Xbox - The Official Magazine - UK (2019-08)

ABOVEIn

Bloodlines 2 you

playas a newly

siredvampire

out on the town.

webofsupernaturalintrigue.Withpower

playersschemingeverywhere,it’supto

youwhoyouaidandwhoyouhinder.

Onemissioninvolveshuntingthrough

the‘Jungle’,a shantytownerectedunder

thefreeway,fora roguevampirewho

harboursvaluableinfo.Cornerhimand

you’regivenyetmorechoices– doyou

intimidatehimintocomingwithyou,

negotiateforhisintel,orevenaccede

tohispleasformercyandsethim

free?Wedon’trememberCount

Duckulahavingtomakethismany

toughdecisions.Q

urnsoutbeinga vampire

iscomplicated. You’d

thinkit’dbeaseasy

aswanderingaround

suckingblood,butthere

arerulestothiscreature

ofthenightmalarkey.Bitea blokein the

wrongpartoftownandyoumightmake

anenemyofoneofSeattle’sbloodsucker

factions.Breakthe‘Masquerade’by

revealingtoa humanthatyou’rea vampire,

andyou’reoneveryone’shitlist.

Makinga nameforyourselfinthis

sprawlingRPGmeansnavigatingthecity’s

Thedevelopershaven’tbeencoyin

admitting their goal is to combine top-

down roguelite shooters with the farming

and relationship building of Stardew

Valley. The result is a game where, in the

aftermath of the nuclear apocalypse, you

must protect your bizarre radioactive crops

from hordes of mutants coming to steal

them. You can marry NPCs (your spouse

serves as back-up in combat) and recruit

pigs, chickens and cows to help you out

on the farm. Wonderfully weird.

Combiningthemorbidandtheadorable,

this “cozy management game about dying”

is instantly charming. As the enthusiastic

Stella, you serve as ferrymaster to the

deceased, looking after the spirits in your

care before it’s their time to move on.

Along the way you’ll engage in survival

game-esque resource gathering and

crafting – everything from fishing, to

cooking, to mining. Your cat Daffodil keeps

you company, and a friend can even take

control of the feline for some co-op.

Justbecauseit’sthepost-apocalypse,

doesn’t mean you have to hang out in the

desert. InXile’s latest entry in the isometric

RPG series (the original game inspired the

first Fallout, don’t-ya-know) takes place

instead in a wintery wasteland, the snow-

covered ruins of what was once Colorado.

The cold doesn’t seem to be slowing down

the locals much, though – with your party

of survivors, you’ll need to take on brutal

raiders, mutant animals and even giant

robotic insects.

IT’S LOVE AT FIRST BITE WITH THIS BLOOD-SUCKING SEQUEL

Q PUBLISHER PARADOX INTERACTIVE / DEVELOPER HARDSUIT LABS / ETA MARCH 2020

Q PUBLISHER RAW FURY / DEVELOPERDANNY

WYNNE, TOBY DIXON, JOONAS TURNER / ETA 2019

Q PUBLISHER XBOX GAME STUDIOS/

DEVELOPER THUNDER LOTUS / ETA 2020

Q PUBLISHER XBOX GAME STUDIOS/DEVELOPER

INXILE / ETA SPRING 2020

RS

046 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE

E3 2019

VAMPIRE:

THE MASQUERADE

• BLOODLINES 2

ATOMICROPS SPIRITFARER WASTELAND 3