This week's highs and lows in PC gaming

THE HIGHS

Tom Senior: Hesitant Evil

I love the Resident Evil 2 remake! I was so-so on the idea of it because thought it existed for purely nostalgic reasons, but actually it condenses some of the series’ best elements in one package. It’s Resi 2 with Resi 4’s shooting in Resi 7’s engine, and the four-hour chunk I’ve played so far has been perfectly paced. It’s genuinely tense, and it looks fantastic. I’m keen to harvest the police station’s secrets before I move on. Make sure you don’t miss the shotgun. If you want to know all of the safe codes then we’ve got you covered there. For more tips we’ve got a Resident Evil remake guide too.

Samuel Roberts: Non-stop hits

Resident Evil 2 has soaked up most of my time playing games in 2019 so far, but it wasn't even the highest-scoring game that we reviewed this week on PC Gamer. Slay The Spire beat it by three percent, already positioning it as a GOTY contender before January is even over. That's amazing. I always considered this a dead time of year for big game releases. When did that change? Was it when Mass Effect 2 randomly came out in January 2010? 

And, just over two weeks from now, we face the biggest games release day in recent memory. The early part of the year will never be quiet again.

Tyler Wilde: February rush

Slay the Spire is out now, and Evan's review does a superb job of explaining what makes it so great—rather than summarizing it, I'll just direct you to read it. It's my favorite game of 2019 so far, and the year's just begun. Like Sam, I'm excited for what's already released and what's coming over the next couple months (especially Metro Exodus). After a quick jaunt to LA this weekend (and some time allotted to catch up on the NHL All Star Game highlights), I'm going to take a break from spire slaying to play Resident Evil 2. I never played the original, so it'll all be new to me. After feeling a bit let down around the end of last year—not much caught my attention—my list of games to try is becoming stacked.

Fraser Brown: Leggy mechs

This could just as easily be filed in lows, as I have a confession to make: I’ve got my eye on another survival MMO. I’m exhausted by them, I’ve played too many, but here we are. The game in question is Last Oasis, announced recently and heading to Early Access soon. Take a look at this ridiculous trailer and tell me that you don’t want one of those wooden landship-mech-thingys.

Frankly, a lot of the trailer looks a bit too good, but my interest is thoroughly piqued. Beyond the obvious appeal of building and riding ships propelled by mechanical legs, I’m also very keen on the multi-crew stuff. Artemis, Elite, Guns of Icarus, Sea of Thieves—they’re great fodder for emergent multiplayer shenanigans. But do I want to dedicate more of my life to chopping down trees? It’s a tough one!  

Chris Livingston: Fallout Seventy Fix

Without knowing how fun or successful it'll be yet, it's at least a bit of good news that Fallout 76 is getting a new PvP mode. It's called 'survival' which is misleading, because at the moment it doesn't sound like there's really any more survival elements to it, but it's a mode with fewer restrictions and more stakes in PvP battles. Most importantly, it's simply a different mode separate from the main game, a different way to play, and that's a good start. Fallout 76 was built with a one-size-fits-all philosophy, making a lot of compromises in a bid to appeal to everyone. But I think games are stronger when there are different ways to play: PvE-only servers, hardcore survival servers, roleplay servers, custom servers. I hope this is the start of bigger changes to Fallout 76 that support different styles of play.

James Davenport: Locked up

I love untangling an intricate videogame space. The RE2 Remake has plenty of classic scares and zombie shooting, but its greatest asset are locked doors, winding hallways, and keys. I missed out on the original RE2, so I'm not sure how closely the new puzzles hew to the old ones, but I could wander that resplendent, surreal police station forever. The station is just small enough that memorizing the layout doesn't take too long, which means finding an item and instantly knowing where it's meant to be used happens early, and often. I'll never own a house, but it's probably for the better. Each room will require finding a color-coded key hidden somewhere else in the house. Want to make some eggs? Find the battery and C4 first.