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The 10 best immersive sims on PCWe found this list in the ladies restroom
We found this list in the ladies restroom
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Bethesda / Eidos
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Bethesda / Eidos
The immersive sim has seen a revival in recent years. Not only from larger studios like Arkane, keeping the faith alive with their time loops and space stations, but also froma bunch of smaller developersbravely exploring a typically ambitious genre. RPS has always had an affinity for these systemically luxuriant simulations, historically lauding the likes of the originalDeus Exasthe best game ever made. But given everything that has come since, is that still the case? Only one way to find out: make a big list.
The “immersive sim” is also hard to define. I’m tempted to call it “any game with flushable toilets” and leave it at that. But that’s not quite right. Mark Brown dida good video on the subjectonce upon a time in which he suggested that a true immy-simmy had to emphasise the following traits: agency, systems, emergence, consistency, and reactivity. It’s a pretty decent rundown of the principles that underpin the design philosophy of many games on our list. Buuuuuut these are also somewhat woolly terms. It opens up the genre to things that might not otherwise feel like a classic immersive sim (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Painticks all those boxes, right? What about theHitmangames? Hmmm. I’d actually be fine with that…) Whatever. Sometimes it’s best not to overthink these things. For a lot of the list, I’ve just gone with my gut.
The best immersive sims on PC
Here’s the list in short. The links here are in alphabetical order, but the list itself is ranked because everyone loves scrolling to see what’s number 1. If your scrolling finger isn’t functional, no worries. Just click a title below to head straight to that game.
10. Cruelty Squad
Image credit:Consumer Softproducts
What else should I play if I like this?Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator
9. Shadows Of Doubt
What else should I play if I like this?Nobody Wants To Die for another cyberpunk gumshoe detective
8. Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines
Image credit:Activision
What else should I play if I like this?Vampyr for more story-focused bloodletting
A very 90s role-playing game that arguably fits the immersive sim mould. Right? Right, that’s what I thought. You’ve got a hub world with a lot of freedom to explore, a stats-pumped character that can range from ugly sewer monster to sultry neck biter, and a bunch of characters hanging out in predetermined spots waiting for you to come along and mess everything up. Many an admirer ofVampire The Masquerade: Bloodlineshas stalked the halls of RPS, muttering to themselves and turning into smoke when perceived. The sequel,Bloodlines 2, has been in something of a development hell sinceits announcementin 2019,swapping from one developer to anotherin 2021. It’ll doubtless be hard for the follow-up to charisma-bomb its way into as many hearts as the original, which was as much aboutsex and sadismas it was about sneaking into a blood donor clinic for snacks. But we can hope.
7. Deus Ex
Image credit:Eidos Interactive
What else should I play if I like this?The old System Shock series
6. Gloomwood
Image credit:New Blood Interactive
What else should I play if I like this?The old Thief games which inspired it, or perhaps Dread Delusion
5. System Shock (2023)
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Nightdive Studios/Prime Matter
What else should I play if I like this?For Arkane’s take on the wrecked space station, try Prey
4. Prey
Image credit:Bethesda Softworks
What else should I play if I like this?Alien Isolation for more space station scares
You can turn yourself into a coffee mug inPrey. You can roll under the little gap in the perspex window of a security booth as a piece of idiot ceramics, and re-balloon to human form feeling both smart and slightly stupid at the same time. But the enemies in this sprawling space station have the same powers of mimicry and may be hiding anywhere. Which turns the huge, explorable space into a sci-fi jumpscare factory. What’s more, your various powers and weapons unlock routes that would feel plain broken in any other game. A glue gun makes virtually any wall climbable with enough patience, for instance. There’s an escape pod that becomes reachable surprisingly early, and provided you’ve nabbed the key from another room, the game simply lets you abandon ship, ending the story as abruptly as you like. It’s not a satisfying ending, of course, but the very fact that the designers allow for it is a testament to how much freedom you have on board Talos I.
3. Dishonored 2
Image credit:Bethesda Softworks
What else should I play if I like this?Deathloop, or the Plague Tale games if you just like the rats
If you ask fans ofDishonored 2what their favourite level of the game is, they will instantly disintegrate into a pile of verbs and nouns and be unable to assist you. The fantasy stab ‘em up is downright greedy when it comes to great level design. The Clockwork Mansion puts the player into a space that is constantly shifting and changing. While A Crack In The Slab gives you the power to hop back and forth through time, between a decayed manor and its glorious past (for a single level! OnlyTitanfall 2has had the same confidence when it comes to chewing up gimmicks in one level that could entirely power whole other games). Me? I’m weirdly fond of the opening level, with its sunny docks and narrow streets. You can practically smell the place. But whatever the environment, you commonly explore it from an almost animal-like perspective. Looking down like a crow, squeezing through gaps like a mosquito, crawling through the gutters like a rodent. Karnaca is a city built to creep within.
2. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Image credit:Eidos Interactive
What else should I play if I like this?Cyberpunk 2077, no?
1. Deathloop
What else should I play if I like this?Any other Arkane game, or Outer Wilds for a perfect time loop
There is a certain player behaviour that all good immersive sims unwittingly encourage: the act of save scumming. Who can resist sniping a critical character from across the map to see what might happen, knowing that you can easily quickload and undo all the chaotic ramifications. On top of that, the immersive sim’s traditional dedication to allowing non-lethal runs only adds to the perfectionist quicksaving compulsion. Agency and consequence are the salt and pepper of this genre, and nobody knows this better than Arkane, whoseDishonoredgames basically require the player to constantly quicksave every few minutes. WithDeathloop, they said: “nah, fuck that.” Here you will finally manage to shake off that bad habit. No save scumming here, friend. The game will reset thingsfor you. It makes things so much better.
As beefy security man Colt, you’re trapped in a time loop on a messed-up island with no idea how to break free. Eventually, you learn that a perfect run of assassinations (targeting the elites of the island) will get you out of the bind. What follows is a clever back and forth across the same few towns and laboratories, slowly accruing the knowledge you need to perform your perfect string of hits. Like the Prague of Deus Ex Mankind Divided, so much is done with relatively little sapce. Instead of making whole new levels, the designers simply change what’s happening in each area according to the time of day. The result is a refined clockwork kingdom of people waiting to eat dirt in some excellent ways, and a take on the immersive sim so refreshing that I live in perpetual fear nothing will surpass it.
