Like everyone else, DLC for the second game coming to life as a

I’ve been begging

Ubisoft to take
fully standalone title featuring the return of the
original game’s hero, Kyle Crane. SUBSCRIBE
NOW!
Assassin’s Creed to Talking of blasts from the past – Fallout 76
Japan ever since (p10) is still going strong. The online game has
finishing the first been seeing a resurgence thanks to the success
game. Now that
dream is finally
of the TV show, and we talk to the devs all
about it and their upcoming big expansion in
SEE PAGE 35 FOR
coming true, and Milepost Zero. Facing quite the opposite MORE DETAILS
while I might not be problem is Borderlands 4 (p50), the
as young as I used announcement of which will hopefully detract
to be, the evolving technology that sees this from the awful movie that was just released.
adventure landing on PlayStation 5 is We’ve returned from Gamescom with some
probably for the best. fresh hands-on demos as well. Monster Hunter
Wilds (p26) is living up to the hype as a genuine
That jump forward in tech is all part of our look successor to Monster Hunter World.
at Assassin’s Creed Shadows (p52) in this issue, Meanwhile, Life Is Strange: Double Exposure
which sees us talking with art director Thierry (p30) truly feels like returning to the company
Dansereau about bringing the devs’ take on of an old friend. Beyond that, the news that
Japan to life. Not only does it look incredibly Indiana Jones And The Great Circle (p13) is
pretty, but some of those details have an effect already planning to hop to PS5 from Xbox isn’t
on play, such as the changing weather and quite a surprise – but the confirmation is
seasons giving you different opportunities for welcome nevertheless. We hope you enjoy Huge discount
your sneaking and fighting. reading about it all, and you really won’t want Subscribe to PLAY or another mag to
Of course, Assassin’s Creed isn’t the only to miss next month’s landmark issue! save big time on the cover price. Why
parkour-based series we’re looking forward to not buy a sub for your best mate too,
returning. Dying Light: The Beast (p6) has been it’s good for the soul!
a pleasant surprise, what began as a piece of

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003
 ASSASSIN’S CREED
SHADOWS

ISSUE 45
NOVEMBER 2024

Assassin’s
Creed
Shadows
A closer look at feudal Japan

004
“HAUNTINGS OR NO, THINGS
STILL NEED TO BE DONE IN A
PARTICULAR WAY.”
091 The Mortuary Assistant

Regulars
018 In the mood for… grappling hooks
115 Next issue 080 Visions Of Mana
Insider
006 Dying Light: The Beast
The series’ original lead returns.
010 Fallout 76
012 Secret Level
013 Indiana Jones And The Great
Circle 013 Indiana Jones
And the Great Circle 068 Ace Attorney
Investigations Collection
014 Frenzies
A friendlier way to shoot people. 051 Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist Of 068 Edge case
016 Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Memories & The Envisioned Land Our expert detective digs out the
020 Opinion #1 051 Skydance’s Behemoth real story behind Ace Attorney
022 Opinion #2 051 Promise Mascot Agency Investigations Collection.

Previews Features Reviews

026 Monster Hunter Wilds 052 Shadow of the damned 076 Star Wars Outlaws
The definition of big game hunt. Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ art Not the galaxy’s Most Wanted.
030 Life Is Strange: Double Exposure director explains how the series 080 Visions Of Mana
Multiple timelines; only one Max. will transport us to feudal Japan. 082 Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse
034 Reanimal 060 Chop it like it’s hot 083 The Case Of The Golden Idol:
036 Directive 2080 We run down the games that are Complete Edition
040 Hotel Barcelona guaranteed to help you play out 084 Black Myth: Wukong
042 Deliver At All Costs your samurai fantasies. 088 SteamWorld Heist II
046 Herdling 090 Pepper Grinder
048 Metaphor: ReFantazio 091 The Mortuary Assistant
050 Borderlands 4 092 Concord [online]
051 Mafia: 094 Valorant [Extended Play]
The Old 095 Doom + Doom II
Country 096 Hall of fame: PS5
051 Floatopia 098 Hall of fame: PS4
051 Lost In Random: 099 Hall of fame: PSVR2
The Eternal Die
051 Cuisineer
RetroStation
102 Classic game: Metal Gear Acid 2
Metal Gear… but with cards.
104 Memory card: Borderlands
105 Defending: Kainé
106 The feature: Movie magic
112 Plus points: Ratchet & Clank: Size
Matters
048 Metaphor:
ReFantazio 113 A brief history of… card games
114 Parting shot: Thumper

005
 Getting you closer to
PlayStation’s most
exciting stories,
people, and culture

Gamescom has never been E3,

but it does a pretty good job of
matching the excitement.

006
 INSIDER
INSIDER HIGHLIGHTS
10 HAPPY CAMPERS
Building a home in Fallout 76
13 TRIPLE-A INDY GAME
Doctor Jones will see you now
14 FRENZ LIKE THESE
VR shooter Frenzies is a real blast

Dying Light: The Beast

brings the original game’s

The Beast was freed

protagonist back to the
limelight, although he’s
not exactly happy about it.

at Gamescom
Catching up with the Dying Light: The Beast
devs and more in Cologne, Germany

s we descended onto the Koelnmesse crypt to present the latter). The biggest

A
exhibition centre for yet another year of announcement of the night had to be one
Gamescom, there was a sense of of the final ones: that Microsoft and
excitement in the air. This year, the MachineGames’ Indiana Jones And The
event brought out heavy hitters like Great Circle will be arriving on PS5 in
Capcom, Sega, Ubisoft, and that newly spring 2025, only months after its
established PlayStation developer, Xbox. Gamescom exclusive Xbox launch (flick to p13 to learn
might not be the mega-event that E3 was, but it does a more about that).
great job of bringing mid-year excitement and of However, the announcement that really
hawking litres of sparkling water. caught our eye was the surprise reveal of
Before the show floor opened on Wednesday, we were a new Dying Light game, titled Dying
treated to another round of Geoff Keighley’s Opening Night Light: The Beast. Originally intended to be
Live, which gave us a glimpse of some of the best and Techland’s second DLC expansion for
brightest games coming to PS5 over the next few years. Dying Light 2, The Beast has grown legs of
The show kicked off with a teaser for none other than its own and become an 18-hour
Borderlands 4, presumably to capitalise on this summer’s standalone game featuring the return of
blockbuster movie, which looks poised to be the biggest the original game’s protagonist – although
box office bomb of the year. he’s looking a little messed up. It was a
During the show we got new looks at the likes of great surprise and one that the crowd
Monster Hunter Wilds (a lot more on that on p26), Dragon went wild for. Except for us; we knew
Ball: Sparking! Zero, and Sid
Meier’s Civilization VII, as well
as some new titles like Mafia:
The Old Country, Goat
This year, the event brought
Simulator: Remastered, and
Masters Of Albion (Peter
out heavy hitters like Capcom,
Molyneux returned from his Sega, and Ubisoft.
about it as we had already been booked in
Techland’s booth was a loving
recreation of the series’ iconic to see a gameplay demonstration and
safe houses (and had the interview the Techland team.
comfiest seats at the show).
BURY THE LIGHT
In our demo, Techland treated us to a look
at 30 minutes of in-game footage in which
we watched Kyle Crane (voiced by Sonic
The Hedgehog himself, Roger Craig
Smith) head back out into the zombie-
filled world after being experimented on in
captivity for a decade. Some time before
the footage kicked off, Crane had escaped
the facility and now – alongside his new
handler, Olivia – he’s venturing out into the

007
 INSIDER
ULTIMATE MUSCLE
While The Beast has been upgraded from being
released as DLC to a standalone title, owners of
Dying Light 2’s Ultimate Edition will get the new
game for free – but that edition’s being delisted on
30 September so buy it quickly!

world to have his revenge upon his captor, doesn’t actually come out until he’s firmly team to entirely re-evaluate what they
Baron. The demo opens with a sight that’s on the ropes against a hulking behemoth wanted to do with the project. However,
pretty standard in Dying Light: massive at the end of the demo, so rest assured, once the idea of getting voice actor Craig
buildings in a huge industrial area, ugly in this won’t be a cakewalk. Smith back as Crane was locked in,
themselves but beautifully lit. (In a series “everyone was extremely agitated” shared
where the day/night cycle is crucial, a lot ZOMBIE NATION Smektała, but in a good way, with every
of attention is paid to the lighting.) When we spoke to Dying Light’s franchise department in Techland coming up with
The game features all the crunchy director Tymon Smektała and art director ideas for the grand reunion. By the end of
combat, disgusting sound effects, and Katarzyna Tarnacka, both reiterated that the second week of work, things had
fantastic parkour mechanics that make bringing the series’ original protagonist grown so rapidly that the team had to say,
the Dying Light series so memorable, back into the fold was a big deal for the “this is not DLC anymore”.
including the grappling hook from the staff at the studio. Tarnacka told us that Despite the fantastic demonstration,
sequel; however, this adventure is set to Dying Light: The Beast is her dream which featured gorgeous graphics and a
take Kyle Crane into unexplored territory, project and she wants to “focus on this nice helping of that sweet Dying Light
with a large forest area being the and soak in every moment”, while parkour, our interview is what made us
centrepiece of both the trailer and the Smektała said this new tale had most excited about The Beast. The team
demo. Given that Crane’s enemies this “remotivated us to work on Dying Light”. at Techland are clearly full to the brim
time are special forces-style opponents, Motivation was a big factor in this with passion and excitement to be creating
there is also a lot more classic first- game’s existence, as it was born during a this game and this story. Tarnacka went so
person shooting mixed into the action. rough time for Techland. In late 2023, a far as to say she had goosebumps when
Despite having some fresh abilities up his mass of information leaked out about the she heard Craig Smith as Kyle Crane once
sleeve, Crane isn’t overpowered this time second DLC expansion for Dying Light 2, again. From the sounds of things,
around; in fact, his true beast-like power including some story details, which led the Techland isn’t in a rush to abandon the
series any time soon. Although our
suggestion of a Dying Light party game
The team at Techland are clearly full didn’t seem to be what the developers had
in mind for the next entry…
to the brim with passion and excitement Dying Light: The Beast doesn’t have a
to be creating this game and this story. release date, but it looks pretty far along.

All the high-flying parkour

action Dying Light is known
for returns in The Beast.

008
 INSIDER

2 3

5
1 Monster Hunter Wilds
continued to impress us when
we saw it close-up – read
more about it on p26.
2 Gamescom gave us our
first look at Amazon’s
anthology TV series Secret
Level – read our article on p12
and you’ll be as excited as we
are. 3 Indiana Jones And The
Great Circle is coming to PS5
next year after a brief stint on
Xbox. 4 Auld Doom Guy
himself made an appearance,
although his game didn’t.
5 Terry Bogard’s appearance
in Street Fighter 6 was one of
the highlights of our week.

009
 1

P L AY I N V E S T I G AT E S

CAMP counselling
Fallout 76’s creative director Jonathan Rush and lead
producer Bill LaCoste discuss the Milepost Zero update

ith Falloutmania strong that region by taking advantage of Skyline also have unlockable vendors who will

W
after the success of a Drive, which kind of circumnavigates the offer items for you and your CAMP that
certain streaming show, whole new area,” explains creative director you won’t be able to find anywhere else.
the latest major update for Jonathan Rush. “Caravanning is something CAMP stands for Construction &
76 needs the strength of a that’s really a staple of Fallout, all the way Assembly Mobile Platform. Like any
super-mutant to carry expectations. back to Fallout 1. Fast forward to Fallout survival-flavoured MMORPG worth its
Designed to reward existing players while 76, and we have our own caravanning scavenged salt, Fallout 76 has a base-
smoothing the road in for new ones, all faction, the Blue Ridge Caravan. An building element, and players have shown
powered by six previous years of serving update like this just made sense.” enormous creativity over the years in what
the community, it just might pull it off. You’ll get your own caravan outpost to and how they build (“We’ve seen a couple
One addition is caravanning, making use manage, which you can develop with of spaceships that people have created by
of the recently added Skyline Valley area. supplies from caravan runs (Rush likens it building a whole bunch of different angles
“We wanted to keep the action going in to expanding a house in Skyrim). Outposts of glass and then destroying them and

010
 INSIDER

1 You’re going to have to make say? We have zero complaints think those crates are full of treats
(and succeed at) caravan runs if about that. 2 While you can go for the Brahmin that we can
you want to get that outpost you’re down the caravanning route solo, reward it with at the end. Though
working on beefed up. And to do it’s designed to be a way for people it’s probably just grateful to get
that, you’re basically taking a to come together. There’s safety in some rest. 4 Skyline Valley,
Brahmin for a walk. What can we numbers, after all. 3 We like to we’re coming for ya.

2 3

building on top of them,” says lead Best Build CAMPs won’t have active effects. The crafting of Legendary items
producer Bill LaCoste. “They’ve got a whole vendors or resource gatherers (you’re not has also been examined closely, and given
bunch of different techniques they use, it being given any shortcuts!), but they’re a significant shuffle.
is really amazing stuff”). Did somebody otherwise complete and free to explore.
build a replica Millennium Falcon? “The [building] system has expanded over ABSOLUTE LEGEND
Absolutely. Did somebody else make an the years,” adds LaCoste. “Before, we “Now,” says Rush, “when you scrap
apocalyptic KFC? Of course. And now, would give a lot of walls and roofs and Legendary items, you get Legendary
thanks to Milepost Zero, these CAMP other pillars to help you create your CAMP materials that you can use to create mods.
creations can be seen up close in-game. from there. But we’ve also started issuing When you get a weapon, for example,
prefabs for bigger houses and things like that’s a three-star, and you want to
BUILD GATES that, that people can put immediately into replace one of the attributes, you can
“Best Builds,” explains Rush, “is a way for their CAMPs. […] We’ve expanded the spend resources to remove one of those
our builders to show off the work that system a lot, but also the types of CAMPs mods and place another in there. What’s
also kind of cool is that these mods can
be sold or traded with other players.”
We’ve expanded the system […] I think “There was a lot of RNG in the previous
system,” LaCoste explains. “This new
people are gonna be really amazed and system allows you to use [any Legendary]
weapon, and then deconstruct other
surprised at some of those creations. weapons to get those Legendary mods, or
the recipes for those mods, which you can
they’ve done. It’s a way for people to visit you’re gonna see now. I think people are then apply to that new weapon – getting
other CAMPs and give them an upvote. gonna be really amazed and surprised at the weapon you were ultimately wanting to
CAMPs that get enough upvotes start to some of those creations.” get. It gives a lot more agency to players
get featured on various worlds. […] It’s a If you’re into Fallout for the violence, who are coming into the game that are
bit of social glue, and a fun thing for our however, don’t worry; you haven’t been also relatively new.”
builders to engage in. It also gives us an forgotten. Multiple enemies and combat
avenue to, down the road, be able to host overall have been given an overhaul, Milepost Zero is due to have hit Fallout
76 by the time you read this.
CAMP competitions right inside the game.” primarily focussing on damage-over-time

011
 INSIDER
MAXIMUM EFFORT
Love, Death & Robots creator Tim Miller
co-founded Blur Studio, which has worked on
many projects, in 1995, but he didn’t make his
feature-length film directorial debut until 2016 with
smart-mouthed comic book actioner Deadpool.

PlayStation
voices
The month in
Another dimension,
mouthing off
interplanetary
“I WILL OVERLOOK SHITTY
New game-based anthology show
GAME MECHANICS FOR
HOURS IF I’M ENJOYING
THE STORY. [...] I DON’T
REMEMBER ALL THE RATS
I FOUGHT IN TURN-BASED
FALLOUT [...] BUT I
REMEMBER STORY.” JEFF
GARDINER TELLS IT HOW IT IS.

“PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO

BE SOLD HORSE ARMOUR
ANY MORE. I CAN SAY
THAT BECAUSE I WORKED
AT BETHESDA.” TIM Breathtaking? That remains
to be seen, but maybe Secret
WILLITS REFLECTS ON SPACE Level will offer another
reason to love your favourite
MARINE 2’S APPROACH TO videogame worlds.
MICROTRANSACTIONS.
lenty of premises in the adult animated beats and mechanics, the transformation

P
anthology Love, Death & Robots have had when that interactivity is taken away isn’t
a videogame-y air: time loops; mech fights; always pretty. For one example as recent
special ops that go wildly off the rails – as this year, Eli Roth’s big-screen take on
and that’s just season one. Bearing that in Borderlands was both a critical and
mind, the creator’s next project comes as no surprise. financial failure. However, there isn’t much
Secret Level is a series of 15 shorts each inspired by a room in a less-than-20-minutes short to
different videogame series. Slated for an Amazon Prime adapt a game’s entire narrative arc and
Video premiere on 10 December, the series’ creators that brevity might just be Secret Level’s,
hope to add another dimension to some of your favourites. uh, secret weapon.
We’ve already seen Warhammer 40,000 Space Marines Rather than only playing the hits, Secret
“SOMETIMES I’LL EVEN getting covered in bioluminescent goo, had a glimpse of Level could seize the opportunity to
JUST MAKE A SONG TO the God Of War himself, and spotted at least one Armored develop a corner of the videogame worlds
PROCESS EMOTIONS AND Core pilot who’s a dead ringer for Keanu Reeves (though
full cast details have yet to be confirmed). Also set to enjoy
you already know and love. Just for a start,
in Armored Core’s world of mechs, what
THEN SUDDENLY, OOPS, an animated encounter are Sifu, Spelunky, and Concord does it mean that Secret Level is choosing
IT’S AN UNBEATABLE (check out our review on p92). Don’t tell our games editor,
but even Dungeons & Dragons gets a look in.
to focus on a human face? Will Secret
Level reach out to touch on the squishy
SONG BECAUSE WE’VE Secret Level comes from Amazon MGM Studios and core at the centre of so many of that
FOUND A WAY TO TIE IT Blur Studio, which animated eight episodes across Love, universe’s mechanical monstrosities?
INTO THE STORY.” Death & Robots’ three series. Blur co-founder Tim Miller,
is executive producer for these 15 fresh daydreams.
Could this short offer a unique angle? If
not, well, we’re not exactly ones to say ‘no’
UNBEATABLE’S COMPOSER, to another bout of scrapping metal either.
CLARA MADDUX, ON LEVEL UP!
Videogame adaptations have long had a bad rep. Because Secret Level loads onto Amazon Prime
CRAFTING BANGERS. videogame stories are handcrafted to facilitate gameplay
Video on 10 December.

012
 INSIDER

If Dial Of Destiny didn’t

do it for you, then
MachineGames’ take on
the iconic archaeologist
just might.

Whipping up a legend
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle coming to PS5
icture this: a black screen, Set in 1937, between Raiders Of The revolver and his trademark bullwhip,

P
accompanied by a subtle Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, The Great you’ll also be juggling Indy’s journal,
yet instantly recognisable Circle sees Doctor Jones embarking on a snapping pictures with his camera, and
musical motif by John quest to solve a totally original mystery. It’s hoovering up archaeological insights
Williams, and then the title in development at MachineGames, the about your surroundings. Still, there are
drop: Indiana Jones and the totally studio behind everything from 2014’s few things as satisfying as melee combat
expected PlayStation release. That’s right, Wolfenstein: The New Order to 2019’s that sees you reeling in a fascist with your
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle is Wolfenstein: Youngblood, so you can whip before punching their lights out.
coming to PS5 during the spring of 2025. expect plenty of first-person action. Following a trail of clues, you’ll venture
That’s a wee while after debuts on Indy is fully equipped not only with his from the Vatican in Rome to the Great
other platforms, but that brief window of two fists for punching Nazis, but also his Pyramids of Egypt, and explore the
exclusivity won’t leave us envious for long. brain. On top of his arsenal of a loaded sunken remains of Sukhothai’s temples in
Thailand. Despite Indy’s appearance,
though, Harrison Ford is not along for the
Venture from the Vatican in Rome to adventure, with actor Troy Baker instead
bringing the iconic character to life.
the Great Pyramids of Egypt, and explore Indiana Jones And The Great Circle will
Sukhothai’s temples in Thailand. launch on PS5 in spring 2025.

013
 INSIDER

DEV ACCESS

Party shots
Near Light’s Paul Mottram and Ben Hebb on making
multiplayer shooters more accessible with Frenzies on PSVR2

ith 25 years of experience in the industry, prior experience includes working closely

W
Near Light co-founders Paul Mottram and with the now-defunct Sony London Studio
Ben Hebb had always agreed they would on its EyeToy Play and Singstar releases.
only make non-violent games, even at This was when Wide Games became Kuju
their previous studio, Wide Games, when Brighton, later rebranded as Zoë Mode,
they made the stealth-based World War II: Prisoner Of the name change apparently because it
War on PS2. So it might come as a surprise that the wanted to project the image of a girl called
studio’s first game since being acquired by NDreams is Zoë “who loves to hang out on MySpace
Frenzies, a multiplayer VR shooter. and plays SingStar”. The tech, of course,
However, one look at the announcement trailer tells you also played a huge part in getting people
it’s a stark contrast from a typical military-themed FPS or who would otherwise feel uncomfortable
even NDreams’ own VR shooters. With bright colours and holding a game controller to suddenly take Paul Mottram and Ben Hebb (centre, right)
avatars running around in onesies, its vibe is more similar part in something that felt intuitive. with NDreams boss Patrick O’Luanaigh (left).
to Fall Guys’. “We try to make sure it’s over-the-top, a bit “It’s about creating believable actions,”
like when shooting fruit,” says Mottram, in reference to says Hebb, when speaking of EyeToy. “It To remind you not to take things too
the studio’s PSVR release Shooty Fruity, where you was always about taking a player, putting seriously, the weapons are deliberately
balance fending off sentient fruit with trying to check out them in a situation, and making them comically oversized, and are automatically
at the supermarket. “When you shoot someone, they’re believe that they were doing it.” You can holstered when you’re not using them.
ragdolling, so it has that comedy effect. The visuals, the say the same about VR – EyeToy’s natural This in turn enables the more expressive
colours, and the way we side of the game – without a gun glued to
have sound effects are just you, you can use your hands to express
to make you smile. We try You play a round, you have a yourself with gestures. “If you open the
to remove any level of ability for people to express themselves
brutality or nastiness, we laugh about it, then you get back visually, they start feeling that and it’s
don’t want it to feel bad really nice,” Mottram explains. “You’ve got
when you ‘kill’ someone.” out there and do it again. these controllers in your hands, so why
A more light-hearted not make the most of it?”
feel isn’t the only thing they want Frenzies to bring to the successor, where your hands are once Perhaps more important is the party
genre. While Mottram maintains it has a “serious edge”, more performing realistic actions inside structure. Frenzies is (again comparable to
in the sense that it’s competitive and will be rewarding for a virtual world. Fall Guys) all round-based, with rules and
skilled shooters, one of the important design challenges is even teams within in your group of 12
to lower the barrier of entry to make it accessible. “Back MASS MARKET EFFECT constantly changing. Meanwhile, between
when you play what we now call ‘boomer shooters’, you’d That said, when it comes to gunplay, the rounds, there’s a social space where guns
just play, and now when you’re playing Call Of Duty, you developers are eschewing realistic actions are disabled and you get to hang out all
spend so long in a menu trying to configure your character for Frenzies, even if you can appreciate together before you’re once again split into
and loadout, and then you go in and die after five seconds,” that kind of attention to detail in Pavlov or different teams. It’s refreshing compared
Mottram explains. “What we wanted to do with Frenzies Resident Evil 4 VR when loading a firearm. to the usual capture the flag slog, and
was just make something that’s more frivolous, not the “I just want to pick up a gun and shoot it, I that’s how Mottram likes it: “You play a
type of thing where you’ve got no chance of bringing it back, don’t want to spend ten minutes figuring round, you have a laugh about it, then you
but have things that allow you to stay engaged and want out how you might load it,” says Mottram. get back out there and do it again.”
to play with it instead of focussing on kill/death ratios.” “We don’t want an armoury for you to go
Working out how to appeal to a non-core mass-market to beforehand, you just pick up two Frenzies’ release date is TBC; expect
audience is nothing new for Mottram and Hebb; their weapons, then go for it and play.” announcements from NDreams soon!

1 2 3

1 You can put up your

hands to surrender, not
that you’ll necessarily be
shown mercy. 2 You can
point and shoot at the
same time. 3 Quick
respawns mean you won’t
need to feel bad for long.

014
 INSIDER

Mechanics from other

NDreams games,
including Fracked’s
ziplines, feature here too.

015
 1

P L AY I N V E S T I G AT E S

Booking in a redelivery
With Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, could Warhorse’s
historical RPG become the Czech Republic’s Witcher?

ou can’t have a medieval you’ll still have to suspend your disbelief at we have time to acclimatise to the kind of

Y
RPG without a trebuchet, times, such as when your protagonist roleplaying expected of us. That means
which Kingdom Come: Henry miraculously survives what should not simply rushing for the cold steel
Deliverance II brings up in have been a fatal fall and merely loses a whenever we encounter potential foes on
its opening minutes, in the few levels of progression. History bods the road, as often the right words can do
midst of a castle siege. It’s a thrilling way would probably also have rolled their eyes the trick, though it’s important to make
to show how Warhorse’s cinematic chops at his journey of social mobility in the first sure our words match our appearance.
have developed over the past decade, all game, where he went from illiterate That’s no issue when, as part of Hans’
while committing to its vision of peasant to a knight – he’s now serving entourage, we make the journey to Trosky
delivering a ‘historically authentic’ under affable nobleman Hans Capon. Castle to deliver a message to its lord,
depiction of 15th-century Bohemia. Nonetheless, as this lengthy prologue Otto von Bergow. That’s also the perfect
Mind you, just because there’s a focus dials back a few weeks in the timeline time for us to be eased naturally into KCD
on realism – as in no dragons or magic – from its explosive in medias res opening, II’s world, by engaging in a sparring

016
 INSIDER

1 While you’ll be in the midst of there, and a dangerous one – every interaction just as Henry
epic sieges – medieval Bohemia trotting around this beautifully would. 4 Get caught committing
was not a peaceful place – fights created world on foot will only get crimes and you can fight, flee, pay
are primarily one-on-one affairs, you so far. 3 The first-person a fine, or get sent to the stockade.
and it’s best to avoid group viewpoint ensures you’re always But you will be hunted. Be careful
ambushes. 2 It’s a big world out immersed in the action, seeing if you’re planning wrongdoing.
2 3

session with Hans that introduces us to achieve that when you’ve got beautiful sparring with a sword or at most resorting
the weighty – albeit still clunky – combat vistas and a rousing score. to fisticuffs. The developer nonetheless
system, sneakily wading through a pond to That said, we don’t really get a feel for promises more nuances in weapon
spy on some maidens bathing (it’s the core non-linear medieval roleplaying combat this time, so, for instance, the
teaching us stealth mechanics, okay?), until the second half of our demo, when directional inputs when wielding a mace
and going through a process of gathering we’re finally in the silver-mining town of would be simpler than those for a sword,
ingredients in order to make potions and Kuttenberg (or Kutná Hora, as it is known while firearms using gunpowder may be
remedies using an alchemy bench. today in Czech), one of two major maps in powerful but also extremely slow to load.
KCD II. While that speaks to a bigger While on a quest to steal and then
A KNIGHT’S TALE game, as you might expect a sequel to be, display a sword to force the local
All this does, however, make for a rather density remains a focus as you can easily swordfighting school into accepting a duel
lengthy, linear, and cutscene-heavy affair, just follow townspeople around living their with our questgiver, we’re grateful that
and even though Warhorse has designed lives throughout the day or even walk past KCD II’s realism doesn’t prevent us from
having an option to skip time so that we
can sneak into the school’s building at the
Warhorse has designed this sequel dead of night when we’re less likely get
caught. Of course, we still risk making a
to be accessible to newcomers who noise if we fail the lock-picking minigame,
which requires squeezing p while guiding
didn’t play the first game. a ball icon around a turning mechanism
with the right stick. That a rabbit is
KCD II to be accessible to newcomers who two men in the middle of an argument, displayed on the HUD to indicate if your
didn’t play the first game, that doesn’t stop where we have the option to interrupt to trespassing has been detected does at
the studio from inserting its fair share of defuse or exacerbate the situation. least show that whatever its claims for
flashback sequences. Nonetheless, the Choosing violence, however, has historical authenticity or realism, there’s
new cutscenes do well to show off a consequences, notably tanking your still some goofy charm there too.
game that’s designed to feel more reputation, so it’s something to avoid if you
cinematic than its predecessor, and you want to complete quests with less trouble. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is set to
be released on 11 Feb 2025.
don’t need any fantasy trappings to That does mean we never get further than

017
 1

INSIDER

IN
THE
MOOD
FOR…

Grappling hooks
These sensational ropebound hooks are
the grapple of our eye
2
1 FLINTHOOK 4 BIONIC COMMANDO 7UNCHARTED 4:
This indie roguelike sees you While this 2009 reboot may A THIEF’S END
bouncing around randomly not have restored Major Nathan Drake is dedicated to
generated levels like a Nathan ‘Rad’ Spencer to finding new ways to injure
resentful little pinball, household-name status, it did hard-working henchmen.
spewing blaster bullets and feature a grappling hook in Here, he harnesses the
slingshotting your way around the form of a bionic arm that terrifying power of twisted
incoming projectiles. lets you swing your way yarn to swing around lush
across a dystopian cityscape, environments before dropping
2 BATMAN: and enables mid-air combat fist-first onto goons.
ARKHAM CITY against robotic enemies.
While Arkham Asylum’s litany DEEP ROCK
8

of bat-gadgets included a 5 TENCHU: STEALTH GALACTIC

zippy little grappling tool, the ASSASSINS When you’re tunnelling deep
ability came into its own in the This stealth-’em-up snuck into an alien-infested cave
sequel. Now you could fling onto PlayStation a few months network, you’ll be glad to have
yourself into the air and soar before Metal Gear Solid. But a Scout as part of your crew.
3
through the grimy skies. You while Kojima’s offering had As well as packing powerful
could also come back down to cinematic glitz, Tenchu’s sticky flares to shed light on
earth with a bone-splintering levels offered a sense of all the shiny chitin and teeth
thump, pausing only to wallop openness and verticality, as out there, this class benefits
some crims before taking you used your grappling hook from a satisfyingly zippy (and
flight once more. to evade patrol patterns or upgradeable) grappling hook.
skulk across unlit rooftops
3 SEKIRO: SHADOWS before closing in for the kill. 9 JUST CAUSE 4
DIE TWICE Sometimes games are like
Over the course of the Dark 6 WORMS WORLD parents trying to teach you
Souls series, FromSoftware PARTY lessons about responsibility.
came to excel at making you It’s hard to imagine why Team They’ll give you a powerful
feel like a frightened snail. 17 chose earthworms as the ability, but with cooldown
Sekiro shakes things up with stars of its turn-based timers and paltry stamina
an emphasis on speed, and mega-hit. But whatever the bars to ensure you’re sensibly
the ability to propel yourself reason, Ninja Ropes have restrained. Just Cause is the
from branch to rooftop (with been enabling these wriggly fun uncle. “Take the grappling
by one of gaming’s greatest warriors to swing, flip, and hook, parachute, and wingsuit.
grappling animations) is a twirl through battlefields And yes, we can have an
defining feature of the game. since the very beginning. airport Toblerone for dinner.”

HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Marvel’s Spider-Man Dying Light Apex Legends
Spidey’s web-shooters occupy a Zombie hordes that once would have Pathfinder’s grappling hook ability is
special place in the history of game chewed you with impunity will now another hit from the grapple-
grappling hooks – hugely influential have to watch helplessly as you soar experts behind Titanfall 2. Shame
but obviously not grappling hooks. over their scabby heads. this one’s on a cooldown timer.

Did we miss your favourite hook? Got an In The Mood For idea? Show and tell at twitter.com/PLAYgamingmag

018
4 7

“HARNESSES THE TERRIFYING

POWER OF TWISTED YARN.”

019
 INSIDER

OPINION

WHY ARE THE INVITING

MANUALS OF YESTERYEAR
SUCH A THING OF THE PAST?
Physical media’s great, and paying
far more for less just seems unfair
WRITER BIO
Vic Pheasey’s transpired, however, was fear, and
given her nan a something that a seven-year-old probably
break from shouldn’t have been playing. Yet that manual
studying game
manuals in order gave the only girl in a group of boys
to read new issues someone to become during lunchtime
of PLAY, instead. A gambolling in primary school. And here I
great swap, really.
am, decades later, still loving Lara with
Saturday mornings in the ’90s typically those same pages to thank.
involved me dragging my lovely nan into
Electronics Boutique to surround myself QUITE THE SAD CASE
with anything Lara-Croft-related. But before Present-day purchases don’t seem to hold
I was cheekily asking for a figurine week in, that same level of excitement, and that’s not
week out, little did I know that receiving just down to age and life experience. With
some birthday money would change starting price points for new titles rarely less
everything for little ol’ me. than £60, to open each box and find only a
A shrinkwrapped pack of two games and disc is disappointing.
£19.99 later, I quickly realised I wasn’t fussed With the demand for physical media back
about managing a football team. I was, and growing, I can’t help but question why
however, interested in learning more about a we’re no longer treated to a fun and
weapon-toting woman in turquoise. informative manual to pass the time with,
Opening that cracked PlayStation especially as waiting for those last few gigs
Platinum box and turning the first page of to load can be painful. Sometimes you’re
the manual inside took me to another world. lucky enough to receive a map, but as
I’d soon find out that the grayscale image of helpful as they can be, opening a booklet
the back of the adventurer would soon be and immersing yourself into the narrative
brought to life, beginning her unforgettable ahead of pushing t just feels far more
quest in Peru. Reading the introduction to inviting. So why are they a thing of the past?
the character, I was hooked. Of course, I had Gaming has always been an expensive
to ask my nan what ‘aristocracy’ meant, but hobby; it was even in the ’90s. But regardless
I didn’t struggle to understand how Lara of entry price point back then, you were
Croft’s crash in the Himalayas changed her guaranteed a manual at the very least.
future forever, and how her sole survival Having to spend hundreds of pounds to get
inspired her future need for adventure. any sort of merch can feel like daylight
Page after page regaled me with robbery. Just because we have adult money
information on her arsenal, controls, and doesn’t mean that we should have to pay
what Ms Croft could do in-game. What hand-over-fist for the bare minimum.
I want to learn just how much health I’ll
gain from foraging red berries; I want to find
exclusive images, in-depth backstories, and
the occasional merch catalogue (looking at
you, Lara C Merchandise). Sure, online is
great, but flicking through a book and getting
swept up in the lore of what’s to come just
To open each £60 feels far more inviting and exciting. So, with
the prettiest of pleases and said foraged
box and find only a disc berry on top, fire up those printers, get them
back in boxes, and allow us to be swept up
Exclusive editions are great, but paying hundreds
is disappointing. of pounds for a bit more than just a disc is not. in those pages once more.

020
 INSIDER

OPINION

“THE NEXT LIKE A DRAGON

SHOULD ALLOW A WOMAN
TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE.”
Women’s stories have always been
at the heart of Kamurocho anyhow
WRITER BIO
Alan Wen has long J-pop idol. Compared to the titillation of
championed previous games, there was something
playable female unique about being able to empathise with
characters, from
picking Chun-Li in the challenges she faces, especially as a
SFII to creating a young woman enduring sexist creeps.
female Warrior Of
Light in FFXIV.
LIKE A LAD(Y)
The Like A Dragon series may appear The next logical step, then, is for RGG Studio
masculine to the extreme, especially when to go all the way and let a woman take
having the manliest of men (in the shape of centre stage in its next Like A Dragon game.
former protagonist Kazuma Kiryu) and the I don’t mean we should be retiring Ichiban;
patriarchal nature of the yakuza criminal he’s terrific as he is. However, the possibility
organisations at the heart of its stories for a female-fronted game in the LAD
[more on that back in PLAY #43!]. However, universe exists, given spinoffs like Judgment
women have always had a role in the series. or even smaller standalone titles like Like A
Even RGG Studio head Masayoshi Dragon Gaiden. Imagine a female
Yokoyama has said that the foundation of the investigator who has to go undercover as a
series isn’t so much the yakuza but “the red cabaret hostess, inadvertently giving the
light district, the people who live there and perfect excuse to recycle the excellent
their stories”. In other words, women should cabaret club management minigame from
be at the heart of those stories. It’s just that Yakuza 0 and Kiwami 2. Judgment’s Saori
in the past, their roles have often been had to undertake a similar assignment – I’d
reduced to either that of the damsel who love to see this expanded upon.
needs rescuing or that of an object for the Although the studio has also taken
(presumed male) player to ogle at. something of a gendered approach to its
Some kudos should be given to the playable female characters (think of the split
creators of more recent entries, which have in job classes in the recent turn-based RPG
sought to address this imbalance. For instalments, or how Haruka’s version of
instance, Yakuza: Like A Dragon’s Saeko may ‘street battles’ were rhythm games) this can
work as a hostess but she’s also fiercely be a good thing. Where a lot of games
capable and suffers no fools, making her a simply add a female protagonist who plays
strong member of Ichiban’s party. Not that the same as her male counterpart, it’s an
female characters have to be tough to stand opportunity to take a different approach.
out. Yakuza 5 was the first time the series After all, spinoffs can better get away with
had a playable female character – Haruka, experimenting with game mechanics.
as she goes through a journey to become a Gaiden was interesting in how Akame’s
actor, First Summer Uika, wanted to portray
her differently to past female characters,
though the next brave step would be instead
of having her as an annoying quest-giver, to
allow us to play as her defending Sotenbori’s
homeless in the same way that Seonhee
graduated from NPC to party member in
Kudos should be LAD: Infinite Wealth. Instead of being a
victim caught in the underbelly of the sex
given to the creators of trade or a struggling businesswoman waiting
for Ichiban to come to the rescue, it’s time
Chitose’s a playable party member in Infinite
more recent entries. Wealth, not relegated to a supporting role. these sisters were doing it for themselves.

022
 “MORE THAN
PERSONA IN
POINTY EARS.”
048 Metaphor:
ReFantazio

030 Life Is Strange:

Double Exposure
Dialling up our excitement to Max

HIGHLIGHTS
MONSTER HUNTER WILDS 026 | REANIMAL 034 | DIRECTIVE 2080 036 | HOTEL BARCELONA 040 | DELIVER AT ALL
COSTS 042 | HERDLING 046 | BORDERLANDS 4 050 | MAFIA: THE OLD COUNTRY 051 | FLOATOPIA 051 | LOST IN
RANDOM: THE ETERNAL DIE 051 | CUISINEER 051 | SKYDANCE’S BEHEMOTH 051 | PROMISE MASCOT AGENCY 051

025
 PREVIEW
“THE COMBAT IN MONSTER
HUNTER WILDS STILL
FEELS FRESH.”

You’re going to need the biggest

sword you can grab to knock out
Capcom’s roster of big beasts, like
our pal here, the Chatacabra.

026
 PREVIEW

FORMAT PS5 / ETA 2025 / PUB CAPCOM

DEV CAPCOM / PLAYERS 1-4

Monster Hunter
Wilds
Capcom’s ambitious followup is wild at heart
rom the moment an expedition to the Forbidden Lands

F
Fdsfrp#frqĽ#uphg# and is investigating some monster
that Monster Hunter sightings in the area – pretty standard
Zlogv#zrxog#eh# Prqvwhu#Kxqwhu#vwxļ#1#Krzhyhu/#lw#grhv#
sod|deoh#dw#Jdphvfrp# seem as though the story will have a bit
5357/#lw#zdv#doprvw# more of a focus this time around, as
lqhylwdeoh#wkdw#lw#zrxog#eh#rxu# zhġuh#wuhdwhg#wr#d#ohqjwk|#ľ#dvkedfn#
idyrxulwh#jdph#ri#wkh#vkrz1#Li#wkh#wlph# cutscene before getting into the action.
zh#vshqw#zlwk#lw#lv#dq|wklqj#wr#jr#e|/# But the main event is, of course, the
wkh#orqj0dzdlwhg#iroorzxs#wr#Prqvwhu# eponymous monster hunting.
Kxqwhu#Zruog#lv#vkdslqj#xs#wr#eh#wkh# Our party of characters is besieged by
vhulhvġ#qhz#dsh{#suhgdwru1 a Chatacabra – a hulking
beast that can best be
While the series has been FA C T R I C K described as a frog crossed
around for years, it was 2018’s 1. OPEN UP with a silverback gorilla –
Monster Hunter World that Base camps are now found and we’re thrust right into
within the biomes you hunt
propelled it from being for us in, meaning you can walk
rxu#Ľ# uvw#edwwoh1#Dowkrxjk#
sickos willing to hold a PSP in straight into action. Wilds isn’t introducing any
the wrist-destroying claw 2. OLD FRIEND additional weapon types, the
grip to a series for everyone – Capcom hasn’t really shown combat still feels fresh
World was the most returning monsters, but thanks to some fantastic
successful game Capcom had Rathalos made a cameo in changes. We use the Charge
the first trailer.
ever made. Since then we’ve Blade, Hammer, and Great
had the fantastic Monster 3. SEIKRET SAUCE Sword during our time with
Hunter Rise from the portable Players have access to the the game, and each has some
bird mount Seikret, who will
team (which became the automatically head towards new tricks, such as the
company’s second most your destination. Hammer’s ‘Mighty Charge’,
successful game), but we’ve which has us swinging a
been awaiting a true followup to the massive hammer like Thor himself
series’ breakout title. Monster Hunter before smashing the monster.
Wilds was revealed at The Game Awards What’s more, every weapon now has
last year, and every glimpse since has access to a ‘Focus mode’ that allows you
made us desperate to get our hands on a to target your strikes more accurately.
Great Sword and bash some Behemoths. Lwġv#d#plqru#exļ#/#exw#lq#frqmxqfwlrq#zlwk#
the new wound system, it becomes a big
WILD AS THE WIND deal. During battle, monsters will accrue
Rxu#Ľ#uvw#sruwlrq#ri#wkh#ghpr#wdnhv#xv# wounds which you can then target for
through what seems to be the beginning extra damage, or you can use the
of the game. Your Hunter is in charge of devastating Focus mode attacks to

TRACK Monster Hunter Wilds is being developed by the series’ main team, directed by Monster Hunter World
RECORD director Yuya Tokuda, who has worked on the games since 2006’s Monster Hunter Freedom.

027
 1
2

close these wounds in exchange for basic forms, each one is intricately
dealing huge damage and knocking designed (the Chatacabra has a bumhole;
your enemy back. it’s that#wkrurxjk,/#dqg#dv#wkh#Ľjkw#
The second quest we play is the one continues, you’ll notice wear and tear on
zh#vdz#lq#wkh#kdqgv0rļ#suhvhqwdwlrq#dw# wkh#prqvwhuv#dv#|rx#dwwdfn#vshflĽf#duhdv1#
Summer Games Fest. In it, we are after The one negative thing we notice
an Alpha Doshaguma – which allows us during our demo is that the game has
to get to grips with two of the other some framerate issues on PS5, but
mechanics new to Wilds. The alpha they’re nowhere near as bad as in the
monster is surrounded by a herd of other RE Engine open world game,
lesser Doshaguma, and while we only Dragon’s Dogma 2, at any time. Plus, the
need to take down the big lad, game doesn’t have a release date yet, so
separating it from the herd is our top there’s always time for that to change.
3
priority, adding an extra layer of strategy Capcom is determined to streamline
to the combat. Meanwhile, the game’s the game. You walk from your base
weather rages on around us. There are straight into the wilds. Players can now
often sandstorms on the Windward equip both the masculine and feminine
Plains, and these can turn into lightning variations of the armour sets regardless
storms, leading to the arrival of the of their character’s gender. Plus, the
area’s apex monster, Rey Dau, who can updated wheel menu will automatically
destroy you and your target with ease. select which healing item is best suited
to your character based on your current
IF LOOKS COULD KILL situation. Changes like these are helping
Monster Hunter Wilds is the latest game uhĽqh#wkh#vhulhvġ#irupxod#zlwkrxw#orvlqj#
to be made using Capcom’s RE Engine, zkdw#pdnhv#lw#vr#juhdw#lq#wkh#Ľuvw#sodfh1
which is a long-winded way of saying
lwġv#mxvw#dv#jrujhrxv#dv#wkh#olnhv#ri# IMPRESSIONS 1 The RE Engine’s incredible character models continue to
Resident Evil 4 and Devil May Cry 5. The Monster Hunter Wilds looks like being impress us – we’re hoping we’ll be able to craft the best-looking
sets of gear ever. 2 Sometimes you just need to let the
environments are beautifully rendered one of the most impressive games in the
monsters have a wee scrap between themselves. 3 We got our
(especially during the storm), as are the long-running series. If the full release first look at the terrifying Lala Barina in a new Gamescom
character models, but of course the real lives up to this demo, it’ll be a contender trailer. We can’t wait to tackle this one for ourselves. 4 Taking a
stars are the monsters. Even in their for the best game of 2025. party on a hunt is just as exciting as ever. We love a challenge.

028
 PREVIEW

Capcom’s dedication
to amazing looking in-
game grub continues
in Monster Hunter
Wilds – “So tasty!!!”

“CHANGES ARE HELPING REFINE

THE SERIES FORMULA WITHOUT
LOSING WHAT MAKES IT GREAT.”

Monster Hunter Generations

The history of Monster Hunter on PlayStation

01
Monster Hunter debuted on PS2 in 2004. MH 2’s PS2
release skipped the West, but eventually arrived
02
Capcom went with Nintendo platforms for MH 3. But
2010’s Japan-exclusive Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
03
After MH 4 the series skipped PlayStation, but
Monster Hunter World launched on PS4 in 2018 and
worldwide with PSP’s Freedom series in 2006. is the second best selling PSP game despite that. became Capcom’s best-selling game of all time.

029
 “MAX WANTS TO GO BACK IN
TIME, ONLY TO FIND HER
POWERS HAVE CHANGED.”

Max has started at a

prestigious school,
stopped using her powers,
and made new friends in
Safi and Moses, but the
calm won’t last long.

030
 PREVIEW

FORMAT PS5 / ETA 29 OCT / PUB SQUARE ENIX

DEV DECK NINE / PLAYERS 1

Life Is Strange:
Double Exposure
Max Caulfield is on the case again
he Life Is Strange powers have changed. Instead of going

T
universe has grown edfn#lq#wlph/#vkh#qrz#rshqv#glļ#huhqw#
large enough that you wlpholqhv#e|#Ľ#qglqj#jorzlqj#qrghv#lq#
could play quite a few the environment and touching them.
games without any Prvhv#Pxusk|/#dqrwkhu#ri#VdĽ#ġv#iulhqgv/#
relating directly to the who works in a physics lab with her, is
Ľ#uvw#Olih#Lv#Vwudqjh1#Wkh#jdphv#duh# the number-one suspect in the murder
now established as more of a concept fdvh/#kdylqj#wdnhq#dqg#klgghq#VdĽ#ġv#
wkdq#d#Ľ#upo|#lqwhufrqqhfwhg#vhulhv/#vr# camera (for sentimental reasons only, of
it came as a surprise to hear developer frxuvh,1#Qrz#lwġv#xs#wr#xv#wr#Ľ#qg#dqg#
Deck Nine had decided to work on a take the camera before the detective
gluhfw#vhtxho#wr#wkh#ruljlqdo1 dvvljqhg#wr#VdĽ#ġv#fdvh#grhv1

Double Exposure will at no FA C T R I C K HIDE AND SEEK

point assume you achieved a 1. BRANDS? DEAL! Even though Max now
sduwlfxodu#hqglqj#lq#wkh#Ľ#uvw# Square Enix has partnered travels through dimensions
with Doc Martens and
game. Instead Max’s dialogue Polaroid to ensure some
instead of time, it doesn’t
options will allude to either extra exposure. ihho#yhu|#glļ#huhqw#lq#sudfwlvh#
one or the other. While this 2 . FA N T H E O R I E S dv#zh#sod|1#Zh#Ľ#qg#d#jorzlqj#
idea of honouring both Some cast models remind node in a hallway and just
endings might seem like fans of LIS characters, like that, we slip through to a
something of a cop out, it is leading to theories about sunny afternoon when
alt-universe alter egos.
easier on Deck Nine from a Moses is working in his lab
technical perspective, and it 3. NO NODS dqg#VdĽ##lv#vwloo#dolyh1#Dvnlqj#
gives you the freedom to Don’t Nod, developer of the Moses where he would hide
original LIS, is no longer
urohsod|#dv#|rx#vhh#Ľ#w/#udwkhu# involved in the series after important contraband
than locking you in and selling the rights. doesn’t lead to the camera,
assuming either ending is but that would have been too
canon. Fans are already wondering if, or easy, wouldn’t it? It does, however, lead
zkhq/#Fkorh/#Pd{ġv#ehvwlh#lq#wkh#Ľ#uvw# to a videogame classic: the note to self.
game, will appear – unfortunately, we Moses left himself a note of where he
have no news in that regard. hid the camera, but it’s cryptic at best,
In the demo we get to play, the basic telling us it should be somewhere
premise of Double Exposure has already “under the star”. There are plenty of red
been established: Max is now at college, khuulqjv#lq#wkh#rĿ # # fh/#iurp#jorzlqj#vwdu#
and one of her best friends, a woman stickers to posters of star constellations,
qdphg#VdĽ#/#kdv#ehhq#pxughuhg1#Pd{# so we end up going through everything
wants to prevent her death by going zh#fdq#Ľ#qg1#Lwġv#wkh#shuihfw#rssruwxqlw|#
edfn#lq#wlph/#rqo|#wr#Ľ#qg#wkdw#khu# for Double Exposure to showcase one

TRACK Deck Nine has accumulated plenty of experience of making Life Is Strange games by now, having created the
RECORD 2017 spinoff Before The Storm and True Colors, as well as the remasters of the original.

031
 1
2

of the series’ biggest strengths – even doesn’t spot her, Max actually manages
though we are not playing the game to transplant a fully built telescope from
right from the beginning and are thus the dimension she came from into her
almost certainly missing some context, rzq/#hļ#hfwlyho|#vzlwfklqj#d#slhfh#ri#
the lab really comes alive when Max machinery from the other dimension
orrnv#dw#wkh#pdq|#glļ#huhqw#nqlfnnqdfnv# for a version of it in her present, where
vwuhzq#durxqg#wkh#urrp1#D#fdugljdq# it’s already been taken apart and put
here, a photo there, Moses talking about into boxes. This power to transfer
his prank wars with a neighbouring lab; objects will undoubtedly come in handy,
it really doesn’t take much for it to feel exw#lw#pljkw#dovr#fdxvh#khu#vljqlĽ#fdqw#
like we have a better understanding of strain – making something appear out
people we haven’t even met by the time ri#wklq#dlu#lv#d#vljqlĽ#fdqw#xqghuwdnlqj/#
zh#Ľ#qlvk#h{sorulqj1# diwhu#doo1#Dqg#wkh#Ľ#uvw#jdph#pdgh#lw#
3
Following a short puzzle that involves clear that pushing Max’s power too far
realigning the projection of a star chart could have consequences…
rq#wkh#ode#zdoov/#zh#Ľ#qdoo|#Ľ#qg#wkh# But for now, we’ve managed to save
camera. It’s not rocket science, but the the day! Before we leave, Detective
multiple redirects we face to get the Doghupdq#dvnv#xv#wr#fr0rshudwh#zlwk#
camera are fun, and you don’t really him and give him any information we
expect heavy puzzling from Life Is come across. This is framed as one of the
Vwudqjh1#Lq#rughu#wr#Ľ#qg#wkh#fdphud/#zh# zhljkw|#ghflvlrqv#wkdw#zloo#lqľ#xhqfh#wkh#
seamlessly slip in and out of timelines, course of the story. It seems like a small
which still looks cool even after we’ve choice, but if we’ve learned one thing
done it several times, and by the end about Life Is Strange, it’s that nothing is
we’ve come to know Moses, a character ever as simple as it seems.
new to the series, a bit better than before.
IMPRESSIONS 1 As the main suspect in the murder, Moses is clearly in
LIFE GETS STRANGER There’s a lot to love about Double trouble, and we’re coming to the supernatural rescue. Hang in
there, pal! 2 Because Max has new powers, newcomers to the
There might also be more to Max’s Exposure already, as it sticks to the
series won’t be disadvantaged when they play. 3 Asking Moses
srzhuv#wkdq#vkliwlqj#lqwr#glļ#huhqw# immediately familiar mix of cosy and what he did with the camera can’t hurt, but we won’t find it that
dimensions. In desperate need of a way dramatic. Our only worry is how it will fit easily. Some people just don’t want to be helped… 4 If you send
wr#glvwudfw#Ghwhfwlyh#Doghupdq#vr#kh# with the events of the original. out a pulse, you can see items from another dimension.

032
 PREVIEW

Max’s new powers

are cool, but is
there any rhyme or
reason to them?

“THE LAB COMES ALIVE WHEN

MAX LOOKS AT THE DIFFERENT
KNICKKNACKS STREWN AROUND.”

Rewind the clock

Some cameos we’ve spotted in Double Exposure

01
Hawt damn, it’s hawt dawg man, returned as the
most annoying Christmas ornament known to
02
While the appearance of a double moon in LIS was
never explained, it hinted at the existence of parallel
03
There’s no word on whether we will actually see
Chloe, given the ending of LIS, but Max is carrying a
mankind. Even so, he has a vital role to play… universes all the way back in the first game. memento of her all the same.

033
 PREVIEW

Gorgeously spooky art

direction and smart framing The next six months,
enhances the terror of these mapped out
tykes’ predicament.

months

SLITTERHEAD
Only the bodiless Hyoki
can do anything to stop
Slitterhead, body-hopping
all over the shop.
FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 8 NOV
PUB BOKEH GAME STUDIO

FORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB THQ NORDIC / DEV TARSIER STUDIOS / PLAYERS 1-2

Reanimal months
Alive and kicking

ou know the saying, ‘Curiosity killed the lqľxhqfh#ri#zkdwhyhu#hylo#kdv#wdnhq#urrw#

Y cat,’ though what is all too often forgotten

is the bookend, ‘Satisfaction brought it
back.’ From the original developer of
Little Nightmares (the third game is
is far-reaching to say the least…
Emissaries of this malicious presence
take a variety of forms, from the
tried-and-true Tarsier
currently in development at cinematic
horror expert Supermassive Games) “HALFWAY enemy design of ‘spindly
adults’ and ‘far-from-
VAMPIRE: THE
MASQUERADE –
comes this fresh horror.
BETWEEN auspicious-authoritarians’
to the exciting new
BLOODLINES 2
Now delayed until the first
Much like in Little Nightmares II, you
INSIDE AND PET inclusion of ‘*blorp!*ed- half of next year.
follow two masked protagonists – this up farm animals.’ A FORMAT PS5, PS4
time a brother and sister – through an
SEMATARY.” particularly arresting ETA EARLY 2025
all-new, skin-prickling tale of terror. set-piece sees a many- PUB PARADOX INTERACTIVE

The siblings carefully pick their way limbed lamb towering over
through a once familiar, now gut-churning landscape the orphans - and leaves us seriously
in search of their imperilled friends. considering the virtues of veganism.
It’s playable in both local and online co-op, players
sharing the camera’s focus rather than seeking solace IMPRESSIONS
in split-screen. Also new for a Tarsier frightfest is the We’re excited to see Tarsier claw its
deployment of spoken dialogue. It remains to be seen creepy way back onto our consoles. months
just how chatty these plucky orphans will turn out to Long live the new nightmare!
be, but initial glimpses suggest Tarsier will save their
words for only the most skin-crawling of utterances.
Rxu#Ľuvw#orrn#dw#wkh#jdph#rshqv#zlwk#wkh#zrugv#
“Nothing lasts forever,” and they’re right, you know –
sometimes it even comes back worse.

ISLE OF FRIGHT
Something rotten has gone to ground on the island
your twin protagonists once called home, seeding
LOST RECORDS: BLOOM
& RAGE – TAPE 2
scares halfway between Playdead’s Inside and The conclusion of Don’t
something altogether a bit more Pet Sematary. As in Nod’s throwback fable.
Tarsier’s earlier work, your best bet for survival is Two words: hit record!
sneaking past the horrors unnoticed. Even so, that’s a These young’uns used to call the island home, FORMAT PS5, PS4
more complicated prospect this time around as the but now nothing feels either cosy or familiar. ETA 18 MAR / PUB DON’T NOD

034
 PREVIEW
“THE SHIP IS
HUMANITY’S LAST
CHANCE TO SURVIVE
AMONG THE STARS.”

036
 If we’re humanity’s
last chance… enjoy
the universe, bugs. PREVIEW

FORMAT PS5 / ETA 20 SEP / PUB SUPERMASSIVE GAMES

DEV SUPERMASSIVE GAMES / PLAYERS 1-5

Directive 8020
Supermassive’s most ambitious game yet
he next game in the yourself, but as the ship is humanity’s

T
Dark Pictures last chance to survive among the stars,
Anthology (though for our species’ survival.
that branding has There are seven main crew members,
been minimised here), between them having access to devices
Directive 8020, feels such as a utility strap to remotely
like what Supermassive Games has control electronics, a scanner which
been building towards for the last half works like Batman’s detective vision (er,
a decade. With a more open design and if it were super-crappy and could only
new control system, this feels less like send out a ping once every second and a
QTE cinema and more akin to survival half), a messenger device to check in
horror such as Dead Space and The with your fellow survivors, and an
Callisto Protocol. electric wedge tool that looks like a cross
between a baton and a taser. The idea is
“We planned through the course of the that these tools will give you the
Season One games [that there impetus to further explore
would be] little steps towards and approach your objectives
this [but] this is a big leap FA C T R I C K lq#glļ#huhqw#zd|v/#exw#
forward,” acknowledges 1 . G O T TA S TA R T Supermassive is keen to
creative director Will Boyle as Lashana Lynch is known for make it clear that there’s
he introduces us to the game. films like Captain Marvel and
The Woman King but hasn’t
still “no comfort in
While previous Dark Pictures worked in horror before. exploration”, and sometimes
jdphv#kdyh#ehhq#exlow#rļ##wkh# 2 . G O T TA S TA R T the best thing to do is to just
bones of branching narrative The game’s creative director
get the hell out of Dodge
adventures, with Directive Will Doyle’s previous credits rather than look for a reward
8020 Supermassive wants to include writing Kinect: rļ##wkh#ehdwhq#wudfn1
Disneyland Adventures.
inject much more activity into During our demo, we
the equation. 3. BAD ENDING receive a side-objective to
At Gamescom the devs asked check in on a crewmate
the audience if they wanted
HORROR LENS Lynch’s character to survive called Mitchell, who’s been
This can even be seen even in the demo... We all voted no. orfnhg#lq#dq#lqĽ#updu|#diwhu#
the camera position. While becoming erratic in his
predecessors like Little Hope, House Of behaviour. However, our reward for
Ashes, and Man Of Medan favoured tracking him down isn’t some upgrade
cinematic camera angles, 8020’s materials, but instead a confrontation
emphasis on an over-the-shoulder with another monstrous organism
camera is more in line with modern halfway through the process of
survival horror. The same goes for the becoming a Mimic Mitchell. This
mechanics, our demo featuring a stealth encounter doesn’t end well, and we’re
section in which staying out of sight of treated to a rather gory death sequence.
shapeshifting monsters is vital. Trapped In fact, all this extra control in
alongside them on the Cassiopeia, Directive 8020 looks like it will make the
|rxġuh#Ľ#jkwlqj#qrw#mxvw#wr#vxuylyh#iru# jdph#pxfk#pruh#glĿ # # fxow/#ru#dw#ohdvw#

TRACK While the branding has been minimised, this is the fifth Dark Pictures game. Supermassive has also made
RECORD standalone horror titles like Until Dawn, The Quarry, and Dead By Daylight spinoff The Casting Of Frank Stone.

037
 1
2

increase the margin of error played with a more serious setting (the
drastically in life-or-death situations . Iraq war), most of these games have
You’re no longer just trying to hit the leaned into being referential to quite
QTE commands, you’ve got full control campy subgenres. With Directive 8020,
of the character – and if you mess up, wkh#whdp#zloo#Ľ#qg#wkhlu#zrun#ehlqj#
death is permanent. We ask the devs compared to cinematic masterpieces
about this and they have two answers: like Alien and The Thing. Dan McDonald,
Ľ#uvw/#lwġv#frqĽ#uphg#wkdw#wkh#whdp#lv# Directive 8020’s executive producer,
currently working on a ‘no death’ doesn’t seem to be fazed, though,
accessibility option that will ensure you saying, “It’s great to be compared to
(and your friends if you’re playing in those kinds of things, or that we can
multiplayer) will get to see an ending compare ourselves to that”, highlighting
where all the characters survive; and, that the dev team love the freedom of
3
second, when we ask if there would be being able to hop between genres and
respawning or a survival mechanic tones and styles. He says, “We want [all
brought into the series, we’re told that of our fans] scared out of their minds but
the team are looking at ways to mitigate we want them to laugh and cry.”
everyone dying/game overs. The chance to welcome players to new
types of horror (whether that’s schlocky
DARK DELIGHTS or dead serious) is something the team
One of the best things about The Dark seem to take great joy in. Regardless of
Pictures series is that it shows how well whether Directive 8020 manages to be a
Supermassive understands the horror good game while introducing a new
genre. From casting characters to chew audience to futuristic horror, it’s hard
scenes to nailing the varying levels of not to respect it as a goal.
camp and dread needed for each
vxejhquh#wkh#glļ#huhqw#jdphv#sod|# IMPRESSIONS 1 Now would be a good time to run, Lashana… (Seriously, how
around with, the team just seem to love Directive 8020 looks like a bold new beautifully are the faces rendered? And how awful is that going
to make the horrors?) 2 We doubt anything bad happened here
horror. That said, the challenge now is to direction for The Dark Pictures, but the
or anything. 3 Equally, this look like a perfectly safe space
match the calibre of horror media that devs are saying all the right things and where nothing bad has happened. Well, there’s less twisted
this game will inevitably be compared certainly have a firm grasp on what kind metal than in the last location, at any rate. 4 Please do not
wr1#Zkloh#Krxvh#Ri#Dvkhv#ghĽ#qlwho|# of horror game they want to make. touch the goo, no matter how pretty the purply-pink colour!

038
 PREVIEW

Oh, we don’t
think your body
is meant to
look like that.

“WE WANT [OUR FANS] SCARED

OUT OF THEIR MINDS BUT WE
WANT THEM TO LAUGH AND CRY.”

Picture house
Our favourite prior games in the Dark Pictures Anthology

01
The Man Of Medan asked the question: what if
Shenmue was set on a boat and spooky as heck?
02
Rumoured to be based on a Silent Hill pitch, Little
Hope is similarly foggy and similarly psychological,
03
The Devil In Me features a documentary film crew we
love to hate as they run around a hotel that is also a
Remote co-op means different jumps for players. centring on a sordid historical witch trial. serial killer’s shifting deathtrap murder maze.

039
 PREVIEW
1

FORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB WHITE OWLS / DEV WHITE OWLS / PLAYERS 1

Hotel Barcelona
Is a criminal record a requirement to stay here?
4
he collaboration of Swery65, known for his down, and feel like some of the hardest

T horror work like Deadly Premonition, with

the wild mind behind No More Heroes and
Killer7, Suda51, feels like one made in
heaven – where they walk, cult classics follow. While
Ľjkwv#wkh#wzr#ghyv#kdyh#hyhu#frph#xs#
with (and some of the ones in No More
Khurhv#duh#qr#mrnh,1#Fdsslqj#rļ#rxu#
hands-on is Slasher Slugger, a clear
they’re long-time friends, Hotel Barcelona marks the homage to Friday The 13th’s Jason, who
Ľuvw#wlph#wkh#sdlu#kdyh#fuhdwhg#vrphwklqj#wrjhwkhu1 presides over a summer-camp-themed
level. Here, though, Jacob, the killer, is
So, exactly what sort of game do you get when you more American football jock than
bring these two together in the same room? Well, you hockey mask wearer, and double the
get not just one room, but a whole hotel, and a vl}h/#Ľoolqj#wkh#vfuhhq1
potentially endless one at that. The level is a neat homage to the
At a strange hotel on the outskirts of prylhv#lw#ulļv#rq/#dqg#zh#kdyh#sohqw|#ri#
Pittsburgh, serial killers have gathered. And time to revel in all the details too, given
FA C T R I C K you’re one of them – even though you’re a the number of times he bashes us back
1. SHINING LIGHT policewoman, you have the spirit of a serial to the beginning. And we aren’t alone in
While not all the horror killer living inside you. Don’t assume the rxu#idloxuhv#Ğ#vwdļ#zdwfklqj#ryhu#wkh#
film inspirations have been combination of developers means either demo tell us nobody else who has
revealed, Swery65 cited The
Shining as a major one. one has mellowed; this is as fully absurd attempted it has managed to win. We
2. MISSING LINK
and slasher-horror-like as a game can be. don’t change things in our hands-on,
Swery65’s The Missing
Playing through each level in order to though of course someone might have
features a core mechanic exterminate the hotel’s clientele of killers, managed it since.
where death and injury are each at least partially inspired by the golden Crucially, though, it doesn’t feel
used to aid your progression.
age of 1980s horror, don’t expect a clean unfair. As ever with a roguelike, over
3. MORE HEROES victory: you will die, and each death makes time you’ll grow more familiar with
This game was conceived on |rx#vwurqjhu#dqg#jlyhv#|rx#d#Ľjkwlqj#fkdqfh# what the game’s demanding of you, and
stage during a No More
Heroes event in 2019. Work of slicing these killers down to size. be able to lean on upgrade mechanics to
on it started a year later. improve your abilities, such as powering
KILL AGAIN up the Slasher Phantoms. It’s tough to
Gunning for the head of a boss-level serial killer means judge a game like this that thrives on
working your way through the hotel’s many hallways, many, many repeated attempts after
making for dungeons not dissimilar to those in only a few, but we love the passion and
roguelikes such as Hades, as you’ll love for classic horror
have a choice of the sequence in
which you take on levels before you “THE BOSS FIGHT IS that oozes out of what
we get to play.
idfh#rļ#djdlqvw#wkh#khdg#krqfkr1#
Hdfk#fkrlfh#rļhuv#glļhuhqw#vwdw0 A HOMAGE TO FRIDAY Swery65 has
admitted this unlikely
boosting rewards, meaning you’ll
need to work towards creating THE 13TH TITLED collaboration with
Suda51 is the result of
optimum builds before the end. Death
means, of course, trying again – but SLASHER SLUGGER.” an impulsive joke
between friends made
this is where Hotel Barcelona stands during a Q&A session 4 A whole slew of enemies
out. Cop it, and a Slasher Phantom based on your last without any deeper plans in place. Yet and horror-inspired serial
attempt is created, a sort of ghost that robotically now they’ve actually produced it, it’s killers await you at this
follows the path of previous failures and repeats the clear the game itself is no joke. If the full unusual hotel. 5 If this sort
actions you took, meaning you can play buddy-cop with version can match the potential of violence is the norm at this
hotel, we’re giving it a
a past version of yourself that will slice enemies just as showcased here, this is a hack-and-
one-star review. 6 As you
|rx#glg/#hļhfwlyho|#zdwfklqj#|rxu#edfn#dqg#iuhhlqj#|rx# slash worth waiting for. make renewed attempts to
to stop other attackers. beat each nails-hard level,
These phantoms can be genuine lifesavers, doing IMPRESSIONS your strength will increase.
everything from helping you hold down ground to Two legendary Japanese developers
simply dealing more total damage in combination with have come together for an all-new side-
your new strikes. That’s as true when it comes to scrolling action title, and early
tackling boss serial killers as their goons. These impressions suggest they are on the
multi-phase monstrosities take a lot of work to put verge of creating another cult classic.

TRACK Swery65 is known for his work on horror titles, Deadly Premonition in particular, as well as thoughtful puzzle platformer The
RECORD Missing, while Suda51 is best known for work on the assassin-battling No More Heroes and Killer7.

040
 PREVIEW
2 3

1 Slasher Phantoms follow

your previous moves,
meaning you can let them
make the first attack before
joining the fight. 2 The
killers aren’t the only ones
with unusual tastes.
3 A home run is a
dangerous possibility when
fighting this boss.

5 6

041
 “YOUR JOB IS TO TAKE ON ANY
AND ALL DELIVERIES ON BEHALF
OF COMPANY WE DELIVER.”

The use of ’50s

Americana gives St
Monique character.

042
 PREVIEW

FORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB KONAMI

DEV FAR OUT GAMES / PLAYERS 12

Deliver At All Costs

The go go go between
ure, we all love to krsslqj#rxw#wr#Ľ{#ghľdwhg#zkhhov#wkdw#

S
complain about make your ride careen from side to side a
delivery companies, matter of holding down a button. Yet,
but have you tried just as citizens need help, they’ll get
delivering things annoyed with your smashing up the
yourself? By the time town, and will rush at you to give you a
wkh#kdoi0ghdg#pduolq#ľrsv#rxw#ri#|rxu# piece of their mind, which can get in the
truck bed for the third time as you try way of repairs. Timing a shove just so
to run it between factories (you’re will knock them over comically, while
sdvvlqj#lw#rļ#dv#d#uduh#zklwh#pduolq#wr# pdnlqj#wkhp#frro#rļ1
help a client win over the father of the This backbone of physics silliness
love of his life), you’ll be regretting runs parallel to the unique rules of each
your words and deeds. main mission (and there are plenty of
side ones throughout the city as well).
Deliver At All Costs is part isometric Collecting blueprints allows you to
driving challenge, part an develop new ways to play,
excuse for the devs to come from mandatory additions to
up with as many bizarre FA C T R I C K your vehicle such as a crane
physics-based scenarios as 1 . S C H O O L’ S O U T and winch to the power to
possible. When we say the Far Out Games’ core team automatically open both
initially got together in
pduolq#ľrsv/#zh#phdq#lw#Ğ# order to make a game
grruv#Ğ#shuihfw#iru#vodsslqj#
not just threatening to leave project for school. whatever you’re approaching
rxu#ľdwehg/#exw#khdylqj#rxu# 2. SOUPED UP out of the way. Another
steering from side to side as it The garage near your
allows you to slow down time
does. Thankfully, we can rundown apartment building when cornering, helping you
vdwldwh#lw#eulhľ|#e|#gulylqj# allows you to upgrade your make tight manoeuvres
ride with gadgets.
wkurxjk#Ľvk#irrg#vqdfnv/# without losing momentum.
often handily placed behind 3. SWITCH OUT The ’50s-style America is
destructible objects. The top-down isometric fun to blast through during
viewpoint isn’t entirely fixed.
You can switch side-to-side our hands-on, each district
MONEY PROBLEMS to change angles. packed with character and a
Needing employment in order radio injecting comedy with
to pay the bills between science gag ads done in an olde-timey radio
experiments (you’ve recently been presenter style. (One laxative is described
disgraced for your big ideas), your job is as “like a plunger for your insides.”)
to take on any and all deliveries on While most of the main game is
behalf of struggling company We vehicle-based, collectibles and
Gholyhu#Ğ#qr#pdwwhu#krz#vloo|1 side-missions sometimes require you to
Vw#Prqltxh#lv#d#flw|#Ľoohg#zlwk# explore on foot. Usually this involves
destructibles to mow down as you make rudimentary platforming (somewhat
|rxu#zd|#iurp#D#wr#E#Ğ#dqg#|rxu#fdu#zloo# tricky given the isometric viewpoint,
also take knocks. Automotive repair is zklfk#|rx#fdq#vzlyho#ehwzhhq#wzr#Ľ{hg#
one of your engineering skills, making positions). An early side-mission we

TRACK Far Out Games is based in Gothenburg, Sweden; this is the studio’s debut. The team met while working on a
RECORD school project. Publisher Konami has previously partnered with other indie developers to release their games.

043
 1
2

take on has us hopping across between locations to spruce up the fruits

rooftops, a cheekily placed can of yellow so they’ll appear fresher than they are
paint explaining why the path forward is on behalf of the grocer hawking them.
pdunhg#zlwk#wkh#vwxļ#1# One favourite has us driving with a
bunch of helium balloons tied to the
DRIVE SILLY edfn#ri#wkh#fdu1#Wkhvh#lqľ#dwh#dv#zh#jr#
But it’s behind the wheel where Deliver and lift up the rear wheels so we can
Dw#Doo#Frvwv#vklqhv#Ğ#vhwwlqj#dvlgh#wkh# only steer with the front, and even the
physics silliness, just steering the cars slightest jump sends us soaring through
around the world is fun. While the the air for seconds at a time. We even
lvrphwulf#ylhzsrlqw#pdnhv#lw#glļ#huhqw# get stuck on a railing as we descend,
to classic Grand Theft Auto, the though a pinball-like nudge power
eye-in-the-sky approach does evoke a doorzv#xv#wr#zuljjoh#iuhh1#Wkh#Ľ#qdo#
3
vlplodu#ihholqj#Ğ#wkrxjk#khuh#wkh#irfxv# challenge in our demo involves
is more on lightweight gags than measuring a volcanic eruption using a
anything malicious. You can take cars seismograph, all while driving up a
you don’t own, for example, but only mountain as rocks threaten to punt us
parked ones. Likewise, if you shove rļ##wkh#qduurz#urdgv#wkdw#vqdnh#xs#lw1
members of the public around, they’ll We’ve yet to see much of the story
tumble but everyone is okay in the end. tying it all together, but so far it’s a fun
Which is all well and good, as quite enough thread to follow. Not that we
often you’ll wreak chaos across St need an excuse to get back behind the
Monique. In the opening mission you’re wheel when the driving feels this good,
ihuu|lqj#d#fudwh#ri#Ľ#uhzrunv/#zklfk# and the challenges so creative. We can’t
ignite as you drive, causing destruction wait to see what we have to deliver next.
all around you that you’ll have to try to
avoid. Another mission requires more IMPRESSIONS 1 Slick driving butts against objectives that deliberately try to
precision, as you try to keep a truckload Tight isometric driving meets heaps of mess with your ability to do so. It’s a fun combination. 2 You’re
not just helping to put We Deliver back on the map, you’re out to
of rotten melons from spilling out onto creative challenges all based around
prove yourself as an inventor as well. 3 Some goodies can be
the streets. There’s a counter telling you messing with the physics of putting the only reached on foot. St Monique has plenty hidden just out of
how many remain, and you’ve got to pedal to the metal. We have a feeling the the way. 4 Your truck is easy enough to repair (even after this!)
keep it above a certain number as you go full release will, well, deliver. but having to get out to patch it up will still slow you down.

044
 PREVIEW

Regions are
divided by brief
loading screens.

“SETTING ASIDE THE PHYSICS

SILLINESS, IT’S SIMPLY FUN
TO STEER THE CARS.”

Job hunting
Some of the deliveries at all costs

01
Delivering a crate of fireworks should be simple,
except there’s no lid and for some reason they’re
02
Helium balloons attached to the back of your truck
pull up the rear, putting you believably off-balance as
03
Mount Calahan is erupting. You’ll need to get close to
it with a seismograph attached to your truck to get
self-lighting. Explosive, colourful chaos ensues. you drive, and giving extra height off jumps. helpful readings from it. Just avoid the rocks!

045
 PREVIEW

FORMAT PS5, / ETA 2025

PUB PANIC / DEV OKOMOTIVE / PLAYERS 1

Herdling
Over the mountain and far away
komotive is a Swiss developer whose a little ditty, Disney-Princess-style, and

O games are all about the journey. Rather

than nudging vehicles along as in its earlier
series, Far, the studio’s next project sees
you shepherding a livelier crowd. Horned, furry, and
delighting as your herd whistles while it
works. Instead, both biped and
quadrupeds need to work together to, for
instance, shove abandoned railway
presumably quadrupedal – it’s a little hard to tell infrastructure out of their path. In
exactly what’s going on under those impressive quieter moments, a scritch behind the
coats – a herd of Calicorns pulls you ear of your Calicorn as a
forward through this pastoral adventure. reward for a job well done
FA C T R I C K doesn’t go amiss.
You play as a young Calicorn herder, racing 1. A HANDFUL That said, it’s hard not to
A demo of Herdling was
alongside this mysterious bunch of bovines playable for the first time
see these sweet moments of
on little legs that can scarcely keep up. at gaming expo PAX West aļection between herd and
Bringing up the rear of the pack, you’ll earlier this year. herder without our minds
venture with them towards a looming 2 . S M A L L I S B E A U T I F U L tumbling down the
mountain range, touring Ľelds capped in a Okomotive is a tiny studio, rabbithole of all the ways our
light dusting of snow, misty forests, and employing about 11 full-time bovine pals will inevitably
staff dedicated to “crafting
more all the way to whatever awaits you at atmospheric journeys”. become imperilled. It’s clear
the summit. Your bond with these shaggy Okomotive isn’t looking to
3. THE LONG VIEW
beasts is central to the whole thing, and rip your heart out with this
Publisher Panic has made
though you hail from completely diļerent direct comparisons between migratory yarn, but we have
species, you’ll need to work together to Herdling and Campo no doubt that the ending of
Santo’s Firewatch.
navigate a variety of obstacles throughout a this tale will leave us feeling
largely abandoned world. distinctly moo-ved.

MAKING TRACKS IMPRESSIONS

The Ľrst of these obstacles is, as you may have already Stories about a kid and their creature
guessed, communication. Okomotive’s earlier work has get us every time – there’s always a
leant towards text-lite storytelling, and Herdling takes meaningful journey to be had, if not
that one step further, relaying its animal wrangling always a happy ending. We can’t wait to
fable without dialogue. Here there’s no hope of trilling set off on this emotional trail next year.

TRACK Okomotive is best known for its side-scrolling series of Far games, beginning with the dessicated-wasteland-traversing Far:
RECORD Lone Sails in 2019. Most recently the boat-based Far: Changing Tides pulled into port on PS5 and PS4 in 2022.

046
 PREVIEW

“YOUR BOND WITH THESE

SHAGGY BEASTS IS CENTRAL
TO THE WHOLE THING.”

What a view! The scenery only

becomes more breathtaking
as you run alongside your herd
in what Okomotive is calling
‘stampede sequences.’

047
 1

PREVIEW

This enemy, a ‘human’,

is one of the worst
and/or most exciting
things we’ve seen.

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 10 OCT / PUB SEGA, ATLUS / DEV STUDIO ZERO, ATLUS / PLAYERS 1

Metaphor: ReFantazio
The fantasy Persona we’ve all been waiting for
2
n idea so good someone should really have ervv#hqhp|#zh#Ľjkw#lv#vrphwklqj#rxw#ri#

A had it before – Metaphor: ReFantazio

really feels like someone took the Persona
games and transplanted them into a
fantasy world. That’s no huge surprise, given that
a nightmare, the menus (always an
Atlus strong point) look better than
ever, and the music goes incredibly hard.
In its turn-based combat, the length
developer Studio Zero is helmed by Persona director of a turn is determined by how many
Katsura Hashino and features other familiar faces turn icons you have – each action
such as character designer Shigenori Soejima and consumes one. By catching enemies
composer Shoji Meguro. unawares out in the world, you can
immediately unleash impressive combo
You play as a travelling boy who belongs to an attacks with your squad, ending battles
oppressed race, and who isn’t a silent protagonist this almost before they’ve even begun. In
time around – although he uses his words every battle, the screen shakes with
sparingly. Unlike most people, he has hdfk#klw#dqg#huxswv#lq#oljkwlqj#hļhfwv#zh#
FA C T R I C K neither horns nor elf ears, which marks him never get bored of. As the demo we get
1 . B I G B I RT H DAY out as the member of a lower class. When to play starts at the very beginning of
Atlus is celebrating its the king is murdered and the prince, who is the game, we haven’t seen the half of it
35th anniversary with a something of an adoptive brother to you, yet; Metaphor is going to have a class
Metaphor special edition 1 Sneak attacks give you an
for Asian regions. cursed with eternal sleep, you join the army system, allowing its characters to switch advantage in battle straight
wr#Ľqg#dq#lqirupdqw#vwloo#or|do#wr#wkh#furzq1# skills, as well as a social system, and we away. 2 The intermittent
2. POLITICAL PERSONA
Instead of making friends
However, unrest is already spreading across haven’t met most of our squad yet, but anime cutscenes are
using the social links system, the land, and if you want to help the prince, those we have seem to be – no joke – absolutely beautiful. 3 Louis
you gain followers, which will you may have to go so far as prevent some doesn’t look like someone
named after the current Formula 1
help you in the election. who should have the throne.
political scheming. It’s messy. It’s bloody. roster. The glimpse we’ve had of the 4 In order to win a desperate
3 . E V E R Y D A Y FA N A T S Y It’s fantasy at its most realistic, showing the zruogexloglqj#dqg#wkh#ľxlg#frpedw# battle, you gain the power to
Persona’s day system is part team that didn’t pull any punches when it alone makes us excited for more. call something that looks
of Metaphor, we just haven’t
seen how you can actually came to talking about Japanese high school suspiciously like a Persona.
spend your time yet. life won’t hold back here either. IMPRESSIONS
If our first impressions are justified,
FEUDAL FANTASY this will offer familiar styles and
But Metaphor is more than ‘just’ Persona in pointy ears systems, while placing them in a realm
and a fantasy costume – it’s somehow even more that looks so much more interesting than
stylish than anything the team have done before. The another iteration of Tokyo.

TRACK Studio Zero is a full subsidiary of Atlus. The developers who form it worked on the likes of Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, and
RECORD Catherine before splitting off into a new team for this adventure – so we’re expecting great things of them.

048
3 4

Teammates assemble
Some drivers… er, characters in your team

01
Strohl hails from a noble family and can’t abide
injustice – when he sees you being bullied, he steps
02
Hulkenberg is one of the fiercest warriors you’ll
meet. This former knight served the prince and loves
03
Heismay hails from the Eugief tribe,which, like your
own, is often discriminated against. If you mistake
in straight away and becomes your army buddy. him as much as the protagonist does. his cuddly appearance for weakness, you’ll regret it.

049
 PREVIEW

Borderlands 4
FORMAT PS5 / ETA 2025 / PUB 2K
DEV GEARBOX / PLAYERS TBC

esperate to wash out the taste of defeat left by this year’s Borderlands flick? Well,
D pull those suckers out of your mouth and get a load of what Gearbox is cooking
up – this loot-shooter cure for what ails you. Picture this: a planet with an
apparently crystalline ozone layer, then strange meteors and the cracked visage of series
setting Pandora shattering the atmosphere as they enter orbit. One meteor survives the
hellish re-entry and touches down on the planet’s surface. A mechanical hand reaches
into frame, gingerly handling the meteor – only to reveal it’s a Psycho mask. Something
has gone down on Pandora, and now it’s not just the Vault Hunters’ problem…

050
 PREVIEW

Mafia: The Old Floatopia Lost In Random: Atelier Yumia:

Country FORMAT PS5 / ETA 2025
PUB NETEASE / DEV NETEASE
The Eternal Die The Alchemist Of
FORMAT PS5 / ETA 2025 / PUB 2K
DEV HANGAR 13 / PLAYERS 1
PLAYERS ONLINE MULTIPLAYER FORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC
PUB THUNDERFUL PUBLISHING
Memories & The
Following three mainline games Ready for our best attempt at a
DEV THUNDERFUL DEVELOPMENT Envisioned Land
PLAYERS 1
and some luscious remasters, it’s movie trailer voice? All right, here FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA EARLY 2025
PUB KOEI TECMO / DEV GUST
time to take this story back to we go: in a world where everybody After rolling through the first PLAYERS 1
where it all began: 1900s Sicily. As is special, and everybody has their game’s unique fairytale world,
well as shifting the setting away own superpower, you have… a we’ve often wondered where this After a slew of sequels to the open
from North American cities during dead-end job. But worry not, little fable will fall next. Focussing on the world Ryza subseries, and a
the 20th century, The Old Country starry-eyed cherub, because first game’s memorable villainess, dreamy followup story for
is switching things up gameplay- there’s a world of colourful, pretty the masked Queen Aleksandra, much-beloved alchemist Sophie,
wise. Whereas Mafia III was set in a floating islands out there where feels a bit like we’ve rolled double Gust is cooking up something
massive open world loosely based your undervalued talent can save sixes. Here, she’s depowered but brand new. In this decidedly
on New Orleans, this entry the day. From decorating up a far from helpless in a high-rolling melancholy adventure, the
promises a ‘back to series basics’ storm to changing the weather, roguelite adventure. Besides enigmatic Yumia has already lost
approach, centring a more linear, Floatopia promises a cosy life sim having backup from her own everything – but she’s not about to
narrative-forward experience. community where you’ll fit right in, sentient die companion, Fortune, give up and let go of what was
Don’t misunderstand us, there’ll be making friends with other players Aleksandra can duck and weave taken from her. On top of whipping
plenty of gunplay too – just mixed in as well as the adorable NPCs. The between AOE attacks with the best up a brew with her alchemist’s
with an unhealthy dose of politically less than cosy or cute catch? of ‘em, before dashing in close to staff, Yumia can blow away fightier
motivated back-stabbings. As we Gacha mechanics. While the full dole out damage. The focus this cauldron ingredients with rifle-like
previously visited Sicily in Mafia II, scope of these has yet to be time is definitely on snappy action, blasts of magic. But in this massive
and a whole campaign was revealed, their inclusion will no but we’re looking forward to the fantasy world (featuring fantasy
planned there, this is something doubt leave a number of players fresh wrinkles this followup adds to ziplines for zooming around), there
the devs have put serious time into. out in the cold. the villainess’s story. are always bigger dragons to fry…

Promise Mascot
Agency
FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2025
PUB KAIZEN GAME WORKS
DEV KAIZEN GAME WORKS
PLAYERS 1
In this small-town story, an exiled
Cuisineer yakuza finds himself responsible
for an agency of unruly, unloved
FORMAT PS5 / ETA 28 JAN
PUB MARVELOUS EUROPE mascots. Just so we’re clear,
DEV BATTLEBREW PRODUCTIONS you’re not helping a down-on-
PLAYERS 1 their-luck performer inside the
Common sense generally dictates costume; in the town of Kaso-
you don’t want any furry friends in Machi, mascots are living beings in
the kitchen – but we just can’t say their own right. Among them are a
no to that face. Kitty-eared Pom severed pinky finger with serious
heads out to the local dungeon to anger issues and a block of Tofu
hunt and gather exactly what’s for
dinner. Through roguelite action,
Skydance’s Behemoth who never stops crying – bless.
Between touring the town’s open
she puts the smackdown on fighty FORMAT PSVR2 / ETA TBC / PUB SKYDANCE GAMES world map, you’ll be managing
DEV SKYDANCE GAMES / PLAYERS 1
ingredients with her trusty spatula. mascots, steering them away from
Rather than the usual elemental disaster one card-based play at a
s Wren the Hunter, you have your hands full
strengths and weaknesses, these
beasties fall into flavour categories
like salty, sour, and bitter. Once
A crossing blades with bandaged bandits – until
unexpected allies present themselves. In
time. With a little luck, each hand
may bring you closer to unravelling
the mystery of your exile.
obtained, Pom carts them back addition to shooting, slashing, and lopping off bits of
home to serve in her restaurant enemies, you can crush the opposition thanks to the
(which you can decorate to your
heart’s content). But both massive beasties that skulk across the land.
ingredients and customers require Surrounded? Just lure your foe into the path of the
specialised wrangling, and there’s creature and see them crushed underfoot – or worse!
no hope for you if you dare to Playing with scope all the way down, we can’t wait to
underestimate the unstoppable see how this dark fantasy finally shapes up.
force that is the lunch rush.

051
 Art director Thierry Dansereau talks to Scott McCrae
about the world of Assassin’s Creed Shadows
FORMAT PS5
ETA 15 NOV
PUB UBISOFT
DEV UBISOFT
QUEBEC
PLAYERS 1
ASSASSIN’S CREED SHADOWS

052
ASSASSIN’S CREED SHADOWS

This is the first

dual-protagonist
Assassin’s Creed since
we played as the Fryes
in 2016’s Syndicate.

053
 ASSASSIN’S CREED SHADOWS

1
2
lmost 17 years have
passed since the
Ľuvw#Dvvdvvlqġv#
Creed game
launched, and
since the
millisecond it
hit the shelves in
2007, it feels like
everyone has been
asking, ‘But when are they going to
gr#rqh#vhw#lq#ihxgdo#MdsdqBġ#Lq#idfw/#
players have asked it so often that
rqh#ri#wkh#Ľuvw#uhvxowv#iru#Ġihxgdo#
Mdsdqġ#rq#Jrrjoh#lv#dq#Dvvdvvlqġv#
Creed Reddit post.
It’s easy to understand why: swap
the assassin’s robes for a shinobi’s
shozoku and you’ve got a ninja game
on your hands, plus the architecture
of ancient Japan could make for some
interesting level design. And yet,
ghvslwh#45#vhtxhov/#d#Ľop/#dqg#vhyhudo#
vslqrļv/#Dvvdvvlqġv#Fuhhg#kdv#qhyhu#
taken place in most obvious setting
in the world… until now.
We’ve already been introduced to
Dvvdvvlqġv#Fuhhg#Vkdgrzv/#ehlqj#
shown how the game’s two
protagonists Yasuke and Naoe could
each approach a given mission (in
PLAY #44!), with the former going in
loud and proud and the latter doing
the old sneaky-stabby.

ART ATTACK
Now, a few months ahead of launch,
we’re being treated to a closer look at
the world our heroes will be
exploring, led by Thierry Dansereau,
art director at Ubisoft Quebec. It’s
3

WKH#ZHDWKHU#FDQ#DIIHFW#WKH#ZRUOG#
DQG#VR#LQIOXHQFHV#KRZ#\RXU#
FKDUDFWHU#DSSURDFKHV#D#VLWXDWLRQ1

xqghqldeoh#wkdw#Dvvdvvlqġv#Fuhhg# total attention to detail so as not to

4
Vkdgrzv#edfnv#xs#d#vhulhv#wkdwġv# break immersion’.
always been ahead of the curve when However, dynamism is the factor
it comes to creating historical worlds that intrigues us most. In the game,
worth getting lost in. In terms of pure wkh#zhdwkhu#fdq#dļhfw#wkh#zruog#dqg#
judsklfdo#Ľgholw|/#lwġv#kdug#wr#Ľqg# vr#lw#lqľxhqfhv#krz#|rxu#fkdudfwhu#
many games that match up to it. approaches a situation – it’ll be easier
During the presentation, we’re told for Naoe to sneak in heavy rain, for
the art team are striving for three example, but her footsteps may make
glļhuhqw#hvvhqwldo#dwwulexwhv=# noise in the snow. Other elements in
photorealism, realisation, and the world are impacted by the seasons;
g|qdplvp1#Wkh#Ľuvw#lv#vhoi0 a lake that you’re able to swim in at
explanatory, and the team even went warmer times in the year will be
1 The game centres on Honshu, the largest of the
to Japan to scout out locations to frozen over in the winter, and so on. Japanese islands. 2 Seasons will affect the weather and
include in the game. Realisation, on Which does leave us wondering landscape. 3 Buildings will give Naoe a chance to use
the other hand, is described as ‘a krz#ghhs#lw#zloo#jr1#Fdq#vqrz#dqg# her grappling hook. 4 It all looks utterly beautiful.

054
 ASSASSIN’S CREED SHADOWS

5 6

5 Yasuke’s armour is ornate and

terrifying, befitting one of Japan’s
elite warriors. 6 Naoe’s sneakier
by profession, and therefore her
dress is the opposite of Yasuke’s –
she doesn’t want to be seen.

055
 ASSASSIN’S CREED SHADOWS

ģL#WKLQN#LW*V#JUHDW#WLPLQJ/#WKRXJK/#
EHFDXVH#LW#DOORZHG#XV#WR#UHDOO\#
GHYHORS#WKH#QHZ0JHQ#IHDWXUHV1Ĥ

1 2

1 If she can grapple up to a

rooftop, Naoe’s got a good chance
of being able to pass over guards’
heads. 2 Naoe and Yasuke can
have different approaches to the
same situation, suiting their skills.

056
 ASSASSIN’S CREED SHADOWS

3
4
engine can handle over 10,000
on-screen particles at once; however,
the footage we’re being shown is
most likely from an extremely
kljk0hqg#SF1#
Given that recent open-world titles
have had some performance issues
rq#SV8/#zh#dvn#Gdqvhuhdx#krz#wklv#
lqľx{#ri#elwv#dqg#erev#rq#vfuhhq#
zrxog#dļhfw#wkh#shuirupdqfh#rq#wkh#
console. While we aren’t able to get
dq|#h{dfw#ghwdlov#derxw#SV8#
shuirupdqfh#+wkh#vshflĽfv#duh#vwloo#
being hammered out), he does say we
should “rest assured the visual
experience should stay quite even
throughout all platforms.”
When Yasuke or Naoe swing their
swords at any number of objects in
the world, they’ll cut them to
pieces – prop and foliage destruction
ehlqj#dqrwkhu#pdmru#rqh#ri#DF#
Vkdgrzvġ#xsgdwhv1#Pdq|#jdphv#
implement this, but what makes this
unique is that it reacts realistically to
how you attack the object. A bamboo
structure will be cut at the exact
angle at which your sword hits it and
collapse naturally, while containers
zloo#eh#Ľoohg#zlwk#rwkhu#remhfwv#wkdw#
come pouring out once opened.
Our mind immediately goes to
5346ġv#Phwdo#Jhdu#Ulvlqj=#
Revengeance, which allowed you to
cut at will, and the ways we were able
to make use of that. Though don’t get
your hopes up, as here in-game uses
for destructibles seem to be limited.
ģPrvw#ri#wkh#dufklwhfwxuh#lv#qrw#
cuttable,” says Dansereau when we
ask about cutting out platforms from
5
beneath enemies, though you’ll still
mud slow you down, or is their be able to make a dent in most
presence more of a cosmetic surfaces. The “katana is the sharpest
glļhuhqfhB#Gdqvhuhdx#whoov#xv#wkdw# blade in the world,” he adds.
while the animations may change We’re also told that the game won’t
based on the terrain, the team “didn’t feature any pop-in for static objects.
want it to be like something that Or, indeed, many static objects at all.
could be perceived as very negative or We’re glad not much will take us by
have a negative impact on how you the surprise, at the very least.
play.” Given that other recent open
6 world games have had weather that ALSO-RAN
dļhfwv#|rxu#folpelqj#surzhvv#li#lw# One thing that has made a bit of a
rains (you know the one), it’s good to dent in the need for a Japan-inspired
hear that your Assassins will be as Dvvdvvlqġv#Fuhhg#lv#wkh#lqľx{#ri#
nimble as always. samurai titles in recent years –
games like Nioh, Trek To Yomi, and,
DEATH BY 1,000 CUTS of course, Ghost Of Tsushima (which
Another core part of the dynamism in many ways felt like an Assassin’s
shown to us is the wind. Rather than Fuhhg#wlwoh,1#Prvw#ri#wkhvh/#ri#
being static, objects like trees and course, took inspiration from
foliage are instead rigged to react similar places
naturally to the wind, so if a (Dansereau
3 We look forward to exploring this world.
4 The Sengoku era was a brutal one, defined by wars. rainstorm is especially heavy the
5 6 The same location in two different seasons – it’ll be wuhhv#zloo#jr#zlog#dqg#ohdyhv#zloo#ľ|#
interesting to see how the conditions affect how we play. all over the place. We’re told that the

057
 ASSASSIN’S CREED SHADOWS

1
2
vshflĽfdoo|#phqwlrqv#Dnlud#
Nxurvdzdġv#Udq#dv#dq#lqľxhqfh#xsrq#
klv#ghvljq>#wkh#Ľop#zdv#dovr#d#
pdvvlyh#lqľxhqfh#rq#Jkrvw#Ri#
Tsushima) and featured similar eras
in Japanese history (Yasuke featured
in Nioh, for example).
Wkh#Ľuvw#wklqj#zh#zdqw#wr#nqrz#
was: what took the developers so long
wr#vhw#d#jdph#lq#MdsdqB#Dv#zh#nqrz/#
it’s been highly requested for years.
Dansereau reveals that it’s actually
Ubisoft HQ that decides where each
entry will be set. However, he views
this long wait as a bit of a blessing,
saying, “I think it’s great timing,
though, because it allowed us to really
develop the new-gen features which
I think were much needed for such a
setting to fully exploit it”, and telling
us that the team is really proud that
qrz#lv#wkh#wlph#iru#Dvvdvvlqġv#Fuhhg#
to hit Japan.
Zh#dvn#krz#Dvvdvvlqġv#Fuhhgġv#
version of Feudal Japan will stand out
from the competition, but Dansereau
doesn’t seem to make a conscious
hļruw#wr#orrn#dw#zkdw#rwkhuv#kdyh#
grqh/#whoolqj#xv/#ģDvvdvvlqġv#Fuhhg#
has a rich history of making games,
we built the game with the Assassin’s
Fuhhg#sloodu#lq#plqg/Ĥ#gudzlqj#rq#
Ubisoft’s experience in open world
design. He later acknowledges the fan
fervour for this setting, suggesting
that “it’s part of our natural evolution
to make that setting”.
Unlike the last game in the series,
Dvvdvvlqġv#Fuhhg#Pludjh/#zklfk#
returned to some of the design
elements of the earlier games,
3

VL]H0ZLVH/#GDQVHUHDX#VD\V#WR#H[SHFW#D#
PLGGOH#JURXQG=#ģZHġUH#WDONLQJ#DERXW#
^DVVDVVLQġV#FUHHG`#RULJLQV#ELJ1Ĥ#

Dvvdvvlqġv#Fuhhg#Vkdgrzv#lv#pruh#ri# explanation – there’s no need to

4
an open world RPG in the style of overcomplicate and overscope the
Ruljlqv/#Rg|vvh|/#dqg#Ydokdood1#Fdq# story the team wants to tell.
dq#rshq#zruog#jhw#wrr#eljB#Ydokdood# Dvvdvvlqġv#Fuhhg#Vkdgrzv#lv#
verged on it, feeling at times undeniably a looker, and the engine’s
unfathomably large to the point impressive technical improvements
where navigation could become are opening the door to some
arduous. Dansereau tells us to expect interesting new game mechanics –
a middle ground: “We’re talking though it remains to be seen how
about Origins big.” After all, with a they’ll feel to play, and whether they
setting centred on Honshu rather can all come together. But, talking
than Japan’s entire archipelago, the with the team, we get the sense that
team have been able to focus. “This is the Japan setting is as much a dream
1 We already know Naoe can swim under water,
where all the events related to Oda come true for the creatives bringing it breathing through a reed. 2 Between battles, Japan will
Nobunaga are taking place,” to life as it is to the fans who have take your breath away. 3 Yasuke’s ready to take them all
Dansereau says by way of been requesting it for years. on. 4 Yasuke, overdressed for the occasion.

058
 ASSASSIN’S CREED SHADOWS

5 6

5 The flower on the front of

Yasuke’s armour is the Oda clan
crest. 6 Fights against other
samurai look set to test Yasuke’s
prowess – they’re far from your run-
of-the-mill grunts.

059
 SAMURAI GAMES

The humble samurai is

one of gaming’s most
enduring characters,
with many games
paying homage to
them – so here’s the
ultimate list of what
you should play to
embody the fantasy
yourself

fter years of waiting, or you run out of episodes of Shogun trees. Zhether you’re looking for a story
lwġv#Ľ#qdoo|#wlph#iru# wr#zdwfk/#wkhuh#duh#sohqw|#ri#juhdw# of the ultimate honourable samurai
Assassin’s Creed, the vdpxudl#jdphv#|rx#fdq#douhdg|#sod|1# travelling the land or you just want to do
jdph#wkdw#ohdyhv#qr# Few focus solely on samurai, often some expert slicing and dicing, there’s
klvwrulfdo#vwrqh# mixing in ninja, sometimes as additional plenty for you to take a stab at with
xqwxuqhg/#wr#pdnh#d# characters and sometimes by allowing a these picks that best embody the spirit
vdpxudl#wkh#khur1#Ehiruh#lw#odxqfkhv# conľicted hero to grow multiple skill of samurai in our eyes.

060
 SAMURAI GAMES

RISE OF THE RONIN SAMURAI SHODOWN

Format PS5 Pub Sony Dev Team Ninja Released 2024 Format PS4 Pub Athlon Games Dev SNK Released 2019

It’s fair to say that Rise Of The Ronin had the potential to be the next Samurai Shodown’s a longstanding series of classic 2D arcade
Sekiro – the latter has the market for open-world samurai action fighters; its sixth instalment, on PS2, was probably the best-known
pretty much cornered. Rise Of The Ronin is great at the action part entry before SNK rebooted the series in 2019. The latest game is
too, because it lets you choose from an impressive array of only the second in the series to use 3D graphics. What makes
weapons, fighting styles, and special attacks, all of which feel Samurai Shodown so special is the way it makes you think about
smooth and satisfying. And while it takes cues from FromSoftware’s games, it attacks rather than constantly entangling limbs. Longer-range medium attacks,
nevertheless manages to feel more approachable. The story, which takes place dangerous heavy attacks, or quick light attacks; every strike has a purpose, every
towards the end of the Edo period, is set up in a way that makes it easy enough to connection the chance to slice away chunks of an enemy health bar. With a focus
follow even if you aren’t a Japanese history buff, and it’s well-acted (if not on deadly exchanges rather than lengthy combos it’s surprisingly approachable,
particularly well-written), with oodles of side-content to get lost in. giving players of every skill level plenty of opportunities for strategising.

Flashy effects
can sometimes
make action a
bit too chaotic.

IDWH2VDPXUDL#UHPQDQW
Format PS5, PS4 Pub Koei Tecmo Dev Omega Force Released 2023

Rphjd#Irufh#nqrzv# Ľ#jxuhv#dv#sduwqhuv#iru#d#edwwoh#ur|doh/# rŀ# # rdghg#wr#d#Qhz#Jdph.#prgh1#D#Ľ#uvw#

krz#wr#pdnh#d# zlwk#wkh#odvw#rqh#vwdqglqj#hduqlqj#d# sod|wkurxjk#lvqġw#h{dfwo|#vkruw/#hlwkhu1
vdpxudl#pxvrx#+dv# zlvk#iurp#d#Ġkro|#judloġ1#Zkloh#wkh#vhulhv# Rphjd#Irufhġv#frpedw#fkrsv#phvk#
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slhfh#zlwk#wkh#uhvw#ri#Idwh/#whoolqj#d# Urqlqġv#vwru|#lv#qrw#wrr#kdug#wr#iroorz/# sduwqhu#Vhuydqw1#Zlwk#prvwo|#qhz#
vrohpq#vwru|#zlwk#vrph#lqfuhgleoh# Idwh2Vdpxudl#Uhpqdqw#lv#ghqvh#zlwk# fkdudfwhuv#+dqg#d#ihz#fdphrv,/#|rx#grqġw#
dqlph#ľ#rxulvk#lq#lwv#edwwoh#vfhqhv1 fkdudfwhuv#dqg#wkhlu#lqglylgxdo# qhhg#wr#eh#d#Idwh#vxshuidq#wr#hqmr|#wklv#
Idwh#dozd|v#uhyroyhv#durxqg# vwuxjjohv1#Lwġv#vr#ordghg#zlwk#qduudwlyhv# hqwu|#Ğ#wkrxjk#li#|rx#duh/#|rxġoo#
pdjlfldqv#zkr#vxpprq#klvwrulfdo# wr#iroorz#wkdw#vrph#ri#lw#hqgv#xs# xqgrxewhgo|#jhw#wkh#prvw#rxw#ri#lw1

061
 SAMURAI GAMES

yhu|#ixqq|#Ğ#kxprxuġv#vrphwklqj#d#orw#
LIKE A ri#vdpxudl#jdphv#kdyh#qr#urrp#iru1

DRAGON: ISHIN Ghvslwh#wkhvh#wzlvwv/#Lvklq#fdq#vwloo#

ihho#olnh#d#zhoo0wurgghq#sdwk>#wkh#
Format PS5, PS4 Pub Sega Dev Ryu Ga zd|#lw#ihhov#olnh#wkh#ODG#|rx#nqrz#
Gotoku Studio Released 2023 dqg#oryh#fdq#eh#d#errq#dw#vrph#
wlphv/#exw#fdq#judwh#dw#rwkhuv#Ğ#
Zlwk#rqh#Olnh#D# zhġyh#ehhq#wkhuh#dqg#grqh#
Gudjrq#+iruphuo|# wkdw#pdq|#wlphv#ehiruh1#Hgr#
\dnx}d,#jdph#diwhu# lwvhoi#fdq#hyhqwxdoo|#vhhp#d#
another getting elw#hpsw|#frpsduhg#wr#
uhpdgh#ru#dw#ohdvw# prghuq#Wrn|r1#Wkh#xsvlgh#lv#
uhpdvwhuhg/#idqv# wkdw#U|rpdġv#vzrugsod|#lv#
dvnhg#iru#d# jhqxlqho|#glļhuhqw#wr#
uhzrunhg#Lvklq#wkh#orxghvw1#Lw# Nlu|xġv#xvxdo#Ľvwlfxļv/#dqg#
wudqvsodqwv#ODG#fkdudfwhuv#lqwr#wkh# fxwwlqj#wkurxjk#ohjlrqv#ri#
Ednxpdwvx#hud#+4;83v093v#lq#wkh# irhv#lv#vdwlvi|lqj#dqg#
Zhvw,#dqg#pdnhv#wkhp#lqwr#klvwrulfdo# ixqq|#lq#krz#wkh|#
Ľjxuhv1#Nlu|x#vwhsv#lqwr#wkh#vkrhv#ri# udjgroo1#Soxv/#
idprxv#xvxushu#Vdndprwr#U|rpd1# wkhuhġv#urrp#khuh#
Wkh#uhvxow#lv#d#jdph#wkdw#zdonv#wkh# iru#devxug#hohphqwv#
olqh#ehwzhhq#ihholqj#olnh#d#w|slfdo#Olnh# olnh#ghľhfwlqj#
D#Gudjrq#vwru|#zlwk#klvwrulfdo# fdqqrqedoov1
wudsslqjv/#dqg#ylfh#yhuvd1#Hlwkhu#zd|#
wkhuh#duh#sohqw|#ri#uhihuhqfhv#zdlwlqj#
iru#idqv/#dqg#lwġv#txlwh#iudqno|#d#kxjh#
vxusulvh#krz#zhoo#wkh#Olnh#D#Gudjrq#
zruog#Ľwv#lqwr#d#qhz#vhwwlqj#idu#iurp#lwv#
qhrq0olw#uhg#oljkw#glvwulfw#krph1#Wkh#
uhpdnh#ihdwxuhv#d#orw#ri#plqljdphv/#
zklfk#idqv#kdyh#frph#wr#h{shfw#zlwk#
qhz#vhulhv#hqwulhv/#exw#doo#zlwk#d#
ihxgdo#Mdsdq#wzlvw/#wr#euhdn#xs#|rxu#
pruh#vhulrxv#txhvw#wr#lqĽowudwh#d#
jurxs#ri#dvvdvvlqv#+wkh#htxlydohqw#ri#
wkh#prghuq0gd|#|dnx}d,1

VICIOUS RYOMAS
Zkloh#wkh#vdpxudl#hohphqwv#duh#ixq/#
|rx#phhw#sohqw|#ri#klvwrulfdo#Ľjxuhv#
dqg/#lpsruwdqwo|#iru#wklv#olvw/#zkloh#
Lvklq#gholyhuv#d#orw#ri#gudpd/#lwġv#dovr#

Even the best samurai might quail when

faced with a tiger, but Ryoma will take care
of it (Kiryu has, after all, taken plenty down).

“THE LIKE A DRAGON

WORLD FITS WELL
INTO THIS NEW
SETTING FAR FROM
LWV#QHRQ0OLW#KRPH1Ĥ

062
 SAMURAI GAMES

SAMURAI WARRIORS 4 SHADOW TACTICS:

Format PS4, PS3 Pub Koei Tecmo Dev Omega Force Released 2014 EODGHV#RI#WKH#VKRJXQ
The Samurai Warriors series is a spinoff of the Dynasty Warriors Format PS4 Pub Daedalic Entertainment Dev Mimimi Productions Released 2017
games that made Omega Force famous (the developer essentially
invented the musou genre, where you cut through a massive Samurai are only part of the group of feudal Japanese warriors you
number of enemies with flashy special attacks). Samurai Warriors 4 get to control in Shadow Tactics, a real-time tactics game with a
stands out as both the best entry and the last one before a downturn top-down view of huge maps covering some beautiful Japanese
in quality for the series. Samurai battles are made to be played this way – it’s locations. You control a group of characters with different skills,
fantastically satisfying to plough through large groups of enemies with one hero, among them a samurai and a few ninja, and try to infiltrate bases
thanks in particular to SW4’s hyper attacks and fast and fluid character switching. belonging to Kage-sama, a new warlord in (Edo) town. Shadow Tactics’ big
While combat feels anime-like, Samurai Warriors 4 does feature some Japanese strengths are its emergent stories, mixing the unpredictability of enemies with
history deep cuts and a storyline that’ll actually teach you quite a bit. creative tools that make you feel like you overcome challenges your way.

Beautiful and bloody. Few

open worlds are as constantly
visually awe-inspiring as
Ghost Of Tsushima’s.

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA
Format PS5 (Director’s Cut), PS4 Pub Sony Dev Sucker Punch Productions Released 2019

Iru#d#orqj#wlph/# vdpxudl#zkr#grhv#zkdwhyhu#lv# uhyhqjh#fdq#ihho#d#olwwoh#forvh#wr#wkdw#ri#

zkloh#Zhvwhuq# qhfhvvdu|#wr#iuhh#klv#pdvwhu#dqg#klv# Lqidprxv=#Vhfrqg#Vrq1#Exw#lwġv#hdv|#wr#
ghyhorshuv#zhuh#lq# odqg#Ğ#wkh#lvodqg#ri#Wvxvklpd#Ğ#iurp# ryhuorrn#wkdw#zkhq#lw#ihhov#wklv#jrrg#wr#
oryh#zlwk#rshq# wkh#lqydglqj#Prqjro#dup|1 eh#d#vdpxudl1#Wkh#vqdss|#exw#dffhvvleoh#
zruog#jdphv/# Lwġv#vwxļhg#zlwk#wkh#xvxdo#rshq#zruog# frpedw#sod|v#d#elj#sduw#lq#wklv1#Lw#
Japanese ones iduh/#exw#lv#vwxqqlqj/#hdfk#sduw#ri#wkh# gholyhuv#d#srzhu#idqwdv|>#wrzdugv#wkh#
preferred to focus lvodqg#orrnlqj#oxvk/#iurp#judvv|#sodlqv# hqg#ri#wkh#jdph#Mlq#ihhov#doprvw#
hovhzkhuh1#Shukdsv#wkdwġv#zk|#Vxfnhu# uxvwolqj#lq#wkh#euhh}h#wr#uhg0ohdyhg# xqvwrssdeoh/#exw#dovr#olnh#khġv#jhqxlqho|#
Sxqfk/#d#XV#vwxglr#zlwk#rshq#zruog# iruhvwv#doo#exw#jorzlqj1#D#plqlpdo#KXG# ohduqhg#dqg#jurzq#gxulqj#klv#mrxuqh|1#
h{shulhqfh/#zdv#wkh#rqh#wr#Ľqdoo|#jlyh# hqvxuhv#lw#doo#srsv/#doorzlqj#|rx#wr#orvh# Lwġv#riwhq#ghvfulehg#dv#Ġolnh#Xelvriw#
xv#wkh#fkdqfh#wr#dfwxdoo|#be the |rxuvhoi#lq#wkh#dgyhqwxuh1#Wkh#vwru|# Ľqdoo|#glg#dq#Dvvdvvlqġv#Fuhhg#lq#Mdsdqġ1#
zdqghulqj#vdpxudl#Ľjkwlqj#iru#mxvwlfh1# lwvhoi#lv#sxqfk|/#li#suhglfwdeoh#Ğ# Wklv#|hdu#zhġoo#vhh#krz#lw#vwdfnv#xs#
Jkrvw#whoov#wkh#vwru|#ri#Mlq/#d#orqh# hvshfldoo|#dv#lwv#wdoh#ri#srzhu#dqg# djdlqvw#wkh#uhdo#wklqj1

063
 SAMURAI GAMES
Exw#zdlw/#wkhuhġv#pruh
Other great games where
carrying a sword is the point

Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood

How many other games let you play as a time-travelling, whip-cracking Jean Reno? Fans have called for this job in FFXIV from
the beginning, and their call was heeded.
Samurai in FFXIV are combo specialists,

ONIMUSHA 6: DEMON SIEGE

thanks to their unique sen gauge.

Format PS2 Pub Capcom Dev Capcom Released 2004

Qr#olvw#ri#vdpxudl# Surihvvlrqdo#dqg#Plvvlrq#Lpsrvvleoh1#
jdphv#zrxog#eh# Vhhlqj#dfwruvġ#olnhqhvvhv#lq#jdphv#lv#
frpsohwh#zlwkrxw# qrupdo#wr#xv#qrz/#exw#lw#zdv#vrphwklqj#
Rqlpxvkd/#dqg# vshfldo#dw#wkh#wlph/#gudzlqj#wkh#
534;ġv#odfnoxvwuh# dwwhqwlrq#ri#wkrvh#zkr#rwkhuzlvh#glgqġw#
KG#uhpdnh#ri#wkh# sod|#pdq|#jdphv1#Iru#Rqlpxvkd#6#
Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds
Ľ#uvw#Rqlpxvkd# Fdsfrp#dovr#dgdswhg#vrph#uhdo0olih# Samurai often appear in visual novels,
suredeo|#frvw#xv#d#uhfuhdwlrq#ri#wkh# orfdwlrqv/#dv#zhoo#dv#sodflqj#wkh# and one of the best VNs you can play is
wuxh#vwdu#lq#wkh#vhulhv=#Rqlpxvkd#61# kdfn0dqg0vodvk#dfwlrq#zlwklq#ixoo|# Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds. You can smooch
Vdpxudl#Vdpdqrvxnh#Dnhfkl#kdg# uhqghuhg#6G#hqylurqphqwv#lqvwhdg#ri# samurai vampires. Need we say more?
suhylrxvo|#uhdfkhg#klv#jrdo#ri# wkh#suh0uhqghuhg/#Uhvl0olnh#
ghihdwlqj#Rgd#Qrexqdjd/#exw#ehfdxvh# edfnjurxqgv#wkdw#zhuh#vwdqgdug1#
Fdsfrp#zdqwhg#wr#kdyh#rqh#odvw#jr#dw#
dsshdolqj#wr#Zhvwhuq#sod|huv#zlwk#wkh# CAPCOMPETITION
vhulhvĩ#hu/#grqġw#zruu|#derxw#lw#Ğ# Vhwwlqj#dvlgh#wkh#lpsdfw#Rqlpxvkd#6#
vrphwklqj/#vrphwklqj/#eodfn#pdjlfĩ# kdg#rq#jdph#ghyhorsphqw/#lwġv#vwloo#
dqg#Qrexqdjd#lv#uhylyhg1#Zklfk#dovr# khdsv#ri#ixq/#hyhq#li#lwv#lqqrydwlrqv#ihho#
has the consequence of sending ohvv#uhpdundeoh#qrz1#Zlwk#ryhu0wkh0
Vdpdqrvxnh#wr#hduo|#5333v#Sdulv1#Lq# wrs#dfwlrq/#lwġv#riwhq#yhu|#vloo|#zkloh#
klv#sodfh/#d#srolfh#rĿ# # fhu#fdoohg# vlpxowdqhrxvo|#wdnlqj#lwvhoi#yhu|# For Honor
Mdftxhv#Eodqf#jhwv#wudqvsruwhg#wr# vhulrxvo|/#d#wudlw#lw#vkduhv#zlwk#rwkhu# Having different historical warriors battle
it out is a brilliant idea, and For Honor is
49wk0fhqwxu|#Mdsdq1 Fdsfrp#juhdwv#vxfk#dv#Glqr#Fulvlv1#Lw# especially good at making each feel
Rqlpxvkd#6#lv# xvhv#pxowl0fkdudfwhu#vwru|whoolqj#wkdwġv# distinct to play, including the samurai.
suredeo|#rqh#ri#wkh# uhplqlvfhqw#ri#Uhvlghqw#Hylo/#dqg#
prvw#flqhpdwlf#jdphv# frpedw#wkdw#kdg#ehhq#ryhuwdnhq#lq#ihho#
wr#frph#rxw#lq#d# dqg#vw|oh#e|#Ghylo#Pd|#Fu|#
jhqhudwlrq#vwdfnhg# +wkrxjk#Eodqfġv#vkrz0
zlwk#wkhp/#dqg#zh# vwhdolqj#wrrwkhg#zkls#lv#d#
phdq#wklv#olwhudoo|/#dv# zruwk|#ulydo#wr#GPFġv#rzq#
lw#xvhv#zhoo0nqrzq# lqyhqwlyh#zhdsrqv,1#Xqolnh#
dfwruv#qrw#rqo|#iru# wkh#uhg0frdwhg#Gdqwh/#Eodqf#
yrlfh#dfwlqj/#exw#dovr# dqg#Vdprqrvxnhġv#dqwlfv#
iru#prwlrq#fdswxuh#dqg# uduho|#jr#ixoo#dqlph/#exw# Shadow Warrior 2
idfldo#prghov1#Mdsdqhvh0 duhqġw#h{dfwo|# What if FPS stood for First-Person Sworder
Wdlzdqhvh#dfwru#Wdnhvkl# klvwrulfdoo|#dffxudwh# as well as First-Person Shooter? Loaded
Ndqhvklur/#zkr#kdg#douhdg|# hlwkhu1#Rqlpxvkd#6# with blades, this quirky shooter is about
causing as much carnage as possible.
zrunhg#dv#d#yrlfh#dfwru#iru# lv#wkh#ylghrjdph#
Vdpdqrvxnh#rq#wkh#Ľ#uvw# htxlydohqw#ri#
Rqlpxvkd/# d#srsfruq#
qrz#dovr# prylh#wkdw#
ohqw#klp# lqľ#xhqfhg#
klv#erg|/# jdphv#dw#
zkloh#Mhdq# odujh#lq#
Uhqr#wrrn#rq#wkh# pruh#zd|v#
uroh#ri#Eodqf1# wkdq#|rxġg#
Ndqhvklur#zdv#yhu|# wklqn1
srsxodu#iru#Ľ#opv#olnh#
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
Before the Souls games there was
Krxvh#Ri#Io|lqj#Gdjjhuv#dqg# Tenchu, a collaboration between Acquire
Uhqr#kdg#vwduuhg#lq#klwv# and FromSoftware that made us wish
vxfk#dv#Wkh# Sekiro had featured even more stealth.

064
 SAMURAI GAMES
Being half-demon
gives you special
powers, but sword
skills are more than
enough for most foes.

NIOH 2
Format PS5, PS4 Pub Koei Tecmo Dev Team Ninja Released 2020

Zdqw#wr#ihho#olnh#d# feel that expertise. It’s a beautiful each enemy, even though in practise it
srzhuixo#vdpxudl# game, too, if not in environments then will still require many deaths to
without getting a deĽnitely in combat, from your successfully apply a strategy. And with
klvwru|#ohvvrq# customisable character to the many the power to use demons of your own,
thrown in? Then monsters from Mapanese folklore who you can apply some of the same unfair,
Nioh 2 is the appear both as your enemies and as health-bar-destroying tactics as the
shuihfw#jdph/# powerful summons. Collecting soul bosses. Designing enemies that
ehfdxvh#lw#erdvwv#dpd}lqj#vzrugsod|# cores from enemies enables you use withstand such a level of customisation
dqg#|rx#fdq#prvwo|#ljqruh#lwv# their skills as your own attacks, which is no small feat, and overall, while still
frqyroxwhg#vwru|1#Wr#eh#idlu/#wkh#ghyv# makes Nioh 5 feel like a near-endlessly very diĿcult, Nioh 5 feels like a game
pdgh#d#ydoldqw#hļ#ruw#wr#Ľ#w#lwv#|rndl0 customisable experience +until you die you can learn to beat equally via your
odghq#sorw#lqwr#wkh#Vhqjrnx#hud#ri# and lose your resources). motor skills as your stat crunching
Mdsdqhvh#klvwru|#Ğ#lwġv#mxvw#wkdw#wkh# Nioh 5 is immensely diĿcult, but skills. Zhen it comes to giving you the
dfwlrq#lv#vr#jrrg#|rx#zdqw#wr#nhhs# without feeling like a purely skill-based tools to approach combat your own way,
whdulqj#ghprqv#dsduw#udwkhu#wkdq# challenge. If you’re willing to dig into its nobody can cross blades with Nioh 5
zruu|lqj#derxw#lw1#Wkh#uhdo#vwru|#|rxġoo# systems, you’ll Ľnd a recipe to defeat and hope to come out unscathed.
eh#whoolqj#shrsoh#lv#krz#diwhu#pxowlsoh#
ghdwkv#|rx#Ľ#qdoo|#ehdw#d#srvvhvvhg#
fdvwoh1#Wklv#lv#wkh#vwxļ##jdphv#fdq#gr#
olnh#qr#rwkhu#phglxp1
ģWKH#UHDO#VWRU\#\RXġOO#EH#WHOOLQJ#SHRSOH#
As the studio behind Ninja Gaiden LV#KRZ#DIWHU#PXOWLSOH#GHDWKV#\RX#
and Dead Or Alive, Team Ninja had a
reputation for making great Ľghting ILQDOO\#EHDW#D#SRVVHVVHG#FDVWOH1Ĥ
games before Nioh, and you can see and

065
 SAMURAI GAMES

SEKIRO:
SHADOWS
DIE TWICE
Format PS4 Pub Activision Dev FromSoftware Released 2019

Wklv#hslf#derxw# power of crouching +not easy with our

wkh#wudyhov#ri# gamer backs), you’ll explore most areas
vklqrel#fdoohg# stealthily, taking advantage of surprise
Zroi#zdv# attacks wherever possible, similar to
IurpVriwzduhġv# the way you would in Assassin’s Creed,
zd|#ri#hyroylqj# but no stealth attack in the world will
its own rid you of some of the large monsters
irupxod/# and ghostly apparitions you’ll face.
uhvxowlqj#lq#wkh#ghyhorshuġv#ehvw#jdph# Sekiro introduced the need for
xqwlo/#zhoo/#lwv#qh{w#ehvw#jdph1#ĠQrz# ľexible reactions, deľecting blows,
zdlw/ġ#zh#fdq#khdu#|rx#vd|/#Ġd#vklqrel# sidestepping, and jumping in response
lvqġw#d#vdpxudl/#lwġv#d#qlqmd/#wkdwġv# to diļerent attacks. It also introduced
frpsohwho|#glļ#huhqw#Ğ#zk|#lvqġw#wklv#rq#
wkh#olvw#ri#wkh#ehvw#qlqmd#jdphvBġ#Zhoo/#
mxvw#olnh#Mlq#Vdndl/#zkhq#Zroi#orvhv#
hyhu|wklqj#lq#wkh#jdphġv#lqwurgxfwlrq/#
ģHQDEOHV#\RX#WR#PL[#WKH#VWHDOWKLQHVV#RI#
he has to reforge who he is in the A NINJA WITH SAMURAI SWORDFIGHTING
devhqfh#ri#klv#|rxqj#pdvwhu#dqg#ohiw#
dup1#Frpelqlqj#erwk#qlqmd#dqg# VNLOOV#IRU#VRPH#WUXO\#HSLF#GXHOV1Ĥ
vdpxudl#whfkqltxhv/#kh#zdonv#d#qhz/#
eorrg|#sdwk#wkdw#vhhv#klp#frqvwdqwo|#
uh0hydoxdwlqj#klv#rzq#ydoxhv1 the idea of posture damage before we great animations that make you feel the
The best thing about Vekiro is how saw the idea as stamina in Nioh 5, weight of the blade, and sound design
excellently this works into its play, allowing for tactical gameplay that that terriĽcally captures the moment
smooth movement enabling you to factors in the possibility that you might steel hits steel. The pings of deľection
constantly mix the stealthiness of a have to unbalance an enemy Ľrst +deal become rhythmic as you time out the
ninja for one-hit kills on regular posture damage) before you can do chains of enemy attacks before you
enemies with samurai swordĽghting health damage, or vice versa. open them up for damage. Add to this
skills for some truly epic duels +Isshin, the prosthetic arm, which gives you
The Sword Saint, we still have TWICE IS NICE access to even more traditional
nightmares about you). It is this combination of approaches Mapanese weapons, and you’ll Ľnd there
Zhether it’s taking advantage of your that makes the swordĽghting in Sekiro is a lot more to a Mapanese arsenal than
handy grappling hook or simply the feel so realistic, together with some a sword and maybe some shuriken.
Compared to FromSoftware
stablemates Dark Souls or Bloodborne,
Sekiro can feel like a jaunty stroll on a
summer’s day – not where the combat
is concerned, mind, but it has plenty of
daylight and some really beautiful
locations. For a FromSoftware game, its
storytelling is also pretty
straightforward, introducing you to
plenty of uniquely Mapanese monsters
and other noble warriors who have
sworn oaths to their masters and can’t
just let you do as you please. Sekiro
highlights the human cost of the
brutality of the Sengoku era it so
So much for sneaking, but
Wolf is just as proficient in a ruthlessly portrays, and it shows that
straightforward fight. perhaps, honour isn’t everything unless
you can help others along the way.

066
How Wolf resolves his
inner conflicts is
reflected in multiple
endings. But either way,
much will burn.

067
 ACE ATTORNEY INVESTIGATIONS COLLECTION

FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB CAPCOM DEV CAPCOM PLAYERS 1

Ace Attorney Investigations

Collection translates
Miles Edgeworth’s
complete adventures into
English for the first time.
Capcom’s Shunsuke Nishida, Kenichi
Hashimoto, and Janet Hsu submit
the evidence to Malindy Hetfeld
ho would’ve thought

W wkdw#Ľ#yh#|hduv#diwhu#
Skrhql{#Zuljkw#|hoohg#
“Objection!” on
Sod|Vwdwlrq#iru#wkh#Ľ#uvw#
wlph/#wkh#hqwluh#vhulhv#zrxog#eh#
dydlodeoh#wr#xvB#Iurp#wkh#vrxqg#ri#lw/#
qrw#hyhq#Fdsfrp#wkrxjkw#wklv#ihdw#
srvvleoh#Ğ#iroorzlqj#wkh#uhohdvh#ri#
wkh#Skrhql{#Zuljkw#Wulorj|#dqg#wkh#
Juhdw#Dfh#Dwwruqh|#vslqrļ#v/#wkh#
frpsdq|#sroohg#idqv#rq#zkhwkhu#lw#
vkrxog#uhohdvh#lwv#uhpdvwhuv#ri#wkh#
rwkhu#pdlq#jdphv#lq#wkh#vhulhv/#qrz#
dvvhpeohg#lq#wkh#Dsroor#Mxvwlfh#
Wulorj|1#Shukdsv#lw#zdv#wklv#lqlwldo#
uhoxfwdqfh#wkdw#pdgh#wkh#
dqqrxqfhphqw#ri#Dfh#Dwwruqh|#
Lqyhvwljdwlrqv#Froohfwlrq#+froohfwlqj#
erwk#Dfh#Dwwruqh|#Lqyhvwljdwlrqv=#
Plohv#Hgjhzruwk#dqg#Dfh#Dwwruqh|#
Lqyhvwljdwlrqv=#Survhfwruġv#Jdpelw,#
vxfk#d#vxusulvh/#exw#vrphwlphv#li#|rx#
dvn/#Fdsfrp#gholyhuv1
“In mid-2022, when we were still
developing the Apollo Justice

068
ACE ATTORNEY INVESTIGATIONS COLLECTION
Iwamoto’s new art
for the collection
combines all the
stars of both games
for the first time.

069
 1

ACE ATTORNEY INVESTIGATIONS COLLECTION

Collection, we noticed a lot of requests

from fans to port these games,” the
collection’s producer, Shunsuke
Nishida, says, “so we decided to get
the project going and deliver them as
soon as we could.”

MILES AHEAD
As the name suggests, both games
star chief prosecutor Miles Edgeworth.
Miles has become a fan favourite,
probably because he is the perfect foil
to nearly every character, including
Ace Attorney’s regular protagonist,
Phoenix Wright. Edgeworth develops
from a fairly straightforward
antagonist into a much-needed Extensive concept art and documentation gives fascinating insight into development.
source of outside opinions – where
the defence brings the chaos, Miles durxqg#iru#foxhv1#RĿ # # fldo#wuldov#duh#rļ## way that wouldn’t cause any bugs was
brings a more calm, detached, and the table, but Miles still engages in quite the challenge.”
logical view to the proceedings. conversations where he listens to In order to solve this problem, the
Vhw#diwhu#wkh#Ľ#uvw#wkuhh#Dfh#Dwwruqh|# characters’ testimonies and tries to game resets slightly to the very
games, in these ones Miles has plenty Ľ#qg#idwdo#ľ#dzv#lq#wkhlu#dujxphqwv1 beginning of an investigation scene if
of time to ponder his own role as an According to Nishida, the idea of you turn on story mode while
antagonist. Never a true villain, he was setting an Ace Attorney game investigating. This makes it possible
udlvhg#zlwk#d#glļ#huhqw#shuvshfwlyh#rq# completely outside the court room for the game to clear an investigation
justice, one that the events of those inspired Investigations. “At the time in a predetermined way.
games has made him question. Here we wanted to make a game set in the Once Capcom had made the
he’s on a journey to rediscover his world of Ace Attorney but not based decision to make Edgeworth the main
calling, and his career as a prosecutor in the courtroom, so we decided on character, it was he who inspired
(while stumbling upon a series of a mystery where you’d investigate some of the new gameplay elements
crimes he must solve, naturally). crime scenes. When it came time to |rx#fdq#Ľ#qg#lq#Lqyhvwljdwlrqv1#
Investigations plays similarly to discuss among the development Edgeworth is very calm and
Ace Attorney proper, with the team and decide who would be the collected – unlike Phoenix Wright, he
will never scramble for an improbable

“WE WANTED TO MAKE A GAME SET IN THE WORLD outcome. Wright objects before he
speaks, whereas Edgeworth thinks
OF ACE ATTORNEY BUT NOT BASED IN THE things through. You get to do the

COURTROOM, SO WE DECIDED ON A MYSTERY.”

thinking by doing things like
combining clues, as mentioned, or
playing logic chess.
lpsruwdqw#glļ#huhqfh#wkdw#|rx# protagonist, we reached the Logic chess is like a battle of wills.
never enter the courtroom. conclusion that it had to be Whenever someone absolutely
Instead, you’re visiting Edgeworth,” he says. doesn’t want to spill the beans,
crime scenes. Gone is Edgeworth will trick them into
prodding around TELL ALL admitting to something simply by
scenes from static Like the previous remasters, the testing his various hypotheses or even
Ľ#uvw0shuvrq# Investigations Collection features a waiting to see if his opponent grows
viewpoints, as story mode in which the activities are more nervous over time. Only
the investigation completed automatically for you. You someone like Edgeworth could put on
sequences have fdq#vzlwfk#vwru|#prgh#rq#dqg#rļ##dw# the pressure in this way.
you controlling Miles will to get past elements you might be “Since Edgeworth is a prosecutor
as he wanders back and stuck on, for example. Whereas rather than a defence attorney, his
forth, zooming in for a previous games only had text choices srvlwlrq#rq#wkh#fdvh#glļ#huv#juhdwo|/#
closer view only when to skip, the stronger focus on be it in court or during the
necessary. Collected clues investigative action here made the investigation at the crime scene,”
can be examined more vwru|#prgh#pruh#glĿ # # fxow#wr# Nishida says. “In terms of the
closely, as in previous implement, as Nishida tells us. tone, I think it is still the classic
games, but now select clue “Being able to control Edgeworth Ace Attorney mixture of
phrases can be stored in and move around freely during those serious and comical
order to smush them vfhqhv#suryhg#glĿ # # fxow#zkhq#lw#fdph# moments.”
together to make a to implementing the story mode and Plenty of humorous
deduction, changing the feature that shows a checkmark moments feel of a piece
what you know about the on places you’ve already checked,” he with the rest of the series,
evidence or unravelling says. “Since each player will move from an theme park built
new threads to pull at. durxqg#lq#glļ#huhqw#zd|v/#rewdlq#lwhpv# around the police force’s
Which doesn’t mean dqg#vshdn#wr#fkdudfwhuv#lq#d#glļ#huhqw# goofy Blue Badger
doo#|rxġuh#grlqj#lv#vqlĿ# # qj# order, adding these new features in a mascot to a fancy

070
 2 3 1 Eustace is the sort of guy
you love to humble, making
him a great foil for
Edgeworth. 2 AAI’s
third-person take on
Investigation scenes help
bring scenes to life.
3 Court’s not in session, but
reasons to shout ‘objection’
are thankfully still plentiful.

Vxssruwlqj#doo0vwduv
On his investigations, Edgeworth is helped (and hindered) by friends old and new

Glfn# Yhulw|# Vkl0Orqj# Hgglh# Hxvwdfh# Nd|#

Jxpvkrh Gavèlle Odqj Ihqghu Zlqqhu Idudgd|
Good old Dick may not Should a judge be A rival investigator A former colleague of A self-styled The 17-year-old “great
have the biggest brain, investigating crime from the land of Zheng Edgeworth’s father, the prosecuting prodigy, thief” steals nothing
but he has the biggest scenes and taking the Fa, Lang does things two share a past – but Eustace is the but the truth.
heart – he is always young Eustace under very differently from do they share a future? prosecutor office’s Connected to Miles
around throughout her wing? Probably Edgeworth. Lang isn’t As a defence attorney rising star – just as Edgeworth through a
Investigations to not, but arguing with too interested in the he stands on the other Edgeworth was in his past event, Kay is there
support Edgeworth. her isn’t easy given her truth, and is quick to side of the fence to younger years. Gets to help the prosecutor
Mostly emotionally. telescopic gavel and come to a conclusion Edgeworth. Cool as a under Edgeworth’s like the great Maya Fey
lack of patience. Cross and call it a day, which cucumber, what does skin thanks to being a helped Wright.
her and she’ll have makes investigating ‘justice’ mean for him? brat, but does he just
you disbarred. crimes rather difficult. hit too close to home?

071
1

1 Edgeworth doesn’t suffer 2 3

fools gladly, which is where
Eddie comes in as a useful,
chiller ally. 2 This is an art
gallery that was once a
famous TV chef’s mansion
and culinary competition
ground before a shocking
murder. Your average Ace
Attorney day out.
3 Clues can be baited out
from conversations which, to
Edgeworth, is like playing
chess. 4 Take a closer look
at any clues you’ve found and
you can open new avenues
for investigation. 4

072
 ACE ATTORNEY INVESTIGATIONS COLLECTION

aeroplane adorned with

statues, and a cast of
eccentric witnesses. The
investigations themselves
feel slightly more grounded,
however, thanks to
Edgeworth’s more methodical
approach – which also makes
these games feel easier to play.
There are fewer instances that feel
like pure guesswork; Investigations
is the closest Ace Attorney has come
to a detective game.

EDGE-WORTHY PUNS
Similar to The Great Ace Attorney
duology, which wasn’t released in the Once you’ve found clues, you can start putting together the solution to the mystery.
West until the games had been
remastered as a collection, this will be name, ‘Eustace’, is also meant to allow people to enjoy it alongside the
wkh#Ľuvw#wlph#idqv#fdq#sod|#dq#rĿfldo# sound like ’useless’.” newly created art,” Nishida says.
release of Ace Attorney Investigations’ Investigations is also full to the “Anyone who played the original game
sequel, which previously only existed eulp#ri#uhihuhqfhv#wr#wkh#yhu|#Ľuvw#Dfh# edfn#lq#wkh#gd|#zloo#qr#grxew#Ľqg#wkh#
as a fan translation. According to Attorney games, to the point it makes pixel art nostalgic, while younger
Capcom localisation director Janet most sense to enjoy the Investigations sod|huv#sod|lqj#iru#wkh#Ľuvw#wlph#pd|#
Hsu, the localisation team at no point Collection after playing the Phoenix Ľqg#wkdw#vw|oh#wr#eh#vrphwklqj#iuhvk#
referred to the fan version. Wright Trilogy, which it follows. they aren’t used to. We actually used
“We have certain procedures that Familiar characters include Dick the pixel art from the mobile ports for
we have to follow when we localise Gumshoe, the hapless detective who’s this game, so the character
any of our titles. Therefore we didn’t always in danger of having his salary silhouettes are a little smoother than
reference the fan translation during cut, Edgeworth’s adoptive sister the Nintendo DS originals.”
the process and strove to create our Franziska von Karma, and more we There is also brand new
own original localisation that we don’t want to give away at this point. promotional art from character
hope the fans will come to love as designer Tatsuro Iwamoto. The new
well,” she says. FAN SERVICE art, which you can enjoy at the start of
Iru#idqv#zkr#nqrz#wkh#idq#hļruw/# The extras included with the this feature, follows the idea of
this means getting used to new names collection make it clear that this is a previous collections by showing all of
for the characters. Giving characters
pun names is one of the specialities of
the English localisation of all Ace
“THE ORIGINAL PIXEL ART WAS MADE TO A VERY HIGH
Attorney games, and there are some STANDARD AND HAS ITS OWN DETAIL AND CHARM, SO
WE WANTED TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO ENJOY IT.”
great Easter egg pun names for you to
discover in Investigations. Hsu gave
us a glimpse of how much thought
goes into some of these names, for remaster designed with fans in mind. the characters together, but it’s also
example in the case of Eustace Similar to Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney vljqlĽfdqw#iru#idqv#zkr#douhdg|#nqrz#
Winner, a rookie prosecutor Miles trilogy, you can enjoy some extras one striking image from the games.
butts heads with in the second game. such as the game’s soundtrack, a “The concept was to take the
“We usually base the character sprite gallery, and a trove of in-game artwork where you see
names on their Japanese names and promotional images and sketches. Edgeworth from behind in his jacket,
try to carry over as much as we can. In According to Nishida, some of this and draw the view from the front,
the event we can’t, we try to build material was only previously available where he is moving forward
sxqv#rļ#ri#vrph#rwkhu#surplqhqw# in Japan, so it’s nice that Western fans uncovering the truth, and coming
aspect of their personality or design,” get access, if only digitally. across various characters and
Hsu says. “Eustace Winner, whose The games also now feature a newly incidents as he goes,” Iwamoto says.
Japanese name is Yumihiko arranged soundtrack and some “The positioning of each character
Lfkl|dqdjl/#wklqnv#khġv#krw#vwxļ#dqg# beautifully animated character sprites was mostly based on how closely
uses the ‘ichi’ (‘one’) in his surname for investigation scenes. Blocky pixel related they are to each other, but at
in a lot of puns. Knowing this going art in the original, the old sprites the same time, we didn’t want to have
in, Winner is a real last name, so it suited the small screens they were any spoilers because of that, so we did
just sort of screamed ‘use me’ at us. designed for, but these new chibi mix things up a bit too.”
As for ‘Eustace’, his Japanese name designs look great on the big screen With release of the Investigations
Yumihiko is meant to sound like a and are packed with personality. Collection, all previously released Ace
spoiled rich kid’s name, but his whole However, if you want to experience Attorney games will be available for
name is also meant to be a pun on the classic soundtrack and sprites for fans old and new to enjoy. We won’t
‘pulling a bow with no arrow’ (ichi ya yourself, both can be toggled on. object, for sure. The only question we
naki yumi wo hiku) – a fancy way to “The original pixel art was made to keep asking is whether Capcom will
say ‘someone who always misses the a very high standard and has its own ever investigate fans’ calls for a new
pdunġ1#Khqfh/#wkh#srru#nlgġv#Ľuvw# detail and charm, so we wanted to mainline Ace Attorney game.

073
 “LOSING YOURSELF
WITHIN IT CAN
FEEL GREAT.”
076 Star Wars Outlaws

080 Visions Of Mana

A call to alms for JRPG fans

HIGHLIGHTS
STAR WARS OUTLAWS 076 | VISIONS OF MANA 080 | SAM & MAX: THE DEVIL’S PLAYHOUSE 082 | THE CASE OF THE
GOLDEN IDOL: COMPLETE EDITION 083 | BLACK MYTH: WUKONG 084 | STEAMWORLD HEIST II 088
PEPPER GRINDER 090 | THE MORTUARY ASSISTANT 091 | CONCORD [ONLINE] 092

075
 Hang in there, Kay.

REVIEW PS5

Star Wars
Outlaws
All deathstick, no spice
ew worlds are as enticing to play in as Star

F Wars’ Galaxy Far, Far Away. Yet, while

there are plenty of appealing
environments and creature designs in
Massive’s open world stab at the space, it falls
down when it comes to figuring out what exactly
it’s asking you to do within it.
INFO
FORMAT PS5 You play as amateur thief Kay Vess, accompanied
PRICE £69.99 by a little critter companion called Nix. Almost
ETA Out now taking a page from fellow Ubisoft open world
PUB Ubisoft crimer Watch Dogs, Nix can interact with parts of
DEV Massive the world on your behalf – stealing trinkets from
Entertainment
marks, activating switches from a distance, and
PLAYERS 1
even attacking guards. It’s just like Aiden Pierce’s
LENGTH 17-20 hrs
(main story) phone… if you had to wait a painfully long time for
ACCESSIBILITY it to activate. Nix moves through the world in a
Huge number of manner appropriate for a four-legged creature –
options across
‘gameplay’, but this realism detracts from the fun of being able
‘cognitive’, to manipulate the world around you.
‘colours’, ‘vision’,
and ‘hearing’ It’s emblematic of many issues that hang over
including Star Wars Outlaws, which constantly flirts with
toggles, holds,
customisable being a fantastic adventure but never quite comes
visuals, controls, through on its promises. Walking through one of
and more the game’s handful of settlements surrounded by
wonderful recreations of Star Wars’ many alien
species is great, until you realise the simplistic,
linear corridors make each settlement feel surface
level. Having to assemble a crew seems like a great
premise, but by the end you’ve not come to care
for any of them. Constant bugs see Kay clip off
ledges, enemy AI going wonky, and in one case the
controller rumbling non-stop.

QUIET TIME
Being a thief means you need to stay quiet when
possible. Unfortunately this also means the game
opens with a slew of insta-fail stealth missions,
working in some rough checkpointing to boot. This
rarely lets up, though you’ll eventually become
accustomed to destroying alarms to buy yourself
some leeway. Stealth is basic, but it’s often hard to
navigate staying unseen.
Bigger bases within the open world offer some
freedom in your approach, which sometimes feeds

076
 Amateur thief Kay Vess is
accompanied by a little critter
companion called Nix.

077
 1
2 3
1 Acres of clinically clean Empire-
chic interiors are yours to crouch-
walk through as you punch fascist
Imperials and complete hacking
minigames. 2 One level is an
extended nod to Star Wars Episode II’s
worst scene. A brave choice, and not
terribly executed. 3 Lengthy QTEs
play out when you stumble upon a
new regional dish for Nix to enjoy, with
some of the best cutscene direction in
the entire game to boot.

back into the story missions – do you go in the rarely exciting. Kay is stiff to gear) can be fun, especially
side vent, up and over, or crouch-walk behind a control, and the jumping when you just stumble upon
moving cargo lift? But too often the main missions sequences are incredibly basic. them. With that said, everything
plonk you into much more prescriptive spaces that Never mind not matching is so spread out that specifically
play out more like linear tasks. You’d imagine Uncharted’s inventive heights, hunting for treasure is hard –
infiltrating Jabba’s Palace would be a highlight of they don’t even match Ezio’s it’s something better enjoyed on
a stealth-based Star Wars thieve-’em-up, but here jumping challenges from the way between missions.
it’s one of the most rote corridor-trawling Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood – Factions control certain
experiences we’ve played in quite some time. At from the same publisher. While spaces too, meaning the better
other points third-person shooting encounters are we might not expect guttersnipe the opinion these criminal
shoehorned in, like one absurd sequence that Kay to be quite as agile as Star syndicates have of you, the more
forces us to quietly take out one group of guards to Wars Jedi’s force-sensitive Cal unimpeded you’ll be when
get past a laser gate, only for alert icons to Kestis, we can’t help but exploring their territory. The
immediately pop up over a dozen guards’ heads compare how much smoother story will push and pull these
once we creep past for a mandatory shootout. Respawn’s adventure is to play opinions no matter what, often
with any precision. leaving you to do boring
FORCE LEAP repeatable missions to juice your
When she’s not crouch-walking, Kay loves to OUCHER RIM rep for an easier time, though
scramble around shipwrecks or large ventilation Oddly, some of this frustration it’s not a big deal. Gunning
systems (that are, at least, true to the source can begin to melt away as you down a whole Hutt encampment
material) by jumping between yellow ledges and take your time to explore the will be easily forgiven if you do a
climbing handily-placed grates. planets on offer. There are four few delivery jobs.
These are functional for the most part (a few open areas in total, three of Kay’s upgrades are inventively
bugs do see her tumble into bottomless pits), but which are proper open worlds tied to Experts she can find and
(the snowy Kijimi is a single befriend. A gunslinging sheriff,
city), and a sprinkling of for instance, will give her
Too often the main missions explorable space stations and
the like in between. Uncovering
shooting challenges to complete
that then improve her
plonk you into spaces that play extra little caves and alleys to
jump around for some treasure
marksmanship. Most involve
fun set-pieces that are
out more like linear tasks. (upgrade materials, paint jobs, genuinely worth doing – ever

078
 PS5 REVIEW
4

T H E P L AY B O O K
W H AT Y O U D O I N : S TA R WA R S O U T L AW S
25% Leaping 13% Firing from
between ledges, the hip in hectic
grates, and shootouts.
grapple points.
36%
Giving Kay’s knees
3% Winning a workout by
big in Kessel crouch-walking 6% Waiting for
Sabacc. behind cover, Nix to do as
you’ve
out of sight. requested.
5 17% Zooming
4 Kessel Sabacc is fun. around on a
speeder.
Each table offers unique
rewards. 5 Alkiva has
plenty of water – best
explored with a speeder
FRIENDS & ENEMIES
upgrade. 6 Don’t worry,
this sarlacc’s dead,
though its insides have
attracted scavengers.
One of the best missions.
6

VAIL TORMIN LADY QI’RA QUINT CRESADDE

A bounty hunter Returning from Solo, Former pirate turned
looking to cash in on here she’s head of the small-town sheriff,
Kay’s death mark. Will Crimson Dawn faction. her trigger finger is the
she succeed? Get on her good side. fastest on Tatooine.

03 54 08
S TAT PA C K

Gear pieces for Kay: Skills to unlock across Firing modes for your
jacket, belt, and nine Experts. Don’t blaster, with three
‘pants’, many with forget to collect equippable at once:
buffs and benefits. transmissions in a charge shot, one
Plus two for Nix (not space (in yellow blaster for droids and
wondered what the insides of a crew get more development in pants, obviously), and crates) to unlock that shields, and another
sarlacc look like? the first hour. five charm slots. pesky middle one. for meatbags.
These Experts don’t join you, Star Wars Outlaws is the first
which makes it odd that it feels proper open world Star Wars
like their characters undergo game, and the little things can HOW TO… WORK W ITH FAC T ION S
more development than the add up to make losing yourself Brokers offer a range of
crew you’ve been set out to within it feel great, whether jobs across on behalf of
assemble. Even standouts like that’s going a few rounds of the four factions. Once
trenchcoat-wearing battle droid Kessel Sabacc (a quicker version met, they can be accessed
ND-5 barely factor into the of the galaxy’s favourite card from your ship. Complete
these simple tasks to
story. He mostly just stays on game), cruising around Tatooine
earn rewards and boost
the ship, offering meagre radio on your speeder bike or through rep (including betraying
chatter now and then (we even space in your ship, or even just them to earn favour with
heard some repeats). If he’s the strolling around your local rivals). Good rep means
best of the bunch, you can cantina. Unfortunately, there better jobs, and access to
forget about growing close to has to be more, and even setting secure areas.
any of the others. Even during aside the frequent bugs and
their own recruitment missions, muddy (no matter the setting)
they’re usually given something graphics, it’s simply unable to IS IT BETTER THAN?
else to do while Kay clambers live up to its lofty aspirations
around. It’s a genuine shame as and inspirations. There are more
the acting is great across the satisfying stealth games, more
board – Outlaws simply doesn’t thrilling action platformers, and
give its cast much to work with. even Star Wars games that feel
In comparison, Star Wars Jedi’s more like Star Wars.
NO NO NO

5
Better missions. Star Wars Jedi’s open Nix is outclassed by
Better crew. Better hubs work better than Marcus’ phone. Watch
Good Star Wars vibes quickly begin to feel heist. Sly 3 remains Outlaws’ broader, Dogs 2 constantly
wasted between stiff platforming, clunky the king of PlayStation emptier maps. And the throws fab stealth
crime capers. Mantis’ crew owns. challenges at you too.
insta-fail stealth, and a crew we just don’t
learn to love. Oscar Taylor-Kent

079
 At the beginning, Val and
Hinna are still looking
forward to their journey.

Visions Of Mana
The first Mana game in over a decade is a vision
ver the last 20 years, it’s fair to say the leads to a great mid-game twist, Mana isn’t only seriously

O Mana series has been struggling

somewhat. The third mainline entry,
Trials Of Mana, initially didn’t make it to
the West (we eventually got it nearly a quarter of
a century after its Japanese debut); Dawn Of
but the story is kept simple
overall. This plainness is greatly
enjoyable because we’re a bit
tired of JRPGs that make us
regularly peruse their glossaries
beautiful, the locations are
varied, each map stuffed with
treasure chests and several
additional combat trials. As we
play, we can’t wait to see what’s
Mana for PlayStation 2 is best forgotten. But to make sense of their story, next, from sunny beaches to
happily, we can say it now: Visions Of Mana, the INFO and simplicity is something the deserts to snowy mountains and
all-new mainline series entry, finally gets the Mana series has always been impressive cities. It’s great fun
FORMAT PS5
series back on track. (reviewed), PS4 good at. Instead of wondering to explore each map to the
PRICE £59.99 who, what, where, and why, you fullest, aside from towards the
You’ve probably heard this story before: in the ETA Out now can focus on the stunningly end when you start
world of Visions Of Mana, young people chosen by PUB Square Enix beautiful locales or listen to your backtracking, when it very much
the elemental gods become so-called alms, tasked DEV Ouka Studios party banter. feels like a game that could have
with travelling to the Mana Tree, where they have PLAYERS 1 Worldbuilding is also very been concluded but was
LENGTH 40-50 hrs
sacrifice their souls in order to ensure the good – you meet different races artificially lengthened instead.
ACCESSIBILITY
continued flow of mana to the land. Hinna is N/A with different customs and their
chosen as the alm of fire and sets off with her own histories as you travel – CLASSY FIGHTING
childhood sweetheart Val as her protector, treating and from political intrigue to Visions Of Mana uses real-time
the presumably-final journey as great honour. making a statue cry, the issues combat. You will spot clusters of
Several other alms, such as Morley, the alm of the you solve on the way give the enemies out in the world, and
moon, and Palamena, the alm of water, join their straightforward overarching battles begin as soon as they
party as they progress. story a lot of life. Visions Of notice you or you attack. Many

DEAD ON ARRIVAL
Visions Of Mana tells a pretty straightforward
hero’s journey – you travel to different villages,
Each map is varied and stuffed
where you have to find your next teammate and
then carry on to the next stop. Inevitably, Val and
with treasure chests and several
Hinna have doubts about Hinna’s sacrifice, which additional combat trials.
080
 PS5 REVIEW
1

T H E P L AY B O O K
W H AT Y O U D O I N : V I S I O N S O F M A N A
21% Listening to a 10% Getting
cutscene, walking for through a battle
ten seconds, then unscathed
listening to another
cutscene.
15% Switching
37%
Listening to the
because you’ve
delivered that
many combos
to foes.
classes not for character
the combat
benefits, but the exclaimation for 5% Not realising
stylish costumes. finding a treasure you’ve already
acquired an item
chest. to unlock more
12% Getting
distracted trying to of the elemental
2 skill tree.
reach a treasure you
absolutely don’t need.

FRIENDS & ENEMIES

EOREN MORLEY VUSCAV

After losing his love, Blames himself for the Potentially a prince of
Eoren vows to get her destruction of his legend(?) and the
back, and to end the village. Becomes an perfect replacement
circle of sacrifice. alm to make up for it. for a missing ship.
3
1 Each boss is huge and
impressive to look at, if HOW TO… SWITCH CL ASSES
not fight. 2 This is a To switch classes, equip
game you will want to an elemental vessel to a
take screenshots of all character in the gear and
the time. 3 Elemental equipment menu. The
attacks like Careena’s first time you unlock a
wind attack here can class, a transformation
take out whole groups sequence will play. You
of enemies. need to equip each class
at least once to unlock it,
buy weapons for it, and
use the elemental plot,
of the classic enemies of the seeds that give you stat boosts (the skill tree).
series make a comeback, from or enable you to use magic.
rabites to tomato wizards to You can switch seamlessly
those ducks wearing helmets. between party members as you COMPEL-O-GR APH
The real standout in combat is fight, to keep things interesting,
But now we’re Only the twist doesn’t
the elemental powers you but at least on normal difficulty, ‘just’ travelling seem to have any
acquire with each new alm. All combat still feels a little too the land? consequences?
party members can equip an easy. It’s speedy and satisfying,
elemental vessel – an item but if you keep mashing an
which unlocks a class for them, attack button while your very
with completely new abilities helpful teammates do the rest, A dramatic Wow, what a Okay, the
and a different fighting style. enemies rarely stand a chance. beginning, dramatic journey
complete with midway twist! matters more
Val, for example, goes from a Conversely, that’s good – the mini boss fight than the end
quick one-handed sword game’s checkpointing takes you
0 TIME 40 hours
fighting style to someone who back to your last manual save,
swings large two-handers when so losing a battle can erase a lot
equipped with particular of progress. While this is
TROPHY CABINET
elemental vessels. Others give annoying, knowing you’ll find
him a lance. Elemental vessels something new at every stop,
DB
CRE E A S T S CONFIDA VE
N E W RE A
SA TU L
A C N RA
even have their own skill trees, both in terms of story and skills,
M
B
C

so you can unlock further and even collect team members

powers and special attacks for until pretty late in the story,
each character. Each party makes Visions Of Mana
member can also equip ability consistently fun to play.

9
BRONZE SILVER GOLD
Fly on Flammie – the Find Lil’ Cactus Beat the game. Well,
The best game in the series in over two series’ four-legged, (who is, indeed, you have to get
furry creature – for a little cactus) in all something for doing
decades. Its downsides are minor, making the first time. possible areas. it, don’t you?
it a wholeheartedly recommendable, classic
JRPG experience. Malindy Hetfeld

081
 REVIEW PS4

Sam & Max have never

looked better. This loving
remaster polishes their
badges to a shine.

Sam & Max: The Devil’s

Playhouse
The freelance police become toy boys
lassic adventure games had half their can provide hints, for example of puzzles in play, so it’s no

C screens taken up by verbs – use, pick up,

talk to, and the like. When it was
released for PC in ’93, Sam & Max: Hit
The Road (which is still unavailable elsewhere)
did away with that, LucasArts simplifying actions
(though are often humorously
cut short). And with the phone,
Max and whoever he’s touching
essentially gain fast travel –
allowing Sam to follow along
one-toy pony. The powers on
offer vary a lot, as do the forms
and structures of the locations
you visit. Areas are rarely
repeated, and when they are, are
into contextual presses with colourful menus. All naturally. But, ah, if Max substantially changed (you never
INFO these years later The Devil’s Playhouse radically squabbles with a certain even set foot in the pair’s office).
refreshes the dog and lagomorph duo… with individual, perhaps you can then The strong second episode plays
FORMAT PS4
PRICE £15.99 more verbs! move them around as well. It’s a out by astral projecting through
(£39.99 for the thrill to have a new way to think film reels of Sam & Max’s
trilogy) Far from being an overcomplicating blast from the about poking around the world equally zany ancestors, playing
ETA Out now
past, though, TDP’s new verbs are smartly Sam & Max inhabit beyond around with events out of order
PUB Skunkape
Games deployed. These are the type of actions you rarely simple inventory juggling. to make sense of the ending.
DEV Skunkape get to play with in any game, let alone a puzzle- Sometimes, though, the toy It all builds into a tense
Games, Telltale solver like this. They’re even tied to the narrative: focus can make solving puzzles mystery that riffs on
Games
Max awakens to psychic powers that come from too straightforward, flattening Lovecraftian mythos; fertile
PLAYERS 1
another dimension. out the possibility space, though ground for the freelance police’s
LENGTH 2-3 hrs
per episode we’re glad there’s no chance of often surreal and absurd
ACCESSIBILITY IDLE HANDS anything like Monkey Island’s humour (though some jokes do
Toggle hint The trigger-happy rabbity thing’s brain primed, all ‘monkey wrench’ logic. feel very 2010s). It’s almost the
frequency;
customisable he needs are the Toys Of Power to unlock fresh Each of the five episodes best adventure game ever. We
subtitles; flashing ways to interact with the world. A toy telephone dramatically changes the types can’t argue with the laughs.
effects, and film
enables him to travel to any phone number he has

8
grain toggles
memorised. Viewfinder goggles, meanwhile, offer
a glimpse into the near future. A ventriloquist’s A gorgeous remaster, the freelance police
dummy projects his voice into people or objects. have never looked or played better. Psychic
These tools offer quality-of-life benefits as well powers are a stroke of genius, though detract
as new ways to think about puzzles. The goggles a tad from other aspects. Oscar Taylor-Kent

082
 PS5 REVIEW

The idol’s responsible

for a whole lot of
mayhem, and it’s up to
you to unpick it.

The Case Of The Golden Idol:

Complete Edition
Always believe in your soul
laying as an unexplained omnipresent when they copped it – they names to seemingly innocuous

P detective spirit, it’s your job to unravel

not only the mysteries of the titular
golden idol, but the murder and mayhem
that follows in its wake as conniving colonists,
feuding family members, and conspiring cultists
quickly grow more complicated.
You’ll be poking around the
personal items in servants’
quarters to match up rooms
with staff members, figuring out
inventory items that link people
unexpectedly, pushing you to
make deductions that feel
genuinely shocking at times.
Prequel DLC, included here,
all vie to get their mitts on the strange artefact. the results of gambling games, raises the difficulty, and perhaps
INFO and even unravelling a cult’s gets overly complicated.
FORMAT PS5
Each case has you viewing a frozen snippet of time, strange beliefs and practices. Solution boards here can appear
PRICE £24.99 often immediately after a confounding murder has What’s great is how each case to have more blank spaces than
(£14.99 without occurred, usually across a few screens. By clicking interacts with the others, connected words, which makes
DLC)
around you’re able to peek within the scene, recurring characters and even it easier to feel a bit lost.
ETA Out now
including digging through characters’ inventories hints that aren’t relevant to Unfortunately, some typos and
PUB Playstack
Limited and hearing what they’re saying at that moment. your current conundrum helping missing words in this port,
DEV Color Gray You can collect keywords and assemble them to inform the broader mystery which features chunkier
Games across solution boards. Most boards are optional, at play. This all comes together solution boards than the PC
PLAYERS 1 such as ones that ask you to correctly name each in a final chapter that asks you original, can seriously hamper
LENGTH 10-12 hrs
person in the scene, but completing them will give to put all that together and even your ability to progress.
ACCESSIBILITY
Hints you helpful hints for the primary solution board, revisit previous areas. Hopefully this will be fixed, but
which tasks you with filling out what exactly Noticing these connections at the time of writing (a few
happened. Colour-coded keywords nudge you in the leads you to realise events are weeks after release) it’s still
right direction, as does a prompt that alerts you if rarely what they seem, from present. Otherwise, these
you have just two or fewer incorrect phrases. discrepancies with character mysteries are brilliant.
(There’s also a separate hint system).

GOLDEN OLDIES
While deductions are fairly simple to begin with –
for example, working out what a cadaver’s fashion
Few detective games lead you to make as
many brilliant deductions that feel like your
own path to follow, though some issues with
8
sense tells you about the what they were doing the port let it down. Oscar Taylor-Kent

083
 Sun Wukong is one of the
most famous figures
REVIEW PS5 from Chinese literature.

Black Myth:
Wukong
Ace ape adventure or about to be
chim-panned-zee?
o, a soulslike based on the classic Chinese

S novel Journey To The West? Whatever

next? A soulslike based on Pinocchi…oh.
Honestly, there are worse influences for
an action-RPG than an epic tale of a monkey
exploring beautiful lands and hitting everyone
they meet with a big stick (we haven’t read the
INFO book, so we’re assuming this game is a 100%
FORMAT PS5 faithful adaptation).
PRICE £54.99
ETA Out now Of course, we all know the real text that developer
PUB Game Science Game Science is drawing inspiration from is Dark
DEV Game Science Souls. Punishing combat, gargantuan boss battles,
PLAYERS 1 no map screen, enemies hidden tiresomely around
LENGTH 30 hrs corners… all present and correct and increasingly
ACCESSIBILITY
Subtitles;
clichéd. Fortunately, Game Science has enough
colourblind mode; ideas for Wukong to just about stand out within
adjustable motion gaming’s most oversaturated genre.
blur

MONKEY MAGIC
We shudder when we start the game, thinking
we’ve got 50 hours ahead of us of battling
monsters with a mere staff. But it’s not long
before we start unlocking spells, and they’re
mostly brilliant. The first freezes our enemy
momentarily in time, allowing us to get some
deliciously cheap hits in. We’d have given one of
our favourite limbs to have had access to that in
Elden Ring. Eventually we also get the power to
temporarily create three clones of ourself, perfect
for dealing with crowds of enemies or just bullying
one poor lone wolf. Then there’s ‘Rock Solid’,
which is effectively a parry, as it turns the
protagonist literally into stone, sending whatever
sucker just hit him ricocheting away. All these
powers are on cooldowns (even the parry, making
this a far more dodge-focussed soulslike than
most). Still, with so much delightful witchcraft at
his fingertips, and more spells steadily unlocked,
isn’t our hero a little overpowered?

084
 It’s not long before we
start unlocking spells, and
they’re mostly brilliant.

085
 1
2 3
1 Though Black Myth isn’t as bleak
as FromSoftware’s gloomy output,
there are still plenty of nasty sights in
store. 2 You’ll meet a lot of animals,
such as this less-than-happy giant
rat. Gulp. 3 This headless musician
constantly plays songs about your
adventure. We absolutely adore him.

Perhaps. It’s certainly a little easier than smile, as well as providing a making navigation a messy
Souls – in fact, it’s not a bad entry point for those golden opportunity to get some chore, especially because this
who have bounced off FromSoftware’s games – free smacks in. game is crying out for a map
with even a limited mana pool never truly screen. Dark Souls got away
stopping us from taking out any low-level grunt GOLDEN MONKEY with being mapless because of
we encounter. But there’s still enough challenge If we had to guess what the its excellent level design. We
here to keep things engaging, mostly in its boss budget of this game was we’d know how to navigate
fights. Wukong loves boss fights. Even the most probably assume China’s entire Blighttown better than we do
tedious company offsite away day would balk at a GDP. That’s probably why we’re our own home town (yikes, what
game that contains over 90 bosses. not allowed anywhere near the a depressing flex). We wouldn’t
Not all of these fights are born equal but there stock market, but the developer even know where to begin
are some good horrors in here, with a great eye for has clearly turned on the mind-mapping Wukong’s
spectacle. Arachnophobes should avoid this like an spending taps. You can see it in massive, repetitive mountain.
Australia-themed animal park, as one giant spider the gorgeous graphics that shine Fatally, that makes us less keen
battle culminates with a chase with thousands of even in performance mode, and to explore it, leaving many of its
the horrible crawlies right behind you. It’s also the the cutscenes that end every secrets and treasures
first soulslike we can recall in which an opponent chapter, which have a unique unplundered, its optional bosses
tries to poison us with a vicious spray of bum-gas. animation style each time. It doomed to a lonely eternity in
Sometimes the fights cleverly weave in story beats, might have been cheaper to just the snow. Let’s hope they
like a meek king who keeps getting his more show a big pile of cash on fire. packed jumpers, eh?
powerful sons to fight for him, and just gets in the Alas, money can’t buy you
way when he tries to help. His son groaning ‘It happiness, as we’ll be KING WRONG
hurts, dad!’ when his father accidentally throws a explaining to our landlord next Actually, what’s the point of
projectile in his boy’s face instead of ours raises a time the rent is due, and a big exploring when Wukong’s
budget can’t hide some pretty laziest design compromise is its
severe design flaws. It’s a game determination to fence you in?
The first soulslike where an full of beautiful forests and
mountains, but we never, ever,
It’s the year 2024 and the studio
making a PS5 game thinks it’s
opponent tries to poison us with ever, ever want to see either of
those locations again. They’re
acceptable to have invisible walls.
We can almost see Wukong’s
a vicious spray of bum-gas. far too samey on the eyes, score falling in real-time as we

086
 PS5 REVIEW
4

T H E P L AY B O O K
W H AT Y O U D O I N : B L A C K M Y T H : W U KO N G
6% Making a 4% Oooohing
cup of tea and ahhhhing at
during the the pretty
pretty/overlong
cutscenes. 52%
Retrying the
graphics. It’s
one of PS5’s
most beautiful
19% Groaning games.
as you walk into [UNPRINTABLE
yet another PREFIX] boss that 14% Wandering
invisible wall. ends chapter two. and accidentally
backtracking
ARGHHH! through the
5
5% Gasping at the
samey levels.
sheer spectacle of
4 Navigating the samey it all. Phwoar!
snowy mountain in
Chapter 3 is a right
chore. 5 Each chapter
concludes with a new
HOW TO… UNLOCK SKILLS
animated short film.
Expensive! 6 We’re sure Levelling up unlocks
this giant, pointy-nailed more skills on the skill
arm is perfectly friendly. tree, but keep an eye out
Why not give it a hug? for meditation spots.
Each initial meditation
6
will unlock another skill
point in what has to be
the speediest case of
someone reaching
enlightenment ever.
They’re definitely worth
seeking out.

91 10 06
S TAT PA C K

Bosses to take down. Million copies sold Chapters the game is

91! We’re sure we’ve in its first three days broken up into, each in
played games with on sale, making this a new location, though
fewer regular foes. one of the fastest we’d appreciate a bit
It’s incredible this sellers of all time. more variation. Just
trudge across a frozen lake for haircuts – relics of a more review wasn’t Everyone loves the get us off that damn
absolutely ages only to slam stupid time that belong firmly finished in 2074… Monkey King. mountain!
straight into an invisible wall. in the past.
Hey, at least the long, boring These problems aren’t
walk back gives us plenty of game-breakers (although the L O V I N G / H AT I N G
time to think of nasty words repeated attempts at that
to call it. second chapter end boss owe us
And when the walls aren’t a new DualSense and window)
ruining your incentive to search and there’s still plenty of fun to
every inch of it, they’re making be had here. It’s a colourful,
the game harder and more charismatic adventure full of
unfair to play. The boss that good boss battles and the
concludes the game’s second occasional great one. But when POWER TRIPITAKA PILE OF MACAQUE
The gloriously OTT intro gives you See that massive opening in this
chapter is constantly moving the competition is this fierce, a great taste of how powerful doorway? That easily Monkey-
behind an invisible barrier for and Elden Ring: Shadow Of The you'll eventually be. Truly a king sized opening? Well, you can’t
some of the cheapest free hits Erdtree just raised the bar yet among simians. walk through it.
since… well, since we froze again, it makes it tough to
them in time (but it’s fine when recommend a soulslike that’s
we do it). Luring your opponent flawed in ways others just IS IT BETTER THAN?
into an area that the game will aren’t. Still, if you’re willing to
actually let you traverse freely is overlook some missteps so you
not a compelling combat can play as a time-stopping
challenge, it’s a nasty reminder monkey who fights maliciously-
that invisible walls are like farting monsters, there’s a fun
parachute pants and frosted-tip journey to be had here.
YES YES YES

7
In Super Monkey Ball Surprisingly good In Ancestors, the odd
you’re trapped in a movie tie-in to King survival game from
Time-freezing and self-cloning bring some sphere. That’s hardly Kong! Er, except for Assassin’s Creed’s
power-fantasy to the soulslike structure, but as fun as hitting things the bits where you’re creator, you try to
with a stick now, is it? the monkey. evolve into humanity.
invisible walls and overfamiliarity stop it
reaching the big leagues. Abbie Stone

087
 Although battles are
turn-based, visual flair
gives them a sense of
pace and impact.

SteamWorld Heist II
There’s no ‘I’ in steam (but there’s one in ‘heist’)
erhaps you tend to avoid games with your weapon landing a hit in the whether or not it will end your

P turn-based combat. If so, you should

consider giving this one a go, and not
only because you can recruit a robot
named Dame Judy Wrench. Although let’s face
it, that is a pretty good reason. While you need to
first place. You aim your weapon
manually during your turn,
although ordinarily only the
sniper rifles offer a visible
aimline. If you miss your target,
turn. If ending your character’s
turn on a certain square will
trigger a negative effect, there’s
an exclamation mark to warn
you. You can always see the
play tactically here, the experience is designed to it’s because you misjudged your health and armour of your crew,
minimise confusion and maximise fun. INFO angle. Or possibly your ricochet; and of your enemies. If one
there’s an awful lot of enemy is buffing others, they
FORMAT PS5
If this has caught your attention but you missed (reviewed), PS4 ricocheting bullets in this game. are clearly identified, and so on.
the first game, don’t worry. Despite being set in a PRICE £24.99 That just adds to the fun; The net effect is that whenever
world of steam-powered robots, and referencing ETA Out now pinging a shot off a few walls to you fail an encounter, you know
events and characters from the previous story, it’s PUB Thunderful land a hit is satisfying, even – it’s because you did something
Publishing
a mostly self-contained tale using the familiar idea heck, especially – when you do wrong, not the game.
DEV Thunderful
of living in the shadow of a famous, successful Development it by accident. If you’re scoffing that all this
parent. There are also less familiar ideas such as PLAYERS 1 There’s plenty of info on sounds like Baby’s First
robots somehow replacing their parts with bones, LENGTH 20-30 hrs screen at all times, without it Turn-Based Adventure, then
but it’ll all make sense. Probably. ACCESSIBILITY ever becoming intrusive or scoff ye not. The difficulties,
Adjustable aim
Your journey to save this robotic world primarily speed, vibration, patronising. Each weapon or which you’re free to bounce
consists of turn-based battles. These fights take camera pan speed, item you can wield is between throughout your
place in small 2D arenas that look like they were and brightness; accompanied by a concise journey, range from a light
press instead of
designed for use in a platformer, complete with hold; screen shake, explanation of the damage it challenge to something that
ladders to climb, loot pickups, and interconnected minimap, cutscene does, any effects it has, and basically demands every single
subtitles, talking
rooms. In fact, technically speaking, this is a sounds, and
turn-based platform shooter. reduced UI music

HEIST DARK MATERIALS

volume on/off;
scalable interface;
custom controls
When you fail an encounter, you
There’s usually a little RNG involved in how much
damage you deal, but there are no behind-the-
know that you did something
scenes numbers when it comes to the chance of wrong, not the game.
088
 PS5 REVIEW
1

T H E P L AY B O O K
W H AT Y O U D O I N : S T E A M W O R L D H E I S T I I
8% Sighing with 5% Swapping in
relief as you finish new weapons
a mission with and gear. Ooh
just one bot left. purple, that’s a

19% Adapting
your tactics as
53%
Politely taking turns
good one!

enemies employ with the enemy to 10% Piloting

buffs or call new your sub,
reinforcements. commit robot occasionally
murder. struggling to find
5% Going ‘ooh’ as the way forward.
you nab a unique
2 and powerful
weapon.

FRIENDS & ENEMIES

QUINCY DAISY CHIMNEY

Captain of the sub. One of the first bots Kicks metal backside,
Insecure, feeling to join the crew, loyal as a Brawler by
crushed by the legacy to Quincy. Starts out default, while sporting
of his famous mother. as a sniper. a fetching pink shade.
3
1 The travelling band

150 06 07
perform songs recorded S TAT PA C K
by the fantastically-
named Steam Powered
Giraffe. 2 Dame Judy, a
full Boomer, but not in
that way. 3 You use your
sub to reach new
locations, pick up loot, Guns – just over, in ‘Jobs’, determined by SteamWorld games
and fight enemy ships. fact – are out there to the weapon a bot is so far: two Heists,
find. Weapon types given rather than two Digs, a Quest,
usually only vary by being rigid classes. and a Build. The first
damage, but rarer One, the Brawler, was Tower Defense
models can carry uses melee rather on Nintendo DSi
decision you make is perfect. everything the game has to useful quirks. than a gun. back in 2010.
You can even tweak individual offer, one person’s total
elements for a custom difficulty playtime could be double
if you prefer. Don’t like the real- another’s (or more). HOW TO… USE COGS
time combat while exploring the The story holding it all Cogs are the currency
overworld, where your little sub together isn’t exactly a you spend to transfer
automatically fires its weapons labyrinthine thriller for the perks from one job/class
at anything within range? You ages, but it’s pleasantly to another (as you
can tone it right down. lighthearted stuff with some progress, you’ll be able
to buy extras), but
gentle humour that sometimes characters need to level
KICKING BOT (though not always) prompts a up jobs individually. It’s
Managing your crew and their chuckle. Importantly, this is a best to max out one job
gear is important, especially on game that wants to work with before changing in order
higher difficulties. Getting hold you rather than against you. It’s to make the best perks
available for purchase.
of the best gear tends to mean not your opponent. You’re
risking staying in a mission explicitly encouraged to make
after it’s become dangerous to things as easy or hard as is right
TROPHY CABINET
look for the best loot, or for you, and it’s emphasised
ING
THAT R
HAT
TRICK AT FULL S
completing missions that you that abandoning a mission in AT
ES NG
NI T
could otherwise skip entirely. order to try again costs you
L

UM

EA
N
INF

RU

M
E

It’s no exaggeration to say that, nothing. Kindness is sprinkled

depending on your chosen liberally across the story and
difficulty and your systems alike, and we could all
determination to eke out do with more of that.

8
BRONZE SILVER GOLD
You’ll get this when You can shoot off Complete the game
Accessible enough for strangers to turn- you equip an ability or enemy hats for your within 35 in-game
perk from a different collection. Get three days. You need to aim
based combat, unique enough for veterans. job for the first time. with one shot for this. for it from the start.
Designed to ensure you have fun, steam
work makes the dream work. Luke Kemp

089
 REVIEW PS5

New worlds bring

fresh twists. Believe it
or not, this ice melts.

Pepper Grinder
Take this one for a spin
very great platformer needs a unique emerging. This is vital for Constant variety keeps things

E hook, and in Pepper’s case her grinder

isn’t just a grapple, but also a mechanical
key, weapon, and – primarily – a massive
drill for tearing through the soil. Pressing i
plunges her into soft patches of ground and
making some jumps, though
you can also use it to skip across
some areas as well.
There’s a wonderful feeling of
expression and sense of
from getting stale, many levels
centring on their own
gimmick – but it means you
don’t get to spend enough time
with Pepper Grinder’s strongest
propels her elegantly through it, enabling her to momentum to the movement. core mechanics. With only four
INFO crest and jump out like a land-based dolphin The constant drilling means worlds, the game’s just a couple
FORMAT PS5 (though it does spin you beneath the waves as you’re always pushed forward of hours long. For every great
(reviewed), PS4 well, albeit at a slower clip). without being able to stop, chain of drills and grapples
PRICE £12.99
ETA Out now
PUB Devolver
Pepper is also propelled by a desire to reclaim
what’s hers, orc-like Narlings having absconded
Your whirling speed as you tear
Digital
DEV Ahr Ech, MP2
Games
with her treasure after she was shipwrecked on a
mysterious island. In classic platformer fashion, the
through each level’s many pockets
PLAYERS 1
LENGTH 2-3 hrs
game’s split into worlds, each with a handful of
fast-paced levels to blast through (and a bonus,
of soil encourages you to go fast.
ACCESSIBILITY secret level in each). forcing you to make decisions across scary chasms, there’s a
Remappable
controls; under pressure about where to less-inspired run-and-gun
adjustable game
speed; screen
DRILL SPEED cut a path next. You can briefly section, mech sequence, or wave
shake toggle; Collectibles, from three pirate coins to heaps of mitigate this by turning in tight of enemies to smash. Bosses,
repeated inputs gems to stuff in your pockets to spend on circles, but it still prevents you too, are more of a chore than a
can be manual,
hold, or auto
customisation options and stickers, are hidden being able to sit still for too long. thrill to fight. It’s good to be left
throughout each level. While uncovering the coins Accessibility features include a wanting more, but when we’re
in their often-devious locations is satisfying, your slow down, so the game’s pacy left feeling like we’re just
whirling speed as you tear through each level’s nature isn’t a barrier to anyone getting started we end up in
many pockets of soil encourages you to go fast – without the reflexes to keep up. more of a spin.
naturally, the game has a time trial mode as well.

8
Like rings in Sonic, gems suggest paths to
follow, but the analogue movement as you drill is With a unique and slick drill mechanic there's
completely freeform. Tap q and you’ll gain a brief a lot to love, but not quite enough is made of it
boost of speed, which can propel you an even across a very brief runtime. Wanting more
larger distance when used immediately before isn’t always a bad thing. Oscar Taylor-Kent

090
 PS5 REVIEW
FORMAT PS5 (reviewed), PS4 PRICE £16.99 ETA Out now
INFO PUB Epic Pictures Publishing DEV DarkStone Digital LENGTH 10+ hrs PLAYERS 1

THREE TO PLAY
PSN games you might have missed

Every month, loads of games come to the PS

Store. You’d be hard-pressed to play them
all, so we’re looking at some that didn’t quite
make the cut. This month we’re cleaving a
path forward, taking a tumble into a magical
world, and getting lost around the bend.

The Mortuary Grab your tankard and bellow,

‘Skål!’ for Volgarr The Viking
II! Though Volgarr can take a

Assistant hit, swinging your sword

through more mythological
monsters isn’t all there is to
Do the dead comfort you? this 2D action-platformer. Following on from a 2016
release, this sequel borrows heavily from vintage titles
such as Rastan, as well as Ghosts ’n Goblins – following
ebecca’s turning her a winning combination of both

R life around after a

tragic past, but her new
job at a mortuary
becomes more demanding
when the task of putting the
rewarding and punishing
discoveries. Even once you’ve
got all six game endings under
your belt, new events to discover
and the option to crank up the
those arcade classics’ lead on difficulty in particular. Still,
you’re able to decide just how much punishment you’re in
for by opting in or out of helpful features like save states
and even an undead mode. Listen, we at Team PLAY love
a rock-hard throwback challenge every now and again,
dead to rest escalates to haunt aggression will keep you
but there’s also a reason why we keep letting that
banishing demons – the place coming back.
is haunted. A whole host of
particular cup of tea get cold.
randomised haunting events HOLD THE MORT Casting our eyes towards
brings tension to each shift as New to this edition is ‘endless more recent sources of
you wait to learn what terror embalming’, which is simply a inspiration, our gaze next falls
awaits her that night. casual, if macabre, embalming upon a solo dev project that
simulator. This mode helps get borrows creative cues from
Horror games with a simulation you used to the steps so you’re
acclaimed 2D RPG Undertale.
angle have seen something of a not constantly consulting your
boom in recent years, and The checklist, speeding up the
Whimsical RPG Mondealy sees ordinary protagonist
Mortuary Assistant is a shining process so you’re not losing Michael literally stumble into a subterranean realm of
example of how well the genres precious demon-hunting time. humanoid animals – there’s a bat, a deer, and even an
blend together. As ghosts sneak Of course, there’s always the axolotl. Soon catching the attention of the underground
around in your peripheral vision risk that you’ll get too used to kingdom’s royal family, there’s courtly intrigue, mystery,
and you do your best to resist a certain rhythm only for and even romance. A more exploration-focussed
impending demonic possession, supernatural entities to mess
experience clocking in at around six hours, it’s definitely a
there’s a certain amount of around with the electrics, dredge
pressure to fulfilling the up horrors from Rebecca’s past, lighter-weight title than some of its genre grandaddies
otherwise mundane routine of or – worse still – hide the but it’s hard not to be charmed by its world.
Rebecca’s day job duties. formaldehyde. Even when Sticking with the theme of
Hauntings or no, things still you’re thrown for a loop like ‘finding your way deeper
need to be done in a particular this, it’s a great addition and underground,’ and introducing
way so the work gets done; it’s a surprisingly relaxing!
an unsettling twist, we’re
balancing act, something like a Unfortunately, this
corpse-filled, demonic version PlayStation port is a little
closing out this column with
of the way your cat keeps lying unpolished. Controls meant for The Exit 8. You’re lost within
on your keyboard whenever you a mouse can be fiddly, and some the samey corridors of an underground train station –
sit down to write. unfortunate graphical glitches totally relatable, right? [My advice: never try to change
Mystery swirls around your detract from the atmosphere, Tube lines at Bank – ed] Except there’s something off
place of work, your boss, and all but these are minor apparations about these particular tiled walls. The only way to
this exorcism malarkey, mixing that are easy to overlook when
extricate yourself from this liminal space is to keep your
in additional scares. It makes for the spirit itself is so strong.
eyes peeled and turn back whenever you spot something

8
that strains at your sense of reality (like a fellow
Just as solid as when it first took horror commuter making eye contact and smiling at you). While
streamers by storm, now with added content a brief, contained experience, you’ve yet to play a game of
so you can play in the certainty you still ‘spot the difference’ quite like this.
haven’t seen every scare. Max Williams

091
 REVIEW ONLINE

Concord
Cord blimey guv, it’s a right lark

et’s make one thing clear right away: this

L
INFO
FORMAT PS5 is a thoroughly good time. It’s fast and You’re encouraged to swap
fun, with superb variety to its characters,
PRICE £34.99
ETA Out now
PUB Sony
weapons, and abilities. It’s also a game characters; something we initially
with an identity crisis. There seems to be the
DEV Firewalk
OFFLINE REVIEW
N/A
detritus of an abandoned campaign mode at an resist, but learn to enjoy.
PLAYERS 10 advanced stage of development,
CROSSPLAY PC unceremoniously killed in favour of live service, years of Destiny. But either way sense for buffs to apply
(optional)
scattered around the game. it’s a bit weird. depending on the characters
Then there’s the Crew currently in use by the team at
Note the high-production-value, albeit intensely mechanic, whereby you’re large? Isn’t that your crew?
uninspiring, cutscenes. The huge amount of granted a new buff (which
unlockable text that nobody will read in the stacks with any previous ones) BYE, CREW WORLD
‘Galaxy Guide’. The way characters are introduced on your next respawn each time Still, this encourages you to
and referenced as though you already know who you select a character from a swap characters regularly;
they are. Maybe it’s not a lost campaign; perhaps new class. It’s an interesting something we initially resist,
it’s just poor storytelling, as seen in the early idea, but wouldn’t it make more but learn not only to tolerate,

092
 ONLINE REVIEW

It’s a good-looking game

that runs as smoothly
UP THE GUNNERS
as you’d hope.

01
It-Z is probably our favourite Freegunner. She’s low on health but high
on mobility, able to take down a much stronger opponent in the hands
of a talented player. Even in our hands, sometimes.

02
With attacks that can blind and burn rival players, as well as the ability
to fly through the air for short periods of time, Haymar is one of the
most popular choices among players. Look up for her.

03
Daw can combine his deployable healing pads with his forcefield to
create some breathing space for the team. A surprisingly effective
burst rifle means he can help in a fight, too.

but to enjoy. It adds a little much-needed unique (fast-paced, unpredictable) and player card customisations
flavour to the experience to swap between fast and matches into 20 minutes. to unlock, but most are
slow characters, triple- and single-jump We love the fast pace, map distinctly unimpressive, and
characters, long-range and short-range attack design is great, and every one of their unlock conditions opaque.
characters, healers, and tanks. We generally start the 16 characters has something We know that more characters,
matches as It-Z in order to buff the tanky Emari’s to recommend them. Concord’s maps, and cosmetics are on the
speed, who then in turn increases healing for main challenge will be to hold way. We genuinely hope that
everybody else with a lower health pool. It makes on to an audience that has been they’re delivered with the
the overfamiliar kill- and capture-based modes conditioned to expect a conveyor regularity and quality that a new
easier to forgive. belt of goodies in its PvP games. entry in the crowded live service
Matches tend to be over fairly quickly (especially There are plenty of cosmetics space demands.
deathmatches), making this something incredibly

7
easy to dip in and out of. There’s a danger that this
rapidity will make the overall experience feel A lot of fun (and weird storytelling choices) at
disposable, but we reckon you’ll find you’re more a reasonable price, with no sweaty jungle of
willing to jump into this than similar games, microtransactions, Concord has respect for
when you know you might get four or five both your time and your wallet. Luke Kemp

093
Extended
From updates to favourites – the games we just can’t quit

Some skins can trigger fancy

death animations for the final
kill… for a price, naturally.

Valorant
A great hero shooter with some villainous pricing
We’ll say it straight away: this INFO limit your vision, or even leave crawling pace generates
is one of the best PvP you completely helpless for a booming footsteps that can be
FORMAT PS5
experiences available on PS5 PUB Riot Games few seconds. heard by anybody within a fairly
right now. A 5v5 attack and DEV Riot Games What truly defines the wide range.
defence bomb-planting setup, YEAR 2024 experience, however, isn’t the
with no respawning, is built gear, the abilities, or the SOUNDS GOOD
upon with carefully designed weapons. It’s the sound design. Unsilenced weapons give away
maps and a great range of We quickly learn that paying your position more easily than
character abilities. Both best and worst of all, attention to what we can hear is silenced ones, but there are more
Valorant is free to play. just as important as – and often, subtleties than that. Distinctive
in fact, more important than – sound effects can betray what
Before we get onto the monetisation, it’s what we can see. Moving at enemies are doing, and where
important to stress that this really is so much darn anything quicker than a tense they are. One map has doors
fun to play. The lack of respawns is just one reason
why you’ll find yourself carefully sneaking around
corners and keeping your back to walls. Some
If you want access to everybody
‘Agent’ abilities (which, like weapons, you have
to purchase with limited funds between rounds)
straight away, that’s going to cost
can reveal your position, temporarily blind you or you almost £140 of VP.

94
 EXTENDED PLAY REVIEW

Packed with
possibility and less
than a tenner – has
Hell frozen over?

Doom + Doom II
Don’t let the understated title fool you
FORMAT PS5, PS4 PUB Bethesda
INFO DEV Nightdive Studios, Id Software, MachineGames, John Romero,
TeamTNT, Dario and Milo Casali, the community YEAR 1993-2024

You’d be Romero’s own revisitation in

forgiven for 2019, an “unofficial fifth
assuming this is episode” for the first Doom.
simply another And Legacy Of Rust is a new
basic rerelease release co-developed by
of Id Software’s Nightdive Studios, Id
genre-defining demon- Software, and MachineGames.
blasting FPS games. But it’s Somehow, that’s just the
much more, and a must-buy. start. Mod support is a rare
treat in any console release,
For starters, this remaster and is present here. Browsing
comes courtesy of Nightdive and managing mods could use
Studios, which is almost some work, but this gives you
unparalleled when it comes to access to an essentially
quality remasters. With a limitless supply of fan-
bevy of accessibility modes, created levels, from comical
optional motion control sprite swaps (Lego Doom) to
aiming, graphical toggles, and total conversions like the
soundtracks to choose from, fantasy-styled REKKR and the
this pack feels premium. Not wonderfully crafted Harmony,

that can teleport you great this, but a lot of the pricing is
The chance to play legendary
distances, but generate a loud
sound when used. Pickups that
difficult to justify. You can very
slowly unlock all the Agents in
mods Thatcher’s Techbase and
take you one step closer to your
Ultimate generate a noise and
the game for free eventually,
but if you want access to
MyHouse could come soon.
take a few seconds to interact everybody straight away, that’s to mention the slick, rapid which uses scanned physical
with. Most abilities have a going to cost you almost £140 blasting is incredibly smooth. models for its enemies. The
unique sound associated with of VP. Battle passes are £8 a But this is also more than a full list is a Wild West, as not
their use. Even picking up and pop, with no way of earning simple duology, despite the everything will boot, but the
reloading weapons can be heard back the VP you spend on name. As well as containing chance to play legendary mods
over short distances. It gives them. Individual weapon skin all episodes from the first two Thatcher’s Techbase and
the experience fantastic depth, prices range from ‘oof’ to ‘are titles, it gives you Master MyHouse could come soon.
but it does mean that hearing- you serious?!!?’, with the most Levels For Doom II, both Final In essence, Doom is perfect.
impaired players are at a severe expensive we’ve seen so far Doom campaigns, No Rest For This collection is the modern
disadvantage. There’s no going for about £45 of VP. The Living, and Sigil. All full rerelease the classic series
accessibility setting to even the Ouch. It’s well worth your releases, these run the gamut deserves. Withstanding the
playing field. time, but not much of what’s from spotlights on top-tier test of time, Doom is better
Riot Games needs and available to buy is worth your community-made levels than ever, and a gateway to so
deserves to turn a profit from money. Luke Kemp from the ’90s to John much more. Oscar Taylor-Kent

95
 SPRING
CLEAN
REVIEW The Hall Of Fame’s had a tidy!
PS4 games with later new-gen
ports have returned to the PS4
Hall Of Fame! We also bid
farewell to the original
PSVR, which now frolics
on the PS farm.

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE NEW GEN’S GREATEST GAMES

01
Baldur’s Gate 3
Based on fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, developer Larian has
apparently bottled the essence of only our most electric tabletop
sessions to serve up an incredible RPG return. Offering a wealth of
options for crafting your own adventurer – and ‘yes, and-ing’ your
choices all the way – the story of how you become the titular city’s
saviour (or tyrant) feels distinctly your own at every turn.

02 Resident Evil 4
Losing sight of neither its legacy nor Leon S Kennedy’s
characteristic wit, this ground-up remake of one of the
09 Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Two heroes prove to be better than one in this smart
sequel. The incredibly lush NYC is bigger, and slicker to
best survival horror shooters of all time boasts sharply web-swing and web-glide around, and missions have
honed combat, gloriously gory visuals, and even allows you brawling and sneaking through some superbly
Ashley just a touch more independence. designed and unique areas. Spidey senses tingled.

03 Deathloop
Everything we love about Arkane’s detailed, dense, and
destructive gameplay in a game you’ll keep coming back
10 Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
PS1 overworld traipsing is reimagined here with
ridiculous depth, making for one massive globetrotting
to. Unavoidably, as hero Colt’s trapped in a time loop until RPG epic. Combat levels up from the first game,
he can pull off eight kills in a day, while being hunted by mixing together real-time hack-and-slash with slower
Julianna (who can be controlled by another player). commands for high-octane strategising.

04 Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

A delightful return for the lombax/robot duo, using PS5’s
power to allow seamless portal hopping and stunning
11 Dead Space
This remake is a reminder that the USG Ishimura is one
of the best science-fiction haunted houses in the biz.
vistas and DualSense to give the comically large arsenal Modernising touches not only give Isaac Clarke a voice
real oomph. A real showpiece that feels marvellous in but also keep long-time fans guessing by reinventing
the hands, and makes the case for PS5 exclusives. familiar necromorph encounters.

05 God Of War Ragnarök

Mastercrafted to the point that would make Brok and
Sindri blush, this apocalyptic father-son adventure
12 Hitman 3
On PS5, Agent 47’s latest hit list looks beautiful – oh
boy, those reflections! The good news is not only can
pushes Kratos and Atreus to their limits. Building on you play the latest missions on PS5, you can replay all
the last game, everything from combat to level design is missions from Hitman and Hitman 2 inside IO’s new
snappier, and it’s a gorgeous end to the world. PS5-developed engine. That’s a lot of content.

06 Dragon’s Dogma 2
Toss saurians over your shoulder to lob them off cliffs,
clutch onto griffins for dear life as they soar away, or
13 Tekken 8
Boasting a roster of returning favourites alongside new
faces, and introducing mechanics that make every bout
simply combo chimera into oblivion. From fights with big snappier, this fighter hits hard and fast. Looking better
beasties to how you solve quests, this RPG epic bends to than ever only on current-gen hardware, busting out
how you play while offering a challenge worth rising to. your Wind God Fist has never before felt so satisfying.

07 Alan Wake 2
Remedy lets its freak flag fly in this twisting tale of two
protagonists. As both FBI profiler Saga Anderson and
14 Humanity
Channelling the bizarre spirit of PS1 puzzlers, this
surreal quest to guide a populace through blocky
author Alan you crisscross realities, blasting Taken and mazes leans on modern tech to deliver sheer scope and
chasing pages. Layered, even a touch experimental, spectacle. It helps that you, as a little shiba inu, must
you’ve not heard one quite like this before. lead the way, becoming humanity’s saviour.

08 Demon’s Souls
Not many games allow you to feel the thrum of a
gigantic heart in the controller. From sword slashes
15 Pentiment
Ever looked at a tapestry and thought: what if I could
play that? And investigate a murder over the course of
against nightmarish creatures to feeling magic fill your many years? Thankfully, there’s no need to worry about
hands, this stunning recreation of the PS3 classic is a being booted from the museum, as this excellent
tour of just what makes PS5 so great. choice-driven narrative is playable at home.

096
 REVIEW

16 Street Fighter 6
The streets come to PS5 in spectacular fashion. With a
mix of fan-favourite fighters and excellent newcomers,
the fighting is easier to get into than ever, yet just as
deep. An in-depth story mode is more middleweight, but
PLAY ON
still vibrant and fun. An excellent round. Know what you like and looking for more?
Here are alternatives to enjoy on your PS5
17 Helldivers 2
It’s time to liberate the galaxy and spread democracy far
and wide in the name of Super Earth. This tongue-in- One thing we take seriously at PLAY Towers is
cheek bug and ’bot shooter always brings you back for
another round of co-op chaos. Just mind the friendly fire
crude, lewd, and downright silly humour. We
when you pepper the planet with orbital strikes. loved Thank Goodness You’re Here! for
offering chortles worthy of the British comedy
greats. Looking for other games to make you
18 Monster Hunter Rise
Though its maps may be smaller than those of Monster
Hunter: World, everything else is souped-up, whether
crack a smile? Well, we have some recommendations…

that’s inventive new animal allies, your weapon combos,

the vibrant feudal Japan styling, or the rampaging
monster hordes. Go big… and save your home! Return To Monkey Island
Wear your finest leather jacket

19 Gran Turismo 7 While this one isn’t absurd in quite the same way as the
Like taking a bath in luxury motor oil while Yamauchi weird British comedy TGYH draws from, it’s hard to make
and the rest of Polyphony Digital relax you with cosy car an adventure game that isn’t a little quirky. And especially
history. The good vibes are matched by fantastic visual not when it’s Monkey Island. The latest entry is no
fidelity, and car handling enhanced by the DualSense different, asking you to make leaps of logic that seem out
controller for unparalleled driving feedback. of left field at first until you click with its consistent way of
thinking. With puzzles aplenty, Monkey Island is a different
beast to the simpler TGYH, but elicits just as many
chuckles, and has an equally striking comic-like art style.
20 Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess
Not another game combining hack and slash, tower
defence, and traditional Japanese dance! Each unique
NEW
step in this boogie stands out, from its beautifully
gruesome demons to its tense boss clashes. A smidge Katamari Damacy Reroll
easy until, ah, the terror of New Game+. And, step! Small town, big problems
Residents all around Japan, and, indeed, the wider Earth
all share one problem: they’ve yet to be rolled up into a

21 Solar Ash
Playing like a cross between Jet Set Radio and Sonic,
gliding through the Ultravoid feels buttery-smooth. The
giant ball! The Prince Of All Cosmos is here to help out,
on orders from his father. You begin by rolling up tiny
knick-knacks, but the size of what can become part of the
subtle rumble of the DualSense offers an immersive spherical katamari increases as it does, meaning you’ll be
layer to both movement and the action of pinning down rolling all over town in no time, absorbing people, animals,
an enemy. This is well worth losing yourself in. cars, and bigger objects in no time. Quirky, colourful, and
a joy to play – everyone needs to try Katamari.

22 Neon White
Fusing Doom-like blasting, speedy platforming, and
card-based puzzling together in one heady, lightning-
Untitled Goose Game
fast mix, Neon White is a jolt to the system like little So much for helping
else. Pure, electric gaming bliss that’ll have you playing Rather than being a blessing to the residents of this town,
again and again to shave seconds off your best times. here you’re the opposite: a very naughty goose. Hijinks
ensue as you cause havoc for the citizens, filling in a
checklist of crimes as you poke, prod, and snap at the

23 Thank Goodness You’re Here! world, sometimes unfurling your wings to be loud and
Like if Viz and Monty Python had a reyt good babby. proud, and at others sneaking with your head down before
From the chippy to Big Ron’s Big Pies, everyone needs a letting out a startling ‘honk’! The residents may be more
NEW realistic here, but the slapstick is still cartoonish, making
helping hand. Literally, as you cheekily slap the town
silly. Even comedy legends lend their voices. Only a smashing up the place with abandon disturbingly satisfying.
couple of hours long, it makes for a chortling evening.

24 Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown

In a hop, skip, and a time-warping jump, this once-
beloved series has parkoured its way back into our
hearts with a new protagonist, Sargon. Movement and
combat both possess layers that are a joy to peel back
throughout this metroidvania return-to-form.

25 EA Sports FC 24
FIFA’s replacement represents a total overhaul. Men and
women are mixed together in FUT to create limitless
Two can play that
game – Untitled Goose
Three Lions/Lionesses combos. Individual PlayStyles Game’s devs added
transform gameplay, while presentation is as good as co-op post-launch.
we’ve ever seen. Golazzo.

097
 REVIEW

PS4 Hall of fame

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE LAST GEN’S GREATEST GAMES

01
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Nathan Drake’s swan song remains Naughty Dog’s crowning
achievement. Incredible action, massive levels, cheeky banter, and an
all-important grappling hook combine with new characters and a ‘too
old for this *blorp!*’ story that really works. Packing gorgeous detail, it’s
only improved by its PS5 Legacy Of Thieves update that boosts the
ALSO ON framerate, adds haptics, and comes bundled with The Lost Legacy.

02 Red Dead Redemption 2

There are a lot of open-world games, but none that
make you feel like you’re a part of a world in quite the
09 Persona 5 Royal
The most stylish JRPG ever made finds its definitive
form in expanded release Royal. It combines dark and
same way as Arthur Morgan’s wild west adventure. moving teen angst with unforgettable friendships that
Tremendously physical, an epic story, and some of the ALSO ON power you up in the heart-invading dungeons, and sets
most satisfying headshots you’ll ever find. the gold standard for the genre.

03 Grand Theft Auto V

Laughing in the face of other cross-gen ports, GTA
V is eternal. Tight mechanics and multiple playable
10 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
FromSoftware’s latest adventure repackages its
unflinchingly difficult combat into a fantastical take on
characters make this the best GTA to date. Updates feudal Japan. More accessible than Bloodborne but
ALSO ON have brought new music, more dynamic weather, and a layered with equally clever and subtle ideas, this is
game-changing FPS mode across both PS4 and PS5. director Hidetaka Miyazaki’s best yet.

04 God Of War
A departure in some ways but a resounding return in
others, Kratos is back with a son and a ruddy big axe.
11 Bloodborne
With the finest third-person melee combat in gaming,
droolworthy art design, and the most twisted monsters
Taking the legend from Greek to Norse mythology, this imaginable, this is a gorgeously gothic must-have. The
entry brings a lot to the table while improving Old Hunters expansion adds enough nightmare fuel to
on what was core to the earlier series’ identity. make a return to Yharnam essential.

05 The Last Of Us Part II

With near-photoreal visuals, emotional twists that land,
and enough new ideas to ensure you’re always thinking,
12 Yakuza 0
Set in Japan in the ’80s, this is the perfect entry point to
the long-running series. Bouncing between two heroes,
this is a slick followup. Brutal, wince-worthy action you take part in a crime thriller by bashing enemies into
ALSO ON flows like a river of blood as you weave in and out of dropping piles of cash, and undertake side-quests that
stealth, though we do prefer the original’s focussed tale. include stealthily buying pornography.

06 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete

The White Wolf’s epic journey is still an RPG like no
other, sending Geralt on a huge journey across a vast
13 Control Ultimate Edition
Jesse Faden’s mind-bending, environment-destroying,
object-chucking adventure is a blast. Wielding psychic
open world filled with deadly monsters and some of the powers and a transforming gun, this is Remedy at its
ALSO ON best-written quests you’ll ever play. The excellent DLC ALSO ON most playful. PS5 benefits from ray tracing and a higher
is also included, making a truly epic ballad indeed. framerate – though you must choose between them.

07 Horizon Zero Dawn

A staggeringly large world that condenses cracking 14 Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Solving your own murder seems hard enough, but you
combat, accessible systems, and uncut eye candy quickly find it’s a single domino in a whole conspiracy
into an action RPG that will please anyone. In Aloy, run. Fortunately, as a ghost, that’s where you shine,
PlayStation might just have a new icon. Come for the controlling objects poltergeist-style to untangle puzzle-
robo-fights, stay for the exquisitely dense mythology. box murders moments before others cop it.

08 Marvel’s Spider-Man
Borrowing heavily from Rocksteady’s acclaimed Batman 15 Dishonored 2
The followup to a PS3 great, this game mixes a creative
series, this delivers the heart and soul of Marvel’s skillset with impressive level design to create a
superhero. It ticks every box you could ask for: perfect Kaldwin-ning immersive sim. From the shifting rooms
ALSO ON web-swinging, a powerful story, a roster of classic of The Clockwork Mansion to learning to link your
villains, and all of New York City to defend. powers, there’s so much scope for experimenting.

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 REVIEW

PSVR2 Hall of fame

THE VIRTUAL REALITY HITS YOU HAVE TO PLAY

01
Umurangi Generation VR
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, this modern classic
sees that aphorism and raises it with righteous, rebellious rage.
Ostensibly an immersive photography game, you have a range of lenses,
camera settings, and filters to play with but there’s a far bigger picture
to be seen. Not only a master class in environmental storytelling, this is
also testament to art as a powerful act of resistance.

02 Synapse
This roguelite shooter offers satisfying, stylish action in 09 Gran Turismo 7
Ever driven a car? Then you’ll know what to expect.
GT7’s already incredible simulation races gain a new
a monochrome world punctuated by colourful violence.
It puts power in the palm of your hand – and your eyes. level of immersion simply from checking your GPS and
Going one step beyond point and shoot, PSVR2’s eye- mirrors and seeing the courses whizz by. It’s only a new
tracking tech allows you to glance and grab. view mode, yet it’s enough to be a must-try.

03 Horizon: Call Of The Mountain

Manages to make level after level of climbing
compelling with different environments to pull yourself
10 Before Your Eyes
Blink and you will indeed miss it. Put down the Sense
controllers, as here you interact using eye tracking,
up through, the Sense controllers allowing for neat piecing together your life scene by scene, progressing
player expression. Just make sure you take a break, or whenever your peepers close (generously, the mechanic
all that spider monkeying will make your arms throb. can be turned off if you want to see everything).

04 Star Wars: Tales From The

Galaxy’s Edge 11 Little Cities: Bigger!
Waving your hands like a conductor, you paint with land
Who shot first? You. Tactile controls make being a droid and accent with buildings. This is a town-builder toybox,
techie-turned-scoundrel a blast(er), from pulling gear with management mechanics sanded down to an
off your body to using tools to meddle with machines. accessible degree, and lots of delightful details like your
A bonus mode allows for lightsaber waggling too. city’s denizens looking up to wave at you.

05 Rez Infinite
When you thought Testuya Mizuguchi’s synaesthesia
shooter was done, it moves to a new beat. Laden
12 Stilt
This one’s at its best when you throw your arms wide
and embrace the silliness. Straightforward platforming
with sharp particle effects, twitchy controls make this is reinvented in VR, and allows the simple joy of hurling
unmissable, with eye-tracking aiming a revelation for yourself around to shine – to say nothing of the fact that
this experiential shoot-’em-up. upgrades enable you to strap cannons to your feet.

06 Tetris Effect: Connected

While also on PS5, Mizuguchi’s trippy, transcendent 13 Song In The Smoke Rekindled
The devs have taken great pains to ensure this stripped-
take on the block-based puzzler is nothing short of a back survival game remains immersive at all times,
masterpiece in PSVR2, placing you within a world of placing much of what you need to do, from skinning
tumbling tiles like never before, enhanced from the base pelts to pinging arrows, directly in your hands. Be
version with more collaborative elements. careful to keep the dark at bay at night, too.

07 No Man’s Sky
The frontier is far from final, this free refresh for the 14 The Last Clockwinder
This spatial puzzler is all about putting things in the
right place, whether that’s flinging objects around
latest headset propelling you to the stars. All the prior
updates are here, and you’ve an unmatched level of or putting yourself to work. Thanks to the ability to
fidelity to reach out and touch the bizarre randomly summon clones, you’re quite the helping hand (now if
rolled planets you uncover (and to fiddle with your ship). only we could do that at PLAY Towers).

08 Moss: Book II
Both rodent puzzle platformers benefit from PSVR2 15 The Last Worker
Work hard, revolt harder. As a token final human
enhancements, but the star performer of the pair is working alongside machines in a send-up of big online
this sequel that’s every bit the mouse’s whiskers. As retailers, you need to balance the oddly compelling
charming as ever, expanded combat options mean you mundanity of sorting and organising packages with
feel even more connected to your li’l hero, Quill. sneaking around vents to bring down big business.

099
114 Thumper
Putting maximum
thrill into a single
button press

HIGHLIGHTS
CLASSIC GAME: METAL GEAR ACID 2 102 | MEMORY CARD: BORDERLANDS 104
DEFENDING: K AINÉ 105 | THE FEATURE: MOVIE MAGIC 106 | PLUS POINTS:
RATCHET & CLANK: SIZE MATTERS 112 | A BRIEF HISTORY OF… CARD GAMES 113

101
 RETROSTATION

CLASSIC GAME

Metal Gear Acid 2

Oddball card-based spinoff is actually ace

102
 RETROSTATION
1 3

he Sony executives multiple blows from an invisible 1 You finally have a go with
must have been assailant, or have a quick go with The Fury’s flamethrower in

T
this one. 2 The comic-
cheering, high-fiving, The Fury’s ferocious flamethrower. book-style cutscenes are
and celebrating by It’s a slower, more methodical charming and typically
going out for frosted- stealth game that still has such melodramatic. 3 The poor
tipped haircuts when cathartic action that it gets to have its grunts never stand a chance.
4 This talking frog
they found out their new handheld PSP cake and eat it too.
advertises the card shop. It’s
console would be launching with a The reliance on randomised card
that kind of game.
Metal Gear game. But their frosted tips draws is great at making you try new 5 Cel shading looks lovely
must have melted in horror when they approaches, forcing you to engage with on PSP. We want to see it on
discovered Metal Gear Acid has as weapons and tools you might have the PS Portal screen!
much in common with a normal Metal ignored in previous Metal Gear games.
Gear game as British rivers do with You can lose hours fine-tuning your deck Flaws? Well, the embarrassing
water that’s safe to swim in. It’s a to make it a perfect hybrid of stealth and jiggle physics on the female characters
top-down 3D stealth game that looks combat. As you discover, purchase, and is the dictionary definition of
like the real thing until you try playing upgrade cards, new strategies constantly excruciating, and sometimes the
it. Whereupon you discover it’s turn- present themselves. A card that randomness of card draw can really
based (!) and played with… cards? permanently gives Snake an extra move screw you over (though this becomes
At first it feels stiff and awkward, a each turn for the whole match is less of a problem the more time you
needlessly slowed-down version of a expensive but a game changer, and we INFO spend tuning your deck). But really, this
stealth great. You start with a hand of six love the Revolver Ocelot card that stops one’s major mistake is being ahead of
PUB Konami
cards. Each card has a unique power or enemies’ guns from working. Actually, DEV Kojima
its time. In this post-Balatro and Slay
can be used as a movement card that’ll hang on… is that how Ocelot beat us so Productions The Spire age, a new Metal Gear game
let you move Snake a few spaces. For many times in the other games?! RELEASED 2006 with sophisticated card gameplay
example, you can use the tranquiliser GET IT NOW would be a licence to print money.
gun card to fire at an enemy, or to move STRAIGHT FLUSH eBay, £29.95
Alas, it’s a Konami property, and that
to a hiding place instead because you’re It’s massive too, with tons of optional NEED TO KNOW publisher seems far too busy releasing
being stealthy/a coward. Usually you’ll missions, hidden cards, and a plot that 1 It came with a borderline sarcastic ‘remasters’ of the
spend your turn weighing up whether to can’t resist going for the series’ usual cardboard mainline Metal Gear series to make
contraption that let
move Snake a little further through the OTT stakes (a nuclear weapon threat is you view it in time for Acid. A crying shame, as this
stereoscopic 3D. console generation has finally seen
2 You could Sony showing PSP the retro love it
“A top-down 3D stealth game that connect it to Metal
Gear Solid 3: deserves. The fact we can’t play this
looks like the real thing until you Subsistence
on PS2.
on PS Portal makes us want to kick
things. Dig out your PSP from the attic
3 The Western
play it. When you discover it’s turn- release got ten
exclusive cards,
(it should be under the EyeToy and the
Move controllers) and treat yourself to
based (!) and played with… cards?” six of which were
based on Metal this, a game we’d confidently call one of
Gear Solid 4. Snake’s greatest stealth adventures.
level, getting him safely hidden, or to go introduced barely four missions in).
5
in all-guns-blazing. Usually in stealth games the fun grinds
to a halt when you get spotted. Here it’s
OH SNAP the excuse you’ve been waiting for to
The first game was fine, but the sequel unleash all those combat cards you’ve
really made good on the idea’s promise. been stacking up. Good thing it has
It makes a great first impression with combat chops, too, because the parade
lovely, colourful cel-shaded graphics that of absurd super-soldiers who make up
play a lot nicer with what PSP was good the boss fights are outstanding, even for
at. More importantly, the starting cards Kojima Productions. Incredibly, the final
are far more fun. Ingeniously, the best boss even says sorry for monologuing
ones are direct references to the high for too long, finally giving all of us who
points in the series. You can use a expired of old age during Metal Gear
Cyborg Ninja card to slash a grunt with Solid 4’s cutscenes our overdue apology.

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 RETROSTATION

DON’T DELETE

Save icons for these

Borderlands
October moments spin in 15 years since we opened that vault
the PLAY hive mind. Do you
remember this?

5 YEARS
Since we used the world’s most OP
pocketwatch to identify the
doomed crew in Return Of The
Obra Dinn. Don’t be put off by the
bizarre premise, for this is a
near-flawless detective game
that’s well worth your time. Get ready to
shoot variations
of this dude about
five billion times.

long with most of the MEMORY CARD games are all fun with a buddy,” says Ricky
world, we haven’t seen the Bridge. “Yes, we even enjoyed 3. We are

A new Borderlands movie. So

we’ve got no idea if the
10%-on-Rotten-Tomatoes-
scoring blockbuster (score
correct at time of writing) is any good. But
simple gamers.”
“It was a unique experience and the co-op
made for great memories,” agrees
Alexander Wayne.”I miss when studios and
consumers took more chances on new IPs.”
we can tell you that the game it’s based on is INFO While we agree with that sentiment, be
10 Y E A R S a fun, colourful co-op FPS that’s a fine PUB 2K Games careful what you wish for. The last time
example of a loot shooter done right. DEV Gearbox Gearbox tried a new IP, we got Battleborn…
A decade on from Alien: Isolation’s “Was going to skip it but my friends talked Software
release, we’re still not over the RELEASED ON PS3 BYTE-SIZE BITS
me into it,” says reader Carey Paypompee
trauma of wandering the corridors RELEASE 2009
“and I’m glad they did because I’ve had a Essential numbers that add together to tell you
of Sevastopol Station, trying not to IF YOU LIKE THAT,
blast with the series so far.” A series that TRY THIS… everything you need to know about the game.
become lunch for the xenomorph
that’s stalking us. There’s a new, includes two sequels, a prequel (excuse us, Borderlands 2 is

17.75m
probably the series’
even more immersive, Alien game pre-sequel) and two seasons of a narrative peak; it’s included
coming to PSVR2 this year. Er, yay? game. One great! The other… never mind! in The Handsome
Collection on
“Wonderful game!” says Alex Helme, of OG PS Plus
Borderlands. “Loved the style of it and have
probably played it through five or six times Million varieties of gun to be found, according to
over the years. The sequel was also great, Gearbox. Give us five millennia to fact-check that one.
but 3 not so much.” There’s little consensus

5 billion
across our readers as to which Borderlands
is best, with Nick Paschall believing the
sequels make the first game somewhat
obsolete. “It was fun for the time. I liked
the randomness of the loot drops but Times we’ve fantasised about destroying Claptrap.
going back after 2 and 3 is hard.” Join in the
conversation as we
Borderlands’ simple hook – celebrate PlayStation’s
20 YEARS team up with three friends, shoot past, present, and future
oddballs so they’ll stop quipping at with our community: you
Rockstar pushed PlayStation 2 to can email us at
you, gain better weapons/loot, and [email protected].
the absolute limit, and then even repeat – might be why the sequels
further, with the massive – and
are so divisive. Once Borderlands 2
massively successful – Grand Theft
Auto: San Andreas. We still miss nailed that winning formula, where was
Massive visual overhaul;
having to use an in-game gym to there to go? Still, if it’s consistency you’re early in development it
stay thin. Wait, no we don’t. Boo! looking for, you could do a lot worse. “These had a more realistic look.

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 RETROSTATION

Kainé
With a devastating backstory,
Katie Wickens argues it’s
easy to see why Kainé is
rough around the edges…
and also half-naked
ainé wasn’t always the brash
thug of a fighter we meet in Nier.

K I promise there’s a very good

canonical reason why she swears
a lot and fights in her underwear,
but we have to go back a little
way to understand how her character was formed,
and the totally-not-fan-service lingerie logic.
New Game+ elucidates Kainé’s perspective with
additional scenes about her childhood as an
orphan. “In a society ruled by superstition and fear,
Kainé was something to be hated, and if possible
destroyed,” we’re told. It’s heavily implied she’s
intersex (and confirmed by the creators); the
adults of the Aerie shun her, she’s ruthlessly
bullied by the children, and is forced to live on the
INFO
outskirts of the town. But that’s not the only reason
she’s so wrathful. MAIN GAMES
Nier (2010), Nier
When her grandmother takes her in, she gives Replicant (2021)
Kainé a crown of Lunar Tear flowers to make her STATS
feel beautiful, and teaches her to fight to her last In one alternative
ending we discover
breath… and to swear like a sailor, so we have Kainé is a
Grandma to thank for some of Kainé’s best lines. replicant, just like
the rest of the
Grandma is eventually ripped away from her in a people of the Aerie.
devastating attack by a shade that would traumatise Kainé’s scarily
any kid. And yet, this still isn’t the whole picture. powerful sword
was originally part
Another shade, Tyrann, saves Kainé from death at of a pair, the other
the last minute, but at a cost – co-mingling inside having shattered
before we
her, he pledges to lend her his power, but with the meet her.
knowledge that if she ever shows weakness he will Steal her look?
possess her entirely. Hence her prickly personality, Kainé can unlock a
and why she’s grown so used to killing with 2B costume from
Nier Automata in a
reckless abandon. To allow Tyrann to take over piece of Nier
would enable much greater destruction, something Replicant DLC.
she can’t allow. Subsequently that’s also the reason SPIN-OFFS
N/A
she wears such a skimpy outfit, keeping the sun on HOW TO PLAY?
her skin and the awful shade at bay (ashamed of Nier Replicant, £20
your words and deeds yet?). approx, Amazon

“MAYBE I’LL RIP YOUR PAGES OUT ONE BY ONE, OR

MAYBE I’LL PUT YOU IN THE GODDAMN FURNACE.
HOW CAN SOMEONE WITH SUCH A BIG, SMART
BRAIN BE HYPNOTISED LIKE A LITTLE BITCH, HUH?”
Poor Grimoire Weiss. We know Kainé says it with love in her heart,
and is thinking of Grandma’s beautiful Lunar Tears.

105
 RETROSTATION

icensed’ doesn’t licences to deliver creative and

always go ambitious game adaptations.

L hand-in-hand
with ‘quality’.
After all, if the
licence is good
enough, it’ll sell itself – so why
We’re focussing here on movie
tie-in games designed to
complement the releases they
were attached to, allowing players
to extend their time in the worlds
bother investing properly in a depicted on screen by playing at
game’s development? home, which means we’re
That’s not the case for the eschewing great broader licences
games featured here, though, like Alien: Isolation, and legacy
whose developers leveraged their tie-ins like The Thing.

THE LIST

MOVIE
MAGIC
The movie tie-ins good
enough to be great games
in their own right

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RETROSTATION

Claw-t red-handed:
Wolverine’s bloody
good outing.

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 RETROSTATION

Skull Island’s scary Russell Crowe: 1;

in first-person. Tom Cruise: 0.

Peter Jackson’s King Kong The Mummy Demastered

FORMAT PS2 / PUB UBISOFT FORMAT PS4 / PUB WAYFORWARD
DEV UBISOFT / RELEASED 2005 DEV WAYFORWARD / RELEASED 2017

This isn’t just a solid adaptation of the sort-of-okay ’00s One of the most bizarre movie tie-ins ever, this is based on

01 remake of King Kong, this is an FPS that is startlingly ahead of

the curve. A late-gen release for PS2, it feels like a blueprint
for shooters to come, such as Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare and
even BioShock. The extremely minimal HUD immerses you in Skull Island,
02 the awful remake of The Mummy starring Tom Cruise. In a
demake style, this plays a bit like Castlevania (Wayforward
has a terrific track record of making metroidvania games).
Taking on the role of normal Prodigium soldiers, if you die, your avatar dies
forcing you to focus on survival in the moment and scramble to fire to for good, your next life being a new soldier. You won’t have the goodies you
defend yourself rather than play carefully. If anything, the Kong sections, had when you copped it, either, unless you defeat your zombified former
where you bash huge rival monsters, are the parts that have aged less self. It has little to do with the movie, though Dr Jeykll and Princess
well, but even those are great fun. There’s even an alternate ending. Ahamanet feature Russell Crowe and Sofia Boutella’s likenesses.

Gorgeous animation No sneaking suit in

makes SPVTW:TG a sight. Ginger goes hard.
joy to behold.

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World: The Game Chicken Run

FORMAT PS3 / PUB UBISOFT FORMAT PS1 / PUB EIDOS INTERACTIVE
DEV UBISOFT / RELEASED 2010 DEV BLITZ GAMES / RELEASED 2000

This side-scrolling brawler takes so many cues from Bryan This adaptation of the Aardman-animated movie may be the

03 Lee O’Malley’s original comics that it feels cheeky to include

it here, but it was released days apart from the Edgar-
Wright-directed movie adaptation. To win Ramona Flowers’
affections, Scott must defeat her seven evil exes – a concept perfectly
04 best Metal Gear Solid game you’ve never played. Taking on
the role of Ginger, it’s your goal to help your fellow chickens
escape from becoming chicken pies, just like in the movie.
Unlike in the movie, this means following her every move as she fetches
suited to working your way through multiple levels bashing goons into seemingly mundane items to build elaborate gadgets, dodging between
coins until you reach a boss fight. Up to four players can join forces, searchlights, staying far aways from guard dogs, and hiding inside
changing some of the cutscenes and endings you can get. A great beat- garden gnomes. There’s even a rudimentary sound system that means
’em-up in its own right, the devotion to capturing the source material’s you’ll be spotted if you’re not careful to move slowly across certain
chaotic spirit and plenty of animation flourishes make it stand out. surfaces. You’ll never look at Brussels sprouts the same way again.

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 RETROSTATION

For once we’re on the

microplastics’ side

Toy Story 2: Buzz

Lightyear To The Rescue!
FORMAT PS1 / PUB ACTIVISION / DEV TRAVELLER’S TALES / RELEASED 1999

reason, will help you get closer to

05
Being tiny Navigating these areas as a toy is a
remains one of joy – leaping up a tree to fight a kite Woody’s location. Naturally, only a
videogames’ in a treehouse, for example, or fraction are required to beat the
greatest fantasies moving across baggage check game, though collecting them all is a
to fulfil. After conveyor belts. fun challenge to take on.
cowboy doll Buzz feels great to control, able to Each of the friendly toys will point
Woody is mistakenly sold to a toy zap enemy toys with his arm laser, Buzz towards the challenges of each
collector at a car boot sale, this and deploy his wings for a satisfying stage, usually themed around their
game focusses on Buzz’s side of the extra bump to his double jump. More own personality. RC Car, for instance,
story as he leads will make Buzz
the toys to track
his pal down.
“Navigating as a toy is a joy – compete in races.
A huge
Which means
jumping through
leaping up a tree to fight a kite collectathon, Toy
Story 2 is
the locations from in a treehouse, or moving absolutely loaded
the movie… and with content, with
beyond [We had across conveyor belts.” levels that ooze
to – ed]! Each creativity and a
stage here is based on a mundane than mere levels to move through movement system that feels
area, from Andy’s suburban house to from A to B, each is a kind of hub satisfying to master. It’s no small feat
the penthouse of the ultimate nerd, filled with challenges that’ll earn you how good this still feels to play, even
as well as back alleys and toy stores. Pizza Planet Tokens which, for some if Buzz actually is quite little.

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 RETROSTATION

Spider-Man 2 offered
a level of freedom
that felt totally
unprecedented.

Spider-Man 2
FORMAT PS2 / PUB ACTIVISION / DEV TREYARCH / RELEASED 2004

Okay, we’re being game didn’t just allow you to zip these Spider-Man characters into

06 predictable – but
Spider-Man 2
really is just that
good. And, it’s
important to
remember, this was a huge step up
from the still-quite-good game of the
around those buildings using
web-physics that actually employed
them as pivot points, its world was
peppered with challenges that
constantly required you to display a
fine-tuned understanding of how you
moved through it.
new situations. What if Tobey
Maguire’s take on Spidey (and yes,
it’s his voice – even if it’s humorously
lifeless) went web-to-smoke with
Mysterio? What if he teamed up with
Black Cat? The game presents the
world from on screen as far bigger
first movie. than the film
This was
released a mere
“What if Tobey Maguire’s take camera could
capture, and lets
three years after
Grand Theft Auto
on Spidey went web-to-smoke you play in it.
Combat is no
III. The concept of with Mysterio?” slouch either.
Though stiffer
a fully explorable
3D open world was still novel, never That’d be enough on its own, but than Insomniac’s modern takes, the
mind a fully explorable version of the here you also get to play through the freeform nature almost feels more
real-world Manhattan that went way best Spider-Man story committed to expressive. There are a lot of ways to
above street level to allow you to run film – oddball Sam Raimi antics web up bad guys, and with heaps of
around the very tippy-tops of its intact. Plus, new and original story challenging content there’s always a
skyscrapers. And to top it all off, the arcs put movie-accurate versions of reason to do so as well.

110
 RETROSTATION

Remember that
time Frodo merced
like 100 orcs?

More fun to play through

with a friend than watching
the movies – no question.

Lego Star Wars: The Video Game The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
FORMAT PS2 / PUB EIDOS INTERACTIVE FORMAT PS2 / PUB EA
DEV TRAVELLER’S TALES / RELEASED 2005 DEV EA REDWOOD / RELEASED 2003

While Lego may seem like a vehicle for brand collaborations “What about gaming side by side… with a friend?” Adapting

07 these days, back when Star Wars Episode I was released it

was still a novel concept. Appealing to older diehards and
newcomer kids alike, Lego models sold by the truckload. A
game seemed inevitable, but it didn’t come about until the run-up to Star
08 the climax to Peter Jackson’s legendary trilogy of adaptations,
no obsession with the epic movies was complete without tens
of hours spent in this blocky rendition of Middle-earth. It
features actor likenesses, and all the major set-pieces are present, including
Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith, wrapping up the prequel trilogy a Helm’s Deep tutorial jumping off from the second movie. From there, you
(and released slightly before the movie, meaning this was, weirdly, an and a friend could hack and slash through the Fellowship’s split travels
earlier way to experience Anakin Skywalker’s fiery fall). With low-stress across three routes. A level-up system and combos galore encouraged
co-op play, oodles of slapstick humour, and genuine love for the source plenty of replay. EA Redwood worked with the film crew and special effects
material, this game version of the prequel trilogy was a must-have on PS2. team Weta, ensuring a smooth process for making it accurate to the flick.

Say hello to
the birdy.

The 2D animation made it

look a lot like the movie.

Disney’s Action Game Featuring Hercules X-Men Origins: Wolverine – Uncaged

FORMAT PS1 / PUB VIRGIN INTERACTIVE FORMAT PS3 (AND A DIFFERENT PS2 VERSION) / PUB ACTIVISION
DEV EUROCOM ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE / RELEASED 1997 DEV RAVEN SOFTWARE / RELEASED 2009

This entry would be equally at home on a list of the Worst- Making a movie tie-in as good as what you’re basing it on is

09 Conceived Titles Of All Time. Thankfully, this poorly-named

platformer is a corker. Avoiding the pitfalls of some early 3D
platformers of the generation, Eurocom opted to cut this from
the same cloth as the best platformers from prior console generations,
10 hard enough. Making it better? That’s next-level. That’s exactly
the honour bestowed upon this adaptation of the justly
maligned Wolverine prequel movie. For starters, the film –
about a man with claws in hands going *blorp!*-shit – was awkwardly cut
Hercules leaping through tough-as-Greek-armour settings in two to be a cringey 12A. This PS3 version of the game, meanwhile, proudly
dimensions, but with 3D allowing stages to be layered with different routes, boasts a BBFC 18 rating, thanks to a combination of extreme violence and
so you move closer to and further from the screen to progress. There’s an a gnarly regeneration system that has poor Logan’s skin falling to pieces
easy mode, but (ouch) it locks you out of the end of the game. as he gets hit. We’re clawing at our wallets, begging for a rerelease.

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 RETROSTATION

Ratchet & Clank:

Size Matters
A game with big ideas and not-so-little problems
1 2

1 Armour pieces can be mixed, while full

sets – such as this Wildfire armour – offer
bonuses. 2 The Giant Clank shooting
sections are probably the best part of the
game. 3 “I thought it would be better.”

iven that subtitle, you game by ignoring the first and using the you use them, but only the most
might be worried about second only when absolutely necessary. powerful feel close to useful. As a

G a slew of poorly-aged
jokes about the size of
Ratchet’s wrench, but
fortunately, it isn’t that
sort of game. Unfortunately, if you’re
On paper, this should have aged
wonderfully. James Arnold Taylor and
David Kaye put in great performances,
the action is varied, there’s a wide range
of weapons and armour to collect, and
result, boss fights are tedious slogs
that will almost certainly see you
abuse the emulator’s rewind feature.
Imagine trying to take down a
bulldozer by throwing pillows at it.
interested in playing this because you there are optional minigames. The main Also, the bulldozer’s driver has a
liked Rift Apart, you’re in for a shock. problem, really, is that almost every grenade launcher and hates you.
This is the PSP version rather than enemy is tankier than a giant aquarium INFO A fever dream section early on sums
the PS2 version (as usual), but the L/R full of Panzers that constantly plays the PUB Sony the game up: great idea, with good bits
camera controls have been mapped to opening song from Cowboy Bebop.2 DEV High Impact lost in a flood of frustrating combat
Games
the right stick.1 There are still awkward and a sense that things are dragging.
RELEASED 2007
PSP legacy issues, such as impractical UTTER CLANKERS Neither Ratchet nor Clank’s finest hour.
strafing and that weird ‘press a button to From the beginning, even minor enemies
enter first person while standing still’ can take a surprising amount of pain FOOTNOTES 1 In future, we’ll only mention if this hasn’t been
done. It finally seems to have become standard. 2 Which is, of
thing, but you can get through the whole while they rush you. Guns level up as course, called Tank! But you knew that, didn’t you?

HAVE YOUR SAY

Readers tell us what they think of our choice

SUCH A CLASSIC” NEED A UMD READER YOU CAN PLUG FUTURAMA THE GAME PLS ON PS
Alexander Wayne INTO THE PLAYSTATION 5” PLUS”
Daniel Reid John Fonseca

A literal blast from the past: Timesplitters 2 comes to PS Plus!

112
 RETROSTATION

Card games
Drawing on our handy memory, flushing at the thought of these
FIFA and EA FC Ultimate
Team revolve around
football player cards.
Cards feature in many
roguelikes, like Monster
Train and Slay The Spire.
Red Dead Redemption’s
card games kept players
Runecraft’s Caesars Palace 2000 was a Many RPGs have been built entirely around Final Fantasy has featured many unique busy for hours.
standout in the era when translating card battles, such as Digimon: DCB (2002), card game diversions, with FFVIII’s Triple There have even been
casino play into a game was novel. and Kingdom Hearts: Re: COM (2008) Triad being the most memorable.
Top Trumps videogames.

KING OF GAMES
Yu-Gi-Oh! draws close
Loads of real TCGs have been
adapted, many recent ones
trying to ride live service hype
for big money. Our favourites
are earlier experiments that
put new twists on rules and
balanced narratives. PS1’s OLDER YU-GI-OH!
Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories
(2002) is tough but memorable, GAMES OFTEN CAME WITH
and PS2’s Yu-Gi-Oh! The
Duelists Of The Roses (2003) is LIMITED-EDITION CARDS, MAKING
(very loosely) based on the
actual Wars Of The Roses. THEM VALUABLE TO COLLECTORS.

Metal Gear Acid takes Solid Snake on PSVR2 multiplayer dungeon crawler Eye Of Judgment was a short-lived PS3 card battler that used
the go using cards to plan ahead on PSP. Demeo puts your moves on your arm. PlayStation Eye to translate physical moves into the digital world.

JOKER’S HIGH
Balatro goes all-in
Whether they’ve experienced a
rainy camping holiday in Wales or
not, people innately understand
playing cards. Balatro’s genius lies
in allowing you to break those rules
to chase point-scoring poker-like
hands, applying game-changing
jokers, tarot cards, and the like. It’s
Open world games often feature
card-based diversions. Few become full the kind of joy you can only get from
games, but that’s just what The Witcher a digital twist on physical cards.
3’s Gwent and Thronebreaker did in 2018.

Closing the book: the history of videogame endings!

113
 PARTING SHOT

#45

Facing the musicChromium looks, violent energy, and pounding

soundscapes: Thumper’s 1-1 is a heck of a tutorial
FORMAT PS5, PS4 / PUB DROOL / DEV DROOL / RELEASED 2016

chitter in pain – a harsh, industrial than 60 seconds into Thumper, but

Y
ou’re moving so fast that
the background whizzes rasp added to the pounding track you already understand that this is a
past in an abstract smear that scores this moment. different breed of rhythm game. If
of light and colours. Up The question that Thumper’s SingStar makes you feel like you’re
ahead, something weird and developers seem to pose here is: a pop sensation, Thumper makes
angular and threatening looms. It just how powerful can we make a you feel like you’re having a
twists and writhes in time to the single button-press feel? How much nightmare about a car accident.
beat, while you slide down the rail ground-shaking, pulse-pounding Few games set out their stall so
towards it at a furious pace. energy can we condense into the clearly and so quickly. As opening
Suddenly, a countdown: 3, 2, 1, q. act of hitting q? tracks go, Thumper’s serves as a
You hit the button just in time and A few more of these atomic, bracing statement of intent. As you
fire a pulse of light so intense that it on-the-beat button presses later hurtle into the next stage,
bends reality around it. The bolt and your giant adversary explodes accompanied by the fierce
fizzes down the rail and strikes the into shards of polished, endlessly hammering of enormous drums,
squirming titan, which seems to reflective metal. You may be less you won’t want to stop listening.

Considering the intensity of everything that follows, Thumper’s title screen is an oasis of relative calm. Once you start a new game,
TIME TO PLAY? however, any sense of lingering tranquility melts away within five seconds as the momentum of stage 1-1 starts to build.

114
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