Butterfly effect

“Games can be like a rollercoaster,” Harvey Smith tells us, as we enjoy an illuminating chat with Arkane Austin’s studio director after spending time with open-world co-op shooter Redfall. “You get on the ride, and at the right moment, they blow a puff of cold air in your face and something pops up, at the right moment there’s a drop, and then it builds up.” Alternatively, he adds, they can be “like that one summer you were staying with your cousin and there’s an abandoned house down the street. And the two of you snuck into it one day, and you crept around, terrified, and you found stuff that doesn’t make any sense. Like, who lived here? And then you thought you heard something. And it was the most exhilarating experience ever – your stomach had butterflies – but nothing happened.”

Naturally, he’s hoping to have his cake and eat it with Redfall, suggesting that it falls into both categories. And let’s consider where the rest of this issue’s Hype selection slots in. Take Europa, for example. This Ghibli-inspired adventure might seem too serene to fit in the rollercoaster category, though there are moments while flying that are pure exhilaration – wind tunnels that launch you forward are redolent of the moments in a Sonic game where pure momentum takes over and you relinquish control. The noir-tinged investigation of Shadows Of Doubt, meanwhile, leaves it feeling like a creepy old house through and through. Rhythm Storm, on the other hand, is pure sensation: an exhilarating 2D shoot-’em-up set to a pulsing beat that never feels as quick as your heart rate.

While technically you can play stealthily in the FPS gameshow of The Finals, its appetite for environmental destruction makes it much more of a rollercoaster. But the biggest surprise is that Final Fantasy XVI belongs in the same bracket, with combat director Ryota Suzuki’s time on the Devil May Cry series informing battles that aim to leave us as breathless as any hair-raising ride.