94 PCWorld DECEMBER 2020FEATURE BEST GAMES OF THIS GENERATION
(and the PC of course) and use it to create an
all-new experience, one that wouldn’t have
been possible on older consoles. Siege went
small instead of large, creating intimate
multiplayer maps where nearly every surface
was destructible, and where out-thinking your
opponent was every bit as important as reflex
shooting.
Going large got its due this generation as
well, and battle royale games like
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (go.pcworld.
com/bgrn) and Fortnite (go.pcworld.com/
frtn) deserve to be in the “next-gen”
discussion for broader cultural impact as
much as their impact on the industry. But
Rainbow Six Siege is still my favorite, and for
all the hours I’ve put into it since 2015, I’m
only sad I didn’t play more.- KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO
I’ve joked before that Kentucky Route Zero
(go.pcworld.com/knr0) is the “Game of the
Generation,” if only because it took the entire
console generation to release. The first
chapter arrived in January of 2013, before the
Xbox One and PlayStation 4 even launched.
The final episode wasn’t released until seven
years later, in January 2020.
It is a vast and ambitious and messy story.
It’s an intensely personal study of a handful of
characters, and a broader tale about America
in its latter-empire days. It’s a magical escape
to a world of unmapped highways and quirky
museums, and a grimly familiar parable about
capitalism and the people it allows to fall
through the cracks. It’s an awe-inspiring work,
featuring some of the best writing that’s ever
3.