The Maw: what’s new in PC games this week?

Silent Hill 2, Diablo 4 DLC, Metaphor and a handsome bunch of indies

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Rept0n1x

Alas for the Maw. Last week we had a critical mass of people being off sick, away on trips, away on holiday, or locked in the cellar reviewing very long video games. As such, the flow of news to the dark god of video games journalism was sluggish. Thankfully, the Maw seems to have let us off lightly. It could have risen kraken-like from the abyss and swallowed the planet. Instead, it has merely summoned an extra moon . Quickly now, let’s run through the week’s PC game releases of note and top the Maw up before that bonus satellite does anything unconventional, like growing teeth.

We open Monday 7th October with a trio of indie charmers: stylishly stark detective story Phoenix Springs , epistolary Animal Cross ’em up Kind Words 2 , and the latest of many posh, 8 or 16-bit throwback RPGs, Beloved Rapture . On Tuesday 8th, a chorus of sirens as Bloober’s Silent Hill 2 remake exits the fog, pursued by Diablo 4 ’s Vessel Of Hatred DLC. If Silent Hill 2’s woeful paranorma-burg is too harrowing for you, why not play Townframe instead - it’s also about people’s memories of weird towns, but in a cuddly way. On Wednesday 9th, you must type to survive waves of evil words in Glyphica , which somehow wasn’t made by a games journalist. There’s also first-person melee platformer Shady Knight , for people who think the sword is mightier than the pen, actually. On Thursday 10th October, an RPG for the Dreamcast diehards, Sky Oceans: Wings For Hire . Meanwhile, the Overcooked formula has finally come for junkyard management in the shape of Tipston Salvage . And on Friday 11th October, clear some space for highly Personable RPG Metaphor: ReFantazio . Or if that’s too ponderous a release to end the week on, Breath of the Wildy platformer Europa .

Our live coverage of this event has finished.

• 07:49 am 10/11/2024 FRIODAY AT LAST
• 08:15 am 10/10/2024 JUPITHURSDAY
• 08:05 am 10/09/2024 WEDURANUSDAY DAWNS
• 08:06 am 10/08/2024 IT IS NEPTUNESDAY
• 08:27 am 10/07/2024 FEAR THE MOONDAY

FEAR THE MOONDAY

343 Industries have rebranded as Halo Studios, and all new Halo games will be made in Unreal Engine 5. Here’s the Xbox blog with more.

While we’re talking Halo, Halo Infinite is getting an official third-person mode in November.

Experience a new way to play! 3rd Person Mode is coming to Halo Infinite this November 🔥 pic.twitter.com/WkDkGLx8fF — Halo (@Halo) October 4, 2024

Diplomacy Is Not An Option - an RTS castle-builder with an emphasis on humongous enemy waves - has reached the big 1.0, adding a new branching campaign. We said nice things about the early access build, though I note with outrage that they’re calling us “Rock, Paper And Shotgun” on the Steam page. You can’t just choose all three, that’s not how roshambo derivatives work!

IT IS NEPTUNESDAY

Some music to start the day: a giddy Japanese orchestral number from The Liar Princess And The Blind Prince.

Silent Hill 2’s original director Masashi Tsuboyama has expressed enthusiasm for Bloober’s remake, and especially its newly manual third-person camera. “To be honest, I’m not satisfied with the playable camera from 23 years ago,” he wrote in a TwiX thread . “Depth and angle were limited by the processing load. It was a continuous process of hard work that was not rewarded. But that was the limit. The [remake’s] over-the-shoulder view definitely adds to the sense of realism. In other words, it makes me want to try playing the even more immersive remake of Silent Hill 2.”

Some additional music to the start the day - a collab between Alien: Isolation and Lofi Girl to celebrate the good news .

Thunderful are having a sale , with chunky discounts on Viewfinder, various Steamworld games, Moonglow Bay, Somerville, Cursed To Golf, Phogs and Planet Of Lana.

A new story trailer for Blops 6.

The Breachway developers are overhauling the game’s save system following cases of data corruption. They’re also “updating the tutorial, tooltips, and UI to enhance clarity while also simplifying specific mechanics that just added complexity without adding depth”. Expect the patch in the next few days.

SeekerX says: A couple weird indies off my wishlist: Tomorrow 10/8, Anthology of the Killer is getting a Steam release containing all 9 entries. Brendan had some bemused but positive things to say about it back when it released on Itch: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/dont-worry-im-a-murderer-award-winning-comedy-anthology-of-the-killer-is-out-next-week

pointing upward emote

SeekerX says: Tomorrow 10/8 also sees the Pro Philosopher 2: Governments and Grievances finally release, a decade after its predecessor. More Ace Attorney-style debates with famous dead philosophers! It sounds fun, but I’m not too thrilled with the way they’re taking a line from Matt’s 2023 preview and using it on the Steam page as a review without the context that he was saying “it sounds like it could be…” https://store.steampowered.com/app/2120070/Pro_Philosopher_2_Governments__Grievances/

still pointing upward emote

Blood Of Mehran is a stealthy-hacky action-adventure set in ancient Mesopotamia, from Turkish developers Permanent Way Games. The cinematic reveal trailer doesn’t include any in-game action, from what I can tell, but it seems reminiscent of Assassin’s Creed.

Cleared Hot is a Microprose-published comedy homage to EA’s old Desert Strike, featuring real-time physics.

Ooh, I like the cut of Beaming Stingray ’s gib. It’s a beginner-friendly top-down shooter in which fight alongside past versions of yourself care of a time-rewind mechanic. It’s hecking abstract, with levels that look like sliding block puzzles, and it’s set inside somebody’s mind. There’s also a save-the-animals element tethered to a secret level. A fancy mocktail indeed!

WEDURANUSDAY DAWNS

MiniMatt says: the verge have a story up about itch.io (and other .io) domains being at risk after the agreement to hand the chagos islands - home of the .io domain - to mauritius (/ht the fontgeek.io forum where rps forum dwellers largely landed after daddy reedpop handed our forum home over to the maw and oblivion)

We’ve been looking at the report in question , and I’m going to ask Itch.io for comment today.

As passed on by charming RPS asset flip PCGamer , Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii was almost about Kazuma Kiryu being a tuna fisherman. “Long story short, it never came to fruition, but keywords like “ship,” “sea,” and “fighting,” which had since then been engraved in my head, evolved into the concept of pirates,” RGG studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama told the PSblog .

I randomly watched some pre-release streams for Beautiful Light last night. It’s an extraction shooter where several teams of three players compete to retrieve horrible artefacts from near-future quarantine zones. Hunt Showdown but more Jeff Vandemeer, I guess, though the obvious comparison is STALKER. I’m not massively drawn to the premise but it’s certainly pretty.

Jazz Bar Souls is, seemingly, about going to a jazz bar, playing neat records, drinking too much, and getting kicked out. The barkeep is already a modern icon, imo. It’s the work of Bren Sutton, a creative tech artist at 2K Games. No release or platform info yet.

Hi, Twitter. Meet my game! 🎷🥃 https://t.co/CgCr5U9D35 pic.twitter.com/sLUJNEbssH — 𝗖𝗢𝗦𝗠𝗜𝗖 // 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗡 (@TheCosmicBren) October 8, 2024

Criminally good platter of bloodied vol-au-vents Anthology Of The Killer is now available on Steam , says master word summoner Stephen “thecatamites” Gillmurphy. Will the killer ever be found, you ask? Stop asking stupid questions!

The Steam page for Red Dead Redemption is live with the PC port’s system requirements.

JUPITHURSDAY

The Call Of Duty people have been blogging about Black Ops 6’s campaign . It’s got another one of those upgradeable safehouses in it, with an evidence board. I think that setup dates back to… Cold War?

A blog from the Nivalis crew about some of the people you’ll meet touring this cyberpunk slice-of-life sim. It’s a slice-of-life because they cut it with a blade (runner).

Shady Knight is out. Look at ‘im go!

Steel City’s licensed boxing game Undisputed has left early access . It’s been a million years since I last played a boxing game, so I’m including this mostly out of punchdrunk nostalgia. Does Gang Beasts count as a boxing game?

Overthrown is both a city-builder and the action genre’s vengeance on city-builders, in that you can pick whole sawmills up, speed through the woods with them Naruto-style, and hurl them at a chicken.

You can also throw things in Stratagem Lost , a “twilight punk” 2D tactics game.

Goat Simulator Remastered has had its first real public showing. I had a little play of it at Gamescom, and it’s an unexpectedly straight-faced rework by Goat Sim standards, with only modestly updated visuals.

This one actually came out last October, but it’s my first time encountering it. Just pretend it got stuck between the Maw’s gnashers for a year, decomposing in the briney depths before the delicious fermented scent finally caught the beast’s attention. The Sirena Expedition is a short PSX style horror about a dude in an old timey diving suit i.e one the best genres. It’s still got a demo available.

FRIODAY AT LAST

The early access release of Brighter Shores has been pushed back by exactly one day, because you cavalier Yankees had to go and elect a new president.

We have decided to push the launch of Brighter Shores back to the 6th Nov, because apparently there is some sort of election thingy on the 5th - who knew?! — Andrew Gower (@AndrewCGower) October 9, 2024

Fachewachewa says: Diceomancer came out today, I loved that demo in the feb. Steam Fest. It’s a wild deckbuilder where you have the power to roll a dice that can change values on cards, or even enemies’ health bar.

This does look good . It’s still got a demo, too.

SeekerX says: Aah– the Case of the Golden Idol Redux update launch today was also an occasion for them to give a release date for Rise of the Golden Idol – just one month out, coming November 12th. And there’s a new trailer!

Everholm is an isometric open-ended RPG which mixes a bit of gardening and home improvement with a missing person storyline, procedurally generated dungeons, and a promise to not be “too cosy”. It’s out 11th November - there’s a demo.

Spirit X Strike also has a demo. This one’s a frantic 3D beat ’em up that reminds me a tiny bit of Godhand.

stellarNULL have just announced Mentari , in which you are a magical girl trying to restore a petrified world through the power of non-lethal dance. “As a young dancer, our heroine starts with a limited number of dances,” the blurb explains. “As she travels and grows, so does her knowledge, allowing you to create your own choreography, with hundreds of possible combinations!” I can’t find a Youtube trailer for this, so instead, here’s Moe Szyslak.

Keep Driving is a road trip RPG from the devs of the excellent Post Void.

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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