You've read The Last of Us 2 preview impressions and been teased info, but for our cover game for issue 168, out now, we ask some tougher questions of The Last of Us 2's devs, and get an emotional response.
"This is the longest job I’ve ever had in my life,” says the game's co-writer Halley Gross. “Every day I’m working, I get the opportunity to work with designers, and animators, and sound guys and character artists, and we’re all working toward a vision about how do you make the most complex, nuanced character in a videogame? Everybody’s putting their particular smarts toward that, and you get to just watch these incredibly brilliant people and go, “How the fuck does your brain work?”
“Wizards,” she says, shaking her head. “They’re wizards.”
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The Last of Us Part 2
As well as getting up close and personal with Naughty Dog's key people we do, of course, go hands-on with The Last of Us 2 in issue #168. We go into detail on how the game plays, we explore how the new stealth gameplay works, detail the XP and upgrade systems, and discover why killing an enemy will an emotional scar.
PlayStation Now
The PS4 streaming service PlayStation Now has come on leaps and bounds since it launched. The news of a price drop and the inclusion of AAA games such as Uncharted 4 and GTA V are available to stream puts PS Now back on the map. This issue we dip into PS Now's games lineup and devise the 100 best games to play on PS Now. There are some long-forgotten classics in here, some cult hits, and fan favourites. The question is, have your favourites from PS2 to PS4 made the cut?
Halloween top 10
With Halloween around the corner we take a deep breath and shine a light in PS4's 10 scariest moments. Your favourites will be in here and some obvious contenders are uncovered, but have your favourite scares made our killer list.
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We also speak to some of horror gamings key people about what makes the perfect frightener, and they're methods for madness. Philippe Morin, game designer at Outlast studio Red Barrels says in issue 168: "And, yes, we like to push the envelope. When someone on the team says ‘are we really going to do that?’, then we feel we’re on the right track.”
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Death Stranding
Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding is almost here, and in anticipation we take a final walk around its mysterious mountains. If you're still struggling to grapple with just what Death Stranding is, then start here. We layout the flow of the gameplay, we explain the world and its quirks, and take some time to drool over those visuals. All this is in issue 168, out now.
Resident Evil goes multiplayer
Love Resident Evil? Then you'll want to pick up issue 168 as we dive into the series all-new asymmetrical multiplayer adventure. Leading the issue's Big 10, we explore how this spin-off plays – part escape room, part strategy sim, and all Resident Evil, Project Resistance could be the surprise of 2020. Or could it? Perhaps its actually a 2021 PS5 release...
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Imagine FX and Creative Bloq editor Ian Dean is an expert on all things digital arts. Formerly the editor of Official PlayStation Magazine, PLAY Magazine, 3D World, XMB, X360, and PlayStation World, he’s no stranger to gaming, either. He’ll happily debate you for hours over the virtues of Days Gone, then settle the argument on the pitch over a game of PES (pausing frequently while he cooks a roast dinner in the background). Just don’t call it eFootball, or it might bring tears to his eyes for the ISS glory days on PS1.