Issue 109 may 2015 £5.99 gamesradar.com/opm
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ISSUE 109 / MAY 2015
Future Publishing Ltd, Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA, United Kingdom Tel +44 (0) 1225 442244 Fax: +44 (0) 1225 732275 Email opm@futurenet.com Twitter @OPM_UK Web www.gamesradar.com/opm
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EDITORIAL Editor Matthew Pellett @Pelloki Managing Art Editor Milford Coppock @milfcoppock Production Editor Dom Reseigh-Lincoln @furianreseigh News Editor Dave Meikleham Games Editor Phil Iwaniuk @PhilIwaniuk CONTRIBUTORS Dem words Louise Blain, Ben Borthwick, Matthew Clapham, Nathan Ditum, Matthew Elliott, Andi Hamilton, Andy Hartup, David Houghton, Leon Hurley, Joel Gregory, Ben Griffin, Daniella Lucas, Ben Maxwell, Louis Pattison, Bridie Roman, Matthew Sakuraoka-Gilman, Andy Westbrook, Ben Wilson, Iain Wilson Dat art Ian Lloyd-Edwards ADVERTISING For Ad enquiries please contact Michael Pyatt, michael.pyatt@futurenet.com MARKETING Group Marketing Manager Laura Driffield Marketing Manager Kristianne Stanton Production & Distribution Production Controller Vivienne Calvert Production Manager Mark Constance Printed in the UK by William Gibbons & Sons Ltd on behalf of Future Distributed by Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT, Tel: 0207 429 4000 Overseas distribution bySeymour International
Game of the month Bloodborne dream ps4 invention Trophy 3D printer add-on
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“even the biggest vr sceptics on the team were blown away by the ps4 tests.”
o the world of tomorrow! Not just a classic Futurama line, oh no, but a handy summary of this month’s cover feature, which digs into the pioneering – and at times borderline crazy – tech that could change the way you play games and interact with your PS4 inside the next 12 months. We’ve spent hours tinkering with Project Morpheus and talking with its creators, and even the biggest virtual reality sceptics on the team were blown away by the results. That’s not to say PS4 is moving away from traditional gaming. Far from it. It’s taken a while for the truly great triple-A games to emerge, but in Reviews this issue we welcome a nailed-on future classic to the PS4 library. In Previews, meanwhile, fresh hands-on tests with Rainbow Six Siege and the Batman-aping Mad Max have us drooling over the future. Spit. Everywhere. Ah, the future. Let me say this: a trip to our subscription offers on p68 is highly recommended. Our plans for the next few months are off the charts…
Matthew Pellett
Editor matthew.pellett@futurenet.com @Pelloki
this month’s PS4 siege squad…
Chief executive Zillah Byng-Maddick Non-executive chairman Peter Allen Chief financial officer Richard Haley Tel +44 (0)207 042 4000 (London) Tel +44 (0)1225 442 244 (Bath)
All contents copyright © 2015 Future Publishing Limited or published under licence. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, stored, transmitted or used in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher. Future Publishing Limited (company number 2008885) is registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Registered office: Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, BA1 1UA. All information contained in this publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. Future cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price and other details of products or services referred to in this publication. Apps and websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are not responsible for their contents or any changes or updates to them. If you submit unsolicited material to us, you automatically grant Future a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in all editions of the magazine, including licensed editions worldwide and in any physical or digital format throughout the world. Any material you submit is sent at your risk and, although every care is taken, neither Future nor its employees, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for loss or damage. We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from well managed, certified forestry and chlorine-free manufacture. Future Publishing and its paper suppliers have been independently certified in accordance with the rules of the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council).
Dave Meikleham
Phil Iwaniuk
Milford Coppock
Andy Hartup
Game of the month Bloodborne dream ps4 invention Smell-O-Vision
Game of the month Helldivers dream ps4 invention Training bike peripheral
Game of the month Valiant Hearts dream ps4 invention Editor-throttling robot
Game of the month Destiny dream ps4 invention Plug-in foot massager
news editor Fireball-tempered Meiks focused his Medusa glare on PS4’s toughest games in Reviews. Our pet demon was ‘borne ready for this…
games EDITOR Dr PlayStation succumbed to sickness for half of this issue. We blame the 35 donuts he scoffed during Battlefield Hardline. Oink.
managing art editor This issue’s Metal Gear gift brought the memories flooding back. Mostly the time he lived in a urinesoaked cardboard box.
guest writer Gaming’s tallest journalist played Project Morpheus for our cover feature. We were amazed it tracked his head through the clouds.
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Contents highlights The big 10
006 Metal Gear Solid v: The phantom Pain 004
The good: a release date and collector’s edition. The bad: Kojima is leaving Metal Gear. For real. pREVIEW
032 rainbow six siege Almost a year after our first hands-on, we jump back into the tense, destruction-filled shooter. feature
050 david jaffe Game development’s sweariest spokesman sits down with OPM to talk Drawn To Death. featurE
056 the future is now Will Sony’s Morpheus VR headset usher in a tech revolution akin to 3D graphics? Join us on the bleeding edge of gaming gear. review
078 bloodborne From Software’s latest lesson in brutality lands exclusively on PS4. Six-page judgement within. review
088 battlefield hardline Can the boys in blue save Battlefield from its recent disgrace? We examine the evidence. retrostation
106 street fighter iv Still the fighting game to beat, no matter how many times it’s re-released with a new prefix.
May 2015
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Latest info, screens and playtests All the hottest news
features
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retro STATION
To-the-point, detailed analysis
In-depth verdicts on every big new game
Max out your PS4, online and off
Classics revisited
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THE Games index 049 amplitude 010 assassin’s creed chronicles 095 axiom verge 048 batman: arkham knight 088 battlefield hardline 027 the binding of isaac: rebirth 078 bloodborne 092 dark souls II: scholar of the first sin 049 the division 049 dragon quest heroes 050 drawn to death 105 dying light 039 elder scrolls online: tamriel unlimited 086 final fantasy type-o hd 043 god of war iii remastered 098 gta Online 094 helldivers 084 hotline miami 2: wrong number 045 killing floor 2 087 la-mulana ex 114 The last of us 046 lego jurassic world 049 lost dimension 036 mad max 048 magicka 2 006 metal gear solid v: the phantom pain 100 middle-earth: shadow of mordor 093 olliolli 2: welcome to olliwood 032 rainbow six siege 038 redout 109 resogun 087 ride 044 severed 049 star wars battlefront 087 starwhal 042 steins;gate 106 street fighter IV 040 street fighter v 093 tales from the borderlands – episode 2 014 tembo the badass elephant 019 uncharted 4: a thief’s end 018 wasteland 2 094 white night 070 the witcher 3 wild hunt 012 wolfenstein: tob 094 Zombie army trilogy
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The Big10 Stories everyone’s talking about
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the good news first: metal gear solid v: the phantom pain hits ps4 and ps3 on 1 september 2015.
It’s almost the end of the road for Big Boss. For realsies, this time. Honest. Er, we think…
12 in with the old
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood hits PS4.
16 ‘borne to be wild
Bloodborne creator Miyazaki tells all.
19 keep ‘em draking
Uncharted 4 bumps back to 2016.
TheBig10 Stories everyone’s talking about
Is Metal Gear’s big boss Hideo Kojima walking away?
MGS V dated and a new Metal Gear game is announced – but there’s bad news… An opening word of warning: this one’s developing even as we type these words in the minutes before our printer deadline. We’ll start with the good news. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is coming out on PS4 and PS3 on Tuesday 1 September, and over the page you’ll see the very fancy Collector’s Edition set complete with its bionic arm replica and the other physical and in-game extras. You’d best sit down for the rest of this… Every time there’s a new Metal Gear, series creator Hideo Kojima promises it’ll be his last. This time, those promises are coming true. In an astonishing turn of events – events we’re still trying to fully unravel here at OPM – a reported falling out between Konami and developer Kojima Productions has rocked the series’ foundations and raised questions about Metal Gear’s future and the status of Silent Hills.
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The furore began when eagleeyed Metal Gear fans on Reddit spotted two suspicious clues: existing Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain images on Konami’s website being replaced with ones lacking Kojima Productions’ logo, and the absence of Hideo Kojima’s name from Konami’s annual announcement of executive appointments, which had listed the Metal Gear creator as an executive content officer in 2014. the plot thickens As the rumours spread like stains on Johnny Sasaki’s trousers, more damning evidence of a rift started to pile up. Kojima Productions’ website began redirecting purely to the MGS site, and its Twitter account pointed people to a freshlycreated MGS one instead. And what of the relatively recently formed Kojima Productions LA team, which is working on the game’s online component? Oh, you mean Konami Los Angeles Studio, right? Kojima Productions’ name has been scrubbed from its identity.
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The Big10 Stories everyone’s talking about
As of the time of writing, the typically busy Kojima Twitter account has been silent, but the gaming auteur has spoken out in a joint press release with Konami to silence any fears about Metal Gear Solid V’s development being compromised by these moves. After Konami assures us the game’s on track to, “be released as planned,” on 1 September, and that, “Hideo Kojima will remain involved throughout,” Kojima himself says, “I want to reassure fans that I am 100% involved and will continue working on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; I’m determined to make it the greatest game I’ve directed to date. Don’t miss it!”
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the new metal gear reveal In the very same press release, Konami also confirmed MGS V isn’t the end of the road for the franchise: “In addition, Konami will continue to develop and distribute top-quality content in the Metal Gear series following MGS V: TPP. We greatly anticipate and deeply appreciate your ongoing support for Metal Gear. “As the next step in the series, Konami has already resolved to develop new Metal Gear.” Just don’t expect Hideo Kojima to head up the next game, as the official word from the Japanese publisher is that, “We will be
conducting interviews for main staff to lead the development.” So where does this leave Kojima? And if he does split from Konami, what does this mean for the other project he’s currently working on, namely the Silent Hill reboot Silent Hills? Revealed at Gamescom 2014 thanks to terrifying PS4-exclusive teaser demo PT, the new Silent Hill project involves acclaimed director Guillermo Del Toro and stars The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus. Well, as OPM understands it the rights for the game lie with Konami, not Kojima. So the project isn’t necessarily dead if Kojima were to leave (and right now there’s no confirmation that he will do). But would a Kojima-less Silent Hills be anywhere near as promising? Going by last generation’s reboot attempts (though we’re fond of Shattered Memories), the honest answer to that question is, sadly, a definitive, “no.” But we couldn’t end this story without a fun conspiracy theory. This is Kojima, after all. When you look back over Metal Gear’s history,
what does this mean for silent hills? well, the project isn’t necessarily dead…
up in arms
Think the toy arm in the Western collector’s edition of MGS V is impressive? Pah. In Japan, the regionexclusive Premium Package comes with a 1:1 scale replica of Snake’s bionic appendage. It’s half a metre long.
as you can do this very issue with our free series guide, a startling pattern begins to emerge. life imitates art As OPM editor-in-chief Dan Dawkins explains on our new website, “From the very outset, MGS V has been focused on the fall of an icon; things not essentially being what they are; the fall of Big Boss; and Big Boss and his identity being taken away. Look at the XOF and the FOX symbols in the very first Ground Zeroes trailer and now, in a real sense, we’re seeing the erasing of Kojima Productions from the materials related to MGS V. “If you look at the lore, Big Boss – who’s the icon figure much like Kojima – becomes disaffected with the Patriots, i.e. Konami, leaves due to a philosophical split, and that is what leads to the cloning of a successor, Solid Snake…” That this is all part of one large life-imitates-art Se7en/John Doestyle masterplan is an entertaining fantasy, but sadly we must conclude that it would be one leg-pull too far, even for Kojima. For now, we have five months left until PS4’s most wanted game, and a whole lot of question marks over our heads regarding its creator’s future. For the very latest on the Kojima/MGS situation, head to gamesradar.com/opm.
Gamespot.com claims Hideo Kojima will leave Konami in December, citing an inside source.
■ Yet to play Ground Zeroes? Get to it.
Its save carries over to MGS V: TPP.
■ Troy Baker voices Revolver Ocelot this time out. Talk about a hunky larynx.
The collector’s edition of MGS V will set you back £99. Still, look at that bionic arm! Want.
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■ The Phantom Pain’s disc includes Metal Gear Online, which is being developed by Kojima Productions Los An… er, we mean Konami Los Angeles Studio.
With years of development under its belt, we’re confident of MGS V’s eventual quality.
This is the first time that any of these characters have been playable in the games.
The Big10
Stories everyone’s talking about
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From Russia, China and India with love Assassin’s Creed Chronicles travels the world in 2.5D style We’re not caught off guard by much these days, but the news of two extra Assassin’s Creed games somehow managed to sneak up on us like a hooded member of a certain Brotherhood. Who said Ubisoft couldn’t do surprises anymore? Originally announced last year as part of Unity’s season pass, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles China for PS4 stars the 16th century protégé of Ezio Auditore himself, Shao Jun. Flattening the AC universe into 2.5D gameplay, the side-scroller has a hand-brushed style that makes it look like interactive concept art.
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More importantly, it’s now only the first in a trilogy of stealthy, stabby Chronicles tales that travels from 16th century China to 20th century Russia. Following characters from the Creed graphic novels, Chronicles India and Russia tell the stories of Arbaaz Mir during the collapse of the Sikh Empire, and Nikolai Orelov in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution.
assassin shao jun is the protÉgÉ of acii’s ezio.
sneak peek “Almost three years ago, we had the idea in Montreal. We saw Metroidvanias, and other 2/2.5D platformers, and saw that as a wonderful genre to expand the Assassin’s Creed universe,” explains AC franchise brand manager Carsten Myhill. Developed by UK dev team Climax Studios alongside Ubi
dev talk “We wanted to have all the aspects of AC. The navigation – the ability to go everywhere very easily – and to have the ability to hide and to fight. We focused more on stealth, but we still wanted the three axes of AC. It was a bit of a struggle to bring across the combat. We decided we wanted to focus on stealth, but you can still decide to fight.” Xavier Penin
Lead designer, Ubisoft
Montreal, the trilogy aims to squeeze all the best aspects of a Creed game into 2.5D gameplay. After a handson session with both China and India, it’s refreshing to report that the team has succeeded. Armed with a rope dart, firecrackers, daggers and a foot blade for embedding crunchily into enemy skulls, Shao Jun is a violent individual. She’s also on a quest for vengeance (this is an AC game after all), but exploring the beautifully stylised locations requires brains and not just blades. Rewarding stealth over brutality, it’s preferable to sneak around just out of enemy sight before assassinating from long grass or a high ledge. Despite its largely side-scrolling nature there are plenty of ways to play, and the controls are instantly familiar. A rope dart enables you to sneak
Original Source
Given that the first Titanfall ran on Valve’s venerable and somewhat dusty Source engine, there’s speculation (and hope) that Titanfall 2 is being built on the all-new Source 2 engine.
The Big10 Stories everyone’s talking about
What it lacks in legroom, the Titan more than makes up for in earthshattering killing power.
PS4 gains some mechs appeal Respawn confirms Titanfall 2 to be multiplatform If you’ve been bottling up your jealousy towards platforms that received stompy robot shooter Titanfall, now’s the time to let it all go. Doesn’t that feel better? You haven’t joined OPM’s anger management class (that’s over on p95). No, we’re letting all the bad vibes go because Respawn Entertainment has announced that Titanfall 2 is a thing – not only that, but it’ll be multiformat, too. “We’re working on a sequel. No official name yet, but we’re working on that,” Respawn CEO Vince Zampella confirmed, speaking to IGN. “It’ll be multiplatform.” It’s worth stressing that PS4 isn’t mentioned explicitly here, but it doesn’t seem like a leap into insanity to imagine that Sony’s current-gen box of wonders is due for some mechanised warfare.
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across the ceiling, throwing daggers to cut down bridges, or you can just attack with a sweep of your sword, taking down enemies in a splash of ultra-stylised watercolour gore. The level we played from India was more focused on environmental puzzles with Mir leaping between collapsing spikes in an underground cave. A cleaner art style is on show here with eye-wateringly pretty visuals inspired by the patterns of the era. Footage of Chronicles Russia looks no less impressive, with a more photographic approach as Orelov hurtles across moving trains armed with a rifle. This is a fresh new approach for the series and our Eagle vision is locked on an autumn window for the final two episodes. China will be available standalone or as part of the Unity season pass on 22 April.
If the very mention of formerlyexclusive franchises makes your inner ear muscles seal shut through loyalty, here’s the skinny on multiplayer shooter Titanfall. It’s what Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella did next after their messy split with Activision. It was celebrated for its buttery-smooth controls, free running-inspired player movement and the ability to enter a 20-foot ‘Titan’ exoskeleton and run amok. Zampella also indicated that he’d like to see additional maps appear for free post-launch, likely a reaction to the first game’s somewhat limited on-disc content. So Respawn was essentially just getting the jitters out with Titanfall. Hopefully the mechs game – sorry, next game – will prove to be the true execution of that killer concept.
enter a 20foot ‘Titan’ exoskeleton and cause tons of trouble.
For the latest updates on Titanfall 2 and more, follow us on Twitter @OPM_UK.
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