Video Games
Three Levels of ‘Black Mesa’ Beta Now Available
Fans of the long-in-development Half-Life remake by Crowbar Collective, Black Mesa, have understandably been waiting for a long time for the game to finally be completed. The Xen trailer last year gave us a taste of things to come, and now, three levels of Xen are available for you to play (albeit in beta form)!
“The purpose of this beta is to collect bugs and feedback on a range of different computers,” reads the post on the Black Mesa Steam page. “We have made significant improvements and changes to the Source engine, and we want the game to run as smoothly as possible. If you want to be on the bleeding edge of testing, opt into this beta. If you want the polished, complete Xen experience, you should wait. It won’t be long!”
Understandably, there are a few issues with the beta, notably some framerates issues while playing in 4K, issues with ragdolls in water, missing collisions with certain plants and roots in the swamp, and a few other little bugs, so as the post implies, don’t jump in thinking everything’s polished.
If you can’t wait, you can snag the beta from the game’s Steam page (where it’s currently enjoying a discount, courtesy of Steam’s Summer Sale).
With the 1.0 launch looming on the horizon for The Astronauts’ dark fantasy RPG FPS Witchfire, the devteam has released the last major update in “Revelations”, introducing a wealth of new content, enhanced localisation, and a dialogue system. Players can now engage in multi-threaded conversations with Fallen Preyers, making pivotal choices that impact both gameplay and story. This system establishes the narrative baseline for the upcoming 1.0 release, providing fleshed-out storylines that unveil the tragic history of the Preyers.
Revelations introduces the Marshland, a hostile wetland map crawling with new abominations. This grim region hides the secrets of the Cathedral of Saint Aurelian, shedding light on historical Vatican failures and the mystery of a forgotten Fallen Preyer.
To survive, players can now equip themselves with a powerful new gear pack featuring 4 distinct weapons. The Heart Eater is a precision pistol that rewards successive weak-spot hits with devastating lightning damage, while the Corpse Eater harnesses the power of decay to ramp up its damage output. Rounding out the arsenal is the Soul Eater, a demonic firearm that reveals the soul sigils of nearby enemies, allowing players to stun them on demand. Lastly, the Tempest is a demonic raygun that fires electric energy.
The update also adds the biggest dungeon to grace Witchfire yet in the highly anticipated Witch Vault, as well as overhauling environmental mechanics through World Corruption 2.0, introducing an entirely new set of challenges and difficulty scaling.
Outside of combat, players can now retreat to the Garden, a now-accessible area to the Hermitorium. Here, they can cultivate the rare resources needed to craft incense, or simply sit on a bench to take in the view.
Witchfire is available now in Early Access on Steam and Epic Games Store with a 20% discount until June 25.