X-ray vision

Peeking beneath the surface with PlayStation’s all-seeing heroes

RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER

Lara uses her Survival Instincts to get out all of sorts of Siberian scrapes. In need of a life-saving snack? Click the stick to illuminate a herd of deer. Want to clear out an enemy camp without raising an alarm? Crofty’s X-ray sense can help you plan a stealthy ambush. Lara’s eyes are exquisite.

HITMAN: ABSOLUTION

The smouldering slaphead can use Instinct to spot enemies through walls, and also employ the ability to throw guards off his sociopathic scent. Instinct is equally useful for identifying homicidal opportunities, like a disco ball that’s just begging to fall on a sleazy nightclub owner.

HORIZON: ZERO DAWN

Aloy can thank her Focus for her robot-peeping powers of perception. The little sci-fi doodad is an AR device that allows the tribal warrior to spot her mechanical dino foes through solid objects. The snazzy accessory can even track predicted patrol routes, which saves Aloy’s hide when she’s clearing out enemy encampments.

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT

The Dark Knight’s Detective Vision gets a workout in Rocksteady’s trilogy capper. During the Perfect Crime side-quest, the Bat scans a series of mutilated corpses, and his X-ray sight is so effective, it can swap between examining flesh wounds and zeroing in on bone damage. This eventually leads Bruce to Prof Pyg.

THE LAST OF US

Technically, Joel uses a kind of echolocation in Naughty Dog’s dystopian classic. Is classing the gunrunner’s Listen mode as X-ray vision a bit cheaty on our part? Kinda. But c’mon, the dude can still see Clickers through walls, so give us a break. Be it Infected-spotting ears or eyes, Joel’s power is handy.

GHOST RECON: FUTURE SOLDIER

Tom Clancy’s super-soldiers are so advanced, their X-ray visors are among their more vanilla pieces of kit. After all, this is a game where you can command a huge robot pooch, rock Predator-aping camo, and pull off obscenely badass sync shots. Still, seeing through walls is ace when breaching terrorist strongholds.

SNIPER ELITE 4

Shooting virtual Nazis is just grand, but you know what makes sniping Hitler’s goose-stepping henchmen even sweeter? Seeing your bullet smash their cartilage into bigoted shards courtesy of Sniper Elite 4’s delicious X-ray kills. Watching as Nazis’ organs go splat in slow motion is such a simple, life-affirming pleasure.

DISHONORED

Arkane’s assassin/pro Skeletor cosplayer has many tricks up his murdery sleeve, but Dark Vision is probably Corvo’s most useful power. Not only can Attano’s take on X-ray vision spot enemies through walls, once fully upgraded it even shows your foes’ sightlines. It’s the ultimate eagle-eyed party trick for sneaky wetwork.

MORTAL KOMBAT

Egads! Spines just aren’t meant to bend that way. Not only does 2011’s gory beat-’em-up reboot have zero respect for chiropractic work, it revels in showing shattering bones and rupturing spleens with its headline X-ray moves. If you’ve ever fantasised about seeing Ermac’s ribcage erupt out of his back, boy is this the game for you.