THE
GREATEST GAMES
F 2016 AND BEYOND!
LEGEND OF ZELDA DOOM UNCHARTED 4 GEARS OF WAR 4 NO MAN’S SKY FINAL FANTASY XV THE DIVISION STREET FIGHTER V AND MANY MORE!
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CONTACT US Email gamesmaster@futurenet.com Twitter www.twitter.com/gamesmaster Facebook www.facebook.com/ officialgamesmaster Web www.gamesradar.com/gamesmaster Post GamesMaster, Future, Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, BA1 1AU, UK
Hype dreams
This month you lot picked your brains and sent in ideas for the perfect game… A new Super Mario Galaxy, but with Rosalina as the main protagonist! Lucas S. Robinson, Facebook
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The best of your emails, tweets, and carrier pigeon death threats ase f a n fanb ba se se ba
Few game companies are as difficult to predict as Nintendo – no one could have foreseen the incredible rise of the Wii.
L E T T E R
of the month
Alex asks, what does Nintendo’s future hold?
I
t’s hard to look at my Wii U and not be concerned for Nintendo. It’s arguably one of the best pieces of hardware around, with a great controller, yet it has a tiny fraction of the market share. The key is the lack of third party support and the inevitable loss of audience that comes with it. That’s not to say the Wii U is a failure, far from it, but it raises the question: what’s next for Nintendo? The NX is a clear indication that it still wants to be a player in the console market, but it runs the risk of becoming the next Sega, by banking on innovation at the expense of the core gamer. The Dreamcast was so ahead of
its time – and that was its downfall. Only later would gamers realise they did want online gaming… Nintendo could fall into this trap – if it continues to push innovation so much, it will only ever appeal to hardened fans. But if the NX can surpass the XO and PS4 in power, and compromise with a more ‘traditional’ controller, big publishers will be able to port games to it, bolstering the NX library and allowing it to compete with Sony and Microsoft. Will it happen? Honestly, I doubt it. As a loyal fan, I’ll be there to the end. I just hope that’s not as close as it seems. Alex Shute, email It’s an interesting point – Nintendo’s unique way of doing things has led both to both its biggest successes and its worst failures. Never count it out though. The Big N has the resources to ride out a lot of rainy days yet, and it always pulls a brilliant surprise out of the bag just when you’re least expecting it! Find more NX musings on p18. n
win!
Got an opinion? Have even the barest grasp of words and how to put them together? The best letter bags a free mystery game!* The Wii U may have faltered at market, but over the same period the 3DS has been a big success.
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January 2016
*Don’t forget to include your postal address and chosen format!
A Star Wars game with massive planetary battles and different roles to choose from. It would have the ground combat of Battlefront, the tactical aspect of Empire At War, and the air combat of Rogue Squadron. All of them coming into play in huge combat scenarios with everyone playing their part. Sean Mike Hollyman, Facebook I just want a good new Sonic game… Sam Og, Facebook You play as Leon Kennedy, who has been tasked with rescuing the president’s daughter from a village in rural Spai... Resident Evil 4. Just, Resident Evil 4. Rob Manifield, Facebook A Back To The Future trilogy for the PlayStation where you can actually drive (and fly!) the DeLorean time machine. John Dooris, Facebook We had a think on this one too. Matt’s would be an infinite sci-fi take on Dark Souls, Robin wants an open-world RPG where you can genuinely do or say absolutely anything you want, and Sam’s imagining the explosive action of Call Of Duty combined with a fighter plane sim . Well come on game developers, get on this lot!
Rock banned
I’ll tell you what really p****s me off, it’s these bulls**t games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The misguided youth of
BUG OF THE MONTH
Daniel Reid has sent in this heartwarming shot of Jacob Frye cheerfully giving one of his gang members a piggyback ride in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.
Got a great screenshot of a bug you’ve run in to? Send it in!
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fanbase
Reader’s top 5 OPEN WORLDS
Your TOP 5
Glen’s travelled the world(s) to bring us this sandbox-celebrating list The Elder Watch Dogs 4 1 Scrolls V: Hacking into people’s Skyrim mobile phones and I put 215 hours into this one – I think that speaks volumes!
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
2
listening to their conversations is hilarious!
5
The three distinct islands/cities were awesome at the time.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
3
A beautiful-looking game, and sailing the Caribbean in your pirate ship is amazing.
You’ve got a fever, and the only cure is a new Zelda. Or, failing that, a bunch of guns and demons…
Just Cause 2
The biggest open world I’ve ever seen! The draw distance is humongous and really impressed me.
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Glen Britton, Facebook Disagree? Why not head over to our Facebook page and tell us what your top five would be! n
That developers are listening to the players more than ever. James Champion, Facebook
The Legend of zelda
Format Wii U ETA Winter It was only the briefest of glimpses, but that Nintendo Direct teaser has gotten you more excited than ever.
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Indie devs creating the sort of games I used to play on my SNES or Megadrive! deKay, @deKay01 The fact that games that would never have happened before are now being made because of stuff like Kickstarter. I can’t wait for Yooka-Laylee – it’s going to be such a joy to play! Mike Hier, Facebook
“guitar hero and rock band should be banned immediately” today spend ungodly hours training themselves to get good at these games, only for it to amount to absolutely nothing, where they could actually have learnt an instrument in that time, created some terrific original songs, and shared them with the world. Instead these kids do nothing but drool at a screen and learn, essentially, how to dance with their fingers, and nothing more. These games should be banned immediately, along with a list of other games I would certainly love to share with you, should you wish to hear them. Robert Roemer, email Woah there Robert, cool your boots! Guitar Hero and Rock Band are like any
other games – they’re about having fun. Sure, you could be doing something more productive, but by that logic you’d never watch a film or TV, go out for a meal, or do anything relaxing at all! We have to admit though, we’re curious what other games are in your bad books. Please do let us know, and we’ll see if we can argue their case!
Glad world
What’s the best thing happening in games right now? This is a bit chocolate box, but I think it’s the community and people within the culture. Stuart Cullen, @FuryAc3
Uncharted 4
Format PS4 ETA 18 March It looks like there’s Nathan you guys wouldn’t do to get your hands on Naughty Dog’s next instant classic.
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We’re glad you guys are thinking positive! Let’s head into 2016 with smiles on our faces, ready for another year of awesome gaming. n
Dishonored 2
Format PS4, XO, PC ETA Summer This surprise entry snuck in at the last minute, knife in hand, and slashed its way to number three.
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doom
Format PS4, XO, PC ETA Summer Watch out all you cyber-space-demons – the GM fanbase is just itching to grab a gun and blow you away.
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off the chart!
Can you eat numbers? Only in pie form 41% Your favourite ever robot 25% Movies that should be made into games 19% The best open worlds 09% Looking forward to 2016’s titles 06% Gaming arts and crafts
www.gamesradar.com/gamesmaster
hitman
Format PS4, XO, PC ETA 11 March For the second month running, this contract killer lurks in the shadows of fifth place, biding its time…
January 2016
07
Feature On The Cover!
THE
GREATEST GAMES
F 2016 AND BEYOND!
Sometimes we astonish even ourselves. Have we really managed to pull together a 100-strong roster of 2016’s (with, sure, a few of 2017’s) most exciting games across all formats into one gargantuan incredi-list? We have – and here they are, unranked and ready for your perusal!
THE 100 GREATEST GAMES OF 2016
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02 Matt’s Pick! The Definitive Edition has me bloodthirsty to leap back into the svelte boots of Corvo and co once more.
Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher EA Developer Bioware ETA Winter
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Bioware loves Mako-ing us wait his Shepard-less sequel to the epic sci-fi RPG trilogy not only takes place hundreds of years in the future, but relocates to a brand new setting in the Milky Way’s neighbouring galaxy, Andromeda. It’ll be chock-full of new races to rendezvous with (and romance), powerful new technologies to wield, and massive open planets to explore. Mass Effect’s six-wheeled Mako returns freshly redesigned to be less… annoying, to help with that, so expect more planet-roaming geographical freedom than ever.
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Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Bethesda Developer Arkane Studios ETA Spring
Dishonored 2 Sing when your Kaldwin-ing ime to reprise your role as supernatural sneak Corvo Attano, or discover a whole new set of powers with the now-playable Emily Kaldwin – the former empress who, after being dethroned in the 15 years following Arkane Studio’s first stealth-action game, must reclaim her rightful place as ruler over the Empire Of The Isles. Based on the new Void engine rather than Dishonored’s Unreal Engine 3, expect a painterly tropical paradise (nasty plague and rampant moral corruption aside) to teleport, stab, and time-warp through.
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03
Format PS4, 3DS Publisher Square Enix Developer Square Enix ETA Spring 2017
Dragon Quest XI Format XO Publisher Microsoft Studios Developer Reagent Games ETA Summer
Crackdown 3 Crack in action
ong a firm favourite for Xbox 360 fans, it’s perplexing to some that it’s taking Microsoft so long to bring one of the few genuinely exclusive IPs of this generation to Xbox One. Crackdown 3’s take on open-world sandbox play, where almost every element can be destroyed, promises much – and not just because it’s in the hands of the series’ original creator, David Jones.
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05
Having the slime of our lives
he latest instalment in Square Enix’s blockbuster RPG franchise is seemingly split across three rather different outings for three different consoles. On PS4, the game will run on Unreal Engine, rendering adorable slimes with painterly flair. The 3DS version, meanwhile, will display full 3D on the top screen, and a 16-bit depiction of the same scene on the lower display. And then there’s the NX… The game was confirmed for the in-development system, and then quickly unconfirmed (see p18 for details!) – but we reckon that change of tune has more to do with a slap on the wrist from Ninty than any real shift in Square’s plans. With the new console shrouded in secrecy, it’s hard to say what this version of the game will be like. For all we know it’ll be controlled with a flour tortilla. You heard it here first.
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Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Studio Wildcard Developer Studio Wildcard ETA June
ARK: Survival Evolved Dino another day ecome lord of the ’saurs by rapidly evolving from nearly naked caveman to armoured trooper with access to advanced weaponry. This food chain begins with you plonked squarely at the bottom, eating berries and bashing bits of wood together to make spears, but scouring the archipelago turns up rarer resources for craftables deadly (sniper rifle) and delicious (steak tartare). Of course, it also turns up dinosaurs, but there’s strength in numbers. That’s why establishing groups helps combat the elements – elements here being mammoths, giant centipedes, and indeed other people. This is a multiplayer ascent of man set on fast forward. Crossed with The Flintstones.
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www.gamesradar.com/gamesmaster
Format PS4 Pub Square Enix Dev Square Enix ETA Summer 2017
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Squeenix’s ultimate weapon
Things that we know: Tetsuya Nomura, the man responsible for designing Cloud and co, is at the helm – and he’s revealed that there are many changes in store. We also know that Nobuo Uematsu, the genius composer behind the original game’s soundtrack, is not working on the project. Could this be a sign that the OST will be updated rather than wholesale changed? We hope so – those are some of gaming’s most classic ditties. Square has revealed that this will release in chunks, episodically, as rendering Midar and the rest in 2016-o-vision is a mammoth task. One thing’s for certain – waiting until 2017 for this unbelievable comeback is going to be difficult.
06
Format PS4, XO, PC Pub Focus Home Interactive Dev Dontnod ETA Autumn 2017
Vampyr
A rush of blood
Following the runaway success of episodic adventure Life Is Strange, developer Dontnod is working on something with more… bite. Taking place in the aftermath of the Great War, it casts you as a military surgeon/bloodthirsty vampire Jonathan E. Reid. Now that’s synergy. The setting is London, at the height of the Spanish flu pandemic, and you’ll have the option to help or hunt your stricken patients. While draining a derelict might provide you with new vampiric powers, your indigent victim’s death won’t go unnoticed, with consequences reflected in the grimy game world.
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JANUARY 2016
25
Feature On The Cover!
Matt’s Pick! Having the end of Souls in sight is a terrifying prospect, but I’m betting on From taking us out with a bang.
17 Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher Bandai Namco Developer From Software ETA 12 April
DARK SOULS III Take a load off in Lodeleth ithin six short years, we’ve seen an unbelievable output from From Software. Three Dark Souls games, Bloodborne, and Demon’s Souls, alongside five slabs of substantial DLC… perhaps it’s reasonable to assume that this is why Miyazaki, the company president and mastermind of the studio’s nails-hard action RPG resurgence, believes it’s time to move on. Dark Souls III will be the studio’s final game in this particular mould, we’re told.
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And that theme of ending permeates much of what we’ve played so far. Death and decay is everywhere, despite the yawning sunrise (or is that sunset?) bathing Lodeleth in uncharacteristic light. What’s that about a fire burning brightest just before it goes out? That illumination puts our early impressions of Dark Souls III starkly at odds, in a good way, with the studio’s last outing, Bloodborne. Something that has our hands clammy at the prospect is the mysterious aspect of Battle
Arts. Do you remember your first time playing through the first Dark Souls, when every weapon discovered came with a whole new moveset waiting to be unravelled? That was lost somewhat in Dark Souls II, where many of the weapons were reskinned versions of ones already seen. In DSIII, each foe-basher has its own hidden move for canny players to unearth. Even in the series’ final throes, there are unexpected surprises. www.twitter.com/gamesmaster
THE 100 GREATEST GAMES OF 2016
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19
Format PS4, PS3 Publisher Harmonix Developer Harmonix ETA January
AMPLITUDE Never miss a beat
efore Harmonix began its decadespanning campaign to fill living rooms with dinky guitars, there was Amplitude, a controller-based rhythm game set to pounding electronic beats. Now, following a Kickstarter, it’s been resurrected with a whole new soundtrack, nifty HD visuals, and refined gameplay. “We were looking for new ways to develop games and thought that Amplitude would be a perfect experiment to see what crowdfunding felt like,” creative lead Ryan Lesser tells us. “Turns out it’s kind of awesome!”
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Format XO, PC, Mobile Publisher Ron Gilbert, Gary Winnick Developer Ron Gilbert, Gary Winnick ETA June
Thimbleweed Park Click, click, click, click, boom onkey Island man Ron Gilbert hopes to grow his legacy with this Kickstarted, character-swapping point-and-click. The story weaves together a whole tangle of plot threads: there’s the cursed clown who can’t remove his makeup, the X-Files-inspired detectives investigating a murder, and one poor man who awakes to discover he’s dead. Gilbert’s favoured SCUMM system makes a return, offering nine methods of interaction (push, pull, use, etc.) with a given object. One example, which hints at the type humour you can expect, is ‘use balloon animal with corpse’. We’ll leave the results of that to your imagination.
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Format PS4 Pub Sony Dev Media Molecule ETA Winter 2016
DREAMS Sleeping beauty
Format PS4, XO, PC Pub Devolver Digital Dev Flying Wild Hog Out Summer
SHADOW WARRIOR 2
Hanging with Wang
his create-a-game is essentially LittleBigPlanet in 3D, but whereas players in that series relied on glitches and exploits to trick it into playing along, Dreams has no such limits. Create models, movies, songs and levels, and share them online for others to discover. Examples we’ve seen so far include a top-down dungeon-crawler, a forest-set shoot-’em-up, a football match against bots, a snowboard race down a mountain, and a mad dash around a stage made of cake. Brace yourself for flying willies.
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You’re back as supernaturally silly ninja Lo Wang, armed with a shotgun, katana, and an arsenal of naughty one-liners to reel off while chopping up hordes of squishy mutants. It’s not going to win any awards for subtlety, but when you can disembowel an eight-foot tumour monster with twin uzis, before shredding the offspring that spews from its quivering body, who cares? Expansive areas in which you parkour across rooftops and silently (but violently) assassinate foes break up the action, which is also playable in two-person co-op. Satisfyingly stupid fun.
21
Format Wii U, Arcade Pub Namco Bandai Dev The Pokemon Company ETA Summer
Pokkén Tournament Pikachu you looking at?
You control your critter crew directly in this 3D fighting game, rather than bark out orders like usual, and this results in faster and meaner fighting than any old Stadium scrap – the title’s resemblance to Tekken is no coincidence. The roster’s a mix of monsters old and new, featuring Lucario, Gengar, Charizard, Suicune, Gardevoir, Blaziken, Pikachu (rocking an adorable lucha libre outfit), and more, all boasting optional Mega forms. With Weavile’s fluffy fur and Machamp’s glistening pecs, these are the most detailed Poké-models ever seen, and at 60 fps, Pokkén Tournament touts the responsiveness necessary for hardcore fight fan appeal.
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www.gamesradar.com/gamesmaster
JANUARY 2016
31
IndieMaster The Best Of The Indie Scene!
Format PC Developer No Matter ETA Winter Web http://bit.ly/gmpreyforthegods
#2 Prey For The Gods No business like snow business
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hat do you mean you’ve seen enough snow? It’s winter! Well, if it helps, this heap of the chilly white stuff not only has huge behemoths for you to battle in the style of Shadow Of The Colossus, but has even had the nod of approval by the devs of that classic. Have we got your attention yet? Prey For The Gods is set on a desolate frozen island where you have to battle said deities and survive the freezing elements. The one god we’ve seen so far is frankly colossal (yes, pun intended) with our young hero a mere ant in comparison. Our first question for the team is what they think of the inevitable fingers pointing in the direction of Team Ico’s PS2 classic. “It’s great!,” enthuses game director Brian Parnell. “I think it’s expected at this point. Having Takeshi Asano, a level designer on SOTC, reach out and in his own opinion say the game looked very good was a great feeling.”
Frost bites
However this isn’t just a snowy clone of Wander’s adventures. It’s a tale of survival in the wilderness, with battling these enemies only part of a bigger story. Wolves hunt the snowy landscape and there is clearly a mystical side to the narrative as our lone hero discovers shrines and standing stones. “With the first trailer, our intentions were to be clear to the audience that you will climb big things,” explains Parnell. “To
When it comes to the snowy setting, the studio has been influenced by its roots in Massachusetts.
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Small… But Perfectly Formed
The best indies to banish those January blues
#1
Catlateral Damage
#2
Poly Bridge
#3
Nidhogg
#4
The Room Three
#5
Proteus
Challenge-wise Parnell says we’ll make our own difficulty levels, dependent on the way we choose to tackle enemies.
show the level of impact they will have on the player. And in my opinion that’s pretty much the only thing that’s similar to SOTC.” Parnell isn’t giving too much away but we should probably pack tennis rackets for our feet. “You’ll definitely see a lot of snow,” he teases. “Snow has a large effect on the player. It impacts the level of exhaustion, speed of the character, and various other stats. You’ll need to find items that’ll help you combat the dangers you’ll find. To survive, you’ll need to get things like wood, food, clothing, and shelter.” The team’s still finalising how many enormous foes you might meet along the way, but it won’t just be a case of hunt by numbers. “We’re planning to let the player engage in their own way,” says Parnell. “The way to defeat them won’t be completely linear. We want people to meet and discuss how they chose to play the game and tell their story. I think there’s something incredibly compelling in that.” n
If the internet has proven anything, it’s that cats fix pretty much all woes. Rid yourself of the post-Christmas grump with this first-person experience where you make as much mess as possible with your little furry paws. It’s great for when you’re feline destructive.
While there’s sometimes an element of frustration to this bridge building sim, the sheer joy of watching traffic cross your creations is glorious. Combine that with a simplistic, colourful art style, and building your very own Golden Gate is the gaming equivalent of chicken soup. Mmm, bridge flavour.
Nothing makes Team GM happier than a fence off, and then a rush to meet a giant mythological serpent from Norse lore. If you haven’t already had the pleasure, turn on your PC/PS4, pick up a friend, plonk them onto the sofa, and hand them an épée/controller. You’ll be smiling in no time.
It’s not bright and cheerful – and ok, it’s super creepy – but sitting down with a good puzzle and a cup of tea on a cold winter’s night is just perfect. This third entry in the series delivers. Ridiculously touchable on both iPhone and iPad, it scratches the happy-making puzzle itch that jigsaws just can’t reach.
Ok, so no winter holiday to a far-flung sunny destination for you. How about some pixelated vitamin D instead? Head out for a nice balmy walk through the melodic forests of Proteus and all those January woes will just slip away. Ahhh, even the rain in this procedurally-generated world cheers us up. n
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Format PS4, XO, PC Dev Ice-Pick Lodge ETA Winter Web http://bit.ly/gmpath
#3 Pathologic
Sick of cheery indie games?
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here’s something horribly intriguing about plagues – they’re dark and terrifying, but somehow incredibly fascinating too. Er, just us? Well, at least Ice-Pick Lodge is on our level. Pathologic is a remake of the game of the same name from 2005. Made by the original Russian devs, this new version is an attempt to fully realise their original vision, made possible by a successful Kickstarter. A highly infectious disease has swept through a mysterious remote town, and you play as one of three well-meaning healers who are caught up amidst the chaos of the epidemic. You have to pick between a doctor, a girl who thinks she can cure illness with her hands, and finally a character that the dev team disturbingly call a ‘talented amateur who’s fond of experimental surgery.’ You have 12 in-game days to try and aid the town as it gradually dies of the ‘Sand Plague’. Slowly degrading
the brain and circulatory systems, it is terrifyingly deadly.
Disease-y rider
If you don’t like choosing what junk to drop in Fallout 4, the choice on offer here might just send you over the indecisive edge. While Ice-Pick Lodge doesn’t want the game to be too challenging, you’re going to have to make big decisions. Food, water, weapons, and medicine need to be juggled, in a desperate fight to stay infection-free while you try and save the town. And you can’t dawdle – over time, the situation becomes increasingly deadly, as victims fall and morals lapse. The location is a character in itself. Called Steppe Town, it centres around a slaughter house, has districts named after body parts – nice – and plenty of inhabitants to interact with. And one playthrough won’t divulge all its secrets – we’ll apparently want to dive back in multiple times to take on the disease in different ways, with more than 70 hours of plague-tackling on offer. Pass the antibacterial handwash. n
Following you around are the Tragedian (pictured here) and the Executor (above), who indicate how your decisions are affecting the game.
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Format PS4, PC Dev Pentadimensional ETA Summer Web http://bit.ly/gmmegaton
#4 Megaton Rainfall Do be a hero
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k, so it has a pretty recognisable set-up, but wow is it a solid one. Who wouldn’t want to play as an indestructible alien being with cosmic powers and faster-than-light flight? Super-who? From Spanish indie dev Alfonso del Cerro, Megaton Rainfall wants you to save the world. Again. Del Cerro’s obsession with the original Superman movies means he’s aiming for you to have complete freedom of movement just like the Man Of Steel himself. Want to fly from the equivalent of London to New York faster than Concord? Go for it. Perhaps take in the lack of air outside of the earth’s
atmosphere? Affirmative, that’s in there too. But what’s the drill? Goons and villains? Not quite. While you can go anywhere you please across the procedurally generated Earth, and can’t technically die, there’s a serious threat to take on: a full-scale alien invasion.
Cape escape
Cities are scattered across the life-sized(!) planet, and each one has its own health bar. While your weapons can shoot energy blasts to destroy the attacking forces, you’ll need to watch out for human casualties, as aiming slightly awry could take down a whole skyscraper. Add in VR support and a full physics based destruction system, and this is definitely one to keep your laser eyes on in 2016. n
“aiming slightly awry could take down a whole skyscraper”
Nice world you’ve got here. It would be a shame if you accidentally destroyed it while fighting off an army of alien invaders.
JANUARY 2016
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Review
loves…
The Final Verdict!
Talking your way out of trouble always feels suitably tense. Some of your decisions do actually have a real impact…
hates… …but are often not as hard to make as Telltale seems to think. Poor Mira’s guard-bothering exploits have finally caught up with her… will she end up paying the ultimate price?
It’s really not a looker of a game. More Mance than Margaery.
Better than…
Game Of Thrones
This dreadful RPG was far uglier than Telltale’s effort, even at its very prettiest, and its story was a comparatively tedious affair.
Format PS4, XO (reviewed), PC, PS3, 360, Mobile Publisher Telltale Games Developer Telltale Games ETA Out now Players 1
Game of Thrones: The Ice Dragon A fitting end to the Forrester saga
What’s George RR Martin’s favourite game? Yahtzee. Why, what did you expect?
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y the close of the last episode, the Forresters were in quite the bind. Ironrath was under siege, Gared’s chum Cotter had been wounded in their quest to find the mysterious North Grove, and handmaid Mira was discovering the snakes’ nest of King’s Landing does bite, and hard. With so much to tie up in one episode, it’s impressive that Telltale manages it to this degree, even if one plot thread in particular end ups raising more questions – and baffling ones at that – than it answers. This episode does capture the sweeping, winner-takes-all stakes worthy of an HBO season-closer. You make some big decisions that feel like they have a genuine impact on the course of the action, despite the fact that it’s all funnelling you towards one inevitable endpoint. But the getting there feels like
you’d hope – all last-minute plotting, and panicky attempts to save your own skin. One of the most effective parts of The Ice Dragon, however, comes after the action. Characters such as Jon Snow, Margaery Tyrell, and Ramsay Bolton recap the Forrester clan’s exploits in chatty fashion, reminding you of all the decisions you made, defiant triumphs you managed, and people you screwed over. It’s essentially a way of delivering the ‘you and X per cent of players did this’ sequence that Telltale so loves to taunt/ console you with, but it’s done in a fashion that makes you feel like you did truly helm the little family, and helps tie together what have sometimes felt like meandering journeys, crystallising them into a nutshell overview of your strategy as a whole.
Ice and fire
This has been a bit of a mixed bag of a series – more season five than season three, to put it in HBO terms – which at points felt like a bit of a heel-dragging march to get all the pieces in the right
“it’s been a mixed bag of a series, but it’s captured the tense feeling of westeros” 78
JANUARY 2016
place. At its best, though, it’s captured the tense, trust nobody feeling of being in Westeros with superb accuracy. It’s telling that while interacting with familiar characters from the TV series – all modelled on and voiced by their on-screen equivalents – is always a thrill, they do feel like tangential encounters. The Forresters end up being the ones you really care about. Given that their position in Game Of Thrones canon is limited to just one passing mention in one of the books, Telltale has pulled off a good balancing act here: their obscurity means you’re not going to be messing with any key mainstream plotlines, but the glimpses you see of things such as the Red Wedding, or Cersei Lannister’s chambers, keep you feeling well-grounded in this fictional universe. It hasn’t always been done with the greatest of visual finesse, mind. The art style aims for ‘watercolour’, but ends up more like ‘paint palette after a primary school class is done with it’– all ragged edges and unfortunate shonkiness. We often find our framerate stuttering, a problem that seems to worsen through the series. and loading times tend to be slow. Still, given we’ll be waiting months for another HBO season, we’ll take all the Westeros we can get, even if the brush strokes are occasionally broad. n
Worse than…
The Walking Dead: Season One
The game that surprised everyone with its quality, and set the benchmark for all episodic adventures to follow.
2ND OPINION “A muddled, unsatisfying end to a mess of a season, and Telltale’s worst work to date. Instead of tying up plot threads, this finale occupies itself with setting up a sequel, adding insult to the injury that is the glacial pace of episodes one to five. Play Tales From The Borderlands instead.” Robin Valentine, Production Editor
Judgement %
78
A sweeping, if imperfect, saga, that takes a house of nobodies and makes you truly care. Emma Davies
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BLOODBORNE: THE OLD HUNTERS
loves…
Oof, is there some sort of skin cream you could start using mate? Or maybe just a brown paper bag?
Amazing new weapons alter how you play the game. This world is as crisply designed as Miyazaki’s best.
hates… Some parts will try the patience of the most saintly player. Having to start again or muscle through NG+ to get in is a chore.
Better than…
Dark Souls: Artorias Of The Abyss
…but only just. The Old Hunters feels longer, richer, and more cohesive than the admittedly brilliant Dark Souls DLC. Format PS4 Publisher Sony Developer From Software ETA Out now Players 1-3
Bloodborne: The Old Hunters How many times did Matt wish he could go back to Mother Base for a shower? Once every 30 minutes. Thanks, MGS V.
Old dogs and new tricks make for a triumphant expansion
I
t’s hard to enthusiastically describe something as nasty as this DLC expansion. It can be hailed as wonderful, generous, and enjoyable, but those words somehow miss the point entirely. At times, this extra slice of Bloodborne feels like punishment for a past crime. Or an ancient gypsy curse. It’s like opening a Kinder Surprise, finding offal inside, and loving it. Everything about The Old Hunters is difficult. Even accessing the DLC is hard, but it’s part of what makes it so brilliant. Everything here has narrative purpose. While new players get access early on, actually visiting the Hunter’s Nightmare before level 60 is suicidal. We can’t think of another expansion so carefully incorporated into the existing world. Areas you’ve previously visited undergo subtle changes, and new characters appear in familiar places. Playing through, you get the feeling it was
always there, waiting to be discovered, like a spider in the laundry pile. All Miyazaki’s trademarks are here: vicious, bottlenecking areas crowded with enemies; items that glitter in the shadows, tempting you into ambushes; and bosses you’ll learn to hate, but celebrate defeating. Without spoiling things, this does loads of stuff fans of the Souls series will recognise from previous games, but they never feel lazy or rehashed. Instead, they offer smart reminders of themes Miyazaki has previously used. (Think the rotating staircase from the Duke’s Archives, or the shrouded prison cells of the Tower Of Latria.) You’ll recognise the process of edging through an unfamiliar place, but experiencing it remains a bubbling, bloody cocktail of terror and relief. This isn’t scanty, season-pass DLC, either. The Old Hunters will take days, weeks even. The area is huge and varied. Rivers of blood flow to (or from) pits piled with moaning corpses. Hidden elevators carry you to forsaken laboratories. As well as being massive, certain sections
“No other games makes you feel so good about opening a gate, or unlocking a shortcut” www.gamesradar.com/gamesmaster
will keep you busy for entire evenings. It can be frustrating, but such whinging is eclipsed by the joy of success. No other game makes you feel so good about opening a gate, or unlocking a shortcut.
Gore tech
The original Trick Weapons delivered variety and eccentricity, but The Old Hunters takes it to another level. Many of the new tools have a gimmick that totally alters their properties, so it’s rarely a case of switching between a quick attack and a heavy attack. The Boom Hammer, for example, can be set alight so every swing ends with a boisterous explosion. We choose the Whirligig Saw, because a) it minces enemies in showers of burning sparks and b) sounds like a really dangerous fairground ride. All the new weapons feel wild and unpredictable, like nitrous oxide on a mobility scooter. Terrifying to face, amazing to wield. Some people will look at The Old Hunters and wonder why anyone would pay money to be relentlessly punished. But it’s an essential purchase for anyone who’s played Bloodborne. The weapons are more exciting and the bosses more challenging. You’ll dread every new challenge, but welcome their revelations. In an age when some DLC can be polished off in a day, it’s a thrill to play an expansion that‘ll last you bloody ages. n
Worse than…
Dark Souls 2: Crown Of The Old Iron King
Another close one, but Crown Of The Old Iron King remains the finest bit of From Software DLC. Ever.
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need to know You’ll need to fight your way into this DLC. First, kill Vicar Amelia. Next, find the Eye of a Blood-Drunk Hunter. Finally, get grabbed by a giant hand in the Oedon Chapel… then return and level-up. A lot.
Judgement %
92
Gruelling, gruesome, but ungrudging, it expands on all that’s great about the original. Marvellous. Matt Elliott
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RetroMaster We
❤ Old Games!
Rebelstar Raiders
Rebelstar (Amstrad CPC, Spectrum – 1986)
PF Squad
Before Laser Squad, before X-COM, Julian Gollop’s original task force of turn-based raiders and bin-shaped combat droids was infiltrating a moonbase to melt down a supercomputer. All for two quid!
Metal Slug (PC, PS1, Saturn, Neo-Geo CD, Arcade – 1996)
The Peregrine Falcon Squad, elite troopers led by old hands Marco and Tarma. First targeted General Morden’s Rebel Army; soon ran into surprise shootouts with mummies, mutants, and Mars People.
Six Of The Best…
Action Squads
The agents, crackshots, mages, and robots that’ve got your back
S
mells like team spirit! Single-minded purpose and efficiency are what we looked for in this gathering of go-getters – that and their place on small, tight-knit teams of fearless crusaders (or barely controlled nutters), unlike the One-Man Armies we saluted a few issues back. Casting the net wide would have captured hundreds of team players from films, TV, and comics, but even sticking to gaming originals gives us dozens of outfits rustled up since the birth of the character select screen. Not all from the military or law enforcement either, despite modern squad-based tastes. Similarly, bone-snapping sports superteams from the likes of Speedball and Mutant League have been held in reserve for future playoffs of their own. Yes! We make the rules! So for now, the gang’s all here… n
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JANUARY 2016
Smith Syndicate
Killer7 (GameCube, PS2 – 2005)
Harman Smith and his seven loopy hunter-killers with a twist. Between them they could shoot, scan, revive, chuck knives, wrestle, and gather the blood of invisible laughing enemies to boost their stats. Standard.
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Grab Bag
Retro gems from every era
Awesome Boss!
Burning Rangers
Burning Rangers (Saturn – 1998)
A rare non-violent action squad, unless you count smashing fire in its stupid hot face. Shou and Tillis led the firefighting charge with jetpacks and pulse lasers, as you do, in this deliriously cheesy Sonic Team oddity.
Baten Kaitos Origins Format GameCube Developer Monolith Soft Released 2006
The Holoholo Jungle in this card battle RPG prequel was the lair of the giant Holoholobird, and verily, it was a nightmare. Egging out aggro chicks on demand was brutal enough without a total party knockdown attack and sky-high HP. Many a player got cornered at the start of disc two with no way to grind before the fight. But oh, the satisfaction when that big turkey was roasted…
Classic Moment! Warriors of Light Final Fantasy (NES – 1987)
Got the orbs to save the world from Chaos? This lot did. Four heroes, four elemental crystals to recharge, and four boss Fiends to mess up, in a game remade so often it’s even out for Windows Phone.
Double Dragon II Format Arcade Developer Technos Released 1988
S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team
Resident Evil (PC, PS1, Saturn – 1996)
The cream of Raccoon City’s Special Tactics And Rescue Service, sent to a bleak mountain mansion to bail out Bravo Team. Redfield! Valentine! Burton! Wesker! Vickers? Frost? Well, they can’t all be legends.
Sometimes, when beat-’em-up fatigue sets in, you need a good reason to windmill your way down yet another street of oafish ne’er-do-wells. Double Dragon II’s intro certainly had that. After being sucker-punched and kidnapped as the first game began, love interest Marion was perforated with a machine gun in the sequel. Wow. Sucks to be her. Well… sucked. Sorry.
Remake Request!
Wario’s Woods Format SNES, NES Developer Nintendo Released 1994
The combination of playable Toad and a falling block puzzle game where you scampered around inside your own playfield made this an endearing little number back in ‘94. Given the rude health of the handheld puzzler market and the absence of a remake in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, anyone up for an all-new swing at sustainable woodland monster-tossery on 3DS?
www.gamesradar.com/gamesmaster
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