Rock Paper Shotgun

Best SSD 2018: Top solid state drives for gaming

By Alice OConnor on October 31st, 2017 at 10:50 am

Video: Watch us kill zombies (and a few survivors) in State of Decay 2 co-op

THE MECHANIC: Cargo planeRead the rest of this entry

RPS FeatureAnd which games might do it…

By Brendan Caldwell on January 9th, 2018 at 5:30 pm

By RPS on March 2nd, 2018 at 7:00 pm

By Adam Smith on November 18th, 2016 at 5:00 pm

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RPS FeatureLooking at the data behind bad games

Video: How does Two Point Hospital compare to Theme Hospital?

PlayStation Now iscoming to PC, allowing you to stream PlayStation 3 games to your computer for a monthly subscription fee. That includes some of the last console generations best games. It might be a bit overwhelming if youve not been paying attention beyond the borders of PC gaming, but luckily weve been playing console games for the past couple of decades in case ofjust such an eventuality. Here are the ten best games currently offered via PlayStation Now.

Weve got deals thatll work in the UK, deals thatll work in the US and some deals that will work in both the UK and US, as well as presumably many other places. But first, we need to talk about free stuff.

Something else is coming out of the shadows this week. Were about halfway through November and that means Black Friday deals are creeping out of their year-long hibernation and making themselves known. Theres a few of the pre-Black Friday type deals go check out this week.

Be pilots, pirates and space truckers

Somewhere across Erangels 64 square kilometres of towns, villages, hills, rivers and sea, 100 players are running, looting, driving and shooting each other. With every one of them having an average of well over half a square kilometre to themselves, it might sound like playing PUBG is a lonely experience, but in practice its anything but. The opening minutes are always intense, demanding strategy and planning. Its all down to a clever piece of design that relates to how youre being delivered to this Battle Royale:

Amnesia FortnightDouble Fine Productionsfeaturegame jamsinterviewTim Schafer, .

The game trailer is a sly creature. It wants to entertain you, to excite you, to embolden you with curiousity. But it also wants to sell you a bunch of code wrapped up in some 3D shapes. Some trailers turn out to be more artful than the game theyre hawking, others plant sneaky emotions in your head with music. However, some are better than others. Here are the best conflagrations of light and noise in PC gaming.

An entirely objective ranking of the 50 best PC strategy games ever made, now brought up to date with the riches of the last two years. From intricate wargames to soothing peacegames, the broad expanse of the genre contains something for everyone, and weve gathered the best of the best. The vast majority are available to buy digitally, a few are free to download and play forever. Theyre all brilliant.

age-of-wonders-ii-the-wizards-throneAI War: Fleet CommandBattle for Wesnothbest gamesBest Of StrategyBest Strategy Gamesbestest gamesChampionship Manager: Season 01/02Cities: SkylinesCompany of HeroesCrusader Kings IIDarkest DungeonDefconDistant Worlds: UniverseDominions 4: Thrones of AscensionDwarf FortressEndless LegendEuropa Universalis IV: Art of WarfeaturefeaureFrozen SynapseGalactic Civilizations IIGary Grigsbys War In The EastGround-ControlHearts of Iron IVHeroes of Might & Magic III HD EditionHomeworld Remastered CollectionImperialism 2Invisible IncJagged Alliance 2: ReloadedKing of Dragon PassMen Of WarMythNeptunes PrideOffworld Trading CompanyOpen Transport Tycoon DeluxePanzer CorpsPrison ArchitectRise-of-NationsRollercoaster TycoonRPS Recommendedrps-ultromegafeatureSid Meiers Alpha CentauriSid Meiers Civilization IVSolium InfernumStarCraft II: Wings Of LibertyStartopiaSupreme Commander: Forged AllianceSupreme-CommanderThe Banner SagaThe Banner Saga 2The Settlers IITotal War: WarhammerTransport TycoonTransport Tycoon DEluxeUFO: Enemy UnknownUnity of Commandwarcraft IIIWargame: AirLand BattleWarhammer 40000: Dawn of WarWarlords IIXCOM 2XCOM: Enemy Unknown, .

Everythings better with a pal or two in tow, from collaborative puzzle solving to sublime double stealth takedowns. Equally sublime are when those takedowns go awry, your partner shrieks in panic and all hands are needed on deck to clear up the mess. Whether local or online, co-op games offer some of the best fun you can have in 2018.

By Alex Wiltshire on June 30th, 2017 at 9:00 pm

By RPS on November 24th, 2017 at 9:00 pm

Dont worry, theres only nine of them.

By RPS on October 31st, 2016 at 5:00 pm

Video: Yokus Island Express is a bit Metroid, a bit pinball and a bit good

Best game trailersBest OfBioShockDead IslandEVE OnlineFallout 3featureGTAIVStar Wars: The Old RepublicTeam Fortress 2The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimThe Witcher 2: Assassin of KingsTom Clancys The Division, .

When I tell people Im a programmer, I get that look. The glazed eyes, the polite smile, the clear desire to change topic. If Im lucky, Ill get pitched on an idea for the next killer mobile app that my conversation partner insists will make us rich; if Im less lucky, Ill get wrangled into providing free tech support for the rest of my life. The thing is, though, as impossible as it might sound, programming can be more fun than people realise. Fun enough to warrant its own video game genre, even.

RPS FeatureBe pilots, pirates and space truckers

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RPS FeatureThe worthiest reticules of all time

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Update: The year is finished, which means you can now read our final list of thebest games of 2017.

Weve all picked our favourites, and present them here in alphabetical order so as not to start any fights. Youre bound to have a game youd have wanted to see on the list, so please do add it to the comments below.Read the rest of this entry

The best shooters endure. While the state of the art moves on in other genres and leaves old designs in the dust, its as fun to fire a well-made shotgun from an early 90s FPS as from one released today. For that reason, this list runs the gamut from genre classics to those released in the last year. Theres bound to be something for you inside.

arthur dibiancaCaelyn Sandelcaleb wilsonCEJ Pacianchandler grooverdanse nocturnefeaturefreegrandma bethlindas variety boxIF Onlyinteractive fictionjoey joneskerkerkruiplight my way homelime ergotmatt sheridan smithmidnight swordfightparsers. john rosssuperluminal vagrant twintreasures of a slavers kingdomvictor gijsbersyou cant see any such thing, .

By Fraser Brown on March 26th, 2018 at 10:00 pm

RPS FeatureIt starts aboard that flight

By Philippa Warr on April 26th, 2017 at 7:00 pm

By RPS on June 14th, 2016 at 5:00 pm

Emily Short is one of the worlds leading gurus on Interactive Fiction. Were delighted to tell you that IF Only will be a regular column about the myriad world of IF gaming.

Just how educational are these games, though? Is it really possible to become a programmer by playing games? I dug through Steam and came away with three promising candidates. Lets take a look at them, and see whether they can really teach you skills to pay the bills.

Two brand new heroes have arrived inDota 2with the launch of version 7.07, the long-awaited Duelling Fates update. Please welcome to the battle arena Dark Willow, a spoOoky nuker, and the zippy swordsman Pangolier. Theyre the first new heroes added since the Monkey King way back in December 2016. The update is far bigger than just this pair, also adding new items, a new model for Ancient Apparition, seasons for ranked play, and oodles of skill changes and balance tweaks.Read the rest of this entry

2017 has already been an extraordinary year for PC games, from both big-name AAA successes to no-name surprise indie smashes. Keeping up with so much thats worth playing is a tough job, but weve got your back. Here is a collection of the games that have rocked the RPS Treehouse so far this year.

Arma 3Artemis Bridge SimulatorBest Co-Op Gamesbest gamesBorderlands 2Dark SoulsDawn of War 2Diablo 3Divinity: Original Sin 2Dont Starve TogetherFar Cry 4featureGTA VKeep Talking and Nobody ExplodesKilling Floor 2Left 4 DeadMinecraftOvercookedPayday 2Portal 2Rainbow-Six-Vegas-2SpelunkySplinter Cell: Chaos TheorySWAT 4TowerFallTransformiceViscera Cleanup DetailWarhammer: Vermintide 2, .

Now thatFallout 4is in its third year and the DLC has dried up, is there any point in returning to the Commonwealth Wasteland? Yes! There are loads, largely thanks to the still-growing list of mods, overhauls and user tweaks. Here, Ive gathered over 50 of my favourites, ranging from weird weapons to wild weather.

Just hit the left and right arrow keys to navigate the Games Of The Half Year or click on the arrows next to the images to get started!

I started feeling a little bogged down by the scope of [Brutal Legend], says Tim Schafer, founder of Double Fine. It was really huge and I felt like the team had been doing it for a long time and had a long way to go yet. I felt like they needed a break.

RPS FeatureFor graphics, weapons, the UI and more.

By Jamie Wallace on November 11th, 2016 at 12:51 pm

By Emily Short on June 15th, 2016 at 9:00 pm

We spend a lot of time playing games we dont like. Remember The War Z, renamed to Infestation: Survivor Stories after receivingoverwhelmingly negative reviewsall around? On Steam, it has nearly 14,000 negative reviews which total 507,837 played hours of absolute garbage. Or what about Duke Nukem Forever, which is somehow sitting at Mostly Positive at the moment? The 1500-odd Steam reviews that rightly acknowledge it as a flaming trash pile account for 10,013 hours those poor souls will never get back.

Weve listed ours in alphabetical order to prevent genre-based punch-ups in the staff chatroom. Wed also invite you to list any gems we havent mentioned or might not have played in the comments below.

It is also a great way to explore the wide range of possible experiences within horror fiction. Here, there is something for everyone, even the squeamish and the easily-startled. Yes, there are jumpscares, but there are also slow-burn psychological dramas and tongue-in-cheek splatterfests. There are uncanny things and real terrors, but there are smiles and smirks among the shocks.

By Adam Smith on October 31st, 2017 at 5:14 pm

Im fascinated by the lifetimes we cumulatively waste on games we end up hating, and so I decided to dig a little deeper. How long do we typically spend with a game before we decide its no good? Do we have to finish it, or do we make up our minds before the credits roll? Does it take us longer to nail down our feelings on a popular game versus an unpopular one? Why on earth dont we just do something else?

The best free games are on PC, and if you want to know what the best 50 are then youve come to the right place.

To compile a list of the 25 best horror games on PC is to look into the void for so long that the void not only starts to look back, but shakes you by the hand and takes you out for coffee. It is to fight with monsters until you become a monster and then go on a European railtrip with the other monsters, and really bond over cocktails in Saint-Tropez.

Space games have experienced a rebirth over the past few years, particularly space sims, but as many in the comments pointed out, you dont need to be sitting in a cockpit to enjoy the stars. This updated list broadens our search for the best space games on PC, throwing strategy games, roguelikes and at least one RPG into the mix.

Read on to see what the top picks are.

This isThe Mechanic, where Alex Wiltshire invites developers to discuss the inner workings of their games. This time,Playerunknowns Battlegroundsofficial site].

RPS FeatureRanked in the correct order, finally

By Matt Sayer on October 3rd, 2016 at 7:00 pm

The banker who brought Eves greatest empire to its knees

That break was Amnesia Fortnight, a two week game jam during which anyone at the developer can pitch an idea and, if its selected, lead a team to turn it from concept to working prototype. Now in its tenth year, I spoke to Schafer about the jams benefits, pitfalls and how its changed over the years.Read the rest of this entry

We usually do our enormous GAMES OF THE YEAR posting fest at the end of the year (as would seem logical) but because it seems silly to reserve praise for special occasions were doing a Games Of The Half Year collection to tell you about everything weve loved playing so far. It can double as a summer holiday recommendations list too!

Alien: IsolationAmnesia: The Dark DescentAnatomybest gamesBest Horror GamesBloodcondemned: criminal originsDarkwoodDead Space 2Depths of Fear :: KnossosDetentionF.E.A.R.featureInsideknock knockLeft 4 Dead 2lone survivorLong LegsMy Fathers LongObserverPathologicResident Evil 7 BiohazardS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of PripyatSilent Hill 2Stories UntoldSylvioSystem Shock 2TeleglitchTeleglitch: Die More EditionThe Evil Within, .

By RPS on August 23rd, 2016 at 9:30 pm

Double Fine ProductionsfeatureHack N SlashHuman ResourceHuman Resource Machinekyle gablerKyle GrayTIS-100tomorrow corporationZach BarthZachtronic Industries, .

I dont know about any of you guys but after what has felt like the longest week of the decade, Im planning to spend essentially my entire weekend playing Dishonored 2. Of course, what that means is the usual stealth game tactic of being the ultimate shadow person until being discovered and then promptly murdering everyone in sight. Its a living.

Back in the late 90s, the name interactive fiction was applied mostly to parser-based text adventures descended from Zork, where all output was in text and the player had to type commands to proceed. The genre has opened up enormously in recent years, with Twine and other choice-based fiction now often included in IF competitions and databases, and with some players and journalists applying the term interactive fiction even to graphical games with 3D environments if they have enough of a focus on story. Contrary to common report, though, this doesnt mean that text adventures have either gone away or stopped innovating.

RPS FeatureNo free-to-play, just free.

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Video: 8 toasty tactics I wish Id known before starting Frostpunk

There are more wonderful games being released on PC each month than ever before. In such a time of plenty, its important that you spend your time as wisely as possible. Thankfully, were here to help. What follows are our picks for the best PC games ever made.Read the rest of this entry

Sometimes you need a hand to hold, so weve updated our list of the 25 best co-op games to play on PC with a headset-wearing friend or a muted stranger.

A group of Final Fantasy fans divided against themselves cannot cast fire. Or so the saying goes. For too long weve been at war about which is the best. Sliding roman numerals around on a table until one of us gets upset and starts using bad language. Lets end this, here, today. Lets look at each other, earnestly, with open minds and opener hearts, and regard one another as friends, allies in a world that doesnt understand us. Lets look not tothe past, but to the future!

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By RPS on February 1st, 2018 at 5:00 pm

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Before we start, a couple of things to remember: some mods will require some or all of the DLC expansions, as well as additional mods, while others dont play nicely with each other. The mod descriptions onNexuswill usually tell you, so keep an eye out.

best modsBethesda SoftworksFallout 4featureMods, .

And also at this definitive list of Final Fantasy games available on PC ranked in perfect order.

Video: 10 State of Decay 2 tips to stay alive

By Matt Sayer on January 10th, 2017 at 7:00 pm

CatherinefeatureGod of War 2Heavy RainIcojourneyPlayStationPSNowshadow of the colossusSiren: Blood CurseSonyThe Last of UsThe Unfinished SwanUncharted 2, .

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