PC Gaming – When Worlds Collide.
Are you a PC gamer at heart? Games have been transforming and evolving the way we think and feel about our leisure time in ever-evolving ways for decades, and the PC space has been no exception. Whether you’re a fan of nonstop action, questing through sprawling RPG epics, or diving into intense scenarios of narrative and exploration, PC gaming has emerged as a medium for all kinds of experiences.
At the heart of gaming on PC is the idea of diverse and creative worlds. From the moment you boot up a game, you’re presented with the opportunity to explore an entirely new reality. Video games can bridge the gap between reality and fantasy, while simultaneously providing an unparalleled journey with no limits to what you can explore and experience.
Over the years, various game genres have been pulled into the ever-growing PC gaming community, each offering its own unique experience. From classic strategy games to first-person shooters and everything in between, these various gaming genres provide gamers with a diverse array of stories, characters, and worlds to unravel and explore.
Today, we’ll take a look at how PC gaming has transformed the world of gaming, and highlight a few of the genres that have made their mark on the gaming community.
RPGs – Role-Playing Heaven
If you’re a fan of turning the tables, taking on the role of a protagonist, and exploring a whole new world, then you’ll want to keep your sights fixed on the RPG genre. These role-playing games offer a chance to enter a new world of adventure, and the flexible settings of these games allow you to customize your character’s development, build relationships with other characters, and explore an in-depth fantasy realm.
The RPG genre places you at the center of a story, developing a character, and taking on whatever challenges the game throws at you. This earth-shattering experience is unique to role-playing games and part of the beauty of experiencing PC gaming.
The PC gaming space is a place ripe with classic RPGs like Baldur’s Gate, Diablo II, and Fallout, alongside homegrown indie titles such as The Witcher series and Divinity: Original Sin. PC gaming offers a refuge for RPG fans, plunging them into the depths of fantasy and exploring their creative freedoms within the RPG genre. And for those looking for something a little sneakier, RPG titles like Dark Souls, Path of Exile, and Dota 2 offer a chance to exercise your survival skills and master the art of strategy.
Shooters – Entering The Battlefield
When it comes to exploration, nothing comes close to the intensity of the shooter genre. Different game settings include everything from post-apocalyptic wastelands to battlefields and even deep-space colonies, but the basics are the same – you explore, navigate, conquer, and survive.
These titles thrive on their cutting-edge graphics and easily controllable characters. It’s easy to get into the action in these games, enabling gamers to jump straight into a heated battle. The genre’s explosive potential has seen an influx of mega-titles like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Counter Strike, and Unreal Tournament that have formed FPS communities across the world.
Where the FPS genre’s sense of exploration and intense action have never changed, PC gaming has done an exceptional job of bringing additional subtlety to shooters. Whether it’s giving you access to tactical intelligence, improved targeting systems, or the ability to customize your loadout, getting the edge in shooters has become an art form on PC.
Real-time Strategy Games – Flexing Your Strategic Muscles
Going up against computer-controlled AI or hopping into multiplayer battles, real-time strategy titles such as Warcraft III, Star Craft II, and Age of Empires will push your strategic skills to their limits.
In real-time strategy games, you control an army of troops, exploring the map to expand your resources. With a focus on exploration, resource management, and building an unstoppable battalion of warriors, real-time strategy games take traditional gaming elements and elevate them to a much larger scale.
PC gaming is home to the biggest selection of RTS games, allowing players unprecedented control to tweak different parameters. Everything from adjusting the speed of the game, to tinkering with the camera and zoom levels, PC gamers can turn their real-time strategy games into their own customized battlefields.
The Exploration of Adventure Games
Adventure games have been around for many years, and as a genre, explore heavy themes, stories, and missions that gamers never expected. Many games take you deep down a hole of exploration, whether it’s uncovering the mysteries of a haunted house, battling forces of evil in a ruined kingdom, or traversing a criminal underworld – adventure games are daring, bold, and fearless.
When it comes to exploring these bold new worlds, the PC gaming space has once again risen to the challenge. Games like TellTale’s The Walking Dead, Gone Home, and even Myst will transport you to a reality where interactions with others are essential, puzzle-solving is on point, and exploration takes center stage. Each game offers a unique adventure experience, whether players are setting off on an exotic quest or uncovering the secrets of a strange and mysterious world.
MMOs – Join The Online Revolution
Massively Multiplayer Online games, sometimes referred to as MMORPGs, are a subset of the RPG genre, but with a particular focus on networked play and online communities. Unlike your typical single-player RPG, MMORPGs come with huge expanses of land to explore, NPCs to talk to, and even thousands of other players to team up with or challenge.
When it comes to joining these massive online worlds, PC gaming is unparalleled in its offerings. Games like The Elder Scrolls Online, Black Desert Online, and Lineage II offer expansive worlds to explore, collect resources, earn money, and create massive homes for your characters. Or join fantasy battles in games like Final Fantasy XIV and World of Warcraft, where players join and battle in huge worlds with each other.
PC gaming is the ideal platform for these overtly immersive titles and it’s easy to see why gamers return to them tirelessly. The relationships, stories, and legends that you build while playing are part of the MMORPG experience, and with the capabilities of PC gaming, building these mythic stories has only grown easier and more immersive.
Indie Games – Under The Radar Brilliance
The indie community has long been a firm supporter of PC gaming. Indie developers create games quickly and focus on clever storytelling and immersive experiences, providing a platform for players to experience creative and new worlds and narratives.
The indie community stands out when it comes to exploring new ground – the titles can be unpredictable, challenging, and sometimes weird. Games like The Stanley Parable, The Binding of Isaac, and Hotline Miami are incredibly innovative, while games like Football Manager, Kerbal Space Program, and The Escapists offer more traditional gaming experiences. But with indie games, that traditional experience often comes with a unique twist.
Whatever genre you’re looking to explore, the world of PC gaming has something for every taste. Whether you’re looking to escape with an epic RPG, join up with friends in a huge MMO, or get creative with an indie experience, PC gaming offers worlds of opportunity and the possibilities for us to explore them at our own pace and on our own terms. Whatever kind of journey you’re looking for, PC gaming is the perfect place to get lost in, and to discover something new.