Steam has a multitude of systems for recommending games to people as accurately and precisely as possible. Now it’s looking to do the same with DLC through a new personalized hub called—get ready for it—DLC Discovery Hub (opens in new tab).

The DLC Discovery Lab is the latest new feature to come out of Steam Labs, an experimental playground that Valve uses to corral and test new features for Steam. In previous years, it’s given us things like the Interactive Recommender (opens in new tab), Community Recommendations (opens in new tab), a personalized news hub (opens in new tab), and extended search options (opens in new tab); this latest feature is designed to connect you with additional content for games you already own.

The hub is broken down into two sections. At the top is “Popular DLC for your games,” a scrollable list of DLC for games in your library that are hot right now. The games are irrelevant—it’s strictly the popularity of the DLC that matters for this list. That means, for instance, that the Dune Stalker Starter Pack for Modern Warfare 2 is one of the first to appear on my list, even though I haven’t touched MW2, or Warzone 2, in ages.

The second, larger section is more interesting. This is where the DLC for games you’ve played recently, or games you’ve played the most, is listed. Naturally, those temporal values are complicated by an element of behind-the-scenes algorithmic magic: The “most played” category, for instance, is “ordered by the games you’ve played the most within the past few years,” Valve said, followed by “games you’ve played most over past time periods.”

That’s presumably how I ended up with Wolfenstein: Youngblood gold bars (an in-game currency) at the top of my list, followed by the Legacy of the Moonspell DLC for Vampire Survivors, more Modern Warfare stuff, and content for Carrion, Disco Elysium, and Puzzle Quest 3. The games I’ve really leaned into, but haven’t played for a much longer span—like Fallout 4, BattleTech, Grim Dawn, and Dishonored—are farther down the list.

(Image credit: Valve)

It’s not the most essential Steam feature, but I can see its value as an alternative to scrolling through endless pages of new games on Steam when you’re looking for something to do. Especially when it comes to older games that you may have forgotten about: I, for instance, just noticed the Trine 4 DLC Melody of Mystery thanks to the new tool, which I’d somehow overlooked when it was new. I might need to give that a go.

Like all new Steam lab releases, the DLC Discovery Hub is effectively a beta test, which means features aren’t necessarily final and it might occasionally get a little wonky. If you have bugs to report or suggestions to make, you can do so in the Steam Labs community group (opens in new tab).


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Humble Bundle has launched the Survival Instinct Game Bundle, which bands together a total of $170 value across seven games for $15.

As opposed to other recent bundles, the minimum tier of $15 includes Steam codes for all seven games. Whether you’re looking for a survival challenge or just want to spend time with friends gathering resources and taking down zombies, you’re bound to find a new experience to spend dozens of hours in.

The Survival Instinct Game Bundle is led by State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition, which includes all add-on packs to date, as well as acting as the definitive experience for newcomers. If you’re looking to venture into the wild and survive winter, the gorgeous vistas of The Long Dark are also included with its Survival Edition.

For those looking for more challenging experiences, Devolver Digital’s SCUM and Chernobylite: Enhanced Edition are bound to scratch that ich. And for some experiences that might have flown under the radar, you’ll also get your hands on Volcanoids, SurrounDead, and Starsand. Just make sure to have plenty of supplies at the ready before embarking on any of them.

While you’re taking a peek at the Survival Instinct Game Bundle, you should also check out the Hidden Gems From 2022 bundle, which compiles up to seven games for only $23.

The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.



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Just about every week brings something new to Destiny 2, whether it’s story beats, new activities, or interesting new combinations of elements that let players devastate each other in the Crucible. Iron Banter is our weekly look at what’s going on in the world of Destiny and a rundown of what’s drawing our attention across the solar system.

Phil Hornshaw, a good friend and fellow clanmate of mine, lit the braziers of GameSpot’s Iron Banter for some time before moving on to the next chapter of his journey. For those who might not know, this is uncharted territory for me as I spend most of my time on the video side of things. So to say that I’m nervous about grabbing the baton for Iron Banter is a massive understatement. Although I would be lying if I didn’t say that I’m very excited because now I get to be your liaison in the Tower, talking shop and Destiny 2.

Bungie’s world has consumed me and my time in video games for years. I have seen every color and shade that these games have adopted and have forgotten countless eras of what the game used to be. From my first Exotic drop ever (Patience and Time) to my first busted Crucible meta (Thorn and The Last Word), I have lived through Destiny’s extreme lows and manic highs and saw Destiny 2 stumble and recover its footing in eerily similar fashion.

However, there is a larger reason I wanted to resurrect Iron Banter: By this point, we’re at that phase of the content cycle that any Destiny player is familiar with. Going into February, you can hear the rumble of the Destiny content machine gradually growing into a distant roar, can’t you? The hype machine is coming to life again, and I’m here for it. I’ll have so many hot takes and ramblings to share with everyone as the weeks come, especially in the early days of Lightfall, but right now all I can feel is this overwhelming sense of anticipation. It’s enough to make me shiver with excitement. It’s not often a video game can elicit this kind of emotion from me.

It’s hard for me to recall at what point I went from casual to obsessed, but there was a distinct shift in how I viewed the game very early on in Destiny’s lifecycle thanks to one standout memory. It was the flavor text on the exotic of The Last Word: “Yours, not mine.”Renegade Hunter Shin Malphur to Dredgen Yor. Suddenly Destiny turned into something more than just an excuse for me to drink a beer after class and run around blindly in the Crucible. I realized I was fascinated by the history and all the complex relationships woven across characters, factions, and enemies–especially names of foes we had never seen at the time or the urban legends of characters and mentors we had yet to meet.

Fit check
Fit check

For those who might not remember, Destiny and Destiny 2 were both bare in the beginning but offered a ridiculous amount of mystery and potential. We all had no choice but to put our trust and faith in Bungie to develop the sequel into what we all felt was the original goal and vision. Many friends I know have fallen off the game with each expansion, or have simply refused to return for one reason or another. However, just as many have started for the first time or have returned and are hooked–just like me.

Of course, it hasn’t been a smooth journey–not even close. I’m probably one of the more skeptical players, especially as time passes between expansions and burnout and fatigue seeps in. I’ve often had debates with my clanmates where I’m accused of sounding like another complaining Reddit post. Just the same, I’ve had many eras of being what I call a “Bungie apologist.” Trying to convince disillusioned friends to return–even if the state of the game left much to be desired.

It isn’t easy to collate over eight years of Destiny playing into one brief introduction here. How do I summarize years of living through the (several) rises and falls of Destiny and Destiny 2? Months of hilarious, distinct, or frustrating Crucible metas? Weeks of seasonal fatigue or incredible “blink, and you’ll miss it” story quests and events? I felt like a blueberry waking up for the first time in the Cosmodrome, but in 2023, where there is no linear throughline, I’m just staring at all the possibilities of discussing things and going, “Where do I even start?”

All I can do is reiterate how I feel: it is a very good time to be a Destiny fan right now, and I’m thrilled to share this journey with you.

The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.



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After 20 years and nine Sherlock Holmes games, Frogwares, a Ukrainian studio based in Kyiv, has established itself as the undisputed champions of making games about one of literature’s stuffiest Englishmen. The course of the Sherlock Holmes series hasn’t always run smooth, but that’s never stopped Frogwares’s developers. It may be that nothing can stop them, considering they’re making their latest game in an active warzone (opens in new tab).

After a Kickstarter last summer (opens in new tab) to shore up funds, the studio has been hard at work on Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, a full remake of a game it first released in 2007. The idea is that it’s a smaller, faster project for the turbulent circumstances the team finds itself in—the plot and cases are already mapped out, and mechanically it picks up right where the most recent game, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One, left off. 

It certainly doesn’t feel modest in the slice I’ve played, though. The Awakened doesn’t have the open world scale of Chapter One, but it’s far from just a prettied up version of the original. The broad beats of the plot are the same, but that’s pretty much it—it looks and feels modern, and the characters, mysteries, and situations have all been extensively rethought and, in many cases, completely changed. So much for the easy project.

That plot, by the way, is a crossover between Sherlock Holmes and the mythos of HP Lovecraft—the public domain property equivalent of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Holmes, the investigator who never lets up and always finds the answers, ploughs headfirst into a world where the answers don’t make sense and the persistently curious are driven mad. Watch the indescribable sparks fly. 

It’s a particularly fitting combo for Frogwares, who also made Lovecraftian detective game The Sinking City (opens in new tab). There’s always something off-kilter about its take on the legendary detective, whether you’re being followed by a teleporting Watson (opens in new tab), dodging traps in a Mayan temple (opens in new tab), or, more recently, solving cases with an imaginary friend (opens in new tab). It doesn’t always hit, but it’s the weird stuff that sticks with you—bringing it to the fore with a case of occultism and dark rituals feels like the studio leaning into its house style.

(Image credit: Frogwares)

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Holmes improvement

That style is immediately noticeable as Watson arrives at a creepy asylum in my hands-on demo. When he introduces himself at the desk and meets the head doctor, queasy close-ups build a campy horror atmosphere that only escalates over the course of the level. The whole section walks a line between scary and funny that’s a little perplexing but undeniably fun—welcome flavour for the more serious and straightforward business of investigation.

That’s not the only line it’s walking, however. The scary asylum setting is the one thing here that does feel outdated—it’s a hoary old trope that relies uncomfortably on a fear of people with mental health problems. In some ways The Awakened feels self-aware about that, mining horror more out of the cruelty of Victorian doctors and the society that enabled them. At the same time, it does use cartoonish depictions of mental health for scares and comic relief, including a catatonic woman who screams randomly to set the mood and an agitated man who believes he’s Napoleon. 

But even then it subverts my expectations. As part of my investigation—concerning a sinister series of kidnappings that seems to be operating out of the building—I end up cross-examining a patient who believes her evil doll talks to her. It’s an uncomfortable stereotype of someone suffering from delusions—until the camera jerkily zooms in on the doll’s face, and suddenly Sherlock is interrogating a talking inanimate object. Trying to catch the cackling little terror in a lie by presenting her the right evidence is, once again, the perfect mix of creepy and funny. The whole bizarre interaction wins me back over—particularly in the ambiguity of what is genuinely supernatural, and what is merely Sherlock playing along.

(Image credit: Frogwares)

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Between such odd interactions, the meat of the game is, as you’d expect, investigation. As Sherlock I creep around the asylum’s lower levels, pawing through everything from patient files to staff lockers in search of clues. The throughline from Chapter One is clear, and welcome—we praised its puzzle-solving in our review (opens in new tab). As you gather information by exploring the scene, notes are added to your casebook, with icons next to them indicating how they might be developed further—for example, a compass to show the evidence is pointing you to a particular place, or a speech bubble to show you could talk to someone about it. A great balance of letting you properly work things out, but holding your hand enough to prevent frustration or confusion along the way. It’s just the right formula to make you feel like a genius detective. 

Small improvements—such as clearer ways to use Sherlock’s near-supernatural scene reconstruction ability, and a more nuanced take on the mind palace where you connect clues together to form larger conclusions—make the overall experience smoother than ever. It can break down, though, if you don’t meet it halfway. The Awakened is so keen to prevent you from getting stuck that it can be a little easy to brute force it—during the doll scene, for example, I misunderstood the interrogation system and got it wrong several times, but despite her screeching about wanting to kill me, there was no penalty for trying again over and over. There, and in the mind palace, you’re free to just blindly try combinations until something works, and that can undercut the satisfaction of figuring out the answers the right way.

(Image credit: Frogwares)

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It may just be reflective of this one segment of the game, but the demo veers towards point-and-click adventure puzzling more than I’d like, rather than true crime scene investigation. I feel much more like a detective when I’m examining a corpse to figure out how it died than I do deducing that a metal pipe, a dart, and a sedative can be combined to blowdart a guard. It’s perhaps just the price of a more linear and continuous story versus Chapter One’s open city of disconnected crime scenes, but I hope the final game is more of a balanced mix of adventure and snooping.

That said, it’s a relief that, this time around, there doesn’t seem to be any straight-up action messing with the formula. The series’ Achilles’ heel has always been its awkward attempts at combat, parkour, and quick-time events. Here, no matter the peril, the focus is always on investigation and puzzles, with even a lockpicking minigame serving as a test of memory and visual deduction rather than dexterity.

A screenshot from Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, of a bleak landscape leading to an asylum.

(Image credit: Frogwares)

I didn’t get to dive too much into the larger Lovecraftian conspiracy during the demo, but what I did uncover of the goings on beneath the asylum has me eager to dig deeper (and, probably, go mad). There’s some unevenness to this slice of the game, but it feels far from a compromised or budget project—it’s a natural progression from Chapter One with plenty of intriguingly weird hooks. It has to be a surreal feeling building occult mysteries while real, human horror happens in the city around you, but from what I’ve played so far, it doesn’t seem like Frogware’s circumstances are going to stop it releasing another ambitious and clever detective game. 


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In what will likely be the day’s least surprising bit of news, HBO has confirmed that The Last of Us (opens in new tab) has been renewed for a second season.

The Last of Us—the game, that is—is generally regarded as one of the best videogame stories ever told, so that’s a strong foundation to build on—and in a world in which awful game movie and television adaptations are the norm (opens in new tab), the simple fact that it’s not fragrant, flaming garbage is noteworthy in itself.



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Fallout 4’s depiction of the nuclear post-apocalypse is a reasonably realistic one–in that it’s hell on Earth–but there are a few inconsistencies in the opening minutes that Neil DeGrasse Tyson would have a field day with. Modders have patched up those plot holes, so now you can start a new game of Fallout 4 and experience the effect of nuclear armageddon in all its destructive glory. Just don’t expect to be touring a new frontier after that.

Made by UnrealSeptim over on NexusMods (via PC Gamer), the More Realistic Intro mod ensures that your character won’t survive long enough to take a cryo-nap that lasts 210 years.

“Are we really expected to believe that our character just happened to make it into the vault at the exact same time as the bomb fell? And are we also supposed to believe that just being a few feet underground would keep our character completely safe from the resulting blast wave? No. Nuclear bombs do not work that way,” UnrealSeptim’s notes read.

As science has proven, you’re going to have a really bad time if a nuke goes off, as depending on where you are in the blast radius, there’s a good chance that you’ll be vaporized by the heat, blinded by the light, or you’ll quickly succumb to severe radiation sickness as your organs begin to shut down.

In less-depressing Fallout news, work on Amazon’s Fallout TV series is continuing. Fallout 5 is currently in development, although it won’t be emerging from Bethesda’s vaults for quite some time, and there’s even a Doom-style Fallout 2 shooter that you can download right now.

The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.



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There’s a lot to look forward to in February, but if you’re a fan of first-person shooters, Mick Gordon soundtracks, and action, then Atomic Heart might be the highlight of the month for you. Out on February 21, you can grab an 18% discount on Atomic Heart through this Fanatical preorder deal, dropping the price to just $49.

Set in alternate history Russia, the Soviet empire has risen to power thanks to a loyal army of robots that see to the nation’s every need. Or that’s how it used to be, until a robot uprising put the Russian populace at the top of the endangered species list. With secret experiments unleashing mutant creatures, terrifying machines, and superpowered robots, it’s up to you to explore a fallen utopia and save the day.

You’ll need more than just a quick trigger-finger to survive, as you’ll have to scavenge for resources, upgrade your skills, and use your environment to your advantage if you want to take the machines offline. You’ll have access to combat abilities granted by your experimental power glove and a cutting-edge arsenal, to help even the odds. It’s also worth mentioning–again–that Atomic Heart has a Mick Gordon soundtrack, so expect some heavy metal while you reduce the robots around you into Soviet scrap.

Atomic Heart will also be available through Xbox Game Pass on both console and PC, so if you need to top up your subscription, there’s a great deal on at the moment. You can grab two months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for just $9, down from $30. That’s a huge saving, and it’ll also provide access to an EA Play membership, Xbox Live Gold membership, and the ability to play games remotely with Xbox Cloud Gaming. While it can’t be stacked with existing memberships, you can use this deal to renew your membership once it expires.

Disclosure: GameSpot and Fanatical are both owned by Fandom.

The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.



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It’s not easy for a game to stand the test of time. As technology evolves and the scope of knowledge in the world grows, so too do our expectations. Even the most innovative games’ popularity will generally dwindle over time, as newer releases build on their predecessors’ successes to bring a better, fresher experience to the table. However, a select few–games like Tetris, Scrabble, and Chess–are so pure and perfected in the fundamentals of their gameplay that they’re essentially timeless in their appeal, and have maintained their popularity over the years as a result. Magic: The Gathering is an example of such a game.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the original trading card game. And it’s not just still around on the fringes of society; it has boomed in popularity in recent years. With a string of well-received new card sets, the post-COVID return of high-level competitive play, and the release of an incredibly user-friendly new digital client, there has never been a better time to get into MTG.

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