Highs & Lows

“THE GAME SURPRISED ME WITH THE NUANCE OF ITS APPROACH”

ROBIN VALENTINE Twitter @robinlvalentine This month Discovered how

HARDWARE FAILURE

How a botched giveaway brought down a multi-million dollar PC BUILDER

The Spy

BUT WHO WATCHES THE SPY?

This month in… 2012

ISSUE 243, September 2012 ON THE COVER World

VIVA LAS PHOENIX

Meet the erotic roleplayers making a living in FINAL FANTASY XIV’s mini Vegas

Incoming

THE BIGEST GAMES ON THE WAY

STARFIELD

No Man’s Sky meets Skyrim, with a touch of FreeSpace

OLD SKIES

I already feel like I’ve known these characters for eons

THE INVINCIBLE

Not so invincible on a planet full of killer robots

THE ALTERS

Make friends with your alternate selves in this sci-fi adventure

SAINTS ROW

Having criminals as best friends is more fun than it sounds

STREET FIGHTER 6

With this stylish sequel, Capcom is finally ahead of the pack again

DEMONSCHOOL

Hey, demonic creatures, leave those kids alone

WARHAMMER 40K: DARKTIDE

A confident, carnage-filled step forward from Vermintide

REDFALL

Arkane combines its immersive sim legacy with shooter action

WARHAMMER 40K: SPACE MARINE 2

Battle tyranids by the thousands in this shooter sequel

FINAL FANTASY XVI

No PC date yet, but it hits PS5 next summer

RESIDENTEVIL 4

Got somethin’ that might interest ya

SAVE ROOM FOR DESERT

COMPANY OF HEROES 3’s second campaign is all explosive RTS action, all the time.

Heavy wait

When is the best time to play a

SHELL POWER

Thanks to plenty of turtle wax, TMNT: SHREDDER’S REVENGE shines

SINS DONE QUICK

Balancing speed, murder, and cringe in NEON WHITE’s heavenly speedruns

RE-INVENTING THE WHEEL

THE CYCLE: FRONTIER treads a well-worn path

GHOSTS ’N GOBLETS

Sharpen your knives and reflexes for CUPHEAD: THE DELICIOUS LAST COURSE

SMOOTH OPERATOR

F1 22 is sheer class, but who hears barrel scraping?

GLORIOUS SUNSET

MONSTER HUNTER RISE: SUNBREAK is more of the same, but luckily the same is fantastic

CHOP CHOP

Another slice of cyber-mystery in AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES – NIRVANA INITIATIVE

GO PHISH

Stack the deck in your favour in CARD SHARK

CROWN DUELS

DNF DUEL makes starting a fight fun for everyone

CRUEL SUMMER

THE QUARRY is a gripping horror story with plenty of branches and a few snags

BLACK SHEEP

Pushed to the limit in puzzler BABA IS YOU XTREME

MIRROR MIRROR

Play a music video in VENUS LOOKS FOR JUPITER

ANIMAL CONTROL

Standing on the shoulders of gorillas in STACK ZOO

BAO DOWN

Being a terrible criminal and a worse cop in SLEEPING DOGS: DEFINITIVE EDITION

ASK FOR MAW

Dark dreams don’t die in LITTLE NIGHTMARES

MOONLIGHTER

After years at the mercy of RPG shop

NIGHT IN THE WOODS

T here’s a lesson to be learned from

DREAMSCAPES: THE SANDMAN

We’ll finish with a game that has two

SMALL FORM FACTOR PC CASES

We’ve jammed the tiniest components into the best small form factor PC cases around

POWER STRUGGLE

What can we do to make our PCs kinder on our ENERGY BILLS?

HOT TOPIC

The rise and fall of OVERCLOCKING in mainstream PC gaming

BUYER’S GUIDE

Build the best PC for your budget

“It’s like I’m a bullet propelling a long gun into the chests of my enemies”

Did CHIVALRY 2’s horse update or Steam release bring me back?

“Special moves are just a button press”

Is DNF DUEL the future of fighting games?

“It’s somewhat cathartic to disrupt a violent arrest in a videogame”

Going bark to the future in WATCH DOGS: LEGION

“You’ll inevitably start asking why the client wants a sofa in their kitchen”

Hunting practical pleasures in HOUSE FLIPPER

DESTINY 2: SE ASON OF THE HAUNTED

The Light is changing, and not everyone is happy about it.

PROJECT ZOMBOID

Mods to expand the zombie sandbox.

GET STARTED WITH MODS

Transform your favourite games, or just add Thomas the Tank Engine

WILDERMYTH

SEARCHING FOR MUTANTS IN

RE ADING BOOKS IN RPGs

I can’t slay a dragon, I’ve got a library to read.

METAL GEAR SOLID V

Does my favourite game of 2015 still hold up?

MUST PLAY

A PERSONAL LIST OF THE BEST GAMES YOU CAN PLAY RIGHT NOW