Innholdsfortegnelse for Christmas 2016 i PLAY

“WE FLEW OUT TO BIOWARE FOR A UKEXCLUSIVE PLAYTEST OF MASS EFFECT ANDROMEDA.” GAME OF THE MONTH Skyrim: Special Edition FAVE XMAS FOOD Sprouts Yes, it truly is “the most wonderful time of the year.” I’m not talking about snow falling or fires crackling, though – I’m on about PlayStation 4s whirring away merrily, bellies full of shiny new discs containing the latest and greatest games. We all know the games industry loves its annual glut of pre-Xmas launches, but 2016 gives us extra reason to be jolly. Not only is the relentless release list packed with more jaw-droppers than it has been in years, here in the realm of PlayStation we’ve got a double helping of hardware to revolutionise the way we play in the shape of PS4 Pro…

SUDA’S SILVER LINING Before Lollipop Chainsaw, before Shadows Of The Damned, before Killer7, even, notorious Japanese developer Suda51 made a cult-favourite PS1 police detective visual novel called The Silver Case. And now, 18 years after its Japan-only release, it’s finally coming west via a PS4 remaster set for early 2017. NIGHT AT THE MAUSOLEUM It’s had more ups and downs than Drake’s excursion to the Temple Of Trampolines, but the long-fabled Uncharted movie is finally (maybe) happening. Shawn Levy, who directed Real Steel and the Night At The Museum movies, is now helming the project, which is being “fast-tracked” to production. A STORM’S BREWING The OPM MMO of choice, Final Fantasy XIV, is growing even bigger. After the success of last year’s Heavensward add-on, a second expansion – Stormblood –…

“I’LL BE BUILDING MY OWN LITTLE WORLD, BLOCK BY BEAUTIFUL BLOCK.” MIRIAM MCDONALD OPERATIONS EDITOR When I’m not wrestling furry beasts and stealing their treasure (that is, dragging the cats out of the Christmas tree and collecting the baubles they’ve stolen), I’d like to put in some time on Dragon Quest Builders. To be honest, it’s not going to be that different to being at work on OPM: I’ll be labouring away to build something, trying to keep everyone happy and healthy, eating to keep my strength up, occasionally coming to blows with monstrous opposition… the main difference will be that the townspeople in the game actually do what they’re told, unlike the Agents Of Anarchy in the office, who require regular beatings. “THIS YULETIDE I’M DOUBLE-TEAMING TWO FOREVER-IN-THE-MAKING TITLES.”…

I read the letter from Gregg Hatchell about his son who plays GTA V (OPM #128). My son has autism as well, and he also loves open-world games. He’s 13 and mostly plays Farming Simulator and Minecraft (we’ve started a YouTube channel called M&L Minecraft World), but he also likes to fly around in Disney Infinity and Skylanders. As the condition’s getting more common, why not put together a couple of pages about games that families in the same situation can play? Matthew Young via email Thanks for your suggestions Matthew – and that’s a superb idea. We’ve got plans for a family gaming feature in 2017. In the mean time, a copy of Farming Simulator 17 is on its way to you both.…

“MUCH LIKE AN 18-YEAR OLD POINDEXTER WHO STILL SUCKS HIS THUMB, YOUR PLAYSTATION WAS YOUR COMFORT BLANKET.” WRITER BIO World leader and global hero Simon ‘The Miller Report’ Miller changed the videogames industry in 2015 when he began to expose truths that had been hidden since the dawn of time. A powerful warrior, he has strong opinions and is, of course, 100% “serious.” The biggest problem facing games today is that a generation of chuffing adults is playing them without the slightest sense of irony. Before we begin this scripture, though, let me give you a brief introduction in case you don’t know who I am… although that in itself is a problem, because you really should. My name is Simon ‘The Miller Report’ Miller, the sole reporter of truth…

1 NO MAN’S SKY ARGH, GIANT SPACE CRABS! Or wait, is it giant space mantises? Actually, it’s kinda both. Thanks to NMS’s procedurally generated algorithms, you’ll come across a near-endless supply of species that have been Frankenstein’ed together. Many sport pincer/scuttling legs combos, which makes ’em crabs in our book. 2 GENJI: DAYS OF THE BLADE Sony’s E3 2006 press conference stank. Naughty pre-rendered footage! Ludicrous PS3 price points! Cheesy Kaz Hirai soundbites! Yet at least it left the world a lovely, meme-tastic gift: “Giant Enemy Crab.” During Genji’s demo, producer Bill Ritch talked up its historically accurate battles, before showing off a sodding huge crustacean seconds later, all with absolutely zero irony. Bless you, Bill. 3 DARK SOULS III Ewww. Why can’t all crabs be like Sebastian? Ariel’s pal…

“RACES QUICKLY BECOME A MESMERISING BLUR OF REACTIONS.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2017 / PUB WONDERFUL LASERS / DEV WONDERFUL LASERS Remember the arguments about cutting corners back in the days of kart racers? The justifiable fuming as a rival ignores what feels like half of the track with an effective boost at just the right second? Well, in this intriguing indie racer, avoiding the road is the point. Here, you need to see how quickly you can get to the finish by foul means rather than fair ones. The mode of transportation and environment is very different to the classics of yesteryear. You’re a fluorescent gyroscopic ball instead of a kart, and the thin tracks are in the stars, hovering over planets, spilling out in a sharp downward trajectory.…

“WE BUNDLE OUR TARGET INTO THE BOOT LIKE HE’S A DAMP LABRADOR.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 7 MAR / PUB UBISOFT / DEV UBISOFT PARIS As we hurtle out of the chopper and down towards sweet, solid Bolivian soil, we can’t shake the feeling we’ve done all this before. Indeed, we played this very level of the third-person open-world shooter at this year’s E3, infiltrating the drug cartel base with three teammates – and detonating more explosive barrels than was probably necessary. Now that the reactive sandbox is shrouded in inky-black darkness and shimmering sheets of rain, it’s time to test out a stealthier night approach. Ghost Recon Wildlands’ day/night cycle and changing weather means the dust beneath our feet has transformed to silken mud. Thunder booms overhead. The precipitation…

“IF YOUR OPPONENT IS CAMPING TOO HARD, DEPLOY TRACKACAT™…” FORMAT PS4 / ETA EARLY 2017 / PUB MODE 7 / DEV SMAC GAMES If someone tells you their game can be described as what happens when Where’s Wally? meets a sniper rifle, it’s hard to know what to think. On the one hand, maybe it would be nice to gradually pick everyone off to see the striped hero better, on the other, perhaps help should be sought. Alternatively you could, like us, look at the screens of this beautiful isometric assassination-fest, nod silently and ask to see more. Tokyo 42 is a sumptuously gorgeous open-world actioner that drops you into the shady underground assassination scene where, despite the oh-so-pretty colours, you’ll have to get your murder on to survive. It…

2157 MASS EFFECT: REVELATION (BOOK) The First Contact War between Humans and Turians brings humanity to the attention of the Citadel Council. MASS EFFECT: EVOLUTION (COMIC) During the First Contact War, Jack Harper discovers Turian general Desolas is trying to use an ancient monolith to create ‘Meta-Turians’. Despite defeating him, Harper becomes the Illusive Man. 2161 MASS EFFECT: FOUNDATION (COMIC) A child named Rasa escapes the mining facility she’s forced to work on, thanks to the efforts of a mysterious stranger, later joining Mass Effect 2 ‘baddies’ Cerberus. 2176 MASS EFFECT: HOMEWORLDS (COMIC) James Vega joins the Systems Alliance against the will of his father, who attempts to bully him into bringing drugs to him. However, his uncle convinces him to ignore his abusive parent and live his own life.…

01 Slimmer PS4 Bundle £TBC Got a mate who’s yet to join Club PlayStation? Why not pull back the velvet rope in style by gifting them an ace PS4 bundle with the new, slimmer 1TB PS4, plus three games. One contains Uncharted 4, Driveclub and The Last Of Us: Remastered, one replaces TLOU for Ratchet & Clank, but our fave is the triple-threat Uncharted 4, No Man’s Sky and Bloodborne package – which also includes the official noise-cancelling in-ear headset. Ideal. amazon.co.uk 02 Crystal DualShock 4 £49.99 It wouldn’t be Christmas without a bit of ice. This gorgeous, transparent reskin of gaming’s best controller will 100% guarantee the lucky recipient stays frosty even in the hottest Yuletide Deathmatches. amazon.co.uk 03 PS VR Dynamo Charging Station £29.99 Hands up who’s tripped…

01 Thumper vinyl £36.83 Not everybody has a record player, but everybody has a wall. This vinyl of the rhythm game’s soundtrack will look stylish hung up on one. Happily, digital tracks are included too, for modern listeners. iam8bit.com 02 ‘Manny’ mug £9.99 Make no bones about it: Grim Fandango’s sarky reaper Manuel “Manny” Calavera looks incredible pushing up flowers on this gorgeous ceramic mug. At least there’s tea in hell, eh? gametee.co.uk 03 BB-8 cookie jar £19.99 Where does Chewbacca keep his biscuits? In a Wookiee jar! Chewie probably already has one of these, so why not give it to a less hairy pal instead? amazon.co.uk 04 Couch coaster £19.99 So you’ve bought PS VR. So you’ve flailed wildly, blindly, bashing a cup of coffee all over your sofa.…

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY This wonderfully wry tale sees three scoundrels chasing Confederate gold amid the chaos of the American Civil War. Clint Eastwood has never been more iconic. ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST Sergio Leone bids a poignant farewell to the Spaghetti Western in this mournful classic. Henry Fonda’s unbelievably cold outlaw is one of film’s great villains. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN The Coen Brothers put their spin on Cormac McCarthy’s brilliant novel, as they conjure a postmodern Western that’ll make you fear compressed air forever after. TRUE GRIT This modern take on the John Wayne classic doubles down on sass, with the Coens and a wonderfully weathered Jeff Bridges reimagining Rooster Cogburn’s manhunt. THE SEARCHERS One of the most revered Westerns ever…

Three years ago, few could have predicted what a cash-guzzling, stratospheric success GTA Online would become. After Rockstar North delivered the greatest single-player open world of all time, most folk would have been happy with a multiplayer mode that let them have the odd bit of chaotic, meaningless fun. Yet such was Rockstar’s dedication to continually updating GTA Online with regular new features, the gloriously destructive, life-swallowing PSN hit became an unstoppable juggernaut, still played by millions in 2016. Rockstar has already promised Red Dead Redemption 2’s “atmospheric world will provide the foundation for a brand new online multiplayer experience,” and it seems all but certain that said mode will be greatly shaped by GTA Online. While the upcoming western is unlikely to let you hire private security firms, buy…

INFO FORMAT PS VR ETA OUT NOW PUB SONY DEV UBER ENTERTAINMENT There’s going to be no shortage of PS VR games to make us scream; developers are already making absolutely sure of that. Consider our spines well and truly tingled for the next year. But what about the kinds of experiences when we don’t want high blood pressure? The kinds of game that give you the same feeling as biting into a tea-dipped biscuit that’s exactly the right consistency before it falls to pieces? Step in Wayward Sky, a charming narrative puzzle adventure that does just that and carves an interesting VR control model at the same time. It’s the story of Bess, a young girl who’s crash-landed on a floating fortress of robots.1 She’s on a quest to…

INFO FORMAT PS VR ETA OUT NOW PUB SECRET SORCERY DEV SECRET SORCERY On the face of things, Tethered seems a more sedate kind of VR experience: it’s not designed to make your jaw drop; it’s not trying to make you soil yourself; it’s the least likely of PS VR’s launch window games to cause queasiness. Yet this god game/RTS hybrid is anything but relaxing: it’s a plate-spinning exercise where you’ll constantly be left picking up smashed china. From your deific position above the clouds, you’re looking down upon a small and rather barren island, commanding a growing band of adorable, obedient little critters called Peeps. These wilted worlds steadily become more green and pleasant as you amass spirit energy and your Peeps harvest food, wood, rocks and ore. Gathering…

INFO FORMAT PS VR ETA OUT NOW PUB CCP GAMES DEV CCP GAMES We can all agree PlayStation VR is an amazing piece of kit… but it doesn’t half make you look like a berk. No-one may be able to hear you scream in space, but they sure as hell can see what an utter wally you look bobbing this way and that, a headset strapped to your cranium as you pretend to man an armoured turret on an intergalactic mining station. This gallery space shooter shares the loosest of connections with the EVE mythos, and it lacks the frantic spectacle and VR dogfighting drama of Valkyrie. Gunjack may be light on scale,1 then, but it absolutely nails the one thing it attempts: devastatingly on-point turret blasting. As you control…

@itsJenSim Christmas is just around the corner, and you know what that means – tons of sweets, cheesy movies, post-lunch walks in the cold winter air and maybe even a bit of Scrabble with the family. Thanks to November’s PS Plus lineup, we got all this ahead of time for free… and also plenty of festive rally-driving action. Merry BMXmas to us. Silent Nights are traditional around this time of year, but in The Chinese Room’s PS4 walking sim EVERYBODY’S GONE TO THE RAPTURE, the quintessential British town of Yaughton is quiet – too quiet… Fortunately, you’re on the case, wandering about the fictional homestead to an affecting soundtrack as you piece together the mystery. But if the eerie silence got to you, there was at least THE DEADLY…

INFO FORMAT PS4/PS3 PUB EA DEV EA CANADA REVIEW 129, 9/10 Chances are you’re already losing hours of your life to EA’s mammoth offering. There’s little here that we haven’t seen before, with Ultimate Team, Seasons and Pro Clubs making up the three main online modes, but pick one and you’ll find a vast amount to keep you busy. Seasons is the most vanilla, where you work your way up to higher divisions, but the carrot of promotion keeps you coming back. Ultimate Team’s depth makes it the stand-out one, with the constant drip-feed of new cards and Squad Building Challenges meaning there’s always something to experiment with in it. The only disappointment is the temperamental netcode, with lag cropping up every now and again. It’s the only scuff on…

HELL FOLLOWED DLC pack number two for Doom adds a trio of new multiplayer maps, the Reaper weapon, the playable Cacodemon and additional hack modules and customisation gear. THE WAR WITHIN Keep dreaming. Free-to-play shooter Warframe continues the cinematic quest The Second Dream via the highly-anticipated update. Time to find out who the Tenno really are… CHALLENGER MT900E Alright, so it’s not a combine harvester, but it is a brand new tractor for Farming Simulator 17. This rather impressive Field Anaconda puts Sir Mix-A-Lot’s to shame. SIEGE OF TAKODANA Fancy playing as sulky Sith Lord Kylo Ren? Grab this new LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens level pack, which sees you out to crush the Resistance – and their little droid, too. COUNTESS Ridiculously pretty MOBA Paragon keeps pumping out…

Following Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice – a film which had its funny bone surgically removed and ground into dust – Suicide Squad was supposed to inject a sense of joy into the DC Extended Universe. But the only pleasure you’ll get from a copy of David Ayer’s bad guy team-up movie is playing Frisbee with the disc. Welcome to Belle Reve, the supermax slammer where the worst of the worst, including Will Smith’s ace marksman Deadshot, are locked behind bars by ruthless government official Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). Her genius plan: to force supervillains to fight for their country, or in this case battle an ancient gyrating witch. Lurking on the periphery is The Joker (Jared Leto), the ‘gangsta’ clown waiting for an opportune moment to snatch back…

1 “IN A GAME ABOUT GODS AND CHAOS AND SEVEN-FOOT SWORDS, WORRYING ABOUT WHETHER THE SHOPS ARE STILL OPEN IS PREPOSTEROUS.” 2 “AS A SENSORY EXPERIENCE, IT CONSTANTLY DELIGHTS AND DAZZLES THROUGH SIGHT AND SOUND. AS A GAME, IT CAN BE A DIRECTIONLESS CHORE.” 3 “THE ACTUAL CHOICE IS MORE AKIN TO DRINKING WARM, FLAT LAGER OR EATING A DAY-OLD KFC BARGAIN BUCKET.” 4 “EVERYTHING MERGES INTO ONE LONG BLUR OF EXPLOSIONS, MAYHEM AND CARNAGE.”…

1 UNCHARTED 4: A THIEF’S END Nathan Drake’s swansong is a daring evolution. It combines series-defining set-pieces, quietly devastating storytelling beats and sprawling levels that make you feel like a real-life explorer. This franchise finale retains its signature charm, with the wisecracks flowing as fast as the bullets, while the new characters each justify their inclusion. With an astonishing attention to detail, it’s Naughty Dog’s best yet. 2 METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN 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, it’s an instant classic. 3 GRAND THEFT AUTO V Laughing in the face of other cross-gen ports, GTA V on PS4 is more…

1 REZ INFINITE Fifteen years after the original’s release, the psychedelic rhythm rail shooter has achieved its final form. In PS VR, creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s vision becomes reality, the glittering polygonal trance-world and pounding techno inspiring total synaesthesia within you. Its crowning achievement? New level Area X, powerful enough to bring players to tears. Deserving of its name, this is a truly timeless title. 2 THUMPER Make no mistake: the brave chrome beetle gave Rez a run for its money for our top spot. Hurtling down a violently kaleidoscopic track, pounding notes and scraping round corners is exquisitely tough – and the manic magic is enhanced and perfected in PS VR. 3 KEEP TALKING AND NOBODY EXPLODES Who knew bombs could bring people together? With one headsetted Defuser, and as…

Ben Tyrer STAFF WRITER “Why are you dressed as an elf, Ben?” “Well, I was going to be Santa,” he says, “but I was worried about getting the sack.” GAME OF THE MONTH COD: Infinite Warfare FAVE XMAS FOOD Pigs in blankets Jen Simpkins GAMES EDITOR She may be an industry “Rising Star,” but Jen once went to jail after she was caught stealing an advent calendar. She got 24 days. GAME OF THE MONTH Titanfall 2 FAVE XMAS FOOD Roasted chestnuts Milford Coppock MANAGING ART EDITOR Milf wanted to pay to get Rudolph and Blitzen into the office for Team OPM’s annual Xmas pictures. Alas, they were two deer. GAME OF THE MONTH Battlefield 1 FAVE XMAS FOOD Yule log Miriam McDonald OPERATIONS EDITOR Wordsmith Mim’s been giving the…

360º Videos and photos now available in VR thanks to Media Player Update v2.5. $2.75m Crowdfunding target for PS4’s Wasteland 3. It hit it in just three days. 10 Years of Official PlayStation Mag! A big thank you for supporting us since ’06. 51,644 Number of PS VR units sold in Japan during the first week of release. £34.99 RRP of the Skyrim Monopoly board game, due to be released in March ’17. 10/01 2017 release date for the promising indie adventure Night In The Woods. 130Gb Monster PS4 install size for the Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare Legacy Edition. 190 Number of licensed bikes that helped Ride 2 win a Guinness World Record.…

“VR’S FANTASTIC, BUT SOME GAMES NEED A LITTLE BIT MORE R…” Gaming shouldn’t, on the whole, be a painful experience, but after playing a certain kitchen-based horror I feel it’d be great if PS VR delivered more of a sting. You can blame Milf for this sadistic suggestion. I really wasn’t sure I wanted to experience the Resident Evil Kitchen teaser. I love a good horror film (and really cheesy ones are even better), but did I want to participate in one? What if it left me a sobbing wreck? The rest of the team didn’t care – the chance to laugh at Mim’s Girly Squeals was too good to pass up – so on the headset went. UNCLEAN EATING The environment was great, and maybe that was half the…

“OUR INTERACTIONS WITH TRICO ARE BOTH STUNNING AND AWKWARD.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 9 DEV PUB SONY / DEV GENDESIGN/SONY JAPAN STUDIO There’s a certain sense of irony in The Last Guardian’s opening credits. As a camera pans across pages of an illustrated bestiary, beginning with familiar animals before moving on to unicorns, griffins, dragons and, finally, the dog-cat-bird Trico, we can’t help but smile. Of course it should begin like this; given its protracted development time, the game itself feels every bit as mythical as these legendary creatures. And then we’re in. Almost a full decade after work on the game began, and seven-and-a-bit years after its first announcement back on PS3, we’re exploring the follow-up to cult PS2 favourites Ico and Shadow Of The…

“CARVING WITH SKIS AND SNOWBOARDS FEELS INCREDIBLY SATISFYING.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2 DEC / PUB UBISOFT / DEV UBISOFT ANNECY Created by the studio behind the multiplayer components of games such as Assassin’s Creed, extreme sports sim Steep is not only Ubisoft Annecy’s first original game but also an entirely new concept. Forget the likes of SSX, which focus purely on snowboarding (fourth entry On Tour aside, natch); Steep also lets you ski, paraglide and wingsuit your way across its open-world pistes. And with the game’s release hurtling towards us like a rumbling avalanche, we thought it wise to paraglide across the Channel and visit the studio itself for an extended hands-on with this Christmas’ snowiest game. Speeding down the slope with two strips strapped to our feet, wind…

CONSTRUCTOR HD Once you had a lovely view from your apartment, but now it’s cranes as far as the eye can see. Luckily, you have a gun, so you can HAVE YOUR REVENGE. Show those builders where to shove their Gherkin. FORMAT PS4 ETA Q1 2017 STEEP There’s no snow in the Alpine resort of Toffenheim. Avert disaster by crossing your magic skis as you jump, creating a snowstorm as you go. Bonus points if you land without breaking a leg. FORMAT PS4 ETA 2 DEC THE LAST GUARDIAN A shoot-’em-up set in a genetics lab. After battling a succession of increasingly bizarre, oversized cat hybrids, one Boss remains: the enormous litter tray. FORMAT PS4 ETA 9 DEC…

AGONY FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2017 PUB MADMIND STUDIO DEV MADMIND STUDIO Seeing you trapped in the depths of hell and without any memories, Madmind’s survival horror nightmare certainly isn’t one to play just before you go to bed. Your aim is to escape the fiery underworld. Mercifully, not everything will be against you, as you’ll have the ability to mentally take control of the weaker demons you’ll come across. There’s a strong Clive Barker vibe to some of the grotesque creatures we spy, from the hideous red demon with a head split down the middle to the contorting bodies that litter the floors. We hear our Shaming Editor is already taking ideas from it… LETHAL VR FORMAT PS VR / ETA DEC 2016 PUB TEAM 17 / DEV THREE…

01 Journey scarf £24 “Oh, your scarf keeps your nose warm?” you say to a flabbergasted friend. “That’s adorable. This sacred vestment contains the power I need to soar above scorching deserts, much like in Journey, one of the best games of all time.” Okay, so it won’t let you fly, and now you’re down one friend. But at least your nose is warm. insertcoinclothing.com 02 PlayStation Pink Symbols Xmas Jumper £34.99 Blue is traditionally the colour of PlayStation – but who says pink isn’t, too? What about that candy-coloured limited edition PS2 we saw once upon a time? The fuchsia tresses of Tombi, Street Fighter’s Poison, or Overwatch’s Zarya? That little square on your pad? Exactly. Get this on your bod, players. numskull.com 03 Titanfall 2 Pilot Bomber Jacket…

01 FPS aim assist £4.99 Move over, deodorant. Here’s the new most embarrassing gift you could give: aim assist to increase thumbstick control. Git gud. fpsaimassist.co.uk 02 Resident Evil ‘Umbrella’ cufflinks £14.72 This year’s Resi spin-off, Umbrella Corps, was a total disaster. Rep the uncorrupted, corrupted spirit of the Umbrella Corporation with these fetching accessories. etsy.com 03 Beard grooming kit £17.99 We bet you have a PlayStation pal who’s rocking a luxuriant beard. Gift him this vegan-friendly set, including argan and crambe oil to enrich his glorious chin-mane. gametee.co.uk 04 Portal Companion (ice) Cubes £8.99 We still carry a torch for the Companion Cube (We shouldn’t have said “torch.” Too soon.) Remember your late blocky buddy by making ice replicas of it. merchoid.com 05 Star Wars baubles £14.99 Feel the…

“ROCKSTAR CREATED PERHAPS THE ONLY GREAT OPEN-WORLD STORY.” RED DEAD REVOLVER There’s a reason Revolver feels like the least Rockstar game the developer has ever made: the screwball Western started life as a Capcom title. When the original team, Angel Studios, was bought by Take Two, it quickly became Rockstar San Diego; the project in turn morphing from a spin on Capcom’s Gun Smoke to a playful ode to Spaghetti Westerns. If the game feels like a salvage job – a patchwork quilt of conflicting, thrown together ideas – it’s because that’s exactly what Revolver is. Which isn’t to say it’s not a stylish salvage job. Once again Rockstar’s reverence for great movies is plain to see, with Revolver frequently riffing on the likes of The Good, The Bad…

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.…

INFO FORMAT PS VR ETA OUT NOW PUB CHERRY POP DEV CHERRY POP Ugh. Sports Bar VR is a stressful experience. So much so, if you offered me the choice of spending a night in a dive bar, playing pool and darts against drunkards who’d likely mug me, or asked me to play another hour of this assortment of mini-games, I’d have to think long and hard. It’s not that Sports Bar VR’s take on pool, darts, air hockey and Skree Ball is terrible. No, it’s that they’re all poorly explained and bogged down by unreliable PS Move controls. The opening tutorial is so confusing, it takes me half an hour to work out how to rotate the camera around the game’s dingy virtual pub – a feat performed by…

INFO FORMAT PS VR ALSO ON PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB NO GOBLIN DEV NO GOBLIN Listen: if flirting, kickflipping and fighting were allowed in the Masters, we’d all be golfing champs. The reality is that charm and imagination can only take you so far when it comes to the gentleman’s game. Sadly, nobody told this kooky – but unforgivably clumsy – VR-optional golf sim. You tee up as a variety of giant, mechsuited club wranglers for macro golfing. The aim? Put ball in hole in as few strokes as possible – or race to sink the putt before your opponents. Athletes can smack skyscrapers or nemeses out of the way with r, and all harbour individual and perfectly legal abilities on the bumpers, such as discotastic “party balls” or…

INFO FORMAT PS VR ETA OUT NOW PUB MAXIMUM GAMES DEV UNTOLD GAMES Given the PlayStation VR headset’s futuristic look, you’d think it would be perfect for sci-fi games. Loading Human: Chapter 1 is an early attempt at just that, but the results are mixed. Set in the year 2184, you play as an astronaut1 whose scientist dad is about to peg it. Cryogenically freezing himself, your pops tells you to travel into deep space to find the Quintessence, an energy source that will reverse his ageing process. Don’t get excited, because you won’t be doing any spaceship flying in Chapter 1, save for a few VR simulations (“Yo, we heard you like VR…”). Unlike many other PS VR launch games, Loading Human feels like a proper single-player adventure rather…

DESTINY: RISE OF IRON Matthew Pellett never wants to leave the Archon’s Forge Rise Of Iron marks the first time that I’ve charged into a Destiny expansion without knowing what’s in store, and though the tiny campaign is quite the disappointment my accidental stumble into new PvE arena Archon’s Forge soon perks me up. While the world and his wolf is crying over the lack of a Heavy flaming axe, I grip the Archon’s Relic with both hands, smug about the fact that I can always use it down here. And the shower of Engrams that follows its swings? More than enough to keep me camped here for weeks. FIFA 17 The highs and lows of Ultimate Team Draft see Ben Tyrer’s blood pressure rising Draft is the mode where…

INFO FORMAT PS4 PUB SQUARE ENIX DEV CRYSTAL DYNAMICS REVIEW ISSUE #129, 9/10 Pairing you up with a fellow survivor online, ROTTR’s Endurance mode delivers on the promise of Lara versus Siberia in a way the main campaign doesn’t by forcing you to scrounge for firewood and hunt for food in order to stay alive. On its own it’s a survival game with a fine-tuned risk/reward element. Venturing into tombs unlocks new skills and relics – but insta-kill traps make them dicey expeditions. And the ability to spend resources for evac means it’s not just a case of lasting for as long as possible but judging when enough’s enough. With that second player the action truly comes alive as you create ambushes for Trinity’s evil followers and make last-second dashes…

TITANFALL 2 – ANGEL CITY Sing a hallelujah chorus. Not only has the shooter series finally come to PlayStation, but it’s brought original Xbox map Angel City with it. Fight in the futuristic Harbour District, getting the drop on enemy Titans by sprinting only across the rooftops. OVERCOOKED: THE LOST MORSEL Got a few friendships left intact after the frantic co-op cook ’em up’s campaign? Feed your PS4 the new DLC. It’s a jungle-themed map containing six extra levels – and six adorable new chefs to vehemently label “idiot sandwiches” when they burn the chicken burritos. VOLUME: CODA The only thing we love more than VR is free-R, so an absolutely gratis PS VR patch for Mike Bithell’s stealth-puzzler Volume is a boon. It’s the entire game in VR, plus…

PERSONA 3 – MOVIE 2: MIDSUMMER KNIGHT’S DREAM 28 NOV Part two of Atlus’ four-film Persona 3 adaptation. Part one is available now. FINDING DORY 28 NOV Pixar’s belated undersea sequel puts forgetful fish Dory front and centre in a watery quest to find her missing parents. ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 28 NOV John Carpenter’s classic police-station-under-siege thriller turns 40 with a shiny new anniversary edition packed with extras. THE SHALLOWS 5 DEC Blake Lively gets stranded at sea by a shark with a taste for humans, and befriends a bird called Steven Seagull. More Jaws than Sharknado. NERVE 5 DEC Dave Franco and Emma Roberts star in this techno-thriller about two 20-somethings who take on a series of dangerous dares as part of an online game. AGENT CARTER: SEASON…

“GTA IV WAS MAGNIFICENT IN 2008, AND IT’S STILL FANTASTIC NOW.” INFO PUB ROCKSTAR DEV ROCKSTAR NORTH RELEASED 2008, PS3 GET IT NOW AMAZON, £9.78 NEED TO KNOW 1 It was built on Rockstar’s own RAGE engine. 2 Ricky Gervais appears in LC’s comedy clubs. 3 Unlike the PS2 GTAs, it has few big-name actors. Life is complicated. I killed people, smuggled people, sold people. Perhaps here, things will be different.” You’re not wrong, Niko. Step onto Liberty City’s cobbles, and it’s immediately apparent you’re no longer in Grove Street. Grand Theft Auto became a household name on PS2 thanks to its cutting social commentary, unparalleled freedom and killer soundtracks, yet never before had a developer captured a sense of time and place quite like Rockstar North achieved with…

INFO PUB CAPCOM DEV CAPCOM RELEASED 2015 GET IT NOW £15.99, PS4 STORE WHAT? One of the most important and influential survival horror games in history, reimagined from top to bottom for the GameCube in 2002… and then ported to PlayStation 4 (finally!) in January last year. WHO? As a man who has literally never been scared in his life, Simon ‘The Miller Report’ Miller saw no need to ever even utter the words ‘Resident Evil’, let alone play it. “CHRIS REDFIELD MOVES AROUND LIKE SOMEONE STUCK A LEMON UP HIS ASS.” Some chuffing devil dog has just jumped through an innocuous-looking window and made me throw the controller across the room and crack my wall. What the hell is this nonsense? And why did I ever agree to put…

PICK #1 FIREWATCH Ben Tyrer’s tear ducts get a workout with this emotionally devastating drama Call me soppy, but I could barely handle the first 15 minutes of Campo Santo’s superb debut. Presenting Henry as a typical man in a text adventure makes you like him despite his flaws, but it suddenly takes a harrowing turn. What happens here shapes the rest of this sombre drama, giving you a personal connection to Henry that pulls you through to the fantastic finale. “IF YOU GREW UP IN THE ’90S, IT’S AN UNFORGETTABLE TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE.” PICK #2 GONE HOME Editor Matthew Pellett thinks this trip back to the ‘90s is the perfect genre entry point They say that home is where the heart is. Well, this trek through an empty…

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…

Beyond Good & Evil creator Michel Ancel took to his Instagram to explain the sequel’s delay, hinting at planet exploration, space travel and cities causing tech issues… Exciting. The plot thickens: now there’s a “leaked” screen of an Egyptian Assassin’s Creed. 2017’s COD may rework a Vietnam setting, website Fraghero reports… Series voice actor Brian Bloom has all but confirmed Wolfenstein: New Colossus in an interview. Shadow Of The Tomb Raider is in development at Deus Ex dev Eidos Montreal, if a doc spied on public transport is right.…

VIRTUE REALITY Classic visual novel Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is finally UK-bound. Bundled with sequel Virtue’s (at)Last Reward, the legendary 2009 thriller is coming to PS4 and PS Vita next year in Zero Escape: The Nonary Games. CROTA’S SOULMATES Bungie, you big softies. With some help from the Destiny team, Adriel Wallick took a Sparrow to the knee in-game, proposing to Nuclear Throne dev Rami Ismail with a custom-made ring. He said yes. ‘Grats! ROBBIN’ GOOD Crime doesn’t pay Rockstar’s been yanking crooked cash from GTA Online cheats’ virtual banks. Serves ‘em right. BURNT OUT Although it didn’t set our world alight, just seven months after launch PS Plus space shooter Dead Star has gone offline. RIP. TROUBLED WATER Multiplayer VR game Star Trek: Bridge Crew is delayed…

@S0PHIEH Playing Resident Evil is a lot more fun if you think about the backstory of the puzzles. @KEITATAKAHASH Thank you for writing about my old stupid games. @JACKGEORGE02 This will be the last time I buy OPM from stores… cos I just subscribed! @MISS_MOLOTOV Demo discs, UK Official PlayStation magazine, I feel like it’s 1997 again. In a good way :) @BL00MYB0Y Job Simulator is hilarious, way better than real life work! @TBOLT87 I must be one of very few people who is extremely indifferent about Red Dead. @MRTJ_808 I have just opened my new #ResidentEvil issue and a little spider was in there alive! Wtf? Lol. @ITSMEAARONP Pun of the show in this month’s @OPM_UK is “Strictly come Trancing”. Are you kidding me? @THEGOATOFSHAME You can never hide…

“FIFA 17’S LATEST FEATURE SHOWS EVERYTHING THAT’S WRONG WITH THE HUMAN RACE.” For years I’ve been obsessed with FIFA’s Ultimate Team mode. Every year, to keep folk like me interested, EA tries to improve it with a new feature. Last year it was the fantastic Draft mode, which let you play as a team of ultra-rare superstars for a few matches in an attempt to win premium goodies. This time it’s the Squad Building Challenges (SBCs). These are series of missions that task you with putting together squads that meet certain criteria. It’s a way of letting you make use of all those spare players you don’t need by giving them away in return for a special reward. One SBC may ask you to put together a squad full of…

1 The game’s set inside a massive basin formed of rock; a giant, walled protrusion rising from the ground that few dare enter and none can escape. 2 Peek over the green rim and you’ll see the tops of towers. Inside the volcano-like shape is a mass of delicately-constructed towers and bridges. 3 Ancient ruins are home to switches and puzzles. Protected by magical suits of armour, they’re also filled with giant totems to ward off Trico. 4 And deep down at the very bottom of the basin, Trico lays injured and chained up. That is, until you wake up next to the creature and set it loose……

1 Steep lets you approach the mountain in four ways. Hold u to bring up a wheel and switch between skis, snowboard, paraglider and wingsuit. 2 Approach each trail in the way that suits your playing style. Free-ride down it, trick it up with freestyle or compete in different types of race. 3 Mountain view reveals the drop points you’ve unlocked, showing the events available and the scores you and your friends have logged for each piste. 4 Use the left stick to flip yourself mid-air on both skis and snowboards. And combine flips with grabs on either bumper to really rack up the scores.…

“ON THE SURFACE IT’S METROIDVANIA, BUT IT’S ACTUALLY A MIX OF GENRES.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2017 PUB OVER THE MOON / DEV OVER THE MOON Quietly released on PS4 to positive fanfare back in 2015, the first entry in this 2D sci-fi action adventure trilogy saw you take control of A.R.I.D, an AI built into a combat suit whose main purpose is to protect the pilot inside it. Thankfully it was nowhere near as generic as it sounds, and this sequel is set to make a much bigger impact. It’s a supremely confident mix of genres, thanks to A.R.I.D hopping between different robotic bodies. On the surface this is a Metroidvania adventure, but each android we body-jack significantly changes the game. The Soldier, for instance, requires us to fight…

“WE’RE TRYING TO CAPTURE THE GREY AREAS OF CHOICE IN CONVERSATIONS.” OPM: Mass Effect’s always been about its mainline story, so what is Andromeda’s core, central theme? Michael Gamble: The premise is about galactic exploration. It’s much like modern day Elon Musk-ism, which is: “I wonder if we can get here? I wonder if we can do that?” Andromeda is a human story, but much like on Earth where we would have people from all walks of life join these expeditions, the same thing happens in the Milky Way – all different types of races join this expedition, and we do it as one concerted effort as opposed to separate people doing separate things. We do so because we know it won’t be easy on the other side. There’s no…

01 Art For The Players Colouring Book £9.99 Ever thought that Ratchet would look better in purple, or Nathan Drake should have been a blond? Take artistic matters into your hands with this colouring book, which contains an extra 16 pages of info on the games plus official art (not your palette-swapping shenanigans). amazon.co.uk 02 Dishonored: The Corroded Man £7.99 The first novel in Adam Christopher’s trilogy bridges the gap between Dishonored and Dishonored 2. (Have you finished it already?) The plot centres on the reappearance of supernatural assassins Emily and Corvo’s most dangerous enemy… titanbooks.com 03 D Is For Destiny £14.73 Mini Guardians sure do like to cause mayhem at bedtime, so counter the little Striker’s Fists of Havoc by reading them this adorable and sumptuously-illustrated alphabet book all…

05 ATTACK ON FORT MERCER John concludes his adventures in New Austin by attacking his former friend Bill Williamson’s fortress, with a little help from his allies… and a dirty great minigun. A savage, sweeping set piece with a Wild West twist on the Trojan Horse. 04 PARAÍSO LOST Nuevo Paraíso is Redemption’s tribute to Monument Valley. Arizona’s most iconic landmark has graced many a classic Western, and RDR’s take on it is spectacular. Ride to the top of its buttes at sunrise for an unforgettable view. 03 RIDING INTO MEXICO After surviving a riverside ambush on a rickety barge, John is welcomed to Mexico with a moment of quiet wonder. As he rides into this foreign land, Jose Gonzales’ haunting Far Away builds to a spine-tingling crescendo. Musical magic.…

INFO FORMAT PS VR ETA OUT NOW PUB OASIS GAMES DEV TVR Remember that bit in The Lord Of The Rings when Legolas skewers six Urukhai in five seconds with his lethal bow? Yeah, Ace Banana makes you feel the exact opposite of Tolkien’s elf assassin. Although, in the game’s defence, it’s hard to look like a badass when you’re shooting cartoon apes. Three years ago, if you told me I’d be dusting off my PS Move controllers and then fastening a PS VR headset to my bonce, all so I could pretend to be a half-arsed Robin Hood, I’d have thought you either insane or very, very drunk. Yet here I stand, firing toilet plungers from a snake that acts as a bow at endless waves of annoying primates.…

INFO FORMAT PS VR ETA OUT NOW PUB OASIS GAMES DEV GERONIMO INTERACTIVE When the Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear launched, both VR headsets were besieged with a host of ‘shooting gallery’ games where you stand in one spot and blast waves of enemies. Pixel Gear is exactly that – but to be fair it does have one or two things going for it. Clutching a single PS Move controller,1 you’re placed in one of three heavily-Minecraft-inspired environments and must take out six waves of enemies, preferably while keeping a combo going by shooting the blocky bandits in quick succession. This is made possible by surprisingly accurate PS Move tracking: indeed, I’d probably say it even tracks the PS Move better than any other PlayStation VR launch game. This makes…

INFO FORMAT PS VR ETA OUT NOW PUB CCP GAMES DEV CCP GAMES The sense of anticipation as you sit in your ship’s cockpit, waiting to be flung out of a tube into the vacuum of space, is intoxicating. It’s matched by the wave of excitement that engulfs you after launch, when you find yourself cruising among city-sized starships in the piercing glare of an unfamiliar star.1 As wish fulfilment goes, EVE: Valkyrie’s sci-fi fantasy is potent. But while the initial hour is a rush, the sheen wears off as a shallow, competitive shooter emerges from beneath the surface polish. There’s satisfaction to be had from the ship’s handling, which exhibits a satisfying inertia that makes each craft feel substantial yet manoeuvrable. There are three flavours of ship: fighter, heavy…

DOCTOR PLAYSTATION Our console medic fixes your tech woes with actual science THE PROBLEM PS4 Pro has arrived, bringing crisp 4K gaming to your home. But you’re not ready! You’ve been busy running an underground crime syndicate. Oh, wait. That was me. STEP 1 TRANSFER YOUR DATA FROM PS4 TO PS4 PRO Take a deep breath. Would you like some morphine? Perhaps a tequila? I find it always helps when you’re a bit nervous about surgery – but really, this procedure couldn’t be simpler. The Doc will talk you through it. To transplant your saves, files and games from your old PS4 to new PS4 Pro, you’ll need both patients alive (boo), logged into the same PSN account, running update 4.0 and connected to the internet. Grab an Ethernet cable…