Rock, Paper, Shotgun

We here at the Electronic Wireless Show podcast have done an episode about puzzles before, but Matthew and I just love puzzles a whole lot. We're talking about our favourite puzzle, as well, not puzzle game. This means that nate can bring up games about orcs, or whatever, that also happen to have a puzzle in them somewhere. Also yes, I got the number of the podcast wrong again, I know I keep doing this, let's just all move on together.

What is a surprise is that we don't really need to spend ages arguing over what the definition of a puzzle is, which I think shows personal growth. Well done us! Asides this week include what role Matthew you fill on the team in a heist movie, Nate vs. Rufus Hound, and what the hell is the Riddler's whole deal about, anyway? Also: please give us creative control of all major IPs in cinema and games, so we can remake them to be about the drink Rio Tropical.

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Looking for the best Type 63 loadout to bring into Warzone? This Tactical Rifle has excellent damage that allows it to quickly kill with several well-placed shots. Thanks to its available attachments, it can easily outmatch some of the best SMGs in Warzone. This loadout capitalizes on that potential so that you can bring the Type 63 into any close-quarters Warzone engagement with the confidence that you'll come out on top.

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Looking for the best R1 Shadowhunter Crossbow loadout to bring into Warzone? Then you must be looking to score some flashy kills and to troll some enemies. In truth, this crossbow has great damage potential, but its slow firerate and limited range are far too impractical to be useful in Warzone. If you're trying to figure out how to get better at this battle royale, you should skip this weapon and check out our guide on the best guns in Warzone. For those determined to become elite archers, we've still got you covered.

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Looking for tips and tricks on surviving in New World? Amazon's behemoth of an MMORPG took Steam by storm during its closed beta period back in July. Now it's out again in open beta, and with it has arrived a great surge in questions asked by new players on what they should be doing, how to gather, how to craft, how to fight, and so much more.

We get it. It's an MMO. It can be overwhelming. But follow the below tips and tricks on getting started in New World and you'll find firm footing from which you can begin your character's journey across the mystical, dangerous, and fascinating land of Aeturnum.

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The post-apocalypse is often accompanied by violence, grit and gore when it comes to video games. So many titles use the inevitable wasteland to emotionally torture their characters or as a playground to squash some monsters – or both. Cloud Gardens abandons all the blood and tears. Refreshingly, the game doesn’t rely on any drama or conflict. Instead, Cloud Gardens is solely focused on the idea of revitalisation and nature taking back spaces… after we’re gone.

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I had high hopes of reviewing Pathfinder: Wrath Of The Righteous this week. However, somewhere around six hours into the game, when I realised I was still honking great tracts of story away from even unlocking most of the game's core mechanics, reality set in. Without properly no-lifing it for at least the rest of the week, I knew there was no way I was going to see enough of it to give any kind of overall verdict. It's months' worth of game, before even starting on replay potential. And honestly? If you're a certain kind of CRPG player, that should be all the recommendation you need.

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Want to learn how to level up fast in New World? With the game's launch into open beta, Amazon's ambitious foray into the world of MMORPGs has taken its next step towards engulfing the lives of many a player who wishes to level up their character as quickly as possible. But it's a long, slow process for most players to reach the highest levels - that is, unless you follow the tips below and learn all the fastest leveling methods available in New World.

Below we'll walk you through the best sources of XP in New World, from Main Quests to Town Missions; and we'll also go through small things that you can do to boost the XP you gain over time. We'll also explain how to improve your Trade Skill levels and your weapon masteries as efficiently as possible.

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Valorant has a new map now, its name is Fracture, and it scares me. Unlike any of the other Valo maps in Riot's tactical FPS, Fracture is designed so the defending team starts in the middle, and attackers can come at you from either side - and they can slide under the map on cool ropes too! On top of that, there are a few tweaks to character's abilities and more in the game's latest act.

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Back in July, thousands upon thousands of players descended upon New World's last beta, suggesting that Amazon might actually have a winner with their upcoming MMO. Unfortunately, they delayed it just a week later, making players wait an extra month to get their hands on it again. You'll be able to get a little bit of a fix this weekend though, because New World is getting an open beta that starts later this very day.

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Deathloop, or Deeaaaaaaathlooooooooooop as it’s called in the absolute banger of a theme song, has some official PC system requirements out ahead of release on September 14th. In a blog post, publishers Bethesda have also detailed some of the PC-only graphics settings you’ll be able to tinker with, while confirming support for AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution upscaling tech.

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After launching public tests back in July, Fallout 76's 'Fallout Worlds' update is now available to all.

Fallout Worlds offers players the ability to edit the settings of the game, removing build restrictions and upending game balance, then inviting friends along to play.

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Final Fantasy IV's pixel remaster is now available on Steam. It follows the release of the pixel remasters of I-III in July, with V and VI both due in the near future. It's also arguably the first Final Fantasy to resemble what the series would become, in terms of characters and its battle system.

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Yes, Kitaria Fables might better be described as "Rune Factory with cats", but let's make the useful comparison to the game most folks have heard of. Kitaria Fables is a game in which you, a cat, biff monsters in classless combat to gather resources, and then spend time planting crops and chatting to NPCs at home. It's out now.

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Hideo Kojima has been tweeting about the final trailer for Death Stranding: Director's Cut for weeks now. He wants you to know that it was "self-edited", "handmade", that he obsessed over it. He sounds more like someone selling artisinally roasted coffee beans than a Sony-funded blockbuster that contains Monster Energy product placement.

The trailer is out now and you can watch it below.

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Whenever a new Life Is Strange game comes out I sometimes wonder how my life would manifest as an ironic and metaphorical super power. I usually stop quite quickly, because I have a feeling the answer would be somewhat disappointing. In the first game, Max Caulfield discovered she could rewind time or travel back to the past via photographs. In Life Is Strange 2, we shaped the outlook of young Daniel Diaz and how he used his somewhat fraught telekinetic powers. Now, in Life Is Strange: True Colors, we step into the shoes of Alex Chen, who can step into the hearts and minds of others.

Alex is a 21-year-old product of the foster system who can feel, manipulate or even absorb the intense emotions of those around her. We join Alex just as she steps off the bus into a remote Colorado mining town called Haven Springs to start a new life with her brother Gabe. Things - as they typically do during weddings in soap operas, the opening ten minutes of a hospital drama, or the end of the first chapter of a Life Is Strange game - go terribly wrong. What follows is simultaneously my most and least favourite Life Is Strange game.

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They call me the Slippery Matthew Castle. Or at least they do aboard the Cosmic Lung, an intergalactic concert hall overseen by a brainstem in a cloak voiced by Jason Schwartzman. Impressively, this is one of the more rote happenings in The Artful Escape, a quest that also takes in astral highways, rock-powered butterflies and - steel yourself - a passive aggressive skiffle group. Its creator, the fabulously named Johnny Galvatron, describes it as what would happen if David Bowie had gone on a literal space trip to become Ziggy Stardust, and that seems about right.

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After announcing their new tactical RPG at Gamescom the other week, Firaxis held a 20 minute livestream for Marvel’s Midnight Suns yesterday, giving us a brand-new look at the game’s card-based combat system, its RPG elements and a deep-dive on how Wolverine, Sabretooth and big bad Lilith will play in-game. And from the looks of things, it's all shaping up very nicely indeed.

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I reckon I'm not too bad at winding down in the evenings. Often I'll chill in Discord with some friends and treat myself to a Müller Corner, maybe even a banana as a special treat. Afterwards (or before, depending on how young the night is), if I'm feeling particularly decadent, I'll run myself a bath and use the special "Muscle Therapy" bubble bath mixture that looks suspiciously like blood.

I'd say most of the time this ritual leads to a solid night's sleep. But for some reason, I got cocky last night. Just before beddy-byes I listened to that music from the DokeV Geoffscom reveal trailer, purely because I thought "why not, huh?". And I've not been the same since.

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Hello, who is the stylist that designs the Deathloop characters' outfits and will you come to my house and design me some too, please? We're less than a week away from playing Arkane's 60s-themed stealth 'em up, and I'm utterly enamoured with the excellent clothes main characters Colt and Juliana get to wear.

In a recent blog post, assistant art director and lead character artist Jean-Baptiste Ferder shared a little bit of background on how Colt and Juliana were designed, along with some concept art showing various outfits for the stylish duo.

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Want to learn what the different Blood Resonance types in Bloodhunt do? It's possibly the most complex and novel system in Sharkmob's new vampiric Battle Royale, but it's important to understand, because the choice of mortals upon whom you feed will determine how your character grows in strength throughout a match.

Below we'll walk you through the four different types of Blood Resonance in Bloodhunt, the effects that each one bestows upon you, and which are the best types of blood for each vampire type. We'll also explain how to increase the number of Blood Resonance points you can obtain over the course of a match.

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Razer have launched a new version of its customisation-focused wired mouse, the Basilisk V3. Outwardly it looks much like a retread of last year’s Basilisk V2 – the pointy click buttons married to smooth curves, the grippy thumb rest, the stark black-and-RGB colour scheme – but there are enough tweaks to the V3 model that it feels and acts like a very different rodent.

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Many Japanese role-playing games boast unprecedented realism thanks to modern development tools that are capable of building dragons scale-by-scale. But not everyone thrives on a strict diet of grit and grime. I, for one, occasionally break away and indulge the urge to jump into bright, busy JRPGs that check off every anime cliche ever devised.

These are the JRPGs that actively make me seek battles because it just feels good to leap a metre off the ground and punch an eagle in the face. These are the JRPGs that make me wonder why the protagonist wears a heavy, half-broken mask that probably screws with his peripheral vision. (Then I tell myself that my dumb anime son can do whatever he wants.) These are among my favourite kinds of JRPGs, and Bandai Namco's Tales of Arise keeps good company with them.

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The Diablo 2: Resurrected beta opened its fiery gates to everyone last month, and by Alice B’s account it was quite the enjoyable nostalgia trip. Some players, however, may have been having a little too much fun – specifically though the use of ultrawide monitors, which Blizzard say will no longer receive full 21:9 aspect ratio support in the remaster.

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EA have dropped new gameplay showing off five of Battlefield 2042's specialists doing things like pulling the trigger, laying down turrets, pulling the trigger, and healing friends with a needle gun. They look good, if very, very predictable.

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Last year, Epic Games revealed Unreal Engine 5 with a pretty Tomb Raider-style tech demo, showing a Lara Croft-like lady travelling through some ancient caves and ruins. At the time, I thought: "Ooh, wouldn't it be great to play through that!" Though sadly, it wasn't an actual game. However, you can become the cool, previously unnamed character in Fortnite now, because they've added a skin of her, named Windwalker Echo. Better than her sitting in limbo in a trailer forever, I suppose.

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Nope, despite appearances, Project Downfall isn't like Doom. This is an early access FPS that's got a lot more in common with Hotline Miami than it does with id's big, brash Doom Slayer. In its short demo, available now on Steam, I popped pills, blasted thugs, and wracked up stylish combos, all to some pounding synth beats. And I have to say, it felt really good.

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This is a PSA to all you fans of city-building sims: Surviving Mars is free to keep on Steam right now, and you have until the end of the day to grab it. To be fair, Surviving Mars is less a "city" builder and more a colony builder, where it's your job to set up a home on the little red planet for humans to populate. It's a good time too, we reckon it's one of the best management games and best building games on PC, so you might as well take this opportunity to add it to your library.

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All right folks, hands up: who's ever been excited about that hip new video game, only to find their PC's so old and decrepit that simply trying to turn the camera risks smothering your monitor screen with remnants of your leftover lunch? It's something we've probably all experienced over the years as PC games get ever more demanding, but for me, that game was Alan Wake, Remedy's spooky third-person shooter from the bygone era of 2010, and I'd do it all again to play the newly-announced Alan Wake Remastered, too. Would you?

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Call Of Duty: Warzone is headed to the Pacific for its next map. It'll launch alongside Call Of Duty: Vanguard, and the first footage of the new locale was shown during tonight's Vanguard multiplayer reveal. You can watch the full video below, which has details of new modes and maps that will be included in this weekend's beta.

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Has any game done more for the representation of bridges than Microsoft Flight Simulator? Every new world update brings with it new, realistically rendered points of interest, and this time it's the turn of the viaducts and suspension bridges of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. World Update 6 is live now, and you can find the trailer below.

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Ubisoft's autumn sale is underway, with substantial discounts on recent games. They're also offering Far Cry 3 for the biggest discount, free. That's a fair price for RPS's game of the year 2012.

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Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt felt too early to be played when Alice B previewed it back in June. How much of a difference does three months make? Sharkmob's free-to-play battle royale is now in early access, so you can find out.

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At first, me and Roguebook got along swimmingly. It’s the best roguelike deckbuilder since Monster Train, which isn’t to say it’s nearly as good, but is to say I anticipated playing it for dozens of hours. It’s got a nifty take on exploration, solid combat, and adorable raccoons who load other raccoons into cannons. It’s also got optional fights where you laboriously beat money out of golden fairy orbs, however, and these have spoiled the entire game for me. I’m unlikely to go back unless they’re tweaked, because my stupid brain can’t tolerate either passing up boring yet strategically wise fairy muggings OR clicking my way through them.

That really should be a minor slight. It’s not you, Roguebook, it’s me - but also it’s definitely you, a bit. Same goes for all the other videogames.

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Every October, Nate disappears into a puff of smoke to be replaced by his good pal Ghoastus, the Roman ghost. Alas, his yearly ascent to higher realms has sadly come much earlier than expected this year, as today is Nate's last day at RPS - come say goodbye.

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Double Fine's Psychonauts 2 is a game about infiltrating people’s minds to uncover the strange thoughts bouncing around their psyche. But in a game full of unusual sights and sounds, its weirdest moment comes in the form of a hidden mpreg video. Easter egg spoilers ahead!

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The leaks were true: Remedy Entertainment have announced that the Alan Wake remaster is real, and it's coming out this autumn. The spooky shooter originally came out in 2010, though it didn't hit PC until 2012. Alan Wake Remastered is bringing the mysterious fella back in shiny 4K, along with commentary from creative director Sam Lake.

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The Cracking The Cryptic YouTube channel became an unexpected hit during lockdown last year. Mark Goodliffe and Simon Anthony have been uploading two videos a day for the past few years now, showing them methodically solving very difficult puzzles (typically sudokus and crosswords, but others sneak in as well). Now, in an almost inevitable development, the Cryptic lads are poised to become your favourite video game streamers. For the past few weeks, Anthony has been streaming his playthrough of Jonathan Blow's huge and layered puzzle game The Witness, and it is some of the most enjoyable streaming you'll ever come across.

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Looking for tips and tricks on how to win matches in Bloodhunt? Now released in Early Access, this fascinating Battle Royale set in the world of Vampire: The Masquerade adds a vampiric spin to the traditional last-player-standing formula, with otherworldly powers, feeding on mortals, and maintaining the masquerade all playing their part to separate the winners from the losers.

In this beginner's guide to Bloodhunt, you'll find a set of practical and powerful tips and tricks that will help you immediately start surviving for longer, and racking up kills and wins like never before. Covering everything from loadouts to spawn points, from movement to mortal blood types, this guide will set you on the path towards victory.

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Looking for the best MG34 loadout to bring into Warzone? This WWII classic still has the potential to hang with the best LMGs in Warzone if you snap on the right attachments. The MG34 particularly excels at greater ranges, provided you use this specific Warzone loadout to tame its recoil. The result? Plenty of bullets on target.

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The CEO of Tripwire Interactive has stepped down following a tweet supporting Texas's new anti-abortion law, remarks which caused one of the studios they work with to publicly announce they were cutting ties. With John Gibson vacating the chair, vice president Alan Wilson is stepping up as interim CEO. Tripwire made shark game Maneater as well as the Red Orchestra and Killing Floor shooter series, and have published games including Chivalry 2.

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