Fancy some more games to make the most of your rig? We’ve compiled a list of some of the best PC games currently available, whether you’re on on Steam, Origin, Epic Store or any other service. First of all, though, it’s wise to make sure your rig is up to the task.
Aug 19, 2016 - Fall draws nigh, and with it comes a deluge of top-tier PC games. New “Xbox Play Anywhere” program, along with games like Recore, Gears.
You don’t need to go crazy with components for most games. A good mid-level machine will have a dual or quad-core CPU that can handle multi-threads – something that’s essential for RTS games with numerous sprites on the screen at once or titles with a demanding amount of effects being thrown at any given time. A is almost essential for modern PC gaming, although cheaper alternatives can be found. For starters, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 is fine for multiplayer titles like Overwatch and Call of Duty, while higher frame rates can be achieved at 1080p with the GTX 1060 or 1070, although they cost a little more.
4K Gaming is more complicated, requiring significantly more power to achieve a meaningful performance alongside the improved resolution. The or the newly released will work perfectly, with the latter able to achieve Ultra HD picture quality at 60 frames per second. Plus, if you go for an RTX card, you’ll be able to see Nvidia’s cool rendering technique on select games including. On top of this, is also ideal. The campaign is the obvious star here, taking you from the surface of Mars to the depths of hell as you slaughter countless demons that come your way. Whether you’ve got a shotgun, chainsaw or machine gun; there’s plenty of grotesque enjoy to be found in DOOM’s gunplay. Multiplayer and Snap Map are enjoyable little distractions as well, with much of the former’s downloadable content now available for free.
Here’s hoping that will build upon everything we love about this fantastic shooter. Read our full Yakuza 0.
Pros. So much variety.
Snappy, genuinely funny writing. Great sidequests. Good story and main characters Cons. Basic combat. Can be a bit cringy is a wonderful, daring and truly unexpected experience.
Previously exclusive to platforms, it comes to PC with what is arguably the best entry for newcomers wanting to jump in. You play as Kazuma Kiryu, a young member of the Yakuza who finds himself framed for a murder he didn’t commit. This sets the stage for an epic adventure set across Kamurocho and Sotenbori, two fictionalised versions based on real-life locations in Tokyo and Osaka. The authenticity is striking, and exploring the brightly-lit streets of these absurdly detailed places is as close as we can get without booking a flight to Japan ourselves.
Alongside a great sense of place, Yakuza 0 presents a fast, satisfying combat system with two playable characters. The world is filled with shops, locations and side quests to complete alongside the massive main story. Read our full. Pros.
Compelling detective story. Makes you feel like a genius. Distinctive visual style Cons.
Pacing oscillates from slow to fast and back again, but never gets it quite right Return of the Obra Dinn is a detective game that requires real smarts, and by placing the player into the shoes of an insurance agent with a magic watch in the 1800’s has created the most bizarre Bernard’s Watch reboot of all time. Obra Dinn is dense with information, meaty chunks of the stuff falling out of every brutal tableau. Whether you can use that information to piece together the mystery of what happened to the 60 unfortunate souls onboard the Obra Dinn is something else entirely, but when you make a grasping guess, with nothing more than a flimsy theory and a hunch, it’s the best feeling in the world when it comes off.
Read our full Apex Legends Pros. Fast, frantic combat. Best-in-class movement. Three dimensional characters.
Gorgeous artstyle Cons. Everyone is a bullet sponge. Limited ammo to loot Respawn Entertainment has taken the battle royale genre by storm with, a free-to-play shooter that takes the wonderful gunplay from Titanfall 2 and combines it with an assortment of brave, innovative changes to the formula. Apex Legends is all about teamwork as a squad of three players select from a variety of classes before dropping into a vast, uncompromising map. It’s brilliantly tense, with threats waiting around every corner as you scavenge for weapons and items.
Having already surpassed 25 million players, Respawn has confirmed that new maps, modes, characters and skins are on the way for Apex Legends. So, the party is just getting started. Read our full Rainbow Six Siege. Pros. Deeply engrossing tactical shooter. Teamwork isn’t only encouraged, but necessary. Diverse and well-balanced cast of operators.
Consistent updates and additions Cons. Can seem impenetrable to newcomers. Trolls can ruin matches with little penalty Starting with a relatively small base of players, has grown into one of the biggest and brightest multiplayer shooters on the planet. Frequent updates have introduced new operators, weapons and maps that can take players hours upon hours to master. It presents a steep learning curve and requires plenty of teamwork, but get a few friends together and there aren’t many more rewarding shooters on the market right now. Destructible environments, and quick, structured rounds make working together a priority, with each character owning a repertoire of unique gadgets to use. Read our full Divinity: Original Sin 2.
Pros. Well written. Wicked sense of humour.
Incredibly deep RPG systems. Lots of replayability value Cons. Progression system relies on random cosmetics. Bad team composition can be frustrating is a spectacular RPG positively brimming with new races, locations, quests and more just waiting to be uncovered by the player.
Twenty hours in, you’ll still be discovering new mechanics you never knew existed. In this respect, Original Sin 2 is a little daunting for newcomers, requiring a bit of persistence to penetrate. That being said, the quality of writing and world-building here is almost unmatched in terms of its sheer scope and detail. An experience not to be missed. Read our full PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
Pros. Good shooting. Good way to show dominance over 99 other players through firepower. Each of the three maps in the game brings a totally unique playstyle. Proper support means new items, maps and vehicles on the regular Cons. Can be intimidating to learn.
Sometimes you get shot in the head from a mile away without a chance to react is the latest Early Access title to become a phenomenon. Like DayZ, Minecraft and others before it, this game has spread like wildfire, with thousands upon thousands of players picking it up and diving into its Battle Royale-style world.
Players jump into a huge map and simply have to fight to the last man standing. Up to 100 players dueling to the death on a remote island is as intense and thrilling as you’d expect, as players fight for dominance and the inevitable chicken dinner. Read our full Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. Pros. Amazingly deep world.
Tactically satisfying combat. Nautical management Cons. Sailing is underwhelming. Not accessible for curious newcomers is lighter in tone than the original, and if nautical nonsense is something you wish, this is one of the best ways to get your boat on. The game is dense and fascinating, offering an experience you won’t find elsewhere: it’s Obsidian at its very best. And if you can stare into the watery deadfire abyss, you’ll find it also stares into you, providing deep characterisation and a thoughtful pace.
Combat is tight and interesting, and looking after a boat is fascinating. There’s questing, conversations and everything a good CRPG needs. It’s easy to see why it made a splash at launch. Read our full XCOM 2. Pros. Tight, tactical gameplay. Dynamic and unpredictable.
Wider strategy full of tough, meaningful decisions. New stealth options work well. Strong cinematic presentation Cons. Views don’t always provide necessary information The sequel to the 2012 reboot of Julian Gollop’s famous turn-based tactical masterpiece, is set 20 years after the events of the original game, but showcases the same deep and engaging strategic gameplay.
New to the mix is faster combat and the introduction of secondary mission objectives, which add a bit of variety and extra challenge to proceedings – as if XCOM wasn’t tough enough already. Outside of combat, researching and building new weapons and gadgets plays a major part in ensuring success, and you’ll spend hours mastering all of the character classes and their respective load-outs.
It’s rare that a sequel manages to improve so comprehensively on the title that precedes it; this is one of those cases. Read our full Dead Cells Pros. Fun combat. Environmental storytelling that conveys the game’s lore. Wide range of items that enable different playstyles Cons.
Confusing progression system. It’s a bit grindy If there’s one rogue-like with Metroidvania elements you play in 2018, make it. The game boasts some of the best 2D combat around, and a compelling cycle of life and death that has a chance of sucking away all of your free time. A standard run of Dead Cells will only take you 20 to 40 minutes and during that time you could find yourself cowering from giant worms behind a huge shield, freezing zombies with an ice bow and trapping zombie pirate fishermen with wolf traps before leathering them with a broadsword. This variety is exciting, and as soon as you die you’re dropped back at the start to do it again. Sure, it’s going to eat your life, but you’ll enjoy it every step of the way. Read our full Monster Hunter World.
Pros. Incredibly deep and rewarding gameplay. Beautiful and varied worlds. So much depth to its systems. Each monster is a new challenge. Story is actually engaging Cons. Multiplayer matches can be fiddly to set up When it launched back at the start of 2018, team Trusted was blown away.
Now, with it’s launch on Steam, PC players are allowed to join the hunt. It’s a great port, and the game is every bit as impressive on the PC as it was on the other consoles at launch, and if you want to cut off a monsters tail and make it into a cloak, this is as good as it gets. If you’ve previously bounced off of Monster Hunter titles, this fixes nearly all of the flaws that the series has previously had with accessibility and difficulty, allowing rookie hunters to come in and start fighting giant monsters.
In many games, this would get old fast, but each of the giant beasts you hunt and slay has their own quirks and intricacies, making the game constantly compelling. Read our full Stellaris.
The genius of the game is the anomaly system, which sees your science vessels find something unusual: a giant skeleton of a planet, a depowered automated shipyard or perhaps a small ceramic pot orbiting a sun, and deposits you into a choose your own adventure that feels like it’s been torn from an episode of Star Trek. A good episode of Star Trek. Stellaris also bits the stale end game that is the hallmark of 4X strategy titles by introducing a late game crisis which brings carnage to the universe, letting the game come to an explosive end no matter how establish everyone feels as the game enters its final stage. Read our full.
The best PC games of 2016 are a long way from decided, but what are the contenders? We’ve raked the internet in pursuit of the games due to be released over the next 12 months and assembled them into this handy list, which includes links to our preview coverage, release dates and other helpful details. If you’re searching for something to look forward to in the new year, read on. Games are eligible for the list regardless of the type of release due, which means we’ve included games which are coming to early access over the next 365 days as well as those planning to celebrate their final versions. The list is split into categories, and these links will take you to each of them: The list currently contains 308 games and we’ve excluded hundreds we think look like guff. We’ve probably also failed to remember or find some great looking games too, however.
What PC games are you looking forward to in 2016? Tell us in the comments below and we’ll update this list throughout the year so its information and excited descriptions are always up to date.
Article by Matthew Cox and Joe Donnelly.