#The best games of 2016 Pc#

Its story is dead stupid (as if anyone played Doom for the story) and its arenas grow stale a bit too early-I feel like the game runs out of surprises about two-thirds of the way through. It’s not perfect, as Hayden says (what’s up with those slowdowns during alien turns?) but this gem is a beauty despite its minor flaws. You constantly feel harassed, oppressed, and on the brink of disaster in XCOM 2-but XCOM’s legendary RNG-centric gameplay and customization options help the game shine rather than suck. You thought XCOM: Enemy Unknown was tough? Ha. Your base is a mobile command center that flies around the globe, hunted by UFOs as you bolster resistance efforts those timed missions instill a fast “strike-and-move” feeling a new concealment system helps you get the drop on patrolling forces and now-destructible environments help you literally drop turrets and Sectoids off of roofs and out of cover.Īll the while, monthly “Dark Events” give the alien overlords bonuses that can’t be avoided and must be planned around. While you commanded a multi-national force in XCOM: Enemy Unknown, in XCOM 2 you’re in charge of a rag-tag force that leans heavily on guerilla tactics.

And unlike Hayden, I adore the abundance of timer-based missions, as they’re just one of many new gameplay additions that reinforce the fact that in XCOM 2, you’re fighting back after the aliens already won. I’d guess diehard park sim fans may dislike the easy-peasy management aspects, but not me that easy money lets you focus on crafting creative parks rather than spending hours optimizing traffic logistics.Ī big reason I can keep going back to the well is XCOM 2’s procedural level generation, a first for the series.

#The best games of 2016 Pc#

Oh, and the coaster construction tools are decent too-you know, once you’ve finished building that perfect bathroom.īrad : I’d tell you what I love about Planet Coaster, but within five minutes of booting the game, my family hijacked my PC and have played it for dozens of hours since then-and my wife never plays games. If you’re looking to build the theme park of your dreams, strap in. Hayden: I lost something like 20 hours of my life to Planet Coaster in a single weekend-placing rides and building coasters, sure, but also doing weird stuff like “Constructing the perfect Spanish Colonial-themed bathroom.” With extensive scenery and building construction tools, Planet Coaster is the Sims-crossed-with- RollerCoaster– Tycoon I never knew I needed until I had it the range of custom items on the Steam Workshop says everything you need to know about its appeal. It’s just nine entries tied at second place, each with some arbitrary designation like “Best multiplayer ” that’s followed by “Game of the Year,” and some honorable mentions. So without further ado, let’s talk about some of the standouts, with PCWorld’s games reviewer Hayden Dingman and games editor Brad Chacos chiming in.Īnd again, before you start a fight: These are in no particular order. Yes, 2016 was a weird year, and maybe not the best in recent memory, but one that also gave rise to some games we could be talking about for years to come. We’ve seen some surprise hits ( Doom, mostly) and also quite a few buggy, high-profile flops- Mafia III, No Man’s Sky, and Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst are three that come to mind. Our first review of 2016 was Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak our last was Batman: The Telltale Series. One will be crowned our “Game of the Year” and the remaining nine are all “First Runners Up” or “Second Place” or whatever you prefer. 2016 is over, and it’s time for us to take a long look back-all the way back to January, through 12 months of games.