Table of contents for No. 176 in GamesTM

Where will we find the time? So many games are packed into this issue and even though we’ve highlighted 100 of them, there could have been more. But where will we find the time? If you’re a single-console stalwart then that at least narrows things down a little, as PlayStation, Xbox and Wii U have some fine additions, expansions and unlikely sequels to enjoy in the coming months. If you’re a PC gamer then you’re probably the happiest and most time-poor of them all, with so many recent game announcements confirming what we have believed; PC gaming is back in a big way. But I think what stands out as you look through the 100 Hottest New Games that we’ve selected this issue, is that they appear to be leaning…

Format: PS4 Origin: USA Publisher: Sony Developer: Sony Santa Monica Studio Release: TBC 2017 Players: 1 • IT’S INCREDIBLY RARE to see a popular series make a sudden change of direction. Fans know what they like, developers know what they’re good at, suits know what sells… there’s just little reason to switch to a brand new template when everything is already working as intended. Resident Evil VII’s surprising shift to first-person horror screams in the face of this suggestion, but there was little left for Capcom to do but to hit the reset button – carried away in the wake of the success and popularity of Resident Evil 4’s reinvention as an action game more than a horror one, sequels just ended up getting more and more ridiculous until the…

“NINTENDO HAS OUTDONE ITSELF WITH ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD, TURNING HYRULE INTO THE OPEN-WORLD PARADISE WE’VE WANTED SINCE WIND WAKER” Format: Wii U, NX Origin: Japan Publisher: Nintendo Developer: In-house Release: 2017 Players: 1 • THE ORIGINAL LEGEND of Zelda set a brand new bar for adventure games, dropping an elven boy into a hostile world known as Hyrule and leaving him to the player’s devices. The game rewarded exploration and curiosity, making it one of the best games of all time. Recent games in the franchise have strayed away from that approach in favour of a formulaic story-driven experience, but after The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild’s impressive debut at E3 2016 the focus may once again be on the thrill of exploring a brand new…

“RESPAWN HAS TAPPED INTO SOMETHING SPECIAL WITH TITANFALL 2, DOING JUST ENOUGH TO KEEP THE GAME FEELING UNIQUE” Format: Xbox One, Windows 10, PS4 Origin: USA Publisher: EA Developer: Respawn Entertainment Release: 28 October 2016 Players: 1-16 • TITANFALL 2 MAKES a strong first impression. If ever there was a concern that developer Respawn Entertainment would be forced to dilute the core competitive experience as it shifted towards a multiplatform release have been immediately obliterated following some hands-on time with the upcoming shooter. There’s an instant thrill to be found being back in this universe, nimbly darting between walls and rooftops as a Pilot; strapping yourself back into an all-powerful personalised Titan and unleashing hell on all manner of unsuspecting enemy and AI players. This is the Titanfall that you…

“AS WE’RE LOOKING AT A ROBOTIC ENEMY HERE, IT’S GOT A PLETHORA OF WEAPONRY” Format: PS4 Origin: Netherlands Publisher: SCE Developer: Guerrilla Games Release: 1 March 2017 Players: 1 • THE MORE YOU see of this world, with its mighty robo-inhabitants, the more excited you get. Guerrilla has just gone to town with creativity here, creating a glorious open world with a stunning colour palette. Any fears that we may have had of it being something of a beautiful yet ultimately dull experience have been brightly quashed. Expect camps to hang out in, people to talk to, and plenty a side-quests to take you running off into the savage wilderness. The post-apocalyptic world comes with plenty of hidden extras to find, including a dialogue tree to let you really dig…

Format: PS4, Xbox One, PC Origin: France Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Developer: Arkane Studios Release: 11 November 2016 Players: 1 • Stealth gameplay has a tendency to be interpreted in a pretty narrow way, but that’s not the case with Dishonored 2. While using cover, high vantage points and shadows remain a linchpin of the experience, the way that Arkane is opening up new, sometimes mind-bending stealth concepts is one of the most exciting and mysterious things about its sequel. Let us break it down for you… STEALTH THROUGH TIME TRAVEL Arkane has shown off a mission entitled A Crack In The Slab in which you are able to use a device to travel back and forth through time within an abandoned manor. Using this mechanic, you can travel around the…

Format: Arcade, PS4, Xbox One Origin: Japan Publisher: Bandai Namco Developer: In-house Release: Q1 2017 Players: 1-2 (2-TBC online) Obviously Bandai Namco and Capcom have a very tight relationship, but what went into choosing just one guest character for Tekken 7? What ultimately led you to Akuma, other than him fitting so well into the story? It goes back to Tekken X Street Fighter. We were working on that and the idea of Akuma came up early on. We thought it would be a cool way to blend the story; not just bringing these characters in but including them in the story of the game, and Akuma as you mentioned fits easily. Akuma came early in our considerations and we had already consulted [Street Fighter head Yoshinori] Ono-san about this…

Format: Xbox One, PS4, PC Origin: France Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Paris Release: 7 March 2017 Players: 1-4 • THERE’S LITTLE ARGUMENT to be made against Ghost Recon: Wildlands’ credentials. It’s without question one of the most visually arresting videogames shown off this year, with Ubisoft’s open-world interpretation of a drug-ravaged Bolivia immediately impressing all that see it. It’s the largest space the publisher has ever commissioned, a sprawling web of tall mountains, dense jungles, and harsh stretches of desert that combine to create ten distinct regions; the scale and spectacle of it all is, well, spectacular. A grounded, modern environment that immediately indicates a change in style, weaponry and pace to Wildlands when compared to its most recent (more futuristic) predecessors. Ubisoft Paris is doubling down on the publisher’s…

Format: PS4, PC, Xbox One Origin: Canada Publisher: EA Canada Developer: EA Sports Release: 29 September 2016 Players: 1-TBC 1 GOALKEEPERS We saw some pretty stunning one-handed saves as we played FIFA 17, but then we did only have the top sides available to us. They didn’t seem to be getting caught out in one-on-one situations though, which may prove to be a tough improvement for strikers to beat RATING: 7.7 2 TACTICAL DEFENDING This has been a divisive feature for FIFA fans, but we’ve grown to enjoy more player-controlled position and pressing in the series. With a more physical engine, stepping between player and ball is more viable. Positioning is enough to win the ball without tackling. RATING: 7.8 3 AUTHENTICITY FIFA once again has every licence under the…

Format: PC, iOS Origin: USA Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Developer: Dire Wolf Digital Release: TBC 2016 Players: 1-2 • IN SOME WAYS it’s surprising that it’s taken so long for The Elder Scrolls to get a card game, but here it finally is and it’s as traditional as you would expect. Instantly you can see the influence of Magic: The Gathering and Hearthstone on how Bethesda has gone about developing its own card game, but there is also some innovation. The first is the introduction of lanes to the battlefield, having you place your cards on the left or right of the arena. These cards can then either attack cards on the opposite side of their respective lane or the opponent player directly, chipping away at their health. The tactical challenge…

Format: 3DS Origin: Japan Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Game Freak Release: 23 November Players: 1-4 GRUBBIN TYPE: BUG ABILITY: SWARM • Bug types are always useful in the early stages of a new Pokémon adventure thanks to the fact that they typically grow and evolve quicker than most other types. Its official description states that it loves electricity and can be found near substations and generators – this coupled with its bold yellow highlights suggests that it might evolve into a Bug/Electric hybrid; a solid typing, with four resistances and only two weaknesses. PIKIPEK TYPE: NORMAL/FLYING ABILITY: KEEN EYE/SKILL LINK • Every region needs its Pidgey equivalent, and this little woodpecker is one of the most adorable yet. Predictably, it’s a three-stage evolution line and its inevitable ability to learn Fly…

Format: PS4 Origin: France Publisher: Sony Developer: Quantic Dream Release: 2017 Players: 1 • THERE ARE FEW more divisive things in the triple-A gaming space than the collected works of David Cage. For every fan of his interesting approach to interactive storytelling, there are accusations of poor writing and unbelievable characters and events; for every piece of praise for the games’ visuals, you’ll see as many ‘uncanny valley’ complaints; for every captivating or emotional moment, an awkwardly crowbarred-in sex scene or Jason meme. It’s quite impressive, in its own intriguing way. With Detroit, though, Cage has solutions on-hand for many common complaints levelled at his games. Additional writers have been brought in to help flesh out characters and improve dialogue, but moreover, the game’s setting also serves to act as…

Format: Xbox One, PS4, PC Origin: Sweden Publisher: EA Developer: DICE Release: 21 October 2016 Players: 1-64 What was the focus of Battlefield 1’s multiplayer? For Battlefield 1 we really want to push team play. That is a big aspect of the game. It’s something that really resonates with the era and it’s true to Battlefield. I wouldn’t say we design the maps specifically around encouraging team play; it’s more about designing it for the best experience possible. That’s been our mindset going into it; how can we make the best possible game? This era is so unique in terms of what it offers. Once we started digging into World War 1, we really discovered that it’s a perfect match for the Battlefield franchise and its core gameplay pillars –…

STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT 2 Format: PS4, Xbox One, PC Origin: Canada, Sweden Publisher: EA Developer: EA Motive, DICE Release: TBC 2017 Players: 1-TBC • CONFIRMED BY FORMER Assassin’s Creed producer Jade Raymond – now heading up a new team for EA – Motive Studios is working with DICE to make a quick follow-up to its first Star Wars: Battlefront outing. Her big promise? That the two teams were listening to fans and making sure that the sequel has all of the features and gameplay that they want. We read that as code for, ‘There’s going to be a single-player campaign this time’. There was a little controversy a few months back when it was revealed that a solo campaign had been planned, but cut so that the game could launch…

Format: PC Origin: USA Publisher: Nexon Developer: Boss Key Release: 2017 Players: 1-12 • WITH TWO ELITES of the genre coming back on the scene, it can be easy to overlook to new blood. But Lawbreakers – from Gears Of War creator and Unreal Tournament lead designer Cliff Bleszinski – has so much to offer players that it’s threatening to show up the competition. In many respects, it feels like Overwatch meets an early iteration of Unreal Tournament. It’s fast and frantic, eager to push players into tight arena spaces and long corridor firefights. But it’s doing more than that, more than what the competition is willing to do – introducing low gravity zones into play that let you revel in scenes of vertical violence. It’s a lot of fun…

“I love the humour, and the way they played with time ” GRANT DUNCAN, ART DIRECTOR, HELLO GAMES “A game that I love? It would have to be Day Of The Tentacle ! I love the humour, and the way they played with time – the way you can go into the past and plant something and then come forward into the future and it’s a tree, I really liked that. And equally – even though I was quite young when it first came out – I love the background art. Steve Purcell, one of the artists that worked on the game, he did a lot of the backgrounds on Monkey Island and Sam & Max , I’m…

While Sony didn’t show up to E3 with its new 4K PlayStation, its presence was still felt and its existence confirmed. The PlayStation 4 Neo, as it has come to be known, also referred to as the PS4K or PS4.5, will be an incremental upgrade on the current machine, not a replacement for it. Much like Microsoft’s plan for Project Scorpio, it’s intended to offer players an upgraded option for a new console, with current machines remaining in circulation as a budget choice. Here’s what to expect with the new system… NEW TECH: 8GB GDDR5 MEMORY COMPARISON: Actually, it’s the same WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Interesting to note that PS4 Neo is likely to have the same RAM as the original machine, however it could run at 218GB per second…

NAUTHIZ(?) The only character of the eight not to directly resemble an Elder Futhark rune, although it’s closest to Nauthiz. Its literal meaning of ‘need’ could relate to Kratos’ son or, to take a more abstract interpretation, it could be a reference to the Norns – Norse mythology’s equivalent of the Fates Kratos previously encountered. GEBO While seemingly upbeat with its translation of ‘gift’, it can have slightly darker connotations – ‘gift’ could in fact be referring to a gift to the gods rather than from them, a sacrifice to be made. It’s pretty clear from the tone of the game so far that Kratos will likely have to make a few of those… TIWAZ This one seems to be a bastardisation of the rune of Tyr, Ares’ counterpart on…

Format: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC Origin: USA Publisher: 2K Games Developer: Hangar 13 Release: 7 October 2016 Players: 1 • 2K GAMES IS returning to the world of organised crime with Mafia III, trusting it to the brand new studio called Hangar 13. If the game’s presence at E3 2016 is any indication, 2K is supremely confident in its fledging development team. The story follows Lincoln Clay, an orphan who thought he had seen the worst side of humanity while serving in Vietnam. Unfortunately upon his return to the fictional city of New Bordeaux, the world of organised crime proved him wrong. After losing his friends in a mob-related shooting, Clay resolves to get revenge on the local mob boss while taking over the city himself. The demo shown…

Format: Xbox One, PC Origin: Canada Publisher: Microsoft Studios Developer: Capcom Vancouver Release: 6 December 2016 Players: 1-TBC • IF IT AIN’T broke, attach a chainsaw to it. And also go back to the best setting of the series. That feels like what Capcom Vancouver has been saying with this return of the original Dead Rising’s Frank West and a move back to Willamette, Colorado and its famous shopping mall. Dead Rising 4 is not a reboot or remake of the original, but a return to probably its most compelling setting. A return to that giant shopping complex (and the wider town around it this time), with all the updated systems, improved save mechanics and increased insanity that two sequels have already brought to the series. Returning to this familiar…

“PLAYERS CAN DECIDE HOW THEY APPROACH EACH SITUATION. BECOMING EITHER THE AGGRESSOR, THE GHOST OR THE TRICKSTER HACKER”JONATHAN MORIN, CREATIVE DIRECTOR FREE MOVEMENT • Watch Dogs’ concrete jungle has been replaced with a beautiful, varied landscape in San Francisco’s Bay Area. Marcus Holloway will be able to move across it freely, making use of parkour to traverse rooftops and buildings. It already looks great – more intuitive and fluid than Assassin’s Creed’s similar movement systems. THE HERO • Aiden Pearce’s lack of character was an issue for many in Watch Dogs, and so Ubisoft has gone in almost the opposite direction. With a more believable personality, from his motivations to his fashion sense, Marcus Holloway seems like a real character that we actually want to spend time with. PLAYER…

Format: PS4, Xbox One Origin: Japan Publisher: Square Enix Developer: In-house Release: 30 September Players: 1 • IT’S FAIR TO say that FFXV’s combat has come on a fair way since the original Episode Duscae demo. Back then, there was no magic, no real meaningful interaction with allies and barely any depth to the swordplay. All of that has improved greatly with each new reveal, though, and the latest feature to be added has pleased many franchise fans who thought the Kingdom Hearts-esque action combat was a stretch further than they were comfortable with – Wait mode is back, and it’s even more useful than ever. While the original ATB version of Wait mode would kick in as soon as it was your turn to act, here it’s something that…

Format: Xbox One, Windows 10 Origin: Japan Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Developer: Platinum Games Release: 2017 Players: 1-4 1 FULLY COOPERATIVE There seems to have been some miscommunication surrounding Scalebound’s multiplayer. Famed game designer Hideki Kamiya has confirmed that co-op is indeed at the heart of the Scalebound experience, though partnering up with your buddies isn’t just for the ridiculous boss battles; you can play the entire campaign with three other players if you wanted to. As Kamiya’s first multiplayer game, this may bring new creative challenges to the fold, though everything we’ve seen so far looks to have been stamped with the Platinum seal of quality. 2 INCENTIVISING MULTIPLAYER Platinum is eager to ensure Scalebound can be enjoyed in both single- and multiplayer capacities, though it will be looking…

Format: PS4, PC, Xbox One Origin: PES Productions Publisher: Konami Developer: EA Sports Release: Q4 2016 Players: 1-TBC 2 TACTICAL DEFENDING If you subscribe to the notion that PES is shooting to become a simulation of the beautiful game itself, then you’ll likely love the changes Konami has made to defensive operations. Keeping hold of the ball is tough, but getting back possession is even harder. RATING: 7.9 1 GOALKEEPERS Opinion is out on the goalkeepers for PES 2017. New motions and animations mean this year’s instalment has the most agile keepers yet, which means getting anything in the back of the net is subsequently tougher than ever. It’s a classic PES move. RATING: 8.1 3 AUTHENTICITY PES has always struggled with authenticity and this year is no different. Where…

Format: PS4, Xbox One, PC Origin: Canada Publisher: EA Developer: BioWare Release: 2017 Players: 1-TBC 1 A NEW, YOUNGER HERO Ryder is the name of BioWare’s new adventurer and while they will be human, like Shepard, they can still be either male or female, and customised. It’s good to see a series sticking with one of the elements that made it so popular, unlike FFXV’s all-dude crew. What’s more, both Ryder and their crew will be skewed a little younger than the characters we saw in the original ME trilogy. This is something that will be explained by Andromeda, but it also means that you’ll be playing as a less experienced team, discovering a new galaxy and their role at the same time. It should also mean you have greater…

Format: PS4, Xbox One, PC Origin: France Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Annecy Release: December 2016 Players: 1-TBC • INSPIRED BY THE open world and traversal systems of Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Ubisoft is taking a swing at a genre that’s been off the boil for a while now: extreme sports. Attempted revivals of titles like SSX and even Ubisoft’s own licensed Shaun White series proved unsuccessful, but by bringing open world exploration and multiplayer integration similar to The Division to Steep, a formula may have been found that will lead to success. It helps that the game is looking pretty intense and exhilarating, which is exactly what this type of game needs to achieve, helped by a licensing deal with GoPro that gives the game its GoPro camera position (you can…

Format: Xbox One, PS4, PC Origin: USA Publisher: Activision Developer: Infinity Ward Release: 4 November 2016 Players: TBC • IF YOU WERE to judge Infinite Warfare by its disastrous reveal alone, there’s a good chance you wouldn’t, couldn’t see the appeal in Call Of Duty shooting straight from the streets and into the stars. But by ignoring Infinite Warfare on principle you’ll be doing the game, Infinity Ward and – most importantly – yourself a huge disservice. This years’ instalment looks incredible, and that isn’t mere hyperbole but strategic assessment; because what isn’t there to love about fighting through space and taking command of your very own galactic armada? Infinite Warfare might not look like your traditional Call Of Duty experience, but perhaps that isn’t a negative – but instead…

Format: Xbox One, Windows 10 Origin: UK Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Developer: The Creative Assembly, 343 Industries Release: 21 February 2017 Players: 1-6 • THE LACK OF impact The Creative Assembly has had on the core structure of Halo Wars is almost as surprising as it is disappointing. Perhaps we were wrong to assume that the studio would look to bring scale, spectacle and political subterfuge to the much-maligned console RTS space - having the architects of Total War on a project with so much potential always ran the risk of raising expectations beyond reasonable belief. It isn’t that Halo Wars 2 is bad, necessarily; just that it bares so many striking similarities to the 2009 Ensemble release that it doesn’t feel all that new or progressive. The Creative Assembly…

VIEWSONIC VX2457-MHD MANUFACTURER: VIEWSONIC PRICE: £139.99 THE GAMING-FOCUSED monitor market is getting pretty competitive, which has good and bad elements to it. On the negative side, it means you have to wade through a lot of rubbish to find a really decent screen for your PC or console setup. On the positive side it means you can get a pretty high-spec, reasonably-sized monitor like this one for not too much money. This ViewSonic model is 25 inches and offers great picture quality, a nice look, and some smart design features. For a start it supports AMD FreeSync, which means that if you use certain AMD graphics cards in your PC setup you can experience a tear-free picture at up to 75hz, even on really fast games. It basically means a…

“There is one aspect of it that I believe deserves more celebration: the creature design ” DAVE CROOKS, DESIGNER, DODGE ROLL GAMES “I almost hesitate to say it, given its notoriety in the past couple of years but the truth is that I think the original Dark Souls is the best videogame of all time. There is little I can say that has not already been said about it, but there is one aspect of it that I believe deserves more celebration: the creature design. From Software’s enemies and bosses are truly uncanny. They are always bizarrely familiar but at the same time you’ve never seen anything quite like them. They are often repulsive but somehow distinguished. Couple that with some of the best…

BETTER THAN EVER • Forza Horizon 3 is set to be one of the first games to support HDR (high dynamic range), a new feature for the Xbox One S that allows better contrast and colour depth – assuming you have a TV that supports it. Playground Games is using this to create huge banks of morphing and evolving clouds – making the sky look as realistic as possible. Footage of beautiful Australian skies captured last summer – recorded using a custom built HDR 12K camera rig – are being impressively incorporated into the game. CREATE A CREW • Playground Games is furthering its ambitions to make Forza Horizon the ultimate road trip adventure. Not only will the game feature four-player campaign co-op for the very first time, but it’ll…

Format: PS4, PC Origin: Japan Publisher: Gungho Entertainment Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture Release: 2016 Players: 1 • SUDA 51 AND his team at Grasshopper Manufacture are known for eccentricity, but they may have outdone themselves with Let It Die. The E3 hands-on demo led to more questions being asked than answered, though it still provided a good amount of fun. The demo drops you into a savage world of dangerous psychopaths wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and gas masks. It’s up to your hero to find clothes for armour and weapons for defending himself before trying to escape this maniacal prison. Thankfully some clothes are conveniently placed in a suitcase right in front of him, while a lead pipe casually leans against a wall a few short steps away…

Format: Xbox One, Windows 10 Origin: UK Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Developer: Rare Release: 2016 Players: MMO • SEA OF THIEVES is going to live or die by the community that rallies around it. While veteran development outfit Rare is doing its absolute best to avoid branding its latest an MMO – instead opting to follow Bungie into the murky depths of the “shared world” mantra – everything Sea Of Thieves is doing is obstinately MMO in scope and execution. It’s a chaotic, spectacular multiplayer game in which you and a few buddies team up and sail the high seas; getting merry on grog and attempting to sink anything that looks even slightly sinkable. In this world of pirates and plunder, you make your own destiny. With no over-arching story…

Format: Xbox One, PS4 Origin: USA Publisher: Activision Developer: Bungie Release: 20 September 2016 Players: MMO 1 A FOURTH RAID Destiny is sat on a pretty nice hit-rate with Raids at the moment – Vault Of Glass and King’s Fall are both excellent, while Crota’s End had some neat ideas, even if it is primarily run by brave solo players more than Fireteams these days. For its next trick, Bungie is ditching the usual corridors and catacombs for a vibrant outdoor setting, a welcome change of scenery for endgame content. Expect giant bosses that require full team coordination and most likely another infuriating jump puzzle 2 NEW/ALTERED STRIKES While the initial reveal mentioned just a single new Strike, we’ll actually be getting a fair bit more than that. The new…

Format: Xbox One, PS4, PC Origin: USA Publisher: Bethesda Developer: Arkane Studios Release: 2017 Players: TBC • IT ISN’T CLEAR why Bethesda elected to resurrect the Prey IP, but we sure are happy about it. Our first glimpse into its world – presented by Dishonored developer Arkane – revealed a completely new direction for the franchise. That’s a necessary step after the brand spent the better part of a decade hidden away. And now it’s looking like a sickeningly slick blend of System Shock, Dead Space and The Thing, a psychological horror Groundhog Day where mysterious space station experiments seem to lead protagonist Morgan to relive the same harrowing cycle of drinking disgusting coffee and shotgunning alien creatures on loop. Of course, there’s more than meets the eye here –…

“COMCEPT AND ARMATURE STUDIOS HAVE A WILDLY CREATIVE CONCEPT IN RECORE, SET IN A HOSTILE WORLD FILLED WITH DERELICT TECHNOLOGY” Format: Xbox One, Windows 10, PS4 Origin: Japan Publisher: Microsoft Developer: Comcept/Armature Studios Release: 13 Sept Players: 1 • IN AN ALTERNATE future, Earth is rendered uninhabitable. A group of survivors set out to find a new world, eventually landing on a desert planet of wind and sand known as Far Eden. Far Eden is supposed to become the new human paradise, a world where the troubled race can once again flourish, but one explorer called Joule wakes from a centuries-long stasis to find that nothing has gone as it should. She must then set out into the world, using companions known as CoreBots to figure out exactly what went…

Format: PS4, PC, Xbox One Origin: Japan Publisher: Capcom Developer: In-house Release: 24 January Players: 1 • AT A GLANCE, it might seem like the switch to a first-person perspective is a huge change for the series. The early games used fixed camera angles to help build tension by restricting player visibility, which is exactly what the first-person viewpoint does to great effect in existing horror experiences such as Amnesia and PT. Resi itself, while maybe not known for it, is also no stranger to this camera angle – the original games used it to disguise loading and add to atmosphere while passing through doors, plus it’s use of cutscenes in many early titles. Even from the Beginning Hour demo (which is, apparently, not taken from the main game –…

Format: PS4, Xbox One, PC Origin: Poland Publisher: CD Projekt Developer: CD Projekt Red Release: TBC 2016 Players: 1-2 • NO ONE WHO played the Gwent games in The Witcher III: Wild Hunt will be the least bit surprised to see it get an expanded standalone release. It was one of many highlights in CD Projekt Red’s award-winning RPG and deserving of greater development. The team has dived back into what was supposed to be a relatively simple experience and built upon it, expanding the gameplay and giving it more competitive depth. The systems of the game will remain the same, with the ten cards you get to start a match being the only ones you’ll have available to you through each contest. The different decks have been given more…

Format: Xbox One, PC, Origin: Canada Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Developer: The Coalition Release: 4 November 2016 Players: 1-10 • THE MANTRA THE Coalition repeated to us several times when we saw Gears Of War 4 during its multiplayer beta stage was that it wanted to do it right before it tried to do it better. And yet, in returning to the core principles of the series and attempting to rebuild them with an improved engine and a few modern narrative sensibilities, it may have improved things far more than it originally thought possible. The proof of this can be found in the single-player campaign, which we finally had a chance to play having spent some time earlier in the year with the new online modes. The first thing that…

Format: PS4 Origin: USA Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Developer: Insomniac Games Release: 2017 Players: 1 • THE FIRST THING to know about Spider-Man is that the rather exciting trailer from E3 was actually made up of a lot of in-game footage. Scenes of Spidey parkouring his way through a coffee shop, for instance, are said to be directly from the PS4 exclusive. Insomniac has made the decision to set this adventure a little later in Peter Parker’s life, avoiding the need for an origin story and giving us access to a more experienced, better equipped Peter Parker than we’ve seen in a while. What that also shows us is that this can be a story set around the most interesting and rich element of the character’s life; how Peter balances…

“TO THINK, WORK BEGAN ON THIS PROJECT THE SAME YEAR THAT ASSASSIN’S CREED, BIOSHOCK AND UNCHARTED ALL DEBUTED” Format: PS4 Origin: Japan Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Developer: genDESIGN, Japan Studio Release: 25 October 2016 Players: 1 • THE LAST GUARDIAN feels lost in time. And yet, as archaic as it may be in many respects, there’s something refreshing about its economic approach to design in this era of gaming. Triple-A games have become bloated monsters, but that’s what helps to make this project feel so special. There’s no time-dominating open-world or busywork quest lines to distract, instead The Last Guardian boasts a pleasantly stated and dated approach to architectural world building. The restraint demonstrated from Ueda in The Last Guardian ensures all focus is on a boy and his beast,…

AT A TECHNICAL LEVEL, GTA III WAS PEERLESS BACK IN 2001 Released: DMA Designs Publisher: Rockstar Games Developer: 22 October 2001 System: PS2 22 OCTOBER WAS the day Rockstar unleashed its reinvention of the modern videogame, establishing the template that all open-world sandbox games would use in the decade that followed. Grand Theft Auto III wasn’t just a staggering technical achievement, but one of the most important releases of the sixth-generation; a testament to DMA’s vision of letting players loose in a world of virtualised crime and corruption. We were handed the keys to a living metropolis, thrown into seedy Liberty City, and then were free to do as we pleased. GTA III was for the gamer who was sick of saving the princess from yet another castle; it was…

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE • Grand Theft Auto III might not have been the first game to feature Liberty City – that honour goes to the original release back in 1997 – but its appearance here was unlike anything seen in gaming before. We had seen open worlds before, but usually in the realms of fantasy, never had we explored something so busy and bustling with life. STONE-FACED KILLER • The idea of a silent protagonist certainly isn’t new, but Rockstar did a fantastic job with its characterisation of Claude, the voiceless Grand Theft Auto III protagonist. With just cutscenes and radio interviews, Claude became one of the most successful GTA characters, letting players fill in the blanks to his role in this seedy slice of American injustice. NEED FOR…