GG Issue 01

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GOOD GAME

01 VOLUME

FEATURE: GTA V - CHANGING ONLINE GAMING FOREVER

MICA (P) 135/05/2012

GRAND THEFT AUTO V LOUDER THAN WORDS

FEATURING

NEW DISHONORED provocative2K’S and gripping THE SUPERNATURAL ASSASSIN

DARKSIDERS 2 DEAD MAN WALKING

MILITARY SHOOTER

MAX PAYNE 3 REVIEW: PAYNE AND PLEASURE, THEY ARE THE SAME THING. FIND OUT ALL THE DETAILS IN

PREVIEWS: BORDERLANDS 2, DARKSIDERS 2, DISHONORED ASSASSIN’S CREED 3, DEVIL MAY CRY, RESIDENT EVIL 6

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BROUGHT TO YOU BY

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02 - Issue 01, 2012

TEAM

UPCOMING GAMES

PUBLISHER Jacky Choo jacky@playworksonline.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Gibbson Ang Gibbson@playworksonline.com

It’s too hot to leave the house, so stay inside and play games all day!

SENIOR REGIONAL CREATIVE DESIGNER Marcus Greiert marcus@playworksonline.com DESIGN CONTRIBUTORS Joyce Lee Kai Ting joycelee@playworksonline.com MEDIA GROUP HEAD Candice Cheong candice@playworksonline.com MEDIA MANAGER Johanna Kuan johanna@playworksonline.com

Halo 4

The Last Of Us

Resident Evil 6

The Last Guardian

Dishonored

ASSISTANT EDITOR Michael Khoo michael@playworksonline.com CONTRIBUTORS Justin Choo ADVERTISING SALES AND MARKETING Media Group Head Candice Cheong candice@playworksonline.com Media Manager Johanna Kuan johanna@playworksonline.com Philippines Correspondant Josephine Oliver

Tomb Raider

Assassin’s Creed 3

God of War: Ascension

Bioshock Infinite

PRINTING Printer Colourscan Co (Pte) Ltd 53 Ubi Avenue 3, Singapore 408863 GG is a monthly publication of Playworks Pte Ltd, 42 Kaki Bukit Crescent, Level 3, Singapore 416267 www.playworksonline.com Copyright© 2009, Playworks Pte Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication shall be reproduced, stored in, or introduced to a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means without the prior consent of Playworks Pte Ltd.™ and © for all other products, characters and its graphical depictions contained therein are properties of their respective trademark and copyright owners.

Metro: Last Light

Grand Theft Auto V

Sleeping Dogs

Borderlands 2

PLAYWORKS PTE LTD 42 Kaki Bukit Crescent, Level 3, Singapore 416267 Tel: +65 6339 3083 Fax: +65 6339 3079 Playworks would like to thank the publications; PSM3, XboxWorld 360, Ngamer, PC Gamer, Edge and GamesMaster for their excellent content, help and support for making the new Playworks magazine possible.

Far Cry 3

All content © Playworks Pte Ltd and Future Pulishing Ltd 2011.

Articles in this issue are translated or reproduced from XBOXWORLD 360 and are the copyright of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company, UK 2011. Used under licence. All rights reserved. is the trademark of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company.

Used under licence.

Articles in this issue are translated or reproduced from PSM3 and are the copyright of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company, UK 2011. Used under licence. All rights reserved. is the trademark of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company. Used under licence.

Articles in this issue are translated or reproduced from GAMESMASTER and are the copyright of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company, UK 2011. Used under licence. All rights reserved. is the trademark of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company.

Used under licence.

Articles in this issue are translated or reproduced from PC GAMER and are the copyright of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company, UK 2011. Used under licence. All rights reserved. is the trademark of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company. Used under licence.

Articles in this issue are translated or reproduced from NGAMER and are the copyright of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company, UK 2011. Used under licence. All rights reserved. is the trademark of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company. Used under licence.

Articles in this issue are translated or reproduced from EDGE and are the copyright of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company, UK 2011. Used under licence. All rights reserved. is the trademark of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company. Used under licence.

For more information about this and other magazines published by the Future plc group, go to http://www.futureplc.com.

Hitman: Absolution

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

RetailerTOP5

Darksiders 2

Aliens: Colonial Marines

THE HOTTESTGAMES OUTNOW

1. Max Payne 3 2. DiRT Showdown 3. Dragon’s Dogma 4. Starhawk 5. Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

1. Ghost Recon: Future Soldier 2. Dragon’s Dogma 3. Max Payne 3 4. Prototype 2 5. DiRT Showdown

1. Diablo III 2. Max Payne 3 3. Ghost Recon: Future Soldier 4. Dragon’s Dogma 5. DiRT Showdown

1. Diablo III 2. Sniper Elite V2 3. Max Payne 3 4. Dragon’s Dogma 5. Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

1. Diablo III 2. Total War: Shogun 2 3. Mass Effect 3 4. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 5. Max Payne 3

REVENGE SOLVES EVERYTHING

TM

DISHONORED.COM

Š 2012 ZeniMax Media Inc. Developed in association with Arkane Studios. Revenge Solves Everything, Dishonored, Arkane, Bethesda, Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax and related logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of ZeniMax Media Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.

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04 - Issue 01, 2012

How GTA V could change the way online gaming works forever “Emergent multiplayer objectives linked to story”

“Seamless integration of real world media and news updates” “Build persistent online clans, carrying their stats across titles”

Forget the rumours, Rockstar have been dropping hints about the direction of GTA V for years argues GTA expert David Houghton here Rockstar goes, the rest of the industry follows. That has been the case since Grand Theft Auto III first blueprinted the urban sandbox genre in 2001 and made the wrong side of the law an acceptable place to play.

So, in which direction will GTA V take us? It’s not immediately obvious – and in this tricky post-announcement, pre-anything-else period, multitudinous dubious rumours swirl like dirty socks of pseudo-truth within the great washing machine of the internet – but the patchwork of clues point to a broader, persistent universe, picture.

Current stories claim many things. WWII fighter planes will be flyable. There will be advanced on-foot police tactics, including riot shields and tear gas. Real-time radio traffic reports will help us avoid congested roads during frantic chases. Los Santos will have a dynamic, fully functioning economy that we’ll be able to contribute to…

Unfortunately, this latest batch of plausible-ifunspectacular reports also claim to have come from a friend of a disgruntled ex-Rockstar employee, now released from his obligations to secrecy. This does stretch the back story’s credibility. Rockstar wouldn’t let someone go without signing the kind of non-disclosure agreement that keeps their grandchildren from talking.

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LOUDER THAN WORDS

“Brand loyalty to Rockstar nurtured with persistent user IDs”

“Build in-game stats using iPhone, Twitter and other social media interactions”

“Gang A have captured the plane!

Gang B need to retrieve the rockets… now!”

“Wage war, steal territory and accrue wealth to shape a persistent online city”

But while rumours remain rumours, there are much more tangible clues knocking around as to GTA V’s direction. And they don’t just come from a guy on the internet. Instead, the answers come from Rockstar themselves, ‘leaked’ not by their words but by their evolving behaviour and design decisions over the last few years. In a slow-burning, roundabout way, Rockstar has been telling you the shape of GTA V long before GTA V was even announced.

Most recently and significantly, Rockstar have been talking a lot about narrative and multiplayer. It seems the company’s new mission is to blend the two, maintaining the essence of what makes both campaign and multiplayer gameplay successful in their own ways, but blurring the lines between them in order to make each more satisfying.

We’ll see Rockstar take the first official step along this path (and I emphasise the word ‘official’ because it isn’t really the first step at all, as will be explained) with Max Payne 3’s Gang Wars mode. The gist is that rather than providing the usual series of repeated team deathmatch rounds until an eventual winner is decided, the events of one round of

Issue 01, 2012 - 05

Max Payne’s multiplayer will inform the mode chosen for the next, with ongoing plot-threads tied to the main campaign running through every skirmish.

REWRITING THE STORY Say for instance, that round one is a Kane-&Lynch-style gang vs gang heist objective. Round two involves the thieving team having to protect its highest scoring member from the murderous wounded pride of the opposition. A Capture The Flag win leads to a dynamically-generated Protect The Leader challenge – the whole experience (in theory) effortlessly blending the traditionally irreconcilable joys of the scripted and the emergent.

The factions will be the same encountered in Max’s single-player saga, and the scenarios played out will detail their unexplored stories, set both before and after the solo game. See Max Payne 3’s multiplayer as operating in the same way an ongoing TV series fleshes out the main story thread by doing a spin-off arc based on a supporting character. It’s an exciting idea, and could break down the barrier between game modes, demolishing the traditional idea of a ‘story mode’ by turning both single and multiplayer into differently-shaped parts of the same narrative.

But there’s much earlier precedent for this sort of thing within Rockstar’s work. The studio might only be officially starting in this direction, but Red Dead Redemption was clearly an early sketch for it. The architecture of RDR’s online mode was all about the dissolution of single-player/multiplayer boundaries. Its use of the main game’s open-world map as a canvas on which to smudge together organic exploration, dynamic play and more traditional MP skirmishes was an inspired move, and one that’s becoming a more obviously important evolutionary step for gaming.

The thing is, ever-escalating development costs – plus the starkly polarised thrive or dive nature of sales – mean that triple-A games need to change shape or die. For evidence of the seriousness of the situation, you only need look at the number of devs who have gone under this generation, and cross-reference those statistics with the increasing ferocity of the industry’s (not always well-directed) war against piracy and second-hand sales.

Big budget games now need to be more than games. They need to be platforms and services that continue to be ongoing parts of players’ lifestyles long after the initial launch window hype.

Put simply, publishers need to keep their discs on your shelf, not a game store’s Pre-Owned rack.

That’s why Mass Effect 3 added multiplayer, and that’s why it encouraged online play by tying the mechanics of that multiplayer to success in the main campaign. That’s also why it hit players with a fully connected multimedia assault, using iOS apps to fuel their obsession with the game-world and enabling them to further shape their story

even when not playing – we doubt your GTA V experience will be limited to one platform.

PART OF THE CREW Tellingly, Rockstar has just announced its ‘Crews’ idea; a title-agnostic clan system existing across all of its releases, capable of creating dynamic rivalries which persist outside of the games but are settled within them. It will anchor multiplayer to further emotional weight in the real world, and as such is going to be vital to GTA V. “But GTA sells millions,” you may scoff. “Why should Rockstar worry?” Well, there’s another issue that Rockstar must address. You see the frustrating, ironic thing about GTA is that despite being a game beloved by tens of millions worldwide, it’s actually appreciated by few of its buyers. Most people who buy it are not like you and I. They don’t read games magazines or websites. They’re not interested in developers’ creative intent. GTA is a mass-market phenomenon because it’s bought in huge numbers, but many of its ‘fans’ buy it simply because it’s a mass-market phenomenon. They’re the folk who use their consoles as COD and FIFA dispensers; folk who’d be catatonic after a second of Braid. When they start a new GTA game, the second they’re in control they find a gun and start wrecking stuff. Rockstar’s cinematic ambitions and philosophical narrative is not for them. They treat GTA simply as a drop-in, drop-out destructive sandbox, and as such are responsible for one of the most depressing stats in gaming. According to an official Xbox Live Achievements report, less than 30% of players (on Xbox 360, at least) finished the main story in GTA IV, let alone any side-missions.

Jewel heists are the perfect online co-op mission, perhaps as part of a wider global asset system

Rockstar is rightly proud of its groundbreaking work. And with so many players using it simply as a way of casually messing about, something needs to be done. GTA V must be built in a way sympathetic to the less dedicated, more anarchic player. It needs to allow them to experience the story on their own terms, but without alienating those who do ‘get it’. It must surely be the next planned evolutionary point from Max Payne 3’s innovations.

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MISSION POSSIBLE? We discussed how the four-man heist footage in GTA V’s trailer hints at co-op action. But what if that co-op action is an option in every story mission? What if GTA V blends Max Payne 3’s narratively-structured multiplayer ideas with Red Dead’s living online open-world? What if it layers those ideas over Los Santos’ entire main campaign world, to create a game simultaneously a single-player narrative campaign, and (optionally) inhabitable with dynamic multiplayer carnage?

What if story missions can become multiplayer, with real people taking over allies and enemies on the fly? You still get GTA’s epic story, but instilled with an ever-shifting organic turf-war between Crews. Let some of those skirmishes tweak less intrusive background details of the main story, like shifting the balance of criminal power, and you have an elegant, innovative solution to every issue we’ve discussed here.

Remember how GTA IV’s in- game mobile phone was intended as an organic link to multiplayer, navigating game modes while also bonding them as parts of a cohesive world? Just another stepping-stone. Soon enough, GTA will be calling you on your real phone.

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MOMENTS 5ROCKSTAR IN MULTIPLAYER 1. 2004 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas dips a toe into the multiplayer waters with GTA’s first co-op mode.

2. 2008 GTA IV boasts vast online modes. Niko’s cellphone is the conduit between campaign and multiplayer.

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3. 2010 Red Dead Redemption makes its map both a freely explorable online hub and arena venue.

4. 2012 Max Payne 3 demolishes the wall between campaign and multiplayer by telling its story over both modes.

5. 2012 GTA V: “A bold new direction in open-world freedom, mission-based gameplay and online multiplayer.”

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06 - Issue 01, 2012

THE BIG QUESTION Does the sequel continue the story of the original game?

Yes, it’s set during the aftermath of the Vault being opened.

BORDERLANDS 2 R

emember how in the original Borderlands the combat felt stiff and repetitive? Enemy AI was predictable, and most could be dealt with by simply chewing away at their health with whatever gun you happened to have equipped at that particular moment. Well in Borderlands 2, it’s a completely different story. Enemies are now smart and vicious and have some fiendishly clever tricks up their sleeves to force you to play tactically. This makes the co-operative experience – which is, let’s be honest, the main reason to play Borderlands – even more rewarding.

“We call it the AI ecosystem,” says Gearbox Software’s Steve Gibson. “The idea is that not only are enemies more reactive and more aggressive, but they can co-operate.”

We see this frightening prospect in action during our hands-on. We’re fighting a pack of Skags, the feral dog-like creatures from the original game. Only this time they’ve become

trickier to negotiate, tougher to bring down. One special breed of Skag has the ability to rally its weaker companions, which sets them on fire and makes them just that bit more dangerous. “This is just one example of the AI working together,” says Gibson. “In battle, you now have to prioritise more than just who’s closest to you. We want all the combat to feel richer and more tactical.”

There are five character classes in total: four brand new (and one returning class), with familiar faces from the previous game serving as quest-givers. First up we have the Siren, Maya.

The first game’s Siren, Lilith could use the Phase Walk ability to turn invisible and sneak up on enemies; Maya’s power is the Phase Lock. “She can grab an enemy and trap them in a floating bubble,” says Gibson. “This can be upgraded too.

The Routing add-on, for example, will freeze any enemies near your bubble.”

Then there’s the Assassin, which is a stealth class. “He’s good at finding critical points on

enemies, and can create a copy of himself to distract his foes,” Gibson tells us. “The Gunzerker is self-explanatory. He can dual-wield weapons and blow stuff up twice as fast.” This is the class we played in our hands-on. Dual-wield power only lasts a few seconds (you can increase this with upgrades), and places another weapon in your left hand, doubling damage. Whenever we found ourselves backed into a corner, activating it would gave us the extra punch to fight our way out.

Finally, there’s the Commando. “He’s an evolution of the Soldier from the first game. He has a turret he can deploy, which has a lot of really cool upgrades. You can place multiple turrets, or unlock the Longbow turret, which can be placed anywhere in the world, even if it’s out of reach.”

Hang on, didn’t we say five new classes? The fifth is the Mechromancer. Part pigtailed girl, part mech her special ability is control over a huge

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“THE HOUR WE SPENT WITH THE GAME WAS IMPRESSIVE – ACTION FEELS MORE DYNAMIC, AND IT’S FRIENDLIER FOR SOLO PLAY”

Each enemy type has a hierarchy, from minions to mini-bosses

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robot called Deathtrap. The catch? She’s only available as day one DLC. The new classes have been designed to interact with each other. “Through upgrades the Siren can actually remotely resurrect another player, even if they’re way across the map,” Gibson explains.

SHOOT IT YOU SLAG

Adding yet another layer of tactics to combat is a new element – the unfortunately named slag. A weapon infused with this unseemly purple gunk can reduce an enemy’s stats, making them weaker. “This works well for the Gunzerker. If you’re dual-wielding a weapon with slag, and maybe a weapon with the lightning element, you’re really going to do some damage. The idea behind including this was to reward the roleplaying guys; the guys who think about all the stats and number-crunching.”

The hour we spend with the game is impressive. The combat feels much more dynamic, and missions have branching paths and unpredictable structures – a far cry from the fetch and carry quests of the original. Guns are also more satisfying to use, with enemies reacting to every shot in a far more readable way.

Gibson also assures us that Gearbox are making the game friendlier for solo players, with a more involving story. Borderlands 2 is a radical improvement over its predecessor, and feels like the game the great, but flawed original threatened to be.

The Last Dance

The Darkness II ponders whether beautiful dreams win out

Brand new trailer goo.gl/xVhRr

Jenny Romano is the kind of girlfriend who only comes along once in a lifetime.

Sarcastic and acerbic, sure, but also sexy, thoughtful, passionate and utterly, utterly in love with Jackie Estacado.

Two striking moments resound from the original Darkness, and they both centre around Ms Romano – that unforgettable evening curled up in one another’s arms on the sofa watching To Kill a Mockingbird, and Jenny’s senseless, brutal death at the hands of Paulie Franchetti and Eddie Shrote while the sadistic Darkness forces Estacado to watch in horror.

Between bouts of vicious tentacle blood-letting in the cel-shaded sequel, we’re invited to explore the inside of Estacado’s hopelessly tangled grey matter. His plush mansion is an insane asylum, his friends and foes are wardens, doctors and inmates. His one true love?

She’s his own personal quack.

As the narrative unfolds a climactic decision beckons. Do you reject the idea that the entire game is simply a figment of Jackie’s fever dream and journey to Hell to attempt to rescue the real Jenny’s soul, or do you embrace the fantasy and spend blissful eternity with the memory of Jenny made real in Jackie’s mind?

It’s not the game’s true ending, but there’s a certain blind bliss to staying in the asylum forever with your one true love, slowly meandering across the rec hall to the dulcet tones of The Flamingos doo-wopping I Only Have Eyes for You. The screen fades to black, the credits roll‚ and in his blissful ignorance Jackie has never been happier.

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08 - Issue 01, 2012

It’s London, but oddly European Dishonoured – and slightly magical.

Also, note the anachronistic scooter…

Developer: Arkane Studios Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC Release Date: October 2012

DISHONORED

Supernatural Assassin in a Steampunk City The Essence Y of Power our name is Corvo and you assume the role of the Empress’ legendary bodyguard.

Well, former bodyguard, since you’ve been falsely imprisoned for her murder. You are the legend that you are, not just because of your combat and stealth, but also because of your supernatural powers as well as your arsenal of unique gadgets. You’re easily the deadliest man known, so it’s going to be a tale of you against the conniving and corrupt Lord Regent.

The setting is dark, and most of the men and women you meet in the Steampunk city of Dunwall are highly flawed in some way. Of course, you will meet a couple of dependable allies along the way, amongst the corrupted high profile targets and the moment-to-moment nature of the game will feel somewhat sandbox-esque where there is no scripted tactic to tackle situations. Even the environments are set up such that there are multiple ways to enter or infiltrate a certain premise or building. There will be a variety of ways such as going through the side/back entrances, and even entering through water paths by possessing fish or rats.

Dishonored promises unique gameplay by combining major elements like fluid mobility, environment, powers, gadgets as well as AI behaviour, to concoct an experience that is unique to the First-person genre. One of the main concerns of the developers was to allow players the freedom to tackle situations – sneaky and

stealthily or like a brute with fearless aggression.

This freedom works, as we’ve seen with so many games and iterations but instead of reinventing the wheel, Arkane Studios presents these options to you an enticing package that makes you appreciate freedom even more. Dishonored is not just about reaping the satisfaction of being a bloodthirsty savage or covert assassin. The game is also about knowledge, and if you are diligently eavesdropping or talking to people, you’ll find that there are actually other ways around your objectives besides spilling blood.

Games that celebrate stealth and sneaking usually involve a lot of crouching, waiting, and moving slowly. Co-Creative Director Harvey Smith enforced that Dishonored differs itself by the way stealth situations are approached – fast paced, as you would in a combat situation without slowing down. Allowing players to get up on rooftops, peep through keyholes and giving them the ability to Blink (teleport) as well as possessing animals are hints that Dishonored is a game that is meant to be discovered and explored in every way possible.

It’ll be interesting to know more about the backstory of how Corvo’s powers and abilities came about, as well has how the narrative of Dishonored is structured. What we do know is that game’s concepts sounds promising, and the graphics look great. Fingers crossed until their next reveal.

It remains to be discovered if you’ll have access to all of Corvo’s powers from the get-go, but we’re sure we won’t be able to keep spamming these god-like abilities since using power requires Essence. So no, you won’t be able to freeze time, all the time, and you’ll have to decide which is power (or powers) are the most suitable for your play style. It is unclear whether Essence regenerates or not, but the possibility of combining your powers seems highly desirable. There are a couple of powers that have been revealed, and although we’re not exactly sure what the names of these powers are, but we’re positive about what they do;

Possession It may sound straightforward, but its application is vast. You will be able to assume the physical being of animals as well as humans in Dishonored, and if that’s not enough, how about possessing a sentry after you jump out of a 5-storey window to ‘break’ your fall?

Devouring Swarm It is a time and a town of plague, and having the ability summon rats for offensive purposes can quickly turn into a defensive one with the

aid of Possession. Once the rats appear, you will be able to possess one of your own rats to escape.

Bend-Time The ability to stop time is one of the most fantasized about super powers and freezing time in Dishonored is just the beginning.

Imagine freezing time just as your foes open fire, possessing him while time stands still, and placing him in front of the bullet that was meant for you. Stylish-kills-for-the-win.

Blink Now you see me, now you don’t. We’re guessing you can upgrade your abilities and upgrading Blink lets you teleport further or use less Essence per teleport. We’re curious to know how AI will react when we use this power to disappear in front of enemies or how the system will work, but we’re excited to see if we can actually perform a jump of a building, and teleport midflight to land on another. Now that would be awesome.

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Our playthrough dungeon, The Foundry, featured two boss fights, one a corrupted golem, the other, a skyscraper sized Guardian, which required some killer equestrian skills to subdue.

Developer: Vigil Games Publisher: THQ Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii U Release Date: June 2012

DARKSIDERS 2

Darksiders II takes us away from Earth and into strange new lands…

Size matters There’s a much stronger sense of scale in this sequel, with many impressive structures .

demons with his Whether he’s smashing t and holding gen true a g hammer or bein helpful chap. a is n Kar r, doo open the

This epically bearded individual is known as the Maker Elder.

Armageddon outta here

Dead man walking… and running… and jumping…

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n his grunting Scottish brogue, Karn chortles “You jump like a lass”. Our broad-shouldered companion through our first hands-on dungeon playthrough highlights one of the distinctive characteristics of Darksiders II’s grim new protagonist (this time you take control of horseman Death). No, Death doesn’t have a womanly gait. But he can certainly jump.

In fact, the Pale Rider seems to have attended the same school of architectural navigation as a certain Persian royal as in our foray deep into the steamy bowels of the magma-filled Foundry, we soon had him wall running, beam crossing, pillar ascending and bouncing his way up to otherwise unreachable ledges.

The Foundry is a lava-filled collection of ruins, forming a dungeon six hours into the game. It’s vast and filled with bubbling pits of lava to traverse over, as well as the odd ridable golem and Zelda-esque backtracking puzzle. To top it off the playthrough ends with a gigantic faceoff, from atop Death’s horse, Despair, reminiscent, in all the good ways, of Shadow of the Colossus. In short, it’s a blast.

Death warmed up

One element of Darksiders II is immediately potent. Its stylised world is incredibly vivid, from the seemingly insignificant chipped paving and sharp cornered pottery in the fore, to the shimmering vistas in the topside distance, where we can see a colossal and beautifully luminescent tree glowing ethereally. Lovely.

But while we spend a fair chunk of time admiring the view we also spend too much time cursing the poor navigation and unforgiving controls. Death’s ‘trusty’ crow companion Dust is supposed to highlight the correct path through the labyrinthine dungeon, but his glowing purple form seems to enjoy leading us down dead ends or having us attempt to climb unscalable walls instead.

Loot is another new aspect, with the occasional clatter of metal on stone after a battle signalling a potential opportunity to customise your weapons or armour. These items do change Death’s visual appearance but not so much as to make any two Death’s look startlingly unalike or to distract from his character. We could, however,

switch slow and powerful axes for speedy but low damaging claws, lending combat a significant amount of tangible player-based customisation.

Climb-atic

Climbing has clearly been implemented to consciously provide bona fide puzzles, rather than flashy crossings between areas. Mostly they present welcome challenges as you scour Death’s surroundings for applicable handholds. We smash open a chest and stumble upon the Death Grip, a grappling fist on a chain which enables you to reach hooks and to swing across previously impassable areas. Its addition to our climbing repertoire highlights how unforgiving the controls can currently be. There’s plenty of time for the expected tweaks to be made ahead of the game’s June launch – though our playthrough was nonetheless tough, so don’t expect the finished game to be a casual, button mashing waltz in the Apocalyptic park.

From fiery caverns to frozen peaks, Deat h could start his own apocalyptic travel guides.

All dogs go to…

Vigil didn’t want to depict Heaven, so the White City acts as an outpost where angels chill.

Skeleton crew The Eternal Throne is a big floating fortre ss wherein skeletal lords rule over the unde ad.

Plain sailing The Dead Plains isn’t an evil place, it’s just where souls go to be cleansed. Looks chilly.

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10 - Issue 01, 2012

DEVIL MAY CRY Ninja Theory’s reboot ignites series’ swagger to defy critics Combat is closer to the original DMC – less fussy, but that’s no bad thing

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ad news, internet: DMC is good, the combo system is solid, and you’ll like New Dante, whether you want to or not.

Emo Dante isn’t emo in the least. Like Dante Classic, New Dante is raw rockstar sex appeal in tight trousers, swaggering around, cracking jokes – funny ones this time, thanks to Ninja Theory’s team of talented scriptwriters – and carrying himself like he has the biggest willy in the world.

His new combo system isn’t so new, either.

The lock-on button is gone and the high-end complexity of Devil May Cry 3 is out in favour of a combo system that feels more like a sequel to Devil May Cry 1 than Devil May Cry 3. Revel as you trigger switch to Angel or Demon weapons

Latest trailer goo.gl/hA4Bg

Dante’s classic coat returns, as do the cheeseball one-liners

mid-combo, while Nero-style ranged grab attacks can reel enemies in or launch Dante high into the sky for the longest and easiest air combos in DMC history.

Think of DMC the same way you think of Street Fighter IV. After the impenetrable complexity of Third Strike, SFIV brought fighting games back to basics and revived an entire genre in the process. DMC is that – an open door to new players that might just save action games, without being quite the slap in the face the hardcore players may have expected.

Developer: Ninja Theory Publisher: Capcom Platform: PS3, Xbox 360 Release Date: 2012

The latest trailer sets Dante up to be an anarchist and terrorist, with typically flamboyant choreography

Connor trailer goo.gl/tch7h

AC3 is big on flowing combat. You can attack with the pistol mid-combo

Developer: Ubisoft Publisher: Ubisoft Montreal Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii U Release Date: 2012

ASSASSIN’S CREED 3 Connor’s hunting more than humans on the Frontier…

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hen we first meet Connor Kenway, he’s perched on a tree in the middle of a snow-covered forest. This is the Frontier; a vast area of countryside that connects the game’s two main cities, Boston and New York.

It’s bigger than the entirety of Brotherhood’s Rome.

Connor begins to move through the forest, and the animation is stunning. He leaps between trees effortlessly, ducking under low-hanging branches, and edging through narrow gaps in the foliage.

It’s always quicker to travel through the trees – and considerably safer. As Connor treks through the snow, we hear an almighty roar. A black bear, at least twice his size, rears up and flashes its claws at our hero. It’s about to come crashing down on Connor, but before it gets the

chance, he flicks out his hidden blade and plunges it into the beast’s heart, killing it instantly.

The Frontier is crawling with wildlife, both dangerous and benign. Animals can be hunted and harvested for resources, like meat and pelts. Unlike Red Dead Redemption, the value of these materials is affected by how you kill your prey. Shoot a deer and the skin will be ruined; kill it cleanly with a knife and it’ll be worth a lot more money.

ROLL IN THE HAY

Connor approaches a sheer cliff and begins to climb. The way he reaches for outcrops and footholds to pull himself up looks impressively natural. When we reach the top, we’re treated to a dazzling vista that stretches for miles. We see a tall mountain, a winding river, a small town and an endless sea of trees. Ubisoft tell us that if you can see it, you can get there.

Suddenly, the quiet ambience of the forest is interrupted by the sound of drums and flutes.

Below, a platoon of American soldiers are making their way down a dirt road, led by a marching band. At the back of the group, two soldiers pull a cart filled with hay.

Connor skips from the top of the cliff onto a nearby tree and positions himself above the convoy. When the cart passes, he dives into it.

Classic Assassin’s Creed – and the perfect way to slip past the soldiers guarding Boston’s fortified city gates.

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No matter how you’re taking in the scenery, the views of Dubai are frequently stunning. Interiors are handled with similar attention to detail

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ood designers borrow, great designers borrow a lot. That would seem to be the philosophy behind Spec Ops: The Line’s four-plus years in development. Though its namesake is a 13-year-old franchise, we’re assured by producer Denby Grace that this is a fully fledged relaunch of the brand.

As our lengthy hands-on time with the game reveals, he isn’t kidding. After a trailer that outlines the game’s main theme (where do you draw the line in a conflict?), we’re thrown into the game’s in medias res opener: a heli-gun firefight over a ravaged contemporary Dubai. The vertiginous views of the city show off developer Yager’s skill with Unreal Engine 3, delivering meticulous detail and extravagant scale. As cranes collapse and glass panes sprinkle like confetti under the beating sun, it’s easy to forget you’re a soldier on a turret, not a virtual tourist.

The exchange of fire bellows as particle effects bombard you, while your sluggish manoeuvring of the turret adds to the panic. Before fatigue – or eyestrain – can set in, a sandstorm blasts the scene, crashlanding you into the dunes surrounding the city.

Protagonist Captain Walker – voiced by the ever-reliable Nolan North – and his two fellow spec ops members Sgt Lugo and Lt Adams find themselves on a sand-covered highway leading into Dubai. Refreshingly, it’s through their sharp exchanges of dialogue that the team’s core objective is drip-fed to the player: you’re here to locate the deranged MIA Colonel John Konrad. A nod to Joseph Conrad’s classic novella Heart Of Darkness (loosely adapted for the screen as Apocalypse Now), the simple premise allows Yager to dive headfirst into the action, peeling back layers of character through in-game banter rather than lengthy cutscenes. As you make your way along the road, trading shots with a shadowy local militia, it’s the cursory details that catch the eye. Charred bodies sat upright on a bus, abandoned military vehicles and feasting vultures all set a grim scene that’s both believable and affecting.

Movement along the linear route into town will be second nature to any Gears Of War regular. A press of A triggers a roadierun; pressing it near cover pins you to it, and tapping B vaults you over it. Combat has a similar feel to the

Developer: Yager Development Publisher: 2K Games Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC Release Date: June 29, 2012

SPEC OPS: THE LINE 2K’s shooter heads to the Middle East adventures of Marcus and Dom, too, with two primary weapon slots, blind-fire and melee attacks all pivotal to your survival. Cover is often destructible, and making use of the environment – by shooting out windows holding back deadly amounts of sand, for example – can give you the upper hand. Usefully and gruesomely, headshots initiate a few moments of slow motion that allow you some split-second dashes for cover.

The transition from exterior to interior environments is seamless, further reinforcing the technical ability of the studio, as you traipse through derelict, paper-strewn offices and scale the heights of the city’s towering infernos. The setting may be contemporary, and the weapons and tactics may be informed by real-world militaries, but there’s a distinct disaster-movie flavour to The Line that contradicts its attempts to moralise its depiction of modern warfare.

When you make contact by radio with Konrad – who it transpires is as deranged and tortured as a bald, burly Marlon Brando with jungle fever – the game introduces some interesting but rather shallow attempts to address your ethical ‘line’.

One scenario positions two hostages – both criminals in one way or another – in the line of Konrad’s minions’ sights. Who lives and dies is your call – or do you try to take down the snipers

first? It’s an intriguing, challenging situation, but the fact that it has no real bearing on the narrative arc, besides some sense of Walker’s guilt, renders it bereft of real meaning and effect.

A section traversing the rooftops of Dubai’s mega skyscrapers shows The Line at its best.

Taking on the rogue, rival military at Konrad’s command requires careful consideration. Lugo and Adams can be ordered to take out specific targets as you pick your own mark. Holding down the right bumper reveals hiding and nearby foes by their heat signatures, and releasing the bumper with your reticule hovering over a target sends your men running and gunning. It’s a simple, useful tool that adds an extra layer of strategy with a minimal amount of input from the player.

Spec Ops: The Line offers a familiar set of mechanics transposed to a believable setting. It’s aggressive, accomplished and has its sights set on the genre’s mightiest heroes. If the multiplayer can offer a robust experience, and the singleplayer can deliver on its promise of a story worth investing in, The Line could make an impression in the sand where others – from Conflict: Desert Storm to Army Of Two and SOCOM: Special Forces – have barely made a mark.

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12 - Issue 01, 2012

WORLD OF TANKS To signup for the game, please visit the official website at www.worldoftanks-sea.com

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f you’re a true blue ardent fan of tanks and online games run in your blood, then you’ve probably heard of World of Tanks, one of the most influential FPS games to date. If you haven’t, then it’s time to step out into the real battlefield amid fearsome steel behemoths and strike terror into the hearts of your opponents.

The most anticipated tank title has finally paved its way into South-east Asia and it means business.

About the Game World of Tanks is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online action game dedicated to armoured warfare in the mid-20th century. In the game, you get to command a tank and engage in 15 vs 15 tank battles of epic proportions - rolling over obstacles, blowing things up and being impervious to small arms fire.

Battles are won by either eliminating all tanks

of the opposing force or capturing their base point. With every battle played, players are awarded with credits and experience which can be used for repairs, to unlock vehicles or purchase upgrades and ammunition.

Meet the Family Featuring an impressive arsenal of 160+ tanks, the different tank types provide a variety of strategies that incorporate both co-operative and competitive elements into gameplay. There are 5 different tank types in total – Light, medium, heavy, tank destroyers and self-propelled guns.

Each type plays a unique role of its own.

Light tanks are fast and mobile vehicles used to scout out enemy artillery. Their great speed and small size allows them to avoid artillery fire and they can maneuver between gaps in enemy defenses to flank and surround the enemy artillery. To accommodate their speed and

mobility, light tanks are generally not equipped with much armour and firepower and thus, will not fare well trading shots with a medium or heavy tank.

Medium tanks are extremely versatile tanks with their great combination of speed, firepower and armour which enables them to take on a variety of roles such as scouts, support or front-line tanks. They make good scouts in the absence of light tanks but they are not as efficient as compared with light tanks due to their larger size.

Heavy tanks are steel behemoths great for leading the charge and defending using pure, brute force. Their heavy armour and great firepower makes them a force to be reckoned with as they can take a lot of punishment and put out even more. However, they are generally slow and their large build and lack of mobility exposes them to attacks from artillery fire and fast

moving vehicles such as light tanks that can outmaneuver their turrets.

Tank destroyers are excellent ambush vehicles, specially designed with the purpose of destroying enemy tanks. Their powerful guns are able to penetrate the armour of most tanks and they can provide great firepower from behind the frontlines. Their lack of a turret makes them inconspicuous during concealment and they can gain a first strike advantage by utilising the element of surprise. However, lacking a turret could work the opposite effect as well as it means that the tank destroyer could be left defenseless when enemy tanks flank and surround it.

Self-propelled guns work as snipers that can take out any tank at long range. They are equipped with the most powerful weapons in the game and are capable of turning the tide of a battle in their favour with just one shot when strategically placed. However, due to their slow aiming speed and long reload time, they fare poorly against the mobile light and medium tanks that can close the distance quickly.

Conclusion World of Tanks is a game that will appeal to both casual players looking for quick and entertaining matches, as well as the hardcore players with its focus on team play and complex strategies. If you’re into vehicle warfare or FPS games such as Battlefield, Counterstrike or Call of Duty, World of Tanks is the title you should definitely pick up and give a try.

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T-ENG harvested from dead Akrid is no longer a health resource, but a commodity used to upgrade Jim’s Rig and kit back at NEVEC’s base.

Early combat against the bigger Akrid is melee-based, but a Gatling gun is listed among the game’s later armaments. right Your Rig begins with a claw and a drill, operated with left and right triggers and bumpers.

Developer: Capcom Publisher: Spark Unlimited Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC Release Date: 2013

LOST PLANET 3 Capcom goes west for Lost Planet’s open-world revival L GO COMPETE

AVAILABLE NOW

www.formula1-game.com © 2011 The Codemasters Software Company Limited (“Codemasters”). All rights reserved. “Codemasters”® and the Codemasters logo are registered trade marks owned by Codemasters.

An official product of the FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. The F1 FORMULA 1 logo, F1 logo, F1 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP logo, FORMULA 1, FORMULA ONE, F1, FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, GRAND PRIX and related marks are trade marks of Formula One Licensing BV, a Formula One group company. Licensed by Formula One World Championship Limited. All rights reserved.

All other copyrights or trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are being used under license. Developed by Codemasters. Published by Codemasters. Microsoft, Windows, the Windows Vista Start button, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies, and ‘Games for Windows’ and the Windows Vista Start button logo are used under license from Microsoft. “2”, “PlayStation”, “PS3”, “ ” and “À” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

ost Planet 3 is about survival – survival in extreme conditions, survival against impossible odds, survival horror even – and it’s the game Lost Planet would have been if series creator Kenji Oguro had the time and technology to make good on his vision way back in 2006.

“It pains me to admit it,” says Oguro, “but I had an idea that I couldn’t quite figure out how to turn into a game. These extreme conditions in this frigid world never changed, but I wanted to do a much broader experience and to let players explore. These are the kinds of things I put a lot of thought and effort into realising for Lost Planet 3 – a vaster world, a hub and spoke system, and a game that becomes larger in scope as the player proceeds through it.”

Set 150 years before the events of the first game, Lost Planet 3 introduces an EDN III from long before colonisation and terraforming had reshaped the world. For the new colonists, it’s the most hostile environment imaginable, with prowling packs of panther-like Akrid, blinding snowstorms that reduce visibility to metres, and temperature drops that kill in seconds.

Your lifeline in the murderous environment is your Rig. A 30-foot predecessor to Lost Planet’s miniaturised and militarised mechs, even the basic Rig makes short work of smaller Akrid and shelters new protagonist Jim from the roughest storms. The first Lost Planet might have been described as a mech sim in disguise, but Lost Planet 3 drops all pretence – placing you inside the Rig and simulating everything from its lengthy startup sequence to its antifreeze hose down. You’ll pilot the Rig from a firstperson view, but can eject at any time and proceed on foot, gradually shedding HUD elements and losing

radio contact as you venture inside the planet’s caves and man-made structures. In those tight spaces, Lost Planet drops the rousing score, the howling wind, and even its own identity. In the derelict facilities on EDN III, Lost Planet breaks out of Dead Space homage territory and edges into mimicry, right down to the holographic map, audio logs, mission structure and colossal clanking machines presumably designed for the sole job of severing limbs. Consider it a bill owed to Capcom for Visceral’s countless Resident Evil references if you like, but it’s symbolic of the game’s new westerner-friendly approach to just about everything, including its American developer (see ‘Sparkling whine’) and Unreal Engine 3 foundations.

Sometimes it swaps Japanese clichés for western ones: Jim isn’t a special young man with a mysterious past; he’s just a good ol’ working fella with a family to support. At other times, it splices the two: yes, you’ll shoot the glowing weak spot on that giant crab, but you’ll do it with COD-given iron sights and a regenerating health bar.

Lost Planet 2 fell so short of Capcom’s critical and commercial expectations that a westernised response was inevitable for any future sequel, but Lost Planet 3 doesn’t feel like Capcom running scared. A demo mission from early in the campaign moves from tightly scripted RPG chit-chat to mech combat to an on-foot siege to a boss fight to survival horror, executing every idea flawlessly and discarding it seconds later because it has so much more it wants to show you. They’re ideas you’ve seen before, of course, but never all in the same place, making Lost Planet 3 a game without a genre, and far braver than it looks at first glance.

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14 - Issue 01, 2012

A new kind of evil Just as Resident Evil 4’s pitchfork-wielding Ganados gave weight to its marketing slogan ‘A new kind of evil,’ so Resident Evil 6 sees the introduction of a new breed of monster, the J’avo. A far cry from the kind of lumbering, predictable zombies that infested the Spencer Mansion and Raccoon City, these excessively eyeballed freaks are smart, can heal themselves, are able to use all types of weaponry and enjoy no small amount of athleticism. Kobayashi promises that the J’avo will represent “all of your deepest fears”, although Capcom was only willing to show 3D stills of this new threat during the presentation we attended.

Co-op features have been improved, and a friend joining your game will no longer require you to be reset to a checkpoint.

As the campaigns draw together, Leon Kennedy will appear alongside Chris Redfield for the first time. According to Capcom, though, this will be an unfamiliar Redfield, changed by the events six months prior to the story.

Navigational prompts on the screen like the one below suggest that Capcom has been looking at innovations Left 4 Dead has made on horror action games, though we hope they’ll complement Resident Evil’s traditional sense of dread and mystery.

A Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC Release Date: October 2012

RESIDENT EVIL 6

Capcom looks to the past in the hope of securing its future

t a time when game development is characterised by feature creep, missed deadlines and protracted delays, it’s unusual for a blockbuster of Resident Evil’s size to see its release date moved forward. Then again, Capcom does have a lot riding on the sixth main instalment of its cornerstone survival horror series. The decline of the arcade has taken with it a number of the company’s once-reliable stars, unable to provide anything other than bite-sized thrills, while the merely moderate success of new IP such as Lost Planet and Dead Rising has failed to quite fill the vacuum.

After only modest sales of Street Fighter X Tekken, a game built by following a mash-up recipe that could once have been expected to produce a surefire knock-out hit, the company needs Leon S Kennedy to do much more than hold back the zombie invasion in Resident Evil 6.

In fact, it needs him to herd it straight into our living rooms.

So while executive producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi claims that Capcom changed the release date because “fans were disappointed to have to wait so long”, it’s more likely to be a calendar tweak to better position the game in the pre-Christmas season scramble for consumers’ hearts, minds and wallets. Make no mistake, Capcom has bet the farm on Resident Evil 6, and needs it to be a grand success. This determination to succeed is written in the

numbers: between internal staff and those involved through outsourcing, over 600 people are currently working on this one game, an astronomical number in a time of economic austerity and big studio downsizing.

Despite being the head of Capcom’s R&D department, Kobayashi himself is leading this army of coders, artists and designers. He has hitherto shunned the limelight, even though he did instrumental work alongside Shinji Mikami on the first Resident Evil, its sequel and the transformative fourth entry to the series, as well as Devil May Cry. But he made an appearance at Capcom’s Captivate event in Rome, showing off the game and suggesting that the company still has the key creative assets needed to surpass what many regard not only the series’ high point, but also the zenith of action games themselves: 2005’s Resident Evil 4.

It’s certainly Resident Evil 4 that casts the longest shadows over the event’s 20minute hands-off demo, which is set on an abandoned university campus. The way the camera hangs over Leon Kennedy’s back, the snap-to-shoulder aiming, his laboured walking, the muted colour palette – were it not for the Americana on the walls, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in the belly of Ramon Salazar’s castle once more. Gone are the high-contrast, sun-baked tones of Resident Evil 5, replaced by fizzing light bulbs,

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While Kobayashi is eager that players try the story first, Mercenaries mode is returning alongside the drama. In contrast to Resident Evil 4 and 5, you will be able to play it from the start of the game.

Retail still matters high ceilings, creaking floors and flashes of lightning that momentarily light up the woodwork of Ivy University.

We’re back to the cinematic language of orthodox horror, too. Indeed, Kobayashi begins the presentation by admitting that his team “wanted to bring back the horror element, combining tension and emotional depth like never before in a videogame” These aspirations towards emotional gravity are evident in a scene in which Kennedy and his female accomplice stumble into a room to find a man crazy with worry about his missing daughter, a student who is supposed to be graduating this very night. Kennedy calms the man, assuring him that they’ll help him find his kid, despite the woman’s protestations that they “don’t have time”. As you move through the campus, your two companions hunt behind curtains and under tables. The meticulously modelled and dressed settings charge the atmosphere, each unused party popper and tall portrait of a former university principal telling its own story.

Eventually, we hear the muffled but haunting strains of an out-of-tune piano through a closed door. Kennedy gingerly creaks it open and, in the expected horror movie tradition, the piano sits unoccupied, just as the anxious father lets out a cry of disappointed anguish. But even cliché can’t rob this moment of its impact, and the air remains taut as the group scans for danger.

Eventually they locate the girl – albeit with a nasty wound on her neck, causing her to rapidly lose consciousness – and the group soon finds itself in a claustrophobic elevator. Kobayashi’s claim that the game seeks to “go beyond the boundaries of anything you’ve experienced before” sits uncomfortably with these momentby-moment vignettes, which are undeniably familiar Hollywood fare. But regardless, Capcom knows how to work an adrenal gland, and the slower, more thoughtful pace successfully creates the sense of mounting terror lacking in the gung-ho shootouts of Resident Evil 5.

Where Resident Evil 6 does appear to go beyond the boundaries of what we’ve experienced before – at least within the confines of the main series – is in its wider structure. At the start of the game, players must choose between no fewer than three storylines to follow.

You can take the role of each of the player characters – a group consisting of Leon S

Kennedy, Chris Redfield and Jake Muller – in any order, and Capcom claims each plotline will take roughly ten hours to complete.

The three initial storylines (there are murmurs of more to come once the initial trilogy wraps up) start off in different locations around the globe, intertwining in various ways before leading to the game’s geographical focal point of China.

These storylines offer more than just different chunks of the tale – Capcom claims the style of gameplay in each will be vastly different, drawing inspiration from past Resident Evil games, just as the structure recalls Resident Evil 2’s twin-story setup. Part of the challenge for the team in revisiting the play styles of the earlier titles in the series is, of course, the absence of their awkward and antiquated control schemes, through which much of their fear and tension came. It’s a conundrum Kobayashi readily admits to facing: “The challenge for us is to create a stress-free control scheme,” he says. “But we still want to put you in the middle of the horror where you can feel overwhelmed.”

To achieve this goal, the team has introduced a new mechanic that allows the protagonists to fight on their backs while lying on the ground.

Sluggishly shuffling backwards while firing up at a leering zombie certainly inspires fear, while simultaneously adding some tactical depth as you reduce your body’s target size for attacks.

The overhaul of the combat system introduces greater fluidity, too, with slick moves that allow you to use weapons against the undead in inventive ways. You can, for example, pull a knife from a foe’s body and use it to stab it again.

With five months of development time left on the table, Capcom appears confident in its game, even if Kobayashi proves eager to work Captivate’s assembled journalists for constructive criticism following his presentation.

But given the pressure of expectation on him, you can excuse caution. After a slew of lacklustre Resident Evil spin-offs, the stage is set for a return to form. Resident Evil 4, Mikami’s bold reinvention of the series, swept away inertia, reinvigorating the survival horror genre while inspiring a new generation of action titles to follow it into uncharted territory. That kind of upset seems unlikely here, but if Resident Evil 6 can perfect the tack it has set out upon, then we expect most players will forgive its apparent unwillingness to be as outstandingly inventive with the formula.

The success of The Witcher shows that the rise of digital is not inevitable With the share price of retailers GAME continuing to fall at the time of writing, you’d be forgiven for thinking that digital distribution has become the dominant market force.

Not according to Martin Iwinski, joint CEO of CD Projekt RED, developers of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. During his GDC talk about the success of his game, he presented some surprising sales figures.

Since its May 2011 release, The Witcher 2 has sold over 1.1 million copies, but digital sales only account for 24%. The bulk – around 836,000 units – was shifted by retail stores.

The reason, he claimed, was the popularity of the sequel in eastern Europe, where retail is still dominant. In North America, sales leaned towards the digital market. 70% of the 270,000 US copies shifted were sold through digital stores.

But as you move east, the number of players buying their games through the traditional retail market increases. As a result, the combined digital sales figure of the rest of the world was only 81,000 copies.

Given that Russia and Poland were the second and third biggest markets, buying a combined total of 420,000 copies, that’s a huge win for boxes on shelves.

These figures are a direct contrast to the statement Paradox Interactive’s CEO Frederik Wester made at E3 last year, claiming that 90% of their sales were digital and that “retail sales are like a bonus for us now. We don’t really need retailers any more and that is a release because retailers have not been good for the industry.”

Clearly they have been good for CD Projekt RED. Iwinski has promised that going forward, however you buy one of their games you’ll be treated like a legitimate customer.

Speaking to Joystiq, he said that for “Every subsequent game, we will never use any DRM. It’s just over-complicating things.” He shared a similar message with PC Gamer, towards the end of last year: “DRM does not work... it will be cracked in no time. Plus, the DRM itself is a pain for your legal gamers.”

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16 - Issue 01, 2012

Singapore’s biggest female Motorsport enthusiast switches gears for games R and the beauty of how the cars compete with the forces of nature. I did end up getting mud on me, trying to capture photos of rally cars but that’s all part of the fun (not cleaning up though).

Codemasters’ DiRT 3 Complete Edition allowed me to get really dirty while remaining spotless.

That’s right – I raced iconic rally cars in snow, rain and dirt across the forests of Michigan to the roads of Finland and the national parks of Kenya without even breaking a sweat.

DiRT 3 Complete Edition is an enhanced version of DiRT 3, with new routes and new cars, such as the eight-stage Monte Carlo Rally Pack of snowy Alps, the four-route Shibuya-based X Games Asia Track Pack, the Colin McRae Vision Charity Pack and its classic Ford Escort Mk II from the ‘70s. One of my favourites, as I shamelessly admit, is the Ken Block Special Pack with the Ford Escort Mk II and his signature livery.

You can compete in solo, online or split-screen in a series of races and earn points to unlock new disciplines from Gymkhana, Rallycross, Landrush, and Head 2 Head to Trailblazer.

The names given to some of the packs like The Mud and Guts Car Pack or The Power and Glory Car Pack already give you an idea of what to expect, and the graphics within the game are

F1 2011 Because Race Driver

By Cheryl Tay

Developer: Codemasters Publisher: Codemasters Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC, PS Vita Release Date: Out Now

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f the hundreds of racing drivers (not counting those in drifting or GT racing) I have interviewed in my line of work as a motorsport journalist, and I dare to say that almost 90 per cent of them have the dream of Formula 1. The remaining 10 percent is made up of actual F1 drivers and some jaded ones who have spent fortunes but never quite made it.

There are thousands of drivers all over the world dream of being a part of Formula 1, but every year only 24 make it to that coveted grid.

Photography: Zurina Bryant

ally may not be the most spectatorfriendly motorsport, especially for females. The last time I attended one, my eardrums exploded, not from the raging engines but from the incessant whining of a female guest.

She was part of the group because she won some sponsored trip from the carmaker that had a team competing in the rally championship, but she was not too familiar with motorsports in general. She came in a skirt, little heels and a face full of make-up. Yeah… wasn’t to pleasant for me no thanks to her.

In rally, the cars don’t go round a fixed track but instead, the cars follow a point-to-point format with each team (a driver and the co-driver) driving between set control points (called special stages). The race environments are often filled with trees, bushes, gravel, sand and even snow!

We were in a spectator bus that took us to each point and we had to walk a certain distance down a dirty path to get to specified spectator areas. Somewhere under the hot sun and the spray of mud, she decided to stay on the bus and sulk after just two points. She did like cars but I guess the idea of getting dirty just didn’t appeal to her. I on the other hand, love the nature of rally

Developer: Codemasters Publisher: Codemasters Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC Release Date: Out Now

don’t disappoint, down to the brilliantly rendered weather conditions. The crashes (and its resulting damages) are particularly well played out, with detailed flying car parts, defaced cosmetics and car bodies, all backed up with crowd roars and smoking wheels.

Driving in DiRT 3 took awhile for me to get fully adjusted since it does take awhile to get used to the unpredictable elements of the circuits, but once I did, I was unstoppable. Ladies, once you get your fingers oriented in DiRT 3, you’ll be able to start throwing dirt in the men’s faces.

All hope isn’t lost because there is another place you can live that F1 dream and be your own star – in the virtual world of video games. With the Codemasters’ F1 2011, I built my own F1 career with my own hands, in the comfort of my own bed, on the PlayStation 3, and pretty much anytime and time anywhere on my PlayStation Vita.

Codemasters brought F1 back to the gaming world with the official F1 2010 racing game after the F1 franchise took a few years of absence from the consoles. F1 2011 is exactly like the season itself – with 19 races from Australia to Brazil and you can experience the life of an F1 driver from working with the crew on racing to choosing your helmet paint job to being interviewed by Autosport and BBC Radio 5 Live’s David Croft.

Your F1 career will start with one of the underfunded teams and you make your way up the grid to finally earn a seat with top teams like Ferrari, Red Bull Racing or McLaren. That’s provided you dish out good performances of course. F1 2011’s career mode also includes an email account for you to manage sponsorship deals, offering an insight into the commercial aspect of motorsports, which is very essential in determining the sustainability of any racing career, be it in the real world or on your screens.

With the online multiplayer hosting up to 16 players (with 8 computer-controlled cars), a full grid of 24 cars is possible so you can create an F1 championship within your extended family or with friends. Aside from the career mode, you

DiRT 3 Complete Edition Time to get DiRTy

By Cheryl Tay

can partake in individual races. That takes away much of the loading and RPG-like elements and you can just dive in and start driving, fuss free.

I started playing with the controller first and it was manageable but I preferred using a wheel.

The rules of F1 apply so if you keep driving recklessly, you will get dragged off the track automatically upon being given the black flag.

Just like in the actual F1, this F1 2011 game has the battery-powered boost function called KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) and the movable rear wing called DRS (Drag Reduction System) to aid overtaking and give you that extra burst of speed when you need it.

Some enthusiasts I have spoken to have mentioned that regularly practicing on video games actually help improve their racing. I can’t help but agree, since it does strengthen one’s reflexes, especially when I have to multitask and try keeping the car going in the right direction, like avoiding traffic, executing overtaking moves, changing gears, and activating the KERS or DRS. It’s actually pretty nice to be able to practice without the overbearing G-force to contend with.

Women tend to have smaller hands than the men and since I have small palms and short fingers, the PlayStation Vita version is perfect. I like the convenience of just taking the Vita out of my bag and immediately continuing the race from where I left off. Racing on the go and pursuing my F1 career between meetings and events, who could ask for more?

E” R U C R E V NGO A H E T A M I “ THE URLMTAGAZINE TOP GEA

MAY OUT 25th © 2010 The Codemasters Software Company Limited (“Codemasters”). All rights reserved. “Codemasters”®, “EGO”®, the Codemasters logo and “DiRT”® are registered trademarks owned by Codemasters. “DiRT SHOWDOWN”™ is a trademark of Codemasters. All other copyrights or trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are being used under license. This game is NOT licensed by or associated with the FIA or any related company. Developed and published by Codemasters. Kinect, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft. “2”, “PlayStation”, “PS3”, “ ” and “À” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

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18 - Issue 01, 2012 More often than not, sequels end up becoming ‘easy revenue’ from die-hard fans and the sad truth is, it is easy for developers to milk their fan base with sequels that feel like expansion packs. Max Payne 3 isn’t one of these games and it’s probably one of the most impressive comebacks on this gen’s platforms.

MAX PAYNE 3 Developer: Rockstar Studios Publisher: Rockstar Games Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC Release Date: Out Now

so South n for gritty, cool and dark colours, Previous Max Payne games are know an eye opener. Opening your eyes helps, itely the America’s dramatic palette is defin put into the environments. Early in since there is so much detail and work to see this detail translated in the nice in his game, Payne gets drenched and it’s standing behind a pillar, taking cover game’s presentation. There he was, his pants with e, Payn for sy unea feel but soaking wet suit. We couldn’t help as you chaffing sucks). His suit even dries sagging from all the water (because l. play on. Talk about attention to detai

pills s illustrate Payne’s dependency on The scan line effects and screen spasm and booze really well.

Payne and Pleasure, they’re the same thing

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ou’ve seen clips and perhaps posters of a ‘new’ Max Payne, without his lovely locks, distastefully decked in a painfully bright and chirpy shirt that no one in the right mind would wear. Rest assured, he is that very same cynical action hero that you couldn’t stop mimicking more than five years ago (you know, shoot-dodging in slow-mo). Payne’s extreme makeover can seem a little unsettling, but his decision to shave his head falls in place with the story’s narrative (no, it is not about changing how he looks to avoid the baddies) and you’ll be guided through his decisions in the single player campaign. In fact, you’ll be playing as pre-shaven Payne for a good 60% - 70% of the game.

The first-person narrative and Film Noire influence is present throughout the game. The layered visuals and comic-panel-style presentation of the cut scenes complete this game, even the loading screens are cleverly tucked under cut scenes to streamline the gameplay experience, and unless you’re loading a saved game, there is almost zero downtime.

Because cut scenes use actual in-game graphics, the seamless transition between narrative and action makes Max Payne 3 feel even more stimulating and interactive that what a game usually is.

James McCaffrey is truly a talent and the way he injects soul into our substance dependant protagonist is certainly award worthy. It may be the excellent story line or maybe even Max’s alluring cynical nature that makes McCaffrey’s voice overs stand out, all we know is that Max

could’ve been narrating every single kill and you wouldn’t hear us complain. The unique thing about the Max’s monologues are that they don’t just shed light on the plot. As a player, you’re invited into the inner machinations of a jaded, world-weary man and the gap between player and character disappears, even if you have never played the previous Max Payne games.

Max Payne 3 is a well scripted cinematic game with a compelling story filled with weighted and colourful characters. The setting, an equally colourful and detailed, South America . This a linear third person shooter and it plays like a solid third person shooter should, without feeling overly restrictive and stifling. Controls are air-tight, so there is almost nothing to distract you from the game’s dark, gripping and mature narrative.

It’s five years after the events of Max Payne 2 and Max isn’t in South America for pleasure he’s there purely business and nothing else. He is working as private security for Rodrigo Branco, a rich and powerful man with a trophy wife to match. Things have a way of falling apart for Max, as Rodrigo’s wife, Fabian gets kidnapped. The kidnapping is merely the beginning of a series of events that unfold into a much more elaborate and darker story.

It may not seem like it, but MP3 is a brutal game, and a uncompromisingly brutal one at that. It isn’t an over-the-top gore-fest like Gears of War, but the realistic violence of lead exiting a man’s skull is just as gratifying. A cover system is introduced to Max Payne 3, but the high-

Issue 01, 2012 - 19

adrenaline, dual-wielding, time-slowing action is still what the game is all about. A lot of how the gameplay is structured encourages you to slow time down by using either shoot-dodge or bullet-time. You can choose from free aim, soft lock and hard lock (although certain achievements only unlock in free aim) apart from setting the game’s difficulty, and even if you play on the easiest difficulty, shoot-dodging in slow-mo around blind corners is too stylish to resist.

All the signature moves of Max Payne are integrated into the game’s multiplayer mode, so after you’re done with the 10-12 hour campaign, you can take your skills online. You really ought to, because Max Payne’s multiplayer is hands down the best multiplayer that Rockstar has whipped up.

Anything Midas touches turns to gold, and the same thing can be said for Rockstar. GTA 4 defined the open world genre, Red Dead Redemption aced the wild west, and L.A Noire broke the mould for what the a game can be.

Max Payne 3 isn’t merely a testament of Rockstar’s standards, it is proof that in the golden games of yester years have a place in this (or next) gen’s platforms. When placed in the right hands of course. Max Payne 3 offers a brilliant and satisfying campaign punctuated by highly addictive multiplayer offering loaded with an abundance of replayability. If this isn’t gold, we don’t know what is.

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Taking it slow

There is the usual leveling and unlocking of a pretty impressive array of weapons, abilities, gear and other customisation options. The abilities in Max Payne 3 are called Bursts, and bullet-time is one of them. Rather than affecting everyone on the map, bullet-time in multiplayer affects only the players in your line of sight. There are quite a few Bursts to unlock and choose from but Paranoia is particularly unique. Instead of seeing friendlies with green gamertags above their heads and enemies in red, this Burst makes your opponents see red above every head, stirring up a lot of panic, jitters and uncertain trigger fingers.

The game multiplayer features a loot system, and looting fallen players nets you ammo or painkillers. Each body can only be loot once and looting requires you to hold down B for about 2 seconds. This means replenishing ammo or trying your luck for painkillers can be risky business. This also means that annoying campers won’t be able to camp for long, since they will need to come out of hiding for ammo.

The loot system works wonders to make the game more exciting for pros as well as casual players who aren’t that good. Pros that rack up kills will run out of ammo and when they do, they’ll become desperate and prone to errors when they carelessly loot bodies.

Multiplayer modes include the staples like

Last Stand Shoot-Dodge Shoot-dodging instantly slows time down to a crawl and speed resumes the moment you hit the ground or any obstruction. Diving towards, away and sideways of your enemy and getting the upper hand is just too addictive and never gets old.

Shoot-dodging blindly into a pillar, railing or wall will interrupt shoot-dodge and Max you’ll almost cringe from the realism of the impact as well as Max’s reaction. That said, you’ll be able to shoot-dodge – in spectacular fashion – through glass and even down a flight of stairs. Every successful shoot-dodge leaves you on the ground afterwards, and you can

continue pelting your sorry foes with bullets while lying on the ground. When on the ground, Max seamlessly transits from his belly to his side, and to his back when panning around the area or shooting is different directions.

Shoot-dodging does have its cons. You take time to get back on your feet again and if you’re not behind cover, you’re extremely vulnerable.

Bullet-Time Bullet-time is an advantage you have over your opponents (in single player) and the amount of bullet-time you have is dictated by a meter that fills up with kills as well amount of aggro-fire you’re under.

If you have painkillers on you when you get incapacitated, you enter a last stand mode where bullet-time is activated and you consume your painkillers automatically. You’ll have about five seconds to exact your revenge on the goon that took you out and if you succeed, you return to the game with a good fraction of your health restored. Hitting up on the D-pad to manually consume your painkillers gives you full health (instead of going into last stand and gaining partial health) so the last stand thing shouldn’t be something that you’d want to experience a lot since health doesn’t regenerate over time.

Kill Cam Kill cams are a blast (quite literally), especially with a shot gun. Each bullet in MP3 is individually modeled, and so are the palettes that come out

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deathmatch and team deathmatch, as well as two modes unique to Max Payne 3:

Payne Killer This is easily our favourite, and in this mode, random players will be selected to play as Max and his partner Passos, so it’s the two of you against the rest. You will have additional painkillers to compensate for the disparity in numbers, but the objective is to stay alive and kill as many players to rack up points before dying. The player that takes you out earns points and assumes the role of Max or Passos.

The player with the highest score when time runs out wins.

Gang Wars Its Rockstar’s way of introducing narrative into multiplayer and on the whole it works. This mode features five-round team games that change objectives from round to round that ends with a team deathmatch. The uncertainty of what game-type the next round is going to be means players will have to think quick and adapt to the maps and objectives. For example, the first round could be a domination-type (Turf War) and the winning team will end up having to hold and defend that turf in the next round.

the barrel of a shotgun. Kill cam also indicates that you’ve dispatched the last thug in the setting. You could hold on the A and let the slow-mo enhance the sensation of clearing out an area or you could be a savage and continuously pump rounds into the poor sucker. We love red mist too much to stop pulling the trigger.

Melee Every melee attack triggers a melee animation that differs depending on what weapon you’re wielding. Each animations ends differently and some end with you, very literally pulling the trigger mercilessly at point blank range.

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20 - Issue 01, 2012

There’s more than one way to skin a cat – or in this case, a big tusky cyclops.

Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Platform: PS3, Xbox 360 Release Date: Out Now

DRAGON’S DOGMA The creatures of Dragon’s Dogma are more inventive than in your standard RPG.

Use magic to save your glowing red pal from this wild-eyed scaly assassin.

Listening to the advice of your pawns can help fell a beast more easily.

Expansive adventure that’ll get you hooked on pawn

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here’s no sense of danger in modern games. Dying has become a minor setback, rather than something to be feared. That’s why Dragon’s Dogma is so inspiring. Its enormous world is rife with danger, and death lurks around every corner. It’s an adventure in the truest sense of the word, rich with mystery and peril.

On the surface, it’s a fairly bland fantasy setting. Capcom have taken their visuals cues from a litany of Western fantasy novels and films.

But the brown, uninspiring environments betray a game of huge imagination.

Broadly speaking, Dogma is reminiscent of the Elder Scrolls series. It presents an open world filled with towns, cities, NPCs, quests, shops, dungeons, caves, forests and everything else you might expect from an RPG. The third-person combat occurs in real-time, and varies depending on your class. It has a satisfying weight and physicality to it, which has led some to compare it to Dark Souls – although it’s not quite as brutally precise. You can attack from afar with a bow and arrow as a Strider, wade in with a sword and shield as a Fighter, or hurl

spells as a Mage.

It’s a fairly standard RPG class system, but the biggest innovation, and the real core of the combat, is the pawn system. Pawns are magical, sentient creatures that exist only to serve as hired mercenaries for a hero known as the Arisen.

Every generation, a dragon arrives in the land of Gransys, bringing with it a scourge of terrible monsters. These creatures roam the countryside, terrorising and killing the locals. But whenever there’s a dragon, there’s also an Arisen: a hero destined to drive the beast back to whence it came. Naturally, you are the Arisen, and your arrival has stirred the pawns to life; and they’re sworn to help you defeat the dragon.

What’s really interesting about the pawns is that there are an infinite amount of them – either randomly generated by the game, or downloaded from the internet. In most RPGs you form your party from a selection of NPCs, but here you create it yourself.

Using a Rift Stone, which you can find in most towns and cities, you access a slick interface that allows you to browse a vast archive of pawns, many of which are creations of other players.

Say you need a healer. You can search through a list of Mages, studying their abilities to see whether they’re right for your party. Some may specialise in offensive magic, while others are tuned for support and healing; there are limitless combinations, and you have to make sure you have the right team for each quest.

Pawns don’t level up, so as your skills improve, you have to constantly reshape your team.

For all its Western stylings, there’s still plenty of the quirk and insanity that defines Japanese games. You can pick up any NPC, including your own pawns, and throw them. A specific type of enemy goes into a wild frenzy whenever it sees a female character. In another mission you have to dress your male pawns (and yourself if you’re a guy) in ladies’ clothes to infiltrate a camp of all-female bandits. It’s absolutely mental.

SELF DISCOVERY But it’s the challenge that makes Dragon’s Dogma special. It’s an incredibly ruthless game that never tells you if an area, enemy or quest is too tough for you: you have to find out for yourself. But there’s a great satisfaction in

getting utterly trounced by a boss, only to return a few levels stronger and totally destroy it.

There’s something weirdly intoxicating about this constant fear of dying. When you venture into a new area of the map, you’re filled with trepidation about what beasties may be lurking in the bushes, but will be compelled to keep going.

Your curiosity and desire to discover loot, or a path to a new area, or a quest, makes you risk everything by venturing into uncharted territory.

This makes Dragon’s Dogma one of the most hardcore, rewarding and authentic role- playing experiences on consoles. But the difficulty can be more than a little trying at times, and we found ourselves regularly quitting out of frustration.

How this affects you depends entirely on your temperament as a gamer. If you want quick thrills and accessibility, stick to Skyrim: but you’ll need a lot of spare time to get the most out of this

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22 - Issue 01, 2012

Armaggeddon Alien G7

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he G7 is one of the latest additions to Armaggeddon’s series of gaming mice and it’s a relatively large ambidextrous mouse with 9 physical buttons (7 programmable) and it sports an overall velvety rubber finish.

The Alien G7’s resolution ranges from 400 – 3200 CPI and adjustments can be made on the fly. It’s software is goof-proof and its built it memory allows macros and profiles to be saved directly onto the mouse. The colour of the G7’s

illumination cannot be adjusted, but the mouse does come in three colours; Gun Metal, Maroon and Deep Blue, all with corresponding illumination.

Clicks feel satisfying and although the Alien G7’s scroll wheel could use a little more feedback, its overall texture and glide make using this mouse an enjoyable experience. For under S$50, this mouse is quite the catch, especially if you take its two-year warranty into consideration.

Cooler Master TPC 812

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PC stands for True Performance Cooling, and this particular air cooler is a testament that air coolers aren’t going anywhere in the near future.

The Cooler Master TPC 812 fits any socket, including the latest CPUs for the X79 platform from Intel and it uses 2 types of technologies; 6 heat pipes as well as vertical vapor chambers – yes, like a GPU cooler. Out of the box, the TPC 812 comes with everything needed to mount it to any Intel LGA sockets, and if you’re an AMD enthusiast, it can also be mounted on AMD AM2/1 and FM1 sockets. A tube of thermal paste is included as well as additional fan mounts for a second 120mm fan (that’ll come in handy for push/pull configurations).

It’s a large cooler (but still not as massive as the Cooler Master V10, so it’ll fit into almost any mid or full tower) with a well-crafted, sturdy build and enough weight to make it feel really solid.

Visually, one of the most noticeable improvements from previous coolers can be seen in its fan mounting system. It looks good, but its classy and understated looks won’t be the reason why you’ll fall in love with it.

For a single fan air cooler, this unit is serious

business, and it’s definitely tailored to overclockers who want to reap the benefits of liquid cooling without the maintenance and ‘danger’ associated with water cooling. Without breaking the bank, the TPC 812 is the serious overclocker’s dream, with excellent performance, incredible size-to-cooling ratio and superb build. It is capable of besting any other cooler in its price range (slightly over S$100) stock, overclocked and at full load, breaking out a silent murmur at best.

Razer Tiamat 7.1 T

he Tiamat 7.1 is finally here and the world’s first true 7.1 surround sound gaming headset is a cut above the rest.

This true 7.1 beast of a headset is remarkably well built, all over. Its leather circumaural ear cups, headband, retractable mic and its uber sexy in-line audio control unit feel exquisite individually, but put all of these elements together and you have an absolutely awe-inspiring set of cans.

It is truly a pleasure to don the Tiamat 7.1, thanks to its sound-sealing ear cups and padded, suspension-type headband. There is an additional pair of ear cup covers included, so if the whole see-through thing isn’t your cup of tea, you can sport a more uniform, matte gun-metal finish that is equally attractive. In terms of user experience, the Tiamat 7.1 has one of the best in-line controllers we have ever seen in a gaming headset, hands down. Fine-tuning individual channels is simple, intuitive and just plain awesome. Muting, toggling between headset and external speakers as well as between 7.1 and 2.0 sound can also be done without leaving the game.

After you’ve gotten past the whole “Wooo…

Ahhh…” of opening this box of treasures, you’re going to want to plug this baby into your 7.1 sound card (which you absolutely need) and let it recreate your gaming atmosphere. There are a total of five drivers in each ear cup – 4 positional, 1 sub woofer – so the sound quality of the Tiamat 7.1 is one that is intense, precise and balanced. It goes without saying that you’ll be able to hear footsteps with pinpoint accuracy amongst ambient noises in first-person-shooters that feature 7.1 audio, but being aurally engulfed in the distant and constant barrage of explosions, zipping bullets and over-head fly-bys in Battlefield 3 is nothing short of heavenly.

The Tiamat 7.1 is indeed in a league of its own and an exceptional one at that. Its impeccable blend of performance and aesthetics make it extremely desirable and although it is pricey, the Tiamat 7.1 has the potential to not only change your game performance, but also your gaming (and multimedia) experience. Sure, there are other true 7.1 headsets on the market, but none are engineered and designed for gaming like the Tiamat 7.1. So if you decide to take your game to the next level with the Tiamat 7.1, you’ll soon develop an almost romantic relationship with the headset. It’ll be hard not to.