Keep Driving: what's a roguelike if not a junky old car with a decent FM radio? - Related to beat, driving:, a, what's, chatacabra

Keep Driving: what's a roguelike if not a junky old car with a decent FM radio?

When I was younger, platformers were the dominant genre, so whenever an idea came along that needed turning into a game, platformers were co-opted to help. Nowadays it's often roguelikes. And sometimes it really fits. Taking a long, wayward journey in a junky car? Turns out that really is a roguelike.

Played on PC Availability: Out now on PC (Steam).

This is the idea behind Keep Driving, a game my brain keeps calling Free Driving, probably because of the sense of unbounded potential it allows for. In Keep Driving you fill your crappy car up with stuff you'll need for the next few days and then head out on the road, picking up hitchhikers - or ignoring them - and engaging in battles with very ordinary road-based problems, like being stuck behind a lorry or dealing with a bad road surface. Because it's a roguelike you have to manage a handful of resources, including fuel and the general state of your car. You need to keep your energy up and you need to keep moving. It's all seen from the side-on perspective and it really feels like you're hitting the open road.

Battles play upon those resources, by the way. Whatever you're faced with, they will project little lines of resource points onto the screen and you need to use your own abilities (which hang from the rear-view mirror like air fresheners) to match those specific points and cancel them out. Leave the points in play too long and you take damage to that resource (I think). Cancel them out and the challenge is over, and you're off to the next bit of business.

I'm still early on, but I already love the game's ability to conjure memorable journeys. My parents met when my dad was hitchhiking, so I always feel duty bound to pick up everyone I see by the road in-game. First time out, it was a woman in a wedding dress who had a useful skill I could use in battle. Second time out, it was someone who the game openly told me was a bit of a useless idiot. I plonked them in the back seat.

Yes! You can choose where people sit, just as you can rearrange what's in the trunk or the wheel well using a form of inventory Tetris. You can put helpful snacks in the glove compartment - chocolate that gives you a burst of stats when you're getting low, say, or duct tape which helps out the car in some way. You can upgrade everything at garages, fill up at petrol stations, and buy stuff you might need at roadside convenience stores.

This is all lovely, and at times the game feels like a playable version of that Jack Reacher book where he hitches a lift with the wrong crew and spends a lot of time planning his escape at drive-thru McDonalds branches. But what I really love is the way this game feels like it's rocketed straight out of someone's memory of a gloriously wasted summer when they found themselves with an unreliable old Volvo and nowhere in particular they needed to be. A summer when their best friend was the FM radio and some weirdo they picked up by the side of the road. Sounds great, to be honest.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has very good reasons to feel bullish this year, as his corporation is poised to release potential blockbusters like Grand Th......

Civilization 7 players say they can hear coughing and grunting while browsing the game's Age Transition screen - and now publisher 2K has acknowledged......

Monster Hunter Wilds beta: How to defeat Chatacabra

Monster Hunter Wilds is set to feature a large number of monsters, both old and new, like the new "flagship" (aka scary) beast Arkveld, and the return of farting gorilla Congalala after almost 10 years. But only one monster can be your first prey, the one that basically volunteers for a whooping to show you the rope. Based on the opening story segment in the first beta, that honour goes to Chatacabra in Monster Hunter Wilds.

We went to-to-toe with this spiky boy in Wilds' first beta, and this Chatacabra guide is aimed to help make your fight against it in the second open beta quick and painless (for you, anyway). Because there's no gear progression in the beta, we haven't yet filled out details on the best armor and skills to take into your hunt, but we'll be bulking up this guide for the final game.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Chatacabra overview.

Chatacabra is a new Amphibian monster making its debut in Monster Hunter Wilds. While it shares some similarities with Monster Hunter 4’s Tetsucabra (who has yet to be seen in a PC Monster Hunter), the Chatacabra is closer to a frog. Its main feature is its massive tongue, which is not only a good defensive weapon to whip enemies with but aspects adhesive saliva, allowing it to attach rocks to its limbs. Then it's clobberin' time.

While the frog description may not conjure up much fear, the Chatacabra is a hulking brute and has more in common with a gorilla than anything else. But it sounds more intimidating than it is in action: like the Great Jagras and Velocidrome of old, this starter monster isn't a major threat.

Tongue Swipe – The Chatacabra will lunge upwards with its tongue out before going down and swiping it along the ground. For this attack, you’ll want to watch which side the Chatacabra throws its head back to, as the tongue swipe will always start on this side. Dodge in the opposite direction and try to get to the side or back of the monster to avoid it.

The Chatacabra will lunge upwards with its tongue out before going down and swiping it along the ground. For this attack, you’ll want to watch which side the Chatacabra throws its head back to, as the tongue swipe will always start on this side. Dodge in the opposite direction and try to get to the side or back of the monster to avoid it. Tongue Lash – The Chatacabra will throw its head back with the tongue sticking out before lunging forward to smack you with it. Dodge to either side of the Chatacabra, as it only attacks in front.

The Chatacabra will throw its head back with the tongue sticking out before lunging forward to smack you with it. Dodge to either side of the Chatacabra, as it only attacks in front. Slam – The Chatacabra will stand on its hind legs with a fist raised before slamming itself to the ground, creating a slight AOE where the fist lands. This attack is fairly easy to dodge; all you need to do is keep an eye on which fist it raises and head the opposite way.

The Chatacabra will stand on its hind legs with a fist raised before slamming itself to the ground, creating a slight AOE where the fist lands. This attack is fairly easy to dodge; all you need to do is keep an eye on which fist it raises and head the opposite way. Belly Flop – The Chatacabra will launch itself into the air towards you before slamming its big spiky chin into the ground. This one is also pretty telegraphed and easy to dodge by simply running to either side.

The Chatacabra will launch itself into the air towards you before slamming its big spiky chin into the ground. This one is also pretty telegraphed and easy to dodge by simply running to either side. Dash – The Chatacabra will stick its tongue out and rush towards you, pounding its fists and sweeping its tongue across the ground. Again, it’s not especially hard to dodge due to its slow speed and telegraphed animation.

Currently we don’t know what the Chatacabra’s weakness is in Monster Hunter Wilds officially.

However, if you take a look at the Amphibians previously featured in the Monster Hunter series—that being the Tetsucabra, Zamtrios, and Tetranadon—a pattern appears. Every Amphibian in Monster Hunter has so far been weak to the Thunder element, and given that the Chatacabra has no obvious resistances, we could see it being the case. Not that it matters in the beta, since you won’t be crafting weapons.

Chatacabra guide: Best weapons and armor.

Since Chatacabra’s main gimmick is attaching rocks to its limbs, and it has no obvious points to chop off, making us recommend a blunt weapon such as the Hammer or the Hunting Horn. These weapons will be useful for breaking the monster’s chin spikes away, as well as smashing any and all rocks it attaches to itself.

Best armor and skills against Chatacabra.

Monster Hunter Wilds' beta is too limited to give us meaningful choices around what equipment to wield against Chatacabra, but we'll have more to say here when Wilds is out.

GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has very good reasons to feel bullish this year, as his business is poised to release potential blockbusters like Grand Th......

In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, legendary actor Harrison Ford again took the time to praise Troy Baker's performance as Indiana Jo......

Monster Hunter Wilds beta: How to beat Gypceros

Working out how to defeat Gypceros in the Monster Hunter Wilds Beta will likely be one of your first undertakings this weekend if you're planning to log in and try the game out. Out of all of the monsters in the Windward Plains region, this bird-brained wyvern is perhaps the most annoying, mainly because it has an attack it can use to blind and stun you.

If you don't know how to deal with this particular attack, you kind of have to just take it in your stride. Luckily, there's some gear you can bring to mitigate the attack's effect, and after getting flashed more times than I can count, I also worked out how to directly counter it, which I've detailed and included a clip of below.

The Gypceros is a returning bird wyvern monster that appeared in the first ever Monster Hunter and more not long ago in Monster Hunter Stories 2. Similar to Tzitzi-Ya-Ku in World, it has the ability to produce a flash from its head which temporarily stuns you. It can also spit poison and has an extendable tail that it can use to smack you around. Despite these, it isn't a particularly difficult monster provided you bring antidotes to cope with its poison and learn how to deal with its flash attack.

The Gypceros will sometimes have a mate nearby that will interfere in battles, but it usually disappears when the monster changes area.

for fighting Gypceros, as with any poison monster, is to bring antidotes or herbal medicine to remove poison. Herbal Medicine is definitely the advanced option of the two since you can use it faster, though you will need to craft some yourself by grabbing some blue mushrooms. If you turn on auto-crafting for herbal medicine, then everytime you pick up a blue mushroom you'll make some.

Considering how quickly Gypceros can flash and stun you, it's improved not to get stuck slowly drinking antidotes and to have this quick fix instead.

How to deal with the Gypceros' stun attack.

The Gypceros' flash blind attack is pretty easy to recognise—it bobs its head three times, emitting a crack and a flash of light from its crest with each, and on the fourth bob it creates a flash that stuns you. There are two variants of this attack. In the first it bobs its head in a forward direction; this won't affect you if you're behind it.

The second, however, is pretty much impossible to dodge if you're at close range. Instead, what you need to do is Focus Thrust the Gypceros' head as it's charging the attack. As you can see in the clip above, the monster's head glows red—indicating an opportunity to Focus Strike—when it's about to perform the flash and shortly after. If you land the strike, you'll knock it down, giving you an opportunity to deal damage.

While gear is fairly limited in the beta, you could also equip the Hope Mask and Balahara Greaves for 60% reduced stun duration. With these equipped, the Gypceros will struggle to follow up on its stuns.

Tail extension: Throughout the fight, Gypceros extends its tail and tries to slam you with it. While this attack has quite a wide range, the tail will get stuck afterwards, so it's the perfect opportunity to deal slashing damage to it.

Throughout the fight, Gypceros extends its tail and tries to slam you with it. While this attack has quite a wide range, the tail will get stuck afterwards, so it's the perfect opportunity to deal slashing damage to it. Playing dead: This unusual mechanic sees Gypceros play dead. It'll even let you carve materials before springing up and damaging you. Look for its telltale twitching and pay attention to whether the hunt has actually concluded to suss this out.

This unusual mechanic sees Gypceros play dead. It'll even let you carve materials before springing up and damaging you. Look for its telltale twitching and pay attention to whether the hunt has actually concluded to suss this out. Poison charge: The Gypceros charges, spitting poison as it does to create a number of AoE pools. Simply stay away from it while it does this and wait for it to stop, plus watch out for any poison it's dropped nearby. The Gypceros can also spit poison at you directly, so be mindful when facing it head-on.

Your best method for fighting Gypceros depends on your weapon. You'll want to smack its head if you're using a hammer or hunting horn, since this impact damage will lead to stuns and give you opportunities to deal more damage. For those using a bladed cutting damage weapon like a greatsword or longsword, you should slice its tail whenever you can. Also make sure to break the wounds you're creating on its head and tail with Focus Thrusts.

Considering how often Gypceros extends its tail for attacks, you'll have plenty of opportunities to slice at it. In terms of elemental weaknesses, Gypceros used to be vulnerable to fire, but since elemental weapons are few and far between in the beta it's hard to confirm. I'll be sure to add more details about this on full release.

Rockstar Games' hugely anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 is still on track to launch this.

Smite 2 developer Hi-Rez has reportedly implemented another round of layoffs.

Whilst the studio has not formally introduced the cuts, dozens of former......

With February upon us, it's time to vigorously rub hands together as subscription services up and down the land lob a fresh batch of titles at their m......