Home//PLAY/November 2023/In This Issue
PLAY|November 2023WelcomeSummer may be over, but it’s been a great one for gaming news. We travelled to Germany to investigate and get closer to the games at Gamescom (p6). If you’re a bit of an armchair industry analyst, you may be pleased to hear it was a great show, and proved to us just how important the industry coming together in person can be (and with E3 out of the fight, the German event reigns king).And if you just want to know about the games that were on show you’ll still be pleased, as there are some corkers coming even within the next few months. Life Is Strange creator Don’t Nod has run away with the issue a bit. Its cover game Banishers: Ghost Of New Eden (p28), about two ghost…2 min
PLAY|November 2023Life of the partyFew series endure until their tenth entries but, after almost a decade of annual releases, there’s still no sign of The Jackbox Party Pack slowing down any time soon, let alone stopping. Each new arrival brings a collection of five standalone minigames to the table, all brimming with unique mechanics and tied together by a wide range of creative themes.Favourites like Quiplash, which challenges you to craft one-liners against the clock, and Tee KO, a bare-knuckle competitive T-shirt design-off, have become party staples, but development has been filled with many early concepts that have never seen the light of day. To discover how the magic happens, we ask the team how they identify the winners and which ideas need to be taken back to the drawing board.“Really, a lot of…4 min
PLAY|November 2023If it ain’t broke…The adventure game series that flourished on the original PlayStation is making a comeback. Like any good point’n’click, there are two avenues of puzzle solving to prevent you getting stuck in one route – a new sixth adventure, Broken Sword: Parzival’s Stone, is being joined by a remake of the PS1 classic Broken Sword: Shadow Of The Templars.Both titles star photojournalist Nico Collard and sometimes-lawyer George Stobbart and can be enjoyed as standalone adventures, though naturally it’s a thrill to see how far the pair have come in the 27 years since that original outing – that’s part of the joy of having both available.New mystery Parzival’s Stone will, of course, have the duo poking around historical legend, as always, but with an innovative visual style that’s designed to evolve…2 min
PLAY|November 2023Slime1 RISK OF RAINOne of the first forms of the slime wasn’t just a slime, it was a flan. How could you tell it was a flan? By its colour, of course. Both RORs get this detail right, as well as quintessential flan behaviour: if you get too close, it’ll attack you with spikes.2 SLIME RANCHERBefore Stardew Valley, Slime Rancher uncovered the money-making potential of slime breeding. As Beatrix LeBeau, you do what humans do on alien planets: make a home and and enslave local fauna. In this case, slimes. It’s okay, they’re smiling in their cages! Seriously – they’re your friends, and discovering new kinds of goopy pals is fun.3 LOCOROCOThe slime is a magnificent creature that can bend, stretch, and squash. However, it is also quite… corpulent and…3 min
PLAY|November 2023Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden“A LOVE STORY ABOUT ONE-OF-A-KIND STAR-CROSSED LOVERS – ONE ALIVE AND ONE DEAD.“FORMAT PS5 / ETA 7 NOV / PUB FOCUS ENTERTAINMENT / DEV DON’T NOD / PLAYERS 1You’ve heard of being haunted by the ghosts of love lost and won. Well, for Banishers’ protagonist Red mac Raith, this is literal. He’s one of the titular pair of ghost hunters, and the other is the spectre of the woman he loves, Antea Duarte. By switching between these fatefully intertwined protagonists, you might just be able to put the past to rest – or make it howl.Creative director Philippe Moreau tells us, “The main theme is ‘Can love overcome death?’ […] The couple took an oath at the beginning of the game […] to decide what to do for Antea –…5 min
PLAY|November 2023Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name“KIRYU’S NEW FIGHTING STYLE IS CALLED AGENT AFTER HIS NEW UNDERCOVER OCCUPATION.“FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 9 NOV / PUB SEGA / DEV RYU GA GOTOKU STUDIO / PLAYERS 1We thought him gone, but Kazuma Kiryu lives on both in our hearts and on our gaming shelves – while his story officially ended with Yakuza 6, and Kiryu has since been replaced as Like A Dragon’s protagonist by frizzy-haired optimist Ichiban, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio seems as unwilling to fully let go of the Dragon Of Dojima as many fans are.Set ahead of the next mainline Like A Dragon game Infinite Wealth, Like A Dragon Gaiden (which translates as ‘side story’) follows Kiryu after he faked his death in Yakuza 6. As the game title suggests, he re-enters the underworld…5 min
PLAY|November 2023Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare IIIFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 10 NOV / PUB ACTIVISION / DEV SLEDGEHAMMER GAMES / PLAYERS MULTIThe first back-to-back sequel in Call Of Duty in over a decade, this upcoming instalment in the rebooted Modern Warfare series aims to build on the foundations laid by last year’s excellent Modern Warfare II. The campaign picks up exactly where the previous game’s story ended, with sinister terrorist mastermind Makarov on the verge of tipping the world into all-out global conflict, forcing our heroes Task Force 141 into a frantic race to stop it.Sound familiar? Well, this setup bears an uncanny resemblance to the events of the original Modern Warfare 2 (2009), and that’s far from the only similarity that we’ve spotted so far.The multiplayer mode launches with 16 maps, all faithful recreations…3 min
PLAY|November 2023Tormented Souls 2FORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB PQUBE / DEV DUAL EFFECT / PLAYERS 1You know what they say: ‘Out of the abandoned hospital and into the monastery’. Caroline and her sister Anna managed to escape the perilous first game with their lives, but when Anna becomes afflicted with a supernatural curse, survival horror is very much back on the menu. Journeying to South America, Caroline has to explore an ancient town that’s home to a religious group. Naturally, the deeper you delve in search of a cure, the more you uncover some odd goings on underneath these places of worship. Just like the first game, TS2 is a throwback to PS1’s fixed camera horror games, meaning you’ll need to juggle resources to survive and be wary of every corner…1 min
PLAY|November 2023Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm ConnectionsFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 17 NOV / PUB BANDAI NAMCO / DEV CYBERCONNECT2 / PLAYERS 1-3Want to feel old? The Naruto anime is now 20 years old. Believe it! This celebratory arena fighter builds on the excellent foundations of prior entries, and includes the biggest roster of fighters in any Naruto game ever, with over 130 able to go ninja-headband-to-ninja-headband. That includes new fighters from recent Boruto storylines, and many forms of Naruto himself. Despite both father and son getting title billing, though, you can’t celebrate an anniversary without spotlighting its roots. The bulk of the story mode focusses on Naruto and Sasuke’s partnership and rivalry across the years, retelling their frequent clashes (and includes a new story to boot).…1 min
PLAY|November 2023Headbangers: Rhythm RoyaleFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 31 OCT / PUB TEAM17 / DEV GLEE-CHEESE STUDIO / PLAYERS 30You’ll never look at pigeons the same after this. Your bird (which you can customise using crumbs earned by playing) competes against 29 other players in the ultimate head-bob-off, battling to see who can shake their noggin best. There are 23 musical minigames, with each match consisting of four elimination-based rounds with different levels of difficulty – the further you tough it out, the harder it’ll be to avoid flying the coop. As you’re mostly moving your head the controls are simple, but minigames range from guessing the instrument you hear to tapping along, Guitar Hero-style. Let’s hope your chirps are musical enough.…1 min
PLAY|November 2023LEAP OF FAITHFORMAT PS5 ETA 31 OCT PUB DON’T NOD DEV DON’T NOD PLAYERS 1Our hands are sweating as we grip the controller. We’re only an hour into our very literal hands-on with Jusant, and we’ve already climbed a fair way up the side of a treacherous cliff face, the ground now a dizzying number of miles away. Looking at the ledge above us, it’s just a smidge too far out of reach. To grab it, we’ll need to jump. Reciting the buttons needed to make this successful leap over and over, we take a final breath, and then leap. All we can say is this: Jusant is not for the faint of heart.In Don’t Nod’s upcoming action adventure you play as a traveller tasked with climbing a colossal tower with your…8 min
PLAY|November 2023Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot: The London CaseFor Poirot’s sake, we hope the two eggs on his face are identical in size. He’s hired to protect a painting of Mary Magdalene on display in a London museum, and not only is it pilfered a short time before being unveiled, but one of the guests is murdered. Hercule Poirot is going to need your help for this one.This is a younger iteration of the character than fans of Agatha Christie’s novels will know. Following on from 2021’s The First Cases, the game depicts the first time the immaculately dressed Belgian detective collaborates with Arthur Hastings of Lloyd’s Of London. As the painting was insured by the company, they’re both in a pickle. The two have a nice rapport – each appreciating the other’s differences while also learning something…5 min
PLAY|November 2023Shotgun King: The Final CheckmateDrunk on power and tyranny, the chessboard’s black king has been abandoned by his entire kingdom, his once-loyal subjects driven to switch sides and join the white king. Twisted by bitterness, the black king decides to unleash his anger on those who deserted him. He chooses to wreak bloody revenge on the deserters using his secret weapon – the royal shotgun.Many videogames have attempted to capture the tactical nature of chess in a way that revamps the old rules and brings something new to the board, and failed. Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate manages to do it in a rather bombastic manner: by putting a shotgun straight in your hands. However, what at first seems like a silly joke that would make Bobby Fisher turn is his grave turns out…2 min
PLAY|November 2023Gran TurismoFor the first ten minutes, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re watching a glorified advert for Gran Turismo 7. It’s one of many creative licences this film “based on a true story” takes, given that the GT Academy, originally a TV show designed to turn the world’s best sim racers into real professional racers, started years earlier, while Jann Mardenborough (played by Archie Madekwe) wasn’t the first winner. But if you can ignore how it plays fast and loose with facts and timeline of events, it’s a gripping underdog sports movie.Gran Turismo emphasises how much more physically demanding racing for real is. David Harbour relishes playing tough-love trainer Jack Salter, taunting his Academy candidates through punishing training montages, but coming to believe in Jann’s potential. That’s in the face of…3 min
PLAY|November 2023Ride 5Five games in, you know what to expect: lingering camera shots of gleaming bodywork, a passionate voiceover, and famous racetracks (now rendered in Unreal Engine 5). It’s a rider’s paradise. But the law of diminishing returns is in full effect, presenting something so ‘middle of the road’ that it’s basically a white line in this incarnation.That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as sometimes you just want a high-quality, realistic, licensed bike sim to play at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second. And there’s a lot to be said for seeing the sun set dramatically over Snetterton’s devilish chicanes and Road America’s undulations.Sometimes you just want a high-quality, realistic, licensed bike sim to play at 60fps.FEUDAL TIMESThe riding physics are a touch heavy compared to older games, but the series…2 min
PLAY|November 2023Red Dead RedemptionFans have been digging their spurs in for some time, desperate for the original Red Dead Redemption to be released on modern consoles. Rockstar has answered, having developer Double Eleven deliver a new port. While there’s plenty to grumble about, being able to play the game without a PS3 is great in itself.But its shortcomings need to be addressed, especially given the £39.99 price tag. Red Dead Redemption is presented much as you’d expect, with little more. There’s no PS5 version to speak of, so the best we get here is a PS4 port locked to 30fps. The biggest update comes in the shape of improved anti-aliasing options (which you can adjust in the menu, a rarity on console), defaulting to FSR2. Without getting into the technicalities, it means visuals…2 min
PLAY|November 2023PS4 Hall of fame01 Red Dead Redemption 2You won’t find another open world quite like this, the streets of Los Santos paling in comparison to this gorgeous, realistic 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. With train robberies, tootin’ headshots, and racists to kill, there’s never a dull moment in Rockstar’s greatest.02 Grand Theft Auto VLaughing 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 WarA departure in some ways but a resounding return in others,…7 min
PLAY|November 2023Twisted MetalThis is one of those games where, even if you haven’t played it for yourself, you’ve almost certainly heard of it. Several games and one TV show later, the 1995 original is officially, legally playable in the space year 2023 on modern hardware thanks to PS Plus. Y’know, if you decide that you really want to.This isn’t a game that has aged brilliantly, but that doesn’t mean it has nothing to offer. The basic concept is ahead of its time: it’s essentially a battle royale fought with heavily-armed road vehicles (albeit with a maximum of two human participants). There’s a generous number of vehicles to choose from, too; 12 in all. And the fact is, any game with a cast including a taxi driver, a police officer, and a ghost…2 min
PLAY|November 2023You’ve been WarframedToday, Warframe is one of the most successful, content-rich free-to-play games on the market, with a huge and passionate community of players. Ten years is a long time for a developer to keep one game going, and there’s no sign of this one slowing down any time soon. Had Warframe struggled to find an audience, however, it could easily have been Digital Extremes’ last. The company found itself in a tight spot in the months leading up to the initial release. When we ask how the game first came to be, former Warframe art director Geoff Crookes’ instant, wry answer is “Desperation”.“We had lost a publishing contract,” explains Digital Extremes’ chief creative officer Steve Sinclair. “We had laid off 50 people, I think.” (“Pretty painful for the size of the…12 min
PLAY|November 2023Another man in the wall“It’s true Lovecraftian eldritch; it’s very different.”The New War proved that Digital Extremes doesn’t like to move Warframe forward with a bang, it likes to move it forward with an earthquake. That update brought a solo quest lasting at least half a dozen hours, playable cameos from enemy units, and a mass of new co-op content besides. So, what next for the game? Let us tell you. We have seen the future, and it is called Whispers In The Walls.Whispers is the latest cinematic quest (though unlike The New War, players will be able to dip in and out before the story’s end). It will bring players closer to understanding just who (or what?) the mysterious Man In The Wall is, in part by providing a completely new area. Deimos’…7 min
PLAY|November 2023THIS MONTH’S BANISHED BUNCHDashiell WoodCONTRIBUTING WRITER Forced to contend with his own mortality, he swapped his guns for magic to see how Immortals Of Aveum fares.GAME OF THE MONTH Armored Core VIBEST GHOST Ghost (COD: Modern Warfare)Jess KinghornGAMES EDITOR Despite the name, she’d rather Banishers didn’t vanish(er), Don’t Nod’s latest promises to spirit her away.GAME OF THE MONTH Bomb Rush CyberfunkBEST GHOST Sae Kurosawa (Project Zero)Miriam McDonaldOPERATIONS EDITOR Warframe’s Lotus has it rough as the Tennos’ operator? Try wrangling game journos…GAME OF THE MONTH Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot – The London CaseBEST GHOST Lisa (PT)Milford CoppockMANAGING ART EDITOR Milf’s only complaint with Jusant is it looks too easy – the climb is essentially his morning commute to PLAY Towers.GAME OF THE MONTH Bomb Rush CyberfunkBEST GHOST Jin Sakai (Ghost Of Tsushima)Ryan RobbinsDESIGNER Forced…1 min
PLAY|November 2023What’s in store?Nestled in the heart of London’s Camden Market is Bandai Namco’s new Cross Store, the first of its kind outside Japan. It’s easy to understand why such a bustling locale was chosen; this multi-storey “retail experience” has a surprising amount in common with its market surroundings – which in Camden is actually several adjacent markets and includes buildings as well as traditional outdoor stalls.Culturally, it’s a perfect fit. “Camden is a very uniquely eclectic place. It’s a mix and match of every culture that people are enjoying,” Suguru Ueda, the manager of IP development at Bandai Namco, tells us. “There are lots of foreigners and lots of tourists, so we thought Camden would be a good match.”CATCH ’EM ALLInside the store feels like something of a market too, divided into…2 min
PLAY|November 2023Snack attackThere’s been a noticeable rise in games featuring feral creatures over the past couple of years, the two more infamous menaces being the goose from Untitled Goose Game and BK, the rambunctious raccoon from Donut County. Now the chaotic creature trio will be complete with the arrival of Pizza Possum.The goal of Pizza Possum is simple: to scamper around the streets of a sunny Mediterranean town scoffing as much food as you can get your grubby mitts on. It’s a wonderful mix of fun and mischief, as you hide-and-seek your way through different levels avoiding the patrolling guard dogs who will try to stop your food-eating rampage. If you get spotted, you need to high-tail it to a hiding spot or try to lose them by scurrying as fast as…4 min
PLAY|November 2023“CANCEL MARVEL’S SPIDERMAN 2 AND GIVE ME A SPIDER-VERSE GAME.”Flicking between multiverses is what PS5 was made for.WRITER BIO Abbie Stone is from a universe where games journalists are paid five million pounds per word. She regrets moving to this one.Don’t get me wrong; I loved Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man. I loved it more than all my 11 children put together. (Sorry, kids, but until you get superpowers from those radioactive spiders I’m constantly exposing you to, I’ll be sticking with these wonderful games.) The opening of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales in particular, where you juggle two Spider-Men to take down The Rhino, is a brilliant proof-of-concept for what we’re getting in October’s Spider-Man 2.However! I don’t know if you’ve seen obscure indie film Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, but it’s basically the greatest videogame never made. That film casually showed…3 min
PLAY|November 2023Harold HalibutFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA EARLY 2024 / PUB SLOW BROS / DEV SLOW BROS / PLAYERS 1Often developers aren’t able to bring more than a cardboard cutout of their characters to a show, but when we meet Slow Bros we also meet Harold Halibut, standing calmly in a small glass case. Harold is as real as any game character ever gets, because he, like everything else in Harold Halibut, is a handmade clay model.Developer Slow Bros initially chose this way of painstakingly creating its first game because it was what the team members knew how to do – the process of creating digital 3D models was arcane, the art of making real-life clay models much more familiar. Now, over ten years on from the initial ideation process, Harold Halibut…4 min
PLAY|November 2023Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 24 OCT / PUB KONAMI / DEV KONAMI, BLUEPOINT / PLAYERS 1Plonked in front of this collection of Metal Gear games released on PS2 and earlier consoles, we’re pleased to report in via Codec call that we still have the muscle memory to complete our sneaking missions. It’s a comprehensive collection, consisting of the first three Metal Gear Solid games plus both the pixel-based MSX and NES duologies, with additional goodies to boot. (The games are also available to purchase separately.)The precise, maze-like threading of vision cones in the MSX2 Metal Gear 2; pushing forward then pulling back as guards are drawn to our footprints in PS1’s Metal Gear Solid; and cartwheeling into guards and then running away cackling in PS2’s Metal Gear Solid 2…2 min
PLAY|November 2023Cygni: All Guns BlazingFORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC / PUB KONAMI / DEV KEELWORKS / PLAYERS 1Long-time reader? Then you’ll know this cinematic shmup’s been on our radar for the last few years (long before KeelWorks signed with Konami). As we sit down in the pilot’s seat to give it a go, the slick visuals draw us in. Founded by brothers Meher and Nareg Kalenderian, the Scottish studio has an animation background, Nareg having worked at Pixar. However, Cygni has solid mechanics to back up the good looks.The impressive graphics also benefit how you play. After an animated opening movie, we’re thrown into the first level, which introduces us to the chaos to come. Visuals are crisp but easy to read as our lone ship blasts away at the vessels that come speeding…3 min
PLAY|November 2023The Walking Dead: DestiniesFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2024 / PUB GAMEMILL / DEV FLUX GAMES / PLAYERS 1If you live your life by the creed ‘What would Rick Grimes do?’, you’re about to be thrown for a loop, because here Rick and the other survivors will follow your lead as you play through an adaptation of the TV show’s first four seasons, nudging events in new directions to see how things could have played out. In a series that’s spawned many videogames, few have gone the adaptation route, and you begin in the hospital alongside Rick, seeing things from a third-person action perspective. But from there the game promises you can even alter the de facto survivor group leader, choose how to deal with The Governor, and more. It’s an ambitious undertaking,…1 min
PLAY|November 2023EuropaFORMAT TBC / ETA TBC / PUB FUTURE FRIENDS GAMES / DEV HELDER PINTO / PLAYERS 1Jupiter’s titular moon has been lushly terraformed, but civilisation has been and gone. Playing as android boy Zee, you explore the landscape to uncover what happened to your creator, the last human alive. With trusty jetpack Zephyr you can soar across the Studio-Ghibli-inspired world with ease, enabling you to poke around ruins. Upgrading Zephyr as you progress allows you to reach more tucked-away discoveries. While humans may be absent from Europa, the ruins they’ve left still house dangers to navigate and puzzles to solve if Zee is going to figure out just what happened, though for the most part where you explore is in your little robo hands. Mixing together a sense of wonder…1 min
PLAY|November 2023NEVER SAW IT COMINGFORMAT PS5, PS4 ETA 17 NOV PUB ATLUS DEV P-STUDIO PLAYERS 1At this point, we fully expect Persona 5 to become a never-ending standalone source of games of varying genres. Seven years after Persona 5 was originally released, Atlus still can’t let go of Joker and his friends. The next Persona-shaped offering, following the series’ 25th anniversary, is not Persona 6 but another P5 spinoff: Persona 5 Tactica. How about a Destinyland park builder next? A Café Leblanc management game, maybe? Nothing seems impossible at this point.Persona 5 Tactica is a turn-based strategy game with a completely new story featuring the Phantom Thieves. Perhaps a strategy game isn’t as left-field a choice for the series as it may initially seem – Japan has seen a minor resurgence in turn-based tactics…9 min
PLAY|November 2023Bomb Rush CyberfunkINFOFORMAT PS5 (reviewed), PS4PRICE £35.99 ETA Out nowPUB Team ReptileDEV Team Reptile PLAYERS 1LENGTH 8 hrsACCESSIBILITY Subtitles; remappable controlsThey say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But don’t assume Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is simply cashing in on nostalgia for Sega’s Jet Set Radio series (which hasn’t had a new game since 2002). While a clear homage, BRC brings plenty of fresh tricks to the streets.In New Amsterdam, rebellious gangs of ‘writers’ fight to bring creativity, style, and expression to streets over-policed for fun by a corrupt police force. Each borough is home to its own colourful crew whose members trick their way across the neighbourhood, pop dance moves, and spray their artwork in hard-to-reach corners. Take the Franks, for instance: these stitched-together creations of the Flesh Prince rule Versum…7 min
PLAY|November 2023Armored Core VI: Fires Of RubiconBlasting forward with a tap of , our mech hurtles forward between skyscrapers. Squeezing the triggers, we annihilate a drone with a burst of laser fire, before two snipers take aim at us from their nearby highway perches. We bank left to avoid the shots, deploy a stack of missiles to eradicate one foe then, energy nearly depleted, turn off our engines. Letting the momentum carry us toward the final target, we lurch the rest of the way with one final touch of p slicing clean through a hefty shield and armour plating.Armored Core VI is all about these moments - the buzz of slick mech action (which is more than its choppily performing PS3 predecessors can boast) urging you to return once you’re done with the story for a…7 min
PLAY|November 2023Immortals Of AveumYou’re an Immortal, a member of an elite Magni task force trying to turn the tide of the Everwar. Hailing from Lucium, the only kingdom still resisting the invading Rasharnian armies of Sandrakk, you need to do whatever it takes to stop this evil force from taking control of the Leylines – magic channels that connect Aveum to the Shrouded Realm.Confused? Well get used to it, because dialogue throughout this magical FPS feels ripped straight from the first page of a mediocre self-published fantasy novel. It’s an endless stream of confusing proper nouns, punctuated by utterly embarrassing attempts at humour. The limp one-liners that spew from unapologetically bland protagonist Jak (no, not that one) are awkward at best and make him come across as a veritable charisma black hole. To…4 min
PLAY|November 2023Moving Out 2Out of a huge pile of Overcooked-alikes, the first Moving Out was the best, thanks to a fantastic core gimmick: moving house with friends, dealing with increasingly trickier buildings and hazards while slapstick comedy ensued. Rather than just delivering more of the same, Moving Out 2 adds loads of new twists, but ends up losing its way in a sea of new gimmicks.After a few early missions in Packmore that feel of a piece with the first game, your crew of up to four players accidentally open a portal to three parallel dimensions. To seal them shut, you must free the gnomes trapped within them. You can loosely work your way through the fantasy land of Middlefolklore, the sweet-toothalicious Snackmore, and the futuristic Pactropolis City in any order, with chunks…2 min
PLAY|November 2023THREE TO PLAYEvery month, loads of games come to the PS Store. You’d be hard-pressed to play them all, so we’re looking at some that didn’t quite make the cut. This month we chase our dreams across a ruddy great tower, the derelict countryside, and outer space.Mmm, Garlic – sorry, we’re distracted daydreaming just how many fistfuls of the stuff we could sneak into our next cursed cooking creation, and this challenging 2D platformer is to blame. Best described as a soup-y, Celeste-meets-Super-Meat-Boy blend, dashing through the air to crush enemies and obstacles alike takes centre stage here. As the titular sprout-skulled protagonist leaps towards his lady love, the Cyber Goddess at the top of the tower, mostly charming and often alarmingly thirsty minigames break up the platforming. While not quite as…2 min
PLAY|November 2023Genshin Impact – FontaineWe’ve grown used to Teyvat’s map expanding with each major update, so we feel some initial disappointment at the size of Fontaine, made up of islands with a huge lake at its centre.As we discover areas in the water’s depths, there’s more to Fontaine than meets the eye.That’s forgiven, however, once we discover that in the nation where everyone worships the Hydro Archon we can swim under water. It feels like a gamechanger after several years of getting about by gliding and climbing. It’s deeper, not wider.It’s a joy exploring Fontaine under water, the sensation of swimming conveyed better than in many other open world games, not least because you don’t have to worry about running out of stamina and drowning. (Instead there’s a new blue stamina that limits your…2 min
PLAY|November 2023PSVR2 Hall of fame01 SynapseTelekinesis and guns make a wonderful combo in VR. With one mapped to your left hand and the other to your right, you feel like a conductor of chaos as you blast your way through a rogue colonel’s mind to uncover secrets. Eye-tracking is wonderfully used to target your telekinesis, meaning you can slam enemies all over the place as you reload your arsenal. It’s got a roguelite structure, so you’ll keep coming back.02 Horizon: Call Of The MountainManages to make level after level of climbing compelling with different environments to pull yourself up through, the Sense controllers allowing for neat player expression. Just make sure you take a break, or all that spider monkeying will make your arms throb.03 Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s EdgeWho shot first?…7 min
PLAY|November 2023BD JoePeople are screaming and fleeing in terror as a yellow taxi smashes through parasols at the beach. The driver has a fixed grin, Joker-like, as he drives into the sea, emerging with his fare – a punk with a bright green mohawk, still wearing a snorkel and pumping his fist to the taxi’s blaring stereo. Who would defend any driver this obnoxious?Me. Clearly he’s a genius. For one thing, he spends his days driving a beautiful car on the sunny streets of San Francisco, leaping up onto rooftops, smashing through stacked crates like he’s the star of a ’70s car chase movie, and all while listening to pop-punk all-timers on the radio. He’s living the dream. But more than that, he’s also a genius driver, breaking all the rules without…2 min
PLAY|November 2023A BRIEF HISTORY OF Spider-ManHe’s a secret character in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2.A deleted scene in X2: Wolverine’s Revenge featured Spider-Man!He was a free DLC character for Lego Marvel’s Avengers.He became purchasable in Fortnite in 2021.AUNT MAY DIFFEROne name, different gamesThere were four games called Spider-Man 2, all based on the movie of the same name. There was even one for Nokia’s N-Gage (remember that?). The PS2 classic was developed by Treyarch, while the PSP version was made by Vicarious Visions. The PSP version was stuck with the first game’s engine, but (unlike the PS2 version) enjoyed JK Simmons reprising his role as Peter Parker’s boss JJ.2004’S SPIDER-MAN 2 WAS PETER PARKER’S FIRST TASTE OF AN OPEN WORLD ADVENTURE (AND A GREAT GAME, TOO). PS2’s Ultimate Spider-Man (2005) featured a playable Venom. Spidey…2 min
PLAY|November 2023The new ’frame on the block01 The Junction functionFiguring out what to do first in Warframe is a little overwhelming. While following the main story quests is always the best thing to do, the second-best is clearing Junctions. These little space stations join new systems onto your Star Chart (hence the name) and they act as combat playgrounds where you can experiment with battle styles and get some decent rewards. More importantly, clearing Junctions grants access to other systems in the galaxy, which means more quests and rewards. The Earth-Mars, Europa-Jupiter, and Uranus-Neptune Junctions are the most useful, especially the Uranus Junction, since it unlocks the very important Second Dream quest.02 Platinum percipiencePlatinum is Warframe’s premium currency, and you can use it to unlock weapon slots, buy cosmetics, shorten crafting time, and buy items to…4 min
PLAY|November 2023The path paradox: which starter path is best?The Warframe path (aka the right one)Try this first!The aptly named Warframe path is Warframe’s original introduction, where you meet the Lotus, are given some vague clues about what’s going on in the galaxy, and learn the finer points of giant robot combat. Battles in this route are fast and exhilarating, leaning heavily on Warframe’s unique brand of ninja-style acrobatics, and the lessons you learn here are foundational for the rest of the game. Your Warframes might change in future updates, but the basic ideas of how to fight and survive remain the same.While Warframe’s story is a bit tricky to follow, starting on the Warframe path gives you a foundation for understanding the narrative and important people in it. On this path, you’re a Tenno in the Origin System,…2 min
PLAY|November 2023Back in the ’frame01 Valkyr? I barely know ’yr!Depending on when you last played, you probably won’t have a clue what some of the more important new mechanics are. Completing story missions to catch up is the best thing, along with completing weekly Nightwave activities to understand how the game’s combat works now. As for everything else, pick one thing you’re interested in, such as feeding the Helminth, and focus on that. In addition to teaching you about that mechanic, it’ll end up teaching you about other connected features.02 The open-world trapSome of Warframe’s most exciting additions are its open-world areas, but although you can access them right away, you shouldn’t. Pretty much every open-world area is for higher-level players with a good grasp of the combat; they’ll wreck you if you aren’t…2 min
PLAY|November 2023Gamescom: not such a dark placeGetting you closer to PlayStation’s most exciting stories, people, and cultureAlan Wake 2 was a Gamescom show stealer with a new slice of gameplay.We’re watching the (perhaps overdone) glitz and glamour of Opening Night Live, the show that kicks off Gamescom with announcements and updates. But rather than watching from an awkward corner off to the side of the room, this year we’ve crowded around another journalist’s tablet, discussing the show in real time while enjoying the excellent food and drink of Cologne, Germany. (Yes, plenty of currywurst has been eaten.)Gamescom has always had a different energy to LA’s E3 (the future of which remains uncertain). ONL itself featured some announcements of interest, but Gamescom has never been built around one presentation. Loaded with booths across business and public halls,…5 min
PLAY|November 2023No cloud in the skyPlayStation Portal (formerly Project Q) has been revealed, and the big question remains: can it offer anything new? Priced at £199.99, it’s essentially an eight-inch 1080p LCD screen capable of 60fps, wedged between two halves of a DualSense. It sports a 3.5mm audio jack, but can also connect wirelessly to accessories via PlayStation Link (not to be confused with discontinued phone app PlayLink), supported by the Pulse Elite (a fancier version of PS5’s launch headset) and Pulse Explorer wireless earbuds.With this kind of remote streaming, you need a good connection to avoid headaches with input latency.Despite PlayStation itself leaning further into supporting cloud streaming, and devices built around that cropping up left, right, and centre, PS Portal is not that. Requiring a Wi-Fi connection, it connects to your PS5 to…1 min
PLAY|November 2023Is remote streaming from your PS5/4 the future?MIRIAM MCDONALDPRODUCTION EDITOR"HANDHELD IS A MORE SOCIABLE OPTION AROUND THE HOME.”My PlayStation’s great, and has the games I prefer, but I spend as much time, if not more, gaming on a non-PS handheld, because we’ve only got one telly and it’s unfair of me to hog it. I realise a lot of people nowadays have more TV sets in their homes, but even they won’t want to spend all their time in another room away from their loved ones. Remote streaming makes gaming a little bit more accommodating of other people in the gamer’s life. That said, I wouldn’t say it’s ushering in a new era, more catching up to where we should’ve been right after Vita was finished."PS Portal’s reliance on a home console is a little bizarre."JESSICA KINGHORNGAMES…3 min
PLAY|November 2023“OVERWATCH 2 HAS ITS FANS, BUT NEW PLAYERS WILL WONDER WHY.”The biggest problem is the unbalanced matchmaking.WRITER BIO Videogame fan James Daly is usually immersed in RPGs or chasing victory royales. Most importantly, though, he is Kenough.Hero shooter sequel Overwatch 2 has been a constant source of controversy since its release last year. From the delay and subsequent diminishing of its campaign mode to a set of campaign missions to its shift to a paid battle pass progression system, the online FPS title was received about as well as a pair of socks at Christmas, which is to say nobody asked for it and the disappointment is immeasurable.However, Overwatch 2’s one saving grace is that it’s free to play, making it a more alluring prospect for newcomers. Yes, the battle pass requires players to spend actual money, as indeed do…3 min
PLAY|November 2023Granblue Fantasy Versus: RisingFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 30 NOV / PUB PLAION / DEV CYGAMES, ARC SYSTEM WORKS / PLAYERS 1-2, AND LOBBY MINIGAMESThis is so much more than a rematch. Once again adapting the popular mobile game Granblue Fantasy into a 2.5D fighter, Rising is billed as a sequel to Versus rather than an expanded rerelease. Beyond the introduction of crossplay, rollback netcode, and an extra layer of polish to an already fantastic-looking anime fighter, this distinction is being made for a few reasons.FACTRICK Game director Tetsuya f*ckuhara explains what’s in a name: “We’re kind of rising or powering up the elements on all fronts, and so it really plays a large role when it comes to gameplay, [with] the features of the game moving into the next generation as well.”These…3 min
PLAY|November 2023Dark EnvoyFORMAT PS5 / ETA Q4 2023 / PUB EVENT HORIZON / DEV EVENT HORIZON / PLAYERS 1-2Which kind of RPG combat do you prefer? Real-time or turn-based? Why not have both? Mixing together those styles is Dark Envoy’s main draw, giving you additional flexibility as you navigate its unforgiving science-fantasy world with sibling heroes and relic hunters Malakai and Kaela. That said, it may find having its battle and fighting it a tricky balancing act.Featuring both types of combat doesn’t mean there are two types of battle going on. In practice you effectively choose when to take control of a turn. The action slows by default when you have an encounter, and you can pause it completely if you choose, but then have to manually unpause once you’ve selected a…2 min
PLAY|November 2023Destiny 2 – The Final ShapeFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 27 FEB / PUB BUNGIE / DEV BUNGIE / PLAYERS MULTIJust what kind of geometry lays in wait in the next big Destiny outing? Well, the spherical Traveler looms large, as you need to journey within the power-bestowing orb in order to settle things with the Witness once and for all, concluding the epic Light And Darkness Saga. Inside you’ll find the Pale Heart, Destiny’s first “linear destination”, which, due to the nature of the big shape’s connection to all the player Guardians, features nostalgic callbacks to the series for you to fight through (including the first game’s Tower). Its linear nature also means it’ll be expanded over time. New aspects for each Guardian class emphasise teamwork, joining a November update that’ll finally add fireteam…1 min
PLAY|November 2023Under Night In-Birth II Sys:CelesFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA EARLY 2024 / PUB ARC SYSTEM WORKS / DEV FRENCH BREAD / PLAYERS 1-2Some fighters out there are still rocking the pixel art look, and this full sequel utilises the visual style to the fullest, revamping the sprites of the 21-strong character roster (with special attention paid to detailed facial expressions). Packing a deep story, this concludes Hyde and Linne’s struggle to make it through the Hollow Night. But in the ring scraps have evolved as well, making the already-flashy anime fighter even flashier.Fighters have all-new abilities and expanded move lists, including being able to enter the Celestial State to power up, or gamble meter to dodge strikes using Creeping Edge. And, it should go without saying, it’ll support rollback netcode for improved online play.…1 min
PLAY|November 2023Project MugenFORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 29 SEP / PUB NETEASE GAMES / DEV THUNDERFIRE, NAKED RAIN / PLAYERS MULTISince Genshin Impact’s massive success, everyone wants a piece of the anime open world live service pie. Project Mugen’s big twist is a compelling one: it’s set in an urban sprawl and you’re empowered to bounce around town like Spider-Man (in fact, some of the animations and moves are very similar to Insomniac’s take on the webhead). Vehicles, however, also feature, allowing your team of four colourful heroes to use their powerful abilities to fight Chaos wherever it arises.…1 min
PLAY|November 2023Soul MenWarframe has truly blossomed during its ten-year life to date, and continues to thunder forwards. Now, however, Digital Extremes is working on a brand-new IP to sit alongside it; it’s familiar in some ways yet very, very different in many others, and the name makes the connection and difference clear. Soulframe is coming, and the more we learn about it, the more impatient we grow for its arrival. Please, share our pain.The broad strokes are very Warframe – there’s an emphasis on story, and it’s a free-to-play online co-op adventure, yet it’s also friendly to solo players – but the fine detail reveals that it’s very much its own game. For one thing, the setting is a world of fantasy rather than science fiction. As Steve and Geoff explain, however,…9 min
PLAY|November 2023Blasphemous 2This tough-as-a-leathery-religious-tome metroidvania returns to ask the question: is Christianity kind of messed up? The answer seems to be yes, and you, The Penitent One, awaken in a world once again fighting The Miracle. The world ahead promises faith-twisting monstrosities, no objective right or wrong, and lots of combat. Some of these things hit, but others lack conviction.The best parts of Blasphemous 2 tend to be the ones you’re not actively engaging in. Take the giant lady who upgrades your health and healing abilities. She’s a little terrifying, but she gets her skin stripped from her body by tiny cherubic beings that you rescue as you go through your journey. We don’t know why that’s the case, and we can’t imagine we ever will. In another part of the map…5 min
PLAY|November 2023VR SkaterYou’re probably wondering, hope against hope, “Is it like the Tony Hawk games but in VR?”, and the answer is… pretty much, actually, yeah. The environments and the boundaries of what’s physically possible are more akin to something like Skate or Skater XL, but the overall experience leans towards an arcade feel that demands you have just one more go. Then another. Then another, then – oh, is that really the time…?We should point out that although the store listing indicates this can be played sitting down, that’s not really practical – and the game requires you to stand up for calibration each time you load it anyway. It says something that this is one of our biggest complaints, though.There are tutorials, which we strongly recommend taking the time to…3 min
PLAY|November 2023Atlas FallenThe unnamed hero who rises to greatness is an RPG staple, and Atlas Fallen’s protagonist is no exception. We learn very little about them after we’ve customised them – only in the world of Atlas, being unnamed isn’t just an RPG staple, it’s a marker of social class. The Unnamed are slaves, doomed to work for the more fortunate.Much of Atlas Fallen’s worldbuilding and story could do with a little more explanation, but it feels like the game is eager to get you to the combat straight away, which is fair enough as that’s the meat on its hulking monster bones. So don’t expect to play this monster masher for its story – what’s there is serviceable, and it’ll get you moving forward, but it’s quickly forgettable.After your hero hears…7 min
PLAY|November 2023Fort SolisStop us if you’ve heard this one before. Jack and Jess are workers on a Mars base. They get a distress call from the nearby Fort Solis, so Jack pops over to investigate while Jess keeps him company over his earpiece. You’d probably get a similar setup if you asked an AI to write a generic science-fiction horror plot for you, but it’s nicely performed and executed well enough to intrigue.Jess has a charming way of needling Jack. At one point she performs the Friday The 13th theme down his headset, which is A+ jerkwad behaviour. The first act, where you walk around the base, trading quips and trying to figure out what happened, does a great job of layering on the where-the-Hell-is-everyone atmosphere. Then everything starts to go wrong…3 min
PLAY|November 2023Firewall UltraWhen we say ‘if you liked Firewall Zero Hour you’ll almost certainly like Ultra’, that’s not quite as positive a statement as it might seem. In some ways, this is Zero Hour. Most of the maps are the same with minor changes, the main mode is the same, and heck, even the menu music has been lifted from the 2018 original.In case you missed the first game, this is primarily a 4v4 tactical shooter in which two teams take turns at attacking or defending a laptop (there’s also a four-player PvE mode that’s basically the same). There are no respawns, but there are cameras and explosives, so care and attention is demanded at all times. It’s much more Rainbow Six Siege than Call Of Duty.Most weapons and equipment that you…3 min
PLAY|November 2023Ridge Racer Type 4Ridge Racer will always be inseparable from PlayStation, having been a star of the original console’s launch lineup. But it’s the fourth entry in the series that really stands out as being the high point in the series. From the moment cover girl Reiko Nagase sits in her room in the opening cinematic, it’s clear you’re in for something special.The game launched in Japan towards the end of 1998 and took a few more months to come out over here. But it did so at a turning point for PlayStation. New ‘performance analysis’ software had been developed to allow coders to see how much of PS1’s hardware was being used at any time, allowing a previously impossible level of optimisation – and the difference was marked. As Sega’s Saturn gasped…4 min
PLAY|November 2023RADICALLY RETROFORMAT PS5, PS4 / RELEASED 2022 / PUB DOTEMU DEV TRIBUTE GAMES / GET IT NOW PLAYSTATION STORE, £19.99 (BASE GAME)While we all love the way four turtles and a rat were forever changed by the Ooze, becoming martial artists and projectors of justice, there’s something to be said for the constants – the things in life that don’t change. Whether you were grabbing a couple of pads in the ’90s to beat your way through Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time, or wrangling a pair of DualSenses to play the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, much remains the same.The important stuff does, anyway.“Shredder’s Revenge was always imagined as a spiritual successor to the great TMNT beat-’em-ups, so researching these was a natural starting point,” shares Adam…8 min
PLAY|November 2023This is gonna hurtFORMAT PS4, PS3 / PUB SQUARE ENIX / DEV CRYSTAL DYNAMICS, EIDOS-MONTRÉAL, NIXXES SOFTWARE / RELEASED 2013Until the 2013 reboot, we knew Lara Croft as an epitome of the ‘strong woman’: she looked fantastic; she would train guns on tigers with no hesitation; and she could evade even the most cunning trap with a few flips from a standing position. But she was wish fulfilment. She was an avatar, not a person, and real people don’t start out that way. Real people go to hell and back.Developer Crystal Dynamics wanted players to see that in order to become the Lara Croft, Lara first had to face a lot of hardships. No quippy Nathan Drake here, Lara would stumble, fall and bleed, often with only herself for company. The beginning of…2 min
PLAY|November 2023Get your head in the ’frameWarframes for beginnersWhen you want to go hard without thinking about it, these are your best friendsExcaliburThis starter Warframe is the game’s poster child for a reason. He can do a bit of everything, from heavy hitting to stealth and crowd control, and does it exceptionally well, making him a Warframe you can rely on for any mission type. He’s a melee ’frame, though, so just don’t expect a lot of firefights.RhinoRhino is the best of tanks, a sturdy guy who powers through pretty much every mission alone, or takes the hits for your squad in tough situations. Rhino’s damage-absorption skills make him perfect for newcomers, enabling you to learn how combat and abilities work without being swamped by enemies.IvaraIvara is a stellar stealth unit who can slip behind enemy…3 min
PLAY|November 2023Framing the war’s best momentsAbout a dozen or more things probably spring to mind when you think ‘Warframe’. Whether it’s fleeing the Stalker or remembering Second Dream’s stunning narrative twist, Digital Extremes’ robot game isn’t short of exceptional scenes that’ll linger in your mind. Choosing the very best is no easy task, but we’ve done it, and selected the ten most memorable moments from Warframe’s decade of life.SPOILER ALERTWarframe’s story is filled with twists, turns, and surprises. If you’re a Tenno who wants to experience it all for yourself, this is your final warning to turn to p26!10 Ticker’s memoryRepayment with interestTicker’s experience with the Corpus Empire shows just how badly things can go when you get on its bad side. The Solaris is a group of people bound to the Corpus by crushing…12 min
