Ken Levine discusses BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode 1's ending

 Posted on December 5, 2022  |  9 minutes  |  1760 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Warning: This article includes detailed ending spoilers for BioShock Infinite and Burial at Sea Episode 1. "It's a nice, light, happy ending, right?" A long six months since have passed since we inhabited the shoes of Booker DeWitt. As Burial at Sea opens we find ourselves back in control of BioShock Infinite's hero, but in a completely different setting and guise. So which version of DeWitt is this, and how does his relocation to the doomed underwater metropolis of Rapture fit with Infinite's narrative? [Read More]

Konami quietly launches a PES 2022 demo

 Posted on December 5, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  468 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Konami has quietly launched a demo for PES 2022. The brilliantly-named 'New Football Game Online Performance Test' is available to download now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and S. You don't need PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold. The demo kicked off at midnight just gone, and runs until midnight on 8th July. The video below includes gameplay of a full online match I played this morning between Manchester United and Bayern Munich. [Read More]

PUBG's burning planes will spice up the start of matches

 Posted on December 5, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  562 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Last month PUBG was given a major update with the introduction of new map Taego and a Gulag-style second chance system, but there are yet more surprises in store - with multi-care packages, a secret room and... burning planes... all being added in the latest update. The patch notes for update 13.1 for PC are now live, and detail changes for both Taego and the wider game. Possibly the most dramatic addition is a feature called the " [Read More]

Riot Games' Project A is called Valorant, and it plays like a Counter-Strike killer

 Posted on December 5, 2022  |  15 minutes  |  3048 words  |  Trudie Dory

If there can be only one thing taken from my time at Riot Games' vast, lavishly fitted LA campus, it's that the mega-developer is desperately keen to prove they know what they're doing. Riot's pitch for Valorant, its upcoming tactical shooter seemingly named after a kind of industrial carpet cleaning fluid, is one based almost entirely on competence: the game will have the best infrastructure, the best attention to detail, the most committed, communicative ongoing support, and the most rigorously balanced gameplay of anything like it - even if it comes at the cost, seemingly, of character and heart and anything else like it. [Read More]

Spec Analysis: Steam Deck - can it really handle triple-A PC gaming?

 Posted on December 5, 2022  |  11 minutes  |  2202 words  |  Trudie Dory

There had been rumours, rumblings and actual, solid reporting of a handheld from Valve for some time now, but the hardware has finally broken cover - and it's looking promising. Steam Deck is built on the same architectural building blocks as the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft, downscaled and refactored for a handheld. With up to 1.6TF of GPU compute power aimed at delivering circa 720p gaming, the idea is to break PC gaming free from the traditional limitations of the PC itself. [Read More]

The Elder Scrolls' Summerset Isle has come a long way in 24 years

 Posted on December 5, 2022  |  6 minutes  |  1105 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Earlier in March, Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls Online's new upcoming expansion is set on the mysterious Summerset Isle. It's an interesting choice of setting for a number of reasons. For one, the island, which is situated in the southwest corner of Tamriel, is the the home of the magic-loving High Elves. As such, it's idyllic, a green land made up of farmlands, woodland parks and ancient towers and manors. [Read More]

Watch: Far Cry Primal won't have multiplayer, but how about dinosaurs?

 Posted on December 5, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  217 words  |  Trudie Dory

Our Ian's a bit of a fan of Far Cry. He's played all of the games in the series, and has even attempted to string them all together in some sort of cohesive narrative - the brave soul. Anyway, given his superior knowledge, Ian went off to get an early hands-on with Far Cry Primal last week. Though he enjoyed his time with the game, an interview with Ubisoft Toronto's creative director Max Beland left him somewhat disappointed, as Beland confirmed that there would be no multiplayer mode. [Read More]

17 years later, Freedom Fighters is back

 Posted on December 4, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  296 words  |  Patria Henriques

IO has re-released Freedom Fighters. The Hitman developer's third-person shooter, which originally launched in 2003 for PC, Xbox, GameCube and PlayStation 2, returns 17 years later in working order on Windows 10 via GOG.com, the Epic Games Store and Steam. Freedom Fighters is set in an alternate history where the Soviet Union has invaded and occupied New York City. You play a plumber turned resistance fighter who ends up leading the fightback. [Read More]

Battlefield 3 is free to anybody with Amazon Prime

 Posted on December 4, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  342 words  |  Trudie Dory

Amazon's Prime Gaming service offers free games each month, and this one is pretty noteworthy: Battlefield 3, the modern shooter classic that many consider the untouchable high point of the franchise. Don't worry about signing up for yet another monthly subscription service - Prime Gaming is included with Amazon Prime for no extra cost (if you link your account to Twitch), and those who haven't tried Prime before are eligible for a free 30 day trial. [Read More]

Borderlands 3: what's up with console frame-rates?

 Posted on December 4, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  1012 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

How well does Borderlands 3 perform on the current generation consoles? Digital Foundry coverage of the new Gearbox hit will be somewhat staggered since 2K failed to provide review code, but we do now have some idea of what the developer targeted and delivered on the enhanced consoles - Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro. The initial verdict? There are some puzzling technical decisions in place and clear performance issues that need work, but gameplay is golden. [Read More]