Gamecca Magazine May 2017

ISSUE 95 / Vol.8 May 2017

www.gameccamag.com

Next Best Thing

TUF Stuff

MSI Armor GeForce GTX 1080 Ti

Asus TUF Z270 motherboard

and more...

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 Dawn of War 3 Persona 5 Dragon Quest Heroes II MLB The Show 17

Stealing Hearts Persona 5

Take Aim...

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3

Waaagh!

Dawn of War III

Survive Prey returns

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Bronze Award SCORE 80-84

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Silver Award SCORE 85-89

Gold Award SCORE 90-94

Platinum Award SCORE 95-100

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Gamecca Magazine: © Copyright Nova Mentis (Pty) Ltd. (2009 – 2016)

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Ed’s Choice Awar

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radition is both a good and a bad thing.

Sometimes traditions bring people together joyously, while at others they stop progress.

Whatever the case may be, virtually any ecosystem – at least as far as humanity is concerned – develops traditions… even the video game industry. And that tradition has, by and large, been that running up to E3, game releases slow right down.

That tradition seems to have been broken, however, at least a little bit. This month, for example, sees some pretty big names surfacing: Prey, Farpoint, Conan Exiles and The Surge, to name a few. And next month, which sees E3 2017b taking place from the 13th to the 15th in LA, also has some names to pay attention to, most notably Tekken 7: Fated Retribution. Sure, the games are slowing down a bit around E3, but not really as much as before.

Speaking of E3, we’re hoping to see a lot of exciting stuff from the show this year… a huge number of developers and publishers will be at this year’s show again, although what we will be seeing on the floor is still just a matter of speculation.

Personally, I don’t like to speculate too much… that is another tradition that needs to be broken. Rather, I sit back in quiet anticipation, particularly regarding what the console giants Sony and Microsoft will have on show this year. The current generation of console wars shows no signs of slowing down, so there might just

From the Editor

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Tradition

by Walt Pretorius

be some big things to see from them.

In the meantime, though, we have quite a bit of great gaming to do. Those who are quick on the uptake may already be playing our cover game, Prey, while PSVR fans can look forward to the very exciting looking Farpoint. And let’s not forget the host of indie games that are springing up online.

There’s another tradition that is quickly changing – the way we buy games. It does lead one to wonder, not only about brick and mortar gaming stores, but about the future of the gaming industry as a whole… particularly here at home in South Africa. Then again, we have so many others things to worry about that perhaps spending time musing about the future of our small yet apparently robust video game industry may seem a little frivolous. Ratings downgrades, potentially draconian laws and a lot of political tension stare us in the face every day.

Let’s hope, then, that the industry stays strong, because gaming is a great way to forget (temporarily, at least) some of the bigger, more important real world woes that face our country. There is little doubt that those woes will even have an impact on the game industry, of course… but for now, things seem stable enough for us to enjoy our passion relatively undisturbed.

OK, let’s avoid getting into the whole political thing. That’s not what we do here. Besides, you have a magazine to get to, and I have a fresh install of Prey waiting for me… g mgeect 2 c7a 9 5 ggl a ad

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THIS MONTH’S COVER

Get ready to save humanity (again) in Prey

Publishing Editor Walt Pretorius

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Feature: The New Predator A new threat awaits in the Prey reboot...

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Previews: Games 13 games on the way

walt@novamentis.co.za

Art Director Katia Taliadoros katia@novamentis.co.za

Writers: Alex Scanlon Clive Burmeister Iwan Pienaar Noelle Adams Nthato Morakabi Rob Edwards Sibonisile Motha Suvesh Arumugam Walt Pretorius

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Reviews: Games 6 games carefully inspected

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Regular: IndieView A little voodoo never hurt anyone...

Letters: letters@gameccamag.com

Competition Entries: competitions@gameccamag.com

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Copyright Š Nova Mentis (Pty) Ltd 2009 - 2017

walt@novamentis.co.za

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 Nova Mentis (Pty) Ltd

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Feature: Guerrilla Tactics The console war is far from over

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reviews: Hardware 4 bits of awesome tech

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Regular: Internet How not to relate...

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Regular: Living Digital Reversing identity theft

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Gamecca Vol. 8 Issue 95 May 2017

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COOL STUFF: Movies The most iconic female superhero

COOL STUFF: Comics more excellent illustrated literature

COOL STUFF: Books Flex your brain muscle!

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s e d’ c E oi h C

“The careful balance of the varied game elements is pitch perfect, and virtually every game maker, and game player, could learn a lot (and gain tons of enjoyment) from spending a good long while with Persona 5.”

Persona 5

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Features The New Predator

PReviews Farpoint Lethal League Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood Cladun Returns: This is Sengoku Akiba’s Beat MXGP 3 Time Recoil Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age Agents of Mayhem Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle Gravel WipEout Omega Collection Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash

Reviews 36 42 48 54 58 62

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 Dawn of War III Persona 5 Dragon Quest Heroes II MLB The Show 17 Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX

RegularS 66

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IndieView

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The New Predator

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By Walt Pretorius

PREDATOR anity is the Prey…

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he question of whether we are alone in the universe is one that has plagued humanity for a long time, and it will continue to do so (barring some breathtaking discovery). There are many that believe we are not alone, that intelligences alien to our world and ways of life abound in the limitless space that surrounds us, but until now there has been no solid, scientific evidence that we are not alone, floating in the black nothingness of a near infinite void atop our fragile, life sustaining planet.

Modern media – and even not so modern media – has always enjoyed the idea of alien intelligences and their dealings with mankind. Movies, books, comics and, yes, video games have often presented us with creatures from other worlds, sometimes friends and sometimes foes. And sometimes, they are predators.

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That idea was central to the original version of Prey, which was released by 2K Games back in 2006. In the game, players took on the role of Domasi “Tommy” Tawodi, a Cherokee garage mechanic and ex-soldier living in Oklahoma, on a Native American reservation.

Tommy wasn’t happy with his lot, as the game started out, and all he wanted to do was convince his girlfriend, Jen, to leave with him.

His dream sort-of came true when he, Jen and his grandfather, Enisi, were transported to a mysterious alien ship called The Sphere.

Not long after arriving on the ship, Tommy saw his grandfather killed, but while searching for Jen, he had a near-death experience, entering into the Land of the Ancients. Here the recently deceased Enisi taught him of the spiritual ways of his people, and bestowed

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The New Predator

certain powers upon him. When he returned to the Sphere, Tommy could part his spirit from his body, allowing it to roam around for limited periods of time.

The Spirit Walk ability became integral to many facets of the game, including environmental puzzle solving. He also gained a companion – the spirit of his childhood pet, a hawk called Talon. During the course of the game, the player also discovered numerous types of weapons, with some being more alien than others.

The Sphere came to earth to harvest mankind. This ship was a biological entity, encasing a small sun, and needed the energy presented by life on Earth – either as food or as slaves – to continue existing. It was from here that the game got its name. Mankind was the prey.

The original Prey brought two new ideas to the table that were, at the time, rather revolutionary. The first

was the idea of portals that allowed the player to move from one point to another. These were fixed in the game, and couldn’t be moved or deployed by the player.

The other idea was that of variable gravity – Tommy could walk along certain surfaces which would defy gravity – or, more accurately, change it around him.

Leaving those surfaces would revert gravity to normal, leading to more than a few deaths.

The game sold over 1 million copies worldwide by October of 2006 (it was released in July of that year) and was met with critical acclaim. The combination of science fiction and mystical elements struck a chord with gamers, and the depiction of the Native American protagonist (which wasn’t the stereotyped version that Hollywood often uses) was praised. A sequel was, for all intents and purposes, a no-brainer.

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Indeed, shortly after the original game’s release, a sequel was announced, and by 2008, development was in full swing by series originator, Human Head Studios. But then, in 2009, rights for the franchise transferred to ZeniMax Media, the company that owns id Software and Bethesda Softworks. All word of Prey 2 disappeared, until 2014, when Bethesda vice president, Pete Hines, confirmed that the title had been cancelled. “Tt was a game we believed in, but we never felt that it got to where it needed to be – we never saw a path to success if we finished it,” Hines stated. “It wasn’t up to our quality standard, and we decided to cancel it. It’s no longer in development. That wasn’t an easy decision, but it’s one that won’t surprise many folks given that we hadn’t been talking about it. Human Head Studios is

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no longer working on it. It’s a franchise we still believe we can do something with — we just need to see what that something is.”

Fast forward three years (during which time Bethesda has released a Doom remake, Fallout 4 and Dishonored 2, to mention a few) and we are once again hearing a lot about Prey. But this new game isn’t the sequel that fans of the first game were expecting; rather, Bethesda has rebooted the series.

Things are going to be a little different this time around. In the new version of Prey, developed by Arkane Studios (the same guys behind BioShock 2 and the Dishonored series), the interesting melding of science fiction and mysticism has been left behind. The developers opted for a purer science fiction approach for Prey… but that doesn’t mean that it won’t be full

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The New Predator

of cool experiences.

The new version of Prey (which will be what we refer to when we use the name from now on) is set aboard a space station named Talos I, in an alternate reality in which John F Kennedy was never assassinated and the space race has resulted in massive advances. In this facility, research on a hostile alien race called the Typhon is performed. When the Typhon manage to take control of the station, it is up to the player to rescue humanity. Along the way, the player will be able to adopt powers from the Typhon, including the ability to mimic items around them, which will play part in the game’s environmental puzzle solving.

There is, in truth, very little that ties the 2017 version of Prey to the original. The only real commonality between the two is that, in both,

humanity is facing predatorial alien enemies. But Arkane Studios has built Prey as a spiritual successor to the critically acclaimed System Shock, more than as a nod to the original, providing the player with multiple endings and branching paths through the game’s narrative.

This first-person action game also has a healthy dose of role playing elements, as well as decision effects that Arkane are well known for after their work on the Dishonored games.

Sequel or not, Prey looks extremely exciting. Built with CryEnggine technology and spurred on by the undeniably inventive approach that Arkane Studios takes when making games, it is highly likely that Prey will prove to be one of the bigger titles releasing this year. g

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Farpoint GAMING

The shooter PSVR needs

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Farpoint

by Walt Pretorius

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still be played with DualShock or Move controllers, too – although the feel of the PSVR Aim will likely be much better, thanks to its rifle-like configuration and handy placement of analogue sticks for movement. In fact, the controller will be bundled with the game.

Right, back to Farpoint. The story is pretty simple – a deep space operation is interrupted by disaster, and the player will find themselves stranded on a massive alien world, light-years from home. They need to use various weapons and tools, not just to fight off the game’s waves of nasties, but also to try and find a way to survive and, presumably, get back to Earth.

Initial reports around the web indicate that Farpoint is the game that the PSVR needs right now – a high-quality,

GAMING

SVR has, up until now, been something of a hit. As a relatively affordable, extremely comfortable and easy to use VR helmet and system, Sony’s foray into creating new worlds for players to immerse themselves in has proven to be quite exciting. But the one thing that is missing so far for the PSVR is a compelling first-person shooter experience.

That looks like it is about to change, though, with the release of Farpoint. This game brings what appears to be exciting and immersive first-person action to the PSVR system, complete with a dedicated controller. A quick note – while Farpoint is really intended to be used with the PSVR’s new Aim controller, it can apparently

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Farpoint

immersive shooter that looks and feels top notch, thanks in part to the rather odd looking PSVR Aim controller and the increased suspension of disbelief that it provides.

More importantly, it will provide an experience that console-based FPS players expect. Developers Impulse Gear made sure that they didn’t strip things out of Farpoint, rather providing an experience as close to what players expect as possible.

What remains to be seen are the actual physical effects of the game on players. Farpoint provides a high level of immersion, and the “disconnect” between the game world and the real world may cause a few issues in players prone to “VR sickness”… sweating, motion sickness and so on.

Still, for those that do not suffer from the potential negative side effects of VR (and maybe even for those that do) Farpoint promises to be an exciting and action packed first person shooter that doesn’t limit the player in terms of movement and exploration. No teleporting or weird movement settings here, folks… Farpoint is a first-person shooter, and the kind of freedom one would expect in this kind of game will, if Impulse Gear have their way, be right there, front and centre.

Naturally, time will tell – there isn’t a massive amount of hype around this game, but the hopes for a really great VR FPS on PSVR does get one excited. As things stand, there seem to be no reasons to believe that Farpoint won’t deliver the experience we are all craving. g

AT A GLANCE First-person shooter

PSVR needs a killer first-person shooter, which is exactly what Farpoint aims to deliver...

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Impulse Gear SCEE Ster Kinekor

May 2017

Platforms

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ETA

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

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May 2017 Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Team Reptile Team Reptile Online

PLATFORMS

Explosively extreme velocities

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE Fighting

Lethal League pits player against player against an anti-gravity ball that hits harder than a shoryuken.

gamecca95

by Nthato Morakabi

Lethal League

he air is thick. Palpable.

The crowd watches in muted silence as the grand final “Mystery Game” is revealed on UFGT9. What appears is a mind-blowing spectacle of chip-hop music and stylized street visuals. The competitors don unconventional yet completely street attire that weirdly compliments their unique styles. The latest competitive sport is nothing like they have seen before. It hits a sweet spot in their riveted souls. This is Lethal League. Let the games begin.

While dubbed a fighting game, this isn’t your standard fistfoot-head hadouken style of fighting. Instead, players will take control of one of the six available fighters, and then proceed to bash an anti-gravity ball into their opponents face, or body or whatever they can hit. It looks pretty intense.

The six players are: Raptor, a young boy with a metal baseball bat and the special spin double hit that unleashes his ferocious competitive nature. Switch, the ex-working class robot with the skating skills that rival the Hawk, his board is his weapon of choice.

Candyman, a tap dancing entity with a giant yellow head dances his way through the league armed with a cane and an ability to change the chemical composition of certain objects. Sonata, who wields a boombox hammer (what?) and busts out killer b-girl moves. Latch, a cyborg crocodile with enhancements to his spine and brain that makes him more human than croc. Yet his mechanical tail will unleash his inner beast. Lastly, Dice, a pingpong Buddhist whose spiritual resonance puts the ping in the pong of his paddle.

Up to four players in the Multiplayer. Sick beats blasting over the battles. Lethal League looks both unique and thrilling. g

Lethal League

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Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood

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Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood The best of all worlds

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Square Enix Square Enix Megarom

PLATFORMS

GAMING

JunE 2017

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

In an environment of a three-split world, fighting and exploring your way through the lands will help you uncover that which lies beyond the deception and work together with fellow players to save that which needs saving. With a vast online community to interact with, more elements for exploration and epic fights with primals have been added to the Stormblood expansion. It is not only the items and lands that have been expanded, but also the level cap – from 60 to now 70. So there’s plenty room to be the best. g

AT A GLANCE RPG

An expansion with more to do and see for fun with old friends and to maybe make new ones (or foes) online.

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by Sibonisile Motha

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come to know and love, as well as the freedom of an RPG. Two new classes have been added to this game and there are also new jobs available (not at Square Enix, but in the game itself), one of the classes that has me excited is the Samurai. Being able to forge your ideal Miyamoto Musashi whilst holding your own forged priceless katana sounds pretty sweet to me. The expanded customizations mean you will now have even more options that you did before and choose the things that suit you best, right to the very last details.

t’s understandable that some may be thinking that Final Fantasy will never really be final. But seriously, who would want it to be over, ever? As part of the Final Fantasy XIV online game, Stormblood is the latest upcoming expansion pack. In this one, players will be able to explore new lands and locations and face new enemies. This may be a good thing for Square Enix, as Final Fantasy has always had a rather huge following of fans who love having the best of both worlds – the graphic we have

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GAMING

JunE 2017 Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Nippon Ichi Software, Inc. NIS America, Inc. TBC

PLATFORMS

Pixel-perfect RPG nostalgia

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE RPG

The heroes of feudal Japan require your help. Crawl through dungeons, defeat monsters and help the heroes’ souls finish unsettled business.

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by Nthato Morakabi

Cladun Returns: This is Sengoku!

n Japan’s Sengoku Era, civil war between the feudal lords has ravaged the land. It is a truly a despairing time where dreams have been fulfilled for the victorious while others suffer.

Forgotten heroes who perished in battle, linger on the next plane unfulfilled. A death of regret and sorrow. Anguished souls awaiting reincarnation yet unable to return until they have settled their debts.

This is the sequel to the PSVita title Cladun: This is an RPG. Players wake up in the mysterious land known only as Arcanus Cella where they will help heroes from the Sengoku Era. This pixel-perfect dungeon crawler is reminiscent of those beloved RPG titles of old.

99 dungeons, all set in realworld locations of feudal Japan, have been created. These will include Anegawa, Mutsu, and the famous Osaka Castle in the Kansai region where you will utilise brain to navigate labyrinths and brawn to defeat enemies.

Apart from dungeons, there will also be Rab-geons, randomly generating dungeons that are harder to defeat but drop rare treasure.

Each dungeon will have a number of traps to navigate, including explosions, flying arrows, spinning blade traps, and more. A variety of monsters have been set up across each map: spinning Umbrella Monsters, giant snow monsters, dragons, and others. Of course, there will be big Boss battles at the end of the dungeon, including a fight against an angel, and once again the snake like dragon Yamato no Orochi.

Much of the title involves customizing your characters and weapons down to the very pixel. A myriad of job classes and weapons have been set, offering quite an expansive play style both alone and in online battles with friends. g

Cladun Returns: This is Sengoku

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Akiba’s Beat

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Akiba’s Beat I

n a world filled with many delusions and deceptions, it is not always easy to distinguish between that and reality, especially when it seems as though both may try to end your life. That is a premise to Akiba’s Beat. A group of young friends and acquaintances, all have special powers and capabilities. All these will be deemed a blessing as mysterious happenings around them begin to occur. And although the strangeness may vary, an unknown variable seems to be the constant throughout it all.

This anonymous has the chilled vibe of Kisuke Urahara and the dress sense of a flamboyant gentleman, dressed in a pink cape and a hat that always seems to conveniently hide half of his face. He always seems to appear just before our heroes experience the weird. Their ability to see and detect when something is a delusion saves their lives. Combat is the biggest element to this game. As with most action RPGs, you must work your way up the skills ladder. The better you become at certain moves and combos, the more you will be able to unlock and unleash upon your opponents.

Each character’s attributes makes them equally valuable in the line of battle. With each fight, the team draws closer to uncovering the mystery of the enemy and the true intent of the delusions. The music is another ingredient to this game. During battles, there will be different types of tracks playing in the background, almost in a cheerleading kind of appearance. Whether or not the music has an impact in combat is something still rather unknown. With high-paced combat and a story to look forward to, Akiba’s Beat might work. g

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Acquire Acquire, Xseed games Online

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by Sibonisile Motha

Don’t fight the music

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE Action RPG

Playstation gamers will have to be the judge and jury of this upcoming title.

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MXGP 3

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MXGP 3

Rev those engines, it’s motocross time!

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Milestone Milestone TBC

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GAMING

May 2017

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GENRE

France and more. Each track has been faithfully reproduced to its real-life counterpart, including terrain types Sand, Hard Pack and Intermediate.

The confirmed MXGP and MX2 bikes include the KTM 250SX and 125SX, Husqvarna TC250 and TC125, Honda CR250R, TM MX 250 and MX 125, Yamaha YZ250 and YZ125, and Kawasaki KX 125.

While not many details have been revealed, MXGP 3 will have an online mode and all tracks will be playable.

Perhaps this is what motocross fans have been waiting for. g

AT A GLANCE Racing

MXGP 3 returns with greater detail, dynamic interactive gameplay, and a solid connection to the MXGP World Championships. Next-gen motocross goodness.

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by Nthato Morakabi

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four-strokes. Milestone is the Italian game developer that has taken the MXGP series and ran it through an Unreal Engine 4 upgrade. They claim the new MXGP3 will offer a dynamic, and ever-more enjoyable gaming experience.

Much of these experiences will include dynamic weather conditions raining from sun, to heavy rain. These in turn will affect visibility, as well as the conditions of the track, turning dust to mud to challenge even the most talented riders.

All the official MXGP, MX2 and MXoN tracks from the 2016 season will be available, from Switzerland, Argentina, UK, Germany, Thailand,

our fingers grip the handle with practiced ease. The engine of the two-stroke bike rumbles underneath you, sending a jolt of adrenaline through your body.

Your helmet sits snugly as you raise your head towards the crowds lining the edge of the track. Your eyes turn back to the dirt track in front of you. In your peripheral you see your opponents. Your enemies. You will leave them in the dust.

You will be the best.

MXGP is a closed circuit, off-road motorsport run by FIM Motor World Championship. It features bikes from 125cc, 250cc two-strokes up to 450cc

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10Tons 10Tons Online

PLATFORMS

When killing random characters actually helps you PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE Action

Nice concept for a shooter with lots of room to make a lasting impression in the genre.

gamecca95

by Sibonisile Motha

Time Recoil

he support that gamers around the world have been giving to indie game developers is a great thing to watch. This has given many developers and writers the opportunity and boldness to create new concepts for gameplay and storylines.

Time Recoil is one such title.

This game is a shooter that requires you to be a shooter.

When faced with an evil mastermind scientist, who seems to be doing a hell of a good job at being a villain, called Mr. Time, shooting to kill will be your only hope in saving the future. How on earth does that make sense? Well, you have a little power ability of your own – whenever you kill, you slow down time. Yes, every kill buys you time to either make your escape or plan an even bigger kill that will give you even more time to use.

As fun as this may sound, it will not be an easy task.

Choosing and planning your strategy ahead of time (If I may), will help you make the most of it. As you progress, you will be able to use the time and your gun to unleash super moves that you will have to master (as time goes on). Also in the game are time wormholes. These will help you to warp through time and space to travel to where you need to be. These are no cinematic graphics, but they don’t need to be.

The visual of the game fits the purpose, setting and functionality of the task at hand. If you are going to enjoy this game, I strongly advise that you put aside all empathy for your all future victims. g

Time Recoil

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Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

E M IEWW A VIE G EEV R PR

Final fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age R

eturn to the fantastical world of Ivalice, where magic reverberates across the land, and airships spill across the heavens. Of the frigid landscapes of Kerwon, the plush plains of Ordalia and Valendia. and the expansive desertscape that surrounds Dalmasca. Where an impending war looms across the two of the most powerful empires, while its people suffer the ongoing feuds. Ivalice. The place where magic and machine coexist in harmony.

The Zodiac Age is a high-definition remaster of Final Fantasy XII. The Zodiac, in the name comes from the Japanese-only International Zodiac Job System – basically the International version of the game with all it’s new changes, specifically the Zodiac Job System. There will also be massive improvements to both the visual and sound elements of this Playstation exclusive title.

The Zodiac Job System is an improved character levelling system. It will incorporate the Licence Board - a tiled board system similar to a chess board, with hundreds of squares, and each square representing an ability, spell, equipment piece or augment – with the Job System (Knight, Mage, Shikari, Archer etc).

Players will be able to have multiple Licence Boards relating to specific jobs.

Most of the game modes have enhanced features, including the Trial Mode where players will engage in 100 consecutive battles against monsters and enemies, and a speed mode which has yet to be explained.

The story itself will remain the same, following the rag-tag group of unfortunate souls who are destined for something greater while the world falls apart around them. Of friendship, revenge, justice, and a good old fashioned “nothing is as it seems” storyline that has set apart the Final Fantasy franchise from its contemporaries. g

GAMING

Jul 2017 Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Square Enix Square Enix Megarom

PLATFORMS

by Nthato Morakabi

Return to Ivalice, the land of magic and technology.

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE RPG

This is the HD remastered version of Final Fantasy XII, with improved graphics, true 7.1 surround sound, and a powerful, magical tale.

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Agents of Mayhem

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Agents of Mayhem There’s order and there’s M.A.Y.H.E.M

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Volition Deep Silver Apex Interactive

PLATFORMS

GAMING

Aug 2017

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

With graphics that ring a familiarity with Saints Row and a colour scheme that supports this idea. Although not too much has been given away with the storyline of the game, combat is shown off. Each player’s fighting style suits their personality – from a narcist that doesn’t mind taking a selfie in battle because the lighting is good, to a former cop with a trigger-happy complex – this all plays into your experience as playing with these characters and hopefully achieving your task to not only save Seoul, but possibly the entire planet from LEGION’s daring plans.. g

AT A GLANCE Action

With many theories to its ties to Saints Row, this title will need to be able to prove itself as a standalone regardless.

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by Sibonisile Motha

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these factions (good vs. evil) are all acronyms. L.E.G.I.O.N standing for the League of Evil Gentlemen Intent on Obliterating Nations, and M.A.Y.H.E.M standing for Multinational Agency Hunting Evil Masterminds. You can select 3 characters to play as from the band of 12. Once selected your chosen characters, you can switch between them at any point throughout the game. With each playable character having unique traits, weapons and skills, choosing a combination that creates a team suitable for your gameplay style will be beneficial.

irst look at Agents of Mayhem and I already had this sinking feeling in my gut that this could have been a great either comic or animated series for people like me to enjoy. So after I shed a few tears, I gathered the strength to write about the next best thing being given to us – the game. Set in a not so distant futuristic Seoul, South Korea, a team consisting of twelve agents is formed as the answer to a band of evildoers that are better known as the LEGION. I should probably point out that the names given to

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June 2017 Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Cubetype Nis America TBC

PLATFORMS

Manic magic maiden mayhem

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE Fighter

Nine maidens with magical abilities face off in a bullet-hell shoot em up fighter spanning decades and consoles to shine in Next Gen glory.

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by Nthato Morakabi

Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle

hat do you get when you combine nine powerful maidens with incredible power, a 3D battle field, and enough flying projectiles to rival Gladius? Well you get Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle of course.

Rhetoric is such a wonderful tool.

Surprisingly, Team Shanghai Alice is a one man dōjin (hobby) game developer. He started Touhou Project in 1996 on the Japanese PC-98 series of computers. It garnered momentum and a large following that eventually moved west. 16 renditions later, we will get to enjoy Touhou Kobuto and its iconic maidens in current gen beauty.

Scenario Mode will put players in each of the shrine maiden’s shoes, playing a campaign that follows their individual story. Each Touhou game is based on the fictional world of Gensokyo, a fictional realm inhabited by humans and yōkai - supernatural creatures such as ghosts, spirits and demons.

Nothing more has been revealed yet.

The main game mode pits all nine characters against each other in a bullet-hell game. Bullet-hell is a new type of shoot ‘em up where players are required to dodge an overwhelming number of enemy projectiles. In Touhou Kobuto, the projectiles will be in the form of magical attacks, spell cards, or bullet-hell patterns ranging from ice blasts to fiery flames and a number of abilities.

The nine characters set to appear are original maiden Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame from the second game, Lumia, Cirno, Meiling Hong, Patchouli Knowledge, Sakuya Izayoi, Remilia Scarlet, and Flandre Scarlet.

Play locally in two-player split screen or go online. Share you score in the Arcade Mode and Score Attack Mode. And let the ear-tingling beats, and background music catered to each character, guide you through Gensokyo. g

Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle

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Gravel

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Gravel W

ith many developers in the craziness of trying to create something new or make what is already out there better, they either get it right or wrong. Milestone decided to develop a racing game. But they sought to do it differently – completely off-road. In Gravel, you will play on tracks that have been forged by powerful vehicles. This sets the scene for a visually stunning game, merely due to the countless environments that can be played in. And that is exactly what Milestone have done. From exotic jungles, to dirt circuits, to even deserts.

All including the beauty and unpredictability of nature itself. With the help of Unreal Engine 4, you can expect photorealistic graphics. Dynamic weather conditions have also been added to the game. Played in a TV show setting, your career and successes will be captured in your quest to, as the developer say, #stealtheshow.

The game’s creators have made it very clear that this is not a racing simulation. This is a racing game, and that is what you will be doing. Thankfully, they seem to have done all they could to avoid it from becoming a game filled with monotony. Question is, will the beautiful environments be enough to keep your attention? That’s where the cars come in. At this stage there are 50 vehicles to be played.

These range from treasures from the 70s to this very day. Choose your off-road weapon and maybe you could become an Off-road Master.

With 4 modes you can choose from and master – Wild Rush, Cross Country, Speed Cross and Stadium Circuit – you will get a chance to experience all the metal-crushing and crowdroaring action you could want. g

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Q3 2017 Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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PLATFORMS

by Sibonisile Motha

No traffic department here.

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE Racing

Great elements that could work in the favour of the player in a racing setting.

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JunE 2017 Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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PLATFORMS

It’s WipEout like you’ve never seen it before!

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE Racing

Enjoy the classic Wipeout HD, Wipeout HD Fury and Wipeout in this remastered 4K resolution collection.

gamecca95

by Nthato Morakabi

WipEout Omega Collection

t is the roller coaster ride without straps and harnesses.

The highspeed swirling turns of urban race tracks. The death defying anti-gravity death machines that tear through the streets. Where sharp turns, steep drops and stomach-churning loops are but some of the many dangerous aspects you will face.

Piloting anti-gravity ships through flying rockets and manic is hard enough without the challenge to be the best, the very best.

Are you ready to return to the WipEout arena?

WipEout Omega Collection is the ultimate WipEout game, packed with all the content from WipEout HD, WipEout HD Fury and WipEout 2048. These will include a combination of 46 unique anti-gravity ships to provide players with a fantastically wide variety of racing vehicles to use.

A total of 26 reversible circuits have been confirmed, include skyhigh race tracks, inner city racing tracks and a number of familiar locations that WipEout fans will recognize. Of course, what is WipEout with its track-based weapons, set to appear once again, adding destructive force to an already action-packed game.

You can expect beautiful, vibrant, and lifelike colours thanks to the High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology. Faster and smoother frame rates at 60 frames-persecond visuals and dynamic 4K resolution. The improved lighting effects and sharp visuals sets this WipEout up, like you’ve never seen it before. The music will feature both classic tracks from the previous games, and new, memorable music. It’s a complete revamp.

The multiple game modes that will be available have yet to be revealed, but we do know there will be a two player spilt-screen mode, as well as an eight player online mode.

A truly re-mastered title. g

WipEout Omega Collection

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Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash

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Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash Water guns. Female ninjas. Bikinis.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Marvelous Marvelous Online

PLATFORMS

GAMING

Q3 2017

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

moves that will be earned and developed throughout gameplay.

Finishing moves include aiming at the opponent’s breasts or rear (please do not ask me to elaborate).

Similar to RPG’s, certain character skills can be improved through skill cards. Visually, the gameplay looks to be fast-paced, fun and maybe even enjoyable. Released in Japan first (obviously), the game will be available to the rest of the world later on this year. (Someone really needs to invent real-life versions of these super-strong bikinis I tell you.) g

AT A GLANCE Third person shooter

Despite the borderline nudity, this could be an impressive title for the gameplay and variety in shooting style.

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by Sibonisile Motha

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win not only the title of champion, but of a prize. In this title, the winning team may have whatever they so desire. So who are these characters that you will play as?

Female ninjas called kunoichi. These uniquely gifted ladies each possess various skills and abilities that make them ruthless, it’s just a pity that they are not allowed to use any of them in this tournament. All they will have at their disposal are their water guns which will aid depending on the type of required shooting.

Each gun can be used differently and in coordination to special

apan has never been shy in “subtly” hinting at their preferences and fantasies.

Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash is one such game, on the surface.

For those who are completely new to Senran Kagura (as I was), it was a little hard to believe that this is actually a third-person shooter game. So I decided to look past the hard to miss features of the main characters, and evaluate this as what it is – a video game. Peach Beach Splash is a tournament game that sees contestants fight each other with water guns in order to

We have

e issues!

E M W A IE G EV R

Sniper Ghost Wa GAMING

Dealing death in three flavours…

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Sniper Ghost Warrior 3

by Walt Pretorius

arrior 3

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What this means is that CI had far more in terms of financial resources to pour into Sniper Ghost Warrior 3, and it shows. This is by far the best game of the series, and it takes numerous steps in the right directions. But it also shows a few missteps that could be put down to the developer’s inexperience with delivering a truly AAA experience; this is the first time that they have had a big budget to pay with, after all, so the fact that Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 sometimes feels like it still has its training wheels on is somewhat understandable.

The biggest issue that Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 has is that it doesn’t take many chances. Virtually everything in the game feels like it was borrowed from somewhere else. In a market that is so hotly contested, originality is a major trump card, but sadly Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 doesn’t play it. Instead, it delivers experiences that are new to

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ometimes there are games that don’t get a fair shake. Generally, they are titles that have a few imperfections, sure, but the feeding frenzy that video game press enters when a title like this comes along can be quite alarming.

The latest title to fall victim to this kind of activity is CI Games’ Sniper Ghost Warrior 3. Quite honestly, I will be the first to admit that the game isn’t perfect, and that it does have a few very frustrating elements to it – but I will also admit that I had great fun playing it, and that (in the end) is what really matters.

CI Games (formerly City Interactive) hasn’t had the best run with the Sniper Ghost Warrior franchise, but the studio’s heart has always been in the right place.

And, despite some poor reviews, the previous games in the franchise managed to do well in terms of sales.

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the franchise, rather than to the world of FPS games at large.

Those that have played the previous titles will see, from the get-go, that Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 takes player freedom more seriously than before. The world has been blown open, and players can now freely explore the virtual recreation of a remote version of Georgia (the country, not the US state). The game offers a number of story missions, which will be completed in around 12 hours, barring mishaps, but there is a ton of other stuff to do here that can keep the player interested for far longer.

There are equipment caches to raid, collectible weapons to discover (which can sadly not be used in the game), strongholds to clear out and a bunch of other stuff.

None of these side activities or side missions are ever made to feel mandatory, either. The player can easily

complete the entire main plot line with the weapons they started with, despite the fact that Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 offers a fairly wide array of usable weapons to be found or purchased as the game progresses. Speaking of which, a rather nice element to new weapons comes from the fact that picking up an enemy’s weapon adds it to your load-out list. So if someone drops a gun that you don’t have yet, you can quickly grab it, and then grab your tricked out weapon that you started with… the new gun will be available the next time you select your load-out.

Weapons can be modified, too, although the modifications for each weapon tend to be very few. There could certainly have been more depth here, as well as in the crafting and skills elements of the game. The skills, for example, are broken into three categories – Sniper, Ghost and Warrior – which gain experience at different

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here, folks.

The third option is to use Ghost tactics – stealth, interrogations and silent take-downs. Once again, Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 handles this fairly competently, and the AI, while not the smartest, is at least consistent for the most part, allowing the player to learn what works and what doesn’t quickly.

The missions themselves tend to be short, “go there and kill that guy” kind of affairs, but they do afford the player a lot of freedom, and are varied enough that repetition is never really an issue. Both main and side missions can be extremely satisfying when they are completed, and tend towards giving the player numerous challenges, in terms of enemies and even first-person platforming, which Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 handles well.

There are a few issues that need to be addressed,

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rates, according to what the player does in game. While this is a great way to reward individual play styles, each tree has only nine skills. A little more here would not have gone amiss.

A game like this is all about the combat, and as implied by the three skill trees, there are a few ways to go about things. The Sniper part of the affair is still the most satisfying… getting in those long shots after carefully adjusting for distance and finding the best possible sniping spot is a great feeling. But, unlike before, if all hell breaks loose, the game allows the player to switch to a competent high-0action mode – Warrior – that won’t see them torn to shreds like before. That said, everyone – from the player to the AI characters – in Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is a lot more fragile than in other FPS games… no bullet sponges

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though. The first is loading times. They are really far too long here, and even the generous checkpointing system that the game provides cannot make watching really long loading screens feel any better.

And then there is the plot. It is weak, by any standard, falling into tried and tested action tropes that we have seen far too often already.

Graphically, the game is decent, but it certainly isn’t revolutionary, and the odd aberration or frame rate issue may surface here and there.

Lastly, the game may (or may not) surprise you with some technical issues, to the point that crashing your console is possible with Sniper Ghost Warrior 3. It’s not a given, but it can happen.

Still, Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is a game that can be great fun to play. More forgiving players will likely

have a better time, and the game isn’t overly punishing (although those long load times may well have you playing more carefully, simply to avoid them). There is a ton to do here, and lots of variety in the way you deal death in Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 keeps thing entertaining. Completionists, particularly, will have a great time discovering all the hidden nooks and crannies in the game, and the fragile nature of the game characters will keep it fairly challenging, although never overly so.

So no, Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 isn’t a perfect game – it could have used a little more depth, and a touch more polish. But it is a game that will be what you make of it, and if you are willing to look past some of its weaker points, it will provide you with some highly entertaining gaming. g

AT A GLANCE First-person Shooter

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 has its fair share of issues, but if you’re willing to be a little forgiving it provides an entertaining time none the less.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

CI Games CI Games Apex Interactive

PARENTAL ADVISORY

18+ gamecca95

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

REVIEWED ON

PS4 PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

78 41

E M W A IE G EV R

Dawn of War III GAMING

The welcome return of the Warhamm

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Dawn of War III

by Walt Pretorius

mer 40k RTS…

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going on that complex base building strategies might have taken away from the game, rather than enhancing it.

Dawn of War III offers three playable races – the three traditional favourites from the Warhammer 40k universe, on which the game is based. Eldar are mystical, elf-like beings; Orks are massive, brutal warriors, and Humans – in the form of Space Marines – are zealous, disciplined soldiers. Starting the single player campaign, which features around 17 missions, puts the players in the shoes of the Space Marines. The next mission is an Ork endeavour, and the third mission sees the player taking the side of the Eldar. This switching of races from one mission to the next is almost constant through the whole campaign. On the upside, it allows players to experience the various races, as well as weaves a narrative of the conflict they are fighting. On the downside, even though

GAMING

eal-time strategy games aren’t exactly common these days, and when new games do hit the market, they are invariably compared to the big names that came before. To the Dawn of War franchise’s credit, this is difficult to do when looking at Dawn of War III. The easiest comparisons to draw here are internal – comparing Dawn of War III to Dawn of War II, for example.

This is probably due to the fact that the Dawn of War series has several unique approaches. Notably, Dawn of War II took a step back from base building and put more concentration on squad based tactics, a move that went down very well with fans. It is a little strange, then, that Dawn of War III goes back to the idea of building bases, particularly when the base building element of the game is not particularly deep. That said, there is so much

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the campaign is fairly long, the player never really gets to experience any of the races fully. Sure, you’ll get to try out all the units and buildings along the way, but Dawn of War III has granted each race numerous working parts, and getting to grips with the nuances of any particular race is pretty much impossible while jumping through the factions.

Certain things are obvious from the start, pretty much: Orks can upgrade themselves with the scrap left on the battlefield, using vanquished enemy forces and destroyed buildings to get stronger. Space Marines can call in drop pods to deploy soldiers pretty much anywhere. Eldar use shields, teleportation and speed to gain the upper hand.

Knowing these things is core to playing the game but, in all honesty, developing stronger tactics and strategies is something that the single player campaign doesn’t afford the player time to do. However, jumping between the

different races does keep things fresh during the campaign – the various factions have different play styles, and their units show that. Comparing even the most basic units in each race will demonstrate differences that can change approach.

There are some basic ideas that the game does set out, and that make Dawn of War III stand out among the crowd. First off, resource points are controllable points, which need to be captured, and defended. The game uses two kinds of resources, being Requisition and Power.

Normally points offer one generator for each, but that can vary.

The second idea that Dawn of War III seems keen on is that fast paced rush tactics aren’t always the best way to handle things, and that sometimes beating a retreat when things go South isn’t cowardice, it is pragmatism.

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For example, the player can make use of several weaker elite units early in the game, or attempt to bring out the big guns later in play. This can be greatly affected by the game’s inherent resource production scaling, which shifts balances in costs and resource production as time progresses during a match. All these kinds of decisions are not available to the player in the single player campaign which, in traditional RTS terms, serves as something of a tutorial in how to handle the various factions. Rather, here, players need to learn on the fly.

Another traditional RTS activity is also affected by Dawn of War III, which approached matches in a style that sometimes feel more like a MOBA than an RTS. A given map may, for example, require three objectives to be achieved to secure victory, which goes against early rush tactics that prove so popular in competitive RTS titles. The

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The player’s units can be healed and reinforced at a lower cost, and quicker pace, than building new units.

There is a definite feeling of a slower pace in this game, and missions (or multiplayer scraps) can last longer than many people may be used to in RTS games. In the campaign, missions can be around an hour long, at times.

Another aspect of the game that doesn’t really get much of the limelight in the single player campaign is the use of elite units. Yes, they are there from the start, and seeing them strut their impressive stuff on the battlefield is quite the treat. But there are so many intricacies in using them that it will take several multiplayer games – either again real opponents or against the AI – to start gathering any real semblance of a strategic approach when it comes to them.

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use of heroic elites also plays into the MOBA feel.

Currently, Dawn of War III feels a little thin. While there is a fair amount of variety, skill trees and unit development feel a little shallow, and the game only features a handful of maps to engage opponents on, as well as limited modes.

At the same time, though, it feels smart. Super weapons, for example, can be employed, but they can be turned against players who use them, too. For example, an Ork bomb that deals massive devastation can be picked up by opponents and redeployed, should the Ork carrying it die before it detonates. The Space Marine massive laser weapon can be controlled by enemies if the building that governs it can be captured.

Things like this make Dawn of War III feel somewhat chaotic and add a scrappy nature to the game which is

actually quite welcome. The tide can turn very quickly in this title, and it takes a more quick-witted approach that relies less on repetition of tried and tested strategies and more on adaptation.

It is pretty certain that the developers will expand on the title as time passes, adding more playable races in the form of DLC. Hopefully more maps will be added, too, to keep things fresh. Yet, as it stands, Dawn of War III is a competent and exciting RTS that feels a little different from the run of the mill in the genre. It does throw the player into the deep end, but part of the excitement of playing this game is learning what work under fire‌ trying new ideas on the battlefield should carry a high riskreward factor, after all. In short, those that want to do a little more thinking and experimentation with an RTS will likely love what Dawn of War III has to offer. g

AT A GLANCE Real-time strategy

Sit feels a bit different, and tends to throw the payer in the deep end at times... but it is great fun to return to the battlefields of Warhammer 40k.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Relic SEGA Ster Kinekor

PARENTAL ADVISORY

16+ gamecca95

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

REVIEWED ON

PC PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

82 47

E M W A IE G EV R

Persona 5 GAMING

A new masterpiece…

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Persona 5

by Walt Pretorius

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not only takes the Persona franchise to new heights, but it elevates the JRPG genre way above where it was before.

The Persona series started out as a spin-off, but by the fourth iteration it was considered among the finest JRPG games. Indeed, many people felt that Persona 4 was the finest example of the genre ever created. That high praise did not make publisher-developers Atlus rest on their laurels, however, and Persona 5 has emerged as a vast improvement over its predecessor.

In this carefully crafted game, the player takes on the role of a youngster, wrongfully convicted of a crime and sent to live in Tokyo with a guardian. But this teenager has a special ability, the ability to send a mental persona into the minds of others‌ Here is where the first part of the game’s appeal kicks in. The player must balance

GAMING

orruption. Crime. These are things that are at the forefront of international dialogue a hell of a lot these days, but there seems to be so little that we ordinary citizens can do about it.

We march, we protest (loudly or quietly) and we show our dissatisfaction. Often, though, it seems to have no effect. But you may feel a little reprieve, though, when playing Persona 5. Sure, it is a game, but it is a game in which the main character can enter the minds of corrupt and nasty people and change their hearts. It has no bearing on the real world, but at least there is some satisfaction to be had.

That last statement is actually a little inaccurate – there is a whole lot of satisfaction to be had playing Persona 5. While the series may not have been the biggest in the West, this particular outing of the series

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their everyday, scholarly life with that of being a mental superhero that can change the hearts and minds of bad people. This is part of the game’s charm, and the life simulation sections of it aren’t just there for time wasting, either. The player can explore numerous areas and develop relationships with people, called Confidants… these relationships will grant the player bonus abilities and skills, so pursuing them is actually pretty important. And it is less of a slog than it might seem, because Persona 5 manages to build a high degree of likeability into virtually every character the player comes across. These are characters you will come to care about, and fostering relationships with them may well become about more than just gaining abilities.

That said, in the real world time is limited, and Persona 5 mimics this by limiting the time that the player has.

The game follows a more or less strict calendar, and the player will never be able to fit in everything that could possibly be done in a single play-through. That adds replay value that makes a great excuse for reexperiencing this beautifully constructed title.

That said, Persona 5 isn’t exactly a short game, with a single play-through weighing in at almost 100 hours.

That’s pretty impressive these days, if you think about it, and it allows the player to dig into the world and tightly constructed (although not overly original) narrative to their heart’s content.

The main part of the game, of course, is travelling into the minds of people and changing their hearts. To do so, the player and his associates enter into their target’s “palace”, a mental construct that not only provides the player with numerous different challenges, but also

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At later stages, this kind of activity becomes vital, as tougher enemies present weaknesses that are more difficult to exploit.

The combat system is not difficult, but it can be fairly complex. There is, like any good JRPG, a lot of option for the player to make use of in combat, including the returning ability to negotiate with bested foes. Once the player enters negotiations, the battle moves from physical to verbal, and the player can bargain for items, information, or even to try and convince vanquished enemies to join their quest.

Other “dungeons” can also be explored in Mementos, a section of the game where the player’s Confidants will request side missions to be completed. While the palaces are pre-created, Mementos features randomised dungeons that players of the previous titles may be more

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depicts the target’s personality. Because of this, each palace feels distinct. More importantly, these “dungeons” provide the player with varied challenges, and are all painstakingly designed to maximise enjoyment. The level building here is excellent, indeed.

A large amount of the game’s dynamics are based on stealth, as the player makes his way through enemy palaces. But combat is inevitable in this kind of game.

Persona 5 makes use of an extremely slick turn-based combat system that is surprisingly fast paced and very exciting. Combat is based on eight elements, and the player will need to learn how to exploit the weaknesses of others. While his companions have one persona to call on, the hero of the story can switch personas as needed to exploit weaknesses. These personas can be developed and even combined to form new personas.

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familiar with.

Persona 5 offers the player a long list of great things: a long play time, during which numerous varied activities can be undertaken. A combination of adventure and life simulation that gives the player the opportunity to develop their character in the way they see fit, while still remaining highly enjoyable and engaging. Varied palaces to explore and enemies to face off against with a slick and well-presented turn-based combat system. Personas to collect, develop, combine and implement for greater tactical advantage. And there is a lot more too, all wrapped up in a game that oozes style. The presentation here is top notch – the graphics may seem a little dated, but they work well for the overall art style that Persona 5 brings to the table. Even if you initially feel they are a little on the anachronistic side, you will soon look past

them to the absolutely great experience that the entirety of the game presents.

Persona 5 is nothing short of a triumph; for Atlus, and for the JRPG genre as a whole. Even those that aren’t fans of this genre (which, admittedly, does have a “love it or hate it” aspect applied to it) will find a lot of merit in paying Persona 5, which could even be considered a gateway drug to JRPG. That said, following up Persona 5 with another JRPG may be a disappointment – the overall game design levels are so high here that it will be a tough act to follow within the genre, and even beyond.

The careful balance of the varied game elements is pitch perfect, and virtually every game maker, and game player, could learn a lot (and gain tons of enjoyment) from spending a good long while with Persona 5. This is a game that could easily be called a masterpiece. g

AT A GLANCE JRPG

REVIEWED ON

A pitch-perfect execution behind Persona 5 makes it one of the finest JRPGs ever created.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Atlus Atlus Apex Inertactive

PARENTAL ADVISORY

16+ gamecca95

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

PS4 PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

98 53

E M W A IE G EV R

Dragon Quest H GAMING

A bit of this, a bit of that…

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Dragon Quest Heroes II

by Rob Edwards

Heroes II

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II’s flow to a shuddering halt. In some of the more extreme cases, this break of pace gets quite extreme, taking what is generally a very fast, action packed experience and turning it into a slog.

On the plus side, Dragon Quest Heroes II features a solid story – at the very least better than the original game’s narrative. The main characters are a pair of twins who find themselves embroiled in a sudden conflict between two formerly peaceful kingdoms. As the tale unfolds, conspiracies and ancient prophecies come to the fore, making it an intriguing and entertaining tale.

Although rather cartoonish, the graphics of Dragon Quest Heroes II are great, with excellent consistency throughout. Top notch localisation also has great dialogue moments popping in here and there, and the overall presentation of the game is pretty slick.

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he Dragon Quest games haven’t been around for all that long, but it looks like the development team behind them are aiming to turn these often charming titles into a longer-running franchise. However, it is early days yet and, as things go with new franchises, there are likely to be a few missteps along the way. Dragon Quest Heroes II falls prey to that idea, with a few stumbles getting in the way of the overall effect achieving the heights it might have.

Like the original game, Dragon Quest Heroes II is an action game with role-playing leanings. Unfortunately, the balance between the two elements is somewhat clumsy, resulting in a game that has an inconsistent pace. Every now and then an activity that would be more at home in a proper role playing game, like wandering around a village to find a monster disguised as a commoner, breaks the pace of the game’s enjoyable, fast-paced combat, bringing Dragon Quest Heroes

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Dragon Quest Heroes II

So is the combat. Although it does, at times, devolve into a repetitious slog of wading through little bad guys to get to the big ones, it also manages to deliver some really nice systems.

Medals, for example, make a return, but instead of just summoning monsters to help the player, this time around they have more effects, including ability buffs and even the handy ability to transform into other creatures, complete with special abilities and locomotion modes.

Also really great is the character development system. The player can have their character concentrate on one class, or multiclass in several different directions. Not only does this open up a whole bunch of options within the game, but it allows the character to stamp their preferred play style on the overall experience.

Dragon Quest Heroes II also offers tons to do. The missions are pretty varied, ranging from typical monster bashing outings

right through to protection gigs and stealth missions. Many of these give nods to some of the more traditional RPG ideas too, like environmental puzzles. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, these can really hamper the pace of the game, particularly when they crop up between fights.

Dragon Quest Heroes II also offers co-op multiplayer, with up to four people being able to play together. It is great, in concept, but the reality is that the multiplayer aspect requires a return to the drawing board. It restricts players to playing missions that they have finished in single player mode, and often players are booted out of parties between missions – hardly conducive to an enjoyable, seamless experience.

On the whole, Dragon Quest Heroes II is an enjoyable game, and it moves the franchise in a good direction. However, hopefully the next time around it will have a bit more of a genre identity. g

AT A GLANCE Action

REVIEWED ON

Although it needs a stronger genre-identity, Dragon Quest Heroes II can deliver an enjoyable experience, complete with great presentation.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Omega Force Square Enix Megarom

PARENTAL ADVISORY

12+ gamecca95

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

PS4 PLATFORMS

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PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

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MLB The Show GAMING

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MLB The Show 17

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appreciation of the title.

It is hardly surprising that the game is of the high quality that it is: baseball is obviously huge in the USA, which makes up for a massive market, and it is also extremely popular in Japan, home of the console to which this game is exclusive. And it is surprisingly popular here in South Africa too. Sure, sports like basketball have a larger following locally, but the fact that there is any support for baseball here at home makes it surprising that we haven’t really seen much of MLB The Show 17 in the past. That seems set to change now (if only because of online availability via PSN) and any lover of sports simulations will find a high quality game here to enjoy, whether they are huge baseball fans or not.

The most striking feature of MLB The Show 17 is

GAMING

have to admit, right off the bat (and with a terrible pun for good measure) that I don’t know very much about baseball. Or, at least, I didn’t until MLB The Show 17 arrived on my desk for review. Being a South African and not a massive fan of watching things like ESPN, my knowledge of bats and balls being hit by them is generally restricted to cricket or the Walking Dead. But, being the good sort that I am, I decided that I needed to do a lot of research into this massively popular sport.

I will also admit, at this point, that a lot of my research came from playing MLB The Show 17. It simply is that good a game – not only did I actually learn a thing or two about what could be a deep (and heavily stat driven) sport, but I had great fun doing so. In fact, MLB The Show 17 gave me a new

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MLB The Show 17

the graphic fidelity of the title. This game looks, quite simply, great. You would well be excused for thinking you were watching a TV broadcast from time to time, with only the occasional repetition in the otherwise sterling commentary giving the fact that you’re playing a game away. With a wide variety of hits, as well as varied animations and extremely natural reactions from AI players, MLB The Show 17 looks as real as you’re going to get in a baseball simulation, complete with last minute action adjustments and even mistakes.

Further research – because this really is the first game in the franchise that I experienced – showed that last year’s iteration was widely believed to be the best game in the MLB The Show series… until now. More improvements have been made to the

title, elevating it to new heights, not only for the franchise, but for sports games in general.

Virtually every aspect of the game, with its several modes, has been painstakingly created to bring the player the most realistic sports sim possible. There is a nod to old arcade style baseball games which, quite frankly, is a shuddering weak point in the package but, overall, MLB The Show 17 delivers a game that is tight, deep and beautifully executed.

It ranks up there with some of the biggest names in sports simulations, and even surpasses some off them. This is a slick, polished game that will impress anyone who experiences it, no matter what their level of baseball knowledge (or love) is. And, quite frankly, if you try it, you might just be bitten by the baseball bug. g

AT A GLANCE Sports

REVIEWED ON

This is a game that does sports right; MLB The Show 17 is a high quality baseball simulation that will get you hooked on America’s national pastime.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Sony Interactive SCEE Ster Kinekor

PARENTAL ADVISORY

3+ gamecca95

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

PS4 PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

93 61

E M W A IE G EV R

Kingdom Hearts + 2.5 ReMIX GAMING

The Final Fantasy Disney mash-up re

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Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX

by Alex Scanlon

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Kingdom Hearts 2, Chain of Memories and Birth by Sleep.

That equates to a hell of a lot of gaming right there.

The remastering of these titles has been done rather well, making this a great collection for those who have never played Kingdom Hearts, or who want to relive the stories that the games tell. Not that the stories are any clearer, mind you – the overall narrative is so convoluted and confusing that not even a flow chart and diagrams will make it easier to understand. That’s one of the biggest frustrations here, but it is somewhat mitigated by the sheer joy of seeing Disney’s characters, from Goofy and Donald Duck through to Alladin’s Genie, come to life in a video game. In stark contrast, the Final Fantasy characters feel decidedly two-dimensional next to the zanier Disney characters, adding even more disparity to the overall mix.

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ingdom Hearts, as a franchise, is possibly the strangest melding of licenses in the gaming industry. This series of games takes the angsy, dark and sombre characters of the Final Fantasy universe and puts them shoulder to shoulder with characters from the Disney stable. It’s an extremely odd mix – which is possibly why it works.

Kingdom Hearts has been around for ages – games from this series were even remastered for the PlayStation 3, to give you some context. But now Square Enix has brought everything together, delivering four games in one collection (it sounds like six, but the DS based Re:Coded and 358/2 Days titles are little more than stripped down collections of cut scenes for those who want to attempt to follow the overall story.

What is playable in this collection is Kingdom Hearts,

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Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX

Another weird juxtaposition is that, with its confusing narrative, odd mix of characters, often clunky combat and downright annoying camera, this collection of games should be far less fun to play than it actually is. But what it lacks in technical abilities and polish it more than makes up for in charm; Kingdom Hearts is proof that nostalgia is a powerful force in creating a game, and more than once you may find yourself chuckling at a Disney character’s antics while swearing at the game mechanics, all at the same time.

In terms of combat, those that look for these types of things may well notice the similarity between these Kingdom Hearts games and Final Fantasy XV. The DNA is pretty strong in being passed from one to the other, although in the Kingdom Hearts titles it lacks the refinement that we see in the latest Final Fantasy title.

Of the four games, Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts 2 and Birth by Sleep seem to have gotten the lion’s share of remastering attention. They feature excellent frame rates and great new textures, making them visually extremely appealing (even if the voice acting is still terrible). By contrast, Chain of Memories was at the bottom of the barrel when it came to reworking, and it stands out as being the weaker of the four titles. It still is a lot of fun, though, even if it looks a lot muddier than the other three.

The DS inclusions are, as mentioned before, just there for narrative elaboration – although you may not want the story more complicated than it already is.

Here is a game that is charming as all hell, and presents the player with a huge amount to do, and a lot of overall play time. It’s a great collection for fans, and for those that prefer their gaming a little left of centre… g

AT A GLANCE Adventure

REVIEWED ON

It’s a quirky collection of games with an odd meshing of licenses... yet despite its technical issues, this collection oozes charm and nostalgia.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Square Enix Square Enix Megarom

PARENTAL ADVISORY

12+ gamecca95

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

PS4 PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

79 65

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The magic of Be

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S indie developer, Clayton Kauzlaric, dabbles in the dark arts of game development. With many years of experience, his knowledge has enabled him to truly

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Voodoo

eep Industries

By Nthato Morakabi

understand what needs to go into a great game.

We recently spoke to him about making games, industry challenges, and finding inspiration in New Orleans‌ gamecca

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GM: Beep Games has been around for a while now, circa 2003 A.D. as I have read. Can you give us a brief intro and history?

CK: Beep Games is a small game development studio located near Seattle in the United States - Woodinville, Washington. Our best-known game is Voodoo Vince, a character platformer for the original Xbox, and more recently Voodoo Vince: Remastered for Xbox One, Windows 10 and Steam. We have also created games for mobile and a series of puzzles games for PC. I named the company. I liked the name because it sounded simple and fun.

GM: Simple.

Straightforward. I like it. So how did you get into game development?

Were you inspired by a specific game (Voodoo Vince?) or did you just go out on a limb?

CK: Our studio was created after I decided to make a game about a little Voodoo doll named Vince – so yes. I had been making games for 10 years at that time, as had many of the people who came to work on the game.

GM: It’s great to see you’re still going strong

CK: I was already making games when many classic titles appeared but always found the work of others to be very inspiring. I loved the games from Rare, like Banjo Kazooie and the Rayman games. These made me want to make a character platformer of my own.

GM: Those are great platformer titles, so now I must ask, what does being a game developer mean to you both as a gamer and as a developer?

CK: It means I never have to grow up!

GM: Amen to that. More on a personal side, what did you study and was it always leaning towards game development?

CK: I studied animation and film making. There were no classes or degrees related to game design or gaming then.

GM: In your experience would it be worth studying game development if you were an aspiring developer?

CK: I do recommend some training and education in game development.

There are many excellent programs around the world that specialize in games. I believe this makes aspiring developers more appealing to game studios because it shows a commitment to the industry as well as the ability to collaborate and work well with a team.

GM: Right. So when it

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comes to your source of inspiration both in gaming and outside of gaming, what is it?

CK: I am inspired by artists and storytellers both inside and outside the world of video games. I was always fascinated by the work of the Old Masters and classical painters as a kid – the idea that images from a human hand could create such compelling windows into another time and place was unbelievable to me.

In games, it’s a mix of new and old. Like many designers, I love the work of Shigeru Miyamoto. I also love the humor of classic LucasArts games. The Rayman series was a huge influence on the early design for Voodoo Vince.

GM: Ha! A fellow Nintendo fan, and it’s amazing how many people LucasArts has inspired. As for other indie developers around, are there any that you look up to?

CK: I really respect any studio that manages to follow a vision and keep its staff happy. I love what Moon is doing with Ori & The Blind Forest. Cuphead from Studio MDHR looks insanely cool.

Twisted Pixel will always have a place in my heart for ‘Splosion Man and The Maw. Double Fine is another studio that consistently makes games I love.

GM: And what has been your experience regarding the gaming community?

How integral is it to your development?

CK: It’s a mix. Sometimes I make a game under relatively

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since. Many devs had one game that really drove them towards game development. Do you have one too?

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GM: Fair enough. As for you, are you part of a game dev community?

CK: I am, but mostly through socializing with other game devs I know.

I really should do more to engage with the local community.

GM: Has socializing with them helped shape your own development in any way?

CK: It’s always useful to have friends and colleagues to bounce ideas off – or to get feedback on the merits of an idea.

GM: Regarding the gaming industry itself from an indie perspective, how challenging is the industry? Would you share your thoughts, advice, struggles, victories you have faced as a company?

CK: It can be a very challenging industry, often requiring long hours and very hard work, but it’s worth it! The only advice I’d share is to improve your abilities in your chosen discipline in every way you can while trying to broaden your life experience to include many things – more than just games and gaming.

Those experiences are often useful in any creative field.

GM: Voodoo Vince seems to be a Microsoft exclusive title, is that the platform you develop for? Any particular reason

why?

CK: I’ve worked on games for many platforms and devices. However, I currently work for Microsoft, so many of my projects are for Xbox One and Windows.

GM: So is it safe to assume the software you use (Unity, Unreal, CryEngine, GameMaker etc) caters specifically for Microsoft?

CK: My day job at Microsoft is more about working with outside studios on their game designs and creative content, but I encounter just about every game engine while working on games. Voodoo Vince is another story. Beep built its own engine from scratch.

Most of the work on our remaster involved rewriting most of that codebase so the game could run on modern hardware

GM: So let’s talk about the games you are currently developing?

What can you tell us about them?

CK: I can’t really talk about my work at Microsoft.

Voodoo Vince: Remastered was a side project I was able to pursue on my own time. I’ve been so absorbed in the work of restoring an old game to life, so I haven’t really thought about what I might do next.

GM: Obviously the voodoo aspect is a major point of the game, what about it makes your game unique?

CK: Every game usually has at least one standout feature or idea that makes it work. For Voodoo Vince it was the “reverse damage”

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idea and his Voodoo powers.

There are powers you collect and puzzles in the game that involve hurting Vince to damage monsters. I think that was a pretty unique twist. I often wish I’d taken the idea further.

GM: It is such a dark twist! What was the inspiration behind Voodoo Vince?

CK: I think the first inkling of the idea must have started when I visited the city of New Orleans a few years before I created Vince.

That place has such a strong personality. I came up with Vince while drawing pictures one evening a few years later. It was one of those ideas that sort of wrote itself after that.

GM: You’ve mentioned that it will release on Xbox One, Windows 10 and Steam (PC). When can we play it?

CK: Voodoo Vince: Remastered was released on April 18, 2017. It’s available for purchase

GM: Just for a bit of “getting to know you.” what is your favourite game of all time?

CK: Zelda: Ocarina of Time

GM: And what are you currently playing?

CK: Zelda: Breath of The Wild

GM: I’m afraid there’ll be another Zelda game coming but, if there was a game you would love to work on, what would it be?

CK: Another character platformer! g

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isolated circumstances.

Sometimes a game needs a lot of feedback and playtesting from a larger community to succeed.

Features 74

Guerrilla Tactics

HARDWARE Reviews 78 80 82 84

MSI Krait Gaming X370 Motherboard Nacom CL-200 Gaming Keyboard Asus TUF z270 Mark 1 Motherboard MSI Armor GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Graphics Card

RegularS 86 90

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Internet Living Digital

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

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The console wa

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t is something of a confusing time to be a gamer, because there are a lot of names flying around.

Take, for example, the recently released Xbox One S. There are numerous people raving about the new release, but – if you dig down to it – this isn’t Microsoft’s ideal console… in other words, the Xbox One S is not Project Scorpio, which will likely only release towards the end of this year. Rather, the Xbox One S is a slight improvement on the original Xbox One. But only slight.

So what exactly is going on? Well, things are a lot clearer when it comes to the PlayStation 4. There are currently three models available, with two of them being identical in terms of inner workings.

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The original PS4 and the PS4 Slim are pretty much the same machine – they have exactly the same specifications, with the only real difference being that the Slim is smaller than the original Sony console. So, then, there really are only two specification sheets to compare when it comes to Sony, as opposed to the three sheets that Microsoft has across the Xbox One range.

When comparing the PS4 to the PS4 Pro, the changes are pretty big. The Pro has a 2.1GHz 8 core CPU, compared to the original’s 1.6GHZ 8 core chip.

Graphics in the Pro are handled by a 4.2 teraflop GPU, while the original delivers 1.84 teraflops. Both have 8GB of DDR5 RAM, but the Pro has double the

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Gueririlla Tactics

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ar still rages on… storage space, at 1TB. The Pro also has 4K and HDR support, while the original console does not. And, as for Sony’s silver bullet, the Pro handles PSVR better than the original console does, even though the original can be used with Sony’s virtual reality system.

It’s pretty simply – the PS4 Pro is a lot more powerful than the original PS4.

With Xbox One, things get trickier, because the Xbox One S is something of a stop-gap between the Xbox One and Project Scorpio, which promises to be Microsoft’s best console yet. Let’s compare the Xbox One to the Xbox One S… everything is pretty much the same, except for improved graphics (914MHz compared to 853MHz), hard drive space (up to 2TB for

the S, compared to the original’s 500GB), added 4K support (for video playback only) and HDR support.

Also, the S is smaller than the original Xbox One. As things stand, the Xbox One S cannot hold a candle to the PS4 Pro, on paper at least. But that is all likely to change when Microsoft bring Project Scorpio to the market. Towards the end of this year, hopefully) Microsoft will introduce a massive powerhouse of a console in the form of Project Scorpio. Let’s look at the specs, compared to the current front runner, the PS4 Pro… The Pro’s 2.1GHz 8 core CPU will be up against a marginally more powerful 2.3GHz 8 core CPU in the Scorpio. The 4.2 teraflops of graphic performance that

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has the Pro performing so smoothly will be chocking on the dust of the Scorpio’s 6 teraflops, supported by 12GB of DDR5 RAM (compared to the Pro’s 8). Aside from that, the specs that we do know for Project Scorpio are in line with the Pro – 1TB HDD, 4K and HDR support, and so on.

The fight, then, is not over, even after Sony delivered a massive blow with the release of the PS4 Pro. Microsoft are up for the challenge in the form of Project Scorpio. How Sony will answer the call remains to be seen, but we can be certain that the fight is far from over. It may, of course, come down to other things.

For example, Xbox has a great install base in the

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USA, but PlayStation tends to be more dominant globally. Whether users’ brand loyalty will affect the outcome of this generation’s battle remains to be seen, but it probably will.

And then there is the question of peripheral devices.

Both companies have had hits and misses in this department, but Sony managed to be first to market with a remarkable addition to the console arena – virtual reality. The PSVR is proving to be a very popular device, and it has become something of a surprise hit for the Japanese giant. In February, almost 1 million PSVR units had been sold worldwide already, outperforming PC based VR systems considerably.

Microsoft’s answer, of course, is the HoloLens, a

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Gueririlla Tactics

headset that used augmented, or ‘mixed’ reality to combine generated visuals with the real world. It is an exciting device that may be more amendable to users, as it won’t bring out the potential physical discomfort presented by VR. At this time, while the developer’s version of the HoloLens is already available, a final release date for the consumer version has not yet been confirmed – although we suspect that it might be around the release of Project Scorpio.

As things stand, there is still a lot that can happen in this console generation. While Microsoft had a weaker start than Sony, partly due to the fact that many of PlayStation’s initial announcements were apparently based or errors the Xbox team made, Microsoft has

“slowed their roll’, allowing Sony to forge ahead with new products. This does give Microsoft an advantage – they may not be first to market with new products, but they can now establish a very clear view of what the competition is doing.

In the end, once again, this competition is good for the consumer – even if it isn’t your favourite platform that comes out with the best product at any particular time, it seems that the battle to be the best has both major console producers fighting hard to bring the most powerful machine to market. There may even be a Sony response to Project Scorpio. Time will tell… but, ultimately, all this back and forth competition is great for console gaming overall. g

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H C EW E T VI E R MSI

Krait Gaming X3 Mid-range master

N

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o matter which side of the fence you might fall on, the truth of the matter is that the latest generation of both Intel and AMD processors are very powerful indeed. The other truth, of course, is that there generally isn’t anyone sitting on the fence. It’s one or the other, for pretty much everyone these days.

If you fall on the AMD side of the argument, then the recent release of the Ryzen processor range is pretty exciting stuff. Whether it will dominate the generation remains to be seen; the back and forth between the two big CPU manufacturers is a constant fight, and not one that will likely ever end.

What is certain though is that several manufacturers have risen to the opportunities provided by the Ryzen chips, producing great hardware for those that prefer their computing power AMD flavoured. One such manufacturer is MSI, and their Krait Gaming X370 motherboard falls into the upper-middle range, especially created for those that want to take advantage of new technology without backbreaking expenses.

The Krait Gaming X370 has a very striking appearance, with a black board contrasted by bold white areas. This look carries over to the heat sinks and even device slots, creating a very impressive visual for those that are into that sort of thing. It also offers support for Mystic

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Light Extensions, adding even more to the appearance of the board, should the user choose to go all out on the light front.

Looks, as the saying goes, aren’t everything – particularly when it comes to motherboards. In fact, striking looks are only icing on the cake… performance is far more important. And the Krait Gaming X370 has that in spades.

Pretty much all of MSI’s boards for current generation chipsets are great performers – even at the lower end – so there are very few surprises that the Krait Gaming X370 has to offer (unless, of course, it is your first foray into these new waters). It features everything one might expect from a current MSI board: DDR4 Boost, Turbo M.2, Lightning USB, Audio Boost and Gaming LAN, to name a few.

Additionally, the Krait Gaming X370 features the protections and safeguards that have become common to MSI’s latest crop of motherboards. This includes a hardened LAN port, as well as numerous other electric protections. Also, it features MSI’s almost uniform use of Steel Armor to reinforce PCIe slots. The armour, in this case, carries the look of the board, too, which is pretty cool.

The Krait Gaming X370 isn’t the top of the range MSI AMD motherboard, but it certainly is no slouch, either. With a stable and quick performance, this mid-range champion will serve en users extremely well. g

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MSI Krait Gaming X370 Motherboard

Motherboard

SUMMARY A striking and dependable motherboard, the Krait Gaming X370 delivers everything one would expect from a modern MSI motherboard.

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X370 chipset DDR4 Boost Steel Armor Turbo M.2 VR Boost Gaming LAN

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by Rob Edwards

AT A GLANCE:

AWARDS

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H C EW E T VI E R Nacom

CL-200

Gaming Keyboard

And now this…

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hen you think about gaming keyboards, they generally are loud and large, particularly when they come loaded with the features that many gamers expect from a device in this category. However, Nacon’s CL-200 gaming keyboard doesn’t fall into either of those categories, making it a great option for those that want a decent gaming device that won’t break the bank.

The CL-200 isn’t a mechanical keyboard, even though it has a distinctly mechanical feel in its key presses.

Rather, this keyboard makes use of a quieter membrane system. Some won’t like that idea, with all the fuss about mechanical keyboards being what it is but, in all honesty, the performance delivered by the CL-200 is just fine.

The keys are well sized and deliver a fair amount of

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travel before actuating, adding to that mechanical feel.

Additionally, the keyboard features blue backlighting, making the keys easily visible in the dark. The colour cannot be changed, but that luxury is the purvey of a higher end of the market.

Although the CL-200 could be described as a “standard” sized keyboard, it offers something a little extra for gamers out there; five macro keys line the top left edge of the keyboard, within easy striking distance of the WADS keys.

On the right side are three profile keys – yes, it stores three profiles – as well as a recording key (for on the fly macro recording)and a key to lock the sometimes annoying Windows button. Incidentally, all the macros are hardware based; there is no need for a software installation.

The CL-200 looks the part, too, with a striking design and accent lighting along the left and right edges. There is little question, when looking at the CL-200 in action, that it is

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Nacom CL-200 Gaming Keyboard

by Alex Scanlon

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS

Considering the friendly price point, the features on the CL-200 make it a great deal for those wanting a gaming keyboard.

Ma nuf a c t ure r: D i s t ri but e r: Onl i ne :

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Backlit Membrane switches 5 macro keys 3 profiles 1.5m cable On the fly recording

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intended to be used by gamers.

No compromises were made in key positioning, either.

This is a full keyboard, complete with num-pad, and additional functions tied to keys are kept to the expected – the separation of macro keys from the main body of the keyboard is always a great idea, because it keeps things a lot cleaner and easier to use.

The whole thing is rounded off by a generous 1.5m cable.

While there are Other gaming keyboards out there that have bigger names and possibly more features, the truth is that the Nacon CL-200 is a relatively inexpensive, responsive and good looking keyboard for those that want a little extra during their gaming sessions. While Nacon may not have the biggest name yet, the general quality of their products, combined with great performance and much nicer price points than we see with other products, means that this is a brand to pay attention to. g

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H C EW E T VI E R Asus

TUF z270 Mark 1

TECHNOLOGY

Built to last!

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Asus TUF z270 Mark 1 Motherboard

Motherboard

D

by Rob Edwards

amage to a motherboard isn’t something that many people think about – it isn’t the most common occurrence, firstly, and noone really likes to think about the potential for PC disaster that such an event presents.

But the folks over at Asus do think about it, because it is part of the job. The truth is a motherboard can get damaged, and so taking steps to prevent that kind of happening when designing a motherboard is a solid idea (if you’ll excuse the pun).

In fact, many manufacturers are reinforcing motherboards these days. But few can hold a candle to the TUF products from Asus. In this case, it is the TUF Z270 Mark 1, a board that not only makes use of the latest technologies and chipsets, but promises that motherboard damage doesn’t need to be something to worry about.

The fact that this motherboard is built to last is apparent at first glance. The entire board is enclosed in a tough thermal armour that not only protects the sensitive components, but acts as a massive heat sink and air-flow director as well. Almost every port comes with a dust cover, too, which helps ensure that no damage from insidious environmental elements harm the device. Finally, the rear of the board is reinforced with a back plate to help prevent warping due to heavy components and heat.

In addition, the board has various protective systems in place, and even features a series of LED lights that indicate problems with elements like RAM, CPU and the VGA card. A special system also ensures optimal temperatures, thanks to a dedicated heat monitoring processor. There is even a free smart device app that lets you monitor your board and overall system.

And then there is performance – because a board cannot just look good and be strong, it needs to speed its way through every process too. To this end, the TUF Z270 Mark 1 allows stable and easy overclocking, basically down to a single click thanks to integrated software and systems. Additionally, elements like improved LAN speeds, Optane memory support and improved USB and M.2 performance all add up to the TUF Z270 Mark 1 being a very sleek operator.

And for those who want looks, the TUZ Z270 Mark 1 doesn’t just look good with its striking armour plating, but allows RGB lighting customisation, too. The finish is black and deep matt greys, adding a serious feel to this motherboard.

In an age when devices are designed to last shorter periods of time, it’s great to see something like the TUF Z270 Mark 1 hit the market. While it might not last forever, it will certainly get you to your next upgrade with style and speed. g

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

It is strengthened, both physically and in terms of protective systems, it performs well, and it looks great. This board is a winner.

Ma nuf a c t ure r: D i s t ri but e r: Onl i ne :

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Armoured front plate Reinforced back plate Warning LED lights Optane ready TUF ICe technology Simple overclocking

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Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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H C EW E T VI E R MSI

Armor GeForce G

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A feast for the eyes…

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It’s a little cheaper and a touch less powerful than MSI’s Gaming GTX 1080 Ti, but the differences are so slight in both fields that very few will notice.

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AT A GLANCE:

SUMMARY

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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likely not notice that the Armor version is slightly less powerful than the Gaming version (although the small price difference may have them opting for the more expensive Gaming version).

The Armor GTX 1080 Ti makes use of twin Torx fans, which use a proprietary blade design to force air through the card’s advanced airflow control heatsinks. Together, these two elements keep the Armor GTX 1080 Ti surprisingly cool. The thermal system is called Armor 2X, and it really does a good job.

What it cools is the tremendous GTX 1080 Ti GPU – a top performer no matter which way you look at it – and the card’s generous 11GB of GDDR5X RAM. The combination of the chipset and RAM deliver really great performance, even if it doesn’t sit at the peak of MSI’s GeForce range. Additionally, the Armor GTX 1080 Ti is armed with Military Class IV components, to help ensure quieter operation and a prolonged lifespan.

This most certainly is a great graphics card, complete with a number of NVidia created or supported features that will not only get you gaming fast, but get you gaming in style. Its friendlier price point may well make it a goto for those wanting a GTX 1080 Ti experience, particularly considering that its performance is really excellent. But those differences (price and performance) are, once again, not that huge… either way, this is a great card. g

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MSI TVR Distribution www.tvr.co.za

TECH SPECS • • • • • • • • •

GTX 1080 Ti chipset 11GB GDDR5X RAM Armor 2X cooling Military Grade IV components 2 Displayport 2 HDMI ports

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here are two truths that exist regarding the current generation of NVidia graphics cards. The first is that they are pretty expensive. The second is that they deliver remarkable performance, particularly at the high end of the range.

MSI offers a few different ranges of NVidia graphics cards, presumably to tie in to the overall look that end-users are after for their machines. But that’s on the surface – the truth is that there are slight variations in performance between the different sub-brands, much like the differences in the motherboards that define their varied performance (and price) ranges.

The truth is, though, that the differences in performance and price of the various MSI GPU ranges are very slight, with not even a ZAR1000 difference across the range for GTX 1080 Ti variants.

That, coupled with the minimal performance differences, means that it almost does come down to looks once again.

If you’re after something a little different from the familiar red and black of the Gaming GPU range, the Armor range offers a more stark black and white design (that would go well with, for example, a Krait Gaming motherboard).

Like in the Gaming range, there is a top-of-the-line GTX 1080 Ti available. While someone with an extremely trained eye may pick up on the slight performance differences here, most users will

Graphics Card

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UnitedWeFa TECHNOLOGY

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by Suvesh Arumugam

be crafting a well-worded response

brands in the news due to

to calm the fires. It seems like

customer service scandals,

reason was also ejected along with

bad marketing ploys or practices,

the unfortunate passenger. The

or just the genuine voyeuristic

United Airlines CEO, Oscar Munoz,

pleasure we take in events that are

waited almost two days to issue

most likely giving some social media

a very vaguely worded apology,

manager a living nightmare. If it’s

where he said, “I apologize for

not McDonald’s insulting the US

having to re-accommodate these

president but then claiming they

passengers”. He also described Dao

were hacked, it’s Theranos closing

as “belligerent and disruptive”.

their doors because they sold a

If United’s reputation wasn’t

product that didn’t exist, or FOX

already in serious jeopardy, their

News burying sexual harassment

stock value went into freefall.

claims for years to protect

Estimates put the loss of value to

executives and stars. But no other

the company at over $1 billion!

brand has consistently courted the

United are no strangers to social

public’s displeasure like United

media controversy. In fact, they

Airlines in America.

are pretty much the poster child

United made world headlines

for bad service exposed on the

this month when they had law

internet. Back in 2008, Canadian

enforcement officers forcibly

brothers Dave and Don Carroll

removed a 69-year-old doctor, David

(collectively known as the band

Dao, from a domestic flight from

Sons of Maxwell) were travelling on

Chicago to Louisville. While it was

a United flight to Nebraska. Due to

initially reported that the flight was

their baggage being mishandled by

overbooked, it was later discovered

airline staff, Dave Carroll’s guitar

that the four seats required were

was irreparably damaged. After

for airline crew members needed in

almost a year spent unsuccessfully

Louisville for the following day. A

trying to get reparations for the

fellow passenger recorded a video

damage, Carroll published a

of Dao being dragged backwards

song on YouTube called “United

by his outstretched arms off the

Breaks Guitars”. The song went

plane, which was posted to social

immediately viral, with 150,000

media. As the video went viral,

views in the first day, and over 5

other passengers posted their

million views just a month later (it

videos of the incident from their

currently has over 17 million views).

perspective, some showing that Dao

United shared price dropped by 10%

ran back into the plane, bleeding

within days, costing the company

from the mouth and muttering “Kill

an estimated $180 million. Carroll

me”. Dao suffered a broken nose, a

went on to write several more

concussion, lost two teeth and could

songs, and also wrote a book called

require surgery after the incident.

“United Breaks Guitars: The Power

As the saga unfolded, it would

of One Voice in the Age of Social

have been reasonable to assume

Media”. The incident is a staple

that the airline’s executives and

case study for PR and marketing

management would be treating this

professionals. One could argue that

very seriously. One would have

ultimately United paid heavily for

expected that their PR team would

their mistake.

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United We Fall

all

T

hese days we often find

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Despite this harsh lesson in the swift and immediate “justice”

to sue the airline regardless, and

offered by social media, United

so far it seems likely that he will be

have consistently made headlines

successful.

for their poor judgement. In 2015,

used to the idea of global brands

a Muslim cleric an unopened

and multinationals, it’s becoming

Diet Coke, on the grounds that

increasingly clear that the danger

she would use the pop top as a

we all feared is becoming the

weapon. When she pressed the

norm. It’s impossible for customers

attendant further, she was verbally

to be more than a number to

abused by a racist passenger, with

a corporation with millions of

no apparent objection from the

clients. While this may not be

airline staff. Later in the year, three

enough to derail companies with

young girls were refused entry to a

massive infrastructure, like an

plane for wearing leggings. While

airline or a telecoms multinational,

it eventually turned out that the

it’s certainly showing in smaller

passengers were in fact friends or

industries like food and beverages.

family of airline employees, who fly

The craft industry has shown

for free and therefore are subject

that customers are willing to pay

to a dress code, it didn’t diminish

more to support small enterprises

the backlash on social media.

where they can have direct, human access to people within

company like United Airlines,

the company - especially their top

worth billions of dollars, would

executives. While major brands are

know better than to court disaster

still under the impression that this

on social media. With the amount

kind of contact can be feigned on

they most likely spend on public

social media and through clever

relations and marketing, it would

marketing, the veil over the public’s

seem like a no-brainer for them

eyes is starting wear thin. Either

to responsibly (and humanely)

brands are going to have to start

manage these incidents. You would

working harder to decentralise

also expect that there would be

and give human, local responses

policies (and rigorous training) to

to incidents in their communities;

make sure that their staff know

or they must make way for smaller

the potential fallout of a poorly

brands that are prepared to work

handled situation. One would

harder to win the hearts and minds

also expect that there would be

(and wallets) of their customers.

crisis management protocols in

TECHNOLOGY

While the world starts to get

an air hostess member refused

You’d think that a massive

88

However, Dao has stated his intent

And now it seems United

place, and a team of seasoned PR

Airlines just can’t stay out of the

professional advising the company

headlines. Simon, a three-foot

executives on how best to respond.

continental rabbit set to enter the

A few days after the Flight

Guinness Book of World Records

3411 incident with David Dao,

as the world’s largest rabbit, died

United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz

mysteriously yesterday on a United

issued a second statement calling

flight. A fresh outcry from social

it a “truly horrific event” and

media has already erupted and the

claiming to be “deeply apologetic”.

tweets are still coming in. g

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United We Fall

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Theft!

TECHNOLOGY

Your identity is stolen…now what?

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1. Identity the source Once your identity is compromised, you need to find out where the attack came from or just fall victim to the same mistake.

While identity theft of the past involved criminals “dumpster diving” to obtain personal information such as receipts or credit card bills, thieves are now targeting popular online services. Banking web sites, online retailers, and even dating sites contain a veritable treasure trove of sensitive information.

As soon as you realise you have fallen victim, think about your recent online activity. Did you respond to any emails that appeared to be from financial institutions claiming that your account was suspended or under review? Did you download any video players or media files as attachments from senders you did not know? Have any e-commerce sites you use on a regular basis recently sustained a cyberattack?

Any one of these could create a vulnerability to hacking. Follow the news and announcements about sites who recently suffered data breaches and change your passwords as a matter of course.

To limit your chance of exposure, ensure that you only ever log into banking Web sites using a secure connection. Do not save your credit card information online and

By Iwan Pienaar

be careful about information you provide to any dating or similar sites. Also avoid using linked accounts and similar passwords as to not allow a cybercriminal to daisy chain your information.

Running a reliable antivirus solution is also critical, since detecting and removing malicious programs render their threats meaningless.

2. Let the telephone calls commence Despite how easy the online world has made it to do virtually anything, the best way to do damage control is to pick up the phone and start calling companies you have accounts with. Begin with any business where fraud occurred, such as your credit card issuer or the bank. Ask them to close or freeze your accounts, and change all your login and password information.

Next, contact a credit bureaux and request a credit report. Go through it and check for any suspicious activities or applications for credit which you did not make.

File a police report at the station closest to you and get a case number to use at the bank or insurer when filing for claims.

3. The long road to recovery Contrary to popular believe, companies and the government often act quickly to help you back on track after identity theft when it comes to locking down accounts or issuing new identification. But after the initial storm has passed, you may experience the long-term consequences of identity theft.

These include having your personal data used to file fraudulent tax returns during the next calendar year, or even several years down the line. Cybercriminals may leverage your identity number to work in other provinces or obtain new credit facilities they never intend to pay back. As a result,

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you may encounter issues with credit or financing in the future.

Make sure to keep a keen eye on your credit reports for several months and always flag anything fraudulent immediately.

Additionally, you should try to limit the amount of credit cards or loan accounts you use to reduce the long-term impact of identity theft. With only one or two lowlimit cards, any other activity will quickly be flagged as suspicious.

4. Protect yourself After criminals have stolen your identity and used it to open fraudulent accounts or make large purchases, you may encounter legal difficulties. Often, defrauded companies will report their losses to debt collectors who will call you and your family members looking for the money owed for “your” purchases. It is advisable to have documentation ready should this happen detailing your situation and attaching relevant correspondence, records, police statements, and credit reports.

Some credit card companies and retailers may try to hold you responsible for any charges made in your name if you do not act quickly enough after the fact. As a result, it is a good idea to contact card issuers, banks, and other agencies as soon as you notice a theft and keep records of all relevant phone calls, letters, and information requests.

In addition to knowing how and when to react, it is important to take preventative measures: Safe internet surfing habits, solid anti-virus and internet security solutions, effective passwords, and limited credit usage. And while this all may sound a bit overwhelming, it pays to know what to do if your identity is stolen. The tips above can help limit the damage and help you get your life back on track. g

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n the digital world, being connected has become a matter of course. Many of us live our lives vicariously through smartphone and tablet screens. But with the pervasiveness of technology being what it is, identity theft has become one of the biggest dangers to safeguard against.

Yet despite the growth of this scourge and the damage identity thieves can cause, not many know what to do when they become a victim of this crime. Here is a stepby-step guide on the steps you need to take when the worst happens.

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Wonder Woman

COMICS 104 106 108 110

Batwoman #1 Iron Fist #1 Magdalena (Vol. 4) #1 X-Men Prime #1

BOOKS 112 114

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ce. onder.

The World’s most Iconic Female Superhero finally gets her own Movie.

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W

hether you enjoyed Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice or not,

there’s no denying that one of the movie’s highlights was the arrival of Wonder Woman at the film’s climax to deliver monster smackdown to her rocking theme tune.

That moment made history as the first time the DC Comics heroine has ever appeared on the big screen in the flesh. It also jump-started excitement for the solo Wonder Woman movie, now less than one month from release.

Coming across in the preview material like a cross between Thor and Captain America, Wonder Woman presents the origin story of the most iconic female superhero – and the third member of DC’s “Big Three” (with Batman and Superman,

LIFESTYLE

of course).

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RISE OF A LEGEND In Wonder Woman, Diana (Gal Gadot) is the idealistic daughter of Amazon queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), and lives in paradisiacal Themyscira. After American pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) washes up on the isolationist, women-only island, Diana returns with him to his world to stop “the war to end all wars.” This pits her against German General Ludendorff (Danny Huston), disfigured Doctor Poison (Elana Anaya), and perhaps even Wonder Woman’s greatest mythological foe.

Other notables in the Wonder Woman cast include Robin Wright as Diana’s fierce aunt, Antiope, who trains the princess as a warrior. There’s also The Office’s Lucy Davis as Etta Candy, Steve’s secretary. An important figure from the comics, Etta educates fish-out-of-water Diana in our social customs, and provides comic relief.

It’s worth noting that Wonder Woman promises to have a healthy sense of humour, and not dwell in cynical gloom like its DC movieverse predecessors, Batman v Superman, Man of Steel and Suicide Squad. Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, famous for Oscar-winning Monster, explains the film’s influences and approach. “Superman meets Casablanca came up a lot. And Indiana Jones. It was those three films. We are making a classic film. We care about humour, about epic, about heroism, about arc, and story.”

Although Wonder Woman fought Nazis in 1940s comics, the upcoming movie has shifted the action from the franchise’s original World War II setting to World War I. This is in order to focus on the advent of heavily mechanised warfare, and the mass destruction it facilitated.

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FROM PAGE TO SCREEN

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The process of bringing Wonder Woman from the comic page to the silver screen hasn’t been easy. During a complicated development process dating back to the mid-90s, Buffy and Avengers writer-director Joss Whedon was attached to the project for a while. On the acting side, Sandra Bullock once entered discussions, while names such as Catherine Zeta-Jones, Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie were thrown around as rumours.

Development only really gathered pace in 2013 with the success of Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot Man of Steel. Warner Bros. and DC were eager to create their own version of Disney and Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. Still, there were hurdles to leap. First choice director Michelle (Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad) MacLaren detached herself from the movie due to creative differences, before Jenkins came on board.

Now the world is eagerly waiting for Wonder Woman. After poor critical responses to Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, the question is whether Wonder Woman will be the DC Comics adaptation that finally impresses? Just as importantly, will it be a blockbuster hit that opens the door for more superhero movies starring women? Marvel’s Captain Marvel, and Batman spin-off Gotham City Sirens, with its Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Catwoman team-up, are next – and their studios are sure to be watching Wonder Woman’s reception closely.

Wonder Woman opens in South Africa and the US on 2 June. The film will screen in 2D, 3D and 3D IMAX.

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WHO IS WONDER WOMAN Unlike Superman and Batman, who’ve already had over a dozen movies devoted to them, Wonder Woman may not be that well-known to casual moviegoers or non-comic readers. Who is she? What are her powers? How is she different from Superman? Here are some facts to get you up to speed.

1.

Wonder Woman was created in 1940 by psychologist and lie detector inventor William Moulton Marston. He wanted to create a different kind of superhero who triumphed through love and compassion as opposed to violence.

2.

For decades, Wonder Woman was fatherless. Her backstory stated she was shaped out of clay by Queen Hippolyta and brought to life by the Greek goddesses, who blessed her with qualities such as great beauty, wisdom and strength. At various points in the character’s history, she has also been able to fly.

3.

The movie version of Wonder Woman is evidently based on DC Comics’ New 52 take on the character. In this reimagining, Wonder Woman is actually the daughter of Olympian god Zeus, and Hippolyta. This makes her a demigod, and accounts for her superhuman abilities.

4.

In addition to her powers, Wonder Woman uses magical items. These include indestructible Bracelets of Submission, which can deflect bullets and create a massive shockwave. She also wields an unbreakable Lasso of Truth, which forces anyone bound in it to speak honestly. Creator Marston was into bondage, out of interest.

5.

Although trained as a warrior, Wonder Woman is an ambassador. She is as likely to resolve conflict through peaceful discussion as she is to use physical force. Unlike Batman and Superman, she will kill if necessary.

LIFESTYLE

6.

Wonder Woman has a secret identity. As bespectacled Diana Prince, she has worked for the military and government organisations alongside Steve Trevor.

In Wonder Woman’s present day, she handles art and antiquities.

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WONDER WOMAN IN OTHER MEDIA Wonder Woman may be the first cinema release to centre on Diana of Themyscira, but since her creation in 1940, the character has made several notable appearances in other media as well.

TV Until now, Wonder Woman’s most iconic portrayal was in a hit 1975 TV series starring Lynda Carter. The show ran for three years, was largely faithful to the comics and pleased audiences and critics alike. In 2011, Ally McBeal creator David E. Kelley attempted to bring Wonder Woman back to the small screen, with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’s Adrianna Palicki as Diana. A pilot was shot (and leaked online), but TV networks rejected the show.

ANIMATED SERIES & DVD Technically a Wonder Woman movie already exists. In 2009, an animated film was released direct-to-DVD. Much like the upcoming live-action film, the story covered Steve Trevor’s crash-landing on Themyscira, and Diana’s first visit to Man’s World. Comics writer Gail Simone scripted, while Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion voiced Diana and Steve. Wonder Woman has also appeared in Justice League animated movies, as well as weekly cartoons Super Friends and Justice League.

VIDEO GAMES

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The Mad Max one. Set five years after the events of the first film, the T-virus has destroyed civilisation. Alice wanders the desert wasteland with her new telekinetic powers. She befriends game heroine Claire Redfield (Ali Larter), who leads a convoy of survivors, and battles Dr Isaacs (Iain Glen), an Umbrella scientist who transforms into a Tyrant.

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Title: Writer: Artist: Publisher: Rated:

COOL STUFF: Comics

GET GRAPHIC Batwoman #1 Bennett & Tynion IV Steve Epting DC Comics Teen +

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by Clive Burmeister

Batwoman gets a fresh new reboot amongst other titles in the DC Universe Rebirth this month, and they have really pulled out the stops on this one.

Epting’s fantastic artwork ranges from energetic action sequences to surreal dreamscape stills, making the comic as visually enticing as one could hope. And Bennet and Tynion IV don’t let the book down from the literary side either, weaving a fast paced story that feeds a deeper and more intricate plot. Just when Batwoman is about to get some answers about the seller of the Monster Venom on the black market, which has been causing havoc around the world, she gets drawn into a deeper conspiracy which lures her back to a dark place from her past. One she may wish she could have left buried.

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Title:

Iron Fist #1

Writer:

Ed Brisson

Artist:

COOL STUFF: Comics

GET GRAPHIC Mike Perkins

Publisher:

Marvel

Rated:

Teen +

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by Clive Burmeister

Daniel Rand, once the champion of the mystical city of K’unLun, where he drew his special powers from, has found himself lost and out of touch with himself since the city was destroyed. He can no longer draw on the chi energies granted to him through the city, but he is still one of the most formidable martial artists in the world even without the mystical gifts.

But for Daniel that’s not enough. When a mysterious stranger offers Daniel not only the challenge or a real fight, but the hint the he could reconnect with his powers as well, how can Daniel Rand turn it down.

It’s always great when a creative team get assigned to a character they love, and even better when they get to do a little re-imaging from an issue one. It’s the kind passion that brings new fans to a character.

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Title:

Magdalena (Vol. 4) #1

Writer:

Howard & Cady

Artist:

Christian DiBari

Publisher: Rated:

COOL STUFF: Comics

GET GRAPHIC Top Cow Teen +

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by Clive Burmeister

Since the Magdalena’s first appearance in one of the early Darkness issues in the ‘90s, she has picked up her own following of loyal fans who saw the potential locked in the character, a badass holy warrior who battles demons and magical evils, but doesn’t see eye to eye with the church either. Religious or not, it’s a pretty cool idea for a character.

And when run by the guys at Top Cow, well you’re onto four volumes of what was originally a supporting character/ villain. Not bad. This new series sees a new direction, the start of a new warrior to wear the mantle of the Magdalena.

But people are not born warriors, and warriors can only become weapons against evil through training and instruction. If they survive.

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GET GRAPHIC X-Men Prime #1

Writer:

Various

Artist:

Various

Publisher:

Marvel

Rated:

Teen +

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by Clive Burmeister

In the wake of the war between mutants and inhumans, the X-Men find themselves no longer facing imminent extinction, but for the first time in a long time, they have the chance to think about the future, not only for their team, but for mutant kind as a whole. Storm, who had been leading the X-Men, sees that she’s strayed from what Charles Xavier taught them, and so seeks out Kitty Pride to come back to the Mansion and take over the team, and help to correct their path. X-Men Prime is the launching point for the Marvel X Universe, following the IVX crossover, and it will not only set the direction, but also the standard, of all new X-titles coming out in the near future.

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Title:

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Author: Publisher: Genre:

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The Delirium Brief Charles Stross Tor Books Urban Fantasy

COOL STUFF: bOOKS

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ob Howard, Detached Senior Specialist, A.K.A the Eater of Souls, is on the brink of the greatest conspiracy to ever face the supernatural side of earth.

The existence of the Laundry, a secret British government agency dealing with unspeakable otherworldly horrors, has

been made public in the most spectacular way.

His failing marriage continues to spiral away. And office politics, paperwork, and an impromptu TV interview since his promotion, all seem to conspire against him. But these are merely anthills to the looming mountain of dread ahead: someone’s organising a coup against the British government, with potential loss of the no-longer-covert Laundry.

This eighth book in the Laundry Files, steps into Bob Howard’s shoes after a brief change of perspective. He is a necromancer with big shoes to fill, and just enough wit to hide his insecurities and exasperating self-pity. Written with superb humour and sarcasm, incorporating a unique magic system and fantastic world building, the Delirium Brief is a yet another great novel from Charles Stross.

Blue-eyed televangelist Reverend Raymond Schiller returns, with a clandestine scheme that will rock the supernatural world. Yet another cliff-hanger ending means we can expect another thrilling ride

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The Ghost Line Space Titanic?

Title:

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Author: Publisher: Genre:

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The Ghost Line Andrew Neil Gray Tor Books Sci-FI

COOL STUFF: bOOKS

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he Martian Queen is a luxury cruise ship, left to wander the abandoned route between Earth and Mars.

Carrying hope, that once again this pathway between the planets would be profitable endeavour. For Saga and Michel, the deserted ship offers them

an opportunity of a life-time with a pay-out that will change their lives. But the Martian Queen is not as empty as it seems, and the AI is not looking to go anywhere.

One might presume this novella is along the lines of a “what if” version of the Titanic as the Overwatch Hotel from Stephen King’s The Shining. A sentient ship ready to deter all who step into her hull. While the synopsis does give that sort of vibe, that’s not what this is. It is more of an emotive space mystery.

Overall, the story is thought provoking. You spend time getting to know each crew member, while wondering what exactly is onboard the ship. What the mysterious entity pervading the Martian Queen actually wants as crew members battle with their own demons, attempting to hack the ship without waking it’s AI. The gutpunching end wraps this novella up the only way it can – with lots of feelings. g

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Ramjet’s rantality

anboyism is alive and well and living… well, everywhere. What is truly amazing is that it exists at all. I am not talking about the rabid enthusiasm for a game that kicks in when a new instalment of your favourite series gets announced. Everyone goes through that, it’s pretty natural. What I mean is the absolutely blinkered approach that some folks – a lot of folks, apparently – have when it comes to “defending” their chosen game, or platform, in the face of a perceived onslaught. Even more disturbing, really, is the tendency to belittle the things that they are not keen on, in favour of their chosen vices.

I am pretty sure I have spoken about this before. I am likely to speak about it again, because I doubt that it will ever go away. Nope, as long as there are gamers, there will be this frankly idiotic practice.

It came up again, recently, when the latest Call of Duty game was announced. In fact, the Call of Duty VS Battlefield fracas is where it can be seen most often, when it comes to software (because the people who make those

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idiotic platform war videos are never, ever, ever going to shut the hell up).

In case you missed it, peek out from under your rock for a second and let me give you some background. Not to the war, of course, because I don’t have the time or patience to elaborate. Rather, to the current situation. The new Call of Duty is set in World War 2. And so, aside from the assumptions that it is going to be rotten (which there are already far too many of), there have been many accusations of the latest Call of Duty “copying” Battlefield.

Presumably people are talking about Battlefield 1, because most of them have the attention span of a particularly excitable goldfish.

Let’s analyse that. Copying.

So a game based in World War 2 is copying a game based on World War 1. That makes sense. And let’s not forget the fact that the original call of duty – the first three, in fact, were based on World War 2. Admittedly, Battlefield 1942 was also based on World War 2, and it preceded the original Call of Duty by around a year, but back then people weren’t

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going on the way they are these days. They enjoyed both games for what they were.

Aha, now I hear you starting to say that I am a fanboy defending his chosen franchise. I am not.

I still enjoy both series. So perhaps I need to get to my actual point. Read it carefully, because it is the biggest truth you will her in this: it doesn’t matter.

It really, seriously doesn’t matter. If you tear yourself away from your game for just a few minutes and look at the world we live in, with all its problems and issues, you might, maybe, see that your arguments are so utterly stupid, because there is more serious shit going on. If some people prefer battlefield, so what? If others like Call of Duty, again, so what? It makes no difference to the world, or to your small part in it.

So, if you don’t like a franchise, don’t buy it. It’s really easy. If other do like that franchise, leave them alone. Stop talking crap about crap, and maybe try to talk about things that are actually important. Because games are not. g

BY rAMJET

Not Important...