Okay, the big huge game for September was that thing on the Xbox where you kill monsters using your chainsaw gun. But, while everyone was playing Cogs of Gear on their console, a lot of PC exclusives quietly came out in the last month. Let’s take a look back at some of the titles you might have missed.
Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad
Red Orchestra 2: Heroes
of Stalingrad is probably one
of the most brutal multiplayer first person shooters you will play for a while.
Death comes quickly, and more often than not, from a rifle dozens of meters
away. The game modes are standard shooter fare, but the authenticity and
gameplay are what make Red Orchestra 2 unique. Featuring a full cover system, suppression mechanic, and
realistic weapon modeling, the combat makes every kill a satisfying victory,
and every death a reminder to improve. It's buggy, difficult, and steep with
the learning curve, but Red Orchestra 2 is one of the best multiplayer shooters this year. Read the full review.
Hector: Badge of Carnage
Episode 3
The Hector Trilogy ends on quite a strong
note. Without spoiling too much, everything in the main plot is resolved and
throughout the episode there are numerous throwbacks to characters or things
from the previous episodes. While the
ending of Hector: Badge of Carnage
is conclusive, it doesn’t lean too far away from a second series The biggest thing that separates Beyond
Reasonable Doom from its
predecessors is the structure. Rather than have players face a huge overarching
puzzle made up of different plot threads, Beyond Reasonable Doom has players rapidly play through numerous smaller
puzzles. With each puzzle you complete, you can visually see that you are
getting closer to stopping The Terrorist. Read the full review.
The Pirates of Black Cove
Any pirate game would be
nothing without excellent naval combat and in this department, Pirates of
the Black Cove delivers in spades.
The ship-to-ship combat system is very easy to learn and dive into. While there
are certainly some nuances to the naval combat system, it's unfortunate that it
doesn’t have more depth of meta-strategy in it. That said, the difficulty curve
can be a bit odd at times. Some battles can be resolved in seconds while others
can take an absurd amount of time to win. One of the keys to winning both the
naval and land battles in Pirates of the Black Cove is to manage your health as well as that of your crew. I
found the fact that you do this by drinking rum to be a nice touch. Read the full review.
Warhammer 40,000
Space Marine
I picked up Space Marine
with pretty high expectations after playing the demo and it definitely met them
for me. Space Marine allows you to take on the power and majesty of The
Emperor's Space Marines and perfectly captures the look and feel of the
Warhammer 40,000 universe. The melee combat felt visceral and the guns in the
game worked exactly as they should. It's not perfect, but the blend of excellent
presentation and gameplay definitely won me over. Read our review of the Xbox version of the game.
Which of these was your favorite of the month? Sound off in the comments below.