Innehållsförteckning för Issue 299 från PC Powerplay

Commanded the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race army to crush heretical console gamer hordes. ben.mansill@futurenet.com There’s so much gaming goodness in this issue it’s almost unbelievable. If you’re an RPGer, then the new Baldur’s Gate is pretty exciting. The original was such a brilliant eye-opener for so many gamers, discovering how rich storytelling could be in a game. Rob’s been out visiting Larian Studios, the devs behind the resurrection of this legendary series. He loved what he saw (page 42) and his excitement is peaking. Yours might be, too, after reading his feature story. I loved his Romero interview, too. Good job Rob – and John! I met him at the 1997 E3 in Atlanta where he was showing off Daikatana. It looked pretty fantastic at the time! John Romero…

A lot of people assume that the Metal Gear Solid series is a silly romp through Hideo Kojima’s overactive imagination. But people always mock what they don’t understand. The Spy has decades of experience with stealth, infi ltration, and on-site procurement, and The Spy says MGS might as well be a documentary. Cardboard boxes really are OP, magpies really do taste awful, and more than a few game publishers really do hire outlandish, cackling supervillains to guard their most precious secrets. Sure, some of the series is clearly fictionalised – you expect The Spy to believe there’s a place called ‘Alaska’? – but The Spy has battled many a Hind D on a small roof with little cover, and thinks you all need to give the series a break. Others,…

ASTARION A high elf rogue who, as players quickly discover, is also a vampire. He’s centuries old and has a voice like silk. Can he be trusted? GALE A human wizard who wants to be the most powerful magic user in Faerûn. He has a Netherese Destruction Orb lodged in his chest. LAE'ZEL A fierce githyanki fighter who worships the deity Vlaakith. She hunts mind flayers in order to prove herself worthy of honour. WYLL Wyll is a human noble by birth, but now, thanks to a pact with a demon, is a warlock, something he tries to keep hidden at all costs. SHADOWHEART A high half-elf cleric and also one of the deity Shar’s dark disciples, she possesses an item of great power and a long-buried secret. KARLACH An…

GENERAL KETHERIC THORM A follower of the Absolute who, after taking up residence in Moonrise Towers, has released a shadow curse LORD ENVER GORTASH A politician who has become Baldur’s Gate’s leader. He is the creator of the Steel Watchers, magical clockwork warriors. ORIN The mysterious third antagonist of Baldur’s Gate III, Orin is a shapechanger with immense magical power. She is at war with Enver Gortash. Why? No one knows.…

HOW WE REVIEW We review each game on its own merits, and try to match it to a reviewer who’s a passionate expert in the field. The main aim of reviews is to help you make buying decisions. To this end, we’re selective about what we review, and try to focus on the notable, interesting, exciting or surprising. DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT DLC might be new missions for a game, or it might be a single new item. If we think you want to know about it, we’ll review it. EARLY ACCESS Any released alpha, beta, or otherwise unfinished game that you can currently pay for. For these games, we won’t assign a score, but we will tell you whether they’re worth your time. THEY'RE BACK Whenever there’s a bargain or re-release…

Failbetter has the most engrossing, amusing and evocative writing in the business, but it’s got an uncanny knack for hiding it behind mechanics that wear on my nerves. So it must feel like it’s found a perfect home with a visual novel, right? Kind of. Fallen London is as fascinating as ever, but while many of Mask of the Rose’s mechanics are interesting ideas, they often feel underbaked, leaving me without understanding the decisions I’m making. Mask of the Rose is a dating sim/ murder mystery set just after London’s fall, and precisely who ‘you’ are is open to elastic definition. You have many suitors, but you can make it clear from the off just what kinds of relationships you’re open to. Physical, platonic, romantic, it’s all there. You can…

The star of the show in Sovietcore boomer shooter Hrot is solo developer Spytihnev’s levels, all of which are inspired by real-life locations in and around Prague. The tenement blocks, metro stations, churches and castles of this twisted version of the city all feel like cheeky de-makes of real-world locations, a MyHouse.wad blown up to huge proportions. The levels twist and fold in on each other in surprising ways, and Spytihnev likes to troll. He almost feels like a dungeon master in active conversation with you – or chuckling at your blunders – rather than a level designer who created these areas and stepped back. There’s almost always some kind of trick to activating switches or picking up keys, with walls falling away to reveal enemies, trap doors dropping you…

BOARDING RING GLASSES This French startup makes glasses that create an artificial horizon to counteract motion sickness, and released an add-on for VR headsets recently which it claims reduces nausea by up to 94%. GALVANIC VESTIBULAR STIMULATION Devices like this one pass electrical signals through your vestibular system to compensate for the discrepancy between perceived and actual motion. NASUM VIRTUALIS Researchers at Purdue University discovered that adding in a virtual nose to a VR scene – a nasum virtualis, for you Latin enthusiasts, has a greatly positive impact on VR motion sickness. JUST SPEND MORE MONEY? Each new generation of VR headset purports to have minimised the possibility of sickness, but that’s been the case for eight years now and many of us have seen little to no improvement.…

The System Shock remake has been one of those “having trouble putting it down” games for me for a whole host of reasons: the atmosphere, the chunky combat, and the sense of discovery around every corner to name a few. But one of the most surprising has been how funny it is. This is almost entirely without scripted, discrete jokes too, with the notable exception of a delightful MST3K/RiffTrax Easter egg that’d have been right at home in a 10 Luck playthrough of the original Fallout. But I’m talking more about emergent, immersive sim slapstick and the plain absurdity of Citadel Station’s tragedy. There was this one time I was peeking around the corner at a Security Bot Mk 2, trying to think of the best plan of attack. I…

BLACK & WHITE 2001 The original Black & White launches, introducing players to their worshipers, godly powers and animal avatars for the first time. BLACK & WHITE: CREATURE ISLE 2002 Black & White gets an expansion pack that delivers new animal avatars and miracle powers for use in the game. BLACK & WHITE 2005 A long-awaited sequel arrives, delivering enhanced graphics, tweaked gameplay, and expanded but light RTS mechanics. B&W 2: BATTLE OF THE GODS 2006 The sequel gets its own expansion pack, with a new story mission, avatars and miracles. The last series entry.…

PREVIEW Payday 3 In Payday’s world, SWAT teams respond instantaneously to blown heist attempts. They pile into banks and museums with licence to shoot on sight, and then they pile up in hallways as you and your team of super-thieves gun them down while shuttling riches into a getaway vehicle. You can play Payday 3 like that, but I prefer the harder stealth approach, and my team and I came so close to pulling it off before I blew it. Payday 3 doesn’t stray far from the decade-old Payday 2. The co-op levels I previewed saw me and three heist-mates case a building, find a way in (front door, guns out is an option), and then complete a series of semi-randomised tasks to locate and remove its valuables. In Secure…

PREVIEW Mortal Kombat 1 Every time a new Mortal Kombat arrives I think this is it: the one that’ll be so freaking gross I can’t stomach it any more. MK1 threatened to be that game when Netherrealm trotted out a fatality montage to show off its latest skin-shredding tech, but playing it at Summer Game Fest, the gore didn’t give me the same ick. The dismemberments of Mortal Kombat are just punctuation, an eternal exclamation point at the end of every match. While I was playing this one, the sentence that kept running through my mind over and over was: this is going to be the best year for fighting games ever. Mortal Kombat 1 is more polished than a crystal skull, almost as if Netherrealm could have just made a…

PREVIEW Assassin’s Creed Mirage In a showcase that also debuted gameplay for a new Star Wars game and an Avatar FPS (see p38), I didn’t expect to come away from Ubisoft’s not-E3 show thinking about how gorgeous 9th century Baghdad looks in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, how immediately charming of a protagonist Basim is, and his weirdly OP ability to teleport. But more than anything, I’m thinking about how nice it is to be getting a classic Assassin’s Creed game again, and wondering why Ubisoft is making it. I was one of the grumpy AC fans who, when Assassin’s Creed: Origins released in 2017, was appalled at what they’d done to my stealth action series. I’ve been operating under the ‘believe it when I see it’ principle ever since Ubi announced Mirage,…

BALDUR'S GATE 1998 The original Baldur’s Gate was developed by BioWare, creating a new benchmark for fantasy CRPGs and selling incredibly well. BALDUR'S GATE: TALES OF THE SWORD COAST 1999 An expansion pack that introduces new locations, quests and UI improvements is released. BALDUR'S GATE II: SHADOWS OF AMN 2000 BioWare makes a sequel set in and around Athkatla, a city in the country of Amn. It’s a stone-cold classic. BALDUR'S GATE II: THRONE OF BHAAL 2001 An expansion that adds an expanded conclusion to the main story, as well as new characters, spells and more. BALDUR'S GATE: ENHANCED EDITION 2012 Beamdog creates an upgraded and improved version of the original, with its expansion pack included. BALDUR'S GATE II: ENHANCED EDITION 2013 Beamdog repeats its trick with Baldur’s Gate II,creating…

FEATURE John Romero Interview Doom creator and FPS pioneer John Romero is PC gaming royalty. His career in the videogame industry is incredibly storied, too, with dizzying highs and some hellish lows. For the fi rst time, though, Romero is telling his own entire story in his new autobiography, Doom Guy, from his early childhood learning to code, through to the exciting new FPS he’s working on in 2023. PC PowerPlay: Is it fair to say that a fear of being left behind was a key motivator for you when learning to code as a child? John Romero: Yeah. The feeling that I was behind the curve, was when I really recognised early on that I loved making games, and I really loved programming. Because game development in the early ’80s…

TYLER COLP Specialist in Serving Lilith Currently playing Diablo IV This month Decided to up sticks to the Burning Hells for a new job. Took plenty of factor 50. JOSHUA WOLENS Specialist in Victorian Tinder Currently playing Mask of the Rose This month Courted a series of eligible romantic suitors while solving a murder mystery. DOMINIC TARASON Specialist in The precious Currently playing TLotR: Gollum This month Focused on the precious. Stroked the precious. Whispered to the precious. TED LITCHFIELD Specialist in Unspeakable horrors Currently playing Amnesia: The Bunker This month Played hide and seek with an ape-like, bestial monster that lives in walls. MATT ELLIOTT Specialist in Lip wobbling Currently playing Spiritfarer This month Discovered the afterlife involves chipper, supportive frog men. How nice!…

GRIZ Posh and deferent to authority. She still thinks the powers that be know best. MR PAGES Aloof and given to flights of fancy. He’s also a bat in a cloak. So there’s that. HARJIT Harjit’s a bit preoccupied searching for a love he lost. VIRGINIA A literal devil, and predisposed to despise you when you first meet. DAVID LANDAU The centre of a murder trial, but you can’t let every red flag dissuade you. BATACHIKAN A squid man. Best boy.…

MATRYOSHKA DOLL Interacting with this doll takes her apart and puts her back together again. KEYBOARD You can play every note on this little piano and switch between different modes too. TYPEWRITER Clicking away at this little typewriter produces a love letter to a historical hero of socialism. NU, POGODI! BOOTLEG GAME AND WATCH This recreates a bootleg version of the Game & Watch. TOILET Not only can you flush Hrot’s many toilets, but if you face away and press E, you’ll fart. LAUNDRY MACHINE Clicking on this Tatramatka-brand laundry machine sets it vibrating.…

Burn-in is the biggest worry when it comes to OLED technology. It happens because the red, green and blue subpixels in OLED panels wear out at slightly different rates. Of course, you won’t care about the specifics if you find a ghostly shadow of the Windows taskbar etched into the bottom of your pricey OLED panel. You’ll just wonder where the money went. For now, there’s no definitive verdict. Only two companies make the actual panels that go into OLED monitors: LG and Samsung. And there are some indications that LG’s WOLED tech is slightly more burn-in resistant than Samsung’s QD-OLED. If you’re particularly worried, then, go for a monitor with an LG panel. But all the options here are covered by a burn-in guarantee for a few years. So,…

APE The smartest of all creature avatars, and a good fighter too. An all-rounder. LION The most powerful animal avatar, but not the brightest. Leans slightly toward evil. WOLF The fastest animal avatar, and one that looks fierce if representing an evil player deity. TURTLE Introduced in the Battle of the Gods expansion pack. An avatar that defo leans to the good. COW A moo-velous (sorry) animal avatar, especially for good, non-violent gods. Look at his smile! TIGER Originally a B&W 2 collectors edition exclusive. Plays similarly to the Lion.…

HIGHS Truckers 4 Life American Truck Simulator players now see in-game ads from real American trucking companies. Sim Ppl Cities Skyline 2 now takes into account citizens’ ages in how they make decisions. GTA players GTA'd GTA Online players are fuming after Rockstar made over 200 vehicles much harder to get a hold of. TL; DR Major Reddit drama as the site tries to crack down on third-party apps. Burnt Toast Streamer DisguisedToast spent $500,000 to found a Valorant pro team. Now he says the esports industry is a bust. Really? Skullgirls toned-down some of its racier elements. Players responded with review bombing. LOWS…

ADVENTURER The Tomb Raider games portray Lara Croft as a globetrotting action hero – a rarity for female characters in the 1990s. CENTREFOLD Emphasising Lara’s sex appeal, Eidos marketed Tomb Raider with pin-up style renders of their protagonist. FASHIONISTA As Lara’s popularity skyrocketed, she appeared as a virtual model for fashion designers like Alexander McQueen. IRL Eidos hired a series of models like Nell McAndrew to portray Lara Croft in photoshoots and at live events.…

PREVIEW Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Prince of Persia meets Dragon Ball Z wasn’t the elevator pitch I expected when I visited Ubisoft’s Montpellier studio last month, but that’s exactly what I got. The team frequently cite anime – and their love for it – as the inspiration behind the exuberant visual style for the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. You wouldn’t think it would work, but it does. The Lost Crown is still filled with gorgeous Persian architecture. Sprawling sandy columns and intricate statues adorn the small section I was given a hands-on with. But when I parry an enemy or unleash a super move, the landscapes are splattered by explosions of colour and animations that look like they’re straight out of Street Fighter or Dragon Ball…

PREVIEW Total War: Pharaoh Total War has been revelling in fantasy and legends for a good long while now, but with Total War: Pharaoh the series returns to its roots, presenting a more grounded vision of history, albeit with some artistic licence. But even without magic, gods and superhuman leaders, Pharaoh still has some tricks up its sleeve. Set during the Bronze Age collapse, Pharaoh sees Egypt dealing with myriad crises: the death of its ruler, threats from neighbours and incursions from the enigmatic Sea Peoples – an invading force of unknown origin. The tumultuous nature of the period is reflected in a stability system that throws more dangers at you as stability is lowered, from invasions to natural disasters. By the late Bronze Age, Egypt already had an illustrious…

PREVIEW Star Wars Outlaws If you ask everyone in the room to describe their perfect vision for a Star Wars game, you’re gonna get a lot of answers. Many would, I wager, basically describe Star Wars Jedi: Survivor: a lightsaber power fantasy with memorable characters, cool Force powers and satisfying Stormtrooper amputation. My pitch would sound a lot closer to the game that Ubisoft announced at the Xbox Games Showcase, Star Wars Outlaws – a sandbox action game starring a Solo-like scoundrel-for-hire on the lawless planets of the Outer Rim. No, it’s not the Mandalorian game that I was quietly crossing my fingers for, but a completely new character instead: Kay Vess, a young outlaw getting her start in the criminal underworld. Outlaws takes place in the gap between The Empire…

I left id on August 6, 1996. Under the terms of our buy-sell agreement, I returned my stock to id Software immediately, and they paid me for it over the next five years. The stock price was calculated based on the collective sales the company had made over the previous 365 days multiplied by my percentage of ownership – for every dollar sold, I got a percentage. I’m grateful for the work I put into releasing products during Quake’s long development as it meant that there was company income to have a percentage of. I couldn’t have known it at the time, but my desire to expand the business’s bottom line and to ensure its security ended up ensuring mine. As it turned out, I saw no money from Quake.…

Despite my nature (a sun-averse hermit hoarding treasures) giving me a certain affinity for Gollum, I’ve been a bit sceptical about Daedalic’s much-delayed Lord of the Rings game, as early footage left me uninspired and unsure whether there was even a coherent game here. The good news is that Gollum does have some interesting ideas. Unfortunately, its ideas fall into two distinct camps, and one is nicer than the other. Mechanically, Gollum is a cinematic but basic stealth platformer, aspiring to Uncharted’s wall-clambering or Splinter Cell’s creeping, but awkward at both, in-character and out. On the platforming front, there’s usually a single route through each area, involving some mixture of highlighted grabbable ledges, ropes, vines and bars to swing from. The environments are often gorgeous and very vertical, providing a…

DYNAMIC DRIVERS By far the most common type of driver in a headset, these are also the most affordable. They typically use a neodymium magnet surrounded by a coil, which moves with the electrical current to produce sound through an attached diaphragm. While often very good, dynamic drivers struggle to match the frequency response of planar magnetic drivers and can distort more at higher volumes. PLANAR MAGNETIC Usually requiring more space and costing more, Planar Magnetic drivers tend to offer a wider soundstage and more bass definition than dynamic drivers due to their larger, flat diaphragm. We love planar magnetic, but you tend to see less of this type for gaming headsets.…