THE HIGHS
James Davenport: Master of undressing
I can't write about my true high of the week quite yet, so instead I'll just remind everyone that you can now play the Resident Evil 2 remake as Sexy Leon, a cop who shows up to his first day on the job wearing a thong decorated with a lil badge. And that you can also get Mr. X in his own Umbrella undies to level the playing field. There are a lot of lewd and outright nude mods for RE2 if you want a little oh yeah with your outbreak and we've collected them in a handy—pardon me, randy list for easy access. Thank goodness for the PC, the perfect platform.
Wes Fenlon: The lovable Tyrant
After playing Resident Evil 2, I just had to know more about Mr. X, the mass of muscle and trenchcoat that stalks you through the police station. How does he find you? Are his footsteps playing just to creep me out, or is he really right around the corner? I put those questions to RE2's director and got some fun answers, though I'll be honest that I mostly wanted to know what the Resident Evil 2 dev team thought of the X Gon' Give It To Ya mod. They are, it turns out, quite happy that people are so fond of Mr. X.
Tom Senior: Have a cow, man
Large cow-men with clubs are coming to Vermintide 2 this summer in an expansion that promises an infinite endgame. I for one am delighted by the idea of punching cow-men forever for loot. The fusion of RPG loot systems, Left 4 Dead co-op, and uniquely satisfying first-person clobbering has brought Vermintide 2 much-deserved success. We love it here at PC Gamer, and it’s going to make for an awesome cover feature next issue.
I have two highs this week (is this allowed??). The Destiny 2 Season of the Drifter reveal this week has me very excited to see what Bungie is going to do with the mysterious ‘Nine’ and their endless plains full of sci-fi nonsense. The promise of light-boosting bounties is huge as well. I love the idea of playing for an hour or two, experiencing the rush of the power boost, and then settling in to play all of Destiny 2’s varied endgame activities with equally levelled friends. The boost does raise the question: What are levels even for? They create a sense of achievement as you climb the ladder, but if they stop you from teaming up with friends, they are a pointless encumbrance. Kinda sucks if you spent months sweating up to 600+ though.
Samuel Roberts: Wright on time
Give or take Persona 5 or Demon's Souls (or Kingdom Hearts, if that's your preference), we must be close to all the major classics from the past few console generation making their way to PC. This week, an old favourite of mine got a release date: Phoenix Wright, which I originally played on DS as a much younger man, is arriving in the form of a trilogy pack.
Hey, it won't make the most of your 4K monitor, but it's a fantastic law-themed graphic adventure, and still the only series of its genre I've tried. Capcom has made a major effort to get its back catalogue on PC, and I'm pleased that initiative has extended to less obvious choices. I hope Viewtiful Joe or God Hand are up next.
Chris Livingston: Country roads
I took a look at Foundation, a medieval city-builder currently in Early Access. While there's not a whole heck of a lot to it at this point—I've unlocked all the different buildings after about two days of play—I really enjoy it and I can't wait for the full game. One of my favorite things about it is the little villagers, and how they contribute to the city beyond just doing what you assign them. They build and upgrade their own houses, and they create all the roads and paths simply by walking the same routes and wearing down the grass. It helps the city to feel like it has a life of its own and is growing naturally. Even without new buildings to unlock, I take pleasure in just looking around at my charming little city. It's definitely one to keep an eye on if you're into city builders.
Fraser Brown: Assimilated
I write this exhausted because I found out that the best Stellaris mod, Star Trek: New Horizons, had at last been updated for the latest version of the space 4X last night. I really only meant to see if it was working. Just a few minutes, I said. It was not just a few minutes. It's a massive overhaul, filling a map of the Milky Way with countless Trek species and empires, with the biggest getting unique mechanics and ships. The Romulans use the Tal Shiar, giving them an espionage system, while the Borg can assimilate species and make big technological leaps.
Plenty of the systems are bespoke, rather than drawn from the core game, so while this is undoubtedly a Star Trek-themed Stellaris, there's enough new stuff to fill a whole game. It's still in development, but I've found each update to be pretty polished. The official Megacorp expansion and accompanying patch dramatically changed Stellaris, but the mod seems to have taken it in its stride. The Borg's inability to colonise worlds gave me some trouble last night, but I think I've got the hang of them now, so my weekend plans have changed to assimilating the galaxy.
