Cold War is a brilliant – if short – campaign, and it boldly ushers Call of Duty into the new age of consoles with typically gorgeous presentation and a fun, twisty tale that joyfully exploits the entrenched paranoia of its novel setting.
Watch Dogs: Legion is a technically ambitious game which manages to capture the essence of its real-world location, including some of its real-life socio-political battles. Its 'play as anyone' feature isn't quite the game-changer it might appear, but if you've always yearned to recruit a gang of senior citizens to usurp a corrupt political administration from within then Legion can make your dreams come true.
The graphics, particularly lighting and shadow effects, have come a long way and really show up last year's Black Ops 4. Crucially, every weapon is exhilarating to fire, bolstered by fantastic animation and sound design, and during frenetic firefights that audio has to be heard to be believed. It's a shame that the multiplayer remains underwhelming but the campaign is outstanding.
The standard multiplayer generally retains the series’ three-lane structure, although some new maps (including one set at the aforementioned border and filled with explosive cars) smartly mix things up. With the huge success of Call Of Duty’s battle royale, Warzone, and its enormous player counts and vast maps, it almost seems like a novelty to indulge in short multiplayer battles with regular bursts of spawn/kill/die action. The Special Ops co-op mode also makes a return, although it’s less distinct than previous entries and it hews irritatingly close to Warzone’s expanse. It’s strange to see Call Of Duty so circumspect but overall this is an impressive package.
It’s a shame there isn’t an interactive tutorial. Instead the game asks you to sit through a surfeit of text-heavy videos. But then nothing beats actually playing the game to learn its intersecting systems. It really looks the part: the family members all resemble their on-screen counterparts (including the hitchhiker and the cook) and the locations and discordant soundtrack are highly evocative of the source material. These particular games rely on solid post-launch support so time will tell if it will survive and what will be left of it.
Where God Of War comes into its own is through its extraordinary combat mechanics, with Kratos' Leviathan Axe one of the most satisfying gaming weapons ever. Presented as a single camera shot, the game is technically audacious with awe-inspiring backdrops, gigantic foes and detailed animation which brings real pathos to these characters. Among all the Sturm und Drang, it's ultimately an intimate tale of familial bonding, and a story that will stay with you long after it ends.
RDR2 presents players with a huge, realistic and varied environment to explore, brought to life with the kind of weather, lighting, shadow and particle effects that its forebear could only dream about. And with Read Dead Online (a true MMO experience) due to launch soon, RDR2 should keep gamers busy until the next time Rockstar heads out west.
There's no real need to play the previous two games beforehand as most levels are stand-alone adventures and the overarching storyline isn't that interesting, although if you do already own them then it's possible to integrate them into Hitman 3 from the same game system. It's a tremendously replayable series, with challenges, 'mission stories' and leaderboards all teasing brand new ways to approach each level. IO Interactive recently announced their next project: a brand new James Bond game, a licence (to kill) for which they're clearly a brilliant match. For now, their legacy is a trilogy of perfect stealth action-adventures. It seems inevitable that one day Hitman will return.
It wouldn’t work at all if the player hadn’t put in hours of preparation, although some might find their patience is stretched before the penny drops. Charlotta Mohlin (Agents Of SHIELD) deserves praise for her extraordinary work in these scenes, alternating between malevolent entity and misunderstood victim. Underpinning it all is a breakout performance from Manon Gage. If she wasn’t utterly convincing as the story’s doomed ingénue then the whole narrative would fall apart. Immortality is a remarkable moment in gaming and it’s hard to imagine how Sam Barlow could ever top it.
The game’s AI director rations health and ammo in such a way that players never feel like they have enough resources for the fight ahead. The resultant state of dread rarely lets up over the game’s 15-hour campaign but its meticulous balance mitigates frustration. As well as a serious graphical overhaul, some of the plot has been tightened up and the cheesy dialogue has been rewritten and is performed by new actors. Resident Evil 4 has never looked or sounded so good, and for new and returning players alike, this is now the definitive way to play.