Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2018 i PC Gamer (US Edition)

The first Pillars of Eternity was at the spearhead of a movement for veteran developers, using crowdfunding platforms to make games that harkened back to the roleplaying games of old. It was technological ambition married to retro scope, mixing innovation and nostalgia. The old Infinity Engine inspiration is still apparent, but Deadfire looks to embrace modern technology and new ideas. Turn to page 40 to learn more. phil.savage@futurenet.com @Octaeder TALK TO PC GAMER Have your say! Tweet us @PCGamer…

1 ASSASSIN’S CREED: FREEDOM CRY A sidequel to Black Flag. Freedom Cry swaps seafaring for emancipation. 2 EPISODES FROM LIBERTY CITY Originally DLC story add-ons for GTA IV, two episodes were deemed worthy of being released as a standalone package. 3 SAINTS ROW: GAT OUT OF HELL This expandalone gives series favorite Johnny Gat the limelight, thrusting him into the devilish depths of the underworld. 4 FAR CRY 3: BLOOD DRAGON This Far Cry expandalone spins the series into an ’80s-inspired VHS vision—a neon-drenched first-person fever dream.…

TOOTH & TAIL An elegant RTS that works well with a control pad. It’s perfect for newcomers to the genre. THE LONG DARK One of the few survival games to survive Early Access. Equal parts beautiful and brutal. NEX MACHINA A satisfying twin-stick shooter featuring lasers, robots, and meticulously designed levels. EVERYTHING Funny and philosophical, this lets you be a cow, a microbe, a galaxy—everything, in fact. WUNDERDOKTOR Treat partying aubergines and pluck ghosts from ribcages in this grimcute doctor game. Want to track your progress? Print out our checklist at www.bit.ly/pcgchallenge…

ALOTH Race: Wood elf Class: Wizard A wizard inhabited by the soul of an uncouth woman called Iselmyr, whose presence he struggles to suppress. PALLEGINA Race: Godlike Class: Paladin This race is blessed with physical aspects of the gods. In Pallegina’s case, Hylea, the goddess of birds and the sky. MAIA RUA Race: Aumaua Class: Ranger An experienced ship captain and sister of the chanter Kana Rua, a recruitable companion from the first game. EDÉR Race: Human Class: Fighter A farmer who fought in the Saint’s War and was a devotee of Eothas, the god the Watcher is hunting in Deadfire. XOTI Race: Human Class: Monk/Priest A woman who fled to the Deadfire Archipelago when she was very young, becoming a monk and priest. SERAFEN Race: Orlan Class: Cipher/Barbarian Born…

There is a long history of religion in games, and RPGs provide a good space for conversations about faith that could have felt flippant in other genres. In The Witcher III, religion is more than just window dressing. Set in a world outgrowing magic, the game depicts religion in varied ways: Tackling philosophy, corruption, and misconception, while allowing room for players to interact with gods, decide people’s fate, and support or condemn religious practices. Geralt’s own beliefs, or lack thereof, are notable, as he must regularly interact with religious characters. Geralt is magical, yet wouldn’t likely describe himself as a magic user, and has a distaste for certain elements of the practice. Despite this, Geralt can be played as a supporter of religion, (and his aversion to magic isn’t so strong…

PUBG is a bloodsport played beneath a pantheon of fickle gods. You start by falling out of heaven. When you hit the ground, you’re praying that the Loot Lords put a good weapon in your hands. Survive this, and you’ll call upon the Goddess of Circles, whose force field decides who lives and dies. Later, you’ll look up to The Crate God, hoping for a gift from the sky. Other minor deities govern vehicle fuel levels, scope propagation, and high-tier armor. It’s a competitive game governed by semi-randomized systems that can feel capricious, but PUBG works in part because it throws conventional balance out the window. You’re cast into a maelstrom of unfairness, trying to be the last-person-standing amongst 100 competitors. The normal way to die is suddenly, from an…

1 MILITARY BASE Sosnovka is Erangel’s most loot-heavy area, which also means that it’s one of the busiest. 2 GEORGOPOL A huge, tricky-to-access city with high-quality loot and medium risk. Aim for roof access where possible and work top-to-bottom for safety’s sake. 3 ROZHOK This town’s central location, decent loot and guaranteed car spawn make it a great starting point. The nearby school is a popular deathmatch locale. 4 NOVOREPNOYE Three guaranteed vehicle spawns, likely boat spawns and squadloads of loot almost offset this eastern port’s uber-dangerous layout. 5 BUNKERS A group of bunkers buried beneath a hill and overflowing with good gear. Beware the choke points.…

THE MATRIX Grappling with an opponent as a subway train approaches is like watching an Aardman remake of the Wachowskis’ dystopian sci-fi classic movie. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER Jamming everyone in a lift and letting them fight, with one man emerging victorious? This is the perfect homage to the Marvel hit. DIE HARD It’s no Nakatomi Plaza, but you can easily reenact Hans Gruber’s inglorious death. For added fun, equip a suit and goatee for Gruber, and a vest for McClane. INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE If you don’t shout “no ticket” when lobbing someone off the edge of this blimp, just like the iconic explorer, then we can’t be friends. THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Well, it’s just the one billboard here. But you can at least…

DOUBT... ...that any of these events count given I already had a perfectly well-thought-out alternative prequel, thanks. JOY-NOYANCE... ...at realising that Awful Warren is not actually hiding somewhere ready to be tedious, but Eliot very much is. AWKWARD PRIDE... …that I, a 30-something adult, have the same hairstyle as a rebellious teen and it looks excellent on both of us. HUNGER... …which is definitely an emotion and accompanies every scene where Chloe’s mum is making breakfast. PUPPIES... …I mean, sure, I guess we want to know what happened to other people but Pompidou is a puppy here! A puppy!…

PISTON ARM Extension and retraction in a single, arm? Beautiful—especially when in motion. TRACK Build insanely complicated machines by extending these all over the play field. GLYPH OF BONDING Pass elements over this to bond them (until you get the Glyph of Unbonding out). VAN BERLO’S WHEEL Use it with a Glyph of Duplication to turn salt into an element. GLYPH OF PROJECTION Place quicksilver on it and it evolves metal a step towards becoming gold. GLYPH OF EQUILIBRIUM Useless, but as a decorative flourish it can really set your table off a treat.…

Robin is a mechanic, but the authoritarian society that she lives in doesn’t want her to be. Jobs like this are outlawed for regular citizens, forcing her to keep her tool-slinging talents a secret from One Concern—the sinister religious regime in charge. Even so, she still helps out around the village with repairs, using a wrench which she keeps hidden in her basement. You can’t keep a good mechanic down. After an unexpected run-in with Concern agents, she decides the thing that needs fixin’ most is the world. And so she embarks on a quest to make it a better place, accompanied by a group of rebels who share her hatred of One Concern and the society it has created. It’s an engaging premise, bolstered by colorful writing, lavish pixel…

While you wait for the results of your petitions demanding PC ports of the Persona series, you might want to give Known Unknowns a play. It’s the latest text adventure from interactive fiction author Brendan Patrick Hennessy, who you might remember from Bell Park, Youth Detective, and the brilliant Birdland, both of which take place in the same world as Known Unknowns. Birdland heroine Bridget even makes a guest appearance in this new adventure, which is set in and around a Canadian high school. Hennessy’s games combine teen drama and romance with intriguing supernatural mysteries, and this episodic series is no different. Released in four parts over the last year and a bit, Known Unknowns concerns the complicated life of student Nadia Nazari, who has a lot to contend with…

It’s been almost five years since Euro Truck Simulator 2 was first released for PC, and SCS Software is still growing its vast recreation of Europe. Recent expansions include Going East (Eastern Europe), Vive la France (France, obviously), and Scandinavia, which adds Sweden, Norway, and Denmark to an already substantial, complex map. And now, thanks to the recent Italia expansion, you can drive the entire length of the boot, from Milan in the north to Palermo in the south. The variety of scenery on offer makes Euro Truck Simulator 2 one of the finest road trips on PC. The steep, twisting mountain roads of Norway feel notably different to the rolling farmland of France or the gray, rainy highways of the UK. But you will have to spend a few…

CLEAVER DRONE Straight from an episode of BattleBots, these floating circular saws skim across water at high speed, slicing through infantry, tanks, and structures. They’re fiendishly fast and best used in large numbers. SIEGE INFANTRY The long range of their mortar shells make these troops a crucial part of any GDI attack, and if supported by snipers, grenade troops, and medics they mean infantry can act almost completely self-sufficiently. TREMOR ARTILLERY Subterranean artillery units that can burrow their way all the way up to an enemy’s perimeter without being seen to deliver a decisive barrage. They are most effective when supported by a close-range escort. SCATTERPACK WALKER These little mechs make mincemeat out of infantry with their cannons, and they will protect your tanks from aircraft when used as part…

Arkham Asylum regularly features in Batman stories, usually because The Joker or some other supervillain has escaped from it. Here, though, the asylum is the star, fleshed out as a setting like it never has been before. Later Arkham games took Batman to Gotham City, dramatically increasing their size and scope in the process. But there’s something compelling about how Asylum focuses on one hyperdetailed setting, giving it a rich sense of history and of place through some of the finest worldbuilding you can find on PC. Where I grew up there was a stretch of woodland behind my house. Far in the distance, poking out of the trees, I could see two immense black spires. These belonged to a psychiatric hospital built in the 1800s, around which rumors of…

1 SKY ROGUE Describing the game as a ‘fwooshy rogue-lite action flight simulator’, developer Kenny Backus added a dedication in the game’s credits to his grandfather, a flight instructor in World War 2. 2 GEARS OF WAR Shooting a window after a co-op spotlight section in the original Gears of War will change the neon sign of a gas station to “Gab’s”—the name of lead level designer Lee Petty’s wife. 3 PERCEPTION The storyline is inspired by one of director Bill Gardner’s ancestors, Susannah Martin. According to the credits, Martin was accused of witchcraft twice before being found guilty and hanged in 1692. 4 DEADLIEST CATCH: ALASKAN STORM Designer James Youngman set the dates for discrete missions to match the birthdays of friends and family. He continues to add tributes…

FINAL FANTASY X The corruption of the church of Yevon forms a large part of FFX. Despite being a religion most of your party follow, it’s revealed to be a con. Also, there’s a giant whale called ‘Sin’ who turns out to be the protagonist’s dad. DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION Religion is a central theme, with the choice between refusing or accepting hero-worship left up to the player. You can believe that you have been chosen to save the world, but, as the game lets you know, you haven’t. FALLOUT 4 In the wasteland, religious belief doesn’t get any stranger than the Children of the Atom, a cult which worships atomic bombs. These zealots like to expose others to the ‘Glow’, also known as face-melting nuclear radiation.…

MELEE Machetes, frying pans, and scythes can kill foes in two hits—as can well-timed jump punches. SHOTGUN Perhaps the best close-range shooters that demand expert precision as a result of their excruciating reload times. MICRO UZI The most unwieldy of the close-rangers, making automatic fire essential. Best suited to firefights within buildings. SCAR Probably the most popular of PUBG’s weapons. Its high rate of fire will down enemies with four well-placed hits. CROSSBOW A weapon where the load times are just about offset by the joy of oneshotting aggressors at distance.…

I think the first thing to do here is flag up how successfully Jason Roberts executes a flow of interactions with Gorogoa. It’s necessary to draw attention to that particular part of the game before anything else, because the ease with which the images coalesce, and then break apart, masks what a phenomenal achievement it actually is. Imagine a set of wall tiles whose intricate patterns perfectly line up to create undulating lines and strange optical effects. That precision and elegance is what Roberts is maintaining across an entire story. Chunks of interiors and exteriors match perfectly without seeming out of place in either of their respective scenes: An image in a thought bubble lines up with a balcony scene; a star in the sky is positioned perfectly so that…

BIRDS I’m not familiar with the birdlife of Oregon but this beaked buddy might be a riff on the little black-capped chickadee. RODENTS A grey squirrel watches over the junkyard – Chloe’s refuge from school and home. The squirrel shows no interest in the drama. ELECTRODEER The deer was a familiar sight in the original game. It reappears in the prequel, albeit in a slightly more unfortunate role. MORE BIRDS I had better luck identifying this feathered friend thanks to the black V across its breast – it’s a Western Meadowlark.…

IRON HEART Equip this tweak and the first time an enemy hits you, you won’t take any damage, giving you a little breathing room. TOOL ASSIST Robin’s wrench, which is used for both puzzle-solving and combat, will hit a lot harder with this tweak activated. BREATHLESS Whether you’re in deep water or trapped by a cloud of gas, activating this tweak lets Robin hold her breath for longer. FLEET FOOT There’s a fair amount of exploration in Iconoclasts, so this tweak, which increases Robin’s running speed, is very useful.…

THIS MONTH Tidied the hell out of a research facility. ALSO PLAYED Slime Rancher—to collect the Christmas decorations Often I think of Viscera Cleanup Detail as less of a game and more of a personality test. The debacle revolves around you and a group of friends acting as FPS janitors, cleaning up after the monster-shooting is over. There are bullet casings to collect, thoraxes to incinerate, and USB sticks to gather from fallen allies. It’s a cleaning sim. It has the appeal of bringing order to a disordered world through the act of mopping. I sometimes wonder whether the developer, RuneStorm, would ever make the accompanying FPS so that players could generate unique hellscapes and then the cleanup detail could tidy those. But that’s beside the point. The point right…

WIZARD Fantasy is cool again, so celebrate by draping your truck in the image of a Gandalf-lookin’ wizard casting a fire spell. PIRATE Instil fear in your fellow truck drivers by painting your truck with this intimidating skull and crossbones motif. PANDA Or, alternatively, show them your softer side by covering your truck in this image of a lovely, soft panda hiding in a bush. STORM But if you’re after something more understated, this neat paint job will be the talk of the service station.…

The Legacy of Kain series has a convoluted trajectory, with two subseries starring two different protagonists, made by two developers. So we’ve put together a timeline to help explain things. 1996 BLOOD OMEN: LEGACY OF KAIN Developer Silicon Knights Playable character Kain 1999 LEGACY OF KAIN: SOUL REAVER Developer Crystal Dynamics Playable character Raziel 2001 SOUL REAVER 2 Developer Crystal Dynamics Playable character Raziel 2002 BLOOD OMEN 2 Developer Crystal Dynamics Playable character Kain 2003 LEGACY OF KAIN: DEFIANCE Developer Crystal Dynamics Playable character Kain and Raziel…

SCARECROW Leaks his fear toxin into the asylum, triggering some memorable hallucination sequences. BANE Bane’s powers stem from a drug called Venom, which becomes a crucial plot point later in the game. THE JOKER The clown prince of crime gets captured on purpose and takes over, turning the asylum into a twisted playground. ZSASZ This killer keeps a tally of his victims carved into his flesh. One of the first villains Batman faces in the game. THE RIDDLER You never see him, but thanks to the riddles scattered around the island, his presence is always felt. KILLER CROC A former wrestler turned mutant, encountered by Batman in the asylum’s mazelike sewer network.…

HIGHS AGDQ The charity speedrunning marathon raised over $2 million this year, and featured great runs of Resi 7 and Opposing Force. Two Point Hospital Ex-Bullfrog and Lionhead veterans are teaming up for a new Theme Hospital-style management sim. Vive Pro Due out this spring, the upgraded Vive boasts a 2880x1600 resolution. Is this the shot in the arm VR needs? Cyberpunk 2077 After four years of silence, the Twitter for CD Projekt’s next game tweets one word: “Beep”. The internet goes wild. LOWS PC Gamer Podcast Apologies for the hiatus over Christmas. We promise to do better in 2018. Steam Valve’s Alden Kroll confirms a Steam UI update is still in the works. Frankly, it’s long overdue. Cryptocurrency Mining has driven graphics card prices through the roof, making prebuilt…

SQUELCHY SPELLS We’ve entered the second month of this challenge, and I’m even further behind. I blame Diablo III. I wrote a bit about it in this month’s Now Playing, and, since then, I’ve rolled a new character: a Necromancer. She’s a great character, with lots of big, squelchy spells that are fun to manipulate. I love the one that explodes the corpses you’ve created—it adds a new, combustible element to combat. Does watching games count? If so, I spent a weekend watching the Gwent Open Challenge. While the beta is now more complex than the Witcher minigame that spawned it, that has made for a competitive pro scene. I like the tournament format, which requires players to win with each of the factions over a best-of-five series. But no,…

2004 KOTOR II: THE SITH LORDS A sequel to BioWare’s brilliant Star Wars RPG, led by veteran writer/ designer Chris Avellone. 2006 NEVERWINTER NIGHTS 2 An RPG set in the Forgotten Realms D&D setting, with tools that let players create their own campaigns. 2010 ALPHA PROTOCOL A flawed, ambitious RPG-shooter hybrid that has developed of a cult following over the years. 2010 FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS Arguably the best of the Bethesda Fallout games, with imaginative quest design and great writing. 2011 DUNGEON SIEGE III An action-RPG based on Gas Powered Games’ series of dungeon crawlers with a focus on co-op. 2014 SOUTH PARK: THE STICK OF TRUTH A genuinely great RPG and basically a very funny 20-hour episode of the show. 2015 PILLARS OF ETERNITY A crowdfunded epic that used…

TALES FROM DUNWALL The Heart artifact is shown to have been a collaborative project between The Outsider and a feverish, dream-addled Piero Joplin. A LONG DAY IN DUNWALL In Dishonored 2, the Heart is picked up by Emily or Corvo, and Jessamine’s spirit appears to guide them in key moments. DISHONORED The Heart whispers secrets to Corvo in a familiar voice. Keen-eared players will recognize April Stewart, who also voices Jessamine. DEATH TO THE EMPRESS The final arc of Dishonored 2 has Emily or Corvo release Jessamine’s spirit from the Heart, replacing it with Delilah’s.…

As I write, nearly three million people are playing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. That’s a staggering number: More concurrent players than either Dota 2 or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive at peak popularity. In fact, more than those two combined. It’s big, then, but is it any good? That’s a more complicated issue, which Evan tackles in depth across our six-page review. If you want the short version: Yes, but... Elsewhere this issue, experience delights from the gorgeous puzzling of Gorogoa, to the tinkering of Opus Magnum, and the frustration of Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. We also review Life is Strange: Before the Storm. Does this prequel recapture some of the poignant melodrama of Dontnod’s original? Yes, but... phil.savage@futurenet.com LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK Email us via pcgamer@futurenet.com with your reactions,…

DARWIN PROJECT A story-driven battle royale game. Players will brave a frozen wilderness and hunt other players while participating in a dystopian research project. SOS Outpost Games’ spin on the genre draws from reality TV by planting 16 contestants on a monster-filled island. Survival is key, but so too is winning over the audience. DYING LIGHT: BAD BLOOD Techland plans to add a battle royale PvP mode to Dying Light this year. Featuring six players, you’ll hunt for serum, battle zeds, and escape on a chopper. ISLANDS OF NYNE This was Kickstarted prior to PUBG’s arrival last year. Flaunting a sci-fi look and feel, 100 players will face off on a planet filled with teleporters and anti-gravity tech. PALADINS: BATTLEGROUNDS A clear slant on PUBG’s name, this blends “survival gameplay…

If I’ve got the Latin right, ‘Opus Magnum’ means ‘Work Great’. And once you get into this puzzle game about building incredible alchemical machines, you’ll feel the buzz of working great over and over. It’s rare to play a game that provides such intense satisfaction, driven by a perfect balance of clearly defined and self-driven challenge. Flexible, intricate, demanding, and fulfilling, this has to be one of the very best puzzle games of the year, if not the decade. Opus Magnum is the latest in a series of machine-making games to which developer Zach ‘Zachtronics’ Barth has apparently devoted his career. Opus Magnum is probably most similar to his first and best-known, SpaceChem, in which you build chemistry machines. Despite Opus Magnum’s fantastical setting, in which you play an alchemist…

THIS MONTH Made the long climb to the Premier League. ALSO PLAYED They Are Billions, Dead Cells Nottingham Forest appointed me to save them from relegation. They were in bottom place when I was hired, but we finish the season in 14th place. Not bad. We start the next season flying high, winning six out of our first six matches. Our first cup game ends 5-2 against Tottenham Hotspur, a team with approximately 34,291,837 times as many resources as us. Could promotion be on the cards? There are still problems to contend with, not least of which is my defense, which seems to welcome the opposition with open arms. At least we’re lethal in offense. We’re leading the most-scored charts, even while maintaining our poor defensive record. Our main striker…

THIS MONTH Deleted every text from a weird ex. ALSO PLAYED Nina Freeman’s Cibele and Kimmy There’s an old saying that we’re at our best when we’re in love. But unless you’re very self-assured in a relationship, you can easily feel possessive and emotionally needy, constantly checking your phone to see if the other person has messaged you and feeling hurt whenever they spend time with someone else. Going through a breakup can be even worse. There’s nothing as frightening as an ex who can’t let go. Horror game Simulacra perfectly captures the feeling of a breakup, and the fear of trying to meet someone new. Kaigan Games designed Simulacra to look like the interface on a smartphone, which you discover belonged to a woman called Anna. Anna is in…

ORBITAL CANNON It costs $900,000 to add to your Facility, and $500,000 each time you want to bomb a player. AVENGER A $3.45 million flying Operation Center that can be upgraded with vehicle and weapons workshops. AKULA This $3.7 million helicopter offers stealth capability, letting you hide from that asshole with the orbital cannon. THRUSTER It’s a jet pack. Get ready to spend $3.65 million on a device that will explode when you fly into a wall. DELUXO Look, at $4.72 million this is probably not worth buying. But also: it flies and that is obviously cool.…

PHIL SAVAGE I stare at an endless list of strategy games in my Steam library, and feel nought but exhaustion. I reach for my mouse and click Peggle. OKAMI HD www.okami-game.com This quirky action adventure asks you to be a dog who is also a god. You pad across the beautiful world of Nippon, using your Celestial Brush to solve problems and drive back demons (the god bit). You also bark at NPCs, try to eat your irritating bug companion, and nap during long cutscenes (the dog bit). TALES FROM THE BORDERLANDS www.talesfromtheborderlands.com For me, this is not only the best Telltale game, but the best Borderlands game, too. It’s a clever setting for Telltale’s post-Walking Dead formula, because its dialog options ask what kind of joke you want to…

1 MOBILE Protect your Android device by letting the OS update run its course while you’re charging. 2 WINDOWS It should install its own update, but you can force it by choosing ‘check for updates’ in the Windows Update menu. 3 UPDATE EVERY THING Have a Chromebook or a phone around that you hardly use? Turn it on and make sure it automatically updates. 4 OR YOU COULD TRY… If you want to go tinfoil hat, buy an AMD CPU. They’re not vulnerable to Meltdown (but are to Spectre).…