This is a good weekend for free games. We already told you that Borderlands 2, the Gearbox "looter-shooter," is free on Valve's Steam platform, but you'd rather sneak and assassinate instead, you're in luck. Dishonored is also free to play all weekend long.

Well, most of it. From now until 1pm Pacific, you can download Dishonored on Steam and play to your steampunk heart's content. And you should, because Arkane's magnum opus is one of our favorite games. Our review praised the level of detail in the world, and the multiple ways you can solve challenges unlike a lot of stealth-based games, you can kill your way through if you're feeling bloodthirsty.

If you really put yourself to it, you can finish Dishonored over its free weekend. But you'll enjoy it more if you take your time. Thankfully, Steam has the game on a 75 percent discount, so it'll only cost you $5 / 2.5 to purchase and play whenever you want. Or you can buy the Game of the Year version, which includes The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore WItches DLC packs, for just $10.19 / 6.79. Cheap is almost as good as free.

Skywind feels like such a fragile prospect. It's an ambitious idea: recreating Morrowind in Skyrim's newer engine. As with all formidable total conversions, it's hard to shake the fear that it will ultimately never happen.

Maybe this 13 minute stream VOD can help quell that fear. In it, we get to see thirteen minutes of a character just wandering about the world. It makes the whole thing feel more tangible; more real.



Unfortunately the quality isn't super-crisp, this being a version of the Twitch stream. If you want a more elegant look at the mod, you'll find plenty of trailers on its official YouTube channel.

Medievil was one of the highlights of the Playstation era for me: a Tim Burton/Danny Elfmanesque comedy romp through a medieval...sorry, a medievil fantasy world. It's one of those games I'd rather preserve the memory of rather than attempt to play again, but I'm thrilled to see it reborn, after a fashion, in Skyrim. Modder KorinOo is remaking the first four levels in the Construction Set, along with its undead hero Sir Daniel Fortescue and the various skellies and pumpkins he encounters along the way.



KorinOo elaborates that their intention is "NOT make it a 1 to 1 conversion of the original game in to Skyrim engine. I want to make all the levels/areas recognizable and close to original, but at the same time i want to update some archaic mechanics (combat, interactions, etc.) to modern standards. The main goal is to have this creepy graveyard feeling and then add some specific details to make it more Tim Burton style."

Only the first four, particularly graveyardy levels are going to be recreated in the mod, but I'd love to see a sequel one day that tackles the game's field and town areas, my favourite sections I can remember from the game. While it's a shame that Medieval's whimsical art style and bandy-legged Fortescue running animation don't seem to be represented in the mod, I'd say the trailer (above) does a pretty good job at capturing its atmosphere. Hopefully there'll be a suitable soundtrack to accompany it: Jeremy Soule's soaring Skyrim music would feel a little out of place here.

Here's a trailer for the original game:



Ta, Reddit.

It's The PC Gamer Show! Episode two is an RPGstravaganza with special guest Josh Sawyer, who stopped by to demo Obsidian's Infinity Engine throwback Pillars of Eternity. The PC Gamer US team also discussed the greatest RPGs of all time, played some co-op Divinity: Original Sin, and talked to Sawyer about his time as the director on Fallout: New Vegas.

In this episode...

Act I: Wes, Cory and Tyler talk about what makes a great RPG as Cory prepares the PC Gamer list of the 25 Best RPGs. Will action-RPGs make the cut?
Act II: Cory and Obsidian's Josh Sawyer talk about Fallout: New Vegas, including how the game drew from Black Isle's canceled Fallout 3 "Van Buren" project and the inspiration behind Sawyer's challenging JSawyer mod.
Act III: Cory shows Wes the basics in co-op RPG Divinity: Original Sin after playing it for 50 hours in a single week. Cory likes Divinity: Original Sin a lot.
Act IV: Josh Sawyer walks us through a new demo of Pillars of Eternity, showing off character creation, scripted interactions, and combat.

The PC Gamer Show is a new and evolving project for us, and we want your feedback to help make it better. What kind of segments do you want to see? What games should we play and talk about? Who should we have on as guests? What's coming up next?

Shout at us in the comments below, or shoot us an email directly at letters@pcgamer.com. We're listening. And we'll see you in two weeks.

When we last caught up with Skywind, it was for its second official development diary. But as interesting as the internal workings of this Skyrim mod team are, I'm more interested in the results a full recreation of Morrowind in Bethesda's latest engine. You can see how far the team have come in this new trailer, which not only provides long and sweeping shots of its alien locations, but also gives a look at the creatures and clutter that will populate the renewed world.

Skywind currently isn't available to the public, but, as announced at the end of the trailer, a "public developer alpha release" will be coming soon. What's a public developer alpha release? Good question, and one that the mod's makers aren't answering saying only that "it will be revealed in time".

For more on Skywind, check out last months Daedric ruin-focused "Remnants" trailer, embedded below.

The Steam Summer Sale is always dangerous, threatening to take money from your wallet and hundreds of hour of your life away with tantalizing games. But today's best deals feel especially life-threatening, because there are some masterful strategy games on sale. Civilization 5, Rome 2: Total War, and Europa Universalis IV are all heavily discounted, and any one of these games could keep you occupied for months of economic planning, political trickery or open warfare. The deal of the day, though, is Dishonored, a top contender for 2012 game of the year.

Don t forget to check out GOG s summer deals, too.

Reminder: if a game isn't a daily deal or a flash sale, it could pop up later in the sale for an even lower price. If you want to be safe, wait until June 30 to pick up a sale-long deal.
5 - Assassin s Creed IV: Black Flag
50% off: $19.99 / 19.99- Steam store page

If you couldn t captain a pirate ship, cannon a schooner to pieces, then leap onto its deck to sword-n-pistol away half the crew, we might have a lower opinion of Black Flag. It s not that landlubbers will get nothing from it: on the islands you ll find a healthy mix of Ubisoft game design staples some good, some tailing missions with a Far Cry 3 level of stuff to do. You can air assassinate an ocelot, which is certainly worthy of praise, but the sailing makes it. Black Flag is one of our favorite Assassin s Creeds because it ditches lots of legacy AC stuff and says: Hey, how about you just be a pirate now?
4 - Europa Universalis IV
75% off: $9.99 / 8.74- Steam store page

Grand strategy is complciated. Paradox Development set out to make it slightly less so, by refining EU4 s interface and presenting every important bit of information a ruler could need in clear, concise alerts. As we said in our review, it worked, and while EU4 is by no means an easy game, it s way easier for new grand commanders to learn. This is a game that you can spend 300 hours with and still discover new surprises. Paradox has the base game on deep discount here, as well as seven different pieces of DLC on sale though Wealth of Nations, its newest expansion pack, is not.
3 - Rome 2: Total War
66% off: $20.37 / 18.69- Steam store page

The Creative Assembly's latest 4X strategy epic is discounted to $20 from its $60 high perch, and that's a great price for a game as vast as the Roman Empire. When Rome 2 launched last September it had some significant issues with performance and enemy AI. Creative Assembly may have gone too big and launched too quickly, but the developer owned up to Rome 2's problems and has released 12 major patches since launch. The campaign map runs more smoothly and battlefield AI isn't completely worthless. And when the game works, it has the Civ effect of pulling you in for just one more turn, until you've spent all night managing your economy and beating off barbarian hordes with a small force of veteran Hastati. Steam Workshop support also means there are tons of mods available to customize the battle experience.
2 - Civilization 5
75% off: $7.49 / 4.99- Steam store page

Some of us were firmly in the Civilization IV is better, and you re wrong if you think otherwise camp when Civ V released, but the debate has become less polarizing it s more about what you prefer than which is better. Between the great Gods & Kings and Brave New World expansions and the magic of Steam Workshop support, Civ V has proven worthy of the series prestige. You might consider the Complete Edition for 67% off again, Gods & Kings and Brave New World add a lot but there are also loads of great free mods. And if you already have Civ V, both of the expansions are 75% off.
1 - Dishonored
75% off: $4.99 / 2.49- Steam store page
It s hard to find a better realized world than Dunwall. It s grimy, filled with rats and refuse, plague-ridden and disgusting. That Arkane Studios made a world this dirty so fun to explore is quite the achievement. Every taffer on the corner has a story to tell, and few of them have happy endings. Sneaking through this world (or marching through it, murdering everyone in your way) is really best experienced on the PC, where you ll have full control of its graphical features and every inch of the rotten city is gorgeously rendered. Sadly, none of Dishonored s DLC is on sale, but you ll get a pretty good taste of Dunwall by the end of the base game.

Other great deals today
Remember that games not categorized as Daily Deals or Flash Sales may be reduced further later in the sale.

Resident Evil 4 Ultimate HD Edition (40% off) $11.99 / 8.99
Steamworld Dig (75% off) $2.49 / 1.74
Left4Dead 2 (75% off) $4.99 / 3.74
Banished (50% off) $9.99 / 7.49
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition (Flash sale) (75% off) $4.99 / 4.99
Trine Complete (85% off) $3.74 / 2.69

Every few months, I get ambitious; abandoning my modest selection of must-have Skyrim mods, and embarking on a grand plan to build it into something impossibly beautiful. Inevitably, it all goes wrong. The lighting isn't quite right, the distant mountains look a bit off, or whole sections of water have just vanished. But its videos like this a showcase of what can be achieved with RealVision ENB that make me want to try all over again.

ENBSeries mods can be difficult to install properly, but, if you'd like to give it a go, there's a great step-by-step guide on the RealVision ENB forum page. And if you really want to get the game looking like it does in the video, be sure to go through the recommended and optional mod lists, too.

See some of the previous showcase videos below, and for more Skyrim mods, check out our guide.





Thanks, VG247.

It s another good day to be a PC gamer (isn t every day, though, really?) with a new set of Steam Summer Sale deals to pad your library for the long hot days of hiding inside ahead. If nothing has caught your eye yet, there s still another weekend to go, but we re pretty happy with today s selection they re not all brand new, but between the heartfelt Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and the vast wasteland of Fallout New Vegas, there's a few hundred hours of amazing and diverse gaming at a deep discount.

Don t forget to check out GOG s summer deals, too.

Reminder: if a game isn't a daily deal or a flash sale, it could pop up later in the sale for an even lower price. If you want to be safe, wait until June 30 to pick up a sale-long deal.
5 - Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
80% off: $2.99 / 2.19 - Steam store page
There are a lot of great stories in games, but few are as affecting as the one here, a story about two brothers traveling a dangerous world to save their father. The characters you meet are painted in broad strokes, but each one has an endearing quality the scene with the ogres is just delightful. It s not just a great story, though: the puzzles in Brothers, and how you solve them by controlling both siblings at the same time, are a joy to solve, even if they re not particularly difficult. It s not a long game, but it s a great four-hour journey for the money.
4 - The Blackwell Bundle
90% off: $1.99 / 1.49 Steam store page Flash sale: Buy it before 8 p.m. EST
This is an absurdly good price for the first four Blackwell games a series of noir adventures about a psychic detective and her decidedly dead partner. What makes the series worth experiencing is its refusal to fall back on traditional adventure puzzles. Progress is rarely about what you've picked up, but rather what you know. Information is a tool to be used, and investigation reveals new leads and ways to overcome your problems. Beyond that, there's a dramatic story played out between likeable characters; a story that slowly escalates in impact up to the (non-bundled and less discounted) fifth and final game. You can grab Blackwell Epiphany for 40% off.
3 - Torchlight II
75% off: $4.99 / 3.74 - Steam store page
Let s celebrate choice: Diablo III has improved a lot since launch (the Auction House closes today, by the way), but here s one of our other favorite action RPGs, and you can currently buy eight copies of it for the price of one Diablo III. We don t know why you would do that, but hey, Steam gifts are a lovely way to show a friend you care.
2 - Metro Last Light Complete
66% off: $6.79 / 6.79 - Steam store page
Metro: Last Light is still one of the best-looking games on PC, and it s our go-to game any time we want to see how well a PC runs. But it s also a great shooter, with a few stealth sections that work better than you d expect. It s also surprisingly sad: it s not often that a first-person shooter will move you as much as post-apocalyptic Moscow does. This Complete edition also adds all of the released DLC for the game, including the single-player focused Chronicles pack.
1 - Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition
66% off: $6.79 / 5.09 - Steam store page
Wandering the wasteland is one of the best parts of any Fallout game, and New Vegas collected edition here gives you a lot of wasteland to cover. The base game feel more like an open, living world than Bethesda s version of a post-apocalyptic D.C., but the collection of add-ons five in all makes that world even denser. Factor in the thriving mod community on Steam Workshop and you could be living in that wasteland for a long time.

Other great deals today
Remember that games not categorized as Daily Deals or Flash Sales may be reduced further later in the sale.

Nidhogg (66% off) $5.09 / 3.73
Gone Home (75% off) $4.99 / 3.74
Spec Ops: The Line (67% off) $9.89 / 6.59
Syberia Bundle (90% off) $1.49 / 1.09

It's day 3 of the Steam Summer Sale, and though your wallet might be pleading with you to stop throwing money at your monitor, the bargains keep on coming - and some prime deals await you today. There's a couple of very good deals in the dailies right now, so if you've been waiting for a steep reduction on a certain dragony shouting game, this is your moment to swoop. In case you'd forgotten, GOG.com is having its own sizzling summer sale as well, so be sure to check that out too.

Reminder: if a game isn't a daily deal or a flash sale, it could pop up later in the sale for an even lower price. If you want to be safe, wait until June 30 to pick up a sale-long deal.

5 - Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
75% off: $4.99 / 3.74 - Steam store page | Note: May be reduced further in a Flash or Daily sale
This isn't a pick from the Dailies or the Flash sales, so there's a chance Bloodlines will receive a steeper discount on top of its already whopping 75% one, but even at its current price this is a steal. Bloodlines is the best vampire game you'll find, and the best Vampire game too - White Wolf's seamy supernatural world has been done justice here, and then some, by the sadly departed Troika, who brought the world the similarly terrific Arcanum. The writing is fantastic, and often darkly hilarious, and there's a fully fledged haunted house for good measure. Be sure to play it with the unofficial patch, however, as it's a buggy, unfinished mess otherwise.

4 - Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition
75% off: $7.49 / 4.99 - Steam store page
The original Dragon Age has likely been available for cheaper than this at some point during its storied history, but this is an exceptionally good price for the base game and all of its DLC. Bioware's classic RPG managed to recreate most of the best parts of their Baldur's Gate series, shifting the action to a 3D engine and an entirely new universe, and inserting cringeworthy sex scenes so you could have a good laugh amid all the grimdark moral choices and monster-slaying. With Dragon Age: Inquisition out soon, and looking very good indeed, now's the perfect time for a series replay to get yourself reacquainted - or for a first play if you've not had the pleasure yet.

3 - Papers, Please
70% off: $2.99 / 2.09 - Steam store page | Flash sale: Buy it before 8 p.m. EST
Lucas Pope's grim checkpoint simulator is not a game you can win, exactly, but it might be one that you - and your family - can survive if you're lucky, and if you're willing to bend your morality just a bit (or, well, a lot). Stay on the straight and narrow as an immigration officer in the game's fictional, pseudo-Soviet state and you likely won't make enough to survive. It's surely only a matter of time, then, until you begin to bend the rules, to accept bribes from shady characters in order to cover for your costly mistakes. After all, you're not going to let your kids starve, are you? If you've not played this award-winning game yet, this is almost certainly the cheapest it's ever been. Read our review for more.

2 - The Stanley Parable
60% off: $5.99 / 3.99 - Steam store page
We'll refrain from writing this in our omniscient narrator voice and get straight to it: The Stanley Parable is one of the most inventive, funniest, and smartest games we've played. "Effortlessly inventive, frequently surprising and consistently hilarious" are some words that feature in our review. If you've not had the pleasure of Galactic Cafe's endlessly surprising adventure - or the original mod - yet, it's a game about player choice, a game with a fantastic narrator, and a game about being a game, and those are all good reasons to give it a go at such a low price.

1 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
75% off: $4.99 / 2.49 - Steam store page
2.49 is silly money for Bethesda's grand, chilly open world RPG (you can also grab it with all the DLC for not much more). As well as being a great game in its own right - see our glowing review for further proof of this - it's a magnificent springboard for all sorts of crazy and not-so-crazy mods, including this heroic attempt to remake Morrowind in Skyrim. There's a staggering amount of value here, from the expansive, open roleplaying of the main game to all manner of free improvements, additions, and madness offered up by the community.

Other great deals today
Remember that games not categorized as Daily Deals or Flash Sales may be reduced further.

La-Mulana (75% off) $3.74 / 2.74
Shadowrun: Dragonfall (40% off) $8.99 / 6.59
Payday: The Heist (90% off) $1.49 / 1.09
Gone Home (75% off) $4.99 / 3.74
One Way Heroics (75% off) $0.87 / 0.57
One Finger Death Punch (50% off) $2.49 / 1.99
Awesomenauts (75% off) $2.49 / 1.74