PCGamesN's Reviews
Not one for the faint of heart, Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is a challenging FPS game that demands total teamwork at a minimum. Those who can get past a steep learning curve will find a lot to love here; it's a beautifully brutal game with a sky-high skill ceiling.
Mortal Shell 2 clearly tries to imitate the success of Elden Ring's open world, yet falls drastically short, with a map that can be frustrating to navigate. However, the combat and shell system are where the game shines, offering an enjoyable experience that's sure to give you that Soulslike thrill.
Asobo returns to narrative excellence with Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, crafting an action game that's both fluid and uniquely Plague Tale. Unfortunately, on PC, it's let down by some ugly performance issues that, while forgivable as a longtime fan, can break your immersion and, in some cases, force a restart. If you bear with them, though, Resonance is absolutely worth playing.
Despite a slow start, Beast of Reincarnation provides a hardcore post-apocalyptic JRPG experience wrapped in a well-woven narrative of memory and connection set to a stellar soundtrack and great art design.
Iron Nest: Heavy Turret Simulator is a claustrophobic 9 to 5 where loading 12-foot explosive rounds and triangulating enemy artillery becomes second nature. It also has the best notepad in all of gaming.
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced improves what was already the best AC game ever. Come for the fancy updated visuals, stay for the best pirate adventure you could possibly hope for.
While it doesn't pull up any roots, 007: First Light is a beautiful, cinematic action game that makes clever use of the IO formula. From the performance of Patrick Gibson to the iconic score, this is a game that tells a new story and basks in nostalgia in equal measure, giving James Bond a fresh angle in the process.
While Zero Parades: For Dead Spies does feel like a spiritual sequel to Disco Elysium, its narrator doesn't quite have the same spark as its predecessor. Given that she whispers in your ear for the entire game, her rough-and-ready accent quickly becomes droning, with skill voices melding into one instead of being unique, exciting personalities. Thankfully, both the dramatic encounters and Exert systems make up for some of the game's less interesting moments, breaking up the text's monotony while raising the stakes. Zero Parades, in many ways, feels even more TTRPG than Disco Elysium, and in my book, that's a win.
Boasting a gorgeous map that's filled with delights, slick racing, and some incredible single and multiplayer events, Forza Horizon 6 has, for the most part, iterated for the better. Though lacking vehicle customization holds it back, it is a near-perfect celebration not only of Japanese racing culture, but racing itself that espouses the joy of being behind the wheel. It's a highly polished jack-of-all-trades fiesta, and very nearly a master of all.
Mouse P.I. For Hire takes every noir trope and turns it into something new. A monochrome shooter with a delicious mystery at its core, the varied locales and wonderful voice cast make this one of the best games I've played all year.
Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred feels, in many ways, like the end. With evil seemingly vanquished for now, a reworked endgame that really does have everything you need, and eight unique, exciting classes, I'm not sure where Blizzard goes from here. It does, however, serve as a climatic end to a saga of strife and woe, and while its narrative didn't quite hit the spot for me, I can't wait to explore more of what Skovos has to offer.
Pragmata is a truly unique and wonderful third-person shooter. It's a throwback to linear action games of old, and thankfully its undercooked story isn't enough to diminish the quality of the brilliant hacking focused action.
Crimson Desert is huge, and it's beautiful, but it can't pull itself out of the bog standard narrative trenches. Combat feels clunky, especially when facing off against one of the many frustrating bosses, and there feels like there is little reward for exploration. I wanted to like this, but it left me feeling empty.
Marathon is a feast for the senses - vibrant sci-fi visuals and world building, amazing sound design, and a brilliant combat experience are the main things elevating it above its extraction shooter competitors. Its endgame map, Cryo Archive, also creates the same intimidating yet jaw-dropping atmosphere of some of Bungie’s finest Destiny raids. However, issues such as clunky inventory management and dull faction quests hold it back from true greatness right now.
Resident Evil Requiem stuffs three decades of fan service into a single package, all while maintaining its place as a mainline entry to the series. While it's not without its tedium, and the new protagonist takes a minute to find her feet, Requiem finally strikes the balance between action and horror that Capcom's wrestled with for all these years.
Reanimal exploits our love of theories and in doing so creates a game that's bloated and narratively confusing. While it's undeniably pretty and the boss designs are cool, two-player co-op is fiddly and unforgiving, detracting from any real tension the game tries to build.
Mewgenics offers more depth and ingenuity than any strategy game I've played in years. It is also terminally unfunny, with an aesthetic, theme, and cast of characters that consistently miss the mark. If you can square yourself with the humor, there is a genuinely great game waiting here.
By building on the original's foundations with more impactful decision-making and gameplay refinements, The Outer Worlds 2 feels like the Obsidian game that Fallout: New Vegas fans have craved for over a decade.
Skate Story takes the familiar and flips it, elevating itself beyond a skateboarding game. Its ethereal, thumping soundtrack propels when it wants to, with each new chapter surprising with its visual inventiveness and off-the-wall, abstract ideas. It's like peeling off a bit of wallpaper and finding a whole new world behind it.
What Routine lacks in quantity, it makes up for in staggering quality. It's cassette futurism at its most tactile, with an aesthetic direction that's only matched by the novelty of its CAT tool. Lunar Software raises the bar in sound design to deliver a singular experience for sci-fi horror fans.