2019-05-01+Official+PlayStation+Magazine+-+UK+Edition

036

PREVIEW

“128 FAMOUS

PLAYERS FEATURE

IN THIS OFFICIALLY

LICENSED GAME.”

SNOOKER 19

Have you got the red balls to take on thebest?

For snooker fans, watching the sport is

just as thrilling as playing it themselves.

Some top-tier matches can take place

over a couple of days. And we get to

share a lovely slice of this feeling with Snooker

19’s game director Justin Forrest. Leaving our

player open to attack against Ronnie O’Sullivan

(one of the greatest players in history), we predict

what shots the AI is going to take, how he’s

going to balance safety shots, and then how he’ll

dominate for position when he gets on a roll –

just based on how we’d expect him to in real life.

The AI of the famous players (128 feature in this

officially licensed game) is determined by some

of their real-life stats, and their skill level never

changes, no matter which mode you play on. There

are difficulty modes to choose from, but they’re all

geared towards making your life easier – namely

how much information you receive on your shot

trajectory for the cue ball and object balls. The

harder the shot, the less far your line will guide

you, and the further it’ll fan out for tricky shots.

Tougher modes remove most of this information,

leaving just you and the balls.

MAKE OR BREAK

Setting up shots can be done from a couple of

viewpoints, and controlling your pacing as well

as your cue position couldn’t be simpler. A lot

of what’s to be admired about Snooker 19 is the

dedication towards simulation without getting in the

way of the fun of the sport. This all comes to a head

when you actually take a shot: pull down the right

analoguesticktobuildupyourpace

metertothehardnessyouspecified,

thenflickit forwardatjusttheright

moment.Tappingyourcueintothe

whiteandknockingsomeballsinto

pocketsis genuinelyexhilarating.

Thegameencompassesa variety

ofdifferentgamemodes,including

SixRedsandShootoutrulesetsin

additiontostandardsnooker,a career

mode,anda rangeofonlinemodes

fromQuickplaytoTournaments

(whichtakeplaceatthesametime

asthereal-lifetourneys,endingwith

theWorldChampionship).There’s

a wholeheapoftrophiestoearn

tokeepsnookerfansbusy,andthe

careermodeis prettyin-depth.But

themostimportantthingis thatthe

coresnookergameplayhereis on

point.It’sterrificfun–a mixbetween

challengingandzen-likeasyoujust

hitthoseballs.

FORMAT PS4 / ETA SPRING 2019 / PUB RIPSTONE GAMES /DEVLAB42

CRASH TEAM

RACING

What happens when

roadkill comes back to life

and steals your car? Your

mission is to hunt down

this manic orange creature

before it wreaks havoc as it

seeks to destroy the people

who squashed it.

FORMAT PS4 ETA 21 JUN

WARHAMMER:

CHAOSBANE

A rhythm game where you

have to juggle headbanging

at a metal concert with

waving your glowing axes in

the air. Hair customisation

is graded on a sliding scale

for extra points.

FORMAT PS4 ETA 4 JUN

MONSTER JAM:

STEEL TITANS

Bizarre platformer in which

your character is a chunky

truck, and instead of gaining

new abilities, custom

features are added, from

bouncy tyres to a propeller

for hovering.

FORMAT PS4 ETA 25 JUN

on

the

box

judged only by

their covers

Above A top-down view like this can be hard

to get in real life without a stepladder.

You don’t need to

line your coins up on

the table to reserve

it for a match here.