Innehållsförteckning för November 2020 från Edge

While Mundaun is a horror tale, its painstakingly hand-pencilled locale evokes not just fear, but love. Inspired by the strange romance of black-and-white photographs of farmers living among the mountains a century ago, Michel Ziegler has spent years rendering a “sinister mirror image” of the eponymous, real-world alpine village, an incredible labour of love performed one pencilstroke at a time. First, Ziegler creates a 3D model from photo references, before UV unwrapping it and printing the maps onto paper. “On a light box I broadly trace the outlines of where the different pieces of the model are on a fresh piece of paper,” he tells us. “Then I start pencilling.” Factoring in the process of remapping the sketches to the model, then iterating multiple times, Ziegler estimates “it takes about…

Publisher/developer WB Games (Montreal) Format PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X Origin Canada Release 2021…

Videogames have been making us laugh for as long as we can remember. Yet often it’s by accident rather than design; a result of the player’s involvement spoiling the designer’s intent. “You can have this totally serious, heart-wrenching cutscene and the next moment, the player will ruin the mood by falling into a pit or something,” Spelunky creator Derek Yu says. “That’s why I actually think it’s way harder to make a serious game than a comedic game.” Indeed, a game’s seriousness can make it all the more amusing when it falls apart: if you’ve spent any time on the Internet lately, you’ll surely have seen the Ghost Of Tsushima clip where protagonist Jin leaps into enemy territory and his body is repeatedly struck by arrows mid-jump, each hit keeping…

Format PC, Xbox One Developer Minskworks Publisher Excalibur Games Origin UK Release 2018 Greg Pryjmachuk still remembers telling colleagues at Codemasters that he was leaving the company to make a road trip game. One where the protagonist wasn’t a person, but a ramshackle East German car driven to Turkey after the fall of the Berlin Wall. “One dickhead started laughing in my face at the concept,” he says. “I was like, ‘Well, I haven’t tried it yet. You don’t know if it’ll work or not.’” Back then, Pryjmachuk worked as a designer on the Formula 1 games, an annualised series with a developmental lap time of just nine months. It left scant opportunity for innovation, but with Xbox 360 and PS4 looming, Pryjmachuk’s team were given a one-off extension to…

Developer Asobo Studio Publisher Xbox Game Studios Format PC Release Out now They say it’s not the destination but the journey, and with Microsoft Flight Simulator that might entirely depend on why you’re playing it in the first place. We have to admit to being tourists here, both for the sightseeing potential of a game that boasts planet Earth as its sandbox, and in terms of flight sim experience. But with much of the world still grounded, the chance to virtually explore the globe, flying free as a bird through ever-shifting skies, is irresistible. The game’s timing couldn’t be more perfect, certain to bring new players to a series that was once the preserve of a dedicated community of simulation fans and wannabe pilots. Indeed, for a few meditative hours…

When we first previewed Hades in E329, we suggested that Early Access seemed an unusual choice for Supergiant, a developer that simply doesn’t do rough edges. But while it clearly wasn’t anywhere near the finished article back then, the studio had evidently started building upon rock solid foundations. Tartarus looks better now than it did, but it scrubbed up well from the start, while the fundaments of the combat were already firmly in place. Many more weapons, aspects, godly powers (and combinations thereof) and features were still to come. But the core of Hades was there from its first showing. It looked, sounded and felt like a Supergiant game – it was just a smaller one than usual. In the 20 or so months since, updates have come regularly and…

Developer Robot Entertainment Publisher Robot Entertainment, Google Format Stadia Release Out now The sound is a quintessential summer one: the hiss and crackle of coals as flames lick around their edges, reaching for the tender meat above. This barbecue isn’t for eating, though. It’s a trap, part of a gauntlet designed to tar, ignite and fatally extinguish the hundreds of orcs who will shortly pass this way. Last year, a US gun ownership advocate asked Twitter how he could possibly deal with the 30 to 50 feral hogs that regularly rush his yard without recourse to assault rifles. He was roundly mocked, but the Orcs Must Die! series essentially seeks to answer the same question, albeit with fantasy stand-ins for the hogs. It’s not that the orcs must die –…

Developer/publisher Llamasoft Format Index, PC (tested), Rift, Vive Release Out now Within five minutes, our eyes are watering – and we’re not even playing in VR. Amid this cornea-battering spectacle of colour and light, you’ll find stampeding deer, vintage videogame references and a driving EDM soundtrack in perpetual competition with a wall of sound that ranges from crunchy explosions to baaing sheep. And, of course, a near-constant hail of tiny particles into which you peer, hoping to spot the deadly projectiles being fired back at you. It ripples with Big Yak Energy, then, but even by Llamasoft standards, Moose Life can seem overwhelming at times – at least until you acclimatise to its wilfully uneven rhythms. You move your colourful ungulate across a flat plane, firing at waves of enemies…

Developer Rockstar North Publisher Rockstar Games Format PC, PS4, Xbox One Release 2018 Here’s a game that emphasises the ‘persistence’ in persistently online multiplayer. The trail dust had barely settled on Red Dead Redemption 2’s success before we accepted we’d be saddling up to check out its online iteration, the GTAV parallel having practically eclipsed its offline variant as a phenomenon all its own. But it’s been a rocky road for ourselves and our faithful, though occasionally AWOL, steeds. If Red Dead Online hasn’t quite enjoyed the success of GTA Online, it’s partly down to the fact that it is a very different game that requires players to genuinely, earnestly roleplay. You have to work at it. Right now, instances contain healthy numbers, with many lowlevel players suggesting the game…

Being an independent developer can be a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, you’re free to work exactly as you like in a manner that you feel is most productive and creative. On the other, it’s easy to feel isolated. Without a place of employment to head to each day, or the security and social benefits that come of being part of a greater whole, it’s possible that many talented up-and-coming indie devs give up on going it alone before they even get started. Asobu aims to change that. Founded by a team of industry luminaries, it’s an indie incubator – an ‘indiecubator’, if you will – designed to foster a community in which Japanese indie game creators can grow and thrive together. With the help of funding…

“Truly, Apple has no right to take any per cent of any company’s revenue just because they made the phone people use to access the stuff.”We’re assuming, then, Tim Sweeney, that the Epic Games Store will be forfeiting its 12 per cent cut entirely? Still, you’ve got a point – and Epic’s implementation of an independent in-app payment system in Fortnite, undercutting Apple’s own, certainly made it clear “Ensuring that Epic has access to the latest Apple technology is the right thing for game developers and gamers.”Phil Spencer sides with Epic following Apple’s ban on Fortnite, and Epic’s response with the #FreeFortnite campaign and in-game event “Epic Games has not yet demonstrated irreparable harm. The current predicament appears”Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ensures Unreal Engine isn’t blocked from the App Store,…

MUSEUM Museum Of Mechanics: Lockpickin bit.ly/lockpickmuseum What if you didn’t have to play an entire RPG just to be able to tinker with one mechanic? That’s the thinking behind this playable digital museum from Johnnemann Nordhagen, which collates lockpicking mechanics from several games, from Fallout to Thief and even Dungeons & Dragons. Walk up to and click the lock for, say, Oblivion, and you’re given a replica of its lockpicking minigame to try. It’s not perfect – one of the more amusing “known issues” the menu admits to is that “UI is ugly” – and there are a few titles missing minigames. But the framework here is clever: not only will this museum be continually updated, but Nordhagen is hoping to expand the Museum Of Mechanics series, which could be…

Developer/publisher Noio Format PC Origin Netherlands Release 2020 No one could accuse Thomas van den Berg of being unambitious. Looking at the delicately hued, lo-fi dioramas scattered across these pages, you might find the following hard to believe: Cloud Gardens started life as a massively-multiplayer online game. “I do often have ideas on paper, but then I already don’t want to start on them because it’s too big, it’s already some crazy plan,” van den Berg grins sheepishly. While teaching himself Blender by modelling various plant life, he was also experimenting with Improbable’s cloud-based multiplayer game platform, SpatialOS. He ended up building a prototype for a persistent-world construction MMO, which he entitled Garbage Country: players across the world would construct towers from junk, and help each other transform them into beautiful hanging gardens. “It…

Developer/publisher Larian Studios Format PC, Stadia Origin Belgium Release TBA…

Developer/publisher Thunder Lotus Games Format PC (tested), PS4, Switch, Xbox One Release Out now Nothing is certain in modern videogames, except death and crafting. Thunder Lotus Games’ latest – a departure from the action games with which the studio has made its name – is nominally about the former. Charon is retiring from his job in this liminal realm, and it’s up to replacement ferrymaster Stella to retrieve spirits scattered across a sea of small islands, so they can finally pass on to the afterlife. It’s a weighty task, but she takes to the role with youthful zest: a cheerful hero for a less than cheerful business. Yet if you’re expecting a moving treatise on love, life and loss, you might be surprised by what follows. In catering to the…

Developer/publisher Awe Interactive Format PC Release September 15 Getting a ‘Flawless Clear’ rating matters little during early runs of Awe Interactive’s rhythmshooter Roguelike. And yet at the same time it means everything. This is the pop-up you get when you’ve destroyed all enemies in a room, and timed every action perfectly. Movement is free, but your shots, your reloads, your jukes and jumps must all match the rhythm of a driving rock soundtrack. Over time, doing this on a regular basis is the only way to improve your best tally, with your score multiplier increasing the longer you sustain a streak of immaculately-timed shots. But in the early stages, when reaching the second dungeon is an achievement in itself, this is your reward for surviving with style – and boy,…

Developer/publisher Draw Me A Pixel Format PC Release Out now Were we to follow our subject’s lead, we’d tell you this isn’t a review. Nor is this a magazine you’re reading, and in fact you should go away and do something more productive with your time. Paymasters forgive us, but that’s actually not bad advice: this is the kind of game (for despite all its protestations, it very much is) that’s best experienced without any prior knowledge or warning. Just glance down at the score and know that this is one of the most consistently inventive games you’ll play all year. And then come back and read the rest, obviously. Confused? That’s kind of the point. At first, you’ll hear repeated exhortations from a French-accented voice telling you there’s nothing…

Game Nitro Trucks Manufacturer Raw Thrills Vehicular combat games are hardly new in arcades, so it’s odd that Raw Thrills (manufacturer of the arcade classic Dirty Drivin’) has gone down a different route than you might expect in an industry that now, more than ever, needs invention to keep those coins pumping. It’s dialled back the features and even the ‘battle’ in its new battle racer to the basics of a demolition derby racer. The aim is still to win at all costs, but Nitro Trucks is more about the off-road feel of the dirt tracks, the collision physics of the vehicles you’re muscling your way through, and nitro-aided grunt you’re packing. The only weapon is a limited ram ability, activated by double-pumping the gas pedal, with which you can…

Developer/publisher Dontnod Format PC, PS4, Xbox One Origin France Release Winter Two heads are better than one, they say – though Twin Mirror more accurately extols the virtues of having two minds. Don’t let main character Sam Higgs’ resemblance to James McAvoy fool you, though; this is not a Split-style take on a fractured personality, per se. Rather, Dontnod uses the idea of duality – of a usefully detached alter-ego and a secondary world in which its hero frequently sojourns – to explore the complexities of analytical thought and emotions. “Sam is not really comfortable in reality,” says game director Florian Desforges of Sam’s mind palace, an imaginary construct into which he frequently escapes and which helps him organise his thoughts and memories. “Sam’s mind palace is a peaceful place that allows him to…

When Joe Walsh sent the pitch document for Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout to his boss at Mediatonic in January 2018, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was already a massive hit. Fortnite was just into its second season and in the process of going supernova. The battle royale genre, in other words, was taking off. And yet Walsh never thought of his game idea as some kind of Fortnite killer. “We were actively trying to avoid pitching battle royales for risk of becoming a flavour-of-the-month kind of thing,” he says. Rather, he and his colleagues had been thinking of a new kind of multiplayer game – “something that didn’t feel overly competitive or toxic or intimidating.” The discussion turned to the idea of a largescale PvE experience, before someone suggested a gameshow theme. “It…

Developer/publisher Supergiant Games Format PC (tested), Switch Release Autumn After more than 100 runs through Supergiant’s captivating Roguelike, the sight of a Daedalus hammer still excites us. Any of the boons Hades’ son Zagreus collects in his attempts to escape the underworld can transform a run. But this thing hums with potential. Equipped with the Twin Fists Of Malphon, our special attack switches from a Ryu-style uppercut to a Guile-aping flash kick; later, another upgrade gives us a ground-pound when it lands. Our Adamant Rail – a mythical assault rifle, effectively – can become a shotgun: sure, we get fewer rounds, but given a manual reload boosts our first shot, that’s a trade-off worth making. And that’s just one weapon aspect. How about an infinite-ammo laser beam instead? Those Satyrs…

Developer Route 59 Games Publisher Route 59 Games, Coconut Island Games Format PC (tested), PS4, Switch Release Out now Heavy is the head that wears the crown – or the soul that wears the apron, in the case of Necrobarista. Maddy has recently taken over management of a café from her long-time mentor, Chay. They’ve been working together at The Terminal, serving up coffee and sarcasm with equal aplomb, for years. This place exists in a liminal space. People pass through on their way to the afterlife, and are permitted just 24 hours in the cafe to come to terms with their death. But The Terminal has accrued a huge debt – not monetary, but temporal – due to certain punters staying around longer than they ought to. And, one…

Developer Dlala Studios Publisher Xbox Game Studios Format PC (tested), Xbox One Release Out now From a meme to a Phil Spencer T-shirt and now this, the return of Zitz, Rash and Pimple appears to have been willed into existence by the Internet. And the monkey’s paw has well and truly curled here: it’s hard to imagine anyone wanted a follow-up to Rare’s 1991 cult hit quite like this. Battletoads is a hot mess: ostensibly a side-scrolling beat-’em-up, but one that seems to tire of that idea halfway through, deciding instead to flit between genres to increasingly tiresome effect. Even if we bring ourselves to grudgingly admire its madcap energy, it’s like being shouted at for four hours by a hyperactive child hopped up on E-numbers. It’s about as funny,…

Developer/publisher Inasa Fujio Format PC Release Out now To most, the setting will be unfamiliar, but the scenario is universal. We all had this experience as children: you’re excitedly looking forward to a day out, only for the fates to scupper your plans. In Inasa Fujio’s short firstperson narrative game, you play a disappointed Japanese boy denied a trip to the amusement park by inclement weather. Stuck at his grandmother’s house, he decides to explore and discovers that a seemingly uneventful day at home can still be quietly memorable in its own way. Cramped and cluttered, this household is a treasure trove for an inquisitive young mind. Boxes are stacked up behind tatami doors, and rare is the surface that isn’t covered with books, paper stacks, ornaments or other curiosities.…

Developer Remedy Entertainment Publisher Xbox Game Studios Format Xbox One, PC Release 2016 Time has shattered in Quantum Break. As Jack Joyce, beneficiary of one of those laboratory explosions that bestow so many superheroes with their powers, you spend much of the game wandering around stuttered instants that have pressed pause on reality. So it’s apt that revisiting the game now feels like stepping back into a very specific moment, one that’s been preserved in amber. Quantum Break was unveiled alongside Xbox One, at a press conference that’s mostly remembered as an hour-long stumble for Microsoft. The event put the emphasis on the console’s intertwining with television, and brought in Steven Spielberg to reveal a Halo live-action series. This was May 2013, right at the peak of Xbox Entertainment Studios,…