44 ............... Sunday, November 17, 2019 1SM 1SM Sunday, November 17, 2019 ............... 45 EA Access subscribers are in the EA Access service are meant to HIDEO Kojima’s Death Strand- chart in second place behind Call of lfor a bit of a shock as the firm be given 10 hours of early access to ling has finally been released Duty: Modern Warfare. have said that Star Wars Jedi: Fallen all new EA games. but the pre-launch buzz hasn’t really Death Stranding also sits behind Order will not get the service’s stan- The company said the move was to paid off. The PS4 timed exclusive Days Gone as the second biggest GAMES & MUSIC dard free trial offer. Subscribers of “reduce risk of spoilers”. only entered the UK boxed games PS-published game of 2019. WHEN a king grows old and loses his way, it’s fair to say you can expect a few challengers to his throne. And in this instance, the failing monarch is Bethesda’s Fallout Rough but role with it series and the young pretender is Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer SOMETIMES you find a real diamond in GreedFall your skills during the game at any Worlds. the rough that nails most of the main time. Combat-wise things are a little bit The plot thickens even more as points to make it a great game... but Xbox One, PS4 and PC £44.99 stiff, although you can plan your moves Obsidian Entertainment were the just ends up falling short on the level of moral conundrums along the way. And using the tactical pause menu to give team behind what many see as the polish and overall quality you would be for the most part, the quests (yes, even you a bit of time to work things out. best Fallout game in the series — hoping for. the side ones) are well-written and can On the downside there are a few French studio Spider’s latest game glitches and bugs you’ll see along the New Vegas — so it’s safe to see they also be attacked in a number of know what they’re are doing. GreedFall very much falls into this way — such as lipsynching and And The Outer World is a powerful camp with its blend of Dragon Age and ways. You could just simply go in textures not popping plus some challenge. It is very much a Fallout Witcher-style gameplay which makes for blade swinging or you could take typos in the subtitles which show NEW game that fans have been crying out an epic RPG to get lost in. more of a stealth approach, with that aforementioned lack of polish for— just that it has nothing to do You’ll easily sink 60 hours into this more interesting angles of attack that holds the game back a little. MUSIC with that series. beast of a tale that combines a realistic opening up to you if you take your GreedFall does feel at times like By Jim Gellatly You fill the boots of a human ice historical feeling with a very heathy dash time to look around. it’s picking up the sabre from the pole frozen in stasis aboard a for- of fantasy, creating a truly compelling And how you have spent your once-great Bioware games Mass gotten ship along with a few thou- world to explore. upgrade points has an impact on every Effect and Dragon Age. If you have been KITTI sand of your friends. Built around doing quests and playing outcome of the gameplay. hungry for a beefy hit of Western RPG WHERE: Glasgow. That is until a mad scientist pops a number of different factions against It adds a real weight to how you’ll build action it’ll deliver but you’ll need to over- FOR FANS OF: Amy Winehouse, you out to defrost and tasks you with each other, GreedFall really tries to your character, as well as a real value to look a few rough edges. Adele, Alicia Keys. finding the kit he needs to wake up tackle some weighty issues that you upgrading. HHHH JIM SAYS: I had my first glimpse of the rest of the ship’s crew. A NEW KING wouldn’t expect and it will throw up a few But fear not as you can also re-roll STUART CULLEN the rebranded Kitti last month at From there, the epic adventure The Outer Worlds dom perks called flaw offers that Many Studios in Glasgow’s East End begins as you explore space, talking you’ll pick up along the way but for the Tenement Trail all-dayer. to different people, doing quests for Xbox One, PS4 , Switch and PC £44.99 these are based on how you’re I’d previously been enchanted by Old Ones, her first single as Kitty a them and, most interestingly, shap- encounter, as some are true com- playing. If a firefight breaks out, ing each encounter how you want things are handled well and you couple of years ago. pany men while others are more Before that she went under her based on your decisions. free-thinking. have the power to slow time down a This has an impact on how the little — like the V.A.T system real name Katie Doyle. I found loads Gameplay-wise you can of artists called Kitty online, so the game will play out, Depending on recruit companions to join you in Fallout. what you do and what you say you The Outer Worlds is a vast name change makes sense. may get extra quests or you may on your adventures and help title that is very easy to get Sequel is a real Kitti said: “I found a Facebook close off storylines. you out in a pinch. The game lost in and is packed with lore page entitled ‘Kitty’ for a Norwegian The killer with this is none of these has a healthy amount of com- to help build the universe. screamo band, so I thought I’d be key moments are sign-posted so bat which you can attack how- It will scratch that Fallout really careful this time around. ever you wish — from melee to A POWER “We started all over again. I you’ll never really know. itch and more with its depth of The galaxy of Outer Worlds is a firearms or level your stats up and characters and interesting new move forward erased the past ‘Katie’ and ‘Kitty’. very interesting one. talk your way out of trouble. worlds. The king is dead. Long live TO build on the success of the first Surge and be more attentive to what the player That left me with a fresh slate to Huge corporations own every- A healthy upgrade tree lets you the king. game, Johannes Bickle, head of produc- actually does. become my true authentic self that I thing and everyone and this puts a really build your own character to HHHHH tion at Deck13, reckoned fans wanted the “So we upgraded their AI in a way that feel like I’ve finally found.” real spin on the people you’ll your own taste. Plus there are ran- STUART CULLEN sequel to give them more options. they’re now able to work together in With her enthralling blend of gritty He told STUART CULLEN: “We gave groups, dynamically change their behav- soul and jazz, the Tenement Trail the players more choice. It starts with the iour according to the situation, and follow appearance was proof that the character generator where they can the player up and down lifts and zip 23-year-old is finally set to make a choose gender, age, and a lot of other lines.” SURGE breakthrough. features. Then, they’re able to choose But Johannes admits it wasn’t just his She said: “I’ve been so lucky to from a wider range of different weapon team’s ideas that shaped The Surge 2 as have played in bands since the age styles to find out what they like most. the fans and the community really helped of 15 so I’ve had plenty good times, “We also added more features to guide the development. but Many Studios was definitely a ranged combat, and finally, by opening He added: “We tried to listen an awful highlight as Kitti. I was finally able to up the game world, more choice in what lot to player feedback, and from the first play these new songs that I’ve been tasks you want to do first and how you impressions it seems that it was a good working on for around a year and want to tackle them.” to do so. see them enjoyed by an audience.” But choice is just the start of “We removed features that Comparisons with Amy Wine- it as Johannes feels that the people didn’t like, for example house are something Kitti has come game has grown too big for the the ‘weapon proficiency’ where to accept, though she wasn’t really setting of the first and the move you improve your skills with a aware of Winehouse until news of to a city scale title was just too specific weapon by using it a her death in 2011. tempting. lot, which led to people feeling She told me: “It’s almost impossi- He said: “While it was cool to being stuck with that type and ble to avoid being compared to art- start off our story in an aban- switching to a different one ists that have the smallest twinkle of Return of the Obra Dinn Cat Quest II doned factory complex in The later in the game didn’t make resemblance to yourself.