Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2021 i PLAY

Crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter are great at uniting more niche titles with an audience and empowering smaller developers to bring their projects to life. Occasionally crowdfunding can straight up raise a series from the dead, as in the case of 2019’s Shenmue III. But with Castlevania’s spiritual successor Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night, it allowed an established creator the chance to resuscitate a fan favourite under a different name. When we asked producer Koji Igarashi what he was improving with Bloodstained, he said, “If we were to release [Symphony Of The Night] today, I think there’s a lot of parts that need more improvement in comparison to other games. […] We would improve a lot of the responsiveness of the controls. A lot of things that might have not been…

THE ART AND MAKING OF CONTROL FUTURE PRESS £49.99 FUTURE-PRESS.COM Not only does this ultimate coffee table book come in a limited number of editions, its 400 pages feature unseen concept art from the Foundation and AWE expansions. Printed on high-quality art paper with designed coloured page edges, and packaged inside a textured slipcase, this Control art book is a quality glimpse behind the game’s curtain. METAL SLUG: THE ULTIMATE HISTORY BITMAP BOOKS £29.99 BITMAPBOOKS.CO.UK This officially licensed book chronicling the making of the cult hit Metal Slug series is a first. SNK opened its vaults and offered 24 years of design docs to the authors, as well as 11 new interviews with the series’ designers. If you fell in love with the Peregrine Falcon Squad…

“DON’T BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT WITH PHOTO MODE.” WIN! A Nixplay Smart Photo Frame worth £269.99 The best entry every issue wins a Nixplay digital photo frame to showcase their beautiful game photos. The 15.6-inch Nixplay Smart Photo Frame is the perfect way to show off your photo mode art. Free-standing and wall-mountable, the Nixplay frame works with Google Photos, Dropbox, Facebook, and Instagram. It’s also controllable from the iOS and Google app, and comes with a remote. Best of all, one tree is planted for every Nixplay Smart Frame sold. www.nixplay.co.uk Winner Cynthia Fulwood Game: Ghost Of Tsushima Who doesn’t want to drool over that new piece of armour they’ve unlocked? That’s Cynthia’s motivation for her epic Ghost Of Tsushima shot. “I had just gotten the armour and wanted…

Hoffman’s rapid-fire M1911 and chance to find ammo on kills makes keeping your distance easier. He also has a higher accessory capacity. Evangelo’s all about speed. He’s faster than the others, has better stamina regeneration, and can break out of holds once every five minutes. Walker’s Glock rewards precision kills, boosting accuracy. With a greater ammo capacity to boot, opt for him if you want to make every shot count.…

“YOU’LL FIND THE MOMENT-TO-MOMENT ACTION HAS HARDLY CHANGED AT ALL.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 18 MAR / PUB UBISOFT DEV UBISOFT PUNE, UBISOFT MUMBAI / PLAYERS 1 We’re in danger of a videogame paradox as the marketing snake begins to eat its own tail. The 2003 Prince Of Persia was itself a remake of the 1989 game of the same name. Here we have a remake of a remake. As the devs aren’t prepared to tamper with a winning formula, this rerun is a faithful recreation of the original. The same dextrous platforming, athletic wall-running, and trap-laden puzzle rooms return, as does a swift, timing-based combat system. And when it all goes wrong you can rely on the Sands Of Time to rewind your worst mistakes and have another go.…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2021 / PUB FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE / DEV SUMO DIGITAL / PLAYERS MULTIPLAYER (ONLINE) We love seeing the small (but mighty) take on the powerful and get clean away with it, so it’s no wonder heist fiction is seeing a bit of a renaissance. And maybe you saw this segue coming but Hood: Outlaws & Legends is billed as a PvPvE (player versus player versus environment) heist simulator. Game director Andrew Willans explains how a typical match goes down, saying, “With every good heist movie, you […] pull together […] all the personalities of the gang and then you go and crack the safe, you steal the loot, and then usually something kicks off and shit goes south, and you end up with this explosive…

FORMAT PS4 / ETA SPRING PUB HOTHEAD GAMES DEV JONATHAN BLOW / PLAYERS 1 The 2008 original became the poster child for indies everywhere; it broke out and proved one-person studios can make it big. This Anniversary Edition improves on the Braid you know in many ways, including improved sound and new mixes from Control’s Martin Stig Andersen and Hans Christian Kock. The visuals have been repainted by hand and new animation ensures everything runs more smoothly. Die-hard fans can instantly swap between this edition and the old build. Ultimately this is the same game we loved all those years ago; its platform-puzzle core and time manipulation hook still has us scratching our heads 12 years on. Make time to replay this classic.…

Only on PS5, you can experience Resident Evil Village for yourself in the console-exclusive demo called Maiden. This is a standalone experience set inside Castle Dimitrescu, designed to showcase the game’s PlayStation 5 graphics and unsettling 3D audio. There’s no combat, but as the Maiden your goal is to escape the castle and gawp at the shiny ray tracing as you flee. Let’s have a good goggle then… 01 SENSE OF FOREBODING As we explore the dungeon chinking chains can be heard around us, and in particular from that corner over our right shoulder. We stare ahead and hope it’s nothing out for blood. Resident Evil Village’s 3D audio is outstanding. 02 LIVING WALL Framed by the ray-traced candlelight the elegant figures on this carved stone wall cast deep shadows…

“IN A SENSE YOU ARE WRITING YOUR PAST AND FUTURE AT THE SAME TIME.” FORMAT PS5, PS4 / PLAYERS 1 / DEV ARMATURE STUDIOS We’ve played games with a lot of choices before, but few that lean so hard into the concept as this, which boasts a 600,000-word script in order to deal with the “virtually limitless” permutations on show. Playing as artist and would-be farmhand Whit Anderson, you reflect on Whit’s past life choices after he falls into a well, in a fantastic journey that could drastically change his future. “Players begin at one age, become younger, then move beyond the original age at the start to create the rest of their life,” explains director Todd Keller. “In a sense you are writing your past and future at the…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / PLAYERS 1 DEV THINKINGSTARS Was Cyberpunk 2077 not anime enough for you? This has you covered. Merging 2D pixel art sprites with voxel backgrounds, you play as Ann, a fighter with a hacker sidekick. From weapons to chips, there are lots of ways to enhance your playstyle, and multiple cities to explore. At some points you switch from exploring in 3D to 2D-style levels reminiscent of Mega Man X, where you juggle cyber-swords and guns. Everything comes together to create something breathtaking in its own lo-fi way.…

FORMAT PS4 / PLAYERS 1-500 (MMO-STYLE) DEV FACEPUNCH STUDIOS You wake, naked and afraid. Your most pressing needs are for food, shelter, and loot. The PC survival smash is finally coming to PlayStation and starts you off with even less than the shirt on your back. You’ve just got to survive. Hunger, thirst, exposure… these existential threats are nothing compared to the most dangerous threat of all: other players. In this dog-eat-dog world, survival is the only game in town. Will Rust strike the same chord on PlayStation as it did on PC? Wait, what was that in the bushes?…

FORMAT PS4 / PLAYERS 1 DEV FROACH CLUB Play as Honeydew and revisit Hog Town, full of cute animal residents with distinctive personalities you can get to know. Sounds like an adorable megahit, right? Maybe. But beneath the exterior something darker lies beneath. This is “a dark tale of crime and corruption.” You see, melons are illegal in Hog Town. And the real reason Honeydew (an employee at one of the world’s biggest melon factories) has set out for its lovable pastures is to search for a missing friend. This nostalgic throwback to Game Boy RPGs plays with nostalgia to inject a sinister twist, but in a way that is always eccentrically fun. Beyond the main story, there are plenty of side-stories too, and characters you can learn more about…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / PLAYERS 1 DEV EMBER LAB As a spirit guide, Kena’s duty is to help the departed move on. This involves more than just talking to ghosts: she has to get her hands dirty, as spirits have become corrupted, stopping them from being able to pass on, and she has to clean them up. That takes fast-paced combat, and the type of bow-drawing satisfaction only PS5 can offer. Teaming up with the Rot, cute little critters that help maintain balance by decomposing and recycling life, she can take on even the most troubled spirits. One such boss is fox-like (all are represented by animals), and the fights represent the characteristics of who they were in life. It all sports a visual design that would make Pixar blush,…

Dangling from a girder at the top of a glass-fronted skyscraper, the ground concealed beneath the clouds, you’d be forgiven for feeling your stomach turn… but in a good VR way. We’ve tweaked the many comfort settings and Hitman 3 in PS VR is a smooth and quease-free experience. Except when the game wants to make you feel giddy. It’s so good you’d think Hitman 3 was designed for PS VR. The maps are large and have verticality built in. It’s not simply Dubai’s spectacular opening crawl that uses VR to deliver a sense of scale. Thornbridge Manor’s grand halls and Chongqing’s neon maze make you feel like you’re exploring real spaces, particularly as you begin to tease open the Dartmoor estate’s many secrets. These are the same missions you’ve…

INFO PRICE FORMAT £49 PS .99 5, ETA PS4 Out (reviewed now PUB ) Koei Tecmo DEV Gust Co. PLAYERS 1 After three years staying in her hometown studying alchemy, Ryza travels to the capital Asha-am Baird to push herself further. Meeting old friends, making new, and palling up with a newly hatched fairy creature, she ends up uncovering ancient legends in the surrounding ruins. The multi-tool system returns, meaning an axe collects different materials to, say, a sickle. New abilities make exploring these larger maps more fun – you’ll climb, grapple to specific ledges, and even go diving. When you find ruins you can gather memories to uncover that area’s story, which makes locations feel like more than stages for collecting ingredients or fighting monsters. Evolving the real-time turns…

Regardless of whether you’re familiar with the World Of Darkness tabletop RPGs or not, the idea of running around as a werewolf is enticing, right? Strong, fast, 100% genuine and cruelty-free fur coat… what a combo. Despite clear signs of a limited budget, this game does a good job of making our slightly disturbing fantasies come true. Before we talk about what the game is, we need to explain what it is not. While everything runs smoothly, it’s not much of a looker; this isn’t a game to show off the power of your PS5 (or your PS4, to be honest). All this means, though, is that the money has gone into more important areas. We also need to stress that, despite the phrase ‘RPG’ being dangled in front of…

Set in the future, when people have bits of metal in them and everything looks a bit dirty? Must be a cyberpunk adventure. This one bounces between three different protagonists who, despite all having their own vengeance-fuelled agendas, find themselves drawn into the same conspiracy (of course). The story’s not great, and the dialogue’s rather wobbly, but some neat art design and a subtle, Vangelis-like soundtrack prop up the atmosphere. Disjunction is, to a large extent, what would happen if Hotline Miami calmed the heck down. Although the three characters have different abilities – fun, useful abilities at that – stealth is important for all of them, even (slightly disappointingly) the one best designed for combat. The pace therefore is slow, but in a good way. In fact, there’s a…

Ride 4 felt underwhelming on its PS4 release, but while this is that same ‘quiet’-feeling motorbike sim, we’re now the happy side of many months’ worth of tweaks. And of course PS5 brings with it a high framerate and 4K gorgeousness. So while all this newfound fluidity doesn’t make the game faster, snappier, or more spectacular, it does at least make it feel like it means business. The environments suddenly feel rock-solid, with PS5 hardly breaking sweat to deliver a commendable simulation of the real world. The licensed circuits look superb, and the smooth day/ night transitions are beautiful. The effect of windows glowing as you zoom through the town is really rather lovely. The ‘harshest ever track limits’ I mentioned on PS4 have been patched, so you’ll no longer…

“Besting nightmarish foes can be one of the best co-op quests you’ll ever find.” All the games in the Souls series would still be excellent if they were purely single-player, with no online functionality, but they wouldn’t feel the same – hence the community’s devastation when the official servers for the PS3 version of Demon’s Souls were turned off in 2018. Online is really the soul of the game and its sequels. Even if you have never once connected directly to someone else’s game, online play could still have an impact on your experience. While you play you’ll often note ghostly, foggy forms of other warriors in the world of Boletaria – these are actual people playing the game. Messages can be left as signs on the ground, notes from…

Now that the dust has settled, a lot of bugs lie squashed. So what was once a literal flying car-fest online (in a broken way, not a fun WipEout-y way) is now assured and throughly enjoyable. There are still juddery moments and the Party Games side is either completely abandoned or simply doesn’t load, but the racing side is fun, if sadly unranked and therefore shallow. What really stands out is the user-created content, which has benefited from a Christmas-themed patch, resulting in many impressive tests of your off-road driving skill. It’s popcorn gaming at its best and even has a few secrets to exploit. INFO FORMAT PS5 (reviewed), PS4 PRICE £49.99 ETA Out now PUB Codemasters DEV Codemasters OFFLINE REVIEW 9 (PS4) 8 (PS5) PLAYERS 1-4 CROSSPLAY PS5, PS4…

TROPICO 6 – CARIBBEAN SKIES Ruling islands isn’t just a matter of governing the sea and the ground under your feet. In this DLC, you control the skies too, from delivery drones to flying taxis and cargo transportation. A new campaign puts fresh edicts and traits to the test through five more missions. GRANBLUE FANTASY VERSUS – YUEL On the hunt for her ancestral treasure, Yuel’s royal lineage allows her to wield the foxflame. Using a dance stance, she can automatically counter high attacks while unlocking new moves, her skill with her twin blades making her very tricky for opponents to pin down. TRAIN SIM WORLD 2 – LGV MÉDITERRANÉE: MARSEILLEAVIGNON Missing the chance to holiday in the south of France? TSW2 will take you there, allowing you to drive…

1 Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Nathan Drake’s swan song 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 firing 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 Red Dead Redemption 2 There are a lot of open-world games, but none that make you feel like you’re a part of a world in quite the same way as Arthur Morgan’s wild west adventure. Tremendously physical, an epic story, and some of the most satisfying headshots you’ll ever find. 3 Grand Theft Auto V Laughing in the face of other…

01 HOLLOW KNIGHT This dense metroidvania takes us to the insect world of Hallownest on a quest to purge it of the Infection. Melee combat and a soulsborne-like grind for ‘Soul’ energy to fuel our diminutive bug hero’s fighting and traversal abilities. The art style continues to amaze. Here’s hoping sequel Silksong will come to PlayStation. 02 YOOKA-LAYEE Want to play a ’90s Rare game on PS4? This is the closest you’ll get. It’s so warm and cuddly. 03 WASTELAND 3 Crowd-funded on Fig.co, this RPG recalls Fallout at its best and is perfectly written. 04 BLASPHEMOUS This metroidvania-meetssoulsborne gem has a novel art style and slick combat to match. 05 SHENMUE III A perfect time-capsule game. It’s like the last 20 years never happened (for good and bad).…

“I’M EXCITED TO JUMP IN AND BECOME THE ULTIMATE TEMTEM TAMER”. WILL YOU MEET PLAYSTATION INDIES HEAD SHUHEI YOSHIDA WHILE TAMING TEMTEM ONLINE? “THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF THE EXPANSION OF OUR STORYTELLING INTO NEW MEDIA.” SAYS SONY CEO JIM RYAN OF THE UNCHARTED MOVIE AND THE LAST OF US TV SHOW. “MR X SHALL NOT PREVAIL.” DETROIT STAR BRYAN DECHART’S BEEN PLAYING RESIDENT EVIL 2 (WITH COSTAR AND PARTNER AMELIA ROSE BLAIRE) ON TWITCH AND LOVING IT.…

1 Mik Bromley Game: Control “I know that single-colour red shots can be a bit clichéd,” says Mik of his simple but effective shot, “but it does help to really draw attention to the item here and I like to wonder how long it takes people to realise that this phone has no numbers on it.” Mik loves virtual photography, so much, he set up TheFourthFocus.com. 2 Danilo Rocha Game: Ghost Of Tsushima “For this one and many other shots I captured in Ghost Of Tsushima, the inspiration was the background itself,” says reader Danilo Rocha, who finds inspiration in every corner of this game. “This game is a work of art; everywhere you go there’s an opportunity for a great shot due to the gorgeous job Sucker…

FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2021 / PUB ASMODEE DIGITAL / DEV ARTEFACTS STUDIO / PLAYERS 1 The year is 1926 and a professor of Astronomy has been found murdered in her own home. As you assemble your team of investigators, the stars may well have aligned – just not for you. Based on the board game of the same name, itself an offshoot of the tabletop RPG Call Of Cthulhu, this is another title that gleefully ransacks the writing of HP Lovecraft. While we are increasingly wishing spooky games drew from literally any other 20th-century pulp horror author, this one features an all-new story by the official writers of Fantasy Flight Interactive, the company behind the board game. Formerly known as Mansions Of Madness, it invites you to dive deep…

“AUTOMATA’S 3D BULLET-HELL SET-PIECES ARE BACK IN FULL FORCE HERE.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 23 APR / PUB SQUARE ENIX / DEV TOYLOGIC / PLAYERS 1 Never before has a game name made us so thankful for the word processing magic of copy-and-paste. However, this rerelease is more than just a snazzy drag-and-drop job, as evidenced by the fact developer Toylogic has blown past the anniversary with which it originally intended the release to coincide. After more than a decade, Nier returns this year – though not as we’ve known him in the West. In Japan Nier is known as a teenaged protagonist, and it’s this version of the character that will venture to the US and UK for the first time in Replicant. Creator and director Yoko Taro explains,…

“IT’S UP TO YOU TO UNCOVER THE MYSTERY THROUGH REPEATED CYCLES OF LIFE AND DEATH.” FORMAT PS5 / ETA 19 MAR / PUB PLAYSTATION STUDIOS DEV HOUSEMARQUE / PLAYERS 1 This shooter was conceived three years ago and, according to the dev, involved a pitch which included everything that Housemarque would put in its dream game. Given the studio had previously made PlayStation console exclusives Resogun and Nex Machina – twitchy, vibrant shoot-’em-ups – Sony snapped up the chance to support the dev in shooting for the stars. But those stars, for the game’s protagonist Selene, are dangerous. She dies after crashing on an alien planet. Then comes back to life. And dies again, and again, and again in a time loop of death and rebirth. It’s a dark science-fiction…

FORMAT PS4 / ETA SPRING PUB 1C ENTERTAINMENT, 3D REALMS / DEV KILLPIXEL GAMES PLAYERS 1-4 Using the ten-year-old Quake engine, Jeremiah ‘KillPixel’ Fox has created this retro shooter with an eye to modern design. It can’t escape the blocky visual pop of 1990’s Doom and its ilk, but behind the speedy carnage is a neat setup. You’re free to explore three hub worlds (each with five levels), and you can save at any time but it’ll cost you hard-to-find Soul Tethers. Found weapons turn corpses into ammo, artefacts offer powers at cost to defence or offence, and enemies charge around at a hectic pace. The story can be played in four-player co-op, and online multiplayer is promised. Wrath is a clash of old and new, and we love it.…

FORMAT PS4 / ETA SPRING PUB PIXELHEART, JUST FOR GAMES DEV SOKAIKAN / PLAYERS 1-2 We’re old enough to remember 16-bit martial arts platformer First Samurai, and this Kickstarted indie is giving us flashbacks. Okinawa Rush’s pixel art style belies a technical combo brawler that plays like a Street Fighter platformer. The campaign offers light RPG upgrades but it’s the endless movesets to unlock that will keep you hooked. Managing the horde of enemies with whip-smart parries and melee hits just feels right. Get a counter right and your enemy will be brutally punched across the screen, leaving a red smear. The system enables the deflection of projectiles and triggered traps, too. In co-op new unique moves enable you to take down enemies together. The dojo beckons.…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 7 MAY / PUB CAPCOM / DEV CAPCOM / PLAYERS 1 (4-6 RE: VERSE) Man blood!” giggles our vampiriclooking assailant. One of Lady Dimitrescu’s three daughters, this unsettlingly upbeat goth wants more than to chat about The Cure’s greatest hits. She’s one of a trio of bloodthirsty nasties that will hunt you through Resident Evil Village’s main draw, the castle that dramatically dominates the snow-covered European village below. “Dimitrescu and her three daughters all harken back to what you might expect from vampire lore,” says Village’s producer Peter Fabiano, who teases: “We’re not saying that’s what they are, but there’s certainly something that feels supernatural about what’s going on.” To date Capcom has revealed werewolf-like creatures, teased zombies, and we’ve seen massive hammer-wielding enemies lurching…

FORMAT PS4 / PLAYERS 1 DEV SUNNY SIDE UP Apprentice witch Ellie has been assigned a patch of woods, where she’ll spend the next three years in training. In this life sim that’ll appeal to fans of Stardew Valley, you help the local people with their problems, brew potions, and catalogue the magical wildlife. Take ingredients back to your hut and to create potions that help you accomplish your tasks. All in an adorable art style, it’ll be a getaway to remember.…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / PLAYERS 1 / DEV HEART MACHINE This studio’s first title, Hyper Light Drifter, was a top-down pixel-art game that was all about responsive movement and tight combat. At a glance, Solar Ash is quite different, fully 3D with vivid colours and mysterious environments. But the philosophy is similar: here too it’s all about how you move, and satisfying character work helps immerse you in this world. The colours pop, but the strange kingdom you explore is enigmatic. There’s a sense of mystery to the ruins, huge, looming fungi, whirling voids, and gigantic glowing crystals. The world’s not completely lonely, as odd characters hint at the true nature of the land. The high-speed movement makes navigating fun, your character’s glowing neon shoes giving you a rollerblade-like rhythm…

“THE HAND-DRAWN ANIMATION MARKS A STYLISTIC DEPARTURE FOR FULLBRIGHT.” FORMAT PS5, PS4 / PLAYERS 1 / DEV FULLBRIGHT From a family home to a space station, Fullbright’s focus has always been on exploring lived-in spaces through the objects left behind. More ambitious in scope than ever, Open Roads follows a mother and daughter on a road trip fuelled by family secrets. In the wake of her grandmother’s death, teenager Tess Devine stumbles across a collection of letters in the attic of her home. These reference family secrets, a burglary from long ago, and even something that may still be buried near the Canadian border. Tess and her mother Opal take to the open road in search of long-abandoned family properties and the truth. “If there’s actually another character in the…

“CATALOGUE ANIMALS TO PROVE THERE’S STILL VALUE IN PROTECTING THE WILDLIFE.” FORMAT PS5, PS4 / PLAYERS 1 / DEV USTWO GAMES From the devs behind the acclaimed mobile game Monument Valley comes something more relatable, all about visiting your grandparents. The Mediterranean island where they live is small, a place where everyone knows one another, all sunshine, animals, and chill vibes. Which doesn’t mean everything is rosy. Early on you need to round up adults to help you push a beached dolphin back into the ocean, and you learn that some of the wildlife you’ve seen on annual visits to your grandparents is beginning to fade away. Your grandfather, a wildlife photographer, teaches you how to take shots, and gives you a map of the island and a book to…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / PLAYERS 1 DEV GRACEFUL DECAY Sometimes small things can feel insurmountably large, and vice versa. That’s the conceit behind Maquette, a deliciously Escher-esque recursive puzzler that’s like nothing else, forging its own unique mind-bending path in the same way as the likes of Portal and Manifold Garden did. You’re in a world within itself, where you’ll see yourself mirrored as a giant in the centre, or become tiny and lost on its fringes, where even small cracks can become massive obstacles. Solving problems is all a matter of scale: change something small in the dinky little model of the world in the middle to have bigger effects in the outer layers. Ultimately, Maquette is a love story where problems seemingly big and apparently small overlap and…

FORMAT PS4 / PLAYERS 1 DEV METAMORPHOSIS GAMES Detailed pixel-art backdrops make the steampunk wild west feel rich. Whether it’s floors piled with skulls, heaped junkyards, or the many bottles at the back of a saloon, all the areas in this narrative-heavy metroidvania are full of detail. Playing as Aletheia, you take on jobs and unravel the secrets behind Canaan, the final fortress of mankind on the edge of extinction. Wonderful pixellated portraits fill the screen as you make dialogue choices. In combat, things play out like a cowboy Symphony Of The Night, as you juggle swords and guns to take on massive steam-tanks, spending XP to spec your skills like in an RPG. The combination of fantastic art, tight controls, and a genuinely intriguing world makes this one of…

INFO ETA FORMAT Out now PS4 PUB PRICE Headup £12.99 Games DEV Com8com1 Software PLAYERS 1 Taking a refreshingly old-fashioned approach to first contact with an alien race, this retro shooter, a remaster of the 2018 PC release, simply asks you to hold q to kill everything in sight Of course there’s a little more to Rigid Force Redux than simply firing and forgetting. At a glance the game apes 1980s horizontal-scrolling arcade game R-Type’s setup and enemy patterns1 but dig deeper and there’s a subtle new take that offers plenty of tactics and skilful shooting. Your weapon module isn’t locked to the front or rear of your little craft but can be cycled around the ship at the tap of o or u. Level design and attack waves encourage…

INFO FORMAT PS4 PRICE TBC ETA Out now PUB Devolver Digital DEV Skeleton Crew Studios PLAYERS 1 Shipwrecked on a remote island, how would you try to survive long enough to return home? For fisherman Faraday all hope rests upon a magical harpoon he’s able to throw and recall at will. Such a tool, it turns out, is extremely useful when having to navigate nearby isles and fend off blob creatures, most of whom manage to feel threatening despite being rendered in pixels. A satisfying sense of fluidity you normally wouldn’t expect from such a lo-fi game. Much more than just a simple stabbing device, the legendary harpoon doubles up as a crucial method of traversal. Fling it at a target or attachable surface and you can fly towards it,…

WHAT YOU DO IN: WEREWOLF: TAE 45% Ripping through enemies with a worrying grin on your face. 20% Sneaking around as a wolf, trying to resist the ‘howl’ button. 10% Wondering why Cahal has to stay standing up while reloading his crossbow. 5% Trying out the side-missions and finding them rather disappointing. 15% Searching for spirits so you can unlock another set of wolf-kills. 5% Trying to think of a good werewolf pun (or is that just me?). SECOND OPINION HOWLING OFF We don’t always agree, that’s the fun thing about videogame opinions. I didn’t have as much of a good time wolfing out as Luke clearly did with this one. Old fashioned, crudely made, and limited, this plays like a PS2-era game. At around six hours to…

Picture the scene: you’re out in the wild west, the atmosphere is calm, you have your trusty gun by your side and you and your partner are shooting the breeze. Think of this first area as a tutorial as such, where you’re taught how to shoot, roll, hide in grass, and other basics. But inevitably tragedy strikes and you’re ambushed by a load of bloodthirsty bandits who kidnap your partner and leave you for dead. You awaken, bruised and bloodied, and naturally there’s only one thing on your mind: revenge. You gain this by twinstick-shooting and launching dynamite to force your way through randomly generated levels on a mission to rescue your partner. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. Colt Canyon throws an array of challenges at you, from bandits to rabid…

Want six hours to feel like an eternity? (Well, six to nine minutes in real time). Each horror game in this five-pack (FNAF 1-4 and Sister Location) challenges you to spend a night in a haunted building, and you don’t even collect a large inheritance at the end of it. The most you’re rewarded with is a measly $120 for working the night-time security shift. Going back to the first game, it’s easy to see how the PC original became such a phenomenon online. Working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria (inspired by American kids’ restaurants like Chuck E. Cheese), the only one who really needs guarding is you, because the animatronics come alive at night, and try to get into your guard room. But there’s only enough power to keep the…

SNK might also love adding DLC characters to its fighting games, but it’s generally wary of releasing additional versions of its titles without good reason. That’s why Ultimate Edition is worth paying attention to, as it’s sort of a last hurrah before KOF XV, currently scheduled for release this year. Despite a shaky launch, KOF XIV has been updated over time to become a solid and enjoyable transition into the third dimension for SNK’s flagship fighting game. While its art style might not be quite as beautiful as the masterful pixel art of previous titles, it’s nonetheless a look KOF XIV can call its own, even if it took some tweaking to get here. Alongside ten PS4 themes and ten DLC skins, Ultimate Edition includes the eight DLC fighters that…

When it comes to free-to-play live games, Hi-Rez Studios has provided plenty of ways to spend time with pals over the years, from military shooter Rogue Company to hero shooter Paladins and almost-certainly-the-best-MOBA on PlayStation Smite. During the recent Hi-Rez Showcase the studio revealed updates for all three. Launched towards the end of 2020, for Rogue Company the focus is on updates which will bring new maps to master and rogues to play as (map Hollows and rogue Kestrel were announced recently). Paladins strides forward with its fourth season, titled Calamity. New Champion Yagorath leads the way, having been built up for years in the narrative, and more are promised throughout the year along with updates and limited events. Smite steals the show with its eighth season, Dawn Of Babylon.…

Cyberpunk 2077 Can PS5 save this maligned RPG? On PS4 this eagerly awaited release failed to live up to the hype. Like the gaming equivalent of Chinese Democracy (or Dua Lipa and The Blessed Madonna’s 2020 collab – eh, kids?) it launched as a hot mess. On last-gen hardware Cyberpunk 2077 barely made it to 20fps, with texture resolution scrubbing Night City’s detail into a blur of neon and fudge. “It’s by no means saintly, but we get a far smoother, less hassled experience on PS5.” The good news is on PS5 Cyberpunk 2077 runs at a buttery-smooth 60fps no matter how much detail is on screen. The only downside to the stable frames is the same lower-end fidelity as on PS4. At 1188p it’s not the end of the…

Print & digital Subscribe to OPM today for just £32.50 for six months and get print and digital together. And we’re throwing in a free PS4 controller worth £39.99! Print only If you only want the print edition then subscribe to OPM for just £30 for six months. You get the free PS4 controller and print-only exclusive covers. Try for free Get your first issue for free when you subscribe to our digital edition on iOS, Google, Kindle, and Android devices. Turn to p100 for details.…

Hold onto your Baby Yoda plush, because the next few years are going to be a rush. Disney recently revealed its Lucasfilm Games division, and made a slew of announcements. Top of the list is that a story-driven open-world adventure is in the works at Ubisoft’s Malmö-based developer Massive Entertainment. The team behind The Division series are harnessing its Snowdrop engine to bring this new epic Star Wars game to PlayStation. “Ubisoft have a unique talent for crafting immersive worlds so we’re thrilled to work with them on this project,” says Douglas Reilly, Lucasfilm Games’ VP, during the announcement. He describes how Massive is making an original story set in the expansive Star Wars universe. “They have the creativity, experience, and community understanding to bring awe-inspiring authenticity, depth and innovation…

Persona 5 always did struggle with saying goodbye, whether it was the original game threatening to end on three different occasions or Royal’s third-term shenanigans. Well, the gang is back from 23 February for a road trip in Persona 5 Strikers. A collaboration between Atlus’ P Studio and Koei Tecmo’s Omega Force, Strikers is undeniably a musou game. It’s also recognisably Persona 5, just not as you’ve known it. Here’s a whistle-stop tour of who’s who and what else to expect this month. 01 DEADLY SERIOUS Instead of turn-based fights, you’ll be hacking and slashing in real time as Joker. Persona Arsene’s abilities are on a side-menu on u, allowing you to freeze time as you manipulate the area of effect for magic attacks. Collect new Personas from enemy drops…

“THE SKILLS OF THESE BIGGER THREATS PEPPERED AMONG THE BRAINLESS ZOMBIES KEEPS YOU SHOOTING AND BASHING AS A TEAM.” FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 22 JUN / PUB WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT DEV TURTLE ROCK STUDIOS / PLAYERS 1-4 Zombie shooters have been around for quite some time, but back in 2008 there was something genuinely sensational about Left 4 Dead on PC. The four-player co-op zombie shooter was a hit in much the same way as Fortnite was years later, becoming the go-to co-op shooter. Published by Valve, an almost-too-soon-sequel was released a year later, then the series disappeared into the shadows, a rumoured Left 4 Dead 3 taking on the same sort of mythical status as Half Life 3. That quick history lesson is important, because Back 4…

02 months GUILTY GEAR STRIVE Put up your dukes and throw down with 15 stylish fighters. We can’t wait to step up a Gear. FORMAT PS5, PS4 ETA 6 APR / PUB BANDAI NAMCO 04 months SOLAR ASH The Hyper Light Drifter dev is back. Don’t fall into the spiral of despair. FORMAT PS4 / ETA JUNE 2021 / PUB ANNAPURNA INTERACTIVE 06 months SCARLET NEXUS Psychic anime heroes do battle in this sci-fi blockbuster. FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA SUMMER 2021 / PUB BANDAI NAMCO…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA TBC / PUB MUNDFISH / DEV MUNDFISH / PLAYERS 1 Alternate history presents a compelling fantasy for many – and with how 2020 deflated it’s not hard to see why. After the last 12 months, it’s hard to imagine what could possibly have made things any worse, and to even contemplate the question may feel a bit like tempting fate. Well, Russian developer Mundfish’s latest project presents us with an answer all the same: killer robots. To be fair to the Moscow-based developer, its alternate universe has been in development for a number of years and imagines a world in which the USSR never collapsed, presenting a technologically advanced future infused with a Soviet aesthetic. Naturally, things are going far from swimmingly. As Soviet Special…

01 When not perfecting your bullet hell ballet you’re encouraged to explore deeper into the planet in the hope of finding hidden tech and alien hardware. 02 When you find pieces of alien tech Selene can pull the gear from the deceased and rework it into her suit. Some will stay on during subsequent loops. 03 You need to make good use of these new tools, and utilise power-ups effectively, as the alien lifeforms will evolve new powers and weapons too.…

FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2021 PUB BADLAND PUBLISHING DEV PLAYSTARK / PLAYERS TBC They look like gummy Muppets but they’re here for world domination, and only you can stop them. This colourful roguelike shooter has a simple but addictive core loop: survive waves of alien goobers and then the level boss arrives to up the ante. Each stage is randomly generated, and the challenge is to collect as much loot, guns, and alien tech before the big bad arrives so you stand a chance against these gloopy monstrosities. You’re able to delay the boss’ arrival by completing missions and tasks, encouraging exploration. But that end-of-stage creature is always lurking at the back of your mind, the timer ticking towards the inevitable confrontation. Despite the ‘toon visuals the setup ensures a…

FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2021 PUB WHISPERGAMES, ASSEMBLE ENTERTAINMENT / DEV LOOMIARTS, FEHORAMA FILMES / PLAYERS 1-2 If you enjoyed Cuphead’s nostalgia injection then this shooter could be next on your wishlist. Riffing on the kind of 1950’s alien invasion movies that had drive-in teens running for the hills, and mixing FMV sequences with black-and-white levels inspired by B-movie classics Godzilla and Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers, this is a shooter that revels in its infuences. The saucer enemies bobble across the screen as if dangled on strings and explode in a fizz of fireworks. Giant saucers spin onto their sides to create razor-sharp obstacles to guide your fighter around. With 11 themed levels to battle through, four planes to unlock, and co-op that offers a unique upgrade path, there’s…

FORMAT PS5 / PLAYERS 1 / DEV SCAVENGERS STUDIO Things can change. Fast. If last year taught us anything, it’s that even the mundane can be fleeting. In Season, you play a character on a journey to record cultures as they stand on the brink of disappearing. It’s not a game about saving the world as in rescuing it, but saving it as in recording what was. “It’s sort of this mix of that aspect of coming to a place where you don’t know what their deal is, you don’t know what’s going on, you don’t know their history,” says Kevin Sullivan, creative director and writer. “There’s that aspect of uncovering stuff that’s kind of built into the environment – it’s old, things like that. But there’s also what’s going…

FORMAT PS4 / PLAYERS 1 DEV EN HOUSE STUDIOS Truly, it’s a miracle that any game is made. Systems overlap and intertwine and before you know it you’re clipping through the world or scrawny NPCs are T-posing for dominance. Striking a pose is the least of Gus’ problems, though, when a glitch turns his videogame world upside down. To save his home, he teams up with you – the player – and begins to question your role in all of this. Your choices affect not only Gus’ abilities in this meta-RPG but also his personality and ultimately the fate of his world.…

FORMAT PS4 / PLAYERS 1 DEV DEAD MAGE It’s amazing how much many of the recent deluge of samurai games play with history. This one blends fantasy and reality but also promises a more grounded view of the swordsmen. Set in a dynamic world realised through sumi-e-style brush strokes, you play as the titular masterless warrior. Featuring simultaneous turn-based combat, death can visit at any moment but the Sekai system means the world carries on even as your warrior falls, allowing you to take up the blade of another and continue the journey.…

FORMAT PS4 / PLAYERS 1 DEV 21C.DUCKS Swordswoman Aenor has travelled to the past and bumped into her mentor’s past self. This chance meeting between her and Glendyn unspools temporal consequences and radically changes Aenor’s present. To restore things, Aenor must explore, hack, and slash her way through an isometric world. The game takes cues from the Souls series for its combat and world design. The past presents a world with plenty of layers to peel back, and Aenor will need to peel away if she wants to save her people from a dire future.…

“OPEN YOUR RED NOTEBOOK AND PREPARE TO STAR DIVE INSIDE HIS MIND.” FORMAT PS4 / PLAYERS 1 / DEV MOJIKEN STUDIO Your school friend left her wand at home, so you need to pop over to get it in secret (her dad… isn’t very nice). You need to get through her bedroom window to grab it, and an older man in the rural ’90s Indonesian town in which the game is set has a ladder – but he won’t let you take it! Open your red notebook and prepare to Star Dive inside his mind, where you can play soothing music until he gives into his tiredness and you can nab the ladder. “We aim to give the players an experience that is somewhat familiar and somewhat too magical to…

FORMAT PS4 / PLAYERS 1-2 DEV BLASTMODE, MP2 GAMES The ultimate bounty hunter is one who can channel their aggression into evil-facing justice. Enter Mighty Goose, a long-necked, feathery hero who sports a bright red exosuit and can slot into even bigger war machines to wreak havoc. A run-and-gun in the style of early ’90s games like Gunstar Heroes, the vibrant backgrounds become painted over with chaos when Mighty Goose is on the scene – bullets and explosions fill the screen. Even the chippy, synthy, jazzy bops hearken back to 16-bit games from a quarter of a century ago. This is one of the most inventive throwbacks we’ve seen in a while. The responsive controls reward skill, and some of the huge bosses really put your winged wrath to the…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / PLAYERS 1-2 DEV SLIPGATE IRONWORKS Cast out from your faith, you’re boated off to a low-poly town in a swamp, besieged by poisonous undead. Armed only with a staff for whacking the shuffling corpses with, you quickly find a heretical spell book which enables you to summon more powerful elements like flames or electricity. Graven looks old-school, but elements interact with things like wood or water to create some big-brain, bloody combat, and hidden weapons like wrist-mounted crossbows and flails make this feel like Ye Olde Doome in all the right ways. You’ll discover that the type of faith these downtrodden need isn’t pretty, and it’s up to you to sacrifice the purity of your soul and cast those spells in order to get things bloody…

Playing as Agent 47, you’re a legendary assassin who’s gone rogue from the ICA (the International Contract Agency, a sort of Amazon for hitman services) and is seeking revenge. Cue plentiful globetrotting, ending up in playful sandbox maps with a range of objectives that usually revolve around bloody murder. Ending the World Of Assassination trilogy, Hitman 3 goes big, a tactic which has both pros and cons. How you kill your targets is largely up to you. Agent 47 is competent at just about every method of murder under the sun, but with dense maps full of potential witnesses and high-level security, the more quietly you do it, the better. Guns are plentiful, but you’ll die in a hail of bullets if you alert guards (though if you act fast,…

INFO FORMAT PS4 PRICE £14.99 ETA Out now PUB Perfectly Paranormal DEV Perfectly Paranormal PLAYERS 1 Meet Bjørn, a Viking living in a village where everyone is obsessed with getting killed in battle so they can be off to Valhalla. Because Bjørn is either a coward or, you know, sane, he wants none of that, but accidentally dies a heroic death and ends up in Valhalla. A botched attempt at revival later, Bjørn can not only individually detach all of his limbs, he also gets a chance to go to hell, or rather Helheim, instead. The only problem: hell is currently undergoing major renovations, so he has to puzzle his way through first.1 Norwegian developer Perfectly Paranormal’s Viking hell is a fun place – it has a gym, pubs, and…

Last year’s game was already strong, but if it needed anything, it was a boost from 30fps to 60fps. And whaddya know? That’s exactly what this PS5 offering brings. However, considering how little the rest of the game has changed, whether the PS5 version is worth £49.99 is debatable, especially as there’s no free upgrade from the PS4 version. Still, while it looks near-identical, there are some key changes over last year’s game. The occasional inexplicable understeer of last year’s bikes is gone, instead allowing for more extreme tilting before your rider falls off. This occasionally makes for unrealistic flapping of bike and rider at the top of particularly gnarly bumps (especially at low speed), but it does mean you’ll fall off less, reducing the risk of controller smashing. Respawn…

We hake to say it, but fishing isn’t exactly a perfect fit for videogames. This being a simulator, you’ll find yourself sitting around doing nothing but waiting for the bass to drop on a regular basis. The waits will be minutes rather than the real-world sport’s hours, though, unless you’ve made some very poor choices. It’s all about preparation and technique; if you want to pull in the juiciest trout, you need to know what to do with your tackle. There are some in-game text tutorials,1 but you’ll fare best here if you have at least a fundamental understanding of how fishing works in the real world. There’s an impressive array of hooks, lures, floats, baits, and more. Using the right equipment in the right place makes a noticeable difference…

After we finish a close and action-packed round of 3v3 we leave the court and are ushered to the merch stand. Exit the court through the gift shop? NBA 2K21 plays a mean game of basketball, but its vices remain and feel more intrusive than ever. The City, PS5’s expanded version of PS4’s Neighbourhood, is a sprawling environment that ensures you always get a game but doing more in this virtual world means spending VC; you need to pay to play anything outside of regular matches. Just want to play for fun with your friends? Then you’ll have to rent a court. It’s all a little too realistic. INFO FORMAT PS5 (reviewed), PS4 PRICE £64.99 ETA Out now PUB 2K Sports DEV Visual Concepts OFFLINE REVIEW 8/10 (PS5), 7/10 (PS4)…

1 Tetris Effect Tetris, yeah? It might be a great game, but it’s easy to understand why you’d brush this version 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 as well. 3 Rez Infinite Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s vision becomes reality…