Eurogamer

Following on from a patch released only last week, Guerrilla has released yet another update for Horizon Forbidden West today.

This update continues to add improvements to the game, covering everything from the UI to the machines that roam through Horizon's futuristic yet primal world.

An issue with Melee Pits progression has been resolved with this patch, as have the multiple instances of machines getting stuck outside of the player’s reach during Side Quest objectives, thus conditionally blocking progression.

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Two Point Campus, the university follow up to Two Point Hospital, has been delayed until August.

Originally set for a 17th May release, it will now come out on 9th August across all platforms: PC, Mac, PlayStation consoles, Xbox consoles, and Nintendo Switch. It will also be released day one on Xbox and PC Game Pass.

In a new video, which you can watch below, the developers discuss the game’s development and key features, as well as give hints as to what’s yet to come with new gameplay.

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Ah, university. A place to study. A place to find yourself. A place to go to gastronomy class to make a giant-sized burger, pop to a lecturer for private tuition, snooze in the library, take another quick nap in the corridor, bust a move at the union party, and maybe even blow a love trumpet.

Or maybe that’s just from my experience of Two Point Campus. This is the follow-up to Two Point Hospital, from Two Point Games. It allows for the studying, the burger, the private tuition and even the love trumpet. You're tasked with building and managing a dream university, which means that you deal with students in all their lurid variety. It’s a sim game that understands university isn’t just about studying, it’s for learning about life.

As such, I found the game focused as much on extra-curricular activities and making friends as on going to class. There’s a much bigger emphasis on relationships compared with Two Point Hospital. People are no longer simple fodder for a parade of weird illnesses; students have personalities, likes, dislikes. It makes sense. This isn’t a quick hospital stay, but three academic years where I watch my students grow and flourish, receiving acknowledgment of my (and their) accomplishments in end-of-year awards.

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Pokémon Go's much-maligned Mega Evolution system is getting an overhaul, according to several recent datamines of in-game files.

The way Pokémon Go has handled Mega Evolution - a popular mechanic from the monster franchise's main games - has been criticised since its arrival in August 2020, although it has been improved over time.

These upcoming potential changes - which, to be clear, are yet to be finalised and announced by developer Niantic - seem like they'll go a lot further to address recurrent gripes and encourage more regular Mega Evolution as part of daily play.

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Cheats have always been a fun part of the LEGO games, but LEGO Star Wars Skywalker Saga cheat codes work a little differently than previous titles.

While there are still codes to unlock characters and ships, helpful stud multipliers and silly gameplay changes like 'Porg Companion' can now only be unlocked by locating and spending certain collectibles.

Below, you can find out exactly how to enter codes in LEGO Star Wars Skywalker Saga, a list of every known code, and how to unlock cheats with Datacards.

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Stardew Valley follow-up Haunted Chocolatier is set to have boss battles.

In a livestream interview with composing software Reason Studios, Stardew creator Eric Barone showed off some of the music from the forthcoming game (thanks PC Gamer).

That included a track called "beeboss", complete with buzzing melodies.

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Konami will attempt to salvage its struggling eFootball 2022 next week with the game's long-awaited v1.0.0 patch - which was originally set to arrive soon after launch last November.

eFootball - the new name for PES - arrived in a disastrous state late last year, despite Konami warning players it would arrive in extremely limited form akin to a demo.

Konami insisted the game would evolve over time, but players have been left waiting months for this v1.0.0 update to arrive. In the meantime, eFootball's mobile spin-off was postponed, and the game's controversial premium player pack was pulled from sale.

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With everyone having to budget more than usual these days, it's become even more important to snag the best deal possible when it comes to gaming PCs. With GPUs still suffering from shortages, a gaming laptop has become the ideal solution.

And if you're looking to save while playing the best games at 1080p, this Dell G15 5515 is a real bargain, and it's down to just £639 over at Amazon right now.

The Ryzen 5 5600H is no slouch and is a great multi-core processor. And with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050, you'll be able to fly through the latest games at 1080p, which is quite respectable in a package at this price.

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Get ready to cook up a feast worthy of a Spartan army, as 343 Industries has unveiled its new Halo cookbook.

"Time to upgrade your armoury right alongside your pantry,” the developer tweeted. "Announcing the official Halo Cookbook from Insight Editions."

Along with a photo of the upcoming book, 343 also revealed Halo fans can preorder their copies now, with the book itself releasing this August.

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Mobile game Shining Force: Heroes of Light and Darkness has been cancelled.

Set for release in early 2022 when it was announced last year, it would have been the first new game in Sega's strategy series since 2009.

It was being developed by Hive, a Japanese subsidiary of Korean developer Vespa (the studio behind mobile role-player King's Raid) but development has ceased due to development costs and time required, according to Touch Arcade.

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New release Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga has set fresh records for TT Games' Lego series on Steam.

While not enough to trouble the likes of perenial Steam favourites, or rival the enormous Steam launch of Elden Ring, it is worth pointing out how good a launch Lego Star Wars has had compared to other games in the series.

The Skywalker Saga hit an 82,445 player peak on its launch day, compared to numbers around the ~5000 player mark for Marvel Super Heroes, The Hobbit, Ninjago and Lord of the Rings (thanks, BenjiSales).

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Jeff Ross, one of the directors of PlayStation exclusive Days Gone, has announced he's joined Tomb Raider studio Crystal Dynamics.

In a tweet, Ross wrote: "I'm excited to announce I now work at the amazing Crystal Dynamics as Design Director.

"That's all I can say other than I'm thrilled with the project, and especially the team of really wonderful people. I will become a Seattleite this summer."

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UPDATE 2pm UK: Ghost Recon Breakpoint may be over, but Ubisoft has suggested its NFT scheme will still continue.

Ubisoft Quartz released its first NFT items as part of Breakpoint - which will no longer be updated, despite the NFT items only being added over the past couple of months.

Today, Ubisoft pointed GamesIndustry.biz to a message prepared for Breakpoint NFT owners. "You own a piece of the game and have left your mark in its history," the message reads. "Stay tuned for more updates with features to the platform and future drops coming with other games."

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Aloy can now instantly pick up resources in Horizon Forbidden West, after Guerrilla quietly added in the new feature.

Available as a toggle in the options, players can now turn off pickup animations so that Aloy instantly grabs nearby resources, speeding up the flow of exploration considerably.

It seems the feature was added in the most recent patch, though it's strangely missing from the patch notes.

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Dr Oliver Sacks was a neurologist, and yet that description feels insultingly reductive. His understanding of the human brain, and his ability to diagnose and understand the many, many ways in which it can malfunction, were astonishing. However, this is just one bullet point in a long list of reasons to immortalise him in videogame form.

If you don’t recognise the name, you might know him as the doctor from the movie Awakenings, as played by Robin Williams. Based on Sacks’ book of the same name, the story that the film tells is incredible but true. A small number of patients with ‘sleeping sickness’ saw, through the actions of Dr Sacks, a dramatic reversal of their catatonic states. This recovery was sadly short-lived, and in some cases came with very unpleasant side effects, but it was nonetheless a stupendous achievement, and completely unprecedented. All the more impressive, then, that this proved to be just one of many flourishes in the rich tapestry of his life.

Oliver Sacks wasn’t just a gifted neurologist; he was also a wonderfully talented writer. He wrote over a dozen books, most of them collections of case studies. These were not cold, dry accounts of diagnosis and treatment. His writing, in fact, is the clearest window into his genius. Many of his patients experienced the world in a way that meant only neurologists like him had any chance of seeing things through their eyes. In his books, Sacks brought these people to life onto the page for all to see, and - although most had their names changed in the interests of privacy - their unique, fascinating, and real lives have been carefully and lovingly preserved. They are forever people, not patients.

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Elden Ring's Malenia is an optional encounter but also by far the hardest boss in the game.

She is however a required opponent if you wish to complete Millicent’s questline and obtain Miquella’s Needle, which is a key item for reversing the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending if you had visited the Three Fingers.

As Malenia has attacks that can easily one-shot you, it’s highly recommended using spirit ash summons for this fight just to give you some breathing room.

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Who saw this coming? As a self-contained spin-off to the Borderlands series, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands takes one of the more charming characters from its universe and invites us on a dungeons and dragons-style detour. The idea is undeniably cute. Think of Borderlands' FPS mechanics as seen through the lens of a table-top Dungeons and Dragons campaign, and you're on the righty track. But at its core, we’re still looking at an extension of the same Unreal Engine technology that’s at the foundation of Borderlands 3.

In terms of its tech, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands has a few extra twists. Unlike the open-world roaming in mainline Borderlands, here we navigate between key areas using a table-top style world map. It's oddly akin to an old-school JRPG world maps as you guide a super-deformed version of your character between missions. A few tricks in the Unreal engine suite help sell the idea, too: a heavy depth of field creates a lovely tilt shift photography effect - another reminder that you're a tiny figurine on a table-top. You'll see bottle caps and pins dotted around, and all round it's a pleasant departure from the typical open-world Borderlands approach. No need for vehicles here, either. As a result, missions are also more focused in design. More linear, too; once you enter an area, you have some lateral movement within a map to explore - but these are often more contained experiences, like themed fairground rides.

My Time at Sandrock, the upcoming follow-up to My Time at Portia, will launch in early access via Steam and Epic Game Store on 26th May.

Sandrock looks to follow a similar path to its gentle farming and life simulation predecessor, though this time set in sandier frontier-esque surroundings.

You'll need to tame the desert through cultivation of crops and construction of civic buildings, while winning over the local community and levelling up your friendships. Mining, cave exploration and combat also feature, alongside expanded customisation options for your home. Here's a new trailer:

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Tomb Raider franchise developer Crystal Dynamics has confirmed what we all rather suspected already - that it is working on the next major game in the series - and that this project will be made in Unreal Engine 5.

The announcement capped off today's Unreal Engine 5 presentation by Epic Games, which was timed alongside the engine's general release.

Unreal Engine 5 is the powerful toolset behind Epic Games' recent The Matrix Awakens demo, and which also runs the ever-changing Fortnite.

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Destroying road barriers using the Cow Catcher or Battle Bus is one of the Resistance challenges in Fortnite Chapter 3 Season 3.

This challenge involves either finding a Battle Bus or modding a vehicle with a Cow Catcher, so you can then smash through the road barriers the IO have placed across the map.

First, however, you need to know how to get a Cow Catcher and the Battle Bus locations.

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A new behind the scenes video for Starfield has been revealed, with robot companion VASCO taking centre stage.

In this video, shared by IGN, Starfield lead artist Istvan Pely introduces us all to one of his "favourite campanions in the game".

Here, Pely states VASCO is a "reliable companion that an intrepid explorer like yourself can depend on".

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After its game-changing reveal on PlayStation 5 and following a period of early access, Unreal Engine 5 is finally available for general download. In combination with the release, Epic is releasing a cut-down, Keanu-free rendition of the remarkable The Matrix Awakens demo alongside a sample game project to experiment with, called Lyra. UE5's release takes centre stage in today's State of Unreal virtual event, and we're told to expect a range of tech deep dives surrounding the technology alongside the launch of the engine itself.

UE5 takes the established Unreal Engine 4.27 and adds full support for a number of key next generation technologies. We've already seen these in action, of course. Lumen is Epic's take on a fully real-time global illumination solution, eliminating the need to rely on static, pre-calculated 'baked' lighting, leaning into hardware accelerated ray tracing where appropriate. Nanite is UE5's virtualised micro-polygon technology, delivering incredibly granular detail from assets of motion picture quality and the elimination of geometry 'pop-in'.

Hypnospace Outlaw is getting a sequel. Well, a spiritual sequel called Dreamsettler. But it's almost exactly the same thing: a detective game set in an old version of the internet, which you'll trawl to uncover a mystery.

And there's more: another new game called Slayer X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer. It's more of an accompaniment or spin-off, and it's fictitiously made by Hypnospace Outlaw character Zane! Though developer Tendershoot and publisher No More Robots are so committed to this fiction they'll even apparently roleplay as Zane when answering questions on Steam forums and so on.

The Slayer X game is like retro Doom, or Duke Nukem 3D - a game in that vein. It's pixelated and filled with trashy gore and ridiculous weaponry. And if you know the story of Hypnospace Outlaw, you'll know Zane is out for revenge. He apparently found an old CD-ROM with the game on and decided to brush it up for a noughties audience.

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Amazon Games has outlined its April and May content plan for Lost Ark, including two new playable classes.

Coming in April is the Glaivier, a new female martial artist advanced class who weaves together attacks with a spear and glaive depending on the two stances she uses: Focus and Flurry.

"“"While certain builds may focus your attention onto one of these weapons, an effective Glaivier can maximize their potential by creating balance between the two stances, building up energy in one stance which grants an impactful stat-boost when swapping to the other,"”" reads the blog post.

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Everything is permitted, the classic Assassin's Creed slogan says - and that's certainly true for Fortnite's bustling item shop.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla heroine Eivor will become available to purchase later this week with a bundle of themed items, alongside a general launch for the game's previously-released Ezio promotional skin.

Both Ezio and Eivor will make their item shop debuts upon the store's refresh on Thursday night (that's 1am Friday here in the UK).

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Ubisoft has unveiled Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Mobile, an upcoming free-to-play tactical first-person shooter mobile game from the Rainbow Six franchise.

In this new game, players will be pitted against each other in 5v5 matches, or "Attack vs Defence". As the name suggests, attackers will have to gain intel on their enemy by deploying drones and breaching "walls, floors and ceilings". Meanwhile, those on the defence team will have to ensure their intel is secure with the use of spy cameras and traps.

You can check out Rainbow Six Mobile's reveal trailer below.

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The enjoyable Life is Strange: True Colors is the next major addition to Xbox Game Pass.

The latest entry in the teen-with-special-powers narrative adventure series first launched last summer, and was warmly received. It's "a beautiful return to small-town mystery and young adult drama," I wrote in Eurogamer's Life is Strange: True Colors review.

True Colors is just one of Microsoft's latest list of titles headed to Xbox Game Pass through the first half of April. Also on the cards are sports games Cricket 22 and MLB The Show 22, plus gothic fairytale Lost in Random and cybernoir point-and-click adventure Chinatown Detective Agency.

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Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a compilation of games featuring the stories of the nine mainline Star Wars movies. The game is out now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox One and Series X after its release on 5th April 2022.

The game promises the same charming action adventure gameplay you can expect from a Lego game. That means slicing through enemies with your lightsabre and destroying different parts of the environment to find all sorts of collectibles. What's also great about this game is, regardless of platform, being able to complete the story through local co-op. So if you have more than one Star Wars fan in your life, this could be a great game to play together.

Below we've listed all the best places to purchase Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga standard and deluxe editions, as well as where you might still be able to grab some pre-order bonuses.

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Chrono Cross is a time travel tale but it often feels more like a ghost story, albeit one rendered in dazzling, oceanic colours that give every pre-rendered backdrop the ambience of a tropical reef. Teenage protagonist Serge is gathering shells on the beach one day when he tumbles through a portal to a parallel world. This world has a different history: its version of Serge died as a child, his epitaph written in coral high above the waves. Seeking answers, Serge meets a boisterous, Australian-accented girl called Kid, and joins the hunt for a sinister, cat-headed man who is himself searching for something called the Frozen Flame.

This journey sees you warping back and forth between worlds, the basis for a narrative in which every character, place or thing is haunted by its alternative. In one reality, a vast technological complex exists far across the sea; in another, it is a ruin. In one reality, a local man has become an accomplished fisherman; in the other, he is a feverish recluse who worships a straw idol (which you can eventually recruit as a party member). In one reality, the lagoons surrounding a fairy village have been drained, thwarting access to a dragon; in the other, they have been overrun by goblins ousted from their homelands.

Splatoon 2 icons have come to Nintendo Switch Online.

Last month saw Nintendo add a new missions and rewards section to its Switch Online service. Included here were a series of new icon elements from Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Super Mario Odyssey.

Now, these icons have been refreshed for April, with NSO users now able to get their hands on a different selection of Animal Crossing themed icons (all based around islanders with April birthdays) as well as ones from Splatoon 2.

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MSI have always made great accessories focussed primarily for PC gamers, and that includes their monitors.

Right now, their MAG Artymis curved gaming monitor is currently a third off at Amazon, available for just £149. A saving of £70 is quite significant at this price point.

The 24 inch monitor has a VA panel, so you'll get a wide range of viewing angles without having to compromise by going for a TN panel, for example. And with a 1000R curve, you're sure to be more immersed in your games than a standard flat panel.

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Minecraft is being used to teach young people in schools about flooding.

A new mod, named Rivercraft, has been created and is currently being tested in a school in Preston, as detailed by Microsoft.

The mod was created in a collaboration between Minecraft, the Environment Agency and BlockBuilders, an organisation that specialises in digital youth engagement.

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Valve has revealed it is “ramping up Steam Deck shipments” now we are into the second quarter of the year.

"Welcome to Q2! We've just sent out the first set of order emails to Q2 reservers (in order of reservation time)," the Valve team tweeted.

"Starting today we're ramping up Steam Deck shipments and will be sending more order availability emails every week. Sometimes even twice a week!"

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Concept art for Overwatch 2 has raised the possibility that Blizzard's hero shooter sequel will include a battle pass.

A concept for the game's main menu, designed by Blizzard senior UI artist Jayson Kirby, has popped up online via Artstation (as spotted by Attack of the Fanboy).

The image shows a new look for the game's homepage, complete with familiar options to access its hero roster, shop and challenges - but also a separate battle pass option.

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An official Witcher cookbook is currently proving and will be released from the oven later this year.

Created by Anita Sarna and Karolina Krupecka of food blog Nerds' Kitchen (and Witcher Kitchen), it's officially licensed by CD Projekt Red and will feature 80 recipes inspired by Geralt’s travels in the games.

The book will include "meticulously-researched, immersive recipes that give fans a taste of the distinct flavours a witcher might sample as he travels the countryside in search of monsters to slay and coin to earn," according to the pre-order page.

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Following confusion over the project's future, the director of upcoming PS5 game Abandoned has spoken out about why developer Blue Box deleted various tweets about the game, the status of the game's prologue and his own "heartbreak" about the situation now surrounding the game's release.

Speaking to IGN, Hasan Kahraman of Blue Box Game Studios said the developer had removed older tweets about the game in a bid to keep information surrounding Abandoned up to date. "Basically, the tweets were deleted because some of the concept has changed, and I figured maybe just deleting the tweet and then tweeting more relevant information would be a better idea - which was actually not a good idea," Kahraman said.

"I have learned now just to keep them. Even if the information or concept changed, just keep the older information because people eventually will see for themselves what the difference is and then see what's more actual."

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Activision Blizzard employees have taken part in a planned strike in protest at the company's recent decision to drop its requirement that in-office staff are vaccinated.

Last week, the embattled World of Warcraft and Call of Duty maker announced it would no longer require office-based staff to have had Covid jabs, while encouraging a gradual return to in-person working over the coming months.

The decision, announced in an email by Activision Blizzard exec Brian Bulatao, was immediately criticised by staff who said it risked employees who may be immunocompromised or who lived with others who are, and was poorly timed as the US faces up to Covid's current Omicron BA2 subvariant.

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Samsung is not just one of the most widely-known electronics companies in the world, but also one of the best. And in the UK, they currently have a spring sale on many of their products, from TVs, phones ,laptops and even home appliances such as fridge freezers.

The highlight seems to be the new Galaxy S22 and S22+ available with a big £200 discount after trading in any Android phone in any condition. There are some terms and conditions to this but it seems quite generous if you're looking to get rid of your current phone or have an older one lying around.

This deals also comes with 12 months of Disney+ which has great movies and shows, including all things Star Wars and Marvel, as well as a free pair of Galaxy Buds Pro, Samsung's wireless Bluetooth earbuds.

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Elden Ring boss Radahn was accidentally nerfed in a patch, but now he's back to full strength.

FromSoftware's previous patch for the game added new features like NPC icons and quests, as well as balance changes. But nerfing the infamous boss Starscourge Radahn was unintentional.

Now a new patch is available that fixes "a bug in the balance adjustment of the boss Starscourge Radahn in update 1.03, in which the power of some attacks was unintentionally reduced".

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The Amazon Spring Sale has landed and there's thousands of bargains to be had on a huge range of products. This includes a fantastic selection of gaming deals we found nestled between the Shark hoover and air fryer offers. We thought we'd share them here and help you get straight to the good stuff.

From PC gaming accesories deals including headsets, keyboards and mice from the likes of Razer, Corsair and Logitech, to discounts on SSDs and hard drives from Western Digital, Samsung and Crucial, there's plenty of affordable offers to suit all kinds of budgets. You can land big discounts on gaming monitors and laptops, as well as cheap 4K TVs from LG and Samsung. There's also a small pool of Xbox, PS5 and Nintendo Switch games and accessories deals including Biomutant on PS4 for just £12.74.

The Amazon Spring Sale started on 1st April 2022 and runs through to 13th April 2022. We expect the online retail giant will add new deals throughout the promotion and we'll be keeping track of the best offers right here.

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