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How do we save the open world? is an irregular series about the state of open world games and associated ideas about exploration, curiosity and discovery. During a random dictionary delve last week I learned that “explore” once meant to cry out. It comes from an old Latin word formed from the prefix “ex-“, describing outwardness, and “plorare”, meaning to cry or weep. Compare “implore” – to beg, cry for something – and “deplore” – to berate, ‘cry of’ something or somebody. The OED explains (“ex + “planō”, meaning to level off, flatten for understanding) that “explore” may…
Everything about Crimson Desert screamed ‘GOTY contender,’ but Pearl Abyss’ exciting new RPG has fallen short of expectations with many of the critics – our own Paul Kelly included. Reacting to this disappointing turn of events, investors have started dumping stock in the developer-publisher, rubbing salt in the wound. Crimson Desert first captivated me with the promise of total freedom; a sprawling sandbox RPG filled with magic and mystery, populated with stunning scenery. Honestly, I’ve been more excited about it than GTA 6. When the reviews started rolling in, though, I felt the light begin to leave my eyes. Currently…
Bethesda have followed up being one of the studios gushing about Nvidia’s face yassifying DLSS 5 tech by revealing two updates coming to Starfield. Dubbed Free Lanes and Terran Armada, the former’s a free update overhauling the likes of ship travel, while the latter’s a second story DLC. Both are set to arrive on April 7th.
Manor Lords update six has arrived, bringing with it a new location to settle, and an increased emphasis on nurturing the families in your town. Slavic Magic and Hooded Horse’s lush medieval strategy game has been bulked up once again, with big changes to the way housing works at the top of the list. In case you’ve not been keeping up with beta testing, the developer has introduced a new burgage plot level that now sits at rank three, pushing the old tier-three design upwards to level four. You’ll need to finish this upgrade before you’re able to make use…
A new update for Satisfactory is here! Well, for those of you that play on the Experimental build that is, meaning this update, version 1.2, is still technically a work in progress. It’s a fairly beefy one too, with plenty of additions and tweaks so I’ll just get with explaining it all. First up, in the developer’s own words, “rain is back!” It is also, apparently, better now, with improvements like some fancier visual effects, i.e. buildings and and your suit actually looking wet, as well as snazzier wind, fog, and several variants of rain density, thunder, “and…
Valve is usually careful about making sweeping changes to Counter-Strike 2, and it’s not difficult to see why. I’m old enough to remember when CS: Source randomly received an update that introduced dynamic weapon pricing, a change that was so divisive that it was rolled back only a few months later. Then there was the R8 Revolver debacle in CS:GO which temporarily became the best weapon in the game, until Valve was forced to nerf it into oblivion. Well, it looks like CS2 may have had its first meta-defining moment with the Guns, Guides, and Games update. In Counter-Strike, ammunition…
Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ launch was accompanied by lots of baggage, but one of the open-world game’s lead developers is just happy that it came out as is all things considered.At an Assassin’s Creed Shadows anniversary event attended by GamesRadar+, art director Thierry Dansereau expressed pride at the stealth game’s launch. “I’m proud that we shipped the game,” he says.Dansereau then mentions that he visited DICE, the EA studio behind Battlefield and Star Wars: Battlefront, not too long ago and the prevalent attitude among most developers was that “shipping a game nowadays is a small miracle.” You may like “All of…
Build a Rocket Boy, developers of MindsEye, and the publishing arm of Hitman studio IO Interactive have announced the end of their publishing marriage on the ill-fated action game. Build a Rocket Boy’ll be flying solo on MindsEye from here on out, with a planned crossover between it and Hitman having been now officially nixed after a while in awkward limbo.
Last year, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 was a resounding reminder of the way the best open-world games can truly immerse you in not only a place, but also a point in time. Kinstrife, a new, non-linear medieval adventure from former Mount and Blade modders, aims to deliver that similar sense of truly living in the world it presents. As a knight errant in the tumult and turmoil of 13th-century Germany, you set out with just your trusty sword by your side, gradually building up your reputation, wealth, and followers as you write your name in the history books. Kinstrife comes…
Palworld’s head of publishing and communications, John Buckley, otherwise known as Bucky online, thinks AAA companies will probably borrow more ideas from survival crafting games very soon and reckons it’s about time before one of them tries to make another AAA survival game again.”I think there’s an exciting future in survival crafting, and I think we’re going to see more and more people start to kind of borrow elements from it,” Buckley says in an interview with GamesRadar+ at GDC 2026. “And I think we’re a few years away from someone attempting a AAA survival crafting game. I think it’s…