Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2017 i PLAY

“2017 IS THE YEAR TO RE-EMBRACE THE CLASSIC SHOOTER FRANCHISE.” GAME OF THE MONTH PES 2018 FAVOURITE COD? Black Ops After meeting with Sledgehammer’s Michael Condrey at this year’s Gamescom to chat about Call Of Duty: WWII, I was left with a clear impression that this year’s COD is a work of passion. On page 48 we’ve gathered all the facts to date, plus Condrey’s insights and our hands-on impressions to offer a one-shot overview of just why 2017 is the year to re-embrace the classic shooter franchise. There was more from Gamescom than COD: WWII too, as I got to spend some time with Monster Hunter: World (p6), Assassin’s Creed Origins (p40), and Star Wars Battlefront II (p32). Plus, gaming legend Yu Suzuki revealed a little more about Shenmue…

A CUT ABOVE THE REST Bandai Namco’s Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet is the latest JRPG to catch the OPM eye. Our play of the game points to a slick third-person squad shooter with enough RPG bells and whistles to keep us hooked. The online nature means you’ll be up against other players as well as an army of mechs and monsters. GO PRO, OR GO HOME Get set for Call Of Duty: WWII’s release by going pro this winter with The Nacon Revolution Pro Controller 2. This is the official pro pad partner for Sony, and features USB Type-C connection, an eight-directional D-pad, and customisable analogue sticks. All round, it’s a ‘handy’ piece of kit. KENTUCKY FRIED GAME What began as an simple job turns into a Twin Peaks-like…

“No-one can ever replace Lara Croft. But the new Uncharted game is really good and Chloe is a good heroine.”CATHERINE CRAIG KNOWS IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE EITHER/OR “Honestly Ghaul is just a whiney crybaby.”WAY TO PICK A FIGHT, LIONEL ALFRED! “WHILST I DEARLY LOVE FOOTBALL, THE THOUGHT OF PICKING UP A COPY OF FIFA OR PES FILLS ME WITH FEAR.” Football match Whilst I dearly love football, the thought of picking up a copy of FIFA or PES fills me with fear. The control schemes fill more pages than a Haynes manual for my car, and a Google for “best for beginners fifa pes” returns over 32 million results, all of which argue why one was better than the other but completely overlook the novice. Is one better…

“A YEAR ON FROM RELEASE, NO MAN’S SKY IS WHAT YOU WANTED, AND THEN SOME.” When you talk about No Man’s Sky, it’s hard not to feel compelled to address it in the context of the reactions people had in the days and weeks following its release. That was over a year ago now (absurd, I know – the passage of time will claim us all), and it’s safe to call that period “the past.” To celebrate the last year of space exploration, version 1.3, titled Atlas Rises, was released. It’s the third major update for the game, following Foundation and Pathfinder. Atlas Rises, though, is the big one, the one that changes everything. Where previous updates gave some tools for making actually staying on a planet more enjoyable, this…

“‘FLYING’ DOESN’T REALLY DO JUSTICE TO HOW IT FEELS.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 17 NOV / PUB EA DEV EA DICE, CRITERION STUDIOS, MOTIVE STUDIOS Lightsabers are the strongest indicator that whatever you’re looking at is set in the Star Wars universe. We won’t challenge that. However, we can safely bet on what comes second: spaceships. A lot of them, with very distinctive shapes. We’ve already delved deep into Star Wars Battlefront II’s single-player campaign, so it’s time to fire up our engines and soar into the sky to sample its aerial abilities in Starfighter Assault mode. ‘Flying’ doesn’t really do justice to how it feels to cut through the inky blackness of space, plummeting through explosions and emerging the other side, our lasers firing constantly as the Empire’s…

AUTHENTICITY When it comes to COD: WWII, Sledgehammer is keen to ensure that the action is based in fact. Studio co-founder Michael Condrey explains just how seriously the devs took their task: “We got in touch with a military advisor and historian who got us access to a firing range so that we could actually feel [the guns], reload them, so we got the weight and the reload right.” So that’s why the M1 Garand’s reload ping sounds as good as it does. BASIC TRAINING COD: WWII doesn’t have Perks, but don’t worry, as this new system for giving yourself a little boost in combat is very similar. All you need to do is choose a Basic Training badge you fancy and head off into war. There are 14 confirmed…

PUBLISHER SQUARE ENIX / DEV SQUARE ENIX PLAYERS TBC / ETA 21 NOV If your dream has been to join the FFXV boys on tour then best prick yourself, because it’s now a reality. Playing as yourself alongside Noctis, Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis, and set across three modes – Story, Free, and Mobhunts – this ‘fishing’ game mixes shooting with its reeling. In Mobhunts you’ll need to hunt, shoot, and reel in fish-shaped daemons for bounties. We’ve taken the bait.…

PUBLISHER GAMETRUST / DEV PLAYFUL CORP. PLAYERS 1 / ETA 2018 Proving all game genres work in PS VR, Star Child‘s blend of side-scrolling platforming, puzzling, and exploration may have been done before, but not in a way where you can peer in and poke around the world. Turn your head to the right and look ‘down’ the level, sit up and take in the full diorama. It’s a simple but engaging quirk that will have you playing director to the titular character’s alien odyssey as you lean in and around the ‘set’ to view her antics from the perfect angle.…

“YOU CAN LITERALLY LEAN YOUR HEAD OUT TO SEE THE BAD GUYS MOVE PAST.” Horror roguelike shooter The Persistence promises to push PS VR in a new direction. We discover what it’s like to work on gaming’s new frontier and deal with motion sickness and jump scares. OPM: Why the stealth gameplay and not a simple shooter? Stu Tilley: When you play this way, when you’re crouching and sneaking behind stuff, that’s when VR is even cooler for this kind of game because you can literally lean your head out to see the bad guys move past, and you can just peek your head out over the top of your cover. It can really transport you into that scenario. Graeme Ankers: There’s a physicality to the environment in virtual reality.…

“YOU’LL BE STOMPING DOWN CORRIDORS FILLED WITH TINY ENEMIES TO CRUSH.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB SONY DEV SONY Knowing yourself must be hard when you’re a collection of sentient ancient relics cobbled together into a bipedal… thing. How do you define yourself when you’re constantly changing, shattering, soaking up debris, and being reinforced by metal shrapnel? I don’t even know what I am, and I have access to Wikipedia. Knack’s stuck in a mishmash existence with robots, goblins, and no internet. He’s screwed. Knack certainly is back, but he’s still finding himself. Is Knack 2 a game for kids? Sort of. Its story, characters, and world all appeal to little ’uns, but then you get into a fight and you’re murdered in…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB MESSHOF DEV MESSHOF Garish and gruesome, Nidhogg 2 is a lot of what players of the 2014 original loved, given a visual overhaul1 and a few twists. What was a streamlined party game of slapstick sword fighting slathered in low-res gore remains that, every bit as haphazard and hilarious as before, just with the viscera more detailed and players now able to wield more than just a rapier in one-on-one combat. Messhof hasn’t fiddled with the formula much, which gives this the impression of a definitive edition of the first game, rather than a sequel proper. But tactics are forced to change with the addition of new weapons – daggers, broadswords, and bows and arrows. Daggers are fast, but only effective up close;…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB CAPCOM DEV CAPCOM Regardless of what newcomers make of this, this cult fighter’s return will split opinion among fans. 3v3 teams are out; 2v2 teams are in. Some fan-favourite fighters have been dropped, as has the character assist system. In exchange we get brand-new additions to the roster, a bold new mechanic with the Infinity Stones… and some alarmingly tight costumes. Let’s start with those Marvel movie MacGuffins. The Infinity Stones system is a brave upsetting of the apple cart and, happily, one that works. When choosing which characters to take into battle (and what colour trousers they wear), you also pick one of the six stones. Each has a unique Infinity Surge and Infinity Storm. The ‘surge’ can be activated whenever you…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB CODEMASTERS DEV CODEMASTERS With exciting new regulations in place, 2017’s Formula 1 cars are wider, heavier, and faster, with more grip and downforce resulting in a marked increase in speed through modest corners. These changes are reflected in Codemasters’ F1 2017, which builds upon its predecessor’s fantastic on-track action. The series’ excellent physics engine is as robust as ever, propelling these beasts around the track with precision. It authentically accounts for myriad variables like tyre wear and wet weather conditions, so you’ll often need to adapt your race strategy on the fly. Plus, AI is smarter, with a keen sense of self-preservation that results in fewer dim-witted crashes. In short, the racing remains excellent. F1 2017’s most noteworthy additions are away from the…

“QUIPS FLY AS FAST AS THE BULLETS AS CHLOE AND NADINE GO HUNTING.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB SONY DEV NAUGHTY DOG Chloe Frazer’s turn in the spotlight has been a long time coming. Since stealing the early hours of Uncharted 2, the Indo-Aussie’s had to make do with being the flirty love interest, but this jaunt through India not only makes up for this, but makes a convincing argument for her inheriting the series from its previous star. It’s all down to the writing. Once again, Naughty Dog finds a way to take an archetype and sketching in details to flesh it out. So while Chloe might start as an overly glib adventurer, we see how her knowledge of Indian history and her past shape her…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB ASPYR DEV BLOOBER TEAM Bloober Team’s last psychological horror, Layers Of Fear, hid its scares behind you. Observer confronts you with the cruelty of its cyberpunk dystopia from the outset. The titular observer, Daniel Lazarski1 heads to a run-down apartment complex to find his son. First he finds a body, then a plague warning sees the complex put on lockdown. And things only get worse. Ostensibly, this is a detective game. You traipse between crime scenes, finding clues and jacking into the corrupted memories of augmented victims to understand their last moments. It’s well-realised, and exceedingly creepy – but there’s much more to Observer than its core concerns. Confining you to one slum building, Bloober understands that we learn most about a world…

Just because the leaves were hitting the ground and the rain was more of the torrential variety doesn’t mean that PS Plus had the autumnal blues. In fact, we got over our seasonal glums by taking in the neon glow of Seattle, gawping at a lovely, hand-drawn RPG, and dating a pigeon. Yeah, it got a little weird on PS Vita in September. Our first stop, though, was the decent open-world superhero adventure of INFAMOUS: SECOND SON (PS4). We marvelled once more at the seriously impressive visuals, with the facial animations and particle effects still making us coo with astonishment. However, binary moral choices and a bland version of Seattle reminded us why it only got an 8 back in OPM#96. Seattle was always going to struggle to impress next…

INFO FORMAT PS4 PUB STUDIO WILDCARD DEV STUDIO WILDCARD REVIEW #140, 6/10 Exiting a pre-release period that seemingly spans all the way back to the Mesozoic Era, most of Ark’s major technical issues have now been ironed out. Servers are bountiful, presenting multiplayer mayhem of both the PvP and PvE variety. Joining a tribe, or recruiting a few mates to explore with, adds immensely to the entertainment – and it’s good to have a few fellows watching your back should you unwittingly disturb a level 25 Dilophosaurus and are at risk of meeting your doom Dennis Nedry-style. Performance-wise, it’s hindered by occasional bouts of lag. Clunky dinosaur movements also persist, but they’re hardly game-ruining. Ruthless PvP players, who’ll kill you, destroy your home, and murder your dinos are another matter……

THE SABOTAGE Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 gets a new mission that puts you in the shoes of Robert North, aka, the conflicted baddie of the main storyline. Ooh, perspective! BLOODSHED’S END Say it ain’t so, Nioh. One last expansion adds an epilogue to William’s story, while also chucking in a new ‘perpetual battleground’ mode called The Abyss. ULTIMATE TEKKEN BOWL Tekken 7 gets better with Bowling mode’s return. Oh, there are costumes and whatnot, but who cares when there are strikes and spares? ASSASSIN’S FESTIVAL Final Fantasy XV gets a doozy of a new festival, with this Assassin’s Creed crossover. Running right through till January 31st, expect lots of things to try out. THE HALLOWEEN CHAPTER Dead By Daylight goes to the John Carpenter well, with this pack netting you…

Compared to the all-conquering MCU, the DC Extended Universe got off to a wobbly start, with Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad failing to win hearts and minds. The same can’t be said for Wonder Woman. Not just the highest grossing film of the summer Stateside, it’s single-handedly put the flailing DCEU back on track. After popping up in BvS, Gal Gadot returns for the origin story of Princess Diana of Themyscira, an Amazonian demigod created to destroy Ares, the God Of War (not the furious bald one). War comes to Wonders when WW1 pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crash-lands on the isolated island paradise she calls home, inspiring her to enter the world of men and stop the war to end all wars. With the DCEU to date dealing…

WHO? Alex Spencer is pretty much the polar opposite of a Soap-MacTavishstyle hard man. Oh well – the mohawk and facial hair probably wouldn’t suit him anyway. INFO PUB ACTIVISION DEV INFINITY WARD RELEASED NOV 2016 GET IT NOW PSN, £34.99 WHAT? Jumping forward in time from World War 2 to a day-after-tomorrow setting, this is the shooter that turned ‘Call Of Duty’ into ‘COD’, the world-beating franchise that even your gran has heard of. Though probably not played. “MOST OF THE TIME, I’M LEFT FEELING LIKE THE SAS’S WORK EXPERIENCE BOY.” When the fourth Call Of Duty landed on PS3’s shores a decade ago, I avoided it. Why? Well, I like my games with bright colours, and aliens, and lasers, and preferably puppies – and military shooters offer precisely…

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. 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. KEEP TALKING AND NOBODY EXPLODES Who knew bombs could bring people together? With one headsetted Defuser, and as many Experts as…

Ben Tyrer GAMES EDITOR He’s played every COD and could write a thesis on each one, but that wouldn’t be fun. Instead read Ben’s A-Z of WWII on page 48. GAME OF THE MONTH Everybody’s Golf FAVOURITE COD? Modern Warfare David Meikleham GUEST WRITER Dave’s in the grip of Destiny and has no time for ‘realistic’ shooting when he can lay waste to Titan with an Exotic. GAME OF THE MONTH Destiny 2 FAVOURITE COD? Modern Warfare 2 Miriam McDonald OPERATIONS EDITOR Our Mim has never picked up a pad in anger to headshot a fellow gamer. She’s a Dragon Quest Builder, not a destroyer. GAME OF THE MONTH Life Is Strange: BTS FAVOURITE COD? Large, with chips Milford Coppock MANAGING ART EDITOR OPM’s longest-serving staffer has the thousand-yard stare…

260 The maximum Power Level you can reach in Destiny 2. 300 Actually, there are 40 more ‘bonus’ levels to attain in Destiny 2. 89,000,000 Number of Sonic The Hedgehog games sold since 1991. 10 Number of years since the release of EA’s tricktastic Skate. 350,000 People attended Gamescom in August. Including Ian on a bratwurst diet. 250m Copies of COD sold, making more than the three highest-grossing movies. 03 Number of days of work Ian lost to his post-Gamescom ‘sickness’.…

“ THIS IS NOT JUST A GAME, IT’S A PROJECT, ONE WE WANT TO SHARE WITH THE PEOPLE.” Everything about MercurySteam’s Raiders Of The Broken Planet has been unusual. The 4v1 multiplayer combat grabs the attention, but it’s the journey into your hands that could be its lasting legacy. This month the Prologue edition launched on the PS Store, and it won’t cost you a penny. Containing two full-length missions set across four stages, and supporting both single- and multiplayer, it’s a brave move for the indie developer. It is bolstered by the first paid-for campaign, Alien Myths, which will cost £9.99. This double release offers the chance to dip your toe into Raiders’ unique universe. “To find creative ways to put into market a very expensive project but from…

SWAMP THING Capcom revealed the new Resident Evil 7 Gold Edition will release 12 December. It will include the End Of Zoe and delayed Not A Hero DLC, starring Chris Redfield. SCHOOL RUN Sonic Forces only went and offered a Persona 5 Phantom Thieves outfit as a pre-order bonus. We’ve gotta go fast to order the game. CRISS-CROSS We never knew we wanted Assassin’s Creed in our Final Fantasy until the Final Fantasy XV Assassin’s Festival DLC released. Now it’s all we want. CRYSTAL SHOCK Sony revealed lovely new DualShock 4s in Crystal, Crystal Red, Crystal Blue, and Midnight Blue. You can see their coggy, chippy innards moving! SECOND DATE? Atlus teased a new game in its Golden Playhouse series, which previously played host to the brilliant Catherine. But sadly…

@ROCKNROLLSTAHHH First Crash got remastered, then Everybody’s Golf, now this. Is it 1999 again? @EXPLICITPLAY I would love a ‘crystal’ (transparent) PS4, would love to see the insides and things working. @KAIZERSOZAK09 I wonder if one day we will get a spin off [of Uncharted] with Sully and Sam. @LORSTEIBEL Long life to virtual photographs, which pay tribute to artists and developers. @NITTY_GRIMES I got 4TB internal and 6TB external. No game will destroy my hard drive space. @CONRAD_BALL Please, someone, tell me what the point of a speedrun is? TROLL OF THE MONTH @AARONBETTESS1 Last Of Us 2 on PS4 and PUBG on Xbox One. [That last bit makes no sense – Ed.] @LOAF112 I only press X to Jason. @SKELLIGEBLADES I friggin’ LOVE Aloy! I hope she’s the…

“HELLBLADE’S STORM OF SURROUND-SOUND VOICES DOESN’T WORK FOR DEAF GAMERS, AS ITS SUBTITLES ARE INSUBSTANTIAL.” Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is one of the most challenging games you’ll play in 2017. But I don’t mean that in the sense that it’s especially hard – there’s some rudimentary combat and environmental puzzles to overcome, but nothing that’ll prove a significant test. The challenge here is facing up to the game’s depiction of its protagonist’s struggle with psychosis, how Senua is constantly hearing often-scolding voices that aren’t her own. It makes for a genuinely uncomfortable experience. Tonally bleak, British studio Ninja Theory’s new baby is a reminder that video games don’t need to be smile-on-your-face enjoyable to be compelling. Senua’s clouded, conflicting thoughts are manifested aurally as a purposefully confusing assault of overlapping dialogue.…

1 SOULCALIBUR SERIES Bandai Namco’s fighter regularly has fun when it comes to guest characters. Soul Calibur II included Heihachi from Tekken, whereas SoulCalibur IV featured Yoda and Darth Vader. PSP spin-off Broken Destiny added Kratos to the mix, whereas SoulCalibur V saw the appearance of Ezio from Assassin’s Creed. 2 LEGO DIMENSIONS When the point of a game is to jam as many crossovers into it as possible, it goes without saying that it should be on this list. However, we loved one oddball cameo in particular: during the Portal 2 level, your battle with GLaDOS is interrupted by HAL 9000, the sentient computer AI from 2001: A Space Odyssey. They then have a bit of a face-off, which is a nerd’s dream. 3 STREET FIGHTER X TEKKEN Capcom’s…

1 If nippy speed is what you’re after, try flying the A-wing. Being so small means it’s a tricky target for enemies too, making chases all about evading. 2 Bulkier, tougher, but a great deal slower is the Y-wing, a heavy-duty bomber. It deals a ton of damage, but is too lethargic for acrobatic dogfights. 3 Wyle mentions that the Scimitar can “disappear completely,” plus “as soon as it comes out of stealth it gets a bonus to all its damage.” Nifty. 4 As a modified X-wing, Poe Dameron’s Black One is perfect for dogfights. Use its tight controls to speed up and shoot those dirty Imperials down.…

“JUGGLING BETWEEN CHARACTERS DURING COMBAT CREATES POWERFUL ATTACKS.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2018 PUB KALYPSO / DEV GAMES FARM It must be hard being evil. You’re always on the wrong side of history, and every so often a band of merry adventurers crashes your party for laughs and loot. It’s time to turn the tables. Now you can play as a demon ‘Devourer’ on a quest to eat heroic souls in an action-RPG that aims to be different. There are 15 souls to eat in the game, and each time you feed you collect a new hero. You can choose two of these characters to partner with Devourer at any one time, and each has their own story and quests. Venturing into the dungeons for loot and glory, we…

WHERE THE WATER TASTES LIKE WINE FORMAT PS4 ETA 2018 / PUB GAMBITIOUS DEV DIM BULB GAMES Travel America during the Great Depression and gather stories to tell to 16 characters you meet along the way. Where The Water Tastes Like Wine is a celebration of storytelling and the American folk tradition. It looks like a wood block carving and plays like Neil Gaiman scratching at the American Dream. In one story we’re urged to taste the blood of a dying cow… by the cow. Another is a ghostly tale about dead twins. The writing is so vivid and the voices unique, you can almost smell the warm paper as you play. SECRET OF MANA FORMAT PS4, PS VITA / ETA FEB 2018 / PUB SQUARE ENIX DEV SQUARE ENIX…

For a while, good stories, original ideas, and plausible, human characters felt like the preserve of indie games, while explosions and gunfights were for the big releases. Today, however, we expect more from all videogames. They all have to be well-written. Josef Fares, creative director at Swedish studio Hazelight, which in 2013 brought us the puzzle-platformer Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons, believes niche concepts deserve major production value. In partnership with EA, he and his team are now working on their second game, A Way Out. Focusing on Leo and Vincent, a pair of convicts (later escaped convicts) it demands co-operative play, either online or next to a friend on the couch. There’s no single-player mode at all. In this way, Fares hopes to inject new emotions and energy…

PUBLISHER UBISOFT / DEV SPECTREVISION PLAYERS TBC / ETA 2018 If the idea of a time-travelling What Became Of Edith Finch set inside VR appeals, then join the queue. Part horror, with a smidge of puzzling, Tranference plays virtual recreations of characters’ lives inside a VR simulation, inside PS VR. The Russian Doll setup is intriguing, and the puzzles demand you think in four dimensions – you can grab keys from a house in the ’90s, then beam back in time to the same home in the ’80s to unlock a cellar door. The question is, do you really want to go down into that basement?…

PUBLISHER SONY / DEV SUPERMASSIVE GAMES / PLAYERS 1-2 / ETA 6 DEC We’ll take any excuse to pick up our Aim Controller, though when it’s Until Dawn: Rush Of Blood dev Supermassive Games creating the fray, no excuse is needed. In the spirit of ancient PlayStation title SOCOM, Bravo Team is a ‘realistic’ co-op military shooter that forces you to run from cover to cover, punishing your glutes as much as your trigger finger. If you want to explore a complex VR world Bravo Team may not be for you, but its promise of intense, accurate gunplay tickles our inner merc.…

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 PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB SQUARE ENIX DEV DECK NINE Depriving you of your time-hopping abilities, this three-part prequel to Life Is Strange instead offers a one-way ticket to the past. Set three years prior to the first game, we see protagonist Chloe Price as a 16-year-old who’s more at odds with the world than ever, struggling to come to terms with her father’s death and Max’s absence. Despite being entitled ‘Before The Storm’, life isn’t any sunnier for Chloe than it was in DontNod’s original. While she may be missing the electric blue hair, Chloe’s as colourful a character as ever, with a liking for standing in front of trains, and flipping the bird at every opportunity. Ever the rebel, the game opens with her attempting to…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB SONY DEV HOUSEMARQUE Housemarque knows how to make ace arcade-style shooters. Resogun – its first foray into PS4 territory – was the best thing to play at the launch of Sony’s shiny current-gen console. While Matterfall shows the developer’s familiar blend of bullet-hell action and trippy techno beats, it also marks the furthest deviation from its established formula to date. The frantic twin-stick side-scrolling element is fused with precarious platforming, resulting in something of a mixed bag. The shooting is stellar: you blast out bullets in a 360-degree radius1 to tackle the machines menacing you. Surviving the insane number of enemies and deadly projectiles requires skilful use of the Strike ability to stun opponents and avoid damage. Besting your mechanised foes creates a…

“THE RESPONSIVENESS YOU FEEL NOW, WITH THE BALL AT YOUR FEET, IS MESMERISING.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB KONAMI DEV KONAMI Are you ready to get angry? Because it’s that time of year again, when all PES fans look forward to a new release with a sense of excitable trepidation. The love it/hate it first few weeks with a new PES are ones of gritted teeth, adulation, and loved ones asking, “why do you play that silly game?” every time you throw the pad in frustration, only to pick it back up again and carry on regardless. You’re desperate to love this year’s PES despite itself. Playing a new version of PES is like going through a gaming detox. You need to unlearn all the tricks, tactics,…

INFO FORMAT PS4, PS VITA ETA OUT NOW PUB TOBY FOX DEV TOBY FOX Undertale’s reputation precedes it. Developed by a one-man studio, it both parodies and transcends JRPGs, hiding a heartbreaking story behind wonderfully dumb jokes. It earned its status as a modern classic way before finally making its way to Sony’s consoles. The tale of a human who’s trapped and alone in a monster-filled underworld, and has to find their way home, Undertale fleshes out its simple hero’s quest story using a parade of brilliant characters, such as Flowey the flower, and an approach to RPG combat that steadfastly refuses to get old. Our sister magazine, Edge has been mocked over the years1 for (sort of) bemoaning that you couldn’t talk to the monsters in Doom; Toby Fox…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB PARADOX INTERACTIVE DEV OBSIDIAN ENTERTAINMENT This is a throwback to simpler times when roleplayers weren’t scared to go full D&D. Pillars Of Eternity is a complex RPG that takes no prisoners – literally, as your characters can die permanently, and figuratively, because there’s little hand-holding as you step into the world of Eora. The main quest involves figuring out who you are, why you can see and speak to lost souls, and generally meddling in the affairs of everyone you meet.1 Like a good ’90s-inspired RPG how you behave, and who you help, save, or kill will determine how your version of Eora grows and ends. Where the throwback style stumbles is with the combat system. The semi-real-time battles take place in isometric…

A case of hook, line, and stinker? INFO FORMAT PS4 PUB FISHING PLANET LLC DEV FISHING PLANET LLC REVIEW N/A Does the idea of a incredibly serious fishing simulator where you play with friends or (more likely) random people appeal? Good news: this is a serviceable version of that idea! Hardly a ringing endorsement, but that’s because Fishing Planet makes you work tremendously harder than is ideal. Unwieldy menus are a pain to navigate – it’s clear they’re designed for playing on PC – and the micromanagement of your fishing rod is a pain. But the actual fishing is easy enough to get the hang of, with plenty of depth (sorry), and the persistently online locations are smooth with a surprising amount of people around to join up with. Plus,…

CALL OF DUTY: INFINITE WARFARE: RETRIBUTION The final DLC pack for Infinity Ward’s FPS sees four new maps offering more wall-running and gunning, and the finale to the Zombies saga. In The Beast From Beyond, you’ll take out the undead on a different planet. LIFE IS STRANGE: BEFORE THE STORM – DELUXE UPGRADE Chloe’s prequel comes with intriguing DLC extras. The standout is a future bonus episode, “Farewell”, which will be released after Episode 3, where you’ll play as Max again. Plus, there are some bonus outfits and a mixtape mode. EVERYBODY’S GOLF – BALATA COUNTRY CLUB Enjoying Everybody’s Golf like we are? Well, there are already two reimagined courses (Green Country Club is the other at £3.99) from the series’ early days to enjoy. Our pick is Balata, with…

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: SALAZAR’S REVENGE 2 OCT The latest instalment in the swashbuckling action adventure series. BAYWATCH 2 OCT Painfully unfunny big-screen adaptation of the beach-bound series starring The Rock and Zac Efron as lifeguards who team up to take down a crime boss. LEGION: SEASON 1 2 OCT A schizophrenic with incredible powers is drawn into a world of mutants and mayhem in Noah Hawley’s far-out X-Men series. KILLING HASSELHOFF 2 OCT Ken Jeong and Rhys Darby star in this comedy about a nightclub owner who must murder David Hasselhoff to repay his debts. CHURCHILL 16 OCT It’s Churchill, but not as you know him in this historical drama that focuses on the doubts plaguing the beleaguered British PM in the run up to D-Day. THE MUMMY 23…

INFO PUB KONAMI DEV MERCURYSTEAM, KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS RELEASED 2010 GET IT NOW AMAZON, £6.40 NEED TO KNOW 1 Hideo Kojima and the studio behind MGS co-produced. 2 Lucius Malfoy himself, Jason Isaacs, is Satan. 3 A sequel, Lords Of Shadow 2, was launched in 2014. “A PITCH-PERFECT REIMAGINING OF A SERIES THAT REACHES OLD AND NEW FANS.” The music box level is when Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow truly comes together. Until that point, it’s a solid, deliciously bloody hack-and-slash game mixed with a few brainteasers. You could be forgiven for classifying it alongside Darksiders or the later Devil May Cry games. But when Gabriel Belmont (who, let’s not forget, is voiced by Trainspotting’s own Robert Carlyle) gets dropped inside the giant carillons à musique, Lords Of Shadow’s ability for blending…

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. THE LAST GUARDIAN After a decade in development, Ueda’s PS4 debut is both a technical marvel and emotionally devastating. Trico’s mannerisms make it feel like a real creature – one we truly care about – while escaping The Nest is a captivating test. Some things are worth waiting for. METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN While retaining that distinct storytelling and sense of…

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. 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. 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. VELOCITY 2X A ludicrously enjoyable puzzle/platformer hybrid that should come with a health warning.…

“DO YOU TORTURE THE APE OR REASON WITH IT?” Just as man follows ape on the evolutionary chart, so a videogame tie-in follows a blockbuster movie franchise. It even happened with Planet Of The Apes in 2001, but those memories of both movie and PS1 game are best buried in the sand. POTA has evolved into an intelligent blockbuster, and upcoming narrative adventure, Planet Of The Apes: Last Frontier, wants to do its source material justice. Developed by new studio Imaginati, Last Frontier is set after human civilisation’s collapse, alternating player control between a chimp in an ape tribe, and the leader of a small enclave of humans surviving off the fat of the land in the American northeast. You’ll face dilemma upon dilemma, Telltale-style, and these ultimately dictate who…

“THE FRENCH HAVE GREAT FOOD, BUT EXCEPTIONAL VR CONTROLLERS ARE EVEN BETTER.” What do I want from Paris Games Week, other than buttery food? I’d like to see Sony show a direction of travel for its hardware. We’re too far out for a PlayStation 5 tease, so I’d love to see the Big S double-down on PlayStation VR and show commitment to the headset. In particular, a new peripheral akin to Oculus’ brilliant Touch controller would send me loopy with ‘virtual’ joy. While using PS Move controllers is serviceable, they feel like a stop-gap rather than a bespoke VR control system. And if Sony can showcase this alongside a tray of golden, fatty croissants, then even better. “THE LAST OF US PART II IS THE THING I’M DYING FOR.” With…

“LOOKING BACKWARDS IS THE WRONG THING TO DO. GAMES ARE SIMPLY BETTER NOW.” Pity the poor engineers at Sony. They’re labouring to make ever-better gaming technology – PS4 Pro, PS VR – and what do the gaming public do? Wet their collective knickers over retro returns of Sonic The Hedgehog and Crash Bandicoot. Haven’t you seen Jurassic Park? No good will come of resurrecting things better left in museums. Those classic games were great in their day; their title characters are icons for a reason. But as someone who remembers when games were in black-and-white, I reckon looking backwards is the wrong thing to do. We’d still be playing Pong with that attitude. Games are simply better now, and we should revel in what today’s hardware is capable of. Games…

Skate 3 Not to be outdone by Tony Hawk’s cameos, EA’s skating sim added Isaac from Dead Space so he could grind too. Everybody’s Golf Most games in this series have guests. The likes of Jak, Daxter, Ratchet, Clank, and Gex have appeared over the years. Guitar Hero 5 The inclusion of Kurt Cobain as a playable band member who could be made to sing any song in the game caused uproar. Did we miss your favourite cameo? Got a brilliant In The Mood For idea? Show and tell at twitter.com/opm_uk.…

“EVERY DEATH AFFECTS THE GAME’S WORLD IN REAL WAYS.”  FORMAT PS4 / ETA NOV / PUB FOCUS HOME / DEV DONTNOD ENTERTAINMENT Life certainly is strange for French developer DontNod. One minute it’s probing the teen angst of suburban high schoolers, the next it’s embedded in post-WWI London, putting down mutant vampires called Scars. The artery linking the dev’s games is choice and consequence, and horror action-RPG Vampyr is really chewing on that idea. We’ve been stalking this night crawler for some time, and it’s great to get to see it in action. The mission we’re on is ‘The Sad Saints Of The East End’, which sees our vamp on the trail of a rogue den of neck-biters hiding somewhere in the alleyways of 1918 London. The gauntlet has…

“HEAD TO THE HIPPODROME FOR BEN-HUR-STYLE CHARIOT ACTION.”  FORMAT PS4 / ETA 27 OCT / PUB UBISOFT / DEV UBISOFT If there’s one thing (other than air assassinations) that the hooded Brotherhood is good at, it’s crossing a skyline in style. From free-running across the domes and spires of Renaissance Venice, to dancing around the smoking chimneys of Victorian London, Assassin’s Creed just loves its rooftops. Thankfully, Origins is no different. It might be 49BCE but you’re still going to need an A-Z guidebook for these bustling metropolises. Memphis is a beautiful sprawl of a city. Gazing out across the skyline, it stretches into the distance. Palm trees line bustling waterways as merchants and fishermen bring in their wares, statues of the gods loom, still colourful in their original…

VIEWPOINT “A LARGER EXPLORATION OF THE EVIL WITHIN’S MAD MYTHOLOGY, WHICH PROMISES TO IRON OUT THE ISSUES WITH ITS PREDECESSOR WITHOUT SACRIFICING THE SCARES.” FORMAT PS4 ETA 13 OCT PUB BETHESDA DEV TANGO GAMEWORKS We only review finished games, so in Viewpoint we go hands-on with near-final code of a game that has just missed our review deadline. Ben Tyrer explores the early stages of The Evil Within 2’s story, as he prepares for the OPM review that’ll be coming in issue 143. For a brief moment, I worry this survival horror sequel relies a little too much on the past. Returning hero Sebastian Castellanos is heading back into the STEM machine to find his missing daughter Lily. I’m barely 15 minutes into the dream world and watch as a…

2000 JALLA! JALLA! Fares started his career as a film director with Jalla! Jalla! a Swedish comedy about two best friends working menial jobs. It won several awards and starred his brother, Fares Fares, who you might recognise from Star Wars: Rogue One. 2010 BALLS No, it’s not a biopic about politician and Twitter-misuser Ed Balls. Fares’ last film focuses on an eccentric father and his relationship with his children. Family would become a central them in Fares’ subsequent, more interactive work… 2013 BROTHERS: A TALE OF TWO SONS Fares and Hazelight’s first game, this follows the siblings on their quest through a dark, fairytale land to rescue their father. With an emotional gut-punch of an ending, it’s absolutely worth playing.…

PUBLISHER CYAN WORLDS / DEV CYAN WORLDS, LEGENDARY VR / PLAYERS 1 / ETA TBC As you read this, Obduction is out in the wilds. The release of the Witness-like puzzler features a PS VR version developed by Legendary VR, a division of Legendary Pictures who you’ll know from the movies Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla. The whole game is a puzzle, one in which you’re trapped on an alien world but you don’t shoot aliens; you’re free to explore but it’s not a role-player. This is a puzzle adventure where solving environmental brainteasers will push you closer to freedom. Legendary PS VR? Yep.…

PUBLISHER BANDAI NAMCO DEV PROJECT ACES / PLAYERS 1 / ETA 2018 The freedom of the deep blue sky, the expanse of the world beneath our virtual wings – Ace Combat 7 and PS VR are a perfect match. While not a dedicated PS VR game, the VR mode is separate from the single-player game and fully realised. You have total control over the plane’s movement, just like in the standard game, but weapon targeting has been streamlined – enemies are locked on and tracked by sight. Even in early demos AC7 plays like a Top Gun cadet. We can’t wait until it graduates.…

“IT’S THE MOST INSTANTLY EMPOWERING, DOWNRIGHT FUN SHOOTER TO CONTROL ON PS4.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB ACTIVISION DEV BUNGIE How much mileage you’ll get out of this shooter sequel boils down to asking yourself two questions. The first: do you prioritise the feel of a game above all else? And are you the sort of Destiny obsessive who remembers exactly where they were when they first fired Gjallarhorn? If you answered “YES!” to the latter, you’re going to play Destiny 2 until your eyes bleed. Hardly a shock, seeing as unlocking a videogame rocket launcher is clearly a landmark occasion for you on a par with the Apollo 11 Moon landing. But what if you weren’t head-over-heels with Bungie’s original MMO shooter? Has Destiny 2…

“BEING ABLE TO LEVEL UP YOUR EQUIPMENT IS A STROKE OF ADDICTIVE GENIUS.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB SONY DEV CLAP HANZ Whether you deck yourself in crisp polo-and-chinos every weekend to hit the driving range or your knowledge of golf begins and ends with Tiger Woods, Sony’s cult series is desperate for you to enjoy whacking a white ball around a course. While few sports games are as joyously bonkers as this, don’t let the twee characters and saturated courses distract from a deeply addictive system of clubbing your way to greatness. Returning fans will be able to slip back into surging drives and deft pitches thanks to the returning three-tap shot. It’s a system that might be 20 years old yet still manages to feel…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB DEEP SILVER DEV VOLITION The titular agents in this multiplayer-Infamous wannabe have a bevy of powers, but the most impressive of all is that their game seems to have teleported forwards in time. Aside from the ’80s cartoon aesthetics, everything about Agents Of Mayhem feels about a decade out of date. The first thing you’ll notice is that it thinks it’s really hilarious, despite being dismally unfunny. The extensive cast of heroes all endlessly quip lines of the most turgid bro-humour in some highly questionable accents, seemingly under the illusion that dropping a swear is, in and of itself, a punchline. It makes spending any time with the game an eye-rolling experience, which is a shame because what you actually do is middling.…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB TEAM17 DEV MOULDY TOOF STUDIOS Daily routines are pretty dull, usually involving too much work, too little rest, and not enough play. Life behind bars in The Escapists 2 is much the same, forcing you to adhere to a clock-controlled routine of eating, working, and exercising. Unlike in real life, however, your precious free time isn’t squandered stalking old school chums on social media. Instead you’ll spend your downtime concocting deviously fun methods for escaping your current confinement. When it comes to conjuring up escape plans, you’re pretty much left to your own devices. There’s a multitude of items to collect and craft, and it’s up to you to figure out how these can be of use. Even seemingly mundane items can be…

“THE REAL BEAUTY OF ABSOLVER IS THE ONE-ON-ONE PVP ARENA MATCHES.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB DEVOLVER DIGITAL DEV SLOCLAP Coming over a small crest in a ruined quarter of this RPG-fighter hybrid’s crumbling world, a foe steps up to fight me. She’s dressed like everyone else around here – ragged clothes, pauldrons, a cracked mask – but there’s something confident in her challenge that’s unsettling. This one isn’t an AI: it’s a real person. Thanks to Absolver’s emergent multiplayer, we start to scrap, and it’s pretty even. My fighting style revolves around perfectly-timed parries, and she’s got her sharp, quick dodges. It’s going well, my drunken fist moves chiselling away at her health bar. She’s about to go down and she slaps me – it’s a…

INFO FORMAT PS VR ETA OUT NOW PUB CCP GAMES DEV CCP GAMES Tron’s luminous death Frisbees have a lot to answer for. At least Sparc’s online matches shamelessly embrace the inescapable comparison with a feel, look, and sound that’s about as close as you’re going to get to the original film without Jeff Bridges showing up. The set up is simple: you have a ball, your opponent has a ball, and you throw them to score points by hitting each another or a target on the wall. And, yes, it is a lot of fun. What’s basically a one-on-one VR version of dodgeball gains an extra layer of strategy from a clever shielding system. While holding the ball you have a one-hit shield that disappears after deflecting the opposition’s…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ALSO ON PS VITA ETA OUT NOW PUB DOTEMU DEV DOTEMU The glorious offspring of Pong and ultimate Frisbee, this remaster of an obscure Neo Geo arcade gem is one of the finest multiplayer experiences of 2017. You and your opponent duel on one of six unique courts, trying to get a flying disc past each other. Simple enough for anyone, then, but as ever, that doesn’t prevent it being ferociously good fun. A huge chunk of that is down to the pace. The speed of your throw is set by how quickly you can lob the flying disc back when your character catches it. Getting to grips with the systems early on means matches tend to be a little slow while you’re getting a feel for…

WINDJAMMERS An old gem awakens Milford Coppock’s Frisbee skills Way back when, I’d play this ultimate Frisbee version of Pong on the Neo Geo [old person console – Ben] in the office with a few of our sister mags and got pretty good at it. Would almost 20 years of rest affect my skills? Could I still trick the opposition by curving the frisbee off the wall and into the five-point goal? Erm, sort of. While the first few rounds online don’t really go my way, once I find my rhythm again, latent muscle memory sees me teaching the new kids a thing or two. Shame it’s so hard to get a game! DEAD ALLIANCE Ian Dean takes on the marauding zombie army and loses… a lot “The enemy has…

1 FREE RIGS: MECHANIZED COMBAT LEAGUE Okay, so the timing of this freebie is a little squiffy, as it’s a PlayStation Plus game for September. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this sooner – I guess I have a blind spot when it comes free games in the future. But when a deal’s this good, how could I not include it? The sadly defunct Guerrilla Cambridge’s thrilling sports game places you in the cockpit of your very own mech and puts you to task in the titular league. There are three types of game mode here, from the standard deathmatch antics of Team Takedown to the basketballmeets-Killzone joys of Power Slam. That last one has you getting kills to go into Overdrive and then jumping through a hole in…

1 “LIKE SUPERMAN HIMSELF IN SHRUNKEN SPANDEX, THIS STRADDLES THE GENERATION GAP RATHER AWKWARDLY.” 2 “NAILS A TONE WHICH IS ENJOYABLY CREEPY AND SAMPLES FROM A BROAD PALETTE OF HORROR INFLUENCES FROM SCREAM AND SAW TO SCOOBY-DOO.” 3 “[THE] FINAL ENCOUNTER IS ONE OF THE WORST EVER COMMITTED TO DISC, MAINLY BECAUSE THE CREATURE YOU’RE KILLING NEEDS A SPECIFIC KIND OF STABBING.” 4 “AS SOON AS ANYONE LEARNS ANY BASIC STRATEGY, MATCHES SUDDENLY TURN INTO DRAWN-OUT BLOCKING SESSIONS.”…