The PC Gamer Weekender has appeared once more and was something of a surprise success. The marketing for the event was ever present and something Insanity Radio 103.2FM assisted with. However, the event’s success was due in part to the large amount of games on show, as well how well it was run with different talks and discussions occurring at regular intervals. The organisation of the event was done in way where you could weave in and out of different areas with ease, allowing you to know where certain places were and how to get to them.
There were several virtual headset demos on display. I had the chance to try out the ‘Killing Floor: Incursion’ which is a game taking place in the Killing Floor universe and is a side story of sorts. However, they used the Oculus in way that allowed you feel like you were recreating scenes straight out of Old Boy, with my overuse of knives in dealing with the Zed (zombie but not really zombie) threat. The other VR game I had a go with was ‘Raw Data’ which has a more futuristic, Sci-Fi approach in which you play as certain classes. The two options on show were either dual welding guns or having a Light Saber Katana (I went with the katana class) and I was having a lot of fun running around slicing evil robots in half until I accidently unplugged the headset after it got caught around my legs.
Sega came out in force having ‘Dawn of War III’ on show and it was awesome to finally have a proper chance to play, as well as a quest battle for the new ‘Kingdom of Bretonnia’ faction which is being released as free content. I also had a go with ‘Endless Space 2’ which is an amazingly beautiful game but one which is also extremely complex and definitely something to keep an eye out for.
In terms of the smaller games, ‘Expeditions: Viking’ is a turn-based strategy game that adds elements of long term planning with role-playing games and the importance of choice. When I spoke to the developer, he mentioned that how you play will significantly affect the game, something clearly shown with the two main routes the demo gave and the various sub-routes. Another example would be ‘Tokyo 42’, which is beautiful smaller game done in the Unity engine. The art design is simply breathtaking with this weird anime style. Along with Expeditions Viking, I will be looking into and looking forward to their eventual release.
The last thing I should mention would be the awesome tournaments on show. I took part in tournaments for games ‘For Honor’ and ‘Overwatch’. I would lose rather quickly in For Honor with its 1 v 1 fighting style (and I played more for fun). With the Overwatch tournament, my co-host and I were able to win the team based tournament with ease and were awarded the collector’s edition of the game!
The only major downside to the event was that many of the stalls were very similar and there could have been more choice. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that I did try pretty much every game on show non-stop. This is also only the second time this event has been run so it is an issue that will likely be fixed in time.
I would highly recommend having a go at attending the event next year as it is an amazing opportunity to have a look at all the new games coming out in the following year, as well as a chance to get nice little goodies here and there.