Table of contents for April 2015 in Gamesmaster

Escapism. It’s often cited as one of gaming’s biggest appeals, and justifiably so. But too many experiences simply replace the grinding monotony of daily life with their own brand of the very same. Collect x of these. Flick y of those. Sob into your badly animated hands for exactly z minutes. Not so with our cover game this month. Just Cause 3 is exactly what an open-world should be: a giant toy box with as few rules as possible, set up for you to make mayhem in. This is escapism pure and simple, and it’s shaping up brilliantly. We’ve also got the first hands-on impressions of The Witcher 3, behind-the-scenes info on Uncharted 4, and another 80+ jam-packed pages besides. GM: the gift that keeps on giving.…

I’ve been a gamer since 1996 (my first game was the first Tomb Raider) but – there’s always a but, right? – in all that time there are still some things that I don’t understand. I’m just not good at abbreviations! Here’s a very small list of your many abbreviations that confuse the heck out of me: MMO, QTE, PSN, NPC, IED, MOBA, DOTA… What does all of this lot mean? I know you will all be laughing hysterically at the Hopeless Grumpy Old Git (HGOG) of 68 years, but you know, I love games and I can play a mean heavy rock guitar. I just don’t mix with the younger generation. I would hazard a guess, however, that some of you out there would say: “Time to own up…

So, yeah. After my ONM subscription changed to you guys I just bought my first ever Sony console: the PS4. Pretty mad. Brett, @SuperKoopaling WHOOOOO!!! Scorpion’s in for a good massage! Max Hennessy, @ScorpioLegends AC Victory looks awesome. Will it have London Zoo? Thomas Bloomfield, @comaamen86 What would a fight between Cho’gath and Kirby be like? Kirby would nom him and I wanna see what Kir’gath looks like. Miguel Urmeneta, Facebook I don’t like the zombie option for the next Far Cry, but a dino theme would be good and funny. Ride a woolly mammoth instead of an elephant, or irk a T rex by sitting on it. Lee Furniss, Facebook I think a Mass Effect game made by Telltale would be brilliant. The renegade/ paragon moral choices would give…

4.49 Minutes it took to complete Super Mario World on SNES using the credits warp glitch. Congrats, YouTuber SethBling! 183 billion Number of Sims living inside über-popular free-to-play app SimCity BuildIt. That’s 26 times the population of Earth. Jeez, someone really needs to start putting in some pools and taking away some ladders… 8 Number of exotic weapons earned by Reddit poster beeray784 after completing 200 strikes in Destiny’s DLC.…

JOEL’S PICK… Battlefield Hardline I’m a bit fatigued with the traditional military shooter at the moment, so this series shake-up is more than welcome. It also looks like it’s not taking itself too seriously, which is usually wise in a game that allows you to demolish entire city blocks in the name of ‘keeping the peace’. What else are council renovation budgets for? PS4, XO, PC, PS3, 360 – 20 March DANIELLA’S PICK… Atelier Shallie: Alchemists Of The Dusk Sea You know how everyone has their guilty pleasure games? Well, the Ateliers are mine. Sometimes I like a bit of mild adventure and a predictable level of cutesy whimsy. It’s comforting, ok? Yes I know there are better anime-like series out there, but this is my Most Wanted entry so…

TECH A BOW Be on the look out for hot gaming and tech news with the Game Developers Conference taking place in San Francisco. VROOM BOX Celebrate the start of this year’s Formula 1 season with a few laps of F1 2014. MUM’S THE WORD Make sure you get some flowers ready for Mother’s Day, she is The Boss after all… TRACK AND FORTH Give your lungs a thorough workout with new rollercoaster-building sim Screamride, looping-the-loop into shops today. SHIVA’S ALL THAT It’s time for class with the well-dressed heroes of Final Fantasy: Type-0 HD. DEVIL’S DETAILS Perfect those stylish combos: the extra shiny DmC: Definitive Edition is here. SCARE TACTICS Grab your pillow and hold it tight, for there are frights aplenty in Resident Evil Revelations 2. MAX-ED OUT…

JUST CAUSE Agency operative Rico Rodriguez is dropped off on San Esperito, a tropical Caribbean island, with the task of taking down Salvador Mendoza, a possible proponent of weapons of mass destruction. With the help of his mentor, Thomas Sheldon, and another operative, Maria Kane, Rico works alongside a group of rebels to overthrow the drug lord and his Rioja cartel – with quite a few explosive results. JUST CAUSE 2 Four years after the overthrowing of San Esperito, Rico is sent to Panau, a politically unstable island in Southeast Asia. The island nation’s leader, Pandak ‘Baby’ Panay, is not a good sort at all, and it’s Rico’s job to take him down – although en route there’s a faceoff with one- pal . In a manages to kill Panay,…

Format PS4, XO Publisher Square Enix Developer Square Enix Out Winter Sprawling worlds and grandiose stories wrapped in lush visuals are all part and parcel of the Final Fantasy experience, but the newest series entry is looking to take things even further with a more involved battle system to match. While fans of traditional turn-based fighting may weep at the thought, a closer look at what we can expect from Noctis and co in the fisticuffs department has got us more excited than a moogle with a freshly blow-dried pom-pom. The new info comes courtesty of game director Hajime Tabata, who’s spilled a couple of tasty info beans. First up is the ability to parry incoming blows to counter with one of your own. Instead of just taking a strike…

Format PS4, PC PublisherSony Developer Daybreak Game Company Out Autumn DayZ without the bugs’ was our fairly straightforward hope for Sony’s foray into the post-apocalyptic survival genre. After several hours playing the Early Access build we’ve a slightly different take: ‘DayZ where even less happens’. In fact, so dull was our experience on the first player vs AI server we tried that we were begging for a zombie horde to show up just to give us something to do. Not exactly what you want in a game that’s supposed to be all about the constant struggle for life. Fist off There was almost nothing to scavenge: every crate, car and fridge was empty, and the sum total of our time spent trawling through houses, forests and gas stations was a…

5.2 Gallon What seems to be an upgraded version of the standard water pistol, this augmented paint can fires ink pellets at high speed and low accuracy, ideal for covering both the scenery and enemies. Ink Roller Oversized and oversaturated, this turns you into a paint-trailing steamroller – until you meet an enemy, at which point you pound a short wave of damaging ink into their guts. Ink Rifle This sniper-like stick fires single slugs down the unwavering line of its laser sight – we’ve also seen a variant called the quick ink rifle, which suggests all of these weapons can take multiple forms. This Big Paintbrush Thing To be honest, we don’t know what this is called, or exactly what it does, but we know we want it. We’re…

Format PC Publisher Cloud Imperium Games Developer Cloud Imperium Games, Foundry 42, Illfonic Out 2016 Like a black hole, this game spent 2014 gobbling up genres and crowdfunding millions to smoosh into a singular interstellar adventure. When it’s done it will be an FPS, except with lots of ships to fly, dynamic quests and permadeath, all set in a universe running a massive version of Sim City, where the sprawls are really 400 landing spots spread across 110 star systems. Phew. Neither as mind-bogglingly vast as Elite: Dangerous, nor as procedurally wondrous as No Man’s Sky, the space Chris Roberts (the legend behind Wing Commander) wants to chart is unparalleled fidelity and density of things to do. The dogfighting module is the only playable chunk right now, but fighters are…

Format PC, Mobile Pub Playism Games Dev Playism Games Out Spring 2016 The creator of the Clock Tower series, Hifumi Kono, is teaming up with the director of Japanese horror film The Grudge, Takashi Shimuzu, in a Kickstarted bid to bring the SNES-era scarer back from the dead. NightCry, its spiritual successor, will be a point-and-click game set upon a cruise ship hounded by a paranormal killer on the loose. Multiple endings and gruesome deaths abound, while the promise of seeing such prominent horror talent working in tandem is too hot (and terrifying) a prospect to ignore.…

This Month: SpaceManBuilds, YouTube When flying around his Minecraft map looking for ideas for a new home, SpaceManBuilds came across an overhanging ledge and decided on a dangling house. But there was one snag:“How to hang the house from the top without it looking just stuck to the ceiling,” he says. The solution thought up, after looking at some concept art, was this pair of beautiful beehives linked by a bridge, which wouldn’t look out of place in the forests of Endor. Two people can live here comfortably, but you’d best be careful in high winds.…

Evolve’s monsters may be cool, but they have very pointy teeth. Trying to take one down requires on-the-go tactics and plenty of patience, or you’ll find your team quickly torn apart. Here’s what you need to be aware of… A huge lumbering lizard, the Goliath can breathe fire, pounce huge distances, and throw rocks. Tough at stage three. With the power of electricity, the Kraken is specialised in long-range. Get in close for a better chance of taking it down. The Wraith is a stealth expert, capable of creating decoys and warping across the battlefield. Be very careful here.…

Don’t worry. Just because you can doll your precious Dante up however you see fit, it doesn’t mean the combat is muddied with reams of equip-able gear – these outfits are purely for aesthetic purposes. We walk you down the devilish catwalk to show you the best of what’s on offer. 1 First up is this alternative to the dark-haired take on Dante, with a casual nod to the past in those fiery red lapels. 2 Now we remember why classic Dante retired the red jacket-not-shirt combo. Yeesh. 3 All that heavy metal got you in an emo mood? Then don these dark threads. Nice makeup. 4 Neo Dante comes replete with snazzy red tummy bandages. All those demon ouchies take their toll. 5 And for the more puritanical DMC…

Format PS4, XO (reviewed), PC Publisher Warner Bros Developer Techland Out Now Players 1-4 Eeeeuuurrggh,” is the noise a zombie makes, and also the sound that will come out of your indecisive face when someone asks you what you think of Dying Light. See, on one hand you can sprint up to a zombie and dropkick them in the face. You can boot a zombie into a spiked wall. You can slide into a zombie’s kneecaps, springboard off another, and end the motion by pounding a concrete rebar into the roof of someone’s rotted cranium. On the other hand you have to put up with a lot of things that are not this. Eeeeuuurrggh indeed. Still, Dying Light improves upon Techland’s Dead Island games in almost every conceivable way. In…

Format 3DS Publisher Nintendo Developer Nintendo Out Now Players 1 Pop quiz, hot shot. You’ve just made what’s sometimes considered to be the greatest game ever, and you’re faced with a near unanswerable question: how in the hell do you follow Ocarina Of Time? That's the dilemma Nintendo faced in early 1999 when it started work on the N64’s second date with its pointy-eared poster boy. The result was an ingenious, dark twisting of Triforce lore, which owed more than a little to a certain Bill Murray flick. Sixteen years later on 3DS? It’s still ruddy amazing. By Tingle’s Fergie-coloured schnoz if Majora’s Mask hasn’t stood the test of time in the most triumphant fashion possible. For seasoned Zelda acolytes this is every inch the subversive, creepy adventure you remember.…

SEW GOOD Yoshi looks like he’s having a, well, yarn good time with an equally wrapped up Little Mac Amiibo. Reddit user NlighNd1 customised his Wii U figures to keep them warm for winter, and we’re seriously green-eyed about that dinosaur. Check out the full gallery: http://bit.ly/ gmknittedamiibo JUMP SCARES Commissioned by Dying Light developers Techland, parkour photographer Scott Bass has directed a freerunning video across the Cambridge skyline. Death-defying leaps and seriously fast zombies abound. As long as you promise not to try this at home, you can see the whole thing here: http://bit.ly/gmdyinglightpov A SIMPLE LIFE This ultra-charming and even more pixelated Animal Crossing demake is from Brazilian artist Midio. Publishing the piece on Twitter, he said he’d always wanted to play AC in his own style. Maybe…

PLAYSTATION 4 1. GRAND THEFT AUTO V The king has arrived on the latest consoles and reclaimed its crown. Endlessly enjoyable, the world Rockstar has crafted demands you play it. 2. TOWERFALL ASCENSION High-octane archery that’s brilliant both co-op and competitively, this is one of the best multiplayer games ever. Some of the most fun we’ve had on current-gen. 3. THE LAST OF US: REMASTERED Whether you’ve played it before or not, you just can’t ignore the brilliance of Ellie and Joel’s end-times journey. Now looking better than ever, it’s utterly essential. 4. Resogun 5. Far Cry 4 6. FIFA 15 7. Battlefield 4 8. Middle-earth: Shadow Of Mordor 9. Wolfenstein: The New Order 10. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn XBOX ONE 1. GRAND THEFT AUTO V Better than…

This month: Daniella Lucas on the flipping great Game Boy Advance SP Manufacturer Nintendo Lifetime 2003-2008 Worldwide sales 43.5 million Best-selling game Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire “A step up from the boomerang-like original GBA, the SP was a mini saviour. No longer did you have to worry about the screen getting scratched in your bag with that chunky flip action to protect it, and the backlighting meant that you weren’t tethered to the nearest lamp to get your Pokémon fix either. That little clamshell design paved the way for all of Nintendo’s future handhelds – just look at the similarities to the 3DS of today. It was a true masterclass in robust portability.”…

Faceplates Like customising the way your consoles look? Then you’re in luck, as the New 3DS lets you switch faceplates to get the outfit you want. Sadly you can’t change them on the bigger XL model though. Exclusive releases With all of that extra power comes new games to take advantage of it. Xenoblade Chronicles 3DS will be leading the charge later this year, a normal 3DS unable to do justice to the RPG’s huge scope. Amiibo Not just for use with the Wii U, these figurines can store fighter data for Smash Bros on 3DS and unlock characters for Code Name: STEAM. Though limited now, expect many more games to follow in the future.…

The dev Kevin Saunders Project Director, InXile Entertainment For a small- or medium-sized company it’s great. As long as there’s a niche that isn’t being served by the larger companies, the EAs of the world, then it does let you do far more than just what a one- or two-man indie team can do. The critic Leon Hurley News Editor, Kotaku UK I doubt it’s on the way out, but people have cooled on it. Its audience no longer see it as a magical place where dream sequels come to life, more a shop where you buy things that haven’t been made yet and cross your fingers. The fan Richard Cadman GM Reader I think it will always be there but another multi-million dollar funded game is going to be…

1 The shirt locker Microsoft executive Phil Spencer has used his body as a billboard in the past, and now he’s been fuelling froggy gossip with this teasing Battletoads t-shirt. This is the second recent hint at the series returning. 2 Bingo Banjo Robin Beanland, who works as a composer over at legendary British developer Rare, posted these musical notes with the words, “This is a huge year for Rare.” Is there a possible Banjo-Kazooie reboot in the works? 3 Blind Drake Has a retailer website slip-up just revealed the planned release date for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End? Well it certainly looks like that may be the case, as American outlet Walmart has listed the game for 1 October. 4 Vicipedia Dedicated Assassin’s Creed fans have taken to Wikipedia…

BY THE LOOK Borderlands on current gen! Ok, so it’s actually a remaster as opposed to something truly new, but these are still fine tidings. The Handsome Collection will include Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel, plus all the DLC for both. And you can transfer saves, and you can get a remote-controlled Claptrap in the special edition. Damn handsome indeed. MUSIC MAGPIE You may have heard of a little streaming service called Spotify. Well now that media upstart is set to be the soundtrack to all your PlayStation gaming, because from spring you’ll be able to have it on both your PS4 and PS3. Dark Souls to the strains of Brahms? Perfect. STREAM BELIEVER Nothing like a freshly unveiled operating system to have us at GM hot under the collar.…

A kind of magic The world was once magic-free, before an event known as ‘the conjunction of the spheres’ which unleashed supernatural forces on the land, changing life for its inhabitants forever. Gee wizard Humans were understandably pretty fascinated by the newfangled magic, studying it and in the process opening a door for powerful beasties to come wandering in and chew on everyone’s babies Monster mash Those aforementioned beasties really ran amok, and there was nothing anyone of human persuasion could do about it. You can probably see which bloodied directions this is all heading in. Those poor tasty infants. Almost human Yep, witchers came to existence, borne of arcane rituals which gave them magical powers but diminished their humanity. Geralt is one such chap. Humans remain suspicious of their…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Warner Bros Developer Rocksteady Out 2 June We’ve heard all about the introduction of the Batmobile for the caped crusader’s final Rocksteadypowered outing, but the game-changing motor won’t be the only new piece of kit making a show. Brucie’s upgraded grapnel boost will enable much higher skyward lurches as you navigate the city. This, combined with the improved gliding, will allow you to cover vast distances. Just hammer X while your cape is open to increase height and speed. Many of the new or improved gadgets will be usable while in the air too, with slow-mo activating for prime batarang placement when needed. “When designing a gadget, we want to create something with multiple uses that can be applied in different situations,” says lead designer…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Focus Home Interactive Developer Dontnod Entertainment Out 2016 Take everything you read here with a fairly hefty pinch of salt. Or perhaps that should be a bulb of garlic, given the bloodsucking subject matter. Because this is one we know very little about thus far – although it’s certainly intriguing. What we do know is this: Vampyr is an RPG – in fact, its subtitle is ‘The Role Playing Game’, which is fairly definitive. Skyrim, Final Fantasy, Dragon Age: consider yourself redundant. It’s being made by Dontnod, the developer behind Remember Me and the ongoing Life Is Strange – perhaps not Game of the Year fodder, but propositions that are pleasingly different, and enough to get the oh-so-tasty haemoglobin flowing for this next project. So…

Format PC Publisher Paradox Interactive Developer Obsidian Entertainment Released 26 March You know when you go back and play an old game – say, one that was made over a decade ago – and you can’t help but feel disappointed? Alongside those gilded memories of good times comes the stark realisation that the old tricks just don’t work anymore. Well, Obsidian’s oddly beautiful isometric RPG is doing something special. It’s tapping into the long-buried nostalgia nodes left behind by the likes of Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale while simultaneously being technically, visually and tonally now . We spent hours – literally – pruning the fine details of our first avatar in character creation. Each of the possible options for your hero don’t just inspire your character with…

Format Arcade Pub Bandai Namco Dev Bandai Namco Out Autumn The seventh entry in the other Japanese fighting game franchise (which currently has only been confirmed for an arcade release), has seen character reveals come thick and fast. Among them is Shaheen, a keffiyeh-wearing Saudi Arabian. The character’s design was thought up by Harada in cahoots with the Saudi Arabian government, as well as fan feedback crying out for a Middle Eastern jostler in the fighting juggernaut’s roster. That didn’t stop online hustle and bustle, however, as, just like it did when controversial catty J-pop idol Lucky Chloe was introduced, the interwebs got on a soapbox to complain. Series creator and indoor sunglasses-wearing apologist Katsuhiro Harada, in typically effervescent style, took on the mob. “We don’t need it,” said one…

Format PC Pub Tiny Build Dev Double Dutch Games Out Summer Dash Mario Kart’s motor racing brains against Nidhogg’s proclivity for sharp bursts of violence and you’ll find yourself delving into the gameplay realms of this endless running multiplayer indie mash-up. Pick your character, then your 2D stage, and then race against pals while attempting to stay on screen. It can get pretty hectic when your field of vision starts shrinking, and isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s a shade more complex to pick up and play than both of those aforementioned titles, mind, but you can get some practice in with the Early Access version, out now.…

BINDING OF ISAAC: REBIRTH You might hate it and think it hates you but there’s still something dragging you back to Nicalis’ basement on PS4. Whether it’s the permadeath, or the pills that ruin a perfectly good run, we’re not sure, but Isaac is still a monstrously addictive and moreish delight. HOTLINE MIAMI It doesn’t look too different from any other version you can get your murderous mitts on, but Devolver Digital’s slaughterfest is just as compelling on PS4 as it’s always been. You can even shake your DualShock 4 to commit executions like a psychotic cocktail waiter. Bloody Mary, anyone? LIMBO What’s black and white and ridiculously grim? No, not a penguin dressed up as death – or at least not only. Playdead’s learn-by-dying extravaganza as a young boy…

Charles Goldburn likes boats. A quick browse of his Planet Minecraft profile shows that he’s made 32 of them over the past couple of years, ranging from cargo ships, to vintage cruise liners, to superyachts like this one: the Atlantica. The build is 173 blocks long and 25 blocks wide, and is at 1:1 scale – so you can explore it as if you were on board one of its seven decks. It has five grand suites, several different viewing lounges, an infinity pool, a dining area, a games room and even an IMAX theatre. Below deck you can also explore the crew cabins and engine room, or head up top and pretend you’re the captain from the bridge. Just avoid an “I’m the king of the world!” moment.…

Format PS4, XO, PC (reviewed) Publisher 2K Developer Turtle Rock Out Now Players 1–5 When the co-op tactical shooting comes together, this monster battler is an exciting thrill ride through lush, dense and dangerous alien lands. When played alone or with a group of not-willing-to-work-as-one team-mates, it too often falls apart, resulting in boring combat and repetitive movements from stage to stage. With such a focus on diving in with friends in 4v1 matches, it’s even more of a shame that the monsters themselves are fantastic to fight, but less fun to play as. As a game that centres on progression – both mid-match and beyond – Evolve feels inconsistent. As a current gen only release, it does at least convey the rich, colourful alien landscapes of the planet Shear…

Techland made Dead Island. Techland made Dying Light. Both contain zombies but have nothing to do with each other. Wha? The Polish developer split with publisher Deep Silver, citing ‘creative differences’ in its pursuit of a more mature tone. The latter kept the licence, the former made a new one. The fact that this is a current gen only game speaks volumes, powering a complete freerunning system and scores of undead. The story isn’t as that nuanced, but if the aim was to beat Dead Island, Techland has done it.…

Damage done in Attila feels more permanent than ever. If a city is razed after a battle, the resulting desolation lasts for decades. You can invest money and troops to restore it, but it’s costly. Besieged settlements also gradually deteriorate – something you should consider when waiting for the defenders to capitulate, especially if you intend to occupy a town. The resulting damage is visible in the battles, too. Trees burn, walls crumble and structures rot. It might sound depressing compared to the sanitised progress of Rome, but it’s really not. There’s a desperation to the setting which means you’ll do anything to survive.…

When it comes to 3DS revisions, Nintendo has really only made subtle changes. Well, apart from the massive graphical overhaul and comprehensive 3D makeover. Firstly, the Bombers’ Notebook is now more detailed, making it easier to keep informed on all those sidequests you’re spinning around during your travels. There’s also a slightly updated schedule which acts as a better guide for staying on top of time-specific events. The most useful revision, though? The Song of Double Time now allows you to fast forward in handy one hour increments, rather than the half day jumps of the original. Oh, and you can enjoy a relaxing spot of fishing at the new expanded spots.…

1 TOMADACHI LIFE 3DS I’m not sure I should be trusted with life-sim games. I made a copy of everyone in the office and after a few ‘incidents’ they’re mad at me both in-game and in real-life. Dani Lucas, Production Editor 2 TOWERFALL ASCENSION PS4 Yep, it’s back – and the arrow catch is still the gaming equivalent of hitting a home run while nailing a bullseye while riding a shark. Naked. (Which I could totally do, I just don’t want to.) Joel Gregory, Editor 3 BRAVE FRONTIER MOBILE My pals in Nippon recommended this to me and I scoffed at first glance at its free-to-play bent. Turns out it’s a tidy little social RPG. Harmlessly addictive. Matt SG, Games Editor 4 FINAL FANTASY XIV PC I’ve been having a…

1 It was good to be a bullet sponge for once: the amount of damage that your monster could absorb made every credit feel well spent, no matter how rubbish you were. 2 The decision to include real-world cities for reduction to rubble gave the experience that little extra power fantasy frisson. 3 You could thump other players in the face and they’d reel back clutching their eyes. Griefing was alive and well in ’86. 4 A particularly moreish thrill of discovery as you trashed every open window to find food, furnishings, and lovely edible tenants. 5 De-mutating back into a puny human and shuffling sideways off the screen remains one of the medium’s most adorable Game Overs.…

Shinobi III: Return Of The Ninja Master Format Mega Drive Developer Sega Released 1993 Even after taking out four-armed loons and mad reality-bending machines, Round 3’s grisly Body Weapon ‘Hydra’ still came totally out of the blue. Only by dodging its targeting system, dirty great claws and laser spit could you successfully ninja it in the face. Pac-Mania Format Arcade Developer Namco Released 1987 After seven years of only power pellets to keep the ghosts of the maze from getting all up in Pac-Man’s cavernous grill, that jump button in Pac-Mania was a beautiful thing. The first press often led to a whole giggly game of launching him around the place like a golfer with no grasp of the rules but shedloads of enthusiasm. Deathchase Format Spectrum Developer Micromega Released…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Warner Bros Developer Techland Out Now 1 Regularly check your weapon stats to make sure you’re using the best ones you have available. You want as high a damage value as possible, but the handling stat is also important as it shows how difficult it is to wield – the lower the number, the slower you’ll swing it and the more stamina you’ll use up in the process. Be aware of how many hits your current weapon has left before it needs repairing, and make sure you have a backup available to quickly switch to, as you’re unlikely to have time to fix it in the middle of a fight with a horde of undead shufflers. Weapon upgrades can significantly improve your stats but they…

In the wake of our Star Letter this month ( see p6 ), we’ve decided to put together a jargon-busting lexicon of the most common abbreviations in the gaming world. Below you’ll find key terms, their definitions, and extremely common (and not at all made-up) usage examples. You’ll be bashing out those letter combinations like a pro in no time. Have any more to add to the list? Do us a solid and send some electronic mail to: gamesmaster@futurenet.com DOTA Defense Of The Ancients • A real-time strategy game of the MOBA genre (see MOBA) and one-time mod of Blizzard’s Warcraft 3. • A game with so many playable characters that it requires rigorous preparation to even understand, let alone play. “I’m going to go and play some…

CONTACT US Email gamesmaster@futurenet.com Twitter www.twitter.com/gamesmaster Facebookwww.facebook.com/ officialgamesmaster Post GamesMaster, 5 Pinesway Industrial Estate, Ivo Peters Road, Bath, BA2 3QS Cart of darkness I’m really frustrated. I miss the old days of cartridges. Every time I buy a new game I have to wait to install or download updates or season passes. It’s so annoying how I buy a game, finally finish it, and then they bring out extras that I’m expected to pay for. It’s crazy! £50 for a PS4 game and then more money for content passes! I have five girls and they have games and want all the extras to go with them. I need a money tree or real-life GTA Online. Paul Oxenham, email There’s no need to break the bank to be…

“This is what we were doing in the staff room,” writes Damian as he shows off his weekend projection-based gaming plans. That’s some impressive use of wall space! It’s gotten us papering over the mystery stains in the office so we can have a clear surface to do the same. Giant Mario? Yes please! Damian Gale, Facebook Little Max here is looking particularly excited about getting his hands on a PS3. Apparently he’s playing The Last Of Us, which seems unwise to us… but he appears happy enough. Perhaps he’s so gleeful because he just got his first headshot while taking down a clicker. Ben Clay, Facebook We’re not entirely sure why Grumpy Cat and Pikachu decided to hold a Gat Out Of Hell séance around Thomas’s ouija board here,…

Younger readers out there might not know it, but a singular release back in 1999 came to define the PC RPG genre. Planescape: Torment was a narrative-driven and wholly original title that was held up for decades as one of the greatest stories in game-dom. Now, over a decade and a half later, fans have backed a spiritual sequel to the tune of over $4 million. With Wasteland 2 in its rear-view mirror, and a pocketful of tech borrowed from chums and one-time Planescape colleagues over at Obsidian, InXile is gearing up to follow a legend. The question is… how? Q What makes this older style of RPG so alluring to work with? A Kevin Saunders: There were things that you could do with a pre-rendered background that are harder…

LENS FOREVER We try to be an enthusiastic bunch here on GM, and cynicism isn’t really our bag. But Microsoft HoloLens as hailing ‘the era of holographic computing’? We really don’t think so. The promotional material is typically slick, but the whole thing has a whiff of the Project Milo about it. We want to believe, we really do. We just… don’t. REWARD GAMES No more gold nunchuks for you. Come the end of June you’ll no longer be able to redeem your Club Nintendo stars, as the 12-year-old service is closing down. Feel free to rend your garments and howl at the moon in protest. On a brighter note, a replacement loyalty programme will be announced “at a later date.” Platinum nunchuks for all! THE REST OF THEM What…

GM AGENCY REPORT NAME Rico Rodrigue z DOB 25 Jan 1965 HOMETOWN Medici JOB Spy, Assassin, Despot toppler AFFILIA TION Ex-CIA, The Agency KNOWN ALIASES Scorpio LIKES Extreme sports. Being toasty warm by the fir e(s). Hanging out with friends. DISLIKES Quiet saunt ers along beachfronts. Open toe sandals. Being indoors. WING MAN You can pop down and grab yourself a vehicle, and from what we’ve played driving feels solid, but when you can fly with the wingsuit there’s little reason to, at least when covering shorter distances. It’s different from the one found in Far Cry, mainly as it’s a much more active affair. You’ll need to dip and swerve to keep up momentum. SUPPORTING ARSENAL Rico now has room for up to three weapons at once. There’s a…

Format Wii U Publisher Nintendo Developer Nintendo Out May The big N’s been taking a lot of first steps recently – free-to-play, season passes, an online service that doesn’t behave like some tiny Skynet that hated human fun – but it’s typical of gaming’s most seasoned weirdos to make another, their first go at an online third-person shooter, something of a first step for the medium as a whole. We already know Splatoon’s central hook: hipster squid people try to paint gaudy arenas in their team colours, making earning kills more a necessary by-product of trying to stop a rival ink being sprayed over your hard work. It turns level design into a target, the mandatory GamePad map into a scorecard and, most interestingly, guns into something far more than…

Format PS4, XO, Wii U, PC, PS Vita Publisher Heart Machine Developer Heart Machine Out Spring Subtlety and learning. Not words readily associated with a whole heap of videogames, but they’re applicable to this intriguing indie title. The former can be seen in the delightful art style: ostensibly a pixelated retro throwback, little touches (such as banners swaying gently in the background) reveal something much more sophisticated. As for learning? Well, while Dark Souls comparisons are as old hat as Badly Drawn Boy’s beanie by now, this is a game in which nothing is explained to you. No text, no tutorials, not even any item descriptions to pore over. This may change in the final release, but we’re inclined to hope it doesn’t – the sense of mystery present in…

Format Wii U Pub Nintendo Dev Nintendo Out 20 March Smash Bros fans may have been steadily building up their amiibo collections based on that game’s beefy character roster, but the next wave in Nintendo’s Near Field Communication toys is taking its cue directly from the plumber’s mainline series. Dubbed the Super Mario collection, figures of Mario, Luigi, Peach and the like will be able to take part in amiibo games in Mario Party 10. Each figurine will get its own game board to play on, with unique animations and special traits for each character, though there is one potential data-wiping caveat: just check out Dani’s rant on p17.…

Format PS4, XO Pub Square Enix Dev Square Enix Out 20 March According to game director Hajime Tabata, it’ll take about 40 hours to finish Type-0 HD for those who never got involved with the initial release. “But the real fun starts from the second playthrough since you get some new events,” he elaborates, “so you’ll probably be able to play for over 100 hours.” Thankfully voice tracks will be included for both English and Japanese, so purists can drink in the game as it was originally intended. The character movement speed has also been increased in the move from PSP to PS4/XO.…

“This is an all-new classic adventure game, from the same team that made Maniac Mansion and funded on Kickstarter, that will take you back to the golden era of the point-and-click. It’s the story of two washed up detectives and a body found floating in the river just outside the town of Thimbleweed Park. The game has five playable characters – including a cursed clown, a shunned heiress, and a (sort of) dead guy – and, like in Maniac Mansion, you can switch between them at any time to solve interrelated puzzles. Each character has their own story that intertwines with the others, and there are five different endings depending on how you work through the game and the choices you make. We like to think of it as a…

#1. We built this city First, locate a suitable site – you'll want somewhere easily accessible from your base, but not so close that you’ll have to put up with zombie moans. #2. Prepare thyself Gather the materials. For a basic 20x20 trap you’ll need several stacks of cobblestone, some ladders, eight water buckets, four hoppers, and a chest. #3. The build up Make a pillar 29 blocks high. That distance will allow mobs to still spawn while you’re standing at the base of the structure. Add a ladder up one side. #4. The build out Cobble a 20x20 square on top, then a 9x9 platform in each corner with two-block deep channels across the centre. Knock out the four blocks in the middle. #5. Go under cover Put the…

This month’s downloadables column is all about getting away. Not the feet up, sun-soaking kind, though. We’re talking about escaping, whether that be from zombies, xenomorphs, or Pagan Min’s guards. Again… Havoc, the star-studded first expansion for Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare, has arrived, and alongside four additional multiplayer maps comes the new Exo-Zombies mode. Featuring the theatrical talents of John Malkovich, Bill Paxton, Rose McGowan and Jon Bernthal, you play four Atlas employees embroiled in a suitably future-flavoured co-op survival mode. Over in Alien: Isolation, the third slice of downloadable goodness comes in the form of Safe Haven. Pick up this pack and you’ll find your Survivor mode beefed up with a new Salvage Challenge, which provides ten levels to live through as waves of foes line up against…

1 Rampage World Tour (PC, GBC, N64, PS1, Saturn, Arcade – 1997) For some reason it took 11 years for the follow-up to come out swinging, even with the original creators behind it. Results were mixed: a pleasing avoidance of any game-breaking changes, but the speeded-up action and weird Claymation art style did affect that crucial sensation of weight. Also, Torquay looked like Vegas and we’re pretty sure that’s not right. 2 Rampage 2: Universal Tour (GBC, N64, PS1 – 1998) It seems some Midway suits saw World Tour as a full reboot, hence the iffy numbering. Avalanche Software (now on Disney Infinity duty) took over and installed three new stars – Boris the rhino, Ruby the lobster and Curtis the rat – to free the original trio from captivity.…

We always wanted a nickname. Some cool moniker that would give us the street cred we craved, and stop the bigger kids forcing us to eat worms. Stuff like that just becomes degrading once you reach sixth form. It never happened for us, but Brad Pitt has unsurprisingly been a touch luckier. In Fury, a WWII movie that centres on one particular tank squadron, he’s known as Wardaddy – a title to make you king of the playground if ever there was one. Plus it probably doesn’t hurt that he’s got a massive Sherman and four hardened army vets under his command. Written and directed by David Ayer, whose previous work includes Harsh Times and the brilliant End Of Watch, the tale is one of behind-enemy-lines, against-all-odds combat as the…