We’re still scratching our heads as to why 2010’s Red Dead Redemption never appeared on PC, but at least those heads now have cowboy hats on them. Red Dead Redemption 2 arrived on PC this week, and naturally there’s lots to talk about, along with topics about Diablo 4, Planet Zoo, The Witcher series, and more.
Here are the biggest PC gaming stories of the week:
Naturally everyone is wondering: can I run RDR2? And can I run it well? Nvidia revealed that Rockstar’s recommended specs were a bit too optimistic for the kind of performance you’re probably looking for. As for those who already have RDR2 on PC, it hasn’t been an especially smooth ride. There have been plenty of bugs and crashes, plus some solutions on how to fix them. As for the Rockstar launcher, it’s been the source of many crashing problems as well.
The Witcher novels are fantasy, and so are the games based on them. The Netflix series, however, is bending more toward horror. “I can honestly say we’re not fantastical. I mean, it’s fantastical but in a grounded horror sense,” said visual effects supervisor Julian Parry.
Our resident cowpoke James is reviewing Red Dead Redemption 2 for us, and that review will be along next week. In the meantime he’s been kicking the wagon wheels, enjoying the visuals, and considers the story Rockstar’s best yet. He’s also finding the mission structure a bit lacking, at least so far. We eagerly await his verdict.
One the one hand, you shouldn’t give movie stars free reign to do whatever they want. On the other, who could say no to Keanu Reeves? He seems great. Reeves was apparently enjoying the work on Cyberpunk 2077 so much he lobbied his character into a much larger role than was originally planned. Hopefully his passion will pay off.
The Chinese government has imposed restrictions on gamers. Minors are banned from playing online games between 10 pm and 8 am, and kids under 18 will be restricted to 90 minutes of online gaming during the week. This is supposedly to curb ‘game addiction,’ but keeping its people off the internet is nothing new for the Chinese government.
Always be wary when a mega-corporation claims it’s doing something for the benefits of its employees. But this does sound promising: Microsoft Japan experimented with a four-day work week and the results seem to be positive for everyone. I’m in! If we had a four-day work week here at PC Gamer I’d have finished this news roundup on Thursday and would be lying on my couch by now.
Around the office
Planet Zoo also arrived this week, and Rachel correctly guessed it would be fun to remove all the enclosures and let the animals run free. Oddly enough, it was the tortoises who came the closest to finding the exit. We’ve also got a review of Planet Zoo and some tips for getting started.
We’re learning more and more about Diablo 4. Tyler and James had a chat about whether or not Diablo 4 is genuinely ‘dark’ or if it will just Diablo 3 again in a different skin. Joanna, meanwhile, took a deep dive into the Diablo 4 trailer and pulled out all the interesting bits of lore, history, and biblical references she found.
Wes had a productive chat with Obsidian’s Tim Cain, bringing to light the existence of several Easter eggs in The Outer Worlds that you probably didn’t realize were Easter eggs because they are solely based on inside jokes about Cain’s hatred of white chocolate. And my favorite robot, SAM, was also discussed.
Meanwhile, having not yet played RDR2’s singleplayer mode, I don’t really know what the hell I’m doing in Red Dead Online. But I’m having fun with my incredibly unlucky cowboy and enjoying the reactions of AI characters when I abruptly burst through doors and startle them.
Tyler also played some of Hearthstone’s new Battlegrounds mode, and was nice enough to explain to the rest of us how it actually works. Thanks, Tyler!
And finally, Tyler, James, and Joanna got together to talk Diablo 4, Red Dead Redemption 2, Overwatch 2, and lots more on this week’s episode of the PC Gamer show. Have a great weekend!
[“source=pcgamer”]
