Gamecca Magazine April 2011

w w w. g a m e c c a . c o. z a

issue 22 / vol 2 APRIL 2010

To Be King

The Sims Medieval

Colour Crazy De Blob 2

Danger, Danger Motorstorm Apocalypse

Super Soldier Crysis 2

The Good Fight Homefront

The Champion Dragon Age II reviewed

Inside 6 From the Editor 8 Unstuck You call this support?

10 In Character Why do people role-play?

16 Previews 10 games to look forward to...

36 PS Zealot A busy month for PS3 38 Xbox Beat Have you got the gear?

40 House of Mario Why aim so low?

42 Reviews 20 games to keep you busy 88 Flashtastic Platforming all the way...

90 Mobility The World’s favourite mobile games 92 Essential Classics Free to shoot 94 Hardware Some cool tech toys 112 From Space Is it time to repay a debt?

THIS MONTH’S COVER Return to high fantasy with Dragon Age II. Read our review on page 44.

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Competitions 79 Michael Jackson: The Experience 85 Verbatim Hamper

gamecca contents • issue 22 • April 2011

Previews Reviews

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InFamous 2

20

Alice: Madness Returns

22

Guild Wars 2

24

LEGO Battles Ninjago

25

Deus Ex: Human Revolutiom

26

Shadows of the Damned

28

Vampire Moon: Secret of the Hidden Sun

29

Men of War: Vietnam

30

Carnival Games in Action

32

Mortal Kombat

44

Dragon Age II

48

Crysis 2

52

Homefront

54

Top Spin 4

56

Fight Night: Champion

58

De Blob 2

60

The Sims Medieval

Newsletter Subscriptions: www.gamecca.co.za

62

Motorstorm: Apocalypse

64

Zumba Fitness

Design & Photography: 1337 Media

66

Braid

68

Gray Matter

70

Knight’s Contract

72

Two Worlds II

74

Cricket Coach 2010

76

Nail’d

78

Tank Combat

80

Magicka

82

MotoGP 10/11

84

Battlestrike: Road to Berlin

86

Rango

GAMECCA Volume2 Issue 22 April 2011 Editor: Walt Pretorius walt@gamecca.co.za Sub Editor: Charlie Fripp Writers: Alexia Pestana Brian Murdoch Bryan Banfield Christo van Gemert Dion Scotten Dylan Bouch James Francis Suvesh Arumugam Letters: letters@gamecca.co.za Competition Entries: competitions@gamecca.co.za

Technical Support: Brian Murdoch Marketing Contact: Katia Taliadoros katia@gamecca.co.za

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All rights reserved. No content may be reproduced, copied or transmitted without the express permission of the publishers. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the editors and publishers. All Trademarks and Registered Trademarks are the sole property of the respective owners.

GAMECCA is published by 1337 MEDIA

gamecca contents • issue 22 • April 2011

Copyright © 1337 Media CC 2009 - 2011

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Murphy Month...

From the Editor

by Walt Pretorius

E

very now and then we get to do an issue that can, if you’re feeling generous, be described as ‘interesting’. There are more realistic descriptions for that kind of issue, but this is a family show, so we’ll avoid using those terms. This has been one of those issues.

Between review samples arriving late, games being delayed, games not arriving at all, computer issues, power outages and one of our writing crew almost electrocuting himself, it’s been one of those issues that just didn’t want to co-operate.

We’ve pushed, pulled, pleaded and punished it into submission, though… and, to be honest, issues like this are often extremely satisfying, when you get them done.

Then again, March 2011 will go down as a tough month for many reasons. Maybe Mercury is in retrograde or something, but it has been a challenging time for many people, to varying degrees. But none have had a rougher time than the people of Japan, who suffered so much devastation in March. Our thoughts and best wishes – I believe I speak for the whole Gamecca Crew here – go out to them.

If you’ve perused the contents page, you will notice that there are a number of relatively big name titles on offer this month, including two massive sequels from EA: Dragon Age II, our cover game, and Crysis 2. But the year is still young, and there are many other great titles on the horizon – some of them within the next few months. Sure, we still have that mid-year dry spell to get through, but I think there will be a lot to keep us busy through that time.

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You will notice that we have added a new regular section to the magazine as well. Called Mobility, it deals with mobile games by bringing a handful of quick mobile game reviews to your attention each month.

We also have a good, long review of the new Nintendo 3DS… all I can say is ‘wow.’ I admit, I was a bit doubtful, but now that I have seen one in action, I’ll take my humble pie with a topping of cream. Seeing technology like this arrive on the consumer electronics market is extremely exciting indeed.

How Nintendo’s competitors will respond to this extremely exciting and undeniably cool device will be interesting to see, to say the least.

Some may think it is the first shot in another console war, but this really just is the next volley in an on-going battle.

Right, that’s enough from me… let’s get on with the show. I hope you enjoy this 22nd issue of Gamecca magazine! As always, feel free to drop us a note at letters@gamecca. co.za if you have anything to say. g

gamecca column • issue 22 • April 2011

Solid Support Unstuck

by Charlie Fripp

A

h, technical support staff… you have to love them. I bought a Samsung 18.5” LCD monitor in October from a very popular electronic store, and while it worked perfectly in the beginning, over this last weekend it started giving a bit of trouble.

It was the kind of trouble that you could mistake as being your fault or maybe your cables, but the capacitor was faulty. Whenever I plugged in the power cable, the screen would take about 5 minutes before it would switch on, while a different cable would turn it on immediately.

Forgive me for being ignorant, but I thought that maybe the screen needed to build up a charge before it would work, because sometimes the little light at the bottom will keep flashing even if the power cable is unplugged.

Taking my screen to a friend’s house to play some online games, the screen just refused to work with any number of different cables, so I resigned to the fact that it was busted. Investigating the problem my

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friend diagnosed that I had a faulty capacitor and that I should take it back to the store since it was still under warranty.

From the beginning I knew that it might turn into a rather big exercise just to get the screen repaired, so I was secretly hoping that they would just swap it out and give me a new one.

It always amazes me, but the moment you walk confidently to the back of the store and straight to the Technical Support section with an unboxed product, the front-of-house staff members avoid you like the plague.

Naturally I waited about 10 minutes before someone actually acknowledged my existence and asked if they could help.

Eventually, as a staff member asked what’s wrong… I looked her straight in the eye and said with stern authority that the monitor has a faulty capacitor. Taking a moment to think about it, she replied: “So… in simple language, what does that mean?”

Great, I managed to get the one support member who has no clue what I’m talking about – strike one. Explaining that if I plug in a power cable nothing happens, she pretended to understand and took the monitor from me without asking any further questions. Booking in the screen for repairs, I hung around for another 10 minutes.

Getting a bit agitated at the time it was taking

to book in a screen, I started to drift towards the desk. And it’s then when they incurred a second strike.

“Sorry sir, I don’t know why, put the printer isn’t printing. It’s promising to print but nothing is coming out,” she stated sheepishly from behind the printer.

You’re technical support, right? I considered calling the manager to help them and maybe complain a little, but I decided against it. How will they learn if someone needs to help them out every time?

Eventually I got my job card printed out and I left the store. As anybody who knows something about baseball will tell you, you need three strikes to be out. Little did I know, but strike three was to come a couple days later.

I got a phone call; a friendly lady introduced herself as the same technical support member. Her exact words to me were “Good afternoon sir. I’m just calling to give you an update on your screen. I’ll call you again on Friday with another update.”

And then she hung up the phone.

Wait, hold on. You’re calling me to give me an update about an update that you’ll give me on Friday? Where is the sense in that? Needless to say, I was flabbergasted.

I still don’t have any idea as to when my screen will be fixed, but since its Friday I’m waiting with a baited breath for the next call. This one should be fun…

Just a thought: if you are going to employ someone in a technical section, please make sure that they have a basic knowledge of computer and electronic parts, or at least send them on a short Computers 101 course. g

gamecca column • issue 22 • April 2011

Feature

In Character Living vicariously through virtual people

by Walt Pretorius

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gamecca feature • issue 22 • April 2011

R

ole-playing games have a long history, both as computer and video games, and as the penciland-paper versions on which the video game versions are based. In fact, the idea of role-playing as an entertainment activity dates back to 1974, when fantasy enthusiasts and wargamers Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax first introduced the world to Dungeons & Dragons. The two originally came up with the idea based on a system to employ tunnels in table-top wargaming sessions. The rest, of course, is pretty much well known history, with the game growing to massive popularity in the 1980s. Although computer games have largely impacted on pencil-and-paper role playing, the hobby is still widely practiced.

Many purists hold on to the theory that a video game can never be a true role-playing game. To an extent, they have a point. See, the main idea behind a role-playing game is that the player can control their character completely. Their reactions, actions and dialogue are entirely up to the player. This means that the person running the game – the Game Master or Storyteller – needs to be able to, on the fly, react accordingly. If the player does something unexpected, the GM can react. A computer program cannot do that.

Video games have paths. Even the ones with branching story lines and alternate endings have definite routes to get to all of those places. While they may offer a massive amount of variety, they cannot achieve the true essence of playing a role – improvised action based on a situation.

Even in dialogue, role-playing games on computer have limited options. There may be times when you would prefer a completely different reaction from the handful of options presented to you, but have no choice other than to go with what you’re given.

In a way its dictatorial and, believe it or not, linear – at least when compared to pencil-and-paper games. One day we may well get to the point where technology can support a truly free experience but, until then, computer role playing games need to rely on other aspects of roleplaying to set them apart from other genres.

gamecca feature • issue 22 • April 2011

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Feature

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gamecca feature • issue 22 • April 2011

The three factors that can be relied on in this case are relative freedom, story and character development.

Relative freedom means that these games have to create the illusion that the player can do what they want and have an effect on their environment, even though they are still on one of many tracks towards a number of given endings.

Story, obviously, relates to the tale that is being told. Even in pencil-and-paper games, which have almost limitless freedom, there is still some predefinition of the story line.

In computer role-playing games, those predefined ideas are stricter. They need to be, because a computer does not have the imagination of a human being, and cannot make snap decisions based on that imagination, emotion and interaction with other humans.

The third aspect is that of character, and it is the one where computer role playing games can come closest to the ‘real’ thing. See, a character in a role-playing game is a persona that the player defines, and lives vicariously through. In pencil-and-paper games, the player can create anything they want for their character, within certain limitations. The same, quite honestly, can be said for computer role-playing games. A good one will allow the player a wide degree of personalisation, without making the limitations imposed on the character too obvious.

While the responses and personality development of the character may be a little limited on computer, the growth of the character in terms of abilities and equipment is far more varied and expressive of the player’s desires.

This is an area in which BioWare have excelled with their various role-playing titles, like the Dungeons & Dragons based Baldurs Gate and Neverwinter Nights, the space opera Mass Effect or their latest, standalone fantasy franchise, Dragon Age. In fact, with each successive game, the ways in which players can define and refine their characters have become better and better. Now, for example, in Dragon Age II, there may seem to be more limited choices for initial character creation, but the development and refinement of the character is rather well tuned.

But role-playing games – particularly computer-based ones – are only about the player’s character to a certain degree. Beyond that, it becomes about the characters that the player’s character meets – the non-player characters.

In all kinds of role-playing, the NPCs make up a vital part of the experience becase they are a very real link between the player’s character and the world in which the game takes place. gamecca feature • issue 22 • April 2011

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Feature

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gamecca feature • issue 22 • April 2011

Dragon Age II is an example of where this connection is brilliantly exploited by the developers. The NPCs are colourful and interesting. They add to the story not only by providing the player with quests, but also by driving forward the narrative with their own actions. And the impact on the player is tangible – these characters will have the player feeling joy, sadness, betrayal, anger and a whole lot of other emotions.

And that, when we dig right down to why people play role-playing games, is one of the most important aspects of the experience: emotional connection. We may not all like to admit it, but besting an arch-nemesis or getting the girl elicits an emotional response on some or other level with virtually every gamer that experiences the game. This emotional response once again leads back to the player’s character – it stems from the connection that the player has with that character, which is (as said before) an alterego of the player. One of the reasons people role-play is to get that set of feelings, that vicarious experience that they would not be able to experience normally. The setting, really, doesn’t make any difference.

This could really be said about any kind of computer gaming. The experience often provides us with something that we are unlikely to experience in the real world. It’s a collection of virtual experiences that, while not real, still illicit responses from us that are close to what we might feel if we really were in those situations. We feel fear in horror games, or excitement and achievement in sports games. What sets role-playing games apart is that the experience becomes more personal, on a level, because we have had control over the development of the character… we have put something of ourselves into the character, no less. And so, when the character experiences a virtual event in a virtual world, the connection is stronger than that with a faceless soldier in a first person shooter.

One day, the experience may become total, with total immersion and total control. It’s a thought that is equally exciting and frightening, really. But until we have to deal with that, it’s good to know that companies out there – like BioWare – have a firm understanding of why players play the games they do, and have a commitment to delivering the best possible experience through their products – on every level. g gamecca feature • issue 22 • April 2011

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Previews Highlights 18 InFamous 2 Becoming super-human 20 Alice: Madness Returns Return to Wonderland 22 Deus Ex: Human Factor Cyberpunk action 24 Shadows of the Damned To Hell and back 25 Mortal Kombat Reboot to the face!

T

he year is steaming along nicely, and there certainly is a lot for us to look forward to on the gaming front.

This, of course, includes some big name sequels, like InFamous 2 and Alice: Madness Return. But as we draw closer to that gaming Holy Grail, E3, news of upcoming games is getting a little sparse. Not to worry, though! We’ll keep our ears to the ground and keep letting you know what you should stay on the lookout for! g

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gamecca preview • issue 22 • April 2011

socom.com

Seize full control of the battlefield

InFamous 2

More Power Cole’s back, and badder than ever

I

nFamous was one of the first games we reviewed at Gamecca, and many of us fondly recall the awesome game dynamics and enthralling story that came to us from under a pile of hype that was considerably smaller than a game of that quality would normally be subject to.

Those that played inFamous (and seriously, shame on you if you didn’t) will remember that the previous game ended with the hero, Cole MacGrath, learning some very chilling facts about his past and his future. But when his hometown of Empire City is ripped apart by yet another massive explosion, a new evil enters the world. Called ‘the Beast’, this evil destroys Empire City and begins heading up the coast, taking out everything in its path. It is up to Cole to head to the city of New Marais; to both discover his true, super-human potential as a master of electricity, and to save the world from ‘the Beast’. And, just like in inFamous, the player will be able to decide whether he is

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By Walt Pretorius

actually going to do that in inFamous 2… the same battle of good and evil is present yet again.

One of the best things about the previous title was the way in which the player got to move Cole around the city.

Unable to use cars because of his high electrical output, Cole had to run, climb, grind and even glide his way around Empire City. In New Marais, he will be doing pretty much the same, except that now the system will be more fluid, thanks to an extensive overhaul. Almost any surface will be traversable, thanks to this.

In addition, Cole will be on the receiving end of a whole bunch of new powers, making him even more powerful than he was the first time around. He will wield these ingame, as well as in cinematic cut-scenes and massive boss battles.

It’s difficult not to be excited by inFamous 2, which will be exclusively available on the PlayStation 3 once again. g

gamecca preview • issue 22 • April 2011

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Sucker Punch Publisher: SCEE Distributor: Ster Kinekor gamecca preview • issue 22 • April 2011

May 2011 Platforms

The second instalment of inFamous looks like it will be even more intense than the first – awesome!

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

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Alice: Madness Returns

Follow the White Rabbit But he may be out to bite you this time…

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f, like us, you have been playing games for a while, you may well remember American McGee’s Alice, an adrenaline-fuelled, often psychotically psychedelic trip into the mind of a very disturbed young lady. Those that played Alice will remember that the disease that infects Wonderland (in other words, her mind) in the game stems from the fact that she lost her entire family in a devastating fire.

Ten years later, Alice is still not well, and American McGee and his team at Spicy Horse are going all out to bring us the next chapter in the re-imagining of this children’s classic. This time around… well, actually, we’ll be doing the same as the last time, delving into the depths of Alice’s psyche as she re-enters Wonderland.

After spending a decade in an insane asylum, Alice is released into the care of a psychiatrist that may just have the key to ending the terrifying hallucinations that have plagued her for her whole life. To do so, she must discover the true cause of her family’s death, buried deep within

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by Walt Pretorius

her own mind.

Spicy Horse aren’t saying very much about Alice: Madness Returns at the moment. We have seen a few screen shots and a couple of videos. However, looking at what we have seen – and judging by the awesomeness that was the previous game – we should prepare ourselves for quite the trip. The now-adult Alice’s next journey to Wonderland will likely be violent, trippy and more than just a little disturbing. And we’re cool with that.

More than likely this game will once again take on the form of a third person action adventure, with a few weird and wonderful weapons at the blood-soaked protagonists disposal.

And we shouldn’t have to wait too long to find out exactly what will be in store for us, either. Currently it looks like the game should hit shelves in the middle of the year and, barring any unforeseen delays, we should be able to accompany Alice on her terrifying journey in June of this year. g

gamecca preview • issue 22 • April 2011

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Spicy Horse Publisher: Electronic Arts Distributor: EA South Africa gamecca preview • issue 22 • April 2011

Jun 2011 Platforms

The next instalment of Alice looks like it will be as dark and disturbing as the original game, so many years ago.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

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Guild Wars 2

Take Over the World Shape the environment with your combat

by Charlie Fripp

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hen the first Guild Wars hit the shelves a couple of years ago, it was an instant hit with MMORPG fans. The franchise has grown in leaps and bounds, and has even seen a couple of expansion packs.

But the most anticipated “add-on” to the title will be released very soon, and Guild Wars 2 promises to be the best sequel to any game. The game will take place in the same world of Tyria, but it will be drastically re-imagined and the plot moves ahead by 250 years.

The title also promises that gamers will be able to shape the world around them, as they fight off hordes of

enemies. The actions that gamers perform in the game will have real-time effects on the environment.

Something that is very similar to the Dragon Age games, Guild Wars 2 will feature a storyline that is shaped by the way gamers play. Depending on the choices players make in the game, a customised plot will be carved out, making no two games the same.

The sequel will also feature five different races, ranging from humans, the cat-like charr, the sylvari, the great norn or the ingenious asura people, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Areanet Publisher: NCSoft Distributor: Megarom

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Q3 2011 Platforms

With the sequel eagerly-awaited, the game has some really big plans up its sleeve.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 22 • April 2011

© 2011 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Screen images are simulated.

INCREDIBLE DEPTH FOR THE ULTIMATE GAMING EXPERIENCE.

South Africa

Experience real-life depth with the new Samsung 3D LED monitor.

Real 120Hz

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Brighter* 3D images

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2D to 3D image conversion

* Brightness comparison based upon monitors with same brightness in 2D.

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www.samsung.com

*3D glasses are required and are included with purchase.

LEGO Battles Ninjago

Like LEGO? Can you see Ninjas on a DS?

by Brian Murdoch

L

EGO Ninjago has been plastered around all the toys stores and it’s doing very well. My only complaint with it is I would have loved to buy the LEGO over the Christmas period, for my son of course [sure – ed]. But I suppose they have to keep something for 2011 and continue to bring out new LEGO adventure types each 6 months.

Ninjago, the physical LEGO game is which two LEGO men are placed on a turning spindle and spun toward each other. The spindle is so well designed that when the LEGO men or their weapons impact each other, depending on the angle and power, the men might be knocked off by the spring mechanism in the spindle. The winner most of the time is the one standing but there are cards played to change the outcomes.

The Ninjago brand is all about ninjas and these ninjas are making their way into other things, not just the

people like Ninjas and most people enjoyed LEGO, so why not combine the two? LEGO Universe is an online MMO with the new Ninjago Ninja’s appearing soon, but in April we are treated with a new Ninjago LEGO game. The game will not just be like the actual LEGO game but have more of an adventure feel to it. The Ninjago game will feature players being able to master the skills of Spinjitzu and use powerful weapons to overcome enemies. Players can customise their hero units and use upgrades to unleash special attacks.

There will be two story lines; the Spinjitzu Hero and the Spinjitzu Villain campaigns. There is also a free play but most of the game is about leading a team to victory and not just single battles. There are five new multiplayer challenges and three favourites from the LEGO Battles video game. If you liked LEGO Battles then you should like this. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Hellbent Games Publisher: Warner Bros Distributor: Nu Metro

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April 2011 Platforms

People like Ninjas and most people enjoyed LEGO, so why not combine the two?

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 22 • April 2011

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Mechanical Warfare Shape the plot around you

by Charlie Fripp

B

ack in 2000, the first Deus Ex game made its appearance, and it immediately caught on with a lot of gamers. The game was great, as it combined real-world locations with problem solving and true elements of a RPG. The third game in the franchise is about to be launched onto the market, and gamers can set their sights on more of the great action. Deus Ex: Human Revolution will focus on Adam Jensen, an ex-SWAT specialist, who has been chosen to safeguard some of America’s biggest biotechnological secrets.

During an attack, players will gain the ability to

mechanically augment themselves, which will form the basis of the game. But just as with the first game, the game play will fuse RPG elements with real action, making for an exciting game.

The title also prides itself in the fact that there will always be more than one option to a situation, be it sneaking up on an enemy, going in guns blazing or using social skills to extract the needed information.

And with that, the decisions that players make will affect the outcome of the plot. It will be entirely up to the player on how the final plot reveals itself. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Eidos Montreal Publisher: Square Enix Distributor: Megarom gamecca preview • issue 22 • April 2011

Aug 2011 Platforms

Going the mechanically augmented route, the game should make for some fun action

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

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For those that choose to serve, to stand together, nothing less than full dedication of your life to your unit is required.

The bond you forge in the cauldron of war will be stronger than any you have experienced.

They will see you through, and be with you always.

Sometimes the only thing between you will be a look.

No words. Just a look that says I understand.

And I am honoured to be your brother.

FOUR MEN, ONE UNIT. STAND TOGETHER.

© 2010 The Codemasters Software Company Limited (“Codemasters”). All rights reserved. “Codemasters”® is a registered trademark owned by Codemasters. “Operation Flashpoint”™,”Red River”™, “EGO”™ and the Codemasters logo are trademarks of Codemasters. All other copyrights or trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are being used under license. Developed and published by Codemasters. Unauthorised copying, adaptation, rental, lending, re-sale, arcade use, charging for use, broadcast, cable transmission, public performance, distribution or extraction of this product or any trademark or copyright work that forms part of this product is prohibited. This product is not endorsed by the US Department of Defense. Intel, the Intel logo, Intel Core, and Core Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

Microsoft, Windows, the Windows Vista Start button, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies, and ‘Games for Windows’ and the Windows Vista Start button logo are used under license from

OUT 21.04.11

FLASHPOINTGAME.COM

Shadows of the Damned

Hellbound

The pleasure behind the terror

by Dylan Bouch

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AT A GLANCE: This will be an awesome shooter… we just hope the puzzles and demons won’t be too much of a walkover.

Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture Publisher: Electronic Arts Distributor: EA South Africa

Q2 2011 Platforms

s Shadows of the Damned unravels, the gamer takes on the role of the main character Garcia. Garcia is a demon hunter, hunting down the demons that have taken his true love away from him.

The gamer will battle their way through the deepest and darkest places of hell, where danger lurks and the fun begins. Shadows of the Damned will have Garcia working through mind twisting puzzles, with gory battles that will have your trigger finger tapping away at deformed and out of this world creatures.

The action-packed kill-athon will have you on edge, with amazing graphics and soundtrack. During the over the top action and intense battles the gamer will be zoned into the game and glued to the screen.

Shadows of the Damned has been put together by both Suda 51 and Mikami, which have both been known to bring new elements and standards to the gaming industry. g

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 22 • April 2011

Vampire Moon: Secret of the Hidden Sun

In the Dark

Unravel the mysteries of Transylvania.

by Walt Pretorius

H

idden object games really are a massively popular genre with casual gamers these days, so putting such a game on the DS platform – arguably the most ‘casual-friendly’ of all the gaming devices out there – is never a bad idea.

If you then combine the hidden object mechanic with a good story, lots of information and a random object placement system, you wind up with a game that, in theory, will keep players going for absolute ages.

That’s what Vampire Moon: Secret of the Hidden

Sun aims to do. This title will provide the player with a thrilling backdrop as they take on the role of a journalist investigating a prolonged solar eclipse, as well as the disappearance of the scientist researching it. The strong vampire themes in the game will be further augmented by setting it in Transylvania.

Vampire Moon: Secret of the Hidden Sun will present the player with mini-games and logic puzzles, as well as more than 1000 hidden items to locate. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: City Interactive Publisher: City Interactive Distributor: Apex Interactive gamecca preview • issue 22 • April 2011

Apr 2011 Platforms

A hidden object game that uses a random object placement system for added replay value.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

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Men Of War:Vietnam

Get to the Chopper!

Fight the toughest jungle battle

by Charlie Fripp

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ietnam is one of those conflicts which the US would like to forget, but many men served bravely as they fought for the greater cause.

There were also several firsts in the conflict, such as the first time that helicopters were used in battle, and many of the soldiers used new weapons for the first time.

Men Of War: Vietnam aims to focus on the battles of four special ops soldiers as they battle through the jungle, personal hardship and the ever-increasing forces of the VC. The game will also focus heavily on the use of the now-famous UH-1, or Huey helicopter, as it played a pivotal role in the war.

The title’s single-player campaign will span 10 missions, which will range from rescuing a shot-down pilot, an ambush on the Ho Chi Minh trail and escorting a reporter to full-on jungle warfare. The plot will revolve around Sergeant John Merrill, machine gunner Jim Walsh, sniper Sonny Armstrong, grenade launcher operator Carl Dillan and combat engineer Bill Kirby, while they have to work together to get out alive.

The shooter will also grant players the ability to use new era weapons like the M-16, T-54, M-113, Patton III, M-60, AK-47, M-14 and RPG-2 to eliminate the VC. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: 1C: Ino-Co Publisher: 1C Publishing Distributor: TBC

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Q3 2011 Platforms

Taking to the jungle in a five-man team could prove to be challenging and fun.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 22 • April 2011

Carnival Games

Fair Game Monkey see monkey do

by Dion Scotten

E

verybody loves carnivals, right? Of course they do and Carnival Games Kinect aims to bring the excitement of the carnival right into your living room. Previously an exclusive Nintendo Wii and DS title, this fun family game is set to be a favourite for the younger Xbox player.

Besides being a definite game for the kids, Carnival Games is also a fun experience for the whole family, featuring up to 4 player support. The Carnival awaits but you won’t have to deal with crowds of people or waiting in long lines to get to the exciting games and adventures within. The game boasts five themed areas to explore, each with their own games and attractions.

Try your luck at games like horseshoe tossing, archery, basketball or balloon blast. Getting a high enough score means you could win one of the awesome Carnival prizes. Besides the games there are also interesting

attractions to experience like the haunted house, bumper car rides, a mysterious fortune teller or the famous wheel of cheese.

Some attractions need to be unlocked and this is done through achievements earned and exploration. Carnival Games is bound to keep the kiddies entertained for hours but also promises to be great for family fun or as a party game.

Your character will be customised and a total of 40 pets are also promised, along with costumes and rewards for your avatar. Riddles, games and adventure is what it’s all about and what more can you ask for really?

All in all Carnival Games for the Kinect should be good gaming family fun. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Cat Daddy Games Publisher: 2K Play Distributor: Megarom

32

Platforms

Carnival fun for the whole family.

Apr 2011 PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 22 • April 2011

Mortal Kombat

Finish Him… Yes, the Fatalities are back!

by Walt Pretorius

F

ights can be messy things, but none are quite so… well, drenched in blood and internal organs, really… as the Mortal Kombat titles of yore.

The franchise established itself as a high quality, very graphic, adult version of the popular fighting game genre early on it its long run, and it is now making a return to just that… thanks in part to new publishers and something of a reboot.

A massive character roster awaits players in this re-imagining of the original Mortal Kombat. But there’s more. The game will be returning to its adult roots, with

graphic violence being the order of the day. Fatalities – those gruesomely brutal special finishing moves that leave your opponent in the kind of condition that needs a shovel and a Ziploc bag to clean up – are making a welcome return, too.

The developers are promising a deep story mode and tons more challenge in this new version of the classic, which will take the franchise back to the classic 2D fighting plane. Whether against AI opponents or with up to four players in a tag team match, the new Mortal Kombat looks like it will thrill fighting game fans the world over. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: NetherRealm Publisher: Warner Bros Distributor: Nu Metro

34

Apr 2011 Platforms

The new Mortal Kombat will return to the franchise’s gruesome, gory, action-packed roots.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 22 • April 2011

www.ubi.com/nintendo3ds © 2011 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Rayman, the character of Rayman, Splinter Cell, Sam Fisher, the Soldier Icon, Tom Clancy, Ghost Recon, James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes, Driver, Combat of Giants, Rabbids, Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. © 2011 Gameloft. All Rights Reserved. Gameloft, the Gameloft logo and Asphalt are trademarks of Gameloft in the US and/or other countries. All manufacturers, cars, motorbikes, names, brands and associated imagery featured in Asphalt 3D game are trademarks and/or copyrighted materials of their zrespective owners. Published by Ubisoft Entertainment under license from Gameloft. Nintendo 3DS is a trademark of Nintendo. © 2011 Nintendo.

A Little Revenge PS Zealot

by Suvesh Arumugam

T

he disappointment of our World Cup Cricket hopes has been devastating to say the least, but thank goodness for PlayStation. The dust had barely settled on the pitch, and I got my old Ashes 2009 title out of the classics cupboard. Needless to say that my World Cup results were very different! A great trip down memory lane (incidentally, it was also the first game I reviewed for this magazine!).

I got also got to replay the thrashing AC Milan received from Tottenham Hotspur in the Champion’s League.

Now if we can get some rugby games going that feature the Lions and the Bulls, we can settle some other scores!

I was extremely happy that the latest PlayStation update now includes an option for setting the time-out on controllers before they power off. This was previously only available for the console itself, and was very annoying if you were doing things like watching movies, or took a five minute break. Although you only have two settings, having a choice always feels better, and the max setting is much more convenient for me.

The internet is rife with gossip that God of War will soon be going online! There are several franchises which have significantly omitted any multiplayer or online content, and for Sony that has been God of War. However, rumors have leaked that Sony Santa Monica are hiring online multiplayer developers to start working on creating the basis for this new online community.

Electronic Arts founder, Trip Hawkins was recently in court where a bankruptcy ruling against him

36

was upheld, and he is about US$20 million deep in the doo-doo. Although Hawkins has long since sold his shares in the publishing giant, news of his financial demise will no doubt have an effect on the company. Let’s hope that result will be better games.

I’m sure Hawkins failed 3DO console will cast a shadow over Sony’s upcoming NGP handheld.

Another figure in the gaming media is Killzone 3 developer Guerilla Games. Co-Founder Herman Hulst has been interviewed regarding the mixed response to their latest offering. Hulst was generally positive about the future of the franchise, and felt that Killzone 3, and its future sequels will continue to be a force in the FPS market. In development of Killzone 3, the company spent large amounts of time listening to gamer feedback, and following trends in FPS and online multiplayer games! Hulst felt confident that fans would raise Killzone 3 to the cult status of its predecessors.

Speaking of game infamy, no-one in the PS3 universe will forget George Hotz, who was famously sued

by Sony for “hacking” Sony’s proprietary console software.

However, support continues to pour out

for Hotz, calling him a pioneer for digital rights. Hotz’s software hack, which basically allowed developers to write code for PS3’s without purchasing costly licenses from Sony, is now being hailed as a bold move to open source development within the gaming world. I doubt this will sway the court from his extensive technology ban, but at least he knows he has some friends.

Finally, some good news for the real game-addict couch potatoes out there. New research shows that the PS3 slim is actually greener than its launch edition counterpart. In both Idle and Peak Use, the slim edition uses less than half the power of the previous edition. The research shows that the slimmer edition runs at less than half the price (based on consumption). With all this in mind, one can now confidently say that we are doing our bit for the environment by playing games! g

gamecca column • issue 22 • April 2011

“2”, “PlayStation”, “PS3” and “À” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Ô is a trademark of the same company. “Ô” is a registered trademark of Sony Corporation. “Blu-ray Disc” and “BD” are trademarks. SingStar™ Afrikaanse Treffers ©2011 Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd, 10 Great Marlborough Street, London, W1F 7LP. Developed bySCEE London Studio. “SingStar”, “My SingStar” and “SingStore” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. All rights reserved.

13L

Aflaai van nuwe liedjies vanaf die SingStore™*

Afrikaanse Treffers

30 Oorspronklike Afrikaanse treffers op PS3, insluitend Kurt Darren, Bobby Van Jaarsveld, Bok Van Blerk, Juanita Du Plessis en Romanz.

(25 treffers op PS2)

Check Your Gear Xbox Beat

by Bryan Banfield

B

attlefield: Bad Company 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops and Medal of Honour all have us spending time testing and building a load-out that will offer us some advantage in our online multiplayer experience. We tweak this and that.

We read online reviews and chat with other games about what seems to work best and what suits our play style. Inevitably we end up with a load out that we stick with and one that we know works best with our friends online and one that offers us the most fun versus our play style.

Have you ever thought about your Xbox360 hardware and accessory load-out? Have you spent time testing your hardware in multiplayer games? Have you chatted with friends and read reviews online and found your best hardware and accessory load-out that suits your play style?

The first accessory that you need in your arsenal is a little bit of a given as they have become rather popular these days: the Play-Charge Kit. The Kit comes with a rechargeable battery pack. This battery pack has a longer battery life than the set of AA batteries or even a set of rechargeable batteries. It does however add a small amount of weight but you will not even notice it after a short while.

The other item in the Kit is the USB cable that attaches to the front of the controller and into a USB port

38

on the console, to allow charging of the controller when the battery pack needs it – without interrupting play.

The Xbox 360 Messaging Kit is slowly taking off in SA, or should I rather say is now becoming more available in South Africa. This very handy accessory attaches at the bottom of the controller and allows you to quickly send text messages. It has a nice compact Qwerty keyboard that removes the time consuming task of navigating an onscreen keyboard with an analogue stick. For those of you that love your Twitter and Facebook from your Xbox360 console, this is a must.

The Xbox 360 Quick Charge Kit allows players to have 2 battery packs charging at once while you game and drain one battery pack in your controller.

This charger charges the battery packs faster than the Play and Charge Kit and when you have a Xbox LAN Gaming session, having a few freshly charged battery packs to keep the masses active is well worth it.

In a world of wireless devices, having an Xbox360 headset that is cabled

into your wireless controller seems a little archaic. Enter the Xbox360 Wireless Headset. Online multiplayer evenings are ruined by team mates that do not have a headset or have one that crackles all through the game.

If that short thin flimsy wire connecting your controller to your headset has got in the way of wild hand gestures then you know what I’m talking about. Or maybe you have thrown your controller down onto the couch forgetting you have the headset attached.

This is not the only reason to invest in a wireless headset but having a headset that delivers clear voice to your team mates is one that can seriously save your bacon when co-ordinating an attack on the last objective.

On the media side there really is nothing better than navigating your Windows Media Centre while using the Xbox360 Universal Media Remote. This remote will allow you to sit back and play DVDs, music and flip through photographs with ease and style. Even though this is not a must have accessory it certainly is a must have if you use your Xbox360 as a media centre extender. g

gamecca column • issue 22 • April 2011

RIO © 2011 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved. Game software excluding Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation elements © 2011 THQ Inc. All rights reserved. Certain tools and technology used in development © 2011 Eurocom Developments Ltd. Used with permission. All rights reserved. DS game developed by 1st Playable Productions. 1st Playable Productions and the 1P logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of 1st Playable Productions. THQ and the THQ logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners.

Bad Dad House of Mario

by Brian Murdoch

T

he launch of the Nintendo 3DS is something all us fan boys are looking forward to and by the time that this article is out a lot of other people will have one. Be sure to read the 3DS review earlier in the magazine if you missed it. We will however not be overloading you with more information on the 3DS because there are other things that we can talk about.

I was browsing the stores on the Saturday after the launch of Pokémon Black and White to see stock levels and maybe meet some people interested in and or buying their first Pokémon game. Black and White was sold out at first in the BT Games stores, but not even shown in most of the other stores, which surprised me a lot. I digress but while I was in a store I’ll not name, partly because I forgot the name, this man walked in and asked where the Wii games were. Being helpful and right in front of them, I pointed them out to him. I was really not impressed with his next question which was “Where are the cheap second hand ones?” Now to give him some credit he was a father looking for just any Wii game for his daughter and did not know anything other than focusing on the price of the Wii game that he wanted.

To start off we know that the market is flooded with Wii games - there are more different Wii titles out there than any PS3, and Xbox360 games combined and the number is quickly catching the number of PS2 titles. This does make it hard to find the really good titles also because the distributors don’t let price dictate the quality of the game... Because that’s the price

40

that everyone sells it at and they only mark it down later when the world has judged it to be at a lesser level of quality.

Marketing does not help either because the kids are just bashed with the popular cartoon characters and these games turn out to have a rotten core most times. Fun for the kids is what this father should have asked for, or multiplayer games that I can play with my daughter is another thought. These games do exist but your average store helper will not know the answers to this… and that is why reading magazines like Gamecca will help them know more.

On top of all these ideas, his question has one more bad point, and that is the ‘second hand’ part. Not only does he want the worst game that will not entertain his child longer than it takes to explain how the game

works, but he wants the trash that someone else had bought and felt so negative about that they wanted some money back on it. To make sure that he buys the worst of the worst. Not every second hand game is bad, because some players are wise enough to not keep games that they have finished or never going to play again and cash them in to get the next good title. Heaven forbid that someone has sold or traded-in their Wii and all their games, but this is another reason to maybe find one good game in the bunch… but these odds are not looking too good for Dad. The mood that I was in on the day saved the man from a very big lecture and I just balked and said I did not know where those were. Ignorance is bliss and money makes the world turn around. g

gamecca column • issue 22 • April 2011

wii care

faq@nintendogamer.co.za ...for DS too

You won’t only find reviews, news and great community features at www.nintendogamer.co.za. You will also find extremely informative FAQs all about the Wii & DS platforms, and the games you can play on them.

At www.nintedogamer.co.za, we want to make sure that the most accurate information & support is free and easy to find.

www.nintendogamer.co.za

Reviews Highlights 44 Dragon Age II Become the Champion 48 Crysis 2 The concrete jungle 54 Top Spin 4 Super tennis action 58 De Blob 2 Go colour crazy!

60 The Sims Medieval Become king

W

e have a real mixed bag of game reviews for you this month... 20 in total. From the urban jungles of future New York City through to the tranquil forests of Medieval... errr... Sims land, we have it all here.

The year is getting hotter and hotter, with many great titles getting ready to hit shelves - or hitting shelves already. It’s time to live vicariously through the virtual people we encounter in these awesome bits of software! g

42

gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

3 Zumba Fitness ® © 2010. All rights reserved. Published by 505 Games. 505 Games and the 505 Games logo are registered trademarks of 505 Games s.r.l. All rights reserved.

Under License from Majesco Entertainment Company.

Zumba®, Zumba Fitness ® and the Zumba Fitness logo are registered trademarks of Zumba Fitness, LLC used under license. FMOD Sound System, copyright © Firelight Technologies Pty, Ltd., 1994-2010.

“2”, “PlayStation”, “PS3” and “À” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “ ” is a trademark of the same company. KINECT, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft.

Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Wii is a trademark of Nintendo.

Dragon Age II

The Champion Some new ideas emerge

W

hen BioWare ended their long running relationship with the publishers of Dungeons & Dragons, there were a number of people that wondered what would become of high-grade fantasy role-playing video games. The D&D mark had appeared on many games that were considered definitive of the genre – like Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights – and the sudden vacuum created seemed vast.

But BioWare have never shied away from a challenge, and they soon filled the gap with a fantasy setting of their own creation… Dragon Age: Origins. Set in a world of BioWare’s creation, Dragon Age did not rely on the orcs and goblins and beholders that were associated with the D&D franchise. Rather, this whole new world introduced players to a realm that, while adhering to the tenets of high fantasy, offered players new settings and ideas.

44

by Walt Pretorius Dragon Age: Origins was a hit – players loved everything from its complex, branching story-line through to its almost traditional, top-down approach to game play. It allowed versatility, not only in what the player could have their character say or do, but also in the way that the player could experience the game – through a high camera angle, or close in, more like a third person adventure.

The inevitable sequel – Dragon Age II – brings a few changes with it. While it still offers the same kind of fantasy fare that role-playing fans love, it takes a few new angles in approaching the idea of a fantasy role playing game. Some are for the better, but a handful may raise an eyebrow or two.

While the story in the original game followed a branching model, the tale of Dragon Age II is set. It is presented retrospectively, with an ex-associate of the player’s character telling the tale to an interrogator. Varric, the

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dwarf who assumes the role of narrator, adds some interesting embellishments to the tale (some of which are actually rather amusing) but sticks to the story for the most part. So, at the beginning of the game we already know that Hawke (the player’s character) is the Champion of Kirkwall, and that they had a great influence on the events that lead to the current instability and chaos in the realm. What the game play sections of Dragon Age II shows is how Hawke got there.

It’s an interesting idea, and one that BioWare have used well, exploiting elements like Varric’s embellishment to keep the narrative very entertaining. However, astute readers may already have figured out that this means the game is not possessed of a branching storyline. It has a distinct beginning and a distinct end and, aside from a few minor detours along the way, it stays its course for the most part.

gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

In other words, the story is, in role-playing game terms at least, linear. While this may get fans of the genre shouting and screaming, it is important to keep in mind that BioWare have successfully used linear tales in some of their other role playing titles – notably the Mass Effect series – and the deviations in plot that come about during play, thanks to the players decisions and reactions, keep thing fresh for more than one play-through.

Another apparent limitation is that the player is restricted to a human character, unlike the varied choices they were offered in the first Dragon Age title. Hawke can be male or female, and can be a fighter, rogue or mage… but the character will always be human.

Once again, though, this formula has worked in other BioWare titles. Perhaps accepting the fact that BioWare have a story to tell in the Dragon Age series, and that story necessitates the sacrifice of certain liberties that

45

role-playing fans take for granted will make the pill a little easier to swallow. These ‘guided choices’ do not ruin the game, not by a long shot. In fact, they facilitate the telling of a very interesting tale.

What does truly limit things in a number of ways is the setting of the game. All the action in Dragon Age II takes place in and around the city of Kirkwall, Hawke’s new home after fleeing the destruction of Ferelden. The setting is quite varied, ranging from the clean, beautiful streets of Hightown through to the dark, dank squalor of Darktown and even the verdant reached of the surrounding areas, but this variety starts disappearing rapidly through the 30 hour course of the game. This feeling of repetition is amplified by actual repetition within the game: many of the dungeons and cavern areas that the player explores will be repeated over and over again. The only difference will be which areas the player can access. This strips away a

46

massive amount of exploration in the title, and can result in a bit of frustration.

Thankfully, this is mitigated by the two elements that every role-playing game relies on more heavily than others; character interaction and tactical combat.

Character interaction is very slick in Dragon Age II. Hawke is (thankfully) fully voiced this time around, allowing the player to make use of an interaction wheel very similar to the one in Mass Effect. The player is even guided by icons which show whether a given response will be aggressive, friendly, flirty and so on. A look through the manual is advised, though, because some of the icons used may be a little obscure.

The voice acting in the game is superb. Aside from ‘proper’ conversations, the three other characters in the player’s party will constantly chat with each other. Mixing the characters up will have different results. Varric will try

gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

tricky, though, and the player will need to pause to readjust it, at least. Also, the AI governing the non-player characters isn’t always the brightest; they’ll fight well, but won’t always take health potions, even if instructed to do so in the game’s generally simple and effective tactics setup. The player will need to do a little baby-sitting, but not too much.

On the whole, Dragon Age II provides the player with a thoroughly enjoyable experience that can be replayed a few times. The story is strong, and the game’s presentation – in terms of graphics and sound – is excellent. It may bring a few new ideas into the mix, but they’re not bad ideas… just different. Role-playing fans should certainly give this one a try. g

AT A GLANCE: Although some new ideas may raise an eyebrow or two, Dragon Age II is solid, good quality roleplaying stuff.

Developer: BioWare Publisher: Electronic Arts Distributor: EA South Africa

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

18+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PC Platforms

flirt with the pirate temptress Isabella, while she will have rather odd conversations with a naïve Dalish Elf who joins the group, and so on. It makes for some entertaining stuff while travelling around Kirkwall.

Choice of character is very important within the game, because different characters may open different dialogue options if they are present when necessary. This can enhance the story, and even earn the player an edge every now and then – but it is tricky to predict which characters may be needed. It’s easier when it comes to combat, though, which is another area where the right choice is important.

The combat in the game is intense, and the player can (depending on difficulty level) have as little or as much control over their team-mates as they like. The camera, which is a bit tighter in in this version of the game than before, can make keeping an eye on the combat a bit

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

86 47

Crysis 2

One Man Army A breath of ‘awesome’ in the genre

A

few years ago, a first-person shooter appeared that blew everything else clear out of the water.

Developed by little-known Crytek, Far Cry was a game that managed to elevate the level of the firstperson shooter experience to new heights. It introduced a number of ideas that have become canon for the genre, and took the ideals of player freedom and sandbox-style game play within an FPS game in new, original and very exciting directions.

The game was originally published by Ubisoft and, when the French publisher and Crytek parted ways, the developer lost rights to the franchise. Far Cry 2 was published and developed by Ubisoft talent, leaving Crytek free to move in yet another fresh direction. The result was Crysis, which was released through Electronic Arts.

Crysis added another dimension to FPS gaming, by giving the player access to a new piece of equipment; the nanosuit. This body covering piece of hardware brought a new kind of strategy and equipment management approach to the genre. Not only did the player need to think about weapons and such… now their armour

48

by Walt Pretorius

became an integral part of the way the game was played.

It allowed for different options and approaches to every situation in the game, giving the player a freedom of expression that is generally lacking in FPS games.

Needless to say, the success that Crysis met resulted in the development and release of a sequel, quite simply names Crysis 2.

In the year 2024, New York City has come under fire on several fronts. A mysterious viral outbreak in the city devastates the population, and forces the government to institute a quarantine over the metropolis. A state of martial law ensues, enforced by a private military corporation, rather than by government forces. And then the aliens arrive, occupying the city and adding to the hell that the residents face.

It is into this rather messy situation that Crysis 2 drops the player. Taking on the role of Alcatraz, a member of an elite military squad, the player initially travels to the city as part of a reinforcement squad. But things go horribly wrong, as they always do in games that require a one-man army, and the player find themselves alone in the city, with angry paramilitary types baying for their blood on one side

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and aggressive, brutal aliens killing everything that moves on the other. Friends are few in Crysis 2, but the player once again has the greatest ally a warrior could want… the nanosuit.

Actually, this time around, it is the nanosuit 2, and as that name implies it has seen a few upgrades. As before, the nanosuit enhances the player’s abilities as a warrior. It can cloak, for ultimate stealth. It can boost the character’s physical abilities, making him stronger and faster. And, of course, it can become super-tough, providing the player with near-impenetrable armour. All of these abilities require power to work, and only one can be used at a time.

The nanosuit’s internal power is drained while any of these powers are in operation, but it recharges quickly once the power is deactivated. Balancing power consumption with selecting the kind of power that will allow the player to take a preferred approach is a large part of the game’s strategy, and it allows a versatility in game dynamics that means each play-through can be an entirely different experience.

But the nanosuit 2 has a new trick up its sleeve. The player can now purchase and use modules that modify

gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

the suit’s performance. These include things like masking the sound of footsteps, improving power consumption, tracking enemies and a number of other options. The catch is that only a limited number of these can be used at the same time, and only in certain combinations. This adds to the versatility of the suit yet again, and allows the player to balance the way the suit performs to match their desires.

The nanosuit also provides the player with visual aids, by way of a HUD. In addition, the player can make tactical assessments, marking targets and objectives so that they will always have an idea of what’s going on strategically.

The nanosuit also provides the player with nanovision, a sort of thermographic visual mode that is very handy in poor light conditions, and can be turned on or off at will. It also consumes power, though…

The game does a great job at keeping the player involved. Aside from loading screens, everything happens from the character’s perspective. The awesome weapon modification system from the first game is back, and is done not via menus, but rather “in the field”. The same counts for the nanosuit’s modifiers, which are accessed via

49

the suit’s left glove. In short, very little here will drag the player out of the game world, which adds to the immersion of the experience.

Something else that adds to the engrossing nature of this game is the presentation. It is, visually speaking, the most impressive game we’ve seen in… well, ever.

The richness of the environment, in all its squalor and destruction, comes not only from the extreme level of detail put into it, but also from the way that everything looks completely in place. Even the aliens look like they belong. The lighting of the setting is also very impressive; it never feels forced or directed. Rather, it plays across surfaces and reflects naturally, making everything look really real.

In addition, the sound is excellent quality, with superb surround sound helping bring the setting to life as gunshots echo through the near deserted streets of New York City. And the biggest plus is that this high degree of presentation is maintained across all consoles and a wide specification variety of PCs; Crysis 2 will look and sound good on virtually any gaming system. And it feels good, too – the controls are perfectly trimmed for performance,

50

leaving the player feeling more connected to the game than most ever achieve.

It’s not all perfect, unfortunately. Even though the AI is very clever, allowing for fluidity in battles that is nothing short of awesome, every now and then an enemy will not notice the player, or will behave in ways that scream “bug”. This does take away from the experience, causing a jarring anomaly in an otherwise beautifully crafted game world. But these incidents are relatively rare.

In addition, the multiplayer, which grants each player access to a nanosuit and makes for some excellent displays of super-soldier skill, is a bit unbalanced, favouring stealth and sniping over other approaches.

Even with these problems, Crysis 2 is a shining example of what a first-person shooter could, and should, be. It grants the player the ability to take varied approaches in a beautifully constructed setting, and keeps the action well-paced. The story is rather interesting too, enhancing the experience even further. If you are a fan of first-person shooter games and are looking for something that will thrill you nine times out of ten, you need look no further than Crysis 2. g

gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Despite a handful of small issues, Crysis 2 is a shining example of what an FPS could – and should – be.

Developer: Crytek Publisher: Electronic Arts Distributor: EA South Africa

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

18+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PC Platforms

AT A GLANCE:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

96 51

Homefront

Live Free… …or die trying. A lot.

T

he future is, as many people say, uncertain. Sure, we can watch trends and political manoeuvrings and try to predict where things are going, but there are a great many “what if” factors that can affect outcomes and create unforeseen situations. Homefront is a game that poses one of the “what if” questions…

Actually, it poses a few of those. What if Korea became unified under North Korean rule? What if the newly formed country would then begin invading and occupying its neighbours? What if it turned its sights on the USA, and launched a crushing, full scale invasion of the world’s last super-power?

It comes down to a lot more than that, this supposition.

America is weakened by a failing economy and high oil prices as well, for example. But the idea that is crafted by the story of Homefront is an interesting, even compelling one. It is well put together and very clearly thought through. The end result is an excellent back story to the game, and one that is resplendent with “historical” details (seeing as how the game is set in around 2027) of how things came to be where they are.

But the story is one of the only things that Homefront

52

by Walt Pretorius manages to get right. As a single player game, it leaves a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth – particularly after all the hype that THQ poured into the title. It is, for all intents and purposes, a rather run-of-the-mill first person shooter that does nothing particularly original.

The action in Homefront is standard shooter stuff. Find cover, shoot enemies, don’t get killed. The game’s high points don’t come from the player controlled combat, but rather arise from a number of the set-pieces and cutscenes that the game has on offer. These are designed to put the player through an emotional wringer, seeing a once powerful nation reduced to labour camps and dirty rebels fighting out of hidden bases. Sometimes the game goes a little too far in trying to squeeze out every ounce of shock value, though, and by the end of the single player campaign, those experiencing it may well be a little desensitised by the game’s all-out assault on the senses.

When it comes to combat, Homefront can be thoroughly unforgiving. There is only one difficulty setting, and the game will often spring nasty little surprises (like very accurate snipers that shoot the character stone dead before he has a chance of even knowing that there

g a mgeacm c ae crceav ireewv i•e wi s s• uies s1u7e •2 2N o•v eAm p rbiel r 22001110

of which implement very interesting ideas (like a best of three round in which the losing team actually loses ground). In addition, the game uses experience points to improve the player’s in-game persona, and a system of battle points to unlock different equipment and vehicles while the game is underway. With a 32 player roster on some maps, it gets pretty intense.

South African gamers may have been frustrated with the multiplayer at first, because the battle codes (which grant the player the ability to level up beyond level five in multiplayer) had numerous issues locally. That, thankfully, has been sorted out.

If you’re not expecting a revolutionary single player experience, and a better than average multiplayer game, then Homefront is an option. But the shortness of the single player campaign, and several of the more anachronistic elements of the game, may leave players feeling a little cheated.. g

AT A GLANCE: It’s a passable game, but it isn’t the FPS revolution we were lead to believe it would be.

Developer: Kaos Studios Publisher: THQ Distributor: Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

18+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

is combat going on, let alone sniping.) This results in numerous cheap and frustrating deaths throughout the course of the single player campaign. The action is broken up with some vehicle based stuff, like flying an attack helicopter (although the controls here leave a hell of a lot to be desired.) And then, just as the story builds up an awesome head of steam, and you figure you’re about half way – maybe two-thirds – through, the credits roll.

Homefront is one of those games that deliver a very short single player experience (only around five hours.) Their numbers are growing, and it’s not a good state of affairs.

This is made even worse when you consider the fact that Homefront is graphically dated, and does nothing to make you sit up and take notice beyond a few shocking cutscenes. The voice acting is not terrible, but that doesn’t do much to make up for the single player game’s other failings.

On the multiplayer front, things are rather different. This is the second sector in which the game redeems itself and, while Homefront is far from being the most original multiplayer FPS around, it does enough to elevate it above average. There are several game modes, some

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

77 53

Top Spin 4

Deuce!

Tennis scores an advantage

W

hen gamers think of tennis, visions of the old 8-bit characters spring to mind, but luckily with today’s technology, those days are a thing of the past – which brings us the latest release in the genre, Top Spin 4.

While the normal Exhibition matches can be played with any of the included 20 real-life tennis stars, the actual magic is in the Career section. To no surprise, players will have to create a character and outfit them as they wish. Choosing clothing and equipment shouldn’t be too difficult as it has no effect on the player’s performance.

Starting out as an unknown athlete, players will have to participate in a number of matches before then can start to make a name for themselves. A coach will also provide unique opportunities for skill bonuses and an increase in stats, but that will only happen if his requirements are

54

by Charlie Fripp met.

The player’s career window is presented as a calendar, with each month having a number of matches scheduled.

Players can only participate in matches if they meet the requirements, otherwise they will have to wait until the next year.

While the coach can give players a boost in stats, athletes will also accumulate XP as they start winning matches. The XP collected can then be spent on upgrading the player’s stats, which will make him faster, or grant stronger serves and better reflexes.

One of the simplest things of the title is, surprisingly, the control scheme. With tennis, it seems that timing is a huge factor, and although it is to a degree in the game, making the perfect shot doesn’t solely rely on it.

Players will get four basic shots, namely top spin, slice, lob and normal, with each shot corresponding to a

g a mgeacm c ae crceav ireewv i•e wi s s• uies s1u7e •2 2N o•v eAm p rbiel r 22001110

have to squint their eyes and guess which athletes are which. There are also some small touches that make the game just the extra bit involved, like detail on the referee’s chair and the odd water bottle on the side of the court.

But, being a sports game, certain graphical aspects have been neglected. Although they don’t hinder the game or the flow, it’s just small little things that players might notice. For example when the ball is hit to the back of the court, the linesman won’t move, resulting with the ball going straight through his body.

The game is great for tennis fans, and can turn out to be highly addictive. Although there are some niggles with the graphics, it’s generally in good stead and the easy controls will make for a good pick-up and play game.

Most of the great tennis players are present, so everybody will easily find a character to match their own style. g

AT A GLANCE: With all the great players and easy controls, the game can be highly addictive.

Developer: 2K Czech Publisher: 2K Sports Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

face button on the controller. All that a player has to do is get the timing right in order to execute a power shot, otherwise it reverts the played shot into a normal stroke.

If one doesn’t get the timing right for a power shot, then the shot’s placement will make all the difference, which is just as important.

Aiming is done with the left analogue stick, and although there isn’t any visual interpretation as to where the shot is going to go, players will have a fairly good idea as to its placement.

There is naturally a longish tutorial in the beginning of the game, but it all comes down to just practicing shots and experimenting with placement and shot selection.

Top Spin 4 has also followed the route of many other sports games by giving the player a practice arena before entering into the main menu.

The graphics are great, to the extent that players won’t

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

82 55

Fight Night: Champion

On Top

Now with added story…

T

here have been many greats in the world of boxing, names that will stand eternal in the history books as fighters that excelled against their opponents time and again. But there is only one real great when it comes to boxing simulation franchises: EA Sports’ Fight Night series. Like so many others that the EA Sports touch seems to have turned to unassailable gold, Fight Night has been set apart for numerous reasons – not least of which is the excellent control scheme that was devised for the series. The use of motions on the right analogue stick to throw punches makes the game infinitely more strategic and realistic than games that just ask the player to mash face buttons.

The question that arises is, how does a series like this - which has reached previously unattained heights – evolve? The answer comes in the form of Fight Night: Champion, a new outing for the Fight Night franchise.

But fans who have played the previous four games in the series may not necessarily like some of the changes that EA Sports have wrought.

The biggest, most obvious change is that Fight Night: Champion does something that very few other sports

56

by Walt Pretorius franchises do… it has a story mode. The game actually kicks the player off in this mode, with the first fight on the game taking place in a prison. This first fight, which introduces the player to the character of Andre Bishop (the protagonist of the story), serves as a tutorial. Once it is over, the player can either carry on with the story, or move onto other game modes.

It is pertinent to point out that this is not the only career mode in the game. The story is in addition to other game modes that players have come to expect from Fight Night, including quick fights and Legacy Mode. The story serves to cast a light on the culture and lifestyles of boxers, in addition to letting the player get in the ring. And it’s a pretty good story. What fans may not enjoy is the nature of the fights within the story mode. They tend to be challenges that the player has to adhere to – knock your opponents down three times, win by round four, that kind of thing. The player needs to adhere to these, though; knocking a guy out before knocking him down three times, for example, does not achieve the goals of the game.

Additionally, the player will only ever be able to use Andre as their boxer in story mode, but that’s not too much of a

g a mgeacm c ae crceav ireewv i•e wi s s• uies s1u7e •2 2N o•v eAm p rbiel r 22001110

biggest problem with. The control scheme has been changed. While it uses a similar idea, all punches are now thrown with short movements, flicking the stick out to the edge of the control space, rather than having to bring it around in large movements at any time. This may seem to make things easier for “mashers”, but the well-conceived stamina system will put paid to mad punching before long.

The haymakers of yore have also been replaced, this time by a bunch of “flash” punches, which have a chance of stunning, knocking down or even knocking an opponent out with one shot.

Although it may seem like there is some negativity in this review, that is actually far from the case – we’re just trying to keep you informed. In the end, Fight Night: Champion may have a few changes, but none of them wreck the game. They may take a bit of getting used to, but long time players will find that Fight Night: Champion is well deserving of its title. This is a great boxing simulation. g

AT A GLANCE: A good addition to the franchise, with a few changes for fans to get to grips with.

Developer: EA Sports Publisher: Electronic Arts Distributor: EA South Africa

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

train smash.

If the story mode is not to your liking (or is finished) you can get a further career going by entering Legacy Mode. The goal of this mode, as always, is to become the greatest boxer of all time. This more traditional mode will have the player taking on all comers to become the best boxer ever, and will intersperse fights with training sessions (something that story mode does not do.)

Although it lacks a story, it does seem to put more control in the players hands. In fact, it does this more than ever before.

See, in previous Fight Night games, increasing a specific stat meant doing a specific work-out mini-game… heavy bag for strength, double ended bag for speed, and so on.

This doesn’t happen in Champion. No matter which minigames the player plays, they earn experience that can be spent anywhere. This experience is gained from fights as well. It makes it a bit easier for the player to progress through the boxing ranks, in the end, but purists may miss the need to be an all-round player to get the best benefits.

The third change is the one that fans may have the

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

85 57

De Blob 2

Paint the Town… …red, blue, green, whatever.

W

hen de Blob originally appeared on the Wii, it’s a pretty safe guess that the developers didn’t realise just how popular the game would become. But it certainly did do well, and for numerous good reasons that can be seen in this sequel, too.

Now de Blob has received an extra bit of polish as he bounces his way onto the HD consoles. The game has a new sheen to it that young and old alike will certainly take to.

The premise is rather simple – so simple, in fact, that the player needs no knowledge of the previous game to play de Blob 2. The nefarious Comrade Black, with the help of his INKT Corporation and his henchmen (called, of course, inkies) have sucked all the colour and life out of Prisma City. But Blob, along with his various friends that form the rebellious Colour Underground, will soon put an end to all the blandness.

The player naturally controls Blob in this sugarsweet, family-friendly tale of revolution and overcoming oppression. Blob is… well, he’s a blob, really. He’s generally round, and has ears and eyes and hands, but

58

by Walt Pretorius other than that, he’s a… blob. This means he can change size and shape to a degree, which allows him to access various areas in the game world. What he can also do is absorb colours, and then spread those colours around his environment. When Blob gets to a grey, dull environment, bright colours are soon to follow – as well as the freedom of the supressed citizens of Prisma City.

In terms of overall game mechanics, de Blob 2 is very simple. It’s a game that kids could easily play, and the very gradual learning curve that the game puts the player through goes to solidify this idea. But it’s not a game that only kids will enjoy. It’s a thoroughly addictive title that all ages – particularly more casual players – will be able to draw a lot of enjoyment from.

Ostensibly, it’s a 3D platform game that allows the player to journey through numerous different settings in a quest to bring colour to the world. But there’s a little more to it than that (although not a hell of a lot.)

It features a very simple, yet often challenging system of puzzles to give the player a bit more of a test. These puzzles are solved in terms of colours, and mixing colours.

For example, a series of buildings in Blob’s world might

g a mgeacm c ae crceav ireewv i•e wi s s• uies s1u7e •2 2N o•v eAm p rbiel r 22001110

2D underground areas for the player to complete. These can achieve anything from earning the player extra experience (called “Inspiration” in the game) to actually advancing story missions. The 2D stages are great fun, serving as a perfect break from, and complement to, the 3D world above.

As play progresses, the player will be able to spend Inspiration to improve Blob in several ways. While this is a good idea, the need for it only becomes obvious in the very latest stages, when the game starts putting up a tougher fight. That’s probably de Blob 2’s biggest issue – it’s just a little too easy for older players. Still, the game has tons of charm, both in the stages themselves and in the cut-scenes that precede them. It offers fun multiplayer options too, and even offers additional challenges outside of the main game, which are unlocked as it progresses.

De Blob 2 is a great game for the whole family, with a high level of casual appeal. If you want a more relaxing game, be sure to try it out. g

AT A GLANCE: Uncomplicated, addictive platform fun for the whole family Developer: Blue Tongue Publisher: THQ Distributor: Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

have to be painted specific colours. This would require the player finding the appropriate colours, and even mixing them where necessary. It would also possibly mean that the player would have to strategise how exactly to approach painting the buildings… multi-level structures will mean that the player will have to do a bit of back and forthing, and painting the buildings in the shortest time would be a good idea.

See, each level of the game is subject to a timer, so doing all the challenges in a specific area quickly is the best bet. That said, the timer is generous, and there are many (possibly too many) bonus time pick-ups to be found and earned. Once the level is complete, the player can hang around and make sure everything is done – all the buildings are painted, all the trees ‘resurrected’, all the enemies stomped, and so on.

Speaking of enemies, de Blob 2 features a few different kinds of inkies, ranging from mindless drones through to much trickier fare. None of them are particularly hard to get by, but some will require more strategy and better timing than others.

In addition to the 3D main stages, there are numerous

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

82 59

The Sims Medieval

To Be King…

And blacksmith and knight and priest and…

I

am a Sims fan. I admit it, and I get stick for that admission from my more hard-core friends every so often. But since the little computer people first arrived on the scene over a decade ago, I have keenly followed their progress. And so, when Sims Medieval was announced, I felt a mixed bag of excitement at the prospect of a new Sims property, and apprehension at the fact that it might just be a hollow spin-off. It has proven, in my opinion, to be a little of both.

The Sims Medieval puts the character in the role of the Watcher, a deity responsible for the well-being of a medieval kingdom. The player gets to control a number of hero characters within this kingdom, using them to complete quests and shape the future of the fledgling country. While it has some historical accuracies, it also delves slightly into the realms of fantasy, which is a nice touch. And, as can be expected with a Sims title, it isn’t a hard-core, or even serious game.

On paper, the concept looks fantastic. The player has to manage their kingdom, as well as the sim heroes that

60

by Walt Pretorius

they control. But while the game adheres to some ideas from the original franchise, it departs from others quite a lot, making it a clear stand-alone title.

Many of the responsibilities a player has in The Sims are missing in Medieval. For example, the characters now only have two needs – food and sleep. Additionally, all building tasks have pretty much been dumbed down, with the player getting pre-made buildings that can only be changed minimally in structural terms, and then only on the interiors. These buildings can be placed as the player completes quests with the various hero sims. But they can only be placed in prescribed positions. In other words, a lot of the creativity of the original franchise has been stripped out here.

Interiors can be decorated and filled with items from a list that is a little limited (but the inevitable expansions will doubtlessly take care of that issue). Sims can also wear different clothing, and can be created much like in the original game. They can perform a variety of actions, too, depending on their role. All heroes have a job to do: the

g a mgeacm c ae crceav ireewv i•e wi s s• uies s1u7e •2 2N o•v eAm p rbiel r 22001110

become available. But they are for new kingdoms… an existing kingdom cannot change its ambition. To try out a new challenge means starting a kingdom from scratch, which is annoying. This is amplified by the fact that many of the quests the player has already completed will need to be repeated, creating a nasty repetition within the game.

The world is beautiful, colourful and lively, and the different approach that The Sims Medieval takes is a fresh breath for the overall franchise. However, the limitations it places on the player – in terms of creativity, expression and general freedom – might not sit well with long time Sims fans. The game feels limited at times, and seems to rush the player along at others. That said, it really is what you make of it… if you speed through the quests, it may get boring. On the other hand, there is not really enough to do with each individual sim to keep the player engaged for overly long.

This one will come down to a matter of taste. You’ll either like it, or you won’t. g

AT A GLANCE: It’s not quite what you might expect… you’ll either love it, or not.

Developer: EA Games Publisher: Electronic Arts Distributor: EA South Africa

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

13+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PC Platforms

blacksmith has to make weapons and armour, the priest has to convert people and preach, the king has to make laws and edicts, and so on. There are ten professions in the kingdom, and therefore space for ten hero sims.

The main thrust of the game is going on quests.

Sometimes one sim will be responsible, and at others multiple sims will contribute. Between the quest tasks and two daily career related tasks, the player can squeeze in socialising and other actions. But the sims will happily go about their lives just concentrating on questing and daily career tasks, which is a little bit of a let-down. Sure, some of their character traits might need them to do other things, but not doing them won’t wreck the game.

Each character gains up to ten levels of experience as the game progresses, making them better at what they do and unlocking new interactions with each level.

To ‘win’, the player has to fulfil a kingdom ambition within a certain number of quests. These ambitions are separate to the quests, and are an added extra to keep players busy. Once an ambition is fulfilled, new ambitions

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

78 61

Motorstorm: Apocalypse

Total Car-nage!

Finally, the franchise lives up to the promise of fun.

by Christo van Gemert

T

he original Motorstorm was quite a controversial game. No, it didn’t have any questionable content that upset goody-two-shoe politicians and concerned mothers. Instead, it was controversial for being the centre of a lie.

Sony had the game slated as a launch title for the PS3. As such, the E3 2006 press conference showed a video for a game called Motorstorm, which Sony said was all in-game footage. This may not have been quite that accurate. Desperate to prove that the PS3 was graphically superior to the Xbox 360, especially since the 360 was already on the shelves and the PS3 was still in development, Sony had to show its fans something.

Of course, fans have a very good memory. YouTube and the Internet compared footage from that press conference to the final product and found the finished game to be far from what was promised. And that was just on the surface. Dig any deeper, and Motorstorm was not really a great game. Fun, sure, but far from groundbreaking – either visually or technically.

In the years since it appeared and disappointed, it’s

62

had a sequel and even a PS2/PSP offshoot (Motorstorm: Arctic Edge).

But it’s the game on show today, Motorstorm: Apocalypse, that’s the most controversial of all. Sony has pulled it from sale in markets where it was made available just after launch in mid-March. It’s not due to a gamebreaking bug or another issue that’ll have unfavourable financial consequences. Instead, it’s a matter of taste and unfortunate timing. The game’s developer, Evolution Studios, has a notice on its site saying that due to similarities between the game’s content and the recent, catastrophic earthquake in Japan, the game’s release will be delayed indefinitely. I take my hat off to them for making this decision.

It’s unfortunate, because the game is really quite good.

It’s taken on a new graphic style in both the gameplay and story mode – a huge focus in this instalment. The “story” mode in racing games is really a huge gimmick and usually quite predictable, but the graphic novel-like cut scenes used to progress the plot are fantastically illustrated.

The panels are bright and colourful, and it would be great

g a mgeacm c ae crceav ireewv i•e wi s s• uies s1u7e •2 2N o•v eAm p rbiel r 22001110

have a building fall onto it. Those who played last year’s Split/Second will have a good idea of what to expect: except the natural disasters in Motorstorm aren’t activated by the racers, they’re random.

There are new vehicle classes, too, bringing the total to 13 different machines that can be used for entering races. Bikes, ATVs, monster trucks, supercars and rally cars – each has an edge in its own way, but they’re all quite balanced. Racing takes places in nine different environments, each with multiple track layouts that get unlocked as you progress through the game – and it’s not a walk in the park when you crank up the difficulty setting.

Motorstorm: Apocalypse is what the series should’ve been from the beginning. It’s not a whole lot different from the first game, but everything just feels a bit better, sounds a bit better and looks a bit better. It’s the pick of the bunch and if you can get your hands on a copy it will be thoroughly enjoyed. g

AT A GLANCE: Hugely fun arcade racing action, with a vehicle class to suit just about everybody.

Developer: Evolution Studios Publisher: SCEE Distributor: Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

to see more games use unique ways to tell their story between the gameplay sections.

In-game graphics have been given a spit and shine, too.

While still retaining its feel as a pick-up-and-play arcade racing game, there’s something a bit more serious and gritty about the world in Apocalypse. Then again, it’s right there in the name, isn’t it?

Action is fast and furious on the track. If you’re not paying attention you’ll soon lose your way and crash into the scenery. Annoyingly this will send everything into a sloooow-motiooonnn caaaaameraaaa that leaves your AI opponents with plenty of time to overtake you. You’ll drop from 1st position to middle of the pack at the smallest mistake, even if you thought you were far in the lead.

Adding to the raceday confusion are the new dynamic environments, and reason for the game’s delay. Racing takes place in abandoned or evacuated cities, where volcanoes are about to erupt or… earthquakes are predicted to shake things to pieces. Ouch. It requires quick thinking, and you’re given only the slightest warning when the road you’re on is about to cave in or

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

85 63

Zumba Fitness

Think You’re Fit? Think again… this one will really work you!

I

have learned three things. First of all, I have the coordination of a mentally stunted lizard. Secondly, my hips don’t really move all that well. And third, I am not as fit as I thought I was. All of this was taught to me by the latest fitness game for the Kinect system, based on a craze that is sweeping the fitness world: Zumba Fitness.

Zumba, as a fitness concept, is an interesting one. It takes rhythms and moves from various forms of dance, like hip-hop, belly dancing and several Latin dance styles like samba and salsa (with a greater degree of emphasis on these latter ones) and combines them into a work-out that is more like a dance session. The idea behind it is simple – have fun while working out. Anyone who has spent hours on a treadmill or exercise bike will understand the appeal in that notion.

So, like the fitness craze, the “game” does the same thing. I use the inverted commas because, like any other console based fitness programme, this isn’t really a game. For some, it is a great workout and a fun way to

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by Walt Pretorius

spend up to 45 minutes prancing around in front of the TV. For others, like me, it is a form of physical torture that makes bamboo shoots in the nail beds seem like a trip to Disneyland. That’s probably got to do with the aforementioned fitness level, though.

I think it’s important to note, at this point, that Zumba Fitness has received a number of negative reviews online.

Having read some of them, I realise that the reviewers a) missed the point and b) were more than likely not in this game’s target demographic. The whole Zumba things has a distinctly feminine feel to it – because guys don’t know how to wiggle their hips, which (it seems) is a core mechanic of a Zumba work-out. This is not a game, and it is very securely aimed at a female market, although men brave enough to take on the routines will doubtlessly draw benefit from it.

And you’re going to draw benefit, trust me. If the buckets of sweat pouring off of me within the first ten minutes were anything to go by (added to the fact that I couldn’t move too well the next day, thanks to the intensity

g a mgeacm c ae crceav ireewv i•e wi s s• uies s1u7e •2 2N o•v eAm p rbiel r 22001110

Baryshnikov in no time.

The move detection via the Kinect system tends to be rather good in Zumba, so if you’re doing things right, you’ll be in the green for the most part. What does sometimes seem a little off are the comments that your instructor will pass – you might be told something along the lines of “great leg work” when you’re not moving at all. It is a bit disconcerting, but perhaps the developers felt that they needed positive reinforcement to keep people going.

And go you will. A long Zumba work-out is a strenuous affair. The thing is that it is fun. You might be (literally) working your butt off, but the fun that the game delivers means you’re not going to realise it until afterwards.

While it is little more than a guided dance routine, it doesn’t need to be anything else. The fun to be had with Zumba Fitness is in the dance steps, not in achieving high scores. If you approach this one with the right attitude, it will prove to be very rewarding. g

AT A GLANCE: Zumba Fitness will provide you with an excellent workout, if you approach it in the right way.

Developer: Pipeworks Publisher: 505 Games Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

of the 45 minute workout I foolishly put myself through on the first go) this system works your whole body, and at a very high intensity level.

I will admit, though, that I didn’t do very well. The user needs to mirror the actions of the “instructor” on the screen. If you’re doing well, the instructor is coloured green. If not, they go yellow or, at worst, red. My on screen instructor spent so much time in the bad zone that I started thinking they might be a member of the Communist Party.

This is chiefly because of two factors. Firstly, zumba-ing is not easy. It’s an all-body work out all the way. None of that ‘let’s work your quads’ stuff. Zumba is all or nothing.

And secondly (one of the failings of the software) the instructions are a little unforgiving. The system has a full ‘tutorial’, but the explanations of the various moves could have been just a little clearer. Rather, they deep-end the user to a degree. A little time and perseverance will work wonders, though, and if you’re dedicated to practicing, you’ll be prancing around like the Zumba version of

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

79 65

Braid

In Time Or out of it

quest: time manipulation.

Using a very simple control system, the player must navigate numerous levels, using the flow of time to change things… see, in the world of Braid, some things are governed by time, and others are free from it. This means that, by altering the time flow, the player can alter situations quite substantially.

This is a fun puzzler when all is said and done, with bright, colourful graphics and a high degree of addictiveness. g

AT A GLANCE: A challenging, addictive puzzle game that will have you manipulating the flow of time.

Developer: Mumbo Jumbo Publisher: Avanquest Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

12+ 66

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PC Platforms

R

eleased some time ago, Braid is now locally available as a boxed product. This game is extremely simple to play, yet very difficult to master. It is presented in the form of a platform adventure that has a great many similarities to Super Mario Brothers – the characters and settings may look different, but the core principles of the game are pretty much the same as that particular classic.

At least, most of them are. Braid adds in an idea that is fresh, and elevates the game from being a run-of-themill platform title to a being a rather challenging puzzle

by Walt Pretorius

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

80

gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Gray Matter

Into the Night Solving puzzles is a thinking affair

A

couple of years ago, a game was released that almost changed the landscape of modern gaming. Ok, the game didn’t have that much of an impact, but the Gabriel Knight franchise proved to be hugely popular with PC gamers of the day.

Any gamer worth his salt will know that the games were written by Jane Jensen, and earlier this year she ventured back into the fray with Gray Matter. The title is very similar in style to the Gabriel Knight games, so players of the previous titles will know exactly what they will be getting.

So with that said, it is kind of hard to image a pointand-click game on a console, and since the GK games are famous for that input style, the console versions seem to be lacking in that department. It’s not always fun to drag a cursor around with an analogue stick, but that is the style of the game.

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by Charlie Fripp

The plot revolves around Sam, whose motorbike breaks down next to the road on a stormy night. Seeking shelter from the torrential rain, she approaches Dread Hill manor for help, but soon realises that she can pose as a research assistant to Dr Style, the owner of the house.

Needless to say, she soon discovers that not everything is what it seems and an intricate plot starts to develop around her experiences in the mansion and the doctor’s great plan for his test subjects. As the game goes on and the plot starts to unravel, Sam learns that the good doctor has a bit of a past and has been dealing with forces of the supernatural.

While the plot is one of the stronger aspects of the game, the controls do leave a lot to be desired. They do work fine for their purpose, but it’s slightly difficult to come to grips with the handling of the cursor – which is very old-school. Unlike the older game where players

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amount of tasks and actions, so getting stuck on an objective could be frustrating.

But the title won’t let gamers simply walk around and move on to the next chapters. The game utilises a wide variety of puzzles that include riddles, word games, visual puzzles, mazes and magic tricks in order to progress in plot. Most of them have been given some thought, while others are rather easy to accomplish.

The game is great for fans of the early point-and-click style, and it’s without a doubt a must-have for lovers of the Gabriel Knight franchise, but for players who don’t like either, it will only serve as a major frustration.

It’s one of those games that players will love or hate, and although certain aspects of the game could have been better, it’s not a bad effort for what the developers tried to do. But do approach with caution as it’s not for everyone. g

AT A GLANCE: Fans of Gabriel Knight will love this title, while others should steer clear.

Developer: WizardBox Publisher: dtp Publishing Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

12+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

had to physically select Pick Up… or Talk To…, here the mechanics does it automatically, so at least it’s one less headache.

Speaking of old-school, the graphics could have been a bit better, but then again, Jensen probably wanted to appeal to all the surviving Gabriel Knight fans. The graphical style is virtually identical and it’s almost a mixed between 2D and 3D graphics. It takes some time getting used to, and can be highly frustrating.

A good example is the fact that the areas are static, so there is no camera or angle to change. Doing something as simple as walking behind a bed or a cupboard can be an exercise in itself, as it can become difficult to judge distance and spacing.

For the gameplay, the title is divided into chapters, where Gabriel Knight was divided into days. To reach the end of each chapter, gamers will have to fulfil a certain

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

70 69

Knight’s Contract

Sell your soul Help fight the evil witches

K

night’s Contract is a very interesting game indeed. Gamers who are familiar with the latest version of Castlevania will immediately fall in love with this action-adventure. Although it’s not always on the same par as Castlevania, the similarities are enough to provide for an enjoyable title.

Developed by Game Republic, the plot revolves around a young knight called Heinrich who needs to help the witch Gretchen destroy all the other witches, who took it upon themselves to destroy humanity.

It’s obviously a bit more complicated than that, but for the purpose of explaining the game, it will do. The plot is actually well though-out, with some twist and turns around every chapter.

As for the setting, it’s rather clear that it takes place in Germany, although the game only states that it happens in Middle-Ages Europe. But with names like Heinrich, Gretchen and Dr. Faust, there is no mistake as to where

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by Charlie Fripp the adventurers find themselves.

The controls are also another simple aspect of the game, with most of the action happening on the face buttons of the controller. Games with spells and different attack modes tend to be a bit on the heavy side when combinations need to be used, but Knight’s Contract uses a simple interface.

As mentioned before, light and heavy attacks are done with the face buttons, while delivering spells and traps is done by pulling a trigger and pressing a corresponding face button to execute – it’s that simple. On the other hand, it does lend itself to button-mashing, but that can be kept to minimum if gamers play cleverly.

The spells and traps can also be upgraded with devastating effect, which is done by collecting a certain amount of souls needed to upgrade each. The souls are easy to gather by defeating enemies, but getting enough to upgrade is the challenge, as a lot is needed for even the

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dimensional, where huge dragons will have intricate detail.

The environment’s detail can also wain at certain times.

In terms of fun-factor, the title does enough to keep gamers gripped until the last level, and it’s by no means a slog to get around levels. The mini-map does come in handy at times, but when the player needs to climb onto ledges, it’s not indicated, which could leave the player wandering around aimlessly looking for a way forward.

Another great thing about the title that trumps Castlevania in the genre is the fact that the camera isn’t static. In the afore-mentioned game, players couldn’t turn the camera as they saw fit, but Knight’s Contract lends itself to a bit of freedom in that regard.

Although the general feeling of Knight’s Contract is the same as Castlevania, the title does shine in aspects where the latter fails. It’s a great game to play, with some awesome fight scenes, so it’s money well-invested. g

AT A GLANCE: It’s a great game with some interesting devices, which makes for some action-packed fun.

Developer: Game Republic Publisher: Namco Bandai Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

15+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

simplest of spells.

The game also makes use of some cleverly-placed quick-time events. Although they are generally used when battling a boss or giant dragon, they are not overly complicated and the title at least gives players a handful of seconds to think about the input. But as soon as the wrong button is pressed, it’s back to the beginning – which is understandable.

In terms of health, the game implemented a clever device. See, although Heinrich’s suit can take a certain degree of damage, he can’t die. To counter his invincibility, his soul is connected to Gretchen, so if she dies (which she can), then so will our knight.

The title’s graphics could have been a bit better, but then again, they do serve their purpose. It’s not as visually appealing as Castlevania, but there are moments when they do shine through. The biggest problem comes in with textures, as Heinrich’s suit will look flat and one-

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

79 71

Two Worlds II

Massive

Some nice toys, some broken ones…

R

eality Pump is not the biggest name in RPG development, but if the progression through their Two Worlds franchise is anything to go by, they have the makings of a really great studio – given time, money and a few less slip-ups.

Two Worlds II is (obviously) the second instalment in the franchise, and picks up the story pretty much where the first game left off. The tale it tells is rather pedestrian fantasy fare, with little to elevate the plot above being something we’ve seen a hundred times before. But the plot becomes secondary to some of the more interesting game dynamics that the developers have built in to the game.

The first thing that becomes apparent is that Two Worlds II is set in a massive world. That’s exactly what fantasy RPG fans want… a big world with lots to do. And that’s exactly what is on offer here. The problem is that the world can be a very unforgiving place, particularly early on in the title. Going exploring can be deadly… but there is a hell of a lot of opportunity to head off of the beaten track and take in the sights of this huge world, which span several settings that can be compared to our

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by Walt Pretorius

own world (ranging from things that feel distinctly African through to those that feel very Japanese.)

The player has what appear to be very limited character choices at first, but the classless system that the game employs means that the player can pretty much create the kind of character they want – from a spell-slinging warrior mage through to a stealthy assassin; anything is possible with the cleverly implemented skill system.

There are other systems in the game that support this idea of custom-building a character. The first is the spell system. Instead of learning pre-created spells and using them, the player gets to combine various spell “cards” for a wide variety of effects. It takes a bit of work, but coming up with the ultimate spell to suit your play style is more possible than ever with this unique system. The tutorial about it is, admittedly, a little vague, but getting to grips with this system is well worth the effort. The results are almost limitless.

Then comes the alchemy system. There are tons of things that can be looted in the world, both from fallen enemies and the environment in general. And we mean tons, ranging from roots and plants through to hyena

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graces of the game, to a large degree. The player will need to look past some of the games weaker moments to fully appreciate what the title is capable of, though, and there will be times when that gets difficult.

Take, for example, the graphics. In general, Two Worlds II is breath-taking in terms of visuals. But some of the character models and lip-synching are decidedly off. Many of the animations look rather strange (at best).

In addition, the voice acting is a mixed bag, with some top notch performances rubbing shoulders with other, really horrible ones.

The combat, too, feels a bit weak at times, with no real sense of impact accompanying the various blows and parries.

Still, the franchise has come a long way. More forgiving players will be able to enjoy the vast world of Two Worlds II to their heart’s content, and should be able to see the growing potential that Reality Pump have as developers.g

AT A GLANCE: A fun game, if you’re willing to look past it’s problems Developer: Reality Pump Publisher: TopWare Interactive Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PC Platforms

lungs and other rather less savoury items. These can be combined using the alchemy skill, which becomes available to the player very early in the game. A massive variety of potions and tinctures can be mixed with this system, and player experimentation is encouraged. The player can even keep a log of the successful mixtures that have been created, to refer to later.

The third system is the crafting, or metallurgy, system.

This one is a real winner – it allows the player to break down items that they find (like swords, shields, bows and magic staves) into their base components. These would include the likes of iron, steel, leather and wood.

These base materials can then be used to improve the player’s other equipment, with specific items needing certain combinations of raw materials to be improved. Not only does this system allow the player to improve their equipment almost anywhere, but it helps alleviate the problems caused by inventories that are constantly full.

Further crafting options also include stones which can be socketed into equipment, granting additional abilities and power buffs.

These systems work very well, and are the saving

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

72 73

Cricket Coach 2010

Catch!

Lead your team to victory

W

ith the Cricket World Cup in full swing, it’s to no surprise that a game like Cricket Coach 2010 has made its way onto the market.

One might be forgiven to think that the title is a cricket simulator similar to Football Manager, but there is a lot of depth and thought that went into it.

Straight off the bat, the game can be as easy or as hard as you make it. As anybody who knows cricket will be aware, there are a lot of small details that need to be factored in when taking part in a cricket match. And just like that, all those factors need to be considered in the game.

Essentially, players will naturally assume the role of the coach of any given team. From the beginning the scope is revealed, as the most obscure (but legitimate) teams are included for coaching.

As part of coaching duties, players will have to select a team and arrange the bowling and batting positions of the starting line-up. It’s an easy task, but as soon as the match gets underway, things start to become more

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by Charlie Fripp complex.

Starting off with bowling, players will need to select the opening bowler and his partner. From here, virtually any aspect of the bowling can be adjusted. Digging a bit deeper, every single ball can be individually changed in many ways.

Ball one can be made a bouncer and swinging left, ball two can be given good length but slower, while ball three can be made to be bowled on the stumps but with a bit of extra pace. The possibilities are only limited to what can be done on a real cricket pitch, and can be done with a particular type of bowler, be it fast, medium-paced or leg spinner.

Coupled with the bowling, the coach will also have the ability to arrange the field for a specific batsman and also for every ball. The aggressiveness or defensiveness of the bowler can also be set according to batsmen or fielding positions.

The bowlers are highly customisable and the coach will have control over almost every aspect, but just as with the

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The graphics are incredible poor, and when a four is hit or someone is caught out, the view will switch to a topdown pitch with little dots for players. When the umpire pops up to give his ruling, he’s almost in 8-bit.

The game would have been a lot better if it had 3D graphics, with players in a third-person view, and the sound could have been improved on significantly.

But the title has to be praised for its list of selectable team members. When making up a SA team list, players like Faf du Plessis and Colin Ingram can even be selected, each with their own legitimate stats.

That is also one of the better points of the game, and it’s amazing into what detail the developers went to accommodate all the players, stats, teams and score cards.

Although the game has very poor graphics with almost no sound at all, the action and involvement will keep one coming back for more. It’s by no means a great title, but it has a strange addictiveness to it. g

AT A GLANCE: The game could have been better, but it will keep you busy for a while.

Developer: Rockingham Software Publisher: Avanquest Publishing Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PC Platforms

bowlers, the batsmen are highly controllable – to a slightly lesser degree.

When the batsmen take to the crease, the coach can also set the aggressiveness according to who is bowling to them. For Test matches, it’s better to have the batsmen in a defensive position for a couple of overs, before starting to pile on the runs as the ball gets older.

The only thing that the coach can’t do while his team is batting is select where the ball will get hit and when the batsmen will run. Over the normal course of the game, the coach has no control.

Being a simulator of sorts, the standard view for the game is a bunch of graphs, stats and action-reports, with a small window at the bottom depicting the over that has just been bowled.

This can all be customised, but the best view is to simulate each over at a time, instead of simulating each ball – which will take forever. The overs and the action within them are clearly marked, but this is where the game fails a bit.

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

55 75

Nail’d

Whiplash And a few odd explosions…

O

ff-road racing games are fairly niche in nature, but the truth is that the sub-genre enjoys quite a lot of attention. Naturally, as with any genre or sub-genre, there are the big name players that dominate the market, but every now and then a new title comes along with aspirations of making an impression. That’s doubtlessly what Techland wanted to do with Nail’d, their new extreme off-road racing game.

But Nail’d isn’t your average off-road racer. The developers of this title decided that they wanted to do something different – something that didn’t involve the player needing to develop a deeper understanding of their vehicle and how it behaved in different conditions.

Instead, Techland clearly wanted to create a game crammed full of awesome… and, to a degree, they did.

Nail’d has two basic principles at its core; high speed and big air. From the second you start your first race, you’re going rocket-fast around insane tracks. Literally.

Pulling off in the game isn’t a matter of acceleration… rather, it’s an instant burst of speed that is only

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by Walt Pretorius exceeded when the player applies some of the generously supplied boost power to their riding.

The tracks are insane. When on the ground, the player will be whipping around crazy turns and dodging all means of static and animated obstacles in an attempt to get ahead. At other times, the player’s character will hurtle off of mind-bogglingly huge ramps, spending several seconds defying gravity before invariably crashing down safely onto the ground again. Even the tracks themselves have a degree of verticality which can leave the player, when combined with the incredible sense of speed that the game achieves, wondering exactly which way is up.

Realism. Hell no! Nail’d gives Newton the finger as it rockets past on a brightly coloured quad bike. It’s not about real-world physics… rather, this game celebrates impossible riding techniques and stunts that would make even the most hardened pro reach for a clean pair of trousers. This is evident, for example, in the fact that the player can – and often has to – steer their vehicle while it is in mid –air. I know ATVs and MX bikes aren’t exactly

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a poor jump may leave the character hung up on a piece of track geometry without respawning – and the voluntary respawn option just takes too long to activate.

The meat and bones lies in the tournament mode, which offers the single player a number of races. Some are lap races, others are point to point, and yet others are stunt races. Not that there is actually a stunt system in the game. Stunts, in this case, are things like perfect landings and passing through demarcated gates.

Nail’d is not very challenging – at least not in a reasonable manner – and the easiness of the game, combined with regular crashes and odd bits of track design, can lead to boredom and frustration. It’s not the kind of game that you can spend hours trying to best, or can even feel particularly satisfied over when winning a race. If served in small doses, it’s fun, but nothing more.

The player won’t get any real sense of achievement from playing Nail’d. But if you’re after a bit of really fast, insane – and above all mindless – fun, it is a good bet. g

AT A GLANCE: A fun game if you’re not going to take it seriously… not even in the slightest degree.

Developer: Techland Publisher: Deep Silver Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

12+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

huge, but this game ignores any sense of physics decency in its attempt to be over the top.

And therein lies the problem. Fast speeds and massive jumps aside, Nail’d is just too forgiving in some areas, and totally unfair in others. The player can, for example, take virtually any turn at top speed, or land as poorly as they like; the game will keep them on their bike, as it were. But almost invisible track details may be enough to make the player’s bike explode if they’re hit. The game promotes top speeds and huge jumps, but will then feature tracks that cannot accommodate the manoeuvres… the player will end up slamming into rock faces high above where they were supposed to be jumping to, simply because they were going too fast. It doesn’t make sense.

The game is rather generous when it comes to respawning (which is good, because it’s pretty generous in blowing the player to bits, too.) Most crashes won’t cost the player too much time. But, every now and then, the game will decide that the player is out of bounds for no clear reason, and will respawn them just so. Even worse,

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

70 77

Tank Combat

Fire!

Take the biggest tanks to the battlefield

as firing triggers and changing direction. Forward and backwards are taken care of by the keyboard, but that is really the only thing that the keyboard is used for.

The missions, although from different countries, are essentially all the same, with the principle of “if it’s not you, then it’s an enemy”. Although some missions have a plot, all missions will require you to take out the enemy forces.

The graphics are very sub-par, and many players will scoff at the inferior quality, but the game will be great for younger players who aren’t as clued up on these things. The voice acting is horrible though, but that can be forgiven. g

AT A GLANCE: Although there isn’t a lot of meat to the title, it’s great for beginners.

Developer: City Interactive Publisher: City Interactive Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

A 78

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PC Platforms

A

big part of WWII was the massive tank battles that were used, and without a doubt one of the biggest battles was at El Alamein. Tank Combat puts you in the seat of some of the beasts that prowled the battlefield, and although players won’t fight in the desert for a long time, the game nonetheless gets its point across.

The title is essentially a tank simulator, putting the player behind the steering wheel of three of the war’s deadliest vehicles. The single player allows gamers to pilot the three tanks, each part of a different campaign, causing havoc with the German Tiger tank, the Russian T-39 and the US Stuart.

The controls are very simple, with the mouse serving

by Charlie Fripp

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

49

gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

c ompe t i t io n • c omp eti ti o n • com pe tit ion • com pe t ition • com pe t it ion

All the Moves!

WIN

A copy of Michael Jackson: The Experience on PS3 or Xbox 360 Courtesy of Megarom & Ubisoft TO ENTER: Send an email to competitions@gamecca.co.za.

Tell us the name of the late King of Pop. Insert ‘MJ competition’ in the mail’s subject line.

Subscribe to www.gamecca.co.za Become a fan on Gamecca’s Facebook Page

Competition closes 30 April 2011. Gamecca subscribers only. South African residents only.

Prizes may not be exchanged for cash. Hampers may not include a copy of the game.

Competition closed to employees (& employee’s family) of 1337 Media CC, Ubisoft & Megarom Interactive The judges’ decision is final.

Magicka

It’s a Blast!

In more ways than one, really…

T

here is a popular misconception that for a game to be good, it needs to push all kinds of limits.

Yes, we like great graphics and awesome sound.

Sure, being able to do tons of modifications to in-game characters and their equipment makes for an enjoyable time. Certainly, a complex story and deep character development make for a highly entertaining experience.

But there are games that are great despite the fact that they may be lacking in the things that people commonly believe are necessary for a fantastic title.

That’s because they have the one thing that people often forget about: great game dynamics. See, a game doesn’t have to look good to feature good game play – anyone who grew up on 8-bit graphics can attest to that fact.

The original Mario Bros, for example, featured looks that were really only rudimentary, but the game itself was great fun to play.

What this all comes down to is that simple games are often as much – if not more – fun than the really complex ones. And Magicka is a prime example of that idea.

Not that Magicka has bad sound or graphics, mind

80

by Walt Pretorius you. It’s just not what one would necessarily consider ‘top of the line’. Rather, it takes good graphics and amusing sound, and combines them with a game idea that is very simple, yet extremely addictive.

The story is simple – the player plays one of a group of elemental mages, under the leadership of the enigmatic Vlad (who we are often assured in not a vampire). It is up to these mages to investigate an increase in goblin attacks… and in doing so, to put a stop to a great evil that threatens the world. It’s pretty standard fantasy stuff, and the player will often be reminded of games like Titan Quest or the Diablo franchise. In fact, Magicka will do its best to do just that, with plenty of homage paid to, and fun poked at, all manner of fantasy games, books, movies and the like. Everything from Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail through to table top war-gaming manufacturer Games Workshop is referenced in this game, which will have the player chuckling more often than not at its injokes and plain-faced jibes.

The game itself is extremely simple in concept, yet quite challenging. To create spell effects, the player must

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It’s this kind of thinking – logical stuff, really – that is the fundamental core of Magicka. It’s a brilliant concept… simple, yet effective. And it gets even better when you add more players to the mix. Up to four players an play together, with four players using the same PC (provided they use the 10 button, analogue stick game pads that the game supports.) It makes for crazy times, because the more wizards in the game, the more haphazard and hilarious the results. Players will accidentally blow each other up, set fire to each other and blast each other off of cliffs. But that’s all in the chaotic spirit of the game, and makes up for a large part of the fun that is to be had with Magicka. Online multiplayer is also a good option for similar fun, but having your buddy in punching distance is a good idea with this title.

Magicka is a good looking, fun filled fantasy jaunt that is simple, yet challenging, and is possessed of a great sense of humour. It’s awesome fun, both as a single player and as a party game. g

AT A GLANCE: An uncomplicated yet challenging, simple yet fun adventure game for up to four spell-slingers.

Developer: Arrowhead Publisher: Paradox Interactive Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PC Platforms

combine varieties of eight elements, including things like fire, water, earth and air. Mixing these together will result in spells of varying power and effects. Not all elements can be combined, however… fire and water cancel eachother out, for example. The player pre-loads a spell by selecting the desired elements, and then fires it off at his enemies. It’s pretty straight forward.

But the action in the game gets pretty frantic, and a miss-selection of elements can lead to a disastrous time delay. Additionally, the player will often have to experiment with effects, even though the game does provide spell ‘recipes’ that can be found during the adventure. Also, sometimes doubling up on elemental components can have a different effect from just using each one once. The player has a rather daunting task ahead of them to try and remember everything that they can do.

Common sense comes into things as well. For example, a character who is wet will be harmed when using electricitybased spells. A character can be dried with fire, of course, but a fire spell cast on him when he is not wet is not a good idea.

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

88 81

Moto GP 10/11

Every Second Counts …when you’re steering through syrup

W

ith the release of the new Moto GP, I was in for a great weekend of playing one of my favourite racing games of all time. I remember playing Moto GP 4 on my PS2 years ago and was completely impressed; I have never played a game that has been so well done in terms of riding physics.

The newest version of Moto GP promised even better handling and physics…

The graphics have been done very well; all the bikes and riders, as well as the tracks, are all authentic and look pretty good. While on the bike and doing high speed the riders view is slightly blurred… this is because the bike will obviously vibrate at high speed, which is difficult to get used to but is also great realism. The riding views are pretty much the same as the previous titles in the franchise, but there is a new feature to the visor view.

When turning corners the view will tilt with the bike, making it feel as if the player is on the bike. Crashes

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by Dylan Bouch

can happen at any time and look quite real when you flip topside over the bike. Most of the time you won’t crash at high speeds too often but at lower speeds the bike feels heavy and hard to manoeuvre; too much acceleration could just spin your bike out or flip you backwards from a wheelie.

The game sound effects and sound track are on par to previous titles of the Moto GP franchise. The sport’s evolution has transformed the way we ride and upgrade the bike, which means exhaust upgrades as well. This means the bikes don’t sound as mean or have that raw power and metal sound. In a way that is also good. The menu music and background music during the game isn’t that great, though.

The controls are basic and easy. The braking and steering are not as sensitive as they could have been. I found myself under braking and drifting off the track way to many times for my liking but this needs getting used to

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including tyres, gearbox and suspension or even change your sponsorship completely and ride on a new bike. With the multiplayer you can ride as a team and earn more team points at the end of each race, or play slit screen against each other. You will also be able to play on-line with up to 20 players in each race. With all these modes to play through this title definitely has replay value.

During my time with this title I did not see any glitches or any frame drops, the game is very smooth. The only issue I did see was that the braking and steering were a bit sluggish but I was told by a good friend that I’m way to aggressive when it comes to braking. If you also have this issue make sure to use the braking assist on the front and rear brakes, or you will be doing stoppies and dropping the bike from the back end. I still think the steering was way too slow, but then again the bike does reach speeds of 300km/h and breaking and steering at those speeds will be difficult. g

AT A GLANCE: Moto GP is a great title but you will need to put in a little extra time to perfect the new handling and game physics.

Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Distributor: Nu Metro

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

and after a while (a long while) the player will be able to stay smoothly on the track. While on full simulation the gamer can take the bike on the grass at full speed without dropping it, which makes this simulation game feel very arcade. Even without the full traction controls and bike assist it still feels as the game won’t let you have access to the full awesomeness of the bike’s power. At lower speeds the bike is slightly harder to handle with the slow steering, and the bike also feels heavy when flipping over from one chicane to the other.

There are a few modes for the player to play through, including the world championship, where the gamer can ride as his or her favourite rider from the Moto GP stable and race through all 18 circuits during the season. There are also single races, time trials, challenge modes and a career mode where the player can create his or her own rider, select their team and riding franchise, bike size and sponsors. During the season you can upgrade your bike,

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

78 83

Battlestrike: Road To Berlin

On the Road Again Use the greatest guns of WWII

The title relies on WWII as its backdrop, so it takes almost every fireable weapon from that era and places the player in the gunner’s seat. Tackling missions using sniper rifles, planes, tanks and serving as a paratrooper at one stage, ensures that all the weapons are used.

The graphics are very dated, so regular players will find it sub-par and borderline annoying, while it serves as a good starting block for inexperienced gamers. The controls are also dead-easy… it uses only the mouse to look around and fire, while flying missions rely solely on it for navigation and flight.

It’s by no means a must-have title, and it’s very forgettable, but it could serve as a great introduction to FPS and WWII games for novice players. g

AT A GLANCE: The game is great for beginners, but regular players will find it laughable.

Developer: City Interactive Publisher: City Interactive Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ 84

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PC Platforms

A

s we all know, there are many FPS games on the market, and all of them have their own intricacies and difficulty levels. One thing that most games don’t cater for is the casual market or the younger players.

Granted, some younger players shouldn’t be playing most of the FPSs anyway, but that is the only way that Battlestrike: Road To Berlin can be described. The game is by no means a hard-core title, and it’s squarely aimed at the casual player.

In terms of plot, there isn’t much, as each mission has its own story attached to it. As a mission introduction, a horrible voice-over will inform you of the task at hand, and these are never difficult to understand. It’s pretty much “if it moves, shoot it”.

by Charlie Fripp

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

49

gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

c ompe t i t io n • c omp eti ti o n • com pe tit ion • com pe t ition • com pe t it ion

WIN

An awesome Verbatim hamper worth

R1000!

• 5.1 Channel Gaming USB Headset • Rapier V2 Laser Gaming Mouse • Verbatim Laptop Bag

More than just Discs!

Courtesy of Verbatim TO ENTER: Send an email to competitions@gamecca.co.za.

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For an extra chance at winning, enter the Verbatim Competition in this month’s issue of Gladget Magazine! www.gladget.co.za Competition closes 30 April 2011. Gamecca subscribers only. South African residents only.

Prizes may not be exchanged for cash. Hampers may not include a copy of the game.

Competition closed to employees (& employee’s family) of 1337 Media CC & Verbatim.

The judges’ decision is final.

Rango

Welcome to Dirt I shot the Sheriff

D

irect correlation between film quality and that of the videogame adaptation is never a sure thing.

Thankfully, EA’s take on the animated lizard is the rare exception in the ever-growing stack of uninspired licensed fare, maintaining the film’s quirky and thoroughly original personality and sense of humour while building a diverse and entertaining play experience that both kids and adults can appreciate.

For those of you who have not seen the movie, no need to worry as the plot has little to do with the movie’s story line, with the exception of the setting and the characters participating with the game. Unfortunately, the background and introduction of the locations and key characters participating in the game are left to the movie. In a nutshell, Rango is an outsider who finds his way to a town out in the middle of the desert where he becomes sheriff and makes new friends. One of his new friends – Beans – has lost her dad and Rango recounts the story of how he helped to find the missing person.

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by Alexia Pestana While the game is not voiced by actor Johnny Depp, the voice actor used here was very passable with an old west twang.

The graphics in the game are pretty well done, with almost no difference to that of the movie, barring a little jaggedness. The audio on the other hand was simply fantastic. The Mariachi band is still echoing in my head long after playing.

There are action elements as well as fun chase scenes.

In the action scenes, Rango runs around shooting or melee attacking Bad Bill and his large gang of outlaws. In the chase scenes, Rango is usually riding on a roadrunner or flying a bat, avoiding obstacles while trying to take out Bill’s gang and collect sheriff badges. There are also occasional moments where Rango must rail grind, jumping from one rail to another… it can get challenging if your timing isn’t right. The actual platforming is traditional, most obviously drawing inspiration from the ‘new’ Prince of Persia trilogy and Batman’s Arkham Asylum, with

g a mgeacm c ae crceav ireewv i•e wi s s• uies s1u7e •2 2N o•v eAm p rbiel r 22001110

old Bomberman. Once this segment is concluded, he is whisked off on a wind-up toy fish in a flying sequence through a dream world filled with bones, dartboards, and neon cacti. Wildly trippy and unexpected for a kid-friendly game, but adults should get a kick out of the pseudo-acid trip aesthetic. It almost makes you think they ran out of ideas – or took the lead from the Firefly series throwing cowboys into a space-action sci-fi flick.

Rango isn’t a revolutionary action-platform release, but it is a legitimately well made title built in the mould of some of the genres best, and it is genuinely engaging throughout much of the adventure. Sadly, it doesn’t last for long. Seasoned players will complete it between four to five hours which will no doubt kill Rango’s appeal for many.

If players can wait a couple of months for the film to fade from theatres, this sharp license game can likely be had for a sum that is better representative of what’s held within. g

AT A GLANCE: Not just another movie spin-off, thank goodness for that!

Developer: Behaviour Studios Publisher: Electronic Arts Distributor: EA South Africa

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

7+ gamecca review • issue 22 • April 2011

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

puzzles involving shooting switches to turn off electricity or pushing a block in a straight line onto a button.

Some credit has to be given to the developers Behavior Interactive for attempting to break things up with some more interesting sections.

Players get sheriff badges by eliminating enemies, smashing crates and other things. The badges work as money that can be used to buy special upgrades from Wounded Bird. The more special multiplier attacks – the more badges gained. There are ample barrels and boxes around that also contain badges, so smash ‘em up! Players can also find Rango’s goldfish friend hidden around the stages and if you collect all five of them, players can unlock things like character bios, concept art and different costumes for Rango to wear.

SPOILER ALERT: The campaign gets pretty surreal later down the line, with one weird stage tossing you into “8-bit hell”, a candy-coated world inside an old arcade machine, where Rango battles enemies that look like leftovers from

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

78 87

Flashtastic

Platforms!

Leaps of Faith

By James Francis

F

or some reason gamers are incredibly attracted to long, flat areas that can be traversed by anyone employing a steady gait and a penchant for jump blindly across gaps in the way. If said gaps can hide a skyscraper, even better. And while we are at it, let’s

have fireballs shoot out of the gaps as well. Now that sounds like fun! Yes, ever since Mario jumped pipes (and probably before that – what am I, a historian?), platformers have been a force of nature in the gaming world. Flash, naturally, is no stranger to leaping around like a monkey. g

Test Subject Blue www.nitrome.com/games/testsubjectblue/ Portal meets intelligent goop. Blue is an enzyme being bred for war or some nefarious purpose. Even if the scientist has good intentions, teaching blue sludge to fire weapons and navigate teleport systems is not going to turn out good in the long run. Fortunately that part is not resolved in this game, instead sticking to charting Blue’s evolution. In this platform game you have to navigate a platform gauntlet, blending in puzzle elements to keep you thinking. Done in Nitrome’s trademark style and polish, it’s hard to find equals...

Cactus McCoy www.notdoppler.com/cactusmccoy.php And yet, in the same month we get another platform game that will blow your socks off. Or rather, punch your head off. Cactus McCoy is a twelve level opus of a platformer, complete with challenges and hidden areas. Best of all, it’s just too easy to get into. Turned into a kicking, punching cactus vigilante by a sacred jewel, Cactus McCoy beats his way through all of the Enemigos towards the bandit boss at the end.

Apart from being able to whip enemies in the air ala Castlevania, it has more weapons than Jackie Chan in a storage warehouse. Pure awesome.

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gamecca regular • issue 22 • April 2011

Robot Wants Kitty www.kongregate.com/games/Hamumu/robot-wants-kitty There is a lot of talk going on around narrative in games, which probably does make sense in something like Dragon’s Age 2. Not so much in this story of one robot and his want for a kitty. A unique platform game in so many ways, it would eventually lead the robot wanting a puppy, goldfish and ice-cream – all four games are excellent. Robot finds itself in a maze of a level and his powers scattered all over the massive single-level. Find your way around, you collect the robot’s abilities – very early on you get the ability to jump and fire lasers. Later you discover double-jump and so on.

Wizard Hult http://www.miniclip.com/games/wizard-hult/en/ Normally when a game takes you to the deep dangers of dungeons, you get something with firepower, be it a gun or large close-combat ladder. But a wizard whose only ability appears to be block creation is certainly a first. He can’t even throw fireballs or levitate to high reaches! All he can do is create blocks of any shape or size your mouse (and the level design) can handle. Naturally blocks are incredibly useful, be it to crush your enemies or cobble together a staircase. Wizard Hult is a platform game that lets you wield magic like never before – construction! It makes for a nice mix of action and lateral thinking, not to mention reflexes – because those blocks don’t last forever...

Gunbot http://jayisgames.com/games/gunbot/ Heavy metal soundtrack, pointless story, robot with a gun – sounds pretty much like every game you’d want to play. There isn’t much more to add to the story – Gunbot is after some kind of artifact for his universesaving sister, said artifact being held by some guy on fire. With a familiar WASD+Mouse config, it’s a run-and-gun shooter, complete with a mini-stat system that unlocks abilities. You can also buy guns with the diamonds you find on each level. Gunbot isn’t exactly ground-breaking, but if you have a need to shoot lizards and bugs, this is a highly-recommended candidate. gamecca regular • issue 22 • April 2011

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Mobility

The Cream…

The world’s favourite mobile games…

by Charlie Fripp

M

obile gaming is seriously on the increase and with the technology in phones going from casual to hard-core, we are seeing more prominent titles moving over the mobile as well. Even with HD graphics and

motion control, not all mobile games have a serious side.

For the first edition of this new section, we’ll take a look at some of the most popular mobile games, from strenuous to just plain fun. g

Angry Birds Seasons Angry Birds Seasons is essentially the same type of game as the normal Angry Birds version, but what makes this one so special is the developers Roxio updates the game with new missions whenever a global event takes place, like Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day or Christmas. Its loads of fun and different themes make it special.

Bejeweled The classic puzzle game has been brought to the mobile platform with upgraded graphics and better control, and still remains one of the firm favourites among causal players. The objective of stringing three or more gems of the same colour together has been keeping players busy for years.

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gamecca regular • issue 22 • April 2011

Worms Armageddon 2011 Another classic, Worms Armageddon 2011 will have players in stitches with laughter as they try to beat their opponent with ridiculous weapons and belly-aching commentary from the tiny worms. The game has been a firm favourite on almost every platform and mobile is no different.

Tetris In 2010 the title became the undeniable champion in mobile gaming; with Electronic Arts claiming that the block-builder has stacked up an amazing 100 million downloads. That is some serious gaming power, and if anybody doesn’t know what Tetris is, then there is no hope for humanity.

Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Just like the console versions, players portray the role of Altair who is on a quest to steal The Chalice from the Templars. The game serves as a direct sequel to the first Assassin’s Creed game, and with HD graphics, fans will be hooked.

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Essential Classics

Far Cry Freedom to the player

by Walt Pretorius

F

irst-person shooters are games that have captured the hearts and minds of gamers. If someone claims to be a hard-core gamer, they more than likely concentrate on this massive group of games. These titles have given us experiences ranging from the Wild West to World War II to modern day combat and even science fiction epics… and pretty much everything in-between. Yet there are only a few that could be called revolutionary. The majority of these games follow trends set out by a few.

On the revolutionary list, we can include titles like the original Castle Wolfenstein (which started it all) Doom

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II, Quake, Call of Duty, Battlefield 1942 and, of course, Crytek’s debut Far Cry. Far Cry did a number of things differently. Most importantly, it gave the player the ability to make their own way around its setting, which was really massive for the time. Instead of giving the player an objective and guiding them towards it in a linear fashion, Far Cry was sort of a more indulgent parent. It said to the player: “this is what you need to do, these are the tools at your disposal… off you go!” Most of the game’s levels could be approached in numerous ways, although almost all of them required gamecca regular • issue 22 • April 2011

the player to do a bit of scouting and planning up-front. To this end, the player was provided with a pair of binoculars that could tag enemies – something that we can still do in Crytek’s latest game, Crysis 2 – before making their way into the fray.

Equally impressive was the fact that Far Cry made use of cover and camouflage in a way that no other game had before. The player could literally disappear in thick undergrowth, gaining the ability to work stealth into their assault plan. The enemy AI made use of a system that had them either relaxed, suspicious or on full alert, based gamecca regular • issue 22 • April 2011

on what the player was doing at the time. Their reactions were grounded in sensory stimuli; they could see and hear the player’s actions within the game world, and responded accordingly.

Armed with a great story, a huge environment and bucket-loads of player freedom, Far Cry made a big splash on the market when it was first published in 2004 and, despite the fact that the developers lost the rights to the franchise, Crytek’s reputation for top notch FPS titles was cemented thanks to this title. And the FPS genre has never been the same since… in a good way, of course. g

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Nintendo 3DS

Believe Your Eyes.

Better than phat, lite or XL?

by Brian Murdoch

I

’ve had a 3DS for two weeks prior to launch and my eyes have been thoroughly enjoying it. The 3D screen is amazing and the only flaw is that your friends next to you can’t see what you’re doing. The 3D is very accurate, and the option to adjust or to turn it off completely is great (even if just to save battery power). The 3D does not work so well in the dark, though. It may result in eye strain in low light conditions – yet another great reason for the 3D slider.

The 3DS camera is nothing to write home about and modern-day photographers will not like it. This is a great toy to add little effects and changes to the picture but they can only be viewed correctly on another 3D screen. The 2D version is not high resolution and images look pixelated.

The SD card has become so important that you can no longer remove it while the system is on. There are bits of

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game data that are saved on the SD card for easy reading.

The Nintendo 3DS Sound (N3Sound) application has improved itself by not only having interactive games to play while you listen to your music but playing mp3 files.

It can’t, as of yet, play wma but load as many mp3 music files as you can onto that SD card and you’ll be able to play them all from the N3Sound application. The volume on the system is not great but this can be sorted with a good pair of headphones.

The smallest of things can matter a lot when in the hands of a gamer… for example, moving the wrist band grip on the console to the front so that it can be placed around the arm more comfortably. Owners of the 3DS do not want to drop their console because I’m sure the smallest of bumps might send them back to the store crying that the 3D or gyros don’t work anymore, so the strap placement g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

is important. The built in pedometer is less useful than the Pokéwalker because of the 3DS size. The feature will make more people take it out with them, but it can’t be used to measure all their walking in total. Only the first 1000 steps give you coins and I find myself making sure I have the first 1000 steps and then not carrying it around after that... Mainly in fear of breaking this new precious toy.

The battery life is actually worse than previous models because of all the sleeping features. The sleep mode of the console does use up less battery, playing but it still draws power. The street pass and pedometer features will continue to draw power… add this on the extra power drawn for 3D during gaming and you have less time with your console that before. This is helped slightly with a docking station included in the box because players will

g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

find themselves putting their 3DS in the docking station every day. There is a brightness setting that will buy you a few more minutes and a power saving mode, but in the end the console has a short life span in terms of power.

Nintendo always had a friend code for every game, but if you have a friend that you always play with each time you buy a new game friend codes need to be swapped again.

Now, with the 3DS, this all falls away… only one friend code is needed with this new device.

The built in games that come with the console are there to demo the amazing features of the console. Not that you are going to get a full blown Zelda or Mario game... These are just samples of all the features so that if you only bought Nintendogs + Cats you could still try out the AR without having to buy a specific game. On that point, the “AR GAMES” is the game that everyone will be demoing

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to each other on the console. By placing a normal printed card on the table, pointing the 3D camera at it and looking at the screen, boxes, targets and dragons appear to come out the table and the player must shoot at them, not only by pushing buttons but by moving the console around them. 3D, AR and sensors picking up the movement of the console make for an all-encompassing gaming experience.

There is even a mode where you have to shoot a pin ball with a pool stick and use the curvy environment to get the ball into a goal. This is all happening on the table that just has a card on, lava pits and all.

Face Raiders is another game on the 3DS, out-the-box.

Take a picture of a friend’s face (or even better, an enemy) and that 3D photo of the face is placed on an object in the game. Shoot the faces before they break the background picture or kiss you. Getting a tennis ball in their mouths is very amusing and scores seem to be higher when the player does not like the face… well that’s what happened

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with me and people at work, anyway...

The D-Pad is a great improvement but it does feel a little flimsily to me. When it comes to games like Street Fighter, when you can play with both I use the direction control pad and not the D-Pad because I need to make more precise movements.

The 3D games will come in different forms… those that have 3D features and then the true 3D games. The games with 3D as a feature are a pain for those with older consoles because the new 3D games have an extra edge on the top right to stop them from being put into the older consoles. So if the game plays fine in 2D and only every now and then needs 3D, then why can’t I play it on the old console? [It’s called ‘sales’ I believe – ed] The full 3D games are sweet, with effects that you would never have dreamed of seeing on a handheld. The different angles given by the 3D lead to a greater immersion for the player.

Some players don’t have such a sweet tooth and will find g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

that their favourite game is played in 2D because they can’t play 3D for too long.

When you have bought your 3DS I recommend protection… even if you can’t get a 3DS cover kits, the Logic3 DSi XL cover will work fine until the 3DS ones come in. The screen protector and stylus will not help much but I’ve taken my 3DS onto the beach and everywhere else, knowing it’s safe in a case.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is a very big step up in DS models and every DS player is going to want one. Whether the new features and enhancements are worth the price just to play older DS games on depends on your pocket, but for the new games it’s a must in more ways than one. As the games flow in, and they will, the developers will continue to do more with the advanced Nintendo features and tools provided, which gives the gamers better games. g

g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

AT A GLANCE: PROS:

• 3D with no glasses • Better OS • Improved

CONS:

• One person viewing • Battery life

TECH SPECS: • 230 grams • 134 x 74 x 21 mm • 1300 mAh battery • Card Slots: 3DS, DSi, DS, SD

Manufacturer: Nintendo Distributor: Core Group Online: www.nintendo.com RRP: R2799

The 3D effect is great when the games put effort into it. The console brings a good range of new features.

Score

94 97

MSI N460GTX Hawk

Make it a Triple More overclocking options

by Walt Pretorius

G

raphics cards are one of the most hotly contested areas of the PC component market. The two major players in the game, namely Nvidia and ATI, go all out to ensure that their chipsets are the fastest, coolest and most powerful graphic processing systems possible.

Just below that, the people that actually put the boards together (a wide range of companies) go further with the chipsets, adding systems and software to squeeze every bit of performance out of the hardware they provide. And, with the growing popularity of overclocking, it’s a very vicious market.

On the one hand, this plays to the consumer’s advantage, leaving them very spoiled for choice. On the other, though, the buyer is faced with the fact that the hardware they are buying may become out-dated very quickly – and it’s generally expensive hardware.

MSI offer a range of reasonably priced cards that tend to perform very well. Case in point: the MSI N460GTX Hawk. The card is supported by MSI’s Afterburner

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overclocking software, and is the first card to allow triple overclocking. In other words, the user can choose to overclock the voltage to the GPU, memory and PPL. This means that the user can tweak quite a bit more power out of this component at maximum settings, outstripping other GTX 460s by quite a wide margin in terms of performance.

The card is also designed to handle more power – around 30A more than most other models – meaning that even more can be squeezed out of it.

With great performance comes high heat, though, particularly if the user is pumping more juice through three sets of card components. But thermal comparisons show that this card runs cooler than most others, too – up to 18 degrees cooler, in fact. This is thanks to a very carefully constructed heat dissipation system, comprised of five primary features. Dual fans are the first part, providing better air flow. A nickel-plated copper base is in direct contact with the GPU, supported by a high density heatsink and multiple heat pipes to carry heat to the sink g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

itself. The fifth and final element is more of an idea than a physical part; all the components are built in direct contact, creating a short path for the heat to travel.

The use of military grade components has become common in graphics cards, and the Hawk is no different.

It makes use of solid capacitors, which are more efficient, run cooler and have an extended lifespan. In addition, tantalum core highly conducive capacitors help stabilise the power supply, which makes for even more effective overclocking.

The whole lot is bundled together under a metal shield that looks more… serious… than many other graphics cards. The bright images and pictures are conspicuous in their absence, giving you the impression that this card means business… even if that business is playing games.

Images are delivered from the GPU and 1GB of GDDR5 RAM by way of two dual-link DVI connectors, or a miniHDMI connector. This is one area where the card is a little disappointing. While you don’t necessarily need a whole bunch of connectors, it’s nice to have some variety. g g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

AT A GLANCE: PROS:

• Powerful • More overclocking options

CONS:

• Not the most powerful GPU • Limited ports

Manufacturer: MSI Distributor: Pinnacle Africa Online: www.pinnacle.co.za RRP: R1999

TECH SPECS: • • • •

460GTX Chipset 1GB GDDR5 Afterburner TripleOverclocking • SLI Ready • 3D Ready

Score

It has more options for more performance, but isn’t quite top of the line.

84 99

Razer Imperator Laser Gaming Mouse

Precision

Awesome control in the palm of your hand

by Alex Scanlon

W

e have established before that a good gaming mouse is more than just a device that helps out with fun and relaxation. A good gaming mouse is a good mouse, full stop. Because of the high-end demands of modern computer games, a good mouse for games is pretty much great for anything else.

And so, when buying a mouse, it’s always a good idea to look at one designed for high end gaming. Sure, if you never play computer games, there’s little point, because very few programmes require the accuracy and effectiveness of a gaming mouse. But anyone with a halfway decent computer is more than likely going to play something every now and then, so getting the best you can afford is never a bad idea.

And Razer fall into that ‘best money can buy’ category.

They aren’t the only top notch mouse makers out there, but their devices consistently deliver excellent performance.

The Razer Imperator is a good example of one of their excellent input devices. This mouse is built for gaming

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performance, but will provide excellent service no matter what the application.

The Imperator is, at first glance, a standard five button mouse, with a clickable scroll wheel and two left mounted buttons supplementing the normal left and right mouse buttons. Just behind the scroll wheel, two more buttons default to on-the-fly sensitivity control, with five different dpi sensitivity settings (programmable up to 5600dpi) allowing the user to quickly switch between sensitivities.

This makes it great for occasions when more mouse speed and more precision need to be switched between. The adjustment to the pre-programmed settings (as well as all other mouse function settings) can be done in the Razer Imperator software utility, which needs to be downloaded from Razer’s site in order for the mouse to function at its best. The software also stores profiles for various games, making switching between control set-ups an easy prospect.

The two side mounted buttons have an extra feature, aside from being programmable. Their position can be g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

adjusted, forward or backward, with a slider built into the base of the mouse. This adds a lot of versatility and comfort to the mouse, which is physically rather large. The size is comfortable, though, and the ergonomics of the Imperator’s design means that the player will be able to use it for ages without discomfort.

The performance of the mouse is excellent. It is light and glides beautifully across virtually any surface, for effortless gaming and other uses. The only real down-side is that it is designed for the majority of the population – in other words, right handed people.

And it looks as impressive as the performance it delivers.

The matt black body of the mouse is complemented by a few high-gloss sections. Additionally, a Razer logo pulses light towards the rear of the mouse, and the generous scroll wheel has edges that glow an unobtrusive blue when the mouse is powered.

The Imperator is a great mouse – it really is that simple.

It may be a bit pricier than the average mouse, but it really is money well spent. g g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

AT A GLANCE: PROS:

• Adjustable side buttons • Very sensitive • Light

CONS:

• No lefties

Manufacturer: Razer Distributor: Apex Interactive Online: www.apexint.co.za RRP: R799.95

TECH SPECS: • 5600dpi 3.5G laser • Seven programmable buttons • 1000Hz Ultrapolling • On the fly sensitivity • 50g acceleration • 2 meter braided cable

Score

Although it looks fairly simple, the Imperator is an impressive mouse.

94 101

QNAP TS-219 Turbo NAP

Fast and Secure Data storage just got simpler

by Walt Pretorius

T

he need for effective and reliable data storage grows day by day, whether in the office, at home or online. Whether it is to back-up existing data, or to provide storage for new data – for any data, be it work related documents, image libraries or media collections – having a reliable storage solution makes sense.

QNAP have a great solution for various data-storage needs. The TS-219P Turbo NAS (which stands for Network-Access Storage) provides up to 4TB of storage, using two 3.5 inch SATA hard drives (and no, these drives are not included.) Using a Marvell 6281 1.2GHz internal processor and 512mb of RAM, this diminutive case provides cross platform data storage for a network, whether it be local or online. Cross platform, of course, means that it works with Windows, Linux and Mac OS, all at the same time. This adds a massive amount of versatility to the device, making it great for online access and FTP file storage.

The TS-219P is more than just a box to house two hard drives… it provides a full file storage and sharing system

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that will allow the network administrator (if necessary) to set up several user accounts, with individual logins, passwords and access levels. It also serves as an FTP server, which makes for easy and convenient transfer of large files online. It even allows for automated back-up of several connected computers, and further can serve as a hub in a video surveillance setup.

It is one of the most versatile data storage systems we have seen, without a doubt, and its applications are many.

In addition, it isn’t a power hog, using less than ten per cent of a PC server’s power consumption, even in full flight.

As a plus, the HDD system is designed for hot-swap, so the user will be able to trade out hard drives without powering the NAS down. This saves time, of course, and the hot-swapping is really easy to do, thanks to the unit’s smart design.

Software governing the NAP is also very easy to use, yet secure and stable – ensuring safe and reliable performance. Setting up numerous user accounts and g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

access levels is almost child’s play.

Physically, the TS-219P is relatively small. It is a solidly constructed unit, with rear mounted cooling and two HDD bays that can be easily accessed from the front of the unit. These bays can be locked, for extra security, and make hot-swapping extremely easy. The all-metal finish is stylish, too, with clear displays to indicate the system’s status well-place on the unit. And, as an added bonus, it runs really quietly, meaning that it will be an unobtrusive, reliable, secure and extremely useful addition to your network.

NAS systems are gaining popularity over PC servers because they are smaller, more efficient, faster, easier to administrate and simpler to configure.

While not every network may need something like the TS-219P, the need for data storage exists with almost every PC user.

It may be a luxury for some and a necessity for others… either way, the QNAP TS-219P Turbo NAP is a great way to go. g g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

AT A GLANCE: PROS:

• Secure storage • Easy to use • Hot-swappable

CONS:

• No HDDs included

Manufacturer: QNAP Distributor: Pinnacle Africa Online: www.pinnacle.co.za RRP: R3195

TECH SPECS: • • • • • •

Up to 4TB 1.2GHz Processor 512mb RAM 2 x HDD bays Hot-swappable Cross platform

Score

Whether a luxury or a necessity, this unit makes an excellent datastorage addition to any network.

88 103

Orb PS3 Move Controller Charging Dock

Keep Moving

Make sure your batteries are always charged

by Walt Pretorius

T

he PS3 recently got a great new control system in the form of the Move but, if you have two normal PS3 controllers and a full Move setup (the Move and navigation controllers) keeping the internal batteries of your controllers charged gets to be a bit of a juggling mission. To help with the problem, Orb have created the PS3 Move Controller Charging Dock, a stylish device that cradles both controllers and makes sure they are recharged while using only one USB port on the PS3. If combined with the Orb PS3 Controller Charging Dock that we looked at a few months ago, you can always have all your controllers fully charged, while using only 2 USB ports.

The sturdy dock plugs directly into your USB port, and has specific slots for the Move controller and navigation controller. A clear plastic ring around the top of each port will indicate charge status by changing from red to blue. It’s a great idea, helps control clutter and looks great as part of an entertainment set-up. The only down-side is that the PS3 must be on for charging to take place, but that’s a small price to pay for the convenience delivered by this simple yet effective device. g

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AT A GLANCE: PROS:

• Stylish • Eliminates clutter

CONS:

• PS3 must be on

Manufacturer: Orb Distributor: Sensation Lab Online: www.take2.co.za RRP: R329

TECH SPECS: • USB powered • Charges Move controller • Charges navigation controller • LED indicators

Score

A stylish and effective solution to charging clutter

80

g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

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Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 3300-HD TV Card

PCVR?

A handy TV card for your PC

by Walt Pretorius

F

or a few years now, home entertainment has been becoming more and more consolidated, with the PC – believe it or not – becoming a central hub for a lot of the entertainment activities a family undertakes. In fact, it’s not all that uncommon to see a PC box near a TV these days.

But the paradigm can be shifted. In truth, it has shifted, with media-dedicated PC systems having replaced a rather old idea… using your PC to watch TV. TV cards have been around for ages and, as TV evolves, so have they. With new technology, they now are capable of more than just good old analogue TV. Hauppauge make a range of TV cards for all tastes and applications. The WinTV-HVR 3300HD, for example, is an excellent card to plug into your PC to watch TV on. Why you would want to watch TV on your PC is really up to you, but this card opens up a few very enticing options.

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The card can receive three kinds of TV signal – analogue PAL TV, digital satellite TV and terrestrial digital TV. The latter is redundant in this country, of course, but the previous two mean that every kind of TV transmission in South Africa is covered by this card. The card handles HD signal too, which is fantastic if it is something that you are receiving (in other words, paying subscription for.) At the moment HD TV isn’t really that big in South Africa, but it will doubtlessly get bigger here in future.

On the up-side, the card allows for the recording of TV programming onto your PC hard drive. The card has a built-in scheduler that will allow you to programme recording as and when you need it, on a daily, weekly or once off basis. It can do this for all supported transmission formats, turning your PC into a satellite TV PVR. It also has inputs for devices like video cameras, which is handy.

The unit also comes with a great multi-function remote g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

that will allow the user a number of handy functions, including one touch recording, volume adjustment and a host of other things. The only rub with the remote control is that it requires an extension cable to be run from the back of the PC (where the TV card’s plugs sit) to a point where it would be able to detect the remote’s infra-red signal. It’s not a train smash, but it does add an extra wire into the mix.

Whether or not this device is for you is entirely a matter of taste. The way that entertainment is going, the need for a TV card is not really an obvious one – aside from the very handy recording facility that this particular card grants the user. Home entertainment may have evolved beyond the TV card, at least in terms of the mass market, but there are doubtlessly many people still out there who want a reliable way to watch and record TV on their PC. If you’re one of them, this product is definitely a good bet. g g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

AT A GLANCE: PROS:

• Records TV • Multiple signal types

CONS:

• Bit of a niche item

Manufacturer: Hauppauge Distributor: Pinnacle Africa Online: www.pinnacle.co.za RRP: R1125

TECH SPECS: • Analogue TV • Digital Satellite TV • Video Recording • Remote • Auxiliary input • HD TV support

Score

If you’re after a TV card for your PC, this one is a good bet.

75 107

Atomic Shoot ‘Em PS3 Move It

On Target

It looks mean, even if it is pink

by Alex Scanlon

T

he PS3 Move system lends itself beautifully to high-definition shooting games. But holding the controller in a shooting position for a long time gets tiring. Besides which, having a ‘real’ gun to shoot with is just light-years cooler.

Atomic’s Shoot ‘Em PS3 Move It doesn’t exactly look like a real gun, but it still looks awesome; a chunky revolver style peripheral that looks like it comes straight out of Blade Runner. The Move controller fits snugly into the barrel of the gun, and the device allows easy access to all the buttons. The trigger actuates with that of the Move controller, while “extended” Start and Select buttons are built into the side of the barrel. All other buttons are accessed normally.

The Shoot ‘Em is solidly constructed, and holds the Move controller gently but firmly in place. An ejector is mounted in the base of the barrel for when you want to remove the Move unit.

As gun peripherals go, this one is fantastic. It is comfortable and extremely easy to use. The colour is a bit extreme, but that just adds to its overall coolness. g

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AT A GLANCE: PROS:

• Looks cool • Easy to use

CONS:

• The colour

TECH SPECS: • • • •

Move compatible All button access Secure clamp More precise aiming

Manufacturer: Atomic Distributor: Sensation Lab Online: www.take2.co.za RRP: R269

Score

A sturdy and effective gun peripheral for the Move controller system.

78

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Atomic Motor Force Wheel (for Xbox 360)

A Little Direction Steering made easier

by Alex Scanlon

M

any fans of driving games insist on using a wheel rather than a traditional console controller when getting to grips with their favourite video games. It makes sense; a steering wheel offers a greater degree of control, and provides the player with an even more intense gaming experience. In fact, we would highly suggest that if you haven’t tried playing your favourite driving or racing game with a steering wheel, you should.

The difference in the experience is remarkable.

The thing is, though, that wheels tend to be on the more expensive side of gaming peripherals. Thankfully, though, third party manufacturers like Atomic produce reasonably prices wheels for use with your favourite console.

Take the Motor Force wheel for Xbox 360 as an example.

It’s relatively inexpensive and provides the player with more or less exactly what they want. The 25cm wheel is finished in non-slip rubber, for added comfort and control, and has all the required buttons positioned comfortably on the face of the wheel. This includes all the face buttons

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and things like the Start, Back and Xbox menu buttons.

The shoulder buttons and triggers are a bit different, though – the shoulder buttons are positioned at the rear of the wheel, in the form of paddles, while the triggers (normally used for accelerating and braking in games) are taken care of by a small but effective set of pedals.

In addition, an optional gear level can be used. This would take care of the shoulder buttons, leaving the paddles behind the wheel out of the loop. The gear lever comes with the wheel, which is a bonus.

The wheel has a 250 degree rotation, which is good enough for its purpose, and can easily be mounted on a desk, thanks to a specialised bracket with very large suction cups to hold it in place. This does make the wheel rather tall, and those that do their gaming on a desk will likely need to raise their monitors to compensate. It’s a bit better on a coffee table, but then placement of the pedals gets tricky. Then again, console gamers who use racing wheels have always had to take creative approaches to g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

setting up the equipment, because general console playing conditions are not always the most conducive to using a wheel.

The gear lever can give a few niggles, as the suction cups that hold it in place are not very powerful. Once again, a little creativity in setup may be required.

Other than that, the Motor Force wheel is responsive and accurate. It’s very easy to set up – being a USB plug-and-play system. Users will do well to remember that calibrating the wheel is something that happens with each individual game, rather than in any form of Xbox menu.

In other words, the wheel reports like a normal controller, rather than needing special software or the like.

The Motor Force also comes with twin vibration motors built in. This transfers all rumble-function reactions to the wheel, creating a rather pleasing feedback when playing games.

The Motor Force is not the fanciest wheel on the market, but it gets the job done rather well. g g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 2 • A p r i l 2 0 1 1

AT A GLANCE: PROS:

• Easy to use • Gear shifter

CONS:

• Some dodgy suction cups • Quite high

Manufacturer: Atomic Distributor: Sensation Labs Online: www.take2.co.za RRP: R1429

TECH SPECS: • 250 degree rotation • 25cm wheel • Gear shifter • Plug and play • Vibration

Score

An uncomplicated, effective peripheral for use with your Xbox 360 driving games.

80 111

Repay a Debt?

From Space

by Columnist A

D

uring the research for this month’s column, it was made clear that perhaps not everybody was raised playing Japanese games. My initial, perhaps naive, assumption was that everybody simply had to have played some form of Japanese games while growing up. Coming from a background where consoles were more prevalent than PCs, I was quickly put in my place.

“Nope. No Japanese games. I grew up playing Police Quest and Commander Keen”. The predominantly older, PC-gamer crowd I was talking to rebuked my assertions that Japanese games, and companies, were an important part of gaming history.

Before I had my bubble burst, the idea was that I’d like this month’s column to be serious, instead of funny. I was going to solicit some charity by asking people to donate a little something to any one of the many organisations helping with relief efforts after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Land of the Rising Sun. Perhaps you’ll consider making a donation if you played any of the following games: Pac-man, Galaxian, Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, Dig Dug, 1942, PunchOut!, Street Fighter, Tekken, Shinobi, Sonic the Hedgehog, Alex Kidd, Contra, Metal Gear, Frogger, Final Fantasy, Mega Man, Resident Evil, Silent Hill or Gran Turismo.

That’s obviously not a complete list – I’ve just written down some of the popular franchises I know. I’m sure the Internet has a far more complete listing.

You could also consider whether you’ve played games from any Japanese game publisher. Namco, Konami, Sega, Capcom, and Nintendo are the big ones.

Or perhaps you’ve played a game on a Japanese console. Anything by Sega, Sony and Nintendo – basically a selection of more than 20 consoles spanning 30 years.

The Japanese are quirky and offbeat. Their games – especially the RPGs – are not to everybody’s tastes. But there’s no denying their contribution to our favourite hobby. I might joke around about how I like making fun of kids who watch anime, but I’ll refrain from that for a month if you give a week’s pocket money to the country that’s given us lot more childhood joy and memories than any amount of money could buy. g

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gamecca column • issue 22 • April 2011