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Editor in Chief Gillen McAllister (gillen@gamereactor.co.uk) Associate Editor Bengt Lemne (bengt.lemne@gamereactor.eu) Associate Editor Mike Holmes (mike.holmes@gamereactor.eu) Art Editor Petter Hegevall UK Office 35 Eyot House, Marine Street, London Head Office Toftebæksvej 6 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark Contributors Mike Holmes / Bengt Lemne / Christian Gaca Gamereactor International Arttu Rajala, Kimmo Pukkila, Leevi Rantala, Magnus GrothAndersen, Christan Gaca, Martin Eiser, Ingo Delinger, Petter Hegevall, Gillen McAllister, Bengt Lemne, Mike Holmes, Kenneth Grant, Kim Bak, Kim Olsen, Halldór Halldórsson, Tor Erik Dahl, David Caballero, Jonas Maki, Solfinn Hughes, Ricardo Esteves, Fabrizia Malgieri. Social Facebook www.facebook.com/Gamereactor Twitter www.twitter.com/GamereactorUK YouTube www.youtube.com/user/gamereactorTV Instagram gamereactor RSS Feed www.gamereactor.eu/rss Gamereactor’s not responsible for unsolicited materials. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. You’re welcome to quote us, but always make sure you credit the source. Gamereactor is a free magazine published by six editorial offices in United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway and Sweden. Gamereactor is available at multiple retailers around the country and is issued with a periodicity of ten issues per year. Gamereactor.co.uk is part of the Gamereactor video games new network, the biggest in Northern Europe and attracting a global audience. You’ll find the latest news and reviews, as well as previews, features and interviews from around the industry. It’s also the home of GRTV, our professional HD-quality video section offering trailers, gameplay and video interviews. Gamereactor’s on mobile, Smart TV, and PS4 but sadly not on Neptune. Yet. Gamereactor is issued by Gamez Publishing A/S Online www.gamereactor.co.uk Subscriptions gamereactor.eu/shop Retailers gamereactor.eu/storelocator Press Stibo Graphics Danmark Paper Brite Matt, 70g Distribution Pan Nordic Logistics Marketing Morten Reichel Ads E: alex@ilikemedia.co.uk T: 01202 55565 ROADSTOWALK The modding scene probed, the big news from E3, the weirdest things this month and what’s releasing soon. CONNECTED With Valve showcasing its entry into the VR space, we explore what impact it’s having on the industry. With input from a wide range of developers and publishers, we ask what challenges are impacting this new frontier of games development. THE YEAR OF VR From joining the industry to running a studio: a Koei Tecmo head reflects on his career to date. DEVELOPER STORIES Project Cars finally gets its review pit-stop, we try dating in Kitty Powers, catch up with Kirby and many more. REVIEWS We’re being overwhelmed with exciting, sometimes outright bizarre, indie titles. The Gamereactor team pick just a handful of the most interesting games in development, outline their concepts and why they’re worth keeping an eye on. INDIE-CISION Treyarch debut their vision of future war as DICE reveals theirs from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. COMING SOON There’s never but one road to travel. Discussing video games during the build up to this year’s Video Game BAFTAs, I had to correct one preconception that gaming still had a primarily sci-fi skew and ‘man with big gun shooting things’ was still its main agenda. Sure, you can still experience that - hello Halo, hello Destiny - but we’re so far beyond that being our only means of escapism income today. Experiencing the triple-bill of GDC, PAX and Rezzed these past months only reinforces how diverse our gaming tastes have become. And so a large part of this issue is a celebration of that. We look to the new frontiers, and the problems that come with VR as Valve outlines its vision for the headset-wearing future. Developers talk their thoughts on the tangent the industry’s taking and how the various competitors battling for VR supremacy are doing. And we also showcase just some of the indie titles that have caught our eye the past while. Just choosing a shortlist for this issue’s feature was difficult enough. There’s a wealth of fascinating titles arriving on our consoles, PCs and mobile devices, almost too many to keep track of. These are just a few of the games that are trying something new and exciting in gaming right now. If anything we wish we had more space, but you can find many more populating our site right now. Look at it this way: I played VR-supported F-Zero-like Radial-G, yet I’ve spent as much time since then talking up the LED strip light that’d been converted into a 1D dungeon crawler experience (Line Wobbler, check it out). I’m grinning just writing about it now. This issue’s a real mix, and the cocktail also contains the usual ingredients we’ve come to expect from today’s ‘traditional’ gaming as well. There’s never but one road to travel on, but every one offers a hell of an adventure. G I L L E N M C A L L I S T E R E D I T O R I N C H I E F gillen@gamereactor.co.uk START

In late April Valve introduced paid mods to Steam Workshop. Modding is a part of the PC landscape, and it contributes significantly to what makes the platform so unique. They’re creations that augment, refine and even improve our games. Valve had already been selling user-generated content for certain games for some time, but this was their first attempt at opening it up and allowing creators to sell their mods in an unregulated marketplace. The first game to receive this feature was Bethesda’s open-world RPG, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, a game that has a strong modding community and that boasts a plethora of updates of all shapes and sizes. It was supposed to be a chance for modders to get reward for their work, but that’s not how it worked out. Within days of the launch, Valve had backtracked to the extent that the marketplace had been shut down and all paying customers had been refunded. The reaction to the introduction of paid mods was widespread and largely negative, with the community taking a vociferous position against the decision. Some disliked the idea of being charged for something that was once free, while others objected to the way the monies were being split between the different parties. Protests took the form of a petition on change.org, thousands of letters sent directly to Valve, and some even spammed the marketplace with joke mods and asked for ridiculous sums of money as a way of making their point. It didn’t take long for the message to get through; the community didn’t like the decision. Even Valve boss Gabe Newell, who normally enjoys a level of affection from the Steam community that borders on reverence, had a hard time of it when he engaged with fans during a Q&A on Reddit. “Our main goals were to allow mod makers the opportunity to work on their mods full time if they wanted to, and to encourage developers to provide better support to their mod communities,” explained Valve's Alden Kroll. “We understand our own game's communities pretty well,” he continued. “But stepping into an established, years old modding community in Skyrim was probably not the right place to start iterating. We think this made us miss the mark pretty badly, even though we believe there's a useful feature somewhere here.” They’re obviously looking into how they might add more value to the modding community, and with that being the case, this is probably not the end of the matter. With Valve on the receiving end of plenty of feedback, it's likely that there's a balanced solution hidden away in there somewhere that’ll work for everybody. We await with interest to see what that might be. THEMODDINGPROBLEM P A I D - F O R S T E A M M O D S R U N I N T O D I F F I C U L T I E S CONNECTED

SILENTHILLSCANCELLED K O N A M I P U L L P L U G O N K O J I M A P R O J E C T The first sign of trouble was the news, revealed via Konami’s website, that dated the withdrawal of P.T. from the PlayStation Store. P.T. (or Playable Teaser) was a short horror demo released last year during Gamescom that introduced players to Silent Hills, a collaboration between director Guillermo del Toro and Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima. The unannounced delisting of P.T. might have been the simple removal of a demo, but many feared the worst, and their fears were made real when shortly after it emerged that the demo was to be taken down, confirmation started coming from the people involved with the project. First del Toro told attendees of a panel at the San Francisco International Film Festival that Silent Hills was “not gonna happen and that breaks my greasy heart." Shortly thereafter, Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus, who had been attached to the project, confirmed that he was “super bummed” that it had been cancelled. In the wake of these statements Konami made their own, confirming that the “contract period with Norman Reedus has expired.” More importantly the publisher stated that "we will continue to develop the Silent Hill series,” and although they didn’t go as far as discussing the specifics surrounding Silent Hills, the particular wording of their statement certainly indicates that the project - at least as was described - appears to be on the rocks. There was a lot of excitement building around this particular collaboration, and horror fans will no doubt be disappointed by this recent turn of events. Where next for the Silent Hill franchise? Rock Band was the first of the rhythm music heavyweights to announce its intended revival, with Harmonix planning on establishing a platform for the current generation; one that carries on where the old-gen series left off. The creators of the other major genre entry were obviously thinking along the same lines, and since that first announcement Guitar Hero Live has been unveiled by Activision and FreeStyle Games. The significant change for this new Guitar Hero is the introduction of liveaction backgrounds. Now filmed audiences will respond to the player’s performance as they play covers to expectant crowds at real-world locations, with all the action being played from first-person. Guitar Hero will feature a new controller, and there’ll be no backwards compatibility. Rock Band, on the other hand, are working on allowing players the chance to use their old instruments, and just as importantly, they’ll be able to play DLC tracks purchased on the old-gen versions of the game. Compatibility might prove the deciding factor in the next face-off between the two as they clash for the cash and acclaim of new-gen audiences. GUITARHERORETURNS, GOESLIVEONNEW-GEN With E3 looming, one game that looks a surefire bet to be announced is the Xbox One remaster of Gears of War. In 2016 it’ll be ten years since the original was launched on Xbox 360, and multiple reports have emerged in recent weeks of people testing the updated multiplayer modes. OTHER STORIES THIS MONTH Gears of Rumours It’s natural that Marvel and Telltale are collaborating. The latter has had huge success with transforming comics and novels into interactive entertainment, and the former boasts a lineup that includes some of the most iconic characters in the world. Whatever they’re working on, we’ll see it in 2017. Marvel & Telltale Sega and Creative Assembly pre-empted the announcement of Total War: Warhammer when they wrote about it in an art book that preceded the game’s big reveal. Now they’ve gone and revealed some details about CA’s first foray into the world of fantasy, and fans of both franchises should be excited. Total Warhammer 343 Industries really dropped the ball when they botched the launch of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, with unplayable multiplayer souring the experience. They’re hoping to make amends by giving players an updated version of Halo 3: ODST (and remastered Halo 2 map Relic) in May’s update. Halo 3: ODST

ALAN REAWAKENS Gameplay footage of the Alan Wake sequel that never got made has surfaced. Remedy were showing a prototype to publishers, but there wasn’t enough interest. However, they haven’t given up on a sequel: "I would love to do that,” said creative director Sam Lake. “It feels that time has only refined the ideas of what the sequel would be.” EA SHUTS F2P EA is shutting down four of their free-to-play titles so that they can concentrate their efforts on more popular online offerings like their MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Need of Speed World, Battlefield Heroes, Battlefield Play4Free, and FIFA World are the titles that are going to wind down, with their digital doors set to shut in July. MYSTERIOUS MASS EFFECT A survey that looks like it came from Bioware has teased some potential details regarding Mass Effect 4. Among these are a new setting in the Andromeda Galaxy that’s four times the size of ME3, along with new aliens, an ancient civilisation, a co-op Horde mode, and a new ship called the Tempest. Will we find out if these are true come E3? HALO ONLINE Great news: Halo is coming to PC in the form of Halo Online, a new free-to-play game built using a modified version of the Halo 3 engine. Bad news: it’s not for you. The new PConly shooter is, at this point in time, Russiabound. While that hasn’t stopped modders from getting their hands on the code, don’t expect an official western release any time soon. DEUS EX RETURNS Adam Jensen is set to return in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and already details regarding this RPG sequel are being teased by Square-Enix. For starters there’ll be a hard mode called “Give me Deus Ex” (similar to Bioshock Infinite’s 1999 mode), and stealth fans will also be able to play a non-lethal game, potentially finishing without killing a single NPC. DOA SHENMUE When Dead or Alive 5: Last Round landed on PC, naturally it was an opportunity for the modding community, and by far the best we’ve seen is a Shenmue mod that adds skins for Ryo Hazuki (based on Jacky) and his arch nemesis Lan Di (based on Akira). The dojo from the opening scene of Sega’s RPG has also been added as an arena. Head to ShenmueDojo.net for more. GAMING SPECTRUM T H E B E S T , W O R S T A N D W E I R D E S T O F T H E M O N T H CONNECTED Get more news online at G A M E R E A C T O R . C O . U K

FIVETHINGSABOUTTHISYEAR’SE3 This is another big year as the platform holder continues their recovery from the disastrous start to the latest console generation. We’re going to see plenty of Halo 5: Guardians, Gears of War, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Quantum Break, and don’t be too surprised if they manage to spring a few extra AAA surprises on us this June. MICROSOFT PlayStation 4’s continued dominance requires that Sony keeps the supply of big hitters coming to their console, and there’s no reason to assume that they’ll disappoint. Expect a mixture of games (from Uncharted 4 to No Man’s Sky) and a spotlight on hardware like Project Morpheus to share the stage at this year’s press conference. SONY Nintendo are letting the other platform holders do their thing on stage while they reveal their news via a Direct livestream. With games like Starfox on the way, the recently announced NX, and the planned move into mobile, the chances are that Nintendo are going to have plenty to share, though there’ll be no new Zelda news this show. NINTENDO We’re being treated to an unusually high number of publisher press conferences, with Bethesda and Square-Enix joining Ubisoft and EA in hosting their own events. Thus we’re expecting some huge announcements from 2015’s show, and some real competition for the “who won E3” bragging rights to come. CONFERENCES Once again we’ll have an editorial team in L.A. reporting direct from E3, bringing you the latest scoops, interviewing the biggest names, and getting hands-on with the best games. For all the headlines, stories, trailers, previews, and more, make sure you head to gamereactor.co.uk and get ready for our busiest week ever. GAMEREACTOR@E3 Ubisoft has done well in terms of recent E3 conferences, with big games and even bigger finales. With The Division and Rainbow Six: Siege in the works, and the London-based Assassin’s Creed: Victory still to be unveiled, don’t be surprised if the French publisher once again pulls out all the stops in 2015. THE REST OF THE E3 LINE-UP Ubisoft Last year all we wanted to see was more Mass Effect 4 (or whatever it’s going to be called), and while it did make an appearance, it was somewhat underwhelming. This year the publisher needs to put on a better show, and give us more to get our teeth stuck into if they’re going to get us excited. EA Square-Enix recently announced their own press conference, which means they’ve got a lot of things that they want to tell us about. Rise of the Tomb Raider will be atop many people’s wishlists, but of course there’s also Final Fantasy XV, Just Cause 3, Deus Ex, and might we also see the return of Hitman? Square-Enix If Bethesda don’t announce Fallout 4 during their first ever E3 conference, then we predict a riot. It’s about time that the studio announced their next game, and a post-apocalyptic RPG sequel certainly fits the bill. What else might they show? Doom is very likely, but might we also see a new Dishonored? Bethesda P L A Y I N G T H E N U M B E R S G A M E W I T H T H E L A T E S T N E W S

It looks like Bungie has been listening to their community and are fixing many of Destiny’s problems with the second major expansion, House of Wolves. Old Legendary gear that was rendered useless by The Dark Below will now be upgradable, and increased options for material trading means you’ll be able to levelup quicker than ever before. Players will also be able to reforge their Legendary weapons and assign new random perks. There’s a new social space called The Reef, and you’ll be able to access it even if you’ve not bought the DLC. Something else you’ll be able to reach even if you don’t buy House of Wolves is the increased level cap; players will be able to earn everything they need playing Nightfall Strikes and Iron Banner PvP, it’ll just take a lot longer to reach level 34. There’s plenty of new content coming in the expansion. The story missions centre around the Queen of the Awoken, who is asking Guardians to hunt down the House of Wolves, her former Fallen subjects that committed a terrible act of betrayal. Missions and quests will be handed out in The Reef, and there’s a new Strike based on the Moon called The Shadow Thief, where players will be hunting down a Fallen mercenary called Taniks. One thing that players won’t be getting is a new six-player Raid. Instead there’s two new endgame activities for players to tackle, both of them focusing on threeplayer Fireteams. The Trials of Osiris is a weekly 3v3 elimination event, whereby players buy their way in so they might earn new high level Osiristhemed gear by winning at least nine matches (losing a maximum of three from a series of twelve). Death is permanent in every round, meaning that teamwork is going to be essential for those hoping to take home the biggest prizes. Every week the event will take place on a solitary map, before rotating for the next. Alternatively there’s the Prison of Elders, a new co-op arena that’ll have players tackling increasingly hardy waves of opponents in order to earn even more Legendary and Exotic rewards. There’ll be matchmaking for teams short on numbers, and harder settings for those chasing the best gear. As well as the new endgame modes and story missions, the Crucible will be fleshed out with some new maps. Black Shield (Mars) is joined by Widow’s Court (Earth) and Thieves’ Den (Venus). PlayStation-owning Guardians will also get a fourth, timedexclusive map called Timekeeper (Mars). With new loot, clearer progression, new activities and fresh content, this new expansion looks set to remedy many of the issues that players have endured since even before The Dark Below. House of Wolves is set to launch on PS4, PS3, Xbox One and Xbox 360 on May 19. HOUSEOFWOLVES P R E P A R E F O R D E S T I N Y ’ S L A T E S T E X P A N S I O N ONLINE

If you own Mario Kart 8 and have yet to tinker with the game’s rather excellent DLC packs, you may need to rethink your weekend plans. For Wii U users yet to buy the title, now is the best time. Last month’s DLC pack adds yet more Cups, with some of the best courses in the game yet, along with characters from the Animal Crossing series joining in. Crossing Cup includes Baby Park, originally seen on Gamecube years ago, which is much more than an adorable oval-shaped track. It's deliberately short, meaning that everything quickly descends into craziness, with race leaders easily lapping the slowest drivers and things getting very chaotic. Cheese Land, originally on GBA, has several hidden shortcuts - right up until the finish line - that can win you the race. Wild Woods is completely new and particularly beautiful; it's full of trees with hanging Shy Guys, waterfalls and streams. Last but not least, the Animal Crossing track will delight fans of the franchise with a multitude of characters and props from that series (including changing seasons) and, as with the Hyrule Castle track from DLC 1, it also features exclusive sound effects. Bell Cup is more difficult, starting with the rainy Koopa City, and its narrow corners mean you'll often need some assistance from Lakitu. The Ribbon Road, also from GBA, is possibly the most elaborate track and it's full of fan-service. The championship closes its second half with Super Bell Subway (which can feel quite unfair if you have the misfortune to bump into trains) and Big Blue, a tribute to a legendary FZero circuit. A free update has also seen the introduction of a 200cc class. It’s a true game-changer. Karts and motorcycles lose control easier. You must anticipate drifts long before each turn and think differently about jumps. It's a mode that forces you to change your strategy and for that very reason, for challenging even the most experienced drivers, it's a welcome addition and something to applaud. The combo of update and DLC make MK8 the best it’s been. N E W T R A C K S P L U S T H E 2 0 0 C C C L A S S MARIO KARTXANIMAL CROSSINGDLC The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Along with plans to offer players sixteen free pieces of DLC post-launch, CD Projekt will release two story-driven DLC packs this winter: Hearts of Stone in October, Blood and Wine early next year. The former’s promising ten extra hours of adventure, the latter twenty. Batman: Arkham Knight Warner’s confirmed a Season Pass - retailing at £32.99 - for the latest Batman title come its release next month. Purchase will allow you access to new story missions and supervillains (who’ll ‘invade’ Gotham), as well as the usual character skins and new Challenge Rooms. Star Wars: The Old Republic As long as you’re at Level 60, yoy’re able to join in on the lion’s share of this newly launched 3.2 Update, Rise of the Emperor. It introduces a new planet, Ziost, to explore, and lets you join up with Sith Intelligence Minister Lana and Galactic Republic spy Theron to take on the Emperor. Marvel Heroes To tie-in with the release last month of Avengers: Age of Ultron (you may have heard of it), the MMO’s dropped a new set of costume and character packs, and also rolled the AoU version of Vision into the mix. £42.99 for Heroes & Costumes Pack, £29.99 for just the AoU costumes and Vision. CKIIGAMEOFTHRONES M O D O F T H E M O N T H A Game of Thrones is a mod for Paradox’s Crusader Kings 2 title. It takes the strategy game’s mechanics, offers some tweaks, and applies the concept to the world of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series. There’s a variety of different scenarios on offer so it is possible to avoid spoilers if you’re not fully upto-date with the story. However, the mod doesn’t play out as a beat for beat adaption of those events, and instead lets you tinker with the ‘what if’ possibilities if certain characters succeeded or fell different to how it’s been told. Even the CKII creators are praising it. "The mod is great. It would make a great franchise for us,” said Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester though he doubts they’d create an official version. BREACH&CLEAR:DEADLINE E A R L Y A C C E S S There’s a really interesting flow to Deadline. The first Breach & Clear was about taking down quick-fire scenarios. This is much more organic, with the player taking their SWAT team through an open-world and engaging in short bursts of gunfire against hordes of the undead. Controlling your squad is mostly the same; you assign orders, combine skills to devastating effect, and use the environment to give you an advantage. The story seems fairly standard, a SWAT chopper goes down over an infected town and the player must unite the team and escape the streets. On top of the open world there’s procedurally generated “dungeons” to conquer. There’s a few bugs in the Early Access build, but nothing gamebreaking, and what’s there is definitely playable.

THE LASTNIGHT ODD TALES’ TIM & ADRIEN SORET ON THE ART OF CYBERPUNK. Tim & Adrien Soret’s 2D cinematic adventure is a Flash game turned full title appearing on Kickstarter soon. “We’re both self-made artists,” the brothers explain, working together to capture a particular mood with this image from in-game. “We wanted it to convey a few key ideas. First, this balcony is where the main character lives. Considering that the apartment is the main hub for the game where the main character comes back to regularly, it was really important for us to find the good design and the right mood. We wanted this balcony to evoke the paradoxical solitude and the melancholy of modern life usually found in crowded, modern cities. The whole picture was figured out very early, using basic blocks & perspective. Then we just iterate on it. Most of the time, one of us draws the background while the other paints the foreground elements. Then we do a second pass on each other’s work to make sure everything has a consistent look.”

SAVE THEDATE T H E B E S T O F T H E M O N T H A H E A D CD Projekt's open-world RPG is finally here after its fair share of delays, with Geralt looking for closure as he chases down the Wild Hunt. To say this one’s hotly-anticipated would be one of our understatements of the year, and the game promises to be so big we’re thinking of booking the month off. It’s so big we’d barely scratched the surface as this issue went to print, and as a result you’ll find the full in-depth review on our site now. THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT MAY19 Robe up! The wizards return in Paradox Interactive's elemental mix and match that will likely see you fry, drown, stone and push your friends to their untimely deaths. The sequel adds a ton of replayability with the inclusion of Artefacts that will allow you to remix the campaign and challenges making them more or less challenging. MAGICKA 2 MAY26 After achieving massive success on Steam, and a release on PS3 and Xbox 360 as well, Overkill's Payday 2 is set to arrive on new-gen consoles next month. In addition to the base game released in 2013, which is now realised in glorious 1080p, the Crimewave Edition will also include most of the DLC released for the game on Steam, making this the most complete package of the game on console. Sadly you won't be able to transfer your progress from your old consoles so you're going to have to start fresh, but it’s a game worth the time and effort. PAYDAY 2: CRIMEWAVE EDITION JUNE12 As usual E3 kicks off prematurely with press conferences, but this year things start even earlier than usual as Bethesda hold a press conference on Sunday June 14. It's the first time they’ve hosted a conference and we expect major announcements. Monday 15th sees the traditional foursome of Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft and Sony, while Square Enix are making a return to the conference scene on the morning (local time) of June 16. Well be reporting from them all, as well as E3 itself, June 16th - 18th. E3 PRESS CONFERENCES JUNE14 The third Arkham title from British powerhouse Rocksteady Studios makes us hope for a few rainy days at the end of June. The Caped Crusader will team up with a bunch of familiar faces including Commissioner Gordon, Robin and Catwoman in order to take down the mysterious Arkham Knight. Built from the ground up for the new generation of consoles the scope of this game looks to dwarf the previous entries and the inclusion of a playable Batmobile will no doubt delight fans. Start planning your sick days now, that’s all we’re saying. BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT JUNE23

How did you join the games industry? Back before Koei Tecmo had merged into one company, Koei used to specialise in the Three Kingdom simulation games. Back then, my brother had a copy of the PC title, and it’s how I came in contact with the series. I was brainwashed [by what I saw]. I really liked it, and ever since I was a big fan of the series. I decided at that point I wanted to join the company and as it was my favourite genre, I decided I wanted to create my own simulation title within the Three Kingdoms. Did you have a background in game development? When I first came in contact with the game, it was the first time I’d seen a video game at all. Back then, no-one had their own personal computer. My family had one, which is where I was introduced to gaming. It wasn’t until afterwards at university that I bought myself a PC. There was a class about programming, which I took given my interest in the simulation genre. But as for game development, I had no prior knowledge before joining the company. All my knowhow and development knowledge was created from scratch after I joined. If this hadn’t worked out, do you know what career would you’d be in right now? Tough question [laughs], but interesting. I’ve been with the company for more than twenty years, and I’m enjoying what I’m doing. But if something hadn’t happened at the time... one of the courses I took at university was more on the educational side, so I could have become a teacher. But if I hadn’t been as successful in the early days of my career, I would have gone to a different company to start off with. Did you have a career arc in mind, or have you been working things out as you went along between then and now? I feel fortunate to be sitting here at the moment. From a producing standpoint, I feel I’ve reached this stage much earlier than I thought I would. Going back to the first year of joining the company... I don’t know if you know, but in Japanese companies we have an orientation session that lasts a few months after you join. At that point, 50 employees joined the AKIHIROSUZUKI D E V E L O P E R S T O R I E S Dynasty Warriors has a hardcore fan following both back home and here in the west. Do you notice any differences between the two when you’re travelling aboard? The franchise has been running for quite some time, and I’ve been interacting with fans for almost as long. The Japanese and Asian audiences were heavily invested in the characters, through cosplay and such, while western audiences focused on the gameplay. But year on year we’re seeing the western audience becoming more like the Japanese one. There’s a decrease in the people buying the game; it’s much more a fan-driven franchise today. The core essence, the core fun is in the characters, and it seems the western audience is - I wouldn’t say dragged into it - but are becoming similar in terms of their tastes. So we’re seeing a lot of similarities in the response we’re getting these days. The east and west are getting a lot closer. And with that core fan following, where do you draw the line between catering for fan needs and doing what you want as a studio? It’s a very delicate balance. One of the key importances of keeping a franchise going is to make sure the original concept is always retained. For the Dynasty Warriors series, it’s 1 against 1000. That’s the main principle of the franchise to start with. That’s something that’ll never change, that’s a definite factor. Having said that, we do need to look at different options as the franchise goes on. With DW, we talked about the in-game characters, and how people become attached to them. So we look to bringing in new characters or new episodes, storylines based on historical facts as well. And we also look to adding new elements to the action side of the game, the gameplay. We tweak and modify; it could be a minor detail, but to make it a better game. Having said that, getting the right balance of a game is always essential for a franchise, and we work on it on a case by case basis. So in that way the right balance never exists. The Dynasty Warriors template has been applied to multiple other franchises as well, including the likes of Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda and the anime and manga series Mobile Suit Gundam and Fist of the North Star. CAREER HIGHLIGHTS Franchise Cuts Dynasty Warriors has inspired its own spin-off franchises. These include the equally-action heavy Samurai Warriors, and strategic take on the title, Dynasty Tactics. We’re still waiting on a return of the one-on-one fighting version. Spin Offs 43 year-old producer Akihiro Suzuki was one of the founding members of Omega Force, and appears in the credits of the original Dynasty Warriors as lead programmer - and as such is one of the longest serving staff. Original Guard T H E O M E G A F O R C E P R O D U C E R R E L F E C T S O N T H E E A R L Y D A Y S

time, inspiration comes from everywhere. I need to pick it up from everywhere. I need to be aware of that, and keep to these key principles I want to emphasise. Do you pay attention to other studios and their work? Either for personal interest or to see how they’re also evolving their games? Talking about looking into different competitive titles, for creating a video game, the answer’d be no to an extent. The way I and the team think when creating a game is to come up with the concept first, the idea. That’s what we want to make. Then we might look at other general titles to make sure there’s nothing similar, with ideas or approach, and to see if the idea is adaptable to the market. In terms of competitive titles, we look at them more for the control and UI systems, to get a feel from the action side of the game. We do look for new ideas in that sense, so that we’re with the current trend. Basing concepts on other titles? No. But keeping up with trends? We make sure we’re in the right direction. We do extensive research, given DW is based on historical facts. A lot of movies, books; so we’ve the right flavour, the right taste. Have you ever got something horribly wrong in doing that? Well, in the earlier stages of the DW franchise, while it wasn’t a major issue - which we haven’t had - more a hiccup, I remember making a certain character too original compared to the historical facts. A certain character wasn’t supposed to wear a mask, but he was. How some characters spoke were completely off the mark compared to the real thing. Minor hiccups. We did have one localisation problem when we looked into character names. They’re based on the original Kanji, so when they were translated for western audiences, wrong characters were picked, so we had to go in and fix. company. You enrol as a rookie, after leaving university and spending some time job-seeking. We joined, and after several months with this orientation, we’re sent out to the different departments and your ‘proper’ job begins. And one of the workshops we had was thinking about our career, and to announce in front of everyone what we want to do. And I said I wanted to come up with a new game system. And that’s been my ultimate goal - to come up with something new in terms of gameplay experience. That’s what i wanted to achieve when I joined the Dynasty Warriors project. The original Dynasty Warriors was a one-on-one fighting game, and it’s moved on to what it was today after the second instalment, and I worked on my end goal from there, and I’ve worked with the franchise ever since. With all honesty? I’ve earned the producing role much earlier than I expected. Remembering back, back then I thought that while I wouldn’t be working on the ground level, I’d still be in the nittygritty area of everyday game development. So I’m surprised to be at this producer role. Do you miss having a more hands-on role? Yes [laughs]. I enjoyed it at the time, but I shifted into the producing role around ten years ago, so I haven’t been working at the ground level for over a decade. I do miss it, but with technology moving on, I’d have to go back and learn the basics all over again. But as I am now, watching all my staff working, I feel I could happily step into any of their roles on the spot and do much better than they [laughs]. What motivates you personally? There’s three things. The first, simply, is that I like video games. Secondly, I’ve been involved in DW since the first instalment, since the boot-up, basically. I’ve been involved throughout the franchise history, so I feel for the history of the series, and its future. I’m slightly worried about that future; if I leave now, I’m concerned what’s going to happen with the projects. That’s the second motivation. The third is that I like to do something new, create new game systems. It’s always an area I love looking into. It’s been done - as we see between DW and its sequel - but i have pride in my job, and the work style that I’m able to achieve. And what is it that inspires you? [long pause] That’s a very interesting question. There’s nothing specific about where my inspirations come from, and the reason for that is that at the end of the day, talking about video games at least, I’ll be passing on a product that the player or end user doesn’t really know about. But you need to give them the right materials for them to understand and enjoy it. Enjoyment is different from person to person. Obviously there’s a certain given for certain markets, but it’s like working with someone you don’t know when thinking of video games as a product. The way I think, about the games I create, I have several key areas I’m interested in. In order to make sure I get the right balance for these core requirements I don’t have any specific inspiration… but at the same “BEFORETHREE KINGDOMS,I’DNEVER SEENAVIDEOGAME.”

home. There’s not much of a luxury there, but maybe in the long run when I get some time by myself, I may be able to dedicate more time to them. But when I do buy them, it’s usually digitally rather than retail. But I do still have my older collections - though it’s far from being properly sorted! It’s not even in my work room, but stored somewhere in the house. Can you pick a standout moment in your career so far that you remember fondly? I remember the original DW game. That was the first instalment for the series, even if it was more a fighting game than how it is now. That was the first console title Koei worked on that was an action-based game. It was a first for the company. I was lead programmer at the time. We started from scratch, we had no previous games in the genre, no knowledge of the genre itself. Everything was building day by day. And when it came out, the feedback I got from outside the company, from the industry, was “oh, Koei must have decided to outsource that title for a change to be able to come up with something new”. So I actually came up with something new, something that everyone thought Koei couldn’t make. I was proud of that, having the game evaluated from the outside, and people saying it didn’t look like a Koei title. That was a highlight. So what’s next for you? Leaving out any timeframes for this, I’ve two objectives. One, for DW, I want to change its image from what we have today. Obviously the main concept won’t change - 1 against 1000 will still be there - but I want to bring something new to the franchise in terms of gameplay. something fresh. Secondly, I want to come up with a brand new game, away from the DW franchise. Something that children can play. All the games I’ve worked on to date have been about conflict, battles, war. I want to come up with something that’s for kids, that everyone can play. Do you and the team have any celebratory traditions that you stick to after finishing a project? Nowadays we’re too busy. The core team members, back when the franchise started, maybe, but we’re all married now and have time constraints outside of work. It’s getting more difficult, year by year. In the earlier days, when we finished a title we’d take a week off from the office, get on our bikes and cars and go sightseeing, touring around Japan. It was good for relaxation and team-bonding, and reflect on what we’ve done over the project. That was our tradition. Do you miss it? Ever think of a reunion? I do miss, but everyone’s moved on with their lives. We do speak about doing it every now and then, but we haven’t been successful yet. Also the team size used to be quite small, but now the core members have been split across different teams, so none of us work together anymore. It’s sad, but that’s the reality. Is there anyone in the industry you admire? There’s no specific figure I’d want to become. I’m me, at the end of the day [laughs]. But my first contact with video games was Three Kingdoms, and Koei Tecmo’s current president actually created the PC game at the time. That’s who I respect. What do you do for downtime? What’s your pastime? I’ve a young kid at the moment, so when I go home I’m quite busy [laughs]. But I love spending time with my family, and if I’ve a long break we’ll go to a spa. Is your daughter old enough to play video games with? She’s quite young, but I do buy her games that she plays, but she asks that we play together. But playing games indoors for a long time’s not good for a kid, so I like to take her out too. But it’s more a day to day thing. Do you have much of a a video game collection? With my daughter, I don’t have much a chance to play video games when I’m “INSPIRATIONCOMES FROMEVERYWHERE.I KEEPOPENANDAWARE.” The latest Dynasty Warriors title, Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires, is out now.

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oday, Triple-A titles mean, and need, huge investment, and publishers would rather avoid taking risks. Yet before today, when they’d miss the true potential of a supposedly niche title, it’d mean the death of a project before it began. Now, creators have the chance of seeing their dreams realised, and connecting directly with their audience, through crowdfunding. And that’s what London-based Slightly Mad Studios did when it asked racing fans for financial support to realise its vision of a racing simulator without compromise. But the developer didn’t stop there; it let players in on the development process, to help refine the creation. And so it began work on CARS - the Community Assisted Racing Simulator. The idea was the final form would be everything a racing sim fan should want. And after several delays, here we are, with the racer lining up to the starting grid on newgen consoles as well as PC. The game’s introduction runs the full scope of the developer’s vision, covering the range of options ahead for the player through glossy videos with lots of voiceover. There’s plenty here for a range of enthusiasts. Driving assists and difficulty can be fine-tuned to your individual preferences, and you’re free to tinker for the start of your long in-game career ahead. Customisation is a big part of Project Cars. There’s a purity to progression, no money earned or XP unlocked. Instead, you sign on to a race team and drive primarily for points. If successful, you’ll be waved onward with an invitation to a higher class of racing. And there’s plenty of divisions to sink your teeth and time into. Starting with go-karts and smaller production cars, you’ll be racing towards choosing between various GT classic or Formula racers, and forward to the legendary Le Mans prototypes towards the latter end of your career progression. Playing the Professional mode is a challenge from the off. Literally. Even trying to drive away from the starting grid immediately showcases this is no arcade racer. Switch on the ignition, start the engine, disengage the clutch and engage the gear when the light hits green. And this type of detail is true for every aspect of the game. A complete racing weekend is simulated, consisting of training runs, qualifying and races that come along with multiple pitstops. It’s not just perfect racing lines that’ll see you finish on top either; you’ll need tactics to win, and keep tuned to the team radio to listen for instructions and tips. It makes for an adrenaline-fuelled, highly-compelling experience. With a suitably chosen difficulty it’s hard going to fight your way from the back of the pack to the podium. Each race becomes its own epic, rather than just powering through the season and hoping perseverance will pay off. While there is a Rewind function to erase mistakes on the race course, the experience isn’t about repeated use until you cross the finishing G A M E R E A C T O R . C O . U K T SYSTEMPC PS4 XBOX ONE GENRERACING DEVELOPERSLIGHTLY MAD STUDIOS PUBLISHERBANDAI NAMCO RELEASEMAY 7 i PROJECTCARS REVIEWS

line first. Every aspect of the car and the racing conditions needs to be weighed, considered if you’re to succeed in Career mode. The console versions of Project Cars trail behind the PC build a little when it comes to visuals, through this is a beautiful looking title no matter what platform you play on, and it’s the same game under the hood. On the race track there are a dozens vehicles roaring past each other, each with its own damage modelling, and they’re all being hammered with a dynamic weather system. It’s atmospheric and graphically stunning, but there is the odd graphical hiccup, with tearing when the action gets intense. And while there’s not a consistent high level of detail across all courses, you can forgive because the track number’s hitting the triple digits. The range of tracks is superb. There’s not only real world courses for you to navigate round, but also some stunning ones filled with stretches of fantastic scenery (provided you can take your eyes off the road to admire it) created for the game. Nicely the Career mode’s riddled with these special races, letting us drive several historic cars and supercars. It means plenty of variety. Something that Project Cars is very good in offering, to a point. Because one of the weakest elements to the game is the lack of car availability. In solo and multiplayer online races you’ll see there’s only a handful of cars to choose from in some of the classes. Many manufacturers are completely absent from the game because they were simply not interested in cooperating with the developer. It seems a mistake, because the game’s potentially going to do very well with simulation racing fans. There’s an interesting difference between this and the other venerated racing simulator series Gran Turismo. Sony’s longrunning franchise emphasised the collecting of cars as one of its main draws, with racing almost secondary. Project Cars takes that secondary consideration and builds everything else around it. This title celebrates motorsport, the on-track racing, the thrill of the chase, the joy of finally learning the ticks of your new favourite ride. The quality of it all sees Project Cars easily roar into the racing genre’s Hall of Fame. But it doesn’t quite surpass the competition. The lack of cars is a real shame, and the audio needs a tweak. While car engines sound good, the crunch of collisions and the squeal of tyres are too low in the audio mix. But these are small issues. The bottom line is that Project Cars manages to refresh the genre and sets a new level of expectation that future entries need to, at the very least, match in order to compete. And even then, we suspect Slightly Mad Studios will have refined this title further with future DLC and patches. 9 F O R M O R E R E V I E W S G O T O G A M E R E A C T O R . C O . U K KITTYPOWERS MATCHMAKER ver wondered what it would have been like if Dame Edna had hosted Blind Date? Well, this is as close to an answer as you'll ever come. But Kitty Powers may be a tad bit saucier. The game starts out rather basic. As a new matchmaker you try and help your clients find that special someone. There are ten types of clients and they all have different interests, traits and things that attract them to other. Playing the role of Cyrano de Bergerac, you guide your client through the treacherous waters of a date. This is performed via a series of mini-games, some dependent on your date, others on the venue (there's a whole range of ethnically-flavoured restaurants to choose from). These include holding in farts, various memory games with phone numbers, deserts or your waiter's appearance. The date work on a three strikes and you're out system, but you also need to keep your strikes low if you want a second date or more. You can lie if you're client doesn't agree with his or her date, but there's the risk your date will find out and it doesn't bode well for the long term. There is surprising depth here, but it's also not as addictive as it could have been. We would have liked more variation in venues. Big plus for the inclusiveness factor as you'll find clients of different races and sexual orientation distributed among all of the personality types. The writing is also inspired, and there is surprising amounts of dialogue to be discovered. While the game offers some extras on Steam over its mobile counterpart, it's easy enough to spot the mobile origins of the game. Not that it's entirely a bad thing. The game is designed for short sessions and serves as a great little time sink in windowed mode while you're supposed to be doing your job. SYSTEMPC GENRESIM DEVNINTENDO PUBERHÄLTLICH i 7 E

dvance Wars, with its perfect pixel art, level design and mechanics still stands as one of our all-time favourite RTS titles on any platform. Its developer, Intelligent Systems, is also responsible for one of our other all-time favourite genre entries, Fire Emblem. The team’s latest, Codename Steam, matches some of the qualities of its past works, not all. It’s not a bad game, by there’s a few design decisions that grate. The game’s story knits steampunk with alien invasion, as brave agents of special forces Codename: STEAM (Strike Team Eliminating the Alien Menace) gather around their leader US President Abraham Lincoln and head their airship Liberty from Buckingham Palace, through Boston to the White House in Washington DC and further into the desert up into a worldrenowned fantasy realm. Character design is brilliant, with each agent feeling individual, and the comic book-like cut-scenes are superb. More shame then the same can’t be said about the diversity of the aliens. Gameplay mixes third-person shooter with turn-based strategy. You send a squad of four, each equipped with two weapons and a boiler on their backs into large gridded levels. Between you and the level’s completion are numerous enemies, traps and obstacles. Move or fire a weapon and some of the boiler’s steam is exhausted. Occasionally we’ll climb into the cockpit of a giant robot for short FPS moments and to take on alien bosses. But the core of the gameplay, obviously, is in the classic mix of tactics and proper strategy. But despite a good range off weapons, variation’s limited. Clashes, enjoyable as they are, are limited in scope even after 15 hours worth of play, with only the occasional difference rearing its head. There’s some annoying issues, notably the loading time between rounds, even after an optimised update cut the times down. Your opponents also seem to take an age to work out their next move, requiring you to kill time after your round’s over, staring at the “aliens are advancing” icon, waiting the AI to make a choice. Campaign rounds are nicely nippy though, with levels done and dusted in ten to twenty minutes. A good length for handheld battling. While each Steam agent has individual weapons, new options become available as you collect coins and we can add new boilers with different capacities and charge rates. The boiler unlocks and attempts to better level scores to work your way up StreetPass rankings brings with them some replay value for the single player. But better is the finely-tuned multiplayer mode, which offers local and online duels with freely customisable teams. Especially great? Here waiting times are eliminated in favour of timed rounds. And the knowledge that you’re facing a real opponent on the virtual game board ensures an adrenaline rush. This is solid entertainment, but it’s lacking the charm that so captivated us in Advance Wars, and the qualities that had us hooked to Fire Emblem titles in the past. A good turn-based strategy for your console - just not the best there’s been. G A M E R E A C T O R . C O . U K 6 A SYSTEM3DS GENRESTRATEGY DEVELOPERINTELLIGENT SYSTEMS PUBLISHERNINTENDO RELEASEMAY 15 i CODENAME:S.T.E.A.M

KIRBYANDTHE RAINBOWPAINTBRUSH SYSTEMWII U GENREPLATFORM DEVELOPERHAL LABORATORY PUBLISHERNINTENDO RELEASEMAY i AL Laboratory, the studio responsible for Kirby's franchise for many years now, has surprised us once again. At least from an artistic point of view. After developing creatively-stimulating games such as Kirby: Power Paintbrush, the studio has this time opted for the claymation technique to create Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush, a delightful new platformer that sees the return of Nintendo's pink ball. We're really impressed by the excellent work done by HAL Laboratory with the visuals. The use of claymation fits perfectly with the fairytale element that characterises this game. Yet, its clay charm is simultaneously its fortune and its curse, because the player controlling Kirby is unable to fully enjoy the wonderful show that unfolds in front of their eyes. This is down to the - in our opinion questionable decision to use the GamePad as the one and only control system for the single-player adventure. Using the GamePad's touch-screen, we can draw a rainbow-line that allows our favourite pink ball to roll and move across the scenery. In addition, if executed properly, the line allows Kirby to reach the most unlikely of places in order to collect bonuses and stars, the latter helping our pink friend turn into a giant clay ball, a mutation that is useful for accessing areas blocked by heavy obstacles. Yet, even if this control system feels intuitive, easy to use and responsive, it forces us to keep our eyes glued to GamePad's screen, causing us to miss out on more than half of the fun and beauty inherent in this game. If this second-screen solution worked fine on DS - as in Power Paintbrush - the application of it on Wii U feels sluggish, leaving us completely unsatisfied. This frustration is heightened when enjoying the game with a second player, who can enjoy the game in all its beauty on the big screen. We’re not sold on the rather relaxed pace of Kirby's adventure either. Even if it's never overly simple and each level requires us to look hard in every corner to collect as many stars and treasures as possible, Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush is extremely linear, where dying (especially if you are playing in single-player mode) is rather impossible. The pace picks up in cooperative, where a second player using the Wiimote plays as Waddle Dee Helper. There’s a nice level of coordination required between the two players. But unlike the single-player mode, co-op isn't particularly intuitive, and there were some frustrating moments during our experience. However, after a little time with the training wheels on, playing with a friend is certainly funnier and more interesting if simply because you can then leverage the individual skills of each character. Kirby's latest proves to be a platform game of undoubted quality, mainly because of the care and originality that's gone into the visual side of the world and its characters. Maybe it doesn't shine in terms of mechanics and depth when compared to similar games by Nintendo, but the simplicity and linearity that defines the experience makes this an ideal family adventure. 7 F O R T H E L A T E S T R E V I E W S G O T O G A M E R E A C T O R . C O . U K RIDE f there’s something Italian studio Milestone don’t lack, it’s passion. The team’s tried to channel that along with all the experience gained from creating the likes of SBK Generations and MotoGP 14 into an experience that’s not dissimilar from Gran Turismo. A focus on the two-wheeled racing, tuning and styling. The intent is to inspire riding fanatics and mesmerise the uninitiated. Ride’s Career mode is laid out just like Gran Turismo. Begin with a number of dull races and tired bikes to win prize money, cash that in for upgrades, work up the rankings and take on increasingly fast opponents. The driving setup has been tailored to allow Milestone the ability to emulate multiple bike behaviours, and there’s satisfaction in leaning forward and down with the upper body, and letting the throttle out as the knee caresses the inside bend of a tight corner and pulling out the other side. The passion for the ride is never clearer than here: you can tell Milestone love road racing. However, there’s a lot of other areas where they haven’t been successful. One of these issues are the long loading times. Very long. It feels as if you spend more time looking at a loading screen than racing. Ride asks for patience. Oodles of it. Equally tracks and environments don’t impress. Surroundings look like they’ve been lifted from a PS3 game, and while bikes and riders look better, it’d be hard to call Ride visually lush. These issues, along with the lifeless presentation mean we’ve the same problems that hurt the past few Gran Turismo titles. If Milestone can keep the racing physics intact but renovate all the other elements, then maybe a potential sequel could be fulfil the wish of biking enthusiasts. SYSTEMPC PS3 PS4 XBOX 360 XBOX ONE GENRERACING DEVMILESTONE PUBPQUBE i 6 H I

ASSASSIN’SCREED CHRONICLES:CHINA SYSTEMPC PS4 XBOX ONE GENREPLATFORM DEVELOPERCLIMAX STUDIOS PUBLISHERUBISOFT RELEASEAPRIL 22 i here's something to be said of the sprawling narrative of the Assassin's Creed franchise. Like a branching soap opera spanning the centuries it requires dedication to keep up. And while there may have been a soft reboot of sorts with {Assassin's Creed: Unity}, if you're jumping in now you have a lot of catching up to do. This may have an elaborate narrative for a 2.5D stealth platformer, but compared to the main entries in the series this feels focused and self-contained. A refreshing change. Set during the 16th century, the game follows a female assassin named Jun as she attempts to recapture a box of tremendous value and avenge those who have brought her order to the brink of extinction. The story is told via beautifully rendered cutscenes. Much like the game itself it's inspired by brush paintings. It's a great fit with the setting and particularly the backdrops in the game are gorgeous. It makes clever use of the 2.5D concept as you moving in and out of the backgrounds and in some levels you'll move between as much as four or five layers. At times it can be a bit confusing to figure out your own layer compared to that of the guards and their two-dimensional awareness cones. Jun is equipped with an impressive arsenal of gadgets and moves and new features are continually introduced during the adventure. Naturally Jun will be climbing a lot, hiding in haystacks, making leaps of faith (synchronising means you will reveal weapon caches, collectibles and objectives in the map), hiding in bushes, but there are also a bunch of mechanics that are new to the franchise and that make sense for this kind of title. Towards the second half of the game Helix orbs are introduced. These power an ability to move from cover to cover without being seen, but you'll quickly run out of juice so it should only be used when absolutely necessary. You can sneak, run, sneak quickly, run into a slide and slide into an assassination from below. All of this connects nicely to form a deep system of mechanics that allow for multiple solutions to any given problem. The one thing about the mechanics is that they can feel a bit off, especially in the beginning of the game where you're not chaining together abilities as much as you are straightforwardly platforming. As your actions are somewhat tied to context you don't really get the sense that you're playing a great platformer when playing: it's just not about timing, precision and momentum. But then again this is primarily a stealth title and should be viewed as such. For each section of each level you're graded and naturally there is a lot of replayability to be found in trying to perfect each level and shave seconds and minutes off your best times. The game also offers a new game plus and a new game plus hard mode once you've completed it on normal. Each level took us on average 15-20 minutes to complete on the first playthrough and with a dozen levels the game offers good value. This is a refreshing spin on the AC concept. but ultimately we never felt that urge to continue on and finish the game in one sitting. 7 G A M E R E A C T O R . C O . U K HALO: SPARTANSTRIKE alo: Spartan Assault was a solid twin-stick shooter that made good use of the Halo IP, even if it ultimately failed to dazzle. Spartan Strike is certainly an improvement on that first offering, although once it was finished we were left with much the same feeling: it could have been better. The formula has been improved. For starters the needless microtransactions that plagued the original have been ripped out. This doesn't have a huge impact in-game, but it's nice to see that 343i and Vanguard Games have listened to feedback. The most notable improvement comes from the addition of the Prometheans, the alien race introduced in Halo 4. Their inclusion here muddies the timeline somewhat but while they stretches the fiction to fit the format, these new enemies ensure more variety. And with the new enemy types come new weapons, and there's a number of different options dropped by Promethean and Covenant troops throughout the campaign. Some of the weapons fail to feel noticeably different from one another, but the option to switch between UNSC and alien guns mid-battle is certainly welcome. This sequel also boasts some impressive detail, with explosive setpieces unfolding in the background painting the illusion of a story set in the midst of a wider conflict. One significant omission is the lack of multiplayer. The mode was thoughtfully implemented in Spartan Assault and it's a shame that they didn't manage to include it here. Overall we enjoyed blasting away at the Covenant and Prometheans, but it still feels like there's something missing that could have made this a more thrilling experience. There's a good game here, but it never takes the risks to make it a great one. SYSTEM PC IOS GENREACTION DEVVANGUARD GAMES 343I RELEASEAPRIL 18 i 7 T H

onvoy is a quirky vehicular roguelike-like that marries up the car-based combat of the Mad Max movies with the permadeath sensibilities of FTL: Faster Than Light. The player's ship crashes on a planet and is in need of repairs, with the four parts needed to fix it dotted across the surrounding desert. This world, Opek Prime, is filled to the brim with nasties who want nothing more than to shoot you in the head, and so in a heavily armed convoy of vehicles you must explore a huge map and retrieve the parts you need to get the hell out of town. Conceptually it's a tempting proposition, and for the most part it delivers much as you'd expect and want it to. There's plenty of combat, with fast-paced battles taking place as swarms of enemy vehicles seek to put your primary vehicle - the MCV - off the road and out of commission (at which point it's game over). Defence comes from your own entourage, all of which can be outfitted with weapons, and upgraded at regular intervals. Different units can be equipped with a range of items; some are more adept at combat, while others might be better at absorbing damage. You can upgrade the MCV too, giving it mines and other tricks (although these abilities are all tied to cooldown timers, whereas supporting units fire automatically). Combat is top-down and takes place in real-time, although you can pause the game and plan your attacks before jumping back into the action. Each weapon has its own benefits; some have greater range, others deal more damage, another might let you take several shots or even strip away a shield. You can even ram your enemies with melee weapons. Finding a nice balance for each vehicle, and then across the whole convoy, is the key to success. It's just a shame then that you're also vulnerable to the elements. The MCV holds a steady - and mostly safe - path through the middle of each real-time encounter. On either side of that path, at regular intervals, rocks and obstacles will appear that permanently destroy any vehicle that they touch. Sometimes, if you're paying attention to the combat, you'll see them too late. At other times you might notice them with time to spare but still not be able to move out of the way. With the exception of the MCV it can happen to any unit, whether it's a brand new truck or your super car that you've been nurturing and upgrading. The permadeath does exactly as intended; it adds tension to every encounter. It also makes upgrades and experimentation extremely important, and success in combat rests on finding a potent mix of offensive options. On the other hand, the obstacle dodging is a total pain and feels overly-punishing. We don't want to sound overly negative, because there's much to admire. Visually it feels very cohesive, and the pixelart is chunky and charming. The enemy loadouts are quick and easy to decipher, and there's a clarity to the overall visual language that makes the whole thing accessible and easy to pickup. Yes, it can get monotonous after awhile (the concept doesn't allow for masses of variety in this area), but there's opportunity for evolving strategies and fist-pumping moments of satisfaction. F O R M O R E R E V I E W S G O T O G A M E R E A C T O R . C O . U K 7 C SYSTEMPC GENRESTRATEGY DEVELOPERCONVOY GAMES PUBLISHERINDIETOPIA GAMES RELEASEAPRIL 21 i CONVOY

Cision -ORTHEARTOFCHOOSINGWith so many great indie titles arriving, it’s easy to get swamped. Here are just some of the great games coming our way soon. Indie

This is the new title from Contrast creator Complusion Games. That last release was visually delightful yet ultimately underwhelming. We Happy Few offers a procedural survival gameplay loop that promises a deeper, more captivating experience. Set on an island in 1960s England, We Happy Few puts the player in the boots of the only lucid person around. The rest of the population is wearing their "happy masks" and bask in the glory of a hallucinogenic drug called "Joy". They're trying to forget something very dark in their past. Everyone is in on it, and anyone who steps out of the norm and seems unhappy will be hunted down. As in the original Dead Rising you need to survive for 72 hours in order to escape the island. Exactly how this window of opportunity arises is unknown, but there’s no hiding out in a cupboard; you’re going to have to venture out in order to collect food, water and supplies, and craft items in order to survive. Once you’re out and about you'll quickly draw attention to yourself if you don’t try and blend in. And if you do, you can either leg it or resort to violence (naturally you can hide bodies and loot pockets). But you can also take some Joy. The drug is also laced in the tap water (which makes clean water a rare commodity as you try and manage your thirst). When you take it, colours become more vibrant, the music changes and you get a spring in your step. The downside is that once the drug wears off you will start to bleed and you will also sacrifice some of your sanity (one of the parameters you need to keep in check in order to survive the experience). We can imagine that there will be situations where you will need to use the drug to infiltrate society and learn its secrets. The city you explore is procedurally generated. Every time you boot up the layout will be different and you won't complete the exact same quests each time either. But at this point Compulsion Games are very vague about the overall narrative of the game. This very early version of the game offered two small scenarios, and the one that we sampled featured a slaughter house in which you had to figure out a puzzle in order to unlock a chest. The pre-alpha demo had a limited number of facades and the procedural generation left gaps between some buildings, making for a slightly more surreal experience than was perhaps intended. It is being worked on, we're told, but frankly we were impressed even at this early stage. We Happy Few Socially acceptable Victorian stealth. PC | TBA It’s still early days. That The Behemoth's next game doesn’t even have a proper title yet will be indication we may have to wait a while longer for their foray into turn-based strategy. The developers of Alien Hominid, Castle Crashers and BattleBlock Theater have made it a point to tackle a new genre with each new game they make so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised they're taking strategy role-playing this time around. As is their tradition The Behemoth came to PAX East with custom-built arcade cabinets of their latest game. Each cabinette sported two demos. The first one featured the start of the game, setting up the story (giant bear falls onto planet, chaos ensues) and introducing the main character (a humble blueberry farmer called Horatio). Other characters would then join the party including a Cupcake person called Gluten who served as a healer. Naturally a bit hard to stomach, Gluten heals a unit two tiles away from him at the end of his turn. Managing distance is key in Game 4, so make sure a unit with a shield heads up your group to draw the fire of archers. Another interesting aspect we got to sample in the second demo was the ability to recruit enemies to your cause. Basically you need to leave the enemy you want to recruit to last and then use a character equipped with a cage to trap him or her. This will result in hilarious player parties that include robots, vampires and well, whatever else The Behemoth comes up with. The narrator from BattleBlock Theater (Will Stamper) makes his return and the impact of the narration cannot be understated. We kept cracking up during our session with the game and it's a perfect fit with the gorgeous art that The Behemoth are known for. Game 4 PC | XBOX ONE | TBA IT’S A PROCEDURALLY GENERATED SURVIVAL HORROR THAT RIFFS ON THE PRISONER AND 1984. BLEND IN TO SURVIVE.

PC | XBOX ONE | 2015 PC PS4 PS VITA XBOX ONE WII U 3DS | 2015 Cuphead The answer to the question: what if Walt Disney made a Contra game? Combo the evocative and cartoonish art style of Max Fleischer (creator of Betty Boop and Popeye) and Super Meat Boy's sadist gameplay, and you’ve got Cuphead, a new 'run and gun' title developed by indie devs Studio MDHR. The art style is the immediate sell, but underneath that ode to the classic cartoon of the ‘30s is a ruthless adventure as you’re set against complex bosses. Main character Cuphead has lost a bet with the Devil and is forced to wander this appealing game world, defeating enemies to try and repay its debt. Gameplay is fairly simple: it's a 2D shooter with eight-way directional fire, and a pressing need to dodge a huge number of enemy bullets. From the demo we played, there’s no gentle introduction. You’re casually tossed into bullet cascades and need to immediately grasp enemy attack patterns in order to escape certain death (you’ve only three life hearts to your name). At least like Super Meat Boy, we've infinite lives to keep trying. And between bosses, we set out to explore around the world, as much like the classic RPG-lite action adventures, there’s plenty of secrets to discover. The demo offered a total of four levels. But in our time trying to crack them, we didn’t see a single person managing to get past the third. If you’re a fan of punishing gameplay, Cuphead could keep you occupied for a long time to come. The developers are looking to include a cooperative multiplayer mode for two players, who can team up and try to deal with the various bosses that are currently stopping us dead in our tracks. And even if you don't consider yourself a fanatic of the genre, Cuphead is worth the look. The visuals are halfway between Disney's Silly Symphonies and Max Fleischer's short animated movies.The devs have even layered a grainy film effect over the gameplay to really give it that classic feel. We can't wait to play the game again, although at the moment it’s down for a vague “2015” release. A lot of things have come to pass since SteamWorld Dig. The Steambots have been forced off their planet and now they roam space scavenging for supplies. In Heist you will control one such group of survivors as they face more malicious steambots. The genre may be new, but the world and the setting will feel very familiar to fans of Dig, even if it's set in space. Turn-based strategy games are typically seen from above, but in Image & Form's next game the action is played out from a side-scrolling 2D perspective. At first glance you may think that means less strategy in terms of positioning, but it also opens up a rather unique mechanic where you aim and bounce your shots off of walls and ceiling for maximum damage (aim for the back of the head). For some reason the Steambots can't keep a steady aim so there is skill and timing involved in making that perfect shot. Steamworld Heist

PC | 2015 5 things about Nuclear Throne It's mutant madness in Vlambeer's wasteland. Vlambeer's follow up to Luftrausers is another excellent shooter. The player views the action from an isometric perch, controlling one of several mutated characters as they blast their way through a postapocalyptic world inhabited by giant scorpions, rats, bandits, and robots. There’s some great pixelart; important because there’s so many different playable characters to get to grips with it needed to be easy to work out what’s happening. THE WORLD 1 There’s currently twelve upgradable mutants to choose from, and each offers a different ability that drastically changes your approach. Some are defensively minded, others are better at going toe-to-toe with the opponents you’ll meet in Vlambeer’s post-apocalyptic vision of the wasteland. You can always randomise your selection and see what fate hands you for each run through the world, a great way to get to know the game’s systems. THE MUTANTS 2 Nuclear Throne has seven different playable worlds, and in true roguelike-like style and thanks to permadeath, getting to the end is tough. From barren deserts to futuristic laboratories, there’s a variety of environments to conquer. There’s many ways to upgrade your characters and dotted around the randomly-generated levels are over eighty weapons, meaning a range of options when approaching any given scenario. THE WEAPONS 3 One of the standout features of the game is the soundtrack, which impresses right off the bat with some atmospheric guitar-led compositions. The main theme and many of tracks have been scored by Jukio Kallio, with whom the studio have already collaborated with on Luftrausers. On top of the those fifteen-plus tracks by Jukio Kallio there’s additional tracks and lyrics by Doesone & Eirik ‘Phlogiston’ Suhrke. THE MUSIC 4 One of the unique things about Nuclear Throne is the public way in which the game is developed. Players can buy the game on Steam Early Access and play what’s already there, but they can also tune in every week and watch Vlambeer livestream its development, warts and all. This approach has made for a unique process that goes beyond the standard community-driven Early Access iteration. THE BUILD 5

It’s The Molasses Flood’s first title. A survival game were you travel down a river in search of supplies and in the hopes of reaching safety (or whatever the end goal may be, we're not sure, but there is an end you can reach). Quench your thirst and hunger, and find warmth while dealing with dangers like wolves and the river itself. There's nothing supernatural here. Just a girl, her dog, trying to survive the flood, and a journey down a river. "It's a game about survival, fundamentally, and about a journey and about travelling," says lead designer Forrest Dowling. "It’s procedurally generated and is kind of inspired by the American south. It's very similar in some ways to a lot of games that you might be familiar with, but we tried to do a lot of different twists on the idea of the roguelike and the survival game." The river is an interesting main mechanic. The flow means that you can only move in one direction. There is no way to paddle back and revisit a safe haven. Instead you're always rolling the dice hoping that the next few ports hold valuable resources and not too many dangers. The currents are strong at times making it difficult to control the raft. We also learn that at times a slower, calmer river can be your enemy as that means you won't reach the next port quickly. Of course, if you don't find a port and you don't have provisions your journey will soon come to an end. Since the river is flooded it isn't safe to drink the water and the team are currently contemplating whether to include any sort of fishing in the game. While the river may very well be seen as the star Flame & the Flood A journey of survival down a flooded river. PC | XBOX ONE | 2015 of the show, the actual protagonist of the story is Scout and her trusted dog (or should it be hound), Aesop. Scout, as her name implies, is very well trained in the art of survival and living off nature. That's why there is no tech tree, nothing to learn in The Flame in the Flood, instead Scout will come with all the knowledge she needs. Your task is instead to decide how to make use of her knowledge in the best possible way. Scout's relationship to Aesop can be seen in the little intro sequence to the demo and in the short animations seen as you dock your raft. Aesop will point towards resources if you miss them, but at this point he doesn't really do anything to help if you happen upon wolves. What players will love most about him is the fact that he will serve as an extra backpack, but there's more to him than that. If you die then the items stocked with Aesop will be there for you at the start of your next try. Then there's the raft. During your journey you will find materials to build and upgrade your means of transport. If you're anything like us you'll also have to repair the damage you've caused from bouncing off of various obstacles. We hope we’ll be able to make some kind of roof so that Scout and Aesop are not as exposed to the river. The demo we played was a timed one of ten minutes, and our first attempt saw us getting chewed on by wolves, getting dysentery from dirty water, getting wet and cold, and having our raft crash into several rocks and shorelines. Our second run was more successful, and we even caught a rabbit with a snare and got to explore more of the crafting side of things. The crafting is fairly straightforward as you know all the recipes for the start, but there are a lot of important decisions to be made. Our third pass saw us meet an old woman in an abandoned garage and we discussed Scout’s background (we also got to pick certain parts of her backstory), and we spent a fair while floating downriver past menacing red eyes. We really liked the one-time conversation we had with the old lady we met. She gave us food and shelter, asked some questions, and then we left her, never to meet again, a solitary experience not to be repeated in that play-through. As you’ll likely have to play through many times to meet everyone it means you’re not forced to unaturally exhaust every avenue of conversation. The Flame in the Flood offers a contained experience which may not appeal to everyone, but certainly appeals to us. It's a refreshing look at the genre that feels more like a poem on survival than an epic spanning several volumes. The gorgeous art style and the atmosphere impressed us throughout. Will it stand up to scrutiny and repeat plays, we’ll have to find out, but so far the signs are very encouraging. Sheltered PC | 2015 PC | 2015 PS4 | 2015 This 2D post-apocalyptic resource management sim has you playing as a family of four in a protected bunker. You’ve got to expand your dwelling to cater for supplies sourced from the wasteland above, but that means sending out a family member to scout procedurally-generated hot spots that may offer food or threats. Encountering dangerous situations will put a strain on your family’s mental state. Push them too far, and they’ll snap. It’s a new take on familar gameplay, and Team 17 is supporting the original two-person team of Unicube in getting this one out. Satellite Reign If remembering the Bullfrog classic Syndicate makes a smile cross your face, then Satellite Reign should be on your radar. It has a similar cyberpunk style and top-down perspective, and the team making it - Five Lives - are under the stewardship of Mike Diskett, the lead designer of Syndicate Wars, so when they start using terms like “spiritual successor” you can believe it. If you want to guide a team of trench coatwearing killers around dark futuristic city streets, make this one to watch. The game is currently available on Steam Early Access. N++ The sequel to N+ has everything that made the first so addictive: the crisp aesthetic, the weighting of the controls, the fiendish levels all blending together wonderfully. There’s some new tricks as well: our favourite’s the evil ninjas that follow you, copying your actions exactly and killing you if you make contact. There's also toggle mines that are activated when you pass over them, meaning the return journey is often much more perilous than the first leg. With over a hundred levels, co-op and competitive, and a level editor, this is looking to be a welcome return. THE RIVER FLOW MEANS THAT YOU CAN ONLY MOVE IN ONE DIRECTION, NEVER TO RETURN TO ANY SAFE HAVEN YOU FOUND

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It has been dubbed as the next big thing ever since Oculus Rift burst onto the scene with its Kickstarter in August of 2012. Since then we've testing prototypes, getting a glimpse of what the future may hold, but 2015 appears to be the year when virtual reality finally takes off. And while everyone isn't a believer just yet, it is very difficult to find someone who doesn't believe in it who has sampled the latest demos. It's no longer just the next big thing; it's very much reality now as the industry starts to line up their consumer offerings and committing to release windows. Valve announced their partnership with HTC for Vive early in March showcasing a breathtaking demo where you got to experience the two 1080x1200 displays running at 90 frames per second. The HTC Vive certainly comes across as the most hi-tech VR-headset to date, but more intriguing was perhaps Valve's broader vision of ushering in the “holodeck”. With 70 or so sensors including laser sensors and the two “Lighthouse” stations developed by Valve, the headset will track your movements inside a 15 by 15 feet area. And then there are Valve's two controllers that look something like sword hilts and allow for very precise ingame actions. The controllers remind us of PlayStation Move, but obviously these have been purpose built with VR in mind. What's even more impressive than all of this? The HTC Vive is due out holiday 2015 and may very well be the first VR heavyweight to hit the market. It's a ridiculous piece of kit and we expect the price (not announced as of yet) will match the experience. ”It's a totally game-changing format,” said Oddworld's Lorne Lanning of his experiences. ”It comes with a lot of questions. A lot of issues. Because it is so powerful. You get in there and you're standing on the ledge of a building in Valve's demo and they just tell you to step off and you can't.” Valve's VR demo included many little treats made by indie developers. There was a low-gravity alien autopsy style experience in the vein of Surgeon Simulator and a remake of The Room. There were huge whales, an art demo and the 20 minute presentation finished off with an Aperture Science demostration that made us dream of Portal 3. One very nice aspect of Valve's VR proposition is that it is open to use for anyone. Basically Valve are providing developers all the software they've designed for VR, with developer kits being made available this spring. The only drawback with Valve's vision of VR (other than potentially the price) is that it needs a dedicated play area (15x15 feet). We assume you'll be able to use the HTC Vive both as a sit down VR headset and for the more ambitious holodeck experience Valve showcased at GDC. But even if Valve has gained the initiative Oculus THEHTCVIVEISDUEOUT THISWINTERANDMAYBE THEFIRSTRETAILVRSET

VR and their “Crescent Bay” demo certainly isn't far behind. “It's just great that the hardware keeps developing,” says Ville Kivistö, CEO of Mindfield Games whose space adventure Pollen was showcased in the Unity booth at GDC. “I just tried Crescent Bay. It was a way, way better experience than Development Kit 2. I just find it fascinating that it is so immersive and real.” Crescent Bay has been demoed several times now and it’s a hint at what experience the final consumer product may offer, even if Oculus keeps its launch plans and final specifications secret for now. Fresh demos from Crytek with Back to Dinosaur Island and Epic with Thief in the Shadows using Unreal Engine 4 and starring Smaug (co-developed by WETA) gave us reason to once again be amazed by the hardware the Facebook-owned company is creating. It's clear that Oculus VR is making allies with the best engine makers in the business as Unity also showcased their VR capabilities. Even if Valve and HTC stormed out of the gates with great hardware, Oculus have an edge in experience: their devkits have been out amongst developers for the last couple of years. Nintendo are likely still licking their wounds following Virtual Boy as they've made no indication they plan on entering the VR space, and with Microsoft sitting in the wings unwilling to fully commit to VR, it is left up to Sony to usher it into the console space. An updated version of Sony's Project Morpheus that debuted at GDC last year has been shown, though it's still not the final hardware. The new prototype’s specs include an OLED screen at 1920 x 1080 (960x1080 per eye) capable of running at 120 frames per second. A full release is pencilled in for the first half of 2016, but Sony still hasn't shown anything but tech demos at this point, though one of them strongly pointed towards the possibility of a Getaway-esque title from London Studios. Updated demos for The Deep and the new Bedroom Robots / The Toybox from Japan Studios also impressed. “About two years ago we started getting really interested in VR,” says Sony London Studios' Dave Ranyard. “At that time the headset was literally a cycle helmet with a Move controller taped onto it and bits of circuit boards and things. So obviously we're a lot happier with the new one. What can I say? There were various different versions. Last year we launched with something and everyone was impressed that actually it's a prototype and it's pretty good. And we were happy. This feels like a step change again.” One clear advantage that Sony's Project Morpheus held over its competition was its overall design and ease of use. You can clearly see that Sony have been designing consumer products for a very long time. “The comfort level,” iterates Ranyard. “The weight distribution. The visor panel itself – the way it moves in and out. I have these massive glasses and I have no issue putting it on. That's great from a comfort perspective, which is important.” Another area Ranyard put forward as an advantage as far as PlayStation's vision for VR goes is the PlayStation eco system. The DualShock 4, the Move controllers, camera and so on, and how great it is that they're all the same for every user. “We're just seeing the beginning at moment,” says Ranyard. “Just think what it's going to look like in two, three, four years. I think that's good, that everything is uniform and also the fact that it's so easy to plug and play and put it together.” Ultimately Ranyard didn't want to focus on the specifics of the current tech inside Project Morpheus, and regardless they are likely to be tweaked further prior to release. Instead he’s fixated on the goal ahead. “People forget that they're in VR and actually believe they're in this other place. And it just feels more solid. The refresh rate is really good. The panels are sharp. You know every time it's improving, improving and we're very, very pleased with it.” Obviously Sony London Studios have an advantage getting to work with the latest version of Morpheus as it exits Sony's R&D labs, but third-parties are also excited about the prospect. “We're really excited to get working on that version of the Morpheus,” says nDreams' CEO Patrick O'Luanaigh. “Cause what we've done so far with the Morpheus has been really powerful and really good.” One thing that is notable when it comes to virtual reality is that, with the exception of first-parties like Sony and Valve, there isn't a great deal of traditional Triple-A developers showcasing virtual reality goods at this stage. Instead independent developers and new VR-focused studios will be the ones who will headline the revolution. It may be cause for concern for some, but there is also tremendous opportunity for these smaller studios who have been exploring the VR space for the last couple of years with Oculus prototypes, to stake new ground as VR launches fully later this year. ”We mentioned supporting Oculus Rift right at the start,” says Frontier's David Braben whose Elite: Dangerous supports Oculus Rift's devkits. ”That would be much harder with a publisher, because we would have to make a business case for it. And it would end up being pushed out into the future.” ”One of the advantages of getting in early is that you can get to talk to these guys and build relationships with them,” said nDreams' O'Luanaigh. ”They're all different. All of the headsets are different. Mobile VR is quite different to PC and console VR.” The Farnborough-based studio has already launched their first project on Gear VR and aim to be among the first bigger titles with The Assembly on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Project Morpheus as they launch. ”We announced The Assembly last year and that's going to be our first big VR game on all of the major platforms. So we'll be doing it for the Oculus, for Morpheus and the Vive as well.” ”PEOPLEFORGETTHATTHEY'REIN VRANDACTUALLYBELIEVETHEY'RE INTHISOTHERPLACE.” DAVERANYARD,SONYLONDONSTUDIOS There are already-released games that benefit from VR conversion. Take Steam Early Access title Radial-G; a F-Zero-like racing title that really comes into its own with an Oculus VR strapped onto your noggin. You’ll adjust to tracking the spiralling tracks with your head, and moving it as you zip past glowing red blockades. This is what anti-grav racing needed. RADIAL-G TAPHOBOS Something has gone very wrong on a research station on Titan. The player is sent to investigate and learns some kind of infestation is happening. The station’s so detailed that it made just investigating the surroundings as well as simple routine, such as microwaving space food, interesting. POLLEN VR also allows for unique concepts. In Taphobos, the VR wearer is trapped in a coffin, and must communicate clues based on what’s scratched inside their tomb to another (PC) player who’s looking for them via voice-chat. You’ve three minutes before your air runs out, so think fast.

G A M E R E A C T O R . C O . U K “We'll be talking a lot more about that before E3, but it's a big adventure game designed with VR in mind. We've got a few other games lined up for those sort of platforms in development and also we just launched a couple of Gear VR games.” Some genres are more suited for VR than others, but it is clear that game developers are experimenting with a lot of different perspectives and genres to see what works and how you can tweak things to make them work with VR. One concept that is perfectly suited to VR is Flying Mollusk's Nevermind – a psychological horror game that literally takes the pulse of the player. Via various heart rate monitors your experience will be influenced by your stress levels and the developers are also designing ways to enhance this through virtual reality. “Virtual reality obviously adds a whole new layer of immersion to the game and we're really excited about all the ways we can mess with people's heads that way,” says Flying Mollusk's Erin Reynolds. “And we don't just want to do a straight port from the PC version to the VR version, we want to make a game that really makes use of the strength of the platform. So we're planning to figure out what makes sense for VR and how can we add unique scares to VR and what can we do to minimise making people barf as well.” The motion sickness is naturally of major concern. And we've all experienced varying degrees of nausea with the early models of Oculus Rift. “I think the biggest challenge that's going to happen to VR is bad software,” says Oddworld's Lanning. ”And this is just a fact. Most of the gaming community does not know how to create software for VR. “And what's going to happen is we're going to have a lot of nausea, a lot of sickness and we're going to have a lot of designers and developers blaming the hardware for why their software is making people sick. But really it's a design solution. I feel that the good devices, the people that are leading this space have the tech in a place where if you just design properly for it you can really make it work into a beautiful experience. If you're trying to reverse engineer your old thinking into the VR format you're in trouble." Like Lanning says, we need good software, which in turn needs great hardware. On top of Occulus, Morpheus and Vive, we’ve got the new Samsung Gear VR (powered by Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge and engineered with help from Oculus), and Open Source VR (Razer's mid-price offering). It’s too early to pick a winner, but we're excited about what's to come. The next twelve months could well change the face of gaming as we know it. “To me it matters less which one wins, but they keep each other honest,” says David Braben on the VR wars that are to come. The lines of battle have been drawn. The title’s gone through numerous changes since we first talked about it last year, but it still carries the sci-fi premise, and the use of dual Razer Hydra sticks to represent your hands in-game. It’s a first-person sci-fi puzzle adventure, and the mechanics are being polished as quickly as new VR software updates release. LOADING HUMAN

The Force Awakens trailer wasn’t the only big thing at last month’s Star Wars Celebration. After numerous teases we finally got a proper look at DICE’s resurrection of the Battlefront saga, the massive team-based multiplayer series set in a galaxy far, far away. The original series was developed by Pandemic Studios a decade ago and were fairly well received. The fans - us included - have been patiently waiting for a proper sequel ever since. It’s the Battlefield developer who has the task of putting together a PC and new-gen version, and perhaps wisely it has stuck to taking iconic scenes from the cinematic franchise’s original trilogy only (coupled with original audio and music recordings), and recreating them with the newgen Frostbite 3 engine. So, no Jar Jar this time, but there is a tie-in to Episode VII through dayone DLC. Remember that downed Star Destroyer from the opening shot of the Force Awakens trailer? In the Battle of Jakku DLC, you’ll be part of the reason behind the ship’s downing. But for the main, Battlefront will be covering the classic clashes from New Hope, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi as you play one of the many soldiers trying to turn the tide in the battle between the Rebel Alliance or Empire. And it’s Jedi that DICE pulls from to give us our first eyes-on at its vision of future warfare (or technically the past, given this all takes place a long, long time ago.) What we see during the show is PS4 footage from a new mode, Walker Assault, played out during the Battle of Endor. It’s a Rebel viewpoint as the player joins their squadmates battling Stormtroopers through the dense forest, switching from first to third person perspectives to tackle enemies. A coordinated laser offensive mounted by several Rebels takes out an incoming AT-ST, but victory is short-lived as an Imperial AT-AT enters the clearing. Shots from its front-mounted cannons hit the ground. Soil and grass are sent spinning around us. We’re left half-stunned. It’s clear that this Battlefront is above and beyond any previous Star Wars game in terms of action and intensity. The AT-AT is finally taken out with sustained artillery fire, and we head into a nearby bunker with our comrade taking the lead. Suddenly he stops mid-movement. He levitates off the floor, and is left hanging in the air as he claws at his throat, unable to breathe. We know what’s coming but still watch transfixed. He drops to the floor. Dead. As we round the corner, we come face to face with Darth Vader. The Sith lord deflects our blaster shots with his lightsaber as he advances, and as that classic music escalates, he stabs forward with his blade. Black screen, end of demo. Multiplayer will cater for the 8-40 player count the game’s promising, with a variety of maps to suit different numbers. There’ll also be offline Battlefront Missions (that can be played online or in split-screen as well) if you want to earn XP before going to online war. Nicely there’s a Partner System, not only letting you quickly join a mate in battle, but also allowing you to share unlocks together to save you both time in the battle for better upgrades. STARWARS:BATTLEFRONT System PC PS4 XBOX ONE Dev DICE Publisher EA Release NOVEMBER 20 2015 You’ll be able to play as some of the franchise’s iconic characters like Darth Vader and Boba Fett and use their powers. DICE are keeping quiet on exactly how this’ll play out during matches however. HEROESFORHIRE DICE STRIKES BACK WITH TEAM-BASED MULTIPLAYER ACTION IN A GALAXY FAR AWAY COMING SOON

Codemasters has a lot to fix. Last year's Formula 1 racing game F1 2014 was, despite the full retail pricing, severely lacking in improvements. Missing features and only small tweaks meant the package felt half-hearted. The year’s edition finally feels like a proper overhaul, with a focus on only the new-gen and PC versions and a longer development time which should be beneficial to the quality and quantity of content. With a release in June, F1 2015 launches right in the middle of this year’s season, and will be continually updated through online patches to keep the game current with real-world events. But the entire 2014 season will also be available to play on the disc from day one. We tested the PC version, which visually is also the most impressive of the three entries. However it's also the one in which the change to the new Ego engine is the least noticeable, due to the fact that F1 2013 and F1 2014 already looked pretty fantastic on a good PC. Now PS4 and Xbox One players may also be blessed with significantly improved graphics. Driving feedback can be adapted to your individual skill level and the availability of a steering wheel. As before, there is a fairly heavy arcade element to the game, which will allow the many mainstream fans of the series to get behind the wheel and get started. Activate the professional mode and you'll be introduced to an intense driving experience with realistic racing cars. It's an unforgiving experience. Each gear error, each wrong curb costs you vital seconds. Each slipstream must be fully exploited. With driver assists disabled, you best not misuse the brakes, and when it rains, things only get worse. You might want to use the rewind feature to erase your mistake, but then, no true sim fan would. There's even a separate Pro mode in place specifically for simulation enthusiasts. The drive quality is promised to be greatly improved in the final game compared to F1 2014. Over twenty detailed improvements relating to the engine and transmission, aerodynamics, fuel tank, force feedback and the suspension are being tinkered with. The hugely important tyre physics are also completely redone to better represent the F1’s driving characteristics. However, most of these details were disabled in the demo, so it is difficult to assess how good and relevant these changes really are. Moreover, we only got to experience the demo with a controller, which is the worst experience for a simulation fan. The Artificial Intelligence offers up to 15 competitors. The further their skills are tweaked, the more uncompromisingly they drive, keeping to the racing line and destroying yours with aggressive overtaking or risky driving. There'll also be an online mode so you can take to the track with real-life Vettel wannabes. There will be a full-fledged career mode, at least it seems so, which allows us to build our own teams. We can tinker with a dedicated F1 identity, select chassis and engines, then go compete with the established teams. It could be the killer feature for fans. F12015 System PC PS4 XBOX ONE Dev CODEMASTERS Publisher CODEMASTERS Release JUNE 12 2015 Keeping things as close to the real experience as possible, Codemasters is using Kinect and the PS Camera voice controls to let you chat to your pit crew and discuss strategies as you race during events. TEAMCONTROL CODEMASTERS LOOKS TO FIX LAST SEASON’S FAULTS WITH A REBUILD R E A D T H E L A T E S T P R E V I E W S A T G A M E R E A C T O R . C O . U K

BLACKOPSIII Activision’s new three-year CoD cycle is paying off. We have already seen the results of this new strategy with last year's successful Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Now Treyarch gets to show the results of a longer development time and new hardware: a Call of Duty that feels wholly new rather than mere update. When we paid Treyarch a visit recently as one of the first media in the world to get hands-on, we were told that the extra time had afforded the studio the luxury of experimentation, the chance to test out new ideas. Some proved completely useless. Others turned out to be great additions. But there was enough time to stress-test these new ideas, and as a result, we’re getting, amongst other things, a four-player co-op mode with screen-in-screen feedback, single player customisation upgrades and the ability to take combat underwater. But before we dive into the details it might be appropriate to introduce the concept of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. In short it's a future war that awaits you. It was something we got a taste of in Black Ops 2, but now the world has completely collapsed and it has resulted in a war over the few remaining resources available in the aftermath of an ecological disaster. There are two coalitions fighting over resources, and after an elite squad goes missing and large amounts of data have leaked, it's left up to the player to set things right. In Treyarch's vision, the future soldier has been enhanced with cybernetics, several body parts being replaced with improved mechanical versions. It means enhanced capabilities such as a jetpack that lets you jump higher and gives the ability to run on walls. As such, the game feels like a fusion of Advanced Warfare's mechanics and the enhanced abilities seen in Titanfall. The developers speak of their game with a great deal of confidence as they explain how every new feature has been created through meticulous work. Every aspect has been weighed up, considered thoroughly. Playing the game ourselves, it's easy to believe the developer's sell. Single-player has a lot of welcome additions that completely reinvent the Call of Duty concept (at least from a campaign perspective). There's now four-player co-op with the added option to view what the other players are seeing via a new screen-in-screen system, with the additional perspective allowing you to locate where the enemy is TREYARCH JOINS CALL OF DUTY’S FUTURE WAR

hiding; provided that players work as a team and position themselves strategically. To make this feature more than just a gimmick, levels are larger than before. Forget about the claustrophobic corridor shooter vibe of previous games: this time it's all about expansive battlefields. And as map sizes increase, the number of scripted events has dropped. Single-player also sees the addition of XP and customisable upgrades to increase its replay value and give you a reason to return to the campaign. In true roleplaying fashion you can unlock new abilities and change your tactics. Enemy AI and type have changed as well. Human soldiers fight alongside Terminator-like robots. The former will hide from bullet barrages, but will also strategise counter-attacks as teams. The latter attack without fear of being shot. Treyarch’s proud to say it has tried to create goal-oriented artificial intelligence, where enemies actually consider other factors rather than just trying to kill you off as soon as possible. Despite the expanded single-player, it's still the multiplayer mode that makes Call of Duty the phenomenon it is. Treyarch is working closely with the eSport scene and will have a beta for those who pre-order the game, a way to ensure that the online experience will be both well-crafted and balanced. It's something that appears vital as many new gameplay innovations await. As in Halo 5: Guardians you automatically grab onto edges when you jump towards them. You can run along walls. You can use the jetpack to fly short distances and perform assist jumps, and it's possible to sprint for as long as you like. Regardless of what action you're performing, you are still able to aim, reload or slide along the ground. Initially it's overwhelming. You assume the role of one of nine elite soldiers. Each carries a super weapon and ability, of which you choose one, which then can then be activated during the match. Treyarch explains that the previous Streak rewards were rarely achieved by beginners, but this new system will make sure that every player gets the chance to activate an ability or super-weapon during each round. The meter that determines when fills up as both time and score increases, so skilled players will be able to use their special abilities more often. You will be able to tailor these elite soldiers in different ways as you level them up, and Treyarch has also worked hard on the ability to customise your weapons. One scope, five accessories. Designs and camouflages can all be added to each weapon, with the customisation tool allowing you to craft your own designs (somewhat reminiscent of the one in Forza Motorsport 5). It means a lot of potential for artisans, and should ensure we’ll see outrageous designs. It feels as if Treyarch has thought of everything this time around. They have finally been given enough time to realise their dream game, and the early version is very promising. The recently introduced three-year development cycle seems to have done wonders for the series, and it's looking like it's going to allow for a ton of innovation which each entry. System PC PS4 XBOX ONE Dev TREYARCH Publisher ACTIVISION Release NOVEMBER 6 2015 ENEMIESCONSIDEROTHER FACTORSRATHERTHANJUST TRYINGTOKILLYOUQUICKLY R E A D T H E L A T E S T P R E V I E W S A T G A M E R E A C T O R . C O . U K PLAYINGELITES We got to test three of the nine MP base types. Ruin has a gravitational attack, Seraphi carries a one-shot kill gun. Our favourite though was Reaper, a robot with a mini-gun and the ability to manipulate time.

Splash Damage know multiplayer. So the studio’s follow-up to its own Brink and MP work on Batman: Arkham Origins is this new free-to-play multiplayer offering. Dirty Bomb is set in a post-apocalyptic London which has attracted mercenaries the world over, battling on behalf of private military corporations who hope to mine the city for treasure. The backstory isn’t all that important, but it does neatly explain the scenario. The Stopwatch Mode, which is the beating heart of Dirty Bomb, throws us different tasks depending on the map. So, on Terminal, one team is after some important documents, while the opposition tries to chase them down, while on Bridge it’s all about securing radiation meds. It’s called Stopwatch because we have a limited amount of time to complete each mission. Even if we’re unsuccessful, there’s a chance of a reprieve as the other team has to do the same when the roles are reversed. In the end the team that was successful in completing the mission in the shortest amount of time wins the game. The two teams have either five or eight players. Everybody selects three mercenaries and tweaks their respective loadouts with booster cards. There’s two mercs available at all times, while others will be rotated in. During a game you can’t just switch between classes; instead you change characters. The multiple options allow the player the chance to react to different situations and tweak their strategy with new mercenaries and therefore different skills. You receive the booster cards for successful operations or via in-game credit, and you can increase their effectiveness by combining them. Fallen soldiers can be helped back up by other players, but a paramedic does the job much more efficiently. In fact there’s specific characters that fill different roles all over the battlefield. As well as the medic there’s also a support class. Elsewhere one character carries a minigun, another a grenade launcher. You can also select one who carries an automatic turret to be dropped anywhere on the map. Dirty Bomb has all the basic classes covered via the roster of mercenaries on offer, and it’ll be interesting to see which new characters are added later. There’s more work for Splash Damage to do in terms of balancing the characters, but the team has already introduced a nice mix that offers players plenty of flexibility. Plus, as new mercenaries are introduced into the mix, so too will the balance of the game alter and change. Splash Damage’s co-founder, Richard Jolly, likens this aspect of their shooter to a MOBA. The studio says that it’s important to them that all content can be unlocked simply by playing. Paying with real money only saves time. Also as there’s no controller support or aim assist, it looks like they’re aiming this shooter at a crowd that appreciates skillbased action. If you fancy the sound of that then Dirty Bomb then you can join in its beta, and buying a starter pack will bag you guaranteed access. DIRTYBOMB System PC Dev SPLASH DAMAGE Publisher NEXON Release JUNE 2015 As always a big part to an online title’s success is listening to fans, and that’s what Splash Damage plan to do, updating and iterating as they go. “We can continuously change and react to what players want,” says studio co-founder Richard Jolly. BATTINGAVERAGE SPLASH DAMAGE MAKES A WAVE WITH ITS F2P SHOOTER WITH A DIFFERENCE

Housemarque follow their PS4 launch title Resogun with a shift in perspective and a hike in player count with this top-down twin-stick sci-fi co-op shooter. It’s very early days in development, but the code we got to play still shows a lot of promise with fast-paced action and a chunky upgrade menu promising the chance to tailor your preferred combat style. The team are tossing in some PvP options as well as PvE, and given that characters all have extra abilities along with guns, wins aren’t going to be as clear-cut as who shoots first. We are looking forward to this already. ALIENATION Two decades after the original Amiga release, the iconic platform adventure returns with servant Aarbron breaking free of his chains and setting out across the world to seek his revenge on his lord Maletoth once more. There’s a heavy dose of combat here, with combo-chains possible through correct timing, while the alien landscape contains traps and secrets as you explore. The studio’s working hard on making this as atmopsheric and evocative as the original, and they look to be on target with it. SHADOWOF THEBEAST System PS4 Dev HEAVY SPECTRUM Publisher SONY Release 2015 System PS4 Dev HOUSEMARQUE Publisher SONY Release 2015 We've been playing the Early Access PC version, and after several rounds of chaotic co-op zombie horde shooting, we have to say that this sequel is shaping up rather nicely indeed. If you've never played the original, you're going to be hugely impressed, while returning players will no doubt recognise most of their opponents in KF2; in this respect it doesn't look like Tripwire has strayed too far from their original blueprint. All of the content that we've seen so far seems very polished, and it's clear that Tripwire are cooking up another decent game. KILLINGFLOOR2 Yoshi may copy Kirby’s Epic Yarn in style, but for gameplay, this cute platform title plays more like the earlier Yoshi’s Island adventures, so expect secrets and hidden collectable objects galore. Like Kirby, there is a whole world of fabric and wool to explore, and Yoshi can use his tongue to unravel parts of the world to explore, and shoot wool balls (instead of eggs) to tie up enemies, or knit objects and platforms at designated locations. Also returning is his ability to transform into different creatures. There’s a two-player mode, and some helpful play-aids for beginners. YOSHI’S WOOLLYWORLD System WII U Dev GOOD FEEL Publisher NINTENDO Release JUNE 26 2015 System PC PS4 Dev TRIPWIRE Publisher TRIPWIRE Release 2015 R E A D T H E L A T E S T P R E V I E W S A T G A M E R E A C T O R . C O . U K

PLAYSTATION 4 DESTINY BUNGIEACTIVISION XBOX ONE PC / WINDOWS TITANFALL RESPAWNEA DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION BIOWAREEA SUNSET OVERDRIVE INSOMNIACGAMESMICROSOFT GRAND THEFT AUTO V ROCKSTARNORTHROCKSTAR ALIEN: ISOLATION CREATIVEASSEMBLYSEGA TOWERFALL: ASCENSION MATTTHORSONMATTMAKESGAMES THE LAST OF US NAUGHTYDOGSONY CIVILIZATION V FIRAXIS2KGAMES DOTA 2 VALVEVALVE DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION EIDOSMONTREALSQUAREENIX ELDER SCOLLS V: SKYRIM BETHESDASOFTWORKSBETHESDASOFTWORKS WII U 3DS PS VITA Naughty Dog’s horror masterpiece in HD. Fast-paced four player local battler. Award-winning movie franchise tie-in. Now with online Heists. Skater-influenced open-world shooter. Epic fantasy with lots of romance. Online FPS that’s distinct from the rest. Sci-fi shooter still going strong. Looks great on PC, even better with mods. The definitive version of a modern classic. The most competitive game on the planet. The pinnacle of the strategy genre. FIRE EMBLEM: AWAKENING INTELLIGENTSYSTEMSNINTENDO SUPER MARIO 3D LAND NINTENDONINTENDO OCARINA OF TIME 3D NINTENDONINTENDO BRAVELY DEFAULT SILICONSTUDIOSSQUARE-ENIX RAYMAN LEGENDS UBISOFTMONTPELLIERUBISOFT SUPER SMASH BROS. NINTENDONINTENDO BAYONETTA 2 PLATINUMGAMESNINTENDO MARIO KART 8 NINTENDONINTENDO TEARAWAY MEDIAMOLECULESONY GRAVITY RUSH JAPANSTUDIOSONY TXK LLAMASOFTLLAMASOFT Multiplayer arcade racing at its finest. One of the best action titles, full stop. Iconic characters duke it out. Better 2D platformer than Mario. RPG in the classic Square-Enix mould. The best Zelda adventure on handheld. The best Mario platformer on handheld. Deeply satisfying turn-based fantasy title. Addictive digital-only old-school shooter. Wonderfully bizarre platformer. Best use of the Vita’s hardware features. School RPG worth buying a Vita for. PLAYSTATION 3 XBOX 360 WII GEARS OF WAR 2 EPICMICROSOFT RED DEAD REDEMPTION ROCKSTARSANDIEGOROCKSTAR MASS EFFECT TRILOGY BIOWAREEA GEOMETRY WARS 2 BIZARRECREATIONSACTIVISION THE LAST OF US NAUGHTYDOGSONY UNCHARTED TRILOGY NAUGHTYDOGSONY METAL GEAR SOLID 4 KOJIMAPRODUCTIONSKONAMI JOURNEY THATGAMECOMPANYSONY METROID PRIME TRILOGY RETROSTUDIOSNINTENDO ZELDA: SKYWARD SWORD NINTENDONINTENDO OKAMI CLOVERSTUDIOSCAPCOM Soulful, spiritually uplifting adventure. Kojima’s best opus so far. The entire globe-trotting adventure. A masterpiece in storytelling. Addictive arcade-tinged shooter. The whole sci-fi blockbuster trilogy. Western that’s better than GTA IV. The best of the four GoW entries. Near-Zelda beater with cel-shade visuals. Action-RPG bursting with inventive ideas. Immersive sci-fi adventure series. The best Mario platformer of all time. www.gamereactor.co.uk for full reviews on all titles go to GUIDE THEBEST... The bliss of the best couch games is in the simplicity. Controls that are easy to learn, and gameplay that puts everyone on an even keel. Trials Fusion’s four-player competitive mode is the poster child for this, focus solely on keeping your bike balanced over uneven terrain while keeping ahead of the same-screen competition. PCPS4XBOX360XBOXONE REDLYNX TRIALS FUSION Valve’s split-screen cooperative first-person puzzler offers a wholly separate two-player experience to the main single-player story, with the tale of two robots trying to solve the many puzzle rooms of Aperture Science together. With one portal type each, players have to communicate and sync shots to progress. A great co-op play. PCPS3XBOX360 VALVE The one game on this list we’d definitely not recommend for family occasions, this brutal battler is one of the best one-on-one brawlers of recent years. Even those of us who are hardened Street Fighter fans couldn’t help but be swayed by the heftier weight behind every punch and kick from one of MK’s all-time best rosters. PCPS3PS4XBOX360XBOXONENETHERREALMSTUDIOS MORTAL KOMBAT X PORTAL 2 PERSONA 4 GOLDEN TEAMPERSONAATLUS SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 NINTENDONINTENDO

The series has always had a rich pedigree, but Mario Kart 8 is pound-for-pound the best entry for many, many years. There's plenty for players to get their teeth stuck into, whether it's multiplayer racing or asynchronous take-it-in-turns time trials. At the end of the day it's the huge personality of the game, coupled with excellently weighted controls and masterful design, that makes this one of the finest racing games on any console, ever. Stellar stuff from Nintendo. WIIU NINTENDO MARIO KART 8 You could just as easily add Rayman Origins here, as both are superb platform games with four-player local co-op. The art style is utterly gorgeous, and there's fantastic variety when it comes to the level design. In short, you'll find it hard to get bored thanks to the near-perfect platform physics and the wacky level types. PCPS3PS4WIIUXBOX360XBOXONE UBISOFTMONTPELLIER RAYMAN LEGENDS Monaco is a fusion of Pacman and Ocean's Eleven. Teams of up to four players stalk through corridors and rooms, hoovering up collectibles and sneaking past guards to get as much loot as possible. There's loads of challenging maps, and an editor that means there's even more being created by the community. PC,XBOX360 POCKETWATCHGAMES Smash Bros. has it all; intense battles, crazy game modes, and much more besides. If you've got the controllers you can even partake in some insane eight-player matches. There's a decent selection of modes to keep things interesting, and the roster is overflowing with classic Nintendo characters. WIIU NINTENDO SUPER SMASH BROS. FOR WII U MONACO: WHAT’S YOURS IS MINE If you've got the kit, Rock Band (or Guitar Hero) can be a fantastic way of getting a party started. It's a genre that's waned of late, but that doesn't change the fact that grabbing the plastic guitar and tapping away is great fun. PS2PS3WIIXBOX360 HARMONIX ROCK BAND For longer sessions of pure co-op then look no further than Diablo 3. Bashing the crap out of demons, upgrading and tinkering with your build, chaining together combos, grabbing new loot. Brilliant four-player fantasy action (on console). PCPS3PS4XBOX360XBOXONE BLIZZARD DIABLO III A personal all-time favourite, whether we're buddying up and hitting the campaign, or system-linking up multiple consoles and playing Team Slayer. It’s also arguably the most evenly balanced of all the Halo games. XBOX360XBOXONE BUNGIE HALO 3 Mario Kart with realistic cars firing power-ups and weapons. Although the track and car designs can be bland, when played locally, it's an exhilarating thrill ride, where moments of fist-pumping glory are quickly followed by crashes of despair. XBOX360 BIZARRECREATIONS BLUR LOCALMULTIPLAYERGAMES

“It's a beautiful cinematic game; there’s an ethereal quality to it, a lot of very well developed emotional AI. I love that kind of stuff. There's a bunch of wonderful moments in that game, but there's one in particular that I may have even talked about before just because it was so pivotal for me. There is a point where you get to this crevasse, and you have to coax your AI companion Yorda to cross it. You have to leap first then call to her, and hold out your hand. She backs up, and looks all scared and nervous. Then she runs and leaps across the crevasse to you. And I was just curious, so I called her and as she was leaping across I backed up, just to see what would happen. Sometimes it's fun to push the boundaries. She got to the side, scrambled to climb up, but fell. I felt awful. I felt horrible. And then I felt wonderful because of that - ‘oh my gosh I feel awful, this game made me feel this guilty. Look how much I care about this character’. And it was that moment I realised that they were succeeding at making me believe in her and in that relationship.” ICO T O E J A M & E A R L C R E A T O R G R E G J O H N S O N R E M E M B E R S A N O T H E R I C O N I C P A I R I N G SAVE

™ M A Y 2 0 1 5 I S S U E 1 8 P L A Y S T A T I O N | X B O X | N I N T E N D O | P C | M O B I L E NINTENDO’S MULTIPLAYER SPLATTERFEST SPLATOON FREE MAGAZINE