Category: Rock, Paper, Shotgun

The RPS review of Firaxis’ grand strategy Civilisation 7 is currently in progress. We didn’t get early code, and our usual method of sidestepping this issue by rapidly entering the numbers and letters spelled out by our extensive collection of longhorn beetles bore no fruit. Rest assured: it’s coming. Sin reviewed it for EuroVega though, awarding it two out of a possible five beetles. While she found it largely dull, she did mention that “its UI has enough potential to make some of my complaints feel patchable”. Firaxis seem to agree, putting out a statement last Friday following feedback from the game’s advanced access period.

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Would you like the good or the bad news first? Obviously I can’t actually respond to that, so I’ll just do the bad news first and if you chose differently you can always tip your monitor upside down, hang from the ceiling, or just work your way up the article from the bottom: tributary horror demake Bloodborne PSX is no more. As reported by The Verge (thanks PC Gamer), LW Media’s Lilith Walther has received a copyright takedown notice from firm MarkScan on behalf of Sony Interactive, accusing Bloodborne PSX of ‘digital piracy’. The game was previously available on Itch for three years without issue.

This follows a recent DMCA takedown of a YouTube video promoting Bloodborne PSX, as chronicled by noted good modsman Lance McDonald below. As McDonald mentions, MarkScan were also responsible for another recent strike against his own 60fps Bloodborne mod, which had been available without issue since 2021.

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Roguelike deckbuilders need to do something pretty special to stand out nowadays, what with the Slay The Spileup of bangers over the past few years. Cobalt Core, Wildfrost, Samurai Showdown (if you squint). All excellent, but Diceomancer stands out above even those, thanks to a clever gimmick and a hefty dose of chutzpah. It’s there in the strapline, you know the deal, but to emphasise: you can reroll ANY number on your screen.

Your health, enemy health, attacks, blocks, buffs, mana, gold – all fair game. The numbers in encounters. On Relics. Have at ‘em! Heck, and that’s before you start scribbling in the rulebook.

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Path tracing has been back on the PC hardware agenda recently, with Nvidia’s sales pitch for the GeForce RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 more than lightly based on how good they are at shotgunning this premium graphics tech down your eye stalks. Yet beyond the sparkling glamour of marketing slides, however, path tracing remains exceptionally niche: nearly six years since Quake II RTX served as the tech’s de facto gaming debut, you can still count the number of compatible games on your fingers. Compare and contrast with the dozens upon dozens of games that have embraced ray tracing, path tracing’s less demanding nephew, and you’ll likely start wondering why more game devs don’t go for it.

We’re not here to answer that, though. This is Should You Bother With, here to investigate whether you should start using path traced effects to give your games – some of them, anyway – the full maxed-out-visuals treatment. Even if it takes a graphics card upgrade to do so.

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The Nvidia RTX 5080 is out! Kind of. In theory. If you can find one. But here’s the thing: it’s basically just an expensive RTX 4080 Super in disguise (in my opinion). Performance is near-identical, stock is non-existent, and unless you’re willing to shell out over $2,500 for a prebuilt system, good luck getting one.

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Running out of space on your Steam Deck or ROG Ally X again? Sitting there, deleting games like it’s some emotional farewell? Stop that. Your least favorite RPS writer found a ridiculous Amazon deal on our favorite microSD card for Steam Deck, the Samsung Pro Plus.

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“Kept you waiting, huh?” says Snake. Uh, no, not really. You’re actually a bit early this time, mate. The release date for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater was spotted this week, hiding in the long grass of the PlayStation Store. The fancy-schmancy MGS3 remake is coming out in August, according to the store page. And you can also catch sight of a camouflaged trailer if you go looking under the right rocks.

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Hi-Rez Studios have laid off an unknown number of the studio’s employees, only one month after launching MOBA sequel Smite 2 as a free-to-play beta. It looks like management has cut at least 20-30 jobs and the full number is likely higher. As a result, three other games that have been long-running staples of the studio will no longer get any updates. Smite, Paladins, and Rogue Company will have nobody to man the code cannons, so they’re being left to gather cobwebs from now on. Although they will remain playable.

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What great hopes I had for the Christmas holidays. Finally, I thought, I would have time for some of the recent blockbusters I’d not yet played: Indiana Jones And The Great Circle, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 and more would fill those dusty days and nights in the taint of 2024.

Then I mentioned in a review that I liked Picross games, which for me can dissolve hours or entire weekends like sugar in water. “I don’t know if that means I should recommend Mark Ffrench’s games Proverbs and Mega Mosaic to you, or warn you to steer clear and avoid flowing away forever,” responded commenter SeekerX.

You see where this is going. Friends, I played Proverbs for 36 hours over Christmas.

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Put your red and white scarf back on the coat rack, football friends. The match has been called off. The entire season, in fact. Football Manager 25 has been cancelled because it has not met a high enough standard in time for its intended release next month, according to developers Sports Interactive. Anyone who pre-ordered the game will be given a refund, they say.

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