Tabla de contenidos para August 2017 en Gamesmaster

Not every game is about winning or beating the final boss. Kenshi is about just living. Do it by working, fighting, trading – it’s entirely up to you what you do to get by. The question is: with no rules, no objectives, and no ultimate goal, what will Leon do with his time in the wasteland? Get beaten up loads , it turns out. 30 MINUTES Kenshi is all about ‘open-ended sandbox gameplay’ rather than playing your way through an actual story. There’s no overall objective, just a dusty fantasy world to live in – doing whatever you can to get by. And it’s mercilessly unforgiving. For me that means most of the next eight hours will largely be spent lying in the dirt, unconscious after another…

“I PROPOSE A SYSTEM THAT LETS YOU CHOOSE WHICH LIMB TO CLUTCH IN FEIGNED AGONY” Shut it, Pele. Football isn’t ‘the beautiful game’. Anyone who’s watched their team limp to a rainy 0-0 draw will agree. Football is populated by cheaters, bullies, fakers, and win-at-all-costs psychos. It’s time a simulation stepped up to accurately capture its chaos. First of all, I want to dive. As much as people don’t like to admit it, diving – that is, intentionally falling down to con the referee – is a fundamental part of the sport, one you see at least once a match. The tricksy technique’s in PES, but it’s simplistic and hardly ever works. I therefore propose a system called 360° Diving that lets you choose the angle of fall, how many…

“OVER 250 WEAPONS AND A WIDE ARRAY OF UNLOCKABLE SKILLS FOR THE EIGHT PLAYABLE CHARACTERS ” Format Switch Publisher Ubisoft Developer Ubisoft ETA 29 August 2018 Sometimes you see combinations that shouldn’t work, only to find that they really, really do. Take bacon and maple syrup. Or Nick Cave and Kylie. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle sounds like a mismatch, and yet against all expectations, the result is not just a pleasant surprise, but something that looks very special indeed. The expected result of the equation in the title would be a cross between a platformer and a minigame compilation. Yet the game this most resembles is, of all unlikely things, XCOM: it’s built around a core of tactical combat, with such strategic staples as cover and overwatch mechanics, and…

“ CHOKEPOINTS ARE NOW CREATED BY MG FIRE – AIR STRIKES ARE YOUR BEST BET FOR DESTROYING THEM ” Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Activision Developer Sledgehammer Games, Raven Software ETA 3 November You won’t believe this when we tell you, but Call Of Duty began as a World War II shooter. Peer past the people in exosuits doing wall-run powerslides while a voiceover honks ‘Elite!’ in recent CODs, and deep in its DNA you’ll find a gritty, tonally sensitive FPS about camaraderie and the tremendous human cost of conflict. But will Sledgehammer Games look to rekindle that Spielbergian vision of WWII, with dirt under its fingernails and always a moment from tears, or pursue a different treatment? From what we’ve seen of multiplayer in particular, it’s much more spectacular…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Slightly Mad Developer Bandai Namco ETA September Anything you can do, I can do better’ is how Slightly Mad is fearlessly approaching its primary driving sim competitors, Forza 7 and Gran Turismo Sport. Those games, for instance, go up to 4K resolution; Project Cars 2 can output at 12K on PC, with multi-monitor support and improved gamepad controls. Those boast dozens of tracks; this features over 100 different layouts across 35 locations, from Scottish karting circuits, to Indycar oval racing, to gritty off-road events, to USA street sprints. And most of all, where those include varying time and weather conditions, Project Cars 2 has full 24-hour time and weather cycles on every single track. You’ll see the Northern Lights shimmer in night skies, rain build…

Format PS4 Publisher Polyphony Digital Developer Sony ETA Winter With this, Forza 7, and Project Cars 2 all vying for attention, virtual racing fans are being spoiled. Polyphony Digital’s PS4 exclusive is the most niche of the trio, concentrating entirely on circuit racing. Now, that might sound dull if you’re into experimenting across a wide range of vehicles and disciplines, but this focus helps to set GT Sport apart as a more cultured racer, less about trading paint than picking your moment and cutting between lines. The only way its conduct could be more gentlemanly is if all the cars wore top hats. That’s not to say it’s inaccessible. Take its campaign: one event bracket is called Racing Etiquette, which hammers home the rules of the road. Another is Beginner’s…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Dontnod Dev Focus Home Interactive ETA November This gothic horror game embraces the rules of the vampire. Doctor-turned-bloodsucker Jonathan Reid can’t enter buildings unless invited, and churches are neutral ground. Every kill he makes ripples across a free-roam London circa 1918. At one point in our hands-on he invites an injured man, Sean Hampton, into Pembroke Hospital, but that man turns out to be a dangerous pale-skin who attracts the attention of vampire hunters the Guard Of Priwen. Now Reid must find and stop him. According to a bartender, Hampton runs an asylum. Reid sets off along a murky Thames and quickly encounters two flamethrower-wielding Guards. Our morally conflicted quack slashes them with a bonesaw, impales them on claret-coloured spikes, and at one point enters…

“DESPITE PLAYERS’ IMPRESSIVE RANGE OF MOTION, THEY’RE RESPONSIVE AND AGILE” Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Konami Developer PES Productions ETA 14 September FIFA’s not the only football game looking smooth this year. PES’ Real Touch system is back and better than ever, allowing players to control the ball with any part of their body without lurching awkwardly between animations. Since a football can be a tricky thing, you’ll now find fresh mo-capped moves for every situation. Across several matches we find left-foot-favourers letting the ball run under their right and trapping it, or nestling it in their chest before pivoting in one seamless turn. And no matter where the ball is in the air, our player always welcomes it with the appropriate animation, whether it’s a volley at waist height…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Deep Silver Developer 4A Games ETA Summer 2018 The Metro games are held in quiet regard by pretty much everyone who’s played them. Yet somehow the series has never quite hit the big leagues. It’s hard to say whether Exodus will change that – the stifling atmosphere of its post-apocalyptic universe is even more potent in 4K, so it’s certainly not for the faint of heart – but developer 4A Games is keen to bring Metro into the light in more ways than one. For starters, you’ll spend more time outside the tunnel network that dominated previous games and gave the series its name. The post-apocalyptic overworld is not a true sandbox environment, but you’ll have more room to explore freely outdoors, while narrative morsels…

Format PS4 Publisher Sony Developer Sony ETA September Keen to stress the open-ended nature of this zombie-filled sandbox, developer SIE Bend treats us to a behind-closed-doors demonstration in which protagonist Deacon runs the same rescue mission we’ve seen in a previous trailer, only it’s very different. For starters, it’s winter now. Days Gone features all four seasons, with snow actually impacting motorcycle handling. Bikes are vital in crossing the vast Pacific north-west wilds, but you’ll need to stay vigilant. A tripwire that toppled Deacon in footage we saw earlier isn’t so effective here, as he snips it before brutally knifing two muggers. Although cold, Days Gone isn’t heartless. Later, Deacon infiltrates a camp and we overhear a conversation. “Jesus, I didn’t know you got that gun by killing a man,”…

Format PS4 Publisher Sony Dev Supermassive Games ETA October In this collaborative interactive drama from the developer of Until Dawn, players vote on what they want to happen. To play it, you need to download an app on your Apple or Android device, then fire it up as you launch the game. This means, in theory, you can play with five, six, or even seven mates and make a proper night of it. Do you, for instance, rush in through the front door or creep round the side and take your target by surprise? The target in question is a deranged serial killer called The Trapper, whose modus operandi is murdering people and then booby-trapping their corpses to kill the first responders as well. Hidden Agenda was born from developer…

Saving the world is what videogames are all about – some a little more than others. Enter the genre of ‘applied games’, entertainment that attempts to ‘gamify’ everyday tasks, and turn them into fun, philanthropic adventures, taking your efforts from the virtual world to the real one. Some specialise in science, others in literacy, charity, or even first aid, but whatever the angle, the intention is clear: to empower players to make their world a better and brighter place. Oh, and if you needed any more incentive to play, just remember – this is the only planet with videogames. Better start saving… SMORBALL WWW.BIT.LY/GMSMORBALL Did you know that Google once tried to digitise every book in existence? Yes, well, it did, and no, ultimately it didn’t… Turns out that copyright…

“WALL JUMPING HAS NEVER BEEN QUITE THIS GOOEY OR CHARMING” Games are like buses sometimes. You go years without a single game about modelling materials and then two come along on the same IndieMaster page. Starting off as a university project for its two South African devs, Semblance is all about what would happen if playdough met an adorable colourful platformer. Squish – yes, that’s his name, he had cruel parents, okay? – must make his way from left to right in what initially might look like a charming world but is packed with hidden dangers. Dough or dough not The good news is that an awful lot of what you encounter is mouldable. Can’t reach that platform? Why not scoot underneath your current purple platform, bounce up and down…

Arms’ lobby system is so good, it’s hard to imagine other fighting game developers not trying to emulate it in future. In the ‘for fun’ Party Match mode you’ll be put in a room with several other players, each represented by the icon of the character they’ve picked. While you’re waiting for your match, you can instantly jump into a warm-up mode which puts you in a ring against a series of gelatinous dummies holding destructible targets. In the meantime you can see a rudimentary representation of how other matches within your group are going, with a timer showing you how long is left before those taking part will be put back in the pool. Clever stuff. Here, you’ll play all of the different game types, from standard one-on-one fights…

“IT SHINES WHEN YOU’RE BOMBING ALONG A MUDDY TRACK AND FLYING BY THE SEAT OF YOUR PANTS” Format PS4, XO, PC (reviewed) Publisher Codemasters Developer Codemasters ETA Out now Players 1-8 Halfway through a four-mile rally, a tyre pops. As we careen down a tight, narrow path in a Welsh forest, we hear the rubber clinging on for dear life. Then it disintegrates, leaving a sparking metal wheel in its place. This should be the end, but no. We keep driving, undeterred. The car lurches from side to side, thrown off by the missing tyre. An already difficult stage just got ten times more challenging, not helped by the pounding rain obscuring the track ahead. But we survive and limp over the finish line, coming in a respectable third. This…

“WE HAVE A KNIGHT-RIDER-STYLE BLURRING OF THE BORDERS BETWEEN SCIENCE AND MAGIC” Format PS4 (reviewed), XO, PC Publisher Feardemic Developer The Deep End Games ETA Out now Players 1 It’s a fascinating concept. You play Cassie, a blind woman navigating an abandoned house purely by sound. As she investigates her surroundings, however, she is stalked by a malignant apparition identified only as ‘The Presence’. Brilliant setup… less than brilliant execution. The visualisation of your surroundings is very clever and very silly at the same time. Cassie gets around by echolocation, which does have some basis in reality. By tapping her cane (which you do with a button press), she generates a temporary awareness of her immediate surroundings through the sound waves bouncing off nearby objects. For you, this means an…

Format PS4, PC (reviewed) Pub Thunder Lotus Dev Thunder Lotus ETA Out now Players 1 Joining the legion of Metroidvania-alikes currently flooding the indie scene is mega-successful Kickstarter project Sundered. Hand-drawn visuals backed by haunting, melodic tones bring this world wonderfully to life. Alas, there’s not much time to soak in the spectacular atmosphere and visuals, as hordes of enemies lie in wait in the lavish labyrinth of this semi-procedurally generated platformer. Dying is all part of the experience, however; the game takes cues from other roguelikes and incorporates your demise into character progression. Enemies and the environment yield yellow shards that you can use to increase necessities like health and shields, improving your chances of survival. Granted, these odds are never particularly high thanks to the waves of enemies…

Awesome Boss! Wolfenstein 3D Format PC, Jaguar, 3DO, SNES Developer Id Software Released 1992 If there was one idea that Id Software could trust ’90s gamers to get behind, it was that Adolf Hitler was a real stinker, but given that the Führer stood at five feet, eight inches tall and sported a ludicrous moustache, he probably wouldn’t make for the most intimidating boss battle. Id’s solution? Stick him in a mech suit. Classic Moment! Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy Format PC, Xbox, PS2 Developer Midway Released 2004 Realistic simulation of Newton’s laws is commonplace in modern gaming, but there was a time when believable physics were enough to make gamers shudder with delight. So, when Psi-ops told us we could control objects with the power of our mind, we naturally…

THE MOST DEDICATED TEAM IN THE BUSINESS The team’s feeling absolutely fine after pulling together this month’s huge feature. Ignore that thousand-yard stare in their eyes. That’s just how they normally look, we promise. Ben Griffin The only thing Ben’s been putting more effort into this month than running around finding the latest news is trying to throw rubbish into the bin from his desk. His aim’s not improving, but he’s learned a valuable life lesson: someone else will always pick it up for you. What would you possess with Mario’s cap? The Great Barrier Reef Rob Crossland Despite refusing to have anything to do with ‘The Words’, Rob’s been offering us his opinion on every driving game going this month. His verdict? The Crew 2 – rubbish; Need For…

I think it must be World Of Warcraft, though I’ve been clean of my addiction for years now. I used to play every single night with my guild, plus raids at weekends. Damn, I used to have so much time on my hands… Robin Valentine, Editor Fallout 3 as I did it all on 360, PS3, and PC. Including all the DLC too. Everything. 1000 Gamerscore, Platinum on PS3. Must have been mad. Nitty Grimes, @nitty_grimes Grand Theft Auto V. It never ends… Zeeke Peter, @PeterBanner1 The Movies. With the amount of creativity and customisation options in sandbox mode you can create whatever kind of blockbuster you want. Daniel Climo, Facebook Borderlands 2 – love the local and online 4 person co-op, great story, levelling up through different story difficulties,…

“AIMED AT GIVING PLAYERS THE MOST EYE-WATERINGLY DETAILED EXPERIENCES EVER FROM A CONSOLE, IT’S A POWERHOUSE” Microsoft has finally dispersed the mystery surrounding Project Scorpio by officially unveiling its new addition to the Xbox One family. In the same vein as Xbox One S, it’s a super-snazzy enhanced version of Xbox One, with a host of powerful new bells and whistles. The result of three years’ of engineering, Xbox One X is the most powerful games console on the planet (possibly in the universe – we’re not sure how well alien gaming technology is coming along). If you’re keen to get your hands on the new console, you won’t have long to wait as Microsoft has announced that Xbox One X will launch worldwide on 7 November, priced at £449.…

“EXPERIENCING A GAME IS AS MUCH ABOUT WHO YOU’RE WITH AS IT IS WHAT YOU’RE PLAYING” I’ll never forget where I was the first time I saw a videogame. My older brother was babysitting and it was getting really late. I heard a lot of laughter and yelling coming from the living room so I snuck out to see what was going on and saw a group of older boys huddled around the TV screen playing what I now know as Super Mario Bros 3. Ever since then I’ve been hooked. A big part of what made that moment special is obviously how great and captivating the Mushroom Kingdom is, but also the social behaviour surrounding it all as well. These weren’t weird, nerdy, or awkward kids struggling to find…

We’ve got a hell of a year ahead of us. From piracy on the high seas, to war in the trenches, to speeding around Brands Hatch, to… transferring your spirit into a dinosaur’s body, 2017’s crop of upcoming games has got something for everyone. In the face of such a stunner of a line-up, what could we do but pack as many as we can into one massive preview feature? Over the page, you’ll find our expert analysis, hands-on impressions, and behind-the-scenes insights on the absolute best of the lot. Read on and get excited for the gaming world of 2017… and beyond!…

Format Switch Publisher Nintendo Developer Good-Feel ETA Summer 2018 Of all Bowser’s underlings, it’s the Shy Guys who have, ironically, raised their profile recently. They’ve cameoed in Mario Kart 8, stolen the show in Paper Mario: Color Splash, and in Yoshi’s latest outing they’re running things in the background. We know this because the hook here lets you flip the level for a glimpse behind the scenes. You’ll find one blowing into a straw to inflate a bag that doubles as a lift, catch three others sweating with exertion as they push and pull moving platforms, and spot two more hiding behind a bush, waving butterflies attached to wires. If you’re playing alone, you’ll have to re-enter each stage to see it from this alternative perspective and grab any collectibles…

“BUNGIE HAS REVEALED THE CABAL WILL PLAY A STARRING ROLE IN DESTINY 2’S STORY ” Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Activision Developer Bungie, High Moon Studios, Vicarious Visions ETA 6 September Bungie might have made gaming’s most compulsive Skinner box in Destiny, so when talk turns to its sequel the salient points are less about story (Earth’s in trouble and The Traveller’s on fire) and more about how you get those Exotics. And how many slots you’ll be able to fill with Exotics. And what those Exotics will do. Exotics. Weapon categories, for example, are subject to a major shake-up: gone are the days of primary, secondary, and heavy. In their place are the kinetic, energy, and power lines of distinction. That means you could wander around with nothing but…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Bethesda Developer Tango Gameworks ETA 13 October Why the long face, Sebastian? Oh, that’s right, you’re still mourning the tragic loss of your family. You’re also probably still miffed about all the gore you had to wade through in The Evil Within, aren’t you? That’s fair enough, but we hope you’ll forgive our massive disrespectful grins at the prospect of you doing it all over again. Seb’s off to find answers (and, ideally, family members) in the Evil Within 2, and he’s doing so in what looks like a greatest hits reel from horror movies past and present. Tango Gameworks delivered memorable scares last time, but this time the imagery’s even more traumatising: menacing white goo, arms with too many joints reaching out of the…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Ubisoft Developer Ubisoft ETA Spring 2018 It may soon become a walled fortress suitable for only the finest Americans, but Uncle Sam’s borders are very much open for business in this countrywide racer. Ubisoft’s cannonball run concept expands with the introduction of sea and air vehicles. Now, as well as cars, bikes, and dirt-churning buggies, you can power through the waves in speed boats and go skywards in stunt planes, both varieties of vehicle represented by real-world brands and models. Nowhere is safe from your reckless sense of entitlement. You don’t even need to stop and park to switch between them. Using the handy new transition feature, you can thread the needle through New York’s skyscrapers and scare the caviar from Wall Street fat cats…

“YOU’RE ABLE TO SHOOT WEBS TO SEAMLESSLY CROSS THE OPEN-WORLD ENVIRONMENTS” Format PS4 Publisher Sony Developer Insomniac Games ETA Summer 2018 Marvel’s new approach when making videogames is to work with only the best developers, and who better to bring Spider-Man to life than Insomniac Games? There’s a noticeable resemblance to the studio’s most recent offering, Xbox One exclusive Sunset Overdrive, in its swift animations and stylish movement. New footage of this enthralling collaboration shows Spidey zipping around the vast, richly detailed skyscrapers of New York City. The expansiveness of the world doesn’t just apply to the horizon, though: New York is a city that reaches for the sky. Spider-Man can get some serious vertical miles free-running up the sides of buildings in a matter of seconds. Did we say…

There are plenty of creatures to slay in Norse mythology: trolls, giants, valkyrie. Oh, and wolves. Big wolves. “RAGE HERE IS A NECESSARY TOOL , AND GOD OF WAR EARNS ITS UNFLINCHING BRUTALITY ” Format PS4 Publisher Sony Developer Sony ETA Winter 2018 Get ready for a very different Kratos. After 2010’s God Of War III, the demigod’s done enacting vengeance against Greek deities, and now lives in Scandinavia with his son, Atreus. Where previous games centred on death and destruction, this latest explores themes of nurture and identity. Okay, and death too. And so Kratos, now with white wisps in his beard, weariness in his eyes, and rather less bloodlust in his heart, travels through a semi-open Norse setting with Atreus by his side. The boy lends assistance in…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher EA Developer EA ETA 17 November If you thought the Death Star plans were a hefty set of data, just wait until you get a good long look at this. We’ve got enough Battlefront II facts, gameplay titbits and all-new info drops to keep a Bothan spy busy for a week. Hell, information is practically dripping out of our exhaust ports… While ‘general improvements’ may not get as much love as General Han Solo (and quite right too), Star Wars: Battlefront II is clearly paying attention to both, and to criticisms levelled at the first game. Everything from gunplay to flight controls have been tweaked here, allowing for greater precision and more dynamic encounters throughout. Weapons have also been improved from the first game, with…

“SOMETIMES YOU’LL FIND A RIVAL SHIP TRYING TO PILLAGE YOUR TARGET – BRING OUT THE BIG GUNS ” Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Ubisoft Developer Ubisoft ETA Winter 2018 Would-be swashbucklers are going to be spoilt for choice soon. But the two big pirate games currently in development couldn’t be more different. Where Sea Of Thieves is a bit of a lark, Ubisoft’s effort takes the business of buccaneering more seriously. And we do mean business: Skull & Bones is all about those pieces of eight. It comes from Ubisoft Singapore, which has been quietly making the most interesting bits of the Assassin’s Creed games for years. The studio created the nautical sections in the third entry, which in turn informed the more refined shipboard sequences in Black Flag. This…

Format XO, PC Publisher Turn 10 Developer Microsoft ETA 3 October You can’t get much more glamorous than racing the recently revealed Porsche GT2 RS around a sun-baked Dubai motorway. In 4K, and at a solid 60 FPS, it’s the perfect demonstration of Xbox One X’s power. The scene shifts dramatically as we take to Nürburgring in a Nismo Motul Autech GT-R. The German climate is very different from Dubai’s, and we watch dynamic skies churn before spitting speckled rain across our windshield. Time and weather is dynamic now, veering from overcast, to storms, to baby-blue skies over a single event. Conditions have an impact on your vehicle too. Tarmac temperatures affect tyre friction, for example, and puddles swell in real time when it pours. The new Driver’s Cup campaign…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Capcom Developer Capcom ETA Spring 2018 The flex is gone. As any seasoned Monster Hunter knows, it’s been a long-standing tradition to swig a potion and watch your hunter adopt an exaggerated strongman pose – during which, of course, you’re vulnerable to attack. It might seem a minor thing, but its absence in Monster Hunter World is a sign of fundamental change at the heart of Capcom’s series. It’s a Westerner-friendly kind of revision, as is the presence of damage numbers showing how much pain you’re inflicting. Other changes are less controversial. A grappling hook lets you latch onto monsters’ bodies and climb quickly to higher ground. One hunter skill lets you equip a ghillie suit to go undetected, and there’s a proper day-night cycle…

Format PS4 Publisher Sony Developer Sony ETA December Hurried to meet the PS4’s launch, SIE Japan’s particle-effect-filled original platform-fighter left plenty on the cutting room floor. The studio gathers these concepts and scatters them into its unexpected sequel. Take, for instance, a section in which Knack drives a tank through an ultra-destructible building site, firing missiles at grouped robots, then whipping out a front-mounted drill to bulldoze them into hundreds of quivering components. Or platforming sections incorporating rapid mid-jump size shifts. Anything to wash away the taste of the last game’s repetitive combat, basically. When the fists do fly you’ve got more than three moves. Your collection of relics can conjure shields, unleash body slams, and even lasso fools, and Knack’s ability to scale up or slim down varies the…

Format XO, PC Pub Microsoft Dev Undead Labs ETA Summer 2018 Survival in this zombie-infested sandbox is all about working together. The action is pure third-person shooter/brawler, but you’re not just one hero – you control a whole community, switching between members depending on what skills you need on each mission. Scavenge the resources you need, and you’ll be able to build up your base, upgrade it with new facilities, and recruit more survivors to your cause. You’ll need that backup – if you die out in the field, that character is dead forever, and all you can do is switch to another, making it important to have a roster of skilled combatants.…

“EVERYTHING HAS BEEN SCRIPTED PERFECTLY TO ENSURE YOU’RE AT YOUR MOST STRESSED” Format PS4, XO, PC Developer Bloober Team ETA August Web http://bit.ly/gmobserver Games don’t often give us nightmares, but after completing Bloober Team’s Layers Of Fear in one sitting, we felt a distinct sense of unease. Its terrifying, often Escher-esque house wasn’t as easy to forget as Resi VII’s tension or the nastiness of Outlast. Well, the team behind it is back to horrify us once more, and this time we’re jumping into other people’s memories after a global apocalypse. Great. “We learned a lot from Layers Of Fear,” confirms brand manager Rafal Basaj. “People crave a cerebral, psychological horror experience, something other than survival horror in which you mow down monsters/demons/aliens/zombies with rocket launchers. We love the idea…

“AN AFTERNOON SPENT TWEAKING SHIP DESIGNS TO PERFECTION DOESN’T FEEL WASTED” Format PC Publisher Sega Developer Amplitude Studios ETA Out now Players 1-8 The galaxy is a big place. Like, really big. Even so, several species find themselves rubbing up against one another and have to find a way to, y’know, get along. Or leave each other in a smoking ruin after antimatter-fuelled space battles before the victor takes over planetary colonies and enslaves their populations. One of those outcomes, anyway. Endless Space 2 (the previous game in the series having, apparently, ended) is a 4X game – the sort of strategy title in which you’re invited to explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate, and therefore should really be called 4E. But we don’t decide these things. It’s turn-based as well,…

“THE ABILITIES OF YOUR TOWNSPEOPLE, NOT HOOKSHOTS, WILL CARRY YOU THROUGH” Format 3DS Publisher Nintendo Developer Grezzo ETA Out now Players 1 After years of working on Nintendo’s 3DS Zelda remakes, developer Grezzo has struck out on its own… and made another Zelda game. Or at least half of one, as Ever Oasis mixes Link’s eternal obsession with hacking up monsters and trawling through dungeons with a light town-management sim, capturing that inevitable moment in life when you’ve got to pull up a chair and swap Water Temple for water cooler. After all, your growing population is all that stands between you and evil forces. Okay, maybe that’s overselling the admin. Grezzo’s made sure the town-building aspect is as streamlined as possible, leaving plenty of time for venturing beyond the…

One of the ways you can vary your mission tactics is by buying and equipping suits that mirror those of your enemy. As you’ll be making cash hand over fist, there’s no reason not to grab them all as soon as you can, from one of the shops in the neon jungle of future Tokyo. If you’re approaching a mission that might be against a faction that you can buy a suit for, you can go to the entrance of the area and pop the outfit on. We had to take out a massive base full of punks, so we decided to buy the suit, and put it on. This isn’t automatically easy mode, however; you can only wear a suit for as long as your energy bar stays charged.…

“THE LATEST UNCHARTED FOOTAGE SHOWS LOVELY JUNGLE, BICKERING HEROINES, AND A NEW VILLAIN” We love it, we hate it. It’s the saviour of gaming, and its downfall. Yes, DLC is the most divisive acronym since HMRC, but the latest wave of announcements has given us an excuse to focus on the good side of it rather than the bad. There’s so much to get through, in fact – from ascending mountains to killing Outsiders – that there’s no time to waste in jumping straight in. On account of the fact that it’s not an expansion but not quite a full-priced game either, we figured we’d get the little matter of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy out of the way first. The spin-off to Drake’s adventures is due out 22 August, and…

“ODYSSEY’S LEVELS ARE OPEN HUBS WITH MULTIPLE OBJECTIVES, NOT DISSIMILAR TO SUPER MARIO 64 ” Format Switch Publisher Nintendo Developer Nintendo ETA 27 October If we ran around throwing our caps on things they’d just be covered in dandruff, but Mario doesn’t have to worry about that because his is magic and he probably uses shampoo. Cappy, as he’s known, can possess all manner of objects and organisms, from telescopes, taxis, and parking bollards, to Koopas, Goombas, and actual humans. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Mario’s most important innovation since the butt stomp. Tossing your bonce-coverer is as easy as flicking your Joy-Con like a nonchalant waiter pointing out the nearest toilet. This ability not only makes levels feel wholly more reactive, but opens up multiple ways to solve puzzles.…

Format Switch Publisher Nintendo Developer HAL Laboratory ETA Summer 2018 It won’t be with us until next year, so Kirby’s Switch debut is going to be late for his own 25th anniversary celebrations. Oh, Kirby! But while the spherical sucker’s new game doesn’t even have a proper name yet, it draws ideas from a quarter-century’s worth of adventures. Looks-wise, it’s closest to Wii’s Return To Dream Land, but sharper and prettier. Kirby’s Cleaning ability from Dream Land 3 returns, alongside feline buddy Nago – though the cat’s presence is merely cosmetic, as he pushes Kirby along to sweep up leaves. And the ability-mixing feature from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards returns, as you combine copied abilities with elemental buffs: a fiery sword makes short work of…

“THE DENSE JUNGLE ENVIRONMENTS ARE FILLED WITH WATERFALLS AND MYSTERIOUS RUINS . YOU’D WANT TO GO THERE ON A BACKPACKING HOLIDAY WERE IT NOT FOR ALL ITS SENTIENT LIFE-FORMS TRYING TO KILL YOU ” Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher EA Developer Bioware ETA Winter 2018 Bioware ranks highly among developers who could use a break from their usual genre. The RPG maker has been looking jaded since the start of this console generation. What’s a developer to do? Strap on a jetpack, and create a co-op shooter that skydives into the arena currently championed by Destiny, is what. Set in the future on an Earth-like planet, Anthem presents us with a world that’s been reclaimed by nature, leaving humanity holed up within the sheer metal walls of a city. This,…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Ghost Games Developer EA ETA November In this car-crumpling open-world action-racer, EA wants to make you a superhero behind the wheel. For us, ramming into a fleet of cartel goons and watching them roll in spark-filled slow motion before pulling up alongside a lorry, climbing aboard, then stealing the exotic ride it’s transporting certainly does that. Talk about a Spyder-Man. “The Highway Heist mission is indicative of the direction we want to take Need For Speed in,” creative director William Ho tells us. “All the missions are inspired by the great car chases in action movies over the last few decades. We like to say that it’s Need For Speed viewed through a Hollywood lens.” For Payback, Ho and his team channel an encyclopaedic knowledge…

Format Switch, PS4, XO, PC Publisher Warner Bros Developer TT Games ETA 14 November Bright, chunky, and a little bit cheeky, Lego livens up many a franchise. It’s already had two successful forays into the Marvel Universe – which is brimming with characters and material (usually bright, sometimes chunky, and occasionally even cheeky) for developer TT Games to draw from. Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 builds on that. The story picks up right where the first game left off; opening with Guardians Of The Galaxy, you will be able to control a teeny Star-Lord, plus over 30 other superheroes, including Iron Man and Captain America. Controls and structure aren’t worlds away from the beloved formula of the previous Lego entries, but now it’s bigger. Your heroes will face off against…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Ubisoft Developer Ubisoft ETA 27 Feb 2018 Montana. Home of the Rocky Mountains, the Great Plains, and now Ubisoft’s sandbox shooter. There’s new wildlife, including black bears and charging cattle eager to gore you on curled horns. There are fresh vehicles in the shapes of gas-guzzling planes and choppers which you’ll both fly and get into dogfights with. And there are even new geological features ripe with possibility. During our first hands-on session we grab a sniper rifle and take advantage of the ubiquitous farmland’s long sightlines to neutralise foes at range. Sure, sniping’s hardly new to Far Cry, but there’s a certain charm in capping despicable hicks in flannel shirts and trucker caps as they yell slurs in a Montanan drawl. These guys belong…

“WHILE YOU CAN ONLY APPRECIATE ITS VISUAL SEAMLESSNESS CLOSE-UP, YOU’LL FEEL IT IN EVERY LUNGE ” Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher EA Sports Developer EA ETA September EA Sports is brutally honest, using this year’s FIFA reveal event to reflect on past failures. In FIFA 17, no-touch dribbling didn’t help beat your man. Animation was choppy. Crosses were potluck. Players felt too similar. But this wasn’t self-flagellation: the point was to prove to us FIFA 18 cleans up 17’s act. First of all, it’s markedly more responsive, thanks to a new animation system called Motion Technology. Previously, if you wanted to alter your player’s course, you had to wait until they’d completed their step. Now you can interrupt individual frames. Not only does it mean players react almost instantly to…

“WE MAN CANNONS AND FIRE. ONE PLAYER CLIMBS INSIDE THE CANNON AND SHOOTS HIMSELF OVER” Format XO, PC Publisher Rare Developer Microsoft ETA Summer 2018 In Rare’s multiplayer pirate adventure the challenge is to play without cry-laughing. The latest playable build has us venturing online and forming a four-person crew of utterly inept sea dogs. Our mission: to locate a treasure-filled island. The cryptic clue is scrawled on a yellowed piece of parchment. “For gold to Snake Island you sail, but I’ll take a wager you will fail. Find the sunstone on the southwest beach of the largest isle, you salty dog, have a dig and then some grog.” Forget that – after such dreadful doggerel we’re cracking out the grog now. Several items occupy our inventory wheel. There’s a…

“THE TRAILER RECALLS THE DIZZY VERTICALITY OF THE FIFTH ELEMENT AND BUSTLE OF AN INDIAN STREET” Format TBC Publisher Ubisoft Developer Ubisoft ETA Summer 2019 Foul-mouthed monkeys, filthy pigs, and a cocksure swagger to shame Mick Jagger. Welcome to Guy Ritchie’s Animal Farm. Yes folks, Beyond Good And Evil is back. Bigger, brasher, lewder, and cruder – but with that same sense of fun, curiosity, and heart that has made this series such a firm fan favourite. Described as a prequel to the 2003 original, Beyond Good & Evil 2 is now going galactic, trading in the cramped confines of Hillys for the wider, brighter cosmos. Creative Director Michel Ancel confirms the title will feature multiple settings, across potentially dozens of worlds, all of them connected seamlessly, with nary a…

“ FIGHTING , REMEMBER, IS MERELY AN OPTION. WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING MUCH MORE IS INFILTRATING ” Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Ubisoft Developer Ubisoft ETA 27 October Here’s a mind-blowing fact for you. Cleopatra lived closer to the creation of the iPhone than the building of the pyramids. It contextualises just how ancient Egypt is, a country with several thousand years of history under its belt by the time Origins’ protagonist Bayek comes along in 300 BC. Origins marks the first time a mainline Creed game goes backwards instead of forwards in time. So, why Egypt, and why now? “We decided to go with the ascent to the throne of Queen Cleopatra because it’s really a very important moment in history,” creative director Jean Guesdon tells us, his eyes…

Format PS4 Pub Sony Dev Quantic Dream ETA Summer 2018 The revolution will be robotised in Heavy Rain creator David Cage’s story-driven sci-fi uprising. Set in 2040, it imagines a world in which sophisticated androids attempt to either overthrow or coexist with human oppressors – like a mechanical Planet Of The Apes. The story jumps between three characters: Kara, a recent factory escapee exploring her newfound sentience; Connor, an agent who hunts deviant androids; and synthetic rebel Marcus. One early Marcus section takes place in a snowy city square. He’s recruiting for a riot, and has his eye on retail androids. They’re advertised as ‘housekeeping assistants’ and ‘dream partners’, but to Marcus, they’re slaves. Multiple choices are a Cage calling card, and there are plenty of ways in. You can…

Wasn’t it wonderful opening up a new packet of plasticine back in the day? That fresh smell, those perfect strips waiting to be turned into whatever you wanted them to be (and to leave grease stains all over your parents’ new coffee table). How long did you wait to mix them? Exactly how long was it until your once-Technicolor clay became a giant ball the colour of a recently trampled playing field? Of course you’re ready to do all of that again without having to worry about getting it out from under your fingernails. Welcome to Claybook. A puzzler from three developers from Finland, Claybook opens up beautifully colourful environments where everything you can see is moulded from – you guessed it – clay. From water to trees, everything is…

“YOU NEED TO APPROACH TOKYO 42 MORE LIKE A PUZZLER THAN A SHOOTER AT TIMES” Format XO, PC Publisher Mode 7 Developer SMAC Games ETA Out now Players 1 With an exquisite visual style that is impossible to ignore, some games can capture our hearts and minds in a second. What makes us stay besotted, though, is the presence of something more under the surface. Beauty may be only skin deep, but in SMAC Games’ case, the arresting visuals are hiding something far more exciting: an interesting, challenging puzzle-shooter (yep, that’s a thing!) that has character and soul in spades, but is also unique and challenging. As game lovers, this is exactly what we come for, and really the only question is whether it can sustain itself over a full…

“JUST SEEING JASON IS ENOUGH TO INDUCE TERROR… A GOOD JASON STALKS AND HUNTS – HE TEASES” Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Gun Media Developer Gun Media, IllFonic ETA Out now Players 8 The problem with chasing screaming friends with an axe is all the blood, the police getting involved, and no one wanting to play once they understand the rules. Which is why it’s good Friday The 13th lets you recreate the effect within the safety of a videogame. As the name suggests, this is based on the film series and is both a tribute to Jason Voorhees’ machete-waving attempts at socialising, and a cleverly crafted game that weaves stealthy scares from its slasher movie tropes. The rules are simple: there are seven teen ‘counsellors’ at a summer camp,…

Format PS4 (reviewed), PC Pub Ubisoft Dev Red Storm ETA Out now Players 1-4 This is the definition of fan service; a lavish game created to serve a hugely niche yet feverishly passionate audience. While Bridge Crew can technically be played solo, or with a reduced party of players each assuming multiple roles on the USS Aegis, it’s at its best when four friends are going boldly together. That’s four dedicated Trek fans. With expensive VR set-ups. And a will to play together and take this game as seriously as it deserves. A tight, deep niche. Played this way Bridge Crew is easily one of the best experiences you can have in VR. All the Star Trek trappings are superbly recreated. This is one of the most faithful and detailed…

“IF YOU COULD SWING YOUR ARM IN A ROUGH APPROXIMATION OF A TENNIS SERVE, YOU COULD PLAY IT” Think of a sports game. Picture it, sitting on a shop shelf. What do you see? Perhaps you see the familiar face of some superstar athlete staring back at you, accompanied by an official logo. Perhaps he’s dressed in his world-famous kit, posing with a football in hand. Perhaps you note his piercing eyes and wonder, just for a second, whether he could love you. The origins When Nintendo thought of a sports game, it pictured something very different. But the genesis of Wii Sports can’t be traced back to Wii’s pre-launch period or even GameCube’s – for the full story you need to delve right back to the development of Nintendo…

Truth be told, GamesMaster isn’t run by Herculean bodybuilders and chiselled contenders. It may come as something of a shock, but the magazine you hold in your hands is put together by a motley assortment of nerds, dweebs, geeks, and spods. As such, we naturally admire jocks for their athleticism, good looks, and well-developed social skills. But on the other hand, we fear jocks for the casual cruelty they inflict and the persistent threat they pose to our hard-earned lunch money. So, whether the videogame jock is wearing a standard-issue varsity jacket or a 15th-century Florentine robe, they somehow manage to instil dreadful fear and humbled awe in the GamesMaster crew. We may just be humble poindexters, but here are the six Cool Jocks we’re proud to be bullied by.…

“MY FIRST FALLOUT PROP WAS AN OPERATIONAL PIP-BOY 3000” Fallout 4 has left a mark on us all. Not the kind that reminds you of a stupid attempt to open a carton of milk with a corkscrew, but the type of mark that you spot and suddenly a hundred memories come flooding back. From stepping out of the vault for the first time, to making endless settlements across the Wasteland, each with enough food and water to happily exist without making you feel guilty. Jason Tully knows all these feelings too, but he’s not content until Fallout makes its way into real life. While by day he’s a graphic designer in South West Victoria in Australia, by night Tully goes under the name Wasted Props, and is dedicating his life…