The state of PC Gaming
To kick off 2022, we’re taking a look on the main video games, genres and platforms that make PC gaming to see the place they’re at as we start a brand new yr.
The most important and greatest shock of 2021 arrived simply when the yr was getting began. Valheim, the open world Viking survival sport made by simply 5 builders at Iron Gate Studios, launched into Early Entry in February and instantly grew to become one of the crucial in style video games of the entire yr. With a deal with co-op quite than PvP, Valheim was the right place to spend time with mates throughout a pandemic that made in-person gatherings troublesome, and its twist on survival programs made it interesting even to non-survival followers.
Gamers delighted in constructing big and complex forts, crusing the seas looking for journey, and taking up mighty boss monsters who supplied instruments wanted to outlive within the more and more extra lethal biomes of the Viking afterlife.
And for an Early Entry survival sport Valheim did not actually really feel all that unfinished. There was clearly room (and plans) so as to add much more to Valheim, however most of what was already there felt full and polished.
Thousands and thousands of gamers dove into Valheim final yr and beloved it, and many people at PC Gamer have been amongst them. We even named it our Game of the Year for 2021.
So, how is Valheim proper now?
Nonetheless nice so far as I am involved, and nonetheless being performed by loads of adventurous Vikings. And even when your mates have moved onto different video games, Valheim is sort of as a lot enjoyable solo as it’s enjoying with buddies. The agnostic nature of the servers means you possibly can take your characters and their belongings between totally different servers with no problem, so it is easy to pop between a hosted co-op world and one you’ve got been engaged on alone.
Valheim acquired updates all through 2021, including a number of new monsters and several other new gadgets. The primary of a number of deliberate expansions, Fireplace and Residence, arrived in September. It overhauled the meals system and launched new recipes, substances, and cooking stations. Modifications in meals meant adjustments to fight resulting from stamina and well being being ruled by the meals you eat, so Fireplace and Residence was a little bit of a shakeup to how folks performed, although the system was rapidly tweaked to be much less dramatic.
What’s been occurring just lately?
- New armor and armor stands have been added in December. When you hate stuffing your unused armor in a chest, you’ve got now received a new way to proudly display it in your base. Root Armor was added, due to a horrifying new creature added to the Swamp: the Abomination.
- Valheim could get new issue modes. It will not be till the sport hits model 1.0, however the builders have internally mentioned choices for increasing the difficulty for these searching for a higher problem. There are additionally future plans for Yggdrasil, the good tree that looms over Valheim, “although perhaps not in the way in which that you just anticipate,” the builders mentioned cryptically in November.
- The Mountains are getting extra fascinating. Of all of the biomes, there’s in all probability the least to do within the mountainous areas, however some fascinating new caves are being teased. We nonetheless do not know precisely what we’ll discover inside them.
Are the gamers completely satisfied?
Largely. If there’s any sad sentiment in the neighborhood, it is often born from a point of impatience for the subsequent large expansions, like the brand new Mistlands biome, which have been delayed final yr resulting from Covid. Additionally slowing issues down was the necessity for Iron Gate Studios to deal with smaller patches quite than expansions as a result of surprisingly excessive variety of gamers who flooded into the sport when it launched.
There was additionally a good quantity of unhappiness following the Fireplace and Residence replace. The rework of the meals system meant gamers needed to deal with both well being or stamina boosts, as an alternative of an excellent stability of each, which many felt restricted their choices in fight and exploration. The rebalance was rapidly re-rebalanced, however it’s nonetheless been an adjustment for gamers (there was even a mod that rapidly undid the changes fully).
For probably the most half, nevertheless, the Valheim neighborhood is extraordinarily supportive of the small workforce at Iron Gate and despite the fact that they’re anxious for brand new expansions and different adjustments, they appear largely completely satisfied to attend so long as it takes.
What comes subsequent?
Proper now gamers are awaiting the subsequent large enlargement, The Mistlands, which can change the unfinished and unused biome with one thing new. There may be little or no recognized about The Mistlands—initially this biome appeared in a number of small spots as a darkish space stuffed with tall bushes and large spiderwebs. However Iron Gate has mentioned its redesigning and rethinking the biome, and a few teaser shots present extra of a moist, grassy area. “The panorama will seemingly change fairly a bit earlier than we work out simply precisely what the Mistlands will appear like,” the studio mentioned again in October.
Together with the Mistlands replace, gamers can stay up for these new Mountain biome caverns, which have additionally been teased a number of instances, supposedly coming early this yr. Additionally deliberate for the long run is an replace referred to as Cult of the Wolf and one referred to as Ships and the Sea, however we all know virtually nothing about what they’re going to comprise or once they would possibly arrive. Fortunately, the procedurally generated world of Valheim is very large, and there is loads to do when you wait.
