single-player experience Archives

AppWizard

April 25, 2025

Data privacy firm files complaint against Ubisoft

The European Center for Digital Rights (NOYB) has accused Ubisoft of excessive data collection practices related to the game Far Cry Primal, which may violate GDPR regulations. Players reportedly connected to external servers 150 times within ten minutes of launching the game, including connections to Google, Amazon, and Datadog. Despite being a single-player game, it requires an internet connection for ownership verification. NOYB has expressed concerns about the lack of transparency regarding data transmission to external servers.

AppWizard

March 25, 2025

How to gift a game on Steam

Gifting a game on Steam involves logging into your account, browsing the store for a game, selecting it, choosing the 'Purchase as a Gift' option, picking a recipient from your friends list or entering their email, adding a personalized message, and completing the purchase. Steam has over 100,000 titles available for gifting.

AppWizard

March 7, 2025

Grand Theft Auto 5 Enhanced is a bitter-sweet return to Rockstar’s money-making machine

Over a decade has passed since the launch of Grand Theft Auto 5, which remains the only installment in the series not fully completed by the author. The Enhanced edition features advancements such as full ray tracing, DLSS, and FSR support, but the single-player experience feels neglected compared to the rich content of GTA Online. The focus has shifted towards online gameplay, with new features like the Career Builder and exclusive content such as Hao's Special Works and the storyline "Oscar Guzman Flies Again." There are concerns that the single-player component may become merely an introduction to the online universe, and hopes for a more inclusive experience in future installments like GTA 6 are expressed. The author plans to explore the available content in GTA Online.

AppWizard

March 2, 2025

Steam Next Fest’s biggest Soulslike is about to jump from PC to PS5 and Xbox, and everyone seems to love the demo just as much as we did

The First Berserker: Khazan is an action RPG prequel to Nexon's Dungeon Fighter Online, set to launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on March 27, alongside its PC release. The game has received praise for its smooth mechanics and responsive controls, distinguishing itself from other action games by avoiding sluggishness. It integrates classic elements familiar to FromSoftware fans while featuring a quicker combat system. The game ranks as the sixth most anticipated title in Steam Next Fest, with nearly 4,000 user reviews and a 90% approval rating. Players appreciate its combat mechanics, art style, and features like the absence of loading screens upon death.

AppWizard

February 23, 2025

Delta Force: Black Hawk Down PC Performance Analysis

TiMi Studio Group has released the Black Hawk Down campaign for Delta Force for free, utilizing Unreal Engine 5. Benchmarking was conducted on a setup with an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D, 32GB DDR5 RAM, and various high-end GPUs. The game lacks a built-in benchmarking tool, so performance was assessed using an in-engine cutscene. Achieving over 60FPS at 1080p on Extreme Settings requires at least six CPU cores, but the game experiences significant stuttering and struggles to utilize more than eight CPU cores. At 1080p, high-end GPUs like the NVIDIA RTX 3080 and AMD Radeon RX 6900XT average over 65FPS, while the RTX 4090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5090 face CPU bottlenecking. At 1440p, the AMD Radeon RX 7900XTX is the minimum requirement for over 60FPS. At Native 4K with Extreme Settings, only the NVIDIA RTX 5090 can consistently maintain 60FPS. The game also features Ultimate Settings, which push the RTX 5090 to its limits, yielding lower framerates. Players may encounter stuttering and texture streaming issues, and the campaign is designed as a Co-Op Online Campaign, lacking difficulty adjustments for solo play and checkpoints. The game showcases impressive graphics but suffers from performance challenges and inefficient CPU usage.

AppWizard

February 20, 2025

Does Avowed have multiplayer or co-op?

Avowed is designed strictly as a single-player title and does not support multiplayer functionality. Obsidian Entertainment, the developer, confirmed that initial plans for a co-op feature were scrapped to focus on refining the RPG systems for a cohesive single-player experience. While there is a possibility that modders could create an unofficial co-op function in the future, Obsidian has not indicated any plans to introduce co-op features. Avowed is available on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC through various platforms, and it is priced at .99, with a promotional deal bringing the price down to .89 at CDKeys.

AppWizard

December 18, 2024

I played 27 new cozy games this year and my top 5 only includes 2 farm sims, I promise

This year, 27 cozy games were played, with notable titles including Fields of Mistria, Sky: Children of the Light, Infinity Nikki, Tiny Glade, and Rusty's Retirement. Fields of Mistria is a farm sim that evokes nostalgia for Harvest Moon games, featuring engaging characters and user-friendly elements. Sky: Children of the Light, a social MMO platformer, successfully transforms the single-player experience of Journey into a multiplayer format, offering a vast world and seasonal content. Infinity Nikki is an open-world adventure that combines outfit collection with platforming, while Tiny Glade allows for creative building with a procedural system. Rusty's Retirement is an idle farm sim that integrates gameplay into daily tasks. Additionally, The Garden Path is highlighted as a refreshing gardening simulator.

AppWizard

December 16, 2024

‘I’ve spent my entire career trying to recreate the feeling I had when I played D&D for the first time,’ says immersive sim godfather Warren Spector, with new game Thick as Thieves going multiplayer because ‘you don’t play D&D alone’

Warren Spector, co-founder of OtherSide Entertainment, discussed the studio's upcoming multiplayer title, Thick as Thieves, which shifts from traditional single-player immersive sims to a live service PvPvE multiplayer format. Spector has long envisioned multiplayer as the next logical step for immersive sims, aiming to capture collaborative storytelling akin to Dungeons & Dragons. He emphasized the importance of player agency and creativity in creating surprising narratives. Project lead Greg LoPiccolo noted the dynamic interactions that can occur in multiplayer settings. The game's success will depend on ongoing support and community engagement, distinguishing it from other titles like Anthem and Redfall. Players can wishlist Thick as Thieves on Steam or Epic, although a release date has not been announced.

AppWizard

November 2, 2024

Call of Duty is completely broken on PC right now with constant crashes to desktop

PC gamers are experiencing significant issues with the Call of Duty franchise, particularly with Modern Warfare 2, Warzone, and Black Ops 6, as many players are unable to access the main menu due to persistent crashes. Players report being stuck at the "Loading playerstats" screen, leading to crashes after several minutes. There has been no official comment from developers Activision and Treyarch regarding these ongoing issues. Many believe that a separate executable file for the single-player campaign could have alleviated these problems. Some players have expressed a desire for someone to crack the game to regain access to purchased content, reflecting deep dissatisfaction. Despite these challenges, the commercial success of Black Ops 6 may result in a lack of accountability from the developers.

AppWizard

October 28, 2024

A PC port for Halo 5 was canceled due to technical issues

Tyler Owens, a former developer of Halo 5, revealed that plans to port the game's single-player campaign to PC have been abandoned due to unspecified technical challenges. Initially, there was speculation about a potential port following the release of Halo 5: Forge for PC in 2016. However, Owens indicated that Microsoft is reluctant to invest resources into a PC adaptation, suggesting that the complexity of the project contributed to its cancellation. The situation is reminiscent of other titles from the Xbox 360 era that faced similar challenges. Currently, the likelihood of Halo 5: Guardians being released on PC is low, especially since all other Halo titles have made their way to the platform.