Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 184 i GamesTM

“I moved the date on Wasteland 3 way out there. I’m hoping that I can beat it and become a superstar ” In 2012 Kickstarter changed the way in which videogames are pitched, funded and created. That was the year the platform went from niche interest to global phenomenon, successfully aiding in the resurrection of ageing game genres, giving established studios a new lease on life and helping support an independent revolution. Now, just four years later, it looks as if the crowdfunding bubble has deflated; the number of projects being successfully backed is in decline, as too is the average dollar raised for the lucky few that continue to buck the trend. One such developer is Brian Fargo, CEO of inXile entertainment. Fargo has been behind some of the…

“Even though we’re a relatively small team at Wildcard, we’ve tried to provide, ‘something for everyone,’ in Ark, because we know that every gamer has their own preferences” JEREMY STIEGLITZ STUDIO WILDCARD CONCEPT • An open-world action adventure, Ark tasks you with surviving on an island filled with prehistoric beasts, dinosaurs and other survivors. Think Skyrim meets Turok… ish. INFORMATION Details Format: PS4, Xbox One, PC Origin: United States Publisher: Studio Wildcard Developer: Studio Wildcard Release: Out now Players: 1-72 Developer Profile Based in Washington, Studio Wildcard is a relatively new studio. Founded by Jesse Rapczak (whose work credits include Borderlands and Uncharted 2) and Doug Kennedy (a former games PR head), Studio Wildcard currently only has Ark: Survival Evolved and Ark: Survival Of The Fittest (a spin-off that was…

“It shouldn’t just be the racing game genre that we’re aiming at, we want to attract players that like all genres” PAUL COLEMAN CODEMASTERS CONCEPT • A racer built around rally cars, Dirt 4 offers both traditional rally events alongside rallycross and off-road circuit racing. INFORMATION Details Format: PS4, Xbox One, PC Origin: UK Publisher: Codemasters Developer: In-house Release: 9 June 2017 Players: 1 (2-8 online) Developer Profile Codemasters is synonymous with racing games. From the offroad racing of Colin McRae Rally to the track racing of Grid, to toy racing of Micro Machines and stadium stunts of Dirt Showdown, there is barely a form of racing the UK studio has not turned its experienced hand to. Developer History Colin McRae Rally 1998 [Multi] Micro Machines V4 2006 [Multi] Race…

1 NO TRUCE WITH THE FURIES Format: PC Publisher: ZA/UM Studio Developer: In-house ETA: TBC 2017 Isometric RPGs have been enjoying a rewarding renaissance of late and this fascinating game could well help push them into even more agreeable directions. Inspired by titles like Planescape: Torment and Kentucky Route Zero, No Truce With The Furies is going to offer a police procedural role-playing game where combat is settled in conversation and your inventory is made up of thoughts. If that doesn’t make any sense to you at this point, don’t worry yourself, just take a look at the pretty visuals, because with dynamic weather and lighting it promises to be one of the best looking isometric games you could hope to see. 2 RADIO THE UNIVERSE Format: PC Publisher: 6e6e6e…

Rhythmic, now that’s the word to describe it; the devilish hum of rotary blades slicing through a still Bolivian sky. We’re soaring high above the beautiful Altiplano of South America, instructed to investigate the Montuyuc region and any connection it may have to the Santa Blanca drug cartel. Intel is light, though Karen Bowman (our dour CIA-appointed case handler) indicates that El Muro – recently named Head of Security by cartel king El Sueño – has taken control of the region by force; the civilians forced to add oppression to a laundry list of grievances that already includes exploitation, poverty and living in a state of perpetual fear. The cartel is using the harsh salt flatlands and surrounding mountain plateau as a training ground for an army – a hit…

“When you are responsible for other people – for the wellbeing of their families – sometimes you can get a lot of vertigo. But the sooner you get used to the feeling of always falling the better, because in life you often find yourself falling forever.” Tequila Works’ CEO Raúl Rubio knows that the development of Rime is like no other. For the better part of four years, his studio has been home to one of the most anticipated independent adventure games of recent memory. But for the longest time it has also existed only on the periphery, as a project that found itself plunged into darkness as quickly as it was pushed into the light. For many years there have been plenty more questions than there were answers for…

There are some elements of the videogame industry that need to die. They need to die so that they can be reborn. The games are getting bigger and more ambitious than ever before, but still the same old problems – inconsistencies that have been allowed to become commonplace – continue to dwarf our enjoyment and our immersion. In 2017, as gaming continues to grow into one of the most powerful forms of entertainment on the planet, something has to change. LOSING CONTROL It’s fair to say that modern videogames are built around a culture of trolling and griefing, in fact, many games actively do encourage this kind of behaviour. However, a problem arises when developers don’t put any systems in place to stop it from happening or from going too…

DETAILS FORMAT: PS4 OTHER FORMATS: PS3,PC ORIGIN: Japan PUBLISHER: Bandai Namco Entertainment DEVELOPER: In-house PRICE: £49.99 RELEASE: Out now PLAYERS: 1-4 (local) ONLINE REVIEWED: N/A It’s been just over a year since Bandai Namco released the disappointing Tales Of Zestiria , and after a string of weak releases in the series, the long-running Tales Of series needs something drastic to shake it up. Tales Of Berseria takes all of the usual series tropes and subverts them with one key element: you’re not one of the good guys this time around. Our story is centred around Velvet, who is driven by the trauma of her past, as well as being locked up in prison for three years. This is a pretty welcome change…

DETAILS FORMAT: PS4 ORIGIN: Japan PUBLISHER: Sega DEVELOPER: In-house PRICE: £39.99 RELEASE: Out now PLAYERS: 1-2 online ONLINE REVIEWED: No The streets of Yakuza 0 's Kamurocho are the definition of excess: teeming with hostess bars, aimless drunken salarymen and a complex criminal underworld that lies beneath it all. However, underneath the veneer of Japan's economic success of the Eighties is a game that has an incredible sense of humour and oodles of personality. Yakuza has been a difficult series for new players, however Yakuza 0 takes you back to the origins of its two most notorious characters, Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima. Kiryu finds himself tangled in a web of complex criminal conspiracy, with Majima managing an upmarket hostess bar in Osaka. It's a lengthy story…

Released: 1985 Publisher: MECC Developer: In-house System: Apple II THOSE THAT were lucky enough to have travelled through the American educational system in the Eighties will no doubt be intimately familiar with the horrors discovered on The Oregon Trail. You know, haunted, by the long and winding road between Independence, Missouri and Oregon’s own Willamette Valley. It’s a treacherous 3,500-kilometre slog, where weary migrants are cast out, forced to battle blizzards, droughts, treacherous rivers, disease and famine; made to manage the deteriorating health of a small caravan of travellers and keep stock of an ever-dwindling pack of supplies from the back of a covered wagon. All in the name of freedom; maybe, the game doesn’t really get into specifics. There is but one thing you can be certain of out…

LOGITECH G533 WIRELESS HEADSET MANUFACTURER: LOGITECH PRICE: £120 LOGITECH’S LATEST ENTRY into the gaming sphere is a carefully considered one. The moment you switch the G533s on you’ll realise they’ve been carefully crafted – unlike many gaming headsets, they don’t light up like an alien spaceship, they don’t double as headphones for your smartphone, and they don’t feel at all cheap. The G533s are uncompromisingly for PC gaming. There’s no 3.5mm jack for wired connections, and you’ll need the wireless dongle plugged into your PC to get them working. And once you’ve connected them, the customisation options are outstanding. A dedicated app lets you tweak pretty much every setting you could want – you can adjust the feedback of your own voice when speaking into the microphone, change the function…

“Microsoft has allowed excitement to build without accidentally making further promises in interviews or statements” In recent years, Microsoft has made two attempts at revealing a console. The first came in May of 2013, where president of interactive entertainment business Don Mattrick revealed an Xbox One console that everybody could see was forward looking, but very few wanted. And then, in June of 2015, Xbox division head Phil Spencer revealed a revised, high-end Xbox One console that everybody wanted, but nobody could actually see. And that, in essence, means that as exciting a prospect as it may be, Project Scorpio is still more of a concept than a reality. The announcement came at a time when Sony was preparing to unveil the upgraded PlayStation 4 Pro and push its affordable…

“I thought it was just a masterclass in puzzle design ” BRIAN FARGO, CEO INXILE GAMES “I just played Inside and I loved it. I thought it was just a masterclass in puzzle design; I love the way they wove the puzzles into the environments. It’s interesting in the way that they put it together. When I failed at a puzzle I always blamed myself for not figuring it out, which is key, and then it just went into the most strange territory imaginable at the end – I just loved the creativeness of it. It was just little things, like the way they use lights… and those dogs! When you saw those dogs running, your heart just starts beating, it was pretty intense!…

“If [the mini-games] go some way in helping revitalise local multiplayer modes, then great. Personally I’d love to see more!” ANDY ROBINSON PLAYTONIC GAMES CONCEPT • Playtonic’s crowdfunded, Rare-style 3D platformer encapsulates everything that was great about the genre in the late Nineties and early 2000s. INFORMATION Details Format: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch Origin: UK Publisher: Team17 Developer: Playtonic Games Release: 11 April 2017 Players: 1-4 Developer Profile Chris Sutherland worked for Rare at the height of its powers and provided code and voice work for some of the developer’s most beloved games. Now, as project director and software engineer for Yooka-Laylee, Sutherland has been reunited with some of Rare’s most experienced team members, including Gavin Price and Steve Mayles. Developer History Donkey Kong Country, 1994 [Multi] Battletoads,…

“It has been about two years since I discovered the squid, and it seems there have been many changes to the squid world in that time” HISASHI NOGAMI NINTENDO CONCEPT • This sequel is a straightforward return to the family-friendly shooting action of the original, in which teams of squid kids shoot ink at each other INFORMATION Details Format: Switch Origin: Japan Publisher: Nintendo Developer: In-house Release: Summer 2017 Players: 1-8 Developer Profile Hisashi Nogami’s career at Nintendo started in the mid-nineties, working as a character designer and 3D artist on the Mario and Yoshi series. He later served as director of the Animal Crossing series, before his debut as a producer with the original Splatoon in 2015. Developer History Splatoon 2015 [Wii U] Animal Crossing 2002 [GameCube]…

Mass Effect Andromeda is putting everything that has made these games great under a microscope for the most intense examination yet. By moving to a new world with new characters and removing the safety net of entering a galaxy with pre-existing governments and alliances, Andromeda amplifies elements of discovery, dialogue, relationship building and character customisation in ways that the original trilogy never needed to explore. And this may be the great genius of BioWare’s move from the Milky Way to Andromeda with its follow-up to Mass Effect 3. The Milky Way still had thousands (perhaps more likely millions) of unexplored star systems to look at even by the end of the trilogy. There were several possibilities for prequels or tangential explorations of similar characters in the world. Perhaps you…

1 BioWare has gone for what is called a cantilevered design, which means that the Tempest carries the bulk of its weight at one end so that its balancing point is off centre. For this ship it means that the landing gear can be situated at the front, leaving the nose of the fuselage suspended above the ground with the need for further support. 2 The Tempest has very light armour and no main gun for defending itself, unlike the Normandy. That means that it is in no position to defend itself against a heavy attack in space, but the lack of weight means that it is incredibly fast and manoeuvrable. This is ultimately a scouting vessel first and foremost, not a ship of war. 3 So, how fast can…

Tequila Works isn’t like many other independent studios, it has been able to exist off of the back of just one title. Four years is a lifetime in this industry, though the studio credits Steam largely with its survival. “I can tell you that it was the combination of Deadlight and Steam,” says Tequila Works’ CEO Raúl Rubio. “Steam saved our ass. We [had] a very tough year from the release of Deadlight until we could finally start Rime. The first year of Rime we fully financed ourselves. If it weren’t for the money we got through Deadlight and Steam we would be dead, for sure. The logical step would have been to do a sequel, but we always knew that unless we had something really interesting to tell or…

GRAVITY RUSH 2 IS A COMPLEX, COLOURFUL AND UTTERLY INVOLVING GAME THAT IS ONE OF THE FIRST SPARKLING GEMS OF 2017 DETAILS FORMAT: PS4 ORIGIN: Japan PUBLISHER: Sony Computer Entertainment DEVELOPER: Sony Japan Studio PRICE: £49.99 RELEASE: Out now PLAYERS: 1 ONLINE REVIEWED: N/A Gravity Rush 2 starts off as an excellent, imaginative sequel to one of the PS Vita’s best titles, but it eventually evolves into a complex, colourful and utterly involving game that is one of the first sparkling gems of 2017. Our gravity-defying heroine, Kat, is back, and although at first she’s stripped of her powers – and her cat – she soon is back on form and more powerful than ever. The story starts out with you stranded far from the familiar world of…

DETAILS FORMAT: PS4 OTHER FORMATS: PC, PS Vita, Xbox One, Wii U ORIGIN: USA PUBLISHER: WayForward Technologies DEVELOPER: In-house PRICE: £15.99 RELEASE: Out now PLAYERS: 1 ONLINE REVIEWED: N/A There’s something to be said for a colourful game right now. As more and more titles move towards ultrarealistic visuals and a 4K resolution, it’s refreshing to fire up Shantae’s latest adventure and be blown away by the cartoon-like appearance and whimsy that eminates from every pore. This is a lovely platformer, then, that makes you smirk at the ridiculous nature of what you’re seeing. The titular Shantae is, as you’d expect, half-genie (but all hero), and her idle animation is a sight to behold: it's a weird shimmy-cum-groovy-dance from side to side that’s almost hypnotic, while the residents of her…

DETAILS FORMAT: PC OTHER FORMATS: Xbox One, PlayStation 4 ORIGIN: France PUBLISHER: Focus Home Interactive DEVELOPER: Streum On Studio/Cyanide PRICE: £29.99 RELEASE: Out now PLAYERS: 1-4 MINIMUM SPEC: Windows 7/8/10 (64-bit), Intel Core i5-2400/AMD FX-8320, 8GB RAM, 2GB graphics, DirectX 11 ONLINE REVIEWED: Yes One of the potential pitfalls with a game based around a licensed property, especially one that is a fairly deep cut from a niche like Warhammer 40K , is that outside of the hardcore fan base – who frankly aren’t going to care as much as to what a review is going to say about the game – you’re either going to have to explain a lot of what is going on to build the world and story for newcomers or you’d best…

Where did the idea for Dizzy originate? Philip Oliver: We loved cartoons and wanted to create a new original cartoon character. We liked action platform games and we had enjoyed playing text adventures – initially Zork on the Apple IIe, but then, Philosopher’s Quest & Sphinx Adventure on the BBC. The idea was to pull all these elements together into one fun and easily accessible, bright and friendly game. Did you realise how frustrating the bridge trap was at the time of release? Andrew Oliver: The bridge over the skeleton pit on the first Dizzy game was probably too frustrating on reflection… although, there’s a fine balance to creating that ‘Doh! I’ll do it next time!’ feeling and the game did go on to become massively…

While Philip and Andrew Oliver will always be associated with Dizzy, they’ve actually created a huge number of games, including Super Robin Hood, The Race Against Time and the Grand Prix Simulator series. Keen to share their knowledge of the industry with others, they teamed up with Retro Fusion’s Chris Wilkins and former Crash editor, Roger Kean to create the ultimate guide to their early years. It’s a fascinating read full of interesting anecdotes about their early career and finally reveals the real reason why the brothers fell out over Dizzy and didn’t speak to the Darlings for over a decade. Order it now from fusionretrobooks.com.…

It’s been a busy and critically-acclaimed few years for Creative Assembly and as the premier real-time strategy studio in the world, it makes a lot of sense that 343 Industries would look to bring the team in on a return for Halo Wars , but why did the Horsham-based developer want to do it? “We’re big fans of the Halo universe and huge fans of the first game, which was fantastic. It just felt like a really amazing opportunity to pick up the story of these characters that are really loved and tell the next chapter of their adventure,” creative director Alistair Hope tells us as Halo Wars 2’s release looms large. But it’s a tough proposition to make RTS work on consoles at the best of…

“When we first made Mario 64… we realised that the game may be a little bit more for the core gamer, and not the casual gamer. We decided to go back and make it a little more accessible, and that’s why we made Mario Galaxy” . SHIGERU MIYAMOTO NINTENDO CONCEPT • An open-world Mario game, similar to Super Mario 64, but alongside all the fantastical worlds, it’s also set in a city. With real humans. INFORMATION Details Format: Switch Origin: Japan Publisher: Nintendo Developer: In-house Release: Q4 2017 Players: 1 Developer Profile Nintendo hasn’t published a Mario game like this one since the GameCube’s Super Mario Sunshine, where Mario jumped into magical graffiti to access new, self-contained worlds. Before that, it was Super Mario 64 – same concept, but…

“Outlast 2 will test your faith, pushing players to a place where going mad is the only sane thing to do ” PR RED BARRELS CONCEPT • For the most part, Outlast 2 doesn’t look to innovate on its predecessor’s ‘flight-notfight’ mechanics, rather delivering a more audacious and depraved follow-up. INFORMATION Details Format: PS4, Xbox One, PC Origin: Canada Publisher: Red Barrels Developer: In-house Release: Q1 2017 Players: 1 Developer Profile Formed by ex-Ubisoft employees Philippe Morin, Hugo Dallaire and David Chateauneaf, Montreal-based Red Barrels is a relatively young studio, having been formed in 2012 and with only one published title to its name: first-person horror, Outlast. Developer History Outlast 2013 [PC, PS4, Xbox One] Outlast: Whistleblower 2014 [PC, PS4, Xbox One] The Murkoff Account 2016 [Comic] High Point…

CONCEPT • A fantasy adventure set in a gorgeous Studio Ghibli inspired world. INFORMATION Details Format: PS4, PC Origin: Japan Publisher: Bandai Namco Developer: Level-5 Release: TBC 2017 Players: 1 Developer Profile Formed in 1998 by Akinhiro Hino, Level-5 is perhaps best known for its work on the Inazuma and Professor Layton franchises, though JRPG fans will of course know the studio for its stellar work on Dark Cloud, White Knight Chronicles and Ni No Kuni. High Point Professor Layton And The Curious Villager was a surprise hit for the Nintendo DS back in 2007, an accessible adventure game well loved by kids and adults alike. Developer History Dark Cloud 2000 [PS2] Professor Layton And The Curious Village 2007 [NDS] Inazuma Eleven 2008 [NDS] Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of the…

The Nintendo Switch is one of the most impressive devices the Japanese manufacturer has ever released in terms of its consumer design as well as its functionality. It may not have the instant game-changing interface of something like the Wii, but it is a perfection of the play anywhere philosophy that the company appeared to be striving for with the Wii U. The Switch is more than just a portable console that can be screened on a TV, too. There are many interesting and fun features included on the console that allow it to be a multifaceted and versatile machine. It is not as powerful as a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, but compared to other dedicated handheld devices out there, it blows them out of the water with a…

“We give you the objective, we give you all the toys in this sandbox, and then you play how you want” Sam Strachman, narrative director “It’s kind of cool,” says narrative director Sam Strachman on watching the game evolve. “As we started developing the game we started with something that’s really empty and really open, but then you start to see something that [resembles] this living and breathing simulation.” And he isn’t wrong, either. Wildlands isn’t just Ubisoft’s biggest open world, but its most vibrant and lifelike. The team at Ubisoft Paris has put a great amount of time into ensuring the world around you feels like a real place. This process was kick-started by 30 developers embedding themselves in Bolivia to study the environment, meet the locals and generally…

Rime may have a beautiful world, intuitive puzzle design and an incredible sense of place, but it also feels fragile. You never feel safe or content, eager to move on for mysteries lurk behind the still statues and distant horizons. That’s because of the lead protagonist, an eight-year-old boy that brings the game’s separate elements together. “You’re this child – this eight-year-old kid – you cannot feel as if you are the hero who is saving the world. We wanted the kid to feel fragile. You are supposed to be helpless,” says Tequila Works’ CEO Raúl Rubio, citing this as the reason Rime doesn’t feature any combat. One of the biggest achievements here is the way the kid moves and interacts with the world. It feels authentic, reflecting how you…

IN MANY RESPECTS, RESIDENT EVIL VII CAN BE CONSIDERED A SUCCESS TO THE SAME EXTENT OF RESIDENT EVIL 4 DETAILS FORMAT: PS4 OTHER FORMATS: Xbox One, PSVR, PC ORIGIN: Japan PUBLISHER: Capcom DEVELOPER: In-house PRICE: £49.99 RELEASE: Out now PLAYERS: 1 ONLINE REVIEWED: N/A The best scares should leave a scar. A permanent mark that follows you. It should serve to remind you of dangers that lurk in the night, that force you to fear the shadows of your soul and turn from flickering lights that dance in the dark. The best scares should leave a scar, because anything less is but a cheap parlour trick; in this respect, Resident Evil VII cuts deep. It brands itself into your very being, playing on the fallacy of your basic instincts…

DETAILS FORMAT: 3DS ORIGIN: Japan PUBLISHER: Nintendo DEVELOPER: Good-Feel PRICE: £34.99 RELEASE: Out now PLAYERS: 1 ONLINE REVIEWED: N/A Once again Nintendo has managed to convert a Wii U title to 3DS without compromising too much of the original vision for the game. As such Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World carries with it most of the strengths and a few of the weaknesses of its parent release. In the final balance you still have yet another quintessential Yoshi experience, scaled down beautifully for mobile play, but really not with enough innovation or challenge to make a lasting impression. The wool aesthetic is a wonderful draw for this incarnation of our favourite dinosaur steed, bringing not only a new look to the series, but also some fun gameplay concepts too. This…

“Portal should be on the syllabus” DARA Ó BRIAIN, COMEDIAN “Portal is the one game I would enthuse people who have never seen a videogame before to play, because they wouldn’t presume the level of storytelling that is included and how well timed the reveals were. I also tell people about the cake thing just to go, ‘This is such a remarkable thing to put into a game.’ At the end, when you are already wowed by how good it was and then that song [ Still Alive ] starts… So few people will actually go and see the Revenant , but everybody knows that there is a bear attack in it. And yet, something as unarguably brilliant as…

THE VIDEO PROCESSOR WAS THE MOST WORRYING. IT KEPT OVERHEATING TODAY, HAVING A COMPUTER IN THE HOUSE IS LARGELY TAKEN FOR GRANTED. Most of us have a laptop or desktop PC or Mac and children don’t generally have to plead and beg their parents to buy them one. Not so back in the eighties. At that time, computers were still the shiny sheriffs of gadget town and kids typically had to use all of their cunning and might to persuade the powers that be in their household to get the chequebook out at the local computer store. In a lot of cases, there was a simple utterance which seemed to do the trick: “Pleeeaaaase,” the young voices would say. “I really need one to help with my school work and…

RUDIMENTARY MATHS • If you have any hope of making it through this gruelling journey in one piece, you’ll need to ensure that you keep your wagon stocked with essential supplies. But it isn’t enough to stock it up ahead of the journey – as many will be lost along the way – and so you’ll need to weigh up your load and basic requirements, keeping enough cash on you as a reserve for later in your travels. MANAGING LOSS • These settlers may indeed be looking for a better life but, sadly, nothing in this life is that easy. The Oregon Trail has you name your caravan of travellers ahead of setting out, making the inevitable death of your friends all the harder to deal with. XCOM players will…