Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2022 i PLAY

“We have passionately pursued an opportunity to return to Alan Wake’s story.” Maggie Robertson won Best Performance, Final Fantasy XIV cleaned up with Best Ongoing Game as well as Best Community Support, and It Takes Two won Game Of The Year – but as neat as all that was, there was plenty more to see at the Game Awards last month. In addition to the awards themselves, we were treated to teases and announcements aplenty. One that caught our eye early on was the announcement of Alan Wake 2. The original 2010 game made its PS5 debut recently, and this sequel will follow in its footsteps some time during 2023. Developer Remedy’s creative director, Sam Lake, said, “It’s no secret that we have passionately pursued an opportunity to return to…

Epic Games has given us a glimpse into the future of gaming with The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience. Available to download on PlayStation 5 (but not PlayStation 4), Awakens is without a doubt the most impressive Unreal Engine showcase to date. “The demo may be short, lasting around 20 minutes if you include the extras, but it packs an ambitious punch.” The demo may be short, lasting around 20 minutes if you include the extras, but it packs an ambitious punch, giving unparallelled insight into the next generation of gaming. In each of its three sections – an uncanny valley character showcase, a playable action sequence, and an open-world city to explore – the technology presented is incredible. TIME TO WAKE UP The Matrix Awakens is designed…

“NORMAN AND I TALKED FOR AN HOUR AFTER A LONG TIME.” HIDEO KOJIMA TEASES ANOTHER PROJECT WITH ACTOR NORMAN REEDUS, THE TWO HAVING PREVIOUSLY COLLABORATED ON DEATH STRANDING. “ACTUALLY IN A WAY THE OSCARS GOT F*CKED BECAUSE THE GAME AWARDS ARE WAY BETTER.” NOTORIOUS F-BOMB DROPPER JOSEF FARES GETS SWEARY IN HIS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH AFTER IT TAKES TWO WINS THE GAME OF THE YEAR. “WHAT WOULD REALITY MEAN WHEN A WORLD WE CAN BUILD LOOKS AS REAL AS OUR OWN?” THE MATRIX’S CARRIE-ANNE MOSS INTRODUCES US TO THE AWESOME POWER OF UNREAL ENGINE 5.…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA SPRING / PUB DRAMATIC LABS / DEV DRAMATIC LABS / PLAYERS 1 Boldly splitting the infinitive in the year 2380 – that’s immediately after all of the The Next Generation films following Captain Picard’s stint on the Enterprise –an all-new crew ventures ever onward into the final frontier. Grammar jokes aside, Resurgence is the first project from Dramatic Labs, a self-described ‘independent collaboration’ of more than 20 ex-Telltale staff. “WE WILL SEE WELL-KNOWN FACES ALONG THE WAY.” The developers frequently refer to their earlier work when talking about this new project, and there’s a more-than-familial resemblance between old Telltale titles and the way in which Resurgence tells its science-fiction story. The action switches between two Starfleet officers aboard the starship USS Resolute. Engineering Crewperson Carter…

“CRAFT DISEASE INTO A VARIETY OF WEAPONS, FROM CLAWS TO SCYTHES.” FORMAT PS5 / ETA 2022 / PUB TEAM17 DEV OVERBORDER STUDIO / PLAYERS 1 The Geneva Protocol of 1925 outlaws both chemical and biological warfare, but that holds little water in Thymesia. In a kingdom ruined by over-ambitious alchemy, you play as beaky amnesiac protagonist Corvus. The plague doctor getup you wear is a clue to your identity – but your protagonist has an unexpected trick up his sleeve that’ll help him reveal even more truths. Corvus can seize disease from enemies, crafting tricksy miasma into a variety of weapons from claws to scythes. Stop us if you’ve heard this before: your foes have been mutated by a strange plague and your only hope for survival is to balance…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 17 FEB / PUB SNK / DEV SNK / PLAYERS 1-2 (OFFLINE), 2-8 (ONLINE – ROOMS) Having previously contented ourselves with watching the carnage from afar, we dive into King Of Fighters XV’s beta to bloody our virtual fists. So, what do we learn? With only eight of the 39 characters available, not as much as we’d hoped (apart from the fact that some people love to spam Iori’s flippin’ projectile attack) but enough to be intrigued. Although some people run into netcode problems, our online experience is consistently smooth (albeit occasionally with slightly longer than usual load times), which bodes well for the full release. The opportunity for online play is eye-opening in multiple ways, and not only because of Iori’s aforementioned cheesetastic attack.…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA TBC PUB NEXON / DEV EIGHTING, NEOPLE, ARC SYSTEM WORKS PLAYERS 1-2 Arc System Works can rarely resist the smell of the game for long. Once again the studio’s creating a licensed fighter, this time based on the South-Korean-developed free-to-play brawler Dungeon Fighter Online. You might not have heard of it, but it’s one of PC’s highest-grossing games of all time. As the source material is already constructed around flashy moves and impressive-looking combos, it’s easy to see where the inspiration for the slick-as-ever fighting action has come from. That said, when we’re faced with characters based on archetypes (Hitman, Striker, Grappler, and so on), it’s hard to get much sense of personality, pretty and technical as it may be. Perhaps one for the Dungeon…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 10 JUN PUB NIS AMERICA / DEV G.REV PLAYERS 1 Accused of being a mass murderer, Sengoku finds himself trapped in a deadly game. Not only is his partner in the games, Rina, a victim of his alleged crime, but she can kill him at any point (and, you have to wonder, who could blame her). However, should they beat the other duos of criminals and victims they’re pitted against, they’ll obtain a pardon and a wish. Besting the bizarre Yurukill Land theme park won’t be easy, as Sengoku will have to swap between bullet hell shoot-’em-up sections and slower adventure game escape rooms. It’s a lot to keep track of, but the story’s by Homura Kawamoto, the creator of Netflix’s intense gambling anime, Kakegurui.…

FORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB GUN INTERACTIVE DEV SUMO NOTTINGHAM / PLAYERS 1 Another long-standing horror movie series gets the game treatment, and it’s another asymmetrical kill-’em-up in which survivors try to outlast a lone serial killer. It’s from the publisher behind Friday The 13th, the ropy-yet-novel stab at the genre that helped popularise it, but being less stabby and more chainsawy, the faster-paced hunting could excite. But can it best Dead By Daylight?…

Pinwheel (Dark Souls) Pinwheel’s hard if you fight through the catacombs early on. But that’s not what people do, so it only takes one or two hits to remove this ill-fated necromancer. Divine Dragon (Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice) This is a beautiful fight, but all it amounts to is grappling into lightning a few times, then yeeting it at the Divine Dragon before cutting out a tear for your collection. Maiden Astraea (Demon’s Souls) She falls foul of the fact you have a bow and a lot of arrows. Only her bodyguard fights back. There’s not much else to say except we feel kind of sorry for her. Ancient Wyvern (Dark Souls 3) While the boss arena is hard to deal with, it only takes one well-placed head-poke to do…

“Bosses are exhilarating challenges, pushing back just enough to make us feel incredible when we beat them.” What would happen if Jet Set Radio and Super Mario Galaxy had a baby, and that baby was somehow also Sonic? You’d either end up with a spiky, radical Italian plumber or Solar Ash. We’d prefer the latter, as this cosmic, fast-paced platformer feels fantastic in the hands in a way we’ve not experienced in quite some time, moments of flow giving you a thrill like no other. You’re Rei, a Voidrunner who’s journeyed into a strange black hole called the Ultravoid along with her crew. The void has claimed many planets in the past, and her home is next on the list. By activating their Starseed device, they hope to spare their…

Something something frozen Earth, something something zombies. Okay, that’s the plot out of the way. If Back 4 Blood in VR sounds like fun to you, good news: this is (kind of) that. With two PS Move controllers and up to three other players, you shoot your way through hordes of zombies with dual-wielding and freedom of movement. It’s often as great as that sounds… but… The game’s first season of DLC will be free, and it’s pretty clear why; content is pretty thin on the frozen ground at the moment. The campaign, such as it is, currently consists of just five levels. This is important to note, because it means that repetition starts to set in after just a few hours. If you start off on one of the…

What are we going to do tonight, Brain? The same thing we do every night, Pinky: put taking over the world on hold to build another generator because we are one baccarat table away from a building-wide power outage. That seems to be the rinse and repeat scenario of Evil Genius 2. While its unique concept is a draw, the game isn’t without flaws. A few overcomplicated mechanics aside, these largely stem from where it’s been ported from PC to PlayStation, resulting in some unfriendly button mapping and a small text UI busier than your own Lair. Once you get over those initial hurdles, the crux of the game is hammy tycoon fun, with RTS elements giving a boost to both tension and mayhem. There’s something Sims-ish about Evil Genius…

The last decade has seen Games Workshop undertake a licensing free-for-all with Warhammer, and we’re not lacking for PlayStation games as a result. Following Chaosbane, Vermintide 2, and their ilk, which made the jump from PC to PlayStation with varying degrees of success, Battlesector now arrives following July’s PC release. Set after the Devastation Of Baal, this real-time strategy sees you play Sergeant Carleon of the Blood Angels, purging a Tyranid infestation on Baal Secundus. If you’re new to Warhammer, you’re probably wondering what we’re on about. Battlesector is aimed at series veterans, assuming familiarity with the wider lore and so providing little in the way of exposition. Fortunately, the lore is mainly limited to background information and if you’re curious about preceding events, we suggest reading up on the…

Ever wanted more of an JRPG feel to your farming sim? Former long-time Nintendo exclusive Rune Factory 4 Special could be for you. A spin-off of the expansive Story Of Seasons series (the international rebrand of the original Harvest Moon games), RF4 offers all the activities of small-town living, such as fishing, raising animals, and attending festivals, but adds dragons, goblins, and monstrous trees for an extra layer of crafting and adventure. Because this isn’t (entirely) your average farming sim, RF4S begins with your character falling off an airship and into the town of Selphia, where they are declared prince or princess, and responsible for the town and its farm. Never mind the specifics, for many hours Rune Factory 4 Special plays just like most other farming sims: you clear…

Despite the hilarious (ahem) joke at the top of the page, planes have not made the jump from the campaign to the online modes. Apart, that is, from killstreaks, which once again replace scorestreaks. You’ll be pleased to hear that’s not the only difference between this and the lukewarm experience of Cold War online; this is an intense, fast-paced return to form for COD. Despite the WW2 setting, and despite featuring two maps from World At War, Vanguard doesn’t really feel like previous historical entries in the series. It’s difficult to pinpoint why, but the fact that most guns can be overloaded with a hilarious number of attachments probably has something to do with it. It could be described as Modern Warfare wearing a 1940s moustache to some extent. “Every…

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…

Light and dark are key features of Obscure. Created from the effects of a strange black plant found growing around Leafmore, the monsters are able to shroud themselves in a smoky, mould-like aura that protects them from harm. Only by burning it away with a strong light (sunlight or a powerful torch) can you put the creatures down for good. Making the characters work as a team is the only way to survive. Every student you play as has unique abilities and strengths, such as proficiency in close combat or the ability to spot valuable items like health and ammunition. Choosing the right moment to use each is crucial. Often, you’re able to pick which characters to take with you to explore the next area. Couch co-op is a big…

World War Z runs on the appropriately-named Swarm Engine. World At War was the first COD to have Zombies mode. Minecraft features seven types of zombie. Dying Light’s zombies act differently depending on the time of day. ROMERO & JILL(IET) You’ve got guts, kid RESIDENT EVIL 4 WAS THE FIRST IN THE SERIES TO REPLACE SLOW, STUPID ZOMBIES WITH FASTER, CLEVERER ONES. Resident Evil helped kickstart renewed interest in zombies in cinema, and popular culture as a whole. Says who? Says Simon Pegg (Shaun Of The Dead), Alex Garland (28 Days Later), and godfather of zombie cinema, George Romero. Romero even directed an advert for Resident Evil 2, and wrote a script for a Resident Evil movie that was (bafflingly) rejected in favour of Paul WS Anderson’s. Stubbs The Zombie…

Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Collection will be making its way to PS5 on 28 January. This remaster package collects together two games: series star Nathan Drake’s last bow, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, and Chloe Frazer’s first turn as protagonist in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. While both looked fantastic in their original PS4 incarnations, they will enjoy a number of current-gen improvements for this rerelease. For starters, you have a wider than usual range of graphics modes to choose from. Alongside the usual suspects of a 4K resolution mode at 30fps and a performance mode that swaps high resolution for a high 60fps, there’s something called Performance+ mode. This third option doubles frames for a rate of up to 120fps at a 1080P resolution. We reckon most people will be…

After nine years, Ace Team is returning to where it all began. Clash: Artifacts Of Chaos will debut this year and follows a fighter called Pseudo as he searches for the relics of the title. His journey begins in earnest when he vows to protect The Boy, a strange, frail creature who looks like a plume of black feathers with large yellow eyes. The pair journey across a place called Zenozoik, Ace Team’s established, surreal setting. “A game where the story-focussed campaign blends in nicely with online interactions.” In 2009’s Zeno Clash, PC gamers were introduced to a world where their fists did the talking. You don’t need to have played that game or its sequel to enjoy Artifacts Of Chaos, which is why it won’t be called Zeno Clash…

Horizon Zero Dawn was notorious for presenting a fascinating, far-flung future, only for its exploration to grind to a halt in favour of delving into a society long since gone. Now the Living World team at Guerrilla Games is working to breathe life into the world of Horizon Forbidden West. The goal, lead living world designer Espen Sogn explains in a developer blog, is “to make sure NPCs feel connected to where they live”. For example, Sogn says, “When members of a tribe are in their settlement, their safe spaces, they can act like themselves.” That means you often see the combative Tenakth tribe working out at their home base, or the patriarchal Oseram dishing out high fives to their bros. Just as different locations mean new gear, weapons, and…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA TBC / PUB EPIC GAMES / DEV IRON GALAXY STUDIOS / PLAYERS 40 The battle royale genre is a crowded space. It takes something special to stand out. Something fun and colourful. Which is exactly what the wrestling-themed Rumbleverse brings to the ring. Its melee focus and breezy attitude makes it a belt-worthy contender. While Fortnite, known for its colourful atmosphere and nonsense crossovers, rules the roost, many of its competitors try to be gritty and are, to be frank, a little boring to look at. “YOU’LL BE DANCING AROUND THE COMPETITION AS YOU TAKE THEM APART.” With Rumbleverse, Iron Galaxy is aiming to flip over the table… right after piledriving into it. The studio cut its teeth on the super-fun Divekick before taking care…

Series staple Kyo Kusanagi fights with fiery abilities, including a rising fist-leading attack which is absolutely not a Dragon Punch, how very dare you. Newbie Dolores works best at mid-range. Her teleportation skill is great for manipulating the flow of a match and escaping boring people at parties. Chizuru Kagura can temporarily create clones of herself while attacking, which can be disorienting for opponents. Also handy for multiplayer solitaire.…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA LATE 2022 PUB TBC / DEV AUROGON SHANGHAI PLAYERS 1 Don’t let the harmoniously colourful visuals and welcoming-looking hand-drawn environments fool you, this metroidvania leans heavily in the ‘-vania’ direction, as hero Renee can mix and match abilities and weapons to ensure her survival as she explores Engardin. Able to wield two primary weapons and a secondary weapon at once, she can switch freely between them to create flowing combos, though traversal abilities naturally factor into uncovering all the secrets the world has to offer as well. Across the different environments, all of which look beautiful, there are enemies to face, and each type has its own mechanics to make each area feel distinct. We’ve yet to see if it passes the ‘in the hands’…

FORMAT PSVR / ETA TBC PUB INNERSLOTH / DEV INNERSLOTH PLAYERS MULTI We’ve only just got used to playing regular Among Us on PlayStation, working out which member of the team is the killer, when this comes along to shake things up. Seems sus’ to us. But having discussed it in an emergency meeting, this looks like a devilishly simple proposition. It’s a coat of science-fiction paint that gives the Werewolf you’ve come to love a whole new look. The halls of the Skeld spaceship are as you know them, you can vent, and you can press that big old button if you find a body murdered by a traitorous crewmate. However, given it’s a game of observation, the shift in point of view makes all the difference, immersing you…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 25 FEB PUB BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT DEV FROMSOFTWARE PLAYERS 1-4 Like the Elden Ring itself, the soulslike genre has been shattered – by the very studio that created it. Yet, in taking those shards – pieces of Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro – and forging Elden Ring, FromSoftware has managed to create something that feels entirely new yet familiar. This isn’t ‘Dark Souls but open world’. Wide-open spaces are used in a way that changes how you undertake your journey, and a wealth of combat, gear, and customisation options makes experimenting with the way you play just as freeing as the ability to choose which physical direction you take. “WHAT’S HERE ISN’T JUST FLUFF – THERE’S A TEASING SECRET OVER THE CREST OF…

Gaping Dragon (Dark Souls) Dragons are pretty metal anyway, but when you open up one’s ribcage and have it act as if said ribcage is their mouth, it’s a level of metal never seen before. Aldrich, Devourer Of Gods (Dark Souls 3) Is anything more metal than being a giant mass of black sludge and the incarnation of gluttony, eating a god, then using their body to attack as you digest them? No. Chaos Witch Queelag (Dark Souls) Checklist time. Chaos? Check. Witch? Check. Lady who has become half-spider and can spit lava at you? Check. Queelag definitely fronts a metal band. Demon Of Hatred (Sekiro) We’re pretty sure this is a metal song with a breakdown halfway in where all notes become so low you just feel them vibrate…

WHAT YOU DO IN: SOLAR ASH FRIENDS & ENEMIES CYD Your AI companion assists with upgrades, checkpoints, and lore. A helping hand. ECHO A mysterious entity who snaps at your heels and wants you to end your quest. AMES One of the trapped inhabitants, he wants you to track down his missing crew. THE DUALSENSE DIFFERENCE HAPTIC FEEDBACK Whacking needles becomes a tactile experience as you feel each shattering hit and last-minute grapple. You need to feel it. HAPTIC FEEDBACK You can get a sense of the ground beneath your feet as you whisk over clouds, hit rails, and feel the thrum of a well-timed boost. LOVING/ HATING SOLAR VISUALS There are some fantastic sights on offer in Solar Ash– and just take a look…

“If you have a favourite supporting character, they’ll probably be honoured here.” Only crystal heads need apply. Buying this expansion and paying extra for a story skip would be like paying to read only Return Of The King. Sure, what’s here is great, some of the best work the FFXIV team has done even, but it’s a culmination in every sense of the word. Endwalker takes on the difficult task of, well, walking the end. While the MMO will continue, this wraps up the ten-year-long story arc charting Hydaelyn and Zodiark’s power struggle, and does it while celebrating every previous expansion. If you have a favourite supporting character, they’ll probably be honoured here. The problem with loose ends is they tend to scatter, and while Square Enix manages to weave…

Haven’t played the first game, or you have but can’t remember it? Don’t worry; this works perfectly as a standalone tale.1 Robert Foster, on the trail of a kidnapped child in a dystopian future, is soon forced to assume the identity of a dead man (who also had something to hide), and things only get more complicated from there. This walk-and-click adventure comes from Charles Cecil, the main force behind Broken Sword. There’s an inventory, but you don’t need to combine things within it. That often-frustrating mechanic is out, and a simple yet satisfying hacking system is in. Rather than a tedious minigame, this involves little more than swapping instructions around in logic gates, which is easier and more interesting than it sounds. It’s essential for progress, as you use it…

We’ve all done things that we’re not particularly proud of, but very few of us – we suspect, at least – will have utilised a sentient talking spaceship to destroy an entire planet. That’s the burden on our hero Nara’s conscience, though, and she ends up returning to that very same ship in order to make amends (largely by blowing more stuff up). To be honest, we’re still a little hazy on the beginnings of the story. The important thing to know is that Nara used to be a leader and a fearsome warrior with the Circle, the group of intergalactic baddies that she now battles. There are also the Faceless, creatures from the Void that… Look, all the enemies fly around until you shoot them down, okay? Although much…

The idea of a knight equipped with a shovel instead of a sword initially seemed bizarre. But years after Shovel Knight launched, Yacht Club Games’ pixelated protagonist continues to charm. This time he’s winning hearts in a puzzle-powered spin-off adventure – one that is far more nuanced and addictive than it has any right to be. “Riffs on the roguelite formula to encourage you to get stronger and earn more items with every run.” The adventure begins when Shovel Knight is pulled into the Pocket Dungeon and swiftly informed by the aptly named Puzzle Knight that getting out requires him to complete a series of randomised, block-based puzzle rooms littered throughout the land. KING OF SPADES If you’re worried that this simply results in a ‘match three’ puzzler, think again!…

01 Ah, Domination, the fight over three flags that results in a constant back-and-forth between the teams. Unless your team is being, y’know, dominated. Then the gruff voiceover guy gets very cross with you. 02 New mode Patrol is basically Hardpoint, but the capture point takes a leisurely stroll across the map while people murder one another for it. Staying in the point makes you very vulnerable; violent hilarity ensues. 03 Kill Confirmed, where kills don’t count unless the corpse’s dog tag is collected. Will teammates steal your kills? Of course. Is there always one person who ignores the dog tags completely? Without fail.…

STREET FIGHTER 5 – LUKE Boxing boy Luke is the latest, and final, addition to this season of Street Fighter V. He’s an American boxer, making him a great offensive character, and has a background in the military. He also has a connection to Street Fighter veteran Guile, although Capcom is keeping schtum on the exact details. DEAD BY DAYLIGHT – PORTRAIT OF A MURDER This DLC throws a new killer and a survivor into the mix. The Artist uses her long, inky arms to slash at players and can control bloodthirsty crows. The survivor is Jonah Vasquez, a genius who understands maths patterns (is that going to be useful, really?). JURASSIC WORLD EVOLUTION 2 – EARLY CRETACEOUS PACK More dinos are on their way. This pack of four species…

PS Vita wasn’t awash with big exclusives, and early efforts such as compacted takes on WipEout and Uncharted didn’t assert the handheld’s unique identity. It needed games that shifted the focus – original 3D adventures with the scale of a console title that felt tailor-made for the pocket machine. Enter Gravity Rush, where shifting is everything. Gravity Rush was initially planned for PS3, in fact, but Sony Japan Studio reworked it to fit Vita, finding smart ways to cope with the hardware limitations. The visual style, inspired by the work of French graphic artist Jean Giraud (aka Moebius), does a lot of heavy lifting in open-world steampunk city Hekseville. Detail in your immediate surroundings contrasts with cel-shaded townsfolk and block-shaded backgrounds to resemble scenes from a graphic novel, supported…

PLAY How did you go about creating the music for Obscure? Olivier Derivière The main theme of the game is eternal life. One of the things I try to do is to absorb people’s vision for a project when I’m working on it, and I wanted to really capture this idea in the music. So we ended up working with the Paris National Opera Children’s Choir to create music that sounded liturgic, almost angelic, but still quite dark at the same time. It was a contrast to the teen horror movie vibe the game was going for, so it was quite a bold move, but ultimately I think it paid off quite well. PLAY How did the music change for the sequel? OD The sequel was much more mature in…

FORMAT PS4 / PUB ROCKSTAR GAMES / DEV ROCKSTAR STUDIOS / RELEASED 2018 The incredibly detailed version of the Great Frontier Rockstar created for its cowboy simulator is full of luscious sights and strong character moments. As such, we expected to tame horses, rob banks, and follow our flawed yet forceful leader to financial gain. One thing we didn’t expect to do as outlaw-turned-helping-hand Arthur Morgan was cry at the thought of his inevitable demise. You see, whereas most open-world games treat death as inconsequential, Red Dead Redemption 2 forces you to confront it after you learn that Arthur has tuberculosis. This bacterial infection might be easily treatable today but it was a killer in 1899. Soon after, you are given a choice: you can live out Arthur’s final few…

Three issues for £1 Subscribe to PLAY – The Magazine and get get your first three issues for £1 (that’s 94% off), plus your mag delivered every month. Print only If you just want a print edition then you’ll pay from £15 per quarter. Each issue is delivered direct to your door in environmentally-friendly packaging. Print & Digital Get the best of both worlds, with a print and digital bundle from £16.25 per quarter, for iOS, Google, Kindle, and Android devices. See p102.…

Official faceplates are coming to PS5 in five bold colours. Cosmic Red and Midnight Black will be released this January, followed later in 2022 by Nova Pink, Starlight Blue, and Galactic Purple. Three of the covers have been designed to match the already existing pink, blue, and purple DualSense controllers. When PS5 was first released, its black-and-white design was met with mixed reviews. These plates now enable PS5 owners to customise their consoles. Sony says the plates are easy to use: “Simply remove your original white PS5 console covers and click your new ones into place.” The covers are available for both the disc edition and the digital edition of the PS5 but are sold separately. In terms of pricing, the controllers will retail for the usual price of £65…

OH DEER DINER BRIGHT FALLS BLEND COFFEE REMEDY C15 STORE.REMEDYGAMES.COM Any writer will tell you they can’t get a thing done without their morning shot of caffeine. In fact, the whole brewing process is wonderful for procrastinating – er, we mean working out a difficult scene. Remedy is offering this almond and chocolate blend for Alan Wake wannabes or those simply longing to make a return trip to Bright Falls. ASTRO MUG INSERT COIN CLOTHING £7.99 EACH INSERTCOINCLOTHING.COM There are four of these mugs, each taking inspiration from a console release year and presenting a chapter in a retconned past. Astro Bot didn’t make his big debut until 2013’s The Playroom but the 1994 mug imagines the mascot clambering around the original PlayStation, its various controllers,…

1 CRASH BANDICOOT From the hems of his jorts to the spiked corners of his perpetually arched brows, the spirit of ’90s countercultural swagger lives on in Crash Bandicoot. Forcible evolution at the hands of Dr Neo Cortex gave him a highly expressive face – though, sadly, he wasn’t able to develop a chin. 2 PHOENIX WRIGHT: ACE ATTORNEY TRILOGY Detective Dick Gumshoe ought to be obnoxious. When he’s not arresting one of the hero’s friends, he’s sucking up to Edgeworth or bungling a crucial step in the latest investigation. But, darn it, it’s just impossible to stay mad at a guy with such puppy-dog eyes. You win again, Capcom! 3 YAKUZA: LIKE A DRAGON Spare a thought for Ichiban Kasuga. The hapless mobster spent 18 years in jail after…

“THE FORMER HEROES ARE RUNNING RAMPANT ACROSS METROPOLIS (LITERALLY IN THE FLASH’S CASE).” FORMAT PS5 / ETA 2022 / PUB WARNER BROS INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT DEV ROCKSTEADY STUDIOS / PLAYERS 1-4 When superheroes go bad, you need to turn to the supervillains. Even if that means putting bombs inside their heads to force them to do your bidding (hey, it takes badness to deal with badness). That’s how the Suicide Squad find themselves in Metropolis, with the whole Justice League to eliminate. No, the all-star superhero team hasn’t turned nasty protesting the lack of catered lunch in the Watchtower. A villain even more dangerous than the four we play as (Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, King Shark, and Deadshot) has got inside their heads. Brainiac looms over the sunny city in his…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2022 / PUB SQUARE ENIX / DEV PLATINUMGAMES / PLAYERS 1-4 When you think of a PlatinumGames title, you’ll usually come up with high-octane single-player action extravaganzas like Bayonetta and Vanquish, games where simply moving looks as cool as the combat. The studio’s less known for making multiplayer games, however – unless you count the disappointing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants In Manhattan, which won’t necessarily give you high hopes for Babylon’s Fall, Platinum’s foray into live-service online multiplayer. It would be easiest to liken this medieval-fantasy-styled loot-based action game to Godfall, but without the new-gen visual razzle dazzle, seeing as this is still a cross-gen title at heart. Babylon’s Fall does have a unique visual style that makes it look like an oil painting,…

FORMAT PS5 / ETA 24 MAY / PUB SQUARE ENIX / DEV LUMINOUS PRODUCTIONS / PLAYERS 1 Since it was teased in 2020 as Project Athia, the intrigue surrounding Square Enix’s all-new blockbuster game Forspoken has only grown. Thanks to a game-footage trailer revealed at this year’s Game Awards and a hands-off preview, we now know more of what the fantasy world of Athia has in store. Forspoken tells a classic fantasy tale: an apparently normal person from our world is dropped into a fantastical realm where they possess incredible power. Although Luminous Productions follows that over-familiar storyline in Forspoken, it alters many of the tropes, starting with spellcasting, parkour-performing protagonist Frey. 21-year-old Frey Holland, who had a rough upbringing in foster care and is now on the run from…

FORMAT PS5 / ETA Q2 2022 PUB WALES INTERACTIVE DEV WALES INTERACTIVE PLAYERS 1-4 Like someone accidentally spilling a heap of garlic into mashed potatoes, Wales Interactive stumbled onto something good when it added FPS challenges to the otherwise combat-averse survival horror Maid Of Sker. Seemingly inspired by the action twist comes Sker Ritual, a full spiritual sequel that once again pits us against the sinister Quiet Ones with a full arsenal in tow. With the option to either go solo or blast horrors as part of a team of four players, the nightmares that lay in wait are more challenging and vicious, in keeping with the faster, more violent pace. Coming exclusively to new-gen consoles Sker Ritual looks the part too, building on the rural scares – a gory…

Sword Saint Isshin (Sekiro) Any boss with three phases is pushing it. Getting to the last one isn’t hard just time-intensive. It’s tricky enough to require lots of ninja tools, so you must grind for ammo. Bed Of Chaos (Dark Souls) This fight’s about staying on the move, but the game wasn’t built for you to be this agile. You’re sure to get stuck on geometry as this fire witch burns you to death. Maneater (Demon’s Souls) What’s worse than one jumpy, flying man-creature? Two, of course. And on a perilously thin bridge. It took us many tumbles before we were Menbeaters. Fool’s Idol (Demon’s Souls) Simple when you replay it, but who knew first time that this boss would revive indefinitely unless you deal with her balcony simp beforehand?…

Playing this will really make you think about how small human hands are. In zero gravity in a space shuttle, the ability to grab onto things is incredibly important. So important, it could make the difference between life and death, such as when you accidentally flip the switch to the shuttle door with your butt and need to hang on for dear life to avoid being blasted out into the void of space. That’s a lot of dependence on two small parts of our soft, fleshy bodies, and throughout your time playing 2pt Interactive’s interstellar adventure, you’ll probably find yourself in a love-hate relationship with the tiny, supple hands of your cosmonaut. Heavenly Bodies is a rag-doll physics sim that puts you in the spacesuit of an astronaut in outer…

WHAT YOU DO IN: FFXIV ENDWALKER ALSO ON PLAYSTATION 4 PRO While it can’t use an SSD like PS5, the PS4 Pro version of the game is still quite the looker, with visual modes that mean you can hit a slick-feeling 60fps, or see things in a sharper resolution at 30fps. Importantly, the DualShock 4 feels great. FRIENDS & ENEMIES ERENVILLE A Gleaner for Sharlayan, he travels all around bringing back things to study. LIVINGWAY This Loporrit comes from the moon, but loves the people of the planet below. MATSYA This Matangan fisherman is one of the first friends you make in Thavnair. LOVING/ HATING MOVIE MAGIC Some fantastic cutscene direction means the big moments hit home, from poignantly moving to all-out thrilling. BIG FOLLOWING…

Looking like a children’s storybook brought to life, The Wild At Heart is one of the most gorgeous indies to be released this year. Its striking hand-drawn artwork is more than enough to charm the pants off anyone, but little irritants in activity and story make this would-be-epic fantasy adventure feel paper-thin. You play as Wake and Kirby, two runaway children who venture into the Deep Woods and discover a world filled with fantasy creatures and magic. After meeting a group of eclectic forest guardians, the two decide to help stop an evil power called The Never in hope of saving the forest from a dark force. If it sounds a little twee, well, that’s because it is. Flashbacks to Wake’s troubled home life hint at more serious themes, but…

WHAT YOU DO IN: CHORUS HOW TO… UPGRADE YOUR SHIP The key is to use your Senses to detect easily missed credit bundles, but also to complete side-missions. Rewards are usually credits, but sometimes a new weapon or ship part. Or just land at a friendly dock and think about what suits your playstyle. Bring a full wallet! STATPACK  03 Chapters. They’re not announced, but melt together. Three hours or so each, it’s nice to play something that doesn’t demand your entire life. 10 The number of seconds, roughly, at the very end when you get a huge power trip. If only you could unlock it for the postgame! 06 Rites: Senses (detect items), Drift Trance (drift), Hunt (teleport), Storm (disrupt shields), Star (charge through enemies), and Control…

Looks like humankind is in for one more spat with its robot overlords. Annihilation Line is a four-hour campaign that takes place mid-way through the story of the original game. The DLC sees you reprise the role of Resistance member Jacob Rivers, but this time your task is to investigate a civilian outpost that has gone radio silent. Together with Kyle Reese (a familiar face from the films) you and your group of soldiers must investigate what has happened and cross the ‘Annihilation Line’ of the title. “Look forward to plenty more explosions and really big guns.” The DLC reveals even more history for those interested in the events that led to Kyle and Terminator model 101’s time hop to California in 1984. You get to live out Kyle’s visions…

The last time we saw Fortnite’s island, it looked like it was meeting a dramatic end. The landmass began to flood with ocean water and players witnessed the entire map being flipped over, revealing a different world on the other side. It’s not the most bonkers thing to happen in Fortnite, but it’s high on the list. Two of the biggest introductions this season are sliding and web-slinging. Sliding lets you easily avoid incoming attacks (and also looks slick as heck) and is great for traversing hills and snowy biomes. Web-slinging lets you use Spider-Man’s gloves to quickly swing around the map, and there’s more Spidey content where that came from. The map will also have the Daily Bugle news building from the films, plus a Spider-Man skin as part…

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 PSVR, but in the virtual space it really becomes next level, transforming one of the tightest puzzle games ever made into an emotional ride. 2 Hitman 3 Every mission in the World Of Assassination trilogy can be played in PSVR via the latest entry in the series. That’s a lot of murderous action. It all plays brilliantly too, with the act of puzzling through hits as Agent 47 perfectly suited to virtual reality. One of PSVR’s best. 3 The…

INFO PUB/DEV Square RELEASED ON PlayStation RELEASE 1997 IF YOU LIKE THIS, TRY THIS… Aside from every other Final Fantasy, you may also enjoy overlooked JRPG contemporaries such as high fantasy The Legend Of Dragoon, as well as rough-around-the-edges but no less ambitious gothic horror Koudelka. After a quarter of a century, the original Final Fantasy VII remains influential. In 1997 it was the first mainline entry to receive a PAL-region release. It was also the first in the series to use real-time 3D graphics as well as full motion video. Its opening made the most of it. Reader @renegade_fire on Twitter remembers, “The opening pan out shot of Midgar, then zooming back in straight into gameplay blew my mind.” Michael Nash shares, “I remember the opening sequence with Midgar…

INFO PUB THQ Nordic DEV Vigil Games (original), Gunfire Games (Deathinitive Edition) RELEASED 2012 (PS3), 2015 (PS4) Convoluted and dense, Darksiders lore will have you scratching your head and Googling Biblical prophecies in desperation. That’s made worse by the fact that a series that began 12 years ago is only on game three of the five planned.1 The good news is Darksiders II can be enjoyed in isolation, as its story arc is self-contained and satisfying. Even better, the version on PS Now is PS4’s pun-amorous Deathinitive Edition that uprezzed the visuals to 1080p, improved lighting, textures, and shadow rendering, and re-tuned the gameplay and loot distribution. On top of all of that, this edition includes all the DLC, extra bosses, and dungeons. DEATH-DEFYING Aping the RPG formula of Nintendo’s…