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Like everyone else, I’ve been begging Ubisoft to take Assassin’s Creed to Japan ever since finishing the first game. Now that dream is finally coming true, and while I might not be as young as I used to be, the evolving technology that sees this adventure landing on PlayStation 5 is probably for the best. That jump forward in tech is all part of our look at Assassin’s Creed Shadows (p52) in this issue, which sees us talking with art director Thierry Dansereau about bringing the devs’ take on Japan to life. Not only does it look incredibly pretty, but some of those details have an effect on play, such as the changing weather and seasons giving you different opportunities for your sneaking and fighting. Of course, Assassin’s Creed isn’t the only…

“Gamescom has never been E3, but it does a pretty good job of matching the excitement.” As we descended onto the Koelnmesse exhibition centre for yet another year of Gamescom, there was a sense of excitement in the air. This year, the event brought out heavy hitters like Capcom, Sega, Ubisoft, and that newly established PlayStation developer, Xbox. Gamescom might not be the mega-event that E3 was, but it does a great job of bringing mid-year excitement and of hawking litres of sparkling water. Before the show floor opened on Wednesday, we were treated to another round of Geoff Keighley’s Opening Night Live, which gave us a glimpse of some of the best and brightest games coming to PS5 over the next few years. The show kicked off with a teaser for…

With Falloutmania strong after the success of a certain streaming show, the latest major update for 76 needs the strength of a super-mutant to carry expectations. Designed to reward existing players while smoothing the road in for new ones, all powered by six previous years of serving the community, it just might pull it off. One addition is caravanning, making use of the recently added Skyline Valley area. “We wanted to keep the action going in that region by taking advantage of Skyline Drive, which kind of circumnavigates the whole new area,” explains creative director Jonathan Rush. “Caravanning is something that’s really a staple of Fallout, all the way back to Fallout 1. Fast forward to Fallout 76, and we have our own caravanning faction, the Blue Ridge Caravan. An update…

Plenty of premises in the adult animated anthology Love, Death & Robots have had a videogame-y air: time loops; mech fights; special ops that go wildly off the rails – and that’s just season one. Bearing that in mind, the creator’s next project comes as no surprise. Secret Level is a series of 15 shorts each inspired by a different videogame series. Slated for an Amazon Prime Video premiere on 10 December, the series’ creators hope to add another dimension to some of your favourites. We’ve already seen Warhammer 40,000 Space Marines getting covered in bioluminescent goo, had a glimpse of the God Of War himself, and spotted at least one Armored Core pilot who’s a dead ringer for Keanu Reeves (though full cast details have yet to be confirmed). Also…

Picture this: a black screen, accompanied by a subtle yet instantly recognisable musical motif by John Williams, and then the title drop: Indiana Jones and the totally expected PlayStation release. That’s right, Indiana Jones And The Great Circle is coming to PS5 during the spring of 2025. That’s a wee while after debuts on other platforms, but that brief window of exclusivity won’t leave us envious for long. “Venture from the Vatican in Rome to the Great Pyramids of Egypt, and explore Sukhothai’s temples in Thailand.” Set in 1937, between Raiders Of The Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, The Great Circle sees Doctor Jones embarking on a quest to solve a totally original mystery. It’s in development at MachineGames, the studio behind everything from 2014’s Wolfenstein: The New Order to 2019’s Wolfenstein:…

With 25 years of experience in the industry, Near Light co-founders Paul Mottram and Ben Hebb had always agreed they would only make non-violent games, even at their previous studio, Wide Games, when they made the stealth-based World War II: Prisoner Of War on PS2. So it might come as a surprise that the studio’s first game since being acquired by NDreams is Frenzies, a multiplayer VR shooter. However, one look at the announcement trailer tells you it’s a stark contrast from a typical military-themed FPS or even NDreams’ own VR shooters. With bright colours and avatars running around in onesies, its vibe is more similar to Fall Guys’. “We try to make sure it’s over-the-top, a bit like when shooting fruit,” says Mottram, in reference to the studio’s PSVR release…