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e3 2009 / GHOSTBUSTERS / PROTOTYPE / RED FACTION GUERILLA / FIGHT NIGHT 4 / MONSTER HUNTER

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© 2009 Electronic Arts Inc. EA, EA SPORTS and the EA SPORTS logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All Rights Reserved. The mark ‘TIGERWOODS’ and the TW Logo are trademarks of ETW Corp. and may not be used, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of ETW Corp. The name, likeness and other attributes of Tiger Woods reproduced on this product are trademarks, copyrighted designs and/or other forms of intellectual property that are the exclusive property of ETW Corp. or Tiger Woods and may not be used, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of ETW Corp. or Tiger Woods. PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR and Swinging Golfer design are trademarks of PGA TOUR, INC. and used by permission. All other sponsored products, company names, brand names, trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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OUT NOW!

july | 2009

editorial

contents coming soon

18 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Wolfenstein 19 Ninja Blade Call of Juarez 2: Bound In Blood 20 Overlord II G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra 21 Tales of Vesperia The Conduit

reviews 22 InFamous 23 Fight Night 4 24 Red Faction Guerrilla 26 Prototype 27 Ghostbusters: The Video Game 28 Monster Hunter Freedom Unite 29 Sacred 2: Fallen Angel Bionic Commando

featured 12 Interview:

10 The

Kimberly Crossman

We sent Stan McGuigan along to Electronic Arts HQ to chat with multi-talented actress and Sims 3 ambassador Kimberly Crossman.

Best of E3 2009

Andy Astruc takes in all the highs and lows from the video game trade show recently held in LA.

movies 32 Slumdog Millionaire The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Youth Without Youth 33 The Spirit IP Man Vicki Christina Barcelona 34 Gran Torino Seven Pounds Milk 35 The Wackness Sparkle Marvel X-Men: The Animated Series 36 Tokyo Zombie Slacker Frisky Dingo: Season 2 37 Sports Night It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

It was a game junkie paradise as Julie, Stan and I found ourselves at a Monaco press event/party on a Wednesday evening at the RvB bar, come gaming zone on Auckland’s infamous K Rd. Monaco are New Zealand’s biggest third-party distributor and local publishers for some of the gaming industries most well known brands. This includes Ubisoft, SEGA, THQ and the upcoming giant Warner Bros.

The event was to showcase the various publisher’s big releases and announcements from E3. Some of this stuff we’ve already seen on YouTube or downloaded onto our consoles but still, these games look awful good. It’s hard not to get excited at what looks like an amazing new Splinter Cell and Assassins Creed sequel. Or feel a kind of giddy excitement about LEGO Rockband or LEGO Harry Potter!

The end result is all of the represented studios had incredibly hot looking games on display. Heck even Red Steel II looked good (and I still shudder when I think of the original Wii launch title).

Yes the industry is safe folks, and apparently recession proof -- there’s plenty of cool stuff coming out over the next year and a good amount of it has even managed to avoid being thrown into the old sequel basket.

In that theme you’ll notice we’ve got rather a lot of information about E3 in this issue of Gamefreaks. See inside for our thoughts on the event and the best looking games on display.

It is also with great sadness that we bid Lee Marrett farewell. Work and family commitments has seen the longest serving writer for the Mag finally bid us goodbye although we’d not be surprised (in fact we’d love) to see him drop in every now and then to give us a guest review.

We do however welcome onboard our talented new writer Andy Astruc who will be stepping into Lee’s might big shoes to help us with the gaming content.

Enjoy the issue and I’ll see you at the end!

Nigel Clark - Editor

contact Tenth Planet Publishing Limited Phone: 09 625 2879 Email: mail@tenthplanet.co.nz

advertising Tenth Planet Publishing Limited Phone: 09 625 2879 Email: jon@gamefreaks.co.nz

people

Publisher: Jon Minifie jon@gamefreaks.co.nz Editor: Nigel Clark nigel@tenthplanet.co.nz Design: Scott Judson, Kela Rose scott@gamefreaks.co.nz Words: Lee Marrett, Adrian Hatwell, Stan McGuigan, Julie Gray, Caleb Judson, Andy Astruc, Ben Sparks

thanks Aaron, Adrian, Amanda, Angely, Annie, Ben, BNE, Bob, Bruce, Clare, Craig, Danny, Dave, David, Drew, Ewan, Gary, Haley, Ian, Isabella, Jacqui, Jemma, Jen, Jeremy, Julie, Justine, Kate, Katie, Keith, Kela, Keri, Leigh, Leroy, Luc, Mark, Matthew, Mike, Paul, Pip, Samantha, Scott, Simon, Teresa, Zeljana The contents of Gamefreaks are copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publishers.

The views and opinions expressed in Gamefreaks are not necessarily those of the publisher.

Bethesda’s parent company buys id software Sega has pulled the plug on their upcoming Aliens RPG Developer Obsidian and publisher Sega have confirmed that the Aliens RPG project has been canceled Sega has been long hyping the release of a triplet of Alien games to an eager public, but it turns out one of them is already dead.

Developer Obsidian has finally confirmed that Alien RPG has been cancelled.

Based on the classic sci-fi film series, the game was going to be a third-person role-playing game set in the Aliens universe. Further details were scarce, but the game was developing some decent early hype due to the richness of the source material, as well as the involvement of the

studio behind games like Knights of the Old Republic 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2.

The title has been up in the air for quite some time, with stories of Obsidian losing staff, Sega pulling funding for the title (as well as another, Aliens: Colonial Marines) and general screaming about the end of the world. Speculation was at fever pitch after the game failed to show up at E3 this year, but many bloggers and gaming journalists were holding on to their hopes that the game would still surface. Unfortunately

Nokia launches its iPhone killer

Nokia has unveiled the new touch-screen multimedia N97 smartphone designed to take on Apple’s iPhone The battle of the Smartphone’s is heating up and NZ’s most popular mobile phone brand is wading into the scene to do battle with the likes of the iPhone and the HTC Magic with their touchy like screens.

The Nokia N97 certainly has its work cut out for it with a price tag of $1799 making it one of the most expensive phones on the market. Its Symbian operating system might also lack the whiz bang factor of the Magic’s Google developed Android alternative. Still the goodies are certainly there, yes there’s a touch screen and it’s a dam nice screen too…capable of playing at 16:9, nice. Probably the biggest drawcard

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though is the flip out full QWERTY keyboard which comes awfully close to turning this mobile phone into a tiny little net book. In fact the onboard memory stands at a whopping 32 gigs of flash memory with an additional 16 possible if you get yourself the right kind of memory card.

Other features include the N Gage gaming platform (yes touch games are coming), the Nokia app store (a touch pricey at the moment) and the ability to custom the phone with a plethora of widgets.

If you’re interested we suggest popping into a store for some hands on playtime.

all the doom-talk was right, and dreams of playing as your own personalised Sigourney Weaver clone will have to stay locked away in your head. After the developer’s sad news, SEGA confirmed, saying they have “no plans to move forward with the Aliens RPG.” Game over, man.

The third planned title to use the Aliens mythology, Aliens vs. Predator, is still safely in development, so maybe the answer is just adding more aliens.

ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda Softworks, has recently acquired game company id Software.

The deal apparently insures that id Software will continue working as they had while independent, with development remaining unchanged on current projects like John Carmack’s Rage.

Of the acquisition ZeniMax CEO Robert Altman said, “Our role will be to provide publisher support through Bethesda Softworks and give id Software the resources it needs to grow and expand.” id Software is responsible for a host of classic titles, including Doom and Quake.

Bethesda Softworks have produced the popular RPG series Elder Scrolls as well as the acclaimed Fallout series.

New details released on Max Payne 3 Max is now old, bald, bearded and addicted to pain killers

The Noir detective who cracks farts as frequently as he does cases is back (well how else would you describe that permanently disgusted face?).

The hideous 2008 movie adaptation was no barrier for Rockstar it seems, and they’re back on board to bring the gun-toting, bullet-spewing slow-mo king back to life.

In traditionally shady fashion, Rockstar Vancouver have only released the following info about the new game: “The latest installment delivers more of the classic elements and hyper-intense action that fans have come to love, while moving the story of Max in a new direction”.

“We’re starting a new chapter of Max’s life with this game,” said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar Games. “This is Max as we’ve never seen him before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever. We experience the downward spiral of his life after the events of Max Payne 2 and witness his last chance for salvation.”

The release continues: “Since leaving the NYPD and New York itself behind, Max has drifted from bad to worse. Double-crossed and a long way from home, Max is now trapped in a city full of violence and bloodshed, using his weapons and instincts in a desperate search for the truth and a way out.”

Left 4 Dead fans to boycott sequel

Multiple zombie blasting gamers angry at Valve for sequel annoncement Well you don’t get this every day. The notoriously untouchable creators of HalfLife, Left 4 Dead and Portal have drawn criticism and irate fan ranting following their announcement that they are releasing Left 4 Dead 2 mere months after the original.

At the time of writing over 16,000 fans had joined the Steam group L4D2 boycott , who have also created a rather amus-

ing viral campaign in protest against the decision to release the new game as a fully-priced retail copy as opposed to a free add-on.

In their list of demands is that Valve must continue to release ongoing periodic content for Left 4 Dead and that Left 4 Dead owners are given discounts for Left 4 Dead 2.

Harry Potter LEGO games announced Interactive Entertainment and TT Games to work on Lego Harry Potter Oh we know you were just dying to get some more Lego games. Warner Bros. and Traveller’s Tales love you and your money, and are planning to release Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 sometime in 2010.

After the success of the thousands of other Lego Insert-Franchise-Here games, it was almost inevitable this series would get a good bricking.

The game will be available for the cur-

rent generation consoles and handheld systems, and (as the title suggests) will let people play through the first four years of Harry and his Potter Squad’s first four years at Hogwarts. Only a teaser trailer has been released thus far, but we’re guessing it will probably play exactly like every other Lego game, but more British.

Prepare for a very magical dead horse.

Backwards compatibility for the PS3?

Reportedly Sony has patented software-based PS2 emulation technology Rumours suggest that Sony may be very close to offering full backwards compatibility across all PlayStation 3 models.

According to patents filed in December 2008 with a publication date in June, a firmware update may soon allow all PlayStation 3 consoles to play older PlayStation 2 titles.

Backwards compatibility has been uneven across the various PlayStation 3 models released to date; some have been able to emulate PlayStation 2 software to varying degrees of success while still others have offered no support at all.

Apparently the patent involves a process by which the exact code for the PlayStation 2’s Emotion processor chip is replicated and contained on the PlaySta-

tion 3’s Cell processor, causing it to function exactly as a PlayStation 2 processor would.

This update would negate the need for constant tweaks to emulation software as the various backwards compatible PS3s currently need.

Sony has yet to release an official statement concerning the rumour, though several supposed comments by employees are currently circulating online.

The absence of backwards compatibility has been one of the most persistent criticisms of Sony’s system, both competing systems, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii, feature robust backwards compatibility functions.

EA boss attacks rival racers Blur and Forza 3 EA Games Europe’s senior VP Patrick Soderlund spoke with derision of the competition to his

EA announces Big Surf Island add-on Criterion announce the first piece of Burnout Paradise DLC If the backlash from gamers has anything to do with it, maybe Criterion should rethink that ‘Paradise’ label. The newly announced Big Surf Island expansion pack has drawn negative controversy due to it’s rather hefty price tag (1,000 points on Xbox Live), but overlooking that, there’s much to be excited about. Roughly half

the size of the downtown area of Paradise City, it comes with 45 new billboards and 75 new gates to crash through.

Stacked with new jumps and stunt-heavy set pieces, Surf Island also boasts quick, agile and light dune-style buggies that are guaranteed to thrill. Expensive it may be, but it’s looking increasingly worth it.

brand’s racing game at this year’s E3 event.

In an interview with Videogamer.com Soderlund announced that EA’s Need for Speed: Shift was clearly the superior racing game of the show, making explicit reference to both Activision’s Blur and Microsoft’s Forza Motorsport 3.

“Blur to me is completely underwhelming, commented Soderlund, “I don’t understand what’s up with that game to be honest. That’s an official statement.”

Speaking of Microsoft’s Forza the senior VP boasted, “I’m very confident we have a better game than them to be honest. Talking to the press, looking at the nominations, that’s clear.”

Soderlund did, however, have good things to say about Black Rock Studio’s Split/Second, which he described as looking great; this year’s Game Critics Awards agreed, giving it the ‘Best Racing Game’ nod over Need for Speed: Shift.

Guitar greats call Guitar Hero depressing Rockers Jack White and Jimmy Page condemn Guitar Hero

Warners announce Aragorn’s Quest Billed as the first Lord of the Rings game created specifically for kids Warner Bros. Interactive have announced Lord of the Rings: Aragon’s Quest for the Nintendo Wii just prior to this year’s E3 press conference.

The game will feature a more familyfriendly take on the Tolkien lore than previous games, opening the title up to the Wii’s vast casual gaming audience.

The title is a third-person hack and slash adventure that follows Aragon’s journey to Mount Doom as he protects the hobbits and other travelling companions.

Visually the game departs greatly from Lord of The Rings titles that EA had been producing before they lost the rights to the franchise to Warner Bros. in March, resembling more a cartoon than the gritty

cinematic presentation of the saga.

Attendees at this year’s E3 event were privy to a trailer of the game, featuring Samwise Gamgee regaling young hobbits with the heroic tale of Aragon around a campfire before cutting to several minutes of gameplay.

Reaction from fans of Electronic Art’s previous franchise titles, such as Lord of the Rings: Conquest, have expressed considerable dismay at the dramatic shift in tone.

The new title will feature use of the Wii’s motion-tracking controller in battle, and versions of the game will also be coming to the Nintendo DS, Sony’s PSP and PS2.

Musicians don’t understand people.

Rocking rockers Jack White (The White Stripes) and Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) think plastic guitars are stupid. At a press conference on June 19th to promote the documentary about their musical careers, the two had nothing nice to say about the recent popularity of music-themed games. According to White, “It’s depressing to have a label come and tell you that [Guitar Hero] is how kids are learning

about music and experiencing music.” It does sound tough.

Page noted that he doubts that playing video games could teach you anything about playing real musical instruments.

This will come as a shock to thousands of gamers, who have been perfecting their Rock Band scores so they can play sellout international tours and live off t-shirt sales.

Dance Fabulous set to top the charts Nokia latest releases set to hit the top of the mobile gaming charts Dance Fabulous, published by Nokia, has been released on N-Gage. The first crossservices game by Nokia incorporates both music and gaming experience and offers its players a new way to enjoy and listen to music.

Players of Dance Fabulous perform their own choreography and collect points by creating cool moves and dancing to the music. In addition to customizing

their own avatars, players can mix and match between a variety of dance styles and dance sets and share their fabulous moves with friends and other players via the N-Gage Arena.

“Dance Fabulous is a music game where players can use any music they have stored on their mobile device”, said Mark Ollila, Director of X-Media Solutions Media & Games, Nokia.

Sony boss Jack Tretton not amused

Jack Tretton speaks out against the leaks that preceded this year’s E3 In an interview with CNBC Tretton expressed his disdain for those in the industry who cannot respect confidentiality. “It’s tough enough to keep a secret within your own company,” said Tretton, “much less when you speak to third parties.”

The president’s remarks concern leaked photos of Sony’s redesigned PSP Go, a slimmer, more functional version of their PlayStation Portable handheld, which made their way onto the Internet days before the E3 event.

Leaks were not Tretton’s only grievance voiced in the interview, he also talked of frustration at the industry’s tendency to look too far ahead.

“This is an industry that has trouble focusing on today. We want to constantly talk about tomorrow”, remarked Tretton, “You have to prepare for people to know things in advance. The frustrating thing is they only know a part of the story and that opens up a lot of conjecture and misinformation that ultimately waters down the reality when you roll it out.”

The Sony boss also spoke diplomatically of the perceived competition between the PSP Go and Apple’s iPhone, stating that if Apple’s device brings more people into the gaming fold it just means more potential customers for the Sony device.

Tretton also unfavourably compared the Nintendo Wii’s motion-tracking function to Sony’s newly announced motion controller.

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Google rolls out the Chrome OS Google’s Chrome now read to take on Microsoft’s Windows World domination is a complex business. Not content with simply having the most visited webpage on the planet, a shiny new web browser, an open-source mobile OS, and a giant supervillain-esque headquarters, Google have announced that they will soon be releasing their own operating system for desktop PCs. Currently named Chrome OS, the system will focus on speed – which has always been

the company’s favourite feature – and (for now) is mainly targeted at netbooks and other low-end machines. Google are designing the OS to use web-based applications, accessing features online instead of installing software directly to your hard drive.

It sounds like a great idea, at least for those of us not living in a country that thinks the internet is some crazy new fad.

Shorty St starlet in Sims 3 We were given the opportunity to talk to EA’s Sims Ambassador Kimberley Crossman - better known to most of us for her role Sophie McKay on the long running local drama Shortland Street.

Dancing with the Royal New Zealand Ballet Company and being part of the New Zealand Cheerleading team keeps Kimberley extremely busy. Having trained in several forms of dance including Jazz, Hip Hop, contemporary and ballet, she also participates in gymnastics, speech and drama, indoor netball and even takes circus classes learning the art of trapeze. Add to that her blossoming acting career on Shorty Street and The Erin Simpson Show, it’s amazing she found the time to talk to us!

Kimberley can you tell me how you were chosen by EA to be the Ambassador for Sims, one of the most popular games worldwide?

I was approached by EA just over a year ago and thought it would be an awesome experience to get involved with Sims and into the gaming industry. Since then I have been invited to media events such as the Need for Speed launch and Armageddon. The relationship with EA has been great.

Your background is impressive with experience in the Royal NZ Ballet Company and even being part of the NZ Cheerleading Team which is off to the World Champs?

Yes we were supposed to be off in April gone, but with the recession and world credit crunch, we no longer have team sponsorship so it’s difficult being in a Cheerleading Team. So we are now planning on going next year.

You also have your own website?

I do, www.kimberleycrossman.com and that is going really well with full credit to my sister and again thanks to everyone at EA for their support. It’s not huge but is still getting heaps of responses to all the competitions and people keep coming back which is the most important thing.

So as a gaming guru – what are you getting into?

I wouldn’t call myself a guru, more of an enthusiast and social gamer. Apart from the Sims I have been enjoying Rockband where I liked the guitar but also was keen on the drums.

Did you play online?

No, we didn’t play online actually; I tried to set it up and got some help from EA but one day, baby steps.

Wow, where do you find the time to put it all together with acting and all the extra activities you do?

Well it all comes down to time management. Some weeks are hard, but I’m very lucky that I have such a great support network. One of the biggest things I have had to overcome with time management and Shortland St is the uncertainty of hours and content. Like last week I did out of the 5 days I worked I was in every scene for 3 of those days which was a massive workload with heavy content, lots of crying etc. I thought I was doing fine, but I was pretty short with my mother and realised the knock on effects, so it was about managing my time when things were tight.

What’s next on your ‘to do list’?

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Well, since the beginning of the year I have started working with the Erin Simpson Show, in which I am an Entertainment Reporter. Basically I go around doing behind the scenes, looking at things in production etc. I am really enjoying this and would like to continue if they do another season. I would like to get into radio; I did some work with ZM but haven’t had the time to do more.

I enjoy listening to talkback! I think Radio is a really exciting business and because my boyfriend is in radio I see how passionate the people are with their jobs.

You have your own EA created Sim. How cool is that?

Will everyone be able to download you?

YES! Simberley is what I call her. So I didn’t make the Sim as such, I got sent this huge list to fill out of life goals and personality traits as you do in the game when you make your characters. It was very exciting and kinda weird you know when you have to analyse yourself, which is hard because you think is it arrogant to say you want to be fun and energetic? Of course, you can’t tick all the good ones so it was a really interesting experience. I am very happy with the end result. It’s all well and good to be an ambassador for Sims but to be able to tell people ‘Hey download me’ is really exciting. Being part of the product is really cool.

Kimberley is one of only 2-3 downloadable characters in the world! So how can you download ‘Simberley’?

Well, it’s only available to download currently from The Warehouse for about a month then it will be available for everyone in NZ to download.

Tasked to convert the general populace into Sims addicted game fans, what is your master plan? What would you say to someone who had never played Sims but wanted to know more?

The biggest thing I would say (as I am not a big gamer) is that I really enjoy playing Sims and I wouldn’t promote a product that I didn’t want my fans to check out. I am honest in my blogs on my website. So as a message to everyone I would say it is a lot of fun. You can make the game your own as it does not follow a strict set of rules. You can create your own people, your own relationships and your own houses. Sims is unique in that way.

Of course there is also the interior design aspect which is my favourite part as well as setting up communities. It’s better than watching hours of TV, its creative and fun.

Sims3 is referred to by the developers as a real world experience, where events have large ripple effects such as finding out that things missing in your house are not bugs but occurred because a neighbour is in

fact a kleptomaniac.

I haven’t yet discovered that aspect of the game as I am spending most of my time designing my house so I haven’t yet created my community, however I am really excited about the ripple effects that are part of Sims. I am enjoying the life goal aspects which are unique to Sims 3. But honestly I had a real passion when I was younger to be an interior designer so have fixated myself to that part of the game.

So speaking of interior design how did you do your house up? Did you go for the NZ theme packs?

Well I spent a lot of time with my friend Alby and we have gone for a modern stylised house as we wanted something that we would wish for in real life. We also thought of going for a real outrageous gungy type house for fun.

If you could choose to have any career (other than a movie star) for Simberley, what would it be?

I picked Rockstar as I think would be such an amazing career. Singing for me isn’t one of my greatest strengths but I could imagine that being able to sing and travel the world with a following of fans would be awesome.

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The Best of E3 2009

The event so big it needs three whole Es. Now it’s game over for E3 2009, but game on for the rest of us as the massive event exploded in a shower of gaming goodness. Gamefreaks’ newest recruit Andy Astruc picks through the pieces.

Right from the day one it was clear that the expo had broken free from the shackles of the recession and was ready to strut. Despite the so-called worldwide economic downturn, the event had capitalism written all over its neon walls. After E3 2006, and the news that the biggest of big shows was going small time, the last couple of years have left most with low expectations. Then 2009 kicked us in the face.

The subdued atmosphere of ’07 and ’08 had vanished, replaced with wonderful theatrics, bigger crowds, more stuff and booth babes. Major focus, as always, was on the keynote presentations of the first party triumvirate – Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.

A colossal 80-foot display screen lovingly menaced

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people at the Playstation presentation. Sony started strong by poking fun at itself, possibly for the first time in history. Referring to the scads of leaked information which shot across the internet pre-event, Jack Tretton, CEO/President of SCEA joked: “And you know, we consider ourselves to be industry leaders at Playstation and press leaks are no exception.

We are not going to be outdone by anybody.”

After a brief rundown of sales figures nobody really cares about they launched into the good stuff. Games galore were on show, but not much else – in contrast to its direct competitors, who were lousy with non-gaming puffery. Sony still remained the glitziest (and ballsiest) of all by keeping the Playstation 3 in its ivory tower – no

price cuts, probably until the end of time.

Sony also surprised absolutely nobody by announcing that thing you already saw leaked on the internet – the PSP Go! Their punctuation, not mine. The upgraded version of Sony’s handheld is a slimmer version of the existing PSP 3000, with a pop-out shelf for the control buttons and no UMD drive – games will be available as downloads only from the Playstation Store. Of course, they say it isn’t an upgrade, more of an offshoot, and the 3000 model will continue to be sold.

Microsoft’s keynote brought out some cautiously epic star power to push their brand, including two Beatles, two Beatle widows and a Spielberg in a pear tree. Also announced was the future integration of Facebook and

Twitter into the NXE, following that creepy trend to merge gaming and real life. They used pseudo-celebrity and nerdy girl-next-door Felicia Day to pimp the concept, presumably because silly boys will hope she friends them on their Xboxes.

Nintendo used the event to add further hype to the Motion Plus add-on - the little device which clicks on to the base of the Wiimote to make it react in real time to real movements. Thanks Nintendo, for making the Wii work like a Wii. They also gave us a glimpse of the Vitality Sensor, which measures your heartbeat and willingness to buy absurd toys.

The big info from the show floor is that your silly plastic button brick is hopelessly outdated. The future is here, and it’s designed to make you look like a complete tit.

Motion control was the secret jackpot keyword of this year’s expo, and the Big Three all had something to make you move it, move it.

Microsoft and Sony found a new age vibe, each unveiling a motion-capture system using a camera and player gestures to control all sorts of junk – from deadly arrows to small, innocent boys. Sony decided to multiply the Wii controller and add pretty lights to the top. Microsoft is apparently done with controllers entirely, offering just a camera they stole from the future.

But hardware is boring. Games are exciting.

It was the sequel to the sequel to the year of the sequel, with franchises big and small returning for rehashes, follow-ups and add-ons. Check out all the numbers and subtitles on these babies: Assassin’s Creed 2 – the aptly titled sequel to Assassin’s Creed, where you play an assassin in the past who likes to climb buildings in broad daylight. New footage – a developer-led demo – showed the death dealer hopping a Leonardo da Vinci hang glider to murder town. Yes, Leonardo da Vinci is in the game.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising – subtitled as “Lightning Bolt Action”, the first Metal Gear to come to the Xbox 360 (in development for PS3 and Windows as well) was announced by that nutcase Hideo Kojima. Apparently it will star Raiden, the girly-man turned ninja. Elsewhere on the show floor, Kojima’s life model decoy announced Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, a direct sequel to MGS 3 coming to the PSP. Enough Metal Gear to blow up Russia.

Nintendo gave us more of what we already have - more Wii Fit, more Wii Sports Resort, etc. Their conference even opened with trivia questions, so sure are they that everyone already knows everything they’ll ever do. The Italian elephant in the room, Mario, was a greedy son of a bitch this year, and will be appearing in no less than four upcoming titles. Among these is a sequel to arguably the best Mario game since sliced Mario – Super Mario Galaxy. The new game retains the mad awesomeness of hopping planets and playing with gravity, but also adds Yoshi for some reason.

There were updates and announcements concerning sequels for God of War, Final Fantasy, Metroid, Halo (twice), Uncharted, Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty, Mass Effect, Splinter Cell, Crackdown, and Final Fantasy again. New additions for series like Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Star Wars. And on, and on.

Even with the usual avalanche of sequels, there was a huge amount of individual and innovative content on show. Developers (and more importantly, money men) seem to be willing to take more risks on new ideas. New IPs are becoming more common in an industry often accused of looking up its own pipe.

MAG is a real beast from Zipper Interactive – an online multiplayer war game set in a city with two rival factions.

The hook is that there are 256 players fighting in real time to blow off your socks. MAG stands for Massive Action Game. Don’t laugh, it’s like, massive.

More famous for its infinite delays than anything else, Alan Wake was on show and will apparently exist some time soon. The game is a horror story straight from the novel of the main character. The demo footage showed Alan fighting for his life against evil creatures, using light and bullets to ward them off. The game is due for release

Project Natal: A New Way To Play games?

Microsoft reveals its forthcoming full-body motion-sensitive technology E3 impressed us this year but the announcement which, according to local Xbox bigwig Tom Hunt, had “even the toughest of gaming journos speechless” was Project Natal: game control with a wave of your hand. But unlike Nintendo’s Wii-Mote or the PlayStation 3’s ‘wand,’ Natal doesn’t need you to hold on to a thing.

Gesture control isn’t exactly new to console gaming: Sony used it to good effect with the Eyetoy games circa PlayStation 2 and the Xbox 360 already has the Live Vision Camera (not that developers or users noticed). But this small black box, designed to sit on or under your telly, has a proposed feature set that is frankly, incredible: depth sensor, microphone (goodbye headset), 3D motion capture, face and voice recognition capabilities. If Microsoft can make this happen, it will be the next step in intuitive game control.

So can they make it happen? The promotion video is very nice, but let’s be polite and just say it seems... aspirational, rather than factual. Harder evidence that Natal isn’t just vapourware comes from the live demonstrations at E3. First up was a breakout-style game where the player kicks and throws basketballs against a wall to batter it down. Judging by the demo, the balls come thick and fast and you’re going to look rather spastic (but then again, people have got used to looking like spastics when they play Rock Star, so maybe no one will mind). Another ‘game’ called Paint Party allowed the user to splash and draw paint on a wall while choosing colours via voice recognition It’s a next year, unless it isn’t.

Led by the burgeoning success of LittleBigPlanet, the user-content-driven ModNation Racers was also hyped on screen. The game is a kart racer by genre, but allows total customization of your car and driver. Finally, an excuse to drive around in a tutu.

Also oozing originality is Doublefine’s heavy metal epic, Brütal Legend, the trippy-looking Heavy Rain from developer Quantic Dream, and the insanely sexualized Bayonetta by PlatinumGames. Her hair is also her clothes!

So, was E3 2009 any good? Hell yes. Did anyone come out on top? Maybe. If I had to choose I would say Microsoft was the most impressive, with a shedload of games to talk about on top of their motion control ideas, and the

cool demo, but will it sell? Next up, Lionhead Studios (creators of Fable II) have developed a slightly disturbing game called Milo and Kate, where you interact with a couple of children. Hmmm. Burnout Paradise showed some promise with its invisible wheel control, but the game which did its best to catch my attention was one in which you control a gigantic monster laying waste to a city. Whack a towerblock, stomp a bridge, and if you don’t mind looking completely stupid, you can even roar to unleash a blast of flamelike stuff from your gob. Rarr!

Yes, we do have fantasies about reliving the old Rampage days and breaking stuff - sue me.

What we know so far is that there’s no release date yet. But Microsoft are saying Project Natal’s hardware is intended for the Xbox 360 and it is not part of a new generation of consoles. So at this stage, industry predictions are for sometime in 2010. Over a thousand development kits are going out to game makers throughout the world, and we’ve already had some positive comments; THQ’s CEO, for example, says that they plan support for the tool from day one. In the meantime, if you want to see it for yourself, hit YouTube and do a search for Project Natal. The promo is way too slick to be real, but the demonstrations at the E3 showed that Microsoft has got something up and working, something that Tom Hunt calls a ‘critical hardware advance’ and this something might just change the way you play a game, starting some time next year.

continued development of the Xbox as a lifestyle platform. And all the damn celebrities.

This year was a welcome return to form for the event, which was in danger of shrinking into nothing. The fireworks have come at a good time for the industry as well, which is holding up well under the strain of global economic horrors. There was far too much to digest, and the base level of quality was higher than ever. Gamers have a lot to get excited about over the next year, before it all happens again.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to watch all the game trailers again until my eyeballs drop out.

THE LAST GUARDIAN

Sony Computer Entertainment / PS3 A trailer of Team ICO’s latest project sent hearts fluttering as the sweet images of The Last Guardian played across the screen, even though the video revealed very little about the game.

The game involves a young boy’s relationship with a gigantic griffin-like monster as they navigate puzzles throughout a vast temple-like environment, touching on similar themes as the developer’s previous titles ICO and Shadow of the Colossus: companionship, alienation, and environmental relationship.

The lumbering monster, while friendly to the boy, is said

to act in a more authentically animalistic way than most virtual animals we have met in the past. The player must find ways for the boy to both manipulate and care for his towering friend in order to safely get them both out of their situation.

The developers’ previous work alone is enough to vouch for the quality of The Last Guardian; there’s something strangely alluring about the desolate worlds created by Team ICO, and if The Last Guardian trailer tells us anything it’s that they’re on track to do it again.

HALO 3 ODST

Microsoft Game Studios/ Xbox 360

UNCHARTERED 2: AMONG THIEVES Sony Computer Entertainment / PS3

The original was one of the most pleasurable games to play of 2007 and 2008. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves sees Nathan Drake messing about in the Himalayas and spank us a thousand times and call us Susan it’s looking god-damned gorgeous; developers Naughty Dog look like they’ve done a great job of squeezing every last drop of performance out of the PS3’s hardware. This time

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Uncharted will feature a much longer multiplayer version along with another compelling single player adventure but yet again they’ve managed to combinecinematic beauty with action-packed gameplay and a thrilling storyline. If you missed out on playing Drakes Fortune you should go and grab yourself a copy and play it through before Uncharted 2 gets released; you won’t regret it!

Hmm. We can’t help but worry that the Halo franchise is spreading itself a little thin. First we had the (in retrospect) fairly ‘meh’ third installment, and then the videogame equivalent of an audible sigh and shrugged shoulder with Halo Wars. But the upcoming Halo 3: ODST could offer something new to interest even the most cynical of gamer. Set in the Halo 3 world, you’ll take control of a special forces ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) as he fights his way through covenant forces in a side-plot to the one we all played as Master Chief.

Due to the grunts’ lack of stature, players are forced to employ more stealthy tactics than the Halo world is used to. Also changing is the basic structure and set-up, as you’ll embark on a number of stories but in whichever way you see fit, and all within one giant hub city.

DJ HERO

Activision / Multiplatform Now you can experience all the fun of being a DJ without having to buy all the drugs. DJ Hero puts you at the fingertips of a mad scratcher, using a plastic deck in a similar way to Guitar Hero’s plastic guitar. The controller and game were at E3, but not for filthy public hands.

Demonstrations of the device showed off the turntable buttons, cross-fader and “euphoria button” – their version of

star power. The screen is set up similarly to the Guitar Hero games, but with a groovy club atmosphere and dozens of smoke machines. The game has around 100 remixes to spin, including combinations like Marvin Gaye vs. Gorrilaz, and Gwen Stefani meets Rick James.

GOD OF WAR III

Sony Computer Entertainment / PS3 Get ready for what might be the bloodiest and craziest action game released so far on any of Sony’s gaming consoles! Kratos the cheeky blighter is back to hock another chunky loogie in the face of the pantheon and this time it’ll be in pure hi-definition next-generation glory.

According to the series’ creators, this will be the final God of War ever and in seeing it off they wanted to define action gaming for the new generation. Sense of scale is something that will also be explored to a greater extent; the massive titans seen in the previous version will play a much greater part, and the story will pick up right where the action finished up in GOW2, focusing largely on the war between Kratos, the titans and the gods. What else can we say a space this size? Expect bloodiness and a huge amount of fun!

METROID: OTHER M Nintendo / Wii

HEAVY RAIN

Sony Computer Entertainment / PS3 Call it ambition or arrogance, but with their latest project Quantic Dream are aiming to not just simulate the dark cinematic experience of a film noir thriller, but to prove that videogames can do it even better.

The atmospheric mystery of Heavy Rain will involve four playable characters each investigating, for their own reasons, a dangerous serial killer known as The Origami Killer. If one character dies the game continues with that character’s death becoming part of the storyline, effecting its conclusion. If all four characters die the player hasn’t lost the game, the story just has a tragic ending.

During their investigations players will need to keep track of characters’ psychological states, as their internal situation can have as much effect on the game as physical actions. The story aims to present players with complex moral decisions that will be a far cry from the black and white morality systems we’ve seen in the past.

Taking the ‘interactive movie’ concept to a conclusion most others had given up on Quantic Dream have motion-captured their actors, recorded their dialogue, choreographed their action, and are almost ready to unleash The Origami Killer on an unsuspecting public.

Say it with us: Oh. My. God. That’s right, another Metroid is heading to a Wii near you and this time it’s brought to you in part by the gentle and kind folk who brought you Ninja Gaiden! This time expect a much deeper and darker look for Samus our bounty hunter character. If you weren’t keen on the first-person perspective, you’ll be happy to hear they’ve introduced plenty of third-person action by way of huge fight scenes. The new Metroid will explore Samus and her past and naturally offer up a plethora of awesome weapons. They’ve also introduced flying beasts. Flying beasts! That is all you need to know.

NEW SUPER MARIO BROS Nintendo / Wii

FINAL FANTASY XIV SquareEnix / PS3

Even before the thirteenth installment has been released, Square-Enix has started pimping Final Fantasy XIV to surprised E3 audiences. Even more surprising is that the game will be an online adventure. The series already dabbled in massively multiplayer online gaming with FFXII, to mixed responses. The debut trailer was sprung on us during Sony’s presentation, and the game will apparently

be a PS3 exclusive (unless you count the PC version).

The footage on show bore a remarkable resemblance to Final Fantasy XII in tone and design, but with a heaping helping of explosive battles and weird bat-winged airships. Predictably, the visuals were ridiculously amazing.

More amazing is that some of it was supposedly in-game, leaving us salivating until 2010.

Just as New Super Mario Bros. did for the Nintendo DS, Nintendo’s latest will bring the classic 2D platforming action, which made it a household name, to the Wii with a modern twist - New Super Mario Bros. Wii will be the first in the series to feature four-player simultaneous multiplayer. This simple tweak to the formula breaths new life into the old classic by adding intriguing new cooperative and competitive elements to the game, as anyone who has ever lost hours to the DS version’s multiplayer mode knows all too well.

The old school appeal of the Mushroom Kingdom combined with the social gaming bent of the Nintendo Wii seem a logical fit for a new, exciting, addictive party gaming experience, one that should be embraced by casual and hardcore audiences alike.

MODERN WARFARE 2 Activision / Multiplatform

Last year’s Call of Duty (World at War) was all well and dandy, but if we’re being honest it was just a fling. We were thinking of Modern Warfare the whole time. And if what we’ve seen from number two means anything, I think it’s definitely safe to say we were just ‘on a break’.

Cough. The mind-blowing trailer that’s been doing the rounds confirmed what we’d hoped for: amazing visuals, outlandish locations (castles and scuba dive levels), astounding vehicle sections (skidoos! with machine guns!) and a captivating plot.

Otherwise there’s not a lot of leaked info. We know there’s increased AI so enemies now have a strategy

to attack (not just random peekaboo spawnings) and a new ‘Special Forces’ mode that will consist of missions unconnected to the main narrative.

There’s a heap of expectation riding on this one, but we’re more than a little hopeful.

Cover System - The first cover system of this type in an MMO! Gain a tactical advantage by taking cover behind various objects (trees, rocks, buildings, etc.).

Unique class stories � Each class story is exclusive and storylines are also specific to each allegiance.

There is no expected release date for SW:TOR as it is still in early stages of development.

STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC BioWare / PC

Bioware and LucasArts had plenty to show the media and visitors at E3 this year regarding their latest foray into the world of MMOs - Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Boasting several-thousand voice acting roles for both the player and non-player characters, Star Wars: The Old Republic looks like it’s shaping up to be one hell of a game, especially if you’re into MMORPGs. With classes that are playable on both sides (the Republic and the Sith) including a Smuggler class based loosely on Han Solo’s character from Star Wars, SW:TOR is aiming to take fans of the genre into unknown territory.

BRUTAL LEGEND EA / Multiplatform

If you play games, and you haven’t heard of Tim Schafer, then maybe you should just get out. The mind behind Grim Fandango and Psychonauts has pulled another magic rabbit out of his hat with Brütal Legend. Set in a primitive world inspired by the twisted imagery of heavy metal music, the game follows the adventures of a roadie named Eddie Riggs (played by Jack Black) as he forms

an army of rockers and takes an axe to ultimate evil.

EA showed off the new trailer for the game, dripping with the trademark Schafer wit. The footage gave us glimpses of what looked like gameplay involving building your army, as well as Eddie interacting with metal royalty - Ozzy Osbourne himself makes an appearance. Power chords and flaming guitars await all ye who game here.

SCRIBBLENAUTS Warner Bros / DS

5th Cell’s Scribblenauts was a hit at E3, a Nintendo DS game that offers a truly encyclopaedic gaming experience. Players can write almost any word to summon objects into the game in order to solve problems.

For example if a wall needed scaling you would need only write the word ‘rope’ and one would appear for the character to climb.

Every level has many different solutions with the user able to put together resolutions even the developers hadn’t intended.

LEFT 4 DEAD 2

The Beatles: Rock Band

EA / Multiplatform

Left 4 Dead was a huge success and quite possibly one of the best Zombie games released since Dead Rising on the Xbox 360. So it’s no surprise that L4D2 was a mustsee highlight at this year’s E3.

Developers Valve revealed four all-new survivor characters for L4D2 as well as a new type of Zombie called a ‘Charger’. The game locations include Savannah, Geor-

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Activision / Multiplatform gia to bayou country, and climaxing in New Orleans’ French Quarter.

Left 4 Dead 2 also features “more co-operative campaigns, more campaigns and maps for the Versus game modes plus support for Survival mode out of the box.”

Left 4 Dead 2 is queued for a November 17, 2009 release date in the US so expect it soon after in New Zealand.

Produced with the full cooperation of The Beatles and Apple Corps, The Beatles Rock Band takes fans on a magical tour through the key moments in Beatle history.

This will be the first music game to offer harmonies, challenging you to recreate The Beatles’ distinctive vocal blend.

There are custom-built models of the instruments the band used, as well as audio taken straight from the masters.

EAFTNTR4GF1

© 2009 Electronic Arts Inc. Electronic Arts, EA, EA SPORTS and the EA SPORTS logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All Rights Reserved. Muhammad Ali provided courtesy of G.O.A.T., Inc. “PlayStation”, “PLAYSTATION”, and “ ” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Multiplatform / Electronic Arts

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is soon to hit the big screen which means fans of the series will also get the chance to play as the young wizard with EA’s coincided game. Control as Harry as Dumbledore prepares him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching as Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort’s defenses and, to his end.

Now you must return to Hogwarts and

Wolfenstein

PS3, Xbox 360, PC / Activision

When Castle Wolfenstein (developed by Muse Software) came out in 1981 it was an instant hit. One of the original stealth based games available. What followed on from that was a series of ever more popular editions (including Wolfenstein 3d – one of the first FPS’s), in fact 7 more culminating in this 2009 edition in which the developers have once again gone with one of the most popular genres; FPS. Wolfenstein is set in 1943 at the height of WWII, as Allied forces stall the expansion of the Third Reich. Heinrich Himmler and his dreaded SS plan to use the occult

18 coming soon

forces known as the Black Sun to turn the tide, so in steps special agent Blazkowicz to save the day. Needless to say that Wolfenstein is looking hot on next gen technology, gone are the clunky squares of the past, now we have significant Doom 3 and Quake 4 engines behind the game, with even more modifications to depths of field and lighting. There will also be a multiplayer element which has been developed by Endrant Studios which is based on Quake Wars. This one is sure to be a hit with any FPS and Wolfenstein fan.

help Harry survive his sixth and most dangerous year. You’ll get to engage in wizard duels, create potions, take to the air and play some serious Quidditch. The game will also include multi-player elements, classes and will implement time-of-day changes. The Wii version will utilise the Wii Remote features as it did in Order of the Phoenix including potion brewing, wizard duelling and Quidditch. The game will once again have most characters voiced by the cast of the film.

Ninja Blade

Xbox 360 / Microsoft Game Studios

Developed by From Software, Ninja Blade sees a ninja (obviously) – who is also a member of a special task force – dealing with a massive biological threat by stabbing things in the face from high places.

Set in Tokyo circa 2015, much the game takes place high above as the main character, Ken, leaps from skyscraper to skyscraper. The plot involves some sort of infection spreading through the city, which naturally turns people into giant monsters dripping with unidentified goop. Looks like the perfect job for a ninja.

Gameplay seems to be a combination of Devil May Cry’s acrobatics, combat from

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood PS3, Xbox 360, PC/ Ubisoft

Westerns are experiencing a small resurgence of late, blame Quentin Tarantino and the recession. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is the prequel to Call of Juarez, a not-very-good Western game from 2007.

While the first game was mainly a bland disappointment, this new addition to the series looks like it could be a killer title.

The game is a FPS starring two brothers (they’re, like, bound in blood), Ray and Thomas, who have deserted from the American Civil War to mess about with bandits, lawmen, Native Americans, horses and dynamite. The action looks thick and fast, and you can choose which

brother to play – a choice between close range and distant gun fighting. Missions run the gamut of Western clichés: riding shotgun on a stagecoach, dueling at dawn with nasty characters, busting into banks, etc. There are special powers for the dirty duo as well, such as slowing down time to line up a bevy of bad guys before taking them all out with a six-gun.

With an appropriately gritty atmosphere and what is shaping up to be some exciting gunplay (not to mention the chance to man a Civil War cannon), this could be an hombre to watch closely.

that other ninja-based game series, and quick time events such as those seen in God of War. The latter is out in force during boss fights, but it remains to be seen whether this will give things a cinematic flavour, or simply make everything very annoying. Ninja Blade is looking nothing if not epic, however, with truly massive and hideous bosses to tackle, fights on the sides of buildings, leaping from army helicopters and gratuitous explosions. It certainly won’t be a deep, life-changing story, but fingers crossed it will be a heck of a good time.

Overlord II

PC, Xbox 360, PS3 / Codemasters

We all secretly want to kick a kitten. The first Overlord game was released in 2007, and gave gamers the chance to embrace their evil side. Now the sequel looks set to demonise you all over again, with a few tweaks to the already successful formula.

Cast as the progeny of the character from the first game, you are once again set on a quest to be as bad as you can be and become the supreme… overlord. Your main foe this time around is the Glorious Empire – a take on the Ancient Romans similar to their portrayal in Asterix comics.

Focus is again centred on your minions – hideous goblin-like creatures which you send out to attack enemy soldiers, collect energy balls, and (hopefully) pick up milk from the shops. The recently released demo shows off an early part of the game in which the nefarious leader’s mini-army chases a yeti and beat adorable fluffy animals to death. Overlord was a fantastic game with a few niggling flaws, and the sequel seems to have addressed those, adding a mini-map, allowing you to resurrect and name your favourite minions, and generally packing in more trademark British humour and disgusting villainy.

G.I Joe: Rise of Cobra Multiplatform / Electronic Arts

The action figure-turned-80s cartoonturned-Hollywood blockbuster is about to turn game with EA’s video game contribution to the upcoming, live-action G.I. Joe film. The game takes place after the action in the film, relating an all-new story (supposedly informed by cartoon and comic book history of the property) in which the G.I Joe Team go up against terrorist group COBRA’s deadliest plot to date.

A third-person arcade-like shooter, the game allows the player to assemble their own team of characters, falling into classes of commando, heavy weapons expert, or combat soldier, and undertake high-tech, lowbrow military action.

20 coming soon

The game will also offer a two-player coop mode in which players will need to coordinate their field strategies to overcome COBRA’s plots.

The game will feature 16 playable characters from both G.I. Joe Team and COBRA, and each will have their own trademark special weapons and gadgets. Aspects of the film will also make it into the game such as the ‘accelerator suit’, which renders a soldier invisible and temporarily boosts firepower.

The game is being billed as a real fan service, incorporating aspects from the many different incarnations of the G.I. Joe legacy. Hopefully things are looking better for the game than they are for the film.

Tales of Vesperia PS3, Xbox 360 / Namco Bandai

Namco Bandai are set to release yet another game in the long-running (at last count there seems to be at least four hundred thousand million titles) Tales series, Tales of Vesperia. A classic style Japanese RPG, the game introduces you to Yuri, a former imperial soldier who is caught up in a power struggle to rule an empire and its technology. Inevitably, it balloons into an adventure where everything is at stake. As you may have already gathered, the game isn’t likely to win any awards in the category of mind-blowing originality.

The art and design of the game is the

usual anime-style character designs and saturated colours, although it looks incredibly crisp and clean. Battles themselves are done in real time, sticking to the style of more recent titles in the series, and seem pretty dynamic and fun to play.

Fans of this type of game will no doubt already be queuing up to buy it, and it has all the hallmarks of a well-polished addition to a genre which has been waning in recent times. Hopefully there will also be something on offer for those of us who only need to play one cookie-cutter anime RPG per lifetime.

The Conduit Wii / SEGA

While First-Person Shooters saturate other consoles, on the Nintendo Wii they are fairly scarce. High Voltage Software are looking to remedy that with the Conduit, a sci-fi FPS experience that exploits the Wii’s motion tracking capabilities.

Heavily armed agent Michael Ford starts his day tracking down terrorists but soon finds things take a turn for the weird when portal-jumping aliens invade Washington D.C. and start wrecking up the place.

Packing a fantastical arsenal from the

near future provided by a shady organization known as The Trust, Ford must repel the insidious Dirge from the planet.

Using the Quantum3 engine developed specifically for the Wii, High Voltage claim to have found a way to get graphical performances comparable to the other, higher-powered consoles. The engine is also said to provide the game’s enemies with advanced artificial intelligence that will allow them to adopt many situation-specific strategies to defeat the player.

The game will also offer a robust online multiplayer component, comprised of 13 different competitive game modes across seven maps with a selection of 18 weapons to play with. Up to 12 players will be able to compete simultaneously online.

The game looks to be trying very hard to deliver something long-suffering traditional Wii gamers can sink their teeth into, and that’s reason enough to cheer.

When his full repertoire is unlocked, Cole is in every sense a superhero – summoning lightning blasts to fry enemies and shrugging away their bullets with a shimmering shield of energy

There’s a major sense of accomplishment when you defeat building-sized creatures like the Kraken or the Leviathan

Infamous

inFamous is a third-person action title set in a sandbox world created exclusively for the PlayStation 3. Sucker Punch, the creative team behind Sly Cooper, has put together a very solid superhero game in which platforming and fast-paced fire fights are at the core.

The game follows the story of Cole McGrath who is a resident of the fictional Empire City.

As a courier, Cole is assigned to deliver a package which turns out to be a bomb that destroys several city blocks and awakens within him electricity based special powers.

After coming round Cole discovers that the city has been quarantined by the government (due to a plague that also breaks out) leaving those left behind to fend for themselves. The law soon falls to the various gangs and factions, and chaos ensues.

Empire City consist of three islands; the Neon District where many businesses and entertainment venues are located, the Warren District where goods are shipped into and out of the city, and the Historical District. These sectors are connected

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by bridges, and each has its own train system.

Throughout the game you are given Karma choices which will dictate whether your choices are for good or evil, for instance during a government food drop you could choose to fight off the gangsters who arrive and allow the civilians to take their fair share or kill everybody and keep it for yourself. All up there is over 25 hour’s game time for the hundred odd missions (and yes trophies are available).

Choosing the role of the villain may provide a few more laughs and a whole lot of fun but it does have its consequences.

The actions you take will make an immediate impact on the game. For instance should you decide to turn to ‘the dark

side’ you’ll quickly become public enemy numero uno, where the general populace will begin running on sight and generally hating your guts.

The game itself is played in a sandbox style where you have total freedom of movement. The game is a combination of platforming, shooting, puzzles, and has some RPG elements when choosing how to develop Cole. The graphics are crisp and you can have a great deal of fun just exploring the city, climbing buildings and interacting with people.

At the outset you will be firing off lightning bolts like they’re going out of fashion, but with upgrades you will be able to create even greater destruction and access defensive powers such as shieldSummary

ing. The beauty of this fast paced game is the freedom – you can develop Cole into whatever type of character suits you.

As I mentioned earlier, Cole is very agile and can climb buildings, jump and walk across precarious powerlines with ease (much like Sly Raccon). Not only can he nimbly perfrorm these acrobatics, but he can stop and fire off a few bolts of well aimed electricity at anyone choosing to take him out.

The characters and story are vividly displayed via beautiful graphic novel cutscenes with fluid controls perfect for fleet footed platforming and frenzied run and gun gameplay. There are different endings, depending on how you choose to play, giving this decent replay value. details

Excellent environments, frenetic combat, elegant platforming and a solid Genre: Third Person Action Publisher: SCE story graced with beautifully drawn graphic novel cut scenes, slots this Developer: Sucker Punch Productions up there as one of the best games to grace the PS3.

Platform: PS3 Released: 04 June 2009 Did You Know?

Website: www.infamousthegame.com The official soundtrack for inFamous is now available on iTunes, featur- Players: 1 player ing 20 tracks from acclaimed composers Amon Tobin, Jim Dooley, Rating: M JD Mayer and Mel Wesson. You can check them out at the official Price: $106.95 inFamous website (www.infamousthegame.com).

Writer: Stan McGuigan

Round 4 now allows for both inside and outside fighting styles, and the result is that there’s a lot more to the game than just pummelling away at your rival

Fight Night 4

Fancy yourself as an undiscovered boxing prodigy? Well here’s your chance to live it out on screen at least with Fight Night Round 4. A blood, sweat and tears approach to one of the world’s oldest sports.

By no means do I consider myself a sports game fan. I have however always had a soft spot for EA’s Fight Night. There’s something satisfying, even primal about going head to head with an opponent in the ring and hopefully laying him flat on the ground a few times – maybe part of this pleasure is because it’s something I’d never do in real life which really is kinda the point of videogames in the first place!!

Fight Night Round 4 is something of a rebound from EA’s last cartoonish boxing sim Facebreaker which was to be rather blunt, just awful. Fight Night 4 takes the opposite angle in being realistic, approachable and dam fun to play.

The core of the game is the Legacy mode in which you can use a famous boxer with his stats zapped down; or more prob-

ably your own created player. I opted for the latter and with the Xbox Live Vision camera got myself on onscreen digital self which somehow looked nothing like me.

The aim of Legacy is to fight your player to super stardom – and then retire gracefully before old age catches up with you and your legendary status diminishes as newer and fitter boxers pummel your aging bones to the ground. This process involves booking fights (you can expect maybe 50 or 60 in your total career), preferably against people with higher ranks although occasional grudge matches will result in personal challenges. On top of this you also have to train regularly in order to buff up your stats – this is done either via training games or by letting the CPU automatically get you the results.

Unfortunately this training aspect ruined the Legacy mode for me. You need your stats to be high to reach super stardom.

But the training games themselves are by and large boring and in some cases very hard. If you get a low score your stats increase at a trickle. Leaving the CPU to take care of it for you doesn’t do a much better job either so it’s quite possible to be seriously outmatched in your climb to the top.

But that’s fine. You can box to your heart’s delight in Fight Mode in which you can control and pair yourself up against any of EA’s large roster of famous boxers.

If you so wish you can even let the CPU

control both fighters and play out a dream boxing match. By the way Mohammad Ali beat Mike Tyson by a scorecard victory after ten rounds…

Obviously this stretches out to include multiplayer modes too. Fight Night Round 4 is a great game to play with friends and can be done naturally on the same console. Or of course you can take it online and attempt to prove your worth around the world. This is in part unfortunately spoilt by a large number of online players using a cheap body punching tactic which is pretty much unbeatable if you try to box properly. Hopefully EA will find a way to fix this in an update in the near future.

Summary

details

It’s not perfect but overall Fight Night Round 4 is a very good game. The difficulty has been notched up a bit from previous games – but it’s by no means a bad thing.

Platform: Xbox 360, PS3 Genre: Sports Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: EA Sports Players: 1-2 Website: http://www.ea.com/Rating: M RRP: $119.99 Release date: 3rd July Writer: Nigel Clark

Did You Know?

Boxing dates back to the 3rd millennium BC at least with ancient Sumerian paintings showing two boxers engaged in the sport. Of course back then they well and truly manned it out and fought bare fisted!

Guerrilla’s multiplayer is so full of features and modes, it’s like a separate game entirely -- as soon as you start the game, you can immediately jump into a match with full access to the game’s entire arsenal

Red Faction: Guerrilla

Volition, Inc moves their revolutionary sci-fi shooter to the third-person for the third instalment of Red Faction, and to great effect at that. If it weren’t already every child’s dream to become a rebel insurgent and overthrow a corrupt government then Guerrilla would have made it so.

Red Faction: Guerrilla is the story of a man and his hammer. It’s a love story, really, because the game offers such rich and rewarding opportunities to smash so many things in so many different ways that at the end of the day one can’t help but identify with the affection between this man and his damn fine hammer.

Set, as the series tends to be, on a terraformed Mars, Guerrilla once again takes us into the ranks of the rebellious Red Faction movement, seeking to wrest control of the planet from the brutal exploitation of the colonising Earth Defence Force. The game offers plenty of good reasons why Alec Mason might want to get involved with the liberating movement, but that’s all background noise as soon as the player is first asked to dismantle a structure; from that point on the game isn’t good vs. evil, it’s Alec vs. every last piece of real estate

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on that godforsaken planet.

The simple, spiritual joy of wanton destruction is the work of Red Faction’s overhauled Geo-Mod system, which allows every kind of structure to be completely decimated. For the most part constructed with reverence for physics, every edifice can be toppled by strategically attacking support points or just completely levelled with enough hammer time.

This very capable system, a huge improvement over the previous games in the series, makes destabilising EDF forces more of a giddy lark than dire political burden. With the likes of remote mines, rocket launchers, and molecular-deconstructing nano-guns at your disposal it’s not only thrilling to take down an integral power station or communication tower, but also rather difficult to resist the urge to do the same to buildings belonging to

your own team; it’s just that much fun.

Throughout the missions Alec and his (often conspicuously absent) guerrilla buddies are tasked with eliminating EDF presence in six different territories of Mars. As EDF property and propaganda is destroyed a bar measuring their influence in the area decreases. Alec can also perform optional ‘guerrilla actions’, such as rescuing hostages or intercepting important documents, in order to increase the area’s local morale statistic, making it more likely that the population will join your uprising.

As far as sandbox-type gaming goes Guerrilla offers a proficient version of an open world that suffers from the same quirks that effect most games of this

kind; weaker vehicle controls, limited AI, problematic story elements. None of this, however, has a shot at weakening the overall experience as the core gimmick of smashing the living hell out of everything is so well presented, nothing can spoil that shiver-inducing sound as metal (or concrete, or enemies’ skulls) gives way to a giant sledgehammer.

The multiplayer elements maintain the same wonderful, destructive fun with a number of match modes predicated on destroying or preventing the destruction of certain structures.

Red Faction: Guerrilla is easily the most noteworthy game of the series thus far.

Previous titles were well-told stories trapped in by-the-numbers FPS format, Guerrilla is a simple concept brought to its fullest, most satisfying conclusion, cleverly disguised as a third-person action game.

Summary

Red Faction: Guerrilla really shows us what a man with an oversized hammer can do; liberating the oppressed has never been so much fun as in this fully destructible Martian dystopia. With demolition this good the game hardly needs window-dressing like story, objectives, or characters.

Did You Know?

Volition Inc. use a reoccurring villain across a number of their games; Ultor is a mega-corporation responsible for unethical business practises, manual labour abuses, and criminal dealings. In the 21st century they can be seen in the Saints Row series, with their 22nd century incarnation causing problems in the Red Faction series.

details Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360 Genre: 3rd Person Shooter Publisher: THQ Developer: Volition Players: 1+ Website: http://www.redfaction.com/ Rating: R16 RRP: $129.99 Release date: Writer: Adrian Hatwell

Spooks dip and dive mid-air as you give chase, before finally roping them in and slamming them into the trap.

In this way the game feels exactly as it should.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game

The game is set in 1991, two years after the second Ghostbusters movie. You are the newest recruit and get to try out Egon’s latest untested and unstable equipment. Of course within minutes of starting out your new job another paranormal phenomenon occurs which has the team racing across New York city demolishing all in their path trying to round up any ghouls.

Now anyone lucky enough to have been around during the Ghostbusters frenzy of the 80’s will instantly be able to sing or hum the theme music and look back in sheer delight at the magical movie that captured the hearts of a generation.

Even now it still holds its own and for good reason; it’s a true classic with lovable characters, hilarious (if not cheesy) humour, scary ghosts and super cool guns that destroy everything in their path (don’t cross the streams!).

From the opening sequences through to the detailed environments this one truly captures the Ghostbusters world. You’ll visit the Sedgewick Hotel where the staff will cry blue murder the minute you walk in the door, demanding that you leave as they have just cleaned up the last mess.

Bill Murray carries on as the egotistical ‘Dr Venkman’ who is more than happy to do whatever he pleases.

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This game is the one that the guys wish they could have made all those years ago.

Forget the debacle of those terrible original games that even diehard fans (such as me) couldn’t swallow. This one is the real deal. All the guys (Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson) are doing the voiceovers and Akroyd and Ramis were also heavily involved in the storyline. From the moment those first famous tunes are blasting your eardrums to shooting a proton beam as accurate as a fire hose at super agile ghosts, you’ll be smiling from ear to ear. Okay, so as you will be able to tell I really liked this game; it’s seriously good fun and truly follows the heart and soul of the original movies.

This game is meant to be based on the third movie which we know is currently in production. It’s a third person shooter, seen from behind the back with your proton backpack acting as an HUD. Firing

the proton gun is a dream; you’ll feel at one with the team as wanton destruction ensues in your pursuit of the ghosts.

You won’t be able to help but destroy the world around you. However it won’t be long before you’ll be upgrading to all sorts of devastating attacks such as the Boson Dart or Shock Blast. You’ll get to use other toys such as the PKE Meter (which switches you to first-person perspective) for investigating the ghosts and discovering their weaknesses, or finding hidden ghostly artifacts (42 hidden in all).

In online mode you can join 3 others and choose to be any member of the Ghostbusters team – play games to see who can earn the most cash and rank up with your accumulated experience (20 levels) as well as get your name on the leaderboard. There are some cool options available such as Slime Dunk (catch Slimer) which are worth a look.

Summary

Now when the going gets rough you’ll need to look after your buddies. When your health gets low you will quickly find yourself on your back like a helpless turtle waiting for someone to give you an instantly reviving magical tap. You can also do this to the others but should you be the last man standing and take a dive…then back to the last checkpoint you go. It’s a system that works well and is also quite amusing…listening to the others yelling out ‘for a little help over here’ is hilarious.

All in all GB is a solid game that is heaps of fun. If I was to search for negatives it would be that the game occasionally stalls whilst waiting for specific actions to take place, such as characters moving to a certain point before advancing the level. It can also at times have big difficulty spikes and screen tearing, however as blasting ghosts and destroying the city is such a hoot it’s not a gamebreaker. This one is a must have for any GB fan, far better than any other version – if it doesn’t put a smile on your face then you must be dead.

GB is just such fun; the proton streams give you no option but to destroy everything in your path. Beautiful environments, classic GB storytelling and original voice overs make this one a rare treat. Not perfect, but well worth a look.

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Genre: Third Person Action Publisher: Activision Developer: Raven Software Platform: PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, DS, PSP Website: http://www.uncaged.com/ Did You Know?

The part of Winston Zeddemore was originally written with Eddie Players: Single player Murphy in mind, but he was filming Beverly Hills Cop at the same time. If Rating: R18 Murphy had been cast, Zeddemore would have been hired much earlier Price: $129.99 in the film, and would have been slimed in place of Peter Venkman.

Writer: Stan McGuigan

Combat in Prototype is a blast. You can shapeshift into different forms that morph your arms into blades, spikes, and hammer like fists

Prototype

Vancouver based developers Radical Entertainment are no strangers to creating titles involving citywide mayhem; in 2005 they created Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and while there’s not much in the way of similarity between the Hulk and the anti-hero in their newest non-linear action title Prototype, the practise they got from developing a title involving more than a little mass-destruction has certainly paid off in spades!

Unfortunately, due to a less than perfect development timeline, the release date of Prototype has coincided with a title that everyone seems hell bent on comparing it with; it would be silly of us not to mention there are certainly some similarities between Prototype and PS3 exclusive title InFamous but that doesn’t mean Prototype doesn’t stand tall on its own. Far from it in fact; once we’d had a play with the two games we found ourselves leaning much more on the side of Radical’s destructive offering.

The city of New York has been infected by a super-virus (the sort of virus that bends swine flu over its knee and gives it a thwacking with a stick before sending it outside to play with its friends) and your humble antihero, Alex Mercer, has been given a pretty

serious dose which has turned him into one pretty mean and nasty sort of chap. A short tutorial helps you get to your feet and learn what’s expected of you but before you know it you find yourself on your own.

As you play you’ll unlock new abilities and grow in power which will in turn open up more destructive capabilities. One of the things we didn’t like about the other game we mentioned earlier is that as you play you’re given banal choices between being good and evil: “defuse the bomb and you’re good, do nothing and you’re an evil blowing-people-up-son-of-a-bitch;” there’s none of that false morality in Prototype. You just destroy, and it feels good.

Alex soon discovers that he can consume the energy of every living thing

around him, and in fact brutally murdering civilians and sucking their life-force is the only way you’ll progress; this life-force doesn’t just give you power, it gives you that person’s memories and abilities too.

Moving around the city is a joy; the camera is smooth and allows your movements to be unhindered and extremely fun, and often you’ll just feel like playing around instead of completing missions (another thing you don’t really get in InFamous), leaping between buildings, throwing vehicles around and generally just enjoying your new-found superpowers.

Our only real gripe with Prototype is

in its length; you’ll easily be able to play through the main story in a day or two if you’re dedicated. Having said that there’s a large number of side-missions and if you’re hell-bent on achieving 100% completion you’re in for a long ride.

Minor problems such as these aside, we found Prototype to stack up against InFamous very well indeed; some other slight niggles include the lack of a compelling story and some tricky boss fights but overall it’s a solid, beautiful, smoothly flowing game which will have you hooked for quite some time.

Summary

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Decent gameplay with plenty of mayhem and destruction to be had, Prototype’s lack of a believeable story and some frustrating achievement woes will do little to stop you from having a huge amount of fun.

Platform: PC, Xbox 360, PS3 Genre: Action Publisher: Activision Developer: Radical Entertainment Players: 1

Did You Know?

The swinging, diving, gliding aspects of Prototype have impressed us all. There’s also a strong indication that because of this, Activision are eyeballing developers Radical Entertainment to make the next SpiderMan game.

Website: http://www.prototypegame.com

Rating: R18 RRP: $139.99 Release date: 12th June Writer: Lee Marrett

This is a game that excels when you team up with three friends and run wild across the plains slashing the hell out of your enemies

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite

The Monster Hunter series is completely huge in Japan; it was the first PSP title in the country to sell a million copies and during one month it made up nearly 90% of Capcom’s total sales for the region.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is essentially the same as Monster Hunter Freedom 2, which was released in 2007, but with a few more levels tacked on for good measure. Set in a village known as Pokke, you’re basically a, well, monster hunter, who’s responsible for keeping his village free of attack from hordes of roaming monsters, while at the same time tasked with collecting herbs and mushrooms for your hungry fellow citizens.

If you’ve played any MMORPG before, you’ll be familiar with how the game progresses. Go get a quest from your local quest hander outerer and either go out on your own or team up with some friends in Ad Hoc mode to take care of the quest together. Quests are grouped into gath-

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ering, hunting or slaying categories, and once you accomplish a certain number of quests your character advances in rank and skill. Needless to say, this being a hack and slash RPG that has reached a fanbase of fanatics, the number of levels to be found in Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is completely enormous, easily clearing the 400 mark.

Despite what you may think however, going on a quest is not a simple thing, and your success depends a lot on what you wear as much as it does on what weapon you choose to wield. That’s right, if you’re wearing a light hunters suit and you venture out into the mountains to hunt hibernating bear-beasts, you’re going to freeze and suffer. Don’t worry though; you can

always have a cup of hot soup to keep you warm, even if you’re wearing the wrong thing.

But it’s not all just going out on quests; there’s a huge amount more to this crazy title. Obviously, you’re going to be upskilling constantly, and changing how your character looks, sounds and plays, but you’ll also spend a long time farming, making things, gardening and trading.

If you don’t have friends willing to play Monster Hunter Unite with you, never fear; Unite lets you hire train up little kitties to fight with you. OK, they’re not so

little, but they’re still pretty cute and what’s more they’ll cook you a nice meal if you ask them to.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is a vast, sprawling and highly addictive game.

Sure, it’s not going to be for everyone; the learning curve is steep and if you can find someone who’s played before you’ll do best if you join them to learn the ropes.

But if you can hang on in there, there’s a lot to get out of the game. It’s certainly a title that will reward the player who dedicates a lot of time to it.

Summary A completely enormous game for such a little console, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite features solid character advancement, a stupid number of levels and some pretty decent graphics. Some niggly camera issues and locking on problems caused some annoyance and the steep learning curve could be a deterrent for the casual gamer.

Did You Know?

The third console installment in the popular Monster Hunter franchise, Monster Hunter 3, will be released in Japan on August 1, 2009. The title was initially scheduled for release on the PlayStation 3 but was moved to the Wii due to high development cost of titles for PS3.

details Platform: PSP Genre: Hack & Slash RPG Publisher: Capcom Developer: Capcom Players: 1-4 Website: http://www.monsterhunter-freedomunite.com

Rating: M RRP: $89.99 Release date: 26th June Writer: Lee Marrett

Bionic Commando

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel

If you haven’t yet fallen victim to RSI by playing games like Diablo 2, then Sacred 2: Fallen Angel could probably do the trick... just don’t forget to mash those buttons!

We all know the drill - ‘hack-and-slash’ games may at times be a little tedious and repetitive but we still play them. And why do we still play them? Well, I have thought long and hard on this and I still haven’t come up with an answer. There is something very addictive about killing monster after monster non-stop knowing that the reward to upgrade your gear and abilities and earning all that ‘phat lewt’ never changes. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is more of the same - just not as polished.

The cheesy one-liners and even less imaginative dialogue certainly won’t woo you but the gameplay mechanics aren’t bad. In fact there are some pretty fun things to do in Sacred 2 and you have the option to do it all with other players if you want - which is even better!

The environments in Sacred 2 are massive. Everything from caverns to deserts

to jungles - Sacred 2 has it all. With the plethora of different environments comes the even more varied monster table you’ll encounter including the overly familiar orcs! It just isn’t a loot grind without killing orcs! The character classes include Shadow Warrior, Seraphim and Inquisitor and some of these classes can only play good or evil.

From an aesthetic perspective, the game looks vibrant and runs smooth on the PS3. Aside from the odd little graphic glitch here and there, it looks like the design team did a pretty solid job on the graphics.

If you’re an RPG fan looking for mindless hack-and-slash fun with friends, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel will more than deliver. What it won’t do is offer you an indepth, storydriven masterpiece to lose yourself in.

Summary

details

An extremely poor attempt at bundling the history of computer gaming up into one long parody, all this game succeeds in doing is making you look (and feel) stupid for buying it.

Platform: Xbox 360, PS3 Genre: Third Person Shitter Publisher: D3 Publisher Developer: Vicious Cycle Software Players: 1 Website: www.eatleadvideogame.com/ Rating: M RRP: $119.99 Release date: 9th April Writer: Lee Marrett

Did You Know?

So impressed are the developers with their game they’ve already started on the sequel. Lee has wet his pants already…

Some games are extraordinary adventures that thrill you for hours on end. Some games are crushing disappointments.

Bionic Commando manages to be both.

The latest in a long line of retro game remakes, Bionic Commando combines modern technology with arcade fun. But not much else.

You are Spencer, an angry soldier man with a robotic arm, plucked straight out of death row by your old commander to infiltrate a city which has fallen into terrorist hands. Only you and your power to swing can save the day.

The swinging part is obviously important, and thankfully it works very well. You can latch onto most surfaces with the press of a button, using your arm to lurch forward and attach to the next chunk of rock, lamp post, monorail track or skyscraper.

Swinging through the city is tremendous fun, the game deftly creating the feel of being a human grappling iron.

In combat, the mechanics shine. Flying over a crowd of grunts before crushing them with a stomp, hurling giant chunks of rock into enemies, chaining together timed bursts of fire while zipping between cover – it all really sells the idea that Spen-

cer is a dangerous bastard. When the fights against larger enemies kick in, the tension and dramatics are hyped to cinematic levels.

Visually, Ascension City is outstanding, with sprawling views of the devastation wrought by the bad guys at every turn.

The score is sublime, at times so atmospheric it feels like it came from a game where you didn’t want to punch the writers in their faces.

Everything about the narrative screams generic, from the hackneyed villains (including a pointless Nazi) to the bland “stop the terrorists” mission. The characters are so dull and uninspired that you may find it hard to tell them apart, or remember their damn names.

Bionic Commando is still worth picking up for the gameplay and audio-visual feast alone, as long as you can stand the stabbing pain caused by the story. You just can’t help feeling it could have been something great.

Summary Incredibly fun and exciting gameplay, gorgeous visuals and a dream of a soundtrack. Pity the writing is very, very awful. Worth playing, but with your brain in another room.

Did You Know?

The NES version of Bionic Commando, released in 1988, involved a plot to resurrect the Nazi war machine and ended with the exploding of Adolf Hitler’s head.

details Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360 Genre: 3rd-Person Action Publisher: Capcom Developer: GRIN Players: 1 Website: http://www.bioniccommando.com/

Rating: R13 RRP: $139.99 Release date: May 22nd, 2009 Writer: Andy Astruc

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Star Ocean: The Last Hope

EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis

Activision / Multiplatform

Square-Enix / Xbox 360

EA Sports / Wii

The game is as you would expect, one that’s aimed at the younger market. There’s plenty of platforming to get stuck into, running away from flesh rendering Dinosaurs, exploration, jumping and of course the ever adorable and long suffering Scrat trying desperately to claim his acorn.

Unlike many movie to game conversions Ice Age 3 is surprisingly playable (ok again young people in mind). The production values are good, it has decent graphics and it doesn’t dull. There’s also some mini games available in case you want to play with some friends.

Square-Enix’s latest effort for the Xbox 360, Star Ocean: The Last Hope is a fairly decent game and if you’re keen on JRPG’s then well worth the purchase.

A sci-fi RPG, Star Ocean gives the player control of a sizeable space ship as well as 5 planets and other locations to visit in the quest to save Earth. Battles run like your typical Final Fantasy type game which the player able to control up to 4 heroes at once in fights that involve plenty of swishy sword action, spectacular explosions and pretty special effects.

Grand Slam Tennis is one of the first games, along with Virtua Tennis 5 to feature compatibility with the Wii MotionPlus, which when combined with the Wii Remote adds more precise control to your onscreen motions. It’s a good thing too as it turns a potential disaster into a genuinely good game of tennis. With PS3 and Xbox 360 versions due further down the track, Grand Slam Tennis is possibly one of the best sport games currently available on the Wii and a good next step if you want to get a bit more advanced that Wii Sports inbuilt Tennis game.

Demigod

Damnation

Spore: Galactic Adventures

Atari / PC

Codemasters / PS3. Xbox 360, PC

EA / PC

Created by Gas Powered Games, Demigod is an online game where sides battle to control or kill each other.

Instead of picking off opponents with guns the player controls one of 8 Demigods – everything from massive stone like Goliaths to spell casting fairy like beings. Your god figures come accompanied by a swarm of lesser followers who will do battle with each other and provide an army of bug equivalents to squash. Demigod’s widely reported server difficulties have now been resolved and the game is well worth a play.

There was a lot of smack talk from developers Blue Omega during its development cycle. Originally started as a total conversion mod for Unreal Tournament 2004, it had an interesting premise, being set in a steam-punk alternate earth where the American Civil War has been fought over a span of decades. The talk was to make it a true 3D game where instead of being made to follow a set path you would be able to make use of your entire environment, engaging in fluid acrobatic combat. Unfortunately it’s badly designed and filled with technical issues.

Spore’s first proper expansion pack manages to add a good amount of content which some may argue should have been there in the first place. Galactic Adventures takes part rather obviously in the latter stages of Spore and involves you beaming one of your created race’s individuals (a captain) down to the surface of planets where he/she/it can take on a number of adventure/rpg like missions. The possibilities are technically endless with the game including a level builder – meaning the vast universe of player planets can all be potentially your playground.

Garou – Mark Of The Wolves

Droplitz

Phantasy Star 2

SNK / XBLA

Atlas / PSN, XBLA

SEGA /XBLA

AKA Fatal Fury, or that odd 2D beat ‘em up that was half-way between Street Fighter and the decidedly more Eastern Guilty Gear.

Originally released on the Dreamcast, little has changed in its port over to the 360. The visuals are still gloriously brash and the gameplay is as straightforward as ever.

The online versus play is great for retro-fetishists, but with the announcement of a port of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 turning up on Arcade soon, you get the feeling it won’t be top dog for much longer.

It seems Atlus have realised the same thing, so they’ve opted to bring an upgraded and evolved version to XBLA. The aim is to swap, rotate and connect a number of pipe blocks so that an ever-flowing liquid reaches its destination. While the classic mode has nine increasingly challenging boards, the ambient, soothing electronica and psychadedelic visuals combine to craft a surprisingly relaxing puzzler.

Simple, original and addictive, it’s a great addition to the XBLA library.

The second entry to Sega’s vintage RPG series reemerges on Xbox Live Arcade for a new generation of gamer to enjoy. Turn-based combat through the Algol star system brings a troupe of heroes into conflict with the devastating Dark Force, the embodiment of evil that haunts the Phantasy Star series. Hailed as one of the greatest video games of all time, Phantasy Star 2 is the origin point of many conventions still alive in RPGs today; specifically it’s grand, character-driven space opera of a story, which was hugely ambitious for the time.

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giveaways EDIFIER LUNA 2 e20 speakers If you’re in the market for a 2.0 speaker system, look no further than the Edifier “Luna 2” e20 to satisfy your thirst for audio bliss.

Digital Blue has kindly handed over a set for some lucky reader to win – these speakers retail for around $600 so get those answers in and get yourself in the draw today!

MySims Racing

Who patented the first loudspeaker as part of his telephone in 1876.?

EA / Wii, DS

When it comes to racing about, weird locations and power-ups MySims Racing does deliver the goods. It’s not as good as Mario Kart, but it will be sure to satisfy the younger audience at the very least.

You can create a Sim, customize your rides and fit them out with upgrades. Power-ups range from UFO’s which give your Kart a free ride around the track, Pumpkin Catapults, Beehive Trails which leave slippery goo in your trail and a Seed Thrower which causes a fully grown tree to appear ahead...hopefully in front of another racer.

a) Alexander the great b) Alexandra Lang c) Alexander Graham Bell

MONSTER HUNTER FREEDOM UNITE (psp) Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is the biggest game of the series so far, letting you adventure with up to three friends through over 500 hours of gameplay. Monaco has kindly provided us with 3 copies to give away. So get your answers in to us today!

Name the legendary games publisher behind the Monster Hunter series? a) atari b) capcom c) sony

prototype (PS3) with figurine The game is set in New York City as a virus infects people and the military attempts to put an end to it. The protagonist of the story is named Alex Mercer, who has enemyabsorbing and shapeshifting powers. To enter the draw to win a PS3 copy (with a collectable figurine) all you have to do is answer the following question…

Yosumin Live Square Enix / XBLA

Ok, it’s not exactly Tetris in nature, but this deceivingly bonkers little Japanese puzzler is a madcap, addictive and retina-burningly bright puzzler that’s all about the fanatic quest for the high score under an umbrella of Eastern craziness. The game itself consists of little more than pattern recognition - players must create rectangular shapes on screen by connecting four corners of samecoloured pieces. The bigger the box, the higher score.

Increasing difficulty levels and an ever-ticking clock combine to create a cute diversion for genre-lovers.

Name the city that provides the setting for this game? a) paris b) london c) new york

Sacred 2: fallen angel Delve into a thrilling story full of side quests and secrets that you will have to unravel. Breathtaking combat arts and sophisticated spells are waiting to be learned.. Madman has provided us with 2 Collectors Edition copies (1 each for PS3 and Xbox 360) to give away so get your answers in to us now (stating your preferred platform) and get yourself in the draw.

Name the games developer behind this series? a) NINTENDO b) Ascaron Entertainment c) SEGA

Shinobi SEGA /XBLA

Shinobi features Joe the Ninja on a quest to defeat the evil Zeed organization, who have taken to kidnapping children of the Oboro clan. A classic side-scrolling brawler, the game challenges the player to rescue all hostages within a level while battling waves of thugs and a handful of powerful bosses with little more than an endless supply of throwing stars to rely on. Definitely worth a download if you have fond memories of playing the original in the arcade, and still worth a look if not, it’s one of the true genre giants.

how to enter

Write the correct answer, your name and contact details in an e-mail and send it in. All correct entries immediately go into the draw. This month’s winners will be drawn August 5th, 2009. No entries will be accepted after that date; please refrain from flooding our e-mail.

Send e-mail entries to: competitions@tenthplanet.co.nz

Last Month’s Winners

Please keep those entries coming: our congratulations to all the lucky winners from issue 81.

THE SIMS 3 (PC) Alicia De Wet, Wellington | B Muuska, Auckland Ian Fowler, Remuera INFAMOUS (PS3) Sally Pryde, Tauranga SMURFS BOXSET (DVD) Aiden Rudd, Auckland

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button STARRING / Cate Blanchett, Julia Ormond, Faune A. Chambers, Elias Koteas DIRECTOR / David Fincher RATING / M RUNNING TIME / 166 minutes STUDIO / Warner Brothers RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Adrian Hatwell

Slumdog Millionaire STARRING / Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Rajendranath Zutshi DIRECTOR / Danny Boyle RATING / R13 RUNNING TIME / 120 minutes STUDIO / Fox Searchlight RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Adrian Hatwell

When I first saw Slumdog Millionaire it hadn’t garnered the tidal wave of hype and acclaim that it eventually would.

Knowing only that it was directed by an artist I respected I went into the film with almost no preconceptions and I left fairly certain I had just seen the best film of the year. Now, with a multitude of Oscars under its belt and surrounded by a media blitz bordering on the annoying, I went into my second viewing and it’s still just so damn good.

Director Danny Boyle is awfully fond of his grubby urban fairy tales and there’s quite possibly no better setting for such a story than India. Some of the poorest, most god-awful slums in the world sit not a hop, skip

Youth Without Youth STARRING / Tim Roth, Alexandra Maria Lara, Bruno Ganz, André Hennicke DIRECTOR / Francis Ford Coppola RATING / M RUNNING TIME / 124 minutes STUDIO / Sony Classics RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Adrian Hatwell

It has been 10 years since Francis Ford Coppola was in the director’s seat, and 15 since he both wrote and directed a project, and he has certainly been missed. His sudden return to filmmaking is a very welcome turn, but it also saddled his latest project, Youth Without Youth, with some rather lofty expectations. With so many risky masterpieces to his name and with such time since he was last in the spotlight, Youth Without Youth barely had a chance not to disappoint.

The story concerns an aging linguistics professor who has devoted his entire life to the writing of a single book detailing the origin of language. Having forsaken his love in favour of his work, which in his declining years remains unfinished, Dominique frets that his life might

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and jump away from towering luxury condos, a thriving professional sector, millionaires, and streets glutted with cars. Slumdog Millionaire grabs our hand and runs at break-neck speed across these staggering social divides, a nimble, wrenching tour of the real India.

The story is simplicity itself; boy meets girl, boy and girl get separated, boy and girl go through all manner of gruelling ordeals before finally reuniting. The boy is Jamel, born into the slums, sucked into the Mumbai underworld only to escape to the straight and narrow and become an extremely lucky contestant on India’s ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ The girl is Latika, also a slumdog who joined young Jamel in his descent into crime but wasn’t so lucky as to escape until much later, when that milliondollar question is asked.

The film is exhilarating, funny, fantastical, gritty, heartbreaking, and uplifting - a real Dickensian tale dressed up in all the grimy rags and glittering garb of modern India. Masterful direction, superb acting, wonderful music, and dazzling cinematography combine for a rare, breathtaking experience.

have been wasted until a freak occurrence dramatically affects his future.

Randomly struck by lightening while crossing the street, instead of being killed Dominique discovers that he is actually de-aging as he recovers. His burns give way to smooth youthful skin, his decaying teeth are pushed from his mouth by shiny new ones, and the baffled intellectual soon discovers he has developed some rather intimidating extra-human powers.

From the lightening incident in 1938 the film takes us through the Second World War, as Dominique becomes a prime target for Nazi spies, and through the post-war period where Dominique meets his new love (who looks remarkably similar to his first, all those decades ago,) who also conveniently suffers from some lightening-related mutations.

Unlike the similarly age-reversing Benajmin Button, Youth Without Youth is far more occupied with the intellectual and metaphysical weight of its subject than simple emotion. Ultimately, that is it’s failing as the second half of the film winds so tightly into pretentious blather that, like the fate of Dominique himself, the audience is left out in the cold.

The Science Fiction-ish premise of a man who goes through life aging backwards doesn’t, initially, sound like the stuff of intricate, moving drama, nor does gritty filmmaker David Fincher seem like much of a fit as director. However, the incredulous plot in Fincher’s hands is turned into something of rare perception and huge emotional resonance.

Born in 1918, Benjamin Button finds himself alone in the world when his mother dies during childbirth and his father abandons the child due to some unique complications. Rather hideously, Benjamin was born with the tiny body of a shrivelled old man and the mewling intelligence of a regular infant. While the grotesque anomalies proves too much for Benjamin’s father, he is soon embraced by a surrogate mother of limitless compassion and understanding; Queenie, the one person in the world that will ever truly understand her son.

The film tracks Benjamin’s incredible life over three periods; his unconventional childhood in the body of an old man, life as a burgeoning adult in a body that almost fits, and then the unnatural descent towards old age in the rapidly shrinking body of a child.

Visually the process is both marvellous and repulsive, one can’t help but be intrigued by how the supremely abnormal journey will unfold visually, despite being unsettled by the result each and every time. What keeps us interested in the deviant biological display is the strange new lens it allows us to view life through – the human experience is both remarkably different and in many ways unchanged for a man aging backwards.

The film is a rough ride emotionally with Benjamin predestined for cruel tragedy, every relationship made into a perverse joke by age. It’s the film’s greatest success that despite all the heartbreak and pain, by the harrowing conclusion somehow it all still seems worthwhile.

The Spirit STARRING / Jaime King, Gabriel Macht, Dan Gerrity, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson DIRECTOR / Frank Miller RATING / M RUNNING TIME / 103 minutes STUDIO / LionsGate Studios RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Adrian Hatwell

IP Man STARRING / Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Siu-Wong Fan, Ka Tung Lam, Yu Xing DIRECTOR / Wilson Yip RATING / M RUNNING TIME / 106 minutes STUDIO / Vendetta Films RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Julie Gray

If you’re a practitioner of Martial Arts or just a fan of Martial Arts movies, you should probably know about Ip Man (Yip Man). A legend in many respects (and not just because he taught Bruce Lee) and by all accounts a phenomenal martial artist, Yip Man is captured honestly and

unashamedly in this semi-autobiographical movie.

Donnie Yen portrays Ip Man and does so with fantastic conviction and in doing so, truly solidifies his position on the martial arts world stage. He hasn’t had anywhere near as much exposure as the likes of Jet Li which is a real shame. Having only done a handful of local Chinese martial arts and crime related movies (with an almost forgettable stint as one of Blade’s hencemen in Blade 2), Ip Man may just be the ticket that gets people noticing this awesome powerhouse of talent.

The martial arts sequences are handled with expert attention and finesse and don’t in any way look overdone with too much wire work. What you get is hardcore, in-your-face, kick-ass Kung-Fu and there’s nothing better than watching someone with skill and talent deliver the kicks and punches as if they were created solely for that purpose. It’s a beautiful thing...

I’m not familiar at all with the details of Ip Man’s life but as this is semi-autobiographical, I’m taking some of the details of his life during the Japanese invasion of China with a pinch of ginseng er... salt. It’s interesting to note though that the scene where Ip Man takes on multiple Japanese Karate assailants at once is extremely reminiscent of a certain Bruce Lee movie. Hmmmm...

There will be a follow up to Ip Man, aptly titled ‘Ip Man 2’ which (as we would expect) features Ip Man training a very young Bruce Lee! Ip Man 2 comes to the theatres some time in 2010.

A good pulpy superhero affair is a thing of simple beauty, and as far as heroes for such go they don’t come much more classic than The Spirit. In the 50’s the fedora-decked hero stalked the Sunday papers bringing thugs to justice. Fast-forward a few decades and newsprint has given way to CGI-laden film, the noble blue suit is now ink black, and The Spirit is just a ghost of what he used to be.

Watching Frank Miller’s interpretation of The Spirit is a supremely vexing experience, the film flicks between hard-boiled machismo and goofy Chuck Jones-esque action so frequently that it almost seems like two films stitched uneasily together. One minute we have the monotonous internal narrative of the dead-andresurrected vigilante opining the grimy virtues of his perennially darkened city, the next he’s getting hit over the head with a toilet by a guy in a pimp suit.

The story rocks awkwardly between dull exposition and dumb action, and mainly involves a handful of comely sirens running about looking for an ancient artefact while Gabriel Macht and Samuel L. Jackson hit, shoot, and stab each other with things. As one would expect from a comic illustrator turned director, visually the film is a knockout. The blunt black, grey, and red colour scheme (despite its derivative Sin City connection) is striking, almost as much as the suggestively clad femme fatales. Beyond a lot of flash, however, the film’s a mess.

Almost all of the actors play their parts in such overthe-top fashion that they make it seem as though they’re all in on a joke that has gone completely over our head. Or perhaps the joke’s on us. Either way, the Spirit is not the thrilling, slick crime adventure it should have been; instead it’s a tangle of weak humour, impressive bodies, and misdirected angst.

Vicky and Christina are America tourists on a leisurely vacation in Spain. Despite being great friends the two women hold very different views on love and life in general, over which the occasionally butt heads, passive-aggressively. Vicky (played neurotically by a feisty Rebecca Hall) is something of a pragmatist and has found the love of a very straight-laced chap back home; she doesn’t expect the ethereal romance of Spain to have much affect on her behaviour at all. Christina (played equally neurotically by a ravishing Scarlett Johansen) is a free spirit and dyed-in-the-wool romantic; she’s ready for Spain’s lusty winds to carry her wherever they may.

On their sightseeing travels the pair encounter the rustic painter Juan Antonio Gonzalo, a handsome individualist who wastes no time in inviting the women on a weekend

of art appreciation and sex. Vicky is appalled, Christina is intrigued, and Juan Antonio is on the path to a series of convoluted trysts with both girls and his stunning but dangerously unhinged ex-wife (a drop-dead gorgeous Penelope Cruz) that will leave all parties exasperated if not unsatisfied.

The characters speak with unique and grounded voices, even in the most comically absurd situations, and their wry and radiant observations on life, love, sex, and art know no limit. Allen plays the pace of the film just right, letting situations simmer slowly to their inevitable conclusions, teasing the audience all the way to the final, indelible climax. Sexy, funny, smart, and a little bit insane, Vicky Christina Barcelona is old Woody Allen back in top form.

Vicky Christina Barcelona STARRING / Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz DIRECTOR / Woody Allen RATING / M RUNNING TIME / 96 minutes STUDIO / Weinstein RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Adrian Hatwell

Woody Allen continues his personal filmmaking renascence in Europe with the alluring Vicky Christina Barcelona, a witty, frisky romp through beautiful countryside with beautiful people. The (endless) dialogue crackles with Allen’s trademark intelligence, the Spanish locales are filmed with adoration, and the breezy relationship entanglements of idiosyncratic characters never fail to entertain.

Seven Pounds STARRING / Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Michael Ealy DIRECTOR / Gabriele Muccino RATING / M RUNNING TIME / 123 minutes STUDIO / Sony Pictures RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Julie Gray

Gran Torino STARRING / Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Brian Haley DIRECTOR / Clint Eastwood RATING / RUNNING TIME / STUDIO / Warner Brothers RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Adrian Hatwell

At 78 years-old Clint Eastwood is still a snarling pit bull of an actor and an amazingly accomplished director, age doesn’t seem to have slowed his output or diminished its quality one iota. Gran Torino is a gripping drama about an old man struggling to fit into a changing world, though it certainly doesn’t seem to be a problem particularly relevant to the veteran filmmaker himself.

Walt Kowalski is a retired autoworker, recent widower, and mean old son of a bitch. Though he despises uselessness he has had it thrust upon him by a society that deems him past his used by date, and so Walt is relegated to a life of chugging beer on his porch, seeing to household repairs, working on his beloved car, and slinging racial slurs at the neighbours.

MILK STARRING / Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Diego Luna DIRECTOR / Gus Van Sant RATING / M RUNNING TIME / 128 minutes STUDIO / Focus Features RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Adrian Hatwell

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On the outside Walt seems like a typical, despicable, old racist bastard but when trouble comes calling in the form of local Hmong gangsters the conflict quickly draws out the better in Walt. After the sheepish teenaged boy next door is coerced into stealing Walt’s prised Gran Torino by disrespectful hoodlums the old man and young immigrant’s lives begin to intertwine in compelling ways.

Despite all his bluster about sending the ‘gooks’ back to where they came from, Walt comes to care for his vulnerable neighbours in his own crotchety way.

There’s no big mushy breaking down of emotional barriers here, however. Walt never ceases his constant barrage of horrible racial epithets and his compassion is usually shown through acts of aggressions, but right up until the film’s sudden, violent conclusion there’s no questioning the old man’s compulsion to ultimately do the right thing.

If you can get beyond the fact that Eastwood is basically playing a geriatric Dirty Harry, to the point of comical absurdity at times, then Gran Torino is an entreatingly nasty piece of business with a cleverly hidden heart.

It’s interesting how different people deal with grief and guilt. Seven Pounds is a movie about one man’s journey of suffering as he is slowly transformed through a personal tragedy into a man with one, unwavering purpose - to rectify what he did wrong, at all costs.

There’s no denying that Will Smith has truly come into his own as one of Hollywood’s finest actors. Long gone are the days of ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ when Will Smith was nothing more than a rapper with a Hollywood dream to make it big. And make it big he did - Mr. Smith is now one of the most well paid actors in the business. And it’s easy to see why as he takes a no-holds-barred approach to his character, Ben Thomas.

Alongside Will Smith is the equally talented Rosario Dawson who also delivers a fantastic performance as the woman that almost made the difference. As it turns out, not even love from a beautiful woman could sway Ben Thomas from his ultimate goal.

If you’re feeling kinda down or depressed in any way, I do not recommend watching Seven Pounds. The emotions are raw and exposed and will hit you like a ton of bricks, especially if you’re not expecting it. Seven Pounds is not a movie about hope - plain and simple, it’s a movie about suffering that doesn’t attempt to hide itself or disguise itself as something else.

Brilliantly written and executed by the cast (including a brief part by Woody Harrelson who is also another fine if underrated actor), Seven Pounds is good viewing - if you’re in the right frame of mind to take it on.

The moving biopic of Harvey Milk’s political struggle for gay rights earned Sean Penn the Best Actor Oscar, but the entire production is first-class filmmaking and deserving of acclaim.

1970’s San Francisco is meticulously recreated as the stage for America’s first openly gay man to be elected to official office.

The film opens with Harvey Milk, newly elected city supervisor, narrating the tale of his political rise to a tape recorder, to be played in the event of his assassination. By this point Milk has pissed off many haters in his quest to have the civil rights of homosexuals protected by law and in encouraging closeted gays to come out to their family and friends, putting a human face of the religious right’s bogeyman.

As great as Milk’s political successes were, the story of how he came to become the impassioned face of a

thriving political movement is equally noteworthy. It’s a transformative story, in which a 40-year-old researcher becomes unsatisfied with his comfy existence and decides to dedicate his life to making a difference. We watch as Harvey goes from being just another charming character on Castro Street to the beaming face of an outraged movement screaming for justice.

Sean Penn’s portrayal certainly deserves the praise it has gotten, not since Dead Man Walking has the talented actor so wholly embodied such a distinct soul. The supporting cast sine equally brightly. A dreamy James Franco plays Scott Smith, the love Milk couldn’t put above his cause, an adorable Emile Hirsch is a wayward soul transformed into a man of purpose

by Milk’s courage, and Josh Brolin plays the troubled boy scout political acquaintance responsible for Milk’s tragic demise.

The film deftly balances its political charge, a united front of unionists, blacks, Latinos, teachers, workers, as well as gays, with the mainstream desire to tell a great, straightforward story. The result is heartfelt, poignant, relevant, and inspiring.

The Wackness STARRING / Ben Kingsley, Josh Peck, Famke Janssen, Mary-Kate Olsen DIRECTOR / Jonathan Levine RATING / R18 RUNNING TIME / 99 minutes STUDIO / Sony Pictures Classics RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Adrian Hatwell

Nostalgia-wise, the 90s isn’t a decade that has much to boast about, but this charming coming-of-age story makes a fairly strong case for the woebegone period. In fact the music, social atmosphere, and relative quaintness of the time are largely to thank for the film’s success over it’s otherwise contrived premise.

Luke Shapiro has finished High School and now faces the desolate void of free time before the beginning of

MARVEL X-Men: The Animated Series (Volumes 1&2) STARRING / Cathal J. Dodd, Cedric Smith, Alison Sealy-Smith, Lenore Zann (Voices) CREATOR / Stan Lee RATING / PG RUNNING TIME / Season 1 and 2 STUDIO / Walt Disney Studios RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Adrian Hatwell

Long unavailable for some insane reason, X-Men: The Animated Series is one of the most requested TV Show DVDs of all time. It’s no surprise either, as a faithful adaptation of the popular comic the TV show was many youngsters’ first introduction to the wonderful

his college life. While most of the kids in his affluent school are leaving the city to celebrate their liberation Luke is resigned to his usual routine of selling drugs, tolerating squabbling parents, and remaining alienated from the rest of his age group.

In Luke’s own words, he may have been a loser but he was definitely the most popular of the unpopular. His drug business gave him entry into certain social circles but never acceptance, and so Luke finds himself confiding in the only person who will listen to him; a messed up shrink who trades therapy time for bud. Dr. Squires attempts to guide Luke through his troubled period but the older man’s life is in such a state that the young dealer’s problems seem enviable.

Together the two navigate a sweltering summer of sex, drugs, and existential angst, each looking for ways to fix themselves so that they might look on the doper side of life. The sweet, if obvious, journey plays out against a soundtrack of classic mid-90s hiphop, music that integrates so well the scenes that it’s hard to imagine the songs not being written for that very purpose.

It’s self-aware retro status might be a little much for some audiences to stomach, but if you came up in the 90s, with Nintendo, A Tribe Called Quest, and people saying ‘yo’ and ‘what up’ then The Wackness is likely to sit quite comfortably indeed.

world of Marvel, and the beginning of many lifelong comic book habits.

Beloved childhood shows often disappoint rather heavily when revisited in DVD from a decade’s distance.

While X-Men certainly bares all the garish hallmarks of a very 90s production, the core of the show is solid and respectful enough that dayglo colours and stilted dialogue are easily forgiven.

One of the great virtues of the show was the way in which it re-enacted various important storylines from the comics themselves. Whereas later interpretations of the X-men on screen strive to put their own distinct spin on the merry mutants, the original series wanted nothing more than to bring the addictive tales to life on screen.

Characters appear in their most iconic form, Wolverine

Sparkle STARRING / Stockard Channing, Shaun Evans, Anthony Head, Bob Hoskins DIRECTORS / Tom Hunsinger and Neil Hunter RATING / M RUNNING TIME / 104 minutes STUDIO / Rialto RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Julie Gray

Some of the best movies are sometimes the ones you least expect. I was pleasantly surprised by Sparkle and really thought I’d be bored out of my wits but instead found a hidden gem.

Sparkle really shines thanks largely to the superb performances by Brit heavyweight Bob Hoskins and equally strong performances from Anthony ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Head and (a very well-aged) Stockard Channing.

The movie focuses largely on Sam Sparks, a 23 year old on the verge of going bonkers in his small town, hemmed in by his somewhat overbearing (but well meaning) mother Jill who dreams of some day finding fame and fortune as a singer whilst moonlighting in Karaoke bars to make extra money. Sam decides he’s had enough and wants to move on out and as fate would have it, stumbles upon Sheila (Stockard Channing) at an event and soon after scores a job as her assistant (whilst also keeping her bed warm whenever she requires it).

Sam finds himself in a complex situation when he also meets and falls head-over-heels in love with Sheila’s daughter Kate (played by Amanda Ryan).

Whilst all this is going on, Sam’s mother is having issues of her own trying to keep the amorous advances of kind-hearted Vince at bay.

The closer everyone seems to get in their relationships the more complex and messy things become until one secret after another is unraveled revealing hidden truths and making things even more dramatic for easy-going charmer Sam. The characters are so endearing you can’t help but like them.

A quaint drama/comedy that’s just the thing to kill the winter blues - keep a look out for Sparkle at your local video store.

as a gruff soldier, Gambit as the charming renegade, Rogue as the troubled southern belle, Cyclops as the uncompromising leader – versions of the X-Men that, for fans of the show, will always be the definitive article.

The art style reflects the trends of the time to an almost embarrassing degree. The character’s costumes, modelled off of artist Jim Lee’s designs, are likely to illicit a few sniggers after the black leather style the gang have taken to rocking these days, though the animation and overall tone are pitch-perfect.

For many these DVDs would be worth the price of admission for nostalgia value alone, but it’s heartening to re-watch the classic storylines and find they hold up just fine all these years later. Fingers crossed that the rest of the series eventually gets a release.

Slacker

Tokyo Zombie STARRING / Tadanobu Asano, Sho Aikawa, Erika Okuda, Satoshi Hashimoto DIRECTOR / Sakichi Satô RATING / R RUNNING TIME / 104 minutes STUDIO / Eastern Eye RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Adrian Hatwell

Billed as ‘the Japanese Shaun of the Dead’, Tokyo Zombie is a light-hearted take on the undead, more screwball buddy comedy than any kind of horror. The humour consists of that distinctly Japanese mix of slapstick physicality and dry wit, not everybody’s cup of tea but a lively juxtaposition of the absurd and the minimalist keeps the silly premise moving along.

In midtown Tokyo Fujio and Mitsuo, a pair of inept workers at a fire extinguisher factory, spend their days practicing jujitsu until their boss catches them out and they are forced to, in a very offhand way, kill him. The monstrously piled rubbish mound known as Black Fuji seems the perfect body dumping ground until a mix of

Frisky Dingo: Season 2 STARRING / Stuart Culpepper, Christian Danley, Adam Reed, Kelly Jenrette (Voices) CREATORS / Adam Reed & Matt Thompson RATING / R16 RUNNING TIME / Season 2 STUDIO / Madman RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Adrian Hatwell

Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim banner has, these days, become the hub of supposed ‘alternative’ animation, with their often-crude cartoon shows aimed at an older audience, if not a more mature one. Some of the shows have a genuine indie swagger to them, like Mission Hill or Home Movies, while others are happy with being puerile diversions for the addled minded. Frisky Dingo falls into the later category with a vengeance, it’s second season even more idiotic, nonsensical, and strange than the first, if possible.

The show documents the antics of Killface, a wouldbe supervillian and caring single father, as he goes up against witless billionaire Xander Cruise (superhero name: Awesome X) and his troupe of tech soldiers, The Xsticles. Last season we saw a bunch of mindnumbingly stupid things happen before Killface eventually tried to send the earth into the sun using a giant rocket.

His plan failed, instead pushing the earth a few meters away from the sun, accidentally curing global warming. Killfaces status quickly swings from unknown baddie to world-saving hero, and he channels his newfound popularity into a bid for the presidency of the United States. The disgraced Xander Cruise decides

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illicit substances begin to reanimate the manifold corpses stashed there.

Thus Tokyo is plunged into darkness and the bumbling pair, with the comprehension and intuition of Cheech and Chong, takes to the road in a mad bid for safety in Russia, of all places. The goofy road trip ends rather abruptly for the pals when a zombie bites Mitsuo, forcing him to jump from a bridge to avoid snacking down on his friends.

At this half-way point the movie takes an sharp turn, a little animated intro leads us five years into the future where the zombies have taken over all of Tokyo save for a walled off area keeping the rich folk safe. It is here that poor Fujio has become a jujitsu zombie death match champion for the amusement of his wealthy masters.

Naturally Fujio eventually comes up against zombieMitsuo, a revolution occurs, and much cheesy surf rock is grooved out to.

The film bounds around without much regard for logic or consistency, which will likely irk viewers not familiar with the cult Japanese aesthetic, but purveyors of such strangeness should dig its off-kilter flavour.

to do the same, just so we have some kind of story to follow, and the procession of mind-numbingly stupid things begins once more.

While the show is unrepentantly crass, dim, and just plain annoying, it makes no apologies for such and eventually, in the face of relentless string of nonsequiturs, reoccurring gags, and baffling outbursts, you will weaken and you will laugh.

The audience for this kind of show is fairly self-evident; they are the people who are actually watching cartoons at midnight, usually under the effects of thorough selfmedication. I can’t honestly understand why anyone would find this a rewarding watch, and I’m quite happy to remain confused.

STARRING / Richard Linklater, Rudy Basquez, Jean Caffeine, Jan Hockey DIRECTOR / Richard Linklater RATING / M RUNNING TIME / 97 minutes STUDIO / Independent RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Adrian Hatwell

It’s hard to say what director Richard Linklater is best known for, his art house curiosities or his more conventional Hollywood hits, because he does both so well. His first film, Slacker, is most definitely rooted in the former, borrowing a little from the surrealists and applying a generous coating of late-80s American Hipsterism. Essentially it’s a film about nothing, but entertainingly so.

The film doesn’t have a set storyline, rather it’s made up of snippets from dozens of stories all running in parallel.

The film opens with a young man in a taxi ruminating dreamily about his thoughts on alternate realities to a not particularly interested driver. We don’t know where this man has come from or where he is going, nor do we find out; he simply exits the cab and runs into another character that we then follow for a few minutes, before they run into someone else for us to follow.

The format is frustrating and jarring to begin with, forever denying the audience any sort of closure, but as the scenes wind on a palpable rhythm becomes obvious. Each scene rises or falls solely on the strength of whatever character is on the screen at the time; some speak emphatically of amusing conspiracy theories while others bicker self-consciously about dull relationship philosophies.

While this particular hipster incarnation (circa 1989) has dated significantly, the film becomes an intriguing time capsule of the listless young white college angst of the period, which is sometimes just as infuriating and boring as the listless white college angst of today. What it lacks in overall coherence the film certainly makes up for in idiosyncratic style and vigour, though ultimately it’s unlikely to hold everyone’s attention throughout.

With the DVD long unavailable on these fair shores Slacker will be a welcome addition to any Linklater fan’s collection.

Sports Night: Complete Series STARRING / Josh Charles, Peter Krause, Felicity Huffman, Robert Guillaume CREATOR / Aaron Sorkin RATING / PG RUNNING TIME / Complete Series (8 Disc set) STUDIO / Beyond Home Entertainment RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Adrian Hatwell

Usually there’s no way in hell I would go near a show with a name like that, but after properly cluing myself in on Sports Night I was practically gagging for this 10th Anniversary DVD set. The about turn comes down to a single name, Aaron Sorkin, the man behind The West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset strip, two of the smartest, wittiest, most entertaining shows of recent television history.

Sports Night was Sorkin’s first television project and, like Studio 60, it involves the hustle and bustle involved in putting on a live television broadcast. And yes, that broadcast in this case happens to be a nightly sports show but, again like Studio 60, it isn’t the content of the show that is really important, it’s the blood sweat and tears that go into putting it together in the first place.

Fronting Sports Night are charming anchors Dan Rydell and Casey McCall, helped along by dedicated producer Dana Whitaker and an often-professional, always-amusing crew. The show is interested in both character relationships and the ethical, business, and political decisions that go into creating a popular television program, and both are treated with intelligence and humour.

Sorkin fans coming to Sports Night for the first time

should be warned, this is a different kind of operation than the prestige format shows that followed. Built around the traditional half-hour sitcom mould, the show comes off a lot more conventional than one might expect, with cheap sets, cheap gags, and even a dreaded laugh track. If one can survive the initial shock, however, its well worth sticking around, these elements subside as the first season rolls on and are completely gone by season two.

More articulate, clever, and outright enjoyable than

anything with ‘sports’ in the title has any right being, the only real disappointment with Sports Night is that there aren’t more seasons.

coming soon Tokyo Gore Police In the future a privatised police force hunts down mutants who can engineer any injury into a weapon. It’s balls-to-the-wall splatter insanity in the over-the-top Japanese cult tradition, Tokyo Gore Police packs enough spurting blood to drown a small town, a must see for gorehounds.

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S Thompson There have been no shortage of documentaries celebrating the good doctor’s life, but Gonzo might just be the best. Focusing on the gonzo journalist’s heyday from the mid60s to mid-70s, the film paints a thorough and true portrait of a paradoxical figure - hero, anti-hero, and villain.

Transsiberian A suspenseful neo-noir thriller set on the trans-Siberian railroad, the film throws a touring American couple into a gripping plot of deception and murder. Solid performances by Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer help to keep the tense, lively script on track.

Waltz With Bashir

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Seasons 1 & 2 STARRING / Kaitlin Olson, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Danny DeVito, Rob McElhenney CREATOR / Rob McElhenney RATING / M RUNNING TIME / Seasons 1 and 2 STUDIO / 20th Century Fox RELEASE DATE / New to retail REVIEWER / Adrian Hatwell

‘Seinfield on crack’ is the chorus being peddled to plug lo-fi hipster comedy show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and for the most part it’s fairly accurate. Like Seinfield, Philadelphia deals in all things awkward and unpleasant, wearing that ever so problematic ‘politically incorrect’ badge firmly on chest.

The show concerns the degenerate antics of three long-time buddies who ineptly attempt to run a low-key Irish pub. Charlie, Dennis, and Mac are around the 30 mark but still act like teenagers, led about by their baser instincts into situations no self-respecting adult should find themselves in. Rounding out the crew is Dee, sister of Dennis and sometimes voice of reason to the troupe.

The inauspicious premise is made original by the show’s very specific tone, improvisation-heavy approach to dialogue, and a wholesale amorality towards subject matter. The crew find themselves navigating hot button issues like race, homophobia, abortion, religion, and sex with the grace of habitual glue-sniffers.

At its best the show is a riot, with its characters’ stupidity serving to make clever, self-aware observations on dicey matters. At its worst the show crosses that wafer-thin like of humorous insensitivity and presents its characters as loathsome, mean, and unlikable.

The unevenness is almost entirely divided along seasonal lines. Most of the fresh situations and witty observations come from season one. The characters begin to lose their distinction come season two, becoming figures of contempt rather than loveable screw-ups. This is most clearly evidenced with the introduction of Danny DeVito as Frank, Dennis and Dee’s dirty old father who doesn’t even have the excuse of semi-youth to fall back on.

While it is never completely devoid of laughs the show definitely takes a wrong turn with season two, hopefully the third will steer it back towards the pithy irreverence of the original episodes.

An acclaimed animated documentary out of Israel, Waltz with Bashir is an engaging, timely, and affecting look at the 1982 Lebanon War. A survivor of the war attempts to explore his lost memories of the conflict decades later in order to come to grips with his own reality.

Bedtime Stories Adam Sandler stars as a lowly hotel worker who tells fantastical tales to his niece and nephew before bed only to have the story elements invade his life the following day.

Sandler’s stupid voices and a cuteness overload make it hard going for grownups, but kids will dig it.

Julio Medem Collection

This wonderful collection includes almost all of Spanish-Basque filmmaker Julio Medem’s delightfully eclectic films. Including the director’s auspicious debut Vacas Cows, the exceptionally erotic Sex and Lucia, and the baffling Chaotic Ana, among others, the box set is a true treat for cinema lovers.

Michael Jackson: A Gaming Tribute Now I know the realm of pop music isn’t really this forum’s purview (and lord knows we don’t need another piece adding to the media jabber) but I thought those caught up in the massive wave of collective mourning might be interested to know of the video gamerelated tributes to the King of Pop. As timelines go the rise of Michael Jackson and that of video game popularity are fairly similar, and in 1990 they finally met in the form of a very strange game for the Sega Megadrive. Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker was a tie-in of sorts to the film of the same name and, just like the man it honoured, the title was very weird indeed.

The game, set in a city overrun with violent thugs and gangsters, starts as a dark screen until the glint of a flipping coin cuts through the gloom; it lands neatly in a jukebox and lights bathes the environment as Smooth Criminal belts out of the speakers.

Michael, decked out in his pimp white suit, emerges to teach the hoodlums of this town a thing or two about… well, about dancing.

MJ’s aim in the game (no sniggering please) is to save children who have been harassed by the city’s bad elements. He’s up against violent criminals (and occasionally zombies) who are armed to the teeth, but Michael’s packing something far more powerful; he’s reclaiming the streets with the power of dance. Many of the singer’s signature dance moves are converted into a bizarre sort of fighting style including flourishing high kicks, spins, fedora throwing, and the moonwalk of course.

His greatest attack, however, is a real showstopper; if the dance button is held down long enough the entire game pauses, any on-screen enemies cease their menacing activities and gather around MJ who then leads them in a spectacularly choreographed synchronised dance, at the end of which all baddies fall down stone dead.

Of all the games insane trappings, including Bubbles the chimp as radar, a bitchin’ Thriller-inspired level, and much shouting of “woo!”, the singe best aspect of the game is its wonderful, clinking 16-bit MIDI soundtrack, comprised of simple digitised versions of the singer’s greatest hits.

You might find it a little difficult to actually track down the game at this point but clicking around in the shadier parts of the Internet would probably turn something up, I imagine.

If the Man in the Mirror still haunts you then maybe a replay of Sega’s classic music game series Space Channel 5 would do the trick. The Dreamcast games featured intergalactic space reporter Ulala dancing her way through dangerous assignments galaxywide, some of which made use of a certain singer.

Ulala saves an imperilled Michael Jackson (here using the clever pseudonym Space

NEXT ISSUE It’s been a heck of a month but we finally got there. I hope you enjoyed the mag. Without further ado it’s time for us to have a look ahead to what awaits us in August.

Cheeky evil humour will be prevalent in the sequel to the fun but flawed Overlord…rather originally named Overlord II, there’s something about being the bad guy that’s just plain wicked.

Fingers crossed we’ll also be able to get our greedy little paws on Wolfenstein – we always get a little excited when an iD game gets released!

We have plans to spill some mud in the huge open word racer Fuel which recently one a Guinness World Record for being the ‘largest’ game ever. Pull on our tin foil JRPG hat for Tri-Ace’s Tales of Vesperia and get all war-like with Battlefield 1943.

The latter has already had us waging all out war over Xbox Live and despite the fact that it’s a download only game (also available on the PS Network) it’s the most fun we’ve had in a long time and with an entry fee of only $20 is well worth every penny.

Get to it soldier.

38 last word

Michael) from a gang of ‘Rhythm Rogues’ in the first game, a kindness he repays by lending his vocal talents to defeat a dastardly singing robot. Space Michael returns in an even bigger role for the sequel, Space Channel 5: Part 2, when the dancing fiend Purge kidnaps him and the rest of Ulala’s fellow employees.

While that’s about as far as Michael’s physical appearances go, the King of Pop’s tunes have also appeared in a number of games including Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Elite Beat Agents, and Lips, and he is also rumoured to have been involved in creating some of the idiosyncratic soundtrack for Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Say what you will about the man but there’s no denying his impact, even on a medium as divergent as video games. He was also a huge gaming fan (as most of us developmentally stunted man-children tend to be) as evidenced by his gigantic collection of arcade machines, which sadly had to be auctioned off in the face of the fickle star’s crippling debts.

The King may be dead but his exceptionally weird digital memory lives on in our hearts and Internets.

- Adrian Hatwell

Maximum Hi-Def Experience

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