R9 NANO SMALL

POWERFUL BUDGET Z170 ON THE CHEAP

BUT CUTTING EDGE

Battleborn
FIGHT FOR THE LAST STAR

CHRISTMAS VERMINTIDE ASROCK

GIFT GUIDES REVIEWED G10 ROUTER ISSUE
#246
GET YOUR LOVED ONES, WARHAMMER MEETS LEFT 4 WE REVIEW THIS CLEVER,
AND YOURSELF, SOMETHING DEAD IN GRIM RAT INFESTED SUPER FAST ROUTER DESIGNED DECEMBER
2015
NICE FOR THE HOLIDAYS CO-OP FPS ACTION WITH GAMING IN MIND
ISSUE #246, DECEMBER 2015

ON THE COVER
BATTLEBORN
p. 44
Gearbox tackles both co-op and
competitive multiplayer in
spectacular style

6 PC PowerPlay
 CONTENTS
Frontend
14 PAX News
20 Big Picture
24 PCPP Interview: Warhorse

Opinion
18 Far Canal
22 JAM
26 Generation XX

Features
28 A Collection Aside
32 10 to Watch
36 Christmas Gift Guides
44 Battleborn
50 The Flame in the Flood

Game Reviews
53 Warhammer: The End Times
- Vermintide
56 Sword Coast Legends
58 Age of Decadence
59 Divinity Original Sin: EE
60 Animal Gods
61 Tales from the Borderlands S1
62 Minecraft Story Mode Ep 1
63 Life Is Strange Season 1
64 Rebel Galaxy

Tech
71 Skylake on a Budget
76 AMD R9 Nano
78 Sapphire R9 Fury
REVIEW 79 Logitech Harmony Elite
WARHAMMER: 80 ASRock G10 Router
THE END TIMES – 81 ATH-AG1X Headphones
VERMINTIDE 82
83
Acer Predator XR341CK
Rig 500/Roccat Kova
p. 54
Warhammer fantasy meets 84 How Things Work
Left 4 Dead
State Of Play
92 SoP
94 Extended Memory
96 The Last Word

Regulars
12 Inbox
13 My PC
98 Next Month

TECH FEATURE
SKYLAKE ON TECH
A BUDGET RADEON R9 NANO
p. 71 p. 76 p. 82
The best of H170 and N170 mobos Small and silent, but deadly

PC PowerPlay 7
 CON JOB
EDITORIAL
By necessity I write my editorials at the end of a production EDITOR Daniel Wilks
cycle so I can talk about the important events or themes of the [email protected]
production cycle, but thanks the workload I’m sometimes not GROUP ART DIRECTOR Malcolm Campbell
my best self when I sit down to write my final words for the [email protected]
magazine. Not this month. Although I’m physically exhausted, TECH EDITOR Bennett Ring
[email protected]
I’m mentally, hell, even spiritually (in the keeping spirits up,
SPACE LORD Ben Mansill
not supernatural way) enervated thanks to the last weekend in [email protected]
October. That weekend was, of course, PAX. INTERN Nathan Davies
I’m not usually one for crowds, preferring solitude to
the press of people, but the crowds I’ve experienced every CONTRIBUTORS
James Cottee, Alex Mann, Terrence Jarrad, Meghann
year at PAX have been great thanks to a shared love of all O’Neill, Josh Lundberg, Jordy Bertram, Theo, Morte,
Nathan Lawrence, Dan Staines, Dave Kozicki, Joab Gilroy,
things gaming and a willingness to wear their loves on their Katie Williams, Heidi Kemps, Patrick Stafford, Ashley
collective sleeves, whether it be through cosplay, nerd t-shirts McKinnon, John Robertson, Hasan Ali Almaci
or just open enthusiasm for games, merchandise, figurines, ADVERTISING
comics, developers and what have you. Rather than sucking GROUP NATIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER
the air out of a room, the PAX crowd enlivens it. It’s hard to be GAMING
jaded around all that happiness. It’s loud, chaotic, hot and not Cameron Ferris
just a little bit fragrant – things I usually hate – but hang me, [email protected]
(+16 2) 02 9901 6348
I love it. My feet don’t, and my back is killing me, but that’s M: 0405 356 419
another story.
As always, the highlight of PAX was the indies. Even though ACCOUNT MANAGER
there was hushed talk of the possibility of an “Indie-pocalypse” Sean Fletcher
thanks to the fact that it’s getting harder to make a profit on [email protected]
(+16 2) 02 9901 6367
indie titles, the level of talent on show was astonishing. Over M: 0402 585 124
the next few months we’ll (and by “we” I mean Meghann, our
resident Indie writer) will be taking a deeper look at some of ADVERTISING TRAFFIC
the best games from the Indie stands. I’m definitely curious to Alison Begg
see if her favourites line up with mine. [email protected]
02 9901 6346
Daniel Wilks PRODUCTION MANAGER Alison Begg
Editor CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Carole Jones
@drwilkenstein
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8 PC PowerPlay
Z170 Motherboards GTX 950 Graphics Card
5.2GHz+
4.8GHz +

4.0GHz

Auto Manual
Default Tuning Tuning
 FRONTEND
THIS MONTH...
DANIEL WILKS
Avoided the PAX Pox
@drwilkenstein

MALCOLM CAMPBELL
Made million of
magazines

BENNETT RING
Lost his internets
@bennettring

JAMES COTTEE
Dressed as robot
Frankenstein
@j_cottee

MEGHANN O’NEILL
Saw 82 Indie games
@firkraags

JAMES O’CONNOR
Talked about his thesis
@jickle INTERVIEW

24 Kingdom Come: Deliverance

BEN MANSILL
Felt KFC regret
Prepare yourself for realistic medieval combat

NATHAN LAWRENCE
Grew an even bigger
beard

HEIDI KEMPS
Hopefully got paid

DAVID
HOLLINGWORTH
Went hands off

ALEX MANN
Monitored Facebook

PREVIEW
CAMERON FERRIS
Wanted a break
44 Battleborn
@pcpowerplay
Hands on with the newly revealed competitive multiplayer

SEAN FLETCHER
Left PAX early

28 Indies 32 10 to Watch
The best of independant development The most exciting games on the horizon

10 PC PowerPlay
 3 5

ROBERT 39, BELLBOWRIE

It’s a sim rig, used for playing simulation • Derek Speares Designs hydraulic
racing games and the occasional flight sim. handbrake ROBERT WINS!
• Siminstruments Dashboard For his awesome sim rig, Robert scores
The specs of the PC itself aren’t all that • Buttkicker Gamer w/Simvibe software himself a QNAP HS-210 Silent NAS. Enjoy!
flash:
• 16MB DDR RAM @ 1333Mhz I kept my old gear when I upgraded and
• i7 2600K @ 4.2Ghz, watercooled built my 3 year old son his very own sim rig.
• 1x128GB Vertex 3 SSD • Intel Q6600 PC w/4GB ram
• 1x128GB Vertex 2 SSD • R9 280X video card
• 1x2TB WD Black HDD • Logitech G27 wheel, pedals, shifter
• 2xR9 280X video cars in Crossfire • 1 custom rig made from the bits of my
• 1xXonar DG soundcard very first custom simrig + paint scheme.
• 1 very happy simracing mad 3yo :)
The sim gear is as follows:
• Next Level Racing GTUltimate V2
“chassis” with triple monitor stand, 1. Hydraulic handbrake! Now that’s
keyboard tray, and desktop serious gear right there.
• Fanatec Clubsport V1 wheel with BMW 2. The Fanatec shifter is by far the best on
Z4 GT2 rim + Formula rim. the market
• Fanatec Clubsport V2 pedals 3. Ben is jealous
• Fanatec Shifter SQ 4. The specs aren’t flash, he says winner!
• Derek Speares Designs L + R Clubsport 5. Ther most adorable racing setup ever
Button boxes 6. One very lucky 3 year old

WANT FREE STUFF? Send your MyPC entry today to [email protected]. Include the four most impressive elements of its
hardware, your last upgrade, your dream upgrade, your favourite feature and what you think makes your PC special. Make sure to include your
name, age and location. And last but not least, attach a 5MP or bigger image of your PC! No camera phone shots, and make sure it’s in focus!

PC PowerPlay 11
PCPP Game & Tech News

PAX 2015
Melbourne once again played host to the biggest gaming convention in Australia, and once again it
made for an amazing, if tiring three days.

I t’s not hyperbole to say that PAX 2015 has

been the best yet. After a busy but rocky first
year in 2013, the move from the previous event
the weekend one very lucky gamer went home
with the winning machine.
MSi, Asus, Gigabyte, Mwave, Alienware, Intel,
resident Indie games writer will bring you the
full highlights of the show in coming issues but
there were very few games we saw that didn’t
space to the Melbourne Convention Centre has Roccat and more had a presence on the show impress. Some of the standouts included Klang,
allowed the organisers and the patrons alike to floor, spruiking the latest in their peripheral, PC an incredible looking and very enjoyable German
do and see more over the three day event. and component lines, with ample opportunity made rhythm platformer that fuses Strider
This year more tech vendors than previous for hands on. Taiwanese case manufacturer In style movement with EDM, Objects in Space,
years made their presence known on the show Win set up shop on the show floor first time, a slow but very involving space sim developed
floor. Microsoft, in addition to having a massive showing off their rather ridiculous, if somewhat by Sydney based team, Flat Earth Games that
Xbox booth, also had a series of high powered, awesome mechanical, transforming H-Tower approaches space combat in a manner similar to
extremely expensive gaming PCs specifically case, as well as their more restrained ATX submarine combat. Bonus points to Flat Earth
made for PAX on display. When we say high cases. In Win are looking to become as well for creating a working Arduino based console
powered and extremely expensive we’re not known in Australia as they are in Asia, so expect full of flashing lights and appealing buttons.
blowing smoke – one of the machines featured to see a lot more from them in 2016. Another real standout, and crowd favourite was
triple SLI with 980 Ti cards and was valued Even though every publisher worth their salt Death Squared, a diabolically difficult co-op
around the 10k mark. Running games like Elite had a stand showing off their latest and greatest puzzle game developed by SMG Studio. One of
Dangerous, We Happy Few and Ark: Survival AAA titles, the winners of PAX 2015, much like the last games funded by the Screen Australia
Evolved, the four machines on display, with the previous years, was the Indie section. Scores grant before it was cut by the government,
cases ranging from a fish tank through to more of Indie titles, both foreign and domestic graced Death Squared pulled big crowds and furrowed
standard, yet still elegant fare were open to the show floor and drew considerable crowds many brows as players tried to work together
the public. Players could then vote for their from opening to closing on all three days of the to achieve the simple sounding task of guiding
favourite machine on the floor and at the end of convention. Meghann O’Neill, PC PowerPlay’s colour blocks to similarly targets.

12 PC PowerPlay
PCPP Game & Tech News

PAX IN PICTURES
Photos don’t do justice to the size of the crowds that
flooded through PAX. Here’s just a taste.

14 PC PowerPlay
PCPP Game & Tech News

THE TRUE
POWER OF PAX
There’s games, and cosplay, and awesome
geekery, but the real draw of PAX AUS is in
its amazing array of panel discussions. David
Hollingworth braved the crowds for some
real gems.

T o say there is a lot to see at PAX AUS is somewhat of an

understatement. I know a few people who had one-day passes,
and saw only a small fraction of that they wanted. Personally, I
had a three-day pass, and still didn’t see everything. There’s a
wide variety of games on show, from soon to release AAA titles
with their two-hour long lines, and private booths, to a swathe of
fascinating indie games made by a passionate few who are just
super-damn-excited to show off what they’ve been working on.
There are huge LANs where you can come along and play on
a high-spec PC, handheld gaming lounges, and even an array of
classic pinball machines!
But it’s not just about PC and console, either. The tabletop area
is huge, and here you’ll find card games, boardgames, wargames
and even roleplaying games. You can learn to play something new,
take part in a huge game of Warhammer 40,000, or even just
snag a table with some mates and play a round of Cards Against
Humanity.
And then there’s the cosplay, and the catching up with friends,
and the… yeah. There’s a lot on.
But the real heart of the three days are PAX’s panels. From
small rooms to entire auditoriums, from two people to six,
the panels discuss all manner of gaming topics. From building
narrative in the medium of games, to the importance to diversity
in both companies and the games we play, to getting a master
game-maker like Warren Spector to sit down and play Deus Ex for
the first time in years… it’s all there.
And it’s all very open, too. The point of the panels isn’t just to
listen – they’re highly interactive, from questions, to live audience
polls, and even feedback to create new games. The point is, the
panels make you a part of the conversation, while also opening
up the professional lives of developers and journalists, games
masters and card game makers.
Probably one of my favourite panels this was on the topic of
gaming and mental health. You could really feel the audience
responding to the panellists and their stories of either using
coping to help cope, and from the industry professionals looking
to explore the therapeutic side of gaming. Hanging around after,
to give my regards to one of the panellists, I saw a lot of other
people coming up to thank them for sharing – and to make them
feel like they were not alone, and could talk about their issues.
The games are great; the costumes are marvellous to look at and
wear. Seeing friends, often for the first time, is simply amazing.
But the panels make the show. That’s where you’ll learn about
the industry and what makes it tick.

16 PC PowerPlay
OPINION / FAR CANAL

Time
to buy
But you don’t need it all

H ow’s the upgrade season been

treating you? Been splurging
gleefully, or are you perhaps engaged
kind somebody else has to dig, because
digging is tiresome and difficult. Unless
it’s your job to dig holes, in which case
manufacturing processes. And that’s
not the fun queue.
Ok. Sorry. I’m totally kidding about
in selectively targeted tactical I’m terribly embarrassed and wish you everything. Ha ha! Got you there with
improvements to your system? the very best with your next project. some balanced sensible thinking. Buy
It’s a tough economic hell, being a PC SSDs also come in sexy new next- everything your gaming heart desires.
gamer. Just when something stabilises, gen flavours. That there’s another Lash out, splash out, smash that credit
the boat goes and rocks again. We have reason to consider moving to the card. You won’t regret it for a second,
all enjoyed the last few years of no, 100-series platform. But you can wait, even if your last thing was from last
or very few, CPU upgrades. For most no hurry, there are only three next-gen month. Hell, that’s what I’ve always
games, any quad-core Intel CPU from SSDs worth having right now (Intel done. There’s no pleasure quite like it.
2009’s Sandy Bridge onward is well 750, Samsung 750 Pro and HyperX I’ll tell you what people aren’t
enough. Even simheads, for whom a Predator), and they’re all fabulously buying, though. Not anyone,
powerful CPU is critical, get by fine fast, but also close to the same price apparently. DVDs and sound cards. I
with five-year-old CPUs. as a super sexy new monitor. I shan’t know this because over in PC & Tech
We’ve also been well treated by go on and on once again about how Authority magazine, which is my main
games when it comes to GPUs. Your monitors are the new amazing, day job round these parts, mostly, we
needs and desires will vary, but the big asked around most of the big players in
$1,000 annual video card tax is well
behind us. I would regard anything
Thanks Nvidia, thanks the reseller channel (‘shops’), and next
to no one is ordering these parts with
circa AMD 280x or Nvidia 780 to be AMD. Screw you, the new systems.

common good
totally gruntworthy. The conclusion we’ve drawn from
The Skylake CPU came along, with that is not that people don’t use them,
its friends the 100-series motherboards. it’s that they don’t actually need
Do you need them? Nope, in fact the and how the year 2015 will forever replacing. If your DVD is still functional,
only big reason to upgrade to Skylake be remembered as the Year of the yank it out of your ex-box, shove it in
is if your CPU and mobo is of Sandy Ultrawide Curved SyncySynced Screen. your new PC – voila $40 saved! Or how
Bridge vintage, and the biggest win No. But do please wait, just a little ever much they cost these days, haven’t
you’re going to see is probably gaining longer on that front. Amazing screens looked in ten years, cos that’s how long
support for SATA 3 and USB 3! still have some evolutionary hurdles I’ve had my current DVD.
RAM? 8GB is fine. 16GB is just for to leap across, like better aspect ratios The same is true of sound cards.
show offs. Cue letters... SSDs? Now with more generous consideration to While mobo sound is getting pretty
we’re talking. Prices have steadily vertical resolution, and combining amazing, a discrete sound card can be
slid over the last couple of years to G-Sync and FreeSync in a single better. An Asus Xonar ST/X or Creative
the point where most working people monitor. Ha! Ok, that’ll never happen. X-Fi is still better than most mobo
can afford to look beyond an almost- Politics will snuff that light out, thanks solutions, but they’ve been the same for
worthless tinydrive, like in the order Nvidia, thanks AMD. Screw you, the years, so why replace what’s not been
of 128GB or so. Worthless! Instead – as common good. improved?
you may well have been doing already Anyway, don’t buy a monitor just yet. Of course, if you don’t have a
– it’s time to start packing your PC It takes months for LCD panel factories sound card or DVD drive at all,
with large capacity SSDs, and many of to change to a new format/standard/ we understand, you cutting-edge
them. Our slogan for 2016 is ‘no more technology, and your favourite game econonaut, you. But how ever will you
mechanical hard drives’. Bury them in BEN MANSILL is just going to have to stand in line access the wonders on the PCPP and
a hole. A fun hole. By that I mean the has no moving parts behind Chinese and Korean panel PCTA cover discs? Yes, indeed.

18 PC PowerPlay
 the big
picture

20 PC PowerPlay
Dragon’s Dogma:
Dark Arisen
DEVELOPER CAPCOM
PUBLISHER CAPCOM
DUE JAN 2016
www.dragonsdogma.com

One of the most enjoyable third-person

action RPGs of 2012 is about to make its
way to the PC, bringing the Dark Arisen
expansion pack with it. Utilising an inter-
esting hybridised class system and clever
online support that allows your NPC
companion to join other parties when
you’re offline, DD should be a hit on PC.

PC PowerPlay 21
OPINION / JAM

The
Dreams
of Bedlam
The most profitable
enterprises aren’t
businesses – they’re
cults. Savvy devs leverage
this dark secret to their
advantage...

A perennial question: When will

video games grow up? It’s a
query oft pitched as an unsolvable
management, of a completely lost cause.
Official updates from RSI boast
of the Hollywood celebrities they’ve
scrambling to get youngsters hooked
into this dark web via expensive lumps
of plastic. Of these schemes LEGO
conundrum, but recent events have roped in for mo-cap. Meanwhile, Dimensions is the most ambitious, and
proven beyond doubt that video boring old Frontier Developments is it could prove to be the most profitable
games have indeed reached a state rolling out oodles of new content for of them all. Consider the precedent set
of maturity. Why? Because they now Elite Dangerous, which we will remind by Warhammer 40,000 – the Games
pander to the most insidious of all readers is a real game that you can Workshop people figured out a long
human impulses: millennial hysteria. really play. time ago that if you have the right IP,
The tendency to go all-in on a mass Of the two ventures Star Citizen is fans will willingly spend thousands of
delusion, a get-rich scheme, or some the more ‘grown up,’ because there is dollars to own your little totems. The
other all-consuming cause. To wilfully nothing more grown-up than being more shamelessly you over-charge, the
abandon all capacity for reason. utterly convinced of the righteousness more people are willing to pay.
The Kickstarter mania of 2012 was of a doomed enterprise. A child might It’s striking how much Skylanders
a legitimate phenomenon, but it was doubt himself, but an adult always has changed the face of this industry
just a taste. If Tim Schafer was John knows he’s right. From Dutch Tulip in just five years – and it’s bizarre to
the Baptist, then Chris Roberts is Mania to Australia’s recent resources think that the men behind it, Paul
Jesus Christ. Reiche III and Fred Ford, once gave us
Free from the time limits of the The childish enterprise the sublime space combat game Star

sees the customer as a

mainstream crowd-funding sites, Star Control 2. At the rate they’re going
Citizen has enjoyed unlimited access they’ll never return to the franchise,
to the piggy banks of nostalgic space
cadets everywhere. As of this writing,
friend. The mature, grown-up and maybe that’s for the best. Imagine
if Activision published it today... the
Roberts Space Industries boasts over
one million paying customers, and
business sees him as a sap basic Star Control box would come with
the game, an e-reader, and little plastic
US$93 million in funds raised. You boom, human history has been defined toys of an Earthling Cruiser, a Spathi
seldom see sums that large outside and advanced by the bold vision of those Eluder, and maybe a VUX Intruder.
of the business pages, but as well- who know in their hearts that they must But if you wanted to pilot something
informed readers will already know, piss their life savings up against a wall. more badass, like a Chmmr Avatar or a
there is a key difference between Star The public response to the scale Thraddash Torch, you’d have to buy it
Citizen and most normal businesses. of these schemes is uncanny. When separately at K-Mart.
Take the benighted Masters hardware nVIDIA expects you to register so they Gamers would gladly abandon
chain. It may be in dire straits, but at can flog your details to advertisers, all fiscal probity just to experience
least they are selling tangible products there’s an outcry. When Overkill the giddy thrill of squandering their
– you can walk in, buy a packet of Software adds micro-transactions to savings on every last rare figurine. The
screws, and be on your way. But in Payday 2, there’s a revolt. Chisellers are suits would gouge us for hundreds of
the Star Citizen Star Store, even the despised because they don’t think big. bucks, and we’d love them for it.
intangibles are intangible (for now, at If your want people to love you, you This is the ultimate evolution of
least). And they could well be intangible just need to commit daylight robbery. the gaming industry. The childish
for the foreseeable future. The Escapist Take the trendy new technological enterprise sees the customer as a
recently published a tell-all story paradigm that promises to revolutionise friend. The mature, grown-up business
in which a dozen or so anonymous JAMES COTTEE is the way we live our lives, the blandly- sees him as a sap. So yes: video games
waiting for the giant
ex-RSI employees spilled their guts, space robot to come titled “Internet of Things.” Activision, have grown up. Because they treat you
telling a tale of tyrannical, wasteful and claim his soul Disney, Nintendo, and Warner Bros. are like a baby. Next question?

22 PC PowerPlay
201511-MY-Chip-210x276 FIX.pdf 1 10/27/15 2:14 PM

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 INTERVIEW

DIE BY THE
SWORD
The trailers for Kingdom Come: Deliverance have dazzled gamers
with their promise of a true-to-life simulation of medieval combat. WHO VIKTOR BOCAN
We talk to lead designer Viktor Bocan about how his up-and- WHERE WARHORSE STUDIOS
WHY KINGDOM COME: DELIVERA NCE
coming Czech studio is setting a new standard for action RPGs...

V iktor Bocan is a 20-year veteran of

the games industry, having served as
a lead designer at Bohemia Interactive on
movies and TV shows and documentaries –
it’s quite a shame that there are basically no
games with the same approach.”
invented for common use much later.
“Many of these are ‘just small things,’
but perfection is made by exactly those
Operation Flashpoint and ArmA, and as a But to make such a game work meant small things. Is it important for the game
senior designer at 2K Czech. More recently paying a great deal of attention to detail. itself? Not much. It is something that makes
he co-founded Warhorse Studios, and for a “Not only that you have no potatoes or the world even more believable, real and
couple of years now this start-up has been tomatoes in Central Europe at the time. interesting? Definitely yes!”
crafting a whole new take on the role- You have specific trees and forests, orange This is not the first time that a new
playing paradigm. carrots didn’t exist yet, etc. When we developer has tried to create a video game
“We always wanted to play an open- released the first footage from the game, with a truly realistic take on medieval
world RPG without all of those common we had a lot of interesting feedback – and sword fighting – Neal Stephenson’s
fantasy elements. We still love The Elder people started to ‘play our game’ with disastrous CLANG! Kickstarter project
Scrolls and The Witcher, but there’s a lot historical realism. comes to mind. So what is it that sets
of games like those and we were thinking “We’ve got a nice letter from a guy who Warhorse’s new combat system apart?
like ‘what would you do, living in the dark made a thesis about herd behavior. He “When we started to make a realistic
medieval world, wanting to survive, having claimed that the sheep we are showing game, we have decided that we want
only things that were really available?’ move wrong – so we changed that. Some realism in combat too – and started to study
So we decided to make an RPG with all people pointed out that we cannot have it. There are two levels of this realism:
RPG elements like character development, physics (so the weapons behave right)
captivating story, role playing, a lot
of dialogues and interesting people,
we have decided at and historical fencing (so we can show the
combat how it really looked).
sophisticated combat system, large open the beginning that we “The first is the physics: we have decided

want the swords sliding

world where you can go anywhere you at the beginning that we want the swords
want to do anything you need – but to sliding over each other, colliding with
put it into the real countryside in a real
historical period.
over each other environment or armor. It just doesn’t
look right when you slash the person
“So we did just that. You still have all through the plate armor and hurt it for 1
those ingredients you need to enjoy the white chickens in the game – they were HP because that’s an RPG game. In reality,
RPG, meanwhile you may try for yourself cultivated much later. Etc.” you even cannot penetrate the plate with
what it was to live in such era. So you can Early in development Viktor’s team a simple sword, you need a falchion or an
look at the game as some kind of time did a lot of reading. Now they employ a axe or a mace to harm the knight. In a 3D
machine: early 15th century in Europe was full-time historian. “You encounter a lot of environment with a first person camera
really an interesting time.” interesting challenges while making such all this is something that is very hard to
Naturally, all of the research conducted an accurate game. Like when you want the achieve, but we just wanted it because we
by the Warhorse team had to be balanced world to be filled with interesting people felt that ‘just playing animations and let RPG
by practical issues of game balance. So doing their common daily routines, but count it’ isn’t good enough. Two years later
just how historical is Kingdom Come: still working in the RPG sense. You want we are very happy with what we achieved.”
Deliverance? to have an armourer so the player can buy But how did they then imbue these
“Really historical! But I’d like to add that armour – but armourers weren’t stocked mechanics with historical realism? “Combat
the ‘history-ness’ and ‘authenticity’ aren’t up with armour to the roof those days, it didn’t usually look how it is often displayed
the goal, they are rather the way we are was too expensive and too risky for him so in movies or games: it is way harder to
going. We do not create historical RPG you needed to order the plate cuirass [chest master. European combat had very specific
just to be historical, we create an RPG and armour] in advance.” It might look nice style with very diverse stances and strikes.
place it into history because we believe for an in-game tailor to show off his wares It’s also kind of lost in time: once people
it’s interesting. Look at popular historical on showroom dummies, but they were started using firearms there was no need

24 PC PowerPlay
for huge armours because the gun penetrated them
anyway. With armours gone, large swords were no
longer needed too and the fencing changed a lot.
Now people are rediscovering how the knights’ duels
really looked like, how longswords were used, which
techniques were the best to deal with an armored
opponent, with unarmored one or with three rednecks
with pitchforks. We are following this and found really
interesting and even ‘gamey’ elements in it. At the end
it’s a lot of fun to develop. We have various combat
stances, different types of attacks to different parts
of the body, feints and tricks and pushes and pommel
strikes and it turned out good at the end.”
Likewise, the RPG system in Kingdom Come aims
for depth and realism. “You improve in what you do –
you fight a lot, you get better in it. If you pick up every
flower, you get better in herbalism. Equipment is used
as it really was: in layers. You have 14 slots for clothes
alone, because if you want to wear plate cuirass, you
need to dress up a gambeson first, then ideally chain
mail shirt and cuirass over it. All this you can do in the
game and it influences your defense very much: if you
were just wearing cuirass alone, it’s quite good against
simple slashes but once you get hit by a mace it would
damage you greatly because even in reality you need
something soft under the plate. Of course, you can
combine different armors in different layers on different
body parts and that leads to countless combinations.
“It’s also important that most of the gameplay
(especially combat) combines player’s skills with
those of player’s character. Combat is real time
directly controlled and based on reflexes – but it gets
significantly easier once you level up in combat skills.
Good examples are ‘master strikes,’ hits that can kill in
one strike during defense (you essentially go against the
enemy attack and while deflecting the enemy sword you
also strike to weak spot in one move). These are very
hard to perform first and against tough opponents, but
once your character levels up or is fighting beginner you
can pull them out quite easily.”
Despite centuries of obsolescence, traditional
European martial arts are making something of a
comeback. Some members of the Warhorse team have
been known to dabble – all in the name of research,
of course. “I wouldn’t say that we all started to train
with a sword, as I believe most members of car racing
simulation teams are not driving like crazy during
development. But yes, we learn a lot. As a combat
designer I undertook summer course with a long sword,
some animators started to train fencing – but mostly we
learn from professionals we hire for help with a combat
system. They are people studying medieval combat
techniques for a living but they are also gamers and we
are really working hard together on connecting every
game system with some real combat moves that look
cool and would work in real duel.
“We are still accident-free – last time I missed our
Executive Producer’s eye by at least three centimetres
with a spear so everything is fine so far.”
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is due to launch in win-
ter 2016. For more details, visit KingdomComeRPG.com.
JAMES COTTEE

PC PowerPlay 25
OPINION / GENXX

An Honest
(Almost)
History
I know that this is a time
sensitive wager worth
$20,000, but I just want to
talk to the gal on the train
with the tentacle glove one
more time.

E arlier this year, I mentioned

80 Days, by Inkle, as at least
partially responsible for my newfound
horses, between cities. Or, hold tight
as a whole city, Agra, stands up and
carries you to Calcutta. On this, Jayanth
or struggles, but they don’t centre on
him. We structured her dialogue cagily,
making it easy to have her turn away or
dissatisfaction with supposedly says, “I wanted our alternate world to shut down. You (as Passepartout) might
“authentic” historical fiction. Now the have old roots. Agra is almost forgotten have the most noble of intentions, but
game has been released on PC, I am technology, so old it’s virtually mystical that doesn’t mean you have a right to
excited to discuss it in more detail. to modern artificers and engineers.” someone’s trust. It means that sometimes
Loosely based on Jules Verne’s Around When I discussed the adventure a door will be shut in your face because
the World in Eighty Days, it is primarily game, A Golden Wake, I challenged its you are an outsider, or white, or French,
a piece of interactive fiction, leading treatment of the, “war era secretary,” not or a man, and that’s a good experience
to (each playthrough) mere sequential because I am widely read on the subject, for the player to have.” Certainly, I was
moments within an impossible glut of but because of my grandma’s exciting interested in Passepartout’s dialogue
content. The game elements are slight, tales of being picked up on a motorcycle during this conversation, especially his
but important, including managing and taken to a dark warehouse to views on progress and modernity, as
time, money and route, as well as the communicate with Russia, as well as her, well as Fogg’s initial assertion that all the
overarching goal of traversing the unlikely but real, letter from Stalin. My world is open to an Englishman.
globe in less than eighty days. grandfather, who I never met, was also Most interestingly, I had a basic
On leaving London, and this is set in stationed in Lahore for many years. appreciation for the colonial context of
1872, you are immediately thrust onto characters in India and Australia, but
a submarine train, and underwater.
It is an incredible introduction to a
creations that never quite when I got to Africa, finally, and after
a near fatal lack of cash for passage in
universe which is both very faithful and existed lend the setting a South America, I realised that women
fabulously alternative. I contacted writer,
Meg Jayanth, to ask after her process. certain technological magic here wouldn’t be maids. They would be
warrior, airship captains. Hilariously,
On the Amphitrite Express, she says, my Passepartout developed a crush on
“We realised that we had to establish the Growing up, I had one insight into one of them, as she was cannily casing
premise of the world straight away, and British colonialism. After I visited India, him out, being the enemy and all. The
in no uncertain terms, with something and some of the places my grandfather world is beautifully detailed from city
wondrous but also just familiar enough. had been, I learned more, even if the to city, East to West, and in a way that
A submersible version of the Eurostar people I spoke to rarely agreed on both embraces the people who were, as
worked on all fronts.” In a way similar aspects of its legacy, good and bad. And, well as those who could have been.
to in the 2011 film, Hugo, mechanical I rode on some amazing trains. 80 Days My journeys around this unique world
creations that never quite existed lend cleverly raises difficult questions about have been a joy. As well as the wondrous
the setting a certain technological magic. the impact of colonialism through its steampunk backdrop, just engaging
In fact, throughout the world you people and conversations. In addition with people I’d never before imagined
will frequently encounter humanoid to the Indian cities, my last playthrough left me wanting more. Perhaps you can
automata. The story of the Artificer’s took me through Brisbane. There, I met now appreciate why 80 Days has ruined
Guild is told incidentally, as it intersects a woman from the Murri tribe, who was a lot of historical fiction for me. After all,
with the politics of the day. You will find sad to be serving as a maid, rather than Jayanth says, “The late 19th century was
MEGHANN
robots as everything from soldiers to O’NEILL’S record for
engaging with her ancestral homeland full of people pushing the boundaries of
dancers, while encountering regulations circumnavigating the as she had expected to. She is writing a science, society, gender, class, race and
about their creation and management. globe is 68 days, but letter of protest to the local newspaper. sexuality. We tried to infuse that into our
only because she
Many are not even humanoid. For couldn’t compromise Jayanth says, “Passepartout is a tourist. cast of characters.” They succeeded. I
example, you may be pulled by robot on content any further. He might get involved in people’s stories, hope you will play it.

26 PC PowerPlay
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A Collection Aside
This month, MEGHANN O’NEILL got addicted to a card game and then cured herself with a
homemade drug. Sadly, it wasn’t without its side effects and she spent a few weeks raving about
whether clowns are actually evil or just big and huggable. Then she had to have a lie down while
the world spun around her octopus. Don’t worry, she’s fine now and this introduction will all make
sense, soon enough. Join this wild ride where you will, though, there is a game for every taste within.

AIRSCAPE
DEVELOPER CROSS PRODUCT
PRICE $10
www.airscapegame.com

■ Next month, these pages will be full of

PAX games again. It seems to have come
around really quickly. Last year, I saw 50
locally made PC indies and wrote up 10,
deliberately choosing not to repeat coverage
of the many games returning from 2013. I
distinctly remember Airscape: The Fall of
Gravity not capturing my attention. Sadly,
part of the PAX problem is that I will have
time for a quick chat, a look and only
maybe a play. First impressions are
important, and there are other
considerations for what gets RELEASED
covered, like showcasing a mix of
genres and release dates.
Remembering the game,
nonetheless, I was interested, and
saddened, to read a Gamasutra blog post
by designer, Daniel West, titled, “Good isn’t
good enough, releasing an indie game in
2015.” He outlines his disappointment at
a lack of press coverage and commercial
success, despite the game being specifically further on and I was dying 3, 9, 20, 50 need to “pop” the bubble of water you’re
featured in the Indie Showcase at PAX and times at any given point. Checkpoints are floating in, how will the enemy missile track
his overall satisfaction with the PR process. regular, however, and I could feel myself its path around corners of “straight” land?
In particular, this line grabbed me, “Some improving at whatever the incrementally The controls might initially feel unwieldy,
kind hearted journalist or youtuber will more difficult manoeuvre was. Progression until you understand how to slow down. It
take a special interest in a game, but on a is more exciting in challenging games, too. I is also quite gorgeous, from squishy octopus
grander scale, press want clicks.” really quite like trying to master something sounds to colourful, enigmatic visuals and
In my opinion, PCPP’s coverage of difficult and the feeling of achievement an orchestral soundtrack. Whatever my first
indie games is excellent, but what I want when you do. I also find that a new place impression was, “beautiful difficulty” is my
A Collection Aside to be, specifically, and challenge is usually a suitable reward enduring one.
is a place that links you, personally, to for my efforts. Of course, the game did leave me
some special aspect of a game you might Thinking about how the physics work is wondering. Why is the character an
otherwise not have heard of. It’s really essential. How will your jump be affected octopus? How did the octopus get here?
important games find their audience, by unusual gravity, how much speed do you What is this place? Why are there pockets
whoever they are. With this in mind, I of floating sea and mechanical Lolo Balls
purchased my own copy of Airscape and it trying to kill me? Do these questions need
is not what I was expecting it to be. I could Why is the answers? I would have liked the game
elaborate on how I now understand why
it didn’t immediately interest me, then character an octopus? to explore a more narrative approach,
because that would have enriched my
subsequently did, at least somewhat, but
I’d rather just describe the game so you can
How did the octopus commitment to beating the difficult
puzzles. Regardless, although I decided
decide if it is for you. get here? What is this not to cover the game this time last year,
Most notably, it is punishing. By the
second level I was failing. Only a little place? you hopefully now have the information
required to decide if it is for you.

28 PC PowerPlay
BIG PHARMA
DEVELOPER POSITECH GAMES
PRICE $25
www.bigpharmagame.com

■ Remember, about six years ago, when

PC Powerplay published everyone’s five
favourite games of all time and I included
Theme Hospital and got laughed off
the forums? Do you? I do. Well, who
is laughing now? The lady who has
cornered the market on anti-seizure
medication is who is laughing; me.
Ha ha ha. People like heart attacks
RELEASED
with their lack of seizures, right?
If they don’t, I may have a cream
for that, a very itchy cream. Big
Pharma addresses, if not quite actually
cures, the withdrawal symptoms Theme
Hospital left behind. It’s good, but I do
wish it were more.
Immediately, Big Pharma is impersonal.
Why did I bankrupt myself to save one
guy with Bloaty Head in Theme Hospital?
Well, you could either watch him keel
over in front of your very eyes or hear
that satisfying pop as he was successfully
treated by an expensive doctor and piece of
machinery. Big Pharma only shows numbers
in a way that has turned me quite evil. Yes,
you can play as altruistic, curing cancer and
genital warts, but why, when you are only
looking at a balance sheet? If you can’t see
someone experiencing “anal leakage” why serious illness for many people. This is my competitors? Can you mix it with something
fork out to remove side effects? leisure time, after all. else, find the requisite catalyst and shake
Yes, another key difference between these Does the game function as some kind components apart so that they behave how
two games is that Big Pharma is mostly of cynical conspiracy theory into the you need them to? What machines do you
rooted in reality. In Theme Hospital you’re operation of the pharmaceutical industry, need? Can you even structure belts and
trying to treat Chronic Nose Hair and Third drawing you into its impersonal approach? equipment with strict input and output
Degree Sideburns with the kind of passion Is it supposed to challenge you to requirements into an arrangement that
reserved for silly scenarios. In Big Pharma, I experience the minds of the bean counters works, on a small factory floor? Will people
could certainly try to remove dizziness and who seem to hardly consider their wider pay for Panadol with horrendous side
hallucinations from my diabetes medicine, role as care providers? Who knows? What effects? Not so much. Virility drugs that
but it’s so much easier to take a money- I do know is that as soon as I relinquished make you puke? Yes.
grubbing approach than emotionally the expectation this was Theme Hospital The challenge/campaign options
engage with what can be a chronic and for a next generation, I started really are varied and plentiful, incorporating
enjoying the deep research in the field and lab, as well as
concentration that targets to achieve. Or, play freeform with
came with trying unlimited funds. Either way, all the wacky
to make drugs that drug combinations lend themselves to
mostly worked and some pretty funny emergent storytelling
mostly made a profit. moments, like when I thought I was selling
Is it possible to contraception, but I’d messed up the
activate the effect process. So that’s why the game prompted
you want from an me to name it, “Meghann’s Sugar Pill.”
ingredient and People were buying it. But it remains
eradicate the side unfortunately easy to be flagrantly immoral,
effects in a way that when the unwanted babies are crying
confounds your somewhere off screen.

PC PowerPlay 29
 CONCRETE JUNGLE engaging and hilarious. The banter between
DEVELOPER COLE POWERED GAMES
characters reminds me most of the sitcom,
PRICE $16 Parks and Recreation. Knowing that
colepowered.com/concrete-jungle Giles Butterworth is a failed band
member, now a drunk farmer, lends
■ You know the SimCity series and how, his particular style of play a certain
RELEASED
generally, things make sense but the authenticity, too. As Giles, the
process is obfuscated? Unless you wanted player learns to compose massive,
to spend lots of time staring at graphs, incredibly powerful rural blocks.
you could usually feel your way to victory Each farm, farmhouse or barn links
just navigating by the RCI bars. Less so in together to buff the group in some way and
Concrete Jungle, which condenses city is placed on a square as you choose cards
building into easily digestible concepts, from the deck.
but in a way you must come to understand. Alternatively, be the gormless mayor,
This is a challenging card game with an Rick Selfridge, and reap the rewards of a
endearing campaign and multiplayer mode. kind of blundering “privilege,” building loss for their row score, but it is a very well
It forces you to give aspects like location, rollercoasters and reversing things that balanced game, overall. In multiplayer, you
undesirable building output, population and aren’t going your way. His dialogue includes should be able to use the character of your
land value more than a second thought. such gems as, “Now we know why building choice to beat any other, but be careful
It is also incredibly fun and so addictive. ‘asthma town’ was a bad idea.” Placing you fully understand their strengths and
I am going to try to explain why, but buildings with an economic bonus allows weaknesses.
it really just hit the perfect balance of you to either purchase cards or special If you’re a fan of card games, city builders
strategy, planning and reactive thinking abilities, unique to each character. Rick’s or puzzle games, especially all three, I can’t
for my taste. Not to mention that each massive nude statue (of himself) is by far recommend Concrete Jungle highly enough.
level teaches you something new and is the most hysterical ability, providing a -1 So, stack your deck with Coal Power Plants,
long enough to be engaging, but never debuff to all squares in direct line of sight of sabotage your rival’s land and then find
boring. Essentially, you must fill and clear his naked male parts. you have a hand stacked with useless Waste
the last row, like Tetris, to progress to a Another opponent places random burger cards. You can always build the Greens
finish line. In solo mode, you must also joints in your path every four turns and and Arthouse Cinemas on your side of the
reach land value targets, collecting points there are various plucky young city planners map. Until it is your opponent’s turn and
with residences, or fail. In versus mode to unlock for varying up your strategy. A they build something horrible next to your
(including against clever AI) simply score few cards seem overpowered, like being houses. If you need more convincing this
more points than your opponent. able to invert an opponent’s massively high game is great, the card description for The
Especially in comparison to Big Pharma, land value on one square and potentially Shops simply reads, “Cornetto.” (I don’t
Concrete Jungle’s incremental story is turning something like a +5 gain into a -5 know. Maybe it’s just me.)

30 PC PowerPlay
DROPSY THE CLOWN
DEVELOPER JAY THOLEN
PRICE $10
store.steampowered.com/app/274350

■ It’s refreshing to laugh really genuinely

in the first few minutes of playing a game.
When I found the phone in Dropsy’s tent,
I was thinking, “Aha, how will this be
handled; broken, a small selection of
awkward conversations, refusal to
dial?” Well, no. My every attempt
to select a number resulted in RELEASED
several numbers being mashed
ineffectively. It was a compelling
way to introduce Dropsy as a clumsy,
unlovable and very tragic character. Also,
I think his arms are balloons, possibly his
entire body.
Then there’s the fact that his tent has
been painted with angry, anti-Dropsy
graffiti he can’t read and that almost
everyone incoherently hates him. (He
can’t understand language, having to
interpret what people are saying through
simple pictures and iconography.) He is
deliberately disturbing to behold, with a
gaping mouth, massive head and garish
costume and he sticks his balloon right
down his pants every time he accesses the
inventory in a way that is both creepy and
entirely gormless.
From the outset, however, the emphasis when you pursue it, but you can explore He is deliberately
disturbing to behold,
is on Dropsy’s special ability; the hug. It almost all of the world immediately. The
hints at the eventual affection people will day/night cycle means that locations and
have for this weird character, even if he
must experience rejection so many times
the movements of people change in a
way that puzzling relies on. Dropsy can
with a gaping mouth,
first. As Dropsy helps people with their make time flow forwards by sleeping in massive head and
garish costume
various problems, he documents who his own bed, or in other beds, after he has
he hugs on his bedroom wall, like The unlocked areas or made friends. The best
Witcher’s Geralt keeps erotic artworks of consequence of the open world approach is
the women he, well, never mind. My wall that you can piece together what is actually the game’s structure, online hints are hard to
included a tree, a plant next to the, “do not a very dystopian setting just by wandering find but I’d encourage you to play to the very
touch the plants,” sign and, honestly, I don’t and taking note of your surroundings and, end, for ultimate context.
want to spoil your experimentation with later in the game, by hilarious car. Dropsy the Clown is an exceptional
hugs further. Just hug stuff. One of the best moments is when your adventure game. I would suggest that it
The story plays out in a linear fashion dad loads you onto his motorbike trailer, is a comment on the power of love or a
drives through town and then cautionary tale about judging a book by
has to throw up in the Portaloo. its cover, but really it’s just sneaking your
The narrative centres on public mouse friend into a weird pharmaceutical
embarrassment and ominous company, figuring out how to turn security
foreshadowing. Very soon, the robots into party robots and trying to hug
things you had initially walked past a dead body. Well, that and trying to make
going, “Ooo, look at that,” make sure your doggy friend “uses” as many fire
perfect sense, without exposition hydrants as possible before the game is over.
or explanation. There are also the Not many games can make a claim for Best
bloody, devouring nightmares and Canine Peeing Animation. This is one of
moments of crushing irony. Given them, for sure.

PC PowerPlay 31
10 to Watch
ASHEN RIFT
DEVELOPER PYROCLASTIC GAMES
PUBLISHER PYROCLASTIC GAMES
DUE TBA
www.ashenrift.com

■ Ashen Rift is just the thing for

people who like both survival games
and dogs. It promises a deep and
emotional experience, as you traverse
an expansive and constantly changing
wasteland with a canine companion.
The game is clearly focusing more on
its journey rather than the destination,
having you testing your survival skills,
while providing a different experience
each time you play with its constantly
shifting environment. Not to be
confused with A Boy and His Dog.

FIVE: GUARDIANS OF DAVID

DEVELOPER KINGDOM GAMES
PUBLISHER KINGDOM GAMES
DUE NOVEMBER 24, 2015
www.fiveguardiansofdavid.com

■ Not all biblical games are Noah’s Ark

3D. Players have five different characters
to choose from to fight their way through
enemies in the name of King David, in
this eleven part story arc. The game tries
to encourage players to think while also
encouraging them to break away from certain
habits that many of us have developed when
playing RPGs. It also includes a miracle
system so that you can eliminate enemies
with a number of heavenly attacks.

TURNOVER
DEVELOPER LONG DIVISION LLC
PUBLISHER LONG DIVISION LLC
DUE TBA
www.turnovergame.net

■ Obviously there are many people

out there who are big fans of Die
Hard, including the people developing
Turnover. Players take the role of an
office drone, Clea, who must escape the
armed guards attempting to take over
the building, like an 8-Bit John McLane.
The game itself seems to promise a lot of
tense moments and close calls, reactive
enemy AI will ensure you never quite
know what’s coming next.

32 PC PowerPlay
FORCED: ETERNAL
ARENAS
DEVELOPER BETA DWARF
PUBLISHER BETA DWARF
DUE 2016
www.eternalarenas.com

n Every so often there is a game

that takes two things that have
been done before and blends
them together to make something
new. That’s exactly what you get
in this experience as it combines
the chaos of beat-em-ups with
the strategy normally found in
MOBAs thanks to a card based
skill and equipment system. This
mixture will have people staying
on their toes as they find the best
ways not to die.

SOFT BODY
DEVELOPER ZEKE VARIANT
PUBLISHER ZEKE VARIANT
DUE TBA
www.softbodygame.com

n An action puzzle game that will

challenge your thumbs as you try
to control two mushy snake things
simultaneously to paint a musical world.
This is a game that is completely run on
both its music and artistic imagery, with
simple but elegant geometric design
and an ambient soundtrack. As you
complete each puzzle the music and
images change making for a completely
visual and auditory experience. Think
hallucinatory twin stick action with
colour slugs.

GOLIATH
DEVELOPER WHALEBOX STUDIO
PUBLISHER VIVA MEDIA
DUE 2016
www.goliath-game.com

n The world of Goliath is a

dangerous place. The ruins of
hundreds of ancient civilisations
dot the land, rival factions fight for
dominance and everyone is under
constant threat from the giant
beasts that roam free. What’s a
boy to do to survive but build giant
robot suits and punch the hell out of
things? Goliath combines survival
gaming with action and RPG
elements as punching monsters is
only one of the necessary tasks you
must perform to remain alive.

PC PowerPlay 33
 SONGBRINGER
DEVELOPER WIZARD FU GAMES
PUBLISHER WIZARD FU GAMES
DUE MARCH 2016
songbringer.com

n PC gamers have never had legitimate

access to The Legend of Zelda, one of
the great action/RPG game franchises
of all time, but Songbringer looks set
to not only fill that need but also carve
its own niche when it’s released early
next year. Armed with a nanosword,
players explore procedurally generated
worlds, each featuring nine dungeons,
nine bosses and at least 200 secrets to
discover. Songbringer will also feature
a deep crafting/item combining system
as well as a permadeath mode for the
masochistic.

AURION, LEGACY OF THE

KORI-ODAN
DEVELOPER KIRO’O GAMES
PUBLISHER PLUG IN DIGITAL LABEL
DUE 2016
kiroogames.com/en

n Developed by a fledgling group of

Cameroonian developers, Aurion, Legend
of the Kori-Odan was only recently
successfully funded through Kickstarter.
Aside from the fact that the game is being
developed by the first videogame studio
in Cameroon, Aurion is exciting for the
fact that the action RPG will introduce
players to Central African mythology
and stories. Anyone sick of hearing the
same old stories recycled again and again
should keep an eye out.

THE UNIVERSIM
DEVELOPER CRYTIVO GAMES
PUBLISHER CRYTIVO GAMES
DUE “SOON”
theuniversim.com/the-game

n Peter Molyneux may talk big about

revitalising the God Game genre, but the
developers at Crytivo Games have put
their money where their collective mouths
are with The Universim, a game that sees
the player using their godly influence
(and anger if necessary) to guide a planet
from birth to intelligent life to advanced
civilisation and eventually galactic
colonisation. Guiding a planet’s evolution
may be fun, but when every star in the sky
is another planet to discover and explore
you’re on to something special.

34 PC PowerPlay
THUMPER
DEVELOPER DROOL
PUBLISHER DROOL
DUE 2016
drool.ws

n The developer’s description of Thumper

is unbelievably appealing – “you are a space
beetle screaming towards an insane giant
head from the future”. There is nothing in that
sentence that is anything but awesome. Billed
as a “rhythm violence” game, Thumper sees
the space beetle hurtling along a neon track,
seemingly jumping in time to key points of the
soundtrack to fire energy as the insane giant
head from the future. We’re not sure though, as
the bright flashing lights gave us all epileptic fits.

PC PowerPlay 35
Christmas PC
Gift Guide
Christmas is a time for giving to the people you love,
1

and who does anyone love more than themselves?

Here are some ideas for gifts you might want to give
to the most important person in your life – yourself.

2 1 MetaBox P650RE Cherry switches, but the feel and The mic supports four different
Price: $1899 performance of the Kailh Blue recording patterns – cardioid,
www.metabox.com.au and Brown are all but identical to stereo, bi-directional and omni
■ Though not the best known the better known brand. – to suit most purposes and
gaming laptop brand in Australia, features a built in headphone
Metabox manages to astound us 4 ASUS ROG Swift amp. The mic also features an
time and time again with their PG279Q Monitor excellent high-pass filter that
beautifull made, well priced and Price: $1199 occludes frequency below 100Hz,

3 powerful machines. Inside the

P650RE base model you’ll find
www.asus.com/au
■ It ain’t cheap, but if you have
cutting out environmental noise,
vibration and farts. It also looks
a GTX 970M GPU, i7-6700HQ money to burn thanks to a boss sitting on a desk.
CPU, 8Gb RAM, a15.6” 1080p Christmas bonus, sweet universal
IPS panel and more. If that’s not gift vouchers or a lot of unwanted 7 MSi GS40 Phantom
enough for you, the P650RE is presents you can return, this Price: $2399
fully customisable with options is one of the finest gaming www.msi.com
available for pretty much every monitors on the market. It boasts ■ When it comes to gaming
component. a stupid fast refresh rate – laptops there are usually two
4 165Hz – 1ms response time and distinct styles – powerful
2 Saitek HOTAS X55 G-Sync that works throughout beasts that break the bank as
Price: $159 the whole range of refresh rates, well as your back and sound
www.pccasegear.com from 1Hz to 165Hz. like a helicopter taking off, and
■ With the huge number of light, lower specced affairs that
serious space sims and flight 5 Corsair VOID RGB are portable but don’t really
combat games either coming Stereo have enough grunt. The GS40

5 out or already on the market, like

Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen,
Price: $95
www.corsair.com
Phantom is a thin, light gaming
laptop with some serious guts –
isn’t it time you got yourself a ■ This headset really hits an Intel 6th Gen Core i7-6700HQ
sweet HOTAS (Hands On Throttle the sweet spot for price and CPU (quad-cores, 3.5GHz), 8GB
and Stick) setup? Although it’s performance, with no other DDR3, 128GB NVMe SSD, 1TB
nearly a decade old, the Saitek sub $100 units featuring the HDD and Nvidia GTX970M all
6 X52 is an amazing HOTAS, with
precise control and enough
build quality, sound and mic
of the VOID RGB Stereo. The
packed into a 14”, 1.6kg package.

buttons and switches for 282 headphones are a little bass 8 OCZ Trion 100 240GB
programmable commands. heavy, but the mic is nice and Price: $119
responsive, the cans are large, www.ocz.com
7 3 Tt eSports Poseidon Z and the headset as a whole ■ Up until recently most people
RGB (Brown) is hugely comfortable and were confined to having a small
Price: $149 surprisingly light for something SSD for their OS for fast boot
www.pccasegear.com build in such a robust way. times and a large HDD for their
■ Everyone needs a good storage and gaming drive. While
mechanical keyboard, and for 6 Razer Seiren Pro not the fastest SSD around, the
our money, the one that has Price: From $199 OCZ Trion 100 series hit that
the right balance of price and www.pccasegear.com.au sweet spot on price and speed.
performance at the moment ■ Looking to get into streaming, For $119 you can get a 240GB
is the Poseidon Z RGB. creating YouTube content, gaming drive for super-fast
Thermaltake use Kailh switches podcasting or just recording loading, and for $229 you can
rather than the better known you sweet pipes for posterity? jump that up to 480GB.
8
36 PC PowerPlay
1 Dungeons & Dragons 4 Divinity: Original Sin: game, you’ll score yourself an
Price: Guide books $59.95 each Enhanced Edition art book, a 15” replica of Rico’s
dnd.wizards.com/ Price: $39.99 USD trademark grappling hook and
■ Pen and paper RPGs are www.larian.com a 24”x24” map of Medici Island.
making a big comeback, so get ■ With the number of AAA titles The special edition also comes
in on the ground floor with the coming out in November there with a weaponised vehicle DLC
new edition of D&D, with refined won’t be time to play everything pack for even more explosive
rules that foster storytelling until the Christmas break. After mayhem.
and creativity over cookie you’ve had your fill of Star
cutter characters. The newly Wars and Fallout and CoD, grab 7 Steam Controller
streamlined rules are easy to yourself the new and improved Price: TBA
learn and easily understood, so version of one of last year’s www.store.steampowered.com
start killing some monsters and very best games. The Enhanced ■ There’s no set price as
stealing their shit already! version adds thousands of fixes yet (though it looks like a
and improvements making a controller will be around $50 8
2 Street Fighter V good thing even better. USD) but Steam Controllers
Price: $59.99 USD should go on sale by the end of
www.streetfighter.com 5 Fallout Anthology: the year. With fully functional
■ OK, so it will be a late Nuke Edition Steam Machines being just
Christmas present, but do Price: $99.95 around the corner and Big
yourself a favour and get yourself ebgames.com.au Picture mode slowly taking
a copy of the next iteration of ■ This sweet special edition over the lounge room isn’t it
the best arcade fighting game boxed set will make a fine early time you stopped trying to
around. To make the experience Christmas present for any balance a keyboard on your lap
even better, grab yourself a gamer. Not only does it contain while mousing on your thigh?
Mad Catz Arcade FightStick Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3, New
Tournament Edition 2 for PS4 and Vegas and Fallout Tactics, it 8 El Luchador
PS3 (that’s the PC compatible also comes packaged in a mini Fantastico Grande
one). It’ll set you back around
$299, but damn it will be worth it.
nuke that makes bomb sounds.
It’s about as perfect as Fallout
Price: $34
senyacgames.hittincrits.com/
3
packaging can get. Of course, ■ Collectible card games are
3 The Witcher you probably won’t have time great, but they are both a time
Adventure Game to play any of the games with and money sink. Here’s an
Price: $84.95 Fallout 4 now being available. Australian developed card
thewitcher.com/adventuregame game that’s fast paced, fun
■ There isn’t another Witcher 6 Just Cause 3: and still has that tactical feel
game on the horizon, and aside Collector’s Edition of a CCG. 2-4 players compete
from the upcoming DLC there Price: $189.95 to be the greatest luchador 7
seems to be little you can do Ebgames.com.au (Mexican wrestler) in bouts
to scratch your Witcher itch. ■ Celebrate the fact that in his that use tactics cards and
Enter the board game! You third adventure, action hero dice rolls. Games are pretty
and three friends can tell your and lothario, Rico Rodriguez short so you can fit one in
own stories in the world of the will have access to unlimited during a lunch break rather
Witcher, by fighting monsters, amounts of C4 with this neat than having to dedicate
foiling intrigues and forcing the special edition. In addition to the your life to a Magic game.
friend you like the least to play
Dandelion!
1 2
6
4
GAMES

PC PowerPlay 37
 1
1 LG curved 4k OLED TV 5 NAD Viso HP 50
65inch Headphones
Price: $9999 • www.lg.com/au/ Price: $399 • nadelectronics.com
■ It’s been dubbed the “King of TVs” ■ The Viso HP50 isn’t the best looking
and it’s not hard to see why. Not only is set of headphones on the market due
the TV huge and high res, coming in at a to the kind of blocky design, but as far
whopping 65” with a resolution of 4096 as sound quality goes you won’t find
x 2160, it also sports an OLED screen. If anything quite like them for the price.
you’ve ever seen an OLED screen before Thanks to some clever technology, these
you know how special that is. OLEDs closed cup headphones sound more
allow for individual pixels to be turned like open back headphones, giving a
on and off, making for much higher more natural warmth and openness to
contrast, deeper, richer blacks and sound. They also sport a nice flat EQ for
astonishingly crisp images. accurate, crisp sound reproduction.

2 Epson TW5300 Projector 6 OPPO BDP-103 Universal

Price: $999 • www.epson.com.au Network 3D BD Player
2 ■ It’s not the greatest projector on the Price: $954 • www.apollohifi.com.au
market, but for the price you definitely ■ Before you balk at the price tag for
won’t find anything as good as the the OPPO player, take a look at what it
TW5300. The image quality is excellent does. The player supports 4k Up-Scaling,
at 1080p, and nice and bright. Epson 2D-3D conversion and can read just
claims that the projector can throw out about any format you care to mention
2200 Lumens and we’ve seen nothing from disk or USB, from Kodak Picture
to dissuade us of the notion. Most CD to FLAC. It has built in streaming
3 importantly the TW5300 is cheap to
run. Back in the day projector bulbs cost
features for Netflix, VUDU, Pandora and
the like. It’s also entirely region free for

AV
about $1 per hour of globe life, but the all formats, switching region dynamically
$350 globes of the TW5300 are rated without the need for any special codes or
up to a whopping 7500 hours. remote control voodoo.

3 Edifier Luna Eclipse stereo 7 Sound Blaster E5 DAC

speakers Price: $339.95 • au.creative.com

4 Price: $299.95 • www.edifier.com/au/

■ Treat yourself to a pair of stereo
■ This high resolution USB DAC (Digital
Audio Converter) and headphone
speakers that are both attractive and amplifier is all but a must for music
surprisingly powerful. The gentle curves lovers, but there are also enough
of the design belie the power of the features packaged into the device
build in passive bass radiators that give that gamers and movie lovers should
the lower register far more grunt than is definitely give it a look in too. Aside
usually associated with a stereo setup, from being a high end headphone amp
and the 19mm tweeter and 76mm capable of pushing the impedance
woofer provide more than enough needed for high end headsets it also
power for clear high and mid ranges. As features a line through for a mic for
well as a wired connection, the speakers high resolution recording and enough
also feature Bluetooth connectivity so connectors for all your listening needs,
you can use it as a music player with from sedentary to on the move.
your iPod or phone.
8 Logitech Harmony Elite
7 4 Philips Fidelio Sound Bar Universal Remote
Price: $1049.95 • www.philips.com.au Price: $549 • www.logitech.com
■ The down side of having an enormous ■ Now that you have a new TV, BD player,
5 65” curved TV is that you likely won’t sound bar and projector you’re going to
8 have enough room left to fit a full need something capable of controlling
surround setup into your lounge room. them all lest you want to die in an

6 Enter the Fidelio Sound Bar. Sound bars

are an excellent compromise if you’re
unfortunate remote control avalanche
while trying to change the channel. The
after great surround sound but don’t Harmony Elite is far from being cheap,
have room for five or seven speakers, but it’s easily the most user friendly and
and the Philips Fidelio is one of the best powerful universal remote we’ve seen. It’s
around, capable of delivering excellent, easy to connect to pretty much any device
accurate 4.1/5.1 sound. It also looks you can think of and sports everything
damn snazzy. you could need right out of the box.

38 PC PowerPlay
 1
2
1 The Powerpuff Girls: The 5 Supernatural Seasons
Complete Series 1-10 Boxed Set
Price: $69.95 • www.madman.com.au Price: $219 (BD), $169 (DVD)
■ Yes, it’s a kid’s show featuring www.roadshow.com.au
the exploits of three little girls with ■ Over 10 seasons Supernatural has not
superpowers, but it’s also a wonderfully only gone past its own ending (the show
savvy, beautifully conceived pop- has a built in finale but was renewed for
culture pastiche (and prequel to more seasons) but has managed to thrive
Samurai Jack) that can be enjoyed by thanks to a growing self-awareness and
animation lovers of any age. The first willingness to make fun of its premise –
four seasons, thanks to the efforts of two brothers with daddy issues hunting
supervising producer and legendary monsters. Through the 10 seasons,
animator Genndy Tartakovsky are the brothers take on pretty much any
better than the final two seasons, but supernatural evil you can think of, up to
that said, of the 78 episodes there are and including “Wincest” slash fiction.
hardly any duds.
The X-Files: The
6
2 Doctor Who: 10 Christmas Collector’s Set BD
Specials Price: $350 • www.jbhifi.com.au
Price: $44.95 • www.roadshow.com.au ■ For the first time ever of Blu-Ray and
■ What better way to celebrate just in time for the new series in 2016
Christmas than by doing it with the comes this massive boxed set featuring
Doctor? Like it says on the box, the everything X-Files. The 57 disk set (you
Doctor Who: 10 Christmas Specials read that right) features all nine seasons
boxed set features all 10 Christmas of the show as well as the two movies,
specials released so far, so you can Fight the Future and I Want to Believe as
spend the season aboard the space well as over 23 hours of special features,
Titanic, battling killer Christmas Trees ranging from documentaries to deleted 3 4
and Santas, fighting the Rachnoss, the scenes, audio commentaries and more.
Sycorax, the Wooden King and Queen, The only way you could get more X-Files
the Cybermen and more. Be sure to have
you wits and sonic screwdriver handy.

3 Thing Explainer
in a box is if you somehow managed
to trap David Duchovny and Gillian
Anderson in a fridge.
ENTERTAINMENT
Price: $35 • www.hachette.com.au 7 Spartacus: The Complete
■ Randall Munroe, the creator of XKCD Series BD 5
and author of What If? returns with a Price: $74.95 • www.jbhifi.com.au 6
new book that uses simple words to ■ So packed full of slow motion gore
explained complex things. Discover all and copious nudity, Spartacus seems
the parts of a “shared space house”, like an idiotic good time, but it actually
why cells are really just “tiny bags of tells a great story full of love, betrayal,
water you’re made of” or the function honour, destiny, hubris, retribution and
of all the “bags of stuff inside you”. all those good things. The boxed set
Like Munroe’s web comic and previous contains all three main seasons as well
book, thing explainer is at once silly and as the spinoff season, Gods of the Arena
very clever. that works as a prequel. Trust us, it’s
great. Or you could just watch it to see
4 Metalocalypse Seasons what Xena looks like naked.
1-4 + Doomstar Requiem
Price: $89.95 • www.madman.com.au 8 Lex Luthor: Man of Steel
■ Follow the adventures of the biggest, Trade Paperback
most important and most violent band Price: $29.99 • www.randomhouse.com.
in the known universe, Dethklok, as au
they face fans, infighting, idealism, ■ Told through his eyes, Lex Luthor:
fascism, self-doubt, rampant stupidity, Man of Steel delves into the reasons
mumbling, groupies, gratuitous why Luthor has chosen to be the mortal
nudity and violence in the most metal enemy of Superman – he genuinely
animated series ever made. The boxed wants to save the human race from an
set contains all four released seasons untrustworthy, all too powerful alien.
as well as the “Klok Opera” Doomstar Writer Brian Azzarello has experience
Requiem, and a host of special features writing villain stories thanks to his work
including hidden backstories and William on Joker, and his words mesh beautifully 7
Murderface calling an escort. with the art of Lee Bermejo. 8

PC PowerPlay 39
HOTWARE
HOTWARE

CHRISTMAS with

GIFT GUIDE Terrence

Jarrad

Don’t know what to buy your partner/relative/cat this Christmas? Look no further! We’ve put
together this handy gift guide, thinking long and hard about what to include so you don’t have to!
(Note: your cat will probably not appreciate any of these gifts. Or anything you ever do.)

LIKE < $100

01 PSN/XBLive Subscription 04 Google Chromecast
Price: $34+ • Distributor: Microsoft/Sony Price: $49 • Distributor: Google
www.ebgames.com.au www.jbhifi.com.au
One of the easiest things you can get for The Chromecast has been out for a while but
someone with a console is a subscription makes a nice little stocking stuffer. It allows
card to their online service, as even if they you to throw the display from PC, tablet, or
01 already have one, they can add the time on mobile, to your TV.
the end of the existing subscription. POWERED UP: After a simple set up, cast
POWERED UP: Gives access to free games YouTube, Netflix, Stan, Google Play, and
monthly, enables online features and play others to your TV. Great for when turning on
for relevant games, and is available in blocks a console just to watch Netflix seems like
of three or 12 months to suit your budget. too much effort.
02 PLAYED OUT: “Easy” doesn’t always PLAYED OUT: With app makers creating
mean “thoughtful”, but if your recipient is apps for multiple platforms – e.g. Netflix
unappreciative of this kind of gift, next year has apps on consoles, TVs, media players, all
give them a lump of coal. of which connect through the TV already –
the useful application of the Chromecast is
02 Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide slowly diminishing.
Price: $40 • Distributor: Steam
www.steampowered.com 05 Star Wars Battlefront
‘Tis the season to be jolly, and little evokes Price: $89.99 • Distributor: EA
jolliness like pinning a rat-man Gatling www.ea.com/au
gunner to a wall with an arrow. Everybody loves Star Wars, so the only way
03 POWERED UP: This is pretty much Left this wouldn’t be a good present is if the
4 Dead dressed up in medieval garb, but recipient already owns it.
has some nifty RPG/crafting/inventory POWERED UP: Epic battles of rebel
management aspects. It’s a game that vs empire troops. Fly X-Wings and TIE
requires teamwork and coordination, and fighters. Pilot Imperial walkers. Play as
is cheap enough that you should consider Luke Skywalker and Darth Vadar. In short,
getting a copy for yourself too. this game recreates just about every Star
PLAYED OUT: Remains to be seen whether Wars fantasy a fan could ask for, in exquisite
people will still be playing in a few months. detail. For bonus points, let them open this
present early.
03 The Walking Dead Books PLAYED OUT: Bit of a levelling/unlock grind.
Price: $48.95 • Distributor: Kings Comics Also you may never see the person you give
04 www.kingscomics.com this to again.
What better gift to give than a comic book
05 about zombies, on the birthday of history’s 06 X-Wing Silk Tie
most famous zombie? Price: $99 • Distributor: ThinkGeek
POWERED UP: The comics that inspired the www.thinkgeek.com
TV series, featuring the characters you know It’s hard to stand out in the corporate
from TV, but with a storyline that differs dress of the business world, so give
slightly. Each of these books compiles multiple someone you know the gift of individuality
individual comic issues into one hardback, this Christmas with a tie (not TIE) declaring
with additional notes from the author. their love of Star Wars and support of the
PLAYED OUT: Recipient will gain the ability Rebel Alliance.
06 to say “the book was better” during every POWERED UP: 100% silk handmade in Italy.
episode of the show. Oh, and not one for PLAYED OUT: It’d be really awkward if you
the kiddies – these books go places the wore it to an interview and the interviewer
show doesn’t. was wearing and Imperial themed tie.

40 PC PowerPlay
 07

08

09

10 11

LOVE < $500

07 Roku 4 designed to be used inside a PC, though POWERED UP: The Rider jacket is part of the
Price: $190 • Distributor: Roku Elgato also makes external units better Deus Ex Collection (for the upcoming Mankind
www.roku.com suited for use with consoles. Divided), featuring the triangular Deus Ex
Designed for use with Ultra HD TVs, the patterns, as well as the black and gold colour
Roku 4 will always display the best picture 09 Pebble Time Round scheme. Delivery is fast for in stock items and
quality your screen can handle, and is Price: $355 • Distributor: Pebble customer service is excellent.
capable of delivering 4K content from just www.pebble.com PLAYED OUT: Buying clothes online can be
about every streaming service you can think Most smartwatches look very… smart.. a bit of a lucky dip when it comes to sizing,
of at up to 60 frames per second. watch..y. This design from Pebble is more however we’ve found the sizing charts to be
POWERED UP: Voice command search. The classical, more – dare we say it – timeless. on point. YMMV, of course.
remote also has a headphone jack so can POWERED UP: Looks less like a blob of
watch Twilight without bothering the rest of tech and more like a timepiece. Up to two 11 Bose QuietComfort 25
the household. days charge, and 15 mins quick charge Price: $399 • Distributor: Bose
PLAYED OUT: Likely requires a VPN will see you good for about a day. A built www.bose.com.au
service (not to mention multiple streaming in mic, so you can talk into your wrist like The QuietComfort headphone series from
subscriptions) to get the most out of it. a spy/loon. Step/activity/sleep tracking Bose are sublime, and suit discerning ears
capabilities. whether on planes, public transport, or even
08 Elgato Game Capture HD60 Pro PLAYED OUT: Two days is a downgrade from just working in the office.
Price: $269 • Distributor: Elgato previous Pebble watches, but it’s still better POWERED UP: Excellent noise cancelling,
www.pccasegear.com than Apple’s offering and is about a third of a deep and layered audio output, and up
Streaming is what all the cool kids are doing the weight. to 35 hours of listening pleasure on a
these days and while there are a number single AAA battery. Also in a change from
of devices out there to assist, Elgato has 10 Rider Jacket previous iterations, the QC25s allow you to
one of the biggest names (and reputation) Price: $270 • Distributor: Musterbrand listen (without noise cancelling) once the
in the field. www.musterbrand.com battery dies!
POWERED UP: Capture game footage We love Musterbrand designs. They are PLAYED OUT: There are actually two
via HDMI pass-through at up to 1080p stylish, and thematic to the game they versions, with the only difference being the
@60FPS, ready to stream to Twitch and reference, but without blaring “THIS IS inline mic/remote connector that allows
competing services. A GAME REFERENCE” at onlookers; the you to take hands free calls; one made for
PLAYED OUT: This card is a PCIe x1 so is subtlety is most welcome. iPhone, the other for Android.

PC PowerPlay 41
HOTWARE

12

14

15

13

WORSHIP > $500

12 Keurig Kold is the console to get for the gamer looking a gigantic custom cooler, you’ll be getting
Price: $520 • Distributor: Keurig diversify from 100% PC interests. impressive performance.
www.keurig.com POWERED UP: There’s a 1TB HDD version PLAYED OUT: If you don’t know the system
Australian summers are not the winter out now, which is double the previous you’re buying for you might need to research
wonderland the carols tell us about, but 500GB maximum. Otherwise, deals with a little first!
rather, are raging infernos. The Keurig limited editions and bundled games change
Kold then, is the perfect Australian frequently, so shop around retailers for the 15 Microsoft Surface Pro 4
Christmas gift. package you think your giftee would like best. Price: $1349+ • Distributor: Microsoft
POWERED UP: Cold drinks at the touch of a PLAYED OUT: The 500GB HDD version is still www.microsoftstore.com/au
button, with brand name soft drink as well! on sale sometimes at the exact same price Laptops are generally fairly awful to lug
Various Coke products, Tierney’s iced teas, as the 1TB. around all day, which is why the Surface Pro 4
and Flyte sports drinks, all come out at a weighing in at less than 800g is such a relief
chilled 3.8 degrees in around 90 seconds and 14 NVIDIA GTX 980Ti to Santa, who’s probably carrying thousands
no CO2 canister required. Price: $1050-1300 • Distributor: NVidia of these things.
PLAYED OUT: Does require custom Keurig www.scorptec.com.au POWERED UP: 12.3 inch touchscreen,
pods to produce the drinks however, so If you know someone in need of a video card running Windows 10 Pro, this tablet can
expect ongoing costs. upgrade and have the cash to spare, this gift indeed replace your PC.* The base model has
should ensure tears of gratitude for months a 128GB SSD and 4GB RAM, and you can
13 PlayStation 4 1TB to come. customise up to 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM.
Price: $549+ • Distributor: Sony POWERED UP: The 980Ti is one of the best PLAYED OUT: *Assuming that PC isn’t used
www.jbhifi.com.au cards on the market, and whether you go for as a primary gaming machine. The top end
The current cream of the console crop, with a base “reference” style model, or splurge on model clocks in at $3399, making it one
more interesting exclusive games, the PS4 something factory overclocked and sporting pricey pressie.

42 PC PowerPlay
PREVIEW

STAR POWER
25 badasses battle to
save the last light
in the universe

Battleborn
DEVELOPER GEARBOX SOFTWARE
PUBLISHER 2K
DUE FEBRUARY 9, 2016
battleborn.com

44 PC PowerPlay
 S ince it´s made by
roughly the same team
that brought us the incredible
Helix system there is a more traditional
ranking system where XP is earned in
the campaign or in online matches,
DEFENDERS OF
THE UNIVERSE
boosters are not active, but rather need
to be activated using Shards, another
currency players can find in the levels.
In Battleborn, five
Borderlands 2, expectations for with the promise of more persistent distinctly different Shards are also needed to activate
Battleborn are sky high. Recently we rewards in the future. factions are forced various in game items and objects, like
had the chance to test the game out and Rather than aping the loot drops to work together health dispensers, turret bases, drones
in order to save
talk with the creative director of the of Borderlands 2, the weapons for all the last remaining that fight on your side, and the like.
game Randy Varnell. characters are preset and additional planets and the What has not changed is the
Three game modes and 15 loot comes in the form of loot last remaining star. incredible sense of humor and
characters were made available to us containers the player can buy with a To do this they self-awareness we grew to love in
have to defeat an
as well as other assorted press and game currency. The price decides the Borderlands, all brought to life by
evil Alien race from
YouTubers. Keyboard and mouse are rarity of the loot, and once opened another dimension quality writing and incredible voice
our preferred control option but XBox the player receives emblems with and ex hero Lothar acting. During our co-op session this
One controllers were at hand so we stat boosters. Three boosters can Rendain who now included constant verbal abuse by
tested both options and it was be equipped at any time, with any works for the the quest giver and the Alien baddy
enemy.
obvious that Gearbox has spent leftover being stored in the bank. These commenting on how well we fought
considerable time optimizing
the game for use with a controller
with every button including the D-Pad
being used to control the fast action.
Regardless of chosen control scheme, if
you have played Borderlands 2, or any
shooter for that matter, there is little to
no learning curve.
The first thing you do in the game,
regardless of game mode, is bring up
the Helix upgrade system and choose
your first augmentation skill - a special
attack. The Helix has two strands
with 10 options to spec your character
on the go, and once a mission or
multiplayer session is over the Helix
resets and you have to do it all over
again. This adds pressure to the intense
gameplay as you naturally want access
to the character’s most powerful
abilities but have to earn them on
every single mission. In addition to the

PC PowerPlay 45
PREVIEW / BATTLEBORN

and praising us on our looks after Introducing the

most violent movie
killing a mid-level boss. The end boss Pixar has ever made
in our session was hilarious as well,
and consisted of a huge spider robot
with his own hilarious lines. Every time
we did sufficient damage he searched
for better firmware in order to beat
us. The humor even extends to the
versus modes. I managed a 5 kill streak
against a player from the opposing
team and my character (Montana)
shouted, “Go on rage quit, I know you
want to”.
Graphics are of course the first
thing you notice and Battleborn,
with its distinct art style and over the
top characters definitely does not
disappoint. What screenshots can’t
show you tough is the incredible
animation. From Hyperius’ (Gundam
style robot) aerial attacks to Miko
To my surprise most people were choosing
(Sentient mushroom) throwing kunai
knives or his healing powers the
the XBox One controller over the keyboard and
animation impresses. Not only has mouse yet had no problem keeping up
Gearbox designed some really out of
this world characters for the game, The co-op mission we played is PEWPEWPEW
they also managed to bring them to called The Algorithm - a pun itself Battleborn feels
life by having them move in a way considering the objective of the and plays like
that feels right how they look. This mission - and while great fun in its a first person
shooter despite
quality extends to the rest of the game, own right it is hard to judge how
the fact that
with incredibly animated enemies, the final story mode will hold up you have magic,
environments, explosions, you name it. over a huge campaign that has to swords, arrows
keep peoples interest over dozens and lots of other
and dozens of hours. From there on because I like the way she looks, but as things you do
not have in your
we moved over to the multiplayer it turned out someone from my team
typical shooter.
sessions, two were at hand. had chosen her a split second before me In fact there are
The first one was called Capture, and the game does not allow duplicate even characters
and in this case the name speaks for characters in the same team. To my in the game
itself. Two teams of five players surprise most people were choosing the that have no
projectile attacks
spawn on opposite sides of the XBox One controller over the keyboard at all. Boldur for
map and have to capture 3 spots, and mouse yet had no problem keeping instance (far left)
with every captured location up with people who did not. Those who is entirely melee
earning points. The first team to could not keep up were the ones who based.
reach 1000 points wins the game. It’s a upon leveling forgot to use their Helix
fairly standard mode obviously made skill tree and in a game mode that takes
to appeal to competitive FPS players. roughly half an hour per session it is
For my first game I decided on Reyna extremely important as you will be

The robot grinder

Falcon Punch!

46 PC PowerPlay
 We have no
idea what is
going on here

getting new attacks and abilities every take into account, keeping
few minutes. your minions alive until
After Capture we tried out Meltdown they reach the grinder,
and this was by far my favorite of the destroying the opponent’s
two competitive modes we got to try. It minions and the opponents
even has its own back story. The story themselves. Here the importance of
goes that an Artificial Intelligence gathering shards became evident as
unit in charge of recycling robots went well, as with them we could activate
bonkers and now thinks he is a robotic turrets that helped us decimate our
volcano God, and as such demands opponents. It was a testament to the
sacrifice. In this game mode both teams quality of this mode that 3 hours
have bases that spawn robots that passed without us even realizing that BFF
safely have to reach recycle grinders, the session was coming to an end. Some of the characters have special
the bigger the robot the more points After the extended play session we relationships in the game. Oscar
you get. Reach 250 points and the can say one thing for sure, Battleborn Mike and Montana for instance like
each other because they are both
grinders move further away making it feels like a classic shooter and at this
military men. These special relations
harder to reach them, reach 500 and point shows huge potential. We will see sometimes manifest themselves with
you win. This brings in a lot of tactical on the 9th of February 2016 if the game funny interactions in the campaign as well
play as there are now several things to can fulfill said potential. as in online competitive play.

PC PowerPlay 47
PREVIEW / BATTLEBORN

Q&A Creative Director for Battleborn,

Randy Varnell spills the beans

When did you start development on the Was that because development was started
game? years ago or is there another reason?
I was design producer on Borderlands 2 so I Well we threw out Unreal Script and Kismet
transitioned from Borderlands 2 to Battleborn. for instance in favor of our own visual script
Back then we had a small team working on called CONSTRUCT. We developed that tool set
Battleborn immediately after Borderlands before Borderlands 2, improved it immensely for
2 but right now almost everyone working Borderlands 2 and it was used for Borderlands:
at Gearbox is involved. So let me ask you a The Pre-Sequel. We use it in different projects

When we started
question, what did you think of what you within Gearbox and that tool set is so good
played today? for our designers, it really empowers rapid

The first time I played the game months ago

prototyping, which is important when you are
dealing with so many characters. It allows us
the project 3 years
(the E3 demo) I felt like it was a re-skinned to get characters and gameplay in there quickly ago we knew that
Borderlands. The game shares a lot of DNA and test out what works.
with Borderlands but it is different. They we wanted to
feel complementary side by side.
That’s good to hear, with Battleborn we
You mentioned rapid prototyping which
is obviously needed when you are dealing
make competitive
wanted to do a lot of things we were not able
to with Borderlands, like the character variety,
with 25 distinct characters each with their
own physics models, abilities and play
multiplayer a big focus
multiplayer which did not really fit into the styles. How do you make the competitive in this game
Borderlands universe but yeah style and color, modes balanced?
humor those things are very important for us When we started the project 3 years ago the map fights happen, how characters fare
so they do share that DNA. we knew that we wanted to make competitive against each other and literally hundreds
multiplayer a big focus in this game, we and hundreds of statistics that allow us to
Yeah the game is certainly colorful, it looks knew we wanted lots of characters and again constantly fine tune the experience. We
and sounds great. I assume you guys are work with procedurally generated gear. With have 3 archetypes in the game - attackers,
using Audiokinetic´s Wwise for the sound Borderlands 2 we did not have to care about it defenders and supporters - and within that
again, did you guys make the switch to that much because your gear was tied to your range we tune all of them slightly differently. I
Unreal 4? level and there was no competitive mode, so could really go on about all the ways we tune
Wwise for audio absolutely, for the graphics we had to get a lot more serious about that. and balance the game. It is really important
however we use Unreal 3 but heavily modified, There are two different strategies we use for to us. I also realize we will not have it perfect
there are some elements from Unreal 4 in that. First we play the game almost every day at launch, no multiplayer game ever is when
there but we have our own design tools in and then discus what we played - does this competitive play is involved, so we will be
there and a lot of things we developed during movement or that attack feel right - and we very aggressive in supporting the game from
Borderlands 2. It´s really heavily modified to deal with the subjective balance that way. launch with balance and content patches.
suit the needs of our games, I couldn’t tell you Secondly is the architecture we started with
in percentages but we really reworked a lot of Borderlands 2 that gathers all the statistics Talking about content, some of the DLC
the engine so it would fit our needs. in the game; how fast something is moving, for Borderlands 2 is bigger than many full
how much damage is being dealt, where on games sold at full price, are you planning to
support Battleborn the same way?
(laughs) Thanks, I um obviously cannot
Not quite sure
who the friendly comment on that except to say look at what we
one is in this pic
did with Borderlands, and I am not even close
to running out of ideas for this game. We have
tons of ideas for other characters, new game
modes and story. I would love to but it is a new
IP, and you never know how the public perceives
it, so it depends on how successful the game
gets I guess. I would love to but obviously I
cannot announce anything right now.

Talking specifically about the campaign, the

ones we have played so far were all similar in
length and the pacing at times was relentless.
Is this what we can expect for the final game?
We are still working on the pacing and our
story missions are between 30 and 45 minutes

48 PC PowerPlay
 long and the reason
for that is that we
are also bringing the game
to Xbox One and PS4 and console
gamers we found like sessions to be a
little shorter, so we try to accommodate
to that. We also do that with the
competitive modes where we try to balance
games out so they are roughly 30 minutes
long. You also have to consider that the game at
times can be intense, so half an hour or so you can
sit in the lobby, check your gear that sort of thing.

With the Helix system, why the lack of

permanent skill points? First we get them then
we lose them again.
I wouldn’t say lose them, more a chance to
respec your character all the time. In Borderlands
LOTHAR we loved that you could play with the talent trees
and looking at it we wanted to make a game out
The main bad guy
in Battleborn is a of that. It allows the player to tune a character
man called Lothar exactly the way they want, or the way they need
Rendain. Lothar, for your co-op buddies online. We do have a
as the story goes, regular ranking system in place as well, and that
initially fought
will open up even more gameplay options. We
to save the last
star just like our call those mutations and there are 5 of them.
heroes, only to This opens up a third line in your Helix. It does not
change his mind necessarily make you more powerful but it gives
when invading you even more options to tackle the game with.
aliens from
another universe
offered him a So that is the more traditional ranking system
Faustian deal. Well yeah we all like games that acknowledge
the time we spend with them so it was important
for us that the game had such a ranking system in
place on top of the Helix system.

Our time is almost up so last question and a

light heart-ed one so going back to the DNA
thing, big guy Montana looks a lot like Mr
Torgue. Any relation?
(laughs) I am sorry I have to disappoint you but
no, the two games are separate universes. There
is a link with Mr Torgue though, but not like you
would expect. Our bad guy for Battleborn is called
Lothar Rendain, and I did not know this when we
were choosing voices but he is voiced by Chris
Rager and he also did Mr Torgue. This guy has
an incredible range as a voice actor, so when I
heard the voice we were like “yeah that is the one
we want”, only to find out afterward that he had
previously also voiced Mr Torgue.

I had no idea.
Yeah now that I told you that you will probably
hear it but this guy really is an incredible voice
actor. HASAN ALI ALMACI

PC PowerPlay 49
PREVIEW

Smoke
on the
Water
More blue than Deep Purple

The Flame in the Flood Who’s afraid of the

big bad wolf? Me!
DEVELOPER THE MOLASSES FLOOD
PUBLISHER STEAM
DUE MARCH 2016
www.themolassesflood.com/the-flame-in-the-flood

N ot so long ago, games were all about

mechanics and graphics. Last decade, a
generic shooter could get rave reviews by virtue
sweep the river, lightning flickers, and wolves
slink through the shadows.
Even in its current Early Access state with
of new-fangled rag-doll physics or custom no campaign mode, the Flame in the Flood
shaders alone. An old-school sprite-based RPG is punishing. A single mis-punt of the raft
could score big thanks to an unusual third can break Scout’s leg against a ruined wharf. themes - wilderness, small town, ruined
faction or streamlined resource-gathering Drinking dirty water introduces virulent industrial etc - and there are a few specialised
system. Games were, with some exceptions, infection. Cold saps energy. And the ultimate areas such as upgrade workshops for the raft
clever contrivances to facilitate play. irony in this flooded world: thirst is a or a market to trade resources. The mix of
Now we’re in a new age. An age where the constant companion. resources in each area changes for each run of
actual gamey part of the game might not be Like any crafting/survival game, Scout must the game.
the most important thing about it. Like a short collect items and combine them to make useful A nice touch: once Scout inevitably
film or a piece of sculpture, or a minimalist tools. Splints, primitive antibiotics, better succumbs to the river and drowns, freezes,
novel, or any of a hundred other kinds of clothing, upgrades for the raft, it’s all here. dies of thirst or gets eaten by wolves, the
art, a game can simply evoke a sense of... She starts each run of the river eating cattails game displays a map. Each key point on
something. Raw emotion, if you will. and mulberries, but soon has enough kit to Scout’s journey is highlighted with an icon
That’s what the Flame in the Flood does. make snares and bag a few rabbits. Inventory - here’s where she slept in an ancient school
Ostensibly a rogue-lite, the game follows the management becomes a major challenge. bus. Here’s where she broke her leg trying to
misadventures of a girl named Scout and a dog The rhythm of the game is simple: hop on salvage a shopping-trolley full of water filters.
named Aesop as they travel down an endless the raft, navigate the river (sometimes the A short but intriguing scene right at the
river. The weather is bad, apocalyptically swift waters flow deep and smooth, other start where Scout tries to tune an old radio
bad, and the river is high and wild. There’s time huge rapids span the river bank-to-bank), hints at a richer campaign mode that is yet to
a sense that we are post- something. Or come upon a dock or wharf and hop off the be rolled out. But even now, the Flame in the
maybe even post-everything. Buildings are raft to explore on foot. Flood is a haunting, challenging and even a
ruined, powerlines down. There’s little sign The developer speaks of “biomes” but at this little disturbing world in which to wander. The
of violence though, aside from the violence stage the game appears to be made up of small sense of loss it evokes is intense, and weirdly
dished out by nature of course. Rainstorms pre-fabricated areas in various environmental more-ish. ANTHONY FORDHAM

50 PC PowerPlay
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Games
246

YOUR GUIDE TO PC GAMES

T he RPG is very much alive and well, this issue - and we still have
Fallout 4 to look forward to!
Thankfully, this gap has allowed us to get some good time in with
Contents
what, in another time, would be some incredibly addicting games. 53 Warhammer:
Swordcoast Legends and Original Sin Enhanced addition offer Vermintide
hundreds of hours of gameplay between them, so they may not save 56 Sword Coast
the Fallout-4-pocalypse. Life is Strange is not out and complete, and Legends
much more digestible, so that’s a plus. And while it’s not an RPG per 58 Age of Decadence
se - though it does come from a very rich RPG setting - Vermintide 59 Divinity: OS EE
is not only even better than we were hoping, it’s short, sharp chunks 60 Animal Gods
of action should make for a good tension breaker from what we are 61 Tales from the
assuming will be a long sojourn in the wastelands. Borderlands S1
Of course, there is the elephant in the radioactive room... 62 Minecraft Story Mode
What do we do if Fallout 4 sucks? Well, I guess we’ll go back to 63 Life Is Strange S1
Divinity. Or keep aiming toward getting better gear in Vermintide. 64 Rebel Galaxy
There’s always something to play...

David Hollingworth SCORING SYSTEM | PCPP scores its games on a 1 to 10 scale. The
Digital Editor higher, the better – though 10 is by no means a “perfect” game. We’re
not convinced such a thing exists, so consider a 10 a masterpiece of PC
gaming, despite its inevitable flaws. A 5 is a decidedly average game;
one that doesn’t excel in any particular area, without being an affront to
our senses – the ultimate in mediocrity. Below this, you’ll start to find
the games our reviewers suffered an aneurysm getting through; above
it, the titles truly worth your time and money. And remember: a score
is only a vague indication of quality. Always read the full review for the
definitive opinion!

WE
PLAY
ON:
52 PC PowerPlay
 REVIEW

Warhammer: Vermintide – The End Times

Rats to the left of me, rats to the right of me…

DEVELOPER FATSHARK
PUBLISHER GAMES WORKSHOP
PRICE $29.99
AVAILABLE AT STEAM
www.vermintide.com

B efore we dive into the meat of this

review, I should probably point out
that I have quite the history with Games
Workshop’s Warhammer fantasy world.
When I was young’un, I pushed painted
plastic soldiers around a tabletop, before
graduating to roleplaying in the dark and
gritty Old World in the excellent first edition
of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. So I know
the setting pretty well.
It’s also a setting that few games have really year that was the successor, so anyone getting Empire is a place of nearly endless, dangerous
managed to get right. And while we’re all into Vermintide and wanting to play some forests, so its towns and cities tend to be
hoping that Creative Assembly can do just that Tabletop Warhammer will miss out. cramped, walled, and come complete with a
with the epic Total War: Warhammer, Swedish Warhammer is obvious, and Vermintide… ready siege mentality.
studio Fatshark has brought the Warhammer well, play the game for a few minutes, get Which turns out to be handy, because the
world to life on a much more intimate scale, almost literally buried under a pile of stinking game begins with Ubersreik under siege. But
with the implausibly named Warhammer: ratmen, and you’ll see it’s pretty much a spot it’s no conventional army attacking; rather, it’s
Vermintide – The End Times. on descriptor. the once-thought mythical Skaven, human-
The name ticks a lot of boxes, and not all of Vermintide takes place in the city of sized vermin that tunnel beneath the world’s
them are now all that relevant. The End Times Ubersreik, a sprawling town in the Riekland surface, and utilise all kinds of twisted magic
event was a cataclysmic series of changes to of the Empire. Think a very gothic, fantastic and technology to extend its underground
the established and decades old setting of the version of Germany in the high middle-ages, realm. They’ve stormed up out of the sewers
Old World that ended with its destruction; a all puffed-and-slashed doublets, greatswords, and taken the town by surprise, so that only
whole new game and setting was released this and rudimentary black-powder weapons. The small pockets of resistance now hold out.

PC PowerPlay 53
REVIEW

Grenades are rare, you

can only ever carry one,
and they are lots of fun

Which is where you – and three

complete strangers/mates – come in.
From your base at the Red Moon Inn, its
innkeeper tasks you with missions about
and around the town. Go here, save
some food; go there, destroy a Skaven
thingy; explore the sewers and just kill
lots and lots of giant bipedal rats.
Vermintide is – essentially – Left 4
Dead with an interesting new re-skin
and weapons.
However, don’t for a minute think
that this is meant to be a reductive
take on the game. If you’d ask me
before Vermintide came out if a fantasy
version of L4D would be cool, I’d say
Vermintide is – essentially – Left 4 Dead with
hell yeah, and if you told me it was an interesting new re-skin and weapons
going to be Warhammer, I’d be having a
little nerdgasm. It’s a legitimately solid WHY axes, as well as crossbows and pistols that the wizard and the witch-hunter
concept, and it’s one that Fatshark has SHOULD and some pretty nasty guns that are have a history together, and not a good
executed admirably well. I CARE? effectively small flamethrowers. The one; the dwarf uses a lot of his native
It’s also taken the concept further, Bright Mage is very interesting – a fire language, and thankfully the game’s
by adding different character types, + You really, wizard with a range of direct and area loading tips include a good smattering
really want to
changing the focus from ranged hurt a lot of
attacks, and a mechanic that sees her of dwarvish words. The uniqueness of
weapons to melee (though ranged rats. at threat of blowing herself up the the weapon sets and play styles, on top
weapons are still very effective), and more she uses her powers. Then there’s of the banter and different character
+ Left 4
delivering a remarkably addictive Dead didn’t
my personal favourite, the Wood-elf combinations, provides a freshness
loot and semi-crafting system. If you have enough Waywatcher. She brings a range of fast that the game’s 14 maps may not
thought L4D was addictive, you’ll be zwiehanders. bows and slicing knives and swords to otherwise supply.
all over Vermintide like a Halfling on a + You can’t
the table, and tends to have arguably That said, those 14 maps are all
crate of sticky-buns. wait for Total the highest rate of fire. very well-realised, though some are
There are five available characters, Warhammer One of the things that keeps the on the small, and therefore somewhat
each with their own backstory and game fresh is seeing the different repetitive side. They range from maps
weapon-sets. The Empire Soldier and mixes of characters – you’ll only ever set in and around the city, all leaning
Witch-hunter both use an array of large have four out of the five, and the buildings, gabled roofs, and dank
hammers and black powder weapons, canned banter between characters is cobblestones, to ones set outside
while the Dwarven Ranger gets more also rather enjoyable. You’ll discover Ubersreik, complete with farms, forests,

SEQUENCE
THINGS TO
DO IN THE
RED MOON
INN
1. You can mess around with your inventory 2. You can make new items from olds ones 3. And you can pick your next mission

54 PC PowerPlay
 1
5

6
2

FURBALL
1. The UI does a
good job of letting
you know when
companions are in
trouble
2. Ammunition is
pretty rare, and you
Loot is spread evenly will run out
between characters,
making sure they’re 3. It can be very
all well-equipped
handy to keep
track of who has
what - especially
and piles of dead civilians. Some of the Poison Wind Globadiers pepper the and speed potions, and explosive and
healing kits
most challenging maps are those set map with areas of stinking, poisonous incendiary grenades. Ammunition
underground, since here it’s actually gas. But you’ve also got the Ratling (unless you have a magic item – I’m 4. When Skaven
swarm, attacks
much easier to become cut off from Gunner, who targets one party member looking askance at you, dwarf and
come from all
your allies. But they all capture the feel and guns for them no matter what – wizard) is limited, too, so when you around you
of the Old World wonderfully, utilising and doesn’t care if it guns down hordes find an ammo stash it’s a thing of joy.
5. Vermintide does
designs and aesthetics straight from the of his own fellows. In fact, that pretty much sums up
not shy away from
models of the tabletop game itself. Possibly the tensest of the special the game. It’s a rat-blood-spattered, blood and gore
These maps are plenty atmospheric enemies are the intermittent chaotic, and ultimately very fulfilling
6. Stormvermin
even empty, but get the game’s AI Stormvermin patrols. These heavily game, that manages action and
are just one of the
director to start throwing Skaven armed and armoured Skaven march in excitement, with the ever-expectant elite types you’ll
at you, and they become downright a column of eight or so, to a particular promise of bigger and better face, but definitely
terrifying. Like L4D, this AI ‘chooses’ chittery cadence. If you hide, they weapons, while also living up to a the most heavily
when best to throw a horde of easy to may pass you by, and if you get into a very rich setting. armoured
kill slave-rats at you, or when to send fight with them it will be tough. So it’s In fact, it just may be the best
in a lumbering Rat Ogre. All the usual always handy to keep a grenade handy. Warhammer game yet published, and
enemy types are there, plus a few new The game’s equipment includes not if Fatshark can keep the game fresh
ones. The man-catching Packrat pulls only each characters’ two signature it’s one that’s going to be hard to put
party members helplessly away, while weapons, but healing potions, strength down. DAVID HOLLINGWORTH

OR TRY THIS: VERDICT:

LEFT 4 DEAD WARHAMMER: SKYRIM Amazingly true to the
TURTLE ROCK STUDIOS SHADOW OF THE BETHESDA 2011 source material, with
2008 HORNED RAT Great if you hate combat and action aplenty,

9
Zombies, the thing MINDSCAPE 1995 swordfighting
you love to kill! Even more Skaven! without people and lots of rewards (loot!)
No hats with feathers watching
in them.
May have dated
Also less feathered for repeat play. Vermintide
a little
hats. And guns. is the rat’s whiskers.

PC PowerPlay 55
REVIEW

Sword Coast Legends

How I learned to stop caring and love the auto attack

DEVELOPER N-SPACE, DIGITAL EXTREMES

PUBLISHER DIGITAL EXTREMES
PRICE $39.99 USD
AVAILABLE AT STEAM
Swordcoast.com

T he whole purpose of Sword Coast

Legends is to hearken back to
classic RPGs of the past. It’s billed as
something of a spiritual successor to
Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, earlier
gold box games and even more modern
but still respected fare like Neverwinter
Nights and its sequel. In the single player
campaign it puts the emphasis heavily
on party dynamics and an epic quest
line that could decide the fate of the
world. It also features a GM mode that
allows players to asynchronously play a
campaign created by a dungeon master.
It’s all very ambitious and definitely very
tempting on paper, but unfortunately
in practise all Sword Coast Legends
succeeds at doing is reminding players
that the games that served as inspiration
This looks far more action
are far better than what you’re playing. packed than it actually is
Although supposedly based around
the relatively new 5th edition D&D rules
set, only five races and six character
like a combination of the worst parts of Diablo
classes are available from the outset. mixed with the cooldowns of an MMO
This may sound like plenty, but given
the fact that the basic player’s handbook WHY enough impetus to keep it entertaining seem to matter too much outside
has nine races and 12 classes it feels SHOULD throughout. Your character, no matter of specific quests. If there’s a key
like content is missing, a problem I CARE? what class you pick is working as a bit of information there will most
exacerbated by the fact that one of the caravan escort for the Order of the probably be a stat based conversation
first characters you meet if of a race + You know the Burning Dawn, a rather ominously gambit, allowing strong characters to
greatest attack is
you don’t have access to and there are automatic
named mercenary company. Aside intimidate for the info, wide characters
numerous characters down the road from teh fact that a level one thief or to intuit, charismatic characters charm
with character classes not available to + You know GMing mage isn’t exactly bodyguard material and the like. It’s a fairly lacklustre
is really just about
players. There are plans to release new adding monsters
it’s up to your character and a few AI system that feels less like roleplaying
classes and races as DLC, but that gives companions to make sure the caravan and more like an excuse to min-max
the impression that the developers are + You love meeting is safe. It, of course, isn’t. Mercenaries your character to get the best effect
new people and
just playing catch up on things that stealing their loot
disguised as bandits attack the out of statistics. That said, as slight as
should have been available from release. members of the Order. Someone really the conversational roleplaying is it’s
The story starts with a cliché, a dislikes the guild and wants them dead. still way more entertaining than the
dream sequence, and while it gets It’s a decent but not Earth-shattering combat, and unfortunately you seem to
stronger from there and features premise, and about as strong as the have to do that far more often,
what can only be described as the story evert gets. Although based on Dungeons &
most violent overreaction to rumour Although the game is full of Dragons, a roleplaying system that has
we’ve ever seen, never really gets up conversations, none of them really inspired a number of excellent combat

SEQUENCE
HOW QUESTS
WORK

1. Talk to some people 2. Follow the drab dialogue 3. Autoattack some baddies

56 PC PowerPlay
 2

4 3

AUTO
ATTACK
1. You only
directly control
one character at
a time. The rest
are controlled
by the AI unless
you pause and
issue specific
Most story progression commands
involves fighting
2. The mini map
isn’t hugely
systems from straight up interpretations to already purchased skills. Rather than do without an important aspect of your useful aside
of the basic rules as seen in the old spells and spell-like abilities having group until the player logs out or you quit from showing
Gold Box games to the tactical real time finite uses (a-la D&D), each active skill in frustration. The much ballyhooed GM the location of
enemies
pause system of Neverwinter Nights, instead had a cooldown. What this mode turns out to be little more than a
the developers of Sword Coast Legends means in practise is that combat is a not hugely user friendly module creation 3. The quest
seem to have looked anywhere but D&D series of auto attacks while you wait for tool kit with a few tools to slightly tweak log is basic but
functional
for inspiration. The resultant combat special skills to become active again. the adventure once it’s running. It works
system feels more like a combination of Unless you set your game to private for making modules but any real time 4. Fascing is
the worst parts of Diablo mixed with the on the title screen (there doesn’t appear GMing is a laughable idea. important in
combat due to
cooldowns of an MMO. Each character to be a way to change it in game), Sword Nothing in Sword Coast Legends is
backstabs and
class has access to as number of skill Coast legends is a public affair with other intrinsically broken. Everything works flanking attacks
trees that reflect different aspects of players able to jump into your game, but the individual parts really only do the
5. A large yet still
the class. The Paladin, for example has replace one of the NPCs in the party minimum to get by. Even if the last few
uninteresting
trees dedicated to shield defence, holy and run around looting all the bodies years hadn’t been a glorious time for old- enemy
might, healing and resurrection and and chests before you have a chance to. school CRPGs, with Divinity: Original Sin
6. Autoattack
the like. Putting skill points earned The public game doesn’t seem to work and the like showing how good a modern
until your skills
from gaining levels or using certain too well, as it limits the number of NPCs approach to old-school RPGs can be, SCL are available
unique items unlocks new active skills, you can take with you and throws off would still be little more than a rather again
passive character boosts and upgrades party balance, essentially making you forgettable distraction. DANIEL WILKS

OR TRY THIS: VERDICT:

PILLARS OF WASTELAND 2 DIVINITY: Everything in Sword
ETERNITY INXILE, 2014 ORIGINAL SIN Coast Legends works as
OBSIDIAN, 2015 LARIAN, 2014
Amazing combat intended, but that only

5
Great story and Story’s a bit naff Amazing combat
combat Balls hard serves to highlight that
No GM mode the games that inspired
it are still better

PC PowerPlay 57
REVIEW

The Age of Decadence

The age of Mehcadence, more like

DEVELOPER IRON TOWER

PUBLISHER IRON TOWER
PRICE $29.99
AVAILABLE AT STEAM
irontowerstudio.com

T he Age of Decadence (hereafter:

AoD) is an ambitious,
unapologetically hardcore, text-heavy
RPG set in a post-apocalyptic world
loosely inspired by the decline of the
Roman Empire. The game is advertised
as a return to the “golden era” of
isometric RPGs, combining the open-
endedness of Arcanum with the heady
dialogue of Planescape: Torment and
the tactically rich turn-based combat
of Fallout.
Which sounds incredible, right?
So what went wrong? Starting with
the most significant issue, the fact
is that AoD’s much-vaunted open-
endedness is kind of a sham. The idea
is that you’re permitted a great deal
Thrilling hands off
of flexibility in how you construct stealth action!
your protagonist, with your chosen

for the most part, strategy boils down to having

skills and traits opening up new ways
of solving the various problems that
crop up during the course of your
adventure. But in reality you don’t
the right gear and investing in the right skills
so much “solve” problems in AoD as
you select from a list of solutions the WHY might expect, allocating points to the not the kind of game where you can
developer has prepared in advance. SHOULD Sneak skill doesn’t mean you ever go around killing en masse like some
During my first run as a grifter, I CARE? get to do any actual sneaking – what pseudo-Roman Terminator. Which
I invested heavily in charisma and it means is that you’re more likely to would be fine, except the reason
the Streetwise, Persuasion, and + You’re really into pass the Sneak stat checks that pop fights are so difficult is because you’re
the Roman Empire
Impersonate skills, meaning I could up from time to time. Again, you’re typically outnumbered by enemies
quite literally talk my way through + You prefer to not the one exercising any skill, either that have better equipment and stats
the entire game. What this boiled read games than in actually sneaking or in recognising than you do. Thus, for the most part,
play them
down to mechanically is selecting the opportunities to sneak. The game does strategy boils down to having the right
highlighted “Persuasion/Streetwise” + You wanna be all the hard work for you, so any sense gear and investing in the right skills.
option in dialogue and watching a grifter but lack of accomplishment you might feel is Once again, success is contingent on
charisma
as every situation resolved itself drastically diminished. what your character can do, not you.
automatically in my favour. There was During a fight is the only time where But for all its flaws, AoD is not
no judgement required on my part, no you’re permitted to exercise genuine entirely without merit. Prose is plentiful
reason to think about what I was saying. choice in AoD, which is unfortunate and reasonably tight, and lore nerds will
My character was the one exercising because the combat is dreadful. By find much to appreciate in the game’s
skill, not me. I just followed his lead. design, fights are infrequent and voluminous fiction. It’s not a terrible
It was much the same on my second extremely difficult, and Iron Tower deal at 30 bucks, but honestly, you can
run as an assassin. Despite what you makes a point of saying that this is find better for cheaper. DAN STAINES

OR TRY THIS: VERDICT:

ARCANUM: OF PLANESCAPE: WASTELAND 2 An ambitious game hobbled
STEAMWORKS AND TORMENT INXILE ENTERTAINMENT, by laborious, unsatisfying
MAGICK OBSCURA BLACK ISLE STUDIOS, 2014
combat and a “ready-made”

6
TROIKA GAMES, 2001 1999 Skill-driven
Open-ended One of the best roleplaying done approach to quest design
right
roleplaying aplenty written RPGs ever
Combat’s shithouse Story’s kinda meh that undermines player
Buggy as hell
autonomy.

58 PC PowerPlay
 REVIEW

Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition

Sin again before you sequel sin

DEVELOPER LARIAN STUDIOS

PUBLISHER LARIAN STUDIOS
PRICE $39.99
AVAILABLE AT STEAM
divinityoriginalsin.com

L arian Studios seems to have

taken a leaf from the CDPR book
with Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced
Edition. They have taken an already
great game - one of the very best games
of last year and one of the best RPGs in
recent memory in fact - and reworked
it, fixing problems, tweaking the story
and adding new features to create an
even better experience. Like CDPR
did with The Witcher and its sequel
(an inevitably The Witcher 3: Wild
Hunt), Larian has decided to release
all the upgrades for free to people who
already own the game. If you already
own Original Sin, stop reading this and
go play the game again. It’s even better
than it was before, and that’s no small Single player faux co-op
rock, paper scissors
compliment. If you haven’t yet gotten decision making
around to buying Original Sin, now’s

It’s a pretty epic cast as well - 40 voice actors

the time to make the splash. For $39.99
USD you’ll get one of the best RPG
experiences in years.
The intricate character creation
recorded around 88 thousand lines of dialogue
that rewards specialisation rather
than min-maxing remains, as does WHY dialogue is now voiced. This one potions and scrolls. For the truly
the clever, involving story, but both SHOULD change takes a game that was all but a masochistic there’s a new “Honor”
character creation/skills, and the I CARE? book in terms of text and makes it a lot mode that features the difficulty of
way the story is delivered has been more approachable, and immersive. the “Tactician” (hard) mode but limits
tweaked. Dual wielding has been + You like to It’s a pretty epic cast as well - 40 voice the player to a single save game slot
spend as much
added as a weapon skill. This may time creating
actors recorded around 88 thousand ensuring there are no do-overs.
seem like a small thing but it adds a a character as lines of dialogue. The new gamepad controls are
whole new skill set to play with, as playing the game Other additions include wands excellent and rival the mouse and
main hand and offhand weapons can + You want to dual and grenades as new weapon types, keyboard for ease of use. Unfortunately,
have synergistic effects thanks to the wield wands camera control, dynamic local with all the things that Larian changed
wonderful elemental interactivity split-screen making it perfect for with the Enhanced Edition update
+ You love a good
of Original Sin. Many other skills RPG Big Picture couch play with a mate, there is still one feature of Original Sin
have been tweaked or changed. Two controller support, enhanced crafting that is clunky - inventory management.
handed weapon skills, for example, abilities and a change to difficulty. It’s better than it was in the vanilla
not add extra crit chance to attacks, Original Sin vanilla was hard enough, game, but it’s still slow and clunky, but
as do crossbow skills. Again these but the developers have ramped with a game as intricate as this, one
may sound like small changes but things up a little more in the highest clunky system in amongst so much
they change the way you think about difficulties, giving the AI access to intricacy and elegance is eminently
combat. In terms of the story, all more skills, abilities, magic items, forgivable. TAVISH FORREST

OR TRY THIS: VERDICT:

PILLARS OF WASTELAND 2 BALDUR’S GATE: Larian Studios has
ETERNITY INXILE ENTERTAINMENT, ENHANCED EDITION taken an already
OBSIDIAN 2014 OVERHAUL GAMES, 2012
brilliant game and

10
ENTERTAINMENT, 2015 Amazing combat A classic updated
Amazing old-school Little environmental Dated made it better. Original
interaction
RPG
No elemental
Sin Enhanced Edition
interactions is borderline perfect.

PC PowerPlay 59
REVIEW

Animal Gods
Not as fun as Animal House

DEVELOPER STILL GAMES

PUBLISHER STILL GAMES
PRICE $9.99
AVAILABLE AT STEAM
www.still-games.com

F or every Kickstarter success

story there are more Kickstarter
failures. The original pitch for Animal
Gods was great - an Old England
style Legend of Zelda puzzle RPG
featuring a Link like character by the
name of Thistle travelling the world
aiming to set the ancient gods free and
rid the land of the bronze industry
curse that has transformed animals
into horrible beasts known as husks.
Initial screenshots showed images
Thistle using multiple abilities to take
on creatures and free the gods, and
an early game map showed multiple
fascinating locations with names like
The Coast of Teeth, the Gleaming City
and the Moors of Skye. Originally
Cubist Monkey
slated for release in October 2016 but God is angry
available now, it appears that Animal

As it stands, Animal Gods is not at all like the

Gods is a victim of circumstance, with
the developers running out of funds
and having to release a very different
game a year early in the hopes that
game originally promised
income might give them enough money
to finish their dream project. As it WHY The sword and bow temples are Once the animal god is finally reached
stands, Animal Gods is not at all like SHOULD almost identical in how they play, in a temple, rather than a boss battle,
the game originally promised. I CARE? with the player having to kill ever players instead have to make their
It’s a beautiful project with stylised husk in a level so they can progress way around another standard level,
flat graphics highlighted by an excellent + You have never to the next. Rather than being cursed doing damage to the god by standing
heard of Nintendo
dynamic camera that almost always creatures, husks are instead squares on a number of checkpoints. It’s all
shows a level to its best effect, but the + Killing the same with eyeballs that follow set patrol very anticlimactic.
gameplay definitely doesn’t live up to thing over and over paths. Each of these husks takes Once the three temples have been
appeals to your
the promise of the looks. Rather than OCD between one and nine hits to destroy completed, a fourth temple is unlocked
travelling the world to dispel the curse but there is no way of knowing how in which Thistle has access to all of
and awaken the gods, Thistle instead + You’ve never many hits it will take because there the items. It’s a small sign of what the
mastered using
must brave three temples that can be more than one tool is no health bar or any indicator as to game may have been but it comes as
tackled in any order and release the gods at a time remaining life. A single touch from too little far too late. The appeal of the
that are trapped within. Each of these a husk is enough to kill Thistle and graphics and the repetitive but pleasant
temples is keyed around a different item send him back to the last save point, soundtrack have definitely worn off by
and its inherent abilities - a bow, a sword forcing him to make his way through then. You’re left wondering what could
and a cloak that enables Thistle to dash the level again. The cloak temple have been rather than thinking about
short distances and renders him immune is based around dashing through the lacklustre game you just played.
to damage whilst dashing. obstacles rather than killing husks. CARL SANGSTER

OR TRY THIS: VERDICT:

JOTUN FORGE QUEST DEX
THUNDER LOTUS GAMES,
2015
XOPEN REALMS LLC, 2015 DREADLOCKS LTD., 2015 Animal Gods is
Voxel Zelda Side scrolling action
little more than

5
Hand drawn action/ Stupid spiders rpg
exploration Poor combat a disappointing
Only five bosses
glimpse of what
might have been

60 PC PowerPlay
 REVIEW

Tales from the Borderlands: Season 1

Ain’t no place for no double negative

DEVELOPER TELLTALE GAMES

PUBLISHER TELLTALE GAMES
PRICE $24.99
AVAILABLE AT STEAM
www.telltalegames.com/talesfromtheborderlands

T ales from the Borderlands started

strong, with a funny, action
packed, well-paced episode that started
a great story, introduced some very
likeable characters and was written
in a way that rewarded fans of the
Borderlands franchise but was still
welcoming to new players. The second
episode, on the other hand was patchy
at best, with some great moments but
without the spark that made the first
episode so good. This patchy nature
went on through episodes three and
four, with three feeling in many ways
like it was just treading water to
fill out the five episode arc and the
fourth was just inconsistent. The final
chapter starts as though it is going to You’d be better off
holding on with the
follow suit, but after a slightly patchy robot hand, mate
beginning turns out to be probably the

playing the entire season as a whole highlights

strongest final chapter Telltale has yet
produced.
So strong is the final chapter, “The
Vault of the Traveller”, that it actually
the many strengths it has to offer
improves some of the lesser previous
chapters, as the choices made and WHY executive looking to get revenge to joystick commands from the famous
dialogue chosen in them finally SHOULD on the new CEO of Hyperion by arcade fighter. When not throwing
comes to the fore, with characters I CARE? securing a vault key and making more input commands at the player, the
and decisions from previous episodes money than god. Through a series game is frequently laugh out loud
coming to the fore in a single dramatic + You know where of shenanigans, double crosses and funny, with some of the best voice
you can find a vault
sequence, and depending on your key
bad luck, Rhys falls in with Fiona, a work and writing seen in a Telltale
actions the outcome of the game can Pandoran con woman also searching game thus far.
unfold in very different ways. The high + You have a for the vault key so she can make Looking back over the series after
psychopath living
comedy of the previous chapters is in your head enough money to get herself and her having finally completed it it appears
readily evident throughout the final sister off the forsaken rock. In keeping that the greatest weakness of Tales
chapter, but surprisingly, there is a + LOADER BOT! with the FPS origins of the game, Tales from the Borderlands wasn’t the
surprising dramatic weight to it as from the Borderlands is probably the patchiness of some of the episodes but
well, as well as a strong moral core, most action packed, and varied, of the rather the slow pace with which they
the latter standing out in even stronger Telltale games. Throughout the five were released. Playing each chapter
contrast given the… moral flexibility chapters, players will take part in first three months apart highlights any
of the protagonists, Rhys, an ambitious person shooting, a gladiatorial chariot weakness in an individual chapter, but
Hyperion exec and Fiona, a grifter. race, numerous chase scenes and even playing the entire season as a whole
The overarching story of the season a Street Fighter style fight scene in highlights the many strengths it has to
sees Rhys, an ambitious Hyperion which the QTE inputs are analogous offer. DANIEL WILKS

OR TRY THIS: VERDICT:

THE WOLF CALLAHAN’S BORDERLANDS 2
AMONG US CROSSTIME SALOON GEARBOX SOFTWARE,
TELLTALE GAMES, 2013 LEGEND 2012

9
Fables brought to life ENTERTAINMENT, 1997 Funny, well written
Not a lot of laughs Every pixel a pun shooting Binge all five episodes and
No story choices
No moral quandaries you’re in for something
pretty damn special

PC PowerPlay 61
REVIEW

Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 1

Build ‘em up, buttercup

DEVELOPER TELLTALE GAMES

PUBLISHER TELLTALE GAMES
PRICE $24.99
AVAILABLE AT STEAM
www.telltalegames.com/minecraftstorymode

T he open ended building of “Make a bacon joke

again, I dare you!”
Minecraft is ripe with individual
story potential. Each player building
a castle, working computer, scale
model of the Enterprise or simply
walking from one end of the randomly
generated world to the other has a
story to tell. That said, Minecraft isn’t
by any means a narrative game - the
entire idea behind it is about freedom,
so in some ways the confines of a set
narrative run counter to the original
aims of the developers. It’s testament
to the mastery of the writers and
developers at Telltale Games how well
they have managed to bring together
their trademark narrative drive with
the building of Minecraft.
Although not necessarily a kid’s
game, Minecraft: Story Mode is

pays rather loving tribute to a huge number of

definitely pitched younger than other
Telltale adventure games. The game
still features danger, the long term
repercussions of decisions made in the
sources and styles
heat of the moment, timed dialogue
choices, action and all the other things WHY hope to defeat the dickish perennial monster from beyond capable of
you expect from a Telltale game, SHOULD favourites and stand in for every consuming everything in existence.
but these decisions are much more I CARE? bad kids gang from 80s kids’ movies Naturally it’s up to Jesse and her
innocent and lack the moral weight and finally prove to the world and to friends to save the day. There are a few
of those seen in The Walking Dead, + You want to themselves that they aren’t losers. On moments in the two or so hours that
prove you’re not
Game of Thrones or even Tales From a loser
the way to the competition the team make up the first episode, “The Order
the Borderlands. This isn’t necessarily stocks up on the supplies needed for of the Stone” where death rears its
a bad thing however, as the lightness of + You think it’s hip their build, prompting a hilarious ugly head, but these are so telegraphed
to be square
most decisions keeps the action flowing martial arts/boxing style training by both the dialogue and visual cues
and keeps the story, no matter how + You want to play montage substituting a tree for a side that they are easy to avoid. This isn’t
serious it gets, rather charming and games with your of beef or wing chun dummy. This a surprise given the family friendly
kids
sweet. montage really sets the tone for the rest nature of the game. What is a surprise
The game begins with main of the game. It wears its inspiration on is that the lack of any real danger had
character Jesse (a name that works for its sleeve and pays rather loving tribute no real detrimental effect on the game.
both the male and female avatar), the to a huge number of sources and styles. You might not find yourself in mortal
confident friend Olivia, overweight Of course things go pear shaped danger, but by the time the credits roll
loyal thug Axel and pet pig Reuben both at the convention and at the you will find yourself caring for the
heading off to EnderCon, a Minecraft celebration afterwards, leading to characters and their plight. What more
style building competition. They the summoning of a Wither, a terrible could you want? DANIEL WILKS

OR TRY THIS: VERDICT:

BROKEN AGE TERRARIA MINECRAFT
DOUBLE FINE, 2014 RE-LOGIC, 2011 MOJANG, 2009 Minecraft: Story Mode is
Sweet natured Semi narrative 2D Open ended building
aimed towards a younger

8
coming of age building No story mode
No building Not as freeform as audience but still has
Minecraft
enough depth to appeal
to mature gamers

62 PC PowerPlay
 REVIEW

Life Is Strange: Season 1

Life is stranger with a grandfather paradox

DEVELOPER DONTNOD ENTERTAINMENT

PUBLISHER SQUARE ENIX
PRICE $19.99
AVAILABLE AT STEAM
www.lifeisstrange.com

L ife is Strange is a game in the

Telltale mould, with decisions
or conversational gambits the player
makes having an effect on later
elements of the game, but French
developer DONTNOD has taken
this style in an even more effective,
somewhat meta direction thanks to
the abilities of the protagonist Max
Caulfield. After five years absence,
Max returns to Arcadia Bay to attend
a prestigious art academy and in short
order discovers four key things. One - a
girl named Rachel Amber has gone
missing and nobody knows if she ran
away, was kidnapped or murdered.
Two - Max’s best friend from years past,
now estranged because of how rapidly This is a visual
representation of
Max left Arcadia Bay five years ago, acoustic indie rock
was friends with Rachel and wants

Max’s limited time travel and the potential

to know what happened. Three - Max
has apocalyptic dreams of a hurricane
destroying Arcadia Bay in five days.
Four - Max can rewind time.
apocalypse are maturely and beautifully handled
This final discovery becomes a
key focus of Life Is Strange, both WHY instantly hurt a friend or otherwise but the overall magic realist themes
thematically and mechanically, and it SHOULD negatively affect a character you and the well written characters should
is the key component to making the I CARE? care about. Knowing the immediate definitely appeal to anyone who likes
decisions Max has to make throughout outcome of a decision packs on the a good story. The manner in which
the five chapters feel so compelling. + You unwind by moral weight of any situation. It’s the various plot threads and narrative
playing acoustic
In Telltale games, players know their alt rock on your
wonderful. The time travel ability thrusts - the disappearance of Rachel,
decisions may have an effect in the banged up guitar is also key to solving many of the Chloe and Max trying to rekindle
future, but in Life Is Strange, those puzzles in the game, as Max retains the their relationship. Max’s limited time
+ You always want
decisions are shown both in the short a do-over information and objects she acquired travel and the potential apocalypse
term and the long term with stark during her brief time manipulations. It’s are maturely and beautifully handled.
clarity. Thanks to Max’s ability to + Your town one of the finest examples of an ability Things get dark - very dark - but it’s
is going to be
rewind time, she can instantly do over destroyed in five being tied into both the mechanics and never just for the sake of it. There’s a
most decisions, seeing first-hand the days story of a game we’ve seen to date. meaning behind everything that goes
immediate repercussions. Seeing all If you’re not a fan of indie acoustic on and a level of quality that pervades
sides of a decision before making it can rock and mumblecore stylings, Life every aspect of the game. Aside
make the eventual choice much harder Is Strange might not exactly be your from the terrible mandatory stealth
than simply having to choose, as the cup of tea, as the soundtrack and sections that is. Those are terrible, and
immediate repercussions of what you general feel of the game definitely rendered meaningless by time travel.
think might be a good decision could lean strongly on those two sources, CARL SANGSTER

OR TRY THIS: VERDICT:

THE WALKING BRAID DROPSY
DEAD: SEASON 1 JONATHAN BLOW, 2009 TENDERSHOOT, 2015 Maybe too mumblecore
TELLTALE GAMES, 2012 Time travel to solve Melancholy point
for some, Life Is Strange is

9
Real apocalyptic puzzles and click
adventuring Total creeper Goddamn clowns a wonderfully dark story
Decisions are final of friendship and personal
apocalypses

PC PowerPlay 63
REVIEW

Rebel Galaxy
Take me out, into the black

DEVELOPER DOUBLE DAMAGE GAMES

PUBLISHER DOUBLE DAMAGE GAMES
PRICE $19.99 USD
AVAILABLE AT STEAM, GOG
rebel-galaxy.com

O ver the years that science fiction

has portrayed space battles, the
approach to framing these battles has
changed wildly. The first battles were
naval affairs, with heroic space sailors
repelling boarders and fighting man to
man and with cannons. Later came the
age of the heroic starfighter, zooming
around in space, pew-pewing baddies
with lasers and enacting dogfights
in the vast emptiness of space. In the
modern era, thanks in part to television
shows like the revamped Battlestar
Galactica and the criminally under
watched Space: Above and Beyond,
space combat once again began to
resemble naval combat again. Those
shows still had nimble fighters zooming
around in space doing the pewpew, but
“We’re gonna explode? I
the larger ships essentially took the role don’t wanna explode!”
of majestic battleships, manoeuvring
to fire massive broadsides and present
their most well shielded parts to the
it’s obvious that the developers have watched
enemy. This naval style of combat is Firefly more than a few times
what you experience in Rebel Galaxy,
an indie space combat game currently WHY influence of Firefly doesn’t extend to the game sports a rather lovely 3D
taking Steam by storm, but shows like SHOULD the writing, as the various characters engine and the scope of space is widely
Battlestar are not the only influences I CARE? you interact with throughout the game, apparent, the entire game is played out
that have left their mark on the game. from fixers through to traders, pirates on only two of the three dimensions. It
From the first moments of Rebel + You own a brown and faction contacts don’t display much feels a little strange at first, only having
coat
Galaxy to the last in the story mission, in the way of character, sometimes to access to a flat plane in space, especially
or the countless hours that can be + You believe all the point of making it seem as though when the vast, sometimes garishly
played afterwards as you roam the guitars should they are all the same character wearing colourful expanse of space is rendered
twang
galaxy trading, exploring, pirating or a different bumpy head mask. so lovingly. If you’re anything like up
heroing it’s obvious that the developers + You’re like a leaf With rare exception though, you your first instinct will probably be to try
have watched Firefly more than a few on the wind don’t play space exploration, combat and gain altitude so you can come down
times. The soundtrack of blues country and trading games for the character. on a target from behind, raking their
is ever present, as is the idea that you You play them for the experience and delicates with laser/rocket/mass driver/
are living on the rim, doing what you the joy of flying around in the big black. cannon fire, much like you would in
have to to keep alive and keep flying. On this count Rebel Galaxy does little many other space combat games, or in
This is by no means a bad thing, as the to disappoint, though for those thinking flight combat games in general, but such
soundtrack and overall vibe adds a the game might be something along the a thing is not possible. Instead you have
nice sense of familiarity, even nostalgia lines of Elite: Dangerous you may be to manoeuvre like a ship, angling best
to proceedings. Unfortunately the in for a little bit of a surprise. Although so your big guns can fire devastating

SEQUENCE
SPACE
TRUCKERS

1. Dock at a station to buy new gear... 2. ... and pick up new contracts 3. That done, it’s time to head out again

64 PC PowerPlay
 5

1
4

FIRE!
1. The simple
map shopws
the location of
all friendlies and
enemies in the
immediate area
2. Broadsides
are your most
damaging attack
The final frontier has
a lot of circles on it
3. The AI controls
the weapons you
are not in direct
broadsides and your turrets can be flak to intercept missiles, deflectors to head off into the procedurally generated
control of - in this
brought to bear for greatest effect. avoid serious damage and positioning all galaxy to seek your fortune. You can try case the turrets
Spaceships are by no means as come into play. to leave your mark peacefully by trading
4. You can switch
sluggish or bound by gravity and friction Rebel Galaxy features a story mode - though this really isn’t too advisable
between control
as water ships, so even though combat in which the main character ostensibly as the market is so volatile in game that of weapons. The
is played out on a flat plane, spacecraft searches for their missing smuggler aunt, the price of a trade good can fluctuate AI instantly jumps
still zip around, using a combination but really this serves as more of a primer pretty wildly in the time it takes you to in to pick up the
of thrusters and momentum to try to the game world than a truly great travel from planet to planet - or mining. slack
and gain the best position. It’s still experience by itself. The story essentially You can become a hero and patrol the 5. Thrust,
essentially naval style combat, but it’s guides the player through the key space lanes for pirates, smugglers and acceleration
a war between speedboats rather than aspects of the game - taking missions, other criminal types, or you could be one and momentum
are all vital for
between destroyers. The AI does a good scouting debris fields, protecting or of those criminal types and prey on the maneouvring
job at aiming guns and taking a crack at retrieving cargo, trading favours with innocent to make your fortune.
the enemy, but at any time players can factions, trading and the like, and then A lot of space is pretty barren and 6. Scanning an
area can reveal
take control of the weapons to add that using the proceeds of you labours to exploration is more geared to what the location of
deadly human touch, enabling them to buy new ships, upgrades, weapons happens along the way than what you distress beakons,
line up broadsides to more devastating and components. After the story is find when you reach the furthest star to salvage and the
effect or taking control of turrets to take completed, or at any time really you can the right, but for $19.99 you still get a like
out fast moving fighters. Clever use of choose to leave the story behind and hell of a lot of game. DANIEL WILKS

OR TRY THIS: VERDICT:

ELITE: FREELANCER GALAXY ON FIRE 2
DANGEROUS DIGITAL ANVIL, 2003 FISHLABS
FRONTIER ENTERTAINMENT GMBH,
Chris Roberts The galaxy may be a

8
DEVELOPMENTS, 2015 Star Citizen still not 2012
Space with other finished Farscape: the game bit empty, but there’s
Shows its mobile
people
Other people roots still a lot to love about
Rebel Galaxy

PC PowerPlay 65
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UPGRADE AUSTRALIA POWERED BY INTEL

The power to connect

THUNDERBOLT 3
Intel delivers a truly next-gen connectivity standard

W hile much ado has been made about

the wide availability of USB 3.0
and USB 3.1 with the launch of Intel’s 6th
the DP 1.2. It will also be able to drive a
single 5K 60Hz display when these become
more commonplace.
Generation Core processor, it’s not the THUNDERBOLT CABLES
only high-speed connection to become WHICH PLUG DOES IT USE? Due to the high-speed of Thunderbolt 3,
mainstream in 2015. The Thunderbolt Earlier versions of Thunderbolt used a Mini- special cables are required to function at
interface has been around for several years DisplayPort plug, but version 3 has settled the fastest speeds. The current maximum
now, but only now is it starting to become a on the new USB Type-C connector, which is length of a full-speed Thunderbolt 3 cable
common component on today’s performance the same plug used by many USB 3.0 and 3.1 is three meters, but it must be an “active”
motherboards. Like USB it offers incredibly connections. Unlike USB Type-A plugs, the cable to reach top speeds over this distance,
fast data transfer speeds, but it’s even faster and these cables now retail for around $100.
than the latest versions of USB, which allows
it to do things that USB simply can’t.
“Thunderbolt 3 is However, Intel recently announced “passive”
cables using the USB Type-C connector
Thunderbolt 3 is the latest version of this designed to do more that will be much cheaper, and will drop to
high-speed interface, and is the version
that will appear on new motherboards
than simply connect a speed of 20Gbps. This is half the speed
of an active cable, yet still twice the speed
thanks to its blistering transfer speeds. The speedy hard drives and of USB 3.1. In the next twelve months
maximum theoretical speed of Thunderbolt
3 is an incredible 5 Gigabytes per second, or peripherals” special optical cables for Thunderbolt 3 are
expected, which will increase the maximum
40Gbps, whereas USB 3.1 is 10Gbps, making length to a vast 60 meters yet still deliver
Thunderbolt 3 four times faster. USB 3.0 latest version doesn’t have to be oriented in the top speed of the standard.
maxes out at 640 Megabytes per second, a certain direction to fit into the plug – there One interesting use of the new
or 480Mbps, making Thunderbolt 3 almost is no “right-side-up” on this plug, making it Thunderbolt 3 connection is external
ten times faster. This makes Thunderbolt much easier to plug in. It also delivers 100W graphics, which is sure to prove popular
3 the undeniable speed leader when it of power, which means external devices amongst laptop makers. When the laptop
comes to transferring files to and from the will no longer need an extra power cable to is in road-mode, it uses the integrated GPU
PC, provided it’s married with a matching function. found on today’s Intel CPUs, but when the
Thunderbolt 3 external hard drive. Another unique feature of Thunderbolt owner returns home and wants to game,
However, Thunderbolt 3 is designed to is its ability to daisy-chain devices. This the laptop can be plugged into an external
do more than simply connect speedy hard means that even though a PC may only graphics dock via Thunderbolt. This dock
drives and other peripherals to the PC; it’s have one Thunderbolt port, the device contains a dedicated desktop GPU, delivering
also designed to connect extra displays. plugged into that port may also have its own premium game performance when the gamer
Thunderbolt 3 encapsulates the DisplayPort Thunderbolt port, into which another device needs it most.
1.2 standard, and has the bandwidth to can be plugged. In this way up to six devices To ensure your new motherboard has
power not one, but two 4K displays using can be daisy-chained to the PC via a single Thunderbolt 3 support, look for the inclusion
Thunderbolt 3 port. of the Intel Alpine Ridge controller.

Support is quickly taking off, with Apple among

the first to embrace Thunderbolt 3
 ON SALE NOW

Buy online and subscribe to PC & Tech Authority at

MYMAGAZINES.COM.AU
Tech
246

YOUR GUIDE TO PC GAMING HARDWARE

IT ALL MAKES CENTS Our Power Contents

Price really matters Award is given
to products
71 Skylake on the cheap

T
that are best in
he last few months has been a great time to be an Aussie tech POWER class no matter 76 AMD R9 Nano
AWARD
reporter, and it’s all thanks to our wonky Aussie dollar. Normally w w w. p cp owe r p l a y. co m . au
your budget. 78 Sapphire R9 Fury
our pricing is in line with the US, which means our tech coverage 79 Logitech Harmony Elite
is usually quite similar to theirs – if their reputable websites or 80 ASRock G10 Router
magazines recommend a product, there’s a good chance that PC Our Smart Buy 81 ATH-AG1X Headphones
PowerPlay will do the same. However, the last few months show Award goes 82 Acer Predator XR341CK
to products
why local coverage remains so important. that balance
83 Rig 500/Roccat Kova
It’s all due to the way our Aussie dollar has crashed. In May of SMART performance 84 Menagerie
BUY
this year, our dollar was worth 80 US cents, but since then it’s slid w w w. p cp owe r p l a y. co m . au
with price tag. 86 How Things Work - RAM
all the way down to 69 US cents. This makes a *huge* difference to
hardware retailers, who have to buy their hardware from overseas.
In May of this year, they could buy a US$500 product for AU$625. THE PCPP TESTBENCH
When the dollar was at 69 US cents, the same US$500 gizmo CPU
would set Aussie importers back $724, which is a huge increase INTEL I7 3770K
when profit margins are as small as they are in hardware, which www.intel.com.au
can be a mere 5% to 7% over the cost of goods.
MOBO
Because of this, so-called budget products being launched in GIGABYTE Z77X-UD3H
Australia are arriving with price tags that are relatively higher www.gigabyte.com.au
than overseas. As a result, they’re far less competitive against
SSD
older products that were imported before the dollar crashed, and CORSAIR NEUTRON
of which stock still exists. You can read how this has impacted www.corsair.com
products like AMD’s Fury in the following pages, but the net result
RAM
is that new products are arriving with what seems to be inflated 8GB PATRIOT DDR3 2,133MHz
pricing. So before you go into a rage and write a 14,000 word forum www.patriotmemory.com
post about how Aussies are getting ripped off by the price of PC
GPU
hardware, bear in mind that a big chunk of the recent inflationary
RADEON HD 7970
prices is a result of our falling dollar. That’s not to say that we don’t www.amd.com
get ripped off when it comes to game prices, but that’s another
matter entirely… PSU
CORSAIR AX860I
www.corsair.com
Bennett Ring
Tech Editor DISPLAY
DELL U2711
www.dell.com.au

70 PC PowerPlay
 TECH

5 0 !
B1 !!
H 1 7 0

SKYLAKE ON
A BUDGET
Bennett Ring investigates 6th Gen on the cheap
I ntel’s 6th Generation Core CPU, also known
by the much cooler codename of Skylake, is a
rather pricey upgrade option. As well as forking
an average price point of just under $350.
Thankfully there’s a cheaper way to get your
Skylake on, as there are plenty of motherboards
that aren’t quite as powerful as Z170, but
apparently it’s a little too expensive for boards
priced under the $200 mark. As a result, our
out for a new CPU, buyers will need to buy a set based on cheaper chipsets that’ll offer many of roundup is dominated by boards based on the
of DDR4 memory modules, along with a Socket the same benefits as the Z170. B150 chipset. This was originally pitched as a
1151 motherboard. PC PowerPlay recently value solution to business users, as evidenced
checked out the most expensive Socket 1151 B150 AND H170 by its support for Intel’s Small Business
motherboards, those based on the high-end When we put the invite out to manufacturers Advantage suite of products, but it’s been co-
Z170 chipset, and were surprised at the rather for this roundup, we expected to be opted as the basis for cheap gaming boards.
high prices we encountered. It seems that the overwhelmed by products based on the H170 We’ve never seen such widespread use of a
combination of a weak Aussie dollar and the chipset, but that wasn’t to be. H170 is meant low-end solution across gaming boards before,
feature-laden nature of these products meant to be used for performance and gaming boards highlighting just how expensive Skylake’s

PC PowerPlay 71
TECH / SKYLAKE ON A BUDGET

chipsets must be to buy. the x16 physical length – only one has x16 still an option on some boards. Going with
When compared to the Z170, the B150 bandwidth, while the second is limited to x4. DDR3 sounds like a great way to decrease the
chipset cuts plenty of corners. The biggest issue This means SLI is out, but CrossFire is still cost of upgrading to Skylake, until you realise
for budget-builders is the lack of overclocking possible as it only requires x4 speed on the that none of the new Skylake chipsets work
support, which means these boards can’t be second lane (SLI needs x8 as a minimum). with regular DDR3. They need DDR3L, which
used to extract the maximum performance out operates at a low operating voltage of 1.35V,
of Intel’s highly overclockable i5-6600K, a real LEss UsB for yoU! and which is basically non-existent outside of
shame. In the past we’ve seen motherboard Z170 delivered a whopping 26 Flex-IO ports laptops. We tried to run a DDR3 B150 board
makers sneakily enable overclocking on connected to the PCH chip, which could be with standard 1.5V memory and it failed to
cheaper chipsets, but Intel wasn’t too happy used for PCIe lanes, Ethernet, USB and other boot; only later did we read that doing so
about the practice. This time around it seems connectivity options. B150 trims this back by can actually kill the CPU. We have to thank
the motherboard makers are toeing the around a third, to 18 Flex-IO ports, which is Kingston for delivering two sticks of DDR3L
company line, and haven’t enabled overclocking why this cheap chipset can only deliver eight memory at the last minute, allowing us to test
on anything other than the official overclocking PCIe 3.0 lanes, versus “up to” twenty on the the one DDR3 board in the roundup.
chipset, the Z170. Boo to that we say – fingers Z170. The drop in Flex-IO ports also explains
crossed the situation changes in the future, but why there are fewer USB options, with B150 yoU pay for wHaT yoU gET.
it’s not looking likely. delivering up to six USB 3.0 and twelve USB 2.0, As you can see, B150 has suffered plenty
The next major change is in the number of whereas the Z170 could handle ten USB 3.0 of cuts to make it a more affordable option.
high speed PCIe 3.0 lanes for graphics. Z170 and fourteen USB 2.0. We doubt Intel anticipated that it’s budget
can handle several configurations: 1 x PCIe Six SATA 3 ports remain, but most won’t business solution would become the basis for
3.0 x16; 2 x PCIe 3.0 x8 or 1 x PCIe 3.0 x8 with include any form of RAID support to these ports. entry-level gaming boards, but that’s exactly
2 x PCIe 3.0 x4. This means it can run both Thankfully most B150 boards have included what has happened. However, with an average
CrossFire and SLI configurations. However, a single high-speed M.2 port for the latest price of $190, it’s plain to see why – B150
B150 only offers a single configuration for generation of SSDs, which will deliver RAID- boards are considerably more affordable than
the graphics lane, in the form of a single PCIe beating speeds without all of the setup issues. their Z170-based cousins. Let’s read on to see
3.0 lane with x16 bandwidth. This is true even Finally, just like Z170, B150 brings DDR4 if their performance has suffered as much as
when the board has two PCIe slots that use memory support to the table, but DDR3 is their feature sets.

Motherboard Benchmarks
SiSoft Sandra Memory 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme Test
Higher is better Higher is better
Integer Memory (GB/sec) Floating Point Memory (GB/sec) Overall Score Physics Score

29.92 60578
ASRock Fatal1ty H170 Performance ASUS H170 Pro Gaming
26.14 59682
26.11 60223
ASUS H170 Pro Gaming ASRock Fatal1ty H170 Performance
26.38 59412
25.91 59865
Gigabyte G1.Sniper B7 MSI B150M Mortar
26 59380
25.19 58294
MSI B150M Mortar Gigabyte G1.Sniper B7
24.84 59439
23.24 57386
ASRock B150 Gaming K4 ASRock B150 Gaming K4
23.24 59358
18.62 53254
ASUS B150 Pro Gaming D3 ASUS B150 Pro Gaming D3
18.32 58786

7zip Cinebench R15 CPU

Higher is better Higher is better
Total Rating (MIPS) Score
ASRock Fatal1ty H170 Performance 25668 ASRock B150 Gaming K4 878
Gigabyte G1.Sniper B7 25298 Gigabyte G1.Sniper B7 877
MSI B150M Mortar 25224 MSI B150M Mortar 876
ASRock B150 Gaming K4 25183 ASUS H170 Pro Gaming 875
ASUS H170 Pro Gaming 25148 ASUS B150 Pro Gaming D3 874
ASUS B150 Pro Gaming D3 24275 ASRock Fatal1ty H170 Performance 872

72 PC PowerPlay
ASRock B150 Gaming K4
Cutting features to cut the price
PRICE $175
www.asrock.com

B ack when we first reviewed Skylake,

we pointed out that one of its best
features was the widespread adoption
included a power plug next to the top
PCIe slot, and the board comes with ten-
phase power, but we’re not sure why, as
of M.2 ports for high-speed storage. it can’t overclock the CPU.
Sadly ASRock seems to have decided Killer’s budget LAN controller is
that this isn’t such a big deal, and has present, a fact that is offset by the
left it off this board entirely, making it excellent Purity Sound 3 audio solution,
one of the only boards in the roundup which is one of the better sound
to do so. solutions in the roundup. Unfortunately
Instead ASRock appears to have tried the performance metrics for this board
to make this board look and feel like a aren’t exactly glowing, with it tailing the
full-priced gaming board. Unlike many pack in every benchmark.
of the competitors here, it’s a full-sized It might be one of the cheapest
ATX board, and comes with plenty of motherboards in the roundup, but the
• Full ATX size VERDICT:
• Three PCIe slots
expansion slots. Twin full-length PCIe lack of M.2 or SATAe makes this board • Excellent onboard Forgoing one of the key
3.0 x16 along with three PCIe x1 slots hard to recommend. Combined with audio reasons to consider
deliver room for a CrossFire setup, lackluster performance, and the twenty Skylake, the lack of high-

6
• No M.2 or SATAe
but the fact that the second x16 lane bucks you’ll save when buying this • Killer LAN speed storage and low
is limited to x4 speeds means SLI is board isn’t reason enough to consider it. • Lackluster performance makes this
still a no-go. Interestingly ASRock has BENNETT RING performance board hard to recommend.

ASRock Fatal1ty H170 Performance

H170 in the hizzouse
PRICE $199
www.asrock.com

W hile most boards in this roundup

utilise the exceptionally cheap
B150 chipset, it’s nice to see that a
and three x1 slots.
Once again ASRock
has used ten phase power,
couple managed to squeeze the better but the lack of overclocking
H170 chipset in. This board is one of options means this is a bit of overkill.
them, so we were keen to see if it had to ASRock’s proprietary Fatal1ty mouse
cut back on other features to offset the port is also included; we’ve tested this in
more expensive chipset. the past and found that it doesn’t make
Unlike the other ASRock board, a a lick of difference. The inclusion of a
single M.2 port is included for your single Type-C USB 3.0 port on the rear SMART
BUY
speedy SSDs. There are also twin is a very welcome inclusion though, as is w w w. p cp owe r p l a y. co m . au

SATAe connections if anybody ever the use of Intel’s LAN controller.

releases a hard drive that uses this Considering it’s just $24 more
connection – we’ve yet to see one cross expensive than the other ASRock board,
• M.2 and SATAe VERDICT:
• Type-C USB
our testbench. The six SATA 3 ports can there’s simply no competition – this is • Excellent onboard This board proves
be run in RAID modes 0, 1, 5 and 10, by far the superior of the two. In fact, audio that H170 is possible
making this board stand out when it it’s one of the best value boards on the for less than $200,

9
comes to high speed storage. market today, with the ASUS H170 Pro • No overclocking without cutting every
Heading to the PCIe slots, it’s identical Gaming board its only rival. BENNETT other corner. Highly
to the other ASRock board, with two x16 RING recommended.

PC PowerPlay 73
TECH / SKYLAKE ON A BUDGET

ASUS B150 Pro Gaming D3

DDR3 doesn’t quite keep up
PRICE $195
www.asus.com.au

A SUS was the only company that

dared to send a DDR3 powered
board into our roundup, so we have
ready for your other drives. There’s no
mention of RAID support though, a result
of the B150 chipset used within.
to give them props for doing so. We appreciate the use of Intel’s
Unfortunately, our CPU and memory new I219V LAN controller, while the
intensive benchmarks show just how SupremeFX sound solution is one of the
much slower this is than DDR4, but real best in this price range. It may use the
world applications probably wouldn’t ubiquitous Realtek ALC1150 codec, but
lag so far behind. As such, this could be the use of high quality capacitors and
a cheaper option for those who already amplifiers delivers a class-leading SnR
own DDR3L memory, provided it ran at of 115dB. That’s seriously impressive
the 1.35V Skylake requires. for onboard audio at this price range.
ASUS has gone for a mix of old and Despite the board’s decent feature
new with the peripheral slots, with set, we’re going to shy away from
twin x16 slots, another two x1 and two recommending it due to the slower
• Type-C USB 3.1 VERDICT:
• Intel LAN controller
legacy PCI slots. As with every other DDR3L memory that it requires. • Excellent onboard
board in the roundup, the second x16 Considering your existing DDR3 audio The use of legacy DDR3L
slot only delivers x4 bandwidth, limiting probably won’t work here, meaning you memory makes this a

6
this board’s multi-GPU functionality to might as well upgrade to DDR4 anyway, • Requires low voltage slower performer than
DDR3L memory
CrossFire. A single M.2 slot delivers high- there are better, faster, options around.
• Slower performance
its DDR4-powered
speed storage, while six SATA 3 ports are BENNETT RING competitors.

ASUS H170 Pro Gaming

H170 is hard to ignore
PRICE $219
www.asus.com.au

T he second of only two boards in the

roundup to use the better H170
chipset, this potent performer from
We figured ASUS would go for Killer’s
cheap LAN solution to offset the cost of
the H170 chipset, so were pleasantly
ASUS might stretch the budget a little, surprised to see the real deal, Intel’s
but delivers a whole lot more. Read on I219V, used instead. An ASMedia
to see why this is one of our favourite controller delivers twin USB 3.1
budget gaming boards around. ports, one of which uses the excellent
Being based on the H170 chipset Type-C connection, a feature that few SMART
BUY
gives this board a couple of key boards in this price range includes. The w w w. p cp owe r p l a y. co m . au

advantages. For starters, the six SATA SupremeFX audio solution is arguably
3 ports are capable of RAID 0, 1, 5 and the best in the roundup, with its 115dB
10. Two of these can be used for a single SnR ratio proving just how crisp and
SATAe connection, which complements clear it is.
• Plenty of PCIe slots VERDICT:
• M.2 and SATAe
the M.2 port for those requiring the It might cost just a little more than • Excellent audio The slightly higher price
ultimate in storage speed. It’s got the the rest, but for the price of two Big Mac is easily justified by the
most generous range of PCIe slots in the meal deals, there’s really no reason for excellent performance

10
roundup, with twin x16 slots alongside price to be a concern. If you’re looking • Slightly more and rich feature-set. Our
expensive
four x1. Performance is excellent, for the best budget board on the market, favourite budget board
coming in second in two of our tests. look no further. BENNETT RING at this price range.

74 PC PowerPlay
Gigabyte G1.Sniper B7
A B150 board in disguise
PRICE $210
www.gigabyte.com.au

P riced at just ten bucks less than

the kick-arse ASUS H170 Pro
Gaming, we fully expected Gigabyte’s
again Realtek’s
ALC1150 chip does
board to include the more expensive the heavy audio hauling,
H170 chipset. To our surprise, nay, but Gigabyte has included
disappointment, it turns out that this is its user-upgradable OP-AMP
actually another B150 board, albeit with system. This allows owners to
a higher than expected price tag. replace the OP-AMP used on the
For the money you get a full-sized board, allowing them to tailor the
ATX board that has six extension slots: tone of the audio to their liking. It also
two x16 PCIe, another two x1 PCIe, and has onboard Gain Boost switches, a
two legacy PCI. Both M.2 and SATAe rather unfriendly way of boosting the
drives are accounted for, with a single gain for high-impedance devices such
slot of each, while six SATA 3 ports are as headphones; having to poke your
standard. Sadly there’s no RAID option motherboard every time you plug in
though. Intel’s new I219V LAN controller your professional headphones is sure to
has been paired with cFosSpeed get annoying.
• OP-AMP audio solution VERDICT:
• Intel LAN
software, which is a QoS traffic-shaping While we dig the audio solution, at • Healthy range of PCIe/
package. We didn’t test this extensively, the end of the day this is another B150 PCI slots
but the good news is that it can be product. As such it has fewer USB 3.0

7
switched off if there are any issues. and 2.0 ports and slower performance • B150 chipset It’s priced at H170 levels,
• High price
Perhaps the most notable feature on than competing H170 boards, making it but doesn’t have the
this board is the sound solution. Once hard to recommend. BENNETT RING features to match.

MSI B150M Mortar

Small but still feature packed
PRICE $149
www.msi.com

W elcome to the cheapest board in

our roundup, MSI’s Micro-ATX
Mortar. The reduced size has obviously
Perhaps the only
disappointing facet of this
helped MSI keep costs down, yet it still board is the archaic audio
packs many of the features of much chipset, using Realtek’s
more expensive options. Let’s see what aging ALC892 chip.
MSI has managed to cram into such a This has been
small board. around for over
Twin PCIe x16 lanes sit alongside five years,
two PCIe x1 slots, allowing this and onboard
miniature motherboard to handle a audio has come a
CrossFire solution if you feel the need long way since then. We’d highly
for speed. Four DDR4 slots accept recommend either using the HDMI out
up to 64GB of memory, but they’re for bitstreaming, or buying a discrete SMART
BUY
limited to 2133MHz speeds due to the sound card. w w w. p cp owe r p l a y. co m . au

motherboard’s lack of overclocking As our benchmarks show, this board

support. A single M.2 port is waiting for sits around the middle of the pack
• Super cheap VERDICT:
• M.2 and SATAe
your high speed storage, while two of when it comes to performance. With • CrossFire ready
the six SATA 3 ports can be co-opted to a decent feature-set to boot, the low MSI has packed plenty
handle SATAe duties. Four USB 3.1 ports price of this product makes it especially of features into this

9
and two USB 2.0 ports face the rear of noteworthy for those who want to build • Old audio chip affordable Micro-ATX
the I/O plate, with room for two more of the cheapest possible Skylake system. motherboard, making it
each via internal headers. BENNETT RING excellent value for money.

PC PowerPlay 75
TECH / REVIEWS

GPU

AMD Radeon R9 Nano

When size matters.
PRICE $1200
www.amd.com

U ntil now, Home Theatre PC owners

have either had to settle for mid-
range performance in a small case, or
GPU, on a plate called a transposer that
is just a few millimetres wider than the
GPU itself. As a result the graphics card
smallest possible graphics card.
Unlike the R9 Fury, also reviewed this
issue, the Nano hasn’t trimmed back
deal with an overheating performance can be shrunk – in fact, we reckon AMD any of the Fury X features. It’s packing
GPU in a bulbous HTPC case. The could probably go even smaller than the full 4096 Stream Processors, 256
Nano changes all that. It’s the smallest the Nano. Texture Units and 64 ROPs of the Fury
graphics card to ever offer enthusiast So just how small is the Nano? Damn X, along with the stupidly wide 4096-bit
performance, finally allowing for small small. It’s just six inches in length, or memory bus. Yep, it manages to do all
form factor builds to truly deliver high- 18cm for those who prefer less phallic this without the custom water cooler of
end gaming performance measuring scales. This is only slightly the Fury X. Obviously a compromise had
The Nano is a happy side-effect of longer than the PCI Express slot that it to be made to deal with all that heat,
the HBM memory used in AMD’s new fits into, though it does have a double and in the Nano’s case it’s a teeny tiny
R9 Fury family. Unlike a traditional slot design, meaning it’ll take out two frequency drop, down 50MHz to a boost
graphics card, which requires up to a expansion slots on the back of your case clock of 1000MHz according to the AMD
dozen postage-stamp sized memory – just like basically every other graphics literature. Well, that’s what AMD claims;
modules to be placed on the PCB, HBM card on the market. The small size makes when we get to the performance we’ll
shrinks the memory to tiny stacks that it suitable for even the most cramped PC reveal the true story. Rather than go for
are just a few millimetres across. These interior, and we’re sure it’s going to prove anything fancy, AMD has used a single
are then placed around the edge of the a hit with case modders looking for the fan design, which pushes air out the rear

GRID AUTOSPORT Benchmarks SHADOW OF MORDOR Benchmarks 3DMARK Firestrike

2560 x 1440, 4xMSAA, Ultra Detail 2560 x 1440, Ultra Detail 1920 x 1080
Min FPS Avg FPS Min FPS Avg FPS Score
93 75
Radeon Fury X Radeon Fury X Radeon Fury X 13315
76 40
89 70
Radeon Fury Radeon Fury Radeon Fury 12865
71 37
84 65
Radeon Nano Radeon Nano Radeon Nano 11965
68 35

76 PC PowerPlay
 REVIEWS / TECH

of the card, as well as into the case. It’s

relatively quiet, hitting just 46dB on our
arrives with its support for a maximum
of 32GB of memory. Thankfully using
Despite this speed drop,
soundmeter under load, which is fine for more than 4GB of memory is still a the Nano remains the fastest
ultra-compact graphics card by
HTPC purposes. rare occurrence, with only a handful
While the new HBM memory is of games able to do so, but it’s worth
pretty damn impressive both from a
performance and size perspective, it’s
thinking about when you’re spending
this much dosh on a graphics card.
a long shot
got one major issue at the moment. When it came time to test the card,
Version 1 of the technology is limited we were quite surprised by the first Despite this speed drop, the Nano
to a maximum of just 4GB, which is not round of benchmark results. According remains the fastest ultra-compact
a lot when we’re talking 4K resolutions to the specs on paper, this thing should graphics card by a long shot. The next
and ultra-high texture details. To test handily beat the Fury, and almost keep closest card is the GeForce GTX 970 or
the impact this had we ran Grand Theft up with the Fury X, but our Nano was R9 380, but they’re at least 30% slower
Auto V in two modes. The first had trailing the Fury by around 7%. After in most circumstances. They’re also
a memory footprint of almost 6GB, running the tests several times and around half the price though – the Nano
while the second dropped this to 4GB reinstalling the drivers, our results is incredibly expensive, coming close to
but put the GPU under the exact same remained the same. A spot of online GeForce Titan pricing. If you’re looking
load from a processing perspective. investigation prompted us to run for value for money, look elsewhere.
In the 6GB mode, when the Nano ran GPU-Z whilst the benchmarks were However, if you want the fastest
out of memory and had to fetch new doing their thing, and we immediately possible performance in an ultra-small
data over the sluggish PCIe bus from spotted the issue. Despite the card form factor, there is nothing else like
the system RAM, the minimum frame aiming for a Boost Frequency of the Nano. BENNETT RING
rate dropped to a lowly 2.4 frames 1000MHz, the car actually runs
per second. Mode two saw the card between 850MHz and 900MHz during
maintain a minimum framerate of testing. This is because it has a much
around 15 fps, the same speed as lower thermal threshold than its big
• Ultra small VERDICT:
• Full-sized
the likes of the GTX 980 Ti. It clearly brother, with a TDP of just 175W. performance
illustrates that if a game requires more Without a fancy water cooler to remove • Quiet cooler If price is no obstacle
than 4GB of video memory, the Nano heat, the solution is to dial back the and size is everything,

8
simply isn’t up to the task. It’s for this GPU speed. The result is a card that is • Very expensive the Nano lives in a class
• No HDMI 2.0
reason that NVIDIA has held off on around 12-15% slower than the Fury X,
• Only 4GB memory
unto itself, with no
HBM until late 2016, when HBM v2 despite having nearly identical specs. competitors.

PC PowerPlay 77
TECH / REVIEWS

VIDEOCARD

Sapphire R9 Fury
Fast and a little bit Furious
PRICE $999
www.sapphiretech.com

H ell hath no fury like an AMD engineer

scorned, but that’s exactly what
happened when NVIDIA released its
at $999. It’s a totally different story
overseas. Take the US for example; a
Radeon R9 Fury X will set you back
Bandwidth Memory though, and it’s also
lacking HDMI 2.0, like its big brother.
Our performance benchmarks show
spoilerific GTX 980 Ti product. AMD around US$670, while the Fury is a that the Fury does a fine job of keeping
thought it had the performance market much more affordable $550. In pure up with its sibling, trailing by just 6% or
stitched up with its HBM-powered Fury percentages, Yanks save 18% when so. However, given the fact that you can
X, but then along came the GTX 980 Ti, buying a Fury compared to the Fury X, pick up a Fury X for just $99 more, we’d
priced identically but with a noticeable while Aussies save just 9%. And that suggest spending that little extra to
performance lead. We truly feel for the makes Fury a much harder sell here get the better product. Sadly for AMD,
folk behind the Fury X, but today sees in Australia. It’s no fault of AMD, or NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 980 Ti makes a
their second chance arrive. The Fury is a Sapphire, or your local IT store; it’s mockery of the Fury’s price, yet is a heck
cut-back version of the Fury X, though it’s simply the result of us having to buy of a lot quicker. As such, there’s simply no
not quite as affordable as it might once stock on our crappy Aussie dollar. way to recommend the Fury over NVIDIA’s
have been due to the weak Aussie dollar. So then, what’s the difference spoiler product. BENNETT RING
Here’s where the problem lies. Stock between the Fury and the Fury X? The
of the original Fury X was imported major change is a drop in the total
into Australia before the Aussie dollar number of Stream processors, from
• Keeps up with Fury X VERDICT:
• Quiet cooling
decided to go for a freefall. That’s why 4096 to 3584, while texture units drop • Cool HBM memory Considering it’s the
you can now pick up a Sapphire Fury X from 256 to 224. Thankfully the number tech same price as the
for just $1099. However, the Fury has of ROPs is identical, at 64, but the GPU superior GTX 980

7
been imported on a much weaker dollar, frequency is slightly slower at 1000MHz, • Much slower than a Ti, there’s simply no
980 Ti
which is why it’s now retailing for just a 50MHz dip compared to Fury X. It’s reason to consider
$99 less than the full-blown version, still got the incredibly fast 4GB of High buying the Fury.

GRID AUTOSPORT Benchmarks SHADOW OF MORDOR Benchmarks 3DMARK Firestrike

2560 x 1440, 4xMSAA, Ultra Detail 2560 x 1440, Ultra Detail 1920 x 1080
Min FPS Avg FPS Min FPS Avg FPS Score
93 75
Radeon Fury X Radeon Fury X Radeon Fury X 13315
76 40
Gigabyte 122 Gigabyte 93 Gigabyte
GTX 980 Ti GTX 980 Ti GTX 980 Ti 15050
Gaming G1 95 Gaming G1 70 Gaming G1
89 70
Radeon Fury Radeon Fury Radeon Fury 12865
71 37

78 PC PowerPlay
 REVIEWS / TECH

REMOTE

Logitech
Harmony Elite
Universal Remote
Decrypting the input mess
PRICE $549
www.logitech.com
I’m happy to report that
the Harmony Elite is the first
A s the resident geek in your home,
you probably face the challenge that
two IR-blasters will prove invaluable.
I hung one over my Pioneer amp’s kit I’ve used where everything
many geeks face – you’re the only one
in the house who knows how to get the
IR receiver, while the second wasn’t
needed, as the hub controlled my TV. just worked
plethora of devices in your AV cabinet all Set up is all handled via the
set to the right mode to operate. In my mobile phone application, and it’s Available on both iOS and Android, I
place, watching streaming media over unquestionably the smoothest universal can’t see myself ever using the remote
the PS4 requires far too many steps remote configuration I’ve ever seen. control instead of my Galaxy S6 phone.
for my better half to remember, which Logitech has been refining this software Logitech would do well to simply sell the
is why I’m guaranteed a phone call for over a decade, which explains why hub and IR blasters, which would help to
every night I’m away on business trips. it detected my 6 year old amp without reduce the rather high price point.
Universal remotes promise to solve this any issues. After just 15 minutes I had Still, $549 is about right for a
problem, but until now everyone I’ve the remote configured to do one of two universal remote of this level of
tested has one niggling issue that stops things – Watch Digital TV, or power up sophistication, and the fact that it
something or other from being fully the PS4 for Netflix and media streaming. includes the mini-IR blasters is an
automated. I’m happy to report that the Normally that would require powering added bonus. Best of all, it finally
Harmony Elite is the first kit I’ve used on each device, then selecting the right freakin’ works, the first time I’ve tested
where everything just worked… yet the input for each, as well as a couple of a universal remote in over a decade
rapid march of technology has made a weird settings, but now it’s all done with without any issues. BENNETT RING
big part of this kit obsolete already. just a single button press. The hub’s
In the box you’ll find the touchscreen Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity means
remote, charging base, Bluetooth- it can control the PS4, as well as various
• Mini-IR blasters are VERDICT:
brilliant
powered receiver hub and, best of all, home automation gear when and if I get • Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
two miniature IR-blasters on lengthy around to installing Wi-Fi lightbulbs. controlled Hub Logitech has finally
cables. The hub can blast out IR signals, There’s just one issue with this kit – • Works perfectly included everything you

9
but given that you’re probably going to the remote control itself. It’s a beauty, • Still rather expensive need in the box, as well
sit it on top of the AV cabinet, and that that’s for sure, but the smartphone • Remote hand unit is as something you don’t,
all of your devices are underneath it, the application is just as good, if not better. obsolete the remote itself.

PC PowerPlay 79
TECH / REVIEWS

NETWORKING

ASRock G10 Gaming Router

A bag of tricks
PRICE $399
www.asrock.com.tw

B etter known for their huge range

of motherboards, ASRock is now
dipping its toes into the Wi-Fi market
should have selected the channel with
the least interference. At a range of
approximately 10 metres, the 2.4GHz
allows you to control your TV, amplifier
and other home devices via the ASRock
Router APP on your Smartphone.
with the release of the G10 gaming band delivered a sustained throughput There are two issues with this though;
router. It definitely makes a strong first of 197Mbps, which is on par with other for starters, most users won’t have
impression thanks to its striking design, 802.11ac routers we’ve tested. The their router within line of sight of their
but it’s the extras that ASRock has 5GHz band doubled this to 406Mbps, home AV gear, so the IR transmitter
included that make this worthy of note. a long way off the 1733Mbps that is pointless. Secondly, the interface
Unfortunately, not all of them can be ASRock claims, yet close to the top for controlling this function is a long
considered useful. speed we’ve seen in this environment. way off the superb universal remotes
Before we look at the odd inclusions, A big reason for this is that our test created by Logitech and others who
let’s check out its Wi-Fi capabilities. It’s laptop is only equipped with a 2x2 specialise in IR control.
using Qualcomm’s new IPQ8064 dual- receiver, whereas this thing uses a 4x4 ASRock is charging a very high
core networking chip, along with a hefty transmitter; as 4x4 receivers become premium for this router, but you get a lot
256MB of flash and 512MB of DRAM more popular, speeds should increase. It for the dosh. The 4x4 transmitter should
memory. The latest 802.11ac standard should also deliver better performance deliver better speeds as more devices
is supported, with a whopping eight to multiple devices simultaneously. adopt this standard, while the dongle is
antennae. ASRock claims the 802.11n Where this differs from other AC a great idea, albeit lacking the ability to
2.4GHz band is capable of 800Mbps, routers is the inclusion of two rather work as an Ethernet to Wi-Fi adaptor.
while the 5GHz 802.11ac hits a record- unique features, the first of which is an And we’re sure somewhere, somebody
breaking 1733Mbps. Obviously these 802.11n dongle that doubles as a HDMI out there will probably even find use for
are theoretical though; past experience Miracast/EZPlay device. Plug it into your the IR blaster. BENNETT RING
with Wi-Fi testing shows we’re lucky to TV and you can cast directly to it. Plug
hit even half the claimed speeds. it into an Ethernet cable while travelling
We used the excellent LAN Speed and you’ve got an instant 802.11n Wi-Fi
Test to check out the speed of this Access Point. Strangely the dongle can’t
• Top-echelon VERDICT:
performance
router on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz be used to connect a device to the router • Wi-Fi dongle It might cost a heck of
bands. We should point out that these via Wi-Fi, which seems to be a greatly • Solid interface design a lot, but the superfast
results are very specific to our location, missed opportunity, and would have speeds that it will deliver

8
• Lacks extremely
which has around a dozen nearby made it much more useful.
advanced Wi-Fi
in future, as well as the
Wi-Fi networks. All Wi-Fi settings The other feature is, well, weird. An settings clever Wi-Fi dongle, make
were left at automatic, so the router Infra-Red transmitter on this device • IR-blaster is a gimmick it worth the admission fee.

80 PC PowerPlay
 REVIEWS / TECH

HEADSET

Audio Technica ATH-AG1X ISOLATION

and ATH-ADG1X OPEN AIR
Our favourite headphones get an upgrade
PRICE $349
www.audio-technica.com

W e’ve been long-time admirers

of Audio Technica, a Japanese
company that specialises in high-end
the headphones stay in place while
distributing the weight nicely, and the
new models seemed much more stable
far, so good, but there’s just one problem
with both of these headsets, and it’s
the new Logitech G633 headset. These
headphones. Gamers have long been than the first gaming headsets. A new $279 headphones deliver sound almost
using their music headphones for feature that had us slightly confused at as beautifully as the Audio Technicas, but
gaming, a trend the company capitalised first is the in-line volume controller; we for a much more reasonable price point…
on a couple of years ago when after didn’t notice this, and couldn’t figure out provided you plug them into something
releasing its first gaming models. This why neither headphone was working. A like the E5 headphone amp, which will
month sees the follow-up products, in quick call to the supplier and a sheepish set you back another $270 or so. The
the form of the ATH-AG1X and ATH- grin later, and we had both sets cranking. G633 headset also includes its own audio
ADG1X. With prices that firmly put these They both use an identical 53mm driver, decoder that handles both virtual Dolby
in the enthusiast category, can they and it’s an absolute ripper. We tested 7.1 and DTS Headphone X surround
deliver the additional sound quality such both sets while plugged into Creative’s sound, but when powered by this the
a premium price commands? excellent E5 headphone amplifier, and sound quality doesn’t come close to the
These two sets of headphones are didn’t need to boost the impedance to get Audio Technicas with a decent amp.
basically identical with one exception – them rocking. After testing Corsair’s $200 Having said that, the Audio Technicas
the AG1X uses an isolation design. This VOID headset last issue, the massive do have the superior sound quality even
means the padding around the ear is of leap in sound quality was a pleasant with a third party headphone amp in
a leather-like material, and blocks audio surprise. Both headsets deliver a much the mix. The ATH-ADG1X OPEN AIR are
from escaping. This is great if you happen more balanced, even sound – there’s now our reference gaming headphones,
to do a bit of bed-side gaming and don’t none of the overriding bass seen in most but if we had to pay for these versus
want to annoy your other half, but it gaming headsets. No matter how busy the Logitech’s, we’d probably go for the
comes with a trade-off. The isolation the soundscape, every effect was imbued cheaper option. BENNETT RING
effect means the audio bounces around with detail, whether it was the smoker’s
inside the ear piece, leading to a narrower voice in AC-DC’s Thunderstruck, the reload
sound stage that isn’t quite as crystal mechanism of the P-90 in Battlefield 4,
• Incredible sound VERDICT:
quality, rich with detail
clear as the open air design. When testing or the satisfying whump of an implosion • Excellent microphone Audio Technica has
these two, we definitely preferred the grenade in the Battlefront Beta. delivered a very capable
wider sound of the ADG1X headphones. Voice quality over both was set of headphones, but

8
Other than this, they’re the exceptional, as to be expected • Expensive Logitech’s competing
• Requires sound card
same. Audio Technica’s weird yet considering Audio Technica have been headset offers better
effective head-paddle thingies help making pro mics for over fifty years. So value.

PC PowerPlay 81
TECH / REVIEWS

MONITOR

Acer Predator XR341CK

Curves in all the right places
PRICE $1499
www.acer.com.au

A nyone who tells you that 2015

isn’t the Year of the Monitor needs
displaying more of the area, shooters
too win, while flight sims are less
Curved is not a gimmick,
rocks removed from their head. We friendly as looking up and down is so at least with monitors it’s
not. Unlike a TV, you’re sitting
have 4K, ultrawide, curved, all the important. While it’s true that most
syncs and refresh rates punching people who upgrade to this, or any
well above 100Hz. We know you’re
probably thinking about an upgrade,
screen with a similar res, will likely have
had the same or similar vertical res as
so close that it really is
but to jump in now, or wait as the their last monitor, so nothing gained, enveloping
revolution takes us even further into nothing lost, but the wide 3400 res just
gaming perfection? makes you want a similar increase but in
The Acer Predator XR341CK is height, as well. up hope of ever seeing a single panel
the best of the lot, right now, ticking Curved is not a gimmick, at least that supports both Free- and G-sync,
more boxes than anything else. It’s with monitors it’s not. Unlike a TV, politics being the reason for that, so we
not cheap, but look at what you get... you’re sitting so close that it really is need to make tough choices. I came that
at 34inches, with a resolution of enveloping. This Acer has a fairly gentle close to buying this for myself, it really
3440x1440 in an ultrawide 21:9 aspect curve ratio of 2000R. It works, I loved it. is outstanding, but waiting just a little
ratio, it offers an enormous amount It’s also quite a boon to basic desktop longer is wise if you plan on using a
of visual real estate. The vertical res work as you can have around three full new monitor for several years, as things
of 1440 is especially important; we’ve sized windows open at any time and are changing so fast. For those who
seen several 21:9 screens over this only have to move your eyes a little to can afford to upgrade more frequently,
year with a paltry 1080 vertical res, get a good look rather than having to hell, jump in with this, you won’t be
and that just isn’t enough – whether crane your neck to read. disappointed. BEN MANSILL
for games, or more critically; Windows Acer resurrects its Predator range
desktop use. every few years, and it’s coming on
The ultrawide format is not all good. strong with several products slated for
Some genres win, others suffer. Driving release this year. That’s the quandary.
• Strong in all tech specs VERDICT:
• Decent vertical res
games are especially fantastic as your Today, this XR341CK supports up to • Stand doesn’t tax your
FOV shifts only in the horizontal, and 75Hz refresh, and supports Adaptive- desk space
it’s not hard to trick the brain into sync and FreeSync. About the time you

9
thinking it’s looking out through a read this, a G-Sync X34 model (also • 75Hz is nice, 100Hz If you can afford this
would be better
helmet slit. Strategy games also take Adaptive-sync) with a 100Hz refresh
• No G-Sync
monster, you definitely
good advantage of the wide format, will also be on sale. We’ve almost given won’t be disappointed

82 PC PowerPlay
 REVIEWS / TECH

HEADSET

Plantronics Rig 500

Snap together sounds
PRICE $99.95
plantronics.com.au

W hen Plantronics launched the

RIG brand a few years ago they
hit upon the right mix of prestige
when flipped up so won’t capture
any noise when not needed. It
would be nice to be able to
features and price point. With the remove the mic, but that’s
new Rig 500, Plantronics has once little more than a petty grips.
again hit that sweet spot, albeit in a The most impressive
different manner. The Rig 500 headset feature of the Rig 500 is the
is built for both value and comfort modular design that allows
without compromising excellent stereo users to choose from three
performance. Each of the ear cups different heights for the ear cups,
sports a crisp 40mm driver that delivers which in turn affect the tightness of the
solid sound from bass through treble band and head strap. More aftermarket
with a small amount of accentuation modular options will SMART
BUY
on the lower register and the memory also be available soon. w w w. p cp owe r p l a y. co m . au

foam cushions don’t turn your ears We’re not sure of the
into hideous sweat monsters within specifics as yet but we
• Great modular design VERDICT:
• Light
minutes. The use of cloth rather than assume that the accessories will be • Very Comfortable
vinyl or some kind of plush fabric to based around branded or themed An excellent,
cover the cushions is a definite plus in head bands. The result is an extremely lightweight and

9
our books. The fold up boom mic offers comfortable, very light headset that • Plastic components comfortable headset
• A little bassy
good clarity for skype and game chat, offers excellent stereo performance for that should suit anyone
but more importantly it is set to mute the price. DANIEL WILKS on a budget

MOUSE

Roccat Kova
Left doesn’t mean sinister
PRICE $109.95
www.roccat.org

A mbidextrous mice are a great idea,

but all too often there are so many
compromises in design to make the
mouse usable for either hand that they
become too bare bones for all but the
most basic uses. This isn’t a problem
with the new Roccat Kova, a redesign
of a popular and successful line of mice
available in different forms since 2010
or so. Rather than taking a bare bones hold them down, each button can have
approach to symmetry, Roccat has a second purpose. Under the hood sits
instead created a fully featured mouse a mice 3500 DPI optical sensor that can
with enough buttons for any FPS or be boosted to 7000 DPI via hardware
action game. The mouse features three acceleration.
side buttons on each side in addition to Heaps of buttons mean nothing
the left and right buttons and clickable if a mouse isn’t comfortable, but
scroll wheel. Two of the side buttons sit thankfully the shape of the Kova sits
• Fully ambidextrous VERDICT:
• Comfortable
under the thumb whilst the third sits to very comfortably in most hands. It • Heaps of buttons Comfortable in either
the side of the left and right buttons to takes a little getting used to the button hand and featuring
be used by the fore or middle fingers. placement and use of shift keys, but enough buttons for

8
It’s a fine and easily accessed suite of after a little practise there is a lot of • Slight learning curve most uses, the Kova
buttons but thanks to the rear thumb functionality available at your fingertips. brings functionality to
buttons working as a shift key if you DANIEL WILKS ambidexterity

PC PowerPlay 83
MENAGERIE
TECH / BUILDS

Say hello to Skylake. It’s not a huge leap

up from the last gen, but it is slightly faster
for the same price, so it’s time to install it
where applicable.

BUDGET PERFORMANCE PREMIUM

The perfect entry-level gaming PC Most bells and whistles, without breaking the bank Crank everything to Ultra, including your credit limit
CPU CPU CPU
AMD FX-4300 Quad Core Intel 5th Generation Intel 6th Generation Core
3.8GHz 4 Core Black Edt. Core i5-6600K + i7-6700K + Corsair H110i
$145 www.amd.com Noctua NH-D15 GT Water Cooling Kit
We’re sticking with AMD’s budget beauty. $350 + $115 www.intel.com $469 + $169 www.intel.com
MOBO MOBO MOBO
ASRock 980DE3/ ASUS Z170 Pro Gigabyte Z170X-
U3S3 AM3+ Gaming Gaming 7
$69 www.asrock.com.au $270 www.asus.com.au $369 www.gigabyte.com.au
Our CPU needs a new ASRock home. Our fave affordable Z170 board Skylake boards cost a tad more, tis fact.
RAM RAM RAM
GeIL 8GB Kit DDR3 Evo GeIL 16GB DDR4 G.Skill DDR4-3200
Veloce C9 1600MHz 2400MHz 16GB Dual Channel
$85 www.geil.com.tw $175 www.geil.com.tw Ripjaws $209 www.gskill.com
In with the cheapest we can find Sweet, sweet DDR4. 3200MHz for our Premium PC
VIDEO VIDEO VIDEO
PowerColor R9 380 Galaxy GTX970-4GD5 2 X Gigabyte GeForce
PCS+ 4GB $499 www.galaxytechus.com GTX 980 Ti 6GB
$349 www.sapphiretech.com NVIDIA’s mid-range card is perfect $2040 www.gigabyte.com.au
AMD’s new 960 killer Welcome to the world of Ultra High Detail.
POWER POWER POWER
Cooler Master Corsair VS650 Corsair HX1000i
Thunder 500W $85 www.corsair.com $299 www.corsair.com
$66 www.coolermaster.com This affordable PSU delivers a clean and A high end PSU to ensure stable
The budget beast doesn’t need a lot of juice reliable source of energy. overclocks.
SOUND SOUND SOUND
Sennheiser HD201 Audio Technica Audio Technica
+ ASUS Xonar DG ATH-A500X ATH-ADG1 headphones
$38 + $33 www.sennheiser.com
www.asus.com.au w/ASUS Xonar DG $249 audio-technica.com
Headphones plus soundcard – yes! $159 + $33 www.audio-technica.com We’ve ditched the soundcard
OPTICAL OPTICAL OPTICAL
Lite-on DVD-RW Lite-on DVD-RW Pioneer Optical Disc
$49 www.us.liteonit.com $49 www.us.liteonit.com Drive (ODD) Internal
We’d happily retire the drive, but some of This is the one bit of kit that stays the Blu-ray Combo Drive
you guys still believe in physical media. same between most of our machines. $118 www.pioneer.com.au
STORAGE STORAGE STORAGE
Toshiba DT01ACA050 W.D. Caviar Black 1TB W.D. Caviar Black 1TB +
500GB HDD + Samsung 850 EVO Samsung SSD 850 EVO
$59 www.toshiba.com.au 250GB $109 + $165 500GBGB $109 + $305
Half a Terabyte should handle everything. www.wdc.com / www.samsung.com.au www.wdc.com / www.samsung.com.au

DISPLAY DISPLAY DISPLAY

Samsung 24” BenQ XL2411T ASUS PB287Q 28”
S24D300H $379 www.benq.com.au 4K display
$189 www.samsung.com BenQ’s 24-incher not only looks great, it’ll $739 www.asus.com.au
Crystal clear 1920 x 1080 res gaming also save your eyesight with a 144Hz refresh rate. 4K is now a reality
CASE CASE CASE
BitFenix Shinobi Fractal Design Define R5 NZXT Switch 810 Full
$95 www.bitfenix.com $159 www.fractal-design.com Tower $185 www.nzxt.com
Nice for the price. This is the little brother of Our new favourite mid-tower. It’s big, it’s beautiful, and it’s also nice
the case used in our Performance build. and quiet.
KEYBOARD KEYBOARD KEYBOARD
Tt eSPORTS Challenger Logitech G710+ Corsair K70 RGB
$49 www.thermaltake.com.au $139 www.thermaltake.com.au $235 www.corsair.com
Built for PC gamers. Logi’s new mechanical board is one This is PCPP’s favourite keyboard,
Macros, shortcuts, the lot. for them to beat. case closed.
MOUSE MOUSE MOUSE
Gigabyte M6900 Logitech G502 Logitech G502
$26 www.gigabyte.com.au Proteus Proteus
A sensor resolution of 3200DPI will make $59 www.logitech.com $69 www.logitech.com
your headshots count. Deadly accurate and super comfortable. Deadly accurate and super comfortable.

TOTAL: $1,232 TOTAL: $2,745 TOTAL: $5,564

84 PC PowerPlay
THE
When overkill is barely enough...
CPU HEADPHONES + SOUND CARD
Intel 6th Generation Core i7 6700K Audio Technica ATH-ADG1
+ XSPC RayStorm D5 RX240 V3 headphones
Water Cooling Kit $249
www.audio-technica.com
$469 + $587
www.intel.com
Plug these into the Marantz amp for maximum
www.pccasegear.com.au sound quality.

MOBO STORAGE
MSI Z170A XPower 2 x Samsung SSD 850
Gaming Titanium Edition PRO 2TB, 2 x WD 1TB
$499 www.msi.com Velociraptor
Sexy, silver and super fast. $1000 + $1000
www.wdc.com
www.samsung.com

RAM DISPLAY
G.Skill DDR4-3200 Epson TW9200W
16GB Dual Channel $3800
Ripjaws www.epson.com.au
$209 www.gskill.com Beautiful 1920 x 1080 gaming. Unfortunately you
3200MHz is good for the Beast too. won’t be able to do 3D gaming at anything higher
than 720p due to the limitations of HDMI 1.4.

VIDEO CASE
2 x MSI GTX 980 Ti Cooler Master Cosmos II
Lightning SE Ultra Tower
$2458 www.msi.com $379
The Lightning is faster than a Titan. True. www.coolermaster.com
It’s big, it’s beautiful, and it’s also nice and quiet.
The compartmentalised interior ensures everything runs ice-cool.

POWER INPUT DEVICES

Silverstone SteelSeries Sensei RAW optical +
1500wST1500 Strider Xbox 360 USB Wireless Dongle +
$315 www.silverstone.com Xbox 360 wireless controller
1500W should be plenty for the three GPUs $69 + $40 + $40
running alongside an overclocked CPU, as well www.logitech.com
as the storage within.

KEYBOARD STEERING WHEEL

Corsair K70 RGB Fanatec ClubSport Wheel
$235 base, Formula Carbon and
www.corsair.com CSP v2 Pedals
This is PCPP’s favourite keyboard, case closed. $589 + $239 + $329 www.fanatec.de
There’s nothing better than “Germangineering” to deliver
the most precise force feedback around.

SPEAKERS JOYSTICK
Paradigm Cinema 110 with dual Logitech G940
subwoofers and Paradigm $385
monitor center channel www.logitech.com
+ Marantz SR5009 amp This Force Feedback set is getting
$3299 harder to find, but it’s still the
www.eastwoodhifi.com.au finest flight controller around.

OPTICAL COCKPIT
Pioneer Optical Disc Drive Obutto oZone with Buttkicker
(ODD) Internal Blu-ray gamer 2 and TrackIR 5 Pro
Combo Drive $1100
$118 www.pioneer.com.au You’re going to need somewhere to mount your wheel and
Putting in a Blu-ray drive allows it to joystick, and the Obutto frame is a favourite of ours.
double as a powerful media box.

TOTAL: $17,408

PC PowerPlay 85
TECH / Things

How Things Work

RAM
MAN
ASHLEY MCKINNON doesn’t have spring loaded legs

86 PC PowerPlay
W e’ve all been told that one of the
quickest and easiest ways to
increase your computers performance
which allowed the computer memory
to synchronise which other computer
components. This let processes queue
is to add more RAM (Random Access up while waiting for another process to
Memory). This can be true – especially finish. Pretty advanced for its day but it
these days with resource hungry had a limitation in that the memory could
Operating Systems and ever increasingly only accept one command per cycle. This
complex programs. But what exactly is was called Single Data Rate (SDR) and by
RAM, and how does it work. the end of the 1990’s SDR was becoming
Computer memory has one task – a bottleneck as other PC components
storing information as either a 0 or were getting faster and faster.
a 1 – it really is that simple. Think of Engineers came to the rescue with
you computer memory as a table with Double Data Rate (DDR) which allowed
lots of paper cups on it. These cups for two commands per cycle, basically Interestingly, high end graphics was DDR4 hasn’t
represent the computer memory cells doubling the memories speed capability one of the biggest drivers behind DDR3 quite reached
the doubling of
and can either be empty (0) or full (1). overnight. DDR also brought in lower as more complex and detailed graphics
speed over DDR3
The computer constantly scans all clock rates (between 100 and 200 Mhz) and games started to be developed. that developers
these cups (cells) and can see if they are as well as using lower voltage. At this DDR3 is the pseudo standard these expected
full or empty. The computer can then point – computer memory was able to days if you are looking for computer
interpret all these 0’s and 1’s into data transfer at a rate of 400 MT/s (Mega memory, but early 2014 saw the first
which tells the computer what and how Transfers per Second). In terms of real implementations of DDR4 – which
to do things. world data transfer, this represented a coincided with the release of the Intel
Memory cells however do leak, and speed of up to 3.2GB/s (Gigabytes per Haswell-E processor which required
going off our analogy this would mean second). The largest DDR size available DDR4 to run. Samsung had already
each paper cup has a small hole in the at this time was 1GB. made a prototype of a DDR4 module as
bottom which slowly (in computer As technology started to explode in far back as 2011 but it took some time
terms) leaks. This leaking is kept under the years following 2000, DDR started for the technology to reach market.
control by the computer continuously to become too slow and in 2003 DDR2 DDR4 (with a clock speed between
interrogating the memory cells and was announced. The internal clock 800 and 1600 MHz) has a theoretical
replenishing them when needed – again speed of DDR2 sped up to 200-533MHz maximum module size of 512GB
off our analogy this would be like each while the voltage need decreased. DDR2 and a maximum data transfer rate of
cup having its content poured out then effectively runs at more than twice the 25.6GB/s – though it will take some
poured back in again. Just to be clear – speed of the original DDR clocking in at time (may not happen at all) before we
the memory cells themselves don’t hold rates up to 1066 MT/s. The maximum see anything approaching that size.
any information – just a charge – so storage limit for a DDR2 module was At time of writing the largest DDR4
they can be either empty (no charge) (0) 4GB while the maximum data transfer module available is 128GB, with a data
or full (charged) (1). rate was 6.4GB/s. The drawback transfer rate of up to 17GB/s. This falls
The memory itself is made from with DDR2 as well as all subsequent
silicon wafer, into which the memory
The year 2007 quenched the
DDR technologies is that they aren’t
cells are etched. They are produced in backward or forward compatible –
a grid like formation, lined up in rows
and columns. The intersection of a row
meaning they can’t be mixed. Moving
from DDR to DDR2 meant a system
thirst for even more speed with
and column represents the memory
address – just like a street address.
upgrade. They may look physically
similar but they do run at different clock
the introduction of DDR3
Anyone who’s experienced the dreaded speeds, and if you look very closely
Windows blue screen of death will be you will notice the boards are notched short of the expected doubling in speed
familiar with what a memory address differently meaning they won’t even from the previous DDR technology
looks like. All this takes place at the plug into a different DDR slot. (DDR3). The potential is there, it’s
microscopic level so don’t try breaking The year 2007 quenched the thirst for just not finding the market share the
open one of your old RAM modules to even more speed with the introduction manufacturers were expecting.
try and see this. of DDR3. The internal clock was halved Our need for faster memory seems to
Now that we’ve discussed what make giving 400-1066MHz and again the have hit a bit of a plateau as our focus
makes up the memory modules and how voltage was decreased even further now has shifted more towards mobile
they basically function let’s delve a little to 1.5 volts. And once again, effective technology which utilises smaller,
deeper into how they work, where we’ve speed doubled over the previous DDR cheaper components with lower voltage
come from and where we are going. rate with a maximum throughput of requirements.
In the 1990’s as computers started to 2166MT/s. Real world data transfer rate No plans for DDR5 have been
get faster and more complex we began more than doubled with up to 14.9GB/s. made official yet and probably won’t
to see the use of Synchronous Dynamic With the DDR3 up to 128GB became until DDR4 finds favour and market
Random Access Memory (SDRAM), available as a module size. acceptance.

PC PowerPlay 87
PCPP COMPS
Welcome to the PCPP competitions page! With the office positively
overflowing in PC gaming goodies, it’s become so difficult to do our
ridiculously awesome jobs that we decided to pass the savings onto you.
To find the competitions, simply mouse over the “Community” tab in the
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Head to www.pcpowerplay.com.au to enter!

WIN 10
COPIES TO BE WIN 5
BOX SETS TO BE
WON THANKS TO WON THANKS TO
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Peter Capaldi enchanted the world with his creative Did you love The Hobbit and secretly wish there was more?
swearing in The Thick of It, but he also makes an excellent Well, your wishes have been answered with this boxed set.
and far less sweary Time Lord. Series 9 is showing on TV All of The Hobbit trilogy extended editions bound together
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88 PC PowerPlay
 XBOX PLAYSTATION NINTENDO PC MOBILE
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MA/246
 STATE OF PLAY

The Great Escape

JOSHUA LUNDBERG once ran away from his demons

I t’s safe to say mental health is rapidly

becoming less of a taboo in society. While
this may not be the case for discrimination
from the fact that an exploration of what’s
happening with someone who has the
disorder reveals horrendously disturbing
their way, however, their lives will change
long-term, if not forever, and they’ll be
stronger for it.
in the workplace and alienation socially, it’s information. The thing is, they don’t actually What I have discovered in the past few of
certainly made huge strides in the last five think those things. It’s more akin to picking years is I no longer use videogames as a crutch.
years alone through the bravery of many up on an unwanted radio signal that prevents I’m not sure when the transition happened,
people and the successes of organisations you from hearing things relevant to you. probably over a long period of time, but when
like Beyond Blue. So, taking this into account, it’s easy to discussing the amount of time spent playing
As someone who lives with Obsessive see how videogames can provide an arena videogames a mental health professional asked
Compulsive Disorder, general anxiety and where a person can exercise complete me, “why are you playing them?”
depression, I’ve spent much of my life control. It’s not a coincidence that the It’s a charged question; some people
struggling with the balance of anxiety and two genres I fell in love with instantly, believe videogames can make you depressed,
the goings-on in life, and that’s regularly and almost-exclusively, were First-Person aggressive or anxious – that they’re the
affected my relationship with games. Shooters and Real-Time Strategy games; two cause, not the mechanism for escape. Some
As I’ve mentioned a number of times, I genres with limited chaos and a remarkable people just don’t understand the appeal.
was a bit of a late bloomer on the gaming sense of player agency. Fortunately that wasn’t the case this time.
front; I dabbled in PC games like SkyRoads More common is depression. Most people I took some time to think about my
and Wacky Wheels. I didn’t get absorbed reading this will have, or will at some point, response before saying, “they’ve become an
by games until I was given a PlayStation experience it. It sucks. I doubt I need to go outlet for release, but where I used to play
as a gift in 1999. As I entered adolescence into any explanation, but let’s just cover off them for five, six, ten hours at a time to avoid
and my tendency to avoid confrontation of the fact it isn’t just being ‘bummed out’. other matters, I now play only for as long as
my disorder grew, games became quite the During depressive periods, people will I really want to. I don’t need to play.” Note
crutch; it’s hard to think about life and the often withdraw from socialising and simplify that neither of us interpreted the word ‘need’
world when you’re absorbed in a game. As a here as being related to addiction. That’s a
pastime they were an escape, a continuation
of avoidance. If you’re unfamiliar kettle of fish I’m not willing to tackle.
The change may seem semantic, but
This isn’t to say gaming wasn’t
immediately a liberating, exhilarating
with how OCD works, in terms of how games made me feel
the response was positive. Where once I
hobby. I was passionate about experiencing it’s not the Monk felt guilty for wasting time and avoiding

nonsense
things I would never experience in real life problems, I felt joy, stress release and calm.
through the medium. The issue was it was When dealing with any mental health issue,
through the lens of avoidance and escape – I think it’s important to think about any
a negative escape. their lives to the absolute basics – for any activity and how it impacts on you; work,
If you’re unfamiliar with how OCD works, number of reasons, but often because who you spend time with, how much you
it’s not the Monk nonsense. Yes, people are anything else is simply too much to deal with. drink, what drugs you do - these all impact
tortured by either intermittent or almost- Games are a popular safe haven for people on your state of mind. I’m no angel. Not by
constant compulsions to act out ‘rituals’, suffering depression, in my experience. They’re a long shot. I’ve focused so much on work
but the reasons why are infinitely more reliable, don’t talk back and - if you feel a this year I’ve done virtually no exercise, and
interesting and complex. I can’t speak as need for human connection – you can interact that’s a big no-no on the mental health front.
an authority on the various manifestations anonymously online with people you’ll likely If you do have to manage complications with
of OCD, but I can discuss the exhausting, make no significant connection with. Perfect! your mental health, it’s good to be aware that
confusing and unrelenting assault on the What I’m about to write about isn’t easy. - as I touched on earlier - there’s no consensus
mind that ‘intrusive thoughts’ can be, and It’s an extraordinary challenge, and beyond on how games impact our psychology. It’s my
why videogames make a good mechanism for that it is subjectively insurmountable. opinion this is because everyone is different.
escape from them. Games as a means for avoidance are, in Anything is bad for you without moderation,
It’s best to speak with a qualified my experience and opinion, not healthy. It but when you feel a genuine, intense passion
practitioner when discussing these things, is vitally important that you confront your for videogaming it can be hard to separate
but essentially intrusive thoughts are morbid, mental health issues and work to manage negative escapism from positive relaxation. If
disturbing thoughts that pass through the them – note I say manage, because many you work with a mental health professional to
mind of a person with OCD as though those are lifelong issues and impossible to cure. manage your issues it would undoubtedly be
thoughts are their own. They can range from It’s likely everyone will fail time and time a good topic to bring up. Tell them about your
visions of horrible incidents that ‘will occur’ if again before finding successful management favourite games and how they make you feel
the inflicted person does not, say, flick a light techniques for their mental health. You can’t and be honest about why you play them - you
switch eight times, to thoughts that if they hold judge the process of others from the outside, never know, it could contribute positively
their nephew they’ll throw them off a balcony. because it almost certainly appears irrational to you mental health and improve your
The taboo with OCD in particular comes or counter-productive. When people find relationship with gaming.

92 PC PowerPlay
These images are from Actual
Sunlight and Sym, two games
that deal with depression and
social anxiety, respectively.
Both are available on Steam.

PC PowerPlay 93
94 PC PowerPlay
 EXTENDED MEMORY

Gears of Phwoar
NATHAN DAVIES is a brother in arms

G earbox is one of the most well

recognized game developers mainly
known for specializing in shooters. There
Brothers in Arms Borderlands

are not many who don’t hear this name and

automatically associate it with series like
Borderlands and the upcoming Battleborn.
It wasn’t always this way, as Gearbox used
to be known for making more realistic
games. So how did Gearbox get from where Duke Nukem Forever Aliens: Colonial
it was to where it is now? Marines

Gearbox was first founded in 1999 by five

former members of the now defunct studio,
Rebel Boat Rocket. The company got its start
by developing expansions for Valve studios
Half-Life, and worked on every expansion
and port in the Half-Life series, before Half-
Life 2. They also worked on the Counter
Strike series, and then proceeded to branch
out to work with other game companies After the disastrous release of Colonial
Marines, Gearbox released Borderlands: the
porting their console games to PC.
After 5-years of working on other
company’s properties, Gearbox released
their first original game. Brothers in
Pre-Sequel
Arms, released in 2005, garnered high
sales and critical acclaim, as people Some of the content is from 2006. That’s the game and also led to a number of
fell in love with the World War 2 FPS. judged harshly I guess.” employees at Gearbox losing their jobs.
After the success of the first game, the Following the release of Duke Nukem The game was finally released in an
company proceeded to continue the series Forever, Gearbox released a game that unfinished and hugely disappointing state,
launching numerous sequels. was far less disappointing for gamers. perhaps due to the lack of resources given
With Brothers in Arms and its sequels Borderlands 2 hit shelves in 2012 and was to the project, the relative inexperience
gaining success, Gearbox decided to considered better than the first, providing of the third party developer some of the
work on another game. Released in 2009 people with even more of what made work was outsourced to, the firm release
Gearbox created Borderlands game series the original game popular, with even deadline or even the meddling by SEGA.
loved far and wide for its humour, cell more humour and violence as well as the Whatever the case, the result was a class
shaded art design, and outstanding FPS addition of more extensive skill trees and action lawsuit that was filed against both
gameplay. This game was a massive success a wide range of weapon customization. Gearbox and Sega in 2013, under the
with many gamers falling in love with Finally Borderlands 2 introduced gamers accusation that they falsely advertised
every aspect of Borderlands, from the to one of the most popular villains of all Aliens: Colonial Marines, by showing
world of Pandora to the insane characters. time, Handsome Jack. Despite the massive demos at trade shows that did not represent
Borderlands and its expansions all saw success of Borderlands 2, Gearbox’s the final product.
massive success in the game market. reputation would soon become extremely After the disastrous release of Colonial
The following year saw some major damaged and mired in controversy. Marines, Gearbox released Borderlands:
disappointment at Gearbox. In 2010 In 2008 Gearbox announced a the Pre-Sequel. The game was developed by
Gearbox announced that they had partnership with Sega to create 2K Australia and went on to gain the same
acquired the rights to the Duke Nukem Aliens: Colonial Marines and release success as the previous two instalments
franchise and were working with 3D the game in 2013, this partnership of the franchise. Gearbox also teamed up
Realms to finish Duke Nukem Forever. The however would become the centre of with Telltale games to produce a series
game released to harsh criticism due to the much controversy. In February 2013 an of narrative adventure games similar to
rushed and unfinished state of the game. anonymous source informed video game The Walking Dead, called Tales of the
Randy Pitchford CEO of Gearbox has website, Destuctoid, that Gearbox had Borderlands. These games have gone on
actually defended the game in the past. been taking people and resources from the gain critical acclaim of their own,
In an interview with Eurogamer he stated the Aliens game, and putting them to strengthening the Borderlands franchise.
“With Duke there were a lot of things. work on other titles while collecting Now on the verge of the release of their
There were 15 years of expectation. So the full payment from Sega for working on newest game Battleborn, it seems that the
expectation gap was impossible. The game the project. This then led to Sega to company is promising more of what made
had been in development for 15 years. temporarily seize the development of the Borderlands series so popular.

PC PowerPlay 95
 THE LAST WORD

Story Time
DANIEL WILKS has reserved the best seat by the fire

A t PAX this year I hosted a panel titled,

“Tell Me a Story and I’ll Love You
Forever”. It was a flowery title, to be sure,
to share their stories with people they had
never met. Anecdotes are usually things you
share with friends, but in the atmosphere of
but it really does reflect how I feel about PAX and the camaraderie that goes with it,
stories. I am a collector of many things – the usual inhibitions went by the wayside
books, comics, movies, minerals, puppets, and people were all too willing to stand up
recipes… the list goes on – but if there’s and tell sometimes rambling tales of their
one thing that unifies most of my collecting adventures in games, trusting that not only
it is stories. I inhale plots, character arcs would everyone in attendance find them
and developments. Hearing a new story amusing but that they would be accepting
excites me in a way few other things do. I’m of these personal stories. It was a wonderful
a junkie and stories are my drug of choice. thing to witness.
The idea behind the panel was to look at Telling stories in public is something that
the way stories emerge from games rather is fraught with anxiety. They make you the
than how stories are told in games. To centre of attention and subject your words
be wanky and technical, I wanted to talk and manner of speaking to criticism. I’m
about emergent storytelling in videogames.
people came
used to my words being open to criticism.
I broke the ways these stories are told into When you’ve worked in the media for any
four relatively loose categories – the stories
people bring to games, the stories people together to celebrate length of time you get used to the scrutiny,
but even so the nerves never truly go away.
create in games, the stories people create
using games and the stories people bring
their hobby and seemed It’s telling of how strong, and ultimately
cohesive the gaming community is that the
from games. With me on the panel were more than willing to PAX experience not only encourages but
Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, Quest Writer
for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and support anyone else in embraces this idea of sharing stories. Even
the least of stories was met with laughter
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, YouTuber and
streamer ZiggyD, Dan Hindes, former PCPP
attendance and applause, the audience willing to
overlook flaws in style or substance that
editor and current developer of Wildfire would be picked apart any other time.
and James O’Connor, freelancer and creating buzz for the game with a series Over the last few years there has been
Master’s candidate who wrote his thesis on of short slapstick vignettes. ZiggyD talked something of a divide in the gaming
emergent storytelling in games. about setting personal challenges in games community. You know the divide I’m
By my definition, stories people bring so he could use the game mechanics to tell talking about. This divide, however,
to games are things like deep character a story and keep his audience entertained. only really seems to be online. At last
creation – creating detailed histories James added an academic viewpoint to the year’s PAX there was only one disruptive,
and personalities for characters so you proceedings. I had a great time, and the antagonistic question asked at any panel
essentially tell you character’s story in a audience seemed to enjoy it as well. That’s I was in or attended. This year I didn’t see
game. That was my bag. Stories people always a plus. or even hear about any at all. It seems to
create in games are twofold. Mateusz Although not exactly balanced in terms me as though, when you get a big group
talked about watching YouTube videos of gender, the panel was definitely balanced of gamers together in one place they
of people taking totally unexpected, in terms of viewpoint and it definitely instinctively seek out their similarities
unscripted approaches to solving quests he engendered some interesting discussion, but and share their common loves rather than
had designed and ZiggyD talked about how what was most interesting to me was what define what sets them apart. Whether
he creates stories in his streams to keep the happened when we threw to the audience this is due to the inherent anonymity
audience entertained, effectively adding in the last 15 minutes of the panel. Before of the online space, the human instinct
to the mythology of the game he is playing we began the panel proper, I charged the to form like-minded tribes or just the
at the time. Both ZiggyD and Dan Hindes audience with a bit of homework. I asked general happy vibe of PAX I’ll leave to the
talked about making stories with games. them to have a think about their favourite sociologists. Whatever the case, people
Before going into game development, Dan gaming anecdotes to share after we’d came together to celebrate their hobby
created a series of YouTube videos detailing finished pontificating on the panel. My and seemed more than willing to support
the many and varied ways he could use reasons for asking were two fold; the end anyone else in attendance. For someone
game mechanics to kill specific characters of the panel was a discussion of the stories who often gets accused of being rather
from Deus Ex and Dishonored, and now people brought from games - anecdotes are jaded, this is something guaranteed to put
that he’s creating a game he’s releasing the most common form of these stories – a smile on my face.
short Vines or GIFs showing emergent and I thought it would be entertaining. ZiggyD filmed the panel, so we should
gameplay coming from the new mechanics It was entertaining, but what I didn’t have a link to it on pcpowerplay.com.au if
he’s coded into Wildfire, essentially expect was how many people were so eager you’re keen to have a watch.

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