Gamecca Magazine November 2012

I S S U E 4 1 / Vo l . 4 N ove m b e r 2 0 1 2

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

Assassin’s Creed 3 Dishonored FIFA 13 Medal of Honor: Warfighter Forza: Horizon and more...

Vengeance Dishonored reviewed

Next Generation

On the Ball with FIFA 13

Assassin’s Creed 3 Reviewed

Go Psycho Talking Far Cry 3

Free Online Mag

for

Inside 6 From the Editor 8 IDoubleDQD Pimp it!

10 10 on 10 More things games have taught us...

12 Paradise Burning And you’re in the middle of it in Far Cry 3 18 Previews 7 big names on the way 34 WonderStation PlayStation, Wonderbook and the state of the nation 38 Soap Box Mobile baby steps...

40 Console General A matter of money...

42 Earning a Halo Driving Xbox Live forward for South Africa 46 Reviews 14 awesome games reviewed 90 A Year in Games 1998 rocked!

94 Emergence How Logitech sees Africa 98 Hardware Stuff to make you drool...

110 From Space Nostalgia...

THIS MONTH’S COVER Far Cry 3 is more than just a shooter. Read our interview on page 12

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Competitions 41 Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 65 Assassin’s Creed 3 89 XCOM: Enemy Unknown gamecca41

Previews Reviews

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Dead Space 3

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Bioschock Infinite

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SimCity

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Tomb Raider

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Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel

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Star Trek: The Game

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God of War: Ascension

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Assassin’s Creed 3

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Resident Evil 6

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FIFA 13

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Dishonored

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Death at Fairing Point

Newsletter Subscriptions: www.gameccamag.com

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Medal of Honor: Warfighter

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XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Design & Photography: 1337 Media cc

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Forza Horizon

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Dead or Alive 5

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F1 2012

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Fable: The Journey

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WRC 3: FIA World Rally Championship

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Pro Evolution Soccer 2013

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NBA 2k13

GAMECCA Vol. 3 Issue 41 November 2012

Editor: Walt Pretorius walt@1337-media.com Writers: Charlie Fripp Christo van Gemert Iwan Pienaar James Francis Lein Baart Nthato Morakabi Pippa Tshabalala Sarah Snyman Suvesh Arumugam Walt Pretorius Letters: letters@gameccamag.com Competition Entries: competitions@gameccamag.com

Marketing Contact: Katia Taliadoros katia@1337-media.com

Taking fun seriously!

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

GAMECCA is published by 1337 MEDIA

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Copyright © 1337 Media CC 2009 - 2012

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No Apologies

by Walt Pretorius

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From the Editor

comment was passed a little while ago about the relationships that the South African gaming press have with their suppliers.

The commentator said that many of the publications are too ‘buddy-buddy’ with local distributors, and that this affects review scores in favour of the distributors. In short, he was trying to say something along the lines of he was the only trust-worthy source of gaming information in the country.

That, I am afraid, got me a little riled up. See, the problem with game journalists is that they become nasty, because the minority of gamers out there – the hardcore set – seem to find that approach amusing. Here at Gamecca, we have a different take on things. We believe that most people who buy games are not hard-core. We believe that these people have different expectation of games, and that they are

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more forgiving. And we believe that the appreciation that these people have of games is rather different from hardcore gamers, and certainly from game journalists, who routinely forget that people pay good money for games and perceive them differently as a result.

We keep these ideas as a core to our reviewing approach. We want to speak to the broader game playing audience, rather than focus on a smaller section of the market, who tend to be extremely well informed in the first place. While we believe that hard-core gamers can draw a lot from Gamecca, we also think that the larger, more casual market also needs to be spoken to.

I admit that I am not sure who the comment was aimed at. But I think it was issued hastily, and without due consideration. Think before you speak is a good motto.

Right, enough ranting from me… let’s talk about the good

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stuff. It’s a rather full issue as we go into the busiest gaming month of the year. The next one will likely be even fuller!

But, for now, we have some awesome titles on review, and we have a handful of great previews as well. Two of those previews were written

by Nthato Morakabi, a new writer for Gamecca magazine.

We would like to welcome him on board and look forward to seeing more from him in the future.

In addition, we have a number of interviews, features and regulars to keep you going. Yes, we are growing and evolving, which is always a good thing.

OK, enough from me – I still have a truck-load of work to get through, and deadline is looming large. I would say that I am sitting on a beach sipping a mai-tai while you read this, but the truth is that there is just too much gaming to do at this time of year. I hope you’re looking forward to it as much as I am. g

Pimp my Processor IDoubleDQD

by Sarah Snyman

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ue to a recent rediscovery of PC gaming, I have become obsessed and enthralled with building my dream box.

I have forced my love of overpriced salmon and chocolate harvested in a truly unfair-trade-like way aside, in the hope to save my coinage to treat myself to a silent and deadly beast.

Saving money has never been my strong point. I could never afford anything substantial in the Diablo 3 auction house because I basically threw my gold at people for rings I couldn’t wear. But this is war, or at least, it will be war as soon as I get a machine capable of playing something war based on full spec without falling over, crying for its mommy

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and rocking in a foetal position until I pull out its power cable.

I lied to myself for years, keeping up a façade of “I’m happy with my Ccnsoles”. But I am not happy. I am suffering. I am in a state of clinical withdrawal without my tower.

Luckily, I have a fairly beastly laptop to keep me occupied for now, but how long could that last?

How long before I break down on hand and knee and sell myself for an ivy bridge? I can feel myself slipping into a state of depression caused by lag overload. My laptop, with its 17 inches of mediocre will never satisfy me the way that a 27 inch monitor could.

I know… It isn’t about the size, it’s about the performance. But then please, tell me why I

see a mac mini as an incomplete machine?

Gaming is about speed, elite performance, massive monitors and brightly lit towers. Leave the “minis” and the “slims” to the graphics designers, tell the advertising industry to keep their minimal desks with their “magic” mouses and keyboards with less buttons! Who wants less buttons anyway!?

And that brings me to “classy”. I wear Italian shoes, I am passionate about refined design and I can appreciate a touch of minimalism in certain elements of life. But when it comes to performance computing… let’s not fool ourselves.

Nothing looks as sexy as some Perspex, a healthy blue LED glow

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and the silent fans keeping it all together.

Sure, everything inside should look sleek and smooth with great lines.

But when it comes to the aesthetics of a gaming beast, it’s more Japanese super car than it is Aston Martin, just without the thumping exhaust… no one wants to hear anything thump inside their box.

Every LAN party I attend, I’m embarrassed by my laptop. Gamers surround me with their massive cases, Perspex windows displaying an array of blizzard-like cooling inside their tower. It’s beautiful!

Who needs mac? Who needs multi-response trackpads? Give me more buttons, more fans, more LED lights… Keep the pimped processor flag flying high. g

Distributed Exclusively by Apex Interactive

Tel: (011) 796 5040

www.apexinteractive.co.za

Email: sales@apexint.co.za

All rights and trademarks and logos are copyright of their respective owners.

www.apexactive.co.za

10Things Video Games taught us about

Modern Combat 1

Sometimes, you carry all the guns

Not all the time. Sometimes you only get to carry three bulky, heavy weapons. But in certain situations, you can carry all of the guns. All of them. Never mind the fact that a weapon is pretty damned heavy, and that the general ammo packs soldiers carry in modern combat games would weigh half a ton each, because each weapon has a few hundred bullets going along with it... These real world soldiers who carry one weapon for weight reasons are obviously softies who don’t earn their keep.

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Guns don’t break...

Ten on 10

Weapon cleaning? Maintenance? Jams?

Hah! Gimme a break. These things aren’t really necessary. The guns used in these games are of an ultra-high quality. They don’t need to be treated like preening fairies.

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2

Easy-loader.

We have heard that real-world soldiers carry their ammunition already loaded into magazines, because putting each bullet into a magazine takes time. That’s a crock. Our realistic modern combat games have taught us that bullets are to magazines what peas are to pods. They simply come that way. You never have to sit down and reload magazines in a game… the bullets simply leap into the apparently endless supply of magazines these virtual

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Street paved with bullets Street sweepers in the suburbs are very efficient, because they manage to clear away the droves of bullets lying in the streets. See, we know from our experiences in our realistic modern combat games that there are bullets lying everywhere. And getting them out of an enemy’s dropped weapon is really easy, too… and as long as the weapon is on a similar class, any bullets go. These fools who try to point out the difference between 9mm and .45CP, or 5.56 and 7.62 are just pedantic nit-pickers…

Gamers love crowing about how realistic their favourite modern combat games are. Well, they must be right. Even those of us that have been soldiers in real life can learn a thing or two from these carefully crafted, super realistic games. Just take a look at our list to see how much even the most experienced real-life Rambo-clone can learn…

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Who needs peripheral vision?

Seeing to the sides is utterly unimportant.

Enemies almost always come from the front, and only really appear in areas where there is lots of handy cover. And if they do come from the side, they will dish out a shot or two to let us know they’re there, before things get serious. They’re pretty considerate, really.

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Doctors, shmoctors...

Who needs hospitals and medics and CASEVACs when you can just duck behind a piece of debris and heal up in a few minutes. This is a technique that all modern real-world military organisations simply must start using. It would save millions in medical bills.

Bullet-proof!

Hiding behind pretty much anything is a great idea. Sometimes cover gets destroyed but, for the most part, bullets won’t get you behind rock, metal, wood or glass. In fact, if you were to build a house out of these materials, it would probably survive a nuclear bomb blast. That would be handy!

One man army...

Governments spend millions – if not billions – on training massive armies. What they should be doing is training one guy really well, instead of doing an apparently rotten job on thousands of them. Because that one guy can win a war, all on his own. It’s a fact that video games make quite clear.

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Friendly fire is!

They keep harping on about friendly fire.

About how dangerous it is. Well, if it is a case of your squad mates getting angry at you, then yes friendly fire is dangerous. After all, who wants to go for drinks with a guy who is angry at you because you put a few dozen rounds into his back during a mission? That would just be uncomfortable. But when it comes down to this rubbish about friendly fire being deadly… well, that’s simply ridiculous!

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Super driver!

Real world military training is far too specific.

Why should driving a tank, steering a Humvee or flying a helicopter not be something that every soldier can do? Games have taught us that real soldiers can do this – they can pilot any vehicle they find, which is not really an unreasonable thing, now is it?

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pARADISE

Interview

Tropical islands, insanity a

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BURNING

and Far Cry 3‌

When the First Far Cry game was released in 2004, gamers were blown away by the new ideas, incredible visuals and compelling game play.

Four years later, Far Cry 2 made a trip to a war-torn fictional African country, with realistic settings, authentic voice acting and the same level of awesome action that the first game brought. Now, yet another four years later, Far Cry 3 is set to hit shelves. It makes a return to the topical island setting of the first title, but new ideas and systems promise to make it the best Far Cry game yet. We caught up with Robert Purdy, the Cinematic Director for the project, to find out what kind of trouble we can expect in paradise‌

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One of the biggest changes we are seeing in Far Cry 3 is that we are moving back to a tropical island, similar to the setting of the original game.

What prompted that decision?

RP: The kind of setting was dictated by the kind of story we wanted to tell. We didn’t want Jason, our hero, to be your typical special ops or military shooter. A lot of us are travellers and I can remember, in my gap year, I travelled – backpacking. So we thought it would be interesting to see what happened if we had this group of kids on their gap year, thinking they knew the world, having travelled a bit, getting caught up in a world that was alien to them.

And the most interesting thing was what would happen if we put a gun into the hand of somebody who had never killed before. And it works because, when we looked at backpacking and stuff like that for the story, South East Asia is an area that is very well travelled and there are islands in that area are remote. We took that as an angle… not that the Rook Islands are an actual place. But they are in that area of the world. It also felt secludes; the island gave the feeling of being cut off from society.

Interview

Did you do any kind of geographic research, similar to that done for Far Cry 2?

RP: Before I came onto the project, I think they did.

But I came onto the project maybe eight months into development. Luckily I had backpacked through Central America and that area has a similar feeling, Kind of like the tropics. So I am very sure they did research into the area, but they did so before I came on to the project.

The psychology of the character – being very different from the usual shooter hero – is obviously very important. Is this the case?

RP: We picked a protagonist that is young because, really, what we wanted to tell was a bit of a coming of age story. Jason thinks he has the world figured out; he comes from an affluent family and when he’s travelling he thinks he has a read on the world. And then we pull the rug out from under him. So how would that person mature? If he stayed in California he probably would have become a different person because he would have been affected by different things. We wanted to explore what would happen to this young guy if he was put into an extreme situation, and this is why the coming of age thing was very

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important. He’s not going to have the same influences.

He’s on an island with people who are very dangerous. So what toll, psychologically, would that take on the mind of a young person? Not that we were trying to overtly make a statement but, with the shooters that are out now, there really seems to be a disregard in the game industry for the actual killing. We pick up a gun in multiple military shooters and we kill hundreds of people, but we never really explore what that killing does. What we wanted to do in Far Cry 3 was take a young mind and explore what kind of psychological affect that would have on the person.

I assume you had expert psychologists consulting for that?

RP: We consulted somewhat. I won’t say it dictated exactly what we wanted to do, but when I was directing the performers, psychology is a big thing. So I like to read up on psychology a bit, because to get an actor to go into that place, you want to explore themes and stuff like that.

And a good actor will also do this for their on part.

Aside from the psychological development of the character, how else will he grow? Are there any aspects that the player has control over?

RP: It will be more dictated by the plot; there aren’t many RPG elements. We have a skill tree which we filter in. As the player goes he is able to learn and apply skills.

But we didn’t want to get into branching storylines. We really wanted to keep it fairly tailored to the experience that we want to give to the player.

How much freedom is the player going to have?

Will there be a free-roaming element?

RP: The storyline is fairly linear, but between plot points the player is free to go throughout the whole island. It’s great to watch them playtest because you’ll see someone do one of the mission for the story line, and then they spend hours exploring the open world. The player will be free to jump in a car or hang-glider, or go hunt some animals, or go gets some plants and craft stuff… there’s a huge open world element to the game, similar to Far Cry 2.

So there’s a crafting element to the game?

RP: Yeah, in the open world we have crafting. You can

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craft plants for medicines or potions that will help you track animals better. We have animals that you can skin for supplies or loot items. You can expand you backpack.

Then there are secure outposts which kind of make areas more friendly to you, if you take them.

So there’s a strong survival element to the game, in addition to the core shooter mechanic?

RP: Yes, we put a fairy heavy emphasis on stealth into the game because of that. Like with some of the animals – if you just go in guns blazing, shooter style, you’re going to get owned pretty quickly if you don’t have a decent weapon. With something like a tiger or another predator, stalking it is usually better. Although the shooting is our core mechanic and we want to stay true to that lineage, there is a strong stealth experience. I personally prefer stealth; I get a suppressor and a scope and I stalk through the bushes.

Speaking of that, will there be modifications available for the weapons in the game?

RP: Yeah, you can upgrade your weapons. There are different weapon load-outs, so you can but different scopes or suppressors, improve rate of fire or reload speeds, stuff like that. And these are all things that are tied to our economy system – outposts and experience and stuff.

Are we still going to have to maintain our weapons, like we did in Far Cry 2?

RP: No, that’s been done away with. We tried to listen to the fans. There were a couple of contentious points in Far cry 2: the weapon maintenance and the respawning at outposts. Both of those have been sorted out.

How large is the island that we’re going to be on?

RP: I think it’s around 25 square kilometres. It’s a big area. If you wanted to, you could get lost in it.

And what’s the estimated play time for the single player game?

RP: It’s around 15 to twenty hours for the story missions. It’s quite long. And then the open world increases that a lot.

What kind of balance did you strike between multiplayer and single player experiences?

RP: We wanted to focus on a strong single player campaign in the Montreal Studio. At the same time, multiplayer is an experience that people want, so we put the same kind of effort into that, at the Massive studio in Sweden. So we’re also including PVP and four person co-op, as well as the in-game map editor that everyone really liked from Far Cry 2. The way we’ve approached it is that these different experiences take place in the same set of islands, and there will be some cross over. But the story of the four player co-op takes place on a different island in the archipelago. They will never really cross with Jason, but they’re in the same time frame and region.

What we wanted to do with the four player co-op is a different approach story-wise. What if you already were the damaged person? You get to this island and there are no rules; where you came from there were rules and you were on the outside of society but, you come to this island with a definite set of skills… this might be your cup of tea.

So we took a different approach. You won’t be a ‘babe in the woods’ like Jason, out of your element. We went the opposite, giving the characters skills that wouldn’t necessarily be good in normal society, but work in this more aggressive setting. The multiplayer PVP is along traditional lines, with several game modes – just jump in and play with your friends. Really, we wanted to give a monster offering for everybody.

So the single player plot and the co-op plots are different?

RP: Different plots, yeah, with different protagonists.

What is your personal favourite aspect of Far Cry 3?

RP: That’s a tough one… obviously I am a story person.

I feel we did something special with this. We paid a lot of attention to casting a very strong group of actors, and really pushing the performance – which I am really proud of. I think people re really going to like our cast of characters. That being said, on my gamer side, I really like the open world. I have been playing a lot of the open world, and I love hunting in our game. I don’t get tired of it.

As an open world, I think it’s pretty strong… it will appeal to people. g

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ASSASSINSCREED.COM

Previews Highlights 20 Dead Sace 3 Necromorphic fantasies!

22 Bioshock Infinite Up among the clouds 26 Tomb Raider In the beginning...

32 God of War: Ascension Um, ditto with the beginning...

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he crazy end-of-year flurry is almost over. Seriously, it’s that quick. But the good news is - no, the great news is that after a brief lull around the Festive Season, the game flood gates will open again.

Setting metaphors aside: the first few months of 2013 are looking great for gaming! And that’s what we love to hear! g

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Available at leading retailers

Distributed Exclusively by Apex Interactive

Tel: (011) 796 5040

www.apexinteractive.co.za

All rights and trademarks and logos are copyright of their respective owners.

Email: sales@apexint.co.za

www.apexactive.co.za

Dead Space 3

Space of Death Third try at killing demented aliens

by Charlie Fripp

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protagonists Isaac Clarke and Sergeant John Carver try to rid the frozen planet of Tau Volantis of the very angry Necromorph one last time.

What makes this title different from previous ones is that it has a very strong online element to it. While players will take control of Clarke when playing alone, a second player making use of the drop-in/drop-out co-op will control Carver.

When playing with two people, the developers mentioned that gamers will get the full experience as it will include additional story details and gameplay mechanics only found when playing in co-op. It is still possible for gamers to solo to entire game, but Carver will only make sporadic appearance in the title as a NPC.

Preview

he Dead Space franchise is arguable one of the scariest series of games to be released in the last five-odd years. It’s not scary in that sense that there is a lot of gore or occult happenings - it’s scary because it uses the age-old technique blood-thirsty creatures coupled with dark passages and a soundtrack to match.

The third game in the franchise, Dead Space 3, will be no different, as gamers can look forward to (or cower behind) more grotesque alien life forms jumping out of nowhere and scaring the wits out of any hardened gamer.

The third survival horror third-person shooter title will follow on from the previous two titles, and will see

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As with all new additions to a franchise, Dead Space 3 also added a number of changes to the game play mechanic, most notably the ability to dodge and roll away from incoming attacks. Developer Visceral Games decided to add the dodge functionality as they “want the horror to come from the terrible things that happen in the game; not from the horror that something is moving slowly towards you and you can’t shoot it because the game controls like a piece of rubbish.”

The most important thing in any survival horror game is the ability to effectively deal with any threats, which means having a vast arsenal of weapons at a gamer’s disposal. The weapon upgrade system from the previous games has been given a stiff upgrade and has been

rebranded the Weapon Bench. Here players will be able to construct new weapons from parts that they have scavenged around the levels - and will even be able to combine two different weapons into one mean alien eliminator.

While Dead Space 3 follows on directly from the previous two games, nothing about the latest iteration will be the same. The game promises to deliver a lot more horror, a wealth of new scares, a ton of shiny new guns and hopefully put an end to the Necromorphs once and for all.

Naturally the graphics have been given a firm upgrade and the soundtrack is bound to make players look over the shoulder very often. It’s not to be missed... g

AT A GLANCE: Survival Horror

Bringing the series to a close, the game promises to deliver on every aspect Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Visceral Games Electronic Arts EA South Africa

Feb 2013

Platforms

Genre:

ETA

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

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Bioschock Infinite

Going Sky High Out of the water into the...clouds?

by Nthato Morakabi

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to free himself from it. This job he deems as his last, sees him heading into the sky city in search of a young woman; Elizabeth. He rescues Elizabeth from her gigantic, metallic captor, a mechanical bird creature by the name of Songbird, and together they embark on a journey out of the dilapidated city. Elizabeth turns out to be quite a mystery herself, displaying an ability that makes the detective anxious. Elizabeth’s captor, the persistent Songbird, is also hot on their trail, in an effort to return Elizabeth back to her prison by any means necessary...

Bioshock Infinite stays true to its predecessors even with the big change from the underwater city of Rapture to the sky city of Columbia . Players traverse a broken and distraught city, its inhabitants wild and ferocious, pilfering

Preview

ioshock Infinite drags players out from the familiar depths of an underwater city, to the bright sunny skies of Columbia, a floating fun filled fair. Built to showcase what America was capable of, this floating extravaganza travelled from continent to continent displaying its technological prowess. Behind the allure of this city, however, something sinister was brewing. Secretly packed with weapons, Columbia turned out to be more than just a floating carousel. Political strife occurred between the floating city and America causing a rift in the alliance and a disappearing act by the city.

Players step into the shoes of Booker Dewitt, a former detective with mounting debt and an opportunity

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whatever they can from whomever they can however they can. Interactive situations within the game, either with some of these barbaric citizens of Columbia or with various objects around the city, occur and will in turn, affect the progression of events.

High speed travel by means of Sky-Lines is the adrenalin packed mode of transportation new to Bioshock. The SkyLine was initially used for shipping cargo within the city, however innovative juveniles found a more adventurous use for it. This opens up gameplay opportunities that will see players rocketing through the city on the roller-coaster like rails as either means of transportation or combat.

Elizabeth’s ability to open tears in reality becomes an integral part of both gameplay and storyline. These

tears offer various useful objects that will enhance both gameplay and interaction with the city.

Although there is no space for a mechanical divers’ suit on a sky city, by no means does that eliminate similar creatures from the equation. Bioshock Infinite will introduce players to the Heavy Hitters, a variety of large mechanical creations that will be sure to test the skills and wits of players as they progress through this intricate story.

This new instalment in the Bioshock series looks to be just as entertaining as the previous two. Keeping to the survival horror genre of its predecessors, the new environment, enemies, characters and storyline showcase a different side of the series. Nonetheless, Bioshock Infinite looks to be a promising game. g

AT A GLANCE: Players will take to the skies for the next iteration of Bioshock, which looks to be shaping p rather nicely.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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TBC

First Person Shooter

Irrational Games 2K Games Megarom

Platforms

Genre:

ETA

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

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SimCity

Reboot!

It’s been a while…

by Walt Pretorius

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AT A GLANCE: Genre:

Management

The first SimCity title in ages should offer a whole lot of new tech and ideas for veterans and newcomers alike.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Maxis Electronic Arts EA South Africa

ETA

Mar 2013

Platforms

Preview

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t’s been a while since the last time we saw a SimCity title released. Five years since SimCity Societies, and nine since SimCity 4, in fact. So when EA announced that they would be revisiting the franchise with something of a reboot, management fans around the globe got all excited.

At its core, SimCity will be exactly what veterans of the franchise expect; a game in which you need to build and manage a city.

But there have been more than a few changes made, ranging from curved roads right through to the implementation of a viable multiplayer mode, in which friends can band together to solve global crises.

The developers are saying that the game will grant the player the freedom to play the way they want, and mould their city into whatever the player wants it to be. There will be consequences to this, of course, but freedom in a game like this is always great. It leads to a higher replayability value, as well as a greater degree of expression for the player.

At the heart of SimCity will be the new GlassBox Engine, which will allow the player to truly micro manage, and then move back to sweeping, overall management, and everything in between. In addition, the player will be able to balance several city simulations at the same time, which may have a rather interesting impact on how they play the game.

SimCity looks rather promising and because we haven’t seen a title in the series released in ages, new technology should really make it a treat for veterans and newcomers alike. We’ll find out in March next year, when SimCity hits shelves. g

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

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Tomb Raider

No Tombs Yet We’ve got to survive first

by Lein Baart

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franchise, and even with five months still to go before its release, Tomb Raider is looking sublime.

The setting of the game is, in all honesty, not exactly original. Marooned after a shipwreck, Lara “must fight to unravel the dark history” of the “forgotten island” she finds herself on.

Plot details are scarce, and seemingly pits the survivors of the wreck against a band of mercenaries who were already on the island.

It doesn’t scream clichéd, but it’s more than familiar, though the beauty of the game lies not in its plot but rather in its presentation.

It’s a very dark presentation though. Rather than the slick and skilled Lara of yore, the gameplay videos are

Preview

his year has seen words like “iconic”, “legendary” and “classic” thrown around a lot. The year of reboots and long overdue sequels is drawing to close now, having given many older gamers plenty of joy and more than a little disappointment, yet the trend has not died just yet, with more than a few “classic” remakes due to the hit shelves in the next couple of months.

Tomb Raider, however, looks to be as much a reinvention as a reboot. The competent and composed Lara Croft we all knew and perved over (at least male gamers did) is gone, replaced by a frightened, battered girl in a situation she is not equipped to deal with. It’s Lara Croft as we’ve never seen her before, an origin story that will redefine both the character and feel of the

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showing a young woman out of her depth, as she battles to survive in world turned mad.

These changes are reflected in her appearance as well.

Lara looks bruised and beaten, her torn, dirt-stained clothing bearing testament to her struggles to survive. The game seems to carry a sense of menace and foreboding, evidenced by the controversial “attempted rape” trailer, and her transformation into the more recognisable tough survivor will be shown through moments such as having to hunt for her own food, as well as killing a man for the first time. It’s gritty and sinister, and the tagline “a survivor is born” appears to be extremely apt.

The whole adventure will be brought to life using the proprietary Crystal Engine, with trailers showing a world

created in stunning detail in its own ominous and gloomy way.

There seems to be a hugely cinematic feel to the game, with moments very reminiscent of Unchartered, and gameplay elements such as hunting for food to survive should create a fantastically immersive game.

Tomb Raider, then, is not the reboot one would have expected.

Rather than trying to capture the essence of what made the franchise great, Crystal Dynamics looks to be turning everything on its head, destroying to create. No doubt future incarnations will see Lara back to form, but this is about the beginning, this is about what it takes to make a tomb raider. g

AT A GLANCE: Action Adventure

Lara Croft as we’ve never seen her before, Tomb Raider looks powerful, epic and undeniably compelling.

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Crystal Dynamics Square Enix Megarom

Mar 2013

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Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel

El Diablo en Ciudad de México There is trouble in paradise

by Charlie Fripp

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but they will be nowhere to sight for the third iteration.

Gamers will take control of two mercenaries simply known as Alpha and Bravo, and that’s about as much information as players will get.

Developers Visceral Games (who is also responsible for Dead Space 3) said that they didn’t want to give any names to the characters, as they want the players to inject as much of themselves into the personalities of the two crime-fighters as possible.

Speaking of personalities, one aspect that games absolutely loved throughout the previous titles, was the ability to customise virtually any piece of equipment.

That aspect has been retained, and players will be able to once again change their in-game appearance through

Preview

hen the first Army of Two was released a couple of years ago, the idea of two players jointly taking on the forces of dictators and drug runners was a novel one. It was one of the first games to effectively make use of a two-player co-op system that actually worked - and was fast-paced as well as exciting.

The game eventually spawned a sequel, and while it wasn’t met with the same sales figured as the original title, it was none the less a success. So it’s only natural that the title contributed towards the creation of a third game: Army of Two - Devil’s Cartel.

Players of the series will be familiar with Salem and Rios as the main characters in the ever-unfolding plot,

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the customisation of clothing and masks.

The designs of the masks ranged from simple to highlycreative through the franchise, and Devil’s Cartel will be no different. Gamers will be able to customise Alpha and Bravo’s masks to their taste, and in doing so added a bit of themselves into the title.

In terms of plot, not a lot is known but the heroes will find themselves on the deadly streets of Mexico. Mexico City has one of the highest hijack and murder rates in the world, so it would seem like an apt setting for two rogue enforcers who tend to leave a trail of destruction wherever they go.

Alpha and Bravo work for a private military company called Tactical Worldwide Operations (T.W.O),

established by original characters Salem and Rios at the end of the first game (Army of Two - get it?), and drop them into the middle of Mexico to sort out the local drug war conflict.

But naturally things don’t go according to plan, and while the series has posed some moral questions to the characters before, Alpha and Bravo will need to be on their toes to weed out the corrupt from the plain deceitful.

The game is expected to have updated graphical capabilities, include a rocking soundtrack and provide for hours of high-action excitement as players traverse the dangerous hunting grounds of the Mexican drug cartels in one of the world’s most dangerous cities. g

AT A GLANCE: Third-person Shooter

A new set of characters will take on the drugs war in Mexico.

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Visceral Games Electronic Arts Electronic Arts

Mar 2012

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Star Trek: The Game

To Go Boldly…

Where no other movie tie-in has gone… quality

by Lein Baart

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AT A GLANCE: Genre:

Action Adventure

It might not be classic Star Trek, but hopes are high that Star Trek will deliver more than typical slop we get with movie tie-ins.

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Digital Extremes Namco Bandai Megarom

ETA

Q1 2013

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Preview

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ince its inception, Star Trek has always been about exploring moral and ethical dilemmas, a depiction of a time in the future where all mankind has set aside its differences, and is working towards the betterment of our race harmoniously and peacefully. A utopia given personification, it was Gene Roddenberry’s dream for humanity, and our as yet unrealised potential.

Which is why Star Trek, to be released early next year, might leave some of the fans of the franchise with a bitter taste, similar to the way the 2009 movie did. The trailers have shown a veritable action fiesta, replete with modified phasers and plenty of lens flare. Set to tie in to the upcoming movie to be released May 2013, Star Trek Into Darkness, the game will be taking its cue from the rebooted series and will have plenty of spectacles to dazzle and wow the audiences.

That’s not to say that this will all be about action though. According to Sheldon Carter of Digital Extremes, the developer of Star Trek, “This is not just a game where you’re going to run and gun and kill everyone”, a fact that should have Trekkies across the globe heaving sighs of relief. Most of the cast of the films, including Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, will be lending both their voices and likeness’ to the game, which is looking quite good if the trailers are to be believed. With a development cycle of over three years, and Marianne Krawczyk, writer of the God of War series, penning an original story (thankfully), there are high expectations that Star Trek will deliver more than a phaser-fest with pretty explosions and too many camera effects. g

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/HITMAN ©2012SquareEnix,Ltd.“2”,“Playstation”,“PS3”and“À”aretrademarksorregisterdtrademarksofSonyComputerEntertainmentInc.“Ôisatrademarkofthesamecompany.KINECT,Xbox, Xbox360,XboxLIVE,andtheXboxlogosaretrademarksoftheMicrosoftgroupofcompaniesandareusedunderlicensefromMicrosoft.Allothertrademarksarethepropertiesoftheirrespectiveowners.

God of War: Ascension

Rise of a Warrior Let the fire of vengeance burn!

by Nthato Morakabi

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the chains that bind him to Ares. However, the chains that bind him to Ares are perilous chains, forged through blood; they are the chains of an oath that should never be broken.

God of War: Ascension is a prequel in the God of War series, which sees the great warrior Kratos before his ascended state within the god realm.

Players will have the opportunity to see the younger and more human side of Kratos, experiencing the emotions that he experiences as he turns against his master to seek vengeance provoked by betrayal.

His betrayal sees him sentenced to an eternity within the confines of a prison for the living damned. His freedom will pit him against a variety of powerful foes that

Preview

engeance. It fuels the fires that burn deep within the hearts of those enshrouded by it. It provokes a man to look beyond the temporal towards redemption, regardless of the cost. It turns man into beast, arousing an anger that incites the gods. It arouses the beast that is Kratos.

With hands stained with the blood of his wife and child, Kratos’ anger is ignited by a deep sense of betrayal; the Greek god Ares has tricked Kratos into murdering his own family, the only people he has ever loved.

Six months down the line, Kratos’ desire to avenge his loved ones sets him on the path of redemption for his great sin; it also leads him towards breaking free from

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will be sure to test his resolve.

A new combat system will feature in the game, allowing players to use the Blades of Chaos, as well as a variety of weapons that they can either steal from enemies or pick up during gameplay.

Players will also be able to use a time manipulation ability within combat to freeze enemies, giving gamers that extra breathing space when overwhelmed. This time manipulation ability will additionally be part of the puzzle solving aspect of the game, which has also been revamped.

Detracting from the single-player mode, players will have an opportunity, for the first time, to take on other players around the world in the multiplayer. Players can

look forward to eight-player, objective based gameplay, with a little story linked into the game mode.

An integral part to any great multiplayer experience is the customization of game characters. Players will need to please the gods themselves, the likes of Zeus, Poseidon, Ares and Hades, in order to unlock new customization options for their gladiator.

Battles within the multiplayer mode will be engaged within amazing arenas that will make players feel as though it is indeed a titanic clash between the gods.

God of War Ascension is sure to be on the list of “must get� titles for those who know and love the series as well as those new to the series; this is yet another great instalment in the Kratos saga. g

AT A GLANCE: Action Adventure

Six months after the death of his wife and child, Kratos sets on a path of vengeance against Ares his master, for his betrayal.

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SCE Santa Monica SCEE Ster Kinekor

Mar 2013

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WonderSt

Interview

The State of the PlayStation N

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tation

Nation.

With the Festive Season around the corner, many eyes are on what is happening in the South African video game industry.

With a plethora of amazing titles on the way, as well as the new Nintendo console in-coming, we wondered how things were shaping up for Ster Kinekor, the official South African PlayStation distributor – as well as distributor for several major video game publishers.

Mario dos Santos, CEO of Ster Kinekor Entertainment, took some time out of his hectic schedule to talk to us about Wonderbook, PlayStation in South Africa and the state of the gaming nation. gamecca41

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Augmented reality is core to the principle of Wonderbook; while people may have initially seen this kind of game dynamic as a gimmick in the past, there seems to be a definite trend towards it now. How is PlayStation taking advantage of that?

MDS. Sony entered into partnership with Disney and the BBC. One of those has resulted in Walk with Dinosaurs, which will be the next title to take advantage of the Wonderbook and PlayStation augmented reality technology. From the Disney side it has been announced that there will be three titles coming up. That gives you an idea of who they are trying to engage. Those have been the announcements up to date. Now the technology is there, the tools are there. We hope, certainly from our side, that our other publishers also get on board.

they will be between R799 and R899. We know that people are hard pressed out there, so we are trying to hit the perfect pricing point.

So the Wonderbook is more of a ‘peripheral’ than a game?

MDS. Yes. The Wonderbook consists of certain elements that will work with different software. There’s a detective title coming out, for example. We’ve got Walking with Dinosaurs, the Disney content… they’ll all make use of the Wonderbook.

Is Ster Kinekor looking at promoting gaming among markets that previously might not have had access or resources within South Africa?

MDS. There are a bunch of buzz-words out there to define different trends, but essentially it’s all the same market. The aspirations are exactly the same. We’ve done our research, and the consumers we target cover all kinds of classifications of race, class, income. I think it’s less about targeting specific people, and more about getting things to affordable price points for everyone. Getting the software out there for a great price will drive the hardware, which brings in whole families.

Interview

Is there an educational aspect to Wonderbook?

MDS. Certainly. It is aimed at a younger market and Sony believed that this was the right platform to go with.

Walking with Dinosaurs will certainly have an educational element, for example. That’s at the core of the offering – good value, education and so on. I am sure that side of it will come through pretty strongly.

When will we see Wonderbook hitting shelves?

MDS. November 16th. The book and software – the initial purchase – will be R399. There will be a lot of bundling with Move controllers, which you will need, and

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Moving on to PlayStation in a broader sense in South Africa: historically this country has been a stronghold for the brand. Is that still the case?

MDS. Market share is still close to seventy per cent for the PlayStation. The reality is that Xbox has gained some traction, with great offers to the consumer. Our challenge is to make sure that people still have a good experience.

If they have a good experience with another console, like an Xbox or a Wii U, they may move over… so that’s our challenge; making sure that owners of existing PlayStation units stay in the “family” when the next generation arrives.

We are still the leading format, though.

In your position you have a very good view of the ‘state of the nation’ in terms of gaming… is it healthy? Growing?

MDS. It is a little soft year on year, for two reasons.

Obviously the consumer is feeling the pinch, but there has also been little really compelling software released in the last few months. We need those to drive the market, so

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that’s one of the reasons why things are a bit slow at the moment. I am sure, though, that with the content going into the market now – across all publishers – I am confident that we will end up ahead of last year. Which is a pretty healthy state when looking at a number of the European markets, which are showing a double digit decline.

So you’re expecting a strong Q4 / Q1.

MDS. Very strong… but Q1 comes with its own problems. There’s a lot of stuff that’s coming in that quarter. My concern is that there will be less spending then, as a result of the Festive Season, which is going to pose problems.

As Ster Kinekor, you sit in a very interesting position – you are not a single product distributor.

Do you find that this impacts on your business?

MDS. Fortunately, the impact is mostly positive. It gives us a good spread of titles, so we don’t go through those massive troughs and peaks. We don’t have months where we have no new titles. The biggest impact has been the stable of publishers that we have, and their catalogue titles. The market has been consistently, month on month, seeing more catalogue sales than new releases. It crossed over in around April of last year and, barring the Festive Season, it is a strong trend. So we are pleased to have strong franchises that have longer shelf life.

That raises an interesting question: do you believe that the catalogue titles are strong because of the financial situation, or rather because casual gamers are willing to buy older games, and there are simply more casual gamers out there than hard-core players?

MDS. That’s exactly what it is. I am sure there is an influence from the financial situation, but there are definitely more casual gamers out there than people think.

So this indicates a growth in casual gaming?

MDS. Definitely. But the catalogue titles that are particularly successful are those that do well on day on, too. It’s the people who don’t need to get the title on day one, who are happy to wait a few months and get the games at a lower price. The new release volumes have not changed in around three years. If you were doing X number of sales on day one three years ago, you’re still doing that amount now. The shelf time of games has extended.

Is that an international trend, or is it happening mostly in South Africa?

MDS. It is an international trend, but it indicates very strongly here. The markets have shifted all over, but here we’re talking beyond fifty per cent.

So the Ultra Slim PS3 arriving now is good news for that particular market? Will the new, more affordable hardware spur the market on?

That’s what we’re hoping. There’s always been a mindset that games are so expensive. But that’s starting to shift. We’re starting to see people finding that they can pick up older titles for lower prices. Once that perception is out there, that you can get the console and have a great experience month to month, without having to spend a lot of money each time, the market will benefit.

In closing, any predictions for the next two or three quarters?

MDS. Well, there is a lot of great content coming. There is also a lot of development for PS3. But there is also a drive to get Vita out there, to drive the platform. It’s a little soft, but it mirrors where we were with PSP at the same time. And we did very well with PSP. It’s all about price point. Once we get to the right price point, we will hopefully see the same performance as we did with PSP. g

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Mobile Infancy The Soapbox

by Suvesh Arumugam

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just started reviewing a few of the latest games on PS3 and Xbox, and I was surprised by the number of top console games that now come in Android and iOS versions. Admittedly this is only some of the top and more universally accessible games like FIFA 13, but it seems like we’ll start seeing more of this. Out of excitement, I downloaded the FIFA 12 iOS version (it was on special for 99c, OK!) to see how these games translate. I won’t lie, it was pretty much a disappointment. There were no touchscreen specific gameplay options.

There was controller stick in one corner and button on the opposite side. I thought they could have made it a little more interesting. Also no integration between the console version and the tablet version. But the possibilities are definitely there. While PS3 and Wii U are already introducing handheld, touchscreen

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accessories to compliment consoles, it makes sense for gamers to use whatever tablet or smartphone they like to play mobile versions of their favourite games.

At the moment the majority of mobile game apps are pretty similar. It’s either the Angry Birds / Plants vs Zombies model of silly pick up and play games, or it’s the Fantastic Fish / Simpson’s Tapped Out variety, which is the time intensive, “live in this game” scenario. There isn’t too much else out there, but the scope is huge for Mobile games to deliver a lot more. As it is, Facebook gaming has grown almost 15% over last year. Current stats show social media gamers at around 235 million (that’s more than the number of active mobile phones in the entire USA), while hard-core gamers are in decline (both console and PC gamers have dropped in their share of overall gaming spend).

Farmville developers Zynga

at one stage contributed almost 20% of Facebook’s total income, though things seem to have soured since Facebook demanded a 30% cut off all their income, which has led to Zynga offering gaming directly on their website to break away from the social media giant. But that the truth is that mobile gaming constitutes about 22% of the total gaming market, an incredible 9% growth on last year’s market share.

So should console developers be worried.

Yes and no. Studies and polls are attributing the number of gamers turning away from consoles to the age of the current hardware. PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii are 6 to 7 years old at least, and gamers are looking for something to fill the gap. But all reports indicate we are on the cusp of the next wave of console development.

With the Wii U already wowing crowds, we can already expect Nintendo

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to dominate console sales this December. While Microsoft and Sony are still very hush-hush on next gen console release dates, we know that they are planning to release their consoles pretty soon. However, it’s not just a question of gamers bouncing from one format to another, but a whole new generation of gamers who use their smartphones and tablets as communication, social media, entertainment and gaming centre. And mobile gaming is also squarely aimed at this new market.

So I’m pretty sure that console developers will be looking more into this market with their next gen consoles. With more cloud based games already being predicted, it’s very likely that any of these will be social media driven mobile app type games designed to keep gamers on their consoles and off their iPads. g

Where the Buck Stops...

Console General

by Montgommery Paton

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o we’re all getting ready for the new Nintendo console. Aside from – at the time of writing – things still looking a bit… well, uncertain in some respects, the Wii U looks rather good.

But what of the other console that launched this year?

I speak, naturally, of the PS Vita. Yes, yes, some of you may want to argue whether it is a console or not, but for this column, let’s use that term, shall we?

It’s just shorter that typing out hand-held video game console all the time. Right, back on track.

It was with quite a lot of fanfare that the Vita first launched. We had a big event here in Johannesburg, too,

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and the confidence with which the Vita’s virtues were extolled showed that local distributors Ster Kinekor had every faith in the device. So why, then, isn’t it flying off shelves the way it should be? The answer is simple, and there is a message here for Nintendo distributors Core Group, too, as they prepare to launch the Wii U. Price. The Vita is simply too expensive.

Now you can go back and say all kinds of things like “yes, but the launch price of the Xbox 360 or PS3 was high when it first hit.” And you would be correct in that statement. But here’s what you are not considering. When the Xbox 360 and PS3 launched, they were front runner. Even

the Wii was, despite its lower spec. They weren’t competing with anything. Now, though, the playing field is quite different.

“Why buy an expensive Vita,” people ask, “when I have an Xbox, or PS3?” They will ask the same thing about the Wii U, unless the price is right. Nintendo have announced that they will be marketing the device for less than the manufacturing cost overseas, but that doesn’t mean that the price will be right here.

At a US$299 price point, if the Wii U costs more than around three and a half grand locally, people will balk. Money is tight, after all. Actually, if it costs more than three grand, that may still be the issue.

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For the Vita to be revitalised – let’s be honest, there haven’t been a lot of games released for it - people need to buy it. Not just here, of course, but over the whole world. And for that to happen, Sony seriously need to rethink their pricing strategy.

It’s far too good a device to be getting the kind of response that it is… the games are few and far between, because the users are few and far between. Sad but true.

While Sony has to address a global issue in this regard, Core Group needs to find the right strategy on a local level. It would be a total travesty if a great console like the Wii U doesn’t sell well because of an inaccurate pricing model. g

com p eti t io n • c o mp eti ti on • c om pe tit ion • com pe t ition • com pe t it ion

From Russia With Love

WIN

a Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 suite Courtesy of Kaspersky Lab TO ENTER: Send an email to competitions@gameccamag.com Tell us which country hosts the Kaspersky Lab HQ Insert ‘Kaspersky’ in the mail’s subject line Subscribe to www.gameccamag.com Become a fan on Gamecca’s Facebook Page

Competition closes 30 November 2012. Gamecca subscribers only. South African residents only.

Prizes may not be exchanged for cash. Competition closed to employees (& employee’s family) of 1337 Media CC, Kaspersky Lab and Orange Ink. The judges’ decision is final.

Earning

A new com to boost X in South

Interview

There’s a new face at South Africa’s Xbox operation, and he’s looking at going big.

Graeme Selvan, the PR Manager for Xbox South Africa, has big plans for the future of South African Xbox gaming.

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g a Halo

mpetition Xbox Live h Africa

A new project that they are unveiling is planned to be a massive Halo 4 competition, set to kick off in just a few days. The competition will cater for clans and single players, and prizes include a trip to the next Gamescom.

We caught up with Graeme to ask him about the competition and what entrants could expect from it.

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Interview

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Halo had a bit of a slow start in South Africa, thanks to the fact that the original game arrived here late. How strong is the Halo community in South Africa these days?

GS. It’s relatively small, however it’s growing every single day. We have noticed a massive interest in the new Halo 4 game due for release on Nov 6th and I think the fact that the story has been “rebooted” will allow gamers that missed the main story arch of the previous titles to start fresh. It’s a real pity that the original Xbox was not released here officially in South Africa as Halo truly is a great franchise. I hope that gamers around South Africa will give the new Halo a chance and sink many hours into the multiplayer.

Seeing an official tournament like this take place on the Xbox LIVE servers is great? Is the local Xbox LIVE user-base growing?

GS. This tournament was built exclusively by me and another developer. This is the first time anything like this has been done in the world and is currently exclusive to South Africa.

We are hoping to grow our local user base on Xbox

Live. We are aware that a majority of our users have “grey” accounts due to the lack of services on the live platform. My plan is to change peoples’ views of Xbox Live South Africa by offering exclusive tournaments like this.

However in turn we need the communities’ support to be able to bring exciting things like this in the future.

to the Halo 4 community being vastly smaller to other games makes it even tougher. I do suggest entrants try and form teams with other lone wolves this way you stand double the chance of getting your golden ticket to Gamescom.

How many clans do you hope to have entering the tournament?

GS. Not as big as we had thought, however we think and hope that more gamers will enter closer to the time.

How does a player or clan enter the tournament?

GS. We made the process really simple, head over to www.halo4-live. co.za click on the “Enter Tournament” banner and follow the three step instructions.

GS. The more the merrier, our custom built software will scale to an infinite amount of players.

I would love to have 500 teams taking part and 500 lone wolves. The uptake thus far has been a little disappointing, but we are hoping the numbers will grow closer to the release of the game.

Including single player death matches is a great idea… which of the two competition types do you believe will get the best response?

GS. So far the Lone Wolf is the most popular and we think it will continue this way. I think it’s a lot tougher to get a group of friends together all playing the same game at the same time. Also due

What has response to the tournament been like up until now?

What are the biggest challenges in hosting a tournament like this in South Africa?

A8. A few challenges have surfaced over the development cycle as we had to scale our software for an infinite amount of entrants. We had to come up with every possible scenario both in writing our software and structuring our rule sets for the tournament. We had no base to start from as this is the first time this has

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ever been done worldwide.

From a legal standpoint we had to make sure all our bases were covered, this process alone took around 3 weeks to finalize.

We decided later on in the development cycle that all games would be refereed.

We are aware that peoples friends lists are full so adding in multiple names for each match would be painful. Gamers will only need to add in our special “referee tags” When each game takes place they will know which tag to latch onto, we hope this makes things easier for the gamers out there.

Is the tournament open to all?

GS. We had to exclude gamers under the age of 18 due to the fact that minors will need consent from their parents. From a legal standpoint if someone under the age of 18 does anything “stupid” overseas we are not liable for their actions. So if you are 18 and you want to run through Gamescom in the nude feel free to do so.

Will this be the first of many tournaments of this type, catered for South African gamers?

GS. If we get the support from the community many more will follow I can promise you! g

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Reviews Highlights 48 Assassin’s Creed 3 A whole new world!

56 FIFA13 More soccer for your buck 60 Dishonored Revenge is sweet 70 XCOM: Enemy Unknown Saving the earth... again...

72 Forza Horizon The Open Road

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tter madness, I tell you... we are still working to get this issue out, and the in-tray for review games is already almost full to bursting again. Not that this is a complaint, you understand.

This time of year really is a wonderful one for gaming enthusiasts, but it is also a time that you will need to count your pennies and plan your game buying strategy carefully. And there are more games to come before 2012 winds up. And that’s why we do what we do... to help you all make the best game buying decisions you can. We would say ‘you’re welcome’, but we love this job so much that it is thanks enough all on its own... g

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Stand Alone Games

Available at leading retailers

Distributed Exclusively by Apex Interactive Tel: (011) 796 5040 www.apexinteractive.co.za Email: sales@apexint.co.za All rights and trademarks and logos are copyright of their respective owners.

www.apexactive.co.za

Assassin’s Creed 3

New Blood A whole lot of new going on…

by Walt Pretorius

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character as a young man, but rather kicking off before he is even born. We’re not going to throw spoilers in here. Rather, we’re just going to say that the first section of the game feels a little frustrating, simply because you are not yet using Connor – the hot-tempered, sometimes enigmatic Native American half-breed hero that we’ve heard so much about. It seems as though you’re wasting time in these stages, which set the scene for the rest of the game. But once you get to Connor and he dons the new variation of the now famous Assassin garb, you realise that not only has the scene setting helped the story along enormously, but there is a vast game in front of you.

There is so much to do in Assassin’s Creed 3 that it’s almost a good idea to work with a checklist. The player helps rebuild a homestead, which becomes a base of

Review

hen making sweeping changes to an existing, well-loved IP, developers always take something of a chance. That’s what faced the team behind Assassin’s Creed 3; not only were they breaking away from the familiar setting of the previous three releases, but they were making changes to the way that the game has been played since day one. A new control scheme and ideas await the player, and they might just take a little getting used to.

Let’s step back for a while, though, before we get into the details. Assassin’s Creed 3 takes the player to the New World, starting in America just before the Revolution that ousted the British and won independence for the fledgling nation. The story here is far more sweeping, not starting with the principle

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operations, finding artisans and workers to help earn money. The game’s economy is trade based, so money is generated by producing goods and selling them. This is a more complex system than the previous outing, in which the player simply bought shops. Then the player can also contribute to the economy by hunting, selling pelts and other trophies. The player also undertakes various liberation missions in Boston and New York, as well as naval mission in an upgradeable ship. There are frontier missions, too, given to the player by hunters and other frontier folk. The homesteaders will have missions, which result in upgrades, too. There are feathers, chests and almanac pages to find, forts to capture and convoys to attack (or protect, if they are under the player’s control).

Have I left anything out? Probably… and we haven’t even spoken about the story missions and assassinations yet.

So, quite honestly, the game is massive, with huge amounts of things to do. Even just exploring the countryside and finding animals will keep you busy for ages. If you blast through the story missions, without a sideways glance, you will probably spend around twenty hours in Connor’s reality. But if you play the game as it was meant to be experienced – in other words, exploring the world and the life of the main character – you will be lost in Assassin’s Creed 3 for ages.

The world is beautifully presented, with detailed, large cities rubbing shoulder with wilderness areas that hide all kinds of dangers and treasures. This beauty comes through the graphics, to a large degree, which are excellent. Facial animations and character movement are top notch. Textures are detailed and while there is repetition of various models here and there, you won’t

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do so with. In fact, the load-out takes a bit of thought‌ do you forgo the accuracy and damage of Italian flintlock pistols for the convenience of reloading less granted by double barrel pistols, for example.

Naval combat is equally smooth, with a great system for ship to ship warfare that adds significantly to the game. But that cannot be said about everything. Some tasks do feel a little out of place and tacked on – but only a little. Other tasks can be a bit of a chore. Setting up trade convoys, for example, takes too long, as the player has to choose each resource and merchant it is destined to go to individually. Still, following the activity means that there is more money to be made, which means more upgrades and equipment. Then again, the player can get money from looting fallen enemies.

That option illustrates a core principle of the game.

Review

notice it too much. There is too much else to distract you here.

The control scheme takes a bit of getting used to, as said before. Instead of having buttons assigned to parts of the character’s body, as before, the new scheme is more oriented towards flowing combat. The counter-kill based system is still there, but the player will spend less time waiting for opponents to attack. It just flows better, making Connor look like the ultimate hand-to-hand killing machine. Additionally, different enemies will require different approaches and tactics.

On the whole, it feels much better getting in to fights.

The AI opponents will dominate the action less, and the player can literally have Connor blazing a swathe through the bad guys with relative ease. And there are tons of weapons, which can be bought or crafted, to

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Connor keeps banging on about freedom, and it is something that the developers obviously wanted to give the player in spades. Fort assaults are a great example.

The player can carefully navigate the fort, staying out of sight, or take it on in an al-out assault, killing everything that moves, or even perform a lightning, dashing strike to take out critical targets before the enemy knows what hits them.

Sadly, the game is not without its problems. Bugs and graphic issues arise from time to time – a result of the vast scale of the game. In fact, the size of the game, while being a great asset, is also the cause of its biggest issues. But most of them, aside from causing a modicum of frustration, are forgivable. There is nothing that will keep you from playing, and some can even be a little amusing.

With a massive single player campaign and compelling multiplayer offering, Assassin’s Creed 3 is great fun. The changes and improvements aren’t as apparent as they were in AC2 (we were spoiled with that one) but they are there, and the brilliantly scripted narrative is full of complexities and twists. Is it the best Assassin’s Creed game? That’s hard to say. It is certainly on par with the best, but it isn’t a clear winner. That will really come down to how you perceive the title personally. There are numerous improvements, yes, but there are also ideas that could have been implemented a little better. What can be said is that it is well worth playing. It draws the player in beautifully, and presents them with a world that feels free and real, crammed with interesting characters, nefarious plots and a hell of a lot to do. And that, in the end, is what we want from an Assassin’s Creed game. g

AT A GLANCE: Action adventure

Reviewed on:

X360

A massive new world, a great new character and tons – and we mean tons – to do. Just what we want in an Assassin’s Creed title.

Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Assassin’s Creed 2, Red Dead Redemption Local

1

Network

Online

8

Ubisoft Ubisoft Megarom

Parental Advisory

18+ gamecca41

0

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

Score

90 51

Resident Evil 6

Three Different Storylines?

Isn’t that zombie overkill? See what I did there?

by Pippa Tshabalala

I

Wong.

No matter whom you decide to play with however, you must confront the evil entity at the heart of a massive bio-terrorist attack in cities across the world, intent on releasing the C-virus into the population. Each character is also accompanied by a partner who will help you in your mission, which is controlled either by the AI or another player via local or online multiplayer. The stories all intertwine rather cleverly as well, and you really need to play all three to get the most out of this title. I’m not going to reveal too much about the story; suffice it to say that the links between each campaign are what keep this game afloat. Despite its other failings, the story in Resident Evil 6 is a definite high point, albeit spoiled only slightly be the at times moronic comments made by your companions.

Review

have a bit of a love hate relationship with the Resident Evil games. I’m still firmly convinced that Resident Evil 2 was the best one in the series – certainly the most frightening in my mind anyway, but interestingly Resident Evil 6 has taken the gameplay in a completely new direction that, if you pay attention to forum comments, not everyone is entirely happy about.

Is this with good reason however?

Resident Evil 6 is told from the perspective of a number of different characters: Chris Redfield, Leon S. Kennedy and Jake Muller, the illegitimate son of bad guy Albert Wesker.

You can select from three different scenarios, all of which play very differently depending on which character you’re using. Once you’ve finished all three storylines, you unlock a fourth in which you play as Ada

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One of the biggest changes in terms of gameplay in Resident Evil 6 is the ability to walk and fire a weapon at the same time. This might be a source of consternation among some people as it changes an inherent part of the game mechanic, but personally this is something that has always annoyed me about this series, so it makes me rather pleased to see this introduced. It could be argued that it reduces some of the tension that is a staple of the RE games, however I see this as probably the only good control scheme change implemented in the game.

Another welcome feature that has been added to this game are the health tablets. You can now heal at the push of a button, and collect herbs and convert them to more tablets in order to replenish your supply.

As always, the biggest feature of any Resident Evil game are the zombies, and in this case they are joined by

more intelligent J’avo, which are able to use weapons and heal themselves as well as collaborate to formulate an attack. This is another welcome addition, as it means you need to think a little more carefully about your strategy, rather than just popping off zombies left, right and centre.

This new, regenerative species is not only frightening, but can take you unaware if you aren’t paying attention, so you need to make sure you’ve finished said zombie off before moving on to your next target, or you’ll be sorry.

Every campaign is different, and this means that you need to rethink your strategy depending on which character you’re playing. Chris Redfield’s campaign, for example, is much more reminiscent of Gears of War. A third person shooter where you run and gun, taking cover and taking out bad guys as you go. The camera in RE6 doesn’t always support this however, and it means that

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together and while the introduction of a new character is a nice touch, it doesn’t really add anything to the game as a whole.

With regards to gameplay, sadly your AI partner is not particularly smart, so much as the feature seems good in theory; practically you shouldn’t rely on them and might as well complete the game on your own. In some ways this is perhaps a good thing because if you have a willing co-op partner, it’s way more fun than completing the game in single player mode.

I’ve never been a major fan of what I think are rather overused quick time events, and sadly RE6 is another victim of what developers seem to think is a staple in so many of these games. Overly long cut-scenes also interrupt the gameplay, and then throw you back into the action without warning, only for you to die an untimely

Review

there is a level of frustration to this change in gameplay style as it’s quite simply not as smooth as you would expect.

While there are some of the older, slower and more calculated gameplay moments present, particularly in Leon’s campaign, honestly they’re in short supply, and the speed of this game is significantly faster than other RE games you’ve played before – not necessarily a bad thing, but if you’re looking for a slow, suspenseful experience look elsewhere, it’s nowhere to be found here. While it’s an interesting departure from the Resident Evil we’ve come to expect, many will not appreciate this change in style.

Jake’s campaign is probably the least thought out and most disappointing of all of them, adding little to the overall story. There’s no real theme tying anything

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death. I appreciate a good cut-scene as much as the next person, but only when they add to the story, not interrupt it.

Credit where credit is due however; visually Resident Evil 6 has pushed the boundaries yet again graphically and this game looks amazing, perhaps one of the best looking titles I’ve seen all year. Additionally, the sound design and score is exceptional, adding extra depth and dimension to the game overall, providing suspense in all the right moments, and keeping the pace up when it otherwise might have ground to a halt due to less than perfect game design.

Resident Evil 6 certainly departs to a large extent from the traditional RE games we’ve come to know and love/ hate. There’s certainly plenty of replay value, with three separate campaigns to complete, as well as an unlockable

fourth campaign, which means that if you are prepared to play through this game over and over again, you’ll get a well-rounded story if not an ideal gameplay experience.

It’s not perfect and for many it falls short because in so many respects it doesn’t play like a Resident Evil game.

Since the beginning, Resident Evil’s primary selling point was always survival horror, and over the years it’s become less of that, and more zombie shoot-em-up. I don’t think anyone can complain about a game series evolving if it does so in a well thought out and legitimate manner, I can think of a number of examples that do just that, but Resident Evil 6 is not one of these examples. It’s quite simply all over the place, with added zombies and less meaningful, structured gameplay. It’s not an awful game and does deliver a decent gaming experience, but sadly it lacks the elements that would have made it a great game. g

AT A GLANCE: First Person Shooter

Reviewed on:

PS3

Some nice points but overall rather disappointing. Don’t expect survival horror.

This is not that game.

Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Resident Evil, Gears of War Local

2

Network

Online

6

Capcom Capcom Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory

0+ gamecca41

2

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

Score

68 55

FIFA 13

Live the Beautiful Game!

Experience all the drama and excitement of world class football

by Suvesh Arumugam

F

since 2002 (FIFA 2003) that has a single player gracing it’s cover (last year’s title featured Real Madrid’s Kaka and Machester United’s Wayne Rooney). It’s also the first edition since 2006 (FIFA 06) that Rooney has not featured on the game cover.

From a gameplay perspective, FIFA 13 seems to be very similar to 12. There are a few very cool improvements to the gameplay though. There’s a lot more realism is how the ball moves and the physics of player motion. For instance, previous versions wouldn’t take into account players running across the ball and would only allow an intercept if a button was pressed at the right time, regardless of the player blocking the path of the ball. Now the ball will bounce realistically off a player’s leg, and will not land predictably, adding to the realism and luck factor found in real football.

Review

IFA is one of gaming’s longest running and most successful franchises, on consoles and PC (and now recently smartphone and tablets). There is always great anticipation and conjecture when a new release is due, and each instalment is finely scrutinised against previous ones.

This year’s version features Lionel Messi from Barcelona, who has won World Footballer of the Year several times. The diminutive football genius, also knows as The Atomic Flea, had previously graced the 2009 – 2011 Pro Evolution Soccer covers, and was also involved in the motion capture for those games.

It must be no small victory for the folks at EA Sports to have the endorsement of arguably the best player in the world. Given Messi’s status in the football world, it’s no wonder that this is the first FIFA title

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A few adjustments have been made to defensive tracking, easing off the harder controls introduced in 12, but on harder levels you still have to do most of the work (instead of just holding in X like before).

The most noticeable addition to FIFA 13 is the skills challenges. The designers of the game brilliantly took this to the next level by making the skills challenge a stand-alone mode, as well as very convenient way to kill time before starting your next match. The skills range from hitting targets or lobbing balls into barrels to dribbling in-between cones, but each of them have them have three levels of difficulty. Completing the challenges in the given time or with the required level of skills wins skill points which can be used for your created player or team. They are also a great way to master certain aspects of the game like dribbling and

free kicks.

For the first time, FIFA 13 now supports motion control. On both the PS3 and Xbox versions, the Move and Kinect respectively are supported. I was lucky enough to play the game on both consoles, and just as the motion control is designed very differently, the motion control features are very different. Briefly, the Kinect does not allow direct motion control in normal games, though it does offer more for the Be a Pro version. What it does offer is voice recognition, so while controlling your players with the 360 controls, you can use voice commands to access in game strategy options like Mentality, Formation and even substitutions. For the Be a Pro gameplay, you can also use Voice Recognition to call out player names and instructions, which also applies to Be A Pro:

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which decides for you. While it’s an interesting novelty, I can’t see many serious fans opting for this except as a challenge.

As with the last few FIFA versions, there is a large emphasis on online challenges and play. I really liked the weekly challenge in 12, and I was pleased to see that this has been made even more awesome in 13.

Along with the challenge of the week chosen from one of the major European leagues, there is a choice of several interesting “games of the week” from leagues all over the world, featuring a range of teams with varying skills levels. In both versions you can now play as either team, to either repeat an amazing performance, or change history by achieving a different result. Along with the EA leagues and Ultimate Team modes, playing online is one of the coolest pick up and

Review

Goalkeeper.

The PS3 Move version is very different. Here you use your Move controller to directly control your players, as well as in-game strategies. This applied to normal and Be A Pro modes. At first the controls feel clumsy and inaccurate. The inability to get full 360-degree wrist movements (as one would with an analogue stick) makes it feel very uncomfortable.

Once you figure out that you need to point where you want to go or at the ball, it’s starts making more sense, but ultimately it still feels uncoordinated.

Stopping on the ball is literally impossible. There is also no sprint button, so using pace is difficult. The square button is a single skill option, which also limits possibilities on harder levels. You only have a single option for pass or through pass, the Move button,

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play options these days. Also following from previous year’s version, FIFA 13 will be available on iOS (iPad and iPhone) and Android (Samsung, HTC and Google) devices. The FIFA 12 Tablet and smartphone versions were extremely limited, and delivered mostly novelty value. It would be a great to see a much more serious edition. It would also be interesting to see if any future tablet versions will start to use the touchscreen more effectively, rather than just having analogue controls mimicking console version, and it would also be great to see more integration between your regular console profile and mobile profile. That way players will be able to get in a few career or league matches during lunch or in the doctor’s waiting room.

In addition to all this, there are now more domestic leagues and international teams than ever, truly

making FIFA 13 the most authentic football sim on the market today. It all amounts to FIFA continuing to be the most popular football series. The pre-release demo was downloaded an incredible 2 million times in only three days! Just goes to show how many fans are out there waiting for the new and improved game.

FIFA 13 delivers on all it’s promises. It has the perfect combination of arcade fun with real life sport simulation.

With just about every club and national team faithfully recreated (they even have the Indian soccer – which I didn’t even know existed) with surprisingly current player rosters. With so many different modes to choose from, there is no doubt that many hours, days and weeks can be invested in careers, tournaments and online challenges over the next year (until the FIFA 14 arrives). g

AT A GLANCE: Sport

Reviewed on:

Footballs biggest video game delivers gaming’s biggest thrills in one of 2012’s most anticipated releases.

Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

PES 2013, Football Manager 2013 Local

7

Network 22

EA Canada Electronic Arts EA South Africa

Parental Advisory

3+ gamecca41

Online 22

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

Score

90 59

Dishonored

Life or Death The choice is yours

By Lein Baart

C

Wracked by a rat-borne plague, Dunwall is a city at war with itself, as class oppression, blatant decadence and unabashed greed struggle with the needs of the general populace who are frightened by the very real prospect of a torturous, diseased death. The desperation is almost tangible, thanks in large part to the talents of Viktor Antonov, designer of Half Life 2’s City 17. Shattered windows, discarded debris and swarms of rats all lay testament to a rotting city, while guards patrol on stilted walkers behind electric gates, ruthlessly subduing any hint of rebellion from the working class.

It’s a grim backdrop, and Dishonored wastes little time in building on this theme. Framed for the murder of the Empress and the kidnapping of her daughter, Corvo Attano is a man driven by revenge. Freed from the prison in which you were brutally tortured while awaiting your execution,

Review

hoice is the bane of a strong narrative. Too much of it and the story loses its impetus, becoming little more than an optional, drawn out side quest, while too little means a game is robbed it of its greatest strength: interaction. It’s a balancing act so fine that only a few titles in the history of gaming have mastered it, and they stand out starkly. Think of games such as Deus Ex or Bioshock, and the freedom they gave you while still drawing you down the same inevitable path, and you get the idea. It’s the illusion of choice and the tantalizing realisation that while the road ahead may be set, you’re arriving on your own terms. And it’s this elusive quality that makes Dishonored one of the best titles of the year.

Set in the city of Dunwall, a Victorian styled metropolis at the heart of an empire of five islands, Dishonored is a story of betrayal, vengeance and consequences.

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you’re given the chance to enact your retribution by a group calling themselves the Loyalists, and a mythical being called the Outsider who grants you supernatural powers. From an Admiral with a hidden bloodlust to a servant who sells out his neighbours, the darkness inherent in the world of Dishonored is never more evident than in the fantastic cast of characters behind the plot, where innocence and true nobility are seemingly nonexistent qualities.

Freedom of choice, though, lies at heart of what makes Dishonored great. It’s a philosophy that permeates nearly every level of its design, and the choices you make can have surprising ramifications later on. The plot itself is fairly linear, with a series of missions in which you are given your target, then let loose to wreak havoc… or not. While there are action games out there in which you can play the

benevolent hero, Dishonored takes it to a new extreme.

Not once in the entire game are you ever required to kill anyone, not even the targets that need to be “neutralised”.

Or perhaps you wish your reprisal to be a bloody massacre, bathing Dunwall in blood as you slaughter anyone who had a hand in your betrayal, no matter how indirectly. Of course there’s a third option, the stealthy assassin who deals death with a measured hand. The point is that it’s always your choice, no matter the situation. Just be prepared for the consequences that follow, as the world around you will echo your actions. The more violent you are the darker the world becomes, with plague victims, rat swarms and the watchmen all appearing in larger numbers as Dunwall sinks further into chaos.

The freedom you are offered is reflected in more than just the story. The levels are large open areas, essentially

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as they are the only weapon that is nonlethal. For those inclined towards trickery rewire tools are indispensable, allowing you to reverse the foe detection of electronic defences set up by guards, causing general chaos as pylons starting flinging electricity at the watchmen they were supposed to defend, while you walk through unscathed.

Your true preference though will be determined by your selection of powers, and the bone charms you equip.

Runes scattered through every level will allow you to purchase and upgrade a suite of six active and four passive powers, though there are never enough to runes to allow you to access all of the abilities available. By far the most versatile of the powers is Blink, a short teleportation that can be used for exploration, stealth and combat, while others, such as Windblast, clearly favour a more

Review

self-contained sandboxes. There are a myriad of paths, from the obscure to the direct, all allowing you to tailor your play style to the situation at hand. External ducts, rooftops and cramped alleys suit those who prefer stealth, while open thoroughfares and courtyards provide plenty of bodies waiting to be slaughtered. The overall design of Dishonored is fantastic, and while there are the occasional invisible walls and ceilings, there are never enough to detract from the feeling of freedom that each level has.

Your style will also be reflected in the equipment you use. Besides a folding sword Corvo has several tools at his disposal, utilising a pistol, crossbow or even razor-mines. The crossbow in particular has a variety of ammunition, and for players not wanting to butcher their way across every level the sleep darts are invaluable,

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violent approach. The brilliance of the system though is the creative uses you can put your powers to. Combining powers can lead to some viciously satisfying executions, and Dishonored actively encourages you to experiment.

Bone charms also play an important role in this, giving Corvo small, specific benefits such as being able to choke someone into unconsciousness quicker, or regenerating health when hit by a plague infected Weeper. You can only equip a maximum of six however, meaning that careful selection is vital in order to get the most out of your character.

All this culminates in a title which is essentially two games in one. The stealth approach practically resurrects the gameplay of the Thief series, in which patience is as much a necessity as a virtue as you carefully observe movement patterns, looking for the opportune moment to

strike or slip in unseen. The combat approach is a much faster, bloodier affair, reminiscent of Arkane Studios’ earlier titles such as Dark Messiah and Arx Fatalis.

Dishonored is a game that practically demands to be played through at least twice, as you can never experience everything the game has to offer in one play-through. It’s not without flaws, for instance the AI is prone to stupidity, and the control scheme can be a little slow to respond in context-sensitive situations such as assassinations, but the brilliance of the game easily eclipses what are ultimately minor faults. It’s a title that draws on so many inspirations, many of which developer Arkane Studios had a hand in, that it can seem unoriginal at first glance; yet it melds all these influences in to a near perfect fit, and the final result is a game that is possibly one of the finest of the past decade. g

AT A GLANCE: First-person Stealth

Reviewed on:

PS3

Dishonored is the rarest of the rare, a truly brilliant game that is utterly compelling, and always leaves the decision up to you.

Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Thief, Deus Ex, Bioshock Local

1

Network

Online

0

Arkane Studios Bethesda Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory

18+ gamecca41

0

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

Score

92 63

Death at Fairing Point

Paranormal Puzzle Activity Helping out ghosts can be great for your noggin.

by James Francis

I

Review

64

AT A GLANCE: Genre:

Puzzle

Reviewed on:

PC

A puzzle-heavy object finder that sidesteps many of the trivial aspects of Hidden Object games.

Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Haunted Halls, Mystery Trackers, Tales Of Terror Local

1

Network

Online

0

Big Fish Games Focus Essential Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory

3+ gamecca41

0

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Platforms

f I had just booked into a room at a rustic Scottish hotel and a ghost visited me before I had even checked the mini-bar...

Well, I’d be outta there. Either that or make an offer to buy the place. If Paranormal Activity could make so much money, this hotel is a goldmine. But its spooks are significantly less vindictive than those seen in the movies.

They just want someone to get to the bottom of their century old murder-mystery tragedy.

That job lands in the lap of Dana Knightstone, through whose eyes you experience this adventure game. Death At Fairing Point is quite an adherent to the genre. Unlike the more common hidden object puzzles, this game leans towards the idea that stuff you pick up should have a practical value. Instead of rummaging through a messy room to find arbitrary objects, here you find pieces of something larger or all the objects attributed to a certain purpose.

In short, it feels less like you are digging up crap for the sake of progress.

One hidden object scene still managed to sneak in, but overall Fairing Point has a much more structured feel to it than many games in the genre. This is not necessarily better. If you like games that serve their hidden object scenes as readily as McDonalds on a Friday evening, you’ll be disappointed. But the sense of purpose is refreshing if you find yourself gorging on HOGs too often.

Instead, the game has a major reliance on puzzles - many of which are pretty fun and creative. But they are not hard. Fairing Point is a nice choice for newcomers or those seeking to avoid the eventual tedium of HOGs. g

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

Score

80

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

co mp et it io n • c omp eti ti o n • com pe t ition • com pe tit ion • com pe t i -

FREEDOM!

WIN

an ASSASSIN’S CREED 3 hamper Courtesy of Ubisoft and Megarom TO ENTER: Send an email to competitions@gameccamag.com Tell us the name of the new lead character in Assassin’s Creed 3 Insert ‘AC3’ in the mail’s subject line Subscribe to www.gameccamag.com Become a fan on Gamecca’s Facebook Page

Competition closes 30 November 2012. Gamecca subscribers only. South African residents only.

Prizes may not be exchanged for cash. Competition closed to employees (& employee’s family) of 1337 Media CC, Ubisoft and Megarom Interactive. The judges’ decision is final.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter

Missfire!

Something just didn’t work...

by Charlie Fripp

S

When the double-disc game boots up, player will be asked if they would like to install the HD content in order to “enhance the experience”. While this isn’t a major issue, (Battlefield 3 had the same option), players with a 4GB console won’t be able to install the content, as the Xbox sees the hard-drive as a memory device.

It’s not the game’s fault, but it does leave a bit of a sour taste in a gamer’s mouth if they can’t install the HD content and play the game as intended. The majority of titles manage to squeeze all the HD content into one disc, and while the multiplayer is on a separate disc, it would have made life a lot easier if everything was bundled together.

One thing that will get the attention of gamers is the cutscene graphics and the overall presentation of the title. The imagery is really well done, and resembles the graphics that was present in the PlayStation 3 title Heavy Rain.

Review

omething is amiss. A certain element that should have been present has been omitted. It that feeling someone get when they just know that something isn’t quite right with the entire picture but it’s difficult to pin-point exactly.

That is the best way that one can explain Danger Close’s latest game Medal of Honor: Warfighter.

Published by Electronic Arts, the title follows up from the previous reboot of the popular Medal of Honor franchise which kept gamers glued to their screen since the late 90’s.

While the reboot from a couple of years was fairly good, something has fallen off the wagon and Danger Close might not even be able to establish exactly what it is. The title leaves a bit to be desired, and while not all is bad, some things could definitely have been done a lot better.

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The characters look life-like and the level of detail is amazing, while bringing in a certain level of engagement with great audio. It’s a pity that the whole title couldn’t look like the cut-scenes, but that would be practically impossible.

In terms of plot, players take on the role of ‘Preacher’ in the first couple of missions, and then swap to another operative called ‘Stump’, and switch between the two during the game. The main plot however revolves are Preacher as he battles his personal demons with his family, and the dangerous missions he gets sent on as a Tier 1 Operator.

The addition of his personal problems aims to bring human emotion into the title, and tries to convey the feeling that he isn’t simply a killing machine. Ironically, his wife accuses him of being just that, and it’s up to him to try and

patch things up with her through the detailed cut-scenes.

Characters Mother and Voodoo are also present from the previous titles, but players will only get to control two characters instead of four. The plot weaves in and out of terrorism, sabotage and deadly games, and as usual the player needs to stop a planned terrorist attack.

The major problem with Warfighter is that the levels feel a bit flat, with nothing encouraging the player to continue with the missions. Some cheap deaths will be at the order of the day, and the AI teammates tend to hang back, wait for the player to initiate enemy contact and will only then move forward.

Most of the levels all feel the same as well. While their design is distinctly different, the title follows a tired formula of moving forward, taking out enemies, moving forward – rise and repeat. On the odd occasion player will be asked to

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the player.

The mission feels incredibly rushed, as gamers will have to snipe around 10 enemies very quickly while being under fire, and the weapon given isn’t the most accurate in the world. While there is a visible spotter near the player, they will still have to adjust their aim for each enemy accordingly – something which sophisticated snipers scopes can do automatically.

The last two enemies try to take pot-shots at an ally helicopter with RPGs, and gamers will only have the time to take about three shots in total before the AI actually hits the helicopter – which results in a fail. It shouldn’t be that way, as sniping is something done from a distance under the cloak of darkness and in real-life it’s imperative for snipers to select their target, hit it with precision and leave the area undetected – they shouldn’t be called in as the

Review

breach a door, and the more headshots they get, better breaching equipment will be unlocked.

Danger Close desperately tried to shake things up a bit by adding non-shooting missions in a sense that involves car chases and the likes. The car chase from the beginning of the game seems exciting at first, but after a while start to drag on for just too long. The driving, while not horrible, also isn’t perfect.

It’s nowhere near comparable to EA’s Need for Speed (although the mission is called Hot Pursuit), and one wrong move or turn from the player will almost certainly end in failure as enemy driver will get too far ahead.

Another mission that can grind a gamer’s goat is a sniper mission in which players need to snipe enemies on a roof. By nature sniping is an activity which takes time, precision and patience – none of which the game affords

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main assault.

While the game isn’t as terrible as most of the media made it out to be, Medal of Honor: Warfighter could have been a really good game. But as mentioned earlier the levels feel flat was no substance, and unfortunately the cutscenes aren’t enough to carry the entire game.

Danger Close should have spent a little more time developing a great game, rather than rushing through it in order to release before Christmas – which resulted in a mediocre effort. The title does have its good points (such as presentation and storytelling), but sadly they are outweighed by a shoddy HUD, inconsistent AI and somewhat poor level design.

The characters suffers from the same disease that we have seen many times over – the complete inability to walk over slightly raised platforms. Anything from a rock to a

2x4 or a collapsed wall, players will have to initiate a jump for Preacher will climb over – it’s highly frustrating to say the least, and gets in the way when taking cover going backwards.

Playing through the first couple of levels, players will begin to get the feeling that the title was a little bit rushed, with combat that feels flat and very middle 2000’s. As mentioned earlier, the levels are designed in such a way that makes it difficult for gamers to actually want to complete the title.

But all bad things aside, it still has a high level of presentation value and a twisting plot. Both elements that are the building blocks of a great title, unfortunately that is where it end and bottoms out.

Warfighter should be known as the game that could have… Danger so close, yet so far.. g

AT A GLANCE: First-person Shooter

While it has some great elements to it, the title overall fails to deliver.

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Call of Duty, Medal Of Honor, Battlefield 3 Local

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Danger Close Electronic Arts EA South Africa

Parental Advisory

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1

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Reviewed on:

X360 Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

Score

62 69

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Of the Third Kind Duck, flank, fire!

by Walt Pretorius

W

split between combat, in which the player can select up to six combatants to lead against the invaders, and management. Between missions, the player will need to research technologies, build facilities, deploy satellites and build equipment to help keep the aliens at bay. And they will need to keep the nations that form part of the XCOM project happy, too; failure to look after a nation might result in it withdrawing from the project, taking valuable resources and manpower with it. Even worse, if enough nations leave, the whole project gets canned, and the Earth is lost. No pressure.

In both combat and management, XCOM: Enemy Unknown is all about making the right choices. Whether it is which research to undertake next, or how to structure a squad, the game will need the player to think.

Combat takes up most of the player’s time. Each

Review

hile real time strategy games really get the lion’s share of the attention, turn based strategy titles manage to take the ideas that RTS games put forward and really refine them.

See, while a player can dominate by brute force in an RTS from time to time, turn based games require a deeper level of strategy. It’s not just about the biggest armies and the biggest guns; it’s about thinking very carefully about what the next move should be, too. And XCOM: Enemy Unknown, with its squad-based warfare, requires this in spades.

By nature, XCOM is pedantic and slow-paced, just like any other turn based game. Developed by industry veterans Firaxis, it puts the player in command of a special task force that needs to deal with an alien invasion sweeping the Earth. The game dynamic is

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squad is comprised of up to six soldiers, with specialities in heavy weapons, assault, support or sniping. These soldiers gain experience, which unlocks new skills on a simplified skill tree for each class. In addition, they can be customised – not just in terms of better equipment, but names and looks can also be altered. Once the player has chosen the soldiers he wants to take on the mission, the game will put them in a number of different situations.

Realistically, though, it all comes down to one thing: kill the aliens. There are missions that are bit varied, for some spice. These include bomb diffusing and civilian rescue missions (all of which help to reduce the panic in the various member countries) but when you get down to it, the game relies on a careful strategic approach in which cover, flanking and similar elements play a vital role.

Even with a variety of enemies, this does mean that

XCOM can get repetitive. But, then again, it’s not a game that’s meant to be blasted through in an afternoon – not that you will. That pace is slower here, and the strategy extends beyond the battlefield. One wrong decision could mean losing a soldier that you have trained up to the highest levels, or could mean the difference between losing a country’s support or not. XCOM requires careful thought, on and off of the battlefield.

As a successor to the classic, this version of XCOM is great. It is wonderfully modernised and offers gamers exactly what they want in this kind of title – careful tactical approaches, combined with a decent level of management and some character development, too.

If you are the type that likes to be pedantic and take things a little slower, you can do far worse than getting this title. g

AT A GLANCE: Turn-based strategy

Reviewed on:

As the next title in a very long running franchise, this is a great addition, and a must-play for TBS fans.

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1

Network

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2

Firaxis 2K Megarom

Parental Advisory

18+ gamecca41

0

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

Score

89 71

Forza Horizon

The Near Horizon Forza goes casual with a music festival and highway racing

by Christo van Gemert

T

realistic physics, would finally give gamers the chance to experience the kind of driving you they’d get in the real world. With none of the danger, obviously. It seemed too good to be true: the thought of blasting down a highway in a Lamborghini, with your friends giving chase, and dodging traffic, all with the realism of Forza. Expectations were high, and the potential for disappointment was exponentially higher.

Thankfully, final product is a good compromise. Forza Horizon is a Forza game, all right. It feels like Forza, despite Turn 10 not being directly involved. The cars sound like they do in real Forza, despite the dubstep blaring from the radio stations. Graphically, it’s actually a step up from Forza games of past. And the open world gameplay brings with it some new challenges. It’s Forza, with the seriousness dialled out. It’s fun.

Review

est Drive Unlimited was the first proper openworld racing game on the Xbox 360. It was ground-breaking at the time of its release and still has features we wish we could see in modern games. An enormous open road network. The ability to drive absolutely everywhere. Stretches of coastal highway. And a car line-up that’ll make you salivate petrol. In reality, though, TDU was frustrating to play, because it had what could best be described as moon physics. And the handling model made driving a Ferrari feel like controlling a cruise ship.

After Horizon’s teaser trailer in March this year, Turn 10 spilled the beans. The next Forza game would be set in an open world, in a semi-fictional version Colorado, at the completely fictional Horizon music festival. Forza, renowned for its fantastically

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Let’s get the technical stuff out of the way. This is the first Forza game to not run at 60 frames per second – something the franchise is known for. Obviously the move to an open environment brings a set of challenges that would make it impossible to have the game running smoothly at a high frame rate while still streaming content off the disc. Playground, the developer Turn 10 has trusted with its baby, really pulled some magic, though. The game rarely feels like it’s running at 30 frames per second. Everything is smooth, there is no pop in, and the environment is beautiful. Lighting is fantastic: somehow they’ve made the cars look prettier in Forza Horizon than they did in Forza 4. Best of all, there is now a day/night cycle, so you can cruise on the highway from sunrise all the way through to sunset. Night driving is challenging, too, because you rely on the taillights

of the car in front of you to know where you’re going, sometimes. Audio is great – but Forza games have never disappointed here. I’ve always disabled the in-race music in racing games, but Horizon has three radio stations to cater for different music tastes. There’s also a whack of annoying DJs and announcers keeping you informed of what’s happening at the Horizon festival. Online play has also been scaled back. Instead of 16 players, you now have to make do with 8 friends. Where TDU was permanently online, Forza requires players to join online lobbies if they want to play with others – but more on that, later.

Forza Horizon looks great, but how does it play? The Forza series has always had a certain feel. You knew what the car was doing when it started slithering about on the exit of a corner. You knew when to back

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a Forza game - also takes a special set of skills. It feels like Forza because you can play it the same way, but it’s obvious where the “that won’t happen in real life” moments are. If you love cars and just want some highspeed blasts on the open road, this will scratch that itch.

Just be prepared to suspend your disbelief and not take it too seriously.

The challenges are varied. You get into races with the AI, to win money and rise up the ladder. There are showcase events, pitting you against hot air balloons or planes, to win rare cars. You can start impromptu races by tailing other AI racers while out on the roads. You get alerted to classic cars hidden in barns, and hunting one down will put it in your garage. Points are awarded for fast driving, showing off your skills, clocking high speed through speed traps, and not crashing into people.

Review

off, just listening to the tyres, and you could always apply real-world car control techniques to get your virtual steed back in line. Horizon has only some of the physics that the real Forza titles have. Cars have a tremendous amount of grip – seriously, when you put your foot down in the 640-horsepower Viper and it stays planted, you know that liberties have been taken. Of course, this is a Forza game for a different audience. Sim racers will stick to their racetracks and the philosophy that street racing is for irresponsible youths.

The embellishment in Horizon isn’t too unrealistic, though. You can still encounter terminal understeer by entering a corner too quickly. And if you’re too reckless you can encounter the sort of tank-slapper that will see you spin out of control. Driving on dirt – a first for

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It’s got all kinds of cool car culture stuff, and there’s enough to keep you entertained for weeks. Many of those hours will be spent retrying events, though. The artificial intelligence is nigh on unbeatable at the harder difficulties. It’s some form of reverse rubber-banding: if you’re in last place, getting to first is a very difficult task.

But once you’re in the lead, the AI doesn’t challenge for it.

That brings us to some other frustrations. The car selection is limited – 150 cars compared to 500 in Forza 4. You can upgrade them, but not tune any of the parts. The online is limited to a lobby of 8 players, and isn’t really as open as the online mode in Test Drive Unlimited. You can roam free with up to 8 friends, and there are some fun challenges to participate in, but it still feels too boxed in.

Part of the problem could be the size of the map.

Compared to other open world driving games Horizon feels like a small town, not a whole state. Test Drive Unlimited had 1600km of driveable roads; this has about 200km. Those roads are not all pleasant, either. Twisty mountain passes sound great on paper and in real life, but Horizon lacks the sense of speed that makes them challenging. Most of the time you just cut a straight line through a section of twisty bits.

It’s ironic, for a franchise based in realism, that the accessibility and fun factor have robbed this game of the technical fun of driving a car through some challenging roads.

It’s a good first effort, and a lot of fun, but we can’t wait for the sequel, which should arrive on the next Xbox. g

AT A GLANCE: Driving

Reviewed on:

X360

It might not be realistic or competitive, but the best way to describe this game is to call it ‘‘‘Fun Forza’’.

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Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Burnout Paradise Local

1

Network

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8

Playground Games/Turn 10 Microsoft Microsoft

Parental Advisory

12+ gamecca41

0

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

Score

79 75

Dead or Alive 5

The Next Round Dead or Alive 5 comes out swinging…

by Walt Pretorius

W

– becomes even more of a strength. In fact, it helps elevate the title to a whole new level. Is Dead or Alive 5 the finest game in the franchise? Without a doubt, yes.

Does it give other, more prominent fighting games a run for their money? In all honesty, if players give DOA 5 a chance, they may well find a new alternative.

This latest version of the DOA franchise has everything veteran players may expect; tons of action in varied environments, and a large roster of fighters – including numerous gorgeous girls. OK, in all honesty, the developers still seem to have no idea about how breasts move in real life (in the game they still wobble and giggle apparently endlessly) but the overall look of the characters has reached an entirely new height.

To call DOA 5 a pretty game is an understatement.

The characters and environments combine to form

Review

hen on thinks of the fighting game genre, names like Mortal Kombat, Tekken and Street Fighter spring to mind pretty much immediately. But these aren’t the only fighting games around, even if they are the most prominent, and there are a number of other examples of the genre that have been around for some time. Take, for example, the franchise in question; Dead or Alive has been around for some time, now in its fifth iteration, with some spin off games in there too. But Dead or Alive has almost always struggled against the bigger names, and has, as a result, followed a route that has carved something of a cult-status niche out for the series.

In this latest version of the game, that niche – the whole ‘beautiful people beating each other up’ thing

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a real visual treat, with large, often multi-tiered and almost always destructible environments hosting battles between characters that are highly detailed and beautifully modelled. The special effects look great, too.

Looks are important, but in a game like this, dynamics are still king. What good is looking pretty if it lacks all kind of substance? Well, that’s not a problem here either. DOA 5 offers the player an extremely enjoyable fighting experience, whether in single or multiplayer engagements. The control complexity can be adjusted according to the player’s requirements, which is always a bonus. While button mashers may still prevail from time to time, the developers have done much to ensure that this title requires a little more strategy than hammering the buttons like a deranged ape.

The only real downside- and depending on your views,

it may not be a downside at all – is the story. The voice acting and plot are cheesier than a cheddar-factory. But that really is a small element of the game, when all is said and done; this title is about fighting, and there is plenty of that available for the player.

Whether this particular game will launch the franchise into the ranks of the famous few is up for debate. DOA has always enjoyed a strong, if smaller, following, but DOA 5 makes all the right moves in terms of reaching a new level of prominence. If it will actually get there is really up to whether the community accepts the title or not. It still has a rough edge or two, for which some of the other games may well punish it, but it has made solid moves in a great direction for the franchise. It’s a good fighting game, and one that speaks of potential greatness for the future of the Dead or Alive series. g

AT A GLANCE: Fighting

Reviewed on:

A much improved Dead or Alive has made its way to market in this iteration...

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Team Ninja Tecmo Koei Silver Screen

Parental Advisory

16+ gamecca41

0

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

Score

80 77

F1 2012

F1 for the Masses Off to the races we go

by Iwan Pienaar

F

Featuring a new “Young Driver Test� mode which is essentially a supercharged tutorial mode, F1 2012 takes great care in explaining the handling characteristics of these race cars through a series of challenges.

And while the hardcore racers might scoff at some of these challenges, it does provide a good foundation for newcomers to the franchise to get the basics down before launching into a career mode. Interestingly enough, when Codemasters approached several real-world drivers to use the game to learn one of the racing circuits instead of their own team simulators, they all reported that it was realistic enough for them to learn from it and potentially improve their lap times.

Also new to the franchise is the Champions Mode. This sees six World Champions competing in the 2012 racing season. The player will have to beat the likes of Lewis

Review

ormula One racing titles hardly excite the majority of gamers. Some might even prefer to watch paint dry than to go round and round a track for how many ever laps only to spin out at the end or suffer an undignified puncture before eventually finishing last. And a rule of thumb is that the more realistic the simulator, the less likely it is to be played by those outside the loyal fan base.

F1 2012 is set to change these perceptions. Being the fourth Formula One game developed by Codemasters, the British game studio has been able to take the successful franchise and position it in such a way that it is sure to appeal to hardcore racing fans as well as those who are interested in just some casual track racing. This is no mean feat as quite often developers try to please everybody and only end up pleasing no one.

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Hamilton, Jenson Button, and Michael Schumacher in conditions that they are the best in. While quite difficult, these races are great fun and illustrate just what it takes to be the best in the business.

Additionally, there is a Season Challenge mode that provides those players with only a limited time with challenges to complete. This mode will see the player start at one of the less heralded teams but could make a move to a better team mid-season depending on the performance during the races.

There is a One-Shot Qualifying mode as well that gives the player one lap to qualify for a race. This is certainly faster than the more traditional three stage knockout but that is still an option for purists.

A feature that is really exciting is that of localised weather. Yes, you read right – weather. This sees localised

rain showers on one area of the track while other areas might be dry. Again, this reflects real-world racing conditions and certainly adds more excitement during race days.

There are also lap walkthroughs that will take the player through each of the 20 circuits on the 2012 racing calendar, highlighting braking points, gearing, and provide advice on where to get the most speed from.

While all of this sounds more suited to experienced Formula One gamers, the title is accessible to complete novices who are interested in getting to know the sport better. The difficulty levels scale quite nicely and there are more than enough settings and tweaks to be made to cater for the needs of the experienced racers.

F1 2012 is a racing simulator that really does provide a superb experience to a variety of users. g

AT A GLANCE: Driving sim

Reviewed on:

Formula One racing has never been more fun with something for novices and experts alike.

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F1: Formula One Championship Edition, Local

2

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Codemasters Codemasters Megarom

Parental Advisory

3+ gamecca41

Online 16

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

Score

85 79

Fable: The Journey

Real Time Spell Casting!

Which roughly translates to “waggle your arms furiously”

by Pippa Tshabalala

F

Gabriel saves Theresa from an entity called The Corruption, an extension of The Darkness that appeared in Fable III. Gabriel must escort Theresa to her home in the Tattered Spire, and along the way becomes the rather unwilling hero that is needed to fight The Corruption before it takes over the land.

So begins a rather typical Fable journey, and an equally unoriginal story that is predictable and stale, albeit that the characteristic humour of the series remains. The look and feel of the game is very much in keeping with the Fable style, and fans of the series will feel right at home.

You can also collect objects and glowing orbs, in order to purchase upgrades for both yourself and your horse.

Sadly the story is not the only failing here. The controls are intended to be innovative and immersive, and while I can certainly see the intent, they are also inherently

Review

able: The Journey is one of those games that I tend to approach with trepidation. I enjoyed the Fable series in general, but no-one can deny that the longer it stretched, the more generic and uninspired it became.

The Journey is an attempt to revitalise the series, after the somewhat dismal offering of Fable: Heroes, Lionhead’s attempt to introduce the land of Albion to younger players.

This, the fifth game in the series, is set fifty years after the events of Fable III, and tells the story of a normal, somewhat cowardly dweller named Gabriel. He is separated from his family and in trying to rejoin them, comes across a seer named Theresa, who is instantly recognisable if you’ve played any of the previous games.

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buggy and badly calibrated.

You (thankfully) remain seated throughout this game, although having to continually sit bolt upright in my chair became increasingly annoying as I progressed. However one of the major issues with Kinect RPGs is the fact that you can’t technically move forward without difficulty.

There have been games that attempted this, but standing on one foot to make your character walk forwards isn’t a comfortable means of control by any stretch of the imagination.

Fable: The Journey was at one point slated as an off rails game, and that is most definitely not the case. Your character is driven relentlessly forward for large periods of time as you progress from one area to another, pausing only when engaged in combat or some kind of action.

This has a tendency to slow the story down and

combined with the endless horse-riding means that the pace of The Journey suffers overall. You are required to ride your horse through specific parts of the game, and the constant cracking of the reins gets old very quickly.

Additionally Gabriel as a character comes off as a bit whiny and irritating, and is not really likeable at all.

Casting spells in combat is a fair amount of fun, if a little frustrating because of the Kinect calibration. It seems that no matter how many times I calibrated the Kinect, it often didn’t strike where I was pointing.

Despite my complaints, I do have some love for Fable: The Journey, but it sadly is not the game you might have wished it to be. If you own a Kinect and are a fan of the Fable series, then it might be something you’d like to try, but I certainly wouldn’t go and buy a Kinect just to play this game. g

AT A GLANCE: First Person Shooter

Reviewed on:

X360

An attempt at innovative controls cannot disguise the fact that Fable: The Journey is stale and predictable.

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1

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0

Lionhead Studios Microsoft Microsoft

Parental Advisory

12+ gamecca41

0

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

Score

58 81

WRC 3: FIA World Rally Championship

The Median Best of both worlds is not always possible…

by Walt Pretorius

W

numerous locations that are on offer in one of the several cars the game features can be fun. Pure, simple fun.

That makes it sound a bit like an arcade racing title.

If you treat it that way, you’ll probably have a better experience; the cars feel very similar, track conditions are not always varied enough in how they affect driving, and the whole affair feels extremely casual. The thing is, though, that this is not meant to be an arcade racing title.

Rather, it is supposed to be a rally simulator and, as such, it leaves some things to be desired.

It feels, at times, as though the developers could have given the matter a bit more attention. If they wanted to keep the game more accessible, that could have been worked into a title that still provided the technical detail wanted by enthusiasts; several other racing titles have done just that. But in its current guise, WRC 3 does

Review

hen it comes to driving games, people – particularly game reviewers who are also motoring enthusiasts – get all kinds of sticky. Articles read as though they could be published in motoring magazines, crammed with jargon and technicality that, if you really get down to it, only really appeals to the hard-core driving simulation fan. And while this is a very big market, there is also a big market out there who just want to have fun with their virtual driving experience.

This is something that WRC 3 will provide – fun. The nuts-and-bolts guys will likely have a lot to say about the handling (which isn’t particularly realistic) and the down-toned tuning options. And so they should, because WRC 3 misses the mark in some of these areas. But, when you get down to it, speeding along through the

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alienate that particular market just a little.

And so WRC treads a strange middle ground. It’s more technical than the average arcade racer, yet is not technical enough to satisfy the petrol-heads. Still, it manages to be entertaining, if you forgive it its little foibles.

In spirit, the developers have captured a lot of what it means to drive a rally car. The game concentrated on accuracy and control, rather than on blistering speed.

The player can take on either drop in races, or can take on a rather long (and often frustrating) career mode. In addition, there is a multiplayer aspect to the game as well.

Seeing as we mentioned controls… WRC 3 has great controls. They are accurate and responsive, even if the cars themselves sometimes don’t feel quite right. These controls are supported by good graphics, although the

crowds lining the rally routes do feel a little lifeless at times (if you slow down to see them, that is.) Sound wise, the performance is decent, with engines that sound real and clear direction from the co-driver.

So, in the end, it’s something of a mixed bag, which means that some people are going to love it – for its funky approach and generally casual, easy-going nature) while other will not (thanks to a dearth of detail and some handling issues with the cars.) It really comes down to what you want out of your driving simulation experience.

If you’re going to want to trim every aspect of your car and carefully navigate every turn with precision braking and acceleration, you may well be disappointed. If, on the other hand, you want to barrel along at high speeds, being rewarded for great performance as well as some catastrophes, WRC 3 will be right up your alley. g

AT A GLANCE: Driving Simulation

It is a better outing than the previous WRC title, but it still misses a few marks. It’s god fun, though...

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DiRT, WRC 2 Local

4

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Milestone PQube Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory

3+ gamecca41

0

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Reviewed on:

PS3 Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

Score

75 83

Pro Evolution Soccer 2013

Viva Pro Evo!

Football’s “other” franchise releases it’s newest instalment

by Suvesh Arumugam

F

gaming standards. In general, not much has changed, but I was glad the usual features that score big with PES fans were still there. New features include the entire Brazilian League, as well as the UEFA Champion’s League and European Leagues from before. The Manager and Player career modes are also very much the same. One feature I’ve always liked, which PES always delivers, is classic national teams and players. Though they sometimes are a little hard to identify (due to licencing issues) it’s always awesome to add Franco Baresi or Maradonna to my team.

While a World XI or Classic XI is cool, it’s nice to have a few more of the greats and be able to use them in Master League transfers.

The game engine is pretty much unchanged, with a few tweaks here and there. Close ball control is slightly improved. I’ve always liked the slightly slower, but more

Review

ootball’s favourite son, 2008 & 2009 World Footballer of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo, returns to the cover of Po Evolution Soccer 2013. This is the Portuguese captain and Real Madrid striker’s second year endorsing the franchise, replacing Barcelona’s Lionel Messi from PES 2011. The game has had its fair share of hype, and its release date has been notably closer to the “other” football franchise than in previous years (within a week, in fact). While comparison’s will undoubtedly dominate most reviews, we’ll try and keep this one mostly PES! Having reviewed last year’s instalment in the series, I was pretty excited to get my hands on this. I was also running on a dismal internet connection at that time, and have since upgraded, so I was pretty keen to get online and check out how PES measured up to online

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detailed way that players handle the ball in PES. I’ve also always preferred PES’s grasp of player movement and, even when they had no official team licences, I found myself favouring it over the “other” football game.

In the last few years they seem to have fallen behind in this area, with movements feeling a bit wooden, but they seem to have got this right again. Hard to explain, it’s something you just feel. What PES also does well is randomness. It just feels like players make more believable and unpredictable mistakes, and ball movement can also be a bit less formulaic and harder to anticipate, adding more realism to the game. It adds that exciting incalculable element where an evenly matched game can be decided by exploiting the smallest of random opportunities.

What I’ve never liked about the PES games is the long loading sequences, notices and endless dialog boxes

before starting even the most basic game setup. I found this excruciatingly worse when trying to get online. The instructions are not very logical, and after many failed attempts I finally gave up. My connection is stable enough for most other online games. Would be really great if they could make improvements there.

Otherwise PES 2013 is pretty awesome. It’s fast paced and fun, once it gets going. It’s everything you want from a football game and will deliver hours of fun.

While the online component might be less than favourable to South African players, hopefully locally based servers will pop up eventually.

The game is still relatively new, so I’m secretly hoping that online support will improve. Either that or my home ADSL will be upgraded by Telkom. I’ll just hold my breath until then. g

AT A GLANCE: Sport

Reviewed on:

PES 2013 follows in the footsteps of it’s predecessors to deliver fast-paced arcade style football to soccer fans.

Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

FIFA 13, Football Manager 2013 Local

7

Network

Online

8

PES Productions Konami Ster inekor

Parental Advisory

3+ gamecca41

4

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

Score

82 85

NBA 2k13

Hoop Time

Taking basketball gaming to the next level

by Iwan Pienaar

I

ourselves in video games (yes, I am that old).

I must admit, I was more than pleasantly surprised with NBA 2k13. Naturally, this is a basketball simulator/ action game so be prepared to get used to some tricky controls. Having said that, it is not that difficult to learn the basic moves but it takes a while to master them. It still would have been nice to have some form of tutorial for newcomers to the franchise. But it is a minor gripe as you quickly find your feet in the games and your computer teammates are actually not half bad.

Just as its predecessors, the game has a career mode but this has been expanded to include more off-court activities for the more managerial inclined.

These include endorsement deals, managing contract negotiations, choosing your player’s pre-game rituals and outfits during events, and so on.

Review

f the names Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, and Derrick Rose mean nothing to you then you probably won’t be that interested in NBA 2k13.

Basketball seems to be one of those sports that people either love or hate. The sport has grown significantly in South Africa since the early ‘90s and it has become quite common to see a few guys shoot some hoops at the local courts on a Saturday morning.

Despite my personal feelings about the sport (it is probably one of the few sports I really do not enjoy watching or playing in real life), I volunteered to review NBA 2k13 as I have fond memories of some of the classic basketball games on computer. Of course, this was when screens were either CGA or EGA, bitmap sound was the order of the day, and we actually had to use our imagination a bit to immerse

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For the basketball enthusiasts, there are more than enough past players and teams available including the renowned 1992 Dream Team that competed at the Barcelona Summer Olympic Games (queue Freddy Mercury song now). Speaking about music though, Jay Z was the executive producer on the title and it shows from the menu style to the music selection. The presentation overall is really slick and the game has the feel of something that is really well ahead of the rest of the pack.

A new introduction to the game is that of the dribble stick. While there is a sink or swim kind of feel to this new control element, it does add a lot of excitement to player’s moves and shots. Essentially, 2k13 now gives you as much control as possible over player and ball.

An annoyance is the fact that you need to be connected

to the internet to earn virtual currency which can be used for the usual in-game upgrades. This will quickly frustrate those with no internet connections at home or with limited data as it essentially limits your progress.

On the positive side is play-by-play commentary that recreates the feeling of actually watching a real game of basketball. The commentary feels solid and not like the typical canned responses you get in sports games. Visually, NBA 2k13 is beautiful and feels like an interactive movie instead of a video game.

While it might not be for everybody, NBA 2k13 is certainly one of the best sporting titles on the market at the moment. You can definitely give it a try and know you are getting value for money with its replay value enough to keep you glued to the screen for several months. g

AT A GLANCE: Sports sim

Reviewed on:

X360

NBA 2k13 offers something for the sports enthusiast and the casual gamer.

Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

NBA Jam, NBA Live, NCAA March Madness.

Local

2

Network

Online

6

Visual Concepts 2k Sports Megarom

Parental Advisory

3+ gamecca41

0

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSV DS 3DS

Score

92 87

Special, eh?

Ramjet’s Rantality

by Ramjet

I

have a news-flash for you: you’re not special.

No matter what Mommy and Daddy said, or your teachers or Grand-Ma or that creepy guy in the car around the corner who always seemed to have a ready supply of candy and seemed very eager to give you lifts, you are not special.

It’s a bubble-burster, I know, but Fight Club had it right.

You’re the same decaying organic matter as everyone else. And this, mind you, is a fact- totally in spite of race, creed, class or bank balance.

You are just like everyone else, a human being who deserves no more, and no less, than what is due to any other human being. Deal with it, pumpkin, because if you get that through your entitlement-addled, selfimportant skull, the world will be a better place.

I am talking about entitlement of all kinds. For

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example, I am sitting on a plane, flying to Cape Town right now. There’s this guy – tall dude, with a remarkably squeaky voice – who has been bitching for, like, the whole flight thus far, about the fact that the cabin crew said his carry-on luggage was actually too big, and needed to be stowed in the aircraft’s belly, not in the cabin. His argument is that he travels more than forty times a year. Really… OK, so he’s that special then, is he, that he deserves exceptional treatment? No, he’s not. He’s just another human being who’s sense of self-importance has overtaken his ideas of fair play and decency.

But it’s not just Luggage Guy that has this attitude.

There are million – if not billions – of people who suffer with over-inflated egos. It’s the guy who cuts into the turn only lane at

the last minute. It’s the retard who lets his kids run rampant in a restaurant.

It’s the moron who believes that he should get a better treatment than everyone else, simply because he draws breath (just, might I add, like everyone else.)

And, yes, it’s the guy who down-loads video games from the internet because he can. Nice, dude, ruin it for those of us who are honest to actually pay for stuff. Because all the self-congratulatory, neoanarchistic, action-justifying platitudes you are about to spout about freedom of information, or rip-off game publishers, or whatever else, are simply excuses for the fact that you are either too lazy, too stupid or too selfish to exist within a complex society. A society that is based on rules and standards and ideas that help it tick along. A society

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that needs people to behave like responsible adults, not like entitled, thieving children. A society that, quite simple, doesn’t need people to behave like you do.

Ah, man, who am I kidding? I can rant about it all I like. I have for years. But those of you who don’t have that attitude don’t need to hear it, and those that do will simply ignore this because, in your little deluded bubble, you believe that this applies to other people, not you.

Never you. You are special, remember. Oh, wait, you’re not. I forgot. Neither am I. We all deserve the same treatment, because that is fair, and balanced, and…

OK, enough. I can’t go on, because Luggage Guy won’t shut the hell up. I am going to close my laptop now, and go tell him just how special I think he is. It may involve violence. g

com p eti t io n • c o mp eti ti on • c om pe tit ion • com pe t ition • com pe t it ion

The Good Fight

WIN

XCOM: Enemy Unkown on PC, PS3 or X360 Courtesy of Megarom TO ENTER:

Send an email to competitions@gameccamag.com Tell us which team developed XCOM: Enemy Unknown Tell us which platform you would prefer to get the game on Insert ‘XCOM’ in the mail’s subject line Subscribe to www.gameccamag.com Become a fan on Gamecca’s Facebook Page

Competition closes 30 November 2012. Gamecca subscribers only. South African residents only.

Prizes may not be exchanged for cash. Competition closed to employees (& employee’s family) of 1337 Media CC and Megarom Interactive. The judges’ decision is final.

199 What a freakin’

by James Francis

A Year in Games

1

998 was an incredible year for gaming.

INCREDIBLE. It frequents so many lists on gaming sites for the best year - ever. Then again, maybe they just rip off each other’s content. Still, one would be taxed to think of 365 days that held more significance. Here are a few of the highlights: StarCraft and its expansion Brood Wars was released in 1998, signalling the beginning of the end for anyone who played real time strategy just for fun.

It was so damn good that Blizzard could wait until 2010 to release a sequel.

It was also the end of an era. LucasArts released Grim Fandango, the last of its adventure games that mattered. A fourth Monkey Island surfaced in 2000, but nobody’s counting that. Sadly the adventures of Manny the grim reaper would only collect critical acclaim, but not much in terms of sales.

‘Twas the year of gotta catch them all. Yes, the

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Pokémon juggernaut would finally rear its head outside of Japan. Pokémon Blue and Red, the first games in a series that contributed more to ADD and OCD than sugar, were released in the U.S. They’ve been making up new Pokémon ever since.

The world finally learned how to make a turn-based game that was neither stupid nor made you feel like a lonely 40-something painting figurines. Baldur’s Gate was unleashed upon the world, making both Dungeons & Dragons and slow-paced, story-driven games vogue.

It fluidly combined real-time action with turn-based decision making and the words “You must gather your party to continue”. There would be no Mass Effect without it...

Taking a short break from all the release madness - 1998 is when Rockstar was founded. They went on to make a few of those Grand Theft Auto games. No biggie.

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98 awesome year!

The shooter wars continued with the release of Unreal, another product born from the PC market’s heady, wild and carefree shareware days. Just like the boys over at id - who were once famous for making games like Quake and Doom - Unreal drew from an Epic talent pool that would later manifest as the Unreal Engine and Gears Of War. How much time do we have left? Lots and lots? Good, because it is a good moment for some pedantic shuffling and seemingly endless conversations over a communicator. Yes, the masterpiece Metal Gear Solid and protagonist Solid Snake showed their faces in this year. The series would peak at MGS 2, then succumb to an apparent campaign by Konami and Hideo Kojima to destroy it.

Legend Of Zelda, a series that was never about Zelda but instead some sexually-ambiguous, white-tights-wearing elf named Link, spawned its

masterpiece, Ocarina Of Time. Well, Zelda fans say its a masterpiece. The rest of us never played it. We were too busy with...

Half-Life. Enough said. If you need to know more about Half-Life, then what kind of gamer are you?

Oh, one aged under 18... Okay, Half-Life was a basic shooter that involved some science experiment gone awry and a dude in a rather nice suit. Throw in a crowbar, face-huggers, rabid marines and you have just about the most amazing action game ever made.

And finally - 1998 marked the release of the Dreamcast in Japan. Dreamcast? It was Sega’s last console. Sega? The guys who ruined Sonic. Sonic?

Oh, never mind. At least it lived long enough for the Xbox to steal its controller.

Honorable mentions: Thief, Shogo, Fallout 2, Heart Of Darkness, Commandos. g

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Free

Sound Waves

Turtle Beach in South Africa

LTE incoming

4G or not 4G...

Samsung takes on the Continent

Mobile Africa

R e vie w s inc luding M SI, Tos hiba, S t eelS eries , Acer, F uj iF ilm and mor e. . .

Kaspersky and cybercrime

On Guard

I S S U E 2 5 / Vo l . 3 November 2012

www.gladgetmag.com

Online Mag

www.gladgetmag.com Simplicity in information!

Emergence

Interview

Logitech loves South Africa

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Logitech are a strong force in South Africa, and enjoy a large share of the market across numerous devices.

Their newly announced G600 gaming mouse and G710 keyboard are sure to make waves, particularly with those who do a lot of PC gaming. In other words, South Africans know Logitech. But how well does Logitech know South Africans? Where does our fair country fit into their plans?

These were some of the things we were wondering when we met with Logitech’s Renko van Den Berg, the man responsible for all Emerging Markets. gamecca41

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What is the South African situation?

RVDB: We consider South Africa an emerging market. I went to a lot of stores and shopping malls during this trip and South Africa is really not that ‘emerging’ when compared to Russia and so on. It’s a bit more developed in terms of the retail landscape and the quality of the stores.

Are you looking at promoting in communities that previously didn’t have a lot of access to computers and computing? Is that a big drive for you?

RVDB: It’s not the biggest drive.

We believe that if you build the best products and bring your whole range in, at every kind of price point, consumers are intelligent. The market does educate itself to a large degree. If you have the best product at every price point, they will get to where they need to be. We

are not targeting any specific markets – we believe in bringing good products to market. And platforms like Facebook are strong; marketing is changing. If someone advocates your brand in social media that’s a big thing.

In terms of your range, how prominent is PC gaming globally?

RVDB: The total market for PC gaming is one of the fastest growing markets worldwide.

It’s extremely fast growing. Both PC gaming and console gaming is growing. As long as we attach the platforms, we follow that growth.

And in South Africa, what is your strongest product category?

RVDB: In terms of revenue, it’s always mice and keyboards.

Mice and keyboards, then PC speakers, and then the gaming products. But that’s normal. The normal mice market has always been bigger than the gaming mouse market. And although PC gaming is growing fast in South Africa, the size of the market for normal

Interview

How does South Africa fit into Logitech’s plans?

RVDB: South Africa is a pretty significant county for us. If you look at Africa, it’s probably one of the biggest markets in the continent, in terms of revenue and our presence in retail. If you go into any big retail store in South Africa you will see Logitech. Logitech is a big brand here. If you look at our four categories – mice and keyboards, webcams, PC speakers and PC gaming – you can see that we are clearly leading the market.

In those terms it is a very important market for us. But it is also a tricky market. The number of people that can afford premium equipment is small, despite

the big population.

It is getting bigger slowly and steadily, but many first time buyers of computers won’t buy premium.

That makes things challenging, because South Africa’s population is so diverse. Knowledge, spending power and requirements… if you look at gaming specifically, we range from very high end to entry level. IT is difficult for any brand in South Africa. You need to get your hold brand range in, and find the right product mix.

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keyboards and mice is still far bigger.

Do you have any predictions for what we can expect from Logitech in the next few months?

RVDB: In PC gaming, at least four or five very interesting launches in the coming year. Because it is a growing platform we are trying to revive the whole line. Keyboards, mice, headsets… everything around gaming.

If you were to pick your favourite Logitech product, what would it be?

RVDB: Um, can I pick two? Two products that I use at home… one is the Harmony remote control, that I love using.

And the other is a new product, not in South Africa yet. It’s called a Boombox, a wireless speaker.

You have the smaller version in South Africa, which is good, but this bigger one is amazing. Oh, and I have one other product that I use all the time; my Anywhere Mouse. It works on glass, anywhere.

Those are my favourite products. g

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The

Sometimes, wired is a good thing…

W

Review

Turtle Beach Ear Force P11 Headset

W

hile wireless headsets certainly are a luxury, they bring with them certain issues.

The most prominent of these is the fact that they lose power. In a best case scenario, they can be recharged. In the worst case, they need batteries replaced. And while wireless headsets are considered to be the cream of the crop, the reliability of wired headsets outweighs the inconvenience imposed on the user by the cable. This is even more applicable when that wire is generous, and has ways to be managed.

Turtle Beach’s Ear Force P11 headset, for PS3 and PC (or Mac, if you are so inclined) is a good example of a wired headset that will deliver excellent performance, while allowing the user to retain a modicum of control over the generous cable.

This headset comes with a positionable boom mic that can be swivelled out of the way when it is not needed. The large ear cups fit over the users ears, and are finished with fabric mesh cushions, which allows for better air-flow. This means that they are pretty comfortable; the padded headband adds to this aspect as well.

What is most important for headsets, though, is sound quality. The most comfortable headset, wired or not, means little if the sound quality is not great. And while there is some debate about the effect of driver size on sound quality (which seems a little silly, really) Turtle Beach seem to believe that bigger is better.

And they prove it time and again, thanks to the 50mm drivers that they use in the P11, and pretty much all of their other headsets. In short, the sound quality here is excellent.

And the set comes armed with some really nice features too. This goes beyond the in-line volume control, which features independent volume controls for chat and audio. Bass boost and amplified audio also make a difference, and a mic monitor system allows you to hear what you are saying in-game.

The only real downside here – and it isn’t that much of one, if you think about it- is the fact that the headset needs to be plugged into audio ports as well as a USB port. The USB port is used for power, only, which is a bit of a pain if you’re running short on USB space. Still, it is a minor inconvenience overall, particularly when considering the excellent performance that the P11 delivers.

Once again, Turtle Beach have displayed a keen sense of what is required from a gaming headset. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistled of some of their higher end products, but as a mid-range offering it is reliable, and performs extremely well. g

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One

by Walt Pretorius

Summary

Tech Specs:

Armed with a generous cable, this headset provides excellent performance for PS3 and computer users.

M a nufa c turer Distributer: O nline: RRP:

gamecca41

Very comfortable Great audio Multi-system compatible

Wired USB powered 50mm drivers In-line volume control Amplified audio Bass boost

Turtle B ea c h A pex Intera c tiv e www.a pexint.c o.za R899.95

Pros • • • • •

• • • • • •

Cons • • • • •

USB powered

Score

82 99

T

Review

MSI GT70 Notebook

T

he idea of a gaming laptop is not fairly pervasive; a lot of people are using them these days, particularly in areas where LAN culture is still strong. MSI has had their eye on the PC gaming sector of the market for a good long while – as evidenced by a number of their higher end motherboards and graphics cards- so it is small wonder that they produce gaming laptops too. In fact, this isn’t the first one we have seen from their stable… but it is the newest one, and it packs a punch that will make some desktop PC users turn a lovely shade of green as their envy gland kicks in.

The MSI GT70 is not exactly a small device.

Sure, it’s easier to lug around to LAN parties than a desktop PC, but it isn’t as portable as an Ultrabook. Still, it allows you to game (and do other computer-type stuff) pretty much anywhere, which is a big bonus.

The large size of the laptop extends to the spec list as well. It starts with a 17.3 inch, full HD, non-glare, LED display. There isn’t a single descriptor there that you cannot like. Under the hood, the core of the beast is an i7-3610QM processor, supported by an awesome 12GB of RAM. Sure, 12 is an odd number for RAM, but it’s still a lot. Visuals are courtesy of an Nvidia GeForce GTX 675M chipset, along with a rather chunky 2GB of VRAM. The result is quick, reliable performance.

Further speed is gained with the inclusion of a 128GB SSD. While we’ve mainly seen these devices in Ultrabooks, it is great to see one included here. In addition, 780GB of traditional HDD space adds to storage, providing the user with space just shy of 1TB in total. That’s pretty awesome for a notebook!

Input comes by way of a SteelSeries keyboard and a trapezoidal, left aligned track pad. And because no self-respecting gamer will use a track pad for playing games, the device can be deactivated with a handy button just above it.

Audio is taken care of by a rather nice Dynaudio system, although there are the obligatory audio ports forwhen the integrated speakers just won’t do the trick. Other ports include surround sound audio outputs, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports and a multicard reader. Oh, and an optical drive too.

Ther performance of the GT70 is excellent, and it keeps itself cool even under pressure. It isn’t as flashy (read as gaudy) as other gaming notebooks, either, opting for a downplayed visual style that is a bit more elegant.

In almost every way, this notebook is a winner.

Power, performance, looks… they’re all there. g

100

Powe

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A notebook to put desktops to

er-Play shame…

by Walt Pretorius

Summary

Tech Specs:

Power and performance combine in this monster notebook, which is great for all computing purposes- particularly gaming.

M a nufa c turer Distributer: O nline: RRP:

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Fast Powerful Good looking

i7-3610QM CPU 12 GB RAM 2GB VRAM GTX675M GPU 128GB SSD 780GB HDD

M SI Pinna c le A fric a www.pinna c le.c o.za A pprox. R24 000

Pros • • • • •

• • • • • •

Cons • • • • •

Bulky Pricey

Score

92 101

Simplicity SteelSeries Kinzu V2 Pro Edition Mouse

It can be sublime...

W Review

W

hen looking for a high performance mouse, most people – particularly gamers – tend to see just how many buttons they will have to play with. While there is practicality in this approach, what with taking some controls away from the keyboard and assigning them to the pointing device, the idea that more working parts mean more can go wrong is accurate quite often. And, when it comes to a mouse, buttons are working parts…

SteelSeries take a different approach, pretty much across their whole range of products. They don’t try to squeeze every possible thing onto a mouse unit. Rather, they produce items that work well, thanks to their simplicity.

The Kinzu V2 Pro Edition is such a mouse. When reading on the packaging that the device is developed in close co-operation with leading gamers, one would

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assume that it has all kinds of bits added to it to make it appear extremely impressive. But, when you get down to it, this is a simply shaped device that sports three buttons… one of them being the scroll wheel.

So, what makes the Kinzu so special, then? Well, instead of concentrating on added extras, SteelSeries put their efforts into what really counts: performance. The sensor in this cabled mouse performs 3200 counts per second, with an acceleration of 30G. The speed works out to 65 inches per second, which is really fast. The device also allows for two preset sensitivities, which are changes by a fourth button situated behind the scroll wheel.

Two presets may seem a little light, but it really is more than enough – you either want fast speeds, or slow speeds, realistically, and setting between the two is quicker than flicking through numerous preset options.

Using this lightweight mouse is great – it’s comfortable,

gamecca41

by Rob Edwards

ambidextrous design means that it not only allows for extended playing without fatigue, but anyone can use it.

Left handed folks often battle to find an effective mouse, thanks to some extremely fancy ergonomic designs, but this one works for anyone. In addition, the high performance Teflon feet mean that it almost literally glides over any surface, meaning even less work and strain in gaming or day-to-day use.

The biggest challenge that faces the Kinzu is the fact that it doesn’t necessarily look the part. Quite honestly, the appearance of this mouse belies its abilities, and people have a habit of judging books by their covers.

Seeing is believing with the Kinzu, which goes a long way to prove that complexity doesn’t always equate to quality.

It may be really simple, but it provides exactly what the gamer (and any other user) needs: performance and accuracy. And that’s what really counts in the end. g

Summary

Tech Specs:

It might not look the part, because it is very simple.

But the Kinzu is a great high performance mouse.

M a nufa c turer Distributer: O nline: RRP:

gamecca41

Sensitive Comfortable Ambidextrous

4 buttons 2m cable 3200 CPI 30G acceleration 2 CPI presets

SteelSeries M eg a rom www.meg a rom.c o.za R399

Pros • • • • •

• • • • • •

Cons • • • • •

Perhaps too simple for some?

Score

89 103

Xbox Comp A lower price doesn’t mean poor quality…

W Review

Turtle Beach Ear Force XL1 Headset

W

hen someone says that a particular device is at the lower end of a range, that can often mean a whole lot of bad things. But, for some devices and certain brands, all that really means is that it has a few less bells and whistles, and is more cost effective. That certainly is the case for Turtle Beach.

Take their Ear Force XL1 headset as an example. This is their low-end Xbox 360 offering. But, in terms of comfort and performance, you wouldn’t really think so.

At the core of the system are the 50mm drivers housed in the ear cups. This shows the Turtle Beach approach beautifully – these drivers are used across their entire range, delivering great sound no matter which model you choose. The result of this larger drivers is clear sound across all frequencies, including excellent bass response.

While one could easily be forgiven for expecting compromised performance in a device like this, that simply isn’t the case.

As one would expect, the XL1 is a wired headset. While this means that you will have to deal with wires, the upside is that there is no recharging or battery changing required. And the cable is very long, measuring almost 5 meters. In other words, you can comfortably play your Xbox 360 games using this headset, pretty much regardless of what kind of set-up you have.

The downside is that this headset isn’t particularly versatile. It’s made for Xbox 360, and that’s what it’s going to work with; unlike some other Turtle Beach options, you’re not going to be using it with any other device. That said, its range positioning means that it is at a lower price point than other devices, so its specific nature won’t impact your pocket too much.

While it doesn’t have some of the special features that one would find with more expensive Turtle Beach products, it offers enough to make it a compelling option.

In other words, this isn’t just a bog-standard headset. It comes armed with amplified audio and bass boost, which help deliver very good sound quality. Mic monitor allows you to hear your chat input clearly, and the in-line volume controls have independent settings for audio and chat.

In terms of comfort, the generous, fabric mesh covered ear cups don’t put too much strain on the ears, and the padded headband adds even more comfort. And the device only weighs 181g, meaning that the user will stay comfortable after long usage periods.

On the downside, it requires a USB port to be powered. That said, if you have a newer Xbox 360, that shouldn’t be a problem at all, because the new consoles have lots of USB space.

Just because something costs less doesn’t make it cheap – the XL1 is great proof of that, and is a good option for Xbox gamers. g

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panion

by Walt Pretorius

Summary

Tech Specs:

A great option for Xbox owners on a tighter budget who want awesome personal audio...

M a nufa c turer Distributer: O nline: RRP:

gamecca41

Good value Comfortable Good sound

50mm drivers In-line volume control 4.88m cable USB powered Bass boost Audio amplifier

Turtle B ea c h A pex Intera c tiv e www.a pexint.c o.za R499.95

Pros • • • • •

• • • • • •

Cons • • • • •

USB powered

Score

79 105

Cool & Col MSI R7950 Twin Frozr 3GD5 Graphics Card

Taking everything in its stride

G Review

G

raphics cards are something we have seen a lot of over the last few years of publishing. In fact, I would hazard a guess that these devices fall comfortably into our top three for device review categories, if not the number one slot. That should tell you something about the graphics card market. It’s full, busy and constantly evolving. This is both a good and a bad thing. On the one side, there is always new technology available. On the other, it means that your brand new card is out-dated very quickly. Such is life in IT… MSI are right up there when it comes to both running with new technology and implementing great ideas. We have seen a number of their graphics card offerings and, quite honestly, we enjoy what we see every time.

From their lower end cards right through to the high end devices, MSI manage to deliver great performance

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pretty much consistently. And that counts for the R7950 Twin Frozr 3GD5, too.

Armed with a Radeon 7950 chipset and an awesome 3GB of GDDR5 RAM, this card chews through the most challenging graphics without breaking much of a sweat.

And it does so without turning the inside of your PC case into a sauna, too.

The great heat performance is largely due to MSI’s Twin Frozr technology, something that we have seen time and again (and are still impressed by.) Twin turbine style fans combine with extra thick heat pipes, high density heat sinks and a direct contact design to bring the heat down significantly. The packaging claims 10 per cent cooler than reference cards… while we can’t say that for certain, we can agree that this card does run a lot cooler. The airflow increase granted by the fans alone is significant.

In keeping with their usual modus operandi, this card

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llected

by Walt Pretorius

makes use of Military Grade III components, which aside from reliability and stability also means that the card’s operation is quieter. Even with those two big fans, this device doesn’t make a lot of noise, even under strain.

As for performance? Well, the specs say it all; this card does the job with grace and ease, even after protracted periods of use.

There is a downside to this otherwise excellent device.

While most graphics cards make use of two DVI ports, this one only offers one. It also has an HDMI port and two DisplayPorts. Sure, you can connect four monitors to the card, but in certain set-ups, it will require more PT to get right. DVIis still a very common standard, so reducing the number of ports for that standard seems odd.

But that will only affect some people, and those that buy a card like this will certainly be willing to make a plan.

It is worth it. g

Summary

Tech Specs:

Lots of RAM and GPU power, little noise and heat – a great graphics combo!

M a nufa c turer Distributer: O nline: RRP:

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Quiet Cool Powerful

7950 chipset 3GB GDDR5 RAM 1 DVI output 1 HDMI output 2 DisplayPorts Military Class III components

M SI Pina c c le A fric a www.pina c c le.c o.za A pprox. R3 700

Pros • • • • •

• • • • • •

Cons • • • • •

Only one DVI port

Score

89 107

The Suspen

Review

SteelSeries Siberia V2 Full-Size Headset

That’s where comfort lies…

108

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nsion!

W

by Walt Pretorius

W

e’ve seen a lot of headsets over the last few issues. That’s often the case when new brands come to market and, within the last while, we have seen two major brands arriving in South Africa, via two different distributors. One of those brands is a focussed headset manufacturer, while the other looks at a broader range of peripherals.

It is the latter that we are looking at here.

SteelSeries prefer simplicity. They say as much in their mission statement. And yet, hidden in the simplicity is an idea that – while not extremely complex – is so good that it makes the Siberia V2 Full-Size Headset just about the most comfortable thing that can go on your head. At least, in terms of headsets.

At first glance, the design of this particular headset looks quite different, and possibly a little flimsy. That’s because there is lots of space built into the headset.

It’s a large device, despite the fact that there are big gaps and negative spaces in the design. One such gap appears between the two supports that, initially, appear to be associated with the headband.

But they simply hold the ear cups in place. The headband--- well, that’s where the magic of that clever idea happens. See, the headband uses a simple yet effective suspension idea. What this means is that the headset more or less automatically adjusts in size.

And it also is extremely comfortable. You need to take some care when putting them on, but you get used to that.

Even more comfort comes from the large ear cups, which feature sound dampening foam for passive noise reduction. Housed within these ear cups are large, 50mm drivers. These are a good distance from the ear, too.

The result is exceptionally good sound. We mean really good. SteelSeries know, just like the other headset manufacturer we feature in this issue, that large drivers and well-designed ear cups are crucial to good sound.

Another great feature here is the retractable mic boom. It pushes back into the left ear cup, keeping it safe and out of the way. An in-line volume control allows the mic to be muted, as well as adjusting audio volume.

The device comes with a one meter cord attached, and a two meter extension cord. The one meter cord is a little short – you will almost always be using the extension cord, which is a bit of a pain.

SteelSeries has a strong focus on PC gaming, and it shows here. This device is not directly compatible with consoles, but anything that uses a 3.5mm jack can be used with it. It’s a small downside, considering the excellent performance and comfort… g

Summary

Tech Specs:

Extremely comfortable and great sound... that really is enough said.

M a nufa c turer Distributer: O nline: RRP:

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Very comfortable Great sound

50mm drivers In-line volume control 3m total cord length Retractable mic 3.5mm jack Sound dampening foam

SteelSeries M eg a rom www.meg a rom.c o.za R899

Pros • • • • •

• • • • • •

Cons • • • • •

Simple in-line controls ‘PC only’

Score

90 109

A Little Nostalgia From Space

by Christo van Gemert

I

miss the old days.

I miss the enjoyment of buying a new game and experiencing new things for the first time.

I miss Super Mario Brothers and playing Tetris until two in the morning.

I miss putting in a game and not having to download 5 updates before playing.

I miss getting excited by innovative graphics.

I miss games that were

110

innovative and groundbreaking.

I miss lining up at the arcade, with a handful of tokens, for Mortal Kombat.

I miss moaning that my home console didn’t have graphics as good as those at an arcade.

I miss being able to buy the whole game on the disc, rather than download the rest of it after paying for a season pass.

I miss 8-bit music.

I miss the clandestine swapping of Mega Drive games after maths class.

I miss being able to play a first person shooter onehanded, with arrow keys and the ctrl key.

I miss when game sequels made such advancements, they left me gobsmacked.

I miss schoolboy arguments about how many bits the next

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PlayBox2000 will have. (It was always 128 bits.)

I miss cheat codes.

I miss demo discs on magazine covers.

I miss 18-in-1 cartridges.

I miss arguing that “TV games don’t break the TV”.

I miss getting an A so that I can pick a new game as a reward.

I really miss the old days. g