STACK #225 July 2023

GAMING FEATURE

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WHAT’S COMING IN AUGUST?

1 What’s the first game that you remember playing? I must have been about five when my best friend’s dad took us to where he worked. He was head of computer science at Loughborough University, and we spent the afternoon playing a Star Trek game on a machine that filled one entire wall and that displayed the game on paper printouts. We spent hours hunting down one Klingon warbird and got to take the printout of our adventure home. I wish I still had it. 2 What was the last game that you finished? As you might be able to tell from my previous answer, I am quite old! It’s difficult to find time to finish a game these days, particularly if you play MMOs! My personal favourite is Destiny 2 . But I guess the last game I properly completed would have been either a Pokémon on the clamshell GBA, or Ring of Red on the PS2. I loved Ring of Red , I played it through three times! 3 What’s your favourite video game/ series of all time? As a series, I think Halo – I basically only had an Xbox to play Halo games. I love Bungie’s approach to making games, their distinctive art style and colour palettes, amazing musical scores, and deep storytelling and worldbuilding. 4 What do you think is the most underrated game of all time? Ring of Red ! wish you’d worked on? Destiny – it makes such a clear, unique promise to the player and doubles down on its worldbuilding. That’s how you get such a loyal player base. 5 What’s the game that you most Creative director on Dead Island 2 at Dambuster Studios. JAMES WORRALL

ARMORED CORE VI: FIRES OF RUBICON Get ready to get good, as FromSoftware return with their latest mega mech mayhem onslaught. The fight has come a long way in the 26 years since the series debuted, arriving exclusively on new-gen consoles with all the bells and whistles. Assemble your mech from a wide variety of parts and weaponry, ready to face down overwhelming opposition by outgunning and overrunning your enemies via both ranged and melee combat. Plus, nab bonus art cards, stickers, and a poster!

SAMBA DE AMIGO: PARTY CENTRAL It’s been a long time between parties, but finally all the colour and musical fun of Samba De Amigo is back to shake up your next shindig! Grab your Joy-Cons and do the super fun maracas thing, as you shake along to any of 40 hits from genres including EDM, pop, rock, Latin, and others, with the promise of plenty more to come. There are new modes to explore, too, whether you’re partying locally or online, including the new eight-player World Party mode – plus, new minigames!

ACTION MULTIPLAYER?

RHYTHM MULTIPLAYER?

25/8/23

29/8/23

ATLAS FALLEN Prepare to glide the sands of a timeless fantasy world that’s filled with ancient dangers, mysteries, and fragments of the past in this wild original adventure that sees you charged with liberating mankind from the grasp of corrupted gods. Hunt legendary monsters – solo or in co-op - using powerful, shape-shifting weapons and devastating sand-powered abilities in spectacular combat, all powered by the mighty Unreal Engine 5.

RIDE 5 It’s that time again, motorcycle heads, to get into the latest iteration of the RIDE series. This year’s model has been crafted exclusively for the latest generation of consoles, bringing new levels of realism to the track. Packed with AI assists that you can dial up or down depending upon your skill level, anybody will be able to find their way onto the podium. Packed with desirable bikes both new and old, worldwide tracks, and a mode for everybody, RIDE 5 is set to take racing up another notch.

ACTION RPG MULTIPLAYER?

RACING MULTIPLAYER?

10/8/23

24/8/23

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On July 15, 1983, Nintendo introduced their Family Computer video games console in their native Japan. Shortened by most to “Famicom”, with a little help from a pixelated tradie named Mario it would change the home gaming landscape. World domination came a couple of years later via its western release, repackaged as the shoebox-like Nintendo Entertainment System.

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50 JULY 2023

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