Icon Land Rover Bond Edition

OUT AUG 2022

FIRST LOOK SAINTS ROW PS5, PS4, XSX, XB1, PC

When a new instalment for a series shows up without a colon or number, you know it’s a sign of a reboot. So almost a decade after Saints Row IV, Volition has decided to shake off the ‘GTA clone’ associations of its open-world gangster simulator with a new and slightly more grown-up identity.

Gone, then, are the 3rd Street Saints – as are fighting with oversized sex toys, plus the stratospherically over-the-top superpower tricks of the last entry. Saints Row is a fresh start set in a new location, Santo Ileso, as you play The Boss – who has decided to make their mark on this city by building their own criminal empire.

But while the cinematic reveal appears to have cemented the four main characters, including one permanently shirtless chap who pictures himself as a TV chef, full player customisation for The Boss is still present. That includes race and gender, and you’ll even be able to drop into online co-op with other Bosses.

As you try to take over each of the nine districts of Santo Ileso, you’ll be able to finance your gang’s activities by setting up fronts for illegal businesses, and you’ll need all the ammunition you can get to take down the city’s three main criminal rivals. It also sounds like the driving will be getting a big overhaul, with some inspiration taken from Baby Driver.

Despite reservations from the old fanbase, Saints Row feels like a much-needed refresh for the series. When it launches next August, it may just fill the GTA 6 hole that Rockstar doesn’t seem to be rushing to fill any time soon.

DOKEV

PS5, PS4, XSX, XB1, PC

How to explain the K-pop sugar rush that is DokeV? On the most basic level it’s South Korea’s answer to Pokemon from Pearl Abyss, the developers behind the billion-dollar-grossing MMO Black Desert Online. This creature-collecting game, however, is going to be an open-world action adventure. And what a gorgeous world it looks like, where you play as a baby-faced tyke with gaudier fashion sense than the inklings of Splatoon.

Where DokeV differs from Pokemon is that its battles against extra-dimensional beings are in real time as you summon powerful critters known as Dokebi, who can take the form of animals, plants or inanimate objects. Your own character can also get involved with appropriately kiddy weapons, including a bubble-gun, a giant mallet, and even bouncing around on a hoppity hop.

But what has us most pumped here – besides the ridiculously catchy theme song – is how you can choose to traverse this world, whether it’s cycling around or riding a strange creature, switching from skateboard to Jet Set Radio-style nitro-boosting rollerblades, and even being able to grapple thin air like in Monster Hunter Rise. It almost looks too good to be true, but count us hyped to find out more.

BEST OF FAMILIAR FACES FOR YEAR-END

CALL OF DUTY VANGUARD

PS5, PS4, XSX, XB1, PC Call of Duty will take players through the fire and the flames with another return to WWII. Studio Sledgehammer plans to transport players to well-trod locations in numerous theatres, on foot, in the air or encased in a metal behemoth – and that’s before obligatory multiplayer.

FORZA HORIZON 5

XSX, XB1, PC Boasting a larger map than ever, the fifth Horizon takes players down to Mexico for a little vehicular mayhem. It’ll be out by the time you read this, launching with a whole new set of multiplayer mini-games scattered around the map. Have fun messing with Drivatars, you hooligans.

GRAND THEFT AUTO V REMASTERED

PS5, XSX The game so good they released it three times, GTA V’s fourth release – on the current generation of games – is due early in 2022. Expect much the same game as the first three times, only better looking and faster than ever before.

INCOMING

DECEMBER

● HALO INFINITE ● AMONG US [CONSOLES] ● THYMESIA

JANUARY 2022

● GOD OF WAR [PC] ● POKEMON LEGENDS: ARCEUS ● RAINBOW SIX EXTRACTION