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Welcome, dear reader, to a brand new year. We hope you found some time to tackle your backlog and enjoy chilling with some games while you recharged. But there’s no slowing down for PlayStation, as there’s heaps to look forward to arriving imminently

CONTRIBUTOR Deployed into Pandora, Luke’s become a proud member of the Na’vi and sworn enemy of Gargamel’s forces. GAME OF THE MONTH Teardown BEST SQUAD Gotham Knights GAMES EDITOR Reina has caught Jess’ interest in Tekken. Could a new devil gene mai

As we reach the end of game award season (with our own on p54, we’ve peaked surely?), I can’t help but ponder the state of the industry’s pillar events. While The Game Awards last month likes to bill itself as one of the shiniest, the most recent fel

Milliseconds of new Metaphor: ReFantazio footage debuted at the Game Awards. Why must we wait till autumn to play Atlus’ next RPG? Percent of Baldur’s Gate 3 players romancing shape-shifting druid Halsin asked him to bear it all for them. Each to the

Big brother Chris might have the STARS training but Claire Redfield is just as capable at taking down zombies without it. They may not get to see each other often, but she still finds the time to go after her bro while conducting her own dangerous in

What an awkward, lumbering beast COD has become. Call Of Duty HQ is 90GB of nothing, a huge storage footprint that’s essentially useless without further add-ons to facilitate campaign or online play. But view this through the filter of dedicated live

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is an excellent game. It’s got wonderful characters, a compelling story, a map that feels truly alive, traversal to die for, and a PLAY 9/10, meaning the superhero sequel is a must-play. However, there’s an enormous blemish on t

FORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC PUB DON’T NOD / DEV DON’T NOD PLAYERS 1 Despite its insistence, we can’t help nodding – the Life Is Strange studio has been killing it with its output lately. And fans of its previous time-twisty narrative adventure are being wel

FORMAT PS5 / ETA TBC PUB BANDAI NAMCO DEV SPIKE CHUNSOFT / PLAYERS 1–2 Quick bit of localisation trivia: the Dragon Ball: Budokai Tenkaichi series of 3D arena fighters was, in Japan, called Dragon Ball: Sparking. And it’s from the original developer

FORMAT PS5 / ETA 2024 PUB BEHAVIOUR INTERACTIVEDEV SUPERMASSIVE GAMES PLAYERS 1 Four teens, miles of abandoned tunnels, and one creepy man in a broken welding mask. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty, we’re sure, and we’re eager to get involved – b

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2024 PUB SQUARE ENIX DEV SQUARE ENIX / PLAYERS 1 All the classic RPG remasters Square has been putting out must be paying off, as joining the recently announced SaGa – the first in aeons – is a new Mana, and it’s not a mobile sp

FORMAT PSVR2 / ETA 18 APR PUB PLAYISM / DEV ORIGAME DIGITAL PLAYERS 1 This is a sandbox photography game with a lot to say, casting you as a documentarian of the final days before a looming disaster in Tauranga Aotearoa, a near-future that’s a stone’

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2024 PUB PLAYSTACK / DEV COLOR GRAY GAMES / PLAYERS 1 “Data! Data! Data!” – to solve a mystery, Sherlock Holmes would crave facts, so we’re sure he’d be eyes-rolled-back (even without his vices of choice) at the sheer deluge up

Every month, loads of games come to the PS Store. You’d be hard-pressed to play them all, so we’re looking at some that didn’t quite make the cut. This month we’re digging deep (literally), stealing from steampunk nobility, and going ham on dino alie

As Leon S Kennedy embarks on a rescue mission somewhere in an extremely rural part of Spain, his police escort asks him point-blank: “Why did you come to this horrible place?” Donning the headset and touring through the optional VR shooting tutorial,

Based on fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, developer Larian has apparently bottled the essence of only our most electric tabletop sessions to serve up an incredible RPG return. Offering a wealth of options for crafting your own adventurer – and ‘yes,

You won’t find another open world quite like this, the streets of Los Santos paling in comparison to this gorgeous, realistic western sprawl. Arthur Morgan’s wild west adventure is epic, emotional, and has enough teasing mysteries on every horizon fo

Telekinesis and guns make a wonderful combo in VR. With one mapped to your left hand and the other to your right, you feel like a conductor of chaos as you blast your way through a rogue colonel’s mind to uncover secrets. Eye-tracking is wonderfully

This pint-sized adventure packs charm in spades even if it isn’t exactly chock-full of challenge. Bringing the classic puzzle platformer formula bang up to date in PSVR, it won’t take many levels before you’re calling out, “Beam me up, Botty!” Also,

Save icons for these January moments spin in the PLAY hive mind. Do you remember this? Resident Evil 2’s impressive remake proved that third-person Resi still had legs, which were much needed for escaping the revised and more dynamic stalker Mr X. Th

Future PLC Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA Editor Oscar Taylor-Kent @MrOscarTK [email protected] – 01225 442244 Managing Art Editor Milford Coppock Operations Editor Miriam McDonald Games Editor Jessica Kinghorn @KoeniginKatzeEdito