PC Gamer - UK (2022-01)

THE ASCENT

I’m a simple manwho loves

bright lights, big guns, and

stupid clothes, and The Ascent

gives meall three bythe

truckload. Thiscyberpunk

action-RPGisa stunning,

explosive rompthrough a

dazzlingbut simultaneously

filthymegacity.Anearly

weapon letsyou spewa

barrage of rockets likea

machine gun,and that really

sets the tonefor thewhole

thing. Whenit comes out, the

party begins.

FraserBrown

LEMNIS GATE

Ina gamingyear definedby

timegimmicks, Lemnis Gate

managed toquietly turnthe

FPS intosomething much

morelike3Dchess. You and

youropponentdeploy

charactersone byone, playing

out their actions ina

25-second span. Yourfourth

movemight bea landminethat

altersthe history of the match,

erasing themomentthat your

opponentcapturedan

objective. A smartgameworth

celebrating.

EvanLahti

FraserBrown,onlineeditor: My love for

Guardians of the Galaxymakes me feel

very basic – a big Marvel action game

with quips, how novel! – but I can’t help myself.

It’s an incredibly entertaining jaunt through

colourful alien planets, cop-infested spaceships,

and a city chilling out inside the skull of cosmic

god, elevated beyond a popcorn-munching

diversion by the Guardians themselves.

Star-Lord is a man-child leading a bickering

team of semi-reformed criminals

who don’t respect him. He’s the

only member of the Guardians

you’ll directly control, and starting

out you’re a bit of a punching bag.

But over the course of the 15-hour

adventure, the team becomes a

support system, helping each

other work through trauma in

genuinely heartwarming and

heartbreaking moments. And when things

threaten to get sickeningly sentimental, there’s

guaranteed to be a joke or a fight right around the

corner to give you time to dry those tears.

It’s very 2021 – a comedy action game that’s

secretly a big therapy session. These different

sides never trip over each other, either – it’s all

holistic. When you’re exploring a planet or

fighting some space cops, the Guardians are

always chatting away, forging bonds, working

through shit or firing out meme-worthy running

gags. The heroes-in-training and their punchy

dialogue might be the high point, but it also makes

everything else so much better. I’ve been a fan of

this lot since they first teamed up in 2008, but this

might be the best they’ve ever been.

MorganPark: Guardians is basically Uncharted

with better characters. All of the

enjoyable hours spent shooting,

climbing, and walking are really

just sponges for hours of

engrossing, funny chatter

between teammates. I love that

even during a fight or treacherous

climb, the game makes you an

active participant in every

conversation with binary dialogue

choices. Not every choice has an impact on the

mission, but you often set the group’s mood with

your input. Before long, keeping everyone’s spirits

high became as important as shooting straight.

As someone who’s never cared for the world or

characters of DeusEx, I’m thoroughly impressed

that Eidos has whipped up a better version of the

Guardians than the MCU could ever dream of.

GUARDIANS OFTHE GALAXY

AN UNCHARTED

GAME WITH

BETTER

CHARACTERS

GAME OF THE YEAR2021

BEST

CHARACTERS

2021