Table of contents for May 2022 in PLAY

“The glittering bangles on Frey’s arm are both the source of her powers and a chatty companion.” Square Enix is proving committed to PlayStation, recently offering fresh information about the recently delayed Forspoken and announcing two brand-new projects. All three titles will be released this year. The first of these, Luminous Productions’ Forspoken, will leap onto PS5 on 11 October. Protagonist Frey Holland, played by actress Ella Balinska, is ripped from the streets of New York and transported to a world called Athia, as fantastical as it is dangerous. Here be dragons, big beasties, and the despotic Tantas. Athia’s former rulers, the Tantas were once beloved as protectors of the realm before a sudden mysterious transformation into its oppressors. Frey never gets off on the right foot with the Tantas,…

With the last generation of consoles behind us, it’s time for Street Fighter V to move over. We’ve only had a tease of Street Fighter 6 so far. But what a tease. Especially if you like bulging muscles, wide lads, and scrunching, er, feet. The future of Street Fighter, it seems, is raw power. “The designs are more realistic, though Ryu is broad enough to give even the Suez Canal room for pause.” More news is due in summer, and the consoles SF6 is being made for have yet to be named, but we’ll eat Ryu’s sweaty sandals if it’s not being built from the ground up to make full use of PS5’s tech. With the teaser’s focus on rippling flesh, it’s reminiscent of Tekken 6’s 2005 E3 tease, which…

“HEROES AND VILLAINS ARE INSEPARABLE, LIKE TOM & JERRY. THEY ARE MORE THAN RIVALS, THEY ARE INEVITABLE.” HIDEO KOJIMA ONCE AGAIN OVERTHINKING IN STYLE. “GAMER STUFF: THE ONE GAME THEY NEED TO REBOOT. [DEF JAM: FIGHT FOR NY] WOULD BE A HUGE HIT ALL OVER AGAIN.” ICE-T ARGUES THAT ONE OF HIS FAVOURITE GAMES DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE. “I AM HONORED TO HAVE MET [THE DEVELOPERS AT FROMSOFTWARE] AND WORKED WITH THEM, AND TO HAVE PLAYED A PART, HOWEVER SMALL, IN CREATING THIS FANTASTIC WORLD.” GEORGE RR MARTIN PRAISES ELDEN RING ON HIS BLOG.…

“IF NUTS AND BOLTS DETECT YOU ON THE GROUND, THEY’LL ALERT DRONES IN THE AIR.” Mundfish is finally pulling back the curtain on its alternate history shooter ahead of a release later this year in the magical month of “*******ber” (that’s a direct quote). In case you’re not familiar with the plot, the alternate timeline of Atomic Heart splits off in the year 1936, placing its present in a USSR that’s got robots, holograms, and even something like the internet. Not everything’s going swimmingly. Protagonist P-3 ventures into Soviet facility Plant 3826 after a major incident. Robots there have gone wild, making mincemeat of the human staff, and the situation is threatening to spill beyond the bounds of the facility. It’s up to you to investigate what went wrong and…

02 months STEELRISING As Marie Antoinette's automaton bodyguard, you must stop Louis XVI's killing machines. FORMAT PS5 / ETA JUN PUB NACON 04 months KAO THE KANGAROO What’s worse than getting clocked by a kangaroo’s right fist? When he’s got gloves on too. FORMAT PS5, PS4 ETA SUMMER 2022 / PUB TATE MULTIMEDIA 06 months GOTHAM KNIGHTS This co-op brawler is now dated. With Batman dead, play as Red Hood, Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing. FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 25 OCT / PUB WARNER BROS.…

"A PSYCHIC DETECTIVE WHO HAS THE ABILITY TO JUMP INTO PEOPLE'S MEMORIES.” FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2022 / PUB MIDBOSS LLC DEV MIDBOSS LLC / PLAYERS 1 Gene-splicing and cyber augmentation: it’s as normal as dying your hair. At least, it is in MidBoss’s Neo-San Francisco, where the entanglement of human and technology is commonplace. Throw a noir-style mystery work into the mix and you’ve got yourself a mind-bending science-fiction adventure. This may be a detective tale but you won’t need a magnifying glass. As an esper called ES88, you’re a psychic detective who can jump into people’s memories using a Neurodiver, a genetically modified creature that lets you see inside people’s heads and restore damaged memories. There’s a lot of work to be done in that department. A…

FORMAT PS4 / ETA 2022 PUB DOTEMU / DEV TRIBUTE GAMES INC. / PLAYERS 1-4 This new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles side-scrolling beat-’em-up looks like pushing all our nostalgia buttons. The half-shell heroes have a long history of games running all the way back into the ’80s, and Shredder’s Revenge will be the newest in a very long series. It’s great to see the boys back in action and this time they’re joined by their mentor Master Splinter and news reporter April O’Neil. It looks like this brawler features the old-school pummelling action that we love about retro beat-’em-ups, with some cool new attacks and a big splash of colourful pixel pizza sauce on top. Radical.…

HALF-LIFE: A LY X PUB VALVE DEV VALVE While this is currently exclusive to Valve hardware, the PC publisher has a history of working with Sony dating back to PS3 (when you could even link your Steam ID). This prequel to Half Life 2 has you playing as Alyx, interacting with the FPS setting in a granular way, like using a chair to fend off headcrabs or manually scooping up ammo. There’s no chance the older Move controller could handle it, but with the orbs a port may finally be possible. STAR WARS: TALES FROM THE GALAXY’S EDGE PUB DISNEY ELECTRONIC CONTENT DEV ILMXLAB While we’ve had versions of Star Wars: Squadrons and Vader Immortal, this chill adventure has remained absent from PSVR. It’s a neat set of stories framed…

The licence tests are simply brilliant, challenging you to find time you would otherwise feel just wasn’t there. Kazunori Yamauchi proudly explained, in interviews ahead of Gran Turismo 7’s launch, that the game’s core development team has remained unchanged despite 25 years of working on the series. It shows. GT7 looks, sounds and feels like that PS1 classic, only now in Ultra HD on PS5. The devs have learned from several mistakes along the way, honed its triumphs, and the result is pure class. The latest entry in the series is certainly not brash and flashy like Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, nor has it disappeared up its own exhaust pipe like GT5. It’ll be familiar to anyone who’s enjoyed GT Sport these past few years, but imagine that game bolstered…

WHAT YOU DO IN: GRAND THEFT AUTO V 19% Ignoring your phone pinging every five seconds in GTA Online. 15% Playing fetch with Chop, the best boy in all of Los Santos. 8% Watching Franklin get roasted by Lamar. 21% Switching between visual modes to see if native 4K really makes a difference. 11% Facepalming every time the game uses Jimmy to try to mock its own audience. 26% Breaking into Fort Zancudo to hijack yet another military jet. MULTIPL AYER If you have the patience for its antiquated matchmaking, GTA Online’s multiplayer sandbox has its charms as you build a character from wannabe to kingpin (you can import them from PS4). The co-op focused, multi-stage Heists remain the best reason to jump in. FRIENDS & ENEMIES…

This is a grimly beautiful dystopia. Grimy, cluttered streets are lit with half-hearted neon, while the elites literally living at the top enjoy impossibly shiny, sterile surroundings. The attention to detail on everything from mechs and mutants to shopfronts and shotguns is stunning. It’s an impressive world; shame your principal interaction with it is murdering the inhabitants. The Ascent is a twin-stick shooter with RPG elements. It fails to explain how important those elements (eg upgrading weapons and managing armour) are, and if you don’t catch on fast, you’ll learn the hard way. As you spend most of your time shooting things, you’ll be pleased to hear that combat is simple yet satisfying, partly thanks to the ability to use cover,1 and the revolutionary idea of being able to ‘aim…

WHAT YOU DO IN: DESTINY 2: TWQ 15% Grinding weapon XP for the next upgrade or unlocked design. 7% Agonising over which gear to keep, and which to dismantle. 18% Whacking monsters in the face with the Glaive, marvelling at the damage. 10% Cheekily claiming rewards for a public event that you missed. 5% Travelling around on what is definitely not a Star Wars speeder bike. 45% Watching numbers fly out of your enemies like mathematical blood. FRIENDS & ENEMIES IKORA REY The Warlock Vanguard issues campaign missions, and helps investigate Savathûn. MARA SOV The queen of the Awoken guides you on the epilogue quest. Can she be trusted? SAVATHÛN The Witch Queen herself. She’s up to no good, but things aren’t quite that simple… HOW TO……

This isn’t the first expansion to come to the already-huge Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, but it’s the most fantastical, focusing on Valhalla’s more mythological side, having you exploring a new Norse realm using godly powers. But it’s not quite enough to revitalise the game. Once again suffering visions of the Aesir god Havi (AKA Odin, ruler of Asgard), Eivor takes a backseat as you play through Havi’s quest to save his son and liberate the dwarven realm of Svartalfheim. It’s straightforward in practice, as you follow three questlines with shifting goalposts – fetch this, collect that, win a boss fight, and hack-and-slash (or use stealth if you must) through camps. Playing as Havi feels less engaging than playing as Eivor. Owing to plot necessity, they’re a bit of a git to…

WHAT YOU DO IN: SOP: FFO 12% Dismantling heaps of gear to make room for even more gear. 10% Forgoing better stats for equipment that looks better. All praise Fedora Jack. 4% Sprinting down empty corridors that are just a tad too long. 23% Cackling as Jack brutalises even tiny enemies like Tonberries and Cactuar. 4% Squinting at Performance mode’s blurry graphics, and settling for the not-much-better Quality. 47% Countering, slashing, countering, slashing, countering, slashing – winning. FRIENDS & ENEMIES ASTOS This helpful dark elf knows a lot about the world. Too much? What’s his plan? KING OF CORNELIA He’s waiting for the Warriors Of Light. Are they Jack and co? NEON Also wields a black crystal – does she have a connection to Jack, Jed, and…

Very few detective games actually let you detect. With storylines ushering you along and evidence set out neatly in a trail for you to follow, they don’t give you many opportunities to do some real sleuthing. But Kaizen Game Works is changing that with its sun-kissed, tropical island mystery. Time to get out of those dark, dreary detective noirs and soak in some Vitamin D. Paradise Killer has a refreshingly open-ended approach to detective work. Its freeform structure is bold but the freedom it gives you pays off in leaps and bounds. You solve the mystery in your own time and at your own pace. Interviewing suspects, collecting clues, checking alibis, deciding when it’s time to present your case to the judge, and even pinning the crime on the wrong…

“The relentlessly raucous and gloriously ridiculous atmosphere is captured here brilliantly.” FORMAT PS5 (reviewed), PS4 PRICE £59.99 ETA Out now PUB 2K DEV Visual Concepts PLAYERS 1-8 Forget about the technical trainwreck that was the last entry (it’s for the best for all concerned, trust us). Not only does this year’s game work properly - on both formats - it’s pretty darn fun, too. The real WWE is an overblown pantomime that revels in pomp and melodrama, a relentlessly raucous and gloriously ridiculous atmosphere that is captured here brilliantly. A roster of modern male and female wrestlers sits snugly alongside a selection of legends. So if you want to see Roman Reigns fight André The Giant, or you want to correct Asuka’s recent absence from the ring digitally, you can…

This may be only the predecessor to the lauded open-world sequel, but when it was originally released it tingled our spider sense in just the right way regardless. With Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe reprising their roles as Spidey and Green Goblin respectively, this was a fun, level-based romp that expanded on the movie. Those extra storylines stick in the memory. Reader Christopher Adams’ favourite section is “the Shocker levels’ subway station, chase through the sewer, and showdown.” For Ali JT, however, it’s “the clock tower level with Vulture” that sticks out. You had to chase down the villain in the sky, and ascend a flaming tower as he hurled down hazards. Developer Treyarch would go on to make Spider-Man 2 and its successors, where webs had swing physics and…

Seeing someone do something cool, feeling inspired, then messing around yourself, putting little movements and ideas together to create your own unique line. That’s skateboarding – and it’s also how the OlliOlli series came together. Having played endless runner Canabalt, creative director John Ribbins had a thought: ‘I think that could be cool on a skateboard.’ He’d already spent years tinkering with ideas for 2D skaters. Even though during the late noughties Roll7 was focused on educational entertainment and marketing, Ribbins threw together a simple mobile demo for the game. “It didn’t have tricks, it just had you tap the screen to jump, and you had to tap the screen again before you hit the floor, or you literally just fell over and it played the sound of a watermelon…

Too shooty for fans of Oddworld’s puzzles, and too puzzley for noughties shooter lovers, this missed its audience on release. EA did what EA does and sent it out to die. However, over time this first-personshooter-cum-third-person-platformer has found fans who appreciate the odd humour and mish-mash of ideas. Because, for all its faults, it represents the kind of far-out thinking you rarely see these days from a triple-A publisher. While you explore the open world in third person, you can zip into first person at any time. In 2022 that’s not a surprise, but in 2005 it was revolutionary. Stranger’s crossbow can hold two types of ammo at once and fire them independently of each other to create an unusual puzzle mechanic.1 One type, for example, can stun or coax…

As the impossibly stylish Ringo, an artificial being hot off the press, you’re tasked with averting the end of the world in this Shin Megami Tensei spin-off. This neon-tinged turn-based JRPG bears more than just a family resemblance to sister series Persona. Ringo’s joined by another artificial intelligence, created at the same time as her, known as Figue. This ‘sister’ boasts an equal passion for fashion but does not get directly involved in combat, instead providing support from the sidelines. Ringo doesn’t just have her fashionable fringe to ward off demonic advances with though; she’s accompanied into battle by a party of Devil Summoners. The fact they’re fighting together doesn’t mean they’re all on the same team, however. In this technologically advanced world, the tension between two opposing Devil Summoner…

Young Horses’ PS5 launch title remains as unique an experience today as it was in November 2020. Best summarised as ‘family-friendly body horror,’ Bugsnax is about to get supersized thanks to an imminent update including free DLC. The Isle Of Bigsnax expands the core adventure with an all-new area to munch on. The titular island rises from beneath the waves, boasting prehistoric megafauna that at first present bigger bites than you can chew. Thankfully, you’re not alone on this expedition. “We sat down and gathered up ideas like ‘All right, what would a new zone look like?’” Creative director Kevin Zuhn explains how a few factors informed Young Horses’ decision making when it came to filling out your party. “Triffany, if a new island appeared, would absolutely go look at…

Village both delighted and terrified us all on PS5 last year – and no, we’re not just talking about Lady Dimitrescu. So it’s great to know that Resident Evil VII, 2, and 3 will also enjoy that current-gen difference later this year. “If you already own these games on PS4, you’ll be able to take another bite out of them gratis on PS5.” That’s right, native PS5 versions of all three games will have horror fans chomping at the bit before too long. Better yet, if you already own the games on PS4, you’ll be able to take another bite out of them gratis on PS5 thanks to a free digital upgrade. That’s certainly easier than hoovering up herbs on Hardcore mode. The two recent remakes and the seventh mainline…

Deliver Us the Moon proved that the cold vacuum of space is all the threat a game needs. There are no enemies to fight or alien threats to leg it away from, but that doesn’t mean you’re safe. The 2020 puzzle game saw an astronaut exploring abandoned off-world facilities in a bid to return home with something that could ease Earth’s energy crisis. Now it’s getting an atmospheric sequel, Deliver Us Mars, which ventures even further beyond the third rock from the sun on PS5 and PS4. The story takes a similarly grounded approach to science fiction to its predecessor, setting its scene ten years after the first game’s Fortuna mission. That past mission and this new venture share a mysterious connection, but Deliver Us Mars will offer a standalone…

01 In 1937, Professor Sechenov assembles a team to work on the ‘Crowd-man’ project. The aim is to create humans without a sense of individuality. 02 After WW2, Sechenov is tasked with developing a robotic workforce. Following the launch of Collective 1.0 in 1948, Soviet robots are exported to Europe. 03 In 1950, Sechenov makes breakthroughs in the field of neuro-polymers. Around 1954, a Soviet rover returns from the moon with a soil sample.…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA SUMMER 2022 / PUB NIS AMERICA / DEV NIPPON ICHI SOFTWARE / PLAYERS 1 Zed the zombie, the hero of Nippon Ichi’s latest Netherworld adventure, is as lowly a being as you can imagine. In contrast, everything else in Disgaea 6 is bigger than ever, especially the numbers. Its pitch is simple – if you thought racking up million-point combos in earlier games was appealing, what could be better than billions and more? “A BIT LIKE TRYING TO DIG DEEPER IN AN ALREADY BOTTOMLESS PIT.” Well, it remains to be seen whether hugely increased damage output and level caps are much more than an elaborate in-joke. Disgaea has always been impressive for its almost limitless, dizzying flexibility, and during our time with the game adding…

FORMAT PS5 / ETA 2022 PUB SHARED MEMORY DEV SHARED MEMORY / PLAYERS 1 Nobody has ever fallen into a well and found anything happy at the bottom, and Animal Well’s little blob has just experienced that firsthand, waking up in a dark and hostile underworld filled with ghostly creatures – though we have to admit the pixel art charms us, and we’re getting distinct Hollow Knight vibes from what we’ve seen. That said, while this looks like a puzzle platformer with survival horror elements, developer Billy Basso told PlayStation Blog that Animal Well doesn’t have either hardcore platforming or intense fights but is more constructed to allow players to discover secrets, and to evoke a sense of discovery as you progress. The promise of a wealth of hidden puzzles…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2022 PUB YCJY GAMES / DEV YCJY GAMES PLAYERS 1 Part run ’n’ gun, part fever dream, Post Void promises to leave your head spinning and ears ringing. It’s an FPS action roguelike in which speed takes priority over everything else. Procedurally generated levels make each run a short endeavour, but there’s no respite during that brief time: you’ve got your gun in one hand and an ancient idol flask in the other – that’s your health. The only way to keep your grotesque vessel full is by killing enemies. The moment you stop the slaughter, your run ends and you must try again. With no places to hide, you’re forced to face enemies head-on, and having to frantically keep moving makes the psychedelic visuals…

The new generation of gaming is already here, but while PS5 has been impressing us for over a year now PSVR2 is still just over the horizon. We know the new virtual reality hardware will be swoopy and white like the base console, but its looks are just one of many reasons why the next generation of VR will be a head-turner. Stick with us as we dig into why you should be excited for PSVR2. THE HEADSET “[THE PLAYER’S GAZE IS] A NEW FORM OF INPUT.” Go on, strap a screen to your face The headset includes a slew of new features. One of the most, ahem, eye-grabbing of these is something called ‘foveated rendering’. This means the headset cleverly tracks what you’re looking directly at and then only…

With GTA V approaching its tenth anniversary and having just been ported to PS5 (read our verdict on p76), the big question is: what’s next? A recent announcement from Rockstar says “active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well under way.” Of course, we have been anticipating a new GTA for a long time, but the statement suggests the many years of silence may come to an end sooner rather than later. As with any expected landmark release, there have been many rumours about GTA VI, from its location to its time period, protagonists, and more. A lot of the whispers are probably less trustworthy than a GTA mission-giver, but there’s always a little bit of truth to the chatter. We’ve assembled a crew…

WHAT YOU DO IN: GRAN TURISMO 7 35% Trying to be a good sportsperson. Cars are friends, not braking aids. 3% Adding one more kilo of ballast to get your car sub-650PP legal. 1% Lamenting the fact there’s no actual Sonic wall at the real Daytona Speedway. 15% Venturing just beyond the white line and having to start all over again. 6% Watching the ‘Scapes’ demo roll. It’s so relaxing. 40% Looking for your braking point, aiming for the apex, accelerating. HOW TO… GET THE LAST LICENCE TEST Just finishing the lap is a real achievement in itself. But in order to nail that essential gold time, stay out of first gear, learn where the dry parts of the track are, avoid touching the outside kerbs at all…

Has it really been 12 years since the heavily-armed dog and psychotic rabbity thing starred in a completely new game? It has, but pull on your PSVR headset, see them up close for the first time, and it quickly feels like they never went away. This is the dysfunctional duo we know and love. The script, acting, and character models are all perfectly on point… but little else is. This isn’t the game you might be expecting. There’s no inventory, and while there’s some poking around the environment – and even a handful of puzzles – this isn’t an adventure game. It is for the most part a collection of VR minigames. No problem with that idea, it could have been great. Could have been. The office setting acts as…

Well, this is awkward. The Cruel King And The Great Hero follows in style from Nippon Ichi’s The Liar Princess And The Blind Prince, a heartfelt puzzle game with storybook visuals that thrives on its quirky cuteness. Unfortunately, Cruel King falls short of the mark on nearly everything that made Liar Princess good. It trades in the puzzle game format for a generic RPG formula that ends up burying the appeal of its characters under lengthy fetch quests. It results in a swing and a miss, but it’s cute enough that you feel kind of bad having to tell it off. Hero-in-training Yuu spends her days helping everyone she can as the sole human among monsters, watched over by the somewhat troubled Dragon King. Largely, the story details her efforts…

Folktales are often concerned with gods, bloodthirsty demons, and wrathful elemental creatures. Tango Gameworks has decided to tap into a different side of Japan’s mythos for its ghost-hunting adventure. The spirits and yokai you face in Ghostwire: Tokyo evoke a different kind of terror, stemming from the realisation that something so monstrous has its roots in the human world. The setting’s modern-day Tokyo, but the boundaries between the living world and spirit world have collapsed and the city’s population has vanished and been replaced with otherworldly beings called the Visitors. You play as Akito, a young man who is surprised to find himself alive after being hit by a car. His miraculous return from the grave is thanks to a spirit called KK, a dead ghost-hunting detective who is now…

The title gives it away – Martha Is Dead is not a happy game. In fact, so dark are its themes and visuals that you’re initially greeted with warnings about the graphic imagery and upsetting subject matter. And far from being a cheap tactic to build intrigue, these cautions are wholly warranted; for instance, one scene sees you remove a corpse’s face to wear as your own, and that’s not the worst of it. The game’s set in 1944, in a sleepy Italian village, and you play Martha’s twin sister, Giulia, as she deals with the trauma of losing her sibling. Despite its gore and eerie imagery, Martha Is Dead is not a horror, it’s a psychological thriller. There isn’t a single jump scare here, nor does it have you…

One day there will be time to understand just what went wrong here. After all, this is not merely the case of a talented studio making a few mistakes that ruin a potentially great experience. No, that would be giving it too much credit. Babylon’s Fall is a truly awful, horribly mismanaged game, with nothing to offer but a hole in your wallet. Let’s start with the conclusion before we break down just what went wrong here. Do not buy this game. From a generic fantasy storyline offering nothing you haven’t seen before to boring activity, there’s little to keep you engaged for the length of its ten- to 15-hour campaign. Which isn’t ideal for a game that, based on the cosmetics, battle passes, and promised future updates, is supposed…

WHAT YOU DO IN: PARADISE KILLER 25% Crying at how long your list of unsolved questions is getting. 7% Busting moves as the saxophone solo in the OST kicks in. 5% Finding something that twists the case. 10% Mastering the gift of the gab and getting suspects to open up. 9% Wishing you were on a tropical island holiday with a cocktail in hand. 44% Feeling excited when you discover a major breakthrough in the case. HOW TO… KEEP TRACK OF EVIDENCE Gone are the days of pins and red string. Lady Love Dies has Starlight, a computer that keeps track of testimonies, evidence, and findings. It also connects pieces of evidence as new conspiracies begin to unravel. Make sure you check it regularly to keep on top…

01 Red Dead Redemption 2 You won’t find another open world quite like this, the streets of Los Santos paling in comparison to this gorgeous western sprawl. Arthur Morgan’s wild west adventure is epic, emotional, and has enough teasing mysteries on every Horizon for no two cowboys’ journeys to feel the same. Train robberies, tootin’ headshots, and killing racists, there’s never a dull moment in Rockstar’s greatest. 02 Grand Theft Auto V Laughing in the face of other cross-gen ports, GTA V on PS4 is more than a mere HD remaster. Upped to a glorious 1080p, it weaves together everything that made the PS3 original great, with new music, more dynamic weather, and a game-changing FPS mode. 03 God Of War A departure in some ways but a resounding return…

Launching as a PS Vita console exclusive in 2014, OlliOlli’s short levels and simplicity of play made it perfect for the handheld. Using only the left stick, shoulder buttons, and q, you could string together gnarly lines. That didn’t stop it from being tough though, with some notoriously tricky levels demanding you hit landings properly to keep your score. Coming less than a year after the release of the first game, OlliOlli 2: Welcome To Olliwood built on its predecessor in just about every way. Split-level routes meant different paths, new structures meant bigger air, and an improved combo system meant massive lines were possible. The colourful visuals gave the game more personality, too. After a long wait, OlliOlli World landed on PS5 and PS4 earlier this year (we gave…

Free wired Nacon pad Subscribe to PLAY – The Magazine and get a free wired Nacon compact controller worth £34.99, plus your mag delivered every month. Print only If you just want a print edition, you’ll pay from £15.75 a quarter. Each issue is delivered to your door in environmentally-friendly packaging. Print & Digital Get the best of both worlds, with a print and digital bundle from £19.50 a quarter, for iOS, Google, Kindle, and Android devices. See p102.…

Returnal wowed us last year with its demanding action and impressive implementation of PS5’s Tempest 3D AudioTech. Protagonist Selene is trapped in a roguelike loop on a hostile alien planet, though time isn’t exactly repeating itself, as evidenced by the bodies left behind after your earlier, failed runs. A free update capitalises on that existential horror with co-op functionality and much more besides. Update 3.0, the Ascension expansion, introduces not only a helping hand but a hefty serving of challenge. The Tower Of Sisyphus is a new location that presents an arcadey, endless-run-style gauntlet. Every phase of the tower ends with a boss encounter, and they get harder the higher you climb. There are more crumbs of Selene’s story sprinkled throughout too. As this is something of a return to…

HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST TALLNECK LEGO SET LEGO £69.99 LEGO.COM Horizon’s most iconic machine has received the Lego treatment in this 1,222-piece kit. These gentle giants usually roam the wilds of Forbidden West, but this miniature wonder is the perfect size to display on a shelf or desk. You’ll be able to start building when it’s released this upcoming May. DESTINY 2 SAVATHÛN, THE WITCH QUEEN LIMITED EDITION STATUE BUNGIE £149.99 JUSTGEEK.COM The Big Bad of Destiny 2’s new major expansion has been frozen in time. This statue of the Witch Queen, Savathûn, The Black Needle, The Scheme-Mother, The Deceitful Sister (you get it) will be available to order this September. Its wings have an eye-boggling 67cm diameter. Damn, girl. HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST ALOY 1/6 SCALE STATUE…

TOTAL WEAPONS I am thoroughly enjoying Far Cry 6 on PS5. However, as a Spurs fan, I object to seeing the word Arsenal in huge letters at the top of the pause menu! Is there any way Ubisoft could be persuaded to change this, eg to Weapons? Owen Rhodes We doubt it, Owen - a Post-It on your telly’s the only solution. READY PLAYER 2 “AS A SPURS FAN, I OBJECT TO SEEING THE WORD ARSENAL IN HUGE LETTERS.” I love playing co-op games with a fellow gamer and we discovered the superb co-op gameplay in Assassin’s Creed: Unity. Now we need a similar sort of game which has real depth to the co-operative elements of working together. Can you suggest PS4/5 games that offer extensive play together options? Kevin…

FORMAT PS5 / ETA 2022 / PUB KWALEE / DEV DAMAGE STATE / PLAYERS 1-4 Three-person development team Damage State has opened the gates of Hell and now scary-looking demons are running around with big guns. Playing as an enforcer of the legions of Hell called a Scathe, you need to prove you’ve got some fighting chops and blast your way through a demon-filled maze and kick the butt of anything and everything you come across. “WE HAVE NO PROBLEM JUMPING IN.” That’s a simple enough setup, and this is far from the first time we’ve seen a gory demon-slaying FPS set in Hell. (We’d bet it won’t be the last either.) Because of that, our hands-on with Scathe feels like a return to the familiar. Doom’s ‘big guns and…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA SUMMER 2022 / PUB TINYBUILD / DEV SPLASHTEAM / PLAYERS 1 Being shrunk to the size of a pea would send many people spiralling into a panic, but as Tinykin’s child-scientist Milo we’re taking it all in our miniature stride. The year is 2748 and Milo has rediscovered Earth, a planet thought to be lost to space and time. Wanting to explore his new discovery, he transports himself to the planet only to find that it’s 1991, all the humans have disappeared, and he is now the size of a drawing pin and stuck in a human-sized house. You’ll have seen this ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’ situation used recently in Hazelight Studios’ It Takes Two, but instead of asking you to fend off the…

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA TBC / PUB PQUBE / DEV PLAYSTARK / PLAYERS 1-2 On a planet overrun by the Murkor, darkness has never been more dangerous. An invading race of aquatic aliens, the Murkor may seem cute and cuddly during the daytime but as the sun begins to set they transform into a formidable fighting force. In this roguelike shooter, paying careful attention to the environment is the key to survival. We’re stepping into the high-tech boots of one of three unlockable time-travelling heroes, ready to fight the Murkor hordes to save Earth from total destruction. Presented through several static cutscenes, the plot’s presentation may seem rough around the edges, but with events taking place at different points in time during the invasion it’s just enough to help…

FORMAT PS4 / ETA 27 MAY PUB BANDAI NAMCO DEV BANDAI NAMCO / PLAYERS 1 There are gaming icons, and then there’s ol’ Paccers, possibly the most recognisable videogame character on the entire planet. Now the yellow pellet-gobbler is back with a game anthology of 14 classic and modern Pac-Man games in one handy bundle. Spanning over 40 years of history, Pac-Man Museum+ contains the classic Pac-Man arcade games but also features other titles you might not be familiar with, such as side-scrolling action adventure Pac-Land and falling-tile puzzle game Pac-Attack. There’s also a customisable virtual arcade you can deck out with cabinets, decorations, and plenty of Pac-Man memorabilia. If you’ve got ‘Pac-passion’ [Ewwww! – ed], you won’t have to wait long as this throwback hits PlayStation in May.…

FORMAT PS5 / ETA 2022 PUB PRIME MATTER DEV GOLDKNIGHTS / PLAYERS 1-2 Science fiction and medieval fantasy have been fused to create GoldKnights’ action RPG, set on a partly-terraformed world with a distinctly medieval atmosphere. After spending an hour with the demo, we can tell you the character models and voice acting are in need of major work but bashing giant armoured rats on the head and grappling with the politics of the game’s fantasy world is fun. However, the best thing about The Last Oricru is that it has a co-op mode. You and a pal will be able to fight together, resurrect each other, and power up special co-op spells. There are hardly any two-player action RPGs, so it’s refreshing to see something new, and we look…

HORIZON: CALL OF THE MOUNTAIN Built especially for PSVR2, this takes place in the world Aloy fights to protect in Zero Dawn and Forbidden West but will have you playing a new hero. It’s great to see first-party support already. STARTENDERS This spacey bartending game will debut on PSVR before making its way to PSVR2. Zhushing up fruit and rattling tumblers for an intergalactic clientele is bound to benefit from improved haptics. COATSINK’S NEW GAME Publisher Thunderful (which put out PSVR’s Ghost Giant) has confirmed Coatsink is working on something for PSVR2. We know the studio best for Phogs, but it’s developed a number of VR games, including Esper for PSVR.…

Nine years, two console generations, and 160 million retailed copies after launch Grand Theft Auto V still puts in regular appearances in the weekly videogame sales charts. So while there’s undoubtedly an appetite for the series’ sixth instalment, can you really blame Rockstar for continuing to embellish its 2013 megahit with new content, updates, and now a visual facelift for PS5? Admittedly, this remaster, which you’ll have to pay for even if you own GTA V on PS4, isn’t as attractive a proposition as the last one. Whereas the PS4 rerelease featured a groundbreaking first-person perspective, its PS5 equivalent instead focuses on smaller, more customisable enhancements that will probably satisfy loyal devotees but fail to win over those looking for a truly compelling reason to return to Los Santos. UNDER…

What do you get if you mix a book that allows you to make choices with a board game, then add Where’s Wally’s cartoon stylings? The odd cookie that is Curious Expedition 2. Based on 19th-century exploration, this roguelike focuses on player choice. Thanks to procedurally generated maps and random events, you never have the foggiest idea where your actions will lead. And that’s the joy of this zany seafaring escapade, which you’re undertaking to impress the Explorers’ Club. There’s a risk to every possible reward. Explore ruins and you may find materials to trade for food – or you might sustain injuries when you set off a trap. Each randomly produced party member1 (you can even recruit four-legged companions like donkeys) has personality traits that you also have to…

Has the witch worked her magic to make Destiny 2 the best it’s ever been? This isn’t a great entry point for newbies – none of the expansions are – but it’s perfect for lapsed Guardians. What we’ve got here is a strong campaign, plenty of cool new weapons… and some additions that are as surprising as they are welcome. It’s not a step forward, then, but a leap. Although Bungie is, of course, at the development wheel, at times Witch Queen feels like something that was made with a completely fresh set of eyes on the game. For one thing, the campaign’s storytelling is more detailed and, to be honest, coherent than usual. This could be a sign that this is a story the developers are excited to tell…

WHAT YOU DO IN: GHOSTWIRE: TOKYO 31% Visiting Tokyo’s best sights and snapping selfies. 5% Saving your kidnapped sister, it’s definitely a priority. Promise. 3% Dribbling over how good the dango looks. 10% Jumping onto Wikipedia to brush up on your Japanese mythology. 7% Petting all the dogs in Tokyo and giving them treats. 44% Punching vengeful yokai and angry spirits in the face. HOW TO… BENEFIT FROM BATTLE It's easy to eviscerate an enemy with a flurry of elemental attacks, but using p to rip out the core of your enemies is more than just a firework-worthy takedown. Using it tops up both your HP and SP, which is vital in these encounters when your resources are low. THE DUALSENSE DIFFERENCE HAPTIC FEEDBACK Unleashing magical spells…

Obsessed with killing Chaos, prone to violence, and with a brash personality, hero Jack is the kind of guy our mamas warned us about. The same holds true for Stranger Of Paradise itself – we can’t help loving it despite its roughness. It’s not as deep an action game as Nioh, nor as immersive as Final Fantasy VII Remake, but this hack-and-slash is a bloody good time anyway. Like a goblin subjected to one of Jack’s over-the-top finishing moves, Final Fantasy fans will be putty in Stranger Of Paradise’s hands. What begins purporting to be a pseudo-retelling-slash-prequel to the very first Final Fantasy quickly turns into a celebration of the entire series. Every level you turn violently inside out on the hunt for loot is directly inspired by a numbered…

You miss every shot you don’t take, so the saying goes, but Shadow Warrior 3 has a batting average that’s painful to watch. Jettisoning any mechanical promise its predecessor possessed, this is a sloppy Doom Eternal wannabe with ‘jokes’ that more often than not just reference the fact that 1980s songs and movies exist and lack any actual punchlines. Its ’90s foundations have always made the series a little shaky, thanks in part to the devs naming its katana-wielding ninja assassin Lo Wang for the purpose of penis jokes. And yes, there are a lot of Wang puns here (just wait until he fights an Ancient Cock), but recasting the lead role – Wang’s now played by Mike Moh – at least alleviates some of the cringeworthiness. Along with the…

“Navigate the ship through desolate uncharted waters while scavenging for fuel.“ Zurich-based studio Okomotive is back with another meditative post-apocalyptic adventure. Far: Changing Tides follows closely in the slipstream of its sister game Far: Lone Sails, but instead of traversing a desert landscape you’re navigating the tricky waters of a newly flooded world. You are the sole survivor of this catastrophic event, a boy who regains consciousness to find your town has been destroyed and there’s not a soul in sight. A large metal ship acts as your temporary shelter. You need to navigate the ship through desolate uncharted waters while scavenging for fuel, all in the hopes of keeping the hunk of metal moving forward until you’ve found a new home. Without words, the story’s told through atmospheric and…

“Casper easily stands shoulder-to-shoulder with games such as Tomb Raider and Resident Evil in terms of sheer challenge.” Videogames rarely translate directly into good films (name five good gaming movies; we’ll wait). More worthwhile are tie-in games birthed straight from the silver screen – and the often-overlooked Casper is a perfect example of that. Many ’90s babies can recall the cheery ghoul’s 1995 movie outing; this charming game, however, is fixed in many gamers’ minds as being one of the toughest puzzlers to beat even 25 years on. Loosely based on the film, Casper’s living (erm, or not) in the hope of making some friends in Dr James Harvey and his daughter Kat, the new residents of Whipstaff Manor. Seems pretty straightforward, right? Wrong. Your end goal is to assemble…

FORMAT PS4 / PUB CAPCOM / DEV CAPCOM / RELEASED 2018 Most monsters in Monster Hunter: World put up a good fight, but Diablos is a particularly hardy contender. These bull-like dragons make their homes in the desert and are as comfortable moving under the sand as on top of it. Get in the way of one and you’ll know you’ve been hit. Fighting your first is the moment when MHW gets real and you feel like the professional Hunter you’re aiming to be. There are actually two varieties of Diablos, the standard sandy-hued brute and the tougher black version. The latter, we’re told, are females in heat, which makes them extra-aggressive, but frankly all Diablos are full of bad attitude and, well, dangerously horny. Which is to say that…