Although it's a hugely successful and much-beloved game, Fallout 4 sometimes gets criticized for its continued scaling back of more traditional role-playing elements. It's these elements that arguably made the series such a cult hit in the first place. Since Bethesda took over for the third installment, it definitely feels like things have slid into more action ?than straight-up RPG.

Of the later Fallout games that have come about, New Vegas is almost universally considered the best in the series. People are always keen to return to this modern classic, and that includes the modding community, where Nexus Mods user bp42s (thanks, DSO Gaming) brings us "REPUTATION."

Aside from being spelled out in a way that makes it feel like you should shout it out loud with your arms held aloft, this mod adds one of New Vegas' much-missed features into Fallout 4. Specifically �and as th??e name implies �it adds reputation, allowing you to gain fame or infamy among known factions.

Just like in the good old days

This means you can now achieve good ?standing with a number of settlements across the nuclear-annihilated city of Boston, which can yield rewards. For example: having a positive reputation may "provide you with access to their gear, materials, or a tribute chest in your honor."

You ca??n also get access to supply crates, which can become unlocked if that particular faction sees you in a more favorable light. Additionally, you can get unique perks for reaching an "idolized" status. These perks are said to be powerful, but "not game-breaking or unbalanced."

Alternatively, if you decide to be an utter bastard on your Fallout 4 travels, you can earn such negative esteem, that people will send out hit squads, similar to the Legionary Assassins in New Vegas. Ven??dors will also increase their prices for both buying and selling depending on what they think of you.

Also, salutes have been added to the game, and bp42s says that generic NPCs "in the more organized or militaristic factions will have a chance to salute you when you look at them?, depending on how liked you are." It's all about making friends or enemies, then.

It's a nice little revival of a role-playing element that seems to have gone away completely in the Fallout series. The fact that your actions and antics can once again influence how citizens and other wastelanders regard you �and whether they want to shoot you in the face �is something I think a lot of fans of the series will be keen to see in Fallout 4.

The post This Fallout 4 mod brings ba??ck the reputation system from New Vegas appeared first on Destructoid.

As with any RPG, customization is at the heart of Starfield. But for many players, the game doesn't quite go far enough in this area. This is pretty t??ypical of customization in Bethesda titles.

Luckily, the Starfield modding community is on the case. We're going to take a look at the 10 best Starfield customization mods you can download right now to bring your perfect protagonist to lif?e in Bethesda's s?pace RPG.

Extended Facial Sculpting

There's a lot to enjoy about any video game character creator that allows you to go wild and create some absolute monstrosities. Starfield puts the brakes on that a little, but don't worry - that's where Extended Facial Sculpting comes in.

Simply put, it adds even more sliders that you can use to customize your Starfield protagonist. Now, you can pull your character's facial ?bones almost as far as you want in any direction, for some truly terrifying results. Really, isn't that what character creation is all about?

Starfield Hair and Beards - RTFP

Of all the Starfield customization mods on this list, this might just be the best. Starfield Hair and Beards - RTFP adds tons of standalone hair and beard options to the game, which can b?e used on both male and female characters.

What really makes this mod stand out is how unique each style is. They're all different from what you can expect to find in the base game of Starfield, yet?? they still look like they ?totally belong in this universe.

Cyberpunk Eyes - RTFP

There are no prizes for guessing what you get when you install Cyberpunk Eyes - RTFP. 97 new eye colors in Starfield, covering just abou??t all the bases you'll? ever need in this regard.

While the vibrant new eye colors are great, the cyberpunk-themed ones are the highlight here. Some eye textures look like they're integrated with various pieces of technology, while others even have a deep black sclera for a unique look you won't find in vanilla Starfield. This one's a must-have.

Starfarer's Makeup - RTFP

In total, Starfarer's Makeup - RTFP adds six blushes, eight eyeliners, eight tattoos, and six lipstick accents to Starfield's character creator. All a???re completely standalone - no replacers here.

Ultimately, Starfarer's Makeup - RTFP won't completely revolutionize your Starfield character creation experience, but it can ?enhance it, even a little bit, meaning it's worth having.

More Piercings - RTFP

More Piercings - RTFP is perfect for adding that final piece of personality to your Starfield character, with 14 new piercing options for females and 12 for males. Earrings, nose rings,?? septum piercings - you name it, ??this mod has it.

Bethesda games have often missed out these more minor details of character customization, but this mod from Nyvrak is a great option for Starfield players.

Tattoo Recycle - RTFP

Tattoos! How can you complain about more tattoos? Tattoo Recycle - RTFP is straightforward stuff, giving you 22 new tattoos to experiment with during Starfield character creation.

Some of these tatt??oos are minor variations of others, but there's enough variation here that there's something that every player can use. One thing is for sure: the tattoos found in Tattoo Recycle - RTFP are loud, so if you're searching ??for more subtle designs, you won't find them here.

Vivid Hair Colors

You can absolutely make the argument that Starfield's hair options are a little too dark by default, but Vivid Hair Colors is here to address this. All 15 of the game's hair color??s have been replaced by this mod, providin??g brighter versions instead.

This includes beard and eyebrow hair, too, extending this Starfield cus??tomizatio??n mod a little further. Since the hair textures are now just solid colors, creator GothikaGeist has been able to half the texture size, meaning Vivid Hair Colors is also a slight performance optimizer.

Subtle Moles and Freckles - RTFP

If you're a gamer who likes to dive into the nitty-gritty details of your Starfield character customization, then Subtle Moles and Freckles - RTFP could be right up your alley.

Adding six freckle and nine new mole options, this mod is intended to be used alongside others to provide the final touch of detail to your Starfield protagonist. It's standalone, t??oo, so it doesn't replace any of the game's existing options in this regard.

Better Backgrounds

Better Backgrounds isn't a mod that changes your Starfield character's appearance. Instead, it's all about changing their background, making big changes to the vanilla options as well as adding 20 new ??ones. Creator senterpat felt the original offerings were "pretty lackluster, with no real impact on gameplay at all."

They've set out to fix that here, with backgrounds now encouraging players to change their playstyles to reap the rewards. I'm counting this one as a Starfield customization mod.

Shattered Space Headparts

Starfield: Shattered Space mods have already made a ton of additions to Bethesda's latest expansion, and Shattered Space Headparts is on??e of many. This is a pretty small addition, but one that's worth adding to your load order.

But what does it actually do? Shattered Space ha??s six new hairstyles used exclusively by NPCs, and this mod simply makes them usable for playe?rs, too.

The post 10 best Starfield customization mods appeared first on Destructoid.

While this might've been a laughable prospect years ago, in the middle of Skyrim's heyday, Bethesda's p?aid Creations mods are now the go-to option for many players. At least, this is the case with Starfield, and the resident third-party modding website Nexus Mods is res??ponding accordingly at last.

More specifically, Nexus Mods' latest policy update includes a proper clarification of how the company feels about paid mods approved by publishers/developers. It sounds fairly innocuous and sensible in general, to be fair, but there are a few tidbits that could bring about problems later down the line. The gist of it all, as Nexus puts it, is that the company is "committed to building a positive modding community where all content is freely available." As per the new policy, this means no interaction with paid mods whatsoever.

Nexus Mods issues a blanket prohibition on 'demo' versions of paid mods and more

As highlighted on r/starfieldmods and featured above, there are three big poi?nts of contention to be discussed in the context of Nexus' latest polic?y update:

• Nexus Mods does not allow free mods to be shared in instances where they are inferior versions of a paid mod.
• Nexus Mods does not allow the sharing of mod lists that rely on paid mods to the extent that the list does not work without the user paying for content.
• Nexus Mods does not allow any patches or addons for paid user-generated content.

The first two updates are, broadly speaking, fairly sensible. Using Nexus Mods as a demo site for paid content hosted exclusively over on Creations is in bad taste and diminishes Nexus' value as a third-party host for community-made content. Similarly, sharing mod lists that outright rely on paid mods to function is a poor showing, as it dir??ectly dri??ves revenue toward Creations.

Extrapolating from this, it seems similarly sensible that Nexus would also disallow patches and/or expansions for paid Bethesda Creations mods (or for any other similar mod marketplace, for? that matter). And there's definitely an argument to be made that such improvements can still be hosted on Creations to begin with. Yet, this also opens the door to situations where a non-Creations modder will no longer be able to make an X Nexus mod compatible with a paid Y Creations mod u??sing an XY patch hosted on Nexus.

We'll have to wait and see? how this pans out in practice, of course, but this could drive an even bigger wedge between the two modding marketplaces than there currently is.

It's also worth considering the fact that Bethesda's taken to releasing some first-party Starfield content via Creations as paid offerings to ?begin with. Would Nexus now disallow Nexus patches and addons for Bethesda's own Creations items? Probably not, but it's all quite up in the air as it stands. Time will tell how this pans out in the end, but it's clear that Nexus isn't happy with the direction Bethesda's taken with Creations.

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Although it's not the largest video game ever in terms of map size (not even when compared to other Elder Scrolls titles), Skyrim sti??ll boasts a hefty amount of land to explore. Its vastness gives plenty to see while out and about on? (mostly) fun quests, but there's no doubt that it could stand to be a bit bigger.

That's where Nexus Mods user Nevah comes onto the scene. As noted by DSO Gaming, we've got an opportunity to explore a brand-new island, thanks to ??"Nevah’s Isle Redux." Not only is there an island/world to explore, but?? the mod also contains a ghost village, complete with a home for the player.

The description on Nexus says to get to the island, you'll need to head to the docks at Solitude. T??here's also a memorandum to the creato??r's father at the northwest point of the island, as well as "many secrets and hidden rooms."

To cleanse or not

Eagle-eyed readers will have spotted the word "redux" in the mod's title. This is because it's a redo of a previous creation. While it's pretty much the same as the older version, this time around, they've added an optional side quest that l??ets you restore the island/ghost villa??ge to its former glory.

Nevah strongly recommends going through with the quest, as the island is "far more beautiful that way" and, once ??restored, will have "no more cobwebs or decay or overgrowth." Of course, it's entirely up to you, so if you don't mind wandering around ??a new island that's home to ghost vendors, that's an option as well.

It's also recommended to install the mod manually, with the ESP ideally at the bottom of your Skyrim loadout list. It ??should also work alongside any other modifications you've got installed, but, as anyone will tell you, there's always a slight risk with these things. We like to live dangerously, yeah?

The post Skyrim gets bigger w??ith this mod that adds a new island, ghost village appeared first on Destructoid.

Thanks largely to the recent Shattered Space DLC, Starfield has been enjoying something of a resurgence. SteamDB shows there has been a bit of an uptick in player count on PC, even if the game overall is not exactly beaming with univ??ersal praise.

All that aside, people are still playing it and modding for it. A recent bit of fan-made content �as spotted by DSO Gaming �injects a little bit more realism into Starfield, thanks to NP??C schedules and business opening hours.

Created by user FlippingEggs, "NPCs Have Routines and Stores Have Schedules" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue as a mod title, but it doe?s exactly what it says on the tin. It effectively gives a bunch of non-playable characters a bit of vim, which uses custom AI to give them their own schedules.

"Sorry, bud. I'm closed now."

It should be noted that not every Starfield ?character has been given the gift of a timetable. The desc??ription over on Nexus Mods has the following to say:

36 named characters now have daily schedules
4 unnamed but unique characters now have daily schedules
10 new robots work in various stores, so you can buy stuff when the store owner isn't there (Styx included)
57 data slates added to various store countertops and NPCs' personal spaces. Some of these slates are simple notifications of business hours, while others offer you a window into the lives of characters and where you can find them when they aren't working.
1 of these data slates is an Easter egg ?for The Expanse

Oh, yeah. T?hat's the other thing. Because the mod gives many businesses in the game actual opening hours, robots can be on-hand to work through the night while the proprieto??r gets some much-needed rest. You'll find that stores and their owners in places like New Atlantis, Akila City, Neon, and more have been given these schedules.

The creator goes on to say:

If you find a shopkeeper while they're away from their store, or sleeping, their normal?? dialogue tree will not be available and you won't be able to trade with them.

They've also been careful to make sure?? the mod doesn??'t interrupt vanilla quests and should be compatible with a lot of other installations you have installed. But it's best to check beforehand.

I don't know why, but "NPCs Have Routines and Stores Have Schedules" puts me in-mind of Oblivion. Remember in the early 2000s when Bethesda was promoting its upcoming Elder Scrolls 4? Todd Howard and his team were so excited about its new "Radiant AI" system, which essentially gave NPCs the??ir own daily routines, including eating, sleeping, and practicing their arche??ry. Ah, to be young again. And also a non-playable character in a role-playing game.

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Each year, October 23 is deemed Fallout Da????y, and this time around, Bethesda is celebrating in style. To kick off celebrations, the developer has made its multiplayer prequel free-to-play for a limited time.

It's fair to say that Fallout 76's 2018 launch was nothing short of a disaster. Controversy after controversy marred the release of what should have been an exciting period for the franchise. A multiplayer Fallout game - what could possibly go wrong? As it turns out, quite a lot, but Bethesda in the years since has released plenty of updates and expansions to make Fallout 76 a worth entry into the franchise.

Fallout 76 goes free-to-play until October 29

You've got until October 29 to try Fallout 76 for free across Xbox, PlayStation, and PC, after which it will bec??ome pay-to-play again. This should be plenty of time for you to decide whether Bethesda's multiplayer open world is for you.

Throughout Fallout 76's free-to-play period, the game is available at a steep 75% discount on all platforms, bringing it down to just $9.99. If you've sat on the fence about trying Fallout 76 ov??er th?e last few years, now's a great time to take the plunge.

The post PSA: Fallout 76 is free-to-play, but not for long appeared first on Destructoid.

Ah, Skyrim. If it weren't for the fact that you were a genuinely good (albeit buggy to hell) game that stays afloat thanks to the modding community, you probably would have disappeared into obscu?rity long ago. Also, hey, he??re's something you never, ever hear in the game: "Oh no! Look out for that tank!"

Until now, that is. If your WW2 artillery needs are not being met by Skyrim, perhaps this mod will scratch that battle scar. As reported by DSO Gaming, Nexus Mods user MixedMartialArtist brings "World of Tanks" to The Elder Scrolls 5.

It is, as you can imagine (and as the above clip shows), a means of combining the fantasy world of Bethesda's creation with the ability to �and I quote �"partake in The Greatest Tank Battles in history." Did I mention the dest?ructive tanks? I'm pretty sure I mentioned the destructive tanks. It sort of answers the question?? of what would happen if you mashed up fanciful role-playing elements with world war re-enactments.

"You're finally awake. Here's a Mauser."

To put it in the creator's own words:

Now Skyrim can be played as a War-Tank Battle Game with an endless amount of epic battles. Skyrim is now full of action and chaos as armies of both sides continue to press into enemy territory with their squads of infantry and armored vehicles. Take part in the war by joining th?e civil war, and destroy your enemies with the plethora of weapons at your disposal - guns, rockets, tanks, bombs, artillery, you name it. Build your army with new troops and tanks at forts, or simply use your abilities to take control of nearby patrols to follow you. Shoot your machine gun from your commander's cupola, mowing?? down hordes of bunched up infantry, and fire your main gun to eliminate enemy armor.

I haven't had a chance to download and try "World of Tanks" myself yet, but the clips are putting me in mind of the old Medal of Honor games. Remember those? The idea that we can inhabit a fictional realm where World W?ar 2 tanks and dragons can duke it out for moral supremacy is the sole reason we keep on gaming, I feel.

That and The Elder Scrolls 6 still feels like a long way off from releasing. Yeah, yeah. I know. Change the record, already. Or change the Instagram Reel. I'm not sure how to modernize retro sayings. Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yes. Skyrim.

The post Welp, there it is folks; Skyrim now h??as f??ull tank battles appeared first on Destructoid.

Starfield's Shattered Space expansion may be brand-new, but that hasn't stopped talented modders from getting busy adding and changing content in Bethesda's latest expan??sion.

Let's take a look at the 10 of the best mods made just for Starfield: Shattered Space, shall we?

Shattered Space Delayed Start

It's recommended that players be Level 35 before starting Starfield: Shattered Space. However, the game itself gives players the option to do it early, albeit underleveled. Unsuspecting gamers could be caught off gua?rd by this, finding themselves stuck in areas they simply can't progress through.

Shattered Space Delayed Start solv??es this problem. Using this mod from Nexus Mods user Solshura, the quest to begin the DLC won't trigger until you're at the recommended level of 35. A simple quality-of-life fix, but one worth considering in your load order.

Shattered Space No Red Fog

If Starfield: Shattered Space was a little too red for your personal taste, then this mod has you covered. Shattered Space No Red Fog simply remov?es the red tint from the fog,?? rather than removing the mist altogether.

While this is an extremely small Starfield mod, the abundance of red in this DLC means it should make a huge difference to the visuals in your game. But maybe you love the overwhelming red hue, in which case, you shou?ld probably leave this mod.

Royal Leveled Enemies - Shattered Space

The creator of Royal Leveled Enemies - Shattered Space, JaeDL, is the talented modder behind the base game's Royal Arena - Leveled Enemies mod. This ??is simply an expansion of that mod, adjusting the AI and leveling of the game's enemies.

This mod is ideal if you feel that some o??f the DLC's combat encounters become too easy, especially in the latter stages. JaeDL is continually updating the mod too, tweaking each NPC to make sure they're fun to fight.

Shattered Space Headparts

In Starfield: Shattered Space, there are several hairstyles worn by Va'ruun NPCs that players can't access. Luckily, Shattered Space Headparts is here to save the day. Whether you like them?? or not, having more options is always a good thing.

According to creator Leyr, they were already mar?ked as playable in the files and just needed to be moved to the right place for players to use them for chara??cter creation. That's a classic Bethesda moment if I have ever seen one.

Shattered Space - Better Rewards and Consequence

You'll feel the effects of Shattered Space - Better Rewards and Consequence throughout your entire playthrough of Starfield's first DLC. As the title kind of impl??ies, it improves the quest rewards during the DLC, adding seven new unique items as well as a new ship.

According to creator pietro0games1, it also "reworks some features of the DLC to increase the reward for completing it and the agony of your decisions." This is done to give Shattered Space even more replayability. You're welcome, Bethesda.

VaruunKai Reimagined - A GRiNDTerra Mod

VaruunKai Reimagined - A GRiNDTerra Mod might be the biggest Starfield: Shattered Space mod released so far. It alters existing and adds new biomes, randomizes the size of biome flora and fauna, and switches thing??s up with some different weap??on patterns in the DLC.

That's a lot of change in the environment, and you're going to notice an immediate difference if you've played a lot of Starfield: Shattered Space??. We'd recommend you experience the base game's environments first, but this is perfect ?for a repeat playthrough.

Xeno Master - DLC Support Addon

The original Xeno Master mod for Starfield allowed players to tame and capture creatures from around the galaxy. Xeno Master - DLC Support Addon extends this to Shattered Space, although it will also serve as a hub for future Starfield expansions, too.

Frankly, this might be the coolest mod on this entire list. Who doesn't want to tame even more Starfield creatures?!

Dazra - Vacant House Furnished

Can't be bothered to decorate the vacant house in Dazra for yourself? Dazra - Vacant House Furnished does the job for you, matching the player home to fit the overall Va'Ruun theme. Sometimes, you just want to kick back without worrying about decora??ting, and that's okay!

There's no denying that creator Nizon has created something super cozy here, making this a perfect home for any Spacefarer??.

Rabbit's Real Lights Dazra

Rabbit's Real Lights Dazra might be one of the best Starfield graphics mods available right now. This is a comprehensive lighting overhaul for Dazra, adding over 400 hand-placed light sources while removing Beth??esda's fake ones. Unlit decals have also been removed.

The overall effect is stunning, making Dazra's lighting feel much more realistic. Your brain picks up on fake lighting sources. Even if you don't know exactly what's wrong, you know something's not quite right. Rabbit's Real Lights Dazra solves this issue for this particular Starfield: Shattered Space location.

Royal Weathers - Va'Ruun'kai

Royal Weathers - Va'Ruun'kai is gorgeous, adding many new weather effects to the Starfield: Shattered Space planet. This should make exploring it far more interesting, especially while playing th?rough the DLC multiple times.

It also comes from JaeDL, the modder behind Royal Leveled Enemies - Shattered Space. They've clearly got an eye for detail when it comes to Starfield: Shattered Space mods.

The post 10 best Starfield: Shattered Space mods appeared first on Destructoid.

We've known for some time now that The Elder Scrolls 6 would be built in Creation Engine 2, the very same game engine that powers Starfield. Whether that?'s a good thing, nobody can currently tell, but a former Bethesda game designer has recently discussed this?? topic in an interview.

Speaking with VideoGamer, Bruce Nesmith, who worked as the lead designer of Skyrim and the systems designer for Starfield, explained a few things. Notably, his point is that Bethesda's Creation Engine has been specifically fine-tuned to deliver the kind of sandbox RPG that the company is known for. To that end, it doesn't seem like there are any plans to move on over to Unreal Engine 5. This ?should, hopefully,? put such discussions to bed.

Bruce Nesmith explains why there's value in Bethesda's Creation Engine still

In his interview with VideoGamer, Nesmith said, "The game engine is not the point, the game engine is in service to the game its??elf??. You and I could both identify a hundred lousy games that used Unreal. Is it Unreal’s fault? No, it’s not Unreal’s fault."

Even though Nesmith is no longer at Bethesda, his involvement in basically every major first-party sandbox RPG the company has put out means he's had ample insight into the inner working??s of the company. When asked whether it would pay off for Bethesda to move to Unreal, he said that "it would be—I’m just going to say a number that’s certainly not the real number—a year or two of technical work just to move it over to the engine as is. And then more work beyond that to tune the engine, to tune the game, to work in it. That’s the penalty side. That’s the risk side."

Nesmith did say that moving to Unreal would nullify whatever tech debt Creation Engine mi??ght have acc?rued by now, but this would be far from trivial.

"The modding community also has a huge tech debt, Script Extender is probably the easiest one to talk about," he continued. "They’ve put in a tremendous amount of effort, the modders, into understanding the Creation Engine and understanding the Creation Tool Kit. If there is a cut over, all that is thrown out the w?indow and it all has to start all over again."

There is, indeed, a legacy of modding tied up with Bethesda's work. Even though the modern Unreal Engine does ostensibly support mods, my experience with UE5 games hasn't been the greatest in that regard. Further, the fact of the matter is that there simply aren't any other companies making sandbox, ImSim-lite RPGs such as the ones put out by Bethesda. The games that come the closest are arguably the likes of The Outer Worlds, and even that's a far cry from even Fallout: New Vegas's mechanical complexity.

Never say never, I guess, especially now that it's clear that Bethesda has struggled with producing Starfield's first major expansion pack. Yet, I just don't think there's merit in moving every single project under the sun into Unreal Engine 5. Starfield's problems don't lie in the graphics or performance departments? but somewhere else entirely, and gameplay and immersion would've bee??n problems no matter what engine the game is built on.

The post Bethesda’s not about to move to Unreal Engine anytime soon, says Skyrim’s Lead Designer appeared first on Destructoid.

I'm fairly fond of Starfield's goofy, often sterile sandbox universe. I've got some strange reasons as to why that's the case, but generally, I like the game well enough. I was very excited about Shattered Space, too. Starfield's first DL?C isn't doing all that well review-wise,? however.

In more concrete terms, Shattered Space is currently stuck with a 'Mixed' review rating over on Steam, with just over 600 reviews posted in total. Now, we had some inclination that Bethesda might be playing it safe with Shattered Space ahead of the DLC's release, but that's really not the issue here. In fact, even though I do think Shattered Space did fail to deliver in some crucial areas (more on that later), I also think its current review rating is somewhat undeserved and may have fallen victim to the "Starfield bad" hype.

Starfield's new Shattered Space DLC comes with some strange omissions, but that's not the reason why it's got 'Mixed' reviews

It takes just the tiniest bit of scrolling through Starfield: Shattered Space's reviews to see that many, if not most of the negative posts could be considered meme-worthy. A very significant number of these reviews, in fact, appears to be reviewing Starfield once again instead of adequately critiquing the new ??expansion pack.

So, with that in mind, I recommend taking Shattered Space's Steam review rating with a pinch of salt at hand. Things are really not as dire as the reviews might make it seem at ?a glance.

That being what it is, the flip side of things is that I'm completely befuddled by some of the choices Bethesda appears to have made here. Now, note that I've obviously not completed the DLC in its entirety, but Shattered Space does not add any of the following:

• New ship parts
• New ship customization options in general
• Meaningful new dialogue with Andreja
• A sensible ending
• New gameplay features
• New companions

Shattered Space is, instead, a collection of fancy new Va'ruun-themed stories set against the grander backdrop of Starfield's universe. This is certainly fair enough, but I am deeply confused as to why Be?thesda wouldn't choose to build upon some of the game's strongest core features. Like, for an obvious example, the ship-building systems.

This is the bit that really grates on me, in particular. Starfield's lead creative producer, Tim Lamb, specifically mentioned in a interview with Gaming Boulevard that Bethesda has "introduced new ship customization options [with Shattered Space], which allow players to really tailor their vessels to their playstyle." There aren't any of those to be found here, from the look of things. And I'd be eager to wait longer to see if Bethesda hid some key goodies behind endgame-tier Shattered Space content if the modders hadn't datamined all the ??new items within hours of the DLC's release.

In general, then, I do recommend Shattered Space for those who are keen on Starfield in general. It's a solid new piece of content that genuinely does riff with the likes of Morrowind and Skyrim in some important ways. The fact that it stubbornly refuses to improve upon those bits that were genuinely exciting and important to the core Starfield gameplay experience annoys me deeply, however.

In a roundabout way, I guess the "Mixed" reviews kind of do fit Starfield: Shattered Space.

The post Starfield: Shattered Space gets middling reviews, fails to deliver on some key exp?ectations appeared first on Destructoid.

If you're playing Starfield, there's ??a good chance you've experimented with mods. And i??f you haven't already, you should, as it can add a lot to the experience.

Since launch, talented modders have added tons of new weapons to Starfield. Some are from existing franchises, while others? are totally brand-new. These are the 10 you need to add to your load order??!

Plague's Optics Reimagined

Plague's Optics Reimagined is a full remake of almost every reflex and holographic sight in Starfield, making them much more usable in combat. Creator PLAGUEW4LKER felt that "Vanilla red dots are pretty awful in some areas," and ??they've taken it upon themsel?ves to fix them with tons of customization options.

The plan is for this mod to get even better, too. PLAGUEW4LKER intends to allow you to pick a specific reticle per weapon in the future, whereas right now, you've got to pick one per weapon category. Despite this current limitation, it remains one of the best Starfield weapon mods on the Nexus.

Immersive Sabers

Starfield Star Wars mods just feel right, and Immersive Sabers is one of the best out there. T?his mod adds what creator somberX calls "lasersabers" into the game, a lore-friendly attempt at lightsabers.

It's pretty great, to say the least, with a full perk tree and workbench upgrades for each lasersaber. If you're running a Starfield melee build, this could be the right weapon m?od ??for your playthrough.

Weapons of Fate (Ballistic Overhaul)

Weapons of Fate (Ballistic Overhaul) gives Starfield a litt??le more of a hardcore shooter feel. By adding bullet drop and weapon tracers, it makes the game's combat feel like a real? warzone, with each shot feeling much hefty thanks to the visual feedback.

Creator Seb263 boasts no performance decrease either, so you're not sacrificing anything by installing this mod. Players looking for a realistic Starfield experience must get this mod in their load order.

Craftable Weapon Skins - CWS

Craftable Weapon Skins - CWS does precisely what it says on the tin, and it's a little surprising it wasn't already part of the base game. It makes all Starfield's weapon s??kins available for crafting, giving players more options and customization.

Who doesn't want that? Some of the best Starfield mods are about making small quality-of-life changes, and Craftable W??eapon Skins - CWS fits the bill perfectly.

AK-47S (Futuristic AK)

In terms of individual Starfield weapon mods, AK-47S (Futuristic AK) is a remarkable piece of work. Featuring a new weapon modeled from scratch, this mod brings one of the most iconic assault rifles of all time into Starfield in a lo?re-friendly way, complete with various attachments? to boot.

It replaces the Old Earth Assault Rifle, so it's not en?tirely new. You'll have to make the choice between the two if you're planning to add this to your load order.

Weapon Balance Revised

Weapon Balance Revised has one main aim: "to re-balance all vanilla weapons, so every weapon is ??viable regardless of what level yo?u are." It does this by making simple tweaks to weapon tiers, quality levels, accuracy, and weapon modifications to ensure you're not always looking for the next shiny new gun to use.

If the looting mechanics are a big part of your Starfield experience, this may not be the?? mod for you. You'll still be able to find new weapons at the same rate as before; they just might not be as significant an upgrade as they were previously.

Halo AR (Tombstone Replacer)

Put a little Halo into your Starfield. Halo AR (Tombstone Replacer) adds Halo's most iconic weapon as it appears in Halo: Reach, Bungie's final effort in the seri?es. Visually, these two franchises have a lot of similarities, so it doesn't look out of place at all here, even if it's not 100% lore-friendly.

Using this mod will replace the Tombstone rifle, but let's be honest: Halo's assault rifle is legendary for a reason.

Project Warfare - Hardened Edition

If you're here for lore-friendly Starfield mods, you can skip Project Warfare - Hardened Edition. If you don't care either way, it's one of the best weapon mods out there right now. It adds eight weapons from Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered, all of which instantly become some of the most detailed and visually interesting models in Starfield.

Creator 510deshawn has?? do??ne a great job picking the right weapons for this mod. Again, they're not technically lore-friendly, but they all look right at home here.

Laser Replacements and Remove Laser

Is the default red laser not good enough for you in Starfield? Maybe you don't want them at all? Laser Replacements and Remove Laser has you covered. You can s?wap out the game's red laser with various different colors, or remove them completely with this?? mod.

It's not the most enormous Starfield weapon mod by any stretch of the imagination, but anythin??g that gives you more choices is a great addition in my book.

Avontech Munitions

Last but not least, there's Avontech Munitions. This great mod by kaosnyrb adds three entirely new weapons named Tiberius, Janus, and Nitrophaser, each with their own unique strengths and weaknesses. They've got a striking look, unlike anything else you'll find in vanilla Starfield.

Using another mod titled Real Time Form Patcher, you can even give the Avontech Munitions weapons out to NPCs in the world, making them feel like an integrated part of Starfield's vast galaxy.

The post 10 best Starfield weapon mods appeared first on Destructoid.

Up to 40% of a game's total sales occur in the first month, according to the SSRN Electronic Journal. Consequently, the best strategy for studios is to ens?ure their titles launch with a bang. Some strategic marketing is necessary to achieve this. Piling up good reviews from critics and gamers is also vital, meaning it's essential for?? games to launch in a polished state.

Over the years, a few titles have missed the mark terribly, res??ulting in catastrophic launches. The following list contains some of the worst offenders in gaming history.

2024 addendum

To borrow a common internet adage, it's like Concord read this list and said, "Hold my beer." As such, we felt it would be a good time to add to? this? list. It felt as though it would remain incomplete without what is currently the most talked about crash.

But rather than slotting in Concord?? and calling it a day, I'm going to also add a c?ouple of my favorite launch failures. Smangeliso already did a bang-up job on compiling some of the worst, so those are left untouched.

13. Trespasser - Jurassic Park

The move to 3D graphics was a painful one. Over-ambition was common, and nowhere was this more obvious than with Trespasser, a game based on the Jurassic Park franchise. The lead-up to the launch promised a game that ?used a real-time physics engine and artificial intelligence that would make dinosaurs flock together and act based on? their specific needs.

Trespasser was technically impressive when it launched. However, the game was rushed so urgently that every promised feature was only technically implemented. Dinosaur AI, for example, wasn't ready for prime time, so the dinosaur's anger was cranked up to maximum, and that was it. The real-time physics and inverse kinematic animations resulted in the thunder lizards staggering around drunkenly. It's hilarious, it's easily one of my favorite te??rrible gam??es.

12. SimCity (2013)

The first SimCity was released in 1989 and became one of the most influential games in the history of the industry. It practically created the city-builder genre and laid the groundwork for all kinds of management games. Makes sense that EA would be the ones to screw that up. The publisher decided that the once single-player city builder should have a multiplayer element, and that was enough to warrant an always-online requirement for SimCity (2013). Previous botched attempts at always-online ?had soured the already mixed feelings on the requirement, and it proved to be warranted when many players had difficulty downloading, connecting, and staying connected to play the game.

It didn't stop at the online issues, however. Many changes to the SimCity formula were not well received,? such as an almost microscopic map size to b??uild on and mindless traffic that players would put through veritable mazes of streets to demonstrate their insistence on taking the most direct path, rather than an easily acceptable and better alternative. Three years later, EA would remove the always-online requirement, but at that point, it was far too late.

11. WWE 2K20

The WWE franchise has had a long presence in the gaming scene, and titles like Smackdown! vs Raw 2006 and SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain are memorable gam?es that successfully replicate the testosterone-flooded action of sports entertainment??.

When WWE 2K20 launched in October 2019, day-one buyers ended up with a game sporting atrocious graphics that looked like they belonged on a PS3. The gameplay wasn't any better, and the numerous glitches made WWE 2K20 a pain to play. The game's terrible reception was one of the reasons WWE 2K21 was canceled. It was for the best, as when the franchise returned with WWE 2K22, it achieved double its predecessor's ?launch sales.

10. New World

Amazon's New World hit stores in September 2021, and the launch was nothing but chaos. Servers were flooded, resulting in players waiting for hours before they could start playing. When people were eventually able to play, they discovered that while the core game was good, it was also pla?gued with game-breaking glitches. Since release, plenty of updates have been pushed out, and the game is in a better state, but it failed to be the enduring classic that Amazon was likely aiming for.

9. Anthem

When Anthem was announced, the flashy marketing successfully caught the attention of the gaming world. Unfortunately, when Anthem launched in 2019, it was immediately critically panned. Cr??itics and gamers alike complained about many elements, including boring missions, technical glitches, poor performance, and excessive grinding. The game failed to meet EA's expectations, and future developments for it were cut in 2021.

8. The Last of Us Part 1 (PC)

Though the PS5 version launched without any major issues, the PC port of The Last of Us Part 1 has been nothing short of a disaster. Players were greeted with technical issues and absurdly long loading tim??es, making the game unplayable for some. Since launch?, many have pointed the finger at Iron Galaxy, the studio Naughty Dog entrusted with the port. It won't be the last time the studio appears on the list, so there may be some truth to the accusations.

7. Fallout 76

In 2018, Bethesda took Fallout online with Fallout 76. The game promised to allow players to explore dystopian settings with friends, which is an idea that has great potential. When Fallout 76 launched in November 2018, it was far from what gamers expected, resulting in the PC version scoring a measly 52 on Metacritic. Due to the bad press, many gamers stayed away, and as a result, Fallout 76 had lower launch sales numbers than Fallout 4 and Fallout New Vegas.

6. Batman: Arkham Knight (PC)

Arkham Knight's PS4 and Xbox One versions were developed by Rocksteady Studios, and the PC port was handed off to Iron Galaxy. This proved to be a mistake. When Arkham Knights launched on PC, it crashed constantly and featured technical issu??es that rendered it unplayab??le for many.

The situation got so bad that Warner Bros. Interactive Enter?tainment s??uspended sales of the Windows version of the game in June 2015 while developers worked on patches to fix the game. Though the game has improved plenty, the historically disastrous launch won't be forgotten any time soon.

5. eFootball

The free-to-play sports game eFootball was releas??ed in September 2021. The concept wasn't ??a bad one, though the execution left a lot to be desired. Gamers were met with atrocious graphics, endless technical issues, and visual bugs that have made for some hilarious screenshots. With a score of 25 on Metacritic, it is one of the lowest-rated games of all time.

4. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition

When it was revealed that the GTA trilogy would receive a remake, excitement was high. Launch day arrived in November 2021, and gamers were less than satisfie??d. The trilogy was rife with technical issues, ugly character models, and visual errors, which should have been spotted during the QA phase of development. To placate fans, Rockstar offered the original trilogy to all customers who had purchased the remake via the Rockstar Store.

3. Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 is a title that has been a ubiquitous fixture in gaming for years, and not always for good reasons. When Cyberpunk 2077 launched in 2020, the experience was so bad droves of gamers demanded refunds, and Sony eventually pulled the game from the PS Store. Fortunately, the story doesn't end on a sour note, as deve??lopers have work?ed hard to improve the game, and after several patches and updates, the game is one of the most enjoyable open-world titles on current-gen consoles.

2. No Man's Sky

Like many other titles on the list, the developers made plenty of big promises before the game's release. When No Man's Sky launched, gamers realized that many of the promised features were missing, and the performance was poor. There was plenty of outrage, though Hello Games didn't abandon No Man's Sky. Instead, developers got to work releasing patches and updates that slowly but surely improved the game. Today, No Man's Sky is a bestseller avai??lable on almost all platforms.

1. Concord

Concord's failed launch was so severe that it will probably be studied for years to come. It was enough to warrant an update on this list. It was reportedly the result of years of work and millions upon millions of dollars, and lasted two weeks before it was pulled from marketplaces with a refund being issued to those who had bought it. At least one report suggests that Sony dumped $400 million into the project and was betting on it being the future of the brand. Take that with a grain of salt; it hasn't yet been substantiated. However, the live service sector of the industry is packed to the gills with people hoping to be the next Fortnite, and simply dropping an expensive game in there is not enough to capture the crowd. Whether or not Concord reappears in some form ?in the future remains to be ??seen.

There's no shortage of games with failed launches, and the future will feature plenty more. From these cases, we learn that although delays may be frustrating, terrible launches are far worse. We also see that even the worst launches don't have to spell the end for a game?? so long as developers persevere.

The post Top 13 worst game l??aunches in gaming history, ranked appeared first on Destructoid.

While some of us are still wondering whether the rumors about a possible Quake 6 will ever turn out to be true, we can blast away on Quake Champions. If you've never experienced the fast-paced FPS and you're a fan ??of arena shooters, now seems to be a good time, as the game's experiencing something of a boon.

Okay, "boon" might be overselling it slightly, but as noted by PCGamesN, Quake Champions has seen the concurrent player count peak to 1,943 in the space of a day. According to the most recent data from SteamDB, just 24 ??hours ago, only around 500 pe??ople were playing, but now �at the time of writing �1,625 players are currently logged in.

If this was a case of the game going on sale, that would obviously explain this sudden rise in popularity. However, as you can see on Steam, Quake Champions is 100% free. You can't exactly discount something that doesn't require money to begin with. The only way you can go up from there is to make it so the game gives you money for playing. Hmm...now there's a thought.

As if the game did a rocket jump

So why this surge in popularity? It's not quite known, from what I can see. The most recent update for Champions was on September 12, which is fairly recently, but not enough to see player count go from a few hundred?? to nearly 2,000 in ?a matter of a few hours.

Maybe a well-known streamer has been playing it recently? Well, when I last checked Twitch under the "Quake Champions" label, only a few channels were broadcasting th?e game, with?? around 70 people viewing. So that's not it.

No, it seems that, according to a recent thread on Reddit, there was a tournament that went ahead on Sunday, September 22 at 5PM CEST. The post says "Estoty is bringing us number 12 of its 2Ă—2 TDM Quake Champions tournament series," and that "all player?s can enter to win $150 in prize money."

This tournament certainly l?ines up with the game's very recent popularity spike, so that could explain it. Shame I didn't know about it sooner, to be honest. Could have done with a spare $150.

I do remember playing the game several years ago. I recall it scratched a certain itch, taking me back to my Quake 3: Arena days, fighting low-poly bots in high-octane battle, dangerously close to an arena's pre??cipice. The glory? days of first-person shooting, some may argue.

The post Quake Champions ??just got a sudden spike in popularity appeared first on Destructoid.

In August 2024, Bethesda addressed one of Starfield's biggest criticisms with the release of the REV-8. This land vehicle made it faster for players to traverse the planets in Starfield. It was a surprising exclusion from the ?game's launch, but better late than ne??ver.

Predictably, Starfield's REV-8 was quickly modded by the community, resulting in tons of great fan creations modifying and convert??ing?? the vehicle and its mechanics in different ways. Here are 10 of the best so far.

M12B FAV (Warthog) (Standalone)

M12B FAV (Warthog) (Standalone) sees Halo's most iconic vehicle come to Starfield. It's a crossover that makes sense, and frankly, it hardly looks out of place. If you didn't know the vehicle from the Halo games, you wouldn't second-guess its appearance here, which is why it's one of the best REV-8 Starfield mods on the Nexus.

You can find the Warthog at any ship technician in the game, and don't worry - you can still use the original REV-8 if you find it's not for y??ou.

Galactic Highway Network

The REV-8 is awesome, but its addition to Starfield almost a year after release shows it was very much an afterthought for Bethesda. Galactic Highway Network goes a long way to making the REV-8 feel like a more integrated part of the game, by introducing roads to most major cities in Starfield.

We're buying in early with this mod. It's alr??eady a great addition, but the potential here for more content in the future is enormo??us.

X-34 Landspeeder

Starfield and Star Wars are a great combo, and the modding community is making the most of it. It didn't take long after the release of the REV-8 for modder radicalclownfriend to release the X-34 Landspeeder, bringing Luke's vehicle from A New Hope to life in Starfield.

Sadly, Han, Chewie, and Threepio aren't included in this mod, but you can make your own adventures using the X-34 Landspeeder in place? of the ??REV-8.

NASA Lunar Rover

NASA Lunar Rover from Bub200 might just be the most lore-friendly mod on this list. As the mod's title suggests, it adds the NASA Lunar Rover to Starfield, converting a static mes?h already in the game's files into a usable vehicle.

It's important to note that this mod is a complete REV-8 replacer, so with th?is installed, you won't be able to use the original vehicle.

Shades Vehicle Tuner

Shades Vehicle Tuner is by far the most extensive mod on this list. It adds a ton of new features to Starfield's vehicle gameplay, expanding it far beyond Bethesda's initia??l intentions.

With Shades Vehicle Tuner, you can set up a camp around your REV-8, harvest minerals as you drive, use new vehicle weapons, and more. This is a true quality-of-life vehicle mod, and even if you're only using the vanilla REV-8, it's one you need to add to your Starfield load order.

Old Earth ATV (Standalone)

Old Earth ATV (Standalone) is a small mod that brings, you guessed it, an ATV into Starfield. NotSiouxsie?? has kept it simple with this one, but it's a fun addition that doesn't replace the bas?e-game REV-8.

The Old Earth ATV is purchased from any ship technician, and can then be used to get from point A to point B on any of Starfield's planets.

D-Stroy (Standalone)

D-Stroy (Standalone) is yet another mod from NotSiouxsie. They're the modder to beat when it comes to REV-8 mods, and this might be their best work yet. It adds a UFO to Starfield, allowing you?? to tak?e to the skies without actually having to hop into your ship.

It's a littl??e clunky, but above all else, it's FUN, and that's what truly matters.

1969 Dodge Charger

You know what I think Starfield is really missing? A 1969 Dodge Charger, that's what. With this mod from NotSiouxsie, that's precisely what you get, allowing you to cruise around in the coolest car in the galaxy. Is it lore-friendly? Not in the slightest. Is it awesome? Too right it is.

Like all of NotSiouxsie's mods, this isn't a replacer for the REV-8. You can obtain the 1969 Dodge Charger from any ship technician in Starfield.

UAZ-452

UAZ-452 is the final mod from NotSiouxsie on this list, adding what they describe as a "Classic Soviet Workhorse" into Starfield.? It certainly has a striking aesthetic, even if it ?looks slightly out of place among the stars.

Don't let that put you off, though. There's something inherently charming about seeing V?asco sitting on the back of the UAZ-452 while you traverse a planet's landscape, making this a worthwhile mod to add to your load order.

RevT - Thomas - Standalone

Thomas the Tank Engine mods have been a meme in the gaming community for some time now. I remember the first time I saw the iconic blue train replace Skyrim's dragons, and life was never the same again. History repeats itself now with RevT - Thomas - Standalone from Nexus Mods user BlahBlahDEEBlahBlah.

Yes, you can drive Thomas the Tank Engine like the REV-8. And yes, seeing?? Thomas' blank-faced glare among the blackness and silence of space is truly eerie. But it's gaming tradition, so it was always going to happen at some point.

The post 10 best Starfield REV-8 mods appeared first on Destructoid.

According to scientific theories, such as those in Popular Mechanics, it's estimated that the last particle in the known universe will decay after 10²�� years (a long time, basically). However, I reckon people will still be modding Skyrim. You just can't stop the unbridled tena?city of gamers.

Here's one more for all you hip cats to add to your TES5 loadout. Remember when ninjas were all the rage in pop culture? Well, Nexus Mods user Q10isarobot is bringing them to Skyrim. Replacing the rebellious Forsworn, these NPCs now know kung ?fu. Or something like that.

This mod changes all the Forsworn outfits for the? more traditional ninja getup. This also includes giving them weapons worthy of any stealth warrior. Check them out in the video above, although it's pretty clear the player is more than capable of dispatching them. Look at all that blood!

Nin-ja or Nin-nein?

The reason why the Forsworn have been replaced with ninjas is, according to Q10isarobot, because they "fight kinda like ninjas and hang out in clans so I think it fits well in the game." Makes sense, though they do admit they're not a lore expert when it comes to Skyrim.

This also looks like a good mod for anyone who doesn't want to interrupt their current save file. The creator says it just replaces the mesh, so it's "safe to install or uninstall," and also doesn't require an ESP ??file for expanding scripting.

Right. Okay. We've played and modded The Elder Scrolls 5 for quite a long time?? now. When's the sixth game coming out? No, I will not stop harping on about this.

The post This Skyrim mod turns the Forsworn into ass-kicking ninj?as appeared first on Destructoid.

Regardless of what one thinks about Starfield as a game, it's a simple statement of fact that its post-launch support has been q??uite stellar across the board. One thing that's been left overlooked up until now, though, was? its strange mod cap, which has now been lifted.

Specifically, while there's an absolute glut of cool mods to choose from, ranging from Dune-themed planet conversions to Star Wars doohickeys, going all-in on player-made content would eventually lead to game-breaking bugs no matter what. Players quickly realized that this was due to a curious plugin load cap of 255 index entries in total. Some mods use up multiple indexes, which made it awfully easy to reach the cap and go well beyond it. That has now been resolved thanks to a new and unexpected beta updated for Starfield, which you too can access via the Steam beta? update option.

Starfield's new beta update removes the mod cap, introduces "Flip Merge" option for ship-building

Now, if you're a fairly casual Starfield player, the odds are that the vast majority of this update is going to go over your head, as it's more technical than usual. Regardless, it is quite crucial in the grand scheme of things, as it should now be way easier to push things further than ever before, plugin-wise. This is important not only for mods, but also for Bethesda's own official Creations, DLCs, and expansion packs, as every single piece of Starfield content factors into its index limit.

Starfield's update 1.14.68 is ev??en more impressive when you consider the rest of the improvements it makes to the base game:

• Flip Merging is now an officially supported feature for ship-building (allowing for more densely populated ship builds).
• Creation Kit now has a new automated process that creates custom distant LOD models.
• Improved performance and stability in general.
• Various lighting changes and enhancements.
• Certain weapon models have been improved (e.g. the Coachman now has a trigger).

This is, naturally, just a shortlist of a fairly impressive list of fixes and improvements you can check out using the patch notes link featured above. It's good stuff, and shows that Bethesda is more than keen on working on non-flashy stuff, too, when push comes to shove. After all, not everything needs to be a REV-8 kind of addition, right?

It is curious, though, that we're yet to hear anything concrete about the hotly anticipated Doom ?questline that was s?hown off on this year's Quakecon. Granted, it's not like there's not an immense variety of (arguably) must-have mods available already, so I shouldn't complain too much on this front. With that in mind, if you're a Skyrim and Fallout 4 modding veteran, odds are that you're looking at the Nexus site for your modding endeavors. It just so happens that Starfield's Creations UI is way, way more popular this time around, so be sure?? to give it a whirl as well, even if you're skep??tical about it.

The post A surprise beta update for Starfield resolves its biggest ?modding hurdle yet appeared first on Destructoid.

It's been a long time coming, but Bethesda's finally released a proper Deep Dive discussing Starfield: Shattered Space in appropriate detail. It's a soli?d showcase, but it's also a potential disappointment in one key way: it seems to whitewash the Va'ruun into regular ol' spacefolk, wi?th Chunks stores and all.

I'm sure not everyone is going to be quite as taken aback as I've been, but the fact that there's an honest-to-goodness Chunks storefront in the middle of Dazra gave me whiplash. Don't get me wrong: Shattered Space still looks very interesting if you're a Starfield fan, and the aesthetic on show is definitely on-point. It??'s ju?st that I was a fair bit disappointed to learn that the Va'ruun really are every bit as ordinary as everyone else in the galaxy.

Starfield: Shattered Space reveals that the Va'ruun are quite normal, actually

For what it's worth, the Shattered Space Deep Dive vlog does show off some cool new gameplay ideas. Since the city of Dazra is basically torn apart due to a mysterious grav drive experiment the Va'ruun conducted not long ago, we'll come across anomalous blobs of anti-gravity just strewn around. Jumping into them enables the game's zero-grav mode, allowing you to float around willy-nilly, which isn't something Starfield really had in planetary exploration.

Gameplay-wise, then, we're looking at something that's quite interesting. Since Shattered Space is supposed to be more in-line with the remainder of Bethesda's flag??ship sandbox RPG portfolio?, this certainly tracks. The presence of new di?mension-hopping alien monsters is quite neat, too, as they appear to be spawning in depending on how the player interacts with the aforementioned gravity anomalies.

Again, though, I just can't overstate how strange it is to see such a casual version of Va'ruun, considering just how mysterious and ominous the Va'ruun Zealots have been in the base game. Certainly, Bethesda's designers and writers have covered their tracks by the fact that we've only come across literal religious extremists in Starfield so far, but I'm still a bit miffed over this.

Whatever the case may be, we won't have to wait long to see whether Shattered Space meshes with the rest of Starfield or not. The DLC is due to launch on September 30, and the good news for fans of the game is that it's only the first of potentially many to come. Year 2 content support has already been confirmed, and Bethesda is clear that it aims to keep adding to Starfield for a good long while. Now, if only they could help me relive the Destiny explorer fantasy I've been mulling about, that'd be lovely.

The post Starfield: ?Shattered Space is all about pockets of gravitational anomalies, dimensional horrors, and cultist whitewashing appeared first on Destructoid.

From an objective point of view, Destiny 2 is a thoroughbred Bungie shooter. Satisfying movement and gunplay, loads of gear to chase after, and all the trappings of a modern live-service content treadmill. Yet, the fantasy it sells to the player is a fair bit different. The Destiny you see in passing isn't quite the De?stiny that lured me in.

The bit that spurred me to actually articulate why I first started playing Destiny 2 came about very, very recently, with Bungie's announcement of the? content structure for 2025. Now, the stuff Bungie told us about sounds fine. Interesting, even, but that's not really what I want to talk about here at all. Instead, it's the artwork. ??Specifically, the very picture I use as the featured header above.

Now, Destiny has always been excellent at showing awesome alien vistas without actually allowing you to actually properly interact with them. And, to be perfectly frank, "interact" in this context is basically sci-fi overlanding with a bit of survivalism thrown in, for good measure. Obviously, that is not what Destiny is, but mu??ch of its art does rhyme ??with the concept.

One of Beyond Light's most striking pieces of media wasn't a screenshot of a decked-out Guardian taking down a squad of Fallen i??n a single (frosty) attack. Instead, it was a calm image of a Guardian taking a cliffside breather, with the Pyramid vessel in the far background.

This piece of art is most certainly not an outlier. Huge, sweeping vistas come part and parcel with every single pre-release artwork package Bungie puts out, and they help ground the world in a way no in-game vista ever could. Destiny has always been famous for all of the delightful views Guardians witness on their way to pummel this week's new ontological hyper-predator. This is a surface-level nod at the grander; it's a suggested exploration happening in-universe and is about as far as Destiny 2 goes.

Yet, I often find myself wanting to interact with the environment and just explore the world of Destiny, and I'm most definitely not the only one. That's where Starfield comes into the picture.

Pre-release, Starfield, too, targeted the same sense of awe as Destiny often did. And from the beginning, one key difference kept their journeys distinctly apart �Bungie's world stayed neat and focused, whereas Starfield, by virtue of its gameplay, could not. Then it was hey, presto, suddenly I could reach out and venture into the concept art to explore all those places I could never access in Destiny.

In this respect, Starfield is perfect. It's an effectively infinite exploration engine, brimming with places to be and weird things to find. I've also upgraded the exploratory aspects of the game with the delightful Desolation - POI Overhaul mod by agd25, as well as Shade's Vehicle Tuner. The? former makes POIs a bit more sensible and far spread out, while the latter adds actual overlanding features to the REV-8 buggy. All this plays further into the free-form sci-fi exploration niche I've hoped to experience for literal ye??ars now.

And sure, perfect is a bit much, as Starfield isn't on top of its game elsewhere. It's clunky and underbuilt in some major ways, and after? about 120 hours of gameplay, it struggles to truly surprise me in a meaningful? way. Such is the nature of these things. I was never under the impression that an actual playable game could deliver the same sense of awe as static concept artwork could, of course, so I'm generally okay with the trade-off.

Raiding and completing dungeons is, understandably, the high-point of any Destiny player's experience with the game. Yet, those aren't the bits I myself appreciate the most about the game. Instead, I've always been fond of just snooping around the maps, finding one-off setpieces (now entirely devoid of any activity) and enjoying the Bungie artists' penchant for detail. Try looking up the old Niobe Labs in the EDZ map, for example, and it won't take long at all to feel like you've unearthed a forgotten secret in the far-future, post-apocalyptic Switzerland of Destiny.

I've never been particularly fond of live-service offerings, and Destiny 2's infamous sunsetting, in particular, managed to break my infatuation with the game itself. The artists' hard work I still very much appreciate, of course, but the removal of Io and Titan - some of my favorite stomping grounds - nudged me to look elsewhere for my exploratory adventures. Starfield is so close to what I wanted in this respect that it's gotten annoying by now. Yet, the game's insistence on r?epeating points of interest over and over again, populating its worlds with fauna that doesn't act like it belongs, and generally being just the tiniest bit too janky to achieve proper immersion really pulls me out of of the world.

Starfield could very well be the game I want it to be, but it just isn't yet. Maybe in a few years' time, when Bethesda pushes out a few more meaningful, game-changing updates such as REV-8, modders release more delights such as Desolation, and we've had a few more big expansion packs in tow. It's a big maybe, to be sure, but it's not an impossible hope, either. And hey, the same absolutely cannot be said about Destiny, which is more than happy to stick with its unreachable vistas and tightly ??curated combat hallways.

Now, obviously, I don't expect this topic to make sense to everyone. For most players, Destiny 2 is all about those things that keep us glued to the screen in the moment-to-moment gameplay. That is, of course, perfectly fine and valid. If you'd like to get a better idea of what I've been mulling on about here, though, I recommend checking out Bungie's very own 10-year Destiny "Art Blast" over on ArtStation to begin with. Then, if you're still up for it, scroll on through the absolutely phenomenal unoff??icial concept art collection hosted by Redditor Dark129. It consists of about 2,000 pieces of Bungie's Destiny artwork, and it communicates the scop?e and scale of this universe incred?ibly well.

Bungie isn't likely to lean into the more exploratory, conceptual aspects of Destiny anytime soon, I'm afraid. The game's patrol zones are simply too busy and too small to properly deliver on that promise. That's okay, though. Starfield is extremely imperfect in many of the things it tries to do, but it almost gives me that oblique high that Bungie's been hinting at all along. In that sense, it certainly fails to deliver, but looking at it? from a different point of view, it sure as heck is the closest I've gotten to it. So, I'll take it happily.

In the end, I suppose I'm just trapped between Starfield's comparative mediocrity and Destiny's forever-unattainable fantasy, forever bouncing between the two until the end of time. Or, rather, until Starfield's been appropriately modded.

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If you've played any Bethesda game on PC, chances are you're aware that they all tend to have extensive modding communities. Starfield is the latest to receive this treatment, and with the release of the Creation Kit, talented modders are just get?ting started.

Mods can extend a game's lifespan by many years, but it's the graphics mods that can really keep a game feeling modern long past its initial release. If you're choosing 10 graphics mods to download for Starfield, these are the ones you should go for.

Enhanced Lights and FX

Enhanced Lights and FX is back! This mod was a staple in any extensive Skyrim or Fallout 4 load order, and it has finally returned for Starfield. Its goal is simple: to overhaul interior lighting effects, creating a new mood in every world space. Seeing the difference between Enhanced Lights and FX and the vanilla game is staggering, making this a must-have for anyone wanting to upgrade their Starfield graphics.

EXE - Effect Textures Enhanced

If you thought many of the visual effects in Starfield were underwhelming, then EXE - Effect Textures Enhanced has you covered. This takes a stab at remaking and upscaling the game's visual effect textures, including explosions, gore, fires, and weapon FX such as muzzle flashes and impacts. It's not just limited to those, though. According to mod author weijiesen, EXE - Effect Textures Enhanced enhances "every visual effect in Starfield," so you should no??tice a stark contrast from the b??ase game with this mod.

Starfield HD Overhaul

If you're putting together a Starfield graphics load order, then it's essential you have a broad HD texture pack as a base to work from. That's where Starfield HD Overhaul comes in. Replacing thousands of textures and rangin??g from 2K to 8K resolution, Starfield HD Overhaul is an extensive facelift for the entire game. If you place this at the bottom o?f your load order, you can use it as a base to replace some of these with more specific mods, too.

NaturaLUTs - Color Graded Filter Removal and Black Level Restoration LUTs

Vanilla Starfield's color grading is interesting, to say the least. A big focus of the modding community has been to adjust the game's color filters, and we think TheDragonWithinMe's NaturaLUTs - Color Graded Filter Rem??oval? and Black Level Restoration LUTs is the best of them all. Acco?rding to the author, it aims to "remove the game's washed out hazy green filtered look while maintaining the color grading and artistic direction of the original game." This mod has several different options, e??ach with a unique color grading for you to decide your favorite. Best of all - it doesn't touch the in-game lighting, so it's fully compatible with Enhanced Lights and FX!

SavrenX Crisp Flora

When modding any Bethesda title, it's all too easy to get lost in the small details you might never notice while playing the game. That's precisely what SavrenX Crisp Flora is all about, replacing most of the game's flora with redesigned textures to increase the level of detail. You've got to look hard to notice how significant the changes are from the base game, but when used with other mods, SavrenX Crisp Flora helps craft the big picture of much-improved visuals in Starfield.

New Atlantis Lights On Redux

Sometimes, the simplest changes are the most effective. New Atlantis Lights On Redux adds lights to New Atlantis that switch on at night, making the city feel alive even as darkness falls. It's perfect for those Starfield night owls!

Rudy HQ - More Epic Milky Way Texture

If there's one mod that will make the most significant difference to your overall Starfield experience, it's Rudy HQ - More Epic Milky Way Texture. "More Epic" kind of undersells how incredible this mod looks??. Sure, it's not quite scientifically accurate, but it's a visual feast, transforming how space travel feels in the game.

Real Water HD 2

You can't mod Starfield's graphics and not touch the water. Of the mods available so far, Real Water HD 2 is the standout, coming from popul?ar creator luxor8071. No prizes for guessing what this mod doe?s, but it is undoubtedly stunning.

Luxor's Green Grass

Starfield's grass wasn't green enough for you? Luxor's Green Grass is what you're looking for. There are a few different grass types in the game, and modder luxor8071 has recolored all of them to a lush green to make for some beautiful environments. Most of these grass types can be found in Jemison's forests, where you'll notice the biggest difference from vanilla Starfield.

High-Res Ship Interiors

In Starfield, chances are you'll probably spend a lot of time on your ship. High-Res Ship Interiors makes this as pleasant an experience as possible, by making everything very pretty to look at. According to mod author CnRJay, Starfield us?es 1K textures for most of its ship interiors. This mod upscales them to 4K, making? a massive difference to ship visuals. Cool, right?

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We've seen it all from the Skyrim community. We've had everything from new quests, better visuals, bug fixes, and that one mod that turns the Giant Spiders into a creepy looking Spider-Man, complete with gangly limbs. But maybe it's time we had something more scatological in our TES5 experience. Or so one person felt, at least.

In what can only be described as something of a head-scratching moment, Nexus Mods user nakano52 decided to replace Skyrim's vegetation with literal poo. Referred to as DIY (or Doo Ingredients Yuk), this mod is potentially suited for those who often find themselves?? thinking, "there's not enough shit on my travels" while adv??enturing across Tamriel.

Specifically, nakano52 says the mod replaces s?hrubs and plants "at a certain rate," whatever that means. However, it's not just for? the aesthetic grossness of it, though the modder admits they thought it would be fun to see vast piles of poop in the game.

Not quite healing powers

You see, Doo Ingredients Yuk does have something of a purpose. As not??ed in the name, the piles of plants-cum-feces can actually be harvested for those who consider themselves quite the budding al??chemist.

What can it be used ??for in this context? Why, nothing more than a simple poison, of course. According to the description page, poop has a gold value of one, a weight capacity of 0.1, and has the following effects:

• Ravage Health
• Lingering Damage Health
• Lingering Damage Magicka
• Lingering Damage Stamina

There are, however, a few additional mods you'll need to download and install before this one will work, such as SkyPatcher and Base Object Swapper. Other than that, you're good to go, because we've all run out of things to do in Skyrim, it seems. Not that I'm above ?a poop-based modification, you understand.

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When news broke that Bethesda was working on a space RPG, it didn't take a genius to figure out it would quickly be turned into a de facto Star Wars game by talented modders.

This happened almost immediately, with plenty of Starfield players turning t??heir game into a galaxy far, far away. Hundreds of mods can be found that bring the classic Star Wars appeal to Starfield, but what if ??you could only choose 10? These are the ones? we'd choose.

The Mandalorian

The Mandalorian is a solid start to this list, bringing Din Djarin's armor and jetpack into Starfield. You can grab both the original and Beskar variants of Pedro Pascal's protagonist's armor from the Lair of the Mantis, with modder radicalclownfriend balancing the stats to ensure you don't get a set of busted items too early in the game. If you want to kick off your Starfield / Star Wars roleplay with a bang, ??this is a great place to start.

Star Wars Aliens

Of all the Starfield mods on this list, radicalclownfriend's Star Wars Aliens will make the most significant difference in making your dream intergalactic crossover a reality. It's a simple concept, introducing many of Star Wars' iconic aliens into the ranks of Starfield's faction??s, but the effect is sublime. You'll go from meeting a Twi'lek spacer ??one moment to a Zabrak member of the Crimson Fleet the next, all while playing as a Rodian yourself. New character presets, hairstyles, tattoos, and skin tones make this mod fully customizable, too. 10/10, no notes.

UC Empire

Did something about Starfield's United Colonies rub you the wrong way? Download UC Empire so you don't have to feel bad working against them. This impressive conversion transforms Starfield's most powerful faction i??nto the Galactic Empire, with tons of new outfits placed on NPCs around the galaxy. This mod also opens new?? roleplay possibilities for evil characters - joining the Galactic Empire feels slightly more sinister than joining the United Colonies, but that's just us.

Star Wars YT-1300 Millennium Falcon 1977

Ever wanted to fly the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy? Starfield's ship-builder not quite cutting it in the vanilla game? Then allow us to introduce electionis007's Star Wars YT-1300 Millennium Falcon 1977 mod. This awesome creation adds all of the individual pieces you need to put together Han Solo's legendary Corellian fre?ighter, including a build manual so simple even a Gungan could do it. If you fancy putting your own spin on the Falcon, this mod has you covered, with plenty of paint job options available.

AT-ST Enemies

AT-ST Enemies shakes up Starfield's combat in a really interesting way. The base game has a real lack of giant enemies that pose a significant threat, but throw a Star Wars AT-ST into the mix, and things get a lot more interesting. This mod by radicalclownfriend adds seven AT-ST enemies in various locations across Starfield, offering something new challenge for high-level players to take on. The Star Wars skin is just a bonus.

Grand Army of the Republic - Star Wars Clone Trooper Conversion

Grand Army of the Republic - Star?? Wars Clone Trooper Conversion transforms the United Colonies into the Galactic Republic, inspired by its appearance in the prequel trilogy. Various divisions of the Clone Army are represented in this awesome conversion mod, from the iconic 501st to the fan-favorite 212th. It feels right at home in Starfield - the only downside is that as a U.?C. replacer, you'll need to choose between this and UC Empire.

All Trilogy Lightsabers

Come on. Did you really think we were making this list without a lightsaber mod? Our choice is All Trilogy Lightsabers, which adds blades from all nine Star Wars movies, as well as a few TV shows such as The Clone Wars and Rebels. Starfield's melee combat just got a whole lot cooler.

X-34 Landspeeder

After Starfield added land vehicles in the form of the REV-8, it wasn't long before this feature was given the Star Wars treatment. X-34 Landspeeder lets you patrol Starfield's landscapes in Luke's landspeeder as it appears in A New Hope, with a front-mounted gun for good measure.

Freestar Rebels

The Freestar Rebels mod is one of the bigger entries on this list. It transforms the Freestar Collective into the Rebel Alliance, replacing several different outfits to give one of Starfield's factions a fresh coat of paint from a galaxy far, far away. It also includes body morphs, so yes, you can roleplay as Porkins. Use this alongside the UC Empire mod for some true Galactic Civil War action in Starfield.

Aurebesh - Star Wars Conversion

Aurebesh - Star Wars Conversion is a mod you'll spend tons of time not even noticing while it's active. It changes all of Akila City and New Atlantis' text and signs into Star Wars' fictional Aurebesh language, with the end goal being to do this across the entirety of Starfield. It's super immersive, and a must-have in any Star Wars roleplayer's load order.

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The first major expansion pack for Starfield, Shattered Space, is due to launch on September 30. Bethesda has, naturally, been trying to work up the community ahead of the grand release with cool pre-release materials, but an interview with lead c?reative producer Tim Lamb seems to have gone under the radar.

This interview, courtesy of Gaming Boulevard, took place during this year's Gamescom, and while much of it simply reiterates what we already know about the DLC, there are some really interesting tidbits in there still. Like, for example, Lamb outright states that there are some "new mechanics that [Bethesda is] really excited about." Lamb here references some new zero-gravity combat scenarios, for one, as well as a way to "really tailor [the player ship?s?] to the [owners'] playstyle." What this means, exactly, we do not know, but that's just the start of it.

Starfield promises loads of new gear for Shattered Space

Continuing his comment about new combat scenarios and ship customization options, Lamb also said that "there are new tools and gadgets that will help players interact with the environment in deeper, more meaningful ways," which isn't necessarily something I expected to hear. Certainly, new guns, gear, and even ship goodies are sort of to be expected, but Lamb's comments here have some slightly different implications. They might not amount to anything in the end, as he might'v??e been referring to ship upgrades in a flowery way, but the fact that Bethesda recently released the RAV-8 land vehicle clearly shows that the studio is upping its game over time.

Something to keep in mind here is that Shattered Space seems to be a more endgame-oriented piece of content: "The DLC is definitely designed wit??h more experienced players in mind," Lamb told Gaming Boulevard. "We wanted to make sure that the challenges and the story feel appropriately scaled for those who have already invested time into building up their characters."

This, taken in tandem with the interaction comments, could suggest that there's more to Shattered Space than meets the eye, and that the DLC might lead to some meaningful upgrades to Starfield's core gameplay loop. Even beyond the tailor-made content of Shattered Space, that is.

Let's not forget, either, that Shattered Space is only just the start for Starfield's post-launch paid offerings, with the second year of DLC(s) having alread?y been confirmed a while ago. For those of us who found Starfield uniquely compelling from day one onwards, this has been a heck of a ride. Further, the recent glut of mods and me??????????????????????????aningful game?play updates isn't about to stop anytime soon, meaning we'll have even more reasons to keep spending time in Bethesda's flagship space exploration RPG down the line. A solid showing. Let's see what comes next. And remember that there's that Doom-themed questline coming our way, too.

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I think it's fair to say that most wouldn't exactly call Starfield a bad game. It had (has?) its moments, but it's generally a bit "meh." Even if you do really like it, it's certainly a far cry from what Todd Howard (and, indeed, Bethesda on the whole) was pushing for in terms of the next big thing from the Skyrim studio.

However, the team is sticking with it, and the first major DLC for the game is coming soon. Shattered Space (which launches September 30) will have a shorter, more focused narrative, while also leaning towards a horror vibe and, according to a recent post from Xbox Wire, it'll be akin to "classic Bethesda."

While we should always be cautious when it comes to marketing hype, it's been suggested that the DLC will be more in line with the likes of the expansions for Elder Scrolls and Fallout. More specifically, Shattered Space will be a "self-contained story that ?plays with tone and mechanics that the main game didn’t." Make of that what you will.

To boldly say

I must admit, I do quite like the look of the trailer, though I can't help but get a slight whiff of Prey from it. Not that that's a bad thing, of course. We won't know how good the DLC is until it actually drops, so it's hard to say whether it'll give a bit of a boost to Starfield overall.

It's a shame it didn't live up to expectations. Currently, the game is showing as "mixed" for reviews on Steam. As I say, it's not bad. It's just not great, either. For many (myself included), it was a question of waning interest. Considering the story was supposed to be about humanity's search for the biggest answer??s in the universe, it was somewhat forgettable.

Visually, Starfield is pretty spectacular, and it's one of the least egregious Bethesda games in terms of bugs. However, that's not the boast the studio likely thinks it is. Skyrim is riddled with glitches, yet it remains on??e of the most consistently fun a?nd successful RPGs in recent memory.

Shattered Space could breathe a bit of new life into Starfield if it has a tight story that keeps players hooked. I mean, at the moment, SteamDB is showing the game at position 153 (ironically, one above Fallout 76 at th?e time of writing) in terms of the most played games on PC. I know it's been out for almost a year, but that's not what many of us were expecting for a sci-fi? epic that was 25 years in the making.

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One of the key things about Skyrim �indeed, about thousands of games �is getting to live?? out the life of a capable hero. All that questing sure goes a long way to maxing out your skills while you explore vast worlds. But what if �hear me out?? �someone else could do it for you?

Say hello to Skyrim Outbound Shipments by user Eudalus, a mod for TES5 that allows you to employ the help of a, shall we say, lesser person to carry out certain duties. Namely, by finishing quests for a small fee. After all, the Dragonborn has more important things to be getting on with. Roman?cing Lydia,?? for example.

Why carry that important item all the way back to whoever sent you out fo??r it when you can pay a courier to do it in your stead? What this mod does, essentially, is let you hire an NPC to "progress or complete quests by delivering quest items or messages for you."

You'll still reap the benefits

Of course, you'll still?? g??et the rewards and possibly the kudos as well. According to the mod's description, any monetary remuneration you're owed for the quest will be delivered to you by the courier within six to 36 hours.

There are a couple of p??rice tiers, though, depending on what you want the hired help to achieve. Eudalus says most jobs will fall under "normal delivery," which costs 10 gold coins by default. For more complex quests, you'll pay "hazard delivery," which is three times the normal rate, but does include hiring the courier to trek dangerous territory, such as Castle Volkihar.

The mod is still being worked on, so t?here may be a few issues with compatibility when it comes to others that ??you may have installed. Also, not all the quests are supported, such as ones that reward skill points, but it looks like Eudalus is going to keep working on it.

The post Tired of doing all the le??gwork in Skyrim? Get someone else to finish quests for you with this mod appeared first on Destructoid.

When Indiana Jones and the Great Circle releases later this year, one thing is for sure: The Great Circle will certainly encompass a genuine rendition of Indiana Jones. During today's Gamescom Openi??ng Night?? Live, developer MachineGames and publisher Bethesda Softworks showed off various elements of gameplay and confirmed the action adventure title will release on Xbox Series X|S and PC on December 9, 2024 as a timed console exclusive before coming to PS5 in Spring 2025.

For the first time, we got an extensive look at the gameplay that will take place in the all-new handcraft Indiana Jones story coming in The Great Circle. At its core, the name of the game in The Great Circle will be stealth. Ofte?n times it looks as though there will be plenty of enemies between Indy and his destination, making the quiet unseen route the safest and most reliable option. But when things get hairy, Indy will have options.

Using his signature trusty whip, players will be able to smack around, disoriented, crowd control, and subdue enemies. Every location will also have a variety of objects that the player can interact with and use to assist them in combat as well,? ranging from actual weapons including firearms ??to random knick-knacks to throw at the enemy.

Based on the trailer, it looks as though we'll be exploring a variety of detailed environments and solving interesting puzzles to crack the code of The Great Circle.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is set to release on December 9, 2024 on?? Xbox Series X|S and PC. It will later release on PS5 in Spring 2025.

The post Indiana Jones and the Great Circl??e coming to Xbox and PC December 2024, PS5 in Spring 2025 appeared first on Destructoid.

To quote the modern day poet that is one Marshall "Eminem" Mathers: Hi kids! Do you like violence? To add onto that, do you especially like Skyrim violence? While TES5 has its brutal mo?ments, it evidently wasn't enough for one person who felt the aging RPG needed? just a soupçon of additional gore.

Hacking and slashing is the name of the game with "Dismembering Framwork," created by Nexus Mods user Seb263. If you'??re tired of striking at foes with all your might only for them to ju??st get knocked back and maybe bleed a little, this one's for you.

You see, this mod adds in "rea??l time dismemberment," as well as "realistic blood splatters." It's even said to have "adaptive sound effects based on armor and weapon types" for when you really want to hear your sword connect with your o??pponent.

Become Skyrim's own freelance butcher

The above video is but a dangling hunk of tasty meat to really entice you in. Now, we all know the vanilla version of Skyrim already has a decapitation feature. However, it's reserved for a kind o??f finishing move, whereas with "Dismembering Framewor??k," it all happens in real-time.

Note the ability to remove limbs with a swing of a sharp weapon. ?Any Khajiits giving you trouble? Simply lop off their tail and watch them dance around in agony, blood spewing from the wound. Dance. Danc?e in an aquifer of your enemy's ichor!

Got a bit carried away there. Anyway, yes. As I was saying: Skyrim needs more violence. I honestly ne?ver realized how much I wanted the ability to sever off limbs when out and about in Tamriel. You really get to find out about yourself when you play games, yeah?

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There’s some pretty awesome news coming out of Quakecon this year, especially if you’re a fan of Doom. If you are a fan of Doom, you probably already own every game in the series six times over and don’t need something like the Doom Anthology. That is unless you want to own a 5�replica BFG.

Let’s be clear here: this is the Doom (2016) BFG9000 that carried over into Doom Eternal. I would be very interested to get my hands on a replica of the original Doom (1993) BFG9000. The game depicts that particular weapon from the top and from the side and I?? still have no idea what it’s supposed to look like. It looks like you’re holding a spaceship, and I would like an explanation.

At 5� the replica is unfortunately not the actual size of a BFG, so it is for display pu?rposes only. You’re going to have to hit the crafting bench and build your own life-sized model if you want one to complete your Doomguy ?cosplay. However, this tiny terror does have an LED and a stand to make it look a bit more imposing.

I’m sure most older fans of the series have a lot of affection for the BFG9000. It was the game’s ultimate and most ridi?culous weapon. �0s FPS were all about outlandish weaponry, and the BFG9000 was an early one. Adding to its mystique is the fact that it was only found in the Inferno chapter of the game, meaning it wasn’t accessible in the shareware version that a lot of people played at the time.

My home had the SNES version of Doom back in the day, so it was a long time before?? I was ever able to get my hands on the we??apon.

The Doom Anthology itself is a physical compilation of all the major Doom releases. It comes with.

• Doom
• Doom II (I assume this is the new Doom + Doom II compilation by Nightdive, which includes all the original engine releases like Final Doom)
• Doom 64 (It’s nice to see this get the recognition it deserves)
• Doom 3
• Doom (2016)
• Doom Eternal

What’s really scr??ewed up about this release is that, despite the fact that this is a physical release with a Steelbook case, it doesn’t seem to have any actual media in it. It says:

“DOWNLOAD NEEDED. BOX CONTAINS KEYCODE TO UNLOCK GAME COLLECTION [DOOM, DOOM II, DOOM 64, DOOM 3, DOOM (2016), DOOM ETERNAL]. LINKED BETHESDA.NET ACCOUNT NEEDED.�/p>

Why would you want an empty Steelbook with a minimalistic logo design? Since this information is based on an early listing on both Amazon and Bethesda’s own storefront, I’m hoping that the PC version’s text got applied everywhere else and that the console releases have discs or cartridges inside, but empty cases are still pretty messed up. While Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal are still relatively recent games, the lack of media just makes this feel like all the val??ue is in the ?5�BFG.

Doom Anthology will be available on Switch, PC, PS4/P?S5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

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Considered to be the greatest Fallout game ever made, Fallout: New Vegas is simply screaming out for a follow-up from Obsidian Entertainment. Sadly, nearly 14 years later and we still haven't had a new Fallout from the Avowed studio. Oh well, at least we still have plenty of mods to keep us amuse??d.

And amused I am, thanks to this one from Nexus Mods user SadWeeble in which NPCs in New Vegas literally explode randomly. The game itself is already known for its dar??k hum??or and elements of the slightly absurd, so this should basically fit right into your normal playthrough.

SadWeeble describes it as turning the wasteland into the "tensest game of Hot Potato." Imagine just strolling through the Vegas Strip or the Mojave Desert itself, only to see the denizens and Wastelanders fl??ip and ragdoll via an explosion that leaves very little time to say? goodbye to personal limbs.

Customizable booms

It gets better, as well. The mod creator?? has also added in some custom settings to allow you to configure the randomness of NPCs exploding. You can, for example, change the delay before said NPC goes all boom. You ?can change the explosion "type," reward yourself some XP each time someone explodes, and mark essential characters as ones to ignore.

The only downside perhaps is you do need a few m??ore downloads for this one to work. SadWeeble says in order to get "NPCs Randomly Explode" to work, you'll need the following:

• The New Vegas Script Extender
• The JIP LN NVSE Plugin
• The SUP NVSE Plugin
• The Mod Configuration Menu (optional)

I recently replayed Fallout: New Vegas, having not picked it up for a few years. One thing people typically praise the game for is its story and writing. It has a certain levity to it that offsets the somewhat bleak aspects of living in a post-apocalyptic world, something that Bethesda can't quite measure up to. I know I'm definitely not alone in hoping Obsidian will give us a New Vegas 2 at some point.

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With the Creation Kit and Year 2 DLC already in tow, it's obvious that Starfield isn't going anywhere anytime soon. However, if you've been keeping track of its Nexus page, you may have noticed that it's not that impr?essive. As it turns out, Bethesda's own Creations interface might be responsible.

Historically, mainline Bethesda games have proliferated on the Nexus Mods website, where the vast majority of their respective mods were hosted and freely accessible for anyone to install. Skyrim and Fallout 4's Bethesda modding platform, Creations, were often overlooked in lieu of Nexus to the point of effective irrelevance on PC. With Starfield, however, the situation ??appears to be quite the opposite, as modders thems?elves chimed in on this Reddit thread explaining how the tides have turned.

Modders confirm: Starfield Creations is way more popular than Nexus

According to modders Nosism123, tjacayne, and Cole-train99, Creations is absolutely the place to be if you're a Starfield modder. They all responded to KrabbitNL's Reddit thread explaining that, while Nexus downloads are surprisingly low for Starfield, they're all getting way more downl?oad?s from Bethesda's official Creations platform.

The differences between Nexus and Creations are remarkable, though they do ma??ke way more sense when you consider that Creations is also available on Xbox, while Nexus is a dedicated PC platform through-and-through.

It's not that it doesn't make sense that there'd be such a stark difference between Creations a??nd Nexu?s, either. It's just that it's historically unprecedented, and this is the first time that a first-party in-game modding platform has beaten Nexus proper when it comes to mainline Bethesda game mod downloads.

Now, to be perfectly fair, even though Creations is a powerful modding platform in its own right, Nexus remains the go-to spot for the modding community on PC. Notably, Creations does not have a proper forum or even a way to discuss specific mods with other users, and the Creations' implem??entation of Script? Extender mods can be quite iffy.

To that end, PC players interested in modding Starfield will want to step out of Creations every so often, at the very least. For example, even though powerful mods such as "Ship Vendor Framework" did make their way onto Creations, the arguably more important POI randomizer "Bedlam" isn't there just yet, and the?re'??s no telling if it'll drop in anytime soon.

So, ideally, you'll be using both of the?se platforms anyhow, but keep in mind that Creations is the more mainstream solution for the time being. Funny, how these things sometimes work out!

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The legacy of Skyrim is such that it feels as though there will never be a time when it's not in the gaming limelight. I'm partly to blame for that, given all the articles I do about fan-made mods. But what can I say? The community does a lot of work to keep TES5's head? above the water, improving on Bethesda's original release. Oh hell, let's talk ab?out one more.

This one comes from Nexus Mods user Enneal (as spotted by DSO Gaming), and is for those who like a little sea travel with their (specifically Special Edition of) Skyrim. The "Function?al Ships" download essentially adds point-to-point travel between the game's ports via the use of ships.

The video abo??ve gives a brief idea of what you can expect, with the mod even allowing you to explore the inside of your vessel as it sails across the water. Enneal says it adds six new ships, though apparently not all of them include interiors.

Skyrim by sea..."Searim"

It seems as though "Functional Ships" is best paired with other custom additions to the game, so it's unlikely that it will work with the basic, vanilla version of the game. Still, if you've been playing The Elder Scrolls 5 for the last 12 years, chances are your version is modded to Oblivion (little TES humor there) already.

As for ??features, here?'s what Enneal's offering comes with:

• Point-to-point travel
• Ships reflect quest progress & world events
• Accessible interiors from moving ships
• Real-time(-ish) travel while inside ships
• Ships travel between all ports on the Sea of Ghosts, including Raven Rock

Maybe one day I'll stop talking about Skyrim mods. Today is clearly not ??that day. Onwards we go!

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