The Steam Summer Sale is in full swing and will remain up until July 5.

It’s here, that time of the year where PC gamers both quiver in excitement and lament the fate of their poor wallets: the Steam Summer Sale.

This year’s Steam Summer Sale.

Most of Steam’s tremendous catalog is currently marked down in one of its biggest seasonal sales of the year. While the deals are far too expansive to discuss in-depth, here are a few of my personal highlights from this year’s bargain extravaganza:

• Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor – $3.99
• XCOM 2 – $19.79
• Dark Souls 3 – $23.99
• Darkest Dungeon – $9.99
• Total War: Warhammer – $20.39

If you need a few tips on how to get the best bang for your buck, you can refer back to the Emerald’s previous Steam sale buyer’s guide here. The sale will end on July 5. You can also check out the Emerald’s review of “XCOM 2” here.

Blizzard unveils the long-awaited Necromancer class for “Diablo 3” this week along with new features in Patch 2.6.0.

Fans of Blizzard’s hack ‘n’ slash RPG series “Diablo” might have some fond memories of the Necromancer, the undead-commanding hero from “Diablo 2.” This master of macabre has finally made his way into the game’s latest iteration, ready to send legions of shambling skeletons against the minions of hell and the Angel of Death himself.

The Necromancer joins his fellow heroes to battle Diablo, The Lord of Terror. (Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment)

In the latest patch for “Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls” we see the return of the Necromancer class alongside several new features, including “Challenge Rifts” where players can compete using one another’s preset character builds. The Moors and The Temple of the Firstborn are two new areas for players to explore, which have debuted alongside four new Adventure Mode Bounty missions called the Realms of Fate. Storywise, these new areas and missions are meant to explore some of the unexpected consequences of the protagonist’s actions in the main story.

The Necromancer class plays much like its predecessor from “Diablo 2,” allowing players to command an army of skeletons, a hulking flesh golem, an arsenal of curses and a variety of bone-based shields and projectiles. The class itself currently costs players $14.99 and comes with collectible in-game cosmetic items, extra storage space and two additional character slots for your “Diablo 3” account. You can learn more about the new patch here.

The rest of the new content is free for anyone owning copies of “Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls” or the “Ultimate Evil Edition.”

You can watch the brief for the new patch below:

Studio Wildcard has announced that Ark: Survival Evolved will see a full release on Aug. 8.

Among the droves of Early Access multiplayer crafting survival games on Steam, “Ark: Survival Evolved” is one of the few long-time standouts, being one of the most regularly updated and polished games of the bloated and oddly specific genre. A recent announcement by the game’s developers, Studio Wildcard, has made it stand out even more by providing something few of its competitors can boast: an actual release date.

“Ark: Survival Evolved” is currently set for a retail release on Aug. 8, 2017, on PC and console. You’ll be able to pick up the basic game, the Explorer’s Edition, which includes the season pass; or the Collector’s Edition, with some special physical goodies on that date.

The game is best known for its wide range of tamable and breed-able prehistoric creatures, from different dinosaurs to the yeti-like Gigantopithecus. The game also features a tiered technology progression system that takes players from throwing rocks in the Stone Age Tier to strapping lasers onto dinosaur sharks when they reach the final Tek Tier.

Players attack a T-Rex with primal weapons in “Ark: Survival Evolved.” (Courtesy of the Steam Store)

The game first debuted on Steam Early Access in 2015 and has since received 258 individual update patches, a highly controversial dragon-themed expansion pack called “Scorched Earth” and console ports to both Playstation 4 and Xbox One. The game has been praised for its ambition and a steady flow of new and interesting content, but it has also been criticized for optimization issues and drastic mechanical changes.

If you’d like to check out the game early you can check it out on the Steam store, where the base game and expansion are currently on sale for 51 percent off. You can learn more about the upcoming retail release here.

You can watch the pre-order trailer for “Ark: Survival Evolved” below:

Gaming Week In Review is a semi-regular column by Mathew Brock devoted to recapping recent news from the video game world each week.

You can follow Mathew on Twitter: @MathewQBrock.

The post Gaming Week In Review: Steam Summer Sale, ‘Diablo 3’ Necromancer class, ‘Ark’ release date appeared first on Emerald Media.