Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2022 i PLAY

“A summer camp slasher with a dash of hillbilly horror.” This is not the final instalment of The Dark Pictures Anthology. That game, The Devil In Me, will star Jessie Buckley and be released later this year. This is The Quarry, a new completely different game. UK-based developer Supermassive Games is partnering with publisher 2K instead of Bandai Namco to deliver an original tale of terror set to get your palms sweating on 10 June. Coming to both PS4 and PS5, the just-announced project is well within Supermassive’s wheelhouse. While The Dark Pictures borrows more modern horror inflections, The Quarry feels like an ’80s throwback – VHS scan lines and all. Stop us if you’ve heard this before: teen counsellors throw an end-of-camp party – but little do they know…

AN ELDEN RING AND TEKKEN MASHUP IS TURNING HEADS ONLINE. KATSUHIRO HARADA HAS THE LAST WORD: “IT’S [A] RIDICULOUSLY WELL-MADE MOD BUT [PLEASE] STOP IT LOL” “TODAY I BEAT MALENIA WITH OTHER PLAYER’S HELP. I WISH I COULD ERASE MY MEMORY AND START THE GAME AGAIN FRESH.” SHUHEI YOSHIDA ENJOYS GETTING LOST IN THE LANDS BETWEEN. “THIS IS THE MOST PLAYFUL, TOYLIKE THING I’VE MADE, AND IF YOU WANT A GAME THAT IS LIKE LICKING THE TV ANTENNA ON YOUR TV SET TUNED INTO BBC2 ON A SUNDAY MIDNIGHT DURING THE ’90S, WE’RE HERE FOR YOU.” SAM BARLOW DESCRIBES UPCOMING MATCH-CUT MYSTERY IMMORTALITY.…

DEATHLOOP (OST) – FOUR-LP LIMITED-EDITION BOXSET LACED RECORDS £70 LACEDRECORDS.CO Feast your eyes on this rainbow of vinyl! Available to preorder ahead of an October release, this set features 59 tracks from Arkane’s time loop murder puzzle. In addition to music composed by Tom Salta and Ross Tregenza, you get catchy vocal themes Déjà Vu, Pitch Black, and Down The Rabbit Hole. HYPNOSPACE OUTLAW SOUNDTRACK – TWO-LP SET FANGAMER $39 FANGAMER.COM Don’t sleep on the turn-of-the-millennium clear plastic of this vinyl set. These head-turning LPs feature nostalgic noughties vibes composed by Dan Warren, Hot Dad, Queenjazz, and Brian Carnrike, with production by Jay Tholen. Acid-toned art by Joe Aquiare zips it all up in a colourful slipcase. PARADISE KILLER (OST) BY BARRY ‘EPOCH’ TOPPING – TWO-LP SET BLACK…

“YOU CAN EVEN DEPLOY MAGICAL PLANTS TO AID IN COMBAT, LIKE A SCREAMING MANDRAKE STUN.” FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA Q4 2022 PUB WARNER BROS INTERACTIVE / DEV AVALANCHE SOFTWARE / PLAYERS 1 Despite the fact it’s still making boatloads of money, there’s plenty of reason to feel like Harry Potter (or rather, the Wizarding World) is a bit past it. The books ended with a whimper, resulting in a story about protecting an undesirable status quo (house elves are literally slaves); the final film adapted from the novels was released over ten years ago, with the ones since being dire spin-offs; and of late author JK Rowling’s received more publicity for her gender-critical views than new writing. The Wizarding World still does incredibly well off the nostalgia of those…

02 months SOUL HACKERS 2 Two supernatural beings try to prevent a world-shattering event in this stylish JRPG. FORMAT PS5, PS4 ETA 26 AUG / PUB ATLUS 04 months PATHFINDER: WRATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS An epic RPG, in Pathfinder: Kingmaker’s successor you seek salvation beyond the mortal realm. FORMAT PS4 / ETA 30 SEP PUB META PUBLISHING 06 months SONIC FRONTIERS For the first time, the Blue Blur is being let loose in an open-world adventure set in new, colourful lands. FORMAT PS5 / ETA Q4 2022 PUB SEGA…

“A TIME-TRAVELLING DETECTIVE SAVING SIX PEOPLE FROM A FIRE.” FORMAT PS4 / ETA 19 MAY / PUB SECRET MODE DEV COSMONAUT STUDIOS / PLAYERS 1 Cosmonaut Studios’ debut game puts you in the boots of a time-travelling detective tasked with saving six people from a ferocious house fire back in 2015. To prevent the group from meeting their frightful fate, you need to jump around different time pockets and manipulate their choices. Changing the housemates’ past decisions affects their futures and also creates new events on the timeline for you to explore. Even a minor action like sending a single text message can have a radical ripple effect that changes whether a character dies or survives. This time-loop detective mechanic is something we’ve seen many times before, but during our…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 9 AUG / PUB SEGA / DEV TWO POINT STUDIOS / PLAYERS 1 The Two Point dev is back and is turning another apparently mundane environment into a pun-filled comedy playground. After transforming the healthcare system into a spectacular parade of peculiar illnesses in Two Point Hospital, the team are taking a crack at university life in followup Two Point Campus. Campus follows the same formula as Two Point’s previous game. You’re tasked with running a university campus, which involves hiring staff, building facilities, and keeping an eye on the bills. But instead of trying to cure contagions and medicate the masses, you’re helping students get the ideal university experience with a wild variety of courses and classes. Planning a curriculum sounds tedious but Two…

FORMAT TBC / ETA 2022 PUB HALF MERMAID DEV SAM BARLOW, HALF MERMAID PLAYERS 1 Just like legends, FMV refuses to die. Sam Barlow of Her Story and Telling Lies fame returns for a mystery told in match-cuts. Actress Marissa Marcel is an entire person seemingly lost to time. According to the story, she starred in three films – Ambrosio, Minsky, and Two Of Everything – but none of these pictures ever saw the light of day. By sifting through reams of supposedly lost footage, these fictional flicks included, you might piece together what became of her. Much like Barlow’s earlier work, this is a database detective game. Pause a clip and click on a part of the frame to jump into a snippet that vaguely visually matches what came…

FORMAT PS4 / ETA AUTUMN 2022 / PUB NIS AMERICA DEV ACQUIRE CORP / PLAYERS 1 Now here’s one we missed out on when it made its Japanese debut in 2006. In this remastered PS2 stealth game, protagonist Ebizo once tried to be an Edo-era Robin Hood. Early in his criminal career a heist went wrong and he ended up taking in a young girl as his adoptive daughter. After years spent as dear old honest Dad, the girl falls ill and Ebizo returns to his life of crime to pay for medicine.…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 ETA 21 JUN PUB BETHESDA SOFTWORKS DEV ZENIMAX ONLINE STUDIOS PLAYERS MULTI (MMORPG) For adventurers in The Elder Scrolls Online, journeys across Tamriel have been lengthy, leaving hardly a stone on the map unturned. Set many years before the main RPG series, TESO’s given us looks at those games’ key locations in an earlier age – some still undeveloped, others at their peak. Last year’s Blackwood expansion revisited TES IV: Oblivion and before that Greymoor took us back to zones from TES V: Skyrim. High Isle, however, takes Elder Scrolls fans to a brand-new location, where they’ll discover lore and cultures that have never been explored in the series before. “IT WAS A SPECK ON A MAP IN REDGUARD. THERE’S NO LORE WRITTEN ABOUT IT.” We…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB BETHESDA SOFTWORKS DEV ZENIMAX ONLINE STUDIOS PLAYERS MULTI (MMORPG) There’s no such thing as a game, or even a genre, that everybody likes. For many players, the idea of an MMORPG can be intimidating – they can be a huge time commitment. So why make an exception for The Elder Scrolls Online? Well, in the words of creative director Rich Lambert, it’s designed to be a “true Elder Scrolls experience”. If you like the offline RPGs, this should be for you too. As a result, it differs from many others in the genre in some important ways. Take our virtual hand as we guide you around some corners of Tamriel you might not have been aware of. 01 NO TO THE GRINDSTONE Let’s…

While there’s a seemingly endless supply of enormously varied content to enjoy in Dreams, that material only exists thanks to the people making it. If you have an idea for a game (or a piece of digital art, or a song, or a movie, or a comedy sketch, or a VR experience…), then this is the perfect medium to express yourself. For most of us, a little guidance is needed. The best way to learn anything is by actually doing it, something Media Molecule understands perfectly – hence Dreams’ tutorials. You learn the basics of making a 2D platformer, for example, by playing one. As the character makes their way through the level, they regularly need your help to progress (placing an item to help them reach a high place,…

During the four years since mousy heroine Quill graced our PSVR headsets, developers have been making the most of both the hardware and medium to evolve the VR experience in new, more challenging directions. Moss: Book II doesn’t feel like much of a technical leap forward from its predecessor, but that’s because there wasn’t really a need for Polyarc to change what was already working. This second volume of Quill’s adventures continues from where the first abruptly ended – with the defeat of fire-breathing snake Sarffog. A confident adventurer with a firmly established bond with you, her Reader, Quill is now ready to take the fight to the mechanical armies of the Arcane to save Moss once and for all. Cue a journey to new worlds, which appear like portals…

Can a visual novel really be a visual novel if you only ever make one decision? Probably not. But while this one flirts with kinetic novel territory, its resoluteness about how characters act in the many unpleasant situations they encounter and how things play out is a strength of its storytelling. For Vengeful Heart, everything marches on to its own conclusion as a force unto itself, be it corruption, capitalism, or the whimsy of human emotion. While brief in length, the pace is neither rushed nor outstays its welcome and the story is told as it needs to be told with little standing in its way. The additional mechanic of the heart timer may serve no real practical function, but is oddly charming, allowing you to check up on protagonist…

Don’t let the name fool you; there’s nothing tiny about Tina’s Wonderlands. Gearbox’s latest loot-shooter, a spin-off from its mainline Borderlands titles, goes big at every opportunity. Restraint is left at the main menu. This is outlandish fantasy, roaring from the castle battlements, satirised with all the subtlety of a double-headed battle axe. That’s not a bad thing, necessarily. It’s just worth stating, especially as a word of caution to those who have never taken to Borderlands’ uniquely brazen tone and tenor. Despite Wonderlands’ shift in setting – it takes place within a campaign of Bunkers & Badasses, Pandora’s in-universe alternative to Dungeons & Dragons – the DNA of Borderlands is present in every cell, right down to every joke about a unicorn named Butt Stallion. That means you’ll be…

There’s a certain excitement that comes from looking through someone else’s phone. The first game in Somi’s Guilt trilogy, Replica, takes that feeling and slathers it in politics, putting you in the shoes of a student who is being blackmailed by Homeland Security into combing through another’s private messages looking for evidence of terrorism. So it’s about governmental control. Unless it’s about… advertising? While Replica’s short enough that you can achieve multiple endings in one sitting, it is occasionally muddled in tone thanks to the lack of time to fully delve into its subject matter. Still, it’s interesting to see just how different the endings can be, and pulling everything you’re presented with apart to try to achieve all of them is fascinating.1 This is a point-and-click style puzzle confined…

Yagami may be out of town on an assignment but that doesn’t mean his muscle-bound partner Kaito can afford to slack off. This story expansion (far meatier than Yakuza Kiwami 2’s misleadingly titled Majima Saga) gives Judgment’s lovable bruiser leading-man status in a surprisingly personal story that sheds some light on his past. His latest case is to find the wife of a wealthy tech CEO – an old flame of Kaito’s – thought to have been dead for the past three years. Also looking for her is Jun, a rebellious but chivalrous teen who may or may not be Kaito’s biological son. Watching the awkward chemistry between the equally hot-headed but kind-hearted pair feels almost like RGG Studio’s own take on God Of War’s arc, though the difference is…

WHAT YOU DO IN: CHRONO CROSS 14% Switching to fast-forward mode to make combat end sometime. 9% Wondering what accent the next character you’ll meet will have. 10% Making large detours to rescue Kid from the consequences of her own actions. 23% Reshuffling all your elements for each newly recruited party member. 6% Telling yourself you’ll absolutely use this new party member soon. 38% Missing the event you collected a key item for. Again. FRIENDS & ENEMIES KORCHA A feisty boatswain who gets involved with you mostly to spite the authorities. GRECO A priest styled like a lucha libre wrestler. Despite his looks, he’s a calming presence. LYNX Your main antagonist. Demihuman Lynx and Serge’s stories are inextricably connected. HOW TO… USE FIELD EFFECTS When you…

While we’ve ridden many a horse into battle in games, rarely have we been able to make use of their most dangerous means of attack – a swift, horseshoe-bolstered boot from the rear. Nobody Saves The World remedies this by letting you become the horse, fetlocks unburdened by the weight of a human passenger, galloping backwards into the fray to deliver two-hoofed justice. Just one of many highlights in this gloriously silly dungeon-crawler. There are in fact almost 20 roles to play in Guacamelee! creator Drinkbox’s latest adventure. In their ordinary guise, protagonist Nobody is exactly what the name suggests, a characterless blob of a human. But thanks to a magic wand they soon learn to transform into an array of useful classes – some human, such as a guard…

This far into its lifecycle, you’ve probably already made your mind up whether GTA Online is for you. Indeed, Rockstar’s multiplayer sandbox has always had something of a Marmite effect, turning off those who would rather invest their time in a more approachable live service, while converting others into hardcore loyalists who build entire criminal empires within its urban play space. The latest PS5 update, which folds in current-gen features such as ray tracing and 3D audio, is unlikely to change anyone’s perspective, but it does provide an opportunity to appreciate just how far GTA Online has come since its launch. Rockstar has spent the last nine years ironing out the game’s technical creases, while drip-feeding new material into its ecosystem, from Heist missions that offer some of the best…

D&D: DARK ALLIANCE – ECHOES OF THE BLOOD WAR New Tiefling warlock Auralla brings her spellcasting to the team. It’s particularly handy for dealing with groups. Plus, six more levels across two dungeons: The Abandoned Mines and the Hinterlands in Spawn Of Yeenoghu. SHERLOCK HOLMES: CHAPTER ONE – M FOR MYSTERY This final piece of DLC for Chapter One has Sherlock and Jon (not Watson) tracking down the mysterious ‘M’ across the island Cordona. And you get extra costumes and side-cases too. A mystery well worth a little deduction. CURIOUS EXPEDITION 2 – HIGHLANDS OF AVALON This new island type can vastly change what you encounter on your journeys when activated, including a mechanic based around hilly terrain, extra friends to recruit, new enemies, fresh encounters, and lots more besides.…

The Mark Of Kri (2002) One of Wall’s earliest soundtracks was for the PlayStation 2 cult classic The Mark Of Kri. Developed by San Diego Studio, this Polynesian-inspired actioner saw you step into the shoes of Rau Utu, a sword-wielding ancient warrior. The score featured a lot of percussion and was heavily influenced by Polynesian culture. Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (2004) Two years after the launch of Splinter Cell, Ubisoft followed its third-person stealth hit with Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow on PS2 and other platforms. Jack Wall and the other composers embraced the series’ thriller tendencies, creating a soundtrack that uses orchestral strings between moments of quiet. Jade Empire (2005) Jade Empire was Wall’s first collaboration with Bioware. He joined the project because he was a fan of the developer’s…

PlayStation’s subscription services were due a makeover. Sony’s now announced that the long-rumoured ‘Spartacus’ service, combining everything we love about PS Plus with PlayStation Now’s massive cloud streaming library, will launch in June this year. The revamped service will retain the PlayStation Plus name, but will offer a variety of perks split across three differently priced tiers, each with monthly, quarterly, and annual payment options. The basic tier, PlayStation Plus Essential (£49.99 per year, or £6.99 per month), is essentially PS Plus as it is now, and offers the standard fare – two free games a month, discounts, save game cloud storage, and online multiplayer. This is the tier current subscribers will migrate to when the service begins rolling out. PlayStation Plus Extra (£83.99 per year, or £10.99 per month)…

Fantasy often shies away from mixing magic and guns for obvious reasons – if you can just shoot the beardy weirdo before he spots you, it won’t be much of a fight. Flintlock: The Siege Of Dawn bucks this trend and will explore the combat opportunities offered by throwing a dash of gunpowder in with the spell-slinging later this year. Protagonist Nor is a straight-shooting sapper with an explosive skillset. Once upon a time she marched on the celestial stronghold known as Dawn as part of a coalition army rallying against the gods themselves. Unfortunately, knocking on Dawn’s door cost her father his life and scattered her platoon to the wind. Some time later Nor is trying to get the band back together to finish what they started with the…

As a Gryffindor, Natsai Onai is a natural adventurer and a thrillseeker. She’s always in the pursuit of “justice” – but exactly what is it that drives her? Hufflepuff Poppy Sweeting loves magical creatures, finding them easier to connect to than other people, and helps you discover more about them. Slytherin Sebastien Sallow is a bit of a troublemaker, unafraid to get his hands dirty. His family has a dark past, and he’s seeking to right those wrongs himself.…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA TBC / PUB HUMBLE GAMES / DEV WITCH BEAM / PLAYERS 1 Moving house can be incredibly stressful, but somehow Witch Beam has magically turned the mundane act of pulling possessions out of cardboard boxes into an enjoyable experience. Unpacking is a relaxing puzzle game where you take objects out of moving boxes and then place them neatly within the nooks and crannies of your new home. “THESE LITTLE CLUES BEGIN TO TELL A MOVING TALE.” Each level is structured like a block-fitting puzzle. Some items are fixed to certain locations – consoles go under the telly and kitchen electricals need to be near a socket – but you’re given enough freedom to ensure you can decorate each room however you like. With no timers…

FORMAT PS5 / ETA AUTUMN 2022 PUB NIS AMERICA DEV NIHON FALCOM / PLAYERS 1 Relive this fantasy tale on PS5 with all PS4 and PS Vita DLC included. A tale of two heroes, you play as both heroic youth Adol and the mysterious lady of the title herself, Dana. Choices you make on one side of this narrative coin can impact the other, and even the world beyond. Combat also pulls many threads together, allowing you to switch between party members mid-fight to hit the beasts of Seiren with all you’ve got. There’s more besides to get stuck into, including side-quests and genre mainstay minigames like fishing. There’s also the Castaway Village, a small settlement of survivors requiring more than a little TLC. As you rebuild, who knows what…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2022 PUB BANDAI NAMCO / DEV ILCA, INC PLAYERS 1 The gang’s all here for a new adventure developed with the guidance of series creator Eiichiro Oda. Celebrating the long-running manga’s 25th birthday, this RPG sees the Straw Hat Pirates venture to a mysterious island after a storm gives their ship a good thrashing. Back on land, they’re accompanied by a completely original character, the silver-haired Adio Suerte. He boasts two arms full of tatts that you just know have a story all of their own. You also play as nine of your Straw Hat favourites, including the stretchy Monkey D Luffy, master swordsman Roronoa Zoro, and lady of the stormy polearm Nami, to name three. The crew’s unique abilities are on full display as…

What if you could install another console within your PS4 or PS5? One with its own seemingly endless supply of games, demos, videos, songs, and more? And what if this console-within-a-console gave you user-friendly tools to create something of your own, complete with tutorials and a huge amount of pre-existing assets? That, in effect, is exactly what Dreams is – with the result that we’re seeing a huge amount of fantastic material that never would have existed otherwise. “If you’ve ever wanted to make your own digital project, this is the perfect place to start.” You don’t have to make anything of your own – there is, in a very real sense, more to watch, play, and listen to than any one person could realistically get through on their own…

“There’s a tangible sense of trying to make this the definitive Lego Star Wars experience.” Yes, there have been multiple Lego Star Wars games already, but just as Luke Skywalker felt no shame at chugging that blue milk, so we felt no shame or hesitation in welcoming this game with open arms. And after playing through the whole saga, we can tell you that we don’t have a bad feeling about this – and that’s not Hoth air. Perhaps one day we’ll get a single Lego game that mops up all the Star Wars spin-offs such as Solo, Rogue One, and (dare we dream?) the holiday special. Until then we have this, which includes a handful of levels for each of the mainline movies. You can start playing at the…

WHAT YOU DO IN: MOSS: BOOK II 29% As the Reader, reaching out to interact with Quill and her world. 6% Watching Quill celebrate with a cute animation and giving her a high five. 5% Turning the pages of Moss’ enchanting volumes inside a constantly evolving library. 12% Delighting in Morla Gorrondona’s storybook narration. 10% Looking all over the diorama-style levels, figuring out a path to those collectible scrolls. 38% As Quill, platforming and fighting through pages of enchanting environments. HOW TO… HEAL QUILL If Quill gets hurt by an enemy, you can heal her by reaching out with your blue orb and squeezing the trigger to hold her in a floating embrace. When she’s fully recovered, you get a popping animation. Be warned that this takes a…

The energy on display here is infectious. Charm radiates from this beat-’em-up/RPG hybrid, which delivers a fast, focused, and frequently cinematic adventure through a fantasy version of the modern world on the other side of a strange portal. As you slice, parry, and dodge roll through colourful 2D environments, the love the team at 1P2P studios have for their game is clear, their inspirations clearly on show even as they create something original. The twin protagonists, Jenn and Tristan, are endearingly stubborn in a moody teenage kind of way. Their search for their adopted scientist father, who’s gone missing, becomes increasingly interesting as it progresses, giving them plenty of moments to shine. Cutscenes are well-framed and delightfully animated, and all of the artwork, from the character sprites to the UI…

WHAT YOU DO IN: TT’S WONDERLANDS 12% Finding a way round a Cheeto that Tina’s dropped onto the overworld. 10% Agonising over every detail of your class build in character creation. 8% Farming boss battles for that one Legendary you still haven’t managed to find. 21% Selling all the Common loot you had been hoarding for no good reason. 5% Laughing at Claptrap’s expense. Yes, the cowardly robot’s in this. 44% Shooting, casting spells, and smacking every enemy Tina throws at you. FRIENDS & ENEMIES TINY TINA Orphan, demolitions expert, and now your Bunkermaster. She’s got a big personality. DRAGON LORD He’s your prototypical villain with a pinch of sarcasm, brought to life by Will Arnett. TORGUE An icon? The most annoying character since Jar Jar Binks? Depends…

When the first version of this Persona-themed fighter from Arc System Works1 was released ten years ago on PS3, it was fab. A decade later, it still is; the pixel art has aged especially well. It’s set two months after the events of Persona 4. When red fog spreads across Inaba, the members of the Investigation Team must battle once again in the Midnight Channel, this time themed like a royal rumble fighting match. This attracts the attention of Persona 3’s cast, for whom three years have passed. My, how they’ve grown.2 This is a four-button fighter, though in a way it’s almost two two-button fighters at once. Only two attack buttons are for your normal attacks; the other two summon and control your Persona, all of which operate differently. Other…

At its early-2010s peak, baseball sim The Show was so far ahead of all peers that regular 10/10 ratings in our predecessor publication were almost automatic – and completely merited. Yet to be that good is both a blessing and a curse. How do you evolve when any minor risk could break what doesn’t need to be fixed? It led to a bit of an identity crisis on PS4, with a ‘safety first’ attitude to development which meant the series felt reliable yet tired. This second PS5 instalment mostly rolls with the familiar. Batting feels just as it did in the series’ heyday, with hot zones denoting your guy at the plate’s strengths, and a satisfying sense of ‘oomph’ to home runs – particularly when accompanied by a DualSense jolt.…

So, is Weird West a western-styled game? Yes. Is it a supernatural horror adventure? Also yes. Named after a long-established genre of fiction, this is a game that can see you moseying into a saloon one minute and battling teleporting cultists the next. If you’re a famous Hollywood Western actor here, then you’re less John Wayne, more Gary CooOOOOoooper. The adventure begins with you playing as Jane Bell, a farmer forced back into her former career as a bounty hunter when her son is murdered and her husband is kidnapped by a gang of outlaws. Don’t expect things to get much cheerier than that, especially if you aren’t fussy about trying to do the right thing. The game takes note of everything you do, and sometimes this means things take…

Haven’t heard of the series until now? If so, that’s probably because this is the first entry to straddle the kingdoms of PC and PlayStation. A deep, complex strategy game heavy on details and on-screen text, this move to console is a brave and bold one. The result? Some of this monarch’s riches have been lost along the way. “We plan to usurp the King of Denmark by wooing his wife and then murdering him.” If you don’t like reading text boxes, this isn’t a game for you. All information is communicated on-screen, and hoo boy is there a lot of information to manage. The fundamental idea is that you’re not playing a character, so much as a dynasty. The game starts in 1066 (ending in 1453 if you can…

01 Compete across land, sea, and air in an endless circuit of races that put GTA’s tight vehicular controls to extremely good use. Where else can you vie for first place from the helm of a helium blimp? 02 Survival, a traditional wave-based PvE mode, offers a reliable way to make money during your early rise to fame in GTA Online. Rockstar’s AI enemies still know how to pack a massive punch, mind. 03 Take on feats of extreme courage (or stupidity) in death-defying stunts for a good cause; that cause being the fattening of your wallet. Just don’t expect to end each round with all your bones still intact.…

The Motorstorm series was a regular fixture on PS3, creating happy memories with the loud, anarchic joys of its mixed vehicle off-road racing. When it came to its fifth and final release, however, which was designed to fit PS Vita as well as its big brother, Evolution Studios took a new direction. For its last big hurrah, Motorstorm went miniature. RC is basic compared to other Motorstorms, but it’s all the better for it. Ten years on, it’s arguably the most enduring title in the series because it’s so stripped down, and with its elevated view of the action has barely aged visually. The series’ defining feature of free-for-all racing, monster trucks spinning their wheels against dirt bikes and rally cars, is far less significant here. While vehicles do intermingle,…

Regarded as something of an understudy to Irrational Games’ Bioshock series, time has been very kind to this stealth-actionroleplayer. Developer Arkane Studios recently hit it big with Deathloop, making now the perfect time to venture back behind the walls of Dunwall. We’re running the gauntlet of plague rats, villainous guards, and an oddball cast of characters voiced by Hollywood A-listers including Carrie Fisher, Lena Headey, and Chloë Grace Moretz. Comparisons made in 2012 to stealth game Thief1 show how well Dishonored has aged, as there’s more to this game than lurking in the shadows. Yes, you do a lot of lurking, but you also get to do some roleplaying and test the boundaries of agency in videogames, because Dishonored is one of those very cool but rarely bought immersive sims.…

GROWING ON ME We’re not throwing shade Although Jackie Estacado is the host of an ineffable entity which predates the entirety of creation, he was originally a supporting character in somebody else’s story. His first appearance was in Witchblade in November 1996, with the first issue of The Darkness being published the following month. He was created by Marc Silvestri, Garth ‘The Boys’ Ennis, and David Wohl. YOU CAN WATCH THE ENTIRETY OF THE 1962 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD MOVIE ADAPTATION IN 2007’S THE DARKNESS GOING ROGUE Bless him, he’s a trooper As well as starring in a 2006 game (and 2017 remaster), Rogue Trooper has been a character in 2000AD since 1981. The comic character was rebooted in 1989, then returned to his original incarnation in 2002. The game…

Boss encounters in Returnal are always spectacular. These fiends don’t just want to kill you, they want to put on a show while doing it, launching fireworks displays of plasma that fill the screen with lethal colour. Of all of them, fourth boss Hyperion may not be the most bombastic, but with a little musical accompaniment his performance is the most award-worthy. The Hyperion experience begins at the start of the level, as Selene once again awakens in the overgrown ruins of Atropos, stuck in a nightmarish time loop that resets every time she dies. A mysterious X-Files-like whistle rings through the vegetation, repeating each time you advance further in, as if guiding Selene but also tormenting her. Eventually you emerge at the base of a great cavern, and the…

Free wired Nacon pad Subscribe to PLAY – The Magazine and get a free wired Nacon compact controller worth £34.99, plus your mag delivered every month. Print only If you just want a print edition, you’ll pay from £15.75 a quarter. Each issue is delivered to your door in environmentally-friendly packaging. Print & Digital Get the best of both worlds, with a print and digital bundle from £19.50 a quarter, for iOS, Google, Kindle, and Android devices. See p102.…

Returnal was the big winner at this year’s BAFTA Games Awards, the jewel in its many-tentacled crown being Best Game. Developer Housemarque also took home awards for Audio Achievement and Music for the roguelike science-fiction shooter. On top of that, actress Jane Perry picked up the award for Performer In A Leading Role for her turn as Selene Vassos. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart also had a successful time, tumbling through categories and snatching up awards for Animation and Technical Achievement. We’re chatting to developers from both studios about their night. “Attending awards is a great way to connect with other game developers and celebrate success,” Housemarque narrative director Gregory Louden shares. “As game developers, projects can be long, so I always feel it’s important to celebrate any launch [...]…

Back in March we spoke to Mohammad Fahmi about their in-development game Afterlove EP, a slice-of-life visual novel and love letter to Indonesian culture. A notable figure in the Indonesian game development scene and creator of the beloved barista visual novel Coffee Talk, Fahmi sadly passed away not long after our conversation, leaving behind a handful of incredibly heartwarming games. They touched not just the Indonesian indie scene, but the entire game industry. Fahmi was among a small but growing number of creatives keen to place their home country of Indonesia at the centre of their stories. Development and publishing studios like Toge Productions, GameChanger Studio, Stairway Games, and Mojiken Studio are releasing a stream of indie gems that broach topics frequently unexplored in Indonesian media. “We want to talk…

SIX APPEAL 15 months since PS5 launch and I’m no closer to getting one than I was ten years ago. Decided to skip this generation entirely and wait for the 6! Ant Pugh There are still plenty of great games being released on PS4, so you’ve got lots to enjoy while you wait. That said, as time goes on and more games don’t come to PS4, you might decide to make the switch. HALL IN IT TOGETHER What’s the story with the ‘Hall Of Fame: PS5 - the definitive guide to the new gen’s great games’. What’s your thinking behind popping new titles in here? Can see you’ve added Uncharted and Deep Rock Galactic in issue 12. But there still a bit of lag, what about Elden Ring/Horizon Forbidden West?…

VOTE NOW! Tell us the five games you can’t wait to play at play@futurenet.com 01 God Of War Ragnarök Kratos hangs grimly on to the top spot, despite some stiff competition from newcomers. FORMAT PS5, PS4 ETA 2022 02 GTA VI Despite knowing nothing more about it than that it’s in development, you want this one. FORMAT TBC ETA TBC 03 Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Poor old Spidey, sliding down to third place on your Most Wanted list like he’s just faceplanted on the side of a skyscraper… FORMAT PS5 ETA 2023 04 Stray The moggy’s wandering further towards the bottom of the list… will he be lost this time next month? FORMAT PS5, PS4 ETA 2022 05 Flintlock Guns and magic? That sounds like a…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA TBC / PUB MERGE GAMES / DEV HALF PAST YELLOW / PLAYERS 1 As you’d expect from the name, Half Past Yellow’s island sandbox adventure has all the whimsy and charm you could want from a life sim, but with a lot more frogs. Playing as a pipe-smoking sailor, you’re shipwrecked on a mysterious island only to discover a wholesome community living there. From a long-legged, beret-wearing artist to a portly merchant and even a barking tadpole, they’re all amphibians. Needless to say, your boat is a little worse for wear after crashing onto the beach, so to get it back in tip-top condition you need to collect materials by helping the island’s vibrant frog folk with their needs. It’s a spaghetti network of favours…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 19 MAY / PUB NACON / DEV BIG BAD WOLF STUDIO / PLAYERS 1 They say the only thing worse than finding a maggot in your apple is finding half of one. In a similar fashion, the only thing worse than finding a corpse is then having to ask “But where is their head?” This is the scene we, as vampire Galeb, walk into, masquerading as a crime scene investigator for one night only. The victim is Jason Moore, an accountant catering to clientele both living and long dead. His murder is just one part of a much larger mystery that winds its way through Boston and the unlives of three playable vampire protagonists. In our hands-on we see Galeb’s investigation through to one of…

“YOU CAN CANCEL AND MOVE WHILE YOUR PUNCH GHOST APPLIES PRESSURE TO YOUR OPPONENT.” FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA AUTUMN PUB BANDAI NAMCO / DEV CYBERCONNECT2 / PLAYERS 1-2 Elaborate posing, improbable outfits, and punch ghosts - there’s a lot to love about the long-running manga JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Known for over-the-top bustups that are as entertaining as they are contrived, the original PS3 release of All Star Battle in 2013 proved a perfect match of genre to source material. R is a rerelease that offers more than a single initial. But first, let’s clarify that ‘punch ghost’ remark, in case you’re not already deep in the JoJo hole. This adventure follows members of the Joestar family as they fight evil forces. Due to past dealings with a vampire, Joestar…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA Q4 2022 PUB ILLFONIC / DEV ILLFONIC PLAYERS 1-5 Ghosties, ghoulies, gunge – this 4v1 multiplayer title has the lot. Hop into Ecto-1 with three Proton-Pack-wielding chums or pass beyond the veil and become the spirit of the party. It’s hunt or haunt here, with a slew of abilities for each side to throw at the other. As the famed supernatural cleanup crew you’ve got streams you ought not cross, ghost traps, PKE meters to monitor paranormal activity, and more. As the one getting busted, you’ve got more than a few tricks up your slimy sleeve. For a start, ghosts are much more mobile than humans, able to fly and teleport between rifts. By possessing objects and summoning other spirits you can force the pesky…

FORMAT TBC / ETA OCTOBER 2022 PUB ENDNIGHT GAMES DEV ENDNIGHT GAMES / PLAYERS TBC You’ll have to wait a bit longer for this sequel, as its release date has been moved from May to October. A followup to 2018’s The Forest, this is anything but a peaceful woodland walk. Whereas in the first game you survived a plane crash and then had to fight to save your son, this time a purposeful excursion goes wrong. The wrist of our protagonist sports the words ‘fight demons’ and the forest’s dwellers, while just as hungry for flesh as the first game’s cannibals, sport mutations in that vein. While survival elements remain, you’ve got a few more technologically advanced solutions to your problems, such as GPS and guns. We can’t imagine ammo…

Still washing the mud from swampy Blackwood (which we visited in an expansion last year) out of my ears, my landing at High Isle’s Gonfalon Bay promises a substantially brighter experience. There are holiday-blue skies overhead, and at my feet bright cobbles gleam in such a way I can almost smell the fresh sea breeze rolling in. “BEFORE I CAN FIND AN ICE CREAM STAND I’M ALREADY BEING WAVED DOWN BY LADY ARABELLE DAVAUX.” But before I can find an ice cream stand for a celebratory mint choc chip I’m already being waved down by Lady Arabelle Davaux. Part of the Society Of The Steadfast, she’s got some problems that need looking into. She’s expecting some ships that haven’t turned up owing to problems at the docks. Figuring out what’s…

WHAT YOU DO IN: LEGO STAR WARS: TSS 16% Grinning at the John Williams soundtrack and iconic sound effects. 12% Cutting down bad guys (or good guys) with a lightsaber. Thrmmmm! 10% Having a giggle at the gloriously silly visual gags in the cutscenes. 14% Flying a vehicle you loved watching on screen in your childhood. 8% Browsing the character list like it’s an intergalactic Argos catalogue. 40% Destroying random bits of the galaxy to harvest the studs within. FRIENDS & ENEMIES DARTH VADER Who would’ve guessed that the wee podracer would grow up to terrorise the galaxy? EMPEROR PALPATINE So evil, he causes mayhem in all three trilogies. Boo! Hiss! HAN SOLO An utter legend. We love him; he knows. Just don’t talk to us about…

The city’s dystopian, the world recovering from a virus. It sounds very UK circa 2020, but we assure you it’s not. For starters, this is cyberpunk, not Camden, and Ann Flores is dealing with Entangleitis, a condition that causes her to black out and turn into a rabid beast. As she tries to survive by doing odd jobs while searching for a cure, her brother goes missing, leaving behind clues to what’s really behind a virus mutating people into robots, and a conspiracy covering it up. unmasking this is one that can’t live up to the initial spectacle and intrigue. There’s still fun to be had as your life as a casual worker sees you serving drinks and solving murders in your spare time.1 Combat is exciting and fluid, offering ample…

This psychological horror takes realism to another level, to varying degrees of success. On the one hand, opening every drawer and cupboard to peruse all kinds of carefully constructed objects immerses you beautifully in the game’s setting of feudal Japan. On the other, the lack of direction and clarity when it comes to what exactly you’re supposed to be doing somewhat hinders the enjoyment. There’s no obvious way to distinguish necessary objects from all the window decoration, and you must rely on subtle audio cues and cryptic clues from the protagonist, Naoko, to figure out what to do. This means you spend a lot of time wandering around aimlessly, which is evident from the outset when even some laundry takes a ludicrous length of time to locate. When you do…

First teased at Annapurna Interactive’s summer showcase last year, A Memoir Blue looked like it would sweep us away on a river of tears. As it turns out, Cloisters Interactive’s magical realist journey through a woman’s memories promises plenty of depth, but its story of motherhood and family struggles only manages to skim the surface. A Memoir Blue begins with professional swimmer Miriam recalling her upbringing. Diving into her memories, she relives her childhood spent with her mother across six chapters. Memories play out in artful, interactive vignettes, with visual metaphors in place of any text and dialogue. As Miriam delves deeper into her past she begins to reconnect with her inner child and uncover painful memories about her family’s struggle for stability. It’s a brilliant idea, but as A…

The second entry in Somi’s Guilt trilogy, Legal Dungeon puts police investigation at the forefront in an information-hunting puzzle that’s reminiscent of Ace Attorney and Danganronpa thanks to its branching paths. There are no cool car chases or daring detective fieldwork here, instead you are the newly appointed Team Leader of Crime Division II and you have a lot of paperwork to get through. It’s your job to detemine whether an indictment should go ahead, and on what grounds, before a case is approved for trial. While that sounds a little dry, it’s a compelling situation that has you scouring case files, building an argument, and coming to your conclusion in a simple yet effective RPG-style battle with evidence as your only weapon.1 By applying relevant laws and precedents and…

Most heroes are thrust into the adventure of a lifetime by a single action: removing a sword from a stone; equipping a magical item; donning a cape. Serge, however, is simply having a lovely day at the beach with his best friend Leena when he is suddenly pulled into an alternate dimension where he died ten years prior. And so begins Chrono Cross – The Radical Dreamers Edition, a remaster of the 1999 JRPG previously unreleased in European territories. It’s not unreasonable to assume there must be a reason for Serge’s newfound ability to travel within the multiverse, but it’s a long journey before you even get the first hint as to what’s started it. Despite its linear story, Chrono Cross feels labyrinthine due to a lot of optional missions…

WHAT YOU DO IN: WEIRD WEST 16% Sneaking around like a sneaky sneaker, ready to silently take out your foes. 14% Looting dead enemies, looting cupboards, looting drawers, looting crates… 9% Shuffling things around in the menus. 11% Using supernatural abilities in defiance of God, just like a real cowboy. 8% Very briefly mourning the death of a pardner, before looting their corpse. 42% Making the west a little less weird, with great violence. HOW TO… GET YOUR STUFF BACK Usually, the best gear is only given to your character when their story is almost over. But you can pass it on to the next! Find the old character on the map, recruit them, then talk with them to raid their inventory. Dismiss them after that if you…

Guilty by name, guilty by nature. A boss in the first PS1 Guilty Gear, Testament has had lots of time to reflect on their sins. Returning as a DLC fighter in Strive, the fighter’s first confirmed non-binary character has a reworked moveset and a new chill attitude. Like every character on the DLC roster, Testament’s quite complex – to handle, not in personality. That said, even with that depth they might be the most approachable of the bunch. Utilising blood magic, they fight with a crimson scythe and use their succubus familiars to control space around them to catch out opponents. The result is a character with fantastic reach who can really keep up the pressure. In addition to far-reaching moves, Testament can apply Stain to opponents by hurling a…

Although a huge story arc was concluded by the Endwalker expansion, there’s plenty more to come for Final Fantasy’s biggest online adventure. It’s a one-two punch of polishing older content and preparing the ground for future quests. Most of this comes through patch 6.1 – Newfound Adventure. Where traditionally a patch like this would act as an epilogue to the preceding expansion, this one’s more like a prologue for the story to come. But even before the full rollout of the patch, some of FFXIV’s biggest chunks of content got chopped down to size. Specifically, the likes of Praetorium, a story-mandatory dungeon that could take about an hour, has been split into three. “The story provides a clean slate but promises to build on pre-existing characters.” In addition, 6.1 expands…

01 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. 02 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. 03 The…

his action RPG opens with your heart being torn out by a dragon. Your fate as the prophesied Arisen does not improve much from there but, as you vengefully hack and slash across the open world of Gransys, at least you’re not alone. Accompanying your custom protagonist is a Pawn, an AI-controlled player-created party member who can be summoned to journey alongside other Arisen online too. While fondly remembered, they are not always the brightest bunch. Reader Andrew Petch recalls, “Amazing game - the Pawns were hilarious though! [They’d walk out of a cave and then go] ‘Oh look, a cave!’ …Or [you could] just pick one up and throw them off a cliff! Nah, they’re still your best friend.” THROWN FOR A LOOP Questionable behaviour aside, Pawns have your…

Few science-fiction universes stay with you as much as the one Bioware created in 2007. Game director Casey Hudson and his team had proved their RPG development chops working on games like Neverwinter Nights, Baldur’s Gate II, and Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, and the first Mass Effect was a culmination of everything they’d learned up until that point. This time, however, they wouldn’t be fleshing out a pre-established universe, they were creating an entirely new ‘space opera’. The first Mass Effect launched as a console exclusive on Xbox 360, but since going multiplatform with the critically acclaimed sequel in 2011 the series has been acclaimed as one of the best in gaming. Part of what helped it achieve that reputation is its music. Since completing work on…