Ed Smith

1 week ago | pcgamesn.com | Ed Smith

Whether it's Insurgency or Call of Duty, Counter-Strike 2 or Rainbow Six Siege, I often have the same problem with every online FPS game. It varies depending on the lobby and the player base, and there are some games that mitigate it more than others, but generally, it's like everybody is out for themselves. These are meant to be multiplayer games – team deathmatches – but every individual is operating in isolation, and we're all working for our own kill-death ratio and XP gains.

1 week ago | pcgamesn.com | Ed Smith

Age of Empires 2 has a new expansion, Tempest Rising is the effective return of classic Command and Conquer, and we've recently gotten Commandos Origins. I don't mean to get overexcited, but it's starting to feel like old-school RTS games are back. What's next? A sequel to Total Annihilation? A remake of War Wind? Z 3? One can dream. But in the meantime, another iconic medieval strategy series is making a bold return.

1 week ago | pcgamesn.com | Ed Smith

Even after 12 years of Project Zomboid, we don't know very much at all about the world beyond Knox Country. Pay close attention to the radio and TV broadcasts, and it sounds like the undead plague has spread across the entire planet. But with all communications off air before mid July, and then the inevitable power cuts, it's impossible to truly understand just how screwed the final, spiked-bat-wielding survivors truly are.

1 week ago | pcgamesn.com | Ed Smith

Tweaked, balanced, and perpetually adjusted, Counter-Strike 2 feels as much like an instrument, or a piece of fine glassware, than it does an FPS game. If Valve alters one little value over here, it tips the scale and upsets the tuning all the way over there. But there was a time when Counter-Strike was rougher, readier, and more reckless, when you could pick a gun and sprint into battle without having to compare damage values per second, or pay close attention to the minutiae of level geometry.

1 week ago | pcgamesn.com | Ed Smith

Scavenging for food and water. Crafting tools and improvised shelters to protect you from the elements. Fighting tooth and nail against wild animals. Fundamentally, The Long Dark has a lot in common with its survival game contemporaries, the same foundational mechanics as Rust, Sons of the Forest, and Project Zomboid. But what makes Hinterland's opus stand out is its gorgeous, natural world.