Gloomwood's latest research update adds the most scientific thing of all: headshots

A huntsman's head explodes leaving his hat suspended in midair — (Image credit: New Blood)

Not too long ago, Victorian stealth-em-up Gloomwood received a "research update" that lets players study dissected monsters and then inject their sweet juice directly into your veins for temporary powers. More recently, the early access immsim's latest update has expanded on those research options.

Spending time at your lab gazing into the abyss now grants permanent passive bonuses. You can dissect crowmen for a holstered speed boost, bat barbers for added jump height, and goatmen for damage reduction. New in this update is the option to research huntsmen, and doing so will grant you the passive bonus called Huntsman's Mark, which enables "critical headshot hits on huntsmen". The way it sends their witch hunter hats leaping into the air on a fountain of blood before their body flops to the ground is truly a sight to behold.

Other changes to the way research works include the option to inject multiple doses of certain serums, and easier-to-read labels on the jars of empty monster parts that demand to be filled. Beyond the science-related changes, this update also adds an additional layer of reactivity to the world based on story progress. Revisit certain locations and you'll find altered weather, music, and monsters. These newly spawned monsters will only appear once, as the patch notes explain, so "if you're the kind of player who wants to KILL EVERYTHING in the game—you can still do that."

Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games. He's written for Rock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue, GamesRadar, Zam, Glixel, Five Out of Ten Magazine, and Playboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody's first article for PC Gamer was about the audio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he's written about why Silent Hill belongs on PC, why Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, and how weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.

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