Tabla de contenidos para August 2018 en Gamesmaster

Most space sims tend to focus on trade and combat as you fight ships for bounties and cargo, or try to work out which planet will pay the most for toilet roll. Star Traders does all that but also throws in a world full of political machinations, heavy sci-fi lore, and crew management. Let’s see how long Captain Leon lasts. 0 MINUTES I’ve been looking forward to Star Traders because who doesn’t want to be a cool Captain Solo type with nothing but a ship, a dream, and the stars? I just had no idea Solo went through so much to pass his charming space rogue exam. I’ve already spent ages trying to choose a class, faction, ship, and so on – the starting options are huge and without playing…

“IN RICO RODRIGUEZ’ LATEST SANDBOX, THE FREEDOM FIGHTER ENDS UP ESCORTING A HURRICANE ” Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Square Enix Developer Avalanche Studios ETA 4 December Now thisis how you do an escort mission. Forget ferrying around sheepish prisoners or a dainty damsel (sorry, Princess Yorda); in Rico Rodriguez’ latest bombastic sandbox, the freedom fighter ends up escorting an hurricane. Yes, a hurricane . If nothing else, Avalanche has come up with gaming’s very first protectee twister. We’re treated to a behind-closed-doors showing of Just Cause 4, and this sweltering open world sequel wastes no time in flaunting its dynamic new weather system. In the demo we’re shown, Rico has to tail a marauding cyclone, which fully interacts with the environment as…

“OVER TWICE THE PARKOUR MOVES OF THE ORIGINAL. FREERUNNING STILL HAS A WEIGHTY ELEGANCE” Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Techland Developer Techland ETA TBC Back in 2015, Techland pulled a surprisingly riveting rabbit out of its hat. After two disappointing Dead Islands, the studio raised its game with Dying Light: a parkour-loving zombie sandbox. Now it’s getting a sequel, and this time the world around you will transform depending on the choices you make. First off, Techland has ditched the original’s setting. Harran often felt like a sociopathic holiday resort, and slaying the undead under a gently simmering evening sun was weirdly picturesque. Dying Light 2 takes place in a completely different, as yet unnamed European city. Techland showed the game off to us recently, and this ruined metropolis has…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Konami Developer Konami ETA 30 August This is the year when PES doubles down on its great tech and seriously tightens up its systems, finally ditching the remnants of its last-gen versions to focus on really squeezing everything out of the Fox engine. Technically, PES has always been impressive, but you get the sense the developer has been truly unshackled for this year’s iteration, which represents a bigger step up than 2018 was for 2017. It’s easy to see a dev talk about better graphics and enhanced lighting and roll your eyes – after all, the sport is the important thing – but as you play a match on a sunny day and actually see that beautiful sunlight move over time, sparkling on the pitch,…

Format Switch, PS4, XO, PC Publisher Sega Developer Sumo Digital ETA Winter The biggest hint you need about playing Team Sonic Racing comes from the name: you can’t succeed alone in this game, you need to work together. Taking to the road in groups of three, you and your allies all need do well in order to excel. It’s no good you coming first if your teammates come last and second to last – that means the team that got second, third, and fourth place will pip you to the post. Luckily, the game has some quirks that make it easier to stick together. By following close behind an ally, you can leverage their slipstream and form a tight little pack of racers that has a better chance of crossing…

Format PS4 Publisher Bend Developer Sony ETA 22 February 2019 With The Last Of Us Part II, Metro: Exodus, Overkill’s The Walking Dead, and Dying Light on the way, there’s a danger Sony’s take on the post-apocalyptic adventure could get lost in the horde. What we’re hoping will set it apart from the shambling crowd is its sense of freedom. This is a big, open world full of experimentation and exploration, daring you to take risks to bag yourself more ammo and better weapons if you make it past gigantic hordes of ‘Freakers’ – the game’s zombie-alikes. Days Gone’s undead swarm like locusts, they’re highly aggressive, and they’re faster than you’d expect. Which means that the direct approach is rarely advisable – a little cunning is called for. Luckily, our…

Format PS4 Publisher Sony Dev Media Molecule ETA Winter We’ve been offered “endless possibilities” in games before, but in practice that’s rarely delivered. Learning from the pitfalls encountered by previous game-creation tools – including Media Molecule’s own Little Big Planet – Dreams has a confident response to each potential problem. Don’t have a creative bone in your body? MM is hoping to make this a Netflix-esque library of games that’s fun to explore even if you have no intention of creating anything yourself. Worried it looks complex? Community assets mean remixed levels can be thrown together in minutes, but starting from scratch is quick too. Everything stems from simple geometric shapes that can be placed, scaled, stretched, cut with, painted with, blended, duplicated, and more. Watching the devs turn some…

“ONCE YOU HIT THE LEVEL CAP, YOU UNLOCK SPECIALISATIONS, THE CHANCE TO CUSTOMISE YOUR AGENT” Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Ubisoft Developer Massive Entertainment ETA 15 March 2019 Those poor Division agents just can’t catch a break. One minute it’s all frostbite and cold noses in pandemic-struck Manhattan, the next it’s an overwhelming heatwave in Washington DC. That’s right, we’re switching locations for the sequel, and it turns out that the US capital hasn’t fared any better than New York. Warring factions roam the leafier streets and civilians desperately need your help. So far, so Division, but this follow-up online action-RPG from Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment promises an experience built on fan feedback to the original. Our hands-on reveals that, while the dev team hasn’t exactly reinvented the co-op killing wheel,…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher EA Developer DICE ETA 19 October Battlefield V is going to be an interesting package: the game will be getting a fully-formed battle royale mode after launch, it will go back to the fantastic single-player narrative vignettes we first saw in Battlefield 1, it’ll have a full suite of classic multiplayer modes, and, most interestingly for us, it’ll feature something called Grand Operations. These are multiplayer skirmishes that take place over multiple maps and multiple days. Depending on how the defending and attacking teams perform over each day, the resources they have for the next battle are affected. This gets rid of the main problem from Battlefield 1 – situations where you’d have two teams stuck in a perpetual tug-of-war over the middle of an…

Format PS4, XO Publisher Square Enix Developer Square Enix ETA 29 January 2019 We should be used to it by now. Kingdom Hearts has been around since 2002. But there’s still nothing quite like the thrill of discovery as Sora, Donald, and Goofy find themselves in a new Disney-inspired world. In our hands-on demo we take our first steps into the Toy Box world, where Woody and the rest of the Toy Story gang are straight up chilling. And by ‘straight up chilling’ we mean ‘terrified’. Woody, Buzz, Rex, and a handful of other toys have found themselves deserted. Not just by their owner Andy, but by all his other toys too. Why? Well, being Kingdom Hearts, don’t expect the plot to be simple. What comes next is plenty of…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Ubisoft Developer Ubisoft Singapore ETA 2019 It’s embarrassing for any self-respecting scurvy cur to admit, but we’re having wind problems. Okay, fine, this isn’t a case of too much rum the night before but our trusty ship is currently ‘in irons’. It’s immediately clear from our hands-on with Ubi’s multiplayer piratefest that this is so much more than just the sailing element from AC: Black Flag. Edward Kenway’s naval sections have been plundered but also fully upgraded. It’s slightly more realistic, but never at the expense of fun. We solve the aforementioned wind issues by following a helpful direction arrow on screen and filling the sails to ‘tack’ across the waves. Cannon fire no longer has a giant white guideline arrow…

Format Switch Publisher Nintendo Dev Game Freak ETA 16 November Yes this is on Switch, but no, it isn’t the full Switch Pokémon game we’ve all been waiting for – that’s still on its way, and Nintendo is keeping details close to its chest for now. This is more akin to a spin-off of Pokémon Go. Except, it’s also sort of a reboot of Pokémon Yellow. Let us explain. For the core action, cast your mind back to those classic original Pokémon games. Think trainer battles, think adventuring across the Kanto region, think long grass – but don’t think farming random battles. Instead, you can see wild Pokémon wandering the map, and you can run into the ones you want a chance at nabbing. Colourful swirls over their heads will…

Format PC, PS4, XO Developer Wildboy Studios ETA 2019 Web bit.ly/gm_atone There’s no getting away from the fact that Atone looks, at first glance, quite a lot like Hyper Light Drifter – if everyone in Hyper Light Drifter went on a keto diet. But looks can be deceiving: this is actually a narrative-driven puzzle game with rhythm-action combat. The latter, according to Wildboy Studios’ Patric Corletto, has been influenced by “a multitude of titles, ranging from Guitar Hero to Tekken.” So there. You can even find a splash of God Of War in there – at least in the sense that you find yourself in Midgard, with your actions driven by the death of a close relative. In the case of Atone’s protagonist, Estra, it’s her father who’s popped his…

“PRESENTING INTERESTING MORAL DILEMMAS IS VAMPYR’S GREATEST STRENGTH” Format PS4 (reviewed), XO, PC Publisher Focus Home Interactive Developer Dontnod Entertainment ETA Out now Players 1 It’s 1918 and The Great War is entering the final few months of its harrowing conflict. With malnourished soldiers, overcrowded medical camps, and poor hygiene conditions, the front line is a perfect breeding ground for the Spanish influenza to manifest and later spread, as soldiers return home from the war. Protagonist Dr Jonathan Reid is one such soldier. However, his homecoming to the macabre streets of London’s East End is disrupted by a terrifying metamorphosis. The nation’s capital might be facing the most lethal epidemic of its time, but it’s not the only thing plaguing the city’s unfortunate denizens. As bodies begin to pile up…

“IT’S EASY TO SETTLE INTO A RHYTHM OF DUNGEON CRAWLING BY NIGHT AND SHOP KEEPING BY DAY” Format PS4, XO, PC (reviewed) Publisher 11 Bit Studios Developer Digital Sun ETA Out now Players 1 If you’ve ever wondered what happens to the wads of cash you hand over to in-game merchants in exchange for fancy swords, then Moonlighter is your game. It’s half shop management sim, half dungeon crawler: you beat enemies senseless underground, grab their loot, and haul it back to your store to sell. Once you’ve found a price that the locals like, your goods will fly off the shelves. You then reinvest the money back into your shop or pay other vendors for new weapons, armour, and potions to help you slay more baddies. It’s a satisfying…

As we’re pretty sure Ferris Bueller once said: “Cars move pretty fast. If you don’t stop and take pics once in a while, you could miss them.” Wisely taking Ferris’ advice – and following in the tyre marks of every other shiny game released in recent years – Onrush includes a photo mode on its pause menu. It’s a remarkably thorough offering, with the ability to control not just aperture, focal distance, and exposure, but to adjust the shutter speed of your virtual camera. As any real-world photographer will tell you, when you’re dealing with these kinds of speeds, that last setting is vital. Keep the shutter speed at the default setting and you’ll have a nice opportunity to admire the paint job on your car – but you’ll likely…

Format Switch (reviewed), PC Publisher Berzerk Studios Developer Berzerk Studios ETA Out now Players 1-4 It’s hard not to get hooked on a rhythm-action game. The process of syncing your actions with music means the very lines between game and self get hazy. “YOU DON’T NEED TO MOVE IN TIME TO THE MUSIC, JUST TO AVOID TOUCHING ANYTHING THAT DOES” Just Shapes And Beats doesn’t always reach that transcendental place. But that’s fine, because despite its music-visualiser aesthetic, it plays more like a bullet-hell shooter (minus the shooting) than a rhythm game. You control a square floating in a black space where fuchsia fractals and hostile triangles explode and attack in time to big-beat electronic tunes. You don’t really need to move in time to the music; you just need…

24 July sees the launch of No Man’s Sky Next, a massive update for the controversial game that aims to finally set right all the troubles of its original release. Among other new features, it brings full multiplayer to your planet-hopping journeys, and it’s completely free for any existing owners. Microsoft devotees can get in on all the fun now too – the game’s coming to Xbox One on the same day. NEVER MISS AN ISSUE! Subscribe and get a Zelda Switch Wired Controller Plus See p56…

With Sega releasing its Mega Drive Collection and Capcom its Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection recently, we’ve had compilations on the mind. Compilations – or bundles, collections, whatever you might call them – have been a part of gaming ever since we figured it was possible to squeeze more than one game onto a disc, cartridge, tape, or section of hard drive. They’ve always been a brilliant way to catch up on a curated section of gaming’s history, and there are more than a few compilations we owe a chunk of our retro knowledge to. As such, it makes sense to pick out six of the best compilations from gaming’s past and… closer past. Give them a try: you might just learn something about a series’ wonderful lineage. COMMAND &…

THE MOST DEDICATED TEAM IN THE BUSINESS Cramming 51 games into one feature isn’t easy. It takes determination, endurance, and the sheer willpower to write only 500 words about The Last Of Us Part II. Hey, that’s why they call us the best. Robin Valentine Our normally desk-bound editor took his first trip out to E3 this year, braving ridiculously long flights, baking LA heat, and crowds of smelly nerds to bring you the biggest games news around. And now he’s going to sleep for a week. Most excited for: Control Rob Crossland With his bold hairstyle, penchant for technological tinkering, devotion to virtual currency, love of fast cars, and devil-may-care attitude to authority, Rob is one of the original cyberpunks. He’s been waiting for the games industry to catch…

It’s that time again: a month so packed with incredible news that we can’t help but give over half the mag to 51 slices of fresh gaming goodness. From the grim apocalypse of The Last Of Us Part II, to the high-tech cityscape of Cyberpunk 2077, to the nostalgia-tickling corridors of the Resident Evil 2 remake, the gaming horizon is overflowing with incredible titles – and we’re here to bring you the very best access to each and every one. Read on for our hands-on impressions and expert analysis of the 51 absolute best games headed your way this year and beyond……

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher 505 Games Developer Remedy ETA 2019 This is, without doubt, Remedy’s weirdest game yet, and we really don’t say that lightly. This is the studio that brought us noir Viking conspiracies (Max Payne), a reality-altering metal band (Alan Wake), and the end of all time (Quantum Break), after all. With Control, it feels like the studio’s letting loose like never before, unleashing all its most creative ideas. You’ll step into the shoes of Jesse Faden, the newly appointed Director of the Federal Bureau Of Control. You might expect that job to consist mostly of paperwork and meetings, but as it turns out it’s more along the lines of exploring an endless, ever-changing building called the Oldest House (which may or may not be its own…

Format PS4 Publisher Sony Developer Naughty Dog ETA TBC Best. Kiss. Ever. Naughty Dog’s survival horror sequel may be the grimmest game in Sony’s first-party line-up, but it doesn’t half give good smooching. The crowning moment of the latest trailer has nothing to do with stealthy, stabby action. Instead, the highlight is Ellie’s beautifully rendered kiss with new character Dina. Anyone who played through the original game’s wonderful Left Behind DLC will already have known that Ellie prefers ladies to lads, but to see that part of her identity take such centre stage in one of the most highly-anticipated triple-A games around is still a hugely welcome moment of LGBT+ representation. Not that Ellie gets to enjoy being a loved-up 19-year-old at a surprisingly apocalypse-free community concert for very long……

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Warner Bros Developer IO Interactive ETA 13 November There was worry IO Interactive – and so Hitman – might disappear not so long ago, before the full details of the studio’s conscious uncoupling from Square Enix were known. If only we’d known then that, far from losing one of our favourite series, we’d before long be going hands-on for a demo of an explosive new sequel, eh? It’s a setup you’ll recognise if you played the previous Hitman: 47 is dropped into a location, has a target or two to take out, and you go from there. There are hints, there are pushes, there is – in the case of our playthrough – a Warner Bros rep helping us through the level in which we…

Format Switch, PS4, XO, PS3, 360, PC Publisher EA Developer EA ETA 28 September FIFA’s annual game release consistently has plenty of nuanced changes from year to year. But, as in most sports sims, radical alterations are pretty unusual. It’s rare to be able to point to such a big change as the inclusion of the UEFA Champions League license in FIFA 19. A whole heap of other tweaks and improvements has been made, sure, but it’s the Champions League that’s, well, the champion of this particular edition — bringing with it the UEFA Europa League and Super League. If you’re into footie games you’ll have debated the merits of the Big Two for years, and the Champions League license coming to FIFA might just edge it ahead for you.…

“ SPIDEY’S MORE ABOUT STAYING ON THE MOVE THAN SQUARING UP WITH EVERY OPPONENT ONE ON ONE” Format PS4 Publisher Sony Developer Insomniac Games ETA 7 September Making your way across New York in your red-and-blues has never felt better, even on laundry day. Insomniac gives us the chance to go hands-on with Spider-Man, and it’s even slicker than we’d imagine firing off wrist-excreted webs that stick to actual buildings in a lovingly-recreated Big Apple. Each swing builds momentum that you can release at different points in your arc. Jump out of a swing at a low point and you’ll get more distance; jump high and you’ll grab some air. Either way you’ll enjoy a boost. You can easily control your direction with a web-zip, or use it to quickly…

“THOSE INVISIBLE NASTIES FROM PAST TRAILERS ARE BACK, AND THEY’VE BROUGHT THEIR FRIENDS ” Format PS4 Publisher Sony Developer Kojima Productions ETA TBC We’re still not sure what’s going on in Hideo Kojima’s latest stealthy sandbox, but it sure is pretty. Brought to life by Guerilla’s Decima Engine, which produced stunning results in Horizon Zero Dawn, Death Stranding is shaping up to be one of PS4’s most astonishing-looking games. Also, the throat baby is still very much a thing. Kojima describes Death Stranding’s first real gameplay reveal as the “quiet trailer”, which suggests a more action-packed teaser could pop up at December’s PlayStation Experience. As such, what in-game footage we have is pretty light on action, with Norman Reedus’ Sam Bridges only wielding a weapon for a brief second. Even…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Capcom Developer Capcom ETA 25 January 2019 It’s not hard to find a remake or remaster in modern gaming – and it’s not hard to find someone who, quite fairly, isn’t a big fan of them. But every now and then something comes along that you just want to sit these people in front of and scream “See?! They can do it justice!” Resident Evil 2 was – is – one of the best in the whole series, and there was a lot of pressure on the team behind the remake to do the original justice. We don’t know for certain just yet, of course (the whole ‘it’s not out yet’ thing), but we’re extremely confident they’ve achieved that and then…

“WHEN IT COMES TO QUEST STRUCTURE, ODYSSEY BREAKS EVERY RULE IN THE CREED” Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Ubisoft Developer Ubisoft Québec ETA 5 October It seems fitting for an Ancient Greek setting that we stop to ask a philosophical question: what makes an Assassin’s Creed game? Hidden blades? A hooded hero? A historical story? Or something else ? It must be the latter, because Ubisoft has ripped up the Assassin’s rule book and pushed the ‘Create an RPG’ button. Welcome to 431 BC Ancient Greece, 300 years before the events of Origins, where you can choose one of two characters to play as, have actual dialogue and romance options, explore branching quest lines, don’t have a hidden blade, and spend your days not as an Assassin…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Activision Developer Treyarch ETA 12 October This sequel is all about evolution – that much is clear from our hands-on with the refined multiplayer. Of course, this year, the entire game is multiplayer-focussed, with campaign removed in favour of a new battle royale mode, called Blackout, alongside the traditional PvP and Zombies modes. That fairly fundamental change hasn’t stopped what we’ve played of Black Ops 4 so far from feeling like the culmination of the hard work that went into earlier entries in the series, particularly the previous Black Ops titles and Call Of Duty: WWII. The classic multiplayer modes such as Control play out like a strange, but appealing, Frankenstein’s monster. Class-wise, Black Ops 4 takes the Specialists from 3, adds a few more,…

Format PS4, XO Publisher Activision Developer Toys For Bob ETA 21 September Muscle memory is a wonderful thing. Turns out, even after 20 years, our thumbs remember how to navigate the various levels of Spyro The Dragon we thought we’d forgotten. But, although that’s partly thanks to our impressive thumbs, it’s also due to Toys For Bob’s sheer attention to detail when recreating the three games for the upcoming Spyro Reignited Trilogy. Looking back at the original trilogy now makes you realise that you see your childhood memories through rose-tinted spectacles. However, Toys For Bob has recreated the Spyro games exactly how you’d like to remember them. The grass is as green as a perfect spring meadow; every dragon you rescue has a unique personality; the worlds are fleshed out…

Format Mobile Publisher Bethesda Developer Bethesda ETA Autumn If there’s one thing The Blades are known for throughout the land, it’s their great big, muscular thumbs. So it’s fitting that that’s how you control your slish-slashing in this Android/iOs Elder Scrolls outing. Just tap and hold one of those brave digits on the screen and a circle fills up. Release, and your warrior gives that area a good whack. Hold too high for that tiny imp rascal? Too bad, you missed. A button at the bottom of the screen will pull up your shield if you’re in danger. Buttons for magic fill up gradually, and quickly enough for you to be able to get out a few cheeky spells in almost any unpleasant encounter. The rest of the time you’ll…

“ITS REALISTIC LOCATIONS FEEL THREATENING, BLIGHTED AS THEY ARE BY SUPERNATURAL FORCES” Format PC Developer CBE Software ETA 2019 Web bit.ly/gm_return Is that title a threat or a promise? We’re going to go with the former, since Czech developer CBE Software seems keen to turn what initially seems like a picturesque hike into a nightmarish descent into goodness-knows-what, as an anxious father searches for his missing daughter. It seems this isn’t the first time Stela’s gone AWOL, but her pops has a hunch that this is no ordinary absconsion. Indeed, the frazzled Daniel hasn’t been in the forests of Moravia long before he stumbles across a series of macabre sights, with hallucinatory flashes and disturbing encounters with things that go ‘grrr’ and ‘aargh’ in the night that seem a little…

Format Switch, PS4 (reviewed) Publisher PQube Developer Arc System Works ETA Out now Players 1-2 Violence, hilariously oversized weapons, silly names, and hairstyles that seem more likely to have been crafted with concrete than gel. Yup, we have another anime fighting game on our hands! Developed by master of the craft Arc System Works, this takes four franchises and forces them together, like some sort of corporate blind date. Big splash, or car crash? “THIS IS A BRILLIANTLY BALANCED BEAT-’EM-UP THAT ANY FAN OF THE GENRE CAN ENJOY” If you’re unfamiliar with the licenses, prepare for an explanation/headache as we lay them out for you. BlazBlue is a fighting game series that looks like it’s based on an anime but isn’t, though later saw an anime adaptation. RWBY started off…

Format PS4, XO, PC (reviewed) Publisher Iceberg Interactive Developer Cybernetic Walrus ETA Out now Players 1-8 Get in close, so your screen fills your vision. Put on headphones, preferably the over-ear kind. Then start a race, and feel yourself plunge down the track in pursuit of your anti-gravity rivals, the blur of the road filling your peripheral vision and the thump of the soundtrack in your ears. If you’re playing on PC, and don’t have the hardware for 4K 60fps, prioritise the latter. It’s worth it for the additional sense of speed. “THE SPEED AT WHICH THE TRACKS ZIP PAST IS REMARKABLE, AND ALMOST A SHAME” The product of a Belgian studio and the Unity engine, Antigraviator channels the spirit of Wipeout. Its sleek vehicles – known rather clunkily as…

Format Switch, PS4 (reviewed), XO, PC Pub Plug In Digital Dev Hollow Tree Games ETA Out now Players 1 The much-maligned walking simulator is in no hurry to make an exit from the medium, taking a leisurely stroll as it is so often wont to do. This, the first title from Hollow Tree Games, is the purest manifestation of the genre, not even concerning itself with a traditional plot. There’s nothing forcing you to move on or attempt anything in particular. But that isn’t to say this ‘exploration game’ is a trip not worth making. There’s no walking away from the fact that Shape Of The World is quite light on gameplay. Your interaction is limited to walking through transformative thresholds, tapping on the stone structures you find dotted around…

Developer Rebellion Developments Publisher Fox Interactive Released 1999 Format PC Get it Steam, GOG There was a real air of daring about Rebellion’s second stab at the Aliens Versus Predator license, with the studio opting to craft something that felt like three distinct parts, didn’t rely on much in the way of storyline, and didn’t give a stuff about your need to complete a level or save freely. The origins All right, we say ‘daring’, then list things that just sound annoying – but sometimes things sound terrible on paper yet come together brilliantly on the computer. Such was the way with 1999’s AVP, which presented three campaigns entirely discrete from one another, and utterly punished players from the second they started playing. Rebellion had made an AVP game in…

Pac-Mania Format Mega Drive, NES, Amiga, arcade Developer Namco Released 1987 Generally the retrospectives look straight towards the original Pac-Man. But Namco did release a sequel in arcades – later ported to the home – that wasn’t only good fun, but still holds up. What sets it apart from the original? Aside from the perspective, you have a jump button. It might sound sacrilegious, but it’s brilliant. Resident Evil Format PC, PS1, Saturn Developer Capcom Released 1996 Basically the classic moment is everything Bazza ‘The Beard’ Burton does. Every moment. He’s a walking highlight reel in the original Resident Evil. He whips out the ‘Jill sandwich’ line, he drops the ‘I have this’ line as casual as you like, and he dies horribly if you make some dumb choices. There’s…

I’m an old man now, relatively speaking, so I often lament the lack of time I have to devote to my favourite hobby, wistfully recalling the days when I had no responsibilities to get in the way. Inevitably, gaming habits have to evolve and adapt to changing lifestyles, so what does the time-poor gamer do? Gravitating towards shorter indie titles or episodic games is a compromise that could be made, but for me the answer lies with portable platforms. Switch is proving that there is still an appetite for fully-fledged games on the go, even if it’s a hybrid solution rather than a dedicated handheld. My hope is that Sony and Microsoft take note and explore this gap in their respective line-ups with the next iterations of their consoles. Sony…

“YOU’LL NEVER GET TO SHOOT ALIENS WHILE NATHAN FILLION QUIPS IN YOUR EAR EVER AGAIN” This summer has seen an absolute flood of announcements and reveals for upcoming games vying for your attention. So many, in fact, that they’ve practically taken over this issue with our 51 Best Games feature. But that doesn’t mean that developers – or your pals at GamesMaster – have forgotten about the games already in your library. There’s loads of DLC and expansions coming too, all of it ready to breathe new life into your existing favourites. Let’s have a look, shall we? Destiny 2 is leading the charge, with its upcoming Forsaken expansion looking to win back lapsed fans who may have soured on the MMO shooter after an underwhelming first year. Out 4…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Electronic Arts Developer Bioware ETA 22 February 2019 There’s a lot to take from Anthem at a glance: it’s Bioware’s take on a multiplayer shared world, where Freelancers in Javelin mech suits squad up in teams of four to take on missions and solve the mystery behind the disappearance of their world’s creators. You’d think you’d know what to expect, from the simple premise. But it’s not until you get hands-on with Anthem that you really understand what makes the game special. As soon as the controller is placed snugly within our tingling palms, twitchy fingers allowing us to explore those buttons of promise, it reverberates through us: freedom. Every aspect of Anthem has been designed around the world, with the tech to build the…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Bethesda Developer Avalanche Studios, Id Software ETA 2019 You have to give it to Bethesda: it wanted to bring Rage back, but knew the original was dull as they come and not exactly beloved . So what the publisher has done is give the sequel to Avalanche Studios to make – that’s the company behind the Just Cause and Mad Max games, so one that knows its way around both large open worlds, and chaotic, explosive fun. Our hands-on leaves us impressed. It’s fast and smooth (Id Software, developer of the excellent Doom, is helping out, making sure the gunplay is the ‘Id standard’), with action ramping up to levels we didn’t even think possible after the banal first game. You have…

Format PS4 Publisher Sony Developer Sucker Punch ETA TBC Hot damn. Sucker Punch may have gone quiet since 2014’s somewhat polarising Infamous: Second Son, but it now feels the wait for the studio’s next full game was all worth it. The developer’s new samurai-focused action adventure has some graphics. Actually, it might just have allof them. Sucker Punch runs us through a short demo of Ghost Of Tsushima, and right away the level of artistry on show is nothing short of astonishing. We’re introduced to this world as samurai hero Jin stares out over the valleys of 13th-century feudal Japan. Seconds later, he’s diving head-first into this grand, delicately lit open world, menacing grey skies creating a striking contrast with swaying wheat fields that Jin’s horse…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Square Enix Developer Crystal Dynamics ETA 14 September Supernatural apocalypses, savage paramilitary groups, and rappelling into caves: the newest Tomb Raider game has all the hallmarks of a classic pulp adventure. There are two parts to our demo: first, a hands-off presentation set in a South American village. This is Lara at her most sociable – chatting to the villagers, taking on fetch quests, and navigating the bustle of a small encampment on market day. It’s an uplifting departure from the grime and trauma from the first two games, and feels similar to the Tibetan village from Uncharted 2, only with fewer cows and more poncho stalls. The village contrasts sharply with the part we play, in which Lara stalks, strangles, and stabs her way…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Deep Silver Developer 4A Games ETA 22 February 2019 If all that time scuttling around in the mutant-ridden sewers of Moscow in the previous two games didn’t give it away, nuclear winter is grim . And no, it doesn’t get any better when you go above ground. Finally bringing Artyom’s journey into the harsh light of day, Metro Exodus might be quite as dark as before, but it’s not looking any less dangerous, with plenty of mutant monstrosities around to keep you on your irradiated toes. Going hands-on with next year’s shooter is a darkly thrilling delight. The beautiful, snowy world is easy on the eyes, but not on your moral compass. Do you stealth around the church of the anti-technology cult?…

Format XO, PC Publisher Microsoft Developer Sumo Digital ETA February 2019 Sumo Digital’s city-wrecking, physics-based open world may boast a delightfully shouty Terry Crews, but it’s still ruddy tardy. Originally slated to launch in ye gaming Dark Ages of 2016, it’s now set to hit Xbox One and PC next February. Terry, we need to get you a better watch, dude. So what’s causing the holdup this time? Well, it seems Microsoft wants to give Sumo every opportunity to make Crackdown 3 all it can be, and to ensure the game can “deliver the experience [fans] deserve”, according to an official statement. All right, all right, we’ll let you off one more time, guys. Given yet another delay in development, it’s not surprising that Microsoft’s not been able to show…

“AFTER FOUR GAMES OF BROMANCE, IT’S REFRESHING TO SEE THE SERIES FOCUS ON A FEMALE LEAD” Format XO Publisher Microsoft Developer The Coalition ETA 2019 No, that’s not a typo. And no, some poor little Microsoft intern didn’t forget to insert the ‘Of War’ bit into the game’s logo. Instead, The Coalition decided to slim down the moniker of its series… probably for the same reason you refer to every entry in a certain survival horror franchise as ‘Resi’. In addition to saving everyone the effort of ever typing ‘Of War’ again, this slight name change perhaps reflects a desire on the Coalition’s part to redevelop the game’s image. For years, both Marcus Fenix’s cover shooter and God Of War (wait, we’re not allowed to just call it ‘God’? Ugh!)…

“ ALL PLAYERS EXPERIENCE THE SAME TIME OF DAY/YEAR IN A SYNCHRONISED FASHION” Format XO, PC Publisher Microsoft Studios Developer Playground Games ETA 2 October Whenever a new Forza Horizon game is announced there’s a double-whammy of feeling: one, excitement at the fact we get another (inevitably great) racing game; and two, confusion, wondering just what can be done with yet another game that is – essentially – just about driving cars quickly without crashing. It’s a fair reaction, though it can be uncomfortable in the brain to have such a discussion going on. Thankfully, when we see it Forza Horizon 4 very quickly shuts us all up by showing its two big selling points for the latest in the series: it features the four seasons (as in spring, summer,…

“THE ULTIMATE LOVE LETTER NOT ONLY TO NINTENDO’S HISTORY, BUT ALSO THE SERIES’ LOYAL FANBASE ” Format Switch Publisher Nintendo Developer Bandai Namco ETA 7 December Recently Nintendo delivered an exhaustive primer for its upcoming mascot brawler. While it may have gone overboard with the minutiae, the game looks mint. 65 confirmed fighters, spanning 30 IPs. Eight-player battles. Ladder attacks. Refined dodging. A certain wedding costume. (Told you it was detailed.) Super Smash Bros. Ultimate looks to be the largest gaming crossover ever. The near-70-fighter roster includes every character who has ever appeared in a previous Smash, with that hefty number also featuring every DLC star who’s ever popped up in the franchise. All your old favourites have been subtly tweaked, too. Link gets his Champion’s Tunic from Breath Of…

“ UPGRADES PLAY INTO THE FLUID CLASS SYSTEM, WHICH LETS YOU SPECIALISE IN DIFFERENT WAYS” Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher CD Projekt Red Developer CD Projekt Red ETA TBC Compared to turning The Witcher books into games, adapting a tabletop RPG such as Cyberpunk 2020 is a broader proposition. It’s more about getting across a sense of the world the player character, V, inhabits than following pre-established heroes (though fans of the original game will recognise some faces). You’re immediately caught up in the middle of that world’s problems, of course. At the beginning of our demo we’re introduced to the Cyberpunk setting through a desperate gunfight in a scavenger hideout hidden away within a dingy apartment block. Finding the kidnapped girl she’s been looking for, V reactivates her biomonitor.…

We don’t have enough space operas any more. Games seem to be moving away from fully-formed universes into more procedural fare – the likes of No Man’s Sky and Elite: Dangerous are replacing the Mass Effects. Ubisoft is looking to remedy that imbalance with Beyond Good And Evil 2. The game, we’re told, will take place across ‘several’ full-sized planets, which you can orbit, circumnavigate, and drop into at your leisure. Ubisoft is aiming to make each of these worlds completely individual, with its own distinct atmosphere and style. On each planet, you’ll be able to fight, trade, rob banks, and do quests on behalf of the inhabitants, free to drop in and drop out of orbit as you please. Our demo sees us arrive at the planet Dios, head…

“IF A GUARD HAS AN AVERSION TO CLASSICAL MUSIC, YOU CAN HACK A RADIO AND MAKE HIM FALL ASLEEP” Format PC Developer Semaeopus ETA 2019 Web bit.ly/gmoffgrid The protagonist in Off Grid isn’t your average videogame hero. In fact, it’s his very ordinariness that makes him so unusual. Yet as a single dad looking to rescue his hacktivist daughter and uncover a deep-rooted conspiracy, you don’t really need any special skills. As co-creator Rich Metson explains, “data is your most powerful weapon” here. Since you’re playing as someone who doesn’t know his TCP from his UDP (us neither), your journey will match that of the protagonist. It’s a way of dealing with a familiar videogame problem whereby the lead essentially has to play dumb while the person controlling them catches…

“THE DINOS ALWAYS GET OUT. WHAT ELSE DID YOU THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN?” Jeff Goldblum appears in the top-right of the screen and mutters some twaddle about chaos. Chaos? Hah! There’s no chaos here. Our park is running like clockwork, visitor numbers are up, there are six dinosaurs on display, there’s a fast food joint and a clothes shop boosting our rating to almost two stars out of five, and… oh dear, what’s that thumping sound? Ten minutes later the last transport helicopter lands and we finally close the emergency shelters, having seen our profits plunge and our guests drop like flies. Turns out life did find a way… Frontier’s game takes all the thrills of middle management and adds the very real possibility of your exhibits getting loose…

Once again all the dinosaurs are female, which allows Ian Malcolm to be cryptically precognitive and sidesteps the whole ‘how did multiple-ton creatures with bird-like features actually get it on without crushing one another?’ thing. (And yes, we know back in time they did, but we don’t need to see it in a game, ta very much.) As park manager you’re in charge of the variety and number of dinos. Depending on which edition of the game you’ve got, there will either be 37 or 42 available to you, with DLC that should have arrived by the time you read this boosting that to 43 or 48. They’re a mixed bunch, with too many of the herbivores being rather similar and the carnivores being a collective pain in the neck…

London in 1918 wasn’t the greatest place to live in real life, and it’s even less salubrious in Vampyr’s supernatural world. Not only did the financial drain of the war leave the poor destitute and starving, but the Spanish Flu was plaguing the city and taking lives. As far as settings go, however, few are more suitable for this lurid tale. London was the largest city in the world till around 1918, and in the game the districts of The Big Smoke are almost labyrinthine, with claustrophobic streets and alleyways that interlock – gradually you’ll learn the streets and be able to take shortcuts. There’s a perpetual fog that hugs the ground, and intermittent rain that really sells that distinct, gloomy London feel, with each step beautifully complemented by Olivier…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Neocore Games Developer Neocore Games ETA Out now Players 1-4 We all need a bit of sunshine, especially now it’s summer. And you need to take in your fill of bright and airy pursuits while you can if you intend to play Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr, as extended sessions in the grimdark 41st millennium are… well, the sun doesn’t shine much in this part of the universe. Martyr is anti-summer: dark, brutal, and hostile. “GETTING TO THE END OF A MISSION ALWAYS INVOLVES WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER” That’s not to say you won’t enjoy it. Martyr has some good – even great –moments, and when you team up with three friends it can veer dangerously close to brilliance. Your mileage will vary, of course, and those…

Format PS4 (reviewed), PC Pub Spearhead Games Dev Spearhead Games ETA Out now Players 1 In a fantasy world of warring anthropomorphic animals, the murder of a priestess triggers the apocalypse. As the silent, pony-tailed Harbinger, your role is to relive the final 24 hours to change the course of fate and reveal the truth. While this might sound like a whodunnit, you’re not really investigating so much as you’re following the few characters whose paths are closely entwined on this fateful day, hacking and slashing your way to the end, before going back in time with new information that might alter a character’s course, steering you another step closer to preventing the tragedy ever occurring. Naturally, this Groundhog Day structure can get repetitive, especially as the story is played…

When the original Dark Souls released back in 2011 it stole the hearts and sanity of gamers everywhere, including those of Thomas Feichtmeir and Ben Adendorff, who both wanted to create artwork that paid tribute to From Software’s brilliantly brutal action RPG. Flying in the face of the recent remake Dark Souls Remastered’s modern bells and whistles is ‘Super Londo Bros’, which reimagines one of the game’s most iconic moments – the gruelling showdown with Dragon Slayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough – in isometric 2D. Feichtmeir explains how the project brought the pair of artists together. “Ben showed off an isometric dark knight character on the Pixelation forums, which is a forum where pixel artists critique each other, and we became friends quickly. He also had a rough sketch for…