PC Gamer (US Edition) PC Gamer US 393

Published 21st January

This month PC Gamer delivers world-exclusive access to Sid Meier's Civilization 7, the ambitious new game in the legendary 4X strategy series. To deliver our readers the definitive insider scoop, PC Gamer travels to Firaxis Games' headquarters to play Civilization 7 for over eight hours, as well as speak directly to its key developers. The result is a feature that covers everything you need to know about the game, including its new leaders, unit mechanics and upgraded game structure. Naturally, we also deliver our hands-on impression on just how much these changes lead to an even more gripping 4X experience. A must-read for strategy fans.

This issue also features a truly fantastic secondary feature, with PC Gamer speaking directly to the founder of Crytek and the creator of both Far Cry and Crysis, Cevat Yerli. Following our making of Far Cry feature earlier this year, here we focus on Yerli's most famous creation, the rig-punishing FPS of legend, Crysis. In this feature we get authoritative commentary from Yerli about not just making the game but also how he was bowled over by PC Gamer US's famous score of 98%. Crysis stands today as one of PC gaming's most famous games, encapsulating the format's desire to push graphical and immersion boundaries, and right here we celebrate that with a world-exclusive deepdive.

Then, in terms of previews, this issue sees us drop another world exclusive, with PC Gamer going hands-on with the exciting new Elden Ring game, Nightreign. For this, PC Gamer flies to Tokyo, Japan, plays the game for over six hours, and speaks to Nightreign's director, Junya Ishizaki, about this intriguing spin-off. Plus, this issue sees hands-on previews of Sniper Elite Resistance, Avowed, Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age, Tomb Raider IV-VI Remasted, Finnish Cottage Simulator, Scramble: Battle of Britain, and Skygard Arena.

Meanwhile, over in reviews land, the PC Gamer scoring machine has rated a host of big-name games this issue, including Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Slitterhead, Xenotilt: Hostile Pinball Action, and Sonic X Shadow Generations, among other games.

All that plus a group test of six top new gaming CPUs, a reinstall of classic World War II FPS, Call of Duty 2, the explosive conclusion to our Alpha Protocol diary following the misadventures of intern Mickey T, a look at the very impressive total conversion mod, Half-Life 2: Swelter, a love letter to Satisfactory's joyous factory cart vehicle, a detailed guide to battling wicked elven gods like a pro in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, an interview with Japanese indie studio of the moment, DDDistortion, the latest dispatch from The Spy, a new case to be cracked for the PCG Investigator, Dick Ray-Tracing, and much more too. Enjoy the issue!