The Best 10 Indie Games You Haven’t Played…Yet

There are more and more games appearing on Steam every single day, and that’s great. More games means more people making games, more people playing games, and just more games out there. Not all are good certainly, but some will be breathtaking and with more games out there, the amount that are amazing will be a higher number.

The problem is discoverability. With all these games, how do you find out which ones are amazing? How do you separate the games you will love from rest of the crowd?

Well thankfully we’re here to point your way to the best 10 Indie games that you haven’t played…yet.

Virginia

Twin Peaks feels like a too-easy comparison for this game, but it is very Twin Peaksy, and also a bit X-Filesy. What it is most though is an absolutely thrilling story told through a bare-bones but incredibly cinematic lens. If you have any interest in cinema, music, or plotting, then this is a required play. You’ll be thinking about it long after you finish it, and you’ll be listening to its soundtrack for even longer.

The Flame in the Flood

If survival’s your thing then forget all the Day-Zs or Long Darks, it’s an adventure with Scout, her dog Aesop, and a raft that’s where you want to be. Taking place in a beautiful world filled with danger, it’s up to you to steer Scout to safety as she makes her way down the giant rapids. Or maybe you’ll steer her to sudden death, you monster.

Slay the Spire

It’s still in Early Access but remarkably complete, Slay the Spire is a roguelike deck-building game. Confused? It’s a lot simpler than it seems, and also a lot more complex. Building your deck as you race up the spire, and using it to take on challenges or enemies, you build and spend cards as you plough through the spire hoping that you’ll get the right combination of cards that’ll let you deal with the challenges ahead. Die once though…and it’s back to the bottom you go.

Last Day of June

It’s emotion time in Last Day of June, a puzzle-based game where you play as Carl who has been recently bereaved. Exploring his memories and solving puzzles, you try to find a way to save his wife, June, from her death in a car crash that also left Carl in a wheelchair. It’s a beautiful and poetic story about love and loss, and it expresses itself through its mechanics and puzzles in a way that not many games manage.

What Remains of Edith Finch

Speaking of loss, here’s a game all about it. From the team behind The Unfinished Swan, What Remains of Edith Finch falls into that genre which has been unkindly called ‘walking simulator’; its real challenge and gameplay comes from understanding its themes, feeling the intended emotions that the developers have seeded through it, and from appreciating and experiencing the world and story that’s present in the game. It’s a story that’ll take your breath away, and one that’ll stay with you long after you close the game.

Bomber Crew

If FTL is a tale of a crew desperately holding out against overwhelming odds, Bomber Crew is a slapstick comedy about a crew barely able to cope, unready for the skies, and dropping their bombs like pigeons drop crap on your car. Managing a crew of idiots while you’re under attack from multiple incoming fighters, it’s up to you to complete the mission and show the enemy what for, but nothing’s ever that easy and Bomber Crew is a tough game that’ll take a lot to overcome.

Human Fall Flat

When the only thing you have to solve puzzles is your own body, then that’s what you’ll have to use. Human Fall Flat is a surreal adventure set in a dreamscape, where the only way to get out is to figure out how to escape using your own body, and those of co-op friends, to solve your way to freedom. It’s a free-form and chaotic puzzle game that combines co-op physics fun with a series of rapidly escalating puzzles. Your body is your only real tool, and your body is floppy and ready to fall flat.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Two brothers go on an epic adventure to find a cure for their ailing father, and on the way they meet friends, enemies, and see wonders they had never dreamed of. Using a unique control system on gamepad where each analogue stick directs each brother, it’s a puzzle game that will test your ability to keep track of multiple moving parts as you solve your way to your goal. That’s before the feelings come in, as this game hits hard on the emotion front. Play because it’s wonderful, but play at your own risk.

ABZU

If you thought this game looked like Journey but underwater, you’d be half right, but what that short description passes over is how wonderful, mysterious, and frankly terrifying the underwater world in ABZU is. Moments of utter joy mix with moments of fear as you explore hidden secrets at the bottom of the world. It’s also a game that just asks you to take a moment every now and then, yes there’s danger and beauty in its world, but also why not take a moment, look around you, and appreciate the visuals. If you’re too timid to venture into the deep, why not let famed underwater explorer Jacques Custard guide you into the ocean?

Euro Truck Simulator 2

There’s little else as relaxing as putting your truck into a middle gear, sticking on the cruise control, and listening to the local radio as you eat up the miles on a continental truck journey. Euro Truck Simulator 2 is still the most complete of the Truck Simulators, and it’s a game that’s as deep as you want it to be. Do you want to micromanage your own haulage company and park with precision with each cargo, or are you just looking to drive from Luxembourg to Milan and honk at geese? Euro Truck Simulator 2 lets you set your own pace, and it’s a game that’s unrivaled in letting you do that.

 

So there’s 10 cracking indie games that you might not have touched yet, and if you haven’t given them a go – give them a go today! Most of them are also in our Discover sale, which means you can get an extra 22% off when you put DISCO22 in when checking out.

Why we need the Pacific Rim Universe

I saw Pacific Rim: Uprising at the weekend, and it was enjoyable. Not amazing, but fun. I want to tell you why, if I had it my way, the series should continue until it gets great or dies trying.

Pacific Rim does something that no other film series does. When the only monster films you’re exposed to as a child were Godzilla (1997), and the only giant robot films in your teenage years were Transformers (2007), you realise that giant things fighting each other in cities can be very average indeed. You have to get through a very dry human story with Matthew Broderick and *sighs* Shia LaBeouf and probably some shouty US military to reach the big action scene at the end, with maybe some good bits sprinkled over that first 2 hours of dialogue but no giant swords.

When Pacific Rim came out in 2013, it took the main ingredient from these films, and stripped everything else back. It starts with 2 brothers who are ‘Jaeger pilots’ (awesome), they get woken up because of a ‘Kaiju attack’ (wow already? Awesome!), and the next 5 minutes has them going through their ‘suit up’ process which includes being screwed into their suits Ironman 1 style, getting into their Jaeger’s head, interacting with the holographic display, the head being dropped into the Jaeger body before the Jaeger is fully revealed and walks out into the rainy night, the pilots full of confidence and fraternal bravado.

And Idris Elba is their C.O. God damn Idris Elba.

God damn.

The level of detail here reveals just what the creators thought was the most important thing for this film – the robots and the monsters. The characters themselves are excited throughout the film. The main character loves life as a Jaeger pilot as most of us would, Elba’s character Marshall Pentecost did it until it started to kill him, and a lead scientist has tattoos of Kaiju on his arms because he just thinks they’re so freaking cool.

The Pacific Rim universe also does what Transformers and even Marvel/DC fail to do. They fully become fans of their lore. In Uprising, it’s 10 years after the breach has been closed. If this was Avengers or Transformers, no doubt some ‘suits’ from a governing body would have shut down the Jaeger program, or the heroes themselves would have been retired. But in Pacific Rim, they’ve built giant gun platforms on the coast, massive corporations are making huge leaps in Jaeger tech, and the ‘Thunderdome’ is still housing a full complement of shiny new Jaegers. Why? No-one actually explains that. But I don’t actually care. The world in Pacific Rim is a big a fan of Jaegers as we are, whereas the MCU takes every opportunity to oppress Tony Stark and the Avengers and their cool abilities until the climax.

The human story also just feels so much more grounded than something like Transformers. There’s no Megan Fox, embarrassing parents, US Rangers or POTUS taking away from our main event. The characters in Pacific Rim are Jaeger pilots, and they come from multiple backgrounds. They’re professional, but also scrappy. They spar in a dojo to see if they’re drift compatible, and the main character has been humbled but is still good at everything. It feels more like an anime with humble protagonists and stern but fair authority figures who guide their young soldiers and act as the moral compass. There’s also no romantic subplot. In either film. This is quite a big deal for a hollywood blockbuster.

Whilst the tech-porn of the first film may have been lost slightly along with the departure of Guillermo del Toro as director (but still producer), the excitement to show off new ideas remain. All the Jaegers have new weapons and new abilities, and you can see the evolution from the first cobbled together batch. They’ve become more varied and specialised now during peacetime, when no-one knows in what form the Kaiju will return. Compare Cherno Alpha, the Russian heavy tank Jaeger, to Saber Athena, the lithe, bright orange, back-kicking Jaeger, and you can see that the writers had a LOT of fun making these, and weren’t afraid to pay homage to their Japanese inspirations. Without spoiling much, the Kaiju also have some new tricks up their gooey sleeves which keep them as the deadly and tricksy villains from before.

Uprising ends on a scene promising not only future films, but a massive change in gear for the plot so far, and while I had a slight “here we go again” feeling of not wanting to burn out on yet another franchise that overstays its welcome, at least I know that these films will be fully unabashed silly but awesome action. The series takes itself incredibly seriously, it won’t make you feel bad for enjoying it – there will be no robot testicles.

There will also be no Linkin Park soundtrack either. The first film started strong with a loud, threatening score that’s overlaid with Tom Morello’s (of Rage Against the Machine fame) guitar licks, and it gets a modern remaster in Uprising. The theme portrays the last bastion of mankind feeling of the films, whilst also acknowledging the pure awesomeness of piloting Jaegers.

After watching Uprising, my brother and I, a 20 and 28 year old respectively sat on a quiet train platform and talked excitedly about what Jaegers we want to see next. I want to see one with a shield and flail like the crusader in Diablo 3, he wants one with a halberd that can tear up Kaiju from a distance. And we know we will probably get that at some point. Then we started wondering what a Pacific Rim game would be like. For Honor but with Jaegers and Kaiju? Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters but new and good? Any film that can unlock so much imagination and excitement from jaded gamers has got to be good for the world.

Why Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is Probably the Best Videogame Movie Ever Made

It’s been twenty years since the original Jumanji stampeded into cinemas, and since then the titular boardgame has been busy. Salvaged after the end of the original film by young Alex Vreeke in 1996 it realised that Alex wasn’t going to play it in its current form, so it morphed itself into a videogame.

This starts a series of events that eventually leads to another four young teenagers being trapped in its jungle world, twenty years later.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle appears dismissable, it’s got almost nothing to do with the original, Robin Williams is of course, sadly deceased, and this film has every appearance of a throwaway cash-in, the sort we’ve seen a lot of in recent years.

But Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is more than that.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle might very well be the best videogame film ever made. Here’s why:

It Understands Videogames

The problem with a lot of videogame films, or films that feature videogames, is that they don’t ‘get’ the source material. Either it goes the Gamer route and everything’s just…stupid, or it goes in a route that often captures the storyline of the source material, but fails to capture the feel.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is an affectionate parody of videogames and videogame tropes. It’s clearly written by people who know videogames, and love them, and still want to send them up.

There’s NPCs, patrol routes, branching paths, and much more referenced in the film. Yes, that’s only superficial, but it lends an air of credibility to the whole thing. Whilst the film stretches those and creatively adapts what they are for cinema, that’s understandable and throughout the whole thing is actually fairly accurate. At least, for games from the 90s like the remake of Pitfall, Tomb Raider, and other games of the era.

But the most important thing, and the reason why this is probably the best videogame movie ever made is…

It’s Actually Not a Terrible Film

See this shouldn’t be an amazing thing but really, it is. It’s not controversial to say that most videogame movies are terrible, with only a few like some of the Resident Evil films and the first Silent Hill being ‘alright’, and some others like Warcraft or the Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider films being ‘enjoyable’. Every other videogame movie is dreadful, and to have one that’s so clearly inspired by videogames and yet actually watchable is a relief and sort of a revelation.

Part of this is the cast of course, The Rock is eminently watchable and Jack Black, Karen Gillen, and Kevin Hart all pull off their roles like they’re having the time of their lives.

That’s not to say the film doesn’t have its problems, the film does try to pillory videogames’ tendency to put women in saucy costumes…whilst also having a lady in a saucy costume for the film which doesn’t quite work, but overall it’s a damn fun adventure.

It’s also got a Jonas brother in it so that’ll keep some of you happy.

So there you have it, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a film that understands its source material, loves games, loves to parody them, and is also actually fun. Making this almost a first for the videogame film – a film that’s worth watching in a non-ironic way.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is well worth your time, and is definitely the best videogame movie ever made. Let’s see if Ready Player One can knock its crown off.

Is For Honor a Success for Ubisoft?

You all remember For Honor. That game that put samurai, vikings and knights in an arena, tied them together with a intricate melee combat system, and invited you overcome your opponent with skill, reflexes, and tactics. If you’ve ever wanted to have a proper axe, katana and longsword fight in a game that didn’t reward the best button-mashing, this was it.

And then you are swamped in a 3v1 and killed immediately, and probably tea-bagged by a Nordic shaman for good measure.

Despite selling way beyond expectations, at least on Green Man Gaming, For Honor has suffered like any other competitive game that is hard to learn, hard to master. It wasn’t helped by constant disconnects and lag, snowballing game modes and characters with abusable skills. Indeed, For Honor’s attempt at a break-out esports event was ruined back in August 2017 when the winner was accused of using an exploit to defeat his opponents. Not a great start for the game with so much potential.

Source – Steamcharts

Despite this, August saw the biggest spike in For Honor players since launch, reaching 11,359 concurrent players. Compare this to the previous month’s 1,941 peak, and you could argue that the pull of For Honor is still a strong one in the mind of the gaming world. We want it to work, we want it to be good. We want to be good.

A similar, and more successful tale is For Honor’s big brother, Rainbow Six: Siege. After a middling launch, it went through a similarly brief moment in the spotlight before variety streamers and gamers moved onto the next big thing. And yet, two years after release, it is regularly the most viewed FPS after Counter-Strike. RSS sees big tournament action, regular content updates and patches, and last month had an average player count of 68,796. If you look at the lifetime stats of RSS, it is a continuous upward trend, something that goes against everything we think about games. Normally a multiplayer game has a small window to smash onto the scene, or die. Lawbreakers, Paladins, and many others didn’t make the cut.

Source – Steamcharts

Whilst For Honor hasn’t caught up with RSS, it’s numbers have been creeping up in the last few months. Both games have the chance to be successful because they have a unique prospect for gamers. Where else can you abseil down a building with your mates, knock out the wall with your sledgehammer, work through the rooms taking out terrorists with myriad gadgets and weaponry? The same goes with For Honor, just how many other games give you mastery over medieval melee combat?

Whilst For Honor’s esports scene is limited, as the character’s move-sets are not extensive enough to offer Street Fighter levels of god-like performance, it also means that you, average gamer, can get relatively good at For Honor much faster than Street Fighter. Blocking damage is about reflexes, not so much skill, so take a heavy character and you’ll survive a long time in a fight. Take a shield and it’s even easier. From there you can start attacking and testing out combos, and there’s only a few combos you’ll need to know to start with. And they’re normally ‘left click, left click, right click’ or similar. Then you can start looking at parrying, guard blocks, knocking people off terrain and character’s special moves. It reminds me more of a game of tennis, trading blows and adding in a bit of misdirection and moves to get an edge.

I’ve been playing For Honor for about a month, and it is the almost chess-like approach, combined with massive swords and cool viking characters (I’m also currently binge-watching the series Vikings), that keeps me coming back. I don’t normally like 1v1 PvP but in For Honor I don’t feel overwhelmed, and I know that I’ll be rewarded for picking a favourite character and really mastering them. I like how each character is very different and shows the personality of the player. I’m sticking with the Raider (the big axe-wielding viking) because I find her strong and I know the move-set, but I’m also gravitating towards the shaman – a quick and feral viking who jumps on people and spins her hand-axe and knife around. It’s like trying to master a character you like in League of Legends, but much easier and actually fun. Losing, so far, hasn’t felt unfair. I just want to get better.

The awesome Viking Shaman.

So what is the future for For Honor, and is it a success for Ubisoft? The latter question entirely relies on what Ubisoft consider a success, but if they look at this and Rainbow Six: Siege as carving out unique segments of the gaming scene, I think they’ve done very well. They offer experiences that no other developer is offering, and The Division and The Crew shows that they’re committed to that even if it doesn’t go so well. Let EA and Activision do the war shooters that practically feel the same, I’m glad someone with the resources to improve and support their games over time is offering titles like For Honor and Rainbow Six.

As for the future of For Honor, Ubisoft will continue to bring more content and more seasons to the small but passionate community. And I like the community. This is coming from a community manager, too. There are players who, above all else, crave honour in their game of…For Honor. They are the edgelords in their trench coats who will offer to 1v1 anyone who complains about perceived balance issues; they’ll wait for their ally to finish their duel before interfering in 2v2; and they’ll avoid the most unbalanced characters. It reminds me of the Starcraft community, that respect and sportsmanship is very hard to find in the more popular multiplayer and free-to-play games.

So pick it up if you want, and come 1v1 bro over in the community if you have any comments.

Every Far Cry Ranked From Worst to Best (Updated)

Update: Far Cry 5 is available for preload today, so get it downloaded as soon as you can and then let us know where it fits in the series!

Far Cry 5 is approaching with deadly momentum, so before we look forwards to the future of the Far Cry series it’s time to first look back, back over where we’ve been.

The next step in the Far Cry universe will take us to deadly Montana, home to the most dangerous prey: Americans. And also you’ll get a dog so frankly, this game is looking 10/10 in my view.

But we cannot understand where we’re going until we know where we’ve been, I’m pretty sure I read that on the back of a cereal box once. So let us look back, back into the deep mists of time to say ‘which of the Far Cry games is the best’.

NOTE this is entirely subjective and should not be taken as fact, by anyone. Except in the comments.

Far Cry

The first Far Cry game set out the rough idea for most of the games that followed, open world elements, islands, guns, outposts, blam blam, you’re dead.

The problem with the first Far Cry is the same problem that the first Crysis had, which isn’t surprising given that they’re made by the same company. Both games are great! Until the aliens/mutants turn up.

In Crysis it’s the aliens who ruin the party, in Far Cry it’s mutants. The whole game is great up until that point and then in they come, like angry boars made of mutagens to ruin your fun. They’re just not engaging enemies, they’re bullet sponges and they throw out a lot of the tactics you’ve built up over the preceding half a game in order to become a worse version of itself.

So if you’re going to play Far Cry, and you should, just be prepared that there will be a point when the fun might dry up.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

This is a game I just didn’t get along with, entirely for tonal reasons. It shares mechanics with Far Cry 3 – a game I unabashedly love (and you’ll read more on that in a moment), but the ‘jokes’ in Blood Dragon entirely fell flat for me.

Take the tutorial for example; it starts off with a ‘joke’ that making players look around and jump to pass a tutorial is stupid, everyone knows how to do that.

Then it makes you look around and jump to pass the tutorial.

From the get-go the game’s sense of humour drove me up the wall, and that’s the reason its so low on this list. The rest of it is a weird mix of nostalgia and bombastic pseudo-80s themes, and neither of those works for me. So I had to give up on it, which is a shame cos I thought I could always use more Far Cry 3.

tl:dr, it’s the Ready Player One of videogames, references with no context or thought, just HEY REMEMBER THE 80s? the videogame. No ta.

Far Cry 4

Far Cry 4 did what I wanted from it, it saw a lot of the stuff that Far Cry 3 did wrong and then did better. It also moved the location of the game to an absolutely beautiful place, up in the Himalayas, and made vertical movement easier and more fun.

So why didn’t I like it so much?

Easy, it also added a load of new features which just soured the mix a little. For example there’s a tonne of new mission types, such as one where you have to sneak into encampments and deal with guards without alerting anyone in order to free hostages. Get caught, and the hostages might die.

Which is fine on the face of it, stealth is a great part of the Far Cry mix, but part of what I love about the Far Cry games is that it gives you tools to deal with things that go wrong. These missions, and missions like them, ruin that for me.

Added to that there’s a load of enemies which just aren’t fun to fight, they can go invisible and stealth around and throw knives at you and I ain’t got time for that, I wanna shoot a tiger, yo!

Far Cry Primal

Otherwise known as ‘the one with the cavemen’, this was a surprise. Mainly because it was so good, it got rid of most of the ranged weapons and focused on your interactions with the animal world, and your interactions with SPEAR vs CAVEMAN.

It’s really good! Shunned by most as ‘not a real Far Cry game’, it actually does ‘systemic playground’ better than most of the others in the series.

Also you get an owl that acts as magic binoculars, and any game that lets you peer through the mystic owl has to be worth the price of entry, right?

Far Cry 2

Otherwise known as ‘the one with all the malaria’. Created by legendary game designer Clint Hocking, it’s hard to overstate how impressive this was as a sequel to the original Far Cry. Especially as this isn’t how the narrative is supposed to go, game name gets bought by big company, sequel gets made without original team and then…game vastly surpasses the original in every way? Huh?

With a huge open world to play in and a compelling narrative about post-colonialism, Far Cry 2 is definitely the best Far Cry game.

APART FROM

Far Cry 3

Jason Brody is a dick.

I’m saying that because it’s probably the first thing you think of when this game gets brought up. Jason Brody is an absolute twat, and that’s why I love this game so very, very much.

See it’s an odd thing to have a game protagonist be an arsehole, but Jason Brody is one, but throughout the game he evolves from arsehole into ‘psychopath’. A normal FPS will have you gun down a million people and shrug it off, Jason Brody learns to revel in it, he exults in murder and never stops to wonder what he’s become. But his friends, his brutalised, kidnapped friends, do notice. There’s a moment where you rescue Jason Brody’s girlfriend and he just starts celebrating at the wild ride they’ve taken, and the massive shootout you just participated in. And she freaks out, because WHAT THE FUCK JASON?

It’s a wonderful moment, and frankly one that more games should pay attention to.

Also tied into that is the utterly beautiful open world, the best bad-guy ever (hello Vaas), and the fun-but-stupid upgrade system (I need a shark skin to hold all my cash), Far Cry 3’s my favourite.

So there you go, definitive proof from me, chief Green Man Gaming opinion-haver. Far Cry 3 is brilliant. Will Far Cry 5 be better? Pick it up now and find out next week!

Embrace Madness in the March Madness Sale! [Mystery hints included]

March Madness at Green Man Gaming continues! This means two things: 1) it’s March, and 2) we’ve got a mad sale going on at Green Man Gaming.

The whole month we’re selling you amazing games at prices that probably won’t make us any money, and that means one thing: CHEAP GAMES.

We’ve got huge discounts hitting up the biggest games, the smallest indie hits, and everything in between. But that’s not just it, this isn’t your grandfather’s sale, this isn’t the sale of yesterday, this ain’t no dull voucher; this is the March Madness and we’ve got lots of mystery prices (only seen in the basket) on top of our mad deals!  Here’s how it all works:

What’s so Mad About this March Madness?

It’s coming to you in two ways.

  1. Every day we’re hitting you up with new deals, so day one you’ll see some offers on our Hot Deals page, day two there’ll be more, then day three even more. This means every day this month you should be heading back to see just exactly what we’ve got for you.
  2. The other is…mystery prices! These flash mystery prices could last 24 hours so act quick if you want the game.

We’re even doing franchise and publisher sales, so if you love one particular publisher, make sure you keep checking to see if your favourite is on sale.

What on Earth is a Mystery Price?

It works like this:

  1. Sign into your Green Man Gaming account (or if you don’t have one, make one already!).
  2. Add a game to your basket
  3. Watch as the discount on the game gets better…right in your basket!

So you’ll never know which games are going to secretly have a better deal, you’ll have to check back daily and frequently!

Can You Give us Any Hints About Which Games Will be Getting Mystery Prices?

Possibly…something to do with the number eight…and maybe something to do with big nude babies that like to eat people? Does that help?

Head over to our March Madness page now…and embrace the madness!

Top 10 Games With Left-Wing Themes

According to an opinion piece on The Guardian videogames have an ideology problem. They are recruiting grounds for far-right groups and are filled with themes which centre around xenophobia, racism, sexism, and worse.

Firstly lets get this out there: there is a notable toxicity issue around videogames and many videogames have troublesome elements in them or issues with representation. But it’s important to remember that the art a culture produces is often a reflection of that culture; they’re symptoms of our society not the cause. In addition to that, recently many strides have been taken to analyse games, to talk about the troublesome elements, and to be more inclusive. It’s becoming more and more apparent and accepted that videogames can be made by anyone, can be for anyone, and can include anyone.

The battle to make games open to everyone isn’t over, but it’s ongoing and more and more games reflect the huge spectrum of people who love them and love to make them.

To counterbalance this article which talks solely about the far-right in videogames, here’s the top 10 Videogames with Left-Wing Themes.

Hate mail to the usual place please.

Red Faction: Guerrilla

The game is about uniting a proletariat workforce in order to smack a far-right government with a big hammer and the main colour is red. You don’t need any further description than that.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a game where big business is the bad guy. Through the Deus Ex series the themes are about anti-authoritarianism, but in Human Revolution it’s the corporations which are the source of that authority.

Throughout the game you’re confronted with the poor, the downtrodden, those who’ve had limb replacements but can’t afford the expensive drugs that’ll stop cybernetic rejection.

If you come out of Deus Ex: Human Revolution thinking ‘unrestrained capitalism sure sounds great’ then maybe play it again and pay attention to a lot of the side stories and the world building.

Wolfenstein

These games are about one thing, giving Nazis a damn good thrashing.

Let’s remember Nazis getting a damn good thrashing with one of their promotional tweets:

https://twitter.com/wolfenstein/status/919684333207568385?lang=en

Civilization VI

A lot of what makes up the Civilization games is that they aren’t explicitly for or against anything, they are an attempt to model a very complex thing (history) and show you the outcomes.

So in Civilization VI you can be a Communist government, and that’s just fine. It gives you some defensive boosts and production boosts, but it’s entirely workable depending on how you want to play your civilisation.

So go ahead comrade, rise up.

Bioshock

Andrew Ryan: “Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? “No,” says the man in Washington, “it belongs to the poor.” “No,” says the man in the Vatican, “it belongs to God.” “No,” says the man in Moscow, “it belongs to everyone.” I rejected those answers.”

Mate, after seeing Rapture, maybe you should’ve embraced some of those answers. Maybe, just maybe, working for the good of your fellow humans is a not terrible idea? Have a think yeah? After your game of golf, of course.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Whilst this game is, on the face of it, about militarisation and standing firm against an outside threat (something that on the surface of it seems a far-right wet dream) the true story of XCOM is about inclusivity and unity.

As the commander, you build your XCOM forces from a diverse and wide range of people. White people fight alongside black people, women fight alongside men. Even if it’s an outside threat that’s caused it, the people of the Earth come together as never before to stand against the alien menace.

XCOM teaches that when all of us are on the line, what divides us doesn’t matter, it’s what unites that which does.

Mirror’s Edge

Similar to Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the bad guy in this game is corporations that are meddling in our lives, using our lives up, and spitting us out.

Basically big business wants to shut down the small independent retailer, and as one of those retailers who sells your ability to run real fast, it’s up to you to stop them. By running real fast.

Doom

‘But Alex’ you say ‘this game is apolitical, it’s just a fun time shooting demons’.

But where did those demons come from. Hell? Yes, but they wouldn’t be *here* if it wasn’t for corporations chasing the almighty dollar at any cost. If they’d maybe stop and think about social responsibility for a second instead of their next buck, we wouldn’t be dealing with a demonic invasion right about now.

Eco

Something bad is coming, and it’s up to you and those like you to work together and save the world from the incoming apocalypse. However, there’s no point ruining the world in order to save it.

In Eco you work together to achieve a bigger goal, and you do it in a responsible way.

Overwatch

Featuring a diverse cast of characters whose backstories are becoming more complex, human, and representative, and with a storyline that subtly criticises big business while emphasising the UN and organisations that bring us together, Overwatch is pretty left-leaning.

The fan reaction to Overwatch has also been wonderful, with fan art, comics, and stories expanding on the universe, and it’s great to see Blizzard lean into this and improve on their already quite inclusive cast with even more characters that represent the huge variety of people who love games.

There you go, ten games which contain Left-Wing themes. Have I missed any? Hit me up in the comments!

Final Fantasy XV – Who’s the Best Boy?

Final Fantasy XV is finally arriving onto PC on the 6th of March, and that means all of you, all my beautiful PC playing brothers and sisters will get to experience the wonders of the greatest road trip you’ll ever take in your life.

You’ll kill beasts, have feelings, explore ruins and dungeons, murder robot after robot, get confused by the plot, understand the plot, go fishing, make food, cast spells, and most importantly just enjoy spending your time in one of the most compelling open worlds ever made.

But that’s all secondary as there’s only one important thing that matters in this game. And that’s who the best boy is.

There’s four of you on the road trip, Ignis, Prompto, Noctis, and Gladiolus.

But there can only be one. One best boy, so here’s the list with 100% infallible reasoning about who the best boy is in the game, and why it’s <SPOILERS>.

Let’s start at the bottom! (Also there will be spoilers for the game here).

4. Gladiolus

AKA the walking slab of beef, AKA the noodleman, AKA captain grumpy, AKA who needs a shirt it’s not that cold out.

Gotta make it clear here: none of the boys are bad, but Gladiolus is the worst of the boys. Simply because he’s a bit joyless; he’s a grumpy guard who’s got your back but that’s about it. Even his non-combat ability is a bit weak. Putting up tents? Yeah mate, level that up, tell me all about how tough it was to be tentmaster.

The only real ‘personality’ he has is expressed through his sister, his love of noodles (which is a promotional tie-in, but cute nonetheless), and not wearing a shirt.

He’s handy in a fight cos he gets the big swords but other than that he’s just a lunk and I ain’t got time for lunks!

What’s worse is during the late game he turns into a bit of a prick, giving Noctis a hard time just when he’s going through, I dunno, some POST TRAUMATIC STRESS. Dude! Give it a day or two!

3. Noctis

He’s the main character but good god he’s a whiny boy.

Probably the largest issues with the plotline in Final Fantasy XV come from the lead character. For large parts of the game he just seems to not be engaged with what’s going on. Your home country’s been invaded? Ah whatever. Dad might be dead? Oh well. Demons? Hey who cares.

I mean he even manages to make Squall look like he’s engaged in his own story.

That does change, and Noctis has moments of vulnerability as you progress through the game and eventually matures into a hero you can be proud to control. That combined with his skillset and teleporting make him brilliant to play, the game is radically different to previous Final Fantasy games in how it controls and plays out, and the way Noctis handles makes every fight tense and fun.

Basically when he grows a beard, I like him a lot more.

Also his fishing minigame is ace and probably one of the better fishing minigames out there. I spent an hour chasing a damn trout. AN HOUR.

2. Ignis

Ignis is the stuffy British one, the one who’s about decorum and comporting yourself correctly. That makes him fun to be around, fun to poke fun at, and his dry sense of humour adds loads to the feeling of four friends on a roadtrip.

His combat abilities are great too; eventually he gets some of the best abilities in the game.

But that’s not what makes Ignis the second best.

What makes him second be<THAT’S IT! I’VE COME UP WITH A NEW RECIPEH>st. Ah yeah, that.

Basically he spends most of his time not worrying about battles or the larger plot, Ignis just wants to find something better to cook with. Half way through many battles the combat will stop and the camera will zoom in on him as he announces he’s discovered, right there, baked beans or something.

It’s brilliant and never anything less than perfect comedic timing.

Combine that with the frankly gorgeous food he whips up for you every time you camp out and you get the picture: Ignis is ace.

1. Prompto

If Gladiolus is ethos, Ignis is logos, then Prompto is pathos.

He’s the heart of the gang. He’s the little boy who isn’t sure that he belongs. He’s the joker that’s having a constant crisis of confidence. He’s the boy who wants to try harder, be better, and prove himself to all his friends.

It’s normal to meet Prompto and be annoyed, he’s not great in combat and the photos he takes are pretty terrible.

But slowly you learn how to use him better in fights, he unlocks some frankly stunning moves, and he gets rapidly better at taking snaps.

Then you have a conversation where he just opens up to Noctis, you learn all about how he tries, and he fails, but he keeps on trying. He doesn’t believe that he belongs with you, heroes all, but he’ll keep trying until he does.

I mean after that how can you not love him? Prompto is us, he’s the little kid that could. He stands with giants even though he isn’t one, yet.

Prompto is the best boy, and I’ve got a tear in my eye thinking about him even now.

Final Fantasy XV is out on the 6th of March, and you can argue with me about which boy is best on our community buzz!

 

Warhammer 40k – 8 Tips To Get Started

Every other Thursday at Green Man Gaming there’s a group of us who sit down and play some Dungeons and Dragons. The other Thursdays, we have epic battles of massive proportions between futuristic races of super-powered men, horde-like or intelligent alien races, or humans corrupted by the forces of Chaos.

If you like the sound of the latter, then check out our tips for getting started in Warhammer 40k. If in doubt, do it for the extra stamp on your Nerd Card.

Learn some lore

So how much about Warhammer do you actually know? A lot has changed in 38,000 years. So where do you start? To find out how humanity is going, check out this incredibly short primer. Most of the lore is split between 30,000, otherwise known as the Horus Heresy, and 40,000 itself. If you’re interested in seeing how humanity has fallen and split entirely, check out the HH novels. If you want to see them in their corrupted and grim-dark glory, go for 40k. After all, you don’t want to go wandering into this huge universe without a clue what’s going on.

Pick your army

You can see all the playable factions right here on the official website. Give them a look through and see what takes your fancy. Each army has a different feel to how they play, and some are a lot tougher than others. It’s kind of like starting at a new gym, you’d want to know all the equipment and facilities before going, right? Things that are space marine-esque will be the easiest to play, since they have above-average stats, understandable army organisation and straight-forward weapons. Plus there are many variations and flavours, ranging from your standard Ultramarines, to the feral Grey Wolves and rotting and zombified Death Guard.

If you want something a bit different though, and want hordes of units on the battlefield, consider the Imperial Guard, or Tyranids and Orks. You’ll have many many units of little strength but their numbers can overwhelm your foes. If you would prefer smaller, more elite armies, consider the Aeldari factions, or the Adeptus Mechanicus. Weaker in body, but heavily armed and specialised units and big robots.

And then you have to think about whether you want to have a strong ‘shooty’ army or an army that specialises in mincing up the enemy in melee. You can strike a balance but some factions will heavily lean towards a certain path. Once you’ve made a decision, pick up the faction’s codex to learn all about their history, their units and their strategies.

Be realistic about the commitment

So here’s the bad news. Warhammer isn’t a cheap hobby. It’s more expensive than playing games, card games, but thankfully not golf. You can get the units that you want, paint them up as basic as possible, and play with them for a minimal cost, OR, you can buy all the paints, brushes, boxes, special edition models and scenery for the full bankrupting experience. The cost is a spectrum, as is the time commitment. It’s like the gym, but cheaper and less embarrassing. You can field your boys in blank plastic, or even use coke cans and write ‘space marine’ on them. But realistically, you’ll want to paint them up to a decent standard, have a decent sized army for some variation, and all the required rulebooks. Just be prepared to sink some money into it. But don’t worry, it gets easier to part with that cash. And there’s always Ebay.

Set your painting standards

I mentioned wanting to paint things to a certain standard, but realistically you’re probably going to be bad to begin with. But don’t worry, every time you make a mistake, or you make a space marine look like a badly painted garden fence, you’ll learn for next time. The best feeling is comparing your first and most recent model and beaming with pride at your skills. Saying that, unless you want to spend days painting – and risk burning out on the hobby – pick and choose which models you want to go full effort with, and which ones you can say ‘that’ll do’. For example, in my Death Guard force, my leader Typhus got a whole weekend’s worth of lavishing to get him looking spectacular. The Poxwalkers he surrounds himself with? I pretty much dipped them in the paint pot. Because they die so fast and no-one is going to admire them up close. I don’t feel bad. It’s like when you skip the treadmill at your new gym, people will understand.

Don’t sweat the rules, but learn the rules

The 40k rulebook is colossal. But don’t worry, the important rules are actually pretty short. Don’t expect to learn them all from reading the manual, the best thing to do is set up little pretend battles and play out the rules. Once you see them in action, they’ll make sense. As long as the main phases of battle are familiar to you, 90% of the game will go swimmingly. Like when you learn to stick to the lanes of the swimming pool at your gym and stop head-ramming into that poor old person every time.

Also, your faction will have different stats and abilities to your opponents, and it’s your job to know them. We trust each other to not cheat, even if it’s by accident. As mentioned, factions like Aeldari have so many special rules, you’ll definitely need a cheat-sheet. I’ve played quite a few games now, and even I forget regularly that I can get an extra attack for every roll of a 6 in the fight phase against Imperial factions. Yes, there are many rules like that. Your first games will take some time but they’ll speed up as you’ll know what dice to roll off the top of your head.

Grab some friends

Sadly, you can’t play Warhammer on your own. I mean, you can, it’s called Dawn of War, but you can’t use your lovely painted boys. It’s kind of like starting at the gym, you want a buddy to keep you on track, keep you motivated, and stop you spending way too much money (or more, if you’re slacking). You can share painting achievements, battle reports, and argue about whether Emperor is the saviour of mankind or a heretical bag ‘o’ bones. You’ll also need someone to play with, so it’s handy to have one of those!

Find your FLGS

Like the best gyms, your Friendly Local Gaming Store will be the best place to express feelings about your new hobby. Don’t go around with ‘normal’ people talking about the battles of the 41st millennium and your new technique for painting power axes, you need to find those who get it. Also this will be your primary place of play, since they’ll have tables available to play on with lovely scenery which will make you feel a bit more legit. Just remember to learn your own rules, and shake hands with your opponent after you crush them. Buy them a Monster Energy Drink, or something.

Consider Age of Sigmar

For some, different versions of the hobby will be more appealing for different reasons. And as there are different ways to work-out that makes people hate you, like Cross-fit, so too Warhammer has alternatives. The biggest would be Age of Sigmar, the new version of Warhammer Fantasy. With simplified rules, fantasy units and a broader definition of what an army can consist of, AoS has a lot to offer. If you don’t mind trading off balance for fun and speed, it would be worth considering. This is also the only place to get races like Skaven, vampires, lizardmen and walking trees. I myself have a small AoS army and it can be a great way to mix things up and be less stressed about how many points that one bolt-pistol costs.

I hope you’ve found these tips useful, and are at least considering taking out a loan to buy some plastic men very soon. If you want to chat about more things Warhammer, head over to the community why don’t you?

Why Into The Breach Is Not FTL 2

Into the Breach is Subset Games’ long-awaited new project, after their colossal success with FTL. I love FTL. You love FTL. The next game from the same minds is going to have enormous Half-life 3-esque expectations. But this isn’t FTL 2, and so we shouldn’t think of it as such. Whilst the pixelated art style is there, Ben Prunty is back (and better than ever), and the simple yet deep turn-based strategy is prevalent once again, Into the Breach is a very different game. Here’s why.

It’s a puzzle-tactics game

The biggest difference between the two titles is the way they play. This isn’t a rogue-like about managing a spaceship, Into The Breach is you embarking on missions to fight off the insectoid race known as the Vek with a team of mechs. Each mission is presented as a different region like in Advance Wars, and you have so many turns to defend your base. You can see what the enemy is going to do on the next turn, so it’s all about positioning and dealing with the incoming threats. You won’t be so much trying to kill all the Vek but deftly manipulate them into hitting each other, knocking them off the map, or pushing them into a big AoE attack.

Each map has bonus objectives too, so the better you play, and the more settlements you protect, the more resources you can get to upgrade your mechs.

No RNG

FTL was built on RNG, that is, certain things would happen because of random chance. The encounters were random, the galaxy quadrants were random, the missions you got, the stuff in the shops, the amount of enemy missiles you dodge, was all completely random. In Into the Breach, there is no hit percentage chance. If you get the enemy into a disadvantageous position, nothing will stop you from executing your perfect plan. This is definitely a puzzle game, rather than a turn-based strategy. However you look at it, there’ll be no 90% chance to hit misses like in XCOM. Sounds good to me.

Okay, some RNG

There are natural events that can affect the map, such as tsunamis and big holes appearing that can be used to your advantage, or really hinder your plans. The environment also plays a big role in your planning. Sand dunes that are hit can result in kicked up sand obscuring the enemy’s vision, and forests can be set on fire to cause even more damage. Each of the four islands you have to fight on have different climates and introduce different themes that present new features. The icy continent’s settlements are covered in ice, giving them more resistance to attacks. But it also bring with it more dangers to keep in mind.

Mechs instead of a ship

Each mission you can send out mechs to deal with the alien menace. You know that scene in Pacific Rim where they carry the Jaegers with helicopters then drop them in Hong Kong bay? Yeah, like that. Except cute pixelated Jaegers. The mechs are where a lot of the customisation comes in. You can get eight different squads, and equip different weapons and abilities. You can take long-range artillery mechs, big armoured fight-y mechs that throw enemies across the map, or specialised mechs that do things like freeze enemies. You can even get a randomly-generated squad, sort of a gamble button to either get a extremely strong squad or…not. The pilots themselves will level up and gain passive abilities, making them stronger and stronger…and more painful to lose.

You will complete it

Finally, one of the biggest differences from FTL, is that you will most likely complete this game. FTL was famous for being extremely difficult to reach the end of, let alone beat it. Into the Breach is a game that has no bonkers difficulty spikes, but lots of variety to explore, and that’s what players will come back for.

In the words of the co-creator Matthew Davis: “We intend for people to finish the game and then go back and explore new options and let the randomness drive its longevity. You’re always coming across new combinations that are fun and unique. I’d describe Into the Breach as something more like a board game. It’s not that you beat a board game, but you take it out to play for an afternoon and then you put it away and come back and play it again. It’s not something that you beat and then never touch again.”

Into The Breach is out on the 27th February, and if you’re still excited to play it despite it not being FTL, come chat about it on the community.

Every Warhammer 40k Faction Rated From Worst to Best

In the grim darkness of the far future of Warhammer 40k there is only endless articles ranking everything and everyone. Top 10 Primarchs, which Chaos God is hottest, which Lasgun has the highest efficiency, and so on.

Terrifying.

We at Green Man Gaming don’t believe in ranking things for no reason, we’re here only to rank when ranking is necessary, important, and also will let me write about Warhammer 40k for a few hundred words.

So here’s every faction that’s currently in Warhammer 40k, ranked from worst to best.

If you dispute this highly scientific and objective list, then either you are a heretic of the foulest kind, or you’re a Games Workshop employee. If you’re the former, please let us know on the Community why you think I’m wrong! If you’re the latter, can I have a money off voucher? Thanks.

Note: This list isn’t about who plays best or anything. and is 100% factual and serious.

Necrons

Necrons could’ve been cool, they’ve been slumbering under a multitude of planets, there’s hints of Old Ones, there’s a bit of Egyptian…ness there. They could’ve been something.

What do we have instead? Zombie robots.

I’m out.

T’au Empire

Ah the ‘how can we make cool mecha a thing’ faction. They’re not terrible, but their focus on ‘the greater good’ doesn’t always fit in the grimdark universe. And maybe that’d be alright if they’d stuck to it; a shining beacon amongst the rest, but over time the T’au have gradually become more grimdarkened, now it’s clear they subjugate lesser races and keep people docile under mind control.

I feel that if they’d kept to their guns we could’ve had something interesting, but they’re slowly becoming ‘just some blue guys’.

Cool mechs though. But could we get rid of the ‘ in T’au please too? Makes them sound like an 80s band, or a Vulcan.

Astra Militarum

Look they’re good and they try hard, but in the universe of the Imperium these guys are grist for the mill. They’re the delaying tactic until the real warriors turn up, they’re Operation Cannon Fodder. If they didn’t have tanks they’d be nothing.

The fantasy is good, Sharpe vs Daemons, WWI aesthetics vs space aliens, but the reality is just they get mown down. These poor guys are low rated here mainly cos they just deserve a rest!

I don’t hate them, I just feel sorry for them.

Grey Knights

What happens when you take a Space Marine and dial it up to 11. They’re just so over the top, and that’s saying something in the incredibly over the top Warhammer 40k universe. Some of the stuff they’ve gotten up to in the Warhammer 40k universe is just…ridiculous. They’re funny rather than threatening, a bit of a grimdark joke.

Adeptus Custodes

What happens when you take a Space Marine and dial it up to 2812749187. They look like the bastard offspring of a Space Marine and the hideous golden doors at Trump Towers.

Aesthetically, they’re a joke. Good weapons though.

Next!

Adeptus Ministorum

This is where we start turning it around, the Adeptus Ministorum have an interesting story to them, because they’re saints and worshippers of the God-Emperor, a divine being that defies his own divinity.

That’s interesting right?

They also lean directly into the grimdarkness of the universe, that special kind of Warhammer 40k grimdark where it’s grim and dark as hell, but they think they’re absolutely right. The Penitent Engine, the Repentia Squads? Good stuff.

Imperial and Renegade Knights

A newer addition to the Warhammer 40k universe, Knights are a stepping stone between dreadnoughts and titans. Bringing in a bit of flavour from medieval knights and feudalism, they are single pilot mini-titans, and they’re cool as heck. Seriously, they’re huge but not too huge, and so you just want one right?

Right.

Tyranids

I love the alien films as much as everyone else so Tyranids are always welcome. They make a wonderful enemy, faceless, unknowable, a tide from outside the galaxy who only seeks to destroy.

The only problem with them is that this is it, they’re faceless and unknowable…and that’s where their depth begins and ends. Bit two dimensional, our niddy boys.

Drukhari

Ah the original Eldar, still holed up in the Webway, still all fucked up and loving pain. They’re a good counterpoint to the prim, stuck up Eldar, all living in their bone spaceships and fearing death.

These Eldar treat everything differently, they’re slavers, pirates, experimenters with flesh.

If only they didn’t look quite so emo, y’know?

Chaos Daemons

Honestly I do love daemons in Warhammer 40k, I love them very much.

So why aren’t they higher up?

Because for every amazing daemony model, there’s one that isn’t quite so good. And even more than that, I feel that some of the daemon models don’t really ‘feel’ very much like their gods. Bloodletters for example, whilst useful, don’t feel hugely Khorne-y to me.

Officio Assassinorum

Cool assassins. Nuff said really.

Inquisition

The Imperium is beset by many enemies, both subtle and overt. The overt threats have armies to deal with them, but for the insidious threats which threaten the stability of humanity the Inquisition is there, blade, book, and bolter in hand.

They’re a really brilliant fantasy, always rooting out heresy, xenos infections, and daemonic incursions. They’re the lone warrior deep in a hiveworld, uncovering secrets and putting enemies to fire and sword.

Brilliant stuff.

Adeptus Mechanicus

Probably the best thing about the Adeptus Mechanicus is their models, they mix together body horror, far future mechanical augmentations, and 50s scifi aesthetics.

Maybe it shouldn’t work, but it does, and with absolutely brilliant robots and walkers thrown in too. Who can look at an Onegar Dunecrawler or a Kastelan Robot and not be drawn into worship of the Omnissiah? I know it’s a struggle for me not to!

Craftworlds

Alright, they’re dying out, they’re haughty, they’re prim, they call humans ‘mon-keigh’ which frankly is a joke that’s outstayed its welcome by several decades.

But they’re just so damn cool. Those sleek lines on their Wraithlords, the Howling Banshees, the Exarchs, Warp Spiders! Every model is alien with a capital A, they’re space elves yes but they’re damned cool space elves.

Space Marines

Space Marines are the main heroes of the Warhammer 40k universe, and for good reason. They’re humans but humans+, they get awesome armour, they get all the plot lines, and they’re diverse enough that you can make your own chapters and histories.

Basically anything goes.

So why aren’t they first?

Well because their standard chapters, the existing ones, can be a bit up and down in lore, in theme, in colour schemes. For every Dark Angel there’s an Iron Hand, for every Salamander there’s an Ultramarine, for every Blood Angel there’s an Imperial Fist.

And now I’ve offended probably every Space Marine player lets go on to…

Chaos Space Marines

Space Marines but cooler.

Also Word Bearers are Chaos Space Marines and they’re the best chapter in the game and Lorgar did nothing wrong and (That’s enough of that – Ed)

Harlequins

Similar to my theory about Chaos Space Marines, Harlequins are Eldar…but cool. They’re a specialised smaller force of individual performers and warriors, and it’s that which makes them so unique and interesting in the universe. They flit through society, performing and undergoing missions, and you never really understand what their goals are.

Most special amongst them all is the Solitaire, the figure representing death, something which rightfully terrifies all Eldar given that their souls are eaten by Slaanesh. Solitaire walks the battlefield, a lonely figure, unable to be hit by any mortal weapon until they reach their target and. Execute. Their plan.

They’re beautiful, deadly, and the second best faction in the game.

Orks

So who’s best? Who’s the number one?

Orks.

Why Orks? Is it their mockney accents? No. Is it their beliefs that can alter reality? No. Is it their tech? No.

It’s that, out of all the races and species in the Warhammer Warhammer 40k universe, they’re the only ones that have won. A good day for an Ork is to wake up, and have a fight. A brilliant day is a day in which they have two fights.

So this universe of Warhammer 40k, this grimdark far future, is a future of only war. So the Orks are consistently having the times of their lives. Doesn’t matter if they win or lose, they’re having a great time. They’re along for the ride, and the ride is fun.

 

That’s what I think, my name’s been Alex, and if you want to disagree or lend your support to this perfect list, hit me up on the Community. Death threats can be addressed to the usual place.

I Played Frozen Synapse 2 (And was really bad at it)

You and your teammates are standing outside a building, unable to see in. The presence co-ordinating the operation has put your next moves into its probability matrix and worked out what it thinks you, and your unseen enemies, will do. It believes with some certainty that if you breach, cover each other, and then slide back into cover you’ll be fine.

The execute order comes through and you smash the door open, guns ready. Four shots ring out as you and your partners fall to the ground, your clone lives snuffed short.

That’s Frozen Synapse 2 and you’re the controller, and you’ve messed up again.

Frozen Synapse 2 is a sequel to 2011’s Frozen Synapse, and it’s taking the simultaneous real time tactical combat game further in every direction. The original was noted for its deep tactical combat where you can simulate yours, and your opponents, actions before executing your plan in real time and watching events unfold. The sequel follows up on this by adding more….more.

More weapons, more locations, more mission types, more terrain, more everything. This applies to more than just the combat too, the world and the way you interact with the world has been overhauled. Gone is doing a series of missions one after another, in is an open world, a huge city modelled with different factions all vying for territory.

It’s into this city, Markov Geist, that you step. Leading your faction to victory, doing raids, defending your own territory, there’s even diplomacy in it, albeit diplomacy at the end of a loaded gun.

If you’ve played XCOM: Apocalypse, think that Megacity, and then add in super intricate tactical combat, and you’re on your way to imagining what Frozen Synapse 2 is. Have a look at where the game’s at, as of a month or so ago:

I have a confession to make though; I am terrible at any form of tactics or strategy. In C&C I always got bored building stuff so would attack with vastly inferior forces, in Civilization I would make a tiny empire far away from anyone and just wait for their armies to turn up and kill me, and the only way I ever completed XCOM was by sticking it on easy and using a guide to help me decide what to build in the first part of the game.

I am bad at strategy, bad at tactical combat.

So why does Frozen Synapse 2 appeal to me so much?

It’s probably because even if – when – you fuck up, you know exactly why that happened. You have total information from the top down view, and if an enemy did something you didn’t expect it’s because you didn’t accurate model what they would do. The game might be tough, but it’s not unfair. The unfairness only comes from how you’ve seen the world, and how you’ve planned and interpreted the information around you.

I died in the tutorial, I died quite a few times in the tutorial, and then made it through to the first mission and…I died. A lot.

But it never felt frustrating, if I hadn’t been monopolising the computer I would’ve happily carried on. There’s something about having all that information in front of you, and making decisions based on that, that makes you feel like you’re not being cheated.

OK there were some times where I didn’t know what was going on, like when I burst into a building only to get shot in the head, but that’s few and far between and franky, it was my fault anyway.

Frozen Synapse 2 is looking special, it’s that small game that’s trying hard to be something bigger and better than its predecessor and is doing a lot right. I can’t wait to dive back into the world of Markov Geist, build my faction, and break some heads.

Frozen Synapse 2 is coming out…soon?

10 16bit Games That Need To Be Remade

The time of the remake is here!

Secret of Mana has just been remade and launched onto PC, and last year we had the love-letter to Sonic’s 16bit era with Sonic Mania. 16bit remakes are suddenly in, they’re popular, and those games we loved in the late 80s and early 90s are ripe for a remaking.

But it doesn’t start and end with Secret of Mana and Sonic, there’s more, much more out there ready for a remake. Here’s our top 10 16bit games, from the Megadrive and SNES, that absolutely need to be remade.

Rings of Power

Long ago in the mists of time, Naughty Dog made a little game called Rings of Power. It starred Buc, a young sorcerer and his party of mages who travelled the world looking to reunited the titular Rings of Power into the Rod of Creation, and defeat the evil god Void.

Imagine having a true open world RPG on a Megadrive, it was astounding to be able to travel across the vast world of Ushka Bau by foot, reptile, boat, or dragon and explore every single square of this giant world.

It was damned hard too, its random battle system didn’t pull any punches and you could meet end-game enemies on the first tile just after setting out, but hey ho, reload and try again.

It needs an update, if only to get it to a wider audience. Amazing game, cruelly ignored.

Uniracers

Forget all that GTA nonsense you’re doing now Rockstar, and go back to a simpler time, a better time, a time of DMA Design. A time when you made unicycles go REALLY FAST and do stunts to go even faster.

It was an incredibly intense game, because you had to pull of repeated and rapid stunts in short time frames just to maintain your momentum.

They also managed to imbue tiny unicycles have a huge amount of personality, who knew a wheel and a seat could look that expressive. DMA Design did!

Shining in the Darkness

Ah the forgotten Shining child. Shining Force has already had a remake for the GBA, but the original Shining game was a first person party based dungeon crawler. And it’s bastard hard.

Every step you might get a random battle, and grinding is the name of the game to be able to get tough enough to proceed into one of the many sub-dungeons in the huge tower of dungeonery you gotta battle through.

With Legend of Grimrock being a success and Bard’s Tale IV coming up, it’s time damnit, time to go back to dungeon crawlery joy!

Seiken Densetsu 3

Alright so Secret of Mana has been remade, hooray, cheers all round.

But what about the third in the series, about Seiken Densetsu 3.

It’s an action RPG that’s got a sprawlingly huge story, one that changes depending on what character and sidekicks you choose, and one that never got a release in the West. That along with the upgrade tree that means each class can be subdivided into many other classes, makes this a game with a huge amount of replayability.

It’s also semi-open world too, with routes and places you can revisit. I mean that should excite you. Are you excited? You’d better be. I know where you live, Steve.

The Ooze

It’s time for ‘one of the entries on the list that should be remade because the original wasn’t quite good enough’. The Ooze! You play as…ooze! And you ooze around the world.

It’s a brilliant idea and one that almost worked, you squeeze and slide and get smaller and larger as you get around the top-down world, but it just didn’t *quite* make it.

A remake can fix this, it’s an idea with legs (not literally) and one that should get another airing.

ActRaiser

It’s genuinely shocking that there hasn’t been a remake of this, because there’s nothing quite like ActRaiser. Combining a god game (literally) with a side scrolling platformer with boss battles is something that hasn’t been emulated. AND WHY NOT?

OK it got into a bit of trouble with the religious themes at the time, but it’s 2018, we can handle it.

Go on someone, make this anew. Imagine Black and White where you actually dive in and kick some arse. Yes please.

Powermonger

What made Powermonger amazing for the time was its huge polygonal maps where you could build your armies, set them pillaging, and take over the world.

Each smaller map made up a piece of a huge series of levels, and I honestly don’t know anyone who’s finished it. Seriously, there were so many levels.

But it was Total War scale battles before Total War was a thing, and that’s something we can always do with more of. Who wants to see their armies form a flowing tide across the landscape, c’mon, hands up? Thought so.

Terranigma

Another action-RPG because the SNES was just amazing for them. Terranigma isn’t the best for play – through it is solid – what sets this apart is the narrative and the world it’s set in.

Basically you’re living in the underworld and people have started turning to crystal, so off you go to figure out what’s going on and fix it. I won’t spoil what happens, but it’s sad and beautiful and wonderful all in equal measures, and takes in a storyline that grows from a small village to encompass a huge scale.

It’s good stuff, and anyone who’s played it probably wants to play it again, and if you haven’t played it then. Well. Get it remade!

Phantasy Star III

‘Why not IV’ you say, ‘why not II’.

Simple, they’re already amazing. Phantasy Star III is the one that missed a little, that didn’t reach its potential. Set on a world of linked valleys, Dark Force is back and it’s up to you to stop it.

Except, you can’t.

But maybe your kids can.

That’s right, it’s generational! You decide who you marry and that determines the characteristics and stats of your progeny, meaning already in this version there’s a load of replayability. But it just didn’t quite work, the whole thing needs tightening up a little across the board, and this entry is more of a sidestory to the Phantasy Star and Algol System’s story.

Bring it back, make it good!

Bahamut Lagoon

You like Pokemon yeah? Everyone likes Pokemon!

Fuck Pokemon.

Bahamut Lagoon is what Pokemon wishes it could be. Instead of wandering about beating up children’s pets for their lunch money, Bahamut Lagoon is about collecting dragons, training them up, and then battling with them in turn based strategic maps all directed from your floating magic island.

Look I can’t overstate this enough: Bahamut Lagoon is awesome, and like some of the games above, it needs a wider audience. It’s had re-releases but we need a remake. I want to see 4k dragons, damnit!

 

That’s our picks for 16 bit games that should be remade, have we missed one? Let us know on the Community!

Altered Carbon – Has Netflix Buggered Up The Book?

I love Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan, so when I heard it was getting a big screen version I was cautiously excited.

Obviously that never happened, but what we did get a few days ago was a Netflix series, one that spans the entirety of the first book in the Takeshi Kovacs series. A lot’s been said about the Netflix series, about how well it compares to other cyberpunk outings or other Netflix tv series, but how does it compare to the book?

I watched the whole series over the weekend, and I’m can report back that if you’re a lover of the book, this Netflix series is a bit of a mixed bag.

Before I explain why, two things.

Firstly there will be spoilers. If you’ve read the book you’ll be aware of most of the plot beats of the TV series, but there’s still some differences.

Secondly this isn’t a whine about the fact that it’s not just the same as the book. I firmly believe that the absolute worst thing you can do when adapting material is just to try and recreate it, we’ve already got the original, do something new with it, do something different.

What’s Good About It?

The big obvious thing about Altered Carbon is that it’s utterly beautiful. Netflix has a mixed record with visual effects, sometimes they’ve done amazing things but with some series you can definitely see the limits of their budget. The full world of future San Francisco is represented here and is largely pulled off, looking absolutely stunning.

It’s not just effects – the sets all pull you in and feel grounded and real in a way that’s very cyberpunk. The Raven Hotel in particular is a highlight, which is just as well as it’s the main stage for many scenes throughout the series.

The cast’s great too, I didn’t know what to expect from Joel Kinnaman in the main role, but he pulls off the morally ambiguous lead well. He’s obviously watched a lot of film noir to be able to fit into the surly template required for a cyberpunk main character.

In fact the casting is one place I don’t have a single complaint about, it reflects the book incredibly well and the actors themselves tread the cyber-boards with style and grit.

What’s Middling About It?

Some of the changes to the plot don’t help the story. The book has a bit of a thin plot, but it’s carried off with panache and character (and lashings of politics). Some of the changes to characters, to plotting, in the Netflix series takes a thin plot and spreads it a little thinner. For example, in the original book, Reileen Kawahara is a mob boss from Kovacs’ past who he meets up with again in the course of events.

In the series, she’s been altered to be Kovacs’ long lost sister. I can understand the change to an extent, it doesn’t change much by itself but what it does do is remove much of Kovacs’ backstory. In the new version he left Harlan’s World soon after killing his father, in the book he joined gangs, worked his way up, and then eventually joined the military. The Netflix series removes that, meaning that instead we’re just given little flashbacks of the horrendous life that he and his sister lived in their youth.

Another thing which weakens the plot a little is that it leans on the AI character of Poe, the proprietor and well, the actual ‘hotel’ The Raven. A few times this character pops up on screen to be nothing more than an info dump, coming up with previously unknown information to send them all heading in another direction, or to further the plot a little. It means that instead of a conspiracy, or a detective story, we’re left sometimes with ‘The AI says do a thing so we did the thing’, which just isn’t as exciting as a plot.

What’s Bad About It?

The Envoys have been changed in the series, and only in ways that weaken what they represent to the fiction. In the book they’re a secretive wing of the Protectorate, they’re horror-troopers from a fascist state that land on your planet in bodies that look just like you, talk just like you, can read how you think and how you act, and then tear apart your rebellion with brutal efficiency. In the Netflix series they’re…some…people…from a forest? They have some of the same abilities but they come off a little bit as a bunch of kids playing pretend with sticks and stones.

Also they leave their electronics outside and that’s going to be a health hazard.

Quellcrist Falconer has had a change in the series too, they’ve merged her character as the anti-Protectorate rebel leader and that of the Envoy trainer Virginia Vidaura – and don’t get me wrong, the actor who portrays this role does it incredibly well. The problem is that somewhere along the way they’ve lost Quell’s teeth.

See in the book, Quellcrist Falconer is a rebel leader, poet, and philosopher who espouses a series of beliefs that are full of fury, of wanting to tear down the status quo, of wanting to see the structures which prop up the rich burned down.

In the Netflix series she’s an Envoy trainer who lives in the woods and who wants to get rid of the ability to be transfer to other bodies because it’s unnatural and makes us less human. It’s just not quite got the same bite to it. I can imagine that having an extremely anti-capitalist as a ‘good’ guy might be troublesome for a TV series made in the US, but I found myself just waiting for a Quellist quote to come out…and was sorely disappointed when nothing happened.

Another downside to the series is sex and its treatment of women. The sex scenes are largely unchanged from the book and that’s frankly somewhere where that could’ve been altered, because they’re pretty awful. Other than that, the camera and the series seemed to almost enjoy the violence against women. I understand that this is the future, and in this future we don’t care about bodies in the same way and that’s meant to be a reflection of the morals of the day, but it’s still hard to stomach women getting beaten up, getting cut up, getting dismembered over and over again over the course of ten hours. Yes men get hurt too, but the violence against them is much less insidious and much more straightforward. They’ll be punched out or shot, a woman won’t be on the end of such knockabout action in the same way.

So Is It Any Good?

With all that, I have to say I enjoyed it. I have caveats about enjoying it, I can’t recommend it to everyone and really I don’t know if I can recommend it to anyone, but I don’t regret the ten hours I spent watching the series.

I love the book, and some of the problems of the series are present in the book, it’s just for me what I love about the book didn’t quite make the translation across to the small screen. It’s left a little void in what could’ve, for me, been a standout cyberpunk tv series. As it is, I can only think of it as entertaining, but problematic.

Have you seen Altered Carbon or read the book? Head over to our Community and let us know what you think.

6 Reasons Why Assassin’s Creed: Origins is for the Haters

There are a lot of gamers who stopped playing Assassin’s Creed right after III. I get it, III was the low point, and you got burned out on the whole concept of the series. You missed out on the rest and that’s fair enough. Maybe you dipped back into a Unity or Syndicate and still the problems you had with the series persisted.

Here’s 6 complaints that I’m happy to report are addressed in the latest Assassin’s Creed, Origins.

Complaint: “The combat is too easy. Press ‘counter’ and win. YAWN!”

So the first Assassin’s Creed brought in it’s own brand of 3rd person combat. Enemies come at you one at a time, a signal flashes, you hit ‘counter’ and gut them. Rinse and repeat. Then came Batman: Arkham Asylum and Shadow of Mordor and made everyone get kind of bored of pressing ‘counter’ to win. Dark Souls didn’t help by coming along and showing that pressing ‘roll’ is infinitely more fun, or even ‘block’. Assassin’s Creed introduced different enemies, enemy levels and weapons but it was no good. The infamous ‘counter’ button wouldn’t shift from the tedious hivemind of the internet…until now.

Origins has no ‘counter’ button. You can now lock onto enemies to focus them, hold up your shield, and the only counter is a well-timed parry that has no prompt. Enemies have no qualms attacking in groups, and gone are the auto-aim ranged weapons. Stealth killing dangerous enemies feels like plunging a blade into the neck of a real pain in the arse that you won’t have to deal with later. Escaping after killing your target ASAP becomes more natural.

 

Complaint: “They took my dagger and duel hidden blades and axe and-“

Back in Assassin’s Creed 2, you had a load of weapons to play with but the fights almost always ended up the same way. A heavy halberd didn’t really have that much of a different feel then a normal sword. The counter was more fun to watch but there was no difference in feel or skill. That’s why in future games the weapon range shrunk (not to mention in Victorian London wearing a multitude of melee weapons were frowned upon).

Now thanks to the new combat system, you’re going to be extremely chuffed to poke enemies to death with a 2 metre spear, or dance around them with your dual blades as they swing their big dumb mace through thin air. There’s also a metre that charges when you fight, and filling it lets you deal an awesome attack, normally one-shotting foes. The auto-kill button becomes something hard to achieve rather than one button on the controller. There’s also bombs, 3 different types of bows (the shotgun bow is a blast), and plenty of goodies on the tech tree, like different ways to use your shield.

 

Complaint: “These assassins are definitely NOT Ezio.”

The series started with Altair, a solid 7 out of 10 in terms of protagonists. They then went for Ezio and, over the course of 3 games, encapsulated what we liked about the series. His lifelong fight against the Templars was badass, but he also had the flair and cockiness that made him the Starlord of Renaissance Italy. After that we had series low point Connor, Kenway the pirate was alright but basically just a pirate, I can’t even remember the French guy’s name (Arno!), but he was mostly forgettable. The Frey twins were cool but didn’t reinvent the wheel. No-one has measured up to brilliant Ezio.

Meet Bayek. He’s a Medjay, which is essentially a 00 agent for the Pharaoh. His son is killed and is on the hunt for vengeance with his equally awesome and deadly wife Aya. He’s clever, strong, determined to avenge his boy, but still not afraid to take a side quest where he gets into a drunken fight with an old friend and wakes up in a stable. It’s like they took all the best bits of Ezio (cut out the whiny teenager bit), gave him an Egyptian license to kill, and made him a great guy to boot, with an awesome wife.

Complaint: “How did this assassin know how to assassinate peeps so good?”

It’s only about 2 minutes into Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag that the assassin steals a hood and hidden blade, and is then free-running like a parkour expert, jumping off buildings and doing duel assassinations, and doing the pushing-people-out-the-way thing that ONLY ASSASSINS CAN DO. What gives? I know that having a 10 hour prologue like Assassin’s Creed 2 every game would be impractical – AC3 showed that quite well – but let’s at least be a tiny bit realistic.

Bayek, as mentioned earlier, is one of the most trained warriors in all Egypt. He’s got many years of fighting under his leopard skin belt; hunting dangerous animals is part of his job description; and he’s trusted to protect the god-on-earth Pharaoh, AND his entire village. When we meet him he’s spent a year already hunting down those who took his son, in a rather brutal fashion. He’s ready to be the original assassin.

Complaint: “STOP TRYING TO MAKE DESMOND HAPPEN, UBISOFT.”

The most divisive part about the series itself has always been Abstergos, Abstergi, Abstrogon…the present day stuff. It started out with Desmond, the guy who has all the memories of the assassins running through his DNA. They got rid of him and then each subsequent game had another person, ranging from faceless Abstergo employee to with-face Abstergo employee. Either way, it’s always been a drag to be dragged out of the interesting historical setting.

In Origins it feels like they’ve hit just the right amount of present day stuff, even if we all wish they would do away with it. The person you have to play is an actual person with a personality which helps, and you can also do as much or as little in present day as you like. You can nope the hell out of there and jump straight back into the animus if you choose. No more running around as Desmond, and no more Danny Wallace.

 

Complaint: “This game has too much sea/open space/wilderness/not enough variety.”

We started off with a couple of cities to play with, then it was one city, then another, with a bit of countryside, then more wilderness than town, then the whole Caribbean, then another big city…you get the idea. Fans of the series have their opinions about how much building they want, how much open space and how much space for their great galleons there is.

It’s not Paris, and it’s no Caribbean, but the map in Origins is huge, and goes from Oasis towns in the desert, to Alexandria with it’s huge libraries and lighthouses, to various rural zones that do feel different. And you get around on a camel, which is cool, or a chariot, which is even cooler.

Agree or disagree? Let’s take the debate over to the community.

Reasons Why We Can’t Wait for the PC Gamer Weekender

The PC Gamer Weekender is fast approaching, it’s being held on the 17-18th of February right here in sunny London town. It’s a celebration of everything PC Gaming and would you believe it, that appeals to us at Green Man Gaming.

We’ll be attending and we’re incredibly excited about what’s going on there, here’s some reasons why we think you should be excited to attend too.

You get to play upcoming games before they’re out

When you’re there you’ll get the chance to hop on a PC and play a game before it’s out, games like Warhammer: Vermintide 2, Phoenix Point, Rend, Production Line, Mashinsky, Cobalt WASD, Spellforce 3, Frozen Synapse 2, Biomutant, and much more will be there. You’ll be able to have a play, see what you think, and then tell all your friends if something’s amazing. Or if something’s terrible! The key thing is; you’ll know, and you can lord it over your friends forever.

Well, until these games come out anyway.

There’s Dev Talks

One of the best things that happens at events like this is that you get to go to talks held by developers, meaning you get an insight and a bit more understanding of how things work, what decisions were made, and just the whole creative process behind making some of your favourite games. This year Creative Assembly are doing one, so you can bone up on Total War, Fatshark will be there to talk ratty Warhammers, Mojang will be chatting about Minecraft, and Subset Games will be doing a talk about Into the Breach.

If you’re interested in how games are made or just want to know more about the games industry, these are a perfect place to jump in and get learned up.

PC Workshops

The best thing about being into PC Gaming is that you’re in control – it’s your PC, it’s owned by you, and if you want you can build it, tweak it, and upgrade it as you see fit. PC Gamer are hosting some PC Workshops held by Tom Logan from OC3D. This’ll be a great opportunity to anyone wanting to know more about how computers fit together and how to build and upgrade your system, stuff that’s not essential to be a PC Gamer, but it’s stuff that is worth learning about!

The Overwatch Bootcamp

Want to get better at Blizzard’s hero based shooter? Then the Omen by HP Bootcamp are there to kick your arse into gear and get you playing Overwatch like a champ. You’ll be tutored by players like Mark ‘Valkia’ Purdy and members of the Overwatch World Cup UK Team – Realzx and Kruise, who are going to sort out your skills and make an Overwatch GOD of you.

Free Game

And frankly if the above isn’t enough to get you excited, there’s a free game with every ticket purchase – Lethal League – and you’ll get four copies of it so you can share it with your mates!

It’s the cream on top of the dessert that is the PC Gamer Weekender.

So that’s some reasons why you should attend, of course the real reason you should attend is that you might bump into Alex (social media) and Olly (community) there, so say hi if you see us!

The PC Gamer Weekender is happening on the 17th and 18th of February and tickets are available now!

We’re also giving away 5 Weekender+ tickets over on our competitions page, so check that out too!

Remothered: Tormented Fathers – The Lowdown

Chances are unless you’re a horror games fan, you might not have heard of Remothered: Tormented Fathers. It emerged from Early Access on the 30th of January, and it’s currently sitting at Very Positive for lifetime reviews on Steam, so you know this is a good ‘un.

OK It’s Reviewing Well, But What Is It?

Remothered: Tormented Fathers is an intense 3rd person survival horror game, one that sets out to explore a psychological and dynamic narrative, as well as exploring stealth, horror, survival themes, all in a terrifying and spooky house.

It has a storyline that’s not only concerned with psychology, but it’s also a deeply ambiguous one – there’s no right, there’s no wrong, there’s just shades of grey. It ties into the realism of the setting and the game, because just in life, there’s often no ‘right’ answer.

What’s It About?

You play as Rosemary Reed, a 35-year-old woman who’s investigating the disappearance of a young girl called Celeste. This investigation takes you to Richard Felton’s house, an old man who’s affected by a mysterious disease. Gloria greets you as you reach the house, the nurse who looks after Mr. Felton…and the story begins.

Alright Why’s It So Special?

You’re being stalked throughout the house, and it’s left up to you how you outwit, evade, or run from them. You can hide, you can fight, you can trap, you can cower in a corner. All that’s available to you as you try to survive the horror of the Felton house. It feels like a mix of the Clocktower series, Resident Evil, Alien Isolation, and Amnesia.

In addition to that, it tries to keep the setting and the puzzles you encounter realistic. Whilst people may turn into monsters and monster may exist, there’s ambiguity there, are they really monsters or is this a representation of their, or your, psychology?

The soundtrack’s also something that needs paying attention to – it’s directed by Luca Balboni and Nobuko Toda, you might recognise the latter name from games such as Final Fantasy, Halo, and Metal Gear Solid.

I’m Scared, Will This Scare Me?

Yup, to be honest when I was researching this piece I looked at a gif that frankly did me in, so if even a gif can scare me, the game will probably be well worth it in terms of AGH value.

Where do I Find Out More?

Check out the trailer: (CW, gore and horror).

and if you like what you see, head on over to our store for more!

Remothered: Tormented Fathers is out now, and it’s bloody scary.

 

Green Man Gaming’s Playday Sale!

It’s been a long month hasn’t it. January is always the longest of months, especially for the ol’ bank balance. You spent everything on Christmas and maybe your work even paid you early for it, which is a lovely idea but you just ended up spending EVEN MORE on Christmas.

But it’s nearly over. Payday is on its way and you’ll be back in the black soon enough.

Why not celebrate your upcoming salubriousness with a videogame or two? We’re here to help you out!

What is the Playday Sale?

Simply put, it is videogames, that are cheap.

Less simply put, we want to celebrate the end of January (the month that never ends) and give you the chance to pick up some games for less. We’ve even stuck a voucher out there that lets you save EVEN MORE on your order, and you can check it out on the VIP page once you’ve signed in.

Alright, what games are included in the sale?

This is only day one of the sale; we’ll be adding more, and more, and more, and more as we go through the coming days. The sale ends on the 2nd of February, so head back to our front page EVERY SINGLE DAY until then to see what’s new, what’s good, and what you can pick up at a price that’s frankly robbing us.

Here’s some highlights from day one:

Injustice 2 -30%

This is a game where you can be the Flash, punching Gorilla Grodd in the face, then slamming him back and forward in time and eventually smashing him into himself.

I mean c’mon. It’s ridiculous, and stuff like that is worth the entry price alone.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War -30%

The game that everyone made a big fuss about, turned out they were wrong, and then never actually seemed to say sorry afterwards. Its Shadow of War! It reviewed well, and it’s much like the first game only bigger in every way. Check it out if you wanna kill some orcs and make some orc buddies!

Rocket League -40%

It’s Rocket League, the game of rocket powered cars and football. I mean it’s a winning combination, unless you let the ball into your own goal. Then you don’t win so much. Put it in the other goal, and gloat over the opponents for the rest of time.

Rise of the Tomb Raider -67%

Climb, hack enemies to bits, kill some dogs, skin the dogs, wear the dogs, make friends, make enemies, loot tombs, learn Greek, it’s Tomb Raider! Lara’s back and she’s got issues, and she’s going to work out those issues by shooting a load of bad dudes in the face.

Just Cause 3 -85%

BLAM, SMASH, BOOM, EXPLOSIONS, DRIVING, ZIPWIRES! It’s Just Cause 3, and it’s the literal definition of ‘explosive’.

Life is Strange -75%

Have some emotions, go on, you’re not just a soulless automaton, you want to feel, to love, to laugh, to live! This is the game for you.

Overcooked -66%

Overcooked

Alternatively you can play this and scream at your friends as they PUT the DAMN TOMATO in the WRONG PLACE AGAIN.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 -30%

If you like superheroes or LEGO, then this is the game for you. We enjoyed it! Read what we thought here.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided -85%

There are few genres that are more ‘PC Gaming’ than the immersive sim, and the Deus Ex series is some of the best immersive simming about.

Dungeon Siege -75%

This game is old now but you can get it for less than a coffee, so yeah. Check it!

The Escapists 2 -20%

Have you escaped prison recently? No? Then this is a game you should definitely check out, you never know when you’ll need the skills you learn in its pixel schoolroom!

Check back here regularly as we’ll be adding top picks from every day of the sale!