PC Gamer - November 2011

REVIEWS

You wouldn’t think giant sentient squids would be a match for tanks, would you?

Our scoring system explained

0-30% Intolerable A crime against gaming. Whether it’s bugs or bad design, this should be shot on sight.

31-45% Weak Serious flaws ruin any chance this game has of offering sustained fun.

Human frigates and cruisers perpare to blast an alien airship into dust.

At wide zoom levels, most units are fairly indistinguishable.

46-60% Mediocre A very ordinary game, quickly forgotten. Think twice, even if you find it cheap.

TIMELY INTERVENTION

61-75% Fair A decent effort that, but for a little more polish, coulda been a contender.

76-89% Good Enjoyable, well-made and entertaining—just falling short of true greatness.

Do battle across the past in the mind-twisting but
unpolished RTS ACHRON by Rob Zacny

90%+ Editor’s Choice A glowing example within its genre of excellence in design and execution.

Achron doesn’t seem like it should work. RTS games are about choice and consequence, and Achron’s time-traveling gameplay seems to undercut that. But just a few minutes into my first multiplayer match, Achron convinced me that not only does it work, it also handles consequences better than any other RTS.

From the moment a game begins, players can jump back along the timeline to the most recent moments of the match. They can issue new orders, thereby altering the course of events. The present continues advancing in real-time as players skip around the timeline, and the changes they make don’t happen instantaneously. Instead, “timewaves” sweep over the timeline at regular intervals, carrying changes with them.

In a one-on-one match with one of Achron’s
designers, my opponent teleported air units
into the back of my base and started
wreaking havoc. His attack shattered my
base and opened the door for ground troops
to storm in and deliver the killing blow. That
fight was clearly lost, so I jumped two min-
utes into the past, built anti-air units, and set
their rally point where he attacked.

X Price $30 X Release Out now X Publisher Hazardous Software X Developer Hazardous Software
X Link http://www.achrongame.com X ESRB NR
Whereverpossible, wefinisheverygamebefore finalizing thereview. Wereview eachgameonits ownmeritsandmatchit toareviewer who’sa passionateexpertinthefield. Theprimaryaimof thereviewssectionistohelp youmakebuying decisions. Assuch, we’llreview contentofall typesinadditiontothelatest big-namereleases. How we review

A game scoring 80% or more
is eligible to receive the PC
Gamer Editor’s Choice award.
The Editor’s personal seal of
approval means we think the
recipient is a truly great example of its genre.