Best PC Games 2018 What your rig needs

With three distinct modes: Campaign, Multiplayer and Snapmap a mode where you can create your own bespoke solo, co-op and competitive experiences to be shared online theres certainly plenty of game here to enjoy.

As ever, the PC version trumps its console counterparts in terms of visuals and frame rate, making for the definitive experience.

Almost limitless in scope and entertainment, we can see this appearing on best PC game lists for many years to come. A masterpiece.

Blizzard Entertainments hero shooter has become one of the biggest gaming properties across the globe since launching in May 2016. And for good reason, as the studio continues to support its beloved creation with new maps, heroes, cosmetics and regular seasonal events.

It presents a steep learning curve and requires plenty of teamwork, but get a few friends together and there arent many more rewarding shooters on the market right now.

20 hours in, youll still be discovering new mechanics you never knew existed. In this respect, Original Sin 2 is a little daunting for newcomers, requiring a bit of persistence to penetrate.

You can lose yourself for hours in the lush countryside, or seek out adventure and side-quests in order to raise your experience and gain gold. Or, if you prefer, simply stick to the main story, which involves the titular Wild Hunt and its sinister quest.

Playing as either Emily Kaldwin or Corvo Attano, you have access to a range of incredibly fun tools and abilities. How you use them is up to you. You could finish the entire journey without harming a soul, or murder every idiot in sight. Of course, your actions will have moral consequences, so be sure to look before leaping.

The latest entry in Microsofts ultra-violent shooter franchise could very well be its best yet. Developed by The Coalition,Gears of War 4marks the beginning of a new trilogy with all new characters, enemies and gamplay mechanics.

As always, youll be clinging to chest-high walls as locust and robots rain down bullets upon you. Its your job to pick the perfect window of oppurtunity to peek out and take a few precise shots. Few thrid-person shooters play better than Gears with its beautiful mixture of tight cover shooting and truly breathtaking set pieces, and its debut on Xbox One more than proves this.

The second chapter in Creative Assemblys Warhammer trilogy is here, and its yet another fantastic RTS featuring epic, sprawling battles and incredibly deep gameplay systems.

Rainbow Six: Siege has become a huge proponent of the games as a service model. With consistent updates bringing patches, new content, new characters and plenty to keep a dedicated community invested, this is a shooter thats very worthy of your time.

That being said, the quality of writing and world-building here is almost unmatched in terms of its sheer scope and detail. An experience not to be missed.

Related:Dark Souls 3 character class guide

Inspired by the likes of The Legend of Zelda and Undertale, the visuals are equally as charming, eliciting a sense of foreboding darkness that cant help but charm the player as they explore. The sound design is equally as wonderful, pulling you in the second control is gained.

Available now on PC and Xbox One Game Preview

Dealing with monsters and mining ore are pastimes for the truly adventurous farmer, and ensuring that your business remains profitable is quite a challenge especially when you consider that you can only get so much done in a day before your character becomes exhausted and needs to sleep.

At time of review the XCOM 2  was available for 44.99.

Resident Evil 7 is a glorious return to form for the iconic survival horror series. Switching the action to a first-person perspective, the infected horrors and gross environments have never felt so tangibly real.

PlayerUnknowns Battlegroundshas become an absolute phenomenon, smashing record after record and picking up tons of accolades along the way. So if youre one of the few yet to experience a chicken dinner, this could be the best place to start your collection.

Combining traditional platforming stages with a series of challenging boss battles, Cuphead demands keen precision and patience from those who wish to succeed. Luckily, its lovable visual charm and razor-sharp controls will keep you pushing forward.

Dont let the simplistic 2D graphics put you off Stardew Valley is just as addictive as the likes of Dark Souls 3 or The Witcher 3.

While it may not present a completely new way of playing, Doom modernises a classic for fans young and adult to enjoy.

Easily compared to the seminal 90s puzzle title Myst, The Witness places you on a mysterious island packed with puzzles but short on direction. Its up to you to slowly but surely feel your way around this location.

A truly remarkable RPG which raises the bar for the genre.

The unique approach of the series which combines action with typical RPG elements such as levelling and a multitude of different weapons, armour, items and spells to collect has endeared the brand to millions, and the online elements allow for co-op and competitive play, allowing skilled players to invade each others worlds for rewards and bragging rights.

At time of review GTA 5 was available for 44.99.

Whether its the prettiest graphics, the deepest strategy or the fastest mouse and keyboard reaction times, PC gaming has you covered, and weve got the very best of the lot for you to enjoy.

Dishonored 2 is worth picking up for the setting alone. The possibility for further adventures in this broken world is staggering, and thats without touching upon the heaps of replay value each character offers. For stealth fans, this is nothing but essential.

You play as Ethan, a man searching for his missing partner in rural Louisiana. He soon stumbles upon The Baker Family, a group of strange people infected with some form of deadly virus.

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Director Jonathan Blow famous for the superb Braid decided to adopt a non-verbal approach for The Witness, challenging the player with exploring and learning about their new environment via other means. Over 650 different puzzles are featured, and while not all of these need to be completed to finish the game, they nevertheless assure plenty of brain-teasing gaming sessions.

Dishonored 2 is arguably the finest stealth title of 2016. Arkane Studios has taken everything that made the original so great and refined it. The art of sneaking and stabbing through the streets of Dunwall have never felt so good. You also have a new city to explore in Karnaca, a coastal metropolis filled with corrupt politicians and paranormal danger.

Making his way through sprawling mansions, filthy swamps and other strange locales, Ethan will have to solve puzzles and best horrifying enemies if he hopes to survive. This is essential for horror fans, and a masterful reboot for the troubled franchise.

Outside of combat, researching and building new weapons and gadgets plays a major part in ensuring success, and youll spend hours mastering all of the character classes and their respective load-outs.

id Software has made the game Doom fans have been waiting 20 years for. With fast, frenetic combat with plenty of gore.

The sequel to the 2012 reboot of Julian Gollops famous turn-based tactical masterpiece, XCOM 2 is set 20 years after the events of the original game but showcases the same deep and engaging strategic gameplay.

Bringing with it an assortment of new races and mechanics, Warhammer offers an experience fans of Games Workshop will find difficult resist. While somewhat overwhelming to newcomers, veterans of the genre wont be able to resist the intense level of depth of offer here.

PUBG is the latest Early Access title to become an incredible phenomenon. Like DayZ, Minecraft and others before it, this game has spread like wildfire with thousands upon thousands of players picking it up and diving into its Battle Royale-style world.

Celeste is an absolute gem and will no doubt go down as one of 2018s greatest. Its also hard as nails if thats your thing.

While its hardly exclusive to the platform, theres no doubt that the best version of Grand Theft Auto V is on PC. Better visuals and more comprehensive editing tools mean that even when youre done with the main campaign, you can spend months modding and creating your own set-pieces with the surprisingly robust movie editor component.

New to the mix is faster combat and the introduction of secondary mission objectives which add a bit of variety and extra challenging to proceedings as if XCOM wasnt tough enough already.

Machine Games has, somehow, transformed B.J. Blazkowicz into one of the more compelling leads in recent years, fleshing out his backstory alongside an excellent ensemble cast that really brings the world of Wolfenstein to life.

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Fans of the series chaotic online multiplayer and addictively challenging horde mode will find a lot to love here, as both return with refreshing new iterations. Sure, Gears of War 4 doesnt exactly rewrite the rulebook of modern shooters, but it certainly has what it takes to be the best.

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Despite its various changes, its still Civilization. You still establish cities, expand an empire and grow an army. You still research scientific and cultural upgrades in order to plot a custom-made path through history, all the way from the ancient era to the space-age. Diplomacy, religion, trading its all here at launch, making for the most feature-packed Civilization game, perhaps ever.

Heavily inspired by the popular Harvest Moon series on consoles, Stardew Valley is a cute farming simulator which sees you taking over an ailing farm and attempting to turn it into a successful agricultural venture. You can grow crops, cook food, craft new items, go fishing and even strike up a relationship which can lead to marriage.

Glory Kills also add a new way to take out the demons of hell too, with several new executions to enjoy.

PC gaming is where you can find the best graphics for the latest games, provided you have a powerful enough rig. Be it Steam, Origin or GOG, we have all the best PC games you need to install right now.

With heroes still being added to the game, this is a title that is still rewarding long-serving fans with new content.

Ascending the mountain also acts as a strong metaphor for Celestes exploration of mental health. Madeline suffers from anxiety and panic attacks and views climbing the mountain as a way of both physically and emotionally overcoming them.

After years of development, Cuphead is finally here, and it was definitely worth the wait. Presented with utterly gorgeous hand-drawn animation that feels straight out of the 1930s, Cupheads beauty is something only matched by its unforgiving difficulty.

Minit is a retro adventure game played in sixty second chunks. Once a minute is up, youll die and respawn in a small area designated as your home. This unusual quirk makes exploration and puzzle solving feel hugely rewarding as you make small yet significant discoveries with each passing second.

Platinum has delivered another rock-solid combat experienced but seeped it into a deep and rewarding RPG, and brilliantly strikes the balance between the two. It also delivers a very intriguing story that only offers more layers the further in you get.

Celeste is a platforming masterpiece. From the creators of Towerfall: Ascension, you play as a young girl named Madeline who is determined to climb the colossal mountain set before here. She meets a variety of quirky personalities on her journey, all of which help enhance her truly fascinating character.

Related:Star Wars Battlefront 2 review

Battlefield 1is a breathtakingly-gorgeous first-person shooter, and it looks unbelievable on a good PC. EA and DICE have always pushed the boat out on PC, and this World War 1 epic is no different. If you want an incredibly immersive first person shooter with intense battles and incredible multiplayer for your new rig, it doesnt get any better than with BF1.

Digging deeper into the world of The Witness is one of gamings most rewarding pleasures, and the game is every bit as essential as Braid was back in 2008. A must-have, even if youre not a fan of puzzle games.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a bloody beautiful first-person shooter. Despite being a game about murdering as many evil Nazis as humanly possible, it manages to tell a truly enthralling narrative filled with spectacular set-pieces and genuine emotional highs.

Civilization VI is the best Civilization game to date. Thats no mean feat for a franchise with such a revered lineage, but the changes, refinements and additions that developer Firaxis has made to Civilization VI create a game thats not only complex and deep; its fun, exciting and unpredictable over the course of dozens of hours.

At time of review The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was available for 44.99.

Buy Wolfenstein 2: New Colossus fromAmazon UK

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a spectacular RPG positively brimming with new races, locations, quests and more just waiting to be uncovered by the player.

Its rare that a sequel manages to improve so comprehensively on the title which precedes it; this is one of those cases.

If a multi-person battle royale isnt your thing, then weve rounded up more of the very best games PC has in store for players, including some of the early gems to appear in 2018. Here we go!

If you enjoy smashing robots into lots of tiny pieces, then this is definitely a game you need to add to your library.

Previously a PC-exclusive, the Witcher series has since found fame on consoles but if you wish to experience the definitive version, you really need a PC. Set in a nightmarish fantasy world where assassins rub shoulders with undead monsters and mythical beasts, The Witcher picks up where PC classics like Ultima VII left off, offering the player a vast and highly detailed world and to a certain extent allowing them to tackle it in whatever manner they see fit.

Players jump into a huge map and simply have to fight, survive and thrive. Up to 100 players dueling to the death on a remote island is as intense and thrilling as youd expect, as desperate scavenges for resources become brawls to the death for scraps of food, fuel, and ammunition.

FromSoftwares punishing fantasy series was once called a cult classic, but its incredible mainstream success would suggest that its no longer a niche franchise.