Gamecca Magazine December 2009

i s s u e 6 / vo l u m e 1 - D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 9

Choices, Choices...

Dragon Age: Origins

The Other Football Game

PES 2010 Reviewed

28

e gam s! w e revi

Assassin’s Creed 2 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Dragon Age: Origins Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 Left 4 Dead 2 Band Hero Rabbids Go Home Champions Online Sims 3 World Adventures Need For Speed: Nitro Wii Fit Plus and many more...

Headshot!

Modern Warfare 2’s a killer

Zombipocalypse Left 4 Dead is back!

Evolution Assassin’s Creed Then and Now

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Inside 6 From the Editor On this month’s cover:

The improvements to the Assassin’s Creed franchise in the sequel are truly awe-inspiring...

See the review on page 42

8 Unstuck Shutting out the noise 10 Geekology Patience is a vitrue 12 Evolution Assassin’s Creed, then and now 16 Previews Eleven 2010 game releases...

34 PS Zealot Where to from here?

36 Xbox Beat Why do we do it?

38 House of Mario It’s all about the colours 40 Reviews Tenty-eight of the latest games reviewed 98 Beginners Guide to Good Gaming Learn more about the wonderful, complex world of video games 102 The Lair 2009 comes to a LANing close 104 From Space Our new columnist discusses weasels

COMPETITIONS: 41 Rabbids Go Home

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issue 6 • december 2009

Previews

18 19 20 22 24 26 27 28 30 31 32

Dante’s Inferno Splinter Cell: Conviction Dead Rising 2 Crack Down 2 Way of the Samurai 3 Napoleon: Total War Darksiders: Wrath of War Star Trek Online Heavy Rain Singularity Astro Boy

Reviews

42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96

Assassin’s Creed 2 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Dragon Age: Origins Band Hero Left 4 Dead 2 Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Xbox 360) Rabbids Go Home Champions Online The Sims 3: World Adventures Wii Fit Plus Torchlight Need for Speed Nitro Tropico 3 Planet 51 CSI: Deadly Intent Spore Hero Wipeout HD Fury Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Katamari Forever Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days World of Zoo Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adveture Continues Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Wii) Bakugan: Battle Brawlers Dragonball Raging Blast issue 6 • december 2009

GAMECCA Volume 1 Issue 5 November 2009 Editor: Walt Pretorius Writers: Walt Pretorius Matthew Vice Jimmy Glue Brian Murdoch Bryan Banfield Dion Scotten Suvesh Arumugam Columnist A Photography: Walt Pretorius Design & Layout: Katia Taliadoros Letters: letters@gamecca.co.za Competition entries: competitions@gamecca.co.za Newsletter subscriptions: www.gamecca.co.za GAMECCA is published by 1337 Media CC GAMECCA is powered by ISSUU

Copyright © 1337 Media CC 2009

4

gamecca • from the editor

Skill sets ‘n’ stuff

by Walt Pretorius

T

his particular issue of Gamecca is very exciting for me. It is our sixth issue (which is something of a personal landmark) and is the largest issue we have done to date – particularly in terms of reviews. Needless to say, the crew are tired… 28 games is a lot of playing!

Additionally, we have stripped the news section out of the magazine and are now delivering news via a blog, which gets updated every week day. You can find the news at www.gamecca.co.za/blog.

This issue also marks the end of the year… it is the last Gamecca issue that will bear the number 2009 in the dateline. It means that we can take a little time to relax (actually, not as much as you might think – the January issue still needs to be done) and get some gaming done – at this time of year we get to play the games we want to, not the ones we have to. Don’t get me wrong, there are many games we want to play that we get hold of while reviewing, but there are others that we wouldn’t normally tackle… oh, whatever. I realise that I am never going to convince anyone that this job isn’t all fun and… well, games.

The one thing that strikes me as rather funny when it comes to the whole idea of being a video game journalist is that everyone assumes you’re an awesome gamer.

People immediately think that you are the best of the best when it comes to playing games. If that was true, I wouldn’t be writing about games, trust me – I would be touring the world as a cyber-athlete, making money from beating others. But the perception is that a game reviewer needs to be really super-hot at gaming… and so they are surprised when I get my butt handed to me during multiplayer and LAN sessions.

In my defence, I am not a terrible gamer. But I am not the best either. And while there are game reviewers out there that are very good at competitive gaming, the plain fact is that being a super-hot gamer is not a requirement to be a game reviewer. Sure, you need to be able to play the games, but competitive gaming doesn’t give you an

edge when it comes to writing a good gaming review or article.

The skills that a game journalist needs are different than what the average person might think. See, it’s all about the writing, and being able to express an opinion in a reasonable and responsible way. Someone who is a totally awesome gamer, but cannot string a sentence together… well, that’s not a good game journalist, now is it? The skill set required demands being able to analyse a game effectively, and to put that analysis into words that carry the message clearly. While effective analysis of a game does demand the ability to play the game, it doesn’t require the writer being the best of the best.

So, in short, if you should happen to run into me on a multiplayer server or at a LAN, don’t be surprised if you beat me.

Anyway, that’s enough of my prattle… on with the show!g

Gamecca’s PC requirements powered by

www.pinnacle.co.za CPU: Intel Core I7 920; MB: MSI X58 Pro E; RAM: 6GB Apacer DDR3 1333mhz; GPU: MSI N260GTX OC Edition; PSU: In Win Commander 80+ 850W ATX2.3 EPS 12V; HDD: Western Digital Black 1TB; Chassis: Sigma Metal Storm Unicorn; Mouse: SteelSeries Ikari Laser Gaming Mouse; Keyboard: Steelseries 7G Gaming Keyboard

gamecca • from space

The Vermin Problem

P

by Jimmy Glue

laying games over PSN, Xbox Live or even LAN Mind you, we have taken out a couple of terrorists by can be one of two things; it can either be the working in tandem, as my friend would bait the little nasties most horrible with the riot shields, while I hide experience of around a corner and shoot them in “I don’t want some your life, or it can be hours European 12-year-old the back. Not very tactical and highly of fulfilling entertainment. sneaky, I know, but it works. All shouting at me while I I would like to go with the while not even worrying about verbal recover from a flash bang” communication. latter, and I think I have figured out why.

On the odd occasion, we will phone A recent discussion around the each other during server searches or Gamecca watercooler [we have a host migrations, and work out some new watercooler?! – ed] lead to some strategies. But that usually happens after players stating that they don’t we have swapped battle stories. play games online because most Fact of the matter is, that even though gamers are too competitive or I have an Xbox headset, I don’t want to abuse you if you aren’t playing up use it. Not because I’m using headphones to their standard. Luckily, I have instead, but because I don’t want some never been the victim of verbal European 12-year-old shouting at me abuse over Xbox Live. Hopefully I while I recover from a flash bang. I think never will be, but I know of some I’m definitely going to play online games people who stopped playing for like that in the future. I’m there for a good that very reason. time and to gain more experience for my Playing online can be one of the character, not to be the victim of online most fun exercises you do, and I’m verbal abuse. fairly confident that I have worked Verbal abuse is actually a major problem out a situation where I can’t expose online, and Microsoft suggests that there myself to that sort of behaviour. are two ways in which you can take action I recently started playing games against the offending player. The easiest, with headphones on, as the but most lenient way is to just mute the sound is a lot clearer than from player from the game session. You won’t the television set. Now, wearing be able to hear them, but no action will be headphones will, for obvious taken against them either. reasons, impair my ability to wear the Xbox Headset.

The second way is to report their actions to Xbox Live.

Not only will I look incredibly stupid, but it will be highly Including verbal abuse and screaming, you can actually impractical. report player for having an improper Gamertag, improper With most Xbox Live games, you can create a party with nickname, exhibiting inappropriate gameplay, excessive a couple of friends, and wherever the leader goes, the cursing/lewdness, displaying obnoxious behaviour, for party follows. Modern Warfare 2 in particular makes use of cheating, spamming and threatening behaviour. It’s as the party system, in which I join or create a party, invite a simple as going to the Player List and selecting Report friend to join, and we blissfully play together.

Player on the offending party.

I don’t need to communicate with him over the headset, I truly hope that nobody will ever be the victim of any as he is marked on my mini-map, and I know where he is kind of abuse, as it is plain wrong, inappropriate and very at all times. Usually we have a silent agreement with one unsportsmanlike. I, for one, have at least taken some steps another, where the one player will follow the other around towards a happy Modern Warfare 2 session, as I don’t for half of the stage, just for safety’s sake, and then we’ll go have to deal with an incomprehensible nagging in my nonour separate ways. existent Xbox headset. g

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issue 6 • december 2009

gamecca • geekology

Give it a chance...

I

by Matthew Vice

make no secret of the fact that I am, on occasion, told that I’m too lenient when it comes to games reviews. I’m just one of those gamers who can appreciate the aspirations behind a game, and a lot has to be wrong with it before I’ll refuse to play it. Golden Axe: Beast Rider, for instance, was a game I really wanted to like, with every fibre of my being as a fan of the old games – but it was such a major disappointment and a huge wasted opportunity that I actually felt sick playing it.

But for some people, it takes a lot less than that to put them off. I have a friend in the UK, and I’ve known her since we were kids. We actually became friends by trading PC games in Grade 2 – back when we were among the four or five kids in the whole school who actually had a PC at home. Now, she thinks of herself as a gamer, but (and I hope she doesn’t read this) she seems to entirely miss the point of some games – either through impatience or by skipping over important parts of the core mechanics – which leads her to moan at me for giving a “boring game” a glowing recommendation.

The most recent case was Overlord II, which I would feel justified in recommending to just about anyone because it’s that good. Anyway it started out well enough, she enjoyed the tutorial and the black humour of it, and sent me frequent text updates of how much she was loving it. The next day I asked her how it was going and she told me that she was bored of it because it was very monotonous and repetitive. Naturally, I had to wonder if we were talking about the same game for a moment – anyone who can call Overlord II repetitive must have missed something critical somewhere along the line. Anyway,

10

questioning her further to get to the root of her confounding opinion, I realised that she hadn’t even finished taking over the first town. Expanding on her reasons, she explained that sending your minions in to loot houses gets old after a while. What? After an hour? What about the other minions? The sailing sections? The spells? Investing in the Overlord’s palace? Going back to previous areas with new abilities to find cool secrets? To which she replied that she didn’t get that far.

Anyway, I hesitated to use her as an example, and she’ll probably give me an earful if she ever reads this, but it was the most recent example I could think of. I’ve seen similar opinions from other people before, assumptions by players who have played only the first few minutes of a good game or missed out on some critical play mechanic who write the entire game off based on this narrow field of view.

Now, every time I walk into my local game store and see a corking new title on the second hand shelf only a day or two after its release, I have to wonder if it ended up there as the result of some philistine trying to jam the game box into their toaster before deciding that it doesn’t play well and trading it in. g

issue 6 • december 2009

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gamecca • feature

T

he original Assassin’s Creed, revolutionary though it was, was not without a few deep-running flaws that detracted from the overall experience. After you’ve sunk a good few hours into Assassin’s Creed 2, the improvements to the game become quite apparent. Let’s take a closer look at how the art of assassination changed between Altair’s time and Ezio’s.

Evolution

or ‘How Progress Helps People Kill People More Efficiently’...

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issue 6 • december 2009

gamecca • feature

Life...

Assassin’s Creed Altair’s story was experienced quite erratically, usually in chunks of three assassinations at a time, between which Desmond was booted out of the Animus and left to wander around his prison in Abstergo for a while. And even when he was reliving the memories of Altair, time was constantly fast-forwarded (literally), skipping large chunks of time and travel and making the experience seem rather disjointed.

Assassin’s Creed 2 Desmond experiences Ezio’s story in larger chunks at a time, with few breaks outside the Animus to talk to his new allies. Ezio’s story is also much more movie-like and easy to follow, with none of the disorientating fast-forwarding that plagued Altair’s story.

Methods...

Trials...

Assassin’s Creed While each assassination Altair undertook was a story on its own and interesting to follow, they were quite linear and repetitive in their execution: gather information on the target, track them, find them, run them down, kill them, and escape. Except for the final climatic battles, all assassinations in the game followed this formula.

Assassin’s Creed 2 Ezio’s assassinations are generally a lot more varied in their execution than Altair’s. Sometimes he will have to gather information and stalk his targets, killing them out in the open, other times he’ll have to engage in death-defying acrobatics to reach his targets via some secret path, and sometimes he’ll even have to challenge his targets to open combat, charging into battle alongside an army of allies. It’s a bit more diverse this time round. issue 6 • december 2009

Assassin’s Creed Altair had an arsenal of options available to dispatch both his targets and anyone else who got in his way. He could kill sneakily, knifing people in their vital organs and slipping away into the crowed unnoticed, or he could be blatant about it and force his enemies to ground, knifing them in open sight or using less stealthy options, like his sword, which he wielded with considerable skill, or a dagger which he wielded in tandem with throwing knives.

Assassin’s Creed 2 Ezio has access to all the methods of Altair, plus a few new ones he learns from documents translated by Leonardo Da Vinci, including the ability to pull unsuspecting enemies over ledges while climbing, to simultaneously pounce on and kill enemies from higher ground, and to lunge out of hiding spots to silently kill enemies and drag their bodies out of sight.

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gamecca • feature

Tools...

Assassin’s Creed Altair had a few nifty gadgets at his disposal, and after he lost favour with his master, the treacherous Al Mualim, he had to regain them one piece at a time. His most iconic weapon was the hidden blade on his left wrist, which he could extend at will to execute his targets sneakily, even while appearing to be unarmed. When it came to more direct combat, he had a sword which he could wield with remarkable skill, and a dagger which he used in tandem with throwing knives he kept strapped across his chest.

He was also a decent fist-fighter, and could dish out the pain with his bare hands – as long as his opponent was also unarmed.

Assassin’s Creed 2 In addition to the iconic tools of his ancestor, Altair, Ezio has a few tricks of his own up his sleeve – so to speak. First off, Ezio has two hidden blades – one on each wrist, for that little bit of extra Italian flair we keep hearing about. He can also wield a larger arsenal of weapons than his famous ancestor, including hammers, clubs, axes and various pole arms.

He can buy newer and more powerful weapons from shops. Unlike Altair, Ezio sees the value in armour, and can buy better armour from shops, if he can afford it. This armour does degrade with use, and needs frequent repair if it is to offer continued protection. Thanks to his friendship with Leonardo Da Vinci, Ezio gains a few more tools than Altair had, including a glider which lets Ezio cover ground quickly and attack from the air, and a small, palm-held pistol which is faster and deadlier than any throwing knife. Ezio is no slouch when it comes to bare-handed combat either, and unlike Altair, if he is caught without a weapon, he can wrest one from the hands of his opponents. Oh, and Ezio can swim too.

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Discretion...

Assassin’s Creed Altair was taught to hide in plain sight, to blend in and strike from the crowd. It seems like he only partially mastered this skill, however, and was apparently only able to blend in with certain types of people, like somber, slow moving scholars or apathetic layabouts sitting on benches. Also, when Altair needed to draw a guard’s attention away from something, like the entrance to an important area, he had no choice but kill someone and quickly retreat, forcing the guard to leave his post to investigate the death.

Assassin’s Creed 2 Ezio on the other hand, has fully learned the technique of blending in with the crowd, and use any significant number of people to hide his presence from the guards, even if they are actively looking for him. The only drawback to this is that the crowd he’s walking with might not be heading in the right direction, and so he has to master the skill of switching quickly from one crowd to another to pick a path to his destination. Ezio also has more options at his disposal to distract inconvenient guards. Firstly, he can kill someone and retreat, leaving the unfortunate corpse to draw the guards’ attention. He can also employ the services of courtesans, who will follow him around and use their feminine wiles to draw the guards’ attention away from Ezio. And lastly, if there are a significant number of beggars and lowpaid guards around, there’s nothing to stop Ezio from chucking a handful of shiny coins on the floor to draw a crowd of bickering scavengers.

Tribulations...

Assassin’s Creed If Altair was caught doing something he shouldn’t, like slipping his blade between a hapless guard’s shoulder blades, he had but to break the guards’ line of sight and lay low in a designated hiding spot a while. A brief nap in a haystack would erase all memory of Altair’s atrocities and allow him to walk about in plain sight without so much as an eyebrow being raised.

Assassin’s Creed 2 Things aren’t quite so easy for Ezio, however. It seems that civilisation has advanced quite significantly since Altair’s time, and troublesome things like public awareness have cropped up to make an honest Assassin’s work even harder. Now, whenever Ezio is caught doing something socially unacceptable, he will have to face the same chase by the guards, and must elude them in much the same way – finding a quiet spot to hide in until the heat dies down. But in addition to this, Ezio also has a Notoriety rating.

Every time he is pursued by guards or caught doing something bad, his Notoriety meter will increase, and eventually guards will recognise him and pursue him on sight. This rating is permanent, and won’t decrease with time unless Ezio takes measure to remedy his wanted status, like tearing down wanted posters, bribing town criers and killing news-carrying officials. issue 6 • december 2009

gamecca • feature

issue 6 • december 2009

15

gamecca • preview

Previews

It’s all 2010 now...

Previews 18 Dante’s Inferno

19 Splinter Cell: Conviction 20 Dead Rising 2 22 Crack Down 2 24 Way of the Samurai 3 26 Napoleon: Total War 27 Darksiders 28 Star Trek Online 30 Heavy Rain 31 Singularity 32 Astro Boy

A B C D E F 16

W

good above average average below average poor terrible

ith the big hits of 2009 now released (and a few more still to come) all the attention is shifting to what’s in store for us in 2010. While there have been a number of games announced, the news will take a little while to build up to fever pitch.

No matter – we still have a good number of previews for you to take a look at, including some very exciting titles indeed.

In fact, the start of 2010 is looking much better, in terms of new game releases, than the start of 2009 did. As said last month, it looks like game publishers are spreading their wares out more evenly over the year. This, quite frankly, is a good thing. g Genre: What kind of game is it?

P l at fo r m s : Wh at c a n i t b e p l aye d o n ?

Dev: Who is making it?

Hardcore < > Casual Pub: Who will release it?

Release Date: When will it hit shelves? issue 6 • december 2009

Dante’s Inferno

Hellbound Abandon hope, ye who enter here

by Dion Scotten

D Genre: Action Adventure Platforms: X360, PS3 D ev : Vi s c e r a l G a m e s Pub: Electronic Arts Release Date: February 2010

ante’s Inferno promises a brutally violent and dark gaming explosion, all based on the poem “Inferno” by Dante Alighieri.

The game follows the story of Dante, who finds his lover Beatrice murdered and witnesses Death drag her into the depths of hell. Her soul is bound for an unholy union with Lucifer and Dante begins his long and violent pursuit through hell to rescue his love from damnation.

The game is gritty and dark, promising to deliver a disturbingly “real” experience of the underworld. The player must take control of Dante and guide his actions all the way.

All nine circles of hell are represented in brutal and vivid detail - limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery. Each circle awaits the player with its own unique demons and puzzles to overcome along with a powerful boss at the end of each circle.

A veteran of the Crusades, Dante has an interesting religious past which comes to haunt him as the story unfolds. The holy cross he carries grants him magical powers and the menacing scythe (formally Death’s) he swings with enthusiasm. Beside burning things with holy fire and slashing demons in two, Dante can also control demonic beasts and ride them using their powers as additional attacks.

It’s fairly obvious who will be waiting for him at the bottom of all nine circles of hell and this promises an absolutely epic end battle. The game is not to be missed, check it out in February 2010. g

Anticipation:

Hardcore < > Casual

B

A violent plunge through the nine circles of hell to rescue a damsel from the clutches of Lucifer himself. All in a day’s work, eh?

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issue 6 • december 2009

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction

Wanted Sam Fisher is at it again

by Walt Pretorius

I

t seems that everyone’s favourite stealthy operative, Sam Fisher, is wanted by the very government he once served. In Splinter Cell: Conviction, the player will have to use their wits and inventiveness to guide him towards the truth. This promises to be a Splinter Cell game unlike any other before it.

The true gem of this title will be the interactive world in which the players will find themselves. Every object will be usable (at least that’s what the developers are claiming) and the living, breathing environment will be something that the player can use as an advantage in their quest… or it might hinder them.

It looks pretty exciting, when all is said and done, and if the hype-promises are delivered on, we’re in for a real treat. This game will be a heady blend of stealth and all-out action, with the player needing to make snap decisions and think outside of the box in order to succeed.

Sounds good to us! g

Genre: Action Platforms: PC, X360 Dev: Ubisoft Pub: Ubisoft Release Date: February 2010

Anticipation:

Hardcore < > Casual

A

Sam Fisher may be a wanted man, but he has never let little details get in his way… this promises to be a very unique addition to the Splinter Cell franchise. issue 6 • december 2009

19

Dead Rising 2

The Undead Menace Things to do in Vegas when you don’t want to be dead

by Jimmy Glue

T

he second installment, as you might guess, is the sequel to 2006’s zombie-survival game Dead Rising. Although I’m told it had a story, the best part, and the bulk of my time spent, was mowing down the lost zombies with whatever I could find in the original game.

The sequel promises to feature more of the over-the-top action, with our main hero Chuck Greene left to fend off the undead all by himself. As the events take place a few years after the original, our beloved Frank West might make a small appearance, although he’ll be pretty stupid is he does, considering what he went through the last time.

This time, the mall has been traded for the fictional Fortune City, which has been modeled on Las Vegas, and Chuck’s motivation to keep on fighting comes in the form of his daughter, who survived the zombie attack.

Just like before, the player will be expected to rescue as many survivors as possible, all while playing golf with a zombie’s head... or whatever killing methods are preferred. g

G e n r e : S u r v i va l H o r ro r P l a t f o r m s : X 3 6 0 , P S 3 , P C , W i i , P S 2 , P S P, D S Dev:Capcom Pub:Capcom Release Date:Q1 2010

Anticipation:

Hardcore < > Casual

B

With more zombies than you can shake a stick it at, it’s bound to be heaps of carnage and tremendous fun… and with three years separating the two instalments, there are sure to be huge improvements too.

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issue 6 • december 2009

©2009 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft.

Ubi.com and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries

20.11.09

WWW.ASSASSINSCREED.COM

ALSO AVAILABLE ON PSP

18V

Crack Down 2

Cracked It’s going down... again

by Jimmy Glue

A

nother sequel to kick and scream its way into our living rooms, Crack Down 2 promises to make right all the wrongs from the first instalment, not that there were many...

The third-person, open-world game-play has been preserved, and developers Ruffian Games said that they won’t be changing much in terms of style and control, but they will be tweaking the Agent’s powers. The second instalment will allow Agent to jump even further, increase the levels of customisation and chase after as many orbs as possible.

Details on the plot are still thin, but there has been some recent speculation that, although it will still play off in Pacific City, mutants from the original game infest the city, and it’s up to the player to bring them under control, while still dealing with the urban gang violence.

If it is anything like the original title, it is sure to be a hit and bound to create hours of mindless, jumping and shooting action... but we’re not complaining. g

Genre: Third person shooter P l a t f o r m s : X b ox DevRuffian Games Pub:Microsoft Game Studios Release Date:TBC 2010

Anticipation:

Hardcore < > Casual

B

Agent will now be able to jump further, run faster, and collect lots of shiny green balls for his collection. With the original game dynamic preserved, fans of the first game will love this one.

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issue 6 • december 2009

Way of the Samurai 3

Follow your own path Change the way of your Samurai

by Brian Murdoch

W

ay of the Samurai 3 comes to our hands with some crisp new graphics and some of the older features that we all loved. The Samurai are presented with many choices in their lives and these choices, as small as they might be, could lead to life, death, great reward, or humiliation… this game will try and capture these possibilities.

This third person RPG will let the player choose their path with a revised choice and consequences system. With over 15 different endings, there is a lot of replay value here. In addition, weapons will be customisable, with over 200 different parts and materials giving them unique abilities and effecting their fighting styles. Finding the ultimate weapon or being a master of many will be the player’s choice.

The different gestures, fighting styles, combos and even diplomacy are present in the game to give the player control over their Samurai. g

Genre: RPG Platforms: X360, PS3 Dev: Acquire Pub: Rising Star Release Date: 2010 February

Anticipation:

Hardcore < > Casual

B

With great tools and features in this latest version of the game, the player is able to be the Samurai that they want to be. And it’s not just decapitation and chopping guys up, either…

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issue 6 • december 2009

Napoleon:Total War

For Glory Yes, you too can be the ultimate ‘small man syndrome’ sufferer!

by Dion Scotten

N

apoleon: Total War is the latest edition in the Total War series and the sequel to Empire: Total War, which released early 2009.

Players will find the same winning combination of real time tactical battles and turn based strategy found in Empire, but with a few extras added. The focus of the campaign is on the major battles in Europe during the period that Napoleon was ruler of France.

Let’s face it, what could make conquering the world more fun than having a couple of smoking cannons at your side and giving orders in a French accent?

Choose to play as Napoleon himself or take control of an opposing nation and fight against the rising French power from small skirmishes to truly epic battles like the famous battle of Waterloo. [In which case, you don’t really want to be Napoleon, now do you? – ed] Artillery was a favourite and focus of Napoleon in the actual historical battles and the game promises to deliver the same approach by making improved machines of war available to the player.

Follow the historical footsteps of the rise and fall of the French army or rewrite history and dominate the world in the name of France; the choice is yours.

As with Empire, Napoleon is G e n r e : R e a l T i m e S t r a t e g y Platforms: PC Steam activated and you will need an internet connection in D e v : T h e C r e a t i v e A s s e m b l y Pub: Sega order to install the game. g Release Date: February 2010

Anticipation:

Hardcore < > Casual

B

Napoleon:Total War, the sequel to Empire:Total War follows the rise of France as an 18th century military world power.

26

issue 6 • december 2009

Darksiders: Wrath Of War

War! The end is nigh

by Jimmy Glue

T

he Apocalypse is truly upon us! Well, sort of… as Darksiders: Wrath of War slowly creeps up on us.

This new action-adventure has a rather interesting storyline, in that the player will take on the role of War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The Apocalypse has taken place prematurely, and it’s up to the player to figure out who is behind it, and what their motives are, all while being caught in the middle of a battle between angels and demons.

Being released on Xbox 360 and PS3, players will find the bulk of their puzzle-breaking skills tested below ground, while above ground, melee battles will be the order of the day in a semi-open world environment.

The game has been given early comparisons to God Of War and Devil May Cry, but designer Joe Madureira has likened it to The Legend of Zelda series, which is a rather interesting mix of games [ya think? - ed.] g Genre: Action Adventure Platforms: X360, PS3 D ev : Vi g i l G a m e s Pub:THQ Release Date:January 2010

Anticipation:

Hardcore < > Casual

B

Since the end of the world started prematurely, it’s up to the player to fight a war on both fronts… as War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. issue 6 • december 2009

27

Star Trek Online

Star Trekking… …across the universe

by Jimmy Glue

W

e’re fighting the temptation to say “Beam me up, Scotty!” Star Trek Online is sure to give all Trekkies some exercise by making them actually walk to the shop to buy the latest instalment in the hugely-popular franchise.

This time round, the title is set in the 25th century, and takes place 30 years after the events in Star Trek Nemesis. It’s a rather special title, as upon its completion, it will be the first MMORPG within the Star Trek franchise, something that fans have been looking forward to for… well... eons.

Each player will get to be the captain of their own ship, and the options of being a Federation Captain or a Klingon Warrior have so far been confirmed. Players will also be able to explore the interior of their ships, however this might only be available during certain missions.

It’s sure to be one of the most engaging Star Trek games ever made, as battles can take place in space, on planets or on ships. Dust off your phaser and set it to stun, as Star Trek Online will be going hyper-drive in February. g

Genre: MMORPG P l a t f o r m s : P C Wi n d ow s Dev: Cryptic Studios Pub: Atari Release Date: TBC 2010

Anticipation:

Hardcore < > Casual

C

Star Trek Online will be the first MMORPG for the franchise, so it is bound to attract a whole different group of players... but they will be Trekkies, no doubt.

28

issue 6 • december 2009

THE FUTURE BEGINS NOW NOW THE REVOLUTION IS IN YOUR HANDS. YOU ARE THE MASTER OF 93 MIXES THAT SPAN SPACE AND TIME. SCRATCH AND MIX THE MUSIC OF JAY-Z, EMINEM, DAFT PUNK, BLONDIE, RIHANNA, BEASTIE BOYS, BENNY BENASSI AND MORE. TAKE CONTROL OF THE HEART, SOUL AND CIRCUITRY OF THE PARTY. ACCEPT YOUR DESTINY AT DJHERO.COM.

1 /

activision.com

Heavy Rain

Breaking point It’s going to get heavy...

by Jimmy Glue

H

eavy Rain comes from the same director and mastermind behind the genre-breaking Fahrenheit, so it’s bound to be one of the best interactive dramas we have seen in a long time.

With superb graphics, the game can best be described as an interactive movie, and while the plot details are still scarce, director David Cage said that “the real message is about how far you’re willing to go to save someone you love.”

The control scheme is due to be something different altogether, with context sensitive buttons, and of course a truck-load of quick-time events.

Just like Fahrenheit, combat and action sequences will all take the form of quick time events, something that could work in a game’s favour, although other times it might not.

Heavy Rain is unfortunately only being released on the PS3, but it still looks like an amazing game, and is an indirect “sequel” to Fahrenheit.g

Genre: Interactive Drama Platforms: PS3 Dev: Quantic Dream P u b : S o ny C o m p u t e r E n t e r t a i n m e n t Release Date: Early 2010

Anticipation:

Hardcore < > Casual

A

Brought to you by the writer and director of Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain is sure to be one of the best quick-time games of the year.

30

issue 6 • december 2009

Singularity

Countdown...

A single event has the world running out of time

A

by Dion Scotten

catastrophic event known as the Singularity affected the entire island of Katorga-12 back in 1950. At the time a new and unpredictable element 99 (E99) was being investigated by Soviet scientists at the command of Stalin, the leader of soviet Russia.

E99 however was the cause of the disaster and even though Stalin was aware of its dangers, he ignored them with only thoughts of advancing Soviet Russia during the Cold War. The player finds himself in present day 2010 with the Katorga-12 incident kept secret and mostly unknown to the world.

The “West” requires a recon of the island and the mission falls to the player’s character, Nate Renko.

Instead of the expected nuclear threat, Renko discovers an unpredictable time-shifting environment on the island caused by the Singularity. The wildlife on the island has been “tainted” by having adapted to the environment over all this time and the creatures and plants have their own time affecting powers.

Armed with various weapons and a Time Manipulation Device (TMD) the player must fight his way through enemies while navigating puzzles and time itself as he is pulled back and forth from 2010 to 1950 by unexpected time shifts. The TMD can be used to move specific objects forward or backwards in time in order to solve puzzles, open doors and access areas.

Definitely something to look forward to if you’re a FPS fan, check it out in the first quarter of 2010 for something unique in the genre. g

Genre: First Person Shooter Platforms: X360, PS3, PC Anticipation: Dev: Raven Hardcore < > Casual Pub: Activision Release Date: TBC

C

Manipulate objects and events while travelling back and forth through time in a race to stop the Singularity before it started. issue 6 • december 2009

31

Astro Boy:The Video Game

The Boy Super Hero Do you have cannons in your butt?

by Brian Murdoch

P

layers will control the iconic Astro Boy in the fight against the evil President Stone and his robot army. Fight this army and the “Peace Keeper”, which does not keep the peace so much anymore, in an epic battle of good and bad.

In Astro Boy’s land and flying missions, the player will have all his signature moves and special powers available to help; Finger Lasers, Arm Cannon, Butt Machine Guns and Drill Attacks. With these tools, the player will be able to cut through the hordes of robots like a highly concentrated laser beam through butter.

There will be larger robots to fight in boss battles, and the player will be sure to be treated to a battle where the blue power source that powers Astro Boy fights the equal opposite red power source in the Peace Keeper. g

Genre: Action P l a t f o r m s : P C , X 3 6 0 , P S 3 , W i i , P S 2 , P S P, D S D e v : H i g h Vo l t a g e Pub: D3 Publishing Release Date: 2009 December

Anticipation:

Hardcore < > Casual

B

A scientist loses his boy and makes a very advanced robot instead.The player takes control of this boy, Astro, to fight off evil robots. With a butt cannon, no less.

32

issue 6 • december 2009

THE MUSIC EVERYONE KNOWS & LOVES

65 SONGS BY THE BIGGEST POP ARTISTS MUSIC BY DUFFY DURAN DURAN JACKSON 5 KT TUNSTALL

LILY ALLEN MARVIN GAYE NELLY FURTADO & MANY MORE...

OUT NOW

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activision.com

gamecca • ps zealot

T

Generation Gap

hough there have only been three generations since the original Playstation (we’re in the seventh generation of video game consoles altogether), Sony’s release pattern has been very consistent, and my need to consume their products has me salivating for something new. Although there are plenty of exciting new game titles to look forward to, we’re not seeing anything really different technically. The sports franchises are a good benchmark, because you get a sense when the graphics have reached their peak, and this year’s title looks a lot like the previous year’s one. Developers are very good about putting in other content and challenges to keep us buying, but there’s a feeling of expectation that a new generation of console is on the horizon.

The first Playstation was first released worldwide in early 1995 and five years later it was chopped in size and repackaged as the PSOne. Sony also released the Playstation 2 in 2000, which is still the best selling game unit ever, entertaining gamers for almost a decade! Four years later, they released the first slim design and in 2007 the smaller slim version. The Playstation 3 was released in 2006, and we’re already seeing the new slim PS3 in stores, which was announced in August at Gamescom. Clearly, we may be less than two years away from a next-gen console, and by this time next year we should have a very clear picture of what’s coming.

But for now, let’s speculate …

The star of E3 was definitely Microsoft’s demonstration of Project Natal and their promise to deliver true motion sensing to gaming. Understandably, few rated Sony’s demonstration of similar technology the next day as highly.

Microsoft have since backtracked about whether they have truly cracked all the issues to make this technology feasible, but the race for console superiority will certainly rest on this key point. Both Microsoft and Sony have been eager to take a bigger slice of the social gaming market from Nintendo’s Wii. Some gaming writers have also predicted the merging of First Person Shooter (FPS), Role Playing (RPG) and Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) genres, and we can already see that in games like the Grand Theft Auto series. True Motion Controlled Games will have the intensity of Killzone, the complexity of Final Fantasy and the online community of World of Warcraft.

by Suvesh Arumugam Gamers will interact directly with characters and events, change camera perspective by simply moving, and use actual tennis rackets and golf clubs to play against each other.

Another area which is definitely going to weigh in heavily will be mobility and connectivity with mobile devices.

Millions of people spend hours playing flash-based games like Vampire Bloodlines and Farmville on social networks like Facebook. The biggest factor for this popularity is portability. You can play at work, and continue when you get home. You can also play on your cell phone. The nextgen console and software will have ways of integrating and interacting with various portable devices, and there is already a move to software that is more internet based, called cloud computing, to achieve this in several industries.

The next step would then logically be to combine GPS and Camera/Video Technology for Augmented Reality Gaming. Now that sounds very futuristic, but all it really means is that we will be able to “game” in the real world. So glimpsing into the future, we would be able to recognize other gamers on GPS by their mobile gamer ID’s (at least the ones playing the same game), and use our mobile devices like PSPs to buy and sell items or share other content. If we really stretch our imagination, game developers and marketers could devise events that take place in the real world, which gamers would interact with through a mobile device which has a camera (to photograph an encoded image or barcode), or get tagged with their gamer ID at a party by GPS. This could even be a team game where a certain image or object must be found in a predetermined area and time frame, which can only be seen using a viewer pre-loaded from game software.

All this technology exists today and it’s merely a matter of making it practical. So if like me, you are feeling like there should be more in the games, there is plenty to look forward to, and it’s reassuring to know that we are likely not very far away from getting our first taste. g

This page is provided by PlayStation Gamer www.playstationgamer.co.za

gamecca • xbox beat

T

Coming Back For More...

his is a question that has always bugged me. At this point in my life it has been a question that I have asked myself regularly over the last few months. “What keeps me coming back for more?”

If we boil a game down, all it is a bunch of pixels flying around a screen and when pixel X comes in contact with pixel Y, you die! We always talk about the various game dynamics and mechanics that are supposed to make games better, but essentially it comes down to very simple principles that have existed for years. We’ve seen it, and done it, all before. But we still run like screaming hordes to our nearest game retailer to purchase the latest release from our favourite game developers.

I’m currently playing Dragon Age: Origins. I love the game. It is an amazingly deep RPG. Nothing light and fluffy there. BioWare have excelled again.

The truth, however, is still the same. There is nothing new about these story lines or these titles. If we take a look at the FPS genre we find that you need a few key aspects build a great storyline.

Choose a time period, create some kind of struggle, add cool weapons, toss in a twist, make things move fast and stir. Out pops your wonderful game.

Let’s take the RPG genre: Take a normal character, have his path cross some major event, ask him to rise to the challenge, add a character levelling model, a few NPCs and a great final cinematic finish and presto, your game is done.

For great results mix the two and poof, you get Borderlands.

So if all these story lines are ones that we have played

by Bryan Banfield through many times before then why are we still buying video games? Do the developers really have some of the best marketing departments?

My answer is no. (But we don’t want to hurt their feelings) For me a game is so much more that a storyline. It’s an emotional connection between my world and the world I’m being asked to join.

I remember so clearly the scene from the first Neverending Story film… the part when Sebastian hides in the book store and has the conversation with the owner.

The owner’s argument is paraphrased as such: Coreander: Have you ever been Captain Nemo, trapped inside your submarine while the giant squid was attacking you?

Bastian: Yes. Coreander: Weren’t you afraid you couldn’t escape?”

That’s just it. Hitting the nail on the head.

These games have story that suck us right in. Why? Because we want to be sucked in. We want to lose ourselves in a fantasy world that takes us away from our reality even if it is for an hour in the evenings.

My question to you is: In Half Life 2, were you ever stuck in City 17 with everyone looking to you to save them?

How did you feel when you met Barney again? In Lost Odyssey, how did you feel when you found out about the secret plans at Grand Staff? In Need for Speed: Shift, what did it feel like to slide round those bends, to drive hard and to finish first?

In Dragon Age: Origins, did you feel the weight if the responsibility rest on your shoulders when asked to join the Grey Wardens? In Halo 3, were you anxious and determined to find out just what these halos were created for?

The list goes on.

If anything, this is my declaration, this is why I keep coming back. I am a gamer. Somewhere in some digital world there is a story being told and I am the hero. It’s my responsibility, it’s my journey. g

This page is provided by Xbox Gamer 42

www.xboxgamer.co.za

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gamecca • the house of mario

T

All in the Colour

he Wii is coming out with a new slick black finish, with the peripherals being dipped in the same shiny paint. This would be a standard improvement with any hardware. Cars, kitchen appliances, almost everything has a colour choice. Even the little brother of the Wii, the DS, has it’s choice of colours and models. The options that come out, when you think about it, are endless and it is an important choice that a company needs to give the consumer.

The addition of the black Wii also gives those die-hard gamers an option of having all their consoles in black.

You could even get the latest handhelds in black. Black curtains, black TV stand and you’re all set.

Setting the new console colour aside for a moment, there is a new colour option that I don’t understand.

It is the fact that New Super Mario Bros.

Wii is coming in a red box. And the absent choice between red and white? It seems to be a statement that Nintendo is trying to make, but will the other future Nintendo titles come out in the same colour? Are there other “fancy” Nintendo titles on the horizon? I hope not!

The great colour scheme that I have going on in my bookshelf with my Wii games is completely destroyed with the addition of New Super Mario Bros. Wii. When my friends come over they can now take one quick look at the

by Brian Murdoch game collection and see if I have the next essential Mario game. “Come Brian, let’s play the new Mario Bros. game!”

A reward for reading through my ranting comes in the form of this tid-bit of information. Do you know what the different coloured triangles mean on the spine of the Nintendo titles? Did you ever wonder? Even through inspection of the greatest of Nintendo game collections you’ll not be able to find the colour schema’s answer. They are not the colours of the distributor or genre but rather the country that it came from. The PAL territory, to be more accurate, is displayed in the colour of the triangle. There are 49* in total and the more common colours are green, being from the UK, Pink from Spain, Red from France, Light Blue from Italy, Dark Blue from Germany and Brown from Australia.

The question was bothering me for a while now, and with no real urgent factor I didn’t look it up. But I’ll sleep better tonight knowing it, and use it a few times to test if people have read this column and to show off my grand knowledge of the Nintendo products. (Sarcasm inserted here) [no, really? – ed] g

* Source of this number is from the UK Nintendo The Official Magazine: Issue 21; 21st Oct. 07

This page is provided by Nintendo Gamer 44

www.nintendogamer.co.za

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+ EXPERIENCE A PILE OF HOT REVIEWS including GTA IV (PC), Prince of Persia, LittleBigPlanet, Legendary, Tom Clancyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s EndWar and much more as we mop up from December...

+ EXPERIENCE A GLOB OF HOT PREVIEWS

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+ COWER IN FEAR AS YOU READ our preview on Silent Hill: Homecoming and Resident Evil 5

F.E.A.R. 2: PROJECT ORIGIN // BIONIC COMMANDO

+ DOMINATE THE NAZI ZOMBIES using our unique survival guide!

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Including Guitar Hero: Metallica, Dawn of War II, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault of Dark Athena, The Godfather 2, Afro Samurai, Killzone 2, H.A.W.X. and more...

+ PREVIEW MADNESS THIS ISSUE with Singularity, PROTOTYPE and X-Men Origins: Wolverine + REVIEW SILLINESS WITH Halo Wars, Killzone 2, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, Silent Hill: Homecoming, Dawn of War II, Street Fighter IV and Skate 2

+ SWISH YOUR PLASTIC LIGHTSABRE* as you drool over our preview of Star Wars: The Old Republic + FORM AN EDUCATED OPINION with our reviews of Resistance 2, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, Rise of the Argonauts and more...

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The DVD was sealed inside a plastic bag, man. Sealed on all sides and now itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gone. How on Earth did you manage that one? Do you even know where your car keys are right now?

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If your DVD is missing, wait 24 hours (in case it comes home by itself) then call the police. Find a recent picture of the DVD and tell the cops what it was wearing and where you saw it last.

No DVD? The zombies got it, it looked like brains, and you know how zombies are when it comes to brains... and speaking of brains â&#x20AC;&#x201C; next time check that the DVD is in the bag.

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+ PREVIEWS

+ PREVIEWS

Fight Night Round 4 | Mass Effect 2 Batman: Arkham Asylum

We look at the madness and delight of Need for Speed: Shift with some armjerking Bionic Commando action

+ REVIEWS Demigod | The Sims 3 | inFamous Bionic Commando | More!

+ REVIEWS Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a heavy review issue with Resident Evil 5, Tom Clancyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s H.A.W.X., Wheelman, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, WWE Legends of WrestleMania and much more

MONSTER TERRITORY EXCLUSIVE The man dressed in white is back!

Exclusive artwork, screens and more!

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To prevent the current lack of technological diversity in the world, your cover DVD has been shipped off to a stud farm where it will be repeatedly mounted and harvested for DNA data.

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Reviews

Games! Games! Games!

Highlights: 42 Assassin’s Creed 2

44 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 46 Dragon Age: Origins 48 Band Hero 50 Left 4 Dead 2 52 Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time 56 GTA IV: Episodes from Liberty City 64 The Sims 3: World Adventures 68 Torchlight 70 Need for Speed Nitro 72 Tropico 3 78 Spore Hero 80 WipeOut HD: Fury

W A B C D E F

good above average average below average poor

Hardcore < > Casual

terrible

Game: The name of the game Genre: What kind of game it is Platforms: Which machines it is made for Dev: Who made it Pub: Who sells it A g e R at i n g : Wh o s h o u l d p l ay i t Advisory: Themes in the game

40

elcome to the biggest review section Gamecca Magazine has ever featured! Before we begin, it would be good to note an important aspect of Gamecca’s reviews. While some publications out there have the luxury of being able to review well in advance, Gamecca’s policy is to only ever review games from final code. That means we will only ever review a game when it is finished, polished, done and dusted.

While it would be great to get game reviews out early – sometimes long before they hit the shelves – we do not feel that it is fair to review a game until all the work has been completed on it. In order to give you, the reader, the best information, and to give the game in question the most fair Awards: review we can, we Glorious Game only ever make use of Star Award finalised products for Given to the cream of the our reviews. video gaming We think it’s the best crop idea. g

A dv i s o r y Key : V : Vi o l e n c e L : Bad Language S : S ex D: Drug Use P: Prejudice

issue 6 • december 2009

Editor’s ‘Right On’ Button Given to those games that the editor believes are really cool, although not necessarily the best of the bunch.

fly me to the moon...

Thanks to Ubisoft and Megarom Interactive, you could win a cool Rabbids Go Home hamper, consisting of: 1 x T-shirt 1 x Rabbids branded pen 1 x Rabbids branded bouncy ball 1 x Pre-Order Pack 1 x Rabbids figurine

SEND AN EMAIL TO COMPETITIONS@GAMECCA.CO.ZA. TELL US YOUR NAME, AND WHERE THE RABBIDS’ HOME IS. Competition closes 31 December 2009. South African residents only. The judges’ decision is final.

Prizes may not be excahnged for cash. Competition closed to employees (and employee’s family) of 1337 Media CC, Ubisoft and Megarom Interactive. Games may be ‘white label’ products.

Assassin’s Creed 2

Renaissance Bloodletting

through the ages

A

by Matthew Vice

ssassin’s Creed was released in 2007 are accused of treason and executed. Fleeing to mixed reviews. While most felt that it his own arrest, Ezio follows clues left behind was a great action adventure game with a by his father and uncovers his secret life as an compelling sci-fi story that took the concept of Assassin and his quest to defeat the secretive stealth and assassination in new and uncharted directions, Knights Templar order. Bent on revenge, Ezio some players couldn’t see past the game’s few flaws. takes up his father’s mantle and joins the The two biggest drawbacks to the experience were the Assassin’s after being trained by his uncle, repetitive game-play and the lack of grounding in the role of Mario.

Altair.

The idea behind Assassin’s Creed 2 is much With Assassin’s Creed 2 however, it’s obvious that the same as it was in the first game. As Ezio, Ubisoft took these criticisms to heart and worked hard players must track down and eliminate key to address them and improve the game in many areas.

Knights Templar conspirators, coming ever Assassin’s Creed 2 picks up right where the previous game closer to avenging his father’s death and ridding Italy of the left off. Desmond Miles, the protagonist in whose mind Templar’s unseen tyranny. Ezio must talk to people and we played the role of Altair, is sprung from his captivity find out as much as he can about his targets, like who they at the Abstergo building by Lucy and taken the lair of the are and where they’ll be, so that he can strike quickly and present day Assassins, who are still fighting their age old escape before he is captured by guards. This time round, war with the present day Knights Templar. Once there, he though, the whole procedure is a lot more scripted and is told that he must enter their version of the Animus (the movie-like, avoiding the repetitive info-gathering tasks Altair machine which lets him relive his genetic memories) to learn the skills of the Assassins to help in their effort to thwart the Knights Templars devious schemes.

He achieves this by reliving his genetic memories of another one of his ancestors, an Italian man named Ezio. Rather than the already skilled and hardened Altair, Ezio starts out as a normal young man in Renaissance Florence, making deliveries for his father and getting into all kinds of trouble, including picking fist-fights with young noblemen and fleeing from the bedroom windows of the young women he has lascivious encounters with. But his days of carefree Florentine life come to a jarring end when his father and brother issue 6 • december 2009 42

gamecca • review

had to endure. In fact, Assassin’s Creed 2 is a lot lighter on the repetitive mini-tasks in general. There are a few sidequests for Ezio to engage in from time to time, but these all reward him with money which he can spend in other more tangible areas, making them much more appealing than they were previously.

The control system is almost exactly the same as the first game, save for a radial menu for weapons selection. Ezio feels much the same as Altair while fighting, free-running and climbing, just slightly more focused and less prone to grabbing the wrong ledge or disembowelling an innocent bystander who happened to be too close to his intended target. Among the key improvements are a larger variety of weapons for Ezio to use, more moves and options in combat, and the ability to avoid attention by blending in with any crowd of people rather than groups of speciallypurposed scholars a-la Altair. Another great addition is the new notoriety system. Previously, if the player did something to get the guards’ attention, all they had to do was lie low for a while and wait for it to pass. Now, if Ezio is seen killing people, fighting guards or trespassing, his notoriety will increase. This notoriety doesn’t decrease over time, and guards Genre: Action Adventure will pursue Ezio on sight, Platforms: X360, PS3 which is a pain. Luckily, Dev: Ubisoft Ezio can take the heat off Pub: Ubisoft Age Rating: 18V himself and decrease his Advisory: V \ L notoriety by tearing down

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

A+

wanted posters, bribing heralds to speak of other news, and killing the officials who are spreading the information about him.

But perhaps the biggest improvement to Assassin’s Creed 2 is the increased sense of immersion in the game world. The previous game felt a little disjointed, with time being fast-forwarded constantly and Desmond being shunted constantly between the real world and his waking dream of Altair in the Animus. This time though, Desmond experiences Ezio’s story in a much more coherent way, with precious few interruptions and trips to the real world.

Also, players can invest in the role of Ezio by buying new weapons, armour, healing items and even dying his outfit. Throughout the game, Ezio can acquire money by completing side-quests, pickpocketing people and robbing unconscious or dead people. He can also collect feathers – memoirs of his brother, of which there are 100 to be found, to hopefully snap his mother out of the catatonic state she found herself in after her husband’s execution.

Then there’s the Villa Monterrigionni, the home of Ezio’s uncle, which is a mini-game in itself. Ezio can invest money in this dilapidated town by renovating the villa proper and buildings shops and investing in trade to return the villa to the thriving business centre it once was. Also hidden in and around this villa are secret and powerful items, if Ezio can figure out how to acquire them.

Taking all of this into account, Assassin’s Creed 2 is a huge improvement on the first game in every way. The action and plot are much more coherent and the added sense of immersion in Ezio’s world is very welcome.

There’s also a lot to do in the game and plenty of secrets to find, so it should keep players busy for ages.g

Assassin’s Creed 2 addresses the shortcomings of the first game to deliver a superb action adventure with a compelling story. issue 6 • december 2009

43

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Lock and Load Modern Warfare 2 scores a critical hit

H

by Jimmy Glue

ailed as one of the best games of the year, was controllable in the first instalment, it is Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has already now only operable during some multiplayer broken every entertainment and theatrical missions. record imaginable. It could possibly be the Speaking of weapons, there is definitely gritty action, real-life war scenario or even the stunning no shortage of arms and ammunition. The graphics that has propelled the title into gaming stardom. character will start a mission with a standard Picking up the story five years after the first Modern issue rifle, but various other weapons can be Warfare’s dramatic end, Zakhaev’s crony, Vladimir picked up from downed enemies.

Makarov, is up to his old tricks again. The Ultranationalists Certain missions will enable the player have started to take control of various parts of Europe, and to use a Barrett .50cal, Dragunov, M16A4 in short, it’s up to the player to put an end to it. and even a SCAR-H, just to name a few.

For the most part of the game, the player will take Side-arms consist of a variety of pistols control of Sergeant Gary “Roach” Sanderson, a member and revolvers, as well as flash bangs, smoke- and hand of an elite, multinational commando unit known as Task grenades.

Force 141, but will also get a chance to control four other The game’s locations have been modelled as true to characters. life as possible, with every effort going into making it look During the opening sequences of the single-player like the real thing. During the single-player campaign, campaign, it is blatantly clear that the player will be in for a combat will be waged in various locations, including Brazil, tough, long fight. The graphics are stunning, with almost Afghanistan, Russia, Sheremetyevo International Airport, every detail clearly visible. Clearly a lot of effort has gone Russia, and there is even a short mission as a camera into developing a title that left no stone unturned, and the operator onboard the International Space Station. developers spared no expense in beautification.

Although the single-player campaign is one of the best During the first training mission, the player is rushed into we have seen in a long time, it is merely only a training a training exercise, where upon a difficulty level is selected. ground for the real deal. The online multiplayer is where It also gives the player a chance to familiarise themselves the big guns come out, as some of the players are truly with the controls, which are simple enough and actions are ruthless. easily located on the controller.

As expected, several well-known game modes are The recommended difficulty for experienced player available, like Team Deathmatch, Free-For-All, Domination should be between Regular and Hardened, but Veteran and Capture the Flag, but one of the most exciting is is by no means impossible. It might take a bit longer to Ground War. It’s like Team Deathmatch, but just on a much complete the game, as it definitely encourages looking for grander scale. The teams are bigger, the maps are larger cover and using ammunition sparingly. and the payoff from a Genre: FPS During the course of the campaign and with the five user- kill is more rewarding. P l a t f o r m s : P C , X 3 6 0 , P S 3 D e v : I n f i n i t y Wa r d controlled characters, the player will get to operate some During the online Pub: Activision really cool pieces of equipment. Stinger missiles, highmultiplayer matches, Age Rating: 18+ velocity mounted turrets and even a Predator drone will all the player will also Advisory: V / L be tools of the trade. Sadly, although the AC-130 gunship receive awards issue 6 • december 2009 44

gamecca • review

for certain kills and the amount of kills with a particular weapon. Online works in a ranking system, where more kills translate into more experience points, which levels the character up. Modifiers can also be added to the character, which will make them run faster, reload quicker and take more damage… but those need to be earned.

Achieving kill-streaks will enable special equipment for use, such as the deployment of a UAV, Harrier jet or even a Tactical Nuke.

Activating a Tactical Nuke, by the way, automatically wins the round, as it destroys everything on the map. It can only be stopped if the other team deploys an EMP shortly after launch.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 definitely deserves all the praise heaped

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

on it, as the graphics are breath-taking, controls are easy to use and the surround sound truly drops the player in the thick of things.

There is one drawback though. The game might come across as intimidating, overly difficult and constructive chaos. A majority of the title will be spent looking for cover, dodging grenades and crawling on all fours. That, however, shouldn’t be a deterrent to at least give it a try. g

A

Developers Infinity Ward has yet again made another title breaking all gaming records, and deservedly so.The Call of Duty franchise is a long standing one, and the experience gathered has been hard earned. issue 6 • december 2009

45

Dragon Age: Origins

In the Beginning…

6 origins stories and hours of gripping game-play

A

by Bryan Banfield

ugust this year saw the press around this title start to hot up. We have seen the work that BioWare has put out in the past. Tight, clean, gripping RPG action and from all the promises we were given this title was set to be nothing less.

Dragon Age: Origins has successfully lived up to all the hype that we have seen and heard. I have played a number of Xbox360 titles… some fly out of the drive faster that it took to unwrap them. Dragon Age was installed to my hard disk after about an hour of game play.

Let’s take a look at what makes this title worth all its

hype.

When this title first started appearing on paper and whiteboards at BioWare, the idea was to have a title that set a new standard.

With that in mind the developers set out to make sure that Dragon Age had a fresh take on the RPG idea. For starters, the lore of this game has been rethought and rewritten. Back stories and traditions supporting the storyline have been carefully designed and packaged.

Dragon Age: Origins is not a title that

Genre: RPG Platforms: PC, X360, PS3 D e v : B i o Wa r e Pub: EA Age Rating: 18 Advisory: V

46

issue 6 • december 2009

gamecca • review

borrows traditional lore from existing or traditional fantasy franchises. We are experiencing a fresh new breath in fantasy role-playing.

Secondly, BioWare had the determination to make sure that the choices that players made in game affected their experience enough to make sure that the lines between a “good choice” and a “bad choice” are blurred. This is designed to make it less about good vs bad decision or outcomes and more about what is best for the party. This system was even nick-named “Choice 2.0” Dragon Age: Origins is the start to what we hope to be a great new series in role-playing. Origins introduces us to the six new races: The Dalish Elf, The Human Noble, The City Elf, The Magi, The Dwarf Commoner and The Dwarf Noble. After having selected their character’s race, the player is then exposed to possibly the best character creation tools ever seen.

Almost every aspect of the character is customisable.

If you had the time you would probably be able to recreate yourself. I spend about 20 minutes alone on my character; customising his eyes, hair colour, skin tone, tattoos and even his voice! After all this I pressed back one too many times and my character disappeared into digital nothingness. So I spent another 20 minutes recreating him, while tweaking finer aspects of his features.

We are now brought face to face with the story so far.

There is a deadly new enemy that has re-emerged. Years

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

A+

before, a group of warriors called the Grey Wardens were able to band together the various nations to fight off these darkspawn. When the darkspawn were defeated, the Grey Wardens took a step back and slowly disappeared into near-mythology. Now that the darkspawn have returned, the Grey Warden re-emerge and approach the player’s character for help...

The enemy is very powerful, and the attributes and skills of each character are vitally important. Each class has special skills and abilities, with the choice to further specialise at later levels.

In order to level-up the character, and thereby improve it, the player will need to complete the various quests that are given to the player along the way.

Additional quests are available via the Job Boards in most towns and settlements. These grant additional experience, allowing the player to level faster if they are willing to spare a few extra minutes.

The question of DLC raises it’s head in the game, in the form of quests that can be downloaded – for a price, of course. There have been a few complaints surrounding this with the argument running along the lines of: “Why offer me a quest then ask me to pay to be able to complete it?”

While this is a valid question we need to take a step back and understand that this is possibly one of the best ways to allow for additional content and quests to be added to an already amazing title.

My only issue I would raise is the fact that the game engine is starting to look a little dated. Still, the solid interface, easy controls and compelling story-line (not to mention tons to do) make up for it. g

With a great story, good controls and huge amounts of control over the player’s character, Dragon Age: Origins offers a splendid time for adventure and role playing fans. issue 6 • december 2009

47

Band Hero

Pop Goes the Franchise The Hero brand just got more main-stream

S

by Walt Pretorius

o what does one do when you’re making money Hero, one would be excused for thinking that hand-over-fist with a property that, while popular, the game is an easier version of Guitar hero. realistically only appeals to a smaller sector of I know I did, and as a result I was a little… the market? The answer is simple, according to offish… towards the title. But that’s not really Activision – expand the franchise to appeal to more people, the case at all. What was meant was that it and make even more money. is a more accessible game, in musical terms, The Guitar hero franchise has been an unprecedented with a wider variety of songs covering genres success. In the early days, not even the originators of the that are more likely to get radio play. This wider appeal game could have dreamed that it would reach the levels makes it a more family friendly game, sure, but it is by no of popularity that it did. The music industry certainly didn’t means easier than the norm established by Guitar Hero. In think the concept was all that, which was why so many of fact, some of the songs are downright difficult. the tracks in the original game were The game can, “This wider appeal makes cover versions. however, be made it a more family friendly Things have changed. Guitar more forgiving. game, sure, but it is by no Hero has earned its stripes and has Any combination of means easier than the norm instruments can be proven that a plastic guitar is better than an air guitar, and that people established by Guitar Hero. ” used, and difficulty want to emulate their favourite stars levels trimmed so and ‘perform’ along to their favourite that anyone can play songs. The series has earned an almost unreasonable without making complete fools of themselves. This isn’t amount of money to date, and Activision (who publish the a new idea, though – in fact, most of these ideas were franchise) are only getting started. seen in Guitar hero 5, and the new core concepts, like the Just after the release of Guitar Hero 5, which introduced cleaned up user interface and instrument based challenges a few new ideas to the franchise, Activision released DJ for songs make another appearance in Band Hero.

Hero onto the market – take a look at last month’s issue There are really only two differences between band for a review. This was a big step, because the whole deal Hero and Guitar hero 5. The first is purely cosmetic – the was different… a new music genre, a new peripheral and, graphics have been tweaked to be a little more appealing theoretically, a whole new market. And now it’s the turn of to mainstream fans, and are generally a little lighter and the next evolution of the Hero series: Band Hero. more colourful. The standard characters all make an See, Guitar Hero is all good and well if you’re into the appearance (even the Gothy Pandora) but they have been metal and hard rock scene, but these genres of music spruced up for their pop appearance. actually only speak to a very small percentage of the The only major difference, then, is the track listing. Band population. DJ Hero now addresses the dance market (with Hero features 65 songs across a fairly broad spectrum of a few other genres worked into the mixes in the game) but genres, from RnB through to pop, rock and even motown. the massive main-stream hasn’t been tapped yet. At least, Names like The Jackson 5, Roy Orbison, david Bowie, not until now.

Evanescence, Marvin Gaye, The Village People and Looking at the press releases that came out about Band Jesse McCartney are all present and accounted for, and issue 6 • december 2009 48

gamecca • review

the eclectic track list means that there is something for everyone in this game.

If you are a fan of Guitar Hero, but your tastes extend beyond the small group of music genres that franchise covers, band hero is a fun and challenging alternative that is easily recognisable. If you have never played a Hero

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

C+

game (possibly because you prefer music to be less heavy) then Band Hero is still a great option, because its scalable difficulty will allow you to learn as you play. This is a winner for the overall franchise, and one that will more than likely draw even more people into the addictive and fun Hero world. g

Genre: Rhythm P l a t f o r m s : X 3 6 0 , P S 3 , Wi i , P S 2 , D S Dev: Neversoft Pub: Activision Age Rating: 12 Advisory: L

With a wider range of music genres on offer, Band Hero is appealing to a wider audience, without compromising the spirit of the game that spawned it... issue 6 • december 2009

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Left 4 Dead 2

Survivor: Apocalypse Back to the zombie-blast-fest

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by Jimmy Glue

ith vampires and zombies being all the rage these days, it is no surprise that Electronic Art’s Left 4 Dead 2 has awaken the undead spirit of run-and-gun gaming.

As the name suggests, it’s the highly anticipated sequel to the first instalment released in 2008. Strangely enough, the two games were released exactly to the day, one year apart.

It’s essentially the same as the first instalment, and is set during the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic.

During the opening sequence, it is revealed that four survivors were left behind after a city-wide evacuation, and they are left to fight alone against hordes of infected zombies.

The player will be able to select one of the four survivors as a playable character, but there is actually no real difference between them. Rochelle, the only female in the group, is a reporter for a local television station. Ellis, the youngest in the group, is a mechanic, while Nick is a gambler and conman. The fourth character, simply called Coach, has a bad knee, and struggles to run.

Each character will be able to carry two weapons, consisting of a primary and secondary weapon. Primary

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weapons include machine guns, assault rifles and grenade launchers, while secondary weapons consist of a variety of pistols.

Unfortunately, only one of each weapon can be carried at a time. [Except for dual-wielded pistols, of course… - ed]

Each character also has two other slots in their inventory, which are used for health packs, incendiary ammunitions and pipe bombs. Other items like bile bombs can also be picked up, but that will replace the current item in the slot.

The game essentially takes place within five levels, or locations, which are all divided into separate sections.

Beginning a single-player campaign, the player can select any of the levels as a starting point, and they don’t have to be followed chronologically.

The most important challenge of L4D2 is to stay alive issue 6 • december 2009

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and work as a team, but while fighting off the huge amount of zombies and infected citizens, there will always be someone looking over your shoulder. The game makes use of the AI Director, a clever system that regulates the difficulty.

Ensuring that no two game-plays are the same, the A.I Director controls the amount of spawning enemies, which weapons and items are placed in the game, and even level layout and wall placement. This has been done to encourage players to work as a team, and to realize that the shortest way isn’t always Genre: Shooter the best.

Platforms: PC, X360 The controls have pretty D e v : Va l v e much stayed the same since P u b : Va l v e Age Rating: 18+ the last title, with easyAdvisory: V to-use and simple button

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

B

configurations. There isn’t much else to do except blast a couple of slugs into an infected’s head, so it’s really no surprise.

The graphics, which aren’t ground-breaking, are still clear and good enough to deliver a detailed and enjoyable experience. The level of smaller details isn’t as high as in other shooters, but when you have a flaming zombie running your way, who has time to read magazines?

Speaking of zombies, the amount of undead variations is truly astounding. If the world ever becomes infected, pray that you aren’t standing in front of a Spitter.

Next to your garden variety undead, each campaign as a number of “uncommon infected” like the Boomer, the Smoker and some rather nasty clowns. The Jockey can also provide for an interesting experience, as they will jump on the player’s back and steer them towards a horde.

Although the single-player campaign is exciting in its own right, Left 4 Dead 2 is better played with three other friends.

The multiplayer can be tackled in a variety of ways, and it is sure to create some laughable moments.

The second L4D effort by developers Valve delivers a solid performance and is a must-buy for any zombieshooting fan. The controls are simple, the graphics are great and the sound is enough to make the hair on your back stand on end. It’s great for multiplayer, and the singleplayer campaign is strong enough to stand on its own. Big guns, big hordes and screaming undead… what more do you need? g

Left 4 Dead 2 is exciting and exhilarating, and although the single-player is good, the multiplayer is where it draws its life. issue 6 • december 2009

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Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time

Tools of the Trade Ratchet & Clank return... for the last time?

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by Matthew Vice

t’s always the same, no matter how many besides Ratchet? And will Ratchet finally generations of gaming machines we go through. be reunited with his best friend? To find the There’s always one genre of gaming that typifies a answers to these questions you’ll just have to certain machine, whether the machine in question play the game. receives more games of that kind than others, or whether Since this is the final chapter in the series, the owners of the machine support a certain genre more Insomniac have really gone all out. Everything than others. For the Xbox 360, it’s the lineup of slick is as polished and refined as possible. The multiplayer shooters, for the Wii it’s the plethora of family, story sequences are beautifully animated – worthy of a social and party games, and for the PS3 it’s the proud cinema viewing – and the performances by the cast of lineup of big budget, character-driven action adventure voice artists is excellent. The dialogue and gags are every titles – and no series better illustrates this than the bit as funny as we’ve come to expect and there are tons of PlayStation’s Ratchet and Clank series. little humorous gems hidden around the game for fans to This action adventure series debuted on the PS2 in find. Some of the better jokes might require knowledge of 2002 and has seen an ever-increasing fan-base with each the previous games to fully understand, but they’re no less consecutive release, fans who love the insane, enemyamusing to watch. blasting action and compelling and humorous storylines.

As always, however, it’s the mix of intense enemyWhile the story in each game has always been entertaining blasting action, puzzle-solving, vehicle piloting, space and the evolving dynamic between the two protagonists, combat and mini-games that make Ratchet and Clank Ratchet and Clank, was endearing, the series lacked a what it is, and this game is no exception. This time round, couple of important things, namely plot continuity from the arsenal of weapons Ratchet can amass is even more one game to the next and some consequential characters bizarre and creative than ever before. How about blasting besides Ratchet and Clank themselves. This all changed enemies with a living cannon that belches out a sonic wave when Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction and Ratchet that is most effective if you time it to fire when its lungs are and Clank: Quest for Booty were released for the PS3, full? Or how do you fancy using a gun which creates a rift indicating that the series had finally acquired a bit of in space, allowing a tentacled creature to reach through continuity and some meaningful supporting characters. The and pull enemies to their doom? Then there’s the new next chapter, and allegedly the final chapter in the series, Contructo line of weapons, from Grummelnet, a handgun, Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time has just been released shotgun and bomb glove which Ratchet can configure and delivers a thrilling climax to the story. and customise on the fly to meet his demands. There are Anyone who has played the previous two games will a lot of returning weapons from the previous games too, know that Ratchet has put everything else in his life on including the Mag Net launcher, the Buzz Blades and the hold to search for his friend, Clank, who was abducted by Negotiator. Best of all is the fact that, if your PS3 contains a race of strange alien beings known as the Zoni. These saves from the previous games, Ratchet will be able to Zoni seem to be in cahoots with Dr Nefarious, one of buy these older weapons at a discounted price. From Ratchet’s old enemies from his past adventures. What is Dr time to time, players will have to control Clank to see what Nefarious up to? What is Clank’s connection to the Zoni? happens in his side of the story. These sections usually Is it true that there is another Lombax left in the universe take the form of puzzles, really devious and intricate issue 6 • december 2009 52

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brain benders involving time manipulation that are perhaps some of the cleverest puzzles in any video game.

One thing that deserves a special mention is that players can, for the first time ever in the series, actually take full control of Ratchet’s space ship and fly it from planet to planet manually, exploring the galaxy and landing on obscure moons, asteroids and space stations while fighting off attacks from enemy ships. This long overdue feature is immensely good fun and lends the game a sort of seamlessness that it never had before. In addition to this, the various Ratchet and Clank staples are all in the game, including the hidden Gold Bolts, which can be used to unlock new skins for Ratchet and other bonuses, and the Skill Points, obscure tasks that Ratchet must complete to earn points which he can use to unlock cheats and extras. Ratchet can also track down and capture the now separated Zoni, which he can use to upgrade his space ship in various ways to make space combat easier. And, of course, there’s an arena for Ratchet to fight in, for

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

A+

Genre: Action Adventure Platforms: PS3 players who really want Dev: Insomniac Games to test out their cool Pub: SCE weapons in the heat of Age Rating: 7+ battle and earn tons of Advisory: V bolts (money), and the schematics for the game-breakingly powerful R.Y.N.O (Rip You a New One) launcher to be found.

It’s clear that Insomniac really pulled out all the stops to make Ratchet’s final outing a memorable experience, and the result is the kind of highly-polished action adventure game that we’ve come to expect from Insomniac at their best – only better. Ratchet fans probably don’t need any convincing, but anyone looking for a highly polished, infinitely appealing action title should give it a go also. g

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time is a huge action adventure title with great characters, great acting, and tons of play value to be found. issue 6 • december 2009

53

Pro Evolution Soccer 2010

Kicked into touch The PES franchise still remains on the bench

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by Jimmy Glue

ro Evolution Soccer 2010 is developer Konami’s licensed. In total, the game includes 258 squads, with 55 latest effort in the football genre, and although it teams that can be edited by the player. isn’t a bad title in general, the sporting fraternity National teams include the usual suspects, and there has seen a lot better in the past. Competing with are actually too many to mention. Venezuela, Trinidad and the FIFA powerhouse, PES will always be, at best, a close Tobago and Morocco all make a re-appearance, while second. it is the first time that teams like North Korea, Bahrain, After firing up the game on either the PS3 or Xbox, the Uzbekistan and Montenegro feature in the game. first thing that will strike the player is the menu. With all due Matches can be played in a variety of stadia, and while respects to the title, the menu looks cheap and rushed, and unlicensed stadia like Konami Stadium and Bristol Mary the pink overtones might not sit well with some players.

Stadium feature, no expense has been spared to re-create Just like FIFA 10, PES also features the ‘Be A Legend’ stadia like Old Trafford, Wembley Stadium and Stade de option, where the player can take control of one player and France. guide them through their football career. After playing FIFA, Speaking of stadia, the graphics are a vast improvement it just seems like a cheap knock-off, with not much to offer over the last title, but the game isn’t getting it right just the player. yet. The smoothness of the player’s faces appears to be A common similarity between football games these days seems to be a rather rocking soundtrack.

PES incorporates some tunes, although not all the groups featured might be well-known. The most common groups include All-American Rejects, Andrew W.K, Keane and Kaiser Chiefs, but smaller groups like The Courteeners, Klaxons and The Urgency round off the playlist.

There is definitely no shortfall in the selectable teams, as both the UEFA Champions League and, for the first time, the UEFA Europa League, are fully issue 6 • december 2009 54

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jagged (oxymoron, I know), and while they are clearly recognisable, more effort could have gone into making them more life-like. The crowds are the generic cardboardcutouts, who all move in unison when a goal has been scored.

The in-game sound, on the other hand, is pretty good, although it is rather difficult to mess up something like that.

Alas, a few issues were experienced while playing a lovely Germany-South Africa match, where it almost sounded like the sounds where muffled in only one corner of the pitch.

As soon as the players moved on, it corrected itself [that was obviously the Bafana supporter corner…- ed].

The controls are the worst combination of buttons any gamer could hope for, and there is no detailed description as to which buttons perform which functions. The best combination is to locate the sprint button, run

down the side line and cross to the goal.

Scoring is another aspect that could have been improved on. The game tends to defy the laws of physics and gravity, where the player will be able to kick the ball over the goals, while standing 5m from the goal line.

For fans of the franchise, Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 will be a step in the right direction, but the franchise still has a long way to go in order to compete with other titles.

Although the sounds and graphics are good, it just seems to be lacking that special polish that brings everything together. Sadly, it just can’t compete with FIFA 10’s sleek look and user-friendly controls. g

Genre: Sports P l a t f o r m s : P C , X 3 6 0 , P S 3 , Wi i , P S 2 , P S P Dev: Konami Pub: Konami Age Rating: All Advisory: None

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

C+

Although the sounds and graphics are good, PES 2010 missed out on Darwin’s theory, and it simple just didn’t evolve. issue 6 • december 2009

55

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City

More Mayhem

The GTA IV saga continues in two new episodes

by Walt Pretorius

G

rand Theft Auto IV caused less of a fuss than many thought it would. After the whole ‘Hot Coffee’ thing broke with the previous game (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) there were a lot of people expecting the controversy to rise up again when Nico Bellic took to the streets of Liberty City in GTA IV. But it was not to be. Sure, there were rumblings, but for the most part they were far quieter than the noise San Andreas managed to rouse from watch-dog groups and mother grundies around the world. Why exactly this is the case isn’t particularly certain. Perhaps Rockstar came too close to landing in serious trouble. Perhaps they suddenly developed a sense of responsibility, albeit still a little less developed than most game developers. Or maybe they realised that taking big chances with of their properties, and it allows gamers to get an extended a game could adversely affect sales fix of the games they enjoy. It’s a good system – if, of (through the likes of bannings and stuff like that.) I like to course, you have access to the downloadable content. In think it’s the latter… most people rethink things when their South Africa, we don’t – at least not officially. While PS3 bottom line is threatened, and Rockstar (like any other players can go wild getting all the extra tit-bits, Xbox 360 game developer) are in this industry to make money. players have to deal with the fact that we still do not have That might not be the case, of course, but the fact that Xbox Live support here. It’s a very sad state of affairs, Rockstar likes raking in cash is undeniable. Who doesn’t. but what can you do? In the end, though, the four DLC And when you have a franchise as strong and popular episodes for GTA IV have been outside of our (legal) grasp as the Grand Theft Auto line, you might as well get every for a while now. cent you can out of it. This is not a bad thing. It’s not Thankfully, Rockstar saw fit to announce the release of exploitation. It’s not unfair. It’s good business sense. these episodes as boxed games. Sure, they’re a bit late, GTA IV was a smash hit. Because of this, it’s not but better late than never. The first two episodes have surprising that Rockstar would take the title as far as they become available for sale in a collection aptly called Grand could, through the now-popular system of downloadable content. DLC allows developers to squeeze a little more out Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City. This product has issue 6 • december 2009 56

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the first two DLC episodes on it – The Lost and Damned, and the Ballad of Gay Tony. And, as the box proudly proclaims, you don’t need the original GTA IV game to play them.

Each episode adds something new to the original game dynamic. The Lost and Damned, for example, adds a management element, while the Ballad of Gay Tony expands on the socialisation first seen in the original. In the Lost and Damned, the player takes the part of a biker gang member, second in command to a leader just released from rehab and faced with a potentially explosive gang turf war. In the Ballad of Gay Tony, the player assumes the role of a business partner to a night club owner, the brawn behind the brains of the operation.

Fans will undoubtedly love these episodes, but others may want to consider getting the original game first. There are a few reasons for this.

In the first instance, the game feels very dated… a play-through of the original will put the game into a

kind of technology context for the newcomer. The second is a little more serious – while Episodes will explain new dynamics to the player, the overall control scheme is not well explained at all. The manual has a control scheme layout, of course, but the tutorial elements in the first title are absent in Episodes. It is a little unforgiving, and a little intimidating because of this. You might not need a copy of the original GTA IV to play this, but having played the original is more or less a prerequisite.

Still, it’s a good option for fans, and more time spent in Liberty City is never a bad thing. The episodes are thoroughly entertaining, even though the player doesn’t take of the role of Nico Bellic, and the action is pretty much what one would expect; complete with foul language, extreme violence, drug usage and completely off-colour commentary and themes. Fans will love it. g

Genre: Action Platforms: X360 Dev: Rockstar Nor th Pub: Rockstar Age Rating: 18 Advisory: V / L / D

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

B-

More fun to be had in Liberty City awaits fans in this official boxed expansion for the very popular Grand Theft Auto IV issue 6 • december 2009

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Ghostbusters:The Video Game

The 3rd Film Bustin’ ghosts interactive-style

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by Jimmy Glue

hosts, spirits and the paranormal have always fascinated the human psyche, which explains why we were glued to shows like Ghost Hunters and love films like Paranormal Activity, Thirteen Ghosts or any unexplainable phenomena.

The popular 80’s franchise Ghostbusters has been entertaining for more than 25 years, but instead of scaring the viewers with horrible visions, the films opted to convey their message with light-hearted humour and giant marshmallow incarnations.

The Xbox video game adaption of Ghostbusters doesn’t stray too far from the original concept, with playful bickering

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and sharp wit complimenting a solid game dynamic. Fans of the franchise will definitely fall in love with Ghostbusters: The Video Game as so many elements are borrowed from the films that it is virtually an extenuation of the storyline.

The game, like the films, stars Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson’s likenesses and voice talents, while Aykroyd and Ramis helped write some of the game’s script. Other actors who played in the films, like William Atherton, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Annie Potts, also star in the game as their original characters.

Another element that has been borrowed from the films is the original Ghostbusters soundtrack. The familiar tunes will be played during the cut-scenes, loading times and occasionally during the games, bringing back a feeling of nostalgia.

The game takes place in New York City two years after Ghostbusters II’s ending, which is roughly around 1991. The player will assume the role of the group’s latest recruit, and throughout the game, is never referred to by name, simply being called Rookie… or the new kid.

As with most games, the player will be put through a short tutorial in the beginning, but what makes the training exercise in Ghostbusters work, is that it doesn’t feel like a tutorial. Even though the player is new to the ghost busting vocation, the game treats it like just another day on the job, hunting down Slimer.

After familiarising the player with the simple and easy controls, the real ghost hunting starts.

The group is called out to the old Sedgewick Hotel, which in itself is also a bit of a training mission too. Hunting down a variety of paranormal activity, the player is given further explanations of the gear and equipment used. issue 6 • december 2009

gamecca • review

And cool equipment there is plenty of. Although the game is third-person for the majority of the time, players will be able to quickly equip their PKE meter to scan and track ghosts in first-person mode.

Apart from the awesome viewing technology, the best is yet to come.

From the start, the player is given a really cool proton pack, used to trap ghosts. During the course of the game, players will get to fire the Proton Stream, Shock Blaster, Meson Collider, and a positivelycharged Slime Blower, and the pack can be upgraded for better performance.

The graphics are stunning, with small details livening up every scene. Fans of the films will appreciate the level of detail, as the fire station Ghostbuster HQ can be explored with Genre: Action P l a t f o r m s : X 3 6 0 , P S 3 , P C , W i i , P S 2 , P S P, D S D ev : Te r m i n a l R e a l i t y Pub: Atari Age Rating: 12 Advisory: V / L

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

B

virtually every detail intact. There is one problem however; some scenes are just too dark to see what’s going on.

Players not familiar with the franchise might find the title repetitive and easy, with a certain baby-sitting element.

Although good looking and with awesome voice acting, the graphics could have been a bit better on the Xbox version, as some characters had some screen-tearing on their faces.

But true fans of the franchise will genuinely enjoy Ghostbusters: The Video Game, as it covers a whole new aspect not explored by any film. It also takes place after the conclusion of the second film, and Bill Murray himself said that the video game is “the third film”. g

Fans of the franchise will genuinely enjoy the title, but better stay away if you have no inclination to run after spirits. Finally released for other platforms too, not just the PS3. issue 6 • december 2009

59

Rabbids Go Home

Moon Mission Will a junk pile help the Rabbids get home?

R

by Brian Murdoch

abbids are a fictional species of maniacal anthropomorphic rabbits that serve as the primary antagonists in this video game. For all the pervious titles they were used as the bad guys in the Rayman series, but this time around they’re the stars of the show. This title is all about them, their sleeping patterns and their crazy ideas to travel to their home, the moon.

In fact, getting to the moon is the aim of the game, and the player will need to use the Rabbids to build a sort of “Tower of Babel”. In order to fulfil this lofty purpose, they need to steal stuff from humans. Lots and lots of stuff.

The player controls two Rabbids although a third could arguably be included. There is the Rabbid pushing a shopping cart, a Rabbid in the shopping cart collecting all the stuff, and let us not forget the Rabbid in the Wii remote.

Yip, it’s there, bouncing around and making noises from the

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speaker in your Wii remote. The player is able to shoot him out to help unlock doors, bounce humans and all sorts of other helpful stuff.

As one would assume, the humans don’t like this Rabbid plot and send the verminators in to stop the plans. The collection in the shopping cart is lost if you are injured too much, but tuba playing Rabbids along the way are there to help store stuff until the end of the stage. The player’s goal for each stage is 1000 items. Don’t worry too much about getting all 1000 items, 910 items is around what is needed to get the special XL item for that stage. These items are highlighted in white circles and are easily identified when out on the floor.

Genre: Adventure It’s quite sad to see that the P l a t f o r m s : Wi i , D S Rabbids don’t learn, because Dev: Ubisoft after every stage they pile what P u b : U b i s o f t Age Rating: 7 Advisory: None

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gamecca • review

they have on top and attempt to reach the moon. As the game continues the player is able to upgrade the shopping cart to have a speed boost, health upgrade or even for jetskiing on water.

In previous titles the ability to customise the looks of the Rabbids had no effect on the game, but here that is not so.

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

A

Changing the way your Rabbids look is reflected in the game and even the cut-scenes.

The fixed camera can become something of a pain. There is also a never-ending feeling you get from the end of every stage, each ending up with the head Rabbid sending the player off again to get more stuff. Then again, they’re not the brightest… trying to reach the moon with a junk pile, and all…

The game is simple but very addictive and funny. A lot of time can be spent creating different Rabbids costumes and saving them for later, to show off to friends. There are a few mini games included, but the main action is spent in the shopping cart… although I did spend lots of time throwing around the Rabbid in the Wii remote.

Whenever a new unique or funny item is found, there is a short video on the stupid things that the Rabbids do to get it into the cart.

The game is difficult enough for hard core gamers to have sufficient challenge, but the controls are easy enough for casual players to jump right in.

This is one for the fans… but they’ve probably bought it already. g

Controlling Rabbids is fun, but when you add a shopping cart and a range of interesting items, attacking humans and fast rides to are in for a ball. issue 6 • december 2009

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Champions Online

Feeling Super...

The superhero universe brought to life

C

by Dion Scotten

hampions Online is the massively character and start immediately but if you do multiplayer online role playing game that I think you’d be missing out on what this based on the pen and paper RPG game is all about. system, Heroes. Set in a superhero When creating your character there will be universe, players get to design their own superhero from two main things to consider; how your character will look scratch and then go on to save the planet from certain and what powers he/she will have. doom at the hands of evil doers everywhere.

First you get to choose your character’s power, which At the head of the planet’s defence is Defender and the is done by selecting a power framework. The framework league of Champions, who face off against the evil Doctor helps by guiding the player on how his character improves Destroyer and his band of super villains. Epic battles have over time. Choosing electricity, for example, starts your been fought between the two, with the near destruction character with electric bolt and chain lightning, along with of Millennium City at the centre of the conflict. Time has an innate ability called electric potential. Each new level passed since then but many believe that Doctor Destroyer reached will allow access to stronger electric powers or has been plotting his revenge and soon there will once increase the potency of the powers already chosen. again be a need for heroes to fight for good.

The depth of the game becomes apparent when you’re This plot forms the backdrop of the game, with many faced with a choice of nineteen different frameworks. Each different related missions within more than five different regions. At midgame the player gets the chance to create their character’s nemesis, in the form of a super villain and henchman. These guys will attack the character at random during the story and lead up to a nemesis showdown at game end.

The game’s character creation engine is a thing of beauty and truly allows you to create any superhero you can imagine. There is an option to randomise a issue 6 • december 2009 62

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have their own specialised powers and innate abilities, a couple of examples being fire, force, munitions, telekinesis, dual blades, might, darkness, celestial and power armour.

If you don’t like being told what to do then there’s an option to custom make your own framework, which should be reserved for the more advanced players.

There’s also a large list of travel powers to choose from, to speed up travel and generally just make your character super cool. Again, it’s your choice of how you’d like your character to be but for me fire flight has to be the coolest.

Other options available are teleportation, super speed, ice slide, earth levitation, normal flight, rocket boots, acrobatics and tunnelling. Some players could make tactical choices here and others might think along ‘character-fluff’ lines.

As for your character’s look, your imagination is the limit and you can seriously come up with the scariest, most impressive or dumbest looking superhero possible. Create a classic Iron Man (yawn) or go for something a little more comical, like a ninja teddy bear or be serious and create a badass of note.

Game play starts with a short tutorial in Millennium City and then expands into a variety of area choices, each with their own mission scope Genre: MMORPG and progression. The Platforms: PC game is huge and multiple Dev: Cryptic Studios superheroes flying, rushing Pub: Atari Age Rating: 12+ or teleporting in to assist Advisory: V each other in battle make it

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

B

truly awesome at times.

Challenge another Hero to a duel and test your characters strength in a protected area. My first duel ended badly but with practice and a good skill build you can develop a solid strategy for taking care of certain types of heroes. The cool thing about the system is that one build may be strong against some but will definitely be weak against others. This means that working in teams is a must, unless your character is incredibly powerful. The “underground circuit” provides a player versus player area for a true test in power and ability.

The graphics and rendering of each character in game is awesome. The environment is also nicely detailed and in-line with traditional comic styles. The art style works and it really has the feel of being inside a comic strip, which makes the game very cool.

Internet access is required and Champions is a pay-toplay game, with a monthly access fee. g

The MMORPG that every superhero fan has been waiting for… custom make your own superhero and take on super villains to save the world from certain destruction. issue 6 • december 2009

63

The Sims 3: World Adventures

A World of Adventure More than just new furniture…

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by Walt Pretorius making any substantial changes to the game’s overall feel or dynamic.

The Sims 2 particularly fell victim to this, and the disparity between the two kinds of expansions grew even more obvious. On one hand, some expansion added massive amounts of depth and excellent new concepts to the game, from changing seasons and higher education through to home businesses and other exciting enhancements. Others added new shirts and couches.

The value to the player in these two types of expansions was very different. The first kind would add depth to an already complex game, the other would add new elements that had no direct influence on anything but the visual side of things. Obviously, the real value lies with the former category. The latter was meant for truly obsessive fans.

So, when the first expansion for the Sims 3 was announced, fans and critics alike started wondering what kind of precedents World Adventures would be setting. Thankfully, they’ve gone in the right kind of direction and, based on what we’re seeing with World Adventures, they seem to have big plans in place for this franchise.

The expansion allows players to visit three Sim versions of real world locations: one based on France, one on Egypt and one on China. Sims can visit these places for as long as their travel visa allows, and the performance of various activities while on vacation means longer visa periods. And there is a lot to do within them.

Ostensibly, the player can interact with the locations much like they can mess around with their Sims home town. Places can be visited, people can be spoken to, and so on. The ‘Sims-isation’ of these locations has been handled wonderfully, resulting issue 6 • december 2009

he Sims, as a franchise, is a massive success story. Since the franchise was launched (almost ten years ago) around 100 million Sims branded units have been sold to an eager and very addicted fan-base. The little computer people of the Sims are an undeniable hit, a master-stroke from legendary developer Will Wright, and a great source of revenue for publisher Electronic Arts.

The fact that this series makes money is undeniable, and EA have been quick to capitalise on that fact, mainly through the release of expansion packs. These packs have, for the various titles, expanded on ideas and dynamics within the games quite nicely, for the most part.

But there have also been a few that were more obvious cash-ins… the kind of pack that added lots of new clothes, furniture, hair styles, décor and other such stuff, without

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in locations that have an authentic feel, without breaking away from the overall formula.

Visiting foreign lands, though, does not do much for the overall dynamic… after all, these are really just new locations. What makes World Adventures different, and adds to the overall experience, is the ‘adventures’ part of it. Each location will offer the player a number of tasks to perform, ranging from exploration and item collection

Genre: Simulation Platforms: PC Dev: EA Games Pub: Electronic Arts Age Rating: 12 Advisory: V / S

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

B

through to ‘tomb raiding’ and low grade puzzle solving.

These activities are very different to what we’ve seen in the Sims in the past, and may not sit well with some of the die hard fans. But, on the other hand, they add a whole new dynamic to the game, and increase its depth considerably.

Some of the systems employed might have been a little better in terms of implementation but, for the most part, World Adventures offers a fun distraction from the possible humdrum of everyday Sim life.

In addition to new activities, the expansion also introduces new skills, like martial arts and photography. These have their advantages for Sim practitioners, naturally, and add quite a bit of scope to the game when Sims are not on vacation, too. Also included are the expected new items, which range across the entire spectrum.

The Sims 3: World Adventures is an excellent departure point for the expansions to the title, and one that is filled with the promise of more great and inventive things to come.

As an overall franchise expansion, it is rather different and exciting. It affects the original title in ways that previous expansions for previous versions of the game never really did, changing the game dynamic in some significant ways while still retaining the original appeal.

Sure, the puzzles might be a bit easy, and some of the new play dynamics might take a bit of getting used to, but overall, it’s a great place to start for the Sims 3 expansions. g

Visit foreign lands, meet interesting people, and learn how to kung-fu chop them in the head… Sims style.This expansion is exactly the kind of thing we want for the Sims 3. issue 6 • december 2009

65

Wii Fit Plus

Fitter A scale with games,

for those in the plus sizes

E

by Brian Murdoch

veryone who has Wii Fit will want to know if the measurement system from metric to imperial. With most small amount of money that stores are asking for other fitness programs the first time you insert the disc it just Wii Fit Plus stand alone game will be worth it. reads the country and stays at that setting, but with Wii Those that were thinking of buying Wii Fit but took Fit Plus it reads the country every time and changes to their time about it will want to know if you should buy Wii the appropriate (or in this case inappropriate) measuring Fit and then Wii Fit Plus, separate from the balance board. standard. As a result, my wife is changing the country These question and more will be answered. to South Africa before she plays Wii Fit Plus and I am Wii Fit Plus can be found as a standalone for about changing it back at night to play online. half the price of a normal Wii game, as well as bundled On to the new features and game included in Wii Fit with the Wii Balance board. Wii Fit Plus. There are more Plus is a replacement for Wii Fit, exercises added to “The additions to the with additional features and games. the strength and yoga strength and yoga It’s like a Windows XP install disc classes, more mini exercises, coupled with the that has service pack 3 on it… the games added, a calorie customisation features, give counter, customisable Windows XP software is there and there is just a bit more added. If you you great flexibility with workouts, and even the have played (or, hopefully, exercised) your workouts” function to weigh babies on Wii Fit, the Mii, all of your progress and fat rolls will still be there in Wii Fit Plus. It even looks the same!

So, if you don’t have a Wii Balance board then this is a no brainer and you’ll buy the Wii Fit Plus bundle.

I was hoping that some of the issues that I had with Wii Fit would be fixed in this version but unfortunately a few are still there. I would not call these bugs, just tweaks that Nintendo did not think about. In South Africa, if you want to play online and use Wii24Connect feature you need to change your country to UK or US. This changes your issue 6 • december 2009 66

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and pets without having to work out the difference manually. [Useful if your shi-tzu has an eating disorder – ed] The additions to the strength and yoga exercises, coupled with the customisation features, give you great flexibility with your workouts.

Via the “Wii Fit Plus Routines” and “My Routines” sections, you can pick the sections that suit your mood or the required workout. The player can play some of the mini-games, target a body area or even custom-build a workout to suit their tastes.

The brightest bonus with the Wii Fit Plus comes through in the multiplayer mode. There is no more going back the character section page to switch between players to compete in a game. This section expects the G e n r e : E x e r c i s e player to be accompanied by other P l a t f o r m s : W i i players. It might be the brightest Dev: Nintendo point, but it still has its good and bad Pub: Nintendo points. There are nine challenging Age Rating: 3 A d v i s o r y : N o n e games to choose from, including

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

B-

the really humiliating ones, but why not just a few more?

And the scores from your single player sessions are not displayed, and are not ready to be challenged in the multiplayer. It’s easy to get into, though... Mii avatars are all that are required, and can be selected from a list to be used in the multiplayer sessions.

All in all, Wii Fit Plus will cost you a bit more than other exercise programs and tools for the Wii, but with a good diet and constant use it will really help with the weight goals that you have. g

It could be covered in a very large service pack to Wii Fit but Nintendo don’t do that sort of thing. If you don’t have a Wii Balance board, buy this one and not Wii Fit. issue 6 • december 2009

67

Torchlight

A Flickering Flame An awesome dungeon crawler from the designers of Diablo I and II

I

and creatures, as expected.

The player chooses which character class to play and then sets off into the dungeons, along with his trusty pet, to fight off monsters and collect as much loot as possible. Class choices are the Destroyer, who is the melee warrior, the Alchemist, who is the mage and the Vanquisher, who is the ranged weapon specialist. Each class has three different skill trees and the player may choose skills from any tree as he levels up, resulting in a huge range of character builds.

Choose either a dog or a cat as a pet while creating your character, which can be set to aggressive or passive ingame, depending on player style. As the character levels up, so does the pet. Magical rings and a necklace can be worn by the pet and two spells may be learned, which it will cast on its own. The player can send his pet back to town to sell items to free up inventory space, making the pet really useful and not just a cosmetic ally. [I wonder if I can train my cat to run shop errands? – ed] Additionally, feeding your pet fish caught at random fishing spots will transform it into another creature with new abilities.

The animation and art style of the game is cartoony and less “serious”, but still deliver beautiful detail to each map environment, item and creature. I personally prefer gritty, realistic graphics [because you’re such a gritty, realistic dude – ed] so I wasn’t too sure until I played the game. I have to admit it works and doesn’t affect the game’s feel at all; the maps are awesome, with varying depths visible during play, showing an issue 6 • december 2009

t has been a long time since Diablo came and went and with the sequel not on the horizon yet, Runic Games saw an opportunity and took it. From the Schaefer brothers of Diablo fame and Travis Baldree of Fate, along with the team from Mythos, comes Torchlight, the latest addition to the fantasy action RPG genre.

The town of Torchlight is the centre of the plot, where a large deposit of a mysterious ore called Ember has been discovered. Ember possesses magical properties, depending on its type, and many adventurers are drawn to the town, dreaming of riches and power.

The game maps are randomised, ensuring a near unique gaming experience each time you play. It has that hook that Diablo had and you can’t help feeling like just playing one more level, getting some more XP to level up or trying to trade for a more powerful item build. Loot lovers will not be disappointed, as plenty of common, magical, rare, slottable and set-items are randomly dropped by chests

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impressive amount of attention to detail by the developers.

A hardcore option is available from the start and remember, it means that when your character “dies”, it will not be playable any longer. Finishing the game for the first time opens the “infinite dungeon” for all subsequent characters created. Unlimited maps and levels are randomly generated, with creatures and items in line with your character’s level. No more repeating the same old story line… just to build a new character.

There is no LAN play or online multiplayer unfortunately, which is the game’s only downfall in my opinion, the reason being that the developers would have needed extra months to program it in and they are already working on the MMO version. Even though I love the multiplayer aspect, I guess I prefer having only the single to having to wait… some more.

At the moment the game is only available for download from torchlightgame.com or their partners, of which Steam is one. The boxed game should be available in early 2010 but if

you have an internet connection, you’ll find the download painless and very affordable, with a price tag of only 19.95 USD. (I know!)

Runic Games have also released a free content editor along with the game, which allows the player to create his own levels, items, creatures, spells and maps. It comes with tutorials, but probably needs a fair amount technical knowledge to pull it off - never the less, that’s way too much power for any hardcore player to turn down. Upload your content onto the website for others to download and add to their games.

Torchlight is an awesome game that is guaranteed to steal hours from your life, so play it at your own peril. The price is ridiculously low for the quality you’re getting and for many of us it’s the answer to a prayer. g

Genre: Action RPG Platforms: PC Dev: Runic Games P u b : P e r f e c t Wo r l d E n t e r t a i n m e n t I n c Age Rating: 16+ Advisory: V

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

A

An action RPG made by arguably the best in the business, sporting a fully randomised environment for hours of mindless destruction. issue 6 • december 2009

69

Need for Speed Nitro

Old School NFS returns to more arcade-style sentiments for the Wii

T

by Walt Pretorius

hrough the years, we have seen many different things from the Need for Speed franchise. We have seen a game dedicated entirely to the Porsche brand. We have seen cops trying to stop speedsters. We have seen track based action. We have seen intense rivalries play themselves out against the backdrop of illicit street racing activities. We have seen realism. We have seen arcade-style action. We’ve seen almost everything that a racing game can offer, including visual and performance customisation, massive stables of cars and a whole bunch of other stuff. And, through the years, we have either liked them, or loathed them.

What we haven’t seen is multiple specifically for the Wii. releases on differing platforms. Each Yes, there have been other NFS games released for Need for Speed title that was released came out pretty Nintendo’s console, but these all felt like afterthoughts much across the range of platforms, but they were always – ports of varying quality that were beaten to fit the Wii’s linked in name and idea. That has just changed. abilities and controller. None of them felt as though they A few months ago, a reboot of the main Need for Speed had the original intention of being a Wii title. And, most series was released in the form of Shift. With this title, likely, they didn’t. the developers and publishers looked towards a more But Nitro is different. This game was built specifically serious, more realistic experience. This sort of left the for the Wii, with all considerations in terms of game casual players – those who wanted a more arcade style dynamics, control and everything else trimmed for the Wii experience – a little out in the cold. While Shift released for from the word go. That makes quite a difference to the multiple platforms, it didn’t release for all of them. Notably, the Wii was not on the release roster. But that was because overall performance of the game, as well as to the feel and execution of the title.

EA had a card up their sleeve.

Sadly, it’s not the perfect Wii racer – not yet, at least. It The release of Need for Speed Nitro is a first for two is a very good starting point, and one that speaks of great main reasons. It is, as discussed above, the first time things to come in future endeavours along this line. that a Need for Speed game has been released under a The cars themselves are well modelled, although there different name, with a different concept, almost at exactly seems to have been a bit of creative license applied here the release time of another Need for Speed game. But it and there. The game features 30 cars in total, based on is also the first Need for Speed title that has been crafted issue 6 • december 2009 70

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real world machines. These cars can be collected and modified by the player.

That brings up a point in which Nitro really shines – the visual customisation of vehicles. The system is surprisingly capable, and easy to use. The lack of online multiplayer makes it seem like a pointless pursuit at times, though – you can’t go out and share your creations with the world.

You can share it in other types of multiplayer, though, so this isn’t a complete loss.

The controls are fairly solid, and offer the player a lot of variety in terms of controller type. Digging out the old GameCube controller may prove a bit frustrating, as the game won’t allow you to remap controls.

On the whole, it’s a fun experience, tending towards a more casual, arcade style of game dynamics. The cops are back, and are playable as well – very much along the lines of the Hot Pursuit NFS titles – and the action is fast paced. The game exaggerates a lot, including the sense of speed.

Additionally, the physics are far too arcade-like to allow a realistic driving experience. This extends further, becoming a problem in drifting.

Genre: xxx P l a t f o r m s : Wi i Drifts are very tough Dev: EA Games to get right in this Pub: Electronic Arts game, with the Age Rating: A controls not having Advisory: None

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

the expected effect on the performance of the car.

The biggest issue, though, is the implementation of the in-game camera. It’s nasty. The camera tends to be largely unresponsive and sluggish, and is locked to a single viewpoint (the traditional behind and slightly above one, to be specific.) The player will have more than one disastrous accident, thanks to the camera hiding details. When employing nitrous in drag races, things get even worse.

The camera pulls in low and close to the back of the car, making steering very difficult indeed.

While the game isn’t perfect, it is a good racer none the less, and a solid new entry for both the Wii platform and the Need for Speed franchise. g

C

Nitro is the first Need for Speed game specifically made for the Wii, and although it has problems, it’s a good start.

And it’s good fun, too. issue 6 • december 2009

71

Tropico 3

Viva!

El Presidente returns

after far too long away

T

by Walt Pretorius

he original Tropico, which we and a host of other considerations (even reviewed in a previous issue as including promoting tourism). In addition, the part of a budget pack, was released people themselves are divided into different several years ago, and proved to be factions, and the player will likely have an a very entertaining management title. Now, Kalypso have interesting time trying to balance the levels of unhappiness released the third Tropico game, steering away from the that opposing factions feel. The Communists are opposed pirate theme of the first sequel and returning to the world of to the Capitalists, the Religious are opposed banana-republic politics. to the Intellectuals, and so on.

The premise of the game is very simple; the player And they’re always unhappy. The player takes on the role of El Presidente, the leader of a fictional may be taking the part of an unreasonable Caribbean republic during the terrifying years of the Cold leader who pads his own pockets, employs War. The game is far from terrifying, though. Even though secret police and fixes elections (all of which the player has to balance the questionable attentions of are options within the game) but the people aren’t exactly the USA and USSR in a careful political dance (which, easy to please, either. And with each election the player let’s be honest, must have been a pretty scary prospect) wins, they will expect more from him… and despite the fact that the power base of the player’s So back to those all important elections again. When character is the kind of crumbling edifice that is chipped the time comes, the player can prepare a speech, based away by rebels and dissidents constantly, the game is very tongue in cheek.

Seeing this new instalment in this series is rather gratifying - the original game was massive amounts of fun, but it predated the almost-mandatory use of high end 3D graphics. In fact, it was a little ugly (although not really at the time of release) and didn’t offer the player the kind of complexity and flexibility that new technology allows.

In running the island paradise, the player really has one primary goal – to stay in power. One might assume that the player could just assume the role of ‘dictator-for-life’ (goodness knows that enough real-world people have done just that) but the virtual citizens of the player’s republic will pretty much demand elections every five years. So, while padding a personal ‘retirement fund’ in a Swiss bank account, the player will still need to take care of the people. That means housing, health care, entertainment, environmental issues, job provision issue 6 • december 2009 72

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on predetermined options, to try and win over a few votes during the year of campaigning up to ballot-time. He can also pass edicts (although this can be done at any time in the game) to try and capture a few more hearts and minds.

And, if push comes to shove, he can fix the election results.

The same kind of principle applies to international policy.

The player can promote immigrants coming to his country (although the Nationalists will have a lot to say about that) or can shut them out. He can also bounce between superpowers, running to one bully when the other starts applying pressure.

It’s a lot to do, and a lot to consider – which is exactly what management game fans want. Added to everything is the character of El Presidente himself, now represented by an avatar that the player Genre: Management can send anywhere on the Platforms: PC D e v : H a e m i m o n t G a m e s island for various reasons.

Pub: Kalypso The player has a choice Age Rating: 16 of in-game versions of Advisory: V

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

B

numerous tropical and Latin dictators, or can create their own.

The biggest difference players will see in this, if they played the previous games, comes in the form of the huge graphic overhaul that the series has enjoyed. The graphics are crisp, clear and detailed, supporting even the highest resolutions without any problem. The controls are simple enough, with the game being almost entirely mousedriven. And the sound is great too… the radio announcer’s comments are often bitingly funny (although the non-stop barrage of Latin music got on my nerves after a while.)

On the whole, Tropico 3 is a fun, fairly well balanced management title that is worth the effort. Its humour is quite politically incorrect at times, but the free form nature of the game (particularly in sand box mode) will get even the most sensitive politico planning furiously to stay in control of a little piece of paradise. g

Being president can be fun, but there is a lot to do to make sure that you don’t end up the victim of a rebel coup… or foreign super-powers. issue 6 • december 2009

73

Planet 51

The Human Alien GTA in space… for kids… kind of…

S

by Brian Murdoch

omewhere far, far away, there is a place where life is simple and children are care-free and everything is pleasant, but something strange is coming to Planet 51.

Planet 51 is a white picket-fence world reminiscent of 1950s America. Life is simple and everything is happy, safe and predictable... until the unpredictable happens…

Out of the blue, Captain Charles “Chuck” Baker’s spaceship comes crashing down. Unaware of his surroundings, Chuck begins to realise that he is not alone.

Taking refuge while planning his return home, Chuck meets green-skinned local, Lem, and realise that he is the real ‘alien’ after all!

The player must try and outrun the Planet 51 police and

army, finding Chuck’s spaceship and help him get off the planet and return home to Earth.

This raises the issue of movie-based games being generally sub-standard. The games don’t require any more advertising and effort from the distributor because the movie is being advertised and people are watching it. While Planet 51 doesn’t stand out much, it is better than the average movie game. If you enjoyed the movie or like the idea of the movie, add some racing into it and you’ll enjoy the game.

Initially, the game follows a free-form, sand box style of play, with the player getting missions from inhabitants around town. The player is a good guy, so don’t expect stealing, shooting and strip clubs (a-la GTA), as this game has none. Stealing cars is replaced with vehicle dispensers that are placed around the town to produce the player’s collection of vehicles.

The collection only grows with completing missions. The vehicles get damaged but they can be taken to a repair spot to fix them up.

A GTA style GPS is there to direct the player in between missions and during missions.

The GPS is a little iffy, though… it only indicates exact routes and sometimes springs a turn on you at the last minute.

Racing controls are good Genre: Racing P l a t f o r m s : X 3 6 0 , P S 3 , Wi i , D S Dev: Pyro Studios Pub: Sega Age Rating: A Advisory: None

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enough, but don’t beat the other Wii racing games out there. I was very impressed to see that the racing controls and walking controls are the same and the player does not have to adjust to the different actions, making for a smoother gaming experience.

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

C+

Most of the missions are in the form of a race. Races in cars, racing to get papers delivered on a bicycle, or running to save a comic book… they’re all movement based. The paper boy runs reminded me of the old “Paper Boy” game… here they just added more control over the throw, with good throws giving you more time and the bad throws penalising the clock.

The favourite and not so favourite characters from the movie are included in the game. The heroes Chuck and Lem are a given, and beneath the green skin of Lem there beats that heart of a hero.

Rover, Skiff, Neera, General Grawl, Professor Kipple, Eckle and Glar are all there to help, or to need help from, the player.

Multiplayer is limited to only two players split screen. It would have been nicer if the developers had included support for 4 players, because the only requirement is a Wii remote per player. The multiplayer games are fun though, from a simple race, to car crusher (a destruction derby where the winner is the last man standing) Push and Win, and hot-bomb, in which the player needs to pass a bomb before it goes off.

The game looks good and, having experienced the game before the movie, I am looking forward to seeing the film.

As a plus, the game is pretty funny, too. g

It’s the official game of the movie and it does a good job of it by sticking to one genre with only a little extra added.

It’s good fun for the whole family. issue 6 • december 2009

75

CSI: Deadly Intent

Clue Hunting It’s all about the evidence

B

by Walt Pretorius

at gamers. From what I can tell, they’re eing a game reviewer can be aimed at housewives (for something to do challenging at times – it isn’t just between the chores) and retired people (for about playing games. Sometimes, something to do, period.) And, of course, just sometimes, you have to try fans of the show (who, I am and think like someone you’re “Search the crime scene to willing to bet, are mostly not. And that can be difficult. gather evidence. Interview Injecting yourself into the housewives and retired mindset of a particular game’s witnesses and suspects. Play people.) I am not really a a few lab based mini-games. fan of the show – I used to target market can be tough.

OK, for the most part that Point the finger. Case closed” be, but I got a little jaded with the formula. I am not a happens with kids’ games, housewife. And although I which isn’t too bad because might be older than most people reading this, I am not of a) you get used to it and b) I have actually never grown up. retirement age yet – even if I was, I would probably find But there are other times that it becomes quite a trick to stuff to do. Still, I will admit to having enjoyed the CSI video pull off. Like, for example, with the CSI series. games. They’re not particularly challenging, and even when These games, based on the very popular TV series, you manage to figure out who the perpetrator in the cases aren’t aimed at kids. And they’re most certainly not aimed you investigate is, you have to gather the right kind of evidence.

The thing is, though, that the games – like the series – are getting a bit old now. We have seen this time and again, the same formula over and over.

Five cases, with the fifth case tying in to at least one of the earlier four. A cast member to help you along the way and give you advice. Really nasty puns.

There is very little new here.

If anything is different, it is the fact that the games just keep getting easier. No, I do not consider myself a super sleuth… the point is that the games have declined in challenge levels since they went 3D a few years ago. And, considering the level of graphics, they might as well go back to being 2D, because they looked better.

See, each case is worked into a basic formula.

Search the crime scene to gather evidence.

Interview witnesses and suspects. Play a few lab based mini-games. Point the finger. Case closed. issue 6 • december 2009 76

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Sure, sometimes you may have multiple locations to investigate, or might have to go back and forth a bit, but the formula is largely identical over every case (and every game in the series thus far.)

Now, had any of these areas been a little more challenging, my opinion might have been different.

But hunting evidence is as difficult as sweeping the mouse all over the screen and watching for when the cursor turns blue. This was harder in previous games (believe it or not) but now they mark where you find the evidence… although this is a bit more realistic, it also means that you won’t need to re-sweep areas already covered. Interviewing people is as difficult as asking every possible question (a little cause and effect might G e n r e : P u z z l e r have helped Platforms: PC here) and the Dev: Ubisoft lab work, although revamped for this Pub: Ubisoft A g e R a t i n g : 1 6 instalment, is hardly rocket science.

So, the game looks rotten and is Advisory: V / D

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

D+

too easy. Sure, target market, target market… but come on, give people a little credit. Someone who is smart enough to use a TV remote should be able to handle a little more challenge and if they can’t, well, tough. Games are meant to challenge us. Games aren’t meant to be a case of click, click, click, hey presto!

The series is declining because, I believe, the developers have lost touch with who is playing the game. Then again, maybe I just can’t put myself into the right mindset… g

If all CSI investigators could rely on a cursor that changes when hovered over clues, the world would be a much safer place. Simpler, too. issue 6 • december 2009

77

Spore Hero

A New Home Become a castaway on an alien world

I

by Walt Pretorius for moving onto other platforms. We have already seen Spore on the DS and, with the release of Spore Hero, can now experience the game (or, at least, the theme) on Nintendo’s Wii. The idea is a good one, and the game is fun to play.

However, there are three points that make it less than it could have been, resulting in rather a lot of frustration and, once again, disappointment.

Spore Hero tasks the player with creating a creature that has crash landed on an alien planet. The creature’s nemesis is on the same world, and is spreading evil red rocks around the place. The main aim of the game is for the player to guide their creature around the world and to destroy these red rocks.

The player can create the creature in any way they like – much like Spore on PC – and will evolve as the game progresses, earning new body parts as things continue.

Sure, the graphics aren’t as hot as the PC version, but they’re still bright, colourful and detailed. A little too detailed, perhaps…

This is where the first problem comes in. The vibrant and colourful world puts the Wii through its paces alright, but when combat takes place, the paces just don’t cut it. Smaller battles are ok, but larger fights suffer from frame rate issues and even lag. The player needs to take a fairly tactical approach to combat, but when the Wii struggles to keep up, the whole affair gets a little ugly, with moves stacking up and making the whole thing a bit tiresome.

The second issue arises from the mini-games outside of combat. These are Genre: Adventure very simple, using a SimonP l a t f o r m s : Wi i Dev: Maxis Says system of posing and other P u b : E l e c t r o n i c A r t s performances to win new items Age Rating: A from other creatures. It’s all fine Advisory: None and well, except that they tend issue 6 • december 2009

t seems that disappointments is set to follow the Spore franchise for all of its days. Don’t get me wrong – I actually enjoy Spore. But the promises that were made left gamers feeling sorely disappointed when the final version hit the PC last year. Still, that didn’t stop the game from becoming a hit, or from becoming one of the most widely pirated games of all time.

Spore’s main problem was that it was so ambitious.

To deliver fully on everything that was ‘promised’ for the game would have been almost impossible, and so the five stages of the game lacked depth. Perhaps the developers should have released the various sections of the game as expansions, and put a little more time into them. But it’s no use crying over spilled milk, I suppose, and the game is proving popular with the more casual set.

In typical Maxis tradition (one that was started with The Sims) Spore is set for a number of expansions, as well as

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even hit the shelves. While you can create unique creatures in Spore Hero, the game has absolutely no online functionality. So your creations will stay on your Wii only, which is rather sad.

Once again, the game is just a little less than it should be. Still, it’s fun, despite the weaknesses to the overall product, and the lively world is populated with tons of interesting creatures for the player to interact with. There’s a lot to do, as well, so it will keep players busy for a good long time. The original game’s sense of humour makes an appearance too, and the creatures the player will encounter in Spore Hero are even more overstated and extroverted than they were in the PCto be a little too simplistic, and some based title.

“The original game’s sense of of them are there just to extend the In the end, Spore experience – doing the same thing humour makes an appearance Hero will be what over and over again gets a bit much. too, and the creatures the the player makes The third issue is one that goes player will encounter in Spore it – it’s not a weak against the spirit of the game entirely. game, but it does One of the reasons Spore did so well Hero are even more overstated have flaws that will on PC came from the fact that people and extroverted than they put the less patient were in the PC-based title.” could share their creations online, players off, without populating the Spore universe with a doubt. But it is millions and millions of unique creatures before the game a good start, and shows some inventiveness on the part of the developers. Perhaps the next Wii Spore game will Reviewer’s Rating: address a few of Spore Hero’s issues. We certainly hope Hardcore < > Casual so. g

C

Spore Hero is not a perfect game - it has some major flaws - but it is still fun, and a fairly good start for the franchise on the Wii platform issue 6 • december 2009

79

Wipeout HD Fury

Speed It’s just getting

faster and faster…

I

by Matthew Vice

tried, I really did, but I can’t do it - I simply cannot there’s also the online play, which is pretty write about the latest and greatest Wipeout game self explanatory – allowing players to race without mentioning how the series defined the against opponents from around the world. futuristic racing sub-genre back when it was released And of course, there’s also a split screen in 95. There. Anyway, after Wipeout’s success, most mode for a slightly more personal head-tofuturistic racers have tried to do better while sticking the head race against another player on the same formula it established: blistering speed, colourful scimachine, offering the option to split the screen fi visuals, a smattering of combat and dreamy techno horizontally or vertically. soundtracks.

The different race types include Single Race, which is Some of the imitators have been great and others a mad dash to the finish line against several opponents less so, but in 2008 developer Studio Liverpool released – with or without weapons; Time Attack, which tests players Wipeout HD, a downloadable game which proved that, abilities to finish a set number of laps within a certain time; when it comes to sheer speed, smoothness, quality of Speed Lap, which allows players several laps to set one design and refinement, Wipeout simply can’t be beat. exceptional lap time; and the bizarre Zone, which is a mode Wipeout HD saw rave reviews and it’s hard to argue, the in which players race around a track while their speed game simply plays so smoothly and the sense of speed gradually increases, testing how long they can keep going and technical satisfaction is intoxicating. before they blow up from ultimately hitting too many walls.

If you’ve never played a Wipeout game before, then The trick to racing in Wipeout HD is that the vehicles are Wipeout HD is the ideal time to start. The idea is simple: hovercraft instead of cars, and they handle quite differently Players are put in the pilot seat of an incredibly fast, to what most racing fans are accustomed to. While there is futuristic hovercraft and left to race across several a certain degree of generic racing skill that can be carried stunningly designed tracks in a variety of different race over, it’s the proper use of the crafts’ airbrakes that will types. An extensive campaign full of racing tournaments mean the difference between first place and a distant allows players to second or third. progress through Pressing down on the game, unlocking either the L2 or R2 new tracks, vehicles, trigger causes a liveries and other braking force on bonuses as they go. either the left or right Any unlocked content wing of the craft, can be accessed in the causing it to veer Racebox mode, where sharply in either players can race in direction. Using any event on any this allows the craft track in any vehicle to take incredibly of their choosing. For sharp corners at confident players, breakneck speeds issue 6 • december 2009 80

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Genre: Racing Platforms: PS3 Dev: Studio Liverpool Pub: SCE Age Rating: 7 Advisory: None – but it’s not as easy as it sounds, and there’s more technique to it than you’d think at first. Littered on each track are a number of Boost pads, which temporarily boost the speed of any craft that passes over them. Figuring out a good racing line that hits as many of these boost pads as possible is another key strategy to being a successful racer.

Then there’s also the use of weapons and powerups - in the races that allow them - which let players secure victory in a more aggressive way, by sending rockets and guided missiles after their opponents, shaking the track with earthquakes, giving themselves a prolonged boost of speed, and sucking the shield energy out of a nearby opponent to name but a few. Be careful though, because your opponents can do the same to you.

All of this high-speed racing mayhem takes place on wildly varied, beautifully designed tracks. Each track has its own look and theme, and often a highlight feature of some kind, like a section that winds through a shopping mall or around the midsection of giant panda statue. The vehicles are also great to look at and intricately designed, in addition to having their own handling characteristics.

They also feature a few liveries for players to unlock to make them look even cooler.

And as if all this wasn’t enough, Studio Liverpool saw fit to grace us with an expansion not long after the initial release: Wipeout HD: Fury. This upgrade introduced several stunning new tracks, a roster of new vehicles and a handful of brand new race types for players to enjoy.

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

A+

The highlights of these new modes include Eliminator, a combat-focused mode where the first racer to reach a certain amount kill points wins; Zone Battle, which takes the Zone concept a step further by pitting racers against each other in a contest to be the last survivor in a race where the speed increases constantly; and Detonator, an interesting new mode where a single racer is charged with racing around a mine-laden track, destroying the mines with machine guns and EMP blasts in an attempt to be as fast, accurate and thorough as possible.

With all of this to offer in addition to its silky smooth game-play, it’s easy to see why Wipeout HD and Wipeout HD: Fury are still the benchmark by which all futuristic racers will be measured. The games are still available on the PlayStation Network, if you’d like to download them – or if you’d prefer, you can now buy them both on a single Bluray disc for an incredibly reasonable price. So what are you waiting for? g

Futuristic racing doesn’t get any faster, smoother or just plain classy than this - Wipeout once again defines the genre. Buy it now. issue 6 • december 2009

81

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

Challenge Mii Can Mario beat Sonic in a downhill ski race?

M

lets the player do all the different activities that have been unlocked, and finally there’s the festival mode. Festivals mode puts the player into the Winter Games… this is where the single player will spend most of their time, playing through each day and having tasks to do like training sessions, events and even boss battles. Points are earned during the events to spend at the in-game store, to buy clothing, information, and music tracks. The player’s Mii can be dressed with different items of clothing. The clothing is very generic and there was not much that one would go wow over. My favourite was the music tracks.

During the boss battles you are put up against an “evil” character from the related character stories and the player has to beat them in the Olympic event of their choosing.

There are issues with the controls, though. These controls are far more involved than the average Wii Fit game equivalent but... there is a lot of ‘waggle’ involved in the control scheme and sometimes there are problems arising from the controls not following the players instructions fully. Don’t think that this detracted from the game at all; if anything it improved the competitive nature of the game because players cannot master the exact science and controls to win all the time [seriously? – ed]. Unlike the previous title, this one includes support for the balance board, which works very well.

There is a built-in weather system that was seen in the issue 6 • december 2009

ario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is the follow-on from Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Believe it or not, this collaborative license game is actually an officially licensed product for the Winter Olympics coming up next year in Vancouver.

This game would not be for the hard core gamer (other than a Mario or Sonic super-fan that needs every game that they are in). This title would suit more of a casual gamer, particularly when having friends around to party play.

There are a few modes to the game for the single player.

Training mode does not record stats, but teaches the player how to do the different events. A singles match

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latest Wii Tiger Woods game, but this did not work for me in South Africa. It is supposed to match up with the weather in Vancouver and be the same at the event that the player is playing at [which would be a tragedy during Canada’s summer months – ed]. With the full Mii integration and all the medals and awards, the game can lead to some long practise sessions to improve scores. The Mii’s reputation depends on it, and the fact that your friend’s Mii is shown laughing at your lower score does not help.

The dream events are a great addition to the standard events. These events add a twist, with the Mario Kart and Super Mario Galaxy skins in regular Olympic events. These are unlocked as the player continues through the festival mode and are playable from the front menu as well.

The multiple events that are available are not deep.

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

B+

Genre: Sport P l a t f o r m s : Wi i , D S Although some are very Dev: SEGA addictive they will not replace Pub: SEGA the stand alone titles, which Age Rating: 3+ Advisory: None are dedicated to single sports.

They are, however, very action based and get the players going… and as a bonus, this is a great title for the family and girl friend as the character and actions are well-known and easy to relate to.

While collectors will most certainly snap this title up, it is also of great value to the more casual, social gamers out there. g

Good fun, with a great range of Olympic Games, winter style.This expands on the previous Olympic Games title, and is a good social game. issue 6 • december 2009

83

Katamari Forever

Rolling On This one definitely gathers moss… and everything else

T

by Walt Pretorius

he King of the Cosmos has lost his memories, prize for completing levels are silly little movies that are thanks to his weirdly shaped head being beaned totally unamusing and irrelevant, either to the game or the by a star, and the robot built to replace him world at large. accidentally destroyed all the other stars. So the Still, the game can be fun, once the player gets to wrap Prince, controlled by the player, their head around the strange control has to help collect all kinds of scheme. The player moves the ball by “It seems as though stuff to make new stars, and using the two analogue sticks on the the game was return the King’s memory… I PS3 controller, much like the theoretical put together by a think. steering of an old style tank. Both up development team Katamari Forever is, on the for forward, both down for back, and a that accidentally surface, a puzzle game that variety of other move combinations for involves the player rolling around overdosed on their quite a versatile set of manoeuvres. A a ball that gathers up everything prescription drugs ” few other moves, like dashes and quick it touches (everything that is turns, are also available. But things smaller than it is, of course.) And I mean everything. Coins, pencils, sushi, rabbits, pencils, paper clips, diamond rings, toy blocks, even people and animals if it gets big enough. That’s the surface, and if it doesn’t sound weird enough already, it seems as though the game was put together by a development team that accidentally overdosed on their prescription drugs – or have a good source for illegal psychotropics. The presentation makes almost no sense, with a sort of heavy handed existentialist theme that is totally nonsensical.

I have no problem with existentialism.

Really, I don’t. But nonsense is nonsense, and this game is full of it. Dialogue boxes are filled with meaningless prattle that tries to be amusingly arty but rather just results in a headache. Concepts within the game are often so foreign that they go beyond making any kind of sense at all. And the issue 6 • december 2009 84

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aren’t quite as easy as all that. The areas the player explores and gathers stuff in are littered with obstacles and hindrances. Additionally, as the ball grows and new objects are added to its mass, it becomes misshapen, and rolls differently. And finally, sometimes the controls are just plain unresponsive. An upward flip of the motion sensitive Sixaxis controller theoretically causes the Prince and his Katamri ball to jump, but it only works maybe two out of

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

C+

every three times.

Combined with a nasty camera, this doesn’t make playing the game easy – particularly when considering that most of the challenges have a very limited time for completing.

A game like this is a true oddity.

While it doesn’t seem to have many redeeming qualities – the graphics are sub-standard, the controls iffy, the sound almost puerile and the whole presentation looks like something out of a bad acid trip – the dynamic of the game is very addictive. I guess it goes a long way to prove that age old argument that dynamics are more important than looks, but the average gamer who sees this one being played will probably head in the direction of something flashier in the visuals department.

This game probably does really well in the Far East, but it’s viability in a Western market is questionable. Yes, there are those that will love it, and it could potentially be something of a cult classic. Yes, the game dynamic is appealing, and the game is simple to play. But the overall Genre: Puzzle Platforms: PS3 package is what is raising the D e v : N a m c o B a n d a i question in my mind. It will most P u b : N a m c o B a n d a i certainly never be anything but a Age Rating: 3 niche game here. If that. g Advisory: None

It’s an addictive game, yes, but you may need to be on some very heavy drugs to not get a headache from it’s very strange flavour. issue 6 • december 2009

85

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

All in the Keys The Disney and Square Enix collaboration is back

T

by Brian Murdoch

memories. This is the 358 days that he was in ‘the he real beauty of fads is that they are completely, organisation’ for before Kingdom Hearts II. This is all the utterly exploitable. Some fads haven’t been player really needs to know about the other stories to play exploited very heavily, but others have been this game. The story in short and is about this 9 to 12 year milked for all they are worth. And to start such old boy and how he joins an organisation and is trained milking activities, all the creators of the fads need to do to use the special weapon is appeal to kids. Just look at Pokemon. There was a “Square Enix always amaze that only he has. It is a giant time where you couldn’t look key that can be used to me with what they can get capture “hearts” after killing anywhere without seeing some monsters. The main quest of kind of Pokemon paraphernalia out of a DS game. This game the organization is to gather somewhere, and the stuff is still looks good and is presented as many hearts so they can selling. well, and sound quality is to enter the real world in a This is the latest addition in also excellent. ” human form. the Kingdom Hearts series and Starting off in the game is the filler between Kingdom the player goes through a long tutorial, in the guise of the Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II. In first few days and missions. The player will need to work Chain of Memories a boy starts off with no previous through these missions, which will take around oneand-a-half hours.

After the tutorial, the story does continue, but is also slow to take off and only in the last few hours of the game does it get really interesting. If the game was badly designed this would be an irritating factor, but luckily there is enough good in the title to keep you playing on.

There is a panel system in the game that controls the character in more ways than one. This panel starts off with only a few slots available, but grows as the player progresses through the days or missions. The player will keep all their preparation items in these slots for quick access, as well as their spells for easy casting.

G e n r e : R o l e P l ay i n g The player also keep Platforms: DS Dev: Square Enix their “level up’s”, and Pub: Square Enix the character can be Age Rating: 12 downgraded to store Advisory: V more items for the issue 6 • december 2009 86

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mission ahead.

There are multiple ways of controlling the camera movement in game, the stylus being the hardest.

There are two main control schemes.

The second control scheme option is only available after doing the first couple of missions, so the player learns some controls first before choosing… but the second scheme is by far my favourite.

The Disney characters are not shown much and sometimes there is no interaction with them at all. The game is very child friendly as there is no killing of people… just monsters.

The bulk of the game is in the long single player mode, but there is a local multiplayer side to things as well. Up to 4 players can go through some of the missions together and get unity badges.

Saving can only be done in special grey areas, inbetween missions. This is where the DS close-the-lid-and-

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

B

pause feature will come up as very useful, because some missions can be very long.

Square Enix always amaze me with what they can get out of a DS game. This game looks good and is presented well, and sound quality is also excellent. This is paired with a great story even if we don’t fully understand it.

This game will keep you going for a long time. g

It’s a great game for the fans of Kingdom Hearts, but also for non-fans… it offers a lot of depth and a long, interesting story. issue 6 • december 2009

87

World of Zoo

Pat of Animal Names don’t have to make sense, do they?

S

by Brian Murdoch of animal families are available in all versions, with small differences in features.

The controls for the game are very simple and quick to learn. There are a few short cuts that can be read in the manual or found out by accident, like being able to touch the item in the thought bubble of the animal and having it selected in the inventory section, without having to go through lists of items.

The customisation and ability to create your own types of animal is very impressive and deep. The animal creator feature is limitless in the variety of animals that can be made. Change the colour, shape, size and even add bits of fluff, with more than 20 animal exhibits to choose from. Make a monkey from mars, or change a penguin’s hair cut… the player can even make a giant lion with funny colour patterns to rule the zoo. After designing the animal, the player is able to give it one of the few different personalities available, like playful, sleepy, hungry, temperamental or friendly. Finish off the animals with personalised names and place them into the zoo. Some of the families that the player can choose from are Bears, Big Cats, Canids, Koalas, Small Primates, Reptiles and much more.

After players create their custom animals they are able to develop a special relationship with them.

Playing with them is a good idea, but so is feeding them. Each animal has a different personality and this means that playing will be different for each one. As the animals are made happy, their relationship with the zoo keeper grows.

Playing with the animal is not just fun but will earn you zoo badges too! There are loads of zoo badges to unlock and you earn star tokens with each badge earned. These star tokens are used to unlock more habitats and buy special ‘starred’ animals. There are fact cards that you can buy with your star tokens, too. The fact cards are just that, cards that reveal issue 6 • december 2009

imulations tend to improve after each version… they do not even need to be made by the same development team. The features and improvements that come with each version are to the benefit the player. The game allows the player to manage a zoo, building it up just a few animals at a time.

The game targets younger players, or any simulation lovers. It’s a game that will keep children entertained for hours, so long as they are old enough to do the simple maths required. They will love, play and care for the animals in the zoo. The DS version is better than the others because of the stylus input. The stylus feels like an extension of your hand, more so than the other controls.

It gets the player into the game and they feel like they are petting their animals. The Wii remote is more pointing than touching and the mouse is even worse. Not that you have to not get the game on those platforms; the same amount

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information about the different species in the game.

There are a few multiplayer components, too. With download play (only having one copy of the game) others are able to see a demo version of the game play, with a few animals in a petting zoo.

In multi card play (both having the game) players have two modes of playing. One is the animal adoption, where zoo transfers are made, while the other is the zoo visit, allowing others to walk through the player’s zoo and play with the animals.

If you are still undecided about the game there is a demo PC version you can download and try out. The true joy will be had on the DS, though, and on your travels you’ll be just a flap away from zoo keeping pleasure. g Genre: Management P l a t f o r m s : P C , Wi i , D S Dev: Blue Flag Games Pub: THQ Age Rating: 3 Advisory: None

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

B

The zoo simulator that will keep you caring for hours. Play with a great range of animals from different families.

And don’t forget to feed them. issue 6 • december 2009

89

Lego Indiana Jones 2:The Adventure Continues

Building Stories Dun-duh dunduh... dun duduh...

T

by Walt Pretorius

The latter only just became a franchise, mind you, with the release of Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues.

As with all Lego games, this one has its tongue very firmly planted in its cheek. The game pays homage to the films (mostly to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull this time around) in the most flattering of ways – by making fun of them. Part of the appeal of the games (apart from the association of Lego, and who doesn’t love Lego?) is the zany sense of humour that is injected into what are essentially retellings of stories that are well loved.

The Lego games take these stories and make them their own. The characters are recreated as ‘Lego men’ and the world, to a large degree, is made up of brightly coloured blocks, contrasted against some more realistic setting elements.

While Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues pays the lion’s share of attention to the fourth film, there are adventures and episodes within the game that look at the older Indiana Jones films as well. These are taken from the films (in terms of inspiration, at least) and include things like the fight scene at the plane in Raiders of the Lost Ark. As before, these levels can be replayed for score time and again, and each level will generally add a character or two to the playable roster.

And, as like the other Lego games, it can be hugely frustrating. See, the dynamics of these games are very simple, but the controls are sometimes finicky, and often the player is expected to figure out what to do with little (or, more likely, no) help from the game. Add to this the fact that this new version has the largest environments yet in a Lego game, and things can get on the wrong side of annoying quite easily. Still, it’s an easy-going game – a character death won’t result in player punishment much beyond the loss of a few of the issue 6 • december 2009

here are certain formulas that just work. Beer, for example, is a formula that works, because consumers love it. That’s really the crux of the matter – if consumers love a product, more of it will be made. That’s pretty much because people make products to make money, and consumers who love products will spend money on them, prompting those that make them to make even more.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, or market exploitation.

Chocolate, good books, and Lego video games are examples of good products that are stimulated by this kind of behaviour.

Except for the brief break offered by Lego Batman and the upcoming Lego Rock Band, the Lego brand of games has been strongly associated with George Lucas’ movies.

The two strongest properties as Lego games have been the Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones franchises.

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collectible silver and gold Lego discs that litter the world.

No reloading of levels. No drawn out cut-scenes. Just a few lost coins. This approach will cut down on frustration levels significantly, making the player cluck his tongue rather than fling his controller.

Along with the large environments come a massive variation in game dynamics. There is a lot to do here, including track style races in Lego vehicles (disguised as chases and battles, like when Indy and Mutt are trying to escape the Nazis by riding a motorcycle through the university library).

The puzzles are a little more complex this time around, too, and not every solution is as obvious as before.

The already high degree of replayability that the game offers is augmented by the inclusion of a new level editor. While there isn’t too much online appeal to the game, the 2 player co-op modes do mean that these levels can be shared with friends none the less.

A simple control scheme and bright, colourful graphics mean that the kids will find this one appealing, while the often cynical and sly sense of humour will give the adults something to chuckle about. This is a game that’s great for the whole family, and one that can be played for many years to come. I mean, it’s Lego… g

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

Genre: Action P l a t f o r m s : X 3 6 0 , P S 3 , P C , W i i , P S P, D S Dev: Tt Games Pub: LucasArts Age Rating: 7 Advisory: None

B

Another Lego-themed trip to the world of Indiana Jones, this title covers the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and expands on previous adventures. And it has a level editor... issue 6 • december 2009

91

Ghostbusters:The Video Game

Who You Gonna Call?

Bustin’ ghosts Wii style

I

by Brian Murdoch

f you are a Ghostbusters fan and you have any of with the buttons. But there are a few niggles to the consoles that the game comes out on, you’re the whole affair. After weakening a ghost, the going to buy it, even if it means saving up for it. The player has to capture the ghost in a Simonreal question comes down to which platform you are Says style, bashing the ghost left, right, up going to buy it on. I hope to persuade you to purchase the or down as prompted. This can sometimes Wii version. [Fanboi – ed] lengthen the fight unnecessarily… capturing is The Wii version of this game is not a port or graphical far slicker on other platforms. downgrade from the Xbox or PS3 versions. Red Fly and The point of view being controlled by the Wii controller all Terminal Reality developed the Wii version specifically for the time can be irritating for those that are not use to this the platform, with a cartoonier feel to the graphics. This idea, and can get invasive when fighting a bigger ghost. graphic choice is better in the sense that the game reminds In the multiplayer modes there is good and not so bad the player continually of the old cartoons. [Um, the movies news, and a question as well. You can play the entire came first – ed] It’s also better than trying to upscale and campaign split screen with a friend… that’s the good make graphics look so real that they turn out a bit plastic. news. The frame rate in the game is lowered to keep the Some of the Wii version textures could have used some action flowing… that is the not so bad news because most work and in parts they look a bit fuzzy, but the general look of the game is impressive.

The Wii version gives you a choice to be a male or female rookie Ghostbuster. The choice is a good thing, but even if you choose the ‘girl’ option there is dialog that implies that the player is male. While talking about that, the original voices are an addition to the game that really brings home the Ghostbuster feel. The typical Ghosbusters humour is present, too, and you’ll spend as much time giggling as you do busting ghosts.

Even the controls add to the illusion – the player uses the wii remote almost like the proton pack’s business end, aiming at the screen and modifying attacks issue 6 • december 2009 92

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Genre: Action P l a t f o r m s : X 3 6 0 , P S 3 , P C , W i i , P S 2 , P S P, D S Dev: Red Fly Studios Pub: Atari Age Rating: 7 Advisory: V

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

A+

Wii players will not mind this tweak.

The question is why the other really fun multiplayer modes on the other version where not included in the Wii version?

Was the disc not big enough?

The basic story line has the player, as a rookie, joining the Ghostbusters when they are looking to expand. As the new guy the player not only gets told what to do, but also is the lab rat for the new experimental equipment. This equipment includes the Boson Darts, which is like a shot gun of pain for ghosts, through to the positively charged slime from Ghostbusters 2, all the way down to a Stasis Stream to freeze ghosts.

The way that money is earned in the game is a bit backward, because payment is given for the capture of a ghost. You would think that after this all the destruction costs would take away from the total payment, but instead it adds to it. [Insurance? – ed] So the player is encouraged to destroy as many things as possible. By destroying everything, it gets easier to find the pages to complete information scans performed with the player’s trusty P.K.E. Meter.

Other than redoing the game to earn more money or collect and finish all the pages, there is no real replayability… but I still recommend the game as a must-buy for Ghostbusters fans who own a Wii. g

The joy of Ghostbusters with the proton gun in your hand.There are more added features on the Wii version than features missing and is not a low quality port. issue 6 • december 2009

93

Bakugan: Battle Brawlers

Saving Money 101 A game with balls...

A

by Brian Murdoch creature it represents. In the Wii version the player rolls Bakugan out by using the A and B buttons of the remote, pulling back and throwing (without letting the Wii remote hit the TV) the ball toward the card. After this the player is able to steer the Bakugan to land on the desired cards. This is a pleasant change from the real version, with roll after roll after roll not hitting a card. With that said, the controls to move your Bakugan after it has been thrown change at times to keep things interesting. The steering allows for pickups before it lands on a card. With most stages there are a range of paths that can be followed, make sure you have enough in your steering gauge or the Bakugan will not land on a card and all the pickups are lost. The pickups range from G-Power boosts to abilities that hide your Bakugan when it lands or hamper your opponent’s next throw.

The vibration in the game does horrors to your battery life, so if the controller doesn’t have rechargeable batteries turn it off.

The game appeals to the 7 – 14 year old market mostly, but don’t let this stop you from having a go, because the challenge of learning and then mastering the game is quite satisfying to those that enjoy strategic games.

To start a game the player needs only 3 Bakugan, 3 gate cards and 3 ability cards, which is small if put next to the 60 card Magic deck. The small starting size is not easy on parent’s pockets, though, because the average price of one Bakugan is R150 rand and the expense like with any collection does not stop as just 3. Here is where the “cheaper” video game alternative comes in. issue 6 • december 2009

lert readers would have realised this is the second time that we have reviewed Bakugan: Battle Brawlers and will be asking why another review is necessary. The game is quite different on the Nintendo platform.

Here is an accurate history of the Bakugan. Like most animation-based video games, there is an anime series behind it. Bakugan Battle Brawlers was the first fifty-two episode anime series, with New Vestoria second (only 26 episodes) and a rumoured third season called Gundalian Invaders. Bakugan is also a card game, but unlike the big collections and complexities that Magic the Gathering and Pokémon feature, the Brawlers keep it fairly simple. The game can be called a strategic game of marbles, with your creature being a ball around the size of a R5 coin and the player rolling these onto metallic cards. Once the ball lands on a card it pops out and stands in the rough form of the

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gamecca • review

In the video game there are 40 different Bakugan this not to be bland they enable the player’s Bakugan with creatures to choose from, but with six different colours or upgrades to improve stats and more importantly their Gsides, the line-up of creatures Power. is limited and duplicated If you’ve seen the anime “The challenge of learning across sides. With fifteen of the and don’t like it then stay and then mastering the possible 20 creatures on each away from the game, even side being the same, the player game is quite satisfying to though the characters and is able to pick the general stats those that enjoy strategic story are different. The main games” that opponent has. To help idea and style of the anime is kept in the game. The player starts off as a new brawler. The brawler has to be male and has a set name… very little can be customised. The catch phrases that he uses are the same, all the time, and can get boring, but in fairness the phrases used by the other characters are the same as well [and equally boring?

- ed]. The story is a good one and being a new brawler helps the player ease into learning the game. Don’t worry about the game being too easy in the beginning as it does increase the difficulty and does it so well you don’t notice until a loss or two later. g

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

B+

Genre: Action P l a t f o r m s : X 3 6 0 , P S 3 , Wi i , P S 2 , D S D ev : N ow P ro d u c t i o n Pub: Activision Age Rating: 7 Advisory: None

This Wii version of the latest fad ensures that a) there are always Bakugan opponents and b) parents save money.

Both are good reasons to buy it. issue 6 • december 2009

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Dragonball Raging Blast

Milk Yet another rampant

exploitation of fanboyism…

O

by Walt Pretorius

that’s what a versus fighter is all about. But the developers of this particular title decided to take a different route.

The perspective isn’t side on, as with most games of that genre, but rather almost a third person view… at least until the fight begins. Then that action goes all over the place, and the player’s character will change position with the opponent many times, while the camera stays more or less static. It’s a nice idea. But it’s flawed… see, the action takes place all over the show… the characters fight a bit on the ground, then in the air, then underwater, and so on. This drags the camera all over the place, while it concentrates on the player’s character. Sometimes, the setting gets in the way, and you get a close up of your character’s anime-inflated crotch which your opponent kicks the hell out of you from an invisible position. Most annoying, but thankfully not too common.

Then there’s the controls. They are brutally simple. The player can move, dash, and make either close in or ranged attacks. All fine and well, but hardly inspiring to an overall strategy or finesse.

The characters can also issue super attacks, in two forms (because even a super attack isn’t just quite super enough for Dragonball’s overstatement of absolutely everything.) These are controlled by either moving or clicking the right analogue stick.

Finally, the player can absorb Ki, a move which leaves them rather vulnerable, but is important to keeping the big attacks flowing.

While the controls can hardly be called revolutionary (or even complex) the graphics are pretty good. The characters are faithfully modelled, and the environments are Genre: Fighting P l a t f o r m s : X 3 6 0 , P S 3 detailed enough to be interesting Dev: Namco Bandai without being distracting.

Pub: Namco Bandai The environment can also be Age Rating: 12 affected by the fight, which is Advisory: V always a nice touch. issue 6 • december 2009

K, well, let’s be honest right from the start – it’s the best place to begin, anyway. I don’t much like Dragonball. The TV series irritated me endlessly. However, I do believe that I have the ability to look past something like that when it comes to reviewing games. Games are, by their very nature, more complex beasts than TV shows. Even when they’re based on TV shows.

And there have been a lot of games based on this particular TV show.

But let’s set aside the tough-talking, perpetually-angry characters and completely laughable premise for a little while, and look at this product as a game.

Dragonball Raging Blast is, on the surface at least, a versus fighter. The game features two characters onscreen, and they beat the stuffing out of each other…

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gamecca • review

“It is, quite realistically, a movie-based game, with very little redemption” The sound – well, it’s Dragonball, complete with really horrible, ham-acted voice-overs.

If it had been a better game – because despite all the over-the-top action, tons to do and wide variety of characters, it gets repetitive and dull rather quickly – then the obvious ‘let’s appeal to Dragonball fanboys’ approach would maybe not have been quite so obvious. And, because it is obvious, it is equally clear that the game has been made as a cash in, rather than any kind of homage or attempt at anything else. It is, quite realistically, a movie-based game, with very little redemption. And the Dragonball fanboys will lap it up like the faithful adherents they are. And they will go on about how great a game it is, based purely on the fact that it is Dragonball (which is hardly great, but that’s just me.)

And so they will keep making games like this, substandard cash-cows that don’t require too much effort.

Sometimes this industry really grinds by butt… g

Reviewer’s Rating:

Hardcore < > Casual

D

If you’re a fan, and you buy into this, fine.You should know better.This game exploits the fad yet again, but this time it’s really enough already... issue 6 • december 2009

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gamecca • beginner’s guide to good gaming

Indicator LEDs: Show if the controller is one, and which player number it is assigned to.

Bumpers (L1/ R1): Often used as modifiers, these are non-analogue buttons.

Select / Start: Primarily menu control buttons, these are often used to access in-game menus. Start is also used by most games to initiate the programme.

D-Pad: Can be used for movement, but is not an analogue input.

Primarily used for menu navigation or quick selection functions.

T

he video game industry can be daunting to those that don’t understand it, or know very little about it. One thing is for certain – and many people haven’t realised this yet – it’s more than just fun and games.

What we’re dealing with, in this modern age, is an industry that is worth literally billions of US dollars a year. Gone are the days of a group of pimpled geeks getting together in a cramped garage and making games on jerry-rigged computer equipment, with the hopes of one day getting recognition for their efforts. Those geeks are now the presidents and CEOs of massive corporations. Those geeks now command high salaries and even more respect, and are often interviewed by people and publications commonly associated with more ‘serious’ business pursuits. The Wall Street Journal, for example, runs regular gaming pieces.

It’s a fact, and it cannot be ignored. Games are big business, and the business is growing. Already eclipsing more traditional entertainment forms, like music and movies, video gaming is the entertainment form of the future, available here and now. It’s time to learn about it, because it’s huge. And it isn’t going to get smaller anytime soon. g

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issue 6 • december 2009

Analogue Analogue functionality allows the user to make use of degrees of movement or pressure. This means that the effect of the particular input on the game can be varied... the difference between walking or running, for example, or the difference between slowly accelerating or going all out in a racing game.

gamecca • beginner’s guide to good gaming

Gaming Anatomy 101: The PS3 Controller Cable Connector: Located between the bumpers, the cable connector allows a wireless controller to be connected to the PS3 via a cable. It also allows for recharging of the controller’s built-in battery

Left Analogue Stick (LS): Primarily used for movement in games. Can be ‘clicked’ for additional functions (L3).

PS Button: Small logo button can be pressed to access PS3 menus. Can also be used to turn the controller and console on and off.

Triggers (LT / RT): Situated below the bumpers, these analogue triggers are often used for weapon-based functions, or for acceleration and braking in racing games.

Right Analogue Stick (RS): Primarily used for ‘camera’ or viewpoint control. Can be ‘clicked’ for additional functions (R3). issue 6 • december 2009

Face Buttons: Coloured, non-analogue buttons used for primary game functions. Often used in combination with each other, or triggers and bumpers.

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gamecca • beginner’s guide to good gaming

Lexicon: Stealth-action: A video game that requires the player to rely on stealth and subterfuge, rather than a direct approach.

Platform-action: A video game that draws inspiration from the platform games of old (like Super Mario Bros.) and requires the player to not only fight, but to navigate often complex environments.

Open-world-action: A video game that grants the player the freedom to do what they want, when they want to. These games are often categorised by the inclusion of main, or story, quests, and sub quests, as well as large, fully accessible environments.

Genre Check: Action

A

ction titles make up a massive spread of games, and there are many sub-genres to this category.

However, the most of them tend to be in third person perspective, meaning that the player can see the character they are controlling on-screen.

Generally, games that have high amounts of action - or even moderate amounts of action - with lower role playing elements are considered action titles. The biggest distinction between the two main action genres stems from the very distinctive FPS (First Person Shooter) genre. Basically, if a game has lots of action, but doesn’t use the FPS viewpoint, it would fall into the broader action category.

Sub-genres would include things like stealthaction, platform-action, open-world-action and a host of other possibilities.

Action games are something of a fuzzy genre, and one which has boundary overlaps with numerous other genres. (And the genre also provides game reviewers with a catch-all for games that are difficult to classify.)

Most action games will carry a higher age restriction, although this isn’t always the case.

Many also often rely on character movement as well as fighting but, once again, in a genre this broad, these are pure generalisations. g

Assassin’s Creed II

Splinter Cell: Conviction

Brutal Legend

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issue 6 • december 2009

gamecca • beginner’s guide to good gaming

Geek Speak

E

very generation has its fringe groups and subcultures. These inevitably become mainstream cultuiral movements with time, leaving the older, no-longer recognised fads behind. The subcultures can be identified in various ways. Often, they will dress in a certain way - Punk Rockers, for example - or will follow certain movements, like heavy metal music. And, almost invariably, they develop a lexicon of terms and phrases that is something of an insider slang system.

Vido game players are no different. While they may not wear the same clothes or listen to the same music, they are tied together by a love for video games and a language that is very complex and constantly evolving.

The dialect, for want of a better term, has been dubbed ‘Leet’ or ‘Leet Speak’. Unlike other sub-cultural slang systems, though, Leet’s origins are not spoken, but rather written... or typed, if one wants to be completely accurate.

The system began a number of years ago, arising from the need to communicate quickly and effectively online - particularly during video gaming sessions. It’s not the same as the horrific collection of abbreviations and number substitutions that came about as a result of internet chat rooms and SMS messages - it’s a bit more complex than that.

The origins of Leet can be traced back to typing errors, to a large degree. Gamers, while communicating, would have limited time to type their messages, and would often be distracted when doing so. Drawing on several other slang systems as inspiration, words that would become common gamer parlance soon began evolving. As an example, the word ‘pwned’. It most likely started out as someone trying to claim a victory over another player, and wanting to use the American slang term ‘owned.’ If you take a look at the close proximity of the letters O and P on a standard

keyboard and put two and two together, you can figure out how ‘pwned’ came about.

Not every term is based on types, though. Some, like SMS or internet slang, were the result of the need to type quickly. The word ‘leet’ itself has that root. Instead of typing ‘elite’, it worked out quicker (after a little evolution) to type ‘leet’. And, yes, that means that the gamers themselves are identifying this ever evolving slang system as the language of the video gaming elite.

And so the growth continued (although this explanation is, out of necessity, rather simplified.) Numbers began substituting letters in places (one of the sources of that was the use of gamer nicknames, or nicks.) To preserve originality in a nick, gamers would replace E with 3, A with 4, and so on... after all, there are only so many cool nicknames to go around.

Leet is starting to spread through modern culture, thanks to things like the internet. Internet humour, including things like LOLCats and the whole ‘fail’ idea, have their basis not only in internet slang, but in Leet as well.

Love it or hate it, Leet is here to stay. It is a complex, ever-evolving language that constantly brings new ideas to the table. As such, preparing a glossary of terms for the beginner is very difficult. Some terms even have meanings that are far more complex than meets the eye. The best advice... find a gamer, and ask him what it means.

Hopefully, he’ll know, or be able to figure it out.

Will Leet ever become so strong as to dominate the language, as other slang systems have in the past? We certainly hope not. There is a certain degree of laziness and anti-intellectualism that comes as part of the system (like SMS and internet chat slang) and as people who write for a living, we don’t like that at all.

Proper English - may it never get pwned. g

issue 6 • december 2009

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gamecca • in the lair

T

Winding Down...

by thebanman

his time of year starts to get really slow in the LAN gaming space.

Online servers also tend to get a little quite. Yes it is the big bad Exam time of the year... the time when all gamers need to focus on their futures rather than the digital worlds that we are questing in.

The Mayhem LAN – 14 November 2009 November brought the now 3rd annual EA party to the Mayhem LAN. This year we had a hot line up of some of EA’s best titles for this year. Brutal Legend and Dragon Age Origins dominated on the Xbox360s while Need for Speed: Shift and Fifa 10 kept the PS3 busy.

For all you Wii fans; DeadSpace Extraction.

The Lair also had their three pimped out rigs there for gamers to look at and play on.

Thanks to Intel, Foxcomp, EVA, DFI, AMD and Mushkin for making these machine available to the community.

The LAN was dominated by DotA, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare with a few players playing the new eagerly anticipated Modern Warfare 2.

A new title to hit the streets was is TorchLight. Take a look in your Steam Accounts for this Diablo-Style hack-and-slash that still has me bowled over at how amazing it is.

For those of you still keen looking for Heroes of Newerth Beta Key, please drop me an email at thebanman@thelair.co.za.

For all you rhythm game fans, the end of November brought with it the release of DJ Hero. The Lair was at a few of the HiFi Corporations and Incredible Connections in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg showing off this hotter than hot title along with some mad skills.

On the 5th of December we will be having the Mayhem Christmas Party! Come join us as we have a number of gifts for all the gamers that attend. We have had some amazing sponsorships from various distributors and this event is gearing up to be huge end of year bash. g

This page is provided by The Lair 100

www.thelair.co.za

gamecca • from space

The Vermin Problem

W

by Columnist A

hat kind of gamer are you? Or rather, I can communicate this to them. At the endgame screen should ask, how do you play your games? we’re greeted with “”xl WEASEL lx wins the match”. Well, To me there are two kinds of game of course he won. Not because I sucked (even though I players. Gamers and, for honest lack of a do) but because he’s not playing a game. He’s playing the better term, weasels. Gamers are the kind of guys who will system. He knows there are no repercussions for running get into a game and allow themselves to be immersed, around like it’s whether the game is good or bad. They’ll suspend Doom or Quake. their disbelief for however long it takes to complete the He’s not there to campaign and even let this sense of fantasy extend into be a soldier and the online component. It’s obvious that this is roleplaying. play pretend, he’s PWN TIME! Some folks might not like to admit it; I know, because there to win. He will until I wrote this column exploit the game’s I firmly shunned the mechanics and find notion of being a rolethe easiest way player. But the facts to get kills without stand before me: for dying. Like some the entirety of Modern sort of emotionless Warfare 2 I played game-playing robot, the role of a soldier. I weasels are cold ducked behind cover, and calculating.

I threw flash bangs This isn’t fantasy. It’s maths. to disorient enemies A chore. And the reward is top and I felt a sense of position on the scoreboards. Of urgency to run with course these players don’t realise my team mates, even what they’re doing: making the if missions weren’t game not very much fun at all time-limited. This is for the other players. It’s one mirrored in my online thing losing to a better player, but play. I make slow, another altogether when you get methodical progress demolished by kill farmers who through a level. I aren’t playing the game. Sure, this crouch to prevent my sounds like some bitterness after footsteps from being a night of bad gaming, but the heard and I go prone two types are everywhere. Pick to get cover from the a game, and you’ll see them. All surrounding flora. I that’s left is to find out what kind of slowly raise my sights gamer you are. g and line up a target.

It is round about then that the second sort of game player makes his “He’s not playing a game. He’s presence felt. A knife in my back, I’m dead. He playing the system... It’s one runs off, hip-firing his shotguns or Uzis. He calls thing losing to a better player, but in an airstrike. Half my team dies. Now he sits another altogether when you get and camps with a heartbeat sensor. He knows I’m coming. He shoots through a wall. I am dead. demolished by kill farmers who He does the same to my team mates before I aren’t playing the game.”

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issue 6 • december 2009