GAMES THAT YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD PLAY THIS YEAR

TOP 10 GAMES

A WONDERFUL YEAR

FOR PC GAMERS

Just a few years ago, it was common among the games press to describe the PC gaming industry as ‘declining’. Those were the heady

days of the console wars with a battle royal between Sony’s PlayStation 2, Microsoft’s original Xbox and Nintendo’s Gamecube.

Avid PC gamers around the world, including myself, mourned the declining retail shelf space available for PC games and the

preponderance of console ports. We cheered everytime when a true made for PC game like Far Cry came along and showed to the world

what could be achieved with a high-end PC.

Fast forward to today, console gaming is in a slow decline while PC and mobile gaming is on the ascendancy. PC games like League of Legends boast tens of millions of players every day while even premium console

games struggle to cross three or four million units sold. PC gaming is no longer considered the younger sibling of its console brethren.

The preceding year was also an exceptional one for PC gamers. Almost every month saw the advent of a new game which pushed PC gaming

hardware to its limits and showed what was missing on consoles.

This month, along with Alienware, we have selected the top ten PC games of 2015. While some of these games like The Witcher 3 and

Project CARS were graphically brilliant, other games like Rainbow Six Siege introduced innovative gameplay elements.

All these bode well for the future of PC gaming in 2016 and beyond. With even faster PC hardware on the horizon, PC gamers have a lot to look forward to.

TOP 10 GAMES

ethesda’s second take

at the Fallout franchise

echoes the sentiment that

“war never changes”. Much

like war, Fallout 4 comes with the

Bethesda-isms of a typical game

made by them. It is big, vast, and

filled with enough bugs that makes

the game unintentionally hilarious.

But I digress, let’s focus on the

good things for now.

NEW LOCATION

The locale of choice this time is

Boston, a bright and colourful

place that was clearly devastated

when the bombs fell. It is a location

with variety, with settlements,

cities, ruins, and a land ravaged by

radioactive storms dotted all over

the maps. Graphically speaking,

the game looks pretty, particularly

when the radiation storms roll

around. That said, it’s hard to ignore

the fact that the game engine is

beginning to show its age at times.

Whatever the case, the visuals in

Fallout 4 is a major improvement

from the mass of grey that was

present in Fallout 3.

B

FALLOUT 4

The S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system and Perks

are where most of the changes are

made. In an attempt to streamline the

levelling process, S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points

and Perks are now consolidated into

a single system, giving you a skill tree

of sorts. If you have enough points in

one the stats, you’re allow to unlock

a Perk under that stat. Spend enough

time with the game, and you can

potentially max out your S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

and gain all perks as a result.

CUSTOMISABLE CHARACTER

For starters, the choices for

character creation is impressive,

featuring enough selections to

keep you there for hours. They’ve

also improved upon the character

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models as they no longer look like

the soulless automatons they were

in Fallout 3. Also a first in the Fallout

franchise is the fact that your

characters are now voiced, making

them feel more alive than they’ve

ever been in the franchise.

SAME GAMEPLAY

Gameplay for Fallout 4 is more or

less the same as it was in Fallout 3,

but with a few changes. For the most

part, the first person shooter aspect

and the V.A.T.S. Targeting System still

works the same as it did in Fallout

3. If you’ve played Fallout 3 or New

Vegas, Fallout 4 wouldn’t be all that

different from it.

BUGGY BEAST

Of course, you can’t talk about a

Bethesda game without mentioning

bugs. Much like all of their other

Gamebryo-based titles, Fallout 4

comes with a generous serving of

glitches and bugs. None of them are

game breaking, but some can be

pretty frustrating. Overall, much like

the quote that is attributed to the

Fallout franchise, Bethesda games

never change.

TOP 10 GAMES

t this point, Call Of Duty is

the FPS version of the FIFA

series. Ever since Modern

Warfare 2, the subsequent

instalments have basically been the

same shooter that you love (or hate)

with some new improvements. Black

Ops 3 is this year’s instalment of the

long running FPS series and much like

its predecessor, it doesn’t do much to

shake things up.

FUTURE WARS

The campaign in Black Ops 3 is set

40 years after the events of Black

Ops 2, meaning the weapons, mechs

and drones are far more futuristic this

time around. Aside from the setting,

everything else in the campaign

follows the Call Of Duty formula down

to a T. You get a quick cutscene brief,

you get deployed at point A, you are

tasked with moving to point B, and

you do so while killing and destroying

anything that gets in your way.

There will be some set pieces where

things explode all around you, there

will be sections that place you in a

turret, and there will be a Martyrdom

section where you kill someone while

being near death yourself.

ACO-OP MODE

Campaign mode also comes with

a co-op mode this time around,

allowing you and your buddy to

tackle the story together. While this

is a good feature to have in theory,

the way Treyarch executed the co-

op mode leaves much to be desired.

Instead of giving you scenarios where

two players must work together to

accomplish, the game just decides to

throw more enemies at you. Suffice to

say, this isn’t what I was expecting out

of a co-op mode.

STRONG MULTIPLAYER

Multiplayer is where Black Ops

3 gets a little more interesting.

Treyarch has introduced a new layer

of customisation to the game’s

multiplayer by way of specialists.

Each specialist character comes with

a power weapon and a special ability,

of which only one can be active at any

time. That charges over the course of

the map.

The power weapons are usually deadly

and can one-shot almost anyone,

CALL OF DUTY :

BLACK OPS 3

while the special abilities assist you

when you’re fighting or running from

a battle. Some of the abilities would

come in very handy if you frequent

Hardcore matches.

DEPTH IN SPECIALISATION

Specialists gives the multiplayer aspect

of Black Ops 3 a bit more meat than

the other instalments as it allows you

to do some experimentation with your

character builds, giving the game a

bit more depth than its predecessors.

However, much like other Call Of Duty

games, some specialists are locked

behind the levelling system. If you want

to experiment with them, you’re going

to have to sit through quite a number of

games in order to do so.

Besides the Specialists though,

everything else in Multiplayer really

hasn’t changed much. Kill people, win

matches, level up, unlock weapons,

set your Killstreaks, rinse and repeat

ad infinatum.

INTERESTING MAPS

One thing that I would give Black

Ops 3 props for is its map design.

Offering various chokepoints,

elevations and sightlines, Black Ops 3

has one of the better map designs in

the franchise. The gameplay is more

of the same. If you’ve ever played a

Call Of Duty multiplayer mode since

the original Modern Warfare, you can

easily get into the swing of things

without much practice.

ZOMBIES AHEAD

As is tradition with a Treyarch-made

Call Of Duty game, Black Ops 3

comes with Zombies mode. Treyarch

has obviously spent some time

developing this mode as games of

Zombies are now quite a bit tougher

than previous instalments. Surviving

to the later waves feels like an

accomplishment, which is no mean

feat to achieve.

The zombies have also leaked

out into another mode called

Nightmares. This mode is basically

the campaign mode but with all

the gun toting enemies replaced

with zombies instead. This turns the

campaign’s unsubtle “war is glorious”

jingoism into a hilariously fun survival

horror game, complete with ominous

voiceover.

In short, Black Ops 3 is yet another

Call Of Duty game that is perfectly

serviceable to those that enjoy it

what the game has to offer. Treyarch

did try to implement some new

mechanics into Black Ops 3, but they

didn’t do enough the game stand out

among the games that were released

within the past 5 years. If you’re okay

with more of the same, Black Ops 3

would not disappoint you. If you’re

looking for something fresh, Black

Ops 3 isn’t it.

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TOP 10 GAMES

aking a new Assassin’s

Creed game this year isn’t

all that hard. After last

year’s disaster that was

Assassin’s Creed Unity, a game that

is competent would be hailed as an

improvement by many. Thankfully,

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is more

than just competent, it is a good

game that manages to refresh the

entire series.

NEW LOCATION

Set in Industrial-era London,

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate puts

you in the shoes of twin assassins

Evie and Jacob Frye. The former is

a devout Assassin whose goal is to

track down the remaining Pieces of

Eden to stop the Templars. The latter

is an individual who rebels against

the Assassin’s burdensome legacy.

Both their viewpoints sets the stage

for the Syndicate’s story, which is

engaging thanks to the fact that

the characters are likeable and well-

established.

CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER

Throughout the game, you’re able

to switch freely between Jacob and

MEvie, much like how GTA 5 handles

multiple characters. Side missions

and open-world events are open

to both, but the main storyline

missions are mostly handled by

Jacob. The playstyles of both

characters are quite similar to each

other, which is a little disappointing

as I was expect both characters to

have differing playstyles.

SIMILAR GAMEPLAY

Gameplay is largely unchanged

from the previous Assassin’s

Creeds. You’ll still be stalking,

blending into the crowd, and free

running throughout the game.

That said, Syndicate does have

one new addition to your arsenal.

Making its debut in Syndicate is the

grappling hook, a device that lets

the characters in the game channel

their inner Batman. Who needs to

climb up a building when you can

just hook shot your way to the top

of the building. Syndicate has also

taken a page out of GTA by allowing

you to steal carriages when you’re

on the ground, allowing you to

traverse the world much faster than

just using your feet.

ASSASSIN’S CREED

SYNDICATE

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BUSY CITY

World building is an area that I

particularly liked about Syndicate

as well. As the game is set in the

Industrial-era, the skyline of London

is filled with smoke as the factories

below it are hard at work churning

out materials. Famous landmarks

such as Trafalgar Square, the Palace

of Westminster and the Tower of

London are also present in the

game. It’s not a particularly accurate

recreation of London, but it manages

to get the job done.

Syndicate may be considered as one

of the sillier instalment in the series.

Some of the side missions pair you up

with various well-known Englishmen

to accomplish tasks that have highly

absurd scenarios. For some, they

would say that this missions takes

away from the general tone of the

main storyline, For myself, I’m enjoying

myself despite the tonal shift.

FAST COMBAT

Combat in Syndicate is fast-paced and

fluid, but can feel repetitive over time.

On the plus side, some of the combat

manoeuvres feel painful and a few

finishers look particularly gruesome.

Taking the roll of weapon smith for

Syndicate is Alexander Graham-Bell,

and he will provide both assassins

with the tools to get the job done.

NOT QUITE PERFECT

There is no denying that Assassin’s

Creed Syndicate is a huge improvement

over the misstep that is Unity, but that is

not to say that the game is perfect. The

control does hiccup occasionally, and the

annoying “grabbing the wrong ledge”

problem is still here in all its frustration.

Also, the game is rather buggy as I’ve

crashed to the desktop quite a few

times throughout my playthrough.

The AI companions can also bug out,

forcing you to reload your checkpoints

in order to proceed with the mission.

Load times gets longer the further

you progress through the game as

well, making it annoying if you need

to reload a checkpoint frequently

because your AI froze again.

The biggest problem Syndicate has

however, is the fact that the game

largely remains the same. You’re still

doing the same things you did in

the other Assassin’s Creed games.

You continue to stalk your prey, you

continue to look for Pieces of Eden,

you fight, flee, hide in haystacks and

watch as the Templars and Assassins

try to off one other. For all the

improvements that Syndicate has,

you are still playing an Assassin’s

Creed game. If you’re looking for a

total revamp of the game, Syndicate

will disappoint you.

Despite the fact that there are no

big changes to the standard formula,

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is still fun

to play. For me, this game managed

to wash away the foul taste of Unity,

which is admittedly a very low bar to

set. It isn’t perfect by any means, but

it is one of the better games in the

instalment after Black Flag. .

TOP 10 GAMES

here are three types of racing

games. The first is the arcade

racer, where realistic driving

is all but thrown out of the

window, replaced instead with high

speed thrills and peppered with

glorious crashes. Then, there is the

arcade-simulation hybrid where

the game does pay some attention

to proper car handling, but is still

lenient enough to let the players

have some fun.

HYPER-REALISM

Finally, we have the simulation games,

where the game recreates the proper

driving experience, complete with

different handling for each car as

well as realistic car physics. Project

CARS is of the latter category, and

as expected from a simulation racing

game, it is as tough and demanding

as it gets.

REALISTIC CARS & TRACKS

As expected of a racing sim, the

developers of Project CARS have

managed to create a highly detailed

game. Slightly Mad Studios have

very clearly studied the cars from

front to back as every car featured in

Tthe game – ranging from the classic

cars to the Le Mans prototype – are

faithfully recreated in both looks

and performance.

It’s not only the cars that were given

attention as the race courses were

recreated with ridiculous amount

of detail as well. From the famous

Monza circuit to the infamous wreck

site known as the Nurburgring, each

locale feels so authentic that you

don’t even need to buy a plane

ticket just to experience it. Best of

all is that the game does have a

weather system, and these tracks

turn into a nightmare to race when it

starts raining. Not only does the rain

obstruct your view, it affects your

handling of the car as well, giving you

a good idea why racing in the rain is

generally a horrible idea.

PROJECT

CARS

NOT FOR NEWBIES

Like many other racing sims, Project

CARS is a game that accurately

portrays the feel of driving a car

at high speed. This means that

the game is tough and cruel on

newcomers to the genre.

However, unlike most racing sims,

Project CARS is highly customisable,

allowing newcomers to ease into the

game. Do you find that controlling

the car is too hard? Braking

assistance and stability control can

be toggled whenever you want. Find

the AI a bit too unforgiving? You can

tune them down to be on your level.

Once you get better, you can start

disabling assists and ramping up

the difficulty steadily, ensuring that

you’ll always get a fair challenge out

of it.

Project CARS is a racing sim made

for the hardcore racing fans. The

customisability of Project CARS also

mean that it won’t alienate the more

casual crowd. While it won’t be the

most accessible racing game ever

made, it is one of the most satisfying

racing game of 2015, so long as you

put some time into it.

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TOP 10 GAMES

ollowing up on an acclaimed

entry in the franchise is no

easy task. Hitman Absolution

is in the unenviable position

of having to live up to Hitman :

Blood Money, a game that many

critics agreed was the best

instalment of the entire franchise.

With Absolution now out, the

easiest way to describe this game

is as thus : it is not Blood Money.

NEW GAMEPLAY

The design decision made by Io

Interactive with regards to the

gameplay is something that many

of us who enjoyed Blood Money

will not appreciate. For starters,

the game no longer feels like the

open world sandbox it was in

Blood Money. There is still a level of

freedom that Absolution gives you,

but it feels linear when compared

to its predecessor.

TOUGH AI

Another sore point I have with

Absolution is the AI detection system.

In Blood Money, the AI is reasonably

competent and lenient enough that

you can mess up and still recover if

you’re quick enough. In Absolution,

Fthe AI is near omniscient, being able

to look through disguises and detect

almost every attempt to sneak up on

them. If you’re a perfectionist, this

buff to the artificial intelligence is

going to frustrate you to no end.

HITMAN

ABSOLUTION

For better or worse, Absolution

does seem to treat the story as an

important part of the game.

Contracts mode is the mode where

Absolution feels more like its

predecessor, being a mode where

you’re allowed to mark up to three

people as targets for elimination.

These contracts can then be

shared with other players, creating

a leaderboard based on how

effective you are at completing

it. It isn’t a perfect recreation of

a Blood Money mission, but it is a

good enough substitute.

NOT FOR ALL

Hitman Absolution is going to be a

game where you’ll either enjoy the

changes or hate them with a passion.

Io Interactive’s decision to not follow

the Blood Money formula and opt

for a different gameplay experience

is a bold one for sure, but whether

or not it is a smart one depends on

the gamer’s individual preference. If

you’re okay with a Hitman game that

tries something new, you may enjoy

Absolution without any problem. For

those like me who were looking for a

sequel to Blood Money, this isn’t it.

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Despite Hitman Absolution’s

shortcomings when compared to

Blood Money, it isn’t a bad game

by any means. The graphics is quite

impressive when the game doesn’t

attempt to overdo the Bloom effect.

re-expansion Diablo III

isn’t exactly what the fans

wanted. The poor drop

rates for rare items, the

simplification of the talent tree,

and the addition of the real money

auction house made the game

highly divisive among the player

base. With the Reaper Of Souls

expansion, Blizzard needs to retune

the game in order to make it less

frustrating than the base version. To

that end, Blizzard has managed to

fix most of the problems found in

the original game.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

For starters, the auction house is

gone. No longer can players buy

success, making it so that players

must now run through the world

and kill monsters in order to acquire

legendary or set items. Drop rates

of rarer items have also been

boosted on the high difficulties,

meaning you’ll see a piece of gear of

legendary quality and above much

more frequently than before.

NEW MODE

To make the gear grind less

frustrating, Blizzard has introduced

P

Adventure Mode. Adventure

Mode puts players in the Diablo III

locations where players are given

a randomised set of objectives

to complete. Accomplishing all

the objectives in an area will

reward players with a cache that

may contain rare loot. Rifts are

also implemented in t1he game

to give players more options to

grind for loot. Rifts are dungeons

which have randomised locations

and enemies, giving them a dash

of variety. In order to clear the

Rifts, players must fill up a gauge

which would cause a Guardian

to appear. Killing the Guardian

results in a cleared Rift, giving

players a special currency that

can be exchanged for gear.

Special timed Rifts which drop

legendary gems are also available

for those who are highly skilled in

the game.

NEW CHAPTER

As to be expected from a new

expansion, Reaper of Souls comes

with a new chapter in the campaign

mode. The story picks up almost

immediately after Diablo was

defeated in the High Heavens and

focuses on Malthael, the Angel of

Death.The improvements made in

Reaper of Souls breathes new life

into Diablo III. It is now no longer

as frustrating as the base game

and grinding for gear isn’t as

much of a chore as it used to be.

With the implementation of new

mechanics and gear after every

major patch thus far, Diablo III is

now no longer the sub-par action

RPG it used to be.

DIABLO III

REAPER OF SOULS

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TOP 10 GAMES

he Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is to

all of you. I’ll mostly be talking

about gameplay features

and what I liked about the

game. Let’s go! An incredibly popular

fantasy series by Polish writer

Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher is

about Geralt of Rivia, monster hunter

extraordinaire, and this is the third

game in the series. He’s tracking down

his old flame, the sorceress Yennefer

of Vengerberg, while war and political

upheaval rages in the surrounding

countries. Right at the start, players

are promised a game with a massively

larger world and one that is more true

to the spirit of the first The Witcher

game, which some found lacking in

The Witcher 2.

EPIC TALE

In Wild Hunt the main plot, Secondary

Quests and Witcher Contracts all

have a feel of depth to them. That’s

great, because it makes sure that

we’re not playing some MMORPG

generic quests elements. Starting off

with tracking down Yennefer, which

funnily enough was completed quite

early, Geralt was soon given a quest

to locate Ciri. The daughter of the

TEmperor of Nilfgaard and Geralt’s

former protégé had been sighted in

the neighbouring countries, so the

emperor commanded Geralt to find

her. Of course, along the way Geralt

got roped into more quests, many

which are central to the plot. As a big

RPG and fantasy novel reader, I found

the narrative and storytelling for The

Witcher 3: Wild Hunt an excellent one.

GETTING SIDE-TRACKED

RPGs without side quests don’t

exist and The Witcher 3 was

packed full of them, enough that

attempting to complete all of them

took a few solid weeks. Although, if

you are prone to hide in a man cave

and marathon games, it’s entirely

feasible for you to finish the game in

a week. Jokes aside, I enjoyed how

the side quests were not just inane

ones to ‘slay boar, collect hides’, but

they all had their own sub-plots that

were deeply engaging. They weren’t

quick trips either and playing these

quests often side-tracked me from

the main storyline.

THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT

FORGING AN ARSENAL

Crafting and Alchemy were also

fun, but tedious because of all the

ingredients I had to hunt down. While

I only had to acquire the ingredients

once to craft the items I want in

Alchemy, Crafting was trickier since

an individual craftsman makes

different equipment. For weapons, I

needed to get a blacksmith to help,

but only an armourer can make

defensive gear for me. Of course,

the materials had to be prepared

beforehand.

STRATEGY FIRST

The combat system in The Witcher

3 consisted of a more mellowed

pace of combat that encourages

preparation and caution, especially

the latter. I realised that soon

enough, when I charged into a

pack of wolves (after killing some

lone stragglers) and promptly

got surrounded from all sides

before being torn to pieces. Sure,

sometimes I can just hack and slash

my way through, but more often

than not that’s not the best way in

battles. It’s important to make use

of whatever terrain advantages

there are, along with sidesteps and

dodge-rolls to minimise damage.

Then of course there was the need

to always bring the right items and

gear to a fight. Some may say that

the combat is simple, but I felt that

it did require me to plan ahead.

TIME FLIES

I believe that The Witcher 3: Wild

Hunt gave fans of the series the

game they deserved, plus many

hours of monster hunting fun. I’d

know, because I sunk so many hours

in the short time I had with the

game. In the first weekend I had with

the game, I woke up in the morning

to play it and the next thing I know,

the sun was going down; that’s how

dangerously addictive it could be. I

highly recommend getting the PC

version if you have a good rig, to

enjoy the superior graphics it can

output. Thumbs up, easily one of

the best if not the best game of the

year so far!

NEW CHAPTERS

The Witcher 3 won’t be ending just yet,

as CD Projekt RED has announced the

release of two additional expansions

in the coming months. Hearts of Stone

will be released around October 2015,

while Blood and Wine is slated for an

early 2016 release. Both expansions

will come with a price tag, because

it’s not going to be minor, but would

instead combine for 30 more hours

of adventure.

FUN JABS

CD Projekt RED really isn’t afraid to

pull punches, especially when it’s

an anti-piracy method they don’t

like. In the game, you get to collect

or buy books that usually pertain to

lore, but there’s just one that’s a bit

unusual. That particular book takes a

very roundabout dig at DRM (Digital

Rights Management), check out the

picture we’ve attached.

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TOP 10 GAMES

etal Gear Solid has come

a long way since it first

saw the light of day in

1998. The original title

was an ambitious game with blocky

polygons and muddy textures, but

jam packed with great voice work,

genius gameplay, tremendous

story and over-the-top cinematic

action extravaganza.

KOJIMA EVOLVED

The mastermind behind this vision

of the game evolution is none other

than Hideo Kojima – game designer,

screenwriter, director, producer, and

Mpotential Bond villain. Not only

has he revolutionised cinematic

presentation into video gaming,

he also introduced clever game

mechanics that may seem outlandish

to traditional gamers, but still

made sense in every way possible.

Examples: A mind reading boss

character who can read your every

move? Lazy to backtrack to a far off

section of a map? Hide in box and

hitch a ride on transport truck that

goes there. A century year old sniper

out-gunning you? Save your game,

wait a week later and he’ll die of old

age. No, really…

GREAT GAMEPLAY

It’s this level of genius gameplay

design encouraging player ingenuity

that made the Metal Gear Solid

series its own game. A Hideo Kojima

game. A lot of developers have tried

to imitate Kojima’s creativeness in

design, but few have surpassed his

cunning. Sorry, Peter Molyneux. So if

you’re ever playing a Metal Gear game

that lacked Kojima’s design essence,

you’re probably playing the one that

was outsourced to Platinum Games.

Years and sequels later, we’ve now

have Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom

Pain. Sadly, it’s also the final Metal

Gear Solid game by Hideo Kojima. Is

it worthy to be his last and greatest

hurrah in the franchise?

MULTIPLE CHOICES

Gameplay in The Phantom Pain is a

massive departure from the other

Metal Gear games due to the fact

that the game is now an open world

sandbox of sorts. A mission gives you

objectives that you need to complete.

How you achieve those objectives is

entirely up to you. Do you want to be

a pacifist and knock out or tranquillise

METAL GEAR SOLID V:

THE PHANTOM PAIN

every enemy you see? Go ahead! Do

you want to emulate John Rambo’s

finest moments? Do it! Do you want

to bring a tank into a gunfight? If you

have a tank, sure thing!

As stealth is a major part of the game,

you would expect the game to be

unforgiving in the stealth department.

Surprisingly, this isn’t the case as

the moment you are about to get

spotted, the game goes into Reflex

Mode. Reflex Mode is basically Bullet

Time, which allows you to neutralise

the person that spotted you before

he alerts his teammates about your

presence. Failing to do so will result in

the traditional Metal Gear warning and

a hail of gunfire, mortars and other

armaments bearing down on you.

map may seem daunting at first

thanks to the scale of the operation

area, but once you learn a few tricks,

navigating the world becomes much

easier. Hint: it has something to do

with the cardboard box.

Besides the main stealth gameplay,

The Phantom Pain also comes with

some micromanagement tasks in the

form of Mother Base. As mentioned

earlier, you are able to recruit soldiers

on the field to add to your PMF. The

base management side of things

allows you to shift recruits around to

maximise base efficiency, quarantine

them, or fire them if they prove to

be troublemakers. Once you cross a

certain threshold in the game, you’re

allowed to send the troops you

recruited into the field to conduct their

own operations. Achieving success in

those operations rewards you with

materials and cash that you can spend

on upgrades or deployment costs..

WE ARE DIAMOND DOGS

Most will expect The Phantom Pain

to be Kojima’s magnum opus, since

it’s his final involvement to the Metal

Gear series as a director in Konami.

However, like Punished Snake, the

scars and disabilities did not stop the

game from being an excellent one.

Like its predecessors before it, Metal

Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a

game worthy for fans and newcomers

alike. A game by Hideo Kojima.

WE RECOMMEND:

A larger screen to catch the enemy

creeping behind you, with roaring

graphics and a massive screen. The

new Alienware 17 R3 is the gamer’s

choice for power and performance.

Add the optional Graphics Amplifier

to elevate the experience. Intel Core

i7-6700HQ processor (Quad-Core,

6MB Cache, up to 3.5GHz w/ Turbo

Boost), Optional NVIDIA GeForce

GTX 980M with 8GB GDDR5.

FREE TO ROAM

When you’re not out doing story

missions, you’re able to mess

around in the operating area of your

choice. You can complete Side Ops,

run between outposts trying to

find new recruits for Mother Base,

or just go around killing everyone.

Travelling between places on the

TOP 10 GAMES

here is a reason Batman:

Arkham Knight is included in

the PC.com Top Ten Games for

2016. For one, we can’t have a

top 10 without the inclusion of a super

hero. A successor to the Arkham

Origin and the Arkham sequel,

Arkham Knight was released late

this year and remains as one of the

best third person perspective games.

Also introducing for the first time is

the Batmobile which is playable for

transport and for combat.

THIRD TIME LUCKY

Arkham Knight is the third instalment of

Rocksteady’s trilogy of Batman games.

Yes, there is Arkham Origins, but that

isn’t made by Rocksteady so it doesn’t

count. The events of Arkham Knight

occurs a few months after Arkham City.

Scarecrow is back in town and has

managed to unite most of Batman’s

enemies into a tense truce in order

to take out everybody’s favourite

bat-themed vigilante. He has also

threatened to release his newly created

fear toxins onto Gotham City, causing

all the civilians to evacuate the city.

TWith Gotham completely evacuated,

the city itself is now a playground for

the likes of Two-Face, the Penguin,

Scarecrow and others to run amuck.

Besides the villains that you know

and love, another character that goes

by the name of the Arkham Knight is

overseeing Scarecrow’s operation and

has a major bone to pick with Batman.

You, being Batman, must see to it that

they are back behind bars, and you’ll

do so by breaking bones and causing a

serious amount of pain.

CRACK SOME SKULLS

By this point, we would already be

highly familiar with the combat system

in the Arkham games. Aside from

some welcomed improvements and

additions, Rocksteady didn’t mess

with the formula for Arkham Knight

as the combat feels slicker, fluid and

slightly more polished than it was in

Arkham City.

Chaining together a long combo feels

just as satisfying as the previous games

BATMAN

ARKHAM KNIGHT

and a huge chunk of the gadgets are

available from the start of the game,

meaning you can start combo-ing

fisticuffs and gadgets immediately.

Predator mode is largely unchanged

as well, but now the mooks in the

game are much, much wiser than the

previous games. When cautious, they

would actively stick in groups, report

in with each other, and generally make

themselves less vulnerable than in the

previous games.

The enemy militia, on the other hand,

adds more variety and challenge by

planting mines near grates or vantage

points, set up sentry guns, command

drones to scan areas, revive KO-ed

teammates, and even jam Batman’s

detective vision. Intimidated? Don’t be.

You’re Batman.

BAT V8

The biggest inclusion in this game

has to be the Batmobile. Designed

to look like an amalgamation of the

Joel Schumacher Batmobile and

Christopher Nolan’s Tumbler, the

Batmobile in this game looks a lot

slicker than the chunky piece of metal

on wheels in the Dark Knight movies

while still looking like a car that can

take a punch, unlike Schumacher’s

neon-slick design.

The Batmobile comes in two

modes: Pursuit mode, which is the

Batmobile’s default setting, drives

normally and can lock onto a car and

shoot non-lethal missiles at them;

and Tank mode, where the Batmobile

converts into a pseudo-tank armed

with a minigun, a cannon, and a non-

lethal riot gun because, again,

LOSE YOUR MIND

One thing that we really would like

to talk about, but can’t go into detail

because it would spoil the game for

you, is the atmosphere. Seeing as the

main villain of the game is Scarecrow,

Rocksteady needed to find a way to

depict the fear toxin as something

terrifying. In that aspect, they’ve aced

it as the game manages to genuinely

make you feel that fear toxins are really

terrifying stuff. Another thing worthy

of note, the Scarecrow in this game

is quite possibly the most dangerous

incarnation of the character in any of

the Batman media, including movies

and comic books.

foot, air or Batmobile. That’s right,

there are no loading screens as you

hop from one end of Gotham to the

other while entering buildings, sewers

and so on. This gives the game a level

of immersion that is rarely felt in

other open-world action games.

BAT RACE

There is no denying that Batman

Arkham Knight is a great game, but

that doesn’t mean the game doesn’t

have its flaws. One of the biggest

gripes we had with Arkham Knight

is the game’s overreliance of the

Batmobile. There are way too many

side missions in this game that require

the use of the Batmobile in one way

or another, the biggest offender

being the Militia side missions.

Now don’t get us wrong, the Batmobile

is fun in small doses, but when you’re

forced to use it as frequently as the

game does, you’ll start to feel a little

bit annoyed. Controlling the Batmobile

is also a pain in the rear as the car,

when in pursuit mode, controls like it

is driving on ice.

I’M BATMAN!

Batman: Arkham Knight is a great

game, there’s no denying that. While

there are some shortcomings with

the story and the Batmobile is over-

represented in the conclusion of the

Arkham trilogy, it is still a great game

to close off the Arkham trilogy. If

you’re a big fan of Batman, you need

to pick up this game for 2016.

WE RECOMMEND:

Batman Arkham Knight is a true

beast of a game which will push your

PC to its limits. So we recommend

the Alienware X51 Gaming Desktop

with Intel Core i7-6700K Processor

overclocked up to 4.4GHz, 16GB

DDR4 RAM, 256GB PCIe SSD (Boot)

+ 2TB (64MB Cache) 7200RPM SATA

6Gb/s and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960

with 2GB GDDR5.

VISUAL STUNNER

Hope you’re not blind as a bat

(figuratively..), because this game is

absolutely gorgeous. No doubt that

you’ll be amazed by the amount of

spectacular detail as you traverse

around Gotham seamlessly either on

TOP 10 GAMES

id anybody remember the

PC port of Grand Theft Auto

4? It was, to put it kindly, a

complete mess. The game

had absurd requirements, choppy

performance even if you manage to

fulfil said requirements, and Games

For Windows Live. With the horrible

experience of GTA 4 still fresh in my

mind, I looked at the PC port of GTA

5 with a healthy dose of scepticism.

Surely Rockstar would learn their

lesson from the disaster from GTA 4

right? Well, learn they did, as GTA 5 is

one of the best PC ports to come out

in recent memory.

GOOD PERFORMER

Let’s begin by talking about the

performance of the game. Grand Theft

Auto 5 performs incredibly well on the

PC. It is a game that is highly optimised,

allowing even aging machines to run

the game smoothly. If you have a

decently powerful machine, the game

will be able to maintain a steady

60FPS framerate, a feat that even the

PlayStation 4 struggles to accomplish.

Do you have a beast of a machine

and a 4K TV with you? The game can

go all the way up to 4K resolution

Dand maintain a stable framerate to

boot. Best of all, there are no highly

intrusive DRM getting between you

and the game.

WE RECOMMEND:

Alienware 13 R2, because being mobile

is whats the game is all about. The

ultimate gaming machine comes with

Intel Core i7-6500U (Dual-Core, 4MB

Cache, up to 3.1GHz w/ Turbo Boost)

much needed to execute the tasks at

hand. Good to know there is an All-

day battery life made possible with

the optional 62Whr battery, graphics

are enhanced with NVIDIA GeForce

GTX 960M with 2GB GDDR5.

FIRST PERSON VIEW

Being a first for the Grand Theft Auto

series, the PC port of GTA 5 comes

GRAND THEFT

AUTO 5

with a first person perspective. This

allows you to play the game like a

traditional FPS instead of a third

person shooter. While there are some

aspects of first person view that feels

rough around the edges, particularly

those pertaining to damage indicators

and the cover system, this change in

perspective helps give players who’ve

played the game on the console a new

experience with GTA 5.

First person mode also shows off

Rockstar’s attention to detail as they

have modelled the cars in the game with

interiors unique to each vehicle. Even

the radios in the car changes display

depending on which radio station

you’re listening to at the moment.

ONLINE MODE

Alongside the main game, the PC port

brings with it GTA Online, the pseudo-

MMO open world sandbox. Much like

the main game, the PC version of GTA

Online is more or less identical to the

version available on the consoles. One

improvement that the PC version has

over the PS3 version is the character

creation menu. While you still can’t

directly customise your character’s

feature, you can at least look at how

the character’s parents affect his looks

in the game. If you have a character

on the console version of GTA Online,

you can import said character to the

PC version.

Gameplay in GTA Online hasn’t

changed all that much either. You are

free to run around the city and cause all

kinds of mayhem, or you can partake in

missions by yourself, with other people,

or with your friends. The which pays

out in the hundreds of thousands. All

of these are fun for the first few hours,

but after an extended period of time,

GTA Online will feel repetitive thanks

to all the MMO-like grinding needed to

progress through the levels.

The PC version of Grand Theft Auto

5 is more or less the same game you’ve

played on the console, but with better

performance and a new perspective.

It is an almost one-to- one port from

the consoles, meaning only limiting

factor of GTA Online is the amount of

money you have and your character’s

level. Money allows you to buy all the

expensive stuff in the game while

levelling up gives you accessed to

various guns and vehicles. Heists

have also been implemented into

GTA Online, allowing you and 3 other

players to tackle multi-stage missions

that those of you who’ve owned

the console version has already seen

all the content available on the PC

version. If you’re someone who has

yet to play GTA 5, the PC version is

worth the purchase. If you’ve played

it on the console before, it’s still worth

it to get the game solely for the first

person mode.the character’s parents

affect his looks in the game.

The PC version of Grand Theft

Auto 5 is more or less the same

game you’ve played on the console,

but with better performance and a

new perspective.

TOP 10 GAMES

DELL 27-INCH GAMING MONITOR S2716DG

• Experience sharp and undistorted moving images with NVIDIA

G-SyncTM and the fastest refresh rate at 144 Hz for sharp, jitter-

free graphics that drastically reduce motion blur.

• Enjoy vivid edge-to-edge gameplay with QHD resolution

(2560 x 1440) – that’s 3.68 million pixels – giving you close to

two times more details on screen than Full HD.

• With tilt, pivot, swivel and height adjustable features, you can choose

your ideal viewing position and game for long hours comfortably.

• Connect easily to secondary devices and peripherals like

your headphones, mouse and keyboard with its wide range

of ports, including an HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2, and 4 USB 3.0

downstream ports.

DELL ALIENWARE GRAPHICS AMPLIFIER

• The new Alienware Graphics Amplifier allows you to enhance your

Alienware 13, 15 and 17 notebooks at home, transforming it into an

upgradable, desktop-class gaming station. Gamers have never had

this degree of flexibility and power. Now the choice is yours.

• The Graphics Amplifier boosts any gaming experience with

support for full-length, dual-wide graphics cards requiring up to

375W and provides even more connectivity to your setup with a

built-in, powered, 4-port USB 3.0 hub.

DELL 27-INCH CURVED MONITOR SE2716H

• The world’s thinnest bezels (7.7mm) on a 27-inch curved monitor

lets you enjoy a near-continual view across multiple screens.

• A classy black piano finish gives this monitor an eye catching

design that would fit with any decor.

• Down-firing 9W speakers seamlessly integrate at the base of

the monitor screen offering rich and powerful audio.

• Experience deeper reds and darker blacks with a superb 3000:1

colour contrast and enjoy the same consistent colours across an

ultrawide 178 / 178 viewing angle.

• Stay connected over multiple devices including mobile and

gaming via VGA, 2 x HDMI/MHL (combo) and audio-in &

headphone ports.

ALIENWARE TACTX HEADSET

The Alienware TactX headset is engineered for high-quality audio

performance. Built with a custom-engineered soundscape and

optimised to single out key in-game sounds, this headset can

definitely give you a clear advantage against your opponents.

ACCESSORIES

PUBLISHED BY : REACH PUBLISHING SDN BHD