Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2016 i PC Gamer (US Edition)

Close the magazine, cast your eyes over the cover, then come back to me. OK, now consider for a moment what an insane time this is to be a PC gamer. With games like Dark Souls III, XCOM 2, Rise of the Tomb Raider and The Witness to play, 2016 is off to a killer start. And thanks to tech such as SSDs— which we look at this month—and the promise of VR still to come, the platform has never been in ruder health. I defy you to scan the rest of this issue and not think you’ve backed the right cyborg attack horse. Enjoy the ride, friend. GLOBAL EDITOR - in - CHIEF tim.clark@futurenet.com @timothydclark TALK TO PC GAMER Have your say! Tweet us @PCGamer Our team of writers…

NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS IT? A series of increasingly complex maze puzzles, set on an idyllic island. EXPECT TO PAY $40 DEVELOPER Thekla Inc PUBLISHER In-house REVIEWED ON i5, GTX460M, 4GB RAM MULTIPLAYER None LINK www.the-witness.net Whether slyly illustrating a language puzzle in Fez or telegraphing an attack window in Dark Souls, every game must instruct you about the tools at your disposal. Less talented creators teach with HUD prompts or via cajoling NPCs, often wresting control away when you fail. Skilled creators hint and tease, insensibly guiding you towards a solution. Though not without its flaws, Jonathan Blow’s The Witness is one of the finest teachers I’ve studied under. This is one of the toughest games I’ve played in years If you’re at all minded to play it…

HONESTLY, AS A PLATFORM FOR PLAYING TRADITIONAL GAMES, VR IS RUBBISH Virtual reality is amazing. I’ve been an advocate of the technology since the very first Oculus Rift developer kit was released. You’ve probably seen me pontificating about it on these very pages, like some kind of mad evangelical preacher. But as much as I love VR, I still don’t think it’s the revolution some people are predicting it will be. The most important issue for me is comfort. No matter what advances in technology they make—short of beaming the image directly into your brain with special mind-lasers—VR will always involve strapping a tiny television to your face. Anyone who’s used an Oculus Rift, or any other headset, will know that after about 20 minutes it starts to feel uncomfortable.…

“THE PROCESS OF BUILDING A WORLD IS VERY INSPIRING” How does From Software put its stories together—is the whole narrative written down somewhere, then broken up and spread across item descriptions and environmental elements? That’s a really difficult question. I don’t think we really have a specific process that is one or the other, but the story grows from both of these elements. We’ll have an idea of the worldview and theme and as we develop the environments certain things will arise and give detail. The process of building a world is very inspiring and I think that helps create new ideas even after the original thought. Are there story details the designers choose to omit or obfuscate to create that sense of mystery that encourages fans to speculate? It’s…

This should be a quiet month. Elsewhere in the office on the console side, editors look pale and gaunt. Our review section tells a different tale, featuring a multitude of great games. This issue, there’s something for everyone. Fans of brutal, glorious failure can throw themselves against the exceptional XCOM 2. If you’d rather some enjoyable, streamlined action, there’s Rise of the Tomb Raider. Fancy taxing your brain meats? That’ll be The Witness. Want an eerie, atmospheric horror game? Check out Oxenfree. A subversively deceptive comedy? Pony Island. A clever, sprawling RPG? Dragon’s Dogma. Or, just pretend to be a trucker with American Truck Simulator. With such an amazing start to 2016, the only downside is deciding what to play first. DEPUTY EDITOR phil.savage@futurenet.com HOW WE REVIEW Wherever possible, we…

Dozens of feet up, my gauntlets digging into the mane of a livid griffin, I knew I’d made a huge mistake. The beast had been grounded when I’d hopped atop his back in the hopes of introducing his eyes to my sword, but he shot up so high afterwards that I could have seen my main character’s hometown if I’d dared to look (and if it had popped-in in time). One slip, one splat, and it would be game over. There’s a satisfying Pokémon-like appeal to trying out pawns NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS IT? An open-world RPG with excellent combat and a unique companion system. EXPECT TO PAY $30 DEVELOPER Capcom PUBLISHER In-house REVIEWED ON Windows 10, 16GB RAM, GeForce GTX 780 MULTIPLAYER Share NPCs online LINK www.dragonsdogma.com Below,…

I’m driving down a long, remote desert road in the dead of night. There’s no other traffic and I can’t see anything except the glow of my headlights and the cracked, dusty asphalt ahead. I’m hypnotized by the road, which seems to go on forever. My attention drifts. ‘In the Air Tonight’ by Phil Collins plays on the classic rock radio station I’m tuned to. Then, suddenly, something appears directly in front of me. A shape on the road. NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS IT? A truck driving and business management sim. EXPECT TO PAY $21 DEVELOPER SCS Software PUBLISHER In-house REVIEWED ON GeForce GTX 970, Intel i7-950, 16GB RAM MULTIPLAYER None LINK www.worldoftrucks.com A long drive across vast swathes of largely empty nothingness I panic, my heart racing. In…

NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS IT? A story of hardboiled journalism under a fascist regime. EXPECT TO PAY $10 DEVELOPER Double Zero One Zero PUBLISHER Coffee Stain Studios REVIEWED ON i5-3230 CPU, 8GB RAM, 256 MB VRAM internal card MULTIPLAYER None LINK www.doublezeroonezero.com/westport.html The Westport Independent is a game about censorship in a repressive society. You have 12 weeks before the enactment of a Public Culture Bill that will dramatically curtail the journalistic freedom of the newspaper you edit. Do you take the moral route, scuff the polished jackboot of fascism and report the truth? Or do you pragmatically opt to protect your writers and stick to printing smouldering celeb goss? My paper became a martini of crime news and tawdry gossip You’re in control of which stories get published…

Deserts of Kharak takes place long before the events of Homeworld, but never feels overshadowed by what’s to come. As it opens, your civilization is clinging to life on a desert planet, besieged by technologically advanced religious fanatics, the Gaalsien. Protagonist Rachel S’jek departs aboard the carrier Kapisi on a do-or-die mission to recover a powerful artefact from the heart of the desert, and all hell immediately breaks loose. NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS IT? A ground-based prequel to the classic space RTS. EXPECT TO PAY $50 DEVELOPER Blackbird Interactive PUBLISHER Gearbox Software REVIEWED ON Intel i5 3.1GHz quad-core, 16GB memory, GeForce GTX 770 MULTIPLAYER Up to 6 players LINK www.desertsofkharak.com You’re amply rewarded for taking the time to micromanage The carrier fills the same role as the mothership in…

BEN GRIFFIN THIS MONTH Temporarily became very smart by being nosey. ALSO PLAYED Just Cause 3 UNDER BIG BEN I HEAR PEOPLE ENTERTAIN THE ABSURD PREMISE OF HAVING LADIES IN POLITICS Mly favorite pastime in Syndicate is sniffing out snippets of chit-chat wafting on the wind, like a hungry cartoon cat hunting something delicious. This has somewhat spoiled the experience by exposing the infinitely looping dialogue that serves to prevent immobile citizens running dry of conversation and staring awkwardly at each other, but I am now temporarily knowledgeable about Victorian London. My magical learning adventure begins when I spot hairy-armed men salting fish by the Thames and feel compelled to observe—and by that I mean stare inches from their faces. Why aren’t these gorilla idiots using fridges? Well, a quick…

NEED TO KNOW RELEASE Out now PUBLISHER Konami DEVELOPER Kojima Productions LINK www.konami.jp/mgs5 Finally, five months after it was released, Metal Gear Solid V has multiplayer. Select the Metal Gear Online option from the main menu and you’ll see the character you created way back at the beginning of the singleplayer game sitting in a tent somewhere in the jungles of Africa. This is the ‘freeplay’ zone—a safe, enemy-free space that serves as a training ground for testing the weapons and gadgets you’ll steadily unlock as you play. When you’re ready to play with other people, it’s simply a matter of bringing up the iDroid and diving into a matchmaking server. There are three modes, of which Bounty Hunter is the most familiar. It’s an 8v8 team deathmatch with tickets…

Fallout 3 was about a world on the brink of collapse. Humanity had splintered into factions, downtown DC’s only civilized people were ghouls and there was a super mutant behemoth stomping around the Capitol Building. Turning the water back on at the end was the one time during the whole game that you could say you made the world a significantly better place. Set years later, Fallout 4 is a thematically perfect follow-up because it shows us that better times are possible again. The skies are usually blue, and populated settlements grow edible crops. Life isn’t back to normal, and there are plenty of hot zones for raider or super mutant activity, but it’s no longer as chaotic or depressing. The latest Fallout is about rebuilding this world, cultivating communities…

THE SPY LOVES THE FRENCH FOR THEIR MASTERY OF CHEESE, WINE AND DECAPITATION The Spy doesn’t make New Year’s resolutions lightly. Selfimprovement requires you to admit that some part of yourself needs improving, and The Spy is practically perfect in every way. Not that there’s any harm in trying, which is why The Spy has committed to a series of achievable life goals. One: a 20% increase in each unearthed secret’s juiciness level. Two: a drastic reduction in introductory nonsequiturs. Three: the total annihilation of kale If Kotaku’s anonymous sources are to be believed, Ubisoft should have a pretty easy time keeping its own resolution. All the publisher needs to do is not release a new Assassin’s Creed. According to reports, the ongoing stealth ’n’ stabbing series will be skipping…

NEED TO KNOW RELEASE 2016 DEVELOPER inXile Entertainment PUBLISHER In-house LINK www.bit.ly/200SJRY You’re the Last Castoff, a body discarded by a self-made god who leaves newly self-aware selves behind every time he or she decides they fancy a new form. In the opening seconds, you come into being just as you finish falling to your death, and what follows is a sequence that sees you rebuild yourself from within your own infinity-variable consciousness. PLAYED IT With me so far? Good—because then you’ve got some memory-spelunking, body-switching time travel to do. And then the tutorial ends. Once in the world proper, your quest is to free yourself from the Sorrow—a formless beast tracking you and your kind through history. You’re immediately given a choice of companions and approach, and, no, combat…

IT’S YOUR JOB TO LIBERATE MIDTOWN MANHATTAN FROM VIOLENT FACTIONS There’s no /dance command in Tom Clancy’s The Division. Standing in the social zone, I type it into the chat box. “/dance,” I announce to the server—three other critics and two developers— revealing my current avenue of investigation. I feel a bit silly. The Division is set in what Ubisoft calls a “mid-crisis” New York. The world hasn’t ended, but it is ending. This is not, it has to be said, a suitable dancefloor on which to get down. In response to my unintended message, a developer’s character gives me a /wave. The Division isn’t an MMO, but it borrows MMO elements. It’s an open-world shooter with a strong cooperative focus. Players meet up in the social hub at Chelsea…

TOM SENIOR Specialist in Strategy, aliens Currently playing XCOM 2 This month Became humanity’s last, best hope for survival, but was too busy playing XCOM 2 PHIL SAVAGE Specialist in Action, bows Currently playing Rise of the Tomb Raider This month Got really good at killing animals. (In a game, PETA.) EDWINE VANS -THIRLWELL Specialist in Puzzles, brains Currently playing The Witness This month Was lost in the maze of Jon Blow’s mind. Had a great time. ANDY KELLY Specialist in Sims, trucking Currently playing American Truck Simulator This month Had CW McCall’s Convoy permanently stuck in his head. MATT ELLIOTT Specialist in Adventure, law Currently playing Aviary Attorney This month Called upon his latent legal skills to review a game about birds in 19th century Paris. ANGUS MORRISON Specialist…

The opening minutes of Rise of the Tomb Raider had me worried. It starts with Lara trudging slowly through the snow, my only requirement being to hold W as the game plays itself around me. All of sudden, I’m having flashbacks to 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot and its interminable, set-piece heavy introduction. Soon after, during a cutscene-laden climbing tutorial, I miss a prompt, fall and die. Redoing the section, I hit the prompt, climb a few feet higher, and watch another cutscene in which Lara falls but is fine. Here we go again? Actually, no. In regular play, Lara no longer feels like a victim of her environment The opener is frustrating, but over quickly. From then on, Rise of the Tomb Raider sticks to a mostly consistent level of…

Originally released for the Nintendo GameCube way back in 2002, Resident Evil 0 is a prequel set before the events of the first game. This PC version features upgraded visuals, modernized controls, widescreen support, improved sound, a new mode and other tweaks, but the game itself remains unchanged. It’s a slow-paced, challenging survival horror game in the mold of the original, but ultimately inferior. NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS IT? A survival horror game set before the original Resident Evil. EXPECT TO PAY $20 DEVELOPER Capcom PUBLISHER In-house REVIEWED ON GeForce GTX 970, Intel i7-950, 16GB RAM MULTIPLAYER None LINK www.residentevil.com There are a few new enemies, including zombie apes You can now control two characters simultaneously: medic Rebecca Chambers and escaped convict Billy Coen. Rebecca can mix healing herbs…

NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS IT? An arcade game made by Satan himself. EXPECT TO PAY $5 DEVELOPER Daniel Mullins Games PUBLISHER In-house REVIEWED ON Core i5-3570K, 16GB RAM, GeForce GTX 780Ti MULTIPLAYER None LINK www.pony-island.com Imagine launching a videogame that satirizes videogames in 2016. Terrifying! You submit yourself for comparison with The Stanley Parable, Surgeon Simulator and Saints Row 4. Even Saints Row’s DLC failed to pin down what made it so cathartic and disruptive. Pony Island is of a different class. Not only does it succeed in having meaning and a point to make, but it remembers to be a decent game while it’s at it—a game that left me doubting my own grip on reality. It ensures you’re playing a game, not stranded in a lecture theater…

“It’s as endearing as it is unpolished” Iwill admit, I was nervous about returning to Little Big Adventure 2. For the most part, the games of my formative years have held up, but LBA2 is different: it never found its place in the PC canon. It’s a niche, cult adventure—intensely loved by a group of people who, for all I know, were equally deluded. When stripped of the comforting blanket of nostalgia, it’s probably rubbish. Right? Well, yes, a little bit. Little Big Adventure 2 hasn’t aged well, and some of its ideas must have been questionable even when it was released back in 1997. It’s also immediately clear why it’s beloved. It’s a slapstick adventure with lots of heart. For all the silliness and peril, there’s also a rich…

PHIL SAVAGE I love all sorts of games, both big and small. My aim is to put all of the games into a big vat, and dive into it like Scrooge McDuck. DIABLO III: REAPER OF SOULS www.battle.net/d3 Despite its rocky start, Diablo III is in a great place. It’s much more generous now, thanks to the Reaper of Souls expansion. Hop in on one of the harder difficulties, and you’re guaranteed to be showered with lovely, gratifying loot. Rewards aside, it’s also one of the most satisfyingly explosive ARPGs around. WARHAMMER: END TIMES—VERMINTIDE www.vermintide.com I recently started playing this with the PCG team, and it’s great—a clever co-op FPS with an interesting selection of characters to choose from. I went for the bow, and had a great time pumping…