Taking aim

Officially titled the Guns and Looting Patch, Patch 1.5 for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has arrived for all versions of the game, and it’s looking pretty stacked. A pair of new weapons make their arrival as a part of it, bringing the Three-Line Rifle and the Kora Pistol (complete with rare variant). But they’re not the biggest additions.

Players will have to contend with a new anomaly in the zone, with the Electric Water Tornado, and there’s a whole new economy rolling with the ability to trade in “mutant parts”. Players will have to make their way to Malachite to learn how to properly harvest them though, if they want to get the in “tradable condition”.

Those aren’t all the new additions either, as the new Zone kit has arrived too, allowing for modding aplenty on the PC, via Steam Workshop or mod.io. No word yet on whether or not user-created mods will be playable at some point via Xbox.

Scroll down to check out the full tale of the tape, and see all that the Guns and Looting Patch has in store.

New Firepower: Three-Line Rifle and Kora Pistol

Patch 1.5 arms players with two formidable new weapons, perfect for surviving the Zone’s relentless dangers:

• Three-Line Rifle: A lightweight, bolt-action sniper rifle with impressive range and precision. Ideal for sharpshooters, this rifle has quickly become a favorite among veterans of the Zone. Encounter it early in your journey and test your aim against distant threats.
• Kora Pistol: A heavy-hitting, clunky pistol that sacrifices speed for raw power. Each shot from its limited magazine packs a punch, making it a must-have for stalkers who value impactful firepower. Seek out the rare Night Stalker variant, a unique Kora coveted by weapon collectors.

Expanded Looting: Mutant Parts Trading

Patch 1.5 introduces a new feature: mutant parts looting. Defeating bloodsuckers, fleshes, and other mutants now yields valuable parts including eyes, tusks, and tentacles. Trade these with NPCs for coupons – but first, visit Malachite to master the art of harvesting them in tradable condition.

The Zone Kit: Official Mod Support Unleashed

GSC Game World is proud to introduce The Zone Kit, a powerful modding toolset that empowers players to shape the Zone to their vision. Available on the Epic Games Store, the Zone Kit allows stalkers to:

• Modify or create new animations, weapons, mechanics, and anomalies.
• Adjust gameplay to suit your preferences, whether you’re seeking more challenge, less difficulty, or something entirely new.
• Share creations effortlessly via mod.io or Steam Workshop, depending on the platform.

Future updates will add even more functionality to the Zone Kit, ensuring endless creative possibilities. This marks Phase One of the mod support launch, so stay tuned for future updates. 

Other Enhancements

Patch 1.5 streamlines the stalker experience with:

• Further A-Life improvements.
• New Electric Water Tornado anomaly.
• New vehicle models scattered across the terrain.
• Expanded stash window size for better inventory management.
• Distinct icons for each ammo type, making identification effortless.
• Reload renewal, allowing Skif to seamlessly resume interrupted reloads.

For players using the Ukrainian voiceover, Patch 1.5 adds Ukrainian lipsync to all non-prerendered cutscenes, enhancing immersion in key story moments.

GSC Game Works press release

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Tyranids and heretics, what is a Space Marine to do?

Not to be lost in the tidal wave of Warhammer 40,000 news that landed yesterday, is a blast of new content making its way to Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. Focus Entertainment and Saber Interactive’s sequel to the classic original (which is getting a remaster) has been a hotbed of drops since it’s launch in 2024, and that looks like it’s not going to be slowing down any time soon.

Landing next month actually, is a whole new mode called Siege, as a part of the game’s Patch 8. It should be familiar to genre fans too, as in it Space Marines will find themselves pinned down, trying to defend an Imperial fortress against ever-worsening waves of Tyranids and Chaos forces.

Victory is simply holding out for as long as possible here, as only in death does duty end.

Fight against impossible odds in Space Marine 2’s upcoming Siege Mode, a new PvE experience available for free to all players on June 26. Set on Kadaku, this new three-player game mode lets you take down ever-deadlier waves of Tyranid and Chaos forces in the defense of an Imperial fortress. Prepare to hold your ground and survive as long as you can against endless enemies, as only in death does duty end.

For our dedicated community, Siege Mode will be playable on the Public Test Server (PC/Steam) starting June 4. More details about the mode are coming in the next Community Update.

Focus Entertainment press release

Siege mode arrives in Patch 8 for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 on June 26th.

Reinforcements en route

Along with the above new mode, and as you can see in the trailer, there’s a new Space Marine Chapter coming to Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, along with some cosmetics for an already existing one. We’re referring to the White Scars and Blood Angels there, with all of the above dropping in that mentioned Patch 8 on June 26th.

• The White Scars Chapter Pack will include a new Champion skin for the Assault class; three exclusive White Scars–inspired weapon skins for the Occulus Bolt Carbine, Stalker Bolt Rifle, and Combat Knife; and a host of cosmetic options and heraldry markings for their Successor Chapters.
• The Blood Angels Cosmetic Pack will provide a number of new armor pieces to be equipped on any of the game’s playable classes, in addition to heraldry markings celebrating eight of the Blood Angels’ Successor Chapters.

Focus Entertainment press release

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Original patch

It’s kind of funny that the games on this new Sonic collection were all originally released on a console that didn’t require patches or fixes of any kind. Yes, I know that the SO games all have been altered a bit, but still, here we are in the modern age and of course something needs to be seen to post-launch.

In the case of Sonic Origins, that was actually quite a few things. For someone who hasn’t played the set of games, it sounds like it might have been some pretty major stuff too. And I say “might have been” since Sega has released a patch to take care of things, and get the title up to snuff for patient fans.

Among other things, patch 1.04 includes fixes for:

• Game crashing issues
• Issues with Tails’ AI
• Sound bugs
• Menu and controller issues
• Museum miscredits
• Data saving issues

While that seems like the bulk of what’s covered, you can read more on the official page for the game here. Featuring “remastered visuals, added features, bonus characters, new content and more”, Sonic Origins is out now on Xbox and PlayStation platforms, as well as the Switch and PC.

While I have yet to try it, this kind of makes me want to pick up a copy. How ’bout you?

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Reopening the Gate

Two pretty big new inclusions highlight the sixth patch for Larian’s Baldur’s Gate III, the newest and long awaited entry in the RPG series. One delivers a new class to play as, while the other gives gamers even more of a quest, into a whole new area.

Starting with the class though, you’re going to get to cast some spells, as it’s the Sorcerer. While this new class delivers a lot of what you might imagine, they also have a signature ability called Metamagic.

With it, you can increase a spell’s range, duration, or hit two enemies simultaneously, among other powerful variations — making you a powerful and unpredictable presence in battle. Metamagic can be used alongside other casters for devastating effects, and it’s great fun in online co-op multiplayer!

Larian

Castables include:

• Horrific Visage: A new Tadpole Action that makes your enemy bleed and allows the Sorcerer to leech a Sorcery Point off of them.
• Enlarge/Reduce: This new spell alters a character’s size, affecting their physical stats in the process.
• Chromatic Orb: A powerful new single-target nuke that allows Sorcerers to hurl a sphere of energy at their foes.
• Cloud of Daggers: This spell protects the caster, surrounding them in a cloud of flying daggers.
• Crown of Madness: As the name suggests, this spell sends an enemy mad, and can cause them to attack their nearby allies.

Along with the class itself, there are also a pair of sub-classes. As you’ll see, they’re pretty unique too, especially for a D&D game.

• Wild Magic: Wild Magic Sorcerers embrace chaos and chance, using their Tides of Chaos ability to manipulate the forces of fate. This ability allows them to gain advantage on attack rolls, ability checks, or saving throws, boosting their powers during combat. In turn, a Wild Magic Sorcerer can find themselves on the receiving end of a potential random effect. Examples include putting everyone around you on fire, gaining teleport as a bonus action or summoning a hostile mephit!
• Draconic Bloodline: Draconic Bloodline Sorcerers possess magical abilities passed down through their dragon ancestry. Their faces etched with colored scales, they wield powers that correspond to the dragon they descend from. A Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer whose blood has mingled with a Red Dragon will gain additional benefits for fire spells, while dragon ancestors of other color-types can offer abilities relating to Acid, Lightning, Cold, and Poison. Additionally, this subclass receives an extra hit point with every level gained, making them powerful adversaries.

More to explore

As mentioned, and on top of all that the new class delivers, Larian is also bringing Grymforge to Baldur’s Gate III. An ancient, massive fortress, Grymforge will reportedly provide hours more exploration and action for BG3 players.

Grymforge. A name all but forgotten, but for those taught to fear it. This ancient fortress lurks where the shadows of the Underdark grow bleakest, and where the rivers of magma run hottest. The past and present collide within these sinister corridors, exposing old secrets to new masters, and making harsh demands on all who dare journey there.

Gather your party and cross the Ebonlake to Grymforge. Face new challengers and new choices, each more intriguing than the last. But come prepared: in halls and chambers dark as these, you can’t trust just anyone. You’ve reached the crossroads, adventurer. Which path will you take?

Larian

Along with all of that too, there are new weapons, and a monster graphics overhaul included. So if you’ve been playing Baldur’s Gate III, now’s the time to dive back in.

Baldur’s Gate III is out now on the PC, in Early Access form, and patch 6 is live and ready for play.

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Seasonal patching

We reviewed Ary and the Secret of Seasons just last week, and found it to be solid in most every way excepting the story and quite a few bugs. Well, this week one of those things gets patched right up.

The dev teams at eXiin and Fishing Cactus have apparently been hard at work on the game, post launch. And the result is a beefy patch that fills in more than a couple of gaps.

Included in the patch, which is live now on the PC, is:

• Added support for keyboard and controller remapping
• Added support for inverting X axis
• New tutorial for using the Summer Season added to the Muscari boss fight
• Added additional save slots and save backup slot
• Added ability to disable specific side quests from displaying
• Landmarks now turn grey on the map after discovery
• Fixed Ary becoming invisible after death and cutscenes
• Fixed softlock after receiving quest ‘We Need a Hero’ in the Dome of Seasons
• Fixed softlock during the Winter Temple boss fight where the player would spawn too far away from the boss to complete the chase sequence
• Main quest no longer resets after dying to traps during the Ostara Mines chase sequence
• Disabled fast travel in temples to prevent softlock on reentering
• Prevented Muscari from attacking during boss fight while alert box is open
• Fixed softlock caused by entering the Spring Temple before completing the Autumn Temple
• Added music to the end of the Muscari boss fight
• Removed double jump boots and slingshot from store to fix main quest progression issues
• Fixed water disappearing in Ostara City on very low graphic settings
• Chest in Summer Temple now contains more than 0 coins
• Fixed graphical glitch where grass was semi-transparent in winter on some hardware configurations
• Fixed graphical glitch where the Lilypad hat was semi transparent in winter
• Slingshot now disabled while climbing
• Player can no longer change costumes while not idle
• Some German translations fixed (thanks John!)
• Fixed Muscari mace remaining in inventory after completing Ostara Mines
• Fixed unequipped hat reappearing in cutscenes
• Pull help notification no longer shows up while swimming
• Ary no longer appears with long hair during cutscenes
• Boss health bar no longer stays around after defeating boss

You’ll note this is just for the PC version of Ary. Not to worry if you’ve been waiting for similar help on the console editions though, as the patch will be migrating over there soon.

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Younger blood

As Wolf games go, Wolfenstein Youngblood was not quite the blockbusters FPS that you’d expect from the series. Nonetheless, it was a solid game in its own right. It’s also a game that kind of fills in the gap between part 2 and the surely forthcoming part 3.

Youngblood forwards time from the 60s era of the original game to the 80s. Though, as you might’ve figured, it’s hardly the 80s that you know and love. The Wolf universe might have a liberated US, but that’s about it, as enemy forces still run roughshod over the whole of Europe, and really the rest of the world.

Of course, that’s where Youngblood sends players, but not as an older version of series hero BJ, but instead as his twin daughters. Made with a focus on co-op play, Youngblood is also perfectly playable as a single player affair, and a pretty fun time aside from some slight issues.

Bethesda has been dutifully updating the game post-launch too, with a series of additions. The latest patch adds in a bunch of fresh elements, including new bad guys to combat, new powers to use, and more.

Have a peek at what’s new:

• New Mission: Treasure Hunt – Studying the artifacts from Lab X has revealed the location of a second Da’at Yichud chamber. The Nazis who have already staked their claim in the chamber have been unable to unlock its secrets, maybe a couple Nazi hunting badasses can unlock the mysteries inside? This is an endgame mission with a suggested player level of 40, so players can expect a challenge!
• New Mission Type: Treasure Maps – Once you tackle the Treasure Hunt mission, players will unlock the ability to see Da’at Yichud Artifacts within the game world. Locating a number of maps scattered about will unveil the location of an artifact, granting players a number of rewards.
• New Abilities – Whether you take the new Silent Killer ability to stealthily slip back into cover after an assassination or the Resilience ability to be able to shirk off explosive damage, 1.0.7 brings players several new abilities to work into their playstyle.
• New Enemy Types – Take on the new teleporting Wurmlochsoldat, turret-mounted Turmhund, and the Electrodrohne Tesla drone while you search for the newly revealed Da’at Yichud chamber.

Patch 1.0.7 is live now for all versions of Wolfenstein Youngblood. You can check out the full notes on it here.

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Smooth Torment

Torment, if you’re unaware, is a spiritual successor to the classic PCRPG Planescape: Torment. It’s also a pretty great role-player, doing huge numbers on Kickstarter before landing at retail to some very nice reviews. You can check out our own thoughts on the game here.

If you’ve been playing the game since it hit last month, then you’re about to have an even better time of things.

“Since the release of Torment: Tides of Numenera, we’ve been working extremely hard to iron out the bugs our community and media reported. We’re pleased to announce that we’ve eliminated a lot of bugs and optimised the game even further on all platforms and I’m sure that it will allow our fans to enjoy the game even more.” – said Brian Fargo, inXile CEO

So what’s new in particular? Lots, actually, including performance upgrades and fixes to some quests in the campaign. Here’s the full list of what’s been added/fixed:

• Fixes many freezes that would happen in various situations.
• Numerous performance optimizations.
• Addendum text now appears on item descriptions. Dozens of items have more detailed descriptions depending on your lore skills and other factors.
• Fixes an issue that was preventing party members from bantering. Party members should now be much more talkative.
• Updates crisis sequences to rebalance a number of enemies. In certain situations, it will make combat proceed more quickly.
• Numerous fixes and improvements to movement grid, pathing, and AI. This should prevent issues where the game would hang in combat.
• Several quest and conversation fixes.
• Inspiring Presence and other looping sound effects have been reduced or removed.

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Everyone knows the story by now; the PC edition of Batman: Arkham Knight was massively borked when it arrived on the platform this past Summer. The game was subsequently pulled from Steam and other retailers and the promise was made that a patch that would fix everything wrong was on the way.

Several reassurances that it was still coming later, and we finally got it… for a while. Apparently, some gamers were fooling around with the settings on the game’s Steam listing (imagine that) and somehow enabled beta mode. This allowed for the download of a previously unavailable patch that actually did take care of a bunch of issues.

Gaming site Kotaku reports that gamers had a much better time of playing, and experienced vastly improved frame rates (50 to 60+) and brand new graphics options. Sadly, another patch was issued that cancelled everything out (though some can still play for some reason), but this is a terrific sign that Warner Bros and Rocksteady are still very hard at work on the title, and look to be getting it right. Finally.

Source: Kotaku

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Today sees the launch of a new patch for Blizzard’s kill and loot fest, Diablo III, and it’s available to all versions of the game right now.

Patch 2.3.0 contains a brand new area called ‘Ruins Of Seschelon’, which is an area only available to play in Adventure Mode, and introduces an item called Kanai’s Cube, which unlocks a new artisan in town with new options for gear upgrades.

In addition, there have been a bunch of changes to crafting, Adventure Mode itself and the Nephalem Rifts.  You can check out full details of all the changes in the video below.

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Of course, the new stuff that you’ll actually be able to see and use come alongside the expected list of tweaks, bug fixes, and stability fixes. The first part of that, on it’s own, is way more than enough to cover here, but I will provide a link to the full patch notes if you’re totally interested in the micro details (who wouldn’t be?! -ed).

If you’re looking for hardware, the developer has added two new ships. The Fer-de-Lance, which looks totally bad ass, along with the Vulture. The Fer-de-Lance is a Heavy Fighter, and the Vulture is a Fighter class. Based on appearance alone, I almost know I want a Fer-de-Lance! Frontier has also re-arranged the communications interface, which is indeed wonderful news because it felt fairly clunky beforehand.

Module get knocked out? Now you have a chance to reboot that finicky thing, something I am looking forward to seeing first hand in game. I myself have just finished patching and am eager to hop back into this one to see what these changes do for things.

Full patch notes can be found here. The total download size is 3.67GB though, so you may want to leave it running in the background while you do something else! See you in space commanders!

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