PC Gamer Reviews

[ZedClampet]

For posting of links to official PC Gamer reviews and for discussion of the reviews.

To catch up on the big game releases lately:

Baldur's Gate 3 review

The new pinnacle of the genre.

www.pcgamer.com

Starfield review

It's Bethesda's biggest RPG by far, but nowhere near its best.

www.pcgamer.com

Mortal Kombat 1 review

A solid but oddly soulless entry that fails to commit to being a series reboot.

www.pcgamer.com

Payday 3 review

A promising co-op FPS anchored to a charmless grind.

www.pcgamer.com

EA Sports FC 24 review

EA shows Konami how to relaunch a footy franchise.

www.pcgamer.com

If nothing else, even an extra internal link will help their SEO.

 

[ZedClampet]

From Today:

Assassin's Creed Mirage review

I want so badly for Assassin's Creed to be back, but Mirage is more like a stepping stone.

www.pcgamer.com

PCG score 77, which seems to mirror the consensus. As of posting this, the Metacritic PC average is 79.

 

[Zloth]

The Baldur's Gate 3 review just showed up on the print magazine.

 

[ZedClampet]

Forza Motorsport review

Forza Motorsport takes few risks, but snatches simcade supremacy anyway.

www.pcgamer.com

PC Gamer score 80, Metacritic Average 85

 

[Brian Boru]

Digital Foundry's optimized settings for Forza, plus tech conclusion if you roll the video.

 

[ZedClampet]

Digital Foundry's optimized settings for Forza, plus tech conclusion if you roll the video.

Sounds like it runs like Horizon 5, which is to say that it's playable, but not a lot more than that, although there are still a few days to launch and they could always continue to optimize afterward. Not really concerned about the reflections stuff as I wouldn't be able to run it anyway.

The real question with Forza games is multiplayer connectivity. They've had serious, ongoing problems with that for years.

 

[ZedClampet]

Total War: Pharaoh review

Creative Assembly’s first historical Total War in ages combines classic real-time battles with the most 4x-y campaign yet.

www.pcgamer.com

Score 80:

My Score: 32, I've seen The History Channel before. I know the Egyptians had batteries and ancient computer tech. Where are the aliens who built the pyramids? You'll never convince me humans could have stacked rocks like that.

 

[Brian Boru]

Where are the aliens who built the pyramids?

Still inside, of course—I thought that was obvious by now. Why is everyone still in the Nile about this?

 

[Pifanjr]

Still inside, of course—I thought that was obvious by now. Why is everyone still in the Nile about this?

Exactly. And it's not like they would just be hanging out in the attic.

 

[Pifanjr]

Total War: Pharaoh review

Creative Assembly’s first historical Total War in ages combines classic real-time battles with the most 4x-y campaign yet.

www.pcgamer.com

Score 80

In all seriousness, the review does make the game sound interesting. I'm happy they focused on making the turn-based campaign more interesting, because that was by far the weakest link in the Warhammer series in my opinion. The battles on the other hand were so chaotic that I spent most of them on half speed or even paused, so I also don't mind the battles being a bit simpler. I'll probably put this on my wishlist.

 

[ZedClampet]

Exactly. And it's not like they would just be hanging out in the attic.

That's actually a really cool picture. Utter nonsense, but cool.

 

[ZedClampet]

In all seriousness, the review does make the game sound interesting. I'm happy they focused on making the turn-based campaign more interesting, because that was by far the weakest link in the Warhammer series in my opinion. The battles on the other hand were so chaotic that I spent most of them on half speed or even paused, so I also don't mind the battles being a bit simpler. I'll probably put this on my wishlist.

That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking. Love that they are bringing the resources from Troy over and sounds like a lot of the political intrigue from Three Kingdoms is in, although I hope the UI isn't as confusing as Three Kingdoms.

 

[ZedClampet]

Star Trek: Infinite review

It's Stellaris, but not as we know it.

www.pcgamer.com

PCG score 72: Metacritic 66

Really wanted to get a new strategy game, but I've got so many things I'm playing right now that mediocre review scores killed my enthusiasm.

Lords of the Fallen (2023) review

A tale of two games.

www.pcgamer.com

PCG score 79: Metacritic 77

I liked the first one okay. This is something I would be willing to pick up some day on a deep discount...and then play for 20 minutes.

 

[Zloth]

Eh, 4X games always need a couple of DLC to get solid. Unless one is a 'covert ops' DLC, in which case they need 3.

 

[ZedClampet]

Wizard with a Gun review

Not quite a bullseye, but darn close.

www.pcgamer.com

PCG Score 80, Metacritic 76

For all your twin-stick shooter goodness.

 

[ZedClampet]

Cities: Skylines 2 review

Cities: Skylines 2 is bigger than the original, but not quite better.

www.pcgamer.com

PCG Score 77, Metacritic 77

Sounds like most of the game is being held back for DLC. Either that or they are just plain not finished with it. Expect terrible user reviews, especially since performance is also bad. Early access pretending to be a full release just makes people angry.

 

[Colif]

it makes every pc that runs it look like a potato. Though I haven't seen anyone run it on a high end pc, most complain it doesn't match steam survey averages... Game industry would stagnate if it only makes games that work on old GPU.

I don't have a problem with games that require you to eventually upgrade to play them better. Not all of us see games as something that needs to be consumed before the next one comes out. Replaying a game on a new PC to see difference is something I always done... if given chance.

 

[Zloth]

it makes every pc that runs it look like a potato. Though I haven't seen anyone run it on a high end pc, most complain it doesn't match steam survey averages...

Steam survey isn't all that relevant, IMHO. The overwhelming majority of people on Steam play Counter Strike 2 and DOTA, which aren't demanding at all. It's not totally irrelevant, but Paradox would be smart to check their own stats coming back from other Paradox games (assuming they gather those) over the Steam survey.

 

[Colif]

Steam survey results are suspect as its 1 year since my GPU came out and yet very few AMD cards showing. Its also unknown how they collect the info so how accurate the survey is, is also unknown.

I got it on Game pass, I try it once its out.

 

[Slasken]

Cities: Skylines 2 review

Cities: Skylines 2 is bigger than the original, but not quite better.

www.pcgamer.com

PCG Score 77, Metacritic 77

Sounds like most of the game is being held back for DLC. Either that or they are just plain not finished with it. Expect terrible user reviews, especially since performance is also bad. Early access pretending to be a full release just makes people angry.

As someone who has paid pretty close attention to this game, and heard what those who's played the Beta for months have to say, I am not that concerned about performance. It is not as CPU limited as first thought. More GPU limited, and some of the settings really crush the performance, so they should probably be turned off for now. From what I have heard, a fast storage drive is highly recommended, as it loads assets into the VRam on the go. So, if one is low on VRAM and RAM, you will get stuttering.

CPP, a CS streamer is releasing some benchmarks using various setups tomorrow, Saturday, so one should see how it really performs. Personally, I don't really need 60fps in a game like this. I am used to 10-20 in CS1, and I know this one performs better.

The most important thing about a game like this, and Paradox in particular are the core mechanics and how good mod support is, and that seems to be good. . They are good at providing support for their games, and even though they release a lot of DLCs, a free major update is released at the same time as every DLC.

 

[Colif]

Currently preinstalling the rest of game. I had 15gb, now its grabbing 57gb more. I may be better off trying in morning, servers way better when no one using them.

I will have to see how it likes my 20gb of vram then.

 

[Colif]

The best NBN plans for gaming in 2024

The fastest download speeds, the most generous data caps: these are the best on offer in Australia.

www.pcgamer.com

Some of these plans on exist in certain cities... not all of country. So while some people can get 600/42 plans, others happy to get a WIFI connection offering 25. Its not exactly even here. 600/42 is a massive range, I only have 120/20 but its a little closer.

Lucky for me I can ignore the NBN (National Brainwashing Network... wait, no, its National Broadband Network...) altogether as a ISP in my city set up its own VDSL2 network and although its not 600, its better than all the plans that website offers me in my current location on NBN - best they offer is slower than what I have. Probably as more people on the NBN. My plan is not well advertised, you need to know it exists.

When the NBN was first introduced into my city, they erroneously told everyone here we needed to swap. It took government to stop them, and tell truth and refund the costs of people who believed them. I realised early on we could ignore it.

 

[ZedClampet]

Debating whether to abandon thread. There are too many reviews for me to care, but I'll catch it up with the "most important" reviews while The Talos Principle 2 is downloading.

Alan Wake 2 review

Developer Remedy's personality shines through more boldly than ever in this wild barrage of creative storytelling and visual flair.

www.pcgamer.com

PCG Score 88, Metacritic 89

The Invincible review

This intriguing sci-fi adventure shows the value of a novel approach.

www.pcgamer.com

PCG Score 77, Metacritic 62

Football Manager 2024 review

Despite its slow pace, this is the most engrossing Football Manager has been for years.

www.pcgamer.com

PCG Score 83, Metacritic 86

The Talos Principle 2 review

The Talos Principle 2 brings fresh human context to its beautiful world of puzzles.

www.pcgamer.com

PCG Score 89, Metacritic 86

 

[asadzeeshan]

What is the criteria of the review?

 

[ZedClampet]

What is the criteria of the review?

Here's a link that talks about PCG reviews:

PC Gamer reviews policy

Reviews are at the heart of PC Gamer. We've been publishing PC game reviews since 1993 and we have a continuing responsibility to deliver honest and excellent criticism without compromise. We hol

www.pcgamer.com