THE LOWS
Sam Roberts: No Halo for you
This is my favourite non-answer from an interview this week, in a discussion about the possibility of Halo: Master Chief Collection coming to PC (spoilers: chances are slim). "That's one of the things I love about the PC community," said 343 Industries' David Ayoub to Kotaku, more specifically referring to the first game's continued community support. "You've got so many cool things going on [with fans]. And then you've got the breadth; PCs are everywhere all over the planet. Obviously as part of Microsoft PCs are part of our business. When you look at that market and community, there's almost limitless possibilities in terms of what we can do."
Yes, limitless possibilities! And yet, Halo: Master Chief Collection is still an Xbox One exclusive, and a Halo game hasn't been released on PC (an FPS Halo game—Spartan Assault doesn't quite count) since Halo 2. Port Reach. Port Halo 3. Hell, port Halo Wars with mouse controls and no unit cap. The sentiment is sort of nice, acknowledging that PC gaming is… what… a thing? But it's a gesture of almost no value when the prospects of Halo returning to PC are so slim.
Shaun Prescott: Fashionably frustrating
Metal Gear Collection 2014 isn't a series retrospective coming to PC , but instead a fashion line. To be honest, I'm not too upset about this: I don't think I'd play them anyway. But I do think it's representative of the way blockbuster publishers like to toy with their audiences. I mean, is anyone happy that a big tease ended up like this? What purpose did the tease serve? What response could it have provoked other than disappointment? Sometimes it feels a bit condescending, that sacred cow publishers and developers are so certain of their audience's dedication that they can cruelly defy expectations like this. It's not clever, it's just annoying.
Phil Savage: An age-old question
I turned 30 this week. It's the sort of big-sounding milestone that's technically meaningless but still manages to elicit a mild existential crisis. I am, to all intents and purposes, an adult. I have to fill in tax forms, pay bills and sometimes eat vegetables. I've also been replaying Dragon Age: Origins, which gave rise to a quandary. Can I really justify the fact that I spent upwards of 15 hours this week running around a big fantasy world—flirting with witches and explaining the geopolitical ramifications of the fact that dragons are bad.
You know what? I think I can. If you're tired of dragons, you're tired of life. Here's to another ten years of gaming.
Cory Banks: Thanks, PC Gamer!
This is an easy one—leaving PC Gamer is tough, and I'm sad to say goodbye to the fantastic team here. I'll miss the writing and the brainstorming and the meetings (I think I'm the only one who likes meetings), and I'll definitely miss the great comments and feedback from our amazing community.
But though I'm not going to work here anymore, I'll always be a PC gamer—it's in my heart. I love how serious we are—about our rigs, about our mods, about our competitions. No other platform lets us take the games we love and make them better ourselves, running at the resolutions we want. And there's never been a better time to play PC games. Independent development, early access, big mainstream games—we get it all, and we get it without having to compromise. I never want that to go away, and honestly, it never will.
Thank you so much for reading and watching what we do for you here. It's been my honor, and my pleasure.
Tim Clark: Endless war still surprisingly depressing
Whenever I read Tom Senior writing about 40K, as he does here in this 10 year Dawn Of War retrospective , my brain starts whirring with ideas for reboots. Much as I'd love a killer new RTS, the dream for me will always be a big budget FPS. Quite what possessed Kuju to use the Tau to star in 2003's Fire Warrior I do not know, but the results were deeply underwhelming. Presumably it was some sort of licensing shenanigans involving saving the Space Marines for a bigger project. Unfortunately, when that opportunity arrived in 2011, (this time in the hands of Dawn of War dev, Relic) the perspective had shifted to third-person and the chance was only slightly less fluffed.
This, as Blur so sagely noted, is a low. Because a quick Google reminds me that the licence now belongs to Slytherine, who are working on Warhammer 40,000 Apocalyspe —a very trad-looking hex strategy game, which might well be great, but isn't the Far Cry in Space my heart aches for. (My real low is Cory leaving. Was it something I said? Or wore? Or didn't wear?)
Andy Kelly: Ubi should slow down
The producer of Assassin's Creed: Rogue says the game might be coming to PC. You mean like every other AC game, including that one on Vita? Quelle surprise! This game rubs me up the wrong way, because it's so obviously being rushed out, using existing assets/gameplay from Black Flag. I wish Ubisoft would take their time with these games. I always enjoy the series, but imagine how much better it would be if they weren't so betrothed to this idea of releasing one a year. Rogue might be good, and I'm interested in seeing the world from a Templar's perspective, but with such a quick turnaround, I'm wary.
