Innholdsfortegnelse for March 1, 2015 i PLAY

This month we’re all about the hardcore games. It’s not that we hate ‘casual’ titles, but with the entire team obsessed with PlayStation’s toughest challenges, be they in the form of Dark Souls’ bosses or Gran Turismo’s endurance events, we thought it was time to honour the best upcoming finger-blisterers in a specially selected Previews section. Our cover feature zeroes in on another classic hardcore series with our Battlefield Hardline hands-on. As Phil explains on p62, even though it’s more welcoming than past entries, there are plenty of reasons why Battlefield should remain hardcore fans’ shooter of choice. Want in on the hardcore action? Then tackle this month’s free Pub Quiz Book and tell us how you fared. And if the H-word fills you with dread, panic not: you can…

SAME OLD STORY MODE Mojang and Telltale Games have announced Minecraft: Story Mode; a narrative-driven series that will be released episodically. According to the Walking Dead/TWAU studio, Story Mode is, “driven by player choice.” It’ll arrive on PlayStation sometime in 2015 and is a standalone series, not a Minecraft add-on. PAY(DAY) THE PIPER Keen to indulge in some current-gen bank-fleecing? Good news: more details have leaked on the PS4 port of Payday 2. The special ‘Crimewave Edition’ includes a stash of DLC and is said to run in 1080p, according to a product listing by retailer Best Buy. Said listing also hints at a 16 June release date. KNOW YOUR SCROLL Perhaps influenced by the business model laid down by Activision with Destiny, Bethesda has announced a major shake-up to…

HAWK IT TO ME, BABY Tony turned up at Sony’s CES keynote last month to confirm a new game bearing his name will hit PS4 in 2015. Besides being published by Activision, little is known about this new Hawk. POST SKATE, DOES THPS REALLY HAVE ANYTHING TO OFFER? We’re all thinking the same thing. Or rather, the same things, plural: the fun we all had with Tony’s PS1-era fun nuggets, and the graphical possibilities of PS4. 1+1= glorious rebirth of the extreme sports genre, obviously. But there’s a problem: people still skateboard in 2015, but it isn’t the zenith of cool it was in 2000. EA’s Skate got in there just in time to Nose Grind the last few centimetres of Zeitgeist, distancing itself from the then-dominant THPS by making…

1 The Order: 1886 Once again your tastes align with ours as the men and women of The Order: 1886 take the gold in your Most Wanted games. For a final verdict on PS4’s new shooter twizzle your moustache over to p16. Check back next issue for the full review of Galahad’s explosive debut. FORMAT PS4 ETA 20 FEB 2 Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End The imminent arrival of a bunch of well-dressed lycan hunters may have knocked Mr Drake from the top, but you’re still expressing your love for Nate loud and clear. Need more? Feed your Uncharted habit on p6… FORMAT PS4 ETA 2015 3 MGS V: The Phantom Pain The one-eyed purveyor of stealth hilarity slips one slot to bronze territory, but that hasn’t stopped the man…

That’s it. Abandon all hope ye who enter. There’ll be no saving of Meiks’ tattered sanity from this time forth. As I sit hit here mashing my keyboard, I can tell you I’ve sunk precisely six days, 20 hours, 48 minutes and 30 seconds into Bungie’s galaxy. And what have I been doing during that 165 hours, you ask? Joylessly reenacting Groundhog Day in first-person shooter form, baby! Alright, that’s a fib. Well, the joyless part. My Bill Murray-sponsored, forever-looping grind of daily Tower bounties and hoovering up Relic Iron on Mars is very much a thing. A thing that has taken over my sleep-deprived existence and temporarily made me give up all other games for the foreseeable future. Relentlessly repetitive Destiny grinding is dominating my life… and I couldn’t…

1 No realm-wide threat is too pressing to interfere with your scheduled hours and hours of aimless horseback riding. The world is your Center Parcs. 2 Short of money? Have a rifle around for Orens (one of the currencies in the world of The Witcher) in some boxes and vases for a bit. Finders keepers ‘n’ all. 3 No need to pop down the animal shelter for a canine companion – they’re wandering around all over the place, for free! D’aww. 4 Worried about all that money you blow on lighters and matches? Worry no more. Bust out the Igni sign and enjoy plenty of frugal flames.…

1 You’ve been bitten/shot/etc and need blood fast. A friend has a blood bag kit, but gives the wrong type and you have a fatal haemolytic reaction. 2 You’re hungry. If you don’t eat in the next few hours you’ll starve to death. In desperation, you eat a manky bit of veg – instant fatal food poisoning. 3 Wracked by hunger you eat a whole bag of uncooked rice, forgetting that you shouldn’t overeat. You vomit it all back up and die of starvation.…

FORMAT PS4 / ETA 27 MAR PUB SONY / DEV FROM SOFTWARE That’s just like a Dark Souls rookie: bringing a knife to a chuffing huge greatsword fight. From Software has always provided a plethora of eviscerating, barbecuing, bludgeoning tools to help dispatch the game’s demons. Remember the Drake Sword? Fab at slaying dragons, right? How about Santier’s Spear, eh? Don’t pretend you didn’t twirl it around humming lightsaber noises while pretending to be Darth Maul at his Liam Neeson-offing best. Yet regardless of how potent the Souls games’ arsenal proved, their weapons could never Optimus Prime themselves into fresh slaughtering tools.Why hello Mr Sword-whip! We’ve a feeling you’ll be more than a little fond of another sword we’re about to introduce, too… Revealed in the artbook that comes with…

FORMAT PS4/PS VITA / ETA 2015 / PUB DEVOLVER DIGITAL DEV ACID NERVE In the boots of a little pixelated human, you’ve taken it upon yourself to rebuild a Titan Soul, the source of all life in the universe. Guarding each piece is a titular Titan and, boy, do they want to smash your face in. Oh and you’ve got one arrow to your name. Yup, just the one. So if you miss, you’ll need to retrieve it to bring each foe down. You will die in Titan Souls – in fact, you will die a lot – but those deaths are all part of the game’s learning curve. To balance things out each boss has a single one-hit-kill weakness, so consider those mortal coil meanderings a rather macabre research…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ALSO ON PS3 ETA OUT NOW PUB SQUARE ENIX DEV DONTNOD This isn’t anime or a f*cking videogame,” spits best friend Chloe at player character Max Caulfield after the latter tries to explain her power to rewind recent events a short way. “People don’t have powers like that.” Alert the meta-police. The snake is eating its tail! For the benefit of the easily confused, this is a f*cking videogame, but it’s Life Is Strange’s frequent and substantial departures from the usual conventions of the adventure genre that make it so enjoyable. There are no reactors to power up in Arcadia Bay, the sleepy Pacific Northwest town Max and Chloe grew up in, or any mislaid keycards that require your attention. Instead you’re hunting your dorm room for…

INFO  FORMAT PS4 (REQUIRES CAMERA) ETA OUT NOW PUB UBISOFT DEV UBISOFT BARCELONA Don’t give me that look, like you’ve caught me giving my precious Action Man a lovely bath. Rabbids Invasion is aimed at those considerably younger than my esteemed 28-year-old self, but this PlayStation Camera-based ‘interactive’ TV show doesn’t require the expertise of a playdough-troubling primary schooler to be assessed. It’s still a game. I know about games. I can do this. Dutifully, I plug in the camera, clear the required six square feet of space for myself and prepare for whatever the Rabbids have in store. The screen mirrors an eager smile back at me from the disconcertingly small area my face occupies. What follows is a perplexing combination of shrugging and pointing in an attempt to…

MEIKSY ANGRY! MEIKSY SMASH! Yes, it’s that time of the month for your favourite Highlander to vent his furious neeps-loving spleen. This month, my peppery wrath is focused squarely on videogame ‘heroes’… specifically clean-cut ones designed and approved by soul-evaporating committee thinking. The next games character I see wearing any combination of hoodie/trenchcoat/cap is so getting a GLESGA KISS TO THE FACE. Stop making everyone so damn good at everything! I don’t want Arno leaping across Notre Dame in a single bound. I’d rather the CACK-SHINNED HOBBLER who can barely shimmy through an open window without squirming around like he’s attempting to solve advanced calculus while Mary Antoinette hurls rotten Escargot at him. Preferably, physical and physiological shortcomings wouldn’t come via glitches, either; but hey, I’ll take character weakness wherever…

INFO FORMAT PS4 PUB SIERRA DEV LUCID ENTERTAINMENT REVIEW ISSUE #106, 7/10 There are two inventive attempts at translating Geometry Wars’ score-attack gameplay as online multiplayer on show here. ‘Stock’ is a team-based affair where two sides compete to take down a boss character first; the twist being that bullets are strictly rationed, although collected ammo packs can be sent to a communal chest. ’Summoner’ is Geometry Wars’ take on Domination. Players fight to control fixed points on the map, which, when activated, show their gratitude by spewing enemies at you. Which, since accruing the highest score is the point of the exercise, is actually a good thing. Neither mode rattles the notion that Geometry Wars is best played with others – but separately – though. Back to the leaderboards.…

RACE THE  SUNPS1 What an unexpected gem this is. Part endless runner, part WipEout apprentice, Race The Sun’s clever unlockable power-up system makes this difficult to put down. WOAH DAVE! PS1 £2 A single-screen retro arcade fare in which you chuck eggs about? Steady on Dave. It’s fully Cross-Buy-enabled, so those eggs can be lobbed on both PS4 and PS Vita. IRONCLAD  TACTICSPS1 A fictionalised take of the American Civil War in which big, stompy robots charge about, IC is a ‘fast-paced’ card game heading to PS4, minus the microtransactions. ATELIER AYESHA PLUS: THE ALCHEMIST OF  DUSKS1 £2 The PS3 JRPG comes to PS Vita with an enhanced edition that includes new bosses, extra costumes and a special Hard mode. RESOGUN Everyone’s favourite voxel-based cylindrical shooter comes to PS3 and…

FIREPLACE 4K 15 FEB Tragically released a day too late for Valentine’s, experience the warm glow of a fireplace in 4K definition. Actual warmth not included. Sorry about that. GAME OF THRONES – SEASONS 1-4 16 FEB All the blood, all the biceps, and all the boobs from HBO’s finest, boiled down into a staggering 20 discs. Yum. LIFE ITSELF 17 FEB You ’ who Roger Ebert is? Hang your head in shame. Then go watch this doc that handily chronicles the legendary film critic’s life for you. ANNABELLE 23 FEB Annabelle, who takes an hour to stand upright, is that creepy devil doll from The Conjuring. She also makes Chucky look like an Oxford graduate. SONS OF ANARCHY – SEASON 7 02 MAR Kurt Sutter’s petrol-soaked TV epic powers…

STEP 1 BECOME A GAME DEVELOPER We often ask devs for tips on how to get into game making, and the advice we hear most frequently is to be proactive. “Just do it!” says former Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling (whose studio Robotoki justclosed– aaawkward) says. “Start figuring it out on your own – you’re going to have a lot of failures, but they’ll teach you more than anything you do right,” he prophecises. Hello Games’ Sean Murray echoes that sentiment: “Concentrate on what you really like doing, because then you’ll have a really high quality portfolio.” Q-Games president Dylan Cuthbert offers some hands-on advice: “Whether you’re an artist or a game designer, you can use Flash or some of the lighter tools out there to express yourself easily.…

1“A BAD GUY SCREAMS, “I’M GOING TO FIST MY ASS WITH YOUR HEAD!” DURING A FIGHT AND YOU LONG FOR THE COMPARATIVELY SOPHISTICATED HUMOUR OF BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD.” 2“ INSTEAD OF RESCUING MINERS TRAPPED INSIDE UNDERGROUND CAVES, NOW YOU’RE SHOOTING, DODGING, AND DYING. LOTS AND LOTS OF DYING.” 3 “BIG SISTERS ARE BITCHES. EVERYBODY KNOWS IT. IF THEY’RE NOT DOBBING YOU INTO MOTHER, THEY’RE PULLING YOUR HAIR OR STABBING YOU WITH A BIG SPIKE.” 4“ YES, THIS GAME FAILED, BUT IT GAVE IT ITS BEST SHOT. WELL DONE FOR TRYING, GAME; HAVE A BISCUIT. NOT A BOURBON, THOUGH – YOU DIDN’T TRY THAT HARD.”…

Team OPM RATCHET & CLANK: A CRACK IN TIME Dom Reseigh-Lincoln praises the trusty bolt in Insomniac’s exemplary platformer Regardless of Insomniac’s peculiar attempt at an FPS and its exclusivity fling with Microsoft, ACIT remains the best thing it’s done in years. Six games in, it should have been a tired retread of past glories. ACIT is far from it. The guns are more imaginative than ever and every single planet and moon oozes sumptuous sci-fi magic. Reader ENSLAVED: ODYSSEY TO THE WEST Matty Gamble refuses to pack his trunk and say goodbye to the man behind Monkey I’m tempted to say Canis Canem Edit (aka Bully) due to the rich and absorbing game world, but I think my favourite has to be Enslaved: Odyssey To The West. Amazing story,…

1) Crash Bash was designed by Mark Cerny. True or false? 2) Gnasty Gnorc is a villain in which PlayStation classic? 3) Burger Girl, I Am The Law and Mimicking Monkeys are all levels in which game? 4) Westwood Studios is responsible for which franchise? 5) The ever-polite Abe of Oddworld fame belongs to what fictional species? 6) What is the job of a certain Rosco McQueen? 7) Bartoli’s Hideout is a location in which game? 8) UEP Systems is the developer of which classic sports franchise? 9) Which classic RPG series sees you hunting down 108 Stars Of Destiny? 10) Grand Theft Auto’s London expansion was set in which year? 11) Which racer was blessed with an instrumental version of the Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’ on its soundtrack along with The…

1) Which recent survival horror is known as Psycho Break in Japan? 2) Outlast was created by which games development team? 3) What is the name of the infected ship in Resident Evil Revelations? 4) What is the name of the space station featured in Alien: Isolation? 5) Who is taking the lead role in Hideo Kojima’s and Guillermo Del Toro’s return to Silent Hill? 6) The villain in Clocktower on the original PlayStation was armed with what oversized everyday object? 7) Which third-person survival horror is set a year after an occurrence only known as ‘The Event’? 8) Which 2013 ‘sequel’ stars ex-American footballer Logan Carter, rapper Sam B and undercover police officer Xian Mei? 9) Who is responsible for the monster design in The Suffering and its gory…

Dave Meikleham NEWS EDITOR Glutton for punishment Dave finds Dark Souls easy. But, after a hands-on test on p48, he’s terrified about PS4’s ‘borne ultimatum… Phil Iwaniuk GAMES EDITOR Battlefield expert Phil went undercover with Hardline this issue (p62), and was delighted to report it isn’t 21 Dump Street after all. Milford Coppock MANAGING ART EDITOR The original OPM Ninja X tried to relive past glories on N++ (p46) this month. His language was more colourful than the levels. Louise Blain GUEST WRITER Author of this issue’s excellent Pub Quiz Book, Louise’s expertise in the field is unmatched. In pubs, that is, not quizzes.…

18.5m Amount of PS4s Sony has sold as of 4 January. Bonuses for all, right Kaz? 21/12/16 Release date of the upcoming Assassin’s Creed movie. Stab! Stab! $89.1m Money raised for Kickstarter games in 2014. You lot sure are generous. 76 The Blast Radius stats of Gjallarhorn, arguably the best PVE gun in Destiny. 700,000 The depressingly small number of copies Ico sold in its first eight years. 20% The price many US retailers were knocking off PS TV over the holidays. ¥369 Billions Japanese gamers spent in 2014; the lowest retail total in 24 yrs. $35,000 Amount Naughty Dog paid to buy its first PS1 development kit from Sony.…

Grey scale Is it bad that I literally grew up with a PS1 as my best friend? That little grey box was all I cared about, and I was only three at the time! The long sessions of watching my father playing Metal Gear Solid have been engraved into my memory. I don’t know about other people, but the first time I played that game (when I was four-years-old) I felt that if I was spotted I was in grave danger. So what did I do? I simply turned our PS1 off and I was safe. Anyone else do that? Jack Fishwick via email We’ll be honest, the very first Resident Evil had us reaching for the power button more often than not. Not that we played scary games as…

So, Telltale is making a narrative-driven Minecraft game. That’s… something. But while the developer’s latest announced project doesn’t exactly appeal to my personal gaming sensibilities, it’s not the project I take issue with – it’s the announcement itself. Admittedly Telltale even made a cute little interactive game to go along with its surprising revelation, but beyond that what have we got? A title. A logo. And absolutely nothing else. Just how is that supposed to be exciting? I feel bad directing my ire at this case in particular, because this is a fantastic studio with a wonderful recent track record, and the collaboration with Mojang might turn out brilliantly. My issue is with the pre-release hype train, which has gotten so out of control that it’s threatening to derail our…

1 AFRIKA Ah, the little safari sim that almost could. Though it never got a UK release, enthused importers were treated to all sorts of marvellous critter-on-critter carnage. Leopard vs gazelle… leopard wins! Cheetah vs gazelle… cheetah wins! African dung beetle vs gazelle… bug wins! 2 METAL GEAR SOLID 3: SNAKE EATER Where’s Mick Dundee when you need him? Men that shoot hornets from their gobs are pretty scary, but we’d rather scrap against The Pain than be dragged to the depths by Snake Eater’s gavial. Maybe putting on this croc hat will help Big Boss blend in… nope – he’s been eaten again. 3 RED DEAD REDEMPTION You know how the West wasn’t won? By idling around on John Marston’s steed and getting nibbled on by a mountain lion.…

FORMAT PS4 / ETA TBC / PUB CAPCOM / DEV CAPCOM At the highest levels of play, fighting game players obsess over character tier lists. These endlessly debated leaderboards are defined not simply by a character’s power, but how they fare against the rest of the cast in a series of hypothetical ten-game sets. In a perfectly balanced fighting game, every one of these theoretical match-ups would end 5-5. In reality, few do. An Ultra SFIV Hugo player will tell you Gouken beats them 8-2; early in the game’s life one prominent Japanese player joked that Hugo players should get their 200 yen back if their opponent picked Ryu’s ageing sensei. While that’s an extreme example, there are lopsided match-ups all over Street Fighter IV. At tournament level, perhaps half…

1 Rocking some serious Nazgûl envy, the Chime Maiden is a mysterious foe who carries a dagger and, shock horror, a chime. Bad things happen when it’s rung. 2 While exploring the graveyard at Hemwick you’ll most likely bump into the eye-ball collecting Old Witch. Funnily enough, peepers are her thing. Brrrrrr. 3 Not to be confused with a certain ex-England AMF, Priest Gascoigne is a towering boss who works for the Church Of Yharnam. He can turn into an ogre. 4 The Wheelchair Mob roll themselves around wielding rather large guns with which they shoot your face off. They were formerly rich elderly chaps.…

Our behind-closed-doors demo of No Man’s Sky (check back next issue for our gameplay preview) is best summed up by one phrase: ‘the morning after the night before. It’s Sunday morning, we’re in Las Vegas, and a few hours earlier Sheffield band 65daysofstatic – the newly revealed composers of No Man’s Sky’s soundtrack – had closed out the Saturday night of Sony’s PlayStation Experience bash with an hour-long set accompanied by brand new footage from the game. Suffice to say, this was a pretty big deal for everyone involved, so when we arrive we’re not entirely surprised to hear that we actually woke up that morning before anybody else in the room had even gone to bed… Despite our body-clocks playing Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots with each other, 65days’…

THE DEPARTED Cops must painstakingly create a new identity for themselves as lowlife thugs over the course of several years, hoping to win the round by remaining undetected. Robbers must sit around in bars and discuss the diuretic properties of cranberry juice, scoring a point each time they eat a fly. A round lasts 15 years. SE7EN Taking place in the vast, open countryside, this mode is both won and lost when a player from the police team opens the box in the middle of the map and scores a kill on a robber. Since both sides have the exact same objective, the game simply fades to an inconclusive screen of black upon each round’s mournful completion. TRAINING DAY Cops begin each round in the passenger side of a car,…

CONQUEST As old as the series itself, this mode is all about controlling a base (either on foot or by vehicle). If your team controls the majority of bases on the map, you’ll slowly drain away the enemy team’s respawn tickets until they all die – and stay dead. TEAM DEATHMATCH There are teams, and those teams must shoot each other. The team which shoots its enemies with the greatest success rate is declared victorious. It’s a lot to take in, but you quickly get into the flow. A nice mode for the uninitiated to get a feel for movement speed, gun feedback, etc. HEIST Criminals must break into a vault to plunder the cash inside, then get two cash bags out to randomised extraction points. police simply need to…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB DEEP SILVER DEV VOLITION Damn you, Rockstar. What chance do other current-gen makeovers of PS3 open-worlders have after your seminal rejig of GTA V? Hmmm, perhaps there are scenarios where you’d rather revel in this half-baked conversion of a superhero sandbox, though. Maybe you’ve recently suffered some severe head trauma that draws you towards men in bunny costumes wielding dildos. Either that, or you really, really like the thought of throwing the US President in front of traffic in the Poundland equivalent of The Matrix. Actually, no one could blame you for plumping for that second option. The first question that needs answering with this fugly, if generous, PS4 remaster is whether the Third Street Saints deserve another turn in the Oval Office.…

INFO  FORMAT PS VITA (DO) ALSO ON PS3 ETA OUT NOW PUB DEVOLVER DIGITAL DEV ABSTRACTION GAMES Admitting a fondness for Duke Nukem today is a bit like proclaiming your love for Top Gear, or social injustice. But to a select group who were young enough to be impressed by its sci-fi weaponry, toilet gags and loose approximations of boobies when Duke Nukem 3D first came out back in ’96, it remains impossible to turn one’s back on it completely. No matter how shameful certain aspects look to 2015 eyes. It’s for us that Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition1 exists. In addition to the four original 3D Realms episodes, Megaton includes three more post-release chapters: Duke Caribbean (Life’s A Beach), Duke It Out In DC, and Duke: Nuclear Winter. There’s…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ALSO ON PS3 ETA OUT NOW PUB BIG BEN INTERACTIVE DEV HB STUDIOS Picture this: there are 23 seconds left in the 2003 Rugby World Cup final. Matt Dawson spins the ball to Jonny Wilkinson. Stoic and handsome, he looks down to kick the drop goal which will guarantee glory. Except it’s no longer the ball in his hands: it’s Jonny’s own severed head. Screaming, eyeless, kept alive through some profane necromancy. “How very disappointing,” he muses. “I hope nobody ever makes a rugby game as upsetting as this.” Bad news, doomed-alternate-reality Jonny: Rugby 15 is that game. There are occasional moments where it feels like rugby – when you break the line, or retrieve a high ball – but a bit like drinking water from an…

DESTINY The rush for loot proves to be Matthew Pellett’s downfall in the Heroic missions I’ve almost got to the end of a testing Heroic mission alongside Jordan from sister mag SFX when GamesRadar’s Dave Houghton sends me a message. “Need a third man?” he asks? We don’t need him, no, but he’s welcome all the same. I can’t pause, so I quickly race through the menus I’ve grown so accustomed to over the past months and send an in-game invite and… what fresh madness is this? Why are Jordan and I now in orbit? Did I… did I really quit out and join Dave’s fireteam? Sigh, let’s start over again… COD: ADVANCED WARFARE The world catches up to Phil Iwaniuk’s early access advantage A particular cycle occurs whenever a…

INFO FORMAT PS4 PUB SWITCHBLADE MONKEYS DEV SWITCHBLADE MONKEYS REVIEW ISSUE #106, 5/10 Switchblade Monkeys’ fiddly online shooter had a full month of PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection status to build its net community; unfortunately it spent much of that time hobbled by connectivity issues. Now out on its own, Secret Ponchos has at least retained enough of a player base to keep lobby waiting times under five minutes. But there’s a new problem now. Those who stuck around have levelled their characters up to near-invincibility – at least, to a noob’s puny bullets. The incentive was thin enough in the first place without being dealt braces of one-shot kills each round, rarely staying alive long enough to watch your special attack barely scrape their health bar. Harumph. VERDICT Technical…

FAR CRY 4 – ESCAPE FROM DURGHESH PRISON This time trial-style pack is less of an escape from a prison and more of a permadeath survival mode. You have 30 minutes to prepare for an attack by Pagan Min’s forces so use that time to protect your one life. COD: ADVANCED WARFARE – HAVOC PACK It wouldn’t be the future without lasers or, apparently, zombies. The first big DLC drop includes four extra maps, an additional weapon and Exo Zombies – a new horde mode starring John Malkovich and Bill Paxton. Celebs a-go-go! WWE 2K15 – NEW MOVES PACK We’re still weeping over the cutbacks in its mode department, but a fresh batch of 30 extra moves (including a modified version of Bray Wyatt’s Sister Abigail finisher and Cesaro’s Gutwrench…

INFO PUB KONAMI DEV KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS RELEASED 2008, PS3 GET IT NOW AMAZON, £12.75 WHAT? Metal Gear Solid 4: GOTP is about being quiet and the dangers of corporeally manifested punctuation. It’s cited as a masterwork on the themes of war and humanity, although maybe because the cutscenes are long. WHO? Nathan Ditum has been writing professionally about PlayStation for more than a decade and once met Hideo Kojima outside a toilet at E3, but has still never played Metal Gear Solid. Look, I’ve been meaning to, okay? Playing Metal Gear Solid has been on my to-do list for more than a decade, but at this point the series is about as accessible as a punch made of fire. The lore, as I understand it, is that there are at…

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…

1) What birthday did PlayStation just celebrate? 2) The addition of a first-person perspective was added to which PS3 masterpiece for its PS4 debut? 3) Who is the developer of the episodic joys The Walking Dead, Game Of Thrones and Tales From The Borderlands? 4) Wumpa fruit is a collectible in which classic franchise? 5) From what material is the charming Iota made? 6) What is your only weapon in Towerfall Ascension? 7) On which PlayStation console was Assassin’s Creed: Rogue released? 8) How is Johann Sebastian Joust best controlled in party game Sportsfriends? 9) Which addictive ball-dropping puzzler stars a unicorn called Bjorn? 10) Middle-earth: Shadow Of Mordor is inspired by the work of which author? 11) Delsin Rowe takes over from Cole McGrath as the hero of which…

1) How does James Sunderland know to travel to Silent Hill in SH2? 2) In Bioshock Infinite, Elizabeth is being held prisoner where in Columbia? 3) In which Italian city was Ezio Auditore born? 4) What is the name of Ellie’s friend who featured in The Last Of Us’ Left Behind DLC? 5) Who had a girlfriend called Tawna before she was removed from the franchise for not being family-friendly enough? 6) Terrence C Carson supplies the voice for which PlayStation icon? 7) What is the name of the stealth armour worn by Solid Snake to blend into his surroundings? 8) What is the full name of the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas? 9) Claire Redfield first appears in which game? 10) What kind of animal is Sly…

1) Paul McCartney was an unlikely contributor on which game’s soundtrack? 2) Elitsa Alexandrova composed the soundtrack to which last-gen-only action adventure? 3) Which former Red Hot Chili Pepper composed the music for Far Cry 4? 4) Composer Akira Yamaoaka has been tipped to return to which franchise? 5) Which game soundtrack features ‘Grannies World Tour, ‘Dive Another Day’ and ‘Hades’ Abode’? 6) Who is the composer of The Last Of Us’ haunting soundtrack? 7) The song Everything Is Awesome features in which game? 8) Reworkings of ‘Everybody Wants to Rule The World’, ‘Tainted Love’ and ‘God Only Knows’ feature in which 2013 shooter? 9) Motoi Sakuraba is the composer for which fiendish From Software game and its equally challenging sequel? 10) Which composer has Darksiders II, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel…

1) Which Capcom fighter is a PS4 exclusive for its 2015 release? 2) Who wrote and directed the first three Uncharted titles? 3) The Dark Sorcerer PS4 tech demo was from which exclusive development studio? 4) The upcoming Let It Die is produced by which stylish Japanese developer? 5) Companion, Crossing and Wonder are trophies in which game? 6) Which PS4 exclusive takes place on the planet Vekta? 7) In which series must you collect Precursor Orbs? 8) Scraps are the enemy in which PlayStation exclusive game? 9) Ellie might be Joel’s surrogate daughter in The Last Of Us, but what was his real daughter’s name? 10) What is the highest selling videogame series across all PlayStation consoles? 11) Which of these characters does not star in LittleBigPlanet 3: Oddsock,…

PSN’S CHERRY ON THE DRAKE Naughty Dog has confirmed Uncharted 4 will have a multiplayer component, but as yet has provided zilcho info. The online modes in both Drake’s Deception and The Last Of Us were underrated, so here’s hoping for more PSN pleasure. As Nathan Drake is to Zoolandershaming cheekbones, so his series has been to carefully plotted hand-holding. Uncharted has never been the most expansive series; preferring expert pacing and tightly choreographed setpiece spectacle to free-form mechanics. Then again, who needs unguided player agency when Drake can barely go five minutes without a thrilling chase involving a runaway truck/pack of miffed yetis/ murderously committed helicopter. Nobody directs players quite as well as Naughty Dog. Yet now, PS4’s premier studio is ready to let you go off script like…

THAT'S YOUR (OCE)LOT Troy Baker is the third actor to portray Kojima’s pistol-twirling villain. Revolver was first voiced by Patric Zimmerman, before Josh Keaton took on the role of Young Ocelot in the '60s-set MGS3. Why did the chicken cross the road? No idea. But look… SNAKE’S WEARING A ROOSTER ON HIS HEAD! Continuing the proud lineage of ludicrous Hideo Kojima headwear (remember MGS3’s gavial cap?), The Phantom Pain gives you the option of plonking a chook on your cranium should you be spotted a number of times. Anyone else feel like some sort of poultry for dinner tonight? Where other games would condescendingly ask whether or not you want to drop the difficulty to a more manageable level, Koj would rather provide a chicken hat that alters enemy reactions.…

If the CV of ex-Naughty Dog character artist Michael Knowland is to be believed, the studio’s making The Last Of Us 2. He claims he made head sculpts for the apocalyptic sequel. Rumours suggest Media Molecule’s new PS4 IP will be revealed this year. Actor Rick Pasqualone has hinted at, “exciting,” Mafia 3 news. Are 2K’s wiseguys coming back? A survey sent out by Harmonix suggests a current-gen Rock Band is in the developer’s thoughts… Is Syphon Filter coming back? Series creator Sony Bend is hiring for a PS4 title that uses Unreal Engine 4.…

CROSSING BORDERS Gearbox’s awesome Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel are hitting PS4 as part of a new HD remaster called 'The Handsome Collection’ in March. No BL1, though… MR HEIST GUY As you read this, heists may finally have broken into GTA Online. Rockstar recently confirmed the bank jobs would debut on consoles before the PC release of GTA V on 24 March. Fingers crossed. POINTS BREAK The so-so PC GTA Online precursor APB Reloaded is coming to PS4 in spring. In an attempt to drag people from GTA V it’ll be free-to-play. HIT US UP Hurry up, 47. IO says it will reveal more concrete news on PS4 Hitman later this year. But we want it now! Lord, we’re sooo impatient. Z'S DEAD, BABY Early PC impressions of H1Z1…

@JAYSARGE Been playing The Crew. Not actually joined up with anyone online yet… I don’t trust any of them! :p @MARZYMARRS Alright, so I kept trying and just beat the last boss on Teslagrad. Hurrah! :) @KATGONEGAMER Note to self: Do not play Tetris on PS4 when feeling tired. It will trip you the f**k out. @GAMINGGODOMEGA Fallout 4 announcement this year? Anyone? Me neither :( @Bethblog @TAYLORSSHELF Uncharted 4 and Arkham Knight look amazing. Going to be a significantly better year for games. @SHOTGUN6343 I’ve said this many times, but The Order: 1886 is the best looking game I’ve seen on a console. TROLL OF THE MONTH @TAMOORH Go easy on Notch. The candy room just emptied and it’s going to be days before it’s refilled. @MATSTERJONAZ Grim Fandango…

Last month one of our readers dropped us a line regarding their experience with Middle-earth: Shadow Of Mordor and how the PS3 version is an insultingly poor imitation of its excellent PS4 counterpart. And with its consistent drops in framerate and a redacted version of its biggest selling point, the Nemesis System, it sets a worrying precedent for cross-gen releases cut down to make them run on PS3. Monolith even admitted that PS4 was its priority while SOM was in development, so it makes you wonder just how much time and revenue was spent properly retooling and QA testing the PS3 version to ensure it actually worked. There’s also another fundamental factor I don’t think devs or publishers are considering. Just because PS4 is the primary platform you’re aiming for…

FORMAT PS4 / ETA 19 MAY PUB BANDAI NAMCO / DEV CD PROJEKT RED Here’s a little test you can perform upon embarking on an adventure within an open-world: as soon as you’re given control post-tutorial, turn around and run as far as you can in the opposite direction. Screw whatever objective you’ve just been given and carve out your path to gaming glory. It’s our favourite thing to do. It tells you a lot about the world you’re inhabiting, and it often leads to unforgettable moments. The first time you spot a giant and his mammoths in Skyrim, for example, or realising you can take out (almost) any bandit camp at any time in Far Cry 3. We’re initially disappointed to find that this test doesn’t really work with…

FORMAT PS4 / ALSO ON PS3 / ETA 7 APR PUB BANDAI NAMCO / DEV FROM SOFTWARE Sweet, sweet, oh-so-moreish pain. That’s From Software’s demon-duffing raison d’être. “The ecstasy when overcoming difficulties,” is the quality Yui Tanimura believes is central to the enduring, almost nihilistic appeal of surviving in Drangleic. The From director reveals the decision to bring the vicious fantasy land to PS4 was green lit last spring, during the making of the recent Crown DLC trilogy. Prepare to suffer on a new level… This HD remaster of Dark Souls II ups the challenge through new excruciating means. Firstly, you’ll have to contend with the titular Scholar Of The First Sin baddie (just imagine what detention with that sod would be like). Joining certain factions is more punishing, too…

DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: EMPIRES Who says pushing troops around a map should be dull? Break out your best finery, wave a Move controller around and decide the fate of your army like a proper wartime diva. FORMAT PS4 ETA 27 FEB THE AWAKENED FATE: ULTIMATUM A bunch of giant anime models with wistful looks as standard have taken over the world. This sneaky RPG wants you to nab crystal maguffins and ignore giant side boobs. Because anime. FORMAT PS3 ETA 20 MAR DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE This over-the-top fashion brawler knows only one rule: wear your hair so big and high it actually changes the fabric of time. Bonus points if you can pose so hard your clothes burst. FORMAT PS4/PS3 ETA 27 FEB…

DEAD OR ALIVE 5 LAST ROUND FORMAT PS4 / ETA 20 FEB PUB KOEI TECMO DEV TEAM NINJA Clearly Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja have been reading the Capcom thesis on re-releasing the same game multiple times with a little bit of extra content. That explains breast-obsessed brawler Dead Or Alive 5 getting its fourth incarnation in the space of two-and-a-half years. So why should you pick up the hardcore fighter? Well, it’s been retooled for PS4 so an already attractive game (we mean the pixels, thank you very much) now looks even better. It also comes with every DLC costume and features two new fighters and two extra stages. SUPER STARDUST ULTRA FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2015 PUB SONY DEV HOUSEMARQUE So grand is our love for developer Housemarque…

FORMAT PS4/PS3/PS VITA / ETA 2015 PUB DEVOLVER DIGITAL / DEV DENNATON GAMES Hotline Miami 2 isn’t even out yet and it’s already hit the headlines. No, it’s not a concrete release date (come on Devolver, stop making us wait so long for a new slice of ’80s ultraviolence), but rather the news that the hotly anticipated sequel has been banned down in the land of Oz. Yup, you guessed it, that particular mock rape scene that got the game into hot water last year is the cause of sad banhammer swing. Australia is known for its strict guidelines on all violence, especially sexual, so the story would’ve probably ended there… until co-creator Jonatan Söderström replied to an Australian querying how to get hold of a copy following the ban.…

2004 THE FALL Of MATH • Despite forming in 2001, it’s three years before the release of 65days’ first album, which launches on 20 September. Interesting aside: one track from the LP is eventually used in a Binary Domain trailer. 2005 ONE TIME FOR ALL TIME • A year later 65days releases its second album. Radio Protector, which is later released as a single in 2006, is the track you’ll hear on Hello Games’ studio timeline video that was first created after Joe Danger 2 and has now been updated to include No Man’s Sky. 2010 WE WERE EXPLODING ANYWAY Studio album number four (of six to date) comes out in April. Track eight, Debutante, is the song that will eventually go on to star in the No Man’s Sky…

THE BLOCK Bearing the scars of urban unrest in the form of wrecked cars, graffiti and crumbling walls, this is a dense downtown map full of ambush-baiting alleyways and windows for cover. Inhabitants named Jenny are conspicuous in their absence. GROWHOUSE Another close-quarters nail-biter, but deceptively multi-pathed. Cops begin outside a drug-filled warehouse, crims within it. Said crims can mask their sounds by turning on the radio and creeping around between the leaves of their nefarious crop. Shotguns work wonders here. EVERGLADES A visual, shootable warning on the dangers of fracking, set in the marshlands of Florida. The eponymous Everglades probably looked picturesque once, before aggressive industrial drilling and local law enforcement activity turned it into the brownest collection of shacks and cranes this side of Quake II. DUSTBOWL Big…

- DEAD SPACE 2 – PS3 - “Well this is from a game I worked on. The Hardcore challenge is probably my favourite and most challenging hardcore gaming moment. Trying to play through the game with only the three lives was nerve racking, but the Foam Finger Gun was worth it. Once we finished working on the game I never went back as doing it once was tough enough.” STEVE PAPOUTSIS, VISCERAL GAMES, VICE PRESIDENT - GENJI: DAWN OF THE SAMURAI – PS2 - “I TOOK A WHOLE WEEKEND TO GET ALL THE WAY TO THE VERY FINAL BOSS THEN ACCIDENTALLY DELETED MY SAVE FILE WHILE CLEANING UP MY MEMORY CARD. PLAYED THROUGH THE ENTIRE GAME AGAIN JUST SO I COULD SEE THE ENDING!” SIMON BENNETT, ROLL7 DIRECTOR - TEKKEN…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ALSO ON PS VITA ETA OUT NOW PUB DOUBLE FINE PRODUCTIONS DEV LUCASARTS/ DOUBLE FINE PRODUCTIONS “IT RAISES INTERESTING QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT A REMASTER SHOULD BE.” A good soul has been cheated out of an express ticket to the Ninth Level of the Underworld, and it’s my fault. Mercedes Colomar. She read to dying kids. Never earned a dime in her life. She should be on the Number Nine train to eternal rest, a four-minute journey. Instead, she’s walking there over four years. I have to make it right. Which is why I need to flirt with a racetrack security guard to make her throw a metal detector out of the window, so I can go and pick it up and give it to Membrillo The Coroner,…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ALSO ON PS3 ETA OUT NOW PUB DEEP SILVER DEV VOLITION So if you’re the sort of person who curls their lip at the thought of gunning down demons in a ballistically upholstered armchair, stop reading now. Still here? Well, I have some good news and some bad. The good news is that Gat Out Of Hell does all the same things Saints Row has always done well. And the frowny-faced bulletin? It all still feels like a PS3 game. One that likes to fart in public and assault citizens with oversized sex instruments. Still, such nonsense also births guns with amusing names and Stone Cold Stunner finishers. It wastes no time with nonsense such as exposition, either. The story is merely an excuse to raise hell…

INFO FORMAT PS VITA ALSO ON PS3 ETA OUT NOW PUB HELLO GAMES DEV HELLO GAMES This is a classic case of nominative determinism. There’s just no way Ted Smethurst or Derek Piddletrenthide would end up fronting a successful series of games about a daredevil performer and his risky escapades. Thankfully it’s worked for old JD, though – not least because his breakout success in 2010 set Hello Games on its way to the upcoming No Man’s Sky. But that’s another story…1 The tale here is the same as that of the PS3 version: guide Joe through a series of perilous levels, each grouped into a certain recognisable movie archetype. So you’ll roll away from boulders in mine carts, sneak into secret lairs on skis and chase down runaway criminals…

INFO  FORMAT PS4 (DOWNLOAD ONLY) ALSO ON PS VITA ETA OUT NOW PUB ATOMICOM DEV ATOMICOM The ultimate litmus test for a mobile game comes when its popularity propels it beyond your touchscreen and onto your PS4. Too often, pleasant distractions find themselves pushed out into the big time like a Steely Dan cover band playing the O2 Arena, and flounder accordingly. Switch Galaxy Ultra, on the other hand, fills the extra space confidently. You are Vince Vance, a man within a WipEoutesque spaceship who must navigate increasingly busy routes through hyperspace by switching between lanes and avoiding barriers. Imagine racing a Guitar Hero track while trying to dodge all the notes and you’ve got it. Each track adds a new layer of complexity: pickups that grant you limited invincibility…

More than simply a showcase for Brad Pitt’s pompadour and thousand-yard stare, Fury fights for territory between Saving Private Ryan’s realism and The Thin Red Line’s visual poetry by hunkering down in a sub-genre of the war movie. Director David Ayer (End Of Watch) looks to the confines of a Sherman tank for Fury’s identity, assembling a five-man crew of Hollywood’s most charismatic (Pitt, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal, Logan Lerman) and erratic (Shia LaBeouf) and portraying much of the combat from within the reinforced steel gloom the five inhabit. Fast-cut close-ups convey the clumsiness and vulnerability of the American hardware of the time, revealing an unenviable job it’s impossible to picture yourself in – though you could just as easily have been thrown into it at the time. Those interior…

INFO PUB CAPCOM DEV CAPCOM PRODUCTION STUDIO 4 RELEASED 2004, PS2 GET IT NOW AMAZON, £17.95 NEED TO KNOW 1 Conceived as a skill test for Capcom employees. 2 Viewtiful Joe was original called ‘Red Hot Man’. 3 Joe last appeared in 2011’s Marvel Vs Capcom 3. What, you thought we were going to put together a Hardcore Issue, and not write something about Hideki Kamiya? To many, Kamiya ishardcore gaming. Over the course of his career, firstly at Capcom and now as one of the key figures at splinter studio Platinum Games, Kamiya has forged a reputation for designing action games that are bright and breezy enough to be accessible and enjoyable to beginners, and yet mechanically deep enough to reward those with the skill and patience to delve…

1 GRAND THEFT AUTO V The magic of our favourite PS3 game’s reappearance on current-gen hardware isn’t in the improved textures, shinier cars or even the brilliantly executed new first-person mode. It’s in the way each addition and improvement combines to enthral and seduce you all over again to sink another blissful 50 hours into Los Santos without it ever feeling like a re-run. Also: an unhealthy dose of first-person cat-stomping. 2 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 ever. 3 DESTINY Blurring the lines between single-player shooting and co-op camaraderie, Bungie has…

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 this time with 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…

1) What is the name of Kevin Spacey’s character in Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare? 2) Wolfenstein: The New Order shares id software’s Id Tech 5 engine with which other game? 3) A troubled development has plagued upcoming shooter Homefront: The Revolution. In which US city is the game set? 4) Which 2014 shooter features a machine gun called Thunderlord? 5) Garden Center, Port Scallywag and Jewel Junction are maps in which muddy shooter? 6) Which character in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel has a skill tree called ‘I love you guys!’? 7) With what animal is Far Cry 3’s Hurk obsessed? 8) In which UK city is Sniper Elite 3 developer Rebellion based? 9) What is the name of the main gun shop across the GTA series? 10) Laslo W Kovic…

1) What size is the hard drive of a standard PS4 console? 2) In what year was PlayStation Move released? 3) How many different PS3 form factors have been available since launch? 4) By what name is the PlayStation TV known in Japan? 5) PSP Go could play UMD discs. True or false? 6) What console was announced as the NGP? 7) Two PlayStation Multitaps would allow up to how many people to play at once? 8) The ‘Emotion Engine’ CPU was developed for which console? 9) The Namco Guncon light gun controller came bundled with which 1997 shooter? 10) Which film was given its own limited edition etched PS4 in Japan? 11) The special edition LBP3 and The Order: 1886 faceplates for PS4 are part of what mysterious sounding…

1) Brotherhood was set solely in which Italian city? 2) Who is Connor’s father? 3) What is the official name of the alien precursor race? 4) What is the name of Shay Cormac’s ship in Rogue? 5) What is the modern corporation that hides the 21st century Templars? 6) Historian Assassin Shaun is voiced by which actor? 7) Which of these is not a city you can explore in AC III: Boston, Washington DC or New York? 8) Freedom Cry stars which trained Assassin? 9) What is the prize for completing all of the tombs in AC II? 10) What is the name of the underground city that features in Revelations? 11) Which famous magician is said to have used an Apple Of Eden to perform his great feats? 12)…

1) Which Hold is the centre of Imperial influence in Skyrim? 2) What is the name of the ruler of a Hold? 3) The White-Gold Concordat banned the worship of whom? 4) The civil war being fought in Skyrim is between the Imperials and who else? 5) Who built Markarth? 6) The Reach is home to which temple? 7) Who lives at High Hrothgar? 8) What is the name of the castle in Solitude? 9) What three shouts form to make Slow Time? 10) Which enemy has bird-like feathers and claws and wields magic? 11) Who is the leader of the Dawnguard? 12) How many stones of Barenziah are scattered throughout Skyrim? 13) Who is Adrianne Avenicci’s father? 14) In what Hold is Balimund the Blacksmith? 15) What materials are…

1) Turtle Rock, developer of Evolve, was previously a part of which development company? 2) “That’s what I like about you. You’re predictable. And that’s why we’re gonna win. We know your move before you do. We know more than you think!” Which 2015 villain said that? 3) Who is the development studio behind the colourful and mysterious Rime? 4) Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture is the PS4 successor to what non-PlayStation narrative-focused game from developer The Chinese Room? 5) What is the name of the eighth-generation game engine developed specifically for The Division? 6) Which upcoming game is set in the city of Yharnam? 7) Dead Island developer Techland is responsible for which undead 2015 title? 8) What is the name of the female sniper character in Metal Gear…