Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2018 i Gamesmaster

The apocalypse isn’t an end – it’s a transformation. In Doom Eternal, demonic invasion turns the world into a playground of hyper-violent action; in Fallout 76, nuclear fire creates a blank canvas, a chance to build something spectacular in the ashes; Metro Exodus makes the Earth a deadly gauntlet you’re challenged to survive at all costs; Rage 2 is about the destruction of all rules, the coming of a wild age of party-punk excess. If this is starting to sound like your induction into a cult, don’t worry – just don your official GamesMaster robes, light a few candles, and read on to find out more about the most explosively brilliant games coming this year and next. We’ve even delved back into past armageddons, too, for two huge retro features,…

1 RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 Format PS4, XO ETA 26 October  One gameplay reveal was all it took to shoot Rockstar’s smash-hit-in-the-making back up the charts. Read all the latest on that on p30. 2 ASSASSIN’S CREED ODYSSEY Format PS4, XO, PC ETA 5 October  Ubisoft’s big fat Greek open world is almost here, and the developer’s claiming it’s even bigger than Origins. So about a million hours of content, then? 3 SUPER SMASH BROS ULTIMATE Format Switch ETA 7 December  Nintendo’s Christmas present to you: every Smash character ever, all punching each other over and over. What more could you ask for? 4 SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER Format PS4, XO, PC ETA 14 September  Fans of running across things as they collapse under you rejoice: Lara Croft’s latest…

7,600 Number of kills racked up in Call Of Duty WWII by YouTuber ‘TJ The Blind Gamer’. He really is visually impaired, and hunts other players using in-game sound cues. 5m According to developer Rare, Sea Of Thieves has now passed five million players. That’s an awful lot of grog-swigging. 80+ Hours of content, including 40-50 hours of main campaign, in Kingdom Hearts III, claims a representative at Square Enix. 19.67m Number of Switches sold as of 30 June 2018, according to Nintendo. But despite the console’s success, the company’s stock has been a little shaky since E3.…

Topping the leaderboard this issue CHINESE TAKEOUT We’re big fans of BAFTA-award-winning studio The Chinese Room, developer of the beautifully eerie Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture. And it looks like Sumo Group feels the same way, because the Crackdown 3 developer has bought the studio. Co-founder Dan Pinchbeck is staying on as Creative Director, so it’ll be interesting to see how its atmospheric work fits in with Sumo’s action-packed roster. UNSTARTED It’s got a director (Shawn Levy) and a star (Tom Holland), and even a script. Now Levy has hinted that the Uncharted movie, a prequel to the games we all love, is nearly at the point of shooting, telling The Playlist, “The closest to the starting line is Uncharted…” DEAD AHEAD Telltale’s released the schedule for The Walking Dead:…

Hell on Earth The primary setting shown off is Earth. Mixing large-scale urban devastation with searing Hellish intrusions, it feels fresh and familiar all at once, and gives the Meathook room for an energetic work-out. Phobos The Martian moon of Phobos is still somehow home to a functioning UAC base, populated with people who aren’t corpses. It’s unclear what’s going on here so far, but it’s definitely not right. Better wreck it. Hell We’re going back to Hell at some point. Maybe a lot, given the amount of lava-strewn artwork we’ve seen. Given the “Doom universe” ambition, it’s likely we’ll learn more about Hell’s inner workings. ??? We don’t officially know what this decidedly more fantastical, almost Lord Of The Rings-esque place is yet. It’s definitely not Earth, but it…

Format PS4, XO, PC Pub THQ Nordic Dev Mimimi Productions ETA 2019 Remember the real-time strategy stealth genre? It’s not exactly thriving these days, but developer Mimimi Production did make a strong case for it with 2016’s Shadow Tactics: Blades Of The Shogun. It’s only fitting, then, that the studio should be tasked with resurrecting one of the first series in the genre. As a small team of gold-hearted ruffians – just two in our demo, though later missions allow more – you’ll make your way through the Wild West one stealth takedown at a time. Though you might be tempted to charge in, revolvers blazing, subtlety is the name of the game, and cautious play is rewarded with Hitman-like opportunities to take out your targets in inventive ways. It’s…

Format TBC Pub Chucklefish Dev Hidden Layer Games ETA 2019 From the publisher of Stardew Valley comes a game that could not be more opposite in tone… This ghoulish adventure oozes grim atmosphere despite its pixel art style, taking place in a near-monochrome world where twisted shadow monsters stalk mankind. Described as a “story-driven puzzle platformer”, it puts you in the shoes of not one but three protagonists (probably spares in case one or two die horribly…), each with their own unique abilities, and tasks you with exploring a spooky castle filled with traps and monstrous creatures. Shudder.…

The point where the mood started to change towards Doom came in 1996 – we had been inundated with map packs and add-ons (mostly unofficial), and media attention had absolutely saturated the world with Doom. It even got a mention in Friends, ridiculously. It would have been the right call by Id to say there and then, “That’s it, no more Doom”. But Final Doom didn’t come from Id – it was made by a team of modders, contracted by publisher GT Interactive to craft dozens of extra levels for the series, with nothing else new about them – oh, bar the fact they were ludicrously difficult. A rather unnecessary entry in the Doom canon, then, though not without its sadistic charms.…

FALLOUT TACTICS Focusing in on Fallout’s combat encounters, Tactics boiled down the experience in a satisfying manner. Fans of the freeform interactions of previous FO titles were let down by the game, sure, but those of us who loved the turn-based combat systems behind the first generation of post-apocalyptic RPGs were spoilt. It was a shame the sequel never arrived, as it was the ideal approach to a non-core Fallout – and these days it’s not an approach that would work at all. FALLOUT: BROTHERHOOD OF STEEL It was inevitable that consoles would get their own version of Fallout – and this being the pre-Bethesda days, Brotherhood Of Steel was… lacking, let’s say. Linear, no NPC interaction, an inability to customise your character, real-time combat – while the latter element…

“Basically, the story is that you wake up in a bunker with the narrator [Burnistoun’s Louise Stewart] talking to you. As you start exploring the world, you discover that everyone else has “gone into the light”, as she explains – and she tells you that you should try to get there, too. As you explore the initial bunker area, there’s no food or water, and you’ll find places that have been locked off by various hazards that you can’t get to, including a strange machine which is now dead but looks like it could be just what you need to get out of there. And as the game unfolds, there is a series of events which makes you less certain that this is what you should be doing – or…

“YOU’RE TOLD EXACTLY WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO AND WHO TO TALK TO. IT’S MINDLESS” Format PS4, XO, PC (reviewed) Publisher Gearbox Publishing Developer Compulsion Games ETA Out now Players 1 During our 25 hours with We Happy Few, we’ve filled in for a male model on the catwalk, thrusting our hips while flashbulbs popped. We’ve listened to German jokes on the radio for ten minutes straight in an underground tunnel. We’ve choked out a policeman for whistling the national anthem too loud, slipped into a rubber catsuit to infiltrate a kinky cattle prod party, and pulled the trigger on a gun that literally fires bees. It is, at its best, a bizarre series of unlikely events. Unfortunately, what happens between those events is inescapably – almost offensively –…

Why are the animations in Dead Cells so good? There’s a bit of trickery going on: while the backgrounds are hand-drawn, all the character animations are 3D models smushed down to 2D. This was partly due to time restraints, but also because the results are impressive. 1 A rudimentary 3D model is made. It can afford to look ugly because it’ll be squashed to the size of a 2D model. 2 The model is shrunk to around its eventual size and rendered without antialiasing, giving it a jagged pixel look. 3 The model is given animations, cut down to the minimum frames, and interpolated to look ‘flowing’. 4 Each frame is exported into a png file with the normal map, then rendered with a toon shader. 5 A couple of…

Planet Alpha isn’t a solely linear experience. Scattered across its many chapters are these glowing portals, which seemingly offer an escape from the many horrors infesting the planet’s surface. Step through one and you’ll find yourself in what appears to be an entirely different dimension, with floating platforms and bottomless pits (so, ultimately not thatmuch different from what you usually encounter). The purpose of completing these hidden sections isn’t made all too clear, but they appear to have something to do with achieving the game’s ‘true’ ending. So, if you’re eager to learn the whole story, you’ll need to be on the hunt for these particular pulsating doorways.…

When the Halo series stormed onto Xbox in the early 2000s, it changed the face of first-person shooters forever. With revolutionary features such as a dual analog control scheme and regenerating shields, it became the benchmark for the genre. So successful was the series that its protagonist, Master Chief, was propelled to superstardom, becoming the mascot for Microsoft’s games machine. However, for a series that’s had such an impact on console, Halo has made relatively small waves on PC. We’re catching up with a team of steadfast Halo fans who are hoping to change that. That team is Soon Studios, and its mission is to recreate the multiplayer experiences of Halo games from the Bungie era (2001-10), for PC. The game, Installation 01, is being built using the Unity 5…

The rumours of a new Xbox console in 2020 are all well & good, as long as Microsoft realises that everyone wants backwards compatibility. Jamie Cockshott, @JamieCockshott Resident Evil 4’s Sherry is the best sidekick ever. It started as a rescue mission and could have got really frustrating, but Capcom work magic. Matt Ingy, Facebook People think physical media forms, like magazines, are dying. Although I get my regular fix digitally I wouldn’t be without the one magazine I grew up with for all my gaming info, news, and banter. Don’t ever leave me, GamesMaster – I don’t know how I would cope! Ryan Booth, @TheGeektrovert The first thing I shall do when I buy Red Dead Redemption 2 is put the disc in and punch a cow. Daniel Climo,…

There’s an awkward charm to Witch Hunt, but it’s a frustrating and time-consuming game. What it’s trying to do is a nice idea: it’s basically extending the sort of YouTube jump scare horror fodder into a more interesting structure. But there’s a lot of balancing and tweaking needed. The save system is too harsh, while the combat is more clunky than challenging, and overall it’s a rough experience with a nice atmosphere and a few decent moments. It’s the work of a single person who seems to be hard at work updating it but it might be a while before the more annoying issues get fixed. It’s a great idea and it could one day be a great game – but that time is not now.…

“SOUND IS A VITAL PART OF DRAWING OUT THE STRONGEST, MOST ELUSIVE REACTIONS” As anybody familiar with videogames will know, when done right, they are capable of evoking some very strong emotions. I’m not talking about “How did they headshot me from there? Are they aimbotting?” screaming anger, but something more nuanced. A skilled developer can draw out the strongest, most elusive reactions. And though we sometimes don’t realise it, sound is a vital part of that. Fear is one example. Anything from a sudden jump scare to a constant, nerve-shredding sense of unease is dependent on audio cues so masterfully implemented you don’t recognise them for what they are. This often means only minimal use of sound. How much impact would that dog scene from Resident Evil have had…

07/09 SPIDER-MANIA Marvel’s Spider-Man swings into shops, kicking off blockbuster game season in style. 14/09 THE CROFT OPTION PlayStation’s premier diva reveals her dark side in Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, out today. 14/09 SOUNDS INTRIGUING Use the power of echolocation to explore a creepy mansion in VR thriller Blind, out today. 25/09 GLORY HUNTER FIFA 19 is out today, giving you the chance to win footballing fame without touching a pitch. 25/09 BATTLE STATIONS Valkyria Chronicles 4 lands in shops, so prepare to take to the battlefield. 29/09 BATTERED VEGETA Critically-acclaimed brawler Dragon Ball FighterZ is released today for Switch. 02/10 FORZ GEAR Walk down to the shop and drive away with the day’s big release: Forza Horizon 4. 04/10 SEEING RED(FIELD) Issue 335 of GM is out today…

Format PC Publisher Coatsink Developer Bit Loom ETA 2019 The joy of Phogs lies in its simplicity. Two players wrap their hands around the controller (it may be on PC, but the developer recommends you use a pad), thumbs placed on the analogue sticks and fingers on their side’s triggers. Then all each person has to do is control their side of a two-headed dog, stretching out its sausage-y body and grabbing things with their assigned mouth. The goal, of course, is to feed fruit to huge snakes so they’ll let you travel through their bodies. That’s how you move between levels, though later you’ll be getting them to open their mouths in different ways. Okay, maybe the game is not so easy to grasp in that sense. The bizarre,…

Format Switch Pub Nintendo Dev Bandai Namco, Sora Ltd ETA 7 Dec Nintendo is still revealing more characters. Simon and Richter Belmont, of Castlevania fame, are joining the roster ready to whip everyone else into shape, and they’re bringing with them a spooky stage, complete with Dracula cameo. Even scarier than that, though, is the addition of Donkey Kong’s long-lost nemesis King K Rool. “Maybe I should have spent a bit more than five minutes coming up with his slightly rubbish name,” lamented his original creator, Gregg Mayles, on Twitter after the reveal. Quite.…

Format PS4, XO, PC Pub Perfect World Dev Echtra Games ETA 2019 Torchlight’s original developer Runic Games sadly closed down last year, but the series lives on. Headed by Echtra Games, Frontiers promises to be an online, MMO-like take on the Diabloaping action, expanding on Torchlight II’s co-op with a shared, Destiny-esque world. The change of dev and cartoonier style do have us a little concerned, but Echtra was created by one of Runic’s original founders, and boasts a number of former members of that studio, along with some ex-Blizzard veterans, so this could prove a worthy successor.…

Doom has been ported to everything, including, quite literally, a printer. (Look it up.) But it was the consoles that saw a vast array of different versions – the Mega Drive’s 32X add-on saw a valiant effort ported across, while the SNES saw a frankly ridiculous version, in that it shouldn’t have been possible at all. We kept on getting ports, and it wasn’t until the PS3/Xbox 360 generation that we got ones perfect to the PC originals. But it was two from the ’90s that stand out as truly special: Doom for PlayStation, and Doom64. The former was a cut-down version of the Ultimate Doom, with levels and enemies missing – but it added so much of its own, including one of the best renditions of a Doom soundtrack…

Unsurprisingly for a series so popular, Fallout has had its fair share of cancelled games – throw in a failing publisher in the shape of Interplay and you get even more fun. Lesser-known cancellations come in the shape of Fallout Extreme (a squad-based console shooter cancelled pre-development), Fallout Tactics, and Brotherhood Of Steel sequels (those two cancelled owing to external factors). But it’s Fallout Online and the original Fallout 3, Van Buren, that got the most attention. Both were being made by Black Isle, the series’ original development team (though much changed personnel-wise), and both garnered a fair bit of hype. Both were ultimately cancelled thanks to Interplay going under, the Fallout licence transferring to Bethesda, and a lot of other generally confusing elements. Neither will ever see release, sadly.…

Format PS4, PC Developer Hairy Heart Games ETA 2019 Web bit.ly/gm_yucatan Now for something completely different – and we mean completely . “It’s primarily a racing game,” says developer Joe Bain, but that doesn’t come close to describing the hypnotic neon fever dream that is Yucatan. It’s a Metroidvania in a car, full of looping tracks, lazy drifts, and stomach-fluttering flips, set to a shouty punk/grunge soundtrack – not to mention the talking skulls. Yes, it’s a racing game. But it’s not like any other racing game we’ve ever played. There’s no track select screen, because technically there’s only one track – or, rather, a series of interconnected sections. In each of these you’re asked to reach the finish line before the timer runs down: in the…

0-39 Awful Avoid it as you would a bullet with your name on. 40-59 Poor Major issues here that won’t be solved with a hug. 60-69 Decent A mixed bag filled with sweets and sharp stones. 70-79 Good Some flaws, but still a very enjoyable experience. 80-89 Excellent Buy it, love it, thank us when you’re done. 90-100 Outstanding A rare and essential piece of brilliance. The small print: We rate games in comparison to what else is available on the same system, in the same genre, and for the same format at the time of release. So this year’s FIFA might score less than a FIFA from three years ago, but still be a better game. Because time, and our expectations, move on. Hey, you’re smart, you get it……

Some of the original’s colourful cast make a comeback, including Calaca’s old compadre Flame Face. Having given up his bad guy ways, he’s opened a chain of Fight-A-Toriums which you can visit to hone your wrestling skills. Simply chain together the on-screen combos and you’ll be given a cash reward for your efforts. Juan’s goatman mentor Uay Chivo also appears, but not just the once. This time, you’ll meet Uay Chivos from all different timelines. Each has their own peculiar personality (definitelypeculiar), but none are too happy with you breaking their Choozo Statues to unlock your special abilities.…

In the mood to watch a beloved videogame character get his head blown off? You’re in luck! Bungie’s got you covered with its Cayde-offing new expansion for Destiny 2. Out now, Forsaken includes not just android executions, but also a whole new area, the Tangled Shore, a field of asteroids crudely lashed together that serves as a shady meeting point for outlaws and pirates. You also get to battle in the PvE-meets-PvP Gambit mode, which sees two teams of four racing to beat AI enemies the fastest – and messing with each other by spawning extra gribblies for their opponents, or even warping into their area to take them out head-on. A little later this month, on 14 September, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 dives back into history in Torna – The…

LIQUID COURAGE This special edition of Prima’s Dark Souls III guide comes with a real-life replica of an Estus Flask. However, it’s not as helpful as the virtual version; this model flask is sealed, so, sadly, nasty wounds will have to be sorted with medical attention rather than a magical healing potion. LARA LOVE Lara needs a lot of energy for running around those ancient ruins, and Lucozade is clearly her soft drink of choice. In fact, she’s guzzled so much of the stuff they’ve even rebranded the sparkling soda ‘Larazade’… or, you know, it’s part of a promotion for Shadow Of The Tomb Raider. BOTTLES OF FUN Grab a bottle of this limited edition Nuka-Cola Quantum from Jones Soda and prepare to roleplay your very own post-apocalyptic scenario. It’s…

“IT LEADS TO AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN VILLAINS, DISABILITY, AND DISFIGUREMENT” Bethesda’s Rage 2 recently came under fire for its use of disfigurements – cleft palates in particular – to distinguish its villains from its heroes. However, this isn’t an isolated incident. Bethesda’s other published games are proof of this. Doom antagonist Olivia Pierce has scoliosis, and in both recent Wolfenstein titles – The New Order and The New Colossus – both Deathshead and Frau Engel have noticeable facial disfigurements. The list goes on with other developers, too: both the Metal Gear and Resident Evil franchises makes use of disfigured villains throughout their games. However, the most blatant link between ‘disabled’ and ‘villain’ comes from Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Secondary antagonist Hugh Darrow’s motivation for turning humans and their augmented counterparts…

ROBIN’S PICK Dying Light 2 Nothing gets me more excited about a game than a bit of ambition. Techland is promising a sprawling, detailed cityscape that reacts and changes drastically based on your decisions, and its grand vision sounds fascinating. Am I convinced that the studio will be able to actually pull off such big ideas? Not necessarily. Am I intrigued to see it try? Very much so. And with RPG superstar Chris Avellone on writing duties, I’m hopeful this sequel will tell a more nuanced and interesting story than its predecessor, too. PS4, XO, PC – 2019 ROB’S PICK The Division 2 I can’t wait to spend 1,000+ hours in the Division 2 roaming around Washington. We learnt a lot from the first Division, players and developer alike, so…

Fight! Or don’t “When you shoot somebody, you do a little bit of damage. You don’t do full damage. It’s like slapping somebody in a bar. So you do little bits of damage. If [they] engage, thenyou’re doing full damage.” Spoils of war “There’s a cap reward based on the [opposing] player’s level. So if the player [you take down] is really high level, you’re going to get more caps from them than if they’re at a lower level.” Fight fair “The player that kills somebody that didn’t want to engage in [combat] then becomes a wanted murderer. You get no reward, no caps, no XP. You get nothing for becoming a wanted murderer.” Crime doesn’t pay “They appear on your map as a red star. Everybody sees them, and…

Format PS4, XO, PC Publisher 505 Games Developer Remedy Entertainment ETA 2019 As Remedy breaks from Microsoft exclusivity, can it be a coincidence that it’s called its latest game ‘Control’? A new partnership with 505 is allowing the team to do what it does best — make something new. Few studios are as devoted to making new IP. “We wanted to put ourselves into a position where we have more control of the games we create,” explains Thomas Puha, the firm’s head of communications. “With Control we want to retain the uniqueness that we’re known for,” Mikael Kasurinen, the game’s director, tells us. “But at the same time find a more gameplay-oriented way of tackling it.” Unique is one word for it. Remedy has often explored bizarre secrets hidden in…

Format Switch, PS4, XO, PC Pub Headup Games Dev BTF ETA 2018 This point-and-click adventure hasn’t so much been developed as crafted. Each of its picturesque backdrops was originally created as a physical diorama, before being scanned into the game. The result is a charmingly hand-made look, reminiscent of stop-motion animated films, that perfectly evokes the small-town feel of its rustic 1960s German setting – the eponymous village of Trüberbrook. The game begins with protagonist Hans Tannhauser (inexplicably American, despite the name) arriving at the remote tourist spot, having won a competition he mysteriously doesn’t remember entering. As you might expect, all is not quite as it seems. Odd locals speak cryptically about the village, and from his first night in Trüberbrook Hans is plagued by supernatural events. Twin Peaks…

Format PC Pub Abbey Games Dev Abbey Games ETA2019 “Create your own religion,” promises this game from the creators of Reus and Renowned Explorers, in which you command a tribe of impressionable worshippers to spread your choice of values across the land – whether that’s war, love, gluttony, witchcraft, cannibalism, or one of many others. There’s always something tantalising about god games, and this one looks intriguing, but they so often disappoint, and the studio’s previous effort, Reus, though visually impressive, was a tad too dry in practice. Hopefully Godhood is a little more divine.…

DOOM RPG What’s the one genre that you’d always expect to work perfectly for Doom? If you said ‘turn-based role-playing in the style of Dungeon Master, and only on smartphone’ then you’d be absolutely right. Doom RPG shouldn’t have worked, but it absolutely did, turning a fast-paced shooter into a slow-paced exercise in patience and cunning. Levelling up by punching demons is never not fun, and it’s a genuine surprise we haven’t seen more spin-offs like this one popping up over the years – maybe a Doom take on Fallout Shelter could work? DOOM RESURRECTION The capabilities of the iPhone were never in doubt, and the game was five years old by the time it hit Apple’s device, but there was still something eerily spectacular about how well it was…

Bethesda might be claiming otherwise, but the next Fallout isn’t the 76th in the series. That’s a joke that’s about as old as the series, actually – so let’s take a look back at everything the post-apocalyptic RPG franchise has been through. From the early, niche days, through to the modern world-beater, much has changed over the years… FALLOUT Format PC Publisher Interplay Productions Developer Interplay Productions Released 1997 Living in an underground vault isn’t all smooth sailing – eventually, decades after a nuclear war, your water chip might break, putting everyone in said vault at risk of dying of dehydration. Which would suck, having managed to avoid atomic armageddon. That’s what happens in the original Fallout, by the way, and is the setup to push you into the ruined…

THE LONG DARK Whether you prefer passive exploration, a deeper narrative focus, or a more hardcore survival experience, Hinterland’s wintry survival game feels wonderfully primal. Its snowbound world is thick with mystery and danger; even in such extreme conditions, it begs to be explored. SUBNAUTICA It’s amazing what a change of scenery can do for familiar ideas. Subnautica follows a similar rhythm to many survival games, in the sense that you steadily eke your way towards self-sufficiency. But the underwater world – gorgeous, mostly peaceful, and just a little scary – is a joy to swim around. THE FOREST Being alone in the wilderness is unnerving enough, let alone when you’re being tailed by a group of cannibals. Endnight Games’ horrifying walk in the woods is not without flaws, but…

Gaming has a rich history when it comes to poking around the scene of the crime. Ever since 1983 murder mystery The Portopia Serial Murder Case we’ve solved all kinds of grisly goings-on, from the gentle deductions of Professor Layton to the Batman’s gadget-laden investigations. Here are seven of the best titles to play Poirot in. “YOUR WATCH PROJECTS 3D HOLOGRAMS OF CRIME SCENES RIGHT TO YOUR CONTACT LENSES” THE DIVISION Format PC, PS4, XO Publisher Ubisoft Developer Massive Entertainment Released2016 Ubisoft’s New York-set MMO has a novel way of inserting you directly into its crime scenes. ECHOs, or ‘Evidence Correlation Holographic Overlays’, are essentially reconstructions of past events using recordings mined from surveillance cameras and smartphones. In the game, your watch uses this data to project 3D holograms of…

Sally has a baby, and due to the rules of the city, has to keep the little one secret – while still keeping her healthy and happy. At first this seems an interesting twist, but the game’s flawed survival systems soon undermine it. Keeping young Gwen alive means periodically rushing back from missions to cuddle her, feed her milk, and change her nappy. That, in turn, requires crafting materials: metal rods for the water filters, or duct tape for the nappy. Layered on top of Sally’s own needs, this responsibility soon becomes an annoying distraction in a game already full of busywork.…

While playable versions of Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtua On are highlights in Kiwami 2’s arcades, another game from Sega’s vault takes the piddle. In Sotenbori, you’ll find Toylets, a series of minigames played using an interactive urinal with an LCD display and the strength of your bodily fluids – controlled by the analogue triggers. Naturally, there are conditions for being able to play, which is why a drinks vending machine is conveniently nearby. It might sound like peak Japan but some of the most popular interactive urinals are created by UK-based Captive Media. You could call it their number one speciality.…

As with any great game encouraging endless runs, there’s a healthy dosing of randomisation here. The maps for all side-missions and even some story missions are drawn from a vast pool. According to the developer, you shouldn’t see the same map twice for at least one-and-a-half 40-hour campaigns, which is impressive. All the agents have randomised backgrounds and appearances too, except for the main campaign characters who you can customise with some rad ’80s wear (including brown aviator glasses, trousers pulled up too high, and a ciggie/pipe permanently stuck in their mouth).…

Format PS4 (reviewed), PC Publisher Square Enix Developer Square Enix ETA Out now Players 1 In Japan, the Dragon Quest series has a well-established and devoted fanbase, not unlike that of Final Fantasy. In Europe, its release history is patchy, making Dragon Quest VIII: Journey Of The Cursed King the most widely-known part of the series. Dragon Quest XI marks a number of firsts for the series – it’s the first single-player release for PlayStation since part VIII, initially released back in 2006. It’s also the first main line title to release for PCs. Mostly, however, Dragon Quest XI stands out for all the things it does exactly the same way as its predecessors. Welcome to JRPGs of days past. Here we still enjoy turn-based combat and completely silent heroes…

MOONLIGHTER 1 PC The shopkeeper-by-day, dungeoneer-by-night loop is brilliantly compelling, but you know being editor is getting to me when a game about working two jobs is how I relax… Robin Valentine, Editor DEAD CELLS 2 SWITCH Take your eye off the ball in this light-speed roguelike, even for a second, and it immediately does you in. You’ve got to respect that kind of ruthless efficiency… while you shout swear words at your Switch. Robin Valentine, Editor NO MAN’S SKY 3 XO My first few hours have mostly been spent dying – freezing, suffocating, falling, getting shot… At least now I’ve found a warm underground cave to hide in. Time for some mining. Rob Crossland, Art Editor GRAND THEFT AUTO V 4 PC GTA Online is such addictive mayhem –…

Not sure which games to grab? Trust the experts (that’s us) to shine a light of clarity through your fog of confusion. Over this spread you’ll find GamesMaster’s 100 per cent scientifically accurate and indisputable list of the greatest games on modern machines – updated monthly – as well as the top five most vital exclusives on each of the major platforms. Pick one of these up and, buddy, you’re going to have yourself a good time. THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD Switch / Wii U Nintendo casually revolutionises the open-world genre with perhaps the best launch title ever. Explore, fight, and cook your way across Hyrule. GRAND THEFT AUTO V PS4 / XO / PC / PS3 / 360 Rockstar’s most detailed, immersive cityscape yet serves…

1 FORZA MOTORSPORT 7 2 HALO 5: GUARDIANS 3 KALIMBA 4 QUANTUM BREAK 5 GEARS OF WAR 4 1 THE LAST OF US REMASTERED 2 SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS 3 HORIZON: ZERO DAWN 4 UNCHARTED 4: A THIEF’S END 5 GOD OF WAR 1 THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD 2 SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY 3 MARIO KART 8 DELUXE 4 MARIO + RABBIDS KINGDOM BATTLE 5 ARMS 1 DOTA 2 2 TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER II 3 GUILD WARS 2 4 THE SIMS 4 5 CRUSADER KINGS 2 1 POKÉMON SUN AND MOON 2 FIRE EMBLEM FATES 3 ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW LEAF 4 MONSTER HUNTER GENERATIONS 5 THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK BETWEEN WORLDS 1 HEARTHSTONE 2 DEVICE 6 3 80 DAYS 4 SORCERY 4 5 MONUMENT VALLEY…