PC Game Reviews

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Our detailed reviews help you make informed decisions about your next PC game purchase. We provide a thorough analysis of gameplay, graphics, story, and more.

Destiny 2: Renegades Review So FarSo far this Star Wars-flavored expansion is a bit cringey, but works surprisingly well.

IGN PC ArticlesDec 4

Samsung 9100 Pro SSD ReviewIf you can make use of cutting-edge PCIe 5 performance, the Samsung 9100 Pro will deliver it in spades, but its performance may not be as uniform as we’d like.

IGN PC ArticlesDec 4

Octopath Traveler 0 Review in ProgressThe path traveled is a long one, but worthwhile so far.

IGN PC ArticlesDec 3

Escape From Tarkov ReviewThe pioneer of the extraction shooter is still compelling, but it's also saddled with plenty of issues.

IGN PC ArticlesDec 2

Horses ReviewThis unsettling horror game banned from Steam tells a harrowing story you won’t soon forget.

IGN PC ArticlesDec 2

Marvel Cosmic Invasion ReviewGood enough to get your Avengers assembled on a lazy Sunday.

IGN PC ArticlesDec 1

Review: Marvel Cosmic Invasion Is a Great Brawler for Marvel Fans Marvel Cosmic Invasion presents a problem for me. I’ve never been a Marvel fan, but I am a fan of retro brawlers. Especially when those brawlers are coming from Dotemu, the publishers of both Streets of Rage 4 and TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge , which are some of my favorite games of the last few years. So with that talent in place, could they potentially win me over to liking superheroes? If you’ve played those Dotemu games, or indeed any brawler, you already know what’s happening here. If not, this is a side-scrolling brawler, where you take control of Marvel superheroes and walk through a 2D space (with some vertical movement) beating up an army of enemies that try and stop you. There are fifteen heroes to choose from, from popular names like Spider-Man and Captain America to obscure picks like Beta Ray Bill and Nova. Screenshot by Siliconera What makes Marvel Cosmic Invasion stand out from other games in the genre is the tag team feature the whole game is built around. Instead of picking one hero at the start of a stage, you pick two. In the stage, you can then switch between them at any time, including mid-combo, which can either trigger a team-up attack or allow for some satisfying juggling. It adds a lot of strategy to your combos, as timing it just right during one character’s finisher opens you up to let the incoming hero throw out theirs with little chance for enemies to respond. The combat feels as good as Dotemu’s other games. There’s a lot of similarities between this and Shredder’s Revenge on a fundamental level, which is good news. This is right down to the best part: the ability to endlessly build your combo meter by juggling enemies, even if they’re already KOed, as long as they never touch the ground. There’s some good variety between heroes too, with each one offering a unique moveset, weight and speed. Spidey has his webs and a swinging kick in the air. Wolverine has fast claw attacks. She-Hulk is a grappler. Captain America can throw his shield like a boomerang. Storm can fill the stage with lightning. You will almost certainly find at least one hero to suit your playstyle, with Wolverine, She-Hulk and Rocket Raccoon being some of my standouts. Especially the latter, who’s the only character whose basic attack is long range and can lay mines with his dash attack. Screenshot by Siliconera Where Marvel Cosmic Invasion falls down is in its strange balance. It has a leveling system, similar to other recent games in the genre, where characters hit harder and gain more HP as they level up. Stages are balanced around this system, with enemies getting more powerful as you progress. If you’re the kind of player who’s just going to pick your two favorites and play the whole game with them, you won’t notice much wrong as they’ll level up with the stages. The problem is, the game doesn’t present this as the ideal experience. Instead, the game seemingly expects you to swap between the “intended” heroes for each stage. These heroes are highlighting on the character select screen at the start of a stage, in the story scenes before and after the action and mandated to complete the stage’s optional challenges. But if you swap around, each hero will eventually feel underleveled for the stage as enemies stomp you. It’s a strange choice to signpost this as the suggested way to play. Screenshot by Siliconera But the real question is, did Marvel Cosmic Invasion manage to win over someone with no interest in Marvel? Not really, as I found its story to be completely incomprehensible. The wider plot is that Annihilus is invading Earth with his bug enemies, but each stage features its own story focused on a different supervillain. It’s mainly an excuse to shove as many characters in as possible, but no one is properly introduced. as someone who doesn’t recognise anyone outside the MCU (which I’m mostly aware of against my will), the experience felt disjointed. Naturally, this is a me problem, and it’s possible that Marvel diehards will delight in the breadth of its villains, but it does limit its appeal. Ultimately, Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a solid brawler that continues Dotemu’s streak of great games. If you’re a hardcore Marvel fan, add a point to the score, since you’ll have a great time, but if you’re like me and have never found these heroes particularly compelling, this won’t change your mind. The post Review: Marvel Cosmic Invasion Is a Great Brawler for Marvel Fans appeared first on Siliconera .

PC News Category - SiliconeraDec 1

Project Motor Racing ReviewProject Motor Racing feels like an early access game that hasn’t actually been identified as such, and is simply not a better racer than its 2017 ancestor Project CARS 2.

IGN PC ArticlesNov 28

Review: A Better World Leaves You Questioning Choices With the concept of time travel also comes the supposition that the act could be used for the greater good. If someone who knows the outcome of certain events travels to alter them, would we be better off? Ludogram and ARTE France offers a chance to see if that could be true with the visual novel A Better World , though it quickly becomes a moral lesson both about what comes from messing with the established order and allowing a corporation that kind of power. A Better World begins with our avatar joining the titular organization. On the surface, it operates as an insurance company. It’s secretly using time travel technology to allegedly make a “better” future. We start at the lowest possible rung with the mascot “advisor” program Globos assisting us with the “easy” tutorial task “Make Someone Ordinary Extraordinary,” but quickly end up dealing with larger scale decisions even in that first assignment. Doing well sends up us the ranks, making bigger scope changes to the world like eliminating junk food. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-OGlBehsy8 While we can look out the window to the right of our station in A Better World , much of the game tasks us with reading missives on a station and making decisions based on little information. For example, the best way to explain is to look at that first task. Our goal is to “Make Someone Ordinary Extraordinary,” and Globos looks out the window to pick out Henry Hellman. We then go to various points in his life to make him a business, cinema, or musical icon. His parents owned a grocery store, which was about to go under, so trying to influence the course of that business via regulations or adopting a new direction are an option. When televisions end up in every home, we can embrace that. However, there’s also a possible love interest and person in the same building named Anna Huang, and the effects of altering Henry’s life can change hers and fulfill unknown conditions that lead to another ending that fills the requirement. Since the sweeping choices offered by the company could also affect the world, like trying to head off the JFK assassination or “banning selling products at a loss,” it could also mean major tampering just to fill a small request. Very early on, it means seeing sweeping repercussions. Which is interesting! It also means heavy-handed, implied commentary on decisions and time-traveling early on. I didn’t mind this, but someone looking for nuance won’t exactly see it here. The idea in A Better World is using the visual novel to offer choices that clearly have the game suggesting that choices matter and can go awry immediately. Images via Ludogram and ARTE France Said repercussions are mainly brought up via dialogue on the computer screen, and it can be perfunctory. We’ll get a summary of results and see how that affects our next jump or choice. So a possible outcome can be ruled out very quickly. This ensures some replayability, though it isn’t very easy or fast to skip through to unseen text. Since the game itself can be completed in under three hours, that isn’t a huge deal. The scene outside the right window can also shift, but I really only found that interesting when it was a big alteration. There are some elements of A Better World that made me wish there was either more to it or that elements were handled better. It isn’t really well optimized for a controller, though it can run on a handheld gaming PC like a Lenovo Legion Go with no issues. This can make toggling through all the console buttons a bit cumbersome. I also wish there was a designated Globos button so I could tap that to check in with her or continue her commentary, since there are a lot of times when you need to consult with the mascot in order to advance the story. Since there isn’t a designated button, that means moving back from the terminal, moving to look at her and focus on the mascot, click, then turn back to the console, focus again, and return. Images via Ludogram and ARTE France I also think A Better World would benefit from more information being offered for each major decision in the game. Considering the choices we make affect the future and this is a company with access to time travel, I suppose I expected a little more insight or opportunities to get context for the choices I’d make to meet goals. Especially if some of the elements involved moments in actual history. Instead, we’re occasionally offered only a sentence or two. A little more insight into individuals, locations, and situations would be great, as otherwise decisions can feel rather arbitrary until you make one that sends you to a premature end and forces you to rewind. The idea behind A Better World is interesting and the morals make sense, but the game’s execution could be improved. A little more time could have been spent building up to the choices and better explaining and sitting with the repercussions so our ensuing decisions carried more weight. A few quality of life adjustments that would make it easier to go through when replaying or move things along at a better pace would be appreciated too. The ideas explored and way of handling situations is thought-provoking, at the very least, and the free demo should help someone see if it is for them. A Better World is available for PCs, and there is a free demo for the game on the official site . The post Review: A Better World Leaves You Questioning Choices appeared first on Siliconera .

PC News Category - SiliconeraNov 27

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Zombies ReviewThis year's iteration isn't bad, but it feels like a remnant of something greater.

IGN PC ArticlesNov 26