PC Gamer - USA 2019-09)

SHERLOCK HOLMES:

CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS

frogwares.com

Become legendary sleuth

Sherlock Holmes and investigate an

anthology of intriguing mysteries.

This is one of the best detective

games on PC because it’s entirely

possible to draw the wrong

conclusions from the evidence and

accuse an innocent person.

SOLVE A CRIME

ELITE DANGEROUS

elitedangerous.com

Finding your way in Elite’s

enormous replica of the Milky Way

can be intimidating at first, but it’s

great when you discover your niche—

whether it’s trading, bounty hunting,

or exploring the cosmos. And with a

flight stick and thruster, the tactile,

nuanced handling of the ships is

taken to the next level.

EXPLORE SPACE

BALDUR’S GATE:

ENHANCED EDITION

baldursgate.com

With the exciting news that Larian,

creator of the Divinity series, is

making a third Baldur’s Gate, now’s

the perfect time to revisit the original.

And with its varied, unpredictable

quests, massive, detailed world, and

charming characters, it still

absolutely holds up.

PLAY A ROLE

HYPNOSPACE OUTLAW

hypnospace.net

Set entirely within a wonderful

parody of the internet of the past,

this adventure is one of the most

original games on PC. Working as an

enforcer for a tech company, you’ve

been hired to scour the web for illegal

content and censor it, navigating

gaudy gifs, MIDI music, and other

lo-fi standards of the GeoCities era.

GET NOSTALGIC

EVERYBODY’S GONE

TO THE RAPTURE

thechineseroom.co.uk

This haunting end of the world

story is fairly hands-off, with only

very limited interaction, but it makes

up for it by being powerfully

atmospheric. Exploring the English

countryside, you realize everyone

has disappeared, leaving behind

ghostly visions of the past.

REVEAL THE TRUTH

THE DIG

gog.com/game/the_dig

A space mission goes awry,

stranding a small group of astronauts

on a bizarre alien world. This is far

from LucasArts’ best point-and-click

adventure, but it’s one of its most

interesting. The dialogue is great, the

weird, colorful planet is a delight to

explore, and the puzzles are fairly

challenging—albeit a tad obscure.

HOTLINE MIAMI

devolverdigital.com

With its pounding soundtrack and

stylish ultraviolence, Hotline Miami is

the best kind of sensory overload.

Every neon-drenched level is a

bloody top-down puzzle box you

violently solve with reflexes, intense

concentration, and lots of weapons.

Just avoid the sequel, which

increased the scale dramatically.

FEEL THE BEAT

SWAT 4

Irrationalgames.com

Before conquering the world with

BioShock, Irrational made this

brilliant SWAT simulator. It sees you

dealing with a number of dangerous

crimes, from a gas station robbery

to a hostage situation in an office.

And dealing with them effectively

requires patience, planning, and

playing it by the book.

UPHOLD THE LAW

MUST

PLAY

A PERSONAL LIST

OF THE BEST

GAMES YOU CAN

PLAY RIGHT NOW

by Andy Kelly

ESCAPE A PLANET

EXTRA LIFE

NOW PLAYING (^) I UPDATE I GUIDE I DIARY I REINSTALL I WHY I LOVE I MUST PLAY
ANDY
KELLY
“If videogames be the
food of love,” wrote
famous gamer
William ‘n0Sc0pe’
Shakespeare. “Play
on.” I will,
Shakespeare. I will.