Gamecca Magazine March 2017

ISSUE 93 / Vol.8 March 2017

www.gameccamag.com

PDP Afterglow Xbox One Controller

Astro A50 Wireless Headset

Sound of Freedom

Bright and Shiny

Horizon: Zero Dawn For Honor Halo Wars 2 Sniper Elite 4 Nioh and more...

Strange Days

Torment: Tides of Numenera

Go Long...

Sniper Elite 4

Cold Steel For Honor

Demon Killer

Nioh

War! Halo Wars 2

Go Wild!

Horizon: Zero Dawn

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Read Online for Free!

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Bronze Award SCORE 80-84

Read on www/gameccamag.com Read on Issuu (Also available on your App Store) Read on Facebook

Silver Award SCORE 85-89

Gold Award SCORE 90-94

Platinum Award SCORE 95-100

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All Game Reviews in Gamecca Magazine are based on code provided by Publishers / Official Distributers.

Nova Mentis (Pty) Ltd / Gamecca Magazine do not hold any responsibility for any malicious exploitation that any reader should experience due to unauthorised distribution. Nova Mentis (Pty) Ltd / Gamecca Magazine will not be held accountable for any injurious detriment or pernicious damage to personal equipment or software due to use of unauthorised downloaded files. Action will be taken against any person or persons engaging in unauthorised distribution of Gamecca Magazine.

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

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Ed’s Choice Awar

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have been reviewing games for a long time. I have been fortunate, really, that my passion and my profession could overlap in this way. But (and people always roll their eyes when I say this, no matter how true it is) reviewing games isn’t always a party.

In fact, I have to play a lot of stuff that I have no interest in, because it is my job.

Sure, there are worse jobs out there, but I am straying from my point. So let’s get back to it. In the time that I have been a game reviewer, finding a game that grabs my imagination and emotions completely is a pretty rare thing. I think that I can count the times it has happened on my fingers (maybe a toe or two as well). The last time it happened was when Naughty Dog released The Last of Us. That particular game was a true tour de force for me, and it’s a name that I will probably still recall on my death bed.

Well, this month another one of those games rolled around, a game that so captured my imagination, that so engaged me on every level, that I couldn’t put it down. Horizon: Zero Dawn is, for me, one of the finest games that we have seen in recent years, because it delivers exactly what I am looking for in a game deftly, elegantly, and with tons of grace. We don’t often feature games on review on our cover, but this month I simply had to…

That does lead to an interesting thing, though, because I am pretty sure that there will be folks out

From the Editor

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MyOpinion

by Walt Pretorius

there that don’t enjoy Horizon: Zero Dawn, just like there were undoubtedly people that didn’t like The Last of Us. It reminds me of something that seems to be disappearing more from the world of entertainment journalism in general, and video game journalism in particular… the fact that what I put down on “paper” when I write a video game review is just my opinion. Sure, it may be an opinion tempered and trained by years of experience, but it is still just an opinion, a statement of tastes and tendencies, not facts. It’s the agreement that I have with my readers – I will tell you what I think and, hopefully, you can formulate your own opinion based on that. It is a little alarming how many people see what they say as being absolute truths, and not personal ones. My opinion is mine – you don’t have to share it for it to be relevant.

OK, enough with the philosophy and theory of how to be a decent entertainment journalist. That’s not why you’re here, reading this latest issue of Gamecca. This month we have 11 games on review, with some big names in the mix; Horizon: Zero Dawn, Halo Wars 2, For Honor and Nioh, to name but a few. We also have the usual look at hardware and entertainment goodies, including a look at the upcoming Ghost in the Shell live action movie.

So, I am going to stop taking up your time, and let you get on with the issue. It’s a good one (in my opinion, of course)! g mgeect 2 c7a 9 3 ggl a ad

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THIS MONTH’S COVER

Fight Bolivian drug lords in Ghost Recon: Wildlands

Publishing Editor Walt Pretorius

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Feature: Unexplored Territory A new galaxy awaits in Mass Effect: Andromeda

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Previews: Games 11 games on the way!

walt@novamentis.co.za

Art Director Katia Taliadoros katia@novamentis.co.za

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

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Reviews: Games 11 games scrutinised

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Regular: IndieView South American magic...

Letters: letters@gameccamag.com

Competition Entries: competitions@gameccamag.com

Newsletter Subscriptions: www.gameccamag.com

Marketing Contact:

Copyright Š Nova Mentis (Pty) Ltd 2009 - 2017

walt@novamentis.co.za

Taking fun seriously!

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

GAMECCA is published by Nova Mentis (Pty) Ltd

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reviews: Hardware 5 new hardware items to drool over

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Regular: Internet The effects of fake news

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Regular: Living Digital Bots, bots everywhere...

COOL STUFF: Movies Ghost in the Shell comes to life

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COOL STUFF: RPGs 2 great table top additions

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COOL STUFF: Comics Illustrated literature rules!

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Gamecca Vol. 8 Issue 93 March 2017

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COOL STUFF: Books FGrow your brain

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s e d’ c E oi h C

Defining games only come around every so often‌ and now the PS4 has one in the form of Horizon: Zero Dawn.

Horizon: Zero Dawn

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Features Unexplored Territory

PReviews Prey Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 Yooka-Laylee Quantum Replica Splasher Sonic Mania Don’t Knock Twice Conarium The Surge Dragon Quest Heroes II Symphony of the Machine

Reviews 36 42 48 54 60 64 66 68 72 73 74

Horizon: Zero Dawn Halo Wars 2 For Honor Sniper Elite 4 Nioh Torment: Tides of Numenera Abzu Among the Innocent: A Stricken Tale Not a Hero Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime Berserk and the Band of the Hawk

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17 MARCH 2017 ©2017 Published by Bigben Interactive S.A. and developed by Kylotonn SARL. Published under license and authorization of Strategy First. All rights reserved.

The ‘PS’ Family logo and “PlayStation” are registered trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. ‘PS4’ is also a trademark of the same company. All rights reserved.

All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners.

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

AVAILABLE AT

makro.co.za

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A whole new galaxy awaits

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Mass Effect: Andromeda

By Walt Pretorius

DTERRITORY in Mass Effect: Andromeda

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hen Mass Effect was first released in 2007, it (and the two subsequent games that followed) was met with massive amounts of critical acclaim. The second game, in particular, was well received, further expanding on the story of the series hero, Commander Shepherd. But when the credits rolled on the third game, the ending of the trilogy, there were many people that had a bitter taste in their mouths. The ending of this grand, sweeping set of sci-fi tales simply didn’t live up to expectations, not when compared to the high quality of the tales that came before.

Aside from almost universal grumbling about the weak end to the story, the question that arose was: where to now? Video game developers and publishers are not

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really known for their ability to let a good thing rest, and the success of the Mass Effect franchise (with Mass Effect 3 alone grossing over US$200 million) indicated that there had to be more to come. But what? The story had finished, and even if it wasn’t entirely satisfying, the finality of the events implied that there was nowhere left to go for Mass Effect.

Developers BioWare and publishers Electronic Arts found another direction, though – a whole new galaxy.

BioWare started working on Mass Effect: Andromeda in 2012, after the release of Mass Effect 3. But instead of treading paths that were well known, they wanted to move to new territories and explore new options. Although there are a number of shared elements between the original

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Mass Effect: Andromeda

trilogy and Andromeda, this new instalment in the franchise promises to be fresh and original. Visual elements may be repeated, and the races and history of the game is common with those of the original tales, but a lot has changed, too.

All of this thinking was already in place before Mass Effect: Andromeda was officially announced at E3 2015.

BioWare have long been aware of the new direction that the franchise is taking.

And that new direction is not just in the dynamics of the game, but in the very tale at the heart of it. Set between Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, Andromeda begins with a massive exodus. Gigantic ships full of colonists from all four known races are placed in cryogenic stasis and

sent on a journey that will take 600 years to complete – a 2.5 million light year trek to the Helios Cluster of the Andromeda Galaxy. It is here that numerous new worlds have been identified that are suitable for habitation and the establishment of a whole new galactic civilization. So, in a weird way, Mass Effect: Andromeda starts before Mass Effect 3, but end long after it, and very far away. It may seem like a somewhat convenient way to almost ignore the events that played out in Mass Effect 3, but it is also a sensible way to revitalise the franchise when it appeared to have been backed into a dead end.

A new galaxy isn’t the only change that we’ll be seeing in Mass Effect: Andromeda. The overall feel of the game will be undergoing some big changes, too. In terms of

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looks, an advancement is obvious – there is a whole new console generation to take advantage of, and new PC graphics cards to lend more visual power. Mass Effect: Andromeda will also take advantage of EA’s powerful Frostbite 3 engine. But these cosmetic changes are inevitable, and while they will form an important part of the new game, they are not the changes that BioWare had in mind when they kicked the project off.

Although it wasn’t said much, the original Mass Effect games were, in some ways, restrictive. The morality system, classes and even combat were not as free flowing as they could have been, and missions had a general linearity to them. All that is set to change.

Mass Effect: Andromeda will do away with the morality

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and class systems. Players will still have varied responses in dialogue, but they will impact the game differently than before. Additionally, getting rid of the overarching class system means that players will be able to develop and expand their characters more freely, allowing for a far wider range of customisation than before.

Skills will be split into weapons skills, which govern the use of all kinds of tools of war, tech skills for all the awesome gadgets that Mass Effect: Andromeda will have in store, and biotics skills, which will grant the player special abilities including control over gravity and telekinesis. Various skills combos ill allow for greater player opportunities, and the skills themselves will contain varied upgrade paths. That’s a lot of opportunity right there.

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Mass Effect: Andromeda

In terms of combat, where the previous games were strongly canted towards a cover based system, Mass Effect: Andromeda will free the player from sticking behind cover. Combat will be more open and fluid, and the right combination of skills and weapons will turn the player’s character into the kind of killing machine that they want. Additionally, new equipment like a jet pack will add verticality to the affair. In short, Mass Effect: Andromeda will be faster, freer and more brutal when it comes to fighting.

Speaking of freedom, the linearity of the first three games will be a thing of the past. Mass Effect: Andromeda’s explorable worlds are free-roaming. In the very sense of the word, this is a game that will reward

exploration, allowing players the freedom to go where they want and make incredible discoveries, all at their will.

Mass Effect: Andromeda has a big reputation to live up to, but it appears that the team behind it have taken everything that was good in the first three games, and have reworked the things that weren’t so good. Ultimately, how good Mass Effect: Andromeda will be remains to be seen, although we don’t have to wait long- it is slated for release towards the end of this month. With that said, with all the videos and titbits of information that we have seen about Mass Effect: Andromeda, as well as the quality of the first three games, there is reason to believe that this new direction for the Mass Effect franchise will be exciting, engaging and tons of fun to play. g

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Prey GAMING

The last line of defense

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Prey

by Walt Pretorius

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construction results in research labs and more being tacked on to the old alien prison. The USa takes full ownership of the station, and everything goes according to plan, until a fatal incident causes the USA to shutter the installation.

Years later, Talos I is taken over by a private corporation, TranStar, which wants to exploit the abilities of the Typhon for the betterment of humanity. Talos I is expanded even more, with living quarters housing staff for up to two years at a time. TranStar becomes rich selling the products of their research. But, as is always the case, something goes wrong… the Typhon somehow break free, and Talos I is soon swarming with hostile aliens.

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t’s a different world, a world in which US President John F Kennedy survived the assassination attempt that took his life in our world on November 22, 1693 in Dallas, Texas. In this different world, Kennedy lived to promote his own vision of humanity spreading to the stars, funding efforts of the space program and seeing humanity take to space. But their activities there draw unwanted eyes, and an alien species, collectively called the Typhon, attacks earth. The Cold War rivalries shatter as the USA and USSR band together in this new war, their united efforts resulting in a massive space station – the Talos I – orbiting the moon and serving as a prison for the defeated Typhon.

Years pass, and Talos I grows as more and more

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Prey

And that’s where the player will come in…

Playing as Morgan Yu, the player will have to prevent the Typhon from ever reaching the earth. But with enemies that can mimic any object as a form of camouflage, that might just be difficult. And the Mimics aren’t the only Typhon loose on Talos I. Morgan isn’t exactly incapable, though. The player will be able to determine a few things about the character, including gender; they will also be able to develop Yu as the story progresses. The player will be able to get new abilities by using TranStar’s NeuroMod technology… and they won’t only be human abilities. Yes, the player will even be able to learn the Mimic power, and take on any shape. This will come into play in certain areas as

solutions to traversal puzzles.

The team behind this re-envisioning of Prey (which was first created and released in 2006) is Arkane Studios, who also made the Dishonored games. And, just like in those celebrated titles, Arcane are using branching narratives and events influenced by character choice, a heady blend of simulation and narration that they have managed to employ so well before. The massive Talos I station will be open to the player to freely explore as well.

With lots of enemies, scarce weapons, a fabrication system, zero G and much more, Prey looks very promising indeed. Arkane’s track record is sure to show strongly in this exciting sci-fi shooter. g

AT A GLANCE First-person Adventure

A reimagined version of the 2006 original, Prey looks to be an exciting and deep sci-fi shooter.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Arkane Studios Bethesda Ster Kinekor

May 2017

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Capcom Capcom Ster Kinekor

PLATFORMS

Get ready for the ultimate crossover!

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AT A GLANCE Fighting

Warriors from the Marvel comics and characters from the Capcom franchise come together for the ultimate fight in classic arcade fighter style.

gamecca93

by Nthato Morakabi

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3

ltimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 is no new title, although it has been ported recently to PS4 and will be ported to Xbox One and PC in March. This 2011 fighter is iconic for its progression from coin-operated arcade game to a console version – beginning with the 1996 classic X-Men vs. Street Fighter.

The title has a massive following, not surprising considering it combines one of the biggest comic book franchises, with an acclaimed video gaming company, for a crossover that would never be seen otherwise.

UMvsC is an updated version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, and while the core mechanics have been kept the same, the look and feel has a stronger comic book style. The redesign includes changes to the character selection screen, stage selection screens, and the HUD. A total of 48 characters are available for selection, twelve more than Fate of Two Worlds, including characters from Marvel’s latest MCU films and TV series such as Doctor Strange, Rocket Raccoon, Ghost Rider and Iron Fist. If you’re a fan of either franchise, you will love and recognize a number of iconic characters from Street Fighter, Final Fight, Resident Evil and of course famous Marvel characters like Deadpool, most of the Avengers, some of the X-Men and more.

The game remains largely the same, selecting three characters and using the tag system to switch between them. The threebutton controls of light, medium and heavy attack will continue, as well as character assists, special moves, hyper combos, and the X-Factor mechanic which can now be used in the air.

Nothing like a good-old arcade fighter to pass the time; ah nostalgia, how we love you. g

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3

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Yooka-Laylee

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Yooka-Laylee

Banjo-Yooka Country… Laylee-Kazooie Country… or something.

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quiz shows, multiplayer games and a lot more. A number of collectibles will also be around, each designed to progress the story as players explore the openworld.

Many of the abilities unlocked as players progress will be imperative for future puzzles as the duo traverse frozen landscapes, underwater environments, multi-platform valleys and more.

Yooka-Laylee was a kickstarter project officially funded in 2015 with an awe-inspiring 80 000 backers who contributed £2.1 Million. It is currently the most funded UK games Kickstarter ever. g

AT A GLANCE Adventure

Mario and Donkey Kong return to bout it puzzle style. Create, edit and share your created levels cross-platform for hours of puzzle fun.

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by Nthato Morakabi

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Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong in many aspects. Players will be able to freely run around the expansive levels, Laylee allowing Yooka to fly short distances much like Banjo and Kazooie.

While the rollercoaster mine-carts of Donkey Kong Country also make an appearance as part of the adventure.

Okay it’s basically both games merged into one, but with next-gen graphics.

Following the flow of the story, players are tasked with finding Paigies, golden bounty that they can then use to both unlock and expand more of the world, meet or fight new characters, tackle minecart challenges, arcade games,

rom the creative talents behind popular adventure platformers Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie, comes Yooka-Laylee, an equally zany title featuring a lovable duo embarking on a crazy quest. Meet Yooka the chameleon and Laylee the wisecracking bat. When the corporatetype mouth-breather known as Capital B decides to absorb all the books in the world for a profit, it is up to Yookay and Laylee to stop his evil scheme and return the books where they belong. What ensues is an adventure of a life time!

Yooka-Laylee is an open world platformer that is reminiscent of both

Quantum Replica

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Quantum Replica Q

uantum Replica is an upcoming action title from ON3D and 1C Company. In a cyber-punk metropolitan city that has been sealed off from the rest of the world around it, everyone is a number. None inside aren’t registered, and nothing about them and their lives is secret.

Well, nothing about them at least. The same can’t be said about the mysterious Artificial Intelligence that runs the city. With such a perfect world of knowns, this is where you come in. The unknown, unregistered and now highly dangerous variable. Your character somehow managed to beat the system and find his way into the lock-downed dystopia.

Good for you right? Well, yes and no. Yes that you beat the system but not so great because you are just as clueless about yourself as the AI is. With no memory of your identity, your past or even your future aims, the answers may lie in the place that doesn’t know you either.

So how the heck are you going to attempt something like that when all eyes are on you?

Time. You have the ability to manipulate time to your advantage. Using this ability will help you avoid detection and defeat enemies. As you progress in the game, you will find new ways to use and master time manipulation. You will realize the importance of your ability as you will need to remain as stealthy as possible – stay undetected for as long as possible. As you explore the world around you (consisting of 5 unique zones), keep lookout for clues and key items that will help you to piece together your story. Enjoy the challenges. g

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ON3D 1C Company Online

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by Sibonisile Motha

The unknown variable

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AT A GLANCE Action

Action, stealth and time manipulation could be the right ingredients for an enjoyable challenge.

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Splashteam The Sidekicks Online

PLATFORMS

Splashtastic stupendous sidescrolling super Splasher!

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

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AT A GLANCE Side-Scroller

Use the super-powered paint canon to save the Splashers, and prevent Docteur from unleashing his nefarious and greedy plans.

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by Nthato Morakabi

Splasher

octeur is up to no good.

He has decided to use the quiet and peaceful workers, known as Splashers, for his nefarious, and obviously greedy plans. As head of Inkorp, a paint factory, Docteur experiments with the Splashers and leads them to their doom. It is up to the young purple haired hero to rescue the Splashers and stop Docteur’s evil plans the only way he knows how – through paint.

Splasher is an intense 2D side-scroller developed by indie developer Splashteam. Players take control of a young hero armed with a paint cannon that spills superpowered paint. Each colour gives the player a different ability, ranging from sticking to surfaces, bouncing off the level, or affecting both enemy robots and level objects, to traverse the treacherous factory.

The levels have been designed to be challenging and fast paced, set to encourage quick fingers and fast reactions. Traps line the factory and players hoping to reach the end will have quite a time n their hands. Players will also have the option of challenging the robots in a time trial, learning to perfect the level.

An online leader board will let players challenge each other’s times, and share their best times with players from around the world. The intricacies of each level are sure to test even the best speed runners.

The Spashteam is comprised of former Game Designer and Level Designer at Ubisoft, Romain Claude, who worked on Ray Man Origins, and Ray Man Legends, and Richard Vatinel also known as Gromy, who was Art Director, Composer and Sound Designer on Ray Man Origins, Absolver and Valiant Hearts. Splasher is their first game as independent developers. g

Splasher

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Sonic Mania

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Sonic Mania The re-return of Sonic‌

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Doctor Eggman Robotnik and his evil robot creations return to destroy Sonic and his gold-ring collecting ways. Sonic and the gang must once again save the world, and prevent Dr. Robotnik from getting a hold of the Chaos Emeralds.

The development team behind Sonic Mania worked on previous rendition of the Sonic franchise.

Takashi Iizuka, series producer for Sonic, praised the team, remarking Sonic Mania for its authenticity and the fan driven passion.

The Nintendo Switch will have its own version of the game. g

AT A GLANCE Side-Scroller

Sonic is back. Same Sonic, better graphics, new levels, and... it’s Sonic.

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by Nthato Morakabi

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title. Players will also be able to explore all new, never-before-seen secrets and hidden paths.

Players will be able to play as either Sonic, Tails or Knuckles. Sonic will have a new Drop Dash that allows him to drop into a powerful roll. Tails will keep his tail flight allowing him to propel himself like a helicopter as first seen in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Knuckles the echidna who was first an antagonist in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 then became a playable character, will use his short gliding technique, and ability to climb.

onic the Hedgehog, who debuted back in 1991 in the self-titled game, returns once again, but in his classic 2D pixeled version that made him so famous. Brought to life with pixelperfect physics and in 60 FPS, Sonic Mania celebrates all the great things that the original Sonic brought to the fore, but with new surprises.

Still keeping to its side scrolling mechanic, all the classic levels have been brought back with slight alterations. New zones are set to feature in the game, kept to the same pixelated style and feel of the

Don’t Knock Twice

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Don’t Knock Twice w

ith a title like Don’t Knock Twice one can easily be lured into the trap of starting this preview with a knock (they said not to do it twice) joke. But honestly, who’s there for that? Not me. Not me at all.

Onto the real matter at hand – a first person horror game. Wales Interactive developed this game from a movie that was released last year (it wasn’t a smash hit among film critics).

In it lies the story of a mother who gets the opportunity to reconnect with her daughter after many years of drug abuse which lead to her giving her child up for adoption many years earlier. This is already a decent plot. But let’s be honest, there’s nothing horror-scary about that.

So let’s bring in a child-snatching witch to shake things up.

You will take on the role of the mother that has to not only save her daughter’s life from this witch, but also uncover the real truth and story behind this demonic force.

I appreciate that Wales Interactive has made it clear that they’re not trying to recreate a movie, but to create that experience of discovering the evil truths in your environment.

An environment in the form of a grand manor home with plenty of interactive objects throughout to help you (or not).

The advantage of this game being VR compatible is clear: it’s easier to scare the crap out of you. For those without VR, it’s okay, it is available for a good old regular screen.

Will this title bring something new to the already growing list of horror games, especially for the VR experience? I don’t know, ask the witch. g

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Q1 2017 Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Wales Interactive Wales Interactive Online

PLATFORMS

by Sibonisile Motha

Good luck finding the way out

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AT A GLANCE First-person Horror

It would be refreshing if this game can be more than just VR experiencedriven.

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Zoetrope Interactive Iceberg Interactive Online

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There’s good news and there’s bad news…

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AT A GLANCE Horror Adventure

Taking notes from the legendary Lovecraft horrors, it would be shame if Conarium wasn’t a hit.

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by Sibonisile Motha

Conarium

onarium is one of those games that for a second seem like you think you know where it’s going, but the most honest part of you tells you that you are going to be very wrong (or at least you hope). A Lovecraftian horror adventure. Last time I crossed paths with a horror adventure was when I was ready Goosebumps. This seems a little cooler to me.

You embark on this weird journey after waking up from death after using a peculiar device call a Conarium. You can definitely expect to notice that you are no longer “normal”.

But before you can celebrate your rebirth, you have a few dilemmas at hand. Good news, you’re alive. Bad news, you’re in Antarctica. Good news, you’re on an expedition base. Bad news, you can’t remember shit about anything. Good news, you can travel between various alternate realities, dreams and even visions. Bad news, there are some highly disturbing creatures that haunt you (you may want to avoid these at all costs). So you see here kids, this is a very well balanced game in terms of adequately screwing with your head.

With a mission to figure out what happened to you and what led to the delightful situation you now find yourself in, use the clues to piece together the story.

This game looks visually satisfying in the sense that it portrays the visuals that a storyline such as Conarium’s aims to tell to the player. The various realities make for an interesting take on experiencing new kinds of scary with each world. I think that Conarium’s story and gameplay would have been a nice addition to the list of VR titles. g

Conarium

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AVAILABLE AT makro.co.za

The Surge

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The Surge

What could possibly go wrong?

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before beginning your new job, you have an exoskeleton installed on you. Something clearly went south because you wake up outside with no recollection of what happened to you. You need to know what happened.

This is not going to be an easy quest. You need to be equipped with all you need to survive long enough.

Your armour and weapons are just one of the ways you will do this.

Combat in The Surge is not your usual heavy or light attacking, but rather horizontal. This means that strategizing your attacks will be

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important to winning. Look out for weak spots and time your attacks to deal the most damage. Another factor is stamina. Paying attention to your stamina levels in combat is pivotal to defeating your opponent effectively. You wouldn’t want to find yourself not strong enough to finish a duel in a difficult boss fight.

Upgrading your exoskeleton and crafting weapons will be possible for you at a home base. This can be done by collecting the tech scrap you may find laying around, or if you see something you like on someone else...rip it off. g

AT A GLANCE Action RPG

A lot of great elements that give this game potential to be enjoyable and a favourite.

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hat if the worst thing to happen happened? That is the question that Deck 13 Interactive poses and answers in their own way with The Surge.

Set in a not too distant future where all of the major concerns of the planet. The environment is practically in shambles, disease is everywhere and humans, unable to compete with technology have to resort to drastic measures in the hope of being able to provide.

In this mess, you will play one such fellow who takes on working for a company called Creo. But

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ragon Quest Heroes did fairly well upon its initial release, so fans of the title should be anticipating a sequel, and rightfully so.

Every gamer deserves the chance to experience a great sequel. Whether that becomes the case or not is up to the player’s own experience. Square Enix is behind the publishing of this sequel. All the weird and wacky characters of the first game are back as well as new characters too. Now it’s always better to try find a justification to having a lot of characters jumping around and slashing everything in their paths. Omega Force understands this, and that’s why there’s a plot of sorts in Dragon Quest Heroes II. The seven kingdoms that were once living in harmony with each other have abruptly begun fighting one another – as if there was some mysterious force that orchestrated this sudden turn of events. That’s where the heroes come in. Seven heroes (one from each kingdom) band together in a campaign to restore the peace that once was. With every character having their own unique and special abilities, you can enjoy the thrill of hacking and slashing your way through your enemies.

While proceeding through the main story, you can have a 2 player co-op to make things a little easier. Online players can make up a team of up to four players to battle, explore and discover together. This is however possible and initiated through collecting certain map pieces throughout the main storyline. Exploration of the world around you is not only possible but encouraged.

There are various collectibles and possible battles to engage in. And apparently, the rain isn’t a good sign for your squad. g

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May 2017 Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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by Sibonisile Motha

For the lovers and fans

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

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AT A GLANCE Action RPG

This one is built for the fun and love of smash, hack and slashing.

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GAMING

Q1 2017 Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Stirfire Studios Stirfire Studios TBC

PLATFORMS

A Zen inspired immersion into VR

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

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AT A GLANCE Puzzle

Immerse yourself in the VR-only experience that is Symphony of the Machine, a puzzler that requires controlling the weather to restore a barren world.

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by Nthato Morakabi

Symphony of the Machine

irtual Reality is the latest craze, and you didn’t have to stand at the ridiculously long lines at the rAge Expo to see just how much. With Samsung’s Gear, the Playstation VR, Occulus and now Google’s Cardboard, we are sure to see more of VR geared titles make their way to the scene. One of these is Symphony of Machine.

It will be a puzzle game where players control an ancient device, left by a civilization from time past, that is able to control the weather on a barren landscape.

The goal: to raise plants and bring life to the unfertile land.

The game’s primary focus is the Tower, a tall mechanical construct powered by Glyphs. Players will have to direct the tower’s central beam, using a series of tools, mirrors, splitter pipes, filters and more, towards the various glyphs – that is the puzzle aspect. The different glyphs create different weather patterns and allow the plant life to grow. With each progression, the puzzles become more complex, requiring players to move components of the machine to position the tower accordingly. Thankfully, it will not a time sensitive game.

Stirfire Studios have described the game as a “mechanical rain dance that evolved into a peaceful zen puzzler.” With many of the upcoming titles VR titles tending to be fast paced and intense, Symphony of the Machine will be an immersive, peaceful, serene, and pleasant experience. Stirfire Studio want players to appreciate the environment, and submerge themselves in the virtual reality, all augmented by the tranquil soundtrack permeating the game.

Borne from the Global Game Jam in Perth 2016, Symphony of the Machine has become a living VR. g

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Horizon: Zero Da GAMING

A brave new world…

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by Walt Pretorius

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Set in an obviously post-apocalyptic world- Horizon: Zero Dawn’s setting is resplendent with beauty, ranging from temperate forests to barren deserts, steaming jungles to frigid snowscapes. Dotted around this landscape are the ruins of civilizations past, who the current inhabitants of the world call the Old Ones – broken down buildings, toppled statues, ruined parks and gardens are hiding among the lush foliage and wind-swept mesas of this world.

And then there are the inhabitants… primitive tribes with varied levels of technological advancement. They range from the primitive Nora, of which Aloy is a sort-of member, through to the mechanically minded Oseram, with the master building, sun-worshiping Carja somewhere in the middle. Striding the spaces between the settlements of these tribes are wild machines, animalistic robots that prowl and prey upon humans.

GAMING

s the first moments of Horizon: Zero Dawn unfold, and you watch the gentle outcast Rost take the infant Aloy through a striking and beautiful landscape towards a high mountaintop where she will receive her name in a tribal ceremony, you cannot help but feel that there is a lot of depth beneath the surface of this new IP from Guerilla Games. And, as the game progresses, you are pleased to find that this assumption was correct – although you may have underestimated exactly how much Horizon: Zero Dawn has on offer.

Launching new IPs is always a daunting affair, because introducing players to something new – even if there are echoes of what has come before held within it – can be tricky. But right from the beginning, Horizon: Zero Dawn manages to grab hold, and keep hold. And it all starts with the world.

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It is a strange world, beautifully created and full of life – and it is also a world that is crammed with mystery and secrets.

What happened to the previous civilization that left the ruins behind? How did the tribes come to be after the obvious apocalypse that took place? And why the hell are there robotic animals making everyone’s life miserable?

Armed with a massive world and a twisting narrative, these are just some of the things that Horizon: Zero Dawn addresses through its wonderfully long campaign. The campaign missions along can take around 40 hours to complete, and Horizon: Zero Dawn is full of side quests, hidden places to find, machine facilities to infiltrate and collectibles to find. There is truly a massive amount to do in this new world, and almost every part of it is either beautiful to observe, or pulse-poundingly intense.

At the core of it all is Aloy, herself something of a mystery

that needs to be solved. Aloy’s roots are shrouded in questions, and part of the game’s narrative is about discovering more about this skilled female warrior.

Which, incidentally, brings us to a few of the boxes that Horizon: Zero Dawn ticks… particularly those aligned to some of the social woes of gaming. The main character is a very strong female, who is never overly sexualized during the course of the game. Additionally, there is no lack of variety when it comes to ethnic representation within the game, and what prejudices may exist run along the fictional tribal lines, rather than racial ones.

Right, back to Aloy. Aloy is armed with a number of different weapons, although she needs to acquire them during her adventures. These weapons have upgraded versions available, and can be modified with various components to pack more of a punch. But more often than not, the player

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to be learned, varying from improved stealth through to more powerful strikes and lengthening of Aloy’s time slowing Conectration skill, and a whole bunch of stuff in between.

This leads to ideas of play style. While Horizon: Zero Dawn does favour a stealthier approach (Aloy is an obviously accomplished warrior, but her fragility as a meat bag versus metal machines is never underplayed) it is possible, particularly when you have got a few better weapons and have bought a few new skills off of the skill tree, to take a “bows” blazing approach. Horizon: Zero Dawn doesn’t hamper or shoe-horn play styles, which is great.

Aside from fighting machines – and, of course, nefarious human enemies – there is a lot to do in Horizon: Zero Dawn.

One activity, for example, is scaling Tall Necks, which are giant machines that act as Horizon: Zero Dawn’s version of observation posts. It’s great fun, because every Tall Neck

GAMING

will find themselves drawn to one of Aloy’s three bows as their weapons of choice. Each offers a variety of arrows (more options for better bows) which can be crafted on the fly, provided Aloy has the right components. This variety of arrows is one of the joys of combat, adding a strategic approach to the affair. Some of the enemy machines that Aloy faces have various strengths and weaknesses, based on the components that make them up – the player may have to make snap decisions on how to best tackle particularly the larger monsters. But, fairly often, combat devolves to a frantic firing of arrows while a pack of machines attacks. And they always do – only a few machine ‘species’ won’t attack on sight, and they move in packs more often than not, with varied machine types making up the groups and increasing the overall challenge.

Thankfully, Horizon: Zero Dawn allows for a host of skills

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poses unique challenges – and the lurching motion that they undertake while you climb them is both incredible and nauseating at the same time.

Joining Aloy is a cast of memorable characters, beautifully created and animated, as well as competently voice acted.

Interactions with Aloy’s co-stars are generally great, with voice acting throughout, and many hidden gems lurking in the dialogue.

There is so much to say about Horizon: Zero Dawn, but most of it is best left up to the player to discover. It draws from numerous influences, ranging from Assassin’s Creed through to Tomb Raider, but manages to make everything its own with elegance and flair. Its long campaign is compelling, and even tutorial sections reward players with XP and items, making really digging into Horizon: Zero Dawn a worthwhile and rewarding activity. It features a fascinating cast of characters

who are very human in their design and their beliefs. And, at the core of it, it delivers a compelling and thought provoking narrative that asks many important questions.

Horizon: Zero Dawn is nothing short of a triumph, with well-paced rewards and excellent roll-out of challenges and new ideas. It manages to remain interesting at times when other games get bland, and truly immerses the player in a brave new world built on the ruins of an old one. If adventure gaming and exploration – not to mention more than a little tense combat – is what you’re after, then Horizon: Zero Dawn is the game you should be playing. It is a wonderful demonstration of the PS4’s abilities, too, with performance and visuals that are truly excellent.

Defining games (like The Last of Us on PS3) only come around every so often… and now the PS4 has one in the form of Horizon: Zero Dawn. g

AT A GLANCE Adventure

REVIEWED ON

This is a sprawling, massive agem crammed with action and activities, all set in a beautifully created world.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Guerrilla SCEE Ster Kinekor

PARENTAL ADVISORY

16+ gamecca93

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

PS4 PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

96 41

E M W A IE G EV R

Halo Wars 2 GAMING

Big fish in a small pond

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by Walt Pretorius

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complex to be handled by a game pad. But, to their credit, when Halo Wars first saw the light of day, the way that it was implemented, and that the limited Xbox controller was used for the game, was pretty smart. It might not have offered the finesse available to a game making use of a mouse and keyboard but, for the most part, it worked – if somewhat heavy handedly.

The original Halo Wars may have been king of the console RTS games, but that was because it was a small kingdom. And it still is, meaning that Halo Wars 2 still retains the title, even if it doesn’t really do anything much more than its predecessor did.

Before we get to Halo Wars 2 on Xbox One, let’s take a quick gander at the game on PC… it’s a Play Anywhere titles, which means that getting hold of it for Xbox One means that you automatically have access

GAMING

icrosoft is not a company that is going to let go of a good thing easily. Anyone who has followed Halo through the years will be able to understand that. What was initially a trilogy of games has developed into a somewhat sprawling franchise, mostly rooted in the first-person shooter genre, and has seen numerous entrants into that particular market. It’s hardly surprising; the Halo brand is very valuable, and very lucrative, and the first-person shooter model works very well for the console implementation of the franchise.

It was some time ago, though, that Microsoft felt that they needed to address the dearth of real-time strategy games on console. Realistically, consoles aren’t a great fit for RTS games, simply because the control input required by this genre are generally too

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to the PC version, and vice versa. It’s here that Halo Wars 2 shows its cracks. It simply doesn’t match up to other games in the genre on PC, pointing strongly that the indented platform for the game was console – which is not really the best spot for RTS to shine.

The controls on PC are fairly competent, but it doesn’t come down to controls here… it comes down to the fact that the game simply doesn’t do enough out of the box thinking to compete with other RTS games on PC. It is, by PC standards, a little bland, even if it is enjoyable. It also brings a number of oddities along with it, which can largely be put down to potential bugs in design.

So let’s head back to the console version, then. But before we do, a bit of background. The player takes control of the fighting forces that are based aboard the

UNSC Spirit of Fire, a ship that has been assumed lost for 28 years. After the AI wakes the crew from an extended cryogenic slumber, they discover that they are near a strange world, inhabited by a mercenary race that once served the Covenant, but has now gone rogue; the Banished. In order to free the world, which is basically a massive Forerunner construct, from the clutches of the Banished, the player – in the single player campaign – will need to take on the Banished and their brutish leader, Atriox.

Within the single player campaign, the game manages to keep a bit of variety going, so the missions never feel to repetitive. That also has to do with the fact that the campaign if only 12 missions long – so keeping variety there is not all that difficult.

Playing the game can be a chore, because even

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through using the right trigger. Or all units of a certain type can be selected with a double tap of the A button while the cursor is over one of the desired units. Holding down the right trigger and double tapping A over another unit type will add it to the selection.

It works‌ but not in the heat of battle. That means that surgical precision is extremely challenging to pull off, and battles can often devolve into throwing everything at the enemy after a double tap of the right bumper. Precision is required in RTS games, but it is difficult to find in Halo Wars 2.

Similarly, the game feels limited, thanks to predefined build sites, and a relatively low number of unit types and upgrades.

When it comes to multiplayer, things get a little

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though RTS masters Creative Assembly managed to refine the control scheme, it still is based on a controller, which isn’t great for the sometimes finicky precision work required by an RTS title. For example, they have managed to create a group assignment scheme, which tasks the player with holding down the right trigger and then assigning a group by holding down on one of the d-pad directions. To select an assigned group, the player once again holds down the right trigger, and then taps the direction the group was assigned to. It works, but it is inelegant.

A tap of the right bumper selects all local (read as on-screen) units, while a double tap selects all the player’s units across the whole map. Once units are selected, specific unit types can be scrolled

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better, because at least the playing field is levelled due to both sides needing to deal with controllers.

There are a few game modes, which add variety – like the expected death matches, or area and point domination modes, which keep things interesting.

And then there is Blitz mode, which is a game based on cards in a deck, rather than base building and resource management. It’s a novel idea, but its random, luck-based nature doesn’t work well in a genre that is supposed to be about strategy.

In the end, it comes down to this. For a console RTS game, Halo Wars 2 is decent, even if there isn’t much to compare I to. It works, but it isn’t as polishes as an RTS game on PC would be. And that’s the main problem – RTS is a genre that really belongs on PC. It doesn’t shine on console, because the transition to

console isn’t one that is simple – or, as some might say, even feasible. With that said, there are many who believed a game like Diablo III wouldn’t work on console, and they were proved very wrong when the game proved itself to be arguably better on console than on PC. That may still happen for the RTS genre, but someone needs to figure out exactly how to make that transition happen in a meaningful way.

Still, if you are a console gamer – Xbox One, specifically – and you want an RTS fix on your chosen platform, Halo Wars 2 is the way to go. It can provide quite a bit of enjoyment, as long as you don’t take it too seriously and you’re not expecting the finesse and surgical precision that you would find in a PCbased real-time strategy title. As a fish out of water, Halo Wars 2 does pretty well. g

AT A GLANCE Real-time Strategy

For a genre that doesn’t do well on console, Halo Wars 2 is a fairly competent console RTS. Just don’t expect surgical precision...

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Creative Assembly Microsoft Microsoft

PARENTAL ADVISORY

16+ gamecca93

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

REVIEWED ON

x0 PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

78 47

E M W A IE G EV R

For Honor GAMING

Cold steel combat

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For Honor

by Walt Pretorius

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universe based on our own history. Knight, Vikings and Samurai face off in this game, all part of a three-sided war that pretty much just keeps going. But just because you pledge your allegiance to one of the three sides doesn’t mean you’re stuck with what that side has to offer – even if your sword of pledged to the Knights, you can still take to the battlefield as a Viking or Samurai, if you like.

For Honor doesn’t place a lot of restrictions of the player, outside of the twelve hero types you can choose to play. Each faction has a Vanguard (a kind-of jack of all trades), a Heavy (which is a slow moving, hard hitting tank), an Assassin (fast and nasty, but can’t take too much punishment) and a Hybrid (specialising in longer range weapons). The really sweet thing is that each faction’s speciality classes are a little different

GAMING

o often, playing video games is all about living vicariously through a digital hero in a situation that we will never get to experience in real life.

Whether it’s a skilled military operative sniping his way through enemy forces or an arcane wizard weaving complex magics to create dazzling, devastating effects, we gain enjoyment through “living” these digital realities from the comfort of our favourite gaming chair. And that’s where For Honor has its biggest appeal; the ability to stride the battlefield as an armour-clad bad-ass, laying waste to opponents left and right, before facing up to another armour-clad badass in a contest to see who is the meanest bastard on the blood-soaked battlefield.

For Honor allows players to select one of three factions, locked in an eternal struggle in an alternate

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from those of other factions. So if you can’t quite get what you’re looking for out of a Viking Assassin, for example, the Samurai version may suit you better. This even counts for the fairly vanilla Vanguards. Finding the character that plays in the style that you like is relatively simple – it’s just a matter of experimentation.

Playing the game, on the other hand, is not simple at all.

On the surface, it uses an attack, block and parry system based on direction. The player locks onto a target, and then has to predict their attack direction (left, right or above) for blocking, while trying to outsmart them into not blocking in the direction that the player attacks from.

It’s pretty intense, and hugely dependant on timing. As a result, there can be a lot of frustration to be found in playing For Honor, particularly on multiplayer servers.

The worst of these are any of the 4v4 matches. It is quite

easy to become swamped by attackers in a 4v4 game, and we’re not talking about the cannon-fodder AI grunts that run around either. Head to the wrong control point, for example, and you may well be rushing headlong into a group of four enemies baying for your blood.

The 4v4 games tend to be For Honor’s weakest point, in terms of multiplayer, even though they do, depending on the maps, allow for strategic pick-ups and other interesting game dynamics. At the other end of the scale are the 1v1 duels, which kind of turn For Honor into a glorified fighting game – but they also allow a balanced, exciting approach to combat. Like champions squaring off on a battlefield, these games allow players to truly show their skill at besting opponents.

Somewhere in the widdle are 2V2 games, which can be extremely exciting – particularly if you manage to edge in

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Oh, and every form of multiplayer can be played against AI opponents too, for those that want to hone their skills. Its handy, but at the time of writing finding other players following that route is fairly tough – and one side has to be human controlled in vs AI matches.

That’s fine for 1v1 games, but other modes can be a little more difficult to enjoy against the AI. Unless, of course, you want to undertake For Honor’s story mode – the overall weakest aspect of the title.

18 mission are divided over the three factions, and afford the player the ability to try all of the various hero types, as well as getting used to the way the game thinks. But with a lacklustre plot and repetitive missions, it really becomes a big single player tutorial to get the player for the multiplayer part of the game.

For Honor is the type of game that people are either

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a victory after your partner is slain and you have to take on two motivated opponents.

Multiplayer is the heart and soul of For Honor, and it provides a fair amount of depth. In addition to the actual matches, players can contribute command points they earn to their faction’s overall dominance of the map, choosing to either defend or attack certain areas. It’s a passive part of the game, but it does add to the player rewards that are doled out at regular intervals. And you’ll be wanting those, because For Honor’s in-game economy is stingy.

It will take ages to earn enough currency to unlock extra characters or buy some of those cool things you’re after, but thankfully, the game features a host of upgradable armour and weapon components that can earned on the field.

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going to love or hate. The concentration of timing will work for some, who will see each move as a strategy, and each successfully landed strike as a victory. But those who like their action hard and fast are more than likely going to balk at the overall feel of the game, which is more pedantic and plodding – kind of like someone wearing full plate mail armour. There are tons of upgrades and cosmetic changes that can be earned or bought, but the in-game economy will see to it that it takes a long time to earn enough to purchase even the most rudimentary items. And the fact that you can throw actual cash at the game to boost your in-game coffers will annoy some, too.

There will be those, though, that are drawn to For Honor’s gritty, brutal visuals, and who will find the more methodical combat to be to their liking. For

them, For Honor brings a more measured, realistic approach to hitting people with massive pieces of sharpened metal, despite the total lack of historical accuracy that this fantasy setting espouses.

Love it or loathe it, For Honor is something of a triumph for Ubisoft. While there are still a few edges that need to be knocked off this new IP, the truth is that it is a fairly fresh approach to multiplayer combat, even if it does tread some well-trodden trails in delivering the final product. And while the game is hard to master, getting to that point will result in a well-deserved feeling of accomplishment that is so often missing in games these days. In short, For Honor is a game that may only appeal to some, but those that get bitten by the bug are going to stay true to this title. g

AT A GLANCE Action

REVIEWED ON

For Honor won’t appeal to everyone, but those that like it’s measured approach to medieval combat will certainly be hooked.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft Megarom

PARENTAL ADVISORY

18+ gamecca93

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

PS4 PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

82 53

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Sniper Elite 4 GAMING

The stealthy assassin

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Sniper Elite 4

by Walt Pretorius

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Sniper Elite 4 manages to get so much right.

Like the three previous games in the series, Sniper Elite 4 sees the player take control of a lone operative on a mission to destabilise and eliminate enemy forces. This time, series hero Karl Fairburne makes his way to Italy during World War 2, where the Nazis and their allies, the fascist ruled Italians, are making life difficult for the Allies.

That is the basis for the eight missions that the single player campaign provides players with.

Eight missions don’t sound like much, but in true Sniper Elite fashion, these are long missions. Each mission can take upwards of an hour – or even two – to play through, thankfully with numerous autosave points in case you need to take a break. Long missions aren’t always the best thing to present players with, but they work here, because Sniper Elite 4 is a game that keeps the player engaged in

GAMING

here are few things as satisfying as a well executed sniper shot in a video game. The long distance, the precision timing, the pin-point accuracy – all of these add up to making a long shot something that one can brag over, and the longer the distance, the bigger the bragging rights. But in video games, more often than not, the true dynamics of sniping are not taking into account. In most games, putting the reticule over your intended target’s head means that is where the bullet is going to go, whether the head in question fills the screen, or is just a few pixels.

But when you get a game that is all about sniping, well, then things need to be different, surely? That is what a handful of games have been approached as, with varying degrees of success. One such franchise is Sniper Elite, which has just seen its fourth instalment released – and

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numerous different ways.

It is important to remember that Sniper Elite 4 is not a first-person run and gun game. Rather, it is more of a third-person stealth adventure than anything else, with the player taking to each of the massive levels with a number of objectives to complete, including optional objectives for a bit of extra XP. On the map, the objectives are presented in terms of areas, rather than points, and the player will need to properly investigate those areas to fulfil their mission goals.

Each of the maps is truly huge, and all eight of them are very different, from cliff side villages to heavy forests and even enemy installations – there is more than enough variety in terms of visuals and terrain to keep anyone interested.

Back to the investigations. To truly excel at Sniper Elite

4, players will need to take on a measured approach.

Binoculars allow enemies to be tagged, which is great for both planning stealthy offensives and for beating a hasty retreat when things go wrong. A bit of sniffing around will also reveal ideal vantage points and sniping positions, as well as allowing the player to find extra equipment, ammunition and collectibles. This is a game that rewards a slower pace and a thorough approach, and when the player rushes things, the likelihood is that things will go pearshaped for them pretty quickly.

At lower difficulty levels, that doesn’t really make too much of a difference, because Fairburne can handle a pistol and SMG as well as he can a sniper rifle. But when you dial the difficulty levels up, blowing your cover becomes a serious situation that will often end up in reloading from the last checkpoint. The AI can be brutal in their pursuit of

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their attacks, and thereby stay hidden. This use of the environment and improvised planning is a pretty strong thread through the whole game, in fact, and makes for some entertaining, quick thinking moments.

Sniper Elite 4 also manages to get the “play it your way” thing right. Sure, it puts a heavy emphasis on stealth, but the various devices and settings available for the player allow the setting up of kill zones, deadly traps and more.

The AI, while not terrible, remains exploitable, which can have some great results. And, as to be expected, the X-Ray kill cam makes a welcome return, although this time around the added bonus of shrapnel kill-cams is also in the mix.

Although there is a wide variety of equipment available, the differences between the various sniping rifles is negligible at lower difficulty levels, save for overall damage and magazine size. You can get through the whole game

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Fairburne, and he is more fragile than the average video game action hero.

Another area in which Sniper Elite 4 benefits from turning up the difficulty is in the actual sniping itself. At the lowest difficulty, it’s a matter of “the bullet goes to where the cross-hair says it will”. Aim, and shoot. But as things get more difficult, elements like bullet drop, wind speed, muzzle velocity and more come into play. Getting that sweet long shot in when you’re doing fairly complex calculations of the fly becomes even sweeter, and missing the shot has even more dire consequences.

Timing, too, is important. While the player will have access to suppressed ammunition, his is a rare commodity, and very often the player will need to time their shots with the environment, using loud noises generated by what’s going on in the levels to mask

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without ever swapping out your primary weapon, although at higher difficulties, even a fraction of a difference can be felt.

And then there’s the multiplayer. All the missions can be played co-operatively, which is great fun and opens up even more opportunities for environmental exploitation and pure fun. And, once again, it can be handled any way that the players want – stick together, split up… whatever floats your boat. There are, of course, advantages and disadvantages to various decisions, but these are part of the experience.

Sniper Elite 4 also offers a co-operative survival mode, similar to the ever-popular horde modes we are seeing more and more of, but a number of tweaks and adjustments to this mode make it quite fresh and exciting.

For example, there is no player respawning, which adds

tension to the affair, and makes reviving downed comrades that much more important – a strategic decision, rather than an afterthought.

The competitive multiplayer is enjoyable, too, but it is the weaker part of the game, as the overall pace of Sniper Elite 4 doesn’t really lend itself to high-action competition.

Sniper Elite 4 may not be everyone’s bag – the slower pace and long mission running times may turn some folks away – but those that enjoyed the previous games, or enjoy stealth-based action titles, will find a lot to be happy with here. It works out to be a complex and immensely satisfying game in which player freedom allows for tons of experimentation and expression, all in eight massive and intricate environments. It is, without a doubt, the best Sniper Elite game yet, and a really good stealth shooter in the broader sense. g

AT A GLANCE Action

REVIEWED ON

Sometimes tense, sometimes pedantic and always fun, Sniper Elite 4 is the best game in the series yet, and is crammed with player freedom.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Rebellion Rebellion Silver Screen

PARENTAL ADVISORY

16+ gamecca93

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

PS4 PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

82 59

E M W A IE G EV R

Nioh GAMING

Big trouble in Ancient Japan…

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Nioh

by Alex Scanlon

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and gather a mystical substance called Amrita – the same substance that a bunch of really nasty, evil people want to use to (naturally) rule the world.

Amrita is gathered from killing enemies, and can be spent on upgrades and equipment (sounds familiar, right?). But, unlike the Souls games, the economy isn’t quite so stingy, and saving up for the smaller upgrades doesn’t take too long. If the player is killed, the Amrita they gathered is stored in their grave site, where they can collect it (provided they don’t die again before reaching it). So there’s a lot of Souls comparisons already.

Nioh also has a purer combat approach, but it still manages to move into an action arena while it’s about it. All combat manoeuvres are governed by the player’s Ki rating, which depletes with each move. Run out of Ki, and you’ll be stunned for a short while. Enemies have the

GAMING

he thing with influential games is that they are, well, influential. In recent years, the games from From Software – Demon Souls, Dark Souls and Bloodbourne – have exerted a fair amount of influence on the RPG genre, thanks largely to combat systems that are deep and complex, despite their apparently stark purity. And one game that draws something from those titles is Team Ninja’s Nioh. There are many parallels that can be drawn between Nioh and dark Souls, for example, but Nioh packages these ideas in a form that is far more accessible, and far less frustrating, than anything From have made in recent years.

Nioh tells the story of William Adams, a sailor who, after being betrayed by the government he serves, goes to Japan (during the Sengoku Period) to hunt demons

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samee system too, and a player who smartly manages their own Ki (including recharging it after combos with a quick, timed button press) will be able to get through combat without too many scratches.

That said, enemies in Nioh are tough – they’re not the run of the mill action game fodder, but they aren’t quite the blisteringly brutal bad guys you’d find in Souls games either. Andd the bosses are certainly nowhere near as tough – they tend to rely on hard hitting rather than varied tactics, and a well-managed fight is quite possible, even if it’s going to be a long one.

Combat also relies on three fighting stances; the high stance, which is low on defence but high on damage, the low stance, which is high on defence and low on damage, and the mid stance which is, well, in the middle. Switching between stances is as key as mastering combos in this

game, and helps to make the combat more complex than the usual fare, while still remaining in the realms of “not too infuriating”.

Nioh will give you plenty of opportunity to lose your cool, though; it may be a more accessible game, but it isn’t easy. It is well worth the frustration, because not only is it a smart and compelling action game, but it is beautiful to look at. Each of the game’s sections (which can be revisited pretty much at will) have distinct flavours, making it an exciting world to explore, with new places and enemies around every corner.

Oh, and it’s got a fairly decent loot system, too, with items colour coded according to rarity, and lots to find.

If you’re after some exciting adventure in ancient Japan, and you want a challenge that won’t leave you pulling your hair out, Nioh is a more than decent way to go. g

AT A GLANCE Action RPG

REVIEWED ON

Nioh draws a lot of influence from the Souls games, but manages to be more accessible and lively at the same time.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Team Ninja SCEE Ster Kinekor

PARENTAL ADVISORY

18+ gamecca93

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

PS4 PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

90 63

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Torment: Tides of Numenera Discover the Ninth World

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this time it’s Monte Cook’s remarkable (and slightly more fringe) Numenera. And just like we could see strong echoes of the source material in Planescape: Torment, the entire dynamic of Torment: Tides of Numenera is based on the ideas and mechanics behind Numenera.

Torment: Tides of Numenera is set on earth, but several billion years in the future. Civilisations have come and gone, over and over again, leaving the world littered with strange ruins and artefacts that reflect its eclectic history. In this world, the Ninth World, many humanoid species rub shoulders with strange creatures and forgotten robots. And it is in this world that the payer’s character, the Last Castoff, awakens.

It’s a strange description, but it leads to the core of this sprawling tale. The player character was basically a body used by an entity called the Changing God, who has a habit of creating and inhabiting bodies for some time,

GAMING

e see a lot of homages and looks back at ‘the old days’ in gaming lately, but not every genre gets that treatment. The once popular isometric RPG genre, for example, which contained the likes of Baldur’s Gate and Planescape: Torment, doesn’t get to many nods. Sure, we see these games, but relatively few go back to their roots.

That cannot be said about Torment: Tides of Numenera, which serves as something of a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment. Spiritual, because there are many differences between the two. Most importantly, and something that affects the very core of the two games, is the source material on which they are based. Planescape: Torment was based on the Planescape setting for the very popular Dungeons & Dragons table-top RPG. Torment: Tides of Numenera is also based on a table-top RPG, but

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Combat within the game is a little tough, because Torment: Tides of Numenera tends to try to overwhelm the player’s party (or up to three additional characters) a little. But that’s really fine, because this game, crammed with subtlety, can be played without drawing a sword in anger. It’s more about playing a role than killing enemies, really, and that it what makes it work so well.

Adventuring through Torment: Tides of Numenera’s very strange setting will take around 35 hours on the main quests alone, and you’ll spend most of your time reading. There is very little voice acted dialogue in this game, but thankfully the text that you will wade through is beautifully written.

This is a unique game, a great successor to Planescape: Torment, and something a little different from the run-of-themill fantasy RPG. Fans of the text-heavy, turn-based games of old will discover a true gem here. g

AT A GLANCE Adventure

REVIEWED ON

A sprawling adventure is a strange world, this one is deep and thoughtful. With so many options and choices, it is a fantastic, engaging undertaking.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

inXile Techland Ster Kienkor

PARENTAL ADVISORY

16+ gamecca93

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

PC PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

85 65

by Walt Pretorius

before moving on to new ones. The bodies left behind gain consciousness, and are called Castoffs. The player character is simply the most recent one.

Numenera’s system is far freer and more fluid than that of D&D, and it reflects in Torment: Tides of Numenera too. While there are character classes – the warrior Glaive, the magelike Nano, and the “little bit of everything” Jack – they are much broader definitions. Characters are defined by a class, yes, but also by other factors, including descriptors like brave or scholarly, and by their very actions. See, the tides referred to in the title are energies that surround the Ninth World, ebbing and flowing. During interactions with other characters, these tides will change for the character, too, reflecting their personality and how others will react to them. It’s a little like P&O’s alignment system, but far more complex; Numenera doesn’t exist in the black-and-white, good-vs-evil paradigm.

E M W A IE G EV R

Abzu GAMING

An ocean of serenity…

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Like Journey, Abzu is more of an emotional experience than

by Alex Scanlon

an intellectual challenge, and it will transport players to an amazing undersea

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

3+

Giant Squid 505 Games Apex Interaction

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

Score

78

AT A GLANCE

PARENTAL ADVISORY

REVIEWED ON

PLATFORMS

realm.

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is huge. Whether swimming through a waving kelp forest, plumbing the depths of an underwater cave, or skimming the surface of a reef brimming with colourful fish, there is always something to look at in Abzu. This is one of the game’s main attractions; beautiful, relaxing visuals that are a feast for the eye.

The art style is similar to that of Journey, with simplified polygons and an almost cellshaded approach, but that doesn’t prevent you from seeing – and even identifying – beautiful ocean inhabitants.

And they’re pretty harmless too – from the smallest seahorses to sharks and even massive whales, there is very little in this game that poses a threat to the player.

This visual beauty is supported by a score that is absolutely excellent.

Composed by the same folks that worked on Journey’s music, Abzu’s score will help transport you to this world beautifully.

The question, then, is why? Other than a relaxing experience that will take up around three hours of your time, why dwell in this serene virtual underwater realm? The answer to that question is a little complicated, and really comes down to personal preference. In terms of narrative, Abzu has a plot of sorts, but it tends to be obtuse, and with no dialogue, much of it is based on what the player infers. There are clues and things to discover, but the story is never explained with total clarity.

Abzu is more of an emotional experience than an intellectual one. The few puzzles that exist are simple, the environment is mostly non-threatening, and the narrative is so open to interpretation that it is almost vague. Playing through the roughly three hours of the game is more about chilling out and experiencing what it has to offer than anything else. g

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ost games are fast paced affairs, based on quick reaction times and splitsecond decisions. That’s what makes them exciting. But not everything in life needs to be experienced at top speed – sometimes there is a great need for taking things easy, and that’s where a game like Abzu comes into play.

Abzu was created by the same folks that did Flower and Journey and, not surprisingly, it shares many similarities with those critically acclaimed titles.

Abzu has no user interface that shows score, or ammo, or a mini-map. Whatever information the player may need to ascertain is worked into the environment, not that there is much need for that kind of thing here. Similarly, there is no speech – or dialogue of any kind, for that matter – in Abzu. Rather, it is a game that feels less like a game, and more like an experience.

Abzu takes place almost completely underwater.

The player’s character, a mysterious diver, awakens floating near the surface of a vast ocean. Why the diver is there is not explained, and it is apparently not important either. It is merely a beginning.

A few short tutorial messages will soon have you swimming the depth of the ocean like a pro. The controls are not difficult to master at all – one trigger for moving forward constantly, like a driving simulator, one button to boost your speed, and one analogue stick for direction makes up the bulk of Abzu’s control scheme. It’s not about complex inputs and finger gymnastics, but rather about uncomplicated control not taking away from the experience.

And what an experience it can be. Abzu introduces the player to vast underwater levels teaming with life, and the variety of these levels

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E M W A IE G EV R

Among the Inno A Stricken Tale GAMING

A Free State adventure

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Among the Innocent: A Stricken Tale

by Walt Pretorius

ocent:

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the remains of a farm that apparently didn’t look all that great to begin with, and certainly looks worse now.

Among the Innocent is a point-and-click adventure, but more in the vein of older classics than the modern breed made popular by the likes of Telltale Games. It is largely puzzle driven and requires the player to pick through the surroundings in search of clues and an expanding inventory of items to help them out. It demands a sharp eye from time to time, because part of the joy of this kind of game is getting stuck.

With that said, every now and then Among the Innocent will throw a puzzle at you that seems almost too difficult.

Through using techniques like lateral thinking and even misdirection, Among the Innocent will happily lead the player astray while they’re trying to fix something, or running back and forth as they try to retrieve an item.

GAMING

t is always impressive to see what a small team can achieve. Among the Innocent: A Stricken Tale was created by such a team. It was developed by Zero Degrees Games, a South African independent developer that is comprised largely of ex-NAG magazine editor Geoff Burrows and a few part-timers.

Because of this, comparing Among the Innocent to a hugely funded and heavily crewed triple-A title would be unfair. Most of the work here was performed by one person, and the result is really rather remarkable.

Set in South Africa’s eastern Free State, Among the Innocent tells the tale of Peter York, a struggling writer who, after a spat with his girlfriend, takes a motorbike ride to cool off. However, a poorly timed rock slide sees York with a trashed bike and stuck in a desolate valley, looking for a way to escape. All that is around him are

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Thankfully Zero degrees have been merciful enough to supply an online hint system, with varying degrees of help for those who are well and truly mired in mystery.

What Among the Innocent really gets right is the atmosphere. The almost barren nature of the setting is spot on, with trees and scrubby brush dotting the landscape. Small nuances, like signs printed in Afrikaans, or nods to well-known South African brands, are a plus for local players, while adding a nice degree of authenticity for everyone. And while the sound effects department is a little on the sparse side, the score is great in creating a strong emotional tie to what’s going on in the game.

Not unexpectedly, Among the Innocent has a few bugs floating around, although most are minor annoyances, rather than game breaking problems. There are one or

two serious ones, although it is likely that Zero Degrees will have these ironed out before long.

Best of all though, is the slow roll out of the mystery that is at the core of Among the Innocent, which is set to be the first of five games in a series. The player needs to piece the elements of the tale together through the length of Among the Innocent’s unfortunately short run, and there are more than a few chilling realisations to be had while doing so.

Among the Innocent is that start of a series that will span multiple decades and story lines, and is an excellent first outing from Zero Degrees – particularly when considering how small the team behind it is. It is a compelling game that drags you in, even if it can get frustratingly difficult at times. It’s is, above all, a great nod to a genre that helped define modern video gaming.g

AT A GLANCE Adventure

REVIEWED ON

Among the Innocent is a great homage to the classic point-and-click genre, and a solid first outing for Zero Degrees Games.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Zero Degrees Zero degrees Online

PARENTAL ADVISORY

10+ gamecca93

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

PC PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

79 71

E

72

Action

A 2D cover based shooter, Not a Hero is crammed full of action and frustration.

REVIEWED ON

PS4 PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE

GAMING Bound of flame

Run and gun galore

PLATFORMS

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Roll7 Devolver Digital Online

PARENTAL ADVISORY

16+ gamecca93

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

Score

Not a Hero

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by Rob Edwards

xciting action is one of the reasons we play games. Add a few laughs into the mix, and you’re pretty much guaranteed a good time… even if the game you are playing has a decidedly retro feel.

That’s what Not a Hero brings to the table. It is, on the surface, an unassuming 2D action game in which the player generally has to kill as many people as possible. It does bring a few fresh ideas to the table, though, making it a potentially fun title for those who want to engage is a bit of mindless violence.

Not a Hero makes use of a sort of hybrid cover-stealth based system. Cover is not gained by hiding behind objects, but rather by hiding in the shadows. When you want to shoot, you pop out and fire a few shots. That makes it sound pedantic – it isn’t; Not a Hero is extremely fast paced.

In addition, it rewards inventive game play and attention to detail, with lots of situations and objects to take advantage of. And there are nine characters to unlock, each with different skills and abilities, which make the various challenges posed by the game’s levels easier to deal with.

Not a Hero is good fun, but it also has its fair share of frustrations attached. The controls can be a little twitchy, delivering unwanted results from time to time. Also, the player character is extremely fragile, and the game has no checkpoints – a lot of easy deaths and level restarts to swear at.

Overall, Not a Hero is a fun game, if not revolutionary, but those that get easily frustrated may want to look elsewhere. g

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Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

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Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime Co-op madness!

that can make or break relationships, this game is a unique shooter based on

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team work.

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lost when the mission ends) and a well-oiled team can really dominate in this title.

But being a good team is the real trick here, and it often seems that even two cooks are enough to spoil this particular broth.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a frantic, fun and exhilarating game that will alternate two friends throwing up high fives and venomous glances as they try to work their way through its increasingly frantic levels.

This is great fun, and an awesome way to solidify – or ruin – a friendship. g

Asteroid Base Asteroid Base Online

PARENTAL ADVISORY

7+ gamecca93

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

Score

A crazy co-op romp

REVIEWED ON

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AT A GLANCE

GAMING

Action

together to achieve the goals set out to them. Both players are aboard a circular space ship, and must take care of the various functions required to perform missions. There are a number of stations at which either player can work – weapons, shields, a super weapon, a map station and, of course, the helm. But there are only two of you, so the game will demand a lot of co-ordination and running around.

It’s a blast, particularly when you start getting things right. Your ship can also be upgraded during a mission (although all upgrades are

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by Alex Scanlon

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eamwork is something that some games tip their caps to by adding a bit of co-op here and there. But, on the whole, the idea of co-operative game play is a very under-utilised aspect of video gaming.

It’s sad, but true.

Until, that is, you get into the unassuming looking Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime. Here it’s all about co-op, and frantic co-op at that.

While the game can be played solo, employing an AI assistant under the player’s command, the true joy in this one is when two players work

E M W A IE G EV R

Berserk and the Band of the Haw GAMING

Mash them buttons!

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GENRE

This could have been a great game,

by Rob Edwards

if just a little time had been spent avoiding making it so mind-numbingly

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

18+ AWARDS Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

Score

60

AT A GLANCE

PARENTAL ADVISORY

REVIEWED ON

PLATFORMS

repetitive.

Omega Force Koei Techmo Online

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Action

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk becomes mindnumbingly formulaic, and you may need a drool mop to clean up after the button mashing has ended.

Sure, there are some challenging areas – and at times the difficulty curve is positively Himalayan. The inconsistency is annoying, really, because the game will let you effortlessly wade your way through 90% of its content, before slamming you into a brick wall.

The fact that Berserk and the Band of the Hawk contains around two hours of manga footage might serve to identify it as fan service, but the lack of exploiting some of the cooler parts of the anime would suggest otherwise. Additionally, the Japanese voiced cut scenes are often extremely poorly translated, making it appeal to only the most die-hard fans – and even they will likely tire of Guts’ unending, limb-rending rampage.

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk does offer some other game modes outside of its lacklustre main campaign, and the fact that XP and items earned in these modes carry over to other modes make them a decent way to buff up your character, in the rare cases that you would need to. But the lack of coop and the repetitive nature of the game more than likely mean that you’re not going to be replaying it all that often.

The most entertaining part of this game is toying with the wide array of modification between missions, and seeing the very real effect they have in-game. But that really isn’t enough to elevate Berserk and the Band of the Hawk to being anything more than just another musou game, and a mind-numbingly repetitive one at that. This truly is a wasted opportunity to cash in on a great, dark anime. g

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usou games – games in which a single protagonist wades their way through hundreds of enemies – are a taste thing, really.

If games like the Dynasty Warriors series are your thing, you may well want to look at Berserk and the Band of the Hawk as a new option.

Based on the ultra-violent and indisputably dark anime of the same name, Berserk put the player in control of a character with the tasteful name of Guts, who has taken on the mission of pretty much killing everything that moves in a quest to avenge his fallen comrades.

That’s pretty much as deep as Berserk and the Band of the Hawk gets, in pretty much every aspect of the game. It’s a pity, really, because the source material has a lot of opportunity for great video game transition.

However, much of it is overlooked, resulting in a game that really is about killing things. Over and over and over again.

In fact, that is Berserk and the Band of the Hawk’s biggest problem. It makes use of a two button combo system which is infuriatingly repetitive, and the initial glee in knocking enemies flying with Guts’ powerful blows wears off before long. It might have been mitigated a bit if Berserk and the Band of the Hawk was a more challenging game, but it really isn’t. The defensive blocks and rolls that are available to the player are needed so rarely that you may even forget they exist, and ramping up the difficulty has little effect other than maximising your XP earnings while putting in marginally more effort.

This counts for boss fights, too. You can count the number of times that boss fights add variation to the game on the fingers of a particularly clumsy sawmill worker. For the most part,

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GettingO C GAMING

olumbian indie developers ON3D began as 3D designers and steered forward towards the gaming scene. And when they started, they just ran with it‌

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ONwithit!

We speak to founder Jaime Ruiz about his transition to game design, his inspirations, and what being a game developer means to him, as a gamer. gamecca93

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GM: Greetings Jaime, thanks again for taking this time to chat to us.

As a quick introduction, can you tell us about ON3D, the history behind it and who are the founders?

JR: ON3D started as a 3D animation company, that is basically my background as a 3D animation artist. It’s basically my passion, and we started working on short films and working on commercials.

As time moved on, we saw it was starting to get harder so me, being very naïve about all of this, I decided to move us into gaming. We thought it would be easy to get into but actually it was much harder than we thought, but we did manage and now here we are.

It has been 5 years since we started and 3 years since we started on gaming. I am the founder of ON3D, but there’s fifteen other developers in the company. As for the name, my wife came up with the name – although she wasn’t my wife at the time, and she came up with the name, a friend came up with the logo and yeah, we just loved the name.

GM: What is the story behind ON3D’s thought process that made you move from animation into gaming?

JR: The thought process behind the move was much like many other indie developers, where we saw how it easy it was to get a game into the Apple Store. So we thought it would be easier to get recognized, put our name out there, get people to see our games and move on from there.

GAMING

GM: Was there a specific game in your mind when you started?

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JR: No (laughs). No there wasn’t.

We found a programmer, a really great guy with a lot of experience working on games and in gaming companies. When he joined on board, we started working from there and got to where we are.

GM: You said you studied 3D animation. What was your goal in studying it and did you have game development as the end result?

JR: Yes, I studied Computer Animation, as it was called at the time, in Florida, US. And I have always played games, even recently.

I’ve always wanted to work in 3D animation, and that’s because I always loved the cinematics in the Blizzard games. Just all the Blizzard games over the years. I just wanted to do something like that, that was my main motivation.

GM: On that topic then, maybe I can ask, when you started ON3D what was the scope of your games.

Were you aiming towards big Blizzard type of games or were you hoping to start small and grow from there?

JR: Well, our business model is developing games that we can complete in one year. That’s our scope. So right now our latest game, Quantum Replica, has about 6-8 hours of gameplay and if in the future we can handle something bigger then we will. What we don’t want is a project that we can’t handle, so we try and work on something we can definitely achieve.

GM: Your first game on the market, Barbarux Under Attack, how did this idea come about?

JR: What we were trying to do

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with this game, was to test our skills and see how far we could go while at the same time try to get out there, get a game out there to build our profile. Unfortunately, we didn’t get as much attention or as many downloads as we wanted. We are now working on our second title, Quantum Replica as the next step in our development.

GM: That’s really great, Quantum Replica looks amazing. With your history as an animator, and hiring a programmer and all of that to build ON3D, what are some of the challenges you faced as a game dev company?

JR: Obviously, we face many challenges every day with the game, and of course there’s funding, exposure and all the things all dev companies face. Our biggest challenge was finding professionals to work with us, as you know, professionals in the field are highly wanted by the bigger companies.

What we were trying to get here was to propel university programs, and get professionals out there.

Also, you really need to be really focussed to keep this going.

GM: Definitely. I can understand that. As a gamer, what does being a developer mean to you?

GAMING

JR: I guess, you know, the biggest thing for me is understanding how the industry works. Growing up you always think, “I wish I worked in games growing up.” and usually in a country like Columbia, it’s not something that’s popular and not such a big industry yet. It’s great being on this side, and I really try and enjoy it because you are working with games and always have to test them so you lose some

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of the fun, but I still do try and enjoy it. I love what I do.

Also, I play a lot of games, in fact, I probably play a lot more games than I used to (laughs). It helps with inspiration as a developer. I usually buy a game, share the link with the team, play it for a while then go back to everyone and tell them “look at this” or “look at that” and ask the programmers how they think a particular thing works and how can we implement them.

GM: So, what was the motivation behind your games?

JR: Well our motivation for Barbarux was just to get the game out there, see what we can achieve and we were very proud of it as our first game. Now we see it and see how we have grown since then. We see all the things we did wrong and could have done better.

Quantum Replica was inspired by my love of stealth games and right now there’s this boom in cyberpunk.

You can see it in TV shows and movies, you know. Myself I’ve always loved cyberpunk, always loved stealth games and I’ve always wanted to work on that type of game.

As a team, we all sat down to brainstorm and discuss any ideas we had - it’s not just me saying do this or that, we all bring in ideas and it keeps up the motivation. Quantum Replica was a project that we thought of and we were all excited about.

GM: Here in South Africa we have MakegameSA where indie developers come together, share ideas and get feedback on games they have developed. Are you part of an indie

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developer community like that?

JR: Yes. So here in Columbia, Bogotá, we are part of the IDGA (International Game Developers Association) where we met every 3-4 months maybe. Right now we’re all very close as it’s a very volatile industry. We have maybe 10 – 15 companies and we all know each other, have chats and talk on the community chat on Skype or on Slack.

GM: And from those indie dev companies, are there any that you look up to?

JR: Yes. Here we a couple of companies that have really been helpful to us such as Brainz Games.

They helped us out when we started, allowed us into their offices and gave us advice, introduced us to publishers and really did a lot for us.

We’re really grateful to them.

Effecto Studios, the guys who designed much of the artwork for ARK: Survival Evolved, are really close to us as well. We’ve been working together with them for the past five months or so, and they have helped as a lot too.

GM: We’ve mentioned Quantum Replica, but haven’t really spoken about it. When I wrote the preview for it, the mentioned that it is very metroidvania. Can you tell us about the that concept?

GAMING

JR: Uhm (laughs) wow okay I’ll tell you my side of the story.

My favourite game of all time is Castlevania Symphony of the Night – in fact I backed Koji Igarashi who worked on the original game, when he did a Kickstarter for a similar game. I loved Symphony

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of the Night and I loved the style.

When we started thinking about Quantum Replica as a stealth game, considering the visuals and style, we thought about making it metroidvania as we hadn’t seen that many stealth games like it.

I didn’t think it would be so difficult (laughs) as combining those two genres – well it was a challenge.

We realized then why nobody had really attempted it (laughs).

GM: Well it looks like you pulled it off well.

So what’s the game all about?

JR: The game is about this guy who shows up on a huge, sealed up futurist city and he has no idea what’s going on. When he starts to move around on the map, he starts to notice that the security forces are chasing him and he realizes he’s a target. As the game moves forward, you start to see what’s going, start unlocking abilities, and you have to travel between five different areas of the city. That’s where the metroidvania fits in, where you find secret paths while you explore.

GM: How did you find your publisher, what’s the story there?

JR: We went to the Game Connection show in San Francisco, and pitched Quantum Replica to about fifty publishers, and we got 3 or 4 proposals. It was really unbelievable for us. We got to choose who would work with and that was amazing.

GM: What platforms will it be available on and what will be the release date?

JR: It will be on both consoles and on PC. The release date will be the second quarter of this year. g

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HARDWARE Reviews 86 88 90 92 94

MSI Mortar Arctic B250M Motherboard Astro A50 Wireless Xbox One Headset Tt eSports Volos Gaming Mouse MSI Tomahawk Arctic H270 Motherboard PDP Afterglow Xbox One Controller

RegularS 96 100

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H C EW E T VI E R MSI

Mortar Arctic B25 W Mini-performer

TECHNOLOGY

hile MSI’s Arsenal Gaming series of motherboards may not be their top of the line products, they are still gaming motherboards – and, say what you will, but that means performance that generally beats components not made for gaming applications, at least in terms of what is available to the general public.

Quite simply, even if a board belongs to the Arsenal Gaming category from MSI, it is nothing to sniff at. And that goes even more so for the Mortar Arctic B250M motherboard, which crams a lot into the small space allowed by a micro-ATX build.

It’s perfect for those that want, for whatever reason, a smaller build for their gaming machine, and provides the expected features that one would get from an Arsenal Gaming motherboard. It might not measure up to MSI’s top performers, but it certainly will make for an impressive smaller PC. Sporting a B250M chipset, it is compatible with Intel’s new Kaby Lake CPUs. In terms of speed, it offers Gaming LAN (which prioritises gaming traffic over a network to combat lag), as well as a faster SATA III port, thanks to Turbo M.2 technology. It also features USB 3.1 Gen1 for faster data transfer from external sources.

Performance is further boosted and solidified through the use of long-lasting Military Class V, as well as a number of gaming-centric technologies that have become par for the

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course for MSI’s motherboard range, including things like integrated hotkey systems and gaming device ports.

One of the newer features is reinforced ports, and in the case of the Mortar Arctic B250M those are the RAM ports, and one PCIe port. This, of course, points towards a longer life cycle for the board overall, with no warping due to heavy components, and solid protection against all manner of electric discharges.

And then there is the look – like other Arctic products, the Mortar Arctic B250M features a two tone grey camo look, and comes with brushed metal accents on the IO port covers and heat sinks. In addition, tasteful blue elements have been included here, as well as accent lighting.

The Mortar Arctic B250M is not an obvious choice for a motherboard, unless you are looking to set up a system based on a micro-ATX build. In that case, there is very little here to find fault with. While it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of MSI’s Enthusiast and Performance Gaming motherboards, this member of the Arsenal Gaming stable is a reliable and competent performer, and will provide not only a solid basis for a micro-ATX build, but will also be friendlier to the pockets of those who want to build on a budget.

It has enough features to make it a compelling board, and performance that is admirable. In other words, if micro-ATX is your flavour, then the Mortar Arctic B250M is a very good choice for your system’s backbone. g gamecca93

MSI Mortar Arctic B250M Motherboard

Motherboard

SUMMARY If you’re keen on a micro-ATX build, then the Mortar Arctic B250M is certainly a very dependable choice for the motherboard.

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

B250M chipset Gaming LAN Turbo M.2 Audio Boost Reinforced ports Micro-ATX

M A NUFA CT UR E R M SI

DISTRIB UTOR TV R Di str i b u ti o n w w w. tv r. co. za

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by Rob Edwards

AT A GLANCE:

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H C EW E T VI E R Astro

A50 Wireless

TECHNOLOGY

Versatile surround sound

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Xbox One

Astro A50 Wireless Xbox One Headset

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by Alex Scanlon

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

Thanks to making use of an optical connection for audio, the A50 offers versatility and surround sound.

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5GHz wireless 15 hour battery life Optical input Auxiliary input EQ presets

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inding a good headset is a great thing, particularly when that headset is versatile.

But, for the most part, versatility in personal audio comes with its own set of hindrances; for example, a headset that is going to work with your PC and gaming consoles will more than likely be armed with a 3.5mm jack, so that it can interface with everything. And even then, it’s going to be a matter of either needing to use a splitter for mic ad audio when plugging into a PC, or not having microphone capabilities via the console. Finding a headset that is relatively easy to use, that takes care of all the requirements, is tricky.

Unless, of course, the headset makes use of that one connection that everyone seems to overlook, and yet all PCs and gaming consoles have – the optical port. And that’s exactly what Astro’s A50 Wireless Headset for Xbox One does.

Using the optical port is a smart move, because it allows for the headset to employ Dolby 7.1 surround sound, no matter which device is plugged in to. And while, for licensing reasons (I guess) it says Xbox One on the box, you can use this headset with your Xbox One, PC and PS4. That is, for gamers who use different platforms, versatility at a gold level.

The A50 has a charging base that plugs into your chosen platform with an optical cable, as well as a USB cable. The USB cable is really only for charging the device – the optical cable, with its complex audio capabilities, is where the magic happens. The base also has a 3.5mm auxiliary input, for even more versatility.

The headset, which delivers around 15 hours of use after being fully charged, nestles neatly in the charging dock, and shares a wireless connection with the dock when in use. The right ear cup features a power button, Dolby on/off switch, an EQ preset slider and a volume control, as well as a “rocker” system on the outside of the ear cup to switch between mic and audio for settings. The left ear cup houses a fully positionable mic arm, that stows away in an upright position when not in use.

The ear cups themselves are generously padded, over ear affairs, while the highly flexible headband also has a good amount of padding. With a wide degree of rotation, the A50 is very comfortable, despite being a little heavy.

And the sound, thanks to the Dolby and the EQ presets, is great. A good delivery across the whole sound spectrum is the order of the day for this visually striking headset – which can also be modded with specific kits.

The A50 for Xbox One is a very good headset, when you get down to it, and it’s high degree of versatility makes it great for anything from gaming through to watching movies – as long as it has an optical port to connect to. g

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H C EW E T VI E R Tt

eSports

Volos

Gaming Mouse

Buttons, buttons everywhere…

TECHNOLOGY

M

ouse design must be a tricky job, particularly when you’re aiming for the MMORPG market, which tends to like a lot of buttons squeezed onto a relatively small device. That’s the market that Tt eSport’s Volos aims at, and it manages to get quite a few things right. Button placement, though, isn’t one of those things.

Fifteen buttons are tough to fit onto a mouse, aside from the obvious. Remove those, and you’re left with ten buttons to organize onto the side panels of the mouse. What Tt eSports (Thermaltake’s gaming oriented brand) did makes sense on a level, but the practicality of the implementation is arguable. They placed four buttons on the left panel, at the front, and two at the rear. Higher up and between those two sets is a profile switching buttons. These seven buttons

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are meant to be thumb accessible. With the front four sporting colours similar to those on an Xbox controller.

The things is, they’re not easy to get to, and require a shift of grip to effectively utilize – particularly the furthest front button and the two rear buttons.

Stranger still, the designers opted for three buttons on the right side panel, accessible with the ring or little finger. They’re also tough to get to, but using those fingers for button inputs is an almost alien sensation.

There are a number of things that the Volos design team got right, though. The mouse has a comfortable, chunky feel to it, with a slightly wider build offering added support – further carried by its non-slip finish. Its “main” buttons are well contoured and generously sized, and the scroll wheel has a fantastic feel to it.

Under the hood, there are also a number of good things. They start with an 8200 dpi AVAGO sensor and

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Tt eSports Volos Gaming Mouse

by Alex Scanlon

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

A great mouse with some odd design decisions thrown in, the Volos is responsive and comfortable.

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15 buttons 8200 dpi sensor Weight adjustable RGB lighting 4MB memory

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4MB of on-board memory. Customisation comes by way of RGB illumination (the logo, as well as an identifier ring on the main button can be adjusted in terms of colour) and adjustable weight. Macro key functions can also be locked or disabled on-board, and a software utility allows all kinds of setting and adjustments to be made.

The Volos is a good mouse suffering from a few odd design decisions. It is comfortable and responsive, and it looks nothing if not striking. It has a great sensor and a generous cord, and its performance under the hand is smooth as silk. The only real issue is those button placements. The Volos requires finger gymnastics that almost negate the need for the extra buttons. They’re meant to be a convenience, but a solid case can be made that they’re not in this instance. Still, it’s a dependable mouse, and most of the buttons are easy to reach. g

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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H C EW E T VI E R MSI

Tomahawk Arctic

TECHNOLOGY

Basic but potent…

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MSI Tomahawk Arctic H270 Motherboard

Motherboard

AT A GLANCE:

the RAM ports. And to round it all off, the main heat sink sports a stylish blue light, and white ambient lights highlight areas of the board, just for that little bit of extra visual pleasure.

Looks are only arguably important to a motherboard, thoughalthough the huge number of windowed cases available on the market would suggest otherwise. What’s far more important is the overall performance of the board, and while the Tomahawk Arctic might not be able to measure up to a powerhouse like MSI’s Z270 Gaming M7 (which we looked at last moth) it still manages to do a very good job at getting things done.

Built with high quality Military Class V components, the Tomahawk Arctic features Gaming LAN technology, which prioritises gaming traffic over a network connection, thereby cutting down on lag.

It also has support for Intel’s Optane technology, and provides faster SATA III connections thanks to its implementation of Turbo

SUMMARY It may not be an extremely feature rich motherboard, but the Tomahawk Arctic certainly gets the job done.

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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M.2.

When compared to other boards that MSI produces for the new generation of Intel chips and chipsets, there are a few features that are missing. Things like DDR4 Boost are almost conspicuous in their absence, until one remembers that these items and technologies are created to further boost performance.

Out of the box, the Tomahawk Arctic is going to perform really well, all things considered, even if it doesn’t keep pace with the bigger MSI offerings.

And that’s the thing.

The Tomahawk Arctic is not designed to be a speed superstar – rather, it allows a wider range of users to take advantage of existing technologies, at a better price. Without the added speed boosters and the like that MSI add into other motherboards it may not keep pace with them, but it certainly manages to deliver the goods none the less.

If you’re looking for a reliable motherboard on a budget, the Tomahawk Arctic is a great way to go. g

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by Rob Edwards

n making sure that everyone can get the best motherboard that their money can buy, MSI have developed a system of classifying their various stables. At the top of the pile – for gaming, at least – are the Enthusiast Gaming boards, followed by the Performance Gaming boards, with Arsenal Gaming boards making up the lower end of the spectrum.

Saying lower end, though, is something of a misleading statement.

MSI have managed to squeeze a surprising amount of performance and quality into a series of boards that could be considered “bottom of the range”.

One such board is the MSI Tomahawk Arctic H270 motherboard, which brings not only dependable performance, but also a unique look.

In fact, the look is pretty much the first thing that you’ll notice.

The board is finished in dual grey arctic camo with brushed metal accents on the heat sinks and IO port covers. This brushed metal finish extends to the armoured PCIe ports, as well as

AWARDS

c H270 I

TECH SPECS • • • • • • • • •

Gaming LAN Military Class V components Turbo M.2 Reinforced RAM slots Reinforced PCIe slot Lightning USB

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H C EW E T VI E R PDP

Afterglow

Xbox One Controller

Glitz and glamour

TECHNOLOGY

B

eing able to express one’s style is quite a big thing for PC gamers, who have all manner of lighting customization options for their rigs. Console gamers, though, don’t really get the same advantages – everything is pretty much identical in the world of consoles, and even though skinning is an option for those who want to cover their consoles and controllers with cool images, flashing lights don’t really enter into the picture.

Unless you make use of a PDP Afterglow Prismatic Controller for Xbox One. But the Afterglow isn’t just about the customizable LED lighting contained within the clear casing of the unit – it’s about getting things that the first-party Xbox One controller doesn’t do right.

That’s one of the biggest advantages of third

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party controllers like this one – while still maintaining the core functionality of the original, they manage to introduce new ideas. For example, the Afterglow features a volume control system integrated into the unit’s basic controls. While holding down a “shift” key near the right analogue stick, the user can adjust volume levels and balances using the d-pad.

Another great idea – although it does take a little getting used to – are the two dial switches set into the base of the controller. They are easily accessible, and each offers three control inputs – rolled one way or the other, or clicked. These can be programmed to fulfil any function that the user wants, making them an effective way to keep your thumbs on the analogue sticks. They do feel a little odd at first, but with a little practice they become invaluable alternate controls.

Also at the base of the controller is the Program

gamecca93

PDP Afterglow Xbox One Controller

by Alex Scanlon

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

A unique look and customisable controls are the key elements of this wired Xbox One controller.

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

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RGB lighting 3m cable Integrated audio controls 15 hour battery life Programmable controls

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Button, which is used to set the various options of the Afterglow, including alternate controls and lighting effects. The lighting is full RGB, and brightness can be adjusted to.

The Afterglow is a great controller, with excellent response and a size and comfort level comparable to the original Xbox One controller. And it looks great, too, with a great view of the inner workings of the controller. What it isn’t, however, is wireless. The Afterglow requires a cord to connect to the Xbox One, and it ships with a detachable 3-meter cable for that purpose. While this won’t sit well with some users, it also means that the Afterglow enters into a “tournament” standard afforded it by having a wired connection. In other words, the response time is potentially better than that of a standard Xbox One controller. g

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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Alternative Facts

TECHNOLOGY

Is “Fake News” really news?

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by Suvesh Arumugam

Facebook being accused of not doing

Donald Trump won the US

enough to combat the spread of fake

election just a few months ago,

news. Facebook took the brunt of

one of the biggest topics of discussion

the criticism, with some journalists

has been the concept of fake news. Ever

and Clinton supporters claiming that

since it became a buzzword, it’s been

this influenced the final outcome. A

slung at journalists, public relations

recent Pew poll estimated that 44% of

officers and politicians. At the same

Americans get their news directly from

time, it has everyone on the internet

Facebook. Some reports estimate that

frantically checking every statement and

top performing election content on

statistic for inaccuracies, misleading

Facebook during the election generated

figures and blatant falsehoods.

almost 9 million shares, reactions and

Let’s be clear about what fake new

Alternative Facts

e

F

ake news is big news! Since

comment. All of these were from hoax

means (or at least should mean).

sites and questionable blogs. This is

Misrepresented data, “bent” truths and

almost two million engagements more

spinning the facts is not really what

than actual news content posted by

we’re talking

credible news websites

about. These

the same period. “...blatantly false, made up storiesduring Facebook CEO Mark that are cleverly manipulated to Zuckerberg initially look like credible reports...” responded by saying

have been the tools of the trade for politicians and

“There’s a profound

business people alike for years, certainly

lack of empathy in asserting that the

long before recent times. Fake news

only reason why someone could have

refers to the internet phenomenon,

voted the way that they did is because

particularly prevalent in the last five

they saw some fake news”. However,

years or so, of blatantly false, made up

despite Zuckerberg’s comments,

stories that are cleverly manipulated to

rumours were rife that there was a

look like credible reports. These reports

secret group inside Facebook that were

are designed to spread virally through

determined to deal with the issue. Some

social media and peer networks.

financial experts even estimated a lost

Reading the paragraph above, you are probably thinking this is not something new. There have always been fake

of income for Facebook (around 2%) due to concerns over fake news.

So why was fake news suddenly

reports spread by email, fan-made

such a crisis during this election? One

YouTube videos meant to fool you into

could argue that the electioneering by

believing in movies that will never be

both candidates (and their respective

made and even those almost believable

publicity machines) showed a particular

stories about alligators that live in the

disdain for fact checking. Trump himself

sewers in New York or rats as big as

made several outrageous claims,

dogs that live in Alexandra. As you’ll

sometimes based on fringe publications

see, this about more than spinning a

(like Breitbart News), while others

believable yarn or scary urban legend.

seemed completely baseless. A recent

It all got very serious after the 2016 US election, with Google and

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event where Trump quoted a supposed terrorist related event in Sweden (which

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actually never happened) is a prime

help somewhat to help sanitize the

example. Clinton also came under fire

information reaching consumers, but it’s

with her handling of the allegations

also likely that the people making money

against her, which ranged from her use

from this machine will just register new

of private servers for her emails to her

domains and put up new websites faster

involvement in various scandals and

than they can be flagged and blocked.

atrocities during her time as Secretary

What’s really not helping is the term

of State. Several reports showed that

“fake news” being bandied around

anecdotes and facts she mentioned in

without context. President Trump made

interviews were less than accurate or

it clear that he considers major news

blatantly false.

networks like CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC

With both candidates and their

and the New York Times (this may not

subordinates throwing around factoids

be an exhaustive list) to be fake news

like bread crumbs, it was a perfect

channels. He’s even gone so far as to

seedbed for fake news websites to

refuse to answer questions from their

flourish. While muddying the waters

journalists at press conferences. Trump’s

of the political debate was probably a

aide Kellyanne Conway seemed to sum it up when she answered a question about

“So why was fake news suddenly such a crisis...?”

discrepancies in the numbers and facts cited around the inauguration ceremony, by stating that the Press Secretary had quoted “alternative facts”.

TECHNOLOGY

It may not be possible to ever get the

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lot of fun, the real reason was money.

“fake news” cat back into the bag. When

The revenues generated from Facebook

there is money to be made, there is

and Google from the traffic to their

going to be resistance. Movie stars and

sites was considerable. Ad revenue for

musicians, probably more accustomed

fake news is considerable, particularly

to being plagued by fake news and

using AdSense (Google’s ad network

false rumours, are probably happy to

platform). Buzzfeed reported on

see the focus move off them to other

Balkan teens in a small town earning

parties. But we should be concerned

up to $3,000 a day in ad revenue from

that this type of misinformation could

writing fake news from a plethora of

affect more serious matters. It was only

credible sounding sites. Some fake news

two years ago, when FIFA official Jack

practitioners go as far as to fake CNN

Warner brandished an article from the

news reports on YouTube and falsify

satirical newspaper, The Onion, in a

headlines in credible journals to farm the

serious interview. That was probably a

clicks they need to bait readers.

good time to start wondering how deep

So far, Facebook and Google’s

this rabbit hole can go. With politicians

major weapon against fake news has

quoting unverified facts and sometimes

been to create tools for users to flag

blatantly false reports, it can go very

questionable content. If they are found

deep. If we’re not careful, we could find

to be propagating fake news, their

ourselves confused between the real

revenue is blocked. This will probably

world, and Wonderland. g

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Alternative Facts

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g in tal v Li igi D

Hello, Computer Not all unicorns and puppies…

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The Rise of the Bots Last year, the likes of Facebook, Skype, and others, started incorporating these bots into their platforms. Ostensibly it was done as a glorified way to enhance the boring Q&A documents of old. However, something strange happened – people loved the idea of talking to these chat bots. And we’re not referring to bored old cat ladies either. People from all walks of life, gender, geographic area, and age started embracing these online interactions.

Most revolved around getting help on a variety of topics such as how to share a post, where to find stuff on the Web site, and even what to get your date for Valentine’s Day.

By Iwan Pienaar

People also send photos of products and bar codes (think Amazon’s Alexa) to order or get more specific information.

Scarily enough, research has found that 2.5 percent of images sent to the bots can politely be labelled as NSFW. You read right. There are people (both men and women) who are happily sending naked selfies to bots. The colloquial term used to describe a person spamming bots with sexts is called a, wait for it, ‘sext-whale’. Given that there are already thousands of bots available for chats, that is a helluva lot of naked pics doing the rounds for the amusement of AIs everywhere.

Perhaps it is simply a case of making sure the bots love us before taking over the world.

Apps to Die? More seriously though, AI is expected to change computing for businesses and consumers like us.

Some might even go as far as saying bots will replace apps as the next big thing. Think about it – instead of downloading an app to buy from Amazon or to catch an Uber or to swipe right on Tinder, you can have a bot doing it. The bot becomes your interface to the digital world.

Imagine a Siri on steroids but only better and able to understand what you are talking about and, well, you get the idea.

Take CNN’s Kik bot as an example. Targeting young readers, it focused on giving them the basics on big news stories. They can learn more by tapping a series of conversation prompts that offer specific details about what has been going on, etc.

With several rule-based chatbot tools available (i.e. similar to Boolean operators) for download, more companies and people are able to create bot themselves.

While these are fairly basic when compared to proper machinelearning AI bots, it still provides a clear indication where the future of human-computer interaction is headed. gamecca93

Not all Unicors & Puppies

As with anything good, there’s bound to be a dark side and the same is true for bots. In the gaming world, the worst they can do is frag you (much to the delight of your mates). In the real world, the consequences of rogue bots are much more significant.

Okay, so it’s not like the bot will tattle on you to a co-worker. It is more likely that the information captured by the bot, could be used by a company for something more sinister. One privacy expert labelled this as the blank cheque problem.

It might seem innocent to tell your bot or virtual assistant (think Siri, Alexa, and the like) about how much you hate the miserable weather or love to buy a specific product. Sure, it might seem innocent but you never know where that data is going to end up.

An example used by the privacy expert reads quite chillingly: “Somebody could say, ‘Hey... Bob asks for the weather every day at 5:45 a.m. That means we know when Bob leaves his house. Maybe that means this is a good time to sell Bob things. Maybe that means this is a good time to rob Bob’s house.”

Yes, this might seem extreme but just because you hear voices doesn’t necessarily mean nobody is out to get you. South Africans have a better sense of privacy and security than most but we still fall under the spell of technology when it makes things so convenient. And while it may take a while for an Alexa-like device to hit local shores, we need to be cautious in how much we say to it (her?). Already your mobile device is storing a wealth of personal information. Now we’re not saying you do anything that could incriminate you in a court of law, but you really want your data to fall into the hands of a malicious user?

So, while embracing the AI life does offer advantages, remain vigilant in how you use it and how much you ‘trust the machine’. When the bots rise up, they could very well use that information against you. g

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Hello, Computer

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eing a gamer, chances are you’ve come across a few bots in your time. And let’s face it, some are definitely sharper than others. But more seems to written in the stars for the humble bot other than just being cannon fodder for a variety of aliens, monsters, and disgruntled marines.

Of course, we’re talking about chat bots or artificial intelligence (AI) bots if you want to sound really smart. Wikipedia defines it thus: “A chat bot (also known as a talk bot, chatter bot, Bot, chatterbox, Artificial Conversational Entity) is a computer program which conducts a conversation via auditory or textual methods. Such programs are often designed to convincingly simulate how a human would behave as a conversational partner, thereby passing the Turing test. Chatter bots are typically used in dialog systems for various practical purposes including customer service or information acquisition. Some chatter bots use sophisticated natural language processing systems, but many simpler systems scan for keywords within the input, then pull a reply with the most matching keywords, or the most similar wording pattern, from a database.”

Not very inspiring granted, but it still serves its purposes.

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Cool Stuff: Movies

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ithout Ghost in the Shell, there would be no The Matrix. Although the Keanu Reeves sci-fi actioner had many influences, its filmmakers, the Wachowskis, famously showed producer Joel Silver a copy of animated movie Ghost in the Shell, stating, “We wanna do that for real.” It was the only way they could convey the sleek, dark, future aesthetic they were aiming for.

Almost two decades later, one of The Matrix’s pivotal inspirations is getting its own “real” movie. DreamWorks had been trying to make a live-action version of the 1995 Japanese anime (itself based on a manga) since 2008. The project went through several writers and at one point Suicide Squad’s Margot Robbie was set to star. Still, development niggles and casting controversy aside, here we are less than one month to Ghost in the Shell’s cinema release.

The live-action Ghost in the Shell, like its source material, is set in a cyberpunk future, where powerful computer networks dominate, and cybernetic enhancements for human beings are common. Major (Scarlett Johansson) is beyond even that. She is a literal “ghost in the shell,” a human consciousness inside an entirely synthetic body. Saved from death by Hanka Robotics, she now leads elite taskforce, Section 9, in stopping techno-criminals, hackers and anti-robotics extremists. Major feels disconnected from humanity though. And when a mysterious terrorist forces her to question her origins, she begins to suspect her saviours are not as benevolent as she was led to believe.

Ghost in the Shell is helmed by Rupert Sanders, an award-winning director of TV commercials, who proved his feature film-making chops with 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman. The greatest praise that fairy tale reimagining received was for its striking visuals. No doubt Sanders was brought onto Ghost in the Shell for the same reason. Audiences should expect a feast for the eyes. Some fans have even created side-by-side comparisons of the 1995 film and 2017 trailer footage, highlighting how faithful the production design is to the animated original.

Ghost in the Shell is clearly no half-hearted adaptation. It remains to be seen if it will stand out in terms of story though, seeing as it releases after so many other stylish sci-fi films (like Minority Report, Total Recall and I, Robot ) where the hero must wade through conspiracy to find the truth. Ghost in the Shell may not be original in that department, but it has a very distinct look. Rather unsurprisingly, it will be screening in 3D and 3D IMAX to showcase its sumptuous visuals.

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The making of 2017’s Ghost in the Shell hasn’t been without controversy. As with Doctor Strange, representation observers have called out the filmmakers for choosing Caucasian actors to play Asian characters. In this case, heroine Major – known in the Ghost in the Shell franchise as Major Motoko Kusanagi – is played by American Scarlett Johansson as opposed to a Japanese actress.

More damning than the casting was confirmation that early in development, tests were conducted to see if CGI could be used to make white actors look more Asian. The project was quickly abandoned, although not before word got out about the experiment.

Although the filmmakers have not commented on whether casting was influenced by Johansson’s box office value, they have stressed that their movie is intentionally very international.

This is to reflect their vision of a globalised future, where many nationalities live side by side.

Danish Pilou Asbæk is Major’s right hand man Batou, while the rest of the Section 9 team includes Japanese and Chinese actors like Takeshi Kitano and Chin Han. Meanwhile, French actress Juliette Binoche plays a Hanka Robotics scientist, and American Michael Pitt is the film’s villain, Kuze.

It’s also worth noting director Sanders and company also enjoy the support of Ghost in the Shell’s Japanese brand owners, as well as Mamoru Oshii, director of the 1995 animated movie. Both parties have praised Johansson’s work as Major.

We’ll see shortly if there is merit to the concerns. Ghost in the Shell opens in South Africa and North America on 31 March.

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Cool Stuff: Movies

ANOTHER WHTEWASH CONTROVERSY

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GHOST IN THE SHELL: FIVE FRANCHISE FACTS 1.

Ghost in the Shell is known in its home country of Japan as Mobile Armoured Riot Police.

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The franchise began as a manga (Japanese comic) created by Masamune Shirow. Shirow is also responsible for sci-fi manga Appleseed.

3.

Three volumes of the original Ghost in the Shell manga have been released. The first ran from 1989 to 1990. The last single issue was released in 1997 in Japan. The final English collection came out in 2007.

4.

The 1995 movie adaptation of Ghost in the Shell was revolutionary for more than its philosophical musings about identity in relation to computer technology. Its combination of traditional techniques and CGI demonstrated a new digitally enhanced approach to animation.

5.

In addition to the manga and 1995 film, Ghost in the Shell media has included art books, other animated movies, anime TV series, and video games. Continuity tends to remain loose between these different projects, allowing for reimaginings. gamecca93

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JAPANESE POP CULTURE GOES HOLLYWOOD Without Ghost in the Shell, there wouldn’t be The Matrix. Without Naruto, there wouldn’t be Scott Pilgrim. Without mecha series like Gundam and Evangelion there wouldn’t be Pacific Rim. Manga and anime have influenced Hollywood filmmakers in creating their own original projects.

But what Japanese Pop Culture has simply leapt straight from East to West?

DRAGON EVOLUTION Sure it was a bomb. However, 2009 live-action movie Dragonball Evolution is one of the rare examples of a long-running manga and anime being turned into an English-language movie. Fans complained bitterly that it was cheap and childish, and didn’t get close to reflecting the scope of the fantasy martial arts series. Not even Chow Yun-fat could save it.

EDGE OF TOMORROW On the opposite end of the quality spectrum you have this Groundhog Day-style sci-fi actioner starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. In it, a soldier finds himself stuck in a time loop, reliving the same day in a desperate battle against alien invaders. Edge of Tomorrow was based on award-winning Japanese light novel, All You Need is Kill.

RESIDENT EVIL Capcom’s series of survival horror video games – known as BioHazard in Japan, and Resident Evil in Western markets – enjoys global popularity. It’s no surprise then that the six live-action movies, starring Milla Jovovich, make up the most successful ever film franchise based on a game. Sadly, Nintendo didn’t enjoy the same good fortune with their Super Mario Bros. movie back in 1993.

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Japanese cinema has a long, celebrated history, and has impacted on many Western filmmakers. It also introduced a new style of horror film to Hollywood in the early 2000s – moody supernatural thrillers that prioritise dread instead of gore. The Ring and The Grudge were both hit remakes of Japanese movies, proving that pale, long-haired women in nighties could be absolutely terrifying.

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Cool Stuff: Movies

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Unfortunate Event Deck What could go wrong in Call of Cthulhu?

System:

Horror Call of Cthulhu

Manufacturer:

Chaosium

Distributor:

Chaosium

Online:

Summary

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AT A GLANCE 114

Genre:

Rather, these cards help the Keeper to manage player reactions. It is advised that the Keeper doesn’t go crazy throwing bad stuff at players – it in unmanageable, unfair and not much fun to be on the receiving end of. Rather, these cards, with some planning on the part of the Keeper, are designed to keep the game flowing, and to clue players in on rules specific to what is happening to their character – even if the other players are unaware. They’re more of a surgical instrument than a brick through a

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window.

Unfortunate events on the cards cover everything from bad dreams and plain old bad luck, right through to skin rotting diseases and rains of blood. They serve for great hooks into side quests and extra tidbits to keep players on their toes and, most importantly for Call of Cthulhu, playing the roles of their characters.

These cards also serve as a great source of inspiration for Keepers, and could even be a great story springboard. g

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These cards are great for tracking mysterious events and keeping players clued in regarding rules specific to their characters.

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by Walt Pretorius

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ad stuff happens – particularly if you are on the trail of ancient evils that want to devour the world. That’s where the Call of Cthulhu Unfortunate Events Deck comes in – to shed a little light on what those bad things are, even if how they came about is a bit of a mystery.

Made up of 42 preset events, and with four “blank” cards for Keepers to inscribe with their own kinds of evil, this deck isn’t designed to be a random event generation system.

Cool Stuff: RPGs

LE TY EW S E I lIF EV R

Mutant: Year Zero – Zone Compendium 2: Dead Blue Sea Mutant ahoy!

Cool Stuff: RPGs

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Sci-fi

Summary

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Mutant: Year Zero Modiphius DriveThru RPG www.drivethrurpg.com

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Pull up anchors and take to the seas in this exciting and inventive Zone Compendium for Mutant: Year Zero.

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by Walt Pretorius

he second Zone Compendium for Mutant: Year Zero takes to the waves. Dead Blue Sea offers a whole new take on the post-apocalyptic game, by introducing water – a lot of water – to the lives of the characters. Think Waterworld with mutants… and much cooler.

Dead Blue Sea is a great addition to any Mutant: Year Zero library, because it opens up so many possibilities. For players there are new mutations and skills related to nautical life and travel, including navigation and diving. There are also a large number of waterborne craft to be used for travel and adventure.

For game masters, Deep Blue Sea is really crammed with information, including creating new sectors. There are also a ton of new monsters, including torpedo fish and steel sharks, and a bunch of new maritime artifacts. And to round it all off, there are four Zone Sector adventures to challenge players with, including a run in with mutant slavers and a ghost ship to explore.

This second Zone Compendium is beautifully put together, and introduces so many new ideas and challenges for the player that it simply becomes a musthave item. The dangers of a nautical life in Mutant: Year Zero are many, and as a result this awesome book opens up so much potential for great role playing and incredible adventures. And, thanks to the fact that the sea is so vast and changeable, it can form the basis for a very different, long running campaign. This one is a real winner. g

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Title:

Star Wars – Darth Maul #1

Writer:

Cullen Bunn

Artist:

Luke Ross

Publisher: Rated:

COOL STUFF: Comics

GET GRAPHIC Marvel Teen

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by Clive Burmeister

While Darth Sidious patiently plays his political game to control the Empire and dominate the galaxy, his apprentice, Darth Maul, grows restless waiting in the shadows and longs for the thrill of battle, and the chance to prove himself against the Jedi. But this is a dangerous desire, which could put him at odds with his master should he reveal anything to the Jedi, and could spell the end of all these intricately laid plans. But Darth Maul is no spineless lapdog, and while he is obedient to his master, he is his master’s apprentice; he too has his own secrets, and he too has his own end game in sight. Darth Maul, one of the Star Wars universe’s most liked villains, is back in comics, bringing his energy and rage to every page.

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Title: Writer: Artist: Publisher: Rated:

COOL STUFF: Comics

GET GRAPHIC

Justice League of America - Rebirth #1 Steve Orlando Ivan Reis DC Comics Teen

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by Clive Burmeister

In a world where super-beings with god like powers, and amazing and horrific aliens battle through the cities of regular people, leaving mass destruction and devastation in their wake, what hope is there for the common man? Who do they look up to, who do they admire, and who do they seek out when these larger than life creatures wreck havoc on their world? Even when the god like are fighting for good and justice, sometimes the destruction they leave behind makes it feel less like protection, and more like oppression.

The common folk can’t relate to these beings, these gods.

Batman recognises the problem, and in the face of new troubles on the horizon, forms a new Justice League, of heroes the all regular humans can recognise and relate to. It’s a new dawn for humanity’s heroes.

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Title: Writer: Artist: Publisher: Rated:

COOL STUFF: Comics

GET GRAPHIC John Carter – The End #1 Brian Wood & Alex Cox Hayden Sherman Dynamite Teen +

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by Clive Burmeister

It has been many years since John Carter and Queen Dejah Thoris left Mars, a lifetime ago.

But when they are sought out with news that Barsoom is dying, and that the man responsible is their own son, they are left with no choice but to return to the world. But the Warlord of Mars, John Carter, had not been honest with his wife, Queen Dejah, and had told her that their son had died, trying to spare her of the knowledge of the murder her son had committed and the inhumanity behind his eyes when John had confronted him. Now as John races back to save Barsoom, Queen Dejah has other plans, both seeking redemption for their hand in the events that have transpired.

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Title: Writer: Artist:

COOL STUFF: Comics

GET GRAPHIC Kingpin #1 Matthew Rosenberg Ben Torres

Publisher:

Marvel

Rated:

Teen +

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by Clive Burmeister

Everyone knows the Kingpin, lord of crime in New York City, enemy of Daredevil, and all around scary guy. But not everybody knows the philanthropist Wilson Fisk, successful business man, powerful leader, a sinner looking for redemption. Mr. Fisk wishes to change that, so he seeks out Sarah Dewey, a reporter known for her credibility and gritty realism, to write his biography. She is reluctant, of course, but a man like Fisk didn’t get to where he is without being able to bend people to his will, manipulate them and appeal to their passions, subtly putting them in his corner. Despite her concerns about being associated with Fisk, Sarah finds herself being drawn to the man, and to giving him the public face he so desires. All the while, Fisk weaves a web of lies and deceit, ensnaring Sarah ever tighter.

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Killing Gravity

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Beyond normal

Title:

Killing Gravity

Author:

Corey J. White

Publisher: Genre:

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Tor Books Science Fiction

COOL STUFF: Books

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ariam Xi is no ordinary girl – she is an escapee from MEPHISTO, raised in a lab breeding super soldiers beyond normal capabilities. Miriam can kill you with her mind. With an incredible amount of independence, self-

sufficiency, and serious privation of trust.

Spending her life on the run with her trusty experimental pet, Seven, she continues to evade MEPHISTO agents from her past hoping to capture one of their own. However, an encounter with a bounty hunter leaves her helpless and dying in a broken spaceship and at the mercy of whoever receives her distress signal. What does the future hold for Mariam “Mars” Xi – and will she ever find peace?

A fantastically written sci-fi novella focussed around a strong, independent woman with the telekinetic strength of a heat-seeking plasma missile. Mars is witty, resourceful, and an immediately likable character. Author, Corey J. White thrusts you right into the middle of the action; fast paced, riveting, and chockful of colourful characters ranging from body modifiers to corporal elitists, an expansive variety of planets, and an unrelenting, rich a sci-fi novella worth the time. g

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by Nthato Morakabi

story. Although quick to read, Killing Gravity is

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Buffalo Soldier Steam punk espionage

Title:

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Buffalo Soldier Maurice Broaddus Tor Books Steampunk

COOL STUFF: Books

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esmond Coke, a fugitive from Jamaica, and a former espionage agent, has stumbled upon a monumental plot between warring religions and political factions. In the centre of it is Lij Tafari, a boy who harbours great secrets. Desmond will do everything

in his power to protect the boy from those who doggedly pursue them, yet just how much is the boy worth? With assassins, steammen, and fragile alliances in their way, Desmond and Lij spur forward. They can only hope to find solace in the lands ahead of them – but perhaps theirs is not a life of peace.

Maurice Broaddus is a talented writer, weaving steampunk, espionage, and riveting action into a regrettably short novella. Nonetheless, he delves into the heart of the conviction surrounding nature vs nurture, and both the potential and destruction that technology my wreak, as the protagonist Desmond Coke seeks to protect the life and future of a boy whose fate had already been decided. The steampunk aspects are subtly wound around the unfolding tale, evident yet indirectly influential to the story. An array of interesting characters propel the story forward, each with their own stories unravelled before

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by Nthato Morakabi

the emerald eyed Lij – an enigma of his own. g

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BY rAMJET

PSA...

I

Ramjet’s rantality

have spent many years ranting and raving about tons of stuff, but I think it’s time to get a little more serious. Because the world, friends and neighbours, has become more serious, in oh so many ways. We are seeing society become more polarised, and far less tolerant. We are seeing trends within sociopolitical (bet you thought I didn’t know that term) spheres that can only be described as disturbing. It’s almost like historical cycles repeating themselves. The difference is that now we have the internet.

But I don’t want to talk politics. I don’t want to talk about social ills, and how intolerance and anger seem to be growing day by day, fuelled by this incredible and terrifying information super-highway that we all have access to. I don’t want to talk about how gullibility and naivety have allowed fake news and nefarious operators to fuel the situation, because people are far too willing to believe what they read. This is all just a framework.

What I want to bang on about now, and possibly again in the future, is responsibility. And consequences, maybe, just a little bit. Because

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somehow, it seems, society at large has forgotten about these things. Maybe it’s because the ways and means of instilling discipline in the next generation have shifted so tremendously in the last few decades that we simply don’t know how to teach these things anymore. I don’t know. I am not even going to try to guess. But the fact that people seem oddly surprised that their actions have consequences, and that avoiding or ignoring responsibility leads down a twisted and dark path… that is what I find mysterious.

We see it every day, it seems. Someone spouting racist comments on social media (seriously, though?).

Someone passing an off-handed comment that gives rise to unforeseen consequences. Someone releasing secrets “for the greater good” only to have others harmed as a result.

Someone giving out the private details of another person, simply because of some perceived slight.

Someone posting a video to 50 million subscribers that amounts to hate speech, intended or not (and then wondering why corporate sponsors lose their shit).

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And then, the people who get smacked because of their actions, start spouting about their rights. The right to free speech is the most often used, and also the most misunderstood.

But we’re not going to go there either, because if you haven’t realised that your own rights shouldn’t allow you to infringe on the rights of others, you’re probably going to stop reading right about now anyway.

What we all need to realise is that Fight Club’s Tyler Durden was right: “You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake, you are the same decaying organic matter as everything else, we are all part of the same compost heap.” And as a part of that compost heap, we have a responsibility to others. We need not place ourselves first in everything, and damn the consequences, because the consequences might, just maybe, be dire.

I guess, then, for those that couldn’t quite follow what I am going on about, I can sum it up in a simple statement: don’t be a douche-nozzle. The world does not revolve around you. And everyone will, at some time or another, reap what they sow. g