird Interactive’s strategy escapade Homeworld 3 has a demo on Steam. It’s been live for a few days, actually, but whether due to the bombardment of other Steam Fest goodies or my being led astray by the similar-but-nerdier Nebulous: Fleet Command, I didn’t try it till last night. The demo includes a tutorial mission, four maps and the War Games mode, a one-to-three player affair which essentially turns Homeworld into a roguelike – pitching you up against unpredictable opposition while unlocking new fleets and doling out Artifacts that augment your vessels.

Read more

Play piano, blag your book report, and navigate high school crushes in this gorgeous Philippines-inspired indie game

If you played and liked last year’s excellent slice-of-life adventure A Space For The Unbound, stop what you’re doing and go and download the Steam Next Fest demo for Until Then. Go on, I’ll wait. Right, sorted? Let’s continue. Like A Space For The Unbound, Until Then is a coming of age story where the ups and downs of everyday high school life start intermingling with strange, supernatural occurences.

Read more

Counter-Strike 2 update brings back Arms Race, the bestest best FPS mode

The latest Counter-Strike 2 update re-introduces Arms Race, a beloved multiplayer mode from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in which players level up and are handed new guns as they moider each other, with victory going to the player who levels all the way up and performs a final knifekill.

I’ve played many variations of this mode – which was originally a mod, Gun Game – over the years in other games, and it’s always a laugh, for the simple reason that it can be tuned to allow less proficient FPS players to catch up with their brethren, by introducing less powerful or harder-to-master weapons at certain levels as “speed bumps”.

Read more

Cyberpunk 2077 sequel taps Fable, Control and Dishonored expansion writer

A Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, currently called “Project Orion”, is currently in the early stages of development at CD Projekt Red’s new Boston studio. Today, CDPR announced several new high profile hires were joining the project, most notably Anna Megill. Megill, who will serve as lead writer on the project, has previously worked on games such as Control, Dishonored: Death Of The Outsider, and the upcoming Fable reboot.

Read more