First reported by Ars Technica, the “big cheese” of online search appears to have really curdled things, and in the heart of America’s dairyland, no less. An ad for Google’s Gemini AI that played in Wisconsin during the Super Bowl was first shown online last week with a “hallucination”—that is to say, a bald-faced lie—visible during a demonstration of the “writing aid.” The ad was quietly edited to remove the hallucination before it went live during the big game.
Apparently everybody just soft-launches their Super Bowl ads on YouTube a week in advance now, and that goes for Google’s gaggle of 50 spots showcasing how Gemini could help small business owners, with a unique 30-second showcase for each state of the Union. In Wisconsin, the ad focused on a cheesemonger writing online store copy for his assorted victuals.
Wisconsin – Wisconsin Cheese Mart: Gemini in Google Docs – YouTube
The weirdness came partway through, when the ad actually showed Google Gemini in action. It told the cheese vendor that Gouda accounts for “50 to 60 percent of the world’s cheese consumption.” Now, Gouda’s hardly a hardcore real head pick like Roquefort or BellaVitano, but there’s also no way it’s pulling in cheddar or mozzarella numbers. Travel blogger Nate Hake and Google-focused Twitter account Goog Enough documented the erroneous initial version of the ad, but Google responded by quietly swapping in a more accurate Gemini-suggested blurb in all live versions of the ad, including the one that aired during the Super Bowl.
Adding another wrinkle to the story, the erroneous statistic can seemingly be sourced to the Gouda page on cheese.com, an SEO-focused website with a love for cheese and a loose cannon, devil may care approach to the facts. Google Gemini will supposedly provide links to the sources it pulls from, much like AI Overview in search, and you could charitably argue that this feature just wasn’t on display during the ad.
But that raises other concerns: Is the ad then just pure “bullshot” like all those pre-rendered E3 game trailers of yore or all of Elon Musk’s silly robots? No matter how much Gemini cites sources, isn’t there something ethically questionable about an automated process presenting itself as a neutral arbiter of the internet, offering potentially rotten information as authoritative statements of fact? Google states Gemini is a “creative writing aid, not intended to be factual,” and notes that suggestions from Help Me Write in Chrome “can be inaccurate or offensive since it’s still in an experimental status.”
But that truly begs the question of who would want writing help from a program that spits out “inaccurate or offensive” information. There is also something darkly humorous to me about Google having to eat some crow due to the output of an SEO slop farm whose existence was incentivized by the company in the first place. Billions of dollars and untold amounts of compute power are being thrown at AI models, but they don’t seem to be making much progress on the “hallucination” problem.
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https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1739221322_Googles-AI-made-up-a-fake-cheese-fact-that-wound.jpg6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2025-02-10 20:52:552025-02-10 20:52:55Google’s AI made up a fake cheese fact that wound up in an ad for Google’s AI, perfectly highlighting why relying on AI is a bad idea
Last year we had a murder mystery expansion for Magic: The Gathering, followed by a Wild West one. As the cynics put it, they were “Magic in detective hats” and “Magic in cowboy hats”. Now, with the Aetherdrift set basically being themed around Speed Racer and Twisted Metal, the cynics say this is “Magic in a racing helmet,” when what the people really want (for “the people” read “cranky Redditbros”) is more trad fantasy.
This rings false to me. For starters, we just had Foundations, a set that went back to the game’s original inspirations and in some cases the original cards, a set with plenty of dragons and angels and swords being turned into ploughshares. If it’s trad fantasy you’re after, you’ll eat well at the Foundations table. Aetherdrift is for those who crave variety, who don’t want to eat the same high fantasy meal every night of the week.
And, as someone who only got seriously into collecting Magic rather than just playing the digital versions with Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty—a fully cyberpunk set with mechs and cards like Born to Drive—the idea of magical Carmageddon doesn’t seem too far out there. Magic’s multiverse clearly isn’t full of worlds that conveniently stopped advancing at the medieval period (New Capenna is blatantly the 1920s with demons), so bring on the Wacky Wheels, I say, and the wackier the better.
I went to a prerelease event at one of my local gaming stores, Plenty of Games in Melbourne, to take Aetherdrift for a test drive. The good thing about these prerelease events is how casual they are. While the hosts do call time so you can end your first match and play someone else, my table cheerfully ignored that and instead played a four-player game that lasted the entire evening, which felt more on-theme for a race than a series of one-on-one duels would.
Playing sealed meant opening a selection of boosters and building decks from what was available. I was tempted to build a black deck around Pactdoll Terror, a toy car piloted by a killer doll, which gives you a point of life and takes one from all your opponents when you play an artifact. There are plenty of artifact cards in Aetherdrift, mostly vehicles, but instead I decided to build a deck to test out the new speed mechanic.
When you play a card with “Start your engines!” on it you gain a speed of one, and it increases one point per turn if you damage an opponent. At max speed, which is four, various card-dependent effects trigger. My deck’s Walking Sarcophagus went from a 2/1 to a 3/3 for instance, and my Aether Syphon forced everyone else to mill two cards whenever I drew one. One of the other players went for a similar tactic, Aether Syphon and all, but because I hit max speed before them I was confident I’d mill everyone else to death first.
(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast/Devin Elle Kurtz)
I hadn’t counted on the player sat across from me having Push the Limit, a card that returns all your vehicles and mounts from the discard pile to the table, and lets them attack without crew that turn. We’d been filling his discard pile for several turns, helpfully loading bullets into a gun he then turned around and fired at the rest of us. The cards you get back with Push the Limit have to be discarded again at the end of the turn, but that one big swing wiped out one player and reduced the rest of us to our last few life points.
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It didn’t win him the game, though. The player sitting in the far corner had not long before played Pactdoll Terror, and then she efficiently drained everyone else’s final life points by following it with a handful of artifacts in a row. I could only applaud. It was a classic tortoise-and-hare situation, with the least assuming racer crossing the finish line while everyone else had their engines betray them on the home stretch. A perfect marriage of theme and mechanics.
(Aetherdrift has a surprisingly in-depth connection to the lore as well, with narrative designer Miguel Lopez really going to town on the worldbuilding side of things.)
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1739185250_Magic-The-Gatherings-interplanar-Wacky-Wheels-set-is-good-actually.jpg6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2025-02-10 04:20:242025-02-10 04:20:24Magic: The Gathering’s interplanar Wacky Wheels set is good actually
It’s a shame that Mimimi Games, the studio behind the Shadow Tactics games, closed down in 2023. But other studios have picked up the real-time stealth tactics slack, resulting in games like Sumerian Six, and the upcoming prequel to the Commandos series.
Commandos: Origins is being developed by Claymore Game Studios and published by Kalypso. It’ll tell the story of how the dirty half-dozen—the green beret, the sapper, the sniper, the driver, the marine, and the spy—came together in the early days of World War II, over the course of more than 10 missions.
Claymore’s studio director, Jürgen Reusswig, said that, “After more than four years of setting up a new studio, design and development and the invaluable community feedback from various playtests, operation ‘Release’ is a go for Commandos: Origins. We are proud and excited that players will now be able to experience the origins story of the elite unit which started this legendary franchise.”
As well as singleplayer it’ll have two-player co-op, which can be played either splitscreen local or online. Commandos: Origins is scheduled for release on April 9 via Steam, where you can currently download a demo.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1739149196_Stealth-tactics-game-Commandos-Origins-will-be-out-in-April.jpg6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2025-02-09 23:18:352025-02-09 23:18:35Stealth tactics game Commandos: Origins will be out in April
Abiotic Factor’s Dark Energy update is so vast and comprehensive it opened a rift right into The PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted, where developer Deep Field Games revealed the new faction, new gizmos, and enormous new area coming to the Half-Life inspired survival game. Indeed, it was large enough that the studio delayed the update out of 2024, and only now has Dark Energy formally arrived into the GATE Cascade Research Facility.
In a lengthy Steam update, Deep Field Games further detailed the many strange corners of the Dark Energy update. For starters, it adds a huge new area called ‘Power Services’, which includes another area known as The Reactors. Deep Field Games refuses to divulge much information about the biome, as it likes to “Let the Facility speak for itself”, but I can tell you it’s filled with bioluminescent plant life, a fact I cleverly deduced from some tiny clues in the image below:
(Image credit: Deep Field Games)
Sherlock Holmes, eat your heart out.
Perhaps the most significant addition Dark Energy makes, however, is a whole new faction called The Gatekeepers. This strange group can be found mainly in the Reactors. Again, Deep Field is cryptic about their motivations, but they dress an awful lot like Warhammer 40,000 marines and look about as friendly, so I’d suggest you approach with caution.
Alongside expanding the world and story of Abiotic Factor, Dark Energy also makes a few interesting mechanical contributions. Players can now build and deploy teleporter pads. These can be linked together to instantly traverse the facility (no doubt with zero adverse effects). If you prefer your transportation less…disintegratory, you could instead opt to try Abiotic Factor’s new hardlight technology. This can be used to construct bridges across chasms, while also coming in handy as ad-hoc cover and protection.
Those are the major features Dark Energy adds, but they’re accompanied by a much longer list of smaller additions. These include *inhales* a new pet, an expansion to the Flathill area, new fishing zones, new armour, a fancy retractable harpoon spear, military grade explosives, improved lasers, a short-range jetpack, a construction gauntlet, a grenade that seems to generate black holes, and a dimension in a backpack. Phew. Presumably, Deep Field added that last one so you can carry all the other gizmos Dark Energy stuffs into the game.
The release seems to have gone smoothly. Deep Field has issued multiple hotfixes in quick succession since the expansion release, which caught my eye as this can be indicative of an update not quite going to plan. But that doesn’t appear to be the case here. Certainly, it hasn’t adversely affected Abiotic Factor’s ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ Steam rating, with 96% of gamer thumbs still pointing toward the sky.
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There’s a launch trailer for the update that you can watch above. Dark Energy is supposedly the final major update Abiotic Factor will receive before hitting 1.0, due to happen later this year. Various members of the PCG team have praised its inventive take on survivalism over the past couple of years, and I personally can’t wait to get my lead-lined mitts on it when it finally teleports out of early access.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1739113139_Abiotic-Factors-massive-Dark-Energy-update-which-adds-teleporters-pocket.png6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2025-02-09 14:00:002025-02-09 14:00:00Abiotic Factor’s massive Dark Energy update, which adds teleporters, pocket dimensions and black hole grenades to the Half-Life inspired survival sim, is out now
Take a look at our Wordle tips if you’d like to refresh your daily puzzle solving, then use everything you learn there to help you make the most of the hint for today’s Wordle. Don’t worry about spoilers—our clue is supposed to give you a boost, not give the game away. Although if that sounds like your kinda thing, then you’re in luck. The February 9 (1331) answer is only a click away.
Every odd thing I tried today seemed to work out in my favour, as if I was tapped into a secret supply of Wordle luck. I’m not complaining—I kind of enjoyed seeing “Well, what’s the worst that could happen?” become a huge success—but I hope it sticks around for tomorrow’s puzzle too.
Wordle today: A hint
(Image credit: Josh Wardle)
Wordle today: A hint for Sunday, February 9
This is a nice extra, a little something more on top. The main thing is that it’s above and beyond the usual, and not to be expected.
Is there a double letter in Wordle today?
No, there is not a double letter in today’s puzzle.
Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day
If you’ve decided to play Wordle but you’re not sure where to start, I’ll help set you on the path to your first winning streak. Make all your guesses count and become a Wordle winner with these quick tips:
A good opener has a mix of common vowels and consonants.
The answer could contain the same letter, repeated.
Avoid words that include letters you’ve already eliminated.
You’re not racing against the clock so there’s no reason to rush. In fact, it’s not a bad idea to treat the game like a casual newspaper crossword and come back to it later if you’re coming up blank. Sometimes stepping away for a while means you can come back with a fresh perspective.
Today’s Wordle answer
(Image credit: Future)
What is today’s Wordle answer?
Let’s finish the week with a win. The answer to the February 9 (1331) Wordle is BONUS.
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Previous Wordle answers
The last 10 Wordle answers
Previous Wordle solutions can help to eliminate guesses for today’s Wordle, as the answer isn’t likely to be repeated. They can also give you some solid ideas for starting words that keep your daily puzzle-solving fresh.
Here are some recent Wordle answers:
February 8: STEEP
February 7: SWATH
February 6: PUPIL
February 5: PEDAL
February 4: TOOTH
February 3: REVUE
February 2: CHORE
February 1: CEASE
January 31: TOAST
January 30: FALSE
Learn more about Wordle
(Image credit: Nurphoto via Getty)
There are six rows of five boxes presented to you by Wordle each day, and you’ll need to work out which five-letter word is hiding among them to win the daily puzzle.
Start with a strong word like ALIVE—or any other word with a good mix of common consonants and multiple vowels. You should also avoid starting words with repeating letters, so you don’t waste the chance to confirm or eliminate an extra letter. Once you’ve typed your guess and hit Enter, you’ll see which letters you’ve got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn’t in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot.
Your second guess should compliment the first, using another “good” word to cover any common letters you might have missed on the first row—just don’t forget to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn’t present in today’s answer. After that, it’s just a case of using what you’ve learned to narrow your guesses down to the correct word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words and don’t forget letters can repeat too (eg: BOOKS).
If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, and if you’d like to find out which words have already been used you can scroll to the relevant section above.
Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle, as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle, refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn’t long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. Surely it’s only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes.
They say detective work is primarily about sitting in front of a computer, and if so, have I got the desktop for you. Armed with Nut OS 1.1, the Cashew PC offers speedy net surfing and thorough database searching – all without the bloat of a modern Windows machine, or the sluggishness of a genuine late ‘90s PC. It’s the main tool in your arsenal in The Roottrees are Dead, a game about filling in a massive, tangled family tree.
In the wake of a recent tragedy, which has claimed the lives of the current president of the Roottree Candy Company, his wife and their three daughters, you’ve been hired by a mysterious client to chart the Roottree dynasty in incontestable black and white. That means combing through fictional websites, library books and periodicals for the facts required to pin them down on your big, conspiracy-style cork board.
Need to know
What is it? A game where you fill in a family tree. Much more exciting than it sounds. Release date: Jan 15, 2025 Expect to pay: $19.99/£16.75 Developer: Robin Ward Publisher: Evil Trout Reviewed on: Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB RAM, GeForce RTX 2060 Steam Deck: Unknown Multiplayer? No Link: Steam
Sure it’s easy enough to uncover the names of the three sisters that died in the crash – they are currently plastered all over the internet – plus their professions and a photo each to “lock them in”. But what about their parents? And the parents of their parents’ parents? You have 90 years of this stuff to dig up, so get searching.
Every time you find a clue—if you even noticed it, as they can be cleverly buried—you have a number of avenues to turn to (on your swivel chair). There’s the evidence on your evidence desk (maybe I should get an evidence desk): relevant photos and documents you’ll return to, time and again, to cross-reference new information. But your main port of call is the World Wide Web, the Information Superhighway, which—just as in the real 1998—has exactly three sites of note.
Fictional search engine SpiderSearch is useful for looking up the more famous Roottrees, or notable incidents involving them, while any books you have uncovered may be available from a central library database. Periodicals are also handy for digging up the titbits you need to complete an entry. I lost track of the number of times I had used the married rather than the maiden names of the Roottree spouses.
Bloodlines
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Robin Ward)
(Image credit: Robin Ward)
(Image credit: Robin Ward)
(Image credit: Robin Ward)
Technically you’re only required to fill in direct descendants on the family tree (company founder Elias Roottree was a bit obsessed with the bloodline), but when every name or profession or discovered photograph feels like sifted gold, you’re going to slap them all on the cork board anyway.
After every few successful entries, the game fades to black to pat you on the back, confirming your work by locking those entries in place. The game is essentially one giant puzzle—pretty daunting when you zoom out to a sea of question marks and no idea where to start—so it’s best to take notes, whether in real-life or with the in-game notebook.
Actually, speaking of that notebook, it’s one of the niftiest notebooks ever made. Just one element of an interface that works its socks off to keep you immersed in the detecting flow state. Found a clue on a website, in a book, or in one of your evidence folders? Simply highlight it with the mouse for options to search for it on the internet, or to add it to your notebook, no typing required. The Roottrees are Dead never feels fiddly, repetitive or time-consuming, and in a game about transferring information between menus repeatedly, that’s no small feat.
The AI-generated artwork of the original is thankfully gone, replaced by beautifully hand-drawn photos, magazine covers and promotional flyers.
I said much the same thing back when I reviewed the earlier, free version of The Roottrees are Dead, which is largely similar but neatly eclipsed by this paid remake. The AI-generated artwork of the original is thankfully gone, replaced by beautifully hand-drawn photos, magazine covers and promotional flyers, while the action has spread out from just your desktop to your entire living room. The corners of the room are dominated by your PC, your cork board, the evidence desk and the front door, which is where your client will occasionally pop up to progress the overall story.
With such a large cast of characters, and often cursory details about their lives, I felt like I knew a lot and very little about the Roottrees after playing the game. It was fascinating to unravel their history, their secrets, to follow potential clues down rabbit holes and feel like an actual detective, but very rarely did I discover anything to make me care about the characters.
The Roottrees are Still Dead
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Robin Ward)
(Image credit: Robin Ward)
(Image credit: Robin Ward)
That’s just one element bettered in the expansion, which is included as part of this remake, and accessible after you complete the main game. Roottreemania deals with the fallout of the explosive ending of The Roottrees are Dead, enriching characters from the previous game while introducing additional branches to the family tree. Here, you’re following the trails of various infidelities—an area not really touched on in the previous game—and the illegitimate offspring that now have a claim to the Roottree fortune.
Partway into this tougher investigation, I realised I’d been touched by some of the stuff I had uncovered. Little details had fully brought many of its characters to life. The game generally summarises websites and documents, rather than delivering them to you wholesale, and more interesting and affecting details about their lives have been picked out here.
This second part of the Roottree saga is also a better detective game, with a greater amount of useless information to sift through (making the genuine clues, when you find them, all the more rewarding), and a more challenging method of inputting information. In the first part, you select first and last names from a reassuringly dwindling list, but here the pool of available names is considerably larger, and it doesn’t deplete, meaning you’re less able to rely on guesswork to fill in the blanks.
All in all, you could hardly ask for a better follow-up to The Roottrees are Dead, which itself is a lavish revamp of the free original. This is a game for the quiet hours at your desk, your lamp low and the coffee steaming away, and one of the best games about unglamorous detective work.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1739041030_The-Roottrees-are-Dead-review.jpg6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2025-02-08 18:01:212025-02-08 18:01:21The Roottrees are Dead review
Kickstart your weekend Wordle with our clue for the February 8 (1330), designed to give you a helping hand without immediately giving the game away. You can also use it further into the puzzle if you like, to nudge any yellow letters into place and sweep away those greys. Not clicking? Not enough rows left to risk another guess? No problem. Today’s answer is waiting for you just a little further down this page.
Wow, I cleared Wordle today before I’d even realised it had begun. Over, just like that. My coffee hadn’t even had the time to get cold, and my eyebrows remain unfurrowed. Great. Er, see you again tomorrow? Oh and don’t worry if your own puzzling isn’t quite going to plan, there’s a hint on this page that’ll definitely help you out.
Today’s Wordle hint
(Image credit: Josh Wardle)
Wordle today: A hint for Saturday, February 8
If a hill was at this angle, it’d be a tough climb. This word is also used for high prices and even the act of leaving tea to brew.
Is there a double letter in Wordle today?
Yes, there is a double letter in today’s puzzle.
Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day
A good starting word can be the difference between victory and defeat with the daily puzzle, but once you’ve got the basics, it’s much easier to nail down those Wordle wins. And as there’s nothing quite like a small victory to set you up for the rest of the day, here are a few tips to help set you on the right path:
A good opening guess should contain a mix of unique consonants and vowels.
Narrow down the pool of letters quickly with a tactical second guess.
Watch out for letters appearing more than once in the answer.
There’s no racing against the clock with Wordle so you don’t need to rush for the answer. Treating the game like a casual newspaper crossword can be a good tactic; that way, you can come back to it later if you’re coming up blank. Stepping away for a while might mean the difference between a win and a line of grey squares.
Today’s Wordle answer
(Image credit: Future)
What is today’s Wordle answer?
Get your letters in a row. The answer to the February 8 (1330) Wordle is STEEP.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Previous Wordle answers
The last 10 Wordle answers
Past Wordle answers can give you some excellent ideas for fun starting words that keep your daily puzzle-solving fresh. They are also a good way to eliminate guesses for today’s Wordle, as the answer is unlikely to be repeated.
Here are some recent Wordle answers:
February 7: SWATH
February 6: PUPIL
February 5: PEDAL
February 4: TOOTH
February 3: REVUE
February 2: CHORE
February 1: RIVET
January 31: TOAST
January 30: FALSE
January 29: UDDER
Learn more about Wordle
(Image credit: Nurphoto via Getty)
Wordle gives you six rows of five boxes each day, and you’ll need to work out which secret five-letter word is hiding inside them to keep up your winning streak.
You should start with a strong word like ARISE, or any other word that contains a good mix of common consonants and multiple vowels. You’ll also want to avoid starting words with repeating letters, as you’re wasting the chance to potentially eliminate or confirm an extra letter. Once you hit Enter, you’ll see which ones you’ve got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn’t in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot.
Your second guess should compliment the starting word, using another “good” word to cover any common letters you missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn’t present in today’s answer. With a bit of luck, you should have some coloured squares to work with and set you on the right path.
After that, it’s just a case of using what you’ve learned to narrow your guesses down to the right word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words (so no filling the boxes with EEEEE to see if there’s an E). Don’t forget letters can repeat too (ex: BOOKS).
If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, and if you’d like to find out which words have already been used you can scroll to the relevant section above.
Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle, as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle, refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn’t long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. Surely it’s only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes.
In Monster Hunter Wilds, nobody hunts alone. Not unless you want to, anyway. Multiplayer has always been a Monster Hunter mainstay, although connecting with friends still carries some lingering clunkiness from the series’ earlier years.
While Wilds has a few options for bringing along hunting partners, wrapping your head around its lobbies, Link Parties, and SOS flares takes some doing. Luckily we’re here to serve up a Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer hunting guide to make those fiddly bits less fiddly. If you want to bring some friends along when you set out to slay any number of fanged beasts, flying wyverns, and various reptiles, here’s how to do it.
Worth noting up front, though: You’ll need to complete character creation and the initial Chatacabra tutorial hunt before you can mess with multiplayer. Get that out of the way before trying to head online.
How does multiplayer work in the Monster Hunter Wilds beta?
To understand Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer, you’ll need to know two things: lobbies and Link Parties. If you’re not playing Wilds solo, you’ll be playing in a lobby. In Monster Hunter, lobbies are large online game sessions where hunters can socialize, group up, and join each other’s quests on the fly—and in Wilds, lobbies are larger than they’ve ever been, with up to 100 hunters sharing the same online session. Lobby members can see each other roaming around base camp, and can join each other’s quests from the quest counter by talking to Alma.
If that feels a little too public, you also have the option to form a private lobby. These are invite only and have a smaller player cap, but are a good option for hosting larger hunting sessions with a Discord community or something like that.
If you want to play with a small, hunting squad-sized group of friends, however, you’ll want to use Link Parties. These are smaller, private groups that exist independent of lobbies. If you invite a friend through Steam, this is what they’ll join. At the quest counter, you can join quests posted by Link Party members by selecting “Link Member Quests,” making it easy for you and your friends to hunt together once you’re partied up. You can even be in the same Link Party while in different lobbies.
To summarize, if you want to invite friends to a hunt in the Monster Hunter Wilds beta, follow these steps:
While in a public or private lobby, invite your friends through Steam or through the in-game friends system. Once they accept, you’ll be in a Link Party. (Make sure they don’t have a quest posted in their own game, or they won’t get your invite.)
Start a quest by either talking to Alma or by attacking a monster in the wilderness until it initiates a quest.
Your friends can now join your quest through the “Link Member Quests” menu by talking to Alma.
Prep, depart, and hunt! (Unless you started your quest by smacking a monster; just wait for your friend to show up, in that case.)
What’s the deal with Environment Links?
(Image credit: Capcom)
If you’ve got a friend in your link party in the Wilds beta, you’ve probably noticed the option to invite them to an Environment Link. You’ve also probably noticed that you don’t see your link party buddies while you’re roaming around the Windward Plains, and that they disappear once you finish a quest together.
The Environment Link is yet another specific kind of multiplayer connection. An Environment Link lets link party members run around the open wilderness together and initiate expedition quests on the fly. Unfortunately, you’ll be limited to whatever monsters happen to appear; you can’t post traditional quests while in an Environment Link.
To invite your Link Party to an Environment Link, go to the Communication menu > Link Party > Invite All to Environment Link. When you’re ready to go back to traditional quest posting and joining, go back to the same menu and select Disband or Leave Environment Link, depending on whether you’re hosting or not.
How do SOS Flares work?
SOS flares act as a kind of multiplayer on-demand option. When you’re in a quest by yourself, you can request assistance from other hunters by going to the menu > Missions & Quests > SOS Flare.
Once you’ve launched your flare, other hunters anywhere—including other lobbies—can respond by visiting the SOS Flare Quest section at the quest counter and searching for quests with flares active. They can specify criteria, like quest rank and target monster, and if your quest is a match, they’ll join your quest.
After some time passes, if you’ve still got open slots in your quest, they’ll be filled by AI-controlled “support hunters.”
Does the Monster Hunter Wilds beta have crossplay?
Monster Hunter Wilds does have multiplayer crossplay. To play with a friend who’s hunting on consoles, you’ll need their Hunter ID, which they can find by going to Menu > Communication > Player List > Link Members.
When you’ve got their ID, you can search for them by going to Menu > Communication > Player List > Hunter ID Search. Once you’ve found them, you can add them to your in-game friends list, after which you can invite them to your Link Party or search for their lobby when you start up the game.
If you could also use a helping hand fighting some of the the Monster Hunter Wilds beta monsters, read on:
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With the public launch of Windows version 24H2 last year came a security issue that was only ‘resolved’ this week. Those who installed Windows 11 from a media file using the October or November version of the software seemingly can’t access any future security updates, and the solution is a fresh install of just the Windows OS.
As acknowledged in the recent Windows release health update, this security issue was opened on December 24, 2024, and ‘resolved’ on February 6. This issue notes that it happens with those using install media, like a CD or USB drive, to install Windows 11 files that were distributed in October and November 2024 updates.
As the Windows 24H2 update launched in October officially, if you happened to have upgraded as it launched, you will want to get the most recent build and install it. However, if you installed 24H2 via the Windows update tab, your Windows 11 will be able to get security updates as usual.
This was ‘resolved’, as the fix is effectively ‘Don’t install the Windows 11 updates that have security update issues.’
Windows security updates are used to fix vulnerabilities in Windows that can be exploited by third parties or can result in stability issues. Getting security updates is a necessary part of the software upkeep of your Windows 11 PC as going without security updates can put your rig at risk. This is why Microsoft ending support for Windows 10 at the end of the year is a big deal to those who haven’t upgraded yet. The longer you go without regular software maintenance, the more risk your rig is undertaking.
Coincidentally, a brand new workaround to install Windows 11 on devices that don’t fit the hardware requirements was created around the launch of 24H2. This means that if you used Rufus or Flyby11 recently to install Windows 11 on a rig incompatible with Microsoft’s OS software, you will need to do a clean reinstall in order to fix it.
If you have the version of Windows 11 without future security updates, it’s pretty simple to update and you can use the same method you did in the latter half of last year. Just grab the latest version of Windows 11 and install it.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Unfortunately, this does mean having to sit through the Windows 11 update screen, but you don’t need to remove personal files to do a clean install so it shouldn’t be a huge ordeal. Just make sure to do it soon, as the allure of putting off Windows updates is a tempting one. I’ll get to it later.
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Monster Hunter Wilds features some truly terrifying beasts, like the frog-gorilla hybrid Chatcabra and the hulking bear Doshaguma. But just like our wilderness, there can only be one at the top of the food chain. While the aforementioned monsters can be found in the Windward Plains, even they have to bow down to the area’s Apex Monster—the lightning wyvern Rey Dau. This fearsome beast only appears during thunderstorms, giving it quite the theatrical entrance. You’ll need to give it your all to defeat Rey Dau in the Monster Hunter Wilds beta.
Since we’ve only fought this crackling wyvern in the beta so far, this Rey Dau guide is aimed at helping you do the same with the limited weapons and gear at your disposal. For the final game, we’ll update the guide with details on the best weapons and armor to craft, Rey Dau’s weaknesses, part drops, and more.
Rey Dau is a new Flying Wyvern introduced in Monster Hunter Wilds and is the apex predator of the Windward Plains—which is the starting biome in the game. The most striking feature of Rey Dau is its ability to harness electricity through the horns on its head and channel it into railgun-like blasts. And considering it only appears during thunderstorms, there’s no shortage of lightning. The electricity will build up during the battle, with its wings and tail glowing blue when it’s fully charged.
But even without the power of Thor on its side, Rey Dau is no slouch thanks to a spiked tail and massive wings that have (also massive) sword-like blades at their tips. The wyvern’s mix of both short-range and long-range capabilities means that if you don’t go in well prepared it’s extremely likely you’ll be heading home on a cart.
How to fight Rey Dau
Rey Dau attacks to watch out for
Rey Dau has a number of attacks you’ll want to keep an eye out for, a lot of which it shares with fellow Flying Wyverns. Here’s how to counter them.
Tail Spin – One of Rey Dau’s most common attacks is doing a 180-degree turn while whipping its tail. It telegraphs this attack by looking over its shoulder before spinning the opposite way. You’ll want to dodge backwards away from Rey Dau. This attack’s impact is also lessened by severing Rey Dau’s tail, which removes the massive club on its end.
Stab – Rey Dau will pause, rear its head back, and bring its horns forward and then stab at you while emitting a lightning bolt. It also commonly does this move out of a charge. Just dodge out of the way during the pause, and you should be fine.
Wing Slash – Rey Dau will slam its sword wing down as lightning bursts from it. It then drags it across the ground before swiping rubble into the air. It telegraphs this move by raising one wing into the air, but you don’t get too much lead time. This can be dodged by rolling forward and to either side. Rey Dau will also do this attack from the air, swiping the sword across the ground as it flies by.
Flying Wing Smash – Rey Dau will lunge back while spinning into the air before slamming its wing sword down into the ground. Following the slam, its wing will be stuck in the ground, allowing you the chance to counterattack.
Lightning Bolt – Rey Dau will point its horns forward and shoot out bolts of lightning at you. Before the bolt is fired, a smaller line of lightning will shoot out, showing you where the actual blast will follow. These are pretty slim so dodging to the side will do the trick, but beware of Rey Dau firing multiple shots in a row. This move can be performed on the ground or in the air, but the horn tell still persists across both variants. The monster will also swipe its tail as it fires, so be careful when attacking from behind.
Charge Beam – Rey Dau will throw its head up into the sky and harness lightning into its horns. It will then step back and point its horns forward while charging up electricity throughout its body before letting out a massive beam of lightning. Thankfully, this beam is only shot slightly in front of the monster into the ground, so you’re completely safe around the sides. This move can also be done in the air, with Rey Dau jumping backwards dramatically before spinning and taking aim. This version still takes time to charge, so you’ll have time to dodge. After this attack Rey Dau will let its guard down and its horns out, leaving its face completely unguarded. When unguarded, its face counts as a wound, so using a focus attack here will net you a knockdown and allow you to pile on damage.
Rey Dau’s weaknesses
Currently we don’t know what Rey Dau’s weakness is in Monster Hunter Wilds officially.
Based on the design and moves of Rey Dau, we know with almost 100% certainty that its weakness isn’t going to be thunder. But outside of that, Capcom has given no indication of what elements will be strong against Rey Dau. Looking at previous Thunder Flying Wyverns, we have the Khezu, which is weak to fire, and the Astalos, which is weak to ice and water. Between these two, we’d assume that Rey Dau will be weak to ice, especially since the Fanged Wyvern Zinogre—which also harnesses electricity—is similarly weak to it.
Granted, this won’t matter in the Monster Hunter Wilds Beta anyway, as you won’t be able to craft weapons during the test. You’re stuck to non-elemental weapons, and you’ll need to do your best to succeed.
Rey Dau guide: Best weapons and armor
(Image credit: Capcom)
Best weapons against Rey Dau
Due to Rey Dau’s strong long- and short-range capabilities, you’re going to want a weapon that offers a lot of mobility, making us recommend the likes of Sword and Shield, Charge Blade, Long Sword, Dual Blades, or Insect Glaive. These weapons will also be good for chopping off the tail of the Rey Dau, which significantly reduces its capabilities as an offensive weapon.
That being said, a blunt instrument like the Hammer or Hunting Horn could be good for smashing the bone swords on Rey Dau’s Wings, or even its horns, which will reduce the damage from its lightning attacks.
Best armor and skills against Rey Dau
Monster Hunter Wilds’ beta is too limited to give us choices in gear or ideal skills to equip against Rey Dau, but we’ll have more to say here when Wilds hits its full release.
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