STACK #196 Feb 2021

GAMING FEATURE

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WHAT’S COMING IN MARCH?

RETURNAL With a canon boasting classic shooters the likes of Resogun and Alienation , Finnish developers Housemarque are always worth watching. Their latest will see players stepping into the space boots of Selene, who’s crash-landed on a barren, shape-shifting – read rogue-like-styled – planet and is left in a fight for survival. Die, and it’s Edge of Tomorrow time – yep, you have to start all over again, but on your side are different item drops that you can use in every time loop that you face.

MONSTER HUNTER RISE Monster Hunter returns to the Switch, and it’s set to be a mixture of classic and new. Set half a century on from the last calamity, in the ninja- inspired land of Kamura Village, players will explore lush ecosystems and battle increasingly fearsome monsters in order to become the ultimate hunter. Hunt either solo or with up to three friends, as you craft a vast selection of weapons and armour to aid your quest, all with your trusty ‘canyne’ hunting buddy Palamute by your side.

MULTIPLAYER?

MULTIPLAYER?

SHOOTER

19/3/21

ACTION RPG

26/3/21

PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME REMAKE One of the Prince’s very best adventures is back, with all the fine polishing that you’d expect in 2021 to make it shinier than a genie’s lamp. The Sands of Time first released back in 2003, rejuvenating the action-adventure genre with its fine mix of gameplay and story, the latter of which revolved around an ancient legend and dark powers. It’s time to defeat the evil Vizier once more, in Ubisoft’s first ever from-the-ground-up remake of one of their classic games. Plus: Unlock bonus original PoP !

BALAN WONDERWORLD Enter the Balan Theatre, led by mysterious clown Balan. It’s a bizarre – and colourful – world where people’s happy memories mix with their worries and doubts. As protagonists Emma and/or Leo, you’ll harness the abilities of costumes to traverse 12 levels of ever wilder imaginings. The brainchild of two of the originators of SEGA classics Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights into Dreams , Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima, this is for platformer lovers everywhere – well, unless you don’t dig clowns.

MULTIPLAYER?

MULTIPLAYER?

ACTION ADVENTURE

18/3/21

PLATFORMER

26/3/21

1 What was the first game that you played? I don’t remember the name of the game, but it was on a “console” called the Action Max, which was a VHS light gun game back in the mid-‘80s. That’s the first memory I have of a video game, pointing a light gun at a CRT monitor. 2 What was the last game that you finished? The last one I finished was A Way Out , which was a very, very fun, interesting game. It had a really cinematic quality. 3 What’s your favourite game of all time? If I immediately discount any Call of Duty game, I’d say Red Dead Redemption . That one grabbed me, I have very fond memories of it. I actually, just recently, watched John Marston gallop into Mexico as the soundtrack played and you’re looking into the sun. That’s a moment where you’re like, ‘Yes, video games are art’. 4 What do you think is the most underrated game of all time? I often say that The Last of Us multiplayer is one of, if not the most, underrated multiplayer game of all time. There are a few of us who played the hell out of it, and it was a very inspiring game. 5 What’s the game that you most wish you’d worked on? Probably Delta Force: Black Hawk Down . I didn’t get to work on that, but luckily I get to work every day with a few fine people who did from NovaLogic.

Lead game designer on Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War at Treyarch MATT SCRONCE

FEBRUARY 2021

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