Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2018 i PLAY

“GOD OF WAR’S CORY BARLOG TELLS US WHICH GAME MADE THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON HIM.” Well look at us, we’re 150. To mark the occasion we decided to get personal with our celebration of PlayStation’s greatest games, and asked some key devs, including God Of War’s Cory Barlog, to tell us which game made the biggest impact on them (p66). There are some interesting choices. We get more retrospectives from some old Sony devs, who reveal what it was like creating games for PS1 (p60). They also share their personal insights into the launches of PS3 and PS4. Looking to the future, however, we have some great exclusives. We chat to id Software’s Tim Willits about Rage 2 (p50), go hands-on with Call Of Duty: Black Ops IIII (p32), and…

This new space opera is not what you think it is – Genesis Alpha One looks like an FPS, on paper reads like No Man’s Sky, but in reality is aiming to be a whole lot more. While it sounds like a mishmash, the mix of roguelike, FPS, base building, and survival ideas gels beautifully in our hands-on. Each style of play unfolds organically as we build, explore, and defend our starship from alien and human threats. The ultimate goal is to find an ‘alpha planet’ and colonise it with human DNA. To get there you need to build a starship, explore planets, and harvest resources to manage your crew of clones. (If one dies, resources permitting, clone a new crew member). If you gamble on a new planet, and…

PS2’S A COMPANY PS Now subscribers will be delighted to hear that 12 classic PS2 games have dropped onto the service, all upgraded to run on PS4, and with full trophy sets. Classics like Dark Cloud, Forbidden Siren, Ape Escape 2, and Rogue Galaxy join the 500 games already on the service. Not signed up? Maybe you should. LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE Deadly Premonition dev Swery’s latest project, The Good Life, has finally been funded on Kickstarter! Photojournalist Naomi must pay off her debts by capturing the strange events that happen in the English town of Rainy Woods, where everyone turns into cats and dogs at night. It sounds barking mad. BEHIND THE (FIRE)WALL Firewall: Zero Hour could be the shooter PS VR needs. Sony has confirmed new modes for…

“TITANFALL 2 WAS ECLIPSED BY TWO BIGGER FRANCHISES, BATTLEFIELD 1 AND INFINITE WARFARE.” Okay, it’s summer now, but the annual ‘choke point’ is not that far off, the months between September and December when the evenings darken, temperatures lower, and gamers’ purses empty. So as a diligent little gaming fan, I recently sat down to plan out my pre-Christmas release window finances. (Yes, already.) Will my wallet handle its yearly battering? With Spider-Man, Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, Spyro Reignited Trilogy, COD: Black Ops 4, and Red Dead Redemption 2 already confirmed, this year’s silly season is set to be a doozy. It could cost more than £250 to grab all those games new from the high street, and even if you are able to pad out your collection, life…

Final Fantasy 10 At first it seems Yuna has to sacrifice herself to save the world from Sin, but Tidus ends up making the selfless save. Tales From The Borderlands Poor Scooter. The poor sap sacrifices himself trying to disengage an unstable rocket booster on the your ship. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Starkiller is a charisma vacuum, but his selfless sacrifice inspires the Rebel Alliance. Did we miss your favourite sacrifice? Got a brilliant In The Mood For idea? Show and tell at twitter.com/…

“HAS ITS OWN IDEAS ON THE FUTURE OF THE BATTLE ROYALE GENRE.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA AUTUMN 2018 / PUB BLACK RIDDLES STUDIO / DEV BLACK RIDDLES STUDIO Sometimes you just want to board the party bus, chew some bubblegum, and kick arse in an ever-shrinking player-versus-everyone arena. With the genre now burgeoning, you’re spoilt for choice. And each new title adds its own wrinkle to the tried-and-true formula. As another all-out, 100-player battle royale game, then, what sets Crazy Justice out from the crowd? It’s not just its steampunk stylings (a Tesla coil generates a shield at the heart of the map, defining your playing area). Influencing character and weapon design, the meeting of the historic with the futuristic is a large part of the title’s identity. Your character…

“QUICK TO LEARN BUT TRICKY TO MASTER, IT OFFERS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA AUTUMN 2018 / PUB ANGRY MOB GAMES / DEV ANGRY MOB GAMES Following in the footsteps of PS3’s PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, this fighter features online or local skirmishes with up to four players. The majority of the cast is wholly original, composed of seven base characters that become a total of 18 when variants are included, and there are a few special guests on the roster too. The protagonists of indie hits Hyper Light Drifter and Guacamelee! have already been confirmed, and we’re promised at least one more established name will be revealed in a future announcement. FANCY FOOTWORK Brawlout attempts to offer something for everyone, with a variety of fighting styles to…

1 You’re going to spend a lot of time scavenging for scrap. You use this to craft new weapons and mods, and to improve your bike’s speed and durability. 2 This NERO injector enables you to improve aspects of Deacon – we opted to boost his health stats, but stamina is vital for outrunning the Freaker horde. 3 Days Gone is an open world game with a consistent emotional narrative. If Bend can pull this off, it could be one of PS4’s best genre games. 4 Pressing activates Deacon-vision, which enables you to see loot and hidden dangers like traps – you can disarm these and collect them to use for yourself.…

Progress in Rage 2 is built around unlocking new Nanotrite abilities. Every ‘event’ you complete will reward you with the chance to develop your character. Everyone who plays Rage 2 will have their own version of Walker, tailored to how they play the game. Here’s a glimpse of what’s in store……

2013 THE PLAYROOM A collection of augmented reality games showcasing what PS4’s PlayStation Camera and DualShock 4 could do when combined, The Playroom continued the dev’s focus on exploring fresh concepts in new technology. 2015 RUN SACKBOY! RUN! A free game for PS Vita, this was Sony dipping its toe into the free-to-play app market. The game was a fun speed-runner in which Sackboy had to escape a pursuing Negativitron and unlock bundles of costumes. 2018 THE PERSISTENCE Releasing 24 July, this PS VR roguelite first-person horror adventure has the potential to be a system seller for Sony’s VR headset. Fresh ideas, stunning visuals, and perfect VR controls… we’re excited.…

“PES SWINDLED YOU… THE ‘ALGORITHMS’ WERE AGAINST YOU, REMEMBER?” FORMAT PS1 / RELEASED 2001 / PUB KONAMI / DEV KCET AVAILABLE ON PS4? NO “We had a TV and a PlayStation set up in the office that permanently played ISS Pro Evolution Soccer 2. That’s all it did, from nine to five, through deadlines and 9/11. It was the start of a love/hate relationship with Konami’s pitch-perfect football sim that lasts today. Even now this aging Konami classic plays surprisingly well. Booting it up today, there is a phase of adjustment to the low-poly visuals, but once a match starts the pad-memory takes over and I’m tapping one-two passes like a PES pro all over again. While visually this is incomparable to modern PES on PlayStation 4, in terms of…

“THE WONDER OF ODDWORLD IS HOW MUCH PERSONALITY IS INFUSED INTO IT.” FORMAT PS1 / RELEASED 1998 / PUB GT INTERACTIVE / DEV ODDWORLD INHABITANTS / ON PS4? NO, BUT BEING REMADE AS ODDWORLD: SOULSTORM “Both Oddworld games on PlayStation nailed what so few titles can even these days: successfully tying together sublime storytelling and world building with engaging game design. The explicit message of nature versus industrialisation is still a fresh one today. As quirky as it may be, it’s not afraid to take a stance with this fantastic and odd (I had to say it) world. Stylised visuals even make the duology hold up fantastically today, not even counting the recent remake. The second game, Abe’s Exoddus, just narrowly edges out the first. The true wonder of Oddworld…

“IT SOUGHT TO ENLIVEN THE JRPG FORMULA BY WAY OF AN INJECTION OF HORROR.” FORMAT PS2 / RELEASED 2002 / PUB MIDWAY / DEV SACNOTH AVAILABLE ON PS4? DEFINITELY NOT “Welcome to the niche corner. When it comes to what has been most influential to me, in terms of my own tastes and creative work, the answer is clear. Yes, I’m going to talk about a very early PS2 JRPG that hasn’t aged terribly well. Shadow Hearts sees a rag-tag cast (some being artistic license versions of historical figures) fighting across an alternate 20th century Europe and China against ancient arcane forces and eventually cosmic horrors. There’s even a pulpy love story in there, leading to a happy ending you’ll want to earn. Like its flawed but no less entertaining…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB 1C PUBLISHING DEV ANTAGONIST AS This horror adventure tells the story of Karen, a widow who’s moved with her son Espen out to the woods, where she plans to focus on work. She tells us during the opening that she never used to feel attached to her son. Then, without warning, he’s taken from her1 by a mysterious figure in a Viking longboat. Karen pursues, only to find herself lost in a strange forest, chasing clues left behind by Espen. Here the action becomes a mix of fairly linear exploration and awkward stealth horror as you avoid strange beasts.2 Part of the problem is a lack of polish. Graphical glitches and hiccups crop up all over the place, cheapening an otherwise fairly pleasant-looking…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB FREAKY CREATIONS DEV FREAKY CREATIONS This unusual 2D platformer tackles the topic of mental illness in a unique way, illustrating the struggle of the game’s manically-depressed protagonist, Harm, with beautifully hand-painted graphics and brutally difficult gameplay. The dark plot sees Harm attempt to escape his suffering with the help of a magical door in his apartment. Through this, he flies off into another world where his objective is to restore power to the mysterious Origin Gate. The story is primarily told using visual metaphors and vague narrative, leaving the exact meaning and significance of events largely up to each individual player’s interpretation. The exquisite visuals add immensely to the game’s minimal yet moving narrative, and you’ll find yourself rooting for Harm’s victory over…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB DAN & GARY GAMES DEV DAN & GARY GAMES You can definitely respect Daryl for doing its own thing, but whether it’s your thing will be another matter. In this RPGvania, new kid Daryl finds himself at a completely unremarkable, inter-dimensional high school. It doesn’t take long before he finds himself embroiled in a shady textbook ring, fighting transfigured students, and lost in the depths of Water Falls High School…1 all without saying a single word. While Daryl’s muteism is an enjoyable running theme, the rest of the game’s humour fails to shine like its protagonists’ antique footwear. Almost every student you meet feels like a mean-spirited caricature, the humour portraying an insane world occupied by equally strange people, and for this reason…

INjUSTICE 2  jess Kinghorn just wants someone who will put a smile on her face Seeing how much havoc my main girl Harley Quinn can wreak with just a baseball bat and a gun in the face of heroes with laser vision sold me on this sequel. While her moveset is similar to her one in the first game, she does have a few new tricks up her sleeve that I’ve found myself discovering in the nick of time. The recently released Legendary Edition has proven the perfect entry point and I can’t wait to have my arse handed to me by the superheroines joining the cast via previously released DLC. STREET FIGHTER V: ARCADE EDITION Oscar Taylor-Kent tackles the biggest fight of his life: just who is he any…

1 £13.99 FRUIT NINJA VR This VR update of the mobile classic binds a katana to each of the PS Move controllers for some fruit-slashing fun. Thanks to the magic of virtual reality you’re almost amid the action, constantly having to keep an eye on your periphery for rogue mangoes or pineapples. Honestly, it can feel awkward at times and does make avoiding bombs much more difficult. It’s disappointing, too, that you’ve only got one area to chop your lemons and limes in, with the sound design being similarly patchy. The core gameplay of visceral fruit-slicing action remains fun in VR but the presentation leaves much to be desired and ultimately lets it down. The fact you can’t sip a refreshing mojito after all that chopping is also a let…

Oscar Taylor-Kent GAMES EDITOR Oscar spent two days in California playing Black Ops IIII (p32) – he loved the Call Of Duty Free. GAME OF THE MONTH Psychedelica Of The Black Butterfly BEST POST-APOCALYPSE Tokyo Jungle Jess Kinghorn STAFF WRITER Jess reviewed Detroit: Become Human (p82) and it took over her life. She now plans five different lunches “just in case”. GAME OF THE MONTH Forgotton Anne BEST POST-APOCALYPSE Observer Miriam McDonald OPERATIONS EDITOR Mim chose Monopoly for the feature (p66), and has sulked since we told her it’s not ‘on PS4’ if she puts the board on her console. GAME OF THE MONTH Forgotton Anne BEST POST-APOCALYPSE Fallout 4 Milford Coppock ART EDITOR Walking Pantone chart Milf has been on OPM so long he’s taking a well deserved holiday.…

NOT ONLY IS SHE A FEARSOME FIGHTER, SHE’S A BRILLIANT BLACKSMITH TOO. This mainstay Soulcalibur fighter has stepped out of the shadows and been revealed as part of the continuously growing Soulcalibur VI roster. Though, given her secretive ninja skills, perhaps she’s been hiding the whole time? Two weapons are better than one, with Taki wielding her trademark classic Rekki-Maru and Mekki-Maru dual swords for this latest bout. Fu-Ma’s Shadow might be a ninja master, but she’s definitely not afraid to reveal herself for a good old fashioned ass-kicking. She’s a brilliant blacksmith too, having crafted both of her own swords, which is some feat. We have trouble just making breakfast in the office without burning the toast – and the age-old conflict as to whether we should have jam…

E-GLEE Sony’s revealed the big games in its E3 showcase: The Last Of Us Part II, Death Stranding, Ghost Of Tsushima, and Marvel’s Spider-Man. That’ll do nicely, Sony. KRATOS SNAPS God Of War now has a photo mode! We’re grateful Sony didn’t include it in the initial release – can you imagine the spoilers? SPEAR OF DESTINY A puzzle in Destiny 2 – Warmind (see p96) led a group of lore-wrangling Redditors to a cache of gold coins and a spear based on Warmind’s Valkyrie. Now that’s a loot box. VITA VALLEY PS Vita owners can kiss goodbye to their real-world social lives, as Stardew Valley is now available for the handheld. [Has anyone seen Oscar? – ed] MONSTROUS IDEA Proving she’s more than the face of Resi, Milla Jovovich…

The cable why To me the biggest stumbling block to PS VR being a PS4 Pro owner isn’t that the game line up is sketchy, it’s the fact the box doesn’t support 4K to pass through it. So I’m at a constant battle between if I can bothered to unplug the HDMI cables that are tidy behind the telly only to reverse the procedure after I’ve had my fill of VR. Any ideas if Sony are going to release the Mk2 breakout box as a separate purchase for the original owners who have been the guinea pigs since day one? Graham Knapp via email We’ve still got the original PS VR setup in the office, so we’re familiar with the swapping. As far as we know, there are no plans…

MAYBE BLOCKBUSTER GAMES ARE SIMPLY INCAPABLE OF TACKLING POLITICAL SUBJECTS. The criticism that Far Cry 5 lacks any consistent message wouldn’t be a big problem for most triple-A shooters. But the marketing for the game and advance interviews with its dev team promised that the Montana setting would be used to comment on modern America – promises that were not borne out by the finished product. It’s not the only culprit, though. Trailers for last year’s Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus made it look like the ‘what if the Nazis won the war’ premise would be used to examine the rise of far-right views in the modern day. Again, this wasn’t really followed through in the game’s story. Maybe what these examples show is that it’s not possible for a…

“THERE’S NOW A FAR GREATER EMPHASIS ON THE CHARACTERS.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 12 OCT PUB ACTIVISION / DEV TREYARCH The mission statement here is twofold: to respect the legacy painstakingly built up in the preceding Call Of Duty games, but also to be as new and different as possible. “Sometimes we have really cool ideas that we didn’t know how to put in a past game,” Tony Flame, Black Ops IIII’s expert game designer, tells us. And this is the answer, almost tearing up the rulebook to deliver something that just wouldn’t be possible in a more traditional Call Of Duty. Even down to the core multiplayer experience, this is a very different game while still retaining what you’d expect from Black Ops. It doubles down on the tactical…

“FOUR PLAYERS CAN PLAY AT A TIME AND ALL MODES ARE VERY SILLY.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2018 / PUB STUDIO EVIL / DEV STUDIO EVIL As the real world seems increasingly intent to slide further and further into the capitalist dystopia of a Young Adult novel, sometimes you just want to play something silly. Like this. Yes, there’s a world to save and you woke up in a crater with no memory of who you are, but that’s not the main focus here. This action RPG is loosely based on Italian-language comics Scottecs by artist Sio, and sees you fighting across a strange land of magic dogs, sentient cakes, and perilous pumpkins. You should’ve listened to your parents when they told you to eat your vegetables, y’know. The game…

DETACHED FORMAT PS VR / ETA 5 JUL PUB ANSHAR STUDIOS DEV ANSHAR STUDIOS Offering smooth 360-degree movement inside a PS VR sandbox environment, Detached is the space walk you’ll probably never experience in real life. The main draw is a frantic multiplayer mode set in and around a space station, inside an asteroid belt. Tactics come into play as you time weapon cooldowns and make use of ‘boosting tunnels’ to surge past rivals. Taking things more slowly, a single-player mode allows you to bask in the atmospheric Gravity-inspired setting. Adding to the mood is a soundtrack by Mikołai Stroinski (The Witcher 3, The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter). WARRIORS OROCHI 4 FORMAT PS4 / ETA AUTUMN 2018 PUB KOEI TECMO / DEV OMEGA FORCE Warriors All-Stars was a fun game…

Willits says the team at id Software learned a lot about vehicles and the feel of racing in games from the original Rage, “especially coming from a first-person shooter team”. Then they met up with Avalanche: “You know these guys know how to make vehicles really well,” he says. “Every vehicle you see in the game can be jumped into and driven, which is awesome, because there’s some crazy, over-the-top vehicles in Rage 2.” This time around the Avalanche-developed world is much larger than Rage’s, with Mad Max-like vehicle handling, races, and a landscape littered with ramps, secret jumps, and random events. Willits recalls how Rage 2 constantly distracts him: “I have a task, I have a job to do. I have to actually go and evaluate some combat, but…

STUDIO SIE SANTA MONICA STUDIO / ROLE GAME DIRECTOR What’s your favourite PlayStation game of all time, on any system? Wow, this is a really hard question. Picking just one game above all is nearly impossible for me, but if I had to, it would be Metal Gear Solid. I remember being completely blown away with the story, the mechanics and the overall presentation on my first playthrough. What PlayStation series most affected you? I would say that Fumito Ueda’s games (Ico, Shadow Of The Colossus, The Last Guardian) had a gut-punch of an emotional impact on me. Storytelling in its purest form that connects to all of us as humans. What game or series most influences you? The Uncharted series really pushed me as a developer. They managed to…

STUDIO MEDIA MOLECULE / ROLE GAME DIRECTOR What’s your favourite PlayStation game of all time, on any system? It’s a toss up between Katamari Damacy and PaRappa The Rapper. I loved how off-the-wall and silly these two games seemed at the time. I’m a real sucker for novelty! What PlayStation series most affected you? The honest answer has to be LittleBigPlanet. I spent a large proportion of my life making it, then even more time enjoying seeing the community do wonderful things with it! What game or series most influences you? Sorry to be boring, but I’m going to say LittleBigPlanet again! Seeing how that was embraced by the community is the biggest driver for me at the moment in making Dreams, and wanting to give more power to the…

STUDIO BANDAI NAMCO / ROLE PRODUCER – CODE VEIN What’s your favourite PlayStation game of all time, on any system? I like the Monster Hunter, Sengoku Basara, and Dark Souls series. But, I also like adventure games such as Danganronpa and Steins;Gate. What PlayStation series most affected you? It’s Heavy Rain, which was released on PS3. I like the story’s multiple endings, where the result changes depending on the behaviour of the different characters. Also, I like its unique operation method which feels you link with the character’s motions. Before that, I didn’t play overseas adventure games. However, since I played this game, I’ve become a big fan and started playing Beyond: Two Souls, Murdered: Soul Suspect, and Until Dawn. What game or series most influences you? The Dark Souls…

STUDIO BEND / ROLE COMMUNITY MANAGER - DAYS GONE What’s your favourite PlayStation game of all time, on any system? It’s inFamous 2. I come back to this game every year and have so much fun with it! The combat, story, and characters are the best. I’ll never get tired of Zeke’s bad jokes. What PlayStation series most affected you? The Ratchet & Clank Series. Every game in the series is a blast to play and has great humour. Blasting robots and aliens always helped me relax after a long day. What game or series most influences you? Tekken 3. This game helped me break out of my ‘shy’ shell and showed me the world of the FGC. Tekken and fighting games in general are a consistent reminder of how…

Tenno An ancient warrior race that you’re a member of. Most have been kept in suspended animation for generations and are now just waking up to discover a very different, dangerous world. Warframe Highly advanced combat suits that your in-game character controls remotely. You can craft and build your own suits. Most gameplay revolves around these suits, and each one offers a variety of specialised skills. The Lotus A mysterious figure who aids all awakened Tenno during their missions throughout the solar system. She cares very deeply for the Tenno and is on hand to offer advice and support. The Origin System The game’s setting. Ruled in the distant past by the Orokin Empire, now all manner of aliens and creatures want to take control of the system. Orokin Ancestors…

INFO FORMAT PS VITA ETA OUT NOW PUB WOLFGAME DEV SUKEBAN GAMES You’ll certainly spend some of your time with this mixing drinks using five available ingredients, but take the second, “action”, part of VA-11 Hall-A’s motto with a pinch of salt. Under the light bartending mechanics, which are more to punctuate dialogue than actual puzzle-solving, this is essentially a visual novel – albeit one that has its story laid out, where you’re just along for the ride. Fortunately, the writing is incredibly entertaining and the characters you meet make it worthwhile. From pervy tabloid editors to android pop idols to talking dogs,1 Sukeban has built an intriguing dystopian vision in which your cute and sarcastic bartender Jill is merely on the periphery. You might overhear conspiracies and speak to…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB RISING STAR GAMES DEV SUPERGONK Trailblazers is presented like Jet Set Radio in hovercars, complete with ultra-funky soundtrack, character soundbites over text dialogue that tells the daft story, and cel-shaded cars racing around larger-than-life racetracks. At the core of the colourful presentation is the game’s big gimmick: the cars lay paint on the track. Drive over your colour and you’ll go faster; chain boosts and you can increase your top speed temporarily. So if you and your team can get an unbroken line of colour around the whole track, you can literally boost all the way to the end. Unfortunately, this core mechanic doesn’t quite fulfil its potential for three reasons. First, colour only speeds you up – there’s no penalty for driving…

INFO FORMAT PS VITA ETA OUT NOW PUB AKSYS GAMES DEV OTOMATE / IDEA FACTORY An oppressive, labyrinthine mansion; a riveting, spiralling story with multiple outcomes; and more than a few handsome anime boys – Psychedelica Of The Black Butterfly has all the features you expect in a visual novel that spans both the mystery and otome genres.1 You wake up without your memories in a creepy mansion, hunted by strange beasts. You meet others in the same situation, and band together for safety and to unravel the mansion’s mystery by collecting kaleidoscope shards from the creatures. The story’s main route is tight and not too long. Avoiding bad endings, you’ll be able to reach the proper resolution to the narrative fairly easily. You can easily revisit any wrong turnings…

It seemed only fitting that Quantic Dream’s BEYOND: TWO SOULS would lead the charge on PS Plus ahead of Detroit: Become Human’s May release, a sort of supernatural appetiser to the firm’s latest sci-fi main course. Featuring performances from big names Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe, interactive movie Beyond centred on Jodie, a young woman inextricably linked to a supernatural force called Aiden. You followed her throughout her life, from a young girl to a woman on the run. If you couldn’t wait to play Quantic Dream’s latest, this sorted your interactive storytelling craving right out. Joining Jodie was RAYMAN LEGENDS. This bright, colourful platformer was well received and still worth jumping into. A continuation of Origins, Rayman woke up after an extended nap to learn that the land’s princesses…

INFO FORMAT PS4 PUB SONY DEV SONY SAN DIEGO REVIEW #149, 8/10 Online issues have been The Show’s Achilles heel in recent years, and it’s something the developer, Sony San Diego, is well aware of – hence the surprising removal of online Franchise mode, in a controversial-yet-necessary attempt to stabilise the on-pitch action. Sadly, the end result remains inconsistent. Pitch speed, for instance, has been slowed slightly, which makes breaking balls such as splitters very difficult to read, and occasional latency issues remain: an obvious problem in a sport where instantaneous reactions are so often key. Online MLB The Show 18 is still well worth a swing, particularly if you can overlook its shortfalls. That said, offline Franchise is still its best mode to play. VERDICT Still among the offline…

OVERWATCH – PINK MERCY SKIN It’s all for a good cause! A large chunk of the proceeds from this stylish pink Mercy skin’s proceeds goes to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). It’s always nice to see a huge success like Overwatch putting something back. MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF WAR – THE DESOLATION OF MORDOR Take the role of Baranor, Minas Ithil’s Captain Of The Tower, as he takes the fight to Mordor’s Eastern deserts. The expansion also comes with side missions revolving around Dwarven hunter Torvin’s pursuit of were-wyrms. FINAL FANTASY XIV: STORMBLOOD – UNDER THE MOONLIGHT As usual, FFXIV’s latest patch (4.3) brings a wealth of content across the board. It adds new main scenario quests to continue the story, FFXII’s Pharos lighthouse appears as an alliance raid, and…

The grand dame of games may be going from strength to strength on PS4, but Ms Croft has been absent from the big screen since Angelina Jolie hung up her twin pistols back in 2003 with The Cradle Of Life. This latest reboot, based heavily on Crystal Dynamics’ own 2013 reinvention, is among the best videogame movies yet… a phrase which doesn’t mean much when you consider the competition. Alicia Vikander (The Man From UNCLE, Jason Bourne) stars as the nascent tomb raider. Her origins tweaked, Croft starts the film as an annoying bike courier in Shoreditch. When her father (Dominic West) is declared legally dead, a series of clues leads Lara halfway round the world to the mysterious island of Yamatai, where Trinity seek the tomb of Empress Himiko.…

1 “DON’T TELL ME NOT TO HAVE A COW – I’M A CATTLE RANCHER NOW. THEY’RE MY LIVELIHOOD.” 2 “YOU CAN CALL IN A POLTERGEIST TO SCARE EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE WITLESS, CAUSE AN EARTHQUAKE, START FIRES…” 3 “ITS DESIGN DOCUMENTS HAVE BEEN EXCAVATED FROM DARKEST 2001, AND THEN BEEN LAVISHED WITH THE HIGHEST PRODUCTION VALUES 2013 CAN MUSTER.” 4 “IF YOU MISSED THIS THE FIRST TIME OUT OR ARE KEEN TO RELIVE THE VIOLENCE, YOU’LL FIND A BIG-BUDGET RAY HARRYHAUSEN GONE BLOODY.”…

1 UNCHARTED 4: A THIEF’S END Nathan Drake’s swansong is a daring evolution. It combines series-defining set-pieces, quietly devastating storytelling beats, and sprawling levels that make you feel like a real-life explorer. This franchise finale retains its signature charm, with the wisecracks flowing as fast as the bullets, while the new characters each justify their inclusion. With an astonishing attention to detail, it’s Naughty Dog’s best yet. 2 GOD OF WAR A departure in some ways but a resounding return in others, Kratos is back with a son and a ruddy big axe. Taking the legend from Greek to Norse mythology, this entry brings a lot to the table while improving on what was core to the earlier series’ identity. 3 THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT GAME OF THE YEAR…

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

“THE STRANGE BRIGADE ARE THE ONLY ONES WILLING TO TAKE ON THE WITCH QUEEN SETEKI AND HER UNDEAD HORDES.” With all the bombast of a 1930s radio drama, Strange Brigade is a co-op adventure with up to four players exploring a mythologised Egypt. Your four heroes find themselves at odds with the witch Queen Seteki. Indeed, the Strange Brigade are the only ones willing to take her on. Rebellion has announced the game will launch on 28 August, and given us more details. You explore tombs and search for treasure alone or with three friends online as any member of the titular special ops unit. Each character has their own specialisations which allow them to access specific areas and unleash unique moves. As you inflict damage on your enemies, an…

“GIVE ME A NEW BLUEPOINT-DEVELOPED REMAKE OF TIMESPLITTERS.” We know the big hitters like The Last Of Us Part II will be soaking up the column inches come June, so I’m keen to see what Bluepoint Games can conjure up. The dev has stated it’s working on a remake “bigger than Shadow Of The Colossus” – what could it be? Is there anything more iconic than that game, other than Ico? That classic aside, I’d like to see the studio tackle a remake of TimeSplitters. The Free-Radical-developed FPS was a PS2 exclusive at launch and one of PlayStation’s finest shooters. A 4K remake retaining couchplay would turn heads. Still, as a backup a remade Ico would suffice. “WHETHER IT’S PRAISING THE SUN OR FEARING THE OLD BLOOD, I WANT MORE…

@KHINSIDER Playstation Magazine have called out Donald and Goofy as being cowards and we don’t know how to feel...... #KingdomHearts @HOLLIEPATTISON Amazing double page spread for The Spectrum Retreat in this month’s @OPM_UK - congrats @ RealEntropy! @RAYERAYECHAN Awesome cover this month – so many games in one mag that I’m already excited about! @TOADSANIME Some neat Tomb Raider coasters are bundled in with @OPM_UK’s latest issue. @FRONTASTIC ”Coaster” is a generous term, they’re basically novelty beer mats. But let it never be said I can’t be easily swayed into a Lara-themed purchase... [We like beer… – ed] @TANKSTUFFER The game is a turd @NATACLYSM Reading @OPM_UK 148 totally agreeing with Jess Kinghorn “Couch Co-op should make a comeback” #couchcoop #coop #splitscreen @D3J08 The best stories are the ones that…

“HOW MUCH MORE MOMENTUM MIGHT FAR CRY 5’S STORY HAVE HAD IF THE GAME DICTATED THE PACE INSTEAD OF THE PLAYER?” There’ll always be Luddites calling for a return to the ‘old ways’ in the face of any technological or cultural advancement – it’s human nature. Never mind that the old ways involved children up chimneys and asbestos roofing. Old is familiar. Old is comforting. But when I say I want a return to corridor shooters, I don’t want to go backwards. I want games to keep moving forwards. And as Far Cry 5 recently demonstrated, they’re not doing so under the open world design template that’s proven so dominant throughout the last generation. That’s no slight on Ubisoft Montreal’s latest in a specific sense: it does everything you could…

1 BIOSHOCK INFINITE The climax to Booker and Elizabeth’s journey is so emotionally and thematically loaded, just know it can’t be summed up in 50-odd words. Still, we’ll give it a go. At the end of Infinite, DeWitt willingly lets himself be drowned by multiple versions of his daughter to prevent his evil alter ego, Comstock, from existing. 2 BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT Poison Ivy really is a soft touch at heart. Though the daffodil-lover acts as the Big Bad in Arkham Asylum, she eventually becomes a reluctant ally of the Bat. In Arkham Knight, she selflessly transfers her life force to power her plants, thus saving Gotham from Scarecrow’s fear toxin. 3 GOD OF WAR II In case it needs saying, Kratos is the most almighty arse in PlayStation history.…

1 Ajax packs grenades, and can pull up a mean shield to push forwards through a firefight. Handy if you’re getting held back by the enemy, and a co-op must. 2 Battery is the demolitions expert, and is all about controlling areas with clever use of explosions. Call on him to rearrange the scenery. 3 Firebreak can, as the name suggests, break things, with fire. Oh, and also strain really hard to set things on fire through cover. Best in the open. 4 Seraph has a big powerful pistol, but she shines the most when setting spawn points, ensuring you can keep the pressure on your enemy.…

SHINING RESONANCE REFRAIN: DRACONIC LAUNCH EDITION After a ‘Halloween’ joke too far this Goth princess shows you the pointy end of her lance. You find yourself in a drab RPG purgatory. It’s grindin’ time… FORMAT PS4 ETA 10 JUL SOULCALIBUR VI A game of high-stakes Gwent goes awry and Geralt finds himself in an all-or-nothing final play. The stakes? His very reality. Then there’s a weird digression with swords but we won’t get into that. FORMAT PS4 ETA TBC JURASSIC WORLD EVOLUTION Who’s a clever girl then? Led by an enthusiastic T-rex, in this educational puzzler you’ll learn all about the differences between the Jurassic, Triassic and Cretaceous periods. FORMAT PS4 ETA 3 JUL…

1 The enemy ship periodically drops bombs onto your ship, meaning someone will need to scrabble around to throw it into space before it blows. 2 One ship is split in two, the halves connected only by a teleporter, and without enough tools to go around. Communication is key to survival here. 3 No fire extinguishers to be found? Your only option may be to open your ship doors to the chilly void of space to stop the flames. Be careful. 4 To survive intermittent solar flares, the whole crew must drop whatever they’re doing and dash to the safe room, closing the door in time.…

“THINK OF IT AS AN UNCHARTED-STYLE ADVENTURE.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2019 PUB SONY / DEV SONY BEND Despite the urge to musk up every time we hear the name Deacon St. John, Sony’s latest hero is not an aftershave. He is, however, something a little different for PS4 – a Generation X protagonist. St. John has a whiff of teen spirit with notes of bike grease and despair. His gruff delivery is the flip side to the Drakes’ comedic cheek. It’s important to click with Deacon as you’ll be spending a long time in his company. We’re told to think of Days Gone as an Uncharted-style adventure, one that’s tightly woven with engaging characters and thrilling set-pieces. It just happens to take place in a large open world, a…

“DRAGS RAGE THROUGH A PANTONE COLOUR CHART AND SPITS OUT A SHOOTER TO MAKE YOU SMILE.” Holding the trigger down, a punk is jiggling against a graffiti-scrawled wall as every shot lands with a satisfying thud. The screen fills with the orange and pink flashes of muzzle fire and between the pit-a-pat of gunfire and breaking concrete we can hear our enemy giggling – or is he screaming? No, he’s definitely laughing. Or is it us? If the original Rage was Mad Max 2, Rage 2 is Beyond Thunderdome crushed into Fury Road. It’s Tina Turner bellowing a power ballad as the world burns, inside a rainbow. Though it is a sequel to the original Rage – which looked stunning, and promised the open world but in the end delivered…

Founded in 2012, Firesprite rose from the ashes of WipEout developer SCE Studio Liverpool, one of the best-respected studios in the games industry. Collectively, the key staff have worked on games for every Sony console since the original PlayStation. As the team put the finishing touches on impressive-looking PS VR shooter The Persistence, releasing 24 July, we couldn’t resist catching up with the producers, artists, and programmers who have created some of our favourite PlayStation games to discuss their favourite PlayStation memories. OPM: What are your earliest memories of the original PlayStation era? Stuart Tilley (game director, WipEout 2048; senior producer, Killzone 2): I was working at an independent dev [Attention To Detail] at the time on games like Battlemorph, which was an Atari Jaguar CD launch title. I was…

NAME: THOMAS GOURLAY GAME: RATCHET & CLANK 3 As I played it I didn‘t even know the story, but it didn’t matter. I played an acrobatic, explosive character called Ratchet and an intelligent, mature robot called Clank. These characters seeped into my life. There were creatures I could defeat, but I spent most of my time drawing them. And bolts and weapons to collect. This is the game that defined me growing up. And, weirdly enough, my role model as I now want to study Astronomy and Engineering. To this day, Ratchet & Clank 3 is my favourite game. NAME: AUSTIN WAKEFIELD GAME: UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES My favourite PlayStation game of all time is definitely Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. I grew up watching action/ adventure movies, especially Indiana Jones,…

STUDIO BANDAI NAMCO / ROLE GAME PRODUCER – TEKKEN 7 & SOULCALIBUR VI What’s your favourite PlayStation game of all time, on any system? That’s a very difficult question. I’ve played many games since joining the game industry, and I ended up getting really into some games even though I was just planning to check them out for business. Recalling my school days when I was purely enthusiastic about a game itself, the first Ridge Racer was my favourite game that I played the most back on PlayStation. I didn’t pay much attention to the Namco logo on the game, but it might have inspired me to unknowingly to enter this company. What PlayStation series most affected you? My memory is too vague for a detailed answer to this question,…

STUDIO GUERRILLA GAMES / ROLE GAME DIRECTOR What’s your favourite PlayStation game of all time, on any system? Metal Gear Solid on the PlayStation 1 is my favourite. When it released this game was groundbreaking in terms of its cinematic presentation. But it did so much more; the stealth action was superb and the story was gripping and serious, but also playfully injected with lighthearted moments. And then there were these truly unbelievable gameplay moments like the fight with Psycho Mantis. Somehow, during this boss battle, the game managed to escape from my TV and enter my living room, which was scary and mind-blowing at the same time! To this day I still remember the exact details of my surroundings at the moment that this happened, as it made such…

STUDIO SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE / ROLE QA LEAD – BLOOD & TRUTH What’s your favourite PlayStation game of all time, on any system? If I had to pick, it would probably be Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2). For me this was the best Metal Gear game with an incredible story, protagonist, bosses, and theme song. No other game lets you capture, and then eat, a boss’ pet parrot mid-fight. Also the ending. Bloodborne (PS4), Shadow Of The Colossus (PS2), and Persona 4 (PS Vita) have to get honourable mentions. What PlayStation series most affected you? It has to be the Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy VII was the reason I got a PlayStation and was also the first JRPG I played. It was my first time experiencing…

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 BANDAI NAMCO DEV A+ GAMES As a spin-off from an anime series, this thankfully captures a lot of the show’s charming spirit, and all the best bits are where it feels closest to the show. Set within the grounds of Luna Nova Magical Academy at the beginning of the summer holiday, Akko1 and her friends discover a hidden chamber housing a mysterious clock in the school library. After messing around with it for a while, she sends the whole day into a time loop that only they can notice – with the day’s events repeating over and over (and over). The only way to fix the magical timepiece is to journey out to dungeons accessed by using special keys. Naturally, this takes the…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB FULLBRIGHT DEV FULLBRIGHT Far into the future, corporations have rapidly expanded to the point of having more sway over people’s lives than true nation states. Still looking to expand their grasp even further, this necessitates orbital space station workers. After an incident on just such a station, Tacoma, you’re tasked with going in and securing some high-grade AI hardware for the Venturis Corporation in the original crew’s absence. The station itself presents a well-realised tactile world, brought to life by the detritus of everyday life you interact with as well as excellent sound design and voice work. The old crew’s day-to-day-doings were constantly recorded and from these recoverable files you’re able to piece together what happened.1 This does place you in the awkward…

INFO FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB UKIYO PUBLISHING DEV ROCKETCAT GAMES / MADGARDEN This cross-country, stateside tour looks pretty sweet at first glance. However, as with every road trip, it’s your companions who make or break the randomly generated RPG work. Let me tell you one from the road: I pick up a sweet little puppy dog for company during a supply run and soon encounter a grumpy, anthropomorphised ginger tabby. He tells me he hates Mondays and I figure “Right on! What’s the worst that could happen if I bring him along?” After days of grumbling on the road, he turns to me, takes off his head and says, “THIS IS WHY I HATE MONDAYS.” We’re then plunged into a nightmare zombie siege that wipes out my entire…

INFO FORMAT PS4 PUB UBISOFT DEV UBISOFT MONTREAL REVIEW #149, 8/10 Hope County may act as a superb setting for gleeful open-world chaos, but there’s one thing the Montana sandbox sorely lacks… Yetis. Thankfully, the shooter’s brilliantly free-form Arcade mode diligently picks up the sasquatch slack. An impressively versatile combination of robust map editor, community challenges, and deathmatch skirmishes, it’s an alluring side distraction that dramatically increases Far Cry 5’s lifespan. Ubisoft has given you the tools to create maps in the madcap shoot-‘em-up series for years now, and Far Cry Arcade is easily the most impressive creation suite yet. There are so many variables you can throw into the mix – enemy types, differing objectives, varied environments – you could easily pick user-created levels at random and have a…

INFO FORMAT PS4 PUB MUSE GAMES DEV MUSE GAMES REVIEW N/A Looking for multiplayer action that’s truly co-operative? Gun Of Icarus Alliance’s strategic and stoutly team-based airship combat will undoubtedly float your boat. Teams of four players control a steampunk-style zeppelin to complete objectives or go head-to-head against other players. Each player has a distinct role on the ship: the captain steers the vessel, the gunners man the turrets, and the engineers deal with repairs. Fail to work as a cohesive unit and you’ll meet the same fate as a certain mythological Greek aviator. While it’s more enjoyable, and easier, to play with a group of mic’d-up mates, preset battle orders make it relatively straightforward to communicate tactics with strangers if you happen to be flying solo. VERDICT A delightfully…

DUNGEONS AND DUCT TAPE Prison break game The Escapists 2 kicks things about as old school as they can get in this medieval map where you must escape a dungeon. INFINITY WAR LEVEL PACK Somehow Thanos’ head is even blockier in this Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 level pack based on the film, where you get to play the purple daddy himself. VAYNE Joining the Dissidia Final Fantasy NT roster in this FF crossover is FFXII’s Vayne Carudas Solidor (he’ll get mad if you get it wrong),son of Archadia’s Emperor, and bad dude. DMC DUAL GUNS GESTURE While Dante’s sword and armour were timed free additions to hunt-‘em-up Monster Hunter: World, the dual guns gesture completes the look. HUNTERS LAKE This Euro Fishing DLC features a full eight acres of…

BLACK PANTHER 11 JUN A milestone mainstream blockbuster which, in Michael B Jordan’s Erik Killmonger, features the MCU’s best villain yet. Wakanda forever! WINCHESTER 13 JUN Helen Mirren makes a rare foray into horror with this dismal ghost story about an heiress haunted by the victims of the Winchester repeating rifle. SWEET COUNTRY 13 JUN All this Red Dead Redemption II talk got you in the mood for six shooters? Outback western Sweet Country won’t disappoint. PHANTOM THREAD 18 JUN The world’s greatest living actor, Daniel Day-Lewis, stars as a celebrated dressmaker whose life is upended by a new muse. THE SHAPE OF WATER 25 JUN Hideo Kojima’s BFF Guillermo del Toro won Best Director and Best Picture at this year’s Oscars for his dark fairytale romance. I, TONYA 25…

INFO PUB BANDAI NAMCO DEV FROMSOFTWARE PRODUCTIONS RELEASED 2011, PS3 GET IT NOW AMAZON, £18.99 NEED TO KNOW 1 Souls’ bonfires are made up from undead ashes. 2 Our sister mag Edge retroactively gave it 10/10. 3 The PS4 version increases the player cap to 6. “FROM HAS NEVER TOPPED THE SHEER COHESION OF THIS LAYERED WORLD.” What a difference a slay makes. The gap between succeeding as a predator in FromSoftware’s sublime sequel, or ending up as pitiful prey, is so razor-thin it makes those “six inches” Pacino bangs on about in Any Given Sunday look wider than the Grand Canyon. A fraction’s hesitation here and a perfect parry there are separated by tiny measures, and no game balances such reactive, yet somehow controlled, fury quite like Dark Souls.…

INFO PUB WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT DEV MONOLITH PRODUCTIONS RELEASED OCTOBER 2017 GET IT NOW PS STORE, £54.99 WHAT? An Elven ghost revives a corpse and uses it like a puppet for parkour and Urukbashing. Again. Spectral manipulation aside, it’s basically Assassin’s Creed with extra strategy layers in the Tolkien-verse. WHO? Former games editor Phil Iwaniuk keeps a list of the five best Lords, which he constantly revises. Currently it’s: Rings, Dance, Flies, Lucan, Of War. No-one knows why. Believe me, it isn’t that I don’t want to saunter about in Middle-earth wielding incredibly screenshotfriendly powers, or that I don’t care about dissembling the Dark Lord Sauron’s wicked apparatus of wickedness. I’m all for it: that Sauron’s a real jerk. It’s not that I don’t love LOTR. It’s not even…

PICK #1 LITTLE NIGHTMARES Ian Dean looks poor fashion choices in the eyeball and makes a run for the exit Alone in the dark with only your yellow rain mac for company, Tarsier’s platform adventure piles on the atmosphere. But there are more horrors in store than poor fashion sense, as your escape from The Maw will require dextrous platforming and a keen puzzle-mind. This unique horror takes a few missteps but stands as one of PS4’s most engrossing, and charming, frighteners. PICK #2 UNTIL DAWN Oscar Taylor-Kent is making bad decisions, and has been for years if we’re honest Have you ever been watching a horror movie where some teens make all the wrong decisions, and found yourself shouting at them derisively? Ever wondered what it’d be like if…

PS Vita has a huge library of great original content waiting for your portable-hungry fingertips, but it’s good to remember that the tiny console also has its pulse firmly on PlayStation’s rich history. Digital PSP titles offer some great gaming moments; PSone Classics let you take many masterpieces on the go (it’s the best way to play Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night); and a sprinkling of PS2 remasters make Vita perhaps the most well-rounded console for fans of PlayStation’s golden greats.…