110 PCWorld DECEMBER 2020FEATURE BEST GAMES OF THIS GENERATION
Elusive Targets and alternate objectives
demonstrate a level of depth you’d never
guess at your first time through. Its missions
aren’t built to be played once. They exist to
be poked and prodded, new (and unique)
opportunities uncovered as the simulation
reacts to your presence.
And while the premise is dark, the games
are much less so. I O’s packed levels full of
humor, both authored and implied. My favorite
is still Agent 47 as P-Power, celebrity tattoo
artist, growling “You need to keep still. I
wouldn’t want to stab you by accident,” before
doing just that. The consummate professional.- 8 0 DAYS
“I have entered into the service of a new
gentleman. It would seem he is a gambling
man.” Inkle’s become one of my favorite
developers this generation, but it’s 80 Days
(go.pcworld.com/80da) that I return to most
often. A loose adaptation of Jules Verne’s
Around the World in
80 Days, it’s an
adventure like no
other (go.pcworld.
com/80dp),
spanning all seven
continents and
dozens of cities.
Your goal is
ostensibly to make
it around the world
within the titular
time limit, but how—and even if—you do so is
entirely in your control. Ride mechanical
elephants through India, or fly high overhead
in an airship. Bushwhack through South
America, or take a steamship from Indonesia
to Australia. Take the Transcontinental Railroad
from San Francisco to New York and meet the
infamous outlaw Jesse James.
And be sure to stop along the way! Check
out the Exposition Universelle in Paris, join the
circus in Yokohama, explore the ruins of
Machu Picchu. 80 Days is still the foremost
example of Inkle’s development philosophy,
that making a lot of little choices leads the
player to grand adventures—and adventures
that feel uniquely personal. While both
Sorcery! (go.pcworld.com/scry) and
Heaven’s Vault (go.pcworld.com/hvlt) are
meatier Inkle experiences, the bite-sized
nature of 80 Days works to its advantage,
inviting the player to run through it again and
again and again.19.