Nathan Grayson

The PC Version Of BioShock Remastered Has Issues

Continuing a grand tradition that began when BioShock first came out in 2007, the remastered versions of BioShock 1 and 2 did not emerge from the bathysphere plunge to PC unscathed. On the upside, the remastered BioShocks are functional, albeit janky in places. The most overt issue is a lack of graphical options that would’ve…

Poland Makes An Official Witcher Postage Stamp

Hey, I know that guy! The Witcher, a series about a monster hunter who’s perpetually dour because Obama won’t play his video game, is a bit of A Thing over in its native land of Poland. Poctza Polska, Poland’s biggest postal operator, is collaborating with Witcher developer CD Projekt to turn Geralt’s lusty mug into…

Undertale‘s Unused Music Is Pretty Sweet

For the past week, infamously reclusive Undertale creator Toby Fox has been celebrating the RPG mega-hit’s first anniversary with tidbits and snippets (but sadly no butterscotch cinnamon pie). The best part? Music that never made it into the final game. First up, an early version of Alphys’ lab: Here’s a version of Undyne’s theme before…

Overwatch‘s Weekly Brawls Need Some Work

Another weekly brawl where only a handful of characters are allowed? Come on, Blizzard. Is that the best you can do? I’ve seen that sentiment a lot surrounding this week’s Overwatch brawl, “Tanks A Lot,” which limits players’ hero choices to the game’s tank characters. As a general rule, brawls impose some sort of special…

Steam’s Latest Hit: An Intense Spaceship Roguelike Called Everspace

I warped into a new sector. I was immediately wowed by the pink and orange starscape ahead of me. It was like a cotton-candy sunset that spanned further than my puny ape brain could comprehend. Then ten ships converged on me, and I exploded. That was my first death in new Steam top-seller Everspace, and…

Far From Noise is a game about experiencing nature… while teetering over the edge of a cliff in a car that could fall at any second. It’s narrative-driven, and “dramatic events”—as well as your decisions—change the story each playthrough. Also I guess you end up talking to a deer??? It’ll be out soon.

Quote is an action-RPG where you, a servant of the god of ignorance, try to destroy all knowledge. You do this by slaying heretics, smashing authors, and burning books. It’s got a surreal look to it, and it’s inspired by authors like Vonnegut and Bradbury. It’ll be out later this year. Here’s a trailer: Worth…

Let’s break it down! Is what I’m angling for the new name of our weekly Overwatch chat series to be. We’ll see, though. We’ll see. This week, Cecilia, Heather, and I talk about our favorite heroes, why we ended up gravitating toward them, and how becoming competent with certain heroes has changed the way we…

Thousands Of Cheaters Reportedly Banned From Counter-Strike

Valve just dropped the hammer on Counter-Strike cheaters. Big time. For the past 24 hours, reports have been coming in from all over the Counter-Strike-o-sphere that a new ban wave hit cheaters hard. Data-mining site SteamDB puts the number at 11,435 (and counting) bans administered by the VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat) system today. That’s a significant…

Final Fantasy X Mod Replaces Almost All Audio With Tidus’ Laugh

“My story,” says Tidus. “My ears,” I reply. Johnny Mac created what is perhaps the most diabolical Final Fantasy mod ever conceived. It replaces large portions of Final Fantasy X’s soundtrack and dialogue with Tidus’ infamously forced laugh. Here’s a video: Now try to hear the game’s main theme in your head without Tidus’ laugh.…

Overwatch just got a new patch that reduces Mercy PotGs (boooo), speeds up the payload on Eichenwalde, and corrects egregious ranking glitches. The new map can be tough on attackers, so hopefully the payload change helps. The patch also fixes some bugs and adds a new match complete screen. You can read the patch notes…

Valve Makes Big Changes To Steam Reviews, Angers Developers

Valve has spent this year slowly revamping Steam reviews, and the latest change is a biggie: by default, reviews written by people who obtained a game with a key (or anything else not directly within Steam) don’t factor. Valve explained that they made the change to counter fraudulent reviews and other attempts at score-boosting: “An…

UFC 203 Was Strange Even By UFC Standards

Sometimes UFC fight cards amount to just that: a series of fights organized according to significance, with maximum room for approximately 20,000 tedious ads in between. Every once in a while, though, it all unravels, and the ensuing chaos is absolutely beautiful UFC 203, which took place over the weekend, was a ponderous, blundering beast…

Blizzard’s Chris Metzen Retires

Blizzard’s lord of lore (and sunglasses), Chris Metzen, is retiring from video games. Metzen is primarily known for two things: 1) giving speeches at BlizzCon that would put most video game characters to shame, and 2) helping mold the worlds of obscure games called Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, and Overwatch. One could also argue that he’s…

Overwatch Player Gets Highest Possible Rank Despite Losing Every Match

If you check Overwatch data-mining sites right now, you’ll see something curious: the top-ranked Korean competitive player has hundreds of losses and only a few wins. Ah, the magic of glitches. What seems to have happened is, Korean player IzA aimed for rock bottom, much like Dale “Bacontotem” Brown—who I recently profiled—last season. IzA managed…

Overwatch Player Never Touches The Ground In The Game’s New Level

I’ve featured one dedicated Overwatch wall-rider before, but this person has turned it into an art form. If you’re in need of some chilled-out Friday afternoon viewing, I can’t recommend Seba’s wall-ride of Overwatch’s new level, Eichenwalde, enough. This combination of slick movement and soothing beats will heal you from the grotesque wound between weekends…

Steam’s Latest Hit Is A Great Mix Of FTL And XCOM

Halcyon 6 is a sumptuous video game stew. It’s got hints of XCOM, FTL, 4X space games, and JRPGs, plus gobs of humor and personality. I’ve taken to calling it 4XCOM for short. I’ve only played for a couple hours, but this feels like the sort of game that will keep me hooked for weeks.…

The Overwatch Characters Who Get Play Of The Game Most (And Least) Often

Overwatch’s Play of the Game (PotG) is a mechanic shrouded in mystery. Everybody’s had a moment where they figured their quadruple kill with a perfectly timed emote would nab it, only to be ousted by a couple boring turret bursts. In a recent forum post, Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan provided stats to help dispel…

The Internet Reacts To The PS4 Pro

Today, Sony finally pulled the veil—basically translucent at this point—off the Neo, officially known as the PlayStation 4 Pro. It’s a more powerful PlayStation 4 that will support 4K and HDR. Impressions so far are… mixed. The PS4 Pro’s beefier hardware specs do present some intriguing possibilities, largely involving improved framerates for VR and games…

Here’s Mass Effect: Andromeda Running On PS4 Pro

During Sony’s PlayStation Pro reveal event, EA showed off the first proper gameplay footage of the new Mass Effect. Watch it here. The footage shows a character (presumably player character Ryder) exploring a not-of-this-world cyberpunk ruin also known as a cave. The character uses a jetpack to aid mobility and scans objects like plants for…