Home//PLAY/September 2024/In This Issue
PLAY|September 2024WelcomeWho says it’s a quiet period for gaming? This year’s annual Hot 50 might be one of the hardest we’ve had to put together, with so many we wanted to put on the list, and loads we couldn’t find room to include (though we’ll have more in issues to come, of course).What wasn’t difficult was our picking our top game, which also features on the cover: Astro Bot (p74). The little guy isn’t just back to set another platforming high bar, he also represents a resurgence of family friendly fun that’s been lacking in the high-budget space for a while. PS5 owners must agree too, given pre-orders seem to be going strong.It’s not a solo sea change either. We also came away impressed by Lego Horizon Adventures (p70), which makes…3 min
PLAY|September 2024Raising the barHold your objections – Miles Edgeworth is returning in two games of his own. Not only is Ace Attorney Investigations coming to PlayStation for the first time, but AAI2: Prosecutor’s Gambit is making its official English-language debut.Fans of the courtroom battler originals will enjoy these, as AAI’s cases still revolve around finding evidence in order to pick apart contradictions in battles of wits. Edgeworth’s mind works differently to Nick’s, giving him his own twists on gameplay. This includes smashing two related clues together to ‘deduce’ a deeper meaning, and, introduced in the sequel, Logic Chess. Here, Edgeworth must tactically guide a branching conversation to effectively make the suspect spill their own beans. These two games also feature sections – now with redone character models – where Edgeworth and his pal…1 min
PLAY|September 2024“SOMETIMES, YOU JUST NEED TO LET THE LEGENDARY DRAGONS SHED A TEAR.”“Kiryu: ‘So I cried. Doesn’t make me less of a man.’”On the surface, the stone-faced protagonists of the Like A Dragon series appear to be strength first, emotions later. Yet across its near 20-year run, the series has been at its best when deconstructing the preconceived notions of hardened masculinity that its cast evokes at first glance, revealing the burning, broken hearts that lie beneath.This is woven into the fabric of the series, with the second game seeing Kazuma Kiryu watch a particularly emotional video tape and expound to himself: “So I cried. Doesn’t make me less of a man.” As the series has continued, the writers’ willingness to break through their characters’ emotional walls has increased noticeably. Premier protagonist Kiryu is a man who typically reserves any emotional fervency…3 min
PLAY|September 202449 SLITTERHEADFORMAT PS5 / ETA 8 NOV / PUB BOKEH GAME STUDIO / DEV BOKEH GAME STUDIO / PLAYERS 1You’d expect a certain kind of survival horror from a studio whose founding members have Silent Hill and Forbidden Siren on their resumés. Slitterhead is similar up to a point, in Akira Yamaoka’s unnerving sound design, the grotesque design of the monsters that disguise themselves as humans, and even one early homage to sightjacking. However, it quickly becomes clear that it’s very different in scope and tone – and rather reminiscent of Quantic Dream’s The Nomad Soul.Your protagonist is an amnesiac lacking not only memories but also a body. Unable to amble around on their own two feet, they instead have the power to possess people. You can ping between bodies to…1 min
PLAY|September 202446 LIFE IS STRANGE: DOUBLE EXPOSUREFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 29 OCT / PUB SQUARE ENIX DEV DECK NINE GAMES / PLAYERS 1Superpowered teen protagonist Max Caulfield is back, voiced by Hannah Telle once more, in a new Life Is Strange game not developed by Don’t Nod Entertainment. Square Enix owns the rights to this teen drama series, and Deck Nine has been steering the ship development-wise since 2021’s emotional rollercoaster Life Is Strange: True Colors.Double Exposure takes place years after the first game. At the end of that story, Max made an impossible choice, with consequences so traumatic she vowed never to use her time rewinding powers again. When this game starts, she’s become photographer-in-residence at Caledon University – but time is running out and tragedy threatens to strike again.GHOSTING THE PASTOne night, Max…2 min
PLAY|September 202443 SID MEIER’S CIVILIZATION VIIFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2025 / PUB 2K DEV FIRAXIS GAMES / PLAYERS TBCVideogame titans rise, fall, and rise again. It’s been five years since the last entry in this strategy series came to PlayStation, and the next chapter has just been announced. Cultivate your own little corner of humanity, build cities and develop tech, then point your people at other civilisations in the hope either of scoring allies or of hoovering up the territory of your foes. Do you imitate history, possibly repeating the mistakes of the past? Do you forge ahead with your own historical fanfic in mind, finding fresh pitfalls along the way? Or do you go in with no plan and see what happens? The choice is yours.…1 min
PLAY|September 202440 CLAIR OBSCUR: EXPEDITION 33FORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB KEPLER INTERACTIVE DEV SANDFALL INTERACTIVE / PLAYERS 1Sandfall Interactive’s debut game introduces the Paintress, the tallest woman to beat since Resident Evil Village’s Lady Dimitrescu. Each year the Paintress paints a number, and each year every human of that age dies. You’ll follow a party on a hopeless mission to what looks like a new dimension to fight their way through to stop the murderous wannabe Monet.While the ‘let’s use the power of friendship to kill God’ story doesn’t seem all too special, Clair Obscur’s mix of turn-based and real-time combat plus cool character work has a fluidity reminiscent of Final Fantasy XVI, and it’s always a pleasant surprise to see a studio beyond the usual suspects tackling a dramatic party RPG.…1 min
PLAY|September 202435 LOVE ETERNALFORMAT PS5 / ETA 2025 / PUB YSBRYD GAMES DEV BRLKA / PLAYERS 1Was precision platformer Celeste too uplifting for you, and did it leave you feeling like it didn’t feature nearly enough deadly spikes on which to meet your end? Then keep an eye on Love Eternal, a side-scrolling platformer with a dash of cosmic horror. Protagonist Maya has been imprisoned by a god, and now keeps seeing distorted versions of her family as well as herself as she searches for a way out. Love Eternal looks difficult and disturbing, and we love how even a platformer can excel at giving you the creeps.…1 min
PLAY|September 202431 THE LEGEND OF HEROES: KAI NO KISEKI – FAREWELL, O ZEMURIAFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 26 SEP (JAPAN) / PUB NIHON FALCOM (JAPAN) / DEV NIHON FALCOM / PLAYERS 1As the rest of the world waits to enter the republic of Calvard for the first time in Trails Through Daybreak, Kai No Kiseki, the 11th game in Nihon Falcom’s long-running Trails series, is about to bring that story arc to a close in Japan, and the scope is grander than ever: the developer is putting Rean Schwarzer on the moon.Falcom tends to revise rather than revamp its systems in sequels, so we’re not expecting anything earth-shattering from Kai’s combat and the blend of action and turn-based combat that Daybreak established. What does excite us is that the massive tale of political and technological intrigue which began in 2004’s Trails In…2 min
PLAY|September 202428 VALORANTFORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB RIOT GAMES DEV RIOT GAMES / PLAYERS 1-10 (ONLINE MULTIPLAYER)This game’s art style, special abilities, and objective-based PvP action might put you in mind of Overwatch, but if that’s what you’re anticipating, you’re in for a big surprise. You won’t have played an FPS quite like this (well, not unless you’ve already played this on PC).The core mode is an attack-and-defend, bomb-planting setup, with other modes leaning towards traditional deathmatches. Whichever you play, you’ll need to bin that Call Of Duty or Overwatch mindset. Running is often a bad idea, as not only is it extremely loud, it destroys your firing accuracy to an extent that happens in no other PlayStation game. Knowing when to sneak and when to use those abilities will…1 min
PLAY|September 202425 WHERE WINDS MEETFORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB NETEASE DEV EVERSTONE STUDIO / PLAYERS 1Open world games have become commonplace, but Everstone, the studio behind this one, is working hard to make it stand out. It takes place in the countryside, villages, and cities of ancient China, and we’re told the world has “realistic physical conditions”. Combat is a mixture of martial arts, weapons, special abilities, and acrobatic movement. There’s also promising-looking stealth, and choices to make that will affect the characters around you.…1 min
PLAY|September 202422 MARVEL’S WOLVERINEFORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB SONY DEV INSOMNIAC GAMES / PLAYERS 1Logan has yet to be given the game he deserves – but if any studio can do it, it’s the one that gave us the current generation’s excellent Spider-Man titles. Despite a devastating company hack, details on this are still officially a closely guarded secret. Given Wolverine’s got a dark and complex past that includes many deep storylines, memorable villains, and classic teamups to draw from, we can’t wait to learn more about this, bub.…1 min
PLAY|September 202419 SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONSFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 25 OCT / PUB SEGA / DEV SONIC TEAM / PLAYERS 1When it was first released on PS3 in 2011, Sonic Generations commemorated the 20th anniversary of everyone’s favourite Blue Blur. For its remaster, however, with Sonic now over 30, we’ve a party crasher in the form of Shadow, who most Sonic fans would privately admit is their actual favourite hedgehog.Let’s be clear, the original game, which has you spin-jumping between 3D boost-based and 2D side-scrolling stages as Sonics from two eras (‘modern’, and a chibi ‘classic’ one) is still present and correct in super-smooth 4K, though the 2D physics still feel off compared to the classic 16-bit platforming it’s mimicking.But the real star of the show is Shadow’s completely new, separate campaign that could…2 min
PLAY|September 202416 RISE OF THE GOLDEN IDOLFORMAT PS5 / ETA 2024 / PUB PLAYSTACK / DEV COLOR GRAY GAMES / PLAYERS 1Sure, a picture can paint a thousand words. But which words are the right ones? That’s the challenge in this generation-spanning brainteaser that tasks you with investigating not just the golden idol but those who covet and kill for its world-shaping powers.Each puzzle is a moment frozen in time, often revolving around murders. They’re not quite static; you can click around, look through people’s pockets, visit nearby areas, and eavesdrop on chatter. Letters and objects aren’t all you’re looking for, though. You can also collect keywords, which you can place into blank spaces on solution cards to see if you’ve figured out what happened.IDOL CLICKERUnlike its PC-exclusive predecessor, The Case Of The Golden Idol, Rise…3 min
PLAY|September 202413 CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 6FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 25 OCT / PUB ACTIVISION / DEV TREYARCH, RAVEN SOFTWARE PLAYERS 1 (CAMPAIGN), MULTI (ONLINE MODES)Nostalgia for the ’90s meets conspiracy thriller in Blops 6’s single-player campaign, with fan-favourite multiplayer mode Zombies also rising from the dead.The FPS’s mainline story sees returning character Frank Woods working to uncover a plot that goes all the way to the top, with help from his protegé Troy Marshall. There are multiple possible paths through missions, and varied combat styles plus social mechanics that allow you to manipulate your way to the heart of the mystery.The new ‘omnimovement’ system in both the single-player story and Zombies mode sees you sliding and diving for cover like an action hero. The latter co-op horde mode hits the ground running with the…1 min
PLAY|September 202410 MONSTER HUNTER WILDSFORMAT PS5 / ETA 2025 / PUB CAPCOM / DEV CAPCOM / PLAYERS MULTIUshered behind closed doors to take a look at the next Monster Hunter, we come away thoroughly impressed. While Monster Hunter Rise filled the beastie battling hole in our lives post-Monster Hunter: World, its handheld origins were rather obvious. Monster Hunter Wilds, on the other hand, is pushing the series to new heights, soaring just like a Rathalos.While we’re still awaiting a hands-on, the hands-off demo is played in front of us in real time by a Capcom expert (obvious as the LA heat causes a couple of crashes). Taken through a full hunt for an Alpha Doshaguma, the first thing we notice about Wilds is how much less friction there is between players and the best…3 min
PLAY|September 202407 DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACHFORMAT PS5 / ETA 2025 / PUB SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT DEV KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS / PLAYERS 1, ONLINE MULTIPLAYER FEATURESDid you think the first game was bizarre and beautiful? Because the sequel seems set to up the ante. Actors Norman Reedus and Léa Seydoux reprise their roles as Sam Porter Bridges and Fragile respectively, while Troy Baker makes a surprise comeback as purveyor of face paint and now sick guitar solos Higgs. As Fragile explains in a recent trailer, it looks like he found his way back from death just to kill Sam and his allies.“AS FRAGILE EXPLAINS, IT LOOKS LIKE HIGGS FOUND HIS WAY BACK FROM DEATH JUST TO KILL SAM AND HIS ALLIES.”Connecting the few survivors who subsist in this futuristic dystopia remains a key part of what you…2 min
PLAY|September 202401 ASTRO BOTFORMAT PS5 / ETA 6 SEP / PUB SONY / DEV TEAM ASOBI / PLAYERS 1Fun fact: when attending big showcases, invitations to go hands-on don’t always say what games you’ll be playing. Usually, because they haven’t yet been properly announced. Which had us umming and ahhing about what Mystery Sony Game was going to actually be. Top of our most-wanted list though, was Astro Bot. It’s never felt better to be right.The game has long been rumoured to be in development, ever since Team Asobi, the developer of PS5 pack-in Astro’s Playroom, was spun out of the shuttered Japan Studio. The PS5 launch game was so much fun we still find ourselves booting it up to noodle around its stages and be reminded of the console’s full potential –…7 min
PLAY|September 2024Still Wakes The DeepOil rigs aren’t the safest or cheeriest of places, even without the drill unleashing some kind of unknowable supernatural horror from the depths of the chilly North Sea. Alas, that’s exactly what happens aboard the Beira D, and you – playing as rig worker Caz McLeary – are hurled right into the middle of it. You don’t even get overtime.The most remarkable thing about Still Wakes The Deep is the way it acknowledges and normalises unremarkable and perfectly normal things that most media likes to pretend don’t exist. The bulk of the cast, for example, have beautifully thick Scottish accents of the type you rarely hear on TV or in movies unless they’re being played for laughs. The dialogue feels authentic. And on a related note, we guarantee you will…5 min
PLAY|September 2024Alan Wake 2: Night SpringsRejoice, fellow Remedy sicko! Tiding us over until the Lake House DLC makes waves, Night Springs leaps off the page in three ‘what if?’ scenarios centring on some Connected Universe favourites. Each episode emulates the usual speculative anthology series suspects, down to being bookended by a word from the always-magnetic David Harewood as channel-hopping TV host Warlin Door.First up in this DLC miniseries is everyone’s favourite waitress and fan fic writer Rose Marigold. This pitches up as a charming daydream where our heroine is not only valued at her hospitality job, but also the only one who can save her beloved author from a fate worse than writer’s block.This hour-long, rose-tinted vision is a blast – literally. Immediately kitting Rose out with some high-powered ‘accessories,’ plus all the ammo you…3 min
PLAY|September 2024Sushi BenSomething’s not quite right about this romanticised Japanese backwater town. There’s a big hint at the problem in the multitude of inescapable signs sporting the obnoxious face of Minami, an estate agent land shark who’s buying up everything, aided by her ‘chief intimidation officer’ Mashiro. Their next target is to shut down sushi bar Daruma-Zushi. But not if we can help it.It’s your job to help timid sushi chef Ben, first by restocking the retaurant with a number of ingredients, including fresh fish, rice, and vinegar, and then getting the place back in business by inviting the locals to become customers once again. To do this, you have to complete various minigames, such as fishing, bug-catching, and purging ghosts with a jar that functions like a vacuum cleaner. Most of…3 min
PLAY|September 2024Batman: Arkham AsylumThere was a time when seeing Batman on the front of a game box was about as welcome as discovering your blind date was Killer Croc. Batman starred in some truly awful games on PS2, and after a promising-looking open-world game based on Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight was sadly cancelled, it started to look like ol’ Bats was cursed to never star in a classic videogame ever again.But then, like a grown man in a chiroptera costume suddenly diving from the sky to save the day, developer Rocksteady swooped in with arguably the greatest Batman game ever: Batman: Arkham Asylum. “Still the best Arkham game in my opinion,” raves reader Nicholas Thieme. “It was almost a horror game thanks to the fantastic atmosphere, story, and cast. To me, it’s…3 min
PLAY|September 2024Sly RaccoonAt this point, we’re starting to believe Sony is using the PS Plus Game Catalogue to troll its audience; every month there seems to be another entry from a series that fans keep begging to be resurrected. And here we go again, another neglected icon! Let’s remind ourselves of why Sly and the gang are so loved still.Although the sequel refined and expanded the action, the first game was still pretty darn good, remaining an enjoyable classic to sneak back to in 2024. It’s a platform adventure that, despite the thief-themed story and characters, doesn’t involve an awful lot of stealth.1 There are some sneaky bits, and there’s a lot of clambering up and across ropes and ledges above the ground, but there’s also an awful lot of smacking enemies…2 min
PLAY|September 2024Blumhouse scares up horror talent“Blumhouse’s announcement is one of the most exciting things to happen in indie horror gaming for years.”Blumhouse Films is nothing if not adaptable. The company, founded in 2002 by Jason Blum, started out in Hollywood producing films you’ve probably forgotten. After finding success in the horror genre, it branched out into other media, launching a fiction imprint in 2014 and a videogames division in 2023. At this year’s Summer Game Fest, it announced the latter would be publishing six horror games from indie developers.It makes sense for the games division to take the indie route; the parent company started out releasing movies like The Tooth Fairy and low-budget indie dramas before finally hitting upon a winning formula in 2009 when it released Paranormal Activity. That landmark film was originally shot…5 min
PLAY|September 2024Welcome to the RoughnecksSometimes as a videogame journalist, you’ll be asked to interview someone only tangentially related to a release. This happens a lot during movie junkets but also when Hollywood talent gets drafted in to lend their fame to a videogame. When this happens you can’t help but pray that *they get it* – that they get videogames or they understand their role as part of the marketing to the public. Casper Van Dien *gets it*.After meeting in a hotel lobby in LA during SGF, we find ourselves in a meeting room with just Starship Troopers: Extermination’s game lead Peter Maurice and movie star Casper Van Dien, because the PR and marketing person has to go and watch Geoff Keighley’s show. After joking about having no marketing people to supervise us, we…4 min
PLAY|September 2024“PUNISHING COMBAT DOESN’T NEED TO BE SET AGAINST A BLEAK BACKDROP.”“What’s wrong with having a world that’s worth fighting for?”The alluring elements of a good soulslike are well documented at this point. Challenging combat, a variety of builds, and cryptic side-quests typify FromSoftware’s action RPGs, and their imitators, or titles inspired by them, respect this formula. From Lies Of P to Dead Cells, there’s no shortage of bleak worlds inhabited by punishing enemies and offering morally questionable outcomes.However, one soulslike has deviated slightly from the path, and the result is just what I’ve been clamouring for.In Rise Of The Ronin, Team Ninja reimagines the final years of Japan’s Edo Period during the mid-19th century, serving up a compelling blend of roleplaying and brutality. As you progress, you are met with countless enemies and quirky side-characters in a gorgeous open-world environment…3 min
PLAY|September 202448 TALES OF THE SHIRE: A THE LORD OF THE RINGS GAMEFORMAT PS5 / ETA 2024 / PUB TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE DEV WETA WORKSHOP / PLAYERS 1Given how much hobbits love their food, it’s no surprise that cooking is the main activity in Weta Workshop’s take on the cosy life sim. That’s not to say that it lacks complexity – the inputs are fairly rudimentary but if you want a higher rating, you’ll want to get the final product to hit the sweet spot between smooth and chunky or crisp and tender. Using specific ingredients can also change a dish’s flavour. But traipsing back to a quest-giver is less delectable, especially as NPCs can change their location throughout the day. Still, there’s an irresistible charm here, from the way a flock of birds will point you in the right direction to how…1 min
PLAY|September 202445 CONCORDFORMAT PS5 / ETA 23 AUG / PUB SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT DEV FIREWALK STUDIOS / PLAYERS ONLINE MULTIPLAYERNot too long ago Sony announced to investors its plans to launch at least ten new live service games before March 2026. Presumably this debut release from Firewalk Studios (a dev Sony scooped up last year) is one of those titles, hoping to walk among the stars of laser-focussed fandom and daily login bonuses.This science-fantasy shooter introduces you to the crew of the Northstar, a ragtag team of ‘Freegunners’ who bolt around arenas paying only lip service to the pull of gravity. There will be a selection of 16 characters at launch, from augmented snipers to big robots and even fire-flinging mystics. All are eager to charge head-first into any one of six…2 min
PLAY|September 202442 METAPHOR: REFANTAZIOFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 11 OCT / PUB SEGA DEV ATLUS STUDIO ZERO / PLAYERS 1The studio behind the massively popular Persona series is now daydreaming of a fresh high-fantasy RPG. The land’s prince is struck down by twisted magic, and vanishingly few days remain before the curse completely overtakes him. You play as an outcast who puts themself forward to rule in his place – because, in a surprising twist, the kingdom is an absolute democracy so in theory anyone can nominate themself to rule, though not all candidates have to battle against the same discrimination as you and your comrades. Speaking of whom, you can mix and match abilities in combat across 40 different ‘archetypes’ (essentially jobs or classes you unlock by befriending a variety of characters)…1 min
PLAY|September 202439 NEW WORLD: AETERNUMFORMAT PS5 / ETA 15 OCT / PUB AMAZON GAMES DEV AMAZON GAMES / PLAYERS MULTIEven for Amazon Games, developing an MMORPG as its debut was ambitious, and New World – a colonial-themed mix of crafting, survival, and combat – had serious growing pains when it was released on PC in 2021. Now Amazon wants to deliver a version with specific quality-of-life fixes for the console players it’s inviting to Aeternum. If you’ve lost years of your life to FFXIV, don’t worry, New World can be enjoyed as a far more casual experience.…1 min
PLAY|September 202433 WANDERSTOPFORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB ANNAPURNA INTERACTIVE DEV IVY ROAD / PLAYERS 1We all love a cosy game: plant some flowers, tend to your garden, and try not to be overwhelmed by thoughts of what it would take to achieve anything close to it in real life. For an audience contending with sky-high housing costs and questionable value for money, the cosy game can offer a virtual refuge.Developer Ivy Road was co-founded by Davey Wreden, whose previous games include The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide. Both those titles are renowned for the metatextual things they unfurl into, so when the new studio’s first game rocks up, pitched as a title about running a little tea shop, you know there’s probably more bubbling away under the surface. Ivy…2 min
PLAY|September 202430 SILENT HILL 2FORMAT PS5 / ETA 8 OCT / PUB KONAMI / DEV BLOOBER TEAM / PLAYERS 1The genre-defining survival horror rises again in the shape of a remake from the developer of Layers Of Fear. In case you’re unfamiliar with this ghost story, protagonist James Sunderland returns to the town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his late wife. James knows she passed away three years ago, but he’s come back to their ‘special place’ all the same. Unfortunately, he finds a place devoid of life, shrouded in a fog that hides the monsters stalking the streets.In the PS2 original, that fog not only set the mood, it disguised the limitations of the hardware’s draw distance. Naturally, this Unreal Engine 5 remake isn’t having to contend with the same…2 min
PLAY|September 202427 ALIEN: ROGUE INCURSIONFORMAT PSVR2 / ETA Q4 2024 / PUB SURVIOS DEV SURVIOS / PLAYERS 1Blending equal parts ‘yes please’ (sounds awesome) and ‘no thank you’ (sounds terrifying), the announcement of an Alien game in VR instantly engorged our excitement glands. What we’ve seen thus far has been brief and not final, but promises everything you’d hope for: a motion scanner, a gun (for what it’s worth), an egg opening, and an alien scuttling across the ceiling, all in an oppressively dark environment. PSVR2 killer app incoming, perhaps?…1 min
PLAY|September 202424 SWORD OF THE SEAFORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC PUB GIANT SQUID / DEV GIANT SQUID / PLAYERS 1The Pathless was a great, atmospheric adventure that placed emphasis on smooth, satisfying movement – and Giant Squid’s followup seems to cut a similar path. The captivating visuals are accompanied by an Austin Wintory soundtrack, which scores your adventure as you skate across an undulating landscape on your Hoversword. Some parts of the environment are subtly designed to mimic a skatepark, allowing you to pull tricks as you explore.…1 min
PLAY|September 202421 GREEDFALL II: THE DYING WORLDFORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB NACON / DEV SPIDERS / PLAYERS 1The first Greedfall was a somewhat flawed yet wildly ambitious action RPG set in a grim world ravaged by warring colonists (our previous incarnation gave it 7/10). Rather than merely refining what came before, French developer Spiders is getting just as ambitious with this followup.To start with, the studio has doubled its team size to 70 – that’s a modest number for a game this pretty, but it’s worth keeping in mind as the major touchpoints for Greedfall II are the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3, which was made by a team of well over 400.“YOU CONTROL THE ENTIRE PARTY SIMULTANEOUSLY WHEN YOU ENTER COMBAT, QUICKLY LINING UP ATTACK TURNS.”GREED IS GOODGreedfall II will be launched on…3 min
PLAY|September 202418 STEAMWORLD HEIST IIFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 8 AUG / PUB THUNDERFUL PUBLISHING / DEV THUNDERFUL DEVELOPMENT / PLAYERS 1The SteamWorld series is almost 15 years old, and during that time its developer Image & Form has joined with Zoink (developer of Fe and Lost In Random) to create parent company Thunderful AB, and later merged fully with Zoink to become Thunderful Development. While city builder SteamWorld Build continued the genre-spanning series last year that game was developed by fellow Thunderful studio The Station;
PLAY|September 202415 METAL GEAR SOLID DELTA: SNAKE EATERFORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB KONAMI / DEV KONAMI / PLAYERS 1Snake drops into a lush jungle in the Soviets’ back garden on a mission to extract a defecting scientist. Everything, from weapons to food, must be procured on-site to ensure he goes undetected. What a thrill.Following the release of the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection remasters last year, the Virtuous mission is enjoying the remake treatment. This Unreal Engine 5 rebuild has impressive technical flourishes, such as an extremely extra injury system that sees every bullet not dodged persist on Snake’s body as a scar (or worse).NOT FOR HONOURKonami would like people who have no idea what ‘Metal Gear’ means to start with this remake. Taking place in 1964, it’s the earliest chapter in the timeline but…1 min
PLAY|September 202412 DRAGON AGE: THE VEILGUARDFORMAT PS5 / ETA AUTUMN 2024 / PUB EA / DEV BIOWARE / PLAYERS 1One of gaming’s most epic cliffhangers has also turned out to be its longest – ten years ago, at the end of Dragon Age: Inquisition (nine years if you count from its vital Trespasser DLC) we found out that Solas, the elven mage who had guided us in our quest across Thedas as the Inquisitor, had been using us to further his own goals. A beloved egg, turned rotten.The Veilguard has been in development since 2015, before probably falling victim to publisher EA’s focus on other Bioware games, namely Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda. Work on the game, then known under a codename, began with multiplayer and live service elements in mind, both of which were…6 min
PLAY|September 202409 PHANTOM BLADE ZEROFORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB S-GAME / DEV S-GAME / PLAYERS 1When Phantom Blade Zero was first unveiled a little over a year ago, some doubted how much gameplay was actually shown due to just how cinematic this wuxia-inspired action looked in the trailer. Having now been hands-on with it, we’re pleased to report that it’s definitely more than pretty cutscenes – though its full release may still be a way off.We play through three short sequences that showcase different weapon sets and a tricky boss fight. While we struggle to get a sense of what the rhythm of play will feel like over longer stretches, moment-to-moment Phantom Blade Zero feels fantastic, a mix of Devil May Cry character action with Sekiro’s parrytastic precision combat.You’ll get the chance…2 min
PLAY|September 202406 DOOM: THE DARK AGESFORMAT PS5 / ETA 2025 / PUB BETHESDA SOFTWORKS DEV ID SOFTWARE / PLAYERS 1Now that’s what we call metal! After the Doom Slayer’s volcanic return in 2016, followed by 2020’s slightly frostier followup, we’ve got to ask the obvious question: where does this already over-the-top series go next? Developer Id Software’s answer is “Let’s go *blorp!*ing mediaeval on the hordes of hell!”That’s right – in this prequel, the Doom Slayer is gearing up with a dark fantasy arsenal. That includes a spiked shield dishing out defence as well as offence, a rad-as-hell skull-crushing projectile weapon, and at one point even a freaking dragon. But despite the presence of this scaly fighter jet, in Dark Ages you’re being kept closer to the ground, avoiding the aerial acrobatics of the last…2 min
PLAY|September 202403 ASSASSIN’S CREED SHADOWSFORMAT PS5 / ETA 15 NOV / PUB UBISOFT DEV UBISOFT QUEBEC / PLAYERS 1Don’t call it a comeback - after all, Assassin’s Creed never really went away. However, for the next game, set in Sengoku-era Japan, Ubisoft has already announced its commitment to series hallmarks we’ve not seen in years. For a start, if you’re a fan of 2015’s Syndicate, you’d better prick up your ears now: not only will Shadows focus on a duo no doubt soon to be just as iconic as that game’s, it’ll let you pick your approach for specific missions.Samurai Yasuke, one of two playable protagonists, is a departure from series tradition in that he’s based on an actual historical figure. We don’t know much about the Yasuke of history beyond the fleeting 15…3 min
PLAY|September 2024Shin Megami Tensei V: VengeanceBeginning in the back of a Tokyo school classroom, you meet your classmates before heading home to your dorm, navigating an overworld of urban streets as a revolving cursor pointer. It’s comfortable bread-and-butter for the series, if wheat were Persona and milk old-school SMT. It’s a cheeky setup that positions things just right for a picnic blanket rug-pull, sending that sandwich flying and opening up those slices to a whole new realm: SMT goes open world. And it’s really good.Everything breaks bad when a detour home under an old bridge hurls you through the veil barely holding your reality together. You come outside into an unfamiliar Tokyo, with ruined skyscrapers, sand dunes rolling over the streets, and demons frolicking amid the destruction. The only way you’ll survive is by joining…7 min
PLAY|September 2024Elden Ring: Shadow Of The ErdtreeEvery other game released is a soulslike nowadays, it seems, but that’s not FromSoftware’s fault. Look, we love action RPGs, hardcore combat, exploring eye-bleedingly beautiful locales, and getting our faces socked in by cosmic horror nightmares as much as anyone. But with games ‘inspired’ by Dark Souls launching constantly, can an expansion to the real deal still impress players?Actually, the real question is whether they can access it at all, as it’s stuck behind Mohg. For the uninitiated, Mohg, Lord Of Blood is a once-optional boss fight who’s an absolute [VARIOUS WORDS UNPRINTABLE IN A MAGAZINE] and you’ll have to defeat him before you can access this DLC. He’s all but impossible to beat, too, unless you have an item that you can only obtain through a load of obtuse,…5 min
PLAY|September 2024The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Through DaybreakAs it’s the 11th main entry in Nihon Falcom’s RPG juggernaut, it’s baffling to think that Trails Through Daybreak is only just kicking off the series’ second half. Daybreak is the fresh start Trails needs, though we’re not saying past entries were bad. Building upon one of the best long-running narratives in gaming while being newcomer-friendly isn’t easy, yet Daybreak succeeds.Though it’s set one year after Trails Into Reverie’s conclusion, you don’t need prior knowledge to jump into Daybreak. Numerous references to past events are present, yet it never feels too much. Our latest destination, Calvard, is influenced by post-revolutionary France, and the nation has considerable charms. Between Edith’s sprawling metropolis and the rural Creil Village, there’s great character to this exciting location.You play as Van Arkride, a Spriggan who…4 min
PLAY|September 2024V RisingVerizon is an American internet provider, so we’re a little confused about why we’re covering it in PLAY magazi… oh, V Rising! Um, maybe rethink the name? This is a vampire survival game that doesn’t even tell you it’s got vampires! Why didn’t they call it Vampire Survivo… oh, right.If you’re excited by the battle-ready vampire wielding a gun on the loading screen, you’re in for a rude awakening: you spend the opening hours mining rocks and picking out floor tiles. We suppose even Count Dracula had to start somewhere, and there’s definitely something charming about a game in which your end goal is to be a prince of darkness with a massive castle, but you start out having to chomp on rats and chop down trees. That said, some…4 min
PLAY|September 2024James HellerThis is not the homecoming he was expecting: experienced soldier Sergeant James Heller returns to a ravaged New York City only to be greeted by the deaths of his wife and daughter. The worst part? He’s technically the reason why they stayed and waited for him, and that’s a lot of guilt to carry.It’s fair to say that it was a bitter pill for fans of the original Prototype to swallow; that game’s protagonist, Alex Mercer, had risked his life to stop a nuclear weapon from levelling what remained of New York Zero’s Red Zone, after all. In Prototype 2 you play as a new man charged with taking Mercer down, a real inversion of player expectations.James Heller’s initial actions and key motivations are simple: to kill Alex Mercer and…2 min
PLAY|September 2024A BRIEF HISTORY OFPiratesBugs Bunny: Lost In Time featured a pirate Yosemite Sam.Shantae And The Pirate’s Curse first came out on Nintendo 3DS.Rayman 2: The Great Escape (PS1) had robot space pirates!Overboard! was called Shipwreckers! in the US.FEELING GROGGYNot-so-jolly RogerDevelopment of Skull And Bones began in 2013 – it was originally going to be a multiplayer expansion for Black Flag. It then shifted to an MMO spin-off known as Black Flag Infinite, until it morphed into a new IP unrelated to Assassin’s Creed. Skull And Bones then had a launch date of some time in 2018… then 2019… then 2020… then 2022… then 2023… and finally launched in 2024.ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG (PS3/PS4, 2013) IS SET DURING THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRACY, AND GIVES PLAYERS A SHIP.MONKEY BUSINESSHe’s just a little GuybrushThe…2 min
PLAY|September 2024Finally, Fantasian!Ready for a refresh? Fantasian debuted exclusively on Apple Arcade for compatible mobile devices in 2021. As it was the latest RPG from Mistwalker, the studio led by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, it was a big swing for the subscription service. Now the title is free from platform-based exclusivity, and heading to PS5 and PS4 this winter as Fantasian: Neo Dimension.Fantasian was originally released in two parts; Neo Dimension presents those as one package, while introducing Japanese and English language voice acting for the first time. The project boasts a wealth of talent, with names familiar to any genre aficionado – for example, Final Fantasy music master Nobuo Uematsu composed 60 tracks in all, and Hironobu Sakaguchi himself is both writer and producer of the turn-based adventure.The story centres…3 min
PLAY|September 2024Rebellion1 THE SABOTEURIrishman Sean Devlin gets a nasty surprise when he emigrates to France shortly before the German occupation of 1940. Clearly he did Nazi that coming. Devlin involves himself in the fightback, erasing SS officers and carrying out raids, inspiring more Parisiens to arms in the process. Vive la Résistance!2 FAR CRY 6The dictator Antón Castillo needs taking down a peg or two, and it’s your job to unite various disgruntled factions for the cause. The fictional island nation of Yara contains plenty of revolutionary spirit, plus an army-base-worth of firepower and vehicles to complete the overthrow.3 FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKEAvalanche is a smart name for a resistance group, and the cell you join has an imposing leader in the shape of Barret Wallace. It’s a pity, then, that…3 min
PLAY|September 202450 DELTA FORCE: HAWK OPSFORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB TIMI STUDIO GROUP / DEV TEAM JADE / PLAYERS MULTINever heard of Delta Force? Then you, like us, weren’t a big PC gamer in the late ’90s. Revolutionary at the time due to huge 3D environments that pushed what was possible on the platform, that ambition meant it never had much of a footprint on console. By the time it did make the leap, bigger series like Call Of Duty and Battlefield had already shaped what console shooters could be. But now Delta Force is back courtesy of Tencent and Team Jade, which developed Call Of Duty Mobile.With impressive visuals, detailed gun models, and realistic sound design the game feels modern and at home on PlayStation. Free-to-play, it’s a big package, though one…3 min
PLAY|September 202447 TIDES OF TOMORROWFORMAT TBC / ETA TBC / PUB DEEP SILVER DEV DIGIXART / PLAYERS 1, ONLINE FUNCTIONALITYWhen allowed a peek at which narrative choices our friends pick, we all relish the opportunity to judge them. (‘You didn’t water your plant once during Life Is Strange?’) Now Road 96’s dev is employing the community’s diverging decisions to augment its next narrative adventure with a parallel universe spin.Amid the roiling waves of ocean planet Elynd, you play as a chancer getting a little help from the other side. Contending with tensions that are rising thanks to a lethal phenomenon that threatens to plasticise all living matter, echoes of your pals’ choices will clue you into what course you should set through these troubled waters. You could set sail in search of a cure,…1 min
PLAY|September 202444 FISHBOWLFORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB IMISSMYFRIENDS.STUDIO DEV IMISSMYFRIENDS.STUDIO / PLAYERS 1Benefitting from Sony’s India Hero Project game development incubation programme, this is a coming-of-age tale from a two-person indie studio based in Goa. In it, you play as Alo, a young video editor who moves to a new city for a job. In between chatting with her mum, her besties, and her influencer clientele, there’s something Alo can’t quite face in her waking life: the passing of her grandmother. For a time, work provides a distraction, but then the world changes and Alo has no option but to stay at home in her flat. Our hands-on begins with a call from Mum, and as she asks how we’re doing, we have our choice of dialogue options; do we…1 min
PLAY|September 202441 KUNITSU-GAMI: PATH OF THE GODDESSFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA OUT NOW / PUB CAPCOM / DEV CAPCOM / PLAYERS 1Described by Capcom as a “Japanese-inspired, single-player kagura action strategy game” (kagura is a traditional type of dance-theatre), Kunitsu-Gami can more accurately be explained as something like a single-player MOBA crossed with tower defence… where the tower is slowly moving through discrete maps. It’s a lot to get used to.Your silent protagonist is tasked with protecting a goddess as she performs a kagura dance ritual which cleanses spirits. Each mission is split into a day/night cycle; while the sun is up you can run around the cursed villages to cleanse locals who have been calcified in gross-looking rot. Saved, they’re happy to help – meaning you can assign them jobs like spearman or archer to…2 min
PLAY|September 202438 UNBEATABLEFORMAT PS5 / ETA 2025 / PUB PLAYSTACK DEV D-CELL GAMES / PLAYERS 1The pitch for this one is pretty strong: Unbeatable is a rhythm game set in a world where music is illegal. So, as pink-haired lead character Beat you commit crimes. By making said music. And apparently punching some cops to the beat. Motionless images definitely don’t do this one justice; Unbeatable combines anime-style visuals and vibrancy with some very solid pop bops for you to beat up monsters to. There is both a campaign and a separate arcade mode, so this could be the one that has it all. And that’s music to our ears.…1 min
PLAY|September 202432 ENOTRIA: THE LAST SONGFORMAT PS5 / ETA 19 SEP / PUB JYAMMA GAMES DEV JYAMMA GAMES / PLAYERS 1With approximately five million new grimdark soulslikes being released every week, it’s a breath of fresh air that this one has a starring role for our old friend the sun. Screw ‘Dark’, welcome to Bright Souls! Fields of swaying yellow sunflowers look gorgeous under the sun’s golden rays, making us feel all smiley and warm inside as we start getting stabbed by farmers with pitchforks.Yes, it’s the usual brutal combat experience, and everyone inexplicably hates you, but it’s amazing how something as simple as ‘taking place in bright daylight’ can make a soulslike feel fresh, as though you’re hacking and slashing your way through a particularly intense summer holiday.SO(UL) FAMILIARExpect high-stakes combat where you’re only…2 min
PLAY|September 202429 MARVEL RIVALSFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA TBC / PUB NETEASE GAMES DEV NETEASE GAMES / PLAYERS 1-12This superhero-hero shooter seems like a slam dunk on paper: a 6v6 team-based multiplayer game, with the Marvel licence ensuring a diverse cast of characters with different abilities? Sounds great. Yet, as is the case with a lot of the upcoming live service fare at the moment, we leave our latest hands-on feeling equal parts excited and apprehensive for Rivals’ future.It was making the rounds prior to being announced for PS5 thanks to ‘closed’ (yet streamable) alpha builds, so it had already made a great first impression. With a lightly cel-shaded art style it looks gorgeous, and the team-up battle format is immediately evocative of Marvel’s biggest multiversal crossover stories. The greatest villain we face…4 min
PLAY|September 202426 NEVAFORMAT PS5 / ETA 2024 / PUB DEVOLVER DIGITAL DEV NOMADA STUDIO / PLAYERS 1From the developer behind peaceful platformer Gris comes this gorgeously-animated platform adventure. It’s the story of a traumatised young woman named Alba and her wolf travelling companion. More specifically, it’s set to be about the relationship between the two, which develops as they journey together, and how the cub grows as they make their way through their beautiful but dying world. You’ll have opportunities to drink in the beautifully drawn locations between moments of combat with dark, disturbing monsters.…1 min
PLAY|September 202423 MARVEL 1943: RISE OF HYDRAFORMAT TBC / ETA 2025 / PUB SKYDANCE NEW MEDIA DEV SKYDANCE NEW MEDIA / PLAYERS 1So here’s something different: a superhero game that’s built for solo play; a cinematic trailer that promises great acting and writing; and a version of Captain America that somehow isn’t annoying. Perhaps the most exciting thing about it is the involvement of Amy Hennig, the writer and creative director of Uncharted 1-3. A promise to cater equally to casual and more experienced gamers is hard to fulfil, but we think that Marvel 1943 will deliver.…1 min
PLAY|September 202420 AFTERLOVE EPFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA Q3 2024 / PUB FELLOW TRAVELLER / DEV PIKSELNESIA PLAYERS 1Rama is at a crossroads in his life. Since the tragic passing of his girlfriend Cinta a year previously, he’s been hiding himself away, grieving hard and not willing to face the harsh outside world. He’s now ready to get his life back together and to attempt to move past his devastating loss, but there’s one problem: Cinta now lives as a disembodied voice in his head, constantly with him wherever he goes.“AFTERLOVE EP IS MOSTLY FOCUSSED ON WHAT COMES NEXT, ON HOW YOU YOU COME TO TERMS WITH LOSS AND GRIEF AND MOVE ON.”Afterlove EP may be a story about loss and grief, but it’s mostly focussed on what comes next, on how you…3 min
PLAY|September 202417 WARHAMMER 40,000: SPACE MARINE 2FORMAT PS5 / ETA 9 SEP / PUB FOCUS ENTERTAINMENT / DEV SABER INTERACTIVE PLAYERS 1-12 (ONLINE MULTIPLAYER MODES)Every legacy sequel raises a simple question: ‘Why?’ Thirteen years after developer Relic Entertainment first introduced us to Captain Titus, Saber Interactive is picking up the chainsword. Creative director Oliver Hollis-Leick explains why now is the time to return to the front line.“BECAUSE OF OUR SWARM TECHNOLOGY, WE’RE ABLE TO POPULATE THE ENTIRE LANDSCAPE WITH ENEMIES IN THE SKY, ON THE LAND.”“Games Workshop, over the years, have been approached many times by different companies who wanted to make this game. And from what I understand they never found quite the right developer,” Hollis-Leick begins. “And when we approached them we came to them with a new possibility, which was namely our swarm…3 min
PLAY|September 202414 HADES IIFORMAT TBC / ETA 2025 / PUB SUPERGIANT GAMES DEV SUPERGIANT GAMES / PLAYERS 1Sibling rivalry can only go so far when you’ve been separated from your family at birth and raised by witches in the woods – but this sequel’s star, Melinoë, is faring well compared to her brother Zagreus from the original Hades.Her magical upbringing permeates every part of Hades II. Almost every attack can be charged up to become a spell blast, varying from weapon to weapon. It might be a massive, area-splurging ripple of power from a giant axe, or a spread of flying, teleporting daggers. No matter where she fights, be it up toward Olympus or down toward Tartarus, she’s always in control of the cadence of battles. That’s right, there are multiple routes now,…1 min
PLAY|September 202411 DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D REMAKEFORMAT PS5 / ETA 14 NOV / PUB SQUARE ENIX / DEV SQUARE ENIX, ARTDINK / PLAYERS 1You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, nor a game by its name. But in this case, HD-2D Remake does what it claims. It helps that Square Enix itself coined the term, going beyond the excellent traditionally-styled Project Octopath to bring us stellar remakes in the form with Live A Live and Star Ocean 2.Even though we know what to expect when we start our hands-on at level one, just past the intro sequence, it’s still beautiful to behold. Recreating the sharp-edged pixels of the original visuals, the developers have added depth by making them resemble pop-up-book dioramas with smooth rather than grid-based movement, enriched by naturalistic lighting. Expect plenty of flickering…3 min
PLAY|September 202408 GRAND THEFT AUTO VIFORMAT PS5 / ETA 2025 / PUB ROCKSTAR GAMES / DEV ROCKSTAR GAMES / PLAYERS 1 (MINIMUM?)There was probably a higher chance of Sony announcing it was ending production of PS5 and bringing back the Walkman than of Grand Theft Auto VI making an appearance at Summer Game Fest. Rockstar long ago started a mildly irritating tradition of releasing a tantalising teaser and then going completely silent for what feels like forever.Still, we’re always happy to have an excuse to watch that trailer for the 195-millionth time, and fortunately this one rewards repeat viewings and keeps on fuelling our speculations. Surely, surely the abundance of social media and news/bodycam footage – a whole 20 seconds of the one-minute-30-second trailer! – must be gesturing at some sort of social media mechanic,…2 min
PLAY|September 202405 STAR WARS OUTLAWSFORMAT PS5 / ETA 30 AUG / PUB UBISOFT / DEV MASSIVE ENTERTAINMENT / PLAYERS 1Not everyone gets to double jump all over the place and deflect waves of blaster bolts with seemingly no effort. But though Kay Vess isn’t a Jedi – she’s more a wheeling and dealing scoundrel like Han Solo or Lando Calrissian – she’s still a professional.Yet she’s also no career criminal. Having grown up on the streets with critter pal Nix, she’s simply done whatever it took to survive in a galaxy firmly within the Empire’s grip (the game is set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi). When a job goes wrong, it suddenly takes a lot more to survive. After crossing a new yet powerful crime syndicate, Zerek Besh, their…6 min
PLAY|September 202402 LEGO HORIZON ADVENTURESFORMAT PS5 / ETA LATE 2024 / PUB SONY / DEV GUERRILLA GAMES, GOBO STUDIOS / PLAYERS 1-2We can never pass up the chance to play with some Lego, especially when it’s PlayStation itself asking. Going hands-on with a slew of other titles, we’re struck by the decor of the booth we’re beckoned into – the walls of the first floor tactfully lined with mini murals documenting the history of PlayStation ending in 2020 with the release of PS5. Oh, how things have changed since then…Four years on from the console’s launch, we live in a world where a small indie hit like Helldivers can lead to a bigger-budget sequel that becomes one of PlayStation’s fastest-selling games ever; where first-party games are launched on both PC and rival console platforms…6 min
PLAY|September 2024Destiny 2: The Final ShapeThis particular Bungie jump has a lot of weight to carry. Destiny players have slowly but surely been growing weary of the grind in recent years, and Lightfall lacked the punch necessary to completely knock things back into, well… shape. One delayed expansion later, Destiny looks healthy again, thanks largely to a huge amount of fan service.How much you’ll get out of this is directly proportional to how invested you are in Destiny’s history and lore. While this may sound obvious, it’s more true of The Final Shape than any expansion before it. The story has allies and enemies old and new, resolutions and heated exchanges fuelled by personal histories, and shots at emotional moments that only have a chance of hitting if you know the characters involved like old…5 min
PLAY|September 2024The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold RoadUnusually for TESO, the latest expansion picks up directly after – and links straight into – the events of the last one. Necrom’s story revealed that a forgotten Daedric Prince had been wiped from the memory of all existence, but was on the way back. It’s disappointing, then, that narratively speaking, the followup is less ‘diamond in the rough’, and more ‘fool’s gold’.So closely are the stories intertwined that if you decided to skip Necrom, Gold Road’s main questline will feature characters, references, places, and events that will mean little to nothing to you. However, if you did join the wiggliest Prince and his assistant on their quest to preserve the fabric of reality, get ready for what might well be the series’ most anticlimactic end to a questline yet.…5 min
PLAY|September 2024Extended PLAYXDefiantX gon’ give it (a mediocre shooter) to yaWhat a silly name for a game (or for anything else, for that matter). Still, it’s fitting that the name almost certainly results from a poor decision when the game itself is full of them. It’s absolutely worth a try, if only because it’s free; but before we elaborate on that, we need to address the elephant in the room, and the T-shirt it’s wearing with the No Skill-Based Matchmaking logo.The much-publicised lack of SBMM has attracted a higher than normal proportion of a certain type of player to the game. You know the one. Constantly slides and jumps around the map like a hyperactive dog on an ice rink? That one. This fact alone may be enough to convince you that…9 min
PLAY|September 2024Crazy TaxiSega’s loss in the console business would be PlayStation’s gain, and would give more players the chance to experience its games. While the Sonic developer hedged its bets with the other platforms, it assured players that Crazy Taxi would the first Sega title to come to PS2 – mere months after announcing its decision to exit the hardware business to become a third-party developer and publisher.A fine choice it was too, as this wacky racer had already been a hit in the arcades for two years, and was a perfect example of the kind of innovative titles Sega was pulling out all the stops to make during its short-lived Dreamcast era. For a start, it wasn’t just another track racer like Sega Rally or Daytona USA but an urban driving…4 min
PLAY|September 2024A legend comes homeFORMAT PS2 / PUB EIDOS INTERACTIVE / DEV CRYSTAL DYNAMICS / RELEASED 2006Dark, dingy, and the weather is tempestuous. Welcome to England. To enter Professor Worth’s King Arthur Museum, Lara Croft tugs on a shoddy replica of the sword in the stone. A grainy recording booms: “Enter, once and future king! Merlin deems you worthy!” This Cornish visitor attraction may appear more Silent Hill than Avalon, but it’s certainly got character.Museums in games are often grand affairs, but not this one; it’s kitsch in the extreme and a far cry from the exotic locales Lara’s been to so far. Worth’s is a derelict tourist trap full of rickety dioramas that take you through a crude retelling of Arthurian legend. Cursed-looking animatronic figures re-enact famous scenes, including Arthur and Merlin wobbling…1 min
