Crusader Kings 2: Way of Life DLC releases next week
Christmas is coming; that special section of Winter where you don't go to work and are sometimes sat bloated, trapped in a family-packed room and dreaming of escape.* Maybe having an expanded grand strategy game of familial deceit and intrigue would help lessen the real-life frustrations of such an event. Lucky, then, that there's a Crusader Kings 2 expansion out next week.
It's called Way of Life, and it's a release I'm looking forward to. Rather than enlarge the map or extend the time period, it enhances the already fulsome role-playing aspects of the game. After all, CK2 is about people, and people, by and large, are traitorous, back-stabbing jerks. In the game, I mean.
A Paradox press release summarises the expansion's features:
"Dispatch foes by challenging them to duels, choose who to seduce, break up with lovers, spy on people, free prisonors from captivity, and more are now available to players."
In addition, a new Focus system will be introduced. It lets you set a specific "way of life" for that ruler—be it rulership, seduction, intrigue, war or numerous other paths.
Crusader Kings 2: Way of Life is due out on 16 December.
*If any of my family are reading this, that whole sentence was definitely a lie, and not a summary of last year's post-lunch seasonal TV marathon of endless tedium.
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.
If you love big trucks, establishing trade routes, and the phrase 'post-apocalyptic survival business simulator' then I've got just the strategy RPG for you
Blizzard veteran David Kim's strategy comeback with Battle Aces is 'very personal:' 'I just can't accept... the end-all peak of RTS is StarCraft 2 and nothing can ever be better'