Blending Deus Ex with Escape from Butcher Bay, Deficit is one of the best-feeling indie immersive sims I’ve played—even if the stealth system needs serious work

Immersive sims like Deus Ex and Dishonored are among the hardest kinds of games to make, so I always try to be supportive when an indie developer takes on the absurd challenge of creating one. Yet while there have been some good examples in recent years like Skin Deep and New Blood’s early access Thief-like…

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Here’s 10 more minutes of the most interesting game shown at this year’s Opening Night Live

I was largely nonplussed by Gamescom’s Opening Night Live, particularly its relentless barrage of identikit fantasy action games that I struggled to tell apart. But one game stood out like a rat-powered computer in an elven glade, and that was Ontos, Frictional Games’ latest horror adventure/existential crisis generator. The Gamescom trailer was a barrage of…

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Civilization 7 will finally enter the atomic age in 2027, via a free update Firaxis says will be ‘even bigger in scope’ than last year’s Test of Time

Despite more than a year of updates and at least one massive overhaul, Civilization 7 remains as stubbornly divisive as ever. May’s enormous Test of Time update brought significant mechanical reworks and a fresh influx of players to Firaxis’ latest entry in the 4X series. But with Steam reviews still sitting at ‘Mixed’, with 51%…

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