CAT POWER

Eyes wide, ears perked and tail swaying gently, a small cat pads through the drizzly cobblestone streets of Midtown. And as his paws splash softly through scattered puddles reflecting the neon signs on the buildings that loom over him on both sides, we’re reminded that BlueTwelve’s co-founders know plenty about crafting beguiling worlds.

Vivien Mermet-Guyenet – a level artist on ZombiU – and former Ubisoft Montréal environment and lighting artist Colas Koola are obviously accustomed to creating the kind of virtual spaces that are designed to be lingered in and gawped at. There are details to draw the eye at every turn, and an atmosphere so thick you can almost smell it. That adds up to a place that feels startlingly real, even as the city’s other inhabitants make clear we’re in the realms of speculative fiction. Sure, there are plenty of familiar elements here, the kind of sights and sounds we’ve seen and heard in other urban dystopias. But even these are rejuvenated, this inquisitive lead transforming this space into somewhere that feels thrillingly new. Dangerous, too. You know what they say about curiosity, after all.

no imminent threat, but this world thrums with menace from the off. That’s partly because our demo starts in a dark, litter-strewn alley, with thin sodium lamps outside shuttered shops the only sources of light. But it’s also because you’re instantly made to feel vulnerable. We’re a short way into the game, and our four-legged hero has fallen into this place, separated from family and friends as he seeks an escape route. Limping gingerly, unable to put any real weight on his left hind leg, he mewls in a way that instantly arouses our pity. He trots awkwardly on, past strewn bin bags and an old bike that looks like it’s been lying there for some time, a chain-link