PC Gamer

Company of Heroes 2 story trailer suggests war might not be all fun and games

Well thanks, morose Russian soldier man. Here I was thinking about Company of Heroes 2, and getting all excited for another slice of deep RTS action, and here you are to bring the mood down. Yes, technically war might be a little bit rubbish. But when it’s restricted to my computer, it’s great. Although, even then, I guess I could understand his lack of enthusiasm. I did get a lot of people killed in the first game.

Wargame: AirLand Battle trailer strategically mixes war room planning with RTS battling

It’s a good job real generals aren’t as callous as the average RTS player. I still remember teenage afternoons spent surveying the battlefields of the early C&C games; sending squads of infantry to their death because they were, what? $100. Pocket change. Wargame: AirLand Battle is being a bit more respectful towards the cost of human life, with persistent units that follow across the Dynamic Campaign map that is the subject of this trailer.

Starcraft 2′s WCS Europe Season 1 league finalists to clash this weekend

A potential bank holiday scenario: You’re halfway through a long weekend buried face-deep in a monitor, blasting through some games. Then, all of a sudden, your body kicks you out of the digitally enhanced stupor, complaining of aching fingers and a distended bladder. Look, you’re getting older. There’s no shame in that. Luckily, with the WCS Europe Season One finals, due to take place this weekend, Blizzard can help you extend that gaming marathon through the vicarious thrill of watching professionals at work.

Dust: An Elysian Tail bringing 2D RPG action to Steam later today

Dust: An Elysian Tail, the side-scrolling anthropomorphic action RPG, has finally been swept from its XBLA home, and blown over to the PC chimney… And yes! I can continue this naff metaphor, introducing Steam as the gust of wind that’s carrying it towards its release later today, when it’ll finally settle on the shelf of… er… damn it. Pushed it too far.

Skyward Collapse released, turn-based god game diplomacy arrives on Steam

The thing about humans is, you try and do something nice for them, and then they throw it back in your face by raising an army and going to war. Even innocent things, like building a bakery so they don’t starve, will result in more soldiers prowling the floating island you watch over. Well, at least they can defend themselves from bandits… No, wait, they’re charging head-first into a big Greek mythological monstrosity. The other thing about humans is they’re kind of dumb.

That’s what you’ll have to deal with in Skyward Collapse, the turn-based 4X god game from AI War developer Arcen Games. You play as The Creator, who is attempting to help two warring civilizations thrive, without letting either get advanced enough to wipe out their rival. It’s an interesting twist on the god ‘em up genre, and it’s out now through Steam and the developer’s website.

Need for Speed: Rivals announced, PC version will “look easily as good” as next-gen

Another twist in the increasingly soap opera-like will they/won’t they story of love and indifference between EA and the PC. Previously on “The Next Gen”: FIFA 14 decides we won’t get to play with its new Ignite engine, and EA’s own CTO says hurtful things about their relationship with a supposedly more powerful squeeze.

But now, speeding across the highway comes Need for Speed: Rivals, the latest in the publisher’s never-ending racer series. It’s being released for PC, as well as current- and next-gen consoles. More importantly, developer Ghost Games’ executive producer Marcus Nilsson has told Joystiq that, “Need for Speed Rivals will look easily as good on PC as next-generation consoles.”

Joe Danger and Joe Danger 2 coming to PC with new levels, ghosts, graphics, Steam Workshop

Fans of bears on unicycles rejoice, Joe Danger and friends are finally getting a chance to race on PC this year. Cheerful stunt racer, Joe Danger and its sequel, Joe Danger 2: The Movie, will arrive on Steam with extra levels, higher resolutions and Steam Workshop support that will let players share levels assembled in the track editor, and share ghosts of their fastest runs, inducing a bitter in-office rivalry that will surely consume us all.

JD and JD2 have been around for ages on Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network, but “actually, PC is Joe Danger’s spiritual home,” Hello Games founder Sean Murray says in the announcement piece. “I coded my first ever PC engine when we started making the original Joe Danger back in 2009, because we couldn’t get hold of console devkits. So it’s incredibly exciting to be finally able to release it.”

Indie game Still Time bends time, twists logic

If you thought Braid’s time-travel mechanics messed with your noggin, wait until you get a look at Still Time, a stylish indie platformer being kicked into shape by solo developer Alan Zucconi.

Saints Row 4 trailer throws a guy into a jet

The frequently ridiculous but always entertaining Saints Row series is continuing with Saints Row IV, due to arrive August 23. We’ve already gotten the details on the new “Commander in Chief” preorder pack, and we’ve already gotten a glimpse of the kinds of insanity players will experience when they jump back in with the Saints. We’ve already talked about the dubstep gun.

Check out Terraria’s PC-only 1.2 update

The surprise news about an update for the thought-to-be-unsupported sandbox Terraria sure was shocking, wasn’t it? But nobody’s trolling. That update is real, and they’re talking about it in the Terrarian Times and everything. Welcome back, Terraria; we’re glad you’re growing again.