THE HIGHS
Samuel Roberts: Battlefront isn’t afraid to be single
Star Wars Battlefront II's singleplayer is looking like a highlight of the package, which I thought it might be after the game's reveal earlier this year. This impressive story trailer makes it look like we'll get some high-end Star Wars cutscenes, if nothing else, and it makes you realise how starved we've been of singleplayer games set in that universe since The Force Unleashed 2 came out seven years ago. I'm definitely in the mood for what it's offering.
Tom Senior: Raid ready
Hey, Destiny 2 is out on PC next week! That came around fast. Having poured hundreds of hours into the first two games on console, I am stoked to finally get to do it all over again at 60+ frames per second. Bungie have some of the finest artists in the business, and their universe deserves to be showcased on a PC monitor at silly resolutions.
Bungie has announced the precise launch times in multiple timezones, and laid out plans to switch on the raid one week later. That’s seven days to get to level 20 and start finding the right gear to advance to the raid’s presumed console-identical 260 power recommended starting point. Don’t worry, we’ll have you covered with a bunch of guides and, of course, our review.
Philippa Warr: Worlds delivering
The cress seeds of League of Legends have sprouted all over the moist paper towel of October. The result is that I’ve been chomping my way through match after match as I try to keep up with the storylines and still do my actual job. Today’s quarter-final between South Korean trophy juggernaut SKT and Europe’s newly-minted Misfits has been by far the most exciting. It had me on the edge of my seat, occasionally yelping or fist-pumping as the two teams fought to progress. It was actually such a good set of games that I think I’ve even managed to rope Fraser into watching the rest of the tournament!
Chris Livingston: Power on
I count myself among the least knowledgeable people (not at PC Gamer, but on the planet) about PC hardware, so it was a nice boost to my ego to learn that our hardware genius Tuan never turns his PC off. I never turn mine off, either. I just want it on all the time in case I need to use it. It can nap when I'm away for a while, that's fine, but it's never turned off unless it needs an update or a restart for some reason.
I still don't know which is technically better for a PC, leaving it on all the time or turning it off when it's not being used, but the best part is that now I don't even care. Tuan leaves his on, so I can too, with a clean conscience.
Tim Clark: You make me feel like dancing
For all the salt found in the Hearthstone community, nothing sums up the pure joy that can come from playing the game better than this clip, which was unearthed this week by Trolden. A little context for those who aren’t sure what they’re watching: The streamer manages to pull off an incredibly niche combo that involves him forcing one of his minions onto his opponent’s side of the board. That minion discards a card whenever it’s damaged, and the streamer follows up by casting a Warlock spell called defile that does 1 damage to everything, and if it kills a target recasts itself, and so on until nothing dies. A sweet combo then, but the real action is what’s going on in the room. Just watch it, and pay particular attention to the cat.
James Davenport: Scareless by the Sea
It's October and in the Bay Area that means squat. It's hard to feel the slow decay of my life without proper seasons, and I essentially spend my time either on a train or in my apartment, which means spotting a single spooky Halloween decoration is a major a event for me. To compensate, I've been watching some new horror films to compensate (check out Super Dark Times and Better Watch Out), but The Evil Within 2 is doing most of the heavy lifting. I didn't like the first game at all, but the sequel's more open-ended structure is really working for me.
I think it's all about the pacing. Rather than move between Scare Vestibules on a narrow track, The Evil Within 2's open world surprises me in small ways on a route determined by my own curiosity. Rather than force myself to move forward down a linear path, I can lightly roleplay the dense horror movie character and make my way towards danger against my better judgement. No matter how many vomiting wax people from the horror matrix I stumble into (the plot is weird), I'll never learn.
