PLAY 100 GAMES IN 2018
Clear your backlog and expand your horizons. Here’s what the team played this month
Phil Savage Editor
The opening hours of Far Cry 5’ s campaign feel promising, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that this is just Far Cry again. That’s not a bad thing, necessarily, but I’m still waiting for the sequel to do something that feels surprising enough to catch my interest.
I’ve also been dipping into Sea of Thieves. I’m not sure how long I’ll last—the missions are incredibly repetitive—but I’m having fun messing around with pals on the open water. The level of coordination needed to sail a galleon leads to some entertaining hijinks.
My big achievement this month was completing Metal Gear Solid V. It’s one of my favorite stealth games, and I’ve enjoyed most of the 90+ hours I spent playing it. But I’m also glad to finally be making a dent in my big Steam list of half-finished games.
Philippa Warr Deputy Editor
This month has been a disaster for my 100 Games Challenge. Apart from the games I’ve played for PCG features and previews it has been a lean month. Well, a lean month for anything that wasn’t the special events in mobile game Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, as my home PC finally croaked.
That said, based on Alex Wiltshire’s Special Report, I checked out Engare— a game about producing geometric patterns inspired by Islamic art. It’s gorgeous, and unlike anything I’ve played before. I find the mathematics of patterns fascinating so I’ll fail a puzzle just to see the results.
I also went to EVE Fanfest, so I’ve technically spent three days watching people play the IRL aspects of EVE, whereby alliances can be shored up or ruined through chats in a beautiful building in Reykjavik.
Andy Kelly Section Editor
The Typing of the Dead: Overkill is a very silly take on Sega’s House of the Dead series, where instead of shooting zombies, you type words on your keyboard as fast as you can to kill them. It’s pretty boring, but I managed to squeeze an hour of fun out of it.
I also finally got around to playing Batman: The Telltale Series, which I think is the studio’s best adventure since the original Walking Dead. I loved shaping my own version of Bruce Wayne through its dialogue choices.
Surviving Mars is a deft blend of city-building and survival, and I enjoy it the most when the shit hits the fan. A sudden air shortage from an meteor strike is tense, because you know people are dying every second you fail to fix the problem. Stressful, but weirdly enjoyable.