46 ...... Sunday, February 24, 2019 1SM 1SM Sunday, February 24, 2019 ...... 47

MORTAL Kombat 11 fighters are have now revealed that Jade is join- TEKKEN fans better brace the game next Thursday. Negan llike buses as you wait for ever ing the ranks of the new game. lthemselves as it’s been joins the game with a more TV show and three get announced in a row. Mortal Kombat 11 smashes its way announced that series favourite look than the comics as he is based After the news last week of Nether- out on April 23 on Xbox One, PS4, Julia and the highly anticipated on the Jeffrey Dean Morgan version GAMES & MUSIC realm adding Kabal and D’Vorah they and PC. Walking Dead’s Negan will be hitting from the smash AMC show. . Battle Creating an royale apocalypse Hey good nuking HARD is awesome Times Clothing has just unveiled EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW NEW is a big their latest design called Void, which is inspired by EXCLUSIVE the Apex Legend character IMMITATION is the sincerest form of flattery…or so MUSIC INTERVIEW Wraith. Void is available they say. By Jim Gellatly to pre-order now at The team behind Far Cry certainly got the point when rival post-apocalytic first person shooter Rage MICROSOFT maestro hardtimesclothing.co.uk. thing Costs £22. 2 issued a very similar marketing poster, below left, ARCADES Joseph Staten has been ahead of the game’s launch. WHO: Matt Thomson, Max Graham. one of the linchpins behind IT’S no secret Battle Royale games Spot a cool gun, tag it. You get the Ubisoft Montreal narrative director James the Halo series — but has Apex Legends Nadiger, below, insisted they got the joke, but all the WHERE: London. are a BIG hit. picture. It’s pretty slick. FOR FANS OF: Zedd, Dua Lipa, insisted he WON’T be From Call of Duty’s Blackout to Xbox, PS4 and PC FREE Another big difference over games had to find their own identity. He said: “That heading back. Anne-Marie. the reigning champion Fortnite, of the game shine through — it’s other Battle Royale titles is that if a Rage 2 poster gave us all a good chuckle. The cool He said: “The team at 343 thing about the apocalypse genre is that everyone JIM SAYS: The Anglo-Scottish gamers of all ages love the format. all about teamwork. teammate falls you can grab a chip production duo have emerged from Industries is doing terrific But it’s time for a new challenger from their body and run to a res- gets to put their own signature spin on it. work and, these days, I’m Running off alone will only see the shadows to create their own for the throne as EA and Respawn you greeted with a respawn screen pawn point dotted around the “For Far Cry, that’s a lawless, but happy just being a fan of colourful open world, filled with stunning electronic pop. Entertainment have just released sooner rather than later. good-sized map (made up of dif- For the past three years Matt the franchise. It’s been Apex Legends. ferent style areas) and bring them dangerous predators, strange terrific to play the To help with the teamwork side Thomson and Max Graham have This FREE TO PLAY shooter the game has an outstanding con- back to life. people, and random remastered versions of the dangers as you take up the fight produced and remixed tracks for sees you pick one of eight differ- ductive ping system which lets you Graphically the game looks and other artists under different names. original Halo games and I’m ent heroes, each with their own feels like Titanfall (no bad thing) against Mickey and Lou.” looking forward to seeing tag anything in the world for your Their impressive list of credits skills and abilities. team to see. Spot ammo, tag it. and the sound is solid throughout The crew always planned for the where they take it with Halo: Bloodhound has the power to with a good level of voice acting. game to be a standalone sequel in includes Julia Michaels, Ellie Infinite.” spot enemies through walls while So far Apex Legend has made a the series, with the abiity to attract Goulding and Years & Years. But Halo and Joseph’s latest Bangalore can call in powerful air- huge impact. It has knocked Fort- newcomers to the fun. James Ayrshire lad Matt and Londoner Max project, Crackdown, will strikes. Impressive. nite off top spot as the most- added: Far Cry New Dawn was formed Arcades in 2017 as a way of always be linked after the But this isn’t a lone wolf affair. viewed game on Twitch as well as always designed to be a “standalone sequel” to Far releasing their original material. first game was made the You are teamed up with two other boasting over 25million players so Cry 5, with a new player character, a new story, and Matt, from Prestwick, moved to exclusive gateway to players as you fight it out with far. It’s early days but this looks like new villains in Mickey and Lou. London with Parka, the indie rock playing the Halo 3 beta in ANOTHER 20 three-man teams to the next big thing. “We wanted everyone to be able to jump in and outfit he fronted in the 2000s. He 2007. But Joseph told be crowned top squad. And it’s HHHHú enjoy this game, even if you’ve never played FC5 or recalled: “It was high-energy indie STUART CULLEN he has this hook that sees the real focus STUART CULLEN any other game in the series.” punk, which was great fun to play kicked back the idea that Part of the development was creating new live and took us all round the world. Halo actually set up the challenges. James explained: “We’re excited to Far Cry: New Dawn have taken an outpost you can give it up to get “It was classic three-chord punk Crackdown success story. introduce several new gameplay features — light THE post-apocalypse is all the some resources but with each return the ene- written in five minutes, whereas now He said: “Certainly, the beta RPG mechanics in our weapons and enemies, rage just now in gaming. Xbox, PS4 and PC £37.99 mies get stronger and then you need better I get so into the intricate production for Halo 3 helped draw a players can craft stronger weapons and we also have twins and things go sideways. From there it all guns. You soon hit a wall that needs you to that I could easily spend a month Not wanting to miss out, Ubisoft has complete more side missions to get the gear working on a single song!” larger audience to outpost escalation and expeditions, which are given their Far Cry series an end-of-the kicks off as you fight to liberate the county Crackdown but the original replayable challenges where players can get the best and stop the twins in that signature Far Cry needed to clear out the Level 3 elite baddies. Max also had a band background game abso- crafting materials and rewards.” world makeover with New Dawn. way. The perk system also returns — you’ll unlock before turning to production. lutely stood He added: “When we decided that one of the end- But with it being less than a year since the As tales go it’s OK but not one of the best in new skills and abilities to help you get the He said: “I spent years in studios, on its own last full-fat Far Cry game and the number of the series. The twins are good enemies but upper hand in most fights — and there is a just engineering sessions for artists. DISNEY GET BETTER ings of Far Cry 5 — fun DLCs that came with it the question is: Is as a terrific lack the ultimate bad guy vibe you got from new tier of unlocks that makes you almost a I got my first music job in New York which was centred it too soon for another standalone title in the superhero. But this is linked to story and we’ll action- around a doomsday cult past bosses. Think more Pagan Min and less and learned so much living there.” Kingdom Hearts III much-loved series? Vaas and you get the gist. leave it at that. Matt added: “We’ve both worked platformer — would actually be an Spoiler warning: New Dawn takes part some The other big addition is the expedi- with a Xbox and PS4 £49.99 end-of-the-world sce- On the gameplay front, there is a defi- on a lot of different genres but kept 17 years after the events of Far Cry 5 which nite Far Cry 5 feel (no bad thing) and its tions out of Hope County, which are fun. key elements and techniques to unique, THERE is nothing worse than having to wait for some- nario, we got very saw nukes being dropped on the US. They also give you a peek at how the over-the- excited. It opened the ultimately just a reskin of last year’s form our own sound and style.” thing — and if you are a Kingdom Hearts fan it’s been an The first thing that hits you is it’s such a release but the team at Ubisoft has added nukes affected the rest of the US as well. top, sand- arduous 17-year journey to get to the final instalment. door to take the series Ex-Parka frontman Matt has yet to short time since the bombs drop to be return- a few new mechanics to freshen things Graphically the game looks like Far Cry take the limelight with Arcades. The box But sometimes the wait is worth it. Kingdom Hearts III into the post-apoca- ing to the world as most titles like this are set up. You still do all the staple actions 5 but with the colour palette turned up to experience. I fell in love is an epic crossover between JRPG masters, Square lypse, which we’ve wanted to do for some time hundreds of years after cataclysmic events. 12 as the “wasteland” is covered in lush glorious debut single In The Air from main to side missions, as well as featured One Little Indian signing with Crackdown back when Enix, and the house of mouse, Disney. Hardcore fans will now, and also gave us a chance to revisit old friends But it does mean that there are a number of recruiting buddies to fight along with growth and bursts of flowers. I was working on Halo 3 and be eager to get stuck back into the adventure and I’d but in a drastically different set of circumstances.” returning characters this time out from Soundtrack-wise, it’s decent but not Sarah Walk, while the wonderful you, but you will spot the map is a good bit vocals on the current single Fragile it’s been a real pleasure advise newcomers to jump on board too. The team also decided to ring the changes on the Far Cry 5 who have aged and lived smaller than the main one in Far Cry 5. really a standout. The voice acting is good with helping to bring the newest The game sees you filling the boots of series hero gameplay and maps. Hope County no longer has a through the nuking. In an interesting move the game now characters showing real emotions at times. come from rising star Sofia. game to life.” Sora who is out to save, well, everyone and is aided by large population and the devastation is obvious. You fill the boots of a voiceless hero has an RPG damage system so each If you are a diehard fan, odds are you’ll be They’ve also been working with Joseph, above, also likes classic Disney characters Donald Duck and Goofy. known only as Captain. He is the weapon can do X damage and some playing it just now. If you enjoyed Far Cry 5 Scots X Factor couple Ryan Lawrie James said: “Mother Nature has reclaimed the space and Emily Middlemas. the comic series link. He We suggest heading to YouTube to watch a few com- aggressively. In addition, people are forced to build right-hand man of Thomas Rush, who enemies will just soak up your fire and this continues the journey, though you will feel added: “The comic book plete recap videos (which often run well over the half- is a bit of a hero in the world as he laugh. It’s a strange feeling as it sees like you have seen a lot of what’s on show Matt revealed: “We’ve probably story takes place right makeshift shelters using anything they can, which collaborated with more than 100 hour) as there is a LOT of story here. It’s easy to get lost further transforms the scenery.” helps the needy and rebuilds towns. you having to find resources to upgrade already. But that doesn’t affect the Far Cry fun before the events of and really not understand what’s going on. But all is not well in Hope County to get to the high-tier weapons that do factor, which is here in spades. artists but Ryan and Emily were two Crackdown 3, during a He added: “It’s a lot of fun to see how the locations as a gang of outlaws called the High- If anything it would have been nice for Ubi- of our favourites to work with. But that said, heading to each Disney- have changed. So much so that we actually included the real damage. This system does devastating Blackout attack themed world is a joy — Toy Story, Mon- waymen rule the land led by twins mean that at times you’ll face soft to mix up Hope County a bit more than “We’ve written loads with them in San Reno. a side mission where you hold up photographs of Mickey and Lou. enemies you can’t really kill. what we got. Maybe throw in a mutant or two. and they both feature on what will “We’re always looking for sters Inc, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tangled what places used to look like before the Collapse.” and Hercules to name but a few — and While traveling to Hope County to This impacts on the new HHHH hopefully be future singles of ours.” ways to tie extended STUART CULLEN help, Rush’s train is attacked by the outpost system. Once you STUART CULLEN Arcades’ support team includes universe stories together, each really does have that trademark House of Mouse charm as you meet iconic manager James F Reynolds, himself so San Reno is actually the an acclaimed producer. And it was setting of one of the characters and help them with their own individual tales (which are way easier to his work with Glasgow band Prides Wrecking Zone multiplayer that led to Arcades netting a record maps—and you can see the understand than the main one). Combat is bags of fun, if a little easy, as you wield your deal with Nick Gatfield. Blackout attack taking A musician with Dexys Midnight place as you play the game. key blade and cast a host of different spells. There are also tonnes of mini games and activities in each world to Runners in the early 80s, Nick was This kind of connectivity boss of Sony Music UK before he makes the world feel keep you busy when not pushing the tale forward. deeper and more cohesive.” Graphically the game is amazing — it’s as simple as founded Twin Music Inc in 2015. But he insisted the links that. Soundtrack and voice are also outstanding Matt told me: “James was mixing with actor Terry Crews throughout too. an album for Prides, who are also on won’t lead to silver-screen Kingdom Hearts III is the end of a tale fans have been Twin. He introduced us to Nick and action. He said: “We’re waiting for. For newcomers — stick with it and this is a we started off by doing production excited to release the four- joyful game. And if you’re a Disney fan you’ll have a blast and remixes for some of his acts. issue comic, but we aren’t catching up with old friends. But he was keen to hear our original sharing any other franchise HHHHú stuff. We played some demos and plans at this time.” STUART CULLEN he told us he’d sign us on the spot!” Having previously overseen the signings of Radiohead, Blur and Amy Winehouse, Nick reckons he’s NINTENDO have joined the twist. You can see how all the other A COPY of Super Mario Bros on 1985 NES classic comes from the on to another winner. He said: “So BAD news hit the industry last members of Activision staff being lBattle Royale ranks with a very 98 players are doing at the same EA and BioWare’s a trailer for something much lthe NES has just sold for an earliest US batch which was made much pop today is formulaic. But lweek as Activision Blizzard affected by job losses. CAPCOM unusual partnership. time as you play PLUS they’re all BURNOUT lAnthem has landed this bigger — the 3min 45sec clip eye-watering $100,150 — around to test the market in New York and Arcades bring a distinct style — not announced that the rumoured cuts This news comes despite have just released The firm has just released Tetris able to throw challenges at your fans are in for a week and to celebrate the is a look into a world the about £78k. Los Angeles before the console’s to mention a killer instinct for a hit.” to staff have been confirmed. the firm’s CEO Bobby Kotick two retro costumes 99 — which is a new version of the board by sending junk to stop you treat as Three Fields firms teamed up with Holly- movie guru could bring to life The pristine sealed copy wider release. MORE: www.facebook.com/ As part of its recently announc- for the Resident Evil 2 classic falling block puz- as the block-dropping competition Studios have wood director Neill Blom- if given the go ahead. Blom- was sold at auction for a What also makes that run arcadesuk quarterly earnings ing that the com- remake. You can grab a zler for Switch. heats up. announced that the kamp — the man kamp is no 1 Far Cry New Dawn record-breaking price, making unique is a circular black foil l JIM presents a weekly showcase call to investors, the pany’s financial ’98 get-up for both Leon game’s spiritual suc- behind District 9 stranger to gam- 2 Metro Exodus of New Music on Amazing Radio, The game sees 99 Tetris 99 is available and Elysium — to ing-based movies it the largest sum of money Nintendo sticker sealing the firm said it will be results for 2018 and Claire to wear in players battling it out to now to download and cessor Dangerous 3 Red Dead ever paid for a single video game box. Sundays, 2-4pm. laying off approxi- “were the best in game for FREE if you Driving is set to make a live action having been Redemption 2 www.amazingradio.com be crowned the winner play FREE for members short film called linked to the failed game graded for its unique We’d say you best dig out mately eight per cent of its work- our history, we didn’t realise our full fancy a hit of in a mostly traditional of the Nintendo Online come out on 4 Jump Force conditions. those old NES games. You www.jimgellatly.com force. That translates as about 770 potential”. nostalgia. April 9. Conviction. Halo project in the 5 FIFA 19 take on the classic for- subscription. It is more like past. But why was it so special? never know. You could be mula — but with a neat Get on it! Well this edition of Nintendo’s quids in! Watch a video of the band at: thescottishsun.co.uk