PC Gaming
As roguelikes go, NetHack is a museum piece. I don’t say that because it’s old—though it is extremely old, originally released as it was in the same year that Lethal Weapon hit theaters—but because it is literally in the Museum of Modern Art alongside SimCity 2000 and Portal. It’s a massively influential and historic game,…
As fun as it is to see bigger damage numbers than you probably should in action RPGs, Blizzard has been able to keep players from completely trivializing Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred’s satisfying character progression, and—most surprisingly—its work-in-progress competitive leaderboards system. Lord of Hatred has a mode called The Tower where you slay monsters to…
It has been almost three years—33 months, to be exact—since the release of Baldur’s Gate 3, and in that time, we could not stop playing it on Steam Deck. It has only fallen out of the platform’s top five most-played list in four of those 33 months. Even then, Larian’s masterpiece has never left the…
XCOM looms over turn-based tactics, and really, PC strategy gaming in general, the same way God looms over all us pathetic mortal mayflies. The best we can do is throw ourselves to the ground in prostration and hope it comes back to save us. Sadly, that’s probably not happening at this point, but there is…
Within moments of opening Cursor Camp, laughter erupts out of me like the clumsy bark of a circus seal as I do something I’ve done hundreds of times before—wiggle my mouse cursor back and forth in time to a song I’m listening to—because someone else on screen has followed my lead. According to the flag…
Final Fantasy 14’s Arcadion raid series has been a highlight of Dawntrail for me. All 12 fights have been resplendent with impeccable vibes and a distinct identity thanks to Creative Studio 3 going all-in on the wrestling theme. Critical Hit Welcome to Critical Hit (formerly known as Soundtrack Sunday), where I celebrate and lament all…
I’d wager most PC gamers are grappling with a backlog—the only thing that truly divides us is whether it’s a source of pride or filthy shame. Steam, GOG, and other digital storefronts just make it too easy. I’m a busy guy, am I really going to make time to play through all of Tex Murphy:…
Plants vs. Zombies review – PC Gamer issue #200 (UK, May 2009) Need to know Price: $20 Release: May 5, 2009 Publisher: PopCap Developer: PopCap Required: 1.2Ghz CPU, 256Mb, DirectX 8 GPU, internet connection Recommended: Slightly more than that Multiplayer: None Link: Popcap.com Influenced by: Insaniquarium, Tower Defence games Alternatively: Desktop Tower Defence This was…
I’d say I’m fairly new to figure collecting, but that doesn’t mean I’m not ever so slightly embarrassed about the sheer number I’ve got sitting next to my desk as I write this. That won’t stop me from spending hours sifting through the shelves of shops like Surugaya or Book Off to find the perfect…
YouTuber Ocelot, who specializes in videos comparing different versions of games like Silent Hill 3 and Resident Evil: Code Veronica, recently took to analyzing different versions of Half-Life 2. Valve’s FPS may not seem as fruitful a topic for dissection, but there are more differences in these builds than you might think. The retail version…