Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2015 i PLAY

To a new year of PlayStation 4. Not just any year – it’s the year of PS4. The first half of the magazine you’re holding in your hands contains so many games that I’m not sure how any one person will have time to play them all (don’t miss the last-minute announcement that Street Fighter V is not only on its way but will be a PlayStation exclusive – that morsel’s tucked away on p20). And by the time you’re reading this, Sony will have held its PlayStation Experience event in Las Vegas and we’ll be busy writing about even more huge PS4 reveals for our next issue. But what about the other half of this month’s mag? Away from some stonking (and stinking – muggins here really drew the…

BIRD’S-EYE VIEW Sony is debuting an on-demand, catch-up TV service in the States called PlayStation Vue. It will launch in early 2015 and promises to allow users to save their favourite shows to the cloud with zero storage restrictions. Vue will debut on PS4 and PS3, with iPad support also promised. No word yet on a UK release. TAKING A NEW CREED Patrice Désilets has formed a new studio, called Panache Digital Games. The game director previously worked at Ubisoft between 1997-2010 and helmed the likes of Assassin’s Creed. He was also largely responsible for rebooting Prince Of Persia with the truly excellent The Sands Of Time. FOR THE GLOVE OF GOD The Black Glove (a Kickstarter sci-fi title from a dozen or so ex-Bioshock developers) has failed to meet…

PUBLISHERS MUST STOP ANNOUNCING RELEASE DATES THEY DON’T INTEND TO KEEP. 2014 was the year of the delays. Even though November was packed with greats (as this issue’s Reviews section shows) I was left deflated because of the postponed titles I couldn’t play. I’ll be very clear here – a game should never be rushed to shelves. If delays mean games are given enough gestation period to make them better, that delay is a necessary occurrence. I’m 100% in favour of that. I’d also ask, “why announce a release date in the first place?” Don’t set a date that’s up in the air just for a stock boost. Delays disappoint, so keep those dates in your pants until you know they’re realistic targets. SERVER FARCES MUST BECOME A RELIC OF…

1 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Geralt Of Rivia leaps from fourth spot last month to the top of the pack in one fell, genetically-enhanced swoop. For more info on the White Wolf’s PlayStation debut, check out our in-depth cover feature on p30. FORMAT PS4 ETA 24 FEB 2 Batman: Arkham Knight Is it really going to be half a year until the cowl-wearing purveyor of muscled justice speeds in with the new and improved Batmobile? Sadly yes, but a lack of Dark Knight fun times hasn’t stopped Bruce from nabbing silver. FORMAT PS4 ETA 2 JUN 3 The Order: 1886 With Ready At Dawn busy polishing the Neo-Victorian escapades of Movember pin-up Galahad in preparation for the game’s Feb release, you readers have been stoking the fire of anticipation…

Fine. I’ll just say it. I can wait for Project Morpheus. I can wait for the virtual reality revolution to arrive. I might even have a nice, relaxing cup of tea while I’m waiting. Mmmm, rooibos. Now this might sound like utter ridiculousness; why don’t I want a virtual reality headset that puts me inside the game? It’s not that I don’t want it. I’ve spent more hours than I care to count riding vomit-inducing roller coasters inside a gradually steaming up Oculus Rift headset, but I just don’t think that Project Morpheus’ particular brand of headwear is the next level of gaming everyone expects. CATCH MY RIFT But it’s the future, the world cries. It’s 2015, dammit, we should be tasting our game collections from our hoverboards by now,…

DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION THE PITCH: You’re literally the most important and powerful human/elf/dwarf/ Qunari in the world, using your power to grow an army, build a base and ‘romance’ people. And they say power corrupts. OUT NOW? Yes OPEN-WORLD? No ACTIVITIES: Sitting on your throne, seducing everyone, riding stags DIABLO III: REAPER OF SOULS – UEE THE PITCH: There is loot, and you must get it. And we mean all of it. By taking on screenfulsupon-screenfuls of the demon horde with your magical and melee abilities, alone or with mates via couchplay co-op. OUT NOW? Yes OPEN-WORLD: No ACTIVITIES: Exploding bloated corpses full of worms, gathering loot, selling loot, loot, loot, loot FINAL FANTASY XV THE PITCH: Explore an enormous open-world with your goth-biker-hair model mates in a shiny car…

RATCHET & CLANK FORMAT PS4 / ETA SUMMER 2015 / PUB INSOMNIAC GAMES DEV INSOMNIAC GAMES Messrs Ratchet ‘n’ Clank are back! Well, kind of. This new cutesy sci-fi romp is being billed as a reimagining of the first game and will tie into the animated movie coming in the summer of 2015. Insomniac says it’ll feature, “updated gameplay and completely new visuals built from the ground up for PS4.” This is reportedly Insomniac’s deepest collaboration to date, with both its California and North Carolina studios working on the project. Add to that the fact many of the original game’s designers are back on-board and you’ve got yourself another exciting PlayStation exclusive. RESIDENT EVIL FORMAT PS4/PS3 ETA SPRING 2015 PUB CAPCOM / DEV CAPCOM It’s 1998 and a badass special…

So you finally got your hands on the most powerful gaming console ever created. Well done. Good job. Welcome to the club. Now the real fun begins. Sure you can slap a disc into the front slot and have at it, but hold fire for a second, because we’ve got all the knowledge necessary for you to get the absolute most out of your new machine. With our tips you won’t just learn how to use your PS4. You’ll learn how to squeeze every last drop of brilliance from its sultry black frame. But first, you’ll have to get it set up. Once you’ve torn off the natty grey-white protection paper that it comes wrapped in, just plug it into the wall and connect it to your TV’s HDMI port…

HARRY ASHFIELD FAR CRY 4 Alate contender, but deserving nonetheless.Anallround improvement on the alreadycompellingFC3,thelatest entry in the series brings the open-gaminggenretoawhole new level.The majestic setting of Kyrat demonstrates the depth UbisoftMontreal truly accomplished in creating a living,breathingworld. NICK WARING THE WOLF AMONG US Personally, I’d sayThe Wolf Among Us. I love plot-driven games and the way thatTelltale manages to keep the player on the edge of their seat throughouteachepisodeis masterful.The twists and turnsthroughthegameand the new time-relevant decisionsprovideevenmore fairy tale pressure. JOSHUA DANIEL FRENCH DARK SOULS II As much as I’d love to sayAbe New ‘N’ tasty for the sake of nostalgia, it has to be Dark SoulsII.ManywouldargueDark Souls was superior, but DS II improved where it mattered – combat mechanics and online PVP balancing – while keeping the majority of…

Who knew eagles were such dicks? Forget the resplendent bird of prey whose feathered majesty graces the seal of the US President. In Ubisoft’s chilly open-world shooter, every one of the bastards wants to eat your eyeballs. Then again, almost every creature in the fictional Himalayan province of Kyrat wants to feast on poor Ajay Ghale’s innards. Not that I’m complaining: Far Cry 4 is a wonderfully accomplished, gloriously silly sandbox that thrills in ways few other blasters can. A place where a hugely entertaining Really Wild Show informs all of your actions – Michaela Strachan would be giddy. Maybe I’ll have time to go gaga over vicious honey badgers later – but first, let’s establish what Far Cry 4 isn’t. This is not a rulebook-rewriting franchise changer. Instead, what…

For a period that lasts longer than most games in their entirety, Dragon Age: Inquisition is wilfully unengaging. If you didn’t know how magnificently it blossoms into the game you want it to be after, oh, 15 hours, there’s every chance you’d just give up on it. “Deal with the demon invasion yourself, Thedas,” you’ll tell the rolling hills and god rays. “This Inquisitor’s done collecting ram meat for you.” Waking up with the obligatory amnesia after the sky tore open and killed everyone in your vicinity, your hero or heroine finds themself in a game that seems out of ideas before it even begins. The Fade Rifts, those green portals through which wraiths and demons are spilling out, are essentially The Elder Scrolls’ Oblivion Gates, and for the first…

While it’s by no means completely abhorrent, this third-person spin-off from the already middling, though well-intentioned, tropical zombie bashing series is most certainly not something you’ll want shambling across your path. “Aim for the head,” or, “Remove the brain.” These are sufficient instructions when facing off against real life zeds. Considering how impossibly dull an experience Escape Dead Island can be, it might be worth applying them to yourself if you end up playing it. You are Cliff Calo, a dead-eyed, go-get-’em journo with a coffee stain for a beard and a knack for delivering his Crayola-scrawled dialogue with all the Shakespearean talent of a brick. His buds aren’t too much better, squawking exposition about as effectively as a pelican with one foot stuck in a toaster.1 While it occasionally…

Oh man, the faces . If games were scored on their virtual mugs alone, 2K’s first PS4 grappler would be pushing for the full double digits. From John Cena’s Duke Nukem jaw to Triple H’s ‘twinned with Sean Bean’ eyes and schnoz, via Khal Drogo doppelgänger Roman Reigns and facepainted Lady Gaga tribute act Goldust, almost every noggin in WWE 2K15 is sensationally lifelike. You spend the first two days in its company marveling as much at the entrances as the in-ring action, so perfectly has Visual Concepts recaptured the cast of brawlers and bruisers. To quote WrestleMania XXX’s supremely beardy show-stealer: Yes! Yes! Yes! Alas, neither fighters nor sports titles – genres which predecessor WWE 2K14 straddles with some success – can be judged on appearances…

WHAT YOU DO IN… GR AND THEFT AUTO V THE FIRST FIVE HOURS… SECOND OPINION BL AINE MAN My first reaction to jumping into the newly-prettified Los Santos was that I was never leaving the house, or indeed doing anything else, ever again. And as it happens, that hasn’t changed (I write this sat alone, in filth, in the dark). My favourite game ever? Not quite. The ‘best’ game ever? You can make a very strong argument for it. Joel Gregory IS IT BETTER THAN? YES There may be dropped frames, but nothing like as bad Ubi’s bungled hitman. GTA is just loads better, too. YES Despite the clever Nemesis system, Los Santos shames Mordor with its huge array of activities. YES Destiny may have more long-term appeal than GTA…

Playing Never Alone has left me in two very different frames of mind. One is charmed up to the nines by its mix of simple co-op platforming (playable with a friend or by switching between its two characters, Nuna and Fox, in solo play)1 as well as the fascinating insight it offers into the culture of the Alaskan Iñupiat people. The other isn’t quite so convinced. Despite all the pretty window dressing, my second frame of mind just can’t see beyond the shabby game that sits sheepishly behind that exterior. At first glance, Never Alone is an enticing little package, both in the warm narrative of its fairytale story and in the way it marries a 2.5D platformer with a series of mini-documentaries. There are 24 of these videos that…

HEIST TO SEE YOU Fans have been feverishly anticipating the addition of online heists for over a year now, and Rockstar has finally confirmed they WILL be included in the next update. COD: Advanced Warfare Sledgehammer ignores Record Breakers’ advice I N F O FORMAT PS4 PUB ACTIVISION DEV SLEDGEHAMMER GAMES REVIEW ISSUE #104, 8/10 Yep, whether you want to be the best, beat the best, or simply avoid an angry Twitter backlash, dedication is what you need. Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare launched without the option to run dedicated servers however, so when the doors swung open to the public chronic lag issues followed them in. That functionality’s on its way, Sledgehammer’s Michael Condrey assures, but until then there’s no guarantee you won’t run into the dreaded latency woes.…

There’s always a pang of sadness when watching a movie starring someone recently departed, and it’s even more acute if that person was a true great. Philip Seymour Hoffman was one such actor and his presence in front of the camera quickly washes away any sombre feelings in this espionage thriller based on the novel by John le Carré. Set in the German port of Hamburg – and brilliantly shot by director Anton Corbijn (Control, The American) and his director of photography, Benoit Delhomme – the film engages instantly thanks to the quality of both the production and the acting on display. Hoffman is cast as a cantankerous but likeable German operative, whose ears prick up when a Chechen refugee with a terrorist past crops up in his city. This…

1 THE LAST OF US REMASTERED Like a full-bodied Stilton, this modern masterpiece just gets stronger with age. A starkly brutal, emotionally honest take on the end of the world, Naughty Dog’s stealth shooter is quite simply one of the best written, most wryly-paced videogames in history. This PS4 version looks astounding too, with a 1080p/60fps makeover offering a huge increase in clarity and fluency. There’s nothing last-gen about this incredible port. 2 DESTINY Blurring the lines between single-player shooting and co-op camaraderie, Bungie has created an epic MMO hybrid built on incredibly fluid firefights. An essential experience with friends and the perfect platform for PS4’s social features. 3 MINECRAFT Bigger, better and blockier than ever before on PlayStation, this iconic build-’em-up benefits massively from PS4’s additional power and gives…

Dave Meikleham NEWS EDITOR The angriest man in games is lord of all news. Apart from in April – a month he genuinely forgot existed on p16’s timeline. April… fool? Phil Iwaniuk GAMES EDITOR The Witcher expert Phil insists CD Projekt’s new RPG is destined to become PS4’s next best game. He’s… Ciri-ously excited. Milford Coppock MANAGING ART EDITOR Back in 1997, Milf joined OPSM1 team. All these years later and the crayon king still hasn’t picked the lock of those handcuffs. Louise Blain GUEST WRITER Do you live in Scotland? Do you hear elephant noises through the walls at 3am? That’s our Lou. On Far Cry. And her Ghale force wins.…

9.5m Registered Destiny players, according to Activision. Guardians unite, indeed. 09/14 The highest recorded month for logged-on PSN users since its launch in 2006. 270% The mind-blowing rise in PS Plus subscribers since PS4’s Nov ‘13 launch. Months in a row PS4 managed to outsell Xbox One in the US – its home turf. 9,881,536 Jobs created by GTA Online users in the multiplayer’s first year in the wild. 13.5 Million PS4s shipped worldwide. No wonder there are so many Guardians. 19FPS Largest recorded, prolonged frame-rate drop in Assassin’s Creed Unity. 25,00 Amount of Far Cry 4’s currency it costs to buy a water faucet for Ajay’s house.…

HOW DO, KEN? Seconds before our print deadline we learned that Street Fighter V is on its way to PS4 as a console exclusive. We’ll have the full story next month. PICTURE PERFECT Following our Rime subscriber cover for OPM #102, tweets between us and Raúl Rubio Munárriz of Tequila Works have resulted in the indie title getting a Photo mode. NATE NIGHT Here at OPM Towers we’ve been discussing the Uncharted movie news (see p40-41) and reckon that Mark Boal’s involvement is a good thing for the upcoming tie-in. His previous work on screenplays for The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty was ace. COO RUNNINGS Do you have a passing pigeon fetish? Then you’ll be glad to know Hatoful Boyfriend is coming to PS4 and PS Vita. The…

Like most people, I firmly believe that all the world’s problems can be solved by the correct application of Kevin Spacey. Surely no one would ever dream of starting a war if Spacey was in the room, saying they shouldn’t. Can you imagine Bush arguing with Spacey? Try. See? Preposterous. No one challenges the calm authority of The Spaceman. That’s the premise of Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Kevin Spacey plays Jonathan Irons, the CEO of the Atlas Corporation, which has spent the last couple of decades buying up all the world’s best soldiers, tanks and gunships. Thus elevated to de facto Warrior King Of Earth, Irons announces that he will use this massive stick to thump any nation that so much as looks at one of its neighbours funny.…

1 CALL OF JUAREZ: BOUND IN BLOOD The Western genre is dotted with great pairings. Butch and Sundance. Doc and Marty McFly. (Cheers, BTTF Part III.) And, of course, Ray and Thomas McCall. Alright, ‘great’ is pushing it with the Juarez brothers, but at least they shoot a lot of dudes together. Just keep schtum on that almighty falling out they have over treasure. 2 HEAVY RAIN You’ve got to feel for poor Shaun. While his brother became a meme sensation (JAAASOON!!!), the other Mars kid ends up abducted by the Origami Killer. Oh sure, Jason meets a tragic demise, but Shaun can also suffer a grizzly fate of his own if you muck up too many of those QTEs. Stupid sausage fingers! 3 THE LAST OF US Ah, the…

Do you heart Souls? Then you’ll bleed Bloodborne. From Software’s new project features some radical combat shake-ups such as the absence of a shield and the Regain system, which lets you earn back lost health by striking the opponent who hurt you within a certain (really narrow) timeframe. The quasi-Victorian gloom of Yharnam has little in common with Drangleic or Lordran but shares the same promise that the next fight, big or small, could be your last. On the misty moors and lugubrious streets of this new world, PS4 finds one of its most exciting exclusives – and one of the most outright handsome, too. Recently revealed is the striking locale of the Cainhurst Castle, once inhabited by a noble family before it succumbed to the freezing weather and thick…

A particularly packed MO Disk dropped through the OPM Towers’ letterbox this issue, blowing secrets about the upcoming episodic spin-off wide open. We now know the first episode is due on 18 Feb, and it’ll also be appearing on PS Vita. Three issues back we unveiled the game’s first stars: Claire Redfield and Moira Burton. We speculated that Moira’s pa Barry would surely feature and, whaddya know, here he is as one half of the second playable tag-team. In the fiction, Barry’s received an SOS message from Moira, who has been kidnapped and taken to a strange island. He travels straight there by boat, where he meets this little lass on the left. Her name’s Natalia Korda, and she can’t remember anything but her name. Like the Moira/Claire dynamic (while…

Like you didn’t have enough to worry about: LRRP guards patrolling day and night, top-secret stealthy-type missions to complete and only your guile and a remarkably versatile cardboard box for company. Oh, and packs of wild wolves roaming the hills, ready to tear you limb from limb at the slightest provocation. Wildlife, Hideo Kojima revealed recently, plays a pretty important role in the ebb and flow of your covert ops in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Along with the day/night cycle, which Kojima claims will also force you to change your tactical approach, the behaviour of MGS V’s dynamic wildlife might block off a certain pathway with bared teeth, or even work to your advantage as human enemies are mauled by peckish predators. It’s really embracing this open-world…

NETFLIX (UK/ US) A movie and TV-based streaming app. Membership is required (£6.99 a month), but the selection is impressive, especially in the USA version. WWE NETWORK (US) Quite simply a must-have app for all wrestling fans. Allows streaming of all WWE PPV and more for $9.99 a month. CRUNCHYROLL (US) Much like Netflix, though this animecentric app packs all the latest licensed animation into one place. YOUTUBE This essential app lets you access millions of user created videos. You can use your smartphone as a remote, too. NOW TV (UK) Day, week or month passes to Sky TV’s Sports and Movies channels, with no subscription required.…

MATTHEW PELLETT EDITOR TOWERFALL: ASCENSION It didn’t even make your top ten, but the PS Plus indie star is the game that’s refused to budge from my playlist. I’m actively arranginglunchsessions,postworkgatheringsandhouse parties purely to play four-player couchplay matches.A mesmerisingpartyexperience. MILFORD COPPOCK M A N AGING A RT EDITOR GRAND THEFT AUTO V I don’t normally play games twice, but the PS4 version of GTAV feels a fresh and vital experiencesecondtimeround. Theworldfeelsricher,the charactersmorecolourful andthefauna,well,furrier.The addition of theFPS mode is the icing on an already tasty cake. PHIL IWANIUK GAMES EDITOR ALIEN: ISOLATION CreativeAssemblycreatesa sense of place aboard the Sevastopolthatalmostmakes VRtech seem irrelevant. In my memories ofAlien Isolation, I was there,andtangible atmosphere like that doesn’t comearoundveryoften.The soothing balm for the sores ColonialMarines left you with. DAVE MEIKLEHAM NE W S EDITOR DESTINY…

The magic of LittleBigPlanet has always come from filling its world of blank, Hessian whimsy with your own personal flavour, and happily that hasn’t changed in LBP3. Bare sweeps of cardboard beg to be decorated, Sackboy wants dressing as a spaceman, a clown, a Final Fantasy character – and an empty craftworld moon hangs inside your pod, inviting you to fill it with your own levels. But that’s never been the full package. The other half of LittleBigPlanet is a story filled with the imaginative quirks of its developer (previously Media Molecule, now Sumo Digital – overseers of the excellent LittleBigPlanet on PS Vita), and it’s here that the latest Sackboy experience falls short of its landmark predecessors. You’ll breeze through Sumo Digital’s levels in one three-hour sitting, but the…

Much like last year’s Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Beyond Gotham gets all goofed up on celebrating its own history. And while Batman may have his mug on the box, it’s his cohorts who are the real stars of the show. Bringing in the dastardly Brainiac and the galactic conflict of the Lantern Corps gives the series a Guardians Of The Galaxy-style kick up the backside. Vehicle sections are now handled Resogun-style, with intense rotating battles against enemies such as the Sinestro and the Reach. By ‘Resogun-style’ I, of course, mean ‘complete and utter rip-off’, but these bits are still hella fun and spread out far enough across the 15 chapter-long story to avoid feeling too plagiaristic. Little additions elsewhere make all the difference. Costume pads are no more – simply…

Lara’s had a right ol’ time of it lately, what with landing on an island infested with murderers leaving her in need of some intense therapy. She hasn’t felt like her old self in ages. The Temple Of Osiris fixes that by taking her back to her tomb raiding roots by seeing her work through a series of trap-filled dungeons, albeit in top-down form with a few new pals in tow. There is a brief hint of a plot involving aiding some Egyptian gods in order to take down another, more evil, one, but you’ll barely notice it as puzzling and shooting things is where the real heart of the game lies. Each tomb brings a satisfying range of levers to pull, platforms to raise and bombs to roll at…

Edmund McMillen has a flair for transforming disgust into delight. The indie designer made one of the few games to fill me with genuine Xbox envy in 2010’s Super Meat Boy; a title which somehow made an oozing sentient steak a platforming icon. Yet that bleeding, super jumpy ribeye isn’t even close to as vom-worthy as the procession of putrid sights you endure in this adorably sickening 2D dungeon crawler. Rivers of poop and tumour monsters don’t get more appealing than this. The real genius that sits at the centre of Isaac’s worryingly moreish core comes with its wonderful procedurally-generated nature. Hunted by his momma at the behest of the Big Man Upstairs, the naked nipper of the title must descend through ten increasingly stomach-churning layers of his basement. Of…

ASSASSIN’S CREED UNITY Dom Reseigh-Lincoln climbs everything in the name of the French revolution Unity’s box-gracing co-op missions really are a treat. Rather than skewering some poor bourgeoisie, we’re tasked with saving a soon-to-be-unheaded spymaster. My hooded pal and I are scanning a huge crowd for three hidden Templars and finally spot one in the middle of the bustling scene. As my pal ‘blends in’ by running through the throng and alerting all the guards, I leap from a nearby rooftop and pounce on an unsuspecting target. That’s teamwork, son. I’m a new man. PES 2015 Phil Iwaniuk is now 200% less of a rage-quitter in footy games. So he says… I’ve stormed out of more FIFA matches than Mourinho’s ignored post-match handshakes, so it’s something of a revelation to…

SNIPER ELITE 3 – DLC BUNDLE This new DLC drop features a shooting range (with dedicated rifle, pistol and SMG sections); a fresh co-op mission, Twilight Strike; a new Capture The Flag multiplayer mode and three extra online maps (Fracture, Night Watch and Outpost Canyon). FAR CRY 4 – HURK DELUXE PACK The first chunk of Far Cry 4’s DLC reunites players with otherwise co-op-only buddy Hurk through five action-packed ops involving harpoons, fire and five new weapons. It’s not currently available on its own, so you’ll need to cough up for the season pass before Hurking up. SAMURAI WARRIORS 4 – SPECIAL COSTUME SET Give your army leader the ultimate makeover with this compilation of Costume Packs One to Five. There’s sultry nightwear, pink bathrobes, a furry fox getup,…

GOD’S POCKET 26 DEC The ‘accidental’ death of a construction worker in a working class neighbourhood prompts Philip Seymour Hoffman to poke around for the truth. THE GUEST 29 DEC A shifty-looking soldier turns up at a family home claiming to be their dead son’s friend. People start disappearing soon after, because duh. DELIVER US FROM EVIL 05 JAN So a cop an walk into a bar… Playing the old ‘true events’ card, this possession-themed horror teams police with priests. BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP 12 JAN Remember 50 First Dates? Yeah, this sombre thriller in which Nicole Kidman wakes every day with her memory erased isn’t much like that. DEAD SNOW 2 12 JAN Yep, Nazi zombies again. A possessed, reattached arm and Martin Starr join the cast for…

STEP 1 GET THE TEENY GADGET SET UP Wow. You reallylike visiting your local PlayStation physician, don’t you, Harry/Haley Hypochondriac? Don’t worry, your favourite GP isn’t here to judge. That’s what Bernadette in reception is for. Anyhoo, what seems to be bothering you this month? Ah, you’ve just bought Sony’s adorable micro-console, I see. You’ll be after some tips on how to get the most out of your £84.99 investment, then. First things first: drop your trouser… uh, hook the gizmo up to whatever TV you want to stream content to. As one of PlayStation TV’s main selling points is its ability to stream games to a second telly, the doc suggests choosing a set that’s not connected to your PS4. To control PS TV, connect a DualShock 3 or…

1 THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE YOU’RE EXPECTING AN EPIC SOMEWHERE BETWEEN AVATAR AND THE BIBLE. WITH MORE AMULETS OF 2-3% COLD DAMAGE. 2 A BARGAIN AT £1.99 – UNLESS YOU SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY MAIL, IN WHICH CASE STEER CLEAR. YOU’LL ONLY COME OVER ALL OUTRAGED WHEN EDINBURGH CASTLE GOES BOOM. 3 IF THIS WAS A MOVIE, IT’D BE A RATHER DERIVATIVE HOTCHPOTCH OF SE7EN AND SAW RIFFS THAT EVEN THE CHANNEL 5 COMMISSIONER WOULD THINK TWICE ABOUT SCREENING. 4 THOUGHTFUL POLISHED SHOOTER, MEET MR DEAFENING SOD-OFF SHOTGUN. WE THINK YOU’RE GOING TO GET ON FAMOUS… BUU-KAU!…

Te am OP M HEAVY RAIN Phil Iwaniuk would like to personally thank you for supporting interactive drama People look at me a bit funny when I tell them Heavy Rain might be my favourite title from last generation. A videogame about missing children and meme-spawning QTEs isn’t the easiest to run up the flagpole, but I stick to my guns because, as a tone and character piece, Quantic’s drizzly thriller stands apart from everything else – including Beyond and all its Ellen Page-ery. R e a d e r BORDERLANDS 2 Gearbox Software’s co-op time trap gets some love from looter-at-large Sam Wood I’ll be honest, I’ve never played a game with such a unique feel to it. I love how it never takes itself too seriously, either. (In…

1 VELOCITY 2X A ludicrously enjoyable puzzle/platformer hybrid that should come with a health warning. So joyous is the side-scroller’s twin-stick teleporting, there’s a danger you may well grin your face clean off the bone. Masterfully designed, with arguably the best control scheme on PS Vita, Velocity 2X is utterly essential. 2 PERSONA 4: GOLDEN This thoughtful and unique JRPG epic gives you another stab at high school – only intrigue and superpowers instead of nerves, acne and an unpredictable vocal register. 3 FEZ Gomez charms you instantly with his perspective-shifting puzzles and pin-sharp pixel-art, then blows your mind with a world of secret languages, hidden areas and beguiling background tunes. 4 VIRTUE’S LAST REWARD This visual novel/puzzler just gets better over its 40 hours. The dialogue’s engaging, and however…

With a new Dragon Age game out on the shelves, it’s finally time for legendary RPG dev Bioware to pull back the curtain on its next Mass Effect game. Most certainly notcalled Mass Effect 4, the studio stresses, it’ll nonetheless exist within the same universe as the Shepard trilogy, albeit with all-new characters. TALI HO! “Our goal is not to build Mass Effect 4,” senior development director Chris Wynn told fans via a Twitch broadcast, adding, “it’s beyond that.” The full extent of what it means to go, “beyond,” those first three games isn’t yet clear, but for one thing there’s a pronounced emphasis on exploration from the team. Completely new species are promised to populate the galaxies, complete with their own worlds and architectural styles. Take a look to…

Bon voyage, 2014. Where didthe time go? We’ll remember you fondly for the likes of Destiny and The Last Of Us Remastered and with utter, utter disdain for the 14,493 games that were delayed into the new year. So with 2015 welcoming us into her warm PlayStation bosom, it’s time to take a step back, flick through our 2014 calendar and recount the gaming highs and lows of the 365 days that were… January LAGGING BEHIND Dark Souls II is the first OPM cover on sale in 2014. From Software’s übermasterful slasher goes on to score 9/10, eventually winning Game Of The Year at the 32nd Golden Joysticks. BEST RAID PLANS Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition looks pretty enough to make your eyes implode and seeing Lara tumbling about Yamatai in…

A leaked photo of Jurassic World-themed Lego sets points to the mysterious hybrid dino called the D-Rex. It’s part T-Rex, part raptor, part snake and part cuttlefish. Capcom is making a PS4 game that will, “turn heads,” reports Famitsu. Sucker Punch is allegedly hiring a narrative writer for a new open-world project. A Sony software engineer listing suggests the company is trying to optimise PS4’s load times. Seconds before our mag deadline, Ubi confirms rumours that the next Assassin’s Creed is set in Victorian London.…

Tweet gold (and one troll) from this month’s @OPM_UK timeline @SADNESSWILLSEAR Just finished COD: Advanced Warfare on Veteran difficulty. F***ing epic :) @MADECITYSTARS Just tried the PES 2015 demo. I can honestly say it has EVERYTHING that FIFA 15 is missing. @MAGE_REVENANTS Think I wanna go to Starbucks for a few hours and play Freedom Wars on my PS Vita. @XBECCAMAINX Disney Infinity and more Skylanders – someone’s a very spoiled wee man with very skint parents… @PATRICKWEEKES Have been playing and enjoying Dust: An Elysian Tail. A nice, deeper-than-expected combat system. @FLIBBLTASTIC Toybox Turbos is a lot of fun. Takes me back to the days playing Micro Machines as a kid. TROLL OF THE MONTH @BRIGHTONFAN I’m going to wrap up my Girlfriend’s Firefly board game and pretend it…

There’s one question I repeatedly ask game developers whenever I meet them, and it’s a question to which I still haven’t been given a straight answer: how on Earth do you make sense of fan feedback? By that, I absolutely don’t mean that critical discourse from gamers isn’t worth hearing. On the contrary, in a landscape where people stream games in their entirety on YouTube and Twitch, and where the resulting comments accumulate in their thousands for all to see, that feedback can’t be ignored. Particularly if you’re a dev with a Twitter account and a multiplayer game on the market. The problem, as it appears while pressing my face up against the glass from outside the world of development, is that there’s way too much feedback for any given…

A collaborative multiplayer sandbox in an open-world flavoured by mid-20th century communist regimes and powered by cascaded voxel cone ray tracing – The Tomorrow Children’s a tricky one to wrap your brain around. Announced as a PS4 exclusive at Gamescom 2014 by Q-Games head Dylan Cuthbert, it wowed with its freeform design and striking visuals, but that first look was as bemusing as it was impressive. And after going hands-on with the closed-Alpha we’re still bemused: we found ourselves mining gold nuggets from deep within an enormous soapstone foot without a clear understanding of why, and logging in each day to find our town had been attacked, its citizens deployed elsewhere. But we also got to dig deep into the class system, which offers Citizen, Miner, Commander, Radio Officer, Engineer…

MATT PELLETT EDITOR With over three – three!–years separating Skyrim’s release date from *now* my eyes are on Bethesda to give me another amazing RPG. And that RPG has to take the form of FALLOUT 4. No exceptions. It feels as if we’ve been hearing rumours of a Boston setting since before Paul Revere went on his Midnight Ride, and I’m getting impatient. MILFORD COPPOCK MANAGING ART EDITOR My most-wanted game doesn’t even have a name yet, so I’ll stick with GUERRILLA GAMES’ NEXT PROJECT for now. You know the one – it’s the high fantasy role playing game with alleged concept art showing hunters battling giant robot dinosaurs. GIANT ROBOT DINOSAURS! Sod this column’s style, those three words demandbolding… PHIL IWANIUK GAMES EDITOR Every generation, Polyphony Digital seems to…

INFAMOUS: SECOND SON Going for smoke in a super sandbox Well this is new. For the first time in our Game Of The Year voting we have a tie for the coveted number ten spot. Not even a flimsy photocopy of a cigarette paper could be squeezed between Sucker Punch’s Seattle super-romp and the excellent Velocity 2X. Beanie-toting Delsin Rowe may be irritating like rubbing nettles deep inside your bum cleft, but his suite of smoking powers are a delight to control. Hovering, super sprinting or even flying over the Emerald City is a constant pleasure and there’s a real argument to be made that inFamous: Second Son is one of the most mechanically satisfying games on current-gen. It’s quite the looker as well, offering a fine example of what…

GOLD AWARD Awarded to a game that’s brilliantly executed on every level, combining significant innovation, near-flawless gameplay, great graphics and lasting appeal. EDITOR’S AWARD Not at the very highest echelon, but this is a game that deserves recognition and special praise based on its ambition, innovation or other notable achievement. 10 INCREDIBLE Thekindofphenomenal experience rarely seen in aconsolegeneration. 9 OUTSTANDING Unreservedlybrilliant–this shouldbeineverycollection. 8 VERY GOOD Atruly excellent game, marred by just a few minor issues. 7 GOOD Agreatconceptunfulfilledor the familiar done well, but still well worth playing. 6 DECENT Fun in parts, flawed in others, but more right than wrong. 5 AVERAGE What you expect and little more, this is for devotees only. 4 BELOW AVERAGE Any bright ideas are drowning in a sea of bugs or mediocrity. 3 POOR…

Quick history lesson (badum-tish!). Ever since 2007’s original, Assassin’s Creed hasn’t been a series about reliving moments in history but one about living in the present or near-future and using the Animus (essentially a big computer) to simulate said historical moments. The Animus sifts through your character’s ‘ancestral DNA’ to create these past worlds, and often, for plot reasons I don’t need to go into, one of your buddies will hack into its code during the course of the main story and start manipulating the software while you explore. Why is it important that you know this? Because the same is true of Assassin’s Creed Unity, and this fiction gives rise to one particular scene in which a key character says to you: “you’ll also run into a lot of…

Costume Quest was a short, sweet little RPG set on Hallowe’en night, which saw two trick-or-treating siblings innocently blunder into some pretty serious trouble. Its sequel is happy to stick to the same template, changing the antagonist (a malevolent dentist replaces the original’s evil witch) and upping the stakes (rather than rescuing your sibling you’re both tasked with saving your town from a candy-free future). So it’s essentially more of the same. All of which means you spend most of your time knocking on doors and either collecting sweets – your currency in this syrupy world – or battling monsters in turn-based combat shenanigans. They might be wearing cut-down curtains and cardboard, but these kids’ imaginations are powerful enough to see them transform into giant heroes, including a wizard, a…

That’s it. Show’s over, folks. All the other games can give up and go home. Rockstar North’s seminal sandbox redux is the best game I’ve ever played. Yes, really . That’s a hell of a statement to make and not one I lay out lightly, trust me. Is Grand Theft Auto V my favourite game of all time? Possibly. Even if it’s not, I’d happily argue the fact it’s quantifiably better than any other title I can name. There’s simply no other game that does so much so well… and it just got even better on PS4. Rockstar has made a lot of promises since this current-gen retake was revealed at E3. A significant hike in resolution to 1080p. Increased draw distances. New animals. 100 additional songs…

Borderlands 2 is a funny game, sure… compared with its shooter peers. In such an ashen-faced genre, it doesn’t take much to stand out on those terms. But is there a vein of humour rich enough to sustain an entire series of episodic adventures? Unless you’re literally reading this through the eyeholes of the homemade Claptrap costume you fashioned from cardboard and old camera lenses, you’d hesitate to say yes. Episode one made this cold-hearted writer laugh aloud. Twice. And it did so by employing a sillier tone than Gearbox’s games, less caught up in internet memes and brostep. And by employing Troy Baker. As Hyperion corporate shill Rhys, a smarmy yet likeable everyman whose smarmier-still colleague stole his promotion and appointed him janitor, Baker demonstrates comic timing aplenty. He’s…

Urge to rant… rising. Yes, I’m feeling as agitated as ever this month. Blame my dour, super sweary demeanour on the absolute savaging my poor ear holes have been forced to endure these past few months. Don’t get me wrong, my lugs are happy to put up with the booming noise of COD gunfire until the deaf cows come home. What they can’t stand? The phoned-in awfulness of a disinterested Hollywood actor. Like many of you, my ears were the subject of a brutal beatdown back in September, when Peter Dinklage put a MONOTONE MANGLING on Destiny’s (admittedly limited) script. That Mr Rinky Dink avoids the full extent of my terrible tartan wrath is because a) I want to have Tyrion Lannister’s babies and b) his phoned-in patter partially suited…

Provided that you played GTA Online on PS3 and have your Rockstar Social Club account linked, the first option you’ll be given when starting GTA Online is to transfer your existing character and progress over to PS4. All this takes is a simple confirmation and a short processing delay, after which your rank, apartment, vehicles, and any other ill-gotten gains will be imported. Whether you choose to transfer or create a new character, you’ll be presented with a police mugshot section that represents the updated customisation process. Here you can manipulate a large number of options to make your avatar look just the way you want, ensuring that the parade of near identical crims that populated the PS3 version isn’t repeated. All of the outfits and weapons from previous DLC…

CEL DAMAGE OVERDRIVE One of the very first cel-shaded games still stands up today thanks to wacky weapons such as portable holes, freeze rays and giant springs. DONALD DUCK: GOIN’ QUACKERS Goin’ Quackers isn’t just an excuse to roll out a weak pun, but a serviceable Disney platformer featuring one angry feathered fellow. ARC THE LAD Strategic depth, memorable characters and a compelling world are your rewards for plonking down a very reasonable four quid for this PS1 tactical RPG. DISNEY PRINCESSES Customise your chosen heroine and help the sickly-sweet animated princesses restore order to their magical kingdom. Definitely one for those with a Disney fetish. THE INCREDIBLES Control Pixar’s superhero family and wield super strength, speed, invisibility, and elasticity in the fight for justice. Bonus points for Frozone’s cameo.…

To secure the Platinum for The Evil Within you’ll need to complete at least threefull playthroughs of the story, so make sure you have plenty of spare time (and undergarments) before embarking. Start on Survival difficulty, as you need to finish the game at this level to unlock the hardest mode – also, avoid spending any green gel on upgrades to work towards It Is What It Is. Most chapters include a trophy for beating a specific challenge such as not killing any enemies in chapter two for À La Corvo, and you can save time by reading up on these requirements in advance – though some will be easier to tackle later in New Game+. Following a collectibles guide will help get them out of the way, and finding…

WHO? Rob Pearson enjoys being contrary, so when everyone started banging on about how bloody brilliant Telltale’s The Walking Dead was, there was only one way his opinion was going to go. INFO PUB TELLTALE GAMES DEV TELLTALE GAMES RELEASED 2012, PS3 GET IT NOW AMAZON, £15.09 (COMPLETE FIRST SEASON) WHAT? The Walking Dead is an episodic point ‘n’ click style adventure from the makers of The Wolf Among Us. Everyone agrees it’s one of the best games of the last generation. It lets you think you’re altering the story and is sometimes a bit sad. Okay, I get it. The Walking Dead is a masterpiece of videogame storytelling, it offers the player meaningful choices with emotional payoffs and is presented in a rich, comic book art style that’s evocative…

1 GRAND THEFT AUTO V No game could live up to the pre-release hype that surrounded Rockstar’s latest open-world effort, and yet somehow expectations were surpassed by the phenomenal final product. The largest entry in the series is also one of the most ambitious games ever, but its fusion of thrilling missions, entertaining characters and scathing satire looks effortless. There can be no better way to bring a generation to a close. 2 UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES The game that sparked a million mancrushes, with a perfectly pitched script, crunchy combat and set-pieces like no other. In three words: unprecedented. Unequalled. Uncharted. 3 RED DEAD REDEMPTION A near-perfect open-world fusion of engaging storytelling, truly compelling characters and a living environment ripe for experimentation. No sandbox since has got us quite…