X-OnE Magazine - Issue 114 - (Ani7Wak)

E
U
HOW DOES XBOX ONE POWER-UP MINECRAFT?
Hands-on
verdict
DESTINY
15 game-
changing facts
UNITY
New
revelations
HALO 5
FIFA 15 EVOLVE
SUNSET OVERDRIVE
FORZA HORIZON 2
CRACKDOWN FABLE
LEGENDS THE DIVISION
Gameplay
breakdown
BATMAN
ARKHAM
KNIGHT
XBOX
ONE MOST
WA TED
38 MASSIVE NEW GAMES ON XBOX ONE
YOUR XBOX
ONE
C E
Shocking details
TOMB RAIDER
RISE OF THE
ISSUE 114
Europes No.1
Retro Gaming Destination
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XONE MAGAZINE | 3 WWW.IMAGINESHOP.CO.UK
Jonathan Gordon
EDITOR
jonathan.gordon@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Twitter: @JoRiGo_UK
Gamertag: Thought Gang
The Xbox One is fighting back.
Thats what were hearing from
Microsoft, who believes that
the recent price drop (and
dropping of Kinect) is whats
making the difference. Id like
to think whats really turning
things around is that Xbox One has the
best line-up of games for 2014 and the 2015
release list as well.
Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon 2, and
Halo: The Master Chief Collection join the
multi-platform blockbusters in one of the best
winters of gaming we could ask for. And then
2015 kicks off with The Witcher 3, Batman
and then some even bigger Xbox exclusives
like Halo 5: Guardians, Crackdown, Quantum
Break, Fable Legends and Scalebound. Thats
an intimidating selection of games to look
forward to and its only a small portion on our
most wanted list this issue.
If thats not enough to make you proud to
own an Xbox One or jealous enough to go out
and buy one then you ought to visit a doctor
and check your lack of a pulse.
X-ONE MAGAZINE | 3
The 38 games coming to Xbox One that you
need to put on your wishlist
XBOX ONE
MOST WANTED 06
Inside this issue
4 | X-ON MA WWW.XB1.CO.UK
PROJECT
CARS 53
Can it take on Forza 5 in the
looks department?
Which classic Xbox franchises
did you vote to return?
We delve deep into Bungies biggest shooter ever with a
lengthy new gameplay session
DESTINY 26
#IDARB 8
Ball sports get the ID@Xbox treatment in this mad new game
TIME FOR A
REBOOT?
20 CLASSICS WORTH A REBOOT
24 WE SHARE
X-ONE MAGAZINE | 5 WWW.IMAGINESHOP.CO.UK
ASSASSINS
CREED: UNITY 2
15 ways Ubisofts latest is revolutionising
every element of the series
REVIEWS
26 DESTINY ONE 360
30 DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION ONE 360
32 BATTLEFIELD: HARDLINE ONE
34 FIFA 15 ONE 360
38 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2015 ONE 360
40 BORDERLANDS:
THE PRE-SEQUEL 360
42 ALIEN: ISOLATION ONE 360
44 SHADOW OF MORDOR ONE
46 THE CREW ONE
48 #IDARB ONE
53 PROJECT CARS ONE
54 DISNEY INFINITY 2.0 ONE 360
56 DYING LIGHT ONE 360
58 MINECRAFT: XBOX ONE EDITION ONE
60 SPACE HULK: DEATHWING ONE
60 EARTHLOCK ONE
60 WOOLFE ONE
60 LIFELESS PLANET ONE
60 FENIX RAGE ONE
60 Q.U.B.E. DIRECTORS CUT ONE
61 PURE POOL ONE
61 WARRIORS OROCHI 3 ONE
61 THERE CAME AN ECHO ONE
61 NERO ONE
61 SHAPE UP ONE
61 LOVERS IN A DANGEROUS
SPACETIME ONE
PREVIEWS
42 FIFA 15
ALIEN:
ISOLATION 34
EA talks about how its evolving FIFA
in the face of renewed competition
XBOX
ONEGUIDE TIPS
Everything you need to integrate
your TV with Xbox One
MINECRAFT
XBOX ONE 58
What can you expect from this
next-gen upgrade?
Horrifying new hands-on verdict of
Creative Assemblys masterpiece
Visit the X-ONE online shop at
for back issues, books and merchandise
Never miss an issue of X-ONE! Turn to
page 66 and subscribe for 50% off!
68 EA SPORTS UFC ONE
72 SNIPER ELITE III ONE
74 GRID AUTOSPORT 360
76 GUACAMELEE! SUPER TURBO
CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION ONE
78 ENEMY FRONT 360
80 VALIANT HEARTS 360
82 TRANSFORMERS:
RISE OF THE DARK SPARK 360
84 THE WOLF AMONG US 360
86
XBOX ONEGUIDE
TIPS
Master TV on your Xbox One
90
BATTLEFIELD 4
REVISITED
Is this FPS epic still struggling?
92
BELOW Q&A
Capybara opens up on its
punishing roguelike adventure
94
DLC ROUNDUP
GTA, Forza and more
96
RECOMMENDED
Ten terrifying games
6 | X-ONE MAGAZINE WWW.XB1.CO.UK
XBOX ONES MOST WANTED
XBOX ONES
WANTED
MOST
THE 38 GAMES YOU NEED TO BE KEEPING
YOUR EYE ON FOR XBOX ONE
Features
Has Master Chief
finally met his match?
HALO 5
GUARDIANS
SPARTAN HISTORY
John-117s past is of course murky
and one of the most pivotal figures
in both his training and the creation
of his closest friend, Cortana, was
the recently betrayed Dr Halsey. Now
allied with the Covenant, finding her
could be Chiefs main priority.
WHAT NEXT FOR THE CHIEF?
343 has all but confirmed what
we long suspected; John-117 is on
something of a contemplative journey
in Halo 5: Guardians. Hes exploring
who he is and what his purpose in the
universe is supposed to be. Where will
that internal journey lead him?
COMBAT READY?
Everything weve seen of Master Chief
so far in Halo 5: Guardians is showing
a battered and bruised super-soldier.
Is he going to be fit enough to take
on a fresh-faced (masked?) Spartan
hunting him down for the UNSC? Of
course he is. This is the Chief, after all.
HALO 2 CLUES
The Master Chief Collection will be
introducing terminals where you
can watch newly-created animated
shorts that will help bridge the story
from Halo 4 to Guardians. The Chiefs
relationship with The Arbiter is likely
to be the main focus of this story.
NAVAL INTELLIGENCE
Agent Locke is working with the
Office of Naval Intelligence, AKA ONI.
While it is a branch of the UNSC,
it often operates beyond its rules
and laws. The reason for ONI to be
sending Locke after Master Chief may
be different from what it reveals.
FORERUNNER EXPANSION
As well as Agent Locke, Master Chief
will have new Forerunners to contend
with. 343 has looked to expand
the history and different levels of
Forerunner fighter so theres a greater
variety of enemies to take on in
Guardians. Sounds good to us.
BUILDING THE CAST
Dont expect too many major
characters to get killed off this
time according to 343 as it wants
to build its cast and a longer-term
story for Master Chief. Killing off all
the interesting enemies and heroes
doesnt exactly make that easier.
WHO IS AGENT LOCKE?
A key player for Guardians is going
to be the mysterious Spartan, Agent
Locke. His backstory is going to be
revealed and explored with the Master
Chief Collection later this year as hes
the focus of Halo: Nightfall, Ridley
Scotts episodic Halo show.
V
AGENT LOCKE MASTER CHIEF
Features Network Previews Reviews X-ONE Live
Predicted release: 3 Nov 2015 Developer: 343 Industries
A Gears Of War without the return of
Delta Squad, whatever next? Will Black
Tusk Studios opt to leave the iconic Lancer
weapon out in the rains of Sera to rust, just
forgotten? We very much doubt it. The poor
reception of Gears Of War: Judgement
both critically and commercially seems to
indicate that Marcus Fenix and his rag-tag
bunch of gruff COG soldiers have liberated
a place in the heart of Xbox gamers more
than Microsoft had ever anticipated. When
Gears Of War arrives on Xbox One in 2015,
wed put money on some familiar faces
returning. Not just because Lester Speight
the voice actor behind Augustus Cole
has hinted at a return to the franchise, but
because Black Tusk would quite simply be
crazy to re-launch such an important series
without Marcus leading the charge.
Predicted release: 22 Sept 2015
Developer: Black Tusk
The case for
Delta Squads return
GEARS OF WA
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Finding her place in the world
RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER
A LEGEND RISING
Crystal Dynamics rebooted the Tomb
Raider franchise in 2013. The studio
delivered the first part of a journey
designed to showcase Lara Crofts
ascension from wayward adventurer
to master archaeologist. The sequel
will focus on how Lara is dealing with
the horrors of Yamatai.
GLOBE TROTTING
Rise Of The Tomb Raider, will push
Laras physical and mental limits to
survive and unravel the mysteries of a
Lost City. Though the adventure wont
be contained; expect to journey to
some of the most beautifully hostile
places on Earth.
TIME FOR TOMBS
Thankfully, Crystal Dynamics has
actually listened to fans during
development. Rise Of The Tomb
Raider will feature proper tombs
to raid this time out, ensuring our
platforming and button-mashing skills
are put to the ultimate test to keep
poor Lara from dying horribly.
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F FFe eea aat ttu uur rre ees ss N NNe eet ttw wwo oor rrk kk P PPr rre eev vvi iie eew wws ss R RRe eev vvi iie eew wws ss X XX- --O OON NNE EE L LLi iiv vve ee
Commander Shepards tale has come to an end: its
time to meet a new cast of heroes. We can confirm
that familiar races will be returning, but the emphasis
will be on forging a new future for the franchise.
Predicted release: 24 Nov 2015 Developer: BioWare
MASS EFFECT
EA is going all out with FIFA 15, boasting refined
physics, improvements in animation, and a renewed
focus on realising the emotion and intensity of the
sport. Can it match the success of FIFA 14?
Release date: 26 Sept 2014 Developer: EA Canada
FIFA 15
Four hunters face off against a single, player-
controlled monster that grows more deadly as the
round progresses. Its a game built around cautious
attack strategies and desperate defences.
Release date: 21 Oct 2014 Developer: Turtle Rock
EVOLVE
Ori And The Blind Forest might steal your attention
with its art direction, but its more than a pretty face.
A love letter to games from the 16-bit era; Moon
Studios is offering challenging environmental puzzles.
Predicted release: 30 Sept 2014 Developer: Moon
ORI AND THE BLIND FOREST
At a glance, theres nothing overtly spectacular about Quantum Break. A third-
person shooter with more waist-high cover than you could ever hope to crouch
behind, big whoop. Then again, this is Remedy we are talking about; nothing is quite
as it seems. Quantum Break is taking the style and presentation of Alan Wake and
smashing it against the time manipulation spectacle of Max Payne. Time-shifting
firefights, insane visual fidelity combined with a grand transmedia experiment
dont take your eyes off Quantum Break.
Predicted release: 19 May 2015 Developer: Remedy
QUANTUM BREAK
Another lost child, another dangerous world. Inside is coming to Xbox One as a
timed exclusive through the ID@Xbox program in 2015; another hauntingly beautiful
platformer from the studio that first stunned the industry with Limbo back in 2010.
Expect to crawl through dark and dangerous environments, to have your spirit
crushed by an oppressive atmosphere and to kill a little boy time and time again
with your carelessness. Basically, everything we could have ever hoped for.
Predicted release: 5 May 2015 Developer: Playdead
INSIDE
X-ONE MAGAZINE | 9
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An MMO thats dropping every player into a different
corner of a procedurally-generated universe, handing
them the keys to a starship, and then letting them do
whatever they want. Its every space nerds dream.
Predicted release: 10 Feb 2016 Developer: Hello Games
NO MANS SKY
IO Interactive is returning the Hitman series to its
roots, scooping Agent 47 out of the confined spaces
of 2012s Absolution and into seemingly impossible
situations. It promises to be tough.
Predicted release: 27 Nov 2015 Developer: IO
HITMAN 6
Get ready to engage in all out criminal warfare as
Battlefield ditches its military roots and unleashes the
largest cops versus robbers shootout to ever grace
Xbox Live.
Release date: 21 Oct 2014 Developer: Visceral
BATTLEFIELD HARDLINE
All four Master Chief Halo games, including the HD
re-mastered Halo 2: Anniversary all upgraded to run
at 1080p/60fps new digital series, Halo: Nightfall,
and access to the Halo 5: Guardians Beta. Awesome.
Release date: 14 Nov 2014 Developer: 343 Industries
HALO THE MASTER CHIEF COLLECTION
Explosive and exclusive
SUNSET OVERDRIVE
If Jet Set Radio and Crackdown 2 had a
baby, forced it to watch Gorillaz music
videos all day, every day before letting the
developers behind Ratchet & Clank raise it
as its own, youd get a rather on-point idea
of what to expect from Sunset Overdrive.
Simply put: its the high-velocity open-
world shooter we never knew we wanted.
Insomniac Games is delivering onto us the
awesomepocalypse; a radical turn of events
thats transformed the denizens of Sunset
City into deadly mutants. Theres only one
way to deal with such a threat: pick up
an array of over-the-top weaponry and
deal out a healthy dose of death-defying
ass-kickery. This Xbox One exclusive is all
about movement and momentum, youll
leap off buildings, run along walls and grind
everything in sight to destroy your enemies
from any angle you can imagine.
Release date: 28 Oct 2014
Developer: Insomniac
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FUN TRUMPS REALISM
In Sunset Overdrive, fun will always
be more important than realism.
If you die, expect a clever and/or
amusing respawn cycle to throw you
straight back into the action. If you
fail a mission, expect to find another
waiting for you immediately. Sunset
never wants to stop the party.
FULLY CUSTOMISABLE
Your character in Sunset Overdrive
is fully customisable. Want to rock
the awesomepocalypse as a dude
in a skirt? Go wild. Maybe you want
to party as a lady with a big, bushy
moustache. Sunset Overdrive doesnt
discriminate; express yourself.
ALL ABOUT THE WEAPONS
Insomniac Games is known for
handing its players crazy weaponry,
and Sunset Overdrive is no slouch.
From an array of clever twists on
old guns, to crazy combinations, to
insane damage amplifications, Sunset
Overdrive rewards players who get
creative with movement with even
heavier firepower.
GRIND TO SURVIVE
Everything in Sunset Overdrive is
designed to assist traversal. Sunset
City is built in layers, and verticality is
key. The fights get more intense the
higher you climb, as does the reward.
Skilful players will never stop moving,
then again, why would you when its
so damned fun?
Open world. Four-player co-op.
Insane action. Cel-shaded art
style. Agility orbs. These are
the things that Crackdown is
looking to deliver and honestly
thats more than we really need.
We understand that Crackdown
on Xbox One will be a sequel
to the original game, offering
an alternate take on how things
would develop compared to
Crackdown 2. With Dave Jones
back, were expecting big things.
Developer: Cloudgine
CRACKDOWN
No game ticks more boxes in the
ambitious column this generation
than The Division. Open world,
co-op, destructibility, dynamic
weather, particle effects and
more. Its a collection of systems
thats building to a highly polished
final product. The game is looking
very smooth at the moment, with
just the test of opening up some
of this world to the public to really
prove this is for real. It could be
generation-defining.
Predicted release: 3 Nov 2015
Developer: Ubisoft Massive
TOM CLANCYS THE DIVISION
STYLE POINTS
Each character will have three
different sets of specials to pick from,
making a massive difference to how
you go about playing, even if you only
like to pick Scorpion. That should also
mean a whole bunch of new Fatalities,
which look more brutal than ever.
INJUSTICE AND BEYOND
NetherRealm has been building up to
something special and Mortal Kombat
X is it. Learning from its reboot of the
series on Xbox 360 and developing
new ideas with Injustice, MKX brings
environmental interaction, new
characters and next-gen visuals.
MORTAL
KOMBAT X
Predicted release: 17 Apr 2015
Developer: NetherRealm
If you thought that Forza Motorsport 5
was enough to fill your tyre-shredding
fix for the foreseeable future you should
think again. Forza Horizon 2 isnt so much
here to replace the launch title as it is
to complement it. With its more action-
oriented approach and open world this is
a very different game. It is, however, able
to import your Drivatar data and will begin
adding more as you play, like where on the
map you prefer to hang out and how often
you head off-road. Multiplayer is seamless as
you drive around, too, so you can just hop
into a race whenever you like. Its everything
we could have wanted Horizon to be after
an impressive intro on Xbox 360.
Release date: 30 Sept 2014
Developer: Playground Games
FORZA
HORIZON 2
The annual releases of Assassins
Creed were beginning to drain
our enthusiasm for the franchise,
despite awesome boat fights,
but Unity has changed all that.
With its massive new world set in
Paris, vastly improved and more
challenging combat, more stealth
and the addition of four-player
co-op, Assassins Creed: Unity
has a formula that gets our blood
pumping. Whats more, this looks
like the genuine, next-gen article.
Release date: 28 Oct 2014
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
ASSASSINS CREED: UNITY
An ID@Xbox action platformer
isnt usually something that gets
us immediately excited, but when
its presented like a classic Disney
cartoon with grainy visuals and
oddly disjointed animations were
suddenly on board. Cuphead
is one of the most unique
indie games weve seen. With
gameplay inspired by Mega Man,
Contra and Hard Corps Uprising,
expect this cute little game to
prove quite challenging too.
Predicted release: 21 July 2015
Developer: Studio MDHR
CUPHEAD
FAR CRY 4
Release date: 18 Nov 2014
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
A PLAYGROUND FOR INSANITY
Building on the massive success of
Far Cry 3, Ubisoft is bringing the fun
of open world exploration closer in
line with the story this time around.
As you cause mayhem around Kyrat,
it shouldnt feel quite so at odds with
whats happening in the narrative.
PLAY TOGETHER
The big additions here are co-op and
a lot more verticality, which means
travelling around in a gyro-copter
with a buddy suddenly becomes not
only a possibility, but a recommended
pastime. You get to ride elephants
too, which isnt bad either.
CALL OF DUTY:
ADVANCED WARFARE
Its good to see a fresh set of minds behind
Call Of Duty. While we rather enjoyed COD:
Ghosts, it wasnt the kind of game-changing
FPS experience we hoped for from a launch
title. Sledgehammer, on the other hand,
with no baggage from the series, has built
its own engine, sound design, physics and
more to make Advanced Warfare. And the
results so far impress us immensely. Bringing
in a range of incredible new in-game tech
is also a pleasant surprise, modernising and
speeding up CODs traditional run-and-gun
experience. Theres even a little Dead Space
influence in the HUD design, which is no bad
thing. It does have a lot to live up to, but
Advanced Warfare has impressed us so far.
Release date: 4 Nov 2014
Developer: Sledgehammer Games
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A shooter for grown-ups
RAINBOW SIX: SIEGE
Like Assassins Creed: Unity, Rainbow Six is going back to its
roots to find the template to build something new and unique
for Xbox One. Where the Vegas games had begun to get a
little too action-oriented and perhaps too influenced by the
big shooters it was competing against, Siege is looking to its
own tactical heritage for inspiration. That means a five-on-five
co-op experience is at the heart of what Rainbow Six is going
to deliver. One-shot kills, very destroyable interior locations with
very little protective cover, and tough tactical decisions will all
come into play. Rainbow Six was an FPS for grown-ups and
Siege is making sure it will be again.
Predicted release: 28 Nov 2015 Developer: Ubisoft Red Storm
ALMOST ENTIRELY
DESTRUCTIBLE
Rainbow Six is going for a more
considered approach to destruction
than most. Nearly every object and
surface can be blown up or shot
through, but a strong skeleton remains
to keep the game playable.
BOOM, SHAKE THE ROOM
Explosive charges can be used on
walls, floors and ceilings to create
entry points for your SWAT team, but
at the risk of harming the hostage if
youre not careful. You always have to
keep their safety in mind, too.
MUCH MORE TO COME
Rainbow Six: Siege is scheduled for
a release sometime in 2015, which
means theres plenty more time to
reveal even more game modes and
some single-player. Dont expect
respawns anywhere else, though.
id Software included beta access to Doom for those
of you who picked up Wolfenstein: The New Order.
Hopefully that means we wont be waiting too long to
get our first taste of ids first FPS since Rage.
Predicted release: 7 Oct 2016 Developer: id Software
DOOM
The latest gameplay for D4 remains as insane as ever,
mixing dreamlike action sequences, investigation and
rhythm action controls into a heady concoction. So
far, were very impressed with it.
Predicted release: 12 Nov 2014 Developer: Access Games
D4
In case Alien fans didnt have enough reason to be
excited by Isolation, a preorder bonus that adds the
original cast including Ellen Ripley as playable
characters will likely tip you over the edge.
Release date: 7 Oct 2014 Developer: Creative Assembly
ALIEN: ISOLATION
With many more options for class type, race and
clothing for your character as well as more party
members, romances and ways to affect the world
around you, Dragon Age is back with a vengeance.
Release date: 7 Oct 2014 Developer: Bioware
DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION
DRONE CONTROL
No respawning may be a drag, but
those who die get control of drones
and cameras to help surviving team
members. Go around looking for the
enemy and rat them out to your team
to help them get the win.
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X XXB BBO OOX XX O OON NNE EE S SS M MMO OOS SST TT W WWA AAN NNT TTE EED DD
Merging the adventure and scope of The Legend Of
Zelda with the dungeon-crawling antics of Diablo,
Hyper Light Drifter is a beautiful and mysterious title.
Its worthy of everyones anticipation.
Predicted release: 7 Jan 2015 Developer: Heart Machine
HYPER LIGHT DRIFTER
Taking to the rooftops of a beautifully sterile
cityscape, Mirrors Edge 2 is dropping us back into
the shoes of parkour expert Faith and letting us run
(literally) wild across an open-world.
Predicted release: 21 Oct 2015 Developer: DICE
MIRRORS EDGE 2
A series that finds the joy in re-creating the greatest
Star Wars battles on a galactic scale, with DICE, the
studio responsible for delivering the most explosive
and spectacular military shooter on consoles. Perfect.
Predicted release: 28 Oct 2016 Developer: DICE
STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT
A roguelike that takes great pleasure in stranding the
player on a remote, procedurally-generated island.
Death comes easy and respawns are out of the
question. Expect a deliciously difficult experience.
Predicted release: 22 April 2014 Developer: Capybara
BELOW
16 | X-ONE MAGAZINE
Xbox One is receiving a Hideki Kamiya-directed Platinum exclusive. Let that sink
in before appropriately losing your mind. The gentleman behind Devil May Cry is
bringing a new hot, dragony action game to our hands in 2015 with Scalebound.
The focus is on melee and ranged combat, as is powering yourself up with awesome
looking armour (which so happens to be bound with scales get it?). Oh, and you
becomes besties with a dragon and ride it into combat on an insane scale. Lord, we
love Platinum.
Predicted release: 22 Mar 2015 Developer: Platinum Games
SCALEBOUND
Final Fantasy has fully embraced the action-RPG. Final Fantasy XV is a response
to some of the nonsense that pervaded through so much of Lightnings saga on
Xbox 360; expect a darker and more realistic tone from the story, not to mention
a combat system reinvention, as Square Enix takes Kingdom Hearts slick battle
system and integrates it into its premier RPG. This may not be the Final Fantasy we
fondly remember, but its a bold new direction that can only reignite the franchise.
Predicted release: 11 Mar 2016 Developer: Square Enix
FINAL FANTASY XV
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We chat with Micha Platkow-
Gilewski from CD Projekt Red
THE WITCHER 3:
WILD HUNT
How does it feel to be making the most-wanted RPG
around right now?
Last time we rounded up the awards we got during E3 and
added them to what weve got so far (were just two shy of
140) someone shouted No pressure! from the back of the
ofce. So, yeah And, by the way, are we the most wanted
RPG around? Thats really nice of you to say that!
Can you tell us a little about how you manage difculty
as you begin levelling in this completely open game?
The monsters in the game dont scale. That means
some of the parts of the world will require extra skill to
explore while youre only a few levels down the road. As
our combat system is highly dependent on tactics, this
adds an extra layer of fun to those gamers who like a really
good challenge.
Did you approach horseback combat with the same
philosophy as Geralts fencing ability?
We think of it a bit differently. Geralt is an unmatched
master swordsman capable of slaying even the deadliest of
monsters. Hes faster, stronger and more deadly than most
of the things that inhabit the world. We treat horseback
combat as [more of] an extension of this philosophy. You
can pirouette and dodge attacks on the ground when your
foe is strong, and you can jump on a horse and pursue an
enemy thats faster than you or who is also mounted.
The essential info
FABLE LEGENDS
Predicted release: 16 Oct 2015 Developer: Lionhead
Weve come to expect a few of
things from a new Fable game:
Albion to explore, player choice
and an adventure from zero to
hero. Fable Legends doesnt
have any of that, in fact this title
has a focus on co-operative and
competitive play in an effort to
drive the franchise into the next
generation on Xbox One.
You and three friends will be able
to jump into Fable Legends and
select from a wide variety of pre-
defined heroes. Each plays to a
classic RPG archetype tank,
ranged, magic user and rogue
and youll need to have a well
rounded and geared group to
make it through the dangerous
arena gauntlets alive.
Youre no longer going out
into the world and completing
quests. Aside from a hub town,
all of Fable Legends will play
out in self-contained arenas;
thoughtfully designed spaces
that will force players to think
tactically about positioning and
synchronised attacks as they try
to fight back waves of enemies.
Fable Legends isnt just a game
for heroes, mind, a fifth player can
join in on the fun as a dastardly
villain, controlling enemy spawn
points and laying traps to try and
halt the heroes push through an
arena. The villain views the map
from a top-down perspective,
and controls the chaos with a
gamepad or SmartGlass device.
Release date: 24 Feb 2015 Developer: CD Projekt Red
Were getting more time with
Destiny now as its release draws
closer and while we have some
reservations about it long term,
were loving every moment of its
impressive action right now. The
MMO trappings arent getting
in the way of the pure Bungie
shooter experience so far. Destiny
should establish itself as one of
the most impressive FPS titles of
the year. We expect nothing less
from Bungie, of course.
Release date: 9 Sept 2014
Developer: Bungie
DESTINY
The Phantom Pains open-world
evolution of the traditional Metal
Gear formula remains equally
exciting and terrifying to us.
Weve been impressed by what
weve seen so far, and the fact
that well get an open world to see
Snake become Big Boss and build
our own Mother Base helps quell
our fears a little. The challenge of
stealth in such open environments
is also something were looking
forward to exploring.
Predicted release: 9 June 2016
Developer: Kojima Productions
METAL GEAR SOLID: THE PHANTOM PAIN
Predicted release: 3 Mar 2015
Developer: Rocksteady
Finally, a worthy adversary
BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT
MECHANICAL MAYHEM
Tank versus Batmobile is already
looking like a major part of the
gameplay you can expect from
Rocksteadys latest. These all look to
be drones though, which explains why
our Dark Knight doesnt seem too
concerned about blowing them up.
BATMOBILE COMBOS
Since the caped crusaders wheels will
be available at all times, the Batmobile
can also be used during melee
combat. Launch a thug into the air
with a sharp uppercut and they can be
shot with a stun missile mid-flight.
KNIGHT FIGHT
Batman has had his fair share of
showdowns with difficult adversaries
in the past, but has he ever fought
someone with the same level of
training, gadgetry and funding as him?
We dont think so; this match of skill
and tech is one of the reasons were
rather liking the Arkham Knight.
STRAFING THE STREETS
In traditional car mode, the Batmobile
controls as you might expect with
acceleration on the right trigger. In
combat mode, though, its more like
a tank control system with both sticks
used for moving and aiming.
READ
MORE
ON PAGE
26
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EXPERT ANALYSIS ON THE WORLD OF XBOX GAMING
T
heres been much lamenting of a lack of first-party exclusives from
Microsoft in recent months. Despite Forza 5, Ryse and Zoo Tycoon
being joined by Dead Rising 3 and Titanfall, many would like to see
more games coming from Microsofts own game studios. We still
have Halo 5: Guardians, Forza Horizon 2, Gears Of War, Crackdown and Fable
Legends to look forward to, which doesnt seem too shabby to us, but really
the idea that the Xbox doesnt have a strong enough stable of exclusives isnt
entirely true; they just havent all been aired out in a while.
Going back through all the franchises Microsoft still owns the rights to,
we asked our X-ONE Network to cast their vote on the classic games they
would like to see get the reboot treatment. Given his recent appearance in
Project Spark, it was not a great surprise to see that Conker topped the poll
in the end. Some fans were a little upset that the abusive squirrels return to
Xbox wasnt going to be the full game they had been waiting for, but rather
a chance to create your own games within Project Spark starring the former
Rare icon. This tease has only increased demand for his return.
It was also no great surprise to see a Halo branded game get a lot of love
in the poll, but it seems fans of Halo Wars are keen to see the RTS spin-off
given another chance on Xbox One. After the success of XCOM on Xbox 360,
wed also love to see this attempted again with all the new ideas and control
mechanics that have been perfected for the genre since 2009. More Rare
properties made up the rest of the poll, so many having been abandoned
as the UK studio moved to more motion controlled projects. Perfect Dark,
Kameo, Banjo-Kazooie, and Viva Piata all got some love. Even Grabbed By
The Ghoulies got a mention.
What the poll indicated to us though was that there are definitely a
number of blockbuster exclusives Microsoft should be considering for the
Xbox One beyond the usual Halo, Forza, Fable and Gears titles. Theres a
massive fanbase begging for some weirder, smaller titles and the Xbox One
could benefit greatly from their revival.
You picked the long-lost Xbox
franchises you would like to see return
Id love to see another
#HaloWars game
@HALONERDO89
Halo Wars
was awesome
should make
another one for the
Xbox one with big
maps and more
units, etc
SHANE HINDSON
THE NEXT
XBOX
REBOOTS?
PDzero
was
lacking, but
the MP was
pretty fun
actually
@ORBIT_WAR
Conker is
awesome.
Wish Jade
Empire was on
the list though!
@KAVITAXB1
A Tomb Raider-
esque reboot of
Perfect Dark could be
good, allowing Rare to
incorporate new staff
members ideas. Maybe
even set before Zero.
@CLARKEYSEAN
Shenmue!
#SaveShenmue
@JMCALISTER84
GET IN TOUCH, GET INVOLVED, JOIN THE X-ONE NETWORK
/XONEmag forum/xb1 twitch/XONEmag xb1.co.uk @XONE_magazine youtube/XONEmag
I still own my
original copy of
Crimson Skies and
Mech Warrior
@BERTM1975
Out of that list
Crimson Skies is
the only one Id like
to see, what about
KOTOR? Burnout??
Panzer Dragoon???
@SCIARA
AWESOME
bring Conker
back guys! People
say the era of
mascot platformers
is way over I
say RUBBISH!
#OffensiveSquirrels
@TREXIDUS
I love how Rare
owns the IP
for Conker, but still
chooses to only make
Kinect games
@THE_KILLIONAIR
I thought
Halo Wars
was great, worked
well on consoles
and using the
Halo universe.
Would love to see
a sequel! :D
@CRAPHEX
Halo Wars is a game I
keep coming back to,
they really need to bring
another one out.
ANDREW MULLEN
I would very much like
to see a Halo Wars
sequel/reboot on the
#XboxOne just to see how
far it could be pushed.
@JELANI_P
Halo Wars told an
amazing side story to
the series, great cutscenes,
voice acting. Basic RTS
but so rewarding as a Halo
Experience
@COCKNEYCHARMER
Perfect Dark and
Conker all the way.
Even tho we wont see
Conker happen due to
the hint at E3. Ill go with
Banjo instead.
@JCROOKEDSMILE
Finished Halo Wars co-
op enjoyed the hell out
of it flawed in places but
bloody good
@XTREME_GAMING
Halo Wars is hands-down
the best RTS to hit the 360
and Id love to see a sequel. The
CGI movies were amazingly
done too. Great game
@B3LLYG0D
WHAT CLAS
XBOX GAME
WOULD YOU
LIKE TO SEE
RETURN ON
XBOX
CONKER
2005
Brought back to the front line of
gaming thanks to his addition to
Project Spark recently, theres still
a lot of demand out there for the
foul-mouthed Conker to get his own
action platformer. He missed out last
generation, but Live & Reloaded on
Xbox remains a firm favourite.
HALO WARS
2009
Some may feel there are plenty of
Halo games out there already, but we
really enjoyed how the core of the Halo
experience was reframed by this RTS
title. After the success of XCOM we
think its the perfect time to dust this
experiment off and give it another go
on Xbox One.
PERFECT DARK
2010
Joanna Darks career as a blockbuster
shooter hero took a dent with Perfect
Dark Zero, but her digital remastering
on Xbox Live Arcade proved to be a
critical success. She doesnt have the
brand name strength she once did,
but a big reboot return and innovative
gameplay would go a long way.
BANJO-KAZOOIE
2008
We really enjoyed Nuts & Bolts, but we
can understand those who rebelled
against its vastly different gameplay
mechanics. This was the 3D platformer
that gamers had enjoyed on the N64
back in the day. We actually really got
into the building and racing mechanics
of this title.
NETWORK
15.90%
CONKER
14.18%
HALO WARS
9.53%
LOST ODYSSEY
7.33%
SHADOW
COMPLEX
6.36%
KAMEO
5.87%
CRIMSON
SKIES
5.62%
MECH-
WARRIOR
5.13%
VIVA
PIATA
3.42%
BLUE
DRAGON
1.22%
HEXIC
WWW.XB1.CO.UK
N NNe eet ttw wwo oor rrk kk P PPr rre eev vvi iie eew wws ss R RRe eev vvi iie eew wws ss X XX- --O OON NNE EE L LLi iiv vve ee
LOST ODSYSSEY
2008
From the creator of Final Fantasy, Lost
Odyssey was probably supposed to be
the game that secured the Xbox 360s
place in Japan. It didnt work, but it
was still one of the best JRPGs weve
played in years. Whether Mistwalker
and Sakaguchi want to return to it we
dont know, but wed welcome it.
KAMEO
2005
Neither seen nor heard of since the
launch of the Xbox 360, we think
Kameo has been unfairly stamped
on due to its poor sales. A new
incarnation of this action game would
be most welcome, although possibly
best suited to being a smaller digital
game this time around.
MECHWARRIOR
2004
Something of legendary series for
Microsoft having made its name on
PC. We always imagined it would get a
stronger outing on the Xbox consoles
at some point, but other than a couple
of disappointing spin-offs theres not
been much. After Titanfall, though, its
mech time.
BLUE DRAGON
2007
Another RPG from Hironobu
Sakaguchi, this time drawing more
from the world of its other creators
whose credits include Dragon Ball,
Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger. It
should have been a winning mixture,
but it didnt quite work. Another spin
could be all it needs to break through.
SHADOW COMPLEX
2009
It kicked off a new era of 2.5D
metroidvania games, but we remain
surprised that Chair and Epic Games
didnt come back for a follow up.
The sci-fi setting and exploration
mechanics were pretty much
perfected by this one. Perhaps the
Xbox One will bring it.
CRIMSON SKIES
2007
Its been claimed that console gamers
arent much for flight simulation
games, but tell that to all the Crimson
Skies fans out there. High Road To
Revenge is one of the best examples
of the genre, with some great combat
sequences and funky aircraft design.
Definitely worth a revisit.
VIVA PIATA
2008
This series inevitably went down the
party game route and just as inevitably
failed when it stepped away from the
bizarre garden and animal breeding
sim it was born to be. Playing Zoo
Tycoon we couldnt help but wish it
had a few more colours and sweet-
filled inhabitants.
HEXIC
2008
Pre-installed onto every Xbox 360 in
the early days, Hexic HD was ignored
by many for a long time, about up
until they got bored of the launch
games and needed something new.
Then suddenly they discovered how
devilishly addictive it was. And the
sequel wasnt half bad either.
13.70%
PERFECT
DARK
11.74%
BANJO-
KAZOOIE
24 | X-ONE MAGAZINE WWW.XB1.CO.UK 24 | X-ONE MAGAZINE
RETRO GAMER
COLLECTION
Packed with old favourites like
Doom and Final Fantasy. Visit
Imagineshop.co.uk for details.
NOWGAMER
For breaking headlines, Q&As and
the latest reviews, look no further
than NowGamer.com.
SNIPER ELITE III
We sneak around in North Africa with the latest in the franchise
PROJECT SPARK
Whats happening in this game maker?
OUTLAST
Just how terrified will we be? Watch to find out
GRAND THEFT AUTO V
How much better is it looking on Xbox
One? See for yourself
MASS EFFECT
Remind yourself of EAs teaser for the return of
the awesome Mass Effect
CRACKDOWN
Will this video turn into great gameplay? The madness of
the Crackdown reboot
DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION
We take a closer look at the world of
this massive new RPG
WEBSITE
www.twitch.com/XONEMag
www.XB1.co.uk
The videos, trailers and live gameplay sessions
weve been giving you on our on social networks
READ X-ONE ON TABLETS
Read issues of X-ONE and the
X360 catalogue digitally. See
GreatDigitalMags.com for details.
NETWORK
BATTLEFIELD HARDLINE
Check out the latest gameplay trailer
released by EA
TUNE IN TO WATCH US PLAY THE LATEST GAMES LIVE EACH WEEK
THINGS WE ARE SHARING THIS ISSUE
GEARS OF WAR SPECIAL
Exclusive to iPad and iPhone, our
celebration of the gore, guns and
graphics of the Gears series.
1. INDIE DEVS LOVE THE XBOX ONE
We had a chat with some ID@Xbox devs to see how
they were getting on with the Xbox One and wouldnt
you know, they think Microsoft is doing alright.
GRID AUTOSPORT
Has Codemasters really perfected its
street-racing formula?
EA SPORTS UFC
Fierce, punishing and ready to lead
MMA into next-gen
VALIANT HEARTS
Has the UbiArt camp delivered
another must-download game?
HOTTEST NEW INDIE
GAMES
Incredible new titles coming
to the Xbox One
ASSASSINS CREED:
UNITY
What is co-op bringing to
the Unity table?
2
ASSASSINS CREED: UNITY COULD
CHANGE THE SERIES
Weve been steeped in Assassins Creed info, so we
broke down all the ways Unity is changing up the series.
4
WOMENS LEAGUES COULD COME
TO FIFA
You can read our full FIFA 15 interview this issue, but we
shared a small snippet from the conversation.
3
STREET FIGHTER V IS IN THE WORKS
Rumours of Street Fighter hitting trouble forced the
hand of Capcom and now we know that Street Fighter
V is being developed, but we dont have a release yet.
5
ODDWORLD IS COMING TO XBOX ONE
We were delighted to find out that Oddworld: New n
Tasty would be making the move to Xbox One and is
only a timed exclusive on rival consoles.
THINGS WE
LEARNT
THIS ISSUE
The Xbox knowledge we picked up at XB1.co.uk
Get your daily fix of Xbox One news,
opinion and more at www.XB1.co.uk
X-ONE VIDEO REVIEWS
www.youtube.com/XONEmag
THE DIVISION
The latest gameplay footage
analysed and discussed
RAINBOW SIX: SIEGE
Ubisoft brings some old
school challenge back to
the series
DESTINY
Our first hands-on
impressions of this epic
shooter
1
THE WITCHER 3:
WILD HUNT
The team discusses if this is the
RPGs to watch on the Xbox One?
26 | X-ONE MAGAZINE WWW.X .CO.UK 26 | X-ONE MAGAZINE
DID YOU KNOW? Destinys exclusive PlayStation content doesnt quite live up to its name itll be available on Xbox early next year
WWW.XB1.CO.UK
X-ONE MAGAZINE | 27 WWW.IMAGINESHOP.CO.UK X-ONE MAGAZINE | 27
DESTINY
No matter what
Bungie may say, Destiny
is an MMO. We completely
understand why the team
tried to distance itself from
that label one that has so much
negative stigma attached to it but
ultimately, thats what it is. It has a
dance button, for crying out loud.
A dance button. Come on, not even
Dance Dance Revolution has that, and
the only games we can think of that
do are MMOs. Yep, Destiny is an MMO
alright, but thats sure as hell not a
bad thing. Because once you escape
the usual implications of the world,
be it cash sellers or hefty subscription
fees, the better aspects of the genre
actually gel really well with the FPS
exploration of an entire galaxy.
That said, the only time Destiny
actually feels like a traditional MMO
is when you touch down in one of the
games social hubs. These tend to
be bustling with activity, but its not
just the player count contributing to
the MMO vibes. Its the NPC vendors
offering legendary gear for both PvE
and PvP exploits. Its the additional
missions related to your performance
in the world that earn respect from
various factions. Its the incessant
dancing when youre just trying to get
to a vendor to appraise or sell the tat
you found on your last mission. Yes,
in these social areas, Destiny feels
very much like the town area from any
MMO you may care to mention, but
its a different story when you get out
in the field.
On top of these social hubs, there
appear to be five core play areas
within Destinys gigantic world, and
the one you pick will determine how
your experience plays out. The first
of these key pillars are the Story
missions, which you can choose to
play solo or in a Fireteam of up to
three players. This is about as close
to typical as Destiny comes, offering
short missions that further the
narrative and dont seem to change
whether played alone or with others.
X
B
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E
DETAILS
PUBLISHER
Activision
DEVELOPER
Bungie
CREDITS
Marathon [1994]
Oni [2001]
Halo 3 [2007]
PLAYERS
MMO
KINECT?
No
SMARTGLASS?
No
RELEASE DATE
9 September 2014
WEBSITE
bungie.net
TWITTER
@bungie
In space, no-one can hear you dance
WWW.IMAGINESHOP.CO.UK
ALSO ON
This is a world that deserves
to be seen at 1080p,
something that those yet
to upgrade to Xbox One
wont be able to enjoy
Customisation options
go pretty deep, at least
after the rather limited
initial set of options.
Whichever you choose, youll still be
able to meet up with other players
and groups who are tackling the
same mission if youre online a mere
suggestion of scale when compared
to the busy social areas but one that
works brilliantly all the same. When
youre struggling with an elite enemy
or a boss and another Fireteam comes
charging in to help, you kinda see why
Bungie insists on calling this a shared-
world shooter rather than the more
recognisable MMO this isnt a simple
matter of having hundreds of players
embarrass a public boss, rather its a
connected world where several groups
can dynamically team up for the
greater good.
Next up are the Explore missions,
where you can drop freely into the
large maps used by both Story
missions and other pursuits and nose
around beyond the boundaries that
these more traditional tasks allow.
Exploration is where the game is
perhaps at its best, a free-roam mode
of sorts but with an added layer of
structure for those who want to take
on the simple missions that litter the
map. Each beacon you find triggers
one such task at random its almost
always a simple case of kill some bad
things or scout an area but with
other players dropping in and out of
your game on the fly and a chance for
public events to issue a rallying cry for
everyone youre connected to at the
time to fight towards a common goal,
this seemingly boring mode is actually
way more interesting than it has any
right to be.
If you prefer your action to be a little
more structured, Strikes are probably
where you want to be focusing your
attention. As with Story missions,
LEARN TO FLY
Buy or build
yourself a spaceship
and let it take you to all
corners of the universe in
search of loot and glory.
1
HIGH FIVE
GUN GAME
Theres loot to be
found everywhere, and it
comes in all shapes and
sizes guns, armour,
gear and more besides.
2
UNITED WE
STAND
Grab two mates and form
a three-person Fireteam,
and you can take on most
of the games mass of
content together.
3
TEN YEAR
PLAN
Through updates,
expansions and sequels,
Activision plans to keep
Destiny alive for over a
decade. Thats a hell of a
lot of shooting
4
MULTI-KILL
On top of co-op
and PvE battles, Destiny
also has a decent suite
of more traditional FPS
multiplayer modes in
which to test your skills
5
WARLOCK
Pros: Great AOE damage, recovers
health quickly
Cons: Damage largely reliant on powers
----------------------------------------------
The Warlock is basically a space
wizard guns are neat but its the
class unique powers that dish out the
most damage. Speedy recovery makes
zipping between cover while waiting
on cooldowns a strong strategy.
HUNTER
Pros: Superb speed and enhanced
mobility
Cons: Poor health and recovery
----------------------------------------------
Snipers tend to be pretty fragile and
the Hunter is no exception. With a
host of one-shot kill abilities, though,
those who are able to weave through
walls of bullets will be able to make
great use of their potential.
TITAN
Pros: Excellent bullet sponge,
powerful up-close
Cons: Fairly slow, a bit boring
----------------------------------------------
The Tank of the Destiny universe,
Titans are probably the best starting
point for newcomers as they offer
high defence and feel most like your
typical space marines. FPS veterans
will feel right at home here.
MEET THE TEAM
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM EACH OF THE THREE CLASSES
The only time
Destiny feels
like a traditional
MMO is when
you touch
down in one
of the games
social hubs
these are narrative-led gameplay
nuggets but with an emphasis on
replayability and teamwork youll
always have a three-person Fireteam
for these, whether its prearranged or
created through matchmaking. As a
result of focusing on team play, these
missions are significantly tougher than
everything else so far and you need to
be on point with either reviving fallen
allies or holding your ground long
enough for them to naturally respawn
in order to make it through. Bosses
are frequent and extremely hardy,
in our experience really promoting
clever team play MMO staples such
as dealing with mobs (regular enemies
who like to spawn during boss battles,
largely because their drops mean you
wont run out of ammo) and knowing
how and when to pull aggro (heavy
damage to a boss will lead to you
being the focus of its attention) also
come into play here.
Raids will take this a step further
we say will because this is the
one aspect of the game we havent
actually tried for ourselves yet. These
are your end-game missions, six-
player affairs, which are basically
more complex Strikes with two teams
working together. Youll definitely
need every party member fully geared
up and everyone on message when
taking on these bastard-hard missions.
Also, a good combination of character
roles is likely to play a big part Titans
will need to be the damage sponges
while Hunters pinpoint weaknesses
Check out
our hands-on
gameplay
feature on
YouTube.
www.YouTube.com
HOWS IT LOOKING? Based on the
beta, the only real area with ground for
improvement is streamlining load times
and such. Every other aspect from scale
to gunplay and social integration to loot
hoarding is excellent.
PREVIOUSLY
HALO 3
Bungies 360 debut
was one of the consoles
first must-play online
games, topping play-time
charts for years.
ONI
An anime-inspired,
third-person adventure.
Developed by Bungie,
published by Rockstar,
relatively unknown. Wait,
what?
1
2
The novelty of dancing around has got to wear off eventually, right?
And well all start looking like serious solders again? We hope so as
amusing as it was to fire up the game for the first time and get our
groove on, having to wade through crowds of gyrating fools just
to get somewhere is starting to get a bit tedious. Still, at least the
different races and classes have different moves. Small mercies, eh?
LESS OF THIS PLEASE
ONE OF THESE DAYS, THE IDIOTS WILL STOP DANCING
and Warlocks play crowd control with
their AOE attacks. Like any good
MMO, these will need to be balanced.
Finishing up the quintet of modes
is the Crucible, a PvP arena where
traditional competitive multiplayer
modes can be found in abundance.
It isnt entirely clear how much of an
impact your gear has on this side of
the game, but classes are obviously
different Titans have the upper hand
in a straight-up fire fight thanks to
their huge health pools while more
fragile Hunters and Warlocks need to
use their agility and special abilities
far more cleverly. Theyre tougher to
play in a traditional deathmatch or
Domination-style mode as a result but
if you can rack up enough kills with
them, their devastating unique super
attacks can extend killstreaks to an
insane degree.
Whether youre looking for a
narrative-led experience, in search
of incrementally better loot, ready
to rock TDM until the end of time
or just up for taking in the scenery,
Destiny has you covered. Its a huge,
all-encompassing shooter where
almost every aspect demonstrates the
same level of quality but did we ever
expect anything less from Bungie?
LUKE ALBIGS
There are all kinds of NPCs in the
social areas, each with quests to take
on, services to offer or junk to buy.
Strike missions are tough three-
player missions that will test your
teamwork. Raids up this to six and are
purely for end-game players.
DRAGON AGE:
INQUISITION
Only scratching the surface
Its really hard to
convey the context of an
RPG, its characters, story
and concepts if people just
get their hands on it and play for
five minutes. Theyre missing the
context, so thats why we did it this
way. Thats the word from Cameron Lee,
Dragon Age: Inquisitions producer. Hes
trying to explain to X-ONE why the highly
anticipated RPG from BioWare is missing
yet another opportunity to let the pundits
and public get their grubby hands all over
the gorgeous world of Thedas.
The inquisition will be upon us in little
over two months, and EA is still being
incredibly protective of its premier
fantasy RPG franchise. Is it time to
worry? Not necessarily; in fact, Inquisition
is looking like it could be the best the
franchise has had to offer so far the
world looks gorgeous, the combat
system intuitive and the narrative deep
and riddled with choice. Basically, a step
above anything BioWare has dared
deliver with Dragon Age in the past.
We started out by looking at how
players used and what they liked about
Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2
and we look at what the markets doing
too, admits Lee. Because its been so
long since those games; when youre
planning a game that takes three or four
years to make you have to look ahead
and try to predict what might happen.
Its easy to see where Dragon Age
might have looked for inspiration; the
response to Mass Effect 3s divisive
ending no doubt impacted BioWares
decision to include
over 40 different
endings into
Inquisition. Including
so many variations
to the endstate
ensures Inquisition
is constantly
responding to your
unique impact
and footprint on the world. Of course,
that means youll need to tackle the title
multiple times to see it all, something that
did worry the folks at BioWare.
Its something we think hard about.
The Templar/Mage conflict is something
that the player can bring to an end
relatively early in the game if they choose
to and it was a big part of the ending of
Dragon Age II so was something that
we wanted to get right and for it to have
weight and impact, says Lee, adding.
We did want to make sure people could
see the consequences of their choices,
so they can see what happened and the
rippling out of their [decisions].
Of course, with so many endings
available and with a world that spans
so many characters and nations theres
always a concern that it will be easy to
DETAILS
X
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get lost in the vastness of Inquisition.
Lee assures us that the team has taken
this into account as it designed its open
world. No matter where you are, or what
youre doing, Inquisition will introduce
relevant conflicts around you so even
if youre ignoring the main quest, youre
still getting that sense of conflict and
a glimpse of the consequences of what
youre not dealing
with in the world.
Our world
master system
understands where
you are in the story
and the decisions
youve made so
even if youve been
completely ignoring
the story, which you can, youre going
to see fade rifts everywhere, Templars
and Mages battling each other, a civil
war underway and as you start to bring
stability to this world youre going to
see the world master system adapt and
change whats happening around you.
EA may be keeping the lid closed on
Dragon Age: Inquisition, but it really looks
like BioWare is being given free rein to
make the fantasy RPG its always wanted
to. The only constraint the studio had
before was technology and the Xbox One
is removing that hurdle.
JOSH WEST
PUBLISHER
EA
DEVELOPER
BioWare
CREDITS
Jade Empire [2005]
Dragon Age II [2011]
Mass Effect 3 [2012]
PLAYERS
1
KINECT?
TBC
SMARTGLASS?
TBC
RELEASE DATE
7 October 2014
WEBSITE
DragonAge.com
TWITTER
@Dragonage
All praise the almighty Cloud Servers.
They have enabled us to port over our
game saves from the Xbox 360 games.
Gotta keep up with those character arcs.
HOWS IT LOOKING? Dragon Age:
Inquisition looks stunning, and the narrative
engaging enough. We just hope it doesnt
slip to 2015.
We did want to
make sure people
could see the
consequences of
their choices
Inquisition looks its best when BioWare lets
us out into open spaces, dragons swooping
down all teeth and fire with demons and
horrors crawling from the maws of hell to do
battle. We want so much more of this, when
Inquisition puts us into fantasy corridors it
looks way too much like a next-gen iteration
of Fable. And with The Witcher 3 impressing
wildly, Inquisition cant risk towing the line. It
needs to go all out.
LESS OF THIS, PLEASE
LET US ROAM FREE, BIOWARE
It might be coming to 360, but
expect a drop in stability and
performance across the board.
ALSO ON
X-ONE MAGAZINE | 31 WWW.IMAGINESHOP.CO.UK X-ONE MAGAZINE | 31 WWW.IMAGINESHOP.CO.UK
PREVIOUSLY
DRAGON
AGE: ORIGINS
[2009]
The first game in the
franchise, Origins
introduced players to a
Kingdom uniting to fight
an impending invasion by
demonic forces
DRAGON AGE
II [2012]
The sequel was divisive
as it changed major
elements of Origins.
Inquisition is a direct
response, combining the
best of both worlds
1
2
DID YOU KNOW? Dragon Age: Inquisition features both the Tactical view from Origins and the action combat of Dragon Age II
BioWare is hoping Dragon Age: Inquisitions
heavy focus on narrative and player choice
does enough to set it apart from Fable
Legends and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Battlefield Hardline
has been in active
development for three
years. Its a point to consider
before writing off the upcoming
cops versus robbers shooter as a
pricey mod of Battlefield 4 in urban-
combat disguise. Weve had some time
with the beta, so let us be among the first
to tell you: its a riot. You know how fun
Battlefield 4 can be on that rare occasion
it actually works? Hardline has the
potential to be like that all of the time.
Of course, server woes are going to
be a big concern with the launch of any
EA product in the coming months. But,
then again, it isnt the multiplayer that
has us pumped this time out, its the
Visceral Games developed single-player.
The Dead Space studio knows how to
make a tight, narrative-led campaign so
why expect anything but the best from
Hardline? Part of the initial conversation
was really about what Visceral could
bring to the franchise from a single-player
perspective, so says general manager of
Visceral, Steve Papoutsis. Making one of
these games is a tremendous amount of
effort and theres so much content here
that it had to be a full game.
The studio is looking to do what DICE
has traditionally failed to accomplish:
it wants to give players a reason to
abandon their friends on the frontlines.
Its time to settle down for an assault
on the criminal underbelly plaguing the
US of A, a campaign that abandons the
linear rollercoaster ride weve bemoaned
in the past from DICEs single-player
offerings. Hardline is looking to deliver
tactical and player choice into the hands
of the players. Thats not to say Hardline is
abandoning its roots; itll still have plenty
of opportunities to put those trigger
fingers into action, but approaching it
smartly. Protagonist Nick Mendoza is on
a quest across the US to clean up some
dirty cops, and hell have more than an
array of weapons to get the job done.
From our perspective, this is a fully-
fledged Battlefield experience that the
team is producing, were 100% focused
on making it the best game it can
be, reaffirms Papoutsis. Battlefield
is all about team play, strategy and
destruction. We could do those things
and add in the gadgets, weapons
and vehicles. We researched what
kinds of things cops use these days
and discovered that they have some
really cool stuff: heavy attack trucks,
helicopters, planes in addition to the
conventional weapons.
Youll be able to put all of the tools
at your disposal to the task at hand.
Mendoza can go loud with guns and
grenades, but theres always the
opportunity to utilise stealth. Mendoza
can use his smartphone to survey a
scene; marking targets, evidence and
noting lucrative bounties on wanted
criminals. Non-lethal takedowns with a
taser will let you subdue targets, giving
you a chance to make arrests and more
in-game cash to spend on gadget
upgrades and character customisations,
for example.
With a single-player structured like
a Michael Mann-inspired cop show
complete with episode interludes, season
breaks marking the transition between
States, and plenty of Hollywood voice
actor talent already on board and a
multiplayer experience co-developed
with DICE, Hardline is bringing the best of
both worlds to players. The beta launch
went surprisingly smoothly which gives
a renewed sliver of hope that EA can get
its servers under control before the game
launches this October. In an absolute
worst-case scenario, at least well have
a riveting tale of crime and deception in
underworld America to enjoy until the
inevitable post-launch patch assault.
Ultimately, continues Papoutsis, If
you want to have fun in a really cool
sandbox environment and want to live
out the fantasies of being a cop or a
robber, this is the game for you.
JOSH WEST
BATTLEFIELD
HARDLINE
More than meets the eye
HOWS IT LOOKING? If all goes to plan, expect the
complex, uncompromising multiplayer weve come to
love from Battlefield, with the engaging single-player
campaigns Visceral built its reputation on.
X
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DETAILS
PUBLISHER
EA
DEVELOPER
Visceral Games, DICE
CREDITS
Dead Space [2008]
Battlefield: Bad
Company 2 [2010]
Battlefield 4 [2013]
PLAYERS
1-64
KINECT?
TBC
SMARTGLASS?
TBC
RELEASE DATE
21 Oct 2014
WEBSITE
battlefield.com/hardline
TWITTER
@Battlefield
DID YOU KNOW? If you subdue a
Viscerals campaign focuses on Nick
Mendoza, a Miami detective caught in a
personal struggle between cop and criminal.
WATCH THIS
Remind yourself
how insane Hardline
looks online with
the first multiplayer
gameplay trailer on
our site.
www.XB1.co.uk
ELEVATOR
PITCH
Hardline ditches
Battlefields military
action in an effort to get
players on the streets as
either the police force or
criminal gangs.
1
HIGH FIVE
STRONG
SINGLE-
PLAYER
Visceral is looking
to deliver a sturdy
campaign, ensuring
multiplayer isnt the only
thing youre buying into
the new Battlefield for.
2
SERVER WOES
Visceral has been
quick to ensure players
that it is already testing
and strengthening its
servers in an attempt to
avoid the Battlefield 4
problems.
3
MORE THAN
A MOD
While Hardlines
multiplayer does feel a
lot like Battlefield 4s,
its the new maps and
game modes that will set
it apart.
4
GADGETS
GALORE
One of Hardlines new
features is the inclusion
of gadgets, which include
a grappling hook to climb
cover and a zip line to
quickly cover ground.
5
Battlefield Hardline will
be making its way to 360,
so expect a reduction in
players for multiplayer and
visual fidelity.
ALSO ON
player in multiplayer through arrest, you can interrogate them to reveal enemy locations.
Is the Battlefield franchise ready to branch out into
all-out criminal warfare? Its such a step away from what
weve seen from the franchise.
The franchise has always been allowed to go in different
directions in terms of style and tone and setting. We
started out in WWII, we went to Vietnam, and weve
been in a future sci-fi setting and modern military. We had
Bad Company, which was a bit of sub-series and Hardline
is like that. We do see Battlefield as an ever-expanding
franchise portfolio, [and] when someone comes up with a
great idea for a great game and they have a talented and
passionate team that want to build it, we jump at it. This is
basically what happened with Hardline.
Why do you feel Visceral is the right studio to tackle
Battlefield Hardline?
When Steve [Papoutsis, executive producer at Visceral]
and I met for the first time and the studio said they wanted
to make a Battlefield game, we started riffing on different
ideas. The studio came back with the idea that they wanted
to create a cop thriller.
We were absolutely on board. Not just because the series
has moved in various directions before, but back in 2005/6
when Battlefield 2 was out, there were ideas at DICE for a
game just like this. There were even prototypes built for it. It
didnt go anywhere because we didnt have a strong idea to
pull it all together and we didnt have the team to develop
it the studio was working on other things at the time. So
when Visceral showed up with their concept we were like,
Yes! Finally! Lets do this! It felt right. It felt in line with what
a BF game could be.
Is Battlefield: Hardline a sign that EA wants a new
Battlefield in the market every year? Much in the same
way Call Of Duty has done?
Well, I would say its not a business proposition were
considering at the moment in terms of annualising the
franchise. We can make great games as long as we believe
we have the ideas for them and great teams to build them.
Were not deciding to annualise Battlefield first and then
retrofitting from there.
But naturally theres a business part of what were doing.
We have to keep both sides in mind, but you lead with the
creative and you lead with the passion. If you make a game
every year and you make it successful, thats great for the
financial bottom line. But that presents a lot of challenges.
Will Battlefield 4 continued to be supported after
Hardline launches?
Not all Battlefield 4 players are going to be done with
the game they own. They arent going to automatically
jump over to Hardline. The family of developers will keep
supporting Battlefield 4 when Hardline comes out.
WE INTERROGATE
KARL MAGNUS TROEDSSON
Expect the multiplayer to
build on the foundations laid out
by Battlefield 4: squads, load-
outs and levolutions all return.
Theres
so much
content here
that it had
to be a full
game
Group general manager for DICE studios
It looks like Hardline is the
only spin-off we are getting from
Battlefield, as DICE doesnt know what
to do with Bad Company any more.
FIFA 15
Discussing the beautiful game
EA Sports is looking
to make some major
innovations as the worlds
premier football franchise
heads to Xbox One. Last years
iteration was just a stopgap
between generations, FIFA 15 is striving
to deliver the most immersive football
game ever created. It has the potential
to achieve that lofty goal too. A new
Emotion & Intensity system is trying
to capture the feel and fantasy of the
game, while advancements to the
core movement and pacing systems is
impressing, even at this early stage.
X-ONE sat down
with FIFA 15s senior
producer Nick
Channon to discuss
the trouble EA faces
when building a
game trapped in the
yearly release cycle,
addressed FIFAs
resolution aspirations
and discussed the
possibility of womens
leagues finally joining
the ever expanding roster.
FIFA 14 was the highest rated game
at launch on next-gen systems, how
difficult is it building on that level of
popularity and acclaim?
Its a couple of things. For one, and
we talked about this a little last year,
the last transition [between console
generations] didnt go so well as you
know the game wasnt fully featured.
So, now, to be starting from a base
thats so strong was really inspiring,
actually, its a really nice place to be. Its
cool, we are just focusing on innovation
and how we improve the game.
The Metacritic is very important to
us, its the only measure we have of
quality. And I think we are very much
driven and inspired to maintain that.
I think that we realised that the only
way to keep quality up is through
innovation. For us it was just nice to
have a great base experience and then
it was like, okay, what can we really
do here?
We also feel like we have really
good technology. As we moved the
technology over, we werent in any
sort of way hindered by thoughts like
Oh, we cant do this and thats just a
really nice place to be. Presentation as
a system, and rewriting that, has given
us a lot of flexibility, and trying to make
as many systems as we can as flexible
as possible. Step-based locomotion
was a really big change last year that
we were able to innovate on again,
with the agility and the feeling in
the game, which is dramatically
different, which is good.
Its interesting that you should
mention Metacritic; is it your best
method of measuring success
and failure without any major
competition? Would features change
or removed entirely if the average
dropped?
You know, its a balance. Its important
because its a number, a tangible thing,
but obviously its not the only thing.
We listen to the consumers and are
listening to what the players playing
our game are saying. They gave us
some great feedback and continue to
give us great feedback, and we are
doing our best to react to that.
Responsiveness was one; weve
done a lot of work there, headers and
through-balls are also mentioned. So
we are making sure we balance the
game with those in mind. Systems
have changed so much in a year, that
the game doesnt work exactly the
same as it did last year, so we are just
making sure that what we have now is
balanced with those things in mind.
DETAILS
X
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So, Metacritic isnt the only important
feedback you receive?
No. The most important thing is what
consumers are saying about the game
and what they like, and what they
dont like, but obviously that Metacritic
number is a tangible number that you
can compare relative quality to.
With FIFA 15, it feels like EA has made
some very significant steps forward.
How much of that is down to the
Ignite engine?
We are really fortunate to have
really good technology and
that makes our lives a lot
easier, creatively. We are
very driven to make the
best game that we can,
and I know that sounds a
bit clichd, but thats true
you have to be. You
have to have the drive to
make a great game and
with the time we have
to make FIFA, its hard
work, but its so cool. Im
very proud to sit here
and show off the teams work, Im very
fortunate to be able to do that.
When you make a game with a
yearly iteration you have to be seen
to innovate and thats very important
to us. Its about driving that as much
as we can, and then its just about
balancing. Ultimately, we look at the
game we just finished and we listen
to what people say about it and we
do our best to address those major
issues based on how they affect the
game, but then we also want to make
significant innovation in the right areas.
We were impressed with how weighty
the ball feels and how much of an
impact the ball physics and spin is
affecting the game. How long have
you been working towards getting
that right?
Ball physics in particular, thats
something we worked on a lot last
year. If you look at last year, it was on
shooting so that was ball physics
in the air this year it is about ball
PUBLISHER
EA
DEVELOPER
EA Sports
CREDITS
FIFA 12 [2011]
FIFA 13 [2012]
FIFA 14 [2013]
PLAYERS
1-TBC
KINECT?
Yes
SMARTGLASS?
No
RELEASE DATE
26 Sept 2014
WEBSITE
EAsports.com/UK/FIFA
TWITTER
@EASportsFIFA
FIFA 15 is coming to Xbox
360, though EA is still yet
to release official details on
what the differences will be
across generations.
ALSO ON
INTERVIEW WITH
SENIOR PRODUCER NICK CHANNON
We feel like we have
great innovations in
gameplay, and the
emotional side of it just
helps your connection to
our game
Ultimate Team Legends is returning to
Xbox as an exclusive feature this year, though
EA is still yet to detail which players well
see included.
BEST IN
SHOW
As Pro Evolution finally
steps up, FIFA 15 has
competition in the next-
gen title race. Its betting
on careful refinement to
pull ahead.
1
HIGH FIVE
THEM 1080P
GRAPHICS
FIFA 15 is running
at 1080p/60fps on
Xbox One and it looks
incredible because of
it. EA sure knows how
to make a good looking
sports game.
2
ITS AN
EMOTIONAL
SPORT
FIFA 15 is trying to bring
us closer to the emotion
and intensity of the
sport, as players will
react to the events of
games in real time.
3
BALL PHYSICS
GET REAL
FIFAs major innovation
this year is ball physics.
It will actually retain
momentum and spin
between passes and
shots.
4
PLAYER
CONTROL
EA is tightening up
FIFAs player control and
responsiveness after
fans complained about
its unpredictability in
FIFA 14.
5
World-renowned players feel even better
to play as this year, with skills and tricks
becoming immensely satisfying to pull off in
front of goal.
DID YOU KNOW? EA isnt interested in integrating face scanning with Kinect for Be A Pro mode in FIFA 15, which is a crying shame
WWW.XB1.CO.UK 36 | X-ONE MAGAZINE
Youll need to get your head around
the defence and tackling systems to find
success, they are even tougher to use now.
physics on the ground. That was
something that we, the team, quickly
prototyped early on, its something we
knew would be cool. Sometimes there
are new features that just surprise you
with how profound the difference is,
and this one is one of those. We knew
it would make a difference, we knew
it would make it feel more fluid, but
its really cool as to just how big of a
difference it has made.
Are you ever worried that the
world-renowned players given
this new level of responsiveness
and ball control could feel a little
overpowered?
I dont think responsiveness means
that a single player can become
overpowered; there are many factors
in that. Responsiveness will have an
affect on every player on the pitch and
every player in the game. We are now
at the stage where we are about 50%
done so now its just about balancing
it. We need to balance the game with
that [these fears] in mind, and need to
ensure that we keep it while the best
players in the game feel good, but they
arent overpowered.
The new emotion system seems
to be working wonders for player
interactions both on and off the ball
does this clash with gameplay?
On [Xbox 360], obviously gameplay
was the focus there are only so many
Its a small change, but the crowds really
do look amazing. EA is working hard to
include team specific chants and regional
celebrations too.
X-ONE MAGAZINE | 37 WWW.IMAGINESHOP.C CCO OO. ..U UUK KK
things you can do visually with where
we got to. But gameplay is just as
important on [Xbox One] but we have
the ability to improve our presentation,
the visuals and the emotion over time.
I think its really important. Obviously,
you cant do these things if your
gameplay isnt great, we wouldnt
do that. We feel like we have great
innovations in gameplay and the
emotional side of it just helps your
connection to our game.
The sport is incredibly emotive,
every sport is, but in my biased view
football is in a league of its own with
its intensities, its rivalries and the fact
that there is home and away fans in
there. That creates an atmosphere that
is very unique. Its important, I feel,
that we capture that. It cant be at the
detriment of the core mechanics, but
we felt that with the presentation and
us writing that, this is a great time to
do it. And we do believe this will add to
the experience in a big way.
So if we were to see a derby match
of Arsenal versus Tottenham, for
example, will players be noticeably
riled up because of the importance
of the match to both the players and
the fans?
Yeah. So, depending on the importance
of the game if it was a pre-season
game it wouldnt be the same the
importance of the game if it were a
derby, the players default state is not
necessarily going to be neutral. You
might see different reactions earlier
on in a game that you see in a normal
game. An early miss by a striker, maybe
your team mates wont be quite as
encouraging as you know, the system
HOWS IT LOOKING? FIFA 15 continues to
look incredible, but were still waiting to see
how these new features will really affect the
game at a core level.
is so flexible that you dont really know
what the outcome might be. It doesnt
start from the same point.
Are you worried the new Emotion &
Identity system might fuel talk of FIFA
having scripted moments or rubber
banding?
The emotion doesnt play into
gameplay, so we wont change
gameplay because of it. Its a visual
thing that helps you create that
emotional connection to the game.
As for scripting, you know, its been
mentioned a lot over the years. Weve
said it a lot, there is none in our game.
I understand, there are people thats
how people feel. Weve mentioned a
number of times that its not there and
ultimately in sport, things happen, you
know? You only have to look at the
Champions League final, 93 minutes
a minute away and the underdog was
about to do the dream double, and
then its taken away from them. Thats
what happens. People get nervous,
thats what humans do. Thats how I
can best explain it; we just dont have it
in our game.
Why include elements like time-
wasting and fouling in FIFA 15, when
you have the chance to erase them
and make a purer game of football?
We havent had the ability to do
it previously, but we felt that its
something organic, the fact that it is
something that happens, and if you
keep doing it you are most likely going
to get a foul for it if you want to keep
doing that players will likely get sent
off. Its a visual cue that helps tell you
what just happened. Shirt pulling?
WWW.IMAGINESHOP.
Youre probably going to get a yellow
card for it. Time wasting? Its not all the
time, but it is something that happens
in the game, and we need to make sure
that it is balanced well.
Is FIFA 15 going to be the year where
we see womens football leagues
introduced?
Its something that weve been asked
quite a bit, and something we very
seriously consider but we dont
have any news on it today. I think its
something that we are very interested
in and something we continue to
consider, obviously, but we wouldnt
announce that today.
Is FIFA 15 going to hit 1080p at 60
frames per second on Xbox One?
Yeah, we were that last year. I know
there was a lot of talk around launch
about who was and who wasnt, but
we were 1080p and 60fps at launch, so
there are no issues there for us.
How important is resolution to you
guys this generation?
I think on the new consoles you kind
of need both [high frame-rate and
resolution], to be honest. I think 1080p
makes a big difference visually, and
60fps helps with the feel of the game.
Both are very important in my mind
for the feel of our game. I think from
game to game it can be different, but
for us it is very important.
JOSH WEST
Tightening up player control and
responsiveness is an integral refinement this
year, and it shows, although players still feel a
little over-animated.
GOT THE MOVES
LIKE ZLATAN
PES has always had an
edge when it comes to a
realistic sense of weight and
momentum, though FIFA 15 is
closing the gap. That said, the
tight controls used in tandem
with the jinking run lets you
unleash devastating passing
runs and intricate dribbles
through midfields. Youll need
to think more tactically about
the way you play.
STRETCHING YOUR
LEGS
PES 2015 has introduced a new
type of movement into the flow
of play, called the jinking run
(meaning to change direction
nimbly.) Essentially a skill move
activated by a bumper press,
it allows players to tap the ball
ahead and then explode into a
different direction with a burst
of pace. Its an easy way to
catch defenders off guard as
theyll often chase the ball not
the player.
WWW.XB1.CO.UK
DID YOU KNOW? PES 2015 will once again include the UEFA licences, but its unlikely it will have much else by way of the premier league
The FOX engine is still
struggling to adapt to
the pace of PES
X-ONE MAGAZINE | 39 W WWW WWW WW. ..I IIM MMA AAG GGI IIN NNE EES SSH HHO OOP PP. ..C CCO OO. ..U UUK
PES 2015
Can it finally challenge for the title?
Despite Konamis best
efforts, Pro Evolution
Soccer still feels likes its
focus is askew. When will
studios realise that we want
pitch-perfect controls before
the execution of a realistic football
atmosphere? Its a question both Konami
and EA seem incapable of answering.
Sure, in a perfect world we would gladly
take both, but this is only the beginning
of the next-generation. Wed rather
see the power of the Xbox One being
used to foster more responsive inputs,
realistic ball control and accurate player
animations over refreshed stadiums and
improved crowd reactions.
But this is, sadly, where we are at.
Konami has once again opted to use
the Fox Engine thats the powerhouse
engine behind Metal Gear Solid V: The
Phantom Pain to bolster PES 2015s
visual fidelity, which has already seen
the successful implementation of lifelike
player models. Though the studio is also
trying to use FOX to bring emotion &
intensity to the field. While it does bring
some much-needed atmosphere to the
rather dry presentation of PES 2014,
it still doesnt impact the moment-to-
moment play in a way the developer
would have you believe.
EA is having a similar problem with
FIFA 15, with surface level details
impressing initially, but are left looking
hollow once the flaws in design start to
show. The Fox engine is still struggling to
adapt to the pace of PES. Its still missing
its sense of urgency and speed, not to
mention players looking over-animated
during quick plays or just outright
ignoring an incoming ball. To be fair,
theres still plenty of time to improve, but
the engine thats doing so much for Metal
Gear just doesnt seem up to it.
Its a problem, because PES has always
prided itself on its unrestricted control
over the ball. Whats worse is that PES
2015 clearly has the potential to genuinely
challenge for that title FIFA has held onto
so dearly for the better part of eight
years. Konami is trying to return the
series to its core values, and its getting
close, but we just hope the studio has the
time and ability to get the FOX engine
optimised for the pace of the game,
otherwise, its going to be yet another
embarrassing fall from grace for PES.
JOSH WEST
HOWS IT LOOKING? PES 2015 is getting
closer, but we still think it has a way to go.
The fight isnt about licences any more; EA
keeps stepping up its game leaving PES to
play catch up.
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DETAILS
PUBLISHER
Konami
DEVELOPER
In-house
CREDITS
Pro Evolution Soccer
2012 [2011]
Pro Evolution Soccer
2013 [2012]
PES 2014 [2013]
PLAYERS
1-TBC
KINECT?
TBC
SMARTGLASS?
TBC
RELEASE DATE
26 Sept 2014
WEBSITE
pes.konami.com
TWITTER
@officialpes
SHOOTING STILL
FEELS GREAT
If theres one area where PES
has an edge over FIFA, its still
shooting and scoring. Theres
no greater feeling in the world
of digitised sports than scoring
a goal in PES and that tradition
continues with the 2015
iteration. While FIFA continues
to rely on long-animation
cycles and the same old
tactics, PES 2015 feels natural
and instinctive.
X-ONE MAGAZINE | 39 K
PES 2014 looked pretty great
on Xbox 360, so expect that to
return. Though the animations
wont be as slick.
ALSO ON
COMMUNITY
REACTION
Cant handle
any more FIFA,
they are all the same.
It needs some serious
competition, cause it
hasnt been fantastic.
@XboxDerek
Honestly cant see PES
competing with EA
snapping up more and
more league licences
@_SimplyAndy
Hopefully
Konami can
get the FOX engine
working properly with
PESs pace, otherwise
itll be another weak
release in the flagging
franchise
Tom Searle
Id like to see PES
step up and really
challenge FIFA this
year, hopefully the
next-gen debut will be
worth the wait
Alex Dixon
40 | X-ONE MAGAZINE
BORDERLANDS:
THE PRE-SEQUEL
You dont know Jack
Playing as the bad
guys seems to be
all the rage these days.
Dark Souls allows players to
actively impede the progress of
others, for instance, while Evolve
allows one player to step into the
hooves/tentacles/flip-flops of a boss
that a party of heroes must slay. Its
not a new concept, but its one that
proves massively rewarding when
done well without evil, there can be
no good so it must be good to be
evil sometimes, right? Right. And
thats why Borderlands: The Pre-
Sequel is so interesting. Weve seen
Handsome Jack from the good
guys perspective, so a chance to
get a quartet of more sympathetic
characters take on the mask-wearing
sociopath sounds great to us. Also, there
are, like, infinity guns in the game. Sold
yet? Thought so.
Borderlands procedural weapon
generation is the primary reason for it
being so dangerously addictive how
can you stop when an amazing weapon
could drop at any moment? There were
already too many unique guns to count
in Borderlands 2. But 2K Australia is
taking this further still, adding a new
elemental type (ice, which allows you
to freeze enemies with enough shots)
and lasers as a new weapon class (itself
with many variants) and as a result, the
amount of possible permutations rockets
into an area of mathematics where even
statisticians fear to tread. You will never
see every possible gun combination in
your lifetime, put it that way. The Pre-
Sequel adds a whole new type of mod
too, one that makes sense given much
of your adventure will take place on a
moon that could accurately be criticised
for lacking atmosphere, because it
literally does.
Youll need an oxygen supply when
outdoors, but dont worry O2 Kits
arent so much a time limit as a new kind
of ammo. Air can be resupplied from
points in each area a la Dead Space or
looted from fallen enemies and while it
does tick down over time, its consumed
far quicker by the jetpack and new slam
attack. Low gravity means you naturally
jump much higher on the moons surface
and level design reflects this vertical
freedom, plus even regular firefights feel
fresh with so much three-dimensional
freedom. Oxygen even affects things
like fire weapons and explosions low
atmosphere areas will hinder such
weapons, while artificially created
oxygen-rich pockets will make them
more effective than ever.
But back to Jack, because just like in
Borderlands 2, hes the star of the show.
The sequels villain makes no attempt
to hide the fact that his methods are
questionable, but his goal isnt entirely
evil and thats something this game will
HOWS IT LOOKING? What could have
been a lazy map pack turns out to be one of
our most anticipated 360 games 2K knows
what fans want and seems keen to deliver.
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DETAILS
PUBLISHER
2K Games
DEVELOPER
2K Australia/Gearbox
Software
CREDITS
Brothers In Arms: Road
To Hill 30 [2005]
Borderlands [2009]
Duke Nukem
Forever [2011]
PLAYERS
1-4
KINECT?
No
SMARTGLASS?
No
RELEASE DATE
17 October
WEBSITE
borderlandsthegame.
com
TWITTER
@DuvalMagic
try to explore. And to reinforce, even
there are entire missions in The Pre-
Sequel devoted to showing players that
Jack might not actually be that bad after
all. Gearbox managed to create a world
packed with awesome, memorable
characters in just two games and it
speaks volumes that 2K Australia didnt
have to look far to find four new playable
characters within this world who could
offer a new perspective on apparent
lunatic Handsome Jack. The new Vault
Hunters are an odd bunch but their
unique abilities look to push class
archetypes even further away from
the usual quartet of DPS, healer,
tank and support. And with unique
abilities at the top of each of their
three skill trees like last time, you can
expect to see all kinds of different builds
for each that slot into different roles on
a team.
More of the same is so often seen as
a negative in gaming, but that really isnt
fair a thriving football team wouldnt
look to change their line-up just in case
the crowd were getting bored of seeing
the same superstars score goal after
goal. 2K Australia looks to be following
Gearboxs example, sure. But when the
example is one of the best games of the
last generation, why the hell wouldnt
you keep that formula?
LUKE ALBIGS
You will never see every
possible gun combination
in your lifetime
The moon is understandably
quite cold, so expect many of
the new enemies to reflect this.
40 | X-ONE MAGAZINE
F FFe eea aat ttu uur rre ees ss N NNe eet ttw wwo oor rrk kk r rre eev vvi iie eew wws ss R RRe eev vvi iie eew wws ss X XX- --O OON NNE EE L LLi iiv vve ee
DID YOU KNOW? Borderlands 2 is the most successful release in 2K Games history, selling over 8.5 million copies to date
Wilhelm will get more robotic
as he levels up. Fingers crossed
for full mech form at level 50
NEW MOON
The fresh setting
offers plenty of variety,
new mechanics and even
the chance to finally visit
the Hyperion satellite
Jacks Death Star in
Borderlands 2.
1
HIGH FIVE
OXY-MORONS
Youll need an
oxygen supply to breathe
on the moons surface,
plus this new resource
also powers the Vault
Hunters jetpacks.
2
BEAM ME UP
New laser
weapons come in all
shapes and sizes, from
pocket-sized blasters
to mammoth beam
cannons.
3
GROUND
POUND
Low gravity leads to
higher jumps hit the
crouch button while
airborne and youll slam
to the ground instantly,
dealing area damage.
4
COLD SNAP
Ice joins the
existing elemental
weapon properties,
allowing players to freeze
regular enemies through
prolonged exposure then
shatter them.
5
ATHENA
Class: Gladiator
First appearance: Borderlands: The Secret Armory Of General Knoxx
Effectively the tank class of the game, Athenas
gimmick is her shield using her action skill brings
it up to prevent all frontal damage for a time, plus
you can chuck it to deal damage proportional to
that absorbed.
MEET HANDSOME JACKS MOTLEY CREW OF ENABLERS
NISHA
Class: Lawbringer
First appearance: Borderlands 2
The Sheriff of Lynchwood comes across as a pretty
bad person in Borderlands 2, so were hardly
surprised to find her in cahoots with Handsome
Jack here. B2s Law/Order combo suggests that
shell focus on pistols and melee.
CLAPTRAP
Class: Fragtrap
First appearance: Borderlands
We can understand why 2K is reluctant to show
off much of what Claptrap can do balancing a
character who is half the size of the others must be
a nightmare. It looks likely that his specialities will
be explosives, traps and cool berets.
VAULT HUNTERS, ASSEMBLE!
WILHELM
Class: Enforcer
First appearance: Borderlands 2
Starting out human, Wilhelm grows increasingly
cybernetic as you scale his skill trees, presumably
ending up as the mechanical monstrosity you fight
in the second game. His active skill lets him summon
two drones, one offensive and one defensive. Loot sharing was never this civil when we
played Borderlands. Wheres the guy who
just takes all the good stuff then quits?
ALIEN ISOLATION
In space, its not just the aliens you need to watch out for...
A haunted house
in space. Thats what
developer Creative Assembly
is calling Alien: Isolation. In
stark contrast to the blast-em-
ups that have typified Alien games,
the goal here is fear. Its you against the
alien, human mind versus overwhelming
physical force within the claustrophobic
corridors and cabins of the resource-
stripped Sevastopol space station.
Thats the pitch designed to get you
on board, at least. This is our second
outing in Sevastopol and one that
features significantly more action
and direct conflict than we had
hoped. The alien, you see, is not the
only thing to be wary of. There are
other, less clandestine dangers.
Human looters also roam these
shadowy halls, looking for anything
they can in their own bid to survive.
Unfortunately for you, Amanda Ripley,
daughter of iconic Ellen Ripley, the
looters are not afraid to kill you to get
what youre carrying. If youre seen by
them, they will attack. Luckily, theyre not
as quiet or as quick as the alien and its
easy to identify their presence before
stumbling upon them. The corridor-heavy
construction of Sevastopol means its
difficult to get around them stealthily,
making confrontations likely. In such
instances there are two primary options:
kill them, or watch them be killed.
Killing them is easy to undertake,
difficult to execute. Despite the promise
of limited weaponry, Amanda has access
to a pistol, flamethrower and a wrench
she can also craft the likes of molotov
cocktails and EMP grenades. Shooting is
not easy, however; Isolations inaccurate
weapon-aiming mechanics make it
purposefully tricky to pull off a clean shot
while staying behind cover. Ammo is
limited, too, embedding each wayward
bullet with a sense of hollow loss.
To add further tension, the commotion
of discharging firearms is music to the
aliens keen ears: firearms mean humans,
and humans are food. You can use this
unyielding hunger to your advantage,
tempting the looters to shot at you and
as you hide in safety until theyre attacked
and consumed. This tactic brings dangers
of its own, as you must figure out how to
sneak away. Golden rule: identify the exits
and plan multiple escape routes before
conflict erupts.
Looters are joined by synthetics, like
the androids of the type played by Ian
Holm in Ridley Scotts original movie. Get
spotted and their blank, insect-like, glacial
eyes fixate on you as they indefatigably
pursue you in a calm walk. Its this lack
HOWS IT LOOKING? A desire to embody
the tone of the original film means theres
incredible potential here. Question marks still
remain over the frequency of action.
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DETAILS
PUBLISHER
Sega
DEVELOPER
Creative Assembly
CREDITS
Stormrise [2009]
Total War:
Shogun II [2011]
Total War:
Rome II [2013]
PLAYERS
1
KINECT?
No
SMARTGLASS?
No
RELEASE DATE
7 October 2014
WEBSITE
alienisolation.com
TWITTER
@AlienIsolation
of emotion thats most terrifying. At
least the alien is alive; these guys are
unflinching machines that cant be scared,
reasoned with or altered from their
murderous programming.
We have come nowhere near to doing
so, but it is apparently possible to kill a
synthetic. Creative Assembly has told us
that it takes multiple head shots, a few
whacks from the wrench and a bit of a
burn from the flamethrower to do so.
Given that ammo is limited, the better
option is to not get seen in the first
place. If you are seen, you can use an
EMP grenade to temporarily shut it
down. Additionally, given the fact that
it cant eat it, theres no free pass to
be had by trying to entice the alien to
kill them on your behalf.
Isolation will live and die by how
well it can pace and blend your
interactions with looters, synthetics
and alien. Too much action and it wont
feel like the horror it purports to want
to be. Too little and it risks that horror
element becoming overbearing, its
impact reduced due to over-familiarity
with sensations of tension and anxiety.
Creative Assembly is not a developer we
associate with this kind of experience,
so it will be interesting to see just how
expertly this blend is achieved.
JOHN ROBERTSON
Golden rule: identify the
exits and plan multiple
escape routes before
conflict erupts
Some terminals can be hacked, requiring you
to perform a simple, shape-match mini-game
under the pressure of tight time constraints.
Dont expect anything
in the way of gameplay
differences, but do expect
downgrades in terms of
textures and animations
ALSO ON
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While scavenging for materials to construct
your own items can result in a world that
feels dilapidated and barren, its hardly a
new idea. Such materials in Isolation are
highlighted by a golden, pulsating glow
around items in the environment, doing
much to remind you that youre playing a
game and going some way to breaking your
suspension of disbelief.
LESS OF THIS, PLEASE
DOES SCAVENGING FOR ITEMS REALLY ENHANCE THE
SENSE OF DESPERATION?
DID YOU KNOW? Sound effect recordings from the 1979 Alien movie are being used in an attempt to replicate the same sinister tone
FEAR THE
ALIEN
The idea is to provide a
horror game in which the
alien provides a constant
sense of dread. This is not
an all-out shooter.
1
HIGH FIVE
SEARCHING
FOR MUM
You play Amanda
Ripley, daughter of
Ellen, in a quest to find
answers relating to the
disappearance of her
mother.
2
SHADOWS
ARE FRIENDS
The best defence is not
to be seen in the first
place. Not only are you
underpowered, but
ammo is limited.
3
NO PLACE
FOR FRIENDS
The whole focus here
is on the single-player
experience, so dont
expect a humans vs.
aliens deathmatch
anytime soon.
4
RETRO-
FUTURISTIC
Everything is based on
the tone and style of
the original 1979 movie,
meaning CRT over LCD
and fuzzy video over HD.
5
The alien actively hunts you, listening out for
any movements and keeping its eyes peeled for
changes in light and shadow.
Despite this lone soul, the looters weve
encountered have moved in small groups,
making it difficult to tackle them directly.
44 | X-ONE MAGAZINE WWW.XB1.CO.UK 44 | X-ONE MAGAZINE WWW.XB1.CO.UK
DID YOU KNOW? What would any triple-A videogame be without Troy Baker lending his talents to the game? Hes voicing and mo-capping protagonist Talion
WAR DANCE
Thanks to the Nemesis system,
enemies will rise in power and
notoriety as you encounter
them. If an orc manages to get
the killing blow it isnt all bad; if
you eventually take it down, itll
grant powerful runes to upgrade
your weapons with.
THERES NO NEED TO FIGHT
If you opt to upgrade your Wraith
powers enough, you can control
entire raiding parties and take them
out on missions with you at a later
date. Having an army by your side
makes every revenge play 100 per
cent easier.
ITS A VIOLENT PLACE
Notice how this orc still has his
head attached to his shoulders?
As do the others? Thats because
Talion hasnt unsheathed his blade
yet. Combat is gory, ensuring every
slash leaves a scar. Just how we
like it.
COMMUNITY
REACTION
Good studio,
good premise,
nemesis system, Troy
Baker and its Lord
Of The Rings! Looks
freaking awesome!
@_DINOsarus_rex
I dont know what to
think honestly. Shows
promise but Im not
sure if it will be great
or mediocre.
@bertm1975
It looks like
a really good
game. Im really
impressed and I
already have it pre-
ordered
@darianlisath
It kinda looks like
Assassins Creed, but
draped in The Lord
Of The Rings. Sounds
awesome
@PunkyVixen
F FFe eea aat ttu uur rre ees ss N NNe eet ttw wwo oor rrk kk P PP e eev vvi ii s ss R RRe eev vv w wws ss X XX- --O OO L LL e ee
Monoliths latest
is focusing on the
consequences of your
assassinations and
the ripple effect such
acts have in a living,
breathing world
Middle-earth: Shadow
Of Mordor is in a difficult
position. Grant it nothing
more than cursory glance, and
itll look like the awkward love
child of Assassins Creed and The
Lord Of The Rings. In action, theres a
little more to it than that. But getting
your head around the highly anticipated
Nemesis system is a tough task when
theres so much out there vying for your
attention this October.
Its a new system that could
revolutionise the open-world action
game. The concept of a Game Over has
been banished from Shadow Of Mordor.
Every enemy that kills you is handed a
promotion under the ever-watchful gaze
of Sauron, meanwhile youre respawned
back into the world by an otherworldly
power. Then again, you could just assert
your dominance over a War Chiefs
bodyguard with your Wraith-powered
mind control techniques and cause some
internal dissonance in the orcish armies.
If your mind-controlled minion can take
out the War Chief and get promoted to
captain the army, youll find a battalion
of troops behind your next assault on
an enemy stronghold. The system is
flexible enough to support your revenge
rampage in any way you see fit.
Monolith is launching Shadow
Of Mordor just three weeks before
Assassins Creed: Unity, a title thats
looking bigger and bolder than anything
else in the franchise thats come before
it. That said, theres a very good chance
Shadow Of Mordor is the skill-based
Assassins Creed game weve always
wanted. Monoliths latest is focusing on
the consequences of your assassinations
and the ripple effect such acts have
in a living, breathing world instead
of everything that leads up to them.
Its giving us the tools to become the
ultimate assassin, and layering in deep
systems to dynamically support such
a feat. Shadow Of Mordor is launching
at a pretty busy time, so dont let it get
swallowed up by the competition.
JOSH WEST
HOWS IT LOOKING? Against all odds,
Middle-earth: Shadow Of Mordor is quietly
looking more impressive every time we see
it in action.
DETAILS
PUBLISHER
Warner Bros.
DEVELOPER
Monolith Productions
CREDITS
F.E.A.R [2005]
Condemned: Criminal
Origins [2005]
Gotham City
Imposters [2012]
PLAYERS
1
KINECT?
No
SMARTGLASS?
No
RELEASE DATE
7 October 2014
WEBSITE
ShadowofMordor.com
TWITTER
@middleearthgame
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SHADOW OF
MORDOR
X-ONE MAGAZINE | 45
Assassins Creed beater?
Get a closer
look at Shadow
Of Mordor in
action with our
latest video.
www.YouTube.com
Its coming to Xbox 360, but
dont expect the graphics to
be as sexy, nor the Nemesis
system to be as dynamic.
Thems the breaks of cross-
generation releases.
ALSO ON
POWER INSIDE
The power of the Wraith is strong,
enabling Talion to control enemies.
The beasts of Mordor arent safe
from your crazy powers: look upon
the power of Graug, and feel mighty
at how easily you can turn it onto its
fellow followers of Sauron.
r ew ie NE iv
MIDDLE-EARTH:
THE GUESSING GAME
Weve spoken about how Talion
is infused with a ghostly spirit
granting him Wraith powers at
length, but now its time to put your
Tolkien-lore hats on. Rumour has
it, the spirit is a famous face from
the series.
THE CREW
X-ONE grabs the wheel of Ubisofts open world speedster
Ubisoft, Reflections
and Ivory Tower have
got something really
interesting on their hands
with The Crew, thats for sure.
The racing MMO cum arcade
wheel spinner has been on show
again recently, only this time the focus
was not so much on the vast array of
automobiles, but on the all-important
social aspect of the game design. It's
essentially what the game will live or
die on when it releases later in the year.
Yes, theres still a single-player element,
coupled with a narrative, but storylines
in racing games generally suck so were
not holding our breath on that one.
And, as promised in the press release
last year, youll still be able to race
ghosts of friends via asynchronous
brawls on the asphalt, which is great
if thats your preference, but the one
thing we took from our time on The
Crew with a handful of other eager
journalists is that the game world the
United States is enormous and an
absolute joy to ogle as you tear through
open roads, cities and mountain ranges
that Reflections and Ivory Tower have
replicated for you.
Anyway, onto the actual gameplay
stuff, of which there is a hefty selection
to choose from. One mode in particular
we sampled with aplomb was the
takedown event, which pits you and a
handful of friends against a single car
with a health bar. The goal is simple:
grind bumper and steel until it crashes
and burns. Its certainly not the most
original mode, but its fun, and made all
the more thrilling in a game of this size.
Good old-
fashioned races
play a part too, but
we found them
tough to master
thanks to some
fidgety handling
and physics
(which we expect
to be tweaked before release), which
meant we were trailing behind quite a
bit during certain sections. However,
getting left behind during a race isnt as
frustrating as youd expect because the
game features a catch up button that
slots you back on the track should you
get lost, or allows you to catch up with
the other racers if youre too far behind.
Okay, its a bit like cheating but
getting lost in the middle of nowhere
during a race from New York to Miami
is no fun at all, so well take a catch up
button over that any day of the week.
And much like every other racing
game on shelves or in development
upgrades will play a major role in both
progressions and staying power. These
can then be applied via the games
garage menu, but what really caught
our eye was the sheer volume of
tweaking on offer. Every single part of
your car can be customised to suit your
needs. But theres more: if you have a
DETAILS
X
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tablet you can download the companion
app thatll be available at launch and
mod your car on the move.
While this all sounds peachy, theres
a catch the game must be connected
to the internet at all times for it work.
For example, if youre winning a race
and your internet connection conks out
youre booted back to the home screen.
Frustrating? Yes, and
its liable to irk gamers
for sure but Ubisoft
has been barking
on about this every
single opportunity its
had when flying The
Crews flag at press
events and whatnot.
Given that most games are connected
to the internet in some form or another
this generation, were hoping it doesnt
cause too much trouble, but that will all
depend on just how stable the Ubisoft
servers are come release week.
Despite the fact that the single-
player aspect of the game is a mere
afterthought for the development
team, we walked away from The Crew
pretty damn impressed. The world is
huge, the roster of vehicles is equally
impressive and coupled with an array of
customisation options and events The
Crew could be the online racer to beat
this year (yes, Drive Club, were looking
at you).
SEBASTIAN WILLIAMSON
PUBLISHER
Ubisoft
DEVELOPER
Ubisoft Reflections
/Ivory Tower
CREDITS
Stuntman [2002]
Alone In The Dark [2008]
Driver: San
Francisco [2011]
PLAYERS
1-4
KINECT?
No
SMARTGLASS?
No
RELEASE DATE
Q3 14
WEBSITE
thecrew-game.ubi.com
TWITTER
@TheCrewGame
It doesnt look like therell be
any shortage of racing events
to take part in, including derby
races like this one.
HOWS IT LOOKING? The Crew is big,
really big. With so much to see and conquer
we expect it to provide endless hours of
finger-blistering fun, provided youre Internet
connections up to scratch.
One of the biggest hooks of The Crew (well,
from this writers standpoint) is the fact that
it takes the best part of a couple of hours to
race across the world map. With that in mind
we want to see some Cannonball run styled
races filled with mini objectives come release
day, please, Ubisoft.
MORE OF THIS, PLEASE
TWO HOURS TO RACE FROM COAST TO COAST, YOU SAY?
WELL LETS RACE
The game world
is enormous and
an absolute joy
to ogle
With such a huge map on
offer we expect single races
to take advantage of multiple
terrain types.
DID YOU KNOW? It will take you just under two hours to drive across the games map, which is a recreation of the US
MOBILE GARAGE
The Crews companion
app lets you keep track
of your friends scores
and acts as a mobile
garage, which means
you can customise your
car on the move.
SECOND
SCREEN
If theres one thing we want from
The Crew its a race across the
country Blues Brothers style with
the cops on our tail the whole way.
#IDARB
Persian cats versus a team of colourful refrigerators?
Theres no need for
us to spout a load of
hyperbole when it comes
to It Draws A Red Box
affectionately referred to as
#IDARB by the community at large
because developer Other Ocean is
handling that just fine. Michaelangelo
once said that in every block of
marble, he saw a statue imprisoned
inside, waiting to be freed. If you gave
Michaelangelo a red box, hed see
#IDARB, the studio has decreed. Right.
ID@Xbox is delivering madness
to our living rooms; we just need
to bring a couple of controllers
to the party. Inspired by the likes
of Bomberman, Smash Bros. and
Towerfall: Ascension, #IDARB is a tight
multiplayer experience that puts as
much emphasis on co-operative play as
it does competitive. Up to eight players
leap into an arena laden with Mario-
style platforms and try to get a ball in
the back of a goal. The core concept
of #IDARB might be simple, but the
execution is masterful. Thats the root
of the titles unlikely success on the
convention circuit.
You jump between and through
platforms in an attempt to grab a
wayward ball; its a fast and frantic
exercise, hastened by another team
of arena-ball athletes all trying to
accomplish the same task. Those of you
with twitchy fingers will be looking to
knock the ball from your rivals hands
and nabbing interceptions. If you fancy
yourself a keen striker youll be looking
to move into space and power the ball
into the goal thats the idea, anyway.
More often than not, matches quickly
erupt into bouts of frantic movement
and swearing, such is the rediscovered
majesty of local co-op experiences.
#IDARB manages to conjure a
strangely enthralling atmosphere,
enhanced by its personable nature.
While you can leap into the fray as
Star Wars sprites, colourful rabbits,
breakfast snacks or Tim Schafer, Other
Ocean has already opened a creation
suite on the #IDARB website to let
HOWS IT LOOKING? Its delivering fast,
frantic fun thats filling the Super Smash void
in our Xbox-obsessed hearts. Now weve
just got to find the cash for seven more
controllers.
DETAILS
PUBLISHER
Other Ocean
DEVELOPER
In-house
CREDITS
Duty Calls [2011]
South Park: Tenorman's
Revenge [2012]
NBA Rush [2014]
PLAYERS
1-8
KINECT?
No
SMARTGLASS?
Yes
RELEASE DATE
Sept 2014
WEBSITE
www.idarb.com
TWITTER
@iDARBgame
you get started on creating your own
pixel-art characters these can later
be downloaded as a QR code and
imported into the game with Kinect.
ID@Xbox is starting to hit its stride,
and #IDARB is another example of
the freedom the system affords to
innovaters. If youre looking for a game
to fill the local multiplayer void in
your life, keep your eyes firmly on this
exciting new indie game as it develops.
JOSH WEST
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DID YOU KNOW? If youve got friends over, theyll be able to use your SmartGlass-enabled device to create custom characters and import then into #IDARB
More often than
not, matches
quickly erupt into
bouts of frantic
movement and
swearing
#IDARB is one of those games that
makes sense once you pick up a pad
and play it, its insanely fun.
Look hard enough and youll find
Swery65s sprite lurking on the #IDARB site,
ready for the fast-paced world of arena ball.
Where to get your copy
All good newsagents & supermarkets
Online at imagineshop.co.uk
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PROJECT CARS
Could this be the most authentic racing simulation on the planet?
Are you the sort of
gamer that feels a little
stirring in your pants at the
first sight of a shiny chassis or
the lions roar of a super-charged
engine? Then youd better clear
your schedule and install some super-
concealing blinds in your bedroom,
because racing perfection is heading
to Xbox One this November by way of
Project CARS. Were going to let you in
on a little inside scoop: theres a very real
chance that Forza Motorsport 5 is going
to lose pole position when Project CARS
pulls up onto the next-gen grid. Slightly
Mad Studios is merging the unparalleled
cockpit immersion it first delivered with
Need For Speed: Shift with the nuance
of Forza Motorsports technical design
and, as you might imagine, the result is a
match made in simulation-racing heaven.
Project CARS is excelling in ways we
never imagined it could. One look at
the dynamic time, lighting and weather
systems in action has promptly blown our
minds. Turn 10 must be looking on with
more than a little curiosity; Slightly Mad
is introducing features Forza fans have
been asking after for years, and its doing
it with some serious style.
Slightly Mad is taking a sandbox
approach to Project CARS, and thats
not to say its delivering an open-world
Test Drive-style, instead everything is
open from the outset. Were talking
immediate access to 1:1 recreations of
over 67 licensed cars from a variety of
motorsport paths, and 52 tracks that have
been painstakingly recreated to live and
breath just like the real places.
Good thing too, because Project
CARS is able to convincingly portray
flag-to-flag coverage across entire racing
events. Whether they span multiple days
or an afternoon out on the track, from
shakedown to the main event, Slightly
Mad has gone to great lengths to ensure
that authenticity doesnt stop at core
driving experience. This does mean its
destined to appeal exclusively to the
hardcore, for those who took umbrage
with Forzas microtransactions or GRIDs
simplified presentation.
HOWS IT LOOKING? Project CARS is on its
way to delivering the most authentic racing
sim on the planet. Its about time to invest
in a really good racing wheel for your Xbox
One, we imagine.
DETAILS
PUBLISHER
Bandai Namco
DEVELOPER
Slightly Mad Studios
CREDITS
Need For Speed:
Shift [2009]
Shift 2:
Unleashed [2011]
Test Drive: Ferrari Racing
Legends [2012]
PLAYERS
1-TBC
KINECT?
No
SMARTGLASS?
No
RELEASE DATE
November 2014
WEBSITE
projectcarsgame.com
TWITTER
@WMDCars
Project CARS is 100% for simulation
nerds. We might not have the stomach
to go anywhere near a car that can
rocket along at 250mph, but that doesnt
mean we dont want an opportunity to
appreciate the sexiness of the design.
Of the screws that hold the suspension
systems together, the burn of rubber, and
the oh, Jesus, excuse us for a second,
we need to run down to Wilkinsons to
buy those new blinds already.
JOSH WEST
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DID YOU KNOW? An extra incentive for those who backed it on Kickstarter, eager gamers are involved with development, directly from their bedrooms
Slightly Mad is
introducing features
Forza fans have been
asking after for years, and
its doing it with some
serious style
Project CARS has adopted an improved version
of Need For Speed: Shifts Madness engine,
ensuring an insanely authentic physics simulation.
While you should never touch bumpers with
another vehicle in serious motorsport, the damage
system in Project CARS is incredibly impressive.
DISNEY INFINITY 2.0
Requires some Avengers assembly
Were easily pleased.
Show us a guy in
red and blue spandex
costume swinging around a
urban playground from webs
shot from his wrists and well
buy it. Show someone in a red and
gold metallic outfit swooping around
Manhattan and blasting ice monsters
in the face, were on board. Show us
a kickass Russian spy schooling thugs
on the street with her slick moves,
yep well definitely play that. So the
addition of the Marvel universe to
Disney Infinity has us quite excited.
Were pleased to see that Disney isnt
just dropping in a few new character
skins and hoping for the best. Criticism
of the original game (which was pretty
fun) has been taken to heart. Disney
Infinity wants to be taken seriously and
build a reputation based on quality
gaming. That means that Avalanche
has built a Marvel Manhattan playset
environment thats four times the size
of The Incredibles set of the last game.
It means a whole bunch of new things
like costumes (yes, theres a black
Spider-Man outfit) and power-up discs
and team-up discs that can augment
your experience. It also means deeper
gameplay that gives Infinity real replay
value beyond buying new figures.
A key new addition is skill trees.
Where in the last game you may have
found that many characters played
rather similarly, say Captain Jack
Sparrow and Barbossa, now you can
level up and customise your Marvel
team so that Spider-Man and Venom
HOWS IT LOOKING? Were loving the
character design and the major gameplay
improvements. Disney Infinity is really taking
the fight to its competition this year.
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DETAILS
PUBLISHER
Disney Interactive Studios
DEVELOPER
Avalanche Software
CREDITS
Toy Story 3: The
Video Game [2010]
Cars 2 [2011]
Disney Infinity [2013]
PLAYERS
1-TBC
KINECT?
TBC
SMARTGLASS?
TBC
RELEASE DATE
23 Sept 2014
WEBSITE
infinity.disney.com
TWITTER
@DisneyInfinity
DESTRUCTION DERBY
A whole new destruction engine
is being brought into Disney
Infinity. Dont expect huge
Battlefield levels of catastrophe,
but you can break things up
pretty badly if you try. The Hulk is
naturally a particular brute in this
area, smashing the floor as he
lands and leaving some sizeable
dents in walls as he climbs the
sides of buildings.
start to play a little differently. But
then again, the Marvel gang brings
a lot of that with them to start with.
The Hulk, Captain America, Iron Fist,
Black Widow, Thor and more all have
very distinct sets of abilities and styles
that you can really begin to pick and
choose your setup.
We thought that Lego Marvel Super
Heroes was a lot of fun, in part because
it captured our favourite heroes so
brilliantly and refined them to the
Lego formula. Disney is kind of going
in the opposite direction, allowing the
superheroes to mould Infinity a little
to better suit them. If it can deliver
the amount of customisation and fun
that were currently seeing it will be an
incredible improvement on the original.
JONATHAN GORDON
WWW.XB1.CO.UK
ALSO ON
Much like Lego Marvel or
Skylanders, this should look
and play just fine on the older
Xbox hardware.
Disney Infinity
wants to be taken
seriously and build a
reputation based on
quality gaming
MARVEL SUPER HEROES
ROSTER ROTATION
Its good to see a broad range
of Marvel faces being added to
the game such as Spidey, Green
Goblin, Nova and Venom pictured
here. You can also expect to see
the full Avengers team, Iron Fist
and plenty of others. We expect
more and more will be revealed
in the coming months, some of
which will be timed exclusives.
IN IT TO SWING IT
There doesnt appear to be any
cumbersome logic to how and
when Spider-Man can swing
around Manhattan in Disney
Infinity. Shoot the web, swing
and whether Spidey is actually
attached to a building or not is
something for someone else to
worry about. You can just enjoy
yourself and speed around town
through the air.
DID YOU KNOW? Iron Fist is getting his own TV show, thanks to Netflix
PREVIOUSLY
DISNEY
INFINITY
Really a fine opening
to this new series from
Disney. It lacked some
variety, but was still fun.
1
TOY STORY
3: THE
VIDEO GAME
One of the stronger movie
tie-in games weve ever
played and a great sign of
Avalanches quality.
2
DYING LIGHT
Techlands zombies will thankfully stay buried just a little longer
Zombies just dont
seem to want to go
away. Ever. Look around;
theyre absolutely everywhere
on your telly box, in the pages
of funny books or shuffling around
the post-apocalyptic wastelands in a
dearth of video games spinning in the
plastic maws of consoles the world over.
Yes, thats right, game fans: the zombie
apocalypse is here and here to stay.
Case in point: Polish developer,
Techlands, latest opus, Dying Light, a
sort of Mirrors Edge meets Dawn Of
The Dead, a game that favours fancy
footwork over caving a walkers skull
in with a spiked baseball bat. Think of
it as a sort of spiritual successor to the
bombastic Dead Island series, now that
that blood spattered torch has been
passed to the team at Yager.
Shuffling onto shelves under the
Warner Bros. Interactive banner in early
2015 after a lengthy delay, Dying Light
was finally made available for us to play,
so naturally we grabbed a pad and
ventured into Techlands latest freaky
foray into the land of the dead. First
off, that delay we mentioned; probably
a good thing. The free-running hook
thats basically the bedrock of the entire
experience feels a little malnourished,
thanks in no small part to the clunky
use of the shoulder buttons, which
are tied to leaping and grabbing onto
ledges. Maybe its us, but it just didnt
feel as comfortable as wed hoped,
and we lost count of how many times
we failed at a decent stab at free-
running over the course of our time
with the game because of this particular
implementation choice.
Still, it didnt
detract from the
fact that we were
well aware that
Dying Light is still
very much in its
Alpha phase, so
theres plenty of
time for the team
to smooth out those rough edges so that
it can deliver on that E3 2013 promise
of harmonious natural movement and
zombie clobbering. There were two
sections on offer on the show floor at
the Los Angeles Convention Centre this
year, the first of which gives you a basic
idea of how the game mechanics will
work come shelf date.
It unfurls at the outset of the game
when your characters stats are quite
feeble, so youre less likely to want to get
into too many bouts of fisticuffs with the
flesh eaters. This is a good thing. Why?
Because the more running, jumping and
occasional zombie-whacking you do,
the faster and stronger you become,
which in turn adds experience points to
your skill tree. These can then be used to
unlock a variety of abilities thatll ensure
you last just that little bit longer out
there in the sun-baked world Techland
has rustled up.
In the second section of the demo
we got a chance to wield a handful
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of Dying Lights many promised and
gleefully brutal weapons (there are 100
in total). Much like Dead Island, these
zombie-bashers can be customised with
parts found scattered around the games
vast world, so if youre a loot lover its
worth dedicating a little bit of time
scavenging areas for supplies so you can
retrofit weaponry.
Baseball bats can be barbed and
while the game
doesnt quite push
boundaries like, say,
Capcoms Dead
Rising series, there
are some intriguing
weapons to be
crafted including
a Zapper Axe and
Flame Slasher. The former allows you
to pull off a swirling attack, while the
latter slashes, burns and bludgeons
at the same time. Delightfully twisted
stuff then, zombie fans. Lets be honest,
Dead Island was an enormous amount
of fun for those who invested the time
in it, but it never quite delivered on the
promise of that trailer. It was clunky in
spots and more than a little buggy, but
Dying Light on the other hand has the
potential to bring something new to
table next year (or at least do what Dead
Island couldnt), and with that extra time
to tinker were hoping Techland can
deliver on that much mooted E3 promise
that set many a tongue wagging twelve
months ago.
SEBASTIAN WILLIAMSON
PUBLISHER
Warner Bros. Interactive
DEVELOPER
Techland
CREDITS
Call of Juarez [2006]
Naild [2010]
Dead Island [2011]
PLAYERS
1-4
KINECT?
No
SMARTGLASS?
No
RELEASE DATE
February 2015
WEBSITE
dyinglightgame.com
TWITTER
@DyingLightGame
HOWS IT LOOKING? Its a good thing
Dying Light has moved to 2015. Techland
needs to bring its A-game, so the additional
polish should help smooth out things like the
irksome controls.
Think of it as a sort
of spiritual successor
to the bombastic
Dead Island series
While we played through the demo we saw
a horde of the undead that could have been
lifted from the studios Dead Island titles and
rejigged for next-gen. And then there was
the zombie with the mallet that looked like a
discarded extra from Resident Evil. Techland
has until February to thrill us with something
other than the usual zombie fare.
MORE OF THIS, PLEASE
SHOW US SOME NEW KIND OF ZOMBIES
While we have yet to see
the Xbox 360 its likely draw
distance and lighting effects
will suffer the most come the
games release.
ALSO ON
Rule one of the zombie
apocalypse according to Dying
Light: punching a zombie
actually works.
DID YOU KNOW? Dying Light was originally developed as a sequel to Dead Island before it became a fully-fledged Xbox One title
PREVIOUSLY
DEAD ISLAND
Battle hordes of
the walking dead on
a sun-soaked tropical
island filled with blood
and bugs galore
DEAD ISLAND:
RIPTIDE
More of an expansion
pack than a sequel;
Riptide punted the action
to a second island
1
2
Rule two of the zombie
apocalypse according to Dying
Light: Zombies dont like hugs.
Previews Reviews X-ONE Live
DID YOU KNOW? As something of a global phenomenon, Minecraft has amassed a massive 35 million sales across all platforms
With texture packs youll be able to
rebuild your favourite bits of your favourite
videogames in all their blocky glory.
This is what Minecraft is all
about; building huge grand
projects. It takes a creative
mind, admittedly, but everyone
can appreciate that.
BRICK BY
BRICK
If youre new to
Minecraft, then you
should think of it as
digital Lego with
monsters you need to
defend yourself from.
1
HIGH FIVE
HOME SWEET
HOME
There isnt really an
overarching goal to
Minecraft, but what
most find they do first is
build a home they can be
proud of.
2
CREATURE
COMFORTS
A wide selection of
beasts both hostile and
neutral litter each world
in Minecraft; some
can even be used for
breeding.
3
ENDGAME
Though it might
not seem like it at
first, there is an end to
Minecraft. Itll take a
while, but you need to
find access to The End
and kill the Enderdragon.
4
PATCH IT UP
Theres still plenty
of content yet to carry
over from PC including
rideable horses so
theres plenty more free
updates to come on
console yet.
5
HOST NO MORE
MINECRAFT: NOW WITH ADDED ACCESS TO
MICROSOFTS DEDICATED SERVERS
It has been confirmed that Minecraft
on Xbox One will make use of Xbox
Lives brand new dedicated servers, in
much the same way that Call Of Duty
now does on Xbox One. This means
you shouldnt have to wait for your
friend to start playing before you can
access the world youve both been
playing on; no more waiting required!
MINECRAFT
All thats left is for your
microwave to include
Minecraft and youre all set
to have every electronic device
you own to include the block-
building game. With it releasing on
Xbox One the game is on practically
everything else after all. Youre probably
thinking Ive already played it on Xbox
360, why bother again? A fair criticism
for a game that looks as it does; but
perhaps you didnt realise quite how
technically demanding Minecraft was? As
a result, bringing it over to Xbox One has
enabled quite a number of enhancements
to the game sure, it wont be a
completely different experience, but if
youve enjoyed your time building castles
and hacking Creepers to bits then there
certainly are reasons to get a look in.
The expanded graphics and draw
distance, as ridiculous as that might
sound, will be the most noticeable
improvement youll see. Theres a greater
softness to the edges in the Xbox One
version which is important when there
are as many edges as this resulting
in smoother textures and improved
lighting from sunlight and torches. Youll
see a further distance, too, which is
certainly appealing as a visual touch but
since Minecraft is a game largely about
exploration this alone is a key feature to
make spotting landmarks and finding
potential bounties
of resources
easier. Best of
all, however, is
the expanded
game worlds.
While they wont
be infinite hell,
theyre not on PC,
either they have
been said to be
at least 36 times bigger than what you
can currently get on Xbox 360. If you
thought the edge of Minecraft wasnt
vast enough, well imagine what you can
get with the Xbox One version so much
more space to expand into, dirt to dig up
and diamonds to find. Better still is the
fact that you wont need to discard all
the hard work youve done on the Xbox
360; youll be able to convert those game
worlds into their bigger, better Xbox One
equivalents and wont have to start from
scratch. Happy days, right?
All this is helped by the fact that, if
you already own Minecraft on Xbox
360, the cost to buy it for the next-gen
version is dramatically reduced. Whether
you already bought Minecraft digitally
or on a disc, youll be able to pay only
3.49/$4.99 to upgrade your copy to the
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Xbox One. For this significantly reduced
cost youll be able to switch your version
out for a much better one, without
the worry of losing anything else. Its a
no-brainer, really. Even most (sadly not
all) of your DLC skins and texture packs
will carry over to the Xbox One, and
you wont need to repurchase them. Its
all tied to your account, so once youve
got the new and
improved version
downloaded youll be
able to access your
favourite skin (Banjo
And Kazooie, right?)
without any effort at
all. In fact, the game
will even have feature
parity with the Xbox
360 version, so you
wont boot up on the new-gen version
only to discover its missing redstone or
something daft like that. The two will be
updated simultaneously, so theres no
concern that one or the other will take
over; and lets not forget, theres still
plenty of content to cross over from the
PC version still Minecraft is still young
yet on console.
Mojang and the console developer 4J
Studios have bent over backwards to
ensure the move from last-gen to next-
gen is as frictionless as possible, at least
when it comes to Minecraft. The low
cost of doing so means theres really no
excuse for not getting stuck in, at least
one more time. Lest we forget the perfect
simplicity of Minecrafts pick-up and
play nature, it doesnt take any time at all
(especially now on Xbox One) to boot up
that grand construction project you were
working so intently on, so just having it
there ready to play is important for those
moments when that crave kicks in. With
improved graphics, expanded multiplayer
options and additional feature sets all
bundled in with your Xbox One Minecraft
upgrade, there really arent any excuses
not to bother.
ADAM BARNES
PUBLISHER
Microsoft
DEVELOPER
4J Studios/Mojang
CREDITS
Minecraft (PC)
(Mojang) [2011]
Minecraft: Xbox 360
Edition (4J Studios) [2012]
Scrolls (Mojang) [2013]
PLAYERS
1-8
KINECT?
No
SMARTGLASS?
No
RELEASE DATE
August
WEBSITE
minecraft.net
TWITTER
@4JStudios
HOWS IT LOOKING? Minecraft is about
as core a videogame can get, and it
doesnt really need tweaking as a result.
It taps into our very persistent desire to
explore, and itll be no different again on
Xbox One.
Theres still plenty of
content to cross over
from the PC version
still Minecraft is still
young on console
XBOX ONE EDITION
The award for most predictable Xbox One release of the year goes to
XBOX 360 XBOX ONE
Perhaps you wont think the difference between these
two screenshots is that dramatic, but look carefully and
youll spot it.
On Xbox One, visuals are smoother, the draw distance
is much grander and the soft horizon fog is much more
realistic. For a game about square blocks, anyway.
Whats the betting youve never built
anything this grand? Maybe on Xbox One
youll be driven to try.
In a world that stopped spinning a thousand years ago
and divided into a land of magic and a land of technology,
Earthlock immediately appears to be approaching turn-
based RPG making with the right mindset. Keep it odd, keep
it whimsical and keep it mysterious. Theres more to this indie
project than the standard tropes though as two ideas in particular
promise to kick a little extra life into the combat of this little adventure.
The first is a companion/protector system where each of the heroes in
the game can have someone standing by with spells and healing abilities.
These companions each have their own skillset and specialities so picking
the right one for the fight ahead and managing their assistance meters
will be important. The other key element is that you grow ammunition at
your home base, like potatoes for spud guns, so therell be some resource
management to consider too.
Since this is likely to be the first Unreal Engine 4 game
to be released on Xbox One, there will be a lot of eyes on
Space Hulk and its FPS gameplay to see if it can follow in
the footsteps of the earliest Unreal-powered games last gen.
Those games helped to define what the generation looked like.
Will Space Hulk: Deathwing do the same? Using the dark corridors of
a Space Hulk, the derelict spaceships that float around the universe of
Warhammer 40,0000, Deathwing will see you behind the gun of a classic
Warhammer space marine and Librarian (which is a cool thing in this
universe, as it gives you Psyker powers). So far its looking pretty impressive
with some very dark environments bringing all the focus to the grizzly
textures of the Genestealers and the scuffed armour of marines. Its still
going to arrive with low expectations, but that may work in its favour.
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EARTHLOCK:
FESTIVAL OF MAGIC
SPACE HULK:
DEATHWING
WOOLFE: THE
REDHOOD
DIARIES
When we got our first look
at Woolfe we thought it was
a Spicy Horse game, seemingly
having so much in common with
that studios Alice games. But this
is actually from Grin and as action
platformers go, its looking very
good indeed. Picked by Microsoft
as one of its games to watch for
ID@Xbox, its also been given
massive backing. If you like your
indie games a little darker then this
could be a winner for you.
FENIX RAGE
Watching footage from
this mix of punishing
twitch platformer and bullet
hell survival we feel a mixture
of pure eagerness and a little
queasy. We thought Super Meat
Boy was challenging at times,
but the use of air dashing as
an airborne means of dodging
attacks, allowing gravity and
momentum to see you to safety is
something else. With the promise
of hundreds of levels too, Fenix
Rage is likely to be as lengthy and
varied in its attempts to kill you as
any game coming to ID@Xbox.
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LIFELESS
PLANET
Inspired by classic sci-fi and
exploration-based games
like Ico, Lifeless Planet will be
sending your solitary astronaut
to a new world with no prospect
of return in the hopes of finding a
new planet that could sustain life.
Trouble is, this world doesnt seem
too habitable and its not exactly
undiscovered either. Theres a deep
mystery to be uncovered and we
think it will make a nice companion
piece to No Mans Sky, offering a
more focused, haunting version of
space exploration.
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DIRECTORS
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The world-manipulating,
colour-matching puzzles of
Q.U.B.E. may be very different
in execution, but it does bring The
Orange Box to mind. As you step
into each new room your lack of
understanding of what is expected
of you can be overwhelming. How
do you direct a ball through colour-
changing blocks by using a Rubiks
Cube style system of walls? Youll
just have to play to find out.
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Chances are if youre reading this then youre a hardcore
fan of Warriors Orochi. We assume that because there
are only hardcore fans of this series. You dont find casual
fans like you would with a Call Of Duty or Tomb Raider and if
you werent a hardcore fan you would have skipped passed this
onto one of the other games on this page. If you arent one of those
guys, its your loss, because as maligned as the Warriors games can be
theyre also some of the most addictive and rewarding when you can click
with it. For instance this new Ultimate edition one Xbox One will feature at
least nine new playable characters (including Kasumi from Dead Or Alive),
new stages, two new story campaigns, playable enemy campaigns and the
recently added multiplayer Duel Mode. Thats plenty of goodness to throw
on top of the multiple enemies and improved graphics and lighting youll
enjoy on Xbox One.
We love a good pool game. For us, its up there with the
best pinball titles. Sure, we could probably walk down the
road and find a game in the real world, but theres always
been something captivating about the simple physics of balls
flying around a table, not to mention more reliable action than
old real-life machines. Pure Pool, from the maker of Hustle Kings, is
looking like an excellent step in the right direction for pub and arcade
games on the Xbox One. Its looking incredibly realistic graphically, which
is always impressive, the physics look to be spot-on and the controls
seems to be structured nice and intuitively. The addition of multiplayer and
a custom league system are also welcome, so you can set up your own
competition among friends. Pure Pool may not be the kind of digital game
thats going to win awards or win over the indie hardcore, but its exactly
the kind of ID@Xbox release we love to see.
WARRIORS
OROCHI 3 ULTIMATE
PURE POOL
NERO
Combining the haunting
world of Journey, the mood
of Avatar and the first-person
exploration of Myst, Nero is a
game that is both wrapped in a
great deal of mystery and fairly
easy to make guesses about
in terms of gameplay. While
developer Storm In A Teacup
doesnt want to say much about
the story other than its about love,
puzzle-solving and adventuring
are clearly at the heart of this dark,
neon-splashed new indie game.
THERE CAME
AN ECHO
We continue to be
impressed with how this
isometric strategy game is
making use of voice control. As
your four fighters go into the battle,
the AI will handle the shooting and
smaller details. All you have to do
is bark orders or, if you prefer, use
the controller to tee up moves.
Abbreviated commands like, go
to alpha one, instead of naming a
spot keeps things simpler, as does
saying, on my mark, which means
theyll await your go signal to move.
SHAPE UP
The Xbox One has been
mercifully light on fitness-
focused games so far, but
the announcement of Ubisofts
exclusive Shape Up may well be
the first step in tipping that balance
the other way. Thankfully, this isnt
your traditional gym instructor
condescending your lunges with
empty compliments. This is a mini-
game focused title that happens
to revolve around fitness principles
and as such it may be the perfect
combo. The games so far look
fun, challenging and physically
demanding.
LOVERS IN A
DANGEROUS
SPACETIME
As mad-cap co-op games
go, they dont appear to
come any loonier or frantic
than this one. As your neon space
vessel comes under attack from
space fish and mechanical bears
you must dash around the inside
of your ship, taking up the outer
guns, cannons, grappling hook
or propulsion. Only being able to
control one thing at a time means
working as tightly together as
possible. It promises to be chaotic,
but a lot of fun.
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62 | X-ONE MAGAZINE WWW.XB1.CO.UK 62 | X-ONE MAGAZINE WWW.XB1.CO.UK
ARNO IS TAKING A GUILLOTINE TO SOME OF CREEDS
BEST-KNOWN FEATURES AND FLAWS
S CREED: UNITY IS
REVOLUTIONISING THE SERIES
AYS
THE BROTHERHOOD IS REAL
Weve had the chance to play with the support of other assassins before, most notably in
Assassins Creed: Brotherhood as you hired, trained and graduated new warriors into your own
group. But this time its a little more serious. With real players behind the assassins in co-op
and a brotherhood that demands Arnos contribution, its a much more serious take to the
concept. We want to give more options, so you can decide to go in all weapons out or sneak
in/sneak out and play the mission entirely stealthy, says senior producer Vincent Pontbriant.
So we have various ways to approach your targets using the different skills.
DROP-IN,
DROP-OUT
Playing co-op in Assassins Creed: Unity is
going to be the smoothest possible experience
that you could hope for. While the missions
you perform with friends are completely
separate to the single-player storyline, people
can still jump right into your game and run
about with you if you want them to, adding
something new to the series. We have joint
progress, so whenever someone drops out
they can just join at that state in the mission,
Pontbriant adds. If youre online youre really
free roaming, in between missions you can join
your friends or your friends can join you at any
time. And you can explore the streets of Paris
together, find collectibles, all these things
DOZENS OF
HOURS OF
CO-OP
And co-op is no throwaway add-on. Co-op
missions exist in the game world, even though
they do not interfere with the single-player
story, and they could last a full third of the
game. In terms of length, obviously the
single-player campaign is longer and then
theres dozens of hours of co-op play for
sure, Pontbriant explained. Amancio has also
revealed that all of these missions can be
played solo and with up to three friends, so
while the brotherhood gameplay is apart from
the main story, you can still treat it like a solo
game if you would rather play alone.
CUSTOMISE
MORE THAN
CLOTHES
Theres more to the customisation than just
dressing Arno up, according to Pontbriant. So
we have a skill system, which is point-based,
and its up to you to decide do you want to
invest now in your fighting skills or would you
rather put them in your stealth skills, he told
us. When you play with friends it just creates
complementary gameplay because you might
have chosen more of a stealth profile and
your other friend has made his Arno more of
a fighter, and it just makes it interesting when
youre playing with two, three, or four players.
THERES
PLENTY TO
REPLAY
Ubisoft has said it has put a lot of thought into
its missions so that players can approach them
in a variety of different ways. Just as you can
customise Arno to be better suited to combat
or stealth, you can approach missions with the
same variations. We have conceived these
missions to be played and replayed in different
ways, creative director Alexander Amancio
has confirmed. Players will explore their
environments, discover secret passages and
create their own opportunities. That should
make for an even richer assassin experience in
Unity than weve ever played before.
ASSASSINS CREED: UNITY
UNITY IS IN DEVELOPMENT
EVERY SECOND OF THE DAY
Its no great surprise that Ubisoft is developing this massive new game across multiple studios
again, but this year its an even more impressive operation than ever. There are in fact ten
studios worldwide working together with a central organising team based at Ubisoft Montreal.
That means, every minute of the week, somebody is working on Assassins Creed: Unity
somewhere in the world, Amancio was pleased to reveal. Thats a pretty impressive claim.
MURDER
MYSTERIES TO
SOLVE?
In explaining how rich with background detail
and interactions Unity is, Amancio let slip a
piece of info that caught our attention. In
order to fill this universe to the brim, we added
ton of side content and activities murder
mysteries, Paris stories, crowd events, treasure
hunt, etc where the player can feel like being
a part of this living and breathing city. Murder
mysteries? With so much carnage happening
around Paris at this time, deaths are going to
be commonplace, and even though putting
bodies in the ground is more of an assassins
remit we like the idea of having crimes to solve.
REAL CROWD
STEALTH THIS
TIME AROUND
Remember when hiding in a crowd involved
clasping Altars hands together and standing in
the middle of a group of monks? Yeah, that was
pretty rubbish. Ubisoft has gone back to that
core principle though and tried to make it real
with Unity. Now that we have real crowds with
more than thousands of NPCs, if the player
tries to hide, they can do so simply by entering
the crowd, Amancio confirmed. The player
now has more tools and more possibilities to
act stealthily. That means that even when
youre on the run, a big crowd could genuinely
keep you hidden in this game.
THE STORY
COULD SPAN
A DECADE
While 1789 may be the year that the French
Revolution kicked off, its wars, conflicts and
changes of power continued for many years
after. It was an extraordinarily violent, cruel,
and momentous decade that took Europe by
surprise, Amancio agreed. Interesting that he
would describe the decade, as 1799 was the
year Napoleon Bonaparte lead his coup dtat
to become First Consul of France. Taking Unity
up to that point would leave plenty of room
for a sequel with Arno or just a bucketload of
DLC expansions that would take him into the
Napoleonic wars. The high seas are calling
BEAUTIFUL
LIGHTING
TECHNOLOGY
According to Amancio, good looks alone arent
enough to impress this generation. Games
are catching up to CG-level of quality and
thus, high definition graphics are no longer the
differentiation factor. Whats needed instead
is more of a Hollywood style of thinking,
using the thinking of what makes a great-
looking movie and applying that to Unity, as
he explains. True differentiation comes from
mastery of volumetric cinematography; the
ability to master art direction in a 3D physical
space. Good lighting can make something look
a whole lot better pretty fast.
TEMPLARS EVERYWHERE
Trying to discern the good guys and the bad guys in Assassins Creed has never been easy
and the politically and morally grey era of the French Revolution is a great playground for
Creeds brand of conspiracy with its many warring factions. The French Revolution is not a
clean revolution, admitted Amancio. Among each faction, there are nobles and commoners.
And above all those factions, working in the shadows, are the Assassins and the Templars,
fighting their age-old struggle. The player will notice that an entity is pulling the strings of the
Revolution and manipulating the factions to reach its objectives.
YOURE NOT
STUCK TO
HIDING ON
ROOFTOPS
Ubisoft is not only packing the streets of Paris
with plenty of detail in Unity, it is also making
interiors for many of the buildings and thats
going to open up all sorts of new routes for
smart assassins. In previous Assassins Creed
games, the player could escape in the streets
while climbing walls or reaching rooftops. Now,
the player can escape by entering through a
window, climbing a flight of stairs and exiting
through the first story window before jumping
on the rooftop, Amancio illustrated.
NO MORE
DESYNCHRO-
NISATION
Its a pretty major change to the Assassins
Creed series. There is no longer a strict fail
state to missions in Unity. While well wait to
see if there are some desync moments (dying
would be one, we imagine), if you get caught
tailing someone or mess up a kill it just leads to
a chase or you having to run. Its a much more
adaptive, realistic approach that doesnt rely
on you repeating the exact memory of events.
The key reason for the change would seem to
be that you can approach missions in many
different ways, so strict guidelines for syncing
would be too restrictive.
YOU CAN
OUTSMART
NPCS
Did you ever feel like guards in Assassins Creed
were a little scripted in how they pursued you?
It was almost as if they were timing themselves,
waiting a bit and then giving up. No longer in
Unity, where line of sight is all powerful and you
can really trick guards when running away. It
[makes] chases feel like you were outsmarting
NPCs rather than just outrunning them,
Amancio revealed. On top of that, it greatly
improves stealth because we are actually
displaying the player position in the chases
and stealth portion of the games it is valuable
information that the player can act upon.
MORE DETAIL
IN BUILDINGS
THAN EVER
How long would you guess it takes to make
a building in Assassins Creed? A few days?
A week? Well, with buildings in Unity being
made to a near 1:1 scale, theres more detail
and time being put in than ever, especially for
the big landmarks. If you look at Notre-Dame,
with all the angles it has, the gargoyles, the
architectural details, the spires its really, really
impressive. It took one person on our team
eight months to create! Amancio revealed.
Even for us we see it every day, but theres
always that sense of awe when you see one of
the landmarks Paris is known for.
ASSASSINS
CREED: UNITY
IS SCHEDULED
FOR RELEASE
28 OCTOBER
2014
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REVIEWS
IN BRIEF
The first official UFC
game from EA Sports. Can
it measure up to THQs
Undisputed series?
GAME
DETAILS
PUBLISHER
EA Sports
DEVELOPER
EA Sports
Canada
GAME TYPE
Sports
PLAYERS
1-2
DLC
Bruce Lee
ACHIEVEMENT
DIFFICULTY
Moderate
NEED TO
UNLOCK
Stand and
Bang (50G)
Its easy to complain about the regularity
of sports games. When you think about
it though, translating a sport that millions
around the world love into a series of button-
presses is a huge task. This is arguably never more
the case than with mixed-martial arts, a sport so
complex and deep that to the uninitiated, it tends to
just look like two people hugging. Considering how tough
it must have been to translate MMA to a videogame, its
easy to appreciate both how EA Sports UFC succeeds and
where it falls short.
This is EAs first game with the official UFC licence,
although it has taken one stab at the sport before: the
decent EA Sports MMA, back in 2011. This time around, EA
has brought in the team behind its excellent Fight Night
boxing sims to take up development, and it shows.
MMA is roughly divided up into three main parts: the
standing game, where competitors throw punches and
kicks at each other, the clinch (the hugging bit), and the
ground game, where the two wrestle for the dominant
position on the mat while trying to strike or submit the
other. Its no surprise, considering the developer, that the
standing part of the game is by far the most accomplished.
Each of the four face buttons correspond to a particular
limb, Tekken-style, and combined with different directions
result in different attacks forward and punch is a hook,
while holding back results in an uppercut. Add in two
Fighting the world every single day
easports.com/ufc @EASPORTSUFC /EASPORTSUFC
EA SPORTS UFC
different modifier buttons that alter the moves that come
out and each fighter has a large repertoire that will require
learning indeed, at times it feels more like a traditional
fighting game, having to learn the commands for each
characters attacks.
The Fight Night lineage is clear, and to describe the
whole thing as Fight Night with kicks wouldnt be too far
off the mark. You and your opponent will dance around
each other, throwing kicks to the body at range before
darting in for some stiff hooks to the face. Slipping,
blocking, parrying attacks and sidestepping before landing
that sweet counter hit is just as fun as it was in Fight
Night, and the wonderful graphics make it that much more
satisfying. You can really see the damage your fists are
doing to your poor victims face.
Unfortunately, its once you move into the other two
elements of the game that the seams start to show. In a
real fight, striking moves into the clinch organically, two
fighters gradually moving closer and eventually coming
together in an effort to limit the attacks their opponent can
throw. That isnt the case here, and youll have to manually
It never feels intuitive or
natural enough to make the
complexity enjoyable
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Land a perfect counter-hit and
youll do a ton of extra damage. Its
one of the best ways to knock your
opponent down.
68 | X-ONE MAGAZINE
F FFe eea aat ttu uur rre ees ss
X XX- --O OON NNE EE M MMA AAG GGA AAZ ZZI IIN NNE EE | || 6 669 99 WWW.IMAGINESHOP.CO.UK
attempt a clinch by flicking forward on the right stick when
near your foe. It doesnt feel natural, with no flow from
the striking game rather, it feels that you are essentially
entering a new minigame via some canned animations.
Once in the clinch, youll be able to throw strikes
depending on your position, as well as attempt to transition
to better ones. Its here that things get really confusing and
obtuse, thanks to controls that are as poorly-explained as
they are counter-intuitive. Transitions are performed with
various quarter-circle movements of the right stick, while
the other player can block them by holding guard and the
correct direction. It sounds alright on paper but in practice,
its just a mess. Its never quite clear enough what you or
your opponent are trying to do, and too often it becomes
a guessing game of spamming random commands rather
than playing strategically. It also doesnt feel natural, each
transition another canned animation rather than a natural
struggle as the two competitors wrestle for position.
Its a similar story on the ground, transitions once again
performed with quarter-circle movements, more advanced
ones also requiring a button press at the same time. Again,
this is largely a confusing struggle to begin with, attempts
to block your opponents transitions and escapes never
seeming to work. As you play more and gradually learn
GAMING EXPERIENCE
TIME
E
N
J
O
Y
M
E
N
T
00:10 This grappling
stuff is hard, though
00:05 Punching
people is great
02:00 Starting to get
the hang of it now
05:00 Beginning to do well
online. Its all coming together
EA SPORTS UFC
THE KARATE
KID
What better
to get you in
the fighting
spirit than
an inspiration tale of
martial arts? Youre
the best around!
FIGHT NIGHT
CHAMPION
The most
recent boxing
game from
the same
developer, and an
excellent one at that.
Perfect for pugilistic
gamers.
what you can and cannot do from each position you will
improve, but its a huge amount to learn, even for fans
of the sport. Wed never complain about a game being
complex, but the issue is it never feels intuitive or natural
enough to make the complexity enjoyable.
Submissions are also attempted from the ground,
starting a bizarre minigame that is far tenser than it
first appears. The person in the submission must hold
a direction on the right stick to try and escape, and the
dominant player must match the direction to block them.
Every now and then a prompt on the left stick will appear
for the player in control, and if you hit in time youll reset
the escape progress of the opponent. Keep them in it long
enough and theyll tap out, earning you the victory.
Once you get the hang of it, submissions are actually
quite tense battles of control, although the huge HUD
that takes up the screen completely obscures the actual
fighters. Once again though, it doesnt feel real an odd
complaint for a game perhaps, but one that matters when
that game wants to be as close to a simulation as possible.
The more you play of EA Sports UFC and the more you
get the hang of the various commands, systems and visual
tells, the more fun it becomes. Eventually youll fall in sync
with the rhythm and rules of the game, racking up some
great knockouts and satisfying submissions. Its good fun,
but that lingering problem remains: its the rhythm and
rules of EA Sports UFC, not the real sport of MMA, which
you have learned.
Perhaps not surprisingly considering it runs on the same
engine as Fight Night, UFC looks absolutely stunning.
This is a next-gen only game for good reason, with some
of the most realistic character models weve ever seen in
videogames. Body deformity through a fight is seriously
impressive, with faces swelling, ribs bruising in real-time
and blood spraying all over the place. Its a brutal beauty,
but beauty nonetheless.
The modes and options are standard for the genre, and
will seem extremely familiar to Fight Night fans. Career
mode is the main single-player draw here, which sees
you creating a fighter and rising up through the ranks to
eventually fight for the championship and retire a legend.
Between fights youll play brief training minigames to earn
Just like a traditional fighting
game, UFC is at its best
when played against real
competition
EXTENDED
EXPERIENCE
UFC
UNDISPUTED
3
Pick up
THQs last
UFC game if
you are interested in
how the two differ. It
does some things a
lot better.
Female fighters
like Ronda Rousey
are playable in the
main game, but
career mode only
gives the option to
be a man. Poor show.
#WHEREARE
THEWOMEN
TRENDING
Enter the dragon for a price
INSERT COIN!
BRUCE LEE AND ROYCE GRACIE
Bruce Lee and UFC legend Royce Gracie
can both be unlocked by entering the Hall
Of Fame in Career mode on pro difficulty,
but this is a really hard task. More likely,
many will bite the bullet and just buy them
Lee in particular is sure to be popular.
It seems a bit sneaky hiding your most
popular character, one that much of the
marketing of the game was based around,
behind a DLC paywall, but such are the
times we live in. Bruce comes in a number
of different weight classes, with the option
to buy one or the whole lot at a reduced
price. Its irritating, but with a large roster
out of the box you wont be hurting for
people to play as.
PRICE 1.99 for one weight class, 5.99 for the lot.
Video messages from UFC boss Dana
White and various fighters will pop up
from time to time. Lets just say none of
them are particularly gifted actors.
points which can be spent on leveling up your attributes
and buying new moves. The presentation is quite bare-
bones, as most of the time outside of fights youll be
staring at the same menu screen, occasionally interrupted
by some awkward video messages from real UFC fighters.
Great job on that knockout! they say, clearly harbouring
contempt behind their eyes for the lazy nerd on the other
end of their obligated congratulation.
Outside of career, single players have a basic fight now
option and a gamut of challenges that teach every part of
the game in detail. These are crucial, as the tutorial that
the game starts you with misses out huge elements of the
ground and clinch game that only the challenges will tell
you a strange omission considering their importance.
Just like a traditional fighting game, though, UFC is at its
best when played against real competition. While the AI is
alright, it doesnt feel intelligent enough to put up a proper,
strategic fight in the same way that a real person can. The
online side of the game is the same as Fight Night, with
players competing in seasons for championship belts to
prove their dominance of the multiplayer arena. Be careful
the people on here already know the game and the sport
inside out, and will teach you the hard way the difference
between an armbar and a kimura lock.
For its first take on a sport notoriously difficult to turn
into a videogame, the team at EA Canada has done a
good job with EA Sports UFC. Its a fun game with a lot
of potential to grow better in sequels, but for the moment
suffers from some serious flaws in its grappling and clinch
mechanics. That level of immersion, feeling that you really
are a fighter in the Octagon, still isnt quite there, despite
some impressive efforts. Fans of the sport will find a lot to
enjoy here, but for newcomers there is a lot to learn, most
of which is explained poorly. EA Sports UFC is a decent
first effort, and fun enough in multiplayer that its flaws,
though large, can be overlooked.
SAM SMITH
VERDICT
A valiant first effort, EA Sports UFC could be the start
of something great. For now, it is merely a good try,
but one that is still a lot of fun.
7
As you would expect from an EA
fighting game, this is graphically very
impressive. The presentation could be a
little sharper, though.
If you dont know the different
between a half guard and full
guard, you might have to do some
extra research. The game isnt great
at explaining the sport itself.
The Hunt The
Grey Wolf DLC lets
you hunt for Hitler
and, yes, if you line
up the perfect shot
he does only have
one ball. Perfect.
#ONLYHAD
ONEBALL
TRENDING
IN BRIEF
Rebellion takes yet
another shot at the
somewhat mediocre
Sniper Elite franchise, the
game that lets you revel
in the splendour of killing
a Nazi from hundreds of
metres away.
PUBLISHER
505 Games
DEVELOPER
Rebellion
GAME TYPE
Stealth action
PLAYERS
1-12
DLC
Hunt The Grey
Wolf
ACHIEVEMENT
DIFFICULTY
Moderate
NEED TO
UNLOCK
Charlies
Challenge (5G)
GAME
DETAILS
Expect to run into a host of
technical problems in Sniper
Elite III, though they sometimes
distract from the monotony.
The X-ray kills are incredibly gruesome, ensuring
youre never more than a shot away from tearing
enemies insides apart in horrible detail.
Somewhat unfairly, youll also need to go up
against enemy artillery. Indiana Jones should
be the only guy able to take down a tank solo.
Firing a shot will force
you to relocate, unless
you want waves of
deadly Nazis descending
on your position.
Theres something way too satisfying about
nailing a guy in the testicles from over 100m
away. Sniper Elite III will even reward you with an
Achievement for the effort, now that is dedication
to mutilation. Rebellion has delivered a stealth game
that shares more in common with the likes of Mortal
Kombat than it does Splinter Cell, a new breed of torture
porn designed especially for World War II enthusiasts.
Thats right, the killcam returns in all of its bloody glory.
Sniper Elite V2 successfully introduced a slow motion, X-ray-
vision camera into play to let you pinpoint exactly how the
Nazi in your sights who always chose
exactly the wrong time to start pissing
against the Berlin Wall died. From barrel
to bollocks, the camera lovingly follows
the bullets majestic flight through the air
before revealing the full extent of your
actions. Eyeballs explode, skulls and ribs
fracture as hearts and lungs puncture.
All in horribly, glorious detail. Its quite
the sight: the new fracture system even
lets you blow kneecaps away and watch
through a telescopic sight as your target
lies helpless on the floor writhing in pain.
These unflinching executions are shocking
at first. Then its kinda funny. Before long, its something
youre clawing at the A button to skip.
Sniper Elite IIIs campaign might be as linear as that of its
predecessors, though its undoubtedly the best yet. Please
note: thats something of a backhanded compliment. Youre
usually tasked with sneaking through enemy encampments,
placing explosive charges and assassinating top-ranking
Nazi officials. Youll quickly fall into a familiar combat and
movement loop: while Sniper Elite III does give you the option
of approaching targets in various ways, it wont be long
before you begin mindlessly chasing down objective markers
without a second thought.
While theres a surprising amount of complexity to the
systems at work in Sniper Elite III, the series notoriously
unbalanced AI and mediocre stealth elements upends them.
Its frustrating, again, because the game puts far more
credence on approaching situations very stealthily than it
does on approaching enemies with a spring in your step
and a Thompson in your hands. Protagonist Karl Fairburne
doesnt like being shot at, and one wrong footstep or loud act
of aggression will have a swarm of Nazi soldiers descending
on your position in seconds. Medkits and bandages are
required to refill your static health bar, and Rebellions
punishing checkpointing means youll learn the hard way
about Sniper Elite IIIs manual save system.
It forces you to make use of the solid, long-range gunplay.
Lining-up a shot adheres to the long-established routine of
Missing the mark by inches
SNIPER ELITE III
a button press to hold your breath and a patient wait to line
up your long-range death sentence. Sadly, your fun with a
rifle is heavily governed by the amount of ambient noise you
can generate or use to your advantage. Youre able to use
the crack of thunder, the rumble of a generator, or overhead
aircrafts to mask your shots its smart, though in many
ways it actively encourages you to avoid sniping until you
can find another of these situations to activate. Its realistic,
we guess, but gets a little tiring. You cant fire off more than a
couple of shots before having to relocate and this only goes
to highlight the uneven AI. If youre spotted or heard, the Nazi
will close in quickly with deadly precision
flanking you intelligently until youre out of
bullets or medkits. If enemy troops happen
across a body, however, theyll have a
cursory look around before returning to their
normal routine. It doesnt take long for the
system to feel frustratingly limited, a way of
keeping the player moving around the larger
environments, just for the hell of it.
More of the same from Rebellion then.
Promising advancements in design are let
down by oversights in the core systems
and mechanics. The studio is considerably
consistent, and surprising nobody, Sniper
Elite III features a litany of bugs and glitches that youll
constantly butt your head against. Impossible to climb
ankle-high mountains, invisible walls, re-loading objectives,
misinterpreted button presses and new-advancements in
portal technology that allows the Nazi to teleport vehicles
into your local area at a moments notice. For the most
part, these are inconsistent annoyances across a lengthy
campaign, but when you do encounter a hiccup it really ruins
the immersion of being behind enemy lines.
When youre done with the campaign either through
short patience or completion entertaining cooperative
and competitive modes are available. As it turns out, laying
down traps and relocating between shots if far more
gratifying when going up against human players, as are
long-distance sniper battles that are as tense as they are
deadly. Sniper Elite III also lets you play through the entire
campaign cooperatively, though Rebellion has not only
ditched split-screen co-op entirely, but it has also overlooked
matchmaking for this particular mode. So, unless you know
somebody else with a copy of the game, its likely you wont
have an opportunity to give this a try.
Entertaining multiplayer, a lengthy campaign packed full of
objectives and a fairly robust levelling system is all well and
good, but packing a game with content is no substitute for a
quality experience. If youre desperate to live out the fantasy
of being a deadly sniper, then Sniper Elite III is the best of the
bunch when it comes to sniping simulators. But dont come in
expecting anything more than routine disappointment from
every other aspect of the game.
JOSH WEST
www.rebellion.co.uk/games/sniper-elite-3 @Rebellion /RebellionDevelopments
VERDICT
If you live for the glory of the kill, Sniper Elite III is the
game for you, just dont expect it to be routinely
enjoyable. It can get a bit heavy.
6
X
B
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O
N
E
Promising
advancements
in design are
let down by
oversights in the
core systems and
mechanics
GAMING EXPERIENCE
TIME
E
N
J
O
Y
M
E
N
T
01:30 X-Ray
kills rule
05:00 Drowning
in glitches
04:00 Okay, a little
monotonous now
08:00 Well, at least
the multiplayers okay
10:00Exhaustedby
tiresomedesign
Its difficult to review Grid: Autosport without
referring to the disappointing Grid 2. The
game tried so hard to be cool and accessible
that it completely forgot what made the first game
in the series so fun. Grid Autosport solves this problem
by focusing on one thing: racing. Sounds obvious, doesnt
it? But Grid 2 spent so long constructing a globe-trotting
story mode and adding new game types that it almost forgot
what made the first Grid good. From the outset of the latest
title, its clear this has changed. First off, theres no story. Youre
just a driver embarking on the first season of your career; you
dont have to build a team, manage your garage or buy cars.
Instead, simply pick a racing class, choose a team to join and
you can start your first race.
The five disciplines all offer something different, and youll
quickly find favourites. Street offers tight corners and walled
tracks that can end a race in seconds. Touring puts you in
a powerful car, tells you that contact is allowed and sees
you skidding around corners. Open-roof gives you a grippy
Formula 1 style car corner too fast and oversteer will see you
making friends with a wall. With your face. The variety is great,
and each division has its own experience level alongside your
Driver XP. Unfortunately, you probably arent going to love all
five, and if you want to unlock the larger Grid tournaments,
youll need to reach a certain XP level for each of the five
categories. It means youll have to race your least favourite
categories at least a few times. Humph.
Thankfully the racing itself makes up for it. The difficulty
is incredibly customisable; along with opponent AI, you can
remove assists to ramp up the toughness, earning more XP as
you go. We set the difficulty to medium from the outset and
found the challenge pretty much perfect. We were regularly
battling other racers in the middle of the pack, and only
sometimes squeezed through to win. It makes the optional
qualifying before each race really worthwhile, as its near
impossible to dodge through the whole pack from 16th.
This was partly thanks to the AI of the other drivers. Some
are forceful, attacking at every opportunity, while others will
drive defensively and guard their place. More than once we
weaved through a five-car pileup that occurred through some
over-enthusiastic overtaking from AI racers. There were rare
occasions where we found the AI didnt act like a human
would, ramming both themselves and us into a wall where
any normal person would have braked to avoid the collision.
But these infrequent spins never took away from the heart-
pounding battles for a place.
Theres a great selection of cars on offer, too, with licensed
editions from most of the major players. And for those that
want them, there are plenty of tuning options for each vehicle,
so you can tweak and customise your setup to get the best
from your ride. Its worth bearing in mind that Grid Autosport
isnt a racing sim. This isnt a criticism the Grid series has
always veered slightly toward the arcade side of the racing
genre. But things have been toned down a little from the
powerslide-heavy Grid 2; the physics have been tightened
IN BRIEF
Take on the world
across five disciplines
using some of the most
powerful cars in the
world. From roadsters
to hot hatchbacks, jump
into a career or take on
other players online or in
split-screen.
PUBLISHER
Codemasters
DEVELOPER
In-house
GAME TYPE
Track and
street racer
PLAYERS
1-12
DLC
TBC
ACHIEVEMENT
DIFFICULTY
Moderate
NEED TO
UNLOCK
I make this look
good (20G)
GAME
DETAILS
codemasters.com/uk/gridautosport/360 @gridgame /gridgame
AKA The Sorry We Messed Up The Last One Edition
Due to budgeting issues, Codemasters could
only afford to make three quarters of this car
X
B
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3
6
0
74 | X-ONE MAGAZINE
GRID:
AUTOSPORT
GAMING EXPERIENCE
TIME
E
N
J
O
Y
M
E
N
T
00:02 Fast menus
straight to racing!
00:20 Feeling
the challenge
01:10 Forced to
do drift races
04:00 Grid
championship!
06:00 Split screen
multiplayer mayhem
We were regularly
battling other racers
in the middle of
the pack, and only
sometimes squeezed
through to win
The in-car camera
returns, and while
things are a bit
blurry, its still a
great way to race.
#IN-CAR
VIEW
TRENDING
Road level racing is as intense as it
ever has been from this series, enhanced
somewhat by the tighter controls.
Cars look great, and even slight
scrapes show up on the body thanks
to the excellent damage engine
VERDICT
In just over a year, the Grid series has turned it
around. Autosport doesnt do anything new, but
it will remind fans why they love the series.
8
up, and while you can still throw the back end out now and
then, more often than not smooth cornering will offer better
rewards. Its similar to the first game, and thats no bad thing.
In Grid 2, one of the biggest complaints from the fanbase
was the removal of the in-car view. It makes a return in
Autosport, and thanks to the low angle of the chase cameras,
it is actually one of the best options for seeing the track ahead.
Unfortunately, the textures inside the car look like something
from the original Xbox, but they are blurred out with a depth-
of-field effect, and to be honest its unlikely that youll be
able to tear your eyes from the road to notice. Aside from
the dashboards, everything looks as good as weve come to
expect from a Grid game.
Multiplayer is good fun, and uses a separate levelling system
to the career mode, effectively giving you another whole
mode to play. And while it might not be a major deal to some,
split-screen is a welcome option in Autosport. Thats right,
take that headset off and prepare to scream obscenities at
someone sitting right next to you. Its like 2004 all over again,
and we love it. The first Grid was good fun, and while Grid 2
tried to appeal to everyone, Autosport focuses on appealing
to racing fans. There are a few niggles, but the game goes
back to basics and gets it right. Its not a revolution for driving
games, but if feels like a best of for the series so far, and thats
definitely a good thing.
STEPHEN ASHBY
The gentleman in pink ponders the
meaning of life, while we almost chop a
ladys arm off with our wing mirror
Oi mate! Mate! Your boots open,
mate! That wardrobe you had tied up
fell out about half a mile back!
Wouldnt life be a little easier if we were
luchadors? If we all lived in a land where
problems were solved with a punch, days
were spent basking in the hot Mexican sun,
and strange goat men unlocked the secrets of
the suplex. Drinkbox Studios has delivered such
a world with its next-gen debut, Guacamelee! Super
Turbo Championship Edition. The title strutted onto rival
platforms early into 2013, and weve been desperately
hoping it would make the leap over to Xbox eventually.
Our prayers have been answered thanks to the ID@Xbox
program, allowing Drinkbox to unleash a souped-up
version directly to our fingertips.
Guacamelee! is clearly inspired by exploration-heavy 2D
classics like Super Metroid and the deluge of Castlevania
games that followed it, not to mention a combat system
thats not too dissimilar to the fast-paced fun housed
inside Castle Crashers, though its the
way Guacamelee! pays respect to the
past without pandering to it that truly
impresses. Drinkbox demonstrates
a quality that is something of a
rarity in todays market packed with
metroidvanias. The studio doesnt
simply have a love of 16-bit classics,
it understands how they work and
uses that knowledge to twist these
influences into its own unique creation.
The result is Guacamelee!, a wacky coming together of
a Mexican Dia de los Muertos theme, incredibly tight game
mechanics and an awesome art-style clearly inspired by
the likes of Genndy Tartakovsky (director of Dexters Lab,
The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, etc). It all begins as
Juan, a poor Mexican farmer, is stripped of his boring life
by the dastardly skeleton king Carlos Calaca. While Juan
is murdered in a botched attempt to rescue the princess
of his dreams, he finds himself resurrected by a mysterious
luchadore mask in the realm of the dead putting him on
a journey through the forests, deserts and sunken temples
of his homelands in an attempt to take revenge on Calaca
and his cast of misfits. Youll build up an arsenal of mystical
wrestling powers and have a bloody good time doing it.
While the plot may not be very important or fleshed-out, it
does evoke the occasional laugh-out loud moment, and we
were rarely without a smile planted on our faces.
Considering its inspirations, it would be easy to imagine
Guacamelee! s best feature is its open-ended world and
platforming, but we quickly discovered that isnt the case.
The real star is the surprisingly deep combat system that
becomes more rewarding the further you delve into it.
While the earlier stages can be run through with a healthy
amount of button bashing, it quickly begins to show its
true spirit as the difficulty ramps up. Your basic array of
punches and kicks are complemented by new skills such
as the ability to grab enemies with a tap of Y and, in true
luchador style, perform punishing suplexes and throws.
Youll create combos on the fly; uppercutting, ground-
pounding and tossing any enemies that dare cross your
path. The moves are insanely fun to link together, especially
as different enemy types and risky environmental systems
come into play. Guacamelee!s combat becomes a delicate
game of risk and reward, forcing you to balance your
combos and be aware of your surroundings, or risk being
overwhelmed entirely.
Much like in real wrestling, battles are all about
managing and maintaining your momentum, and this is
only increased with the INTENSO
meter a new addition to the Super
Turbo Championship Edition. This
supercharged state will let you unleash
combos, juggling multiple enemies at
once. Its incredibly satisfying to see
the combo meter rise about 100 hits
or more, and the game finds sadistic
delight in pumping enough enemies
onto the screen to achieve this.
While the Super Turbo
Championship Edition provides two brand new areas,
a new enemy type, a new boss character, and a host of
tweaks and refinements to the original 2013 release, its still
a little too short for our liking. Devout players will certainly
find enjoyment in exploring the map in true metroidvania
fashion it is built to emphasize back-tracking, with coloured
blocks hiding various secrets until new moves and skills
have been obtained to unlock its secrets but those simply
in for the narrative ride may find that they blast through
Guacamelee! a little too quickly.
That said, its a wonderful game from start to finish,
and certainly one of the best to release on the ID@Xbox
platform so far. Everything about the title feels lovingly
crafted. Guacamelee! will pull you in with its insanely
vivid art-style, presentation and soundtrack, while the
fun combat and clever platforming puzzles and map
design will keep you entertained throughout. Its rare we
see a retro-inspired game with such a strong identity,
but Drinkbox has achieved the seemingly impossible. A
game that plays to our love of the past by infusing it with
a fresh mechanics, smart writing and an endearing host
of characters that arent afraid to poke a bit of fun at
themselves or their world.
JOSH WEST
IN BRIEF
Drinkbox finally unleashes
its luchador-themed
metroidvania on the Xbox
One through ID@Xbox,
after its original release
on PlayStation systems
in 2013.
PUBLISHER
Drinkbox
Studios
DEVELOPER
In-house
GAME TYPE
New-age
Metroidvania
PLAYERS
1-2
DLC
N/A
ACHIEVEMENT
DIFFICULTY
Medium
NEED TO
UNLOCK
The Devil wears
Revenge! (30G)
GAME
DETAILS
guacamelee.com @DrinkBoxStudios /DrinkBoxStudios
VERDICT
Fun, frantic and an absolute joy to play through.
Fans of classic metroidvanias should absolutely
give Guacamelee! their time and attention.
8
Highway from hell
X
B
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O
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76 | X-ONE MAGAZINE
GUACAMELEE!
SUPER TURBO CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION
GAMING EXPERIENCE
TIME
E
N
J
O
Y
M
E
N
T
00:10
Amazing style
01:00 Oh, another
metroidvania
Much like in real
wrestling, battles are
all about managing
and maintaining
your momentum
04:00 Its pretty
damn fun
05:30 Must.
Collect. Everything.
07:00 Lets do
that again!
The world of
Guacamelee! is
one of its most
endearing features,
especially as its
filled with such fun
NPCs.
#SUPER
STYLE
TRENDING
The Super Turbo Championship Edition
provides a host of new additions to the
game, though nothing sensational if
youve already played it to completion.
The world design is fantastic, the
Dia de los Muertos Day Of The
Dead gives Guacamelee! a uniquely
satisfying identity.
The combat seems a little basic
to begin with, but as the difficulty
ramps up, itll quickly reward
those who get creative with its
free-form combo system.
The boss design is pretty great, there are
some wildly creative and crazy characters
to pit your luchador skills against here.
The large levels
and ability to
complete missions
in the order you
want gives you the
power to pick your
battles
#MAKING
CHOICES
TRENDING
IN BRIEF
Robert Hawkins, an
American Journalist, is
reporting from the front
lines in World War II,
before being drawn into
the Warsaw uprising and
picking up a rifle to do
what Americans do best
save the day.
PUBLISHER
Bandai Namco
Games
DEVELOPER
CI Games
GAME TYPE
WWII stealth
shooter
PLAYERS
1-16
DLC
Limited Edition
extra single-
player mission,
two extra guns
ACHIEVEMENT
DIFFICULTY
Hard
NEED TO
UNLOCK
Knock knock
(10G)
GAME
DETAILS
Press LB to kill
Nazis in one way or
press RB to kill Nazis
in a different way.
Its not all brown and grey a
bright and colourful farm is a big
part of an early section of the game.
The story is told through a
mixture of cinematic cutscenes and
interacting with NPCs
Take a look through
your binoculars and
youll automatically
tag enemies in the
areas ahead.
There are a few things you can really count
on the games industry. A new GTA game will
score a perfect 10 from at least one reviewer.
FIFA will sell millions of copies despite being
basically the same game as the year before. And
developers and publishers will always think that theres
room in the market for another Second World War shooter,
even in 2014. Unfortunately, Enemy Front is just the latest in
a very, very long line.
Its clear that the team had some big plans for this game
to set it apart from the countless other WWII FPS titles,
and sometimes this ambition really does
pay off. Each level is large enough to
have several possible solutions, and you
can easily flank enemies, creep past
them, or find alternate routes across the
map at your own pace, depending on
how you want to play. At moments like
these you can really start to enjoy Enemy
Front, but inevitably something annoying
will happen and youll end up shouting
garbled swearwords at your TV.
The stealth kills, for example, look
great but are laughably pointless. Creep
up behind an enemy and youll see a
prompt to sneakily execute them. Brilliant! Click in the
right stick, though, and youll leap onto the back of your
enemy, stabbing him several times in the neck to make sure
hes super-dead before cinematically withdrawing your
knife. Unfortunately, this animation takes four seconds to
complete other guards spotted us frantically knifing a
soldier on at least three separate occasions, sparking a huge
gunfight. Before long youll find yourself creeping up behind
an enemy, then stepping to his side, where the melee button
will dispatch him in less than a second.
If you do get spotted and your epic skills dont quite
manage to pay the incurred bills, the swears will only
get more intense. Checkpoints are placed so sparsely
throughout the levels that often youll be forced to complete
two fire fights, watch a cutscene and save an NPC before
Yet Another WWII Shooter: The Sequel (Part 3)
ENEMY FRONT
you return to your previous location. Oh, you died again in
the same spot? Well, enjoy it a third time, sucker!
Still, if you manage to avoid death and ignore stealth
attacks, things do start to become much more fun. The first
few levels of the game feature our hero, Robert Hawkins,
going solo and creeping through dank sewers or sniping
Nazis in quaint French farms. When you later team up with
other revolutionaries, youll occasionally find interactive set
pieces, such as trucks that you can roll down a hill towards
the enemy to wipe out entire squads in one go. Whenever
we came across one of these opportunities watching the
carnage unfold was great fun.
There are also elements of choice
involved in missions. Sometimes its just
a case of picking between two weapons,
but it can also change the way you play
missions. For example, do you want to
sneakily make your way into a church
through the catacombs, or blow a hole in
the wall and take out the soldiers inside?
These clever twists on an otherwise tired
genre are the high points of the game,
but for every explosive truck theres a
low-quality texture or a return to that
checkpoint you passed half an hour ago.
The stealth gameplay doesnt do much to alleviate the
pain, and its another case of good ideas that werent quite
realised. Sometimes guards saw us through solid objects, or
we would be seen from hundreds of metres away. Still, its
not all bad: theres a cool Loud Noise gameplay element
that will disguise your shots if you fire when a plane is flying
over, or a tannoy announcement is being made. Its a nice
idea, and its implemented well, but it cant stop the feeling
that the whole stealth system is a little half-baked.
The storyline falls pretty flat, too. The American journalist
picks up a rifle after his search for a good story turns into
the realisation that theres something worth fighting for.
Thats right, the American saves the day in World War II yet
again. Unfortunately, despite the game being developed
in Poland, there is nothing here that adds anything to the
WWII genre. Before long youll stop paying attention to
exactly why Hawkins leaves the base and just skip straight
to the shooting. The other characters all feel lifeless, making
them unmemorable, and Hawkins isnt much better. Its a
shame, considering where the game was developed, that we
couldnt get a better sense of Warsaw during the war. All we
really get is a lot of gunplay with a side order of sneaking.
The multiplayer feels somewhat like an afterthought, too.
A new mode, called Radio Transmission, tries to mix things
up a little, but otherwise this is absolutely nothing new.
The whole game is really just a little too forgettable. In five
years time you may recall that game that let you pick your
own missions in World War II Warsaw, but we doubt youll
remember it was called Enemy Front.
STEPHEN ASHBY
www.enemyfront.com @EnemyFront /EnemyFront
VERDICT
Enemy Front is a disappointing shooter that has
a few good ideas but cant implement them well
enough to make it stand out from a very large crowd.
5
X
B
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3
6
0
Other guards
spotted us
frantically knifing
an enemy soldier
on at least
three separate
occasions
GAMING EXPERIENCE
TIME
E
N
J
O
Y
M
E
N
T
00:02 Loading-
screen promise
01:00
Checkpoint fury
00:30 Choosing our
own adventure
01:20 Exploding
trucks
01:45Same
old, sameold
Walking the fine line between adventure
game and interactive story can be tough and
it can often turn people off pretty fast. Its a line
that Valiant Hearts walks along fairly confidently,
with only the faintest hint of a stumble at times. In
attempting to tell the story of a divided family across
the French and German lines of World War I, it has lots
of information to impart, but its sparse use of voice acting
and beautifully drawn and animated world binds it together
rather nicely.
Sometimes though we couldnt help but feel that the
cartoon look and small comic turns of Valiant Hearts were a
little uncomfortable in the setting. It can veer from the comic
to the tragic quite quickly and 100 years of separation hasnt
really diminished how terrible and terrifying this period of
history remains in our minds. Then again, this is a game with
some genuine pathos that treats its subject with respect and
empathy. If you can accept the lighter
moments as symbolic of the humanity
that still manages to break through in
even the most tragic circumstances you
should be able to get past it.
While weve kicked off by jumping
straight into the storytelling of Valiant
Hearts, what was most pleasing was
that despite so much attention being
paid to its art style and setting, there are some really fun
gaming moments here too. Its a fine mixture of puzzle and
adventure game, sometimes set against time limits and
always offering plenty of peril. From taking out machine gun
posts to escaping prisoner camps and dodging through
Paris traffic to the sound of the Can Can, theres a great mix
of gameplay moments to enjoy. Plus, they are arranged and
paced well enough that few ever really feel all that boring or
unwelcome when they return. Ubisoft Montpellier has created
a beautifully-paced game that really speeds through its six
hours or so of game time, delivering entertainment and a few
tugs on the heart along the way.
Its not all pitch perfect though as weve suggested and
much as with the presentation there are some missteps in the
moment-to-moment gameplay too. The medical sequences
of Anna, played out like little rhythm action games are fiddly
and more frustrating than anything else that Valiant Hearts
throws at you. They slow down the pace of the game to a
crawl for a moment and just arent all that fun to play. But
then Anna gets to have all the driving sequences, so perhaps
the fun balance of that character evens out in the end.
And while puzzles are very much the focus progressing
through the story, there are no real mind-boggling problems
to solve. Most of the challenges can be muddled through
in a few minutes and those with a keen enough mind will
likely whizz through in no time. Throwing sticks at dangling
objects and getting your dog Walt to
push levers in otherwise inaccessible
rooms becomes rather familiar after the
first couple of times. Its mixed in with a
couple of pipe puzzles and little get the
sequence right numbers, but it never
threatens to really test you as a player.
But then we come back to the
presentation and the story, which really
are the heart of this game. Theres not much depth to Valiant
Hearts, but the story and presentation bring a lot to the
experience to make up for that. The design is very intuitive,
which is fortunate given that theres very little dialogue in the
game beyond the odd mumbled word and the voiceover.
It leaves a lot of the work up to you so far as investing in
these relationships and caring about this extended family
of characters, as well as interpreting the events of the war
and deciphering the mixture of real story and propaganda-
inspired villainy. The comically evil Baron Von Dorf seems
stripped from an adventure story or Carry On movie. That his
part in the story doesnt last until the end gives some clue as
to the way Ubisoft Montpellier moves away from the heroic
adventure tale and into something a little more tragic and
challenging towards the end.
We would be neglecting our obligations not to praise
the presence of Walt the dog a little more too. As in-game
companions go he is always handy, integrated into some
of the puzzle design well as both an interactive element
and holder of items. With all the misfortune that befalls his
masters through the game, he keeps popping up and making
a difference. Walt is really just another example of how well
Valiant Hearts draws you in and gives you the chance to
connect with its tale. Its so engaging through its design,
music and animation that it does manage to surpass its
own limitations. Ultimately its an enjoyable and worthwhile
journey to take, particularly if you like your games to get you
thinking beyond the challenges they present.
JONATHAN GORDON
IN BRIEF
1914 sees the outbreak
of war and the
deportation of Germans
from France, breaking
up one small family.
Their trials in surviving
the war and hopefully
reuniting pits them
against a sinister Baron
and the machines of war.
PUBLISHER
UBISOFT
DEVELOPER
Ubisoft
Montpellier
GAME TYPE
Cartoon puzzle
actioner
PLAYERS
1
DLC
N/A
ACHIEVEMENT
DIFFICULTY
Easy
NEED TO
UNLOCK
Good doggy
(5G)
GAME
DETAILS
valianthearts.ubi.com @VHgame /valiantheartsgame
VERDICT
More engaging than its simple puzzles, the variety
of gameplay ideas and presentation go a long way
to making this an impressive, if small, adventure.
7
Proving theres more to war than guns
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VALIANT HEARTS
GAMING EXPERIENCE
TIME
E
N
J
O
Y
M
E
N
T
00:10 Its
very pretty
01:20 Its actually
pretty fun
Delivers
entertainment and
a few tugs on the
heart along the way
02:05 A little
repetitive
04:20 The boss
battles are fun
05:10 War is
lovely really
We grew rather
attached to Walt
theres been much
speculation as to
whether he would
be killed. Were not
telling.
#DONT
KILLTHE
DOG
TRENDING
The car sequences were a particular
highlight as you dodge traffic or falling
bombs, moving left and right.
Some of the lighting and depth of
field work in this 2D world is really quite
exceptional. UbiArt Framework does it again.
The more intense moments of the story
tend to play out in lightly-animated slides.
Theyre not bad looking either.
IN BRIEF
Mashing together the
worlds of the War For
Cybertron game series
and the recent Age Of
Extinction movie, Rise
Of The Dark Spark sees
Autobots, Decepticons and
more battle it out for a
powerful new weapon.
GAME
DETAILS
PUBLISHER
Activision
DEVELOPER
Edge Of Reality
GAME TYPE
Robot third-
person shooter
PLAYERS
1-4
DLC
TBC
ACHIEVEMENT
DIFFICULTY
Moderate
NEED TO
UNLOCK
Sting like
a (10G)
Stripped of their individuality by generic
weapons that carry across Autobot and
Decepticon, the transformers in this game lose
the one element above all that makes them fun to
play with. Where they should all be different with
different powers and distinct abilities theyre all the
same. That Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Soundwave and
Starscream all carry the same arsenal and upgrades really
sucks all the life out of them. Those fleeting moments
where their transformed vehicle states come into play at
least give a glimpse to their singular design, but even then
an array of tanks or planes with different skins isnt really
that unique.
And perhaps were being Autobotist, but it was a
great relief when we were finally get placed in Optimus
Primes shoes. Ultimately, you know that everything
important that could possibly happen in this game will
happen to or with him around and jumping from lackey
to lackey on both sides of the Cybertronian war wears
thin pretty quickly in this game. His segments carry the
weight of expectation if nothing else. And among those
lackeys theres just as uneven an experience. Playing as
the airborne Shockwave for instance was one of the few
instances where we felt really challenged to make use of a
transformers vehicle form. The arrival of Sidewinder was
also a relief as he offered the ability to use a grappling
hook for moving around environments. In the meantime,
If robots could cry, Prime would shed a tear
the merry-go-round of characters you play as blur into a
smudge on the screen. As Rise Of The Dark Spark finally
leaps back into the movie continuity for its finale you do
get the chance to stomp around as Grimlock, the T-Rex
transformer. Its a testament to the depths of mundanity
this game reaches that even that grows tiring and
repetitive fast.
The moment-to-moment shooter experience doesnt
improve things much, feeling pretty lightweight. Its
essentially a blast and hope affair, which can have its
appeal (as Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare recently
proved), but doesnt last in this instance. The AI is so
predictable it might as well be moving around on rails and
while the different weapon loadouts offer some differences
along the way, none of the weapons carry the kind of
weight or visceral feedback a battle between robots
should do. Corridor level designs that offer little variety for
the eyes, horrible textures at times, sudden, unexplainable
difficulty spikes and pointless story round off a pretty poor
package. It is at least mercifully short.
JONATHAN GORDON
VERDICT
Its a shame to see a series that was developing
so much promise dismantle itself to the point of
falling below mediocre.
3
transformersgame.com @transformers /transformersgame
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TRANSFORMERS
Given how recent Transformers games
were actually looking a lot better, this is
a massive disappointment.
RISE OF THE DARK SPARK
The
AI is so
predictable
it might
as well be
moving
around on
rails
X-ONE MAGAZINE | 83 WWW.IMAGINESHOP.CO OO. ..U UUK KK
With some careful additions a host of
new games modes and a fresh graphics
and audio engine no less MotoGP 2014 is a
thrilling ride from start to finish. The 2013 edition
of the MotoGP franchise was hailed as a welcome
return to form after years of false starts and black
flags. Italian developer Milestone had been perfecting
its race engine, and last years effort was thoroughly
enjoyable. This follow-up continues the upward trend.
Thats not to say it has instant pick-up-and-play appeal.
This game is devilishly hard to conquer. Youre going to
spend a lot of time with cut elbows and bruised egos.
Think you can handle the power of Jorge Lorenzos
Yamaha right from the off? Think again. Hammer that
throttle down and, yes, youll fly into the next postcode,
but also come flying off your bike before youve had a
chance to notice the speed dial has risen over 300 km/h.
At times its like a game of human buckaroo just how
long can you stay on the bike?
Thank god, then, that there are plenty of in-game racing
guides to give you a nudge in the right direction. Obviously
youll be impatient to get racing, and theres plenty of
opportunity to do that. Instant Race gets you revving
straight away, choosing from all the official tracks, riders
and bikes. Hardcore MotoGP fans will love all the official
A thrilling new ride for the series
aspects, while the Grand Prix and Championship modes
make full use of these luxuries.
Racing itself is a thrilling experience. Difficult, but highly
addictive at the same time, it keeps you coming back
for more. Every corner that hairs into view is a crisis of
confidence. How long do you stay on the throttle? Can
you break late enough to overtake? Make one mistake and
youll end up in the gravel pit. No mercy. Just a newfound
respect for the laws of gravity.
Nevertheless, the difficulty level makes success even
more enjoyable. Your MotoGP Career is the perfect place
to earn your stripes. Start at the very bottom in Moto 3
as a wildcard entry, and earn a team contract and attract
an adoring fan base. In the past weve picked holes in
the Career mode, but were happy to report thats theres
plenty to keep coming back to. MotoGP fans will enjoy
tweaking their bikes in the garage and casual fans will love
the constant cycle of races, objectives and team fallouts.
PHILIP MORRIS
VERDICT
Youll be thrown around the track like a ragdoll
at times, but it wont stop you jumping back on
your bike for more in this highly addictive racer.
8
motogpvideogame.com @MilestoneItaly /motoGPVideogame
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MOTOGP 2014
Head to that first corner a
bundle of nerves, but ready to
jump five places. Hopefully.
At times its
like a game of
human buckaroo
just how long
can you stay on
the bike?
IN BRIEF
Its a challenge to stay on
the track, but the official
MotoGP 2014 game
provides an edge-of-
the-seat experience for
two-wheel fanatics.
GAME
DETAILS
PUBLISHER
Bandai Namco
Games
DEVELOPER
Milestone
GAME TYPE
Official racer
PLAYERS
1-2
DLC
N/A
ACHIEVEMENT
DIFFICULTY
Hard
NEED TO
UNLOCK
World
champion
(90G)
WWW.IMAGINESHOP.C
IN BRIEF
Telltales adaptation of
Vertigos Fables series
continues, with the
penultimate episode of
The Wolf Among Us: In
Sheeps Clothing
GAME
DETAILS
PUBLISHER
Telltale Games
DEVELOPER
In-house
GAME TYPE
Fairytale
thriller
PLAYERS
1
DLC
The Wolf
Among Us:
Episode 5 Cry
Wolf
ACHIEVEMENT
DIFFICULTY
Easy
NEED TO
UNLOCK
Master
Librarian (55G)
At this point, things couldnt get much
worse for poor old Bigby The Big Bad
Wolf. Hes done some pretty horrible things
in Fabletown in the name of the law and now
the animal has been let out of its cage, so to speak.
Being that we control Bigbys every action, this is
partly our fault (and were not apologetic for that). But
as the credits role on the penultimate episode to TWAU,
we cant help but feel like Telltale is steering us firmly down
a dark path rather than giving us the agency to choose our
place in this brutal world of fairytale creatures, serial killers
and colossal assholes.
Perhaps thats the point? Playing the good cop, trying
to keep the peace and adhere to the law, is an impossible
task in the seedy underbelly of enchanted NYC. In Sheeps
Clothing takes great pleasure in beating you down, in
making every citizen of Fabletown resent or loathe you
its like having to choose between being punched in the
gut or in the genitals, both will hurt, but which will you
bounce back from faster?
At this point, Telltale is simply presenting us with
two options: will you alienate all of Fabletown through
unflinching violence or by following the law? Either choice
will destroy lives; both will make you hated. But heres the
thing In Sheeps Clothing made us realise, only one will
make you truly feared.
Time to let the animal out of its cage
The Wolf Among Us has put Bigby through the wringer
and suitably raised the stakes, like any good noir tale
should, and now as we head into the final episode - the
only option is to bloody some noses and get the job done.
People are dying so, really, who cares about Mr Toads
feelings, right? Trying to take the high road has been a
noble, but entirely unsatisfying endeavour in this series
the reward does not match the effort, nor is there anything
to wash away the overbearing feeling of guilt that path will
lead you to. Again, perhaps thats the message Telltale is
sending violence is the only answer in a twisted world. Its
an incredibly nihilistic perspective, but it sure is effective.
Telltale looks to have another fantastic franchise on its
hands; the story here has been sublime throughout, but as
a game The Wolf Among Us still feels remote. The same
repetitive systems and technical problems have been here
all along, and plaguing The Walking Dead 2 too, we just
hope Telltale can fix these problems before it brings all its
hard work crashing down.
JOSH WEST
VERDICT
The Wolf Among Us is almost at its conclusion,
and were interested to see how it fits into the
narrative of the comics, seeing as its a prequel.
7
telltalegames.com/thewolfamongus @TheWolfAmongUs /TelltaleGames
X
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THE WOLF AMONG US
As always, The Wolf Among Us continues
to be one of the best-looking games to hit
XBLA. Its noir art style is pretty amazing.
EPISODE 4 IN SHEEPS CLOTHING
Violence
is the only
answer in a
twisted world.
Its incredibly
nihilistic,
but it sure is
effective
Weve got
you covered
Packed with simple guides to essential techniques, find out how
to get the most from your Xbox, iPad and more
BUY YOUR COPY TODAY
Print edition available at www.imagineshop.co.uk
Digital edition available at www.greatdigitalmags.com
facebook.com/ImagineBookazines twitter.com/Books_Imagine
The
Complete
Manual
86 | - WWW.XB1.CO.UK
LIVE
ALL THINGS ONLINE, DIGITAL AND DOWNLOADABLE
T
he war for living room
supremacy has been
re-ignited. Control over Input
One was a big focus of the
Xbox Ones original reveal, though
that message quickly fell by the
wayside as Microsoft shifted priority
to games, games, games. The Xbox
Ones most recent system update,
however, has finally introduced
OneGuide support to UK homes
letting us pass-thru PAL devices into
the console, create custom viewing
channels and effortlessly switch
between gaming and television
sessions. X-ONE has taken a look at
the service and is on-hand to provide
some helpful set-up tips. At the
very least, you might want to give
OneGuide a try before you unplug
Kinect entirely.
SUPERCHARGE YOUR
XBOX ONE WITH
Yet another step closer to the all-in-one media device Microsoft first
promised us a year ago
ONEGUIDE
THROW AWAY YOUR TELEVISION (REMOTE)
Check the HDMI cables
The first time you launch the TV app, youll be
prompted to set up TV for the first time. Make
sure your set-top box is already connected to
the HDMI IN port.
Incoming images
The Xbox One will now verify that it is receiving
an image from your set-top box. Once you see
live TV streaming on your screen, you are okay
to proceed.
The power of Kinect revealed
The Xbox One will send Mute, Volume Up/
Down and Menu commands to your TV. Once
it has verified each of these, youll be able to do
the actions by saying Xbox [insert command].
What you got?
Youll need to select your brand of TV from the
drop-down menu, this will ensure that the Xbox
One sends the correct signals to your TV to
appropriately work with voice control.
Get the party started
OneGuide enables you to combine live
television with the apps and features of the
Xbox One. To get going say Xbox, watch TV
or select TV from My games & apps.
Xbox One is in control
Now youll be given the opportunity to set up
your Xbox One to directly control your TV. It is
actually one of the better uses of Kinect. You
know, when it works.
Finally time to set up OneGuide
Once the Xbox One knows how to talk to your
TV, itll ask you to set up the OneGuide. This will
allow you to pull up TV listings no matter what
youre doing on the console.
Do you know where you live?
The Xbox One will prompt you to enter your
postcode to find TV providers in your area.
If this ever changes, it can be altered in the
Settings app on your system.
Almost there, we promise...
The Xbox One will now send commands to
your set-top box to calibrate it. Once its done,
press X on the dashboard or say Xbox, Watch
TV to pull up your custom EPG.
Xbox One wants to know it all
The Xbox One will now ask for the brand of
your cable or satellite box. Honestly, from our
experience, the process seems to work if you
continue with the default option.
It isnt a race
Dont rush through this process. When it asks,
Did the command work, answer truthfully and
the Xbox One will attempt to find a relevant
command for your TV model.
Check your TV provider
Next up, the Xbox One will provide you with
a list of compatible providers. If your provider
doesnt appear in the list, or if you watch
broadcast TV only, select Broadcast TV.
LIVE
CREATE YOUR PERSONAL TV GUIDE
Pick and choose the shows you want to see
with the help of the Xbox Ones guide tools
Gaze upon your TV listings
Here youll now see the Xbox One EPG,
showing your cable providers programming,
but youll want to look for TV Listings on the
left of the OneGuide.
Mark your favourites
Scroll through the channels and available
shows to find your favourites and their correct
time slots, or alternatively say Xbox and then
the name of the channel for quick navigation.
Find your favourite shows
To access your favourites youll need to
launch OneGuide by saying Xbox, OneGuide
followed by Xbox, favourites which can be
done no matter what youre doing.
You can even view apps!
If you scroll down to App Channels on the left
of OneGuide, you can include your favourite
application feeds so you never miss an update
from apps like Xbox Video and YouTube.
We lied, there are more steps
Youll need to have set up OneGuide before
you get your personal channel in order. Once
youve followed the above steps say Xbox,
OneGuide or select TV from My games & apps.
Time to talk to your Xbox
When you find a channel you like say, Xbox,
add to favourites to add it to your personal
channel, or alternatively just press A while
hovering over the selection.
To get the OneGuide up and running,
youll want to make sure you have a
cable or satellite set-top box with HDMI
output, an active Gold subscription and
a connection to Xbox Live to receive
up-to-date channel line-up information.
REQUIREMENTS
Astra 19.2 All Channels
Astra 19.2 FTA
BSkyB HD
BSkyB HD-National Lineup
BSkyB SD
BSkyB National Lineup
BT Vision
Freesat
Freeview
Freeview-National Lineup
Virgin Media
SUPPORTED
PROVIDERS
Watch TV - "Xbox, watch TV
!ncrease your TV voIume - "Xbox,
volume up
Decrease your TV voIume - "Xbox,
volume down
Mute TV - "Xbox, mute
Unmute TV - "Xbox, unmute
Open OneGuide - "Xbox, OneGuide or
"Xbox, show guide
ESSENTIAL VOICE COMMANDS
YOU CAN CONTROL YOUR SET-TOP BOX AND TV W!TH K!NECT,
HERE ARE THE ESSENT!AL VO!CE COMMANDS YOU NEED TO
COMM!T TO MEMORY
ESSENTIAL TV COMMANDS
SeIect a show - "Xbox, [name of show]
SeIect a channeI - "Xbox, [name of
channel]
DispIay your favourites - "Xbox, favourites
View your Apps - "Xbox, App channels
View recentIy watched - "Xbox, recent
channels
Jump to a channeI - "Whats on [name of
channel]
ESSENTIAL ONEGUIDE COMMANDS
X-ONE MAGAZINE | 89
SMARTGLASS
SUPPORT
ONEGUIDE MIGHT BE THE BEST USE
OF SMARTGLASS TO DATE, LETTING
YOU BROWSE YOUR SET-TOP BOXS
EPG AND LAUNCH SHOWS DIRECTLY
FROM YOUR DEVICE
TV LISTINGS
Once set up on the Xbox
One, you can browse your
EPG and launch shows
from your SmartGlass
enabled device. Handy if
youre playing a game and
looking to Snap OneGuide
with little hassle.
DIRECT CONTROL
Clicking the remote icon
will bring up a virtual
media remote. From here
you can control everything
from playback to volume,
not to mention pulling the
OneGuide or TV menu up.
DETAILED INFORMATION
By clicking a show, youll
be able to get detailed
information, pin it to your
dashboard and launch the
program on your Xbox
One. This can also be done
with channels and App
channels.
APP CHANNELS
You can view App
channels in OneGuide,
letting you schedule
Twitch streams and
YouTube feeds. You can
also use this to manage
video app services.
OneGuide displays the current shows and
content coming from your service provider. It
saves switching between HDMI channel one
and two with your TV remote all of the time.
LIVE
BATTLEFIELD 4
REVISITED
T
he theatre of war has shifted. Troops
have been fighting what looked to be
a losing battle on the Redwood Shores
of California for nine months now. But
theres finally been some movement. EA has
stabilised its server infrastructure, ensuring
the rising tensions of those inhabiting the
Battlefield 4 regions of Xbox Live have been
subdued, for the time being at least. Squads
are mobilising to the frontlines the DMZ
around Battlefield 4 has come crashing down
the time for all-out tactical warfare should be
now. Vacations at the Hainan Resort have been
cancelled, the battle for control over Golmud
Railway is raging, and the Siege of Shanghai is
finally underway. Dont you just love the smell
of virtual warfare in the evenings?
Now weve had the opportunity to play
Battlefield 4 with only the most minimal of
crashes and intermittent lag left over to ruin
the fun, however, we are beginning to question
whether the server problems were simply a
clever ruse on EAs part. The issues distracted
from some larger problems with DICEs next-
gen debut and, sadly, these cant be ironed out
with a patch.
The Battlefield series has typically found
success by pushing a large amount of players
The servers work, but should you drop back into the warzone?
This is one of the biggest mistakes all
players make if you cant fly, learn how
on your own time. Theres nothing more
frustrating than your squad air-lifting into
the middle of a hotly contested zone,
only for the pilot to forget the difference
between up and down, which leaves you
staring at the respawn screen. Stick to the
streets until you get your flight licence.
TOP FIVE MISTAKES
ITS REALLY EASY TO RACK UP THE DEATHS IN BATTLEFIELD 4,
IF YOU ARENT CAREFUL
SKIPPING FLIGHT SCHOOL
One of the best aspects of Battlefield is
its ability to make you feel part of a larger
war, so why not take advantage of your
equipment? Seriously, if you see a player
shot down before your eyes, whip out the
Defibrillator and revive them. Itll not only
give you XP but also an extra body by your
side. The same goes for ammo boxes, if
youve got them equipped, get them on
the floor.
FORGETTING EQUIPMENT
Despite most players never doing it,
we cant emphasise the importance of
spotting enemies enough. Tapping RB in
while an enemy is in your sights will put
them on the mini-map for the team. This
ensures that you not only get a little extra
XP for the eventual kill, but also helps to
heighten your situational awareness. Spot
players at every opportunity.
NOT SPOTTING ENEMIES
Theres more to Battlefield 4 than watching
out for the Levolutions. Sure, you dont
want to be caught on a road when the
levee breaks on Flood Zone, but the
smaller dynamic events can have just
as much impact. The metal detectors
in Shanghai that can ruin a stealth
manoeuvre, the oil spills on Hainan Resort
begging for a light be aware of these or
face an embarrassing death.
IGNORING SMALLER LEVOLUTIONS
PLAYERS MAKE ONLINE
STANDING STILL TOO LONG
Does the same sniper
repeatedly kill you?
Battlefield 4 seems to
put unbridled power into
snipers hands and if
youre like us youll feel
compulsively inclined to get
revenge. If you can snipe,
grab your favourite rifle and
try to flank the position, but
be wary of the importance
of a one-shot kill. If you
cant snipe, just suck it up
and move location, youre
just sacrificing tickets.
onto well-designed maps and tasked them with
fighting for control over hotly contested tactical
points. This core gameplay loop remains at the
heart of Battlefield 4, but the ten maps in the
vanilla release dont seem balanced enough
to support the 64-player skirmishes that have
landed on Xbox One.
The Levolutions while beautiful to behold
seem to open the maps up into a snipers
paradise. Those with a penchant for setting
up camp on the tallest building will often
come out on top, and while were certainly in
agreement that its a legitimate strategy, its
often the source of much frustration. This is a
problem that was first made inherently clear
during the Battlefield 4 beta as gamers took
their first steps out into the Siege of Shanghai
last summer, but now seems to pervade every
damned game of Battlefield youll likely to
encounter on Xbox Live.
When youve had game crashes, stat-
destroying bugs and movement-crushing lag
to worry about, its hard to focus on anything
but the immediate threat to your enjoyment.
But as stability finds Battlefield 4, its becoming
clear that it isnt superior internet speeds that
have allowed a lucky few players to reign over
the leaderboards uncontested for the last nine
months its a lean in design towards rewarding
particular play-styles and skills.
It only takes a glance back to the sublime
pacing of Battlefield: Bad Company 2s
multiplayer, not to mention the intricately
designed maps of Battlefield 2, to realise how
much of miss-step Battlefield 4 feels for DICE.
If you can find a squad of players adept at
piloting a vehicle whether its aerial, sea of
land-bound expect to find game domination
on your hands.
Game-winning Battlefield skirmishes were
traditionally fought in the streets and across
muddy fields with helicopters and APCs able
to, at best, support a surge of movement from
co-ordinated players but were still vulnerable
to the lone soldier. Here, youll be lucky to
take down an attack chopper with your best/
most skilled buddies by your side. Its entirely
unsatisfying to play Battlefield 4 at times.
This isnt us being butthurt because of skilled
players either, its a response to the way in
Battlefield has evolved.
Battlefield 4 seems to have shifted its priority
from delivering suspenseful action to outright
spectacle. At this point, we are unwilling to
pin bullet-sponging players and questionable
kills on the net-code, instead its looking more
and more likely that DICE has subtly made its
premier IP a little more like Call Of Duty, only
on a wider scale. We arent necessarily asking
for the two-hit kill brutality of Battlefield 2, or
even the insanely accurate hit-boxes of Bad
Company 2, to return. Instead, DICE needs to
tighten up the death/respawn cycle, re-balance
the battles between infantry and vehicles,
and ensure the maps continue to let players
create their own emergent experiences instead
of forcing them on them with Levolutions.
Battlefield 4 might be stable enough to get a
game now, but it might be worth holding off
for Battlefield: Hardline if youre after a truly
satisfying Battlefield experience.
So you guys must be into
roguelike games, considering
what youve focused on creating.
Its interesting for us because
Kris [Piotrowski], our creative
director, pitched the concept
for Below a long time ago.
At the time, none of us had
much exposure to that kind of
permadeath and procedural
generation. But that was the
time that Spelunky on PC was
starting to be a thing thats one
of my ten favourite games of all
time, I play it way, way too much.
Anyway, at the time he pitched it
and I was like, So permadeath
Award-winning indie studio Capybara Games is a few developmental fathoms
shy of finishing its latest project. Tell us, Nathan Vella how hardcore is Below?
LIVE
BENEATH THE SURFACE OF
CAPYBARA GAMES
PRESIDENT
CAPYS BELOW
I think a lot
of the fun of
exploration comes
from having a lot
to find out for
yourself, not being
put in a place and
told Go find this,
its over there
NATHAN
VELLA
Development is moving along, but Capy
doesnt have a definitive release for Below
yet, Ive made the mistake of putting the
carriage before the horse in the past, says
Nathan. Its currently looking 2014-2015ish.
and its different the next time?
Sounds really hardcore.
But he kinda helped us through
what roguelikes were and by the
time we were all set and done,
we were super excited about it.
When we started working on the
concept 2009 or something like
that it was a niche-y little thing
and we didnt have a lot of time
or space to work on the project
early on, so the next thing we
knew Demons Souls popped up,
Spelunky, FTL and Dark Souls.
Suddenly it became this
larger movement. Thats kinda
where it all started. Interestingly
enough, the idea of doing a really
zoomed-out camera, single-
screen dungeons with fog of war
were in Kriss original concept
as well. Theyre something that
we really thought were worth
exploring in the game. Normally
we tend to work a little more
fluidly than pitching a concept
and sticking to it with laser focus,
but we did and that defines the
game for us.
In Below, how much are we
left to discover for ourselves?
Outside of a couple of bits of
menu and inventory text, Below
has no text or dialogue, no
story setup, tutorials or arrows
that point you in the right
direction. There is a story a
lore to the place and a kind of
indication of what youre doing
and why youre actually there:
all of that is discovered by the
player, through exploration and
noticing little breadcrumb trails,
sprinkles throughout the game
that might lead you in a certain
direction. They might allow
you to find these special areas
littered throughout the game
that never move. I think a lot of
the fun of exploration comes
from having a lot to find out for
yourself, not being put in a space
and told Go find this, its over
there. That doesnt really count
as exploration for me. Below is
a game about exploration and
surviving. If you manage to
survive long enough to explore,
discovery happens. Thats when
the background and story of the
game starts to reveal itself.
How much of the dungeon is
procedurally-generated?
The way that we would describe
it is that and Im totally stealing
Kriss words, here the dungeon
itself is like a flowing river in the
sense that its always moving,
always shifting. But coming out
of that river are islands or rocks
that are always in the same place,
they never move and theyre the
anchor in the world. Theres a
whole bunch of them As long
as you know where you are, you
can explore, find them and come
back again its where a lot of
the big moments in the game
takes place.
One of the things I like is that
Below isnt a single life, playing
over and over again. When
you die you come back as the
next Wanderer to arrive at the
island. We dont explain what
time difference there is between
the last life and the next, but
everything you achieved stays
achieved. There is a persistence
to the world and you are
building upon the
achievements of
prior wanderers. If you
grabbed something you
think is rad and you died ten
levels down, if you can make
it ten levels down again, your
corpse will be there with all
the items that you had. Theres
definitely a corpse run element
to this.
Capybara has proved to be a
incredibly versatile studio how
do you keep it fresh?
The most common thread
[between our games] are the
people that work here. We have
a lot of folks that have been
around since the beginning, eight
or nine years ago. I think that
is a big part of the reason why
you see very different types of
game coming out of us, because
we love the process of making
new games together. But theres
a subtle thread from Sworcery
through to Below because Kris
was a designer on both games.
Theres even common ground
between Time Force and Below
in that were making games that
are pretty darn hardcore.
[Below is] by far the most
challenging project weve set
out to do, from design to visual,
to an audio perspective there
are a whole bunch of things we
havent even talked about. If
we hadnt had a bunch of years
[of making games] under our
belt it would have been much
more challenging. Maybe were
making games that are a little
bit masochistic because were
a little bit game development
masochistic as well: we love
beating our heads against tough
problems!
X-ONE M AZINE | 93 X XX- --O OON NNE EE M MM A AAZ ZZI IIN NNE EE | || 9 993 33
The red things hit you, you bleed, and if you
dont patch yourself up, you die. Capybara has
stripped the cotton wool from Below so that
youre vulnerable, clueless and alone. So alone
Link wouldnt last five minutes in
this dungeon even with full hearts,
so dont even start comparing this
image to a Zelda game.
This is the Watchers Entrance, according to
the name of this JPEG file. If some be-tentacled
Lovecraftian monster doesnt emerge from the
depths, well be mightily miffed.
AG
LIVE
Grand Theft Auto
Online continues
to defy expectation.
In spite of the launch
problems, not to mention
the continuing delay of Online
Heists, the online expansion of
GTA V still draws a big crowd. To
be honest, its one of the main
reasons the Xbox One can sit
unplayed beneath the TV.
Weve been perpetually
impressed with Rockstars
commitment to delivering a
steady stream of new, free,
downloadable content to GTA
Online in the form of cars, clothes,
guns, missions and community
created jobs. That said, the wait
for co-operative heists is starting
to rub some gamers the wrong
way. The Spring 2014 release
window has come and gone, and
Rockstar has been forced to issue
an apology to explain the absence
of Online Heists, yet again.
We know many fans have been
eagerly awaiting the release of the
Online Heists that we had planned
to release for you this spring,
reads the official statement. They
are taking more time to create
than originally anticipated. We are
very sorry for the delay, and are
working hard to bring them to you
as soon as we can.
This follows the release of yet
another free DLC release, the
Im Not A Hipster pack, which
brings seven vehicles, two new
weapons, 12 jobs, and new retro
print tees, skinny jeans, hairstyles,
tattoos, animal masks and more
to the mean streets of Los Santos.
Rockstar also demonstrated once
again why gamers worldwide
should keep an eye on the
American calendar, as GTA Online
received a timed Independence
Day special, bringing fireworks and
a wide variety of clothing items
celebrating all things Merica.
So, with so much free content
coming on a monthly basis to GTA
Online, should the lack of heists
really be a problem? Were leaning
towards a yes. It was, after all, one
of the most appealing aspects of
the online expansion ahead of its
release last autumn. The promise
of being able to tackle multi-
stage heists with your besties by
DLC PREVIEW
GRAND THEFT
AUTO ONLINE
GTA V is making its way
to Xbox One later this year,
though that doesn't mean
you should quit playing
Online. Thankfully, your
stats and characters will
transfer over to next-gen.
3
6
0

D
L
C
your side seemed too good to
be true at the time and, well, look
where we are now. The rumours
circulating that heists are being
designed with a competitive edge
dragging other online players
in as cops in a desperate race to
haul your asses to an early grave
certainly arent helping us deal
with the wait, as hype levels reach
fever pitch levels.
Rockstar is known for taking as
long as it needs with projects, but
as the developer is so damned
secretive with everything it does,
weve never been subjected to this
public cycle of anticipation and
disappointment from the studio.
While were confident Rockstar
can deliver, were going to get
our fill of all-action heists this year
one way or the other. Payday 2
is making its way to Xbox One
via the Crimewave Edition, and
Battlefield: Hardline is delivering
cops versus criminal action on a
massive scale in October. Heres
hoping Online Heists finds its
way to GTA Online before GTA V
launches on Xbox One in 2015.
GUACAMELEE! SUPER TURBO
CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION
If youre looking for an action-platformer thats as
awesome looking as it is enjoyable to play, than
you wont regret picking up Guacamelee!. This
edition brings two new levels and a number of
notable game tweaks to the PS Vita game.
ANOTHER
WORLD 20TH
ANNIVERSARY
EDITION
Another World, the
critically acclaimed
cinematic platformer,
has arrived on Xbox
One. The game was
originally released in
1991 for Amiga, its
still as great as ever
especially as it boasts
faithful HD graphics.
CONTRAST
Contrast, the
platformer set in a
surreal Twenties,
makes its way to
Xbox One. The Xbox
360 version scored
6/10, where we said it
was a smart, stylish
attempt at bringing
platform puzzling back
to the fore, regrettably
let down by [its]
physics engine.
SIXTY SECOND
SHOOTER
PRIME
Sixty Second Shooter
appeals to the twin-
stick shooter addiction
we just cant seem to
shake. One life and one
minute is all you have to
rack up a high score in
a series of increasingly
difficult scenarios.
OUTLAST
Horror makes its way
to Xbox One in this
insanely scary first-
person thriller. Outlast
proves that journalism
and abandoned metal
asylums should never
meet, unless your
idea of a fun day out
is being chased by
unrelenting terror.
WATCH DOGS: ACCESS GRANTED
We arent sure Chicago has recovered from the reign of terror we put it through, but
the Access Granted DLC pack has us diving back in to unleash a torrent of cyber-
terrorism attacks. Three new single-player missions have been added to the game,
which also introduces a long-range Biometric Rifle, a burst-fire Auto 6 pistol and
new perks. If youre eager to return, then a raid on the palace of an internet mogul,
an assault on the captain of the Black Viceroys gang and an opportunity to hunt
down The Chicago South Club should provide more than enough value for money.
FORZA MOTORSPORT 5:
HOT WHEELS CAR PACK
The Hot Wheels Car Park DLC includes ten customisable vehicles, seven of which
have never featured in Forza before. While theres a great mixture of classic cars and
modern powerhouses, movie buffs will want to take note of two in particular. The
Ford XB Falcon is a modification away from looking like Mad Maxs Pursuit Special.
And then theres the GMC Vandura G-1500, driven by a certain notorious team.
TRIALS FUSION:
RIDERS OF THE RUSTLANDS
Our attempts to leave the game behind have been thwarted by its first DLC pack,
which sees our pursuit of broken bones venturing into abandoned industrial
wastelands. This DLC brings ten new tracks to Trials Fusion; including 18 new track
challenges, new Track Editor objects and five new in-game trophies to obtain. Free
updates also include the recently-added Tournaments mode.
ID@XBOX
RELEASES
THIS MONTH
WE ALL LOVE A GOOD SCARE, RIGHT?
HERE ARE TEN ESSENTIAL GAMES TO
GET YOU IN A TERROR FRENZY. THE
COLOUR OF YOUR UNDERWEAR WILL
NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN
Capcom
In-house
2011
Survival horror was caught in
a rut, and Shinji Mikami gave
the genre the shot in the arm
it needed. Resident Evil looked
to action games for inspiration,
dropped traditional zombies from
proceedings and delivered one
of the games of a generation.
Capcom re-released RE4 on XBLA
in 2011, with a graphical overhaul,
ensuring its legacy continued. The
creepy supernatural themes and
incredible pacing meant Resident
Evil 4s tension never subsided.
The moment your handgun runs
out of ammo youll be panicking
like crazy.
RESIDENT EVIL
4 HD
OF THE
MOST
TERRIFYING
GAMES
96 | X-ONE MAGAZINE
Rockstar Games
Rockstar North
2004
Manhunt is a horrible, nasty piece
of work from Grand Theft Auto
developer Rockstar Games. It
went one step further in casting
you as the villain of a game,
pushing you through a number of
terrifyingly gruesome encounters
as a savage killer. Being rewarded
for discovering new, disgusting
ways to murder folks in the
underbelly of Carcer City caused
its fair share of controversy back
in the day, but its actually a great
stealth game in its own right. Its
dark nihilistic tone, not to mention
fixation on violence, all comes
together to create a strangely
compelling psychological horror
game. Not one for the squeamish.
MANHUNT
Carbonated Games
Turtle Rock Studios
2008
Never have we been so afraid of
the power artificial intelligence
can wield in a digital space. The
Director, the AI system that
controlled all of Left 4 Deads
enemy waves and encounters
was relentless in its attempts
to ruin your evening of quiet,
co-operative fun. The placement
of a Witch in a tight street, the
impossible crowds that would
appear in moments of peril and
who can forget the horde of
zombies that would appear if your
(soon to be ex) buddy went off
into the woods alone. Left 4 Dead
is the rare example of a game
forging horror incidentally, as
apposed to purposefully.
LEFT 4 DEAD
Bethesda
In-house
2008
Fallout 3 isnt a scary game
by nature, but its excellence in
environmental storytelling makes
it king at ramping up unnecessary
amounts of tension. The
wastelands of Washington D.C are
full of secrets, mutant animals and
behemoth monsters basically, an
adventurers worst nightmare. The
horrors of the Dunwich Building,
the insanity found inside of Vault
106, and who could forget the
straight up strangeness of Garys
Vault 108. Fallout 3 can quickly
overwhelm the sense for those
looking to get immersed, theres
nothing else quite like it on Xbox.
Terrifying when it needs to be, a
genuine classic.
FALLOUT 3
Microsoft Game Studios
Temco
2004
There are many people out
there that consider the Fatal
Frame series to be amongst the
scariest ever created, and we
find it hard to disagree. Crimson
Butterfly abandons you in a
village disconnected from the
world, full of evil spectres you
cant see with regular sight.
Youll hear them creeping behind
you, lurking in the shadows its
bloody terrifying, and the only
way to damage the ghosts is by
capturing their image with an old
camera filled with low-grade film.
FATAL FRAME
II: CRIMSON
BUTTERFLY
DIRECTORS CUT
Sega
2005
The launch of the Xbox 360
was terrifying enough, what
with the risk of the red ring
of death looming over every
Xbox gamer, but Condemned:
Criminal Origins quickly made
us wish we were staring at that
E74 error screen over Monoliths
terrifying depiction of Metro city.
Condemned is without a doubt
the most consistently frightening
game on the Xbox 360. Its ultra-
violent combat, terrific sound
design and dedication to throwing
you into some of gamings most
harrowing situations has left a
lasting impression.
CONDEMNED:
CRIMINAL
ORIGINS
Vivendi Universal
2005
If Monolith werent already
content with making us afraid to
go out into the city at night thanks
to Condemned, the studio had to
go and make us afraid of little girls
too. Theres a very good chance
we spent more time staring at the
pause screen desperately trying
to catch our breath and stop our
hands from shaking than we did
actually playing the damn thing. A
brief appearance from Alma the
very creepy dead girl at the centre
of F.E.A.R.s ghostly conspiracy
was almost always accompanied
by moments of extreme violence
or the echoes of giggling laughter.
It was unnerving we are forever
mentally disturbed.
F.E.A.R.
Microsoft Game Studios
Mojang, 4J Studios
2012
Its the Creepers. The hissing
bastards that stalk any adventurer
foolish enough to head out
into the darkness of Minecrafts
procedurally-generated worlds.
Minecrafts success might be
unprecedented, but so is its
ability to summon a deep fear in
your gut. Head out on a quest for
resources on a tougher difficulty,
youre an altercation away from
losing days of progress. Build a
monument to your own creativity,
and one misplaced Creeper can
ruin the whole thing, exploding an
entrance for everything nasty to
get in. Minecraft might be a game
for everybody to enjoy, but itll
quickly break the weak of will.
MINECRAFT
EA
Visceral Games
2008
As it stands, Dead Space is the
closest a videogame has come
to recreating the butt-clenching
tension found in Ridley Scotts
1979 masterpiece, Alien. Visceral
Games isolated poor Isaac Clarke
on the USG Ishimura, tasking him
with getting the derelict mining
vessel space-worthy again.
It doesnt go to plan, leaving
the player to create makeshift
weaponry in the darkness to fight
back a vicious bunch of mutant
monsters. Dead Space has a great
blend of action and pure scares,
ensuring its edge of the seat from
start to finish. Oh, and dont go
near the vents. Like, ever. It will
mess you up something rotten.
DEAD SPACE
Activision
id Software
2005
Just dont go to Mars. Thats
what pop culture has tried to
tell us time and time again, but
we just keep on going back
for more. Perhaps its because
it keeps delivering the thrills
that we so begrudgingly but
desperately crave. Doom 3 took
the franchise towards survival
horror, and while it might have
split fan opinion, its hard to deny
its ability to leave the player in a
mess of bodily fluids. Forcing you
to only ever have a flashlight or
weapon actively equipped at any
one time was a stroke of sadistic
genius from id Software, though
well never forgive the studio for
making us jump so much.
DOOM 3
Imagine Publishing Ltd
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This isnt necessarily our fault, but we'll do everything we can to keep our promises.
NEXT ISSUE
098 | X-ONE MAGAZINE
STEELSERIES.COM/HWIRELESS
The SteelSeries H Wireless Headset is well
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STEELSERIES H WIRELESS HEADSET
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