I wish Arc Raiders would steal the best feature from this rival extraction shooter, which now lets you be a sci-fi bartender to boot

If you're a regular PCGamesN reader, you'll know by now that I'm obsessed with Arc Raiders. I know that's hardly a maverick, edgy take to have right now, but it's true. I absolutely love it. However, I'm still gutted I can't explore the underground sanctuary of Speranza. The Forever Winter, which is hustling away in early access, may not be a breakout hit like Arc Raiders, but it teaches it a major lesson by giving you a home base you can actually customize and exist in. In its latest update, loads of new content just arrived in the extraction shooter, and alongside all the punishing expeditions and post-apocalyptic looting, you can now become a slick-talking bartender. Awesome.

I look at the environments in Arc Raiders' menu screens, the bustling crowds in the background of the lobby as I ready up, and even at what was shown in pre-launch cinematics, and dream of how cool it would be to explore a living, breathing Speranza. Sure, the overworld maps are exciting enough, but it would be such a great addition to the game. I hope I can one day walk up to my weapon bench to craft new gear, or head to an actual living quarters to upgrade my skill tree, rather than just do it through the UI.

Anyway, that's not a problem The Forever Winter suffers with. Set in a post-disaster world, this extraction-based survival game certainly has a darker, grittier tone versus Arc Raiders, but it does still have some big mechanical foes for you to take on alongside other enemy types.

In its new November update, the addition I care most about isn't designed to make things more grueling. The Bar has arrived as a new base upgrade that you can craft, attracting patrons that you can then interact with. Hearing their stories, giving them items that they've been searching for, and completing related quests will increase your reputation with them. Developer Fun Dog Studios says that once you've earned maximum trust from all of your patrons, you can return to the bartender NPC who gives you the first quest to build the Bar, and he will have "something special" for you.

Being a great bartender requires more than just great chat though - trust me, from my pre-games journalism jobs, I'd know. "You must upgrade the bar and stock it with alcohol to attract patrons. Each patron will have a favorite type of booze," Fun Dog explains.

Elsewhere in the update, a new Front-Liner weapon built for slowing heavy infantry enemies has landed, reviving an ally now has interact priority over picking up nearby loot to make it less clunky, and there's a new hardcore setting that removes all of your HUD if you want either more immersion, more challenge, or both.

The November update for The Forever Winter is now live. There's plenty more in this patch, which continues to improve and expand the game as it plows on with early access, and you can check out all the changes here.

Once you've done that, brush the ash and dirt from your raiding suit and go and have a margarita at The Bar (or whatever drink a post-apocalypse bartender can whip up from the decaying remnants of humanity, anyway).