Plus new LEGO racing game and highlights from the Future Games Show Spring Showcase
NEWS THIS WEEK
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KYLE: Hi I’m Kyle Pauletto
FIONA: and I’m Fiona Bartholomaeus
KYLE: Welcome to Walkthrough, SIFTER’s weekly recap on the biggest news in video games.
FIONA: This week Counter Strike 2 announced, there’s a brand new Lego racing game on the way, and the big announcements for the Future Games Show
Here is the news for Sunday 26th of March. Let’s go!
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KYLE: Though it was leakier than a colander , Valve has shared what they’ve been cooking up for Counter-Strike 2, which will launch later this year with upgraded maps, graphics and new content.
Map-wise, some got total makeovers, while others stayed mostly the same but with improved models and lighting. Mirage seems untouched, Nuke has some fancy new lighting effects, and Overpass has been given a complete revamp using new tools that’ll be available to the community.
Valve are also promoting a new technology called sub-tick updates which hopefully leads to more responsive moment-to-moment gameplay.
Plus, all your CS:GO skins are coming along for the ride, looking better than ever in the new engine.
But the focus of this update is the move to the Source 2 engine, which should really boost the game's performance.
There is still plenty we don’t know, but we’ll keep you posted here on Walkthrough as more information is revealed.
FIONA: I love how the series is still getting new content years later and these definitely look like they will entice new fans, while keeping old fans happy.
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FIONA: Speaking of leaks there is a new LEGO game heading to the track , LEGO 2K Drive
LEGO 2K Drive is an open-world driving adventure game that features both single and multiplayer, different biomes, races, minigames, challenges and even a story.
Plus in good old lego fashion, there’s heaps of customization allowing players to build their own custom vehicles from over 1000 unique LEGO pieces.
It seems like this is LEGO’s answer to both Mario Kart and Forza Horizon and I can’t wait to see what weird and wonderful cars people build.
It’ll be out on basically everything on May 19.
KYLE: Arcade racers are a tough genre to break into, with Mario Kart pretty much dominating the space for decades now. But everything Lego touches is generally really fun and well put together, so I have high hopes for this one!
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KYLE: Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man actor Tony Todd, who will be voicing Venom in the planned sequel, may have accidentally shared the release date for Spider-Man 2 early.
It came about when Tony responded to a fan’s tweet saying “Looks like September! Massive publicity coming in August. Commercials start dropping in August so I’m told”
But as of right now, neither Sony nor Insomniac have responded to the rumors or Tony Todd’s tweets.
FIONA: I’m so hyped for this game and cannot wait for the sequel. Here’s hoping the release date is true.
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FIONA: From Software have dropped an update to Elden Ring which brings raytracing to the award-winning RPG.
You can check out the new lighting effects on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC, but advice from players is that you’ll want a beefy computer to handle some of the advanced raytracing features on high resolutions.
It’s bundled with a stack of balance changes which might mean your fist and claw weapons as well as PVP bleed builds might need a rethink.
If you’re the sort of person who loves looking at long lists of percentage changes, we’ve linked the patch details in our show notes.
KYLE: Love to see this game still getting attention, and especially love those OP builds getting knocked down a peg. Pesky bleed builds have had it too good for too long I say.
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KYLE: Looking for some new games to get excited about? Well, The Future Games Show Spring Showcase was held this week and was filled to the brim with new trailers and announcements. Here are the ones that stood out to us.
We got a closer look at Witchfire, by Polish studio The Astronauts. It’s a Doom inspired medieval shooter where players will need to mow down enemies using a mix of guns and spells. That’s coming to PC early access this year.
Trickjump games revealed new footage of their upcoming cyberpunk themed roguelite Arcrunner. Players can pick one of three futuristic classes as they battle to shut down a rogue AI. Very keen to check this one out when it releases next month.
Creative Assembly showed off some gameplay of the zero gravity gunfight mode in their upcoming team-heist title Hyena.
We got a release window and deep dive into the upcoming Deck Nine game, The Expanse: A Telltale Series, coming later this year.
FIONA: We also got a fantastic looking trailer for Decarnation. It’s a horror puzzle adventure game with a super cute and incredibly creepy pixel-art style. That's out on PC and Switch in May.
We got more details and gameplay footage of The Axis Unseen, a new ‘heavy metal horror’ game. It’s got a blitzing soundtrack from Clifford Meyer of post-metal band ISIS and promises to have a mix of open-world exploration and monster-hunting.
Aussie developers ToyBox Games Studios showed off gameplay and story footage for the upcoming Primordial Legends: Hollow Hero, which features a wombat warrior battling their way through a colorful fantasy world.
And last up was Paranormal Tales, a terrifying horror title inspired by Hideo Kojima’s short lived Silent Hill teaser P.T. This one is a massive nope from me - it looks terrifying, but should have horror fans very excited.
That’s just scratching the surface of everything that was announced, so be sure to check out the whole showcase to find out more.
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KYLE: That’s it for the big headlines, here’s what’s coming out this week
FIONA: What do Danny Glover, Chuck Norris, Vanilla Ice, and Danny Trejo have in common? They’re all starring in the new first person shooter Crime Boss: Rockay City. It’s a GTA inspired Payday clone, where players have to plan and pull off various heists to become the ultimate crime lord. It’s out on PC on the 28th.
KYLE: The Last of Us Part 1 is coming to PC on Tuesday. If you’ve wanted an excuse to replay the game after the first season aired on HBO, well here you go.
FIONA: Out on the 29th is Innchanted, by Australian developers DragonBear Studios. Get together with some mates and work together to run a magical inn in this Overcooked inspired arcade sim. It’s out on PC this Wednesday.
KYLE: And another fantastic looking indie game out this week is Dredge. It’s a fishing sim mixed with creepy cosmic horror. It’s coming to all platforms on the 30th, and you can read Gianni’s full review on our website sifter.com.au right now.
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KYLE: This has been Walkthrough by Sifter, my name is Kyle Pauletto
FIONA: And my name is Fiona Bartholomaeus. Thank you so much for listening.
KYLE: Walkthrough is our recap of the news but if you want to catch up on all of SIFTER’s stories we’ve got a fancy newsletter. It’s an easy way to make sure you don’t miss any of our interviews or reviews and it’s out every fortnight. Head to sifter.com.au/newsletter to subscribe, that’s sifter.com.au/newsletter
FIONA: SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto, myself, Daniel Ang & Adam Christou. Mitch Loh is Senior Producer who edited this episode and Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer.
KYLE: Thanks to Brian Fairbanks from Salty Dog Sounds for composing the Walkthrough theme tune.
Thanks to both Audio Technica Australia and Omny Studio for their support of SIFTER’s three podcasts.
FIONA: Thanks again for listening, we’ll be back with more news next Sunday.
