Gamecca Magazine October 2016

Forza Horizon 3 FIFA 17 NBA 2k17 BioShock: The Collection Destiny: Rise of Iron and more...

D&D Attack Wing

Dragons Attack!

Juggernaut Battle

Fractured Space

The Underbelly Revisit BioShock

Fr e e Ride Forza Horizon 3

Get Ou t !

Score!

FIFA 17

payback Mafia 3 vengeance

Escape in Jo’burg...

Man & Machine Titanfall 2 incoming...

ISSUE 88 / Vol.8 October 2016

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rom the 1st of October, 2016, Gamecca Magazine will offer downloads for a nominal fee.

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rom the 1st of October, 2016, Gamecca Magazine will no longer be available for free downloading.

While we will still offer free access to those that want to read the magazine online, downloading Gamecca Magazine will now have a small fee attached.

Our reasons are simple: Firstly, we want to take more control of our distribution, and dissuade piracy and unauthorised distribution of Gamecca Magazine. This will further ensure that readers have access to files that are original, unaltered and safe for use.

We have, for a while now, noticed that on occasion files made available through unauthorised distributors like e-book and torrent sites are the wrong size in terms of data.

That implies that something is awry with the files, and the last thing we want is for our readers to be negatively affected by downloading a Gamecca Magazine issue that someone else has tampered with.

Our goal with Gamecca Magazine is to offer a clean reliable destination where every Gamecca Magazine published since July 2009 is at the fingertips of any reader.

Secondly, by using our official download portal, you will be able to support the source. This will help us in our efforts to not only produce a great magazine every month, but also to grow

From the Editor

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TheSource

by Walt Pretorius

and evolve Gamecca Magazine.

We believe that with this new system, you will not only have access to Gamecca Magazine downloads that are safe and reliable, but we will be able to offer bigger and better issues for our readers around the world.

Now, we would be grateful for the support in helping us make a solid difference in reaching our next level, however if you cannot do so, it’s cool... We still believe in free information and will offer free access to those that want to read the magazine online. If you prefer to read Gamecca for free, you can do so online, at any time, from any computer or smart device.

Downloads will available be at a very low cost - $2.50 for issues published in the last twelve months, and $1.25 for older issues. Every issue we have published in the more than seven years that we have been around will be available on our download portal.

All issues of Gamecca Magazine can be found on our official website – www. gameccamag.com – for browsing and downloading.

Things are really starting to get hot on the gaming front! There are really some awesome titles on the way, including Gears of War 4, Mafia 3 and Titanfall 2, all coming this month. The great October game releases are already piling up on our desks, so I should probably start getting to those. And you have a magazine to get to, as always crammed with gaming and geek goodness! g mgeect 2 c7a 8 8 ggl a ad

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THIS MONTH’S COVER

Those brave young men and their fighting machines... Titanfall 2

Publishing Editor Walt Pretorius walt@novamentis.co.za

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Feature: Man & Machine Explore the bond in Titanfall 2

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Previews: Games 11 games on their way

Art Director Katia Taliadoros katia@novamentis.co.za

Writers: Alex Scanlon Clive Burmeister Lein Baart Nthato Morakabi Rob Edwards Sibonisile Motha Suvesh Arumugam Walt Pretorius

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Feature: Domination Hands-on with Civilization VI

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Reviews: Games 11 games inspected

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Regular: Legacy Playing god

Letters: letters@gameccamag.com

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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 9 bits os super tech

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Regular: Internet The Hashtag Revolutionaries

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Gamecca Vol. 8 Issue 88 October 2016

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Interview: Way Out Escaping in Johannesburg

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COOL STUFF: Gadgets Star in touch

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COOL STUFF: Board Games Table top for the masses!

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COOL STUFF: RPGs open worlds of imagination

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COOL STUFF: Comics books with drawings, hooray!

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COOL STUFF: Books books without drawings, hooray!

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s e d’ c E oi h C

The deep, dark underbellies of these games are as disturbing and relevant as they were when the games were first released, and fans and newcomers alike will be thrilled by not only the massive amount of content on offer.

BioShock: The Collection

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18 22 23 24 26 30 32 33 34 36 40

Features Man & Machine Domination

PReviews Star Trek: Bridge Crew The Dwarves Kingdom Come: Deliverance Silence WRC 6 Get Even Space Hulk: Deathwing Just Dance 2017 Battle Chasers: Nightwar Steep Mark McMorris Infinite Air

Reviews 50 56 60 62 64 66 70 72 76 78 80

Forza Horizon 3 The BioShock Collection NBA 2k17 Earthlock: Festival of Magic Gal-X-E ReCore Destiny: Rise of Iron FIFA 17 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game of the Year Edition Fractured Space Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today

RegularS 84

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Legacy

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October 7th 2016 www.wrcthegame.com

@wrcthegame

WRC The Official Game

WRC 6 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP © 2016 published by Bigben Interactive S.A. and developed by Kylotonn Games. All rights rese rved. An official product of the FIA World Rally Championship, under licence of the WRC Promoter GmbH and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile. Manufacturers, cars, names, brandsdan associated imagery featured in this game are trademarks and/or copyrighted materials of their respective owners.

“WRC” and the WRC logo are registered trademarks of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile. All rights reserved.

Xbox, Xbox One and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft.

“2”, “PlayStation ”, “PS4” and “ Ø ” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.

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. www.apexinteractive.co.za

makro.co.za

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Titanfall 2

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By: Walt Pretorius

Machine ionship in Titanfall 2

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ankind has come to depend on machines. We use them every day, whether it is the car we drive to work in, the computer we work at, or even the kettle we use to make coffee during breaks.

And we rely on them for war, too. Whether they be the rifles that soldiers point at enemies or the massive tanks and other battle vehicles that devastate foes, machine are very much a part of that arena, too. And just like the machines we use in our ever day lives, the machines that one finds of the battlefield are also advancing at an alarming rate.

In 2014’s Titanfall, the relationship between man and their machines of war was examined in a fast-paced, multiplayer, Microsoft exclusive first-person shooter,

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which drew more than a little flak from the PlayStation community. The game was a big selling point for both Electronic Arts and Microsoft, who used it as a springboard for the fledgling Xbox One. There was a lot of excitement for the game overall, but detractors of the exclusive deal argued that the game would perform better on the Sony console, based purely on specifications.

South African fans, also, had a bit of a shock waiting for them when it was announced that Titanfall would not officially be available here. There was an outcry, but EA’s reason – that the local infrastructure would not allow for the game to be experienced properly – held fast, and Titanfall went onto the list of games that South African gamers couldn’t buy in their local store.

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Titanfall 2

Times have changed. After all, technology – including machines – marches on, and things are very different now that Titanfall 2 is about to hit the shelves. It will be available in South Africa, which is great news for local gamers, and it will no longer be exclusive to Microsoft platforms, which is great news for everyone. Titanfall 2 will be available on PC, Xbox One and PS4.

The original Titanfall was a multiplayer only game in which players could pilot massive mechs on a futuristic battlefield made up of numerous outer space colonies.

The development team behind the game – Respawn Entertainment – wanted to introduce scale, verticality and story into the multiplayer arena, utilising best-inclass game dynamics to ensure a fast-paced and exciting

experience. And, arguably, they were the right people to do it: Respawn Entertainment was founded by Jason West and Vince Zampella, the creators of the Call of Duty franchise during their time at Infinity Ward.

The original game garnered a lot of praise. It’s grand nature, fast pace and intelligent systems outweighed elements like a slightly poor enemy AI. But one area in which the game drew a lot of negative response was the narrative, which some described as clichéd and shallow, while others mused that it was little more than background noise and window dressing. And some pointed out that the performance of the Xbox One was simply not up to scratch to run a game like Titanfall, which performed very well on PC. Still, the positive outweighed

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the negative. GameSpot called it “a great leap forward for shooters”, while EGM stated that Titanfall was “unquestionably worthy of all the praises sung about it”.

And now, two years later, the second instalment of this game is about to hit the shelves. Titanfall 2 addresses some of the issues that were had with the previous version, including moving onto PS4 and coding tweaks to improve overall performance and other systems on all platforms. Perhaps most importantly, though, is that Titanfall 2 will feature something that was tried in the first game, but fell flat – a story. Telling a tale in a ultiplayer game is tricky, though, and to deliver a stronger plot, Titanfall 2 will include something that many felt was sorely lacking in the original… a

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single-player campaign.

“With the original Titanfall, we focused on nailing the gameplay and reinventing the way you move and fight in a first person shooter,” Vince Zampella stated in a June 2016 press release. “With Titanfall 2, we’re building on that foundation by introducing a bespoke single player campaign backed by a deeper multiplayer experience that together will once again push the shooter genre forward.”

From the trailers and screen shots available online, there is no reason to disbelieve that statement. The single player campaign looks exciting and action packed, while the multiplayer game is an insane meshing of human and mech combat that is quick and brutal. Visually appealing and full of excellent models, effects and arenas, Titanfall

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Titanfall 2

2 promises to make a big splash (probably with a barrage of rockets not far behind). Respawn’s understanding of great shooter mechanics will likely shine through, much like it did in the original game, and players are almost guaranteed of exhilarating fights in crammed servers, even in this jaded market.

The core idea of man and machine, and their unique relationship in the Titanfall universe, remains central to the game, even when you’ll be running through enemy fire like a mad jackrabbit on steroids. And that’s part of the appeal, as the game varied between the fast-paced, wall-running – but more fragile – pilots and their massive, lumbering war machines. This mixture of theme and pacing is just part of what will help Titanfall 2 reach its

goals in once again redefining the multiplayer shooter experience, and auto-scaling hybrid cloud technology provided by Multiplay should ensure that early server issues are kept to a minimum (we can only hope, because it is likely that this game is going to go crazy within the first few days of release).

Naturally, as with any speculative article, all of this remains to be seen, and many of the impacts made on the overall franchise made by this second instalment will go unnoticed by those who were unable to play the game before. But, even if you don’t notice the new mechs and equipment, or the tweaks to game dynamics, or the new environments, Titanfall 2 should deliver. We’ll know for sure towards the end of this month. g

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Star Trek: Bridge GAMING

On The Cutting Edge

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Star Trek: Bridge Crew

by Lein Baart

e Crew

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In what is perhaps the most thematically apt use of gaming technology this year, Star Trek: Bridge Crew will be one of three Ubisoft titles released exclusively for VR, featuring support for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR. Boasting full body avatars and real-time lip synching, it appears to be a genuinely impressive technical display, though given the fact that VR is still in its infancy it’s impossible to judge how immersive this will prove to be.

Harking back to the gameplay of Star Trek: Bridge Commander (one of the few good Star Trek titles to have been created), the game will place players in one of four roles, namely the captain, engineer, helmsman or tactical, aboard the newly minted USS Aegis. With all these roles

GAMING

aming has not been particularly kind to Star Trek over the last decade, and rarely any better before this. With a slew of titles that have been half-baked at best, forgoing the examination of contemporary issues in favour generic space combat, people have become rightfully wary of any game released bearing the franchise’s name, leading what would appear to be a perfect blend of entertainment mediums to become rather underserved. While it’s doubtful this trend could be reversed with just one game, Star Trek: Bridge Crew is gearing up to be an innovative experiment in gameplay design, and hopefully will herald a renaissance for the franchise in the gaming market.

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Star Trek: Bridge Crew

required for the essential functioning of the ship, Bridge Crew will emphasis cooperative gameplay between players, though AI teammates will be available for solo gaming.

Set in the alternate universe created by JJ Abrams for the reboot, Bridge Crew will see players exploring a mostly unknown region of space called The Trench in attempt to find a new world for the decimated Vulcan populace, with the Klingon Empire apparently serving as the primary adversary. It’s impossible to say how much emphasis the game will place on its plot, but Star Trek has always been known for its examination of contemporary issues through its science fiction setting, and hopefully this tradition will carry through to the release. For those just interested

in a quick fix Bridge Crew will also include a procedural mission generation, dubbed “Ongoing Missions”, which should extend the longevity of the title a fair bit.

VR is not a technology that has promised a lot of social interaction in gaming, indeed appearing at times to be the very definition of isolationist as it secludes you in potentially countless virtual words. Red Storm Entertainment and Ubisoft seem to be not only trying to bridge this divide but provide a compelling simulation of what life as Federation officer might be like. It’s difficult to say whether Star Trek: Bridge Crew will provide immersive gaming instead of quickly forgotten gimmicks, but it’s hard not to be excited by the possibilities it presents. g

AT A GLANCE RPG Adventure

The tech might still prove to be too immature for Bridge Crew’s ambitions, though it remains intriguing nonetheless Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Red Storm Entertainment Ubisoft Megarom

Nov 2016

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PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

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King Art Games THQ Nordic Apex Interactive

PLATFORMS

tag line here, tag line here

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE Action RPG

While nothing stands out as being particularly innovative, The Dwarves should nonetheless appeal RPG fans.

gamecca88

by Lein Baart

The Dwarves

ideo games have had a surprisingly good run over the last couple of years when adapting other media to digital format. The Witcher, Shadow of Mordor and Alien: Isolation have proven that gaming can significantly add to fictional works, allowing players to explore worlds that only existed in the minds of readers.

It’s a process fraught with pitfalls however, and one that German developer King Art Games will have to successfully navigate for The Dwarves to enter the hallowed company listed above.

Based on the book of the same name by Markus Heitz, The Dwarves will tell the tale of Tungdil Goldhand, a humanraised dwarven blacksmith that embarks on a journey filled with most of your high fantasy tropes. For those unacquainted with series expect the spectre of Tolkien to loom large throughout the plot, though for fans of RPGs this should admittedly not be much of an issue.

Where The Dwarves aims to distinguish itself is in its gameplay. Described by the studio as a tactical overhead RPG, the game will showcase a range of features that while not unheard of are uncommon.

Gamers will have access to 15 playable characters spanning a host of races over the course of the story, and according to the developers this will allow for both a huge diversity in your approach to combat as well as provide the chance to build relationships between party members. Battling itself will be strategic chaos, as The Dwarves will frequently pit your party against overwhelming numbers of enemies. To counter this you will have the ability to pause combat to give orders, and use the environment to your benefit, such as knocking foes off high ledges. g

The Dwarves

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Kingdom Come: Deliverance

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Kingdom Come: Deliverance Yes, a true story-based RPG.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Warhorse Studios Warhorse Studios Online

PLATFORMS

GAMING

TBA 2017

knees and under his rule (this is a genuine story in history). In the siege, Sigismund’s army of mercenaries destroyed your home and basically wiped out your entire family. This is enough to begin your quest as a hero to seek some sort of justice.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance, has quests that can vary from interesting to dark. With every quest there are multiple options of approach to achieve them. You can be your charming and very diplomatic self, or hit now and ask questions later. The things you do will affect your reputation within the community and this can be to your

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

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advantage or detriment.

Warhorse Studios have accomplished a gaming first – real historical European sword fighting. They got a few highly experienced swordfighter to help the with their animation process. This means that the player will experience genuine era-based combat. Accuracy, timing and strategy will be a challenge to master and conquer for players. This could be a great plus for this game.

Mastering of one-on-one sword combat will help when faced with real army battles.

Serious work has been out into this one. g

AT A GLANCE First person, RPG, Sandbox

With so many nifty little things put into this game, one can only hope it meets expectations and maybe exceed them.

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by Sibonisile Motha

K

ingdom Come: Deliverance, an RPG based on a true story.

Yes, this may sound odd for an RPG because it would be weird if we suddenly found out that other RPGs with really weird and scary stuff was based on a true story too. But this is different. Thank goodness there is no magic in this game (there is alchemy).

Set in the 15th century in Bohemia, Europe, your character is unfortunately brought into the world of a war you never asked for. A very bitter halfbrother, Sigismund, of the now-king, Wenceslas IV, seeks to overthrow his bro and bring the country to its

Silence

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Silence I

have come to admire Dadalic Entertainment for their pursuit of releasing different and beautiful games that sometimes appear to be a genre of their own. Silence is another one of those games.

It is story game full of intrigue, mystery, discovery and adventure. In this game you will play as a 16 year old boy named Noah who seems to have no one else left in this world other than his dear little sister Renie. As this brother-sister duo take shelter in a bunker from airstrikes in the real world, they discover a passage to a dream-like place called the Whispered World. Even though they have taken shelter from war in the real world, the Whispered World has a war of its own that Noah must navigate through to save it and his sister whom he lost in the real world. This story seems to be much deeper than meets the eye, as this world, its war, its secrets, dangers and evils, is a world within Noah as much as it is around him. But he isn’t alone as he must not only save this dreamscape world but also protect all he has, Renie.

The visuals for this game are described by Daedalic as being,”How beautiful 3D and 2D visuals can be if they’re fused by elaborate technology”. This fusion does an excellent job of immersing the player in this fantasy world. All the beauties and evils are wonderfully created to accompany you on your quest. Exploration and discovery will be even more of a pleasure to embark on with this wonderful technology.

Silence appears to be a nicely done and elaborate attempt at creating a game where visuals and story are almost one and the same thing. g

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Daedalic Entertainment Daedalic Entertainment Online

PLATFORMS

by Sibonisile Motha

Dreams can be real.

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE Modern adventure

This strong story motivated title will hopefully deliver on the beauty and adventure it seems to promise to bring to life.

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WRC 6 GAMING

Racing to a new level of realism and

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WRC 6

by Nthato Morakabi

d excitement.

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faithful to its core aims of being an all-action game, taking in classic rallies and legendary special stages across all types of road surfaces. All of these improvements geared towards even more exciting and true to life gaming experiences.

Along with looking better, WRC will be the only game to have authentic and current car liveries (graphics on the vehicle). Liveries will feature Volkswagen Motorsport, Hyundai Motorsport, Abu Dhabi Total Word Rally Team, and the M-Sport World Rally Team represented in their 2016 World Rally Cars colours.

All the leading World Rally Car drivers will be available in WRC 6, from a wide selection of WRC 2 and Junior WRC competitors, to triple world champion and Volkswagen Motorsport driver SĂŠbastien Ogier. Belgian driver and

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orld Rally Championship is a racing title that has been around for over a decade.

Although experiencing a break between 2005 and 2010, with a change in developers between, WRC is still one of the leading Rally titles next to contenders Dirt (previously Colin McRae Rally) and upcoming title SĂŠbastien Loeb Rally Evo. Supported by FIA World Rally Championship, much from the rally world has been plugged into WRC 6 to make it as authentic as possible.

WRC 6 will see a major overall improvement in both graphics and audio, developers Kylotonn boasting that the WRC experience on the Xbox One and PS4 will have a new level of realism and excitement. Oliver Ciesla, the WRC Promoter managing director, stated that WRC 6 will remain

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WRC 6

Hyundai Motorsport driver Thierry Neuville, Great Britain representative and Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team driver Kris Meeke, and Norwegian driver and Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT member, Mads Østberg, will all also appear as selectable drivers.

WRC 6 will have all 16 rounds of the 2016 season, from Monte-Carlo through to Sweden, Mexico, Argentina, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Finland, Germany, the new rally in China, France, Spain, Great Britain, and Australia. As with actual rallies, players can expect to drift across dirt, tar or snow-encrusted roads, enjoying environments reflecting their real-life counterparts. New special stages will also make an appearance in WRC 6, including the brand new head-to-head Super Special Stages. Featuring narrower

roads and longer special stages, players can enjoy a greater Rally experience across the different game modes.

WRC 5 saw the introduction of eSports WRC, the first international online competition for WRC. Players set their best times in a series of five online qualifying rounds played across the months and season rounds, much like real life Rally stages. WRC 6 will continue running the eSports WRC, with improvements in access, rules, and formats. All of these new changes will be revealed closer to WRC 6’s release.

Players who pre-order WRC 6, will receive a Toyota Yaris WRC test car as a DLC, developed by Toyota Gazoo Racing in light of the vehicle’s awaited return to the championship in the coming season. g

AT A GLANCE Racing

Experience the World Rally Championship with in depth visual realism and all the WRC excitement.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Kylotonn Bigben Interactive Apex Interactive

Oct 2016

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The Farm 51 Bandai Namco Entertainment Megarom

PLATFORMS

Memory in an asylum.

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE Psychological Thriller, Action

With all the delay in the release of this game, hopefully the one that will eventually be out is worth the wait.

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by Sibonisile Motha

Get Even

think there is nothing more enjoyable for a horror or psychological thriller game developer than for them to mess with our heads, even long after we have finished playing the game itself. Get Even is The Farm 51’s attempt to inflict the same torture on us. Published

by Bandai Namco, Get Even is a twisted little psychological thriller with a unique storyline.

You are Cole Black - a man who awakens to find himself in an old and almost completely abandoned asylum. With absolutely no recollection of memories surrounding how he got there, all he can remember is trying to save a teenage girl in the unfortunate situation of having a bomb strapped onto her chest. This is much to process but you have to figure it out. Challenge is, along with no recollection of your memories, you now have a strange device fused to your head. This device is capable of reading and playing back human memory. With everything your own head wiped out, every now and again the device will pull you back in to some things in your head. All of this to hopefully figure out your arrival, and the teenage girl’s story.

The developer has mentioned that there are a lot of twists along the way. Done right, this could have you questioning your own sanity.

To help you along the way, at your disposal are weapons, an advanced GPS and forensic scanning device and maybe even ironically that weird device on your head. The weapons were designed and animators to accomplish the goal of simulating as close as possible the real things. The title gave me a hunch about this story but I guess I will have to wait and see. g

Get Even

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Space Hulk: Deathwing

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Space Hulk: Deathwing Grimdark FPS

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Streum on Studio Focus Home Interactive Apex Interactive

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GAMING

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direction, and Space Hulk: Deathwing will be a very different experience to what you would otherwise suspect.

A first-person shooter in which players, either cooperatively or by themselves, will form part of a fourman squad of Dark Angels Terminators, Deathwing hasn’t completely abandoned its roots however. Gamers will be tasked with exploring massive derelict gothic-themed space ships (Warhammer 40k has always blended brutality with a dash of quirkiness), filled with a host of right-angled corridors for Genestealers (think of the aliens from the Aliens movie) to jump

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

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out of, and players will be forced to rely on teamwork and tactics to survive.

To aid in this Deathwing will offer gamers an array of weaponry, both from the universe as well as unique items, to allow squads to mix and match tactics to suit their environment. The game will also feature a relatively uncommon health system, with injuries being localised to specific body parts such as arms and legs, which will prevent players from using the limb should it become too damaged, and perhaps causing a hasty adjustment to your squad’s strategy. g

AT A GLANCE FPS

Deathwing appears to capture the dark mood of Warhammer 40k, though it remains to be seen if the gameplay will provide the same level of strategy.

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by Lein Baart

W

arhammer 40k is not a particularly easy entry into table top war gaming.

With a history spanning nearly three decades, an ungodly amount of lore and a myriad set of rules, it’s a daunting concept for first time players.

While Space Hulk has proven a capable bridge over the years as a board game, it has been a rather hit-and-miss affair when it comes to digital adaptations, with Full Control’s 2013 edition been largely panned for being too faithful to its source material. Streum on Studio appear to have taken heed of this and have headed in the entirely opposite

Just Dance 2017

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Just Dance 2017 J

ust Dance has had a pretty successful history of spreading the love and fun of hip-swinging-justget-loose dancing fun to the masses. This has been attributed to many not having to endure the shame of being out-danced by a 5 year old at the arcade anymore. You can just let loose in your own living room.

Just Dance 2017 has taken the saying “If it’s not broke, why fix it?” by saying let’s see how they can make this better for the fans. And that is exactly what they have done. They have introduced a way to play the game without requiring the camera or extra accessories. It is called the Just Dance Controller App. All a player has to do is download the app on their phones for free and then they can use their mobile phones as a controller to play the game. The player’s mobile phone will track and keep score of their progress throughout the game.

Dancing doesn’t really feel like dancing when there’s no music (look, it can when you’re the dancer but it’s just a little weird when you witness it). So Ubisoft have added quite a few songs that have the crowds moving right now. All in all, Ubisoft says there will be around 200 songs for dancers to enjoy. There will also be Just Dance Streaming and as time goes by more songs will be added and available to groove to.

There isn’t much to be desired by the graphic of this kind of game, as long as it creates the vibe of the music and you can clearly see your dancing instructions I guess it’s enough for its purpose. So Just Dance. g

GAMING

Oct 2016 Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Ubisoft Ubisoft Megarom

PLATFORMS

by Sibonisile Motha

Two hops this time

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE Music video game

Whether you have two left feet or are a natural, this is a game to have fun with friends & family along to some catchy tunes.

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TBA 2017 Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Airship Syndicate THQ Nordic Apex Interactive

PLATFORMS

Explore. Discover. Prepare for battle.

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE RPG,

First time might just be a charm for this first project by Airship Syndicate.

gamecca88

by Sibonisile Motha

Battle Chasers: Nightwar

he growth of the gaming industry is something one cannot deny. And it is always wonderful to see more independent game developers get more spotlight and recognition.

This is why a game like Battle Chasers: Nightwar is fun to see develop. Created by the independent developer Airship Syndicate, this is the studio’s first project. The team at Airship Syndicate is one of a collective of experienced participants of gaming development. If you didn’t trust their credentials, maybe the fact that they have worked on titles such as Diablo III, Darksiders, League of Legends and so forth, would you persuade you to see what they come up with in Battle Chasers: Nightwar.

Set in a rather mysterious world of the Crescent Isle, you will s your way through a world of discovery, dungeons and of course battles. The dungeons are said to be random and all 5+ star difficulty (I do foresee some rage quitting if they really are as difficult as Airship Syndicate says).

There isn’t much that has been given away with regards to a storyline. That is a mystery encouraged for you to explore and find out for yourself as you get to see more of the world created.

As with most RPGs, you can craft your weapons and tools that you will need for all your battles and exploration. You can also upgrade towns.

This is a visual JRPG game format. Combat is turn-based.

Now depending in how well Airship Syndicate has done in this area of the game, this can be a really great, fun and challenge experience for players or a frustrating one. The use of strategy in combat will be advantageous to the player in this instance. Time will tell this game’s success. g

Battle Chasers: Nightwar

E M W A VIE G E R P

Take on the role of a modern farmer! Explore a huge open world, including a new North American environment. Enjoy over 250 authentic vehicles and tools from over 75 brands such as Challenger, Fendt, Valtra or Massey Ferguson.

Harvest crops, take care of your livestock, take part in forestry, transport your goods with truck, trailer and now trains - then sell your products to expand your farm. Grow your farm online with other players, and download community created mods for an ever-expanding gaming experience!

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© 2016 GIANTS Software GmbH. Published and distributed by Focus Home Interactive under license of Giants Software. Farming Simulator, Giants Software and its logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Giants Software. Focus, Focus Home Interactive its logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Focus Home Interactive. The agricultural machines and equipment in this game may be different from the actual machines in shapes, colours and performance. Challenger® is a registered trademark of Caterpillar Inc. and is used under licence by AGCO. Challenger®, Fendt®, Valtra® and Massey Ferguson® are worldwide brands of AGCO. All rights reserved. All other names, trademarks and logos are property of their respective owners. «2»,»PlayStation»,»PS4», «À» are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. «Ø» is a trademark of the same company. Kinect, Xbox One and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft. All the marks and registered trademarks belong to their respective owner. All rights reserved to their respective owners.

Distributed Exclusively by Apex Interactive Tel: (011) 796 5040

Email: sales@apexinteractive.co.za All rights and trademarks and logos are copyright of their respective owners.

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E M W A VIE G E R P

Steep GAMING

An exhilarating thrill-seeker’s delig

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Every inch of those mountains and snow are yours to turn into your playground. Explore. Crash. Maybe die. Have a blast. The world of Steep is truly breathtaking. And it’s a nice experience considering that we don’t have snow-capped endless peaks in our own back yard.

Now let’s move on to the experience of the game.

Exploring the majestic peaks will be a pleasure, all you have to do is choose how you want to do it. You can choose to snowboard, ski, paraglide or be in a wingsuit (a first-hand view of the views). Each one uniquely awesome to try out and master, but also just as hard to get used to (as in real life one would imagine). With each and every mode of transport

GAMING

bisoft have done it again ladies and gentlemen. This time with an impressively-looking extreme sports game called Steep. If Steep doesn’t grab your attention with its stunning environment captured by the amazing graphics, believe me when I say it will have you some other way, more on that later. When it comes to the environment, Ubisoft set this one in Alps and Alaska. If you know anything about the Alps, you’ll come to respect the sheer magnitude it possess, and Ubisoft did not shy away from the challenge of creating such an environment. What really makes this setting special is the element of it being open world.

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you chose, you can not only go wild, but constantly challenge yourself as each slope is its own obstacle course. The more time you spend practising the better you become and obviously the more fun you’ll experience. You can decide to pursuit in solo mode, or in the online community. There are some games where playing online doesn’t add much to a game as much as it doesn’t take away from it.

Ubisoft here, encourage it. And I completely agree with this move. Picture snowboarding down a slope and to your left you see another player skiing down another path, while a paraglider swoops above you only to be overtaken by a guy in a wingsuit with a death wish. That I find to be an almost genius move

to really push players to challenge one another (in the form of races that are available) and also have an added adrenalin rush experience. In the quest to continue to really add value to the online and solo campaign playing facet, you can review your trail, replay it, rewind it, pause it anywhere you choose, and even go slow motion. This can be used for you to see your mistakes or relive your moments of awesomeness. Oh and you can choose a moment on your trail that you thought you were just completely badass and share the playback video on your social media pages or even pose it as a challenge to your online friends. This is one game designed to be thoroughly enjoyed. Again and again. g

AT A GLANCE Sports, action

This is not just for the adrenalin junkies, but will create thrill seekers out of everyone who plays this game.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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Ubisoft Ubisoft Megarom

Dec 2016

Platforms

GENRE

ETA

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Mark McMorris Infinite Air

E M W A VIE G E R P

Mark McMorris Infinite Air

Realistic big air with Mark McMorris

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

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HB Studios Maximum Games TBC

PLATFORMS

GAMING

Dec 2016

In an ambitious effort to create a realistic title, the team at HB Studios brought in the top snowboarder to offer feedback to the development team.

Working towards fluid analog controls and physics-driven animations – Infinite Air hopes to be an authentic take on snowboarding titles.

For the last couple of years, we have seen procedurally generated content spiral out across genres. From Spore to No Man’s Sky. Infinite Air takes advantage of this to have an endless number of mountains to explore in infinite runs. A map editor will also offer a range of tools to create custom skate parks along the

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

vast mountain ranges.

Challenges will include real-world events, head-to-head Slopestyle, Big Air and Halfpipe competitions, as well as free runs in the backcountry, where a helicopter drops you anywhere you wish and it’s all downhill from there.

Of course it wouldn’t be complete without some online interaction. Most significant will be the ability to share the courses created with others online, while being able to enjoy other players’ creations.

Infinite Air may be one of the launching pads to bring extreme sports back into popularity. g

AT A GLANCE Sports

Infinite Air is a realistic snowboarding title featuring top snowboarder Mark McMorris and an open world for the best snorwboarders.

gamecca88

by Nthato Morakabi

T

here was once a time when skating games were all the rage.

When Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was a household name and when you spoke about snownboarding, SSX came to the fore. In these last few years we have yet to have a standout boarding title from a AAA publisher, save for Ubisoft’s Steep, leaving the playing field wide open for indie developers.

Maximum Games, the publishers behind The Technomancer, have dug through the snow and worked out a snowboarding title featuring renowned snowboarder and 12-time Winter X Games medallist, Mark McMorris.

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How-to participate: 1. Scan the code above and fill-out our short questionnaire 2. Visit the Evetech booth, show your submit page 3. Claim your Giveaway Prize

On our Facebook, tell us: 1. Which MSI model you use currently? MB or VGA model name?

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5. Sharing your experience with MSI product as more as you want.

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Civilization VI

nation Civilization VI

by:

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Walt Pretorius

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t can be a fascinating thing to track the shifts in the tides of gaming. Mostly the industry progresses through incremental changes, with releases building on the foundations of games that came before them. In this way we have seen the slow diffusion of RPG mechanics into almost every other genre, witnessed the transformation of the first person shooter from challenge driven bulletfests into spectacle filled puppet shows, and watched the rise and fall of genres like the 2D platformer. Every now and again however, whether by chance or by design it seems like a slew of developers hit on the same idea and suddenly we find ourselves playing titles that have created whole new standards in gaming. While seamless multiplayer appears to be the flavour of choice at the moment, with Shadow Realms and Fable Legends due later this year, 2015 looks set to play host to new modes of online gaming, one in which the playing fields are not level and

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imbalance is the whole point. Asymmetrical multiplayer has arrived, and Turtle Rock Studios is leading the charge with Evolve.

The Civilization brand has been around for absolute ages… twenty-five years, in fact. It has, through those years, been a definer (and champion) of the 4X idea – explore, expand, exploit and exterminate.

With detailed empire management as one of its cornerstones, the Civilization franchise has grown from strength to strength. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, with an almost sedate, turnbased structure and rigid grid format, but those that play Civilization love it, and get all excited whenever a new instalment is announced.

Which isn’t all that often. Sure, the spin offs have filed gaps, but it has taken 25 years to produce six versions of the core game, and that sixth version is about to arrive for drooling fans around the world.

For its entire run, the Civilization franchise has pretty much delivered more of the same. At times, this is

a bad thing, but in the case of Civilization, that’s exactly what fans want. And it’s no different, based on our initial hands-on session, in Civilization VI. Players still need to lead their chosen Civilization from ancient times to the stars.

The code that we got to try out for Civilization VI was not final code yet, so this is not a review as such.

Rather, I am going share initial impressions on what looks like it will be a high-point in the franchise.

One of the limitations was a restriction to being able to play only half of the available nations. Each nation has a strong leader, and the ten on display were already pretty impressive. In fact, even half of the options provide enough opportunity to choose a nation which has advantages that tie in to almost any approach to the game. Players will be able to trim their decisions on leaders according to the type of victory that they are after.

The victories available are Domination (beating everyone up), Religious 9telling everyone

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Civilization VI

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what they believe is wrong), Culture (bringing in foreign tourists), Science (a combination of three space-based criteria) or Score (the highest number tally after 500 turns). This leads to numerous options.

For one play-through I decided to become an utter warmonger, devastating any nation of city-state that got in my way. For another, I decided to follow a more peaceful means, and spread word of my self-defined religion through the lands by way of an army of missionaries and apostles, and hardly ever raising a sword in anger (although fighting off attackers did happen a number of times).

There were other restrictions, including game speed and difficulty level, but the one that initially got my back up was map size.

If I am going to build an empire, it needs to be vast. However, I soon discovered that the large map – which houses ten civilisations in total – was plenty big enough, and before long the politics and blades were flying.

And there’s one map

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size larger coming in the final release, which I assume will house 20 civilisations.

Now that’s something ambitious types can sink their teeth into.

Perhaps one of the most impressive aspects of the hands-on experience, though, was the absolute accessibility that Civilization VI offers. A game like this can prove to be intimidating to newcomers, but thanks to a vast amount of instructional and reference resources, by the time things get complicated (which they always do in a Civ game) any player should have a decent understanding of why Spain just declared war on them.

Suffice to say that this initial peek at what Civilization VI has to offer has me extremely excited. Little things like combining units and creating larger armies in a single hex tile, active research that is effected by other actions and an improved diplomacy model really elevate the overall feel of the game. The smart player will be rewarded, and those that manage to

get their progression right will still be able to take out club-wielding barbarians with tanks (which was always an odd appeal for me in Civ games).

The careful balancing act is still there for those that want to take a more measured approach to their empire building, but Civilization VI still allows for the varied approach of blasting your way across the landscape in a furious war bent on dominating the planet. And, of course, variable policy and religious belief decisions can help you attain your goals, no matter what path you choose to take.

Perhaps best of all, though, is the knowledge that the game I played was not final code. Despite that, it performed admirably, with great graphics and no bugs that I could find.

Excellent voicing also adds to the experience, accompanied by some great music.

All of this around a deep and complex title (even with those restrictions).

Civilization VI is looking extremely good indeed. g

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Civilization VI

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E M W A IE G EV R

- Horizon Forza 3 GAMING

The great wide open

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Forza Horizon 3

by Walt Pretorius

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one driving game that celebrate driving with very few limits. And yes, it’s unlikely that you’re going to be doing “agricultural landscaping” in an Italian sports car in real life, but here that doesn’t matter. Here it’s about the joy of it, whether you prefer your racing tight and regimented, or just plain crazy.

The first part in allowing the player to really break free of the bonds that many racing simulators place on them is the landscape. Setting Forza Horizon 3 in Australia has opened up the options for the developers, and provides players with four overarching zones to play in. There are the coastal rain forests and sweeping beaches that the game starts out in, with later expansion (at the player’s choice) to move out into the tight, regimented courses of a major city, the sweeping roads of rural wine-country and, of course,

GAMING

ith the third instalment of the Forza Horizon sub-franchise, Turn 10 has managed to claim a spot right at the top of the street racing roster – perhaps even the prime seat itself, based on personal opinions. Here is a game that throws a truck-load of “impressive” at the player, and then gives them all kinds of freedoms to have fun with. It’s the only game that has allowed me to do donuts in an orchard while driving a Lamborghini Aventador, for example, while the song blaring over the radio guaranteed that I would earn double skill points. It is also the only game that has allowed me to craft races to suit my specific tastes, like slinging powerful off-road vehicles around a tight city track, or blasting Japanese supercars through a multi-surfaced “scramble”. Forza Horizon 3 is the

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the red barren stretches of the Outback. All of these zones offer their own charms, whether it be from the type of races they seem to favour or their distinct looks, and they blend into each other in seamless and well executed fashions. Taking one of the longer races will see you traverse all of the zones, and you will really feel like you are travelling huge distances as the race effortlessly (and believable) transitions through desert, city, rural areas and coastal rain forests.

While the entire map is available to the player right from the start, part of the game’s customisation puts the task of establishing new Horizon Festival HQs into the player’s hands. There are four – one for each setting – and the player can decide where the next festival or upgrade will be, as soon as they earn enough fans for the expansion. Each new festival or

upgrade unlocks new events, and each area tends towards certain types of surfaces (and consequently event types).

There is a lot of variety here, in that regard. You will be able to blissfully blast away along tar, or splash through rivers as you barrel along dirt roads… or even leave the road behind and go ape cross country. The only limits as to where you can take your car – any car – are the edges of the massive map.

But just because certain areas favour certain types of surfaces doesn’t mean that you’re going to be restricted in your event choices. Driving the tight city circuits isn’t all about street performers, and the Outback’s copious dirt roads aren’t just for 4x4s. Not in this game. The player will be able to customise every event to suit their tastes, including car classes,

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more polished, users can set their own challenges for friends as well – be it blasting along a stretch of road in under a prescribed time, or making a massive jump, or setting a skill score total.

This all adds to the community feeling of this game, as does the ability to undertake a career in four-player coop, if you choose. Hiring the drivatars of other players and having your earn money by being on your friend’s in-game teams adds even more.

Add to that the highly customisable, great feeling driving dynamics, and you’ve got a real winner on your hands. There are numerous assists and difficulty levels to tweak, although you’ll earn more in-game money if things are a bit more challenging. Still, it is a game that is very accessible, and while it might not feature the nuts-and-bolts accuracy that die-hard petrol heads

GAMING

weather, time of day and the name of the event. So if you want to race Ferraris through the Outback, or take American Classic muscles cars cross-country, you can. These “blueprint” events are also shared with your friends and the community, and come with all the completion rewards that any “official” event would offer. In other word every race start point has the potential to become literally hundreds of different event types. The replayability, thanks to that, is awesome.

That even counts for some of the PR stunts. You can’t do much with the main showcases, like racing a chopper or train or power boats, but Turn 10 extended the blueprint idea to the game’s bucket list. While the official bucket list events – which are great for gathering fans – tend to feel a little

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demand, it never feels overly forgiving or arcade either.

But it gets even better – despite being an awesome celebration of free-roaming driving, the show really gets stolen by the visuals. Sadly, all the glitz and glamour is restricted to 30 fps, but it’s a pretty steady 30 fps when all is said and done. And the visuals – of the cars, the landscape and the lighting effects – are absolutely awesome. They are supported by great sound, too, with rich engine sounds and throaty exhaust notes rounding out the experience. And thanks to the highly customisable vehicles (of which there are a great number), the entire presentation will have even the most ardent in-cabin or bumper-cam adherent skipping to chase-cam view every so often, just to drink it all in.

There are times when the sheer volume of things to do within Forza Horizon 3 may feel a bit overwhelming – completionists, particularly, may feel a bit of frustration when new events pop up on courses that they have already completed a few times. But this is really part of the joy, because even though Forza Horizon 3 is all about racing, you don’t have to race your way through it. The experience can be as fastpaced or as sedate as you want it to be. Turn 10 have managed to realise a greater integration of freedom and community in Forza Horizon 3 than anyone has managed before, and it would be a real shame to try and get through it all as fast as possible. So while you’re driving at break-neck speeds in the game, it is best to treat it like a leisurely Sunday drive through the beautiful countryside. g

AT A GLANCE Racing

REVIEWED ON

A massive world, lots of cars and tons of customisation help make this a driving game full of freedom and fun.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Turn 10 Microsoft Microsoft

PARENTAL ADVISORY

3+ gamecca88

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

x0 PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

95 55

E M W A IE G EV R

The BioShock C GAMING

A return to weirdness

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The BioShock Collection

by Walt Pretorius

Collection

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time that the three full length games and their DLC packs offer is massive. However, it is important to remember that these games are reworked and remastered. The original games were released in 2007, 2010 and 2013.

And even though the most recent game is only three years old, it was created for the previous hardware generation – and besides, three years is almost an eternity in gaming these days. This means that the games may, at times, feel a little old fashioned in their approach.

The oldest game – 2007’s BioShock – shows the most in terms of visual upgrading, but even though it looks a little anachronistic when compared to the stuff being made these days, the sunken city of Rapture is still interesting, enticing and detailed. The dark, dank depths of the city are a joy to explore, and while the character models also feel a little on the old side, they are still every bit as

GAMING

eplaying the original BioShock as part of the BioShock Collection was massively nostalgic for me. This was the game that taught me how to play first-person shooters on console – because I simply had to play it, and PS3 was the only option at the time. Not only did it teach me how to aim with analog sticks, but it introduced me to a thrilling and engaging new world. And now, with the BioShock Collection, the next generation of consoles can enjoy the three games that form part of the BioShock franchise, along with all the DLC, bundled into one massive adventure.

The BioShock Collection is made up of BioShock, BioShock 2 and BioShock: Infinite, all great games in their own right. To see all three bundled together is absolutely great, because the massive amount of play

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disturbing (terrifying, even) as when we first saw them.

BioShock 2 has also had an upgrade visually, although less noticeably than the original title. Once again, Rapture looks and feels great with the reworking, particularly in terms of lighting.

The game that got the least attention is also the one that feels a little like the odd one out – BioShock: Infinite.

Here, the floating city of Columbia is still beautiful and gleaming, despite its rotten core, but the visual upgrades are far more subtle, with higher resolutions and improved, smoother frame rates being at the core.

What hasn’t changed are the disturbing settings and twisted plots that these games offer. Combining gun-play with super-power like abilities gained in-game makes for great fun, and the imaginative settings and NPC models are a visual treat (even while they’re peppering you with

bullets). All three games were extremely well put together when they were originally made, and the few cracks that they show in this collection (thanks to being older) are extremely forgivable – sometimes not even noticeable, in fact. The rich and deep settings and twisted plots will have you ignoring any issues before long.

All three games are great to re-experience, and if you somehow haven’t played them before, the BioShock Collection is a great place to start. The deep, dark underbellies of these games are as disturbing and relevant as they were when the games were first released, and fans and newcomers alike will be thrilled by not only the massive amount of content on offer, but also by the twisted, dark themes and visceral combat that all three games have on offer. The BioShock Collection is a great buy, a tour de force of the strange and weird. g

AT A GLANCE First-person shooter

A great reworking of three classic, macabre and dark shooters... excellent fun for fans and newcomers alike.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

2K Games 2K games Prima Interactive

PARENTAL ADVISORY

18+ gamecca88

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

88 59

E M W A IE G EV R

NBA 2k17 Take to the court

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realistically simulate a sport that has so many variables in real life – but, for the most part, this series of basketball games has managed to consistently deliver the goods.

Even some of the top franchises around have slower years, but 2K have managed to keep the advancements, new technologies and tweaks running smoothly through the NBA 2K franchise, making NBA 2K17 (the latest instalment) the best one yet.

With that said, it is good to note that NBA 2K17 is not perfect. Every now and then a pass will feel floaty, which sometimes affects fast ball play. But the game gets so much else right that the occasional sluggish pass can be forgiven. Additionally, sometimes the control feels a little more flawed than it should, like getting players into position to start a play, or when some guys forces you out of the way while you’re on defence. They’re small

GAMING

or many years, EA dominated the ranks of sports simulations. Sure, others tried, and still do, to undo the giant, but when you consider that much of this publisher’s success is built on producing great sports titles, it’s pretty understandable that they’ll be putting excellent teams on these products.

Every now and then, though, another publisher will manage to blast their way through the EA blockade and take a top spot from the behemoth. And while you can always argue the merits of one game against another (like FIFA vs PES) there are some that truly stand out and dominate… like 2K’s NBA 2K series.

If there is one thing that is for sure, it’s that the NBA 2K fanchise does basketball right. Sure, there are niggles – there always will be when you’re trying to

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There are two distinct career modes on offer, too.

MyCareer allows you to guide a player through to the top of their game, and is much freer this time around (the last instalment’s career mode felt far too governed and linear). There is also the MyGM mode, which allows you to take on the role of a manager and get into the nitty gritty of running a team. This mode is surprisingly free and deep, and those that love stats and behind-thescenes action will likely get a big kick out of it.

Overall, even with its handful of issues, this game manages to shine as a basketball game, and as a sports simulation. A solid understanding of not only how to create games, but the intricacies of this extremely popular sport, have made NBA 2K17 a great game, both offline and (so far) online. Basketball fans would be remiss to not get their hands on this game. g

AT A GLANCE Sports

REVIEWED ON

The improvements outweigh the flaws; NBA 2K17 is a great basketball simulation at the end of the day.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Developer Publisher Distributer

PARENTAL ADVISORY

3+ gamecca88

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

PS4 PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

88 61

by Rob Edwards

issues, but they can lead to big frustrations under the right circumstances.

It’s fast paced and furious on the court in NBA 2K17, and the improved level of control that the player has is extremely evident. Not just in terms of accuracy, but also in terms of options. For example, steals can be performed by tapping the traditional button, but the right stick can also be employed for more creative manoeuvres. Things feel generally crisper overall, and the fact that green zone shots now guarantee made baskets means that the idea of the green zone in the first place finally makes sense.

The AI is pretty impressive, too, despite a few quibbles here and there, and seeing players behave on the virtual court as their real-life counterparts do is a treat that brings even more realism – and familiarity – to this title.

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Adventure

It’s basically a JRPG-lite, with turn-based combat, highly original characters and not a lot of depth.

REVIEWED ON

XO PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

AT A GLANCE

GAMING Bound of flame

The missing genre

PLATFORMS

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Snow Castle Snow Castle Online

PARENTAL ADVISORY

12+ gamecca88

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

Score

Earthlock: Festival of Magic

70

by Rob Edwards

arthlock: Festival of Magic fills a conspicuous gap on the Xbox One: turn-based role playing games in the style of JRPGs. Since the Xbox One isn’t exactly a top-seller in Japan, it’s hardly surprising that this genre is under-explored on the Xbox One, but Earthlock gives fans the ability to play this kind of title on their Microsoft console. The only thing is that the depth expected from JRPGs simple doesn’t feature here. It’s sort of like JRPG-lite, if you will.

The player controls Amon, a youngster trying to save his uncle Benjo from kidnappers who are demanding to exchange him for an artefact that Amon has in his possession. During his travels, Amon is joined by several characters who assist him, particularly in the game’s turnbased, traditional-JRPG combat system.

Earthlock: Festival of Magic is an enjoyable game, but it lacks much of the complexity that fans of the genre will expect, particularly in combat. It has some nice ideas, though – changing a character’s combat stance varies the kind of attacks and actions they can perform, for example, and bonding a pair of characters will allow the player to employ special abilities as their power meters fill up.

But the variations in attacks and actions are pretty narrow.

Earthlock has an appealing art style that verges on cartoonish, with vibrant colours and unique characters being the order of the day. The lack of voicing is a little frustrating, with long text based dialogues slowing down the game’s already moderately sedate pace.

The game can be fun, but there are a number of changes that could have made it significantly better. Still, it doesn’t have much competition on the Xbox One, so it does well for merely existing. g

Earthlock: Festival of Magic

E M W A IE G EV R

Gal-X-E

E M W A IE G EV R

Gal-X-E

Retro space action

enemy bullets... Gal-X-E can be a fun and addictive way to kill a few hours

PC

and bad guys.

PLATFORMS

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

easier, but avoiding enemy fire can still be tricky when the screen gets full.

It’s not ground-breaking, but it is fun and crammed with nostalgic appeal. The only real issue here is that your new ships are acquired at random, and once you have a few getting a 50% refund for randomly selecting a ship that you already have is annoying. Credits are hard to come by, and having a little control over how they are spent would have been nice. But the random system does add challenge and charm.

In short, a fun game, if you like your gaming skill based and retro flavoured. g

Nodzi Nodzi Online

PARENTAL ADVISORY

TBC gamecca88

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

Score

It’s full of retro charm and

REVIEWED ON

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

GENRE

GAMING Bound of flame

AT A GLANCE 64

Shooter

enjoyed wasting more than a few hours on this game… it might be relatively easy to play and simple in approach, but it is extremely addictive and gets superchallenging after a while.

Gal-X-E has a simple yet effective progression system; when you kill stuff, you earn currency with which to buy new ships. Ships are divided into various classes, including things like sniper and shotgun ships, which can change your play style. As you earn ships, you can select which you would like to use – and once you get more powerful ships, breaking into those harder later stages is

70

by Alex Scanlon

I

f you compare Gal-X-E to most modern games, you’re somewhat missing the point. It’s not a title about fast-paced cover-based shooting or deep narratives.

Instead, Gal-X-E looks back at a simpler time, when gaming was less about flashy graphics and frame rates, and more about dynamics and skill-improvement.

The game is extremely simple in concept. You have a space ship, and you need to shoot other space ships, and the occasional asteroid. Speaking of which, Gal-X-E feels like a spiritual successor to one of the earliest commercial video games, Asteroids. Perhaps that’s why I

13

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makro.co.za

E M W A IE G EV R

ReCore GAMING

There and back again

66

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ReCore

by Walt Pretorius

67

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E M W A IE G EV R

T

traversal puzzles that require great timing and forward thinking. Jumping between tiny platforms that disappear after a few seconds can be a daunting task, but ReCore gives the player a sense of confidence thanks to well thought out controls and a character – in the form of Joule, one of the first people sent to colonise Far Eden that feels capable. And it can be a white-knuckled affair, with the player needing to string together double jumps, rocket boosts and even shooting to get through some of the game’s quick and often tough traversal sections.

Combat puzzling is a lot simpler. Joule’s rifle can produce projectiles of three colours, and matching the weapon colour with that of an enemy yields better results. However, when you’re facing off against multicoloured enemies, the switching gets pretty tricky, and you have to figure out your strategies on the fly. Joule’s

GAMING

he world of Far Eden was supposed to be humanity’s sanctuary, a way to ensure survival in the face of certain extinction at the hands of a dread disease. But something went wrong, and the plans to terraform this new world, changing it from the harsh desert it was into a lush paradise, went horribly wrong. That’s the premise behind ReCore, a game that manages to use some really old school platforming ideas to create a title that manages to deliver a lot of fun and excitement, despite a handful of frustrating problems.

The player is presented with a really large world to explore, and the puzzling begins right from the word go. This aspect of the game really is its strongest, and it comes in two principle forms; traversal and combat.

The first type can get pretty challenging, thanks to

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robotic companions (of which there are eventually five, with two able to accompany her at a time) also offer strengths and weaknesses that play in combat. On top of that, the player can yank the core out of enemy combatants (they are all robots) at given times, which results in an instant kill. Timing it correctly, though, can get tricky, as the mini-game involved in doing so takes longer than most frantic combats will allow. The decision to grab an enemy’s core is also a strategic one, because it will yield less crafting materials, whereas blowing the enemy all to hell will provide more crafting bits, but less core energy.

These kinds of decisions can make the game exciting, too, but sadly beyond the combo driven combat and traversal challenges, ReCore falls a little flat. The player will start grinding for prismatic cores (the game’s way

of unlocking doors) before long, and the large areas that need to be traversed to find them start feeling repetitive and barren. Additionally, the game is sometimes unclear on which companions are best in certain circumstances, and the frustrated player will have to retry the section after finishing it if they don’t have the right bot along for the ride.

It feels as though the developers added a lot of padding to the game, none of which really serves a purpose beyond artificially lengthening the play time. And that’s pretty sad, because ReCore has some great ideas at its heart. The combat isn’t bad, and the traversal is great fun… but adding running back and forth simply because the player needs to kill time doesn’t do the overall experience any favours. It’s fun in smaller doses, but it can leave you feeling a little underwhelmed. g

AT A GLANCE Action Platform

It’s got some great – even nostalgic – ideas at heart, but it feels overly padded far too often.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Armature Studio Microsoft Microsoft

PARENTAL ADVISORY

16+ gamecca88

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 69

E M W A IE G EV R

Destiny: Rise of Iro GAMING

Once more…

70

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Destiny: Rise of Iron

GENRE

It’s more of the same, but with a short play time and

by Rob Edwards

not a lot of new content...

Rise of

Iron feels a little lighter than it

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

16+ AWARDS Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

Score

79

AT A GLANCE

PARENTAL ADVISORY

REVIEWED ON

PLATFORMS

should.

Bungie Activision Megarom

gamecca88

MMOFPS

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

light in the extreme – less like an expansion and more like a brief add-on.

While Rise of Iron does successfully manage to expand on Destiny’s innate need for correct positioning and careful approaches to larger fire fights, it doesn’t do enough to really hook one back in to a great degree.

This becomes particularly evident during the overly long grind between the end of the narrative and the five section raid that comes at the end. Sure, there’s some new gear and stuff, but really, it’s just Destiny all over again, and for some that will not be enough of a temptation to keep playing.

Bosses add a lot to the experience, though, and this is where Rise of Iron shines. They’re challenging and satisfying to defeat, particularly after facing off waves of enemies that feel all too familiar.

With that said, the final raid is – if not revolutionary – rather enjoyable and very challenging. It won’t provide any surprises, but it is an intense and challenging raid that demands a lot from players, and careful strategies are essential to successfully complete it.

In the end, Rise of Iron doesn’t really do enough to stand out. It feels like fan service that can be lots of fun, but is certainly lighter than it should be in terms of content and overall play time. If Bungie wants to draw the crowds back in, they’re going to have to do more. It’s more of the same, really, but when the same includes a lot of grinding, some players may feel less that satisfied. What Destiny needs desperately to remain at the top of player’s lists is a number of new ideas, and they simply aren’t here.

That said, Rise of Iron can provide some fun… It really depends on how much you enjoy Destiny. g

PS4

on

D

estiny was eagerly anticipated, thanks to it being Bungie’s first foray away from both Microsoft and the Halo series. And it was great fun, for quite some time, until the grinding got to be just a little too much. And then there was The Taken King, a major expansion that introduced a bunch of new content, including an eight hour story campaign that managed to reinvigorate the flagging interest in this MMOFPS game. Now, as interest once again starts to dip, Bungie have produced Rise or Iron, another story that creates more content and gives players more to do. Once again, it seems that Bungie want to attract players back to their game, but Rise of Iron may be entirely too short, and too grind-ridden, to be as successful as The Taken King was.

The heart of the expansion is SIVA, an AI that, through nanotechnology, has infested the Fallen. This will see the player embark on a tale that falls neatly into the “heroes sacrificing themselves for the good of all” trope. The tale is well told and is far more cohesive than previous Destiny plot lines, but it isn’t particularly original.

Still, it’s entertaining for its short run.

And there’s another problem. The pace on the story line, when compared to the rest of Destiny, is simply too fast. You’ll go from ramping up to the final boss battle in the blink of an eye, which really feels more jarring than it should.

This, combined with the fact that the environments are largely reworkings of the original Cosmodrome in Old Russia (which has now been infested by SIVA) and that the enemies are pretty much reskinned, tougher Fallen, makes one wonder what all the noise was about. It feels

71

E M W A IE G EV R

FIFA 17 GAMING

A different approach

72

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FIFA 17

by Alex Scanlon

73

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E M W A IE G EV R

A

Hunter’s story isn’t particularly original, but it is told in a solid fashion. As the player guides the athlete through his career, they will find other benefits, too – quite frankly, The Journey is the best tutorial any FIFA game has ever had, and the steadily increasing difficulty curve will help almost anyone come to grips with the finer detail of the game (which they may need to, thanks to some of the changes that have been instituted).

The Journey is a complete experience, peppered with after match interviews that allow the player to select responses (which may have an effect on the way his fans, team mates and managers view him) and lucrative sponsorship deals. But the real star here is Alex’s love for the game, which always remains a central point of the narrative, and adds a beautiful, emotional authenticity to the experience. There are moments when The Journey

GAMING

nother year, another FIFA game from EA Sports. And while the juggernaut that this franchise has become will undoubtedly roll to another fiscal success, there are still problems marring the actual, on-pitch game play that EA seem to be ignoring. They’re not game breakers – far from it – but there are basics that should be addressed before all the bells and whistles are tacked on… which EA don’t seem to be doing.

The biggest feature this year is a mode called The Journey and, despite a few issues on the pitch , it is an enjoyable trip through the career of the fictional Alex Hunter, from a 17-year-old hopeful through to becoming a football star in the Premier League. There are even a few veiled indictments at how the modern game is handled, which passionate fans will likely align with.

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will be deeply moving for the player, particularly if they are fans who appreciate the depth of emotion that players feel on the pitch… and which football fan isn’t emotional, right?

The Journey has issues, though, with the story being corralled by requirement, rather than player performance from time to time. And, as stated before, on-pitch issues also plague it, just like they do any of the numerous other game modes available.

Defenders tend to shield the ball much more this year, and some passes feel all wrong. The AI manages to swerve between brilliance and stupidity, too, and sometimes the controls feel a little looser than they should. Numerous other tweaks have been added, but some of them feel a little off – something that has plagued the franchise for the longest time. One thing that is

back is pace – 2015’s game felt a tad too slow, and the developers have perhaps overcompensated just a bit this year, making it feel a little too quick, but not alarmingly so.

With all of that said, it cannot be denied that FIFA 17 is a better game than last year’s outing… particularly in terms of visuals. The crowds are more vibrant, the pitches look better, and the player models are much improved over 2015’s offering. Even the individual play style of teams has been improved, although not enough just yet.

While a lot of what is mentioned above may sound negative, FIFA 17 is certainly a worthwhile game to play, even if only to experience The Journey. This is a truly original element added to the franchise, and it manages to not only entertain, but also humanise the whole FIFA affair in a way that the franchise has never managed to before.

Fans will likely love this new instalment. g

AT A GLANCE Sports

REVIEWED ON

It still offers a few technical problems on the pitch, but it is an improvement over last year and offers a great new mode in the form of The Journey.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

EA Sports Electronic Arts Prima Interactive

PARENTAL ADVISORY

3+ gamecca88

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

83 75

E M W A IE G EV R

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game o the Year Edition GAMING

The whole story

76

gamecca88

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game of the Year Edition

GENRE

This is a truly massive, thoroughly

–a

by Alex Scanlon

enjoyable game great way for

fantasy fans to kill monsters, and more

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

90

AT A GLANCE

PARENTAL ADVISORY

REVIEWED ON

PLATFORMS

than a few hours.

CD Projekt Red CD Projekt Red Megarom

gamecca88

RPG Adventure

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

They activate when they’re supposed to within the main game, meaning that the player is treated to an extended version of the original, rather than needing to rely on menus and such.

But you can do that too, if you like, treating each expansion as a standalone adventure from the start screen (although why you would want to do that is quite beyond me).

While a product like this is almost certainly aimed at those who haven’t played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt yet, and makes for the perfect place to start off Geralt’s final adventure, it also holds value for fans who may have missed out on DLC or the like. It’s a great option, and will provide a vast amount of gaming to the player. And it never feels forced… whether you are travelling the battle blighted areas of the original game, or experiencing the near whimsical, often comedic scenes of Blood and Wine, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game of the Year Edition is an extremely enjoyable, engaging and exciting experience.

There is a great progression through the various parts, too, from the relatively easy monsters to hunt in the opening hours through to the downright tough bosses of Blood and Wine. And while there are parts when things feel a little slower, the overall pace of the entire collection is excellent.

In short, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game of the Year Edition is a massive, enticing and deep adventure for those who enjoy engaging fantasy gaming, and it is the perfect place to start for those that have yet to experience this exciting game. Once again, CD Projekt Red displays a keen understanding of not only how to make games, but how to make fans happy, too. g

XO

of

T

o say that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the finest video games ever made is less a statement of personal opinion and more a declaration of widely-held sentiment. Here is a game that manages to be the crowning jewel of a franchise already lauded as being top notch. It provides the player with masses of content, whether story missions or side quests, tons of exploration, a deep character development system and so very much more. Fans of action-based fantasy RPGs are drawn to it because it presents everything they want in a game.

CD Projekt Red, the team behind the game, really did manage to nail it with this one, and each successive piece of DLC – whether the numerous free tweaks or the two generous DLC tales – has simply added to and enhanced the experience.

Even after more than a year after its release, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt still has tongues waggling and controllers working. It is, quite simply, excellent.

And so it is no small surprise that a The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game of the Year Edition has been released. This is, by a long shot, one of the best buys you can make this year, simply because it is crammed with so much content that you’ll be busy with it for ages.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game of the Year Edition comes with all DLC included.

That means that it offers the player 16 pieces of free DLC, which include everything from outfits to haircuts, as well as the two official story expansions; Hearts of Stone, and Blood and Wine. Both of these DLC additions are great stories in their own right, and thanks to clever design and implementation, they seamlessly slot into the overall experience.

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E M W A IE G EV R

Fractured Space Battle of the behemoths

S

you’re Adama. Fractured Space puts the player not in control of star fighters, but rather gigantic capital ships, massive and lumbering beasts brimming with weapons and ready for the rigors of battle.

While the ships can be stuffed into broad categories quite easily, careful thought went into the design of each of the numerous vessels that Fractured Space has on offer. One heavy defence ship will play very differently to another, for example, opening up a wide variety for the varied play styles and team approaches that the five-player teams of this game could employ.

This counts for weapon load out and crew as well, giving the player a massive amount of variety in approaching their game. With the right balance and good team work, battles in Fractured Space are intense, even if their pace feels a lot slower than what the market is used to.

GAMING

ticking Fractured Space neatly into a genre pigeon-hole is difficult, because this indie title from Edge Case games manages to defy genres in numerous ways. It feels, at first glance, like a spacestrategy game, but comes with numerous MOBA elements to it as well. It has a fairly deep development system, too, and features numerous game changing decisions that can be made in load-out and crew assembly sections. In other words, if there was ever going to be a game that made space battles about one armada against another, complete with crew strategies and careful weapon balancing, this is it.

And what battles they are! This is perhaps the area in which Fractured Space most distances itself from the runof-the-mill “spaceships blasting each other to dust” games that have come before it, because this time around you’re not (to use a Battlestar Galactica analogy) Starbuck…

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Fractured Space

that they couldn’t conceivably zip through space, and it adds a whole new kind of tactical approach to the whole affair.

It must be noted that Fractured Space manages to do something that many indie games simply cannot get right: it looks and sounds incredible. Intricate details on the ships combine with excellent lighting and particle effects, while crackly crew messages keep you informed as you weave your way through asteroid fields and debris towards your goal.

Some levels feel a little cluttered, but when you’re facing three to one odds, the cover provided by the bits of rock and junk floating around becomes a blessing.

Fractured Space uses a free-to-play model, allowing players to purchase new ships and other goodies with cash, or with hard-earned in-game credits.

It’s not for everyone – with that slower pace – but it certainly is fun. g

AT A GLANCE Team strategy

Fractured Space puts you in control of a massive capital ship doing battle in the chill of space as you and four team mates battle for supremacy.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Edge Case Games Edge Case Games Online

PARENTAL ADVISORY

TBC gamecca88

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

REVIEWED ON

PC PLATFORMS

GENRE

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

85 79

by Walt Pretorius

Battles take place in an arena that has five sections: two team home bases, two contested zones in which each team has a forward base, and a central zone that acts as a wild-card. When capturing the central zone, or Gamma as it is called in-game, the team that does so earns increasing combat buffs. It only activates a few times during any given match-up, so competition for Gamma is generally fierce. To reach the enemy base, a team has to capture their forward base in either of the Alpha and Beta contested zones.

Additionally, these zones contain resource buffing mines that can also be captured. So yes, in concept it plays a lot like a MOBA, until you realise that this space combat title is really rather unique.

Flying the ships can be cumbersome, largely because these highly individual and beautifully designed craft are so large.

But that’s part of the charm here; these ships are so massive

E M W A IE G EV R

Dead Synchronic Tomorrow Comes GAMING

Fuzzy logic

80

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Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today

by Rob Edwards

AT A GLANCE GENRE

Adventure

REVIEWED ON

With a striking art style, this point-andclicker looks appealing... but it’s lack of logic is ultimately what weakens the overall experience.

Developer: Publisher: Distributer:

Fictiorama Daedalic Online

PARENTAL ADVISORY

12+ gamecca88

Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

AWARDS

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Casual Ed’s Choice

PS4 PLATFORMS

city: s Today

D

ead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today was originally released for PC over a year ago, and it has finally made its way onto the current generation of consoles. The game tells the tale of Michael, a man who wakes with no memory in a dystopian future. A disease has ravaged the world, turning infected people into creatures called the Dissolved. They are exterminated with great prejudice, and anyone helping them is not treated much better. It is through this world, in the form of a point and click adventure, that the player must guide Michael.

Dead Synchronicity is a game of extremes, when you get down too it. It features a unique and appealing art style where even the brightest colours and softest tones manage to look dreary, and a decent level of voice acting that, barring a few exceptions, is wonderfully believable. The plot if good, too, although it’s ending leaves too much unanswered.

On the other hand, there are the puzzles themselves, which tend towards a frustrating lack of logic from time to time. The obvious – nay, sensible – solutions don’t work, leaving the player scrabbling to find weirder ways through some of the puzzles. And in a genre where logic is so very important, getting obtuse with solutions doesn’t do Dead Synchronicity any favours at all.

In the end, it is a satisfying game, but not one that will appeal to everyone. The genre is already pretty niche, and the frustrations that the flawed logic brings about is enough to infuriate almost anyone. Even though the presentation is great, the end result is a game with tons of potential, but some flaws to its most basic fundamentals that can scupper the experience. g

PC X0 PS4 Wii U X360 PS3 PSV 3DS

Score

60 81

cy a eg

l

Legacy: P GAMING

The Uncaus

84

gamecca88

Legacy: Populous

Populous

sed Cause

By Lein Baart

gamecca88

85

cy a eg

GAMING

l

86

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ability to summon volcanoes and

something of a niche genre,

earthquakes, were added to flesh

with briefs spurts of popularity

out the gameplay. Remarkably

punctuating an otherwise

though it never struck the Bullfrog

fairly sparse field. Most of

team that they were creating as a

these sparks of interest can

god, and it wasn’t until journalist

be attributed to one man, with

Bob Wade previewed the game and

Peter Molyneux having become

mentioned it that the idea became a

practically synonymous with genre

part of Populous’ identity.

over time. Always inventive, it was Molyneux and the studio he cofounded, Bullfrog, which created the god game to begin with, and in many ways Populous’ influence has left a significant impact on gaming.

Why do we care?

When Populous released in June

1989 (despite Bullfrog only realising during the testing phase that they

Why was it created?

had not created any sort of end

was for its time it can be surprising

and addictiveness. The game was

to learn that Populous came about

also noted for its longevity, with 500

more by idle experimentation than

levels and gameplay that inherently

intent, with the initial design being

created a different experience each

inspired after artist Glenn Corpse

play through, and to top it off the

created a 3D landscape that could

graphics were superb for the time.

Considering how unique the game

be manipulated by raising and

game) it proved an immediate critical darling, with many commenting on both its uniqueness

Beyond its technical achievements

lowering tiles. While it wasn’t long

though Populous has had a very

until Molyneux began populating

subtle but pervasive influence in

the world with people, the “game”

gaming. Its immense popularity

remained fairly aimless until the he

with gamers, despite its dubious

hit upon the idea of allowing the

sounding concept, provided Bullfrog

population to expand by building

with justification that innovation

houses on flat terrain, and thus

would be rewarded, and led to

the core gameplay of Populous,

the studio creating some of the

one in which the player nudges

most distinctive games of all time,

and coerces followers rather than

including the likes of Dungeon

outright commands them, was born.

Keeper, Syndicate and later

While almost stunningly simple

Black and White (though this was

by today’s standards this idea

developed by Molyneux whilst

was unheard of at the time, and

working for Lionhead Studios).

proved a tough sell to publishers,

While the studio sadly became a

though eventually EA (believe

casualty of a very fickle industry,

it or not) took a gamble on the

unlike The Sims creator Maxis,

project. Populous was very much

it provided gamers with some of

an evolving concept throughout its

the most iconic releases of the

development, and several features

nineties, all thanks to the success

that became iconic, such as the

of Populous. g

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87

Legacy: Populous

I

God games have always been

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HARDWARE Reviews 92 94 96 98 100 102 104 106 108

Asus ROG Swift PG248Q Monitor Nacon GM-105 Gaming Mouse Nacon GM-400L Laser Gaming Mouse MSI Gaming X Radeon RX480 Graphics Card MSI Gaming X GeForce GTX 1070 Graphics Card Asus ROG STRIX GTX1080 O8G Gaming Graphics Card MSI X99A Gaming Pro Carbon Motherboard Cooler Master Masterpulse Stereo Headset Thermaltake Toughpower DPS G RGB 850W Gold PSU

RegularS 110

90

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Asus

H C EW E T VI E R

ROG Swift

TECHNOLOGY

Smaller... Still pretty

92

gamecca88

T

As far as 24 inch monitors go, the responsive and cleverly-designed PG248Q is a really good option.

AWARDS

AT A GLANCE:

SUMMARY

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

gamecca88

that can not only give you an edge in gaming, but also be less stressful on your eyes.

On the gaming side, on-screen displays featuring elements like crosshairs, timers, FPS counters and even a display alignment guide for those using multiple monitors all add to the experience. On the health side, flicker-free and low blue-light technologies put less strain on your eyes, while the easy positioning and wide tilt range means that finding the optimal comfort position is easy. The monitor can even be turned 90 degrees, making it extremely useful for multi-display arrangements.

Visuals are further improved with GameVisual presets, and the monitor is also NVidia 3D Vision ready… all you need is an NVidia card and a pair of 3D glasses to use it.

With a thin bezel, easy to access controls and a crisp, clear 24 inch 16:9 ratio screen, the PG248Q is a really great monitor for those who want the quality of the Swift range but don’t have the space needed to use the more monstrous member of this product line.

It is easy to set up and has numerous display connection options, meaning that it can be used with consoles and media players, too. It even has a USB hub integrated for less cable clutter. As far as 24 inch monitors go, the PG248Q is a tough act to beat. g

SCORE

88

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

TECH SPECS • • • • • • • • •

24 inch screen 180Hz refresh rate 1ms response time NVidia 3D Vision ready Low blue-light Flicker free

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by Alex Scanlon

here are two very important aspects of being a great gamer.

The first is that your input – your control usage – needs to be top notch.

The second is that the visuals you see are also superb, because it is these images (and sounds, let’s not forget) that allow you to make split-second decisions and react to the ever-changing environment of your game. So a good graphics card is key… but so is a good monitor. If your monitor cannot keep up, you’ll certainly be at a disadvantage. And that’s one of the reasons that Asus created the ROG Swift range.

At the heart of the excellent performance of the Swift range “baby”, the PG248Q, is a blistering 180Hz refresh rate that means not a single frame is lost, even when the action is intense. Blurring, screen tears and other visual aberrations don’t happen when your monitor reacts this quickly, and even at the native 144Hz refresh rate, things are pretty much clearer than you’re going to get on other monitors. To use the 180Hz refresh rate you will need to be running the monitor using the DisplayPort connection, at a resolution of 1920 x 1080… it’s not 4K, no, but it’s plenty clear enough. The 1 millisecond response time doesn’t hurt in the speed stakes either.

The 24 inch PG248Q also has numerous other features

Asus ROG Swift PG248Q Monitor

Monitor

GM-

Gaming Mouse

Entry-level champ

TECHNOLOGY

Nacon

H C EW E T VI E R

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Nacon GM-105 Gaming Mouse

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by Walt Pretorius

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

A surprisingly good mouse for an entry level device, with more features than you would expect from the Nacon stable baby.

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Max 2400 dpi Four dpi prsets 6 button Coated surface 1.5m cable Illuminated

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ot everyone can afford a massively expensive gaming mouse, even though those that are strapped for cash might be tempted to drop their grocery money on a top notch pointing device. Thing is, though, you don’t have to.

Sure, going with a cheaper mouse generally means a lower specification overall, but products like the Nacon GM-105 put a decent mouse in virtually everyone’s grasp.

In all honesty, the Nacon GM-105 is not the best gaming mouse around, but it certainly is decent, and it gets the job done. There have been concessions made here, but they’re not that noticeable. Except maybe for the sensitivity, that is, which tops out at 2400 dpi. It’s not huge, but it is a fairly comfortable place to be. The Nacon GM-105 comes with four sensitivity presets – 800, 1600, 2000 and 2400 dpi – and while this denies the luxury of tweaking your dpi to the finest degree, these presets pretty much cover any eventuality and play style.

Other features are actually a little surprising to see on an entry-level mouse. The Nacon GM-105 has six buttons, for example, which is more than one would expect, and the middle body of the mouse is rubber treated for greater comfort. That’s not something you see every day at beginner level.

Further, the Nacon GM-105 has illuminated elements.

The lighting isn’t customisable, but seeing it in action won’t give away the fact that this is the baby of the Nacon line-up.

The Nacon GM-105 has sharp lines and smooth curves, giving it a predatory look. The primary buttons are seamless with the mouse body, which always looks awesome, and the offset cord is an unusual and striking visual addition. It may be a touch narrow for some, but the long body is very comfortable for those that prefer a palm grip.

Speaking of the cord, the Nacon GM-105 has a 1.5m one… a little bit shorter than the 2m cord, which seems to be something of a standard these days, but still plenty long enough if your PC setup isn’t too wide apart.

On the whole, considering its tier, the Nacon GM105 is a pretty good mouse. It is comfortable to use for long sessions and it is responsive enough. On-the-fly dpi switching helps, too, although you’ll need to cycle through settings, and the overall look of the device is rather nice.

The Nacon GM-105 won’t blow your hair back in terms of performance and extra features, no, but it will provide you with a solid, dependable device that won’t let you down in a pinch. The old saying that “you get what you pay for” doesn’t really apply here, because the Nacon GM-105 delivers more bang than you might expect for your buck. g

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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Nacon

H C EW E T VI E R

GM-

Mid-price winner

TECHNOLOGY

W

hile Nacon’s GM-105 is a great start in gaming mice, their GM-400L is more of an aspirational product for gamers who want a little more out of their pointing device. It’s not the highest spec mouse we’ve seen, but the GM-400L has a number of great features that make it a solid option for those that want a decent device, but don’t necessarily want a mouse that’s so sensitive that it cries at puppy videos.

OK, weird analogy, but anyway… the GM-400L tops out at 6000 dpi, which means that while it is not the most sensitive mouse around, it will get the job done for the vast majority of gamers out there. While the real pro-players (which, truthfully, every guy with a PC and a copy of CS:GO thinks he is) may be able to make an argument for really high dpi, 6000 is plenty for the average gamer (which, once again, is something that

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Laser Gaming

no-one will admit to being, really).

But there’s more to the GM-400L than dpi, of course.

For example, an illuminated LCD display to the left of the mouse’s primary button displays the selected dpi, and a laser sensor that provides extremely accurate tracking.

More illumination comes from a logo on the rear of the mouse, and two lights at the front (almost like headlights on a car). These are, of course, customisable.

Additionally, the GM-400L offers ten customisable buttons, which is impressive (but does include the side tilting of the mouse wheel). That gives a very decent amount of input options for the mouse, which presents a great all-round solution for those that enjoy varied game genres.

Comfort is also a plus, with a rubber coating that helps improve grip, easy-to-reach side buttons and a fairly wide body that is great for palm grip players particularly. The

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Nacon GM-400L Laser Gaming Mouse

Mouse

by Walt Pretorius

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

It’s a very decent mouse when considering the price point, and it will reliably serve as a dependable all-rounder.

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6000 dpi 10 buttons Laser sensor Ceramic feet Weight adjustable 1.8m cable

SCORE

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GM-400L is also contoured to fit very comfortably, but that means that it isn’t ambidextrous. Further comfort is ensured by an adjustable weight system, which allows you to vary the weight of the mouse by almost 15 grams, in 3.1 or 3.7 gram increments (four of each weight are provided).

Getting to the weight tray is tricky, though, with a poorly placed eject button complicating the affair.

Also provided are replacement feet, in case you lose one of the GM-400L’s ceramic feet in the heat of the action.

These feet allow for a smooth performance on almost any surface, and the overall response that the mouse delivers is good.

Yes, there are mouse products that have higher sensitivity and more features, but they also tend to cost a lot more, too. The corded GM-400L is a very decent option for those that need a reliable mouse that will do the job without breaking the bank. g

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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MSI

H C EW E T VI E R

Gaming X Rade The other flavour

A

TECHNOLOGY

MD’s Radeon line of GPUs has a lot of catching up to do. And while there is (and probably always will be) the fight between NVidia fans and Radeon fans, the truth of it is that, on paper and in performance, the top Radeon RX GPU cannot hold a candle to the top GeForce 1000 series GPU. It just simply cannot – in fact, it even struggles in certain aspects to top GeForce cards from the previous generation. And that is a little worrying.

Let’s be clear about something – the Radeon RX cards are not bad graphics cards. But the latest GeForce products undeniably leave them in the dust, except for one important factor: price.

Upgrading to a new graphics card is pretty expensive if you’re going the GeForce route, and far more affordable if you’re looking at even the top of the line RX480. And when the cash reserves are low, that’s maybe the most important factor there is.

We cannot let that – price – be our final determining factor, though, and so we find the MSI Gaming X Radeon RX480 on the back foot right from the start. It delivers a good experience, but not as good as the competition in terms of graphics and computational power, which makes it something of a second-rate upgrade, when all is said and done. That’s a harsh thing

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to say, yes, but there is very little that would have us recommend the RX480 over a competitive GeForce card, save for the cost and maybe the power consumption and noise levels (which are both better in the case of the RX480).

But MSI know full-well that there are loyal Radeon adherents who want their new card, and so they have valiantly poured their best into the Gaming X RX480. It comes with all the bits that they use for the GeForce products, including twinfan Frozr VI technology (with those funky multibladed fans) and custom LED lighting. Gaming App software allows for quick overclocking, and the card is (almost surprisingly) VR ready. The RX480 chipset is also supported by 8GB of GDDR5 RAM. Additionally, there are a host of Radeon utilities that go along with the card, including LiquidVR technology and Virtual Super Resolution.

It even looks like one of MSI’s GeForce products, complete with the same red trim and bulky dimensions (like the GeForce 1080 from the same brand we looked at last month, this card is big and wide). That is, until it starts working. And sure, in the RX480’s defence, the untrained or more casual eye is not going to see a massive difference here, making it a great option for those that want a decent new card at a better price… but the more hard-core, exacting end-user might not feel the same way. g

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NAME MSI Gaming OF THE X Radeon PRODUCT RX480 Graphics Card

eon RX480

Graphics Card

SUMMARY It doesn’t beet a 1000 series GeForce in performance, but it is a more affordable option.

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

RX480 chipset 8GB VRAM Twin Frozr VI Gaming App 2 DisplayPort 2 HDMI port

M A NUFA CT UR E R M SI

DISTRIB UTOR TV R C o m p u ter s

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Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

SCORE

80 gamecca88

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by Rob Edwards

AT A GLANCE:

MSI

H C EW E T VI E R

Gaming X The middle line…

TECHNOLOGY

B

y now everyone who follows PC component news and reviews even a little knows that shelling out cash for a GeForce GTX 1080 card is going to hurt the wallet in special ways. It’s a monstrously impressive piece of hardware that really churns out awesome visuals, but it costs more than a pretty penny.

Prudent upgraders may well carefully consider their options when it comes to balancing the GTX 1080 with its nearest stable mate, the GTX 1070. While it may shy away from the high performance bars set by the GTX 1080, it still offers significant improvement over a GTX 980, and moderate better performance than a GTX 980 Ti. Perhaps most importantly, though – and potentially the thing that will make the GTX 1070 the early hero of this GeForce generation – is the fact that it is a lot cheaper than the GTX 1080, and that speaks

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volumes in most people’s books.

There are no flies on MSI when it comes to making sure they have every option covered in the graphics card arena, and the features they work into their cards are pretty much identical. Like the MSI GTX 1080 we reviewed last month, and the Radeon RX480 which is included in this issue, the MSI Gaming X GeForce GTX 1070 has many bells and whistles.

Speaking of the competition, the RX480 is much cheaper than the GTX 1070, but the GeForce card schools its Radeon competitor when it comes to performance. And MSI’s card performs extremely well even when compared to the competition GTX 1070s, making it not only a great performer, but a very sensible upgrade choice.

Armed with two multi-bladed fans that form part of the Twin Frozr VI cooling system, the GTX 1070 runs remarkably cool, and surprisingly quiet (although maybe

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MSI Gaming X GeForce GTX 1070 Graphics Card

ce

Graphics Card

by Rob Edwards

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

Although not as powerful as a GTX 1080, this GTX 1070 performs extremely well, and lands at a friendlier price point.

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GTX 1070 chipset 8GB VRAM Twin Frozr VI technology DVI port HMDI port 3 x DisplayPort

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a little noisier than the RX 480). It handles everything thrown at it with grace and gusto, and even though the numbers are speaking volumes, it’s difficult to discern the difference between the GTX 1070 and the GTX 1080 performance-wise.

And if you want to squeeze some more juice out of it, you can, thanks to MSI’s included OC software, which makes going a bit further in terms of performance easy and safe.

Those that want to customise their looks can do so with the integrated RGB lighting system, playing up the Gaming X GeForce GTX 1070’s already striking looks.

If you put a gun to my head and told me to pick between the RX 480, the GTX 1080 and this particular card (and I had to pay for it) my cash would go towards the GTX 1070. It may not manage the blistering output of the GTX 1080, but it certainly is no slouch in terms of performance, either. g

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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Asus

H C EW E T VI E R

ROG STRIX

TECHNOLOGY

Asus’ graphics master

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Asus ROG STRIX GTX1080 O8G Gaming Graphics Card

Gaming Graphics Card

T

by Rob Edwards

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS

Although it doesn’t have a huge bunch of features attached, this STRIX GTX1080 blazes through graphics like a hot knife through butter.

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• • • • • • •

GTX1080 chipset 8GB VRAM DVI port 2 HDMI port 2 DisplayPort RGB lighting

SCORE

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AWARDS

he latest generation of GeForce graphics processors are causing a stir – whether because they’re really powerful and deliver exceptional quality, or because upgrading to this generation at the moment may leave your bank account looking like a desolate wasteland. One thing is for sure, though – in the early stages of this generation, NVidia is way ahead of their competitors.

Another fact is that third party graphics cards manufacturers are all over these GPUs, taking every opportunity to squeeze everything they can into, and out of, the extreme performance that these devices offer. Graphics cards are always a hotly contested market, and one could argue that the current generation – partly thanks to high price points – is a very intense battlefield indeed.

Asus are certainly not one to be left behind in this affair, either. They have a great reputation to defend, after all, and other manufacturers are stepping up their efforts. And so when you take the STRIX GeForce GTX 1080 out of its box, you know that a lot of work has gone into making this an excellent card.

The GTX 1080 chipset is supported by 8GB of GDDR5 RAM, and the combination of the two produce not only great graphics at fantastic frame rates, but also ensure that the card is VR ready.

Naturally, this level of performance is going to generate quite a bit of heat and noise, but Asus have worked numerous systems into this device to ensure that neither of these things are a problem. Direct between the GPU and the heat pipes, combined with generous heat sinks, means that heat is whisked away from the all-important processor very quickly, and then blasted away by the card’s three wing-blade fans. Additionally, a fan connection system allows the user to connect an additional two GPU controlled fans to the device – basically case fans that plug into the card’s headers. As for sound, the fans are designed to be extremely quiet, even under strain.

In terms of looks, this card certainly appears to mean business. The three fan design means that the funky owl-like theme that flowed through the STRIX range is nowhere to be seen here, but Asus have allowed the user to express themselves with the inclusion of customisable Aura RGB lighting.

With the market being this full of competitors, bells and whistles become more important. They could make crucial differences between success and failure.

In addition to the lighting, this card comes with GPU Tweak II software (for the overclockers out there) and X-Split GameCaster, as well as a number of NVidia utilities. It’s not a lot, to be honest, but the overall performance of this excellent GTX 1080 speaks for itself, in the end. g

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

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MSI

H C EW E T VI E R

X99A

For the RAM junkie…

TECHNOLOGY

T

here are numerous things that people like to brag about when it comes to their PCs, even if they don’t necessarily understand why it is that they are bragging. The higher the number, the better it sounds when it comes to pretty much any PC component… including RAM. So purchasing a motherboard with an X99A chipset will empower the potential braggart to really up the stakes, if they have the cash for the 128GB of RAM that the chipset supports. Yes, that’s right… 128GB of RAM. Thanks to eight DIMM slots, which make use of MSI’s DDR4 Boost technology for added speed, the MSI X99A Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard provides not only responsive memory, but tons of it.

Additionally, these DIMM slots are protected with DDR4 Steel Armour, which adds rigidity to the ports, as well as providing better EMI shielding to the RAM. Basically, the MSI X99A Gaming Pro Carbon comes down to being fast, and being well protected. PCIe ports also have steel armour, to prevent damage caused by oversized graphics cards, and the Guard Pro system that MSI use also offers humidity, high temperature, electro-static discharge, electro-magnetic interference and circuit protection. In addition, the MSI X99A Gaming Pro Carbon’s Military Class V components are tough and long lasting.

The speed, which is apt considering the carbon finish of the board, comes from

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numerous places, including simple overclocking systems.

This is further supported by an increased number of socket pins, which allows you to squeeze more out of an Intel CPU. More speed comes out of LAN systems that prioritise gaming traffic, and the use of USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, in both type A and type C variants.

Additionally, it features a dedicated game peripheral port, as well as on-board hotkey recording that can be used with any keyboard. Game Boost overclocking makes it extremely quick and easy to squeeze some more juice out of the system, and numerous other components work towards faster boot up and performance – not to mention things like excellent audio quality and numerous other aspects of this feature rich motherboard.

And then, for those that feel the need to express themselves (and have a windowed case) the MSI X99A Gaming Pro Carbon offers a lighting system that can be fully customised, with numerous illuminated zones on the board.

MSI’s understanding of what is required to make a great gaming motherboard shines through yet again, and the MSI X99A Gaming Pro Carbon is a great example of what to look for in a high-performance motherboard. It’s fast and responsive, and while long term toughness is difficult to test in a short term review cycle, there’s little reason to believe that this board won’t serve you well for years to come. It’s great! g

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MSI X99A Gaming Pro Carbon Motherboard

Carbon

Motherboard

SUMMARY Fast, tough and capable of supporting more RAM than you can shake a big stick at, this motherboard is a great performer.

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

X99A chipset 128GB RAM supported Military Class V components RGB lighting Gaming LAN PCIe Steel Armour M A NUFA CT UR E R M SI

DISTRIB UTOR TV R C o m p u ter s

AWARDS

w w w. tv r. co. za

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

SCORE

92 gamecca88

105

by Walt Pretorius

AT A GLANCE:

Masterpulse Seriously fresh audio ideas

TECHNOLOGY

Cooler Master

H C EW E T VI E R

106

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Stere

Cooler Master Masterpulse Stereo Headset

eo Headset

C

by Alex Scanlon

AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY

TECH SPECS

This is a dependable and decent headset that integrates a few very clever new ideas… and it’s versatile, too.

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• • • • • • •

42mm drivers Stereo Removable ear cup backs 3.5mm jack In-line control

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AWARDS

ooler Master have really set themselves up as masters of allowing the end user to customise and personalise their gear. Wherever possible, Cooler Master have been creating products that are modular or customisable to form part of the Master range. But some devices are more customisable than others. Take headsets for example…

Cooler Master’s Masterpulse is not near as modular as some headsets we have seen in the past (we’re looking at you, RIG 500) but it comes with an idea that is extremely nifty. See, with other modular headsets, changing between a sound isolated, bass boosted ear cup means a lot of fiddling with changing out the ear cups themselves. In the case of the Masterpulse, it comes down to removing the magnetic outer plates of the ear cups; quick, simple and effective. It takes just a second to do, and the difference is noticeable. Sound isolation and bass levels are most certainly changed according to the configuration that you choose to use.

Another unusual aspect of the Masterpulse is the odd driver size. They’re 42mm, which is a little off industry standards (5% off, but who’s counting?). And this is one area in which the Masterpulse doesn’t show off entirely; the sound quality is good, but feels a little less finely tuned than some 40mm drivers on the market, and certainly not as juicy as 50mm drivers. Still, it’s crisp enough that all but the most pick audiophiles would likely not complain.

The Masterpulse is a comfortable headset, with generous padding on the over-ear cups and the head strap. Additionally, the head strap uses a suspension system (no more messing about with setting the size just right) and the entire thing is mounted on a lightweight aluminium frame.

Another oddity is the microphone boom: there isn’t one. Yes, the Masterpulse has a microphone, but it is fully integrated into the left ear cup. While this keeps an invasive boom out of your face, careful tweaks to get your chat audio just right aren’t possible. That said, the microphone does a good job of transmitted audio, so you shouldn’t have too many issues in that regard.

The Masterpulse also features a flat, tangle-free cable with an in-line control (volume and mic mute) that ends in a versatile four pole 3.5mm jack. In other words, you can use it with any device that handles a 3.5mm jack port and makes use of audio in and out through a single port. For PD connection, there is an extension splitter included.

The Masterpulse falls short of being the kind of “wow” product generally found in the Master range (things like the Mastercase are really hard to compete with) but it does do a good job of delivering audio, and has design ideas that work well. g

Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

SCORE

79 107

Thermaltake

H C EW E T VI E R

Toughpower Knowledge is power

W

TECHNOLOGY

e live in a world in which connectivity is becoming more and more important. Years ago, sciencefiction creators postulated about the idea of one item reporting to another – like, say, your fridge telling you, via your phone, that you’re low on milk. That age has arrived, and every day new ideas for connectivity come about.

Cars, appliances and other technologies can be connected to the Internet, and therefore to you, no matter where you are.

But some of these connections seem a little more surprising than others, and Thermaltake’s Toughpower DPS G RGB 850W Gold power supply is right near the top of the list. At first the idea seems laughable but, if you give it some thought, it makes a lot of sense. When it comes to PC components, the oftenignored PSU can have some far reaching effects on your system as a whole, and getting a warning on your phone that something has gone wrong, long with the ability to initiate an emergency shut down, is actually pretty damned useful.

The Toughpower DPS G RGB 850W Gold reports in three ways: directly to the PC it is connected to (which allows for an array of control functions, like fan speed control and RGB lighting), to a cloud management system and to a smart device app. With these systems the user is able to monitor performance, analyse data, plan energy saving and

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even shut down the system from afar. It’s one of the most sensible innovations in PSU technology in a good long while.

Hold on, RGB lighting? Why yes, the Toughpower DPS G RGB 850W Gold offers a 256 colour fan that can be controlled via downloaded software. Once again, at a glance, it seems almost redundant. Particularly in cases that feature a bottom mounted PSU, seeing the fan is rare. But even in those cases, the light emits via bottom venting, adding a little mystique to the overall look of your PC, as well as an easy visual reference to see if the PSU is turned on from almost any angle. Additionally, the fan makes use of concentrated compression blades to ensure more heat is extracted from this traditionally high-heat component.

Further cooling throughout the case is ensured by providing a modular cabling system, which reduces clutter and frees up air flow.

Additionally, the cables are low-profile flat cables, which are much easier to manage for that all-important interior neatness that helps keep systems cool.

There are a number of variants (in terms of wattage) in the range, but the Toughpower DPS G RGB 850W Gold supplies lots of clean power for your system, as well as stability thanks to high grade components.

The peace of mind from the monitoring is a big bonus too. g

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NAME OF THE Thermaltake Toughpower PRODUCT DPS G RGB 850W Gold PSU

PSU

SUMMARY Connected monitoring capabilities and reliable stability are the hallmarks of this rather clever PSU from Thermaltake.

TECH SPECS • • • • • • •

850 watt RGB fan light Flat cables PC monitoring Smart device app Cloud monitoring

M A NUFA CT UR E R Th er m a l ta ke

DISTRIB UTOR TV R C o m p u ter s

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Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Ed’s Choice

SCORE

95 gamecca88

109

by Walt Pretorius

AT A GLANCE:

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All Must Fall TECHNOLOGY

Social activism enters the telecoms arena

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by Suvesh Arumugam

Minister of Education, who indicated that fees would increase in 2017, sparking a new wave of protest.

In January this user, and unnamed person or group erected a banner in a busy part of Cape Town. The poster bore the face of President Jacob Zuma, with the words #ZumaMustFall. The origins of the movement began in December of the previous year, when a controversial political move by the president to oust the then Finance Minister, Nhlanhla Nene, sparked a national outcry around corruption and the use (or capture) of state institutions by business associates of the President. The movement snowballed into a national debate, culminating in a nationwide call to march on Freedom Day (April 27th) to demand the resignation of the President. While the ultimate objective of the movement was not achieved, it certainly kept the _MustFall trend alive.

The latest addition to the _MustFall family started in mid-September this month, started by radio personality and entrepreneur Tbo Touch (Thabo Molefe) in response to the high cost of Mobile Data affecting the launch of his radio streaming service, TouchCentral. In a social media tirade against the four major South African mobile networks (MTN, Vodacom, Telkom and Cell C).

He eventually issued an ultimatum to all the networks - drop their high mobile prices, or face the consequences.

The consequences were him using his influence to have all his fans and subscribers cancel their contracts and move to the cheapest network.

The hashtag #DataMustFall was soon trending all over South Africa, with social media conversation firmly supporting the call for lower prices for data, and also lambasting the mobile networks for their perceived pursuit of

Has the _MustFall # movement turned David into Goliath?

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outh Africa has been a pretty interesting place to be in the last couple of years. If we’ve learned anything, we’ve learned that getting your objectives onto the public agenda is all do-able if you can attach yourself to a _MustFall hashtag. While there is no shortage of controversy around some of the topics, its clear that _MustFall is the most dynamic hashtag movement since #BlackLivesMatter.

The first and possibly still the most emotive of the movements was #RhodesMustFall in March 2015. The movement was directed at a statue honouring controversial historical figure Cecil John Rhodes from the campus of the University of Cape Town, and calling for the statue’s immediate removal from the campus as an icon of oppression and a symbol of inequalities in the modern education system. After months of protest and debate, the statue was eventually removed in April, 2015.

The debate however continues as both students and institutions associated with the Rhodes legacy continue to argue their case.

This was closely followed by the #FeesMustFall movement in late October last year, where students vehemently (and sometimes violently) protested dramatic increases in university fees.

Starting at the University of the Witwatersrand, the movement quickly spread to campuses across the country, leading to the several marches and protest actions, some resulting in property damage and injuries to both protesters and bystanders. By the end of the month, President Jacob Zuma announced that there would be no fee increases, and promises more dialogue with stakeholders to determine the way forward. This was later reversed by the

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profits at the expense of the users. As the conversation deepened. more and more shocking statistics surfaced, eventually alleging that South African subscribers were paying higher costs for data than subscribers in other countries in which the same service providers are active (such as Nigeria). The posts made frequent mention of subscribers in India paying as little as R11 per GB, social media voices were outraged at the average user paying as much R149 per GB in SA (over 1000% more).

One of the main opposition parties, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) officially endorsed the movement on their social media feeds, boosting the already explosive conversation.

Will Social Media movements affect real change in society?

TECHNOLOGY

Tbo Touch eventually demanded a meeting with the chairman of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), which is the government regulator for the industry, as well as to be heard in parliament. He also went on to give extensive TV and radio interviews, standing by his ultimatum to the networks to drop their prices.

Now that the buzz around the hashtag and the movement appear to have eased somewhat, some further research has shown that the figures bandied around were misleading. Like, they were completely off the mark. However the moment for semantics has passed, the public (thanks to many high profile celebrities and journalists joining the movement) have accepted that prices are too high and they must be revised.

Parliament later heard a two-day exploratory investigation on the issue, with the mobile networks also rebutting

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claims that their prices were unreasonable and inflated. While the networks claimed that the government regulation (such as control over frequency spectrum) contributed directly to the cost of data, parliamentarians (especially from the EFF) were not gentle in their roasting of their executives around the high tariffs.

In the wrap up to the parliamentary hearings, the Portfolio Committee on Telecommunications and Postal Services issued a firm warning to the mobile networks - “Either they trim data costs, or the National Assembly will order them to do so.” The chairperson. Mmamoloko Kubayi further encouraged networks to restructure their data plans before November or risk going against the recommendations of the government.

There is little sympathy for the telecomms companies. MTN suffered a rise in negative sentiment towards their brand to 73%, while Vodacom suffered a little less at 65%. While both companies claimed they had significantly reduced prices in the last year (MTN claiming they had reduced prices by 73% in the last five years), the public (and clearly the parliamentary committee) were not convinced by their claims that market forces were to blame.

While other _MustFall movements have had mixed results, it’s starting to look like DataMustFall may actually result in tangible victory for the little guy, with real (possibly life-changing) impact to everyday South Africans. Being in the midst of this dramatic change, especially one that is completely digital and has very physical results, gives me hope that social movements might yet be relevant and affect real change in society. Most importantly, big multinationals can’t hide behind digital screens and not face the outcry of unhappy customers. And social media might be more than just an excuse to be a dick. g

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Private Matters

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FeatureS 116

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Gadgets 122

Sony Xperia X Smart Phone

Board Games 124 126

D&D Attack Wing Dice Masters Marvel Civil War

RPGs 128 132 133 134 138 139

Mutant Year Zero: Genlab Alpha Doors to Darkness Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide Savage Worlds: Rifts Traveller Referee’s Briefing 2: Anomalies & Wonders Demon Lord’s Companion

COMICS 140 142 144 146

Briggs Land #1 Eclipse #1 Hadrian’s Wall #1 Sixpack & Dogwelder: Hard Travelin’ Heroz #1

BOOKS 148 150

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Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day The Warren

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Can you esc

You’re stuck in a room with a group of people. Your only hope is to escape, to find your freedom. You have one hour, but the room itself contains the solution. The clock is ticking…

GAMING

Escape Rooms are becoming massively popular, and here is

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cape in time?

South Africa there are already a few options. We spoke to Stratis Kouvdis, co-founder of Hashtag Escape, a Johannesburg company that offers a chance to escape from the world for an hour while you escape from a room full of puzzles.

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GM: What exactly is an escape room?

SK: It’s a concept that started in Japan around eight or nine years ago. It was born out of point-and-click adventure games.

Specifically there were a couple of these games which were based in one room, and you had to hunt around for objects. As you found more objects and solve puzzles, things would get revealed and you had to work your way out of the room. So they decided “let’s do this for real, it should be fun” and it’s just grown phenomenally from there, all around the world. We are the first company to design and build our own rooms in South Africa. We can’t say that we’re the first escape rooms in South Africa – we were beaten to that by a company called Hint Hunt, which opened up in Cape Town around three or four years ago.

They’re an overseas franchise.

GAMING

GM: So how exactly does it work?

SK: You’re going to arrive with a group of three to six people, which is best. You don’t want too small a group because it becomes very difficult, and you don’t want too big a group because it becomes confusing. We give you a quick briefing and give you a few high level rules, mainly about safety and a few hints, and we explain that you’ll be locked in a room, and you have one hour in which to escape, using whatever is in the room.

Then you go into one of the rooms that we have, and you have one hour to work together, see what’s around, solve puzzles, unlock new locations and essentially find the final key to escape the room.

GM: Tell us a bit more about your different rooms?

SK: We have three rooms. The first room is the Rebel Room, a military themed escape from a jungle camp. All the puzzles and everything in the room is on

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point; everything is authentic and military themed, like real ammo boxes and barrels and helmets and uniforms. The scenario is that you have been captured by a group of rebels and you have an hour to escape before they return.

Our second room is called closure. It’s a Paranormal Activity style investigation in a haunted house. We launched it in April, and it’s being very well received.

It’s very different from our first room, almost like being in a horror movie. It feels like being in a reallife haunted house scenario when things start happening in the room. As much as you’re solving puzzles, just like the other rooms, there are also special effects that happen, and there’s a “ghost” in there with you. It’s very cool; people go in there, they get a bit of a fright and get worked up, and they come out wishing it could last longer.

We have a third room that opened in the beginning of August, called Hack Out. We did something a bit different with the escape room concept. Essentially we take your team and divide you into two. One group gets locked into one jail cell, and the other into another jail cell. You can’t see ot touch each other, and you have to use what’s available to you and communicate with each other to still break out as a team. It’s got a digital feels, with some tech, and it’s a completely different experience from the other two rooms.

That’s what we try to do – we stick to the core concept but every time you go into one of our rooms it’s a different experience.

GM: Some people are better at puzzles than others… how do you handle the different levels of player ability?

SK: That’s a very good question, and we have a very good solution. We knew this was the case, so we decided to not

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create easy rooms. The more challenged you feel, the more accomplished you feel. On the other hand you cannot make it too difficult, because there are some people who haven’t done a puzzle in ten years and aren’t into that way of thinking… but they still want the experience.

So we created the rooms at a moderately high level of difficulty with some rooms being more difficult that others. Closure is probably slightly easier because its more of a cinematic experience, as opposed to a challenge.

So what we do is that we have a game master that observes each game. Each team that goes in has a dedicated game master that observes them on a hidden camera and microphone system.

We have a central control room and we walk you through the room as much as you need it.

We have a very small number of teams – I can count them on one hand – who have finished our rooms without any assistance whatsoever. Most teams need a nudge here or there… so our game master observes the room and, depending on where you are which room it is and how close you are to the solution, we may give you a bit of a nudge. Nothing too overt – you still have to find the solution – but we’ll prompt things like “have you looked there, have you thought about this…” That’s how we manage it, and we provide as much help as you need. We’re not of the opinion that it’s supposed to be incredibly difficult, and we’re not trying to prove that we’re smarte than you. What we really want is for you to come and have a good time.

GM: And if the team doesn’t solve the puzzle in time?

SK: It happens a lot. Our Rebel Room only has around a 40% success rate. We give you clues, but you still need to solve the

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puzzles, so it happens a lot. Most people, if they don’t get out they get right to the end.

We want people to see as much of the room as possible. There’s a lot of great stuff that happens in there, so we try to guide teams as much as is feasible. But it you don’t get out, you don’t get out, and most people don’t mind. They still had an amazing time, and it’s a very cool experience. Getting out earns you bragging rights, but it’s not essential.

GAMING

GM: How do you come up with all the puzzle ideas?

SK: My colleague Chris and I design everything ourselves. We do our own software, build our own props and source our own materials. We just try to make situations that are as fun as possible for people.

So, for example, with Closure, we asked each other “what do people love?” People love horror, and there’s so much demand for it. We sat down and decided to make a horror themed room, asking “if you were in a haunted house, what would you expect to find?”

There are many escape rooms around the world. Some are good and some are bad, and what they do with bad ones is put you in a situation and throw in random puzzles that make no sense, just for the sake of adding more puzzles to the room. We try to make everything on theme and on point, feeling as natural as possible. It needs to feel like things are as natural as possible.

GM: What about player safety? Is this an activity in which there is a potential for injury?

SK: It’s safer than going to work I the morning. No one at your office has analysed in for injuries, but we have done that in our rooms. Things are secured and bolted down, all sharp edges are rounded off, and it’s been a worthwhile exercise. We haven’t

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had any injuries, so we’re happy with that.

Besides, it’s more of a mental challenge. Anyone can do it – it’s not like a Survivor immunity challenge. It’s not designed to be a dangerous experience at all.

GM: You must have seen people get up to some weird things, though…

SK: We’ve seen mad things… our one almost accident involved two brothers who thought they saw something high up in one of the rooms. I don’t know what they saw. So the one got onto the other’s shoulders, they lost their balance and they both fell over.

We’ve also seen a couple come on a first date. Not just a first date, but a blind date. To an escape room. They didn’t know each other from a bar of soap, and they come to an escape room.

GM: And what has the general response been to the idea of escape rooms?

SK: This is normally how it goes down: a group of six people come in. The one has heard of an escape room, or done an escape room, and they kind of know what to expect. The rest of the group has no idea. And the people that books the rooms tend to keep it a surprise.

Some get a bit nervous, or scared, or unsure. We put them in the room, and they have the time of their lives. They come out hungry for more. A lot of our customers are repeat customers, and we have many teams that have played all our rooms, even begging us to make more rooms.

We wish we had more space to make more. If we did we’d be making more rooms right now, but we’re full to capacity at our current venue. But the more people do, the more they want to do… the response has been amazing.

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GM: Where can people find you?

SK: We have a venue in Grant Avenue in Norwood, Johannesburg – 39 Grant Avenue.

Our three rooms are there. We also have a website with all the information – www.hashtagescape co.za. We’re also on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Our website has a fully-fledged booking portal as well, as well as all contact details.

GM: And pricing?

SK: R200 per person Simple as that.

GM: What are the biggest challenges facing the 3D printer market in South Africa?

NR: I would have to say one of the biggest obstacles at the moment is the lack of awareness and education regarding the vast possibilities of 3D printing.

Nothing new comes without a few stumbling blocks and one of the main ones for 3D printing has been navigating CAD software, which is targeted at engineers. In 2015, however, many companies are coming up with solutions for this, either in the form of better services or by incorporating scanners into their offerings, which means that any design can be uploaded to a desktop 3D printer. It is also difficult to break through some of the misconceptions people have regarding the technology i.e. that it is unaffordable.

GM: In closing, why do you think people should experience escape rooms?

SK: This is what our customers say: you’re not just escaping a room, you’re escaping from everything for an hour. Our rooms are immersive and you completely forget everything else. We take you away from your technology and your problems. You have a singular focus. Everyone should try it. g

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Sony

Xperia X Smart Phone The next level

T LIFESTYLE

he smart phone wars are never going to cool down, not when products like this hit the market. Released earlier this year, the Xperia X takes things to a new level in two key areas: battery life and the camera.

The battery will provide power for up to two days in this handset, and the overall battery life has been extended thanks to new Qnovo Adaptive Charging technology.

The camera is a powerful 24 megapixel affair with adaptive motion focussing for clearer images, and an improved front camera delivering 13 megapixel of image power.

The Xperia X has many other features, too, and is a remarkable device indeed. g

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CATAN

Building a mini empire

D&D Attack Win LIFESTYLE

Clash of the dragons

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to look at. These add a great sense of

a long time, been something

“realism” to the battles, and you may

of an elitist pursuit, with

find yourself making little sound effects

players spending vast amounts of time

while you play. Go ahead. Express

and money preparing their armies.

yourself.

Painstakingly painting the figures of each unit before taking them to elaborately

expansions to the game, as can other

decorated tables and doing battle against

creature types, allowing the player

their foes, war gamers prided themselves

to build a fantasy army with powerful

on the fact that they games they were

dragons at its core.

playing were deeply strategic, complex in

Playing D&D Attack Wing can be a

terms of rules, and beyond the reach of

pedantic affair, almost like a freeform

the rabble. Well, times have changed.

chess game in which being two steps

The resurgence of D&D as a hobby has

ahead of your opponent is a massive

a lot of old school RPG fans excited, but

advantage. Movement is governed by

the rise of new product bearing the D&D

cleverly integrated templates, minimising

logo is introducing the concept to a much

the measurement arguments that have

wider audience. And one such product is

been heard around so many war gaming

D&D Attack Wing. Based on the fantasy

tables. In fact, almost everything is noted

creatures taken from the pages of D&D,

or prescribed here, and a game is easy

D&D Attack Wing makes table top war

to set up. There are a lot of bits to keep

gaming much more accessible.

track of, and any given game can get

Not a collectible game as much as an

pretty deep and entangled (particularly if there are expansions in play) but Wizkids

starter kit comes with everything you

have done everything possible to ensure

need to get playing right away. It includes

that rules quibbles and the like are kept

three dragon figurines (the mainstay of

to a minimum through clear markers and

the game) as well as templates, markers

token that keep track of the action of

and rulers. Getting playing quickly is

every combatant. Even arguments about

possible thanks to the game’s quick start

intended actions are resolved, thanks to

rules option, but really digging into what

the game’s extremely accurate tracking

D&D Attack Wing can offer takes a little

systems.

What makes D&D Attack Wing really

which, while not on the level of more

great is that it blows the lid off of free-

traditional table top war games, can be a

form table top war gaming, presenting

little complex.

the hobby in a way that is easy to

The figurines provided with the starter

understand (relatively, at least), exciting, accessible and fun. And those figures…

dragon, fully painted and wonderful

oh my! g

Genre:

Table Top Strategy

#of Players:

3-4 Players

Play Time:

60 minutes

Manufacturer: Distributor: Online:

Wizkids SolarPop www.wizkidsgames.com gamecca88

Summary

set are great – a blue, red and bronze

Ages

Accessible, relatively easy to learn and great at record keeping, D&D Attack Wing brings table top fantasy battles to the masses.

14+ 89 Score

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“expandable” one, D&D Attack Wing’s

more time. There are a lot of rules here

AT A GLANCE

More dragons can be purchased as

COOL STUFF: BoardGames

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Dice Masters Marvel Civil Wa LIFESTYLE

In the hands of fate

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#of Players: Play Time: Manufacturer: Distributor: Online:

Dice building 2 Players 15-60 minutes Wizkids SolarPop www.wizkidsgames.com gamecca88

Summary

AT A GLANCE

Genre:

Ages

A more chaotic option that TCGs, this game depends on chance, luck and quick thinking to come out on top.

10+ 80 Score

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by Walt Pretorius

ar

session. It is mitigated slightly by the fact that you have fewer dice to randomly draw from than you would have cards in a TCG deck, but there is still a large degree of uncertainty at play.

Admittedly, as an old-school TCG player, it sits a little off with me.

I prefer to strategize a little more carefully and try and stack my deck in ways that will ensure those strategies come to fruition. In Dice Masters Marvel Civil War, even the amount of energy I will have to spend at any given time is up to chance. With that said, it is easy to understand the appeal of having to deal with situations on the fly. In this way, Dice Masters Marvel Civil War is a game in which reaction to circumstances is as important as strategy, and those that value quick thinking will certainly like that. And, in all honesty, there is still a limited number of options, even for random events.

Being a collectible, Dice Masters Marvel Civil War offers expansion packs, which add two dice and two cards (yes, it uses cards too, for character rules) per pack to the 44 dice and 37 cards of the basic starter deck. Additionally, these Dice Masters Marvel Civil War dice can be used with other Dice Master Marvel sets, much like the way in which Magic: The Gathering expansions work together.

If you’re into collectible games and like the thrill of the roll of the dice, Dice Masters Marvel Civil War is a great option for you. g

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ollectible games are great, because you never quite know what your opponent is going to bring to the table. This counts for a wide variety of card games, from Magic: The Gathering through to Pokémon. And it counts for dice games, too…

Dice Masters Marvel Civil War is such a game, leveraging on the popularity of the recent Captain America: Civil War movie release.

Naturally, as with all things Marvel, there is a wide appeal here, and as these movies continue to be made and pry back the covers of what was once something of an exclusive geek interest, Marvel based items are becoming increasingly sought after.

So how does the game work, actually? Well, there’s no easy way to explain it, but the best analogy is to compare it to a trading card game. Trading card games are traditionally governed by a lot of strategy and luck. The strategy comes from employing the cards in your hand, and the luck arises from picking up the right card at the right time. This is also true for Dice Masters Marvel Civil War… the skill comes into play in employing the dice that you have drawn from your dice bag, and the luck comes into play in drawing the right dice. But there is an added random element here, which will work for some and frustrate others: rolling those dice.

Not only does the draw matter, but the roll does too, which makes chance a far more relevant aspect to any Dice Masters Marvel Civil War

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Mutant Year Zero: Genlab Alpha Furry fury!

W

LIFESTYLE

elcome to a broken world, shattered by apocalyptic catastrophe. Humans have mutated and turned into things that are barely recognisable. The surface of the planet is scarred and bruised, plants are stunted and twisted, and debris is scattered over once fertile soil. But what about the animals? Ask them‌ they can talk now.

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COOL STUFF: RPG

System: Manufacturer: Distributor: Online:

Sci-fi

Summary

AT A GLANCE

by Walt Pretorius

Genre:

Mutant Year Zero Modiphius DriveThru RPG www.drivethrurpg.com

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Score

Mutated animals living in a deceptive paradise are the main player-characters in this Mutant Year Zero expansion.

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T LIFESTYLE

he last time I played as a mutated animal in

Genlab Alpha put players in the role of mutated animals

a role playing game was back in the early

in the Mutant: Year Zero world. But instead of coming from

‘90s, when I partook in a game of the Teenage

the devastated Zone that the human mutants come from,

Mutant Ninja Turtles game. The fact that I

these animals are inhabitants of a beautiful, fertile area called

placed as a foulmouthed raccoon warrior was either total

The Valley. Here, nine tribe dwell, divided by their ancestral

coincidence or oddly prophetic – and, no, I am not going

animal roots. There are other creatures here, too, and the

to try and claim any part in giving rise to certain popular

tribes must protect their habitats against them. But the

movie characters.

animals here are not truly free – they have been imprisoned

Now, with Mutant Year Zero: Genlab Alpha, I have had

for generations by The Watchers, vestiges of humanity who

the chance again, and I had great fun doing it. However,

silently observe and occasionally interfere with The Valley’s

this game feels a lot darker than TMNT ever did… and if

inhabitants.

you consider that the RPG was based on the comics, rather than the TV series, that’s saying something.

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Genlab Alpha is interesting in two ways (apart from the fact that you’re playing bipedal, speaking animals with opposable

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COOL STUFF: RPG

thumbs, that it). The first is that is plays out like an adventure

It’s a new way of approaching RPG products, really,

and a source book all at the same time. A big part of the

much like the rule system is a simpler take on RPG ideas. It

setting is to get out of The Valley and into The Zone beyond.

doesn’t try to force issues of “you must have this book to

The book contains details for living beyond The Valley, so

play that” onto the players and GM, which is a refreshing

characters created in Genlab Alpha can fairly easily meet,

thing in a market that has seen more than a few supplement

interact and team up with characters from The Zone.

heavy RPG systems hit the shelves.

Which leads to the second interesting point. Genlab Alpha

Genlab Alpha is a refreshing and even sometimes funny

is an expansion to Mutant: Year Zero, sure, but it can also be

game, despite its darkness, largely because players taking

played as a standalone game. It comes with all the rules and

on the roles of mutated animals invariably lead to odd

information needed to run independently of Mutant: Year

situations as players parody the behaviour of furry critters.

Zero… which is handy if you want to avoid the icky humans

It’s a great game when all is said and done, and adding

and just get to the cute, fluffy things (that will probably kill

these characters into a Year Zero game makes for excellent

you in your sleep in their bid to escape The Valley).

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Doors to Darkness Welcome to the madness

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System:

Horror Call of Cthulhu

Manufacturer:

Chaosium

Distributor:

Chaosium

Online:

Summary

LIFESTYLE

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Genre:

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Score

This remarkable supplement serves as a sort of “tutorial” for new Call of Cthulhu players and Keepers. It’s awesome!

94

by Walt Pretorius

ost role playing game books set out the rules, and then set players and game masters free to bump their heads along the way to successful gaming.

But that approach simply doesn’t work for Chaosium, the company behind the massively popular Call of Cthulhu RPG. And so they have created Doors to Darkness, a wholly remarkable supplement that will get games going in no time, without all the missteps and guess work. This book is an invaluable resource for new players, as well as being a great reminder and sub-plot provider for more experienced groups.

Doors to Darkness is almost best likened to a tutorial in a video game. It provides novice Keepers (that’s Cthulhu for “Game Master”) tons of information, not only on running the game, but also on how to present it, and even create their own Mythos mysteries. Then it throws five scenarios into the mix, perfect for new players, but also great for short sessions and side-quests for more experienced groups. Lastly, ten pregenerated characters are provided for player use, to really help with the ideas of how characters can be structured.

Doors to Darkness is more than a great supplement; it shows the complete dedication that Chaosium have, not only to their products, but to the people that love them.

It’s a fantastic companion, because it helps to define a lot of Keeper information, and make it easier for new players to be indoctrinated into the ways of the Cthulhu Mythos and all its mind-melting mysteries and madness. HP Lovecraft would be proud. g

Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide

Cool Stuff: RPGs

LE TY EW S E I lIF EV R

Taking characters to a new level

System:

Fantasy Pathfinder

Manufacturer:

Paizo

Distributor:

Paizo

Online:

Summary

LIFESTYLE

AT A GLANCE 133

Genre:

This book is, as you may have guessed, all about player characters. It expands on existing ideas that the Core Rules presents about races and classes, while adding more depth in areas like feats, spells, weapons, equipment and magical items. It even presents some new rules to govern new ideas that enhance the overall experience.

Players are extremely important to any role playing game, and the guidance that they can get from this book will not only give them

www.paizo.com gamecca88

far more to work with in terms of their characters, it will likely make them pretty happy, too. So while the Core Rules do provide everything that you need to get the basics going, the expanded ideas presented in the extremely valuable Advanced Player’s Guide will elevate what their characters can do, and thereby take the experience that is had around the role playing table to al whole new level. If you’re a Pathfinder player or Game Master, this book is beyond cool – it’s down-right essential. g

This book is an essential addition for any Pathfinder library, and will give players valuable new tools to work with.

Score

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by Walt Pretorius

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athfinder is, without a doubt, a massive game. The Core Rulebook is an incredibly large tome, crammed with knowledge, guidance, rules and ideas. But even this massive book cannot contain every idea that could be applied to an imaginative fantasy setting, and so there are several supplements that help bring more definition and concepts to the table. Some are taste driven but others are pretty much vital. That is the case with the Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide.

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Savage Wo

The return of an

R

ifts was first published in 1990, when a successful Palladium Games was riding on a high created by titles like Robotech and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Rifts, however, wasn’t a lot like their other

games… in fact, it wasn’t like anything that role-players had ever seen before.

LIFESTYLE

Magic and technology combined in a game where it was quite possible to have a heavy-armour ‘mech fighting alongside a spell slinging wizard.

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COOL STUFF: RPG

orlds: Rifts

nything goes‌

System: Manufacturer: Distributor: Online:

Sc-fi Fantasy

Summary

AT A GLANCE

by Walt Pretorius

Genre:

Savage Worlds Pinnacle Studios Drive-thru RPG www.drivethrurpg.com

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Rifts makes a more-thanwelcome comeback in these Savage Worlds supplements, a chance for a whole new generation to experience this great setting.

Score

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t all comes down to the titular rifts. After a

game. In this way, the well-loved Rifts has been given a

calamity engulfs the earths, mystical ley lines

new lease on life, albeit with a sleeker rules system. In

appear, and where they intersect, rifts to other

fact, when you consider how Savage Worlds works, with

worlds and dimensions, tears in the fabric of

a potential bit of tweaking from the Game Master, Rifts is

time, space and reality, open up. From these rifts new

now more varied and possesses more potential than ever

being stream, friends and foes alike, and after a while

before.

humanity is no longer the dominant species on the

To take to the field as a super-armoured Glitter Boy

planet… in fact, they’re on the endangered list.

or a powerful wizard- or even a young dragon - in the

LIFESTYLE

Pinnacle Studios have created a version of Rifts that

compelling Rifts setting, you need three books – one for

works with their Savage Worlds rule system, tying in

players, and two for use by the GM. These are, of course,

beautifully with both the more modernised rules and

in addition to the Savage Worlds Core Rules we looked

the absolutely divine eclectic nature of the original

at last month. The three books are The Tomorrow Legion

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COOL STUFF: RPG

Player’s Guide, the Rifts Game Master’s Handbook and

a web of supplements. In other words, the well-defined

Savage Foes of North America. With these three books

core rule system rolls with any punches, and making

you will be able to launch into any Rifts campaign with

use of other Savage Worlds supplements with Rifts can

ease. There are a few rules tweaks to the original Savage

enhance the game overall.

Worlds rules, but, for the most part, those that have

Rifts is as entertaining (and crazy) a setting as it

played Savage Worlds will be able to fall into the exciting

was when it was first published 29 years ago. Seeing it

and enticing world of Rifts immediately.

arrive as a modernised, still relevant product is not only

There is an interesting point that comes up when

exciting, but it gets the old nostalgia gland into overdrive.

considering the Savage Worlds system, and seeing it

The books are well laid out and full of both vital and

in action in Rifts confirms it; unlike other role playing

anecdotal information to make your modern Rifts game

games, for which supplemental material is often very

truly great, giving this well-loved setting another spin in

linear and tied to a single theme, Savage Worlds creates

the limelight. g

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Traveller Referee’s Briefing 2: Anomalies & Wonders Revealing the mysteries

System: Manufacturer: Distributor: Online:

Science Fiction Traveller Mongoose Publishing

Summary

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Genre:

massive mountains and lost cities. The book provides one example of each class of anomaly it addresses, making it a great source of inspiration, but not something that is going to be referred to on a constant basis. In short, it’s inspiring, but feels a little light.

Thankfully, at least, the creators have stuck to scientific theory as much as possible. While Anomalies and Wonders acknowledges the idea that science can (and probably will) change over the many years that separate our time and the far future setting of Traveller, most of

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what is in the book is based on our admittedly limited understanding of what is out there among the stars.

The true value, it seems, of the Referee’s Briefings is that they can serve as an idea mill for Referees, particularly when used together.

A nefarious corporation mining a gas giant? Why not? They’re get the creative juices flowing, without locking the Referee down with too many prescribed occurrences. In that way, they work… but they leave a lot of work for the Referee to do, too. g Score

Although a bit light on content, this source book provides great inspiration for home-brewed ideas.

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by Walt Pretorius

I

t’s pretty apparent, looking at the second Referee’s Briefing for Mongoose’s Traveller, that these supplements are not intended to be exhaustive. Rather, they are there to spark the imagination. The first dealt with corporations, and this second one with naturally occurring phenomena.

Anomalies and Wonders moves from a massive scale to a more sedate one. It starts off with stellar and interstellar phenomena like black holes and protostars to planetary ideas like gas giants and planetary clusters, and then down to “local” things like

Cool Stuff: RPGs

LE TY EW S E I lIF EV R

Demon Lord’s Companion Expanding characters

Cool Stuff: RPGs

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S

System: Manufacturer: Distributor: Online:

Fantasy Shadow of the Demon Lord Schwalb Entertainment

Summary

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AT A GLANCE 139

Genre:

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Score

This supplement is vital for building more varied and interesting characters for a Shadow of the Demon lord campaign.

87

by Walt Pretorius

hadow of the Demon Lord is a compelling fantasy setting featuring a number of great options in a fantasy world that is a bit more technologically advanced than the average.

And it is also on the brink of destruction.

While it is full of information and options, many things intended to fill out the game were left out of the Core Rules. You need to draw the line somewhere, after all, and core books must contain all the relevant information, while some of the “less important” stuff may not make it in. That’s where supplements like the Demon Lord’s Companion come in.

In this book you will find lots of new options to apply to player characters, from two new races (fauns and halflings) through to new paths, story complications, equipment magic and GM guidance. The Core Rules make for a good game, but with this book, with so many new options, throw into the mix, it becomes a great game.

Because Shadow of the Demon Lord is more tightly scripted in terms of setting, providing freedom with tons of options is vital, and that’s what this supplement does. The rules clarifications and new monsters alone turn it into an invaluable tool for the GM, but the lion’s share of the volume is dedicated to players making their characters more varied, more interesting and, ultimately, more fun to role play. And that means that it is worth its weight in gold in role-playing potential terms. This one is essential to any Shadow game. g

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Title:

Briggs Land #1

Writer:

Brian Wood

Artist:

Mack Chater

Publisher: Rated:

COOL STUFF

GET GRAPHIC Dark Horse Mature

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by Clive Burmeister

The Briggs family own a huge portion of land where they run their operations, from the large family estate to the small village on the land.

They also run their own security, with a strict “keep out� policy to strangers.

The Briggs family are also mixed up in a lot of criminal activity, making the head on the Briggs family essentially a crime boss, with a great deal of power over the local community.

Currently Jim Briggs is the patriarch of the family and boss of the crime syndicate, and even from prison where he currently resides, he keeps a strong hand over his family and the running of his empire. But today, his wife Grace, has finally had enough.

Today Grace is going to take over Briggs Land herself.

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142

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Title: Writer: Artist: Publisher: Rated:

COOL STUFF

GET GRAPHIC Eclipse #1 Zack Kaplan Giovanni Timpano Image Teen +

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by Clive Burmeister

In the future a solar flare will cause a cataclysmic event here on earth, increasing the sun’s heat exponentially, and making it impossible for human beings to traverse the earth’s surface during daylight.

This is the world of Eclipse. People live at night. During the day they are herded into underground shelters, as being exposed to the sun is a death sentence, as the heat will literally burn the skin from your bones. Only a select few can walk the surface in daylight, using special Iceman suits, these people can make sure everything is in order and do routine maintenance.

But when an Iceman team discovers a body shackled to the ground, with no way the murderer could have survived the heat themselves, the security of everyone is in jeopardy.

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Title: Writer: Artist: Publisher: Rated:

COOL STUFF

GET GRAPHIC Hadrian’s Wall #1 Kyle Higgins, Alec Siegel Rod Reis Image Mature

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by Clive Burmeister

When a possible murder happens to a crew member of Hadrian’s Wall, a deep space exploration ship, in the far reaches of space, expert Simon Moore is called in to investigate and to protect the interests of the Antares Interspace Corporation. But everything is not so straight forward on this job, as Simon’s ex is a crew member on board Hadrian’s Wall, and the man who was murdered, was the same man she left Simon for. Added to that is a lurking animosity towards the company, as well as a growing unrest between the biggest space colony on Theta and Earth.

Hadrian’s Wall is a gripping Sci-fi murder mystery and conspiracy story that’s bound to keep you guessing.

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Title:

Sixpack & Dogwelder: Hard Travelin’ Heroz #1

Writer:

Garth Ennis

Artist:

Russ Braun

Publisher: Rated:

COOL STUFF

GET GRAPHIC DC Comics Teen +

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by Clive Burmeister

The “Heroes” of Section 8 are tired of being outshined by the big teams like the Justice League. After due consideration, Sixpack, the team’s leader, decides all they need to do is save the world.

Then everyone will notice them and appreciate them. If only they could get an apocalyptic event.

Unfortunately that just might be what comes calling. We’ve come to expect some pretty rough books from Garth Ennis, who has too many best selling comic books under his belt to mention, but he is specifically renowned for not pulling any punches in his stories. They can be explicit, crude, violent, and arguably realistic. But this is a mainstream DC title, so Ennis will need to rein it in a bit, it will be interesting to see what he does.

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Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day Moving on…

Title:

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148

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Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day Seanan McGuire Tor Books Urban Fantasy

COOL STUFF: BOOKS

U

rban fantasy is a genre that either strikes a chord with you, or it doesn’t. There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground for these tales that place fantasy creatures in familiar surroundings. It is a genre that is broad and fuzzy

at the edges, and has been explored by many, from Raymond E Feist’s remarkable Faerie Tale through to the near lamentable Twilight series.

Jenna is a ghost living in New York City – she is there because she dies before her time, and must come to terms with her time that she lived, and deal with when she will move on to whatever comes next. And she has to deal with witches while she’s at it.

Whether ghosts will become the next big thing or not remains to be seen, but it certainly would be nice to give urban vampires a break. Whether or not you like the genre, McGuire’s handling of the narrative is great, and her apparent understanding of relationships is what makes this book something entertaining to read. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but fun and well written. g

by Walt Pretorius

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The Warren

Those who came before.

Title:

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150

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The Warren Brian Evenson Tor Books Sci-FI

COOL STUFF: BOOKS

X

, if that is his name, is a but a single person. Within him lies the imprinted personalities of others before him, salvaged minds seeking to keep knowledge within the last remaining human. However, X begins to question his humanity when he discovers

another on the surface of what he calls, the Warren. Things begin to spin out of control as the two wrestle with an existential question: what makes one human.

The Warren is a fascinating science fiction thriller, a dive into the mind of a man with multiple-personas within him. Unable to comprehend the individuals within, X begins to seek out questions regarding his existence in the Warren. His only other source of knowledge is Monitor, a device he uses to find answers to the questions that plague his existence. Yet even Monitor is unable to answer pertinent questions, especially when X finds another human on the surface of the Warren. The surface itself is an expanse he should not have explored in the first place; a place where only death awaits.

This short novella explores the depths of alienation and confusion, in a continuous enigma that plays out until the end of the book. g

By Nthato Morakabi

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I

Ramjet’s rantality

hate being made to look like a tit. I absolutely hate it, having to stand hat-inhand, and admit that I was banging on about something, and that I was wrong. It’s one thing if I do it to myself – I can have a serious talking to the man in the mirror, then realise how ridiculously good looking I am, and forgive myself. But when someone else does it to me, well, that’s an entirely different story…

Last month I somewhat vehemently defended the developers of No Man’s Sky, Hello Games. Perhaps I was being uncharacteristically naïve in my statements that we should give Hello games a break and let them continue working on a game which could be something quite special. I still stand by that, mind you… No Man’s Sky has lots of potential.

But Hello games… well, I am starting to think that Sean Murray and his crew have either buckled under the immense pressure of all that negative commentary, or they are off on a tropical island sipping strawberry daiquiris and counting the bags of money they earned from the game. Probably fanned by

152

slaves. Either way, they’re out of Wi-Fi range.

My newly found vitriol stems from the fact that Hello Games were, once upon a time, keeping people informed before. They weren’t exactly Chatty Cathies, no, but they told people things – sometimes soothing sweet nothings – that let us know that they were there, they understood, they were working on it. It might have taken them a few days to clarify patch notes, but they eventually did. Their news posts might have been the kind of thing that meant very little, but at least we knew that they hadn’t fled the country with their bags of cash.

And that all stopped on the 2nd of September. That was the date of their last news post. Now, aside from a vague tweet that hinted that there might be new music in the Big Update that everyone is hoping for, we are hearing nothing except for the chirping of an embarrassed cricket who olny just realised that everyone else left.

You could probably put money on the fact that whatever game Hello Games

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BY rAMJET

The Deafening Silence

releases next is going to tank.

Their reputation alone will ensure it. But the situation could be salvaged, even this late, if they simply said something to once again assure us that they are there.

It doesn’t look like they are going to, because they’re not even responding to reports that they’re being investigated for false advertising.

Unless they change their tactic, and soon at that, Hello games is pretty much doomed.

Perhaps Sean Murray will hire all the staff again and start a new project, although unless it’s a school based on how not to market video games, I think he’ll be wasting his time.

It’s simple to reverse the negative trend, really, and hopefully someone from Hello games actually sees the advice that I have for them: talk to us.

In closing, I want to extend a thank you to all the readers that have supported us for the last 23 issues of Gladget magazine. I know that you’re going to love where we’re going with the publication, and I trust that you are as excited about all the new ideas as we are. g