Gamecca Magazine June 2010

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i s s u e 1 2 / vo l u m e 1 - Ju n e 2 0 1 0

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Red Dead Redemption Alan Wake Skate 3 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Blur Lost Planet 2 ModNation Racers and many more...

Expressive Racing

ModNation Racers

Breakneck!

Blur

Carve it Up! Skate 3

Got Me a Posse!

Red Dead Redemption

Fear of the Dark Alan Wake

Water and Sand Prince of Persia:The Forgotten Sands

Inside 6 From the Editor 8 Unstuck Why be afraid?

10 Geekology The fittest ideas survive 12 Long Time Hero The history of Prince of Persia 18 Previews 18 games we can tell you about before E3...

46 PS Zealot E3 may hold some surprises 48 Xbox Beat The big premier is coming soon!

50 House of Mario A double dose 52 Get Online!

Reasons to use the PlayStation Network 56 Reviews 18 games under the microscope 102 Beginners Guide to Good Gaming More interesting stuff for newbies....

106 Hardware Cool things every gamer needs 110 The Lair thebanman’s LAN survival guide

THIS MONTH’S COVER Prince of Persia returns to the Sands of Time saga. Read the review on page 58.

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112 From Space Biting the fear bullet Competitions: 29 UFC Undisputed 2010 37 Blur 45 Transformers: War for Cybertron gamecca contents • issue 12 • June 2010

Reviews

Previews

20 22 24 25 26 28 30 31 34 35 36 38 39 40 41 42 43 44

58 62 66 70 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 100

Halo: Reach Bulletstorm Transformers: War for Cybertron Demon’s Souls Roogoo Sniper: Ghost Warrior APB Disciples III: Renaissance Fist of the North Star Magicka Shrek: Forever After Lionheart: King’s Crusade Tournament of Legends Captain Blood Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 DarkStar One: Broken Alliance Arcania: Gothic 4 Jam with the Band

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Red Dead Redemption Alan Wake FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa Skate 3 Blur IL2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey Lost Planet 2 Nier Dead to Rights: Retribution ModNation Racers Super Street Fighter IV SBK X: Superbike World Championship Iron Man 2 Monster Hunter Tri BlazBlu: Calamity Trigger Way of the Samurai 3 Lips: I Love the ‘80s

gamecca contents • issue 12 • June 2010

GAMECCA Volume1Issue 12 JUNE 2010 Editor: Walt Pretorius Writers: Walt Pretorius Matthew Vice Jimmy Glue Brian Murdoch Bryan Banfield Dion Scotten Alexia Pestana Suvesh Arumugam Adam Shore Columnist A Photography: Walt Pretorius Marketing & Creative: Katia Taliadoros Letters: letters@gamecca.co.za Competition entries: competitions@gamecca.co.za Newsletter subscriptions: www.gamecca.co.za GAMECCA is published by 1337 Media CC GAMECCA is powered by ISSUU

Copyright © 1337 Media CC 2009 - 2010

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From the Editor

One Down...

by Walt Pretorius

I

t’s funny how things work out sometimes… how, for example, two columnists will come up with similar ideas to write about, but will tackle things from different angles.

This month marks the second time that has happened in Gamecca in a year, as Jimmy Glue and Columnist A both talk about being ‘fraidy cats.

Wow. A year already. This twelfth issue of Gamecca marks the end of the first volume, and a completion of a year-long cycle. And while plans were always there to make this magazine a long term project, it’s gratifying to see that has grown so much over a relatively short period of time.

It’s been an interesting year, to say the least, with more highs than lows, and many lessons learned along the way. And now, as the preparation of this issue draws to a close, we’re starting our planning for the July 2010 issue – our first birthday. Needless to say, we’re all excited, and there’s a strong possibility that the next issue’s production cycle may be followed by a raucous party as the Gamecca Team celebrates a strong start to what we believe is a great magazine.

I think that, as this first cycle closes, it’s a good time to thank the people out there who have made this first year such an exciting one.

The South African video gaming industry has been very supportive of our efforts, which is always

appreciated… Gamecca would not have been possible without them. But equally important are the readers, who have accepted this new publication with a warm welcome. The growth in readership has been astounding – particularly over the last few months – and we know that this is in no small part thanks to the promotion that the readers themselves have done for us.

Without both the industry and the readers, Gamecca Magazine would be nothing but a pipe-dream.

Last, but certainly not least; the Gamecca Crew. My partner in crime, Katia Taliadoros, who serves up awesome ideas and great grounding in equal measure. Jimmy Glue, who’s hard work, reliability and incredible dedication to Gamecca makes sure that we deliver the best we can every month. Brian Murdoch, who makes sure that Gamecca gets out on time,

every time, no matter how late at night it might be. Brian Banfield, who’s unwavering enthusiasm is nothing short of inspirational. Matt Vice, the quiet guy who always comes through with great copy in a pinch.

Dion Scotten, who is always willing to lend a supportive word and solid advice in addition to writing. Alexia Pestana, probably the most hardcore gamer out of us all. Suvesh Arumugam, always willing to expound his faith in his favourite console. Adam Shore, our second man of mystery.

Columnist A, a long time colleague who always gets us to laugh out loud.

And, of course, Andy Taliadoros, for his unwavering faith and solid support.

This magazine owes so much to this incredible group of professional, hardworking people.

OK, I have gushed enough... it’s time to get on with the good stuff. g

Gamecca’s PC requirements powered by

www.pinnacle.co.za CPU: Intel Core I7 920; MB: MSI X58 Pro E; RAM: 6GB Apacer DDR3 1333mhz; GPU: MSI N260GTX OC Edition; PSU: In Win Commander 80+ 850W ATX2.3 EPS 12V; HDD: Western Digital Black 1TB; Chassis: Sigma Metal Storm Unicorn; Mouse: SteelSeries Ikari Laser Gaming Mouse; Keyboard: Steelseries 7G Gaming Keyboard

Unstuck

I’m Awake, Alan...

by Jimmy Glue

T

he suspense, the chase, and the creepy sounds. Oh the horror! Look, I have always enjoyed a good psychological thriller, but Alan Wake sure takes the cake.

I know there are a lot of games out there that are worse than our intrepid writer’s adventures (if you can call it that), but I’m still struggling to get myself to play more than one episode in a sitting.

I think it’s a combination of things, but what makes me jump out of my chair the most are the creepy sounds and sudden flashes of ghosts and spirits. Strangely enough, in films I’m completely fine, and I actually go looking for good psychological thrillers at my local video store.

Another thing that bugs me about the game is the darkness. I have never really coped well in non-lit areas and since the entire came is based on searching for and running towards light, I knew that I would struggle to get through it all.

The game is fairly good in design and execution, but I’m not so sure if

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I will be playing the sequel, if they ever make one. We are talking about a person who hasn’t even finished the first Dead Space yet here, and there is already a sequel to that on the way.

But as a game journalist, I have to play through all the games, no matter what their subject matter or horror factor. One thing is for sure - and Alan Wake reaffirmed it – I’m no fan of creeping around in the forest looking for the light of salvation. Give me a good shooter and I’ll be right at home.

But the double-whammy arrived not too long ago, which had a lot of promise, but I still approached it with caution – and with good reason.

Although Metro 2033 is a FPS, I saw the game being played before I received my own copy, so I had a vague idea of what it’s like.

What I didn’t realise – or I just completely chose to ignore it – is the fact that it takes place in the Moscow subway. Subway = no light, which brought me back to square one. Here I had a FPS (which I love) with a slight lighting issue (which I don’t like), and

I had to play through the game for review and educational purposes.

I was told that it’s a strange mix between Fallout and S.T.A.L.K.E.R, and for that reason I reckoned that it couldn’t be that bad. I really enjoyed Fallout 3 and I’m super excited for New Vegas, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R, well...

I can think of worse games.

So there I was, deep in the underbelly of the Russian capital with only this silly lighter-thing that represented the last hope for humanity – and my sanity. Needless to say, I didn’t play for very much longer after the first gargoyle-looking wolfmonster tried to eat my head while driving down a train track on a push cart.

It must be the sudden urge to preserve life – an almost primal effect – that takes a hold of me. For Alan Wake, I know a couple of people who actually walk through the game, actively looking for the baddies. But that is where I’m the polar opposite and my primal senses kick in.

I run as fast as Alan’s little legs can carry him, and as soon as a nasty jumps out in front of me, I aim and fire at least half a magazine into him. That makes me feel a bit better, only to realise that I don’t have enough ammo for the next guy, and my running starts again.

I truly enjoy titles that stretch the mind, keep the blood flowing and have a few surprises in store, but I’m not so sure if I signed up for a voluntary heart attack while playing games. g

gamecca column •

issue 12 • June 2010

Geekology

Gaming Darwinism

by Matthew Vice

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ne of the most interesting things about being a longtime gamer with access to almost all of the latest releases is that you really get to see how things how games evolved. At first, everything is done one way, then some bright spark developer has an idea that gamers love.

This idea turns out to be quite clearly the way forward, and after other developers blatantly copy it, it becomes a standard.

I’m all for it, as I believe that this process of testing the waters with new ideas and letting other developers adopt them has led to gaming becoming what we know it as today. Let’s start with an early example: We all know how popular Street Fighter II was back in its day and how important it is to the evolution of gaming in general. About a billion clones sprang up after Street Fighter II was released, all trying to provide news ideas, slicker animation and so on – but it wasn’t until SNK released Art of Fighting that the next major step was revealed. Art of Fighting might not have been quite as accessible as Street Fighter due to some tricky control issues, but it was the first fighting game to introduce the idea of a “super” power bar which, when filled, would allow a character to unleash a really deadly attack.

Other developers caught on, and soon 2D fighters started springing up, all sporting their own homebrew version of the concept. They were all important, because they led to what is now a solid standard in the world of

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2D fighting games.

Who could forget how many bizarre control schemes first-person shooters went through before we arrived at the current standard? The WASD keys and the mouse for PC, and the dual analogue stick setup for consoles were eventually realised to be the best possible standard control setups – as far as we know, that is.

Using these standards as a base, each shooter then builds its own unique quirks around it. Right now we’ve got something interesting going on in shooters. The ability to slow down time, target a few enemies, then unfreeze time and take them all out automatically with a burst of fire is a play mechanic that’s rising in popularity. The first time I saw it was in Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood.

Now it’s in Splinter Cell: Conviction, Red Dead Redemption and Alpha Protocol... and those are just the ones that I know of. The snap-to-cover mechanic, which had been around before but only really became popular after Gears of War showed everyone how it should be done, is another good example of a mechanic being adopted as a standard. All of the shooters I’ve mentioned above have it. How about Halo showing everyone that a “throw grenade” button was preferable to actually have to switch weapons to a grenade to throw one, then cycle back to the weapon you had before – who remembers that?

Another mechanic that’s becoming a

standard that I’m quite a fan of is the “aim” button or, more appropriately: “aim trigger”, since it’s always assigned to one of the shoulder buttons on consoles. In third person shooters, it allows characters in third person games to wander around freely with a wide camera scope, then raise their weapon to their shoulders and enter a more precise, slightly zoomed in view which is ideal for shooting. In first person games it’s usually used to aim down a weapon’s iron sights or scope. The technical benefits of this are obvious, but I like because it feels more logical and sucks us into the role of the character. When you hold down the aim button, you feel like you’re physically lifting the weapon with purpose.

Other good ideas that evolved over time include regenerating health instead of seeking health packs; the ability to carry only two weapons in realistic shooters; the radial weaponselect system in console shooters; grenade arc indicators; counter-hit effects in fighting games; upgradeable abilities in action games; and many more. Each of these ideas can be traced back to a specific time. Even if their origins are disputed, you can usually pinpoint the era in which they became popular and solidified to become a standard.

You could argue that standardising sabotages creativity, but from what I’ve seen, it provides gamers with something familiar they can use right away – even between different genres – and acts as a springboard for these new ideas. They can be easily compared to what we’ve become used to, and it quickly becomes apparent if a new idea is an improvement or not.

So yeah, I’m still all for it. g

gamecca column •

issue 12 • June 2010

Long Time The Prince of Persia is a gaming stalwart

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by Walt Pretorius

gamecca feature • issue 12 • June 2010

Hero

T

he history of computers and, more specifically, computer and video games is a relatively short one. With the first ever commercial video game going on sale in the early 1970s, there are many people who can remember a world without this kind of activity. In fact, the industry only really came into it’s own during the 1980s… sure, the growth has been phenomenal since then, but the industry as a whole is still largely new.

One of the stalwarts of the industry, joining the likes of Mario, Lara Croft and (arguably) Duke Nukem is the Prince of Persia. In recent years we have seen the prince as a charismatic scoundrel with an eye for the ladies and some pretty impressive acrobatic skills. But the Prince has been around for some time – since 1989, in fact – and the franchise has undergone some big changes in the 21 years it has been around.

In this feature, we take a look at the history of this well-loved franchise, that has now also attracted new fans thanks to a big screen movie. It is a series that has adapted with the times, staying strong through the short - but very exciting - history of video games. g gamecca feature • issue 12 • June 2010

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Prince of Persia (1989) Originally released in October, 1989, Prince of Persia was a platform game created by Jordan Mechner for the Apple II. The game represented a massive advancement in computer games, in terms of animation quality (and the fact that combat was sword-based, and not with projectile weapons).

Quoting the first ten minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark as his inspiration, Mechner used a technique called rotoscoping and hours of video of his younger brother performing various jumps and movements to ensure that the animations in the original Prince of Persia were as realistic as possible at the time. The game would prove to be one of the most influential titles of its time.

The story of the original game was fairly simple. The player’s character, a nameless hero, is a foreign visitor to Ancient Persia. When he catches the eye of the Persian Princess, the Vizier Jaffar (it’s always the Vizier, isn’t it?) locks him up, and gives the Princess an ultimatum… marry Jaffar, or die.

The hero escapes his prison and makes his way through various obstacles and traps to the top of a tower, where Jaffar has the Princess imprisoned. After defeating Jaffar, the hero rescues the princess and saves Persia.

Prince of Persia 2:The Shadow and the Flame (1994) Five years may have passed since the first game was released, but only eleven days have gone by since the tale told in the first game. The next Prince of Persia title took on the same ideas of the first game, but saw more combat introduced into the mix. Naturally, advancements in technology also affected the game, in terms of aspects like graphics.

After his defeat of Jaffar, the hero of the first game turns down all offered rewards, asking instead for the Princess’ hand in marriage. The sultan reluctantly agrees but, as the hero is about to enter the palace, his appearance is magically changed to that of a beggar, and another person – apparently Jaffar, disguised to look like the hero – sets the guards on him. The hero manages to escape, but his ship is struck by lightning (cast by Jaffar, of course). He wakes up on a mysterious island.

As he fights his way back to Persia, the hero learns that he can separate his mind from his body, in the form of a mysterious shadow. He uses this form to steal a sacred flame and, when he finally faces Jaffar again, uses the flame to destroy the Vizier. He frees the Princess from a spell placed on her by Jaffar, and they ride off into the sunset together.

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gamecca feature • issue 12 • June 2010

Prince of Persia 3D (1999) The first Prince of Persia title to incorporate 3D graphics was developed by Red Orb Entertainment, and released in 1999.

The hero, now officially a Prince (thanks to his marriage to the Princess) travels with the Sultan to visit Assan, the Sultan’s brother. It doesn’t take long before the Prince is in prison, and the Sultan is captured by Assan… all because the Princess was supposed to marry Assan’s son, Rugnor, and not the game’s hero. OK, cousins marrying aside, let’s continue.

The Prince escapes, of course, and pursues his captors. Assan accidentally kills the Sultan, but it is Rugnor (who holds the Princess captive) that the hero decides to chase down. They have several clashes in the game, but when it becomes apparent that the Prince won’t quit, Rugnor decides to kill the princess in an elaborate way that involves big gears and crushing.

Naturally, the Prince saves the day, and he and the Princess escape… but head away from Persia at the end, rather than towards it.

Prince of Persia:The Sands of Time (2003) Despite the fact that the previous game ended with potential for a sequel, the next release left the previous hero and his hard-won bride behind. With Ubisoft having acquired the rights to the Prince of Persia franchise, they introduced a new idea to the series, and one that would stay with it for the next few releases: The Sands of Time.

While en route to Azad, the Prince and his father, King Shahraman, conquer the Maharajah of India. After looting and pillaging for a bit, they travel on to Azad, where (you guessed it) the Maharajah’s Vizier tricks the Prince into releasing the powerful Sands of Time, using the Dagger of Time that he acquired during the aforementioned looting.

The released Sands turn everyone into monsters… everyone but the Prince, the Vizier and Farah (the Maharajah’s daughter) that is, who are protected by various items in their possession. The Prince learns that the released Sands can reverse time, and he and Farah set out to put right what he has caused.

The natural love affair slowly grows during the game… Farah even admits her love for the Prince, but he is unconscious at the time. When they reach their goal – the Hourglass of Time – the Prince hesitates, giving the Vizier a chance to imprison him and Farah. Farah manages to steal the Dagger of Time from the Prince and flees, with him in hot pursuit. The chase ends in tragedy, with Farah falling to her death. Grief stricken, the Prince stabs the Hourglass with the Dagger, a process that rewinds time to the beginning of the game – right back to the conquest of the Maharajah’s lands. The Prince makes his way to Farah’s bedroom… while he tells her of what has (or, actually, hasn’t) happened, the Vizier shows up. Naturally, the Prince defeats him. He returns the Dagger of Time to Farah. gamecca feature • issue 12 • June 2010

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Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (2004) Seven years later, the Prince is not a happy man. He is haunted by the events he set in motion in Azad, and finds himself hunted by the Dahaka, the guardian of time. Because the Prince escaped his fate, the Dahaka tries to ensure that he dies, as he was meant to.

An old wise man reveals to the Prince that a place called the Island of Time exists, where the Sands of Time were created. The island is ruled by the Empress of Time. The Prince sets sail for the island, in an attempt to stop the creation of the Sands… no Sands, no Dahaka.

While travelling back through time, using a portal, the Prince rescues a woman called Kaileena. While Kaileena can’t get him an audience with the Empress, she tells him how to unlock the chamber where the Empress can be found.

Naturally, the locks are complicated, but once he has opened the chamber, the Prince finds that The Empress of Time and Kaileena are the same person. He kills Kaileena, and returns to the present.

However, he learns that the Sands of Time were created from Kaileena’s corpse, meaning that he, in essence, was responsible for their creation.

The Prince manages to escape the Dahaka by donning a mask that allows him to co-exist in the same timeline with himself (yes, it gets weird) diguised as a Sand Wraith. The Dahaka kills his ‘other’ self, and he removes the mask, effectively escaping his fate yet again. He then comes up with the idea that killing Kaileena in the present would be a better option – the Sands will still be created, but they should be created after the events that took place at Azad.

He forces Kaileena into the present, but his plans go awry when the Dahaka shows up, intent on rectifying time by killing Kaileena (who was supposed to be dead already.) The Prince and Kaileena manage to defeat the Dahaka, and set sail for Babylon together.

The Prince of Persia:The Two Thrones (2005) A few weeks after the events that took place in Warrior Within, the Prince and Kaileena arrive in Babylon, only to find that the city is ravaged by war. Their ship is attacked and Kaileena falls overboard, only to be captured when she washes up on shore.

The Prince soon discovers that his efforts to prevent the Sands of time being created mean that the events that occurred in Prine of Persia: The Sands of Time never took place. In other words, the evil Vizier never died, and is now in possession of the Dagger of Time. The Vizier kills Kaileena, unleashing the Sands, and uses the power of the dagger to free himself from time – effectively becoming immortal (but not invulnerable.) The Sands also affect the Prince, infecting an open wound on his arm and embedding a whip-like weapon, the Daggertail, into his flesh.

He manages to steal the Dagger of Time yet again, and makes his way through the city, hunting down the Vizier. He encounters Farah (remember her?) who has technically never met him before, and they set off on his quest together.

As he travels, the Prince learns that the Sands have affected his mind, splitting it into a light and a dark personality.

In truth, though, the Dark Prince is not really a part of his personality; rather, he is a manifestation of the Sands, trying to overpower him.

When the Prince eventually finds the Vizier, the evil dude has him thrown into a dry well. Here he struggles with the Dark Prince, who tries to use his anger and guilt to take over. However, the Prince finds the body of his father – who he had hoped to reconcile with – and accepts the consequences of his actions. This acceptance silences the Dark Prince, seemingly forever.

The Prince escapes the well and puts an end to the Vizier with the Dagger. Kaileena appears to him, and clears the Sand’s infection. As he reaches for his father’s crown (which now belongs to him) the Dark Prince resurfaces. A mental battle results in the Prince realising that putting aside his anger will weaken the Dark Prince, who falls silent when starved of aggression.

The Prince wakes in the arms of Farah, who asks him how he knew her name. The Prince begins telling her the tale that started with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, thus bringing the story full circle.

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gamecca feature • issue 12 • June 2010

Prince of Persia (2008) In a surprising move, Ubisoft decided to move away from the Sands of Time concept with a franchise reboot in 2008. The new Prince of Persia title presented the player with a less linear, freer world to explore. The character of the Prince once again becomes a nameless hero of questionable moral stature (he is apparently a grave robber). After a chance meeting with a beautiful Princess, the hero begins a journey to free the lands of corruption, brought about by her own father. The Princess’ father released an evil god, Ahriman, on the lands when he destroyed the Tree of Life.

As they travel, healing blighted lands along the way, the Princess tells the hero that her father brought her back from the dead by striking a deal with Ahriman.

After healing all the lands, they head back to the temple which houses the Tree of Life, where they confront Elika’s father, the Mourning King. He escapes into a pit of corruption, which then spawns Ahriman.

However, Elika heals the Tree of Life, sealing Ahriman away… but sacrifices her own life in the process.

Grief stricken, the hero destroys the Tree and returns the life force to Elika – however, he fully frees Ahriman in the process. The two of them escape into the desert while Ahriman wreaks havoc.

A downloadable epilogue sees the hero and Elika travelling through an underground palace, seeking refuge from Ahriman. A final confrontation with the Mourning King sees Elika’s father killed, before the duo once again need to flee from Ahriman. Elika leaves the hero, searching for a way to put the wrongs right.

Prince of Persia:The Forgotten Sands (2010) Although the Sands of Time cycle was officially finished in The Two Thrones, Ubisoft decided to release another tale in the saga at roughly the same time as Jerry Bruckheimer’s film hit the big screen. The Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands takes place in the seven year gap between The Sands of Time and Two Thrones. For more details, see our review on page 58.

Other PoP Titles Numerous other Prince of Persia titles were released for handheld and mobile devices: Prince of Persia: Revelations (PSP, 2005) Battles of Prince of Persia (DS, 2005) Prince of Persia Classic (PSN, XBLA, Wii, Mobile, 2007) Prince of Persia: Rival Swords (PSP, Wii, 2007) Prince of Persia: The Fallen King (DS, 2008) gamecca feature • issue 12 • June 2010

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Previews

18 Games not waiting for E3 announcements...

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3 is happening this month. That means that a lot of developers and publishers are playing their cards very close to their chests, at least until the massive LA based expo is over.

In terms of Gamecca, it means that a lot of the information we need for our preview section is not available yet. But we still managed to find out some stuff about 18 games that will be released soon.... g

Previews 20 22 24 25 26 28 30 31 34 35 36 38 39 40 41 42 43 44

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Halo: Reach Bulletstorm Transformers: War for Cybertron Demon’s Souls Roogoo Sniper: Ghost Warrior APB Disciples III: Renaissance Fist of the North Star Magicka Shrek Forever After Lionheart: King’s Crusade Tournament of Legends Captain Blood Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 DarkStar One: Broken Alliance Arcania: Gothic 4 Jam With the Band gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Halo: Reach

Reach the Limit Bungie’s last trip to the Halo universe

by Walt Pretorius

T

he Halo Trilogy might have ended a while ago, but there is more to Bungie’s unique, action packed universe than the Master Chief. We have also seen the release of Halo Wars and Halo: ODST, after all.

That said, Bungie are currently working on their last Halo title before they leave the Microsoft fold and join up with Activision.

Halo: Reach will present the player with a darker story.

Set on the planet Reach, humanity’s last line of defense against the Covenant, Halo: Reach will tell the tale of

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Noble Team, a group of Spartan soldiers willing to lay their lives on the line to keep the enemy at bay. No, not those kind of Spartans… It’s Reach, not Sparta.

Bungie are promising a lot with this title. Not only will the player get to be a legendary Spartan soldier, but will also be able to take part in the biggest conflicts ever seen in the Halo universe. New weapons and abilities will be added to the familiar arsenal, all of which will help the player take on cunning AI enemies.

New technology will add to the experience, with stunning

gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

visuals combining with systems that exploit nextgen technology to its utmost.

And let’s not forget the features that players love. Halo: Reach will feature four-player co-op, split screen support, saved films, screenshots and a bunch of other stuff that they haven’t revealed yet. It might be Bungie’s last Halo game, but it looks like Halo: Reach will also be their best. We’ll have to wait until half-way through September to find out. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Bungie Publisher: Microsoft Distributor: Microsoft gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Sep 2010 Platforms

Bungie are making big promises for Halo: Reach and, knowing their reputation, they’ll probably deliver.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

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Bulletstorm

Kill with Skill … and I’m all outta gum…

by Dion Scotten

B

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AT A GLANCE: A futuristic, violent romp across a distant, mutant-infested planet… what more could we ask for?

Developer: People Can Fly & Epic Publisher: Electronic Arts Distributor: EA Africa

2011 Platforms

ulletstorm is an over-the-top first person shooter that’s aiming at putting even more fun into making your friends go splat.

Creative designer Cliff Bleszinski describes the game as a mix between Duke Nukem and the popular TV series Firefly and promises fast paced action mixed in with quirky narrative.

The story takes place in future space, where former elite mercenaries have ended up as drunken pirates.

After an accident in space they end up trapped on a dangerous planet on the edge of the frontier.

Their mission: to escape the planet hopefully alive and with all body parts attached while mutants, mercenaries, vicious creatures and hungry plant life fight over the change to the menu.

The player controls the main character, Grayson Hunt, who is joined by his friend Ishi Sato in a desperate fight to escape the planet and maybe even get revenge on their old commander.

Epic Games have teamed up with developers People Can Fly (Painkiller fame) which just means we can expect boss encounters of biblical proportions.

Besides the obvious FPS weapons, Bulletstorm will also introduce their own special range to make potential kills a little more interesting. An example would be the flail gun that fires two grenades attached by a chain, which can be used for some interesting takedowns and kill combos.

Creative kill shots are encouraged and points will be earned for stylish kills which can be exchanged for upgrades to weapons or character abilities.

This is going to be one for the collection: a break from the totally serious, lots of over-the-top kill action and boss fights of note.

No release date is announced as yet but players can expect Bulletstorm to only hit the shelves in 2011. g

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Take part in the final battle

by Walt Pretorius

D

eveloped in conjunction with Hasbro (the people that make the toys) Transformers: War for Cybertron will allow players to take on the final battle for domination of the Transformers home-world.

The game will allow players to take the part of either the heroic Autobots or the nefarious Decepticons as they engage in pivotal battles across Cybertron.

But the game will offer more than just a single player experience. Players will be able to engage in multiplayer battles too, with drop-in / drop-out co-operative play, as well as a host of competitive multiplayer modes.

In addition, players will be able to create their own Transformer characters for use in multiplayer modes, with a host of classes, looks and (naturally) weapons to choose from. Players will also be able to level-up their characters, to improve their performance.

While the other Transformers titles have received mixed reviews, it looks like War for Cybertron will be offering more than just the expected experience. As always, time will tell. g

AT A GLANCE: New multiplayer options, as well as the ability to make your own Transformer character, should add a lot of appeal.

Developer: High Moon Studios Publisher: Activision Distributor: Megarom

24

Jun 2010 Platforms

Transformers: War for Cybertron

Domination

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Demon’s Souls

Hunting Demons Not the easiest job around

by Walt Pretorius

T

he medieval fantasy world of Boletaria is in the grip of a devastating and cruel fog that brings hordes of demons with it. Their goal is to feast on mortal souls, but valiant efforts of heroes keep these nightmarish creatures at bay. That’s the premise of Demon’s Souls, an action RPG by From Software and Namco Bandai.

The non-linear world will give the player plenty of opportunities to explore trap-ridden ancient castles, deep caves and dark tunnels in their quest to gather up demon souls, to fuel their own character’s power.

Powerful bosses and hordes of cruel enemies will await the player in a game that is, in combat terms, quite merciless. Adaptation of character and approach will be key to survival.

An interesting take on the idea of multiplayer gaming will allow players to interact with each other via notes left in areas, as well as co-operative and competitive play.

Decisions will count as well in this world, with secret events and items being unlocked based on the player’s tendencies towards black and white choices. The player’s stats will also be affected by these choices.

Set in a hauntingly beautiful world, Demon’s Souls will feature excellent graphics and a haunting soundtrack, both of which will help support what appears to be an already exciting game. We’ll know for sure later this month! g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: From Software Publisher: Namco Bandai Distributor: Megarom gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Jun 2010 Platforms

Demon’s Souls promises to be an unforgiving, challenging action RPG, with solid multiplayer components

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

25

Roogoo

A Fun Puzzler …not kangaroo roadkill.

by Brian Murdoch

I

t’s always better on the Wii and DS and now Roogoo has been redeveloped for these fun platforms, based on the XBLA game. Roogoo, for those that don’t know the title, is a game where players need to guide colourful meteors through rotating platforms in an effort to stop the evil Meemoos from draining the planet’s energy. Most of the time, when a game comes out on both platforms, the players that have both consoles find it hard to pick one to buy it for. Well, I think for this game players will find themselves buying both. There are some bonus levels and interactive controls promised for players that connect their DS to the Wii versions.

The new version of Roogoo also brings a wide range of features with it. There are exciting puzzle-based boss fights, living environments, and even a co-op feature.

Each of the basic game mechanics are improved to thrill and impress. The twisted towers are not only moved on a vertical axis but a horizontal one as well.

With over 100 unique levels, like the belly of a whale, under the ocean and sky diving, players will never get bored with this puzzler. It has a quick, easy-to-pick-upand-play style and will allow battles in 2 player co-op or 4 player party modes. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: SpiderMonk Publisher: South Peak Distributor: South Peak

26

Jun 2010 Platforms

Save the planet’s energy by guiding colourful meteors through rotating platforms. The new features give a fresh look to the Roogoo title.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Sniper: Ghost Warrior

Head Shot

Making short work of despotic leaders

by Jimmy Glue

F

AT A GLANCE: With controlled breathing and realistic physics, the title might just be the first truly sniper-orientated game.

Developer: City Interactive Publisher: City Interactive Distributor: TBC

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Jun 2010 Platforms

irst-person shooter games all have, to some degree, a sniper element, but few games actually focus on the player being part of an elite group of highly-trained assassins. Sniper: Ghost Warrior hopes to changes that, by placing the player directly in the line of covered fire.

The title will transport players to the fictional South American island of Isla Trueno, where they need to assassinate the self-appointed ruler General Vasquez.

After destabilising the democratic island nation, the General seized power to further his despotic plans, and it’s up to the player to make sure he fails. Permanently.

The title prides itself in being truly authentic, as it uses a realistic ballistic system that takes into account the distance of a shot, the drop effect of the bullet’s trajectory, and environmental factors, such as wind direction and speed.

The best weapons in a sniper’s arsenal are his surroundings, and in Sniper: Ghost Warrior foliage will be the player’s best friend. In order to be an effective sniper the player must find the best hiding spots and blend in with the jungle terrain.

But the player won’t be going at it alone, as other members of the squad can serve as spotters, giving details about the positions of key enemies.

The title will roll out over 16 stages, and with the game’s ‘Bullet Cam’ system, it might just be an exciting sniper title. g

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gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

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

PACK A PUNCH

WIN A PS3 UFC Undisputed 2010 Hamper

Courtesy of Ster Kinekor Entertainment

TO ENTER: Subscribe to www.gamecca.co.za Send an email to competitions@gamecca.co.za.

Tell us your name and the name of UFC’s distributor Insert ‘UFC competition’ in the mail’s subject line.

Competition closes 30 June 2010. Gamecca subscribers only. South African residents only.

Prizes may not be exchanged for cash. Hampers may not include a copy of the game.

Competition closed to employees (& employee’s family) of 1337 Media CC & Ster Kinekor Entertainment.

The judges’ decision is final.

All Points Bulletin (APB)

Create Conflict Cops and robbers for the digital age

by Alexia Pestana

T

30

AT A GLANCE: A fast paced game environment specially designed for both on-foot and vehicle based play.

Developer: Real Time Worlds Publisher: Electronic Arts Distributor: EA Africa

Jul 2010 Platforms

ake the Grand Theft Auto franchise, add an online connection and possibly the rest of the gaming world and you get APB. This unique persistent world is packed full of frantic action, shoot outs, car chases and everything that GTA had, but also includes a whole lot more. This is a massively multiplayer online, freeform, combat and driving based game.

Your mission is to gain fame and fortune. Will you take to a life of crime and feed on the city, its people and its businesses, or will you become an Enforcer feeding on the criminal players?

Conflict and self expression are huge here, with a powerful and comprehensive in-game customisation package including Designer, Persona, Wardrobe, and Music Studio (in which you create your own tunes that can be traded on the marketplace or blasted from your car stereo).

Customisation is a really big part of the game; players can even create their own Gang Brand!

Using graffiti, clothing, tattoos, car decals and even billboards, other players will know who the big dogs in the area are.

In the game there are two action districts and a social district that players can run around in. The Financial District is where big corporations base their headquarters and where shady deals go down every day. The Waterfront is where the luxury hotels are competing for space with the seedier warehouse district. The Breakwater Marina district is where a truce has been declared and players can take advantage of shops and clubs, meet friends old and new, and show off.

Will you be a getaway driver, mug a pedestrian, do a drive-by, or carry out an armed response? Tough g choice...g

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Disciples III: Renaissance

Domination Which race will win?

by Walt Pretorius

D

isciples III: Renaissance will follow on from the award winning Disciples II: Dark Prophecy. This fantasy-based strategy RPG will place the player in control of one of three playable races of the world of Nevendaar. With either the Empire, the Legions of the Damned or the Noble Elves under his control, the player will be able to take on the struggle for domination, and establish the reign of their respective gods over the world.

The sombre story will be full of surprises and twists this time around, supported by a visual design that will underscore the game’s dark nature.

Unlike before, the game’s settings and characters will now be rendered in real-time 3D, thanks to .dat’s Virtual Dream engine.

Each race will feature a unique style and different units, whether the requirements call for action on battlefields or as massive city sieges.

This title could prove to be something of a diamond in the rough. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Akella Publisher: Kalypso Media Distributor: Apex Interactive gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Jul 2010 Platforms

A potentially gripping strategy RPG, Disciples III might just be a diamond in the rough.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

31

Fist of the North Star

Seven Scars …and a nasty punch.

by Walt Pretorius

B

ased on the popular comic series, Fist of the North Star puts the player in control of Kenshiro, a man with seven scars on his chest and an expert in the legendary assassin’s art of Hokuto Shinken – the Divine Fist of the North Star. The mysterious Kenshiro travels through a ravaged Earth landscape, the result of a nuclear holocaust. In this ruined world, survivors cluster together in villages, scratching through their meagre resources to try and survive. Beyond the villages, vicious marauders prey on the innocent for resources and fun. It is Kenshiro’s sworn duty to protect the innocent from these predatory gangs.

With destructible environments and improvised weapons, the action in this brawler is sure to be intense. The player will get to face dozens of enemies at a time but, with unlockable moves and powerful combos, he will be able to show the bad guys who the boss is in short order.

The faithfully recreated visuals and world will include hidden, unlockable characters from the comic. Each playable character will also have a unique story-line and ending, adding massive replay value to this already exciting title. Look out for it on PS3 and Xbox 360 later this year. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: KOEI Publisher: Tecmo KOEI Distributor: TBC

34

Q3 2010 Platforms

Fist of the North Star will offer a faithful recreation of the popular comic series.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Magicka

In the Hood Tongue in cheek

by Dion Scotten

M

gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

AT A GLANCE: A magic-focused action RPG that laughs a little at the genre while providing depth to character creation and spell builds.

Developer: Arrowhead Game Studios Publisher: Paradox Interactive Distributor: Apex Interactive

Sep 2010 Platforms

agicka is an action RPG adventure set in a fantasy world based on Norse mythology and promises in no way to take itself too seriously.

In fact, every fantasy cliché is a target in this game and the developers promise to take advantage of as many as possible.

A total tongue in cheek approach is taken to the much loved and mostly predictable fantasy storyline.

Yes, vanquishing monsters and battling evil creatures is serious business but Arrowhead Game Studios plans to make it funny too. On that note let’s hope it’s seriously funny.

Taking the form of an action RPG, the player must choose a wizard as his character. His goal: to stop an evil sorcerer from destroying all that is good in the world.

Nothing new, but that’s the point.

Four player co-op play will be available, along with the standard single player… but with no persistent online requirements, could this mean we’ll actually be able to LAN? No mention of this yet though, but could it be?

Imagine that.

What does sound impressive though is the magic system which governs the spell casting development of the player’s character. The system promises over a million different combinations which means unique magic builds that are only limited by the player’s imagination.

Combine spells freely to create your own effects, for example fire and water result in steam and when combined with a projectile will grant a steam area effect on impact. You get the picture.

The player is promised a world to explore, as normal, with side quests, creatures and loads of loot. Lots of clichés and some clever humour will also be thrown in to keep players chuckling to themselves while blowing things to bits for hours. Check it out in September 2010 for some action RPG magic. g

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35

Shrek Forever After:The Game

Donkey!

Hang on Rumpel, this wasn’t part of the deal…

by Alexia Pestana

B

AT A GLANCE: Follow the plot of the latest and last Shrek movie, this will be great fun for younger gamers.

Developer: Dreamworks Publisher: Activision Distributor: Megarom

36

Jun 2010 Platforms

ased on the final chapter of the Shrek franchise, Forever After continues the tale of our beloved ogre Shrek and all of his friends. Married life isn’t all it’s cut out to be for this ogre. No longer is he scaring villagers and chasing animals away from his swamp, but rather longing for those days when he felt like a “real ogre”.

Enter the smooth talking dealmaker, Rumpelstiltskin.

Shrek suddenly finds himself in an alternate universe where he and Fiona have never met, ogres are hunted and Mr Rumpel is king! How is he going to get himself out of this one?

Play as Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and Puss in Boots to outsmart, out-fight and out-play the crafty king. It looks like good fun for the whole family as there is a multiplayer option where you can play with up to four players in a blend of puzzle solving and combat. Each character has unique skills and fighting moves that you will need to defeat the bad guy. Shrek uses his strength to push large objects and carry items that the others can’t handle.

Fiona – the fearless warrior who rescued herself from the dragon’s keep - uses fire to light explosives to clear their path. Donkey has a powerful kick that can break locks and move heavy equipment. He also has a special attack that consists of really bad singing! Puss in Boots can make himself irresistibly cute. Ok, he can also climb walls and can jump long distances too. g

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

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

SUPER SPEED

WIN

A PS3 Blur hamper Courtesy of Megarom Interactive

TO ENTER: Subscribe to www.gamecca.co.za Send an email to competitions@gamecca.co.za.

Tell us your name and the name of Blur’s publisher Insert ‘Blur competition’ in the mail’s subject line.

Competition closes 30 June 2010. Gamecca subscribers only. South African residents only.

Prizes may not be exchanged for cash. Hampers may not include a copy of the game.

Competition closed to employees (& employee’s family) of 1337 Media CC & Megarom Interactive The judges’ decision is final.

Lionheart: King’s Crusade

Take the Holy Land ..or defend it.Your choice.

by Walt Pretorius

R

ichard the Lionheart’s crusade against Saladin is a fascinating period of history, and the player will be able to take part as either great ruler in the upcoming Lionheart: King’s Crusade from Paradox Interactive.

The two single player campaigns – Crusader or Saracen – will allow the player to oversee hundreds of soldiers in massive real-time battles, as well as guide their chosen faction through political events, searches for relics and unlocking of new content. The fully 3D map will allow players absolute control over their armies, demanding the strategic management of forces between missions.

Upgrading leaders and their armies will only be a small part of this complex and potentially compelling strategy title, which is set for release next month. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Neocore Games Publisher: Paradox Interactive Distributor: Apex Interactive

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Jul 2010 Platforms

A potentially compelling strategy title puts the player in control of the factions fighting for the Holy Land.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Tournament of Legends

Myth Mayhem 3D Fighting on the Wii?

by Brian Murdoch

L

overs of ancient mythology will be pleased with this 3D fighting Wii exclusive. Tournament of Legends offers a variety of playable mythological characters, ranging from the Minotaur, a powerful Gladiator, the Sun Goddes, to the mighty Valkrie and even the God of Death.

The player doesn’t just select a character and become limited to the character’s set moves and special abilities.

There is a range of weapons and magic attacks can be chosen from to give characters different fighting styles.

Players can also play in combat challenges with the Wii remote and nunchuk to test out the weapons and dodge mythological creatures.

Most fighters on the Wii don’t have the best graphics, but we’re hoping that the power of the High Voltage Software Quantum 3 engine changes that. It’s been optimized for the Wii so that the large 3D mythological fighters move fluidly while in the rich battle arenas. Magic attacks are polished and should look great, with advanced real-time lighting, blended animation, cinematic colour curves and more.

High Voltage Software did a good job with The Conduit, so let’s hope that this title will raise the bar for combat games on the Wii. g

Developer: High Voltage Software Publisher: SEGA Distributor: Nu Metro gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Jul 2010 Platforms

A 3D fighter by the developers of The Conduit. Mythological fighting at its best, with great combinations of characters and weapons.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

39

Captain Blood

Land ahoy!

Taking warfare to the high-seas

by Jimmy Glue

W

e have seen a number of pirate-themed games pop up in the last while, but none of them have focused on one specific pirate. In Captain Blood, players will assume the role of the titular Captain, and take to the high-seas in search of loot and treasure.

The tale is based on the novels by Rafael Sabatini, an Italian/British writer of adventure and romance novels who was born in 1895. His tale of Captain Blood was written in 1922, in which the title character is admiral of a fleet of pirate ships. He also wrote two follow-up novels.

The game’s adventure starts in 1685 as Captain Blood sails around the Spanish Main, which was once filled with cutthroats, thieves and unsavoury lawbreakers. Captain Blood sets out to conquer his enemies on both the land and in the water.

For the hack and slash parts on land, players will be able to overcome the swashbuckling robbers with a variety of weapons, which will include a sword, guns and bombs.

While on land, a handful of mission will also drive the story forward.

But the real magic of the title is on the sea, where players will be able to wage ship-to-ship battles, board enemy vessels or just completely destroy them with a large arsenal of cannons.

The title was originally announced in 2005 for the Xbox, but was subsequently moved to the Xbox 360, giving developers a bit more time. g

AT A GLANCE: Originally announced in 2005, the extra time taken should make for a better swashbuckling title.

Developer: SeaWolf Publisher: 1C Company Distributor: TBC

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Q2 2010 PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Wii loves Naruto

by Brian Murdoch

N

aruto Shippuden – Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 is the latest instalment based on the hit anime Naruto Shippuden. Shippuden has been out for a while now and fans should be happy to see another fighter with the more mature characters featured in Shippuden.

Although most of the Naruto games are really just for the anime fans, this one will be an interesting fighter with different mechanics that will attract more gamers. Knowing the characters from the anime with help, what with over 30 to play. Each character can be upgraded to have a Shippuden look and feel with their specific jutsu moves.

It’s always fun to blast friends around with powerful jutsu moves, including the new elements that Naruto, Sasuke and their friends have added to their fighting tactics. Be sure to note that each character has a different fighting style, be it fast or slow and powerful. It’s a 3D fighter with more than 40 environments, including nine exclusive ones that have not been seen in other versions.

This version boasts multiple playing modes and ways to fight with your favourite Naruto characters, one being online play through the Wi-Fi connection… something that always increases the value of a game. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Eighting Publisher: Tomy Distributor: Core gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Jun 2010 Platforms

The next Naruto, focusing on the Shippuden story, with new characters, stages and even Wi-Fi online fighting.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

41

Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3

More Mature

DarkStar One: Broken Alliance

Space Unlimited All about trading and fighting for your life.

by Dion Scotten

D

arkStar One: Broken Alliance will see players venture, once again, into the vastness of space to explore, barter and battle their way across the

42

AT A GLANCE: The story continues as Kayron embarks on a quest to find the truth about his father’s death.

Developer: Gaming Minds Studio Publisher: Kalypso Media Distributor: Apex Interactive

Q3 2010 Platforms

galaxy.

The same six alien races from the first release are present in Broken Alliance and are scattered across hundreds of worlds; whether they become allies or enemies, of course, will all depend on the player.

Kayron Davis is once again the main character in the story and embarks on a quest to unravel the death of his father which, in turn, leads him on an adventure across old and new worlds.

The player will be able to choose his class through his actions and will either be a mercenary, a merchant or a pirate, making friends and enemies along the way.

The developers promise furious space combat and with graphics tweaked at 1080p, players should be in for seamless flight movement and action packed battle sequences in deep space 3D splendour.

For those new to the series, the DarkStar One is your character’s unique spaceship, left to him by his father. In Broken Alliance, the player will have hundreds of components available to upgrade and refit the DarkStar, making it faster and more powerful.

DarkStar One: Broken Alliance is primarily a single player game with an immersive environment for players to get lost in all by themselves. The developers have promised 30 hours of gameplay, following the story campaign alone, but many more hours if players explore the 300 worlds throughout the entire space realm.

Players who love the space mercenary trader genre should look out for this game in June 2010. g

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Arcania: Gothic 4

Return of Gothic It may be more than a cult classic this time

by Walt Pretorius

T

he Southern Islands await players in Arcania: Gothic 4. The Gothic series have always been cult classics, with a small but loyal fan base rabidly finishing each game. This one will likely be the same kind of product, although the move that the game is making onto PS3 and Xbox 360 will probably add a whole bunch of new fans for the franchise.

Set for release later this year, Arcania: Gothic 4 promises to immerse the player in a thriving, rich world full of mystery and wonder. Different climate zones, abundant flora and fauna, subterranean vaults, and cities and castles with unique architecture await the adventurous player.

Even the weather will have an effect of the game world, with wind and heavy rain playing a part in the action.

Additionally, environmental effects like clouds darkening the skies and a steady day-night cycle will add realism to this rich world.

A sophisticated plot will be supported by challenging side quests, tons of NPC characters and, naturally, challenging combat.

What exactly awaits the player is uncertain, although the claims that the developers are making are impressive.

Will this be another cult classic, or will Arcania drag Gothic into the mainstream? We’ll have to wait and see… it will release later this year. g

AT A GLANCE: Developer: Spellbound Publisher: Dreamcatcher Distributor: Apex Interactive gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

Q3 2010 Platforms

The developers are making big promises for this fantasy adventure game.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

43

Jam with the Band

Pocket Music Sound power on the DS...

by Brian Murdoch

well.

Jam with the Band bring a more upbeat music tempo to the DS. It has pop, classic and rock songs, with even more available to download via the Wi-Fi connection from the day that you pick it up.

Jam with the Band is really only for music lovers as it transforms the DS and DSi into a pocket music studio.

Songs can be edited with creative programming and making your own versions and mixes of famous songs will be easy.

Players can also strum on a virtual guitar and sing along karaoke style. The game will also analyse the player’s singing style.

There are also a small range of games that let you connect your DS to your Wii and play or control in some way. Jam with the Band understands the need for even louder music and lets you connect the DS to your Wii and boost the sound through your TV. For the Nintendo fan boys out there you can even play and edit songs like Super Mario Kart Medley and The Legend of Zelda Medley.

For those that have played and enjoyed Rhythm Paradise and Wii Music on the Wii, this title should be equally fun as it is a follow on from products like that. g

AT A GLANCE: Play guitar, sing-a-long and edit a wide range of music with Jam with the Band, with 50 out-of-the-box songs and even more downloadable.

Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Distributor: Nintendo

44

Jun 2010 Platforms

W

ith Nintendo’s DSi and DSi XL came improvements to not only the speakers, but the music system and power of the device as

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

gamecca preview • issue 12 • June 2010

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

DOMINATION

WIN

A PS3 copy of Transformers: War for Cybertron Courtesy of Megarom Interactive

TO ENTER: Subscribe to www.gamecca.co.za Send an email to competitions@gamecca.co.za.

Tell us your name and the name of the Transformers’ home planet Insert ‘Transformers competition’ in the mail’s subject line.

Competition closes 30 June 2010. Gamecca subscribers only. South African residents only.

Prizes may not be exchanged for cash. Hampers may not include a copy of the game.

Competition closed to employees (& employee’s family) of 1337 Media CC & Megarom Interactive The judges’ decision is final.

PS Zealot

Exciting Stuff

by Suvesh Arumugam

I

t’s almost two weeks away from the start of E3, and hopefully last month’s PS Zealot inspired a few of you to go surfing for some juicy titbits on what could be on the menu for PlayStation enthusiasts.

While nations battle it out on the soccer field for glory, there will certainly be some hot competition in the LA Convention Centre for top honours.

And so far, this year’s E3 is set to deliver more games, tech and promises than ever before. Although we know Microsoft will be kicking of the exhibition with a demonstration of their latest Project Natal incarnation, there is every chance that Sony will be claiming the lion’s share of this year’s E3 honours.

As expected, Sony will put a lot of focus on their new tech in the motion control and 3D technologies. The Move has managed to impress with its one-toone tracking ratio, and although the demo at last year’s E3 was less than overwhelming, many are slowly starting to give credit to Sony for taking the gap between Nintendo’s slightly over-promised MotionPlus and Microsoft’s under-delivered Project Natal. Sony’s Jack Tretton has spoken

at length about Sony’s wish to take a bigger chunk of this market, and a good performance at E3 could swing things in their favour.

Sony have already announced that the firmware update for the Move controller could be included in the next PS3 update, and several of the games mentioned later in this column are confirmed to be Move compatible.

Sony’s 3D gaming, on the other hand, has been receiving fantastic reviews from magazines, websites and expogoers alike. While it may turn out to be a while before we actually see this technology in our homes, it has certainly created a buzz with games like Wipeout 3D, and fans are expecting big things. Since no-one else is really attempting to take Sony on in this area, this could really give them a big edge over the other majors.

Sony’s track record in delivering on their promises has always been pretty good, considering tech like BluRay, which despite it initial modest reception, has proven itself to be a must-have for entertainment junkies.

There’s no doubt that true 3D gaming

and movies will have many fans drooling.

Finally, aside from the games mentioned in last month’s column, Sony itself will be launching and promoting several highly anticipated (and maybe unexpected) titles. Firstly, Killzone 3 will no doubt cause a huge buzz. Always a favourite, with new innovations in graphics and gameplay, this demo will surely draw in the crowds. Sony also plan to launch God of War: Ghost of Sparta, a kind of filler between God of War 1 & 2. As much as the marketer’s told us Kratos was dead, I guess we always knew they’d find a way to bring him back (and I’m not hearing anyone complain either!) We may finally see the launch of Gran Tourismo 5, though the wait for this game has really left a few doubts whether it will ever see the light of day. Let’s hope they at least have a little more to show us. Other sequels will include LittleBigPlanet 2, Star Wars: Force Unleashed 2, Dead Space 2, Rock Band 3 and quite possibly a few other surprise sequels.

Of course, most people (including myself) will be trying to get every possible bit of info on Call of Duty: Black Ops. So far, first looks have been fantastic, and this is one game I can’t wait to get my hands on!

All in all, a lot to look forward to! And remember, these are the confirmed announcements from Sony, who have a very awesome knack of announcing things “on the fly”. But the team here at Gamecca will be watching closely to make sure you don’t miss a thing! g

This page is provided by PlayStation Gamer www.playstationgamer.co.za

Xbox Beat

The Premier...

by Bryan Banfield

J

une marks the beginning of some of the most exciting months on the gaming industry calendar. In June we kick off with what has come to be known as one of the most important events on the industries calendar: E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo).

This year’s E3 Expo is set to take place from the 15th to the 17th of June at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

This year the conference has a staggering number of Exhibitors. From 1UP.COM to Zoo Games. Inc, all your favourite developers at one expo and a line up that is set to make any gamer drool.

With this tinderbox of gaming greatness lined up it is no surprise that invites to Microsoft Xbox360’s World Premier of Project Natal have made their way into the news.

Project Natal is being hyped as the next biggest thing in the video game industry and, if it delivers, will end the console wars once and for all.

In addition to online promotional videos, the Milo demo with Peter Molyneux, (the demo at E3 last year that had a few forums referring to Natal as faked) Natal also made its way onto a few American talk shows and into an episode of Smallville.

Needless to say, the Xbox camp is extremely excited.

Microsoft are set to premier Project Natal’s final build at this year’s E3

and, because the device is all about movement, Microsoft’s extravaganza will feature a special performance be Cirque du Soleil.

The World Premier is set to be a celebration of human movement and the coming together of human movement and technology. The sky is the limit for this technology, with myriad control options literally in the player’s hands (and arms, legs, feet and head.)

Microsoft have confirmed that we will be able to watch this Premier LIVE on MTV with no commercials on the

15th of June at 3:30PM EDT. “Project Natal is one of the most exciting new product launches of the year, and MTV Networks is the perfect partner to bring this one-of-akind event from Xbox and Cirque du Soleil to its viewers and passionate gamers and all across the country,” Rich Eigendorff, chief operating officer, MTV Networks, added.

Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg said the event would be all about “demonstrating the universal appeal of Xbox 360.” g

This page is provided by Xbox Gamer 42

www.xboxgamer.co.za

House of Mario

Simply the Best

by Brian Murdoch

I

t’s been five and half years since the first appearance of the DS… let’s go through the reasons as to why it is the best console ever.

Now there are four versions of the console: the DS, more commonly known as the DS Fat, DS Lite, DSi and the most recently released DSi XL. The sales of all of these consoles are grouped together when compared with other consoles. At first I also thought that this was unfair, but after understanding the reason why, it not only explains things but make the first point as to why this console is so great. A game that came out with the DS console five years ago can still be inserted and played on the DSi XL… that’s cool. Not even Microsoft can claim to that much backwards compatibility in their products.

When it first came out there were a group of dimwitted people that said it would flop in the first few months but they have be eating humble pie since then. The innovations don’t just stop. Think of the microphone and screaming out “objection!” on a plane when all wireless devices are supposed to be turned off.

The introduction of an opera browser to quickly check the web. The twin cameras introduced in the DSi and the improvement and adaption of sound. And to end off, the Wi-Fi multiplayer on and off line.

Who ever tried connecting two GameBoys together with that long cable and after doing it once or twice thought that it was too much

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hassle and resumed single player playing? The freedom of hooking up and playing wirelessly with anyone and not needing to set an IP address is great. You don’t even need the full game at times – just download the needed bits from a friend and play!

Then take that same connection online with a range of online multiplayer options.

Did not know that owning a DS actually makes you smarter? Maths and brain training application make you wish that you put more effort at school, literature in applications or games like 100 Classic Books can transform you into a well-read brainiac. Can’t decide what to eat?

Let the Cooking Guide help you.

If that’s not enough for you, the DS features games for all ages.

From Nintendogs that my 3 year old can play with to the brain and sight training for the 75 year old grandparents. There have been over 1000 DS games created since 2005 and if someone had to sit down and play every single one in a row they would only be finished on the 17th June 2074 (something that was actually calculated in April 2010.) The best part of this fact is that the 109 DSi Ware games are not included.

Don’t forget to connect your DSi XL online when you first get it. On first connection you receive 1000 free DSi Points to wet your appetite for downloading application and games.

The DS is close on the PS2’s tail with sales and number of games and it is, in my opinion, the best console ever made. g

gamecca column •

issue 12 • June 2010

House of Mario

The Gathering

by Brian Murdoch

T

he www. wiiza.co.za forums are mainly for South African Nintendo lovers. This community forum is not only for advanced players to talk about topics around the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS but also for newcomers and people interested in any Nintendo platform to ask questions and have some experienced and polite gamers answer them. The moderators of this forum decided to take their fun off line and spend an afternoon together playing games. This was a great experience because most of the people that you meet at these events

have only communicated to via the internet. The event was held on the 24th of May 2010 at the Protea Hotel, Midrand.

The event started with xeroboxer getting the formalities over with and elaborating on the great Nintendo games that are coming to South Africa this year. xeroboxer also introduced other moderators of the forum and explained the rules of the formal games that would be played during the event, for prizes. We got straight into the DS games as we all played DS with Mario Kart

DS, Tetris DS and Metroid Prime: Pinball. There was one guy without a DS, but that was quickly sorted… thanks Dawid22.

After this the top four were chosen to battle it out for the first pick at the bundle of prizes. The final four were: Fanaticit, Lil Diabo, TT25, and 4ss4ssN. We battled it out in archery in Wii Sports Resort to get finals and 3rd place match ups. Then the real test came in the test to see the better sword master and the results were as follows: 1st – Fanaticit [Pokémon Mystery Dungeon] 2nd – 4ss4ssN [Monster Hunter Tri] 3rd – TT25 [Wario Ware: Smooth Moves] 4th – Lil Diabo [Mario Party 8] There were spot prizes for random acts of pure luck, for example coming just one place above a moderator on Mario Kart DS won you a spot prize.

The spot prizes were a Nintendo wrist strap, Nintendo branded golf shirt and an awesome Nintendo Wii bag.

On the side we also had some DJ Hero setup, for people to try out.

The best score on a song won you a Nintendo Gamer T-shirt, and in the end the Nintendo Wii bag. I would have traded it for my first place prize but the winner was happy with his bag, damnit!

All-in-all the event was a great success and we all had fun. Thanks go out to xeroboxer, antiredcap, and dawid22 for setting up the event and running it so smoothly. Looking forward to the next one. g

These pages are provided by Nintendo Gamer 44

www.nintendogamer.co.za

Get Online!

There are many reasons to use the PSN service

by Walt Pretorius

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gamecca feature • issue 12 • June 2010

W

ith so many games offering online multiplayer content these days, it seems silly not to take advantage of online functionality offered by modern consoles. Additionally, recent changes in internet access pricing in South Africa means that users will be able to make use of these services without having to

gamecca feature • issue 12 • June 2010

agonise about bandwidth (even though the bandwidth requirements of most games are very small) Yet many local gamers - particularly the more casual ones - still do not take advantage of what is on offer. There are a few possible reasons for this. The most obvious would be that certain services are not officially supported locally yet, making setting up an account a rather painful affair.

Another reason is that some people may be intimidated by the idea of setting up online acces to their console.

South Africa is a country where Sony’s PlayStation has been king of the consoles for many years. Since the release of the very first PlayStation, the console has proven to be very popular on our shores, and very well supported by the video game industry. This support, along

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with the typically dogged loyalty to brands that most South Africans typically show, means that the PlayStation is still very strong here.

But there is another reason that South African gamers love Sony’s console - it is the only console that has official online support in South Africa. While access can be gained to other consoles’ online services, none of them offer any official backing for South African gamers using them.

The PlayStation Network (PSN) offers South Africans the opportunity to play multiplayer games online via their PlayStation 3 console. While other console manufacturers have yet to roll out localised support, full PSN

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functionality has been available in South Africa since the day the console launched here.

Accessing the PlayStation Network is a simple... the only requirements are a computer and a good internet connection. The modem used by the PC will need to be shared, but simply connecting the PS3 to the PC via the

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LAN ports in both devices should be enough to establish a connection. If not, there are numerous troubleshooting sources available online to help get things rolling.

Being connected to the PlayStation Network offers numerous advantages. Aside from the obvious ability to play games online, the PlayStation Network offers users several other services. System updates for PlayStation hardware are always available online, and are automatically installed to the PS3 when they are released. Additionally, updates to games are also installed, as required, via PSN. Players can also communicate with friends via the Network, either in-game or outside of playing. Various online resources, like Facebook and Google, are also available via the Network. And, of course, there is the PlayStation Store, which will allow the user to purchase and download anything from new PS3 and PSP themes through to full games. Many individual publishers have sections in the PlayStation Store, to allow fans easy access to their games, updates and downloads.

Even if you are not a big fan of multiplayer gaming, there are many reasons to make use of PSN. The service itself is free, even though some downloads will cost money to get hold of, and strong local support means that even transaction based downloads can be performed securely.

South Africa’s support for the PlayStation range has been noticed, and in return, Sony has provided strong support for South African console gamers. g gamecca feature • issue 12 • June 2010

PSN Cards Many people are nervous about giving out their credit card details online. Many people don’t even have credit cards. Sony are well aware of these facts. So, to enable people who fall into either category to make use of the numerous services offered by PSN that require the expenditure of money, they have made PSN Cards available.

Originally launched in Septermber 2009, these cards are available in all territories that have acces to the PS Store - including South Africa. The cards come in R200 and R500 denominations, and allow an easy way for users to add credit to their PSN Wallets.

This credit can be used to buy content for the PS3, PSP and PC, including downloadable games, PlayStation Home content and even new tracks for games like SingStar.

The PSN Cards are very easy to use. Once a card has been purchased, the user simply logs on to PSN, and selects the ‘Redeem Code’ icon in the PlayStation Store. Each card has a unique code, which is entered by the user, and the applicable amount of credit is automatically added to their PSN Wallet.

PSN Cards are available from most retailers that carry PlayStation games and hardware.

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Reviews

Not so quiet...

Highlights 58 62 66 70 74 76 80 82

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Red Dead Redemption Alan Wake FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa Skate 3 Blur Lost Planet 2 Nier

W

e are heading into that time of year that is traditionally quiet for video game releases... the calm before the storm that normally starts around October.

That said, this year is proving to be a big one for games, and we are seeing some very big releases happening throughout the quiet time.

With SratCraft 2 hitting the shelves in late July, and big names already announced for September, it seems like 2010’s quiet time will be a short one. And, on top of that, we have 18 excellent reviews in this issue, which is rather impressive for a peaceful period... g

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gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Prince of Persia:The Forgotten Sands

Sandstorm!

Rewinding the franchise

by Walt Pretorius

T

he Prince of Persia franchise has been around for absolute ages, and has generally always followed the same kind of idea. The Prince, a somewhat rebellious sort, has to navigate a maze of physical obstacles, running, jumping and climbing his way to his final goal. The series saw a reprise a few years back, reintroducing players to the idea of intense movement challenges, only now it was presented in 3D. The game still presented the player with a linear experience, which some found frustrating. Two years ago, the series got a reboot, resulting in Ubisoft abandoning the idea of the Sands of Time (a magical silicate that could reverse time) for a more free-form world that allowed the player to experience the same kind of action in an almost free roaming environment.

While many liked this idea (particularly with the simpler control scheme making it more accessible) fans of the more hard-core Sands of Time games had a lot to say, and it was almost all negative. And so, at the same time that Jerry Bruckheimer’s film hit the cinema circuit, Ubisoft

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released a return to the universe, in the form of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands.

Just to be clear on a point before I continue with the review… the film and the game have very little to do with each other. The themes of Ancient Persia and high-flying, wall-running action are the same, but that’s roughly where any correlation stops. Still, the film is worth watching, and this new version of the video game franchise is worth playing.

The story that the game tells is the usual Prince of Persia fare. An ancient army is awoken by a desperate ruler (who happens to be the Prince’s brother) in order to stave off a siege. But the army is not the super-weapon that they hoped it would be. Rather, it is a rampaging, marauding force, lead by a rather nasty Djinn. Naturally, the Prince’s brother gets the nasty end of the stick in the whole situation, and it is up to the younger brother to save the day. We’ve seen it all before. The story is almost window dressing in this title but, to be fair, it generally is in these

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games. It provides the player with an excuse to engage in combat with hordes of bad guys and perform amazing stunts while navigating a variety of challenging areas.

The combat in The Forgotten Sands will probably disappoint fans of the Sands games a little. It has been stripped down and simplified, asking very little of the player. In fact, it can very easily devolve into a buttonmashing fest. On the upside, the game features a fairly solid skill-improvement system, which enhances the combat somewhat. Additionally, the player is given tons of enemies to wade through. It can be fun, but every now and then the ease of combat, combined with the large number of enemies, turns the process into a bit of a chore. Still, the player can apply some thought to the combat process, making it a lot more enjoyable.

At the heart of the franchise is the idea of movement puzzles. These challenges require the player to get the character of the Prince to perform all kinds of death defying stunts to get from point A to point B. It is in these

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movement challenges that The Forgotten Sands shines, thanks to the addition of a few new abilities. The Prince gets access to the Sands of Time once again, but also gains the ability to solidify water (for a limited period of time) and to ‘recall’ broken pieces of architecture (one piece at a time) in later stages of the game. The result is a series of often challenging control combinations that require very careful timing and which provide a few heartstopping moments. The player will need to use their head in this one, with more than a few challenges that require imagination in addition to precise timing.

Still, the game feels easier than previous Sands titles, with far less urgency injected into the mix. In other words, racing for timed doors and trying to get through areas that are falling down around you has been kept to a minimum.

Rather, the developers opted for a more imaginative, puzzle-oriented approach.

The skill-improvement that was mentioned earlier also allows for a bit of customisation on the part of the player,

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allowing them to use abilities that most suit their playing style. While no single play-through will get the player all of the abilities at high levels, improvements are perpetual; those that were made on the first play-through will be in place at the start of the second. The skills themselves offer a variety of effects, and are based on the four elements: water grants the player an ice attack, fire results in a deadly trail, air provides a handy wind-blast that flattens scores of enemies and earth gives the player temporary stone armour. In addition, health, magic power and damage can also be upgraded.

The graphics are a bit of a mixed bag. While they are still impressive, they feel a little dated – particularly when it

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comes to character models. The lip-synching has moments of brilliance, and is supported by great voice acting. But the models feel a bit under-defined at times – particularly when it comes to the overly smooth face of the player’s character. And yet, there is a huge amount of detail in some aspects of the character models, too. They aren’t the worst graphics we’ve seen and a little forgiveness from the player will go a long way to making the game more enjoyable.

The camera also has a few weak moments but, for the most part, present the player with the best possible view of the action very well.

When you get right down to it, Prince of Persia: The

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players – something which is important for the video game industry as a whole. But even the hard-core fans will find enjoyment in this simpler title, because the core of the game – the movement aspect – is well-presented, intelligent and enjoyable. g

AT A GLANCE: The new Prince of Persia is a more accessible return to the Sands of Time idea.

Developer: Ubisoft Publisher: Ubisoft Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

Forgotten Sands is not a perfect game, at least not in technical terms. However, it is great fun to play. This really is the most important aspect of any game. Graphics and presentation are purely eye-candy, at the end of the day, and while it’s awesome to play a game that looks great, many a great game haven’t had the best graphics. When it comes to fun, Forgotten Sands has it in spades. The combat may be a bit dull from time to time, but the overall effect of the game is fantastic – particularly when the often intricate movement puzzles enter the picture.

Long time fans of the franchise may find the title just a little too easy to play, but the more accessible nature of the game will certainly open up the franchise to more

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

80 61

Red Dead Redemption

Gunslinger!

Finding redemption in the Wild West

by Jimmy Glue

T

he days of saloon gals, grimy gunslingers and snake oil salesmen are long gone, but a bit of Western lives on in all of us. It a subject that hasn’t been explored too much, apart from films, but in games it’s somewhat of a rarity.

Who doesn’t want to go back to the days where communication was done through telegram, food was hunted for and your only mode of transportation was a horse? Sure it was tough, but it was a lot more free and unpolluted than today.

A couple of Western-themed games have been released in the past, but none of them truly captured the essence of what the West was really like. And with that in mind and a winning formula, Rockstar released Red Dead Redemption.

By borrowing many elements from their most successful franchise, Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar once again managed to thrill gamers with a title that is as exciting as it is adventurous.

Grabbing the old West by the horns, player will assume

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the role of John Marston, a former gang member who has been tasked with ridding the Great Plains of his ex-leader; otherwise a great tragedy will befall his family.

Setting out into New Austin, Marston’s search for his former gang will be hindered by all sorts of troubles, some which he can sort out rather quickly, while others will take a bit more planning.

When gamers arrive at McFarlane’s Ranch, the first stop on their journey, they will be able to choose from a whole host of different missions which will also serve as tutorials.

Herding cattle, breaking in horses and hunting down a couple pesky rabbits will all be at the order of the day.

In true Rockstar fashion, the game plays off in a huge open-world setting, and players are free to travel wherever they want to. Transportation is fairly easy to find, as stagecoach taxis and trains are always on schedule, but players can also run or walk to a destination. However, riding a horse is by far the easiest and best way to get around.

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While on horseback, players can explore the vast expanse of natural beauty, as it hides many treasures and a few surprises. While one the way to a mission point, residents might throw themselves in the middle of the road seeking assistance, with a handsome reward for help given.

But just as the West can bring treasure, it can also be a very dangerous place. Wolves, coyotes and bears won’t think twice about attacking, but killing them should be easy with the right rifle. After any animal has been killed, it can be skinned and sold, which will provide players with an added income.

Speaking of hunting, players can opt to enter into the various Skill Levels, which will in turn increase the Experience Points. The Master Hunter skill level will see the player hunting a variety of animals, while the Survivalist skills level will have the player searching for different plants.

But not everything needs to be a matter of life and

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death, as players can also take part in horseshoe tossing, play poker and Blackjack, have a shot of alcohol at the local bar… and even watch a movie.

Some might also see it as a pastime, but random cowboys might also challenge the player to a duel in the middle of the town’s road. The duels are a lot of fun, but some quick finger work will be necessary to execute them (and the enemy) properly.

On the subject of mowing down random people, the game also makes use of a morality system, in which the player will receive Honour and Fame XP for good deeds, while the rating will decrease if evil acts are committed.

By using the system, players can decide if they want to be playing a real rugged cowboy, or be a law-abiding citizen.

But players don’t have to wonder into the wilderness by themselves, as the multiplayer aspect is some of the best we have seen since Battlefield Bad Company 2.

Keeping things tight, each multiplayer session and lobby will only have 16 players roaming one particular map at a

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time. This prevents a huge amount of lag, and also ensures that everybody gets a chance to complete some of the multiplayer missions.

Players can saddle up with their friends, forming a posse of up to 8 gamers who will then ride off into the sunset looking for adventure. Just as in the single-player, openworld missions will become available for completion.

The player’s posse can also enter into the many multiplayer modes, to test their posse’s strength, or just to have fun with rival players. Both free-for-all and team based game modes will begin with a Mexican standoff, which is basically a wild shoot-out, to determine who gets the advantage on the battlefield.

The game modes range from many Capture The Flag variants to the more standard Last Man Standing games.

In Red Dead, the flags are replaced with gold bags and players will have to run, shoot and kill their way through

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the chaos.

Whenever the multiplayer modes become too tough, the posse can easily return to the free roam mode, where they will be able to hunt animals, assault a computer-controlled fortress or take out a rival posse on the open plains.

Players familiar with Grand Theft Auto will know exactly what they will be getting themselves into as the game is virtually a total conversion of GTA. That is a good thing, though, as they will know their way around the minimaps and other similar elements.

One aspect that the developers improved on vastly are the graphics. Granted, in GTA skyscrapers blocked most of the player’s view, but for Red Dead, the draw distance is amazing and level of detail is something to see. Even for the horses, players will be able to spot every muscle moving as they gallop along.

But, as with most games, it needs to have a couple of

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

graphics have been a giving a good overhaul, the trusted GTA control-scheme makes things easy and we promise that the missions are long enough to keep players busy for ages. g

AT A GLANCE: The title is excellently designed, and what is better than a Western on a modern console?

Developer: Rockstar North Publisher: Rockstar Games Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

18+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

flaws, and although the graphics are good, some animals up close look like they were quickly modelled and placed in the game.

As mentioned before, while in the multiplayer free roam, other players will be able to attack any posse, which can become a bit annoying. If the gamer’s posse is hunting for rabbits, for instance, being repeatedly shot in the head by an over-zealous cowboy-wannabe might put a damper on things.

Red Dead Redemption is probably one of the best open-world games that we’ll see this year, as Rockstar unsurprisingly perfected their winning formula to deliver another top-quality game.

Granted, the title has a few bugs here and there, but deep down the game should creep into the hearts with any Western fans. The

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

92 65

Alan Wake

Fear of the Dark Keep the lights on!

by Walt Pretorius

T

elling a good story can be very important to a video game. It depends on the game, of course. A sports simulation or a racing game doesn’t necessarily need a solid tale to drive it along. But when you’re going to put the player in an adventure title, and make it scary to boot, an engrossing narrative is essential. And that’s one thing that Remedy’s Alan Wake does right – it spins a yarn that, while occasionally predictable, is entertaining, engaging and quite chilling from time to time.

And let’s be honest… a story that is occasionally predictable is good. It allows us to have those “I knew it” moments. Too predictable is bad, yes, but a little predictability is actually enjoyable. And Alan Wake has just the right amount of it.

The game plays out in the peaceful little down of Bright Falls, a fictional settlement in the USA’s Pacific North West. Alan Wake, a best selling author, and his wife visit the sleepy town for what Wake believes is a holiday. His wife, though, is trying to get him out of a nasty bout of writer’s block, and has researched not only the area, but

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a psychologist who has a practice in the area, specialising in helping creative minds. Naturally, Wake is not happy with the deception, but soon has a change of heart when his wife mysteriously disappears, and things in Bright Falls start showing that they are not what they seem. An ancient evil, a force of darkness, has the town in its vicelike grip, and Wake must battle a seemingly invincible foe to find his beloved and piece together an old mystery that lead to the current situation.

The true beauty of this game lies in its presentation.

Sure, the graphics are not top notch; they feel a bit old, and the lip-synching for the various characters is awful.

But the overall package is very appealing. The title is presented in a very cinematic style, with lots of game engine and pre-rendered cut-scenes to help drive the story along. The game is broken into six episodes and is presented in a TV series fashion, complete with a ‘previously on Alan Wake’ segment at the start of each episode (I admit, this was one of my favourite little bits of window dressing in this title). The episodes vary in length,

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naturally, according to the actions the player takes.

Supporting the presentation is excellent voice acting, great music, and very effectively implemented sound effects.

Alan Wake is a third person action adventure with a few survival horror overtones. The game can, at times, get rather scary, but the player will never be left out of his depth in this one; some patience, a bit of lateral thinking and steady nerves will serve anyone playing Alan Wake well. There are no invincible enemies here – rather just tougher and weaker ones. Additionally, the player shouldn’t run out of ammo too often, and better weapons are also plentiful. What’s more rare, and more important to the player, is light. See, the evil force in the game literally is made of darkness, and the town’s folk it possesses are cloaked in a sort of dark armour. In fact, little puddles of darkness sometimes lie around like bear traps, waiting for the player. That is, of course, in addition to the actual bear traps that lie around waiting for the player. The way to defeat the darkness is with light. Light

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heals Wake and strips possessed victims of their armour.

It also interferes with the darkness’ ability to fling pipes, barrels, cars and locomotives at the player. Some light sources, like flare guns and flash-bang grenades, destroy bad guys immediately, while others, like road flares and flashlights, keep them at bay and strip away their armour – making it easy for Alan to put a couple of revolver slugs in their chests. Shooting your way through, though, isn’t always the best solution, and the player will sometimes find themselves sprinting for the nearest puddle of light rather than facing hordes of possessed people and farm equipment.

The darkness helps obscure some of the game’s poorer graphic elements (as well as letting it show off the excellent lighting techniques the developers used). But, more importantly, it reinforces the creepiness of the title.

Being stuck alone in the dark, whether in a lumber yard, in an abandoned mine or in a thick forest, does little to calm the nerves.

This is not made any better by the awesome use of

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very creepy and often downright terrifying sound effects. Whether it’s a rustle in a bush, or the warped, inane babbling of a possessed dude, the sound in this game works to great effect. It helps keep the tension high, adding a lot of atmosphere to an already tense experience.

Alan Wake is not aimed at a hard-core crowd specifically, a fact which can easily be seen through the rather simple control scheme. Not that the game needs a complicated one… who needs complicated controls when you’re running away from a mob of darkness-cloaked axe murderers? But the player will be granted time to explore (if they’re brave enough) and will be able to find various

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objects, from useful equipment stashes through to coffee flasks and mysterious manuscript pages.

All the elements of the game tie nicely together, leading back to that all important story. The tale feels like something crafted by Stephen King at times (in fact, the famous author is quoted twice by the narrator). But the TV feel of the game, which comes complete with flash back scenes, also carries something of that other great North West tale, Twin Peaks (sans the absolute weirdness). And the story is solid enough to say that a TV series based on the game would be a great idea. The characters are well realised and rather complete (if a little stereotypical at

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times) and the construction and pacing of the story is solid. And (no, this is not a spoiler, it’s an obvious fact) we’re sure to see more of Alan Wake in the future, which will be a welcome addition to our gaming collections. If you enjoy a game with a horror edge and a good story, you can do far worse than getting hold of Alan Wake. g

Alan Wake combines an excellent story with a solid third person adventure game… and a few frights for spice.

Developer: Remedy Publisher: Microsoft Distributor: Microsoft

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

AT A GLANCE:

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

89 69

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa

All the Action Scoring with all the right moves

by Jimmy Glue

L

ike the little plastic cats with the waving paw sold on the streets of Japan, novelty items come in many shapes and forms. Some items are more useful than others, while only a handful of them actually make it through customs in one piece.

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa is one of those cats, staring at you with a gleam in its eyes and an ever-inviting smile, the little paw beckoning you to take him home. But once there, he will be ogled at and played with only until something better comes along.

Don’t get me wrong... this cat is made from the finest porcelain, but on the surface, the paint is starting to show signs of deterioration. It will be easy to touch up the paint, but sometimes it’s better to buy a new cat altogether.

Following on the great success of FIFA 10, the next installment in the FIFA brand is somewhat of a clone, with a few twists. Instead of playing at club level and working their way up towards the Starting XI and eventually captain, players will now start as a reserve player for their chosen country and work their way up towards the Starting XI and eventually captain.

Similar to the Be A Pro mode from FIFA 10, which is the main attraction of the game, the Captain Your Country (CYC) mode is slightly flawed in a couple of ways. As

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mentioned, the whole idea is to become captain of your country, and then lead your side to victory in the World Cup final.

While playing as Germany (on amateur difficulty), I was made captain for a couple of matches, both in the qualification rounds and during the tournament, which I found a bit strange. Isn’t the goal to be made captain for the final match?

My statistics for both the qualification rounds and during the tournament were constantly significantly higher than my fellow countrymen, scoring 115 goals in about 28 matches. During the World Cup, I scored 35 goals which earned me the Adidas Golden Boot and Adidas Golden Ball at the end of the world-class tournament. Yet my CYC ranking stayed at third, resulting in some other random player lifting the trophy, as he came on as a substitute for the actual captain.

For that exact reason, I won’t be playing Captain Your Country again.

For the players who don’t want to sit through all the qualification matches, which take you back to mid 2008, the game unsurprisingly features a direct 2010 World Cup mode.

Selecting a team to play with has been given a welcome

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graphical boost, as choosing a team from a boring menu has been done away with. Instead, players get a view of earth, with 199 nations filled in for selection. By rotating the globe, players just need to highlight a country to see their statistics, view their players and listen to the national anthem.

After selecting the country you wish to lead, players will be shown in which group they will be playing, as well as their opponents. The groupings, stadiums and match times are identical to their real-life counterparts, unlike CYC where random nations like Haiti managed to make it into the tournament.

From there, players will start with the group games and control every member of their team to make it through to the next round. After playing CYC, it’s a bit disorientating to control all the players, but it will soon become second nature.

The controls are virtually identical to FIFA 10, but a number of options are made available in terms of controller settings. Scoring a goal, on the other hand, isn’t as easy as it looks. The game incorporates a more accurate kicking system, and playing on the Legendary difficulty will more often than not result in a game ending in a 0-0 draw.

Dribbling, passing and crossing have been made a bit

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easier, but that also depends on which difficulty setting and player assists have been activated. One great thing about scoring a goal, besides for the personal satisfaction, are the huge amount of celebrations that the player can activate. From punching the air with a fist, doing a cart wheel or posing for a photo, with the right combination of buttons players can even do a couple of backflips or a short African dance. Without a doubt, the funniest one is when a scorer breaks out into a moonwalk or pretends to be a machine gun by pointing his fingers and shaking his head.

Another aspect in which the game has vastly improved on is the graphic detail and the general feel of the title. In FIFA 10, the nation’s pride walked onto the field, shook hands and started the match. In this iteration, the players still walk onto the field, but the pre-match hoo-ha is bit more ceremonial.

Before the start, players line up as the national anthems are played, but for the sake of time management, only the anthem of the player-controlled team is heard. Upon conclusion, the fans will erupt is roaring chants and clapping hands, while the opposing team managers shake hands.

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The inclusion of the team managers is a new aspect to the franchise, and it lends a bit more credibility to the title.

Shots of a group of highly-detailed fans are also a welcome sight, as the cardboard cut-out spectators took away some of the magic.

The stadiums have also been reproduced according to their real-life counterparts, with the smallest of details all in place. It’s a pity that the Hillbrow tower can’t be seen in the background when playing at Ellis Park, but it by no means make the title less credible.

During the in-game commentary, one of the commentators said that Durban makes for the prefect venue, with sunny weather and the ocean in the background. Talk like that makes a player feel excited about the upcoming tournament, but the in-game commentary does become a bit stale and rehearsed after a while.

Other than the CYC and World Cup modes, the title also makes a Coca Cola Story of The Finals mode available.

The whole idea behind the mode is that players can relive some of the most exciting and nerve-racking moments during the qualification rounds.

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Electronic Arts have also promised to release more Story of The Finals matches as the actual tournament gets underway, which will allow players to virtually change the outcome of controversial games.

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa is an excellent game to play, but ultimately it serves only as a novelty. The graphics have seen a significant boost, the control system stayed easy enough and it has South Africa in the title, but the excitement and jubilation will be short-lived once a niggle or two creep into the system.

The game is excellent in its own right and a lot of things have been improved on, but it’s just enough of a memento to keep players busy until FIFA 11. And when the actual tournament starts, few gamers will return to their consoles to replicate a virtual World Cup. What would make an exciting FIFA game, on the other hand, is if Electronic Arts somehow combine FIFA 10 and 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. Players will start at club level, play for a position in the national squad and then eventually aim to be included in the World Cup team, with the possibly to become captain. g

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Although a lot has been improved on, it ultimately only serves as a memento.

Developer: Electronic Arts Publisher: Electronic Arts Distributor: EA Africa

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

AT A GLANCE:

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

85 73

Skate 3

Carvin’ Up the Town Free-roaming flicking action

by Walt Pretorius

T

here are two camps when it comes to skating games – people that like the Tony hawk franchise, and people that like the relative newcomer, Skate. It’s a question of controls, really – Tony Hawk uses controller face buttons to do tricks, while Skate makes use of a stickbased control system. People who like the Hawk games call Skate too complicated and slow. Those who like Skate call Hawk fans lazy. It’s a matter of preference, really, but you know how people are.

While the Hawk franchise seems to be dropping off a little, Electronic Arts has kept Skate’s presence strong with the release of the third title in the franchise. Skate 3 takes the player back to intense, free-roaming skateboarding action, powered by the Flick It control system.

For those that don’t know what it is, I’ll elaborate (and Hawk fans can cover their ears and chant ‘la la la, I’m not listening’ while I do.) The control system requires the player to mimic movements that real-world skaters would perform with the right analogue stick of their controller. To olley, for example, requires the skater to shift their weight back on the board, and the hop it into the air with a quick forward motion. Same thing in the game – the player holds the stick back, and then pushes it forward sharply. To nolley, reverse the action. It really is quite simple… almost

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logical (here’s looking at you, Jimmy…)

The moves the player performs can be tweaked and modified with a variety of other controls, including the triggers for grabs and the left stick for direction.

Skate 3 leaves the anti-skating town of San Vanelona and heads for Port Carverton, where even the security guards ride skate boards. The town is fully free-roaming, and offers plenty of opportunities for grinding, flipping and, naturally, bailing. Here, the player establishes a new empire, selling skate boards based on his reputation.

The more insane stunts the player pulls, the more boards he sells. These stunts – or missions, rather – come in a variety of forms, including photo and video shoots, Own the Spot, Own the Lot, Deathraces and (my personal, sadistic favourite) Hall of Meat. The latter has been much improved, and offers a great challenge for players, who have to bail from insane heights and at breakneck speeds, achieving a myriad of goals while turning their bodies into a collection of broken bones and pulpy flesh. The graphics also display which bones were broken in each attempt now… a satisfying, if disturbing, addition.

As part of building the empire, the player will be able to hire a crew of skaters, which can be characters already in the game, or new characters created by the player. Teams

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

do, and the free-roaming aspect can lead to some very exciting sessions. Naturally, these can be recorded, edited and shared with friends, which is a blessing. In the words of Coach Frank, without footy it’s fiction, but the game allows the player to capture moments of brilliance easily.

All in all, it’s good fun, and a welcome addition to the franchise. g

AT A GLANCE: Skate 3 is a welcome addition to the franchise, but don’t expect too many new features.

Developer: Black Box Publisher: Electronic Arts Distributor: EA Africa

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

also extend to online play, but here they tend to be real people. The online component of Skate 3 is great, and feels just like it should – goofing off with skate boards.

In order to make sure that the player can skate properly, extensive tutorials have been included. The player’s coach, Coach Frank, is played by Jason Lee of My Name is Earl fame, and he delivers some truly hilarious lines via his perfectly recreated in-game persona. Many of the moves are identical to those we saw in other Skate titles, but a few new ones (like the rather tricky darkslides) have been included for good measure.

Skate 3 offers the player a great experience, but it doesn’t feel very different from the franchise’s previous iteration. Fans of the franchise will likely want to grab it, and newcomers will feel right at home with the game, which thankfully now offers different camera angles, not just the low slung camera of the previous games. OK, two angles. Low or high. Still better.

Those who enjoyed Skate 2 may want to give this one a spin before making a buying decision… personally, I think its well worth owning, but there may be others out there who feel that not enough has changed to warrant a new purchase.

Skate 3 offers the player a truck-load of things to

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

80 75

Blur

The Strategy of Speed

A racing game that requires a little extra thought

by Walt Pretorius

T

he racing genre is one that is heavily saturated. In fact, one could say that it is overly full, with a pack of mediocre games competing with each other while a few float on top of the genre as the cream of the crop.

Adding something new to the genre is tough, too, because there really is only so much that can be done with car racing.

However, there are developers out there who think outside of the box… one of them being Bizarre Creations, the team behind Blur.

Blur presents the player with what initially seems to be a hybrid between traditional racing games and kart games.

Sure, that’s a gross oversimplification, but let’s look at it objectively: Blur combines real world cars and realistic physics with on-track power-ups and abilities. Where a kart game would present the player with a level playing field, Blur introduces varied vehicle performance. Where a racing game would give the player a real-world experience, Blur gives them near-whimsical vehicle-based weaponry and a looser application of physics.

But the game is much more than just that. Blur tasks

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the player – in single player mode – with working through numerous challenges, presented as sets of races. Each race set has a boss to beat, which only becomes available when the player achieves certain preset goals within the group. There are numerous event types, ranging from frantic races in which twenty vehicles vie for the top spot, trading slams and weapons-fire, through to checkpoint based time trials and destruction events (which pit the player, armed with lots of weapons, against a bunch of drones.)

Each of these races is a visual feast, with high end graphics and well modelled vehicles complemented by stunning visual effects. The sound is excellent too, providing the player with much needed information, as well as audio flavour. The sound of an incoming weapon can help the player dodge at the right time, for example, and each car has a unique and authentic sound signature.

The game is surprisingly strategic, too. Most weapons have a default firing direction, but the player can change that quite easily, and to great effect. A mine fired forward, for example, makes an excellent, powerful short range

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

The game is exciting and very fast paced, often even frustrating. The only real issue it has is that it doesn’t lead to the kind of addiction that will have you playing for ages.

After a few races, you’ll probably want to take a break, before getting back to it later.

That isn’t really the case with the game’s very robust multiplayer, though. With the facility to have up to four competitors playing on split-screen (complemented by 16 AI players for the total of twenty) or up to twenty players per race, either online or via system-link (which is pretty astounding) the game is a multiplayer dream.

In addition to the power-ups that can be found on the track, Blur also allows racers to modify their vehicles with power-up modifiers, leading to a variety of results and further deepening the game’s strategy possibilities. And that’s really what Blur is all about – strategy. Fast-paced thinking while responding to a changing environment. It is, as a result, a challenging racer that, while not superrealistic, is great fun to play… and it is also a nice break from the run-of-the-mill, tired racing genre. g

AT A GLANCE: Blur is fast-paced, furious and a breath of fresh air for a tired genre.

Developer: Bizarre Creations Publisher: Activision Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

7+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

weapon, while a boost fired in the opposite direction results in massive braking power, rather than breakneck speed.

A clever player will be able to use the pickups extremely effectively, but this is no assurance of victory. While each car can carry up to three power-ups at a time, good driving will be essential to placing in the top three. The AI drivers are extremely aggressive, even at the easiest play levels, and most wins will be skin-of-the-teeth affairs.

The player will progress through the game in two ways.

Lights are earned for winning races, and fan numbers are increased by performing well on the track. Lights unlock new events, and fans unlock new vehicles. Vehicles, of which there are more than 55 licensed variants, are classified as either drifty, grippy, or somewhere inbetween. There are also off-road vehicles, which lose less speed when leaving the track. The player will have to choose the right kind of vehicle to match events and their play style to get far in Blur, and will also have to complete not only overall race challenges, but little ‘Fan Demand’ challenges within the races themselves.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

84 77

IL2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey

Big Sky Battles Better late than never…

by Walt Pretorius

F

light simulators generally come in two flavours – the super-technical, nuts-and-bolts style proper simulations and arcade fighters, which fans of the super-technical, nuts-and-bolts style proper simulations sneer at. Then again, fans of the arcade style games feel that the players of the super-technical, nuts-and-bolts style proper simulations are too pedantic for their own good.

1C’s IL2 Sturmovik has always fallen into the former category. The game, historically, has been difficult and realistic enough to raise a sweat on the brow of even the most seasoned of virtual pilots, with the tricky real-world performance of World War II fighters making playing the game quite challenging.

The release of IL2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey on console raised a few eyebrows. I use past tense, because this game has been available overseas for some time, despite the fact that it is still a relative newcomer to our South African shores. It hit shelves across the waters in September of last year, so it isn’t exactly old… and, quite honestly, it’s new here.

Anyway, the raised eyebrows… See, taking a flight simulation game onto a console format makes it seem like an arcade game by default. The controls simply cannot

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compete with games on PC. Still, 1C did it when they released this game. And the sweetest thing is that they managed to build appeal for both schools into one title.

Reliving some of the most important aerial battles of World War II, IL2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey features settings that will allow arcade fans and hardcore players alike to appreciate the game. Sure, the realistic simulation modes aren’t quite as in depth as they might be on PC, but they’re still way above the norm for console based flight sims. Yet the arcade mode is simple enough that anyone can pick up and play this rather exciting game.

As said before, the player will be able to enjoy some of the biggest aerial battles from the last Great War in this game; the Battle of Britain, the Battle of Stalingrad, the Allied invasion of Sicily, Korsun Pocket, the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Berlin are the major chapters in the game, all with sub-chapters in the form of individual missions. All the missions are played from an Allied perspective. You’ll be flying Spitfires and Sturmoviks (as well as numerous other Allied aircrafts) in this one; the closest you will come to a German BF109 is watching it plummet to the ground, trailing smoke and flames.

Which is quite possible, thanks to the stunning amount

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

new weapons loadouts as well, adding versatility and customisation to the game.

And there’s more! A very complete encyclopaedia adds a didactic nature to the game, too. Players will be able to learn some very interesting facts, not only about battles and aircrafts, but also about manoeuvres used by pilots during the war. This complements the tutorials and more advanced training that the game has on offer.

On the whole, IL2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey is a worthwhile game to play, even if it did get to us a few months late. The title is a solid simulation with a broad appeal, and the high end graphics and non-stop aerial action, ranging from hunting bombers through to dogfights and bombing runs, will keep fans happy for hours, whether in single player mode or duking it out against other humans online. g

AT A GLANCE: This is a wonderful WWII flight sim for casual and hardcore players alike… and damn, it’s pretty!

Developer: Gaijin Entertainment Publisher: 1C Distributor: Apex Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

7+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

of detail injected into the game’s visuals. The ground detail is fabulous, with patchwork fields interspersed with buildings alternating with cities below the player’s wings.

And the aircraft? Well, the passion that Russians 1C have for their product is clearly visible in the high detail that the aircraft models feature.

The high end graphics and special effects add to the excitement of the game in a big way… a particular example springs to mind. After surging through the smoke trail issuing from a downed BF109, I set about chasing another enemy. However, an over-zealous wing-man managed to sheer the port-side wing from my Hurricane in a shower of sparks, sending both aircraft spiralling towards a fiery doom in the fields of Dover below. Miffed as I was at the accident, I was amazed at the detail shown in my aircraft, even where the wing had been sheered off.

The explosion was pretty impressive too.

The game allows for a number of retries, though… getting shot down will allow the player to respawn, but will affect their final rating as a result.

IL2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey allows the player to unlock planes for use in multiplayer modes, all of which require online access. In addition, the player can earn

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

82 79

Lost Planet 2

Akrid Hunting More of the same on EDN III

by Walt Pretorius

L

ost Planet 2 was awaited with much anticipation.

The follow-on of one of the most popular titles from the early days of the Xbox 360 just had to be great, right? Plus, it’s Capcom. Guaranteed winner, surely? Don’t count on it.

But before we get to that, let’s look at what shines in this game – the presentation. While the characters aren’t the prettiest people, and the giant Akrid monsters are hardly lovable, they are very well handled in terms of graphics. Additionally, the landscapes, which range from the familiar ice fields through to lush jungles, are often spectacular, not only in scope but also in detail. If you’re a graphics junkie, you will love the looks in this game.

The sound, in terms of music, is pretty good too, and the supportive sound effects are effective, if not too impressive.

The story returns the player to the Planet EDN III a decade after the events of the first game. The ice mantle that covered the planet is receding, revealing a variety of terrains that the player gets to explore through the game’s six campaign episodes. The story, naturally, is all about people trying to exploit the natural resources that EDN III has to offer – most notably the thermal energy of the monstrous, native Akrid.

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The shiny graphics and sound are a thin veneer disguising the issues that Lost Planet 2 suffers from. The first is the fact that the game should never have included a single player campaign mode. Playing the game as a co-op multiplayer experience is a much better option. To engage the campaign as a single player takes readjusting a setting or two, and the slots available for other human players are filled by slightly ineffective AI counterparts. Other than that, it’s the same game, except for the fact that the AI team mates often aren’t where you need them to be, or are doing the entirely wrong thing at the time.

Even if the game is played as a multiplayer experience, it offers a few problems. The most notable issue is the control scheme. It’s just plain weird. Sure, you can get used to it, but the idea of clicking the analogue sticks to reload, and the over-dependence on the B button (which is used for far too many functions) are annoying at first.

Additionally, the player will have to hammer the B button half to death when activating the game’s all-important data posts.

The grappling hook is back, which is great, but it can only be used while the character is standing firmly on the ground, and its short range makes it less effective as a movement tool. Sure, the player can jump, but he might as

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

elaborate activation sequences of equipment. The levels are uneven in balance terms and unforgiving. Overall, the game feels dated, with the exception of the visuals… it’s like playing a game made by a developer uncertain of the platform for which it was made, and struggling with control ideas. All in all, the game is mediocre at best.

Fans of the first game may well want to play it, but they shouldn’t expect too much more than a similar experience to before. And those that want to buy the game for single player purposes need to be well aware of the fact that the single player mode of the game feels like a tacked on afterthough. g

AT A GLANCE: It’s not better than mediocre, with elements that feel very dated… pretty graphics, though.

Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Distributor: Nu Metro Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

well be wearing lead boots for the height that is achieved in the game.

The game is crammed full of VS machines that the player can pilot, which is great fun. Some fly, some float, other stomp around on two legs. They generally all have massive guns strapped to them, so large amounts of carnage are assured, as long as the machine has ammo.

The player can even yank the guns off of the VS machines and lug them around.

Lost Planet 2 is all about big battles, and massive boss Akrid. While these fights are challenging, the game offers only a small variety of ‘cannon-fodder’ Akrid to shoot at.

There are human opponents, though, which adds variety.

Another issue stems from the way that the game’s checkpoints are structured. They are just too few and far between. Each episode is broken into several lengthy chapters, with auto-saving happening generally at the beginning and the end of the chapter. This means that death requires a long hall to get back to where you started. Additionally, the game doesn’t offer drop-in functions, meaning that players in lobbies need to wait for a chapter to be finished before joining in.

Lost Planet 2 is hampered by poor implementation of single and multiplayer ideas, as well as clunky controls and

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

59 81

Nier

The end is Nier

Familiar action role-playing with a lot of surprises

By Matthew Vice

I

’ll admit, I wasn’t keeping to close an eye on Nier as it drew closer, and most of the screenshots and videos that passed under my nose made it look like another Japanese action game that I may or may not like, depending on its execution. Perhaps that’s why I was quite surprised to find that it’s actually a very in-depth roleplaying action game with plenty of surprises up its sleeve.

I’ll start out with the thing that impressed me the most about Nier: the atmosphere. The game strikes a deliciously desolate tone right from the get-go with its ominous, deserted landscapes and haunting, melodic soundtrack. It reminds me of the palpable atmosphere in games like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. It fits quite nicely with the story too: Thousands of years in the future, the remaining populace eke out a meagre living in what remains of the cities and towns of our destroyed world. The player is put in the role of Nier, a man desperately seeking a cure for his terminally ill daughter. On his quest, he meets and teams up with a magical book called Grimoire Weiss, who tells him that the source of all the evil that plagues the world, and his daughter’s illness, is a man called the Shadowlord, who has his own magical book called Grimoire Noir. As we

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all know, there’s nothing a father won’t do for his little girl, so Nier sets out to defeat this Shadowlord, helped by the magic of Grimoire Weiss.

What this translates into is an action RPG that should appeal to anyone who likes games like Rogue Galaxy, Darksiders, Zelda, Kingdom Hearts and Dark Chronicle.

Nier certainly contains enough elements from all these games, and plenty more besides. It starts out fairly simple… Nier can slash enemies with his weapon of choice, block attacks and pull off a few impressive dodges.

After he acquires Grimoire Weiss, however, things really heat up. Grimoire Weiss allows Nier fire off a variety of different magic spells, like hard hitting lances; a constant, machine gun-like pelting of magic bullets; a huge, crushing hand; and even a forest of spikes which rise up from below to impale enemies. Choosing the right spell for the right situation is quite important because, while Nier’s magic energy is infinite, he needs a few seconds between spells to recharge his mana, and enemies will take advantage of this recharge period to attack.

Eventually Nier will also meet and team with allies to whom he can issues general orders which they might

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

way the game occasionally changes form without warning or reason, becoming a side-on platformer, a top-down shooter, a puzzle game and even a text adventure! These unexpected nods to classic gaming styles really jump out at you and add a kind of indescribable coolness to the game – though maybe it will only really hit home for long time gamers who went through all of those genres.

Nier is pretty impressive graphically, and has some of the nicest sunlight and water I’ve even seen in a game.

The voice acting is quite adequate, and the banter between the straightforward Nier, the snide Grimoire Weiss and the fould-mouthed Kaine are worth listening to on their own. If you were disappointed by the direction taken by a certain highly-anticipated Japanese RPG that was released a few months ago, Nier might be just what you need to make up for it since it strikes the right balance between familiarity and outlandish new ideas without going too far in either direction. g

AT A GLANCE: A good, solid action adventure game for players to sink their teeth into.

Developer: Cavia Publisher: Square Enix Distributor: Nu-Metro Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

follow if they feel like it. Usually, however, they seem to like smacking an enemy sprawling out of your line of fire just when you get them right where you want them.

From time to time, Nier will receive a magic word when he kills and enemy. Grimoire Weiss keeps track of these magic words, which Nier can apply to his weapons, magic spells and special moves to buff up their effectiveness by, say, increasing his strength, granting a higher chance to shatter enemy armour, or reducing the casting cost of magic spells.

Like the other action RPGs from which it borrows so many ideas, Nier has plenty of mini-games and activities players can engage in for hours as if they weren’t rushing to avoid impending doom. Nier can go out and gather herbs and plants, kill and skin animals, cultivate his garden, go fishing and even perform menial jobs for the various characters he’ll meet. All of these activities reward him in different ways, and even if you’re not a thorough RPG player, you might want to do a handful of these side missions to earn money and items to ensure that Nier is always kitted out with the best weapons and equipment.

But by far the one most surprising element of Nier is the

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

80 83

Dead to Rights: Retribution

Fido… Kill!

Your typical crime story with a side order of bad guy kibble.

by Dion Scotten

D

ead to Rights: Retribution is a third person shooter based on the earlier PC games Dead to Rights I and II. Retribution marks a return to the gritty storyline and popular action, but also the reworking of the series for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

The story is based in the crime ravaged Grant City, where hardcore cop Jack Slate and his trusty canine companion Shadow violently take on every criminal element in their path.

Retribution is what the story is all about as Jack loses his father at the hands of the syndicate leaders that plan to take the city at any cost. Predictably, though, they never took a lone cop’s ability to kill all of their men into account, and that’s exactly what Jack and Shadow proceed to do.

Ok, so we’ve heard this story before but, to be honest, this storyline will never get old, especially if it rolls off the screen as smoothly as it does in this game. The narrative is the typical gritty cop voice relaying his thoughts during each cut scene and it lends perfectly to the equally gritty environments of the city.

Yes it’s not something fresh in terms of game style and storyline but once you’ve accepted this and actually started to play, you realise just how much fun this game is.

Essentially a shooter-brawler, the fight scenes are violent and bloody… just the way we like them. Jack can only

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carry one sidearm and rifle at any given time, but close combat allows the player to disarm an enemy if short of ammo.

The cover system is not perfect as there is no such thing as absolute protection in this game, but this also lends to realism. There will always be some part of your body visible to the enemy (and of theirs visible to you) and cover can be destroyed if the right weapon is used.

Shadow, for me, is what sets the Dead to Rights series apart from other third person shooters. In Retribution, the player will take control of Shadow at various points of the game and will have to either retrieve objects for his master or protect him as he tries to make it to safety.

This gets tricky as the guards are still armed and Shadow will be killed easily if outnumbered. The trick is to use as much stealth as possible, performing stealth kills and then dragging bodies to cover before they are discovered.

Shadow can sense the heartbeats of the enemies when moving in stealth mode, stays close to the ground and, of course, moves silently. Barking alerts nearby guards who will move out of position and isolating certain guards in this manner is the only way to proceed at certain points in the game.

Full frontal assault normally ends badly as a single shot can stop Shadow in his tracks, but with good use of cover

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

AT A GLANCE: Shadow’s interaction makes this game for me… otherwise it would just be your typical third person shooter.

Developer: Volatile Games Publisher: Namco Bandai Games Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

18+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

he can knock over enemies when running and then finish them off on the ground. Generally Shadow kills are awesomely vicious and even hardened men will flinch when confronted with the scrotality!

Head shots are encouraged, of course, and a focus meter can be used to invoke a short amount of bullet time to escape from sticky situations, or to just show off with multiple kills.

Melee combat has a little more depth than only punching and disarms, with a number of combo moves for the player to pull off as well. Melee becomes only slightly more interesting though and the camera does make it difficult at times to be in total control. This results in button mashing to make it back into playable space.

Some cool finishing moves are available when an enemy is close to death, giving suitable sticky ends to some of the bad guys.

Ultimately, though, and in line with the theme, the game requires Jack and Shadow teamwork and making good use of both their skills will help players through some of the trickier encounters in the game.

All in all, while not a front runner in third person shooters, Dead to Rights: Retribution is a fun game to play and a welcome addition to the console stable. g

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

74 85

ModNation Racers

The New Kart King Go on, express yourself

by Walt Pretorius

K

art games are not on the top of my to-play list.

They simply aren’t something that I go out of my way for. Sure, I play them, but more often than not it’s because of what I do for a living, rather than through some burning desire to be the best at a kart game.

However, things have changed slightly, thanks to a new take on kart games in the form of ModNation Racers.

This is more than just the run of the mill kart experience.

Rather, this game takes a few new ideas and melds them with what was (up until recently) a genre that was getting rather tired rather quickly.

By way of a quick definition, ModNation Racers is like the love child of LittleBigPlanet and any given kart racer.

The game is all about kart racing, sure, but it allows for a massive amount of customisation to be performed across various areas of the game… thereby adding something very new, fun and exciting to the world of kart racing.

The game has its tongue very securely planted in its cheek, as evidenced by a number of elements. The graphics, for example, are the typically cute kind of thing you would expect to see in a game of this kind, but the

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cuteness is edged with elements that could be described an grim, or even grotesque. The actions of the drivers during the races add to this idea, with shaking fists combining with over-the-top aerial stunts performed while getting airtime. And the story that drives the single player campaign is rife with the kind of often-off-colour humour that gamers, in particular, appreciate.

As a racing game, ModNation racers if among the better kart games on the market. The action is fast and furious, set on tracks that are sometimes challenging, always lively and even occasionally heart-stopping. The tracks are littered with shortcuts, traps and power-ups. These power ups will give the player a random ability to make use of.

However, instead of allowing the player to gather multiple power ups, they are only allowed one at a time. Each power-up can be increased in potency (up to three levels) by collecting additional on-track pick-ups. There are around thirty tracks available during the single player campaign.

Each track has basic and extended goals, adding a large amount of replayability to the title.

More impressive than the racing, though, is the high

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Games like LittleBigPlanet showed us that user generated content is a hot field to take advantage of, and ModNation racers, with its ease-of-use and myriad options, will do well because of this popularity. Tracks made by others will keep the game alive for ages, and the addictive thrill that the game provides players will have them coming back for more, time and time again. This game is a victory for lateral thinking in game design, and one that is well worth playing… even if kart games aren’t your thing. It’s entertainment value goes far beyond the track, and it will keep all kinds of gamers busy for a good long time to come. The fact that it doesn’t capitalise on established characters is an added bonus – this game has its own identity, and everything it takes to establish a thriving online community. g

AT A GLANCE: ModNation Racers is a solid and creative kart game with all the elements required to create a thriving online community.

Developer: United Front Games Publisher: SCEE Distributor: Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

7+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

degree of customisation the player can apply to their character and their car. New objects, textures and finishes are unlocked as the game progresses, allowing for an almost limitless array of karts and drivers on the track.

This extends to creating tracks too. The game features a very simple track building system that is deceptively easy to use. A little work and imagination can result in truly impressive tracks being made. Yes, the player is limited to how much each track can contain, but there is plenty of room to move within the editor.

Another cornerstone of this game is the online community. Through PSN, players can trade designs for karts, characters and tracks and, naturally, compete against each other in a variety of online race events.

The simplicity of the game makes it ultimately accessible to all players. From youngsters through to seasoned veterans will all have a fair chance in what is essentially a typically kart-style level playing field. And the creativity injected into the title will keep people coming back for more – even if just in the hope that one of their creations will become featured content.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

84 87

Super Street Fighter IV

It Finally Happened!

Is it worth another purchase?

by Matthew Vice

N

obody was surprised when Capcom announced Super Street Fighter IV, which is technically an upgrade to Street Fighter IV hiding under the facade of a new game. This is what Capcom does, after all, re-releasing their old titles with all of the old stuff intact and some new content on top of it – you might even go so far as to say that they invented the practice. And we put up with it. Why? Because we love Capcom and, more importantly, because we love Street Fighter, that’s why.

Now, we could go really in depth about why Street Fighter is so important and so on, and I’d love to, but the point of the review is: is Super Street Fighter IV worth another purchase? So that’s what we’ll attempt to answer. For starters, by Capcom standards, the 10 new characters included in Super Street Fighter IV is a pretty big upgrade. Usually we only get three or four, max. These 10 newcomers are comprised of eight returning veterans from previous Street Fighter games, and two entirely new characters created from the ground up for Street Fighter IV.

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The eight veterans include Adon, the agile kickboxer from Street Fighter I, and Guy and Cody, two streetwise brawlers from Capcom’s Final Fight series. Joining the fray from Super Street Fighter II are Dee Jay, which his rhythmic, kick based style, and T-Hawk, a hard-hitting Native American with powerful body slams and wrestling techniques. Finally, three competitors from Street Fighter III make an appearance: Dudley, a fast and quick-hitting boxer, Ibuki, a fleet-footed ninja with plenty of moves, and Makoto, a pint-sized karate chick with a straightforward but incredibly damaging fighting style. All of these veterans are superbly rendered in Street Fighter IV’s illustrative style and play pretty much identically to the last time we saw them in their respective games.

The two new characters are Hakan and Juri. Hakan is a large, mean-looking Turkish oil wrestler (that’s a real fighting style, by the way). Although he looks fierce, he’s actually one of the friendlier characters in the game and is proving to be quite popular among the worldwide Street Fighter community. He has two 360 degree wrestling

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

for hardcore players to experiment with. Every returning character from Street Fighter IV now has a new intro and ending sequence, which continue their individual stories – if you’re interested, that is, because let’s face it, Street Fighter’s stories aren’t likely to be confused with the works of Shakespeare at any point. Oh, one final point of interest is that the bonus stages from the original Street Fighter II, where players are given a limited time to destroy a defenceless SUV with their bare hands and break a rapid succession of falling barrels have returned. They don’t add all that much to the game, to be honest, which is probably why the option to turn them off was included.

Taking it all into account, I’d say that Super Street Fighter IV does represent good value for money if you’re enough of a fan to see the play value in 10 extra characters plus a new Ultra move for every existing fighter. The game-play is as good as ever and if you’re a hardcore Street Fighter fan, you probably won’t need any more convincing. g

AT A GLANCE: Super Street Fighter IV is a pretty big upgrade by Capcom’s standards and a good purchase for avid fans.

Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Distributor: Nu-Metro Interactive

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

13+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

moves, which means that Zangief experts might like him, plus an interesting move which lets him slide along the ground to knock his opponent off their feet before jumping on top of them for extra damage. He can also douse himself with oil to enhance his attacks for a short period of time. Juri, on the other hand, is pure evil. She’s a Taekwondo expert with ties to both Shadaloo and SIN, which is already bad news – and she’s a friggin’ psycho on top of that. She was designed to appeal to beginner players, so she has a lot of fast moves with plenty of reach that can be easily linked and cancelled to form combos.

There’s not a lot of penalty for missing and her second Ultra attack is powerful and very easy to use effectively.

She’s also got quite a sensual side to her, even though she’s quite flat-chested and not particularly attractive.

Aside from the new characters, there aren’t a whole lot of other additions. There are a few new stages to fight in and some remixed tunes to enjoy, plus a few new online modes. Every character in the game now has two Ultra attacks to choose from, opening up plenty of new tactics

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

83 89

SBK X: Superbike World Championship

Two Extremes Too Hard VS Too Easy

by Walt Pretorius

T

his is something that I harp about every time I write a motor bike racing game review: they just don’t seem to capture the essence of riding a bike as effectively as, say, a car racing game captures the essence of driving a car. Perhaps it is the physicality involved in riding a bike, where the rider’s body is oh so important in controlling the machine he’s sitting on. Additionally, the exhilaration of riding a bike is… well, it’s something you’re only going to get from riding a bike. So the games generally leave me a little cold.

That said, they are getting better with each one that is released. In recent games we saw big improvements: MX VS ATV: Reflex introduced the idea of body positioning, and MotoGP used both front and back breaking (among other things) to make the experience a bit more realistic.

The same kinds of improvements are evident in SBK X: Superbike World Championship. While the game doesn’t have the formula down pat yet, it certainly has come a long way.

Just to clarify, in case you didn’t get it: the X in the title is not the same kind of X that you might find in extreme

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sports games titles. You can’t really do that kind of X on a superbike – not without breaking probably more bones than you actually have in your body. Rather, this X is the roman numeral kind of X. Developers Milestone obviously opted for something other than the ‘2010’ or more trite ‘10’ that have been appearing on games this year.

Anyway, that was a bit of a long thought-train derailment. Let’s get back to the crux of the matter.

SBK X allows the player to take some of the world’s best bikes around the circuits features in this year’s championship… Imola, Brno, even South Africa’s own Kyalami are all present, accurately recreated for your gaming pleasure. The tracks themselves are beautifully handled, although the scenery leaves a bit to be desired on some of them. Then again, when you’re rocketing past the scenery at high speeds, there isn’t much time to pay attention. The tracks featured are challenging, and many of the monstrous machines that the player can ride require a lot of attention paid to them. The game is challenging, particularly in the very demanding Simulation mode.

The game offers players the opportunity to either ride in

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

completely unforgiving, and even the slightest error will result in an accident that would be painful; if it wasn’t virtual. And that’s how it should be; superbike racing is a very technical sport, after all.

While the Arcade mode is an alternative for those who don’t want to get into the technical side of racing, bike tuning and all that other stuff, it really isn’t the best part of the game. It’s too short and simply too easy. On the other hand, the Simulation mode is a tough nut to crack.

The inclusion of something in-between would have served the game better. As it stands, with its two extremes, many people will feel alienated by the title. It’s appeal misses out that serious-casual middle ground that is a steadily growing market, pandering rather to extreme hardcore players on one hand, and completely casual players on the other.

If you are a complete superbike enthusiast, and are willing to get to terms with the intricacies of the Simulation mode, this game is a great option. For anyone else, it doesn’t have the appeal it could have had. g

AT A GLANCE: While it offers an Arcade mode, this one only holds real value for hardcore enthusiasts.

Developer: Milestone Publisher: Black Bean Distributor: Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

3+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

advanced Simulations, or to play the dumbed-down Arcade mode. Arcade mode allows the player to get away with murder; screaming full ball into a turn, only to brake hard and swing the bike impossibly fast through a turn might result in a spectacular tumble in the Simulation mode, but in Arcade mode, anything goes. Wheelies, stoppies, going of the track and slamming competitors are all ok, because it is impossible to fall off of the bike here. It’s not realistic at all, except for some of the turning and braking physics, but it is worth a spin purely for the almost movie-like nature of the stunts you can pull. Arcade mode features a career of sorts, but this is also dumbed down… the player will get to go through a series of races, and will need to attain prescribed goals. Sometimes conditions will be a bit more challenging, like having faulty brakes or a wet track.

But, for the most part, it’s a stripped down, shorter and much simpler version of the Simulation mode. Even the menus are simpler.

Simulation mode is exactly the opposite – the career is fully under the player’s control, the menus are more complex, and the riding… well, it’s difficult. This mode is

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

75 91

Iron Man 2

2 Iron Men Research. Develop. Refine.

by Alexia Pestana

J

.A.R.V.I.S is Tony Stark’s home computing system. It takes care of everything to do with the house, kind of like his butler. J.A.R.V.I.S was also adapted to be downloaded into the Iron Man Mark 2 and 3 armours to help Tony navigate the systems. Of course all hell breaks loose when separatists under the command of General Shatalov seize control of a tesla facility. We start the game as Iron Man, defending the Dataspine that houses an archived version of J.A.R.V.I.S – weird that this rich and charming philanthropist can’t find a more suitable place to store the archived file, currently kept in a towering structure that might as well have flashing lights pointing at it saying “J.A.R.V.I.S is here”. Maybe it’s just me but I thought a flash drive might have been more suitable.

Anyway, Iron Man is joined from the beginning by War Machine. Going to watch the movie (which I enjoyed)

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did little to make the game more enjoyable as the game doesn’t follow the same story line. It seems, rather, to carry on where the movie left off. Samuel L Jackson and Don Cheadle are on hand to voice their characters (Nick Fury & Rhodes) while sadly Robert Downey Jr. is nowhere to be found, or rather, heard. The story is co-written by comic scribe Matt Fraction, who teamed up with a group of writers from Sega.

There is only a campaign mode in the game. You get to choose whether you want to do the mission as Iron Man, who is more agile, or as War Machine – the big gun. With characters like that you would think that Sega would introduce a co-op mode. Guess not. The campaign will take you around four to five hours to finish on normal difficulty.

I was hoping for something a little longer when I first heard about the length of the game, but if I had to do more of the

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

AT A GLANCE: Iron Man or War Marchine?

Choose either to carry out various missions to stop the bad guys.

Developer: High Voltage Software; Publisher: Sega Distributor: Nu Metro

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

same thing for any longer than I did, I wouldn’t be held responsible for the consequences. Fly, shoot, dodge incoming attack… that’s all you need to remember when facing off with the boss types. If you don’t want to deliver the final blow to selected enemies through the game, you can hack into their system to make them fight on your side for a short period, or blow up.

A few improvements have been made with regard to the game play. Flight, hovering, shooting and melee have been redone entirely. Hovering is now automatic, shooting has an auto-lock, and flight is tuned to a person size object and the way it would manoeuvre, rather than flying like an aeroplane. The added dents and scratches that appear on Iron Man’s suit as he gets thrown around and blown up are a nice touch.

One thing that added a little extra to this game for me was Iron Man’s headquarters. Here you can change which character you would like to use in the next mission, kit out the armour, and do a whole lot of research and development to unlock modular enhancements and weapons using experience gained during your missions. Several armours are in the game for Iron Man, including those from the movie and from the comics. The Ultimate armour and the Silver Centurion are included, to name a few. This new little dimension was short lived, though, as I probably only used it two or three times before I clean forgot about it. There is very little more you can improve on when you already have the perfect combination of rockets and blasters.

Iron Man actually makes a great character for a game as you can fly, hover, run, fight in hand to hand combat, fire a multitude of weapons and spend ridiculous amounts of money researching the latest and greatest ideas. I feel that the story just wasn’t strong enough to make an average game anything more than average. g

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

58 93

Monster Hunter Tri

Wii-sized!

Sword fighting underwater

by Brian Murdoch

T

his is actually the fifth Monster Hunter title, despite the Tri in the title. The reason for the name is that it’s the third story line for Monster Hunter and the third exclusive platform. The franchise started on the PS2 and moved to the PSP. If people are expecting the Monster Hunter game from before with some new features and improvements, then this game will make them a happy hunter.

At first the player starts off as a villager that is sent to protect a small coastal town from overgrown wild life.

Life as a hunter starts out with small tasks like gathering mushrooms and fighting lizards. This is all easy but teaches newcomers to the game how to play. Quests are eventually given to the hunter (or are sometimes bought) and these are put in levels. The game has no levelling or advancement of character; only the weapons and armour can be improved. These improvements are needed to battle bigger monsters. New weapons can be bought or crafted. Crafting can only be done with materials found either from mining, fishing, catching or just plain killing

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monsters for the parts that are needed.

Only after the player has finished enough quests in the current level is the hunter able to get harder quests. Toward the end of the first level hunters will find themselves battling huge behemoths than most men would run from. A side note is that I love the way that the character runs away from a monster… they throw their arms and look scared while running.

The Wii version of Monster Hunter does bring a range of new features to the game that will be readily accepted by the gamers that have played the previous versions. While the PSP introduced multiplayer ideas, they weren’t perfect.

The first aspect to multiplayer on the Wii version is coop, with players playing in split screen. This will require both players’ characters to be on the same Wii. Just like copying the player’s Mii onto the Wii remote, the Monster Hunter character can be copied onto the controller’s memory. The second aspect is online multiplayer, with up to four hunters out to take down challenging beasts. Often another player will be required but, if there are no friends

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Having a range of them is a good idea.

Monster Hunter Tri, just like the previous titles, does require some grind. You might find that distasteful, but the great action and combinations can lead to a satisfying result. g

AT A GLANCE: Monster Hunter Tri offers the player tons of weapons and huge monsters to do battle with.

Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Distributor: Core

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

Wii Platforms

to play with, Cha-Cha will join the party to help. She is a well skilled AI character and her help is often needed.

Don’t worry about her taking all the glory as the player will still need to do most of the work… but having someone else for the monster to chase is great. A hunter need not run faster than the monster to escape, only faster than the hunter next to him.

To date, the online Monster Hunter gaming is the best that I have experienced. True, the Wii needs to be setup on a wireless connection first but once this is done, it becomes very easy to just go into the city and find other hunters to go on a quest. No friend codes are need… just jump into a lobby and find some comrades.

The underwater battling is truly impressive. The epic size creatures are really at home in the water and the player needs to learn quickly to become comfortable in that environment. Often this will be easier with a different weapon and trying different ones out underwater is a good idea. Then again, sticking to one weapon, above or below water, is not the way to get through this game.

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

81 95

BlazBlu: Calamity Trigger

2D Depth

Street Fighter has nothing on BlazBlu’s intricate combat

by Adam Shore

B

ack when Arc System Works first released Guilty Gear on the PlayStation, nobody could have predicted what it would eventually turn into – and unless you’re an avid fan of 2D fighting games, you probably don’t know. Well, let’s just say that BlazBlu is the result of a long road of experimentation and tweaking to create one of the most elaborate and in-depth fighting games available.

Games like Street Fighter and The King of Fighters require the player to be very familiar with their character’s move set so that they can be applied at the right time in the right fashion – but apart from a few exceptions, players would seldom use more than one move at a time or think any further ahead than what was happening on screen at the time. BlazBlu might not have the biggest character roster out there, and in truth, most of the characters don’t have all that many moves – but they each have bucket loads of depth that only the most hardcore of 2D fighting fans can get to grips with. Each character has three levels of attack, weak, medium, and strong, plus a special

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attack. This special attack does something different for everyone. For instance, Ragna is very focused on lifedraining techniques, which sap his opponent’s vitality from their energy bar and add it to his. Every move he performs with the special attack button activates this ability. Carl has a robotic minion he can control with various D-pad commands and the special attack button, essentially giving the player control of two characters at once; and Taokaka’s special attack simply causes her to launch herself straight at the opponent whether she’s on the ground or in the air – deadly when combined with her moves, which are designed to take advantage of every little opening.

The strategies and systems for each character are so deep that the special edition of the game comes with a DVD full of tutorials and strategies by tournament champion players from around the world. Very handy for both beginners and pros alike – it certainly helped me to see that I wasn’t thinking big enough when I first started playing. The game has the mandatory arcade mode, where players fight through a set number of opponents before

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

voice, a little girl whose cute appearance belies her brutal nature, a sad science-experiment girl who never says a word, and a huge, lumbering dude who looks stupid, but is actually a genius scientist. If you’re an anime fan, you’re probably not wildly concerned with originality anyway, and the wacky designs complement the unusual action nicely.

In the tradition of Guilty Gear, there is also a rocking good metal soundtrack to jam to as you fight, full of energetic drums and screaming guitars leading into nice operatic bridges – perfect fight music. You really can’t fault Arc System Works when it comes to their music.

I certainly wouldn’t recommend BlazBlu to just anyone, I wouldn’t even recommend it to most 2D fighting fans.

BlazBlu is made for only the most hardcore of 2D versus fighting fans, the ones who really like to get in there and tinker with all the technical intricacies of their character. If you fall into this category, and you’ve got a lot of time to spare to learn new and intricate strategies, then give it a go. g

AT A GLANCE: BlazBlu is definitely a fighting game for connoisseurs only.

Developer: Arc System Works Publisher: PQube Distributor: Prima

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

13+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

taking on a boss and seeing their character’s ending.

There is also a story mode designed to give players a higher insight into their character and unlock artwork for the gallery. While going through this mode, the player is often prompted to make choices which will affect their path through the game and decide which ending they will receive. Good fun if you’re into that kind of thing, I guess.

Online mode is also there, for players who can stand the lag and want to prove their skills online. Practice mode is very important, for obvious reasons, and it gives players a bucket load of options they can tweak to create the idea training situation for themselves.

One of the most welcome aspects of BlazBlu is the fact that it’s still rendered in high resolution 2D. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with Street Fighter IV’s 3D approach, but it’s still nice to see a 2D game sticking to its guns even on our powerful new 3D focused machines.

BlazBlu’s visual’s are wild, crazy and full of anime clichés, including the big badass with the spiky hair, a good guy who is so effeminate you can only tell his gender by his

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

88 97

Way of the Samurai 3

Which Way?

Good and evil both make up the way of the samurai

by Adam Shore

I

f you plan to define games by who they appeal to and how many units they sell, you’ll find that it’s pretty easy to predict which games are going to make it big or pass by with barely a blip on the radar. The Way of the Samurai series is very much the latter. If they grouped videogames the way they do movies, you’d probably find Way of the Samurai 3 in the “special interest” section.

At its core, Way of the Samurai 3 is an action roleplaying game with a very limited scope. Players take on the role of a samurai who wakes up on a battlefield in the middle of a province called Amana. With no cause left to fight for, he must now find something new to risk his life for. There are three factions available, the ruling regime, the insurgents, and the common people who are suffering in the middle of the struggle. Players can join whichever faction they want, but a faction won’t be willing to give any important missions straight off the bat. That kind of trust must be earned. For this reason, most players will probably kick-start their samurai careers with glorious missions like finding an old lady’s missing knickers, searching for a clan’s beloved dog, or delivering letters. Hey, no one ever said the way of the Samurai was easy, now did they?

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Once players have earned their stripes, they will be offered missions more becoming of a samurai, including dealing with killers, thugs and kidnappers. As each faction’s trust increases, so too does the pay they offer for each mission. Earning trust within a faction, or making certain key decisions in the game, will make story scenes, called “inklings” available for players to view. Activating these events is as simple as going to the area where they are happening. They could be simple story scenes or they could lead to combat with powerful key characters in the story. Depending on what the player does during these story scenes, which story scenes they witness and in what order all influences which ending the player will receive, and there are round about 30 of them to be had.

Each time the player completes the game, they are awarded a number of Samurai Points, which unlock new outfits, custom items and modes to enjoy. The nice thing about Way of the Samurai 3 is that all of a player’s items and weapons carry over from one play to the next, which becomes especially important when you learn the finer points of blacksmithing and weapon creation. Sometimes creating a really powerful weapon takes quite a lot of

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

without killing a single person. You can also go around collecting weapon pieces to create your own dealer of death from the ground up, if you’re so inclined.

If this sounds like fun to you, you’d be right, but it takes some getting used to before you can truly be a badass samurai. The combat system is unmistakeably Japanese, meaning there’s plenty of things in it that don’t make sense or don’t seem humanly possible at first. Getting used to the idea of pushing or pulling foes off balance, using the bizarre timing of the parry, and getting all of the sword strokes to connect will probably be enough to put impatient players right off the game. If you can master it all, however, you’re almost guaranteed to get sucked right into it.

The graphics aren’t quite what we expect these days, prompting me to use the term “functional” to describe them, and the sound is rather weak, so it’s unlikely to appeal to anyone on a technical level. If you’re the kind of player who likes a good few weeks of reclusive role-playing every now and then, you might want to check it out. g

AT A GLANCE: For the real feel of being a samurai, you won’t find anything better.

Developer: Acquire Publisher: Gamebridge Distributor: Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

13+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

PS3 Platforms

investment, multiple plays and plenty of kills to give it the maximum power it can attain. As usual, players can pick up the weapon of any fallen foe, though most of them are lacklustre at best. Some more powerful common enemies, like the self-righteous samurai hunters or the random maniacs usually carry OK weapons, but for the really worthwhile ones, you’ll need to play through the story and kill some of the important characters to take the weapons they wield.

Speaking of weapons, there is a bit more variety on offer now compared to the previous games. In addition to the mandatory swords, players can now also find and use spears, clubs and even wooden bokken. If you’re in a really odd mood, you can even wield farming implements, tree branches and even certain types of vegetables. Another nice addition is the ability to dual-wield any combination of weapons. In the previous games, dual weapons came as a set and could not be separated, but now we get to choose which weapons we’d like to use in tandem. Oh, and if that wasn’t cool enough, all you Rurouni Kenshin wannabe’s out there can now flip the blade around for a blunt strike – meaning that it’s possible to go through the entire game

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

71 99

Lips: I Love the ‘80s

Camp it Up!

Big hair and shoulder pads not included

by Walt Pretorius

I

am probably giving away my age here, but I love ‘80s music. These tracks take me back to my high-school years, back to those carefree times when I thought I had problems, but hadn’t had to figure out how to pay rent yet. There’s just something about the era – it was camp, hammed-up and completely over the top. In fact, the ‘80s were somewhat embarrassing, if you look back at the photographs from then. But musically, it was an important decade, with the introduction of widespread use of electronic music in popular songs, as well as the formal advent of the music video. It was a decade that formed much of what is popular today in terms of music (although, thankfully, not fashion.)

So the thought of an ‘80s karaoke style game is quite an exciting thing, especially for fogies like me.

See, I am one of those people that can be relatively embarrassing to others when somebody hands me a microphone. In fact, I suspect the last neighbour that

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moved did so because of my morning shower repertoire.

I know I don’t sing very well, but that doesn’t stop me.

Unless, of course, a game tells me that I completely suck.

That’s the wonderful thing about Lips: I Love the ‘80s.

It never tells you that you sound like a cat being dragged backwards through a bramble bush, even if you know that you do. The game has an almost unnerving way of making you feel good about your singing, even if the dog is hiding away because of your caterwauling. Personally, I like that aspect of the game… more than a few karaoke titles have tempted me to hang up my microphone, but not this one.

Lips is thoroughly forgiving, when all is said and done.

The game doesn’t only score the player on how well they sing, but also rewards them for performing motion, using a bit of vibrato, pitching correctly and a few other things.

The lyrics for the songs are presented in two ways at the same time – as the customary karaoke game pitch track, as well as a more traditional bouncing dot mode.

gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

the user can construct playlists to sing along to. Even the appearance of the game can be changed, allowing the user to choose original music videos or a number of other visual options during the songs.

The game is compatible with any USB microphones, but the motion sensitivity of the Xbox 360 cordless mics allows for an added level of play – the game prompts the player for various motion actions, including clapping, playing air guitar and even doing a spin or two. This adds not only an extra dimension to the game dynamic, but also a wonderful new level of hilarity to an already amusing experience. It’s wonderfully camp.

Lips: I Love the ‘80s is an excellent purchase for fans of karaoke games, particularly if they enjoy ‘80s music. Sure, it might appeal more to an older generation, but the catchy tunes and hypnotic rhythms of the era can get anyone’s foot tapping. It’s an excellent addition to the ever-growing Lips collection. g

AT A GLANCE: A camp collection of excellent ‘80s tracks for the Microsoft karaoke game.

Developer: iNiS Corp Publisher: Microsoft Distributor: Microsoft

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

12+ gamecca review • issue 12 • June 2010

Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

The best thing about Lips: I Love the ‘80s, though, is the track selection. There are some really nice choices of popular music on it. The selection ranges from Alphaville’s haunting Forever Young through to Katrina and the Waves’ foot tapper Walking on Sunshine, and makes stops at Blondie, Ultravox, Spandau Ballet, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Soft Cell, Pat Benetar, Human League, Madness and many others along the way.

It’s a wonderful demonstration of the abilities of the musicians of that era. Songs like Vienna, by Ultravox and The Riddle, by Nick Kershaw, are challenging tracks that require more than just a mediocre performance to get right. Still, the game makes you feel good, even when you mess things up royally.

This title can be used in conjunction with other Lips games, and has the same user-friendly interface disguising what can be a rather complex game. Several modes, including duets and battles, are available for play, and

PC X360 PS3 Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

79 101

GameCube Controller Ports: Four top-mounted ports for interfacing with GameCube controllers (concealed by flap) can be found here. The GameCube was Nintendo’s previous console.

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ne of the things we love about putting Gamecca together is that it has the potential to demystify gaming for those who might be new to the activity, or who might even be parents or partners of gamers that would like to learn more.

The problem is that most of us have been gaming for a while, and don’t necessarily know what these kinds of people need to find out about. And so, from the next issue, we will answer any questions that our readers might have in this section.

Please feel free to send queries to letters@gamecca.co.za. Please use ‘BGGG’ in the mail’s subject line.

This month we are also seeing the last instalment of our Gaming Anatomy 101 section, finishing off with the Wii console. Be sure to check back next month for an exciting new section, right here in the Beginner’s Guide to Good Gaming. g

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gamecca BGGG • issue 12 • June 2010

Gaming Anatomy 101: The Wii Console

Power Button: Used to turn console on and off, or activate stand-by mode.

Resert Button: Used to reset the Wii console without switching off the power.

GameCube Memory Card Ports: Top-mounted ports to interface with GameCube Memory cards (concealed by flap).

Disc Slot: Discs are inserted into the console via this slot, which is rimmed with a light when the console is on.

SD Card Port & Synch Button: An SD Card port can be found under this flap. SD Cards are used by the Wii for extra memory requirements.

The Synch Button, also under the flap, is used to synch new controllers and peripherals to the Wii.

USB Slots: Two USB ports can be found at the rear of the console.

Connection Interface Ports: Ports for the power supply, AV output and Sensor Bar are in the rear od the device.

Eject Button: Used to remove discs from the Wii console.

gamecca BGGG •

issue 12 • June 2010

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Lexicon: Simulation: A simulation is most often a vehicle based game, although some management games are also called simulations.

Serious simulations tend to be very realistic.

Arcade: Arcade style versions of simulations are more forgiving, much less realistic versions of their serious counterparts.

Physics: In game terms, physics are how the physical sciences of the real world are translated into the game. Physics in a game can govern anything from how objects fall, to how they react to sudden forces (like explosions) and even how different material react in certain situations.

Genre Check: Flight Sim

T

he flight simulation genre is a little more complex than one might think. Yes, the games all have to do with flying planes, but there are different levels of simulation that need to be taken into account.

At one end of the scale is the hard-core simulation.

These games are super realistic, with accurate physics and realistic reactions built into the aircraft presented by the game. These titles tend to be played on the PC, beacuse of the more numerous control options that it offers.

However, true enthusiasts will use a good quality joystick set-up, often in conjunction with a flight yoke and rudder pedals. The most complex flight simulations are often not combat games.

On the other end of the scale are Arcade flight simulators. These games are almost always all about combat, and the player can get away with anything (short of flying into the ground) without worrying about physics.

Most flight simulators fall somewhere in between the two these days. A good indicator would be which platforms they appear on... console based games tend to be more arcade in nature, while PC based games are often more serious simulations. g

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X

IL2 Sturmovik

Ace Combat 6

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gamecca BGGG •

issue 12 • June 2010

What is E3?

T

here have been more than a few mentions of E3 in this issue - and previous issues - of Gamecca Magazine. In case you don’t know, we thought we should elaborate on the subject... It’s good timing, too, because this year’s E3 is happening this month, from the 15th until the 17th of June.

For many years, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) has taken place at the Los Angeles Converntion Centre, in downtown LA (in the USA, naturally.) E3 is basically a trade show that allows the video game industry to show off what will be coming to store shelves over the next year (or two, in some cases) and while it is not the only show of its kind, it is seen as something of a Holy Grail by video game journalists.

Part of the reason that it has this reputation is that E3 is for industry professionals only. The expo’s official website states: ‘E3 Expo is a professional trade event and is not open to the general public. Individuals who are not able to document their direct and current professional affiliation to the interactive entertainment industry are not qualified to attend.’ In other words, people who want to go need to prove that they are industry professionals, and getting in is a great form of recognition.

Despite this restriction, E3 is attended by tens of thousands of people every year, eager to get glimpses of new games, or be privy to the many announcements that are made at the three day event.

E3 is a heart-stoppingly impressive show. They decided to tone things down in 2007 and 2008, but a poor response to the idea convinced the American Entertainment Software Alliance (ESA, the show organisers) to ‘wow’ people with the original, big show format that made it so popular in previous years. Journalists from around the world travel to the show, hoping to get all the inside information that their readers demand. As part of our birthday issue, we will also be featuring information from this year’s E3... be sure to check out the July 2010 issue for all the excitement. g gamecca BGGG •

issue 12 • June 2010

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LG Flatron E2350 Monitor

All Occasions Covered This one’s great for multiple functions...

by Walt Pretorius

A

monitor that is easily portable and reliable is becoming more and more essential - particularly here in South Africa, where various factors still keep LAN gaming at a peak, as opposed to online multiplayer gaming.

There are many gamers out there that travel with their PCs and consoles in order to do some multiplayer gaming, and so a monitor that takes care of all of the possible requirements is a true gem. The LG Flatron E2350 does just that - it offers the gamer a widescreen 22” view, capable of running at an HD resolution of 1080i, and allows for RGB, DVI and HDMI inputs. This means that it can run with just about anything that you can play games on. A handy rear-mounted headphone jack will also take care of sound when an HDMI device is used with it.

It’s light weight and compact size are ideal for travel, and it’s high grade performance keeps visuals crisp and clear.

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The menu can be easily accessed through a series of touch sensitive buttons on the front of the monitor.

It’s a great visual device - the only downside is that the user may want to perform a bit of colour, brightness and contrast tweaking.

The E2350 is the perfect monitor for gamers on the go, and makes for a great work monitor, too! g

AT A GLANCE: A versatile monitor with an excellent HD resolution, this one is perfect for the travelling gamer.

Score

88

Distributor: LG Electronics g a m e c c a h a r d w a r e • i s s u e 1 2 • J u n exxx 2010

SteelSeries Kinzu Optical Mouse

Simpler... ...yet still excellent

T

here’s nothing worse than an uncomfortable mouse, particularly if you’re going to be gaming for a while.

SteelSeries know this, and they have introduced a variety of options to their mouse line-up to ensure user comfort.

Like the Xai Mouse, which we reviewed last month, the Kinzu is an ambidextrous device, allowing both right and left-handed players to use it effectively.

The Kinzu is largely a slightly smaller, stripped down version of the Xai. It is comfortably designed and a dream to use, even for extended periods of time. With gaming grade optical hardware and a range of 400 to 3200 CPI sensing resolution, the Kinzu is fast and accurate.

The stripped down nature of the mouse leaves it with three programmable buttons, rather than the Xai’s five.

This might be the deciding factor in a purchase, but the Kinzu’s performance and ease of use make it ideal as a g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 1 2 • J u n e 2 0 1 0

by Walt Pretorius multifunctional mouse... perhaps for the less hard-core gamer.

But it’s still backed by SteelSeries’ excellent product quality, meaning that it’s slightly decrease versatility doesn’t equate to a loss of performance or overall quality.

In fact, as a travelling mouse, it’s slightly smaller size makes it ideal. g

AT A GLANCE: A versatile, stripped down mouse that combines comfort, simplicity and solid construction.

Score

82

Distributor: Pinnacle Africa

xxx 107

Thrustmaster 5.1 Sound System

All Around Versatile 5.1 performance

by Walt Pretorius

M

ass compatibility is the name of the game when it comes to Thrustmaster’s 5.1 speaker offering.

The Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and Xbox can be used with these speakers, as well as PCs, DVD players, iPods and other MP3 players. That’s quite a list.

This is made possible through a simple yet versatile connection system. The downside is that you may well end up with a rat’s nest of wires to deal with, but most speaker systems have that problem.

The internal power supply helps keep things neater, though. It’s housed in the wooden subwoofer, which features a power switch and bass level control in the front.

Overall volume is controlled by a wired remote. Sadly, this remote has a very short cable, meaning that you’re going to have to get up off of the couch to adjust the volume if

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you use a standard set-up.

The five satellite speakers each deliver 5 watts RMS, with the subwoofer adding 10 watts RMS to the mix.

The sound from this set is good, if not awesome, but the true beauty comes in the form of its versatility. g

AT A GLANCE: Versatile, with a decent sound delivery in a small package... a pity about the short volume remote wire, though.

Score

75

Distributor: www.mobileg.co.za g a m e c c a h a r d w a r e • i s s u e 1 2 • J u n exxx 2010

Logic3 Pro Pack for DSi XL

All Together Now...

The good and the bad

I

t’s always a good idea to buy a bundle pack as some things that are included you will never get separately, and most of the time it works out cheaper. This bundle is one of the first available for the new DSi XL and is needed to keep the DSi XL’s shiny top clean and protected. The carry case is very spacey and the 4 game cases can fit comfortably into the pouch. The screen protectors and extra styluses are not the greatest quality, though. The screen protectors are not made to last a life time, but protect the screen well enough. The styluses are very rubbery and are good to click on the screen, but sliding is not as good as it could be. The earphone comes with a microphone that is a nice addition but makes the connection into the DS unique so that they can’t be used with any other audio output. A satisfying addition is the g a m e c c a h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 1 2 • J u n e 2 0 1 0

by Brian Murdoch charger that plugs into a USB port or the car charger USB. The charger can be used with any other USB charger as well. The bundle has its ups and downs, but if you are buying it just for the case and the extra charger, it is a good deal. g

AT A GLANCE: It has good and bad points, but the chargers and case along make this bundle worth the price.

Score

71

Distributor: Apex Interactive

xxx 109

In the Lair

Be Prepared by thebanman

W

ith the cost of bandwidth still out of reach for most South African families and the fact that most (not all) parents still need to be brought up to speed on technology and internet connectivity via ADSL lines, we find ourselves still turning to weekend LAN gaming sessions for our competitive and social gaming fixes.

The LAN gaming scene around the country has grown over the last few years, solidly developing into pockets of smaller gaming communities, with subtle rivalries between some organisers competing for paying gamers each month.

Here are a few tips for LAN gamers, particularly those new to the scene: Pack a good variety of grub.

One this is for sure. None of these events have any form of good food.

Frag LAN in Durban has the coolest coffee and snacks cart, but the lady that runs it is more fun to talk to than anything else. Grab a variety of foods ; some chips, hot dogs, a few chewy sweets.

For drinks, I suggest a good cooler box with ice and your favourite soft drinks. Make sure you have some water in there as carbonated drinks get a little much after a few hours.

Pack a pillow.

Your bum will thank you later. Don’t

rely on the fact that they might have good chairs. Some gamers even bring their own comfy chairs.

A good bed is your best friend.

Most of the LANs run over a few days and there will come a time that you will look to catch some sleep.

An air or foam mattress, or even a stretcher are your best choice.

Most importantly, pack a good warm blanket and pillow.

Additional gear Other that packing your PC or console for the LAN you should also consider taking your own multi-plug adapter, and an extra set of power cables, keyboard and mouse and make

sure that you have your Operating System Disk and Drivers. I have been at to many LANs where there is some poor fellow that has crashed his PC and does not have his Drivers. Also make sure you are running a good anti-virus software. ESET’s NOD32 Anti-Virus has kept me safe all these years and I swear by them. It also would not hurt to pack in your charger for your cell phone.

In short, pack as if you are going camping. LAN Gaming is a great pass time and the culture you will find and people you will meet there are great.

Just make sure you prepare carefully and that you are safe at all times. g

This page is provided by The Lair www.thelair.co.za

From Space

Being afraid...

by Columnist A

A

s a gamer, I’m fairly set in my ways. About two months ago, on these here pages, I detailed how certain games just feel right, despite other obvious flaws.

Two games of the same genre can have me at opposing ends of the scale. For instance, I love Forza but can’t extend the same feelings to Need for Speed: Shift. Then again, I loved the NFS: Underground games, and didn’t really get into the sims from the same era.

That covers racing games, one of my known favourites. Action games go down well, too, and I’ll try out the odd fighting game for giggles. Even sports titles can get me drawn in for a while – most recently this was done very successfully

by EA’s Tiger Woods games.

And I’ll skip right past golf, on TV, to watch the paint drying competition on the DIY Network.

But man, keep me the hell away from horror games. Now it’ll make me sound like a huge ol’ sissy to admit this, but I’m really not a fan of scary things. I used to have a stomach for these things, being raised on a diet of Aliens, The Fly and

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Stephen King’s greatest hits. Then, one fateful night, during my 15th year of existence, I happened to fall asleep in front of the TV. I woke up a few hours later – VCR clock said 2am – and caught the last twenty minutes of THE SCARIEST MOVIE EVER. It was Event Horizon, and the scene that greeted me was Sam Neill clawing his eyes out.

As Dire Straights once sang about a totally unrelated subject, “Scarred for life. No compensation”. Yup, that’s pretty much how I felt. Since then, anything horror has been ruined for me. And it doesn’t even have to be gory horror – psychological horrors

also cause my synapses to short circuit.

Sadly, this aversion to all things boogey-man has precluded me from enjoying some of – I am told – the finest games around.

Resident Evil, Doom 3, FEAR, Dead Space and Silent Hill, all games I’ve tried playing but just can’t manage past the first save point. Perhaps it’s indicative of how far the medium has come, that immersion is so authentic that I’m really, truly scared. Or maybe I’m just too dumb to disconnect my brain long enough to realise that pixels aren’t going to hurt me.

Then Alan Wake came along. This 5-years-indevelopment masterpiece from Remedy has enough clever game mechanics to keep me busy, entertained and running for my life. Thankfully, with his lousy flashlight, Mr. Wake can run.

And he has a gun that actually does damage.

There are still moments where I pause and watch an episode of Barney the Dinosaur to calm my nerves, but I’m determined not to let this bit of horror canon pass me by.

Neither should you. g

gamecca column •

issue 12 • June 2010