Want to play some games with us? Grab some tickets for the PC Gamer Weekender! Running March 5-6, we'll have the UK's biggest PC gaming floor with hundreds of stations for you to try the latest games, developer sessions, hardware seminars, and more. Get exclusive access to Dark Souls III and Total War: Warhammer, then pick up the parts and expertise you need to create your perfect gaming rig. Battle for glory in our competitive gaming area and, when the day is done, enjoy everything that East London has to offer.
Below are all the games that’ll be at the show for you to play. Head to weekender.pcgamer.com for tickets and more information.
Dark Souls 3
If the opening cinematic for Dark Souls 3 is any indication, From Software’s next Souls game will be just as otherworldly as ever, with incredible bosses to fight and a decaying world to explore. Our hands-on time with the game so far has confirmed the same. It looks and feels a whole lot like Dark Souls, but with a welcome infusion of Bloodborne’s faster combat. We’re most excited about the unique skills attached to each weapon style, which you’ll be able to try for yourself before the game’s out. Dark Souls 3 releases on March 24.
Total War: Warhammer
Dwarves with flamethrowers. Dwarves with beard armor with flamethrowers. That's a strong sell for Total War: Warhammer. Creative Assembly’s next 4X strategy game finally gives the developer a chance to break from historical accuracy to frolic in the absurd playground of Warhammer lore, bringing a scale to Warhammer battles we only dreamed of when playing the tabletop game. The animation and unit variety on display for each faction, from orc boar boyz to spiders to dwarf gyrocopters to wizards, is a refreshing change from Total War’s human legions. And the campaign map even shakes things up, offering RPG-style quests and legendary items to earn. Truly the peanut butter and jelly of war-related brands.
Umbrella Corps
We got our hands on Capcom’s fast-paced 3v3 competitive shooter at PAX South, and came away impressed and eager to play more. Its short rounds and no respawning after death gave it a real Counter-Strike feel. It’s set in the Resident Evil universe, however, meaning the maps are also filled with zombies that attack both teams. It’s due out in May and this is a great chance for an early look. (Note: Age 18+)
Worlds Adrift
Everything in Worlds Adrift is persistent—move a rock, and that rock will stay where you put it until another player comes along and trips over it. Well, only if stubbed toes are a feature, but the point is that this upcoming MMO is one of the most ambitious out there. Using new technology, it promises a world where nothing is static, where players shape their environment and explore in hand-crafted airships that are restricted only by physics. Be one of the first to try out the MMO of the future.
Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade
Currently in on Steam in Early Access, Eternal Crusade will soon be much bigger. It’s a team shoot-’n-melee game set in the Warhammer 40K universe that will eventually see us battling for territory, both in PvP and PvE, in a persistent war between three factions. We recently got our first look at the Eldar faction, and spoke with the lead devs on how Eternal Crusade will grow into a massively-multiplayer war.
XCOM 2
We’ve been playing the hell out of Firaxis’ humans vs. aliens war game—which we gave one of our highest scores ever—but if you haven’t given it a go yet, it’s well worth taking a seat in the situation room to command Emily Blunt or Kylo Ren against extraterrestrials in turn-based skirmishes.
Street Fighter 5
Winner plays next on a bunch of stations running the brand new Street Fighter 5. We had a good look last year, and this is your chance to try out the V-gauge and new characters with a crowd of fans. For more, check out Capcom’s character introduction series and familiarize yourself with your chosen kickpuncher before testing your skills at the Weekender.
Killing Floor 2
Get a taste of the Early Access mutant bloodbath that is already shaping up to be better than the original. The gory co-op shooter’s got tons of guns, waves of enemies, and room for five of your friends as you work together to blast and bludgeon disgusting monsters and supremely nasty bosses. After each wave, restock on ammo, replace you armor, and grab whatever new weapons you can afford. If you haven’t hacked the twitching limbs off the game’s mutated freaks yet, this is a great chance to give it a shot.
Superhot
It’s a time-twisting FPS where bullets and bad guys only move when you do, meaning it’s less about reflexes and more about temporal planning. To stop the action, just stop moving, and to avoid enemy fire just step out of the way, all the while reveling in the slow-motion gunplay, breaking glass, and bullet trails in the air. We’ve played it, and it made us feel like a frag god. Best of all, you can watch the entire round in real-time thanks to its replay feature.
Battleborn
Battleborn is Gearbox’s new shooter-MOBA, a colourful entry into one of the most hotly-contested genres in PC gaming. Last year, Evan praised Battleborn for being one of the few shooters still offering the ‘complete package’—multiplayer, singleplayer, competitive and cooperative ways to play—but had concerns about level design. You can find out for yourself how far the game has progressed since then when you try it for yourself at the PC Gamer Weekender.
Find even more games below, and everything else you need to know on the Weekender site!
Alien Isolation
In our game of the year for 2014, sneak and scurry through a claustrophobic space station while the titular alien hunts you down. It’s atmospheric, challenging, and features one of the most striking and detailed game worlds we’ve ever seen. (Note: Age 18+)
American Truck Simulator
Hit the open roads of California and Nevada in the U.S. version of the PC’s best trucking game. Visit San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and all points in between. While not as expansive as Euro Truck Simulator—not yet, anyway—it’s still a worthwhile addition to the series.
Aperion Cyberstorm
A twin-stick 2D sci-fi shooter with lasers, rockets, and drones. Jump in for some fast-paced bullet hell action for up to five players with co-op onslaught mode or cutthroat versus mode. There’s also a campaign mode for solo players.
Arenhack
The full blueprint for Arenhack is still fuzzy, but what we do know is that we’re going to be messing with our opponents with those titular hacks. A couple examples: “your opponent can move only sideways or backwards” and “your opponent jumps too high.”
Better Late Than DEAD
Stranded on an island filled with dangerous animals and scarce supplies, it’s up to you to find food, water, tools, and weapons in this Early Access survival game. As you explore, you’ll also find the island may hide some deeper mysteries and more serious threats.
Caretaker Sacrifice
Investigate and attack the mysterious “Alpha Device” which is apparently doing quite a number on the universe’s stars—those big burny things that allow us to enjoy life. As one of two planned Caretaker games, it’s part puzzle, part adventure, and part shooter, and being developed for the Oculus Rift.
Chronicle: Runescape Legends
Get a look at developer Jagex’s upcoming collectible card game featuring heroes and characters from the Runescape universe.
Circuit Breakers
A top-down shooter with a blistering pace and room for three of your friends. Blast wave after wave of robots and collect upgrades and powerups for weapons like lasers, missiles, and guns.
Crazy Taxi
Let off some steam by driving like a lunatic in this open-world arcade classic with ridiculous physics, where getting your passenger there safely isn’t nearly as important as getting them there quickly.
Counter Terrorism Unit
Inspired by the classic SWAT games, this co-op shooter for up to five players features tactical gameplay as you breach locations and take on bad guys using guns, wits, and even intimidation. Employ night-vision gear, snake cams, riot shields, and other tools and gear to defuse the dangerous situations you encounter.
Deckbound Heroes
Try your hand (ha!) at this in-development browser-based collectible card game, where cards can be leveled up, traded, and even loaned to other players when you’re not using them.
Democracy 3: Africa
Currently in development, this standalone version of Democracy 3 takes you to the challenge of Africa where you’ll have to manage a whole new host of problems like malnutrition, clean water, and foreign aid.
E.T. Armies
This sci-fi FPS with impressive visuals and online multiplayer takes place on a planet Earth that’s been drained of resources and almost entirely abandoned. Fight off a mysterious faction called Forsaken and disrupt their plans to dominate the planet.
Enforcer: Police Crime Action
The law enforcement sim challenges you not only to tackle both minor and major crimes to keep the streets safe, but also to make the most of your off-duty time and manage your stress levels and performance. (Note: Age 18+)
Hopiko
Stylish and challenging, this speedrunning platformer pits you against a virus that is threatening to wipe out video games altogether. It’s got an old-school feel, requiring extreme precision and split-second timing, and it’s distinctly unforgiving of mistakes.
Jalopy
Take a road trip across Europe during the fall of communism in a car that’s slowly collapsing as well. Change flat tires, fix your carburetor, and upgrade your clunky, faltering ride when you can. As capitalism begins to rise, use it to your advantage by trading, selling scrap, and even smuggling goods from place to place.
Mainlining
An adventure game that takes place on the simulated desktop of a government agent. Hack the computers and phones of suspects, gather data, and spy like the pros do: without ever leaving your desk.
Master of Orion
Wargaming, the developer of free-to-play World of Warships, picked up the rights to the Master of Orion 4x strategy series and are rebooting it! With modern graphics and a new soundtrack, we’re looking forward to seeing how the game is shaping up and revisiting a universe that hasn’t gotten attention in over a decade.
Perfect Universe
Gravity is the name of the game in this attractive indie title with a hand-drawn look. One mode serves as a platformer, where you jump and glide across the landscape, and other modes feature golf and volleyball-like sports games, races against other players, and guiding an alien known as Mr. Legs across a dangerous, trap-filled environment.
Prison Architect
It’s one of the best and most engrossing simulation games of 2015, and we invite you to take a crack at designing and managing a prison without getting completely sucked in. From the challenge of planning a logical layout to obsessing over individual inmates, it's a grimly fascinating, and yet weirdly fun sim you’ll have a hard time stepping away from.
Riot: Civil Unrest
Get an early look at this strategy game due in April that lets you play as the police trying to quell a riot—and also lets you play as the rioters themselves. It’s got an appealingly gritty pixel art style and an intriguing and somewhat disturbing premise as the levels are based in the locations of real-world clashes.
Sega Bass Fishing
Kick back with some classic arcade fishing! Compete with other attendees to see who can reel in the biggest prize in this throwback to the arcade cabinets of yesteryear.
Sega Megadrive Collection
Enjoy this library of classic Sega games like Altered Beast, Sonic the Hedgehog, Ecco the Dolphin, Space Harrier 2, and tons more.
Shadowhand
From the publisher behind Redshirt and Big Pharma and the developer of Regency Solitaire comes this narrative-driven card-battling game. Set in 18th century England, it follows the adventures of an aristocrat who is secretly a notorious highwayman. Between solitaire battles, the story unfolds in the style of a visual novel.
Shoppe Keep
Rather than playing as a famous adventurer who dashes in and out of town pausing only to dump his collected trinkets in the general store, you actually play as the shopkeeper himself in this simulation and management game. Keep a selection of items on hand that appeal to all manner of adventurers, tidy up and stay organized, and obviously keep an eye out for pilfering thieves and thoughtless barbarians.
Sol Trader
It’s like Dwarf Fortress in space, with some Elite thrown in and a little arcade-like Asteroids action. In other words, it’s a lot of things. In a procedurally generated galaxy you’ll try to rise to prominence as a trader while managing relationships, dealing with family feuds that predate your own birth, and dabbling in piracy, espionage, and exploration.
Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed
Finally, Sonic can race against TF2’s Heavy and a guy in a suit from Football Manager! Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed is one of the few good kart racers on PC, and it’s well worth a spin at the Weekender. As always, gotta go fast.
Space Overlords
As a giant, extremely powerful Overlord (of space), you’ll smash up the defenses and cities of some evil aliens… at least, we hope they’re evil, because it sure looks like we’re going to stomp on a lot of them.
Starbound
Explore strange new worlds, craft strange new things—just like they did in Star Trek, right? Starbound is a sidescrolling game in the style of Terraria. With a modest spaceship to start, transform the planets you visit into new homes, dig deep mines, grow food, battle the wildlife (and wildrobots), and survive being stranded among the stars.
Starship Mechanic
Game after game has made us a starship captain, but what of the other jobs? What, is Geordi La Forge chopped liver? Starship Mechanic aims to celebrate the most important job on any spaceship: making sure the thing works.
Soul Axiom
Investigate your identity—and the contents of your soul—in a sci-fi thriller that takes place in the digital afterlife, where your memories now live forever. Explore this stark otherworld, solve puzzles, and grapple with existential quandaries.
Tembo the Badass Elephant
One of the best recent Sonic games, except it isn’t a Sonic game: it’s Tembo, and he’s a badass elephant who dashes, crashes, and smashes the evil forces of PHANTOM to… ashes. He butt stomps, too, but that didn’t rhyme.
The Town of Light
Explore the troubling experiences of a fictional girl in a reconstruction of a real 20th century asylum. Rather than exploit the asylum and mental health as a generic horror trope, The Town of Light appears to harness more empathy than stigma, dramatizing the true failures of mental health treatment. (Note: Age 18+)
Total War: Arena
As Creative Assembly’s free-to-play RTS continues marching toward a full release, you can partake in strategic 10v10 battles. This is a great chance to check out the game’s progress if you’re not in the closed beta.
Typing of the Dead: Overkill
Hope your fingers are feeling nimble as you take on waves of zombies that can only be stopped by accurate typing. Hammer out the words and phrases you see on the screen to deliver bullets into the encroaching undead in a game that isn’t just fun and challenging but actually can improve your keyboarding skills. Where else can you struggle to properly type the word ‘unicorn’ while a zombie slashes at your throat? Nowhere but here. (Note: Age 18+)
Valkyria Chronicles
One of our favorite games of 2014, Valkyria Chronicles is a PC release of one of the PS3’s best games (and not a totally botched port, either!). It’s an alternate history version of World War 2 in the style of a JRPG, but with mixed turn-based and real-time combat. That’s a lot to digest, but it’s worth trying a bite.
World of Tanks
Hop into one of World of Tanks’ many war machines for a mix of historical authenticity and action game shooting. A free-to-play phenomenon, World of Tanks holds the Guinness World Record for most simultaneous online players. If you’ve never tried it, this is the perfect opportunity to take a treaded tour of its battlefields.
World of Warships
From the creator of World of Tanks comes another world inhabited only by warships. Do they have crews, or is it like Pixars’ Cars, where the vehicles themselves are sentient? That’s not important. What’s important is that we like it quite a bit, and if you haven’t tried lobbing projectiles over the sea, now’s a good time to put your nautical marksmanship to the test.
World Ship Simulator
Go from landlubber to sea… liker. World Ship Simulator, which is currently in Early Access, has you completing jobs on the open water to build up a fleet of ships—think Euro Truck Simulator but on top of fish.
See something you fancy? Get your ticket now.
