Ten... PC games you may have missed
Who needs consoles, eh?
Product Round-up It's been pretty dry – unlike the British weather – for big title PC games since October, Star Wars (now free to play) and Diablo being the only exceptions. With the amount of time people are spending indoors this summer, I am surprised gaming companies aren't rushing titles out in hopes of seeing the money pour in.
The games set to raise the PC gaming benchmark in terms of graphics and gameplay will be Bioshock Infinite and Company of Heroes 2 coming 2013. In the mean time, I imagine Guild Wars 2 is going to have a bloody fight with The Secret World and Neverwinter for top MMO of 2012.
Jagged Alliance: Back in Action
Jagged Alliance 2 along with Fallout 2 are two of my favourite PC games. Turn-based gaming seems to have gone out of fashion and even Xcom has decided to sell out and go first person. Jagged Alliance Back in Action is an exception to this trend – it hasn't sold out and has kept its originality. My only moan is that neither the script or characters have evolved.
Back in Action uses a new approach to the turns based system using pauses and timing for issuing orders to your mercenaries. It is worth a look as it has remained an excellent strategy game, both demanding and rewarding. I will always be a fan of Jagged Alliance as the game gives you time to reflect and have a cup of tea and there is none of the arghhhh of Dawn of War 2.
Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall Of The Samurai
Set 250 years ago and after more than 250 hours of game play, I was apprehensive of Total War: Shogun 2, as its predecessor had sapped away so much of my spare time last year. Fall of the Samurai addresses western influence and expansionism in the East. British, French or US troops bring their Steam powered gun boats into play allowing for an intense experience on the high seas. This feels like a standalone expansion as the inclusion of the other two islands of Japan really adds to the experience.
The new railroads come in handy with this bigger map even, though I can't build my own. Giving myself a modern make-over was fun with the new avatar options. Totally what I would expect from Creative Assembly: a beautiful and captivating game, full of bugs. If you have a high spec machine run it on Ultra to see limbs fly in some seriously bloody battles.
Next page: Dear Esther
COMMENTS
But the more people ask... the more companies should realise that there's a market out there for non-Windows gamers...
Number 11 - Windows 8 with Metro
A late entry: Windows 8 with Metro!
Explore the colourful, childish landscape with your mouse and keyboard. Win bonus points for discovering where the mystic menus have vanished to, and claim a special prize for working out how to succeed without the fabled Orb of Startness to guide you. Play with the Tiles of Frustration until you can play no more. Fight the Dread Demon of Redmond who has changed your world without explaining why.
(Players' hint: charms are not what they seem, and may sap your life force prematurely.)
Free with every PC real soon now.
Re: @Lily
I really think most of that is just a load of pretentious bollocks to excuse the fact it's crap and dismiss negative criticism as "missing the point". Experimental film directors do the exact same thing to deflect criticism of their boring, shitty art films as well. It's true, you don't have to follow a cohesive linear narrative for a movie or a game, but the fact is most creators do and always have done for good reason.
The reason I disliked Dear Esther wasn't because it jarred with my preconceived ideas of what a videogame is, or challenged my expectations, or whatever other hackneyed phrases you might like to use; it was simply because it was boring and the letters were so badly written that I physically cringed at hearing them.
To be fair, I mainly meant atrocious in that it's as though the letters were written by a angsty 14 year old for their creative writing exercise homework for English class. The environment looks pleasant enough, and I suppose if you like dog-walking simulators then the gameplay is fine. Although personally that doesn't do much for me for the same reason that I don't play any of those bus driver/roadsweeper/farmer/etc simulation games either.
