Gamecca Magazine February 2013 by Gamecca Magazine

I S S U E 4 4 / Vo l . 4 Fe b r u a r y 2 0 1 3

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DmC: Devil May Cry Omerta: City of Gangsters Epic Mickey 2 Anarchy Reigns and more...

Grab â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;em! 20 must-plays for early 2013

Cutting Edge

Ninja Gaiden comes to the Wii U

The Devil You Know DmC reviewed

Confirmed Kill More precision hits with Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2

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Inside 6 From the Editor 8 Got Mail A few words from ourreaders... 10 10 on 10 Ten crossover games we would like to see 12 IDoubleDQD Back to basics 14 Clean Kill The thinking behind Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 20 Previews 9 games to look forward to 36 Soap Box Are sequels better? 38 Console General Enough stuff... 40 Gamecca Awesome Game Watch List 2013 Part 1 Must-have games for the first half of the year 52 Reviews We look at 8 new video games 72 Ramjetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Rantality A brutal truth... 74 A Year in Games 1992 - a year of new things... 76 Hardware Short and sweet... the stuff you need... 80 From Space Rethinking resolutions

THIS MONTHâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S COVER Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is not just another shooter... See our feature on page 14...

Competitions 37 Far Cry 3 Hamper 39 Norton 360

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Previews

Grand Theft Auto V

Metro: Last Light

Splinter Cell: Blacklist

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct

Dead Island: Riptide

Remember Me

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Mars: War Logs

GAMECCA Vol. 3 Issue 44 February 2013

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

Reviews

Competition Entries: competitions@gameccamag.com

DmC: Devil May Cry

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge

Design & Photography: 1337 Media cc

Batman: Arkham City – Armoured Edition

Omerta: City of Gangsters

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

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two

Newsletter Subscriptions: www.gameccamag.com

Taking fun seriously! 66

Anarchy Reigns

LittleBigPlanet Karting

Just Dance 4

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

GAMECCA is published by 1337 MEDIA

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Strange Start by Walt Pretorius

From the Editor

he first month of 2013 has been an interesting one, and not necessarily in a good way. Producing this issue of Gamecca felt a little like pulling teeth at times, because the whole world seemed keen on slowrolling the start of the year. That goes for getting back to work as well as getting game releases out. In fact, there were very few game releases… the bulk of the games in this issue are titles that didn’t make it to us in time before the end of 2012. That’s not a massive problem – they’re still on shelf, and many of them are great. But the month has been a wasteland for new releases, other than one or two titles (which include the rather fun reboot of the Devil May Cry series). The industry has also seen a couple of shake-ups this month, with three major events springing to mind. Two of those events involve the shutting down of video game publishers that have been around for ages, while the third holds ramifications that could shake the industry to its core.

Atari filed for bankruptcy in January. Granted, there haven’t been any major releases from them in a long time, but if you’re sentimental sort and of a certain age, Atari holds a special place in the heart. My first ever console was an Atari system, and I fondly remember many hours of Asteroids and Missile Command in front of the old CRT family TV. Seeing Atari disappear is sad, for that reason, but also indicative that the video game industry isn’t as recessionproof as everyone seems to think. An even bigger ‘shock’ was the closure of THQ. Unlike Atari, THQ have released a number of games in recent years, although the success of them has not always been the highest type. But the writing has been on the wall for THQ for a while, and it is almost surprising that the company lasted as long as they did. The rest of the industry was obviously waiting in the wings, because key THQ properties and franchises were snapped up very quickly. So fast, in fact, that there won’t even be release date delays on titles

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like Metro: Last Light… at least, that’s what we’re being told. And then there’s the whole question of the effects of violent video games. Pressure from various sectors has raised this issue very high on the agenda of US politicians, with Vice President Joe Biden meeting with representatives of the video game industry to discuss the issue, and President Barack Obama calling for better research into the matter. While America really is far away for us here in South Africa, the ramifications of this kind of action could still affect us; the US is a huge market for games, and stricter policies might well change the types of games we see the world over. The game burnings and calls for outright bans are a minority, though, with most (sensible) types calling for research. We welcome that… perhaps we can get closure on this particular thorny issue once and for all. So yes, an interesting month, which we hope has resulted in an interesting issue for you. Let me stop banging on and let you get on with it... g

Got Mail Send us a letter and let us know what’s happening in your head, your games or your community. The Big Leap Dear Gamecca, I’ve been wanting to write a letter for a long time now but never had the guts. So, I decided that since it’s a new year, I might as well do a lot of things differently and gathered the courage to write one. I just want to say thank you for giving gamers in South Africa a great monthly magazine. I know it sounds a bit lame, but I can’t wait for the 1st of every month to come by so that I can download the fresh issue. I like the way things are explained simply and since I’m not a hardcore gamer like my friends, I can actually understand what you are writing about. They read all these technical magazines and I have no idea what goes on in there, so thank you for writing in a language that I understand. Please keep up all the good work and I look forward to the next issue - as usual. Thank you, Neville Coplan

Hi there Neville We’re glad that you decided to write us a letter, but you don’t need to have guts to do it... we don’t bite! As for ur content, well, that’s exactly what we try to do - tell people about games. And we know that not everyone is a hard-core gamer out there, so we try to speak to out readers in the simplest terms we can. Hopefully we are helping you keep up with your buddies!

I am not comfortable with. There really isn’t anything I can do about that, but I do try to keep things controlled at home. I was told about your magazine by my son, who reads it every month. He now lets me read it to, and while I don’t always like the pictures, I am glad that I can get information about games from it. It makes knowing what games I can get for my sons a bit easier, and I can even talk to them abut the games more easily! Regards, Helen Schutte

Hi Helen Kids having access to games that are not recommended for them is a very hot topic at the moment, across the whole world. After the horriffic shootings at Sandy Hook in the USA, even President Obama is pushing for more research into the efects that these games may have on kids. In my opinion, though, it is also up to parents to make sure that their children not only experience appropriate games (like you are doing) but to also ensure that gaming forms a part of a balanced lifestyle. As far as the ratings go, FPB ratings are given by the South African Film and Publications Board, while PEGI is a rating system used overseas. The nice thing about the PEGI rating is that it also gives clear indications of the game’s content, while the FPB sometimes don’t. But either system should be effective in helping you with your decisions. Ed

Not one for the kids...

Parental Control To the Editor,

Letters

I wanted to write to you because I am a bit concerned about some of the games I see kids playing. I have two sons (14 and 11) who really enjoy their video games. My husband and I try to be very careful with what they play. We can do this because we buy them games that they ask for, and always try to make sure that the game age restrictions are appropriate. Which is the best age rating system to use. On most games we see an FPB rating, as well as a PEGI rating. Is there a difference bewteen the two? Sometimes my kids go to visit their friends and I think that they might get to play games there that

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Send your mail to letters@gamecca.co.za. Letter of the month writer will win a prize

Sponsored by Apex Interactive.

Are we late?

Letter of the Month

Hi there!

Am I Evil? Dear Editor, A friend and I recently had an argument, after being told by someone in our Youth Group that video games are evil. I am 19 years old and have been playing video games since I was little. I do not agree that they are evil, but my friend believes that I should stop playing these games because they are a very bad influence. There always seem to be people that believe that games are bad, or make people violent, or are a waste of time. But from what I have seen, they help me relax. They help me with problem solving and even hep me concetrate better. I think that people sometimes listen to what they are told, and believe what others tell them to believe. They should learn for themselves, and experience things before they call them bad or evil. People judge things too quickly, without having all the facts. Thanks for a great magazine. I have told my friends to read it, maybe it will help to change their minds. All the best, Christian Gamer

Is it just me or do we get all our games late here in South Africa. I have friends overseas that I talk to on Facebook, and they always seem to get their games before me. Is there some kind of problem with the system whch means we always get our games late? Later! Nadia Basson

Hi there Nadia Actually, it is very rare for games to arrive late in South Africa. Sometimes there are problems with shipping and the like (like when volcanoes in Iceland cause problems) but mostly our game distributors do a great job on getting the games out on time. Have you ever considered that your friends might not be telling the truth? Ed To the Point Hi,

Hi Christian Gamer I agree with you completely. Life is never as simple as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;black-and-whiteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, and people who pass judgements on things they have not experienced certainly have no basis for their statements. But video games are a current bug-bear in society. Over many years different forms of media have all been on the receiving end of bad press: movies, music and even trading card and role playing games have, at different times, been called evil. II do not believe that games are a bad influence. However, I think that further research into the influence of violent video games is a good thing. Further, I beieve that people will blame outside influences and factors before they look at taking responsibility. Perhaps that wil change one day.

Do you guys have a print version of Gamecca available for sale?

Hi Nope. Gamecca is digitally distributed, which means it is availablefor browsing and downloading online. We tell people that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s becaue we are tryng to save lots of trees. The magazine is printer friendly, of course, if you want to add to the deforestation problem and print it out for yourself. Or you could download it and read it on anything that works with PDFs. Ed

Our Letter of the Month writer will be recieiving an Angry Birds hamper valued at over R600, courtesy of Apex Interactive.

* Prizes for South African residents only. gamecca44

Things

We would like to see in 1

2013

Call of Mario.

Tired of perpetually having to rescue Princess Peach, Mario locks her in a high security installation (for her own good) and straps on some body armour. He loads up with a number of high-impact weapons and, with his trusty sidekick Luigi (opportunity for co-op here) launches a full assault on Bowser’s castle, to stop the weird turtle-pig-dog-monster once and for all. Special pick-ups allow him to grow larger, which increases his damage and weapon carrying capacity. He finds special suits along the way that allow for some him tech aerial sniping. We’re talking first person platforming action shooter at its finest here.

10 10

God of Tetris

Kratos realises that the only way to truly defeat the gods is to lock them away in a massive prison. So, armed with a special set of bricks designed by a Russian, he starts building walls. But the bricks soon run out, and he has to empower a magic deive that starts the bricks raining down from the sky. Between beating up all manner of bad guys, Kratos has to carefully select where the bricks will fall to ensure that the walls of the prison are solid. And if the walls ever reach the heavens, the magical brick dropping spell will simply stop working. Third person action puzzling, anyone?

Mortal Kart

Tired of always beating up on each other, the members of the Mortal Kombat cast decide to take a break and head down to the local go-kart track. But anger is something that is not easily abated by a few laps and hot-dogs; soon the kombatants are letting their competitive, aggressive natures get the better of them. With weapons scattered around the track by the evil Shang Tsung, the races soon find themselves armed to the teeth and doing battle while trying to win the race. Winners will be allowed to perform special kart-based fatalities on the losers, including driving a kart full speed up someone’s windward passage. Kart fighting will allow for tons of party fun.

Epic Sam

The toons of wasteland are under threat again, and they realise that relying on a mouse with a paint-brush simply isn’t getting the job done. Instead they enlist the help of Sam Fisher and his newly formed 4th Echelon. Using high technology, stealth and superior fighting skills, Sam takes on all the bad toons, ridding Wasteland of the menace that threatens it and doing brutal combat with characters from throughout the history of Disney Studios. A stealth platformer that lets you kill toons… we like it.

Ten on 10

Uncharted Raider

Do we really need two intrepid treasure hunters? Not really. So, in this game, Lara Croft and Nathan Drake get together, retire and spend their money on living a lavish, opulent life. In the process, they have a kid… named after her mother, Lara Drake soon follows in her parents footsteps, becoming the world’s greatest treasure hunter as she travels to all the obscure places her parents somehow missed in the past. OK, not really a cross over. But it would simplify things.

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We often hear complaints that the video game industry lacks originality. And to a degree that’s true… year after year we see games that are very similar coming out. Sometimes we even see franchises that seem to perpetually release titles that are almost identical to the previous iterations. So, with that in mind, we have compiled a list of game cross overs that we believe may inject some much needed freshness into the video game arena. And they are…

Uncharted Raider

Two teams of ten players each take to the soccer pitch in a game of combat golf. The aim is to get the gold ball into a hole on the opponent’s end of the field. The teams are kitted out in knickerbockers and soccer jerseys, and each player has a specific club to use. For example, drivers are at the back of the pitch, while putters are the ones who make the assault on the goal. The beauty of the game is that it isn’t slow paced – the players don’t take turns like in golf, but must use a football style assault, complete with passes, lobs, tackles and shots at the goal. The goalie is the annoying caddy from the Tiger Woods games, who has to stop the goldf balls blasted at the goal with his body. It might not be a great video game, but there is a possibility for a new extreme sport here…

10 10 7

Just Kombat

The Sims: Batman

Diablo City

A new take on party games, Just Kombat is a simple, motion controlled game in which two players need to mimic the movements of their on-screen counterparts. The screen characters, who are Mortal Kombatants, perform various strikes and blocks, alternating between them. If the moves are performed correctly, they move on to the next set. If not, someone has to get up off the floor and put a bag of cold peas on the bits that hurt. The winner is the one with the least bruises at the end of a session. Party fighter… yeah, we can think of a few people we’d love to play this with!

It could be any superhero, really, but Batman has the whole Batcave thing going, which works well for a game in which you need to build and decorate your own accommodations. The player will need to maintain a social life and do work while keeping the true identity of the Dark Knight a secret, and will need to discover which other Sims in their neighbourhood are also leading double lives. A new activity bench will also allow the Sim to create new gadgets for use in his crime fighting, including the Simarang and Simbatmobile. Open world action life simulator… it might just get too complex to handle.

There’s a lot of travelling to cities in Diablo 3, but who cleans up the mess when the adventurers have left? Well, that’s where this game comes is. In Diablo City, the player will need to establish a city, build it up with resources, building and population, and watch while a bunch of monsters come and wreck it. Then the adventurers will show up and wreck it even more. When they have left, the player will get to pick up the pieces and start again. It may sound like hard work, but we do that in SimCity anyway… Action adventure management. Certain things are too god to exist.

World of Dance Craft

Dawing inspiration from Just Dance, World of Dance Craft will introduce the player to a massive fantasy MMO setting where only those with the coolest moves survive. Players will have to start small, grinding for gold by doing The Hustle on street corners for donations. Later on, they will use advanced choreography to defeat powerful monsters who want to see the beat end. Don’t look at us like that… they put pandas into World of WarCraft, after all. MMO party dancing… a way to embarrass yourself in front of the whole world. gamecca44

Out of Touch IDoubleDQD

by Sarah Snyman

t’s my birthday this month. I was planning on spending it in the Cederburg in a cottage 10kms from anything, no electricity, no cell reception, just peace. Due to a completely unforeseen incident, it looks like my birthday will once again be spent in Jozi, without a hope in hell of losing cell reception. Why do I crave being out of contact and free from the addictive pull of electricity? Because, for years, I have been wanting to get back to gaming basics on my birthday. And no, I am definitely not referring to pc gaming.

I am not referring to dusting off the cobwebs of a misspent youth on an old Sega console. I am longing for something more tactile, something that is completely unlimited by technology, unaffected by processing power, something that doesn’t require a high speed adsl connection. I want to play a board-game. But it goes further than that; despite my previous dealings in the world of table top gaming, I’m not even demanding an 8 person game of Talisman. I want to play scrabble. I want to pick out my tiles from a little cloth bag, I

want to sit with a foggy mumble of letters in front of me on a little plastic stand. I want to argue with people I love over words that they have clearly made up. I don’t even want to win this theoretical game of scrabble, although I used to be quite formidable in my day. I feel like my birthday, being the introduction of a new year of life and all of that philosophical wankery, should be spent reconnecting with the roots of my passion. I also don’t think it would be a bad idea to see if, in the age of team talk and horrific online banter, I can get through a

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game without hurling abuse and making judgements on other players’ mothers. I am quite sure that my birthday will not be a riot. It will more than likely involve some wine and going to bed at 10. But if I get to run my fingers across the hard outline of the indented curve of the letter K as I place it on a triple letter score, it’ll be everything I ever wanted. This is the year that I get back to basics. I will master chess. I will learn to play first person shooters on console despite my analog retardation. And finally, I will learn to play FIFA, even if it kills me.. g

18 Sniper Ghost Warrior 2© 2013 City Interactive S.A., all rights reserved. Published and developed by City Interactive S.A. is a trademark of City Interactive S.A. Portions of this software are included under license 2004-2013 Crytek GmbH. “Playstation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks and “PS3” and the PlayStation Network logo are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Blue-ray Disc” and “BD” are trademarks. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft. 2013 Valve Corporation. Steamworks and the Steamworks logo are trademarks and/ or registered trademarks of Valve Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. The NVIDIA logo and the “The Way It’s Meant To Be Played” logo are registered trademarks, of NVIDIA Corporation. Copyright 1997-2013 NVIDIA Corporation, 2701 San Tomas Expressway Santa Clara, CA 95050, USA. CI GAMES is a brand of City Interactive S.A.

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CLEAN

Exploring the world of modern

Interview

Creating the perfect first-person shooter experience is a difficult task, particularly if you’re not interested in creating just another modern shooter clone. That’s what set the original Sniper: Ghost Warrior apart from the common shooter – here was a game that required stealth, a careful approach and a whole new way of thinking. And gamers loved it… 14

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N KILL

n snipersâ&#x20AC;Ś for the second time.

So much so that the makers of the original are releasing a sequel soon. And Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 promises to offer the player so much more than the original game. We managed to steal a few moments out of producer Michal Sroczynskiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s busy to schedule to ask him about the technicalities of creating a realistic sniper game, and about what we can look forward to.

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calculator and employ mathematical equations before each shot. This is a game after all and not something that we want to sell to Private Military Companies to train their personnel on. That being said, we did a lot of digging in the physics behind each shot so you don’t have to. One cool example of how faithful we wanted to be is our recording sessions that were aimed at capturing muscle tension when holding a rifle. We attached several cameras to a rifle and checked how the scope floats in various positions. Additionally, not to deter gamers who want the game to be as close to a simulator as it can get, we implemented various difficulty levels and shoot assistors. Try to hit an enemy from 700m without the wind assistor and red dot and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Q. Did you consult with experts and actual snipers in your research? MS. The devteam was coached on how a real sniper rifle operates, what are the crucial factors in operating one and then practiced that on the range. I think that what they’ve learned is really visible in the game and will provide gamers

Interview

Q. The Sniper: Ghost Warrior games are very different from other first person perspective shooters. What prompted the decision to create these games? MS: With Ghost Warrior we wanted to explore the niche of sniping on the modern battlefield. Most games have some sniping segments or feature the sniper class but our initial research (and later, the sales) showed that gamers want more. With almost no games like that around, we considered SGW a sure bet. And it was a success. Ghost Warrior 2 goes beyond that. We learned our lessons, took away the things that the players did not have fun with and condensed the stuff that made the original SGW such a success. Q. In keeping with a realistic simulation, what kinds of physics and other game dynamics enter into the development process? MS. First of all, I’d like to emphasize that SGW2 is not a simulator per se. We wanted to achieve a perfect balance of authenticity and realism but you won’t have to use a

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with that extra layer of authenticity they come to expect of SGW2. One very cool feature we introduced thanks to this is what we call the Motion Sense Trigger System – a system that checks how hard and fast you pull the trigger of a rifle and translates that to recoil. The faster you pull the trigger, the more chaotic your shot will be. Q. Did the development team get any hands-on experience with realworld counterparts of the weapons and equipment in the game? MS. Yes they did, but we can’t really talk about that a lot. We did not manage to get hold of all the weapons but in this situation, we used our massive library of reference materials to recreate them as faithfully as we could. Q. What are some of the settings that the player will ‘visit’ in the game? MS. The newest addition to SGW2 in terms of environments are urban locations. You’ll be able to visit the war-torn Sarajevo, and play cat and mouse with other snipers. Think the Enemy at the Gates movie but with more modern toys. On top of that, you’ll see lush,

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to underline how important is it for the gamers to be stealthy and carefully plan their approach. Gamers have to be methodical, and strategize on how to dispatch the enemies not to alert others. SGW is not another CoDclone. Q. The use of CryENGINE 3 means that the player can expect great visuals. How important are the visual elements of this title to the actual game-play? MS. Actually, players can see the great visuals in the trailers that we’ve released so I’d like to derail the question a bit and say about another thing. What the CryEngine 3 allowed us to do is tremendously enhance the AI. Since this was one of the key feedback issues we got from the gamers after the launch of the original game, we’ve learned our lesson and deployed the full power of CE3 to make things right this time around. We’ve got group behaviours, meaning the enemies will be more aggressive when in groups (they will flank you, and close the gap between you and them, while utilizing covering fire) and be scared when alone. We’re really proud of this!

Interview

CryEngine 3 powered jungles, a mountainous region and something completely different in the DLC we have planned later on. Q. What kind of location research was done in recreating these settings? MS. Reference photos and videos, mostly. Also, some private experiences as some of the dev team members are avid explorers. Since the rifles are our “main hero” though, we focused our budget and attention to them. Regarding research, player feedback is also very important to us, so if you want to tell us something directly, you can always follow us on Facebook (fb.com/ sniperghostwarrior) or Twitter (@ sniperthegame, #sgw2). We don’t reply to every message, but we read all of them. Q. With the inclusion of elements like vehicles and a wider array of weapons, it seems that the focus of the second game has shifted slightly to a more action oriented title. Is this the case? MS. By every means no! We actually decided to reduce the vehicle amount in the game

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Q. What are the biggest challenges in creating a game like Sniper 2: Ghost Warrior? MS. Its… educating the gamers that this should not be played as a pray and spray FPS shooter. Running and gunning spoils many cool nuances that SGW2 has to offer. We obviously can’t say that it’s the gamer’s fault that the game plays out wrong, that’s why we have to design the levels in such a way, so players are educated by the game mechanic itself. If you go in Rambo-style, you die. If you’re not observant, you lose valuable opportunities and so on. I love what the level designers done with the general pacing of the game. Q. In your opinion, what are the best aspects of Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2? MS. The shooting mechanics. You won’t find anything like what we’ve done in any other game, maybe except the really hard-core simulators around. We’re proud that we’ve managed to combine a game with something more and this mix pleasantly stimulates the region of your brain that’s responsible for generating fun. g

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Previews Highlights 22 Grand Theft Auto V We want it NOW! 24 Metro: Last Light More post-apocalyptic action 26 Splinter Cell: Blacklist Sam is back in the good books 28 StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm The Zerg are coming!

e were thinking about writing a haiku about the awesomeness that awaits us in the first half of 2013 but, honestly, who has the time? There’s just too much preparation to do… thumb muscles need to be developed, consoles and controllers need to be cleaned up, hard drive space needs to be rescued, monitors and TVs need to be adjusted for optimal viewing. Although we don’t know too much about the second half of the year yet, it seems that 2013 is going to get off to a great start. And in the following pages we look at some of the reasons why. g

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y o u

a r e

t h e

s w a r m

12.03.13 s ta r c r a f t 2 . c o m ÂŠ 2013 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. Heart of the Swarm is a trademark, and StarCraft and Blizzard Entertainment are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the properties of their respective owners.

ÂŽ

Grand Theft Auto V

Crime Returns to Los Santos

Not that it ever really left of course, it was just having a nap. by Pippa Tshabalala

with his family in an upper class suburb, whereas Trevor, his former partner, lives alone in a trailer in the desert. The last character, Franklin, makes a living as a repo man for a dodgy car dealership. Inevitably the three men are drawn into the Los Santos crime scene in an attempt to climb up the criminal ladder. At present, details about Grand Theft Auto V are pretty sketchy. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quite surprising, seeing as how it will be released fairly soon. However, if the track record of the franchise and the developer is anything to go by, anyone who has played the previowus titles should well know what to expect. But most of what they are publically stating about

Preview

ith a massive open world bigger than any of the other GTA games combined, GTA V is an ambitious project from developer Rockstar North. Building on the existing GTA universe, GTA V is a single player story told through three protagonists, Michael, Trevor and Franklin, all criminals whose stories are interconnected. Players can switch between them as they work together to complete a specific objective, and even when not being controlled by the player, each character still goes about their own business in Los Santos regardless of what is happening with the other characters. Michael is a retired former bank robber living

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g a m e c c a r ev i ew â&#x20AC;˘ i s s u e 1 7 â&#x20AC;˘ N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

the game follows the lines of this quote: “Grand Theft Auto V builds on everything we’ve learned about open world game design,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “We can’t wait to share it with fans.” Sort of non-committal, but hinting at awesomeness. Perhaps they are taking a different approach here, and allowing the hype to be created in the fans’ desires and imaginations. That said, there are a few details available about the game, aside from the obvious assumptions that one can make about hat it will look and feel like. The mobile phone returns, with slightly altered features from GTA IV, although sadly you won’t be able to buy property, nor go on dates as before. A

greater variety of vehicles will be available however, with improved handling. Multiplayer features as well, with improved Social Club functionality allowing players to connect across multiple titles. Players can be members of up to five “Crews” at a time, gaining experience points as they complete tasks. GTA V has been a long time in coming, it’s hotly anticipated, and the trailers so far have generated huge amounts of hype. We can only hope that it lives up to its predecessors and doesn’t leave the bitter taste of disappointment behind. Then again, we do have that Rockstar track record to consider… so we probably don’t have much to worry about. g

AT A GLANCE: Action Adventure

The grandest crime-spree, free-roaming action adventure franchise ever known is about to make a very welcome return... Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Rockstar North Rockstar Games Megarom

Q2 2013

Platforms

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Metro: Last Light

Back in Black Moscow doesn’t have a lot of love left

by Charlie Fripp

As part of the assets auction, Koch Media also announced that Deep Silver will be the main developing power behind the Saints Row franchise. With Koch Media behind Saints and now at the helm of Metro, the titles might go through drastic changes that could put them in a more serious light – which is always a good thing. At the time of writing, Koch assured gamers that the Metro franchise will continue and the next game in the series, Metro Last Light will be released as scheduled. But with that said, a number of internal gaming changes might be made that hasn’t been discussed yet by the developer. But even with that, not a terrible lot about the game has

Preview

ecently news broke that games publisher THQ was to be completely liquidated and all its assets sold off at an auction. A number of studios that operated under the THQ banner got scooped up by the likes of Sega, while current development and publishing rights went to companies like Ubisoft and Take-Two. As most gamers would know, THQ was due to release Metro Last Light, and also owned the right to the entire Metro franchise. Luckily for the developers working on the project, Koch Media, who own Deep Silver, stepped in to save the project and continue the franchise by securing the publishing rights.

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been made known so far, and it doesn’t even have a solid release date yet. What gamers do know is that is a sequel to Metro 2033 and author Dmitry Glukhovsky has been working closely with THQ’s developers. The Russian author wrote a book by the name of Metro 2034, but the game has no relation to the novel work, although Glukhovsky helped to the story and dialogue for the game. The reason for this is that developer 4A Games felt that it was less fit for a game than the original book. In terms of plot, beneath the ruins of a post-apocalyptic Moscow, remain the remnants of mankind that are inundated by deadly threats from the outside. As with the previous game, mutants roam the catacombs in the

Metro, and no man will be safe. But it’s about time that they stand up for themselves and fight back. In order to get away from the chaos that resides on the surface, humans formed settlements in the Metro stations, and learned of a doomsday device from the military vaults of D6. It will literally be a race for time as humans and mutants go toe-to-toe in order to get the device – which could potentially wipe out the other race. Players will take on the role of Artyom, as he fights his way through the mutants and the guilt that has been building up throughout the franchise – and naturally he holds the key to human survival when they need hope the most. g

AT A GLANCE: First Person Shooter

Fans of the franchise can look forward to more nail-biting action Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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4A Games Deep Silver TBC

Q1 2013

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Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Countdown to Destruction Save the world again, Sam…

by Walt Pretorius

countries, launches a series of terror attacks called the Blacklist. Sam’s orders are to hunt don these terrorists by any means necessary, and stop the Blacklist countdown before it reaches its horrific climax. From what we have seen thus far, it seems that Ubisoft will stick to ideas that we saw in Conviction. These include faster, more flowing combat, enhanced by a system called Killing In Motion, which allows the player to mark and take down multiple bad guys in one smooth stroke. Further, Active Sprint will allow Sam to navigate the environment with greater ease – and all of this will be enhanced by fully motion

Preview

am Fisher has saved the world so many times that we’re losing count. Still, the covert operative, from the mind of Tom Clancy, doesn’t seem to be showing his age, either in the game or with the millions of Splinter Cell fans around the globe. After his misadventures in Conviction, Sam is now at the head of the newly formed 4th Echelon, a covert group answerable only to the President of the USA. And it is this group that is called in to deal with the situation when a group of rogue states, in protest to the fact that the US military has troops stationed in more than 150

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captured animations. Sam and his new team will have access to a full, real-time mission interface system, that will also allow upgrades and the like to be purchased with the cash earned from missions. And that, naturally, leads us to one of the cornerstones of the Splinter Cell franchise – the gadgets. There will be many, including some new and some returning favourites. Among the new kit are things like an upgraded snake cam and versatile (sometimes explosive) trirotor spy drone that will allow the player to scout and mark targets. The sticky shocker and Karambit knife are two of the fan favourites making a comeback for Blacklist.

This is a series that has seriously stood the test of time, and has managed to move forward with new technology innovations, keeping it fresh and exciting. And the storyline has proven to be engaging through several iterations, with Sam in all kinds of situations. After the great fun that Conviction offered, it is exciting to see what Sam will be up to in Blacklist – particularly now that he is back in the employ of the highest power in the US Government. One thing is for certain; fans of stealthy game play and followers of the gruff – even grumpy – Fisher will have quite a lot to look forward to when Splinter Cell: Conviction hits shelves later this year. g

AT A GLANCE: Third Person Action

The welcome return of Sam Fisher sees the covert operative once again working for the government, and hunting down a dangerous terrorist group. Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Ubisoft Ubisoft Megarom

TBC 2013

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StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm

The Vengeance of Kerrigan No system is safe

by Lein Baart

looming on the horizon, once again the gaming world is beginning to hold its breath with nervous anticipation. StarCraft is known for its amazing storytelling, and Heart of the Swarm doesn’t look set to disappoint. Following the events of Wings of Liberty, you will step into the role of Sarah Kerrigan, the once Queen of Blades, now human again. The events of the game will see Kerrigan attempt to re-exert control over the Zerg swarm, which has been crippled but far from eradicated, as she seeks vengeance against Arcturus Mengsk, emperor of the Terran Dominion. Heart of the Swarm will feature several new gameplay elements, apart from the expected unit changes. Kerrigan will reportedly be a playable character throughout most of

Preview

here is, arguably, no other game that has ever achieved what the original StarCraft has. There have been and always will be genre defining games, but when a game is still played competitively over fifteen years after its release, when the conventions it laid down are still upheld and adhered to by titles to this day, in many ways it’s fair to say the StarCraft IS the real-time strategy genre. Blizzard would have been forgiven cursing their own success as the release of long-awaited StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty drew near, yet all was well, and the game has done brilliantly in the last two years. Thankfully, Blizzard has chosen to only make us wait three years for the next release, and with StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm

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the campaign, and must choose a role for each mission. Each role translates into a Battle Focus that opens unique abilities, and as you progress through the story existing roles will be upgraded and new roles will be unlocked. Additionally between missions you will have the chance to mutate the various Zerg species under your command, ultimately culminating in each unit having two separate strains that will unlock extra capabilities. No discussion on StarCraft would be complete without examining the changes being made to the multiplayer. Blizzard has and is going through extensive beta testing, and is apparently working with professional gamers to nail any balance issues before the release date. While the exact details are likely to change between the time you

read this and the actual release, each of the three races will be receiving new units and alterations to current ones, with the ultimate goal being the refinement of the existing multiplayer structure. Blizzard will be adding a new levelling system, where by levels gained go to unlocking decals and portraits, and both clan and unranked matchmaking will be supported. On top this Blizzard will add a new training area designed to help ease the transition between the campaign and multiplayer. The mode will gradually increase in difficulty as the player becomes more proficient, providing tips and training until the player is ready to compete in unranked AI matches, and ultimately against fellow human generals. g

AT A GLANCE: Real-time Strategy

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to imagine Heart of the Swarm going wrong, and as things stand it looks to live up to every expectation Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Blizzard Blizzard Megarom

March 2013

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The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct

Path of the Undead It leads all the way to Atlanta

by Charlie Fripp

AT A GLANCE: Genre:

First Person Shooter

Based on the TV series rather than the comic, this game will follow the Dixon brothers in the days before the first episodes. Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Terminal Reality Activision Megarom

ETA

Mar 2013

Platforms

Preview

MC’s The Walking Dead television series has become the standard when it comes to attracting, killing or evading the undead, and the franchise has garnered a huge following. As with any medium that makes a splash in the entertainment stakes, naturally a video game is sure to follow. Well, the video game, loosely based on the television series, is being developed by Terminal Reality and will be published by Activision. Gamers will take on the role of crossbow-wielding Daryl and his brother Merle Dixon before the events in the television series went a bit pear-shaped. The game will be set in Georgia and will follow the pair as they make their way to safety in Atlanta, but naturally it won’t be a walk in the park. Players will have to use their wit, intuition and clever planning if they want to make it past the hungry zombies. Gamers can enter a situation in a number of ways (attack straight on, or use stealth to flank), but how they do that will be entirely up to them. The video game should not be confused with TellTale Game’s latest effort, which also focused on The Walking Dead; while this title involves the characters from the television series, TellTale decided to focus on the original comic on which the television series is based. From the screenshot and in-game footage that has been released so far, it would seem as if the title won’t be too graphically intense, but it should none the less be a riveting title. It might not be for everyone, but it should definitely be checked out by zombie fans. g

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Dead Island: Riptide

The Next Wave And they all came tumbling down.

by Nthato Morakabi

AT A GLANCE: Action Adventure

The Banoi Island survivors escape to a military ship, only to find that their refuge now carries the horrors they were hoping to escape. Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Techland Deep Silver Apex Interactive

Q1 2013

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Preview

ith the whirr of the helicopter blades beating sobriety and relief into the minds of the Banoi survivors, it seems to them that they will be able to return to some form of normality after the dreadful island events. Safety away from the bloodthirsty infected seems a greater reality as they arrive on a military ship that promises refuge for them as recovering survivors. Looking to put the horrors of Banoi Island behind them, the survivors do not anticipate that this is only the beginning of their tale, as a tempestuous storm rocks the ship. The hope of a sanctuary within the ship begins to fade within the rising tides, as the ships’ crew is suddenly infected by the virus and the nightmare of Banoi Island becomes a reality once again. Dead Island Riptide continues on the same theme as the previous game, allowing players the freedom to explore in an open-world environment which employs the same element of RPG and First Person gameplay as its predecessor. A new character will be introduced to the game as well as new vehicles and levels that will coincide with the new area and storyline. Players can expect changing weather conditions in game, providing a new gameplay experience as waves of zombies are taken down. Improved weapon proficiency can be anticipated as well as evolved multiplayer gameplay. With a host of “zombie apocalypse” games out there in the market, one can feel overwhelmed by the genre, however Dead Island has proven its worth, receiving the title of Game of the Year and now Dead Island Riptide looks to continue the legacy in this upcoming instalment. g

Remember Me

Meeeeemories! All alone in the mooooonlight!

by Pippa Tshabalala

AT A GLANCE: Genre:

Third Person Action Adventure

Maybe, maybe not cyberpunk futuristic adventure game that isn’t high on my radar. Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Dontnod Entertainment Capcom Star Kinekor

ETA

May 2013

Platforms

Preview

emember Me, formerly known as Adrift is an upcoming game by Dontnod Entertainment. You control Nilin, an amnesiac memory hunter… Wait, what? Of course that makes complete sense. Anyway, the game is set in Neo-Paris in the year 2084. In what seems like it might be one of those typically “dystopian future” games, Nilin’s former employer, Memoryeyes, erases her memories to neutralise her, and so begins her quest to discover why and how to restore those memories. The game features a mix of combat, exploration and platforming and introduces the concept of “memory remixing” where you can enter your target’s memories, replay them and manipulate them to change their recollection of the outcome of a situation. The concept certainly sounds unique in that regard, but in general I’m tired of the cyberpunk, dystopian future setting. Nevertheless, there are some interesting concepts in play, including the chain of fighting moves called Pressens that are earned by fighting and defeating enemies. Special focus moves called S-Pressens can also be unlocked at key points in the game. Players can create up to four active combos and there are twenty four to earn in total. From the trailers is looks pretty enough visually, although I’m uncertain as whether or not the slightly stiff animation is because it’s unfinished or if it will be left wanting. The trailer suffers from pacing issues that we can only hope will not be transferred to the game. There’s little enough out there to be able to get more than a rough outline of what this game is going to be like on release however, so I’ll keep the excitement at bay for the moment. g

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Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

An Epic Journey Searching for the Water of Life isn’t going to easy

by Charlie Fripp

AT A GLANCE: Adventure

New IPs are always risky, but Brothers might just break the mould. Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Starbreeze Studios 505 Games Apex Interactive

Q3 2013

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Preview

tarting a new IP is always a risky business as the video games industry has seen many fail throughout the years. Just as development companies think they have an exceptional title, gamers don’t take too kindly too it, resulting in potentially great title falling by the wayside. If early critics are anything to go by, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons shouldn’t fall into the trap that many other new IP have in the past, but the studio behind it doesn’t have a stellar record either. Brothers are being developed by Starbreeze Studios, the same studio that rebooted Syndicate last year, and also worked on the two The Chronicles of Riddick games as well as 2007’s The Darkness. But Starbreeze has one thing working with them for this title: the fact that it will be their first own game, and it will make use of the Unreal Engine. It also has the backing of award-winning Swedish film director Josef Fares, who has given some input as to how the game should be developed. Not a lot is known about the title, but the story-driven adventure video game will focus on two brothers who set out on an epic journey to find the Water of Life to save their ailing father. If they don’t find what they are looking for, he might be lost forever. According to Starbreeze, “one must be strong where the other is weak, brave where the other is fearful, they must be... Brothers.” It sounds like it could actually be a great game and the title has already received a lot a praise from publications who have had the opportunity to see the title. g

Mars: War Logs

Just Another ARPG? Or Could It Offer Something More?

by Lein Baart

AT A GLANCE: Genre:

3rd Person Action RPG

The developers aren’t revealing much, and while Mars: War Logs doesn’t look likely to shake things up, there’s potential for a very decent game. Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Spiders Focus Apex Interactive

ETA

DATE 2012

Platforms

Preview

nnovation in the RPG genre is not a fastpaced phenomenon. Popular titles have always spawned seemingly endless amounts of clones, and the very nature of the genre and its fan appeal dictates a style that doesn’t particularly lend itself to change. That said, the rise of the action RPG in recent years has had many developers scrambling to incorporate skill trees and non-linear plots into their games, and the end result has been a slew of titles that offer a remarkably different experience than their predecessors. So what will Mars: War Logs have to offer? Developer Spiders, one of the teams behind the somewhat tepid Of Orcs and Men, are boasting a host of features such as “companions with real personalities”, “numerous dialogue possibilities”, the choice of “dozens of skills and numerous additional perks”, and the ability to “modify and create your own equipment”. This all adds up to a long winded way of saying nothing particularly new. That’s not necessarily a deal breaker though as many great games have chosen to refine, rather than redefine, genre conventions, and frankly there is far too little information available to give any sort of judgement. As you have no doubt deduced by now, Mars: War Logs will take place on Mars, with an unnamed catastrophe having reduced the colonists’ lives to a desperate struggle to survive. Water has become the most precious resource of the planet, and the companies that supply it are now Mars’ rulers. There appears to be a decidedly Falloutish theme to the story, especially once you throw in radiation warped monsters, though due to the extraplanetary setting it remains intriguing, and the trailers have shown a particularly dramatic flair. g

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Some Originality Please The Soapbox

by Suvesh Arumugam

f you follow my columns, you’ll know that I’m a sentimental sod at the best of times, and my idea of the perfect December holiday was to relive my teenage years by watching all the great action series that captured me in those days. So I got myself the entire Die Hard Series, Lethal Weapon, Alien, Mad Max and pretty anything else I could find. Watching them proved to be less than what I had imagined. While some of them managed to deliver a little more excitement, action or mix of humour in their sequels, I eventually found myself skipping ahead to the good parts, thinking to myself “How did these guys ever get away with re-hashing the same formulas over and over, and why did I just eat it up as a consumer?”. Most global release schedules for movies and games are built around

the major markets like the US, Britain and Japan, depending on the product. For movies, it’s mainly the US. It’s been interesting to me to notice how big releases are moving away from Christmas, and focussing on the big Easter period. Even gaming releases are starting to follow this trend, but movies definitely have been doing this for some time. I guess people on holiday don’t really go to the movies, and it’s only the really serious movies that want to be in contention from Oscars that release around this time to be fresh on the judge’s minds. So it’s no coincidence that Lincoln, Les Miserable, etc, all hit movies screens at that time. But the big guns are being saved. The real blockbuster’s expected to have moviegoers flocking to theatres are scheduled to start in April and May. And

like the ‘80s series I was so disheartened with, it’s the sequels and reboots that are generating the most excitement. Sequels to Iron Man, Star Trek, Thor, Hunger Games, Wolverine, Percy Jackson and Die Hard (how long has that one been going?) are among the headliners; with Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot Man of Steel also sharing the limelight. For gamers, nothing is bigger than Grand Theft Auto V, except maybe God of War: Ascension, both of which land at around the same time. So when I think back now, I remember why those sequels generated so much excitement. The excitement of waiting two or three years since the last instalment, the anticipation of everything you loved about the last movie, and everything new that would be introduced, the nervousness about whether

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the last episode (which is now your favourite) can really be topped and if you are going to be leaving the theatre disappointed, or head straight back to the video game store to trade in your purchase. It’s not the developers, producers or directors who are unoriginal, it’s us. We don’t want to try a different football sim for a year, we want it to be like it was, just better and more up to date. I loved how that the last Bond killed off the Judi Dench’s M (born of the Pierce Brosnan 007 reboot) to make way for an M more like Bernard Lee’s original M. Is it a reboot of a reboot, or just a boot to the groin? Will movie goers take a chance on Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim, or Neil Blomkamps’s Elysium? Let’s hope so, though it may mean we’ll be looking forward to their sequels in a couple of years. g

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The Insanity Grows

WIN

a hamper of Far Cry 3 goodies! Courtesy of Ubisoft and Megarom TO ENTER: Send an email to competitions@gameccamag.com Tell us who developed Far Cry 3 Insert FC3 in the mail’s subject line Subscribe to www.gameccamag.com Become a fan on Gamecca’s Facebook Page

Competition closes 28 February 2013. Gamecca subscribers only. South African residents only. Prizes may not be exchanged for cash. Competition closed to employees (& employee’s family) of 1337 Media CC, Ubisoft and Megarom. The judges’ decision is final.

Here Comes Another One... Console General

by Montgommery Paton

t’s great to see that console gaming is alive and well and growing like crazy. With the end of the last year came a whole new console, too, which means that we can almost bank on the fact that there will be an announcement from at least one of the major console players out there this year – either Microsoft, or Sony (or both) are likely to drop some official news on us about their new consoles during the course of 2013. But perhaps the market is growing too healthily. This year’s CES saw announcements from companies like Nvidia and Razer that they will also be releasing game-playing hardware. Not peripherals and components, like we would expect, but rather actual gaming platforms. New ones. Never seen

before. I reserve judgement on any new console until I get my hands on it, so I won’t say anything judgmental here. There’s a lesson about assumption that I learned a long time ago, and taking other people’s opinions about things and making them your own – outside of actual personal experience – makes you a sheep. Stop knocking stuff until you tried it. Particularly the Wii U. I digress. What I actually wanted to talk about was the fact that the market is only so big. Massive, yes, but till with limits. And those limits will not be able to handle everything that is thrown at it. This is why some devices fall by the wayside, while others prosper. I am not saying that devices announced at CES aren’t welcome and

all that, but there is an eventual saturation point, on both sides of the fence, for hardware. On the one side you have the gamers. I know of very few gamers who have more than two consoles – hell, even one console. While the situation may be different overseas, here in South Africa, most people don’t go for more than one. So adding more platforms to the market may not work well here, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the case isn’t very different overseas. Do gamers want another console? Will a new console necessarily tear them away from their loyal following of whatever it is they use to play games? For the developers, things also get complicated. The market already has a whole

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bunch of platforms, and developers can only concentrate on so much. If a console underperforms in their eyes, they stop making games for it. Just look at the PS Vita – even Sony aren’t making many games for their own handheld. And, if my prediction is true, the big players will be releasing new versions of their existing hardware before long. All of this adds up to a market that will start straining under its own weight, if it isn’t already doing so. There have been cycles of this in the past, and in their wake they have lefts lots of great ideas and forgotten hardware. Are we heading for another breaking point? We’ll have to wait and see, but it will be interesting to watch. g

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Stay Safe!

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a copy of Norton 360 Courtesy of Symantec TO ENTER: Send an email to competitions@gameccamag.com Tell us who makes Norton 360 Insert Norton 360 in the mail’s subject line Subscribe to www.gameccamag.com Become a fan on Gamecca’s Facebook Page

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Awesom Watch List

2013 Part 1

Feature

here is a lot of cool gaming on the way for the first half of 2013, just before that deafening silence that accompanies E3 every year. But before that quiet time, there is a lot to look forward to. Our Watch List has 20 games on it that you should definitely keep an eye out for, because we think they’re going to rock. We have put them all together on a handy reference table for you, too - in alphabetical order, of course, so that we don’t seem biased - with platforms and estimated release dates. Estimated because, well, you know how things can change in the games industry. One or two of them are guesses as well. We don’t have a crystal ball, but we believe that the games listed here should see the light of day soon. If we get any wrong, we apologise in advance. Only human and all that jazz... As you have undoubtedly noticed - because you’re reading Gamecca, s you must be smart, astute and observant this is Part One of the 2013 Watch List. Part Two will happen in July, when we have a better idea of what the end of the year seems like. Wow, it seems so far away... there is so much great gaming to do between then and now.

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me Game Game?

Aliens: Colonial Marines Bioshock Infinite Casltevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Crysis 3 Dark Souls 2 Dead Island Riptide Dead Space 3 DmC - Devil May Cry Gears of War: Judgement God of War: Ascension Grand Theft Auto 5 Injustice: Gods Among Us Metro: Last Light SimCity Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 Splinter Cell: Blacklist Star Craft 2: Heart of the Swarm The Last of Us Tomb Raider Total War: Rome 2

When? Who (SA)?

Feb Mar TBC TBC TBC Apr Feb Jan Mar TBC TBC Apr Mar Mar Mar TBC Mar May Mar TBC

Ster Kinekor Megarom Ster Kinekor EA South Africa Megarom Apex Interactive EA South Africa Ster Kinekor Microsoft Ster Kinekor Megarom Ster Kinekor Apex Interactive EA South Africa Apex Interactive Megarom Megarom Ster Kienkor Megarom Ster Kinekor

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Who (Global)?

SEGA 2K Konami EA Namco Bandai Deep Silver EA Capcom Microsoft Sony Rockstar Warner Bros Koch EA City Ubisoft Blizzard Sony Square Enix Sega

On?

PC, PS3, X360, Wii U PC, PS3, X360 PC, PS3, X360 PC, PS3, X360 PC, PS3, X360 PC, PS3, X360 PC, PS3, X360 PC, PS3, X360 X360 PS3 PS3, X360 PS3, X360, Wii U PC, PS3, X360 PC PC, PS3, X360 PC, PS3, X360 PC PS3 PC, PS3, X360 PC

Aliens: Colonial Marines

t t to love abou OK, what’s no MC, C S U e th r of being a membe a pulse rifle and armed with a h ug ro th g awlin flamer unit, cr ays and passagew s or id tight corr id-blooded in search of ac e, Sure, in real lif xenomorphs? t bu , ck su obably that would pr inspired this the movie that Cameron’s game – James be a just meant to Aliens – was r o-op, characte video game. C an more Aliens th upgrades and … a synthetic at you can throw

Bioshock: Infinite

Feature

? Weird A floating city range quasist enemies? A s, fi shooter? Ye historical scibe may have en please! There nts about the some complai usly, people?) box art (serio is likely to be but the game esome. Tons absolutely aw a definite of action with down-right creepy (if not That exactly scar y) edge. and the idea what we like, ock setting is of a new Biosh awesome.

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ow 2

Castlevania: Lords of Shad

The previous Lords of Shado w game redefine d the Castlev an ia experience, br inging us a hi gh action version of the gothic horror epic. I means, really , if you’re gonna fight vampire s, werewolves an d ghouls, you might as well do it with styl e, elegance and a huge-ass sw ord and moves th at would mak e a master ninj a go back to the dojo for extra lessons. The developers ar e being a bit tight lipped about the whole affa ir, but we think ‘awesome’ is a safe assumpt ion.

Crysis 3

Who wouldn’ t like a suit th at makes you st ronger, faster and even invi sible? The min d boggles at th e possibilities . But we’ll be keep ing our minds out of the gutter and in the jung le when Crysis 3 arrives… an d it’s a concrete ju ngle with a tw ist. New York Cit y has been tu rned into a lush ra inforest for th is game, which not only prov ides opportunities for unique ba ttle grounds, but also will afford Crysis 3 the ch ance to show off what we know are going to be stunning grap hics.

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Dark Souls II

you the first one, If you played ll te u Yo a lot. probably died u didn’t, but in yo le other peop u night, when yo the depths of , ts gh ou th your are alone with ng ri te is bl r the you remembe at Dark Souls th t en punishm er ur fragile gam delivered to yo the franchise ego. And now d for a second is coming roun levels, brutal set of sadistic unforgiving monsters and u . Come on, yo environments u yo in st ochi know the mas … wants to

Dead Island: Riptide

Feature

survived You might have Island isn’t d ea Banoi, but D yet! Riptide done with you new island will give us a ell as new w (Palanai) as es to deal types of zombi er characters with. The play (which is will be familiar e they know good, becaus ith zombies) how to deal w be joined by and they will le character, a new playab cares about too. But who t to see all that? We wan new weapons the wonderful lopers have that the deve r us to stab, dreamed up fo d generally burn, bash an dead with! mutilate the un

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Dead Space 3

Most days Isaa c Clarke just wishes he didn ’t have to get out of bed. But w hen you have to save the gala xy from terrif ying Necromorphs, you don’t get to sleep in much. The latest Dea d Space will se e us planet-sid e, scavenging fo r spare parts, building custom ised weapons and, of course , blowing the unloving dayl ights out of ho rrid space zombies and other bad guys. Can life get any better ? Nope…

DmC: Devil May Cry

Ninja Theory have given th e Devil May Cry franchise a sw ift reboot to the head, resultin g in a stylish ac tion game full of guns, swords , slavering de mons and semi-nake d women. Oh, and did we m ention action ? Tons of it! Dm C is already available, filli ng in that earl y year gap whe n good games are sorely need ed… and this is a great game, fit for fans an d newcomers al ike.

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Gears of War: Judgement

ct that many Despite the fa with und problems enthusiasts fo ction , the new dire Forza Horizon a franchise was taken by the r. ai h es fr th of welcome brea ng and street raci g in Free roam t bu s le ap rza st may not be Fo rs pe lo ve the de with Horizon, ing en up the play op to managed uce eak) and introd field (so to sp new ideas fans to many omising their without compr es. Forza principl

God of War: Ascension

Feature

d how Kratos Ever wondere ho he was? came to be w sure the gods We’re pretty mes that called him na never knew he implied that ar: t in God of W his father, bu nd fi ll finally Ascension we’ me from, ca out where he power and how he rose to is so damned exactly why he u time. So if yo angr y all the e m so e ially se want to potent ve ha d cs – an Kratos baby pi e process, th in tons of fun es of bad guys taking on scor rtainly for – this one is ce you!

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Grand Theft Auto V

We don’t actu ally even have to write anythi ng here. But leaving a big gap in the mag would look si lly, so here go es: it’s Grand Th eft Auto V. Th ey say it is going to be more ep ic than Grand Th eft Auto IV. A nd if you don’t kn ow how epic Grand Theft A uto IV was, yo u’re reading the w rong magazin e. Seriously. Car s, crime and a massive city will await us in this, one of th e most anticipa ted games in the histor y of sitt ing and feverishly waiting for ga mes to hit the shel ves.

Injustice: Gods Among Us

The idea of su perheroes du king it out is alway s appealing… hell, it’s been selling comic for decades. But putting player s in control of thos e superheroe s, and trusting th e developmen t to the same cr ew that did th e latest Mortal Kombat game? That’s just in spired. Injust ice: Gods Among us will give us the chance to take on the ro le of a number of DC supers an d thrash the tar out of a whole bunch of the best heroes an d villains around .

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Metro: Last Light

und railway Dank undergro ness, limited tunnels, dark a bunch of ammo… and ed nasty by enemies turn hunger: that’s radiation and , in Metro 2033 what we got ore m g in tt y be ge and we’ll likel Metro: Last of the same in e returning to th Light. We’ll be cow d deadly Mos devastated an e carr ying on th in this game, first e m so h it ival w fight for surv a . Sounds like person action ries or w e th from great vacation ld. of the real wor

SimCity

Feature

one of This reboot of s – and ou the most fam agement an m successful – me is most games of all ti once again welcome. Yes, to painstaking we’ll be able massive plan and build aking sure m , metropolises pect of them that ever y as a well-oiled ticks over like fore blasting machine… be rthquakes, them with ea rnadoes and hurricanes, to onsters. No giant space m – we’ve all use denying it ties before, trashed our ci ain! and we will ag

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Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2

There’s a cert ain charm in go ing to a beautiful, exotic place, exploring the mysteries of the land on foot… and then popp ing heads at a gr eat distance w it h a powerful sn iper rifle. At le ast, when it’s a ga me, that is. A nd it is just this ki nd of gaming opportunity th at Sniper: Gho st Warrior 2 will give us, with great graphics and a brutally smar t AI just to keep th ings interestin g.

Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Ah, yes, the w orld is once ag ain in mortal peri l, and only the surly Sam Fish er can save th e day. There will be lots of stea lthbased action here, along w ith some new ga dgets and som e ne game dynamic s to make savi ng the day even more fun than it was before. A t the head of the newly formed 4th Echelon, Sam will be able to do whatever it takes to stop an impending terrorist disast er… sounds lik e it’ll be too go od to miss.

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StarCraft II: Heart of the

Swarm

started with The stor y that y ings of Libert StarCraft II: W e th of rt in Hea will continue e once-againth Swarm, as n tries to take human Kerriga off… Zerg to fight control of the s, . New mission well, ever yone t ai aw s ap m new new units and rCraft fans in the eager Sta the flurry of this one, and Net on the Battle. smack-talking r ely rise to feve servers will lik ed as . after it is rele pitch shortly

Feature

The Last of Us

n ath of a moder In the afterm ft orld is le plague, the w ur vivors S devastated. ch other ea t fight agains pons and any for food, wea ity as nature other commod ties. This reclaims the ci en stor y will character driv ers across take the play of the USA… ns what remai ds like a in fact, it soun e series that ar number of TV hy w lar. And currently popu r? Because la pu are they po kin’ cool! they’re so frea little doubt We have very us, from the that the last of Uncharted makers of the even more games, will be . cool than that

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Tomb Raider

OK, so this on e’s a combina tion of reboot and prequel… this awesome feat will see a youn g Lara Croft find ing her feet as an adventurer in her intense or ig in stor y. We have little doubt th at the new, more realistic Lara will give many a geek-fanbo y sleepless nigh ts. And that w ill probably have little to do wit h the game’s in tense action, traversal puzz le dynamics (t hat means movem ent, dude) an d awesome stor y-line. We can hope, but we still doubt it. And we shudder…

Total War: Rome 2

When it comes to tactics, few cultures could ever match up to the brutal efficiency of th e Roman Empire . And when it comes to stra tegy games, there aren’t m any that can hold a candle to the Total W ar franchise. So Total War: Rom e II really is a bit of a dream co mbo. As the develo pers cycle thro ugh their “part 2” iterations (whi ch started with S hogun) we ca n be almost 10 0% certain of solid combat dynam ics political manag and awesome ement gamep lay. And you won ’t even have to get up off of your chair to take over the world.

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Reviews Highlights 54 DmC: Devil May Cry An awesome reboot 58 Ninja Gaiden 3: Razorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Edge Wii U brutality 60 Batman: Arkham City Armoured Edition Return to the adventure 64 Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two More paint, more thinner...

he year has had a bit of a slow start, as years tend to do. But 2013 holds a lot of promise, as is evidenced by the awesome reboot of Devil May Cry. February will see some great game releases, making a change from a rather quiet January. Still, we have managed to get eight game reviews together, including a few Wii U remakes. g

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www.apexactive.co.za Distributed Exclusively by Apex Interactive Tel: (011) 796 5040 www.apexinteractive.co.za Email: sales@apexinteractive.co.za All rights and trademarks and logos are copyright of their respective owners. ÂŠ 2012 Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc. (VTB, Inc.) All rights reserved. Turtle Beach and the Turtle Beach Logo are either trademarks or registered trademarks of VTB, Inc. All other trademarks are properties of their respective companies and are hereby acknowledged.

DmC: Devil May Cry

Tears of Joy One of the best reboots ever!

by Walt Pretorius

Vergil. But instead of being half-human and half-demon, these guys are more in the new game – they’re half-demon and half-angel. Dante, the character that the player will control for the roughly ten hour run of this game, is a rebellious, fun-loving nihilist who gets recruited into an organisation called the Order by Vergil. It is this organisation’s goal to put a stop to the evil machinations of Mundus, a powerful demon who controls the world though debt and the media, among other things. Dante is the muscle of the operation, able to shift into Limbo, where he can fight off hordes of demons with guns and blade. The concept is very similar to that of the older games, but the similarity really is only skin-deep. The red coat, suave attitude and white hair of the old Dante is gone, replaced by a hero that is tough, cocky and far more

Review

hen Capcom announced that Ninja Theory, the team behind titles like Heavenly Sword and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, would be taking up the development reigns on the next Devil May Cry title, there were a few grumbles from fans. When it was announced that the new game would be something of a series reboot, dropping the numbering system and opting for the name DmC: Devil May Cry, the grumbles turned into outraged claims of sacrilegious tampering with one of Capcom’s greatest franchises. But Capcom and Ninja Theory forged ahead, unperturbed by raised voices among the fans. And it’s a good thing they did; the Devil May Cry we see now is leaps and bounds ahead of the older games in many ways. At the core of the tale are the two brothers, Dante and

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believable. He has a bad attitude and a mouth to match, and doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t tolerate demons. Even as he learns about his past and heritage, his hatred for demons (who have plagued him his entire life) only intensifies. This new character is at the core of something else that Ninja Theory have improved by huge strides in this new DMC: the storytelling. The over-the-top, stylised narrative that was the hallmark of the previous games is gone, replaced by a more modern-feeling plot. The game comes down to lots of combat, as well as fast-paced movement challenges. As said before, Dante is armed with twin guns and a sword. As h progresses, though, new weapons are added to his arsenal, which can basically be categorised as angelic and demonic weapons. Demonic weapons are slow and hard hitting, while angelic weapons deliver less damage, but are much quicker.

Activating them is as easy as holding down the left trigger for angelic weapons, and the right trigger for demonic. Combined with the face buttons, these trigger inputs allow Dante to very quickly switch between the three weapon sets (remembering to count his â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;normalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; weapons, of course). The result is very quick, flowing combos that allow the player to string together a vast variety of moves and effects. This kind of action is rewarded with typical DMC style bonuses, which give additional points that count towards getting new powers and other upgrades. Each weapon has its own set of upgrades, too, so the player can trim their progress to suit their preferred playstyle. The various weapon sets also allow for a spatial element to the mostly melee combat, either pulling enemies towards Dante, or moving him towards them. Combining

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game will even tell the player how long they have been playing since the last check point – a nice touch. Adding to the extremely stylish and elegant game mechanics are great graphics. The world looks real, even when entering Limbo, and the inventiveness of the various settings is often not only smart, but rather amusing. Attacking a tower that exists in Limbo as it’s reflection in a real world river, for example, sees the player moving through an intricate upside-down world. The visuals here are stunning, as they are through the bulk of the game. It does challenge the PS3 every now and then, with a few frame rate drops, but these are widely scattered – enough so as not to negatively impact the title overly much. Supporting the good looks is excellent voice acting and character animation. The plot is deeper than one usually expects from a Devil May Cry title, and is delivered

Review

this idea with the already flowing combat makes the game fast paced and lots of fun. In fact, this is one of the slickest, most intuitive control schemes for a third person action game we have seen in a very long time. Even if you don’t use every combo in a fight, you’ll still look like a pro as you blast through hordes of enemies. Certain sections of the game will also ask the player to perform movement challenges. Some of these can be extremely complex and will require deft finger work in switching between angelic and demonic skill sets with split second precision. They can get frustrating, but DmC doesn’t punish the player very much when deaths take place. In fact, deaths due to movement mishaps don’t count towards negative score tallies applied to combat deaths, and the checkpoint system is fairly generous in its spacing of automatic save points. When paused, the

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beautifully by excellent voice acting, facial animations and motion capture. Dante becomes a likeable rogue before long, with his bravado and wry sense of humour shining through in almost every cut-scene. To sum it all up: those that were concerned about rebooting something as well established as the Devil May Cry franchise need no longer fret. Ninja Theory did an exemplary job with this title, pulling the franchise into a more modern, slicker approach that not only reintroduces the universe to a whole new set of players, but does so with skill, style and grace. Sure, the game is not without its problems. It is a little short (although unlocking new powers does make the levels replayable), and the lack of a dedicated lockon button can make some of the larger combats quite challenging. Additionally, every now and then the camera

may betray the player by performing an unpredictable swing at a bad time – like when they’re trying to perform a tricky jump or dodge. But these issues are actually quite minor in the greater scheme of things, and don’t show up often at all. Aside from the length, everything is easily forgivable, particularly when you’re basking in the afterglow of a massive, complex boss battle. If you enjoy third person games crammed with action and challenge, and enjoy a good plot line that transcends the norm, DmC: Devil May Cry should be near the top of your must-play list. Its stylish execution and fantastic control scheme make it a joy not only to play, but also to witness in action. Fans can rest assured – DMC is safe and sound in the capable hands of Ninja Theory, a team that has not only produced a great game but has also revitalised a great franchise. g

AT A GLANCE: Third Person Action

Reviewed on:

Ninja Theory have not only revitalised the DMC franchise, but they have injected gallons of style into it with this new take on the classic universe. Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Bayonetta, Darksiders Local

Network

Online

Ninja Theory Capcom Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory

16+ gamecca44

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii U Wii PSV 3DS DS

Score

89 57

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge

Chop Chop! Making a mess on Wii U

by Rob Edwards

The player will spend most of the game in control of the super-ninja Ryu Hayabusa, the staple of the series. There are a few missions in which the player will use the sexy Kunoichi Ayane, too, which adds a change in the pace of the game. She’s quicker than Ryu, and the action is blisteringly quick in her missions. But while the pace changes, the action does not… all you’re going to be doing in Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge is part bad guys from their limbs, over and over again. The violence is bloody and brutal, with no punches pulled in its extremely graphic nature. Ryu has a number of weapons that can be unlocked, and each has its own strengths, weaknesses and move sets. The thing is, though, that the game follows an anachronistic formula of “run a bit, beat up bad guys, run some more, beat up more bad guys.” Aside from some of the very difficult boss

Review

he Wii U is opening opportunities for developers to add another platform to their release schedules… and is allowing developers to rerelease titles that have been reworked for the console. Thanks to the Wii U’s increased power (over the Wii) and control ideas that feature more traditional, controller style inputs, the violent, bloody and definitely adultsonly Ninja Gaiden 3 has made its way to a Nintendo platform, in the guise of Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, complete with some improvements over the original release. It really is a bit of a mixed bag, though; while the game does bring yet another hard-core gaming experience to the Wii U, helping to foster the idea that this console isn’t the usual, family friendly Nintendo fare, it is a game that has a few problems.

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battles, it’s the same thing over and over again. That’s not a problem if you’re after a bit of mindless, combo-based action, but the lack of depth makes the game feel rather dull after protracted periods of play. It can deliver a lot of fun, though, particularly if you’re using the Pro Controller. In fact, the game pad isn’t best suited for this title, and the touch screen implementation feels tacked on, providing the player with little more than menu short cuts and a move list for the currently equipped weapon. It really is a wasted opportunity, on one hand, but it is obvious that the developers intended this game to be played with the Pro Controller (which would mean that any fancy game pad controls would not be accessible). The controls are fairly responsive, though, no matter which controller you use, which is a good thing. The player will get swarmed by enemies, and a typical fight will see

several grunts and armoured foot soldiers taking on the player character, while their buddies fire rockets into the fray from a distance. This can get pretty frustrating… if the player keeps moving, cheap deaths aren’t really a problem. But it’s almost always the same pack of bad guys that attack. Graphically, it is not the prettiest Ninja Gaiden game we have seen, but it’s not too much of a slouch, either. The frame rate stays nice and fast, and the blazingly-quick action in well represented, even if some of the textures and environments feel a little bland. In short, it’s fun and action packed, but it is hardly revolutionary, or even mildly impactful. The story is cheesy (of course) and leaves the game relying on the buckets of blood it liberally splashes around to keep the player engaged. g

AT A GLANCE: Third person action

Reviewed on:

It’s violent, bloody and fast paced – but beyond ton of action, this game offers little depth. Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry Local

Network

Online

Team Ninja Tecmo Core Group

Parental Advisory

18+ gamecca44

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Wii U Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii U Wii PSV 3DS DS

Score

73 59

Batman: Arkham City – Armoured Edition

Bats and Cats Some new toys for Batman fans

by Alex Scanlon

Skins Pack. That’s a fair amount of added content, and a bonus if you haven’t played any of them before. There are one or two other additions to the game that make varying differences. Both Batman and Catwoman have had visual overhauls, for example, and now wear suits that are chunkier and look a lot meaner. It does nothing for the game dynamics, but looking good is important for any video game. Additionally, Batman has a new Battle Armoured Tech (yes BAT) mode that can be activated during combat. His new suit stores up kinetic energy during fights, which can be unleashed when fully charged up. The result is that, for a few seconds, Batman is tougher and hits harder. Sometimes it make quite an impact on the game, while at others it feels like it hardly makes a dent. But I can be useful in a sticky situation.

Review

e have seen a number of previously released games getting an overhaul and rerelease for the Nintendo Wii U console. These include Mass Effect 3 (called the Special Edition for the Wii U release) and Ninja Gaiden 3 (Razor’s Edge edition). Another such rerelease in Batman: Arkham City – Armoured Edition, which brings the latest Batman free-roaming action adventure to the Wii U, with a bunch of added extras. The game itself is nothing different (in terms of setting and plot) from what was released before, just like the other games on this list. However, Armoured Edition also includes all the DLC that has been released to date: the Catwoman missions, Harley Quinn’s Revenge, the Robin and Nightwing Bundle Packs, the Challenge Map Pack and the Arkham City

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The biggest change here, naturally, is that the game is now controlled by the game pad, which adds an extra control element in the form of the touch sensitive screen. The implementation of this idea delivers mixed results. The player can, for example, fairly easily access various menus and equipment lists via the screen, and the fact that all audio transmitted to Batman’s communication devices come via the game pad’s speakers adds an authentic feel to things. But scanning an area that needs investigating by physically moving the game pad around feels a little odd in a game like this. Thankfully you can use the analogue sticks to do the same thing. Likewise, having a map available on the pad’s screen is extremely handy, but the accessing of various menus and equipment lists feels awkward and clunky at times… one might as well just use the original menus to do the same

thing. Still, the intentions are good, and the game pad works well as a control system overall. It also helps maintain a feeling of immersion and continuity, by not pulling the player out of the action to access menus and option. There are also a few gadgets designed specifically to take advantage of the game pad and, like with many Wii U titles, the game can be played right there on the game pad’s screen – no TV necessary. In the end, the action and story is of the same high calibre as the original release (because it is still pretty much the same game, with a few added extras.) That’s not a bad thing, because the original game is great. But if you have played it before, the Wii U version doesn’t add much. That said, this is a welcome addition to the growing selection of Wii U titles available. g

AT A GLANCE: Action adventure

Reviewed on:

Wii U

Although the game is the same, a few of the new features and the included DLC make it a great action game for Wii U owners. Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Batman: Arkham Asylum, Splinter Cell Local

Network

Online

Rocksteady Warner Bros Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory

16+ gamecca44

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii U Wii PSV 3DS DS

Score

86 61

Omerta: City of Gangsters

Managing the Business A bit of management, a bit of strategy…

by Walt Pretorius

specific locations and leads a team of four combatants against enemies. During the management phases, the player runs through an expected series of activities that work on a simple supply and demand system. There are three kinds of lots available to players, and each of them has specific things that can be built on them. Breweries, illegal boxing rings, speakeasies, pizza parlours, law offices, protection rackets, book-makers and more are available to the player. By creating a web of different businesses, the player meets the demand of the district’s populace, and can even take care of their own supply chains, from manufacture to sale. Then there are government officials to be extorted, celebrities to be scammed and cops to be bribed. In short, there is generally quite a bit to do, although the pace of the game can be pretty slow.

Review

ombining management and strategy is a formula that has worked for many titles. Notable examples include the Civilization franchise, among others. But what Haemimont, the team behind Tropico 3 and 4, did with Omerta: City of Gangsters is something that isn’t seen all that often. In this title they have combined management with turn based strategy. It’s a combination that makes sense when you consider what Omerta is about. In this game the player takes control of a crime syndicate in 1920s Atlantic City, visiting 20 unique districts within the city as they build up their crime empire. The game dynamic is divided into two distinct sections. The first is management, in which the player sees an overview of the district and develops their criminal empire of illicit businesses and fronts. The second is tactical combat, in which the player visits

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As the player progresses, more goons can be added to the criminal crew. These level up (strangely, level ps are awarded by specific missions, and not by performance.) Each character can get new weapons and learn new skills, and the result is a single player campaign that is fairly long. Combat comes down to four fighters (and one character filling a support role, like being a scout or a sniper outside of the player’s control) duking it out in turn based fashion with varying numbers of enemies. Different weapons have different effects, of course, and as players progress, they become better fighters. The odd thing, though, is that there is only limited carry-over between missions. Your character progress and weapon acquisitions follow through, but all the businesses you establish (and the money you make) only affect individual missions. Also, you can’t go back and manage

areas that you have already finished with. It feels less like an empire and more like starting fresh each time. It breaks any sense of continuity that the game might have. Omerta will appeal to a select number of gamers, purely because it is a management and turn-based title. While it is passable in both areas, it does neither really well. Rather, it is passable on the whole, and can be quite enjoyable, if you forgive it some of its stranger elements. It certainly won’t appeal to those who want their gaming fast-paced, but isn’t always complex enough to warrant that slower speed. The controls take some getting used to, and the graphics are not the greatest (when compared to things like Tropico) but, overall, Omerta: City of Gangsters can supply the player with a fun, sometimes challenging and never-toofrustrating management and combat experience. Like Tropico, the music is cheesy, and is best muted, though. g

AT A GLANCE: Management

Reviewed on:

X360

A game that combines management and strategy, Omerta is solid, if not a shining star. Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Tropico 4, Civilization Local

Network

Online

Haemimont Kalypso SilverScreen

Parental Advisory

16+ gamecca44

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii U Wii PSV 3DS DS

Score

79 63

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two

Toon Rescue Two Returning to Disney’s epic history…

by Alex ScanLon

game play won’t really get the setting. This time around, Mickey gets joined by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (essentially Disney’s earliest form of Mickey Mouse himself). The two characters experience the whole adventure together which, as you might guess, implies that Epic Mickey 2 has a strong co-op flavour. In fact, two players playing at the same time is the way that the game is meant to be played, with each character having strengths that complement the other. In fact, playing solo means that the player will have to contend with an AI controlled Oswald, who managed to get a case of the stupids every now and then. You can do it, but it gets frustrating. On the Wii U, the player controlling Mickey uses the game pad, while the player controlling Oswald uses a Wii remote. This is sort of odd, considering that Mickey’s

Review

hen the original Epic Mickey hit shelves it presented its target audience (read as younger players) with a fun adventure that had them controlling Mickey Mouse in a world crammed with Disney history and memorabilia. But the game did get some criticism, and so the developers tried to do something about that in the second title. Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two sees Mickey return to Wasteland, once again to save the day for the longforgotten and discarded toons who live there. It does raise an interesting question – the game is clearly aimed at Disney fans, who are likely to be older. Yet the game is also squarely directed at younger players. It’s a bit of a strange mix; those that enjoy the references and glimpses of past Disney characters and scenes will find the game dynamic trifling, while those who enjoy the

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painting and erasing style of game play is far better suited to the remote, while Oswald’s more attack oriented actions would have worked better with the game pad. And there are no options to switch. This is made more annoying by the fact that the game pad really serves little purpose in the game, aside from basic controls and a map displayed on the screen. When you get down to it, Epic Mickey 2 is a fairly mediocre platformer with a few good ideas. The areas that players can explore are large, and are crammed with hidden nooks and crannies, as well as side quests. This is where the game shines the most – the story quests actually pale in comparison, and the often overlylong boss battles don’t add enough to mitigate that. Additionally, the game play gets pretty repetitive just a few hours in, with the bulk of the game being made

up of fetch and carry missions, interspersed with a bit of combat and a few movement based puzzles (none of which are overly challenging.) It’s fun to play, but it won’t change your life, and play sessions are likely to be shorter. Even younger players will probably head out to go kick a ball around after relatively short sessions, rather than continue with what starts feeling like a bit of a grindsession. The graphics are bright, colourful, and filled with references to and hints at Disney’s rich history. Despite the great visuals, the camera manages to once again be a bit off in this title. Sure, it’s better than the first time around, but it still isn’t great. In the end, even the most ardent Disney fan may find that only short bursts of Epic Mickey 2 are tolerable. It’s a pity, because this game could have been so much more. g

AT A GLANCE: Platformer

Reviewed on:

Wii U

While it does have its charm and fun factor, Epic Mickey 2 could easily have been much more than it turned out to be. Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Epic Mickey, Super Mario Bros Wii Local

Network

Online

Junction Point Disney Interactive Prima Interactive

Parental Advisory

7+ gamecca44

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii U Wii PSV 3DS DS

Score

65 65

Anarchy Reigns

Free for Brawl Fight, fight, fight… and then fight some more.

by Rob Edwards

character. The action in these comes down to one thing: beat up tons of bad guys. Beat up enough of them, and a mission is unlocked – either a story mission or a side mission. And the goal of the mission. Beat up tons of bad guys. Rinse and repeat, over and over again. The story line is flat and uninteresting, and the action becomes bland and extremely repetitive before long. That leaves the multiplayer which, in all honesty, is the focus of the game. There are various modes, like Capture the Flag and a weird variation of American Football, but the meat of all of them is a 16 player freefor-all brawl. There are numerous characters available for play, and each has a unique set of styles and skills that players can practice and get used to (even if their controls don’t vary at all.) A player who takes the time

Review

hen a game gets delayed often, you need to start wondering why. One of two things could be happening in these cases: the developers could be working hard to make the game even better than anyone hoped it would be, or it could be fraught with issues that simply won’t lie down. In the case of Anarchy Reigns, it seems to be a case of the latter. Anarchy Reigns is a game that casts the player in the role of a brutal street fighter in a dystopian future, where violence and chaos are the orders of the day. The player will need to fend off waves of enemies in melee brawls to gain superiority. These brawls come in two flavours: single player and multiplayer. The single player game is divided into two campaigns, each with a unique lead

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to explore their chosen character can become a skilful combatant in what is essentially a crazy, intense and sometimes frustrating mass melee. It can be great fun, provided the players in the game are of a similar skill level. So, the sensible thing is to just play the multiplayer, right? Wrong! The characters needed to fully enjoy the multiplayer game can only be unlocked by sitting through the achingly repetitive single player game. It takes an iron constitution to do so, and players will likely only be able to take on the action in short bursts. Suffice to say, you really have to love the multiplayer to undertake this task, and I am not sure if anyone will love Anarchy Reigns that much. The various levels are also subject to random events, like runaway vehicles and carpet bombing. This could

have added a lot to the sprawling environments, which are not quite the free-form spaces they’re meant to be. But the graphics let this side down to a degree, because the effects are a little nasty, and the overall looks of the game are not what they should be in this day and age. This is exacerbated by a camera that often lets the player down, particularly during the more intense combats. Anarchy Reigns feels like a game that should have been available at the launch of the PS3, not several years down the line. It’s weak story and repetitive action do very little to get the player hooked, and it is likely to be more of a cult classic – with a small following – than a mainstream hit. And that’s sad, because the idea isn’t bad… a little more effort on the part of the developers would have benefitted it greatly. g

AT A GLANCE: Fighting

Reviewed on:

With no depth and little variation, Anarchy Reigns works best in multiplayer. Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Splatterhouse, Dynasty Warriors Local

Network

Online 16

PlatinumGames Sega Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory

16+ gamecca44

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii U Wii PSV 3DS DS

Score

58 67

LittleBigPlanet Karting

In-Betweener… This could have been so awesome…

by Walt Pretorius

tracks and vehicles simply never got realised. On the surface, this is a rather bland karting game. It takes some ideas from ModNation Racers and implements them, but leaves some of the better ideas out. The result is a racer that feels like a stripped down version of ModNation, except this time it’s populated with SackBoys. And the racing gets extremely frustrating. A highly elastic AI is combined with a weapon system that feels like an afterthought. Instead of being able to defend with a handy refilling meter, like in ModNation, this title requires the player to use the single weapon they can carry for either defensive or offensive purposes. This means that the player will be defenceless more often than not, and the AI opponents (never mind human competitors) are not

Review

nited Front Games was the development house behind the extremely fun ModNation Racers, a karting game that allowed the player to not only race along some awesome tracks against AI and human opponents, but also to get their creative juices flowing with tons of modding and track building options. Only one game in SCE’s stable had more modding options and community based activities: LittleBigPlanet. So the choice to get United Front and LBP developers Media Molecule working on a karting game set in the LBP universe not only made sense, but also promised to deliver an extremely entertaining game. Sadly, this promise was never realised; not only is LittleBigPlanet Karting a mediocre karting title, but all that potential for awesome community built

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above taking numerous cheap shots at the player. The end result is tons of frustration. A major part of the game play is gathering score bubbles and gift bubbles, much like the previous LBP games. But this detracts from the racing, and the player wanting to maximise their creative potential by unlocking lots of stuff will more often than not lose the race because they were trying to get gift bubbles. At the end of each race, the overall score also awards new prizes. Overall, the tracks are bland and uninspiring affairsâ&#x20AC;Ś which make the idea of building your own tracks so appealing. But the toolset is clunkier than it should be, even though it has a few intuitive ideas worked in to it. Automatic population of details and decorations, like in ModNation, is absent here. That

frustration, combined with a number of bugs, makes building tracks less fun than it should be. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not particularly difficult to create a track, but it feels a little too involved and time consuming. Despite having a handful of game modes (including arena based free-for-alls) and having sack-loads of potential, LittleBigPlanet Karting simply does not develop into what it could, or should, have been. The racing is not engaging thanks to high degrees of frustration, the included tracks are few and plain, and the modding aspect simply should have been better. The multiplayer is fun, but menus are confusing, and the attack and defence system are just as bad as in single player. The combination of ideas lifted from to strong franchises has resulted in a game that in inferior to both. g

AT A GLANCE: Karting

Reviewed on:

So much potential was squandered in a game that works out to being nothing more than mediocre. Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

ModNation Racers, F1 Race Stars Local

Network

Online

United Front SCEE Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory

7+ gamecca44

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii U Wii PSV 3DS DS

Score

60 69

Just Dance 4

A Bad Trip

Visuals right out of the bad acid repository… by Alex Scanlon

hand about. In fact, some dance moves are tracked so poorly that vague waving will be enough to get a passable score. How exactly Just Dance will move past this weakness I cannot say. But when it is faced with other titles and other platforms doing the whole dance thing much better, Just Dance on the Wii U needs some serious rethinking. As does the art design. Just Dance has always been known for bright, colourful and sometimes odd visuals, but this fourth outing really takes the cake. Whether it is foxy ladies dancing on orange slices floating in a large cocktail or a superhero boogying along while Godzilla attacks in the background, the visuals look more like a bad acid trip than funky, hip imagery. And the same goes for the dance steps. As to be expected, the player is guided by static prompts that

Review

ance games were something that the Nintendo Wii really brought to prominence. In fact, one of the most popular dance franchises – Just Dance – started out as a Wii title, and the popularity of the series sky-rocketed. In fact, it has spread to every other platform that has a motion control system and, in some cases (like the Xbox 360’s Kinect system) the Wii version has been left chewing some dust. That’s because the Kinect reads full body movement, and judges dancing accordingly. The Wii remote is the only measurement for the Wii, and that means it’s all in the player’s right hand… Sadly, this weakness follows the series as it makes its transition to the Wii U, too. Relying heavily on the Wii remote once again, the game can be beaten by a player sitting on a couch and waving their right

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show what the next move will be. But, in practice, they only seem to suggest what the next step might be. They can in no way keep up with the complexity of the choreography in this game. In fact, even veterans of the Just Dance series will need to go through each routine a few times to learn it off by heart – that’s how little use the prompts are. And the routines can get crazy in their difficulty from time to time. While all of this may seem superfluous, the meat-andbones of this game – which is supposed to be a fun, accessible party game – are sorely affected by these strange elements. The game seems to lack flow, and the level of fun anyone is likely to have is almost totally dependent on how much alcohol they have consumed prior to playing. Anyone taking the game remotely seriously is bound to get extremely frustrated, extremely

quickly. As a totally non-serious party game, Just Dance 4 can work, provided none of the players have any serious embarrassment issues. The multiplayer can lead to even more hilarity, but it can also devolve into a pseudosadistic, chaotic mess, too. With up to four players dancing with Wii remotes, the fifth player controls the choreography via the game pad. This puppet master mode is a great idea and can, at times, lead to lots of fun, but it feels flimsy in its execution. Just Dance 4 does not show enough progression – particularly not in a franchise that is so popular. It feels more like a rushed out cash-in, which is rather sad. The developers should have put more in here, for the fans, rather than releasing a title that feels a little like it is taking advantage of its name. g

AT A GLANCE: Dancing

Reviewed on:

For the first time, it really feels like the Just Dance franchise has taken a step in the wrong direction. Similar to: MaxPlayers Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Just Dance, Dance Central, Dance Evolution Local

Network

Online

Ubisoft Ubisoft Megarom

Parental Advisory

3+ gamecca44

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Wii U Platforms

Genre:

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii U Wii PSV 3DS DS

Score

68 71

The Awkward Truth... Ramjet’s Rantality

by Ramjet

ne of the weird things about being a video game journalist is that everyone assumes you don’t do any work. Quite honestly, I try to avoid work at the best of times but, with that said, I cannot deny that there is a bit of a grind involved in this job. No, this isn’t going to be one of those “oh, poor me, I play games for a living” columns. I am fully aware of the fact that I have fallen with my glutes in the dairy product. Rather, I want to bring up a problem that has plagued gaming journalism for almost as long as there has been such a thing as gaming journalism. It is so ingrained in the field that it can never be removed, and it is the major reason why people will never take gaming journalism seriously. It in insidious, too, because most of the people that it affects don’t even realise that they are falling victim to it. Instead, they carry on, completely unaware of the problem. What is the problem? Well, quite simply, it boils down to one factor – a

large percentage of the gaming journalists out there are complete idiots. See, being a journalist working for a newsroom is one thing, but writing for consumers – which is what video game journalists do, like it or not – requires a different approach. You’re not breaking news and uncovering deep, dark conspiracies like some chain-smoking alcoholic reporter in a 1930s style news room. You are a middle man, an information filter between the people who sell games and the people who buy them. And with that position comes a form of responsibility. Many video game journalists have an encyclopaedic knowledge of games, and can write beautifully… but they have absolutely no concept of what ethical and responsible journalism is. Without all three, you’re not doing the job properly. I believe most people who get into video game journalism do so because they think it’s an easy way to get free games. And so they start writing and, if they’re lucky, they start

getting sampled by game publishers and distributors. Mission accomplished, right? Nope. They need to keep writing to get the games they want. But they start getting selective, only writing about the games that they want to play, and therefore ignoring the bulk of the games that are sent to them. The publishers and distributors get mad, and start complaining. So the so-called journalist reacts in the only way the unenlightened can: they start throwing their opinion around like a blunt weapon, blasting whoever they can at any given opportunity. They seem to think that this is how it works but, in all honesty, aggressive and reactionary responses like that merely indicate that they have not yet realised what their function is. Just because everyone thinks you’re cool because you write about games doesn’t make you some kind of guru. It merely means that they don’t understand everything that is involved. Just because you can write and publish a blog doesn’t mean that you are the

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world’s leading expert on anything. And behaving like an egotistical, self-involved brat when things don’t go your way simply proves that you have no clue. Your opinion is not gospel, it is merely what you think. You are not there to tell others what to believe, but rather to help them create their own, informed opinion. You do not walk on water, and the sun does not go out when you sit down. You’re just a video game journalist, responsible to your readers and the industry that keeps you going. You’re a servant, not a leader, and what little influence you may have will only be effective if you stop wielding it like a weapon. If you’re willing to play every game you get sampled, think before you speak, realise that no game deserves a perfect score, admit that no game deserves to be slammed, stop believing that you speak with the voice of absolute authority and are willing to admit that you’re a game journalist because it is more fun than getting a real job, welcome aboard. g

ractically a one-man-production, the revolutionary and breath-taking Prince Of Persia rocked the gaming world. Never before had so much fun come from avoiding spikes in dingy Arabian dungeons.

A Year in Gaming

intendo releases the Gameboy, the first handheld that uses cartridges. In short, the first handheld that can play something other than what is installed on it.

ong before he unleashed The Sims, Will Wright brought the exciting world of urban management to games in SimCity. Well, the game was exciting. The real thing still isn’t.

he first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game is released, two years after the debut of the popular TV series. In some areas the ‘Ninja’ is replaced with ‘Hero’, probably because ninjas were considered evil, satanic, puppy-eaters or something.

A YEAR IN GAMING

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n a move that would define the gaming-habits of office workers for years to come, Minesweeper and Solitaire are created by Microsoft and bundled into its Windows software.

ant proof that games donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t incite people to violence? Despite the release of Golden Axe, there has not been a marked rise in crimes where little people are hit to produce bottles of potion. Probably because there are no giant lizards to ride.

t was, for its time, a graphic revolution. Shadow of the Beast sported more colours, more moving background and generally more awesomeness than gamers had ever experienced before.

as there a mech game before MechWarrior? Probably, but 1988 saw the first of the only broadly-known series in an anorexic genre. Why playing as a giant walking tank never got bigger in gaming is truly still a mystery.

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Razer Ouroboros Gaming Mouse

Comfort, no matter what!

Shape-

W Review

hen one talks about the ability to customise a mouse, they generally mean programming the buttons and sensitivities – maybe even the colour of the lights. But Razer have taken the idea of mouse customisation further with the Ouroboros, a new flagship in their gaming peripheral stable. Purely on specifications, this is a good device. It runs at 8200 dpi, using a 4G dual sensor system. With 50g of acceleration and twelve programmable buttons, as well as full Razer Synapse 2.0 software support, it really does the trick of being an effective gaming mouse. But any gamer prone to long sessions knows that pure performance isn’t enough; looks and, more importantly, comfort are also extremely important. The angular Ouroboros has looks in spades; it looks like a stealth alien craft bent on destruction. The visual

aspect of the mouse is rather unique, part by design and part thanks to its unique customisation options. Finished in durable, non-slip black plastic and finished with brushed silver and the expected glowing green accents, it certainly looks the part of a vicious, err… mouse. And the looks can change, thanks to the ways that the user can customise the mouse. Quickly and easily, might I add. The most obvious way is by switching out the side panels. There are plain options, as well as options with extended bases, adding support for the user’s hands. These can be used in four different configurations, depending on what is most comfortable. Next up, the length of the mouse. It can be lengthened or shortened to a degree, making it larger or smaller in effect. The effect is very noticeable, and finding the most comfortable length is relatively easy. As a result, a gap in the middle of the mouse body gets larger or smaller, but instead of being an eyesore, Razer have cleverly worked

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by Walt Pretorius

this aspect into the overall visual design of the unit. Lastly, the back plate (once the right length has been found) can be varied in angle with an easy-to-use thumbscrew system. This adds even more comfort to the whole deal. Best of all is that all of this can be done with an ambidextrous mouse. Yes, the Ouroboros is lefty-friendly, too, something which is nowhere near common enough in high performance mouse devices. Oh, wait, there’s one more thing. The Ouroboros can be used as a wired or wireless mouse. A strudy docking cradle allows it to recharge but, if the charge runs out (or if the user prefers) the USB cable cab be plugged directly into the mouse. And it’s not a cheap, dodgy plug either; the cable literally slides into the mouse before it locks in place, enhancing the looks and reaffirming the cleverness on the Ouroboros’ design. In short, it’s a little bit of mousing-awesome. g

Summary

Tech Specs:

This really is the most customisable mouse around, with options for every play style, grip and hand size.

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

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Very sensitive Awesomely comfortable Ambidextrous

8200 DPI 4G dual sensor Wired / wireless Tiltable back plate Variable length Variable side panels Ambidextrous

Ra zer Corex www.c orex.c o.za R1 500

Pros • • • • •

• • • • • • •

Cons • • • • •

No weight variations

Score

97 77

Review

A ve ry

MSI GeForce GTX 680 Lightning

fa st cs

gr ap hi tio n

so lu

Speed De

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by Walt Pretorius

emon I I

t’s starting to get difficult to keep up with the latest and greatest in graphics cards, particularly if you are a PC user who wants to keep their machine running at the best possible speeds all the time. The truth is that new tech comes out almost every day, and short of spending a fortune on a new card every few months, it does require a bit of luck to strike at just the right time. On the upside, new technologies don’t go away – not if they’re good ideas, at least. And MSI’s GPU Reactor technology is a very good idea. What this is, quite simply, is an additional device on the back of the card that increases the voltage capacity of the GPU. The result is more juice through the chip, and a resulting faster performance. That, in effect, means that the overclocking capabilities of a card like this is higher, and more stable in execution. So, in essence, the inclusion of the GPU Reactor on the GeForce GTX 680 means that the card can perform quite a lot above its outthe-box specification. But let’s be honest – there really isn’t anything too shabby about the default performance of this graphics monster. With an Nvidia 680 chipset and 2GB of GDDR5 memory, it really doesn’t break a sweat in most conditions… even under strain. Even if you don’t enter the competitive world of overclocking, this card’s performance will shine. But, if you do intend to push the device to its limits, you can do so with quite a lot of confidence; MSI have built this card to handle a heavy load. Aside from the Military Class III components on the card, there are numerous systems that allow simple and effective – even safe – overclocking. In addition to software for overclocking, the GTX 680 comes with triple overvoltage technology (allowing the GPU, memory and PLL to be tweaked), as well as triple heat monitoring systems and voltage check points. On top of all this, MSI have built an extremely good, quiet cooling system for this device. Using independent heat sinks for the front and the back of the card is just one aspect, and the generous 100mm heat fans, which use turbine style blades, work with those and the nickel plated copper base to keep the card running surprisingly cool. The fans also spin in reverse for 30 seconds after start up, to help reduce dust build up. A card like this means that keeping up with the crazy upgrades won’t be as much of a problem. It is reliable and powerful, and will give the user a long period of hassle free graphics… and if you want more power, it’s easy to tweak. g

Summary

Tech Specs:

With lots of power and reliability, this card should keep you going for a good long while.

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

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Fast & reliable Easy to tweak Top of the range

GeForce GTX 680 2 GB GDDR5 RAM 2 DVI ports 1 HMDI port 1 DisplayPort Afterburner Software

M SI Pinna c le A fric a www.pinna c le.c o.za R7 759

Pros • • • • •

• • • • • •

Cons • • • • •

Comparatively Expensive

Score

85 79

Easy, Now... From Space

by Christo van Gemert

ast month I made a New Year’s promise to myself, in this here column, that I would not start a new game without having finished the one I’m one. One at a time, nice and slow. Now, having looked at this year’s release schedule I realise that might be a bit ambitious. Thankfully, I don’t have to play every single game that’s releasing – god help me if I have to make myself finish a championship in FIFA before picking up

another game. Or worse, surviving a harvest season in Farm Simulator 2014. Don’t laugh: I’ve heard that people actually pay money to play both of those games. So now I’m gaming on a deadline. No, not the one I have to adhere to for this column, but rather a deadline that spans game release dates. It’s going to require me to be more specific about what I do decide to pick up and play, as well as how long I take with the games I do

start playing. Will I finish the new Gears of War before GTA5 arrives? And will I really enjoy rushing through that, in time to start playing whatever big game they release on the next Xbox, at E3? The best part is that all those games I don’t play at release will be so much cheaper by the time I do get to play them. And that introduces another problem: what if the backlog gets too big? I mean, there’s a ton of great games releasing in

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2013 and that’s before we even know any details about the two new consoles, and their wares. I might have to start praying that 2014 is going to be a terrible year for games, just so that I can catch up. Then again, given that the first year after a console release is usually quite dead, I won’t have to sacrifice my Sega Mega Drive to the gaming gods, after all. g