You don't typically see game expansions on the cover of Edge – or, in this month's case, on three of them – but Destiny isn't a typical videogame. We usually focus our cover stories on forthcoming games that have been cloaked in secrecy, but in this case we headed to Bungie's Seattle HQ armed with a year's worth of knowledge – along with three max-level characters' worth of questions, and several hundred hours' worth of grumbles.
The result is that our biggest cover story of the year is as much about what Destiny is today as what it will, thanks to The Taken King, become in the future, and as much about a studio admitting its past mistakes as showcasing its new wares. Not that there isn't plenty of new stuff to talk about – the overhauled progression system, the vastly improved story, the host of quality-of-life tweaks beneath the surface – but much of that which is new and good to The Taken King is grounded in the flaws of Destiny as we know it right now. Over the course of 22 pages, Bungie opens up about the making of what is, even as an expansion, one of the biggest releases of 2015. Issue 284 of Edge is available now in print, on iPad, Google Play and Zinio.
But before that we head to Cologne for our in-depth Gamescom report, a show in which Microsoft took advantage of Sony's absence to hammer home its reinvention of Xbox One and Windows. We speak to the creators of The Long Dark about their decision to get involved with Microsoft's Game Preview initiative; touch down on the surface of Elite: Dangerous's soon to be accessible airless worlds; and ask Daniel Radcliffe about the process of getting into character to play Sam Houser in Game Changer, the BBC's forthcoming drama about Grand Theft Auto.
We also spend some time in Brighton to gather Neil Young, Dave Ranyard, Todd Harris, Randy Pitchford and Dan Pinchbeck around the dinner table to discuss the state of the industry. In My Favourite Game, meanwhile, musician Shura tells us how videogames have inspired her lyrics. Finally, we unpick the mystery of Her Story's inception in The Making Of…, celebrate Half-Life 2's conversion of a mute scientist into a peerless storyteller in Time Extend, and drop in on Yooka-Laylee creator Playtonic for our latest Studio Profile.
In Hype we tackle Star Fox Zero, Ark: Survival Evolved, Rainbow Six Siege, Scalebound, Dark Souls III, Guild Wars 2: Heart Of Thorns, Heat Signature and more.
In our reviews section you'll find Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Everybody's Gone To The Rapture, Galak-Z: The Dimensional, Until Dawn, Devil's Third, Satellite Reign, Beyond Eyes, Submerged and Rocket League.
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