Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2015 i PLAY

GAME OF THE MONTH Metal Gear Solid V FAVE PS1 GAME Final Fantasy VII Twenty years ago we began the greatest PlayStation magazine the world has ever seen. There have been many ups and a few downs along the way, but here we are, two decades on, and OPM is bigger and better than ever. For our 20th anniversary we’re celebrating the finest gaming dynasty on the planet, and we do so with so many features and industry legends that we needed two magazines to hold it all. A few of this month’s highlights? Our exclusive, tell-all look behind the scenes of your most-wanted PS4 game, Uncharted 4; some of the biggest names in the industry sharing their Secrets Of PlayStation; your favourite PlayStation memories; and our refreshed Hall Of…

FROM PARIS WITH LOVE Pah! Only squares go to Gamescom. Want real hot, steamy PS4 action? Then set your clocks for Tuesday 27 Oct: the day of Sony’s Paris Games Week PlayStation conference. Hopefully Sony will make up for skipping the Cologne event by showing us David Cage’s new game. Hey, it’s Paris; it’d be rude not to. EDITING IT OUT Hold on to your criminal butts: the Rockstar Editor should be available in GTA V on PS4 riiiiight… now! The brilliant video editor (which lets you save clips, then provides you with the tools to help make your own movies) was previously only on PC. It means Rockstar’s Editor Contests are now open to PS4 players. YOU BETA BELIEVE IT Sony has launched a new Beta program to allow…

MILFORD COPPOCK MANAGING ART EDITOR Yes, that’s right. I took out a student loan to buy an imported PlayStation and a copy of Ridge Racer for the eye-watering sum of £729 back in 1994. And boy, was it worth it! Well, it was until I ran out of money and had to sell it again six months later, but what a glorious six months we had together! Speeding around Ridge City taking in the waterfall, cruising along the seafront, drifting through the hairpin, ogling Reiko Nagase’s pixelated form… They were heady times, and I played the hell out of Race Mode, Time Trial, Mirror and Reverse mode. Hell, believe it or not I even got pretty damn good at Galaga. It was worth not eating for a week… “CAPTAIN ASH’S…

@SAMCOLES2 AC Syndicate won’t have multiplayer. It’s time to get back to the roots of Assassin’s Creed. @CHAOSXSILENCER I am beyond excited for Star Wars Battlefront. It’s a great time to be involved in gaming! @ASHLEYLYNCH A friend wants me to go and see Hitman: Agent 47 and I’m begging for another choice. @TENNESSEETANNER The Taken King is exactly what Destiny should have been from Day One. Regardless, I can’t wait. @ASANCIO Woah, I’m impressed by PES 2016! PES IS BACK! @MISLEDPENGUIN Watching Uncharted 4 on PS4… with a DS4 in my hands… pretending to play it… I need help. @LEOGORDONHOWLER Woah, Dragon Quest XI is a thing! After the non-Western release of X I’m really excited. @JRDIZON I have a 100% win record in Street Fighter V. Never playing…

WRITER BIO The Official PlayStation Magazine (now known round these ‘ere parts as OPSM) launch editor Steve Jarratt played a vital role in the origins of the magazine you’re holding right now, and 20 years on is still proud to be a member of the PlayStation family. Flashback: it’s 1993. Or ’94. Anyway, I’ve launched Edge magazine and, given that I have the attention span of a myopic gnat, am now wondering what to do next. After all I must have done six or seven whole issues by now – surely it’s time to hand the reins over to someone else while I swan off to do something more ‘creatively challenging’? That is, er, ‘easy . Word slithers through the pre-internet grapevine that Sony is looking to muscle in on…

1 METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SONS OF LIBERTY The first time you log into one of the Big Shell’s nodes, the game asks for your name and date of birth. If your DOB is the same as your PS2’s clock, the screen flashes up with a happy birthday message. Awww, you shouldn’t have, Koj. 2 ASSASSIN’S CREED II Ewww. Who decided to replace the fizzy pop at Ezio’s party with placenta? Assassin’s Creed II doesn’t just let you witness the Italian hitman’s birthday, it shows you his actual birth. Hell, you even get ‘The Birth Of An Assassin’ trophy for sitting through the delivery. 3 FALLOUT 3 Humanity may have been all but wiped out by nuclear Armageddon, but who cares when it means you get a Pip-Boy for turning…

1 As Clay gains more power and influence, he can draft fellow crime bosses into his circle. These figures then act as lieutenants in your empire. 2 What a handsome silver fox. Vito Scaletta returns from Mafia II, with the former playable wiseguy now sporting a few more wrinkles. 3 This here’s Cassandra. She’s the leader of New Orleans’ powerful Haitian gang and the second major ally available in Mafia III who can run properties for you. 4 This mean looking chap is named Burke. He runs a gang of Irish hoodlums. Despite the fab facial hair, we’re betting you don’t want to get on his wrong side.…

It’s the yarn, not loveable hero Yarny, that’s the real star of this adorable adventure. It’s what makes this wonderfully whimsical platform puzzle game truly unique, and the thing that may save players from the frustrations of the genre. After all, the setting and ambiance of the whole game is so sedate, it simply wouldn’t be appropriate to have the person holding the pad to be too tense, would it? Fret not, horribly expensive OLED TV. There’ll be no DualShock 4 hurled angrily in your direction this time out. As Yarny travels through the world (expect to see back gardens filled with old trees, apples and ponds) he leaves a trail of string behind him. Yes, he’s literally unravelling as he walks and jumps, and you see him getting skinnier…

FLATOUT 4: TOTAL INSANITY FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2016 PUB STRATEGY FIRST DEV KYLOTONN GAMES If you remember the Flatout series, it’s for the comprehensive destruction and for the unwavering obsession with having its drivers hurled through car windscreens. New developer Kylotonn is involving the community with this latest crash-happy driving game, asking fans to vote on which tracks will return from previous games. In the absence of a new Burnout, there’s room for a knockabout car game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, although after the seriously guff Flatout 3 on PC, we’re not entirely optimistic this’ll be it. SUPER MEAT BOY FORMAT PS4/PS VITA ETA 2015 / PUB TEAM MEAT DEV TEAM MEAT Five years after its release elsewhere, Super Meat Boy is finally squelching onto PlayStation. We…

How to melt the internet in nine words: “I know they’re doing The Last Of Us 2.” Back in June, the voice of Nathan Drake, Nolan North himself, became the hottest topic on gaming sites the world over when he said that very thing at a Metrocon panel. And of course we weren’t going to pass up the opportunity to ask TLOU’s creative director Neil Druckmann about the explosive statement… “I can say that was kind of a surprise for us for him to say that,” laughs Druckmann in response. “I was like ‘Oh, he knows more than we know [about] what we’re doing next!’ We joked about it afterwards during shoots and stuff. “The answer is – and this is totally honest, and I’ve said this in the past…

We love PlayStation. That’s why we’re here and why you’re reading our 20th anniversary issue with a party horn clamped firmly between your teeth. Yes, that’s what it’s called, get your head out of the gutter. However, as we all know, nothing is perfect, even PlayStation – stop sniggering, you at the back – and so in between our wild celebrations this month it’s only fair to acknowledge our lesser minutes. From toe-curling marketing missteps to console catastrophes, join us on a traumatic trip down memory lane to have a gander at the moments we wish we could fix for good with a time machine. Safety note: if it all gets too embarrassing and awkward, feel free to use the rest of this month’s magazine as…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB SONY DEV MEDIA MOLECULE There’s a real satisfaction in leaving your mark on a game, whether it’s by playing dress-up with your Saints Row avatar, building a treehouse in Minecraft, or engineering a creative kill in Hitman. Tearaway took that to another level back in 2013, transforming your PS Vita into a portal between the game world and, well, you. You made that game what it was, by adorning its charming characters with assorted homemade decorations, taking selfies with the Squirrel King and breathing into the mic to bring a world of paper flapping to life. You did a pretty great job, so cheers for that. Tearaway Unfolded takes a different shape on PS4, but its message remains the same. Once again, you’re…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ALSO ON PS VITA ETA OUT NOW PUB CAPYBARA GAMES DEV CAPYBARA GAMES You actually save the world in the first five minutes of Super Time Force Ultra, the remastered version of Capybara’s action-packed, dumb-smart side-scroller that’s essentially an excuse to use the acronym STFU. Back on Super Time Force’s space-based Superbus, fresh from a round of moon golf with the President, the double-eye-patched Commander Repeatski divulges your next mission: “Make the present world more better-like by screwing around with events in the past and the future.” There are six distinct time periods in which to get your butterfly effect on, from prehistoric romps to sci-fi escapades, and they hinge on two mechanics: you only have a minute to complete each stage, and you can change characters…

INFO FORMAT PS4 (DOWNLOAD ONLY) ETA OUT NOW PUB EUROVIDEO MEDIEN DEV BLACK FOREST GAMES Since the Giana Sisters brand is about on par with Alfred Chicken and Boogerman at this point, sticking the failed ‘80s platformer siblings in a side-scrolling multiplayer racer immediately gets Dream Runners off to a stumbling start. The aim here is to create enough distance from your competitors that the edge of the screen swallows them, which is a simple premise, but one Black Forest overcomplicates. All nine stages are far too cramped and zoomed-in: tear across snowy mountains, ancient ruins and dark caves and you’ll frequently hurtle into the twisters, buzzsaws and spiky blue sea urchin things that all lurk just outside your view.1 Charging through dreamgates enables you to instantly change day to…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ALSO ON PS3 ETA OUT NOW PUB TELLTALE GAMES DEV TELLTALE GAMES Tales from the Borderlands has been delivering an energetic experience so far, and while Escape Plan Bravo takes a slightly different approach, it’s still one of the most enjoyable slices of episodic gaming Telltale Games has ever delivered. This time your charismatic two-sides-of-the-same-coin protagonists have to lead their motley crew of lovable misfits up to the corporate space station Helios, with the aim of finding the final piece of the puzzle – puzzle here to be read as ‘robot programmed to find a missing Vault full of treasure’. The mission goes, predictably, awry, and while it’s not quite an emotional rollercoaster there are points where your feelings are contemplating some of the bigger rides at…

It’s time to get real about endings. And no, I’m not talking about game endings, which involve you pointing a rocket launcher at a throbbing SCROTAL SAC and pulling the trigger. I’m talking about the end of series such as Uncharted and Metal Gear Solid, which none of you lot are ever happy to LEAVE THE HELL ALONE. Do you really want Nathan Drake to be doddering up cliffs in his early sixties, or Konami to ruin MGS the way it SHAT ALL OVER Silent Hill? I’ll answer that for you: no you bloody don’t. Endings bring a sense of closure and meaning to a series; they make the characters seem like real people and stop the games we love from feeling like STALE, CYNICAL CASH-INS. If nothing ever ends,…

INFO FORMAT PS4/PS3 PUB KONAMI DEV KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS REVIEW 114/115, 10/10 Let’s get one thing clear: this isn’t the full-on Metal Gear Online ‘3’ (which launches on 6 Oct). Rather, a smaller aside in which players have to defend their Forward Operating Base from the invasion of other players. Likewise, you can invade other players’ FOB constructs in what’s a fun cat-and-mouse experience that, mechanics-wise, is a neat little bonus alongside the main game. Sadly, as of writing, it’s still massively hampered by serious server troubles, which can even force you to forfeit. And problems mount further still when microtransactions are the only realistic way to build new FOBs, with the game giving pitiful bonus MB points (the currency needed to build new FOBs) on certain days. Patch it, Konami……

OCTOPUS ARM TRAP Mucky torture puzzler Deception IV has a new trap for you to torment your skimpy victims with: a giant octopus arm. This is basically tentacle porn. Some people dig that. SUPERSONIC FURY If you’re after a more unique look for your Rocket League vehicles, this collection of battle cars, decals, paint and parts should allow you to express your individuality. HUNTER – JACK With his cobbled-together armour, Evolve’s latest hunter looks like he’s stepped right out of Mad Max. A trapper by trade, Jack wields a nifty pair of dual-pistols. BURTON’S BATMAN Dress up like Tim Burton’s all-time great Batman with this Arkham Knight DLC, which also includes Tim’s film’s sleek Batmobile and a couple of new race tracks. GREEK MASH-UP This hefty Minecraft pack includes Ancient…

INFO PUB FUTURE PUBLISHING DEV FUTURE PUBLISHING RELEASED NOV 1995 GET IT NOW NOWHERE! WHAT? It’s us, of course! Circa 1995 – long before PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and, here in the UK, almost before the original PlayStation. This was the magazine that launched a print dynasty. “WHAT WAS I DOING WITH THE COLUMNS? THIS WAS NOT MY FINEST HOUR.” WHO? Steve Jarratt was launch editor of The Official PlayStation Magazine. It’s been a while since he revisited the mag he created over 20 years ago – how does it stack up after all this time? Twenty years is a long time in anything: politics, football, and magazine design is notorious for ageing badly. The first thing that strikes me (and I even knew it was coming) is…

1 THE LAST OF US PS3’s premier developer proves a misbehaving pooch can learn new tricks in this extraordinary adventure. In true Naughty Dog fashion, the Californian studio subverts everything from zombie and post-apocalyptic tropes to the gameplay beats of its own back catalogue. Effortlessly blending stealth, horror and action with a script destined to break your heart, TLOU is interactive storytelling at its finest. 2 GRAND THEFT AUTO V 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 than this. 3 UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES The game that sparked a million mancrushes, with a perfectly pitched script,…

INTRODUCTION Across two decades and six major consoles, PlayStation has helped redefine interactive entertainment for generations of gamers. This month, PlayStation celebrates its twentieth birthday here in the UK. Maybe you’ve been with Team PlayStation since the original WipEout and that T-rex demo, or perhaps you’re new to gaming and PS4 is giving you your first ever experiences? Whatever your history with PlayStation, enjoy our look back at the last twenty years and join us to continue the celebrations online at www.gamesradar.com/OPM. “BY CREATING A POWERFUL PLATFORM AND ECOSYSTEM, TALENTED GAME DEVELOPERS WILL CREATE AMAZING GAMEPLAY EXPERIENCES TO ENTERTAIN CONSUMERS IN THE GLOBAL MARKET.”SHUHEI YOSHIDA, SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT WORLDWIDE STUDIOS PRESIDENT…

While Sega Saturn’s sales initially enjoyed a slight edge, PlayStation rallied faster than anyone could have imagined, selling an impressive one million units in a period of just five months. The fledging system also enjoyed cult popularity among importers in the West, who were attracted to PlayStation’s new visuals at a time when the SNES/Mega Drive console war was stagnating so badly, algae was forming in its cartridge slots. But Sony knew that mass market success in the West would be a whole different proposition. Sony’s reputation as a technology powerhouse counted for nothing here; it needed to prove it could offer something substantially different to rivals Sega and Nintendo. And where better to have your coming out party than at the first ever Electronics Entertainment Expo? Setting the stage…

Dave Meikleham NEWS EDITOR Our molten maniac is sadly bidding us adieu to return to Scotland. Edinburgh DJs: get the Jurassic Park OST prepped for requests. GAME OF THE MONTH Metal Gear Solid V FAVE PS1 GAME Dino Crisis 2 Dom Reseigh-Lincoln PRODUCTION EDITOR After two years here, Star Wars-mad Dom is also off – to queue for The Force Awakens for three months. GAME OF THE MONTH Mad Max FAVE PS1 GAME Tekken 3 Milford Coppock MANAGING ART EDITOR OPSM veteran Milf recalls PS1’s launch as if it were yesterday. No wonder: MGS’s #1 fan has been puffing on Phantom Cigars. GAME OF THE MONTH Metal Gear Solid V FAVE PS1 GAME Metal Gear Solid Tom Sykes GUEST WRITER Our fearless whispering wordsmith has been telling everyone he likes…

1995 The year PlayStation released in Europe on what we now call P-Day. 480p The console’s practically prehistoric maximum resolution. 10,850,000 PlayStation’s biggest success, Gran Turismo, sold this many units. 299 How much, in pound sterling, the original PlayStation cost at launch. # 6 MGS1 was the highest ranking PS1 game in your Top 100 list in OPM #100. 2206 The MB you’ll need to store Tokimeki Memorial II, the largest PS1 PSN title. 102.49 The number of people – in millions – who owned the first PlayStation. 2006 The year when Sony finally ceased production on games for PS1.…

Should you be lucky/ dumb enough to follow me on Twitter, you’ll have probably noticed that I’m a bit of Share button spammer (and then quickly unfollowed me). Screenshots. Gameplay clips. You name it, I’ve shared it. Even outside of the many Photo modes developers are now including or patching into their games, there’s a growing cult of us who end up scouring the maps of games not to complete objectives, but to nail the perfect shot. Lining up your character in front of the most lustrous of backdrops, seeking out just the right kind of luminescence… It’s both maddening and utterly joyous, a permanent micro objective that’s never, ever satisfied. But I’d always shied away from that imposing third option on the Share menu: ‘Broadcast gameplay. Broadcast? My gameplay?…

Heavy Rain Early on, Ethan plays with his kid on his birthday. SPOILER TIME: Said kid gets run down soon after. Crappy birthday! The 3rd Birthday Combine that title with Eve being wished happy birthday after the credits roll and you have a fine honourable mention. Final Fantasy IX The cutest FF ever starts with Garnet’s 16th birthday party, where a local theatre troupe kidnaps the royal mage. Did we miss your favourite birthday? Got a brilliant In The Mood For idea? Show and tell at twitter.com/opm_uk.…

Don’t look down. It’s a classic piece of advice for anyone who hates heights, but in this instance it means something entirely different. Look down while you’re free-running through Mirror’s Edge Catalyst’s open-city of Glass, and you will trip, lose speed, fall off a ledge, or just stop. All these things are equally bad, because Faith Connors does things with a speed and grace that’s surprisingly tricky to achieve. Our latest hands-on gives a tasty flavour of what it’s like to live in Glass. Focused on a single part of the urban sprawl, our timed demo gives us three objectives to complete at our own pace, along with a bunch of cunningly hidden things to find. There’s a race against the clock over a set circuit, a tower climbing puzzle,…

Think ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, and snapshots of his Attitude glory days flash through the mind. His on-screen feud with WWE owner Vince McMahon was the quintessential everyman versus establishment tale. Austin’s boss-bothering antics, which included filling Vinny Mac’s limo with wet cement, and making the pro wrestling mogul wet himself in the middle of the ring on live TV , struck a chord with everyone who had ever dreamed of sticking it to their uppity superiors. (Eat it, suits!) The Austin/McMahon war catapulted WWE out of the doldrums and back into the mainstream, and in the process made the no-nonsense beer-swilling Stone Cold one of the biggest Superstars of all time. But Austin had an underrated range, having starred for years in WCW as a cocky,…

Saying goodbye is tough to do, and for all the talk of Uncharted 4 being the closing chapter of Nathan Drake’s story there’s one question that must still be answered: can Uncharted exist without Nathan Drake? “I don’t know. That’s a good question,” mulls Josh Scherr. “I think one thing that’s been great about this series is that we have created this… I hate to use the word universe because Marvel’s been overusing it, but we’ve created this world where ancient civilisations remain undiscovered and lots of charismatic and unscrupulous treasure hunters exist to go and pursue these. “I suppose you could tell a story in that world without Nathan Drake, but it’s… in some ways it’s a little bit hard to imagine.”…

ARROW TO THE KNEE The game’s lead writer, Emil Pagliarulo, is responsible for 2011’s most pervasive Skyrim meme. Todd Howard’s described him as the “king of one-liners,” so we can expect Fallout 4 to follow comedic suit. “I used to be a ghoul, until… well, I still am. For eternity. Please kill me.” You can have that one for free, Emil. BOSTON More or less the only rumour about Fallout 4 that ended up being wholly true was about its setting. Boston was chosen for being a rich source of American history (remember nabbing Abe Lincoln’s hunting rifle from the Washington Museum? More of that, please) and a huge centre for technological innovation. Boston-born developers have said the game makes them feel homesick, taking in sites real (Red Sox stadium…

Ten. That’s the big juicy number we’ve lovingly slapped on MGS V: The Phantom Pain. So what better way to celebrate than by wearing your very own piece of exclusive memorabilia? Designed by Japanese watch giants Seiko and Kojima Productions, this rad retro timepiece (number 1403 of just 2,500) could be yours. For a chance to win this Seiko NextAge MGS V: TPP Collaboration watch, just head to www.futurecomps.co.uk/MGSSeiko and answer this question before 30 Oct: Who took over voiceover duties for Snake in 2013? A) Troy Baker B) Kiefer Sutherland C) Peter Dinklage UK readers only. Full terms and conditions can be found at www.futuretcs.com…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB UBISOFT DEV UBISOFT REFLECTIONS Were Assassin’s Creed’s heroes to move like Ubisoft’s latest courageous climber, a Botanical Utility Droid (BUD), they’d bring shame upon the Brotherhood. But in BUD’s defence, scaling stuff in Grow Home is a blast. During a three-hour adventure initially produced by eight people as little more than an in-house experiment, BUD must oxygenise his world by growing a star plant and bringing its valuable seeds to his orbiting mothership, MOM. And rather than the usual effort-free videogame clamber that involves little more than holding a direction on the stick, here you clasp BUD’s hands independently with L2 and R2. You can latch onto any surface at any angle, from skinny horizontal beams to arching concave domes. Since letting go…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ALSO ON PS3 ETA OUT NOW PUB EA DEV EA TIBURON Odell Beckham Jr’s highlight reel one-handed catch for the New York Giants last November reminded us that while it’s the quarterbacks who take home the plaudits, it takes two to nail that perfect touchdown pass. This is reflected here with a renovated catching engine that makes each passing play different to the last. Not that the quarterbacks don’t earn their money. Thanks to a new array of passing options, there’s more to contemplate on the snap than ever before – and little time to contemplate it. Once you’ve singled out a receiver, do you throw it low by holding down L2, or high with L1? The former makes life difficult for the receiver, but cuts the…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ALSO ON PS3 ETA OUT NOW PUB DISNEY INTERACTIVE DEV AVALANCHE SOFTWARE Disney’s acquisition of Star Wars is beginning to bear fruit. There’s apparently some sort of film coming out, but more importantly the likes of Luke, Chewie and everyone’s favourite character Zeb Orrelios have been added to Disney Infinity’s bulging toyset. This year’s Starter Pack offers an Infinity base, the Twilight Of The Empire campaign, and figures of Clone Wars heroes Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker, though if you already have the base from previous iterations you can buy the disc and the Play Set as standalone items. As ever, you slot the figures and a Play Set model onto the base to begin an adventure. Twilight Of The Empire is set after Episode II, and…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB UBISOFT DEV SIGNAL STUDIOS War Chest is the third in Signal’s cute toy-themed war series, and the first to arrive on PlayStation. It wouldn’t have been unreasonable to expect something special for the occasion: a noticeable visual upgrade, perhaps, or a theme tying everything together. Instead, after the WWI, then Cold War premise of the originals,1 we get a bland mish-mash of figures drawn from a plethora of worlds. There’s another WWI army and sci-fi/ fantasy troops included in the base package. Stump up for the DLC2 and you’ll also get units from He-Man, G.I. Joe and Assassin’s Creed (The best ones, in other words – stingy!). Whichever army you choose, your job is to defend your base – sorry, toy box –…

INFO FORMAT PS4/PS3 PUB BANDAI NAMCO DEV BANDAI NAMCO REVIEW 114, 2/10 So yes, I’m playing Godzilla again, but this particular self-flagellation session is instead focused on the game’s online component. Actually, for all its failings elsewhere, the game’s only multiplayer offering, Vs mode, isn’t broken. By completing certain tasks in the arduous story campaign you’ll unlock different version of ol’ ‘Zilla from across the ages, plus other giant beasties. You can then pick one of these monstrosities and take them into a one-on-one battle with another sufferer. Refreshingly, finding other players is quick and easy and I’m not once booted from a match due to server instability. Sure, the core concept of two despicably slow lizards punching one another is terrible, but you know? It works. So I guess…

Hot on the heels of some pretty good Marvel movies, it would be easy to declare Age Of Ultron a letdown. In many ways it even fails to live up to its predecessor. But there’s much to admire in Joss Whedon’s sequel, not least of which is how he corrals a cast larger than the population of Slough. Having wiped out the last remnants of Hydra, Tony Stark kickstarts the Ultron initiative – a peace-keeping robot police force designed to deter bad guys when the Avengers aren’t around. Unfortunately the gem inside Loki’s sceptre turns Tony’s force for good into a malevolent AI bent on wiping out humanity alongside super-powered twins Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Age Of Ultron boasts some exceptional spectacles, but it’s the irreverent character beats that Whedon…

INFO PUB EIDOS DEV CORE DESIGN RELEASED 1996, PS1 GET IT NOW £4.99, PS3 NEED TO KNOW 1 It came out first on Sega Saturn… but never again. 2 Lara’s ponytail was only visible in pre-rendered scenes. 3 Lara was originally made from only 540 polygons. So it’s official: Rise Of The Tomb Raider is coming to PS4… in the holiday season of 2016. Obviously that wait’s disappointing, especially considering the multi-platform 2013 Tomb Raider reboot is not only superb, but at its best on PS4. Still, her new adventure looks amazing so far, and we can rest assured that we’ll get the definitive, polished version on PS4. Until then, to commemorate 20 years of PS1 here in the UK, let’s celebrate Lara’s wondrous debut. It’s always a pleasure to…

1 METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN Konami might try and scrub Hideo Kojima’s name from the ultimate in tactical espionage action but they’ll never remove his fingerprints. While retaining that distinct storytelling and sense of wonder that defines an MGS title, MGS V offers a level of freedom and creativity unheard of in any sandbox. Grand, majestic and bittersweet, this is an instant classic. 2 GRAND THEFT AUTO V Laughing in the face of other cross-gen ports, GTA V on PS4 is more than just a mere HD remaster. Upped to a glorious 1080p, it weaves everything that made the PS3 original great with new music, more dynamic weather and a game-changing FPS mode. 3 BLOODBORNE PS4’s first truly great, entirely bespoke exclusive. With the finest third-person melée…

1 TEARAWAY Peerless crafty platforming from Media Molecule, this time using PS Vita’s raft of touchscreen/ touchpad controls to surprise and delight you in new ways for hours on end. Full of whimsy, charm and enough personality to put most games to shame, Tearaway’s papercraft world remains Vita’s most vibrant title. 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 RAYMAN LEGENDS Rather than losing its lustre on the move to PS Vita, Ray’s second slice of sumptuous side-scrolling is even better on handheld. Touchscreen gestures make this fine platformer all the sweeter. 4 VELOCITY 2X A ludicrously enjoyable puzzle/platformer hybrid that should come…

”Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your PS4.” “He told me enough. He told me you stole it.” “No, I AM YOUR NEW PS4.” C’mon, it so isgoing to be, though, right? How the hell could you say no to the Dark Lord of the Sith when his new PS4 bundle gets here? Last month, we told you in our ‘Better On PlayStation 4’ feature that Sony and EA’s Star Wars deal would lead to ‘something’… We just didn’t expect said thing to be quite so strong with the Force. To celebrate the release of both Star Wars Battlefront and Disney Infinity 3.0 (don’t forget its trilogy of Galaxy Far, Far Away-focused Play Sets) on PS4, Sony has announced one of the coolest PlayStation console and pad combinations our…

While the original Resi has been remade more times than the Tyrant has been battered by a rocket launcher, its poor old sequel hasn’t been touched by Capcom in years. Until now, that is. Most people’s favourite ‘classic’ Resi is getting a do-over. But will it be (as expected) a pre-rendered makeover à la Resident Evil HD Remaster, or an over-the-shoulder affair more like Resi 4? Capcom has said that as it’s “Just starting its development cycle, we unfortunately don’t have any additional information to share at this time,” but that it is keen to hear your thoughts. This story began when footage of Resident Evil 2: Reborn – a fan-made remake that was going for an over-the-shoulder approach – appeared online. The impressive video soon attracted Capcom’s attention, and…

A Dead Island: Definitive Edition – from Dying Light developer Techland – might be coming to PS4 later this year. Great news for lovers of dead people who won’t lie still. Media Molecule’s Dreams uses Move, but whispers say it could use Project Morpheus too…  Box art has appeared for an Anniversary Edition of Back To The Future. EA says there’s a new Battlefield coming next year. Will it be the long-awaited Battlefield 5? Now that they’ve polished off Final Fantasy X and X-2, it seems Square Enix might be remastering FFXII next.…

CULT CLASSICS Game announcements EVERYWHERE! Brill B-Movie bug-hunt Earth Defense Force 4.1 is coming to Europe soon, while ace PC indie This War Of Mine will make its way to PS4 in 2016. THE CRUNCH BUNCH At long last, excellent streaming service Crunchyroll has arrived on PS4 and PS Vita, letting us watch some of our favourite anime on PlayStation. BET ON DUKE Gearbox and Interceptor’s legal tussle over the Duke Nukem rights ended in Gearbox’s favour. Will they celebrate with a new Duke? If so, can it please be good? TWITCH HUNT Twitch viewers are trying to mass-play a game of Dark Souls via a voting process. After a bad start, they’re making progress thanks to a hacked-in pause function. DEAD ON ARRIVAL Grotty beach volleyball sequel Dead Or…

Rapturous applause After over 30 years of gaming I wanted to let the world know that, for the first time, I played an entire game in one sitting. And its name? Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture. What a great game… or shall I say experience? Because it wasn’t so much a game as a walk in the country while building up a story of what had happened leading up to ‘the event’. I’m not going to spoil it for anyone either playing or planning to play it, however if you love graphical details and something a bit different then you won’t go far wrong with this. Rob Howard via email EGTTR is a wonderful, bullet-free palate cleanser and, just like you, we’re hoping for more games built around a gentler…

What game was the biggest factor in PS1’s huge success? 20% Are all about the twin pistol dino pacification of the first Tomb Raider. 18% Pledge their fealty to the one true JRPG king: Final Fantasy VII. 22% Raise a glass of wumpa fruit juice to the first Crash Bandicoot. 16% Reckon a spot of anti-grav racing is in order with the original WipEout. 13% Think Metal Gear Solid made PS1 what it is. 11% Joyride with nostalgia at the PS1 version of Grand Theft Auto. NEXT MONTH To tie into our Star Wars celebration next issue, channel the Force and tell us your favourite Star Wars game on PlayStation……

So Fallout 4 is getting mod support on PlayStation 4, and I couldn’t be happier. It will be the first in Bethesda’s open-world series with a console version equal to the PC game, and while there’s bound to be some curation to cut down on the number of penis mods, I’m hopeful that it will lead to a more open development environment further down the line. I’ve enjoyed the likes of Just Cause, Skyrim and Fallout 3 on PlayStation 3, but I’ve looked on enviously at PC players who could make the games look better and fix dumb design decisions via simple downloads. We’ve been getting half the experience without all of the UI tweaks, rule changes and crazy modifications fans have added over the years. Take Skyrim’s Thomas The…

Is this the coolest game of 2016? That’s what we find ourselves scribbling on our notepad as the first demo of Hangar 13’s Deep South sandbox reaches its explosive conclusion. On screen, our new anti-hero is fending off an army of goons using a colossal Magnum to drop his enemies in style, and a grenade launcher to blast oncoming cars; all while Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones blasts out. Moments earlier, our protagonist accelerates his vehicle at a blockade of gangster cars, only to dive out at the last minute and watch as the clash of shattered automobiles creates a fireball that engulfs his enemies. See: ‘cool. Mafia III has heaps of potential. Set in 1968 New Orleans, it captures the vibe of the era perfectly and follows…

1 Evil CEO Gabriel Kruger is one of Catalyst’s main antagonists. Is it just us, or does old Gabe look really like EA CEO Andrew Wilson? Hmmm. 2 Faith’s constantly assisted via earpiece by her handler, Noah. The substitute father figure was a friend of Faith’s parents before they died. 3 The Conglomerate is the main enemy force in the game. It looks like Kruger has ties to them, too. It’s best to mingle in the same dastardly circles… 4 An assassin seen in our most recent demo is trying to steal intel from Kruger. Gabe’s badass female security guard takes him out with ease mid-heist.…

1 Each team has a different mentality, and this alters how you race. Abu Dhabi Racing wants you to be as careful as possible with the car… 2 Kornel Lukacs also wants you to keep the car intact, but to actually, you know, try and win too. You need to balance speed with being sensible. 3 Terry Folb is a bit more of a hot head. Win, he says, no matter what, and repair the car later. If you don’t, you’ll enter the next stage battered.…

DRAGON QUEST HEROES A group of LARPing enthusiasts take their role-playing too far when they wage war on a peaceful tribe of giant, bug-eyed blueberries. A fruit genocide occurs, producing a lot of yummy pies. FORMAT PS4 ETA 16 OCT WASTELAND 2: DIRECTOR’S CUT A Lemmy cosplayer takes it hard when Motorhead’s new album bombs. He unleashes a nuke on America in response, then roams the abyss, gunning down any surviving music execs. FORMAT PS4 ETA 16 OCT DARKSIDERS II: DEATHINITIVE EDITION A sentient, rather miffed tribal mask decides to go on a rampage after being left to rot on a shop shelf for Halloween night. FORMAT PS4 ETA 6 OCT…

1 There’s more personality on show. Dirty Superstars use cheap tactics to get ahead, and slimeballs like Paul Heyman won’t hesitate to get involved. 22K16 celebrates WWE’s renewed focus on tag teams with team entrances and a new system that rewards partners for being in position for the tag. 3 Entrances are slicker – there are no loading times, and it’s professionally spliced with crowd shots and interjections from the commentary team. 4 In player vs player matches (but not single player), you can interrupt your opponent mid-entrance by running down the aisle and lamping them one. Yes!…

2008 LITTLEBIGPLANET • Miniscule development team Media Molecule creates a classic from nowhere. Nominally a cuddly platformer, in reality it’s a totally comprehensive creation tool that inspires thousands to make and share things with the world. 2011 LITTLEBIGPLANET 2 • The sequel builds on that creation aspect, so much so that it’s marketed as a ‘platform for games’ rather than a platform game. True to this, players can now easily make other types of games, and create their own cutscenes and music. 2012 LBP PS VITA • MM helps out on this handheld spinoff, which carries across most of the best bits while adding support for touch screen. You can now draw objects into the world directly. 2012 LBP KARTING • MM also contributes to the inevitable LBP Karting, which…

So far Uncharted 4 has had two major live gameplay demos, one at the PlayStation Experience last December, and one at E3 this June. In both cases Bruce Straley has been playing, and in both demos things have gone wrong: first Drake died and fell through the world in the PSX combat sequence, and then Drake chose not to move at all at E3 until a demo reset fixed things. “Luckily I’m not on stage like Bruce is,” confides Druckmann. “I’m in the audience. But yeah, your stomach drops and you’re freaking out, because you know you work so hard on this thing but the game is not done, so you know that there are still these bugs in there. You’re always so nervous because something can go wrong, and…

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 The kind of phenomenal experience rarely seen in aconsolegeneration. 9 OUTSTANDING Unreservedly brilliant–this shouldbeine very collection. 8 VERY GOOD Atruly excellent game, marred by just a few minor issues. 7 GOOD A great conceptunfulfilled or 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…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ALSO ON PS3 ETA OUT NOW PUB KONAMI DEV PES PRODUCTIONS PES didn’t have much to celebrate last generation. As sure as Jim White’s deadline day tie is yellow, and Kammy will yell “Unbelievable Jeff!” half a dozen times on any given Soccer Saturday, PS3-era PES followed a pattern of ‘promising’ preview stage showings to ‘alright’ final code to ‘maybe next year, lads?’ legacies. Thank heavens for PS4, then. Should you be the kind of fan who appreciates a deft bit of overlooked Iniesta footwork just as much as a no-nonsense Charlie Adam wallop, PES 2016 feels like total football. It’s in part down to the huge bank of fresh animations that triples last year’s number. Players handle every conceivable situation naturally, like adjusting their feet to…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB UBISOFT DEV UBISOFT MONTPELLIER Somewhere around the time you break a Shoreditch knob’s head with a cricket bat, ironically, Zombi comes alive. You play as a British civvy who wakes in a London underground station-turned-bunker during a viral outbreak. Bossy survivors want things from your mute protagonist and, well, you’ve got to keep busy, right? Ubisoft Montpellier excels at environmental storytelling: the grungy Bakerloo train clearly abandoned in a hurry; a red-suited Queen’s Guard prowling Westminster; stumbling across a Tower Hamlets party attended by tracksuited zombies. This London mixes keen-eyed authenticity with broadly drawn comedy. It’s like a cockney Dark Souls, broken up by safehouses offering respite from the carnage, and threaded with shortcuts. When you crack a manhole and bridge two areas…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB WARNER BROS DEV AVALANCHE STUDIOS Fittingly for a game set after the end of civilisation, Mad Max takes place in one of the leanest open-worlds I’ve ever explored. There’s not an inch of fat to either its story or its environment, which you’ll need to scavenge ruthlessly at every turn. Sure, its striking and varied desert has a slate of objective markers leading the way to secondary activities, but these are pretty much essential if you want Max to fulfil his modest goals, one of which is simply to remain alive. His other goal, quickly established via a pleasingly brisk prologue sequence, is to build the perfect car. (Or the perfect car for killing, ramming and harpooning stuff, anyway.) After losing his beloved…

INFO FORMAT PS VITA ETA OUT NOW PUB NIS AMERICA DEV SPIKE CHUNSOFT Here, in the newest entry of the cult student murder sim, the first victim to go is good sense as Spike Chunsoft swaps text-driven courtroom puzzling for a third-person survival horror. There are neat ideas at work, such as tiny weak points that channel Killer7’s panicked aiming, and colourful ammo types that send enemies into dancing spasms or crush them under electrified machinery, but the whole thing is let down by stiff aiming, limp feedback and zero eye for action pacing. It’s most successful when gunplay becomes something of a riddle, with puzzle chambers that challenge you to use those ammo gimmicks to off crowds of enemies with a single shot. This at least taps into the…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB BOSSA STUDIOS DEV BOSSA STUDIOS Anyone undiscerning enough to have watched Transformers may have developed an irrational fear of their toaster.1 The good news: I Am Bread ditches the four-slice in favour of hair-dryers, lawnmowers, and other DIY griddles. The bad news: this toast simulation puzzler features the walking bread. I Am Bread’s show-stopper is Story Mode, in which you control a slice of wholemeal determined to fulfil its toasty destiny and obtain that coveted beach-bready glow. Manoeuvring the slice is like driving a car for the first time – the controls feel awkward as you attempt to flop it this way and that by utilising its opposable crusts, all the while glancing at the grip-o-meter to ensure it doesn’t peel off a…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ALSO ON PS VITA ETA OUT NOW (PS4), TBC (PS VITA) PUB BITHELL GAMES DEV BITHELL GAMES Despite appearances, Volume isn’t a game about sneaking into buildings and, as hero Rob puts it, “taking all the things.” It’s a game of simulated stealth-puzzling set in a single room, which holodecks a series of virtual places around you. You’re Rob Locksley, an affable near-future version of Nottingham’s favourite hoodie, streaming your exploits to your loyal band of followers, or ‘merry men . The premise may be a bit overdeveloped, but essentially it’s like Neil Buchanan’s Finders Keepers: you nick (fake) stuff in the hundred-odd simulations that comprise the story, while a watching audience wills you on. Unlike the kids’ show, that data then inspires thousands to also rob…

DESTINY Matthew Pellett gives up on becoming legend – and almost gives up on the game itself Regular readers will know I adore Destiny, and while we weren’t able to review The Taken King this issue I’ve finished the campaign and can safely say that the expansion is exceptional. But I’ve a bone to pick with a certain Skolas from House Of Wolves. I spend five-and-a-half hours on one level 35 Prison Of Elders run (my Hunter’s level 33), and as the sixth hour approaches I admit defeat and switch it off. Drops? Glimmer? Nothing – just a quarter of the day down the drain and nothing to show for it. Disc Frisbee, anyone? THE LAST OF US Iain Wilson discovers that the Naughty Dog apocalypse is still as brutal…

MAN UP 28 SEP A case of mistaken identity sees Simon Pegg hook up with Lake Bell in this British rom-com, the lucky swine/poor woman. (We love you really, Pegg.) PENNY DREADFUL SEASON TWO 5 OCT Bond writer John Logan assembles the finest out-of-copyright monsters literature has to offer. TOMORROW-LAND: A WORLD BEYOND 5 OCT The future’s bright, the future’s… a theme park? Clooney turns scientist in this undeserved flop. BACK TO THE FUTURE FLUX CAPACITOR BOXSET 5 OCT Time to bin your old discs – this brand new set comes in Flux Capacitor packaging. How we covet! INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3 12 OCT Brace yourself for jump scares as a new family falls prey to a sinister supernatural entity in the paranormal prequel. SURVIVOR 12 OCT It’s Alice Vs Bond…

DOCTOR PLAYSTATION Our console medic fixes your tech woes with actual science THE PROBLEM One word: backwards compatibility. Don’t go back and check, that was ONE WORD. The PS3’s architecture was complex, so last-gen games don’t work natively with PS4’s circuitry. Enter PS Now, the library with PS3 titles galore. STEP 1 MAKE SURE YOUR CONNECTION CAN HACK IT You can’t keep a good doc down, can you? What Doctor PlayStation lacks in credentials, he more than makes up for in ability to sneak past hospital security and nick a white coat. Today’s procedure: delving deep into PlayStation Now, Sony’s new streaming library powered by the Gaikai tech it bought aeons ago. The idea’s simple: head over to the ‘PlayStation Now’ tab on the PSN Store’s main page, select a…

1 “AND ANYWAY, WHO WANTS TO PLAY AS KEN FROM STREET FIGHTER WHEN YOU CAN BE BLOODY MACHO MAN INSTEAD?” 2 “AS YOU PROGRESS, IT TURNS OUT THAT RUST CAN BE BEAUTIFUL TOO, WHEN IT’S NOT CAUSING YOUR VAUXHALL CAVALIER TO DISINTEGRATE.” 3 “INITIALLY, HAVING TO SPEND EVERY WEEK PLAYING MEANINGLESS MATCHES IS AS TEDIOUS AS WATCHING CHARLTON.” 4 “IT’S A WAKE-UP CALL FOR FIRST-PERSON GAMING, RESURRECTING LONG-LOST VALUES AND PLUNGING A KNIFE INTO THE GENERIC SEQUEL.”…

PICK #1 ODDWORLD: NEW ‘N’ TASTY Editor Matthew Pellett can’t get enough of the PlayStation classic’s comeback Back in the day I spent an unhealthy amount of time in the company of Abe on PS1. Post-patches, Oddworld’s New ‘N’ Tasty remaster is a stunning recreation of that original outing with plenty of added greatness on top. Gaming tastes may have changed since those early PS1 days, sure, but this is still a must-buy remaster that doesn’t just rely on nostalgia to entertain. “WHEN IT CAME TO PS4 IT WAS LIKE AN OLD FRIEND READY TO REKINDLE THE GLORY DAYS.” PICK #2 TOMB RAIDER DEFINITIVE ED It’s a life of hunting bows and loot-filled tombs for managing art ed Milf Coppock I don’t get to finish that many games these days,…

What’s the most influential game in PlayStation history? Metal Gear Solid? Tomb Raider? Uncharted? Try Sega’s 1993 arcade sensation Virtua Fighter, a 3D wireframe fighting game that, ironically, never even made it to PlayStation . Virtua Fighter was unleashed upon Japanese arcades in December 1993, just a month after the formation of Sony Computer Entertainment, which was tasked with creating the first PlayStation’s architecture. And as revealed years later by producer Ryoji Akagawa, the moment the Sony team clamped eyes on the technically impressive Virtua Fighter and its polygonal pugilists was the moment that the company decided to commit to making its debut console a 3D-focused system, rather than a 2D-based one. The final version of PlayStation hardware was completed in a timespan of just six months,…

1 Ridge Racer Riiiiidge Raaaa… well, you get the idea. Arcade driving doesn’t get much better than this sunny 3D racer, which helped to establish the original PlayStation as the ideal home for lavishly faithful arcade ports. PUB NAMCO DEV NAMCO 2 WipEout Psygnosis’ pumping futuristic racer was the game of an era – that era being the time of glowsticks, raves and The Chemical Brothers. CDs proved their worth with the exceptional licensed techno soundtrack that accompanied it. PUB PSYGNOSIS DEV PSYGNOSIS 3 Destruction Derby Before Burnout, Reflections’ smashy PS1 game provided all our car-crumpling needs. The physics, at the time, felt hugely realistic, and we spent many an hour causing huge pileups in its violently satisfying Bowl arena. PUB PSYGNOSIS DEV REFLECTIONS…

Often referred to as the ‘Golden Year Of Gaming, 1996 was the year that first introduced us to some of PlayStation’s most beloved franchises. And, er, Crash Bandicoot, too. (Joke!) Naughty Dog’s caffeine-crazed marsupial was Sony’s first serious attempt at creating an anthropomorphic mascot capable of rubbing shoulders with Mario and Sonic The Hedgehog. Sony, however, promoted him as anything but a like-for-like replacement. Keen to distance themselves from gaming’s old guard, Sony took the bold move of hiring trend-setting agency TBWA to create an advertisement campaign that would target a new untapped demographic of teen and twenty-something slackers. The controversial but extremely successful campaign featured, among other risible stunts, pictures of PlayStation pads on perforated roach papers, and flyers left in phone boxes (remember them?) advertising the services of…

1 Tomb Raider Eidos’ polygonal-breasts-sell marketing campaign may have sullied its reputation, but the original Tomb Raider remains one of the smartest exploration games of the 1990s. Its use of 3D space was exceptional. PUB EIDOS DEV CORE DESIGN 2 Resident Evil Capcom invented a genre with Resident Evil, a game equal parts Alone In The Dark and George A Romero’s undead filmography. The lines might be hokey (in fact, they definitely are) but that dog scare still makes us jump. PUB CAPCOM DEV CAPCOM 3 Crash Bandicoot The game’s gorgeous 3D art, and novel into-the-screen platforming, helped turn Crash Bandicoot into one of the PlayStation’s biggest stars. Now if only Naughty Dog would return to its Taz-like marsupial hero… PUB SONY DEV NAUGHTY DOG…

By 1997, it was becoming clear that Sega Saturn was destined to fail. By the summer of that year, Sega’s share of the market had plummeted to just 12%. That left just one company standing in the way of PlayStation and world domination – Sony’s old adversary, Nintendo. The much-delayed Nintendo 64 system finally arrived in Europe in March, but by this point Sony was almost too busy pumping out the hits to notice. Final Fantasy VII, the RPG that remains the genre’s benchmark over 15 years later, arrived in Japan in January and in the rest of the world that autumn. Success was instant: in the three days following its launch in Japan, Final Fantasy VII shifted a whopping 2.3 million copies. DUALSHOCK RISING This was to be expected,…

1 Final Fantasy VII Square had largely ignored the UK until Final Fantasy VII, so for many of us this was our first exposure to the JRPG genre. When its gripping story was over, we were hooked for life. Now all we have to do is wait for that PS4 Remake… PUB SQUARE DEV SQUARE 2 Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night The original Metroidvania, Symphony swapped the linear exploration of old Castlevanias for an expansive Gothic environment that made full use of the CD format. PUB KONAMI DEV KONAMI 3 PaRappa The Rapper Kick, punch, it’s all in the mind, with NanaOn-Sha’s inimitable rhythm action game. Its systems have been repurposed since, but PaRappa remains a true original, set in its own weird, hilarious universe. PUB SONY DEV NANAON-SHA…

How about this for an E3 line-up? Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Tekken 3, Silent Hill, Parasite Eve, Syphon Filter and Twisted Metal 3. 1998 saw PlayStation in the prime of its life. While Nintendo struggled to fill its games calendar and Sega officially announced the discontinuation of Sega Saturn, PlayStation’s cup continued to runneth over. By the end of the year, the number of consoles shipped stood at nearly 50m worldwide. By this point in the console’s lifecycle, developers had began to master PlayStation’s complex architecture and games were becoming ever more confident – and no game oozed more pizzazz than Hideo Kojima’s magnum opus, Metal Gear Solid, which arrived in Japan and the US a few months before it debuted in the UK in Feb 1999. It was,…

1 Resident Evil 2 With the T-Virus running rampant in Raccoon City, the scene was set for another thrilling survival horror from Shinji Mikami and Hideki Kamiya. Great characters, a fresh setting and increased stakes made this an essential sequel. PUB CAPCOM DEV CAPCOM 2 Gran Turismo Racing sims came to PlayStation in earnest with Gran Turismo, an insanely detailed driving game that gave us the life of a car enthusiast without requiring all that money and driveway space. It’s ropey now, but in ’98 it was mind-blowing. PUB SONY DEV POLYPHONY DIGITAL 3 Tekken 3 The fifth-best-selling PlayStation game of all-time, and rightly so. Tekken 3 is PlayStation’s seminal fighter and remains one of the genre’s milestone releases. It also enabled players to exploit each arena’s 3D space for…