Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2019 i PC Gamer (US Edition)

Studio Wildcard’s follow-up to Ark: Survival Evolved is certainly ambitious. The plan is for Atlas to be a nautical EVE Online—giving players the freedom to define their own story. We got an advanced look at the game in order to find out what it is, and—more importantly—what it hopes to be. Elsewhere this issue, we reveal our Game of the Year picks, and review some of the biggest releases of 2018: Hitman 2, Battlefield V, and Fallout 76. EDITOR phil.savage@futurenet.com PHIL SAVAGE Specialist in Demolition Expert Twitter @Octaeder This month Was told that, no, Dragon Age II is not going to be our game of the year. TALK TO PC GAMER Have your say! Email us at letters@pcgamer.com…

HIGHS Warframe The Fortuna update adds a massive open world zone on Venus, and gives you a hoverboard. Hitman 2 The sequel has triggered a fierce leaderboard competition among the PC Gamer team. Phil is winning. Black Mesa On Half-Life’s 20th anniversary, the Black Mesa team released footage of its creepy reimagining of Xen. LOWS Black Friday PCGamer.com’s Tom Senior got so drunk on Black Friday deals that he even bought an RGB mouse mat. Fallout 76 Surprise! A Bethesda game has bugs at launch. Artifact Artifact’s initial monetization model won’t fit in this space, but suffice it to say it has not been received well.…

HEAVEN WILL BE MINE Phil: A visual novel about mech pilots fighting and flirting in space. Delightfully weird. THE RACCOON WHO LOST THEIR SHAPE Pip: A raccoon medium acts as a go-between for shapes. EMILY IS AWAY Pip: The story of a relationship unfolds via a retro (god, I feel so old) chat window. TENDER LOVING CARE Andy: A bizarre softcore FMV game starring the late, great John Hurt. Not his finest work. OK/NORMAL Andy: Imagine a David Lynch fever dream rendered with original PlayStation graphics. Want to track your progress? Print out our checklist at www.bit.ly/pcgchallenge…

Chris: At first it appears to be a beautiful steampunk building management game with survival elements. Construct a city around a coal-powered generator in a frozen crater, and keep your citizens warm, fed and healthy. But it’s the simulation of a desperate and fickle society, as well as your role as a leader, that makes Frostpunk such a challenging and unforgettable experience. You’re called on to pass laws, and each law comes with a compromise, the significance of which isn’t entirely apparent until further down the line. When hungry citizens begin stealing food from your storehouse, it feels natural to begin a neighborhood watch program to keep an eye on everyone. But with its first few decisions Frostpunk is just grooming you, testing your morals, seeing how far you’ll go…

Tom: Monster Hunter: World is an odd game if you’ve never played it before. The controls feel dumb, the crafting is complicated, and you have to pay cats to make food for you before every hunt. Once it clicks, it’s incredible. The controls are unusual because they have to support 14 different weapon types. It can take a while to wind up big hits, which means you have to learn how monsters fight. It helps that these are some of the best enemies you’ll fight in any game. From the much-victimized jagras to total bastards like odogaron, they all have their own quirks. To master Monster Hunter you have to learn their habits. The electric flying squirrel tobi-kadachi leaps up into the trees in forest areas. Rathalos can shatter the rocky…

IT’S LIKE GROUNDHOG DAY AS A STEALTH PUZZLER Samuel: It makes me really happy that IO Interactive is still making murder puzzles on this scale, with this much detail, in 2018. Hitman 2’s levels are best-in-class sandboxes, and it can take you hours to unlock their full potential. While this game’s selection is a little conventional by the series’ standards, they’re still tons of fun. Plus, you can download its predecessor’s levels inside the new game. Warring with Phil over the leaderboards has been a highlight of 2018 for me. How the hell did he do Hawke’s Bay in four minutes? Unbelievable. Phil: The trick, Sam, is to attempt things that you’re almost certain won’t work, because sometimes you get lucky and look really clever. (Luckily the leaderboards don’t track…

Andy: In terms of writing, quest design, and worldbuilding, Obsidian is at the top of its game in Deadfire. This nautical sequel continues the story established in the first Pillars, but is standalone enough that you can dive into it without any prior knowledge. And what a grand adventure it is, making you a ship captain and letting you sail the deadly, alluring waters of the tropical Deadfire Archipelago. For the most part this is a classic Infinity Engine-style RPG, with reams of vivid, descriptive text, enchanted items with lengthy descriptions, dungeon diving, and magical beasts. But being able to crew and maintain a ship and sail between islands, gives it a compelling twist. The Deadfire Archipelago is a beguiling, strange, alien place, and uncovering its well-realized culture, politics, and…

The Forgotten Realms is a dangerous place indeed, certainly for adventurers who make it their business to trek far and wide. There are plenty of times when a silver-tongued smoothie can and will talk their way out of the very worst of trouble, but every adventuring party finds themselves in a fight sooner or later. Fortunately, the Baldur’s Gate series offers far more than its fair share of spectacular adventuring gear to help them both kill and not be killed. Here are some of the most important (and unusual) items you can find. Whether you’re trawling the markets, hoovering up all that dungeon detritus, or picking clean the corpses of the recently departed, you can’t help but trip over items dripping with enchantment. Quite literally, on some occasions, such as…

Larian Studios is, for now, the Divinity: Original Sin studio. Its last two games, both Kickstarted and publisher-free, are the biggest successes the studio has ever seen. The Belgian developer didn’t go from obscurity to success, however, and it has been designing notable RPGs and strategy games, within and without the Divinity universe, for over two decades. Founder Swen Vincke picks 1997 as the year when Larian started, and an RTS called LED Wars as the studio’s first game, though there had been some experiments and projects before that. Indeed, one of them, The Lady, the Mage and the Knight, had many of the hallmarks of today’s Original Sin series, 20 years before it made its debut. “It was an RPG where you controlled three characters and could play in…

I’ve spent over three decades cultivating the image of an irate, tiny lady draped in a monkey cardigan, setting up the perfect disguise for this Hitman mission where I take down the crimelord Phil Savage. But even with this disguise it has been hard to find an opportunity. For example, I tried blending in with a selection of croissants with the intention of poisoning one, but got distracted by eating croissants. I was going to lurk in the podcast room and take him out with a replica Infinity Gauntlet, but I ended up napping on the sofa. I guess the only option left is to train a dog to steal the security guard’s bomber jacket, then subcontract the security dog to do it instead. DEPUTY EDITOR philippa.warr@futurenet.com LET US KNOW…

0 — 0 “Okay, what are we supposed to do? I don’t have any weapons. Wait, my opponent is sprinting off. Have they done this before?” 0—2 “New target. If I just wait for him to get out of sight of everyone else… wait, the other player has already killed them? Let’s just go for it.” 1 — 3 “Holy crap, I did it! I killed a target and nobody saw me. Am I getting the hang of this?” 3 — 4 “We both got the kill that time. At least it’s still close.” 1 — 5 “I should have been changing disguises instead of sprinting everywhere. Looks like the winner is the first to five points. Maybe next time.” 0—1 “They’ve already killed the target? I can still get…

FRANCE Maps: Twisted Steel, Arras Rural France is a classic setting for a WW2 videogame, but Battlefield mixes things up with Twisted Steel, whose bridge DICE says is the biggest object it’s ever built for a multiplayer map. HOLLAND Maps: Rotterdam, Devastation Here you’ll find two wildly different city maps: The mostly intact Rotterdam, and the decidedly not intact Devastation, which features the same city but after a German bombing. NORTH AFRICA Maps: Hamada, Aerodrome This warzone is home to two of the most open maps in the game, which tank commanders and pilots will love. But be warned, infantry: You’ll be running about a lot. NORWAY Maps: Narvik, Fjell 652 Both of these chilly maps are quite different—a remote mountain and a harbor village—but both have one thing in…

SOLID PROJECT A mod that adds dynamic new features to New Vegas including takedowns, sprinting, climbing obstacles, and lowering your weapon during conversations. EVE This mod adds HD blood and fire, better bullet impacts, improved textures, and new kill animations. It makes the game’s combat feel much more varied and impactful. ROBCO CERTIFIED Recommended for science players, this mod lets you take the blown-out shell of an enemy robot, and turn it into a companion. You can eventually command bigger, scarier robots. ENB The popular graphic enhancer for New Vegas comes recommended by the creators of New California. Their preferred plugin is ‘Rudy ENB’, which is found on Nexus Mods.…

Something I miss when I play digital games is the tactile side of play. It’s why videogames and board games coexist in my life so beautifully. One allows for complexity beyond what a pen-and-paper can track, and the other offers tokens to hold, boards to construct, people to physically turn to as you play. Somewhere in the middle are a wonderful selection of videogames where you feel compelled to take notes. I’m not talking about games which demand you fetch a sheet of paper as part of the experience. These are games where my experience just happens to spill over into the real world as drawings and words. The ones where I decide to keep my thoughts straight by idly jotting down words, phrases, the location of a treasure to…

TOTAL $1,854 MOTHERBOARD Z370 Tomahawk MSI $140 This is a nice-looking bit of kit at a good price. Couple that with two M.2 slots, and it’s the perfect place to house that Core i5. PROCESSOR Core i5-8400 Intel $280 Better default gaming performance and a lower price puts this chip ahead of the AMD Ryzen 2600X. GRAPHICS CARD GTX 1070 SC Gaming ACX EVGA $424 Again, we’re making a saving this month on our choice of graphics card. This time you can expect a chunk of savings. COOLER MasterLiquid Lite 240 CoolerMaster $55 This 240mm, dual-fan, all-in-one liquid CPU cooler is ludicrously cheap, but performs well and stays quiet, too. MEMORY Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) @2666 Corsair $133 16GB is the minimum amount of RAM we’d recommend for a system…

PHILIP PAWARR Specialist in Concentrated Fire Twitter Nope This month Told that a trip to the aquarium is not going to be our game of the year. ANDY KELLY Specialist in Lone Wanderer Twitter @ultrabrilliant This month Told that going viral on Twitter is not going to be our game of the year. SAMUEL ROBERTS Specialist in Chem Resistant Twitter @SamuelWRoberts This month Told that drinking a bottle of stout is not going to be our game of the year. FRASER BROWN Specialist in Quick Hands Twitter @FraserIBrown This month Told that becoming PCG’s news ed is not going to be our game of the year.…

INTENT Berens wished to depict a cult with more nuance (and realism) than is typically seen in videogames. “That necessarily meant brushing up against sensitive topics like physical, emotional, and sexual abuse,” Berens says. RESEARCH Berens scoured books, interviews, and audio recordings (including the chilling final moments of Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple) for first-hand information on cult operations, as well as how they affect people in their thrall. ACKNOWLEDGING BLIND SPOTS Father James, the cult patriarch, is a contradictory mix of character flaws and empathic manipulation. Faith and smoke. This was intentional, but Berens admits his inability to relate to the character weakened the depiction. EXECUTION Players experience the story after its events, distancing them from horrors of the compound. Imagery is also evocative rather than graphic, allowing you to…

Unauthorized content The Arizona Department of Corrections has determined that your publication described below contains Unauthorized Content as defined in Department Order 914.07 and, as a result, may be released in part or excluded in whole for the specific reason(s) given below: Publication Title: PC Gamer Reason: DO 914.07—1.2.7. Promotion/Instructions for Brewing Alcohol, Manufacturing/Cultivation of Drugs, Narcotics, Poisons. You and/or the inmate subscriber may appeal the decision by notifying us via email or US Mail within 30 calendar days after you receive this notice. Arizona Department of Corrections Phil: Thanks for getting in touch, Arizona Department of Corrections, with this genuine email that you sent us in response to our recent Weedcraft preview. While I apologize for the infraction, I’d like to assure you that you can’t—in real life—cultivate drugs…

Samuel: Like Her Story, a perfect detective game because it leaves enough space for you to work it out—making you feel like a genius when you figure out the name of one character, then like a dunderhead when you’re utterly stumped. Andy: Return of the Obra Dinn could only exist as a videogame, and I always find that exciting. While steeped in the tropes of nautical fiction and whodunits, it’s something unique, forcing you to engage with the story, world, and mystery on a deep level. In those long periods where I couldn’t find the right clue to progress, I almost gave up. But then something would always click, toppling a domino chain of revelations in my mind, making me feel like the smartest detective in the world. This is one…

Andy: I don’t get on with a lot of survival games because, outside of staying alive, there isn’t much to do. But Subnautica’s beautiful, mysterious alien ocean is absolutely heaving with interesting, hand-crafted details to discover. When you find a strange island or a wrecked ship, you know there’ll be an interesting story attached to it, and maybe something that can be scavenged to help you out. And while many survival sims force you to endure hours of tedious busywork, the material requirements for building things in Subnautica are refreshingly generous, letting you actually get on with enjoying the game. Pip: Subnautica is the only survival game I’ve ever loved. The underwater setting is absolutely gorgeous, and I wanted to see what was in every cave. Each new biome was a…

Tom: At one point Kassandra shoved an important quest item up a goat’s bottom to annoy an NPC. I was sold instantly. Ubisoft’s staggering, detailed rendition of Greece and its ancient islands was also quite nice to explore. Samuel: I thought Assassin’s Creed was the low point of modern blockbusters about four or so years ago: Oversimplified combat, platforming, and an icon-strewn map that won’t leave you alone. Icon overload is still a bit of a problem, but as of Origins, Assassin’s Creed has become a series that’s great at exploration—Greece is such a different location from Egypt that the experience of uncovering it feels totally different. It improves combat over Origins, too, and the addition of RPG-like choices (in a Dragon Age-y fashion), made it one of my favorite…

James: I have played more Fortnite than any other game this year, more than any other multiplayer game in my life, and I’ve yet to win more than three solo games. That’s an endorsement, not a cry for help. While the building system is difficult to learn (so was WASD, once), stumbling into basic competence is made palatable by a playful mixture of weapons, tools and vehicles. I regularly see duos propel themselves hundreds of feet into the sky on the back of an ATV, sniping players in an accidental homage to the best bits of Halo and Tribes. I nabbed a second place spot by consuming stones that turned me invisible, stalking players in their hideyholes before surprising them with a shotgun hello. And yeah, I’ve won a few…

Tom: Into The Breach shows that you can create tactical intrigue without force-feeding the player a 100-page manual. This game gives you an eight-by-eight grid, a few enemy types, squads of cool mechs with different attacks, and… that’s it. It even tells you what’s going to happen next turn, and it’s still a fascinating tactics game. It’s elegantly designed and accessible enough to appeal to people that might not think of themselves as strategy gamers. Battles feel like emergent puzzles rather than serious tests of martial skill, but it’s still quite hard, particularly when parts of the arena start flooding, or collapsing away completely. Evan: When you unlock a new set of mechs it feels like ripping open a new set of Pacific Rim action figures, a trio of robots that…

2003 Divine Divinity’s gloomy palette calls to mind Diablo II, which also in part served as The Lady, the Mage and the Knight’s visual inspiration. 2009 With Divinity II, Larian wanted to make a third-person RPG using Oblivion’s Gamebryo engine, but limited resources held it back. 2013 Dragon Commander marked another shift. It was a kaleidoscopic RTS with larger-than-life, eccentric characters that looked the part. 2015 Original Sin continued what Dragon Commander started as Larian made an effort to move away from the brown and grey RPGs Divinity was lumped with.…

Homeworld is a classic space opera. As armadas trade blows to an orchestral accompaniment, little room is given for personal perspectives. This is a story of civilizations rising and falling, of noble Kushan exiles taking their ancestral home back from the sprawling Taiidan empire. What difference can one person make? A fair bit, it turns out. Captain Elson is introduced in mission 13, Karos Graveyard. He’s defected from the evil empire along with the crew of his destroyer, the Kapella. When I came back to Homeworld this month to finally wrap up the campaign, he left a mark. The final fight over Hiigara drops you in the thick of it and doesn’t let up. A locust swarm of mothership-melting ion frigates, followed by cruisers and destroyers. When one wave falls,…

NEW CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC A large, benevolent, and democratic federation of states formed in the wake of the nuclear fallout. With over 700,000 members, it controls parts of Nevada, Mexico and has bases along the Colorado River. ENCLAVE A technologically advanced organization that styles itself as the continuation of the prewar federal government. Before the bombs fell it secretly controlled the US government from the shadows. BROTHERHOOD OF STEEL A semireligious group that covets technology, using it to impose order on the wasteland. It has roots in the prewar scientific community and military, meaning its members understand tech more than most.…

LITTLE DUCKY Ducks over time? I mean, there are no ducks in Dota, but maybe this tells us there will be if we wait. EXPLODING SHIP This is clearly Kunkka’s ghost boat crashing into the evil tentacle from Day of the Tentacle. “DEATH” Life’s only certainty is also my notebook’s only certainty. DEATH. And a tiny, tiny boat. GOLD SPIDER The golden spider did win, but it was also invisible, and had a glowing red butt at the time.…

We’ve used enough mice to have a good feel for build quality, button placement, and shape. Our opinions are, naturally, subjective, but they’re also well-informed. The tricky part of testing mice is analyzing the other part of the equation: Tracking performance, jitter, angle snapping, acceleration, and perfect control speed. What do all those mean? If you’re interested in the intricacies of gaming mice, here are some definitions that will help you understand why each of these terms are important. Grip How you hold the mouse. The most common are palm, claw and fingertip. CPI/DPI Counts/dots per inch, or how many times the mouse sensor will read its tracking surface for every inch it’s moved. Jitter An inaccuracy in a sensor reading the surface it’s tracking. Often occurs at higher mouse…

TOTAL $3,480 MOTHERBOARD Strix X470-F Gaming Asus $185 Get the most from the new AMD Ryzen 2700X with this matching X470 motherboard that’s packed with features. PROCESSOR Ryzen 7 2700X AMD $309 Easy to overclock, and with huge performance out of the box, AMD’s new flagship CPU is the one to go for. GRAPHICS CARD GeForce GTX 1080Ti Turbo Asus $950 Prices of GTX 1080 Ti’s don’t seem to have dropped as much as other cards, but you’re still saving a decent amount. COOLER Kraken X62 NZXT $160 The Kraken is the culmination of three of our favorite things: An infinity mirror, a 280mm radiator, and slick braided cooling. MEMORY Vengeance LED RGB 32GB - 3200 Corsair $388 Ryzen is the one processor that does benefit hugely from higher frequency…

DEATH STAR Creator MuFuTee This coaster twists around the inside of a replica of the iconic space station. LIMBO: THE RIDE Creator Pixelated This coaster captures the striking visual style of Playdead’s morbid platformer. THE DISUSED DISTILLERY Creator Boochoo This coaster sends you hurtling through an abandoned and dangerous distillery. ALIENS: THE RIDE Creator HinNya With its Giger-inspired architecture, this coaster is as scary as it is thrilling.…

A SUCCESS Phil Savage Editor This is the final month of our 100 games challenge, and so I figured it was time I reconstructed the list I lost earlier in the year. I’d played 75 games. I’d failed. On the other hand, I did go out of my way to try games I’d have otherwise skipped. When I saw Steven Messner writing about his love of Warframe on PCGamer.com, I gave it a go. After enjoying a tense Dragon Ball FighterZ tournament at this year’s EVO, I tried the game to see if it would be my cup of tea. I even went back and finished games that would have otherwise been discarded on the pile of shame—most recently Assassin’s Creed Origins, which I enjoyed a lot once I got…

Andy: I can’t enjoy driving games that aren’t Forza anymore. The handling has a note-perfect balance of weight, power, and responsiveness, and in the Horizon series we get a satisfyingly streamlined take on that driving model. The UK is an inspired choice for a setting, particularly the winding mountain roads of the Scottish Highlands. Aside from everything else, it’s the feel of the driving that I love in Horizon 4, whether you’re carving up a dirt track or screaming along a stretch of motorway. Phil: ‘Racing’ may not be the most accurate award, but ‘Best Having a Fun Time in a Variety of Cars Game’ was too long of a title. Forza Horizon 4 is a great racing game—offering just enough realism to give its arcade handling a proper sense…

Phil: Yakuza 0 is a hard game to summarize. There’s the serious story about a young gangster framed for murder. There are the absurd sidequests that parody everything from bathroom graffiti to Michael Jackson. There are the teeming neon streets, the arcade cabinets, the pocket racing, the karaoke, the cabaret club, the chicken who can manage your real estate business, and the endless supply of thugs desperate to meet your fists and feet. There’s a lot going on, and all of it is designed to evoke a specific time and place: The over-the-top excess of ’80s Japan. The setting doesn’t just come through in the architecture, the furniture, or the clothes that NPCs wear, but is also an integral part of every system. Money is earned and spent easily. It bursts…

Tom: There is some seriously excellent hitting in this game. When you whack a rat in the head with a hammer it blows up, and the poor creature stumbles around a bit before falling over dead. Top hitting. Vermintide II is also a great example of how sequels can realize the intentions of the original game. With a fanbase and more resources, Fatshark added a more engaging loot system, new environments, and loads more enemies to clonk with hammers. I’ve always thought that more games should copy the co-op setup established by Left 4 Dead, but Vermintide carves out its own niche with a strong melee focus and a surprisingly good realization of the old world of Warhammer. I love it for that, but even if you’re not a fan,…

Phil: I’m not usually a fan of roguelikes that demand I spend time unlocking persistent skills to progress. I prefer the Spelunky method, where I don’t technically need anything to complete the game, but will still throw myself against it hundreds of times. If I’m going to die in roguelike, I prefer it be because I screwed up, not because I haven’t yet unlocked the upgrades I need. Despite this, I love Dead Cells, in large part because its combat is so good. It’s satisfyingly technical, forcing you to learn attack patterns and special abilities. And executing the perfectly timed strikes and dodges required to efficiently and safely progress remains fun, even after tens of hours. Its weapons keep things interesting, too, with lots of interesting quirks designed to tempt…

baldur’s Gate is powered by the Infinity Engine, a bespoke technology created by BioWare specifically for the game. Simple in its exterior, Infinity makes the complexity of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons playable with just a mouse, and makes use of a visual style that boils down to a bunch of animated sprites walking on top of some beautiful paintings. Looks can be deceiving. Beneath those simple backdrops was a deep and complicated engine made up of many different tools and technologies. It was hugely advanced and also hugely idiosyncratic, while getting it to work in the way BioWare wanted was, frankly, a nightmare. While BioWare itself was not a new studio, the Baldur’s Gate team was almost entirely new to the games industry, with many of its designers coming straight…

1 DEMOGORGON A legendary monster, and arguably the most challenging boss in the Baldur’s Gate series. You’ll find this beast in the Throne of Bhaal expansion, and to slay it you’ll need to make use of your party’s entire range of abilities. Before the battle you can have a thief lay traps, while mages can cast spells to weaken it. Even then, you are in for a grueling, almost impossible, battle. 2 FIRKRAAG A powerful dragon. If you rolled a paladin, one of your final duties is slaying him to retrieve the Holy Avenger, a legendary sword. Firkraag will cast Remove Magic on the party, removing everyone’s buffs. To make your life a little easier make sure you have a cleric who can cast Protection From Fire on the group,…

HOW 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…

MISSION Kill your targets, either quietly like a professional, or loudly like a murderous chump. ELUSIVE TARGET You only get one chance to complete these time-limited missions. Don’t screw up. ESCALATION A mission repeated five times. With each completion, new complications are added. CONTRACT User-made missions, usually with specific requirements for how to kill your target. SNIPER ASSASSIN Like Duck Hunt, but the ducks are people and the hunt is a stealthy sniping spree. GHOST MODE A multiplayer race to quietly kill as many targets as possible before your opponent.…

UPDATE YOUR DRIVERS 1 Though it sounds basic, make sure you have the most recent graphics drivers. Outdated ones can sap performance, so visit AMD’s and Nvidia’s sites regularly (or download Nvidia Experience) to make sure they’re updated. USE FXAA 2 Anti-aliasing makes games look smoother, but it can also nuke your framerate. Most titles support FXAA, which is far less taxing than either SMAA or MSAA. If you want to claw back frames, FXAA is the option to go with. TURN OFF AMBIENT OCCLUSION 3 AO is a performance killer. Sure, it adds depth and texture to games, yet unless you have the obsessive eyes of a Terminator, you’re unlikely to notice its absence. Switching it off can often save you upwards of 10fps. LOWER SHADOW DETAIL 4 Shadow…

GETS TEALTHY METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES www.konami.com/mg/mgs5/ Infiltrate a grim military prison and rescue hostages in this surprisingly deep prologue to Metal Gear Solid V. Silently sneak your way through with tranq darts, or wipe out guards with a sniper rifle. You might think this is a glorified demo, but the 27 hours I have logged on Steam say otherwise. RUN A PRISON PRISON ARCHITECT www.introversion.co.uk/prisonarchitect Don’t let the art style fool you: This prison-building and management sim reflects the reality of life in the big house. As a warden you’ll have to deal with riots, escapes, executions, and worst of all, spreadsheets. Brilliantly, you can even end up as an inmate in your own prison if your negligence leads to too many deaths. FACE YOUR FEARS STORIES…

TOTAL $999 MOTHERBOARD B360M-DS3H Gigabyte $70 It lacks overclocking options, but the new B360 chipset is far cheaper than Z370, and perfect for this budget build. PROCESSOR Core i3-8100 Intel $130 A great processor for out-of-the-box gaming performance. Opt for the AMD Ryzen 1300X if you’d like to overclock. GRAPHICS CARD GeForce GTX 1060 Windforce OC 3GB Gigabyte $215 Amidst fluctuating GPU prices, Gigabyte’s compact 1060 model offers the best value. COOLER Hyper 212 Evo CoolerMaster $30 We’ve dropped the controller from this build and added in a better CPU cooler, for a quieter, cooler system. MEMORY Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) @2400MHz Corsair $74 DDR4 prices are still high, however this Corsair pair is a good value option. POWER SUPPLY 500BQ EVGA $60 It may be cheap, but this 500W…