I almost can’t believe it, but Frostpunk 2 looks even more grim and bleak than the original game-

Survival city builder Frostpunk 2 takes place 30 years after the massive blizzard that capped off the original game’s campaign, but even though humanity has somehow survived the frozen planet for decades, things haven’t gotten any easier. If anything, the situation looks more bleak, dire, and desperate than ever.

And speaking of bleak news: despite crossing our frozen fingers that Frostpunk 2 would release this year, it’s actually coming out in 2024. Darn it! I was really hoping we’d get to dive back into the snowy world this year.

In the new Frostpunk 2 cinematic trailer (above) shown at today’s PC Gaming Show we’re given a look at the city, now powered by oil instead of coal, as it grows and evolves over the years. But that evolution is a violent one, and just like the original Frostpunk there’s much more to worry about than just the frigid temperatures and blinding snow. The true threat is coming from inside the city’s walls.

“The City is growing its potential, but be aware that all great civilizations fell under the conflicts between people, and that someone’s utopia can become a dystopia for others,” Jakub Stokalski, Frostpunk 2’s co-director, told PC Game…

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I will never click another sponsored link on Google again-

There’s an increasingly concerning phenomenon happening one the web right now, one that’s seeing scammers buying up top ad spots on Google in order to spread malicious code. Often impersonating well known apps such as WhatsApp, they can blend seamlessly with harmless ads. Unless you know the exact URL of the app you’re trying to download, you could find yourself downloading something harmful.

We’ve been watching phishing tactics evolve over the years, and while buying ads to impersonate free and open-source apps isn’t a new method for would-be scammers, it seems to have increased along with the trend in NFT and cryptocurrency investments going on all over the internet. 

When there’s billion-dollar phish to be caught, you can bet they’re baiting that area up good. Just this week, in fact, NFT God’s ‘entire digital livelihood’ was drained after clicking an official-looking OBS link.

Even hardware manufacturers have been subject to this kind of mimicry, such as the fake AMD driver download link found on Google. A mirror EVGA site was spotted on Google late last year, too.

In looking into the happenings, Bleeping Computer found that a disturbing…

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Mass Effect Legendary Edition, the exceptional 4K remaster of the original trilogy that we said ‘looks great’ and ‘absolutely flies on modern hardware’, is now 90% off-

The original Mass Effect trilogy remains, to this day, an unparalleled sci-fi action RPG experience. But that isn’t surprising considering that Mass Effect was the brainchild of BioWare, the legendary studio that had previously made such PC gaming hits as Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

So when the folks responsible for that landmark trilogy spent years lovingly remastering all three games and re-releasing them as the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, a package that included texture, lighting and 4K resolution upgrades, as well as control improvements, bug fixes, and gameplay enhancements, it became the definitive way to play the masterpieces.

So when I saw that the Mass Effect Legendary Edition is currently 90% off—taking its price down to $5.99 in the US and £4.99 in the UK—I thought I would bring it to the PC gaming community’s attention. I’ve played all three remasters, having bought the Legendary Edition at launch, and can confirm that this is the best way to spend a fiver I’ve seen all year. It’s literally hundreds of hours of top-class gaming for very little spend.

As Alan Dexter details in ou…

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Musician organises a 200-person musical cover of Final Fantasy 14’s greatest hits for its 10th anniversary, and yes, La Hee is in there-

Music’s at the heart of Final Fantasy 14—the game brims with bangers, sure, but it’s also an irreplaceable part of the game’s story. 

I’ve teared up to the hopeful swells of Dynamis while playing Endwalker, been pumped up by the guitar riffs of Shadowbringers during its roaring climax. Countless leitmotifs course through the game’s soundscape like blood runs through a body’s veins. Don’t just take my word for it, though. Here’s over 200 musicians—organised by youtuber Husky by the Geek—playing the game’s greatest hits for 10 solid minutes.

This medley is a journey through each expansion, kicking off with the ripping Primal themes from A Realm Reborn before swooping into Heavensward, its mighty chanting replaced with electric guitar. “Brute Justice”—a love letter to Super Sentai opening themes—is blasted triumphantly by a guy somehow playing a trumpet through a full-body morph suit. 

The vocals kick in near the end for a victory lap of Endwalker tunes—With Hearts Aligned, Footfalls, and Scream. It’s a crash-course in Final Fantasy 14’s musical history and a love letter all in one.

The medley also has a great li…

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My ultimate childhood Flash game just got a Steam release-

If you grew up in the 2000s like myself, you’ll have ploughed through countless Flash games during school hours. The Impossible Quiz, Henry Stickman, Line Rider—all games that kept me and my friends entertained instead of, y’know, doing school work. It’s any wonder that those computers didn’t start blocking Flash websites sooner.

But there was one series of Flash games that I’d play even outside of school hours. The Papa Louie games have a huge place in my heart and that of my friends. The time management sim asks you to juggle various orders from ever-more demanding customers and took me across all kinds of cuisines: Papa’s Burgeria, Papa’s Pizzeria, Papa’s Taco Mia, you get the gist. They sort of died on PC when Flash met its demise, migrating over to mobile. Until now. 

Papa’s Freezeria, the ice cream-themed game in Flipline Studio’s long-running series, now has a permanent home on Steam. Turns out Flipline was teasing its arrival for a few weeks, though I had no idea until this very accurate Reddit post. It’s a more beefed-up version of the original, offering more ingredients, new customers and new features like customer outfits and daily specials.

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Man up all night playing Starfield saves his family from an apartment fire-

“Starfield saved me and my family’s life” reads the title of a Reddit post by u/tidyckilla—complete with picture of a blazing fire overcoming an apartment complex. What at first sounds hyperbolic turns out to be completely true, as one man excited for Starfield since the earliest trademark filing rumors was awake on a gaming binge when a rapidly-spreading fire threatened his home.

“On the night of august 31st I decided to stay up and play as long as possible to experience this new universe. At 2:26 in the morning, while playing the game, I heard an explosion from my downstairs neighbors apartment. I paused my game to see what was happen;when [sic] I opened the door I saw flames rising up our stairwell to our apartment,” said tidyckilla.

“I immediately got my wife and cat, rushing us to safety with only minor burns. If I hadn’t been up bingeing Starfield I would have been asleep and we would have all died to smoke inhalation. I want to thank this game from saving my family and me from a horrible fate,” the post continues.

If this still sounds hyperbolic to you, it’s a very likely scenario. Tidyckilla says the explosion was below them, and his wife di…

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