By Quintin Smith on April 12th, 2011 at 4:35 pm.
Second Brink post of the day, eh? I bet this takes you to the brink of your patience, or something. Apologies, but ultimately this is all Bethesda’s fault for sending out another press release announcing the minimum and recommended specs of the game and that it’ll use Steamworks. Full thing thing after the jump.
With the inclusion of Steamworks, players will have the following features:
· Steam Achievements
· VOIP
· Challenge Leaderboards
· Valve Anti Cheat
· Dedicated Servers
· Friends Support (including invites and joining session in progress)
· Steam Cloud (for save data)
In regards to the system requirements, these are as follows for Brink:
Minimum Specs
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz or equivalent
Memory: 2GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA 8800GS / AMD Radeon HD 2900 Pro or equivalent
OS: Windows XP (SP3)/Vista/Windows 7
Hard Drive: 8GB of free spaceRecommended Specs
Processor Intel Quad Core i5
Memory: 3GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 / AMD Radeon™ HD 5850
OS: Windows XP (SP3)/Vista/Windows 7
Hard Drive: 8GB of free space
Nothing too surprising there, then. To my eyes that looks marginally more demanding than Crysis 2 but not quite as ridiculous as Total War: Shogun 2. That said, I lack Alec or Jim’s tech-o-vision. Those guys view the world like Neo at the end of The Matrix. I understand it makes menial tasks quite difficult, but they can fix broken kettles just by taking a run-up and diving into them.
Hmm do Alec and Jims abilities work on toasters? I’ve got one here that needs fixing soon or else im going to have to go without breakfast for a few weeks until I get time off to buy a new one
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Toast in the grill. Or if thats not close enough to feral, toast over a hob like cavemen used to.
Alternatively, just take it apart and see what looks burnt/broken. If its obvious, solder it. If its not, it was broken anyway.
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The doll’s trying to kill me and the toaster’s been laughing at me!
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I am 0.1 GHz too slow for minimum spec :(
This is the first game I’ve wanted in years that I can’t run. Time to upgrade, I suppose.
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Given that it’s a multiplayer game I suppose Steamworks is actually a good thing, really. It’s not like there are any legitimate concerns over online activation either. :P
The recommendation of a 460 has me a bit worried though…
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steamworks? terrible
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Yeah. Because Games For Windows Get-A-Life is much, much better!
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Funnily enough, I wouldn’t be interested in this game if it supported something other than Steamworks.
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I know, right? I hate Steam so much, I wrote a poem.
I hate how Steam provides me with a friends list.
I hate how I can join my friends in a game.
I hate that Steam has a built in server browser
I hate how Steam provides indie developers with a practical DRM solution.
I hate how Steam actually provides good voice chat.
I hate that Steam lets me see other people’s list of games and recently purchased games.
I hate how fast Steam downloads things.
I hate that stupid Steam Holiday Sale that gives me a chance to play games I’ve never tried.
I hate how Steam has revitalized the PC gaming market.
I hate how Steam is everything XBox Live wishes it could be, for free.
I hate Steam
END
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Yeah. Because Games For Windows Get-A-Life is much, much better!
Not at all! It’s a good thing companies aren’t forced to choose between the two, huh?
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@ DrGonzo
Precisely. For single player games I’d consider Steamworks a detraction (unless as an alternative to Tages or Starforce; but that’s like preferring rhinovirus to AIDS). But for a game like this it’s actually a big benefit. I’d much rather it uses Steamworks than GFWL or Gamespy etc.
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Eh, gonna skip this one, unless I can get it for like 2€. I don’t like that someone else has total control of the games I have bought.
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I guess you’re not buying games anymore, then, Kaira. That makes me sad, just imagining how sad you must feel.
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Eh, not that much. GOG and Humble Bundles are all good and dandy and if I can get my hands on a physical copy of a game with not-so-strict DRM with a good price I’ll buy it, I just don’t feel comfortable paying a full price for a game that I don’t have as a physical copy and all that jazz.
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It’s a multiplayer game. Where the did the concept of individual control enter into it?
I like GOG too, but this is asinine.
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@Oak eh when developers consider the only alternative to gfwl or steam fucking punkbuster with some securom thrown in there really is onyl one option :(
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I like all the “i won’t get the game because it’s on steam” sentiment. This means that there will be less losers and cry-babies to play online. I’m sooooooo sick of people crying, pissing and moaning anytime I jump into any multiplayer these days. I am also sick of being called hacker; My only hack is using my preferred keyboard, mouse and mouse surface.
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A 460? I was thinking about buying me a new laptop with that. But it dosen’t feel a tad future proof anymore considering it’s a recommend spec right about now.
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Considering this game is coming out on consoles, I would have expected much lower specs than it’s asking for. The minimum spec is more powerful than a 360.
Hopefully it’s like Crysis2 where they mean that the minimum spec will play the game comfortably and smoothly. Or possibly it’s a shoddy console port.
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A console port (even a shoddy one) is unlikely from Splash Damage. They might’ve made a multiplayer game with some of the the worst vehicle physics I’ve ever played (enemy territory) but they also made one of the best MP shooters I’ve ever played (enemy territory).
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It has been developed separately for pc and not been ported.
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A Geforce 460 mobile is not the same as a Geforce 460 GTX. A rough estimate for all mobile hardware is 50% of the stationary equivalent.
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When are we likely to get a WIT on this, Quinns? Is one of you on the case already, given the game’s wrapped?
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I’m afraid I’ve no idea as to exact dates, but our relationship with Bethesda is pretty great so I can at least promise it’ll be at the same time as all the other gaming sites.
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Would you even want an early/day one review on this, though? It’s a primarily multiplayer shooter- I’d rather get a nice gap between release and reviews, just because the game mechanics are rarely as important as the social norms that set up in the first few weeks of play (I’d go back and count the number of older games where a review’s “There’s an awesome objective based/co-op/weird game mode!” has the in-practice comedown of “that no-one ever plays,” if I wanted to ruin a morning).
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What! There are other gaming sites???
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The Steamworks integration makes me very happy. It just works. What more do I need?
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PC with a i5 CPU?
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I’ve fortunately already got an i7, so I’m happy. :)
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Your smiling egg avatar is mocking me whilst you say that.
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It is also mocking my weedy machine that I REALLY need to upgrade.
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I think that’s the first time i see a game recommending an i5 CPU and not my good old Q6600. I guess Brink doesn’t have a console version?
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It’s multi-plat, which does make these specs a little surprising, particularly as I’ve only just got an i5 (albeit Sandy Bridge.) I hope the videos we’ve seen have all been the console version, as it doesn’t look that great so far.
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So, good ol’ Keith the PC has a core 2 quad, but just about beats out all the other recommended specs.
Is there much of a difference between these mysterious i5′s and my own humble CPU? I hate doing CPU motherboard upgrades, but is this a reality I now have to face?
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Wait, your PC is called Keith??
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Not really, they’re both quad-cores. I’d be very suprised if it was using that much CPU power frankly, no game I’ve ever run has come close to maxing out all the cores on my i5-750.
Edit: Running 4 copies of Dwarf Fortress doesn’t count :)
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Yes, yes, never mind all that. You have a PC and it’s name is Keith??
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@Baboonanza Thanks for that – that’s a relief.
@Sarlix – of course he’s called Keith. Keith the PC. He was called Keith the Ever Living. But then he broke so we went for something less portentous.
Still, overall Keith’s been far more reliable than his predecessor Boris Wittgenstein IV.
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Even if TheApologist never explains his PC naming convention, the previous four posts will remain one of my fondest Internet memories. I even got a screenshot to immortalize the occasion.
I mean, I laughed so hard and unexpectedly that I shot Diet Mountain Dew all over my monitor and I’m not even bothered by it. I haven’t even gotten up to get a towel yet.
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Boris Wittgen….
Am I the only one who can see this? I think I must be having some sort of comment based hallucination.
I’m going to lay down.
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Pff, my PC’s Magrathea, my laptop’s Slartibartfast, my wireless router’s Harmless and its SSID is Mostly Harmless, my last phone was Majikthise and my new one’s Vroomfondel. Suck on that, lesser hopeless nerds…
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Well, the laptop’s called Barry, obv.
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Zebedee, Ermintrude, Dylan. Named after characters on The Magic Roundabout.
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My PC’s called “Bob’s computer” because that’s what they ask you to type in when you install Windows.
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My computers name is terrible unoriginal also..
I simply call it Pooter.
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Exceeding the Recommended Spec makes me all smugface. It’s about time I laid out for a game that actually used it.
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It probably just scales up to better than console levels, golly gosh PC gamers are such pessimists!
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It’s more the fact that the gameplay graphics only look ok, yet it is demanding quite a monster. It looks significantly worse than games I’ve been playing recently, yet my pc is only just over the minimum specs.
So it’s probably more important to me that it scales downwards, rather than up.
Mind you, these are only a bunch of numbers and random letters. I will reserve my judgement and unreasonable rage until I’ve actually played the thing.
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surely the rage would reasonable at that point, eh? no?
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The only thing that has me concerned is the thing that’s concerned me for a long while now: my 2Gb of built-in RAM.
Yes, I said built-in RAM.
I was younger and foolish.
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i hope you`ve learned your lesson. now, upgrade. 2Gs is not too much anyways.
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Much as I’d like to, as a full time student I’m SOL for the time being. Fortunately the old quad-core and the Radeon 5970 are picking up the slack well enough, and I can’t stress enough how switching from Vista to Windows 7 alleviated the loading times and caching pauses. I was amazed when I first hit Ctrl-Alt-Del with Windows 7 and saw that the number of background processes didn’t even fill the Task Manager window.
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I wouldn’t worry about the CPU specs that much, as long as you have a quad-core you should be good to go.
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Heh, they recommend my computer. Means that my computers countdown clock has started, at least it’ll be a long while until I’ll actually have any trouble playing games.
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I don’t follow intel cpus. How does a core 2 duo 2.4 compare to an amd x2 6000+? Because that’s what’s sitting in my pc’s rusty innards.
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WEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Well, the good news is I can run it, the bad news is my Laptop can’t max out games any more. Time to build a new desktop I guess… that fills my soul with joy and my bank account with dread -_-
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Yay Steam!
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Holy Christ, a geforce 460 and a core i5? When were we have supposed to have purchased our PC’s, last year?
I do have a core2duo 3.0ghz… but a geforce gtx280. Maybe I can OC the CPU or something.
And yes I realise I meet the minimum specs, but as far as I can recall ‘minimum specs’ mean that the game will launch, not actually be playable.
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Perhaps they are actually accurate recommended specifications. By recommended, they really mean recommended, not “this should get you by on max settings at roughly 30 FPS”.
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ain’t that a good definition? You get max graphics at a reasonable fps?
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Considering I may have missed the memo that said playing an online FPS at 30 FPS is still accepted as “good”, yes, I guess it may be.
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Should I hold off to Crysis 2 and buy this? Seems there isn’t any other MP fps coming until BF3.
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I bought Crysis 2 and I regret it, it’s not a terrible game but it is disappointing, also the multiplayer is empty due to all the cheating.
I’ve seen Brink being played at the Eurogamer Expo and it looks a far better game. Definitely go with Brink!
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Hold off on Crysi2 and get Brink first! waiting on Crysis 2 will prolly net you the DLC for free when they put out a maximum edition (great because, i think crysis warhead was better than the original crysis which made me happy for buying the maximum edition).
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Argh, my E8400 is getting out of date. I need to grab a Core 2 Quad before they are discontinued.
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Well another game I won’t be getting. Bad choice.
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Yeah. Full steam support, dedicated servers and pc-separate development from one of the best competetive FPS studios in the world turns me off as well.
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Yes, can’t get worse than proper integration with those features that steam has and all that fancy PC exclusive stuff and seperate development on the PC so it might actually make use of modern hardware. Worst idea ever. Or may you just have a really shitty laptop with an intel card and are disappointed that they didn’t make it able to run on that.
I for one have become more and more interested in this game without following it at all. Might give it a go, but sadly it doesn’t seem to have destructible environments, and that’s sort of a dealbreaker in this day and age.
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Thoe are some pretty meaty recommended specs, colour me a bit surprised. But we’ll see how it actually runs once the first review copies are out. I’ll hold off my purchase till then.
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I thought this was already confirmed? At least I’ve been thinking it’s using Steam and I’ve had other people tell me it’s using Steam.
Anyway, I think I lost what little interest I had with this confirmation of Steam. If I pay for something, I want to own it. I might actually buy this some day because I totally loved Splash Damage’s previous games but it’ll have to wait until this is a LOT cheaper because of Steam. That, and I don’t really have too much money right now… But if I had and this didn’t use Steam, I’d probably have this pre-ordered.
I’m fine with games having the option to register in Steam but forcing me register on Steam is definitely a no in all but most interesting cases and even then, I certainly won’t pay full price. Shogun 2 is still waiting, and that’s probably the first game to require Steam I’m willing to buy in retail. Even then, it’ll have to go pretty low in price.
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Given that a lack of VAC is what killed Crysis 2 MP this is good news.
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Or really, a lack of any anti-cheat at all.
Crysis 2 MP is rife, man. Rife.
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LOL Crytek.
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Wow, this specs should give all this “Oh noes I spent so much money on my gaming rig and have no use for it”-whiners some satisfaction.
I, for one, am disappointed with this specs. A game which looks not THAT state of the art at all which has such high requirements compared to Crysis 2 and the likes? Wow… i5/GTX460 as “recommended”? oO
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Yeah, that’s exactly what I was thinking.
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Yeah for a glorified Doom 3 engine that shouldn’t be much more demanding than Quake Wars those certainly are ridiculous. I am starting to smell another console game ported over. Which would be a bit of a let down considering how PC centric Splash Damage used to be.
Well yet another shooter I will not be looking forward too anymore as I doubt I will run this well since the CPU requirements are similar to mine and no doubt my GPU meeting the recommended it will still run like dogshit.
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Do we even know what it looks like on a recommended system yet? All the trailers I’ve seen have been on a console.
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@Thants:
If it would look way better, don’t you think they would do their marketing stuff with that instead of showing the not-so-good-looking-version all the time?
“Oh hey, now you’ve bought the game, we can finally tell you: We made the best looking game you can buy so far on PC. But we didn’t want to sell this game by eyecandy, but by gameplay”?
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That’s a good point. Although if I were them I’d show the PC footage just to avoid that terrible jerky movement you get from a controller. And the earlier first-person gameplay they showed looked a lot better than the largely third-person trailers they’ve shown now, so who knows.
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The specs are so high because this is the first game designed from the ground up to be without any map or terrain glitches/hang ups allowing on the fly, map contextual, park-hour while shooting moves without taking any control from the player. Also the real time AI and command xp missions use allot of computing power i’m sure. It seems as if it will be the first FPS in a long time that plays like butter. Remember way back when you were actually able to MOVE in a FPS without holding down the shift key the whole match just to feel like you were walking at average speed? Anyone who doesn’t know what i’m talking about, go play some FEAR, Quake or the original Modern Warfare and then play any game that released after Modern Warfare1 and you’ll feel what I’m talking about. I pre-ordered it for that alone (finally a FPS since 2006 where the shift key is actually optional instead of required every second of every match)
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Wow. Finally a game that my almost-four-year-old PC is only just above the minimum specs for O_O. I’m getting too old for this shit.
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Yeah I thought it a bit ridiculous that my 3 year old PC is still closer to the recommended specs than the minimum specs.
Ah well just means another year without having to upgrade.
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I don’t believe for a second that the old ID Tech this game uses will need an i5 and a 5850 or whatever.
Rarely are the recommended specs realistic or helpful for the consumer, I doubt it’s any different for this game.
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You guys realise that they’re using a new renderer, on top of the idtech4 engine, right? They’ve been saying that since 2009.
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I don’t care about new stuff, as long as it works solidly and looks good.
Crysis 2 did it. Everyone should.
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More demanding then Crysis.
Whaaaaat?
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Once I removed the motion blur and such, Crysis 2 probably became the nicest-looking MP game I’ve played (never mind the rampant cheating, alas), and performance is really impressive on my 2.5-year-old computer – even with the extra-special higher-end settings unlocked by Wasdie’s utility. Based on the Brink videos I’ve seen so far, I’m totally baffled that Brink would require greater resources than Crysis 2.
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I’m running a quad core with a 5870hd and 4 gig of ram. Crysis ran like a dream, I’m just hoping Brink does and can be tweaked from within the game, not the console!
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Those specs are quite high, annoyingly i am below the minimum spec (having a 2.13 duel core) but everything else is fine.
So now I can’t buy it unless theres a demo/beta in case it refuses to run (had games in the past where if it detected under spec, or what it THOUGHT was underspec it refused to run, made me worried) :(
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