Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2017 i PLAY

GAME OF THE MONTH Hob FAVOURITE GAME DOG? Jake (Dog’s Life) Dogs in games – how can you not love a game that’s willing to put man’s best friend front and centre? Our cover game, Far Cry 5, does just that. And we’re willing to bet its star-in-waiting Boomer is going to capture your heart. Of course there’s more to Far Cry 5 than a literal gun dog, as Ben discovered when he paid a visit to Ubisoft Montreal for an exclusive look at the game. Read his impressions, and see more of Boomer, on page 52. Back in the UK, I got to put Dragon Ball FighterZ’ online credentials to the test. Read how Bandai Namco’s brawler performed on page 32. Then, of course, there’s another 2018 hit-in-waiting in…

MOVING HOUSE Sony CEO Andrew House has been made chairman, and he’s being replaced by John Kodera. Why do we care? Because Kodera was the brainchild behind launching the PlayStation Now streaming service. In fact, Kodera is a fan of cloud-based gaming, which could influence development of PlayStation 5. FUN IN THE SHADE The perfect antidote to the war-worn realism of Call Of Duty: WWII, Black Riddles Studio’s cel-shaded shooter Crazy Justice feels like a throwback to TimeSplitters. Featuring single-player, split-screen co-op, and online multiplayer, as well as locations as varied as the North Pole and Egypt, it’s, erm, crazy. ARCADE (SUPER) HIT Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, a free update for current players, is releasing in January. The new content includes Arcade Mode, which celebrates 30 years of super…

“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 “One does not simply complete Skyrim.” FERNANDO RAFAEL ALVAREZ KNOWS IT “GETTING THE PLATINUM FOR THE LAST OF US WAS ONE OF THE BEST GAMING EXPERIENCES I HAVE EVER HAD.” Wrath of COD I’ve viewed and read some of the feedback from the COD community and the reactions to the [WWII] beta seem mixed. There are definitely some haters who feel that Activision and Sledgehammer Games are destroying a gaming franchise that was once great. I feel when compared with games like Battlefield 1, Destiny 2, Titanfall 2, and Rainbow 6 Siege that the Call Of Duty franchise has placed…

September saw Final Fantasy IX re-released onto the PlayStation store. Now has never been a better time to replay the classic… and learn a new language. Any aspiring polyglot, myself included, will tell you how valuable books, films, and music are when you set your sights on a new target language but I’ve learnt, in my endless quest to brush up on my German, that games are especially effective tools. It’s their essential interactivity that makes games so suited to language practice. When socio-cultural theorist Lev Vygotsky postulated interaction as a key part of language acquisition, I know this isn’t quite what he meant, but hear me out. Whereas a film will play quite happily whether you understand it or not, a game will constantly test your understanding and withhold…

1 HATSUNE MIKU: PROJECT DIVA FUTURE TONE While the West fears robots going Skynet, Japan embraces them in all walks of life, from services to entertainment – even pop stardom. How else to explain the success of virtual idol Hatsune Miku? And you can experience the best of her world in this package of vocaloid rhythm heaven. 2 FINAL FANTASY XV It looks like a road trip through Americana, but at heart this is still a Japanese RPG: favouring teamwork through party-based combat, check. Impossibly spiky hair, check. Inappropriately dressed female mechanic, check. The standout feature is dinner time, when Ignus demonstrates the Japanese art of food presentation. Itadakimasu indeed! 3 OKAMI It plays like a masterpiece as much as it looks like one, the traditional Japanese art visuals not…

1 Your first decision to make in the online hub is who to be? We choose bald-headed Krillin. Entering the custom menu we alter his orange jimjams to purple. 2 Now it’s time to enter a tournament. We do this by speaking to the organiser, and our chibi hero enters the ring and waits for a match. It takes minutes. 3 And we’re off! First choose a pre-assigned line-up, then enter the match. Our threesome get hammered but it looks amazing, and feels great. 4 After a couple of matches we need to learn the pro secrets, so we visit the Replay Theatre to view matches and see the control inputs used. Knowledge is power.…

DEATH STRANDING A tanker has run aground and there’s oil everywhere. There’s no wildlife to be seen – which leaves you with nothing to do but scrub those hydrocarbon-slick rocks. Hit your target within the time limit, then… scrub more rocks. FORMAT PS4 ETA 2018 REALMS OF ARKANIA – BLADE OF DESTINY Set out on a dangerous quest to find your clothes and work out how such small wings can make a grown man fly. Classic RPG gaming at its very best. FORMAT PS4 ETA 31 DEC DEMON’S AGE Tolkien’s forgotten first cousin twice removed, IPP Tolkien, penned this epic RPG in which a band of merry small people return lost jewellery to an angry man in a tower. Sounds familiar. Very familiar. FORMAT PS4 ETA 1 DEC…

1 Your avatar in Code Vein is the hero character, so you can let your inner anime star shine with a few button pushes. We’re looking smart casual here. 2 Everything can be tweaked, including your character’s gender, body type, skin colour, face and eye shape, eye size and colour, and hairstyle. 3 Clothing, or what the game refers to as ‘inner clothes’, can be altered, including type, colour, patterns, and the shape and size of collars and sleeves. 4 You can also create makeup, face-paint designs and devise stamp-like tattoos to place on your hero’s bod. We’re going full goth for this vamp design.…

With the cold winter nights approaching why not cheer yourself up with these amazing Final Fantasy goodies? You’ll get a massive bundle of loot if you win our competition. One lucky winner will receive the Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood – Collector’s Edition, which features the Stormblood special art box, an expertly crafted Zenos yae Galvus figure, the Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood artbook, cloth map of Eorzea, a Stormblood logo sticker, and bonus in-game items: Syldra Mount, Wind-up Bartz Minion, and Chicken Knife. The winner will also get a Final Fantasy XIV watch by Storm, a Final Fantasy shoulder bag, a gold brick memory stick, and a highly collectible Final Fantasy XIV Moogle Christmas edition plush toy! Plus, they’ll get a Moogle projection clock too! Four runners up will each receive…

“AS CO-OP PLAYERS… YOU’RE STILL ABLE TO TAKE IN THE STORIES.” OPM: How did you come to the decision to go for a customisable lead character? Dan Hay: We absolutely said right from the beginning that, in this game, we wanted you to be able to pick who you are, and we didn’t want the voice of what we were thinking to get in the way of what you were thinking. If you’re playing the game and you have an experience and you want to yell, “Holy s***!” It does no good to have [your character] go, “Golly gosh”. You want to be able to say what you feel and you want to be able to experience it. If you’re not scared in the moment, you won’t yell, if you…

INSPIRED BY: PAC-MAN (1980, NAMCO) You know, Pac-Man. The mechanic of switching between hunted and hunter, and the top-down perspective, were major influences according to David Jones. INSPIRED BY: TURBO ESPRIT (1986, MIKE RICHARDSON) A little-known ZX Spectrum game from back in the mists of time – well, 1986 – which offered free-roaming city driving with pedestrians and traffic lights. INSPIRED BY: CARMAGEDDON (1997, STAINLESS GAMES) Released just months before GTA and also publicised by Max Clifford, Carmageddon sparked a debate about videogame violence that DMA was able to dine out on. WOULD INSPIRE: THE GETAWAY (2002, TEAM SOHO) Razzing about in a Saab through the streets of London, fleeing the police and shooting anyone in your way? Nah, can’t see a link here. WOULD INSPIRE: SAINTS ROW (2006, VOLITION)…

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.…

“VENGEANCE IS A RUNNING THEME, BUT MOST OF THIS PLAYS OUT LIKE A HEIST.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB BETHESDA DEV ARKANE STUDIOS Another minor character gets their own stand-alone game to finish a big series? It’s easy to assume that Dishonored’s Billie is just, ahem, Lurking in the shadows of Uncharted’s Chloe and Nadine. But it’s a welcome trend, and Death Of The Outsider aptly ties up Arkane’s murky world of assassinations. Vengeance is a running theme in Dishonored, and that’s still the case here as your one last job is to kill the Outsider, the black-eyed figure responsible for most of the series’ events. So it’s a surprise to find that most of it plays out more like a heist. The elaborate centrepiece is, in…

INFO FORMAT PS VR ETA OUT NOW PUB FREESTYLE INTERACTIVE DEV TAMMEKA GAMES Ever wanted to feel like a nit pirouetting around a strand of tangled hair? Then this latest PS VR sci-fi racer gets you a little closer to that somewhat weird and very specific hair-twirling obsession. In many ways Radial-G is WipEout turned inside out: you race around the outside of tubes, not on the inside of them. It’s a subtle shift, but one that fits the 360-degree nature of virtual reality. These cylinders stretch into epic curls of piping that, over the course of 20 career events, unfurl into mazey conduits of occasional fun. At times Radial-G is a fast and twitchy slalom of boost pads and high jumps, speed-sapping energy barriers1 and incredibly frustrating car combat.…

“SEEING A SPINNER AHEAD AND NARROWLY AVOIDING A T-BONE IS REMINISCENT OF RACE DRIVER GRID.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB BANDAI NAMCO DEV SLIGHTLY MAD STUDIOS You could fairly say that if any game ever needed a sequel, Project Cars is it. A victim of its own ambition, the original just needed more stable performance, more atmosphere, fewer bugs, and better handling to be the best sim on console. Infuriatingly, Project Cars 2 is just Project Cars with knobs on, with all its core problems intact. Dang. We’ll come to its problems shortly, but there’s loads to celebrate if you look at it in isolation. It’s a gargantuan, detail fetishist’s dream of a racing sim. When it’s at its best, in series like the Sportscar Lites or…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB SASSYBOT DEV SASSYBOT Many modern games have a penchant for pulling on the old heartstrings, but rarely is death felt so staunchly than in Fragments Of Him. Bereft of all but the most basic of interactive elements, this narrative adventure is steeped in sorrow as it explores the anguish caused by the sudden loss of a loved one, and acts as a delicate reminder to cherish those we hold dear. The story revolves around Will, the victim of a fatal car accident. He features briefly, but his character is primarily fashioned by those closest to him as they tenderly reminisce on past events. Its remarkable poignancy is all the more potent thanks to some exceptional voice work by the game’s meagre cast, comprised…

“BLASTING AROUND IN A MECHANICAL MONSTROSITY IS A GIDDY POWER FANTASY.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB BANDAI NAMCO DEV BANDAI NAMCO At first glance, this looks like the ultimate piece of wish fulfilment. Blasting around an arena in a high-powered mechanical monstrosity, pulling off outrageous special moves until your foes explode into flaming balls of death while your anime pilot chuckles – it’s an exhilarating power fantasy. Initially, though, unless you’re particularly au fait with previous Gundam titles, you’re more likely to find yourself cast as the exploding mech than the slick hero. While first impressions might suggest a lighthearted, cartoon-inspired hack-and-slasher, real discipline is required here, and button mashing will see your mech turned to junk in all but the easiest modes. The standard movement speed…

DESTINY 2 Milford Coppock is enjoying ‘playing’ Bungie’s latest Well, I say playing, but that’s not strictly true. More like playing briefly before abruptly being returned to orbit, or even entering unpopulated levels. You see, Bungie insists on using certain ports on my router that the manufacturer prevents people from using, so my experience of Bungie’s persistently online shooter is not what you could call smooth. There’s no doubt that it’s created a great game, but it’s just that I’m struggling to actually, you know, play it. I know I’m in the minority, but come on Bungie, sort it out! RAIDERS OF THE BROKEN PLANET Ian Dean finds he’s encouraged to troll Dumped into a bizarre world of bikini-clad cybernetic snipers and naked musclemen, Raiders is an unusual shooter. As…

INFO FORMAT PS4 PUB KONAMI DEV KONAMI REVIEW 141, 9/10 While on the pitch PES 2018 plays a fine game of football, getting to the pitch can be a little frustrating. The matchmaking system feels like a step back on PES 2017, with often misaligned team strength and performance match-ups. Currently myClub ranked 543, I’m often pitted against players levelled 800 with a team of superstars. It’s a system that will likely be ironed out as more players join, but these first weeks are a frustrating penance for the game we love. Alleviating the pad-scrunching problem is the new 3v3 co-op mode, which evens out the playing field and makes you consider your passing and movement. Online PES 2018 is a welcome change of pace, once you’re properly matched. VERDICT…

CHARACTER PASS Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite’s getting six new fighters, including Black Panther, Sigma from Mega Man, and a Monster Hunter from… well, Monster Hunter. TORTUGA Infinite Minigolf lives up to its name with 108 new holes in the pirate-themed land of Tortuga. Sinking putts has never been so arrr-mazing. [You’re fired – pun ed.] SPRING BREAK ‘84 Friday The 13th says hello to the flesh parade, as this cosmetic pack brings in all sorts of revealing, retro clothes for its summer camp machete fodder to “wear”. HALLOWEEN COSTUMES Street Fighter V gets in the spooky spirit with premium cosmetics. Our fave? It has to be vampiric Vega. He’ll scratch us if we say anyone else. READY TO RACE Assetto Corsa’s getting more cars that will go very fast on…

TRANS- FORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT 30 OCT Anthony Hopkins threatens the British Prime Minister with the autobot that assassinated Hitler. THE 30 OCT VILLAINESS This kick-ass Korean Nikita features the best action sequences of the year, including a sword fight mid-motorbike chase. IT COMES 30 OCT AT NIGHT This slow-burn horror about life after an apocalyptic viral outbreak trades in skin-crawling paranoia rather than jump scares. ALL EYEZ ON ME 30 OCT Demetrius Shipp Jr. is the spitting image of legendary East Coast rapper Tupac Shakur in this hard-hitting hip-hop biopic. YOUR NAME 06 NOV Makoto Shinkai’s fantasy romance about a bodyswapping boy and girl connected across space and time is the highest-grossing anime of all time. WESTWORLD 06 NOV The first season of this series about a theme park…

“AN ATTEMPT TO CREATE A STORY-DRIVEN, CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE.” INFO PUB SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT DEV TEAM SOHO PRODUCTIONS RELEASED 2002 GET IT NOW CEX, £1 NEED TO KNOW 1 Director Brendan McNamara later made LA Noire. 2 The Getaway had a sequel, called Black Monday. 3 The Getaway 3 was teased for PS3, but got cancelled. One of the ways in which the influence of GTA III manifested itself in the early noughties was through the proliferation of urban open-world crime sims, subsequently labelled ‘GTA clones’. In 2002, Team Soho’s The Getaway was one of the first of these, trading GTA’s comical outlook for a grey London of ’ard geezers, rozzers, and thugs shouting “’Ave summa thaaat!” as they shoot you. In the build-up to release, much was made of how…

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.…

Ben Tyrer GAMES EDITOR Ben talked to so many devs at Ubisoft Montreal for our cover feature (page 52), he’s now got a husky voice. Strangely saucy. GAME OF THE MONTH FIFA 18 FAVOURITE GAME DOG? Riley (COD: Ghosts) Phil Iwaniuk GUEST WRITER We let Phil off the leash this issue to interview gamer-turned-pro-racer Jann Mardenborough. Read his story on page 72. GAME OF THE MONTH GT Sport FAVOURITE GAME DOG? Amaterasu (Okami) Miriam McDonald OPERATIONS EDITOR When deadline looms Mim turns to her cooking skills for energy, so it’s woofles for breakfast. Just don’t try the chow chow mein. GAME OF THE MONTH Danganronpa 3 FAVOURITE GAME DOG? Dogmeat (Fallout 4) Milford Coppock MANAGING ART EDITOR Milf’s been hounding Ben all month for a play of Destiny 2. It’s…

20 Years since Sucker Punch launched and gave us the Thievius Raccoonus. 2,800,000 Number of copies of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy sold to date. 03 GOTY editions you need this Christmas: Resi 7, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Nioh. 40,000,000 Number of views Sony’s E3 Spider-Man trailer has on YouTube. 5,840 Days between the release of Battlechasers issues nine and ten. 3:01 Length of the new Run The Jewels song, Mean Demeanor, written for FIFA 18. 08 Multiplayer maps confirmed for COD: WWII, including classic map Carentan.…

MUSIC TO OUR EARS Composer Gustavo Santaolalla has said work on Last Of Us Part II will be finished by 2019. Does this mean a release date for next year? No exactly, but any Last Of Us Part II news is good news. CRASH SMASH HIT Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg has said the firm’s experimenting with Crash Bandicoot, which means we could be getting more marsupial mayhem. COMICS SQUARED Square Enix owned New York Comic Con with playable demos of Secret Of Mana, Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT, and Lost Sphear. ANI-MADE IN THE UK Bandai Namco revealed a new character creator for Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet. We’re sad we can’t play as our favourite anime hero, but pleased we can make our own. RE-RE-REMASTERS Capcom’s PlayStation 3 classic Dragon’s…

@ONLY___FOOLS Yes yes YES yes yes yes yes yes yee yes yes YES YES yes yes YES Yes @ADAMJT74 Some time off work for gaming in 2017 is what I need @JUSTANUDERGAMER Screw the PS5, unless it has PS4 backwards compatibility (at the least it won’t be worth having. @BYRONB1986 Remember when you paid for a game and were allowed to play it when you wanted? @JOHNTWOK Wonder how @OPM_UK are going to change their tweet segment for 280 character update @CARLAGEDDON Whilst you fine folks are working on the next issue please give #Dungeons3 the love it deserves TROLL OF THE MONTH @TITANA_FLAMES If you love Dark Souls never try that Lords of the Shit @TOMKINSTWEETS Can someone tell me what was wrong with GTA 4? I found it…

“STOP MAKING GAMES INTO FILMS – CHANNELS LIKE NETFLIX ARE THE NATURAL HOME FOR ADAPTATIONS.” Since the early 1990s, the film industry has “treated” us to a steady stream of motion pictures based on videogames. And they’ve been critical disasters. But it could all be so different, and the precedent’s already set. When Netflix’s Castlevania premiered in July, a four-episode precursor to a fuller second season, it was met with unanimous praise. Episodic, and animated rather than live-action, it had space to introduce the main cast to the viewer, and show why each character matters. Netflix also has The Witcher forthcoming, albeit based on author Andrej Sapkowski’s books rather than the games they inspired. But the company could, and should, be looking at games for future programming, because it’s in…

Monster Hunter: World The series may be getting ‘modernised’, but maintaining rituals are important in Japan, so long live cooking animations. Catherine It’s not just the non-Western representations of women that make this distinctly Japanese, it’s also nightmarishly difficult. Hatoful Boyfriend Visual novels and dating sims are popular in Japan, but flirting with super-intelligent pigeons is on a whole other plane. Did we miss your favourite Japanese game? Got a brilliant In The Mood For? Tell us at twitter.com/opm_uk.…

“DEAD RISING 4 HAS CRANKED THE SERIES’ EXCESSES UP TO EXTREMES.” i FORMAT PS4 / ETA 5 DEC / PUB CAPCOM / DEV CAPCOM The hordes descend. Bodies are squashed into shuffling packs, seeking to satiate a hunger that can never be quelled. Those who fall risk being ground beneath a thousand feet. Yep, Christmas shopping season is nearly upon us again. Shudder. Dead Rising 4’s Frank West has a very cathartic notion of retail therapy, though. Clad in Ski Sunday Lycra, he fires his crossbow twice and two swordfish embed themselves in the heads of the freshly undead infesting the Willamette Memorial Megaplex. Over the speakers of the Caribbean Cove area, the voice of Captain Black Fridaybeard reels off some nautically-themed savings puns. On deck awaits a technological…

“WHILE WE CAN STOP FOR A SPOT OF FISHING, WE’RE REALLY ONLY BUYING TIME BETWEEN ROUNDS OF BUTTON MASHING.” i FORMAT PS4 / ETA EARLY 2018 PUB OMEGA FORCE / DEV KOEI TECMO It would take you 18 months to walk across China. We mention this because that’s what’s promised in Omega Force’s ninth Dynasty Warriors, though we imagine some gaming trickery has been used to condense that landscape down to the most memorable landmarks. Size, you see, has always been this series’ bragging right, and while all of China is explorable on foot, horse or even by swimming, standing in the way of you completing your Lonely Planet bucket list will be multiple large armies. So while we can stop for a spot of fishing or explore a…

“WE WANTED TO MAKE A SKILL-BASED VERSION OF SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS.” i FORMAT PS4 / ETA EARLY 2018 PUB MAXIMUM GAMES / DEV IRON GALAXY “I would say it’s a fighting game meets Shadow Of The Colossus,” says Maximum Games’ executive producer Derek Neal. He has a point. This is a game of giant-slaying in which the world itself can come to your aid. “We really wanted to make a skill-based version of something like Shadow Of The Colossus, where you’re fighting against these titanic foes but in a way that isn’t puzzling and platforming, but instead leads on action,” adds Neal. A typical mission will see you pitted against up to six angry green giants, plus 50 or so minions that swarm at you. Each ogre needs…

With the first episode of Life Is Strange: Before The Storm out now, and the second due for release soon, this is the perfect time to catch up with lead writer Zak Garriss to learn how the prequel came to be. Taking over the writing reins from DontNod, Deck Nine had its work cut out making the prequel series unique and compelling. Garriss discusses the challenge of writing for Chloe, bringing Rachel to life, and the pressures of ensuring a choice-led game could remain true to characters’ true selves. OPM: Through the first game you had lots of choices, then at the end it came down to a binary decision. Did you see that as a problem with this, in that it makes choice an illusion? Zak Garriss: I think…

1997 Starved of any better games to run people over in, gamers keep on playing Carmageddon. It becomes a best-selling classic, revered by all. 1998 Without GTA’s controversial PR campaign under his belt, publicist Max Clifford’s career derails. The world will never hear of Rebecca Loos, Simon Cowell, or Jade Goody. 2001 Madden NFL 02 is the best-selling game of the year. The 3D open world gaming revolution has yet to begin. ‘Claude’ remains an unused protagonist name. 2003 Little-known developer Rockstar Games releases Midnight Club II. It’s all right. Elsewhere, True Crime: Streets Of LA starts the open-world action game revolution. 2004 Everyone’s still playing True Crime: Streets Of LA. It becomes an undisputed all-time classic game, credited with revolutionising the industry. 2008 PS3 sales suffer – if only…

“SHELOB IS RECAST AS A SHAPE-SHIFTING FEMME FATALE – A CONTROVERSIAL CHANGE, BUT IT WORKS.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT DEV MONOLITH PRODUCTIONS You can, it turns out, have too much of a good thing. I’m in the middle of a territorial struggle with dozens of orcs, several trolls, swarms of insects, and even a dragon gobbing jets of flame to make it a heated battle in a very literal sense. It all looks incredible. And yet, as this titanic scrap ticks into its 20th minute, my eyes begin to glaze over. So what gives? Shadow Of War’s problem is that it subscribes to that all-too-common sequel maxim: bigger is better. It’s probably Peter Jackson’s fault. The Rings cinematic…

“YOU FEEL A THRILL FROM JUST RUNNING DOWN THE PITCH WITH THE BALL.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB EA DEV EA Ronaldo and FIFA are a match made in the theatre of dreams. They’re equally capable of wonderful feats of ‘how did they achieve that?’ footballing brilliance while carrying a reputation for being mega-vain. No wonder they can be both be hugely divisive, inspiring lengthy/tedious pub debates about their merits. But now there’s little for pub philosophers to argue about, as they’re both at the top of their games. On the pitch, this year builds on the solid foundations of the move to the Frostbite engine with a series of small but worthwhile improvements. The most notable is the rejigging of dribbling. Last’s year welcome boost in…

A McRae of sunshine for offroad fans INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB BIGBEN INTERACTIVE DEV KYLOTONN The thing I like about WRC is a characteristic that could also be levelled at it as a criticism: it’s an old-school rally game. While the Dirt games have offered a bombardment of interactive motorhomes and men in snapbacks, Kylotonn’s officially licensed rally sim takes a far more traditional approach to presentation, closer to that of the old Colin McRae games than Dirt, Gran Turismo, Project Cars et al. When you enter the career mode, you don’t sit through a cavalcade of scene-setting movies, you just pick a team and start racing. You’ll start in the obscurity of Junior WRC and then work your way up to the big league over a…

“CHUNKS OF LAND RISE AND FALL IN AN INSTANT WITH A REALISTIC HEAVING WEIGHT.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB RUNIC GAMES DEV RUNIC GAMES He looks like a Jawa cosplaying Hellboy in a clockwork world that’s forever chugging, and chiming, and cooing, but while the environment is full of mechanical music Hob’s hero never utters a note. Actions speak louder than words in Runic’s complex puzzle-platformer. The idea is simple: you have to bring the world of Hob to life and vanquish the purple goo that’s clogging up its works. Doing so is decidedly more complicated. While some games present over- and underworlds to explore, Hob entangles the two. Your actions throughout the game – whether pushing levers in a watery dungeon or pulling gears on the…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB EA SPORTS DEV EA TIBURON What do you mean, you haven’t been following the fortunes of EA and 2K’s rival basketball franchises for the last decade? Well, here’s the CliffNotes: NBA Live was once the king of basketball games, then NBA 2K surpassed it so comprehensively that EA didn’t even bother putting a Live title out for a few years. So to say NBA Live is now truly back in the fight – well, that’s a big deal. In some ways this is a markedly better game than NBA 2K18 (p82). Microtransactions don’t lurk around every corner like they do in 2K’s game,1 while The One mode gives you control of a young player’s career2 in both the NBA and streetball tournaments, with…

INFO FORMAT PS4 OUT NOW PUB DEVOLVER DIGITAL DEV REIKON GAMES The opening throws you – a faceless, nameless (kinda) killer – into the heights of HEAVEN, a mega-corp at the centre of the game’s cyberpunk-plated fiction, in pursuit of a boss marked for execution. Yet this is no godly domain, no sun-kissed nirvana; this world is brutal and bloodstained, and HEAVEN’s the oppressive force keeping its population in the gutter. Rengkok, an Asian megacity of 2091, is the setting for Ruiner. Its inhabitants waste their nights in grotty bars, fist-fight in the street, and spout gibberish about “EYES”. And it’s these people who you become familiar with, after your trip to HEAVEN sees you dismembered and left for dead. Enter “Her”, a supporting character who helps stitch you up…

1 £15.99 DON’T KNOCK TWICE What’s that knocking insistently at the window? Why, it’s a witch who’s trying to steal your daughter in this horror film spin-off. Alas, this is also a long list of clichés that never die, no matter what year you’re in. Vengeful spirit harassing troubled people in large, intricate mansion? Check. Things that can (and will, repeatedly) crash in the middle of the night? Oh yeah, baby. Initial apprehension melting away to indifference because the experience of wandering through a house and finding notes that fill in the backstory offers nothing that Resident Evil 7, Layers Of Fear, Outlast et al haven’t already? Er, a little specific, but yes. There are some effective jump scares that will give horror fans enough of a reason to pop…

1 “ DINOSAURS ROAM DEATHMATCH LEVELS, LITERALLY ADDING SOME BITE TO FRAG SESSIONS.” 2 “DETERMINED TO IMPRESS WITH AN EXQUISITE ENVIRONMENT, MOVEMENT THAT’S RARELY LESS THAN EXHILARATING, AND PLENTY MORE OF THE SAME STEALTHY, STABBY THRILLS.” 3 “WITH THREE ARROWS AND A JUMP ATTACK, YOU’RE EMPOWERED TO A LEVEL THAT THE MUSCLE-BOUND WORLD-SAVERS IN YOUR PILE OF TRIPLE-A TITLES COULD NEVER EQUAL.” 4 “DARKLY ATMOSPHERIC BUT DECIDEDLY DATED, YOU’RE BETTER OFF SKIPPING THIS MISSION TO MARS.”…

“MISSILE TRAILS AND LASERS FLOW ACROSS THE SCREEN.” When does a 4K remaster of a HD PS3 upgrade become an essential game to add to your 2018 most wanted list? When it’s Zone Of The Enders 2, piped into PS VR. To give it its due, Konami’s venture into VR could be as big as the game’s name is long. ‘Zone Of The Enders: The 2nd Runner – Mars’ hardly trips off the tongue. The original game hit prominence because it was Hideo Kojima’s pet project, but luckily it was more than a fan-baiting release. The blend of melee and projectile combat, mixed with a beautiful anime styling that sent rockets and lasers fizzing around the screen ensured Zone Of The Enders was an instant hit. The story puts you…

We should be acclimatised to Naughty Dog’s brand of Hollywood scripting by now, but The Lost Legacy offered a more subdued take on familiar banter. The two female leads bicker and squabble, laugh and sacrifice as their friendship slowly builds. For all the epic bombast and exotic visuals, the growing friendship doesn’t get overwhelmed. It’s there centre stage for us to love. It’s subtle, quiet even, compared to past Uncharteds – Frazer becomes Chloe as cold surnames make way for a believable friendship. Even the final Bechdelbaiting cameo doesn’t hold the duo back. “THERE COULDN’T BE A BROADER RANGE OF STYLES IN THE BEST VISUAL DESIGN CATEGORY THIS YEAR.” GNOG’s eye-meltingly vibrant dioramas, Horizon Zero Dawn’s 4K ‘dino-rama’, and Little Nightmares’ grotesquely realised residents of the Maw: all worthy candidates…

“DESPITE HOW FAR THEY’VE COME, 1999’S GTA LONDON IS PLAYSTATION’S MOST IMPORTANT GTA EXPANSION.” Expansions weren’t always part of big-budget PlayStation games. In the face of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, The Last of Us: Left Behind, and BioShock Infinite: Burial At Sea, it’s almost hard to imagine the world on the flip side of the millennium – when Will Smith was gettin’ jiggy wit it, Ben Sherman shirts were all the rage, and console games favoured full sequels over spinoffs and add-ons. In April 1999, that changed when GTA: London 1969 became PlayStation’s first-ever expansion pack – a commodity until then reserved for PC gamers. With it came 32 new levels, 30 new era-authentic vehicles, and a ska-infused soundtrack that rivals anything that’s come since. This was Grand Theft Auto…

“DOZENS OF CUTE DRAGON BALL HEROES PUNCH ONE ANOTHER.” i FORMAT PS4 / ETA 18 FEB PUB BANDAI NAMCO / DEV ARC SYSTEM WORKS From the rolling thunder and squeal of drums and guitars of the original soundtrack to the blazing specials and anime sugar-rush visuals, this is a fighting game that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. And it does so with large anime eyes and a half-moon smile. At odds with Dragon Ball FighterZ’s intensity is its new online lobby, the chibi party we’re all invited to. It’s the calm before the storm. A place to meet up, chat tactics and dip into online events, like watching old fights in the Replay Theatre. To begin a random fight is easy enough: you ask the…

“THE TRADEMARK BOMBAST AND ATTITUDE ARE STILL VERY MUCH INTACT.” i FORMAT PS VR / ETA 1 DEC / PUB BETHESDA / DEV BETHESDA This is going to be the fastest VR game you’ve ever played. It’s a spin-off from last year’s incredibly well-received Doom revival, and gives you everything you’ve ever wanted from an immersive Doom experience: hyper-violence, heavy metal, visceral demon-shredding action, and guns. So many guns. For once, though, you don’t play as Doom Guy. Instead, you step into the shoes of a scientist who was originally killed by the demon invasion of Mars, but whose consciousness was uploaded to an AI rig on the station there, meaning you can step into any robot on the planetary installation. As such, the VR experience takes place after…

DIGIMON STORY: CYBERSLEUTH – HACKER’S MEMORY i FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2018 PUB BANDAI NAMCO DEV MEDIA.VISION If Mr Robot used unicorn lions to hack corporations it would have been an even stranger show. It would also have looked a bit like Hacker’s Memory, the sequel to last year’s Digimon Story: Cybersleuth. As new Hudíe recruit Keisuke Amazawa you’ll investigate mysteries and take on jobs to earn money and respect in this tactical RPG. Hacking takes the form of turn-based battles – pitting monster against monster – and they’re surprisingly involved. OCTAHEDRON i FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2018 PUB SQUARE ENIX / DEV DEMIMONDE Our immediate impressions are of chaos and colour. Octahedron is a vertical platformer that mixes inch-perfect jumps with music rhythm action. The screen fills with splashes…

2008 FAR CRY 2 PS3 – 9/10 The first entry on PlayStation (the original was a PC exclusive) sent you to Africa, infected your character with malaria and put you on the trail of The Jackal, an arms dealer whose complexity stands out among Far Cry’s more overt villains. A divisive entry due to its heightened realism and illness meter, we could all agree on one thing: watching a fire spread in real time was mesmeric. 2012 FAR CRY 3 – PS3 – 9/10 Backpackers headed off on holiday and got a little more than they bargained for in this fantastic follow-up. There were plenty of reasons this felt like a step-up, improved melee takedowns and tagging enemies using the camera among them, and thanks to Vaas and the lush…

Anyone who’s felt sweaty elation at an online race win in Gran Turismo has wondered, at least fleetingly, whether they could do it in real life. But do the deft squeezes of a DualShock’s triggers and expert analog stick-wagging required for Gran Turismo prowess lay any kind of foundation for wrestling with a racing car’s steering wheel at 190mph? And can gaming really offer an alternative entry point into the world of motorsport? Well, Jann Mardenborough is living proof that players can become racers. In 2011 he entered a competition designed to take gamers and turn them into pro drivers. Now in 2017, he’s racing with the best of them. “Before entering GT Academy I’d never driven a car on a race track,” says Jann, now 26 and competing in…

“REWARDING, BUT DIFFICULT, REQUIRING DEDICATION AND PATIENCE.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB 2K SPORTS DEV VISUAL CONCEPTS This is one of those rare games, a true head turner, one that will make people walking through the room do a double-take, unsure if what is on the TV is real or a game. Years have passed and our beloved PS4 can pump out some seriously impressive visuals, but none come as close to looking like real life as 2K’s NBA series does. This is a phenomenally pretty, immersive game. From the squeaks of sneakers to the announcers emulating their broadcast performances, with unbelievable likenesses that make you wonder why other sports titles can’t do it this well, and even details like the referee talking to the players when…

“IF SOMEONE YOU LIKE HAS BEEN MURDERED, YOU FEEL HUNGRY FOR JUSTICE.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ALSO ON PS VITA ETA OUT NOW PUB NIS AMERICA DEV SPIKE CHUNSOFT You wake up in an abandoned school with 15 other classmates. You’re all the kidnapping victims of robot bear Monokuma, and you all have mild amnesia. The only way to escape is to kill one of your fellow classmates and get away with it. This is the setup of the Danganronpa series, so far told over two visual novels, an anime series, and a third-person shooter – and this third visual novel takes it up a notch. The notable thing about the newest entry in the Phoenix-Wright-meets-Battle-Royale series is the aesthetic: the previous games identified as ‘psycho-pop’, V3 identifies as ‘psycho-cool’.…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB THQ NORDIC DEV AIRSHIP SYNDICATE Based on an American comic with hilariously long waits between issues,1 this turn-based RPG has fans ready and waiting. There’s plenty for the uninitiated to enjoy too, though. Existing fans will doubtless be pleased to see Gully, Calibretto et al brought to life in digital form (with partial voice acting), but the characters – as presented here, at least – aren’t deep enough to hold your interest out of context. In happier news, the all-important combat system is very good. Each character has actions that can be taken immediately (such as a basic attack or minor healing), and special abilities that require waiting a turn to activate. Special abilities consume mana, of which you have only a limited…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT DEV TT GAMES Ninjago is not the franchise you’d expect to see the Lego game brand innovate with. But we like being surprised, and boy is it a shock to see a dynamic combat system appear, allowing for air juggles and combos, albeit at a rudimentary level. Don’t panic, though, this is still a very child-friendly experience, and allows button mashing to an extent, but when enemies block you’ll have to change up your attacking tactics. Keeping your combo going yields a high brick reward: it’s basically about keeping your multiplier up. There’s another, subtler change, to the series here. Instead of each level having a brick requirement that forces you to spend longer than you’d like smashing everything…

“FOR THE FIRST TWO OR THREE MISSIONS, IT’S FUN TO ANNOY THE OTHER PLAYERS.” INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB MERCURYSTEAM DEV MERCURYSTEAM Love to mess things up for people? This third-person co-op shooter gives you the chance to do just that. In it, you and three friends (or internet randoms) blast through story-driven missions. Its signature move is letting another player invade those games to make it more difficult for the heroes to complete their objectives. It’s an interesting idea that works well at times but is ultimately wasted on a game that is full of flaws. Let’s start with the positives. Raiders looks bright and colourful. It has a sticky cover mechanic that makes it easy to move about its levels. Its cast of over-the-top characters…

The sound of Spandau Ballet and A-Ha wafting through OPM Towers last month meant only one thing. No, Milf wasn’t put in charge of the Spotify playlist, instead Metal Gear Solid V built up a Mother Base in the Instant Game Collection and that gave us the perfect reason to return to this masterpiece. Yep, in a mighty coup for PS Plus in October, MGS V: THE PHANTOM PAIN was helicoptered in and gave us all an excuse to head back to Afghanistan and Angola–Zaire. Say what you want about the story, you can’t deny that the complex stealth isn’t ludicrous fun. Whether it was breaking into a barracks to steal a cassette tape or hiding in a toilet and scaring patrolling guards away by playing the sounds of a…

INFO FORMAT PS4 PUB CAPCOM DEV CAPCOM REVIEW #141, 6/10 The inclusion of the Beginners League to Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite’s online modes tells you all you need to know about the direction of travel for this fighter. Along with the streamlined combo system – supers can be performed with a single button push – MVC: Infinite is aiming squarely for comic fans over gamers. It means online you’ll have fun, if all too soon you’ll feel held back by a lack of depth to the play. It’s surface level shazam over long-term appeal. It’s stable enough, the netcode delivers fights in quick time, and the blaze of colourful moves doesn’t jitter. However, with only four female characters in the launch roster, MVC: Infinite feels as it plays, limited. Will…

TELLTALE’S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY – WHO NEEDS YOU? Things go from terrible to even worse for the biggest A-holes in the galaxy, as they’re stuck in a cavern after losing the Eternity Forge, with tension running high enough for Drax’s knives to cut through it. BATTLEFIELD 1 – IN THE NAME OF THE TSAR Good news, comrade: the Russian forces are joining the fray in this huge update for the WW1 FPS. It brings in six new maps across the Eastern Front, along with 11 new weapons and two new Operations, where fights take place over multiple maps. PES 2018 – DATA PACK 1 Fancy even more true-to-life footballer faces? Well, good news, Konami is hurling 100 new and updated player faces (including one very bald David Silva) into…

The forthcoming Spider-Man game could only look hotter if all future demoes were broadcast from the surface of the sun. Unfortunately Insomniac’s offering is still a year away, but a big-screen Spidey has arrived to scratch that web-slinging itch. Tom Holland returns as Peter Parker/Spider-Man for a high school-set superhero story that’s Iron-Manmeets-Ferris-Bueller’s-Day-Off. Desperate to re-team with The Avengers after Civil War’s life-changing airport barney, Peter lives to fight crime by night and prove himself to Tony Stark. But Peter’s powers – and swanky Stark Tech suit – are put to the test when the winged Vulture (Michael Keaton) swoops into town. Homecoming is the first solo Spider-Man movie made by Marvel Studios, and confirms Holland’s Best Spidey Evs status. Whether awkwardly wisecracking while fumbling his way through fights with…

WHO? A perfect night in for Joe Donnelly involves cosying up with a scary game. Netflix and chills, yeah? The Evil Within, however, had him hiding behind the sofa for all the wrong reasons. INFO PUB BETHESDA DEV TANGO GAMEWORKS RELEASED 2014, PS4 GET IT NOW PSN, £15.99 WHAT? The first post-Capcom survival horror from Resident Evil director Shinji Mikami. Expect over-the-shoulder aiming, ham-fisted voice acting, typically ambiguous storytelling, and loads – seriously, loads – of weird otherworldly baddies. “THE LAST BASTION OF THIRD-PERSON SURVIVAL HORROR.” When I first played The Evil Within it terrified me. Its clunky combat system shook me to my core. Its cast of repetitive enemies turned my stomach. And its weird, disjointed narrative made me wince. For me, the return of esteemed Resident Evil mastermind…

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…