Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2016 i PLAY

“THERE’S A RAFT OF FRESH PS VR GAMES, NONE BIGGER THAN A NEW BATMAN FROM ROCKSTEADY.” Fifty games. 184 pages. The maths behind our annual Hot 50 issue seemed so simple. But then E3 happened and Sony announced a gamut of new titles. E3 happened and we played so many our eyes wept. E3 happened and we cornered the world’s biggest devs. E3 happened and HOW COULD WE POSSIBLY FIT IT ALL IN? *ahem* This summer’s Hot 50 list is our strongest yet, crammed with the very best PS4 games we’ve either played or seen in action this month. But it’s just the start. Also this issue we report on the pre-gameplay reveals of Kojima’s first PS4-exclusive and Crash’s return (so early in production there’s not even any art –…

PIP PIP, HOORAY! Failed to grab one of last year’s limited run Fallout 4 Pip-Boys? Bethesda and Think Geek have now teamed up to make an even better Deluxe version with functioning knobs and dials, plus Bluetooth support. It’s not all good news: it’s $350, just 5,000 exist, and it’s only available in the USA, Canada and Australia. THIRD TIME LUCKY FOR 47 Finally, Hitman’s Agent 47 has mastered the silver screen. After two botched Hollywood efforts, Hitman gets films right… albeit inside the game. Out 19 July, the Summer Bonus Episode hands 47 two new missions, the best seeing him don a knock-off Buzz Lightyear suit to infiltrate a sci-fi movie set in Sapienza. WHAT A STEEL Time for a new DualShock 4? We reckon you’ll think so when…

“UNCHARTED 4 IS A FITTING FINALE AND A MASTERCLASS IN ACTION GAMES.” BEN TYRER STAFF WRITER Naughty Dog’s incredible send-off to Nathan Drake – the star of the greatest series the studio has made – is not just the best game of the year so far, it’s also the best game on PS4. A compelling, considered story that paces itself near-perfectly, while also maintaining the studio’s reputation for pushing a console to its absolute limits. Having grown up with the Uncharteds, A Thief’s End is also a rare case of a series finding a fitting ending, as the fantastic epilogue rounds off the adventures of our favourite treasure-hunting team by both capturing the spirit of the franchise and evolving it at the same time. “THE WITNESS’ PUZZLING PARADISE HAS YET…

“FORGET RAFE AND NADINE, SAM DRAKE WOULD HAVE MADE UNCHARTED 4’S ULTIMATE BADDIE.” WRITER BIO Dave Meikleham is a slightly wrong-headed, ultra-obsessive type. So much so, he’s platinumed the first three Uncharteds twice. First on PS3, then the Nate Drake Collection. He also loves Troy Baker’s larynx to an unhealthy degree. Brotherly love. Ain’t it swell? Just look at Nathan Drake and his older sibling Sam. They finish each other’s quips. They intimately snap mens’ necks in tandem. They toast their good health in a centuries-old bar in the heart of Libertalia. Their blood-bonded bromance truly warms the cockles. Had Uncharted 4 stuck to its original course, however, Sammy boy would likely have been Nate’s nemesis. Say wha’? That’s right. Cast a beady peeper over A Thief’s End’s teaser trailer…

dev talk “Part of putting the tomb back in Tomb Raider” means rethinking our approach to puzzles. We have found inspiration in the classics and put together what we’re calling “nested puzzles.” A nested puzzle is where Lara must solve a Big Problem not by solving a big puzzle, but by solving a series of puzzles that each contribute a little bit to the Big Problem. Longtime fans of the franchise will remember St. Francis’ Folly in which Lara unlocks a Big Door by finding four keys, each of which is inside its own puzzle. For Rise of the Tomb Raider, we are using the same formula, only substituting the “finding keys” with “modern physics puzzles.” Jeff Wajcs, senior designer, Crystal Dynamics   Format PS4 ETA TBC Pub Square Enix…

Format PS4 ETA TBC Pub CD Projekt Red Dev CD Projekt Red Fear not, CD Projekt Red fans, The Witcher series’ narrative may have reached its conclusion, but there’s no need to leave the Wild Hunt universe just yet. Yes, with the Polish dev’s next RPG – Cyberpunk 2077 – still in the early stages of development, we’ve been gifted a little something to tide us over. Gwent, the card game within The Witcher 3, is coming to PS4 as an expanded, stand-alone title. “Something that really amazed us after releasing The Witcher 3,” explains CD Projekt Red’s lead designer Damien Monnier, “is that in this huge open world, players took a lot of time to just sit down in taverns and play cards.” After receiving thousands of pleas from…

Format PS4 ETA 2017 Pub Square Enix Dev Platinum The word Platinum’s not just synonymous with the highest level of PlayStation glory: it’s also synonymous with action. Our time with the Nier sequel proves this, with Japanese developer Platinum reinventing the series concept. It’s Bayonetta with a robo-twist. Clinging on to our hovering drone buddy lets us glide through the air and attack enemies while suspended, as well as giving us access to the elevations of flora-encrusted urban wastelands. But the newest secret’s really in our hands. Cyborg warrior 2B actually has a pair of metal paws to deal close-quarters blows with. The gauntlets, paired with a katana, form one of two weapon sets – the alternative being a short sword and greatsword combo. Despite picturesque ruins unfolding into sweeping…

Format PS4 ETA Winter Pub ChuckleFish Dev ConcernedApe One of the biggest games on PC this year has zero guns, cars or servers crammed full of YouTubers. Instead, it’s an immensely pleasant, complex farming sim – along the lines of Harvest Moon – in which you nurture your farm and grow it to become ever more successful. Surprising to some, it’s sold one million copies. Even more surprising, it’s made by one person. Expanding its operations onto PlayStation 4 is cause for great celebration then, because there’s very little like it currently available. It starts off so simply: tired of working in a cubicle, you move out to Stardew Valley and begin to work on your grandfather’s old plot of land, hoping to transform it from a tangled mess to…

dev talk “Every forum post, passionate tweet, Facebook message and letter about getting XCOM 2 on console was heard loud and clear. We have diehard console-focused fans who let us know in every way possible they wanted to play the game too. That’s dedication we wouldn’t ignore.” Garth DeAngelis, lead producer, Firaxis Format PS4 ETA 9 Sep Pub 2K Games Dev Firaxis When the latest entry in the series that proved turn-based strategy could work flawlessly on a pad was declared PC-only for the foreseeable, we were seriously disappointed. But like a squad of rookies facing off against a Muton Berserker, this stance from Firaxis couldn’t last forever – and sure enough, the alien-hunting sequel is now coming to PS4 in just two short months. XCOM 2 kicks…

Format PS4 ETA 26 Aug Pub Koei Tecmo Dev Omega Force When you’re being chased by a huge naked cannibal baby with a grin the size of a bus, you’ll only have one word running through your head: move. Brilliantly, this anime-based action-adventure game prioritises exactly that. From the trainee Titan slayers’ natural, weighty momentum on foot, to their double-wired slinging and swinging, every movement feels startlingly realistic. Hurtling through forests and across crumbling rooftops with gas-powered boosts, holding your breath when hanging untethered in the air looking for your next point of anchorage… it’s enough of an adrenaline rush to leave you a gibbering insomniac for the rest of the week. And then the Titans appear. Some loom over neighbouring buildings, side-eyeing you with malice as they plot attacks.…

Format PS4 ETA 7 Oct Pub 2K Games Dev Hangar 13 Our hands-on last month revealed this to be an open-world crime romp of immense strategic freedom. What we didn’t know was just how much spectacle it holds too. The early stages of our E3 demo reiterates existing (albeit welcome) themes: snappy combat, freeform stealth, tons of ways to approach objectives. But then we hit a mob target running the underbelly of New Bordeaux’s entertainment district. Lincoln finds him hosting a party on a paddle steamer. He brings down a vast metal structure to part-sink the vessel, then quietly hops aboard to join the fun. He starts shooting up mobsters left, right and centre as the boat sinks around him. His target finally caught, an explosion blows them out into…

Format PS4 ETA Mar Pub Team17 Dev Playtonic Games Show of hands. Who spent all of their rent money on Playtonic’s record-obliterating Kickstarter? Oops. At least it was worth it: a team of Rare veterans is creating a 3D platformer so expansively, unabashedly joyful it makes Spongebob Squarepants look curmudgeonly. From the neon pop of its art style, to the gibberings of its wacky cast, to the Pagies (remember Banjo-Kazooie’s Jiggies?) you collect, Yooka-Laylee pays homage to its predecessors. There’s even an N64 shader to unlock. But it also riffs on retro endlessly. The shiny new duo of chilled-out chameleon Yooka and cheeky bat Laylee have an identity of their own, crafted by hand from concept stage by Banjo and Kazooie’s creator, Steve Mayles. By firing a panoply of comedy…

dev talk “The new Real Touch system is our game changer. Gaining a yard on a defender by knocking the ball forward – or turning with the ball as they close you down – is a vital skill, and PES 2017 offers the closest interpretation of this.” Adam Bhatti, global brand manager, PES Productions “GET YOUR TIMING RIGHT AND PLAYERS TRULY CARESS THE BALL TO EACH OTHER.” Format PS4/PS3 ETA Autumn Pub Konami Dev Konami Now, it’s dangerous to overly praise any sports game months before release, with significant dressing room tinkering still to be carried out. But if we had to summarise Konami’s new football effort in five simple words after our first playtest, it’d read like this: brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. We’re only able to sample four…

dev talk “Pink, purple, fuchsia, lavender are colours we decided are not part of the world [in Mankind Divided]. There’s a little hint of that if you look at Eliza Cassan in Human Revolution. She wears dark grey, but has a purple scarf and she’s the only one because purple does not exist – it’s like this little hint that she’s not real. When we started working on Breach, the guys approached me and were like, ‘Hey wait a minute! We’re creating the virtual reality of the Deus Ex world, it should have pink.’ And I was like, ‘Holy sh*t, this is a great idea!” Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, executive art director, Eidos Montréal “SHAPING UP TO BE A BETTER BLEND OF STEALTH AND ACTION THAN ITS PREDECESSOR.” Format PS4 ETA 23…

Format PS4 ETA TBC Pub Sony Dev Media Molecule Has there ever been a game that has given you as much creative control as Dreams? Quite simply, no. Media Molecule’s astoundingly deep game creator continues to amaze us with its versatility and artistic flourishes, and right now it’s preparing for a public Beta that is due to drop later in 2016. Despite its high profile on Sony’s list of PS4 exclusives, the Dreams team (don’t pretend they didn’t name their game just to be called that) skipped E3. But we’re willing to make an exception in this instance – Media Molecule is regularly offering up slices of gameplay that show off the sheer depth of what it allows you to build. That could be treating the game as a powerful…

dev talk “[We want you to] basically build your own moments. To create a situation that you start laughing at and say: “Woah, this happened!” and share it with friends. You decide what you want to spend your time doing. Multiplayer, focusing on stories, exploring the world… whatever you do, we’re going to reward you. That’s the promise we’re making.” Dominic Guay, senior producer, Ubisoft Montréal “USE YOUR TASER FOR AN ENTIRELY MURDER-FREE PLAYTHROUGH.” Format PS4 ETA 15 Nov Pub Ubisoft Dev Ubisoft Montréal Do ya feel hacky, cyberpunk? Well, do ya? Good. Get ready for all those anti-establishment fantasies to become reality. The grey reign of Chicago and grey hat hacker Aiden Pearce is over – welcome to vibrant San Francisco, Ubisoft’s open-world “Wild West of technology.” Palm trees…

dev talk “I wanted to avoid the typical story where the good guys are the humans, the bad guys are the androids, and we need to stop them because they have a virus that will destroy the world, etc. You know these kind of stories – it’s really not what I wanted. So I chose a totally different angle, which was to say, what if they were the good guys, and we were the bad guys?” David Cage, director, Quantic Dream Format PS4 ETA TBC Pub Sony Dev Quantic Dream The place is swarming with police. Outside, an android gone wrong dangles a kid off a building. Our goal? To save the girl using all options open to us. And boy, are there options by the bucketload. Detroit: Become Human…

dev talk “When Trico shakes its head, you can see that its ears are flapping. It used to be that unless the animator specifically wanted the ears to move, it wouldn’t – but now that we have the physics engine, they move automatically. So we have that kind of synergy effect. That was a very enjoyable time for us during development, and I think the effects of introducing that have come back in a good way.” Fumito Ueda, director, GenDesign Format PS4 ETA 25 Oct Pub Sony Dev GenDesign Boy, it’s been a long old wait. First announced during 2009’s E3 for PS3, The Last Guardian has become a source of as much anguish as it has joy for fans of PS2 classics Ico and Shadow Of The Colossus. We’ve…

“PRECISELY ZERO GAMES CAN KEEP UP WITH CATALYST’S MAJESTIC SENSE OF MOMENTUM.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB EA DEV DICE Bring me Faith’s quads… and her shins… and her metatarsals. As someone who regularly runs, I’m all too familiar with the perils of letting your feet pound that pavement. Cramps royally banjaxing your calves, blisters up the wazoo, buckets of sticky sweat seeping from your flustered little face. Not that Ms Connors would know anything about this. In Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, running isn’t just joyous, it looks completely effortless. And it’s this thrilling movement that helps plaster over the cracks in DICE’s occasionally grating parkour playground. In many ways, Catalyst really shouldn’t exist. The original Mirror’s Edge may have cultivated a dedicated free-running following back in…

INFO FORMAT PS VITA ALSO ON PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB DEVOLVER DIGITAL DEV MOPPIN You know how the famous nursery rhyme goes: Jack and Jill went up the hill. To fetch a pail of water. Jack jumped in and caused a din. By strapping on his gunboots and dropping through miles of the well’s shaft, firing bullets from his feet to shred the well’s critters as the stone walls of the cave reverberated from his laughter.1 A simple blend of PS Vita faves Spelunky and Luftrausers, Downwell is pure arcade heaven. As you drop through a seemingly endless well that’s teeming with bats, turtles and other beasties, your inputs are limited to moving left or right and firing your gunboots. Initially a paltry eight-round pistol is all you’ve got,…

“THE ACTION IS SO FAST AND RELENTLESS YOU CAN NEVER GRASP WHAT’S GOING ON.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ALSO ON PS3 ETA OUT NOW PUB ACTIVISION DEV PLATINUM GAMES Leonardon’t, Gonertello, Michelangelno, Naffael: Turtles games have been crud for so long it’s tempting to write the lean green teens off as unfit for PlayStation shell-nanigans. Yet in Japanese studio Platinum – creators of Bayonetta – this awesome foursome have, in theory, at last been delivered into the care of a dev that understands how to do nuanced combat. The processes underpinning Mutants In Manhattan all sound spot-on. It’s a 3D beat-’emup with an unapologetically old school, button-whacking vibe, contemporary touches coming via four ‘ninjutsu’ special attacks assigned to each turtle. These can be unlocked and upgraded, and range from…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB BIGBEN INTERACTIVE DEV FROGWARES The great detective has been reinvented incessantly, but until now at least, developer Frogwares has remained steadfast in its interpretation of Sherlock as an aloof eccentric, and of Watson as his stuffy older sidekick. After a handful of Victorian adventures, the latter eventually earned the dubious nickname Creepy Watson, due to his tendency to sidle up next to Holmes in an unsettling manner. Well, now say hello to Sexy Watson instead: a younger, more dynamic partner who bickers with Holmes in an enjoyable, buddy movie sort of way. The detective himself is more charismatic here too – with its likeable leads, The Devil’s Daughter is more in line with Guy Ritchie’s boisterous Holmes, or the BBC’s Sherlock. That reinvention…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB WALES INTERACTIVE DEV WALES INTERACTIVE Have you ever seen a show like CSI do ‘the videogame episode’, in which it tries to link some game to a murder via a poorly rendered appropriation of what some producer thinks one might look like? Soul Axiom is basically a playable version of that. It’s got all the visual appeal of a late’90s movie CG segment, and about the same level of finesse. It mixes incoherent puzzles with a complete lack of logical consistency, making a confused mess of both mechanics and communication. Soul Axiom places you in a digital afterlife, effectively playing as a scanned-in soul exploring recorded experiences using a range of not very useful powers.1 Powers such as the ability to make things…

Triple-A! Wow, that looks scary in print, doesn’t it? I’m fine – just excited about last month’s Triple-A-fronted lineup. Finally, that long-awaited big-name arrived in the form of 2K’s brilliant basketball sim. What’s more, we went on indie wanderings, puzzled through optical illusions, survived episodes of J-horror and welcomed back Kratos… for free. Slam dunk, PS Plus. June’s been and gone, but NBA 2K16 (PS4) will keep us busy for months there’s enough juicy content to make anyone dribble. Intelligent AI dazzles, while multiplayer and co-op, online and offline impress. The MVP? The brilliant Spike Lee-directed MyCareer mode, fronted by Frequency Vibrations. Upping the story stakes was poignant indie adventure GONE HOME. The console edition brought Katie Greenbriar’s award-winning homecoming to PS4, weaving a painfully human tale through mysterious clues…

FULLY LOADED MINI PACK Drive away in an unlocked and upgraded Mini Cooper S for Dirt Rally. It comes with an exclusive livery and a unique mechanic, plus perks. Perks! PERKS! LOOT BOXES Overwatch is about two things: the magic of teamwork and delicious loot boxes. Not levelling fast enough? Buy a bundle of 50 for £32.99. Or see your local GP. SPIDER-MAN PACK Already purchased Lego Marvel’s Avengers? Then Peter Parker, Miles Morales and more are yours for diddly squat as six new versions of Spidey come bundled. INK THEME This gorgeous dynamic Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End theme recalls Nathan Drake’s journal, featuring music from the game and flowing sketches of iconic Uncharted motifs. THE GIANT The Call Of Duty: Black Ops III remake of Zombies map Der…

Jen Simpkins STAFF WRITER Intrepid explorer Jen began her first ever E3 by worshipping Sony’s Wall Of Doughnuts. She found it quite the holey experience. GAME OF THE MONTH Overwatch FAVOURITE E3 REVEAL Crash Bandicoot Ben Tyrer STAFF WRITER Web-slinging Ben “can’t wait to do what a spider does” in Spider-Man (p67). So we covered him in a jar and released him outside. GAME OF THE MONTH Uncharted 4 (still) FAVOURITE E3 REVEAL Spider-Man Andy Westbrook PRODUCTION EDITOR Extreme sporter Andy needs Steep (p46) now. He’s already reached peak excitement, but we worry that might go downhill fast. GAME OF THE MONTH Mirror’s Edge Catalyst FAVOURITE E3 REVEAL Steep Milford Coppock MANAGING ART EDITOR Metal Gear fanatic Milf will go to any lengths to play Kojima’s new game (p10) first.…

30 Years in the industry for Ubisoft. The publisher threw a birthday party at E3. £15.99 The wallet-friendly price of PS VR launch title Until Dawn: Rush Of Blood. $1m Amount that EA is donating to charity with its new Play To Give campaign. #2 Debut chart position for Mirror’s Edge Catalyst. Overwatch took top spot. 31,178 People pledged money to help fund the Dark Souls: Board Game Kickstarter. 13/06/17 Mark this date in your diary – it’s set to be the first day of the next E3 show. 88% PC Metacritic rating of XCOM 2, freshly announced for PS4 this issue. 50,300 Industry attendees at E3 this year – down slightly from last year’s 52,200.…

E3 MADNESS! How many new games exactly? Sony did the unthinkable and followed up last year’s show-stealing E3 conference with another belter, setting up an E3 that left us buzzing non-stop. ‘NUT TO MENTION Maybe some of that buzz was the sugar rush from Sony’s E3 Wall Of Doughnuts (exactly how it sounds). Now to try and install our own in the office… NUKA WOAH-LA Much more Fallout 4 DLC is on the way. Nuka World is Disneyland-gone-wrong (less Mickey, more radiation sicky). It looks ace. FIT-NICKED Some filthy blaggard nabbed Ben’s FitBit at EA’s Play event. The Evertonian staff writer reckons ’Pool fan Peter Moore is the suspect. MASS-IVE BLOW For the second year running, Mass Effect Andromeda had a tiny E3 presence. With the RPG due early next…

“LOOKING AT THE WIDER PICTURE, THE DEATH OF DISNEY INFINITY SHOULD BE A GREAT THING FOR PS4.” WRITER BIO After spending many hundreds of pounds on toys to life models, editor Matthew Pellett has run out of room in his house and isn’t sure how he’ll be able to add to his collection without hearing from a divorce lawyer. Pity him. So it turns out that Star Wars isn’t the golden ticket to infini-money, after all. Despite wielding the cinematic might of both the Lucas and Marvel universes, Disney’s Infinity series is no more. Is the death knell for the entire toys to life genre on its way? Absolutely not. First of all, the closure of Disney Infinity is obviously a bad thing for those affected. Large teams of seriously…

Format PS4 ETA Autumn Pub Perfect World Dev Cryptic Studios Captain’s log: after spending six years securing its PC base, racking up more than 130 featured episodes, or missions, in the process, the space exploration MMO (that’s massively multiplayer online game, of course) is setting forth for a new frontier: PS4. Set in the year 2409 and delivering space and ground combat aplenty, Star Trek Online has you skipper one of hundreds of classic ships, including a Romulan Warbird, a Klingon Bird-of-Prey or, of course, The Enterprise itself. The missions, meanwhile, feature voice acting talent from the franchise’s various TV incarnations, including Michael Dorn (The Next Generation’s Worf) and Jeri Ryan (Voyager’s Seven of Nine). Beaming the MMO over to PlayStation, however, is no lazy job, with the PS4 version…

Format PS4/PS Vita ETA 28 Oct Pub Square Enix Dev Square Enix Brother and sister combo Lann and Reynn have been blighted by that dreaded videogame story trope – an attack of amnesia. But while that ailment typically sets up what often becomes a tired story, here it’s the beginning of an utterly delightful journey; one that takes in all the best characters, monsters and ideas from every core Final Fantasy and blends them together in the bright world of Grimoire. The aim of this 100-hour-plus JRPG is to collect and train more than 200 monsters, then use them to battle à la Dragon Quest Monsters. The modified Active Time Battle combat should be familiar with anyone who’s played any of the mainline entries pre-FFX, and if you bag the…

“WE HAVEN’T KICKED A BALL AND THIS ALREADY FEELS LIKE THE MOST IMPORTANT MATCH EVER.” dev talk “I’ve been working on FIFA for almost a decade, and we’ve never done anything like [The Journey] before. So we’re inexperienced at creating this style of mode. Thankfully, Bioware is one of the best storytellers in the business and we have them at our disposal, because now they’re using the same toolset we’re using in the Frostbite engine.” Aaron McHardy, line producer, EA Sports Format PS4/PS3 ETA 29 Sep Pub EA Dev EA Canada Since shooting to sporting game glory with FIFA 09, FIFA’s been evolving steadily. Whether it’s buzzword-friendly additions such as 360° dribbling, or wallet-vaporising additions such as Ultimate Team, the series traditionally keeps itself fresh through iterating rather…

Format PS4 ETA Autumn Pub Telltale Games Dev Telltale Games Those of who you nabbed The Walking Dead Season 2 on PS Plus in late 2015 will know the devastating emotional decisions Telltale packs into its defining series. Clem’s story is left on such an audacious cliffhanger that, for the past two years, the office has been abuzz with theories about where the series might potentially go. Daringly, Telltale has hit fast-forward and Season 3 will see an older Clementine, now in her teens, joined by new character Javier. Clem wastes no time in proving her survival skills have been honed in the passing years, instantly taking down an emaciated walker in one shot. As TWD fans will attest, this uncharacteristic burst of action suggests a very different Clem to…

“THERE ARE ENDLESS WAYS TO CUSTOMISE EACH HERO.” Format PS4 ETA 2017 Pub Warner Bros Dev NetherRealm Studios NetherRealm’s first superhero-only fighter in one word? Dark. The studio that made 2011’s Mortal Kombat, funnily enough, didn’t shy away from twisted heroes and OTT action in 2013’s Injustice: Gods Among Us. Featuring creative mechanics and an excellent story mode, it delved into the murky morality of our favourite DC stars. Injustice 2 is gloriously gloomy, too – but this time, someone’s turned on the lights. Every superhero and villain in the expanded roster, from ol’ reliable Batman to new addition Supergirl, can earn LED super-armour. The Dark Knight can glow neon-green under his carbon-fibre, while the lightning symbols on The Flash’s suit will pulse yellow as he throws punches. Who knew…

Format PS4 ETA 2016 Pub Sony Dev SCE Japan Studio Some people have all the luck. Kat, for instance, can harness the power of gravity, flying around with a total disregard for the laws of physics and several Health and Safety protocols. Don your hard-hats: the iconic rebel heroine’s back, and this time, she’s aligning the stars in her favour. The sequel’s big shift is two new types of gravity. The first game’s standard Newtonian fare is still here, letting our girl fling herself about and flying-kick enemies’ glowing weak spots. When nippier monsters arrive, it’s time to use the touchpad to switch to Lunar gravity. Now lighter and more agile, Kat can move faster and jump higher without draining gravity energy (stamina, basically). Big brute incoming? Call upon Jupiter:…

Format PS4 ETA 2017 Pub Bandai Namco Dev Bandai Namco The idea that any fighter could topple Street Fighter V’s quality this generation feels unthinkable, but Tekken 7 has a few jabs in its favour – not least the fact that it boasts both a story mode and an arcade mode from day one. Chew on that, Ryu. Our hands-on impresses. We pick Akuma for a story mode trial and face off against series mainstay Heihachi, our audacious fistfight morphing into an over-the-top head-to-head with mid-scrap set-pieces that progress the narrative. But the interruptions work, neither throwing us off our game nor unbalancing the fight. More traditional knuckle-trading takes place in arcade mode. Here we tussle with Nina Williams in full bridal garb. Taking damage lets us unleash her Rage…

Format PS4 ETA 30 Sept Pub Square Enix Dev Square Enix Hard truth time: Final Fantasy XV’s recent Platinum Demo was pretty terrible. Slow, confusing and technically wobbly, it was a questionable way of showing off this highly anticipated JRPG. At E3, our hype levels take another knock – our demo of Noctis and friends battling the humongous Titan boss suffers from an awkward camera. As for the freshly revealed Final Fantasy XV PS VR side-game, a shooting gallery and a chance to ogle mechanic Cindy’s exposed cleavage up close simply isn’t what we’re after from Final Fantasy. Just… no. Twin stumbles as the release date (finally!) looms large are unquestionably troubling. Yet despite these bungles, we’re still betting big on Final Fantasy XV. Nearly everything we’ve seen and played…

Format PS4/PS3 ETA 30 Sep Pub Warner Dev TT Games Toys to life games are solely for kids, you say? Get ready for Lego Dimensions to totally smash that opinion into tiny studs. Among the properties now heading to the series, you’ll find: Adventure Time; Harry Potter; Mission: Impossible; The A-Team; Beetlejuice; ET; Knight Rider; The Goonies; Gremlins; and even Sonic The Hedgehog – a true dream lineup for big kids like us much more than those smaller ones, we say. Coupled with the fact that Lego Dimensions was patched post-launch to allow in-game ‘rentals’ of characters you haven’t bought (mercifully all done with stud currency, so no whiff of microtransactions to be found), the insanely exciting suite of incoming toys propels Lego Dimensions not just to the top of…

Format PS4 ETA 7 March Pub Ubisoft Dev Ubisoft Paris Sometimes, you shouldn’t judge a game (or anything, for that matter) based on first impressions. Tactical third-person sandboxer Ghost Recon Wildlands is proof of that. Base-jumping from helicopters, parachuting over sprawling mountain ranges and vast deserts… Ubisoft’s largest action-adventure open-world title feels overwhelmingly, suffocatingly massive at first. But once we and our three teammates land, throw ourselves down in the tall grass and observe an enemy camp below, we become laser-focused. We’re infiltrating a Bolivian drug cartel’s camp and must hack a computer for intel on El Pozalero, a stew-maker who melts the bodies of his foes. Yeesh. Best to send in a drone, lest we become spec ops casserole. deploys our robotic friend, which we steer through the camp,…

Format PS4 ETA 11 Nov Pub Bethesda Dev Arkane Studios Emily Kaldwin and Corvo Attano haven’t been having an easy time of it lately – Empress Em’s been overthrown by treasonous malefactors, while the ageing Attano’s caught up in all the courtly carnage. We already knew that the pair would flee Dunwall in favour of sunny Karnaca, but Arkane’s E3 showing revealed there’s more to the region than just insectoid nasties and an elevated risk of sunburn. The ‘Jewel Of The South,’ it seems, is also home to mysterious supernatural forces and sinister rituals. Upon arriving at a crumbling Karnacan mansion as either Emily or Corvo, you come across the Outsider. This amoral demigod – the source of all of your supernatural abilities – explains that an occult air lingers…

dev talk “The FIA Gran Turismo Digital Licence is only granted once you go through a lot of different subjects within Gran Turismo that cover your manner on the track and the safety issues. All of the player’s behaviour is judged from different aspects that are required in real-life racing. Once you are eligible for that licence, that information is going to be shared from Gran Turismo to the respective automobile club. From there on, it’s up to those automobile clubs to decide how they’re going to handle it.” Kazunori Yamauchi, CEO, Polyphony Digital Format PS4 ETA 18 Nov Pub Sony Dev Polyphony Digital According to Polyphony CEO Kazunori Yamauchi, his latest racer offers “a level of innovation that hasn’t been seen since the original Gran Turismo.” At first glance,…

“AT ONE POINT WE FEEL THE NEED TO CHECK IT’S NOT ACTUALLY THE LAST OF US 2.” Format PS4 ETA TBC Pub Sony Dev Bend Studio For a moment, it’s hard to tell where the undead end and the horizon begins. As bounty hunter Deacon St John looks out from the rooftop of an abandoned sawmill, there are thousands of ‘freakers’ (i.e. running zombies) swarming from every angle. His goal isn’t to kill the monsters that roam the Pacific Northwest – there are too many to slay. It’s instead about slowing the relentless, rushing tide to buy an extra few seconds of life. Our demo of this new post-apocalyptic, open-world survival epic from Syphon Filter creator Bend Studio kicks off in a deserted forest area. Deacon can roam the world…

exec talk “In addition to the PS4 console experience, the full Resident Evil VII will be playable from beginning to end with PlayStation VR when it releases on 24 Jan. The time has finally come for everyone to enjoy VR in their homes.” Shawn Layden, chairman, SIE Worldwide Studios Format PS4/PS VR ETA 24 Jan Pub Capcom Dev Capcom Forget everything you think you know about Resident Evil: it no longer applies. The survival horror establisher (RE1) turned survival horror innovator (RE4) turned survival horror punchline (RE6) is now the survival horror saviour, all thanks to a kitchen. Make that Kitchen. Long-time readers will recall us raving about a virtual reality horror experience called Kitchen at E3 one year ago. Now we know the full truth: that five-minute get-spooked-and-stabbed-and-decapitated-by-a-ghost-girl demo…

dev talk Kratos’ rage has provoked a ton of bad decisions in his life, so I was fascinated to see what would happen if he actually made a good one. What would that look like? How would he struggle with this very difficult and unfamiliar road? And more importantly, why would he do this? Cory Barlog, director, Sony Santa Monica Format PS4 ETA TBC Pub Sony Dev Sony Santa Monica Warrior. Deity. Dad. You likely only associate two of those terms with Kratos, don’t you? Yet in Sony Santa Monica’s bold new Norse direction for its exceptionally stabby action series, it’s that last option which looks most set to impact the Ghost of Sparta. Yes, Kratos is now a father. And no, we’re not in ancient Greece anymore, Toto. Welcome…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB SQUARE ENIX DEV IO INTERACTIVE The art of piecing together an episodic series is the same as making the perfect mixtape. Each episode, like every track on a compilation cassette/CD/playlist (delete dependent on age), must earn both its place and position in the collected whole. In the immortal words of High Fidelity’s Rob Gordon, “You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch. But you don’t wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch.” Paris was Hitman’s killer opening. Sapienza escalated things to new highs. And now? Marrakesh is Hitman cooling it way, way down. Mission three of Agent 47’s PS4 outing takes him to the Moroccan…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB NIGHT SCHOOL STUDIO DEV NIGHT SCHOOL STUDIO Are Life Is Strange-style choose-your-own-adventure offerings what push your buttons? Then pay attention. This surprisingly deep and beautiful 2D thriller, with its branching dialogue, dynamic consequences and an unnerving – if tropey – horror yarn, is definitely one to tune into.1 The story follows a group of teens who go drinking on an abandoned, ex-military island, the plot’s driving force being your radio, which you initially use to tune into anomalies you find around the island. These include Morse code, snippets of old plays, reverse talking – all the standard horror fare – plus the small matter of vengeful spirits, who you communicate with through the medium of medium wave. It’s a great setup for spooky…

“YOU BREEZE THROUGH STAGES ONLY TO WASTE YOUR LIVES ON A PUNISHING BOSS.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB DEEP SILVER DEV COMCEPT, INTI CREATES After all the hype, the controversy, the delays, the requests for more money and the badly misjudged promos, the most remarkable thing about Mighty No. 9 is just how ordinary it is. One of the biggest crowdfunded successes ever promised a spiritual follow-up to Keiji Inafune’s Mega Man games, but the result simply feels like a run-of-the-mill sequel under a different name. A bit of background, in case you’re unaware. Mighty No. 9 launched its Kickstarter campaign the best part of three years ago, promising “classic Japanese side-scrolling action, evolved and transformed.” It hit its $900k goal in two days, eventually more…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB DEEP SILVER DEV TECHLAND The remaster rush shows no sign of slowing, but fess up: who out there cried out for Deep Silver’s undead hack-a-thon to shuffle its way onto PS4? Bundling the original Dead Island, semi-sequel Riptide and the debuting side-scroller Retro Revenge into one package, it takes mere seconds for the problems that stank out the series first time round to bite me again. Odious characters, copious bugs and repetitive mission structures all combine to leave a distinct whiff of rotting flesh. At least said rotting flesh itself now looks better. Techland has spruced up the textures and lighting, plus upgraded to 1080p, creating a solid, current-gen look that works well when you’re roaming the blindingly bright resort of Dead Island’s…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB KALYPSO MEDIA DEV REALMFORGE STUDIOS Remember Dungeon Keeper?1 Realmforge Studios does. At its heart, Dungeons 2 is the off-brand Aldi version of Peter Molyneux’s subterranean, gribbly management game: cribbing the essence and packaging it up in a suspiciously similar box that tastes almost as good. Realmforge, however, isn’t done with modifying the formula. Alongside the trap-building, room allocating and treasure hoarding of yore, aspiring evil overlords can also taste the fresh air of a surface overworld. This delivers a splash of colour,2 but more importantly brings purpose to each of the campaign’s missions, as you seek to extract vengeance on the do-gooders who banished your mortal form in the tutorial. If it gelled, it would make for a smart addition to the genre.…

UNCHARTED 4: A THIEF’S END Ben Tyrer falls in love with a bit of metal attached to a rope The grappling hook is one of the best additions to Uncharted 4, and the multiplayer proves that. Racing through large levels and zipping onto a swing point like a low-rent Spider-Man is an amazing sensation – using it to deliver killer blows is something I wish I could do in the single-player. The real satisfaction comes when landing a flying punch on a virtual foe, which looks just as satisfying as it feels. It might be a lo-tech gadget, but it’s swiftly becoming my favourite part of taking Drake online. HITMAN Matthew Pellett scrapes new lows to 100% the one-off Elusive Targets hits It’s Elusive Target #2 time: I slip some…

INFO FORMAT PS4 PUB DEEP SILVER DEV DAMBUSTER STUDIOS REVIEW ISSUE #124, 4/10 Joy of joys! Homefront’s co-op turns the whole dystopian ball game around. Huzzah! Just foolin’. The pedestrian Resistance mode can’t save Revolution’s rashers. The same framerate woes that cripple the solo campaign infect its four-player online action. Split into two modes – attack and defence – skirmishes are still horribly humdrum. Games of attack see you destroying gas containers, while defence tasks you with saving friendlies from waves of enemy AI. There are nice touches – cute customisation options let you pick a purely cosmetic, pre-war backstory for your rebel, from cage fighter to game dev. Ultimately, though, you just can’t revolt against those awful framerate drops. VERDICT The stuttering shootouts are painful, and those dreadfully dreary…

Hidden mention of “The New Colossus” at E3 suggests a new Wolfenstein is inbound. Is it a reference to a poem seen at the end of The New Order, or just an in-joke? Anybody for a sequel to The Evil Within? Chatter abound that Tango is hard at work on it. Sony worries that a huge demand for PS VR will outstrip supply at launch. You didn’t see Red Dead at E3, but a supposed leaked shot increases hope for a return. File this one under: “Yes please!” Leaked assets point to Bulletstorm Remastered being a thing.…

@TWISTEDSISTA74 My heart was pounding just playing Resi 7 with a controller… VR may well finish me! @GIGAWATTKAPOW I will never get bored of zombies. You hear me? NEVER! I want Days Gone. @DOUGIETRAILL I wasn’t happy when I heard about the Skyrim remaster. But once I saw the footage… OH MY GOD. @THOMASNOPPERS I believe the correct genre term for the soundtrack to Doom is “Freaking PERFECT”. @RACHAELATWORK New Spider-Man trailer makes me want to buy a PS4. Also a time machine so I’d have time to play it. @BABYFACENAT So happy to hear the news about Crash Bandicoot remastered on #E3. Top must-have! @INFORMALMRTOM hang on... there are still gaming magazines? @ICKLEBOGNOK I can’t wait for Bastion’s cinematic, where he sits in the corner for six minutes. @MALIK4PLAY…

“AFTER YEARS OF LATE NIGHT STREAMS I WAS FINALLY IN THE ROOM FOR SONY’S E3 CONFERENCE – AND NOTHING COMPARES TO BEING THERE.” WRITER BIO Jen Simpkins’ first ever E3 featured a live show from Blink-182, a wall of doughnuts (pitch to editor Matt for an office one in progress) and a Crash Bandicoot trilogy remaster announcement. She’s not entirely convinced it wasn’t all a beautiful dream. From the moment I walked into my very first PlayStation E3 press conference, I could tell it was going to be special. Was it the sight of the achingly big Shrine Auditorium? Nope. The full orchestra tuning up down in the pit? Nah. The unreasonable amount of caffeine rushing through my dozy veins? Er, I don’t think so. No – it was the…

1 LIFE IS STRANGE Dontnod does the double with its interactive tale of time travel, which features two juicy cliffhangers. The big reveal at the end of the fourth episode has you gasping for the finale like a thirsty houseplant for water, but it’s episode three’s heart-rending twist of fate (showing the impact of Max’s meddling on best bud Chloe) that hits home the hardest. 2 HALF-LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 This one hurts. Maybe not tentacle-in-Eli-Vance’s-brain hurts, but still. After that grisly ending, Valve’s left us clinging by our fingertips to the promised Half-Life 2: Episode 3 for so long – ten years, to be precise – that we’ve forgotten what it feels like to have our arms actually inside their sockets. 3 UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES Waking up disorientated…

Format PS4/PS3 ETA Oct Pub 2K Games Dev Yuke’s Absent in WWE programming since WrestleMania XX’s infamously disastrous showdown with Brock Lesnar (though in the games as recently as WWE 2K14) the headline WWE pre-order bonus for 2K’s next wrestling sim is Goldberg. And we’re… concerned. Concerned because if Goldberg is ever to return to WWE, as has been rumoured, this reveal will have speared the air out of that surprise – much in the same way as WWE 2K15’s pre-order trailer took the sting out of the debut of, well, Sting. Putting aside our own WWE programming fears, however, the new game’s shaping up rather nicely. The deeper we get into 2K’s reign as WWE general managers, the better the games become, and while the real-life Raw and SmackDown…

Format PS4 ETA Aug Pub Ubisoft Dev Ubisoft Reflections Despite your robot’s capacity to stumble around like he’s had one WKD too many, Grow Home is a delightful platforming experiment about, er, collecting seeds. Don’t roll your eyes just yet – unlike most platformers that favour speed or precision, the relaxing nature, hilarious animation and wide-eyed wonder of robot BUD made for a soothing and unique experience when it landed on PSN last year. So this hugely ambitious sequel is very welcome. Instead of focusing only on moving upwards, like in the original, BUD now has an entire planet to explore. As producer Pete Young explains, “We wanted to give fans of Grow Home the chance to explore a world where there is no edge, no invisible wall to hit.”…

Format PS4 ETA 2 Aug Pub 505 Games Dev Giant Squid Back in OPM #121, we plunged to the depths of the deep blue to discover what we should expect from Giant Squid’s underwater explorer. So, just four issues later, we’re blown away to see just how far Abzû has come. It looks every inch the spiritual successor to Journey that we’ve been craving, while offering something truly unique and original on PS4. Even Journey composer Austin Wintory has returned to create new music. In terms of pure scale and spectacle, Abzû has a tankful of standout moments. Watching your diver cling onto a spiralling shark as they corkscrew through a school of fish… Jumping through the surface of the ocean with a pod of dolphins… Discovering mysterious, futuristic gates…

Format PS4 ETA 2017 Pub Bethesda Dev Arkane Studios Austin Portals, aliens and Blue Oyster Cult. Those are the three main reasons why it’s a terrible shame the original Prey never made it to PlayStation. A first-person shooter ahead of its time, its mix of puzzles and old-school shooting on a spaceship consuming humans made it an engaging experiment we wanted to see more of. And we almost did, when the conceptually ambitious Prey 2 was announced by Human Head for PS3. Plagued by quality issues, however, it was quietly dumped by Bethesda. Third time’s the charm? The enthralling and terrifying trailer for rebooted Prey has left us lying in wait, urging it to invade our consoles. Waking up on the spaceship Talos 1, you’re Morgan Yu, a test subject…

Format PS4 ETA 6 Dec Pub Ubisoft Dev Ubisoft San Francisco During PS3’s twilight years, The Stick Of Truth came along with buckets of jokes, inventive swears and creatures so NSFW that we’re a little nervous about even mentioning them in print. Riffing on typical RPG clichés while being a great game in its own right made it not only one of our favourite PS3 titles, but easily one of the generation’s funniest. We’ve been desperate for a straight sequel ever since. It’s now a new day in the town of South Park and the kids have moved from playing Game Of Thrones to the Marvel Universe, which means big changes to the costumes and combat. While it’s still turn-based, you’ll be able to move across fights and get behind…

Format PS4 ETA Winter Pub Koei Tecmo Dev Team Ninja Potentially no more Dark Souls ever? A horrible prospect, isn’t it? Hopefully, we’ll bag another PS4-only Bloodborne someday, but until then, all hope is not lost: somewhere in the maniacal shadows of soul-meltingly difficult action RPGs, Team Ninja is forging the new death of you with this feudal Japan-set dark horse. And us Western players are itching for the good hurt. According to a post-demo survey, 34% found the difficulty “very good.” Our friends in Asia weren’t so keen – 25% deemed it “very bad.” Come on, guys! Enemies endlessly sprinting after you is unorthodox, but we’ve got lickity-split katanas and headshot-happy bows. We’re fine… until a silver-mulleted demon with a ball-and-chain on each arm totally floors us. When his…

Format PS4/PS3 ETA 2017 Pub Atlus Dev P-Studio Eight years ago, revered JRPG Persona 4 first introduced us to the adorable Teddie, the surreal TV world, and the incredibly catchy Junes commercial earworm. We loved it so much that the handheld remake has long held the number two spot in our PS Vita Hall Of Fame and been a mainstay in our personal consoles, so to say we’re feverishly anticipating the next Persona is an understatement of epic proportions. E3 gives us our first up-close look at the sequel and confirms what we’ve long suspected: Persona 5 will be the most stylish game across both PS4 and PS3. It’ll also be the closest we’ve ever come to stepping into a living anime world, with insanely detailed hand-drawn scenes zinging from…

 Format PS4 ETA 10 Aug Pub Hello Games Dev Hello Games “ITS UNIVERSE IS SO LARGE THAT YOU’LL BE THE FIRST TO LAY YOUR EYES ON ALMOST EVERYTHING YOU FIND.” You’ve seen the candy-coloured screenshots teeming with procedurally generated creatures. You’ve heard that 18 quintillion planets statistic a hundred times. You know Hello Games’ infinite indie adventure is all about the joy of exploration. What you might not realise is that, come 10 August, you’ll have to fight this universe – and it ain’t going down easy. “I’m not trying to make some sort of unrecognisable, subversive game” creator Sean Murray tells us during our latest hands-on, as our blood turns to Slush Puppy in our veins on -163.4 degrees Celsius planet Balari V. “I don’t…

dev talk “We’ll be adding a full, offline playable campaign to Titanfall 2. It’ll be crafted to dive deeper into the universe, exploring the unique bond between pilot and titan and taking full advantage of the movement and combat to deliver a feeling of being unstoppable together.” Vince Zampella, co-founder, Respawn Entertainment “ON-FOOT COMBAT IS A LIGHTNING FAST BLUR OF PARKOUR AND GUNPLAY.” Format PS4 ETA 28 Oct Pub EA Dev Respawn Entertainment Cast your minds back to 2010: after Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella were acrimoniously fired from Activision’s Call Of Duty studio, the duo promptly formed Respawn Entertainment. They hired the bulk of the original Infinity Ward development team (though West himself would later leave in 2013) and set to work on a game that…

dev talk “We want to build a spectacle around [the Behemoth vehicles], both when it’s active and you use it to hopefully turn the tide, but also if you manage to defeat it. The spectacle of it going down is something we really want to leave a mark.” Lars Gustavsson, design director, DICE Format PS4 ETA 21 Oct Pub EA Dev DICE Battlefield has always excelled at making us feel like we’re just small cogs lost in a larger conflict, but with a gigantic airship looming high over us, we’ve never felt tinier. It doesn’t help that it’s the enemy in control of this one. As it stands, we’re winning our battle on a foggy St Quentin Scar map when our foes get to call in their monolithic reinforcement. Watching…

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 a console generation. 9 OUTSTANDING Unreservedly brilliant – this should be in every collection. 8 VERY GOOD A truly excellent game, marred by just a few minor issues. 7 GOOD A great concept unfulfilled 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.…

“A GLORIOUS LITTLE ‘PLINK!’ AND A BLOOD-RED SKULL SIGNALS A KILL – BLISS.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT DEV BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT Own a pair of adrenal glands? Chances are you’ve played an online first-person shooter. It’s about glory. It’s about killstreaks, headshots, grenade-aided rampages… and your name in big, smug lights. What could be better? Blizzard’s team-based FPS, it turns out, which does all this and more. Through impeccable design, it makes you feel like – and play like – a true hero. The beauty of Overwatch is twofold. Firstly, it facilitates great play, giving you everything you need to shine both individually and as a member of a team. Secondly, it celebrates every victory, no matter how small, with…

“YOU CAN ALWAYS GO FULL SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. MIND THE POSTERS!” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB INTROVERSION SOFTWARE/ DOUBLE 11 DEV INTROVERSION SOFTWARE/ DOUBLE 11 The great thing about Prison Architect is how subtly it can turn you into a terrible person. You may start out with great intentions: reform, rehabilitation, and prisoner comfort the order of the day. But prisons are full of angry, needy inmates, not compliant clockwork parts, and so it’s ridiculously easy to slip into springing for tazers and dobermans, then cutting meal quality and cell space to pay for them. Thankfully, you can play in other ways. With an option-rich sandbox and reams of menus, objects and bureaucracy options, you can go full Shawshank (mind the posters!), or opt for a minimum…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB IRIDIUM STUDIOS DEV IRIDIUM STUDIOS Corrin, focus on target three.” Didn’t quite catch that, Chief. Grrgh. “Miranda, move to alpha four.” Sorry, I’m a touch hard of hearing. Gah! “Entire team, shove pointy spikes up your…” Ahem, you get the picture. Yes, this real-time strategy effort asks you to bark commands into a mic plugged into your pad. And yes, the execution makes my larynx furious. Viewed from an almost isometric perspective, There Came An Echo combines strategic, quasi-turn-based shootouts, stealth sections and chase sequences that play out like fawning love letters to that cubicle scene in The Matrix. It’s also rather indebted to the SOCOM series, making you feebly yelp instructions in the hope your obnoxious posses of mercs and hackers will…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ALSO ON PS VITA ETA OUT NOW PUB RISING STAR DEV TRIPLE EH? Nostalgia’s a dangerous thing. Gaze back over the years and you can convince yourself that everything you played growing up was the best thing in the world – except Crash Bandicoot, of course, which actually was. In that vein, Lumo’s isometric puzzling is a love letter to days gone by. Lone developer Gareth Noyce has crafted a beautiful homage to his Commodore 64 days, with a fully 3D world unveiled, one room of carefully designed puzzles at a time, all from a familiar, fixed camera angle. But despite its undeniably charming appearance, the longer you spend with your nameless Vivi lookalike in his floppy wide-brimmed hat, the more you wish the past would remain,…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB THREE FIELDS DEV THREE FIELDS For the first hour of Three Fields’ scenery-totalling golfing extravaganza, it’s the definition of punk. There’s a love of anarchy and a rejection of posh aristocracy, all wrapped in a rough and ready presentation with a few power chords thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately, the ex-Burnout devs break one of the most basic rules of punk – never try too hard. Dangerous Golf’s central premise is to destroy as much as possible within a confined area before putting your ball o’ fire. It’s classic Burnout’s amazing Crash mode born anew – you use the left stick to move the ball and right stick to shift the camera, while squeezing u will slow down time. When it works…

INFO FORMAT PS4 PUB BETHESDA DEV ID SOFTWARE REVIEW #124, 9/10 A few weeks, 52 XP levels and a huge number of unlocked taunts later, Doom’s multiplayer remains compulsive. Those two-gun loadouts we worried about – compared with the solo campaign’s ‘all the guns, all the time’ philosophy – are great. They encourage experimentation without overfacing, and remove the unfair advantage that comes with Quake-style spawn timers, whereby clock-counters always get the best of everything. Fundamentally, it’s the fast and furious cat-and-mouse combat that keeps it fresh – Doom’s core action is always a hoot. The brilliance of Warpath (King Of The Hill with a moving target) and Freeze Tag (exactly what you’d expect) aside, new modes would be welcome. Luckily, DLC is coming. VERDICT As brutal and giddy as…