DOOM: The Dark Ages is this month's cover story including interviews with Hugo Martin and Marty Stratton. #408 is out on the 20th February. The subscriber cover uses the game's key art:
KNOWLEDGE
Ignition Switch
- What is Nintendo's strategy for its long-awaited Switch 2?Capital ideas - Discover the new expo launching as London's Game Festival turns ten
A theory of funds - There's no puzzle behind Draknek & Friends' grant for newcomers
Found footage - Enter Moofju's moody word, one pixel-drenched TikTok clip at a time
Soundbytes - Game commentary in snack-sized mouthfuls, featuring Shuhei Yoshida
DISPATCHES
Trigger Happy -
Steven Poole considers ways that videogames weave their spellsThe Outer Limits - Alex Spencer asks: do Squid Game spinoffs fail in the execution?
FEATURES
Heavy Hitter
- The creators of The Dark Ages explain why it will be their biggest - and greatest - Doom to dateGhosts In The Machine - Exploring how Animal Well, Tunic and UFO 50 bury secrets to push games beyond the field of play
Stainless Steel - Warframe was one last roll of the dice for Digital Extremes - and it's been winning ever since
The Making of Arco - There's more to making a reverse Western than flipping tropes, as Arco's cross-continental team reveal
Studio Profile - Going right back to the beginning with Croteam, creator of Serious Sam and The Talos Principle
Time Extend - Wading through the lurid scuzz on an exploration of capitalism's armpit in the twisted Sludge Life
The Long Game - Darkest Dungeon II's Kingdoms mode calls us back into action
REVIEWS
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II [8]
Platforms: PC, PS5 (tested), Xbox Series
Deliverance II demands unwavering fealty from its players, and the punishment for being lax in your duties can be severe. But if you're willing to go along with its more peculiar perks, it offers a rare amount of freedom for a modern roleplaying game. Indeed, its arguably a truer RPG than Bethesda's recent efforts, certainly a closer companion to Oblivion than Starfield. And while it's writing or characterisation aren't up there with those of The Witcher 3 or Baldur's Gate 3, its quest design is every bit as ingenious.
Avowed [6]
Platforms: PC (tested), Xbox Series
Though its story concerns a struggle between order and chaos, Avowed ultimately can't help falling into the latter category. Its writing and quest design are shockingly blunt, leaving us wishing it had explored its more intricate ideas in greater depth and detail. But this chaos appeals to a sense of adventure and its associated risks. Like poking a dream-plagued bear, not everything here is a sensible idea, but at least there's always a chance something interesting will happen.
Sid Meier's Civilization VII [9]
Platforms: PC (tested), PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series
"The past is more than we leave behind" are the first words uttered in the opening cinematic. More than a pompous soundbite, the statement describes how Firaxis has approached the challenge. Keeping the backbone while discarding everything else, the studio has produced a game that fits into the Civilization tradition despite the seismic changes made. True, its not without imperfections: the experience is currently troubled by bugs, the interface is neither as intuitive or informative as it needs to be, and the game balance would benefit from some tweaks. But this installment breaths new life into a series that, for all its triumphs, had started to feel too constrained by its illustrious history.
Sniper Elite: Resistance [5]
Platforms: PC (tested), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series
When Resistance does pull us in, such as in that late night Paris crawl, it does so in ways already provided by Sniper Elite 4 and 5, the entries that remain the series' modest peak. And where those games left flaws and limitations unattended, with the passage of another three years they've only become harder to ignore. In 2025, Resistance is well off-target.
Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders [9]
Platforms: PC (tested), Xbox Series
If you want to know what unites all players, though, its the sheer glory of the wide-open world that is brought into being here. Up close, camera-flash speckles of ice glint in the drifts, and, pulled back, a whole mountain becomes a playground. And everywhere you look, all those different colours and elements are making up a canvas of brilliant light.
Keep Driving [8]
Platforms: PC
True, it's a little busy in places - every moment of introspection for your driver is another interruption for you - such that you may wish you had more time to stop and think. Yet if Keep Driving isn't the Kerouacian roman-a-clef you might hope for, every trip will leave you with something to remember it by.
Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter [6]
Platforms: PC (tested), PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox Series
Tails of Iron 2 is held back by these restrictions, which is all the more disappointing given its potential for richer, more emotional moments. It's hard to see the game beyond its hack-and-slash sensibilities - or the grit beneath Arlo's bristly exterior. Arlo may have the grimace and mane of Geralt, but his game needs more than a series of narrow squeaks.
Rift of the Necrodancer [7]
Platforms: PC
From basic beginnings, Rift thus attains a state of almost needless complexity that may well deter all but the most hardcore of rhythm aficionados. At least no one can accuse Brace Yourself of staying in its lane, even if you sometimes wish its monsters would.
Afterlove EP [8]
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch (tested), Xbox One, Xbox Series
With its celebration of the little things in life, which rarely affords neat resolutions, Afterlove EP is a beautiful tribute not only to Jakarta but to its dearly departed creator.
Urban Myth Dissolution Center [7]
Platforms: PC (tested), PS5, Switch
It's common for Scooby Doo-style stories to end with the discovery that there's just another human under the werewolf mask, but Urban Myth Dissolution Center often opts for a final reveal that's a little more disquieting than that.
You can purchase EDGE at Magazines Direct or Pocket Mags.
