What's ROG playing this month?
There's nothing quite like kicking back after a long day of work and enjoying a game with your friends. Whether you and your friends prefer local co-op, online co-op, or online competitive multiplayer, the PC platform has great options for getting together and having a great time. Here's a few of the games that have the ROG staff hopping online and filling a few free hours. Keep checking back in every month as we discuss games that grab our attention, new and old alike.
Dan Esparza - Video Team
A call went out all over Valheim. The forest was angered. Our fellowship of Norsemen had carved a home from the land, and now the forest wanted its wood, stone, and metal back. Our base was besieged by a band of greydwarves. They smashed against the front gate in a furious wave and started whittling down the structure. We dropped our hammers and blacksmithing tools in exchange for swords and shields. As I rushed out to meet the foe, several of my comrades climbed the guard tower to rain fiery arrows upon the invading horde.
Despite our best efforts, the greydwarf horde maintained its pressure, keeping us backed against the gate. One of my comrades was pushed into the moat. Exhausted from battle, he quickly drowned. We had no time for mourning, as the earth began to rumble and quake beneath us. “Troll!” one of the archers yelled from the tower. From the darkness of the woods emerged a monstrous troll with a tree trunk in hand. With one mighty swing, the troll destroyed a portion of our settlement’s outer wall. Greydwarves broke off from the fight to run freely through the base. It was truly our darkest hour. But lo! On the hill overlooking the settlement I spied a cloaked figure watching the battle. I asked myself, “What is this new devilry?”
My question was answered by the battle cry of my friend. “Odin watches! Odin is here!” With renewed vigor, our party rallied and focused our wrath upon the troll. I dodged a swing of its trunk and stabbed the monster in the gut with my spear. The trunk struck home upon the guard tower, and destroyed a significant portion of the northern side. Splinters and wooden beams rained down all around me.
The archers held their ground and continued to rain fire upon the invaders. Before the troll could strike again and topple the tower, an arrow struck true and stole the last bit of health the beast had left. It fell, and soon the greydwarves joined the troll in Helheim. Our base was saved, but we knew the darkness of the woods would be back, so we began to build again.
If you've paid attention to gaming news of late, you probably haven't been able to avoid the massive buzz around Valheim and its immersive survival gameplay. The hype is justified. There's just enough resource gathering to give you a sense of accomplishment when you build a wall, guard tower, or mead hall, or make a technological advancement. But those chores never get in the way of exploration and combat. Valheim doesn’t limit you by forcing you to constantly eat, drink, and worry about your next meal like other survival games. Different foods provide valuable buffs, so it’s worth your time to forage, but the game frees you to go on extended adventures instead of extended farming excursions.
Valheim is a great way to hang with your buddies, go on grand adventures, and build in a beautiful Viking sandbox. It’s an early access game, but it’s already full of things to do and places to explore. I can’t wait to see what new features are added in the coming months. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that they increase the number of players that can group together so that I can bring even more of my friends into Valheim with me.
Lane Prescott - Technical Support Team
Set in the very near future in a bleak post-Soviet warzone, Escape from Tarkov ticks all my boxes for a competitive online shooter. It’s a slow-paced game that rewards patience, as taking your time almost always leads to a successful fight. It also rewards careful planning before a raid. I wasn’t a gun enthusiast before I 
started playing, but after hours of organising and modding my gear and weapons in Tarkov, I definitely understand the attraction.
When they began this project, Battlestate Games set out to create their vision of the most immersive tactical FPS yet, and Tarkov is easily the most realistic shooter I’ve ever played. It has a steep learning curve even for veteran FPS players, but if you take the time to learn the intricacies of this title you will be greatly rewarded. I had never experienced levels of stress, fear, elation and anger as high as I did once I started playing this game.
Tarkov’s intricate loadout customisation options make the game realistic and rewarding. Nothing feels quite as satisfying as killing an enemy player with a gun I built from scratch with my preferred mods. I've escaped death more than once because I had the foresight to attach a silencer so that enemies were left guessing as to my location, even as I took out their teammates. Instead of being default upgrades, modifications to your weapons are completely your choice, and anyone can find a gun with the right mods to fit their playstyle.
Players need to keep in mind that their gear that they get back in insurance is on a timer, and they have to log in to claim their lost backpacks and guns. The game makes me work to earn and keep my gear, but that just makes me proud of my self-sufficiency, especially after I put that gear to good use in a successful raid.
I would recommend this game to anyone with an interest in competitive FPS titles and simulators. The game requires a deep well of patience, but it is so unique in setting and execution that I consider it a standout in the genre. I hope to meet you for a shootout on Interchange.
Brian May - Social Team
Free-to-play Call of Duty: Cold War Zombies content has arrived. The new location is Firebase Z, a top secret Soviet base in Vietnam, and it's a must-play destination for all Zombies fans. The map offers exciting boss battles and wave-style attacks with defendable objectives every couple rounds to keep game movement fast-paced. While the average Zombies player will enjoy this map, veterans like me will love the optional Easter Egg cooperative style boss battle that's hidden in the map.
On a late Thursday night (every college kid’s Friday), I teamed up with TikTok product reviewer @ColinWasson to tackle the Easter Egg together. The encounter required all the skill, coordination, and spur-of-the-moment decision making we could muster. Teamwork and constant communication kept the confrontation with zombies tolerable as we moved through the steps to activate the secret ending. From warping through teleporters to getting launched across the map, our duo movement felt fresher than ever. As we progressed through the steps, increasing numbers of zombies began to affect our maneuvers, forcing a change in gameplay. Around round 20, we finally assembled the secret weapon that's hidden throughout the map while adjusting to the stronger enemies.
We finally reached the final obstacle. A colossal monster towered over the map, looking like a boss straight out of Dark Souls. Collin and I unloaded our entire magazines into the beast, but its health bar only diminished slightly. We immediately were swarmed with waves of zombies and mini-bosses. Overwhelmed, we used all our munitions and special abilities to concentrate firepower on the big bad, all the while bobbing through waves of zombies. The boss’s health eventually fell below 10%, triggering an even larger wave of zombies to pester us. The mass of zombies trapped me in a corner and I went down, leaving my teammate all alone against the undead swarms. While my health bar ticked into darkness, Colin pulled through and destroyed the boss with his last remaining “wonder weapon” shots.
Achievement unlocked: Complete the Firebase Z Easter Egg. We were rewarded with a unique banner for our account profiles, and we felt a keen sense of pride and accomplishment. I proudly display my banner in multiplayer matches and constantly allude to our grind to capture this award. The hidden boss makes the new Zombies map a must-play for veterans, but even if you decide not to attempt the Easter Egg, the map still offers an impactful game mode with twists at every turn. So grab a controller, squad up, and experience the latest zombie-slaying action for yourself.
