Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2020 i PLAY

“[HAPTIC FEEDBACK] CAN BRING AN EXTRA DIMENSION.” Pitched as a spiritual successor to PC-only series SWAT, and borrowing from more modern titles like Rainbow Six Siege, Ready Or Not is a tactical shooter where killing isn’t your only option. Resolving conflict non-lethally is your priority and a methodical approach is encouraged. From flashbangs to zip-lock cuffs, you’re well stocked to face whatever is thrown at you. Though, as a SWAT operative in a dark and twisted version of the United States, you’re packing lethal tools as well as less harmful options. With a strong focus on realism, planning your loadout before you set out is key and, in multiplayer, discussing your approach with your squadmates ahead of time is critical. Looking at the floor plan, does it make sense to…

Developer Derek Yu took to the PlayStation blog to offer an update on the sequel to much-loved 2D platformer Spelunky. There’s plenty more treasure for the tiny cave explorer to excavate this time around, as well as unfamiliar faces to encounter and extra items to grab. This time Yu and his team at Mossmouth want to develop “that feeling of a dynamic, living world that has been our goal since day one.” Hand-in-hand with that is the aim “to make each run feel even more like a personalised adventure”, hence all those new characters and items to encourage the sort of unplanned, emergent narratives every Spelunky player just loves to tell you all about. Yu explains, “We want to keep supporting that kind of creativity by adding more variety to…

Mixing card-battling, deck-building, turn-based strategy with a Superhot visual style, developer Ground Shatter’s new game can’t fail to catch the eye. “YOUR DECK OF CARDS DETAILS THE MOVES YOU CAN PERFORM.” Fights In Tight Spaces is exactly that, a series of short tactical fights inside small rooms, delivered in a crunching visual style. At the bottom of the screen is your deck of cards detailing the attacks, defences, and moves your well-dressed brawler can perform. Which cards you choose to play, and when, will dictate the success of your attacks. Stringing together moves, such as Grapple with Heavy Strike, may give you Momentum, and using this can turn fights around. Cards have buffs offering Momentum, Damage, and Distance points, and combining cards can offer round-winning upgrades. There’s more to the…

1 Well, it was a good run while it lasted. Not to fear, we’re back in the saloon. Shame the barman’s not one for conversation. He’s more the cryptic clues type. 2 Straight to the armoury and our two randomised guns, then. The empty pedestals all around us represent all the weapons we’ve yet to find. 3 We’re off! And… we’re surrounded on all sides. We’re going to roll out of the way of those dogs before sliding behind cover to take out the riflemen. 4 How was that for a workout? But it’s ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’ as in the next area we face off against… well, we’re not sure what to call this.…

“YOU NEED TO […] VISUALISE THE 3D PATH OF DESTRUCTION IN YOUR MIND.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA TBC / PUB TBC / DEV THE ASTRONAUTS Developer The Astronauts admits it’s drawing from the same pool of inspiration as FromSoftware’s Souls series. However, while it may be asking many of the same questions (such as ‘How do you like your punishment?’), it’s coming up with different answers for this dark fantasy shooter. What will feel familiar to soulsborne fans are an indirect approach to storytelling, and action that presents a challenge yet remains fair. Studio head Adrian Chmielarz clarified in a recent development blog post, “There will be soulsborne-like sections in the game that rely on your mastery of the encounters but a lot of the game will be dynamic and…

1 Duran is a mercenary who was orphaned when the Dragon Emperor killed his father. He has beef with the Crimson Wizard after the baddie attacked his home. 2 Hawkeye is a member of the noble Thieves’ Guild. The witch Isabella frames him for the murder of his friend Eagle, forcing him to flee his homeland. 3 Kevin is prince of Ferolia, the kingdom of the Beast Men. He wants to hunt down Goremand to avenge his best friend and avert the invasion of a human kingdom. 4 The Crimson Wizard has exerted his dark influence over Angela’s mother and left Duran for dead. And he’s only one part of your party’s problems……

Pub Gearbox Publishing Dev Counterplay Games ETA Winter Many people were taken by surprise when Counterplay Games revealed its PS5-bound co-op, action roleplaying ‘loot-slasher’ at the Video Game Awards in December 2019. After months of speculation following the reveal of PS5’s core specs, here was the first confirmed game running on next-gen hardware. Better still, Godfall is only releasing on next-gen hardware and is console-exclusive to PS5. As we write, there’s no PS4 version or cross-gen up-patching, this one’s genuinely tailored to run only on Sony’s new console. Playing like a blend of ideas from this generation but given a glittering, ray-traced uplift, Godfall is one of those launch titles that feel familiar but new all at once. The developer has referenced Monster Hunter: World in terms of gameplay, and…

Pub Rebellion Dev Rebellion ETA TBC You already know we love the Sniper Elite series (and sister shooter Zombie Army). What’s not to love about X-ray vision and bone-cracking bullets? And what better way to evolve the series than with new hardware allowing for even gorier kills? If there’s one question we have about the tech underneath PS5’s hood it’s simply this: how many fragments will we be able to shatter a skull into? But turn that sniper scope back on us instead of the enemy and you’ll see a pleasing warm glow emanating from our fleshy brains. The crunchy gore of Sniper Elite might be a delight, but it’s far from the only thing going for the series. It’s a thinking person’s game too. Not only does it capture…

Pub Ubisoft Dev Ubisoft Toronto ETA TBC Five Ubisoft titles debuting at some point during the company’s next fiscal year will be coming to PS5, with this Brexit-’em-up leading the charge. CEO Yves Guillemot told all in a recent conference call with investors, saying, “When you come early on the next generation of consoles, you can sell your games for a long time. So we are very happy to be close to the launch of [PS5] because it’s going to benefit all the games we launch.” While we’re already living the Brexit nightmare/fantasy (take your pick) in merrie olde England, we’re hoping there will be more than a few degrees of separation between our mundane reality and this dystopic vision. We can only hope for face masks as fashionable as…

Pub Ubisoft Dev Ubisoft Montreal ETA Oct will see you take on the role of one of 21 Operators from Siege. Leaked details suggest San Francisco and New York as locations. Given the franchise it’s is spun from, tactical play will be paramount, with custom loadouts, weapon mods, and classes (Assault, Recon, and Support) enabling your squad to best the parasitic zombies. Missions called Sabotage, Escort, Disruption, and Hunt show the game isn’t abandoning its online multiplayer roots. Quarantine is coming to PS5 as well as PS4, suggesting we’ll get a spruced-up visual feast for our next-gen console, but won’t leave our current-gen pals behind. While Rainbow Six Siege is into its fifth year and going so strong we expect it’ll be bringing cross-gen multiplayer to PS5, this co-op spin-off…

Pub Bethesda Dev Bethesda Game Studios ETA TBC What if the creators of the epic fantasy RPG series The Elder Scrolls made a – get this – sci-fi RPG. Huh? What do you mean Fallout already exists? Well, what if it were even more sci-fi? Like in the future? Like in space? Now we’re talking. Bethesda has only given us a little teaser of Starfield, but we’ve been yearning for a great space RPG all this generation (especially as the single Mass Effect offering this gen was less than stellar). At a glance, a futuristic RPG from Bethesda might seem like business as usual, but the space setting could be a big departure for the studio. It’s always excelled at giving us large areas filled with interesting landmarks to poke…

Make love not Warzone… actually, screw that. You should do both! Call Of Duty’s battle royale offering has been out in the wild for a while now and the early results are impressive. Last year’s Modern Warfare may have been a successful reshuffle for a series in need of a makeover, yet Warzone goes one further: it leans on the gigantic shoulders of Apex Legends, Fortnite, and PUBG while making some key improvements in the process. The numbers are extraordinary. Though Warzone’s free-to-play status has naturally made it more accessible to a larger number of PS4 owners than a traditional full-priced game, the pull of this Modern Warfare companion piece shouldn’t be underestimated. Six million players within its first 24 hours. A ludicrous 15 million after just 24 hours on…

WHAT YOU DO IN… NIOH 2 STAT PACK 3 Types of guardian spirit (feral, brute, and phantom) that dictate your yokai transformation. 2 Types of grave where you can use ochoko cups to summon the AI ‘ghost’ of another player. 9 Different weapon types to master – though you can stick to levelling up your favourite one. 8 Is the maximum healing elixirs you can carry at once, refilling them from your store at shrines. MULTIPL AYER While the game’s still a challenge, summoning friends makes things more manageable. Just put your cups in a shrine and it will matchmake you as you play, as long as you don’t enter a boss battle first. The spirit of your comrade will join in with you. HOW TO… GET GOODIES…

WHAT YOU DO IN… PERSONA 5 ROYAL ALSO ON PLAYSTATION VITA Sitting in front of the TV to play a 100-hour-long JRPG is quite the commitment. Thanks to PS4 Remote Play, you can do that from a larger selection of positions. Royal looks great on the handheld, and controls with minimal delay – perfect for some bedtime grinding. HOW TO… STAY IN PALACES LONGER All the Phantom Thieves’ targets now have three Will seeds hidden inside them. Once collected, these fuse together to form a skill-granting accessory. They also give you an SP boost when collected, meaning you can spend more time in the palace. LOVING/ HATING FRIENDS FOREVER Our in-game calendars feel busier than ever as we try to get close to our favourite characters…

This is a difficult game to talk about. Not because it is, from start to finish, a metaphor for depression; but because it’s a metaphor for depression that’s uncomfortable to play for (mostly) the wrong reasons. Such a shame, too, because it does occasionally do some interesting or unique with the ideas on offer. You explore a purposefully melancholy and oppressive environment in first person, now and again stumbling across a puzzle. Elements of the design – huge and mysterious structures, large open spaces with shadows in the distance, a pervading sense of loneliness – hold echoes of Shadow Of The Colossus. The similarities with Ueda’s masterpiece stop there, however. As we wander around the oddly angular environment, we regularly find – especially when walking uphill – that we’re brought…

WHAT YOU DO IN… DOOM ETERNAL STAT PACK 20 Hours to finish the campaign (this will increase depending on your chosen difficulty). 1 Life, ie permadeath, if you go for top difficulty. Definitely not for beginners! 8 Standard weapons, not including flamethrower or chainsaw – or a few secret ones. 3 Bosses. Don’t be fooled into thinking there are more; certain enemy types return. MULTIPL AYER Longevity goes beyond revisiting levels thanks to the online Battle mode. Offering five playable demons and six maps, it’s still Slayer versus hellspawn, but the powerful demons are player-controlled. Watch for our full impressions next issue. LOVING/ HATING GET AHEAD There’s a wry sense of humour throughout, which makes the gore part of the game’s distinct personality rather than off-putting. TAKE A…

As if we don’t all stare at our screens too much, Hidden Through Time asks you to stare even harder. A hidden object game more in the vein of Where’s Wally than Artifex Mundi’s more adventure-game-lite efforts, you’re presented with various ‘historical’ scenes and a selection of objects to find. The four time periods (Stone Age, Egypt, Middle Ages, and Western) are tropey and full of fantastical elements, like goblins ransacking castles and cavemen hunting dinosaurs. There’s a small amount of interactivity to each scene. Tapping an object often plays a sound effect, you can remove roofs to peer inside houses, and some characters move around or sway in place. Sometimes this is fun, like looking inside the Great Pyramid, but sometimes it can be hard to pick out what’s…

While this updated version of French Bread’s lovingly pixellated, technical fighter might have refreshed gameplay (it’s available as a DLC update as well as a full-price release), it’s also refreshed the player base. This niche fighting game has its devotees, but finding a match might take a while. When you do get one you’ll pray what you learned in training mode took hold, as you’ll probably be battered with combos. Even so, the connection even with players far away feels smooth, meaning blame for the battering lies at your own feet. It also means you can play with pals online fairly easily. The limited online player base might make local sessions with buds the more viable option, but when you can find a match, you’ll have a good time. VERDICT…

“WE’RE SO USED TO SEEING HUMANS THAT EVEN THE SMALLEST MISTAKE IN PROPORTIONS IS QUICKLY NOTICED.” Welcome back, Dreamer! This tutorial will be a bit different to previous ones, as it will be less of a step-by-step walkthrough and more of a general talk about how you can sculpt characters in Dreams, starting with your basic idea and then blocking it out. Characters are, at least in my opinion, more challenging to create than environments. Human or human-like characters are especially difficult to get right. We’re so used to seeing humans every day that even the smallest mistake in proportions or anatomy is quickly noticed, even by people who aren’t used to critiquing artwork. The tutorial isn’t about the mechanics of using the puppet in Dreams, but about sculpting a…

PATHOLOGIC 2 – THE MARBLE NEST Play for a single day (the main game lasts 12) of the mysterious plague outbreak as Dr Daniil Dankovsky, ‘the bachelor’. Taking place alongside the main investigation of Haruspex, you get a different perspective on the doomed town. DEAD BY DAYLIGHT – CHAINS OF HATE Things get spooky out west in this new chapter. Dead Dawg Saloon is the new map, a wild west ghost town, and the killer on the hunt is resurrected bounty hunter The Deathslinger. Can you survive as ‘modern-day cowboy’ Zarina Kassir? MISTOVER – DR FAUST’S OTHERWORLDLY ADVENTURE Both “comedy” and “lunacy” are promised in this odd DLC that adds Guilty Gear’s bizarre, bag-wearing serial killer surgeon to the roguelike RPG. The boss of his own forest dungeon, he throws…

After Westworld’s second season, which (spoiler alert!) sent half the Hosts to robot heaven, season three is like a new show. Venturing beyond the boundaries of the park, if the first two seasons felt like a sci-fi Red Dead Redemption, the latest batch of episodes shares DNA with Detroit: Become Human. Admittedly, Westworld’s storytelling is more nuanced. But both deal with a robot revolution in a society that’s put far too much trust in AI. Sketching a believable future full of self-driving cars, holograms, and apps that pay you for committing freelance crimes, the show’s underpinning remains philosophical musings about the nature of life when artificial humans are indistinguishable from the real thing. New to the mix is Aaron Paul’s war vet Caleb, who crosses paths with revolutionary leader Delores…

1 “YOU’LL ENJOY THE REPEATED MINUTE-LONG SOJOURNS INTO THE WORLD.” 2 “THRILLING MOMENTS OF MID-AIR DIVING, TWISTING, AND FIGHTING LIKE A HERO ARE CHIPPED AWAY AT BY SOME NIGGLING FLAWS.” 3 “SUBVERSIVE AND EMOTIONALLY ENRICHING, THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST EVOCATIVE GAMES TO GRACE PLAYSTATION IN THE LAST DECADE. CLEARLY YOU CAN’T RUSH GENIUS.” 4 “IMPACTFUL GUNPLAY BOLSTERED BY A TELEKINETIC TWIST, AND A MYSTERY YOU’LL BE TURNING OVER FOR A LONG TIME AFTERWARDS.”…

“THE SERIES LOOKS SET TO COVER THE EVENTS OF THE FIRST GAME.” Ellie and Joel will return, not only in TLOU Part II but also in a new series from HBO. The US TV giant will co-produce the project with PlayStation Productions and Sony Pictures Television. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a number of big names have already signed on to the show, though a cast list has yet to be officially revealed. Get ready to cry all over again, because the series looks set to cover the events of the first game pretty closely. Craig Mazin, creator of acclaimed series Chernobyl, will be working alongside Neil Druckmann, the game’s creative director, as both writer and executive producer on this adaptation. Naughty Dog president Evan Wells is also an executive…

Rumours persist of a new PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale heading to PS5, but you can’t play hearsay. Instead, turn your attention to something very real: indie brawler Bounty Battle. The pitch is the same: one to four players slug it out against ten colourful backgrounds. It’s unashamedly two-dimensional and features a cast of well-loved characters. Choose from over 25 familiar faces from 20 of consoles’ most-loved indies, including Death’s Gambit, Guacamelee!, Dead Cells, Owlboy, and even Blasphemous’ dour The Penitent One. HIP TO BE HIT Looking across the character roster, we’re amazed it’s taken this long for these indies to gang up and shove some established stars out of the limelight. The character design on display is beautiful. These heroes play the part too. Each fighter has a bespoke array…

“ACCIDENTS HAPPEN, AND THAT’S WHERE LYNX’S CLONING TECH COMES IN.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA TBC / PUB FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE / DEV BLACKBIRD INTERACTIVE They say there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes. Well, thanks to Lynx Corp’s premier tech, at least one of those is nowhere near certain. But be warned: frittering away your second (or third, or fourth…) chance at life is deeply unprofitable – to say nothing of the debt you’ll rack up every time you return from the dead. Welcome to the future! You’ll feel right at home here; everything is still terrible. As an employee of Lynx Corp, you’re tasked with heading out into deep space to cut up and salvage what you can from a variety of starships. But there is…

“BUST YOUR MYSTERIOUS BENEFACTOR OUT OF PRISON.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA TBC / PUB ALL IN! GAMES / DEV ONE MORE LEVEL What do you get if you take the parkour of Mirror’s Edge, throw in just a smidge of Superhot, and set it all somewhere not unlike Blade Runner’s grimy cyberpunk vision of LA? Something that’s got a lot of literal running with blades and few opportunities for pacifism. Half-man and half-machine, you find yourself navigating the last refuge of humanity – a giant tower that’s a city in itself – in a world devastated by climate change. But while things are bad beyond the tower, they may be worse on the inside. Poverty, scarcity, and violence are all exacerbated by the tower’s closed loop environment… and you’ve got…

“THE USE OF PHYSICS RATHER THAN BOTTLED ANIMATIONS GIVES YOU THE FREEDOM TO EXPLORE ITS SKATING SYSTEM.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2020 PUB EASY DAY STUDIOS / DEV EASY DAY STUDIOS Skateboarding games have slowly backflipped off PlayStation. But we still remember the pain of ragdoll trial-and-error in EA’s Skate and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and our inner baggy-trousered masochist wants those feels again. Fortunately for us, and our need for board-based punishment, Skater XL is gliding onto PS4 and is set to revolutionise the world of skate games all over again. Like Skate it’s aiming for total realism, but it’s also dodging traditional videogame skater-isms to offer something a little more artistic. “The game is unique in that it doesn’t have any tricks programmed into it, only control of…

Pub Ubisoft Dev Ubisoft Quebec ETA TBC For a series set in ancient history, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey took some liberties (even by Assassin’s Creed standards). But, it was awesome. Minotaur? Slayed it, mate. Cyclops? Felled by our hands. Gorgon? Every snake exterminated. What if that same dev team were let off the leash to really go full mythology with its very own IP? That’s where Gods & Monsters comes in, a cartoony splash on the open world action game that really embraces its Greek mythology inspirations. The legendary Typhon has toppled the pantheon of gods, and it’s up to you, a classic Greek hero, to restore them. To help you on your quest the Gods have bestowed special powers on you. These have you exploring the large, lush open world…

ETA Sep Pub Square Enix Dev People Can Fly During our hands-on with this co-op sci-fi shooter from the team behind Bulletstorm and That Other Console’s Gears Of War, we discover it’s a heated blast of old-fashioned cover-fire shootery. We huddle behind small stone walls that rapidly get demolished by our enemies’ rattling gunfire; we embrace the sci-fantasy blend of elemental powers and heavy-hitting machine guns that enables us to set targets alight and pause the world to deliver a deathly blow, or just hold down i and pepper our prey with shots from an oversized gun. It’s solid, weighty fun, but very familiar. Much of our experience with Outriders is of the first three hours in the game, in which our Outrider – one of the space cowboys sent…

Pub Bethesda Dev Bethesda Game Studios ETA TBC Not counting the remaster of TES V: Skyrim, or The Elder Scrolls Online, we haven’t had a new entry in Bethesda’s epic fantasy series at all on PS4. Which must mean the dev’s got something special for PS5, right? All we know at this point is that a new game is in the works, and (when announced at E3 2018), that it was some way off – which could place it in the PS5 launch window. In many ways Skyrim introduced the fantasy RPG to the mainstream. Its popularity cannot be understated. Which means the sixth entry is sure to take a lot of cues from past successes. Expect a lot of what you enjoy to return, alongside new RPG systems. We…

After the surprise brilliance of the original, a sequel was inevitable. But what could be improved? Well, the biggest change from the first game is in the bike handling, which has been rebuilt from scratch for better feedback and ‘gyroscopic effect’. On full simulation this is indeed evident (though slightly shy of Milestone’s best) but, for the layman, on default settings it’s actually easier to play, making for a better videogame. So win/win. After you’ve fallen off the back of the bike within the first two seconds from accelerating too hard, the difference in playability is immediately apparent. Jumps don’t automatically equal a fall like they used to, though they’re still punishing compared to most games, and you can rattle along the walls a little more than before, though leaving…

Spend too long trying to unify China and all you’ll see in your dreams is hexagons. These six-sided shapes form the backbone of Romance Of The Three Kingdoms XIV’s new strategy system. It’s also perhaps the solitary interesting new addition to the strategy series. Gone are roads and battle maps. Now the whole continent is covered by a hexgrid which all your strategising revolves around. Start conquering and hexes will turn your colour. As it’s split into provinces and smaller areas, capturing a city or town won’t give you complete control of a region. You either have to have a unit ride over the hexes to colour them, or appoint someone to govern that area who (depending on competency) will expand control in that area over time.1 This also means…

Last seen racing with the rest of the Sega family last generation, Ulala makes her long-awaited return to the spotlight in the rhythm antics that made her name in the galaxy two decades ago. Although creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi isn’t involved in this belated sequel (Grounding Inc is, however, formed of ex-Sega staffers), like his other beloved game, Rez, Space Channel 5 has been reimagined for PS VR, which feels like the way it should have been played all along. Forget the quaint idea of tapping buttons to dance to a beat – in Kinda Funky News Flash, with a pair of PS Move controllers you literally do have to copy your opponents’ dance moves, while the movement tracking makes new moves, such as striking poses, possible. The way the original…

Like having the code word for a secret The Weeknd gig, there’s a level of smugness that comes with knowing the ‘right’ videogames. This collection of 18 games from the Japanese ’80s Kunio-kun and Double Dragon series will have those in the know twitching with excitement. These aren’t arcade conversions but remasters of the made-for-console NES editions, and play differently to their coin-op counterparts – like remixes of classic moments with added platforming stages and bosses. Patient zero is Renegade, the arena brawler that set the template for many of the games in this collection and beyond. Your street urchin on a mission to rescue his girl from a gang can fend off enemies from all directions… well, all two of them. Most of the games have a two-button control…

Three years after the end of the Galactic War, there is a fragile peace. But when that calm is shattered by a deadly terrorist group calling itself Tempest, Captain Christopher Pietham (that’s you) and his small chosen squad of brave comrades must fight to protect the entire galaxy from catastrophe. Luckily, they have super-powerful space guns – and lots of them. As a turn-based combat game, most of Element Space’s action takes the form of head-to-head confrontations with the enemy on a grid space. Each member of Captain Pietham’s team is equipped with different skills, and during fights you need to call on their strengths to turn the battle in your favour. The eight recruitable companions all have discrete skill trees, allowing you to pick the right one for the…

We’re guessing that if somebody offered you magic powers, you wouldn’t wish for the ability to guess somebody’s card, or the chance to go on hunger strike in a transparent box while somebody with a radio-controlled helicopter taunts you with burgers. You’d want powers of flight, invisibility, throwing fireballs, lightning; right? Then you’re in luck – Spellbreak gives you all of those and more! Although the beta build we play is unstable (it crashes several times over a few days), what we get a taste of is delicious enough to keep us coming back for more. There are plans for more modes but, for now, Spellbreak is a battle royale. The art is amusingly derivative of Fortnite, yet this isn’t quite like anything you’ve played before. “THERE ARE EVEN WAYS…

Stuck in the house and exhausted your games collection? Then maybe this is the time to embrace the thousands of games buried inside Dreams. To help you get started we’ve picked some of our recent favourites. But don’t stop here – carry on exploring afterwards. HEROES OF ALDRENOR “TIME TO EMBRACE THE THOUSANDS OF GAMES BURIED IN DREAMS.” If you’re feeling the urge to batter countless goblins and loot dungeons while your pals cheer you on, then this Dark-Alliance-like dungeon-crawler is for you. It’s amazing how Dreams creator DarkestEssence has managed to craft a full action RPG inside Dreams, complete with three-player co-op. One of the best games in Dreams, Heroes Of Aldrenor has the depth of play to compete with most indies. DREAMS HOMERUN CHALLENGE Exactly what you expect:…

01 CONCEPT When you want to build a character in Dreams, it helps to prepare well. I recommend using reference material, so search online for images of elements that you’ll be sculpting for your character. I often do pencil sketches or digital paintings of ideas before sculpting them. You can also design concepts directly in Dreams and skip the ‘traditional’ part of concept design. That’s what I did for the character in the following steps. Here are a few other character sculpts I did. 02 BLOCKING OUT THE CHARACTER I usually like to sculpt characters in as few pieces as possible to begin with. Some creators prefer to add a puppet to the scene and sculpt directly on that, but for me I find that it breaks the free flow…

GUNS AKIMBO FORMAT AMAZON PRIME VIDEO PRICE £7.99 PER MONTH All you really need to know about this Daniel Radcliffe action movie is that he spends the entirety with guns bolted to his hands. Want more details? Radcliffe plays a game dev who tries to survive after inadvertently entering a real-life death match that’s streamed online. CASTLEVANIA SEASON 3 FORMAT NETFLIX PRICE £8.99 PER MONTH The third season of Netflix’s animated series introduces classic characters, and hints that producer Adi Shankar’s plans for a ‘bootleg multiverse’ (with adaptations of Devil My Cry and Assassin’s Creed currently in development) are becoming a reality. THE LETTER FOR THE KING FORMAT NETFLIX PRICE £8.99 PER MONTH Netflix’s latest fantasy series targets the young adult audience left out by the decidedly adult likes of…

FORMAT PS4 / PUB UBISOFT / DEV UBISOFT MONTREAL / RELEASED 2017 / SCORE 9/10 This game has you surfing down the sides of the Great Pyramid, battling gods in the desert, and finding time for a Final Fantasy XV crossover, but one of Assassin’s Creed Origins’ standout moments is a smaller-scale affair. The sandblasted bones of other unlucky victims are scattered around us. The sun is baking the sand into glassy crystals. Scorpions circle. We’re up to our neck in trouble, literally. Bayek is buried to his chin in the open desert, miles from civilisation. Managing to get one arm free, Bayek has hope. But he’s yet to face his demons. What follows is a chance for our hero to reflect on his situation and his journey. From out…

“OUR OBJECTIVE HERE IS TO DELIVER THE DEFINITIVE RPG EXPERIENCE.” The series might be called Final Fantasy, but its seventh story has almost become more myth than fantasy, a legend passed on from generation to generation since its PS1 release. The cultural osmosis has been so strong that many who’ve never played it already know quite a bit about it. And fans were dreaming of a remake long before this new version was announced. This game is the first part of that project, retelling the Midgar portion of the story as a full game, and passing the torch of the legend forward once again. “The original Final Fantasy VII came out in 1997, 23 years ago, and caused a massive impact on the games industry. This is a full reimagining…

Gone are the random encounters and turn-based battles you remember. The combat here is in real-time, and the areas you run through all to scale and filled with threats. “Final Fantasy VII Remake’s battle system has evolved the original VII’s battle system to make it more action-oriented,” says Hamaguchi. “By playing through it using the action elements skilfully you’ll be able to stun your enemies and open them up for major damage.” It’s more than a reimagined action RPG system. The important thing is that Remake’s combat is built on top of the Active Time Battle system from the original game, where you had to wait for a bar to fill up to give your party a command. Now you fill up an ATB bar by attacking, and then spend…

“JIN SAKAI MUST MASTER THE WAY OF THE GHOST TO TAKE ON AN ENEMY THAT HEAVILY OUTNUMBERS HIM.” For lovers of Japanese history, PlayStation 4 is the console of dreams, allowing us to immerse ourselves in both realistic and fantastic versions of historical conflicts. We now know Ghost Of Tsushima will be following Nioh 2 (see p76) and Sekiro onto PS4 as soon as 26 June. Developed by Sucker Punch, already known for the slick-to-navigate open worlds it created for the Sly Raccoon and InFamous series, Ghost gives you the whole island of Tsushima to explore while you attempt to repel a brutal Mongol invasion, based on real-life events. If you’re not a history buff, fear not: this is far from a dry lesson. Sucker Punch is dedicated to bringing…

“FROM THE BEGINNING ALL SYSTEMS WERE DESIGNED IN SYMBIOSIS.” Who’d want to experience the majesty of the Amazon rainforest while inspecting a funky rash on their arm and plucking leeches from their legs? Survival fans, that’s who. We’re not even going to consider what they eat. Happily for them, Creepy Jar’s Green Hell is picking its way from PC to PS4 later this year, and the best part is you won’t have to go it alone as PS4 players will be able to buddy up from launch. Up to four players can take on everything the Amazon has to throw at them in Survival mode. If you don’t want to venture into the jungle alone, you’ll be pleased to hear the team intend to add co-op to the story and…

Sometimes desperation begets creativity and, as Frictional Games’ creative director Thomas Grip tells it, that’s how Amnesia: The Dark Descent first came to be. Now the team are going back to the beginning for an all-new entry in the series: Rebirth. Grip took to the PlayStation blog not only to share the feeling that fuelled the first game – “Screw innovation! Let’s just make the scariest game we possibly can” – but also to announce that Frictional’s future frightfest will debut this autumn. Amnesia: Rebirth follows a new protagonist, with a fresh setting and story. Grip was tight-lipped about the poor soul we’ll be playing as (and if you’re at all familiar with how twisty the previous games got, you’ll know that’s for good reason) but a short teaser clip…

“SIX YOUTHS AFFECTED BY THE PLIGHT OF THE LAND COME TOGETHER.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 24 APR / PUB SQUARE ENIX / DEV SQUARE ENIX Mana is fading from the world and peace has ended. In a bid to seize power, a band of Big Bads plot to free the monstrous Benevodons from their mana-stone prison. Six youths are affected by the plight of the land in different ways but come together to reach a common goal. How will your story unfold? You choose your main character, plus two support characters, from the aforementioned roster of do-gooders. Each has their own story but they double up on villains. By the time you read this their secrets will be well and truly out as a demo chronicling the start of your…

“THE GOTHIC-MEETS-BORG AESTHETIC SITS JUST THE RIGHT SIDE OF CRAZY.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA TBC / PUB KALYPSO GAMES / DEV BULWARK STUDIOS By the end of this game you’re promised a power fantasy, and when that large-gunned escapism is built around some of the craziest lore in Warhammer 40K it can’t fail to disappoint. If there’s an XCOMshaped hole in your gaming life, this augmented fleshy RTS could be the turn you’re looking for. With the most powerful force in the Imperium, The Adeptus Mechanicus, at your command, an expedition to the planet of Silva Tenebris should be a walk in the park. However, the resident Necrons – Egyptian-like terminators forgotten by time – want to have a say in you plundering their world. As Magos Dominus Faustinius you…

Pub Sony Dev Polyphony Digital ETA TBC While we stress Sony has yet to announce any games for PS5 at the time of writing, we can piece together some ideas of what we may be playing at launch. Even before the next-generation console was announced, Polyphony Digital was demoing a version of Gran Turismo Sport running in 8K on secret hardware. And we know the game’s cars were over-specced when modelled to run on higher-end hardware, with the dev keen to future-proof GT Sport. So it’s easy to infer a version of this racer could be with us at launch. Racing games are perfect for a console launch because the graphics devil in all of us loves to drool over those high-poly, high-fidelity visuals. It is telling that Sony uses…

Pub Ubisoft Dev Ubisoft Montreal ETA TBC Something of a surprise hit for Ubisoft, Siege has remained an immensely popular, fresh-feeling team shooter since its launch in 2015. It’s had plenty of updates in that time, which have included brand-new features, maps, and characters, and the publisher is remaining committed to keeping that going by bringing the game to next gen. Siege puts a big emphasis on team-based co-op, with two squads of operators going head-to-head in asymmetrical multiplayer. Each small map has been meticulously designed to provide interesting areas for engagement, as an attacking and a defending team compete in various missions such as bomb defusal or hostage rescue. The attacking team must breach and clear, while the defenders get time to set traps to repel the attackers. The…

Lights, camera… gameplay? Erica is a feature-length thriller following its titular character as she becomes embroiled in a conspiracy stretching back to her father’s mysterious death during her childhood. It features talented actors and excellent cinematography. But she never makes a decision without you having some input. Erica’s creator, Flavourworks, is a game developer, not a movie studio, tucked away in a cosy games hub in London. Following Jack Attridge, the studio’s co-founder and creative director, around the labyrinthine building full of props from the set, it’s impossible not to keep an eye out for juicy development secrets. Then we sit down to chat. “When we’re just walking around the building now, we’re not thinking about traversal. We’re not getting stuck on a corner of a plant pot,” Attridge says.…

Like the Phantom Thieves hauling back treasure, this rerelease of Persona 5 has plenty to share. It’s been three years since the basic game came out, but it’s still the best JRPG on PS4. The latest additions simply increase the amount of everything we loved the first time around, and ultimately, this is an even better version of the game we gave 10/10 back in OPM #134. The modern-day Tokyo setting is a perfect location for dealing with societal issues and teen problems in an earnest and compelling way; the turn-based combat is slick and addictive; the dungeon design, which has you delving into the psyches of villains to steal their hearts, is still some of the best ever seen in the genre; and the balance between spending social time…

The real-life version of this must be heaps of fun, but it feels like a chore on PS4. You’re given an ATV or quad bike and asked to traverse a dangerous course full of hazards (both man-made and natural), shifting your body and managing your differential and 2WD/4WD settings in order to keep from sliding or tumbling off the muddy hills. Predictably, this is easier said than done, making for action more reminiscent of Trials Fusion than, say, MX Vs ATV. Even if you do start to get some speed up, hitting a hazard with any kind of momentum will cripple your suspension, and repairs cost money or tokens, so you need precision, patience, and skill to prevail. Career mode has sponsors offering discounts on gear, but the core activity…

“YOU’RE ALWAYS KEEN TO SEE WHAT LIES AROUND ETERNAL’S NEXT GORE-SOAKED CORNER.” The Slayer is back, and he’s brought his invisible heavy metal band with him to play pumping rawk music whenever he gets into a fight. While Doom Eternal is everything that you’ve come to expect from the series – blood, guts, bullets, guts, demons, blood, shiny pickups, guts and blood – it’s a little bit more, too. Lessons have been learned. Well, some, anyway. Doom Eternal strives to find a sweet spot between the atmospheric and story-rich (but slightly plodding) Doom 3, and the adrenaline-fuelled (but ultimately repetitive) 2016 reboot. In this, the game hits the mark perfectly. While the campaign length sits somewhere around 20 hours, it never drags or begins to feel tiresome. Whereas fatigue set…

Like the Quirk One For All, My Hero One’s Justice 2 has learnt from its predecessor to improve itself in every way. Boasting an expanded roster and a throng of brand-new characters, including Sir Nighteye, Overhaul, and Lemillion, there are enough heroes and villains here to create your dream team.1 The story mode, which focuses on the Provisional Hero License Exam and Shie Hassaikai arcs, is heavily condensed compared to the source material. There is a handful of brief animated cutscenes, but the story is told mostly through comic-book-like cutouts and text. It speeds through main plot points as if it’s utilising Iida’s Engine Quirk, and struggles to reach the emotional highs of the anime, but the sub-episodes and slight deviation from the end of the second arc bring in…

This simulates not just battle in the Louisiana swamps, but ephebiphobia: the fear of the young. Since permadeath only applies once you’ve hit Rank 10, veterans are wary of being paired with new players. The newbies know they’re immortal, and are likely to take more risks, whereas old hands, mindful of their fragility, favour a more deliberate pace. That means matchmaking with vets can be tricky until you’ve got a few victories under your belt. Thankfully, for every Rank 88 master, there’s another hunter braving the bayou for the first time, and waiting times are practically non-existent. Better co-ordination is possible via voice chat, but be wary: localised audio can betray your position, a fact the game keeps to itself. VERDICT Crashing through a stealth-focused map as part of a…

FOREST IN THE RAIN It’s not a game, but BadRobo82’s numerous photoreal scenes are some of the best yet created in Dreams. One of the most visually arresting is Forest In The Rain. The realistic foliage is lit by lightning flashes for unsurpassed atmosphere. PIXEL-ROAD Twin-Brothers (TheLostOneNL and GODSMACK-NL) is a dev making a name for itself in Dreams, and this Frogger-like game shows why. Guiding your character requires you to tap directions on the D-pad; the more you tap, the faster he moves. It’s a subtle control shift but fun. TOWER BALL More ball games in Dreams, but this one keeps things beautifully simple. Four game types – Run, Jump, Swim, and Climb – dictate the challenge as you guide your ball against the clock to the map’s end.…

On finishing Control, we were left with a lot of questions. But this first story expansion will allow us to explore more to try to unravel at least some of the mysteries of the Oldest House, as the Astral Plane is set on a collision course to consume it, and put the real world as we know it in danger. The story is all linked to Head Of Operations Helen Marshall’s disappearance at the end of the main game, and Jesse will need to access a new area of the Oldest House through the Hotline Chamber to get to the bottom of it (which you can only do if you’ve hit credits). “YOU GET MORE ABILITIES TO ADD TO JESSE’S ARSENAL: SHAPE LETS HER RESHAPE HER SURROUNDINGS.” Not only does…

As good as Persona 5 is – and we really are in love with it, awarding it a perfect 10 back in OPM #134 – it could never erase our memories of the previous game in the series. Persona 4 was, and still is, something truly special. Its warmth, humour, depth, and incredible atmosphere earned it a dedicated following across the world. Oh, and then there’s the soundtrack When people discover Persona 5, one of the first things they’ll enthuse about is the jazz-funk soundtrack. Similarly, Persona 4 enjoys one of the greatest, most memorable soundtracks in gaming. It’s 90% pitch-perfect J-pop, and its contribution to the quality of the experience cannot be overstated. There’s sunny, happy pop for hanging out with friends, music with a more urgent beat for…

1 TETRIS EFFECT Tetris, yeah? It might be a great game, but it’s easy to understand why you’d brush this off as just more Tetris at a glance. Yet Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s trippy, transcendent take on the block-based puzzler is nothing short of a masterpiece. Sure, you can play it without PS VR, but in the virtual space it really becomes next level, transforming one of the tightest puzzle games ever made into an emotional ride. 2 THE PERSISTENCE This first-person horror roguelike offers perfectly sized chunks of survival bursts. It’s everything you’d expect from a full PS4 release, but in PS VR it’s filled with clever ideas, unique weapons, genuine jump scares, and fab looks – plus great couchplay. 3 REZ INFINITE Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s vision becomes reality in PS VR.…

The journey has been a long one. Ever since we were teased with the PS3 tech demo back in 2005, fans have been desperate to see a truly fresh coat of paint on Final Fantasy VII. After all, that was the same year we saw the movie sequel Advent Children, showcasing how beautiful Square Enix’s Visual Works studio could make CG. Even before that fans were drooling at the prospect of a Final Fantasy VII that could match up to 2001’s Final Fantasy X (which did for JRPGs on PS2 what FFVII did on PS1). Dirge Of Cerberus gave us a taste of better-looking FFVII, and some fans were even jamming higher-res models into the PC version of the game (which to be honest we think looks terrible – it…

SECTOR 7 SLUMS Seventh Heaven is Tifa’s bar and the base of AVALANCHE’s operations. Most of the gang call the slums beneath Sector 7 their home, and it’s also where Barret has raised his daughter Marlene. Surrounding the bar is a town whose residents are just trying to make the most of their oppressed lives in the shadow of Midgar’s upper class, who live above them. AERITH’S HOUSE Located in Sector 5’s slums beneath Midgar’s plates, Aerith’s home is a bright spot among the scraps. The house where she lives with her mother becomes a refuge for the party once they meet her. It’s near the abandoned church, wall market, and ruins, all of which Aerith knows like the back of her hand. SHINRA BUILDING In Midgar everything revolves around…