FICTIORAMA STUDIOS

How a team with true family values got a taste for dark futures, voyeurism and conspiracy theories

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec

The definitive document of early-'00s car culture

ΤΗΕ LΟΝG GAME

A progress report on the games we just can't quit

VIKINGS ON TRAMPOLINES

A good Viking always bounces back

THE SIEGE AND THE SANDFOX

A stealth adventure seeking inspiration from genre royalty

ENDLESS DUNGEON

VWVhere defence can be the best form of attack

PLANET OF LANA

Beautiful landscapes. Shame about the killer robots

SOLIUM INFERNUM

A forgotten classic gets one Hell of a revival

RESIDENT EVIL 4

Can Capcom’s revival find the sweet spot between nostalgia and novelty?

Sunday Gold

Timing is everything during a heist, but seldom as obviously as in Sunday Gold – a point-and-click crime caper that is technically a single 15–20-hour turn-based RPG encounter, played out in mansions, warehouses and laboratories across a near-future London.

The Case Of The Golden Idol

Any detective story worth its salt needs a good villain, and this clever, complex and exuberantly macabre tale from Latvian brothers Andrejs and Ernests delivers a veritable rogues’ gallery.

Return To Monkey Island

There is a COVID joke in Return To Monkey Island. This shouldn’t be surprising, given that the series has always given its pirates distinctly modern concerns – retirement, health inspections, adequately expressing the power of Loom’s 3D engine.

Metal: Hellsinger

The rhythm shooter was, perhaps, inevitable. After all, a sense of timing and the ability to predict what’s coming next serve you equally well whether you’re lining up a head in your crosshairs or strutting your stuff on a Dance Dance Revolution machine.

Steelrising

Developing a Soulslike poses a very particular challenge. FromSoftware’s output is the yardstick by which all others are measured, and the studio has a habit of putting greater distance between it and its peers.

Roadwarden

This engrossing fantasy RPG may be predominantly text-based, but one of its finest tricks is entirely visual. A large window dominates the centre of the screen, containing flavourful descriptions of the place you’re visiting or the people you’re conversing with, above the available actions or answers.

Splatoon 3

We open on a clear, blue sky – as vivid a hue as any with which you’ll ink your environment and opponents in Splatoon 3. In the wastes below, an Inkling shelters from the baking sun, shawled in a threadbare cloak, sporting mirrored shades and what appears to be some kind of breathing apparatus.

STUDIO PROFILE MILESTONE INTERACTIVE

How Italy’s long-running studio moved from arcade racer to sim specialist and back again

ΤΗΕ MAKING ΟF DEATHLOOP

How the time-loop shooter won over Bethesda, players – and its own developers

AN AUDIENCE WITH…LARS WINGEFORS

Embracer’s CEO explains the story behind the company’s explosive expansion

ΤΗΕ PRESERVATIONISTS

Digging through the archives with the people striving to safeguard videogame history

BLOOD MOON

Striking Distance goes beyond Dead Space with the highly evolved survival horror of The Callisto Protocol

DRAGON QUEST TREASURES

Will this spinoff prove to be a hidden gem?

MARS FIRST LOGISTICS

From Deliver Us Mars to Deliver On Mars

DELIVER US MARS

A pair of pickaxes raises the stakes in this expanded sequel

THE DARK PICTURES ANTHOLOGY: THE DEVIL IN ME

Supermassive turns to a notorious serial killer for its season finale

HUBRIS

A VR space adventure that's reaching for the stars

ΡΕΝΤΙΜΕΝΤ

Obsidian's medieval mystery is a trove of novel influences

SYSTEM SHOCK

Rebooting the '90s immersive sim with some hi-tech augmentations

Tokyo rising

Japan’s long-running expo returns with a renewed, outward-facing urgency

THE DIOFIELD CHRONICLE

Dioramas meet dire circumstances in this real-time strategy RPG