The best strategy games, roguelikes, city-builders, RPGs, and more
PC gamers have got a pretty great thing going. Interesting, experimental indie games? Yup. Complex strategy simulations? Totally. The shiniest, prettiest versions of big-budget console games? They get a lot of those, too. Let’s say you’ve recently joined the ranks of the PC elite. Which games should you install? Start with the ones in this post.
Total War: Warhammer II
The first Total War: Warhammer was very good. The sequel is even better, with so many improvements it feels like an all-new game. The map is one of the best in Total War franchise history, encouraging a variety of approaches using Warhammer II’s more interesting, non-humanoid races. It’s less about the tried-and-true Total War steamroller approach of conquering as much of the map as possible, and more about performing smart, surgical strikes to proceed. Total War: Warhammer II is a thinking person’s RTS, and an unexpectedly grand introduction to the Warhammer universe.
A Good Match For: Total War fans and Warhammer fans, but also people who aren’t into Warhammer yet but think they could be.
Not A Good Match For: Those who’ve tried Total War games in the past and just can’t get into them.
Read our review.
Purchase From: Steam
Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium has been lauded by many as the best-written video game of all time, and they might be right. It is 20-plus hours of totally immaculate prose, filled with the brilliance and tragedy of a broken city in bloom. As an RPG, it also has possibly the best use of a stat system ever developed, turning each skill into a fully developed character with a distinctive voice. Couple this with a legitimately engaging murder mystery—which navigates the local politics of a small, bombed-out, seaside district of the former capital of the world—and you have one of the greatest games of all time. Disco Elysium is a must-play for anyone with even a passing interest in PC role-playing games.
A Good Match For: Anyone who appreciates great writing and complex, unforgettable characters, plus has a hunger for intrigue and mystery.
Not A Good Match For: Those who need combat mechanics in their RPGs.
Read our review, and our more recent critical breakdown.
Purchase From: Steam | Epic Games Store
Hitman 3
Hitman 3 is the capstone to IO Interactive’s “World of Assassination” trilogy of Hitman games. Structurally, Hitman 3 is much the same as its two predecessors. As the genetically engineered Agent 47, you jet off to sumptuous locations with the intention of locating and assassinating high-profile targets—and then you do so in the most creative means possible. Hitman 3 adds some of the trilogy’s best levels to date. One sees you infiltrate a manor in the British countryside, disguised as a detective on-site to solve a murder mystery. Another flips the script, sets you loose in a Berlin nightclub, and sends rival assassins
after you. Making a great game even better, any levels you own from prior Hitman games can be imported into the Hitman 3 launcher, so you can play them all on the same engine and with the same updated visual flourishes and UI enhancements. It’s a minor touch, but an easy way to make some of the great stages from previous games (Sapienza! Miami!) feel totally new. Also: train fight!
A Good Match For: Fans of stealth games, puzzle games, and James Bond flicks.
Not A Good Match For: Players hoping for an action-packed third-person shooter.
Read our review.
Purchase From: Epic Games Store