CATEGORIES

BRIGHT FUTURE

With Beyond Light, Bungie reshapes Destiny 2 for a new generation

My Favourite Game Mike Shinoda

The Linkin Park frontman on his love of Nintendo, obsession with drawing Mega Man and tour-bus Halo sessions

TWIN MIRROR

Dontnod’s narrative mystery redoubles the mind games

Spelunky 2

Environments are alive with detail, better disguising the game’s tilebased nature

Shaping the future

Meet the studio making Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, a Jet Set Radio revival with street culture sincerity

Trigger Happy

Shoot first, ask questions later

NUTS

A squirrel-infested forest harbours unsettling implications

MARVEL'S AVENGERS

Earth’s mightiest heroes aren’t looking so super

REMEDY ENTERTAINMENT

From Max Payne to Control: how one studio stayed true to its obsessions for 25 years

Quantum Break

Remedy’s game-television hybrid is a product of its time, for better and worse

CLOUD GARDENS

The co-creator of the Kingdom series sends out new shoots towards the sky

Unreliable Narrator

Exploring stories in games and the art of telling tales

Trigger Happy

Shoot first, ask questions later

STAR WARS: SQUADRONS

Motive’s dogfighter wisely focuses on strategy over spectacle

Toy town

Understanding the success of Townscaper, the non-game breaking into the mainstream

HEAD TRIP

Double Fine takes our brains to another dimension in the psychedelic Psychonauts 2

OOBLETS

Glumberland serves up a whole new flavour of life simulator

LA Noire

Re-opening the investigation into Rockstar’s extravagant, cinematic ode to noir fiction

FUTURLAB

The Velocity maker on unlikely tie-ins, the games that got away and living up to its brilliant breakthrough

Flock together

Arthouse game festival A Maze Berlin returns with a revolutionary digital event that celebrates connection

CROSSFIRE X

Asian multiplayer phenomenon gets a Remedy for western success

Ghost Of Tsushima

For the second time in as many months, we wonder how our Share button is still with us. Tsushima is a virtual photographer’s dream; in fact, the island feels as if it’s been built with its own photo mode in mind. This is quite simply one of the most picturesque game worlds we’ve ever seen. It’s beautiful even before the wind whistles across its pampas grass and through its shrine gates, but when the breeze whips up a storm of maple leaves, sakura petals and more, it’s wondrous to behold.

HYPER SCAPE

Late to the party, Ubisoft’s first battle royale shooter fights for attention

DUST BORN

Speak truth to power on a road trip across a divided America

Half-Life: Decay

A forgotten expansion to Valve’s masterpiece was two decades ahead of its time

METROPOLIS NOW

Inside Cyberpunk 2077, and the most elaborately detailed future city we’ve ever seen in a videogame

STUDIO PROFILE - COFFEE STAIN STUDIOS

After student success and a viral hit, this developer-turned publisher is building for the future

Disintegration

Our love affair with Halo began two decades ago, and it’s been one since the flame dwindled. Playing Disintegration, though, feels like a fresh breakup at that point when everything reminds you of your ex.

DIRT 5

The latest entry in the off-road racing series kicks up a storm

Desperados III

The series might have spent nearly 15 years dormant, but the timescales Desperados III itself operates on are much, much smaller. Think more like a single second.