Official Xbox Magazine (172) 2019 01 UK

JANUARY 2019
SEE PAGE 42
W E ’ V E P L AY E D I T !
QGAMEPLAY SECRETS REVEALED QNEW MONSTERS UNLEASHED
42
NEW
GAME OF THE
YEAR AWARDS
2018’s best of Xbox ranked:
how many have you played?
GAMES
HITMAN 2 FALLOUT 76
SPYRO TRILOGY REIGNITED
ANTHEM MAID OF SKER
DEAD OR ALIVE 6
ION MAIDEN GRIP COMBAT
RACING NICKELODEON
KART RACERS 11-11:
MEMORIES RETOLD DARK
PICTURES: MAN OF MEDAN
CALL OF CTHULHU VOID
BASTARDS AND MORE…
INTRO
ISSUE 172 JANUARY 2019

Future Publishing Limited
Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA
Happy new
year!
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EDITORIAL
Editor Chris Burke burkey13a
chris.burke@futurenet.com
Senior Art Editor Warren Brown wozbrown
Production Editor Russell Lewin FloatedRelic264
Staff Writer Adam Bryant Firebreedpunk
Our Man Down Under Stephen Lambrechts
CONTRIBUTORS
Writing Stephen Ashby, Kimberley Ballard, Fraser Gilbert, Steve Hogarty,
Martin Kitts, Sam Loveridge, Dave Meikleham, Alex Nelson, Alex Spencer,
Justin Towell, Robin Valentine, Josh West, Ben Wilson, Robert Zak
Art Georgine Hodsdon, Rob Crossland
Our cover game this month is a brand new
All copyrights and trademarks are recognised and respected
remake of a very old and very classic game.
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Resident Evil 2 was first out in 1998, and we’re
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New year’s resolutions: survival horror. Meanwhile, it’s that time of year
actually finish a game
CIRCULATION
Head of Newstrade Tim Mathers (any game); get better at when we take a look back over the games that
Head of Production Mark Constance battle royales; actually have made the last year one of the best Xbox has
Production Project Manager Clare Scott
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MANAGEMENT up all night playing Red
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There have been some absolute crackers, with
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some amazing storytelling. So much so that we
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ISSN 2053689
Adam Bryant Warren Brown Russell Lewin Robin Valentine

Staff writer Senior art editor Production editor Contributor
My new year’s resolution I need to find more Get a pair of reading Finish all my half-
is to figure out how time to play and review glasses; go to four new completed games from
to get the magazine current gen games, I’m foreign countries; eat at 2018; finish assembling
to write itself so I can just about ready to move more curry houses this and painting my
Future plc is a public company Chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne
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Exchange Chief financial officer Penny Ladkin-Brand
(symbol: FUTR) my enormous back Oh and on a grown-up (that may clash with the some actual progress in
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M ore Xbox ne w s a t ga m esradar.co m/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 003

STA RT
Everything you can look forward to over the next 100 or so pages
insider
008 THE BIG STORY:
OBSIDIAN & INXILE
012 GOLDEN JOYSTICKS
014 FINAL FANTASY XV
016 THE BIG PICTURE:
CRE
CREAKS
018 REDD DEAD ONLINE
020 OPIN
NIONS
views
026 CRAACKDOWN 3
028
030
031
032
ION MAIDEN
MAID OF SKER
MAN
DEA
N OF MEDAN
AD OR ALIVE 6
026
034 SEAA OF THIEVES
036 ANTTHEM
038
041
041
VOID
DEV
JUM
D BASTARDS
VIL MAY CRY 5
MP FORCE
084
041 KINGGDOM HEARTS 3
041 ORI AND THE WILL
OF T
THE WISPS
041 MY TIME AT PORTIA
041 STELLARIS:
CONNSOLE EDITION
UBSCRIB
OW O
A 04
004 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

features
044 RESIDENT EVIL 2
054 OXM
INVESTIGATES…
WRITING
VIDEOGAMES
062 GAME OF THE YEAR
reviews
074 FALLOUT 76
078 HITMAN 2
080 GRIP: COMBAT
RACING
082 NICKELODEON KART
RACERS
083 FISHING SIM WORLD
RLD
044
084 BATTLEFIELD V
086 SPYRO REIGNITED D
TRILOGY
088 11-11: MEMORIES
RETOLD
090 CALL OF CTHULHU
extra
096 NOW PLAYING:
SHADOW OF THE
TOMB RAIDER
098 HAND OF FATE 2
099 NINJA GAIDEN
BLACK
100 RETROSPECTIVE:
SILENT HILL:
HOMECOMING
104 HOW IT WORKS…
MANAGE YOUR
GAMING TIME
106 WHY I LOVE…
THE HOSPITAL
CHASE IN A WAY
OUT
108 TOP TEN BEST
GAMES FOR LOVERS
OF RAIN
112 DIRECTORIES
114 DISC SLOT:
BEN TESTER
100
HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY? WHY NOT WRITE TO TEAM OXM AT OXM@FUTURENET.COM

INSIDER JANUARY 2019
insider Exciting times in the world of Xbox as Microsoft

announces the integration of two new studios,
Obsidian and InXile (p8), adding to its ever-growing
stable of fantastic game makers. Both are known
as RPG focused developers, so we’re excited to 008
see what’s in store for Xbox in the coming year. It
certainly looks like we’ll be getting a lot more Xbox
exclusives in the future! Elsewhere this month we
were busy helping decide on who would be the
recipients of a prestigious Golden Joysticks award
for 2018’s best games. Find out who were this year’s 012
winners on p12. We have news for Final Fantasy
fans, as Hajime Tabata, the director of XV, quits
Square Enix to work on his own new project. What
will it mean for the series? Find out more on page
14. Finally, we have all the news from the world
of Red Dead Online (p18). Rockstar is taking its
014
brilliant Western game to the online masses, hoping
to emulate the runaway success of GTA Online. The
beta launched this month, and we report on what
you can find when you get on your horse and head
out in a posse for the first time.
018
THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 007
OBSIDIAN & INXILE INSIDER
RPG
WHIZ
A call to
adventure
Microsoft adds veteran RPG developers Obsidian
and inXile to its growing stable of studios – but
what will they be working on?
At this year’s E3, Microsoft used its privileged. It’s a great honour to
press conference as a statement of be able to work with such creative
intent. Announcing four developer teams,” he says. “We feel really set up
acquisitions (Playground Games, to give our fans new, exclusive games
Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games and for Xbox, and a great pipeline of things
Undead Labs) and the formation of going into Game Pass.”
new studio The Initiative, it made its
message clear: the future is bright, Inter-connected
green, and full of Xbox exclusives. But what do Obsidian and inXile in
And it looks like that was just particular bring to the equation? Well,
the beginning. At the X018 event they’re both RPG specialists – though
in November, two more developers that’s perhaps an understatement…
officially joined Microsoft – Obsidian They each trace their lineage back
and inXile – bringing the total number to a true giant of the genre: Interplay.
of internal studios to an impressive Founded in 1983, as a publisher and
13. Considering that less than a year developer it essentially defined the
ago there were only five, it represents RPG as we now know it. It funded
a serious shift in priorities, especially and shepherded to release some of
coming in the wake of high-profile Blizzard and BioWare’s earliest games,
Snow setting them on the path to become
cancellations such as Scalebound and
worries Fable Legends. the powerhouses they are today; it put
A big part of the impetus is Xbox out iconic titles such as Baldur’s Gate,
Development on Game Pass. The service has been Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment;
inXile’s Wasteland 3 is
front-and-centre in all of Microsoft and it created the Fallout series, now
set to continue as
planned, and it’s even
Studios’ messaging this year, setting one of the biggest game franchises in
still releasing on it up to be the future of the Xbox the world.
PlayStation 4 (boo, ecosystem – and the more exclusives Interplay’s reign was ultimately
hiss). Another product it can boast, the more tempting a brought to an end by financial troubles
of crowdfunding, it subscription will be. But whether you beginning in the late ’90s, and by
secured about $1 sign up for Game Pass or not, this 2003 much of its developer talent had
million less than its ramping up of first-party development left to strike out on their own. Brian
predecessor, but still can only be a good thing, delivering Fargo, the company’s original founder,
looks promising,
more great AAA games than ever to departed to form inXile Entertainment;
moving the
post-apocalyptic
the best console around. not long after, key members of the
action to the snowy Speaking at X018 about the future internal Black Isle Studios team, who’d
– and cannibal- of Xbox, head of Microsoft Studios Matt worked on many of Interplay’s greatest
infested – mountains Booty is as optimistic as you’d expect: hits including Fallout, also left to form
of Colorado. “I am just tremendously excited and Obsidian Entertainment.

INSIDER OBSIDIAN & INXILE
In the years following, Obsidian (Interplay’s post-apocalyptic

ABOVE Obsidian’s found itself an unusual but “It allows us forerunner to Fallout) and creating a
commendable niche: creating critically
Tyranny is an
intriguing beloved sequels to games made by to tap into spiritual successor to Planescape:
Torment with Torment: Tides Of
adventure in a
other studios. Knights Of The Old
world where the
evil overlord Republic II brought a subtle moral the incredible Numenera – games that proved that
they’ve still got RPG expertise to spare.
has already won. complexity to the usually black-and-
white world of Star Wars, Neverwinter Microsoft eco- Neither studio has had it easy in
recent years, however. In a video
Nights 2 and its substantial
expansions told a truly epic tale in system” announcing inXile’s acquisition,
founder Brian Fargo talks about “the
the world of Dungeons & Dragons’ tenuous nature of survival for mid-size
Forgotten Realms, and Fallout: New videogame project) and even more for games companies such as ourselves”;
Vegas proved a triumphant return to sequel Pillars Of Eternity II: Deadfire. Chris Parker, COO of Obsidian, reveals
the setting for the team, an RPG so in another video that “it’s becoming
overflowing with detail and player Bard times harder and harder for us to make the
choice that many still hail it as the For its first decade, inXile’s history was games that we want to make”.
best entry in the series. less prestigious – though its first title For both studios, joining Microsoft
More recently, the studio turned its was a charming reboot of Interplay’s means access to greater resources
hand to comedy with the acclaimed ground-breaking The Bard’s Tale, and support, and more security in their
South Park: The Stick Of Truth, and after that it focused on mobile puzzle place in the industry. Parker goes so
ushered in a crowdfunded revival of games, and questionable fantasy far as to say that, “Finding a partner
the old-school isometric RPG genre action game Hunted: The Demon’s like Microsoft … is absolutely critical
they helped create in the ’90s, raising Forge. In 2012, however, it too used for us right now if we want to continue
nearly $4 million to create Pillars crowdfunding to bring the past doing what we want to do.”
Of Eternity (at the time the most back into the present, successfully And the result should be bigger
highly-funded Kickstarter ever for a resurrecting the Wasteland series and better games. “It allows us to tap
Microsoft continuing to bring These guys are some of the This is such great news for
more developers under its best storytellers in the fans of RPGs, myself
OXM wing has got to be a brilliant business, and I love that included. Add these
thing for Xbox gamers. Microsoft appreciates that. acquisitions to the others
SAYS Alongside Playground Games, While the old-school revival that Microsoft has already
Ninja Theory, Undead Labs has been a blast, I’m excited made and it sets Xbox up
and Compulsion, it surely to see both of these studios beautifully for the next
Chris means more Xbox exclusives Robin working on some more Adam generation. I’m excited for
Burke coming our way. Valentine modern projects. Bryant some brand new franchises.

THE BEST QUESTS
Just a handful of our favourite Obsidian and inXile games
STAR WARS KNIGHTS OF THE FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS WASTELAND 2 TORMENT: TIDES OF
OLD REPUBLIC II: THE SITH You can tell Obsidian’s It can’t have been easy NUMENERA
LORDS
Black Isle veterans relished making an RPG in 2014 that This spiritual successor has
Unwieldy title aside, this is one having Fallout back in their feels like a true sequel to a big shoes to fill – the original
of the best Star Wars games hands, investing their 1988 game, but inXile Planescape: Torment is a
there’s ever been, finding a Mojave wasteland with a balanced old and new with classic – but impresses with
rich seam of story in the space uniquely quirky charm and style. And how can you not its bizarre setting, unique
between the light and dark an incredible sense of love being able to put skill combat and thoughtfully
sides of the Force. player freedom. points into ‘Toaster Repair’? philosophical dialogue.
into the incredible Microsoft eco-

system, that is second-to-none in the
RIGHT inXile’s
development world, with help in areas most recent
like QA, localisation, new technology release is The
and dedicated focus groups,” explains Bard’s Tale IV:
Barrows Deep, a
Fargo. “The bottom line is that we’re sequel to the
going to be able to make games that original games,
we would have never been able to unconnected to
the 2004 reboot.
make otherwise.”
Culture shock
It’s natural, though, for dedicated fans
to worry that, in joining a larger whole,
these studios will lose something
of their identity and niche appeal.
Everyone involved is more than keen
to dispel these worries, however.
“We really want to stress we’re
going to keep them unique and
preserve the culture that they’ve Xbox. More plausible, we reckon, is fact, Microsoft contracted them to
got,” says Booty; Fargo too explains: that it’s thinking a little bigger and do almost exactly that in the run up
“Microsoft wants to work with us more forward-looking. Role-playing to the Xbox One’s launch, funding
because of who we are. They want us mechanics are more mainstream than production of a huge multiplayer RPG
to keep doing what we’re doing.” And ever – just look at the Assassin’s called Stormlands that unfortunately
Parker confirms the same for Obsidian: Creed series’ transition from pure proved too ambitious to be completed.
“We absolutely have to keep things action to a world of stats, levels and Could a similar (but hopefully more
as they are, and that’s always been decision-making – and we wouldn’t successful) project be on the books?
something that Microsoft has been be surprised to see either or both Whatever the outcome, we predict
100% supportive of.” of these newly-acquired studios put only good news for Xbox owners. Expect
However – we must admit to to work on a AAA open-world role- rich stories, memorable characters,
finding it unlikely that Microsoft playing game. and deep settings from some of the
bought up these teams because it Obsidian especially seems more best developers in the business, all
wants to get more isometric RPGs on than ready to take on such a task – in exclusively on your console. Q
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS? TELL US AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/OXMUK

INSIDER GOLDEN JOYSTICK AWARDS 2018
PICK UP
STICKS
Worth their
weight in gold
Forza Horizon 4 and Fornite Battle Royale win big
at the Golden Joystick Awards 2018
While OXM’s own once again swatting away the likes

end-of-year of Hearthstone, PlayerUnknown’s
awards are, of Battlegrounds and Destiny 2. Team Late to
course, the most shooter Overwatch similarly pulled the
definitive around off another year as the winner of the party
(see p62), we’re eSports Game Of The Year category.
always interested Best Indie Game went to roguelike The cut off for
to see which games win big at the mega-hit Dead Cells, despite stiff eligibility in the
Golden Joysticks – because they’re competition from Celeste and Into The Golden Joysticks is
November, so recent
chosen not by a judging panel, but Breach, and the hugely successful
releases such as
by the votes of you, the gaming Monster Hunter: World won Best Fallout 76, Hitman 2
public. Presented once again by Cooperative Game for its epic team and Just Cause 4 will
comedian and writer Danny Wallace, get their shot at an
with voice actress Alix Wilton Regan award at next year’s
(Aya in Assassin’s Creed Origins) “Red Dead event. This is to
on announcer duties, this year’s ensure there’s
event was packed with luminaries Redemption 2 enough time for the
public to play and
work helping to make gaming more
from across the games industry, all accessible for all. Also honoured was
assembled to find out your favourite didn’t make the vote for each
category. This also
From Software’s Hidetaka Miyazaki,
games of 2018. the man behind the Dark Souls series
Unsurprisingly, the phenomenon splash you mi ht means games from
late last year were and the upcoming Sekiro: Shadows
that is Fortnite: Battle Royale took potentially in the Die Twice, who received the Lifetime
home its share of accolades, its huge have expected” running this year – Achievement Award. He seemed
fanbase propelling it to victory in both though in the end, genuinely humbled to have the
the Best Competitive Game category none were award presented to him by two of his
and the grand prize, Ultimate Game Of dinosaur hunts. nominated. greatest influences – Steve Jackson
The Year. Forza Horizon 4, meanwhile, With a release date inconveniently and Ian Livingstone, creators of the
took home Best Xbox One Game, close to the close of the voting period, Fighting Fantasy game books.
beating Sea Of Thieves, State Of Decay Red Dead Redemption 2 didn’t make “To receive such a prestigious
ABOVE We gave
2 and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds the splash you might have expected. Forza Horizon 4 award fills me with great surprise
to the top spot. It did at least win Critics’ Choice, the a 10/10 back in and a sense of great honour. I am
issue 170 – so,
award decided by a panel of expert tremendously grateful to everyone
yes, it really is
Tanks again reviewers (including OXM editor Chris). that good who has played, enjoyed and
Cyberpunk 2077 confidently won Most We sung the praises earlier this appreciated our games,” said Miyazaki
RIGHT Fortnite
Wanted Game – no great surprise, year of Microsoft’s new Xbox Adaptive is actually in his acceptance speech, via a
given the fervour around CD Projekt’s Controller, and the Golden Joysticks still in beta, translator. “This award goes to the
latest – and World Of Tanks won the saw fit to celebrate it too – it won but it was ruled many people who have built these
to be eligible
Still Playing Award for the second the Outstanding Achievement Award, for nominations games with me, and shared their
year running, its devoted fanbase recognising the team’s amazing this year. passion with me over the years.” Q
EXCITED? HORRIFIED? LET THE WORLD KNOW AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/OXMUK

P L A Y/ E J E C T INSIDER
PLAY/EJECT
THE THINGS PUSHING
OUR BUTTON (OR NOT)
Back from the dead

Skybound has
begun work finishing
The Walking Dead:
The Final Season,
following the
collapse of Telltale
earlier this year.
Save point
Fortnite’s Save The
World mode has
received a major
update, aimed at
making it friendlier
and more accessible
for new players.
Coming soon
Microsoft will have
“a lot to share” at
E3 2019 according
to head of Xbox Phil
Spencer, tweeting
after Sony dropped
out of the event.
Out of gear
Cliff Bleszinski,
creator of Gears Of
War, has declared
he is “NEVER making
another game” in
a heated Twitter
exchange.
No respawn
Strategy guide
publisher Prima
Games has shut
down, citing
“challenging market
conditions”.
Dolt boy
A GameStop
customer in America
trashed his local
shop after being told
that he couldn’t get
a cash refund for
Fallout 76.

INSIDER FINAL FANTASY XV
BARREL
WATCH
GAMING’S FAVOURITE
PROP RATED BY OUR
RESIDENT COOPER
Ion Maiden
3D Realms’ new
shooter is
brilliantly
old-school,
with barrels
that look like they’re from the
CHEERIO
TABATA
Final bow 1990s. These beauts might be low
on definition, but they exude cool.
Fallout 76
Barrels are the
Final Fantasy XV director leaves cockroaches of
the container
Square Enix and DLC is cancelled world. They’ll
survive
Square Enix has recently announced changes in order to realise and deliver anything, including armageddon.
during a live stream that Final Fantasy the game. This intense development Fallout 76’s Appalachia might be
XV’s director Hajime Tabata has period clearly had a huge impact on short on humans, but never barrels.
resigned from Luminous Productions Tabata. He has previously revealed
and has left the Square Enix Group. In in an OXM interview how it felt to Call Of Cthulhu
a written statement, shown as part work on a single game for so long, The 1920s was
of the live stream, Tabata thanked all saying that “it feels as though it’s a the heyday of
of the FFXV fans that have supported part of my life”. And when asked in the wooden
the game and wished all the best to the same interview what were the barrel. This
Luminous Productions and Square most important lessons learned while game’s full of
Enix and their future endeavours. working on the game, he responded: ’em, some of them probably contain
He also explained that his reason “The importance of innovation, the fish. They certainly smell seafood-y.
RIGHT With FFXV
for leaving was to create his own importance of friends… and that Especially that one on the right.
wrapping up, the business in order to realise his working too much is not good.”
developers can ambitions for his next project, which Hajime Tabata’s work has been Dead Or Alive 6
concentrate on
other stuff, like
will be a brand new IP. applauded and he has made an Team Ninja has
releasing FFXVI Alongside Tabata’s departure, indelible mark on the Final Fantasy pared back the
before 2028. Square Enix also announced that the franchise. We look forward to seeing objectification
first of the four pieces of planned what he comes up with next at his of its fighting
character-driven DLC, called Episode own development studio. Q games’ stars,
Ardyn, will now be the only DLC to be but… check out the curves on
released, with development on the those barrels! Move out of the way,
other three cancelled. Episode Ardyn Kasumi, so we can get a better look.
will be set before the events of FFXV
and will have the player taking control Resident Evil 2
of FFXV primary antagonist, Ardyn. The Sinister things
DLC has a planned release for some are afoot below
time in March 2019. Raccoon City.
You can see
Troubled times these barrels
FFXV initially suffered from a troubled conspiring on behalf of the Umbrella
development until Tabata took the corporation. Do they contain the
reigns and made a bunch of sweeping T-Virus? Or just some biscuits?

ENTER
THE
Seeing the light
WEIRD
Meet your new neighbours in Amanita
Design’s odd indie title, Creaks
We love a bit of the strange, the eerie drawn art style, similar to Amanita’s
and the wonderful, and for many years previous games Machinarium and
now the green-eyed monster has Samorost, and a fittingly arresting
been lurking around OXM Towers with soundtrack. The majority of the game
a longing stare at Amanita Design. revolves around solving puzzles to
Well, the beast can go back in its progress but interestingly it won’t be
hole because next year Xbox users a point and click adventure like the
may finally get to experience the aforementioned games.
excellence of this quirky indie studio. Amanita is well versed in creating
Recently announced Creaks is an vexing environmental puzzles so
upcoming 2D horror puzzle adventure expect a challenge. The game has
game that continues the studio’s tentatively been announced for ‘PC
tradition of weird. Little is known and consoles’ but we’ve got our
about the game so far but the short fingers crossed for a release on the
announcement trailer reveals it to Xbox One. Q
be a rather unsettling affair. The
game will sport a gorgeous hand- Creaks arrives sometime in 2019.

CREAKS INSIDER

INSIDER RED DEAD ONLINE
HORSING
AROUND
Red Dead Online

comes to Xbox
Rockstar follows up its hit Western epic with
an online mode that pushes it off the scale
Rockstar know a as you please, with Rockstar providing

thing or two about a ton of activities and the game’s
multiplayer. The entire map open to players. Honor
success of GTA among
Online has been Shoot to thrill cowboys
nothing short So far the game contains five
of phenomenal, competitive modes called Showdown Honor is still very
with the game still going strong five Series – including Shootout and much a thing in Red
years since its release. So you’d Team Shootout (good old fashioned Dead Online, with just
as many opportunities
surely expect the same of Red Dead gunfights), Name Your Weapon, in
to be good as to be
Online, which has just arrived on Xbox which you score more points for using bad. During our first
One – bringing with it a ton of game trickier weapons to kill your targets, session with the
modes and persistent online content game, OXM found
that, like GTA, promises to keep fans other players to be
playing for years to come. “The world having some, um,
At the time of OXM going to press, creatively bad outlaw
the Online mode was in beta testing, provides the fun in all corners of
the map. We also
choose to join in, or not. We loved the
with Ultimate Edition owners first to King of the Castle mode, in which one
play in its sandbox of cowboy delights perfect settin caught a cheeky
cowpoke nicking a
player attempts a King of the Hill style
on 27 November, followed by players area-defence, while everyone else
who bought the game in the first three for playin the deer carcass from
the back of our horse, tries to kill them, and each other.
days of its October release, and then and had to have There are also heist-style Free
everyone else by 30 November. ame RPG-style” words with our fists. Roam story missions, in which you
This staggered start was, say Shocking behaviour, team up with three other players to
Rockstar, so that it could “deliver but then it is the work together. In our first session we
a stable and fun experience while and Most Wanted, in which every kill Wild West. stole a horse and captured an outlaw,
collecting as much crucial information pushes you up the score board, while bringing him hog-tied back to the
and feedback as possible to help us the higher you are, the more points sheriff while fighting off his gang.
continually improve Red Dead Online”. others get for killing you. Hostile Aside from all this multiplayer fun,
A robust and hugely detailed Territory mode sees you and your the world also provides the perfect
character creation suite kicks off posse try to capture as much ground setting for playing the game RPG-
the Online experience – with your as possible, while Make It Count is a style, building your character with
as-yet unformed character under battle royale-style mode that requires ABOVE Seems like missions that allow you to play in your
arrest in the sheriff’s office, awaiting you be last man standing with just a reasonable odds… own way. No word yet on how long
transfer to a prison to break rocks knife or a bow with limited arrows. RIGHT In Free the beta testing will run for, but we’re
and await hanging for a murder you There are also race markers dotted Roam story super-excited for where Red Dead
didn’t commit. From there, after you around the map, for point-to-point missions you’ll Online is heading next, and we’ll bring
be able to team
obviously escape from prison, the horse races, and Events will spawn up with three you more news and updates over the
world of Red Dead is yours to do with from time to time which you can other players. coming months. Q
EXCITED? HORRIFIED? LET THE WORLD KNOW AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/OXMUK

HOT TOPIC INSIDER
HOT TOPIC
WHICH GAMES WOULD
YOU LIKE TO SEE FOR
XBOX IN 2019?
“Not so much a game

but DLC, I’d like to see
Undead Nightmare 2 for
Red Dead Redemption
2… that’s the dream.”
Stephen Redmond
“Red Dead Redemption

2 DLC: Finding Gavin…”
Kyle Mitchell
“GTA 6, Gears 5 and

Mass Effect 5, but it’d
be nice to see Microsoft
give us some quality
exclusives.”
Jason Lee Turner
“I would love to see an

open-world modern-
era crime action game
that focused on gang
warfare and was not as
clichéd as GTA V was. A
cross between Mafia,
Scarface and GTA.”
Steve Watson
“Conker’s Bad Fur Day

remake. Fully redone,
achievements, the
multiplayer from Live &
Reloaded, so on. THEN
a sequel based on
sales/popularity.”
Corey Ware
“Fable 4 please –
Playground Games do
us proud.”
Greg Wood
Agree with the above? Have

your own ideas? Tell us at
facebook.com/oxmuk

INSIDER OPINION
Steve Hogarty is...
The Fixer
Steve doesn’t press Y quickly enough and tumbles off a cliff
Welcome to The Fixer, QTEs were popularised by Dreamcast

a monthly column cult classic Shenmue when, at the very
in which I remedy last minute, a canny developer realised
gaming’s most tired entire sections of the game were playing
tropes and hackneyed themselves. Thinking quickly, Sega added
clichés, everything on-screen button prompts to make the
from instant-fail game’s cutscenes feel more interactive,
stealth sections and escort missions, giving the audience the worst of both
to boss characters who cackle behind worlds: you still had no real control over
bulletproof glass as the room you’re the events unfolding in front of you, but
standing in slowly fills with poison gas. now you had an opportunity to fail and
But there was a time before I began have to try again. Finally, players could
my mercy mission, decades ago, when be bad at watching cutscenes, the only
games were barely playable. bits some of us were any good at.
For example, every title screen in every The damage was done. For years
game used to feature a man saying afterwards every half-cocked action
“Resident Evil” in a scary voice until, game stacked their levels high
thanks to my tireless campaigning, the with these generic button-tapping
industry limited the practice to just the sequences, usually as the main
Resident Evil series. And disc drives, as character cartwheeled and span around
made up as this sounds, would scab over
if not routinely moisturised.
“The QTE is the on screen like a Cirque du Soleil reject.
One in four game cases were filled

last resort of the The solution
with spider eggs. Controllers were the If the main role of a quick-time event is
size of Nissan Micras, and required seven
dockworkers to operate. And there was
creatively broke to prevent the player going out to make
a cup of tea during cutscenes – just
only one game, called Big Henry, in which
you used the left and right triggers to
developer” in case the protagonist has a football
kicked at his head and they have to
zoom in and out of the face of a man press B to dodge it – then the solution to
called Henry as he chuckled and said worst they are an abuse of the trusting getting rid of them is simple.
friendly phrases like “welcome to Big relationship between designer and Ditch the QTEs and give players a
Henry’s house”. player, a tacit admission of a failure of short questionnaire after each cutscene,
By addressing each issue in turn I imagination, as control is rudely wrestled quizzing them on what they’ve just
have moulded our hobby into the glorious away during a crescendo, to be replaced watched. What are the motivations of the
format we all enjoy today. Xboxes no with dumb controller slapping and slack- ancient deity whose eons-long slumber
longer say “ouch” when you plug them jawed screen-gawping. you have just disturbed? How many
in, and weapon select screens don’t times did the main character backflip
play the Are You Being Served? theme through a window and land on a waiting
tune on a loop. But despite all of this speedboat? What colour stetson was the
progress there is still work to be done. So enemy moose wearing?
this month, I’m focusing my fixer beams If the player cannot answer these
on one of gaming’s most long-standing questions, they’re made to rewatch the
bugaboos: quick-time events. scene again in slow-motion, until they’ve
truly understood what’s going on. High
The problem levels of engagement are maintained,
The QTE is the last resort of the creatively but more importantly our hard-working
broke developer. At best these button- fingers are allowed to take a well-
mashing moments are barely interactive deserved break. Q
cutscenes, or mildly frustrating bouts of
mindless busy work for idle fingers. At Steve also writes for City A.M.

INSIDER OPINION
Chris Burke is...
The Editor
Chris ponders what exactly it means to choose a ‘best’ game
I just got back from to all the stuff we already wrote about.
the Golden Joysticks So you’ll find, in this very issue, our
awards, which are Games Of The Year, which is basically
kind of the Oscars for us saying, there you go, you played it,
videogames, if the we played it, we said it was good, you
Oscars downgraded to agreed, let’s close the door on this
a draughty tent in rainy before something gets out.
London and they made George Clooney But selecting those games was
travel there by dirty bus. This is where actually hard work. Some of the games
the great and the good of videogaming in our final reckoning were only originally
business gather to drink copious given an 8 out of 10 by OXM reviewers.
amounts of complimentary Faketinis and Now 8 is of course a very good score,
console each other that The Crunch was but time itself has lent some extra credit
worth it for a heavy, gold-ish, Joystick- to some of those titles, particularly in
shaped paperweight. these days of games-as-service. Now
Only joking, of course. The Joysticks we’ve taken the time to really get into
are a valuable and important recognition the game, they’ve somehow stayed in
of excellence. I was there to present one. our Xbox’s disc tray and now feel like a
Not receive one – a scandalous example well-worn, favourite pair of jeans.
of oversight as there is no award for Best
Games Magazine Focused Solely On Xbox,
“Is a ame Defining terms
for which I like to think we’d be a shoe-in. What crazy science goes into deciding
Still, I was privileged to be able to hand
one of those aforementioned gold-
good because on ‘best’ games? Is a game good just
because it’s popular? If so, Fortnite
ish trophies to the lovely chaps from
Playground Games, deservedly picking up
it’s ludicrously must be amazing. Is a game good
because it’s ludicrously challenging, and
an award after Forza Horizon 4 was voted
Top Xbox Game by you, the reader. Great
challen in ?” therefore is only for the ‘real’ gamers?
Dark Souls would win every time. Do we
stuff, congrats again Playground. go on technical things like frame-rates
But it did get me thinking, as I basked worrying for the rest of the night. and teraflops and, um, framey-wamey
in the glory of my 20 seconds up on Back at OXM Towers, it’s that time of floppy-flops – the kind of tech-pushing
stage: what is a ‘Best’ game anyway? At year when Old Father Time rocks up with performance that dazzles and amazes?
the Joysticks, it would depend on who his curved stabby stick and ushers in Do we look for great storytelling and
you asked. Overall, the Best Game award a new, miserably cold month, and we superior narrative beats? Well, it’s all of
went to Fortnite, as voted by the public. magazine journos like to look back on the the above, but filtered through a fine
Us games journos, who decided on the year we have had and raise our Faketinis gauze of whatever-floats-your-boat and
Critics Choice Award, went for Red Dead distilled into a beaker of suit-yourself.
Redemption II. And it’s pretty obvious All of which is to say that this Best
why, right? No one would really argue Game thing’s all just a bit of fun. So when
with either as sound choices for a Game the trolls and goblins are taking to social
Of The Year. Fortnite’s enjoyed the kind media to rubbish our choices for Game Of
of popularity that used to be reserved The Year, don’t come crying to me. Yes,
for breathing; Red Dead II’s a technical there’s no definitive right or wrong, it’s
marvel with superior storytelling and all subjective. Let’s all just have a gamer
horse pile-ups. But is either going to love-in here and agree there are no good
be ‘best’ for everyone, necessarily? At games and there are no bad games. Oh
that point I stopped worrying about it wait. Except those games we voted as
as another bottle of fizzy pop was ‘Worst’. They were definitely awful. Q
handed to me by the lovely guys from
Rare, and things mostly stopped being Follow us on Twitter: @oxm.

PREVIE W
The games we want the most

PREVIEW
We’ve mentioned Crackdown 3 a minimum of 1,560 times in OXM as coming soon, and now it really is! Promise!
We’ve certainly got quite the mixed bag for this

month’s preview section. Are you sitting comfortably?
Good, because to kick things off we’ve got the
announcement that half the world has been waiting
OXM’S
MOST
for. Crackdown 3 has finally been given a proper 026
WANTED
release date. Yes, we know what you’re thinking
but this really, really, is the absolute final, solid as a
Chris’ pick
Crackdown 3 rock, release date. You can find that coveted piece
Feels like we’ve
waited for ever for
this and it’s really
of information as well as some juicy details on its
happening, which
makes me very explosive multiplayer mode on p26. Meanwhile, over
excited. Look out for
more next month!
on p28, 3D Realms has been looking to the past to
Adam’s pick
Maid Of Sker
I’m always looking for
create its latest title, the bombastic Ion Maiden . It’s 028
the next game that’ll
scare the hell out of pulled out its old ‘Build’ engine, which as far as we
me and from the
looks of things Maid
Of Sker is suitably remember hasn’t been used in a gazillion years, to
chilling and I can’t
wait to see more. make it but we’re loving the retro look it’s got going
Russell’s pick
Ion Maiden on. For those interested in something a little scarier
Looking forward to
this one. Have fond
memories of ‘Run For
than running around shooting up cybernetic soldiers
The Hills’, ‘Can I Play
we have Wales Interactive’s Maid Of Sker (p30), a
With Madness’ and…
what’s that you say?
Oh, right, it’s not
030
them. Well, I’m still game inspired by Welsh folklore that’s sure to raise
looking forward to it.
the hairs on your neck. Finally, thanks to a recent
live stream we were blessed with a whole host of
new details for Anthem (p36). If you’re interested in
customising your own character, then prepare for a
treat because we’ve got all the details on the newly
announced Forge customisation. Enjoy! 036
READ THE LATEST PREVIEWS OF THE BIGGEST GAMES AT GAMESRADAR.COM/OXM

PREVIEW
Yes, you can play as Terry Crews
movie drama – glass shattering as you

burst out of a window to ambush the
enemy, bridges collapsing behind you
as you sprint to safety, skyscrapers
falling like jenga towers as you
skirmish around them. This is chaos
on a scale that would make The Rock
say, “Hey, calm down guys.”
Crackdown 3 Crack in action
The actual shooting has some very
Uncontrolled demolitions and generous auto-aim – essentially a full
death from above in multiplayer target-lock, so if they’re in your sights,
Robin Valentine you’re going to hit them – which
means mobility is king. If you’re being
PUBLISHER MICROSOFT STUDIOS DEVELOPER SUMO DIGITAL
targeted, you want to get away ASAP,
ETA 15 FEBRUARY 2019
ready to ambush someone else while
their back is turned.
The good news is, Crackdown 3’s
Not only does Microsoft’s next killer multiplayer maps are built for just
exclusive finally have a release date that. Each player has a jetpack with
– 15 February next year – but we’ve plenty of juice, and there’s loads
also been treated to an extended look of verticality, thanks to the tall,
at its explosive multiplayer. While closely-packed buildings. Cleverly-
you may be most looking forward to placed jump-pads provide even more
getting let loose in the open world assistance in getting above your foe
and hunting down agility orbs, the and out of their eyeline. Until they
HOLO- online half of Crackdown 3 is not to be decide to blow the foundations out
DECKED OUT overlooked. If you’ve got an appetite from under you, that is…
The conceit of the for destruction, it might just be your Get the (literal) drop on someone
multiplayer is that it’s
new favourite competitive shooter… from up high, and you can slam down
the Agency’s training
program, with each
Sheer, uncontained destruction on them with a devastating ground-
map being a is the name of the game. Across the pound, smashing through masonry
simulated combat densely packed maps, every building as you go. But you’ll need to be quick
arena, and the is fully destructible, crumbling into about it, as everyone can see each
aesthetic reflects broken pieces whenever a stray other’s silhouettes through walls, to
that. The floor, and rocket hits – making cover only ever prevent people just camping in the
the few other a temporary convenience. many possible hiding spaces. Ambush
indestructible Each player comes equipped here isn’t about stealth, it’s about
elements of the
to take advantage of their fragile speed – and a talent for demolition.
environment, have a
Tron-like, wireframe
surroundings. For your primary You’d expect all this physics-based
look, as do elements weapon, you pick a familiar anti- anarchy to be hell on your console,
of the background, personnel weapon – a shotgun, a but the devs are promising that, with
such as the asteroids machine pistol, a plasma rifle, even a a portion of the calculations offloaded
floating above Nova mini-gun – but your secondary slot is to Microsoft’s cloud computing, it’ll
Station. The always something a little… less subtle. run smooth on any hardware. That
destructible buildings, Whether you go for homing rockets, means whether you’re on Xbox One,
however, look like a a micro-missile launcher or the Xbox One X, or a gaming PC, you’ll have
slice of a real (if
appropriately named ‘Annihilator’, the the same experience – so no one has
futuristic) city. It’s
visually interesting,
idea is you’ll always have the means a sneaky framerate advantage.
but also makes it to blast your way through, into or out The two modes announced so far
crystal clear what’s of any building you choose. feel familiar – there’s Kill Confirmed,
blow-up-able. The destruction physics ensure where you only get points for downed
every firefight is infused with action- enemies if you can grab the dogtags
off their bodies, and Territories, which
sees you fighting for control zones
“Chaos on a scale that which, once drained of points, move
elsewhere on the map. But the core
would make The Rock sa wall-smashing, ground-pounding,
map-flattening combat marks this out
‘He calm down uys’” as a unique online offering. Q

ABOVE As you
play, you’ll
unlock
customisation
options such as
weapon skins and
‘lenswear’.
FAR LEFT Click

in the left
stick for a
quick evade when
you’re attacked
– and then leg
it to safety.

PREVIEW
Ion Maiden will be the first game that 3D Realms have developed for the Xbox One console
protagonist sports in that game. You’ll

be playing as bomb disposal expert
Shelly ‘Bombshell’ Harrison, who
works for the Global Defence Force.
You’ll be tasked with taking down
the evil Dr Jadus Heskel. Heskel was
Ion Maiden once a leading mind in the field of

technological augmentation, but has
now amassed a huge cybernetic army
A blast from the past is and unleashed it on the city of Neo
DC. An obvious detail to note is that
bringing us this bombastic as this is a prequel Shelly has yet to
badass shooter obtain her cybernetic arm, and we’ll
Adam Bryant most likely witness that significant
moment at some point during play.
PUBLISHER 3D REALMS DEVELOPER VOIDPOINT/3D REALMS
ETA TBC
World of secrets
There will be seven zones for you
to explore, each of which will span
Well this is a pleasant surprise. We’re across multiple maps, and of course
getting increasingly accustomed in fitting with the games to which it
to seeing remakes of older games pays homages, it will have secrets for
and reboots of franchises, but what you to find around every corner. You’ll
we’re not used to seeing are brand also have a huge range of weaponry
new games being developed using at your disposal to play around with
old-school engines, but that’s exactly where every weapon has an alternate
what developers 3D Realms and firing mode.
KEN WE Voidpoint are bringing to the table. The game may be built upon the
BUILD IT The developers have gone traipsing foundations of an old engine but the
The Build engine was around in their attic and pulled out developers have made use of modern
initially released in
their classic Build engine, blown processing power, technology and up-
1995 and created by
game programmer
off the dust and put it back into to-date game design to bring a bigger
Ken Silverman, who commission for their latest game, Ion and better game than would have
was just 20 years old Maiden. This is the same engine that been available 20 years ago. That also
at the time. The was used back in the day to develop means that the game will offer players
games that were the studio’s previous games, most more of a challenge. For example,
produced had a notably Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow the movement of your character is
striking resemblance Warrior and Blood, and will mark the performed in exactly the same way as
to those that were first time in 19 years that the engine modern first-person shooters, so your
made using the Doom
has been used commercially. They’ve aiming will need to be more accurate.
engine from id
Software. That’s
even used the same old-school tools Before, in those types of games,
because Silverman and methodologies to bring it to you would only need to shoot in the
was inspired by life. Of course this will be a modified general direction of an enemy and
id Software’s version of the engine, to make it they’d go down.
Wolfenstein 3D. The compatible with modern systems and Accompanying all of the bombastic
rest, as they say, to take advantage of advancements action is a fitting synth-laced retro
is history. in game technology, but the game will soundtrack to hype you up while
look and feel like a game from the ‘90s you’re blasting away. The developers
because of it. have confirmed that the game will
Ion Maiden is a first-person feature a multiplayer mode so you’ll
shooter and prequel to the PC-only be able to tear it up with friends online
top-down action role playing game once the product is released.
Bombshell, and takes its name The game has its sights aimed
from the cybernetic arm that the squarely at fans of the developers’
previous games and it looks like
they’re doing a good job of hitting the
“It has its si hts aimed mark. It looks and feels like everything
you would expect: fast-paced action,
at fans of the developers’ cheesy one-liners and vast open
levels with copious amounts of
previous ames” enemies to blast into oblivion. Q

ABOVE The bigger
the gun the
harder they
fall, as the
saying goes.
FAR LEFT You’ll

bump into a
whole swathe of
unique enemies
that aren’t
too pleased to
see you.

PREVIEW
Elizabeth Williams is said to have died of a broken heart while locked inside one of the rooms of Sker House
Maid Of Sker
Beware. A tale of forbidden
love holds unimaginable
horrors at Sker House
Adam Bryant
PUBLISHER WALES INTERACTIVE DEVELOPER WALES
INTERACTIVE ETA 2019
A building constructed by monks to of the real-life Sker House, a hand to defend yourself. Instead you’ll
praise their god, dating back 900 residence which still stands today and need to rely on cunning and stealth to
years, and a story of two star-crossed one that many believe to be haunted. survive what awaits you. A 3D sound-
lovers sounds like the perfect You’ll take on the role of musician based AI will be implemented within
breeding ground for a first-person Thomas Evans, who arrives at the the core of gameplay and you’ll need
survival horror game. Wales Interactive house in order to save the woman he to explore this spooky locale using
will be delving deep into its local loves, Elizabeth Williams. items that you find to distract and trap
history for its latest title, Maid Of Sker. Like many of the best horror games the many enemies that are looking
Taking inspiration from the 19th of late you’ll have no weapons at to off you. However, as you progress
century novel of the same name by through the game this will become
RD Blackmore, and the Welsh folk increasingly difficult and all you’ll be
song, which also shares the name, “You’ll need to left to do is hold your breath while the
by Thomas Evans, Wales Interactive enemy passes.
will be crafting its own story which rely on cunnin
promises to be a “truly terrifying Fate awaits
BELOW It might survival horror that reignites one of and stealth to The game’s story will be non-linear
look picturesque the more haunting tales in Wales”. and will feature a branching narrative
but whatever
lies beyond that
Set in 1898, the story will take place survive what which leads to at least three different
in and around the remote hotel of Sker endings. So all of your decisions and
threshold is
sure to frighten. House, which is a fictional recreation awaits you” actions matter and will impact how
the story unfolds.
The suitably haunting
announcement trailer, which is
narrated with an alternative and
chilling rendition of Evans’ ballad,
gives us a short glimpse of the
studio’s intent. It also shows the
game’s visual aesthetic.
Wales Interactive has previous
when it comes to making horror
games: it developed an adaptation
for the horror film Don’t Knock Twice,
which similarly had you exploring
a grand manor house with an evil
presence. We can only imagine the
developers learned a great deal about
what works and what doesn’t in terms
of ‘bring on the scares’.
The most exciting thing about
this title is its ties to real people and
the events that are believed to have
occurred. How they will tie in all of
its inspirations, given that they differ
greatly, will be anyone’s guess, but we
certainly look forward to finding out. Q

PREVIEW
1764’s The Castle Of Otranto by Horace Walpole is considered to be the first gothic horror novel
Man Of Medan
Enter the Curator’s repository,
he’s got a scary story to tell
Adam Bryant
PUBLISHER BANDAI NAMCO DEVELOPER SUPERMASSIVE GAMES
ETA 2019
We may have moved well away from be the first of four planned individual The game might seem gruesome
the spooky season and into the games all centred around the theme but that’s not the team’s focus. “I
next equally scary festive one but of horror. Four friends, and their think one of the big things is how
Supermassive Games are continuing guide, get together for a thrilling important the tension and terror is and
to bring on the scares with Man adventure of scuba diving but get how unimportant the blood and gore
Of Medan, the first part of its Dark more than they bargained for when is,” explains executive producer Pete
Pictures Anthology. they find themselves stranded on an Samuels. “So that’s very much what
In its latest trailer we got a short abandoned World War 2 freighter, and we’re focused on in Dark Pictures.
glimpse of the mysterious narrator of have to fight for their lives. The suspense, the intensity, the fear,
the anthology, known as the Curator. rather than blood and guts.”
This enigmatic character will be
played by actor Pip Torrens, who you “We’re focused Dark tales
may recognise from Netflix’s The Although set in the same universe,
Crown series. This set-up is very on suspense each game in the anthology
similar to the studio’s previous will feature a whole new cast of
BELOW He’s less game Until Dawn, in which at certain and the intensity characters and a completely unique
interested in moments you’re taken out of the story pulled from the 39 subgenres
the wellbeing of
the Queen and
story that’s unfolding and allowed rather than of horror that Supermassive has
to discuss your progress with a identified. The Curator, however, will
more in how
you’ll die. strange character. Man Of Medan will blood and uts” be a continuous entity for each of
the games and will be there to set up
the story for the player. This seems
remarkably similar to the early ‘90s
television horror anthology Tales
From The Crypt where you’ll get an
introduction to the story, and once
the story is concluded, a talk about
how things went. There’s a lot of
mystery and intrigue surrounding this
character and according to Bandai
Namco the Curator is a timeless
entity who resides within a library
that contains every story ever told.
It’s possible that he has been around
for thousands of years, but even
the Curator himself is unsure of that
little detail. What he does know is
everything about the story in which
you’ll take part. Although he’s unable
to reveal any clues as to exactly what
happens, he will offer cryptic words to
those ready to decipher them.
The game is already showing so
much potential, not least for scaring
the pants off us. Q

PREVIEW
A movie of the series was made in 2006, DOA: Dead Or Alive. We don’t advise watching it, though
complex fighting system to give you

an arsenal of mad skills to bring to the
Tournament.
All fight on the night

Twenty fighters have been confirmed
Dead Or Alive 6 so far, with only one new character

confirmed – Diego, a Mexican-
American street fighter who enters
Fight like an alley cat in the the DOA Tournament to get money to
help look after his sick mother. So we
new entry into the far-from- already know he’s one of the good
Dead series guys. Returning favourites include
Chris Burke ex-ninja Kasumi, assassin Christie,
opera singer Helena (opera singers are
PUBLISHER KOEI TECMO DEVELOPER TEAM NINJA
notoriously good at fighting), wrestling
stars Bass and his daughter Tina,
former Russian special forces soldier
Bayman, an oil rig worker called, um,
Dead Or Alive has grown up. Not only is Rig, and best of all Ryu Hayabusa – the
the latest in the long-running fighting ninja from the Ninja Gaiden series.
series – named 6, but actually, New stages include The Muscle
astonishingly, the 19th title in Tecmo’s (a wrestling ring), jungle arena Lost
franchise – the first on the Xbox One, Paradise, DOA Colosseum (arena for
it’s also attempting to position itself the DOA Tournament itself), and Road
as a more serious fighter. That’s Rage – the scene of a horrific traffic
not an easy thing to do when most collision. Minus, we hope, any blood or
GAIDEN-ER’S people’s associations with it might bodies. There’s also a pirate ship-
WORLD be that of pneumatic young ladies based arena called Forbidden Fortune,
Tecmo’s brilliant Ninja scrapping it out by the pool in the the transition for which involves
Gaiden games are set
beach volleyball-meets-UFC stylings getting your opponent grabbed by a
in the same universe
as the Dead Or Alive
of Dead Or Alive 3 Extreme Volleyball giant octopus tentacle and smashed
series, and that back on the OG Xbox. through to the deck below.
game’s main But with an insistence that there Environments are nicely
protagonist Ryu is a story here (dastardly plans of destructible, and you can earn extra
Hayabusa has been sinister corporations), and by putting damage by smacking your opponents
one of the main equal emphasis on the fact that there into boxes, jars and crates; or run
playable fighters in are male fighters here, DOA 6 promises around smashing them up before your
the game since the to be less about the t’n’a, and more opponent can use them against you.
beginning. A super
about the ‘triangle’. The Throwdown is our favourite
ninja, Ryu is a master
of the ancient
Fights in DOA are based on what of the arenas we’ve seen – a gritty,
Hayabusa style of developers Team Ninja call a ‘triangle urban back-alley in which the crowd
Ninjutsu, and his day system’: strikes beat throws, throws gathered around to watch the
job is apparently an beat holds, holds beat strikes. If you’re fight even get involved, becoming
antique shop owner. thinking that sounds like rock, paper, themselves a part of your arsenal
Go figure. scissors, you’d be right – almost of environmental attacks. Sling your
ridiculously simple, right? But when opponent into the crowd, and they
you add to that a new special attack will push them back into the action,
meter for DOA 6 called the Break causing that fighter to lose their
Gauge system, meaning you can balance and stagger.
Break Blow, or Break Hold, to counter Team Ninja has set out its intent for
some of those moves, plus a mash-up the series here, and have deliberately
of combo moves such as the new toned down the sexualisation of the
Fatal Rush, you’ve got a sufficiently franchise to focus on the series as a
valid eSports title. They also promise
a “cohesive” single-player campaign
“The crowd themselves that should appeal to western Xbox
audience as well as more traditional
become a part of your Japanese fighting game fans. And
there’s not a volleyball in sight. The
arsenal of attacks” game’s expected in February 2019. Q

ABOVE Wrestling
star Bass
returns, along
with the Muscle
arena – a
WWE-style
wrestling ring.
FAR LEFT The

series’ infamous
ladies return,
only with more
clothes.

PREVIEW
While queueing for Arena mode, you’ll be able to relax with other players in a hot tub. Yes, really
Sea Of Thieves:
The Arena
New free update adds more
player-on-player piracy
Robin Valentine
PUBLISHER MICROSOFT STUDIOS DEVELOPER RARE
ETA EARLY 2019
Whether on land or at sea, there’s no you’ll be able to travel to a new tavern the start of the match, you’ll be able
honour among thieves. Put two pirate to queue for Arena mode. Each match to see where the enemy is, so there’s
crews on the same island, and they’ll will see your team and the enemy no room for hiding or dawdling. If you
find something to scrap over – that’s being given maps leading to the same don’t make a beeline for them, they’ll
just basic buccaneer psychology. treasure. From there, it’s a race to see make a beeline for you.
Rare’s naval sandbox proves this rule who can claim the spoils first.
every day, packed with player-on- The result is a kind of condensed Dog days
player conflict over treasure, cargo Sea Of Thieves experience – more As you battle, you’ll earn clout with
and, occasionally, chickens. But action in a shorter space of time. From a whole new trading company, the
apparently it’s not enough for the Sea Dogs, led by DeMarco Singh, son
developer’s taste, and the game’s of the Pirate Lord. As you advance,
next update is set to encourage more “The result you’ll gain cool new items, including
PvP than ever. a flash cutlass, and you’re free to
The (free) Arena expansion, due is a kind of bring these back into Adventure mode.
early next year, will get bloodthirsty While progression is staying largely
BELOW Arena is a players right into the action, rather condensed the same, the addition of a fourth
response to some than leaving them to hope for random faction does shake things up slightly
players asking
for more action
encounters. While in Adventure mode Sea Of Thieves – in order to become a Pirate Legend,
– the name the developers are now you’ll still need to reach level 50 with
and shorter
sessions. using to refer to the existing game – experience” three companies, but it can be any
three out of the four.
You may need a full crew in order
to take part in Arena though – while
solo play is being tested, Rare hasn’t
decided yet whether it’ll be included.
Comments from the devs so far
suggest matches will be four crews
max; whether it’ll be a free-for-all or
two-on-two remains to be seen.
For those keen to get involved
early, Rare will be running tests of
the new mode as part of its Pioneers
programme, allowing players to try it
out and offer feedback – so make sure
to join up now if you’re chomping at
the bit to buckle some swashes. But
if all this scrapping isn’t your cup of
tea, never fear – support’s not drying
up for Adventure mode any time soon.
Via Twitter, the game’s design director
Mike Chapman explains: “So exciting
to announce The Arena and all the
fun it will bring, but there are also new
features, tools and opportunities for
Adventure coming.” Q

PREVIEW
One of the pre-set decals lets you make your Javelin look like Mass Effect’s N7 armour
mission. Pick the mage-like Storm, for

example, with long-range weaponry
and items granting a lightning-bolt
attack, freezing ice-shards and
a projectile-blocking wind wall,
and you’re ready to play a crowd-
controlling support, hovering above
the battlefield and raining down a
Anthem storm from on high.
Your suit, your look, your Class war

Though there are only four Javelins
powers – it’s all up to you to choose from, each can be used
Robin Valentine to create a variety of wildly different
builds. The Interceptor, for example,
PUBLISHER EA DEVELOPER BIOWARE
excels as a sort of cyber-ninja, leaping
and dashing into combat and hitting
enemies with lightning-infused kicks –
or, you can take entirely the opposite
As a developer, BioWare’s always been tack, speccing them as a sneaky
concerned with player choice. Though sniper, using that agility to keep back
its latest title, an MMO shooter in the and throwing out long-range stuns
mould of Destiny, is a very different to set up for their devastating shots.
beast than anything it’s put out Get bored of a particular way of doing
before, that emphasis on going your things, and you’re free to change
own way remains – whether you’re things up before the next mission, or
choosing your loadout, exploring the swap to a different Javelin entirely.
SOAR open world at your whim… or spending If variety is the spice of life, then
POINT hours looking for the perfect colour Anthem is shaping up to be the five-
Every Javelin can fly, scheme for your exosuit. alarm chilli of videogames.
but different suits
Yep, mech-loving fashionistas The only build you won’t find among
approach it in
different ways.
rejoice – Anthem’s character any of the mechs is healer. Everyone’s
Storm can hover for customisation system, dubbed The responsible for their own health bar,
extended periods of Forge, is remarkably robust, allowing either keeping their regenerating
time, and works best you to tweak nearly every aspect of shield up to prevent lasting damage,
when you can stick to your suit’s design. Not only can you or wading into the thick of the fray to
the air during combat. change components and colours, but grab restorative orbs from fallen foes.
The heavy Colossus, you can even decide what material That’s not to say there’s no teamwork,
meanwhile, is more each section of your armour is made however – pick the right gear, and you
earthbound,
of, and its overall condition, from worn can support your allies by cleansing
overheating quickly if
it tries to stay
and dirty to shiny and new. them of harmful status effects,
airborne for too long. And, unusually, this cosmetic inflicting debuffs on foes that make
Flight is surprisingly tinkering is being kept entirely them take more damage from your
nuanced, allowing separate from your stats. In fact, no friends, or deploying a tactical shield
you to hover, boost, visual element of your character ever to tank incoming fire.
evade and launch has an impact on their abilities – and And when you head out into
ground-pounding vice versa. Even, say, a new helmet the world, freedom’s still king. The
melee attacks from or chestplate is only for showing off, appropriately-named free play mode
the air. Depending on
which does ensure you never have to randomises the world’s enemy and
your build, it’s either
your way out of sticky
stick to an ugly outfit just because it wildlife spawns, and sends you out to
situations, or your gives you the best buffs. explore at your leisure. Dotted around
means of diving Your playstyle in combat is instead the map are dynamic world events,
headlong into them. determined by which guns, ‘gear’ and challenging you to do everything from
Javelin mech suit you bring for that stabilising dangerous ancient artifacts
to opening arcane vaults – with plenty
of gunplay along the way. Even in the
“You can even decide more directed story missions, there’s
never anything stopping you from just
what material each section flying off to see what’s over that next
ridge. Well, other than your friends
of your armour is made of” yelling at you to come back, that is… Q

ABOVE On an
official
livestream, lead
producer Ben
Irving revealed
the post-launch
plan is “to keep
adding cool
stuff forever”.
FAR LEFT You can

choose custom
animations for
your start-of-
mission arrival
and end-of-
mission victory
pose, as well
as a loadout
of emotes.

ABOVE Convicts
are stored as
freeze-dried
powder packets
– just add water
to create a new
character…
RIGHT The mutant

enemies are
brilliantly
grotesque,
taking
inspiration from
pulp sci-fi
comic books.

PREVIEW
The game’s story was penned by former games journalist Cara Ellison
you into darkness. Or perhaps it’s

better to leave the lights on, and fight
your way to the security module to
shut those defences down manually,
allowing you to still use other systems
– such as the airlocks and electronic
doors – to mess with your enemies.
In battle, you play one of an endless
Void Bastards succession of condemned convicts,
each with their own individual perks
and hindrances that alter how
In space, no one can hear they play, from faster reloading,
you swear… to colourblindness, to unusual
Robin Valentine shortness. When one dies, they’re
gone forever, though there’s always
PUBLISHER BLUE MANCHU DEVELOPER BLUE MANCHU
another to replace them. But keep
ETA EARLY 2019
them alive, and you can alter their
traits over time, adding new ones you
like and erasing old ones you don’t.
It’s certainly an attention-grabbing Even if your casualty rate is high,
title, eh? But what should really pique you won’t find yourself falling behind –
your interest is the talent behind it. all the tools, weapons, and upgrades
Developer Blue Manchu is headed you’ve crafted from resources found
up by Jonathan Chey, co-founder of aboard the derelicts carry over
Irrational Games and one of the key between characters, ensuring you’re
minds behind classics like BioShock always making progress through the
and System Shock 2. procedurally-generated campaign.
MANCHU This sci-fi ‘strategy-shooter’ Among the gadgets ready to be
BACKER ambitiously aims to “take the jury-rigged together are distracting
Chey founded and Shock lineage into new territory”. cat-bots, poison darts, guns that
self-funded the
Thematically, it seems more on shoot rifts in space and time, and all
Australia-based Blue
Manchu as a way to
the System end of things, with the manner of unpredictable explosives
work on game ideas action taking place aboard derelict – an arsenal rife with both strategic
that specifically spaceships full of volatile mutants, possibilities, as well as chances to
interested him, hostile security robots and malevolent cause chaos.
regardless of their artificial intelligences. Developer Blue Manchu is keen to
mass-market appeal. Tasked with making your way across emphasise that player choice is king
The studio’s first, and a dangerous nebula, you must plan in Void Bastards. Expect no hand-
so far only, release your journey on the starmap by moving holding – it’s completely up to you
was Card Hunter, an
from wreck to wreck. At each, you can how you tackle each ship, and to set
online, free-to-play
browser-based game
scope out the ship’s layout and plan your own goals on the starmap.
combining elements your approach, noting what nasties
of CCGs and tabletop and hazards lurk within, and how you Panel show
RPGs, and sporting a might turn the various automated The comic book-inspired art style is
similarly 2D-centric systems aboard to your advantage. immediately striking, too, painting
art style to Void From here, you embark for some space in bold, neon colours.
Bastards. Over the five first-person exploration and, Enemies are rendered as flat 2D
years since launch it’s inevitably, combat, as you make your sprites, creating an effect pleasingly
received substantial
way through the corridors stealing reminiscent of the original Doom, while
support through new
adventures,
anything that isn’t nailed down. the 3D environments are brought to
expansions and Putting your plans into action, you life with stark cel-shading. Adding
updates. might sneak to the ship’s generator to the atmosphere is your chatty AI
and switch off the power, deactivating companion BACS, voiced with perfect
the automated defences but plunging fussiness by Kevan Brighting, known
for his role as the Narrator in PC game
The Stanley Parable.
“Developer Blue Manchu Like what you see? The good news
is, you don’t have long to wait – Void
is keen to emphasise that Bastards is coming in early 2019, and
it’ll be on Xbox Games Pass as soon as
player choice is kin ” it launches, too. Q

PREVIEW
roundup
THERE ARE MONSTERS AND ALIENS APLENTY AS
A
UNIVERSES COLLIDE IN THIS MONTH’S ROUNDUP
UP ADAM BRYANT
DEVIL MAY CRY 5 JUMP FORCE KINGDOM HEARTS 3
PUBLISHER CAPCOM DEVELOPER CAPCOM PUBLISHER BANDAI NAMCO DEVELOPER BANDAI PUBLISHER SQUARE ENIX DEVELOPER SQUARE
DUE 8 MARCH 2019 NAMCO DUE 15 FEBRUARY 2019 ENIX DUE 25 JANUARY 2019
‘The Void’ has been revealed for Devil May There’s been a steady stream of updates Oh bother. A new trailer has dropped for
Cry 5. This practice mode allows players to for this all-star anime fighting game. In the everyone’s favourite Final Fantasy and
experiment with enemies, weapons, moves latest trailer Bandai Namco has showcased Disney crossover that sees protagonist Sora
and combos. Those new to the series can characters from the Dragon Ball Z franchise. visiting 100 Acre Wood, and make friends
use the mode to gain mastery of the skills Along with showing off some iconic moves, with Winnie the Pooh and pals. Winnie is
required to obtain the S style ranking. You’ll characters Goku and Vegeta are seen seen making some pretty tough demands
face off against enemies to see how your changing into their Super Saiyan God Super of Sora for them to be together forever, but
moves work, and change the settings to Saiyan forms, whereas all-round bad egg we’re just happy to go adventuring with
have the enemy attack or to remain still. Frieza reveals his Golden form. Exciting stuff. him, so he can demand whatever he likes.
ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WISPS MY TIME AT PORTIA STELLARIS: CONSOLE EDITION
PUBLISHER MICROSOFT STUDIOS PUBLISHER TEAM 17 DEVELOPER PATHEA GAMES PUBLISHER PARADOX INTERACTIVE DEVELOPER
DEVELOPER MOON STUDIOS DUE 2019 DUE 2019 PARADOX INTERACTIVE DUE EARLY 2019
Those who loved the first Ori game and are We were already sold on this adorable Ghibli Popular grand strategy game Stellaris is on
excited for its sequel will be glad to know inspired farming simulation RPG, but a new its way to Xbox One. Explore, trade, battle
that the game will be available on Xbox trailer has shed more light on it. As well as and build your own empire in this epic
Game Pass in 2019. The previous game being able to adventure across the post- sci-fi real-time strategy game. The game
arrives on 20 December. Join Ori and family apocalyptic land you can mine and gather will feature deep strategic gameplay in
as you “embark on an all new adventure to materials and hulk them back to your home procedurally generated galaxies and will
discover the mysteries beyond the forest of where you’ll receive commissions to craft collect all of the extra content coming to
Nibel, uncover the hidden truths of those all manner of things such as bridges, water PC. This includes the Plantoids Species
lost, and unravel Ori’s true destiny”. tanks and even vehicles. Pack and the Leviathan Story pack.
FOR MORE PREVIEWS AND THE LATEST GAMES CHECK OUT GAMESRADAR.COM/OXM

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T W I CE
RESIDENT EVIL 2 RETURNS THE SERIES

TO ITS ROOTS, REWORKING A 20-YEAR-OLD
CLASSIC AND BRINGING SURVIVAL HORROR
BACK TO ITS BEST. OXM GOT HANDS-ON
AND FOUND IT SCARILY FAMILIAR…
CHRIS BURKE
OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

RESIDENT EVIL 2
I
t’s been 20 years since
this writer was last in
Racoon City’s sprawlin
police station. It was
another time, another
console. Returning to it
now is as if the years have melted away.
Of course, usually what happens when you
revisit old games is that you realise you’ve
remembered it through a rose-tinted filter,
but not this time. Resident Evil 2’s even
better than you remember.
That’s because, of course, survival horror
innovator Capcom has chosen to revisit its
classic second Resident Evil game, updating
its visuals and mechanics for 2018. Gone are
the fixed camera angles and the blockier,
pixelly graphics in favour of the now familiar
Resident Evil 4-style, over-the-shoulder
action camera, and Xbox One X-enhanced
sharply realistic character models,
backgrounds and effects. It’s a treat for the
eyes and thumbs alright, but it’s also a game
that pays serious fan-service by changing
very little else.

Younger gamers might find some Resident Evil 2,” explains producer A quick word about the rain. It’s
of the game’s 20-year-old ideas Yoshiaki Hirabayashi as to why the ABOVE Leon and awesomely cool. We love everything
other-worldly. Firstly, there’s the ’90s time was right for a new version of Claire are the about it from the atmosphere it
stars once more.
setting with quaint concepts such as the game. “We wanted to not only conveys to the way Claire puts her
saving your progress with typewriters, respond to our passionate fan base arm up to shield her eyes from the
rolls of film that need developing but also deliver a whole new zombie downpour, and the way Leon shakes
in a dark room, and complete lack horror gaming experience that utilised his sleeves of excess water when he
of smart phones. There are also the the Capcom in-house proprietary enters a building from outside.
fundamentals of the game mechanics engine, RE Engine, to bring it to life It’s not just the weather that’s
– devised, ingeniously at the time, on current gaming consoles and improved though, but the game’s story
out of technical constraints and also attract a whole new audience beats. Leon and Ada need to pass
limitations on the size of the play area that may not have been around for through a gun shop, and it’s here we
possible, but retained faithfully and the original release in 1998. We also see a strong example of the remake’s
somehow still made to feel fresh here. wanted to have players feel new newly emotional depth for the first
The genius of Capcom’s first two kinds of possibilities for Resident Evil time. The gun shop owner emerges
games was in that these limitations by combining the Metroidvania-style with a shotgun trained on Leon and
were used to also convey the exploration and survival horror of the Ada, in a beautifully-worked cutscene
claustrophobia and fear that helped original game with the latest modern in which it becomes apparent he’s
the games feel like interactive horror game experience.” protecting his daughter, who’s
movies. It’s weirdly refreshing that And they’ve delivered that in turning into a zombie. It’s harrowing,
Resident Evil 2’s puzzles and gameplay spades, if OXM’s playthrough is
devices still follow the same ideas anything to go by. Our hands-on time
they did 20 years ago. Keys, crank with the game begins with rookie
shafts and combinations to door cop Leon S Kennedy, who’s turned
locks must be found in order to open up for his first day on the job only to
up areas of the game’s central Police discover that everyone’s dead, or
Station location, and consequently undead. We’re starting somewhere
you’ll often find yourself returning in the middle of his campaign – both
to an area time and again as objects Leon and student Claire Redfield each
are found, puzzles solved and doors have their own distinct playthrough,
opened up. It’s certainly not an open echoing the original.
world game – quite the opposite, in Leon meets the enigmatic Ada
fact. It’s as claustrophobic and limiting Wong in the underground car park,
as it ever was, and we love that. and we leave with her to go out into
“We had requests from the fans the pouring rain in an eerily silent
for many years to create a remake of Racoon City street.

RESIDENT EVIL 2
“No matter how many times

we shoot this zombie, it
gets back up again”
emotionally, and also provides a passing by in an adjoining sewer.
motivation for Leon to continue to risk It’s another nod to the original, in
himself in the outbreak, rather than which Leon is chased down a sewer
just getting the hell out of Raccoon by the giant alligator. It’s a nice touch
– something that was just not really for all those who remember it the
considered too much in the original. It first time. The alligator is not the only
also helps in showing real dimensions faithful return. Ada Wong’s impractical
to the main protagonists Leon and heels and slip of a red party dress
Ada – something that the series has (did she come from an actual party?
occasionally strived for, particularly Does she always dress like that?) ABOVE Cutscenes
in the heavily story-led episodic also return, as we take control of the are superb, with
convincing
Revelations 2, which also stars Claire. mysterious agent for the next section animation and
Here, the writing of the new Resident of our playthrough. This focuses on voice acting.
Evil 2 is top-notch. But rest assured, if puzzles as Ada chases evil scientist
you’re a fan of the series’ schlockier, Annette Birkin, the wife of T-Virus
B-movie aesthetic, there’s still some creator William Birkin. Ada has some
of it lurking below the surface as Leon neat tech that can be used to hack
still delivers choice lines like, “Chew into and change the flow of fuse
on that, you son-of-a-bitch!” boxes and power terminals, and trace
power cables to their source.
Down and dirty Pretty soon, Ada’s stuck in a locked
We follow Ada down into the city’s control room with no way out, and a
sewers. They’ve never looked so single zombie. This is the first time
disgusting. As Leon slops his way in the playthrough that we actually
through the city’s subterranean crap- get close to one of the shambling
pipes, we’re ever-alert for monsters dead, and it’s quite the eye-opener.
of course – and it’s not long before Ada only has a handful of rounds in
we get an earthquake-level rumbling her handgun. No problem we think,
and a glimpse of… something huge… remembering how easy it usually

to off a solitary zom th one EMF Visualizer, while trying not
well-aimed bullet thro h e brain. to get eaten by half a dozen of the
ombies just won’t s wn. things. After a number of deaths and
ey’ll go d but tter how restarts (punishingly back to the first
many tim we ot this one through room again), Ada solves her puzzle
y , gets back up again. We and we’re on our way. But now we’re
y shooting out its legs, but it’s still out of the frying pan, via that room
crawling around trying to nibble Ada’s full of zombies, and quite literally
high-heels. And now we’re out of into the fire. Annette Birkin has Ada
ammo. We have to locate the source trapped in a furnace. The clock is
of the door lock’s power, so we can ticking down – we have one minute she only agrees when he threatens to
switch it and escape – not easy when to stop its ignition using our very best kill Claire. He, we later discover from ABOVE Claire’s
you have to keep one eye on where puzzle-solving skills. Can anyone a picture in a newspaper that’s lying never looked
the little ankle-biter is while he crawls smell burning? around the police station, is Police lovelier, or
dirtier, than
around trying to snack on our calves. Chief Irons – though 1998 gamers with the benefit
It’s a nice turnaround for the series Things get Claire-r will recognise him instantly, with an of Xbox One X’s
which had at times become more The next part of our playthrough puts HD makeover of course. Irons takes visual
capabilities.
about the action, particularly with us in Claire’s shoes, and begins in Sherry away, but we notice that there
5 and 6. Now, one single zombie is the same parking lot as Leon’s. This are some convenient-sized access BELOW It’s a
Tyrant, and it’s
enough to cause you significant time Claire’s being followed around hatches and holes in walls that a bloody difficult
problems, and a fair degree of scares. by Annette and William Birkin’s little small person can crawl through – as to kill… help!
Exiting the room is out of the frying daughter Sherry – an ally by this point. with Natalia, the child who helps Claire
pan and into, well, a room full of Unfortunately, we meet an Umbrella in Revelations 2 by accessing such
zombies. Here we really struggle, as stooge who wants to take Sherry back spaces – so we’re thinking that Sherry
we have to use Ada’s device, called to her parents against her will, and may have a similar role. We’ve been
RESIDENT EVIL’S MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS
DOGGIES RESIDENT EVIL MIRRORS RESIDENT EVIL 2 VILLAGES RESIDENT EVIL 4 ROCKS RESIDENT EVIL 5 CLOSETS REVELATIONS
Less impactful in Exploring RCPD’s We pooped ourselves at Action-filled Resi 5 A radio mayday leads
the remake, but interrogation rooms the scale and literal also saw a button- Jill to a cupboard,
the 1996 game had as Claire, one of game-changing new mashing moment but its sender’s
zombie dogs crash these skinless, blind, perspective of Leon’s resulting in Chris already mutated into
through a window, and long-tongued bastards besieging by hordes of smacking a boulder a bloated thing with a
it’s stayed in our crashes through the infected. Then Doctor into a lava lake. Did conjoined twin and a
nightmares ever since… two way mirror. Salvador turned up… not see that coming. chainsaw arm. Eek!

RESIDENT EVIL 2
GOING
Know your T from your G
with our quick guide to
Resident Evil’s viruses
G-VIRUS
The Golgotha virus was created by
Umbrella scientist William Birkin,
and used on himself. It’s a mutated
strain of the T-Virus that
regenerates lost or damaged
tissue… and makes eyeballs
appear in awkward places, like
on your back.
LAS PLAGAS VIRUS

A spore-based parasite found in
fossils and used by a weird Spanish
“One single zombie is

cult called Los Illuminados. The Las
Plagas virus takes over the host’s
nervous system, effectively turning
enough to cause you

ABOVE The
Tyrants return
return, them into mindless unstoppable
and this time zombiess who can’t feel pain but
significant problems”
they’re can be c controlled by a master.
wearing
hats.
PROGE
ENITOR VIRUS
The original and best, discovered
from a species of African flower by
teased that there is a new section inventory, we find more familiarity. the Umb brella Corporation’s
of the game involving an orphanage, Flame and Acid Rounds return for founnders, and then used in all
new to the remake and likely a part of the grenade launcher, with ammo their subsequent biological
Sherry’s story. craftable from found gunpowder. earch. By combining it with
rese
Those red, green and blue potted ch DNA, they found it could
leec
Back and forth plants are back too. Green ones heal, mutate to form large and very,
Now we have access to the Police blues detoxify; reds are combined very nasty creatures.
Station proper, and this is where we with the others for extra-strength.
begin the familiar gameplay mechanic There are stash boxes where you can T-VIR
RUS
The Tyrant Virus is a strain of the
of finding keys and other objects to store stuff you don’t need on your progenittor virus, involving leech
progress through the many rooms, person – useful as your inventory is DNA – ugh – that was responsible
returning to the same ones often to limited; and things like the grenade for the
e incident at the Spencer
find there are new monsters present. launcher, or extra-large cogs or bits of Mansion in the late ’90s. Easily
Actually, how many rooms does this puzzle-machinery, take up two slots. transmitted, it kills its host
bloody station have? Honestly, we’ve It’s another part of the mechanic that imme ediately then mutates and
seen enough cop shows to know US will have you running back and forth reanim
mates the corpse as a
police stations are never this big. across the map to retrieve that thing brain-dead husk whose only
instinc
ct is to feed on the living.
First we need to retrieve a you found earlier, that you’ve now
Makes s zombie people, dogs, fish,
diamond-shaped key (one of a familiar discovered a use for. This is very much spiders and plants. Big ’uns too.
set of heart, diamond, spade and in keeping with the series as a whole,
club-shaped keys), for which we first and something we fondly remember T-ABYS
SS VIRUS
need to get through the kennels. We about the 1998 game. A fishy vversion of the Tyrant virus.
brace ourselves for zombie dogs, of “The team always wanted Resident The Aby yss virus was developed
the kind that gave us nightmares after Evil 2 to stay true to the original with the discovery of a new species
the first game. Instead we find Lickers but also deliver the best zombie of deep sea fish, then Bioterrorist
(oh sure, that’s much better) – the entertainment experience to date,” organisaation Veltro combined it with
the T-Virus. Causes victims to need
game’s iconic, grotesque and visually says Hirabayashi. The RE Engine
to constantly absorb fluid…
challenged wall crawlers. was created for Resident Evil 7, and includingg the bodily fluids of
Claire has her trademark grenade- Capcom were keen to use that to humans. Ooze a pretty virus then?
launcher with flame rounds, so we’ve its full potential here. Hirabayashi
soon barbecued the horrible things. explains that the mission was to “fine
Taking a look through Claire’s limited tune the modern horror experience
M ore Xbox ne w s a t ga m esradar.co m/oxm TH

HE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 049
that we saw critics and fans respond Exciting, yes. Scary, definitely. As in the original, Chief Irons has a
ABOVE We tried so well to with Resident Evil 7. We In the morgue there are a number thing for taxidermy, and his offices
not to stare at know that one thing our fan base is of cadaver trays just waiting to be are stuffed with stuffed things, even
his boil, we really into is the lore of the series, opened. Some are empty; one of them, a tiger. It’s also so gorgeously and
really did.
so for us it was important to retain and it actually made us jump, is full of faithfully recreated that if you played
that classic Resident Evil 2 storyline enormous cockroaches. A couple of the 20-year-old game you will feel a
and classic gameplay experience trays have corpses on them… which sense of deja vu, albeit in much higher
– whilst still making small design are in no way going to get up and bite resolution. But as we’re running back
tweaks that allows it to match modern us. No, definitely not. One of them has and forth all over the cop-shop, things
gamers’ expectations. For example, something glinting in his hand. We are getting increasingly frantic as
the addition of the subweapon take it, and we’ll let you guess what ammo runs short, and the zombies
allowing you to escape attacks, happens next… start to overrun the police station.
custom creation of ammo, weapon Arguably, the series’ toughest
modifications and so on are game Totally stuffed monster is the trenchcoat-wearing
mechanics we’ve added that will make We can now access the frankly Tyrant sometimes known as ‘Mr X’,
the experience even more exciting.” over-the-top Police Chief’s office. and his appearance now stirs in us
a long-dormant terror we’ve been
suppressing for years. This big bastard
is like the Terminator – an unstoppable
mutated super soldier that you can
do nothing but run away from. He’s
not too hard to evade, as he’s quite
slow – but try to run past him and he
grabs you by the face and throws you
across the room; get cornered by him
and he pounds you into the floor with
his fists. He’s now on our case, and
that’s going to make things difficult
– especially as there are now loads
of Lickers around the place, and more
zombies than ever.
When you’re grabbed, if you have
a knife, a tap of LB enables you to
escape by sticking your blade into the
creature. It’s wise to finish it off just
so you can retrieve the knife, which
acts as a ‘get out of jail’ card for when

RESIDENT EVIL 2
you get overwhelmed. Grenades can horror’ after all, and each decision you
also be rammed into zombies’ mouths, make, particularly regarding resources
useful for taking a few of them out. and routes through each room, the
Zombies are relentless and have limited ammo and tactical approach
never looked better or moved more needed, is still key to that.
frighteningly to brainlessly overpower “We have a lot of respect for the
you. At one point we were taken down original game and want to treat it
by two of them at once – it’s pant- with care,” stresses Hirabayashi.
wetting stuff; discovering that zombies “But at the same time, we felt the
are even worse than you thought. need to bring something new both
We barely have time to admire the to new players and those who have
recreation of the police station’s experienced the original. So we kept
“We have a lot of respect

for the original game and ABOVE Oh my
word, just what
want to treat it with care”

did you eat,
Raccoon City?
iconic front desk, locker rooms and some key parts of the game the
offices as we hare around trying to same, while rebuilding the gameplay,
find the objects we need – constantly story, puzzles and the route you take
having to go back into a room we through the game around those parts.
know is full of bad things. Meanwhile As for fan service, yes, we definitely
the Tyrant is following us, we have no wanted to keep as many of those
ammo, and so our playthrough ends in iconic moments as possible which we
inauspicious defeat. The game, when know everyone remembers fondly.”
it opened up to us, also threw so There’s no doubt Capcom has pulled
many monsters at us that we began to off a fan-pleasing remake of a fondly
really, seriously regret not conserving remembered classic. But more than
ammo earlier on. It’s actually a really that, the game’s visual and gameplay
key element of the original Resident updates should help it to become a
Evil games that we’d almost forgotten true modern classic when it lands in
about – the series invented ‘survival January 2019.

RESIDENT EVIL
CODE VERONICA X
ALMOST THE ENTIRE SERIES RELEASE DATE 2011
The action moves to Antarctica, some
IS AVAILABLE TO PLAY ON months after the Raccoon City outbreak,
YOUR FAVOURITE CONSOLE… as Claire Redfield, still searching for her
S.T.A.R.S. bro, Chris, finds herself captured
by Umbrella and imprisoned on an Antarctic
The survival horror series started life on a
RESIDENT EVIL island – where, unsurprisingly, there’s an
certain Japanese console of course, so we RELEASE DATE 2015 outbreak. Though upscaled to the Xbox 360,
Xbox-ers are late to the party. Fortunately, a A 1080p update with some polish added this one fares the least well. Stilted voice-
good many of the later games have been to the backgrounds and textures was acting and stiff animations are unfortunate
remastered for Xbox One, including a all the excuse we needed to reach reminders to take off those rose-tinted
handful of which are the best in the entire for the original classic Resident Evil spectacles when it comes to old games.
series From mansions full of mutated
series. again, and return to the super-creepy
monsters to cruise ships full of Spencer Mansion with Chris Redfield
mutated and Jill Valentine. It’s pretty much the
monsters, 2002 GameCube re-release that’s able
here’s our to make the leap to our Xbox One, and it
guide to still works, being a tense, atmospheric
the Resi puzzler with oh-so-limited resources,
series. claustrophobic camera angles and a
labyrinth packed with zombies, zombie
dogs and mutated plants and insects,
the first game is still a benchmark of
survival horror.
RESIDENT EVIL 4
RELEASE DATE 2016
The first of the Resident Evil games to switch
the perspective to an over-the-shoulder view
now so familiar to series fans. It starred Resi 2’s
Leon S Kennedy, searching for the President’s
daughter in a creepy part of Spain they don’t
sell you in travel brochures. The genuinely
RESIDENT EVIL
disturbing hordes of parasitically infected
locals, being controlled by an evil cult called
RESIDENT EVIL 5
RELEASE DATE 2009/2016
ZERO the Los Illuminati, and introduction of those
relentless, metal-headed Garrador freaks, This African-set Chris Redfield adventure
RELEASE DATE 2016 make this one of the series’ most imaginative introduced a voodoo-style zombie
Giving this 2002 GameCube original outings. One of the most influential games of threat – though again caused by the
an HD remaster for Xbox One sadly the noughties, it looks great ported to XO. Las Plagas virus that caused all that
doesn’t quite overcome the original’s trouble in Resident Evil 4. Chris, now
shortcomings. Namely, um, predictability an agent for the Bioterrorism Security
and a generally forgettable setting and Assessment Alliance (BSAA), and his
story. Still, it looks nice with its improved new partner Sheva Alomar, shoot their
lighting and better textures, with the way through hordes of undead in a
game’s animations at least making much more action-focused game than
it enjoyable enough for current-gen previously. As such it’s a great co-op
Resi fans. The game is a prequel to the game and, though purists would argue
original game and features the ever-so- it’s less about the survival, or the horror,
slightly annoying Rebecca Chambers and more about the shooter, thanks to a
exploring an abandoned Umbrella nifty remaster for Xbox One it’s still a lot
training facility. of fun to play.

RESIDENT EVIL 2
RESIDENT EVIL 6 RESIDENT EVIL

RELEASE DATE 2012 RELEASE DATE 2017
Following on from 5, this one again has a If the gameplay in Resi’s 5 an
heavy emphasis on co-op play – with the gone for more all-out action,
possibility of up to four playing at once – seven, Capcom returned to th
although you can play single player with intense survival horror roots. T
an AI companion, or ‘Lone Wolf’ it without. refocusing, and switch to first
Series favourites Chris, Leon and Ada return perspective, may have meant abandoning
for a plot that’s inconsistent but does throw RESIDENT EVIL: the games’ old-school charm, but it did give
up some great moments. The action is really us a genuinely terrifying gaming experience.
ramped up for this one, and this is a smart OPERATION With this one the player was dropped
port to the Xbox One. Though it may have
lost some of its horror, and indeed, survival
RACCOON CITY slap bang into Texas Chainsaw Massacre
cannibal hillbilly territory – and that was just
credentials, you have to give it its due as a RELEASE DATE 2012 the beginning of bad dreams that a year on,
great, cinematic action game. Almost as bizarre an experiment as frankly, haven’t subsided.
anything cooked up by Umbrella, this off-
shoot team shooter is non-canon and all
the more odd for it. Operation Raccoon
City isn’t a bad premise, and it actually
has you playing as an Umbrella Security
Service squad, sent to collect T-Virus
samples from the Racoon City mess.
Sadly though, poor team and enemy
AI stop the game from achieving its
potential, despite a wealth of multiplayer
modes and its being set in our beloved
Resident Evil universe.
RESIDENT EVIL
REVELATIONS
RELEASE DATE 2013/2015
This hand-held original set aboard a
huge ocean liner made the leap first to
Xbox 360 and then to Xbox One; with the
latter getting enough polish to make its
ship interiors – either luxurious or dingy
and damp – look great. Character models
too are best on the XO version, while Jill
Valentine’s story is charmingly old-
school Resi but nonetheless engaging,
with some slightly more blobby monsters
thriving on sea water and bodily fluids.
Best part is the brilliant Raid Mode –
timed survival, co-op or single player –
through the game’s various levels.
RESIDENT EVIL REVELATIONS 2

RELEASE DATE 2015
Presented in episodic form, with Claire Redfield mechanics to the puzzling and exploration. A
and Barry Burton from the original games as its fully comprehensive Raid Mode, featuring tons
stars. Beautifully paced and compelling enough of levels, unlockable characters and must-get
in its story to keep you hooked, it’s atmospheric rewards is the real star here, adding longevity to
and dramatic, with some thoughtful game the game and making it one of our favourites.

OXM INVESTIGAT ES
THE
REALITY
OF
FICTION
We dive head first into the narrative abyss of the
videogame writing world and emerge triumphant
with all the details you need to get into the game
ADAM BRYANT
Game development the mind of someone who we’re told

can seem like a is sane but shows clear signs of
mystery to anybody madness, and keeps banging on about
outside the industry. a princess being in another castle.
But of all the Fear not, for OXM is hot on the
disciplines involved, case and this month we had a chat
writing is possibly with some of the best talent in the
the most misunderstood and under- business. Writers Rhianna Pratchett,
appreciated. Videogames writing Anna Megill, Jakub Szamałek and JT
can be best described as an enigma, Petty were all ready to lift the veil and
wrapped up in a riddle, encased in explore their mysterious world with us.
OXM INVESTIGATES
he first thing to clear up would be what a
T
videogame writer actually does. “In general
[writing for games] involves working on a
game’s narrative components such as story,
dialogue, characters and world building,”
explains Rhianna Pratchett. “It can also
involve other elements such as environmental
storytelling, narrative mechanics, voice
directing, marketing and PR.”
“It depends on the project and the role,”
says Anna Megill. “I might write screenplays
and dialogue, or focus on narrative design
and integration with other game elements.
I coordinate with other teams to make sure
that our work flows together. Collaboration is
critical. I also write dialogue, trailers, and lore
documentation like story bibles.”
Writing for games has come a long way, but
it’s only been in the past ten years that the
games industry has recognised the value of
dedicated writers. “It’s actually emerged as
ABOVE Rhianna
its own discipline now,” says Pratchett. “There Pratchett (left)
are many more professional game writers created a more
around these days. There are awards for game believable and
authentic Lara.
writing and summits dedicated to the craft.
It’s taken much more seriously.” RIGHT Anna
Megill brought
“When I first started out in the industry, even more life
tthere weren’t game writers the way there to Dishonored’s
aare now,” says Megill. “I’d say, ‘I want to be a no-nonsense
Billie Lurk.
ggames writer!’ and someone would respond
in a patronising tone, ‘I think you mean game

“It’s only been in the past decade
that the industry has recognised
the value of dedicated writers”
designer.’ It was frustrating, but that was industries. “You’re constantly considering your
reality back then. It’s only been in the past audience when it comes to games,” explains
decade that the industry has recognised the Pratchett. “With most other entertainment
value of dedicated writers.” mediums you’re passively absorbing the
story, but with games you’re driving the
Immortal prose story, the story is happening because of you.
Being that dedicated writers are relatively You are the story. You’re also continually trying
new to the world of videogames there isn’t to balance the needs of gameplay with the
a completely defined process but there is a needs of narrative, which rarely neatly align.”
general flow of how the job is done. “You start “Game writing is collaborative,” says Megill.
with an idea for the game, its basic features “You have far less control than you would
and story,” explains Megill. “Then you build the have with a novel. The churn of iteration can
world, decide who’s in it and what they’re like, be brutal. It’s not just ‘kill your darlings’ in the One of the writing roles that pop up with
then map out the story. You work with other games industry, it’s ‘watch the slaughter of increased frequency is narrative designer, and
teams to determine core narrative design your darlings’. Additionally, you have to think they have a slightly different job. “Broadly, a
elements and once those have been agreed of narrative in a modular way sometimes, as narrative designer has one foot in the design
on, you can start crafting the story. You’ll players can progress through your story in a camp and one foot in the narrative camp,”
write side quests and optional content as you non-linear fashion and completely ruin the explains Pratchett. “They usually come from
go along. You’ll do all of this while important emotion you were building.” a design background and have decided to
story elements get scoped out of existence “Interactivity is the critical difference, specialise in narrative, rather than, say,
or reworked, gameplay features get cut. Then though,” continues Megill. “Screenplays and mechanics or level design. Writers are more
you publish the game, and everyone either movie scripts need only entertain, but game concerned with the traditional aspects of
collapses or rolls onto DLC.” writing has to instruct, as well. You have to narrative (plot, dialogue, characters etc)
Another reason for there not being a show players how to reach the next step whereas narrative designers will be more
standard process is that writing for games is a of your story. And, of course, the trick is to focused on the ways in which the narrative
completely different beast to writing for other entertain while instructing.” unfolds during the game and how players

OXM IN STIGATES
experience it. Narrative designers and writers

usually work hand-in-hand and some span
both disciplines.”
“There’s no industry standard for the roles.
The disciplines overlap a lot,” explains Megill.
“A narrative designer and game writer can
perform the exact same work, only be called
ABOVE These
something different by different studios.” Envisioned don’t
want to stab you
Character building to death, they
just want to
However, despite the increased prominence shake hands.
of writers within games there are still plenty
OPPOSITE Geralt
of misconceptions, and people who think that is never too far
writing doesn’t matter. “Paraphrasing what [id from his trusty
Software founder] John Carmack once said, I steed, Roach.
think many people still share the sentiment
that a story in a game is like a story in an
adult movie, it’s expected to be there, but not
much beyond that,” says Jakub Szamałek. “It’s as standard, and involving them earlier in the committee’ situations where their skills are
a sentiment that I’d like to challenge.” development process. As an industry we’ll being under-valued and under-used.”
“One of the big ones is that writers are the start improving our narrative literacy and “You don’t have to describe everything
equivalent of film directors and have absolute becoming bolder and braver with our stories.” that’s happening,” says Megill, “not if other
control over everything the narrative touches,” “I’m fascinated by VR and the challenge of disciplines are doing good work. Let the
says Pratchett. “That is rarely the case unless writing for something that feels so real,” says environment and gameplay do some heavy
the writer is also the game director. In reality, Megill. “Writing for games now means trying lifting for you. I once read a scene where the
writers work in a small team. Given the fact to pull the maximum emotional response from player character said, ‘It’s quiet here. Not
that so many people consider themselves to players through a 2D experience. But from much going on,’ as they walked down a quiet,
be writers it means that narrative can become what I’ve seen, we might have to pull back on empty hallway. Why say that? Especially out
quite a crowded battlefield.” eliciting emotion because it’s built into the loud? Trust players to look at the world and
Thankfully, this is something that is realism of the VR experience. Have you seen draw that conclusion themselves.”
changing and as technology improves, so
too will the amount of opportunities and
ways in which to tell those stories. Writers “We ought to be designing
are already looking ahead. “I think that non-
verbal storytelling will play a greater role in
the future,” says Szamałek. “In The Witcher
responsibly, considering how deep
2, our mimics and gesture system was fairly
rudimentary. Our characters only had a couple
a game can get in your head”
of emotional states, so instead of showing
the player how they feel, they had to convey the videos where people are playing survival “I’m almost always disengaged by
it with words, which isn’t necessarily how horror games in VR? It’s so real for them, they cinematics,” says JT Petty. “Because the
human beings behave. In The Witcher 3, we get so terrified. Not exactly the reaction I want player doesn’t have control, there’s less
could show much more with gestures, furtive as a writer.” tension when a cinematic begins, which is the
glances, eye rolls, and so on. I can’t wait to Things still aren’t perfect though and a worst time to be getting your story across.”
see what the future will bring.” lot of mistakes are still made, not just by The ongoing debate seems to be that given
“We’ll see more writers and narrative the writers themselves but by development games have a huge reach and influence,
designers becoming game directors or teams, too. “Writers are often hired too late many believe writing for them should have a
creative directors and getting more hard in the development process,” says Pratchett. higher purpose.
power on teams,” says Pratchett. “More “It’s what I call being a narrative paramedic. “It’s okay for games simply to be what they
companies will start using professional writers Writers can often find themselves in ‘story by are,” admits Megill. “Just like movies or books,

ORIGIN
STORIES
HOW THESE GREAT WRITERS
GOT INTO THE BIZ AND THE
GAMES THEY MADE
Tomb Raider - RHIANNA PRATCHETT

Rhianna started as a games journalist,
even writing for OXM, but worked her way
into writing for games including the
Tomb Raider reboot and Mirror’s Edge.
they don’t all have to be masterpieces. I love

that there’s a range of experiences for people
to enjoy. For me personally, however, I’m very
conscious of the ideas I’m promoting as a
creator. I’d never work on a game that was
irredeemably hate-filled and horrifying, but
I’d never tell someone else not to work on it. Murdered: Soul Suspect - ANNA MEGILL
But not every game needs to serve a higher Anna began in QA (quality assurance] but
purpose. If you want to make a game about climbed the ranks to co-write Murdered:
popping bubble wrap just because ‘it’s fun’, Soul Suspect for Square Enix and recently
then heck yeah! Go for it.” finished work on Control for Remedy.
“Absolutely,” says Petty. “At their best,
games are these hypnotic, physical and says Szamałek. “Tinker with game editors.
emotional experiences that people are going Play videogames critically - think hard why
to spend dozens of hours inside. We ought you like the writing in some games and dislike
to be designing responsibly, considering how it in others. Then apply for jobs and, most
deep a game can get in your head.” importantly, don’t give up!”
“Play lots of games, cross-genre, indie to
Gospel truth AAA,” says Pratchett. “Come to understand
But what does it take to be a successful all the different ways narrative is used.
games writer? “Anyone can do it if they Particularly in the areas which are unique The Witcher 3 - JAKUB SZAMAŁEK
develop the right skillset, work ethic and keep to games. Keep practising your writing, take Jakub was doing a PHD in classical
practising their craft,” say Pratchett. “Working classes, courses, workshops. A writer writes.” archaeology but decided writing was for
in the industry is much harder than it looks “Network! Network your ass off,” says Megill. him. After publishing his own book he
from the outside. I certainly underestimated “Get on Twitter. Talk to other game writers. Go successfully applied for a job at CDPR.
how tough it would be. A good game writer to cons. Meet people in the industry. That’s
is someone with a flair for narrative, who how you’ll get jobs. But also, be realistic.
understands games, can work well in a team Game writing is an incredibly competitive field.
and under pressure, is flexible, adaptable and There are hundreds of thousands of people
knows which battles are worth fighting.” competing for, at best, a few hundred roles.”
“It’s probably a strange mixture of humility Sadly, writers for games are less well
and over-confidence,” says Petty. “You need known than game directors, designers or
to know you’re not the centre of this creative composers and as a result they don’t get as
process, but still feel certain that the few much recognition as they deserve. But you can
lines of description you dash off is worth change that. “I’d like to ask your readers for a
the months of work a team of artists and favour,” says Szamałek. “If you have a favourite Outlast - TJ PETTY
programmers will spend building it.” game story, check the credits, see who wrote While looking into a receptionist job at
With that being said, here’s some parting it, and if you feel like it – reach out to them, Ubisoft, Petty spotted applications for
advice for those that wish to get into this show your appreciation. They will be thrilled, scriptwriters and went for that instead.
world for themselves. “Read a lot, write a lot,” trust me.” Q He wrote the story for the Outlast games.

OXM INVESTIGATES
Once upon
a time on 07
BIOSHOCK
FORMAT XBOX 360 | RELEASE 2007
Xbox When it comes to narrative in videogames
this list would be amiss if it didn’t include
BioShock. It contains one of the most
FEAST YOUR EYES ON SOME successful plot twists in games and blew
OF THE BEST NARRATIVE
MASTERPIECES FROM
08 many a gamer’s mind. For years friends would
scream out “you’ve got to play BioShock”,
followed by “make sure you play it before
GONE HOME someone spoils it for you”. It was so well done
XBOX HISTORY FORMAT XBOX ONE | RELEASE 2016 that players were none the wiser right up to
You don’t need the big bucks to make the point of the reveal. Developers now will
Videogames have become more complex, a game with a fantastic story, as Gone have an incredibly hard time pulling off the
but so too have their stories, and Xbox has Home so perfectly proved. In this first- same trick again because players are wise to
always been a home to some of the best person walking simulator you play as anyone repeatedly using the same phrases.
stories around. Whether it’s to thrill, Katie Greenbriar. In 1995 Katie returns Now, if you don’t already, would you kindly
surprise, frighten, laugh, or to bring on a home after some time away to find the subscribe to this magazine?
flood of tears, Xbox has something for place deserted. Her family is nowhere
everyone and we thought we’d share some to be found and with no immediate
of our favourites with you. It was difficult to guidance you’re left to explore. This
compile this list simply because there are far is where the beauty of the game lies.
too many amazing and engrossing stories to By wandering around, finding notes
choose from, so take the ordering with a and items, you discover all sorts of
pinch of salt. Don’t worry, each of the games things about your family. It approaches
we’ve selected deserves to be there. We’ve subjects such as infidelity, abuse, love
also specifically not included any of the and sexuality, all of which are rarely
games that our interviewees have worked on approached in games.
so as to showcase some other great titles.
06 04
INSIDE LIFE IS STRANGE
FORMAT XBOX ONE | RELEASE 2016 FORMAT XBOX 360 | RELEASE 2015
Playdead is a master at telling stories. This is another title that focuses on
Both Inside and its previous game, character. The relationship between
Limbo, tell their stories without a protagonist Max and her best friend
single piece of dialogue. Instead they Chloe is a touching and heartfelt one.
rely on superb environmental design The whole idea that Max has the ability
and the player’s interaction with said
environment to get their story across.
In the case of Inside, when the story
05 to manipulate time doesn’t seem all that
important in the grand scheme of things.
The game has some cheesy dialogue at
concludes you’re left with a mixture MASS EFFECT 2 times but it makes up for it by being so
of feelings and unsure as to what the FORMAT XBOX 360 | RELEASE 2010 well-observed. All your decisions have
hell just happened. Then you start to Drew Karpyshyn has had a hand in the an emotional weight, right up to the final
question your role as a player within success of many of Bioware’s games like moments where you’re forced to make
it. So few games understand how to Baldur’s Gate and Knights Of The Old Republic, a tough choice. This wouldn’t be so
do environmental storytelling well, but as well as the first two Mass Effect games, the poignant if the developers hadn’t already
Inside is possibly the best example. second of which many consider to be the best done the narrative legwork.
in the franchise. The reason the second game
is better than the first is because it focuses
more on character, rather than plot. Of course
those elements go hand in hand but the game
feels more personal because of it. You really
get invested with not just the characters you
already know but with pretty much all of the
new ones, too. And given that there’s at least
13 of them, that’s no small feat.

03 02
FIREWATCH THE WALKING DEAD
FORMAT XBOX ONE | RELEASE 2016
FORMAT XBOX 360 | RELEASE 2012
Firewatch introduces you to the main character through a simple text
Telltale’s The Walking Dead will go down as one of the best
adventure but within five minutes you become completely emotionally
character-driven games ever made. Through the course of five
attached to him. Having such a close connection to the protagonist
intense episodes the relationship between the main character,
from the start makes all of your choices throughout more considered.
Lee, and the young girl he’s sworn to protect, Clementine, grows in
The story is unveiled through walkie-talkie conversations with a fellow
a believable way. Initial distrust and caution, on the part of
fire lookout, who you never actually meet during the game. To tell such a
Clementine, gives way to reliance and complete trust, but more
compelling story in this way is reason enough to make this list.
importantly friendship. Which is why the ending is so gut-
wrenching. Preparing Clementine for an unknown and dangerous
future becomes a personal goal for the player. Without spoiling the
ending for those that haven’t actually played it yet, it’s safe to say
that the conclusion of the game will live with you for a long time.
01
RED DEAD
REDEMPTION II
FORMAT XBOX ONE | RELEASE 2018
The list would have been very different a
few months ago. But Red Dead Redemption
II rode in on Rockstar’s steely narrative
horse and knocked us all down, shooting
its way straight to the top of the list. Not
only is the story one of the most compelling
that Rockstar has ever done, and lines up
neatly with the events of the previous game
without it feeling forced, but everything
around it is completely superb. Every single
interaction feels unique and real and makes
the world, and subsequently the story,
come alive. The smallest of details, like how
people will react differently depending on
how you look, how you smell, or what deeds
you’ve done, culminate in something truly
special. Even the expert lighting sets the
mood wonderfully. For a long time people
will be analysing individual elements and
emulating the things that are in Red Dead
Redemption II, and rightly so. Q

GAME OF THE YEAR AWARDS
2018
What a year it’s been, readers – perhaps the strongest
year in Xbox One history. We’ve travelled back
in time to Ancient Greece and the Wild West of
America. Driven around the UK while taking in all
the seasons, fought demons real and personal,
and survived a zombie apocalypse . Again.
We’ve seen videogames capture the zeitgeist and
enter the public consciousness like never before.
And we’ve never uttered the words ‘Battle’ and
‘Royale’ quite so many times. The Xbox One X has
made all of this look absolutely amazing, and even
non Xbox gamers have to concede that games
play better on Microsoft’s console. Yes, it’s been
an incredible 12 months , so join us now as we
celebrate the best of Xbox in 2018.

GAME THE YEAR AWARDS
HELLBLADE:
STATE OF SENUA’S
DECAY 2 SACRIFICE BATTLEFIELD V
PUBLISHER MICROSOFT STUDIOS / DEVELOPER PUBLISHER NINJA THEORY / DEVELOPER NINJA THEORY PUBLISHER EA / DEVELOPER DICE
UNDEAD LABS
Xbox-exclusive zombie Cracking hack’n’slash War is hell, or in this

survival horror viking adventure case hellishlhy good
Despite a buggy start to its life, Undead Labs’ While the Call Of Duty games have tended
Xbox-exclusive co-op survival horror game is to dominate this kind of FPS, EA’s flagship
one of the most atmospheric and ambitious battle games have always been the game of
zombie games going. Its harsh, roguelike choice ‘for those in the know’. The WW2-set
approach makes your attempts to maintain Battlefield V is a very fine game, building
and keep alive a community of survivors all impressively on the groundwork set by the
the more harrowing. excellent Battlefield 1.
There’s some great zombie design, while a With Spitfires and Messerschmitts roaring
genuinely intelligent management meta- overhead, tanks rumbling around you and
game adds to the fun you can have splitting everything getting bombed into rubble, it’s
dead skulls open with clubs and axes. As It’s not very often that a game like this truly thrilling stuff. The game provides some
much fun as it is mowing down the undead comes along. Ninja Theory’s action- long and involved skirmishes in impeccably
in vehicles as you and your mates tear adventure game combined fluid hack and designed maps. The single-player War Stories
around one of three distinct maps, it’s also slash combat with a touching representation are fantastic, while the standout multiplayer
a deeply engaging solo experience. As you of mental illness. The voices in Senua’s mode at launch is Grand Operations, which
build up your community, surviving human head, as she quests through Hell to save takes place over three days. It gives you a
and zombie threats is both challenging and her lover Dillion, doubt her; they push her real feeling of being part of a developing
rewarding. Losing any one of your community onwards, they laugh when she thinks she’s operation that plays out depending on how
is genuinely upsetting – each character, making progress and only occasionally help. well you’re fighting. A fourth-day Final Stand,
with their unique traits and personal needs Hellblade does its best to make you should both sides be at a stalemate, is
leading to potential conflict within the feel like you’re alone in the world. All the essentially battle royale with a shrinking map.
group, adds another dimension to the usual voices in your head make it painfully obvious Our reviewer was mightily impressed,
zombie-slaying. Breaking down in the middle how little human support surrounds you, noting “you won’t find a more harrowingly
of nowhere surrounded by zombies is all the their hoarse screaming when you’re fighting realistic and convincing emulation of what
more terrifying given that death is so final, being the closest the game gets to a tutorial. fighting in World War II would have been like”.
and you really feel like those scavenging runs But it works. Before launch, EA and DICE promised more
are of vital importance, keeping you playing Simple controls and only a basic light and game modes than were present at launch,
long into the night on any given session. A heavy attack give you the building blocks for including the Tides of War mode – but the
thoughtful game with depth and complexity creative and brutal combos, while a steep good news there is that it means there’s
that rewards your immersion. level of difficulty means no room for error, plenty more to come in 2019.
and eventually combat becomes a fluid,
instinctive flurry of patterns that’s second
nature. With story-drenched puzzles to
break up the intense hack-and-slashing,
it all combines to make Hellblade: Senua’s
Sacrifice a beautifully-paced exploration of
mental illness and inner strength. As OXM’s
reviewer noted, “if you don’t join Senua in
Hell you’re missing out on one of the most
thoughtful games available on the Xbox One”.

MONSTER
HOLLOW HUNTER
KNIGHT HITMAN 2 WORLD
PUBLISHER TEAM CHERRY / DEVELOPER TEAM CHERRY PUBLISHER WARNER BROS / DEVELOPER IO INTERACTIVE PUBLISHER CAPCOM / DEVELOPER CAPCOM
A little game, with an Follicularly-challenged Capcom’s creature

even smaller hero assassin returns feature comes to Xbox
Agent 47 is back with his briefcase to
follow the success of the episodic Hitman
reboot from a couple of years ago, and what
a comeback it is for ol’ baldy. Levels are
intricately designed and you could spend
hours dissecting each one, discovering new
opportunities and ways to carry out your hit.
They’re fantastically varied too, with sunny
suburbs, a sprawling jungle level with a drug
baron’s compound and a Miami-set motor
The best indie game of the year, for race level – each presenting an imaginative Capcom’s odd-ball beastie hunting RPG has
us – in spite of close competition from variety of ways to make your kill. There are been around for a while, but this is the first
the wonderful Dead Cells. However, this challenges throughout based around sniping time it’s come to Microsoft’s console, and
enchanting and surreal 2D adventure that targets from half a mile away, as well as we’ve been loving it. For those who’ve never
rewards exploration comes out top for us. opportunities to get up-close and personal. experienced the series’ campy brand of dino
Hollow Knight places you in the tiny boots The levels are densely packed and full of slaughter, here’s a typical session of Monster
of an unnamed insect knight in a world full life, like Mumbai, with its crowded streets, Hunter World. After creating a hunter with
of strange and wonderful creatures. The catwalks and bridges, sewers and catacombs the game’s awesomely exhaustive character
kingdom of Hallownest has fallen into ruin – all fully populated with NPCs and with so creator, you head out into thick, humid
and is now crawling with monsters and much to explore, so many opportunities to jungles, prehistoric deserts and gloriously
reanimated insect husks, and it’s up to you be found and lots of carefully thought-out gaudy coral-strewn canyons with the goal
to explore this dangerous but intriguing lines of sight. The AI is smart too. While of killing or capturing critters. You then have
subterranean world for yourself. disguises are a hugely fun part of setting up to scour the land for telltale signs of your
Its tactical combat, narrative and some hit opportunities, some of the game’s target monster – footprints, claw marks on
manner of exploration of its world respects NPCs know their colleagues’ faces too well, rocks – before you finally track down the
the intelligence of the player, while it’s presenting extra difficulty. We called it “a furry, feathery or scaly culprit.
challenging enough to please even Dark richly rewarding game, filled to bursting with You then enter into a lengthy fight to
Souls fans. things to do, constantly presenting new ways best the beast. It’s not all about the killing
On the face of it, Hollow Knight is a to play, and absolutely, positively the best though, you’ll get plenty of missions to
Metroidvania game, with unreachable Hitman ever”. Yes, it’s a hit! study or non-lethally capture monsters for
locations that are only accessible once research purposes too. The game can feel
you’ve obtained the correct equipment or daunting to newcomers, with some involved
ability, but peek below its surface and it RPG elements, but its expansive world,
reveals itself to be much, much more. While beautiful visuals and elaborately animated
the game does borrow heavily from many monsters are wonderfully distracting and
different games that have come before it, time spent with the game is truly rewarding.
it’s how it combines these elements and With an utterly convincing eco-system,
influences within, as our reviewer noted, in which you’ll witness those dinos quite
“a mysterious alchemy of game design” – happily existing around you, MHW is, if you’ll
making it just, well, perfect. excuse the irony, captivating.

ASSASSIN’S
FORZA SEA OF CREED
HORIZON 4 THIEVES ODYSSEY
PUBLISHER MICROSOFT STUDIOS / DEVELOPER PUBLISHER MICROSOFT STUDIOS / DEVELOPER RARE PUBLISHER UBISOFT / DEVELOPER UBISOFT
PLAYGROUND GAMES
Truly exceptional Xbox- Aaarrr third top game It’s all Greek to us… a
exclusive racer of the year is… superb open-world RPG
If there’s ever been a better driving game, If we thought last year’s Origins couldn’t
we don’t know what it is. Lush graphics, be topped, the latest Assassin’s Creed
layers of polish and accessibility for all just a year later has impressed us mightily
levels of gamer make this a real contender with its foray into Ancient Greece, and yet
for game of this generation, never mind of further into open-world RPG territory. Not
2018. Combining the fun of open-world only is its map vast, its visuals beautiful
racing – less serious and hardcore than and captivatingly authentic, but it has
the Forza Motorsport series – with online utterly engaged us with deep storytelling,
or offline competitive racing and petrol- wonderfully drawn characters and a plethora
head levels of handling accuracy (plus a of missions and activities that could keep us
huge variety of vehicles), this game has Rare’s open-world online multiplayer pirate playing until the next Assassin’s Creed. And
everything. We love that it’s set in the spectacular is a triumph of game design that’s another two years off.
UK too, with seasonal changes (no, it’s that is frequently amazing, and has kept on Kassandra’s, or Alexios’s, story allows for
not all rain), making the experience of improving with each successive update. At both a fluid and open style of preferred play
tearing round, free-play, or engaging in its its core, the game embraces the chaos of a but also at its core contains a wonderful
huge variety of challenges and races, an pirate’s life on the salty seas – be a pirate tale of revenge against an all-controlling
absolutely scintillating experience. (an ugly one, accept it), find treasure, go cult responsible for his or her traumatic
Jump in a rally monster, leave your on adventures and do a lot of sailing. That’s childhood events. Slick and intuitive combat,
viewpoint on the bonnet or in the cockpit and about it, but really, what more do you need free-running fluidity, assassin-sneaking, ship
you’ll feel the pressure of weaving a rally car from a pirate game? combat, horse-riding, exploring and puzzling
through a forest. Pilot a hypercar at insane Initially these seas of thieves felt a little, – it all adds up to an impressive though
speeds down a freeway, or just spend your well, empty. It takes a long time to sail in never over-reaching experience. Origins may
time tootling around the map in a convertible ‘real time’ between the map’s many islands, have innovated much of what you can do
admiring the landscape. but those seas are nevertheless beautiful in Odyssey, but this simply gets everything
Our reviewer described Forza Horizon 4 as and enticing as you sail around solo in a right. NPC encounters are richly rewarding,
“an ode to racing games that successfully sloop or in a crew aboard a galleon, digging while the narrative branching does enough to
infuses the social DNA of MMOs into its racer, up treasure and delivering chickens. It still make you feel as though you’re making your
while never skimping on the handling model depends on having good friends to play own adventure. And Spartan-kicking enemies
that makes their games so damned tactile”. it with consistently; being thrown in with off cliffs will never, ever get boring.
strangers is not as rewarding – and on
your own it can feel a little lonely. It has
admittedly divided the Xbox community for all
of the above reasons, but fans of the game
who have kept at it have undoubtedly been
rewarded for their time (and frequent loss of
ships, condemned by other pirates to Davy
Jones’ locker) with cracking updates like
Forsaken Shores bringing ever more joy to
your jolly sailors bold.

RED DEAD
REDEMPTION II
PUBLISHER ROCKSTAR GAMES / DEVELOPER ROCKSTAR
GAMES
Another cowboy classic

from Rockstar Games
Rockstar has done it again, delivering in
spades despite the sky-high expectations on
a follow-up to its still brilliant 2010 Western
game. While nods to classic Westerns are
still in evidence, the narrative and setting
somehow manage to avoid the obvious,
while mining a fertile mythology of the old
West and placing you convincingly in a world
that is authentic and genuinely immersive.
Arthur Morgan’s outlaw persona is yours to
play around with, as you choose to play as
a bad-ass or a big softie at heart, caught
up in the evolving history of America and
finding his place within a gang of likeable
outlaws. There are so many great characters,
from the members of Dutch’s gang to random
strangers you meet out in the world, that
playing the game is never short of a joy.
The pithy dialogue and sharp scripting that
arises from these encounters lives up to
expectations of a Rockstar game, while just
from a purely sandbox perspective, there’s
so much to do in Arthur’s world that hours
and hours of rewarding gameplay can be
had without even touching the main story
missions. Those story missions themselves
are brilliantly paced – as our reviewer
noted, “When it comes to stellar triple-A
storytelling, Red Dead Redemption II sets
scintillating new standards.”
Every part of the gameplay mechanics
impresses too – from the detailed horse
physics and behaviour to the wealth of
guns and superb combat, with crafting and
customisation and the meta-game of camp
management merely the icing on the cake.
Truly a once-in-a-console-generation
game, this is videogames as culturally
significant art. But more than that, it’s a
whole heap of cowboy-caper fun.

1 FORTNITE
2 FIFA 19
3 LASER LEAGUE
BEST
COMPETITIVE
GAME
In a year where The game that most captured The best football game this year, It’s a neon-lit, top-down sports
2018’s gamer zeitgeist. The free- with improvements to the actual simulator that pits two teams in a
online gaming really to-play Battle Royale is not only in-match gameplay finally equalling series of game modes where you
took off, the best of brilliant, it’s had game publishers its wealth of modes. And of course use laser nodes to create walls
those games face-off scrabbling to put a BR mode into there are those all-important of coloured death. It’s Tron with a
their own games. licences to consider too. splash of NFL Blitz, and it’s fab.
PUB EPIC GAMES / DEV EPIC GAMES PUB EA / DEV EA PUB 505 / DEV ROLL7
1 ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE:

SUMMERSET 2 DESTINY 2:
FORSAKEN 3 FAR CRY 5
BEST DLC
The best individual The MMORPG keeps giving thanks Bungie’s FPS is terrific, and this Ubisoft’s slightly po-faced FPS
to superb, meaty expansions like major expansion saw your Guardian narrowly missed out on the top list
updates of the year this one. Tons of new quests and avenging the death of Cayde-6 in a here, but its ingeniously imaginative
a vibrant new land of Elves and full campaign with new multiplayer DLC made the purchase of a season
Gryfons really added magic to the Strike missions and a new pass essential. Stuntmen, Martians
world of Tamriel. competitive Crucible mode. and Vietnam all featured.
PUB BETHESDA / DEV BETHESDA PUB ACTIVISION / DEV BUNGIE PUB UBISOFT / DEV UBISOFT
1 AGONY
2 PAST CURE
3 HELLO NEIGHBOR
WORST
GAME
We’d love to say A sludgy, plodding and genuinely We couldn’t find enough bad Frustrating enemy AI, horrible
unpleasant game filled with scenes words to say about this indie controls and game-breaking bugs
that all games of child murder and sexual assault. survival horror game with grand but led our reviewer to advise, “Avoid
are brilliant. As hideously awful as that already unachieved ambitions. “Max Payne it like you would a weird neighbour
But, clearly, sounds, the real agony came from suffering from senile dementia.” Ow. wandering around with murderer
actually playing the damn thing. PUB PHANTOM 8 STUDIO / DEV gloves on.”
they’re not... PUB PLAYWAY / DEV MADMIND STUDIOS PHANTOM 8 STUDIO PUB TINYBUILD / DEV DYNAMIC PIXELS
1 Red Dead Redemption II

READERS’ 2 Forza Horizon 4
3 Fortnite
CHOICE 4 Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
5 PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
6 Sea Of Thieves
7 Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
Your favourite 2018 games as 8 Hitman 2
9 FIFA 19
voted for on social media 10 Battlefield V

1 STRANGE
BRIGADE 2 OVERCOOKED 2
3 DIVINITY:
ORIGINAL SIN 2
BEST CO-
OPERATIVE
GAME
Sometimes it’s just Rebellion’s quirky, old-fashioned A cracking little indie sequel A deep RPG full of endless choices.
third person shooter proved that involving working together to cook Working together in your group,
better to play working together to solve puzzles, up orders in your sushi, burrito, playing to your individual strengths,
together… shoot monsters and collect power- pizza or burger restaurant. Added is what makes this game really
ups was still a great way to spend complications, like the kitchen come to as couch co-op or online.
hours of your time. Tally-ho, chaps! being on fire, add to the chaos. PUB BANDAI NAMCO / DEV LARIAN
PUB REBELLION / DEV REBELLION PUB TEAM17 / DEV GHOST TOWN GAMES GAMES
1 ASSASSIN’S CREED
ODYSSEY 2 HELLBLADE:
SENUA’S SACRIFICE 3 RED DEAD
REDEMPTION 2
BEST
STORY
Gaming’s about more A tale of separated siblings and Sensitively and intriguingly tackling Arthur Morgan may be the central
revenge against a shadowy cult mental illness while fleshing out character here but it’s the story
than just pressing X, that wronged them. There’s so what is essentially a hack’n’slash of Dutch’s gang as a whole that
as these games prove much to do in the game that you game is a mark of great narrative impresses. The backdrop of one of
can, and will, take the story at your design. We love Senua’s story, and the last outlaw gangs fighting the
own pace, and make it your own. we feel her pain. reach of law and order is amazing.
PUB UBISOFT / DEV UBISOFT PUB NINJA THEORY / DEV NINJA THEORY PUB ROCKSTAR / DEV ROCKSTAR
1 ARTHUR MORGAN
RED DEAD REDEMPTION II 2 SOKRATES
ASSASSIN’S CREED ODYSSEY 3 PALICO
MONSTER HUNTER WORLD
BEST
CHARACTER
The heroes and NPCs Despite his ‘everyman’ qualities, There are plenty of interesting While you’re off hunting you’re
and a wealth of brilliantly imagined characters to engage with, but followed around by a cute kitty
that made our gaming characters around him, Arthur’s none are quite so fun and frequently companion who isn’t as cute as he
lives better cynical wit and hilarious put-downs baffling as the philosopher, who will looks if you need help subduing a
of the various oddballs and idiots he suck you into a debate about the big iguana. We made our kitty look
encounters is priceless. meaning of, well anything at all. like a Skeletor cosplayer. Aww.
PUB ROCKSTAR / DEV ROCKSTAR PUB UBISOFT / DEV UBISOFT PUB CAPCOM / DEV CAPCOM
Chris Adam Warren Robin

OXM TEAM Burke
Red Dead
Bryant
Hollow Knight
Brown
Red Dead
Valentine
Monster
CHOICE Redemption II
It’s really got
I almost
couldn’t stop
Redemption II
I’ve certainly
Hunter World
Nothing
to be Red Dead II. Great playing this game, and played a ton of online beats the satisfaction
dialogue, engaging story, when I did, it’s all I’d think multiplayer games like of bringing down a big
The team’s top pick gameplay, everything. It all about. Everything from Fortnite BR and Sea Of horrible dinosaur with your
just works so well. Sorry, its art, game design and Thieves, but ultimately it’s mates – and turning its
of the year! everything else! soundtrack is superb. RDRII that gets my vote! skin into a hat.

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REVIEW
Thanks to Hitman 2 we’ve had to hide all the stationery from editor Chris, as every item has become a potential weapon
War. War never changes. As the saying goes. That

may be true but developers are certainly adept at
finding different ways to represent war, as can be
How we seen in this month’s review section. First off we share
score:
Can’t make sense of
our out-of-ten rating
our thoughts on the highly anticipated Fallout 074
system? Then see
below for your
76 and reveal what happens when you emerge from
at-a-glance guide.
10 A gaming
an underground vault following the devastation of
masterpiece
9 An essential slice of
nuclear war and you’re forced to communicate
brilliance
8 Give it a whirl and with other people. How has this once single-player
you won’t regret it
7 Some minor flaws series survived in the hostile and barren wasteland
but still good
6 Solid, but not
setting any
of online multiplayer? Find out on p74. Unlike
loins aflame
5 Average. Not
good, but not
the stealthy Agent 47, as he sneaks up behind 076
terrible either you brandishing piano wire, you’ll see this next
4 Honks just a bit
3 Look away, lest
ye be tainted
review coming a mile off. Check out our verdict of
2 Angry-makingly bad Hitman 2 on p76. We put the sneaky fella through
1 Just... no...
ß Titles with this his paces and see if he shapes up against his
symbol are on Game
Preview, so while they
aren’t finished, you previous episodic entry. Heading to the Second World
can still find out if
they’re worth playing. War next is our review for Battlefield V . DICE has
successfully combined everything it’s learned from 084
previous entries, but how does it (war) fare? Read
on to p84 to find out. Last but not least we have the
beautiful looking 11:11 – Memories Retold . For its first
EDITOR’S
CHOICE major game, Aardman Animations commemorates
Irrespective of score,
the Editor’s Choice the people of the First World War with a heartfelt tale
award is given to
games with the
quality, ambition or
from both sides of the conflict. Read what we thought
uniqueness to stand
out from the crowd. about the game on p88. 088
KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST OXM REVIEWS AT WWW.GAMESRADAR.COM/OXM

REVIEW
West Virginia governor Jim Justice proclaimed 14 November 2018 to be Reclamation Day in the State, in recognition of the game’s setting
PUBLISHER BETHESDA / DEVELOPER BETHESDA / RELEASE DATE OUT NOW / COST £59.99/$59.99
Fallout 76
FALLOUT’S FIRST ONLINE MULTIPLAYER FORAY IS BOLD BUT OFTEN BORING CHRIS BURKE
When we first heard At best, this is inconsistent, at developers have put on themselves
about a persistently ABOVE Finding a worst, Bethesda is kind of cheating. does, is to make Appalachia the most
online multiplayer Power Armor So there are none of the familiar raider lonely, soulless place ever created
shell is a big
version of Fallout, we gangs that used to provide ready for a videogame. Okay, so we get that
deal, but you
were excited. There still have to target practice, caps and gear in the post-apocalypse wouldn’t be
were some concerns, craft the Fallouts 3-4. But there are something much fun. But by taking away all of
individual
but we had faith if only because the called The Scorched – ghouls that the series’ rich character – from the
armour pieces
MMO version of the publishers’ fantasy to go on it. can use guns. So, the difference human survivors in Megaton to the
counterpart, The Elder Scrolls, is so from Raiders is only that they don’t sentient ghouls of Goodneighbour –
good. Surely, we reasoned, Bethesda talk as much. There are no human the Fallout universe is left hollow.
would invest its apocalypse with at NPC vendors to trade with. But there
the very least the things that work so are robots who have shops. So the Alone together
well in Tamriel? We were wrong, and difference from human NPC traders is… If Bethesda believes that players
as huge Fallout fans, that makes us they don’t talk as much. Ditto, quest would band together and create
particularly sad. givers – robots, not humans. Still their own human stories, it is
The conceit of Fallout 76 is that NPCs, but now lacking back stories overestimating its audience. Or
you and the 23 other players in your and personality. underestimating them. By creating
instance are the first humans out And there were human survivors instances of only 24 players with a
of the Vaults, 25 years after nuclear outside the Vaults, because there map the size of Appalachia, they’ve
armageddon – so you won’t find any are quests gleaned from letters created a world that’s emptier than
other human NPCs to interact with. and holotapes that will lead you to a politician’s promises. Most players
The idea being that this ramps up the corpses. There’s evidence of raider seem to want to just play the game
drama and survival imperative, as well gangs, and people surviving for years like they would the previous single-
as making you play with other real after the apocalypse. What happened player entries in the series, and be
humans to rebuild the world and make to them? Why is there nobody left? left alone to explore and discover the
your own personal stories. All that this odd constraint the world at their own pace, untroubled

by randoms. And since the map is or time-freezing way as the previous every two minutes of game time. Even
massive, you could play for hours and games. So all that happens is you after going to the trouble of boiling
never see a soul. ‘target’ in real time, which is only any the water, you still get radiation
While you can definitely play solo, good for irritatingly small creatures. At short poisoning, but if you don’t drink, you
it’s also really difficult to play alone. point blank range, your bullets often cut lose all your action points. You need to
Caps are hard to come by, ammo is don’t even hit – and feral ghouls run eat constantly too. You need to cook
super-scarce, and most enemies are straight at you the minute they see
WHAT IS IT? the food before it spoils, which it does
An MMORPG of the
hard to kill – ghouls and Scorched you. Without VATS, combat in Fallout brilliant post-
very quickly, and it gives you diseases.
attack in numbers, which can make it games is simply not all that great. apocalyptic Fallout It’s all a part of the ‘survival’ element
tough. Other wandering creatures like Most of the time you’ll be walking, series, that arguably of the game, but we’re finding it a
Radscorpions, Charred Feral Ghouls or and walking, and walking, and no one really, actually drain not just on our character’s AP
Glowing Ones are impossible to face reading letters from dead people. asked for. and health, but of our enjoyment. So
alone, at a low level at least, without Without a sense of any timely mission WHAT’S IT LIKE? tedious does this ‘reality’ become that
enough ammo or armour. imperative, it can feel… boring. For now at least, it’s it’s a wonder the game doesn’t make
Fallout’s VATS targeting system Worst of all though is the constant, like emptying your you regularly defecate, or have to fill
cannot, by the nature of this game miserable drain on your character. beautiful home of in tax forms, or watch the paint dry on
being a persistently online real-time You’re forever dehydrated and you people, turning off your camp structures.
experience, work in the same slow-mo need to chug a bottle of water roughly the electric and
talking to the fridge Hope springs eternal
for a couple of hours. It’s not all bad, though. Appalachia
WHO’S IT FOR? looks great, the map is impressively
We’re not sure. Fans huge, and the world is rich with detail
of Fallout’s for you to find, and quests to follow
single-player RPG that will lead you to uncover snippets
brilliance will be of Fallout lore. There are stories
disappointed; fans of
told through letters, terminals and
multiplayer games
holotapes that, with a bit of patience
like Fortnite will just
be bored. and persistence (and quite a lot of
reading), can turn into rewarding
quests. At its brightest moments,
finding and following threads of
LEFT Your story that reveal interesting if failed
portable C.A.M.P. human endeavours to survive the
lets you set up post-apocalypse, the game is still
a base with
crafting recognisably Fallout. The series
workbenches. has always been excellent at

REVIEW
The game features a map that is four times the size of that in Fallout 4. Which means a lot more walking, so get used to it
LEFT There are

robots in the
world still who
will sell you
stuff and give
you quests.
FAR LEFT You can

team up with,
trade with or
fight the other
humans you meet.
world-building and environmental

storytelling, and Appalachia is no
Today’s
S.P.E.C.I.A.L.s
“The ame is more polished), as that three-year-old
game. But for what Fallout 76 lacks by
exception. Even playing solo, it’s
engaging – but then every time we
S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats
return for Fallout 76
best played comparison, if you haven’t yet played,
or completed, Fallout 4 and all of its
start to get into the game, we realise
we’re desperately wanting this game
– Strength,
Perception, multiplayer wonderful DLC, we’d recommend that
over 76. For now, at least.
Endurance, Charisma,
to be Fallout 5, or a meaty expansion
to Fallout 4 – but it’s not.
Intelligence, Agility with friends The score we give below should
almost be our usual ‘B’ reserved for
and Luck. Previously
The game still feels like a work in
progress, though. And already, we
these were assigned
permanently, along
even one friend” games that are still in Beta – Fallout
76, to be as kind as we can to it, is
get a sense that the aforementioned with perks. This time, ongoing. The game and its world
lack of characters may be being when you level up griefing measures, that it would seem deserves more, and so do we. Those
addressed. Since we started playing, you’re able to choose players are actively avoiding each solid ideas that have already been put
we’ve met a wandering trader, a a card from a deck of other, just in case. in the game are a decent foundation
Perk cards and assign
friendly supermutant called Grahm – a – there just needs to be more to the
it to an attribute. You
talking, non-robot NPC. Additionally
can equip as many
Don’t shoot! wasteland. We’re holding out a lot of
some of the human corpses we’re cards as you like to To give it its due, the ‘murder’ idea is a hope for things like community-made
starting to find are… fresher. We would any attribute so long great one. To stop players being dicks mods, as we saw in Fallout 4, and
not be surprised to find some living as you don’t exceed in PVP and ruining the game, if you fixes, patches and improvements over
human NPCs starting to crop up in its point value. You keep shooting a player who doesn’t time. In a year’s time, this may even be
Appalachia. Actually, please make it can also swap out retaliate, until you kill them, you the best Fallout game ever.
so, Bethesda. your cards at any become a wanted murderer, visible as In the meantime though, we’re
As with Sea Of Thieves, the game is time, shuffling your such and available for other players going back to Fallout 4, because
deck to suit your
best played multiplayer with friends, to kill and claim the bounty. When frankly it’s just more human. Q
play style or the mix
even one friend. Working together to we spotted a nearby murderer, it did
of skills your team
explore, trade, craft and take on some may require. provide a little excitement. Shooting
of the Events (necessary to level up the miscreant dead gave us a reward,
and get caps and other rewards) and an achievement and a little bit of
more hostile areas of the map, brings momentary schadenfreude. But for
a whole other, less lonely, dimension the most part, it seems that players
to the game. It’s not so good teaming are so afraid of PvP interactions that OXM VERDICT
up with strangers, though. While everyone is avoiding other players like A bold experiment
everyone’s biggest fear before launch
seems to have been griefing, it’s
working out quite the opposite. So
effective is the game’s punitive anti-
they’re diseased. Which they may be.
Fallout 76 uses the same Creation
engine as Fallout 4 – it plays the
same, it looks the same (maybe a little
that hasn’t quite
paid off. Keep an
eye on it though,
it’s still got time.
6
REVIEW
There’s an in-game nod to Freedom Fighters, the rights to which are back under IO’s control
PUBLISHER WARNER BROS / DEVELOPER IO INTERACTIVE / RELEASE DATE OUT NOW / COST £50/$59.99
Hitman 2
EDITOR’S
BACK WITH A (SILENCED) BANG MARTIN KITTS
CHOICE
Although he spent baron’s compound hidden beyond a thing and somebody will call for help,
the early part of his subjugated village. A motor race level which inevitably escalates into chaos,
career whacking offers the chance to assassinate one and if frequent failures put you off
mobsters for cash, of the drivers at various points from short taking any risks it can be hard to see
these days Agent 47 grid to after-party while dressed as a cut exactly where you’re meant to pick
is firmly aligned with giant bird, and there are challenges up the thread of a mission. Hitman
the good guys. He still spends most of throughout based around sniping WHAT IS IT? Season One alleviated that problem by
his time arranging grisly and amusing targets from half a mile away. Stealth, intrigue and providing Opportunities – predefined
murder with a master
deaths, but in this eagerly awaited Disguises are the crowbars with sequences that would guide you step
of disguise.
follow-up to the wonderful episodic which you pry at a level’s defences, by step through a hit and show off
Hitman, our man breaks away from probing and pushing until something WHAT’S IT LIKE? some of the level’s coolest features.
his former paymasters in pursuit of gives and new possibilities are The pinnacle of a Hitman 2 comes pretty close to
a global conspiracy led by one of his revealed. Maybe you’ll be one step format that’s taken perfecting the format, rebranding
18 years to refine.
own anonymous clients. closer to the target, or maybe just them as Mission Stories and tying
After a beach-house taster that somewhere you can find a piece of WHO’S IT FOR? them more closely to the game’s
serves as an extended tutorial, what intel that will help further down the Newcomers will find plot – they’re essential for revealing
follows is a globe-trotting tour de line. But a select few NPCs know their this the best characters’ motives. They’re all
force of five intricately crafted levels, colleagues’ faces well enough to introduction to the available from the start of a level, so
ranging in scale from substantial to see through certain disguises, and world of Hitman. you can just pick one and follow it
absolutely humungous, any of which sneaking past these ones adds an without having to first uncover it via
could easily be considered a career extra layer of difficulty. exploration, and some even last for
highlight for this long-running series. the entirety of a multi-target mission.
There’s a sunny suburban tribute It’s a hit, man They don’t necessarily lead you by the
to one of Hitman: Blood Money’s Until you’ve got that initial foothold, hand, and there’s still plenty to figure
most popular missions, and a Hitman games have often tended out along the way – for example, one
sprawling jungle level with a drug to be a bit daunting. Do the wrong step in a lengthy Mission Story simply

“It’s a richly
rewardin
ame filled to
burstin with FAR LEFT Target
half a mile
thin s to do” away? No

problem.
ABOVE Tailing
a suspect,
completely
incognito. Have
you spotted him
yet? Oh.
LEFT No game
does crowds
quite like
Hitman. Some of
the locations
are teeming.
asks you to steal a necklace that’s GHOST TRICK of it fully populated with NPCs and over with the benefit of these new bits
the well-guarded centrepiece of a In Ghost mode two carefully thought-out lines of sight, and pieces (it’s also available as a DLC
museum exhibit, with no further hints players compete to every doorway with the potential to be pack for newcomers).
about how you might accomplish this. be first to silently explored and exploited. On top of all this, there are one-
assassinate a target.
After completing a level, rather than As in every level, once you move off Elusive Target missions, expert
The other player is
moving straight into the next one the always visible, so you
off the beaten track it becomes a Escalation hits that build over several
game directs you towards unfinished can see what he’s up playground where you can just have increasingly difficult rounds, a
Mission Stories that will reveal more to and how close he’s fun being as stealthy or as noisy as dedicated sniper challenge level for
about its characters and situations. getting, but he you please, with as much assistance one or two players, and a decent two-
Replaying with a fresh new approach actually exists in his as you like or with none whatsoever. player competitive mode. It’s a richly
is the only way to see the full extent own instance of the If you discover something great it can rewarding game, filled to bursting with
of these levels. While the main story game. Anything he effectively be recorded in Contracts things to do, constantly presenting
can be blasted through in perhaps does to his own NPCs mode and set as a challenge for other new ways to play, and absolutely,
won’t affect those in
10–15 hours, you could easily spend players to replicate. positively the best Hitman ever. Q
your game. When one
far longer than that dissecting a player makes a kill
single level and still not have seen without being Hide and shriek
everything it has to offer. spotted, the other There are a few mechanical updates
Few games are as densely packed gets 20 seconds to over Season One, such as the ability to
as Hitman 2. The Mumbai level, a repeat the feat, be concealed in crowds and bushes,
particular standout, has a bewildering otherwise a point is and functional mirrors on the walls
maze of crowded streets but also awarded. First to five that sometimes allow NPCs to spot OXM VERDICT
dizzying verticality. An unfinished wins; it’s best played you from another room. There’s also A fan-pleasing
skyscraper with a movie set halfway
up; apartments ripe with sniping
opportunities; catwalks and bridges;
sewers and catacombs below. All
with an actual friend
to minimise
rage-quitting.
the welcome re-emergence of a
briefcase for smuggling weapons, and
veterans of last season can import all
of the previous game’s levels and start
sequel that’s a
great game in its
own right. Take
aim at it.
9
PUBLISHER WIRED PRODUCTIONS / DEVELOPER CAGED ELEMENT / RELEASE DATE OUT NOW / COST £34.99
GRIP: Combat Racing

FUTURISTIC RACER SERVES UP FUGLY BUT FUN METALLIC MAYHEM DAVE MEIKLEHAM
Gravity is such desert slopes of Jahtra, gravity is a or other fanfare to bookmark your
a pain. Sure, the dirty word in GRIP’s universe. progress or celebrate your speed of
physics force may sound achievements. Yes, the amount
have made that Wrecking crew short of content is admirable, we just wish
Newton chap famous, Flipping the finger at traditional cut it had been put together with a little
but in day-to-day physics isn’t this speedster’s only more flair.
life it often sucks. Pushing a pram trick: violent power-ups also play their WHAT IS IT? Though blitzing through tiers can
A blisteringly quick
uphill. Dropping an expensive vase. part in races. In fact, entire modes are feel a touch grindy, at least GRIP
mesh of racing and
Forgetting to stick your handbrake dedicated to blasting the bumpers has a healthy selection of modes.
violent car combat.
on, then slowly careening into the car off other racers, both online and off. Standard contests are given added
behind you on a gentle incline. Screw Wreck your foes’ rides in crunching WHAT’S IT LIKE? flavour in the likes of Ultimate Race,
you, gravity. Thankfully, the G word arena deathmatches with piercing A modern day where your overall speed and attacks
is not something you have to worry Painkiller rockets. Shunt them silly Rollcage, with added on rivals reward you with points no
hatred for gravity.
about in this extreme sci-fi racer. with the Ramraider power-up. Use the matter where you are on the grid.
GRIP is certainly an apt name. The Disruptor to slow time for every other WHO’S IT FOR? Combat-free Speed Demon events are
futuristic speed buggies on display vehicle but yours, then exploit that Retro racing fans who refreshingly pure by contrast, where
are as happy racing on ceilings and rupture in the space-time continuum miss smashing rivals hitting every glowing green boost pad
curving walls as they are merrily to leave ’em for dead. With so many to pieces. becomes critical. Elimination and a
bundling over flat terrain. With each po-faced racers on the market, it’s lightning-fast take on a bomb mode
racer seemingly stuck to every surface refreshing to see a game embrace the round off GRIP’s generous suite of
by some sort of space glue, Caged chaotic carnage of the original Xbox’s contrasting contests.
Element throws twisting, vertically cult hit Flatout. Weirdly, Caged Element’s racer
stacked courses in your direction at It’s just a shame GRIP’s structure is even has a little Mirror’s Edge revving
every turn. Whether pulling off loop- far more conventional than its wicked away under its banged up bonnet.
the-loops above the seedy streets of on-course action. While the campaign The game’s cutely named Carkour
Orbital Prime’s District 404, or causing is generously stuffed – it’s composed mode consists of almost 20 devilishly
mini sandstorms with your monster of 11 increasingly difficult tiers – constructed obstacle courses; the
truck-style wheels on the aggressive progression is rote, with no cutscenes kind of sinisterly snaking tracks Sid

REVIEW
The game was inspired by Psygnosis’ old Rollcage games. Nope, we don’t remember them either
LEFT Keeping a
clean racing
line while
trying to blast
your foes can be
challenging.
“The handlin FAR LEFT Even
and impact the ‘easiest’

Carkour courses
are punishing.
of weapons Get ready for
all the
trial-and-error.
is weirdly RIGHT Exploding
rivals is fun
wei htless” and immensely
satisfying.
from Toy Story might make if you gave SPEEDSTER

the evil tyke his own twisted Scalextric STORIES
kit. Is it a cool idea? Absolutely. Does For a kinda crude
GRIP’s twist on footless free-running sci-fi speed demon,
actually work in practice? Not entirely. GRIP has a surprisingly
convoluted backstory.
A forever jittery camera constantly
In the game’s
disorientates every time you try to trickery, and the smashed-up results can be thrilling, yet in its duller
alternate, ultra violent
jump off a ramp onto another, even future, the street are seriously satisfying. moments, that flatly constructed
steeper surface. If you’re going to racing of the early campaign can really wear you down.
stick with Carkour, best have a sick 21st century Handle with care This is an old-school throwback to a
bag lying next to your Xbox One. eventually evolved Sadly, the general handling of these simpler time of crumpled metal and
Regular courses aren’t an into vicious vehicle customisable roadsters – you can apologetic vehicular smackdowns. If
unqualified success story either. GRIP’s contests only pirate tweak them with different liveries, you’ve been finding Forza entirely too
basic, blocky art style reflects the TV would cover. With paint jobs, and wheel types – is less polite, this helter-skelter hellraiser
drivers all taking a
game’s semi-budget price-point, but gratifying. For a game that involves could be right up your stupendously
share of the cut, soon
there’s little artistry in its generic sci-fi blowing futuristic cars to bits, the speedy street. Q
the emphasis turned
cities and samey deserts. At times, it’s to obliterating your overall handling and impact of
hard to believe this energetic racer is competitors to deny weapons is weirdly weightless. There’s
running on the same console as Forza riders said funds. The a general floatiness to proceedings,
Horizon 4. Yet while it’s certainly no whole sport and destroying rivals with rockets or
looker, at least GRIP’s environments eventually turned so mines never feels quite as punchy as
are pleasingly interactive. Stone murderously you’d like. Unrefined cornering also
columns and pillars can be targeted aggressive, racers jars at first, though this isn’t much OXM VERDICT
soon had to move An unpolished yet
with a well-placed rocket launcher, of an issue once you master the
and the resulting blast (with proper
timing) can send a heap of rocks
crashing down on an opponent. Pull
off such a piece of course-corrupting
off-world to host
events owing to the
pesky interference of
Earth’s military forces.
handbrake turn.
There’s no denying GRIP is a slightly
uneven package. At its best, its gleeful
brand of crunching chaos and carnage
endearing racer
that charms with
a dose of old-
school spirit.
7
REVIEW
Rugrats got an ‘all grown up’ spinoff, with 55 episodes. But here they’re just babies
PUBLISHER MAXIMUM GAMES / GAMEMILL ENTERTAINMENT / DEVELOPER BAMTANG GAMES / RELEASE DATE OUT NOW / COST £29.99/$39.99
Nickelodeon Kart Racers

WHO MUTED THE CHANNEL? JUSTIN TOWELL
Licensed kart racers

have long had a bad RIGHT It could
reputation, and with pretty much be
good reason. It’s anyone in those
jaunty karts.
all too easy to stick
some well-known
characters in go-karts, make some
tracks based loosely on their worlds
and add themed weapons, basically
copying the template that Nintendo
forged back in 1992 with Mario Kart.
Originality takes a back door while
the money comes rolling in. But even
at their most cynical, licensed kart
racers at least need to look and sound
like their source material. Nickelodeon
Kart Racers doesn’t.
It looks passable, though basic,
but it doesn’t even include character
voices. Nobody says “Hey Tommy,
I gotta idea,” or “Can I be excused
“The ame is full get a bucket of the stuff dumped
on your head while you celebrate on
for the rest of my life?” Instead,
characters communicate their dismay
short of reen slime. the podium. It’s an odd fixation, and
unsurprisingly very boring if you don’t
cut
or jubilation via a text box in the corner
of the screen. Whatever the reason –
What is it with like slime.
There are Grands Prix to enter,
WHAT IS IT?
licensing? – it’s just not good enough.
And with no announcer to keep the
A 1-4 player kart racer
based on four
kids and slime?” some of which are arbitrarily locked
away when you begin. They’re just
excitement up either, the branding Nickelodeon cartoons longer series of the same tracks and
becomes nebulous and the enjoyment of varying appeal. As you’d expect, you can pick up offer nothing new except increased
level plummets. items from boxes that litter the course monotony. Seven races into a series,
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
There’s a disappointingly small Every generic kart and – when you learn which object you’ll wonder if it’s possible to fail a
roster of racers, too, considering the racer ever. Seriously, does what – there’s a functional and race quickly and rely on already-won
wealth of cartoons that the company any characters could pleasantly frustration-free karting points to prevail, just so you don’t
owns. You get Tommy, Angelica and sit in these cars. experience to be had. have to endure another three laps.
Reptar from Rugrats (but no Chuckie), The karts control well, thanks to a It’s a pretty damning list of negatives.
WHO’S IT FOR?
Spongebob Squarepants with his Children who love
drift button that gives you a speed Poor use of a decent licence, basic
friends Patrick and Sandy Cheeks slime and Spongebob. boost depending on how long you can graphics and sound, no original ideas
(snigger), as well as Arnold and Helga Which is all children, hold your slide (familiar?), but there’s to speak of, samey circuits, a drawn-
from Hey Arnold! and all four Ninja apparently. little feeling of weight. Everything out upgrade system and no online
Turtles, who seem slightly out of looks and feels very basic, from the mode all add up to make this feel like
place. Not as much as their weapons, garish environments to the way the jet a cheap, fan-exploiting exercise. It’s
mind, which look sharp and lethal, fully ski sections just use a constant left not a complete disaster, but don’t put
rendered in this 3+ rated game. and right autowaggle on the steering up with crushing mediocrity just for
to convey being on liquid. All it does the sake of a license you like. Spend
is encourage motion sickness, and your money on something better. Q
makes cornering feel strange.
Going green
Speaking of liquid, the game is full
of green slime. Seriously, what is it
with kids and slime? Slime fans are
over-catered for here. Drive through OXM VERDICT
a green puddle to fill your turbo bar, Repetitive,
splash through a slime waterfall to
find a shortcut, ride a slime-powered
jet-ski across slime (perpetually filling
your slime turbo meter), and even
unoriginal and not
even voiced. Tommy
and Spongebob
deserve more.
5
REVIEW
A sequel to 2014’s similarly confusing Euro Fishing, this follow-up adds US lakes
PUBLISHER DOVETAIL GAMES/ DEVELOPER DOVETAIL GAMES / RELEASE DATE OUT NOW / COST £29.99/$39.88
Fishing Sim World

FUGLY FISHER HAS NO PLAICE IN YOUR COLLECTION DAVE MEIKLEHAM
Though we’ve never

tried our hand at LEFT Unless you
cardiovascular were born with
surgery, we’re a rod in your
hands, don’t
pretty sure it’s choose the Total
easier to master Cast Control
than real-life fishing. One member scheme.
of Team OXM spent his birthday this
past June trying to catch brown trout
in the teeming rain of the Scottish
Highlands, and the resulting six,
soaked (trout-free) hours scarred his
soul forever. Annoyingly, landing a
fishy in this thoroughly unwelcoming
bass-snagging sim is almost as tricky.
Dovetail Games specialises in
hardcore sims – see this year’s Train
Sim World – so it’s no shocker its take
on virtual angling is unapologetically
challenging. Yet where the studio’s
choo-choo adventure had a perversely
“We can’t While it’s obviously aimed at an
incredibly niche market, the most
endearing quality in spite of its po-
faced subject matter, Fishing Sim
short et past how damning reel we can cast in the
game’s direction is the fact its take on
cut
World is just flat-out boring.
It’s also terribly uninviting. For
perplexin its fishing is less fun than either Far Cry
5 or Red Dead Redemption 2. On the
WHAT IS IT?
a game with so many complex
mechanics, Dovetail does a terrible
A hardcore angler
that will put you
systems are” rare occasions you do hook a potential
catch, the resulting struggle feels
job of easing you into this fisher’s to sleep. strangely weightless, and certainly
confusing waters. Key tutorials are like a cheap and cheerful Xbox 360 less tactile than the two open-world
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
buried away in submenus where the title. What we can’t get past is how games we just mentioned. That both
Far Cry 5’s fishing
narrator does his best to befuddle minigame… minus perplexing its systems are. Just take those sandboxes manage to out-
your brain every step of the way. the fun. the game’s boats. While fishing on angle a specialist fishing sim with
There’s a quite ludicrous amount of larger bodies of water – like Lake throwaway minigames tells the whole
depth to this carp-catcher – not only WHO’S IT FOR? Johnson in the US – you sail around salmon story.
The one Xbox owner
do you have a wealth of lines and using a sonar to try and detect fish. If you’re really desperate for
who buys Angling
tackles to choose from, you can even Times.
Trouble is, said radar is about as horrendously hardcore fishing action,
fish with three rods at once – so the reliable as a Rolex made from silly putty, Dovetail has at least put together a
fact it callously throws you into the which makes finding bass, bluegills fairly generous package. A wealth
drowny end of the pool is unforgivable. and pickerels as easy as digging out of single-player tournaments and
a needle in a haystack the size of online contests could keep the most
Bass effect Europe. We don’t see a fish until we’ve committed digital fishers occupied for
As a budget title, we can almost been playing for 70 minutes. weeks. For everyone else, the fugly,
forgive Fishing Sim World for looking On rare occasions, the game’s terribly explained action will drive you
fastidious attention to detail pays back to catching Wild West catfish
off. The fact you can play with either with Arthur Morgan. Q
a golf-esque swing meter to cast
your rod, or a more accurate but
challenging analogue system with
the right stick, is certainly welcome.
There’s also a commendable variety
of fish. Not only are there dozens
of species in Fishing Sim World, but OXM VERDICT
each one is procedurally generated, Ugly, dull and
meaning you’ll never catch exactly the
same size fish. Although that said, we
have caught a lot of identical looking
carp in Grand Union Canal.
uninviting, this
miserable sim
deserves to sleep
with the fishes.
3
REVIEW
Battlefield V is the fifteenth major Battlefield game
PUBLISHER ELECTRONIC ARTS / DEVELOPER EA DICE / RELEASE DATE OUT NOW / COST £49.99/$59.99
Battlefield V
EPIC, TOP-QUALITY WWII SHOOTER ACTION – WITH BITS MISSING AT LAUNCH STEVE BOXER
EA’s Battlefield developer DICE has really gone to town vignettes covering diverse (and off
franchise has never with its trademark destructibility. the beaten track) engagements from
quite managed to When you’re deep into one of World War II. Under No Flag sees you
achieve the same its skirmishes, with Spitfires and short play an East End gangster recruited
mass appeal as Messerschmitts spitting fire overhead, cut to the nascent Special Boat Service.
Activision’s rival Call tanks rumbling around and the giant, Nordlys, meanwhile, sees you playing
Of Duty, so despite being Electronic impeccably designed maps bombed WHAT IS IT? a teenage, female resistance fighter
Arts’ flagship first-person shooter, to rubble, it provides the sort of thrill, A state-of-the-art, in Norway, and manages to achieve a
64-player World War II
it still manages to maintain an air often spilling over into terror, that you Scandi-noir vibe. And Tirailleur sees a
shooter with a
of being a game for those in the could imagine those participating in single-player
troop of French North African soldiers
know. And in particular, a game for the real war might have felt. campaign. push to liberate France.
those who prefer their multiplayer The War Stories have a pleasingly
shooting to take the form of large- Missing in action WHAT’S IT LIKE?
High-tech, visually
open-world structure that lets you
scale, plausible warfare, rather than But there’s a catch. In its eagerness adopt any number of play-styles,
sumptuous and nicely
claustrophobic, close-in shoot-outs. to show everyone what it would put and they give you a taste of various
fettled – but
Last year’s much-lauded, World War into Battlefield V, DICE ended up unfinished. multiplayer modes. They are eminently
I-set Battlefield 1 marked a change-up overpromising, and the result is that replayable, which is just as well since
for the franchise, and the good news big chunks of the game are missing at WHO’S IT FOR? none last longer than two hours, and
is that Battlefield V builds impressively launch. Most notably, the Tides of War Those who like their
there are only three at launch.
first-person shooting
on its good work. The World War II mode, a hugely ambitious live-service The standout multiplayer mode
to involve large-scale
setting seems perfect for Battlefield: attempt to create constantly shifting battles and diverse is Grand Operations. It mixes and
its weapons and vehicles are more large-scale campaigns. Firestorm, roles. matches various modes, such as
sophisticated and controllable than the game’s take on the battle royale Frontlines, in which the two sides vie
Battlefield 1’s equivalents, without format, won’t surface till March 2019. to push each other back to different
going over the top. It’s a technological Following Battlefield 1’s lead, War areas of the map. Grand Operations
marvel which looks astonishing, and Stories take the form of self-contained take place in one general vicinity,

“There’s one
drawback: it’s
only somethin FAR LEFT It can
feel downright
like 70 to 80 per scary when
you’re involved
cent complete” in one of these

missions.
ABOVE A fourth
war story will
see you play as
a German tank
commander.
LEFT The action,

for the most
part, leaves
you gagging
for more.
but play out over three days, which WHAT’S STILL The classes are spot-on, too, with indeed: you won’t find a more
gives you a real feeling of being part TO COME Battlefield’s customary emphasis harrowingly realistic and convincing
of an operation that is developing December 4 should on support, opening the game up emulation of what fighting in World
according to how well you fight. And if, have seen Battlefield for those whose fast-twitch skills War II would have been like. We
after three days, stalemate prevails, a V’s first major update, aren’t exactly the envy of others. The probably would have pegged it as
bringing the fourth
fourth-day Final Stand is added, which Support class, for example, lets you this year’s best first-person shooter
War Story – The Last
is basically a no-respawns battle resupply team-mates with ammo and but for one glaring drawback: it’s
Tiger – and a new
royale, complete with a shrinking map. tank-focused map build fortifications – a crucial role only something like 70 to 80 per
called Panzerstorm, when a map has been bombed to cent complete. It won’t have all its
World at war plus the Practice smithereens. Medics have a quick- elements in place until March 2019
Battlefield V launched with six maps, Range. The live Tides heal, which comes in handy at hotly at the earliest – by which time, it’ll
all of which are simply impeccable. of War service should contested pinch-points and in Team probably be cheaper to buy than it is
They are huge. Some of the modes, have arrived on the Deathmatches, in particular. now. So perhaps we’ll end up lauding it
like Team Deathmatch, don’t use their same date. Progression-wise, Battlefield V as 2019’s best first-person shooter. Q
A January 2019
full extent, but in modes like Conquest is logical enough, rewarding you in
update will bring the
and Domination, you might have to try particular for jumping between classes
Rush and Squad
to gain control of as many as seven Conquest modes, and making the most of vehicles. You
flags – pretty much requiring the use as well as the earn in-game currency at a pretty
of vehicles to get around. Battlefield co-operative glacial rate, though, and all you can
V’s multiplayer modes should cater to Combined Arms mode. really spend it on is shaders for your
pretty much all tastes, and are already And a third update weaponry. As with its predecessors, OXM VERDICT
sufficiently plentiful to keep you scheduled for March Battlefield’s matching feels pretty An excellent
interested for the duration. They felt a
tiny bit chaotic before launch, but DICE
managed to organise them in a more
logical manner in time for release.
2019 will bring the
Firestorm battle
royale mode, plus a
new Greece map.
decent – helped by the fact that
you’re generally in a huge battlefield
with 63 other players.
Battlefield V is a very fine game
shooter a little
compromised by
chunks missing
at launch.
8
PUBLISHER ACTIVISION / DEVELOPER TOYS FOR BOB / RELEASE DATE OUT NOW / COST £29.99/$39.99
Spyro Reignited Trilogy

CAN SPYRO SET THE WORLD ALIGHT ONCE MORE FOR XBOX? WARREN BRO
OWN
The diminutive with their associated inhabitants Switching between the original
dragon is back and environments, in great fidelity. 32-bit era graphics and this enhanced
in the form of a Graphically everything looks stunning, iteration would have been the icing on
remaster of his especially when compared side-by- short the cake but alas it’s not an option.
first three outings. side to the originals, and certainly hold cut The developers have instead included
Originally developed their own alongside modern adventure the ability to flip between the original
by Insomniac Games for the very first games. The worlds feel solid and well WHAT IS IT? musical score and the remastered
A remaster of the
PlayStation console 20 years ago, Toys realised, but coming off the back of compositions, and Tom Kenny reprises
original trilogy,
For Bob has resurrected the trilogy Skylanders: Imaginators some gamers his role as the young dragon. Acoustic
originally on PS1.
Xbox owners missed out on. may notice a lack of finesse. changes aside, the plot remains
Coming amid a wave of modern Younger players more used to the WHAT’S IT LIKE? intact and players are required to sit
remakes and HD re-releases, this toys-to-life games, itself spun-off Fast-paced fun that through short introductions to each
Spyro collection feels a little out of from this original trilogy, may feel doesn’t let up. game’s cartoonish antagonists such
place when compared to the more restricted as gameplay isn’t as WHO’S IT FOR? as Gnasty Gnorc, Ripto and an evil
universally appealing Crash trilogy diverse. Yes there’s many a mini-game Everyone, but it will sorceress rabbit named, er… Bianca.
by Naughty Dog. No doubt it’s an to spice up the repetitive nature of a best resonate with Spyro’s repertoire includes dashing,
attempt to cash in on gamer nostalgia collectathon, but the formula is much younger audiences. jumping, rolling and blasting short
while also appealing to the younger the same in each world – maybe that’s bursts of fire, but additional moves
Skylander audience – a shrewd move to be expected as being a remaster do become available in the second
to be sure and one that might just pay there’s no real surprises here. But and third outings. Retrofitting some of
off for the developers. should there be? the latter title’s abilities would have
Where the games do see a made for less restrictive gameplay
All scaled up significant upgrade is the controls, and wouldn’t have felt out of place.
Unreal Engine 4, along with the especially that of the camera, which After all it’s the faithfully recreated
power of modern consoles, has been is now mapped intuitively to the right worlds that offer a draw to returning
used to great effect. The remaster analogue stick. The results lead to a players, as many offer up tantalising
is exactly that: this collection serves more fluid in-game traversal; speeding glimpses of out-of-reach platforms,
up the original games, complete up exploration significantly. the landscape itself becoming the

REVIEW
Returning to a cleared area re-spawns the bad guys. Re-defeating them is the key to building up a reserve of extra lives
ABOVE The dragon

elders in the
first game now
have unique and
varying
characteristics;
an improvement
over the
original.
“There’s a love FAR LEFT Look at
of the ori inal him! He’s cute

even when angry!
trilo y evident in RIGHT Some

worlds can feel
a bit empty
this thou htful thanks in part
to the games
faithful
remake” recreation of
the levels and
inhabiting NPCs.
puzzle to solve. This coupled with the GUIDEBOOK

‘always-winning’ reward mechanic GLUTTON
which grants a constant flow of rapid Players can access
pick-ups and easy-to-defeat enemy Spyro’s Guidebook via
types, means the younger generation the menu and it’s the
best way to keep
will be engaged for many hours.
track of progress as
Worlds such as Sunny Flight and There’s a love of the original trilogy
the game’s HUD is
Sparx a’ flyin surprisingly sparse. Crystal Flight act to offer up a bit of evident in this thoughtful remake, and
Spyro controls extremely well and Everything Spyro diversity as mini-games wrapped in the addition of skill points that unlock
rumble has been used to great collects, rescues the premise of teaching Spyro to fly. bonus art galleries demonstrates a
effect. Players will feel every thud and retrieves is The objective is to stay airborne by rewarding level of fan service. Perhaps
of those dragon paws, and his fire recorded in it. completing certain activities such as more importantly this collection offers
attack now feels suitably hazardous, Completionists will destroying enemies and collecting a chance for the whole family to (re)
singeing grass, foliage and wildlife revel within its pages. items while maintaining a time-based experience the fun together. At a time
alike. Players can happily toast the flight mode. Controls aren’t as intuitive of year when many will be enjoying
local native fauna, causing the likes as Spyro’s ground-based frolics but their new Black Friday 4k tellies. Q
of innocent bunnies and birds to the levels do add a welcome change
be resurrected as butterflies, only
nly pace.
of pa
for your dragonfly sidekick Sparxx to It takes careful
eat them. His representative attention to your surroundings
colour acts an intuitive health to locatee all the hidden areas,
counter. When Sparx is yellow let alone access them, and
Spyro is at full strength, get a achieving 100% for every world is OXM VERDICT
knock from an enemy and he’ll quite demanding. Gaining height is A single-player
go blue, then green. Spyro can
take three hits safely until Sparxx
disappears. One subsequent hitt
will see Spyro lose a life.
the main challenge and requires
the player to glide
a landscape in
g to key points in
n order to progress
to higher ground.
adventure that
comes pretty close
to that magic
‘plumber’ formula.
8
REVIEW
The first recorded incidence of the conflict being referred to as “the First World War” was actually as early as September 1914
PUBLISHER BANDAI NAMCO / DEVELOPER AARDMAN ANIMATIONS/DIGIXART / RELEASE DATE OUT NOW / COST £24.99/$32.99
11-11: Memories Retold

CELEBRATING THE ARMISTICE CENTENARY IN GAME FORM STEVE BOXER
11-11: Memories first-person shooter as you can get experience when wading through the
Retold is a classic (indeed, neither of the characters you deep mud of Passchendaele.
example of a game play in it wields a gun). Gameplay- Story-wise, Memories Retold sees
that simply can’t wise, it occupies point-and-click short you constantly flip between two
be judged using adventure territory, along similar lines cut characters: Harry is a young, naive
the usual criteria. to Telltale Games’ output or the likes Canadian engaged by the gruff and
It has an agenda which couldn’t be of Life Is Strange. WHAT IS IT? rather self-seeking Major Barrett to
further from the average game’s But the first striking aspect A point-and-click- generate a photographic record of the
style, story-based
desire to make money via providing of Memories Retold which leaps war. Kurt, meanwhile, is a German we
evocation of the first
entertainment (although it still does out at you is its visual style. It is modern global
first encounter working in a zeppelin
the latter and will hopefully find an impressionistic in a literal sense: conflict. factory. On hearing that many of his
audience, providing the former). Aardman Animations developed a son’s regiment have been killed, he
Instead, it aims to commemorate and style which it describes as a “living WHAT’S IT LIKE? becomes overwhelmed by an urge to
Emotional,
educate, providing a snapshot of the painting”, so its graphics appear to find out if he is still alive, so enlists.
impressionistic and
realities of World War I, having arrived be composed of brush-strokes which with a fable-like
ahead of the centenary of that terrible bubble and flow, as if they were being quality: yet it Marvellous team-up
war’s Armistice Day. painted by Monet or Turner in front of maintains the ring The narrative has a fable-like quality
Aardman Animations sees itself your eyes. The element of blurriness of truth. (particularly when both Harry and Kurt
as a storytelling company – as any that imparts shields you from explicit find themselves together and bonding
fans of Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the depictions of blood and gore but
WHO’S IT FOR? with animals), but it still manages
Anyone for whom the
Sheep et al will testify – and Memories somehow it adds to the game’s First World War is
to ring true. More importantly, it
Retold is its first substantial attempt impact, forcing you to contemplate merely a barely- explores important wartime themes,
to use a videogame as its narrative more deeply the horror which is remembered war such as losing family members, the
medium. It’s important to emphasise depicted. There’s a tactile aspect to which happened a gulf between seeking glory and the
that Memories Retold is a story-based the game, too: for example, you really century ago. squalid reality of war, commitment (or
game – it’s about as far away from a feel the difficulty the two protagonists otherwise) to the reasons for going to

“It harnesses
the storytellin
power of FAR LEFT The
‘brush strokes’
video ames to effect is not
only beautiful
full effect” but blurs some

of the horrors.
ABOVE Bonding
with animals
helps the
characters find
humanity.
LEFT The action

takes place on
sea as well as
on dry land.
war, buttoned-up social sensibilities THE MUSIC equipment and eavesdrop on the war. The recent centenary of the 1918
of the age, the dangers of seeing OF 11-11 enemy from tunnels beneath the Armistice at least brought the Great War
an enemy as a real person and the 11-11: Memories trenches. Both characters must solve back into the public consciousness,
intensity of friendships that arise Retold gains even puzzles and navigate story-altering but there’s a prevailing feeling that
during war. more impact from its conversations; you must also help Kurt in recent years, a generation has
soundtrack, which
with the letters he writes to his wife grown up largely unaware of what
manages to be both
Hidden depths winsome and
and ailing daughter, which will colour took place between 1914 and 1918.
It’s sensitively worked and frequently haunting, feeding their view of him. 11-11: Memories Retold redresses that
very affecting – as well as extremely beautifully off the Plus there are large amounts of imbalance in an immersive manner
educational, and unafraid to bust peaks and troughs of collectibles, represented as notes, which the young, in particular, will be
myths (for example, Harry strikes up a the storyline. It was hidden around the levels, which give able to relate to, without glossing over
friendship with an Indian soldier, one composed by you access to real artefacts from the or whitewashing any of the Great War’s
of a vast number of often overlooked renowned French war, each with an accompanying story, more horrifying aspects. It’s a powerful
subcontinental troops to have composer Olivier such as scanned photos, posters and educational tool indeed. Q
Deriviere, and
fought in the Great War). It takes in a signs. Collectively, they constitute
recorded by the
number of locations, with Vimy and a huge and sobering library that
Philharmonia
Passchendaele to the fore, and builds Orchestra at Abbey conveys the scale of the war. And they
up to two possible, hugely emotional, Road Studios, with add considerable replay value, which
endings as the Armistice finally arrives. some added choral is welcome since, in keeping with its
In terms of gameplay, Memories sequences (for which price-tag, Memories Retold is pretty
Retold substitutes variety for fast- Deriviere himself short at roughly six hours’ gameplay. OXM VERDICT
twitch action. Harry has photography wrote the French Memories Retold is a beautifully An effective,
duties to fulfil, which often involve
ducking and diving to avoid snipers
and elements of stealth. Kurt, an
engineer, must fix various items of
lyrics) that ramp up
the emotions at
key moments.
constructed vignette which harnesses
the storytelling power of videogames
to full effect, and provides a visceral
and emotional depiction of that bloody
immersive,
emotional and
unbiased depiction
of World War I.
8
PUBLISHER FOCUS INTERACTIVE / DEVELOPER CYANIDE STUDIOS / RELEASE DATE OUT NOW / COST £49.99/$59.99
Call Of Cthulhu
LOVE LOVECRAFT? YOU’LL LOVE THIS… CHRIS BURKE
“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh of Darkwater, off the coast of New cultists conducting bizarre rituals
Cthulhu R’lyeh England. Sarah Hawkins was an artist in dank caves. He’s also up against
wgah’nagl fhtagn!” with disturbing vision; her paintings some pretty strange locals, violent
No, that’s not oddly prophetic and depicting some short bootleggers and incompetent police.
predictive texting seriously wacko imagery. cut But there are also friendlies who
going wrong, but Darkwater is a remote, jagged reef will help you. Interactions with all of
the cultists’ mantra in HP Lovecraft’s island whose business used to be WHAT IS IT? these NPCs will reveal clues, open up
First-person survival
classic tale that gives its name to whaling, and is now full of drunk, dialogue branches, and allow you to
horror based on the
this survival horror. Cthulhu is a unemployed fishermen. From here, you progress in different ways. There’s no
work of 1920s horror
gigantic, evil cosmic entity with an must piece together what happened genius HP Lovecraft. manual save, so you can’t reload if
octopus head, dragon wings, claws to Sarah, talking to NPCs, searching you think you got it wrong – instead
and a humanoid body, who’s sleeping for clues and piecing together events WHAT’S IT LIKE? you’re stuck with the choices you’ve
in a sunken city called R’lyeh. That using Pierce’s detective skills. When Call Of Cthulhu: Dark made for better or worse. Replaying
Corners Of The Earth,
unpronounceable mantra means “in prompted at certain key locations, the game from the start did indeed
on original Xbox, Alan
his house at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu lies you enter into a reconstruction mode Wake and other
reveal some interesting different
dreaming”. Shhh! We don’t want to – similar to Batman Arkham Knight – thoughtful survival outcomes and ways to get around
wake him up now, do we? Or… do we? to reconstruct a still, ghostly image horror games. blocked paths or reveal other clues.
Choice is at the centre of this stab of events past. Clues revealed lead Role-playing is in the DNA of the
at first-person Lovecraftian horror, to individuals and locations, such WHO’S IT FOR? game (it’s based on Chaosium’s
Fans of Lovecraft,
and how you choose to play the game as warehouses on the dilapidated games involving
brilliant tabletop RPG) and you build
will shape character interactions, harbourside, the sprawling Hawkins investigation and up skills with acquired character
narrative branches and, ultimately, the mansion and a creepy old hospital. horror games. points which will allow you access to
fate of mankind. No pressure. certain narrative or action choices. For
It’s 1924, and as Boston private eye Ghastly visions example, having a higher Investigation
Edward Pierce, you take on a case Pierce is hampered by his own skill will allow you to pick locks. If you
for an industrialist who wants you to deteriorating mental health. He’s don’t have that, those locked doors
investigate the death of his daughter troubled by weird, likely-prophetic will remain shut, requiring you to take
Sarah and her family on the island dreams featuring as-yet faceless a different approach. Eloquence will

REVIEW
Lovecraft is famous for his ‘Cthulhu Mythos’ though he never used the term, calling it the ‘Arkham Cycle’. No relation to Batman
LEFT Captain
Fitzroy is a
salty old sea
dog. Which you
can tell from
his hat.
“Visually FAR LEFT
the ame is “Actually, know

what? I changed
my mind, I’m not
atmospherically going in there!”
RIGHT Things can

lit and rich get a little
strange in
the mind of
in detail” the game’s
protagonist
Edward Pierce.
allow you to charm your way through WHERE’S

a situation, making some NPCs R’LYEH?
more pliable. Medicine and Occult Cthulhu’s resting
knowledge cannot be allocated CP, place, the sunken city
though, but are built up through your of R’lyeh, is discovered
by a Norwegian sailor
discoveries.
in Lovecraft’s story. Its
Pierce has a gun, though you’ll as most of the time you’re simply believable. The game’s denouement
location is in the
rarely be firing it. Even if in some South Pacific, and is forced to guess. Puzzles in the normal – however you choose it will end – is
situations your gamer sensibilities considered by some world are similarly trial and error. faithful to Lovecraft’s work and its
make you yearn for that gun-sight, Lovecraft scholars to Whether it’s a choice of four control- sense of hopelessness in the face of
the first half of the game features no be round about Point wheels to turn, or one of four paths to vast, incomprehensible cosmic forces
‘action’ as such. Most often you’ll be Nemo, the furthest take, there are no clues to be gleaned, acting on the will of man.
wielding your Zippo or a gas lantern point away from land. and each time the game had us fail At around 10-12 hours it’s not long,
to help you see into the gloom as you This mid-ocean three times before our very last choice but it does have a story to tell and it’s
nowhere is known as
hunt for clues. bore fruit. a nice break from all those open-world
the “oceanic pole of
Visually the game is rich in detail games eating your life up right now. Q
inaccessibility”
The horror… – roughly 1,000 miles and atmospherically lit, evoking both
This is a survival horror game first and equidistantly between the time period, dark foreshadowing
foremost, and there are some early the Pitcairn islands, and harsh coastal geography, though
jump-scares – things seen lit briefly Easter islands and panning the camera around can be
by a lightning flash, for example – but Maher Island off the a little jerky. Characters models are
in the best traditions of HP, the terror coast of Antarctica. slightly spoiled by some poor mouth-
is in the unravelling of the truth, and Given that it’s syncing, while during conversations OXM VERDICT
reckoned only 5% of An atmospheric
the effect it has on Pierce’s sanity. NPCs have a tendency to flail their
Some sections are played out in
surreal dream sequences involving
dimension-bending puzzles – but
these aren’t enjoyable or challenging
the ocean has been
explored, who’s to say
Cthulhu isn’t out there
somewhere? Shiver.
arms around over-expressively.
The voice acting is decent, though;
it’s well-scripted with the principal
characters’ emotions and motivations
survival horror with
an engaging story
that’ll appeal most
to Lovecraft fans.
8
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extra
It may not seem long since we were reviewing Lara

Croft’s latest adventure in OXM, but we feel it’s been
unfairly buried under a collapsing temple’s worth
of new games – and figured it was time to revisit
the third in the newest Tomb Raider series. We love 096
some of the ideas in Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
(p96), such as the sliding difficulty scale, but will
the slickness and clever touches be enough to help
the game become a classic? Talking of which, our
Retrospective feature, in which we recall classic past
Xbox games, this month focuses on Silent Hill:
Homecoming (p100), a more ‘westernised’ entry in 100
the series that appeared on Xbox 360 back in 2008.
We also take a look at an intriguing game you may
not be familiar with, Hand Of Fate 2 . It’s a deck-
building, ah no, wait, an RPG… no, it’s a survival
game – ah, just go ahead and read why we’re fans
on page 98. A Way Out was one of our favourite
cooperative games of 2018, and we revisit our
favourite scene in the entire game in Why I Love
106
PLAY NOW the hospital chase in A Way Out (p106). Finally, it’s
ON XBOX ONE
BACKWARDS
always raining outside OXM Towers. Being Brits, rain
COMPATIBLE
is a major source of conversation and a big part of
Keep an eye out for
this badge over the
next few pages: it
our lives. So grab your brolleys as on page 108 this
indicates when a
game of old can be month we run down the 10 Best Games for lovers of
booted up in shiny
Xbox One-o-vision. rain . Drip, drip, drip. Adam! The roof’s leaking again! 108
CHECK OUT OUR VAST LIBRARY OF XBOX FEATURES AT WWW.GAMESRADAR.COM/OXM

extra
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider’s sliding difficulty was one of its

more intriguing ideas, but did it work? ALEX NELSON
PUBLISHER SQUARE ENIX / DEVELOPER EIDOS MONTRÉAL / FORMAT XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE SEPTEMBER 2018
NOW PLAYING
Looking back on
the year that was
2018, it feels like
Shadow Of The
Tomb Raider’s
September release
has been rubbed
out of memory somewhat by bigger,
more event-like game releases.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey captured
people’s attentions for weeks on end,
then Red Dead 2 came along and was
even more of an immersive open-world
experience that held the attention
of the zeitgeist much longer. Lara’s
latest? Yeah, it was good, and had
people talking until Ubisoft’s historical
epic came along, but any lasting
legacy has been diminished. That’s a
shame, because Shadow Of The Tomb
Raider is – for the most part – solid.
Yes, while the story is a garbled
mish-mash of Incan folklore and
occult factions, wholly confused about
whether it wants to be a blockbuster
action epic or a thoughtful exploration
puzzler, if you liked the previous
entries, this one will have you similarly
entertained. There’s some good
ideas in there: I found myself pining
for more than one section in which
you play as a child Lara, where the
platforming gets macro and you’re
faced with just as much danger, only
you might be balance-beaming over
a sandpit, not a pit of deadly wolves.
Something else that got people talking
before the game’s release was its you don’t want things to be too hard’ and does away with checkpoints,
sliding difficulty scales, which allow testing that you come across a virtual requiring you to seek out Souls-like
players to customise their experience impasse on a regular basis. bonfires for a well-earned save.
by adjusting the difficulty in combat, At those higher difficulty levels,
puzzles and exploration. Debris slide resources are abundant enough that
Easy combat means enemies go Things shouldn’t feel unfair either, the you’ll rarely find yourself scrabbling
down quicker and resources are more game should encourage you to master around for ammo, and once you’ve
copious. Simple puzzles give you hints its systems and use your previous got the game’s shallow stealth
and markers when you might need experiences to overcome the next systems figured out, you’ll be deadly
them, and painless exploration means hurdle – when a game pulls the rug huntressing your way through
your critical path is always clear. out from under your feet by changing the game’s relatively few combat
Ramp those three up to hard, and you things dramatically and shoving you encounters with ease. Because of
can expect bullet-spongier enemies, into a brand-new scenario (like a this, the game never gave me reason
hintless puzzles and nothing telling particularly cheap boss fight), it can to splash out and fill out Lara’s skill
you where you need to go next. feel disappointingly dishonest. But tree, and I actively stopped cashing
It can be tough to get difficulty in somewhat dishearteningly, Shadow in Skill Points for new abilities at a
games right. On the one hand, you just isn’t all that difficult even when certain point (why bother upgrading
might want a stiff challenge to test you’ve opted for the ‘Rite of Passage’ my bow and arrow skills when I maxed
your mettle, but at the same time, difficulty, which locks all three to ‘very out an assault rifle a few hours back?).

The game seems to be intent on
pushing you forward through an “I had to sneakily ad ust the ABOVE Even at
action-packed campaign as much
as possible. But there’s a disconnect difficulty to allow me to reveal items its hardest
setting, Shadow
Of The Tomb
between a Tomb Raider game that
favours exploration over combat – as with my Survival Instincts” Raider is an
easy game to
get through.
Shadow does – and one that wants
you to buff Lara up into a merciless detritus, it can be difficult to see where to complete the next task, usually FAR LEFT The
game’s murky
killer as quickly as possible. The the next puzzle-critical object is. telegraphed to you by some heavy- atmosphere and
option to adjust puzzle difficulty Several times I had to sneakily handed design. But there are a few rubble-strewn
in a game is one I can’t adjust the difficulty to allow good ones in Shadow Of The Tomb environments can
make it difficult
remember seeing in recent me to reveal items with Raider – most notably one involving to work out
times but playing Shadow WHAT IS IT? my Survival Instincts, light beams and mirrors and moving where you need
it slowly dawned on me The final instalment of which confirmed I’d got platforms – that give you room to to head next.
why that might be – it Lara’s origins trilogy a puzzle’s solution in make wrong assumptions about their
doesn’t really work. is let down by stale my head, I just couldn’t solutions and forcing you to backtrack
gameplay, but it’s still
Setting it to easy a bombastic action- see what it was I knew to undo your mistakes. Solving them is
will have Lara pointing adventure affair. I should be looking for. made all the more satisfying.
out what the next course Unlike a dedicated puzzle Shadow Of The Tomb Raider is
of action may be through game like Portal or QUBE, still worth playing. It’s entertaining
not-so-subtle hints, and your there’s no consistent logic to enough, and has that sweet AAA
Survival Instincts vision will reveal the Tomb Raider’s mentally challenging backing behind it to make it a slick,
items and mechanical wotnots you’ll sections, no central concept that’s big-budget videogame. It all looks and
need to make it through; it saps the gradually expanded upon. So you’ve plays nicely – though occasionally
challenge away almost entirely. no chance to learn the ‘rules’ and Lara’s floaty handling coupled with
use them to your advantage: one an unclear path forward thanks to
Puzzling options minute you might be raising and those difficulty sliders did lead me
On hard, the puzzles are almost lowering water levels, the next you to an unexpected death – and the
too hard. It’s all well and good that could be using the wind to manipulate few bouts of combat there all feel
videogames’ worlds get more lifelike swinging pendulums. good. It’s just shame that the final
and ‘lived in’, which essentially means Few of the Tombs allow you to instalment of Lara’s ‘origins’ trilogy
more clutter strewn about to give make mistakes either, playing out in a concludes with less of a bang than
the impression of a real-world place, typically linear action-adventure game its previous two entries, and it already
but when you’re looking for the next fashion where you’re not so much feels like a Tomb Raider reboot could
piece of a puzzle through a filter working things out as making your way be on the cards – just five years after
of centuries-old, South American through a room, stopping occasionally the previous one. Q
PLAYED ANYTHING GOOD RECENTLY? COME SHARE IT AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/OXMUK

extra
Trying to describe Hand Of Fate 2 is impossible,

and that’s why it’s so brilliant HAL TARRARE
PUBLISHER DEFIANT DEVELOPMENT / DEVELOPER DEFIANT DEVELOPMENT / FORMAT XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE NOVEMBER 2017
NOW PLAYING
I’ve found myself vaguely dreading
the notion of someone asking me
what game I’ve got on the go at the
moment. “Playing anything good?”
Here’s where I’d smile, because I’m
playing something very good. “Yes,
actually, Hand Of Fate 2!” About
here is where I’d begin to realise the
ramifications of what I’ve said, and
my smile would drop. “Oh yeah, what
d’you do in that, then?” It’s at this
point that I’d totally lose confidence,
because Defiant Development’s
second crack at this series is among
the most bafflingly convoluted gaming
inventions of recent years. Explaining
it is a nightmare.
I mean on the most basic level, you
could call it a deck-building game.
After all, it’s played across a table
with an AI character who deals you “No matter how hard the ame
cards, rewards you with more cards,
and asks you to play again with better is to explain Hand Of Fate 2 is
combinations of cards. But then
again, those cards actually represent somehow never confusin to play”
a dungeon-crawling RPG – some
represent locations and encounters, campaign? Well then it takes on the from the wood-cut map you choose
others weapons, or enemy types, or form of a roguelike, offering you new campaigns from, to the chunky
companion characters. But, when ways to play, or special objectives, golden miniature that represents
you think about it, isn’t this a text even as you fundamentally do the your character. Its battlegrounds
adventure at heart? After all, actually same things again. I’m exhausted just are pleasingly varied, and often lit
playing that RPG is a matter of reading thinking about how Defiant pitched like fantasy novel covers. Best of
miniaturised stories of fantasy this thing in the first place. all, there’s a real childlike magic to
adventure – fighting goblins, seeing a simple card you’ve picked up
looting treasure, taking down Practical magic suddenly transformed into 3D items.
evil empires – with twists WHAT IS IT? The mad genius at work The maxim that ‘less is more’ simply
and turns based on your A magnificent here is that, no matter doesn’t apply to Hand Of Fate 2. It’s
responses to those hodgepodge of ideas how hard it is to a generic gumbo, ideas tossed into
situations. drawn from other explain, Hand Of Fate the pot from any number of disparate
videogames and far
But reaching those 2 is somehow never sources, each one making the rest
beyond, that somehow
card-contained stories coalesces into confusing to play. After more excellent as a result. There is
scattered on the something special. a short tutorial campaign, simply nothing else like it. You should
tabletop? Well that most you’re immediately thrown play Hand Of Fate 2, too. Maybe just
often comes down to survival into the giddy labyrinth of avoid any conversations about it. Q
game resource management. Have the game proper, and you’ll have
you got enough food to make it to the a handle on it immediately. It’s a
next town? Do you risk spending your knotty little thing, performing the time
scarce coin on a shiny new weapon travel trick of truly excellent design by
when your HP’s so low? But wait, your somehow making a bitesize structure
HP’s only that low because this is also into an unbelievable timesink.
an Arkham-like brawler, occasionally It looks beautiful, too. It’s very easy
transforming you, your items, and your to imagine another studio adopting
enemies into muscly little 3D models, a much more minimal aesthetic and
and asking you to smash out combos achieving similar results, but Hand
and counters to get through it all. Of Fate 2 is frequently gorgeous. The
And when you’ve died or finished a tabletop itself is appealingly tactile,

extra
We revisit a misspent youth playing Ninja Gaiden Black

and try to recreate some of that old black magic ALEX SPENCER
PUBLISHER TECMO / DEVELOPER TEAM NINJA / FORMAT XBOX / RELEASE DATE SEPTEMBER 2005
NOW PLAYING
Once upon a time,
when I was young
and still had all
of my faculties,
I bested Ninja
Gaiden. The game
was the Dark Souls
of its day – an unforgiving hack-and-
slash where the smallest mistake
could mean instant death. The victory
was a rare jewel in my gaming crown
because, over the years, I more or less
gave up on games that required any
kind of twitch reflexes.
And so, when I pick up the Dragon
Sword for the first time in over
a decade, those muscles have
atrophied. These days, I’m less Master
Ninja – to borrow terminology from the
difficulty modes introduced in Black,
a slightly expanded version of the “I even remember the button
original game – and more Ninja Dog.
Ryu Hayabusa, meanwhile, has combo required to skip the rather
aged much better than I have. He still
moves with the grace of a murderous interminable cutscenes”
Mario, and it’s an utter joy to control
him as he sprints along the sides of And then that boss, a nunchuk of a zeppelin with a giant cybernetic
buildings, backflips off walls, even wielder who is also apparently Ryu’s eggman. The enemy arsenal grows
skims across the surface of a lake like uncle, spanks me like a naughty to include pistols, riot shields and
Jesus doing the 200 metres. child. It’s a fair fight, though, and a inexplicably electrified blades, but
It’s incredible how much of the great way of teaching the intricacies happily bullets can be deflected with
game is still etched into my memory. I of combat and blocking. The same my blade, so nothing really fazes me.
can trace the shape of its levels well cannot be said of the next boss, Eventually, inevitably, on the streets
enough to track down every a samurai. On an unkillable of Tairon, I make one of those small
secret tucked away on a high horse, with an infinitely- mistakes I mentioned earlier. And
ledge. The introduction of regenerating entourage of find myself back at a checkpoint
teleporting ninja wizards WHAT IS IT? those accursed wizards. outside the city limits, half an hour of
– able to trouble you A tricky third-person At which point, I realise progress wiped away. It’s infuriating,
action game from the
from afar with fireballs developers of – and not all of Ninja Gaiden’s a trip back to game design of the
or pop up behind you featuring the same difficulty is well-earned. early millennium, and as I schlep my
and stab you – rekindles embarrassing female The game’s camera way back to town, I wonder: was my
an old hatred that has character design as – is one thing that firmly younger self actually good at this
Dead Or Alive.
apparently burned deep dates it, back to an era game, or did I just have a lot more
inside me, untended, for all where third-person games time. And a lot fewer games to play? Q
this time. I even remember the often struggled to keep up with the
button combo required to skip the action. With multiple ninjas on screen
rather interminable cutscenes. at once, it quickly becomes chaos.
More than once, this boss fight
Double-edged sword ends with me killed by an attack I
This ingrained memory propels me couldn’t possibly have seen coming.
through most of the first level. I reach But, after half a dozen game-overs
the boss at its end almost unscathed. and accepting that I need to chug
Huh, I think, maybe this isn’t so hard an entire inventory’s worth of health
after all. Maybe I’ve actually gotten elixirs, I emerge victorious. From there,
better at games with time – I’ve it’s fairly smooth sailing – if ‘sailing’
certainly played far more of them. is the right word for battling on top

RETROSPECTIVE

SILENT HILL: HOMECOMING
extra
Silent Hill: Homecoming embodied the west’s

dominance in videogames a decade ago ROBERT ZAK
PUBLISHER KONAMI DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT / DEVELOPER DOUBLE HELIX GAMES / FORMAT XBOX 360
The Silent Hill sales declining with each successive

series thrives on release, Konami disbanded Team
manifestation and Silent between Silent Hill 4 (2004) and
symbolism. It’s a Silent Hill: Origins (2007), ostensibly PLAY NOW
Rorschach chart in the hope that a western developer ON XBOX ONE
whose black ink would be more attuned to whatever BACKWARDS
drips off the page was needed to give the games COMPATIBLE
and into our reality, coagulating into wider appeal. Origins was made by
terrifying abominations straight out British studio Climax Action, and was
of Freud’s nightmares. Homecoming, preceded in 2006 by a Canadian Silent
the first big-console Silent Hill game Hill movie. The reasonable success
developed by a western studio, lost of these forays from the series’
much of the nuance that gave its Japanese roots likely persuaded
predecessors their dark powers. Konami that this was the way to go.
But as a product, it too is a kind of Which brings us to Silent Hill:
abomination; a fascinating cross- Homecoming in 2008, developed
cultural one, revealing to us the fears by American studio Double Helix
and neuroses of its publisher, and the Games. It follows Alex Shepherd, a
psyche of the gaming landscape at man returning from military duty to
the time. his hometown of Shepherd’s Glen.
For the first time since the days He finds the town largely deserted,
of the Atari in the ’70s and ’80s, the populated by only a few sullen
pendulum of videogame influence characters and a host of twisted
had swung formidably to the monstrosities – as perverse
west in 2008. The Xbox 360 and brilliantly designed as
was making the most of KING OF her
ever. Alex’s little broth
its headstart on the PS3, THE HILL Josh is among a hosst of
which was stunted by At the concept stage, children to have gon ne
Homecoming was going
awkward architecture for to be a trilogy, revolving
missing, and g
finding
development and a lack around kids Josh him becomes the
of early exclusives. The Shepherd and Alessa thrust of the game.
defining games of this era Gillespie. As per Silent Hill
were Halo, Gears Of War and tradition, the action
GTA IV, while the horror genre in Homecoming flowed
was best represented by the likes of turbulently between the ‘normal’
Dead Space and Condemned 2. (such as it is) Fog World and the
industrial hellish dimension known
‘West is best’ as the Otherworld, transitioning v a
The Xbox 360’s low uptake in Japan the effect of reality flaking away like
meant that Japanese developers old cheap paint in high winds. Onc ce in
had skipped the early years of that the Otherworld, Alex encounters the
console generation. From Software missing children’s parents, who w we
had yet to embark on the Souls series, later learn are part of a cult called d ‘The
Platinum Games was yet to dazzle us Order’, which sacrifices children to o
with Bayonetta, while now-hit series keep the demonic forces appease ed.
like Monster Hunter and Yakuza were Between solving cryptic-as-eve er
yet to really get a foothold outside puzzles and battering regular bad ddies,
their home country. With the exception you fought some of the series’ best
of Nintendo and its ageless stable of bosses in the Otherworld – demon ns
mascots, it looked for a while like that born of the parents’ guilt and the
kooky, parochial school of Japanese manner in which they killed their
game design had no place in the children. These creatures – such as
modern world of gritty verisimilitude. a giant marionette whose porcelain
The westernisation of the Silent Hill flesh you smash through to reveal
IP had already begun a few years prior the sinewy muscle underneath, or a
to Homecoming. With Silent Hill game human centipede creature (before e

extra
Human Centipede even existed)

– gave Homecoming a degree of
gruesome spectacle rarely seen
in the series before, enhanced by
the semi-functional new combat
mechanics. The game existed for
these grandstand moments.
Jacob’s tight-ladder
Homecoming didn’t get off to a bad
start, even if the start in question
did entail a grungy replication of the
hospital trolley scene from Jacob’s
Ladder as Alex gets carted through a
hospital. Study this sequence carefully
however, and you’d find the whole plot
of the game codedly foreshadowed
for you. If there’s one theme that
Homecoming successfully held onto,
it’s that nothing is meaningless,
and everything can be framed as
a projection of one character or
another’s psyche. Even the returning
faceless nurses – now with teasingly
short dresses and jiggling jugglies –
can be contextualised through little
lore, ahem, titbits you find scattered gaming, Homecoming joined the herd, from an angle, but for the most part
around the game. ABOVE Homecoming implementing a proper aiming system, this system encouraged aggression,
You could deduce from the early had its share of finishing moves, quick-time attacks which wasn’t conducive to the kind of
going that the subtext of Homecoming grindhouse and dodge-rolls. dreamy horror that Silent Hill always
moments, giving
would be the trauma of war, and the a brash, crass But Homecoming never quite espoused. On the other hand, ammo
dangers of soldiers bringing their counterpoint to committed to its new mechanics, was a rare commodity, and some
demons home after service. It would its mostly which failed to escape the stiffness of of the better guns weren’t even on
sombre story.
have been a fitting angle through p
previous outings. The loading screens the critical path, so it didn’t entirely
which to apply the series’ leitmotif of would
w drop little hints about timing abandon its ‘survival’ side.
guilt and repression too, and wou uld your dodges and attacks, but really The town of Shepherd’s Glen was
have helped justify why Alex was the best tactic was almost always in practice little more than a series
a much harder bastard than the to rain in quick-quick-heavy attack of wide foggy corridors patrolled
grieving hubbies and pubescent combos to keep enemies in a by skinned dogs and ash-spitting
teens of past entries. A product ofo state of perpetual stumbling. The ‘smogs’. Its greatest failure was that
a time when realism and action occasional dodge would come in it didn’t feel like a once lived-in place.
were a measure of quality in handy to hit a defensive enemy Where earlier titles had the iconic
Devil’s Pitstop diner, or the Heaven’s
Night bar with its lonely, buzzing
“Moments of subtlety were drowned out in neon lights, Homecoming lacked the
distinctive locations and vestiges of
a ame that preferred the or rindhouse humanity that gave previous games
that distinctive sense of loss.
horror route – the American Way” Not that the game was bereft
of introspective moments. Amidst
the creaky action sequences and
linear runs across towns and other
dimensions, there was a healthy
amount of world-building littered
SILENT around. Old newspaper cuttings and
ominous children’s drawings steadily
THRILLS built up a feeling – if not quite picture
– of what was going on, while the
troubled relationship between Alex
THE SPIRIT IS WILLING ON ITS OWN FIRE POWER and his family was captured if you
Homecoming had too
many ideas. Here are
THE EVIL WITHIN 2 SILENT HILL 2 ALAN WAKE chose to wander around his home.
Shinji Mikami’s pet project One of the few horror With a combat focus Alex’s parents’ house was one of
three games that did feels spiritually like more games that doesn’t feel and linear story about
the whole nightmarish, of a Silent Hill 2 successor derivative to cinema. A interlocking dimensions,
the few areas in the game where
interdimensional flavour of than most of the actual uniquely unsettling horror this is what Homecoming you felt like you were exploring a
horror more successfully. series. Horrific stuff. about loss and guilt. could have been. textured, tangible place. Set over two
compact storeys, a basement and

a backyard, it contrasted with the you’d meet weren’t your typical Silent
tunnel-like design of the rest of the Hill enigmas with unclear intentions,
game’s spaces, letting you rummage but B-movie archetypes who you could
around and gather flashes of the quickly categorise as a friend, enemy
Shepherd family’s life. You could or lover. Sequences where you’d blast
examine photos, drawings and toys, your way out of a police station with
accompanied by pithy dialogue that shotguns alongside a wise-cracking,
established Alex’s family relationships. furrow-browed black cop, or fight a
While the game’s over-reliance on sadistic mechanic with a circular saw,
locked doors to guide you felt like were the stuff of zombie-apocalypse
outdated cruft from the Team Silent flicks and video nasties.
days, in the house these locked Where the heroes of previous
doors actually fulfilled a narrative role games reacted to new monstrosities
by making you feel unwelcome – a with strange acceptance, Alex’s face
stranger in your own domain. would contort into looks of almost
Making things even more unsettling comical terror. For a Silent Hill game, it
in the house was the vacant presence hear the voice of a woman humming was all too delineated; a tale of self-
of Alex’s mother, sitting in the living TOP After so a lullaby as you explored its decrepit aware ordinary people colliding with
room and barely acknowledging many years of halls, before coming to a pitch-black the demonic rather than a dreamstate
him when he arrives. The emotional the series hole in a door where the disembodied where real world, Otherworld, friend,
trudging through
void between them and the sombre fog, by voice asked you to recover three enemy and projection were always
memories you’d uncover in the house Homecoming the ‘memories’ for her. Throughout the shrouded in uncertainty.
turned what should have been a trope began to hotel, you’d steadily uncover the Homecoming’s tone could have
lose its
space of solace into one of hopeless unnerving magic. woman’s story – an affair she had with worked. It suited the straightforward,
sadness, its lack of sanctuary another man while her husband was well-paced narrative and the more
ABOVE The game
punctuated by the fact that monsters is full of well
succumbing to terminal illness. varied combat. The problem is that
literally lurk in the basement. realised, By the time you return to her, you the game never fully committed to
ghastly have context of why she’s stuck this new angle. Its combat-orientated
Cold comforts monsters.
here, though whether she’s a ghost mechanics were half-baked, town
After that sobering first visit, or simply broken by guilt is never exploration was dreary, and the
Homecoming (such an apt title at that clarified. Saying her goodbyes with a plot abandoned its most promising
point) teases a story about a broken, nebulous laugh, the sequence echoed leads, deciding instead to task the
imbalanced family, though this – and the tone of earlier Silent Hill games; player with bringing down the series’
Alex’s soldier background – prove to a ghostly, poetic form of expression long-running cult that manifested
be false leads, abandoned in the final arising when adept Japanese devs itself here as a bunch of men running
act in favour of culty nonsense and make games set in the west. around in saggy-bummed hazmat
the revelation that Alex accidentally But these moments of subtlety were suits and gas masks. Filled with
killed his brother in a boating accident. drowned out in a game that preferred people with clear motives and crude
Another elegant snippet occurred the gory, grindhouse horror route – the exposition, Silent Hill just wasn’t that
in the Silent Hill Grand Hotel. You’d American Way. The few characters silent any more. Q

extra
HOW TO...
MANAGE YOUR
GAMING TIME
Become the master of your schedule, and finally get all
those massive games finished ROBIN VALENTINE
YOU WILL NEED AN XBOX ONE / A SHAMEFUL GAMING BACKLOG OPTIONAL AN IRON WILL / NO SOCIAL LIFE
In the games industry today, size is 4, Darksiders III, Hitman 2, Starlink and more fighting for our
everything. Gone is the era of the short- time, with Kingdom Hearts III, Crackdown 3, Anthem and
but-spectacular shooter – now, any AAA Sekiro all waiting on the horizon for early next year
title worth its salt is expected to provide If you want to keep up – and actually see the final
a sprawling open world ready to suck up cutscenes of some of these beasts – you’ll need to take
100 hours of your time. control of your gaming schedule. Sure, your quality time with
How on earth are we mere mortals your Xbox One may be your chance to relax and have fun, but
supposed to keep up? Played at a leisurely pace, you could that doesn’t mean it can’t also be ruthlessly efficient. With
spend half the year chipping away at Assassin’s Creed our simple tips and tricks, you can turn that backlog of half-
Odyssey – but the gaming gods allowed us only three finished games into a stack of proudly conquered worlds,
weeks to speed through it before Red Dead Redemption 2 and finally understand what your friends mean when they
launched. Now, not long after, we’ve already got Just Cause reference that twist ending…
01 02
SET YOUR PRIORITIES BE PATIENT
First, you need to pick out the games you really want to You don’t have to grab every game as it comes out, and you
finish. Focus is important – you can’t complete everything, don’t have to finish them all right now. This time of year is
Check Xbox and not everything is worth completing, so cut any titles that packed with new releases, but remember that it won’t last.
achievement aren’t deserving of your precious time. Do you play a lot of We understand that urge to be caught up with the releases
stats, and multiplayer games that don’t have any endpoint? Maybe it’s everyone’s talking about, but why not put some of your
you’ll find few
people actually time to take a break from battle royales and deathmatches games aside to be played in leaner months, when you’ll have
finish games. until you’ve gotten the Wild West under control, eh? the time to appreciate them?

03 04
PUT FUN FIRST CHOOSE YOUR SCHEDULE
We waste so much of our precious gaming time doing things Planning out your free time might feel weird, but setting
we don’t really enjoy, out of a sense of completionism. Stop even a rough schedule for your gaming can make all the
it. If you’re bored of clearing out bandit camps, collecting difference – especially if you’re easily distracted. Decide how
herbs, or hunting legendary animals, don’t keep doing it just much time you want to devote to each game per evening, or
to tick a few more icons off the map – sack them off. That’s per week, and try to stick to it. It’ll make your backlog less
time you could be spending doing things that really interest intimidating, too – don’t think of your latest game as yet
you or, even better, pushing on to the end of the game. another 100-hour epic, think of it as an hour a night.
APP-LY
YOURSELF
There are loads of
time-management
apps out there that
can help you take
control of your time.
We’re fond of
Habitica, which turns
all your daily tasks
into RPG quests. Every
chore you get done or
good habit you stick
to earns you gold and
experience points to
level up your
character and buy
them new equipment.
Get your friends
05 06
involved, and you can STICK TO A FEW GAMES SORT YOUR LIFE OUT
even party up to take Play too many titles at once and you’re going to have less The better organised the rest of your life is, the more time
on elite boss
fun with all of them. In each, you’ll find yourself losing track you’ll have for gaming, so take a long hard look at your daily
monsters. What could
be more appropriate
of what’s going on in the story and what goals you’ve set activities. Do you really need to spend that hour watching
than gamifying your yourself, and, with control schemes getting more detailed bad TV every night? Could you be getting those personal
life so you can spend than ever, forgetting how to play. The more games you add projects finished sooner if you scheduled them better? How
more of your life to the mix, the more you’re slowing down your progress with much time are you wasting on social media? And do you
playing games? all the others – try to keep it to just two or three max. really need a significant other?
HOW TO...
STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4

Faking illness can get you Try calling them up from the For more shrewd bosses, you Repeat this trick enough
THROW A a precious day off work for bathroom, and groaning may need a touch of realism. times and you may even get
SICKIE gaming – but you’ll need to and flushing the toilet Try eating tuna out of the bin fired, freeing you from work
be convincing if you don’t intermittently during the the day before. Not too much entirely and allowing you the
want your boss to catch on conversation – they won’t though – the trick is to get ill, maximum amount of time for
to your ploy. ask questions. but not so ill you can’t game. gaming. Ideal.

extra
WHY I LOVE... THE

HOSPITAL CHASE
IN A WAY OUT
Ho A Way Out uses diverse gameplay and stellar cinematic
How
techniques to deliver its most memorable scene FRASER GILBERT
PUBLISHER ELECTRONIC ARTS / DEVELOPER HAZELIGHT STUDIOS / FORMAT XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE MARCH 2018
RIGHT This
segment feels
the most
polished, and
lasts longest in
the memory.
y

Josef Fares’
inventive co-op
adventure A Way
Out drew plaudits
following its
release earlier this
year, featuring a
memorable story, varied gameplay,
and a brilliantly unique take on the
action-adventure genre. The game,
which sees the characters of Vincent
and Leo escape from prison and go on
the run, boasts a range of memorable
set-pieces, with none more
exhilarating than its hospital chase
scene, encapsulating many of
A Way Out’s strongest qualities.
The level takes place towards the
latter part of the game, opening with moves through vents, ghosts between
a cutscene in which Vincent visits “The way the camera windows, and even makes use of
his newly-born daughter in hospital. surveillance footage to seamlessly
The police have been tipped off as adapts to each carefully switch between rooms. This leads
to the pair’s location, however, and to some tremendously impressive
soon arrive at the building, spurring manufactured se ment cinematography, and it also gives the
an emotional goodbye and daring scene a particularly high-budget feel.
escape. Both main characters dart off feels masterful in desi n” The way the camera adapts to each
in different directions, marking the carefully manufactured segment
only notable time the game ditches its motion sequence, highlighting the feels masterful in design. In one part,
standard co-op mechanics in favour carnage around him. there’s a stealth section in which
of a turn-by-turn approach. you have to blend in with the other
In the next ten, frenetic minutes, Lights, action! patients in the hospital. The camera
Vincent and Leo find themselves “My background as a filmmaker has almost feels like it’s hiding with you,
engaging in everything from rapid helped me out with this game,” Fares peering over the ledge to listen in
quicktime fights to measured stealth told OXM ahead of A Way Out’s release. on what the police are verbalising in
sections. The sense of desperation “If you look at the cinematics, look at the background. In another, there’s a
is ever-apparent, and there’s not a how the camera movements are, look mini-chase sequence in which you’re
dull moment to be had – the result at some of the gameplay ideas – how tasked with blocking a doorway with a
of A Way Out’s purposefully diverse they are played in a sense. I have bookcase, with the camera focusing
approach to gameplay. This scene many ideas on how to take that even on the door’s window as an oncoming
alone has you climbing buildings, further.” This is where the hospital policeman approaches with speed. It’s
fighting adversaries, stealthily hiding chase scene excels most prominently. a credit to how meticulously detailed
from the cops, and much, much more, Fares utilises his experience as a this scene is that you forget how
all in the midst of rushing from film director to great effect, limited the gameplay can be. It’s filled
room to room. implementing a range of with quicktime events aplenty, and
There are some thrilling camera angles even big fight scenes require little
WHAT IS IT?
fantastically creative and unique perspectives more than a tap of a button.
A co-op only, action-
design choices in A adventure romp in which
to heighten the appeal. When A Way Out was undergoing
Way Out, and plenty players assume the Most notably, the scene its promotional period ahead of the
of them feature as roles of convicts and takes advantage of a game’s release, the hospital chase
part of this hospital escape from prison to single-shot structure, scene featured prominently. It’s no
track down a notorious
chase. The side-scrolling crime boss.
lasting the entire ten surprise – it’s not only one of the
combat sequence, which minutes. This means the most creatively ambitious segments
sees Leo engage in short camera never cuts away in the game, but arguably the most
2D-style fights with various foes, from the action, despite regularly gripping, too. I’ve introduced the game
does a great job of making basic switching between both characters. to numerous players since its release,
ABOVE The action
fighting feel impactful as a result of a The lack of a cutaway allows soon ramps up and it’s always the hospital scene
perspective change. The grand finale, the momentum to remain hectic, after the that sets jaws dropping. In putting it
in which Vincent takes the wheel of a replacing typical blackout segments hospital scene, together, Josef Fares and his team
introducing epic
getaway vehicle, ramps up the drama with creative transitions. The camera shootouts and delivered one of the most thrilling
significantly by implementing a slow- takes a free-flowing approach as it vehicle getaways. action sequences of 2018. Q
WHAT GAMES DO YOU LOVE? SEND YOUR LUSTY THOUGHTS TO OXM@FUTURENET.COM

10 BEST GAMES
FOR LOVERS OF
RAIN ON XBOX
Fellow pluviophiles look no further, for OXM has you covered

with a list of games in which you’ll find peace and joy during
those virtual rainy days, whatever the weather ADAM BRYANT

extra
GEARS OF WAR 4
It’s a little known fact that despite their gruff and macho demeanour the Fenix
family is quite fond of the rain and enjoy getting caught in it. So much so that
you’ll find plenty of instances of rainfall throughout the entire Gears Of War
franchise. It’s the latest offering that seems to provide the best experience,
however. Do be aware that you’ll have to be fairly patient because in order to get
to the section with the rain you’ll need to reach the third act of the game. After
you’ve met up with Marcus Fenix, lost him, and gone out to rescue him you’ll get
to see all the rain you want. Don’t worry, your patience will be rewarded. Just
watch out for the Juvie Swarm enemies, there’s a lot of them.
FORZA HORIZON 4
For those that both love the rain and love to drive,
Forza Horizon 4 offers you an experience like no
other. Now, being set in the United Kingdom, you’d be
forgiven for thinking that the whole game is just full
of rain but you’d be wrong. You start in the autumn,
but it’s not until you’ve completed enough challenges
and made it all the way to spring where you’ll catch
the wet stuff. Once you’ve reached the rainy season
you can either race alongside your friends at the
height of a downpour or simply park along a country
lane during the night time and listen to the patter
of rainfall on the roof of your car. No matter how you
choose to spend your time you’re always guaranteed
a treat with this game.
OBSERVER
With its visuals heavily inspired by Blade Runner (the pluviophiles’ obvious film of
choice), you can imagine that there would be plenty of rain to see in this game
and you’d imagine correctly. As you step out into a dilapidated courtyard just
outside a local apartment block you can look up at the skyscrapers that crowd
the city, and take it all in. The neon lights and dingy aesthetic only add to the
calming atmosphere. Even the pigeons love it. You’ll see a congregation of them
in that very courtyard. You will have to try and pay no notice to the surreal goings
on around you and try not get too scared, though. Thankfully that rainfall should
have calmed you down enough that it won’t be a problem.
HOLLOW KNIGHT
It’s not all about the best graphics to give you
your pluviophile kicks, as can be proved with the
gorgeously hand-drawn delights of Hollow Knight.
As you travel through the labyrinthine world of
Hallownest you’ll eventually come across the City of
Tears. Thanks to the superb animation of the rain and
the audio that accompanies it, this title can offer a
better experience than some of the more graphically
realistic games. To many this location may seem like
a sad and depressing place but to those who adore
the sights and sounds of rainfall, this will be heaven.
There are even places for you to rest your weary legs
as you have a quiet moment of contemplation while
watching outside the window as the rain falls. Lovely.

extra
MINECRAFT
This is another game that doesn’t rely on visuals to make all pluviophiles feel
welcome. You’ll want to find the right biome first, though. Some generated worlds
can be more likely to produce rain than others but once you’ve found one where
it seems to rain regularly, start building your perfect home. We like to build our
houses high up with an open balcony to look out onto the rain. Just make sure
that you put plenty of light sources around, you don’t want any unwanted Creeper
guests turning up and spoiling your fun by blowing you and your house up. A great
tip is to adjust your audio settings so that the music is turned down and your
sound is turned up so as to better hear the rain.
SEA OF THIEVES
There’s plenty to do out on the high seas but a true
pluviophile seeks only the sounds of rainfall on a
ship’s deck. Grab yourself a ship, either on your
own in a sloop or with friends in a galleon and head
towards those dark clouds on the horizon. Soon
enough you’ll find yourself inside the heart of a storm
but instead of weathering it out, drop your anchor
and choose to bask in all that rainy glory. Why not
make the moment just that little bit sweeter and
pour yourself some grog while you enjoy a rest in
your quarters. Just watch out for the lightning bolts
and the damage the storm might do to your ship,
you don’t want your happiness disrupted by an
inconvenient sinking.
THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION

The land of Tamriel is beautiful at the best of times but it offers its most during a
storm. After a hard day’s adventuring, killing bandits, trolls, goblins and Daedra
we like to unwind in one of the local towns dotted around the world. As the
rain thrashes we’ll make our way to a tavern, where we’re always made to feel
welcome, and park ourselves in front of a roaring fire, wash down our worries
with a flagon of mead and simply watch the world go by outside. The sound of
the wind and rain rushing by and crashing down fills us with a unique sense of
peacefulness. So hang up that bow and quiver, wring out the water from your
sopping clothes and kick off your boots – you won’t regret it.
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2

The utter attention to detail and technical wizardry
that Rockstar managed to pull off for this cowboy
caper is beyond anything we’ve experienced before.
You’ll need a little bit of luck on your side, however,
because rainfall and storms are random occurrences.
Luckily you can set up camp pretty much anywhere
in the world and fast-forward the day. Keep doing
this until you find yourself in the rain and you’ll be
mesmerised as to how realistic it looks. Sadly most
of these bouts of rain only last a short while, so make
the most of them while you can. You’ve got plenty of
options for how to enjoy all that wet stuff but we like
riding our horse during a downpour or simply taking a
leisurely stroll through it.

extra
METAL GEAR SOLID:

GROUND ZEROES
Ah, there’s nothing better than infiltrating
a black site on an island off the coast
of Cuba to get those pluviophile glands
flowing. The great thing about this title
is that from start to finish you’ll find non-
stop torrential rainfall. Your main task is to
infiltrate Camp Omega in order to rescue
your pals Paz and Chico but there’s far too
much fun to be had running and rolling
around in the pouring rain to bother with
that. A particularly good spot to soak in
the atmosphere is in any of the watch
towers scattered around the facility. That
way you’re out of site from any of the
armed guards patrolling the area and you
can listen to the raindrops falling on the
roof as you contemplate life.
BATMAN: ARKHAM
KNIGHT
Batman is clearly one of the biggest lovers of rain. Why
else would he hang around in Gotham City all the time?
Sure, the streets are filled with criminal masterminds that
he’s committed to removing but the place is pretty much
always beset by rainfall. Coincidence? We think not. We
discovered that the best experience can be found at the
top of Wayne Tower. Take a moment to absorb the sights
as rain cascades down across the whole city. Listen to
the rain tapping on Batman’s cowl and dripping from his
cloak and at the height of your zen, leap off the
building and glide through the rain. If you time
your grappling hook right it’s possible to keep
yourself gliding until you feel the need to stop.

extra
DIRECTORIES G
Games, films and television – everything you need
ffor the ultimate Xbox One experience
T H E T E N B E S T X B OX O N E G A M E S
games
RED DEAD DARK SOULS III
01 REDEMPTION II
PUBLISHER ROCKSTAR GAMES
A stone cold 10/10 classic and the best
06 PUBLISHER BANDAI NAMCO
Get over the initial difficulty hump
and you’re rewarded with a combat system
looking console game there’s ever been, that gives you unparalleled opportunities
with easily the most surprising story in to express yourself.
open-world history. Plays best on X, too. DEFINING MOMENT Gratefully stumbling
DEFINING MOMENT That incredible, across a campfire and realising the worst
unforeseen twist halfway through. was yet to come.
FORZA HORIZON 4 WOLFENSTEIN II:

02 PUBLISHER MICROSOFT STUDIOS
A must-have experience for every Xbox
One owner, not only is the racing excellent
07 THE NEW COLOSSUS
PUBLISHER BETHESDA
Forget realism and dive into a
and varied, the open world playground you Nazi-controlled America in the 1960s,
drive across is one of the most stunning complete with robots, the KKK and a
places we’ve seen on the console. whole bunch of ridiculous weapons.
DEFINING MOMENT Seeing the seasons DEFINING MOMENT Taking down an
change for the first time. enormous, fire-spewing robo-Nazi.
THE WITCHER III: CUPHEAD

03 WILD HUNT
PUBLISHER BANDAI NAMCO
Hearts Of Stone and Blood And Wine have
08 PUBLISHER STUDIO MDHR
A graphically stunning love poem to
side-scrolling platformers of old, this
made an already outstanding RPG boss-focused shooter is a masterpiece of
unmissable. One of the most authentic, design and difficulty. You will die.
entertaining game worlds ever. DEFINING MOMENT Finally beating the
DEFINING MOMENT Geralt in a bath tub. goddamn boss you’ve been fighting for
It changed our lives. days and crying tears of unbridled joy.
GRAND THEFT AUTO V FORTNITE

04 PUBLISHER ROCKSTAR GAMES
Brutal and beautiful in equal measures,
GTA V is so rich in size, scope and
09 PUBLISHER EPIC GAMES
The biggest game of recent years played
by, um, everyone and their grans.
spectacle it’s hard to believe it was Fortnite’s Battle Royale is now on Season
originally built for Xbox 360. 6, and it’s still technically on Beta. The PvE
DEFINING MOMENT The last heist is a mode, Save The World is brilliant too.
perfect finale to a game that brought so DEFINING MOMENT Getting your first
many memorable moments. Victory Royale, and doing a dance.
ASSASSIN’S CREED DISHONORED 2

05 ODYSSEY
PUBLISHER UBISOFT
Bigger and more epic than even Origins,
10 PUBLISHER ARKANE STUDIOS
This supernatural stealth-’em-up is a
superb action game and a landmark work
this Ancient Greece-set RPG will win your of videogame world-building wrapped up
heart whether you play as Kassandra or in a sumptuous art style.
Alexios in its vibrant, beautiful world. DEFINING MOMENT Exploring Karnaca’s
DEFINING MOMENT Diving through crystal shifting clockwork mansion and finding
waters into a submerged Minoan palace. your way between the walls.
FOR MORE FILM AND TV REVIEWS, VISIT GAMESRADAR.COM

THE BEST FILMS AND T V THIS MONTH
OXM TEAM
films tv CHOICE
THE BEST GAMES
WE’RE PLAYING AND
CAM GIRL WATERSHIP DOWN WHY WE LOVE THEM
FOR FANS OF The Neon Demon, The Double FOR FANS OF Paddington
This strange, twisty horror takes us into the You may have been traumatised watching
Chris’
world of cyber sex work, as professional the original Watership Down as a child, but choice
cam girl Alice (Madeline Brewer) logs in one that doesn’t mean you should shy away RED DEAD ONLINE
day to find an exact replica has replaced from this Netflix remake. Featuring If we thought the
her online. A journey into the darkest gorgeous CG animation, it promises to main game was ace,
depths of the internet ensues. introduce a new generation to the story. we’re blown away by
being able to ride round the game’s
huge map posse-ing up, making our
MOWGLI CHILLING ADVENTURES own adventures and causing
FOR FANS OF The Jungle Book OF SABRINA mayhem. GTA Online as a Western.
Yes, it’s another live-action Jungle Book FOR FANS OF Practical Magic So far, it really is that good.
adaptation, this time from the strange If you dying for more Chilling Adventures
mind of Andy Serkis. Serkis presents a then you’re in for a Christmas treat. A
grimmer take which, unlike Disney’s version, Midwinter’s Tale brings us back to the home
steps away from the talking animals to of the Spellmans as they prepare for the
focus more on the human characters. coven’s winter solstice celebrations.
MOM AND DAD OUTLANDER S4

FOR FANS OF Any Nicolas Cage performance FOR FANS OF Versailles, Game Of Thrones
The latest bonkers film starring Nicolas The fourth season of Outlander picks up
Adam’s
Cage sees him play a father infected with with the time-travelling Claire and her 18th choice
rage and out to kill his kids. Perhaps not century husband Jamie as they try to make DEUS EX: HUMAN
the most elegant concept but seeing Cage a home for themselves in the dangerous REVOLUTION
shrieking while brandishing an axe is too landscape of New America. Expect new I’ve got a spot for this
much fun to resist. villains and time shenanigans aplenty. cyberpunk spectacle
and wanted to return to it with one
goal in mind: to get that ‘Foxiest of
ROMA DYNASTIES the Hounds’ achievement. I have to
FOR FANS OF Spirit Of The Beehive FOR FANS OF Planet Earth complete the game without raising
Alfonso Cuaron’s beautiful black and white The most breathtaking filmmaking of the a single alarm. Wish me luck..
film takes us back to the Mexico City of the year comes courtesy of David Attenborough
1970s. Shunning the lavish special effects and the BBC. Each episode looks at a
of Gravity, Roma is an intimate portrayal of different group of animals, from chimps to
a young housekeeper called Cleo and the Emperor penguins to lions, exploring its family
family she works for. structures and yearly plight for survival.
PHANTOM THREAD THE INNOCENT MAN

FOR FANS OF Atonement, There Will Be Blood FOR FANS OF Making A Murderer
The haunting period romance from Paul This murky new true crime series delves into
Warren’s
Thomas Anderson stars Daniel Day-Lewis the case of Ron Williamson, an Oklahoma choice
as a dressmaker who falls for a waitress man who was accused of murdering a RED DEAD
and makes her his muse. It’s a relationship waitress in 1982. Using archival footage, REDEMPTION II
of obsession and icy control, with Day-Lewis evidence and new interviews, the makers I’m loving this game
as a master of subtle magnificence. allow us to play amateur detective. more than I thought I
would. Grand Theft Auto isn’t really
my jam but going full cowboy in Red
THE DARKEST HOUR MRS WILSON Dead is so satisfying. I do seem to
FOR FANS OF The Crown, Dunkirk FOR FANS OF Atonement spend a fair amount of time trying on
Gary Oldman bagged his first Oscar for Ruth Wilson writes and stars in this riveting cowboy boots. That’s normal, right?
playing the famed British leader. Almost BBC drama about her own grandmother.
unrecognisable under the heavy jowls, Alison works at MI6, where she meets and
Oldman puts in a marvellous performance falls for spy Alexander Wilson. When he
as the man who helped carry Britain dies of a heart attack, however, she finds
through the Second World War. out she wasn’t the only Mrs Wilson...
FOR MORE FILM AND TV REVIEWS, VISIT GAMESRADAR.COM

OXM OUT
the disc slot

They make the games we love, but what do they play
for fun? We ask creatives to pick their faves from
Xbox history. This month: Ben Tester
I put countless hours into my Xbox 360 playing [1]

Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and the only time I [2]
put down the gamepad was to pick up the ‘Axe’

controller for [2] Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock .
In terms of gaming prowess, nothing gave me a
greater sense of achievement than completing
Through the Fire and Flames on the most difficult
Ben Tester setting. I remember embracing the egotistical rock
PR & Communications
Manager, Wales star inside me and boasting about it to my friends
[3]
Interactive with great delight! Thankfully those comrades stuck
Ben has been with
Wales Interactive around, as I needed their support in [3] Happy
for four years and Wars which, at the time, I felt was massively
wears many hats.
When he’s not underrated. A free-to-play game with a charming
carrying out PR design, addictive gameplay and endless amounts
duties, he’s creating
environments. of character customisation. I like to think it inspired
Wales Interactive’s the Fortnite phenomenon we see today. Another
managing director
David Banner was highlight of my 360 days was [4] The Elder Scrolls [4]
Ben’s game art IV: Oblivion . I’m a fan of the fantasy series and
lecturer at university
where he studied Oblivion was a huge step up from Morrowind. The
computer animation. world was truly immersive and Bethesda gave you
the freedom to create any kind of character you
like, based on the way that you play the game.
lik
[1] Finally, on the original Xbox was [5] SoulCalibur II .
Why y this over any other in the series? Weapon
[5]
Master. The Weapon Master mode was a single
player story-based adventure mode with plenty of
subs stance. It had a healthy blend of fun challenges,
deta ailed lore and RPG style progression. It would
be great
g to see modern fighting games incorporate
this much depth into a story mode.
LOVE THIS ISSUE? THE NEXT ONE WILL BE READY FOR YOU ON 11 JANUARY

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JANUARY 2019

QGAMEPLAY SECRETS REVEALED QNEW MONSTERS UNLEASHED

ISSUE 172 JANUARY 2019

Adam Bryant Warren Brown Russell Lewin Robin Valentine

M ore Xbox ne w s a t ga m esradar.co m/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 003

004 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

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insider Exciting times in the world of Xbox as Microsoft

THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 009

In the years following, Obsidian (Interplay’s post-apocalyptic

010 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

into the incredible Microsoft eco-

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS? TELL US AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/OXMUK

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While OXM’s own once again swatting away the likes

EXCITED? HORRIFIED? LET THE WORLD KNOW AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/OXMUK

012 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

Back from the dead

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014 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

016 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

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Red Dead Online

Rockstar know a as you please, with Rockstar providing

EXCITED? HORRIFIED? LET THE WORLD KNOW AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/OXMUK

018 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

“Not so much a game

“Red Dead Redemption

“GTA 6, Gears 5 and

“I would love to see an

“Conker’s Bad Fur Day

Agree with the above? Have

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Steve Hogarty is...

Welcome to The Fixer, QTEs were popularised by Dreamcast

One in four game cases were filled

020 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

Chris Burke is...

022 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

The games we want the most

We’ve certainly got quite the mixed bag for this

READ THE LATEST PREVIEWS OF THE BIGGEST GAMES AT GAMESRADAR.COM/OXM

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movie drama – glass shattering as you

026 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

FAR LEFT Click

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protagonist sports in that game. You’ll

Ion Maiden once a leading mind in the field of

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FAR LEFT You’ll

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complex fighting system to give you

All fight on the night

Dead Or Alive 6 so far, with only one new character

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FAR LEFT The

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