Tabla de contenidos para April 2018 en Gamesmaster

Feel that shiver down your spine? No, it’s not another freak snowstorm on the way – that’s the chill of fear!And you’re right to quake in your boots, dear reader, for inside these pages lurks our most spooktacular preview feature ever. Between the bestial savagery of Werewolf: The Apocalypse, the sinister blood-sipping of Vampyr, and the menacing madness of Call Of Cthulhu, even Vincent Price would take pause – and you’ll find many more terrors than that inside. All that, plus our surprising verdict on Metal Gear Survive, a behind-the-scenes chat with the weirdest indie studio around, dwarves in space, the secrets of gaming’s many dungeons, and much, much more besides. And if you like this issue, it’s a great time to subscribe to GamesMaster! You can either grab one…

Getting older isn’t so bad if you’re a gamer. Working helps to pay for more of what you love, namely new consoles and new games to play on them. The only problem I have is games these days are such a time investment that I don’t get the chance to see them to the end, never mind all the DLC. I’m ashamed to say I’ve not been able to finish the Witcher 3 or any of its great expansions because it just takes too much time. I’m finding myself going back to play the older classics again such as Streets Of Rage or a bit of the older Mario games as they are great pick-up-and-play titles. I’m finding that I miss the older style of games with three lives and…

I’d love to see a mag get away with a beheading on the cover nowadays. Wil Overton, @Kosmikat Space Crusade on the Amiga is the best Warhammer videogame ever because it had that dude at the beginning going “Raaaaaah” that at the time was some of the best graphics you’d ever seen. Jehovah Lazarus, Facebook GTAV is basically Rockstar handing you the keys and saying: “Young man, one day all of this could be yours. No wait, it isyours.” RL&H Studios, @RedZRedZ99 I love Silent Hill 2 because of the atmosphere – not knowing what was going on but always suspecting you might be the problem. Jonathan Wright, @jonw23 Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is great because it’s like what the Master Chief would be like if he was very, very…

X box One owners have been going through a tough time recently. While the platform has certainly gained a ‘boutique’ appeal for those wishing to enjoy their games with eye-wateringly good visuals, the introduction of the S and X console models did nothing to rectify the absence of first-party exclusives. But fortunes seem to have changed, with the announcement that Xbox Game Pass will soon be upgraded to include all future and existing first-party games. Of course, such a colossal (and potentially game-changing) act of good will is to be expected when considering how far from grace Xbox has fallen – compared to both the 360 days and the continuing commercial and critical successes of PS4. Stream machine Microsoft has at least always done a great job of catering to…

ROBIN’S PICK Greedfall My soft spot for Spiders’ line of action-RPGs is well-documented in this mag. Sure they’re clunky and awkward, and basically all desperate to be The Witcher, but gosh do they take risks with their settings. This latest title’s clearly no exception, telling a tale of 17th century colonial powers descending on a island of myth and monsters. If it’s as weird and provocative as the studio’s past efforts, I’ll be totally ready to look past some jank. PS4, XO, PC – 2018 SAM’S PICK Biomutant This game had me at “you play as a mutant raccoon who does kung-fu, has cybernetic implants, and if you want you can make them pink”. That’s surely videogame gold right there. Never mind that you can pilot a giant mechanical wind-up…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Focus Home Interactive Developer Dontnod ETA 5 June Something ain’t right with Vampyr. We’ve been following this thing for three years . That’s a long time to see whether this passion project from Dontnod Entertainment would lean more heavily on the studio’s inherent strength in storytelling, or demonstrate its capacity for developing one excellent core idea while failing to build a sustainable game world around it. As it turns out, Vampyr offers the worst of both worlds. The game feels like it’s caught between its concept and the realities of modern game design. Its reliance on throwing you between button-bashy combat situations completely fails to properly align with the complex, dramatic and non-linear narrative the studio is trying to paint across a…

“THE GAMEPLAY ITSELF IS DEFINITELY GOING TO BE A MARMITE SITUATION, AND IT NEEDS SOME SERIOUS BALANCING” Format PC Publisher Crytek Developer Crytek ETA 22 Feb 2019 The Old West. A brutal frontier where the meanest son of a gun reigned supreme, and justice was just another word in the dictionary. How could this godforsaken chapter in history possibly be made more inhospitable and violent? Simple really: throw in a load of horrible gribbly monsters. Hunt: Showdown has had an interesting development history. Originally planned as a Darksiders tie-in developed by Vigil Games, the property got shipped over to Crytek after THQ went kaput. Not much was heard about Hunt until May last year, when it was re-revealed as an Old West horror, co-op, PvP… thing. And now it’s out…

Format XO, PC Pub Microsoft Dev Undead Labs ETA Autumn This sequel to 2013’s open-world zombie title aims to deliver the same premise but with more polish and features. Chief among them is the inclusion of co-op, with up to three other players. The end of the world is always better with friends, isn’t it? You’ll be searching for survivors out in the world to populate your ever-improving base, all while taking on more challenging zombies and situations. Given the promise of the original, there’s definitely reason to be excited over the prospect of a much-improved sequel.…

Format PS4, XO, PC Pub Focus Dev Vostok Games ETA Winter From a team of ex-STALKER developers comes a new battle royale title that leans on that same haunted, eastern European landscape. They won’t just be fighting each other either – mixing things up will be mutant creatures and environmental anomalies. Dynamic weather and a day/ night cycle will keep players on their toes, too, while they’re hunting for protective gear to explore hazardous areas containing special rewards. The battle royale genre is already getting crowded, but a strong atmosphere could make this title a stand out.…

“IT’S STILL TACTICAL, OF COURSE, BUT NOW WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF SPLIT-SECOND DECISIONS” Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Focus Home Interactive Developer Rogue Factor ETA Winter Necromunda is among the more evocative settings of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It’s a ruined, poisonous planet dotted with vertiginous towers called Hive Cities, where the rich live high above the toxic clouds while criminals and scum battle for territory deep underground in the Underhive; a place patrolled by gangs of razor-mohawked punks and psychopaths armed with decaying weaponry. Based on a recent reboot of the tabletop game, Necromunda: Underhive Wars is a turn-based strategy game where you pick a side in this endless war over crumbling diamond-plate walkways and groaning blast furnaces. So far, we’ve only seen House Goliath (hulking rustpunks) and House…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Focus Home Interactive Developer Spiders ETA Autumn The colonial period, with frigates slicing into the white beaches of unknown lands and first contact made with native tribes, has been explored by plenty of games in a historical context, but rarely reappropriated for a fantasy one. The theme needs to be handled with care, given the history, but the collision of nature versus technology, and the clash of two very different cultures, makes for a fine RPG premise. And this coming from Spiders (Technomancer, Bound By Flame), a studio with a knack for interesting premises (if slightly rough executions), makes this one all the more intriguing. The action takes place on Teer Fradee, an island that has recently been colonised by a mix of settlers and…

Format Switch, PS4, XO, PC Publisher Team17 Developer Pathea Games ETA Autumn With a name reminiscent of an agreeable BBC Two travelogue, you might expect My Time At Portia to be a game of sunny skies, gently waving corn, and impossibly cute lambs. And it is. Released into Steam Early Access, the dev is looking for feedback for balancing before the full launch. But the game is also a suburban hell where you’re conscripted into work the second you land on its shores by Presley, a bespectacled businessman who seems to know far too much about you. He also expects you to live in a shack, hastily evacuated by your father who has conveniently gone to the other side of the world. We’ll be examining any fresh piles of stones…

Format PC Pub 1C Company Dev Snowhound Games ETA May Running around rusty starships in cool, clunky space suits is so much our jam that Deep Sky Derelicts barely needed to do anything other than that. Thankfully, not content to bow to how easily pleased we are, this Steam Early Access title is also a robust RPG with turn-based combat and exploration. It’s very reminiscent of Darkest Dungeon – a comparison that doesn’t land very much in its favour, but there’s reason to believe it’s worth playing in its own right. For a start, there’s a more defined narrative and arguably a more interesting world. Darkest Dungeon leaned heavily on its Lovecraftian inspirations, but Deep Sky Derelicts is very much doing its own thing, even if it is a touch…

Format PC Publisher No More Robots Developer RageSquid Games ETA Winter Sometimes all you need are life’s simple pleasures, and what could be simpler and more pleasing than going down a hill on your bike really, really fast? Let us tell you: Descenders, available now in Steam Early Access, does going down hills on your bike exceptionally well. It’s the quality of the presentation that really sells the sheer joy of being on these bikes. Wind rushing past your rider as they bend and bounce to every bump in the track. Or when they crash head-first into the trunk of a tree. The feedback for the player as they careen round a turn is perfect in making you feel every inch of the track. Descenders won’t win any awards for…

1999 BATMAN DOOM IS COMPLETED AND WELL RECEIVED, PUTTING THE BROTHERS AND THEIR AMBITIONS ON THE MAP. 2002 ACE TEAM IS OFFICIALLY FOUNDED, AND WORK ON FIRST PROJECT ZENOZOIK BEGINS. 2004 ANDRÉS AND CARLOS ARE HIRED BY WANAKO GAMES. ACE TEAM GOES ON PAUSE, AND ZENOZOIK IS CANCELLED. 2007 ANDRÉS AND CARLOS LEAVE WANAKO GAMES AND RETURN TO ACE TEAM. WORK BEGINS ON ZENO CLASH. 2009 THE ORIGINAL ZENO CLASH FIGHTS ITS WAY ONTO STEAM, AND EARNS THE STUDIO A DEDICATED FANBASE. 2011 ROCK OF AGES BECOMES A SMASH HIT. SALES-WISE, IT'S STILL THE STUDIO'S MOST SUCCESSFUL TITLE TODAY. 2013 THE HIGHLY AMBITIOUS ZENO CLASH 2 RELEASES TO MIXED REVIEWS, BUT DEFINITELY STILL PACKS A PUNCH. 2014 ABYSS ODYSSEY VENTURES FORTH, ASKING PLAYERS TO WORK TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY TO…

Format PC Developer Hempuli ETA Autumn Web bit.ly/gmbaba Arvi Teikari’s ingenious puzzler is easily understood on sight, but much trickier to explain in words. Essentially, it’s a Sokoban-style game in which the blocks are nouns and commands, connected by the word ‘is’. So when ROCK is PUSH, you can move a nearby boulder. Push ROCK next to YOU, however, and you can control the rock directly. When WALL is STOP, you’re trapped; break that bond and you can pass through the barrier as if it wasn’t there. Teikari conceived Baba Is You last April, at a Nordic Game Jam event, where the theme was ‘not there’. “It made me think of the logical operator NOT, how you can negate the meaning of something by saying it’s NOT that,” Teikari tells…

LOADS OF CUTSCENES Honestly, the game is front-loaded with about half an hour of almost non-stop cinematics. They’re full of daft exposition and swooping camera angles. Kojima would be proud. A MAN CALLED GOODLUCK Characters in Metal Gear are notorious for their totally absurd titles and codenames, so Goodluck is right at home. Previous crimes include: Laughing Octopus, Liquid Snake, and Revolver Ocelot. MILITARY FETISHISM Despite being a theoretically anti-war series, Metal Gear features plenty of gawking over military hardware. Survive carries on this tradition with loads of detailed weapon models, outfits, and plenty of jargon. UNSUBTLE REFERENCES Odd Moby Dick references in The Phantom Pain not enough? Get ready for endless Dante’s Inferno nods. The world is even called Dite (the city encompassing the sixth to ninth circles of…

Out in The Dust, things get much tougher. You’re on a limited supply of oxygen, visibility is reduced and your waypoint markers aren’t available. Yet the biggest threat lurking in The Dust isn’t getting lost, it’s a huge creature that moves through the mist, destroying everything in its path. Such strange creatures are exciting, and it’s a shame Konami didn’t tease them. It’s exactly the kind of thing that would have let people know the game was more than fighting off waves of zombies.…

1 METAL GEAR SURVIVE PS4 Like most, I expected this to be pants, but have been proved wrong yet again. It won’t be anyone’s GOTY, but I’m actually having a lot of fun with it. Robin Valentine, editor 2 INTO THE BREACH PC Wow. Just wow. I was expecting good things from a follow-up to FTL, but this is perfection. A modern turn-based strategy classic right out of the gate, and an early contender for my favourite game of the year. Robin Valentine, editor 3 SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS PS4 Obviously I’ve got a thing for finding and hunting big monsters. No, you’re the one with a problem. I can stop any time I want. Just a few more hours… Sam Greer, staff writer 4 MONSTER HUNTER WORLD PS4 The…

“THE STORY IT TELLS STILL RESONATES – A TALE WARNING OF THE EVILS OF INDUSTRIALISM” Developer Oddworld Inhabitants Publisher GT Interactive Software Released 1997 Format PC, PS1 Get it Steam or PSN In addition to ruining our ability to spell the word ‘odyssey’ forever, Oddworld was quite the standout. There was simply nothing else like it, then or since. The ‘Odd’ in the game’s title is certainly well-earned. The origin Creator Lorne Lanning was originally an artist working in the film industry. He’d trained as a painter but fell in love with 3D graphics during the 1980s. It was while working on feature films and adverts that he met future Oddworld Inhabitants co-founder Sherry McKenna, a successful producer who had become a Hollywood executive in computer animation. The two worked…

60% A survey conducted by TV channel Dave to celebrate the return of Go 8 Bit, reveals that 60% of British gamers feel the hobby is a key part of their lives. 3 in 5 The survey also showed that we’re are anything but anti-social, with three in five of those polled playing specifically to connect with friends. 55% Of those surveyed, 55% said they play videogames to help them unwind and dump their stresses. 3 in 10 Almost a third believe that playing games has helped them to deal with a mental health issue or concern.…

ROCKIN’ DOLL From astronaut to Mountie, Barbie’s no stranger to unusual jobs. Now Mattel has released Grave Robber… er, Tomb Raider Barbie. It’s is a tie-in for the upcoming film, and borrows the likeness of lead actress Alicia Vikander. She’s armed with a tiny ice axe, though her signature bow and quiver seem to be absent, as is the traditional arsenal of guns. How’s Barbie supposed to do murders, eh? FAMILIAR VOICES Though Death Stranding has just been showcasing the talents of Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen so far, fresh talent has recently been hired for the game. Troy Baker (The Last Of Us) and Emily O’Brien (Batman: The Enemy Within) have been cast in unannounced roles. NOT BURNTOUT Burnout Paradise, a fan favourite in the popular racing series, has…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Focus Home Interactive Developer Cyanide ETA Autumn Darkwater Island does not radiate good vibes. The murky jetty, a killer whale lying gutted on the shore, quiet mutterings about something ungodly happening in the ruins of a nearby warehouse… everything is telling you to flee without delay. But as private detective Edward Pierce, your job is to find out exactly what’s going on. Tentacles and all. To be honest, the situation on Darkwater Island is bad enough without the threat of something hellish tapping at the windowpane. You’ve been sent by the father of the renowned artist Sarah Hawkins to get to the bottom of her death. Fire ripped through her house, killing her, her child, and her husband – yet the police report was suspiciously…

Format PC, PS4, XO Publisher Focus Home Interactive Developer Cyanide ETA Winter 2019 Humans haven’t really treated the Earth nicely. Pollution, deforestation – you name it, werewolves have had enough of it. Werewolf: The Apocalypse is an action-RPG that’s centred around using the power of the monster inside to bring balance back into the world, which just so happens to involve ripping up a ton of bad guys. You won’t just be roaming around the world of Werewolf: The Apocalypse as a bipedal wolf, though. There’s three forms for you to use to make humankind and the evil entity called the Wyrm sorry. Up for grabs is ordinary wolf form – perfect for sneaking. Next you have the usual human one, which lets you use tech, talk to people, and…

Zombies Mostly just a nuisance, these rotting locals will come for any hunter that comes into range. They’re quickly dispatched by a headshot, but use your knife – other hunters can hear your shots. Hellhounds Mangy, vicious, and foaming at the mouth, these are some of the more dangerous enemies. They’re fast, they’re hard to hit, and they’re loud. Pick them off at a distance with a rifle, it’s worth the risk! The Spider One of two currently available boss monsters, the Spider is nimble and deadly. It attacks by spitting clouds of poisonous gas and perforating hunters with its claws and fangs, then scuttles away. The Butcher The second boss monster. A big, fat, mean SOB. The Butcher goes straight for you, swinging his rusty hook and laughing off…

Format PS4 Publisher Naughty Dog Developer Sony ETA Winter 2019 The Last of Us was a special kind of game, a post-apocalyptic story with zombies but really the tale of two flawed people learning just what they can and can’t live without. Being beautiful and dark in equal measure, with fully realised characters, made its moments of horror (such as being trapped in a sewer full of screaming nasties) all the more authentic. Making a sequel to one of the most highly regarded games of all time… that’s a tough one. Naughty Dog certainly has the pedigree for it, though, and is living up to its name with a recent social media tease. Creative director Neil Druckmann tweeted a picture of a dog in a motion capture suit, captioned “#YearOfTheDog”,…

Format PS4, XO, PC Pub Starbreeze Dev Overkill Studios ETA Autumn With the latest footage of this long in development title showing a miserable office worker learning to embrace the apocalypse in spite of its dangers, this seems to have a bit less of a sombre attitude than the many other adaptations of The Walking Dead. It’s shaping up to be a cooperative first-person shooter that adds a combination of RPG and stealth gameplay on top – with the developer’s background working on the hugely successful Payday series, there’s reason to be excited.…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Neocore Games Developer Neocore Games ETA Summer Do you think anyone just has a cup of tea and a slice of cake in the 41st millennium? If they do, there’s no evidence of it here – it’s all murder, all the time. Inquisitor – Martyr is a Diablo-esque action-RPG, out now in Early Access, in which you play an agent of the Imperial Inquisition, and massacre hordes of cultists, demons, and corrupted Space Marines as part of your day job. The core gameplay will be instantly recognisable to anyone who’s played similar games – it’s a by-the-numbers dungeon crawler. Your character has four regular skills and a special skill that requires Focus, a mana-like resource. You gather loot from dead enemies and chests, earn experience,…

“We’re tired of the usual medieval, heroic fantasy setting. The 17th century is the great explorers’ era, which fits with our emphasis on exploration and diplomatic choices. We’re not making a historical game – it’s an inspiration and a reference, that’s all. We looked at plenty of native tribes’ histories all over the world to create our own. We didn’t want to address only one country’s history, but to create a more universal feeling.”…

Format PC Developer Wonderboy Bobi/Storybird Publisher Wonderboy Bobi/Storybird ETA Summer This 2D platformer/ RPG hybrid will look mighty familiar if you know your retro games; it will also bring on a wave of nostalgia. 8-bit visual style? Red snakes? Gold coins and wooden signposts? Yep, it’s essentially a new Wonder Boy game. Indeed, Aggelos is so retro, a long-dormant part of us is hoping for a Game Gear port. Our hands-on with an almost-finished build of the game reveals an adventure very similar to WayForward’s Shantae – hardly surprising given Shantae’s similarity to the Wonder Boy series’ later Monster World games. Unlike Shantae, however, Aggelos shuns HD modernity completely, instead relying on tight controls and equally well-implemented ‘Metroidvania’ level design across its 8-bit-styled world to hold your attention. Hero, meet…

Format PC Pub Snail Games Dev Snail Games ETA Winter ARK: Survival Evolved was a fun mix of harsh survival mechanics and the joy of encountering loads of dinosaurs. The same team is striving for greater mainstream appeal with PixARK which takes the template of ARK and transports it into a more fantasy-themed, Minecraftesque world. Blocky and colourful, it looks far more cartoonish and child-friendly than the original game, with energetically animated characters on screen. Whether it can pry away fans from either ARK itself or Minecraft remains to be seen.…

Format PS4, XO, PC Pub FH Interactive Dev New World Interactive ETA Autumn The game was originally announced with a single-player mode, following a Kurdish woman trying to rescue her sister in Iraq with a band of mercenaries and rebels… but this is now no more. A real shame, because this sounded compelling in a world where military videogames usually revolve around gruff men and special forces. The focus is now squarely on multiplayer, significantly expanded from the tense original. There are bigger maps, and new vehicles players can use to support their team.…

#1 THREES A match-three game in a literal sense, in that you’re pairing up multiples of the number three, while trying not to let those pesky ones and twos dominate the 4x4 grid. Threes’ most valuable tiles have personalities, so sliding them together is like arranging a meet-cute. Adorable and addictive. #2 TOPSOIL A deceptively tricky test of management, this bucolic belter has you arranging plants so you can harvest as many as possible with a single tap. You’ll need to make sure the layers match too, however – and with some that take several turns to grow and others that wilt over time, smart forward planning is required. #3 ROAD NOT TAKEN Spry Fox’s underrated roguelike puzzler sends you out in harsh winter environments to rescue lost children, distracting…

“DUNGEONS CAN BE THE MOST FUN TO BUILD, AND CAN REALLY BRING OUT THE DEVIOUS NATURE OF THE LEVEL DESIGNER” Videogames are like a ploughman’s lunch; they have variations here or there, but there are a few staple elements that you’ll find in almost every platter. Arguably, the mature English cheddar of videogames is the dungeon, and like any decent cheese, there are a lot of techniques that go into creating just the right flavour, texture, and overall experience. Let’s have a gander at how you do it! A-maze-ing design First off, how do you actually make a dungeon? “As a level designer, I have to think ‘who built this?’ and ‘why is this here?’” says Charlie Edwards, a designer at PixelCount studios, previously a senior designer at Lionhead Studios…

1 The first class of weapon you’ll be using is spears, a two-handed sharp stick perfect for poking through fences and barriers. Not great for managing groups of enemies without a barricade, but it helps keep you at a safe distance from the undead horde. 2 Smaller, one-handed weapons are available such as machetes, axes, and even a shovel. Later on, elemental weapons become an option, such as an electric baton that lets you stun enemies. Perfect for crowd control when things get out of hand. 3 Bigger two-handed swinging weapons like the hammer or blade chopper can be found or crafted later, allowing you to leap into groups of enemies and cut your way through them. Slow but powerful, these can get you out of a tough spot. 4…

In Japan, Secret of Mana is known as Seiken Densetsu 2. The original Seiken Densetsu was released as Final Fantasy Adventure in North America and launched as Mystic Quest in Europe. Although not marketed as part of the Final Fantasy series, elements will be familiar to FF players, such as the inclusion of Moogles – strange, fluffy folk who inhabit the game’s Upperland. During combat, heroes can be hit with a Moogled status effect, transforming them into one of the adorable creatures and robbing them of their fighting abilities for a limited time.…

Bugginess tends to come with the open-world territory, and it sometimes feels like Dynasty Warriors 9 is drowning in bugs and glitches. Textures continue loading during cutscenes, and the AI gets stuck in the world geometry. On our PS4 Slim, we suffer frequent frame rate drops during busier battles, even though the game uses not-so-subtle pop-in to manage the number of troops on screen. At several points, we’re unable to move around or pause during battle, and have to force-quit the game from the PlayStation menu. In a series that has always performed smoothly, Dynasty Warriors 9 is a new low.…

While death isn’t the end of the world, it still pays to keep a tab on your needs. The game doesn’t make it clear, but you can check up on your health and wealth by opening the map or inventory screens. Walking for too long will tire you out, or a story might see you take a bit of a bruising. You’ll need money to top these up, but there’s no Jobcentre Plus out here. In cities, you can try your hand at panhandling, or knock on doors looking for work. Success is never guaranteed, though – not in this economy.…

1 Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus (PC, PS1 – 1998) The massive follow up to Oddysee featured all-new locations, enemies, and abilities. This time Abe was on a quest to stop the corporation digging up the bones of his ancestors and literally using the tears of his people to create an addictive drink. This was the entry that allowed players to possess their own farts as well, so far a sadly underrepresented power in videogames. 2 Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee (PC, PS Vita, PS3, Xbox – 2001) The series’ first jump to 3D was a real mixed bag. While it was certainly imaginative, it suffered from frustrating controls and many underdeveloped ideas. The series’ humour remained but its sense of sincerity and seriousness was lost in the transition, creating a bit of a…

1 FORZA MOTORSPORT 7 2 HALO 5: GUARDIANS 3 KALIMBA 4 QUANTUM BREAK 5 GEARS OF WAR 4 1 THE LAST OF US REMASTERED 2 SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS 3 HORIZON: ZERO DAWN 4 UNCHARTED 4: A THIEF’S END 5 HELLBLADE 1 THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD 2 SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY 3 MARIO KART 8 DELUXE 4 MARIO + RABBIDS KINGDOM BATTLE 5 ARMS 1 DOTA 2 2 TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER II 3 GUILD WARS 2 4 THE SIMS 4 5 CRUSADER KINGS 2 1 POKÉMON SUN AND MOON 2 FIRE EMBLEM FATES 3 ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW LEAF 4 MONSTER HUNTER GENERATIONS 5 THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK BETWEEN WORLDS 1 HEARTHSTONE 2 DEVICE 6 3 80 DAYS 4 SORCERY 4 5 MONUMENT VALLEY…

WEEKEND WARRIOR I have grievances to air and you’re my favourite agony aunt. I am a FIFA player. Ultimate Team has drawn me in, I’ve found communities on Facebook and I’ve made quite a few friends through it. Also, judging by the messages I receive on Xbox Live, some mortal enemies too… I’m a decent player, I accept that my mistakes cost me games. I don’t think EA sit in their dark tower deciding when we win or lose. I don’t even believe that if I have more stats I deserve to win, or that EA reward bad players with better pulls from packs (if you play FIFA you’ll meet many of these conspiracy theorists). No, my particular bugbear is in EA’s new patch for the Weekend League. It can…

RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 Format PS4, XO ETA 26 October Did you know, RDR’s now been in the top spot longer than the average life expectancy of someone in Wild West times? It’s true! (It isn’t.) GOD OF WAR Format PS4 ETA20 April How long do you think it takes Kratos to sort his body paint out in the mornings? Amazing he gets out of the house early enough to batter all those gods, really. THE LAST OF US PART II Format PS4 ETA Winter 2019 Flip to p30 for the latest on this hotly anticipated sequel – including some tantalising info about a furry new addition to the cast… SPIDER-MAN Format PS4 ETA Summer That’s it, we are officially, one hundred per cent out of arachnid puns, and the…

Historical accuracy in games is an admirable goal, but Warhorse Studios’ Kingdom Come: Deliverance (review on p66) has raised some interesting questions about the responsibility of creating realistic games and the problems therein. The game has attracted some significant controversy for its depiction of Bohemia as exclusively white, with no queer or disabled people present, in spite of there being no evidence this was the case. When confronted with this, studio lead Daniel Vávra shut down debate on the topic by claiming “historical accuracy” and that: “There were no black people in medieval Bohemia. Period.”. Many have leapt to the developer’s defence, using the same excuse for the lack of diversity in the game, but it’s my personal belief that this argument is made in poor faith. One reason why…

POK-ING AROUND Pop on your deerstalker and do a spot of sleuthing with Detective Pikachu, out today. CRIME PAYS Rope in a mate for the ultimate co-op prison break, as A Way Out hits shop shelves. A TALL TAIL Get your Ghibli fix in Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom, out today. MINI MOUSELESS Grab a C64 Mini today and you can pretend it’s 1982 all over again. You weirdo. THE BAD SEED Praise the Lord; today’s the day you can begin taking down an evil cult in Far Cry 5. DEAD ON TIME Save your people from annihilation at the hands of ogres in Extinction, out today. GANGING UP Got room in your life for a 100-hour crime story? Of course you do. Yakuza 6 is out now! CARD…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Focus Home Interactive Developer Asobo Studios ETA Spring 2019 Last year we were treated to an early look at A Plague Tale: Innocence, the harrowing new stealth-puzzle game from Asobo Studio and Focus Home Interactive. The technical demonstration presented to us was limited but undoubtedly ambitious, a breath of fresh air drawn in a game world tinged with death and decay. And yet, in spite of its promise, the question remained as to how the studio could take this concept and transform it into a full game experience. As we have since discovered, a lot can change in a year. A Plague Tale sank its claws deeply into our skin almost immediately first time round. It was easy to get drawn into it, with its…

Format PC, PS4, XO Developer Cyanide Studios Publisher Focus Home Interactive ETA March Picking the right option in a dialogue sequence can be like spinning a roulette wheel. Will your opponent storm off, or smile benevolently? The Council, the new episodic-narrative game from Cyanide, takes the guesswork out of your conversations and turns talking to characters into a deadly game of strategy. Bad things always go down on private islands. Especially when it’s owned by a mysterious millionaire who can summon the most powerful people on the planet to his domicile – Napoleon Bonaparte, George Washington – you get the idea. As Louis de Richet, an investigator on the search for his razor-sharp mother, you’ve got to interrogate these well-known figures to find out just where she’s disappeared to. The…

Format PS4 Pub Sony Dev SIE Bend Studio ETA Autumn Sons Of Anarchy meets The Walking Dead is absolutely the elevator pitch for this upcoming Sony exclusive and… sure, why the heck not? Open-world survival is the name of the game as you step into the shoes of Deacon St John, a former bounty hunter and all-purpose drifter. This probably makes him well suited for the zombie apocalypse – though Days Gone calls the undead ‘Freakers’ because ‘zombie’ is just so last century. Utilising stealth and crafting weapons are a must to make it through, but you will also have to keep an eye on the weather and time of day, as both affect the strength and speed of the undead. They’ll be slower and dopier in sunlight, for instance,…

Format PS4, XO, PC Pub Focus Dev Deck13 ETA Summer 2019 Deck13 is once again aiming to recreate that magic Dark Souls formula, this time with a follow-up to grim, cyborg-filled scifi hack-and-slash title The Surge. Expect to see an expansion of the limb-targeting system and plenty of additional abilities, weapons and implants for your exoskeleton-wearing warrior. Reception for the original was a little mixed – not helped by inevitable comparisons to its revered inspirations. We’re hoping this sequel can file down all the first game’s rough edges, and expand on the things that made it unique.…

5 RESIDENT EVIL REMAKE Format GC, PC Pub Capcom Dev Capcom Resident Evil is as lauded a series as there is in games. Great instalments such as Resident Evil 4 reshaped the action landscape, and the recent Resident Evil 7 was an impressive reinvention. But no entry has been more terrifying than this GameCube remake of the 1996 PS1 original mansion-based zombie-fest (recently re-released on PC). It uses a fixed camera to build tension – corners you can’t see round, reflections in mirrors, and other techniques generated scares still novel today. 4 AMNESIA: THE DARK DESCENT Format PS4, PC Pub Frictional Games Dev Frictional Games At a time when horror had been forced back into the shadows, with blockbuster shooters taking centre stage, Amnesia: The Dark Descent managed to revitalise…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Focus Home Interactive Developer Cyanide Studio ETA Autumn 2018 Depending on your perspective, the upsurge in board game adaptations is either very interesting, or extremely weird. Either way, it’s no surprise to see the Warhammer universe lead the way, sewn together as it is with the threads of sci-fi and fantasy. With plenty of games behind it, including a handful of Blood Bowls, Cyanide Studio is now working on an adaptation of Games Workshop favourite Space Hulk. Originally released in 1989, it’s not exactly a new board game, but it remains much-loved. Completely unrelated to Full Control’s 2013 game Space Hulk, Space Hulk Tactics promises “a unique twist to the classic gameplay of the cult board game”. This turn-based adventure will offer two story-driven campaigns:…

Format PC Publisher Coffee Stain Publishing Developer Ghost Ship Games ETA Winter What does a dwarf do in space? Same things they do everywhere else: mine, groom their beards, and beat the stuffing out of anyone who dares to get in their way. It’s a simple set-up for this co-op shooter, but it works. Available now in Steam Early Access, it sees you and up to three mates step into the shoes of a team of height-challenged, hirsute space miners and burrow your way into mineral-rich planetoids, pocketing any shiny stuff you find. Environments are procedurally generated and almost completely destructible, allowing you to dig your way through walls and floors with ease. Rock ’n’ roll Each team member has a distinct role to play in exploration – the Engineer…

Format PC Pub Focus Home Interactive Dev Tindalos Interactive ETA Winter Do you like big spaceships that look like cathedrals? Well boy do we have the game for you! Though you’re probably already a Warhammer 40K fan and thus totally on board with this anyway. It sees loads of classic factions from the tabletop game, 12 at launch, making interstellar war with each other. There are the typical gothic ships of the Space Marines, but players can also take control of the Orks’ ramshackle, makeshift vessels, and the Tyranids’ giant living spacecraft.…

Format PS4, XO Pub Square Enix Dev Square Enix ETA Winter New footage continues to emerge, giving us hope this sequel might actually, finally come out… The universe-hopping series, which takes players between the worlds of Final Fantasy and Disney, while using characters from both, returns with all-new additions to its roster. Not only will there be adventures in the world of Toy Story, but we’ve now seen a section taking place in the Monsters Inc universe, where the main cast are transformed into spooky versions of themselves. Goofy’s transformation is maybe a little too horrific.…

“My initial pitch is always Grand Theft Cthulhu. If that gets any interest, then I say, OK, it’s an existential horror road-trip adventure through the United States of Weirdmerica. It’s a bit like I’m taking concepts of Mad Max and Cthulhu and putting that in a ridiculous survival game, but one that also has lots of driving, flips and stunts, and horrible deaths that you can’t really avoid. It came from an idea I had for a zombie survival game for Game Boy Advance back in 2004 just before I went to uni, and that merged and meshed with a different idea I had for a tactical squad-based game. By the time I started work on Dead Static Drive, I was so sick of zombie stuff that I basically thought…

Format PS4 (reviewed), XO, PC Publisher Konami Developer Konami ETA Out now Players 1-4 Metal Gear is a series with a list of critically acclaimed entries going back decades. It tells the psuedo-history of Big Boss and Solid Snake through a series of stealth missions in a decades-long conflict for control over nuclear walking tanks. In all that time it was headed up by creator Hideo Kojima, and the series’ quirks became his trademarks. This latest instalment, however, has been plagued by controversy, including hidden messages in the game which express complaints from staff, and anger from fans over what Konami has decided to do with the series. It’s worth providing a little bit of context to all that. Metal Gear started as a top-down stealth game in the late…

One unique aspect of Fable Fortune is its Quest system. Getting the most out of these challenges is key, as they can make the difference between winning and losing. 1 Every battle begins with a choice of three Quests. Pick the one you think you’re most likely to complete. 2 As you play, the Quest counter fills up on the bottom of the screen, indicating how you’re getting on. 3 Complete it, and the game offers you a choice between ‘good’ and ‘evil’, enhancing the effects of your hero power. 4 The choice you make can also affect certain cards in your deck, altering how they behave on the battlefield. 5 All of this applies to online opponents, too, so try and make sure they don’t beat you to the…

After much teasing, Blizzard has confirmed and released its 27th Overwatch hero, Brigitte, daughter of Torbjorn. She’s a new support character who combines healing with stalwart defensive abilities, and wields a tower shield to protect herself. She also has a flail that can blind and pull enemies from a distance. As a support/tank hybrid, she’s sure to change things up for Overwatch’s metagame. Europa Universalis IV is growing too, with a big overhaul of the British forces in its Rule Britannia expansion. Included are new missions, national traits, units, and even some additions to the soundtrack. If you’re craving more exotic locales than our own fair shores, then why not take a trip back to ancient Egypt? Assassin’s Creed Origins has added its Curse of the Pharoahs DLC, which sees…

OUTSIDE IN If all the death and anguish in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is too much, relax and unwind with this Ancient Trees And Rainfall scented candle. Created in collaboration with Gametee, you can feel like you’re wandering the Viking wildlands while plopped pyjama-clad in front of the telly. EAU DE BIRD Those Angry Birds have dominated the mobile games market, starred in their own movie, and got their own fragrance line. Pick from Red Bird, Yellow Bird, or King Pig eau de toilette by Air-Val International. With all this success you’d think the furious flock would chill out a little… PERFECT SCENTS Pimp out your ride with this Mega Man scented air-freshener. Thankfully, it’s not his actual scent – we can’t imagine that suit offers much breathing space. Dubbed ‘Cool…