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Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Enhanced Arrives This August

by admin June 25, 2025

Last month, it was announced that an enhanced version of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was making its debut on PlayStation 5 alongside Xbox and PC. We now know this updated edition arrives on August 12, and a new trailer details the improvements for the first time.

Formally dubbed Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Enhanced, the game boasts a new 60 frames per second Performance Mode (unavailable on Series S), an enhanced Photo Mode, developer commentary, and the return of the Dark Rot Challenge Mode from the first Hellblade. You can read more about each feature in this Xbox Wire post. Additionally, the game will become Steam Deck verified at launch.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Enhanced will arrive as a free update for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox on PC, and Steam. The Standard Edition of the PS5 version can be purchased for $49.99.

There will also be a Deluxe Edition for $69.99 that includes a PS5-optimized version of the first game, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, along with its original soundtrack. Those who own the PS4 version of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice can upgrade to the PS5 version for free.

For more on Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, you can read our original review here.

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June 25, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Stalker 2’s latest patch finally fixes A-Life, arrives alongside 700GB of official modding tools

by admin June 25, 2025

It’s taken a while to get it sorted, but developer GSC Game World has finally managed to fix Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl’s wonky A-Life system as part of the post-apocalyptic shooter’s latest massive update, meaning players can now expect a bit more life to their wasteland adventure as NPCs pursue their own goals and live their lives. Oh, and official modding tools have arrived too, but you might need to delete a game or two to install them.

Starting with A-Life, it’s been the beating heart (or possibly the brain) of the Stalker series since its debut in 2007, creating a more dynamic, and more emergent, post-apocalyptic landscape by simulating NPCs – including stalkers, bandits, and mutants – that would move around the world, hunt, fight, and interact even when offscreen. Stalker 2’s version of A-Life was supposed to take things even further, but like much of the game at launch, was pretty broken.

GSC previously explained much of Stalker 2’s A-Life weirdness was down to optimisation hurdles, with the studio ultimately having to significantly reduce the size of the area around players that A-Life worked in order improve performance. Some initial fixes arrived shortly after release, but it’s only now, some seven months later, the system is finally working as intended.

Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl — Guns & Looting Showcase.Watch on YouTube

As per the studio’s latest patch notes, today’s huge 1.5 update – AKA the Guns & Looting update – now simulates life for all characters, and not just those in the player’s view. NPCs will “continue to live their lives and pursue their goals in the Zone until they meet their end”, and can be encountered resting or interacting in different locations. Additionally, players can also meet the same stalkers after some time.

There’s a lot more besides A-Life, though; patch 1.5 introduces new features – players can now experience the Water Electric Tornado anomaly out in the Zone, for instance, and acquire the Kora handgun and Three-Line Rifle – as well as AI and combat improvements, balance adjustments and bug fixes, plus various quality of life additions. That’s alongside the release of official modding tools for Stalker 2, which are currently available via the Epic Games Store. Interested parties might want to brace themselves, though; you’ll need somewhere in the region of 700GB free harddrive space to install them.

Eurogamer, if you’re wondering, gave Stalker 2 three stars, calling it a “mess of bugs and jank that nonetheless stays faithful to the open world survival shooter of yesteryear.”

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June 25, 2025 0 comments

Esports

The COD Pod arrives again, with spicy new Black Ops 7 details

by admin June 18, 2025

Announced at the Xbox Games Showcase 2025, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is certainly looking intense. As a direct sequel to the story laid out in Black Ops 2, I can’t tell you how excited I am. The devs are excited to, and in the new COD Pod that just dropped (Call of Duty Podcast for those unfamiliar), the crew gave us a little more intel on what’s coming in Black Ops 7. A big piece of information: No wallrunning or jetpacks, although the next evolution of Omnimovement will be present. As someone who loved how Modern Warfare III iterated on Modern Warfare II, I can’t wait to see it in action and get it in hand. All the details below!

The Call of Duty Podcast episode this round is not to be missed. In Episode 006, Miles Leslie, Associate Creative Director at Treyarch dives deep into the Black Ops 7 teaser, breaking down hidden details, easter eggs, and cryptic clues — including the ones even the most die-hard fans might’ve missed.Plus, the team answers some burning fan questions about Black Ops 7 — including movement mechanics and a few first-look shots of gameplay.But that’s just the beginning. They then go behind the curtain to explore the high-impact world of Capture and Animation, with an exclusive look at how iconic Finishing Moves and Cinematics are brought to life with Phillip Lozano (Animation Director, Treyarch and Mikal Vega (Performance Capture Director, Treyarch).

Stay tuned to GamingTrend for more Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 news and info!

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June 18, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Clash of Clans: The Epic Raid arrives on Kickstarter June 17th

by admin June 14, 2025

Clash of Clans: The Epic Raid will be live on Kickstarter June 17th:

Maestro Media, in collaboration with mobile game company Supercell, is excited to announce the upcoming launch of Clash of Clans: The Epic Raid on Kickstarter. Created by award-winning designers Eric M. Lang and Ken Gruhl, this immersive new board game brings the Clash of Clans world into a thrilling tabletop format. Players will build their bases, deploy troops, and raid opponents in fast-paced, strategic battles that capture the excitement and energy of the original game.With over 120 billion hours of gameplay worldwide, Clash of Clans is a global phenomenon, and now fans can experience its universe in an entirely new way. Early Kickstarter backers will receive an exclusive Golden Barbarian King miniature!

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June 14, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

Oil rig horror game Still Wakes the Deep is going underwater in a surprise story expansion that arrives next week

by admin June 13, 2025

Still Wakes The Deep: Siren’s Rest | Announcement Trailer – YouTube

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It’s a scientifically proven fact that nothing good ever happens underwater, and that’s especially true in videogames. Subnautica, SOMA, Barotrauma, Iron Lung, the list goes on: Basically, if you’re in a videogame and you’re underwater, you’re in for a bad time. Which brings us to Siren’s Rest, the newly announced DLC for The Chinese Room’s oil rig horror game Still Wakes the Deep: That’s right, it’s going underwater.

There are spoilers of varying degrees to follow, so conduct yourselves accordingly.

First, a brief recap: Still Wakes the Deep takes place on the Beira D oil rig off the coast of Scotland, which is struck by disaster in 1975—the sort of disaster that includes an “unknowable horror” that’s somehow made its way onboard. It’s a very good game: PC Gamer’s Elie Gould said it’s “one of the best stories I’ve played through in a very long time” in their 86% review, built on “the most traumatic dialogue and voice acting I’ve ever heard in a horror game.”

“If you can bear with the emotional toll and terrifying moments, then Still Wakes the Deep is an experience that I couldn’t recommend more highly,” Elie wrote. “Its unsettling monster and horrific setting are elevated by something that’s rare in horror games: meaningful relationships with other characters.”

Siren’s Rest follows 10 years after the events of the main game. The Beira D lies at the bottom of the North Sea, and the mystery of its disappearance remains unsolved. Which is where you come in: As the leader of a saturation dive to the rig’s wreckage, you are “a fragile light in the crushing dark,” sent to “uncover the fate of the crew and recover what remains of their passing.” As the trailer makes abundantly clear, the mission does not go smoothly.

It’s great to see Still Wakes the Deep getting some post-launch love: The game was critically well received and won a few BAFTAs, but I don’t think it was a huge seller, and all too often games that aren’t immediate big hits tend to be quickly abandoned. It’s also interesting because The Chinese Room, not an especially large studio, is developing Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, a much more high-profile project that’s currently set to come out in October but still doesn’t have a solid release date—and, notably, has been delayed multiple times previously, although most of that happened before TCR took over.

Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest does have a release date, though, and it’s very close: It’s set to arrive on June 18 and is available for pre-purchase now on Steam.

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June 13, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

The cozy management sim Discounty arrives on August 21

by admin June 8, 2025

There’s a new shop management sim in town. Discounty will be released on August 21 for PC, Switch, PS4, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The game tasks players with managing a discount supermarket in a bustling town.

The core gameplay loop reminds me of the shopkeeper portion of Moonlighter, but Discounty lets folks freely organize the shop’s layout. It’s also more than just a management sim. Players can walk around the town and “get caught up in small-town drama” while attempting to strike lucrative trade deals.

There’s a story here, as the tight knit community of Blomkest will react to how well the shop is doing. Getting too popular could ruffle feathers in the town, so players will have to manage sales expectations against the needs of the community. A tagline asks “will you pursue endless profits, or find a way to benefit everyone in Blomkest?”

First time developer Crinkle Cut Games promises that the game holds some kind of dark secret, and we are dying to know what it is. Do capitalistic ghosts come out at night to haunt the town’s residents? We’ll find out this August.

This news came to us via the Wholesome Direct livestream, which happened right in the middle of Summer Game Fest. Follow all of the SGF happenings and trailers right here.

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June 8, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

The Nothing Phone 3 arrives in July

by admin June 3, 2025

Nothing plans to launch the Phone 3, its first proper flagship, on July 1, the company announced today. We already knew the phone was coming this summer, thanks to a teaser Nothing shared during last month’s The Android Show I/O Edition. During the segment, Nothing CEO Carl Pei said the new device will cost around £800 ($1080), which would easily make it the most expensive handset the company has produced to date. Pei also said Nothing plans to go “all-in” on Phone 3 with “premium materials, major performance upgrades and software that really levels things up.”

It will be interesting to see how Nothing builds on the Phone 3a and 3a Pro (pictured above), the two mid-range handsets the company released earlier this year. I reviewed both phones for Engadget, and felt they offered great value for the asking price of $379 and $459. I’m also curious to see if Nothing decides to make a proper push into the US market. While you can buy the company’s phones stateside, they don’t have robust carrier support. In any case, we’ll find out more about the new Phone 3 next month.

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June 3, 2025 0 comments

Elden Ring Nightreign has a killer first day on Steam, but reviews are surprisingly mixed

Game Reviews

Elden Ring Nightreign patch to help out solo players arrives early, but those changes aren’t massive

by admin June 2, 2025

Elden Ring Nightreign servers are back online following brief maintenance earlier today. During that downtime, FromSoftware rolled out the first major-ish post-launch patch for the game, which does come with a welcome addition for solo players.

Update 1.01.1 is now available on all platforms, so let’s dig into the details.

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Shortly after Nightreign launched, players complained about the lack of any mechanic to help out solo players. Yes, the game is intended to be played in groups of three, but it didn’t also need to be extra hostile to solo players.

FromSoftware quickly promised to make a few changes in the next major patch, which is arriving this week. The good news, however, is that some of the changes initially planned for update 1.02 have now made it into the game with today’s patch, 1.01.1.

This one brings two key changes that only go in effect when you play the game solo. First, solo players now have one free revival, once per night boss fight, active at all times. This effect previously needed to be earned, which remains the case for co-op Expeditions. The patch also boosted rune acquisition for solo players, which is likely intended to compensate for the lack of co-op teammates, not to mention make the levelling process a bit faster.

For everyone else, the patch increased the number of high-rarity Relics that can be earned upon reaching Day 3 during any given Expedition, which should make that final fight a little more tolerable. By the same token, players are now a lot more likely to get high-rarity Relics from Scenic Flat stones. Said stones can be bought at the Small Jar Bazaar, of course.

Pretty decent for a first-ish patch. | Image credit: FromSoftware

Outside of the balance tweaks and new-ish features, patch 1.01.1 also comes with a host of bug fixes. Chiefly, it adjusts the camera when activating Wings of Salvation, the Guardian’s Ultimate, so you’re less likely to see some of the headache-inducing jitters that could occur in certain situations.

There are also fixes targeting several skills whose effects would not be triggered when they should, and others whose values were not displayed correctly. You can read on below for all the bug fixes in 1.01.1.

Bug Fixes

Adjusted camera behavior when activating the Guardian’s Ultimate Art, “Wings of Salvation.”
Fixed a bug in the Duchess’s Character Skill “Restage” where Status Ailments would not trigger when built up from other players’ attacks.
Fixed a bug where some attacks of Raider with Greataxe and Great Hammer weapon types had higher damage than intended.
Fixed a bug where some “Those Who Live in Death “ enemies would revive when defeated with the “Sacred Blade” skill.
Fixed a bug where the “Bleeding” Status Ailment would not build up when the Skill “Bloody Slash” hit an enemy.
Fixed a bug where the “Ghostflame Ignition” attack would not occur under certain circumstances.
Fixed a bug where the status ailment “Frostbite” would not build up when the light wave released by a strong attack hit an enemy while the “Moonlight Greatsword” skill was active.
Fixed a bug where the speed of arrows fired with the “Mighty Shot” and “Enchanted Shot” skills was slower than expected.
Fixed a bug where the attack range of the magic spell “Rock Sling” was longer than expected when using it with a staff equipped in the left hand.
Fixed a bug where the effect of reducing the maximum HP of enemies when the incantation “Black Blade” hit them was not activated.
Fixed a bug where the Passive Effect “Successive Attacks Negate Damage” would stack when successive attacks were made while the Effect was active.
Fixed a bug where some Passive Effects were not displaying their effects at the correct values.
Fixed a bug where the Relic Special Effect “[Guardian] Become the target of enemy aggression when ability is activated” would not activate under certain situations.
Fixed a bug where certain effects were not being applied to Relics obtained from Expedition Rewards or purchased from the Small Jar Bazaar.
Fixed a bug where items that could be obtained upon completing a Remembrance in the Remembrance world when the scenario conditions were met could not be obtained when changing characters and concluding a Remembrance.
Fixed bugs in the behavior and specifications of certain attacks and actions of specific enemies.
Fixed a bug that caused the game to become unstable under certain conditions during battles with specific enemies.
Fixed a bug in the graphics rendering during battles with specific enemies.
Fixed some incorrect information in the staff credits.
Fixed some text.
Fixed a bug where some sound effects were not playing correctly.
Fixed a bug where the “Exit Remembrance” effect was not displayed during a “Wylder” Remembrance on some platforms.
Fixed a bug where the HUD was not displayed on some platforms.
Fixed a bug where the game would crash under certain circumstances on some platforms.
Fixed a bug where Expeditions and reconnecting to sessions would fail under certain circumstances on some platforms.
Fixed a bug where background music would not play properly under certain circumstances on some platforms.

Steam-only Fixes

Fixed a bug where some graphics were not rendered correctly when “Low” was selected in “Quality Settings” under “Graphics.”
Fixed a bug where the Climb up action sometimes failed when using the keyboard.
Fixed a bug where the Climb up action was difficult to perform when using a gamepad.

While you’re here, you may want to bookmark our excellent Elden Ring Nightreign guide. It offers everything from character builds, simple walkthroughs on how to access areas and unlock certain features, as well as our ranking of all Nightlords.

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June 2, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Atomfall’s first expansion takes you to a wicked new island when it arrives next week

by admin June 1, 2025

Developer Rebellion Developments revealed a first look at Atomfall’s first DLC expansion yesterday. Titled Wicked Isle, it unsurprisingly brings you to an island called Midsummer Island that is, in fact, a bit wicked, but like, in the bad way, not in the something a teen in the 2000s would say about something they like kind of way. Specifically it’ll have a bit more of a folk horror vibe to it, which I’m certainly into conceptually. Lots of great folklore in the UK, as long as it’s not stepping over frequently trodden upon territory.

Rebellion head of design Ben Fisher explains that the island is “close to the Windscale Atom Plant and as a result the levels of infection in both the people and environment are higher than on the mainland.” It’ll feature new enemies like pirate bandits and infected druids to fight, though you’ll get some new weapons to fend them off in kind. That includes things like a blunderbuss shotgun, a cutlass, daggers, a new bow, and a beekeeper’s staff. You know, the typical kind of things you find on a creepy island.

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The completionists amongst you might also like to know (or dread to hear depending on how much you liked the game) that some of the new storylines can lead to new endings in the base game. No details on what those are, obviously, but I suppose the joy of experiencing things for the first time is just that!

There’s a release date for the expansion too: June 3rd, just a few days away at the time of writing. Let’s all see how it shapes up, as our own James found himself left wanting a bit with a lot of what Atomfall had to offer in his own review of the RPG.

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June 1, 2025 0 comments