Pre-E3 06: .hack//G.U.
PS2: Online, offline - the fake virtual world is back with more conspiracies and action than ever
A computer virus infects a massively multiplayer online game - and people start collapsing in the real world. When your online game is so addictive that gamers can't stop playing - and you start paying the price in comatose players - it's conspiracy time. The real-world cover-up begins to blend together with the mystery inside the game. Soon, players are banding together to get to the bottom of it all, and discovering that a psychotic programmer may be to blame. That's the story of the original .hack, released over four volumes a few years ago. And it looks like the sequel is primed to cover similar ground.
In a PlayStation 2 game that simulates the world of an online RPG of the near future, nothing is exactly as it seems. The original got a little predictable, though - gameplay-wise, that is. As the story became addictive, the gameplay slid into neutral. This time, though, the developers are working to ensure that doesn't happen again. Best news: .hack//G.U. is broken into three volumes, not four, which should keep things from getting stretched too thin. Now that we've finally got a chance to get our hands on it, it's obvious that the developers are looking for ways to deepen the illusion - that you're playing an online game and that the fates of real people are at stake. That's the very thing which sets .hack apart.
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

Assassin's Creed Shadows was originally envisioned without Yasuke, but Ubisoft wanted the full feudal fantasy: "We were sort of making a stealth tank, and it didn't quite work"

Assassin's Creed Shadows lead says dual protagonists are "a cool thing" the new action RPG "does better than what we've done in the past"