Home//PC Gamer/October 2020/In This Issue
PC Gamer|October 2020“WE’VE BEEN TO HELL AND BACK TO BRING YOU OUR COVER FEATURE”There are a lot of now familiar trappings to the RPG genre, but the core of the experience isn’t really loot, or spells, or even XP. Great role-playing games are about choice – the freedom to inhabit a character and do what you want to do in their world. Few developers understand that like Divinity Original Sin creator Larian Studios, a developer so much in ascendance that they’re almost in orbit. Its worlds are defined not by their lore, but by the grand scope of their interactivity. So how could we not be excited for its most ambitious project yet, Baldur’s Gate III? So much so that we’ve been to hell and back to bring you our cover feature… ROBIN VALENTINE Specialist in Dungeons, but not dragons Twitter @robinlvalentine This…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020THEATERS OF WARAt one point while making Halo 3, every day map designer Steve Cotton came into work, multiplayer map lead Chris Carney would start playing Yub Nub, the Ewok song from the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Cotton was pitching a map built from floating platforms in a giant forest, which eventually became Guardian. “It was every time, without fail,” Cotton remembers with a laugh. For awhile, one of Halo 3’s best maps would be nicknamed Jub-Jub. With Halo 3’s recent launch on PC as part of The Master Chief Collection, PC gamers can finally play the best incarnation of Halo’s multiplayer. Even 13 years later, many of its maps hold up as some of the best play spaces in FPS history. It was also the first time…5 min
PC Gamer|October 2020KITCHEN VINCKE71% ULTIMA VII An RPG as dense as it was sprawling, in which every object could be manipulated – as could some of the NPCs. 20% ULTIMA UNDERWORLD The proto-immersive sim was a tactile physics sandbox that informed Larian’s approach to world design. 5% CELTIC LEGENDS An ancient Amiga game in which wizards could instantly transport their troops, leading to Original Sin’s teleportation. 4% CASINO GAMES When a German publisher went bust, Larian resorted to work-for-hire to survive and learned how to keep loot distribution compulsive.…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020STAR WARS: SQUADRONSYOU HAVE TO MANAGE YOUR POWER SYSTEM BETWEEN SHIELDS, GUNS, AND ENGINES After playing Star Wars: Squadrons, I’m mad that it’s taken 21 years for EA and Lucasfilm to remember that flying a damn X-Wing is cool as hell. But here we are – with new proof that getting in a co*ckpit and blasting through a space dogfight is still one of the best ways to experience Star Wars. It only took a few minutes to assure me that EA hadn’t screwed anything up here. This is genuinely the 2020 reimagining of X-Wing vs TIE Fighter I hoped it would be. While flying might be a bit more forgiving than it was in those games 20-plus years ago (I ricocheted off walls a few times without taking too much damage),…7 min
PC Gamer|October 2020WATCH DOGS: LEGIONThreequel Watch Dogs: Legion is bringing new meaning to ‘ragtag group of misfits’. With no traditional protagonist, I’m playing as a collection of random London citizens: a construction worker, a hacker, and an ambulance driver whose most interesting ability, as far as I can tell, is that he can play the guitar. It feels more like I’ve put together a book club or a weekly board game group than a team of dangerous, shadowy operatives who are going to take back London from the oppressive forces of evil. And I love that. It’s a fresh approach to hero building (and hopefully storytelling) in a game that otherwise felt pretty familiar during the three hours I played. In Legion you’re free to approach any citizen you see in the world and…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020BANNERS OF RUINTHIS IS AN IMPOSSIBLY GORGEOUS PRODUCTION FOR SUCH A SMALL TEAM Redwall is a wonderful series of children’s books, fusing woodland creatures with medieval fantasy. But author Brian Jacques was against videogames, which meant playing in that universe was strictly confined to wheeling around the garden between chapters. By now, though, all the kids who grew up on those novels are old enough to make their own. I’d wager that MonteBearo, the two-man outfit behind Banners of Ruin, spent their childhood visiting the same library shelves I did. And I’d be willing to put down cold hard cash that they’ve spent more recent years in the same corners of the Steam library I frequent now. The result is a roguelike deckbuilding tactics game – think Slay the Spire with a…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020REVIEWHOW WE REVIEW We review each game on its own merits, and try to match it to a reviewer who’s a passionate expert in the field. The main aim of reviews is to help you make buying decisions. To this end, we’re selective about what we review, and try to focus on the notable, interesting, exciting or surprising. DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT DLC might be new missions for a game, or it might be a single new item. If we think you want to know about it, we’ll review it. EARLY ACCESS Any released alpha, beta, or otherwise unfinished game that you can currently pay for. For these games, we won’t assign a score, but we will tell you whether they’re worth your time. THEY’RE BACK Whenever there’s a bargain or re-release…2 min
PC Gamer|October 2020ROBOT WARSPC ports of Decima Engine games are a bit like buses. Except, of course, they’re absolutely not. Sure, you might have waited impatiently for Horizon Zero Dawn and Death Stranding to show up on a rig near you, but now that both are here, these big-budget open world games are obviously nothing like sweaty forms of public transport. Despite sharing the same genre, these PS4 hits also offer polar opposite experiences. A dystopian videogame that says something original about armageddon Longtime PlayStation collaborator Guerrilla Games developed the engine behind both sandbox smashes, yet that’s where the comparisons end. Death Stranding is a technical triumph, but it’s also an example of a Hideo Kojima game at its most indulgent. Undeniably interesting, hugely silly, and often as boring as it is weirdly…7 min
PC Gamer|October 2020METAL GEARODRADEK A shoulder-mounted device that scans terrain and, with the help of a Bridge Baby, reveals the shimmering outline of nearby BTs. FLOATING VARRIER Sometimes you’ll have too much cargo to carry, which is where this floating platform comes in. You can even jump on it and surf down slopes. REVERSE TRIKE A fast-moving motorcycle that can move at high speeds across flat terrain. The two front wheels can be combined into one to go even faster. LADDER Sometimes all you need is a ladder. These ones are portable and extendable, and you’ll be using them all the way through the game to climb mountains.…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020MOST. WINS. EVER.This year’s special edition of F1 2020 is the SchumacherEdition, which can be bought as DLC for the base game. It contains a new podium celebration animation, some Schumacher-inspired liveries and helmet designs, plus Michael’s 3D likeness. But you also get these four iconic cars to thrash around the modern circuits. 1991 JORDAN 191 Michael’s first F1 ride, which broke down after the first corner in his debut race at Spa. A bit more reliable in-game. 1994 BENETTON B194 The car in which Schumacher won his first championship, after the tragic death of Ayrton Senna at Imola that year. 1995 BENETTON B195 Another classic, this car took Michael to a successful defence of his F1 title, beating second-place Damon Hill. 2000 FERRARI F1-2000 This car took Ferrari to its first…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020CARD GAMEPart puzzle game, part god game, all extremely weird, Paper Beastis unlike anything I’ve played before. A dedicated virtual reality experience, it puts you at the centre of a unique wildlife simulation where the animals are not flesh and fur, but paper origami creatures roaming a harsh desert world. It’s a fascinating and surprisingly emotional experience, albeit one that only scratches the surface of its potential. Paper Beast is broken up into two distinct halves, starting with its story mode. The precise nature of that story is open to interpretation, but your fundamental role in the game is that of a fickle god, acting varyingly as a helping hand and an agent of chaos to the animals roaming its world. The game’s eight chapters are divided into several individual scenes,…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020BOOM PATROL1996 QUAKE The Rocket Arena mod in Quake was the first time that launchers were used to their limits. 2001 HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED Halo’s custom game settings were a great way to experience rocket-only fun. 2007 TEAM FORTRESS 2 The soldier in Team Fortress 2 is iconic to multiplayer rocket launching. 2016 OVERWATCH Pharah is a homage to the original Rocket Arena mod, and a direct descendant of TF2’s soldier. 2020 ROCKET ARENA Rocket Arena feels like a love letter to the rocket launcher and its history in competitive FPS.…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020REMEMBER ME?DAMAGED LEFT EYEBALL You start with this and it costs nothing, but free Memories will help boost some of your starting skills. RED EMBERS/ SHIMMERING BLOOD Health is in short supply in Othercide, take all the boosts you can get your hands on! BURNT CONFESSION Vitae is the currency you use for almost everything in Othercide – more is obviously better. CORRODED SCISSORS This allows you to resurrect any Daughter, including ones that died in previous games. Very powerful. HEART OF CLAW/PLAGUE ESSENCE Damage boosts are obviously good for getting further in Othercide, grab these when you can. BEAKED MASK/ BURIED GEAR You get these by beating the first boss, and they’re what allows you to skip over him in future runs.…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020CONCERT-OMGYou may be dodging spikes, whacking enemies, or clearing gaps in a platform game, but it matters howyou do it, how the character feels as you fling them around the world. I’m happy to report that the violinist in Symphoniais generally a joy to control, leaping about the place with grace, and with a couple of moves that feel fresh, even in such a well-trammelled genre. It’s a music-themed platformer set in a sumptuous concert hall, stuffed with platforms and spikes that will kill you in one hit. There are no enemies to fight, but the later jumping challenges are difficult, requiring masterful use of your high jump and wall-hanging powers. While we’ve seen these in countless platformers before, they work differently here, in ways that will test your coordination…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020BACK IN BLACKWELLCombining teenage awkwardness with the ability to control time should be a disaster. Most of us would never reach 20, endlessly retrying every mangled interaction with people we secretly like. The years would roll by, but we’d be trapped in bodies that replaced aching joints with warbling voices. Life is Strange, then, feels like a reminder that while our flesh turns to dust we can at least find solace in the fact we’re no longer at school. At times it feels like teen angst written by middle-aged men The first experience of academia in Life is Strange is like a prison for the achingly hip. There’s the scheming preppie it-girl, a bullied Christian, and a suspiciously-handsome teacher whom one of the developers likely modelled on himself. At times it feels…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020OXENFREEThere’s a feeling you get in games that feature dialogue choices when you pick your response and you can already hear the rote, functional words in your head before they waft out of your speakers. Oxenfree isn’t like that. I’m always surprised by the inventive, well-acted ways characters express themselves, but I still get the sense I’m in control. It’s also rather nice to play something slow after The Binding of RSI-saac – and Oxenfree is very slow. It does mean I take the time to soak up all the arresting island vistas. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t tentatively tease the keyboard hoping to discover a run button, which feels like adding squeezy cheese sauce to a filet mignon steak.…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020ARMED AND READYYou may have missed it, but for the third time in its existence phone company Apple is moving its desktop computers to a new CPU architecture. This time, from the Intel X86-64 chips it moved to in 2006/7 and with which we’re familiar with from our PCs, to its own designs based on the ARM chips we’re familiar with from our smartphones and tablets. The move has been mooted for a while, dating back to 2009 when Apple bought processor company PA Semi to develop chips for its iPods and iPhones, starting with the 800MHz, single-core, A4 chip in the 2010 iPhone 4 and first-generation iPad. Since then, the power of the chips has grown hugely, with the 2011 iPhone 4S (Apple A5, dual-core, 1GHz) showing a 68 percent gain…5 min
PC Gamer|October 2020MID-RANGE BUILDMOTHERBOARD B450 Tomahawk Max MSI £120 A reliable platform for your build, the Tomahawk Max also comes in black to complement any style. PROCESSOR Ryzen 5 3600X AMD £198 This CPU is one of the greats, and uses the Zen 2 architecture to dominate in gaming and productivity. GRAPHICS CARD GeForce RTX 2060 KO GAMING EVGA £320 The RTX 2060 is a taste of the good life, where frame rates are high and real-time ray tracing is possible. COOLER Wraith Spire AMDFree with the CPU We love a freebie, especially one as capable as the cooler included with the 3600X. This’ll keep your machine running smoothly. MEMORY Ballistix 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) Crucial £75 With plenty of capacity at 16GB, this unembellished memory has everything you need for gaming and more.…2 min
PC Gamer|October 2020“It is a bit like violent line dancing”ROBIN VALENTINE THIS MONTH Remembered how much I love graph paper. ALSO PLAYED Alder’s Blood, Tabletop Simulator For years, I just assumed Legend of Grimrock wasn’t for me. That unnatural, grid-based movement! Weird real-time combat, where you have to awkwardly dance around enemies! That’s too old school even for my sensibilities. It took James’ impassioned arguments for the series in last month’s Top 100 deliberations to make me finally reconsider and give it a try. Lo and behold, it might be my favourite game I’ve played this year – not despite those eccentricities, but largely because of them. The entire game takes place in one sprawling dungeon, full of monsters, traps, and puzzles. It’s an incredible space, intricately designed and a joy to explore. Countless secrets to discover turn a…2 min
PC Gamer|October 2020FINAL FANTASY XIV: SHADOWBRINGERSThis used to be the best MMO that I hated to recommend to new players. Its episodic story resembles a lot of great TV shows, with expansion-like seasons that peel back new layers of mystery and drama while evolving its core characters in exciting ways. But, like many television classics, FFXIV’s ‘first season’, called A Realm Reborn, isn’t nearly as good as its later expansions. It’s hard to appreciate what makes the MMO so wonderful when its first 40 hours are a total slog. But on August 11, FFXIV’s 5.3 update titled Reflections in Crystal launched, adding the usual slate of new raids, dungeons, and story quests that veterans have been pining for. But two other features in that patch finally make FFXIV a game I can recommend to just…4 min
PC Gamer|October 2020CLASS ACTMIRAGE Here’s a chaotic illusionist capable of summoning spectral fighters to their side. The Mirage class can compound negative statuses, hide allies from view, and more. BLACKSMITH The Blacksmith class works well as a tank to soak up damage. They’re able to support allies by restoring physical armour and standing their ground against enemies. SUCCUBUS The Succubus class can lull enemies to sleep and electrify them with their good looks. They’re intended to be played as archers with skills scaling based on the Scoundrel ability.…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020HEROQUESTI don’t feel nostalgia for many things, but when I fire up HeroQuest and the music suddenly flips into Golden Brown (imagine being a composer, told you only have 30 kilobytes for your entire musical score and thinking, “Cool, that means I can fit this harpsichord solo by The Stranglers in”), I feel a full-blown Proustian rush. The ad for the board game version of HeroQuest has the same effect. Like a whole generation of baby dorks I saw those kids saying “I’ll use my broadsword” and “Fire of Wrath!” and immediately asked my parents to buy it for me when Christmas rolled around. Then I played it with my parents, my friends and my babysitter until everyone was thoroughly bored. Even my babysitter didn’t want to play it any…8 min
PC Gamer|October 2020MUST PLAYWARHAMMER: VERMINTIDE 2 vermintide.com I will never stop banging on about this underrated co-op gem. Not only the best modern successor to Left 4 Dead, but it also nails the grim silliness of the Warhammer Fantasy setting like no other game. Rich melee combat and pleasing character variety keep me coming back again and again. LEGENDS OF RUNETERRA playruneterra.com Stop making yourself miserable in Hearthstoneand come play a properly fun CCG where you can build the decks you want to build without emptying your wallet. Matches are clever and exciting, full of brain-teasing back-and-forths. And the business model, doing away with random packs, is a breath of fresh air. MONSTER TRAIN themonstertrain.com Without a doubt Slay the Spire is still the king of card-based roguelikes. But if, like me, you’ve…2 min
PC Gamer|October 2020The PC Gamer teamCHRIS LIVINGSTON Specialist in Putting a crew together Twitter @screencuisine This month Discovered that anyone can be a map marker clearing Ubisoft hero, if they put their mind to it. WES FENLON Specialist in Bullseyeing womp rats Twitter @wesleyfenlon This month Discovered a hole in one of our articles that, if shot at, would blow up the entire magazine. STEVEN MESSNER Specialist in Still playing MMOs in the year 2020 Twitter @stevenmessner This month Made his bi-monthly pitch to get us all to try Final Fantasy XIV. No way, nerd! RACHEL WATTS Specialist in Growing her own friends Twitter @rachel_wattts This month Got so into Ooblets she strapped a parsnip to her cat and tried to teach it to breakdance.…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020The SpyThe camera pans over District 7 – an endless expanse of towering skyscrapers and indistinct lights. It falls sharply, down towards the enormous glass city, stopping on a rooftop where a shrouded figure sits hunched over a laptop. On the screen we see a meeting between two corporate suits in a nearby square. The figure watches – and listens – intently. Overhead a drone spots the figure and beeps red in alarm, alerting the suits. They draw their guns as more drones swoop down to protect them. The figure sighs and launches from the rooftop, arcing in a graceful backflip and discarding the cloak shrouding their identity. MECHASPY lands effortlessly on the ground, poised for combat. All is still for the briefest moment, and then the ground erupts violently in…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020CUT CONTENT1 GAUNTLET This shows Halo 3’s multiplayer once played with the idea of classes like Assault, Rifleman, and Warthog Dude. 2 MONKEY MOUNTAIN A design that would let attackers ride an elevator to a beach and jungle cruise home with the flag. 3 WARTHOG INC Warthog Inc would’ve shown players where the beloved Jeep was built and tested, complete with a race track looping the map. A 3D view shows Warthog Inc’s interconnected buildings. Crossing requires a risky few seconds of exposure to warthog gunners found below.…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020CLOCKWORK MANIN LYON, COLANTONIO DIRECTED A SPIRITUAL SEQUEL TO ULTIMA UNDERWORLD There are some creative people born out of place and out of time. In 1993, Raphael Colantonio should have been one of the MIT graduates and musicians working on the Ultima Underworld games at Looking Glass Studios, infusing early 3D gaming with rudimentary physics and atmospheric sound design. Instead, through some cosmic oversight, he was a teenager in France, bored and playing in a band. By the time Colantonio had gained enough games industry experience to run his own project, Looking Glass was a dying star; having invented the slow and thoughtful immersive sim, it had succumbed to the cruel commercial realities of a medium more interested in Doom and Diablo. Rather than learn the sensible business lesson, however, Colantonio…5 min
PC Gamer|October 2020ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLAWITH A FEW MONTHS TO GO, VALHALLA CLEARLY NEEDS SOME MORE POLISH I almost dropped my controller in a panic when a nun pulled a sword on me. Maybe I should’ve seen it coming – she was praying in a field of corpses. But I wasn’t ready for her to charge me, shouting about chastising sinners. Two hours into my demo, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla finally surprised me. That fight was the first ‘world event’ I ran into in Valhalla, shorter and simpler than a sidequest, but also more fun, because I had no idea it was coming. Completing world events is a new way Valhalla rewards you skill points to level up Viking assassin Eivor. As Ubisoft continues to turn Assassin’s Creed into an RPG series, more focused on story…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020PROJECT CARS 3INSTANT GRATIFICATION IS THE ORDER OF THE DAY COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS GAMES In Project CARS’ past, extreme detail was championed. You could press a button for ‘engine on’, pirouette like an ice dancer on the first corner due to too-cold tyres, and even start a gruelling career in karting, with the dream of one day making it into the equivalent series of F1. Well, forget all that; Project CARS 3 is a game. The presentation is uncharacteristically flashy, oddly reminiscent of the likes of Asphalt 9 on iOS, with lots of XP bars and circles filling up and expanding colour bars that transition nicely into menu screens, giving everything a very modern and slick sheen. Instant gratification is the order of the day compared to the previous games’ long-haul…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020OOBLETSYOU’VE ARRIVED IN A NEW TOWN WITH NOTHING BUT THE CLOTHES ON YOUR BACK This creature collection adventure was first announced back in 2016 and many quickly fell in love with its echoes of Pokémon, Animal Crossing, and Stardew Valley. Now it’s finally out, as an Epic Games Store exclusive and currently in the platform’s version of Early Access – and it’s been worth the wait. After spending time with the characters and critters of Ooblets – crafting, gardening, dance battling, and so on – I’ve fallen deeply into the gentle rhythms and daily happenings in the world of Oob. It starts out like many life-sims do: you’ve arrived in a new town with nothing but the clothes on your back, hoping for a fresh start. Life in the sleepy…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020Port of callThere was a time when the two games leading the charge in this month’s reviews section would have been unthinkable. Sony-published PlayStation 4 exclusives making their way to PC? One of them published on PC by Sony themselves? Even two years ago no one would have believed you if you’d predicted it. Does that speak to a less guarded, closed-off Sony with the new generation of consoles? Well… maybe, but they did also just announce that Marvel’s Avengers is going to lock the entire character of Spider-Man behind the bars of PlayStation exclusivity. While it’s probably not very likely that we’ll be playing The Last of Us Part II on PC this time next year, it’s at least a sign that, in gaming, nothing is ever quite as certain as…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020WHAT IS HORIZON ZERO DAWN?FAR CRY PRIMAL A primitive world? Check. Aggressive beasts? Check. Slightly repetitive enemy camps to clear out? Triple check. TOMB RAIDER (2013) Aloy may not be quite as gloomy as rebooted Lara, but both these explorers spend a good deal of time clambering up cliffs. THE WITCHER 3 Two fantasy worlds linked by their nomadic leads. That said, Roach is a more reliable mount than the Striders Aloy can control. ARK: SURVIVAL EVOLVED Like Horizon, sci-fi gizmos and dinosaurs clash. ThoughHorizon’s engine is much superior.…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020CITY SLICKERThe 1994 adventure game Beneath A Steel Sky was considered quite good (like 91 percent good), and to call it fondly remembered would be an understatement. A collaboration between Revolution Software and comic-book artist Dave Gibbons, it addressed social divides, consumerism, and totalitarian control through pointing, clicking, and solving puzzles. And now, in 2020 of all years, it gets a sequel. Like something from monstrous episode of Black Mirror The last time protagonist Robert Foster was in Union City it was under the benevolent authority of his pal Joey. Ten years later, he’s dragged back to find it’s now under the control of The Council, and that everyone is really happy. They’ve got to be, because their lives hang on their Qdos scores. It’s nudge theory run rampant, as things…4 min
PC Gamer|October 2020AWAY WITH THE FAERIESTaking away some of the complexities seen in other JRPGS, Fae Tactics is a stripped down and faster experience than classics like Final Fantasy Tactics. From the outset, the game lays out building blocks that most strategy players are familiar with: elemental rock-paper-scissors, creature collecting, and combo attacks. Fae Tactics lets you get comfortable in a routine for a few battles, then upsets that routine with novel threats. This less-is-more approach does fit well with the flow of combat Some of these challenges were painful the first time I encountered them as heroine Peony, resulting in difficult battles if I didn’t adapt my party composition or tactics. Other times, I found ways to turn enemies’ traps against them. Once I encountered a gremlin operating a cannon covering the bridge over…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020MEAT IS MURDERThere’s no overwrought origin story to Carrion’s horror. There’s a monster. The monster eats those people. The monster does not like getting shot by the people so it should probably eat people before they shoot it. You’re the monster, and this is Carrion’s tutorial sequence, which introduces smooth controls that propel the creature through a dank underground laboratory. As I direct it, it attaches its tentacles to surfaces with no interference or complication, evoking a feeling of flight. It’s with that same streamlined gusto that Carrionpursues all its mechanics. The game is a metroidvania in concept, but the espresso shot version of one, without offering much of the way in actual exploration. You move the monster throughout the base, seeking simply to get outside, growing larger by absorbing biomass (eating…4 min
PC Gamer|October 2020UDDER DISAPPOINTMENTAfter getting a veggie patch of my own in real life I’ve finally figured out why every farming game begins with mastering turnips – it’s because they really are quick and easy to grow. And while you’ll never be able to make a living off of them like you can in Story Of Seasons: Friends Of Mineral Town, at least the real ones have some flavour. Things kick off with a letter from a distant mayor and before you know it you’ve taken over your dead grandfather’s dilapidated farm and are desperately trying to scrounge for berries in the wild to afford your all important turnip seeds. There’s a town filled with people to woo, events to attend, and even a mine to explore. Sound familiar? This is the inspiration…4 min
PC Gamer|October 2020A MUG’S GAMEI’ve never played a game set in the city where I live until Necrobarista, which takes place in Melbourne, Australia. It’s not Australian in obvious ways, but it turns dead outlaw Ned Kelly into a supernatural enforcer in shorts and a Collingwood scarf who menaces a cafe, and expects you to realise that’s funny. If a New York show wants me to know bodegas and Tompkins Square Park, a Melbourne game can get away with referencing Collingwood. Necrobaristais a visual novel about the Terminal cafe, whose customers include ghosts and the living. It’s a space between the afterlife and Carlton, where the dead have bodies and a 24-hour-limit before moving on. People overstay that limit, but doing so runs up a debt the Terminal is supposed to pay off. Its…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020SOULMATESDark Souls but sci-fi. Dark Souls but 2D. Dark Souls but rubbish. I do enjoy a good Dark Souls clone, and here’s another in Tyrant’s Realm, which is Dark Souls, but made for the PS1. Not literally, obviously, but this retro-styled action game is surprisingly convincing, boasting the jagged polygonal look, the slightly awkward combat system, and even the level design of a 32-bit game. The only thing letting it down is the framerate, which is disappointingly rock-solid, as smooth as velvet. Real PS1 games ran at 14fps, and we loved every chunky second. Similar to Souls, you’ll biff baddies in third-person as you explore a medieval prison, stopping occasionally to chug a potion. Combat’s impactful, if perhaps a bit too simple and let down by a dodgy camera –…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020CAVE STORYJust as I tried to tiptoe through Life is Strange without offending anyone, I’m trying a pacifist run of Undertale. I regret nothing. Who’d think twice about heckling a comedy chicken until it gives up and goes away? Or flirting with a skeleton so hard that we end up going on the sort of date that makes you wince at strangers when you remember it years later? It makes me wish more games offered me the chance to have awkward conversations with monsters. Refusing to attack anyone in Undertale is like trying to use Twitter without getting into any arguments, in that it involves constant avoidance and the overwhelming urge to use physical violence. Unlike Twitter, however, it feels rich, productive, rewarding. A pacifist run is also a wonderful way…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020NI NO KUNI WRATH OF THE WHITE WITCH REMASTEREDSome games are for Friday nights: sweaty handed, sugar-enhanced acts of defiance against the encroaching Saturday morning. But Ni No Kuni is made for crisp Sunday meandering – the genteel, adventurous background to a day spent doing as little as possible. The systems are old fashioned, the story is familiar, the puzzles practically non-existent. But it’s so bright and beautiful and uplifting it barely matters.…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020ARM’S GREATEST HITS1 GO NUTS ARM’s first chips went into the Acorn and BBC computers of the 1980s and let you play Granny’s Garden. 2 NICE AS PI Single-board computers love ARM chips, such as this Raspberry Pi 2 B with its 32bit ARMv7 Broadcom BCM2836. 3 AGENT OF SHIELD This is the Tegra K1 from the Nvidia Shield Tablet. It’s got a 32bit Cortex-A15 clocked up to 2.3GHz. 4 FORBIDDEN FRUIT Here’s an artist’s impression of the A12Z Bionic from Twitter user@EveryApplePro.…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020ADVANCED BUILDMOTHERBOARD MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WiFi MSI £260 A heady mix of enthusiast motherboard functionality and build quality that stops short of god-tier motherboard pricing. PROCESSOR Core i9 10900K Intel £529 If you want the fastest gaming CPU, look no further than Intel’s flagship Core i9. GRAPHICS CARD GeForce RTX 2080 Super XC EVGA £762 The RTX 2080 Super is the more reasonably priced super high-end enthusiast graphics card out of the Nvidia skunkworks. COOLER Kraken X63 NZXT £123 One of the most stunning AIO coolers rebuilt with an updated pump and, of course, RGB lighting for more pizzazz. MEMORY Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB DDR4 (2x16GB) @ 3,200 Corsair £176 If you truly want to show off, even your system memory should be aglow in RGB. POWER SUPPLY HX750i 80…2 min
PC Gamer|October 2020“Bounties begin by challenging you to photograph trendy boomboxes”RACHEL WATTS THIS MONTH Went through about 50 rolls of film. ALSO PLAYED Ooblets, Hades When it comes to playing games, I’m a screenshot hoarder. I can’t resist stopping to snap a beautiful landscape or pausing to nab a well-timed dynamic moment. I’ll play any game that indulges my screenshot obsession, and when it comes to taking pics, Umurangi Generationis as indulgent as a chocolate bubble bath. This stylish first-person photography game lets you run around a futuristic city, snapping and editing pictures as you go. You’re given a set of photo objectives to complete, but you also have the freedom to take a few – or a lot – of your own shots. You can take pictures from multiple angles, switch through different camera lenses, and experiment with image…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020BEST TO WORSTSHADOWBRINGERS It’s got everything: A great villain, a dimension-spanning story, and big-time payoff for some of the story’s biggest mysteries. Our original review score: 94 HEAVENSWARD Sad dragons, religious zealots, lots of Moogles, and a surprisingly poignant story. Our original review score: 87 STORMBLOOD Though the story pulls a few too many punches, the gorgeous setting and epic boss battles keep Stormbloodfun. Our original review score: 92 A REALM REBORN The base game sometimes is a little too mundane compared to its expansions, but it ends with a banger of a boss fight. Our original review score: 79…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020RECONNECT AMERICA IN DEATH STRANDINGTUNNEL VISION 1 If you’re tempted to save the main missions until you’ve completed all available side deliveries, don’t. Sticking with the central story until at least chapter three will give you important gear that’ll make the side stuff much easier to complete. REST STOP 2 From keeping you upright as you stroll to protect your precious cargo to giving the energy to escape BTs or Mules, stamina is extremely important. You can top it up by resting in a private room or drinking from your canteen. WELL SPOTTED 3 Make good use of your binoculars, especially when you’re about to traverse a troublesome area so you can plan the safest route. Use the rangefinder to measure cliffs and slopes, so you know where to stick a handy ladder or…2 min
PC Gamer|October 2020THE X FACTORThe Xbox Games Showcase was as much a PC event as it was a showcase of what’s coming to the Xbox Series X. Plenty of games were shown off that we’ll soon get our hands on, and while Microsoft didn’t make a great case for getting the new console, it definitely made a great one for Xbox Game Pass and its PC counterpart. MANY OF THE MOST EXCITING REVEALS CAME WITH ZERO DETAILS Microsoft gave us a look at five games from Xbox Games Studios and nine Xbox exclusives, and all of them will launch on Xbox Game Pass on day one. The subscription service will soon encompass three platforms and straddle two generations, and while we shouldn’t expect complete parity between all platforms, it’s likely we’ll keep getting big…2 min
PC Gamer|October 2020This month in… 20101 The Valve of 2010 was a fascinating subject for a cover feature, as evidenced by Tom Francis’ report, which covers Alien Swarm releasing for free, three years of free TF2 updates, and Steam arguably ‘saving’ PC gaming. Ten years later, and the company seems to be in a much weirder place, at least for those of us who don’t love Dota or VR. 2 Civilization V and StarCraft II each score 93%. “StarCraft II is practically essential,” writes Tim Edwards. Its subsequent esports scene agreed. 3 Adam Oxford’s guide to building a PC suggests that not all that much has changed in the last ten years. SSDs were already an expensive but desirable upgrade, and sound cards a relic. The two most outdated things here are a) the trend…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020HIGHS AND LOWSHALF-LIFE 2 Valve’s seminal shooter sequel. HALF-LIFE 2: RETURN TO RAVENHOLM A cancelled spin-off that Arkane still mourns today. THE CROSSING A Parisian sci-fi adventure with player invasions. Also cancelled. LMNO An ET-like story built by Looking Glass vets. Cancelled! ULTIMA UNDERWORLD The world’s first immersive sim, courtesy of Looking Glass. ARX FATALIS Arkane’s debut and intended sequel to Underworld. DARK MESSIAH A commercial compromise. Gaming’s best kicking outside FIFA. DISHONORED Arkane’s breakthrough and best-loved series. DISHONORED 2 Made Emily Kaldwin playable. DISHONORED: DEATH OF THE OUTSIDER Starred another female assassin, Billie Lurk. DEATHLOOP A bold resurrection of The Crossing’s premise. PREY Underworld, Arx, and System Shock rolled into one. PRE CAYL:LMOOF ODNUCRYASH : A popular WW experiment II Sledgehammer w h r u lske revisit of Infini strucy Ward…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020STAR RENEGADESWhen I first played Star Renegades towards the end of last year, I was charmed by its looks and mind-bending combat. But what I didn’t get a sense of was quite how ambitious it was going to be. After a couple of hours with a far more complete build, I’m struck by how many different things it now squeezes into its roughly roguelike structure. The things that impressed me before are better than ever now. The pixelart graphics, with their slick lighting effects and flashy animations, are a joy in motion. And the combat – which uses a timeline of events where attacks happen at different points, allowing you to interrupt and counter enemy actions before they happen – is tactical and satisfying. I expected they’d slot into a fairly…2 min
PC Gamer|October 2020WINDBOUNDThe sails are high and the wind is strong as my small but humble boat cruises through open waters. It’s my first self-built ship and, thankfully, everything is running smoothly. That is, until I crash into a surprise reef and a bunch of beefy crabs chew my lovely boat into a husk. Boat life isn’t always smooth sailing in Windbound. After my epic – if small – vessel is defeated by a bunch of angry crustaceans, I swim back to shore and begin to gather the materials to rebuild. Scavenging for the resources I need takes me no time at all, and before my hatred of crabs has time to manifest into a full-blown grudge, I’m out on the sea again.Windbound wants you to enjoy the pleasures of sailing without…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020GO TO HELLGo to hell,” says Gale. The usually co*cksure wizard and optional player character of Baldur’s Gate III stares down the flames of the party’s campfire. This is a man whose leather-bound chest conceals a Netherese Destruction Orb which, given time to count down, will produce a nuclear-level explosion, ripping him apart – yet he still gets up every morning to turn a phrase and find his next spell. Tonight, though, he’s brooding. The events of the last three days have given even him cause for concern. “Go to hell,” he repeats. “It’s an everyday expression. So trivial it’s almost meaningless. But we’ve seen hell. It’s real, and it isn’t trivial.” Like the rest of the party, Gale has endured a kidnapping. He has survived the crash of a flying slave…11 min
PC Gamer|October 2020This month’s robot-huntin’ reviewers…DAVID MEIKLEHAM Specialist in Dinosaurs, metal or otherwise Currently playing Horizon Zero Dawn This month Shot a lot of glowing weak points. ANDY KELLY Specialist in Unwieldy backpacks Currently playing Death Stranding This month Had a blast with a game that seems to just be Euro Truck Simulator with no trucks. RICK LANE Specialist in Knowing when to fold Currently playing Paper Beast This month Explored a world of origami animals. Presumably it never rains there. DANIELLA LUCAS Specialist in Content farming Currently playing Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town This month Combined romance and turnips. JODY MACGREGOR Specialist in Caffeine and mortality Currently playing Necrobarista This month Finally got to leverage his Aussie heritage in a review. TOM SYKES Specialist in Shirtless bonding Currently playing Hard Lads This…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020STRAND AND DELIVERIt’s best when Death Stranding shuts up. Being a game by Hideo Kojima, it’s naturally filled with bizarre characters, lengthy screeds of exposition, and indulgent cutscenes. But it’s in the long, quiet stretches between all this, when it’s just you hiking alone across a stark, haunting post-apocalyptic wilderness, where it really shines. In these moments, Death Stranding is quite unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in a game – or any other medium for that matter. That’s not to say there’s no value in the plot. When you’re not being bombarded with backstory, it’s pretty interesting – and deeply weird. You are Sam Porter Bridges, a courier delivering cargo across what’s left of the United States. A supernatural cataclysm called the Death Stranding has driven the last of humanity underground, leaving…4 min
PC Gamer|October 2020MAGICAL MENAGERIEBEELZEBUFO This clam-demon and part-time medic is a lifetime jump scare enthusiast. BONE SERVANT We’ll never know what makes this shield-wielding magic Skeletor so angry. DRAGONLING This fiery little guy is doomed to endure a lifetime of eggs over easy jokes. Ha! GRUMBLE BUNNY An aquatic rabbit with a healing touch and devoted bell enthusiast. UNILANA Fae laboratories turned out this squirrel-unicorn hybrid to throw dirt at your enemies.…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020MEGA BLASTI wish it wasn’t so hard to find a mellow multiplayer shooter. All of my current favourites are these competitive tactical skirmishes that tense up my entire body. I want more of the opposite – a laid-back shooter that goes down so smooth that eight matches can fly by before I know it. That’s not what I thought I was getting into with Rocket Arena, a shooter that presents itself like yet another contender in an increasingly crowded pile of hero-based service games. Rocket Arena gets its name from the classic Quake mod of the same name that pit players 1v1 with nothing but rocket launchers. Rocket Arena takes that concept and blows it up into a hero shooter built on the foundation of rockets. Final Strike has essentially deconstructed…4 min
PC Gamer|October 2020BIG NOUN ENERGYYou will fight, you will fail, you will rise again.” This is Othercide’s motto, and it deserves credit for sticking to the bit. It doesn’t just sayit’s about a hopeless war against encroaching darkness, it commits to the theme. Othercide mixes turn-based tactical combat with the repetition and incremental progress of roguelikes. It takes the threat of losing your best soldier from XCOMand makes that threat a certainty. You will lose, and then you will try again. And again. Each time I felt like quitting, I learned a new trick that gave me an edge You are The Mother, some sort of eldritch being fighting against Suffering, with a capital ‘S’, to protect The Child, using resurrected soldiers called The Daughters. Other extremely capitalised nouns also feature heavily. It’s not…4 min
PC Gamer|October 2020DOWN UNDER-ISMSAC/DC: Australian rock band formed by two Scots Bin chicken: Urban ibis birds, named for their love of garbage Bin juice: The liquid at the bottom of the garbage Fully: Extremely very Goon: Cheap bag-in-a-box wine Lamington: Sponge cake with chocolate and coconut Oi: Hey, but in a dickhe*d way sh*thouse: Extremely very awful Tradie: Worker with a trade, ie not a barista Bloody: Very Cuppa: Cup of tea Dog’s dinner: A mess Durry: Cigarette…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020CHAIR-RAISINGA few years ago, some men got together and decided to whack each other with a chair among other very silly things. The resulting video went viral, and now Robert Yang has made a game about it: a sort of interactive YouTube clip that you can replay and replay in search of answers, much like the video itself. Yang likens the video to Icarus, but with a try-hard display of masculinity instead of a mad winged dash towards the sun. Ultimately, the chair lads fail as well, by stopping the display before someone gets really hurt. By generally being endearingly rubbish at being ‘hard’. It’s a bold idea, making a playable version of a YouTube video, and by doing so Yang has put its constituent elements under a microscope. You…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020THE BINDING OF ISAAC: REBIRTHThe Binding of Isaac is like reaching inside your food recycling bin on a warm day and finding a toy trumpet nestling inside. Yes, it’s a fun surprise. But it’s also crammed with rotten flesh and maggots. Yet despite being repellent, I can’t help but toot on my offal cornet and delight as festering meat flies everywhere. Isaac is so vile that the story begins to lose all meaning. And more than this, the ‘try, die, try again’ loop is so perfectly numbing that all I can think about is the next room and the promise of a power up. Yes, I sold a child’s soul to Satan. But look at my powerful tears! Doot doot!…1 min
PC Gamer|October 2020INTEL MOTHERBOARDSIf you’re planning a new gaming PC built around an Intel 10th Gen processor then you’ll want to get hold of the best motherboard for the job. For most, that means one fit with either a Z490 or B460 chipset. These boards offer the widest range of ports, PCIe lanes, and features that attract us gamers. ROG Maximum XII Extreme ASUS £830 Best Z490 motherboard, for the price of a gaming PC 1 The Asus ROG Maximus XII Extreme doesn’t make any sense from a performance per dollar standpoint, but it is the best. Beset with increasingly diminishing returns as it may be, this £830 motherboard is the definition of overkill PC gaming components – and it’s excellent. Packed with extra goodies, the Maximus XII Extreme leaves no stone unturned…7 min
PC Gamer|October 2020BUDGET BUILDMOTHERBOARD B450-A Pro Max MSI £95 A healthy dose of ports and PCIe SSD support has this B450 at the heart of our budget build. PROCESSOR Ryzen 3 3300X AMD £115 AMD has packed its latest Zen 2 architecture into a speedy four-core package, and that’s great for gaming. GRAPHICS CARD GeForce GTX 1650 Super Gigabyte £165 The GTX 1650 Super is much more than a rebrand of the GTX 1650, securing it the budget crown. COOLER Wraith Stealth AMDFree with the CPU Gone are the days when a stock cooler was little more than a bonus paperweight. AMD’s Wraith Stealth delivers. MEMORY Vengeance 8GB DDR4 (2x4GB) Corsair £40 The new norm for gaming is 16GB, but dual-channel 8GB memory is enough to get by for most. POWER SUPPLY CX…2 min
PC Gamer|October 2020“It’s really mind-blowing that anywhere I can think of, I can fly to”ANDY KELLY THIS MONTH Couldn’t go on a real plane, so flew an imaginary one. ALSO PLAYED Yakuza Kiwami 2 Man, I really miss travelling. I miss the excitement of boarding a plane and stepping off into another country. I miss the change of scenery and drinking weird beers while heavily jet lagged. I even miss airports, although I’m not sure why. Being stuck in the UK has been the hardest part of the lockdown for me. So, really, the new Microsoft Flight Simulator couldn’t have come along at a better time. The latest version of the long-running flight sim is a remarkable technical achievement, letting you fly anywhere in the world. And that’s not an exaggeration – the entirety of the planet Earth is in the game, and can…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020“Waste time on a catch-up and you risk freezing to death or drowning”ALEX SPENCER THIS MONTH Used cooperation to get out of a sticky situation. ALSO PLAYED Alan Wake, Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Most of my friends are in cities I can’t get to right now. Manchester, Birmingham, Norwich – places that, between public transport being sold as a virus-ridden deathtrap and my own stubbornness to never get behind the wheel of a car again, have been moved from the mental folder marked ‘just down the road’ to ‘effectively in a different country’. In theory, gaming should be the perfect solution but – the odd screen-shared game of Jackbox aside – I haven’t been able to settle on one during lockdown. Until now. The We Were Here games are co-op adventures that deposit you and a friend in far-off wings of a…3 min
PC Gamer|October 2020DIVINITY: ORIGINAL SIN IIEven if you’ve not personally played Larian Studios’ giant RPG adventure Divinity: Original Sin II, you’ve probably seen evidence of the hectic, turn-based combat. Do screenshots of battlefields consumed by fire ring any bells? For me, the impromptu frying pan to fire situation would result in a party wipe, a reload, and an attempt to tackle the battle from a new angle with new skills, or painstakingly placed barrels of oil. Which then begets another ‘floor is lava’ situation. Whoops. Nothing evidences how much I enjoy tinkering with Original Sin II’s combat more than the fact that Steam reports my play time with the game is double what’s actually logged into my single save file. While I look longingly at Larian’s next RPG epic, Baldur’s Gate III, debating whether to…8 min
PC Gamer|October 2020SOLAIRE’S TRAGIC ENDINGWhether you’ve played Dark Souls or not, you’ve likely seen the image of a gallant knight with a stern-faced sun on his chest, his arms outstretched towards the sun like he’s trying to give it a big hug. “Praise the sun!” His iconic tagline, beaming optimism and effervescent joy might be the most eminent iconography to come out of a series otherwise defined by its dying world and oppressive difficulty. This giant goofball, Solaire of Astora, is arguably the point of Dark Souls. He’s a human-shaped reminder that other people are all we have. It’s Solaire that introduces Dark Souls’ summoning feature and Solaire that encourages the player to “engage in jolly cooperation!”. Solaire’s presence is why I so often rally against the ‘get good’ ethos that so many misguided…4 min
PC Gamer|October 2020ON A ROLLTALISMAN: DIGITAL EDITION An adaptation of Games Workshop’s other classic RPG board game – though based on Fantasy Flight Games’ 2000s reboot, rather than the 1983 version. CHAINSAW WARRIOR I’m not sure anyone was actually crying out for a digital version of this 1987 post-apocalyptic solo board game, but here we are. It’s even got a sequel. WARHAMMER COMBAT CARDS The 1980s card battler was barely more than Top Trumps with photos of miniatures on the cards, but it too has enjoyed new life as a phone game.…1 min
