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Just ahead of the new American Truck Simulator’s launch, developers SCS Software have injected a touch of nitro into the game engine with screen space ambient occlusion (SSAO). This technique for making shadows more realistic is not a mega-fancy and drastic modern technobell or cyberwhistle, but it is a welcome one. The scenery just feels more… present. So simply by downloading a patch, my game has become prettier. Nice. SSAO has been around in shiny video games since Crysis....

Hurling physics objects around, fiddling with mechanical devices to solve puzzles, following processes for more puzzles, collecting limited resources, running for my life as some awful creature gurgles at me, yep, I’m game for that. Rebirth is set in an Algerian desert, where Tasi Trianon with no memory of what she’s been up to recently but a whole lot of bodies and spookiness nearby. I’m going to guess bad things happened....

If you’re just here for the new map news, take a gander at it right here in the launch trailer. There’s trash to take out, jewels to polish, moving platforms, and new vents to exploit too. The airship also adds the ability to choose which room you’ll spawn in rather than all spilling out of the meeting room together. Now you’ll be able to elect to start in the engine room, main hall, or records room....

When the player begins Analgesic’s newest game Sephonie - part 3D platformer, part deep emotional story - three Taiwanese biologists make their way onto the titular island to explore. As the Steam page puts it: “Amy Lim, Taiwanese-American and bold leader, hails from the midwestern USA town of Bloomington. Riyou Hayashi, an analytically-minded Japanese-Taiwanese researcher, calls the bustling Tokyo his home. And Ing-wen Lin, a kind and considerate Taiwanese scientist, lives in Taipei....

Now, you can pick it up for $729 at Newegg when you use code JAN2548, an outstanding deal for a monitor of this size and quality. Get the Aorus FO48U 48-in OLED for $729 (was $1500) So what is there to know about the FO48U? Well, it’s one of the most popular OLED gaming monitors in terms of both sales and critic reviews, as it’s based around the incredible LG panel used in the C1 OLED....

Respawn Entertainment say that all your account progression will carry over from the Origin launcher (er, sorry, the EA Desktop App) to the Steam version if you choose to take the leap. You can pop over to Steam to put Apelegs on your wishlist before it launches on November 4th. Before that though, this year’s Fight Or Fright event is going on. Shadow Royale mode is back again, and this year you’ll be able to wall run when you die and become a shadow legend....

The work experience programme is only for applicants from ethnic minorities who live in the UK, and applications are open from now until the end of January. We’d love for you to join us, so check out the entry requirements and get in touch. For us to consider you for the programme, you’ll need to send an email to workexperience@rockpapershotgun.com with a CV, cover letter, and some writing samples attached....

If nothing else, this overview sure highlights how long it’s been since I’ve played a big Ubisoft romp. You can change the level of texture detail on the environment assets, character, and clutter all separately? Seriously? That’s not new, apparently. Assassin’s Creed O’da Sea had similar levels of granular control over textures. What a brave new world this is. The rest of the nitty gritty on resolution scaling, refresh rate, FPS limit, and all that is in this here video....

Assassin’s Creed games are more than just a setting however, and Valhalla seems to have quite a lot of new features and tweaked stuff from the older games. Here’s everything that we know about Assassin’s Creed Valhalla so far, from Valhalla release date, Valhalla trailers, and Valhalla gameplay details. What is Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s release date? | Can I buy Assassin’s Creed Valhalla on Steam? | Assassin’s Creed Valhalla gameplay | Assassin’s Creed Valhalla trailers | Is there a special edition?...

Here’s the trailer: I like it when the Assassin’s Creed games tip headfirst into fantasy and myth, as Valhalla already does at various parts of its story. In the new DLC, Eivor embraces “their destiny as Odin”, the Norse god. Now, instead of just being able to see through your birdpal’s eyes, Odin can shapeshift into a raven during fights. Also: they can resurrect dead enemies to fight on your side, harden your skin into a magma shell, and use ice attacks....

Turtle Rock are the folks who created Left 4 Dead in the first place, joined Valve to finish it, then soon split to go independent again. While Valve own the L4D series, that certainly doesn’t stop Turtle Rock from making a new game which is basically the same thing. You can see the similarities in this B4B gameplay vid from December: “We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your continued patience and support,” Turtle Rock said on Twitter today....

All the PC essentials are here, like an uncapped framerate and FoV adjustment, as well as some pretty good 21:9 ultrawide support: cutscenes and menus stick to 16:9 but otherwise it works well, with appropriate UI positioning. There graphics quality settings are relatively streamlined, though if you don’t want to just slap on a preset it’s still possible to make specific tweaks. Further down we’ll look at the best settings to change in order to effectively improve performance....

From System Shock 2 to Vampire Bloodlines, I am perhaps a little over-enthusiastic about fleshy architecture. I just think it’s neat. I think Back 4 Blood’s new guts are good too. The meatmazes are the setting for Ridden Hives, a new cooperative mode delving into seven fleshy dungeons in search of exclusive loot and rewards. Along with the bad vibes of meat, these house new ‘Warped Ridden’ enemies, three new big baddies who’ll also be playable in PvP Swarm mode....

Lead writer Sarah Baylus explains that Baldur’s Gate 3’s party is made up of characters who’d never ordinarily be travelling companions but have been thrust together by the mind flayer threat they all share. Well, opposite attract, don’t they? Baylus also goes over how conflict and relationship development between characters will play out while everyone is reflecting at the party camp. Different characters will make their opinions known on what factions or individuals you’ve been siding with or slaying....

The Battlefield 2042 Update 0.3.3 notes list a few bug fixes but the most notable change is the new scoreboard. This time, the scoreboard shows player’s scores. The devs first showed a work-in-progress version of the new scoreboard in January. They’ve have made some changes since then in response to feedback from players, which necessitated delaying its addition from February, and aren’t quite done yet. They say, “this is the first version of the Scoreboard, and further improvements will be made to this in subsequent updates, based upon your continued feedback such as the Scoreboard being available during the End of Round screens....

The first of these updates, dubbed Update #2, lands this Thursday, 25th November, and it will deliver a few nice tweaks. If one of your squaddies dies close to an object or wall, you should be able to get them up in a jiffy rather than, well, not get them up at all. Those darned hovercrafts have also seen their health toned down, so they hopefully won’t parade around maps like indestructible death machines for much longer....

In a blog post, senior producer Ryan McArthur outlines the updates coming most imminently. That includes changes to the in-round scoreboard revealed a couple of weeks ago. Player profiles will aim to give a better overview of “how far you have to go for your next unlock”, and voice comms will… exist. The post also mentions a refined ping system, a better “squad loop”, and an improved “reward loop” when your squad focus on the team objective....

Beede also wrote that they are “all-in on Battlefield”, with DICE continuing to work on Battlefield multiplayer and a third studio, Ripple Effect, “creating an entirely new Battlefield experience.” “As we approach our 20th anniversary, we’d like to share the future of the franchise and be clear with you on our vision: We are all-in on Battlefield,” says the post on the EA site, which comes two days before the Battlefield series’ 20th anniversary....

Best Bruen loadout in Warzone Long-range is where the Bruen really thrives. Its time-to-kill up close and even out to mid-range is subpar. However, its TTK doesn’t actually change after its damage drop-off point. The only limiting factor is bullet travel time. Because of this, the Bruen holds up better over extreme distances than nearly every other fully automatic weapon in Warzone. Here’s how to take advantage of that strength:...

The best Fallout: New Vegas mods There are all manner of mods available for Fallout: New Vegas these days, and this list covers everything from small, quality-of-life improvements to full-blown extra story content. You can either click the links below to go straight to the mod in question, or you can just carry on reading the whole thing. We also tell you how to actually go about modding Fallout: New Vegas with our step-by-step guide below....