Gamecca Magazine August 2015

ISSUE 74 / Vol.7 August 2015

www.gameccamag.com

Swinger!

God of War 3 assaults the PS4

Swimming in Skylake MSI comes out swinging...

Little Wars

Ta k i n g O lym p u s

Warhammer brings big battles to the table

Rory McIlroy PGA Tour Reviewed

Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited MotoGP 2015 God of War 3 Remastered F1 2015 Rory McIlroy PGA Tour and more...

Get Gaming!

Asus’ Z170 Pro gaming Mobo Reviewed

The List Games to get in 2015

B lack F utur e Black Ops 3 looks ahead...

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Bronze Award

Silver Award

Gold Award

Platinum Award

Ed’s Choice Award

Given to games & hardware that score 80-84

Given to games & hardware that score 85-89

Given to games & hardware that score 90-94

Given to games & hardware that score 95-100

Editor’s Choice Award for products that make an impression

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t isn’t often that we delay publishing Gamecca Magazine in order to stick to an NDA. Not that we ignore NDAs, you understand, but we normally prioritise getting the mag to our readers over them, and will carry information covered by them over to the following issue. However, Skylake doesn’t come along every day…

For those that don’t know, Intel’s new CPU architecture is being hailed by many as the most important new processor technology in a decade, and it brings with it a lot of excitement in the PC market. And so we thought it would be great to get you the information as fresh as possible, skating in just after the NDA lifts. Our Skylake coverage looks at products from two component manufacturers, and we’re sure that we’ll be bringing you tons more information about this remarkable new tech in the next few months.

It’s almost time to sit back and relax… this issue was a tricky one, and we have brought a few changes about within its digital pages – most notably the shifting of the Technology section to the front of the magazine.

See, we’re constantly trying to improve our reader experience, and we feel that this shift creates a better flow, and a better sense of anticipation through the mag.

Ultimately, though, it’s up to you guys to let us know

From the Editor

Ed’sNote

by Walt Pretorius

what you think, and how you find the new flow through the magazine. Drop me a letter…

I welcome your feedback.

August, of course, also brings GamesCom with it – it’s happening now, actually.

That show will fill us in on the last bit of information we need before the mad rush towards the Holiday Season starts. In fact, August is pretty quiet on the gaming front, but that will allow you to prepare for what is looking like a really massive end of year. In September, the games start arriving, in a big way… and they don’t stop until into December. There is a lot coming, and a lot of great stuff to boot.

It’s almost a little intimidating, really. The end of this year looks huge, no matter which angle you come at it from. That’s the reason why we put together our 30 Games to get feature – a little guidance for what looks truly promising for the end of 2015.

That, combined with last month’s E3 feature and next month’s GamesCom round-up, should have you completely filled in about the games you should be playing. All I can say is: prepare your wallet for some strain, because the game releases look hot.

Right. Time to relax has arrived. So I am going to kick back with a good book (because this month I will be able to get some reading in) and a cup of coffee. Hey, you can get some great reading in too… it starts on the next page of this 74th issue of Gamecca Magazine. g mgeect 2 c7a 7 4 ggl a ad

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THIS MONTH’S COVER

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Feature: Swimming in Skylake MSI takes the CPU bull by the horns...

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reviews: Hardware Ten bits of awesome tech investigated

Black Ops is heading your way again!

Publisher Walt Pretorius walt@novamentis.co.za

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Regular: Internet Email hell...

Writers: Alex Scanlon Clive Burmeister Charlie Fripp Christo van Gemert Iwan Pienaar Lein Baart Katia Taliadoros Nthato Morakabi Rob Edwards Suvesh Arumugam Walt Pretorius

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Regular: Security Keep shopping safe

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Regular: Did you know More awesome gaming factoids

Letters:

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Feature: Rise of the Underdog How Treyarch came to dominate Call of Duty

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Previews: Games 14 games to look out for

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Feature: Games to get 2015 Top titles coming this year

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Reviews: Games 12 games Inspected

Publisher Katia Taliadoros katia@novamentis.co.za

letters@gameccamag.com

Competition Entries: competitions@gameccamag.com

Newsletter Subscriptions: www.gameccamag.com

Marketing Contact:

Copyright Š Nova Mentis (Pty) Ltd 2009 - 2015

walt@novamentis.co.za katia@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.

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Regular: Indie View talking to Unfinished Pixel

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Regular: Legacy StarCraft - the king of RTS?

GAMECCA is published byNova Mentis (Pty) Ltd

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Feature: Table-top Fury Warhammer is about big miniature battles

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Cool Stuff: Board Games Two awesome games to get to

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COOL STUFF: Comics Four great things to read

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Gamecca Vol. 7 Issue 74 August 2015

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Ed’s Note A little change...

Technically Speaking To be a better human...

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Ramjet’s Rantality Crying a lake of tears...

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The Time Betwixt Storm in a tea cup?

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The Last Word Try to keep up...

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Cooler Master Devastator Combo

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Razer Tartarus Chroma Gamepad

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Cooler Master Octane Combo

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Razer Firefly Mousepad

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FeatureS 10

Swimming in Skylake

HARDWARE Reviews 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 29 30 32

Acer Aspire Switch 10 Hybrid Notebook Asus STRIX Radeon R9 390 Graphics Card AlienWare Alpha Gaming PC Razer Tarsus Chroma Gaming Keypad Cooler Master Devastator Gaming Gear Combo Genius GX Gaming Zabius M Mobile Gaming Headset Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD Razer Firefly Mouse Pad Asus Z170 Pro Gamer Motherboard Cooler Master CM Storm Octane Gaming Gear Combo

RegularS 34 38

Internet Security

COLUMN 40

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Technically Speaking

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SWIMMINGI

MSI’s motherboard offerings take ad

Keeping up with new technology is something that is important to most consumers. As a result, manufacturers of products and components need to TECHNOLOGY

be on the same page, offering consumers the best that

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Swimming in Skylake

INSKYLAKE

dvantage of the latest technologies.

new tech has to offer.MSI have done just that with their range of Z170 motherboards - combining the power of Intel’s new Skylake CPUs with the latest ideas in speed, stability and performance.

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TECHNOLOGY

Contents Aug 2015

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be equally significant. With the release of Skylake, MSI is getting ready to dazzle and amaze…

MSI’s Z170A motherboards will come in a variety of flavours, designed to suit a wide range of pockets. These are, by MSI’s definitions, Enthusiast Gaming, Performance Gaming and Arsenal Gaming. At the lower end of the scale, the Arsenal series will be subdivided into further categories.

SO how do these definitions work? Well, at the most basic level, the boards will be suffixed with M9, M7 and M5 respectively ( as in MSI Z170A Gaming M7, and so on). But these definition also speak to the type of gamer that the boards are aimed at. The M9 board, for example, is aimed at the true enthusiast, who demands every ounce of performance, while the M5 is aimed at the more casual gamer, who may not need all the bells and whistles, but still wants good performance.

There are various features that are spread across the range. All the boards, for example, come with DDR4 Boost & XMP LED. Using this system, the boards maintain a pure memory signal by fully isolating the memory circuitry – which means better stability and performance.

All the boards in the range also come with Gaming Hotkey, a feature that allows the user set up keyboard shortcuts to launch games and applications, and even define macros within games. The M9 and M7 also enjoy Gaming Boost, a system allows for automated overclocking.

All the boards in the range also employ Killer LAN E2400 to prioritise gaming traffic, and offer 15KV anti-surge protection built

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Swimming in Skylake

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t sounds a bit like the name of a james Bond movie – Skylake. But it’s no spythriller… rather, Skylake is the codename used by Intel for a thriller of another kind; their brand new processor microarchitecture.

At the time of writing, much of the information about Skylake is still under lock and key, but we do know some of the features that this new architecture will bring to the party. Aside from higher speeds and less power consumption, Skylake processors are built to take advantage of the abilities of DDR4 RAM, and will introduce a number of associated technologies, including supporting up to five monitors, wireless charging of laptops and a whole lot more.

But this isn’t about Skylake… it’s about what Skylake is allowing other manufacturers to do. MSI is taking the bull by the horns with the release of this new architecture, releasing a series of motherboards not just to take advantage of the new processor’s capabilities, but to also refine and improve the experiences of users the world over. And they’re starting with gamers.

With the release of their range of Z170A motherboards, MSI are not only taking advantage of what many consider to be Intel’s most significant processor for a decade, but are also taking advantage of all the latest technologies at their disposal, including the use of DDR4 RAM, USB 3.1 Gen2 and higher grade components. While an upgrade to one of these boards will likely be a significant one – many components will potentially need to be switched out – the benefits of such a move would

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into the LAN port. The M9 (or M9 ACK, to be accurate) adds Killer 1535 AC Wi-Fi to the mix, allowing bandwidth to be optimised even further.

All boards also employ USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Type A and Type C ports), OC Engine 2, improved connectivity via Mouse Master, increased SSD performance through Twin Turbo M.2, XSplit Gamecasrer V2 (including a one year free license) and Click BIOS 5 (for easier tweaking of BIOS settings). The M9 and M7 also offer easy BIOS flashing with BIOS Flashback+.

They also all feature Steel Armour, a reinforcement system

M7, the XPower version is built for those who treat overclocking as an art. This board will come complete with a special, button based overclocking panel and a titanium-look finish. With that said, overclockers don’t need to fight over this limited edition board as such, because the entire range of MSI Z170A boards are more overclocking-friendly, and come with facilities for easier overclocking across the board.

While these are still the earliest of days for Skylake processors and associated hardware. MSI is taking on a very competitive market at a run. Their solid stable of initial product offers shows that

for PCIe slots which helps prevents warping caused by heavy GPUs, as well as to add extra cooling to the ports. The M9 uses a reactive bottom plate in addition, which adds anti-bending and water-cooling support to the mix.

As far as audio goes, the M5 and M7 variants use Audio Boost 3, which employs dual amps and EMI shielding and is enhanced by software by audio specialists Nahimic. The M9 uses the high end Xtreme Audio DAC, also powered by Nahimic.

As far as a range goes, MSI’s Z170A boards are really rather impressive. They combine a large number of new ideas and technologies to create boards that will not only prove to be great performers in the initial Skylake race, but will also provide long, reliable service (in part due to the use of Military Class V components). But wait, as they say in infomercials… there’s more.

There will also be an XPower Z170A board. While its specifications look a lot like the

this forward-thinking company not only wants to captivate the market, but they want to impress it with great performance, excellent stability and the latest technologies.

By doing so, MSI demonstrates a keen sense of what the market wants and needs. It also shows comprehension of the fact that people of different income and enthusiasm levels have different needs, and that boards on the lower end of the price scale don’t need to be trimmed back to a point of being uncompetitive.

Further, MSI shows a strong support for excellent partnerships, with companies like Nahimic and SteelSeries featuring strongly in their new offerings. With these partnerships, forward thinking and a keen understanding of the needs of their market, MSI are looking strong as contenders within the Skylake arena. Their first volley in this battle is a sound one, and looks set to establish them strongly within this new processor generation. g

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Swimming in Skylake

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Acer

H C EW E T VI E R

Aspire

TECHNOLOGY

A

cer’s Aspire Switch products are providing users with something that really works well for a specific set of needs. It might not be the most powerful set of portable computer devices around, but when you break the Switch range down to what it really is – what it is meant to be – you find something that not only provides a great solution to many of the problems posed by both notebooks and tablets, but also a group of gadgets that span the divide between these two classifications almost effortlessly.

As with other Switch devices, the Switch 10 is an underpowered notebook, or an overpowered tablet; but drawing a direct comparison to either is not really fair, or effective. The Switch 10 falls into a hybrid classification that is fast becoming a very popular option for those who want the best of both worlds, combining

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practicality, portability and power in a neat package.

The Switch 10 is nothing if not neat. It sports a 10.1 inch multitouch LCD that either serves as a tablet or, when connected to the accompanying keyboard, a screen for a highly portable notebook. Not only that, but it can be switched around to enable easy presentation, too, making this device truly versatile and extremely handy.

While the hinge that holds the tablet and keyboard together can be pretty stiff when opening the device (leading to a potential accidental (although not harmful) disconnection, it allows for a variety of display positions, as well as providing protection to the screen when closed.

The CPU at the heart of the Switch 10 offers a core performance of around 1.33GHz, with a push out to 1.83GHz. That’s not massively powerful, but by tablet standards it does it’s job really well. It is supported by 2GB of DDR3 RAM, enabling smooth operation, and the

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Acer Aspire Switch 10 Hybrid Notebook

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Hybrid Notebook

Anyway

by Alex Scanlon

it… you like

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS

This is a great companion that bridges the divide between tablet and notebook – tough, stylish and very capable.

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• • • • • • •

1.33GHz Intel CPU 2GB RAM 64GB storage 10.1 inch touch screen Windows OS MicroSD compatible

SCORE

Acer Acer w w w . a c e r. c o m

AWARDS

64GB of internal storage is more than you get with most tablets, even today.

A single USB port built into the keyboard section means that you can also use external storage, or even a mouse, if you want to keep the touch screen free of finger prints. Extra external storage can be provided by way of a MicroSD port, set in the tablet portion (which is a more sensible way to expand memory for this device). This port is accompanied by a mini-USB port, mini-HDMI port and 3.5mm audio output. Connectivity comes by way of wireless LAN. The Switch 10 certainly has a great niche carved out for it. Using a Windows OS, it is a great companion for business people on the move (who will love its presentation capabilities), students and anyone in need of a great tablet solution. It’s stylish, too, and comes in a range of colours for it’s tough shell. g

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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Asus

H C EW E T VI E R

STRIX

TECHNOLOGY

All about power!

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Graphics Card

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With a powerful chipset and tons of RAM, this graphics card is a wonder to behold for those who prefer Radeon.

AWARDS

AT A GLANCE:

SUMMARY

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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combining this particular GPU with so much RAM, and the performance shows. But the three fans built in should also hint at the fact that the heat doesn’t only come from the card’s performance. The three 0dB fans run surprisingly quietly, when you get down to it, and deliver a massive amount of air to the card’s generous heatsink, keeping performance well within safe ranges.

They also mean, though, that this is a rather big card, in terms of length. It’s among the longer cards on the market at the moment, and you’ll want to make sure that it will fit comfortably in your PC case.

Naturally, this card comes armed with a number of features, some of which play towards overclocking. This includes aerospace grade components, as well as the GPU-Tweak software, which allows for safe and effective pushing of limits.

The card also comes with a host of outputs, including an HDMI port, a DVI port and three DisplayPorts, which will allow for great implementation of linked monitors.

This one certainly does its job to show off when it’s powered-up, and anyone who wants a whole lot of Radeon behind their graphics need look no further. It’s an excellent performer, even if it is huge, and you won’t look back once you’ve used it. g

SCORE

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A s us A s us w w w . a s us . c o m

TECH SPECS • • • • • • • • •

R9 390X chipset 8GB RAM 3 Displayports HMDI port DVI port Aerospace-grade components

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by Walt Pretorius

hen Asus first introduced the STRIX range of products, all of the various items that made up the range sported very distinctive looks… right down to the graphics cards. Now, though, things have moved a little away from the original design; while the looks are still striking and distinctive, they have moved away from the cool owl theme that payed homage to the creature that the range is named after. The Radeon R9 390X is a good looking graphics card, but I personally miss the owl.

At least, more or less up until the R9 390X fires up… That’s when any form of nostalgia makes a quick exit and your full attention is grabbed by this powerful graphics solution.

If Radeon is your graphics flavour, then you can’t really do much better than the R9 390X. It’s pretty much as high as you’re going to climb up the Radeon ladder (for now) and the performance shows.

But where it really leaves you breathless, where the speed and stability of the card really shines, is not purely in terms of the GPU, but in the RAM that supports it. GDDR5 has been around for a while, sure, but seeing a whopping 8GB of it built into a card is enough to bring a tear of joy to your eye and add a little snag to your breath.

It’s a powerful proposition,

Asus STRIX Radeon R9 390 Graphics Card

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Alienware

H C EW E T VI E R

Alpha It’s not a console…

TECHNOLOGY

T

he lamentable “PC VS console” war is, as to be expected, still raging. Gamers, it seems, are like the family that fights internally constantly, only banding together against “outsiders”. Whatever the case may be, the pre-built PC gaming market is getting more and more competitive. As components become smaller and more powerful, devices like gaming capable notebooks are becoming more common. Alienware has made more than a few of those. But they are also delving into a relatively new market, which this Alienware Alpha forms part of.

This device is a box that you plug into a TV and play games on. In that sense, it really is another console, with fixed hardware and games that can be downloaded from Steam. Even its controller is console-like… who are we kidding? It’s an Xbox for Windows controller. At a glance – even with a little

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Gaming PC

inspection – you would be hard-pressed to classify the Aplha as anything but a console.

There is a major different, though, in the fact that the Alpha comes in a variety of flavours. With price points ranging from a level that competes with consoles through to a relatively expensive offering, the Alpha range consists of four different devices. They all look the same – unassuming flattened cubes, essentially – but it’s what is inside that makes the different.

CPUs, for example, range from 2.9GHz i3s through to 3.0GHz i7s. At the low end the user gets 3GB of RAM, 500 GB of storage and an Intel custom GeForce GPU with 2GB of Ram. At the opposite end of the scale, the RAM is up to 8GB, storage is in a 2TB flavour and graphics… well, they’re the same.

All models also offer dual-band wireless connectivity and a LAN port, for downloading the all-important games. Other connectivity, including external storage

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AlienWare Alpha Gaming PC

by Rob Edwards

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS

It might look like a console and operate like a console, but variable hardware configurations keep the Alpha securely in the PC gaming rank and file.

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• • • • • • •

3.oGHz CPU (top end) 8GB RAM (top end) GeForce chipset 2TB storage (top end) 4 USB ports

SCORE

A l i e nw a re Dell w w w . de l l . c o m

AWARDS

and peripherals like mouse devices and keyboards, comes by way of two front mounted USB 2.0 ports, two rear mounted USB 3.0 ports, HDMI input and outputs and an optical audio output. These are the same across all models.

The Alienware Alpha is, for its diminutive size, a very powerful and capable gaming PC. It allows easy use of a large screen, and is highly portable. It’s native use of a controller or mouse and keyboard setup allows for great versatility, and the library of games available via Steam is immense. It has pretty much everything going for it.

But it still feels like a PC trying to copy the convenience of a console. And while the argument can be made in favour of varied hardware configurations, the truth is that part of a console’s convenience stems from the fact that it is a set configuration. Still, for PC gamers who want to move into the living room, you can’t go wrong with the Alienware Alpha range.g

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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Razer

H C EW E T VI E R

Tartarus

Less clutter, more comfort...

M

TECHNOLOGY

ost people do just fine with a keyboard when it comes to PC gaming. Until, that is, they try a gaming keypad like Razer’s Tartarus. After than, a large number of gamers may well make a switch, provided that the Tartarus covers all their control bases. It’s about quick access and eliminating clutter, placing all the necessary keyboard controls in an easy to reach system under the player’s left hand, while their right handles the mouse work. And now the Tartarus has joined the Chroma range of products, adding flash to its already excellent (if taste driven) function.

This unusual device offers 15 keys, two thumb keys and an eight-way switch located between them. All of these keys (including the directional switch) are fully programmable, and the Tartarus allows for an unlimited number of gaming profiles (thanks to cloud synching with this Synapse 2.0 enabled device), making it a great companion for almost any game – provided, of course, that the number of keys meet the number that you require. Given that the thumb switches can be used as toggles (like shift and CTRL) and the fact that macro lengths for this device are unlimited, you shouldn’t run into any kind of problem, no matter what the game is that you’re playing.

The biggest issue with the Tartarus (aside from

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Razer Tarsus Chroma Gaming Keypad

Gaming Keypad

by Walt Pretorius

the hours you can lose setting up the multi-coloured Chroma functions) is that it takes a little getting used to. As far as comfort goes, the palm rest can be adjusted for length, which is a big help, but overall it requires something of a larger hand for real comfort.

That said, with the well placed buttons even those with smaller hands can get used to the Tartarus, and they may well get addicted to the ease with which they can achieve their gaming goals in using it.

Although the Tartarus is hardly new, the Chroma update has seen some design improvements, beyond just enabling a wide spectrum of colour option, patterns and layouts. The overall ergonomics of the device have been improved, giving it an even more comfortable feel under the palm. Additionally, the increase in macro lengths and the lifting of profile restrictions are very welcome, and enable the Tartarus to become a massively powerful weapon in any gamer’s arsenal.

There will, of course, be those that simply prefer a standard keyboard over a specialised input device like this. But the uncluttered nature of the Tartarus Chroma, as well as the elevated levels of comfort it provides, certainly are strong draw-cards. In the end, it will come down to personal taste – but a device like this certainly does deserve at least a spin to see what it’s all about. g

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

It might not work for everyone, but the Tartarus Chroma’s decreased clutter and increased comfort are well worth investigating.

SCORE

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AWARDS

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25 keys 8-way switch Unlimited profiles Unlimited macros Chroma funtionality

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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Cooler Master

H C EW E T VI E R

Devastator A great place to get started…

TECHNOLOGY

W

hether you will find a keyboard with more features – in terms of all those bells and whistles that define a keyboard as a gaming device – than Cooler Master’s Devastator is unquestionable. It is very light on special features but, when all is said and done, great features do not necessarily equate to a great keyboard, and macro keys can (for some gamers) become unused white elephants that needed unnecessary cost when they really needed something less flashy and more functional.

Functionality is one of the things that the Devastator has going for it. The other is that it is part of what Cooler Master call a Gaming Gear Combo. That means that when you buy this set, you not only get the Devastator Keyboard, but you get the matching mouse as well. This idea may not work for every enthusiast, who may want to mix and match peripherals based on

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individual performance, but those that want a set that looks good and works well together have a decent option here.

The almost ambidextrous mouse (an idea that is scuppered by the inclusion of two left-side buttons) offers three DPI modes (1000, 1600 and 2000 DPI) as well as a large mouse wheel and four buttons. It is well sized and features rubberised side grips for better performance.

The keyboard is a low profile design, with rubberised feet and adjustors for a more comfortable position. It features a custom membrane design which feels (and sounds) quite different to the pervasive clicky mechanical switches that everyone seems to be using these days, making it a blissfully quieter keyboard option. The keys are backlit, too, although your only options here are “on” and “off”. The keys are also shapes for better grip, which is never a bad thing.

In essence, the Devastator Gaming Gear Combo may

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Cooler Master Devastator Gaming Gear Combo

aming Gear Combo

By Alex Scanlon

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS

While low DPI and lack of features may be off-putting to some, the Devastator Combo is a great entry point, and will suit more casual gamers well.

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2000 DPI mouse 4 mouse buttons Membrane keyboard Backlit keys Grippy keys

Co o l e r Ma s t e r Co o l e r Ma s t e r w w w . c o o l e rma s t e r. c o m

AWARDS

not be what a deep-enthusiast is after, but it does provide a one stop solution. While it may not have all the features some folks would want in input devices, it does get the job done, and makes for a great entry point. And, of course, there is the convenience of getting all the essentials in one box.

The low DPI on the mouse may be off-putting to some, but it also does depend on what flavour of gaming you’re after. The ability to vary DPI (even if only across three settings) would have been a great addition. Still, as it stands, the Devastator Combo won’t disappoint overall, particularly for those who approach their PC gaming on a more casual level, or who want peripherals that are great all-rounders rather than often expensive dedicated devices.

In the end, it really comes down to requirements and enthusiasm level. If you’re new to gaming, or don’t take it too seriously, this should be a decent fit. g

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

SCORE

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Zabius M

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Mobile Gaming

This is one of those small packages‌

TECHNOLOGY

Genius GX Gaming

H C EW E T VI E R

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Genius GX Gaming Zabius M Mobile Gaming Headset

g Headset

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by Rob Edwards

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

With excellent comfort and surprisingly good audio, the Zabius M is a great choice for mobile personal audio

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13mm neodymium drivers Flat cable 1.2m cable length Gold-plated jack In-line microphone

SCORE

Ge ni us T V R Co mput e rs w w w . t v r. c o . z a

AWARDS

n-ear earphones are always something of a gamble, and the worst part is that you can never be sure what you’re getting until you’ve got them.

Despite what the packaging might look like, and the claims that appear on it, a small headset like this is all about proof in the pudding. The main problem that arises with smaller headsets is that the bass is often washed out almost completely, leaving the audio tinny and without soul.

That is not a problem for GX Gaming’s Zabius M headset… not in the slightest. The bass levels produced by these headphones, which sport 13mm drivers (diminutive by any standards), are nothing short of brilliant. Consequently, the level across all audio, including high notes and those all-important, often-overlooked mid-tones, is remarkable. If you’re after personal audio that is small enough to fit in your pocket, this is your answer right here.

Not only great audio is on offer here, but versatility too. The Zabius M, as the M implies, is perfectly at home with mobile devices like smartphones. In fact it comes with an in-line microphone, complete with a call answering function, making it a headset that spans the 3.5mm jack spectrum beautifully.

The design is striking, as most GX Gaming devices are, and clever to boot. The ear-pieces are angled forward for a more comfortable fit, and three sizes of ear-pieces are included to enable the user to find their optimal fit. All-in-all, it’s a great option.

The Zabius M even comes with a handy, tough carry case, and the flat cables employed by it mean that tangles are virtually impossible. The neodymium drivers and gold-plated 3.5mm jack ensure great audio, and an included splitter cable means that sound and mic capabilities extend to devices that use separate ports for them.

But even the greatest product can have a weakness, and in the case of the Zabius M it is the length of the cable. Without the splitter attached, it offers a paltry 1.2m length from end to end, which is fine when you’re using a mobile device, but might not be so great of you need to use audio jacks at the back of a PC tower. Even with the splitter cable, the length is nowhere near what it could have been.

That said, if you’re using a notebook or audio jacks that are close by, the Zabius M is a better than good bet for solid, dependable and comfortable personal audio. The striking looks, flat cable and high degree of comfort offered are all winners, and the sound is so surprisingly good you will be excused for wondering how those little drivers can produce such a wondrous noise. g

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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Samsung

850 EVO

Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD

H C EW E T VI E R

250GB SSD

The need for speed…

by Rob edwards

SUMMARY It’s a little shy on storage, but the 250GB 850 EVO is a top notch performer.

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AT A GLANCE:

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t really is starting to be about time that SSD manufacturers do something grand. A massive price drop, or a huge upswing in storage capacity (even though these Samsung 850 EVO SSds do come in up to 2TB). Preferably, both…

SSD technology is great and all, but it still carries a price point that is a barrier to entry for many. And that’s a pity, because seeing an SSD in full flight is something to behold.

As it stands, this 250GB version is a little on the small side, but it certainly is a great performer. SSD, on the whole, delivers blazing speed, and the 850 EVO is no different. And, as always, it is more stable, more secure, less likely to crash and less power hungry than a traditional HDD. SSD is the way to go, without a doubt… but we’d still like a grand gesture, please. g

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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

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TECH SPECS • 250GB • 3D V-NAND technology • 2.5 inch SATA III • • • • • •

Razer

Firefly

Razer Firefly Mouse Pad

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Mouse Pad !

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by Walt Pretorius

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AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY As odd as a lit-up mouse pad may seem, the Firefly is a more than decent mouse surface when you get down to it.

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

Chroma functionality 7 foot USB cable Non-slip base Micro-textured finish Optimised surface coating

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TECHNOLOGY

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azer seem to be applying their Chroma standard to everything… even a mouse pad. No, really, the Razer Firefly might not carry Chroma in the name, but this powered mouse pad (yes, powered) takes full advantage of Chroma functionality.

Which basically means that a strip around the pouter edge and the Razer logo on it’s surface light up and can be set with any Chroma functions.

If you’re willing to lode a USB port to the Firefly, it really is a conversation starter, and the lit edge even has the benefit of defining the borders of your mousing area at a glance. In addition, the non-slip base, micro textured finish and optimised surface coating make for an excellent mouse surface. And it’s hard, too, which means no frayed edges. As odd as it may seem, this colourful mouse pad is truly excellent and the lighting is even practical. g

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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Z170 Pro Ga

TECHNOLOGY

The next generation

Asus

H C EW E T VI E R

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Asus Z170 Pro Gamer Motherboard

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Motherboard

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by Walt Pretorius

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

Asus’ initial Z170 offering is a great, reliable motherboard; a nononsense workhorse.

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

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Z170 chipset DDR4 RAM compatible Skylake CPU compatible USB 3.1 GameFirst technology Sonic Radar II technology

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kylake is here, and you’re going to need a motherboard to run the new Intel CPU. It’s that simple. What isn’t simple is the wide array of motherboards that have become available. Virtually every motherboard manufacturer is trying to take advantage of this new technology, including Asus. With their new Z170 Pro Gaming motherboard, you’ll be able to enjoy the advantages of Skylake, as well as the associated new technologies.

In terms of the Z170 Pro Gaming, those come principally in two flavours. The first is the fact that this board makes use of the faster, more robust DDR4 RAM standard, and it supports up to a whopping 64GB of it. That’s a lot of RAM in anyone’s book, but it is likely than these new technologies and faster components will result in software becoming more demanding, and so a lot of RAM is probably a great idea. With the use of RAMCache technology, having a lot of RAM makes even more sense, as often used files are loaded fully into memory for even smoother performance.

Also on the “brand new tech” list is the Z170 Pro Gaming’s use of USB 3.1. This new standard is ten times faster than its predecessor, and brings with it a new connector type that is fully reversible. Never fear, there is still the standard type connector, too, and the tally for the Z170 Pro Gaming comes down to one Type A USB 3.1, one Type C USB 3.1 (that’s the new connector), six USB 3.0 and eight USB 2.0 ports on this board. That’s a lot of connectivity.

In terms of audio, the Z170 Pro Gaming does really well, with SupremeFX technology delivering the audio and the infuriating (if you don’t have it) Sonic Radar II system providing you sound based intel on the location of your enemies.

Speaking of enemies, LAN is governed by GameFirst technology, which prioritises gaming traffic, while Intel’s latest Gigabit Ethernet technology gives things and overall speed boost.

Perhaps most impressive is the Z170 Pro Gaming’s host of protections, including DRAM over-current protection, electro-static discharge guards, a stainless steel back IO and highly durable components.

The Z170 Pro Gaming is a great initial effort from Asus, and it shows that the company has a decent grasp on what the potential of Intel’s new processor is. However, this is going to be a very hotly contested generation, as multiple manufacturers put their best feet forward to try and take advantage of this new CPU architecture. Asus have their work cut out for them, and while the Z170 Pro Gaming is solid, fast and reliable, it does seem a little lighter on bells and whistles than some of the other offerings out there. But these are early days yet, and Asus are certain to wow us in the months to come. g

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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TECHNOLOGY

Cooler Master

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CM

A good foundation

Y

ou may well be excused for thinking that the Cooler Master CM Storm Octane Gaming Gear Combo is virtually identical to the Devastator Combo, also reviewed in this issue. But the differences are there, and they are more than enough to place the Octane above the Devastator – even if it does still offer more appeal to more casual gamers and newbies than hard-core enthusiasts.

The kit is comprised of the MS35 mouse and the MB7C keyboard. The MS35 is powered by an AVAGO 3050 Optical sensor, and delivers four preset sensitivity levels ranging from 500 to 3500 dpi. That makes it a lot more sensitive that the Devastator’s mouse offering, but still leaves it a little behind more “serious” gaming mice in terms of sensitivity and customisation.

There are some options, though, in the form of seven different LED colours that can be employed, as well as a variable pulse setting and on-the-fly colour cycling. The mouse features six buttons and a generous scroll wheel, and like the Devastator’s mouse, would have been ambidextrous if it wasn’t for two of those buttons being positioned on the left.

The keyboard is as devoid of frills as the Devastator, but still offers the user a reliable input device. It uses a thankfully quiet custom membrane system (no clicky keys here, folks) that proves

responsive and great in terms of tactile feedback.

The keys are contoured for better grip, and while the keyboard offers no macro keys, it does feature a full host of multimedia keys, as well as a turbo mode.

In addition, 19 key antighosting has been built into the MB7C. The keys are backlit, with seven colour presets and a pulse mode (the speed of which can be varied on the fly.

If you’re after high-end peripheral performance, you’re not, to be brutally honest, going to find it in the Octane Combo. What you will find, however, is solid, dependable performance that probably is on par with what you’re using the expensive stuff for – the lack of frills allows this kit to dig down to core basics and deliver accordingly. In addition, the convenience of getting your input peripherals in one box cannot be understated, and at a decent price too.

So while the Octane Gaming Gear Combo might not have any pro-gamer endorsements on the box, that really isn’t where it’s trying to cast its lot. Rather, it speaks to a wider, more casual audience, and even a beginner audience, who may well be after solid performance and competent design at a reasonable price, rather than costly bells and whistles they may never use.

So if you’re after simple, effective control methods, the Octane is a decent bet.g gamecca74

Oct

NAME OF Cooler Master THE PRODUCT CM Storm Octane Gaming Gear Combo

Gaming Gear Combo

SUMMARY HP’s good intentions at producing a more cost effective printer seem to be realised in the 5525.

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

500-3500 dpi mouse Membrane keyboard 7 colour presets Turbo mode

M A NUFA CT UR E R C o o l er M a ster

DISTRIB UTOR C o o l er M a ster w w w. co o l er m a s t e r. c o m

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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by Alex Scanlon

AT A GLANCE:

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Online Perdition!

TECHNOLOGY

Suffering from Inbox Blues...

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by Suvesh Arumugam

Online Perdition!

I

get a lot of mail. I don’t think I get more mail than other people, but I feel like I get a lot. I’m sure most people get a lot of mail, it’s just become something you get used to.

While I think my outbox is starting to lean more towards stuff that I don’t know about rather than stuff I do, I still feel compelled to read things that somehow feel intended for me. So spammers out there - take heart. Although I will never buy your products, I will never date you online or give you my bank account details, I do take the time to read your careful crafted twaddle.

However, I don’t have a lot of time for online petitions. OK, let me clarify, I see a few of you are mouthing “WTF” and thinking of unfollowing me on Twitter. It’s not that I don’t agree with the causes, I actually am very moved by the plight of abandoned and abused children, women’s rights and the fight to free our society from the ills of genetically modified whatsits. These things are important and we need to do something about it. I’m just not sure that the people who invite me to their cause are doing as much as they think they are doing. And there just seems to be no real thought or reflection before starting a cause, like asking “Is this actually a good idea and do I want to invest time into making this a priority for the people I know”.

I recently got an email titled “48 Hours to Save South Africa’s Internet”. Sounds like a phishing site, right - that’s what I thought! But being somehow morally obliged to read the inane arguments of would-be fraudsters, I peeked into the mail. Turns out my banking digits were in no danger. It was a call to action to protest proposed regulations by the Film and Publications Board (FPB) to regulate online content.

“If the Film and Publication Board’s new internet regulations are implemented, they’d have the right to review and classify almost every blog, video, and personal website - even Avaaz campaigns

like this one”, the email declared dramatically, and went on to proclaim ”Think apartheid-era censorship, reloaded and super-charged for an all-out assault on our digital freedoms.”

Within a few days, news headlines declared that over 14,000 people had signed this declaration and the FPB were on the back foot. Now, that’s interesting.

With close to 1 million ADSL subscribers (965,046 in December 2014, according to Telkom) and somewhere just shy of 25 million Mobile Internet users (GSMA Intelligence, January 2015); 14 thousand is a fairly small amount of the South African Internet population, in fact it’s about 0.05% (maybe, I didn’t do so good in matric maths, to be honest). So does it really represent anything statistically significant? Science says that values less than 0.05% cannot be, but that’s a debate for another day, I think it would be fair to say that less than a tenth of a percent does not mean that the internet has spoken. In fact, what the internet could more likely be saying is “I don’t care enough about this to really do anything”.

Should we care? I don’t know, honestly.

Just like the many invitations I get on Facebook to causes and groups fighting this atrocity or that injustice, the reality is that none of us really could be bothered to do more about it than something that takes two or three clicks. Apps have been designed to make the act of protest really easy and convenient. But protest is not meant to be easy or convenient, is it?

As generation X South Africans we were privileged to live in the wake of giants like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Chris Hani, Malcolm X and Suu Kyi. While you might argue that Suu Kyi just spent a few uncomfortable years at home (and not in prison) it was certainly less convenient than liking a page or sharing a social media post. In fact, forgetting the figure heads, South Africans can certainly attest to the fight against racist segregation being overshadowed by massive personal risk to every protester, dissenter and civil disobeyer. Somehow comparing whether

“...protest is not meant to be easy or convenient, is it?”

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I can see a full frontal nude on a blog to the abuse of people’s basic rights and freedoms just doesn’t sit well, and it just doesn’t seem all that urgent.

“Can FPB close down the internet or censor it effectively?”

TECHNOLOGY

Let’s face it, is the internet really a bastion of freedom, or a cesspool that occasionally delivers a funny meme or humorous Facebook game? For every internet driven rally to freedom there are a hundred paedophiles and sexual predators.

For every video of police brutality, there are just as many rebel websites selling confederate flags and advocating racial violence. For every rainbow tinted Facebook profile pic in support of LGBT marriage, there are hundreds of porn websites, porn revenge sites and general smut promoting the ongoing subjugation of women and children.

Can the FPB close down the internet or censor it effectively? Hell no! They don’t have the manpower, the technology or the will. Look at how long it took the FBI to take down Silk Road (a site where you could bargain for murder) with all their resources. And the next day, we had Silk Road 2.0. At the end of the day, people have jobs to do. The FPB has a mandate to try to classify and regulate the flow of media. How can it ignore the internet, with hundreds of hours of video being uploaded every minute? Should it confine itself to iTunes and YouTube (Gosh, imagine trying to police YouTube, even Google can’t completely do that and certainly not quickly enough for bad stuff to never happen). Ultimately, it’s a non-starter.

Losing my freedom would certainly be a wet blanket on an otherwise rather pleasant winter evening in Johannesburg.

But all things considered, I don’t think anyone is really in danger of losing anything important. But I did read your mail. g

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Online Perdition!

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TECHNOLOGY

by Iwan Pienaar

S

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f you are a regular internet user, then chances are you have tried your hand at online shopping at least once.

Few things are better given the choice, convenience, and cost aspects of going the e-tailing route. But are you taking the necessary precautions to make sure your personal data remains safe?

With close on 70 percent of the populations of Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden shopping online, and total online sales in the United States expected to reach almost $300-billion this year, the explosion is happening all around us. And there are no signs of slowing down.

Even in Africa, online shopping is growing tremendously. Recently, the South African-based e-tailing stalwart Kalahari.net was acquired by TakeALot. com to form a new online shopping mecca servicing the continent. One of the reasons for this growth is the increased affordability of mobile devices and bandwidth to take part in online shopping. Even the rise in freely accessible WiFi hotspots throughout Africa mean more people can access e-tailing sites and join in the digital explosion.

A 2013 Kaspersky Lab study has shown that consumers are embracing the always-on world. Being connected around the clock to engage in social networking activities, reading and sending emails, internet browsing, and online shopping has become a natural part of many of our lives.

Unfortunately, cybercriminals have also become part of the digital landscape.

Just as in the real world, these criminals will frequent areas where people

congregate. This means that our online activities, especially when it comes to the likes of banking and shopping, have huge bullseyes painted on them.

As indicated by the Kaspersky Lab study, online users are generally aware of the risks of cyberattacks and are taking steps to protect themselves. Things like ensuring their software is updated across all connected devices and installing some form of security software have become par for the course.

But what of the rest of connected citizens who are still finding their feet online or are just not paying the necessary attention to security?

One of the biggest issues when it comes to the online world, whether a person is transacting or not, is the protection of personal information. For malicious users, few things are worth more than personal data.

This data can be used for a range of nefarious activities ranging from identity theft to credit card scams.

The really concerning thing is that many online users admit to just having one password that safeguards all their accounts. And then, that password might be something as simplistic as a date of birth or the name of a child.

So, in addition to keeping your operating system and other software updated with the latest patches and updates and installing an anti-virus solution, having a dedicated programme for creating and securely storing passwords is a must-have in our connected world.

Another consideration is that despite the convenience that freely available public WiFi hotspots provide, they are also a magnet for malicious users. It is one thing to use a hotspot to

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browse the internet, but when it comes time for financial transactions it is always best to use a mobile connection through your carrier that provides at least some form of encryption.

But let us not forget real-world thefts and lost devices.

If your mobile devices are lost or stolen, then chances are all your personal data and passwords have been compromised. Just think how convenient it has become to leave all your profiles logged in on your mobile device. Another vital component therefore is anti-theft software that can track your device as well as remotely wipe any information you have stored on there if it goes missing.

Ultimately, you need to stay as vigilant (if not more) in the online world as you are in the real one.

Apply common sense to your browsing habits and what you do on the internet and always have security software installed irrespective the device. The alternative might just be too costly to consider

Tips for safer online shopping:

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. Keep your operating system, browser, and apps updated. . Get an extension for extra security on your browser. . How where and who you are buying from especially when you use an auction site. . Make sure your internet connection is secure. . Safeguard your personal information.g

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Caveat Emptor

Caveat Emptor

A safer (online) shopping experience

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C

Technically Speaking

an games actually make you better at things? I’m not talking about those brain games that you get that are supposed to help you with your memory and what not.

I’m talking about regular titles that are released every day.

Before you start saying silly things like that GTA will you a better killer (the same argument goes that if GTA makes murderers out of people, Forza will make you a race car driver), I’m not about to venture into the macabre and underbelly of the gaming community.

To give you an example of what I’m talking about, I never used to be a golfplaying child. Things like that were never accessible to me, nor did I show any real interest in it. But in 1992 a little game called Links 386 Pro launched for the PC. Giving it a try, I didn’t really know what to expect. Little did I know that it would be the start of my love for golfing simulators, culminating in me buying my first real golf set and hitting the greens many years ago.

With the various golf games released throughout the years, they putt you in situations that would require

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you to make a number of decisions, like club selection, distance to the pin and spin of the ball.

To get to the point, I to this day still approach many of my golf shots the way I would in a game. Stupid example would be something like wind direction and strength. While that might seem obvious to golfer, it was only something I encountered in-game. So, at the driving range I would try to factor that in, just as in the game. So in that regard, playing golf games made me a better golfer in real life.

To a lesser degree, rhythm games made me a better musician.

I have always had an interest in music, being surrounded by it for most of my life. At the tender age of eight, I acted on it and took guitar lessons. Actually, it was piano first, but then the teacher wanted me to hit the keys flawlessly while holding a tennis ball, so I bolted.

So having some rhythm in my blood, my first introduction to rhythm games was Guitar Hero 2. I bought the guitar while my friend bought the drum set. After seeing him hit the notes with some ease, I gave it a shot.

I wasn’t terrible at it, but I

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BYcHARLIE Fripp

To Be Better...

was not maestro either. Fastforward a couple of years, and the same friend bought a real drum kit (which was also inspired by Guitar Hero).

Long story short, today I can gladly say that I can hold a fairly decent beat and even on the odd occasion throw in a couple of fills and work the double bass pedal.

So in that regard, by starting off with a rhythm game, it made me a better real-life drummer, as I still apply the techniques and song structures of the songs that we played. Oh, and even though I stopped going for guitar lessons, I bought a real guitar and started playing again after Rock Band 3 came out.

I can give you a couple more examples of where playing a game first translated into me applying what I learned in the real life.

Just a quick one while I’m thinking about it: paintball.

My first multiplayer shooter that I played was Delta Force Land Warrior. Ever since then, I approach the paintball field the same way as I would in any FPS games.

Do you think games can make you better at everyday activities, or do I just have an over-active imagination? g

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Features Rise of the Underdog Games to Get 2015

PReviews Fallout 4 FIFA 16 Volume PES 2016 Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 Albion Online Brave Tank Hero Rock Band 4 Ninja Strike Spectra Madden NFL 16 Destiny: The Taken King Just Dance 2016 Runbow

Reviews The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited Rocket League MotoGP 15 Final Fantasy XIV Online: Heavensward Styx: Master of Shadows F1 2015 God of War 3 Remastered Rory McIlroy PGA Tour So Many Me J-Stars Victory VS+ MouseCraft Entwined

RegularS Did you know Indie View Legacy

COLUMN Ramjet’s Rantality

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GAMING

Did You

Know?

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1…

that you can make your own Pip-Boy? If you haven’t been able to get your hands on the ultra-rare Pip-Boy that comes with the Fallout 4 Collector’s Edition, you are slightly in luck. No, Bethesda hasn’t decided to make more of them, but a fan has released the schematics for it. This means that you will be able to 3D print your very own Pip-Boy just in time for the November release.

But beware: it’s a fairly complicated process as it makes use of a number of tiny parts. It doesn’t come with all the goodies of the original, but we think it is pretty darn close.

2…

that you can play as Iron Man in Grand Theft Auto 5?

Grand Theft Auto 5 is one of the most popular games on any console or system, and with a game of the magnitude naturally comes a huge amount of fans. One such fan, Brazilian coder JulioNB, has been working on a number of mods for use in the PC version, and his latest coding effort was Iron Man. Donning Tony Stark’s suit will give you almost all of the powers that are associated with being the Man of Iron. JulioNB isn’t stopping here, as he is in the process of working on other mods for GTA 5 like Spiderman and the game mechanics of Watch Dogs.

3…

that you can vote on the PS4 Instant Game Collection?

Microsoft’s monthly free Games with Gold haven’t exactly been well received across the board, as many gamers feel the free games on offer lack interest or longevity. PlayStation is taking things in a different direction with their monthly free games in PS4 Instant Game Collection. Instead of just throwing games out at players, it has been revealed that gamers will be able to vote on which games will be coming next.

“The game with the most votes will automatically be included in our future monthly games line-up,” Sony explained in a blog post.

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DID YOU KNOW

Printing Pip-Boys, voting on PSN, and Iron Man

4…

that there is 2.3 million Gamerscore up for grabs?

How much Gamerscore do you have? Chance are, if you have been playing like a demon for the last couple of years, you should hover around the 150 000 mark.

While some players don’t really care much for it, there is currently over 2.3 million Gamerscore up for grabs – if you own every title. Microsoft recently revealed that in total, there are over 100 000 achievements in Xbox Live, which total to over 2.3 million in Gamerscore.

That is a serious amount of playing, considering it has take one gamer a good couple of years to become the first person to break the 1 million mark.

5…

that The Witcher is going pen-and-paper?

Do you like the traditional RPG game where you sit down with pen and paper and plot out your adventures with friends? Well, if you like The Witcher then you are in for a treat. Developer CD Projekt Red has announced that the hugely-popular game will be getting a pen-and-paper role-playing game spin-off and is being developed in collaboration with R.Talsorian Games. One of the main features is that players will be able to create their own character to “live out entirely new adventures set within the world of Geralt of Rivia.”

6…

that Razer bought Ouya’s software?

When first announced, the Ouya console was touted to be the next big thing, giving gamers another console to play game one. But in a showing of the times that players aren’t ready for another system to hook up to their television, the console didn’t quite make the splash it hoped for. Hardware developer Razer stepped in recently and acquired all of Ouya’s software assets. While it doesn’t own the console itself, it does make it easier for them to use Ouya’s technology in its own Android-based microconsole Forge TV. g

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Treyarch’s battle

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

ee Underdog Underdog for dominance‌ By: Lein Baart

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Released in 2008, the year after Infinity Ward blew the world away with CoD 4: Modern Warfare, World at War in retrospect was a cautious second outing.

Splitting its campaign between the Eastern Front and the Pacific Theatre of World War 2 was a relatively new take on the traditional war shooter, and like CoD 3 the game was certainly competent and entertaining, but next to Infinity Ward’s previous efforts it seemed a little stale in comparison. What innovation the entry did introduce to the franchise lay in its Nazi Zombie mode, which despite a certain level of ridiculousness was still immensely fun, and its inclusion of co-op, a first for the series. Of course the multiplayer that has come to characterise Call of Duty was as strong as ever, and overall World at War was good enough to lay the ground work for the game that truly earned Treyarch a

GAMING

hen Treyarch Studios were first handed the reins to develop their own full entry in the Call of Duty franchise, Call of Duty 3, expectations weren’t particularly high. CoD had been Infinity Ward’s baby, and with the release of the excellent CoD 2 they had appeared to have dropped the series in the hands of backup studio while they moved on to bigger and better projects. Times have certainly seen things change however and nowadays Treyarch commands as much respect as their peer, and, as Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 has clearly demonstrated, as much excitement before their games launch.

The road that Treyarch took to reach this pinnacle of FPS development was a long one, and goes back to their second major title, Call of Duty: World at War.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

stint in the limelight.

Call of Duty: Black Ops, released in 2010 just after Infinity Ward’s meltdown with Activision, proved that Treyarch was every bit the equal of its once superior brother. Set during the Cold War, Black Ops presented gamers with the chance to play as Alex Mason, a tortured Special Forces operative reliving his missions while being interrogated. With a plot that was generally praised as intriguing, if a bit incoherent, and gameplay heavy with cinematics and spectacular cutsecenes, Black Ops pulled all the stops to give FPS fans everything they could have hoped for, including an expanded Zombie mode that actually served to act as miniature campaign by itself. It was the multiplayer though that was truly praised, with additions like an exploding RC car and a virtual currency that allowed players to unlock perks in an order of their choosing that managed to elevate it above and beyond anything that had come before. Unfortunately the game was also plagued with bugs, particularly with the PC version, and the game was not without its share of controversy, both for its graphic violence and depictions of torture, as well as its portrayal of the assassination of Fidel Castro’s body double.

Treyarch’s first true sequel, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, proved that the original was no fluke. Fluctuating between two connected storylines, the first being set in the late eighties and the second taking place during 2025 in the midst of a second Cold War, the game actually managed to create a compelling, well-written plot with a complex antagonist, and even allowed for player choices to affect the outcome of the narrative, a genuine first for the franchise. gamecca74

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The only mar on the single-player front were the optional strike force missions, which attempted to blend tactical strategy and classic shooting but were often infuriating due to rather weak A.I.. Once again however Treyarch proved they could innovate when it came to multiplayer, using a new system whereby players were given an allotment of 10 points to spend as they please when creating a class, allowing far more variation than in previous titles. This, in addition to such changes such as dropping killstreaks for scorestreaks and the creation on internal league system, meant that Black Ops 2 arguably offered the best multiplayer package of any CoD game, which was and remains no mean feat.

Thus we have arrived at the point where Black Op 3 release is only a couple of months away, and FPS fanatics are already starting to drool in anticipation. To begin with probably the least relevant element, Black Ops 3’s singleplayer campaign, which will be set in 2065, will drop players in a world that has seen technology become literally embedded in mankind.

The rise of bio-mechanical tech has been met with discontent the world over however, with fears that humanity will be taken over by an army of men more machine than human, unquestioning and absolutely obedient. It’s a weighty subject, especially given the progress that we see in science today, but it remains to be seen whether a Call of Duty game, who in the past have always favoured things going boom over tackling serious issues, can do the topic justice. That being said Black Ops 2 certainly made an honest attempt at a proper campaign and there’s good enough reason to hope Treyarch will do the same here.

Beyond just the narrative though Black Ops 3 will also introduce 4 player co-op, both in the regular campaign as well as Zombies mode, and even appears to have light RPG elements, with players given the gamecca74

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

ability to customise their soldier.

It is multiplayer though that everyone is really interested in, and here again Treyarch are looking to shake up the usual CoD formula.

While its “Pick 10” system will be returning from the previous game, the studio has opted to expand gamers’ options with the inclusion of Specialists, supersoldiers that will allow you access to a unique ability or weapon, such as being able to see through walls or an arm that can transform into a minigun. Movement has also seen an overhaul, and while Treyarch have been quite adamant in their assertion that characters are not wearing exo-suits but are instead utilising bio-augmentation technology, the effect is going to be pretty similar to last year’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Players will be allowed to perform incredible acts of athleticism such as wallruns, power slides and massive jumps (thanks to jetpacks), but the developers have stated that this Black Ops 3’s movement system will be slower and smoother than Sledgehammer Games’ offering, which while subtle can make a world of difference in multiplayer, especially when dealing with the competitive scene.

All in all Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, no matter how far or close it wanders from the traditional CoD formula, is bound to perform well in sales. It’s a shooter whose lineage has never failed to attract hordes of eager gamers who cannot wait for the chance to slaughter anonymous strangers in the newest way possible, and by the power of its name alone this should guarantee it a top spot on the shelves this November. Treyarch is a studio though that, with each new release, always seems to be at least attempting to push boundaries, and the three year development cycle they’ve been allotted now will hopefully allow for a game that genuinely seeks to innovate. g gamecca74

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Fallout 4 GAMING

War. War never changes

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by Lein Baart

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and a lot of hope for Fallout 4.

Like the third main entry in the series, Fallout 4 will not be a direct sequel, instead being set in an area known as the Commonwealth, which will include Boston and other locations in New England. While Bethesda have been rather stingy on plot details, they have revealed that the game begins on the day of the Great War (which began and ended on October 2077 and saw the globe plunged into a nuclear holocaust), with the player character, either male or female, being one of the few that managed to flee to a Vault.

However the character then awakens 200 years later, completely unaged and in a world he/she no longer recognises.

GAMING

ince its inception at the hands of the legendary Black Isle Studios (the old one, not the relaunched studio), Fallout has managed to carve out its own piece of immortality in gamers’ hearts and minds. Despite its decade long hiatus, or perhaps maybe because of it, Bethesda’s Fallout 3 was almost everything fans could have hoped for, both capturing the spirit of the original as well as elegantly and competently bringing the game into the modern age, with Fallout: New Vegas proving a capable follow-up. Bethesda has been content to keep the franchise’s tradition of long-awaited sequels alive it seems, though to the delight of many the studio’s E3 reveal has both given us a release date

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As far as gameplay goes Fallout 4 will keep the core mechanics of its predecessor, allowing players to switch between third- and first-person views at will. The Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (VATS) also appears to be making the transition relatively unharmed, allowing players to slow down time while targeting specific areas of the body, and of course the game will be open-world, though how large the area will be remains to be seen.

There are however several large additions in the pipeline. To begin with Bethesda is hoping to create a more engaging, realistic world, and to this end they will be implementing an extensive crafting system where every lootable object can stripped for parts, allowing

you to build over 50 weapons and 700 modifications (which include things like jetpacks for power armour).

The feature that has generate the most buzz though is that gamers will now be able to build not only their own house from scratch but entire settlements, allowing you to populate your own little corner of Armageddon with traders and NPC’s, create defences, farming land and even set up trade routes.

Bethesda is aiming to create a game that will allow players more freedom than ever before, and the included mechanics are certainly looking up to the task.

It’s a studio that has not failed to deliver since The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, and at this point there is no reason to believe Fallout 4 will be any different. g

AT A GLANCE Action RPG

With a more expansive world that will hopefully offer a far larger range of activities, hopes are high for Fallout 4 Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Bethesda Game Studios Bethesda Softworks Ster Kinekor

Nov 2015

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FIFA 16 One with the ball

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select their favourite team and play through a series of competitions – eventually winning the league that they entered into. That sort of stuff is well known by now, but in case you really didn’t know, there you have it.

It is hard to imagine that it took FIFA 23 games to finally include female players, and also put one on the cover.

Spanish captain Verónica Boquete started a Change. org petition to get the football governing body to include female players, and it proved to be so successful that it garnered over 20 000 signatures in the first 24 hours.

While gamers won’t be able to pit a men’s team against a female team or create mixed-gender teams, they will be able to compete in Match Day, online friendlies and

GAMING

here is very little doubt that one of the biggest sporting franchise in video games today is the FIFA series of football games. The franchise has a plethora of years under its development belt, and there are very little games that claim the same amount in sales and fan anticipation.

This year will be no different, as Electronic Arts is gearing up to push out FIFA 16, the 23rd title in the entire franchise. But this year will be different in some regard: it will be the first time in the history off the franchise that female players will be included in the title.

We really don’t need to explain to gamers that FIFA is an association football video game where players

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“Get stuck in and win back the ball with new tackling mechanics and animations. All new slide, standing, and fake tackles make going in for the ball responsive, rewarding, and fun.” We are not sure if we would describe tackling as ‘fun’, but if it works for EA, we are on board.

To be brutally honest, there is actually very little that EA can do to improve the game. Not that the previous titles were at the pinnacle of development, but purely for the fact that there is only so much that you can do.

Once the graphics, mechanics and control systems have been updated, there isn’t much left to tinker with.

But with that said, it is FIFA game after all, so there is no doubt that it will entertain fans for many hours. g

AT A GLANCE Sports

Better graphics and improved control? What could go wrong?

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EA Canada Electronic Arts Prima Interactive

Sep 2015

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a tournament which EA says has been modelled on the FIFA Women’s World Cup. In terms of feature included in the game, it will have the usual rigmarole of better graphics and an improved control system.

“FIFA 16 innovates across the entire pitch to deliver a balanced, authentic, and exciting football experience that lets you play your way, and compete at a higher level. You’ll have Confidence in Defending, take Control in Midfield, and you’ll produce more Moments of Magic than ever before,” EA explained.

Although it has new controls, one of the things that FIFA sorely needed was better defensive techniques, and EA was kind enough to oblige.

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Volume GAMING

Aug 2015 Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Sneaky, sneaky

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AT A GLANCE Stealth

Fan of Thomas Was Alone? Then you’ll love this unique stealth thriller.

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by Charlie Fripp

f you are a fan of Thomas Was Alone, then you are going to simply love Volume. The indie stealth-based video game is developed by the same person, Mike Bithell, and is a modern take of the Robin Hood legend.

Playing the game, you might hear a familiar voice as well, as the role of Robert Locksley is voiced by YouTube celebrity Charlie McDonnell.

In terms of its plot, petty thief Locksley discovers a device called ‘Volume’, which allows players to simulate heists that are part of a secret military coup attempt.

But Volume isn’t just any ordinary device, as it has an AI built right into it – voiced by Danny Wallace.

According to Bithell, the AI acts as “the Microsoft Office paperclip of military training programs”, and teaches the player on how to use it.

Taking a leaf from the internet and Let’s Play videos, Locksley decides to use the device to broadcast the simulations of highprofile crimes across the Internet.

Popular actor Andy Serkis also has a role in the game, playing Locksley’s foe Guy Gisborne.

In terms of the gameplay, Bithell explained that he took inspiration from the Metal Gear Solid series of titles, with many stealth elements included. The player’s main interface is a top-down third-person view of the Volume simulation.

“Locksley doesn’t kill. That would be far too easy. Instead, he commits his crimes through stealth.

Sneaking, distracting, avoiding. He is never seen, and seldom heard,” Bithell said.

The game will feature over 100 “unapologetic stealth action levels”, a full set of content creation tools and a full campaign playable using pre-made or usergenerated levels.

Like we said, if stealth action is your thing and you loved Thomas Was Alone, you should definitely keep this one on your radar. g

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PES Production Konami Ster Kinekor

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The rival football simulator returns for another season

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AT A GLANCE Sports

Pro Evolution Soccer returns once again to bring world class football, high end graphics and accurate human motions to create a realistic football simulation.

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PES 2016

ro Evolution Soccer or World Soccer Winning Eleven, as it is known in Japan, traces its roots back to 1996 with ISS Pro (International Superstar Soccer: Pro) which was an unlicensed football title with equivalents to existing football stars. Now 19 years later the title has seen massive revamps in graphics, gameplay and licencing, allowing it to compete with rival football simulation from EA, the FIFA franchise.

The team at Konami have taken player feedback from PES2015 and implemented much of it into PES2016 with improvements thrown into the myClub game mode. An all new player levelling system will be introduced as well as exlcusive players who will only be available in the myClub mode.

Returning players from PES2015 will also be rewarded for their loyalty with various bonuses although they will happen across the same platform – PS3 to PS3 for instance.

1-on-1 battles will be improved to allow better control, precise action and flexible manoeuvres, coupled with improved response time for players to have better accuracy when attacking. The new Perfect Defence mechanism will work as a counter measure to attacks as the balancing factor between attack and defence.

PES2016 hopes to capture the human element as players complain about fouls not given or players grieved should a fellow team mate miss a penalty.

Players will also be able to choose their own celebration with prompts that will appear for either a trademark celebration or a unique action.

With continued licencing for the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Super Cup, Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 continues to grow to be a real contender for best football game.g

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Tony Hawk’s Pro GAMING

Flipping good time

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by Charlie Fripp

o Skater 5

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2002. Skateboarding in general seemed to take a back seat to other activities that become more main stream, and thus interest in the franchise faltered.

His time around, Tony Hawk and company will try to give gamers a title that they will be familiar with, yet bring some new elements to the table.

The game promises to “offer a fresh take on combodriven skateboarding, the most advanced Pro Skater online multiplayer experience in a Tony Hawk game, and a state-of-the-art skate park builder.”

That last part is probably going to be the key for most players, as it something that hasn’t been present in previous games since 2005’s American Wasteland.

Yes the game makes use of the Unreal Engine and it

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f an ollie, 720 or a Christ Air means anything to you, then you probably know that the super-rad Tony Hawk-branded skateboard franchise is once again due to be flipping on to your chosen computer system.

Just in case you have been left out in the dark, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 is the next instalment of the hugely-popular skateboarding title that was popularised in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. The franchise has definitely been through some ups and downs, but the tenth title promises to deliver on a better experience than before.

The last main game to be developed in the series was 2007’s Proving Ground, but the majority of the titles reached their popularity peak between 2000 and

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will probably have the same control scheme as all the rest, but the ability to build you own skate park is a rather big deal.

The level designs have been fairly good over the years, but if you could design something that you really like, and know that you will be able to ace in the first try, it will extend the game’s longevity by a couple of months.

The levels created for the game, however, will once again be based on real-world locations, which was the case with previous titles. According to the developers, “these levels will feature multiple objectives, missions, obstacles and gaps for the player to discover, complete and compete.”

Another aspect that has made the franchise so successful, is the inclusion and likeness of real-world professional skaters. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 will include Riley Hawk (Tony’s son), Andrew Reynolds, Nyjah Huston and Leticia Bufoni.

Players will be able to skate around the maps with their chosen pro skater, but if they so choose, they will also be given the ability to create their own skater.

As with the reboot of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, we are not sure if the world is ready for a reboot of Tony Hawk’s skater. While the titles were incredibly fun to play and provided hours of entertainment, the rest of the gaming world has moved on to different titles, and this many well be the last that we see of Mr Hawk. g

AT A GLANCE Sports

It should be incredibly fun to play and provided hours of entertainment for veteran skaters and newcomers alike.

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Robomodo Activision Megarom

Sep 2015

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Albion Online

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Albion Online Crossing the threshold

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single server.

Of course this means that the graphics and controls will have to be scaled down to mobile level, and whether this will place the fledgling free-to-play MMO in peril of oversimplified gameplay remains to be seen, but Albion Online is also offering several features that sound intriguing to say the least. Harkening to the days of Ultima Online, the game will be decidedly focussed on group-based PvP combat, where death will allow a character’s inventory to be pillaged by friends and foes alike. There will also be a

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completely player-driven economy based on crafted items, as well a building system that will allow guilds to create their very own cities in territories that they have captured.

The game will even offer players the chance to purchase an island and build a farm, enabling them to support their guilds as well as trade and barter for goods. Finally Albion Online will feature no character classes, opting instead to use a system whereby abilities are determined by the gear you have equipped and the skills you have selected when levelling. g

AT A GLANCE MMORPG

The idea of playing on a single server against anyone with tablet is compelling, though gameplay might be an issue

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by Lein Baart

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he boom in the indie scene has seen gaming drastically change, not only in terms of the quantity of titles available but in their variety as well. However with the flood of games available nowadays it must be a daunting task for any developer to make their creations stand-out from the competition.

Albion Online, from German developer Sandbox Interactive, is hoping to differentiate itself by offering a game that will not only span all major computer platforms, namely Windows, Linux and Mac, but iOS and Android as well, with all players gaming on a

Brave Tank Hero

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Brave Tank Hero

3D Battle Tank action on the

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Arc System Works Natsume Nintendo eShop

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GAMING

Aug 2015

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by Nthato Morakabi

rc System Works is a game developer that has been around for a long time, developing a number of famous titles, across multiple platforms and in various genres.

They have been behind titles such as BlazBlue, Guilty Gear and Persona 4 Arena amongst others.

Their latest title comes in the form of the tank, 3D action shooter Brave Tank Hero.

Paradise City has been invaded and the players’ missions, should they choose to accept, would be to go up against enemy forces and claim Paradise City back. With over 50 different missions to complete, all scored according to a Stars ranking system, with each subsequent mission more difficult than the last, Brave Tank Hero could be the ideal strategy title.

Three different tanks will be available for selection, each tank to fall between the Light, Heavy and Attack class. A radar system will alert players of enemy presence and the tank turret will wreak havoc on any who would dare come close.

Should a particular mission be too difficult, it will be possible to power up the tank to give that extra boost necessary to complete the mission with the best score.

A multiplayer has been mentioned for the Wii U version which will be in the form of split-screen local play though nothing has been said about the 3DS version.

Brave Tank Hero visually will feature stylised cartoon-like graphics very similar to Codename S.T.E.A.M which is sure to create a more fun and playful type of game rather than a serious tank title.

Brave Tank Hero will have a dual release on both the Nintendo Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS.g

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AT A GLANCE Action

Paradise City has been invaded and players must fight against enemy tanks to reclaim the City.

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Rock Band 4 To the beat of the strum

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that looks and feels like cheap plastic, developer Harmonix has put some extra care and thought into building a solid peripheral that actually looks like a real guitar.

It will still have the strum bar for musical accuracy and simulation of strumming the guitar strings, but the biggest design change comes in the form of added buttons.

The upper part of the guitar neck will house the familiar four coloured buttons that gamers have become accustomed to, but further down the neck Harmonix has added four more buttons. Those added buttons will be used to rock out the high notes during guitar solos.

Rock Band opted to keep the general design of the

GAMING

t is almost time to dust off your little plastic guitars again, as the next iteration off the hugely-popular Rock Band franchise is due for rocking out.

It is still debatable whether gamers need a new rhythm game, but it will be facing off against its archnemesis Guitar Hero Live next month. The genre of games proved to be incredibly popular a good number of years ago, but has since run its course – only to be resurrected for another outing.

As with any game or franchise that gets a reboot, Rock Band 4 is going to be no different. With a huge music library to start out with, the game will also have brand new plastic guitars for gamers to play on.

But thankfully the days of playing on an instrument

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The Feast and the Famine by Foo Fighters and Hail to the King by Avenged Sevenfold is sure to tickle anybody’s strumming finger, while Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars and Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presley will get the feet tapping.

The game’s presentation has largely been kept the same as well, with the fretboard still making its way down the middle of the screen if you are playing by yourself. Here Rock Band is at a slight disadvantage over Guitar Hero Live, as the latter decided to change the look and feel of it – going for a live concert vibe.

While we are excited about Rock Band 4, only time will tell if rhythm games are truly making a comeback or just an encore. g

AT A GLANCE Music

Only time will tell if a reboot is necessary, but the rhythm music genre is making a big comeback none the less.

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Harmonix Harmonix TBC

Q3 2014

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2015

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guitar controller the same, but Guitar Hero Live has gone with a different approach. Instead of having four buttons in a row as per tradition, GHL will have six buttons in two rows of three. Whether that is the right move or a plastic faux pas, only time will tell.

But guitar controllers aside, the next biggest aspect that virtual rockstars are really interested in is the playlist. What good a rhythm game if the music isn’t up to scratch or even popular? Well, here Harmonix is trying to play to everybody’s tastes.

At the time of writing, 23 songs have been confirmed so far, with the titles being a good mix between true rocks song and some being a bit more towards the pop side.

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Natsume Natsume Nintendo eShop

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Call of the side-crolling ninja

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AT A GLANCE Action / Platform

Run, fly and slash enemies to get stolen treasures back in this high-speed, action-packed, side-scrolling title in Natsume’s Ninja series.

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by Nthato Morakabi

Ninja Strike

he world of gaming is always expanding, beyond desktop computers, consoles and handhelds into almost every platform that can handle a game. Mobile gaming in and of itself has seen a massive growth from Snake and Tetris to the fully fledged titles currently out at the moment. One such title was developed by Japanese video game developer Natsume Inc, known for their highly successful farming title, Harvest Moon. This time they change direction and move towards a side-scrolling title.

Ninja Strike was developed for the iOS however Natsume are now porting it over to the Nintendo Wii U as a completely brand new game with elements from the original. Players will select from a choice of five unique ninjas who have each have their own special abilities to suit different play styles. Ranging from strength or the ability to triple jump, players can expect multiple change-ups with each character for a varied gameplay.

This fast paced action, sidescrolling title will see players move through the level facing off against a number of henchmen and some not-your-run-of-themill type of henchmen who will do whatever they can to prevent player progress. The iOS version would see players sprint across the scrolling landscapes, occasionally glide over chasms and for a particular ninja, fly for a short time over obstacles and enemies.

Part of the progression is to come in the form of collectable coins which players will have to collect in order to level up the various skills each ninja is able to utilize, strengthening the characters and helping players to travel further through the level.

Ninja Strike’s mobile version is free on both Google Play market and the App Store. g

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Spectra

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Spectra

Right in the nostalgia…

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game, the simple gist of the game is to survive the until the music stops.

Just a single game mode with a single goal that seems easy enough but isn’t.

In detail, players will have to race along a continuously flowing track that generates as players move, obstacles baring the way while collectable points lie scattered across the track – all to the beat of a soundtrack guiding the way. Players will have to move from left to right, dodging obstacles, collecting points and attempting to do it all with exceptional style as the gameplay speed increases the further the player progresses.

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Although Spectra will have only one game mode, the game will still feature varying difficulties and the Xbox one version features achievements, incentivising continuous playing.

The exclusive soundtrack will be brought to you by chiptune musical geniuses behind Super Hexgon and Size Does Matter, Chipzel, who are known for their procedural soundtracks which provide unlimited gameplay. With a sound very relevant to the retro, arcade style of gameplay that is Spectra, this title is sure to make for fun, fast, intense arcade gaming. g

AT A GLANCE Music/Rhythm

Speed down the procedurally created racing track, to the thumping retro tunes brought to Spectra exclusively by Chipzel, for epic, retro, arcade fun.

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by Nthato Morakabi

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t is quite interesting to see gaming fluctuate between amazing rendered scenes that tantalize the gamer taste buds like a Sunday meal, to retro style graphics and sound that bring more nostalgia than the theme music to your favourite Atari, NES or as we locals also had, TV-Game title. Even the Indie game dev scene has the best of both these worlds, thereby ensuring that gamers experience different levels of gaming both in graphics, sound and of course, gameplay.

This is where Spectra makes its mark. Working as a Rhythm-Racing

Madden NFL 16

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Madden NFL 16 Touchdown!

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EA Tiburon Electronic Arts Prima Interactive

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GAMING

Aug 2015

will feature all-new controls, which EA explains will give players better control when reaching for the ball.

The quarter back has had some tweaks to the mechanics as well, which will now include body-relative throws plus touch and roll out passes. In terms of passing, EA will introduce a new risk/ reward catch and pass-defend system.

With all the changes, it doesn’t mean that the rest of the game wasn’t up to scratch. A number of elements will be retained, like the General Manager mode, in which players can control every aspect of the team, from transfers and play styles to

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selling merchandise and relocating the stadium.

Naturally, every Madden game has managed to get the graphics just right – and the same can be said about NFL 16. The player likeness is really well done, and with the updated control schemes it should be the whole package.

If players have the slightest interest in American football, the Madden series is a very good place to start in order to learn more about the sport, the players and who each team operate. It is definitely worth a purchase when it rolls around. g

AT A GLANCE Sports

With the updated control schemes and better graphics it should be the whole package.

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merican football is nowhere near as popular as soccer, cricket or wrestling in South Africa, but thankfully there are enough fans in the country to justify Electronic Arts to bring the next iteration of the franchise to SA. Between Madden NFL 14 and NFL 15, a lot of changes were made to accommodate the tastes and preferences of the thousands of player around the world – and Madden NFL 16 is no different.

One of the aspects that players wanted to see change was the control scheme, as EA took it to heart. NFL 16

Destiny: The Taken King

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Destiny: The Taken King S

ince its launch last year September Destiny has proven itself to be a massive success, with Activision claiming in May that 20 million people had purchased the title, despite criticism directed at the plot and end-game. Clearly there’s more than enough to keep and hold people’s attention, and the steady stream of DLC that Bungie have released over these past twelve months have probably helped considerably. With the game’s first –year anniversary looming large in September the studio has announced yet another addition to the Destiny game, though The Taken King has already begun to stir up controversy.

Focussed around the arrival of a Hive dreadnought bearing the Taken King Orxy, the god-like father of The Dar Below’s Crota, the expansion will be bringing about a significant number of changes to the game, including an additional sub-class for each of the primary classes. It will also feature new Crucible modes, a Crucible map and a new strike, as well as the usual extra gear and weapons.

Bungie have made several announcements that have caused a considerable amount of angst among existing players, not the least being the nerfing of several weapons including Gjallarhorn.

However it’s the price tag of the DLC for gamers that already own the previous expansions that has landed the studio in hot water, as the DLC alone is set to retail at a hefty $40, and the collector’s edition content will require current players to repurchase the base game. To combat the discontent Bungie have revealed several exclusive items and perks for existing players who own both The Dark Below and House of Wolves, though whether this will soothe the ruffled feathers remains to be seen. g

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by Lein Baart

Coining it

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AT A GLANCE FPS/RPG

While doubtless current Destiny gamers will find plenty to be excited about, there’s more than a little resentment amongst this player base

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Just Dance 2016

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Just Dance 2016

Ubisoft dancing its way to the top

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GAMING

Q3 2014

Just Dance is about exactly that, swaying those hips like you just stepped into a musical featuring all the latest tracks. An on screen character dances choreographed moves which players must emulate, all captured by the motion sensor devices for consoles.

The Track List will feature songs such as Mark Ronson Feat Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk, Jason Derulo – Want to Want Me, Megan Trainor – All About That Bass and many more.

Three new game modes are to be introduced. In Dance Quests, players unlock quests in an effort to

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“beat the game” for the first time in the series. Dance Party Mode pits friends and family against one another in the classic rival mode or puts them together aiming for the best collective high score. World Video Challenge allows players to challenge online friends to a best high score dance-off.

The latest addition to the series for the Next Gen consoles will be the ability to download a Just Dance controller app to a smart device; by holding the device in hand while dancing, the app will tally up a score for the dance moves. g

AT A GLANCE Rhythm

The latest ‘‘come dance at my house’’ invitation which will now incorporate smart devices into their dance routines.

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by Nthato Morakabi

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hythm based titles have been making headway amongst casual gamers and regular gamers alike, allowing players riff out their favourite songs on guitar, sing along to popular tunes karaoke style or dance along to the choreography of top chart hits.

Ubisoft jumped on the band wagon with their Just Dance series, the name derived from the controversially eccentric Lady Gaga and her song of the same name. 6 years later and the series sees its 7th instalment make its way to shelves with Just Dance 2016.

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Somewhere over the Runbow: Colour me frantic

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AT A GLANCE Platformer / Adventure

The colour saturated action adventure platformer is all about fast, frantic fun a multiplayer game with unique art and never seen before colour mechanics.

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by Nthato Morakabi

Runbow

magine the world as a kaleidoscope of colours, splattered across the world in an array of swatches that would make a kindergarten finger painter jealous. Now imagine that the world would become awash in a continuous hue of colours and with each colour that appears, anything of a similar shade completely disappears. This is the world of Runbow, where colour is life and everything hinges on it.

Runbow is an action adventure platformer, in which players race against each other in the Runbow Run, dashing across the continuously moving world over platforms and obstacles that disappear as the background colour changes. If the colour is the same as the object, the object ceases to exist; this game, colour mechanic is a never before seen concept which provides a new way to play platformers.

Runbow will feature a story mode, pitting players against the nefarious Satura or players can take on the challenging Bowhemoth, both modes in either solo play or with friends.

Should the need for multiplayer hit, players can indulge in six various game modes including King of the Hill, Arena or Run. Taking advantage of the Wii U gamepad, players can also go up against a player who will be the ColorMaster, whose goal is to ensure other players fail in their run.

The unique art-style and with a number of unlockable costumes available varying from pirate to ninja to zombie, as well as a variety of challenges, achievements and more, Runbow looks to be more than just a single run through type of game.

With fast frantic fun and imaginative gameplay, one can only wait to see what colourful wonders Runbow will bring to the table. g

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There are a lot of great games on the way, but which are coming this year? Which are the ones that you should be saving money for? Which are the must-play titles that will 76

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Games to Get 2015

es et give you much gaming joy through the holidays? Which games should be on Christmas lists?

Panicked? Stressed out? Relax... we’re here to help... gamecca74

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o we have seen all the awesome new games announced at E3 2015, and GamesCom will likely add a whole lot more this month. But what exactly does all of that mean – realistically, a game announced at E3 doesn’t guarantee that it will be released any time soon.

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Mad Max, for example, was announced two years ago, and is still making an appearance on the E3 show floor.

What this means for consumers is research, which not everyone has the time to do. And if you don’t know when the games are coming, how are you supposed to make sure that you will be able to afford them?

Games aren’t cheap – getting new ones takes planning and financial strategizing.

Well, we’re here to help.

Last month we told you about all the great games at E3, but now we’re telling you about the games that are coming this year… and what a year it’s going to be. Between now and 2016, there is a lot of gaming to be done.

Of course, the list that follows is subject to change, thanks to the fickle nature of the video game industry and that terrible bugbear of delays that raises its ugly head from time to time.

But as things stand now, at the time of writing, the games that

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follow are ones that you need to consider for your end-of-year gaming pleasure.

Although August is still relatively quiet, things get much hotter from September. Destiny: The taken King, FIFA 16, Forza Motorsport 6 and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, are all due then, to mention a few.

October looks equally exciting, with the likes of Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, Halo 5: Guardians, Rock Band 4 and Rainbow Six: Siege (among others) hitting shelves.

But, as always, November is the month to beat, with releases including (but not limited to) Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Fallout 4, Need for Speed, Rise of the Tomb Raider (on Xbox One) and Star Wars: Battlefront hitting retail outlets. That’s enough to keep you gaming well into the New Year (even if you don’t add Hitman and Just Cause 3 in December).

It’s enough to make you take out a second mortgage… or get a second job. And there are even more releases that don’t have firm release dates yet, like Guitar Hero Live, Homefront: The Revolution, Mad Max (yes, finally) and Overlord: Fellowship of Evil.

All in all, it going to be one of the most exciting closing halves of a year in memory. So, without further ado, let us present our list of the Games to Get for the remainder of 2015…

Games to Get 2015

Anno 2205

PC November 2015 The Anno series presents great city-building and management, and 2205 will put a fantastic futuristic spin on things. It promises to be bigger and bolder than ever before, and players should be able to build massive concerns in this title. It’s going to be thoughtful, detailed goodness!

Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate

PC/PS4/XO October 2015 Ubisoft need to make up for Assassin’s Creed: Unity, and it looks like Syndicate might do the trick. Set in Victorian London, two heroes take to the shadows, drive carriages, employ a wicked arsenal to relieve the deserving of their lives, and much more. Let’s hop the bugs don’t show up again…

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

PC/PS4/XO November 2015 The Call of Duty continues looking to the future, and now brings its recent futuristic trend to the longawaited Black Ops sequel. It looks pretty exciting, and the overall tone of Black Ops will make a welcome change from the more blatant shooters we’ve been seeing lately.

Destiny: The Taken King

PS3/PS4/X360/X0 September 2015

GAMING

Love it or hate it, Destiny is huge, and now it’s getting a huge expansion.

A new campaign, new sub-classes and a whole new destination to visit will ensure that fans will keep slogging through Bungie’s popular MMOFPS. More fantasy sci-fi action for all!

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Games to Get 2015

Disney Infinity 3.0

PC/PS3/PS4/ X360/XO/WiiU Q3 2015 Now that Disney own LucasFilm, we will be able to get Star Wars characters to collect and play with in the newest version of Disney Infinity. Disney Infinity 3.0 promises to combine even more well-loved characters with those already available, and kids will go crazy for it… again.

Fallout 4

PC/PS4/XO November 2015 Leaked just before E3 2015, news of Fallout 4 got just about everyone excited – even if New Vegas sucked a bit. And it didn’t have much of a lead up, either – Fallout 4 will take us back to the aftermath of disaster this year, which is all kinds of goodness.

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FIFA 16

PC/PS3/PS4/ X360/XO September 2015 A year just wouldn’t seem complete without an instalment of FIFA, and EA’s top notch soccer sim will be back on shelf towards the end of the year.

With so many fans eagerly anticipating the improvements made to the game, it’s sure to be, yet again, a top seller.

Forza Motorsport 6

XO September 2015

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There have been a number of games that have challenged it lately, but it seems like Forza Motorsport 6 promises to retain its position at the top of the track racing games this year. Great tracks, fast cars and endless action await driving fans in this one.

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Games to Get 2015

Guitar Hero Live

PC/PS3/PS4/ X360/XO/WiiU Q3 2015 What’s better than playing a guitar like a god? Playing a guitar like a god live on stage. And that’s what Guitar Hero Live promises – a way to let the player feel like they are part of a live gig, even if the guitar they are using isn’t quite real. And there are bound to be tons of great tracks on offer, too...

Halo 5: Guardians

XO October 2015 The game that would not die – the Halo ‘trilogy’ is back with its fifth instalment, but this time around Master Chief needs to be found (presumably to save the universe) and it is up to the player to get that job done.

Halo fans will be crowing with delight, for sure.

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Hitman

PC/PS4/XO December 2015 Agent 47 is oiling up his twin ballers for another outing later this year… it may or may not be a reboot, but Hitman’s first trip onto current generation consoles is sure to be a… ahem… hit with fans. More stealthy, strategic action, resulting in well-deserved deaths, are the order of the day.

Homefront: The Revolution

PC/XO 2015

GAMING

It’s been through a handful of developers, and has a new team at the helm (mostly exCrytek UK). Even though the first Homefront was a letdown, we’re hoping that this sequel will succeed where the original failed.

Fighting for freedom on American soil may just get the treatment it deserves.

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Games to Get 2015

Just Cause 3

PC/PS4/XO December 2015 Rico’s coming back, and he’s brining all kinds of trouble with him. With a new location, new weapons and new gadgets, this third instalment of Just Cause should have fans going bananas! There is trouble coming to paradise, yet again, and you’ll be the cause of it.

Just Dance 2016

PS3/PS4/X360/ XO/WiiU October 2015 Nothing says “good times” like making an ass of yourself in front of your friends, and Just Dance 2016 will allow you to do just that, yet again.

New tracks and modes will mash up with the familiar psychedelic style to help you dance the night away (to the undoubted amusement of onlookers).

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LEGO Dimensions

PS3/PS4/X360/ XO/WiiU September 2015 With so many readymade characters at their disposal, it’s small wonder that the team behind the LEGO games are also entering the collectible toy market.

LEGO started out as toys, after all, and the lucrative nature of the market – combined with recognisable characters – makes this a no-brainer.

Parents beware.

LEGO Marvel Avengers

PC/PS3/PS4/ X360/XO/WiiU/3DS Q3 2015

GAMING

Yet another LEGO game to leverage off of a well-loved movie franchise (well, they all do, actually) Marvel Avengers will put the player in control of little plastic versions of some of the big screen’s favourite superheroes. It’s bound to be mindless fun, at the very least, and crammed with studs.

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Games to Get 2015

Mad Max

PC/PS3/PS4/ X360/XO 2015 We’ve been hearing about this game for around two years now, and it looks like we’ll finally get to see it later this year – we hope. It’s going to be a sprawling, violent, thug-filled wasteland of gaming goodness, without a doubt, with awesome cars and tons of postapocalyptic action.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

PC/PS3/PS4/ X360/XO September 2015 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain promises to bring a lot of new features to Snake’s world, and fans of this stealth franchise are in for a big treat when it hits shelves later this year. The franchise that pretty much defined the stealth genre is making a very welcome return.

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Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4

PC/PS4/XO Q3 2015 Naruto is an extremely popular anime character, and so it’s small wonder that we’ll be seeing another title added to the mix. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 will be as crammed with action as its name is with syllables.

Franchise fans are I for a treat yet again.

Need for Speed

PC/PS4/X0 November 2015

GAMING

The king of high-end arcade style racing is coming back with a full reboot in November. It’s been a while since Need for Speed taking to the streets for some illegal racing, but that’s what we’re in for when this title hits the shelves.

Fast and flashy all the way!

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Games to Get 2015

Overlord: fellowship of Evil

PC/PS4/X360 2015 Overlord is making a come-back! Yes, that’s right, the role of the evil, minion-bossing Overlord will once again be yours when Fellowship of Evil hits shelves, and all manner of do-gooders will be in your nefarious sights. This adventure puzzler will thrill fans of strategy and fantasy alike with

PES 2016

PC/PS3/PS4/X360 September 2015 The 20th anniversary of PES is on the way, with Neymar is on the cover. Yes, it’s been 20 years that the tussle between PES and FIFA has been going on, and it will be likely to continue this year.

As always, we can expect the usual host of tweaks and upgrades in September.

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Rise of the Tomb Raider

X360/X0 November 2015 The next adventures of Lara Croft will be available for Xbox owners in November. PC owners will get it early 2016, while PS4 owners will need to wait around a year for it. It’s sneaky, yes, but we’re still excited about this next stage in Lara’s new story.

Rock Band 4

PS4/XO October 2015

GAMING

Just when Activision thought they had the rebooted guitarbased rhythm market cornered…

Guitar Hero’s main rival, Rock Band, is also making a come-back this year, with a few new tricks up its sleeve. The battle, it seems, is about to begin again… which is great news for gamers!

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Games to Get 2015

Skylanders: SuperChargers

PS3/PS4/X360/ XO/WiiU September 2015 Parents’ wallets are going to take yet another hit this year as Skylanders brings yet another iteration to the table. Compatible with all the figures that came before, Skylanders: SuperCharges introduces vehicles to the mix, meaning tons more fun, and tons more figurines to collect.

Star Wars: Battlefront

PC/PS4/XO November 2015 Electronic Arts might not be saying anything about a new Battlefield this year, but here’s the next best thing: Star Wars Battlefront will be hitting shelves just before the new movie releases, and it brings teambased action to players. Battlefront promises to be an awesome experience.

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Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege

PC/PS4/XO October 2015 It was on the cover of our birthday issue last month, and it will be on shelf in October…

Rainbow Six is making a massive return, and it promises to bring a whole bunch of freshness to its squad-based shooter dynamics.

This one should be a real blast!

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5

PS3/PS4/X360/XO October 2015

GAMING

It’s been quite some time since we saw a Tony Hawk game… or any skating game for that matter.

But we should be in for a treat as we Ollie, kick flip and air our way to good times with this new version of the popular skate-boarding franchise.

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Games to Get 2015

Transformers: Devastation

PC/PS3/PS4/ X360/XO 2015 No, it’s not a movie tie-in… in fact, this new Transformers game will be leaving the movie’s aesthetic behind and heading back to the cartoon looks that made these shape-changing robots famous.

We don’t know too much about Devastation yet, but it looks like it will be action packed, to say the least.

Until Dawn

PS4 2015 We love us a good horror game, and Until Dawn’s branching story lines and creepy narrative are sure to get the fright gland into overdrive. This new IP is bringing some brave new ideas to the mix, and looks likely to be a great addition to the survival horror genre…

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The Elder Scrolls Tamriel Unlimited GAMING

Fantasy becomes nightmare‌

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The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited

by Walt Pretorius

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Bethesda for The Elder Scrolls have always been rich and full of adventure, which means that (on paper) an idea like Tamriel Unlimited works really well. But something went wrong between concept and final product.

On the upside, doing some solo-play is great in this game.

It is really vast and allows for tons of different activities and quests to be undertaken – exactly what a fantasy CRPG fan looks for. Not only that, but the freeform character development system means that, despite the fact that the player needs to make pretty strict choices starting off, they can trim their character to be exactly what they want it to be before long. That is awesome freedom, provided by a very free skill tree and fuelled by the player’s imagination. Tamriel Unlimited allows for truly unique characters to be crafted.

And then it goes and ruins everything by becoming an MMORPG. I have nothing against a well-made MMO, but

GAMING

here comes a time in every game creator’s life that they simply bite off more than they can chew, or go off in wild directions that aren’t quite right. And it can happen to the biggest names out there – like when Nintendo released Splatoon with every intention of creating a family friendly shooter but made too many missteps in their attempt. The same can be said for Bethesda, who have time and again shown their deep understanding of great single player fantasy adventures in their Elder Scrolls titles, but managed to display an almost equal lack of understanding when they decided to take the franchise into the world of MMORPG. The Elder Scrolls Online has been around for a while, with the latest Iteration, Tamriel Unlimited not only updating broken systems, but also bringing the experience to PS4 and Xbox One. And the worlds created by

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The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited

Tamriel Unlimited isn’t one. And the problems start right at the beginning, with party creation. The system is flawed, and will often create incomplete parties – if any at all.

To make things worse, typed communication has been completely removed (understandable for consoles, sure) and has been replaced by an audio-chat system That’s all fine and well, too, except that it is a completely open chat that you need to opt out of, instead of opt into. And it restarts every time you do. That means that the world becomes cluttered with inane chatter and noise right from the get-go.

In addition, some of the rewards the game offers are not shared, meaning that while loot drops reward everyone, harvesting doesn’t, and so on. It’s frustrating, ultimately, and throws many spanners into various works.

In fact, so many of the elements required by a good MMO have been done wrong, or not at all, that playing

this game online makes for something of a painful experience. Player resurrection is too costly, trade is pretty much non-existent, and searching for specific players is very broken.

Where Tamriel Unlimited does get things right – in a big way – are the faction based PvP modes on offer.

Here players can engage in exciting missions and combat against other players, and Tamriel Online becomes an enjoyable experience.

Perhaps Bethesda should have crawled before they went for the marathon – a co-op adventure game would have been a great step before diving into MMO, and would have provided a great learning curve for the developers.

As it stands, though, they’re going to have to do a lot of hard work for Tamriel Unlimited to become viable, let alone competitive, in the demanding MMORPG market. g

AT A GLANCE MMORPG

REVIEWED ON

Just because you can make an MMO doesn’t mean you should – Tamriel Unlimited needs a lot of work to become an enjoyable experience.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Zenimax Media Bethesda Ster Kinekor

PARENTAL ADVISORY

18+ gamecca74

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

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Rocket League

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Rocket League Fast and furious

cars, bright visuals and a disregard for science can be massive amounts of

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crazy, chaotic fun.

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cars. But all the cars handle exactly the same, so these changes are nothing but cosmetic. It would have been great to see a little diversity in the vehicles, but it is what it is, and it still provides a smashingly good time.

Rocket League is, in concept, simple, but the developers put a lot into it, and it shows. It’s pretty, fast and absolutely crazy, and will provide players with endless amounts of fun. The fast paced chaos will lead to a lot of hilarity, a number of memorable moments, and quite a bit of addiction. g

Psyonix Psyonix Online

PARENTAL ADVISORY

3+ gamecca74

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

Score

Playing soccer with fast

REVIEWED ON

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

GAMING Bound of flame

AT A GLANCE 98

Arcade

chaotic game that allows up to four players per team (with three a side being the default) to take on a game of rocket-powered football.

Armed with extremely simple controls that belie the potential depth of the game, Rocket League is really easy to pick up and play. Mastering the chaos is something entirely different, though, and you’ll often wonder whether that goal you scored was skill, or fluke. We know what you’ll say, of course, but you will be wondering…

The game has no progression system to speak of, save for unlocking more

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ometimes the craziest ideas work the best. Rocket League is a great example of that concept; take a bunch of really fast and agile cars, put them in a world where the physics would have Isaac Newton pulling his hair out, give them a giant soccer ball and two goals, and watch what unfolds.

That’s what Rocket League breaks down to – a really fast game of soccer in which the players are cars, and the rules of science are more like guidelines. The result is a brightly coloured, fast paced and above all

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MotoGP 15 Coming around again…

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demonstrate a slightly disturbing thing here with MotoGP 15… they simply seem to have stalled their progress towards creating the definitive racer that they really want to do. It’s not a bad game. It just feels like last year’s version a little too much.

As far as simulation goes, Milsetone hit a lot of the right notes with MotoGP 15. It appeals particularly to the enthusiast, someone who understands balance between front and back brakes and when exactly to open the throttle in a turn. And because of this, it can be brutally unforgiving.

Those not familiar with the way that the game interprets motorcycle physics will probably spend a lot of time watching their rider skid across the tarmac. But when you crack the formula, the game becomes very

GAMING

oving a franchise forward is an important aspect of yearly iterations, and even though it must be pretty tough to come up with something new every year, even stalwart long-runners life FIFA manage to show a steady increase in their tech and simulations through the years. But for Italian developer Milestone, who have just released the third iteration of the MotoGP franchise with their development at the core, this particular iteration isn’t saying much in terms of progress. In fact, the series hardly seems to have moved at all from MotoGP 14.

It’s still early days, of course – the third time out the gate is hardly the right time for pitchforks and demanding developer heads. But Milestone

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well handled – lovingly, even – and weather effects are rather good, other elements of the game start falling flat. The tracks are fairly decent, but elements within these environments let them down. Crowds and other décor look distinctly last generation to be honest, and the overall effect feels disjointed and almost unfinished.

Milestone have done a good job with the MotoGP franchise thus far, but their latest step is also their weakest.

If the studio manages to inject a sense of constant progress through the games they will develop a long and strong relationship with MotoGP… but this instalment doesn’t have a feeling of progress, and Milestone will need to step up next time around, lest these games become unexceptional. g

AT A GLANCE Racing

REVIEWED ON

MotoGP is good fun, but it doesn’t feel like the franchise progresses meaningfully with its release.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Milestone Milestone Ster Kinekor

PARENTAL ADVISORY

3+ gamecca74

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

x0 PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

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by Walt Pretorius

enjoyable, and almost – almost – manages to become to motorcycles what some of the big name racers are to cars. Almost.

If you’re a newcomer, you can employ a barrage of driving assists to get you around the track.

The problem here, though, is one of overall balance.

Not the kind that will keep you on two wheels, but the one that spans the divide between the game being brutally difficult or stupidly easy. The driving assists can make the game far too forgiving, but even one tweak can send you down a path of virtual broken bones and shredded skin. Finding the balance can be as tough as playing with no assists at all.

Where MotoGP 15 shows the biggest chinks in its armour is visually. While the bikes and riders are very

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Final Fantasy X Heavensward GAMING

Reaching new heights.

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Final Fantasy XIV Online: Heavensward

by Alex Scanlon

XIV Online:

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before. That means that there is a lot to do, and those that have been playing the game up until now can take to these new areas right away, with a level cap increased to 60 and new skills for existing careers.

There are also three new carers to choose from – the combat oriented Dark Knight, the range-explosive-gunbased Machinist and the healer and random power granting Astrologian. These three new careers add significantly to the varied play styles that the overall experience allows for, and each demands a very different approach, although some may find the Machinist a little heavy on skill micro-management.

And, of course, there is the introduction of flying mounts, which brings a whole new level to the overall experience.

Effectively using them takes a lot of work as the player grinds through discovering pervading wind currents and

GAMING

hen Final Fantasy XIV Online took its first tentative steps towards bringing the long running and well-loved franchise to the MMO arena, it tripped, stumbled and sometimes fell flat on its face. Despite pushes here and there, like the release of A Realm Reborn, it really never has reached the heights it should have, considering the number of fresh approaches that it brings to the table. That is until now, because with the release of Heavensward, Final Fantasy XIV takes less tentative steps and makes more bold leaps forward. And it does so gracefully and confidently.

The biggest thing that Heavensward brings to the table is, well, Heavensward. It adds a whopping nine new areas to the already substantial world, and each of these is bigger than anything we have seen in Final Fantasy XIV

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such, but the end result really is worth all the slog.

For those that haven’t played through Realm Reborn, or never quite finished it, there’s bad news – the new areas are dependent on those areas having been completed. But there is good reason for this – unlike some MMOs, Final Fantasy XIV’s plot unfolds more elegantly, and missing out on the al-important story line to rush into the new areas would simply ruin the experience; so Square Enix have disallowed that.

And the story that Heavensward brings to the mix is really worthwhile; it doesn’t just tack more content onto what came before. Rather, it takes the previous narrative and elevates it in a way that only the plot-smiths behind Final Fantasy could do. And so, once again, playing through the whole story, from start to… well, we’re guessing that this isn’t the end… is vitally important.

But some may find getting to it in the first place is a little tough – Square Enix want you to jump through a number of hoops during account creation, which gets a little annoying.

Getting through it all is a chore, but once you do, the experience that awaits is much improved over what came before, and takes the MO genre is slightly different and often very compelling directions.

With great looks, tons to do and a plethora of interesting places to visit, Heavensward takes the entire Final Fantasy XIV Online experience and elevates it to a whole new level.

It is far more than just a simple tack-on expansion – this new content adds to the game in extremely significant ways, and if you have played Final Fantasy XIV Online before, or are thinking about starting out, this latest “version” will do far more to enthral and engage you than what came before. g

AT A GLANCE MMORPG

REVIEWED ON

Heavensward is an extremely valuable and significant addition to the world of Final Fantasy XIV Online.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Square Enix Square Enix Megarom

PARENTAL ADVISORY

16+ gamecca74

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

82 105

Styx: Master of Shadows Sneaky little goblin

106

Styx has a lot going for it, but a lot of repetition keeps it from being a great game.

REVIEWED ON

PS4

PLATFORMS

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Cyanide Studios Focus Home Interactive Online

PARENTAL ADVISORY

16+ gamecca74

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

Score

Stealth adventure

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE

GAMING Bound of flame

by Alex Scanlon

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tealth games are a genre that could be considered somewhat niche… while most people like running around blatantly lacerating enemies, there are a large number of players who prefer to act from the shadows. So a game like Styx: Master of Shadows would seem like a great fit for them. In this title the player takes on the role of Styx, a goblin who wants to steal a powerful artefact. Being a goblin, though, Styx isn’t exactly a powerful fighter, and while the game does provide a combat element, it is best avoided. Rather, the player is tasked with sticking to the shadows and striking from behind (but only when absolutely necessary).

Styx: Master of Shadows is, essentially, a pretty simple game to come to grips with. The player uses shadows and dark areas to navigate, extinguishing lights when necessary. It feels like a 3D love child of Thief and a traversal puzzle game, and much of the player’s input will determine movement rather than fighting, including almost platform-like levels here and there.

Styx could have been a great game. It has more than decent graphics and a number of ideas, like controlling the environment in terms of light sources and using specialised vision, that work really well. The controls are well handled, too, which is always a big plus point. But Styx falls flat in its repetition. Most environments feel very similar, save for the smattering of outdoor levels it presents, and missions generally involve going from one place to another, with a bonus objective or two.

There is stuff to love in Styx, but there is also a repetitive grind that can become frustrating.

Stealth fans will enjoy its mechanics, but there is little variety here. g

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Storage for every application.

E M W A IE G EV R

F1 2015 Two steps forward, two steps back…

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won’t be able to play through multiple seasons. You will get to use an existing driver, and will be able to drive the 2014 or 2015 season. Your driver won’t develop, either.

It’s not so much a career as a string of races. And that’s really disappointing.

A bigger problem, though, is far more insidious; it feels like, when you get right down to iy, that the all-important aerodynamics have taken an inexplicable back seat here.

Whether you’re driving in the clean air ahead of the pack, or through the turbulence kicked up by a group of cars, it all feels the same. And it really, really, shouldn’t.

Sure, it’s a simulation, but something that played an important part before should surely still play the same kind of role. Sadly, though, it seems like down-force is little more than a downer in this version of F1.

Which is really a pity, because the developers did

GAMING

ans of fast-paced motorsport have, for the past few years, been able to take on a thrilling, multi-season career as an F1 driver – arguably the pinnacle of four-wheeled racing – in Codemasters’ well-loved F1 racing simulation franchise. Speeding along famous tracks, employing the all-important aerodynamics of their impressive vehicle, paying attention to tyre wear, fuel levels and more, fans of this series of games have been able to delve into a deep and engaging celebration of this complex and exciting sport. Until now, that is… as the F1 franchise speeds onto current generation consoles, it seems that the overeager developers left some of their tricks back at the lab.

The first, most bitter omission from this game is one that is so massive that it seems unthinkable – but you

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be put down to player error, a number of them are still indicators that the AI seems to think that its driving a demolition derby rather than a precision race.

F1 2015 is not a broken game, but some of the omissions and missteps seem to take it a bit backwards.

It feels as though problems that were sorted out a long time ago are rearing their ugly heads here, despite the fact that Codemasters did such a great job in terms of visuals, controls and a few other areas.

This is, when all is said and done, a great step in the right direction, at least in terms of presentation on the more powerful current machines. But Codemasters need to relook at some of their decisions, and dig through their coding a bit, to make sure that they can regain the elements that went wrong here. If they do that, the next iteration of F1 will be mind-blowing. g

AT A GLANCE Racing

REVIEWED ON

F1 2015 looks great on current consoles, but the exciting action is hampered by a few odd decisions and missteps.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Codemasters Codemasters Megarom

PARENTAL ADVISORY

3+ gamecca74

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

64 109

by Rob Edwards

an otherwise excellent job of introducing this title to current consoles. The graphics are fantastic, as is the sound, and the entire menu system feels clear and uncluttered. As for controls – as far as the PS4 goes, at very least – they are near pitch-perfect, allowing the player to really wring every nuance and subtlety out of a race. It’s remarkable how well the controls have been trimmed up for this title, and only the most die-hard enthusiasts will find a lot of reason to prefer a wheel over the PS4 controller.

The races are, despite the lack of aerodynamics, exciting affairs, and improved tyre and environmental models do a lot to add to the excitement… until the over-zealous AI manages to drive into your rear. That’s another weak spot in this title. The AI seems to be extremely lead footed, and while some accidents could

E M W A IE G EV R

God of War 3 Remastered The scenic route

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like him again, thanks to a remastered version of God of War 3 for PS4.

The decision to remaster the third game and sort-of ignore the other two is a bit odd. It picks up right after God of War 2’s cliff-hanger, and provides a short and somewhat underwhelming intro video to fill in the gaps for those who have no idea why half the gods are dead, and why this guy is so damned angry. But with the plot being as flat as it is, it doesn’t take long for the player – newbie and veteran alike – to get swept along Kratos’ brutal trail up the slopes of Mount Olympus.

In terms of remastering, the question arises as to how much was done to God of War 3 to bring it up to speed with the latest hardware. The answer: not much. Let’s face it… God of War 3 was one of the best games of its generation, and in terms of dynamics it really didn’t

GAMING

everal years ago, the story of Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta, came to a thunderous close in God of War 3. And what a closing it was – even if the plot was weaker than it should have been, Kratos’ crusade against the gods of Olympus took the player through some impressive vistas, and bathed the walls of ancient Greece with buckets of blood and gore as the “hero” of the story tore his way through everything that crossed his path, enemies and innocents alike.

Let’s be honest – Kratos is no hero. He is a brutal psychopath whose delusions of grandeur have left him devoid of compassion, and his quest for revenge means that anything that gets in his way will meet a messy end. He is a nasty bastard. But we liked him (for some reason back then) and we have reason to

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to this brutal title. The elevation of the visuals make playing the game well worth it, even f you have played it before, and it maintains a pretty steady frame rate of 60fps throughout, with the odd dip hardly noticeable amid the blood-spilling splendour.

Some of the textures and models seem to have been forgotten, though, and they are a stark reminder of the game’s PS3 origins. Even some of the major characters seem to have been skipped in the overhaul, which causes a break in the stronger image of the title. Still, on the whole, the experience is visually awesome, and even if you played God of War 3 before, you may well want to experience it again on Sony’s newer, more powerful hardware. Hopefully, the other games get the same treatment, so that we can enjoy the full story on PS4. g

AT A GLANCE Action

REVIEWED ON

Most of the upgrades are visual, and that’s just fine... it has the same great dynamic, but with prettier pictures.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Wholesale Algoriths SCEE Ster Kinekor

PARENTAL ADVISORY

18+ gamecca74

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

88 111

by Walt Pretorius

need a lot to bring it up to speed. The action within the game (like the story) is pretty much exactly like you would expect it to be, and doesn’t make any significant departures from the older version. Even the control scheme was robust enough to make the upgrade, and God of War 3 on PS4 handles exactly like it did on PS3, ignoring the newer capabilities of the DualShock 4 controller in favour of the solid, sensible scheme that came before.

Where the changes come in, in a big way, are in the visuals. God of War 3 was visually stunning on the PS4, but just like the newer version of The Last of Us refined the visual fidelity of the title, so too does this updated version of the war on Olympus. The massive vistas that God of War 3 presents are not truly breath taking, with new textures and effects brining even more gory life

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Rory McIlroy PGA Tour GAMING

Take a mulligan…

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GENRE

While the actual golf is great, there are massive holes

experience that will hopefully be filled in the next

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

3+

EA Tiburon Electronic Arts Prima Interactive

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

Score

70

AT A GLANCE

PARENTAL ADVISORY

REVIEWED ON

PLATFORMS

iteration.

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by Rob Edwards

in the overall

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Sports

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than the full 18 holes over four days – you can change that in a somewhat hidden menu item. The number of courses is lower than before, too, as is the roster of licensed golfers.

And the game modes are fewer as well. Skins, Bingo Bango Bongo, Best Ball and Battle Golf are absent, leaving the often dodgy multiplayer to offer only stroke play and match play.

The player cannot start a community based country club, either.

As a new feature, McIlroy brings the Night Club Challenge, a night-time, neon fuelled super-charged version of the game that is resplendent with add-ons and boosts that are fun, but feel completely out of place in a game that expects you to take it seriously.

Rory McIlroy PGA Tour can be seen as something of a reboot for this long running franchise, but it has taken a number of steps backwards (things that were long since sorted out while Tiger Woods was on the cover). While you could argue that the transition to new consoles could have something to do with it, EA did take a year off in the preparation of this game. It should, quite frankly, not be making the little mistakes that it is. And while they do not ruin the experience of playing a great round of golf on a virtual course, they really are oversights that should never have come up. A well-trimmed career mode or numerous courses shouldn’t be affected by the change in hardware, particularly not when you consider that the PGA franchise has spanned several generations. And yet they are.

Hopefully EA Tiburon manage to build on what’s great in this game – the actual simulation – and manage to revive some of the key elements from older PGA games that player expect when the next McIlroy title rolls around. g

Rory McIlroy PGA Tour

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ith Electronic Arts taking a gap year from their PGA Tour franchise, you’d expect a lot of great stuff from the latest game. Sporting a fresh new face on the cover (after EA decided to part ways with the embattled Tiger Woods) Rory McIlroy PGA Tour blasts onto the current generation consoles with all the promise of a prodigy… only to lose steam after a few hours.

As far as playing the game goes, McIlroy is a competent simulator, and EA Tiburon have managed to capture the feel and the physics of golf really well, while the implementation of the Frostbite engine makes things look great. Everything except your golfer. While you could trim your looks in the past, this new PGA iteration gives you limited choices of a handful of (ugly) preset faces to choose from. This, considering both the power of the Frostbite engine, as well as the history of EA’s PGA titles, seems like a strange move, but it indicative of the fact that while McIlroy offers a great golfing experience, the overall game leaves a lot to be desired.

The controls allow the player a very scalable game – there are three presets, which are three click, arcade style stick swing (complete with aftertouch spinning) and a more realistic stick system that brings elements like draw and fade into the picture.

There are numerous aids and assistants that can be employed too, allowing the player to trim their experience according to their strengths and weaknesses.

But that experience is hampered by numerous things.

The career, for example, feels rushed and lacks a lot of the fanfare we have come to expect; replays, trophies and the like are all absent. In fact, the career mode defaults to a “highlight” play style, giving the player selected holes throughout their career, rather

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So Many Me GAMING

Bring in the clones‌

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So Many Me

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by Alex Scanlon

latforming and puzzling have become very comfortable bedfellows – they always have been, really, but we’re seeing more and more games (particularly from indie developers) that smash these two ideas together really well. And that’s just what So Many me does.

The protagonist – which is a green blob called Filo – gains the ability to clone himself after eating a mysterious seed. For no reason other than he eats everything, really.

Anyhow, Filo gains this ability, and every seed that he eats afterwards grants him another clone. It is in these clones that the key – and the beauty – of So Many Me lies.

Clones are employed to do many things; they can become platforms, can weigh down pressure switched, be turned into bounce pads, can defend against enemy attacks, and much more. As the game progresses, the player will unlock more abilities for their clones, and their clever implementation will allow the player to complete levels.

There’s the rub. See, each level doesn’t only present an exit goal, but it also has three collectibles – another seed, a new player costume and an artefact used to unlock new abilities. That means that the player will need to not only employ clones, but do so very wisely. Getting all the collectibles and finishing the level can become a massive head scratcher, making So Many Me one of the more challenging puzzle platformers around. This is particularly true for completionists - you don’t have to get all of the collectibles, but if you want to, the game gets a lot more challenging.

The biggest let down here – and it still works despite it – are the graphics. So Many Me feels anachronistic in terms of visuals, but not so much so that the experience is ruined. g

AT A GLANCE Platform

REVIEWED ON

So Many me uses a very clever game dynamic to get puzzle fans scratching their heads.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Extends Studio Origo Games Online

PARENTAL ADVISORY

3+ gamecca74

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

XO PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

80 115

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J-Stars Victory VS+ Like pearls before swine…

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all boring, stilted versions of themselves.

Instead of a massive world-spanning adventure, J-Stars throws out the old “parallel universe” saw, which allows all these characters to interact for… you know, I still don’t know why. The player is given the option of four starting characters, but replaying the game with another character means starting from the beginning and basically playing through the exact same experience all over again. And considering that one play-through is essentially one play-through too many, that’s unlikely to happen much, except maybe for die-hard fans of brawlers devoid of tactical nuance and sense.

The player sails around the world in an “upgradeable” ship (the upgrades allow you to access ne areas, nothing more) and collecting a disparate crew of characters. Between stages, the only interaction between these characters are text based, with occasional voice acting lifted from their respective shows.

GAMING

he massive popularity of manga and anime around the globe make a game like J-Stars Victory VS+ seem like a fantastic no brainer, crammed with the most popular Shonen Jump characters and resplendent with rich refereneces taken from a massive amount of source material. After all, how awesome would a game featuring characters from the likes of Dragonball Z, Naruto, Rurouni Kenshin, Bleach and several others be? Imagine all those characters interacting, trading quips and punches in a rollicking, world spanning adventure? Awesome, right? Am I right?

No. OK, sure, it could be awesome, but the fact is that it isn’t. Not by a long shot. It feels, ultimately, like the developers wanted to make a lacklustre brawler and couldn’t come up with their own character roster. So they borrowed some of Japanese pop-culture’s best loved creations and made them

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jumping is inaccurate, and fast dashes can only be made in the direction they’re started in. Add to this a camera that doesn’t really know what the hell it is supposed to be doing, and you end up with an experience that is more frustrating than fun, more forgettable than… well, than anything.

J-Stars Victory VS+ is a massively squandered opportunity.

With such rich background material and a cast of characters that could prove to be massively entertaining, the game could have been a real roller-coaster of fun and action. Instead, though, it is a stilted, pale version of what it could have been, and even the most desperate or ardent of fans will find that their favourite characters have had all the life sucked out of them by unimaginative design, vague plot points and boring dialogue. It’s a pity, really…g

AT A GLANCE Brawler

REVIEWED ON

This brawler could have been crammed with rich content, inspiring characters and a thrilling plot. But it isn’t.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Namco Bandai Namco Bandai Megarom

PARENTAL ADVISORY

12+ gamecca74

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

40 117

by Rob Edwards

And each character will remind you endlessly about their main motivations (Naruto’s desire to become hokage, for example) more often than they actually say anything mildly useful. The developers managed to make the character more stereotyped than they already are, which I suppose is a feat in and of itself.

As far as the action goes, it is repetitive and stilted. The controls are simplified so far that the player is likely to choose one or two move combos and stick to them for the duration. But that’s fine, because J-Stars hardly demands any kind of tactical play. The characters have pretty much the exact same moves, including attacks and double-jumps, and aside from a small number of special moves, there really isn’t much difference in selecting one over the other.

The environments are unimaginative and repetitive, and every fight starts feeling the same as the ones that came before.

Moving the character around this environment can be painful;

NAME OF THE PRODUCT MouseCraft

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MouseCraft Get the cheese!

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It’s got some great

PS4

challenges but kinks and poor presentation leave it in the lurch.

PLATFORMS

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Crunching Koalas Curve Studios Online

PARENTAL ADVISORY

3+ gamecca74

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

Score

Puzzle

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE

GAMING Bound of flame

by Rob Edwards

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ome puzzle games look a lot easier than they are. After all, what could be simpler than placing bricks and allowing mice to get to a nice cheesy reward?

But MouseCraft certainly offers more than meets the eye in terms of potential complexity, and the player should be well aware that this game can turn into a massively frustrating headscratcher before long.

The premise is simple – the player needs to guide mice over a series of obstacles to reach the cheese at the end of the level. There are a variety of obstacles, of course, as well as a variety of bricks. This, combined with the fact that ice can only jump the height of one brick, makes MouseCraft a simple yet challenging way to spend a few hours.

While the dynamic behind the title is sound, it does fall flat in some areas. For one thing, the graphics are extremely simple. This isn’t a huge problem, but a little more work in this arena wouldn’t have gone amiss. And then there’s the matter of gems. The game isn’t very clear about their use at first, but the gems to be found in every level are needed to unlock later levels. If you missed some you can go back and replay levels, which is a fairly entertaining pursuit, but the menus in no way indicate which levels still have gems to collect.

Creative sadists will have a lot of fun with the game’s included level editor, which is a great way to torture friends and family by constructing your own nefarious challenges.

Ultimately, MouseCraft is fun, but a little forgettable. The ideas behind is are solid, but a better presentation ad ironing out of a few issues would have resulted in a much better game. g

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Entwined

Never quite achieving balance…

notes at the wrong times... it’s a short, frustrating and somehow empty

PS4

experience.

PLATFORMS

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

never fully revealed.

Entwined, therefore, is a victim of its own artistry. It’s a case of style over substance, in terms of controls, content and narrative. And while there certainly is a place for artistry in games, it needs to be handled correctly. A careful balance needs to be struck.

The game must feel like art and like a game at the same time, while never blatantly favouring either aspect.

Entwined swings between the two on many levels, leaving the player with a short, frustrating and somehow empty experience when all is said and done. g

Pixel Opus SCEE Online

PARENTAL ADVISORY

3+ gamecca74

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

Score

Entwined hits the right

REVIEWED ON

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

GAMING Bound of flame

AT A GLANCE 120

Puzzle

a fantastic, atmospheric sound track, Entwined could have been an artistic tour de force. But at just over 90 minutes long, it is far too short for that to develop properly. Additionally, hinky controls and an unforgiving nature often yank the player out of the artistic illusion and shove them back into the position of someone playing a game, rather than living through an experience.

And with the lack of explanation or a discernible plot, Entwined becomes a game that tries to be artistic for the sake of art. Good art carries a message – if there is a message in Entwined, it is

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by Walt Pretorius

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ntwined is a great idea, giving the player control of seeming opposite creatures – a bird and a fish. Each is controlled by one of the PS4 controller’s analog sticks, and using this method the player needs to guide the two creatures down a long tunnel, avoiding obstacles and collecting blocks appropriate to each. When enough blocks are collected, the player can transform the two into a beautiful dragon… apparently the ultimate goal of each level. I say apparently because Entwined never actually explains it.

Armed with ethereal graphics and

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ndependent Game Developers are making headway within the gaming industry, considering

that events like E3 have a platform for these

GAMING

developers to showcase their work to the public.

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Indie View

with Unfinished Pixel

By Nthato Morakabi

Revelation In this issue we take a look at Unfinished Pixel, a Barcelona based company with ex-Ubisoft staff. We chat to Marcos Torrecillas, who handles design and programming.

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studio. It is here that we decided to create our game, Spy Chameleon under the developer company name Unfinished Pixel.

GM: Was there a particular idea that popped up and turned from idea into a game?

GM: Let’s begin with a brief intro/history of Unfinished Pixel. Who is Unfinished Pixel, who came up with the name and a very quick shot of the games you have developed.

MT: Unfinished Pixel is Raúl Vega (Art & Animation) and myself, Marcos Torrecillas (Design & Programming). We are an indie studio located in Barcelona and our goal is to make games, enjoying the process of creating as much as then playing them.

Currently we have Spy Chameleon as a game and have another in the pipelines.

GAMING

GM: Game development is a fascinating process and each person has a different experiencing getting into the industry. What was your inspiration?

MT: We have always loved videogames, playing them and creating small projects of our own. We eventually met a couple of years ago, working at Ubisoft Barcelona.

We started doing some unfinished games together as a hobby and one day we decided to start our own

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MT: Some years ago I was thinking of doing a prototype using the colors of the Xbox 360 controller, and one of the ideas that came up was to change the color of the character to blend with the environment and hide from enemies. I made a quick prototype and after testing it with friends, I decided to create a complete game and release it through Xbox Community Games (then Xbox Indie Games). Then as Unfinished Pixel we decided to use that fame from this title in our first big project, to minimize risks during the development.

GM: Very interesting history, especially considering you worked for Ubisoft Barcelona. In light of this background, how important is the gaming community both as a designer and as a gamer?

MT: I enjoy reading and talking about videogames, both as a developer and as a gamer. I also enjoy reading texts from gamers, professional writers or developers. I read them because they entertain me

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while helping me to learn new things, so reading is kind of a hobby but at the same time a part of the developer’s job. I love to hear what others have to say about my favourite and not so favourite games, and comparing others opinions with mine. This was I can see if the kind of things I would like to have in my videogames are also liked by others.

GM: Moving from a big company like Ubisoft and starting your own must have been a challenge, care to share your struggles, victories and challenges you faced?

MT: The videogames industry is constantly growing but at the same time, changing. Every year there is a big new trend, plus, hundreds of new small studios are trying to survive, like ourselves. So the most difficult part for a studio like us is getting our games out into the public – getting them known, so if I was going to start a videogame company right now, I would try to focus on overcoming that problem.

GM: Looking into the future, where do you think the video game industry could be in a couple of years?

MT: I can’t tell. Hopefully, despite seeing the number of people currently investing their time in Free 2 Play (F2P), Mobile Onilne Battle

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the games of two of the pioneers of the indie community that made two of my favourite games: Jonathan Blow (Braid) and Team Meat (Super Meat Boy).

GM: I see that reading is a big part of what helps you on the development side of things but what else is your source of inspiration both in gaming and outside of gaming?

GM: What platform do you develop for and why?

MT: Playing games is the first source of inspiration. I love to play all kind of games from all kind of developers.

From shooters to strategy, fighting to racing games, AAA or indie... I think that inspiration can come from any game and I’m lucky enough to enjoy almost all types of games. Outside of gaming, I usually watch TV shows and read all kind of books but I’m not sure I can extrapolate things from there to videogames other than plot and script stuff. I think I would need to improve on that.

GM: Considering the Indie Developers scene is a growing industry, are there any developers you look to?

MT: There are so many good indie developers currently making awesome projects and it would be impossible for me to name them all. I will always respect and follow

MT: We started developing Spy Chameleon for PC. Then Wii U and Xbox One. Honestly, we would like to develop for all the “big” platforms, as it is the only way to get money and be able to keep developing on our own.

GM: Between the main developer tools out there, namely Unity, Unreal, CryEngine, GameMaker etc, what do you prefer and why?

MT: We use Unity, as we find it to be the easiest one to develop in and iterate fast. At the moment we are also looking for the cheapest option and Unity works.

GM: What are you working on in terms of machine and its specs?

Indie View

Arena (MOBA), we could be looking at new game genres and payment models that will pop up to suit these.

However, there will always consumers looking to buy traditional and indie games.

GM: Can you tell us a little about it? What is the key feature that makes your game stand out?

MT: It’s not announced, but I can tell you that is very different from Spy Chameleon. It will be an action game.

GM: What was the inspiration behind it?

MT: We were inspired by a lot of indie and small games but I don’t want to spoil anything for now.

GM: On a more fun note, what is your favourite game of all time?

MT: Choose one for me, please: Final Fantasy VII or Braid.

GM: And what are you playing currently?

MT: I just started Witcher 2. I’m currently replaying Jedi Knight 2 and sometimes I play one game of Nuclear Throne, Binding of Isaac or FTL.

GM: Regarding life after Spy Chameleon, is there a game you are currently developing?

GM: Well thank you so much for your time Marcos, it has been a real pleasure to speak to you and hear much about Unfinished Pixel and hope to see you grow exponentially over the years!

MT: Yes, we have been developing a new game for some months now.

MT: You are welcome, looking forward to reading the article!g

MT: I use an i5-3470 with 8GB of RAM and a Radeon HD 7800.

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Legacy: S GAMING

The RTS to Ru

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Legacy: StarCraft

StarCraft

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By Lein Baart

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This column is dedicated

year before the game would hit the

to games that have shaped

shelves however, and this period

gaming history, and as

was spent furiously fixing the many

such it’s almost a given

bugs that had crept in, with former

that any title mentioned

senior Blizzard programmer Patrick

here has had an enormous

Wyatt describing the development as

impact on the industry.

exhaustive and torturous. What resulted

With absolutely no

though was unquestionably one of the

exaggeration though it can

greatest games to have ever hit the

easily be said that there

shelves.

are few games ever created that have left a mark as heavily as StarCraft. For years considered the epitome of RTS design, the influence of the game has been felt far beyond its own genre,

Why do we care?

StarCraft was very much the

and to this day still sees competitive

complete package, with excellent audio,

matches being played.

a fantastically written story, satisfying and varied missions and great visuals

Why was it created?

1995 was landmark year for Blizzard,

for the time. All of this would have amounted to great game in its own right, but it was the gameplay that truly brought StarCraft to the fore, and made

with WarCraft 2: Tides of War having

it a staple of the competitive scene for

brought the studio a massive and

over a decade.

somewhat unpredicted amount of success. With no immediate games

Before its release RTS games were

on the horizon Blizzard conceived

mainly composed of two somewhat

StarCraft as a stopgap, something

similar, if not nearly identical, sides,

that could be developed in under a

with a former Blizzard producer

year using the WarCraft 2 engine while

describing the gameplay of Warcraft

bigger and better titles were being

2 as being comparable to chess.

worked on.

StarCraft threw aside this concept, instead opting to introduce vastly

GAMING

That notion was quickly put to rest

different factions that, while ultimately

at E3 1996, with the response to the

equal in strength, called for greatly

StarCraft demo, which was mockingly

different tactics and strategies. It’s an

called “orcs in space”, being somewhat

approach so common nowadays it would

less than positive. Thus Blizzard begun

barely warrant mentioning, but at the

the long process of overhauling the

time this was considered revolutionary

original design, and by 1997, already

for the genre, and this, along with the

long past its deadline, the game was

release of the Brood War expansion, set

once again demoed, this time receiving

StarCraft as the standard to beat for

far more praise. It would still be another

years to come. g

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I

Ramjet’s rantality

have noticed an alarming trend lately.

Actually, most trends alarm me… trends are for sheep. But, anyway, I digress. My latest observations relate to the fact that I am seeing a hell of a lot of people selling their PS4s and Xbox Ones. That, in itself, doesn’t bother me… the fewer self-important jerk-offs cluttering online servers, the better. What is distressing beyond comprehension is the reason why people are selling them, because it indicates that humanity is proving to be, once again, stupid.

I was having a chat with a mate the other day, and he told me about a conversation he had with this other guy.

“Hey, dude,” This Other Guy says, “do you wanna buy my PS4?”

“Um, no,” my mate says. “Why are you selling?”

“Because,” says This Other Guy, “games for

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it are expensive. So I wanna sell it and buy an Xbox One.” Let’s, for a moment, analyse that. Games for the PS4 are, indeed, expensive, but didn’t this brainiac know that before he forked over his cash for the console. It’s not like they sell the games in a totally different place. They sell them in the same store. Not even next door. The same store. Surely, before his band-wagonning lunacy kicked in, he could have taken a quick squizz at the games to see what they cost. I mean, seriously? Would turning his head a few degrees to check a price or two been so damned difficult?

So that’s part one.

People buying a console without knowing the associated costs.

But then he wants to rather buy an Xbox One. Because… well, surely because he thinks the games are

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BY rAMJET

The Lake of Tears...

cheaper. Which they are not. They’re the same ballpark, at least.

So, once again, he is making a snap decision based on absolutely no research and a bunch of half-baked assumptions.

This Other Guy obviously has the brain-capacity of a cucumber, and a particularly daft one at that.

So, before you start driving the sensible people of the world into homicidal fits of rage with your complete lack of sense, think.

Do a little research, for Pete’s sake, and try not to come across as a complete moron. It’s not hard, really, to think beyond one purchase.

Particularly not when the products in question are literally a few meters away from each other.

I weep for humanity, a lake of salty, bitter tears shed at their complete lack of anything resembling a working brain. g

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FeatureS 136

Table-top Fury

COLUMN 142

The Time Betwixt

Cool stuff 144 145 146 148 150 152

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Gravwell Welcome to the Dungeon Archie #1 The Order of the Stick Vol -1: Start of Darkness Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde #1 Stray Vol 1: Who Killed the Doberman?

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TECHNOLOGY

Table-T 136

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The Good Fight

TopFury Warhammer brings big battles in small scale gamecca74

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A

battles to a whole new level. This was about armies, not squads. It elevated table-top war gaming in the fantasy and science-fiction genres to a level that was previously only really used with “real world” war gaming. See,

weapons gleaming in the first rays of

Warhammer didn’t create the idea of

the awakening sun. Today there will

pitting miniature armies against each

be war, a battle against an ancient

other. The activity has been around

foe whose blood must be spilled for

for a long time. But what Warhammer

peace to return to the world. Today, the

did was create settings that appealed

battlefield will be soaked in blood, and

to those with interests in sci-fi and

cries of anger and anguish will echo

fantasy, and combine them with

through the air. Today, the foe must

excellent rules structures.

But this battlefield is not a wind-

The appeal of the games gained traction quickly. Around the world,

swept moor or a ruined town. Crows

enthusiasts flocked to the rules

do not circle it in anticipation of the

systems, and the specific nature of the

feast that will follow the conflict. The

character models used in the game

winds do not wash over seas of long

meant that creators Games Workshop

grass and rustle through the leaves

cornered the market. A company that

of trees. This battlefield is a table.

initially started out creating boards for

And the warriors on it are lovingly

games like backgammon and mancala,

painted, carefully positioned miniatures,

and later became an importer (for the

controlled by masters of strategy.

UK) of Dungeons & Dragons, suddenly

Today’s battle will be a game of

stepped into the limelight. They weren’t

Warhammer.

new to miniature figurines either. In

Since the early ‘80s, Warhammer has

1979, Games Workshop Funded the

become a name synonymous with table-

establishment of Citadel Miniatures, a

top war gaming. It presents players

company that went on to produce metal

with two worlds (both of which will be

miniatures used in role playing and

familiar to video gamers, too, thanks

other table top war games.

to the electronic games they inspired):

Warhammer 40k soon became the

Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer

more popular of Game’s Workshop’s

40k. Fantasy came first, inspired by

offerings, allowing players to pit races

1978’s Reaper, and was first published

based on both science fiction and

in 1983. Four years later, in 1987, the

fantasy against each other. It is rare

still young Games Workshop (who

to see races like orcs represented in a

would grow to become a giant in the

science fiction setting, but Warhammer

hobbyist gaming sphere) published

40k’s blend of sci-fi and fantasy

what is arguably the more popular

worked well, creating a dark reality in

game, the futuristic Warhammer 40k.

which war was constant, and battles

Despite a number of issues initially,

TECHNOLOGY

based Reaper, Warhammer took the

rmies gather in the early light of dawn,

perish.

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Although inspired by the skirmish-

moved across worlds and galaxies. In

what set both games apart was the

this world, the Imperium of man is in

excellent strategic battle system.

constant battle with races like the

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The Good Fight

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skeletal, robotic Necrons, the elf-like

lovingly paint their armies up before

Eldar (and their Dark Eldar cousins),

doing battle on tables around the

the all devouring Tyranids, the war-

globe.

mongering Orks and worshipers of Chaos. It not only brought a great

Well, there is no nutshell here –

rule set into play, but spurred the

table-top war gaming is generally

imagination.

a complex collection of situational

Various spin offs and other

that might arise during a real

included things like the fantasy

conflict. Players bring their armies,

sports simulation, Blood Bowl, as

naturally, and arrange a battlefield

well as games like Space Hulk and

with cover including miniature trees,

Warhammer Quest.

rocks, thickets and buildings. Rules for visibility, range, terrain and cover

Magic: The Gathering made things

all come into play as the players

difficult for Games Workshop and

try to out-manoeuvre each other,

the expensive, time consuming

playing terrain and circumstance

Warhammer games. Various moves

to their best tactical advantage.

at the end of the last millennium

Using measuring devices – tapes

were made to make the games more

and rulers, for example – players

affordable and more attractive to

determine range, and then use dice

younger players, while still holding

or other random determination

on to the stalwart fans. Plastic

methods (often with modifiers based

miniatures replaced metal, allowing

on terrain and other factors) to

a greater variety of figures to be

determine action outcomes.

created, at a lower cost. The Lord

The prospect can be quite

of the Rings Strategy Battle Game

daunting to newcomers, but the

was released in 2000, to try and

numerous Warhammer communities

attract new players based on the

around the globe are most often

popularity of Tolkien’s work. And,

more than willing to help initiates to

most recently, Warhammer Fantasy

their passion learn the ropes. And

was cancelled (in July of this year)

while the hobby can prove to be

in favour of the simpler, more

quite expensive, there really is never

accessible Age of Sigmar, a smaller

an end to it – unlike most video

scale game that returns fantasy

games, for example, your initial

battles towards their Reaper roots.

investments mean that you can play

Warhammer 40k, however, stands solid. It is now in its seventh Edition,

TECHNOLOGY

rules, covering all kinds of situations

games were created, too. These

But the rise of games like

140

So how does it all work, exactly?

Warhammer in perpetuity.

With a strong move back to

which was released in 2014, and

things like board gaming, it will be

still manages to captivate audiences

interesting to see how the world of

around the world. While Games

Warhammer evolves over the next

Workshop may be involved in a

few years. Hopefully this fascinating,

struggle to rebuild their empire in

passion-driven pass-time will regain

the face of newer gaming activities

some of its former glory as more

like trading card games and video

people become exposed to the

games, they still enjoy a strong,

addictive intricacy of doing battle in

dedicated following of fans who

the Warhammer Universe. g

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The Time Betwixt

t’s been announced: a year from now we will finally see the world’s first intercontinental fight between two giant robots, the MegaBot Mk. 2 from MegaBots in America versus the Japanese Kuratas from Suidobashi. It was news to make my inner child have a wet dream, and with images of modern day robots quite literally ripping each other to shreds stuck in my mind I am going to be slavering in anticipation until June rolls round next year. Even my in my wildest imaginings I never considered this to be a true possibility, at least not this soon, and yet here we are, eagerly awaiting for a mechanical deathmatch to take place.

But this announcement has also made me realise how many things I thought fantastical and futuristic as a child are

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now commonplace, or at the very least we’ve made significant advances towards realising. To use a slightly tired example, I’m old enough to remember my first IBM Intel 386, complete with a whopping 8 MB of RAM, yet now it’s not uncommon for people to be walking around with quadcore computers in their pockets. Fucking quad-core computers!

Or how about the developments been made in prosthetics over the past couple of years, where people are now not only able to control artificial limbs through their thoughts alone but have actually been given the ability to feel pressure, heat and dampness. Remember Luke Skywalker’s artificial hand? Yeah, we’re not that far off it seems. Granted many of these achievements in research and science are still years

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away from general consumption, but this is actual reallife tech, and it’s not inconceivable that we’ll be seeing this as a common in a couple of decades.

There are many other examples I could give, but these two alone should go to show that what we consider fiction now probably has a good chance of being created in our lifetime, and the children of today will, to paraphrase Douglas Adams, probably view the unimaginable to us as ordinary facts of life. This does raise questions of when and where things go too far, and yes, there is a definite need for bounds and restrictions placed on research that stray into the moral grey-zone, but we live in exciting times, and this rapid change in technology isn’t going to change going forward. g

BY Lein Baart

Times are a Changin’...

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E YL W T ES IE lIF EV R

LIFESTYLE

G

OnBo

Gravwell: Escape from the 9th Dimension.

etting stuck in a gravity well would, for a theoretical space traveller, suck.

Particularly when fuel is low, and rogue gravity sends their ship in all kinds of unplanned directions.

That is the premise of Gravwell: Escape from the 9th Dimension, and it leads to a lot of crazy hilarity and chaos interrupting the player’s plans.

Gravwell is easy to learn and, in principle, is a very simple game. The goal is to get to a dimensional gate within a certain time limit (six rounds) in order to win the game. Each player has a ship that needs to harvest resources from surrounding asteroids in order to gather up enough fuel for the journey – which is represented by cards that are drawn each round.

Each round the player uses cards at their disposal, but

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the movements of other players and other events can put paid to their carefully constructed manoeuvring plans. The chaos of the 9th Dimension’s gravity well adds a sense of excitement and impending doom to this game.

Gravwell makes for an enjoyable, short gaming experience for up to four players (and there is even a one player version of the game if your friends have let you down). It works best with three or four players, because the added chaos of more moving sources of gravity makes the game less predictable and more challenging.

Gravwell is a great trace against time, and its easy systems belie a fairly deep strategy that can be employed. It’s the kind of game you will play multiple times in an evening. g

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COOL STUFF

oard

Welcome to the Dungeon

he combination of bravado and gross stupidity has, over the centuries, resulted in some pretty crazy dares.

And why should a fantasy world be any different?

Welcome to the Dungeon is a game in which players dare each other to enter a dungeon over a number of rounds. The players start out with the maximum amount of equipment, and just a few monsters in the dungeon. As each round progresses, players can choose to increase the dungeon monster population, or decrease the equipment load out. They then take turns to try and work their way through the dungeon, a task which gets progressively more difficult. If a player loses two rounds, they are out of the

game. Play progresses until a player wins two rounds, or until there is only one player left.

Based on Dungeon of Mandom, Welcome to the Dungeon has four different characters to use, and a host of monsters to do battle against. It is a fun, quick game, with two to four players able to finish a session in around half an hour.

While the basis of the game is the whole crazy dare thing, the game does allow for some strategy (and luck) based on how the players use their various pieces of equipment to defeat the monsters within the dungeon. It pays homage to great fantasy and pencil-and-paper fantasy games, and is a fun, light hearted way to challenge your friends‌ and see who has the biggest bravery gland (or ego) in the group. g

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Title: Writer:

Archie #1 Mark Waid

Artist:

Fiona Staples

Publisher:

Archie Comics

Rated:

Teen

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by Clive Burmeister

Mark Waid, an old school big name in comics, responsible for such classics as Kingdom Come, teams up with artist Fiona Staples who is currently blowing away fans on the best selling Saga series, for this re-launch of the world renowned Archie comic. The team keeps very close to the spirit of Archie, which has been running for an astounding 75 years, but retell the story in a present day setting.

There are some fundamental truths in the old Archie comics that are still relevant today, but in setting the re-launch in the present, the team are able to reignite the appeal of Archie to a younger generation of reader, while giving a new and fresh spin to all the old fans.

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COOL STUFF

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LIFESTYLE

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Title:

The Order of the Stick Vol -1: Start of Darkness

Writer:

Rich Burlew

Artist:

Rich Burlew

Publisher: Rated:

Giant in the Playground Teen

by Clive Burmeister

What is Order of the Stick? It’s probably the comic equivalent of rock band Green Jelly. It’s an online comic about a bunch of stick figure D&D type characters, filled with fantasy spoofs and role-playing gags. It’s simplistic, and (maybe) starts off a bit juvenile, and it’s also one of the funniest things I’ve ever read. Who knew stick figures could become such loved characters, or such humorous bad guys, who knew they could relay a fantasy epic that has been running for almost 1000 online strips as well as books containing previously unpublished material (like Start of Darkness, which is a prequel telling us how Redcloak and Xykon got together).

Rich Burlew did.

If you haven’t read OOTS before, head over to giantitp.com now!

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GET GRAPHIC

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LIFESTYLE

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Title:

Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde #1

Writer:

Sam Humphries

Artist:

Alti Firmansyah

Publisher: Rated:

Marvel Teen

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by Clive Burmeister

All the universes and realities in the Marvel Universe were destroyed, leaving only Battleworld behind, a mixture of various different times and places from all the realities that came before, all meshed together on one planet. On this planet, Dr Doom is god, and his laws are violently enforced throughout the divergent regions.

Most of Battleworld’s citizens don’t even remember a time when things weren’t like this, but some have started to remember how things were before, and to see anomalies in this reality. StarLord remembers it all, the final moments of Earth and Reed Richard’s last ditch effort to save them. Up till now he’s been hiding and surviving, but then this reality’s version of his old girlfriend Kitty Pryde walks into his life, and everything gets turned upside down.

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COOL STUFF

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LIFESTYLE

E YL W T ES IE lIF EV R

152

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Title:

Stray Vol 1: Who Killed the Doberman?

Writer:

Vito Delsante

Artist:

Sean Izaakse

Publisher: Rated:

Action Lab Teen +

by Clive Burmeister

Vito Delsante (Superman) teams up with local artist Sean Izaakse (Pathfinder) to bring us a gripping super hero story of mystery, murder, and redemption, all rolled up into one riveting tale. The Doberman takes on his son as his sidekick, the Rottweiler, training him up to not only be able to take care of himself, but to become a force for good and justice. But over the years the father and son team begin to differ on their philosophies and approach, and soon a rift drives them apart. The Doberman continues to fight crime, but his son leaves, and falls into a life of drugs and denial. But when a mysterious new villain murders the Doberman, the Rottweiler is dragged back into the world he left behind in order to find his father’s killer.

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GET GRAPHIC

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Evolve...

W

Last word

e live in a world in which evolution is an important key to survival, And while we as human beings have not evolved to a great degree physically in the last three millennia, our minds have raced ahead. We are swimming in a powerful current of chaotic advancement, and keeping our heads above water can sometimes seem difficult.

It seems that every day a new technology explodes into our reality, and as a result we have had to change many of the ways that we do things.

One such technology is the Internet and it has resulted in the formation of the foundations of a truly multicultural global village. There are many different ways of doing things in this village, with different thought processes and traditions influencing those who spend a lot of time on the Internet.

In addition, it has fostered a culture of instant gratification and absolute convenience, in which we can relish the thought that we can have almost anything we want, whenever we want it. This adds to the organised chaos of the world and makes life not only convenient, but also exciting.

Some people seem to be struggling to keep up with the opportunities and changes that

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these new technologies present our society. One such group are marketers, those people who specialise in selling things to us to help feed our constant consumerist cravings. But with different approached and cultures filling our online space, marketing needs to change to keep up. It just doesn’t seem to be doing that.

The world of video games is a prime example of how marketers have lost contact with those they are trying to sell to, and seem unaware of what it is that their consumers want. Gamers want games all year around, but current trends keep placing batches of game releases together, while other times of year see very few new titles arriving. This means that people only have limited funds to spend on games at the times of year that the big groups are released, because their disposable income does not fluctuate.

While one could make the argument that gamers should save their disposable income to take advantage of the times when there are a lot of great games available, the theory is difficult for most people to put into practice. Combined with time constraints, financial issues on the part of the consumer mean that game sales often do

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BY Katia Taliadoros

Market

not achieve the numbers they potentially could. In the past, this has been to the detriment of great new IPs, as cashstrapped consumers opted for known quantities rather than new ideas.

In the past, game publishers who released titles outside of these busy periods have done well. With gamers wanting a constant supply of games, the truth is that it doesn’t matter whether a game is released near the year-end holidays (which some cultures don’t celebrate) or in the middle of the year.

Games will sell whenever they hit the shelves.

Excuses like keeping titles back for events like E3 and GamesCom are also not really valid, particularly when some games are announced at these shows years before they are set to release.

The video game industry is a microcosmic look at a bigger picture. Ideas like Christmas sales and releasing products at special times of the year are fading fast, as more and more consumers turn to the always-on availability provided by the Internet. Marketers needs to pay more attention to modern buying trends, lest this modern evolution of thinking and consuming leaves them behind. g

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