PLAY March 2022 - n.11

Welcome, stranger, to our own little corner of PlayStation paradise. 2022 is already shaping up to be a great year, as the next couple of months ahead are going to be filled with huge titles. This month’s cover star, Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin (p48), is something a little different, but no exception. Team Ninja’s take on the franchise is unmissable. It’s not the first time the JRPG series has approached real-time action, but few developers can match Team Ninja (which also made Ninja Gaiden and Nioh) when it comes to making it thrilling, challenging, and satisfying in equal measure. Plus, unusually for a soulslike, there are helping hands so all can enjoy. “UNUSUALLY FOR A SOULSLIKE, THERE ARE HELPING HANDS SO ALL CAN ENJOY.” As ever, when you get us talking…

Rachel Watts STAFF WRITER She’s been feeling the rise and grind. Literally. It’s no joke to catch up to the Bomb Rush devs. GAME OF THE MONTH Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Collection BEST STRANGER Atlas (Bioshock) Jess Kinghorn GAMES EDITOR Now a master of freeing operators from alien goo, can Jess do the same for her left-out mugs in PLAY Towers’ sink? GAME OF THE MONTH Rainbow Six Extraction BEST STRANGER Ada Wong (Resident Evil) Miriam McDonald OPERATIONS EDITOR Mim’s as well-travelled as Nate, but has better food recommendations and doesn’t destroy temples. GAME OF THE MONTH Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Collection BEST STRANGER Baldur (God Of War) Milford Coppock MANAGING ART EDITOR Preparing for PSVR2, Milf has been cycling at high speed with electric toothbrushes on his face. GAME OF THE MONTH Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Collection BEST STRANGER Stranger (Oddworld)…

“Not just a matter of higher numbers – it’s changing how you interact with games.” Nothing says ‘hardcore gaming’ like strapping a screen to your face, clutching controllers that contain more tech than a fruit cake has raisins, and immersing yourself within a digital realm. The first PSVR was an impressive piece of kit for its time, being one of the most accessible VR devices available back then, but PSVR2 is something else entirely. It’s not just a matter of higher numbers – it’s changing the way you interact with games. But a familiar series is guiding us in, in the shape of Horizon Call Of The Mountain. This new project immerses you in Horizon’s post-apocalyptic world full of strange robot dinosaurs, and is being co-developed by Guerrilla Games and Firesprite, a…

The World Of Assassination trilogy’s main story may have drawn to a close, but Agent 47’s work is never done. A ‘year two’ of content has been partially detailed by IO Interactive. It will include new maps, and a safe house feature that nods back to classic games in the series. What we didn’t expect is that the safe house will also play home to Freelancer, a new mode that adds an endless, roguelike twist to the Hitman murder puzzle-box formula. This space is where Agent 47 can get some R&R between murders, and you’re free to customise his home away from home how you want. (We’ve yet to find out how detailed that is.) You can try on different outfits, test out different weapons – that kind of thing. SAFE AS…

Read the last few issues? Then you know when it comes to FromSoftware our dark souls burn bright. Imagine our surprise when a leaked customer survey allegedly detailed a new, unannounced game from the studio – a mech game that’s apparently a revival of the Armored Core series. If that’s true, it’ll be the first new title in the series in over ten years. The leak seems credible, in part due to several watermarked screenshots (which we dare not print, for fear of Hidetaka Miyazaki getting on a plane with Havel’s hammer to break our legs). They show sombre metallic ruins, mechs flying to snowy bases, and intense mech combat. It seems the game will push the ability to engage in long-range combat as well as getting stuck in with a…

After skipping a year (for the first time in a long time) in order to ensure the next entry would meet the series’ quality standards, WWE is back, with the imaginatively named 2K22. This is no mope towards the stage either; the game is leaping off the ropes and bouncing right into a 619 to celebrate cover star Rey Mysterio. “[Being on the cover] is something that’s really special for me because of all the years I’ve put into this business.” “It’s almost like you’re in a moment where you’re like: ‘No, really? This is really gonna happen?’” Mysterio shared about finding out he’d be making the cover. “It’s something that’s really special for me because of all the years I’ve put into this business. It didn’t really hit me until we…