Rick Lane

Contributor

Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.

Latest articles by Rick Lane

1666: Amsterdam preview screenshots
1666: Amsterdam's developer says it 'won't be using any AI anymore', and the tech was only used 'in conception and pre-production'—arguably the most creative phase of the entire process

By Rick Lane Published

News Patrice Désilets says AI has been "totally removed" from the development process.

35 Comments
News
14 years on, the creator of DayZ is still searching for a solution to survival gaming's biggest problem: 'I think I am going to die without having solved it'

By Rick Lane Published

I will survive? "And honestly, I'm okay with that."

26 Comments
I will survive?
Holding a hexagonal box with a magical centrifuge suspended above it, the player walks through a swamp flanked by a mermaid wearing a suit of armour.
This newly announced FPS will let you blast through the worlds of Medieval Europe's weirdest artist, and I really hope it includes the 500-year-old butt song from hell

By Rick Lane Published

Hieronymus invites you to step into artworks like The Garden of Earthly Delights.

FPS
Close up of classic box art render of Gordon Freeman's face from Half-Life 2.
A massive cache of Valve data has reportedly leaked online, appearing to include Portal 2's elusive beta build and a potential weapon from Half-Life 2: Episode 3

By Rick Lane Published

News The leak purportedly includes files that date between 2003 and 2013.

12 Comments
News
modern warfare 4
Activision serves cease and desist to infamous Call of Duty cheat maker—and films the whole thing: 'We will find you'

By Rick Lane Published

News The publisher says it has disrupted 375 reseller operations so far.

7 Comments
News
Modern gamers spoiled by Steam will never understand the joy of a MegaPak

By Rick Lane Published

Pak it in A requiem for the early days of budget PC gaming.

Pak it in
GTA 6 - Three images of GTA 6 characters cut and pasted together. From left to right: Raul, Lucina and Jason, Bae-Luxe
Rockstar considered having four protagonists in Grand Theft Auto 6, but the studio 'worried about diluting the amount of player time' with each character

By Rick Lane Published

News "How do we follow up three characters? Is it four characters now?"

19 Comments
News
Iron Man stands in silhouette.
'Well, that didn't go as planned' says EA as it footage of its Iron Man game leaks online

By Rick Lane Published

News "But now you know, we've got a lot more to show you."

7 Comments
News
In a Halloween themed room, the neighbour raises his clawed hands toward the camera, eyes glowing white.
Hello Neighbor's multiplayer spinoff has been 'temporarily shut down' after a hacker wiped player progression and demanded the game's 'removal from sale across all platforms'

By Rick Lane Published

News Secret Neighbor will remain offline until Hologryph and tinyBuild have addressed the breach.

9 Comments
News
Ray Chase sitting in front of a KCD2 backdrop
Ray Chase, the voice of Cyclops in X-Men '97, has '1,000 freaking hours' in Slay the Spire and is running a 'smell build' in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2: ' I wear perfumes and walk into battle with my fancy boy outfit'

By Rick Lane Published

Ray the Spire The voice of Noctis in Final Fantasy 15 takes us on a road-trip through his Steam library.

Ray the Spire
Astarion poses with a female elf and a sheep in Baldur's Gate 3.
If you're desperate for more Baldur's Gate 3, here's a 6-hour mini-campaign all about Astarion with 4 different endings and 6 new companions

By Rick Lane Published

News Help or hinder BG3's vampire elf as he tangles with a Bastellus in A Dream of Silence.

News
Inside a cathedral, a wolf sits howling in front of a sword embedded in a bonfire.
This newly announced soulslike has a main character inspired by Dark Souls' most heartbreaking boss fight

By Rick Lane Published

News Stray Dog: Nobody Cares asks the question: "What if you were Great Grey Wolf Sif?"

News
Surrounded by squadmates, a soldier kneels over a bag overflowing with cash.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's first beta patch adds a new map and mode, as Infinity Ward responds to complaints about footstep noise and weapon lethality

By Rick Lane Published

News Cachette and Inflation join the fray as Infinity Ward adjusts footsteps and gun damage.

News
A hellknight attacks the player in the Doom mod Blackout
This mod transforms Doom into a terrifying tactical shooter, and it's partly inspired by another PC gaming classic

By Rick Lane Published

Blackout makes Doom slower, deadlier, and throws in a Crysis-style energy suit for good measure.

FPS
A scientist experimenting on a man
Dishonored was a last-ditch effort by Arkane Studios after years of fruitless contract work, according to the game's co-creator: 'I think we had four months of money left'

By Rick Lane Published

News "We were farming out people left and right."

11 Comments
News
A fisherman proudly presents a caught seagull to a shocked firearms dealer in How to Fish
The latest cooperative craze is a physics-based fishing simulator where you can launch your catch into the air and no-scope it with a sniper rifle

By Rick Lane Published

News How to Fish sounds ridiculous.

News
David Brevik in front of an Everquest backdrop
David Brevik, creator of Diablo, reveals the 'worst ending' to any game he's played: 'But I really love the game. It's amazing'

By Rick Lane Published

El Diablo The legendary game designer guides us through the games on his PC.

13 Comments
El Diablo
Ranger's head, grimacing
The Quake community simply cannot stop delivering, having just released a 22-map 'Deathmatch Jam' to celebrate the shooter's 30th birthday

By Rick Lane Published

News Frag your friends to mark three decades of Quake.

News
Bannerlord naval expansion reveal
You could win a slice of €30,000 by building the best mod for Mount & Blade 2's controversial seafaring expansion

By Rick Lane Published

News War Sails finally gets modding tools of its own.

News
Sora holds his Keyblade decorated with Day of the Dead skulls and flowers in Kingdom Hearts 4
Kingdom Hearts 4 finally has a release window, and it's sooner than I expected

By Rick Lane Published

News A firm release date remains elusive, however.

News
I got so freaked out by the fact that Gordon Freeman is canonically 27 that I decided to find out how old all the other classic FPS protagonists are, and it didn't make me feel better

By Rick Lane Published

Age appropriate Time, Dr Freeman?

22 Comments
Age appropriate
LGR Blurbs holds a physical copy of TinySol.
This Solitaire game is so tiny it can load from a QR code, which is just what I need in the age of massive games and expensive storage

By Rick Lane Published

News TinySol is a mini marvel.

News
Prey
You can now play the secret best immersive sim in coop thanks to this mod

By Rick Lane Published

News Prey Coop lets you play Arkane's System Shock successor with up to 16 other players.

7 Comments
News
Key art for Stalker 2's Back to the Zone update.
Stalker 2's imminent free update aims to make the sequel more atmospheric and less relentlessly hostile: 'The Zone isn't one constant gunfight'

By Rick Lane Published

News The patch releases next week alongside the sequel's first story expansion.

14 Comments
News
Sam Barlow in front of a Riven backdrop
'I am a big roguelike guy, but also a fan of minimalism and elegance': Sam Barlow, creator of Her Story, guides us through the games in his Steam Library

By Rick Lane Published

Telling truths The founder of Half Mermaid on classic adventure games, modern hacking sims, and his favourite screenwriting software.

Telling truths
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