STACK #201 Jul 2021

YOUR

TO FILM, TV, MUSIC, GAMING & LIFE TECH

ESSENTIAL GUIDE

.com.au

ISSUE 201 Jul ’21

STACK Issue 201 JULY 2021 “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.”

ISSUE 201 Jul ’21

ISSUE 201 Jul ’21

STACK’s ULTIMATE AUDIO GUIDE 2021

INSIDE: E3 2021 ROUND-UP • AUDIO BUYING GUIDE

Your MONTHLY GUIDE to the HOTTEST TECH at

YOUR MONTHLY FILM&TV GUIDE TO WHAT’S

hot

IN-STORE AT

ULTIMATE SONY HOME ANDON-THE-GO AUDIOPACK! WIN THE -G

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE COMPETITION

CONTENTS

ISSUE 201 JUL

2021

GAMING 6 Take 5/Game Changers 8 Fast Forward/Q5 10 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD 12 F1 2021 14-22 E3 2021 24 BenQ gaming projector 26 STACK Recommends 27 Out this month FILM & TV 32 Take 5 33 Bob J’s Movie Classics 34 Black Widow 36 The Boys 38-39 Mortal Kombat 40 Great White 42 New from Imprint Films

WELCOME Like many industries, entertainment conventions have had to adapt over the last 18 months and adapt fast. Despite sitting out 2020, this year the world’s premiere gaming festival, E3, took itself online, running virtual events and bringing the latest games-release news straight into our homes. Our illustrious games editor pulled the midnight shifts to stay across all the important developments, and this month you can read her full coverage in STACK . Could there be a bigger personality in the Australian music industry than Jimmy Barnes? We not only spoke to him about his new release, but he’s also our cover artist for July. Elsewhere in music, we caught up with Brisbane’s The Jungle Giants and the ubiquitous The Veronicas. Following on with the music theme, our focus in Life Tech is audio and our annual buying guide will give you all the information you need to land the perfect pair of headphones or earbuds, wireless speaker, soundbar and turntable. And in movies, we talk to Aussie director Simon McQuoid about shooting the new Mortal Kombat film Down Under, while in TV, subversive superhero series The Boys returns with an even wilder and crazier second season. Paul Jones, Editor-in-Chief

44 Out this month 46 4K UHD in July LIFE TECH 50 Intro 52-60 Ear Gear Buying Guide 62-66 Wireless Speaker Buying Guide 68-69 Experiencing Dolby Atmos through soundbars

Founder Nic Short Editor-in-Chief Paul Jones Film & TV Editor Scott Hocking Music Editor Zoë Radas Games & Online Editor Amy Flower Creative Director Gary Siewert Movies Consultant Kerrie Taylor Games Consultant Sachi Fernando Music Consultant Mike Glynn

Marketing Manager Fleur Parker Chief Contributors Bob Jones, Gill Pringle Contributors Anthony Horan, Glenn Cochrane, Bryget Chrisfield, Jeff Jenkins, Simon Lukic, Billy Pinnell, Denise Hylands, Simon Winkler, Jake Cleland, Holly Pereira, Adam Colby,

Dan Nicholson, Alex Deutrom, Bec Summer Social Media Manager Imogene Lewis-Granland Production Manager Craig Patterson Correspondence STACK 33 Jessie Street, Richmond, VIC 3121

70-72 Turntables 74 FitBit’s Latest 76-78 The best TVs

for watching sport

80 What’s new MUSIC

FLIP MAG AND READ FROM BACK 4-6 The Music Room: Interviews and feature reviews with The Jungle Giants, The Veronicas and more 8-9 Jimmy Barnes 10-11 The STACK Record Club 12-14 AlbumTales:

RATINGS GUIDE

Parental guidance recommended

Recommended for mature audiences

Not suitable for people under 15. Under 15smust beaccommpaniedby a parent or adult guardian

Restricted to 18 and over

General

Disclaimer STACK is published by Scribal Custom Pty Ltd (ACN 092 362 135). © Copyright Scribal Custom Pty Ltd, 2021 All rights reserved. All material appearing in this publication is copyright unless otherwise stated or it may rest with the provider of the supplied material or advertisement. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of Scribal Custom Pty Ltd. No responsibility is accepted for accuracy of advertisements or information. Whilst care has been taken in the research and preparation of this publication, the publishers, writers or anyone else associated cannot accept any responsibility for any loss, injury or hardship arising from the content contained herein or reliance therefrom, howsoever caused, and it remains your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any such content. Views expressed are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher or the editor. By the very nature of this publication, things change daily and we cannot take responsibility for any changes or inaccuracies that occur subsequent to going to press.

Delta Goodrem’s Innocent Eyes (2003)

16 This month at JB 18-19 Album reviews

New and existing STACK members have the opportunity to win one of 30 $50 JB Hi-Fi digital gift cards every month!* 50 $ MEMBER REWARDS If you’re already receiving STACK 's newsletters, you’re in with a chance to win – if not, join now for free: www.stack.com.au/member/ Thanks to JB Hi-Fi

1 of 30

GIFT CARDS EVERY MONTH *

*Terms and conditions apply. Full terms and conditions at www.stack.com.au/competitions/members-rewards-50/

THE ULTIMATE SONY HOME ANDON-THE-GO AUDIOPACK! JOIN STACK and enter at stack.com.au/competitions/sonyaudio FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN

TOTAL VALUE $ 2,036 RRP

PRIZE INCLUDES: a Sony HT-Z9F 3.1ch Dolby ATMOS Bluetooth Soundbar, a Sony SRS-RA3000 360 RA Wireless Speaker and the Brand new Sony WF-1000XM4 Truly Wireless Noise Cancelling In-Ear Headphones!

ALREADY A MEMBER? Enter now and view full competition details at stack.com.au/competitions/sonyaudio

Terms and conditions apply at stack.com.au/terms-and-conditions

GAMING FEATURE

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STACK’s ROVING REPORTER

BEST SELLERS at

What’s your all-time favourite game series?

The Hitman franchise. The flexibility of mission approaches and AI recognition was second to none in its time, and the reboots are amazing.

JUNE 2021

1 RATCHET & CLANK: RIFT APART

NATHAN FISCHER @ JB Hi-Fi Carindale, QLD

What have you been playing lately?

2 MARIO KART 8 DELUXE

I am currently lynching lycans in Resident Evil Village , racing around the Forza series on the Logitech G923 wheel, and going toe-to-toe with toxicity on my go-to online multiplayer game of choice, Rainbow Six Siege .

3 MARIO GOLF: SUPER RUSH

What’s the best thing about working in games at JB?

4 ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS

Getting hands-on with all the new gaming hardware. Promo games are awesome, but I really enjoy hearing how new headsets sound and how new keyboards and mice handle.

5 NBA 2K21

What would be your desert island console?

6 SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD

Logistically, given there’s no such thing as a coconut powered console, probably a Switch. I mean, on the proviso I could get my hands on a solar-powered battery pack to then charge the unit. However, assuming there’s a fully functional power station on this island, then an Xbox Series X, given its backwards compatibility with every other Xbox, it’s four consoles in one!

7 JUST DANCE 2021

What’s your earliest video gaming memory?

8 FIFA 21

Playing Super Mario Kart with family at Christmas sometime in the early 1990s (thanks for the “Jeez how old am I?” reality check!) and sprinkle in some four-player Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64 in the late ’90s.

9 MINECRAFT

10 NEW POKÉMON SNAP

1984

GAME CHANGERS! A YEAR IN GAMING Generally, the video games market was still in the doldrums, but the home computer revolution – especially the super-successful Commodore 64 here in Australia – was going great guns. Meanwhile, the arcade game designers weren’t quite down for the count yet… S peaking of Epyx, they unleashed a ground-breaking platform puzzler for the K onami’s S omewhere in Russia – more

creative types were firing in 1984, and managed to nail down a genre in the sporting arena that persists to this day in Track & Field , which was

specifically the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow – a talented boffin named Alexey Pajitnov was busy creating puzzling diversions on the Electronika 60

Commodore 64 in ’84 that blew people away, not just with truly top-notch spy craft gameplay and incredibly animated graphics, but with its use of (then) incredible digitised speech. It floored people when they were first greeted with Professor Elvin Atombender’s rather sibilant “Another visitor… Stay a while, stay forever!”, not to mention the fab “Destroy him my robots!”, and the “AARGH!” of your player dying.

quickly followed by Hypersports . Rather than just centring on one

computer. In June of 1984 he nailed his finest achievement, Tetris , which soon had everybody who played it addicted. Adapted to the IBM PC, copies leaked to the west and Russia soon managed to invade the homes of puzzle addicts the world over… and that was before it came packed with Nintendo’s Game Boy!

sport like previous games, they grouped a selection together, as varied as running and hammer throw in the former to swimming and shooting in the latter. Home software people took note, in particular Epyx, who gave us plenty of joystick waggling action soon after with the likes of Summer and Winter Games .

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L E T POWE R CONS UME YOU.

DE L L G5 GAM I NG L A P TOP

High-speed performance The latest AMD Ryzen ® processors enable powerful performance for uninterrupted gameplay.

Advanced cooling Innovative dual-fan cooling

Stunning visuals Powerful AMD Radeon ™ graphics and dedicated memory ensure clear, graphics-intensive gameplay.

system with an advanced thermal design ensures that your system stays cool as the action heats up.

Available in store

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WHAT’S COMING IN AUGUST?

IN SOUND MIND Are you prepared to trundle through the deepest recesses of your brain? In Sound Mind promises a challenging psychological horror experience, as you wake in the corridors of a mysterious building, filled with victims of experimental therapy. You’ll be plagued by bizarre visions and imposing horrors, enough to have you questioning your sanity – but you do have a cat named Tonia to help keep things on track.

HUMANKIND If you’ve ever thought that you can do better moulding humanity than has been managed by the universe so far, then a: you’re a megalomaniac and b: you’re going to love this game! Humankind is a historical strategy game, which allows you to rewrite the entire story of human history from the Ancient to the Modern Age, mixing and matching cultures so as to create a civilisation tailored to your very own specifications.

MULTIPLAYER?

MULTIPLAYER?

PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR

3/8/21

STRATEGY

17/8/21

NO MORE HEROES III Legendary assassin Travis Touchdown is out of exile and back in Santa Destroy, ready to take on all comers to make it to the top of the Galactic Superhero Rankings. Why? Because it’s there, and, uh there’s something about stopping the evil Prince FU and his crew of alien assassins taking over Earth. Take on challenges to earn enough cash to enter each battle, and get busy with the hacking and slashing – onward to victory!

KEYWE It’s time to go postal as – a kiwi! New Zealand’s famous landbound apteryxes have joined the post office, and we get to help out two new star recruits, Jeff and Debra, in this challenging cooperative postal puzzler. They’re pretty clever considering their lack of hands, as they jump, flap, peck and even buttock-slam their way across various levels of levers, bells and buttons, all to get the mail delivered on time.

MULTIPLAYER?

MULTIPLAYER?

ACTION ADVENTURE

27/8/21

PUZZLE

31/8/21

1 What was the first game that you remember playing? Space Invaders as a kid at the Game Center close by where I grew up. After that I also remember playing Pac-Man and Galaga , but I didn’t have a lot of money and I wasn’t very good, so the amount of time I could actually play those games was very limited. That’s what motivated me to purchase a Nintendo Famicom when it came out, because it allowed me to play games for however long I wanted! 2 What’s your favourite video game of all time? My favourite games, all the way through college, were the Mario and Dragon Quest titles. I bought every game in both of those series and was always there to purchase on the day they released. I even remember staying up late (when I was supposed to be sleeping) so I could keep playing those games. I don’t have a lot of time now like I did when I was younger, and the number of games I play has decreased significantly, but to this day I still purchase any new games from those two series. 3 What do you think is the most underrated video game of all time? It’s not a specific title, but VR games are a genre that I would like to see get more recognition in the marketplace. It’s an experience with deeper immersion and a real feeling of being transported to a new world that you can’t replicate with other video game formats. I’m hopeful that technology will advance to the point where anyone can easily play VR games with others, and I would want to create a VR game when that time came. 4 Which of the games that you’ve created is your favourite? In the 29 years I have been at SEGA I’ve only developed titles for the Sonic series and the NiGHTS series – just those two. And both of those series are filled with titles that I really love, so it’s hard to choose, but if I had to choose absolute favourites it would have to be NiGHTS into Dreams and Sonic Adventure 2 . The development of both of those titles was very difficult and challenging, but I had a really fun time, and the warm messages from fans after those games launched really made me glad that we created those titles and saw them through to completion. 5 What are you working on currently? Next year we will have the sequel to the Sonic movie and are also planning for a new animated series, all of which I will be involved with. And, of course, we’re also working hard on the next new Sonic game! I will continue to work hard to make sure all the fans around the world will be able to get Sonic content across a wide variety of mediums, and I hope you all look forward to the next new adventures Sonic will have.

Creative force of SEGA and Sonic Team since 1993 TAKASHI IIZUKA

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Published by

Available on

TM IOC/TOKYO2020/USOPC 36USC220506. © 2021 INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE ("IOC"). ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SEGA AND THE SEGA LOGO ARE EITHER REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OR TRADEMARKS OF SEGA CORPORATION OR ITS AFFILIATES. “ 2 ” AND “ Ø ” ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OR TRADEMARKS OF SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT INC. NINTENDO SWITCH IS A TRADEMARK OF NINTENDO. © 2021 VALVE CORPORATION. STEAM AND THE STEAM LOGO ARE TRADEMARKS AND/OR REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF VALVE CORPORATION IN THE U.S. AND/OR OTHER COUNTRIES. MICROSOFT, THE XBOX SPHERE MARK, THE SERIES X LOGO, SERIES S LOGO, SERIES X|S LOGO, XBOX ONE, XBOX SERIES X, XBOXSERIES S, AND XBOX SERIES X|S ARE TRADEMARKS OF THE MICROSOFT GROUP OF COMPANIES. STADIA, THE STADIA BEACON, AND RELATED MARKS AND LOGOS ARE TRADEMARKS OF GOOGLE LLC.

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PAUSING FOR BREATH Zelda fans are itching to get hold of the sequel to Breath of the Wild , and it’s looking like it will be with us sometime in 2022. Here are some new teaser screenshots to take in while we wait.

A QUICK SWORD WITH LINK SW RD W T I K Nintendo’s Switch receives another classic update this month with the arrival of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD. It’s a remake of what was seen upon release on the NintendoWii as heralding a ground-breaking new era in the series. Words Bec Summer

S kyward Sword was the second main Zelda release on the Wii (it also launched on the previous generation’s GameCube), with development beginning hot on the heels of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess back in 2006. Nintendo really wished to up the ante artistically, lending the game a visual style that was inspired by impressionist painters, while a live orchestra was used for the first time, for the majority of in-game music. All the action and all of the adventure that we loved from the long-running series returned in Skyward Sword , which made its Wii debut in November 2011. It boasted several new features, chief amongst which was the incorporation of motion controls in main gameplay, utilising the updated Wii RemotePlus coupled with a Wii Nunchuk controller. The sixteenth main entry in The Legend of Zelda saga, Skyward Sword was also the first in the series’ storied timeline. We learned the origins of what has been known variously as the Blade of Evil’s Bane, the Legendary Sword, the Sword of Legend, the Master Sword

of Resurrection, the Sword that Seals the Darkness, the Sacred Sword or, most simply and most commonly, the Master Sword. As usual, players

I FEAR MOTION! In its original incarnation on the Wii, many had issues with Skyward Sword ’s motion controls not responding how they thought that they should. With this HD upgrade, Nintendo have worked to make them “smoother and more immediate”, plus, if you’re still not convinced, there’s a new waggle-free button-only control scheme.

took control of the series’ main protagonist, Link,

motion controls, allowing the player to attack and block with various controller movements. Then there’s the Silent

and were tasked with navigating the airborne floating island of Skyloft,

as well as the land beneath it. Link’s quest? To rescue his childhood friend Zelda, who has been kidnapped and whooshed away to an abandoned land known as the Surface. Players expected to face all manner of quests, and that they did, alongside both dungeon-based and environmental puzzles, all to help advance the story. Combat was key via the aforementioned

Realm. It was a supernatural region which Link had to access

• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is out July 16

via a special portal in order to prove his spiritual growth before continuing his quest. All four offered increasing challenges – and some hair-tearing moments! No quest is complete without boss battles, and Skyward Sword gave us many, with such adversaries as Demise, Ghirahim and the Imprisoned offering a whole lot of challenge – and on multiple occasions, too. Talk about taking a licking and keeping on ticking! If you missed it the first time around, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD and all of its now-gen improvements are ready to offer quite the wild experience, as well as a fascinating Hyrule history lesson.

THE JOY OF ZELDA! To add to the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD experience, this very cool-looking pair of new Joy-Cons will launch the same day as the game.

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G335 WIRED GAMING HEADSET COOL. COMFORTABLE. READY TO PLAY PLAY YOURWAY

Only 240g Adjustable Headband Memory Foam Earpads LIGHTWEIGHT & COMFORTABLE

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Ultra-Long Battery Life 250 Hours on one AA Battery

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big boys. There’s a variety of new characters to get to know, but we also welcome back the bad boy of 2020, Devon Butler. He was a standout from last year, and is surely going to

make his presence felt in F1 2021 . CURRENT AND NEXT

Good news for console players is that F1 2021 will receive a simultaneous release across both generations of platforms. For those on the newer versions, there will be the added bonus of ray tracing (for select portions of the game), significantly improved loading speeds, plus 3D audio and adaptive trigger support for the PS5’s DualSense. Codemasters really are pulling out the full array of party tricks! PLAYER TWO HAS ENTERED THE GAME This year, we’re very excited for the two- player career mode. Find a friend, imaginary or otherwise, and enter into a multiplayer career. Team up and race for your favourite franchise, or tussle with each other from other parts of the paddock. There’ll still be all the options to engage with rivals, invest in R&D to improve your ride, and fight for valuable contracts with bigger and better teams. It’s the complete F1 experience, shared with a friend. AS REAL AS IT GETS An exciting new feature will be race mode “Real Season Start”. Drivers will be able to enter into the F1 2021 season in real time as the race results come through. Jump into the seat of the championship driver as you attempt to manage the expectations of the man at the top. Or, if you fancy a challenge, take on the role of someone slightly further down the table and try to resurrect the season of your favourite driver. Players will be able to start at any time during the season to try emulating a win – or to correct an obvious injustice. THE CHEQUERED FLAG With a huge variety of It’s the complete F1 experience

AWINNING FORMULA It’s been nearly a year since the release of F1 2020 , and now racing sim fans are champing at the bit to peek underneath the hood of what F1 2021 has to offer. STACK got a sneak preview, and here’s what we discovered. Words Dan Nicholson

I t’s been a busy time for Codemasters, during which they’ve deftly navigated COVID restrictions to continue development, and were acquired by sports game juggernaut EA. With all of that on the table, it looks like we’re in for another excellent year, with some surprising new additions to the F1 2021 package. CIRCUITS, CHARACTERS AND CUSTOMISATION This season we get access to the full complement of tracks, with 21 circuits

halo stickers to all-new victory radio options for when you take the chocolates on race weekend. FIND YOUR BRAKING POINT Starting a single player career is set to be more detailed than ever. Expanding on the F1 2020 experience and spanning across three seasons, players will start amongst the up-and-coming driver ranks in F2. The challenge then will be to rise up through the ranks and make a mark amongst the

across the calendar slated for inclusion. We’ll see three new tracks – Italy’s legendary Imola, Portugal’s Portimão and Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Street Circuit – arriving post-launch. All tracks will be available for multiplayer as well. We’ll get access to some of the absolute superstars of the sport, too, newly developed and looking more challenging than ever, including Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher. There’s also an absolute truckload of new customisation features, from personalised

• F1 2021 is out July 16

new tools and experiences at hand, everybody will be able to find something to style the experience of F1 2021 to their liking. From enhanced multiplayer racing to new customisation options, plus the awesome experience of racing as one of the all-time greats, F1 2021 is set to be chock full of excellent new features, which are sure to occupy many hours of fast and furious action.

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FEATURE

ONLINE EXPO - SURE!

As we’re all too aware, the world has altered drastically in the past 18 months, and we’ve had to adapt to many changes. This year, the annual games event known as E3, usually a lavish and very crowded expo held in Los Angeles, did what many of us have had to do and went virtual, with many major players in the industry delivering presentations – and many punters avoiding jetlag and hangovers! Words Amy Flower N ot surprisingly, the buzz wasn’t as full-on without the live event to bring gamers

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania

from the world over together in one place, and many expected more in the way of updates to previously announced titles, as well as shiny new things to look forward to. It should be noted though

JurassicWorld Evolution 2

Quest TV series) is the titular star, alongside big Hollywood names such as Will Arnett, Andy Samberg and Wanda Sykes. Thankfully it wasn’t all about the bloody mayhem, with plenty for younger players or those who wish to chill. Chief amongst these was a look at Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania , a remastered compilation of previous games in the wild SEGA series that’s set to unleash its monkey business on October 5. Then there’s Jurassic World Evolution 2 for all your park-designing needs, plus Two Point Campus for those who wish to get into the running-a-university game. Then, of course, there’s the new stuff from the big players. Over the next five pages we aim to update you with all the biggest and best highlights from big E3 2021 participants Xbox (including our best in show, Forza Horizon 5 ), Nintendo, Ubisoft, Bandai Namco and Square Enix. Trust us gamers, the future is looking bright!

that considering most have been working in lockdown, it’s incredible some of the accomplishments that developers have already delivered, and just how many new titles are arriving soon enough that we really should be saving up our dollary-doos right now. The biggest absence from E3 2021 was PlayStation, who it’s worth noting also sat out the physical event in 2019. News of many titles – such as a director’s cut of Death Stranding – that are coming to the PS5 were revealed though, including one of the year’s hottest titles from another E3 no-show in EA. They decided to let loose a huge data drop on this year’s Battlefield 2042 mere days before the main event kicked off, and it promises a whole tonne of frantic futuristic combat. The reveal featured everything from tanks to hovercraft to rockets to wingsuits to helicopters to quadbikes to fighter jets and… deep breath… little future tuk-tuk type dealies. Whoa, there’s even combat on foot! It’s set to explode on all the usual formats this October 22. Another much-anticipated shooter is Back 4 Blood . We got to see more of the zombie/ undead/diseased/monster/call-’em-what-you- want FPS blaster that’s on its way from many of the creators of the classic Left 4 Dead series. Call it a “spiritual successor” if you will when you get busy with it on October 12 for PS5, Xbox and PS4.

Battlefield 2042

Back 4 Blood

A new “high fantasy” spin-off is coming from Gearbox, starring Borderlands ‘ Tiny Tina, even though it’s apparently not a Borderlands canon game (despite looking decidedly shooty). Entitled Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands , voice artist Ashly Burch ( Horizon Zero Dawn , the Mythic

NOW THAT’S COLD, XBOX! There’s always something a bit out-there at E3, and despite its virtuality this year we had a winner for weirdest announcement, with the chockies going to Xbox. They announced “a new system that leaves others cold” – yep, they’re bringing us a mini-fridge! Many wags reckoned that the Xbox Series X looked like one, so now they’re delivering. It may not be as spectacular as the handful of full-sized promotional fridges that they gave out at the console’s launch, but Xbox assure us that we’ll be able to own one by year’s end.

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10 TH Sept 2021

PREORDER NOW

© 2021 Nintendo. Co-developed by INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS

8 th Oct 2021

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© Nintendo

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FEATURE

Ubisoft had many exciting games to show off in their Forward virtual presentation. T hings kicked off with a deeper look at Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction , the shooter formerly known as Tom UBISOFT

Rainbow Six Extraction

Riders Republic 2/9/21 Rainbow Six Extraction 16/9/21 Far Cry 6 7/10/21 Just Dance 2022 4/11/21 Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope 2022

It wouldn’t be a Ubisoft presentation without Just Dance , and we weren’t disappointed. We snuck a first look at the annual fave, now in its 12th year, via special guest Todrick Hall, revealing that an exclusive version of his smash Nails, Hips, Hair, Heels will appear in-game amongst 40 new songs. Get your dancing

it looks a bit like the brilliant Trials series, but on some serious steroids and with some cool first-person action. It’s set for release in September. Back in 2017, we were stunned that Nintendo let Mario and friends out to play, especially with the insane Rabbids! So, it was a delightful

Clancy’s Rainbow Six Quarantine . This will bring the operators together against a gross alien scourge known collectively as the Archaens. Players will join the REACT team, assembling a one to three-player squad of operators from a pool of 18 to take on the Archaen menace in four different US locations. After completing each objective, players will make a choice between extracting and collecting their rewards, or pushing deeper and confronting tougher enemies to earn greater bonuses. Do you dare risk losing an operator in the name of loot, leaving you faced with a hazardous rescue mission? With solo or co-op play, look out for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction in September. A new look at Riders Republic was the next bike off the rack, showing off more of the massive online sportsfest that delivers the likes of biking, boarding, wingsuiting, jetsuiting, parachuting and more. Basically,

duds ready, as Just Dance 2022 is set to arrive in early November. Sandwiched amongst the big releases were myriad updates on existing properties, including sixth year celebrations for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege , new Watch Dogs: Legion expansions and more for fans of For Honor . Meanwhile, Assassin’s expansion, bringing with it new gear, weapons and abilities, plus there’s a fab historical Discovery Tour on its way named Viking Age . Wrapping things up, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot left us with a surprise peek at the gorgeous-looking world of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora , which is slated for late 2022. Add Far Cry 6 (see boxout), plus the likes of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake , Beyond Good and Evil 2 , Skull & Bones and, of course, the yet-to-be-detailed Star Wars game all in the pipeline, and there’s much to get excited about on its way from Ubisoft. Creed Valhalla fans received news of the Siege of Paris

surprise hearing of a new Mario + Rabbids crossover, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope . Set to bring its strategy action exclusively to Nintendo Switch in 2022, this time it isn’t just set in the Mushroom

Kingdom, as there’s an entire galaxy from which to repel evil, as the unlikely alliance leaps from planet to planet, aiming to defeat the malevolent force that is Cursa.

FAR OUT, THAT’S ONE EVIL DUDE! Most games have a big bad, and in the upcoming Far Cry 6 we may have the biggest and baddest yet in evil Castro-inspired dictator Antón Castillo. If the face looks familiar, that’s because when he’s not evilly dictating, he’s actor Giancarlo Esposito. He’s known for several roles, in particular as drug lord and fried chicken purveyor Gus Fring in Breaking Bad . Far Cry 6 is set to deliver a really interesting-sounding post-launch, three-episode season pass. Players will be able to play as some of the series’ most notorious baddies, with Vaas Montenegro, Pagan Min and holy bloke Joseph Seed all featuring – and the original actors have all returned to relive their roles. The season pass will also see the return of classic cyborg shooty-fest Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon , in updated guise. All the wild FPS action of Far Cry 6 is set to be unleashed on October 7 for PS5, Xbox and PS4.

Far Cry 6

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FEATURE

The new partnership between Xbox and Bethesda hit this year’s virtual E3 with an impressive array of 30 games – some triple-A ones, some cool indies – for us to hanker after XBOX & BETHESDA

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator 27/7/21 Deathloop 14/9/21 Age of Empires IV 28/10/21 Forza Horizon 5 9/11/21 Starfield 11/11/22

Chinese and Delhi Sultanate, plus two more civilisations were revealed in the Abbasid Dynasty and the French – including Joan of Arc! We can’t hide our love of racers at STACK , so the announcement of Forza Horizon 5 – before any more word on Forza Motorsport 8 – had us grinning like silly people. Deserving to be highlighted, find out more in our handy boxout below. There were plenty of other big titles worthy of mention, and special props go out to

over the next year or more. P roceedings kicked off with a look at the upcoming Xbox/PC exclusive – and new IP – from Bethesda, Starfield , which is currently slated for release in November 2022. Billed as a “next-generation RPG set amongst the stars”, it’s the first new universe from Bethesda in 25 years. That wasn’t the only new thing from Bethesda to get excited about, with official Head of Xbox Phil Spencer giving us a sneak peek at their new open world first-person shooter that’s in development, Redfall . It’s a wild-looking vampire slayer fest, and it’s due in our winter, 2022. Some news that we all hoped for was a date for Microsoft Flight Simulator on Xbox, and the Series X exclusive – it needs all of that machine’s oomph –- is arriving on the

27th of this month! There’ll also be a special – and free – Top Gun Maverick tie-in DLC later in the year. Originally planned as a new- gen launch title, Halo Infinite is still on its way. They don’t come much bigger than this,

the people at Obsidian for their brilliant – and very funny – trailer reveal of The Outer Worlds 2; it really is well worth checking out. Just Cause studio Avalanche also revealed – to the strains of Steely Dan – their next big co-op shooter, Contraband . Set in the 1970s, they’re billing it as a “smuggler’s paradise”. Then there was another look at the much-anticipated

and the game’s hot multiplayer action was shown off. We still don’t have a date beyond “Holiday 2021”, but no matter how you read

that, it isn’t too far away now! History – and strategy – buffs are in for a treat when Age

of Empires IV arrives in October. At launch it will feature a choice of the English, Mongols,

Psychonauts 2 from Double Fine, which

will finally be with us August 25. And rats! A sequel to A Plague Tale , Requiem , is due in 2022. Indies of note included a fine-looking

WE’RE OFF TO MEXICO WITH FORZA HORIZON!

interactive thriller entitled Twelve Minutes , boasting an impressive cast that includes James McAvoy, Daisy

Car lovers rejoice, for Forza Horizon 5 is on its way, and we’re heading south of the border to Mexico! The announce trailer was something special to behold, and ever-so- shiny with all of that beautiful Forzavista ray tracing. Forza Horizon 5 promises “the largest, most diverse open world ever in a Forza Horizon game”, complete with an ever-evolving landscape featuring deserts, jungles, historic cities, beaches, canyons and even the highest yet point that the series has seen, a snow-capped volcano! Unique weather events such as tropical and dust storms will also feature – don’t forget to pack your detailing kit – as well as, of course, more cars than you could poke a Top Gear presenter at, including the wild Mercedes-AMG Project ONE. We’re promised that all of this will look better than any previous Forza Horizon game – a big call – with all the tech of the new-gen pushed to the limit to deliver incredible detail and amazing HDR effects. November 9 is the day, racers!

Forza Horizon 5

Ridley and Willem Dafoe; sci-fi adventure Somerville ; the floppy fuzzy furry fury of 2022-bound multiplayer outing Party Animals ; and a sequel to cuter-shooter Slime Rancher , also due in ’22. One thing was certain when the curtains closed on the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase for 2021: we gamers have a whole lot of exciting titles to look forward to in the next year or so.

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The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes

wonderfully Rocky Horror vibe host, simply known as The Curator. This one’s set in the final stages of the Iraq conflict in 2003, where a raid on a suspected underground chemical weapons facility eventually leads to sinkholes opening up and thrusting our protagonists into the ruins of a buried Sumerian temple that’s inhabited by something savage and evil. The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes is set to release on PS5, Xbox and PS4 in late October. Meanwhile, look out for other promising Bandai Namco titles Tales of Arise , Digimon Survive and Elden Ring (see boxout).

Life Is Strange: True Colors 10/9/21 Tales of Arise 10/9/21 The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes 22/10/21 Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy 26/10/21 Elden Ring 21/1/22

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Square Enix went big with their E3 Presents showcase, with news of a massive new Marvel game (see boxout), more Final Fantasy and, well, more! A new Marvel game doesn’t mean that Marvel’s Avengers has been forgotten, with a huge new expansion reveal SQUARE ENIX & BANDAI NAMCO

manipulate emotions to uncover her town’s dark secrets. Finally, a big ending, with a collision of Team Ninja, Koei Tecmo and Square Enix that’s resulted in all the chaos of Final Fantasy Origin: Stranger of Paradise . Did we mention that it’s chaotic? Due in 2022, it’s described as “A bold new vision for Final Fantasy,” and the trailer unleashed, of course, lots of chaos! While Bandai Namco have several exciting titles in the pipeline, they took to E3 with a deep dive into the upcoming third instalment in The Dark Pictures Anthology , House of Ashes . We’ve had a ghost ship and a desolate town, now it’s time for something new, which sees the return of the

Elden Ring

– Black Panther: War for Wakanda . Free for owners of the main game, it’s set to drop this August. When we see the name PlatinumGames we always get excited, and a look at their next fantasy opus, Babylon’s Fall , didn’t disappoint. Up to four players will join a band of warriors on an odyssey to overcome the titanic Tower of Babylon. September is looking bright for fans of the Life Is Strange series, with the release of the brand-new Life Is Strange: True Colors . It’ll see protagonist Alex embracing her ability to

TWO WORLDS COLLIDE

The much-anticipated George R.R. Martin collaboration from FromSoftware, Elden Ring , was one of the brightest stars of this year’s E3. It’s truly an inspired partnership, with players set to journey through the Lands Between, a new fantasy world concocted by Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki and Martin, the best-selling author of fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire – which, of course, became TV’s Game of Thrones . The fantasy action RPG is set to deliver expansive landscapes and complex dungeons to explore, with a vast array of weapons, magical abilities and skills to be unearthed as you set out to unravel the mysteries of the Elden Ring’s power and become the Elden Lord. Being billed as FromSoftware’s largest game to date, we’ll be able to traverse the land via foot or on horseback, either solo or with other players online. Elden Ring is certainly looking and sounding pretty incredible, and it’s set to arrive on PS5, Xbox, PS4 and PC in January, 2022.

MARVEL’S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY SET TO SAVE THE UNIVERSE… PROBABLY! Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy are returning in an all-new game from Square Enix. We’ll play as Peter Quill/Star-Lord in a completely original, self-contained story – there’ll be no DLC or expansions, the comic book-influenced tale will come complete at launch. It’s a classically-styled third-person shooter, but adding to the action is an ongoing narrative that your decisions will have an effect upon – for example, sell Rocket, or sell Groot?! We’re really loving that Quill’s Walkman is a weapon – and rapt that there’ll be a whole bunch of classic 1980s tunes to rock out to as we play.

“A distinct mix of sci-fi, family drama, and rock n’ roll attitude with an edgy aesthetic is the foundation for our Guardians franchise," said Jay Ong of Marvel Games. “We’re thrilled to collaborate with Eidos-Montréal. The team’s laser-focused vision for our beloved band of misfits shines in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy . We’re excited for our fans to play it this October.”

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy

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Mario Party Superstars

No More Heroes III 27/8/21 WarioWare: Get it Together! 10/9/21 Metroid Dread 8/10/21 Mario Party Superstars 29/10/21 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel 2022

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Hopes were high for some big Switch announcements at Nintendo’s E3 Direct, and there certainly were some pleasant surprises in store for us. F irst up, some cheeky types were claiming that this presentation might just be a 40-minute introduction of a new Super NINTENDO

the series celebrates its 35th year, and what we got wasn’t expected, but very welcome – a Legend of Zelda Game & Watch! It’s set to feature three classic games – The Legend of Zelda (NES), Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES) and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Game Boy) – plus Game & Watch Vermin , starring Link. It’s landing on November 12 – get in quick! Nintendo weren’t so cruel as to leave us with no update on the sequel to Breath of the Wild , and we did get to see some new gameplay footage, revealing wondrous floating cities. We also received word that they’re “aiming for” a 2022 release. Other exciting forthcoming Switch exclusives included sort-of Japanese-styled Buffy tale

Party then it’s time to celebrate, with the announcement of Mario Party Superstars. It’s set to plunder past releases for an updated collection of games, including five from way back in the Nintendo 64 era, all with online play and the ability to save progress. Get ready to party in October. One of the coolest series to grace the Game Boy Advance back in the day was Advance Wars , and we could hear strategy buffs going “Squee!” upon hearing news that Advance Wars AND Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising have been “reimagined and rebuilt from the ground up” for the double-pack release Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp . It’s scheduled for December 3. Everybody was hoping for Zelda news as

Smash Bros. Ultimate character, and guess what? It kicked off with a new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate character! Kazuya Mishima – whom Tekken fans will know well – is coming to the all-in beat ’em up. We wanted something new and big, and we got it next with the return of wascally Wario! WarioWare: Get It Together! is slated for a September release, and it’ll be bringing us another bunch of crazy micro-games that will make us do everything from performing facials to dodging bird poop – and it’ll also include two-player co-op. From naughty to nice, if you’re into Mario

Shin Megami Tensei V in November; a 10th year celebration compilation of the Phoenix Wright meets bonkers visual novel fun of Danganronpa ; and another classic IP return in Wii U update Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water – the camera-centric ghoulie- fighting horror adventure is coming this year. It was great to see some classic support players from Nintendo’s vast canon getting some love, and if you’re a Switch fan you’ve got some big buying decisions – including Metroid Dread (see boxout) – coming up before year’s end!

EEP! METROID DREAD WILL BE WITH US SOON! Metroid Dread , which was teased back in the GameCube days as the successor to Metroid Fusion , is finally seeing the light of day after a wait of some 19 years. OK, so it isn’t the much-anticipated Metroid Prime 4 (that’s still coming), but if you’d told us going into this Nintendo Direct that there’d be a new, classically-styled 2D Metroid game then we’d have been very happy little Samus fans. Metroid Dread is set to conclude the

five-part saga of Samus and the Metroids, which commenced way back in the NES days of the original Metroid . This time out, Samus heads to a remote planet where she’s hunted by a new mechanical threat in the form of E.M.M.I. robots. In the style that we’ve become accustomed to, we’ll be able to return to previously explored areas once powered up to discover more and more of this mysterious world, and hopefully emerge victorious. Switch exclusive Metroid Dread hits on October 8.

Metroid Dread

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THE POWER OF LESS Slim 7i

Epic world of colour Dominate the competition in FHD at 144 Hz with the Legion Slim 7i’s color accurate and high dynamic range 15.6” display with Dolby Vision™ support

Play at your best Enjoy epic framerates and reduced load times with up to 10 th generation Intel® Core™ i5 processors

Strike hard, strike true The world-class TrueStrike keyboard comes to the Legion Slim 7i which features soft-landing switches for a more robust input experience at 1.3 mm of key travel

Now available at

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GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS BENQ’S ULTRA-FAST 4K PROJECTOR Words Anthony Horan

primarily designed to be used for watching TV and movies, not interactively playing video games. BenQ’s aiming to change that with its TK700Sti, which bravely claims to be the world’s fastest 4K HDR gaming projector. Luckily, it’s got the specs to back that up, with the headline feature being an astonishing 16ms (that’s 16 thousandths of a second) input latency at 4K resolution. To put that into perspective, if you run a conventional OLEDTV in Game Mode, you’re likely to get a latency of around 14ms. Projectors usually just can’t compete in this space, but BenQ’s engineered this one with gaming in mind (and in full 4K and HDR, too). At lower resolutions, the latency’s even more remarkable – 8.3ms at 120Hz, perfect for PS5 and Xbox Series X. A “short throw” laser projector, it uses similar tech to the DLP projectors you’ll find in cinemas, but squeezes it all into a compact box that you place far closer to the wall (or screen – it’s well worth picking one up as well for better clarity and colour) than an old-school projector. At 2.3 metres from the screen (it can be ceiling-mounted if you like, or just put it on a table) the image tops out at an astonishing 120 inches in full 4K. It’s incredibly immersive for gaming, as well as stellar for sports and movies. With a bright 3000 lumen light output, wide colour gamut and even support for 3D – one of the only ways to watch 3D Blu-rays still available – the projector’s based on Google’s Android TV, so you can load it up with your favourite streaming apps and have a proper big- screen movie night. The sheer amount of tech in this compact box is astonishing at the price – so if you’ve been contemplating turning the wall of your living space into a cinema screen and are tempted by the idea of gaming gone large, this one’s well worth checking out.

W hether you spend your gaming and Switch, you’ll probably be well aware that the size of the screen you’re playing on isn’t all that matters. You want to be able to get fully immersed in a twitch shooter, an intense story adventure or the sort of anything-goes exploring and platforming goodness that shows off what the latest generation of consoles can do. And that means the bigger the screen, the better the experience. But above around 65 inches or so, the price of conventional TVs starts to rapidly escalate. While the best from the big brands now boast gaming features, if you’re looking for that giant- sized immersive experience, you’re looking at a very large, very heavy investment – and even then, you’re going to cap out at around 85 inches or so. To go properly big, you’re going to need to start looking at a projector. Up until recently, that was an incredibly time on a PC or prefer the couch- friendliness of the Xbox, Playstation

expensive proposition, and not really all that suitable for gaming. The key to any big-screen gaming is one word – latency (also known as input lag). It’s the measurement of the time it takes for what your console or PC sends to the screen to actually display on the screen so that you can react to it, and the lower that number is, the better. Projectors have traditionally not boasted especially brilliant latency, because most are

Video projectors described as “short throw” are perfect for smaller rooms and living areas, because they are placed close to the screen (or wall) and are portable, making it possible to set them up as needed. How close you place the projector determines how big the image is - the further away, the bigger the screen (but at the cost of some brightness). Stuff to Know About Short Throw

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OUT NOW at

RATCHET & CLANK: RIFT APART

ACTION ADVENTURE MULTIPLAYER

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In Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart , Insomniac have realised the dream of making movie quality animation seamlessly playable – and it’s all kinds of Pixar-level good. Following a short introduction to a mystery Lombax, our titular heroes are thrust into a massive parade, with confetti cannons, giant

character balloons and crowds galore. There’s so much going on that you suspect that the

EVERYBODY LOVES RAY TRACING! It’s the other big new thing with new-gen and, depending upon which graphics mode you choose, it’s on full display in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart . Just check out Clank – ooh, shiny! And there’s plenty more shininess throughout, too.

Can our heroes reunite and bring down Nefarious? Can they what! All the miracles of the new-gen that we were promised are utilised, starting with the expected such as varied controller rumbles, and dual-purpose triggers. What we weren’t prepared for was how good the PS5’s internal SSD drive can be… Massive worlds, all completely different and fully-stocked with lifeforms, whiz by seamlessly in seconds. It’s, to quote the bloke who plays John Wick, breathtaking. That’s not the end of the magic, though, for the transitions between cutscenes and gameplay are seamless. Right at the magnificently meta-oozing outset, questioning why they’re receiving that parade after so many years away, Ratchet quips, “What if everybody thinks we’re washed up? What if we ARE washed up?” They’re SO not, for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a triumph. AF

Insomniac people are showing off a bit – and we couldn’t be happier! As the story continues, we find out the identity of that mystery Lombax – she’s Rivet and she’s in another dimension. When interstellar irritant Doctor Nefarious nicks off with a “Dimensionator”, the world jumping commences. Each one has various classic R&C -styled challenges and puzzles, numerous enemies to dispense with and, naturally, loads of boxes to smash. When the device goes “KABLOOEY!” myriad rifts are unleashed, and the brains of the outfit, Clank, is propelled into the world of Rivet.

THE ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE: BLACKWOOD COLLECTION

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The Elder Scrolls Online delivers its fifth expansion, Blackwood , with the usual story, style and surprises. With this fifth “Chapter”, ESO once again takes

players back to familiar places. That’s been a constant theme as the gargantuan world map of Tamriel slowly gets filled out with more locations and stories. Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedric

Prince of Destruction, looms large (literally) over this story, and there’s fire and plenty of it throughout your adventure, which clocks in at around 15 hours. There are also plenty of side quests and, most notably, a new take on the “Dark Anchors” that were a staple of the original base game zones. New areas look terrific, with plenty of variety from rolling grasslands to swampy Argonian wetlands. But the highlight is the main city, Leyawiin, now rendered with exquisite detail and atmosphere. The two major changes to the actual gameplay for Blackwood are pretty huge.

THAT’S NOT MY NAME

The first is the total reworking of the Champion system. It’s designed to give the game a much longer and more engaging form of character progression. The biggest new feature, though, is the brilliant Companion system. There are two companion NPCs – Mirri and Bastian – who you can recruit through story quests in Blackwood. Once recruited you can have them by your side as an actual, useful AI-controlled party member, who can help you in combat while questing and exploring, and even in dungeons. The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood Collection contains the main game, the new Blackwood Chapter and all four previous Chapters ( Morrowind, Summerset, Elsweyr and Greymoor ), which were previously full-priced purchases. If you’ve never played the game before, you’re about to have enough Elder Scrolls goodness thrown at you to keep you adventuring for months. AH

ESO studio ZOS prefers The Elder Scrolls Online to be thought of as an “online RPG” rather than an MMO – and that makes sense given that this has always been one of the most solo-friendly and story-rich entries in the broad genre.

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