Gamecca Magazine November 2011

w w w. g a m e c c a . c o. z a I S S U E 2 9 / Vo l . 3 N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Batman: Arkham City F1 2011 PES 2012 NBA 2K12 Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure Dark Souls and more...

Burn Rubber

Forza Motorsport 4

Wasteland Warriors Rage

The War Zone Battlefield 3

No Maps Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Inside 6 From the Editor 8 Unstuck Super score!

10 Path Less Travelled Nathan Drake will be going to Arabia in Uncharted 3 16 Previews Ten upcoming titles to pique your interest...

36 Sky’s the Limit Toys and video games combine in Skylanders 42 PS Zealot So little time!

44 Xbox Beat Again with the rumours...

46 House of Mario Are you open to new things?

48 Reviews 26 bits of gaming awesomeness...

112 Flashtastic The best fun money can’t buy 114 Mobility Halloween gaming (even though it’s over) 116 Essential Classics Getting in the Quake ring!

THIS MONTH’S COVER

118 Hardware Nice toys for everyone

Nathan Drake is on the trail of more legendary treasures.

Read our feature on page 10.

130 From Space My kingdom for a Porsche

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Previews

18 20 22 23 24 26 28 30 32 33

Reviews

50 54 60 64 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 100 102 104 106 108 110

Diablo 3 UFC Undisputed 3 Mario Kart 7 Trine 2 Birds of Steel Max Payne 3 Blades of Time Abba: You Can Dance Lucius Cabela’s Survival: Shadows of Katmai

Battlefield 3 Rage Forza Motorsport 4 Batman: Arkham City F1 2011 PES 2012 NBA 2K12 Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure (X360) Just Dance 3 Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Dark Souls Crimson Alliance WRC 2 X-men: Destiny Spider-Man: Edge of Time The Sims 3: Pets Clones Supremacy MMA El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron A Game of Thrones: Genesis Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure (3DS) The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn Penguins of Madagascar: Dr Blowhole Returns – Again!

Brunswick Bowling The Fall Trilogy Chapter 1: Separation

GAMECCA Vol. 3 Issue 29 November 2011 Editor: Walt Pretorius walt@gamecca.co.za Writers: Alex Scanlon Brian Murdoch Bryan Banfield Charlie Fripp Christo van Gemert Dylan Bouch Iwan Pienaar James Francis Lein Baart Suvesh Arumugam Letters: letters@gamecca.co.za Competition Entries: competitions@gamecca.co.za Newsletter Subscriptions: www.gamecca.co.za Design & Photography: 1337 Media Technical Support: Brian Murdoch Marketing Contact: Katia Taliadoros katia@gamecca.co.za

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Copyright © 1337 Media CC 2009 - 2011

5

The Beer Talking?

From the Editor

by Walt Pretorius

O

K, true story… I was reminded of a conversation I had a while ago when I read the intrepid Mr Fripp’s Unstuck column. I was at this social gathering (probably the type where people inexpertly char meat over a fire and still try to pass it off as food) when it came up that I was a gaming journalist. It tends to happen, because non-gaming journalists still think that this is the coolest job in the world. Anyway, this guy starts talking to me.

“So,” he says, as we both crack open a frosty beer, “what did you think of Game X?” I am using a false name there to protect the innocent, you see…

“Well,” I reply, “it was pretty good.

But to be honest, I preferred Game Y.” “Really? But Game Y is a crap game.”

“Oh,” says I, ready to bring out my porttable, folding soap box that I had specially made for occasions just like this. “Why is that?”

“Oh, I dunno,” says he. “I didn’t like it. It was crap.”

“So, it was a bad game because it didn’t appeal to you.”

“Yes,” he nods and wanders off while I stand slightly amazed at his logic.

Maybe being an entertainment journalist for almost two decades has altered the way I think.

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But realistically, not liking game does not make it bad… it just means that I don’t like it. Doing what I do, I play a lot of games. And maybe 10% of the games I have to play are ones that I actually want to play. But I need to look past that kind of thing, to recognise a good game, despite personal preferences. It is only after I have done that that I can temper my article with personal opinion – and always keeping in mind that my opinion is purely my view, not the gospel truth. Ah, well, you know what they say about opinions…

Anyway, we have a jam packed issue for you this month, with 26 game reviews featuring some highly anticipated titles. It’s that time of year when I get overcome by the feeling of anticipation at all the great

titles coming out, combined with the dread inherent in knowing that I have a massive amount of work ahead.

Yes, I do consider it work. Nice work, but still work. With reviews of titles like Batman: Arkham City, Rage, Forza 4 and Battlefield 3 in this issue, even the most casual reader will be able to tell that we’re into the 2011 ‘hot zone’.

In addition to all those reviews, we have a new name joining the Gamecca Crew; Iwan Pienaar is a veteran journalist (who is looking for an excuse to play lots of games) that has been covering various technology sectors for many, many years.

Right, enough from me. I could go on for days, but I will be nice and leave you to the magazine now. I hope you enjoy it. g

g a m e c c a c o l u m n • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

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

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Score of the Year Unstuck

by Charlie Fripp

I

t’s a debate that has been raging ever since the first video game reviews were written many years ago. Some people agree, while other flatly state that you are wrong. The matter I’m referring is the fact that some videogame reviewers insist that a game can have a perfect score of 100%.

It’s actually not just the reviewers, but some players as well. They get so hyped up and sucked into the fanboyism that they can’t see the forest for the trees - and it’s becoming a bit of a problem.

I recently reviewed Batman: Arkham City for a different publication, and while I could understand why the game has been getting good ratings and I appreciate the beauty of its design, I thought that the developers could have changed a couple of elements. As a result I gave the game 86%, which obviously didn’t sit well with other people.

While I stand by what I wrote, one

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commenter on the article said “This guy should choke himself, and quit his job. Any 8.5 is automatically suspect cuz this game is at minimum a 9”. Are you kidding me? Am I not entitled to my opinion?

The self-opinionated, Batmanvindicator went a bit further and said “It’s obvious to me that this guy sucks at the game, the controls are close to perfect.” Ok, if the controls were close to perfect, the Bat would walk by himself. In all fairness, I guess the controls were flawless, because if I pressed a button, it actually did something.

If the guy read the entire review he would have seen that I said there was just something odd about the controls. I can’t put my finger on it, or it might be their sensitivity or stickiness, but they just felt weird.

He’s obviously a huge fan of the game and probably wouldn’t have said anything if I gave the game a higher score - but that’s just it, I justified my review and yet there are people who blindly believe it deserves a 100%.

The day that a game’s disc jumps out of the case and automatically slots itself into the tray, then I’ll give it a 100%. No game is perfect, and I won’t be told otherwise. It is physically impossible for a title to be perfect, heck, even near-perfect.

And besides, there was a day-one patch for Arkham City, so already something wasn’t designed properly.

At Gamecca we use a very complex and scientifically-designed scoring system to determine the final rating of a game. We take all sorts of things into account, and even take note of how tightly the plastic is wrapped around the case (ok, not really),

and I would really like to see other publication’s scoring systems and how they got to 100%.

I guess it can also be argued that 100% doesn’t mean that the game is perfect, but merely that it’s as good as it’s going to get, or even that it’s much better than the previous game (if it’s a sequel). But then, for the same amount of money, should there be a universal standard for game ratings?

Wouldn’t it be more practical for game reviewers to all use the same scoring system? That way a consumer will know exactly what a rating means and what to expect.

I know that a Eurogamer 9 isn’t the same as a 9 from IGN, and Destructiod always score their games a bit lower than other publications.

I really think that a standardised scoring system will be beneficial to everybody, but then you might also get people who inflate their scores.

Hype is also a factor that should be taken into account when scoring. Fanboys and hype are very dangerous mechanics of the review system, and reviewers can very easily fall in the trap - which can influence a score.

The days of an objective review are long-gone and there are only a handful of honest reviewers out there. I really don’t trust the opinions of a website that scores more than what a game deserves, because that just shows to me that they have a skewed view of the world.

Absolutely no game is perfect, and never will be, but unfortunately there will always be reviewers and players will try to prove a point by rating a certain game very high, while downgrading it’s direct competitor. g

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Path Less Travelled Naughty Dog’s Uncharted franchise explores new avenues

by Walt Pretorius

I

n 1986, Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin founded a new game development studio in Santa Monica, California. Originally intended to be an independent development house, Naughty Dog was acquired in 2001 by Sony Computer Entertainment, after they had produced Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped and Crash Team Racing. After the company’s acquisition, they moved away from the popular Bandicoot games and began working on another franchise that would prove itself with PlayStation 2 gamers: Jak and Daxter.

This series followed a similar pattern to the Bandicoot games… three titles, followed by a racer.

But once these four titles had been completed, Naughty Dog once again shifted their sights to a new franchise. This was prompted, in part at least, by the release of the PlayStation 3 in late 2006. Historically, the team worked on one franchise per console iteration, and moved to a new series with the release of a new console. At least, they had done so once before. But they were about to set a trend…

They were, though, about to break a trend too. Both previous franchises had been platform adventure style titles, but the new series would move away from that genre. The first game in the series would not only demonstrate much of the new console’s potential, but it would receive wide critical acclaim and would go on to sell one million copies in just ten weeks. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune gathered up fans at an amazing rate.

The game’s excellent mix of platforming action and third-person shooter dynamics – combined with breath-taking visuals and excellent presentation – had a lot to do with the game’s popularity, but the lead character of the title also managed to garner many fans. Voiced by veteran gaming actor Nolan North, Nathan “Nate” Drake claims to be a descendent of the famous explorer Sir Francis Drake. Modelled on the appearance of Jackass “star” Johnny Knoxville, the creators of Nathan Drake were intent on creating a character that wasn’t just another game protagonist.

He needed a distinct personality, which is brought across almost constantly. His character traits do not just display themselves during cut-scenes. Rather,

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Feature

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Drake will constantly pass comments and make quips, even commenting on the absurdity of the situations in which he finds himself. Much of the personality that Drake has is also due to Nolan North’s performance – the voice actor was instructed to make the role his own.

The combination of a distinct personality, excellent animation, solid voice acting and roguish (if somewhat generic) good looks all helped make this rough-andtumble adventurer a firm favourite among fans of the PlayStation 3 exclusive Uncharted series.

There have been two main games in the Uncharted series, both detailing Drake’s adventures, which are something of an Indiana Jones style affair, albeit in a modern setting. In the first game, subtitled Drake’s Fortune, the action begins when Drake discovers the coffin of his ancestor, Sir Francis. Inside the coffin Nathan and reporter Elena Fisher discover the old explorer and buccaneer’s diary, which gives the location of the fabled El Dorado.

After pirates attack them and destroy their boat, Drake and Fisher are rescued by long-time friend Victor Sullivan. Drake and Sullivan then follow the directions in the diary, and learn that El Dorado is actually a massive golden idol that the Spanish had once tried to take centuries before. Their quest is still not over, but an attack by mercenaries sees Sullivan shot. Drake escapes, and heads to the island where the diary claims that the idol is located.

Just before he is able to discover the idol, Drake realises that it is cursed, turning men into zombified versions of their former selves. A battle ensues between Drake and the mercenaries, but the intrepid adventurer manages to overcome adversity, and eventually sinks the idol to the bottom of the ocean, where its curse can no longer do any harm.

The impact of the first Uncharted title was undeniable, with incredible visuals and presentation elements mixing beautifully with an engrossing plot and a main character that has been described as everything from a “lovable jerk” to “realistic, charming and funny.”

Drake’s second outing came in the form of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. After he is betrayed g a m e c c a fe at u r e • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

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during a robbery job, Drake finds himself in prison.

He discovers, though, that those who betrayed him are on the trail of Marco Polo’s lost fleet. A war criminal wants to recover the fabled Cintamani Stone, which the fleet was believed to have been transporting. During the adventure, Drake discovers that the fleet did not actually have the stone, but rather had knowledge of the location of the legendary city of Shambhala. He travels to war-torn Nepal to discover his next clue.

Numerous misadventures in that country lead Drake to the foot of the Tree of Life, the sap of which makes up the Cintamani Stone. There he confronts his enemies, leaving them to be destroyed by the mystical guardians that protect this treasure.

The combination of real world history and mythology, with a few odd fantasy creatures thrown in, once again demonstrated its effectiveness. Fans responded beautifully to the second title in the series, and it got widespread critical acclaim.

The third game in the Uncharted series, subtitled Drake’s Deception, will be available very soon. This time around the intrepid adventurer leaves behind lush forests and towering mountains, making his way to the heart of the Arabian Desert to seek the legendary “Atlantis of the Sands”. We’re not going to be putting any spoilers in here, but we can assure you that the action looks to be as hot as the setting.

Uncharted 3 will feature bigger set pieces, more action and the franchise’s characteristic cinematic flair. Players will be able to take on the adventure solo, or will be able to engage in competitive and cooperative multiplayer.

The overall game dynamic will allow for new types of combat moves, as well as new physics and visual effects. Sand, fire, water and smoke dynamics have been improved for this title, which will also be 3D compatible.

Naughty Dog have proven their worth twice before with the Uncharted franchise, and there is no real reason why the veteran studio won’t go three for three. The exciting world of Nathan Drake will undoubtedly thrill fans and newcomers alike once again. g g a m e c c a fe at u r e • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

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Previews Highlights 18 Diablo 3 What more can we say?

20 UFC Undisputed 3 Another knock-out?

26 Max Payne 3 He’s back, and still mad 28 Blades of Time High adventure...

30 Abba: You Can Dance Thanks for the permission...

A

nd so we’re into the last little bit of 2011, with a ton of great gaming goodness still ahead of us before the champagne corks pop to herald the new year.

And what of the new year? Will 2012 hold all the gaming goodnes that 2011 did? It looks likely... there will be a few big names hitting shelves in early 2012, including the long awaited Diablo 3. Let’s takea look at some of them, shall we? g

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elderscrolls.com

© 2011 Bethesda Softworks LLC, a ZeniMax Media company. The Elder Scrolls, Skyrim, Bethesda, Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax and related logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of ZeniMax Media Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

All Rights Reserved. Windows, the Windows 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 Start button logo are used under license from Microsoft. “2”, “PlayStation”, “PS3” and “À” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Ô is a trademark of the same company. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.

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Diablo 3

Supreme Evil

Actually, supreme everything, we hope…

I

f you haven’t heard the news that the release of Diablo 3 is imminent, you quite possibly live under a rock.

On a desert island. Stuck in a space-time continuum anomaly.

In that case you will likely not be reading this article but, just in case, here’s the low down. Diablo 3 is probably the most anticipated game in a long time, and it looks to build on an almost legendary reputation created by the previous two titles. It’s coming from the geniuses at Blizzard Studios, which is enough to get some gamers vibrating with excitement.

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by Walt Pretorius

Set on the world of Sanctuary, Diablo 3 will once again task players with saving the world from a monstrous evil.

To do so, players will be given access to five character types, each with a unique flavour. The revamped quest and character customisation system will provide players with tons of variations for their characters, allowing truly unique characters to be created.

The randomised level system will also be making a return. Although there will be scripted sections, it looks like the most of the game will be made up of these randomly generated levels, which will span several

g a m e c c a p r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

different environment types. This means that no two experiences will ever be the same in this sprawling actionadventure title.

Players will be challenged by a massive range of dangerous foes, as well as interactive environmental elements like traps and destructible bits. All this will be presented by a shiny new graphics engine, supported by Havok physics.

Multiplayer components, both co-operative and competitive, will also be available.

There is a lot more that we could mention, but, as we

said, you have probably heard most of the hype already.

The biggest obstacle that Diablo 3 faces is living up to that hype.

It’s been a long time since its well-loved predecessor was released, and gamers are near rabid at the prospect of sinking their teeth into this sequel.

Blizzard want to make this the definitive game of its genre, which means that they have their work cut out for them.

Still, if anyone can do it, Blizzard can… we are extremely excited to see what Diablo 3 will bring early next year! g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Blizzard Publisher: Activision Distributor: Megarom g a m e c c a p r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Q1 2012 Platforms

There’s not much we can say about Diablo 3. We hope it will be as awesome as the hype promises…

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS 3DS

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UFC Undisputed 3

Bout Time More of everything

by Dylan Bouch

T

he new UFC title will have the player more involved than ever before, with more brutality in the fights, better graphics and an alternative, simpler controller setup. All of us that have played the previous title will appreciate the new features but hope that it will not be a walk in the park… we still need that intensity.

UFC Undisputed 3 will also include pride mode which lets players enjoy the Japanese MMA scene too, with head stomps, ground knees to the head and soccer-style

kicks. There will also be a whole set of new moves and a new submission system. With the old controller setup or the new alternative route, gamer will be set for a good fight. With the improvements to the graphics and the new camera angles, the player will be right in the action all the time, which could make for an intense fight.

UFC Undisputed 3 will have a roster of over 150 fighter from all weight classes (heavy weight to feather), with all the online features and new improvements this could be the best game of the UFC franchise yet. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: THQ Publisher: THQ Distributor: Ster Kinekor

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Q1 2012 Platforms

Looks to be a great title, with a bunch of new features and upgrades.

Just hope the intensity is not lost with a simpler control setup.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS 3DS

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TM

Mario Kart 7

Fly, Car, Fly! Online and offline racing madness

by Brian Murdoch

T

he next iteration of Mario Kart is coming exclusively to the 3DS. We have heard some of the stories from E3 and other press conferences about the game and the time is finally upon us.

The 3D is something a lot of the older Mario Kart fans have been wanting for a while now, and we even expected Mario Kart DS to get more features in the 3DS but no. The game is a lot more than just 3D though.

The flying comes from ramps and lets the Kart deploy wings to glide over short cuts in the race course. If the kart is driven into a water area a propeller pops out and swims the kart across the river floor.

We have most of the familiar faces returning, with

a few new friends that have joined in the fun. We never leave out the Miis just encase no one else drives as well as when you are behind the wheel.

What more can be added to a racer? Well, Gyro controls will be nice with a steering wheel holder that fits the 3DS into it. This brings out the only bad news about Mario Kart… the wheel is not confirmed to be coming to South Africa, and we are sure that when the gyro controls are turned on the 3D must be turned off.

Online and local multiplayer will keep the game in your 3DS for hours on end… just make sure to find all those short-cuts. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Distributor: Core Group

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Dec 2011 Platforms

Mario Kart 7 brings the Mushroom Kingdom and new version of racing fun, in depth with 3D.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS 3DS

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Trine 2

Finnish Fantasy Goodness Who said indie can’t look good?

by Lein Baart

I

n 2009 PC and PS3 gamers were treated to a veritable visual orgy in the form of Trine, a fantasy 2D sidescrolling platformer. Now Trine 2 is set for release, on Xbox Live as well, somewhere between now and Christmas, and Frozenbyte are promising that everything is going to be bigger and better.

Besides for its simply stunning appearance, Trine was at its core a simplistic and fun physics based platformer.

While it wasn’t without flaws, such as fiddly co-op and lack of enemies, Trine 2 is shaping up to be a more polished, complete title, building on the basic mechanics that were introduced by its predecessor. Promising features such as a deeper plot, better puzzles utilizing each character’s

abilities, and more than two flavours of enemies, its main draw has got to be the online co-op, which looks to be much improved. Each character has in addition been given extra abilities, such as the Wizard now being able to throw enemies and the thief can slow time, adding to the possible solutions to each puzzle. Frozenbyte has also stated that the graphics engine has been reworked and the game will be even more visually arresting than before.

Considering its indie nature, Trine was a superb game that was marred by a few problems. Hopefully, with the backing of publisher Atlus, Trine 2 will fulfil the potential that is clearly evident in the franchise. This is definitely going on on my Christmas list. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Frozenbyte Publisher: Atlus Distributor: TBC g a m e c c a p r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Q4 2012 Platforms

A game that’s sure to turn many heads, Trine 2 has a lot of promises to live up to.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS 3DS

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Birds of Steel

Mind the Flak Flight Simulator, only now with guns

by Lein Baart

G

aijin Entertainment, responsible for the excellent IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey, have partnered with Konami to bring you Birds of Steel, a separate WW2 IP, to PS3 and Xbox for aerial simulation lovers. While solid details are somewhat scarce at the moment, the list of features does look impressive, and with Gaijin Entertainment behind the wheel, expectations for this title are likely to be high.

Konami has promised that Birds of Steel will have hundreds of missions, twenty of which are historical, and the rest inspired by historical battles such as Pearl Harbour and Malta, as well as accurate maps across sixteen locations. Additionally, there are over a hundred planes for you to take to the skies with, all modelled

on real life counterparts (the website calls them famous).

What is impressive, aside from the numbers, is that each part of a plane has its own health, thus it should be possible to blow off a rudder, rather than just blow up a plane.

There is a heavy emphasis on online play, thus there will be a wealth of co-op and competitive missions, as well the ability to create and share videos of your battles for so called “bragging rights.”

Graphically, the game is shaping up to be rather stunning, and with promised improvements in control and an emphasis on realism, this is likely to be an intense title, though there are variable difficulty settings. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Gaijin Entertainment Publisher: Konami Distributor: Ster Kinekor

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Q1 2012 Platforms

A WW2 combat flight sim that seems to have a lot offer, though it is still early days.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS 3DS

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AVAILABLE 25 NOVEMBER

© 2011 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Rayman, Rayman Origins, the character of Rayman, Ubisoft, Ubi.com, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. “PlayStation” is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. 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. Wii and Nintendo 3DS are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2011 Nintendo

Max Payne 3

House of Payne Max should never be double-crossed

T

he Max Payne franchise has been very successful over the years, and while the developers slightly lost the plot with the sequel, there are high hopes for the third game. Remedy developed the first two games, but powerhouse Rockstar has signed up to design the third game - which should be excellent.

Max Payne has never been a subtle game when it comes to subject matter, and even in the first game we had lots of violence and drugs, so the third title should be up the right alley for Rockstar. The company has never shied away from controversy, so gamers should be in for one heck of a ride.

For the third iteration, players will take on the role of the titular character, but it will be nothing like they have ever seen. Rockstar is aiming to introduce a new chapter in Payne’s life, making him a bit older and just as cynical as before. The action will also take place about 12 years after the conclusion of the second game.

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by Charlie Fripp

The game will be set in São Paulo, Brazil, and as ever, Payne is searching for the truth after being double-crossed in his new home town.

Not a lot is known about the title, as it’s still very much in development, but it has also come out that Payne is working for a wealthy local family while being in the private security sector.

The game should have all the elements that make up for a good Rockstar game, so players won’t be disappointed.

While the graphics in the first two games weren’t bad, this one will be the first Max Payne game to be released on next-gen consoles and with Rockstar at the helm, they should be increased dramatically.

There has been wide speculation that the title won’t see the light of day, as it has been delayed and pushback a good number of times, but we’ll just have to wait and see if Rockstar will go through with it, although new screenshots and a trailer have been released. g

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AT A GLANCE: Developer: Rockstar Publisher: Rockstar Games Distributor: Megarom g a m e c c a p r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Mar 2012 Platforms

With Rockstar in the developer seat, this one should be a cracker.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS 3DS

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Blades of Time

Lara Clone?

Another treasure hunting babe

by Dylan Bouch

A

beautiful treasure hunter, happy to squeeze the trigger at any moment, is on a mission to find lost treasures.

On a mysterious and dangerous island, she soon discovers that this is not just any island; it’s an island that can give her incredible powers and the more she gains the more she craves.

Not alone on the island, Ayumi (the main character)

will stop at nothing to destroy her enemies, or anything in her way. From ancient city ruins and floating islands and much more, there will be numerous locations that Ayumi will have to work and fight through, solving puzzles along the way.

This title will be very interesting as well as very pleasing on the eyes. Hopefully it doesn’t end up as just another button masher with a few puzzles... g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Gaijin Entertainment Publisher: Konami Digital Distributor: Ster Kinekor

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Q1 2012 Platforms

This apparent Tomb Raider clone looks like it has some potential…

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS 3DS

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Abba:You Can Dance

Mamma Mia! Will this game be your Waterloo?

by Walt Pretorius

I

t seems that Ubisoft learned a valuable lesson when their Just Dance title did an unexpected rocket-trip up the game sales charts: casual games are popular, and dancing games are popular casual games. That means they’re kind of like popular squared. Add a wellloved name to a dancing game, and it’s popular cubed.

They did it with Michael Jackson. And now they’re going to do it with Abba.

No matter how saccharine Abba’s songs may be, they have a kind of evergreen appeal that still sees people

humming the tunes and singing the words. Now, thanks to Abba: You Can Dance, you… erm… can dance to the music of Abba. Theoretically, anyway. Just because the game title tells you that you may doesn’t mean that you are actually able to, particularly if you have two left feet (or is that Wii controllers) like me.

With 25 songs on offer, Wii owners will be able to wiggle their way through some of Abba’s greatest hits. They may even be able to tell if Fernando was really a Dancing Queen, or if it was just something in the air that night... g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Ubisoft Publisher: Ubisoft Distributor: Megarom

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Nov 2011 Platforms

A dancing game for Abba fans who own Wii consoles…

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS 3DS

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Lucius

The Antichrist The Devil’s work is child’s play

by Lein Baart

C

reepy kids and Lucifer, they go hand in hand don’t they? I mean, why wouldn’t the devil choose a six year old child to fulfil his plans of horrific evil over, say, someone with actual power? Hollywood, those insightful, prophetic geniuses, have long recognised this, and all the horror movies, they’re warnings, I swear. And now Shiver Games, taking up the burden of forearming mankind, are about to put you in the shoes of the creepy-kid-Antichrist himself.

Lucius, while not being terribly original in terms of plot, does do something seldom seen – let you play the villain. You take the role of Lucius, a sweet child of six, whose soul just so happens to belong to the devil, thanks to daddy and his penchant for making deals.

Now Lucifer has come to collect, and you’re tasked with arranging “accidents” for the residents of the mansion in which your family stays.

The setting, a Victorian-era mansion, fully furnished with sinister shadows and an unnerving atmosphere, lends the perfect atmosphere for this horror themed title. This is a good thing as graphically Lucius does not seem to be too dazzling.

Lucius looks to play out as a puzzle adventure, as you have to investigate your targets before you bump them off.

It’s not clear how linear each assassination is going to be, but given that time was clearly spent on gameplay rather than plot, hopefully you will be allowed at least some degree of ingenuity. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Shiver Games Publisher: Lace Mamba Distributor: Apex Interactive

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Q4 2012 Platforms

For those with that slight sadist bent, Lucius is definitely a game to keep an eye on.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS 3DS

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Cabela’s Survival: Shadows of Katmai

Into the Wild

Surviving the animals is only half the danger

by Charlie Fripp

T

he Cabela’s franchise has been one of the most successful when it comes to taking on the outdoors and wild animals - and their latest game isn’t any different. Cabela’s Survival: Shadows of Katmai will take gamers on a new adventure into the wilderness of Alaska, where they will have to complete a mysterious mission.

Gamers familiar with the last game will know that it shipped with the Top Shot Elite lightgun, and Shadows of Katmai will also extend the courtesy, which adds a bit extra to the game in terms of realism and excitement.

Players will assume the role of the bush pilot Logan James, but after a horrific crash, he finds himself stranded in the middle of nowhere in rural Alaska. Naturally, gamers will have to guide him to safety, but it won’t be as easy as it seems - a wide variety of dangerous predators will be on his trail, and he will also have to battle the harsh elements.

The game is sure to be a lot of fun for any fan of the Cabela’s franchise, and even if players don’t like to hunt wild animals, its good enough to get it just for the included Top Flight Elite light gun. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Activision Publisher: Activision Distributor: Megarom g a m e c c a p r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Nov 2012 Platforms

With the light gun included, the bundle makes for good value.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS 3DS

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“2”, “PlayStation”, “PLAYSTATION”, “ ”, “PS3” and “ ” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “SONY” and “ ” are registered trademarks of Sony Corporation. “make.believe” is a trademark of the same company. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception™ ©2011 Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC. Published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Developed by Naughty Dog, Inc. “Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception” is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. All rights reserved.

Hello trouble

16V

Join fortune-hunter Nathan Drake as he embarks on his most perilous adventure yet. His search for the lost Atlantis of the Sands will take him from the mean streets of London to the unforgiving Arabian Desert, as trouble hunts him down, every step of the way.

Visit eu.playstation.com

Sky’s the Limit Activision bridges the gap between toys and games

Feature

by Alex Scanlon

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ideo gaming so often comes under fire for the potentially harmful effects they may have on youngsters. To try and take advantage of the younger market, video game developers and publishers often try to bring games more suitable for younger players to the market, but these sometimes prove to be short, lower quality affairs that do not engage their target audience on a deep enough level.

Activision are a company that have varied aspects to their reputation, but one thing that they are known for is innovation. Take the Guitar Hero franchise, for example. Despite the added cost of extra peripherals, this series proved to be extremely popular the world over, with a strong after-sales market in the form of extra downloadable songs. This extended into Band Hero and DJ Hero as well, and even though these games have been shelved for now, their success was undeniable.

Even Activision’s popular hunting simulations, in the form of the Cabela’s franchise, have recently benefitted from this approach, with a specialised light gun added to the mix.

But now Activision have launched an arguably more ambitious project, and one that will delight parents of younger gamers for numerous reasons.

Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure is the first title in what will undoubtedly become a very popular franchise for the giant publisher, partially because it straddles the gap between video games and collectable toys.

Skylanders is comprised of two main components. The first is the game, a platform style action-adventure set in a fantasy world that is under threat from a great evil. Into this world come the Skylanders, heroes of old who must protect the Skylands from this threat. But the characters themselves are not – strictly speaking – all present in the game. Rather, they need to be unlocked…

And this is where the second component of the franchise comes in; collectable figurines. The high quality characters are beautifully designed and will not only be appealing to kids (there will be more than a few adults proudly displaying their collection of Skylanders figures.) Figurines will be readily

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available, and with a large number of different characters, kids will be able to collect them for some time.

The two components tie together via a device that creators Toys for Bob have called the Portal of Power. By placing a figurine on the portal, the player can use that particular character in the game – essentially bringing the character ‘to life’ in a virtual format.

“These are more than action figures. They are inter-action figures,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “By pairing world class character design, world class video game design and world class story telling into one entertainment experience, we’ve given players a whole new genre that bridges the gap between the real and virtual worlds. From the first time a kid picked up a stick and pretended it was a sword, toys have unlocked kids’ imaginations. And how often have you wanted to bring those toys to life, to see them become animated and take them on an adventure?

Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure does just that.”

This idea is facilitated through numerous very clever design ideas that Activision and Toys for Bob have implemented. Using the idea of “toys with brains”, the creators have designed figurines that not only activate characters within the game, but also serve as devices to save elements of the game progress. Each figure has on-board memory, that tracks the character’s progress in the game, as well as other elements like who own the figurine.

Adding even further, Activision have created a system that means the figurines are not platform specific. With Skylanders appearing on a large number of gaming platforms, the headaches and heartaches that would arise from figures made specifically for one platform or another have been avoided… specific figures can be purchased without the user needing to worry whether the game will be played on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii or any of the other platforms that Skylanders will be available on.

This idea extends further, making Skylanders a social pastime as well. A user can, thanks to the saving element and cross-platform compatibility, use his figurines with any copy of the game.

“Imagine a kid taking his Skylanders toy and bringing it to life on his X-Box 360 one day, then g a m e c c a fe at u r e • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

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bringing it to life on his friend’s PS3 the next day, then bringing it to life inside his 3DS and playing it in the back of his parents’ car the next day, then bringing it to life on the web the day after that, all the while, building his character’s strength and powers across all of those platforms,” said Hirshberg. “It brings the physical and virtual worlds of play together in a whole new way.

“Everyone at Activision and Toys for Bob has poured a tremendous amount of passion, imagination and love into creating Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure. And while it’s certainly gratifying to receive recognition from the likes of Toy Insider and Time to Play, we are most excited to share Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure with the most important audience of all, young gamers everywhere.”

With several figures available at launch time, parents will have plenty of stocking stuffers available for the upcoming Festive Season. While the game comes with three figurines, more figurines and adventure packs can be bought individually.

Each character, represented by the figurines, will has its own set of abilities, and belongs to one of eight classes. Certain areas within the game can only be accessed by characters of specific classes, while other areas will give those characters better abilities. The adventure packs will unlock new stages within the game as well.

There is no doubt that Activision sees a potential for profit in this franchise. With the figures weighing in at around R120 apiece, as well as the necessity to have at least one of every category to truly complete the game, sales of Skylanders merchandise should be good. And, without a doubt, Activision will be releasing further editions of the game down the line, to ensure extra longevity and increased profits from any new characters and expansions.

While it might seem like a bit of a cash cow, parents who invest in this franchise for their kids will also be buying peace of mind. Skylanders is thoroughly ‘safe’ for children, and promises an engaging and exciting experience for all who play it.

And, with the series only just having been launched, the sky is the limit for this original and unique approach to video gaming for youngsters.. g g a m e c c a fe at u r e • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

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Commercial Break PS Zealot

by Suvesh Arumugam

O

ne thing which has always bugged me about doing this job is trying to get friends and family to understand that a gaming magazine, like a newspaper, has deadlines. I am currently at the crest of several events culminating; a recording project, my final exams, and the birth of my first daughter.

Obviously, I have the support of all those around, except when I say I need a few hours to finish my career in one game so I can get started on the next game I have to review.

If looks could kill (or fry computer circuitry), you would probably be reading a very different article right now!

Sadly for me, all these happenings mean that I have only limited time to cast my eye over the PlayStation Universe, which is currently brimming with buzz and activity. You would be right in thinking that the

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heavyweights have come out blazing in the early rounds. With Christmas still a full two months away, the last few weeks have seen the release of Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3, FIFA 12 and Battlefield 3. The next few weeks will see the likes of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, Assassin’s Creed; Revelations, Need for Speed: The Run and many more special edition, game of the year editions and bumper packs like the Tekken Hybrid collection and the Mortal Kombat HD collection. Certainly plenty of interesting things for a gamer to drool over, though it’s hard to imagine how marketers and retailers expect us to afford all these games.

Well, I guess that’s why mortgages and credit cards were invented.

Other big titles not releasing new episodes this festive season are still getting in on the action, with big DLC packs for Infamous 2, Gran Tourismo, and more, making sure there is plenty of entertainment to go around. What else could

the game industry possibly offer us?

Well, PSN is punting an amazing new addition the PlayStation family.

The sleek looking 3D Viewer is set for release in November this year.

The latest in personal technology trends, this new gadget is comprised of two LED screens (similar to PSP), complete with surround sound headphones. This not only means that you can play wherever you want, whenever you want, but it also means that you can access you PS3 or PSP while the TV is being used for whatever else people use a TV for (a mysterious and strange activity called “watching telly”). Certainly sounds very interesting, though I’d rather not be the first one to try. My gran always told me that sitting too close to the TV would give me square eyes!!

And what games will we be playing by then? Well, the net is bursting with rumours about the next Grand Theft Auto instalment. After little more than an announcement on twitter, Rockstar Games are set to release a trailer teaser next week that is bound to be one of the most anticipated yet. Debate is already raging about where the game will be set, and what the basic plot will be. We are also told that the long awaited Asura’s Wrath will be delayed until early next year, along with The Last Guardian, another feverishly awaited title. With all of the excitement and hype building up this year, developers and publishers will need to work hard to top their 2011 achievements. g

g a m e c c a c o l u m n • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

“2”, “PlayStation” and “KHJL” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Ô is a trademark of the same company. “SONY” and “Ô” are registered trademarks of Sony Corporation. All rights reserved.

Medieval Moves ©2011 Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC. Published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Developed by Zindagi Games. All rights reserved.

master the

moves of battle

Grab your PlayStation Move controller and make every swing, slash and dodge count for real as you battle Morgrimm’s skeleton army.

Medieval Moves. Only for PlayStation Move.

No Comment...

Xbox Beat

by Bryan Banfield

T

he internet lit up like a Christmas tree this month with the rumoured news regarding a New Xbox Console and its possible release.

Certain sources on the internet have staked reputation and honour by standing behind these claims, and have included sources such as hardware and middle-ware manufacturers.

All this hype seems to be culminating around what is being loosely referred to as Xbox Next and its late 2013 release.

It appears that should this be true… we are looking at needing to free up some space in the lounge for another exciting addition late in 2013.

It is rumoured again to be timed with the great holiday period when Santa buys up all the stock for the good little boys and girls.

Actually his elves head to China for a week long crash course so that

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the North Pole can be accredited as a Microsoft Certified Console Manufacturer.

Further rumours are spinning around regarding if this will mean that the console will be available in all territories at launch but the realists are still excluding outlying territories.

Hold thumbs that South Africa is not on that list [I am a realist… it is – ed] On the development side we have a trunk full of additional rumours.

One of these is that our good friends at Loinhead are working on as little internal title dubbed Fable Next. They do need to move on rather quickly due to the fact that the last two are still a fable of success in our minds.

Might I suggest moving on to Back & White 3 with Kinect support?

Just my luck next month they will announce it!

EA is also rumoured to have some of these Xbox Nexts already on their desks. EA, on the other hand, denies

this. Why would they admit to it? It makes not sense! Our industry loves suspense.

A small chat with Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney revealed that Epic is working on its next iteration of it amazing Unreal Engine, aptly titled Unreal Engine 4. Came as a shock, I know. Its release is also rumoured to be early 2014. Coincidences are stacking up!

As you can imagine all of these are rumours and just that: rumours. Noone has gone out on a limb. No heads on chopping blocks here, my friends.

On a side note: The lightsaber will be available for purchase on the 4th of May 2012, Anonymous is set to destroy Facebook on the 5th of October 2011 (um, they’re late) and if you have not heard, it is rumoured that the world will end on the 21st of December 2012.

As always, rumours suck… seeing is believing. g

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Open or Closed?

House of Mario

by Brian Murdoch

W

hat type of a gamer are you? No not hard-core or casual, but are you an open or closed gamer? The different people at the rAge expo I approached about Skylanders showed me the difference. rAge 2011 was epic and, as some would know, I ran the Megarom stands with some of my team supporting on the Nintendo stand.

It was a bit weird seeing myself on a wall in the new Zelda Ad and everyone else looking at it at the same time. Then I had loads of players flocking to me asking me to sign their copy of Zelda, nice… I wish.

Skylanders is a new game from the Spyro series but this game brings out something not seen by other games.

There are hero toys when placed on a “portal” put the character into the game. This toy saves the levels and hats obtained while playing and can be placed on another “portal” at a friend’s house on a different console and pull these stats through. Wow, not only is the game run by figurines but these toys can move in-between consoles!

This game and a few samples of the toys were setup on an Xbox360 and PlayStation3 for players to try out at the rAge expo.

We expected the console to be full of children. A swarm of children were

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there but there were also adults that were not only interested but a few that had already pre-ordered it from Kalahari.Net. What made these people open and closed gamers was not whether they were interested in Skylanders or not but how they reacted to a game that you need to know a little bit more about than its pretty cover before you buy.

When they looked at the Skylanders banner, some were turned off instantly judging the game as a child’s title. They only want their eye candy, blood, FPS, MMORG, or stuck

in whatever genre they are in… this is a closed gamer. They don’t want to try anything else or even listen to what it is before they turn and run.

I know promoters can be pushy but they were walking away still looking, their eyes wanted to see but their closed gamer minds were pulling them away from something different.

Open gamers wanted to know more, even about the technology behind the product, voices behind characters and how much each character costs. These people are happy to play games because they are fun, new and interesting. The open gamer will be more influenced by advertising but looks into details about the game as well, which helps a lot.

More Nintendo gamers are open gamers than closed and most MMORG players are defined under closed because their current game is sucking so much time out there lives there is no room for anything else. I have a MMORG and with all the consoles, including a PlayBook… I feel that I am really open to all games.

Life is more fun with games and I urge you to go out and try a different game to the ones you normally play; buying one or try one at a friend’s house. Do this before the Christmas period as it will give you a different perspective and maybe even help with ideas for presents. g

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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 50 Battlefield 3 Is the COD-killer here?

54 Rage id returns with a bang 60 Forza 4 The finest racing game ever?

64 Batman: Arkham City The Dark Knight on the case 74 Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure Toys and games meet...

A

s we roll into November - the traditional ‘huge’ month for gaming releases - we already have a number of really big name titles to enjoy.

This month’s issue has 26 reviews, which is a fair whack, including things like Battlefield 3, Forza 4, Batman: Arkham City, Rage and a bunch of other awesome video game titles.

We sincerely hope that all our readers get some kind of Christmas bonus... with all these great games available, you’re going to need it! g

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Battlefield 3

War Zone

This one works better with friends

S

ince the first Battlefield 3 announcement and the subsequent flood of screenshots that started to pour in, a degree of excitement started to brew among the gamers who grew up with the entire Battlefield franchise.

Well, the third Battlefield game finally hit our shores last week, and the joy has gone from that of euphoria to a dim smile. As we’ll explore in the rest of the review, there is a lot that DICE got right, but sadly there is an equal part where they fell short.

Starting with the single player, gamers will assume the role of various characters, but the most prominent will be Staff Sergeant Henry ‘Black’ Blackburn. He’s a member of the U.S. Marine Corps 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, and it becomes very clear that he has information that is need by the US government.

The first time players get to meet the sickly-looking soldier, he’s being interrogated by US agents in an

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by Charlie Fripp

unknown location against his will. Starting to sound familiar? As we’ll see a bit later, this isn’t the only direct comparison to Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops, who also starred a soldier being questioned.

Identical to Black Ops, Battlefield 3 also takes the player on a wild ride through the memories of the questioned soldier, and will relive his experiences, which makes up the majority of the plot.

Through the various memories, players will get to see the various angles of the story through the eyes of different soldier who were engaged in the conflict.

Taking care of business on the ground is Corporal Jonathan “Jono” Miller, who serves as a tank operator, and during his missions players will slowly make their way to a burning city in the distance. Aircraft duty is taken care of by Lieutenant Jennifer “Colby” Hawkins, and it might be the first time that gamers get to play as a female in a combat situation.

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Since the game has no real tutorial, hints and tips will constantly pop up across the screen, alerting the gamer as to what to press. The very first mission can technically be described as a tutorial, as the game will slow down and painstakingly explain the gamers how to aim down the sights and crouch.

It’s not the best way to start off the game, as players need to make their way through narrow train carts while taking out enemies with a limited amount of weapons. It’s actually ironic that the game starts off in a confined space, as the general trend for the rest of Battlefield 3 is to herd the player into certain directions, instead of letting them take the lead and be a real war hero.

After the initial scuffles, a quick-time sequence will ensure that players escape the run-away train, and if players don’t like the QTE, they are out of luck as there are quite a few. But it doesn’t deter from the game play, although quick fingers will be needed. Luckily the quick-

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time buttons will always be the same, so if gamers don’t get it right the first time, they can just memories the sequence and notice where they get it wrong.

The addition of a single-player campaign is also a first for the initial Battlefield franchise, but sadly it’s a very forgettable experience. Players are urged to install the high-definition content pack, but in all honesty, it won’t make a difference.

While the cut scenes and the interiors of the tanks, jets and helicopters are excellent, the rest of the graphics are rather poor. In all fairness, the game has its moments where combat scenes are very detailed, but it’s almost as if it only happens at selected moments. Walking up to a sign post or the branding of a car, players will notice the very pixelated text. It’s almost as if the textures load, and then stop halfway. But as mentioned, there are points where the game shines through in the graphics department - if it could only be like that throughout the entire title.

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Controlling the merchants of death isn’t an overly complicated affair, as all the controls are pretty easy to get to grips with. But it does seem as if DICE swapped around some buttons, especially when it comes to driving tanks.

The layout makes it very confusing at times, and it can be hard to keep it going in a straight line.

Although the single-player has some interesting takes on warfare and the action is very forthcoming, the graphics bring down the entire experience, coupled with a number of glitches and controller sensitivity issues. A couple of months down the line, players will have forgotten that it had a single-player campaign - which brings us to the multiplayer.

It’s never a good thing when a game gets a day-one patch, as it’s a huge signpost exclaiming that the game wasn’t quite ready for release. Well, Battlefield 3 takes the entire cake and candles, and asks players to do a 167MB

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update straight off the bat.

Signing into the EA’s Battlelog system, gamers will be able to see what their friends are up to and the recent ingame achievements received. It’s kind of like a Facebook for Battlefield.

Selecting a game has never been easier; as there are a couple of routes that player can take to ensure they get a decent game. For starters, users will be able to search for a specific server or just roll the dice and join and random game. But the beauty of the system is also that players can manually search for any server a specific region i.e.

Europe, US, Asia or Australia.

The game features nine maps, all with their own strengths and weaknesses, and five different map modes.

The most popular mode by far will be Conquest, where players will have to defend their own ticket count by holding points, while taking out the enemies until their

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a whole. The single-player campaign is a nice addition but it’s not necessary.

It’s best to just jump into the multiplayer, as this is really the gem of the entire product. It’s one of those games that players will be playing for months, and with a revamped skill tree and tons of ribbons to collect, players will be hunting more than just enemies.

In conclusion, the game is really good for players who love multiplayer, as it has excellent graphics, a familiar control scheme and a wide variety of modes to pick from.

The single-player should be approached with caution.

Battlefield 3 is by no means the Call of Duty killer that everybody hoped it would be. It still has a couple of years to go before it can truly tackle a stalwart in the FPS genre.

DICE should stop trying to beat Call of Duty, and focus more on what they are really good at - making excellent multiplayer games with high replay value. g

AT A GLANCE: Although the single-player is forgettable, the multiplayer wholly makes up for it.

Developer: DICE Publisher: Electronic Arts Distributor: Electronic Arts

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

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Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

tickets are depleted.

For some odd reason, the graphics in the multiplayer section (which is on a separate disc to the single player) is noticeably more advanced than that of the single-player.

EA decided to retain the skills and levelling side of things, but naturally refined it a little bit. The menu system does seem clunky at times, and it’s very possible to get completely lost in it. But at least gamers will have quick access to the current kit and replacing weapons with unlocked ones is done fairly painlessly.

As with the single-player, the hit detection is slightly off, but it’s not as bad. It will take some time to get used to, but once players know exactly where to aim, every shot will be accurate and deadly.

Battlefield 3, although exciting in its own right, is a bit of a let-down. Actually, it’s only some elements that drag it down, but unfortunately they reflects badly on the title as

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

90 53

Rage

Cruisin’ the Wasteland Guns and cars… who needs more?

J

ohn Carmack. That name, and the associated id Software, is legendary when it comes to the first-person shooter genre. Hell, they pretty much invented it.

So when the makers of Doom and Quake say that they are putting together a new IP, people are naturally going to sit up and take notice. That’s part of the reason why Rage has been getting so much attention… this ambitious project has a lot of reputation behind it, as well as a lot of experience. The real question, of course, is whether these veterans of the genre can compete with all the young guns out there.

Rage is set in a post-apocalyptic world (kind of like Fallout) populated by a bunch of bizarre rednecks who are opposed to a tyrannical government (kind of like Borderlands). In fact, if Fallout and Borderlands ran

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by Walt Pretorius

away for a dirty weekend and a kid resulted, grew up and became a ‘roid junkie, it would be Rage. There are enough differences between the games (like it’s an asteroid that causes the apocalypse, and the character doesn’t collect all those weird and wonderful guns) to not accuse Rage of being a complete clone, but the derivative elements are quite apparent none-the-less.

Not that this, in any way, makes Rage less of a good game than what it is. In fact, those familiar elements are almost comforting… in many ways, sitting back with Rage is like spending time with an old friend.

The story sees the player’s character emerge from an Ark, buried in the earth before the asteroid hit. Life has gone on, though, and the player’s character is soon surrounded by a host of other characters. But being an Ark Dweller, he is something special… and the authorities

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want him dead.

The premise isn’t exactly original, but it does allow for many of the standards of first-person shooters to be neatly explained away. The character’s quick healing, for example (something you’ll find in virtually every FPS) is the result of nanites in his blood. They didn’t have to explain it, but it’s a nice touch. And, of course, only Ark Dwellers have nanites, which is why he is more resilient than his opponents.

This kind of thinking – adding nice little details – implies that id went all-out in terms of the plot and characters.

Sadly, this is not the case. There are moments of brilliance here, but Rage’s plot is a bit weak, and the characters that the player will encounter are odd, but never really get developed to any degree. This is a sad matter, actually, because the potential behind the plot and general story

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elements was great. The developers missed an opportunity for an epic here.

That said, Rage isn’t really about the story. The tale, as it is, is simply just a backdrop for the action, an excuse for the player to head out and shoot lots of enemies with a variety of guns. The game doesn’t have as many weapons as one might expect; there is a pistol, a shotgun, an assault rifle, an SMG, a sniper rifle and a rocket launcher.

The player can only equip four of these at a time, but all of them can be carried, allowing the player to make adjustments to which weapons are in which quick-slots in the field… a very handy thing indeed. Each of these weapons can also be upgraded a little bit, improving their performance, and several ammo types (which can be changed on the fly) are available for each weapon.

Managing weapons and ammo is simple and effective,

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keeping the action flowing.

In addition to weapons, the player will also be able to acquire vehicles – four, in total. These vehicle (well, three of them, at least) can be upgraded with modifications and weapons, adding a bit of a Mad Max feel to the game.

Upgrades can be bought with certificated earned during races, which are held in the game’s two major towns.

Lastly, the player can gather up a whole bunch of components that can be used to create items ranging from special ammo through to sentry drones. This can be done in the field as well, and four items can be placed in quick slots for easy access.

That shows what the developers were trying to do here – and succeeded with. Flowing, fast paced combat is the order of the day in Rage, and the control scheme and inventory system were designed with that in mind.

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The game is made up of story missions and side quests.

These have varied goals, but generally all involve a lot of bullets flying around. The missions will take players to various locations, while side quests will often revisit these locations.

It’s probably a good time to mention Rage’s looks… which are, in a word, awesome. This game may not be showing pretty pictures, but it shows them in a really pretty way. The environments are lively and highly detailed, and the player will be hard pressed to find repetitive textures. Every now and then character models look similar to each other, but these are rare… it’s almost as though every character in the game is a unique individual, and every setting has its own identity, too.

This excellent presentation is carried further by excellent voice acting (even John Goodman provides a voice) and

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multiplayer modes. We would have liked it to be a bit longer. Also, the plot never really seems to reach a suitable climax… the last mission doesn’t feel like one.

And the driving… well, it’s better than Borderlands, but it still isn’t great. Also, the multiplayer modes are restricted to competitive racing and co-op missions (which aren’t covered by the single player campaign.) A little competitive shooting action would have made for a nice addition.

Still, for some relatively mindless gunplay and awesome graphics – not to mention often intense action – Rage is a good bet.

Other games may trump it in terms of plot and things like character development and equipment modification, but when it comes to good, brutal, unadulterated fun, Rage is a definite winner. g

AT A GLANCE: It may not have a lot of depth, but Rage offers awesome amounts of action and fun.

Developer: id Software Publisher: Bethesda Distributor: Ster Kienkor

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

18+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

terrific facial animations. The world of Rage is believable, despite the lacklustre plot and shallow characters.

This extends into the game’s awesome combat, too. It’s very intense, with lots of enemies providing the player with varied challenges. Different raider gangs in the wilderness have different strengths, for example, and a mix of long range and close up gun play keeps the player on his toes.

And the AI does a fair job of preserving itself; even those suicidal types that charge up to the player to engage in melee combat will dodge and weave. This not only makes them harder to hit, but it also makes the player believe that they are trying to preserve themselves, even if only a little.

Rage is good fun, but it does leave a few things to be desired.

It’s around 12 hours long, not counting the fun

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

83 57

Forza Motorsport 4

Petrolhead Heaven The best just got better.

H

ere’s a fun fact about winemaking: after they’ve fermented the grapes and put them in bottles, they don’t just hide them in a cellar and get popular by age alone. It’s a fine-tuning process. The freshly bottled wine gets put on a rack and the bottle turned a little each day. This is a process known as riddling and its purpose is to help natural sediment settle in the bottle, so that you don’t end up with any of it in your glass.

So don’t just think that the big names stash a bottle for 15 years and sell it on reputation alone. There’s hard work that goes into this. And the same goes in game development. For a long time racing fans knew Gran Turismo as the racing simulator of choice. But last year’s GT5 left a bad taste in people’s mouths. Even die-hard

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by Christo van Gemert PlayStation and GT fanboys have to admit they got a mouthful of sediment when trying to swallow Polyphony’s botched wine.

Turn 10 Studios, on the other hand, has been consistent with its releases. Forza 2 hit shelves in 2007, 3 was released in 2009, and now in 2011 we have Forza Motorsport 4. Even while taking to heart the requests of fans, the developers haven’t let any of that interfere with the ageing process. They’re slowly turning the bottle and letting the sediment settle, and with this fourth installment we’ve got a game that is not just good in its own right, but is also a world class entertainment experience.

Initial reports have labelled FM4 as nothing more than a content pack for the third game. It’s easy to be this negative when you’re being unnecessarily cynical and

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break things down into their core components. Yes, Forza Motorsport 4 has a few more cars (just over 500, to Forza 3’s 400) and some new tracks. If that’s all you want to see it as – a numbers game – then you’re kind of missing the point. After all, are you going to drive all 500 cars?

Or 1000 cars? Or 5000 cars? More isn’t better; it’s just a marketing gimmick. And Turn 10 mentioned, during the development of FM4, that it takes a full 12 months to create a track, so the fact that they’ve managed to give us five new racetracks in two years is pretty respectable.

That said, FM4 is missing some very important historic tracks that are now available in competing games, so hopefully these are next on the to-do list.

So while you may think the programmers, artists, sound engineers and designers have been resting on their laurels,

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it doesn’t take more than an hour with Forza 4 to see why that’s wrong. First up there’s the new lighting model.

Previous Forza titles looked good, with crisp graphics and great car models, but things are now, quite literally, a lot shinier. That’s thanks to something called imagebased lighting, which lets the reflections on cars actually mirror the environment. This is more than just reflecting the environment: it’s actually taking the lighting from the surroundings and casting that onto the cars. For instance, the snow on the new Alps track gives off a brighter, and different kind of light than the overhead lights in a tunnel.

End result: there are some startlingly realistic-looking scenes in FM4. Gran Turismo 5 still has the edge here, but only just.

The next improvement is one that’ll be really appreciated

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by people who know cars. This reviewer does, so take it from him that the sound in FM4 is amazingly detailed, deep, and realistic. You hear the whine of gearboxes, the chittering of a turbo blow-off valve, the mechanical wailing of a supercharger, and more. Run-of-the-mill cars are pretty plain, but still have unique characters. As soon as you get into a performance car, you’ll notice little things like exhaust pops and bangs when you’re off throttle.

These get louder and more frequent once you start fitting performance parts – just like in real life. One of jaw dropping, “wow, this is good” moments came when taking a relaxed cruise on the Fujimi Kaido mountain track. Along the edges of the asphalt you’ll find dirt and leaves. Drive over that, and you hear the stones hitting up against the

wheel arches of the car. The guy who did sound design for this game needs a Nobel prize or something.

Turn 10 partnered up with tyre maker Pirelli to get real life data on how different rubber compounds behave under different conditions. Forza has always incorporated tyre temperature and pressure as dynamic variables, and tyre deformation was added in Forza 3. These things have now been fine-tuned, and combined with the new Pirelli data the game is completely different. Where Forza 3 felt like an authentic game, this feels real. Suspension and steering response have also been fine-tuned. Cars now have bodyroll – muscle cars wallow like boats in most bends, and proper LMP racecars are so firm that the entire cockpit jostles as you bomb down the straight at Le

Poor Porsche One glaring omission in FM4 is the lack of Porsche cars. The German manufacturer has featured in all three predecessors, but this time around Electronic Arts (who holds the rights to the Porsche license) refused to let Microsoft pay to use it in Forza 4. Rumours are rumours, but there is talk that the contract between EA and Porsche might lapse at the end of 2011, and maybe then – just maybe – we could see a downloadable Porsche content pack.

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into corners. Players who like cars, but aren’t professional drivers, can turn on all the assists. These keep you on the track, and you can even rewind the race to correct earlier mistakes. Hardcore players can turn off every single assist for the purest experience.

Top Gear partnered up to give its famous Top Gear Test Track to the game, along with a fantastically ridiculous and fun “car soccer” game mode. The show’s inimitable host, Jeremy Clarkson, also provides voiceovers for the cars in the Autovista mode – Forza’s equivalent of an interactive car encycloppedia.

And just like Top Gear, Forza 4 has something that’ll appeal to everybody, whether they driver a Toyota or a Ferrari. g

AT A GLANCE: Accessible to everybody, yet still perfect for enthusiasts.

Developer: Turn 10 Studios Publisher: Microsoft Distributor: Microsoft

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

Mans. If you thought the steering was too forgiving before, the simulation steering mode (even with a controller) will quickly show you up. If a car gets into a drift, be it under or over steer, you’ve gotta use real-world countermeasures to prevent having a tank slapper or hitting the railing.

It looks good, sounds amazing and feels real. To get the taste and smell you’d have to play this in your garage. But it’s not all serious. Forza Motorsport 4 is as real a racing experience as you’ll get on a console – even more realistic than most PC sim fans would expect – but there’s still the accessibility and fun factor. Kinect integration means you can use your hands to steer with a virtual steering wheel, perfect for kids who don’t really know about cars.

The Kinect also gives you head tracking, helping you look

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

96 63

Batman: Arkham City

On the Prowl A vast playground to be the Bat in…

A

fter the events that took place in Arkham Asylum and Blackwater Prison, the Gotham City authorities move all the inmates of those facilities to a new one: the newly created Arkham City prison, a massive, walled-off complex in the heart of Gotham. Under the stewardship of Dr Hugo Strange, this new penitentiary houses all of Gotham City’s most dangerous villains…

It is to this sprawling complex that Batman travels in Batman: Arkham City, the sequel to the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum. There, he must use his detective skills, stealth abilities and arsenal of gadgets to find out what exactly is going on inside.

What we have here is literally a reworking of the previous title, with developers Rocksteady having taken on an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach. Rather, they

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by Walt Pretorius

opted for tweaking and expanding on Arkham Asylum. The end result is a sprawling game that offers the player tons to do and see, lots of enemies to outwit and beat up, and a massive cast of the Bat’s meanest opponents.

It sounds perfect. And, in many ways, it comes close.

The levels, for example, are really well put together, intricate in detail and requiring the player to apply a little thought in traversing them. These are tied together by the massive Arkham City itself, which acts as a sort of ‘world hub’ for all the various buildings and levels the player can enter.

Another aspect of the game that is really top notch is the freedom it allows the player in approaching situations.

There are, naturally, some instances in which the player will need to do things in a specific way, but more often than not Arkham City will let the player get on with things

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in the way they want to.

A third thing that is really cool is that the game will have the player revisiting areas as new gadgets and techniques become available, to help them get to areas and items that were previously inaccessible. This speaks to the vastness of the title, and to the literal ton of things that it offers the player to do. Aside from the main story, the player will be able to do side quests (which tend to be rather long, drawn-out, multi ‘episode’ affairs that range widely in action and subject matter), find a ton of Riddler collectibles and take on Challenge Rooms, which return tweaked and improved.

All of this stuff designed to keep the player busy is actually almost intimidating. But the player is afforded the freedom to pretty much tackle anything in any order, without any real repercussions. That freedom is nice, and

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is a definite improvements over the more guided feel of Arkham Asylum.

The presentation of the game is really top notch, with the environments and characters beautifully captured by the developers. Everything feels run down and decrepit, even the host of villains that Batman faces in the game.

The Dark Knight himself gets battered and bruised as the game progresses, too, which is a nice touch.

Speaking of a host of villains… well, we’re not kidding.

Virtually every major villain (and even a few minor ones) makes an appearance in Arkham City. The Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Bane, Poison Ivy, Two Face, Mister Freeze and so on and so on. They’re all in there. We get the idea that Arkham City is this massive prison, but really, this is overkill. It’s like a kid showing off his collection of toys.

And the end result is that none of these villains ever really

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gets fleshed out properly. They’re like soap-opera bit-part characters, rather than bad-ass villains. They’re beautifully animated, wonderfully modelled, and feature great voice acting. They just don’t have any depth. That speaks to the fact that this game was created by Batman fans, and some of the decisions they made in the game design would have been because of this, rather than from a basis of solid game creation.

That makes it sound like Batman: Arkham City is not a good game, but that’s far from the truth. It’s a great game.

But it is not perfect. It shows a few chinks in its armour here and there, but thanks to the rabid dedication to the character that fans have, these will easily be overlooked when the coolness of playing as Batman kicks into full swing.

One such chink is the inclusion of Catwoman as a

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playable character. There’s nothing wrong with it – she’s a great character, has cool moves and adds to the story.

However, she only takes up around 10 per cent of the game… and her inclusion, which was really hyped up, is as DLC, not as disc content. Whether her addition to the story is worth the download (and the 800 Microsoft points she costs, for those that weren’t fortunate enough to get a pass or will be buying the game second hand) is highly debatable. But not for fanboys.

Another little issue arises from time to time in the control scheme. Batman feel stiff every now and then. It’s not often, mind you… the fluid movements, kept simple yet effective, have been improved from the Arkham Asylum days. For the most part, controlling the Dark Knight is great. Just sometimes, it gets frustrating.

The combat, too, is great, because it uses a very simple

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being the order of the day. But the semi-stealth game dynamic may not work for everyone, and sections of the game do show a bit of shakiness. Still, it’s a great step from Arkham Asylum, and the added gadgets and game tweaks make for a good, long gaming experience.

I am, of course, taking a chance in saying some of those slightly negative things… see, when it comes to characters like Batman, fans will not allow a bad word to be spoken.

But the truth is that the coolness of the title will blind many to its few weaknesses.

They aren’t numerous, but they are there. If someone tells you that this is a perfect game, he is not seeing things objectively.

However, if he tells you that it is a really great title, with lots to do and see, and lots of fun on offer, he is pretty much bang on the money. g

AT A GLANCE: This is a great game, despite a chink or two that have crept in.

Fans of Batman will likely be able to die happy now…

Developer: Rocksteady Publisher: Warner Bros Distributor: Nu Metro

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

15+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

system to deliver visually impressive fights, pitting Batman against masses of enemies. But, aside from the boss battles (and even sometimes in the boss battles) the whole thing can devolve into a mess of button mashing.

Yes, there is a strategy to the combos and timing moves correctly, but in the heat of battle, that X button is likely to get slammed a lot. And the battles can get extremely repetitive, with tons of similar enemies to take on. If you get the strategy right, it’s extremely rewarding. And the fight scenes look so good that a bit of button mashing doesn’t matter too much.

Fans of Arkham Asylum will find a lot to crow about with Arkham City. It is vast and engaging, with a solid story and tons to do. The controls are generally good, and the combat is intense and exciting. The presentation is the true king, with sublime visuals and superb voice acting

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

92 67

F1 2011

Redlining

Change gears or change games

F

1 drivers have split-seconds to make a decision; brake, turn or accelerate faster than me typing Rumplestiltskin… but you will have a bit more time to make your decision in F1 2011. With 12 teams, 24 drivers and all 19 circuits that are in the FIA Formula One World Championship calendar. In fact there will be a lot of decision making: Redbull or Ferarri, Sebastian or Michael, hard or soft compound tyres. Codemasters new title of the F1 franchise is the most realistic F1 game to date, but is it too realistic?

The graphics are amazing in this new F1 title; there have been many adjustments and improvements in all areas of the game. With beautiful colour and textures, we can see the background reflected in the paintwork of the car, and even the tyre tread and texture. The graphite on the steering wheel, the tar, marshals, and fans in the stadium waving flags are all smaller details but add to the end result. Every track has been given a complete visual overhaul and with a new dynamic weather system,

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by Dylan Bouch race into night from dusk - try watching the sunset as you race - and yes, rain will affect the on-track grip. When it rains, you will notice that the visibility is extremely bad if you are not leading, with rain drops hitting your helmet, or spray from the vehicle in front making for a difficult task.

The screaming motor of the F1 car sounds just as the real machine would. The player will not need to look at the rev counter, as the sound of the engine will help you to change gears at the right time, – just as you would in real life. The motor will scream in pain as you reach the end of red line (not changing gears is bad). The player will also notice the sound of the screeching tyres as they lock up on full brakes. There is also feedback regarding the cars performance and malfunctions over the radio from your mechanic. The sound effects and car sounds are great in this title, but the music is ordinary… but that does not harm the game at all.

The control setup is standard and can be customized anyway the player chooses. At first, I thought the braking

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and blowouts could ruin your whole race day.

Overall this title is great… amazing graphics, good sound, long career and more. Despite all the positives, there is a few negatives, such as the damage.

The damage is a great idea but when crashing 300 +km/h into the wall only your wing gets damaged. In the harder difficulty settings this is the same but the cars performance will be affected more.

The steering needs to have a sensitivity setting available to adjust to the needs of the player, but with a steering wheel this is not an issue.

The long loading time before each race is also a negative for this title. Besides these micro problems, this title is great, and can be enjoyed by hard-core and novice F1 fans alike. There are numerous settings that the hard-core fans can play around with, included with full race weekends (and shortened ones).

There is much racing available so the replay value is worth the asking price. g

AT A GLANCE: This will be the new bench mark for all F1 games Developer: Codemasters Publisher: Codemasters Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

was way too soft, I seemed to be under-braking, but if you use the racing line it will help to conquer these problems and improve you driving skills. The steering is too sensitive, if played on a steering wheel with force feedback it might be better.

F1 2011 comes complete with all the official drivers, teams and circuits but the mid-season driver changes do not take place in this title. There have been two new tracks added to the new calendar, which are Buddh International Circuit in India and the Nürburg ring in Germany. Damage has also been added to this year’s title, and will affect the car’s performance.

Another great feature is the DRS (Drag Reduction System): the driver can adjust the rear wing on the car to give a boost of up to 10km/h during the race. KERS also returns, giving players an extra 80BHP for up to 6.67 seconds; this will be limited during each race.

The new Pirelli tyres are simulated in the game, and if players push their car too hard, tyre damage such as flats

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

89 69

PES 2012

Play it Your Way! Footballs biggest rivalry continues!

I

t would make sense for the two most successful football franchises launch their latest instalments so close to one another. I confess I was an ISS Pro Evolution Soccer convertee back in the early 2000’s (enter raging debate and endless marketing slogans). I also confess that I last played a PES title on PS2, having narrowly missed picking up PES 2010 on pre-played out of curiosity (re-enter raging debate). It was an agonising choice to choose FIFA, but I never went back to the FIFA default button configuration (discreetly labelled “Alternate”). Getting a few hours in on the latest PES was an exciting treat.

From what I’ve seen of PES 2011 demos, 2012 seems to follow the same format. One new feature is Teammate Control. Using the right analog stick, you can control fellow team members to run into space, or sprint for a through ball. It’s trickier than it seems at first, but it’s a vital weapon when playing at harder levels. The

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by Suvesh Arumugam

game also features a tutorial, going through each aspect of attack, defence and strategy. Don’t expect a few easy XP, it gets pretty difficult. Once you’ve mastered the basics, PES 2012 offers you pretty much the standard menu. Aside from Exhibitions with Clubs or National Teams, you can play in Champion’s League, or various domestic Leagues like La Liga, Eredivisie and tournaments like the Copa Libertadores in South America. Football Life is a choice between the classic Master League challenge (essentially a Manager Mode) and Become a Legend, which is PES’s version of FIFA’s Be A Pro – where the player must build their own individual career from fledgling signing to international soccer star (not as easy as it seems - you must win over the coach, the players and the fans). These are the two aspects you’ll end up playing the most, as they are both fairly difficult (if you choose the right level) but satisfying when you qualify to the next level. Be warned – if you don’t meet objectives, your

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Other features, like online community (linked to Facebook) and galleries to view your photos and replays, help to make up for it though.

It would be almost impossible to review either of the latest Pro Evolution Soccer or FIFA titles without comparisons dominating the review, thanks to the competitive nature of gaming. As I cast my mind back to the days of PlayStation One, FIFA and PES (then called ISS Pro)were amongst many football simulators on the market, along with This is Football, Total Club Manager and there was a stage where UEFA Champions League and even big teams like Manchester United launched their own competing games. These days it’s pretty much down to FIFA dominating the market, and only Pro Evolution trailing behind in second. With the dominating brand shutting down competition, it doesn’t leave us much variety to choose from. I think I understand die-hard PES fans dedication; there is something revolutionary about it! g

AT A GLANCE: Test your football skills against the best of international and club teams in the latest PES instalment.

Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami Distributor: Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

career ends, and you start from scratch again.

The gameplay is smooth and very different to its competitor, though these days both franchises allow for the curious and the converted to some degree. PES has always had a more arcade-like feel, which is fun and replay friendly. It also suffers from its predecessors confusing menus, and lengthy loading times. While some sequences like the Champions League’s trademark blue flags are fun, it’s not fun waiting around. I was initially relieved to see the newer versions of PES now have most of the teams fully licenced and up to date. It was always a deciding factor for me, Ruud Gullit (one of my all-time favourite players) was just no fun as Gulaatz. After I had scored a few XP training and building my career, I went to the Extra Content section, to see what was on offer. After buying a few classic teams and players, I realised the old bugbear was back. Using increasingly dissimilar names to the original, many top classic players have been substituted.

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

78 71

NBA2K12

Court is now in session Dribbling through everything else

L

ast year’s title, NBA2k11, won over 20 awards only to fall short to FIFA for the best sports game of the year. This year NBA has come back with a vengeance, to prove that it can make improvements to further enhance the game play, graphics and soundtrack to be the best sports game of this year.

The small adjustments made to the graphics have made a big difference overall to title, bringing better player animations, player movements, crowds and stadiums. For the most, it looks like real-life ESPN coverage of the game, complete with full team line ups, player intros and TV commercials.

The player movements look more realistic than ever before, and the game features better ball handling and movement with the ball, as well as dribbling. The court looks life like but the attention, if not on the players, is focused on the crowd. The crowd will behave differently

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by Dylan Bouch

depending on the performance of the player and that team; with longer winning streaks the stadium gets fuller and fans become louder. The fans do not all wave, stand and shout at the same time, adding a more realistic feel.

Bench players also support and cheer their teammates and will hold their heads in their hand at bad plays made by the player. The players from the teams are all well presented and look authentic, although there will be one or two characters that look strangely odd… but this doesn’t take anything away from the title.

It has a very cool controller setup which is not very complicated at all. Defence is a little tougher in this year’s title as the AI has been improved. I was unable to notice any lag in the controls, which makes for a smooth and flowing match every time. To control the shot the player will need to use the right analog stick; do not think that shooting will be easy, as it is all about timing. With the

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Greatest mode. In this mode players won’t just be able to use the famous Michael Jordan but also Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain and many more. In it you can challenge yourself to relive some of the greatest matchups of all time.

All of these challenges are almost exact as they were way back when, with signature moves, authentic uniforms and stadiums, as well as the appropriate broadcast presentations. This isn’t the only mode available; there is a whole lot more to keep any NBA fans busy for a long time, includind single matchup, my player mode, creating a legend and a full franchise season.

This title is really fun and very realistic at the same time. The amount of time you will need to finish this title is debatable at the moment because there are so many game modes to play through… so the replay value will be long lasting and it will remain enjoyable for some time. g

AT A GLANCE: One of the better sports games this year, with some of the best commentary yet in a sports title.

Developer: Visual Concepts Publisher: 2K Sports Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

timing of the shots, players can now perfect their jump shots and fade-aways.

Defence is just as simple but also difficult at the same time. The player can try snatch or knock the ball out the their opponents hands, but if you over do it, you will force a penalty.

The NBA2k franchise has always had a great soundtrack as well as great commentary. This year’s title features some of the best artists with their smash hits (if the hiphop scene is your thing , then you might as well buy this game just for the music soundtrack). The commentary is fantastic, and almost perfect. The only downfall to the commentary is that if you play the same two teams in a match up, you will hear repetitive commentary.

The sound effects from the crowd and on court action are great too.

As with the NBA2k11 title, NBA2k12 features the NBA

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

92 73

Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure

Ka-ching!

An ingenious way for Activision to make money…

A

winning formula is something that everyone is after, but it seems that people can take a few lessons from Activision. This company has, a number of times in the past, created game franchises that have proven to be wildly popular, and sustainable.

They might have shelved Guitar Hero, but let’s be honest… they did a lot right with that franchise.

And now they have something new, something which will get moms and dads cracking open their wallets to keep the kids happy – or even maybe to keep themselves happy. Skylanders: Spyro’s adventure combines a great platform adventure video game with a range of collectable toys. It is ingenious.

The player takes on the role of a Portal Master, who can use a Portal of Power to bring heroic Skylanders in to help save the magical kingdom of Skylands from an evil tyrant. Nothing special there, until you consider how it works. See, the player actually has a Portal of Power,

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a peripheral that plugs into their console of choice. And they actually have Skylanders, cute figurines that can be collected.

When the Portal is plugged in and the game started up, any Skylander figurine that is placed on the Portal will appear in the game, more or less instantly.

Every level in the game can be played with any character, although some bonus areas are only accessible to characters of a certain class; fire, water, magic, mechanical and so on.

Additionally, certain classes are stronger in certain levels than others. Characters can be changed simply by swapping the figure standing on the Portal out… which has an almost instantaneous effect on the game.

Do you see the genius at work here?

Completionist kids (and all kids are when it comes to things like this) will need at least one character of each class to complete the game, not just the three characters

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compete with each other in battle modes.

Another plus is that Skylanders is extremely inoffensive.

Yes, the characters do battle in game, but there is no blood and gore, no harsh language and no other content that parents need to worry about. Skylanders is an extremely safe gaming option for kids of all ages.

The graphics are bright and cheery, and all speech is recorded. Although there are subtitles, kids don’t need to be able to read to enjoy Skylanders. The levels themselves are challenging at times, but they won’t be overly frustrating for youngsters, and will offer adults a pretty relaxed and enjoyable experience. And the controls are simple enough for any age, with plain, clear tutorial elements to help players along. The game is only around eight hours long, and the characters are capped at level ten (for now, we assume.) but kids who get bitten by the bug will get a lot of joy out of this, while their parents will be relieved of the burden of piles of cash. g

AT A GLANCE: A new collectible game from Activision that will help lighten parents’ wallets.

Developer: Toys for Bob Publisher: Activision Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

7+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

that the game comes with. And there are expansions sets, too, which unlock new missions and items… provided the toys are bought.

If you’re a parent, you may be rolling your eyes at this point. But there are several good reasons to consider what could become a substantial investment in your child’s entertainment. First off, there are the characters themselves. Elements of the game progress are saved onto the actual figurines, which are well made and quite frankly adorable. The figurines also work cross-platform.

That means that kids can take the ones they have been suing with, say, their Xbox 360, and go visit a friend who had a Wii… using the same characters and saved information for a multiplayer session. All their progress there will be saved too, meaning that any level-ups and the like will be available to them when they get home. The characters can even be personalised, so that there are no arguments about which belongs to who. They can even

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

79 75

Just Dance 3

Rock, Dance, Disco Do the whatever!

W

e all know that kinect games are much more fun when you play with a group of friends.

From dancing to athletics and strange arcade games, they are all fun, and it seems like a life time away when you have to wait in line for your next chance while playing with friends. And even though you know that you look like a clown, it is still fun...so get the Duck Sauce and do the Barbara Streisand!

In Just Dance 3 players will need to perform choreographed dance moves in accordance to the moves being displayed on screen. There is a dancer on screen to ‘demonstrate’ the current move and a smaller figure to display the upcoming move. The player will be scored on accuracy, rhythm and energy.

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by Dylan Bouch With smooth animations and bright, colourful displays Just Dance 3 is very pleasing and fun. Although the graphics are fun and colourful the game designers should have made the music videos play in the background (like in Michael Jackson: The Experience). Perhaps they could implement this change in the next title of the Just Dance franchise, but the lack of videos does not mean the end of the world, nor is it a reason not to buy the game. The dancers look great and are easy to follow. The backgrounds are funky too, with easy to read score and performance displays.

Controlling the menus isn’t perfect, but is still manageable. Instead of pausing on the icon to select (on whatever you may be selecting) the player just swipes a

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sure you will be dancing until Easter, and maybe even beyond. Singles, two players and even four at a time can play Just Dance 3… spreading the love is always a good console game option.

The more players involved, the more intense and fun the game gets. A new mode allows the player to create and share their own choreographed moves, so if you think you have what it takes you could challenge you friends with your very own dance routine.

This is a very good title; there is not much wrong with Just Dance 3. Being a guy I did find that my dancing skills weren’t up to the challenge but after a couple of practice runs I felt bit more confident. I guess it’s all about practice and then high scores. g

AT A GLANCE: What more can you ask from a kinect dance game? Nothing – it’s all here.

Developer: Ubisoft Publisher: Ubisoft Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

hand to the side, which is very smooth and much quicker than on other Kinect titles.

The dancing parts of the controls are fairly accurate in most cases; when you dance below average or poorly, the player is unable to see where they have gone wrong.

With this title there are no replay videos, which could be a positive for some players, like casual players that do not want to be displayed on screen after each song.

Just Dance 3 has a spectacular line up of tracks that will appeal to any audience. With over 50 tracks to choose from, and dance too, every family member or “Emo” friend can join in. Gwen Stefani, Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz, Queen, Rihanna and many more are there to grove to.

With such a line up and the various game modes, I pretty

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

80 77

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon

Dogging for Some Action Get up close and personal with Assault Horizon

W

ay back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and games were played on screens with 16 colours, there was this charming little combat flight simulator called F-15 Strike Eagle II. It was hardly a genre-defining title but it was developed by MicroProse who was known for its fun titles that combined some realism without sacrificing the playability of a title.

In an era when Microsoft Flight Simulator and F-19 Stealth Fighter ruled the roost (or should that be top guns?), F-15 was a welcome change and let players have some mindless dogfighting fun in modern theatres with just the right dollop of realism thrown in to keep them interested.

Just as the franchise came to an end in 1992 with the third title in the series, Ace Combat hit the PlayStation console and almost immediately took over the reigns as the de facto arcade combat flight simulator franchise of choice.

Throughout the 12 games (to date) in the franchise, it

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has never taken itself too seriously. The hallmarks of the series, such as fast-paced action, dramatic plots, and its ‘pick up and play’ approach, have been kept throughout for the most part.

Its latest incarnation, Assault Horizon, maintains this ethos by combining a fairly decent plot (in the singleplayer campaign mode) with good graphics, and a nice amount of action during missions.

The story is written by New York Times bestselling author Jim DeFelice who specialises in action-packed military thriller and spy novels, and military history. It is set in 2015 and sees you controlling Lieutenant Colonel William Bishop, the leader of the Warwolf Squadron, which is part of the 108th Task Force, a large multinational UN military force composed of NATO and Russian forces. You are sent to stop a rebel insurgent group called the SRN, who are threatening the Eastern African continent, and who are funded with weapons and mercenaries by the Russian crime syndicate Blatnoi.

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something to be said for hammering down on your machine gun when going for the kill in such close quarters.

One of the criticisms of any flight simulator is its controls. Thankfully, this is not a problem in Assault Horizon. The controls are easy to get used to especially if you are a veteran of the series.

Having said that, the experienced players might take a bit of acclimatisation to the dogfighting mode.

And while single player is fun, Assault Horizon really shines when you compete in multi-player, more so when engaging in the close-range assault system.

Assault Horizon is not perfect. Some might not enjoy the dogfighting mode whilst others will look for a more authentic experience.

However, if you are in the market for a fun combat flight simulator that you can just pick up and play without worrying too much about stalling your engine mid-turn when being chased down by a bogey, then this is the game for you. g

AT A GLANCE: You could do far worse than get Assault Horizon when looking for an action-packed arcade combat flight simulator.

Developer: Project Aces Publisher: Namco Bandai Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

And while you should not play Assault Horizon under the impression that it is the plot that keeps it together, it is nice to see developers trying to incorporate some degree of narrative into what is essentially a ‘blow up everything that is not on your side’ kind of game.

A nice touch is the additional visual effects when you destroy an enemy aircraft, shoot troops, or bomb buildings. While some might argue that this is needless eye candy, it does add to your immersion in the game as a fighter pilot.

New to the franchise is the close-range assault system which provides you with a type of first-person shooter mode against the enemy when you are within range. The marketing spiel is that it ‘incorporates a state-of-the-art cinematic camera system for a thrilling visual experience’.

While I was initially sceptical about its merits, it did not take long to really appreciate the sense of speed and exhilaration of the chase especially when you are trying to dodge skyscrapers in the urban settings. There is

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

75 79

Dark Souls

Masochism

How to punish yourself for playing games…

S

omeone needs to tell developers From Software that games are supposed to be fun. Challenging, yes. Maddening, sure. But the latest game from this group will have you sobbing in your pillow as you try to fall asleep while your myriad failures replay themselves in your mind…

Dark Souls is the spiritual sequel to Demons’ Souls, and it places the player is a massive fantasy world that is rank with dread and despair. It was made that way on purpose… most of the player’s time will be spent as an undead character trying to regain their humanity. And the tumbled down ruins and monstrous caverns where the majority of the game takes place will only go further to enhance the truly bleak feeling that this game evokes.

That, still, is all fine and well. But the thing with Dark

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Souls is that the makers wanted to make a game even more difficult than Demons’ Souls was. That’s quite a feat, considering the reputation of the previous release. And they did it, too.

Dark Souls is a game that doesn’t so much reward the player as punish them for the slightest mistake, forcing them to replay sections over and over again. This game is not about having fun. It is about overcoming adversity and surmounting truly massive challenges.

The player will have a choice of character classes to begin with, but after that they can painstakingly advance their character in any way they like. Be warned, though – the assumption that a stronger character will fare better is an incorrect one. Rather, the game just gets nastier as it goes along. Sure, the player can resort to a sort

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– who are after more fast-and-nasty satisfaction – won’t ever even get to the point that they can feel the bliss of such a great victory.

If nothing else, a stubborn player who determines to finish this game (and that takes guts, trust me) will be treated to a long, thoroughly challenging title. The difficulty is exacerbated by the fact that everything here is done in real-time. There is no pausing in the game. The player needs to make adjustments in safe areas, or at one of the many way-point style bonfires that save their progress. They’ll see these often enough, because that’s where they go when they die… minus all the souls they have fought so hard to collect.

This one is not for the faint of heart… or even the average gamer. g

AT A GLANCE: This game can be extremely rewarding, mainly because it is so damned difficult.

Developer: From Software Publisher: Namco Bandai Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

of grinding mechanic to get a bit stronger, but even this approach is long and frustrating.

What makes things manageable is the multiplayer aspect, in which other players can enter your game as spectres to give some assistance. This, naturally, depends on the goodwill of the community at large, but suffice to say that the multiplayer element makes this game bearable. If you’re not going to play online, it’s almost pointless to try.

While the game is sadistic beyond measure and most gamers will turn away from it in frustrated disgust, From Software did manage to create a compelling and thrilling experience. Killing a giant boss who killed your character a hundred times before brings with it a special kind of thrill.

The likelihood is, though, that most gamers these days

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

80 81

Crimson Alliance

Hack! Slash!

A fun XBLA romp

the levels do require some exploring, and have several hidden areas available that can be found for bonus score and cash.

Speaking of score, leader boards will also keep players coming back as they try to be the best of their friend group in the title.

On the downside, the characters need to be purchased individually, which is a bit of a hassle. Still, players can choose to specialise, if they don’t want to buy all of the characters. The game itself, incidentally, can be downloaded for free… but then you won’t have any characters to use.

The bright graphics, good humour and generally challenging action make Crimson Alliance a good addition to any XBLA game collection. g

AT A GLANCE: Despite requiring extra purchases, Crimson Alliance is a fun-filled action slasher.

Developer: Certain Affinity Publisher: Microsoft Distributor: XBLA

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

13+ 82

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

T

here are a wealth of really fun games available on XBLA these days. Take Crimson Alliance, for example. This unassuming title will have friends playing co-operatively to their heart’s content.

The game puts the player in the role of either a wizard, a warrior or an assassin as they try to stop an ancient evil from taking over a fantasy kingdom. Either in single player or in co-op, players will have tons of action adventure style hacking and slashing to do in this title, with levels that can be replayed over and over again.

There are hidden areas for specific characters, and a mass of different weapons and armours to collect. In short, it’s got great replayability.

Unfortunately, the levels are always the same. There is no randomisation at all. That’s OK, though, because

by Walt Pretorius

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

79

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“‰”, “PlayStation”, “ ”, “ ” and “ ” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “SONY” and “ ” are registered trademarks of Sony Corporation. All titles, content, publisher names, trademarks, artwork, and associated imagery are trademarks and/or copyright material of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. *Manufacturer’s recommended maximum retail price for PSP-E1000. Actual retail prices may vary. Games sold separately. Online functionality not available on PSP-E1000.

WRC 2: FIA World Rally Championship 2011

Revenge of the Lawnmowers Dirt and sand will get in your eyes

R

ally games are actually a very niche market for developers, and not everyone is a fan of getting down and dirty in the dust bowls of the world.

Black Bean released their sequel to last year’s WRC, and even though they had some time to work on it, it’s stacked to the brim with problems. he revamped menu allows for much easier navigation than before, and it’s quick to locate the single races and the options.

But while everything looks all shiny and new in the menu, underneath lurks a couple of problems that might put gamers off of racing with the wide variety of vehicles across the numerous tracks.

One of the worst things about the game is the sound - not only the sound quality, but the actual sounds that they cars make as they whizz by. Rally cars in nature sound very different to their showroom mates, but there is no reason why they should sound like overpowered lawnmowers.

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by Charlie Fripp

If the Subaru WRX STi doesn’t sound bad enough, the car that takes the cake for the worst engine sounds is the Ford Fiesta. At first, gamers could be forgiven to think that their sound system conked out just as the car is about to pull off, but after starting a new race, the fear has been affirmed.

The Fiesta’s sound is like that of a bee at a trance party while being swung around in a plastic tube. It’s absolutely horrible. And the other cars don’t fare much better.

But with that said, there is a glimmer of hope with some of the other dust monsters, as they almost get it right to produce the familiar grumbles that gamers and off-road enthusiasts are used to. So it’s not all bad, but it certainly could have been a lot better.

In terms of controls, the game uses a fairly simple system, as it should. There isn’t much that developers can do to revolutionise driving controls, so the standard setup suffices here. The developers also brought back the rewind system that has been plaguing driving games since around

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come close to Forza or even DiRT, they are sufficient in their task at hand. Some glitching will occur, but those can be fixed with a quick patch, but in general, gamers will find the graphics to be satisfactory.

Mud will actually stick to the car and dust will accumulate over the vehicle’s body, which is always good to see, as no car will make it through a 4.3km stage in the middle of Kenya and come out on the other as shiny as a new born baby.

OK, the game has a lot of issues that should have been fixed in the development stage, but if gamers enjoyed the first WRC game, then they will definitely love this one - although the first game was plagued by the same problems.

The title is by no means difficult, and will make for an enjoyable play if you’re not a fan of the highlycommercialised DiRT franchise. To put it in a better comparison, WRC 2 is to DiRT as what Gran Turiso 5 is to Forza 4. g

AT A GLANCE: It’s definitely not one of the best rally games out there.

Developer: Milestone Publisher: Black Bean Distributor: Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

the first DiRT title from Codemasters a couple of years back.

But even though the controls are simple enough to understand, the cars just don’t handle in the dirt like they should. Once again, rally cars are expected to behave differently on dirt, but in the game, there is no reason for them to jerk around like turtle in syrup with a parachute attached to the back when going around a corner.

It might be a sensitively issue, but they just don’t handle like they should. It’s almost like the front wheels of the cars stay in a straight line, and when the steering wheel is turned, it throws out the car’s bum, depending on how hard it is being steered - like it’s turning on its back wheels.

Hating to make the comparison, but any game released after Forza 4 is going to have a very tough time convincing gamers that it is the best game on the market.

But it’s not all that bad. A redeeming factor of all the mentioned issues is the graphics. Although they don’t

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

72 85

X-Men: Destiny

Super-Powered?

Are limited choices what gamers want?

W

hen we first heard that there was an X-Men game on the way that would allow players to not only make choices that would affect the story, but also play as a customisable character, we were extremely excited. It’s what has been lacking in superhero games in, like, forever; the ability to create your own hero.

And it’s those claims that make Silicon knights X-Men: Destiny really rather disappointing. Because while the player has choices, they are extremely limited, and the effect that the player has on the plot is next-to nothing.

The story kicks off at a rally to honour the late Charles Xavier (and bear in mind that the game follows the comics, not the movie, so the plot-line is a bit different from what film-goers might expect). At this

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point the player gets to choose between one of three characters, being a football jock, a Japanese ‘refugee’ and an annoying rebel type. As all hell breaks loose, the character’s mutant powers begin manifesting themselves, and the player will once again have the choice between three ability sets: a combat-tank style matter control, assassin-style energy blades or caster-like balls of energy shot out from the hands. Obviously the characters can be mixed and matched with the powers, but it really makes no difference.

Each character has a different back-story that affects only a handful of dialogue options. Beyond that, the game is pretty much the same, no matter who you play it with – or even if you side with the X-Men or Magneto’s Brotherhood. It’s a wasted opportunity, more than

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missions pretend to be different, they essentially all come down to defeating a certain number of enemies. There are one or two that will have the player destroying object while enemies attack them, or they will need to defeat all the enemies within a time period, or they will need to beat more enemies than Wolverine… but it all comes down to beating enemies. Even the hidden Challenge missions come down to the same thing, resulting in a game that is ultimately extremely repetitive. It’s also too easy, so if you’re after a quick 1000 Gamer Score, it’s an option.

X-Men: Destiny could have been a truly awesome game, if the developers had taken their ideas and put a little more into them; more choices, more character influence on the story, and so on. As it stands, it’s a lacklustre button masher that does little to set itself apart from the crowd.g

AT A GLANCE: A great idea, but limited choices and minimal impact brings it down.

Developer: Silicon Knights Publisher: Activision Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

anything.

As the character progresses, the player will need to choose between two new powers at a few different junctures, but even these choices don’t make that much of a difference to the action. Neither do the X-genes or suits that the player can collect, which slightly modify their abilities.

While the player will run into – and sometimes even compete against – a host of X-Men characters, they will be restricted to their chosen character for the play-through.

Two saves are available for each character, if players want to sit through the game more than once.

The problem with that is that the story essentially never changes, and the action becomes a pretty boring set of button-mashing moves before long. Even though the

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

58 87

Spider-Man: Edge of Time

Spiderwane

Shooting webbed blanks with something that could have been great

F

or those of us who grew up reading comic books, Spider-Man was one of those heroes many could relate to.

Peter Parker was not the clean-cut Clark Kent or the morbid Bruce Wayne. In many ways, Parker was an everyman kind of superhero.

He wanted revenge for actions done against him, was not confident enough to ask girls out, and had a friend who attracted all the attention. He had to work hard to make a living, and had many ‘real world’ problems we could identify with.

And it seems as if the entertainment industry caught on to this popularity. Today, super-hero movies are a dime a dozen as producers, who were children of the ‘80s, have finally grown up to pay homage to the heroes of their youth. As with anything, the relative merits of their successes or failures to do so can be debated for hours on end. This passion has been extended to the gaming industry with developers and publishers alike looking to

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offer players the ability to become their heroes.

Looking at Spidey on gaming platforms, our webcrawling friend has featured on more than 15 platforms since the late ‘70s. Many of the titles have been complete duds and some have been a lot of fun to play. So it was with mixed emotions that I started playing the latest incarnation, Edge of Time.

Written by award-winning comic book writer Peter David, who had runs on The Incredible Hulk, Aquaman, Young Justice, Supergirl, and Fallen Angel, as well as television work on Star Trek, Babylon 5, and Ben 10: Alien Force. So clearly this is someone who knows what he is talking about. But can he translate his success to the interactive medium?

In a way yes, and no. Edge of Time should be seen as a comic book that you have some control over but essentially just ‘read’ through an interactive format. You get to control both sets of Spider-Men with their actions impacting on one another through the timeline. In fact, it is

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cut scene or move the story along. Certainly, there are experience points available and upgrades to be had, but it does not feel like you are in control of the game. There were many times that I felt like a passenger just having to press an arbitrary button here and there without any real consequences.

The voice acting is great with Val Kilmer lending his voice to the antagonist of the piece and the story has that true comic book feel. But throughout, I could not help but wonder if there was more of a free-form mode to it whether Edge of Time would have been more engaging.

Yes, it has a specific story to get through but it does so very quickly. Replay value is therefore limited with no real reason to keep coming back for more.

I would not recommend this to anybody who is on the lookout for a superhero game they can sink their teeth into. Instead, Edge of Time will leave you feeling like you are just watching a comic book on your console with no real excitement to get the blood pumping. g

AT A GLANCE: A good story, voice-acting, and interesting game concepts cannot save this from feeling unimaginative and uninspiration.

Developer: Beenox Publisher: Activision Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

12+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

the constantly evolving timeline that gets driven through the cause and effect moments in the game that sounds appealing. You also get a ‘picture-in-picture’ view of this impact on both universes.

Edge of Time begins with Peter Parker/Spider-Man battling Anti-Venom, who suddenly kills him. Rewinding back to the starting of the event, in the year 2099 Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 investigates Alchemax’s scientist Walker Sloan. While spying on him, Miguel discovers Sloan’s planning to travel back in time and found Alchemax in the past years before it was originally established. Miguel arrives just as Sloan enters his Gateway, but jumps through the portal too late to stop him. Trapped between the timeline, Miguel sees visions of the original Spider-Man being killed by Anti-Venom as history alters around him.

Yet, the game left me cold. It is not a bad game, but then again it is not a good one either. You merely act as an enabler to get Spider-Man to activate the next

PC X360 Kinect

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Score

55 89

The Sims 3: Pets

Fido, Fetch!

New ways to be a sadist included…

W

hile the PC version of The Sims 3 was all about helping little virtual people live awesome lives, the console versions of the game seemed to be more about terrorising them.

There were actually ways built into that version to ensure that you could make their lives a misery. Well, now there’s a sequel, on console once again, and the terror just deepens…

The Sims 3: Pets is, as the name implies, a version of the Sims 3 that allows players to not only control virtual people, but their pets as well. While the PC version of the game offers a wider variety of animals, the console version restricts the critters to dogs and cats. Don’t think for a moment that this will ruin your experience… furry terror is just a few moments away!

Just like players can create their sims, using fairly robust character creation tools, so can they create all

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manner of cuddly animals for their sims to live with. OK, all manner of dogs and cats. But they can make them look however they want, within those parameters. Want a lime green cat? No problem. A pink spotted great dane? Easy as pie.

Once you have created your sims and their animal companions, the game becomes much like the previous console version.

The core of the game dynamic is the same, although there are new ‘missions’ and such, as well as some new activities. And there are new ways to mess with your sims in the form of Karma, which was the best part of the previous release.

The potential for mucking about is fantastic here. You can, for example, create a sim who is a dog lover, and then give them a dog that hates them. Or vice versa. Naturally, you can also use Karma to do all manner of other nice and

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won’t deliver smooth performance… rather, the game will stutter through the sped up actions, and catching the perfect opportunity to slow things down again may get tricky.

The developers obviously know about this issue, too – the game actually suggests installing to your console’s hard drive to smooth things over. It’s not a necessity, but it doesn’t hurt to do so.

On the whole, this is a fun addition to EA’s increasingly massive Sims franchise, and those that enjoy messing with their sims – or even just the idea that they can create almost anything they want for the virtual people and their pets – will probably get a kick out of it, if they can get past the technical issues.

It’s a pedantic experience, even when installed, though, meaning that it certainly will not be everyone’s cup of tea.

But, at very least, torturing the sims is worth a few laughs. g

AT A GLANCE: The addition of pets to the mix adds a whole bunch of ways to torture your hapless sim characters.

Developer: Sims Studio Publisher: Electronic Arts Distributor: EA South Africa

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

12+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

nasty things to your character, like improve their mood or take them out. You can even use Karma to turn their pet into a human, to take their relationship to the next level… although we did find this idea mildly creepy.

If you don’t own The Sims 3 for console, this is a better purchase. It gives you more options and more fun. But if you did buy the previous release, you may feel a little stiffed by this one – there is more to do, but maybe not quite enough to warrant another purchase. The game is, essentially, unchanged, other than the addition of pets and a handful of new elements.

And then there is the technical side of things. This game is big and ambitious, and it shows in terms of performance.

Going from one area to another – from your home to a community lot, let’s say – will result in a long loading time.

Additionally, speeding up time so that your sim characters can get through a bunch of tasks in a hurry

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

75 91

Clones

Lemmings Redone There’s a number 47 joke here, I just know it

are given to navigate the treacherous terrain. This includes mundane skills like having your clones dig, to fun stuff like having a clone explode to get through a wall or atomising a clone to create a bridge.

Clones provides a good challenge across its 150+ levels, an enormous amount of game time for what is at its heart a relatively simple game. For anyone who has played Lemmings the Clones will be instantly recognisable as, except for a few minor tweaks, the game play is near identical. The game does suffer a bit from minor flaws, such as ambiguous objectives, but technically the game is solid, with good sound and simple but well-presented graphics.

Clones’ biggest flaw however is that it simply doesn’t do enough differently.

Lemmings was a fantastic game in the early 1990’s, but times have changed, and as gamers we expect more, which Clones just doesn’t deliver. g

AT A GLANCE: If you enjoyed Lemmings, give Clones a look, but don’t expect to be blown away by its innovation.

Developer: Tomkorp Publisher: Lace Mamba Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ 92

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PC Platforms

I

n 1991 DMA Design (now Rockstar North) unleashed a storm upon the gaming world in the form of Lemmings, where you had to save cute little suicide-seeking creatures from all sorts of hazardous environments. Lemmings was a massive success, spawning a host of sequels and ports, and to this day is still remembered as one of the greats. It’s therefore seemingly inevitable that someone would attempt to copy this fondly remembered title.

Well Tomkorp have been kind enough to oblige with the rather aptly named Clones. Like Lemmings, it features cute little suicide-seeking creatures that you have to save from all sorts of hazardous environments.

Only now they’re not lemmings, they’re clones. See, originality.

As in Lemmings, you are a sort of benevolent sadist (at least I laugh when I blow my clones up), using whatever skills, or morphs as the game calls them, you

by Lein Baart

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

68

g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Supremacy MMA

A Beat Down With a bloody good reason

B

uild your career as you move through the amateur underground mix martial arts scene. Make sure you have the stomach to withstand the brutality thrown at you as you step into the ring with Supremacy MMA. Men, woman, Muay Thai to boxing all you need to calm your cravings for a brutal fight.

When it comes down to graphics, Supremacy MMA has done an exceptional job.

From the start, we see cool menus with a rock-slashmetal sort of them or feel. When it comes down to the actual fight, the player will notice a fluid motion of brutality. Most of the fantastic work has been done through the characters, with every punch comes blood spray, facial or body bruises. The fighters move around the ring with ease, looking around the ring during a fight the player will notice the stadiums are well presented, with a variety of locations to choose from, too.

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Dylan Bouch The crowd or fans aren’t quite as well done, with odd movements and most of them following a regular pattern of movement… but that does not hurt the overall feel.

The body damage looks really great - knock outs are some of my favourite moments of this title, breaking a leg or a rib to end the fight leaves your opponent on the floor dragging him or herself to the side of the ring in pain. On the other hand clean knockouts leave your opponent daze, confused and gasping for air.

It is actually pretty awesome to see a limb break, and the body as well and the face bruises really easily. This title is not shy on the blood department either… brutal fights leave the mat stained with a great deal of blood.

I was quite disappointed with the controller setup; it’s very basic but confusing at the same time. There aren’t enough controls for attacking, and depending on the characters style you might only have a punch and a kick

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style. This does tie into the underground nature of the fights, though.

The story modes aren’t very long but there is a variety of fight mode that the player can choose from.

Battle Royale or Survival Ladder in the tournaments are exhausting as most fights don’t go to decision and end before the bell, so make sure you are well trained before these events.

For the first time in a mix martial arts game we have female fighters (Femmes Fatales). Even though there are only two fighters in this category it’s still quite fun to beat up another lady, but you may only fight woman on woman.

In the end it is the simplicity of the title that scuppers it.

It doesn’t feel like an MMA simulation. Rather, it comes across as a standard side-on fighting title wearing an MMA jacket, and as such it cannot really compete with other MMA titles on the market. g

AT A GLANCE: This title is frustrating in the beginning but may grow on you when you have learnt how to play the game properly.

Developer: Kung Fu Factory Publisher: 505 Games Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

18+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

option. The player will most likely succeed in winning a bout with submissions as the kick and punched do little damage.

To get around to grappling and floor style game is also a tall task. With so few options on the attack side, the player will most probably turn to button bashing and get frustrated very quickly.

Supremacy MMA has an awkward setup but I soon realised the button bashing is not the solution - patience is. When taking you time to counter and fight at a slower pace it seems to be a tad better. Finding your rhythm will take some time but well worth it.

The sound track is very metal and rock oriented, which isn’t too bad and suites this title very well. But the sound effects seem under-done, although not too bad overall.

There isn’t any commentary for this title which could be a positive or a negative, depending on your own personal

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

55 95

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron

Beauty Meets the Beast Journey into an original world

T

akeyasu Sawaki, a character designer for games like the iconic Devil May Cry series, presents a unique gaming adventure experience on PS3 and Xbox360. In the age of epic games like God of War and the long awaited upcoming release of The Last Guardian, there are only a few games a year that truly make audience’s jaws drop, let alone challenge the imagination. At first glance El Shaddai seems like the standard anime inspired RPG adventure, like Final Fantasy type games. But a few minutes into the games reveals a highly original game universe, with refreshingly new-looking characters, weapons and mythology.

The story is inspired by an ancient Jewish religious story, The Book of Enoch. According to mystical beliefs, Enoch was ascended into Heaven to guard all the celestial treasures and mysteries of paradise. He is given the name of Metatron, which means “He who speaks to God”. Enoch’s tale is also told in the Bible (he is the father of Noah) and in the Quran, and he is generally a

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by Suvesh Arumugam revered figure.

The game sticks very much to this premise, and tells the story of Enoch returning to Earth, with the help of Lucifel (an angel), to find the Fallen, angels who have fallen to Earth many years ago. The fallen must be found to prevent a disaster that will destroy mankind. The game opens with one of the most original credit sequences I have seen in a while. While your newly introduced character slashes through a few minions, original concept artwork explains the background of the story, that Enoch has spent hundreds of years on Earth searching for the Fallen without success, and now finally a clue has appeared.

The characters, backgrounds and worlds that Ignition Games have created with Sawaki are absolutely breathtaking.

The concept for the characters looks a lot like rotoscoping, a technique used in the 70’s when animators would draw directly onto celluloid. Although digital film changes things drastically, recent films like “A Scanner

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Ultimately, El Shaddai is a hack and slash adventure, that is really a vehicle for the spectacular graphics and concepts.

The video sequences which drive the story are very long and complex, though even watching all the clips does not really explain a very intricate premise.

The weapons do start becoming more interesting to a point, but it really does not require the constant unlocking and upgrading one would expect. The enemies do not pose much of a challenge, in fact some of them do not fight back at all in the early rounds, so progressing through the game is not difficult. In fact, there is not much else to do except fight through the sequences to string the story together.

The fighting is also basic button mashing, so combos or timing sequences are not required.

While the imagery and visual of the game is truly original and impressive, the rest of the game is really uninspiring and will probably leave most gamers unsatisfied. g

AT A GLANCE: The universe of the El Shaddai is visually breathtaking, though the game doesn’t quite live up to the graphics.

Developer: Ignition Tokyo Publisher: Konami Distributor: Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

12+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

Darkly” have resurrected the look. The concept for the world is more like something out of dreams that any worlds we have seen, even in video games. Something like a mixture between Devil May Cry and Tron is the closest description, and the worlds become more dazzling and exotic as the game progresses.

Enoch is armed firstly with the Arch, a holy weapon which allows him to slash at enemies. Later he is able to use the Gale, a long range blast of missile like energy.

Finally he unlocks the Veil, which vastly improves Defence and Attack strength. He is also armed with celestial armour, which is knocked off piece by piece by enemy attacks to indicate health level (a hilarious reminder of the old knight running through graveyards in his skivvies in “Ghosts ‘n Goblins” back in the day). The enemies are also very original creations, and seem to be out of a Studio Ghibli movie like Princess Mononoke. Slashing through enemies corrupts Enoch’s heavenly gear, which must be constantly purified for maximum strength.

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

79 97

A Game of Thrones: Genesis

To Be King Always with the bloodshed…

G

eorge R R Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire is not the newest fantasy series around, but it certainly is the hottest. Thanks to the first book of the series, A Game of Thrones, having been given the TV series treatment, these excellent novels are getting a lot of attention. And the beauty if that Mr Martin is involving himself in all associated projects, so fans of the books know that they are getting well-translated media to enjoy. At least, that’s the theory. But if you have read the books – even if you have just seen the first season of the TV series- you may well find that the recently released video game leaves a lot to be desired… despite his involvement.

See, Song of Ice and Fire is a wonderfully rich and complex tale, and one that leads the reader through a plot rife with political intrigue, backstabbing and Machiavellian schemes. A lot of this was lost in the TV series, but the high production values, excellent acting

98

by Walt Pretorius and generally good translation from one medium to another made up for that. However, the game seems to lose it almost entirely, even though the developers appear to have every intention to build upon the political ideas created by the books. And the game is based more on the books than the TV series, with the developers having taken their own interpretation of the world’s visuals, rather than borrowing from the TV series.

The game is set in the 1000 years of history leading up to the saga told by the novels. Starting with the arrival in Westeros of Nymeria, the warrior-queen, through the rise of various Houses, Aegon the Conqueror’s invasion and the War of the Usurper that saw the Lannisters rise to power, the game aims to cast light on the rich history of the game in a real-time strategy format.

What it presents though is an often pedantic and frustrating management title that seems to lack all kinds of balance.

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mix. That means that the player is often caught on the back foot when hostilities inevitably ensue. Additionally, each unit that is recruited, whether military or political, is more expensive than the previous one, making building a substantial force even tougher.

The combat itself is a sort of ‘rock-paper-scissors’ affair, with little need for deep tactics on the part of the player.

Considering the time characters in the novels spend on tactics, this is extremely disappointing.

It seems, for the most part, that developers Cyanide Studio bit off more than they could chew with this ambitious project. The potential is there, but the game itself is beyond fixing with a few patches. To create the game that this franchise deserves would take a trip back to the drawing board. As it stands, poor balancing, nasty voice acting and an apparent lack of control on the part of the player lays A Game of Thrones: Genesis low. Fans may be let down. g

AT A GLANCE: A valiant effort, but the project seems to have been too ambitious for the developers.

Developer: Cyanide Studios Publisher: Focus Home Interactive Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

12+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PC Platforms

The game tasks the player with spreading a given House’s influence over surrounding areas. By doing so, they increase income, influence, potential manpower and so forth. This is achieved by using envoys to make contact, spies to cement secret deals and uncover traitors, assassins to take out opponents, rogues to stir up trouble and ladies of the court to enter into marriages to strengthen alliances. At the same time the player has to watch out for those trying to get one over on him, and needs to keep the existence of bastard children a secret, among other things. Essentially, it’s like a complex chess game, and ties in with the ideas brought about by the novel quite well. In fact, if things never progressed beyond this point, the game would have been much better.

But the inevitable devolution to bloodshed is where the game falls flat. The player will have been juggling a whole bunch of tasks up to this point, and raising an army while doing so adds even more complication to the

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

55 99

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record

No Comment…

A case of exploitative journalism?

as Dead Rising 2, so there is no change to cope with. The game would have been better suited if it was a premium DLC, but instead it feels bland and more of the same as a full release.

The biggest draw card for this title is the fact that it has a new sandbox mode, where players will be able to wander the malls and just randomly kill as many zombies as they can - without having to save anyone or complete a mission.

The sandbox mode also has a couple of challenges, but these become stale pretty quickly.

Fans of Dead Rising and its sequel might get some enjoyment out of Off The Record, but those expecting something completely new will be sorely disappointed.

The graphics and controls have stayed the same, and it’s only the character that has changed - wait until this one hits the pre-played shelf. g

AT A GLANCE: As a reimagining, it’s fairly boring and more of the same, tired action from the first game.

Developer: Blue Castle Publisher: Capcom Distributor: Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

18+ 100

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

I

t’s happened a few times where publishers release a full-priced retail game, where it would have sufficed as downloadable content. Capcom’s Dead Rising 2: Off the Record is unfortunately one such game and it brings nothing exceptionally new to the table.

As players might have guessed, it plays off in the same environment as Dead Rising 2, but for this one, gamers will get to play as Frank West, the photographer who was stuck in the middle of a zombie outbreak from the first Dead Rising game.

In terms of new additions, the only thing that is different is the fact that Frank has new missions and there are a couple of new weapons with which he can use to mow zombies down. Although it wasn’t present in the first game, Frank can also now craft new weapons by combining different objects.

In terms of controls and graphics, it’s exactly the same

by Charlie Fripp

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

70

g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure

Frozen in Your World Alive in ours!

I

f you think that you are reading double, you’re not… this is just to give a roundup of the difference in the Nintendo 3DS version of Skylanders, Spyro’s new adventure. The basics have been covered in the Xbox review and if you missed it, the Xbox360, Wii, PC and PlayStation3 version are all the same except a slight difference in graphics. But how different is the 3DS version? Quite simply, very!

As a reminder, and I even needed to be told this a few times before it sunk in, the models from the others console version work on the 3DS game. The models don’t mind which version they are placed onto but there is a little difference in what is carried over between the bigger consoles and the 3DS. The level of your hero is taken over and really only that. The current hat comes along but if you go to your hat collection in the 3DS version and have not unlocked that hat then changing it

102

by Brian Murdoch will remove that hat.

What’s in a story so why not have two? The Skylanders stories are both based on the Skylands area, but the big bad named Kaos is not found on the 3DS version.

Here Hektor is chasing you, literally chasing you. It’s refreshing to have a change in story if both versions are accessible but you will not even know the difference if they are not.

Jumping does not seem like a big thing to miss but in this case it’s the skill factor required in the 3DS version.

Jumping is easy when there is no one after you but the double jump, tilting platforms and time limit increase the difficult greatly as the story progresses.

The timer does not start from the beginning; the player must have achieved one goal before Hector notices, then its run, run, run. Each level has about 5 or 6 goals for crystals and the last one is Hector’s challenge. It’s only

ggaammeec c caa r reevvi ei eww • • i si s suuee 2197 • • NNoovveemmbbeer r 22001110

when placed on the portal again… in the 3DS version, nothing. This means that you can just lend a friend’s area and load it into the game to open it up.

The Nintendo 3DS version is single player only and is a big challenge compared to its big brother versions.

I’ve had my 5 year old son give it back to me saying “Daddy, it’s too hard and we need to get the TV version.”

The bigger version co-op helps but even without me there he plays fine as everything is explained, with no need to read.

So don’t rush out and buy the Wii and Xbox360 version, because they are the same, but adding the 3DS version will just take the game mobile with the same models.

The two models are loaded into the 3DS and then the game can be played with those models out and about, without the portal. Come back to the portal to change the characters. There is no need to tie down your 3DS. g

AT A GLANCE: The Nintendo 3DS version is single player only and is a big challenge compared to its big brothers.

Developer: Activision Publisher: Activision Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

7+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

3DS Platforms

unlocked when all the others are done and then the timer starts from the beginning of the stage.

There are no areas with bonus effects for different types of Skylanders here, but there is a daily experience bonus have been added in its place.

When a Skylander is used with one of the two element bonus types for that day, a +-40 point bonus is give at the end of each stage. This, with the elemental challenges, makes the player want to at least have one character of each type.

There are four extra areas to unlock with the purchase of an expansion pack but this only adds two more levels and it does seem a bit expensive for what it gives. The character and extra items can be used again and again, but the area needs only to be put onto the portal and loaded into the game once, just like the other versions.

Only the other gaming platform versions have an effect

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

79 103

The Adventures of Tintin:The Secret of the Unicorn

Classic Reimagined The game of the movie of the book…

I

fondly recall the family collection of Tintin books from back when I was a kid. I started reading them quite early… and I kept reading them. Over the years, books that had entertained me as a child revealed themselves to be far more complex than meets the eye, with stylistic elements and subtle plot elements blending to form great stories, combined with an artistic style that was alluring and entertaining.

Whether that is going to translate into the film is anyone’s guess, but the certainty of a game released to support the film is, well… certain. And what they have managed to do with the game is create a gentle, unique experience that will entertain fans of the film and the books with the homage it pays to them.

It is important to note that this is a movie-based game, and many of the issues that go hand-in-hand with that idea are present here. The game does, at times, feel a little rushed but, that said, it presents the player with

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by Walt Pretorius

something out of the ordinary, which is always nice.

The main body of the game is, believe it or not, a 2D platform adventure. Sure, it’s done in 3D, and sports a visual style that is rich and pays homage to that of the comics, but the action mostly takes place in fairly complex side scrolling levels. There are one or two areas where the game breaks away from that idea, which will see the player moving in three dimensions, but for the most part it’s that side scrolling thing.

When we say complex levels, we mean complex in appearance.

The actual playing of the levels is fairly forgiving, and where to go next is generally quite obvious. There are various things for players to do, like starting motors, finding treasure chests, throwing objects at targets and even a bit of fighting.

None of it is overly difficult, and even when the player does fail, the game is extremely forgiving. Checkpoints

ggaammeec c caa r reevvi ei eww • • i si s suuee 2197 • • NNoovveemmbbeer r 22001110

characters, like Captain haddock and Thompson and Thomson. It seems that the creators of the game weren’t really out to create a tough game, but rather to create a video game homage to this well-loved character. In that, they did a good job. But, quite honestly, a game still needs to be a game… and this effort seems more like an interactive story, because of it’s really easy nature and careful adherence to presentation ideas. Still, it is a fair amount of fun, and sitting back with it for a few hours will provide more of a relaxing experience than many other games do.

But if you’re expecting a tough slog, or if you thrive on the adversity presented by high difficulty levels, you’re not going to get any satisfaction here. And that is the game’s biggest downfall – it should have been a lot more difficult than it is, because in its present state, even the youngest family members will breeze through it without breaking a sweat. g

AT A GLANCE: This game is a great homage to Tintin, but it doesn’t offer anywhere near enough challenge.

Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier Publisher: Ubisoft Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

12+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

are numerous, so the player won’t have to repeat long stretches of game play.

While the game is super easy, it is still enjoyable – particularly for Tintin fans. The whole feel of the game, particularly visually, does the original material wonderful justice. It doesn’t look very much like the comics, opting rather for the looks of the movie. But the movie looks are heavily inspired by the comics, so that influence filters through.

With extremely simple, forgiving dynamics, the game is more about the story than getting through tough challenges. The tale follows the movie really closely, which in turn draws a lot from the Secret of the Unicorn book. However, the game does deviate here and there, adding new elements to the tale that aren’t found in other material.

It’s not really long, although there is the opportunity to play co-operatively, using a number of well-loved Tintin

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

60 105

A hilarious adventure

F

rom the movies Madagascar and Madagascar 2, and as stars of their own animated series, The Penguins of Madagascar’s wise-cracking members have had plenty of adventures. This time our heroes are sent on a series of misadventures around the zoo, requiring the unique “talents” of each member. It all starts with King Julian’s Mango Mash Party …

Aimed mostly at kids and fans of the franchise, the game has some surprisingly fun moments. The penguins each have individual skills like Skippers Extended Flight, Private’s small size, Kowalski’s scientific knowledge and Rico’s explosives and other projectiles (including boots and fish). As the game progresses more skills are assigned to each character. In many of the stages the player must switch between the various characters and also use them together to achieve the various tasks,

by Suvesh Arumugam which are generally to collect objects around the zoo. With loads of penguin humour along the way.

Progress in the game unlocks points to purchase minigames like Ninja Penguins, King Julien’s Dancing Game and Mort Bowling. The first is an endurance mode to last through waves of flying bowling pins. Dancing is a DDR type “follow the arrows” type, with King Julien singing some silly songs. These are a little more fun for replays, but only offer single player. And it’s no fun bowling with yourself.

The game could have offered more. While the characters are cute, and the puzzles are fun at times, this game would score low at kids parties - being a single player affair. The long videos and wise cracks will also appeal mostly to fans of the series. g

AT A GLANCE: A good experience for fans, but the single player only nature brings it down.

Developer: Griptonite Publisher: THQ Distributor: Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

6+ 106

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

Penguins of Madagascar: Dr Blowhole Returns – Again!

On a Mission

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

63

g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Brunswick Pro Bowling

Let’s Bowl

The real bowling experience for you and your friends

by Suvesh Arumugam

T

en Pin Bowling is a casual Sunday sport to some, but a lifetime pursuit for others. In South Africa, it tends to be a high school activity (and the poor lighting is conducive to various mischievous ends), whereas countries like America have huge leagues and competitions dedicated to the sport. While many Move compatible games feature bowling minigames, Brunswick Pro Bowling is the first “proper” bowling game on PS3 in a while. Developed by FarSight Entertainment, the game promises authentic bowling action through Move, Kinect or Wii, and is endorsed by one of the biggest brands in bowling gear. The bowling arcade is usually a favourite destination when my family gets together around this time of year, so I was looking forward to bowling without the rented shoes, sticky patches on the floor and terribly (terribly) loud music.

Once you get over a few technical complexities, Brunswick Pro Bowling is pretty close to the real thing.

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The controls are confusing at first, but start making sense if you’ve ever bowled before. If you haven’t, be prepared to look silly while you try out a few things. The game offers a couple of different modes; Quickplay with up to four people, or Career mode, where you can create your own custom bowler, and compete in competitions, starting at the local alley, and moving up to big cash tournaments.

There is also a Spares Challenge, where you can test your accuracy and technique. The Pro Shop is where you’ll find Brunswick gear for your custom player’s shoes and clothing, as well as bowling balls, which will increase your player’s skill and reputation. Winning games in career mode earns rewards for more Brunswick clothing and accessories. In Rivalry you can pit yourself against a host of tough one-on-one competition. Although the gameplay might be somewhat authentic, there is not much from the real world of competitive bowling featured in the game.

The players, leagues and tournaments are fictitious, so

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defaulting to controller seven (which did not exist) which is impossible to undo once the game has started. Restart. I finally realised that I had to manually change the controller assignment. Once I got playing, the controls are a little speculative. Pace control seems to be easy enough, but controlling spin and direction are a little unpredictable.

Although Pro Bowling is fun when you have four people with an hour to kill, it lacks a certain variety. A game dedicated to bowling should have lots of mini-games, crazy goofy characters and power up points that explode opponents. It doesn’t allow users to change their game from 10 frames to less in Options, making any game a significant time commitment. For a game that doesn’t quite deliver as a simulator, it still makes for decent fun, and would be one way to settle those sibling rivalries. g

AT A GLANCE: Brunswick Pro Bowling delivers the authentic bowling alley experience for fans, but could have added more for gamers Developer: FarSight Studios Publisher: 505 Games Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

don’t expect dazzling visuals and videos. In fact, this game has one of the most annoying soundtracks I’ve ever heard in a video game; but as overly-loud and annoying techno is part of the bowling alley experience, the developers are forgiven (and we also thank them for the music mute feature). The coolest part of bowling is always the fan fare for a strike or a spare, which is usually an amusing animated sequence. These are very gratifying, as nothing quite discloses your delight at bowling a crucial strike to your opponent than an exploding robot bowling pin or a gorgeous woman parachuting in a bikini that says “Strike!”

Using the Move controller to position your bowler, you have to choose the best approach to the pins, based on the bowler and the slick-ness of the bowling lane.

Brunswick’s main flaw is being very user unfriendly. A game like bowling is social, and is always going to appeal to young kids. But the tutorials and settings are confusing, and it’s difficult just to get started. My game kept

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

66 109

Is memory loss memorable?

P

uzzle games, especially with the rise of the casual market, are a dime a dozen nowadays.

Offering cerebrally torturous enjoyment, many are bringing something fresh to a rather venerable genre, and what’s more many of these titles are free to play. Thus any game wishing to enter this market as a paid for product needs to do something special, something to make it a satisfying and unique experience.

The Fall Trilogy Chapter 1: Separation, similar in style and gameplay to Myst, has you play an unnamed protagonist, waking to find yourself in a temple ruin somewhere in the jungle. To escape, you’ll have to solve a series of puzzles to unlock the door to the temple, and hopefully reclaim your memories in the process, all the while having your screen flash white and hearing the disembodied voices of your family.

by Lein Baart Separation ticks most of the right boxes, with dazzling backgrounds, good music and appropriate ambient noises that fit the theme. The voice acting is solid, even if the protagonist can get a bit irritating, and the story has enough to be interesting despite its clichéd amnesia plot device. The puzzles are varied and challenging, though the optional difficulty setting and hints can make the game far too easy sometimes. The trouble though, is that it’s simply not memorable. Besides being pathetically short, it lacks the innovation to make it stand out amongst the innumerable horde of casual puzzle games on offer. It starts off as intriguing, but quickly gets stuck in the mire of the ordinary. As a complete series, it will hopefully have the synergy to make it worthwhile, but as a stand-alone title it is difficult to recommend as it just does not do enough. g

AT A GLANCE: An unmemorable beginning to a franchise that will hopefully be improved upon in the future.

Developer: Kheops Studios Publisher: TBC Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ 110

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PC Platforms

The Fall Trilogy Chapter 1: Separation

Fallen

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS 3DS

Score

67

g a m e c c a r ev i ew • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

logolink Essential surfing made easy

become a fan!

Flashtastic

Real Entertainment!

The stuff money can’t buy...

By James Francis

G

et ready for a tale of love, a tale of revenge, a tale of destruction, a tale of rising from the ashes and a tale about a ass-kicking cactus. Really, money can’t buy you this kind of entertainment. g

Cactus McCoy 2 If you haven’t played the first Cactus McCoy game, you are missing not only one of the finest arcade brawlers made in years, you have also skipped on an absolute Flash marvel. At first glance the sequel is just doing more of the same, which is perfectly fine when you consider its prequel, but soon a lot of small touches and nice design choices surface. It is easily superior to the original in every way, with more weapons, extra boss fights and a truly epic adventure. Repeat your role as the bandit-turned-cactus-warrior and wallop even more bad guys all towards saving a damsel that saved your life. But who cares why you are doing it - rescue is the furthest thing from your mind as you juggle enemies in the air. This is the kind of thing that could be sold on XBLA or the PlayStation Network. Instead you get to play it for free! http://www.kongregate.com/games/FliplineStudios/ cactus-mccoy-2

Cardinal Quest Get ready for some old school/new school dungeoncrawling mayhem! The setup is fairly familiar - some great evil (in this case a minotaur) has taken a town hostage and you, the hero, have to descend into the underground to kill him - and the countless minions occupying the levels of his dungeon fortress. This looks like a real-time action game, but pay close attention and you’ll see it’s turn-based. Enemies don’t move unless you do, which gives you chance to quaff potions or prime spells. Yet it all feels real-time, making this a creative hybrid between the two. But you only have two lives, so don’t just plan to run in swords swinging.

Fortunately the random levels and different character classes give it constant replay value. http://www.kongregate.com/games/idoyehi/cardinalquest

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Rebuild 2 A zombie apocalypse is hell on infrastructure, so when the living dead start walking, don’t expect your garbage to be picked up soon. But all the world then needs is a good leader, someone who can direct survivors, scavenge for food and weapons, hold down the fort and expand by capturing new city blocks. Recruit new people, spend time researching better technology, equip squads, deal with rival gang and even manage the odd undead-worshipping cult. This is a creative strategy game that doesn’t fall into the trap of just being another defence game. Instead Rebuild 2 is a nice turn-based sim game that shows how there is more to do than taking pot shots at walking cadavers. http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/581493

Rubble Trouble Tokyo Those efficient - and sufficiently crazy- demolishers from New York head over to the land of the rising sun to do what they do best: destroy structures in rather unusual ways. Questionable practices aside, it’s the sequel to Nitrome’s popular Rubble Trouble New York (well worth playing, if you haven’t yet), a puzzle game where taking down the house is the whole point. Each level has a different kind of challenge, determined by the explosives (or destruction alternatives) that you are given. But it all comes down to the same deal: destroy, destroy, destroy!

The characteristic Nitrome art style and humour are also locked in place and it’s yet another hit for this maverick studio. http://www.nitrome.com/games/rubbletroubletokyo/

One And One Story Ah, love. It inspires art. Which in turn inspires arty games. Which brings us around to this little gem. It’s not really an interactive experience - One And One Story is a proper game. It just happens to be about love. There are two characters - a boy and a girl.

Depending on the level, the duo do different things. In some challenges you switch between them, in others you control them simultaneously. At such moments the characters might replicate each other’s actions or do the exact opposite. At some points you have no control over one character at all. It creates a rich and challenging puzzle platform experience, but one with a message. http://armorgames.com/play/12409/one-and-onestory g a m e c c a r eg u l a r • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

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Mobility

Scary Stuff!…

Fond Halloween memories...

by Charlie Fripp

T

he Android marketplace is filled with all sorts of weird and wonderful games and applications. Since the end of October is traditionally Halloween in the US and pretty much everywhere else, we’ll be taking a look at some of the scary and frightening games on the marketplace - you know, just in case you want to relive the heebie-jeebies from a few days back. g

Spookley the Square Pumpkin Spookley is technically not really a game, but it has a great idea behind it. Although Halloween can be rather scary for younger kids, Spookley is there to soothe their little minds. The app has been designed to help reading in young children, as individual words will highlight as the story goes along. It’s great as a quick bed-time story, and it will also help with their reading skills - in a spookey kind of way.

Haunted House HD From the makers of My Beach and Season Zen comes a must-have for any Halloween fan. The app will allow users to explore a haunted house in high-definition, filled with eerie scenery, ghosts, flickering lights, paranormal activity and customisable parts. It can also be used a Live wallpaper, just to show your friends that you aren’t afraid if the dark.

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Frootrees Halloween Edition HD Gamers familiar with the original Frootrees game will know that it’s a crazy fruit-picking title that will challenge players to pick fruit as quickly as they can and put them in the correct baskets. Well, the same kind of zany action has been released with a Halloween twist, which will keep players busy for hours. The graphics aren’t the best, but sometimes the lowest

Prize Claw Halloween Everybody knows the prize machines in the supermarket, rights? The ones where you pop in a coin and get a small amount of time to fish out a teddy bear? Well, this title is exactly that, but naturally with a Halloween theme and a few added extras. The Halloween edition features 40 new prizes, compared to the original, and players will be able to customise the machine, including new claws and joysticks.

City Legends HalloweenChronicles City Legends Halloween is a city builder of sorts for the Android, in which players and their friends will be able to build the perfect civilization. Kind of like a Sim City for mobile, players will be able to build and decorate their city with stadiums, business centres, and a town Hall - of course, all with a Halloween feel. Just in case cities weren’t scary enough, this is sure to make gamers look over their shoulder.

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Essential Classics

Quake III Arena Jump pads and railguns…

by Walt Pretorius

W

hen it comes to first-person shooters, id Software are some of the top dogs for game design. The whole concept of FPS games came from them, after all, and they have produced some of the most famous and best loved first=person shooter games ever created.

With titles like Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake under their belts, this group of developers demonstrated a keen understanding of the genre and the video gaming market.

But it was in early December 1999 that they released a title that would not only gather up millions of fans and spawn a thriving community of modders and map builders – it would become the exclusive professional electronic sports tournament vehicle of choice for many years,

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eclipsing other franchises for almost a decade.

Quake III Arena moved away from id’s generally story driven single player games. While previous titles focussed on single player, with a multiplayer component, Quake III Arena was principally a multiplayer game with single player elements. It was possible to play the game in single player, but the game simply presented the player with the multiplayer game’s maps, populated by enemy bots.

There was no deep story line… in fact, there was almost no story at all. The overarching idea was that players were combatant taking part in a brutal competition across various stages, each of which having been designed to offer balanced competition.

The title truly shone in multiplayer. Groups of players g a m e c c a r eg u l a r • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

would take each other on in these levels, which ranged from dank, medieval feeling dungeons through to platforms floating in space. The action was very fast and intense, and players were armed with a variety of weapons ranging from machine guns through to rocket launchers and the much dreaded railgun.

One of the game’s biggest strengths was that it could be heavily modified. Intrepid gamers did everything from create maps to modify the actual dynamics of the game.

Even other development houses got in on the action, releasing mods and map packs for the public to use.

The excellent balance of the game, as well as the skill needed to become really good at it, saw it adopted as a competitive game by organisations like the Cyberathlete g a m e c c a r eg u l a r • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

Amateur League, Cyberathlete Professional League, Electronic Sports World Cup, QuakeCon and World Cyber Games.

Quake III Arena’s glory days are long gone, supplanted by a mass of top-rated first-person shooters from numerous developers and publishers. But in 1999, and for around ten years after that, this title proved its metal against competitors by hanging tenaciously on to the top spot in the FPS stakes. Through it, id Software once again proved why they were considered one of the top developers in the world. g

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MSI R6990 4PD4GD5 Graphics Card

Big All Around

A monster in terms of size and performance

by Walt Pretorius

W

hile we are always happy to see a good bargain, we do admit that with great power comes a big price tag. This is particularly true of graphics cards. There are a lot of affordable options on the market, sure, but if you really want a performance monster – most likely for your gaming – you’re going to have to save up those pennies and dig deep into your pockets.

If that’s what you’re after and you like your graphics cards to be Radeon flavoured, MSI have a great solution. Powered by a Radeon HD 6000 chipset, the R6990 offers a massive amount of processing power for all your graphics requirements. This is supported by a huge 4GB of GDDR5 memory which, when combined with the powerful processor, delivers silky smooth frame rates at even the highest detail settings. And its support for SLi and Crossfire modes makes the whole thing even more powerful, if you’re willing to double up on the expense.

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Spending the more than R8 000 that this card will set you back may seem like a heavy cost (and it is) but the quality of this card is well worth it. In fact, the price is pretty good when compared to similar devices. In addition, MSI have built their usual quality into it, ensuring a much longer life span – they claim 12 years under gaming strain, and 40 years normal usage. We’ll have to take their word for it.

The card is really big, both in terms of capacity and actual physical size. It’s not the bulkiest graphics card we have seen, but it certainly is up there. A single fan provides cooling to the components, which are all housed in a solid case with generous venting.

Solid capacitors help keep the card running cool, as well as extending its lifespan and minimising the chances of catastrophic occurrences, like explosions.

Naturally, the card comes with a whole host of extras, like MSI’s Afterburner overclocking software, for easy and safe overclocking. Additionally, the card supports up g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

to five displays using AMD’s Eyefinity system; four via Displayport, and one via DVI. 3D support, Blu-Ray support and more round off the bundle.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. It is an expensive piece of hardware. But the power and performance is undeniable – we had a great time seeing what it could do. Additionally, the single fan, which uses optimised fan speed control, runs surprisingly quietly, while still keeping the card quite cool. This can be enhanced by optimising the card’s performance for 2D and 3D applications.

If you are willing to spend the cash, you can’t go wrong with this MSI monster. Admittedly, you can compromise if you want to save a bit of money, but the price for this device most certainly is right, even if it is high. If compromise is not an option, and you want value for money, regardless of the actual cost, the MSI R6990 is highly recommended. Power users will not be disappointed. g g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

AT A GLANCE: PROS:

• Awesome performance • Runs cool • Impressive spec

CONS:

• Expensive • Bulky

Manufacturer: MSI Distributor: Pinnacle Africa Online: www.pinnacleafrica.co.za RRP: R8199

TECH SPECS: • Radeon HD 6000 chipset • 4GB GDDR5 • Solid capacitors • 1 x DVI port • 4 x Displayport

Score

It’s expensive, but the performance this card gives is worth every cent!

96 119

Logitech G330 Gaming Headset

Choirs of Angels Yes, they are that awesome!

by Alex Scanlon

A

ny gamer will tell you that a good set of headphones is more than just a convenience… it is a necessity. Whether to keep gaming into the wee hours without keeping the household awake, or simply just to ensure immersive sound, headphones serve a variety of useful purposes.

Logitech offer a variety of options for gamers who want to keep their sound personal, ranging from really small units through too massive wireless multi-input headphones. Somewhere in the middle you will find the G330 Gaming Headset, a relatively small set of headphones that are none the-less-huge on sound.

The G330s look pretty impressive, too.

They make use of a behind-the-head configuration, which many people prefer to the often bulkier ‘overthe-top’ headphone rail style. The rail is covered in a durable, semi-rubberised coating, to improve comfort.

And, here’s a thing… it’s adjustable. That’s something you don’t see too often. Admittedly, you’ll need a pretty big head to have to make adjustments, but it’s a nice

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option. It also results in the only real hassle we have with this otherwise fantastic headset: if you’re not careful, the adjustable portion can pull your hair. No catastrophe, but a single strand of hair being tugged can be an eye-watering affair.

The actual earphones are fairly large and are extremely comfortable. They are covered with a tough black sponge, and contoured for maximum comfort and air-flow. On the left one, a boom microphone can be swung into place to allow for voice chat. It can also be adjusted for optimal positioning.

The sound quality that the G330s deliver is sublime, to say the least. Excellent bass response mingles with crisp mids and clear high tones, without a whisper of distortion, even at volume levels that would cause serious eardamage.

And yes, they get that loud. Lucking an easy-toreach in-line volume control can be used to keep sound levels at acceptable levels, like ‘ear-bleeding’ instead of ‘skull-shattering’. A mute button will also save you from g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

having to watch all those embarrassing expletives being transmitted via the microphone.

The standard connectors are a pair of 3.5mm jacks – one for the headphones and one for the mic. In the box, though, it a sort of ‘unifying’ adapter. Plugging both of the 3.5mm jacks into one end, the other end can interface with any USB port. It’s a bit of an unnecessary addition, really, but there may be times when USB input is absolutely necessary.

Another little niggle we have – and it’s a small one, really – is that the G330s seem a little expensive. At R550, they aren’t the cheapest around. But, with that said, anyone who samples their performance will be sold. They are worth every bit of that cost, and more.

Sure, they’re only stereo, but that really is enough, isn’t it? That’s doubly the case if you’re going to be using these superb headphones for more than just gaming – they perform just as well with music, watching movies or anything else you might need a decent set of discreet yet powerful headphones for. g g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

AT A GLANCE: PROS:

• Incredible sound • Comfortable • Good and loud

CONS:

• Pricey • Can pinch

Manufacturer: Logitech Distributor: Logitech Online: www.logitech.com RRP: R550

TECH SPECS: • Behind-the-head design • Adjustable • 3.5mm jacks • USB adapter • In-line volume control • Noise-cancelling mic

Score

They might look small, but the performance from these babies is pitch-perfect!

97 121

Sumo Omni Beanbag Chair

Lounging Around Yes, this is essential gaming equipment…

by Alex Scanlon

S

eriously? A beanbag review? You bet! It might seem like a strange thing to put into a magazine that’s all about technology, but there is method to our madness…

See, with many entertainment oriented technological pursuits, seating is a major consideration. You can’t dominate a video game if you’re not slouched in just the right way. You can’t chill to some splendid tunes if you’re not laid back properly. You can’t watch a movie unless you’re positioned just right.

Well, the Sumo Omni will allow you to do all that, and more. This massive beanbag measures 4.5ft by 5.5ft, but only weighs just over 8 kilograms. It looks like a massive cushion, but the large size and just the right amount of top quality Sumo beads inside means that the user can set it up in a wide variety of very comfortable positions. Quite honestly, the only limitation is your imagination.

The Omni is available in ten colours, too, so if décor is a consideration, you should be well catered for. But you will need to consider space… it’s a big chair!

And for those who insist on some kind of tech in every review, the Omni is made from space age nylon, which is tough, colourfast and easy to maintain.

It’s the perfect video gaming chair, without a doubt…

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comfortable, versatile and tough. They haven’t arrived on our shores just yet, but they will be here soon, so keep an eye out for the Omni and other members of the Sumo family. g

AT A GLANCE: PROS:

• Versatile • Tough • Very comfortable

CONS:

• Huge • Folks will fight over it

Manufacturer: Sumo Distributor: TBC Online: www.sumolounge.com RRP: TBC

TECH SPECS: • • • • •

4.5ft x 5.5ft 8kgs Space age nylon 10 colours 10 (documented) positions

Score

A tough, versatile and stylish piece of video gaming equipment.

90

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Tritton AX 720

Eargasm

Surround sound without the blood

by Brian Murdoch

I

couldn’t imagine life without ears but now that I have these headsets I can’t imagine life without them and 3D sound. Dolby Digital surround sound 7.1 is not available on DVD and you have to really look for the Blu-rays that have it. These headphones don’t accept anything of a low quality… well, they do, but it just feels wrong.

The Tritton AX 720 headset is a gamers dream! They bring out the effort that creators of games and movies actually put into making surround sound, which most people don’t even appreciate. So what makes these different from other headphone or other surround sound headphones?

They connect to your Xbox or PlayStation3’s microphones.

Connection for the Xbox360 is a small cable that plugs into the controller and then into the side volume control of the headphones. The PlayStation3 is a little neater with a printer cable plugging from the audio

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router to the USB of the PlayStation. Both game and voice sounds have separate volume controls, to adjust them individually.

To give you an idea of how clear the surround sound is I will share the fail experience that I had when first connecting them. I was figuring out the audio router and connecting the HDMI to video and audio splitter to the headset for my Xbox360. The headset was on my head from the beginning and I sat down on the couch with controller and the TV remote. I changed the channel to the DVI feed and was moving around the menu to try and hear the sounds. I heard the menu’s click, click… but from the TV. I went to the Xbox settings to set them to go via digital audio, just like a PlayStation3 needs to be told which audio output to use.

To my surprise I found out that the Xbox does not need to be set… it just outputs to everything plugged into it.

I then did not understand how the TV producing sound because it was a HDMI to DVI cable that does not carry g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

sound. Ping, the headphones are still on.

The surround effect made the menu items sound seem like it was coming from the TV in front of me. I took the headphones off and nothing, back on and the sound came from the TV again... mind-blowing!

The audio router only accepts digital audio so don’t count on your PC or DVD player’s simple audio out giving you the same effects, but any sound card that can produce sound of this quality will have a digital out. There is a connecter cable for the standard 3.5 audio jack if they become the only headphones that touch your ears.

I will believe that too, because when it comes to comfort these are padded correctly. I did a 2.5 hour Gears of War 3 session and then watched the Blu-ray movie of X-Men: First Class and never removed or adjusted the head set, other than maybe a few volume tweaks.

By far the best headset I have used to date, they plug in to every device that makes sound in my life… with no complications. g g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

AT A GLANCE: PROS:

• Great quality • Changeable covers • Voice on consoles

CONS:

• Only digital audio • Cable

Manufacturer: Tritton USA Distributor: Comet Computing Online: www.cometcomputing.co.za RRP: R1 999

TECH SPECS: • Independent volume controls • 3D directional audio • Muli-function Inline control • Detachable, flexible mic

Score

Absolutely fantastic headphones that surround one in great sound…

94 125

Egreat R200-II Media Player

Big Boy

A great toy for media junkies…

by Rob Edwards

M

edia players are becoming more and more popular these days, so it’s no surprise that we are seeing more and more players enter the market. Whether they’ve been around for a while or not, the local market is starting to see a large number of media player options arrive.

One such option is the Egreat R200-II HD Network Media Player. One of the first things this product teaches us is to not judge a book by its cover.

See, the Egreat’s packaging has some of the most hilarious ‘Ingrish’ typos and language mistakes we’ve come across in a long time. But even though the box says things like ‘strength 45 buttons remote control, comfortable feel and support far valid distance’ (we kid you not) doesn’t mean that we should assume the makers of this device have technical skills similar to their English abilities. In fact, the R200-II is one of the better media players we’ve come across.

First of all, it offers all kinds of connectivity. WiFi,

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LAN, USB, SATA and e-Bus are all options here, meaning that it will integrate easily into virtually any home network.

Outputs come in the form of component, coaxial, HMDI and optical audio, which pretty much takes care of all the options.

What’s more, a hard drive bay, which holds a 3.5” SATA drive, is also available, for those that want to expand their collection and ensure that the R200-II has some form of internal storage.

It’s a pretty big device, thanks to that drive bay, but it looks stylish enough to fit almost any setup. It runs quietly and reliably, with decent response times, even when streaming content wirelessly (although individual setups may perform differently in this case.) The all-aluminium housing helps keep the unit cool and prevents against damage, which is always a good thing, and a discrete front panel displays just enough to let you know what the device is up to.

Armed with a full function remote control, the R200-II g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

supports full HD and delivers sound in Dolby stereo. 7.1 audio is also possible if you use the optical audio solution it provides.

With numerous files supported, this device becomes the perfect hub between PC systems and TVs, and makes use of 256mb of DDR2 flash Ram to help smoothen out streaming, which is a bit of a plus if your wireless network encounters any interference. Of course, there is also the wired LAN option to consider.

The big Egreat looks like a serious media player, and it is… this one is intended for those who are going to go the whole hog, and not just for folks who are looking for a quick and convenient way to run PC files on a TV. So, if you’re serious about your media delivery and are going to take the time to trim your setup – and possibly fuss and fiddle with every single little detail – it offers an excellent solution. If you’re going to be more casual, the unit’s price and capabilities may fall into the realms of ‘overkill’. g g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 9 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

AT A GLANCE: PROS:

• Lots of options • Performs well • Solid construction

CONS:

• Perhaps overkill for more casual users

Manufacturer: Egreat Distributor: Pinnacle Africa Online: www.pinnacle.co.za RRP: R1659

TECH SPECS: • • • • • •

Full HD Dolby audio Drive bay Component out HDMI out Optical audio out

Score

A great option for serious media users.

88 127

Big VGA

MSI Radeon R6990 Graphics Card

Super Toys Toys and video games combine in Skylanders

Handy...

Samsung Q10 Video Camera

I S S U E 1 3 / Vo l . 2 N ove m b e r 2 0 1 1

w w w. g l a d ge t . c o. z a

www.gladget.co.za Technically, playful !

Getting Porschey From Space

by Christo van Gemert

I

’m in the business of making mortal enemies, it’s just that some people and companies are that unlucky. I don’t want to hate them. But they give me no choice.

Previous deserved recipients of my ire have included Activision, Bobby Kotick, that 12-year-old who beat me at Call of Duty, and the professional gamers who ruin fun things. Today we add another name to the list. It’s a big name, metaphorically, but a little one, literally. I’m talking about EA. Two letters that have never before filled me with such hate.

You see, Electronic Arts – bless its soul - wants to take over the world.

For all its million selling The Sims games, it’s never really listened to people to find out what makes a good game. I’m talking about racing games specifically, a genre it’s desecrated by ruining the Need for Speed series.

I mean seriously: the new NFS game

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is about getting out of your car and running. Back in ’96, with the original Road & Track Presents Need for Speed, it was about cars and clever presentation. Now it’s about running from the cops. Damnit, EA. And the company’s short-sighted vanity has extended into ruining other games. It thought it could be competitive in the racing sim genre, with Need for Speed: Shift 2. But that wasn’t terribly successful.

Because it wasn’t terribly fun. I’ve driven bad cars in real life that were more responsive than the good cars in that game. But because EA insisted that it is now a player in the racing sim scene, it refused to let Microsoft pay it a lot of money, for use of the Porsche license. Now, the Porsche deal goes back more than a decade, and there are rumours of it lapsing at the end of this year, but that’s beside the point.

Electronic Arts has proven itself to be the insolent child of the gaming playground. Real racing fans would’ve bought both games, not one rather than the other. And for those few who did buy Forza 4 over Shift 2, EA would’ve had a multi-million dollar check from Microsoft to make up for it. Now it has nothing, and if the rumours are true, it might not have the Porsche license for any longer.

I can only hope that Dr. Martin Winterkorn, president of Porsche, had some stern words with the marketing department when he saw his direct competition being proudly displayed in the best racing game of the year. After all, Porsche is an aspirational brand and what better way to make little boys aspire to buying a 911 than smashing it in a game of car soccer on the Top Gear Test Track? g

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