GameWorld Middle East April 2011 by CPI

APRIL 2011

PLUS! HOMEFRONT CRYSIS 2 LEGO STAR WARS 3 STEELSERIES MOUSE

SUPPLEMENT TO PCWORLD MIDDLE EAST

CONTENTS APRIL 2011

OLD CLASSIC COMES BACK TO LIFE 12 MORTAL KOMBAT REVIVAL INSIDE THE MIND OF A GAME DESIGNER 20 BOY AND HIS BEAST

REGULARS

LEGO STAR WARS III P34

THEN & NOW 26 HISTORY OF 3D

EDITOR’S LETTER 07 THE FUTURE IS SMART NEWS 08 VIDEO GAME SOFTWARE SALES TOP $33BN IN 2010 09 AMD: PC GAMING IS STIFLED BY CONSOLE DEVELOPMENT 10 BULLETPOINTS LOCHAL ARCHADE 26 MURAMASA THE DEMON BLADE LAST WORD 46 IPAD 2: A GAMING CONSOLE?

4 | www.gameworldme.net | April 2011

MY OPINION 28 PEOPLE POWER RETURNS TO THE GAMES INDUSTRY REVIEWS 30 HOMEFRONT 34 STAR WARDS III: THE CLONE WARS 37 STEELSERIES CATACLYSM MOUSE 40 PLEO

INSIDE GAMEWORLD THIS ISSUE... NEWS P8

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n the Last Word this month (page 46) you can read about the iPad 2 and how suitable it is for gaming. With over 300,000 apps- many of them games- Apple obviously has the crown right now and gets most of the headlines. But everyone else is following in Apple’s footsteps and apps are appearing everywhere, even on TVs and other appliances too soon, I think. When you read this Samsung has already launched its Smart TV line in the Middle East. It’s basically a HDTV with 3D, Internet connection, social media and the whole nine yards, accessible from the comfort of your living room sofa. What is really interesting though is that Smart TV also supports apps, including games. The apps come from Samsung’s own apps store, which, it says, has 300 apps now and should have 1,000 by the end of this year. I’ve seen a few simple games in action and it looks really good and I can see the potential here. As PC gaming continues to declineread about AMD complaining about that on page 9- consoles are set to give way to casual gaming on mobile platforms, TVs and more. That’s my prediction. A console is still an expensive piece of kit and something in addition to the TV and everything else we already spend money on. Imagine instead that your TV has enough graphics power to run most of your games and the game has changed completely. How to play the games is still an issue as Samsung only has a regular remote control available at launch. They plan to later offer a combined remote and keyboard, where the keyboard and a trackpad sit on the back of what looks like a regular remote. The Smart TV has Bluetooth though so I see no reason why we wouldn’t see all different kinds of controllers emerge eventually. It will be quite a while before a TV has the processing muscle required to run something like Killzone 3 but it won’t be long before the TV emerges as a serious contender in the gaming field, mark my words

The future is smart

Magnus Nystedt Group Editor

April 2011 | www.gameworldme.net | 7

Top Story: Video game software sales top $33 billion in 2010 The video game software sales figures for last year are in, and it’s clear that the digital sector is snapping at retail’s heels.

ideo game business intelligence and research firms VGChartz and FADE teamed up to find out how many video games were sold in 2010, combining both retail and digitally-distributed purchases. The figures show that the retail channel is alive and well, though the digital sector is growing rapidly. Over 3.2 billion game purchases in total led to over $33 billion in revenues for 2010, with $2.5 billion (7.6% of the market total) coming from digitallydistributed products. 7.6% doesn’t sound like very much of a market share until you consider that many

8 | www.gameworldme.net | April 2011

digitally-distributed titles are much cheaper than retail products. Measure the share on unit numbers rather than revenue, and it’s a very different story -- digital platforms, particularly iOS devices, dominate the market. According to the study, only 20% of unit sales came from the combined total of Wii, DS, PS3, PSP, PS2 and 360 retail titles, with the rest coming from digital sources. To put that in perspective, approximately 1.9 billion iOS games were sold last year, equating to total revenue of about $749 million; a comparatively small 147 million PS3 titles were sold at retail’s

higher price point, leading to a significantly higher $7.3 billion in revenue. In terms of other digital distribution services, Steam led the way, with $910 million in revenue and 85 million units sold in 2010, making up an estimated 80% of the total PC digital market, and the closest digital rival to retail in terms of revenue. Xbox LIVE Arcade racked up $135 million from 17 million unit sales, while PSN was a little behind with $90 million and 10 million software units sold. Interestingly, combined DLC sales for 360 and PS3 equated to approximately $300 million in revenue --

NEWS considerably more than the combined total from XBLA and PSN game sales. Looks like DLC isn’t going away any time soon, then. PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii were top of the pile in terms of revenue, accounting for $7,293 million, $7,242 million and $6,830 million in revenue respectively. The typically lower price of Wii games means that Nintendo’s software unit sales numbers were higher than both Sony’s and Microsoft’s -- 186 million units vs approximately 150 million each for PS3 and 360 -- but pulled in less money. PlayStation 2 retail titles are still hanging in there, too, with $756 million in revenue accounted for by 19 million units of software sold. Imagine how much higher that could be if the PS3 was properly backwards-compatible. Bottom of the heap in terms of revenue were Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile apps, with revenues of just $16 million, $8 million and $7 million respectively. In the case of Android, this $16 million comes from 465 million app sales compared to $7 million for 13 million units on Windows Mobile devices. Clearly Android developers are under-charging everyone -- not that consumers are complaining, from the looks of things. In summary: retail is still where the money is, by a long shot. But in terms of unit sales, iOS devices have a seemingly unassailable lead. Check out the full list of figures over at VGChartz.

AMD: PC gaming is stifled by console development It seems barely a week goes by without one format or the other being accused of “dying” -- but are consoles really choking the life out of PC gaming?

peaking with bit-tech.net this week, AMD’s worldwide developer relations manager Richard Huddy had a few choice words to say about the narrowing divide between PC and console gaming. He noted that the console-centric nature of game production these days was frustrating developers who felt obliged to use console-friendly middleware such as DirectX rather than writing software that could take full advantage of PC hardware. One of the most common requests he gets from developers, he says, is to “make [DirectX] go away.” “It’s funny,” he said. “We often have at least ten times as much horsepower as an Xbox 360 or a PS3 in a high-end graphics card, yet it’s very clear that the games don’t look ten times as good.” It’s not just developers who are frustrated by the prioritization of console versions. PC gamers, particularly those who enjoy the traditionally PC-centric first-person shooter genre, have expressed their annoyance on several occasions at the “consolification” of their favorite games. Recent Call of Duty games’ lack of dedicated servers and Dragon Age II’s accusations of being “dumbed down” for the console market are just two recent examples. Huddy and many PC-focused

developers are in favor of leaving behind technologies such as DirectX in favor of writing code to take direct advantage of PC graphics hardware. This will have the benefit of making individual titles look more distinct from one another and run more speedily, but will be much more challenging work for developers trying to make their titles work on as broad a range of hardware as possible. This discussion seems to suggest that PC gamers and developers want to break away from consoles into their own distinct entity. While we still see PC-specific titles such as Civilization V that are unlikely to make the jump to consoles, there are increasing numbers of triple-A titles from high-profile publishers releasing on 360, PS3 and PC simultaneously. PC versions of these titles often fail to take advantage of the additional power they have at their disposal -- not to mention cramming in console-style control schemes onto a platform with a mouse and keyboard attached as standard. It sounds from Huddy’s words that both gamers and developers alike would be much happier with a world where PC gaming was its own distinct beast, rather than the boundary-blurring entity it is right now. This would be a return to how things were in the mid-90s, when PC gaming was constantly at the cutting-edge of gaming technology. Are we looking at a return to those days? Given how profit-driven today’s industry is, probably not -- it wouldn’t make good business sense for triple-A publishers to exclude either PC or console gamers from the hottest new titles. But traditionally PC-centric developers like CryTek are certainly interested in the possibilities offered by Huddy’s suggestions. Viva la April 2011 | www.gameworldme.net | 9

BULLETPOINTS Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (PSP)

BULLET POINTS We’ve boiled down our most notable reviews into tasty bite-sized nuggets of goodness.

Ys I & II Chronicles (PSP) “This revamped remake of an action-RPG classic impresses with its updated aesthetic and soundtrack, but it suffers from archaic and unbalanced core combat.”

PROS: Packages together two historically significant classics with extras; incredible soundtrack; nicely retouched art. CONS: Archaic combat; odd difficulty balance; surprising lack of voice acting.

★★★

Mario Sports Mix (Wii)

“Despite its bare-bones single-player and wonky A.I., this flawed but fun sports compilation is sure to be a hit with Mario diehards.”

“This stellar reimagining of a strategy-RPG classic shines with its expert English localization, engaging plot, and in-depth battle options.” PROS: Heart- and gut-wrenching story changes based on your actions; tons of customization and in-depth strategy options; beautiful art and music; the Chariot and World modes augment the game’s replayability; top-notch English localization. CONS: Combat graphics haven’t been upgraded from the 16-bit original; some of the interfaces are cumbersome.

★★★★★

Test Drive Unlimited 2 (PS3/360/PC)

“It has all the basics to be a great game. It’s just that it’s not quite ready for primetime yet.” PROS: Different from most racing games; includes a ton of challenges, a character to level, and items to buy and unlock. CONS: The concept is great, but unfortunately, the execution is not particularly good; handling engine, graphics, and much of the content lack polish.

★★★

Knights Contract (PS3/Xbox 360)

Bulletstorm (PS3/360/PC)

“It goes against the grain of the popular norm, often in exciting and hilarious ways, and though it’s not perfect, it’s still one hell of a ride.” PROS: Innovative “Skillshot” system; hilarious dialogue; engaging campaign from start to finish. CONS: Thin story; A.I. quirks; unique multiplayer may not be for everyone.

★★★★

Dragon Age 2 (PS3/360/PC)

“Its streamlined mechanics and more action-oriented combat should appeal to console players, but hardcore fans of PC RPGs may feel slighted.” PROS: Combat is fast and fun yet retains much of its strategic appeal; Kirkwall serves as grand adventure hub in the spirit of Baldur’s Gate II’s Athkatla; BioWare creates another memorable character in Varric. CONS: Game lacks “epic feel” of Origins; framed narrative feels a bit gimmicky; PC players lose large battlefield view of combat; final battle falls flat.

★★★★

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (PS3/360)

“It blends some interesting concepts into its witch’s brew, but some are more cursed than enchanted.”

PROS: Easy to pick up and play; very fun when played with friends; Wi-Fi play works well. CONS: A little too simple; computer opponent A.I. is either phenomenally dumb or outright cheats with little in-between; weak single-player modes; you must unlock extras in each sport separately.

“This fast and furious follow-up impresses with its tight fighting mechanics, slick visual style, and wealth of off-the-wall characters.”

PROS: Engaging story; twocharacter teamup gameplay; hacking, slashing, and magiccasting combat. CONS: When Heinrich goes down, so does Gretchen’s intelligence; Quick Time Event– required boss battles all but ruin the experience.

PROS: Fast, fun fighting engine; good variety of interesting characters; lots of potential for advanced strategies; distinct comic-influenced visual style. CONS: Mediocre online options; disappointing story; still a bit too obtuse for fighting newbies despite mass-appeal license.

★★★

★★

★★★★

10 | www.gameworldme.net | April 2011

Fight Night Champion (PS3/Xbox 360)

“It lives up to its boastful billing and is easily the best installment in EA Sports’ celebrated boxing sim series.” PROS: Excellent feel and flow to the boxing; visual tweaks make this the best-looking entry; Champion mode is a solid twist on the formula. CONS: Legacy mode needs a serious facelift; online modes lack the “wow” factor of EA MMA; the final boss fight in the game’s Champion mode is terribly frustrating.

★★★★

Magicka (PC)

“This multiplayer-minded dungeon crawler shines with its innovative and easy-to-master spellcasting system despite a few bugs and balance issues.” PROS: Easy-to-grasp mechanics create a deep system with a huge variety in successful play styles; multiplayer is, literally, a blast; very entertaining story and voice acting. CONS: Still the occasional game lockup; gameplay balance is skewed for multiplayer; onenote level design and the lack of secondary objectives stand out as missed opportunities.

★★★★

Read these and more at GameWorldME.net.

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MORT KOM 12 | www.gameworldme.net | April 2011

TAL BAT REVIVAL

FEATURE

After almost two decades of middling sequels, Mortal Kombat is back in the most vicious and serious take on the series since 1995’s Mortal Kombat 3.

reathing new life into an aging franchise isn’t easy. Mortal Kombat is a testament to this challenge—the distinguished 18-year-old fighting game franchise has endured numerous facelifts, reinventions, and “flourishes” like transforming opponents into...babies. Mortal Kombat is far from dead, but it’s been drowning in a sea of mediocrity for years. April 2011 | www.gameworldme.net | 13

FEATURE

Various classic Mortal Kombat locales return, like The Pit (pictured above) and the Living Forest, which have been redesigned for the new game.

he slow decay of Midway’s savage alternative to Capcom’s Street Fighter accelerated after the release of the last 2D incarnation: Mortal Kombat 3. Subsequent Mortal Kombats are hardly bad games, but they strayed far from their roots, embracing the campy, the absurd, and a fighting system that just couldn’t contend with genre heavy-hitters such as Tekken. Ed Boon, the father of Mortal Kombat, believes that the series’ evolution is a necessary one. “If Mortal Kombat remained the exact same, or very similar, game since the beginning, play-

ers would have grown bored of it,” Boon says. He speaks from experience, as he’s been actively involved in crafting new Mortal Kombat games since the original. “You can’t keep delivering the same game over and over.”

Return to Darkness Boon now heads up NetherRealm Studios, formerly Midway Chicago, who take their name from their fiction’s hellish world loaded with underground volcanoes and rivers of fleshmelting lava. Boon’s well

Scorpion’s infamous bellowing “Get over here!” taunt before he plunges his spear into his enemy’s chest is the voice of Mortal Kombat cocreator Ed Boon. 14 | www.gameworldme.net | April 2011

MORTAL KOMBAT FATALITIES IN REAL LIFE?

FATALITY: KANO’S HEART GRAB

FATALITY: SUB-ZERO’S ICE SHATTER

FATALITY: RAIDEN’S ELECTRIC SHOCK

The greatest gift to honor the gods in Aztec theology is human blood. To appease the sun god Huitzilopochtli (good luck pronouncing that), Aztec priests used a knife carved out of volcanic flint to slice open a sacrifice’s chest and extract their still-beating heart.

Cryogenics preserves the deceased through freezing. In his 2009 book Frozen, former Alcor COO Larry Johnson revealed numerous cases of abuse of frozen bodies by employees, including baseball legend Ted Williams, who he claimed was accidentally struck with a bat.

In a rather bizarre news story, 18-year-old Aguinaldo Cesar Alves of Brazil was electrocuted while playing Mortal Kombat, which knocked him out cold. He didn’t die, but Alves admitted that he was holding his controller in his mouth.

Real Life: Aztec Heart Removal

Real Life: Abusing the Cryogenically Frozen

Real Life: Mortal Kombat Game Shocks Man

April 2011 | www.gameworldme.net | 15

FEATURE

Nefarious ninja Scorpion makes Sektor eat a flaming uppercut in front of the acid baths of classic Mortal Kombat II stage Dead Pool.

aware that the series is long overdue for some reinvigoration, but he’s dedicated to restoring the series to greatness by returning to its origins. Boon feels his new game, simply dubbed Mortal Kombat, shall do just that. “The decision to return to [Mortal Kombat’s] original look and feel was because we made the biggest departure with our last title, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe,” Boon explains. In addition to pitting vile killers like Scor-

16 | www.gameworldme.net | April 2011

pion and Kano against much sunnier characters like Superman and Wonder Woman, the game is more accessible to a slightly younger audience. MK vs. DC is the first game to receive a Teen rating instead of a black “M for Mature” stamped on its box. “We sold a good number of copies—and some people probably thought, ‘Okay, let’s do that again’— but we wanted to do something different,” Boon adds. While the new

game is definitely “different,” it’s also closer to the darker and more serious vibe of the original than MK’s been in years. He describes the birth of the new, nastier Mortal Kombat as an experience where “the stars just seemed to align.”

Lessons Learned Through its tumultuous history, Mortal Kombat has sustained its hardcore following, but Japanese fighting franchises like Tekken and Street Fighter

EXCLUSIVE DLC New Kombatants Coming as Developers are increasingly using downloadable content to extend the life of their games. Mortal Kombat is no different, as NetherRealm Studios has secret characters—both familiar and not—coming to the game postrelease. And we’re revealing two of them....

KINTARO Don’t call him Goro, or this multiarmed monstrosity will ravage your flesh like a tiger attacking a steak. According to his bio, Kintaro is bigger, badder, and more barbarous than other beings of the Shokan race, including Goro. First appearing in Mortal Kombat II as the subboss before Shao Kahn, Kintaro is hell-bent on spilling the blood of those who killed Goro. Alignment: Evil. Weight: 2,600 lbs (approximately the weight of three adult horses). Likes: Spewing reddish fireballs, Shao Kahn, spikedclothing. Dislikes: Raiden, Earthrealm, Lolcats.

KENSHI According to Mortal Kombat lore, this blind warrior lost his sight after a man going by the name of “Song” told Kenshi to look inside a well where a powerful sword was hidden. Unfortunately for Kenshi, Song turned out to be none other than Shang Tsung, Mortal Kombat’s insidious shapeshifter, and the well was actually filled with angry souls that blinded poor Kenshi.

Hometown: Earthrealm. Fighting styles: Tai Chi, San Shou, Judo. • Kenshi translates to “swordsman” in Japanese. • Kenshi first appeared in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. • This blindfold’s no fashion statement: Kenshi’s as blind as a bat.

April 2011 | www.gameworldme.net | 17

1995 – 1997:

MORTAL

Taking Mortal Kombat to the Big Screen

Entering the Third Dimension

Mortal Kombat Movies

Two screen adaptations are loosely based on the Mortal Kombat story-line (mainly MKII and MK3).

KOMBAT’S

Success: Average

REINVENTIONS

Critics blasted the Mortal Kombat movie, but it held the No. 1 spot in the box office for three weeks in a row. 1997’s sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, however, was horrendous, maintaining a 7 percent rating average on RottenTomatoes.

The new Mortal Kombat isn’t the first time its creators have attempted to reinvent the brutal fighting franchise.

have overshadowed its standing. Boon says they’ve actually learned a lot from competing series. “It’s hard to identify one single item, but just playing them has taught us a lot about fighting games,” Boon admits. “Some games have been so technical that the general public didn’t embrace them, but they have a strong cult following. Other games have been so easy that hardcore fighters dismissed them. If you look at the major fighting titles today, there are a lot of lessons, good and bad, that you can take away and apply to your own game.” With the tremendous popularity of crossover franchise titles

1997:

like Marvel vs. Capcom and the upcoming Tekken X Street Fighter/ Street Fighter X Tekken, Boon reveals he’s not opposed to doing something similar with MK. He’s actually had “many conversations” about how they could make a crossover Mortal Kombat game work. “The one that comes to mind with us—and probably fighting game players—would be Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter,” Boon says. He notes the challenge of syncing up two vastly different series in a way that doesn’t feel clunky, but if they could overcome those hurdles, it’d be a historic marriage of the rival franchises.

18 | www.gameworldme.net | April 2011

Mortal Kombat 4

After Mortal Kombat 3, Midway tore the series out of its 2D confines in order to compete with emerging 3D fighting games.

Success: High

Despite rattling hardcore MK fanatics, Mortal Kombat 4 and its jump to 3D reaped mostly positive responses.

A Bit of the Old Ultraviolence Aside from the return of iconic characters and the new game’s 2.5D gameplay (3D graphics on a 2D plane), Boon seeks to recapture the spirit of the first three Mortal Kombat games by embracing an essential element to the brand: blood. “Our fatalities are returning to their original gory form,” he states. Boon cites Mortal Kombat’s new “X-ray” executions as one of the biggest ways they’re ramping up the game’s violence. Once a player charges up their supermove meter, they can unleash one of these vicious attacks, in which the game gives you a look inside your opponent’s body as you’re shattering their bones in real time. It’s pretty gruesome. “The overall presentation of the game

FEATURE

1997 – 2005: Emphasizing Story Over Bloodshed Adventure Spinoffs

A trio of Mortal Kombat adventure games (Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, MK: Special Forces, and MK: Shaolin Monks) released, expounding on the series’ world and its characters.

Success: Below Average

Critis and fans despised both Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Special Forces, but Shaolin Monks received some praise and average scores.

2006:

2008:

Bringing Mortal Kombat to its ‘End’

Uniting MK with DC Comics

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

Hyped as the “final chapter” in the overarching MK story-line, Armageddon pits virtually every character in its fiction against each other in one giant bloodbath.

Success: Average

While it received generally favorable scores from critics, Armageddon didn’t revolutionize the series, resulting in a product that wasn’t much of an improvement over its predecessors (Deception and Deadly Alliance).

As the first game in the ultraviolent franchise to get a Teen rating, MK vs. DC had series staples like Scorpion and Sub-Zero facing off against the likes of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

Success: Average

Like much of the series post MK3, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe was well received, but it didn’t restore the franchise to its glory days.

is more serious, too,” Boon says. “There are a lot of subtle touches in the game that contribute to its much darker tone.” Boon’s honest about how Mortal Kombat isn’t what it used to be, but he feels confident that their new game is exactly what the series needs to get its blood pumping again. “Over the years, we’ve gotten a bit comical, almost making fun of the whole controversy surrounding the franchise. But now we’re back to taking things a bit more seriously.”

April 2011 | www.gameworldme.net | 19

20 | www.gameworldme.net | April 2011

FEATURE

A VOYAGE TO THE HEART OF TOKYO LETS WILL HERRING GAZE INTO THE METICULOUS MIND OF PROLIFIC CREATOR, ARTIST, AND GAME DESIGNER FUMITO UEDA OF TEAM ICO.

umito Ueda isn’t much of a talker. I’ve just flown 7,538 miles to chat with the iconic game designer about his latest game, the action-adventure epic The Last Guardian, and I still know as much about the PlayStation 3–exclusive project than when I first stepped off the plane. To be fair, I was forewarned well before our meeting at Sony Computer Entertainment Japan’s Tokyo headquarters of the Team Ico luminary’s, er, economic approach to interviews and public speaking in general. It makes sense, though—it’s the same minimalistic style that carries over to the narrative structure of his studio’s critically acclaimed oeuvre of digital entertainment and has defined some of the previous console generation’s best titles. He’s calm, quiet, and concise with his words, pausing between carefully chosen sentences and offering quick-hit responses— “just the facts”—that somehow leave me knowing a little bit less than I did the moment before. He’s a perfectionist through and through—a fact communicated through his contemplative gestures, his sedated tone, and

his alternatively enlightening and frustrating responses. I flew to the Minato-ku prefecture of Japan’s largest city to meet with Ueda and to get a first-hand look at his newest game, The Last Guardian. It’s sobering, and somewhat surreal, when you realize that Guardian—a first-party developed game—is only the third title from the esteemed studio since its inception in 1997, and the first for an HD-generation console. It’s a game that’s been four years in the making— a length that you could consider an eternity in today’s game-a-year, sequel-swarmed, DLC-driven market. “My first two games took a long time to develop,” notes Ueda, a smile drawing across his face, “so I thought that this time I should try and shorten the development period. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way.” He pauses and laughs. “It took a long time, anyway.”

production schedule that spans over four years and calls to mind the development of Ico, the studio’s debut title. An action-adventure with a penchant for puzzles, Ico would set a number of precedents for the studio, including the developer’s signature “exposition lite” narrative style, the core bond between a human and nonplayable character, and the use of “bloom lighting” techniques and a desaturated color palette to breath life into its fantastical, seemingly forbidden world. Chronicling the plight of the eponymous Ico and the enigmatic Yorda, Ico won critical, if not commercial, acclaim for its thought-provoking puzzles and often breathtaking scenery. It’s Ico’s engrossing, emotional plot, however, that truly makes it resonate with its audience. Ico—an abandoned, horned vagabond, offered up

Setting a Standard The Last Guardian has been in development since early 2007, and it’s slated for a tentative release in the fourth quarter of 2011—a April 2011 | www.gameworldme.net | 21

FEATURE

Trico’s and the boy’s relationship begins strained, but it becomes deeper as the game progresses.

as a sacrifice by his superstitious tribe—and Yorda—foreign royalty held captive by both her malevolent matriarch and an ever-present, impenetrable language barrier— bonded as only outcasts could over the course of the game, rejecting their birthrights in splendid, and oftentimes heartbreaking, harmony. A product of its evocative environments and emotionally linked protagonists, Ico would also set the standard for one of Ueda’s most well-known, and oftentimes infamous, trademarks: the tragically ominous ending left open to player interpretation. A year after Ico’s 2001 release, Ueda and company began development on a game consistently called out in the constant “Are video games art?” arguments and touted as one of the PlayStation 2’s definitive titles—Shadow of the Colossus. Not bad for a “sophomore slump.” A spiritual successor to Ico, Shadow builds on its predecessor’s established world, but it shows its sparsely populated planes from an entirely new perspective: on horseback, weaving between the toes of a series of majestic, towering titans. Cast as silent warrior Wander, players must slay 16 of the titular colossi, traversing the game’s often treacherous and constantly shifting terrain with faithful steed Agro in tow, all in hopes of returning a lost 22 | www.gameworldme.net | April 2011

soul to a mysterious maiden. “In Shadow of the Colossus, the monsters were designed as the enemy,” Ueda says. He pauses, weighing his words. “As they were fighting them, though, I wanted the player to think...‘What if these are not enemies?’” Upon it’s 2005 release, Shadow of the Colossus quickly became a critical darling for many reasons, but its true genius is in its approach, and consecutive deconstruction, of one of gaming’s most timeless tropes: the boss battle. Essentially a series of environmentally diverse, and undoubtedly enormous, enemy encounters, Shadow of the Colossus did exactly what its name promised, placing players in direct awe of the colossi. It’s only as they began to cut down the behemoth beasts, however, that Ueda’s question would start to take shape—an inkling of doubt expertly incepted into their minds by little more than the unforgettable onscreen action and the characters’ dramatic, wordless gestures. It’s undeniably art. And like most art worth discussing, its creation came about of equal parts method and meticulous madness.

Time and Time Again

“There are about 50 people working on The Last Guardian at the moment, with more brought on as needed,” notes our Team Ico tour guide as

we pack into an elevator at SCEJ headquarters. “But only about half are probably here, right now. It’s still early. The bulk of them won’t be in until later.” A quick glance at my phone confirms that it is a little past noon. On a Wednesday. What constitutes “early” for Team Ico? The doors slide open, revealing the stage where some of the last generation’s greatest games were given form: a series of shared cubicles, bright fluorescent lights, and file cabinets bedecked with a bevy of expo awards and “Game of the Year” placards from any number of major video-game press outlets. A spattering of Team Ico employees inhabit the office, eyes glued to monitors of all shapes and sizes. The air is quiet, concentrated, and above all else, driven. In its standard office appearance, it’s not too far from GamePro headquarters back in San Francisco—just, you know, people are actually working. “It’s rare that you’ll see a Japanese development team of over 100 employees,” notes our tour guide, nodding to the twentysomething workers diligently designing, coding, and animating any of The Last Guardian’s many aspects, odds, and ends. “Maybe on a big, established franchise like Metal Gear or Final Fantasy,

but not on most games.” As we walk to the farthest end of the office—a quick trek that distracts no one from their work—our tour guide pauses, and he gestures toward another cubicle, one that’s no different from any other. “And that’s where Ueda-san sits,” our guide notes. He turns aboutface and ushers us back toward the elevator. “Everyone will start to file in later,” he says, his tone all but confirming an all-nighter for those involved in The Last Guardian’s lengthy life cycle. Just another day in its painstaking production process. Later, when asked of his inspirations as a video-game designer, I may have gotten the quote that will forever define Ueda in my eyes: “This is my third title,” Ueda explains, “but when I play my other video games, there are some places that I’m...not satisfied with. I think that’s the main source of inspiration that pushes me forward in my efforts.” It’s that same sense of patient perfectionism that’s made Ueda such a respected name in the video-game industry—and based on his impressive pedigree thus far, such an eagerly anticipated developer. One glance at his latest production in action and its obvious that the same time-intensive care and meticulous attention to detail that’s shaped his past two titles have been applied in full force.

About a Boy

Nearly a half-decade of waiting, and we’re finally about to see The Last Guardian in action. With controller in hand, Ueda boots up the main attraction. “There aren’t many drastic new elements in The Last Guardian,” he notes, as the HDTV fades in on the studio’s traditionally desaturated landscape, “but we’ve greatly elaborated on nearly every idea that defined our previous two titles.” Like all Team Ico games, it starts with a boy. A silent, nameless boy, overshadowed by an enormous, snoozing animal—a zoological amalgam of cat, bat, bird, dog, and everything in-between. This is

Trico, griffin-esque A.I. entity and reluctant partner to the nameless boy’s plight. The boy approaches Trico, grabbing and tugging on his ear in an instanced example of one of Guardian’s newest flourishes: a dedicated physics engine. Trico shrugs it off, but the boy persists, waking the once slumbering beast as he slowly stretches on his crane-like claws, arching his back, and shivering the last bits of sleep from his system. I get a sense for the duo’s relationship right off the bat: forced. This early on, Trico’s a means to an end for the boy, and the boy is, well, entertainment for the lumbering beast. The two are trapped together in an enclosed, cobblestone ruin of a room, and the only way out is, naturally, a partnership between boy and beast. The boy spots a nearby stone balcony—a balcony that he can’t quite reach on his own. He calls Trico’s name repeatedly, but the creature casually shrugs it off, strutting through a gorgeously rendered stream of light that leaks through the room’s walls and windows, pouring onto slender green blades of grass growing from the broken pavement. Beak in the air, rat-like tail slowly swinging from side-to-side, the “cat” part of Trico’s diverse evolutionary makeup is certainly on display as he smugly swaggers alone, and away from, the boy. Ceasing his cries, the boy opts for a more roundabout approach for enlisting the creature’s assistance. He runs into a nearby room, discovering a plump, plain-looking vase in the corner. As soon as he grabs it, the lid pops off, letting loose a stream of visible purple steam and a smattering of oozing goo. One whiff and Trico’s ears and beak perk up—he’s naturally attracted to the vase’s contents—and with quick thinking, the boy chucks the vase on the above balcony. Trico eagerly dashes toward it, clawing his way onto his hind legs, and peering over onto the balcony.

A Growing Bond

It’s here that the Shadow of the Colossus inspiration comes into play. The boy carefully climbs up Trico’s feathered back, hands gripping

feather, and struggles to the once unreachable objective. “The relationship between the boy and the beast is shallow at the game’s beginning,” notes Ueda, who navigates the boy to take a closer look at Trico’s intricately detailed face. “At first, Trico may not interact with the player as they might like. But as their relationship grows and as the game progresses, there’s a better chance that Trico will be more willing to assist the boy in overcoming his many obstacles. It’s my hope that, as the boy’s and Trico’s bond grows, so will the player’s relationship with Trico.” Here, as Trico madly sniffs toward the vase, it’s easy to read his animal emotions: hungry, curious. Mischievous. “There will be no clear exchange of dialogue, of course,” explains Ueda, “but we can express many things, many emotions thanks to the advancement in graphical technology. It’s useful, as the A.I. April 2011 | www.gameworldme.net | 23

FEATURE partner is an animal this time, and the last thing we’d want to do is have him speak in a human language.” The boy slips past the distracted Trico, dashing into a darker room nearby. It’s a narrow corridor that gives way to an ominous, bottomless gap, and in classic Ico fashion, there’s only one way to go—up. A rusty metal chain dangles before the boy, who leaps, snags, and climbs up its length, one hand at a time, as Trico sniffs in the distance. At the top of his chain, the boy loosens his grip, swinging into another enclosed space—this one guarded by an inauspicious, armor-clad creature outfitted with the developer’s trademark glowing eyes and shadowy stature, two surefire signs of evil intent. Who this is or why the boy must sneak past it is yet unknown, but one foot after the other, the boy stealthily attempts to creep past the nearby baddie. But not stealthily enough. The enemy spots the boy, scrambles to catch him, and snags his robes. After a moment of frantic struggle, the boy slips away, dashing toward some

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footholds on a nearby wall, and in a quick instance of vertical thinking, he climbs up and away. Weighed down by his heavy armor, the guard doesn’t give chase. “Regardless of the danger he gets into, the boy is still lighter and quicker than his enemies,” Ueda. “One of the game’s core mechanics, for both the boy and Trico, is taking advantage of the abilities unique to them.” Now stories above his original starting point, the boy carefully navigates a series of criss-crossed bars suspended from the ceiling. He deftly tiptoes across and over, but he trips, nearly losing his balance, and pulling himself upright moments before dropping off the steep and unstable walkway. He forces onward, finally spotting a nearby platform, and after a momentous leap to safety, the bar collapses where his feet were moments before. The shattered walkway plummets into the darkness below. The boy treks onward, slinking across a seemingly sturdy cobblestone pathway that, again, gives way under his weight, dropping him but meters above where Trico still rests, oblivious to his peril. The boy turns to Trico, cupping his mouth with his hands and audibly petitioning for the beast’s attention, but it continues to ignore him. This goes on for 10, 20 seconds, the boy’s cries becoming more and more frantic. “It would seem he’s not in a very good mood today,” Ueda laughs. As if in response, the beast turns his attention upward, crouches on his haunches, and in one fell swoop, bounds to the boy’s position. He peers down at the boy, cocking his head to the side, as the child ruffles the

creature’s feathers. The screen fades to black, and Ueda neatly sets the controller back on the table. Four years in development, and I’m witness to four or five puzzles in the span of roughly 10 minutes, all featuring elements borrowed from, expanded on, and improved upon from the designer’s previous projects. It’s an evolutionary display for both Ueda, and Team Ico. It’s an allto-brief demonstration—but also a challenge: “This game took us four years to make, but it’s worth the wait.”

A Developing Legacy

Just three games in, Ueda’s Team Ico has left an indelible mark on the video-game industry, spanning two of console gaming’s greatest generations. You might think that the developer’s lengthy production cycles and perfectionist approach might breed jaded products reserved for gaming purists, but you’d be wrong. “There are many people who have had limited or no exposure to video games,”says Ueda when asked about The Last Guardian’s potential appeal. “My hope is that it’ll be those people who will see someone else playing my game, and maybe something about how the boy and Trico interact with one another will stick with them. Then, maybe, The Last Guardian could become their first video-game experience.” That’s when it becomes obvious to me: The Last Guardian looks like a game, plays like a game, and shares the elements and essence of Ueda’s previous games. But what puts it on par with those titles, and what makes those titles the go-to examples of artistry in video games, all boils down to Ueda himself and how he approaches his work—as art. “If films are art, and if paintings are art, then video games should be considered art,” Ueda says. “Truthfully, the definition of art is so vague, and it’s impossible to see or categorize in black and white.” He pauses, draws a breath. “And that is, truly, the beauty of art.”

COMPUTING / ELECTRONICS / IMAGING / GAMING / MOBILITY

17th - 19th MAY 2011 Fujairah, UAE

Countries

165

Vendors

Retail Executives

Top retailers attending in 2010 included:

One-on-One Meetings

Vendors at the ‘sold out’ 2010 exhibition included:

...165 Retailers in total

Learn more about DCC MEA at www.dcc-mea.com

1,000+

...63 Vendors in total

T: + 971 4 391 35 26 E: sales@distree.com

April 2011 | www.gameworldme.net | 25

The surprisingly long history of the most talked about technology of today.

// 1922 The Power of Love No relation to the 1985 hit single by Huey Lewis and the News, The Power of Love is the first, albeit primitive, three-dimensional film. It premiered at the Ambassador Hotel Theater in Los Angeles. It employs dual-strip projection and red/green anaglyph glasses.

THEN

VIRTUAL BOY, 3DS, PLAYSTATION 3, PC

// 1936

“Based on a true story” about a duo of man-eating lions, Arch Oboler’s Bwana Devil is the first American 3D film in color, ushering in “The Golden Era” of 3D entertainment.

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// 1952

’50s

The 3D Boom Polaroid and 3D Harvard’s Edwin H. Land invents the Polaroid J Sheet, which uses polarized light to reduce glare. It’s used in the 3D movie In Tune with Tomorrow, a flick about a Chrysler that’s magically assembled.

SPOTLIGHT

The First 3D Game Sega’s releases SubRoc-3D in arcades, the first 3D video game. In SubRoc-3D, you blow flying saucers out of the sky. To create the 3D effect, the game uses a special eyepiece that delivers a separate image to each eye.

// 1982

’80s

// 1969

Rise of HD 3D Gaming

The Future? While they haven’t hit the market yet— and won’t for some time—prototypes for autostereoscopic (or “glasses free”) TVs are already in development. Auto-3D TVs certainly won’t be cheap when they arrive, but they’ll undoubtedly provide game designers with new opportunities to craft games in entirely new ways.

3D progresses with StereoVision, which is used to make the flick The Stewardesses, the highest-grossing 3D movie ever made, second only to James Cameron’s Avatar.

The Virtual Boy Falls Flat

// 1995

// 2010

NOW

The upsurge in high-definition 3D gaming kicks off with titles like Activision’s 3D-enabled Call of Duty: Black Ops and Sony’s downloadable minireleases like Super Stardust HD 3D and MotorStorm: 3D Rift. They’re followed by other PS3 exclusives featuring HD 3D like Killzone 3 and MotorStorm: Apocalypse.

3D Blows Up Box Office

Nintendo launches the Virtual Boy, the first game console presenting “true” 3D visuals displayed as red monochromatic images (which some users complain feels like watching acid pour into your eyes). The console is a commercial disaster, which leads Nintendo to pull the plug on its production one year later.

// 2011

Glasses-Free 3D Becomes a Reality First revealed at E3 2010, Nintendo releases the Nintendo 3DS, a gaming handheld that creates 3D graphics without the need to wear special glasses. Among the 100-plus 3DS games in development are early titles like Pilotwings Resort, Dead or Alive: Dimensions, Madden NFL 3DS, Steel Diver, and Super Monkey Ball 3D.

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M Y

O P I N I O N

PEOPLE POWER RETURNS TO THE GAMES INDUSTRY!

’ve been in the games business since 1985, a time when things were a lot simpler. Most people in the biz were either making games—or reporting on them. Sure, you’d meet business, marketing, and PR people, but only at the really big games publishers. When you wanted information, most of the time you talked directly to a developer. And even if you went through a PR person with a question about a game, they’d usually put you straight through to the developer. These days, that access is all but shut off. A lot of companies guard their developers with a vengeance. I totally understand why—the last thing they want is the people making their products constantly being on the phone to everyone who might have a question. But there’s another reason too: information control. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done interviews or visits where a corporate minder is listening to every last word that’s being said. They step in when the interviewee gets off topic or articulates a viewpoint that doesn’t quite follow the corporate line. I certainly know why this has happened, and the journalistic side of the industry is as much to blame for it as those who want full corporate control of their information. It’s also true that the stakes are far higher today than they were in the past. But what I’m really sad about is a big loss in terms of the personal side of the business. Whereas developer interviews and meetings often used to a productive, exciting, and quite often extremely funny sharing of ideas and views, these days I feel almost like I’m almost listen28 | www.gameworldme.net | April 2011

ing to a corporate puppet spouting off carefully worded marketing bullet points and product-positioning messaging. That’s most certainly not to say everyone is like this, but it happens an awful lot. Games are the star, and the people behind them are simply a part of the marketing machine. But I do think times might be changing. While the big companies will always exert tight control on what their employees say, what I’ll call the “indie” game market of small-studio downloadable iOS/PSN/Android and so on games is really bringing back the old feeling of being connected with the developers again. At GDC I met so many people who were basically saying, “Hey—here’s my game. What do you think?” I was able to have amazing conversations about their views, things that were exciting to them, what they liked and don’t like – because they were representing their own games, their own views and, in most cases, their own company. They were games enthusiasts with different perspectives being able to chat about fundamental things that can help shape the industry, without some corporate minder stepping in every time the conversation got interesting. It was so great to see that again. Because what it also means is that if these people are able to speak their minds and be themselves, they will also not be restricted by anything other than their own imagination. And that’s going to be great for games! Jaz Rignall

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REVIEW

HOMEFRONT Homefront creates powerful moments by swapping genrestandard military warriors and exotic locales for armed citizens and suburban backyards, but don’t expect this impressive shooter to offer up the longest-lasting experience

ainting a real-life nation as the brutally oppressive opposing force -- even in a nearfuture setting -- is a risky maneuver for a video game, but Homefront does just that with North Korea. In Homefront’s world, the closed-off nation expands its influence in the years ahead, muscling its way south towards a unified Korea before taking over Japan, sending chaotic economic ripples throughout the world. Kaos Studios conveys this spiraling situation wonderfully through a fevered live-action introduction, which juxtaposes Korea’s rise in power with societal downfall elsewhere and culminates in an EMP blast that allows the nation to violently invade the United States. Though it may prove an uncomfortable scenario for some players, this first-person shooter’s campaign presents powerful moments, both physically and emotionally jarring in nature. And it begins almost immediately from the outset, as Korean forces bust into your ratty apartment in the year 2027 (two years

after the EMP attack), assaulting your silent protagonist -- a former Marine pilot -- before throwing him down the stairs and loading him on a bus to places unknown. Through the window you’ll witness the first of many atrocities held within the adventure, including a couple held apart outside a makeshift detention center and parents killed in cold blood in view of a toddler, who stumbles towards the bodies as you pass by, powerless to help. But Homefront is a game about fighting back, so within moments, you’ll find yourself freed from captivity and indoctrinated into the resistance with a headshot and a handshake. You’re one of them now: a heavily armed citizen unwilling to sit idly by while the country crumbles. It kicks off a rousing campaign that spans suburban American terrain while placing you in impressively varied gameplay opportunities. While most of the action is of the run-and-gun, on-foot sort, you’ll also sneak through a militia farm complex, command a

remote controlled tank, and snipe soldiers from an abandoned church bell tower. Plus, the game includes an off-rails helicopter sequence that plays significantly better than you’d expect from a lone mission in an FPS. Despite a narrative penned by John Milius, co-writer of Red Dawn and Apocalypse Now, storytelling is not Homefront’ strongest suit -- it’s the atmosphere. The transformed suburban settings convey much more than the passable dialogue, and simply being able to run through an accurately modeled White Castle and battle back enemies in a burning TigerDirect.com warehouse adds a layer of authenticity to the proceedings, as do the other licensed brands witnessed in the game. Homefront isn’t the shiniest-looking game out there, as the gritty (but nicely detailed) settings aren’t quite as crisp or clean as Call of Duty and the like, and I noticed a handful of odd collision detection issues along the way. But the impressive environments -- such as an idyllic backyard April 2011 | www.gameworldme.net | 31

haven unperturbed by the outer mayhem -- and intense campaign scenarios certainly make up for the lack of gloss. However, it all comes to a head much too quickly, and that’s not a knock just on the brief length of the campaign (about five hours). The final mission -- a triumphant battle on one of America’s truly great monuments -- seemingly appears out of nowhere, as the cadence of the campaign suggested that the endgame was still hours away. When the credits roll, it’s clear that Homefront is clearly intended as the truncated first battle in a much larger war; but that sudden conclusion weakens the otherwise very strong campaign experience, and doesn’t provide a lot of momentum for the inevitable sequel. 32 32 | www.gameworldme.net | April 2011

Homefront’s shot at usurping the multiplayer giants of the industry isn’t as rife with dramatic tension and haunting scenarios, but it does make some interesting tweaks to genre conventions. It plays similarly to recent Call of Duty entries -- albeit with a larger cap of 32 players per match -- but the Battle Points system offers a fresh level of flexibility for activating in-match bonuses. Kills and assists earn you points, which can be used immediately to unlock vehicles, armor, heavy weaponry, and the wildly amusing remote control ground drones and mini-helicopters. Persistent leveling and customization options are still available, but limiting some of the features by single match performance levels the playing field a bit and rewards skillful runs.

But much as the Battle Points system delivers a welcomed twist on a familiar formula, the overall Homefront online experience feels a bit thin. Despite the introduction of the Battle Commander variation, which puts bounties on skilled players amidst the action, Homefront focuses on just two core play modes: Team Deathmatch and Ground Control, both of which are pretty standard offerings. Much as I enjoyed the online firefights and wily drone vehicles, I’d be surprised if the limited play modes and just seven on-disc maps (the Xbox 360 version has an exclusive eighth “Suburbs” map) keep dedicated Black Ops or Bad Company 2 fans from their usual haunts. Homefront does a whole lot right, delivering powerful imagery and

REVIEW

actions on the single-player side, as well as interesting multiplayer alterations, but neither end feels fully realized. But I wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hesitate to recommend Homefront on the overall strength of its stilted campaign, which consistently delivers strong set pieces and alluring atmospheric moments amidst the chaotic combat. And should Kaos expand on this

promising start with meaningful and memorable additions in a sequel, Homefront may prove a potent franchise in no time at all. We Reckon: 4/5 PROS: Very strong campaign packed with powerful imagery and atmosphere; diverse gameplay opportunities amidst the campaign; engag-

ing tweaks on standard multiplayer conventions. CONS: Abrupt conclusion and brief length keep campaign from true excellence; multiplayer options a bit thin compared to competition; occasional visual glitches can be distracting.

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REVIEW

LEGO STAR WARS III: THE CLONE WARS One of the few good things to come from the prequel trilogy, The Clone Wars is not only a rollicking good time, but also the best Lego game to date.

ull disclosure: I’m a Star Wars nut. I’ve got the premium 12-inch action figures all over my office (I’m an IG-88 short of a recreation of the bounty hunter scene from The Empire Strikes Back). I’m also a big fan of Lego; the building blocks were my favorite toys as a kid, and I’ve been squirreling away sets for my 1-year-old son and I to build together when he gets older. But I have other reasons besides fandom for enjoying the Lego Star Wars series of games -- they’re some of the best co-op games on the market, and they’re a lot of fun, injecting some great humor into their subject matter. And Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars for consoles may be the best Lego game yet: It makes great use of the The Clone Wars, adds some new types of levels and modes to the Lego oeuvre, and remains one of the most fun co-op games around. Lego Star Wars III takes a different approach to its level design and story arc than in other Lego games. After playing through the prologue,

you watch a scene where Separatist villains Count Dooku, General Grievous, and Asajj Ventress split off in three directions; these paths serve as the narrative for the game, as you play through episodes of the cartoon series dealing with the three baddies. Each path also deals with a specific kind of combat: one focuses on traditional Lego action/platforming, the second on Lego Star Wars III’s hybrid space combat-action/ platforming, and the final consists of the new Battleground stages. The Battleground stages bring a little slice of strategic gameplay to the series. These levels pit the armed forces of the Republic against dug-in Separatist fortifications: battledroid deployers, shield generators, cannons, and the like. You start with a set of building pads, which can create troop deployers and cannons of your own or other machines of wars, such as walkers like the AT-TE. You purchase these units and emplacements with Lego studs you earn by blasting scenery or Separatists on

the battlefield. You can also direct clone troops; using clone leaders like Commander Cody and Captain Rex, you can order units of clone troopers to take out droids and their emplacements. You can take over clusters of Separatists building pads as you take out their forces, too. These emplacements sometimes require you to use walkers or rapid blaster fire to blow up silver or even gold buildings, which can withstand the normal weapons of clones and Jedi. These Battlegrounds are great fun and a noteworthy addition to the franchise. If you’re a fan of The Clone Wars series, you’ll likely enjoy this game. It contains some of the best episodes of the series’ first and second season, and the levels capture its tone, especially as the show gets darker during the second season. “Legacy of Terror,” the episode that features Geonosian zombies (don’t gasp -Star Wars had already jumped the zombie shark a year earlier with the Death Troopers novel), is a spineApril 2011 | www.gameworldme.net | 35

REVIEW

tingling descent into the depths of Geonosis, full of tension as the zombie Geonosians jump out of the darkness at you. The end of the level is also a thrill as you race to your escape. The game also showcases plenty of the Lego series’ trademark humor, with the laughs coming not just from the cut-scenes but the behavior of the battle droids as well. They taunt you with raspberries and moonings as they sit behind energy shields, safe from your blasters and lightsabers… until you figure out how to get at them. The game’s multiplayer mode goes beyond mere co-op gameplay. The Arcade mode lets you and another face off in Battleground stages, providing a nice break from replaying levels in free play with your buddy. The game has a few noteworthy flaws. The designers must suffer from “repeated Star Wars Battle Syndrome.” Many game designers made us relive The Battle of Yavin or the Battle of Hoth again and again and again. Lego Star Wars III’s prologue is an unnecessary slog through the Arena battle on Geonosis at the end of Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones; it wasn’t fun the first time in Lego Star Wars, and it’s not fun now. Sure, it’s a showcase for the large amount of battle droids Lego Star Wars III can throw at you at once on some levels and teaches you about the 36 | www.gameworldme.net | April 2011

new controls and abilities of the characters, but the 3DS version handles its tutorial without making you relive a scene from a crappy film. The splitscreen during co-op can also be a problem. It divides the top and bottom of your screen, but the dang thing rotates left and right depending on what parts of real estate appear. While it allows each player to go off in their own directions, it’s distracting to watch. It also detracts from the co-op nature of the game -- shouldn’t you and your partner play on the same screen, working together to overcome any obstacles or puzzles? Yet these nitpicks have but barely interfered with the fun I’m having with Lego Star Wars III. With all of the additions, it’s the biggest and most enjoyable Lego game yet, and even better, it shows that something good can indeed come out of the awful Star Wars prequel trilogy. We Reckon: 4.5/5 PROS: Captures the tone of the cartoon series; Lego humor remains funny; Battlegrounds and Arcade mode are a great addition to the franchise; it’s still lots of fun to smash droids and collect studs with a partner. CONS: Prologue an unnecessary slog through Arena battle at end of Attack of the Clones; moving splitscreen in co-op can be distracting.

REVIEW IF YOU ARE A SERIOUS, DEDICATED WOW GAMER, YOU PROBABLY ALREADY OWN A SPECIALIZED MOUSE; AFTER ALL, A REGULAR BORING MOUSE JUST DOESN’T OFFER ENOUGH FEATURES TO HELP YOU MAXIMIZE YOUR TIME IN AZEROTH. BUT IF YOU DON’T, TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE STEELSERIES WORLD OF WARCRAFT CATACLYSM MMO GAMING MOUSE.

seriously pimpin’ mouse designed specifically to work with World of Warcraft. It obviously works like a normal mouse, but its main shtick is that it interfaces with the World of Warcraft game and enables players to very easily set up their mouse, which boasts 14 fully customizable buttons, in a way that is completely personalized to their playstyle. Pros • Built like the proverbial brick outbuilding. • Pimp-tastic disco-ball lighting effects, and mean and moody design makes this look like serious piece of kit. • Pretty much idiot proof customization within WoW. • Amazing potential: I set up macros on buttons that literally transformed my gameplay experience, enhancing my reaction time and spellcasting for both PvP and PvE. Cons • Hefty, hefty price tag. • Some may consider its looks make it the gaming mouse equivalent of a Lexus 300 SC on 24-inch chrome rims.

WoW Cataclysm MMO Gaming Mouse

Is it worth buying? As a hardcore WoW player, I’d say yes. If your gaming time equates to multiple hours a week, investing in a controller that boosts reaction times by cutting down on keyboard button presses and potential targeting issues, and literally adds a ton of new onebutton macro tricks to your repertoire is worth the admittedly steep price of admission. It’s incredibly easy to set up and use, and you’re able to generate a phenomenal amount of different profiles for virtually every kind of gameplay condition. I used it most extensively for PvP, and it definitely helped transform my game. I’m doing things like hover-over, one-button macro casting, picking people out of a crowd under duress to deliver what I need while still having “spare” fingers to activate secondary spells to escape from gankage. Woot! The fact that I know that if I went back to my regular mouse, it would be a detriment to my current game, is pretty much testament to this product’s effectiveness. But that power certainly comes at a price.

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E H T A S A M MURA BLADE DEMON

uramasa the Demon Blade is a beautiful 2D action RPG with memorable characters that takes you back to a mythical world set in 17th century Japan. Muramasa is one of the top 3 swordsmiths of japan. In the 16th century, the sharpness of his swords was unrivaled . They were claimed to reflect their maker’s ill temper and violent nature, and hunger for blood and battle. Even though he lived more than 500 years ago his fame still lives on in today. In the game, his spirit is trapped between the land of the living and the dead forging swords for all eternity. Gameplay The object of the game is quite simple. You travel the land, fight monsters, collect souls to Forge demon blades. There are over 100 blades and you will need to replay the game several times if you want to get them all. As you beat bosses you acquire new special blades that open up new map areas and towns to explore and advance the story line. Each blade has a unique technique (called

Secret Art) that can deliver powerful attacks in battle, and it is addictive to collect them all. There are 2 difficulty levels to choose from as you start a new game: Muso (Normal) and Shura (Hard). If you beat the game in Hard mode you unlock another difficulty level (Insane Death Mode). Battles In Battle you get to use 3 swords of your choice and can alternate between them. Drawing swords in battle release a powerful blow that hit all enemies on screen and makes your life easier. As you use swords in battle its soul power decreases. If the Soul power reaches zero the sword will break. At the end of battle in usual RPG manner you recieve experience and money. Levelling up is not as important of a factor in winning as equipping stronger blades and cutting enemies like crazy. Pros & Highlights This game has got to be one of the most beautiful games to grace the Wii. Most scenery in the game looks like a Japanese art scroll that has come to

life. You will see all your favourite Japanese mythical creatures and historical characters such as ninjas, samurais, ghosts, demons heck even mermaids come to life in a scenic dramatic world with haunting traditional japanese music playing in the background. The amount of attention to detail and love put into the game can be felt in every corner. Boss battles are the best in this game, each has unique character design and requires different strategies to beat. The encounters in the Hot Springs (where you can go to replenish your energy between battles) have fresh dialogue that puts a grin on your face everytime you find other people in the springs with you! Cons You might feel you’re battling repeatedly and doing less of the actual story. This might be fine for some if the story didn’t need some mental work to fully grasp how the timeline and characters fit together. Where it lacks is the simplicity of

Lochal Archade is a Dubai-based video game community, concentrating on underrated or underappreciated games. Instead of just covering the latest and greatest, they go out and find good games that may not have been in the headlines. On the Web site www. lochalarchade.com you can find their podcast, discussion forum, blogs and more. 38 | www.gameworldme.net | April 2011

battles, it makes up for with painstaking beautiful imagery. There’s alot of traveling back and forth between areas and it is time consuming. There are some shortcuts (like boats) but they are not always useful. Toward the end of the game this is solved as you can warp between cities. The villages are no bigger than a couple of houses so there’s not much to look forward to (except the scrumptious looking treats at teahouses!) The verdict For fans of Shinobi on Genesis and Okami, this beautifully designed old school 2D RPG scroller is a must. It’s a great addition to any Wii owner whether a fan of RPG or not. Lubna A is a new comer to Lochal Archade, she had dreamed to write her opinions on video games for a very long time, we give her the oppuritunity to shine with her review of the Wii cult classic, Muramasa: The Demon Blade.

FIRST LOOK

Pleo the Dinosaur Has a Bigger Attitude Than Ever Before

PLEO THE DINOSAUR GETS SEVERAL MAJOR UPGRADES; IT CAN FEEL AND LEARN, AND NOW HAS A BIGGER ATTITUDE. PLUS: MORE ROBOTIC TOYS

leo (Dhs 1,395) is a cute little robotic dinosaur that arrives at your doorstep as a newlyhatched baby Camarasaurus. From there, According to Pleoworld you can nurture it and raise it as your own, and your Pleo will take on an unpredictable life of its own depending on how you treat it. Pleo can feel, must be fed, and likes to explore and be cuddled. And most importantly, it has a mind and mood of its own. When the first Pleo the dinosaur came out, a few years ago, Pleo was just in its early stages of development. If you held it up by the tail it would get mad, and if pet it Pleo would love you. Pleo also had a USB interface for upgrades. According to Harry McCracken, who looked at Pleo then, Pleo liked to sleep a lot and if Pleo was in a really deep slumber then it was hard to wake Pleo up. Not too much of that has changed, but since then, Pleo has gained many

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additional features, and evolved, so to speak. Innvo Labs, the makers or Pleo, gave Pleo an intense upgrade with a variety of new features not seen several years ago when we first covered the robotic dino. There are a number of other robot toys out there like the incredibly annoying Tri-Bot which spins around, tries to crack jokes, and does it with a high pitched annoying voice. Another higher-end toy would be the Genibo Robot Dog, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s loud, nearly four times as expensive as Pleo, and its actions seem too programmed. Toywise and for the price (Dhs 1,395), Pleo seems the most life-like and has the greatest attitude. In the future, Innvo Labs plans to improve the navigational system of Pleo, the skin and paint, and they even plan to give it the ability to selfrecharge. I ask you, whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s better than a pet dinosaur with an attitude and a USB interface?

REVIEW

CRYSIS2 Crytekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nanosuited sequel is a stellar scifi shooter, featuring a gripping singleplayer campaign, action-packed multiplayer, and some jaw-dropping visuals.

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ain hammers down on the streets of New York City’s Times Square. Upturned police cruisers spit fire into the night as the top half of a giant skyscraper lay crushed over the back of an 18-wheeler. A NYC police station is a few feet from my location, but I’m hardly safe. A State of Emergency’s been declared, ordering the “Evacuation of Manhattan,” and cement barricades lined with razor wire alongside heavily-armored military vehicles choke off the famous intersection. I clench a Joint Anti-Tank Weapon -- or JAW -- in my hands, remembering my orders to defend this chopper evac site at all costs, as something stomps towards my location: A hulking mechanical killer built from nearly indestructible alien technology, inaptly named the “Pinger.” This is just one of many missions packed into Crysis 2’s meaty campaign (which takes a good 10-12 hours to complete), but it provides a clear image of what it’s like to actually play the game, all of which takes place in

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various real and fictional locations in and around New York City. Crysis 2 picks up after the events of the original game, dropping you in the middle of a near-future NYC, which is stricken by not one, but two disasters: a viral pandemic and an alien invasion. At the beginning of the game you inherit the new and improved Nanosuit 2, which the game describes as a piece of combat technology so complete that “the divide between man and weapon disappears.” Crysis 2’s science fiction feels a bit familiar at times, but the experience itself is really what makes Crytek’s multiplatform sequel stand out amongst others in its class. It’s an exhilarating action game, both in single-player and multiplayer, that sets a new standard for sci-fi themed shooters. I played the original Crysis in 2007, but like many gamers I’m not convinced that I really played the game...at least, not the way Crytek intended it to be experienced. I played it on a turd of a PC hardly

REVIEW

ideal for gaming, which means I had to crank down the quality to prevent my computer from imploding. With that in mind, Crysis 2 is my first “real” taste of the visual spectacle the original was known for delivering. And I don’t think I’m alone in that, considering the first game only released on PC, requiring high-end PC hardware to run properly. While I wasn’t necessarily a Crysis “expert” heading into playing the sequel, console first-person shooters are my genre of choice. I play everything from realistic military shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield, to sci-fi themed offerings like Killzone and Halo. Interestingly, Crysis 2 doesn’t exactly fit into either group. While it has aliens, futuristic weapons, and other sci-fi elements, the universe Crysis 2 presents is more grounded in realism than shooters with similar subject matter like Halo or The Conduit. The game does such an exceptional job of combining reallife (New York City, existing weapon technology) with fantasy (aliens, fictional weapons, skintight suits

that grant superhuman abilities), that I think it’ll appeal to a lot of shooter fans in both camps. One of the biggest things I walked away from Crysis 2 with was how much I’ve enjoyed the multiplayer. With many FPS games I usually have a better time with the single-player experience, but Crysis 2’s multiplayer is absolutely electrifying. What really sets it apart from other online shooters is how (in most multiplayer modes) everyone is battling in Nanosuits -- unlike the campaign, where you’re the only one taking advantage of its unique abilities. Multiplayer matches become frenzied and intense due to the limitless ways you can adapt to and take advantage of your own Nanosuit. And the more you play you begin to develop new tactics to engage the enemy with, who likely have their own unique style of Nanosuit fighting. On top of your basic Nanosuit features like Predator-like cloaking and the ability to temporarily bolster the strength of your armor, there are

a number of multiplayer modules, or perks (21 in total), that you can assign to your Nanosuit. These include everything from a proximity alarm that signals when you’re near enemies to my personal favorite: the “air stomp,” where you jump up into the air and (hopefully) land down on an enemy with all the force of a freight elevator dropping 30 floors and slamming into the ground. The modules, which you unlock with experience points, add another layer of strategy to multiplayer matches. Playing Crysis 2 on a 3DTV is another highlight of my experience with the game. It doesn’t necessarily use 3D in ways we haven’t seen before, but the game’s jaw-dropping visuals and its imaginative vision of a post-alien invasion New York City really pop in 3D. Moments like one where you’re exchanging rockets with an enemy helicopter through the shattered windows of an abandoned office building are intensified as smoke, debris, and bullets are flying directly into your face. Once you batter the chopper sufficiently, it crashes

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into the building, nearly decapitating you with its rotors. Crytek does a good job of balancing the depth of 3D, too. Most of the game’s 3D effects are subtle, which makes moments that aren’t -- like my chopper fight --more impactful. There’s a laundry list of things I like about Crysis 2, but the game is not without its faults. The most glaring issue I have is that the campaign loses steam about 4 hours in. Granted, it’s a long game: 10 hours if you blast through it; 12 if you’re like me and repeatedly get your ass handed to you and need to take beer breaks to rethink your battle plan. But there’s a noticeable chunk of the game halfway through that just isn’t very fun -- where you’re exploring bland environments and engaged in tedious missions, like defending location after location from onrushing attackers. Keeping the momentum going through a 10+ hour game surely isn’t easy, but this takes away from the otherwise exceptional campaign, which does pick up at the end. In fact, without spoiling it, I have to admit the final mission is pretty damn cool. Another more minor quibble I have with the game is the uninspired creature designs. For a game that really carries itself on its often mesmerizing visuals, Crysis 2’s aliens don’t look very interesting, or even that different from things we’ve already seen in other sci-fi games. But aside from the temporary lull in the campaign and the generic aliens that mar the otherwise gorgeous presentation, there really isn’t anything major I didn’t like about Crysis 2. This review is primarily based on my hands-on time with the Xbox 360 version of Crysis 2, but I did get the chance to play other versions. I played the PlayStation 3 version, and it looks and plays virtually identically to the 360 build (although I only played the single-player mode on PS3). It’s really more a matter of console preference than any one particular version having a perceivable advantage over the other. The PC version, however, is an entirely different beast that shows off the incredible level of detail Crysis 44 | www.gameworldme.net | April 2011

REVIEW

2’s capable of delivering. Granted, I played it on a ridiculously fancy gaming rig with the game spread across 3 separate monitors in a quasi-IMAX fashion, powered by two GTX 580 GPUs in SLI mode on an X58 motherboard, with an Intel Core i7 and 6GB of memory. I honestly have no idea what any of this means, but this is certainly not a cheap gaming rig, and it gives an idea of how insanely good you can make the game look if you’re playing on PC.

2 has plenty to offer both fans of multiplayer and gamers who prefer a well-crafted solo campaign. We Reckon: 4.5/5 PROS: Gripping campaign that plays out across 10+ hours; looks incredible in 3D; great balance of sci-fi and real-world; multiplayer is awesome. CONS: Uninspired alien designs; campaign loses steam midway through; requires too much reloading and weapon-swapping.

After playing Crysis 2 for 20+ hours in the span of just two days, I’m still not sick of the game. Crysis 2 is a riveting first-person shooter I highly recommend to fans of the genre, as well as those looking for something to showcase the might of their 3DTV. It ain’t perfect, but Crysis April 2011 | www.gameworldme.net | 45

LAST WORD

IPAD 2: A GAMING CONSOLE?

pple has launched the iPad 2 to nearly universal glowing reviews. It’s lighter! It’s thinner! It has a cool magnetic cover now! But gamers were skeptical. After a year of promises about the “next great gaming platform,” the original iPad failed to deliver on expectations. What Steve Jobs called “the most successful consumer product ever launched” met with very little enthusiasm from the gaming community. While visually impressive and selling 15 million units, the number of quality exclusive games was minimal. From a gamer’s perspective; there was very little incentive to purchase the expensive and heavier iPad in lieu of the nimble and versatile iPhone 4. Yet we can always count on Apple to improve its creations. The leap from the original iPad to the iPad 2 is no different. What was once a technological curiosity is now a finely tuned machine, one that’s garnering praise from game developers and critics alike. The iPad 2 inherits the same 1024x768pixel display as the original iPad. But behind that screen is a much-improved gaming machine. The iPad 2 has 512MB of RAM (the original carries half that -- 256MB) -- and a 200MHz bus speed, likewise twice that of the original. The iPad uses the Apple-designed A5 processor, a new dual-core processor that Apple claims can perform twice as fast as the 1GHz A4 chip that powers both the

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LAST WORD iPhone 4 and the first-generation iPad. While the processor might be the workhorse of a machine, graphical capability is essential for games. The A5 processor promises twice the performance of the first-generation iPad, but Apple claims the iPad 2’s graphical speeds are as much as nine times faster than its predecessor’s. Of course, this increase in hardware performance needs software that’s optimized to take advantage of the multiple processor cores, and so far a scant few titles on the App Store are even attempting to do so. Only a handful of developers have offered updates to their iPad titles to utilize the iPad 2’s hardware. Games like Epic Games’ Infinity Blade, EA’s Dead Space, Gameloft’s Asphalt 6: Adrenaline, and Firemint’s Real Racing 2 are some of the more visually impressive games on the iPad, and these look even better on the iPad 2 thanks to recently released updates. As developers have only had a brief period of time to develop for the new iPad, in time we should expect games to be built specifically to take advantage of the A5 processor and the superior graphical capabilities of the device. Whether these new games are weeks or months away remains to be seen. But perhaps the best sign of things to come for iPad gaming is Apple’s improved support for HDTVs and HD video. The iPad 2 has video mirroring, ensuring that once you have connected the device to the HDMI adapter, the iPad will display the contents of its screen on an external monitor. Sure, with the iPad 2’s 4:3 aspect ratio, you may have to tweak your television settings to see the entire picture. But the initial results are quite promising. It’s no wonder that

Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games, recently told Venturebeat that the iPad 2 is “fantastic for gaming.” Epic Games has traditionally been known for its Unreal Technology and developing the hit Gears of War series for the Xbox 360. But last year, Epic demonstrated their belief in the potential for the mobile platform by producing the visually stunning iDevice bestseller Infinity Blade. Now, other bigname developers have echoed Rein’s early sentiments as other traditional gaming houses begin to take mobile gaming more seriously. The iPad 2 represents not only a step forward for the mobile gaming industry by offering the most powerful mobile platform ever, but the versatility of its AV Adapter means that Apple is now treading into console gaming territory. Just as you can play Gears of War and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on your home television, so can you now play Angry Birds, Infinity Blade, and Tiny Wings. Rovio’s Peter Vesterbacka recently told the South by Southwest Interactive conference that he feels confident that traditional console gaming is “dying” due to the rise of mobile gaming. While no one wants to write the epitaph quite yet, the Angry Birds creator has a point: Hardcore console gamers can scoff at the importance of “casual” gaming on the mobile platform all they want, but the millions of purchases on the App Store, the fact that the most talked about game of the last year was on the iOS, and the investment of traditional console gaming houses (like Epic Games, Electronic Arts and Capcom) in the mobile platform suggests that the iPad 2 should be taken very, very seriously by gamers. Console and computer gamers can scoff at their peril.

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