Issue 10 by PhonicaMagUK

the mobile phone and gaming magazine

Issue10

phonica magazine uk

WHAT’S INSIDE VOLUME 1 ISSUE 10 2010

PREVIEWS

NEWS Nokia X6 on 3 O2 launches cost saving Mobile & Mobile Broadband tariﬀs External PSP Drive for the PSP Go Ac vision in 2010 Ba le.net gets a makeover PM give thumbs-up to the UK games industry Gaming Videos headline Guiness World Records Starcra II beta keys available

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FEATURES SHOCKING SECRETS AND TERRIFYING TRICKS We all know how unnerving and terrifying a game can be, but how do developers deliver the inevitable chills?

BATTLEFRONT.COM ROUNDUP They may be too complex and detailed for some, but the games on Ba lefront.com are excellent as a result.

FORGOTTEN GEMS: SYSTEM SHOCK 2 It’s older than some people and outdated in places, but this FPS is s ll an exhilara ng play. Just don’t play it alone…

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Final Fantasy XIII Street Fighter IV

VIEWS LG GD510 POP Spartacus: Blood and Sand Bioshock 2 Dante’s Inferno Muramasa: The Demon Blade Alien vs. Predator SAW

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THE GUIDE Games: Phonica’s 20 Recommended Scariest Games

O2 Mobile Broadband tariﬀ

O2 Pay Monthly Tariﬀ – iPhones

O2 Pay Monthly Tariﬀ - Standard

Mobile Phones

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EDITOR IN CHIEF Kevin Leonce

GAMING EDITOR Sco Tierney

CONTRIBUTORS Rob Hobson Ian Duncan Paul Park

CREATIVE SERVICES & DESIGN Sco Tierney www.sco - erney.com

EDITORIAL editorial@phonicamagazine.co.uk

ENQUIRIES info@phonicamagazine.co.uk

ADVERTISING adver sing@phonicamagazine.co.uk

WWW.PHONICAMAGAZINE.CO.UK Become a Fan of Phonica Magazine UK on Facebook & Twi er Phonica Magazine ÂŠ All material in this publica on is covered by copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this publica on may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmi ed in any form electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, in whole or part without wri en permission of the publisher or the copyright owner. Please note that whilst every care has been taken to ensure that all the data in this publica on is accurate at the me of going to print, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, whether caused by negligence or otherwise, or for any loss, however caused, occasioned to any person by reliance on it; and hereby disclaims any liability for it. Opera ons and some features are network dependent; please refer to your network provider for full details.

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EDITOR’S LETTER Oh how the year is trickling...each publisher eyeing the next, wondering who’s going to break the ice with a smashing hit. Yes, yes we’ve had some big releases tlewise. But no Arkham COD type thus far, and so we wait. But every game is a hit in its own right. Some, a successful hit...and others that just deserve to be hit. So we’ve put together some hits of our own. A few apps, games, and reviews. They may or may not be your hits as well, but we thought you’d enjoy our selec on. From Spartacus: Blood and Sand to Dante’s Inferno have a read about what we think about these hits! But a smashing hit is in the air. You can feel the tension, see the eager faces of many as its name is whispered in the winds of the grapevines..so dear, so precious. Enjoy reading our hits. P.S: not much on the mobile front, too many s ll busy warning people on how not to lose your wallet and laptop in Barcelona. Your Editor in Chief

Kevin Leonce

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NEWS THE NOKIA X6 NOW AVAILABLE ON 3 THE NOKIA X6 FEATURES A 3.2 TOUCH-SCREEN THAT HAS A RANGE OF GREAT FEATURES AND APPLICATIONS THAT HAVE SOCIAL NETWORKING, PHOTOGRAPHY AND MUSIC COVERED. The Nokia X6 features a 3.2 touch screen making naviga ng through the mul ple social networking applica ons easy. Take great quality photos with the 5MP camera, share your thoughts and experiences via the intui ve Facebook and Twi er applica ons, keep on top of your emails with Email on 3 and never get lost using the free turn-by-turn sat nav. For music on the move, download the Spo fy for Symbian applica on and enjoy the hugely popular music streaming service. Don’t forget, there are thousands of other applica ons and content to be downloaded from the Ovi Store. Sylvia Chind Head of Branded Devices, 3UK “We’re really pleased to have the Nokia X6 on 3. Our network is designed for the mobile internet, this paired with the feature packed Symbian Nokia X6, will give our customers a great mobile internet experience” As with all phones on 3 you will have unlimited access Skype and Windows Live Messenger for free. For the rest of February and March it’s also completely free to use Twi er on 3’s network. The Nokia X6 is available in black from £25 a month with unlimited internet, texts and 750 any me any network minutes on a 24month contract and costs £299.99 on Pay As You Go where every top up comes with a free allowance of texts and data. Currently available online, in 3 Stores and telesales. For more details visit www.three.co.uk

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NEWS

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NEWS

NEW AND EXCITING PRODUCTS FROM O2 O2 LAUNCHES A RANGE OF NEW VALUE-FORMONEY MOBILE & MOBILE BROADBAND TARIFFS INCLUDING NEW SIM ONLY FOR iPHONE WITH INCLUSIVE VISUAL VOICEMAIL, UNLIMITED TEXT MESSAGES, DATA AND WI-FI FROM JUST £15 PER MONTH. TARIFFS FOR iPHONE AND ALL TARIFFS FOR NON-SMARTPHONE CUSTOMERS SMARTPHONE CUSTOMERS Customers who already have an iPhone or are just happy with their exis ng Smartphone can choose from a range of sim only tariffs star ng at just £15 per month for 300 minutes, unlimited UK texts, data & Wi-Fi on a 12-month sim only contract, or from £20 per month on a 30-day rolling contract. For those customers who don’t ever want to worry about how many minutes or texts or how much data they have used, O2 introduces a set of tariffs offering unlimited UK calls, texts and data from just £45 a month. iPhone customers who want to use their iPhone as a modem can do so and not pay more than £2 per day with O2’s newest Internet Tethering Bolt On.

Non-Smartphone customers who are happy to keep their current phone can choose from a range of sim only tariffs star ng at just £10 for 100 minutes per month with unlimited texts on a 30-day contract. In addi on, O2 has launched a set of tariffs offering unlimited UK calls and texts from just £40 a month.

MOBILE BROADBAND O2 also launched new mobile broadband tariffs, designed for ease of use. Customers can now choose a 1GB per month tariff with unlimited Wi-Fi on either a 30-day contract or an 18-month contract. This is in addi on to O2’s exis ng 3GB with unlimited Wi-Fi tariff for £15 per month. In addi on, customers signing up to any 18-month 3GB mobile broadband tariff will receive their first 3 months free. Excessive usage policy and standard terms apply for all these offers, see www.o2.co.uk for details.

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NEWS

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REVIEWS

LG GD510 POP SEE HEAR TOUCH Technology con nues its race, compe ng against itself as we enjoy its advances. Having a touchscreen device is now a common feature as a 3/5MP camera phone. And it just got be er with LG’s addi on to the Touchscreen family, the LG Pop. The Pop is a touchscreen phone with a 3 inch display, with an accelerometer. First a en on grabber for me was how light this powerhouse is weightwise. Its feather weight feel can leave you wondering if you’ve made the right decision. But I urge you to con nue. Turning on the GD510 you’re greeted with the usual LG display, but you didn’t buy the phone for that did you? The responsiveness of the touchscreen is superb. There is a slight resistant feel to it but it vibrates, its way of acknowledging your touch commands. The main screen allows you to add applica ons onto it. Everything is movable, so you can decide what you want to have in this space and posi on it there. Voilà...your own desktop on your phone. With a woosh to the le you move onto the second screen, called LiveSquare. LiveSquare stores all your interac ons, crea ng a quick reference for use. It’s ingenious! Any me you receive an email, call, SMS or MMS the records are stored here. It’s a ni y tool. You can select more than one contact and drag them onto the message short key at the bo om of the screen, allowing you to send the same message to the selected contacts.

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The menu is broken down into 4 areas: Communica on, Entertainment, U li es, and Se ngs. Everything you need, from Google, to Internet access, to games and apps, is packed neatly into the GD510. The camera quality on this quad band phone is fairly decent. Its 3MP camera takes a good photo, and also has video recording func onality. The internal memory isn’t anything to jump about, but you can be quickly consoled by the fact that it’s expandable up to 16GB (MicroSD). You can charge your phone with the USB cord provided from your PC, or a ach your socket adapter and charge the conven onal way.

“THE RESPONSIVENESS OF THE TOUCHSCREEN IS SUPERB. THERE IS A SLIGHT RESISTANT FEEL TO IT BUT IT VIBRATES, ITS WAY OF ACKNOWLEDGING YOUR TOUCH COMMANDS.” Everything about the LG Pop is gorgeous. Even if you have to se le for Bluetooth func onality and no Wi Fi, the POP is a cost eﬀec ve touchsreen device that susbs tutes very li le and s ll delivers. Way to go LG! Kevin Leonce

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REVIEWS

SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND PUBLISHER: ARTIFICIAL LIFE FORMAT: iPHONE/iPOD TOUCH

WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION? Sparta, a prominent military powerhouse in ancient Greece, became known to the western world and those not inclined to Greek history through the success of the movie, 300. Spartacus: Blood and Sand follows in this success. A compliment to the TV series currently airing on Starz (also available on the ITunes Store). Ar ﬁcial-life have merged tv reality with gameplay, resul ng in a unique hack and slash experience.

“THE GRAPHICS AND DISPLAY FOR THIS GAME ARE REMARKABLE, WITH DETAIL THAT WOWS.” Armed with my iPod (soon to be iPad) and sword I began my journey. The graphics and display for this game are remarkable, with detail that wows and sets the mood for true sparring in the arena. With 6 ﬁghters to choose from you can either have a Quick Fight, opt to play Story mode or Challenge, and if your mates decide to download this game you can test their skills via Wi Fi or Bluetooth.

Not wan ng to cheat myself of the true Spartan experience I went for Story mode. With Spartacus all greared up I awaited my queue to enter the arena, the roar calling as the adrenaline races through every part of my tensed body. What I like about Spartacus is how easy the controls are to use. Moves can be executed instantly, not sluggish compared to some games. Through experimen ng, a er being butchered a few mes, I discovered quite a few a ack moves. From a acking your opponent when they’re s ll on the ground, to combo a acks, back stabs and quick frontal a acks. Before a ba le with a tough opponent you get to take a rest, ba ling one or two slaves instead. You s ll need to keep on your toes…a sword is a sword. In the hands of anyone it s ll cuts!! Being hailed as the ul mate champion is not without its perks. If you manage to survive all in one piece you unlock two addi onal warriors you can challenge, Thyra and Theokoles. This game should be in your in your favourite of favourites. Well done Ar ﬁcial Life! Kevin Leonce

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NEWS

EXTERNAL PSP DRIVE FOR THE PSP GO? COULD LOGITECH BE DEVELOPING AN ADAPTER FOR THE PSP GO? As soon as the PSP Go went on sale (we refuse to add the ‘!’ a er Go, as it’s pointless), owners of the original PSP with vast collec ons of UMD games, went mental. There was rio ng in the streets, huge burning eﬃgies of Sir Howard Stringer were hoisted by demonstrators, and disgusted gamers were hurling their Sony products into the sea. It was a very dark and distressing me, and all because Sony made the decision to remove the UMD drive from the PSP Go. Obviously, that was just a joke; none of that ever happened (although I did see someone kick a Sony Centre leaﬂet, albeit not very hard nor aggressively, and they put it in the bin a erwards). But the fact remains that since Sony decided to release the PSP Go without a UMD drive, certain fans have not been happy. So, rumours that Logitech have been developing an external UMD drive have been merrily welcomed. So far there is nothing but misty rumour, with both Logitech and Sony denying that any product is in produc on. But somehow we’re not so sure. If Logitech were to release a separate UMD drive, it would surely be a massive hit. The market is already in place, with PSP Go owners not wan ng to re-buy all their games again providing a sizable target.

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Whether a separate adapter would work with the PSP Go, and not cause the product to overwork the ba eries or over heat, is a problem that would need to be addressed. Also, the pricing would need to be pitch-perfect, as a second hand PSP can be picked up for around £40. And besides, what’s the point of having a PSP Go, which is primarily aimed at buyers who want a light-weight handheld console, to then add a large adaptor? It’s like buying a Smart Car, then a aching a mobile home to the tow bar.

“IF LOGITECH WERE TO RELEASE A SEPERATE UMD DRIVE IT WOULD SURELY BE A MASSIVE HIT, AS THE MARKET IS ALREADY IN PLACE.” Whether a UMD adaptor for the PSP Go is just a rumour remains to be seen. Logitech haven’t replied to our requests for conﬁrma on, and thus far nothing has been leaked to the web. As usual, we’ll just have to wait and see what emerges from the misty fog of the grapevine rumour. Sco Tierney

NEWS

ACTIVISION IN 2010 ACTIVISION HAVE BIG PLANS FOR 2010; SUBSCRIPTION-BASED CALL OF DUTY? With huge tles such as Starcra II and World of Warcra : Cataclysm on the agenda for 2010, Ac vision Blizzard are pu ng up a strong ﬁeld to build on the founda ons of the successes of 2009. Among those listed include the upcoming Call of Duty and Guitar Hero tles, as well as the Blizzard Entertainment juggernauts World of Warcra and Starcra II, two of the most an cipated tles on the PC for 2010. Ac vision CEO and President Bobby Ko ck said in a statement that they see 2010 as one of the publisher’s best years ever: “In calendar year 2010, we expect our net earnings and opera ng margin growth will be driven by our product slate that includes Blizzard Entertainment’s Starcra II and the World of Warcra expansion pack, Cataclysm, as well as a diversiﬁed lineup based on Ac vision Publishing’s best-selling franchises including Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk, together with other well-known tles such as True Crime, Spider-Man and Bakugan.”

Add to that list the following games. DJ Hero 2, James Bond, War for Cybertron and two as-of-yet unannounced tles and 2010 deﬁnitely looks like Ac vision Blizzard’s year for cemen ng their name at the top of the publisher charts.

“WE EXPECT OUR NET EARNINGS AND OPERATING MARGIN GROWTH WILL BE DRIVEN BY OUR PRODUCT SLATE.” Furthermore, the possibility of adding a second subscrip on-based hit is s ll on the cards following ques ons during the 2009 ﬁnancial call. Ko ck hinted on the possibility by sta ng “If you think about the success that we’ve had in other product categories on subscrip on, you can get a sense of the direc on that we want to take that franchise.” Paul Park

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NEWS

BATTLE.NET UNDERGOING A LONG-AWAITED MAKEOVER UPDATES, ADD-ONS AND STREAMLINING LOOKS LIKELY TO MAKE DRAGON-BASHING A FAR SMOOTHER EXPERIENCE. 12 million users, spanning the globe for over 14 years. Ba le.net has long been overdue changes to streamline it into Blizzard Entertainment games, and now Blizzard are planning on releasing the largest update that it has ever seen. An integral part in all Blizzard games so far, Ba le.net has been the mul player hub that players from across the world must be logged into in order to ba le alongside and against each other in tles such as Starcra and Warcra III. The new service will be based on three key points of interest: 1.

Always Connected: the new Ba le.net will require constant internet connec vity, even during single player campaigns, allowing players to keep one universal Ba le.net account that will keep track of achievements and unlockables available on future releases. The constant connec vity will also enable players to archive their campaign data onto Ba le.net in order to protect against the loss of saved games in the event of reforma ng of hard drives, reinstalls, or playing from diﬀerent computers (such as internet cafes).

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Compe ve Arena: the new system will enable newer players a smoother transi on from casual gaming to online ladder play by introducing an advanced skill level system that will learn your ability as you progress through matches against compe ve AI, as well as rated ladder matches. Players will be able to compete against similarly rated opponents, and the system spreads to groups.

Community: the new Ba le.net will contain all of the social networking tools of other popular gaming services, with friends lists, text and voice chat even outside of games, as well as the ability to talk across diﬀerent games – tell your friend playing Starcra II that there’s a match up next week on Warcra III while you’re slaying dragons on World of Warcra .

All these changes will enable Ba le.net to be completely integrated into the gamer’s experience and hopefully will bring about a streamlined gaming atmosphere amongst friends and family. Paul Park

NEWS

PM GIVES THE THUMBS-UP TO THE UK GAMES INDUSTRY GORDON BROWN GIVES PRAISE TO THE BIGGEST PRODUCER OF GAMES IN EUROPE I’m sure you’ve been listening to the recent podcast on the Global Investment Conference (GIC), I know I have. Well, if you missed it due to other commitments (I can’t think what?) then you will have missed the Prime Minister Gordon Brown giving praise to the UK’s game developers. You were probably washing your hair…

Whether or not this is just the usual case of a poli cian jumping aboard a popular trend in order to pinch a few more votes is ripe for debate. But you can’t argue the point that the UK is currently in a purple patch of gaming development. We’ve had Rocksteady producing the excep onal Batman Arkham Asylum, Rockstar dishing out more ﬁlth with GTA4, and countless others such as Lionhead, Codemasters and Rebelion, all producing excellent tles

In giving his praise, Brown said that UK developers are “by far the biggest producer of computer games in Europe” He also promised that there would be “new commitments of investment”.

“MORE THAN A THIRD OF ALL INTERNET TRAFFIC IS ROUTED THROUGH UK SERVERS.”

“We’re leading the way in crea ve industries: by far the biggest producer of computer games in Europe,” said Brown. “And we’re leading the way in digital communica ons: In a country with only one per cent of the world’s popula on, more than a third of all internet traﬃc is routed through UK servers. This coming week is another chance to showcase the UK. This is not just a talking shop though. There will be new commitments of investment oﬀ the back of this conference.”

At present, the sun is always shining in gaming development land, and long may it last. Now, I must get back to my Global Investment Conference podcast… higher income on major Bluetooth investments you say?…interes ng…. Sco Tierney

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NEWS GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS GET META WITH BUNCH OF GAMING WEIRDOS PUBLISHERS INVITE YOU TO VOTE FOR THE MOST RECORDIEST RECORD Now you might think that as a games magazine, we would be loathed to describe gamers as weirdos. But the truth of the ma er is there’s the normal hardcore geek and then there’s the next step up to the level of people who get nominated for Guinness World Records in playing games. It’s like that kid who dropped out of school to become a professional guitar hero player, but worse. As if having a book of gaming records (and we use the term ‘book’ lightly) was not enough, Guinness have now decided they can ﬁll a few pages by ge ng people to vote for their favourite record of all me (or at least un l they get lazy and do the same thing again in the future). The only thing more absurd than the concept are the nominees. Admi edly, there are respectable candidates facing the public vote. One Rick Fothergill of Canada who can boast to be the world’s fastest Pacman player, having completed the game in just over three and a half hours. Similarly, we can applaud American Billy Mitchell for his score of 1,050,200 points on the original Donkey Kong. At a stretch we can praise Danish Henrik Lindholm for surviving for over 16 minutes being chased by all the police in GTA IV (although it should be noted that our games editor has beaten this record by over 2 minutes. Ed).

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Beyond that the sound of barrels being scraped resounds. To what extent Lisa Courtney’s collec on of 12,113 Pokemon items really cons tutes a gaming record is hard to say. Wait, though, she has visited Japan five mes. Edd China (hasn’t visited China five mes as far as we know) invented the fastest mobile gaming rig. It looks quite fun but many parents of the more hands-off school of raising kids have had consoles installed in the back seats of their cars and can probably beat the 57 mph achieved by Mr China. One record that is actually worthy of your vote is the ho est game ever. Dance Dance Immola on shoots flames at you if you make a wrong move. Now, we know the records are only supposed to be ‘a bit of fun’ but the shameless exploita on of gamers is something to be abhorred. There’s pride to be found in defea ng classic games against the clock or to ng up ridiculous scores but beyond that it’s hard to see the value of these records. If you are inclined to vote, find the poll at guinnessworldrecords.com/gamers Ian Duncan

NEWS

STARCRAFT II BETA KEYS COULD BE YOURS EARLY ACCESS TO GAME SOLD ON EBAY FOR $305 Access codes for Blizzard’s Starcra II beta have found their way on to eBay. Players eager to have a blast on the early version of the game, which launched in mid-February, are being asked to stump up anything between $305 (£200) and $450 (£290). Most of the codes were given out at Blizzcon 2008 but have only just come to maturity with the actual launch of the beta. There are also keys ﬂoa ng around for the Diablo III beta but given that no one knows when, if ever, that’s going to go live there’s s ll not much of a market.

“OVER 150 OF THE KEYS HAVE ALREADY BEEN SOLD BUT THERE ARE STILL 18 LISTED ON EBAY.COM.” Some completed auc ons claim to have special codes that were not given out at Blizzcon but are actual invites sent out once the beta launched. That has not stopped them from selling with one completed auc on lis ng 20 sold for $410 each.

Blizzard have made no comment about the prac ce but we assume they are happy about the buzz it’s genera ng but finger-wagging about ripping people off. It’s an interes ng phenomenon and shows how fana cal Blizzard fans can get. Normal people, of course, would be happy to wait and get the actual finished game for a tenth of the price. But Starcra players o en fall outside of the defini on of “normal people”. The developer has proved itself to not be above ge ng involved in trading the keys. A er one games journalist posted a list of twenty things he would do for a key, the company contacted him with a proposi on. If he was willing to eat a grapefruit covered in peanut bu er, draw a ta oo of the Starcra II logo on his arm and take a photo of himself watching Flavor of Love (a da ng show featuring Flavor Flav of Public Enemy), they promised to let him into the beta. He accepted the challenge and saved himself a few hundred dollars in the process. I hope it was worth it. Ian Duncan

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PREVIEW

FINAL FANTASY XIII PUBLISHER: SQUARE ENIX DEVELOPER: SQUARE ENIX PLATFORM: XBOX 360, PS3 AVAILABLE: MARCH 9, 2010

ALL POCKET AND NO TROUSERS? POSSIBLY…IF WE KNEW WHAT THAT MEANT! As franchises go, Final Fantasy is by far the biggest around. Spanning over 2 decades and available on nearly 20 consoles since, the series created by Hironobu Sakaguchi is set for its 13th tle to hit in March 2010. Final Fantasy XIII embraces another fantas c new universe, rich in detail and vibrant in its imagery, to engulf players across the world in its cloak of swords and spells once more. Having come as a major surprise at its announcement back at the E3 in 2006, Final Fantasy XIII has ﬁnally come to frui on a er three-and-a-half years of development. Combining the crea ve forces in Square Enix once more, FF13 brings a brand new story complete with characters, background, history and of course, the recurring Cid.

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PREVIEW PLOT Like previous tles, FF13’s story line is completely fantasy based. Its main focal point Cocoon, is a floa ng world high above the skies of another called Pulse. Created by a fal’Cie named Orphan (more on fal’Cies later) as a paradise for humanity, its ci zens fear the world of Pulse beneath them a er a savage war narrowly won by Cocoon le the fear of another invasion in their minds. Brainwashed into believing that Pulse is a harsh environment with side-effects on those who venture there, anyone discovered to have been are immediately quaran ned and exiled by the theocracy that govern Cocoon, called Sanctum. The fal’Cie are mechanical beings of immense power, fuelled by crystals that exist inside them. People given the mark of a fal’Cie are called l’Cies, given missions called a Focus that must be fulfilled within a me limit. L’Cies are not directly told their objec ve; instead, they must understand through visions and dreams what is required of them. L’Cies that do not fulfil their Focus in the me, or die during it, are turned into Cie’th, zombie-like monsters that turn into obelisks in me, though those who do manage to fulfil their goal are turned permanently into crystal form.

“LIKE PREVIOUS TITLES, FF13’S STORY LINE IS COMPLETELY FANTASY BASED, ITS MAIN FOCAL POINT BEING, COCOON.” A er a Pulse fal’Cie was discovered in the city of Boudam the en re city is ordered to be quaran ned and purged to Pulse. Snow Villiers, leading a resistance group called Nora, tries to ﬁght against the purge while Lightning makes her way past the PSICOM soldiers that enforce Sanctum law, aided by Sazh, to ﬁnd the Pulse fal’Cie Anima that has turned her younger sibling, Serah, into a l’Cie. Soon, all three of them as well as two purged exiles in Vanille and Hope are forced by fal’Cie of Pulse to become l’Cies, and are given the linked Focus of destroying Cocoon and Orphan.

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PREVIEW

CHARACTERS The six playable characters have all been chosen as l’Cies, with a special ta oo or marking somewhere on them to indicate as such. All six also have Eidolons (GFs, summons, Espers for previous FF players) connected to them as a result, a bond that plays a signiﬁcant part in the telling of their stories.

“LIGHTNING’S EIDOLON IS ODIN, TRANSFORMING INTO A HORSE FOR SPECIAL ATTACKS.” The game’s main protagonist is Lightning, a female l’Cie with a military background, having served in the security forces in Boudam, the Cocoon city where all the game’s main characters originate from. Her story is one that is a common thread throughout the Final Fantasy series – orphaned from a young age with a younger sibling, Serah, to take care of. She wields a weapon similar to the gunblade Squall uses in FF8 – at ﬁrst “Blaze Edge”, a weapon combining the traits of both gun and sword. Her Eidolon is Odin, transforming into a horse for special a acks where she rides him into ba le.

She is rather ably supported by a cast of ragtag nomads and those expelled from Boudam a er the incident in the city, and the resul ng purge of ci zens: -

Snow Villiers, is the leader of a rebel group called Nora. Using his ﬁsts as his weapons of choice in ba le, he is accompanied by the Shiva sisters Stella and Nox who can transform into motor cycles in the heat of ba le. His real weapon is his coat that changes pa erns depending on current eﬀects – star ng with “Wild Bear”.

Oerba Dia Vanille, a pink ponytailed girl with the earth-based Eidolon Hecatoncheir and an unwavering happy outlook on life. Equipped with a FFXIII original weapon in Bind Rod, she u lises hooks and wires to rake at her enemies.

Private pilot Sazh Katzroy, pruned from Boudam and enlisted to support Lightning’s cause, is accompanied by a Chocobo chick and a young boy, Dahj, a er his mother was killed in unknown circumstances. Aided by another FFXIII original Brynhildr, a ﬁre-based elemental knight that transforms into a hot-rod, he uses guns a ached to holsters on both legs in ranged combat.

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PREVIEW

“AS WITH MANY OF THE FF SERIES THE MAIN ANTAGONIST IS SOME SORT OF ORGANIZATION OR GOVERNMENT.” -

Lost child Hope Estheim, expelled while visi ng Boudam with his mother. Snow Villiers was unable to keep Hope’s mother safe a er she volunteered to support Nora, therefore giving reason for resentment from Hope to Snow. Hope has the biggest Eidolon in the game in Alexander (a gigan c holy-elemental fortress), and he uses a boomerang in the similar fashion to Yuﬃe in FFVII, called the Air Wing.

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The last playable character is Oerba Yun Fang, a l’Cie that supports the Cocoon government despite bearing the l’Cie mark. She is not part of the group, but is playable throughout the game. Her allegiance is not deﬁnite un l later in the game. She comes bearing her Blade Lance (a dual-bladed lance) and brings with her possibly the most iconic summon of all the Final Fantasy games – Bahamut.

As with many of the FF series the main antagonist is some sort of organiza on or government. In FF13’s case, it is Sanctum, led by the enigma c Galenth Dysley, and its elite enforcement army, PSICOM. Cid makes a recurring appearance, a second me as a villain, as an Air Force oﬃcer in charge of the Lindblum who ques ons the organiza on he works for. He becomes a l’Cie by a sudden turn of events with the Focus of aiding Lightning’s group to their cause, overcoming trials that will be put in front of them.

PREVIEW GRAPHICS & GAMEPLAY As with all Square Enix tles the graphics have been cranked up yet again following the success of FFXII. In-game views of backgrounds are superb and pictures released by Square Enix show environments lush and beau ful, bustling and urban, and breathtaking in the majority of the game. With Cocoon being primarily an urban environment the ci es are vibrant with colour at night and busy by day, while Pulse is much more of the rolling plains, great cliffs and open fields, something seen o en in many of the series. Perhaps the most intriguing change of all is the one to the combat system, especially to fans that have not played FFXII. Using an encounter-based system similar to the one in FFXII, you can avoid enemies you wish to bypass, and on engaging an enemy you’ll find yourself at the command of one party leader and 2 AI-controlled party members. Using the Ac ve Time Ba le system commonly used as variants in previous games, the game places large mul -sec onal bars above the character’s heads. Moves chosen will require certain numbers of sec ons filled before being able to be executed – for example, a magic move that will require 4 sec ons will be put on hold un l 4 are filled in before it is ac vated – allowing moves to be queued up at will. However, ac ons can be taken individually, or on comple on of the bar, will execute all queued up ac ons in one go. The Chain bonus on the top right of the screen will let you enter a Break state once the figure next to the Chain bonus has been achieved, enabling a acks to have greater force un l the sec ons of the bar above the figures run out.

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PREVIEW

In addi on to all of this, your computer-controlled party members can be given Roles in combat. Func oning much like the RPG counterparts, your allies can shi between a total of 6 Roles – A acker, Defender, Blaster, Healer, Enhancer and Jinxer – where each Role will apply diﬀering bonuses to various stats. For example, the A acker will gain bonuses to physical and magic-based a acks but are limited to oﬀensive ac ons only, while Enhancers have the ability to access status-changing ac ons such as Haste or Barrier.

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However, yet again another new feature is in control of such a complicated (but very useful) system: Paradigms. These are groupings of roles for the party to follow, and can be swapped quickly in the heat of ba le. Using proper names such as Rush A ack and A ack & Cure, which are other names for the Roles, enabling players to shi between pre-determined groupings of Roles during ba le. Lastly, Eidolons can be summoned in a similar way to previous games in the series, where the other two party members are dropped with the Eidolon stepping in, to ﬁll the gap controlled by the AI. The summon can be directly controlled in Gestalt Mode, where the Eidolons transform into their respec ve vehicle forms and the character will ride them, accessing a list of special a acks to u lise.

PREVIEW

SIDEGAMES Not exactly a sidegame but the levelling system for Final Fantasy 13 has been reworked (AGAIN? I hear you cry). The conven onal experience bar-based levelling system has been dropped and replaced with what is rather eloquently named “Crystarium System”, pre y much a fancier and slightly more in-depth version of the license system of FF12 and Sphere system of FFX-2. Crystal Points (CP) earned in ba le are used to move your character through a chart unlocking new abili es and parameter modifiers along the way. When the central point in the Crystarium System for a character is unlocked, the role is “levelled up” and a higher level chart becomes accessible for further improvement. The second non-sidegame (that is a sidegame) is the Equipment Reform. Opening up worlds of modifica on to perfec onists like yours truly; the Equipment Reform system allows players to feed special material found in the game to their weapons, with the weapons accruing experience with more and more material fed un l they reach a breakpoint and evolve into the next form of weapon. With over 100 types of material that have varying effects i.e. a straight grant of experience; causes an increase in experience gained from the previous material, etc. The possibility of adap ng any weapon of your choice into a game-beater by the end is possible.

And while you look for material to feed your most precious, the Mission System introduced will allow players to approach obelisks in Pulse that are Cie’th that have eventually become solid and immovable. Feeding players with an unlimited number of side missions, the Mission System greatly increases the longe vity (and perhaps boredom level) of the game and acts as a progression mini-game for players – Ranks are obtained as each mission is completed, and some missions require higher ranks. Lastly, where would we be without the most well-known Final Fantasy-related creature in the world? Yes, the Chocobo returns as a ride-able mount when found in the wild on Pulse, while you can gaze with glee at the typically cute ones in an amusement area in Cocoon.

SO... Final Fantasy games have always been a massive me sink for serious gamers and FF13 deﬁnitely follows suit. The endless missions and massive poten al for customiza on of all sorts mean that hours and hours is simply not enough to explore the vast world that Square Enix has once more produced from absolutely nowhere. But with graphics like these and a combat system that seems to ooze poten al, players will soon ﬁnd themselves sucked in, and gladly. Paul Park

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PREVIEW

STREET FIGHTER IV PUBLISHERS: CAPCOM FORMAT: IPHONE AVAILABLE: MARCH 2010

TAP-TAP-HADOUKEN! No, it’s not North London indy grime ou it coming to Tap Tap Revenge, it’s actually, factually Street Fighter coming to the iPhone. Now call me old fashioned, but I thought beat-em-ups were be er in 2D because it really brought out their adversarial nature, the characters were head-to-head and there was no escape. (I also liked when PC Gamer used to call every game genre a something-em-up: Hospital Tycoon was a great cure-em-up, for example).

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Well, that 2d experience is back on the iPhone. The art is directly taken from the console version and while it looks a bit clunky, it retains the great cell shaded appearance. Some might even argue that the clunkiness is part of the charm, giving the game a cheerful 16-bit character. Perhaps the best news is that Capcom has been working par cularly hard on the controls for the game, working out what the best solu on to the iPod’s lack of bu ons is. The answer, it has decided, is a virtual representa on of an eight-bu on d-pad and four ac on bu ons.

PREVIEW FEATURE

“PERHAPS THE BEST NEWS IS THAT CAPCOM HAS BEEN WORKING PARTICULARLY HARD ON THE CONTROLS FOR THE GAME, WORKING OUT WHAT THE BEST SOLUTION TO THE IPOD’S LACK OF BUTTONS IS.” The company have also realised that precision is what makes playing Street Fighter into an art – if you’ve ever seen a Japanese kid freaking out in an arcade you’ll probably agree – so the controls will be highly customisable. The opacity of the bu ons, which are overlaid on the arena, will be controllable as will the posi oning of the bu ons. So far only Ryu and Ken have been confirmed and shown off in the preview screenshots but in a non-confirma on confirma on, Capcom said that a mix of characters from all the game’s itera ons, including Street Fighter IV, will be included. Similarly, a dojo training mode and tournament play have been announced but expect other op ons as well.

Oh and then there’s mul player, what beat-em-ups were made for. Somehow, there’s something even more appealing about slugging it out with your friend on the li le iPhone screen than a HDTV. So far only bluetooth connec vity has been announced, so bad luck iPod Touch owners. The price has yet to be announced but it’s an iPhone game so it’s unlikely to break the bank. All-in-all it’s shaping up as a nice li le package that should get some thumbs ﬂying when it comes out in March. Ian Duncan

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FEATURE SHOCKING SECRETS AND TERRIFYING TRICKS HOW DO GAME DESIGNERS GIVE US THE SHIVERS? Nothing beats a scary game. With every step you take and corner you turn, you sit clenched in a puddle of cold sweat, an cipa ng a shock that will undoubtedly come. We shouldn’t enjoy this experience, and even while playing we ques on why we picked this terrifying tle oﬀ the shelf, but yet we s ll keep on playing. But what are the tricks that developers use to make a game scary, and make gamers change their underwear? Well here are a few classics that regularly crop up.

A LEAKING PIPE If there’s one thing the world of games is short of, it’s plumbers. Everywhere you go, there’s always a leaking pipe, which 99 mes out of a 100 is squir ng hot steam or some form of masking gas. As any gamer will tell you, beware of leaking pipes, and always keep your guard up, as a nasty is usually hiding near by.

SILENCE …………………………..you hear that? That’s the sound of impending terror. As soon as a room or large area, which is usually packed with mo on and sound, goes quiet, there’s bound to be some trouble. It also makes that unexpected scream seem all the louder, as it explodes out of nowhere.

FLICKERING LIGHTS Again, who does the maintenance in the world of games? Why can’t you get hold of a good electrician to fix those lights? Whenever you’re creeping through a deserted hospital or haunted school, there’s always a blinking bulb nearby. Some mes there’s even a whole line of florescent tubes, that flicker like crazy and then burst just as you get close. Someone call the council!

DEFORMITIES Even when you see someone across the street that has a bit of a deformity, say a gleaming stump or wrinkly ﬁnger, your legs go a bit wobbly. But when something that’s so deformed it’s not even human is running towards you, ready to take a bit out of your face, it’s pre y frightening. See Dead Space for some of the best (I say best, I mean most vomit-inducingly horriﬁc) examples.

RANDOM BLOOD AND GUTS You’ve seen this before; you turn a corner and ﬁnd a bloody mess that looks like someone’s just exploded. Occasionally there’s a trail of footprints leading away from the scene, or in the worst cases there’s something wri en on the wall in blood. Again, where’s the cleaner?

A CRAZY PERSON When you come face to face with someone whose elevator doesn’t stop at every ﬂoor, it’s not that scary. You just punch them in the face, or unload booth barrels into their chest. But it’s not such a pleasant experience when you don’t know where they are. All you hear is faint mumbles and creepy phrases like “where’s daddy with the cake?” Come out and face me you nut-job. Please….. So what have we learnt? Well, it’s clear that a lot of the same old tricks keep popping up in games, but to a certain extent they s ll scare us. We may know what’s about to come next, but it’s the wai ng that eventually draws us in, and what makes these type of games so exci ng. But one thing’s for sure, if those cleaners, electricians, mental home security guards and plumbers did their jobs properly, our lives would be a lot less tense. Sco Tierney

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FEATURE

BATTLEFRONT.COM ROUNDUP WAR! WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? GAMING, THAT’S WHAT. Strategy games, warfare games, tank games – ba lefront.com has all the bases covered where modern warfare is involved on a backdrop of a bustling community, driven by the common goal of achieving victory by any means possible. With tles such as Theatre of War and Strategic Command, you know you’ve stepped foot in some serious army mud as soon as you enter the website. Forget all you know about those prissy li le game sites with games involving balloons, animals and rainbow colours, this is proper games for men.

Dig a li le deeper and you’ll soon ﬁnd out why the website is so popular. The level of detail going into the historical re-enactments of each ba le present in World War II, as well as more recent conﬂicts is second to none. Discussions on the forums regarding various armies such as the Wehrmacht, the Marines and their placements just show the p of the iceberg when it comes to the cra ing of each scenario that is playable on games such as Combat Mission: Shock Force. The scale goes down to where each platoon was sta oned, their movement, their orders and ul mately how they fared during the heat of the ba le.

“THE LEVEL OF DETAIL GOING INTO THE HISTORICAL RE-ENACTMENTS OF EACH BATTLE PRESENT IN WORLD WAR II, AS WELL AS MORE RECENT CONFLICTS IS SECOND TO NONE.” Over 30,000 members on their forums shows the huge popularity of the games on show here, and it slowly becomes evident that this is not just a website for games, but in fact a community dedicated to perfec ng the art of virtual warfare. Tac cs, strategies, discussions about related topics – it’s all present in the ac ve boards on the website.

For the casual gamer, ba lefront.com may not be the best place to start your online gaming adventures. However, for those who like a challenge and have me to invest into slowly reaping the rewards of thousands of people’s historical exper se, ba lefront.com is one of those perfect li le niche communi es to thrive in. Paul Park

The games, at ﬁrst glance, seem to be of your bog-standard average strategy variety. Rather choppy graphics and odd sound means that, to your average player, it’s not exactly impressive.

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FEATURE SYSTEM SHOCK 2 PUBLISHER: ELECTRONIC ARTS DEVELOPER: IRRATIONAL GAMES, LOOKING GLASS STUDIOS FORMAT: PC RELEASED: 1999

IS THIS THE NOSFERATU OF VIDEO GAMES? While researching ‘scary gaming moments’ for this issue’s 20 games list, I was surprised that System Shock 2 was a regular absentee. It of course got a men on, usually by fans of the game and other well informed gamers, but its empty void on a lot of so called ‘greatest ever’ lists was highly disconcer ng. Why is this EA classic o en ignored? If you haven’t sampled this slice of pant-dampening gaming terror, then here’s a quick synopsis. Released in 1999 for the PC, System Shock 2 took the gamer on a terrifying emo onal journey. Alone and isolated aboard a spaceship, you had to use your wits as you tried to stem the release of a gene c virus. Those who had been consumed by the virus were s ll aboard the ship, albeit in a less than human state. Cue lots of creeping around, unexpected shocks and unrelen ng scares, all backed up with a haun ng soundtrack and smart level design. There were also some toxic monkeys, which was nice…. The gameplay was based around an acute mix of FP shoo ng, puzzle solving and RPG elements. Although there was a fair amount of shoo ng, and as the game progressed this became a more dominant feature, most of System Shock 2’s excitement came from the RPG aspects. As you progressed, you had to pick and listen to audio logs, and take the clues from what the then dead crew members had said. For instance, a security oﬃcer may have made a note of the revised password for a door, or the ingredients for a special medicinal concoc on. This is a common part of video gaming today, but back then it was a very new and ingenious feature.

In a way, System Shock 2 is much the Nosferatu of games. Nosferatu was released upon terrified audiences in 1922, and is revered by many as the first horror film. OK, so these days it’s a bit corny, and numerous parodies (The ‘monster monster monster’ sketch on The Fast Show to name one) have possibly taken the edge off its shock value. But despite this, Nosferatu s ll has an unnerving tension about it, and although it’s nearly 90 years old, it s ll sends a shiver down the spine. It’s the same case with System Shock 2. A lot of the tricks, concepts and ideas it used have been copied by other games, and are as such now viewed as clichéd and cheesy. Also, the graphics haven’t aged well, and it’s hard to feel unnerved by a monster with a square head and nobbly movements. But that s ll doesn’t mean that System Shock 2 is any less scary, or any less of an influen al game. In 1999, gamers (including myself) burst their pants with uncontrollable explosions of fecal terror, and even today it s ll proves to be a creepy and unpleasant experience. Some say that Bioshock is very much the spiritual successor to System Shock 2, and indeed 2K have stated this in the past. But to be honest that’s not a road I’d like to go down, as it would start a war between die-hard fans of each. All I will say is that System Shock 2 is o en forgo en, and glanced over without due a en on to the ideas it produced and the countless games it spawned. It may not have aged well, but it is s ll a truly thrilling game to play, and one that will never be forgo en by those who have sampled it. Believe me, I’ve had 10 years of therapy and I s ll have nightmares. Get away you toxic monkey, GET AWAY! Sco Tierney

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REVIEWS BIOSHOCK 2 PUBLISHER: 2K GAMES DEVELOPER: 2K GAMES FORMAT: PS3, XBOX 360, PC AVAILABLE: NOW

SWING OUT, SISTER The post-Randian moral minefield of Bioshock is all very well, but for me the real star of the show is undoubtedly the world of Rapture. There’s something of Blade Runner in its twisted, decayed neon, adver sing biological enhancements to a tribe of savage addicts. You walk into the trappings of chaos as an ingenue and walk out again as something super-powered: superhuman, even. But while you powered yourself up in classic gaming tradi on, it gradually became clear that you were merely a pawn in another’s quest for power. That you were, in fact, less than a man. The long-awaited sequel is finally here, then, and once again you’re both elevated and reduced. Elevated in the sense that you’re now a Big Daddy, as you’ll know unless you’ve been hiding under a Dreamcast for the last 6 months. Reduced in the sense that Big Daddies have, of course, only one purpose... to protect the Li le Sisters. A par cular Li le Sister, in this case. You’re looking for that special someone. Andrew Ryan may be the permanent occupant of an underwater golf bunker now, but his legacy s ll seeps through Rapture’s fe d corridors. Facing off against him this me is the collec vist Sofia Lamb, and it’s her vision of what Rapture should become that helps drive you around the city. Lamb, who sounds exactly like Nurse Ratched would sound if she’d been brought up in Oxfordshire and sent to an exclusive finishing school, is to collec ve responsibility what Ryan was to rampant self-advancement.

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To the brass tacks: combat is less twitchy, a li le more fluid, helped along by dual-wielded guns and plasmids. No more radial switching: shock and thump comes much more naturally now. It’s here that B2 really dis nguishes itself from its predecessor. Ba legrounds are grander in scape, with regular respawns to keep you on your toes. If that sounds wearying, it really isn’t. Although you’re seriously underpowered at first, B2 is generous with upgrades, throwing 3 Power To The People weapon buffs at you in the first couple of hours. It’s not long before you’re dealing death on a grand scale and, although ammo is doled out in rela vely small quan es, ADAM comes thicker and faster thanks to the new way of interac ng with Li le Sisters. Lots of other reviews have talked about this in detail, but it feels like a spoiler to me... so I’ll skip over it, simply saying that it involves a bit of protec on and offers a nice chunky gene c reward. All this is great. I struggled with the combat in the first game: it’s now much be er. The plasmids are reassuringly familiar. And it’s here that the trouble in paradise starts to loom. It’s... more of the same. Well, that’s good isn’t it? Yes, I suppose it is. And yet I can’t help feeling that a trick’s been missed. You know Rapture so well that you feel... well... comfortable. The capacity for the game to (sorry) shock has waned. It’s all a li le too familiar.

To say that Bioshock 2 is a fantas c upgrade is not in doubt. Visually it’s s ll stunning, even if it lacks a level with the unforge able panache of Fort Frolic and a character with the searing menace of Sander Cohen. Combat is excellent. The Big Sisters are cracking mini-bosses and the Big Daddies s ll have the capacity to give you the willies. But the inevitable Bioshock 3 needs some serious thinking if it’s to maintain the intellectual heritage of its progenitor. A for eﬀort. C for innova on. Due to me constraints and the lack of players on servers pre-launch, we were unable to review the mul player mode. We’ll return to this in a later issue. Rob Hobson

PRESENTATION: 18/20 STORY: 16/20 CONTROLS: 16/20 GAMEPLAY: 18/20 DURABILITY: 16/20

OVERALL

84/100

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DANTE’S INFERNO PUBLISHER: ELECTRONIC ARTS DEVELOPER: VISCERAL GAMES FORMAT: PS3, XBOX 360, PSP AVAILABLE: NOW

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REVIEWS MY MY, THE DEVIL’S HANDS HAVE BEEN BUSY. Over the course of our lives, chances are we’ve all done something that has booked us an infinite stay at the hotel we know as Hell. We’ve all probably eaten too much, or illegally downloaded a game/move via the internet (not me officer) or in the worst cases we’ve killed something (I once accidentally trod on a frog). Let’s face it; we’re all going to Hell. Usually this wouldn’t bother us, because when we think of Hell we think of a cartoony land of fire and rock, with Demons using Homer Simpson’s head as a bowling ball. But if Hell is anything like that portrayed in Dante’s Inferno, I won’t be going on Bit Torrent any me soon. Not that I ever did of course, officer…. Dante’s Inferno tells the tale of a Third Crusade soldier, when on discovering his wife has been murdered, sets off into the deepest depths of Hell in an a empt to rescue her. Luckily (and what a stroke of luck!) he’s previously killed Death himself, so a few li le demon’s shouldn’t possess anything he can’t handle. In all seriousness, it’s actually a fantas c story that at no point shies away from any of its topics or themes. Gameplay wise, Dante’s Inferno involves a lot of bu on-mashing. Enemies of all shapes and sizes – including some truly epic bosses – are begging to be cut to ribbons, and you’ll merrily oblige with the numerous weapons and spells at your disposal. There’s also a welcome mix of pla orming and ac on, and some of the puzzles have been fiendishly conceived. Simply, it’s pre y much a perfect display of the hack-and-slash genre, albeit a carbon copy of God of War. The controls are also excellent, and although there’s arguably far too much repe ve tapping of the ‘B’ bu on (you’ll have to tap it to death to simply open a door) in general they’re superb.

But what makes Dante’s Inferno stand out is its se ng. Hell has rarely looked this diverse, in mida ng or just bloody nasty. Every ‘chapter’ or ‘sin’ has been fantas cally cra ed, with every facet of that par cular sin being explored and used perfectly. Take the sin of Adultery for example. In this level (and I’ve got to be careful here) you are thrust into a world were everything has been built around the concept of illicit sex. There are giant phalluses, rampaging whores that will try and suck you into their bodies, gigan c ‘lady parts’; the whole level emphasises the sin to a tee. There are even extremely unnerving limbless babies that run around and a ack you. And I haven’t even men oned the humongous boss, which had tongues protruding from her nipples! I absolutely adore Dante’s Inferno. It’s brilliant to play, the graphics are fantas c, the level design is spot on, the controls are direct and precise, the story’s engaging; it’s pre y much perfect. The only flaws are that it maybe runs out of ideas a er the 4-5 hour mark, and although the se ng of Hell is tremendous, it possibly lacks a li le variety. It’s a magnificent se ng, but at mes we’d just like to go somewhere else, just for a while. It also takes a lot of its templates from the God of War series, and as we know, the is a sin. Dante’s Inferno is tremendous fun, and although it starts to wane when in the final third (a flaw that costs it greatly) it’s s ll a great tle. Just make sure you buy it from a reputable retailer, and keep the receipt. Otherwise you’ll find yourself flung into the bowels of hell, and believe me, if it’s like what we’ve seen in Dante’s Inferno, you don’t want to go there! PRESENTATION: 19/20 STORY: 19/20 CONTROLS: 17/20 GAMEPLAY: 16/20 DURABILITY: 14/20

Sco Tierney

OVERALL

85/100 phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS

MURAMASA: THE DEMON BLADE PUBLISHER: RISING STAR GAMES DEVELOPER: VANILLAWARE FORMAT: WII AVAILABLE: NOW

I DON’T QUITE UNDERSTAND IT, BUT IT MAKES ME SMILE!

Japanese games are usually a well-cra ed mix of staggering beauty and uncanny weirdness. You don’t quite know what’s going on, and some of the concepts not only stagger but also overwhelm you, but in the end you love the experience. Muramasa: The Demon Blade is such a tle; weird but wonderful. The ﬁrst thing that’ll strike you about Muramasa: The Demon Blade is the vibrant visuals. The whole game is in 2D, with the classic use of ﬂat layers being put to mo on, but the backgrounds and levels are stunning. It’s like running through an oil-painted dream, with the sun slowly se ng. It’s fantas c. I’d like to spend a quick paragraph talking about the story, but as with most Japanese games, it’s a bit complex. What I can say is that the game is split into two segments, with one half being played as Momohime, a small girl who has lost her memory; and the other as a small boy, Kisuke, who’s also lost his memory. A er that it gets a bit hazy, with talking monkeys, Tofu salesmen and exploding mushrooms, but it’s not a major problem. Muramasa: The Demon Blade is more about the experience than anything else.

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“BUT REGARDLESS OF ALL THE FLAWS, MURAMASA HAS THAT SPECIAL SOMETHING THAT MOST JAPANESE GAMES HAVE, THAT SOMEHOW MAKES THEM SPECIAL.” The gameplay consists of nothing but Ninja based whooping. You go from one place to another, bea ng the soul (literally) out of a baddie, then moving on and repea ng. It’s OK for short periods, but it does become very repe ve and resome. This is partly down to the controls, that haven’t made the slightest bit of use of the Wii’s mo on a ributes. There’s one bu on for a ack (A), one to change weapons (C), one to launch a special a ack (B) and all your movements are coordinated via the Nunchuck joys ck. It would have been nice to have some varia on, or even a few tricks that have to be done via the act of movement. You could play Muramasa via an old Mega Drive controller, and s ll loose nothing in terms of input. There is an op on to use a GameCube control pad, but again, where’s the fun in that?

But regardless of all the ﬂaws, Muramasa: The Demon Blade has that special something that most Japanese games have, that somehow makes them special. It’s hard to explain, but for some reason Japanese games always make you smile, in ways that most other games can’t. For instance, even the act of re-healing is pleasant, as you have to follow a monkey to a natural spa and bathe in the steaming water for a few minutes. There’s not a lot of point to this segment, but it’s a really nice feature. Whereas a lot of Western games can be coarse, vile, stagnant and overly aggressive, games from Japan just seem to posses a li le sprinkle of warmth. They may not play that well, and their concepts are o en lost in transla on, but they are just really nice games to play. Muramasa: The Demon Blade is an OK game. It’s far too short, the gameplay is confusing, dated and repe ve, and the controls are very weak, but it’s s ll just a really charming piece of gaming. Regardless of it’s ﬂaws, Muramasa: The Demon Blade makes you smile, and at the end of the day you can’t ask much more of a game. Sco Tierney

PRESENTATION: 18/20 STORY: 14/20 CONTROLS: 12/20 GAMEPLAY: 18/20 DURABILITY: 13/20

OVERALL

72/100 phonica magazine uk

ALIENS VS. PREDATOR PUBLISHER: SEGA DEVELOPER: REBELLION DEVELOPMENTS FORMAT: PS3, XBOX 360, PC AVAILABLE: NOW

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REVIEWS THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE CLUMSY We’ve all wanted be an Alien, a Predator, or a gum-chomping Marine at some point in our lives. At some stage we’ve wanted to scoop someone up from above and have our wicked way with them, sneak around with a shield of invisibility and spook targets with chilly laughs, or maybe we’ve just wanted to unleash one of those machine guns with the funny firing sound (it sounded like sparrows flying into a lawnmower). Well, imagine no more, as with Aliens vs. Predator, you can do all of the above… just not very well. As with the previous AVP games, Aliens vs. Predator is split into three sec ons, with an overlaying story that runs throughout. Firstly, you get to play as a Rookie Marine, as you ba le your way around a desolate mining town overrun by those wicked Aliens. Then there’s the Alien sec on, where you play as a ‘trained’ Alien that escapes from a facility. Finally there’s the Predator sec on, where you take pleasure in the thrill of the hunt, and laugh a bit for good measure. They’re all pre y decent, but if you had to put a flamethrower to my genitals, and asked me to pick a favorite, I’d go for the Marine sec ons. They’re not amazing, but they arguably best capture the tension of the films. And you get that sparrow-mower gun!

“AVP DOESN’T PLAY THAT WELL, MAINLY DUE TO ITS DODGY CONTROLS.” Graphically, AVP is very impressive in places, and laughable in others. Although the majority of the scenery is cloaked in shadows, with only small areas receiving illumina on, it’s extremely pre y. A personal favorite is the surface sec on of the desolate mine, which looks gorgeous in the orange light. That said though, the cut-scene anima ons are very poor, and totally out of character with the rest of the game.

But sadly, AVP doesn’t play that well, mainly due to its dodgy controls. At no point do you truly feel in control of either character. As a Marine, you’ll be constantly missing baddies due to the s ff aiming system, and end up receiving a good pounding in compensa on. As an Alien, you’ll be cursing the controls as you slam into a wall or struggle to climb into a vent, and as a Predator, you’ll just be a bit bored with the red stabs and blocks. The Alien sec ons are par cularly frustra ng, as when charging along at full lt down a corridor, there aren’t many be er experiences in gaming. But simple things like dropping from the ceiling behind your prey (you’ll usually spin around in mid-air and end up facing the wrong direc on) and climbing walls are incredibly frustra ng, and to a certain extent ruins the fun. Luckily though, AVP’s mul player does save the day. When running around with a group of buddies, blas ng Aliens into corrosive chunks and ripping the heads off Marines, you’ll forget the sloppy controls and wishy-washy level design. It’s not a perfect mul player experience, but its close enough. Overall, Aliens vs. Predator just doesn’t feel like a well made piece. It’s ragged, clumsy, under worked and just a bit loose. If it was a piece of furniture, it’d be a folding table/dining set, or a bargain basement sofa bed. It does several different things, all to a reasonably good standard, but overall it’s not a quality product, and chances are it’ll fall apart at just the wrong me. Aliens vs. Predator is worth a quick play, maybe round a friends house for a brief night of Alien mu la on fun. But as a complete game, it’s just not that good. Sco Tierney PRESENTATION: 15/20 STORY: 13/20 CONTROLS: 13/20 GAMEPLAY: 14/20 DURABILITY: 12/20

OVERALL

67/100 phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS SAW: THE VIDEO GAME PUBLISHER: KONAMI DEVELOPER: ZOMBIE STUDIOS FORMAT: PS3, XBOX 360, PC AVAILABLE: NOW

WE DEFINITELY SAW THIS ONE COMING. Ok, Saw has been out since the end of last year, and even then it didn’t exactly rip our eyes out with its need for a en on. But, as we’re looking at scary games this issue, it seemed only right to evaluate this tle, and see if it’s as bad as we expect it to be. So, let’s dive into the world of Saw, and prepare to be scared. Oh joy… As the game begins, you ﬁnd yourself playing the role of Detec ve David Tapp, the man determined to hunt down the Saw ﬁlms central character, The Jigsaw Killer. As you progress, you discover that The Jigsaw Killer has healed your gunshot wound, and has laid out a series of tests for you to complete, all in the par cularly cozy internals of a run-down asylum. So, cue lots of twisted puzzles, nasty shocks, creepy voice ac ng and lots of nasty wa s.

“AS FOR THE GAMEPLAY, WELL, IT’S VERY UP AND DOWN.”

As for the gameplay, well, it’s very up and down. The puzzles are occasionally excellent, with most of them being well planned, developed and played out. Simple ideas like codes scrawled on the wall in blood, and dead bodies with keys hidden in their ro en innards are used to great effect, although the med challenges are very frustra ng. But what lets Saw down is the combat. It’s so numb, basic and ul mately stupid that it devalues all the tension that has previously been built up. Nothing sha ers a tense moment like a bit of sloppy character anima on, as an enemy takes another badly mo oned pipe to the face, then flops to the floor like a mel ng Ac on Man. So, is Saw as bad as we expected? Well actually, no. It’s reasonably good in places, the open-ended conclusion is a clever feature and although it’s nowhere near as scary as it should be, the puzzles and general ambiance make up for a lot of the shortcomings. OK, so the plot is painfully basic, and if you haven’t worked out the general twist within 30 minutes then something’s wrong with your brain and you should make an appointment with your local GP. But overall, Saw is vastly be er than we first thought. We won’t stop making casual and unfounded judgments though, that’s not our way. Sco Tierney

One thing that Saw lacks though, and quite surprisingly, is scares. At no point during our playtest did we leap from our seat (apart from when our Rustlers Burger was ready) or drop the controller in a spasmodic explosion of terror. There’s nothing that wasn’t expected, and even when you expect a shock, nothing happens. That said, Saw does have a creepy tension that should not be ignored. It’s nothing that we haven’t seen or experienced before, but it’s s ll slightly unnerving.

44 phonica magazine uk

PRESENTATION: 15/20 STORY: 13/20 CONTROLS: 13/20 GAMEPLAY: 13/20 DURABILITY: 13/20

OVERALL

67/100

phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

PHONICA’S 20 SCARIEST GAMING MOMENTS RESIDENT EVIL 2

HALF LIFE 2

KILLING TIME

ALIEN3: THE GUN

DIABLO

(PS1, GC)

(PC, Xbox 360, PS3)

(3DO, PC, Saturn)

(Arcade, Master System)

(PC)

“The ﬁrst zombies you see gnawing on a corpse. Cue horriﬁed yelling and a thrown controller at the screen.”

“Ravenholm. Never have I seen a place that had me on the edge of my seat ready to rip the power cord out as fast as possible.”

“Whack-a-zombie... before they kill you.”

“7 years old and watching an alien eat your brain. Mental scarring much?”

“Waltzing into the second level of the cathedral to hear “Mmm... FRESH MEAT!” absolutely scared the bananas out of most players.”

FIFA 09

GEARS OF WAR

DEAD SPACE

BIOSHOCK

SYSTEM SHOCK 2

(PS3, X360, PC)

(Xbox 360, PC)

(Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

(PC)

“The moment when you realise, in a 10 v 10 online game, that you’re stuck at right-back. ”

“What do you mean bullets won’t stop a Berserker? You mean all I can do is run away? A horrible moment of gaming uselessness, and it happens 3 mes in the game!”

“Let’s be honest, the whole game is pre y terrifying!”

“No ma er how many mes you see one, those Big Daddy’s s ll send a shiver down the rectum.”

“I can s ll hear those zombies everywhere, and I haven’t played this game in about 10 years.”

46 phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

DEMON’S SOULS

COMMAND & CONQUER 3: TIBERIUM WARS

STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC

RESERVOIR DOGS

(PS3)

(PC)

(PC, Xbox)

(PS2, Xbox, PC)

“Not the series’ ﬁnest hour, but the ﬁrst me the Tyrant broke through the wall and chased me through the room I nearly soiled myself. ”

“Numerous moments, but discovering how quickly the black dual katana-wielding skeletons move is right up there.”

“Any C&C game, really: the second you realise that that valuable tank ba alion is outgunned, out of reach, and out of luck.”

“Mission looks like she has something on her mind. Do you want to talk to her? Frankly, I’d rather be neutered with a lolly s ck. ”

“The knowledge that a game this bad was ever made is, in itself, truly frightening. ”

GUITAR HERO 5

BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM

DOOM 3

F.E.A.R

SONIC 2

(Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)

(Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

(Xbox, PC)

(Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

(Megadrive)

“At a party with 30 other people, and I’m up next on lead guitar. Gulp….”

“The ﬁrst me I heard Killer Croc yell “I will ﬁnd you Batman”, I almost cried tears of urine.”

“OK, it stole and borrowed every cliché in the book, but the ghostly whisper “They took my baby” is s ll unpleasant.”

“Every me Elma popped up, looking all unruly and scary, something bad was bound to happen. ”

“What, no rings for the ﬁnal boss? That is truly the stuﬀ of nightmares!”

RESIDENT EVIL 3: NEMESIS (PS1, GC, Dreamcast)

phonica magazine uk

O2 TARIFF TABLES O2 MOBILE BROADBAND DATA ALLOWANCE 1GB +WiFi 3GB + WiFi USB Modem Overage Promo

PAY MONTHLY 18 months £10.00 £15.00 Free 2.4p/MB 3 months free

30 days £10.00 £15.00 £20.00

24 months laptops N/A £25-£40 Free

O2 PAY MONTHLY TARIFFS FOR IPHONE UK mins UK texts Data and voicemail Internet tethering Internet tethering 3GB

100

300

600 900 1200 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited UK Data, Wi-Fi & Visual Voicemail Never spend more than £2 per day £10 per month

12 month simplicity for iPhone 30 day simplicity for iPhone

N/A N/A

£15 £20

24 mo handset tariﬀ 18 mo handset tariﬀ Apple iPhone 3G 8GB Apple iPhone 3GS 16GB Apple iPhone 3GS 32GB

£25 N/A £149 £249 £299

N/A £30 £99 £179 £279

£30 £35 £40 £45 £60 £35 £40 £45 £50 £65 £59 Included Included Included Included £149 £89 £59 Included Included £249 £179 £149 £89 Included

£20 £25

£25 £30

£30 £35

£45 £50

O2 STANDARD PAY MONTHLY TARIFFS UK mins UK texts

50 100 Unlimited

12 mo simplicity 30 day simplicity 24 mo handset tariﬀ 18 mo handset tariﬀ UK Data OR Smartphone Bolt On (Unlimited UK Data and Wi-Fi) OR BlackBerry Bolt On (unlimited UK Data, Wi-Fi and BlackBerry push email)

48 phonica magazine uk

£10

300

600

900

1200

Unlimited

£10 £15

£15 £20

£20 £25

£25 £30

£40 £45

£10 £15

£15 £20

£25 £30 £35 £40 £55 £30 £35 £40 £45 £60 Never spend more than £1 per day

N/A

£10 pm £5 pm

N/A

£12.50 £7.50 pm pm

phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

Size weight Frequency Screen Pixels camera resolu on memory/compa bility bluetooth GPRS WLAN Browser Java Messaging Radio Music downloadable games downloadable ringtones Ba ery talk me - mins (max) Ba ery standy - hours (up to) bluetooth carKit compa ble

Nokia 6730

Nokia 5530

Nokia E75

Nokia 6210

Nokia E63

112 x 46 x 12.6 mm 83 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 320 3.15 MP 48 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 No Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

104 x 49 x 13 mm 107 g Quad-band/3G 640 x 360 3.2 MP 70 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32/HSDPA Yes Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/AMS Yes

111.8 x 50 x 14.4 mm 139 g Quad-band/3G 320 x 240 3.2 MP 50 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32/HSDPA Yes Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

103 x 49 x 14.9 mm 117 g Tri-band 320 x 240 3.2 MP 120 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/miniUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32/HSDPA No Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

113 x 59 x 13 mm 126 g Quad-band 320 x 240 2 MP 110 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 Yes Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC/WAV/WMA MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC/WAV/WMA MP3/AAC/WAV/WMA

MP3/WAV/AAC/WMA

Yes Poly/MP3 600 500 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 222 244 Yes

Yes Polyphonic & MP3 660 432 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 294 351 Yes

Yes MP3 340 264 Yes

Sony Ericsson Naite

Sony Ericsson C901

Sony Ericsson C510

HTC Magic

HTC Hero

108 x 47 x 12.6 mm 84 g Quad-band 240 x 320 2 MP

105 x 45 x 13 mm 107 g Quad-band 240 x 320 5 MP

107 x 47 x 12.5 mm 92 g Quad-band 240 x 320 3.15 MP

113 x 55 x 13.7 mm 118.5 g Quad-band 320 x 480 3.15 MP

112 x 56.2 x 14.35 mm 135 g Quad-band/3G 320 x 480 5 MP

100 MB/microSD

120 MB/Memory S ck Micro ™

100 MB/Memory S ck Micro ™

288 MB/microSD

288 MB/microSD ™

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No Wap/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes No Wap/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No Wap/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

Yes/miniUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 Wi-Fi HTML Yes,via 3rd party SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

Yes/A2DP/miniUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 Wi-Fi HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

MP3/MP4/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/AAC/MP4

MP3/MP4

MP3/AAC+/WAV/WMA 9

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 564 380 Yes

Yes Poly & MP3 570 430 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/Aac 420 400 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 450 420 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 420 750 Yes

50 phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

Nokia N97

Nokia 3720 classic

Nokia 5800 Xpress Music Sony Ericsson Aino

Sony Ericsson Yari

117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm 150 g Quad-band/3G 640 x 360 5 MP 32 GB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 Wi-Fi WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

115 x 47 x 15.3 mm 94 g Tri-band 320 x 240 2 MP 20 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 11 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

111 x 51.7 x 15.5 mm 109 g Quad-band 640 x 360 3.2 MP 81 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 Yes WAp/xHTML/HTML/WML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

100 x 48 x 15.7 mm 115 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 320 5 MP 60 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No Wap/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

104 x 50 x 15.5 mm 134 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 420 8.1 MP 60 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10/HSDPA Yes WAP/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

MP3/AAC/eAAC/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/MP4/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/AAc/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/AAC

MP3/eAAC+/WMA

Yes MP3 570 430 Yes

Yes Poly/MIDI/Real Tone/MP3 420 450 Yes

Yes Polyphonic & MP3 528 406 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 270 360 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 600 450 Yes

Apple iPhone 3G S

Apple iPhone 3G

INQ Chat 3G

BlackBerry 8520

BlackBerry Bold 9000

11.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm 135 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 320 3.15 MP

11.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm 133 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 320 2 MP

114.5 x 61 x 12.8 mm 93 g Tri-band/3G 176 x 220 3.2 MP

109 x 60 x 13.9 mm 106 g Quad-band 320 x 240 2 MP

114 x 66 x 14 mm 133 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 320 2MP

16/32 GB (internal)

8/16 GB (internal)

120 MB/Memory S ck Micro ™

256 MB/MicroSD

1GB/microSD

Yes/USB Yes/EDGE Wi-Fi HTML (Safari) No SMS/MMS/Email No

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Yes HTML (Safari) No SMS/Email No

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes Yes Net Front Yes SMS/MMS/Email No

Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 Yes HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 Yes HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

MP3/MP3 VBR/AAC/WAV

AMR/AAC/AAC+/eAAC

MP3/AAC/WMA/AAC+/MP4/WMV MP3/WMA/AAC+

Yes Poly & MP3 720 300 Yes

Yes Poly & MP3 600 300 Yes

Yes Poly/MIDI/MP3 270 408 Yes

AMR/AAC/AAC+/eAAC/MIDI/MP3/WAV

480 170 Yes

Yes Poly & MP3 300 310 Yes

phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

BlackBerry 8300 Curve Samsung Pixon 12

Samsung S5600V Blade

Samsung Genio Touch

Samsung B3310

107 x 60 x 15.5 mm 111 g Quad-band 320 x 240 2MP 64MB/microSD Yes/USB Yes/EDGE No HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

108 x 53 x 13.8 mm 120 g 480 x 800 pixels 240 x 320 12 MP 150 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

102.8 x 54.8 x 12.9 mm 92 g 240 x 320 pixels 240 x 320 3.15 MP 50 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 12 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

103 x 56.5 x 12 mm 90 g Quad-band 240 x 320 2 MP 40 MB/microSD Yes/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

91 x 54 x 17 mm 101 g Quad-band 240 x 320 2 MP 40 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/MP4/WMA/eAAC+

MP3/WMA/AAC

MP3/MP4/eAAC+/WMV/WMA

MP3/MP4

Yes Poly & MP3 240 408 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 180 250 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 120 250 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 480 730 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 300 380 Yes

Samsung Jet

Samsung U900

LG GD510 Pop

LG GM750

LG BL40 New Chocolate

108 x 53.5 x 11.9 mm 110 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 800 5 MP 2/8 GB (internal)/microSD Yes/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 12/HSDPA Wi-Fi WAP/Dolphin Yes

103.2 x 49.3 x 10.9 mm 81.5 g Quad-band 240 x 320 3.2 MP 80MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML Yes

97.8 x 49.5 x 11.2 mm 87g Quad-band 240 x 400 3.15 MP 42 MB RAM/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 12 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes

109.8 x 53.5 x 12.9 mm 120 g Quad-band 240 x 400 5 MP

128 x 51 x 10.9 mm 129 g Quad-band 345 x 800 5 MP 1.1 GB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10/HSDPA Yes WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes

SMS/MMS/Email/Vidoe/MS Exchange

SMS/MMS/EMS/Email

SMS/MMS/Email

SMS/MMS/Email/IM

SMS/MMS/EMS/Email/IM

Yes

128 MB RAM/256 MB ROM/microSD

Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes Yes WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes

MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA/AMR

MP3/MPEG4/AAC/eAAC/WMA

MP3/MP4/WMA

MP3/MPEG4/WAV/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/MP4/WAV/DivX/eAAC

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 492 422 Yes

Yes Poly & MP3 210 220 Yes

Yes Poly & MP3 200 360 Yes

Yes Poly & MP3 380 450 Yes

Yes Poly & MP3 240 400 Yes

52 phonica magazine uk

IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF PHONICA…

HEAVY RAIN WE ROLL OUR TROUSERS UP, AND WADE INTO ONE OF THE YEARS MOST ANTICIPATED GAMES PHONICA ISSUE 11

AVAILABLE SOON! phonica magazine uk