Assassin's Creed Shadows is due on Thursday, and reviews of the new installment in the stealth/action series arrived today. Here's a roundup of evaluations to help decide if this trip to feudal Japan is futile:

• Assassins Creed Shadows Review 80+ Hours Played - ACG (video).
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows review- finding peace and quiet in a merciless world - Digital Trends.
• Assassin's Creed- Shadows PC Performance Analysis - DSOGaming.
• Assassin's Creed Shadows review- An ambitious and captivating world that's stuck in the past - Engadget.
• Assassin's Creed Shadows review - Eurogamer.net.
• Assassin's Creed Shadows Review - Shinobi Simulator - GameSpot.
• Assassin's Creed Shadows review — The art of kintsugi - Gaming Trend.
• Assassin's Creed Shadows Review - GameRant.
• Assassin's Creed Shadows Review - IGN.
• Assassin's Creed Shadows Review- A Gorgeous Open-World RPG - Kotaku.
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows Has Lackluster Killers and a Vibrant Japan - The New York Times (free account required).
• Assassin's Creed Shadows review - PC Gamer.
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows review – new ideas drowned in repetition and flat drama - PCGamesN.
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows review: lavish retread of tired RPG mechanics - Polygon.
• Assassin's Creed Shadows review - Rock Paper Shotgun.
• Assassin's Creed Shadows Review- A Gorgeous Japan That Plays It Too Safe - ScreenRant.
• Review: Messy Exploration Holds Back Assassin’s Creed Shadows - Siliconera.
• Assassin's Creed Shadows Review - A Feudal Return To Form - TheGamer.
• ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Is One of the Most Polished, Elegant, and All-Around Best Games the Franchise Has Ever Seen - Vice.
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows review - VideoGamer.
• ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ is a luscious, uneven open-world experience - The Washington Post (may require registration or subscription).
• Assassin's Creed Shadows Review - A Gorgeous Dive Into Feudal Chaos - Wccftech.

A new update called Ghoul Within is now live in Fallout 76, adding new content to the post-apocalyptic RPG prequel (thanks Dave). As the name suggests, this adds the ability to play the game as a Ghoul, something that's gained considerable appeal since Walton Goggins made being a Ghoul cool in the Fallout TV series. Bethesda offers Release Notes (also on Steam) revealing what's new, outlining the process for "Ghoulification," 30 new Ghoul perks, and related Season 20 content. There's also a way to become human again, described as a "one-way ticket." Here's the Fallout 76 Season 20 Glow of the Ghoul Trailer and a bit on the pros and cons of this transformation:

Becoming a Ghoul sheds the need to sate your hunger and thirst. Instead, you battle against a gnawing desire to slip back into your base nature, abandoning all sanity you might have had.

The new Feral meter drains over time and can only be filled back up by consuming Chems. You may not want to keep that meter 100% filled though. Your Feral status provides different bonuses and penalties depending on how full the meter is.

NVIDIA announces the release of a new version 572.83 WHQL-certified Windows driver for GeForce graphics cards. Word is these support the upcoming launch of inZOI, the Half-Life 2 RTX Demo released this morning, this week's launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and more:

Our latest GeForce Game Ready Driver includes support for the Half-Life 2 RTX demo, inZOI, and Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation update.

Additionally, there’s support for Assassin’s Creed Shadows and The Last of Us™ Part II Remastered, both featuring DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation (enabled via NVIDIA app overrides in Assassin’s Creed Shadows), DLSS Frame Generation, DLSS Super Resolution, and NVIDIA Reflex. As well as support for Control’s new DLSS and tech update.

2D BOY announces that World of Goo 2 will arrive on Steam this spring, not a year after the Windows edition of the physics-based puzzle sequel came to the Epic Games Store. Word is this will come with some enhancements: "We’ve been quietly readying World of Goo 2 for new platforms in a continued effort to help World of Goo fans answer the important questions: What happens if you poke Goo with a stick? How has the world changed after all this time? What new gameplay possibilities will we discover? What wonderful new creatures, and characters, and ancient monuments will we meet?" Here's the goo-filled Steam Wishlist Teaser Trailer and an overview of the game:

Build bridges, grow towers, terraform terrain, and fuel flying machines in the stunning followup to the multi-award winning World of Goo.

Discover realistic flowing, splashing, viscous liquid. Route the flow of liquid like a river, convert it into Goo Balls, extinguish fires, and solve puzzles.

Discover new species of Goo: Jelly Goo, Liquid Launchers, Growing Goo, Shrinking Goo, Explosive Goo, and more. All with mysterious new properties.

• Don’t Miss Ubisoft’s Spring Sale – Great Deals Await.
• AAA Realities Asset Bundle (pay what you want and help charity) - Humble.*
• RPG Maker Beyond Expectations Bundle (pay what you want and help charity) - Humble.*

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item.

Official patches.

• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Patch 1.3 full overview is here. Thanks Rhialto.

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows – Meet the Actors Behind Naoe and Yasuke.
• Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons - Free DLC Trailer.
• Helldivers 2 - Borderline Justice Warbond.

↑ Official trailers. ↓ Content creator videos.

• Half-Life 2- RTX Remix - Nvidia Devs Explain How It Works - IGN.

• GM taps Nvidia to boost its embattled self-driving projects - The Verge.

Thanks Frans.

• FTC Removes Posts Critical of Amazon, Microsoft, and AI Companies - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).
• You have 4 days to update Firefox before everything breaks - ZDNET.
• Mozilla Thunderbird Version 136.0.1 Release Notes.
• Mozilla Thunderbird Version 128.8.1esr Release Notes.

• Nvidia announces Blackwell Ultra B300 —1.5X faster than B200 with 288GB HBM3e and 15 PFLOPS dense FP4 - Tom's Hardware.

• Unity claims 79 percent of developers are 'feeling positive' about generative AI - Game Developer. Seems counterintuitive.
• NVIDIA Open-Sources cuOpt for Decision Optimization - NVIDIA Blog.
• How a researcher with no malware-coding skills tricked AI into creating Chrome infostealers - ZDNET.

• CISA fires then rehires security crew, and puts them on hold • The Register.
• How AI agents help hackers steal your confidential data - and what to do about it - ZDNET.
• Microsoft isn't fixing 8-year-old zero day used for spying • The Register.

Last Link of the Day: Happy Gilmore 2 - Official Teaser Trailer - Netflix. Steve Zissou?

A Half-Life 2 RTX demo is now available for Windows on Steam, kicking off this free modification for Half-Life 2, Valve's classic first-person shooter sequel (which is required). Despite not being listed as a demo, that's what last week's announcement called it, and the description also says it is the "Ravenholm and Nova Proskpekt demo." This project from community-based developer Orbifold Studios leverages NVIDIA's RTX Remix software to enhance the graphics of this 2004 release with all sorts of modern goodness for owners of NVIDIA RTX graphics cards. Here's the recent Announce Trailer along with more details:

The fight for freedom begins anew. Experience the award-winning game that has captivated millions of players worldwide with its immersive story, thrilling combat, and mind-bending physics, fully overhauled with full ray tracing, new hand-crafted, physically based textures, enhanced high-poly models, and updated lighting, all in stunning 4K.

Half-Life 2 RTX is a free DLC for all Half-Life 2 owners developed by Orbifold Studios, a collective of passionate, community-assembled developers behind Half-Life 2: VR, Half-Life 2: Remade Assets, Project 17, and Raising the Bar: Redux.

Studio Wildcard announces ARK: Lost Colony, a new expansion for ARK: Survival Ascended, the ARK game announced along with the news that ARK 2 was being delayed. The new add-on is expected in November. Pre-purchases will begin in June, and will "immediately unlock exclusive ARK: Lost Colony preview gameplay content." There's also a reassurance that the full sequel is still on the way: "ARK: Lost Colony directly connects the storylines of ARK’s Extinction and Genesis expansions and leads into the events of ARK 2." The voice cast includes Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, who can be heard in the Lost Colony Cinematic Teaser Trailer. Here's more:

Confront the demons of Arat Prime -- birthplace of the ARKs -- in ASA's first massive canonical expansion pack, ARK Lost Colony! Starring Michelle Yeoh as Mei Yin in cinematic anime sequences by legendary Japanese studio MAPPA, the epic new story of ARK Lost Colony bridges the gap from ARK Extinction to ARK Genesis and into the world of ARK 2. As you follow in Mei Yin's footsteps through an intense journey into the heart of darkness, you'll unlock powerful "Lost" character ability trees, befriend exotic tames, craft "Cursed" tiers of gear, and master advanced new building systems!

But beware, the frozen wastes of Arat Prime are not devoid of intelligent life; on the contrary, the city has become a war-torn battleground between twisted Element-powered 'factions' seeking to undo what was accomplished at the end of ARK Extinction. Together with generations of heroes, you'll unite the past and the future of ARK!

A new Vercors Vendetta Mission and Weapons Pack is now available for Sniper Elite: Resistance, adding a new mission and weapons to the sharpshooting sequel for PC and consoles. The Windows edition is available on the Epic Games Store or on Steam, depending on where you bought the base game. Speaking of which, there's also a free update for all owners: "The latest Sniper Elite: Resistance update will also include two additions to the multiplayer map roster. The Sniper Elite: Resistance exclusive St. Raymonds adversarial map, and the Sniper Elite 5 fan favourite Flooded Village No Cross map." Here's the DLC Trailer and here's a briefing:

Despite destroying the primary Nazi stockpile of the deadly nerve agent Kleine Blume, one final cache survived! This stash has now been loaded into artillery shells ready for an imminent launch against multiple targets throughout France. With millions of civilian lives at stake, Harry Hawker launches a daring attempt to neutralise the remaining Wunderwaffe before they can be deployed.

To help you complete your mission, the M1941 Rifle and Armaguerra OG-44 will be added to your arsenal. Used by the U.S Marine Corps, the M1941 is a powerful rifle with a 10-round high-capacity rotary magazine, requiring fewer reloads. Whereas the Italian Armaguerra OG-44 is a submachine gun that has a recoil mechanism housed above the barrel, resulting in extremely low vertical recoil.

Solo developer Erik Rempen announces ShantyTown, an upcoming city builder that trades the lofty ambition of creating a soaring megalopolis for a more makeshift approach. It's expected to launch in Q4 of this year, but you can request access right now to a playtest on Steam to help prepare it for release. The sea shanty-free Reveal Teaser shows off gameplay, and the announcement explains further:

In ShantyTown, you’ll unleash your creativity as you build unique, unconventional spaces across a vibrant fictional city. Construct a floating tea shop at a ferry terminal, design a bustling nightlife district inside a transit pipeline, or craft a serene mountaintop temple bathhouse, each location is a fresh canvas for your imagination! Once your masterpiece is complete, snap a scenic shot and add it to your growing dossier before moving on to your next build.

Every location gives you a carefully curated set of objects and a limited space to work with. Stack, arrange, and strategize to create dense, eye-catching dioramas that bring the city to life. There are no strict win-or-lose conditions, just pure creativity! But if you like a little guidance, optional objectives will help shape your vision.

• Metro 4 will "inevitably" be shaped by Russia's invasion of Ukraine - Rock Paper Shotgun.
• Baldur’s Gate 3 director says single player games are not “dead”, they just “have to be good” - VideoGamer.

• God of War TV show getting second season, though first still being written - Eurogamer.net.

Official patches.

• HELLDIVERS 2 - Patch Notes 01.002.200.
• Tom Clancy’s The Division® 2 - Title Update Y6S3.1.
• World War 3 - Update 1.1 is now available.

• Coming to Game Pass- Atomfall, Blizzard Arcade Collection, Mythwrecked- Ambrosia Island, and More - Xbox Wire.

• The cutting-edge controllers that'll make your sim feel incredibly real - TechRadar.

Official trailers.

• Bylina - Official Music Gameplay Trailer.
• PUBG - 2025 Roadmap.

• HELLDIVERS 2 - It’s high noon in Helldivers 2 with the new Borderline Justice Warbond.

• The Mysterious Lost Mortal Kombat - Nitro Edition - Finally Found 32 Years Later !! - Top Hat Gaming Man (video). Thanks Ant.

• BYD announces charging tech that’s twice as fast as Tesla’s - The Verge.
• Drones Will Do Some Schlepping for Sherpas on Mount Everest - The New York Times (free account required). Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Subsea fibre cables can 'listen out' for sabotage - BBC.
• “Awful”- Roku tests autoplaying ads loading before the home screen - Ars Technica.
• Mozilla Firefox 136.0.2, See All New Features, Updates and Fixes. Thanks Frans.

Thanks Console General.

• Intel finally releases the XeSS 2.0 SDK for developers — Technology still gated by closed-source barriers - Tom's Hardware.
• AMD Radeon RX 9070-series GPU supply to stabilize after April claims AIB partner Yeston - Tom's Hardware.
• Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.5090 (Beta Channel) - Windows Insider Blog.
• Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3576 (Dev and Beta Channels) - Windows Insider Blog.
• How to Install Windows 11 Without Internet - ThinkComputers.org.
• Paint update begins rolling out to Windows Insiders - Windows Insider Blog.
• SystemRescue 12.00 released [LWN.net]. Thanks Ant.
• CPU-Z version 2.15. Thanks Broadband Bulletin via Ant.
• Evernote version 10.131.3.
• 'I made the world's worst keyboard'- This YouTuber's homemade board has over 1,000 keys and types in words, not letters - PC Gamer.

• Nvidia Is Hosting the Super Bowl of A.I. - The New York Times (free account required). Hypeception. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Nvidia expected to reveal details of latest AI chip at conference - Reuters.
• Farewell Photoshop? Google’s new AI lets you edit images by asking. - Ars Technica.
• Hundreds of celebrities warn against letting OpenAI and Google ‘freely exploit’ Hollywood - The Verge.
• AI image recognition detects bubble-like structures in the universe - Phys.org.

• Google acquires cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion - The Verge.

• "We had to scale back a little bit and hire security guards." Palworld developer reveals Nintendo lawsuit reaction - Eurogamer.net.

• Cataclismo review - PC Gamer.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Graphics Card: ASRock Radeon RX 9070 Steel Legend - Guru3D.
• Graphics Card: Zotac GeForce RTX 5070 SOLID Review - RTX 4090 Performance- - ThePCEnthusiast.
• Handheld: Lenovo Legion Go S (Windows) review - PC Gamer.
• Headset/Earbuds: Soundcore AeroClip review - Tom's Guide.
• Keyboard: Cherry MX 8.2 TKL Wireless XAGA review - PC Gamer.
• PSU: Corsair SF750 750 W Review - TechPowerUp.
• PSU: FSP MEGA TI 1650W ATX 3.1 Power Supply Unit - Nikk Tech.
• SSD: DapuStor Roealsen6 R6101 7.68TB Enterprise SSD Review - TweakTown.
• SSD: Team Group MP44Q 2 TB Review - TechPowerUp.

I have my new coffee grinder, so that's a relief. I got a separate kitchen scale as well to be precise with my ratios, since the scale-grinder that broke is an unusual combo. But revisiting ratio guidelines again has me mystified (again). According to online sources, the proper ratio of water to beans for a Chemex pour over maker like I use is around 16:1. My kettle holds 1.5 liters, and my calculator tells me that calls for 93 grams of beans. This is the same confusion I hit last time I looked into this, because despite that guidance, after experimenting, we landed on 50 grams of beans. This should be extremely weak according to the internet, but it's not, and we do like strong coffee. I'm almost certain that answer is obvious, and I'm still grinding my beans too finely. The coffee is good as it is. But there is a trace of bitterness, which supports the idea that I'm over-extracting, as the experts say. So I'll experiment with this more. It's hard to imagine a courser grind could allow me to use almost twice as much coffee, but you never know.

Ground-up Round-up
Thanks Ant, Neutronbeam, and Max.

Breakfast Links

• Village Roadshow Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy - Variety.
• Bring back the 2000s-era sci-fi flopbuster - Polygon. Or not.

Science

• Ambient outdoor heat and accelerated epigenetic aging among older adults in the US - Science Advances. Thanks Slashdot via Ant.
• Physicists unlock another clue to brewing the perfect espresso - Ars Technica.
• Four Tiny Planets Discovered Near Earth, After Century-Long Search - SciTechDaily.
• Looking at Images of Nature Does Something Powerful in The Brain - ScienceAlert.

Media

• Can You Fool A Self Driving Car? - Mark Rober. Thanks Simon.
• Lost in the Darkness Below Reactor 4? - True Story of Chernobyl Divers - Chornobyl Uncharted Ep 19. Thanks The Flying Penguin.

Creature Features

• Bobcat sees empty box and morphs into purring house cat (video) - Boing Boing.