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September PC Review Round-up

Okay, the big huge game for September was that thing on the Xbox where you kill monsters using your chainsaw gun.  But, while everyone was playing Cogs of Gear on their console, a lot of PC exclusives quietly came out in the last month.  Let’s take a look back at some of the titles you might have missed.

 

Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad
Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad is probably one of the most brutal multiplayer first person shooters you will play for a while. Death comes quickly, and more often than not, from a rifle dozens of meters away. The game modes are standard shooter fare, but the authenticity and gameplay are what make Red Orchestra 2 unique. Featuring a full cover system, suppression mechanic, and realistic weapon modeling, the combat makes every kill a satisfying victory, and every death a reminder to improve. It's buggy, difficult, and steep with the learning curve, but Red Orchestra 2 is one of the best multiplayer shooters this year.  Read the full review.

Hector: Badge of Carnage Episode 3
The Hector Trilogy ends on quite a strong note. Without spoiling too much, everything in the main plot is resolved and throughout the episode there are numerous throwbacks to characters or things from the previous episodes. While the ending of Hector: Badge of Carnage is conclusive, it doesn’t lean too far away from a second series   The biggest thing that separates Beyond Reasonable Doom from its predecessors is the structure. Rather than have players face a huge overarching puzzle made up of different plot threads, Beyond Reasonable Doom has players rapidly play through numerous smaller puzzles. With each puzzle you complete, you can visually see that you are getting closer to stopping The Terrorist.  Read the full review.

The Pirates of Black Cove
Any pirate game would be nothing without excellent naval combat and in this department, Pirates of the Black Cove delivers in spades. The ship-to-ship combat system is very easy to learn and dive into. While there are certainly some nuances to the naval combat system, it's unfortunate that it doesn’t have more depth of meta-strategy in it. That said, the difficulty curve can be a bit odd at times. Some battles can be resolved in seconds while others can take an absurd amount of time to win. One of the keys to winning both the naval and land battles in Pirates of the Black Cove is to manage your health as well as that of your crew. I found the fact that you do this by drinking rum to be a nice touch.  Read the full review.

Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine
I picked up Space Marine with pretty high expectations after playing the demo and it definitely met them for me. Space Marine allows you to take on the power and majesty of The Emperor's Space Marines and perfectly captures the look and feel of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The melee combat felt visceral and the guns in the game worked exactly as they should. It's not perfect, but the blend of excellent presentation and gameplay definitely won me over.  Read our review of the Xbox version of the game.



Which of these was your favorite of the month?  Sound off in the comments below. 

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