TheAssassin’s Creedfranchise has a few defining pieces of iconography. One of those is the classic Assassin robes, often appearing in a white color scheme and ending in a peaked hood. Another isthe Hidden Blade. A focal point of the very firstAssassin’s Creed’s cover art, the Hidden Blade has remained a staple of the franchise, appearing in almost every entry as the primary tool of its respective Assassin protagonist.Assassin’s Creed Shadowsis no different....

The PC components market has been disrupted by new releases fromNvidiaand AMD, namely theRTX 5000 seriesand theRX 9070XT. We have yet to see these GPUs in mainstream gaming laptops, but that shouldn’t stop you from buying the last generation’s hardware, which is heavily discounted nowadays. Once these laptops with the latest GPUs are released, they will be expensive and maybe even hard to come by. If you don’t want to wait a fair bit and spend top dollar on the latest and greatest tech, then snagging something a bit older yet capable is a wiser choice....

Summary Space has always been a vast, mysterious frontier, full ofadventure and discovery. Over the years, the gaming industry has seen a growing trend in featuring strong, complex female astronauts who take on roles traditionally reserved for their male counterparts. These characters, often portrayed as brave, resourceful, and multidimensional, offer a fresh perspective on the world of space exploration. Whether navigating the unknown reaches of space or overcoming personal challenges, these female astronauts highlight different aspects of heroism in the cosmos....

Summary There are many different types of creatures which have been villainized in film over the years, and ghosts are definitely one of them. The supernatural is often viewed with fear by most of the public, and this has meant that they are usually thought of as evil creatures. However, this isn’t always the case with cinematic representations of ghosts. Although there has beensomething of a stigma against ghosts for many years, there have also been cases that work against the norm....

Summary At the time of writing,Mechwarrior 5: Clans was the latest installment of the long-runningMechwarriorfranchise. Based on theBattleTech sci-fi universe, the game immerses the player into a deadly set of combat missions that will require skill and careful thought to survive. There are some truly greatmechs that can be customizedin this game, many of which have been with the franchise for a long time. And as with allMechwarriorgames, choosing the right mech for an engagement is crucial, as each has strengths and weaknesses....

Summary The online video game world has transformed immensely over time, fromunforgettable co-op experiences in the early daysto competitive matches that lead to globally recognized tournaments for the whole world to see. When it comes to multiplayer titles, developers have consistently played around with increasing player counts to new heights, adding an insane amount of action, chaos, and fun. Competitive shooters like to keep things fairly standard, with server sizes staying below 15 players for the most part, but some game titles decided to shatter the limits entirely, allowing for battlefields to be comprised of entire army platoons worth of players and for large party sizes to explore and take on unknown threats as a mighty group of adventurers and fighters....

Summary With nine realms of lore and more spilled tea between the gods to fill all the cups of Valhalla, Norse mythology is a potent source of inspiration for any kind of story, video games included. Stories of glorious war sagas, primordial beasts, and the tangled threads of prophecies have inspired some of the finest virtual worlds known to gamers. With so many genres and ways to interpret the old Nordic myths, gamers get to experience the full spectrum of Norse legend in staggering multiplicity....

Summary Attempting to keep one or more video game characters alive in a harsh environment is thrilling, testing a player’s mettle from the comfort of their home. However, it can be incredibly stress-inducing, especially when hours, days, or months of hard work are hanging by a thread andcould be lost in an instant. Sometimes, it’s nice to play with fewer stakes on the line and less imminent danger, and the likes ofMinecraft,Project Zomboid,and many other survival games offer peaceful modes where players are free to build and thrive with few or no hostile threats....

Quick Links The climacticBlack Ops 6andWarzoneSeason 2 saw the arrival of heaps of content to enjoy, from the return of fan-favorite maps like Grind for Multiplayer to the debut of The Tomb for Zombies.Additional armaments also arrivedwith both the launch and mid-season updates, each shaping the meta for the seasons to come. However, while players may still be grinding through everything Season 2 has to offer, its final days are approaching, paving the way for Season 3....

Quick Links There are many outfits players can craft inInfinity Nikki. Some are rewarded through completing certain quests, while others are obtained by unlocking treasure chests scattered around Miraland. This means there are a lot of free outfits available to collect simply for playing the game. Although, of course, the arguably better sets exist on the gacha banner, which requires Diamond to get. TheCarnival Ode outfit inInfinity Nikkican be crafted only after players have collected all the required sketches....

Summary Thousands ofCivilization VIIplayers have been given access to someupcomingCiv 7DLCthree weeks ahead of schedule. Unfortunately for those playing the game on PC, Switch, and Xbox, the mistake only seems to have affected the PS5 version of the game, with some of those who benefited from the blunder taking to the internet to share their surprise about the accidental content drop. Update 1.1.0 was only supposed to unlock Part 1 of the Crossroads of the Worlds DLC, which adds Ada Lovelace, Great Britain, and Carthage toCivilization VII, with Part 2 not scheduled for release until March 25....

Summary Daredevil: Born Again’slatest episode brought back a surprising MCU character — Jack Duquesne, also known as the Swordsman. The character’s return marks a major moment for the ongoing Disney+ series as it nears the end of its first season, with only three episodes left. Played byBetter Call Saul’s Tony Dalton, Jack Duquesne was first (and last) seen four years ago inHawkeye. His arrival inDaredevil: Born Againisn’t just some Easter egg or minor cameo....

It’s not too great a stretch to say thatDark Soulsis one of the most culturally significant gaming franchises of all time. Aside from proving that there’s still a healthy market for challenging and complex interactive experiences, theDark Soulsgames helped to usher in a new golden eraof third-person action-RPGs, influencing everything fromStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderto the newGod of Wargames. It also helped developer FromSoftware skyrocket in popularity, positioning it as perhaps the most prestigious and consistent game studio working today....