Issue 5 by PhonicaMagUK

the mobile phone and gaming magazine

Issue 5

phonica magazine uk

WHAT’S INSIDE VOLUME 1 ISSUE 5 2009

PREVIEWS

NEWS Nokia 6700 slide and Nokia 7230 HTC HD2 available on O2 Nokia N900 Nokia streamlines its R&D opera ons Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edi on launched Orange brings Nokia Messaging to Poland Sony Ericsson launches a Web SDK Dragon Age DLC Modern Warfare 2

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FEATURES PHONE SMARTS: SAMSUNG BADA As Samsung ditches Symbian we all want to know what diﬀerence Bada makes as their new OS.

30 HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE PORTS Every industry seems to have them, the designer dress that made its way to your local corner shop, the novel transformed into a trilogy….and games made for consoles altered for PC use.

Ba leﬁeld: Bad Company 2 Global Agenda Preview

VIEWS LG GM750 Nokia 6730 Samsung S5600v Blade Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Band Hero Assassin’s Creed 2 Le 4 Dead 2 Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time Ghosbusters: The Video Game Dragon Age: Origins Buccaneer: The Persuit of Infamy Wet F1 2009

PHOTOREALISTIC GRAPHICS IN 10 YEARS TIME? Is photorealis c graphics realis c?

FORGOTTEN GEMS: ICO & SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS Can a game truly be classed as a work of art?

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COMPETITION Win a copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

WHAT MAKES A MODERN CLASSIC? Heated debate, but what games in 10 years me would be heralded as modern classics….this is what we think (for starters).

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THE GUIDE Games: Phonica’s 20 Recommended Experiences Mobile Phones

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EDITOR IN CHIEF Kevin Leonce

GAMING EDITOR Sco Tierney

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Peter Gray

CONTRIBUTORS Rob Hobson Ian Duncan Paul Park Charles Thompson Peter Cox

CREATIVE SERVICES & DESIGN Sco Tierney www.sco - erney.com

EDITORIAL editorial@phonicamagazine.co.uk

ENQUIRIES info@phonicamagazine.co.uk

ADVERTISING adver sing@phonicamagazine.co.uk

WWW.PHONICAMAGAZINE.CO.UK Become a Fan of Phonica Magazine UK on Facebook & Twi er Phonica Magazine ÂŠ All material in this publica on is covered by copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this publica on may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmi ed in any form electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, in whole or part without wri en permission of the publisher or the copyright owner. Please note that whilst every care has been taken to ensure that all the data in this publica on is accurate at the me of going to print, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, whether caused by negligence or otherwise, or for any loss, however caused, occasioned to any person by reliance on it; and hereby disclaims any liability for it. Opera ons and some features are network dependent; please refer to your network provider for full details.

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EDITOR’S LETTER So it’s Thursday, and I had to pry myself away from my turkey so I could complete my ar cle for this issue. I see Ac vision and Infinity Ward are s ll reveling in the success of MW2, as millions enjoy the gameplay. But while many are busy enjoying the Warfare this game sparked a debate at the Phonica Towers. Would we s ll be clamouring to play Modern Warfare 2 five/ten years from now? What are the quali es a game should possess to be a classic? We had a good thrashing about choosing a few, so feel free to add to the list when you read! I s ll remember being in diapers and playing Pac Man and Mario Brothers. Decades and many upgrades later we s ll enjoy different varia ons of the original game. It also got us thinking, would we welcome the advancement of photorealis c games in the future? Would going beyond the response of your controller when you’re playing a game prove to be going over board? While the game industry seems to be coping with the recession mobile phone manufacturers are not having such an easy task. Handset sales are an ever increasing challenge in a saturated European market, with focus being shi ed heavily to social media and app development. In a move foreseen by many Nokia recently announced that it would con nue to streamline its R& D opera ons. Even though this accounts for a meager 2% of Nokia’s R&D personnel across the globe it s ll adds to the unemployment figure. As holiday spending intensifies with the lead up to Christmas and New Years we can only hope with it comes a posi ve rebound for mobile phone sales. Look out for our Special Christmas Issue in a few weeks. Un l then, Enjoy reading. Your Editor in Chief

Kevin Leonce kevin@phonicamagazine.co.uk

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NEWS FRESH LOOKS AND SMART FEATURES: NEW NOKIA 6700 SLIDE AND NOKIA 7230 UNVEILED Nokia has unveiled two new 3G slider phones, the Nokia 6700 slide and Nokia 7230, made for the design-conscious consumer and op mized for socializing and sharing with those closest to you. Available in various fresh colors, with great imaging features and quick access to popular social networking communi es, the Nokia 6700 slide and Nokia 7230 make a real style statement. Both devices are expected to become available in the ﬁrst quarter of 2010, and the retail prices before taxes and subsidies are an cipated to be EUR 160 for the Nokia 6700 slide, and EUR 100 for the Nokia 7230.

“AVAILABLE IN VARIOUS FRESH COLORS, THEY MAKE A REAL STYLE STATEMENT.” The smart capabili es of the Nokia 6700 slide are beau fully easy to use: The 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss op cs is perfect for capturing and sharing moments as they happen. Favorite images can be edited on the go and uploaded to the web directly from the camera menu. The device’s high speed 3G connec vity ensures your favorite communi es are always as close as your Nokia 6700 slide. Sharing special moments and joys with friends and family is eﬀortless, thanks to the 3.2 megapixel camera, large 2.4” display and fast 3G connec vity. With the Nokia 7230 in your pocket, you also have quick access to email, instant messaging and social networks on the go, and the subtle illumina on indicates if you have missed calls or messages from your friends. www.nokia.com

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NEWS O2 AND HTC BRING THE BIG SCREEN TO YOU O2 is pleased to announce that the HTC HD2 is now on sale in-store, bringing the eagerly awaited handset to the home of smartphones. Available from free on O2 Pay Monthly, the HD2 packs in a massive 4.3-inch touch screen, fast processor and camera with LED flash into a package just 11mm thick and weighing in at 157 grams. “The HTC HD2 is the first HTC branded phone to be sold on O2. We love the large screen and combina on of Windows Mobile 6.5 with HTC Sense,” said Steve Alder, General Manager Devices for O2 in the UK. “We are proud to be the home of smartphones and the HTC HD2 adds a new dimension to the range of devices we offer to our customers.” Jon French, Execu ve Director UK & IE, HTC, said, “The close partnership between HTC and Microso means we are able to bring HTC Sense, a customer experience which makes the phone work in a more simple, natural and personal way, to a Windows phone for the first me with the HD2. With one of the largest screens in the market, the powerful and ultra-thin HD2 offers users an amazing mobile experience.” The HTC HD2 is powered by a 1Ghz processor and has built in Wi-Fi, GPS, and FM radio. It has YouTube, Facebook and Twi er integra on and a MicroSD card slot for expandable memory, as well as a standard 3.5mm audio jack, Bluetooth and microUSB charging port. The HTC HD2 will be available in-store and over the phone. h p://www.o2.co.uk

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NEWS

NOKIA STARTS SHIPPING THE N900 The shipments of the Nokia N900, Nokia’s latest mobile computer based on open source Maemo 5 so ware, have now started. The Nokia N900 is now available in retail stores with an es mated retail price of EUR 500, excluding sales taxes and subsidies. “The Nokia N900 has generated a lot of interest since its public launch in August, which has been reﬂected in the device preorders,” says José-Luis Mar nez, Vice President, Nseries, Nokia. “What’s exci ng is the Maemo so ware, which takes its cues from the desktop computer and oﬀers a full browsing experience like no other handset. We believe the Nokia N900 will be a very compelling device for people who are passionate about technology.” At the heart of the Nokia N900 is its powerful ARM Cortex-A8 processor and up to 1GB of total applica on memory.

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Users can browse the internet the way they would on any computer and keep dozens of applica on windows open simultaneously on the dashboard. The panoramic desktops in the Nokia N900 can be personalized with widgets, contacts and shortcuts. Pictures and videos taken with the 5Mpx Carl Zeiss camera automa cally show where they were taken, and users can add their own descrip on tags to make searching the photos even easier. SMS and instant messages are organized as chat ﬂow and people can convenienty switch between the mul ple conversa on windows. The built-in 32 GB storage is big enough to store up to 7,000 songs or 40 hours of DVD-quality video, and it can be expanded up to 48GB with an external microSD card. The Nokia N900 will ini ally be available in Europe, Middle-East, Russia and North America. It is also possible to order the device from the Nokia Online Store: h p://europe.nokia.com/buy-online www.nokia.com

NEWS

NOKIA CONTINUES TO STREAMLINE ITS R&D OPERATIONS Nokia plans to align its research and development (R&D) opera ons in Finland and Denmark to be in line with the company’s focused por olio of future products. The planned changes are expected to aﬀect up to 230 employees at Nokia’s Oulu site in Finland and approximately 100 employees at Nokia’s Copenhagen site. The total number would represent approximately 2% of Nokia’s R&D personnel globally.

Nokia aims to support the employees with alterna ve solu ons, such as ﬁnding new posi ons within the company for as many employees as possible. Nokia will begin consulta ons with employee representa ves about these plans where voluntary severance packages among other topics will be discussed. Nokia maintains a strong R&D presence in both sites; the company has over 2000 employees in Oulu and over 1000 employees in Copenhagen. Overall, Nokia has more than 17,000 people employed in its research and development ac vi es. www.nokia.com

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NEWS NOKIA 5330 MOBILE TV EDITION LAUNCHED Earlier this month Nokia announced the Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edi on, an entertainment hub that combines mobile broadcast TV (DVB-H), social networking, music and gaming in one compact 3G device. CATCH UP WITH FRIENDS. ANYTIME. The Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edi on comes with all the latest social networking so ware, making it simple to stay in touch with friends via Ovi Contacts, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube. Post status updates for friends and family to follow or instant message (IM) them via Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, AOL and many others.

PLAY MUSIC. WHENEVER. Accessing music and other apps is easy with dedicated music keys and links to the Nokia Music store (where available). The Nokia 5330 Mobile TV edi on is also compa ble with Nokiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s innova ve Comes with Music service - providing free, unlimited access to millions of tracks. Download free music any me, anywhere - and keep all the music forever.

KEEP UP-TO-DATE. WHEREVER. Check out the choice of personalized media and applica ons in the Ovi Store. A one-stop-shop for thousands of applica ons, games, videos, podcasts, produc vity tools, web and loca on-based services and more, means personalizing the Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edi on is just the touch of a bu on away. The Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edi on provides broadcast picture quality while the headset acts as an antenna for outstanding recep on, so no blank screens or interference during those all important moments. Long ba ery life gives up to six hours of DVB-H usage. The Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edi on will retail for 155 Euros before taxes and subsidies. www.nokia.com

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NEWS ORANGE IS FIRST POLISH OPERATOR TO BRING NOKIA MESSAGING TO POLAND Orange Poland and Nokia have announced that they will bring Nokia Messaging, Nokia’s consumer push email service, to their Nokia customers. The service, which started from November 17, 2009, saw Orange Poland mobile customers being the first in Poland to get access to Nokia Messaging which supports all leading global consumer email solu ons such as Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, Ovi Mail as well as local internet and email service providers such as Wirtualna Polska, Onet.pl, Interia, o2, home.pl and others. “User friendly email service available on a broad range of mobile handsets is a great step towards making email a real commodity. From 17 November to 8 December, Nokia Messaging with Orange will be offered free of charge for both the service and related unlimited data traffic. A er that period, a fee for the Nokia Messaging service will be only 19.90 zloty + VAT including unlimited email data traffic and addi onal 50 MB transmission capacity per month for Internet browsing” said Maciej Kociecki, Director at PTK Centertel. “Nokia aims to make mobile email available for as many people as possible. With Nokia Messaging, we can meet the needs of people to access their personal email whenever they want, wherever they want in an extremely simple and convenient way” said Dariusz Zalewski, Services Manager, Nokia Poland. Nokia Messaging is an easy to set-up and easy to use push email service which allows users to mobilize up to 10 personal email accounts on one device. With Nokia Messaging, people get the benefit of real- me messaging and are able to read, send, forward and reply to emails, view subfolders, download and read a achments and also a ach files to emails in real me. Using the push email technology, email is swi ly and automa cally sent to the mobile phone, without needing to retrieve it. Many users want to enjoy the flexibility of having various accounts for various needs.

Further informa on about Nokia Messaging is available at h p://email.nokia.com as well as on the websites of the operator h p://www.orange.pl/dlaﬁr

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NEWS SONY ERICSSON LAUNCHES A WEB SDK AND WIDENS MOBILE MARKET ACCESS FOR WEB DEVELOPERS SONY ERICSSON SHOWCASES THE BETA VERSION OF WEBSDK AT THE ANNUAL WEB 2.0 CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK. The Sony Ericsson WebSDK is a suite of mobile development tools that allows both web and mobile developers to create applica ons for Sony Ericsson’s Google Android OS and Symbian Founda on phones. Created in collabora on with the PhoneGap open source community, the launch of the Sony Ericsson WebSDK makes it possible to design applica ons for Sony Ericsson’s Google Android OS and Symbian Founda on devices star ng with the newly announced XPERIA X10 and the recently launched Sa o. “With the Sony Ericsson WebSDK our focus is on bringing all the capabili es of web technologies to mobile applica ons and giving web developers wide access to easy-to-use tools and mobile phone pla orms.” says Christopher David, Head of Developer and Partner Engagement at Sony Ericsson. “We are driving this ini a ve together with the PhoneGap open source community and invite developers to join us as we oﬀer advanced mobile devices and a clear mone za on path.” Nitobi’s CEO, Andre Charland added: “Sony Ericsson’s collabora on with the PhoneGap community is a huge win for mobile users, developers and the future of the open web on mobile devices. Having already adopted and beneﬁted from open pla orms like Google Android™ OS and Symbian, Sony Ericsson is now comple ng the puzzle for developers of cross-pla orm mobile applica ons.” www.SonyEricsson.com/developer

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FEATURE PHONE SMARTS BADA BING, BADA BOOM; DON JOO LEE HAS AN OFFER YOU CAN’T REFUSE SAMSUNG MAKES A BRAVE STEP ONTO THE EVOLVING OS MARKET WITH A NAME THAT SOUNDS LIKE HALF OF A MAFIA BOSS’ FAVOURITE CATCHPHRASE It’s been a long me coming, but finally mobile phone companies are beginning to realise that the difference between a good phone and a brick isn’t what it’s supposed to be able to do, but what it actually allows you to do. New and intui ve UIs make it easy for even the most technically backward individual to fumble their way through an email or open documents on their smartphone. The need to streamline UIs has finally been demonstrated to some of the more stubborn manufacturers by the devo on of iPhone users, and more likely the fact that Apple is now the most profitable mobile phone manufacturer- making a profit of $1.6 billion in the third quarter of 2009 compared to Nokia’s second placed $1.1 billion. Samsung is back in third place despite being the top selling manufacturer in the US, UK, France and a number of other high profile markets.

So what can the Korean giant do to make signiﬁcant inroads into the burgeoning smartphone market? Apple’s “Jesus phone” and all its various resurrec ons is the clear favourite as a single model, with a sizeable 17% stake in the smartphone market. Only Nokia and Research In Mo on have a larger share of the market, Nokia’s domina on nearing 40% of the market and RIM holding slightly more than Apple with 20%. Samsung’s response to being outside of this trio in the smartphone sales rankings has been to ditch the Symbian opera ng system, whose clunky interface has been the subject of many a mobile-tossing rant (at least a few I can remember). The announcement was not oﬃcially detailed, but Samsung Electronics’ Senior Vice President Don Joo Lee made a statement in which he described the par ng of Samsung phones from their long- me OS Symbian.

“IT ALL SOUNDS PROMISING, BUT IT’S NOT GOING TO BE EASY FOR BADA –COMPETING AGAINST PROVEN SYSTEMS SUCH AS WEBOS, ANDROID AND OF COURSE IPHONE.”

The replacement for the Symbian pla orm is the Bada OS. No details have yet emerged and the only glimpses into the phones it will inhabit seem to be specula ve and have no oﬃcial backing. The name means ocean in Korean and is meant to signify the limitless app possibili es for developers and consumers. It all sounds promising, but it’s not going to be easy for Bada –compe ng against proven systems such as WebOS, Android and of course iPhone. Saying that, it’d be fairly easy for Samsung to just work with the successes and failures of its predecessors and come up with something genuinely excellent. Honestly though, I think the only real hope anyone can have is that it’s not as Bada as its name (sorry). Charles Thompson

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FEATURE

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REVIEWS

LG GM750 THE BEST INTERFACE OF ANY HANDSET? WE’D LIKE TO THINK SO. The never-ending ba le to become king of the touch phones rages on, with Apple’s defining iPhone s ll leading the way. Nokia have come close with the N97, and the HTC Hero proved that Apple haven’t got the market completely to themselves, but now LG have unveiled a new contender, the LG GM750; can it take the fight to the iPhone? Design wise, there’s not a lot to be said about the LG GM750; it’s just like any other touch screen phone. The face is dominated by 3inches of gorgeous screen, and everything else surrounding it is just there to accentuate that point. At the base there’s the usual bu ons for calling, and in the centre is the ever present naviga on pad. It’s not the best looking handset we’re every seen, or the most adventures, but it’s nice enough. When it comes to features, there’s many to pick and choose from. The 5MP camera is excellent, there are plenty of games to restrain boredom, the MP3 player is good and the talk me is a solid 6.5hrs. Connec vity wise, the LG GM750 has all the bases covered, with 3G HSDPA, HSUPA, WiFi, Micro USB, Bluetooth, EDGE and GPRS all present, and the web naviga on is also superb. But the LG GM750’s best point, by a long distance, is its naviga on. The LG GM750 uses the Windows Mobile 6.5 opera ng system, which although hasn’t been put to best use in other handsets, is worked to perfec on on the LG. We use a lot of phones here at Phonica, and due to the strains of pu ng together a magazine of such calibre, we don’t have the greatest apprecia on for me-was ng interfaces. Every twitch or stu er that we find is exaggerated through our pressurized minds, so if we don’t like a phone, we say so. But with the GM750, we’ve never had it so easy!

I don’t have me to go into every aspect of the interface, as there’s an awful lot to it, but here’s a few of the best bits. The LG GM750 is totally customizable, so you can adjust and ﬁddle with the interface so it works best for you. Scrolling through you music is a joy, as is selec ng and adding contacts, and the ﬁve main menu screens are easily dis nguishable. The camera interface is also excellent, and the li le wheel of op ons available down the le of the screen makes using the LG GM750 feel like using an actual camera. As a way of naviga ng your phones, interfaces don’t come much be er.

“WITH THE GM750, WE’VE NEVER HAD IT SO EASY!” To sum up, from the outside the LG GM750 doesn’t look like much, and the same goes for the features. It’s not a market-rocking phone, and to be honest it won’t steal the iPhone’s crown (curses!). But its standout interface is one of the best we’ve ever seen, and for that alone we’d recommend this phone. Sco Tierney

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REVIEWS

NOKIA 6730 CLASSIC IT’S ALRIGHT, AND IT’S ALL WHITE! There was a common style that came to prominence a few years ago, that spread across almost every major form of design. It was started by Apple, but soon a erward it was copied and duplicated by everyone else. It wasn’t fancy, intricate of overpowering, in fact it was exactly the opposite; it was of course, plain white. As soon as the iPod appeared, as a glowing beacon of understated simplicity, plain white made its way onto everything, from cars, phones, glasses, game consoles and computers. It may have faded away now, but its presence is s ll felt, as with this lovely new phone; the Nokia 6730 Classic. The Nokia 6730, available exclusively from Vodaphone, is a standard candy-bar smartphone. It features a nice 2.2inch screen at the top, some well propor oned menu bu ons in the middle, and a pearly keypad at the base. All this is packaged together in a superbly cra ed white body, which is as clean and white as a cheerleader’s tooth. It is available in black, but to be honest with you, you want it in white. There’s nothing fancy of flashy, it’s just a nice simple piece of design. Features wise, there’s quite a lot to shout about, with the modest price tag (approx £150) undervaluing the Nokia 6730’s true power. For starters, the 3.15MP camera is very dy, with the now standard Nokia features such as auto-focus, LCD flash and 15FPS video-camera. For music lovers, there’s MP3/MP4/ eAAC+/WMA playback (and radio), for game lovers there’s a pleasant selec on of Java games (plus the op on to download more) and for the direc onally flawed, there’s an excellent GPS feature.

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One feature that the Nokia 6730 does lack though is WI-FI. It’s not the biggest woe to ever grace the face of the planet, but it is a let down. Nokia have sold the 6730 as being internet ready, but the inability to pick up WI-FI in your local coﬀee shop is a real pain. You do get 3G access though, so it’s not all bad.

“ALL THIS IS PACKAGED TOGETHER IN A SUPERBLY CRAFTED WHITE BODY, WHICH IS AS CLEAN AND WHITE AS A CHEERLEADER’S TOOTH.” Again Nokia have made a fair amount of noise regarding the Nokia 6730 being ‘green’. To a certain degree, they have a right to, as the 6730’s ba ery and charger do require (and use) less power. The packaging is also 100% recyclable, but frankly what isn’t these days? Again, as we’ve said in previous pieces here at Phonica, we applaud Nokia for their planet saving work, but we wish they’d shut up about it! All in all, the Nokia 6730 is a very nice mid-range smartphone. All the features are solid, the added bonuses are OK and the design is understated yet beau ful. There are be er Nokia phones available, most notably the excep onal N97, but for around £150, you could do a lot worse. To sum up, it’s al’white! Genius! Sco Tierney

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REVIEWS

SAMSUNG S5600V BLADE IS THIS NEW HANDSET RAZOR-SHARP, OR JUST A BIT BLUNT? You can immediately tell what make a phone is, just by quickly glancing at its design. Sony’s products are usually quite bleak and formal, Blackberry’s are always coated in a sea of bu ons, and Apple’s electrical gizmos are understated yet funky. But with this new Samsung, the Samsung S5600v Blade, it doesn’t just follow the same style as the others; it’s an exact copy!

But the major problem we have with the Blade is its design, or lack of it. As we said, manufactures are always going to follow the same design themes, and these will always ﬂow from product to product. But with the Blade, it looks as though Samsung have just traced over the Genio and Tocco, rubbed a few bits out, and have ended up with the Blade. It’s similar to what Porsche have done with their cars, by only changing small aspects of each model. They look great, but once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all.

We’ll come back to the design later, for now let’s have a look at the Blade’s deﬁning features. Firstly, it’s a touch screen, so it’ll be judged primarily on this aspect. Luckily, the Blade’s screen, and interface, is deligh ul to use, and if trouble rears its ugly head, the three bu ons at the base can be called into ac on. It should also be noted that due to the Blade’s understated propor ons, it’s an incredibly easy phone to use with one hand. Other features worth no ng are the excellent camera (with face recogni on), a terriﬁc music player that’s packed with features, and an excellent quan ty of games. The quality of the screen does make a domina ng impression on the games; one that makes it far more enjoyable. The Blade also showcases excellent 3G HSDPA., EDGE and GPRS features. There are a few things that do undermine the Blade as a class product. The ba ery only allows for a maximum of 2hrs talk me, which is very s ngy, even of a touch phone. Also, although the Blade has a 50MB memory, you will need to add at least an addi onal 4GB to truly enjoy the music and games.

If it’s a mid range touch phone you’re a er with solid features, a sleek design and a low price tag you can’t go wrong with the Blade. It’s just a shame Samsung haven’t tried something new. Although the Blade is good-looking, it’s not the pre est in a very familiar family. Sco Tierney

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COMPETITION WIN A COPY OF CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2 IN THIS ISSUE ONE LUCKY READER WOULD WIN A COPY OF CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2

THIS GAME COULD BE YOURS! ENTER FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN! COMPETITION RULES Join our group on Facebook; search for Phonica Magazine UK. Follow Us on Twi er: @PhonicaMagUK. Email your full name, address, email and mobile contact, along with your Twi er username to phonicacompe ons@phonicamagazine.co.uk. One entry per person

TERMS AND CONDITIONS (1)The prize is one copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2) No cash or other prize alterna ves are offered. (3) All entries must be received no later than 11th December 2009. The winner would be no fied within 7 days of this date and would be published in the following issue. (4) The Editor’s decision is final. (5) Compe on open to UK residents only, except employees of Phonica Magazine UK.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ANDRE R WHO WON A SAMSUNG B3310!

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COMPETITION

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NEWS

DRAGON AGE DLC BRINGS EA UNDER FIRE

DLC SALESMEN COME TO DRAGON AGE: “I NEED THE HELP OF A BRAVE ADVENTURER TO DOWNLOAD SOME CONTENT” The month’s other big release, Dragon Age: Origins, has a par cularly interes ng feature. The game launched with three DLC packs. Two are free but the third has to be purchased. In game an NPC will try and eﬀec vely sell you the extra content by sending you on the quest. So far EA has made $1 million selling the mini expansion.

“I’m ﬁne with you being upset about the item limit design in the game - and ﬁne with you being upset about the chest being included in the DLC, but I must protest the ‘Oh, EA is pushing the limit for more money’ tag-line, because that’s just not what has happened,” he said.

There was some backlash in forums against the move with cri cs sugges ng that it would break the feeling of immersion and that EA were trying to turn what looks set to become a classic RPG into a cash cow. A par cular bone of conten on is that the paid-for DLC includes a storage chest that lets players keep hold of many more items than they otherwise can.

It’s an interes ng move by EA and Bioware and one that could keep the game ﬁnancially viable for a lot longer than a one shot release. Of course DLC is nothing new but integra ng into the game in this way is novel.

Bioware lead systems designer George Zoeller tried to deﬂect the cri cisms by claiming that the boxed release was inten onally pared down to speed load mes.

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“I categorically reject that any features or game systems in this game were designed or removed to ‘bilk users for more money’,” he added.

The plan is for more packs to be released over the next 12 months. The poten al limita on is that players will complete the main story – always the main draw of a good RPG - and it will be hard to lure them back in to play the odd quest tacked on here or there. Ian Duncan

NEWS

MODERN WARFARE 2 IS THE BIGGEST SELLING PIECE OF ENTERTAINMENT EVER LOOKS LIKE ALL THE HYPE WORKED. Modern Warfare 2 racked up sales of over £200 million in the UK and US alone on its first day of release. That translates to nearly 5 million copies of the game and 1 million of those were in the UK. That means that 1 in 60 people own a copy of the game and the number that will play it will be many mes more. That’s an incredible shared experience – the kind of thing that doesn’t happen all that o en any more. Publisher Infinty Ward announced that there were 2 million players online at one me on Xbox Live. There are currently around 100,000 foreign soldiers deployed in Afghanistan. The rush of players on the PS3 crashed the Playsta on Network but it was quickly brought back online. These amazing figures dwarf other mega releases of recent years. Halo 3 took it a week to reach the £200 million figure; GTA IV sold a paltry 500,000 on launch day in the UK; and the incredibly successful Dark Knight movie took a measly £100 million on its opening weekend. MW2 is now being touted as the biggest entertainment launch ever. That’s quite a milestone for the games industry considering the glamour surrounding the movie and music businesses. It’s s ll hard to imagine an X-Factor for games developers but maybe all it would take was one Simon Cowell wannabe and a good pitch to ITV. The games industry has been making major steps forward in achieving mainstream status and the launch of a blockbuster like MW2 feels like the capstone of that process. Ian Duncan

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PREVIEW

BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 PUBLISHER: ELECTRONIC ARTS DEVELOPER: EA DIGITAL ILLUSIONS CE FORMAT: PC, PS3, XBOX 360 AVAILABLE: Q1 2010

IN BAD COMPANY 2, THE GLOVES ARE OFF – AND DESTRUCTION 2.0 IS THE NAME OF THE GAME. Ba lefield: Bad Company 2 cks all the boxes that any self-respec ng FPS gamer would expect. The huge array of weaponry to choose from; immense customisa on op ons; vehicles to ride and blow up; and perhaps most importantly, the simple enjoyment that one can gain from literally blowing the u er crap out of everything in sight, including vegeta on and buildings. DICE and EA, the companies behind the Ba lefield franchise, knew that they were onto a winner with their fine balance between the realis c, cold-blooded, SWAT-style undertaking of missions á la Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, and the in-your-face, Rambo-esque explosive hell that games like Mercenaries and Red Fac on were all about. With lots of preview trailers and screenshots already released, we can already see that the graphics are top notch. Views across canyons and in the background are simply breathtaking (if you’ve got a spare breath while launching RPGs across the map) and detail is simply superb. I feel a li le sorry for the graphics designer of some of the environment because a lot of it ends up ge ng obliterated. All in good humour though.

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You can’t go long without drawing comparisons to one of the ho est games on the market, but Bad Company 2 seems like it will stand up against Modern Warfare 2 with ease. Incorpora ng a similar system in its mul player feature with rank ups and challenges, as well as the incredibly popular and useful customiza on of classes, the developer’s aim of making every ba le feel as sa sfying as the first is on course to be met. However, unlike previous tles, Bad Company 2 also has you put on your thinking cap more than once. Explosives kill; but they’re also very reliant on good placement. You can’t go around lobbing your frag grenades like hot potatoes any more – chances are you’ll end up bouncing one off a wall and end up ea ng dust for a couple of seconds. Furthermore, with careful destruc on (what an oxymoron) you can alter the terrain and environment around you to give yourself or your team the tac cal advantage. Up in a building with no holes to snipe out of? Plant a C4 charge close enough to blow a chunk out of the wall. Think the enemy could hide behind this wall? S ck a claymore behind a shrub and giggle as you run away and wait for the huge BOOM. Ba lefield: Bad Company 2 looks to be the beginning of something truly memorable in the FPS world. It fills voids that its rivals have le behind and goes toe-to-toe with the best, swinging away like a prize fighter. I can’t wait to start my virtual career as a demoli on specialist - I think I do a pre y good job with grenades, personally. Paul Park

phonica magazine uk

PREVIEW

GLOBAL AGENDA PUBLISHER: HI-REZ STUDIOS DEVELOPER: HI-REZ STUDIOS FORMAT: PC AVAILABLE: Q1 2010

MMO WITH FULL ACTION COMBAT? SIGN ME UP! Global Agenda was available to play at the Eurogamer Expo in London and it’s looking very exci ng. The game is set on some future Earth where giant alliances have carved up the world and are figh ng over what’s le . What makes Global Agenda par cularly exci ng is that it will feature high-ac on third-person shooter based combat. There are four classes each with different weapons, special abili es and who all complemented each other very well in the demo. The combat was fairly fran c but the range of special weapons available to each character mean there are op ons at any point in a fire-fight. All characters are also equipped with jetpacks to get around more quickly. The demo level did not make much use of them but the developers promise that the full game will have all sorts of exci ng ver cal loca ons to fight in. Hi-Rez Studios is leaning on this aspect of the game to offer two play modes. The first is a one- me purchase that will let you into all the RPG aspects of the game; full PvE combat; and limited PvP modes. The representa ve at Eurogamer said they were aiming for something like a Team Fortress 2 feel. Paying a subscrip on will essen ally give players entry into the more strictly MMO aspects of the game. Subscrip on players (branded “Conquest”) will be able to form agencies and alliances to fight over territory. The largest ba les will support 60 players on each side. Territory will also come with produc on capabili es for advanced weapons and vehicles. All of which sounds very juicy indeed.

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One slight let down is that there are no plans to include real world loca ons in the game. Imagine figh ng je ng over Big Ben or a futuris c Eiffel Tower. It seems like the devs have missed a trick on that front – conflict over landmarks is likely to be pre y intense. Global Agenda is slated for release early next year. The demo looked fairly polished so here’s hoping the developers s ck to that me frame. Ian Duncan

phonica magazine uk

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FEATURE

HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE PORTS LOVE THEM OR HATE THEM, THE DREADED PORT IS HERE TO STAY; BUT IS THAT A BAD THING? Port. A word to strike fear into the heart of self-confessed PC gamers. And not because they get par cularly seasick. A port is game that was developed primarily for a console (or is at least perceived to be) and then altered and released for the PC. Since the launch of the original Xbox, ports have become an increasingly common feature of the PC gaming landscape. It has got to the point now when even a company like Bioware, a once staunch PC developer, can boast about how Dragon Age: Origins was developed with PC gaming at the front of the team’s mind. The percep on of ports is that they are somehow less than proper PC games. Accusa ons of everything from poorer graphics and textures to limited controls and customisa on op ons are laid at the door of developers selling out PC gamers for a slice of the more lucra ve console market. The argument is par cularly forceful at the moment for two reasons: 1. The current genera on of console hardware is beginning to age and PCs once again have the advantage in power and 2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Ah yes, because no story is complete without an allusion to the elephant in the games industry room. In forums across the world PC gamers have voiced outrage over, variously, the lack of support for leaning; in-game console commands; and dedicated servers. In a open chat hosted by American retailer Best Buy, Inﬁnity Ward developers denied the PC version was a direct console port: “PC has custom stuﬀ like mouse control, text chat in game, and graphics se ngs.” That apparently innocent answer is pre y damning.

But the picture is more complicated. In a recent talk at the Eurogamer Expo in London, Valve Developer Chet Fazlek was asked whether the visuals Le 4 Dead 2 would be scaled back to accommodate for the Xbox 360 version of the game. He sidestepped the ques on by poin ng out the weakest hardware is to be found on low-end PCs and that Valve’s aim was to make a game playable on the full spectrum of PCs. This is an important point because of the millions who might buy a PC game only a small percentage will own top of the range rigs. A great number more will have a jack-of-all-trades laptop or a slightly ageing setup. Those who own expensive rigs are also those who like to customise their playing experience which makes things like console commands and dedicated servers important. They’re also the same people who make a lot of noise online.

“WHAT SENSIBLE BUSINESS CONCERN WOULD MAKE A PRODUCT THAT ONLY APPEALS TO A SMALL SECTOR OF THE MARKET?” All of which makes it obvious that the hardcore are not representa ve of the majority of gamers. The rise of the port is a consequence of the growth of the computer gaming industry. What sensible business concern would make a product that only appeals to a small sector of the market? What business would waste resources making two dis nct products when one suﬃces? The change in PC gaming might be resented by a small self-styled elite but ports look like they’re here to stay. As long as developers and publishers are pu ng out quality products it might be me to overlook what pla orm they were originally designed for. Ian Duncan

phonica magazine uk

FEATURE

WHAT MAKES A MODERN CLASSIC? GAMES COME AND GAMES GO, BUT WHICH OF TODAY’S STARS WILL WE STILL BE PLAYING IN 10 YEARS TIME? Hmmm. I’ve just been reading The Times’ interview with Rockstar founder Dan Houser and it got me thinking. Are games more disposable than music? Or rather, are games more transient as a medium than music? The interviewer asked what seemed to be a reasonable ques on: in 20 years me, will anyone s ll be playing GTA4? In the light of GTA4’s opening weekend – at the me, the largest ever entertainment launch before MW2 stole its onions – it seemed fair to ask about longevity when you compare it to, say, the music of the Beatles, the Stones or Bob Dylan. And the answer’s obvious, of course, but doesn’t quite solve the problem. If technology moves so quickly in gaming that something becomes graphically or technically obsolete almost from year-to-year, what kind of legacy is being created? The mainstream gaming industry, much like the PC hardware business that sits at its heart, is innova on-driven up to a point, but the real money lies in itera on. Like Hollywood before it, execs realise that it’s far easier to rebake intellectual property and bang out a sequel than it is to come up with new stuﬀ. Some mes the sequel surpasses the predecessor, as the recent Uncharted game showed. All too o en, though, we’re given ny itera ve improvements on an established pla orm. Yes, EA, I am looking at you (although EA is far from the only oﬀender). Tiger Woods gets a yearly brush and polish, as does FIFA and Madden. And yes, although both Tiger and FIFA are excellent games with compelling mul player proposi ons, I’m not going to do £40 a year every year on the latest version.

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We had a sit-down at Phonica Towers and asked ourselves: what recent oﬀerings have the hallmarks of modern classics? What current games do we think will stand the test of me? What’s more important... presenta on? Narra ve? Really cute pla orming? Our thoughts are below. If you disagree – and you will – write to us and tell us how stupid you think we are. You may even win the opportunity to be mocked and viliﬁed in these very pages. Go on, it’ll be fun. Rob Hobson

BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM It’s based on the comic book rather than TV or film adapta ons, it just ‘feels right’ as you play it. Subtle touches, like the surreal moments when affected by the Scarecrows ‘fear gas’, especially the one in the morgue play on the darker side we know Bruce Wayne represses. Co-wri en by the man behind the superb animated series Paul Dini, and featuring the voice talent of Mark Hamil, who again reprises his role from the animated series as the voice of the Joker. Gameplay-wise, it’s not just a ‘bu on-bash’ to defeat the hordes of bad guys, you gradually learnt to use the full extent of Batman’s hi-tech gadgetry in your quest to find and stop the Joker. Peter Gray

FEATURE

MIRROR’S EDGE Although, gameplay wise, Mirror’s Edge was very much a mixed bag, the First-person aspects that it showcased will be crucial to the genres development over the next 10 years. If, and possibly when, players start to grow red of the standard FPS, developers will have to take a different route, and Mirror’s Edge may be seen as the template. No real use of guns, and only occasional combat, it was all about the hustle, and a terrific leap forward for the genre. Also, on the visual side, although it’s not a stunner, the style was first class, and should stand the dreaded graphical test of me. Shame it was a bit patchy…. Sco Tierney

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FEATURE

FALLOUT 3 Released just over a year ago, Fallout 3 is s ll going strong. Drawing on the humour and style of its predecessors, the third installa on in the post-apocalyp c series finally offered a fully realised 3D rendering of the world. The game offers a deep and involved story line bolstered by periodic releases of DLC. Some players were led to believe the game would be a shooter – they were sorely disappointed but probably for the be er. The combina on of a rich universe and great visuals mean that Fallout 3 will have something to offer for a long me and will stand as a classic RPG of its genera on. Ian Duncan

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FEATURE LITTLE BIG PLANET

STARCRAFT 2

Li le Big Planet looks odd. In a good way, but nonetheless odd. Its dis nc ve style – unbearably, touchably cute – seduces you from the moment you fire it up. If ever Stephen Fry’s mellifluous tones could be said to be surplus to requirements, it’s here. It’s lovely enough without him. LBP may not offer the exac ng challenges of Super Mario – although the design community has thrown up some brutal concoc ons – but the charm and naïve wit that suffuses it makes it u erly irresis ble. I don’t know a person, gamer or not, who doesn’t coo over it. Christ, it’s the only game my girlfriend will go anywhere near.

Without a doubt one of the most an cipated games in recent years, I fully expect Starcra 2 to be a bigger hit than its prequel. It has everything an RTS player could wish for – aliens, explosives, nuclear weapons, lasers and huge cannons to blow the u er crap out of your enemies while you laugh in glee. In 10 years me, Blizzard will be in development of Starcra 3 while tournaments around the world host huge match ups between the top players who made the transi on from Starcra 1. Paul Park

Rob Hobson

phonica magazine uk

FEATURE

PHOTOREALISTIC GRAPHICS IN 10 YEARS TIME? DON’T BET ON SEEING PHOTOREALISTIC GAMES ANY TIME SOON Photorealis c graphics have long been a holy grail for game designers and gamers alike. Push any gamer and they’ll eventually say, “Oh it’s the gameplay that counts” but that’s never the case or else why do games machines keep ge ng more powerful? Graphics do count; let’s make that clear from the outset. It was obvious that a major milestone had been passed when the early PS3 game ads had that li le disclaimer at the bo om, “actual gameplay footage”. At ﬁrst the current genera on of consoles looked like a major leap forward but only a few years later endless Unreal Engine-alikes are star ng to look red. So perhaps another push forward is required but there a number of reasons why we’re s ll at least a decade from photorealism.

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Currently the technology exists to create renderings that are almost indis nguishable from photos. For s ll images this is quite straigh orward. Even video is making progress with demos of almost realis c faces having been produced. The diﬃculty is that photorealis c images have to be backed up by realis c movement or the illusion falls apart and the apparent realism actually looks very strange. Graphics designers have already run into what’s known as “uncanny valley” – the more human an anima on is supposed to look, the less real it looks. The reason is that we are very good at reading human faces.

“IF YOU WANT TO SEE AMAZING GRAPHICS, GO OUTSIDE.”

FEATURE

Apply this to games and you unleash a lot of pre y big problems. The game has to be able to render the graphics in reac on to the ac on of the player of players. Epic games founder Tim Sweeny has said that a realis c looking human anima on might not be possible without mapping a human mind with full control over the anima on. The hardware required to carry out that kind of task for not just one but a whole cast of NPCs would have to be very powerful indeed. Put in those terms true photorealism suddenly looks more like ﬁ y or sixty years away than ten, especially when the diﬃculty it’s currently facing in making faster CPUs is taken into account. Before you get too depressed, we should ask if photorealism is really desirable. Why, for example, should we strive to realism in graphics over realism in physical feedback? If we have realis c graphics, should characters in games die permanently too? These might seem like face ous ques ons but the point is that games are not realis c. Photorealis c graphics might trick the eye for a while but soon the brain would realise that something was amiss – you can see the wind rippling the leaves but you can’t feel it on your face.

There’s another ques on that the Daily Mail would probably love to ask – how do you handle death anima ons? When you blow someone apart in a photorealis c shooter are you going to see photorealis c fragments of skull and chunks of grey-ma er spla er over the ﬂoor or are designers going to have to sidestep that somehow? Making players feel squeamish about killing in this way might introduce an interes ng psychological dimension to games but might also struggle to gain mainstream acceptance. None of these are ques ons that cannot be answered but they indicate the kind of challenges facing designers pursuing photorealism and fans desperately hoping for it. Achieving photorealism is not just a ques on of having powerful enough hardware, it’s also about making decisions about what games are. We can expect to see great leaps towards realism in the next two genera ons of consoles and we might even see something that appears photorealis c. But reaching true realism where graphics are backed up by comparable AI and anima ons seems a lot further over the horizon. Ian Duncan

phonica magazine uk

FEATURE FORGOTTEN GEMS:

ICO & SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS PUBLISHER: SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT DEVELOPER: TEAM ICO FORMAT: PS2 RELEASED: 2002, 2006

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FEATURE ARGUABLY, THESE TWO GEMS ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND HEART-RENDING GAMES EVER MADE, BUT ARE THEY WORKS OF ART? Can a game ever be classed as a work of art? Surly, as a piece of art does not perform any func on other than being a work of art, the answer would be no. A game’s func on is to entertain, that’s what it’s designed for; so in that respect, it can’t be classed as a work of art anymore than a car or a vacuum cleaner can. But, every now and then, a game comes along (or two in this case) that not only re-raises the argument, but also warrants an excep on to the rule. Team Ico’s cult classics, Ico, and Shadow of the Colossus, deﬁnitely warrant an excep on. But why are they gaming works of art? Well, they can both be considered for the highest praise on two counts. Firstly, the incredible visual styles that these games incorporate can themselves be classed as works of art. Secondly, and maybe more importantly, both these games are beau ful symphonies of emo on. They’re both also fantas c games, so let’s look at their enthralling artwork. The majority of Ico’s gameplay is based within the consuming walls of an old castle. Although for brief periods you get to venture outside, these moments usually involve naviga ng the vast exteriors and balconies, searching for an escape. The castle itself is an astonishing piece of design, with vast halls, engulﬁng archways and crumbling ceilings, all beau fully lit with so waves of light. It’s very dark and inhospitable inside the castle, and those brief excursions outside, with views of distant clouds and the sea below, making for a welcome relief. Shadow of the Colossus on the other hand is set predominantly outdoors, in the deserted but heaving countryside of a distant land. Although the mighty Colossus’s are a startling sight themselves, the real majesty of the game is the landscape. The sense of isola on as you ride through some of the most beau ful backdrops ever seen in a game is tangible, and an unforge able experience for those lucky enough to have played.

So that’s the impeccable visuals, but Ico and Shadow of the Colossus weren’t just pre y pictures; they were also incredibly moving. In Ico, you played a small boy (with horns?) who a empts to escape the cap vity of an evil castle. But what made Ico so moving, and ul mately rewarding, is the fact that you had to guide a glowing princess to safety as well. It’s this delicate and warm rela onship that you build with your fragile companion that made Ico such a phenomenal piece of work, and ul mately such a painful one. A er a while, you genuinely care about her, and although for moments you’ll curse her for slowing you down, or ge ng you into danger, you can’t bring yourself to leave her. For a game, that’s a remarkable achievement. In Shadow of the Colossus, (which is considered to be a prequel to Ico) your character is all alone bar his faithful horse. Although you don’t grow as close to the horse as you do the girl in Ico, you do grow emo onally a ached nonetheless. As you ﬁght the six gigan c beasts that make up the game, the only character you can rely on is your horse. Shadow of the Colossus also has a truly tear-jerking ending, but I won’t spoil that for you. So, can Ico and Shadow of the Colossus truly be classed as works of art? Well, as games that entertain, there’s no ques on of their excep onal quali es, and although they only sold barely a million copies between them, they were massive cri cal and cult successes. Also, on a visual and emo onal front, they both excel beyond any boundary. But, can they really be classed as works of art? Usually, I’d say no, as a game is a func onal item that aims to entertain, ul mately rendering it not art. But, in the case of these two spellbinding pieces, I can only say that they are works of unparalleled art, two of the ﬁnest examples of what a game can, and possibly should, be. Sco Tierney

phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS

CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2 PUBLISHER: ACTIVISION DEVELOPER: INFINITY WARD FORMAT: XBOX 360, PS3, PC AVAILABLE: NOW

BUCKETS OF PAIN, BUCKETS OF FUN! As an Englishman, it’s mildly reassuring to see how lightly Infinity Ward treats the lives of digital American soldiers. Pre y much the last surviving character in COD4: Modern Warfare was the ludicrously-named ‘Soap’, and he’s here again to gruffly guide you through the world’s ho est of hotspots. Meanwhile, the US Army Rangers get shot in the face by Russian terrorists. I suppose we should be thankful that it’s not friendly fire.

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Modern Warfare 2 a direct sequel, set 5 years a er the all-conquering original. You alternate between Task Force 141 – eﬀec vely the Brits, although it’s supposedly mul -na onal – and the Rangers. Task Force 141 travels the world. The Rangers? Well, they have more of a homely feel to them. More of that later. We all know the controls by now, and IW have recreated the crisp responsiveness of the original with perfect ﬁdelity. The opening training sec on has a reassuring familiarity to it as you charge through a forest of cardboard targets shoo ng anything that looks vaguely dusky or foreign-looking. Damn those insurgents... sorry, terrorists... sorry, whatever they are this month.

I’ve just got me to touch on co-op, which is also sequen ally unlocked and offers ever more challenging mini-stages for you and a buddy to work your way through. It’s nicely mixed up, with vanilla combat side-by-side with stealth missions and even a rather neat li le affair where one of you sits in a circling A-130 bomber while your cohort has to ba le across a field to reach an objec ve. Highly entertaining.

A series of exo c locales, from the favelas of Brazil to the rocky highlands of Afghanistan, are your explosive playgrounds, but the most memorable – if not the most fun – are the levels set in the good old US of A. Yup, the Russians have landed, and they’re not preaching glasnost.

“YOU’LL COME FOR THE CAMPAIGN, BUT YOU’LL BE PLAYING THE MULTIPLAYER LONG PAST CHRISTMAS.”

It’s sharp, highly competent, and although it’s short it’s s ll a fearsomely engaging experience. Perhaps it’s suﬀering slightly from thousand-yard stare... there’s li le that’s actually new here, and what is new – the snowmobile chase, for example – doesn’t feel as accomplished as the infantry sec ons. But I have to leave single player here and get onto the real reason most of us will have bought it. Mmmm... mul player.

The last word? It is, of course, searingly competent and buﬀed to a gleaming shine. Just like the last one. Some have cri cised it for not really moving the game on enough, but it seems churlish to gripe when there’s so much available here. You’ll come for the campaign, but you’ll be playing the mul player long past Christmas. Deﬁnitely mission accomplished.

Here, IW have given things a lot more thought. You expect brilliantly thought-out level design, and that addic ve side order of levelling up which keeps you trying for yet another SMG headshot. This me round, though, you have bonuses tailored toward the noob as well as the unwashed professional. Stop a guy before he reaches a decent killstreak? Bonus. Get killed 3 mes in a row then stop the rot? Bonus. Even be er, reach a certain level and you can choose your own killstreak rewards. Get ready for Team Fortress-style sentry guns, stealth bombers and the ﬁnal word in friendly team deathmatch... the tac cal nuke. Yes, you too can immerse your peers in a cloud of ﬁery death from the comfort of your own armchair. I have a warm fuzzy feeling inside, and it’s not just the radia on.

Rob Hobson

PRESENTATION: 19/20 STORY: 18/20 CONTROLS: 19/20 GAMEPLAY: 19/20 DURABILITY: 20/20

OVERALL

95/100

phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS

BAND HERO PUBLISHER: REDOCTANE DEVELOPER: NEVERSOFT FORMAT: PS3, PS2, XBOX 360, WII, DS AVAILABLE: NOW

POP, POP, POPPING ALONG…. Right off the bat, let me just say that I’m not a huge fan of the Guitar Hero/Rock Band series. I s ll like the games (at the least the first incarna ons) and the Metallica version was outstanding, but in general I feel that the series has run its course, especially when you consider that Guitar Hero 5 felt like nothing more than an expansion pack. But, is this new game, Band Hero, going to stop the rot, as it were? Unlike previous versions of the Guitar Hero series, which were rock based, Band Hero has gone down a different avenue. Instead of some good hard rock, we have some fluffy, family friendly pop. 65 tracks of pop, in fact, all by some of the worlds biggest ar sts. No Doubt, Lily Allen, The Spice Girls, David Bowie, Roy Orbison; all the big names are here, tou ng some of there best loved tunes. But has the switch from rock to pop affected the gameplay?

But on the other hand (and this is the main crux I have with the series) Band Hero is exactly the same as Guitar Hero 5. The play styles are the same, the character anima ons are the same, the menus are roughly the same and as a package, the whole thing just feels like a so er, damper version of Guitar Hero 5. Some may say, why break a wining formula, and to an extent they would have a point. Although we were highly cri cal of Guitar Hero 5, as we just saw it as an overly priced expansion pack, we did like the new features it brought to the party. But with Band Hero, this IS just an expansion pack, and nothing more. Overall, there’s a lot to like about Band Hero. There are some nice tunes, the gameplay is as good as expected and it’s s ll a great party game. But it s ll bugs the hell out of me that we should have to pay around £50 for nothing more than a few new songs, some of which are pre y poor. And if you want a vast collec on of pop tunes that everyone will know and love, get The Beatles Rock Band. Sco Tierney

Well yes and no. The pop music Band Hero boasts is going to make it more accessible to the family market. With tunes that range from the middle 60’s all the way through to the current day, everyone from the hippest of kids to the oldest of Grannies can have a bash. Also, most of the songs aren’t really ideal for guitar-based play. While the tracks for Guitar Hero were mainly aimed at people who wanted to use the guitar (although drums and vocals were catered for) Band Hero is more inclined towards vocals. It’s more of a karaoke game than anything else. So yes, the gameplay has changed in that respect.

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PRESENTATION: 17/20 STORY: 12/20 CONTROLS: 16/20 GAMEPLAY: 14/20 DURABILITY: 13/20

OVERALL

72/100

REVIEWS

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REVIEWS

ASSASSIN’S CREED 2 PUBLISHER: UBISOFT DEVELOPER: UBISOFT MONTREAL FORMAT: PS3, XBOX 360, PC AVAILABLE: NOW

ONE OF THE MOST HYPED AND ANTICIPATED TITLES OF THE YEAR FINALLY ARRIVES, BUT IS IT THE MASTERPIECE IT DESERVES TO BE? The original Assassin’s Creed was a defining example of a flawed masterpiece. It was graphically stunning, it had an excellent concept and story, and at mes the gameplay was exemplary. But all this excellence was clouded behind a mist of inconsistent ac on, repe ve challenges and twitchy controls and bugs. So, a er a rework only a sequel can provide, have Ubiso cracked it with Assassin’s Creed 2? Assassin’s Creed was always set in two worlds; the real world, where lead character Desmond is held cap ve in a mysterious laboratory, and the computer generated past created by Animus. In both worlds, me has moved on in Assassin’s Creed 2; and quickly. In the real world, (please look away if you don’t want to spoil it!) Desmond and lab assistant Lucy have a empted to escape the Lab, and are now running their own version of Animus in hiding. With the use of their own Animus, they send Desmond back into 14th century Italy, to con nue the trail of the hidden past. It’s a fantas c plot, and one of the best you’ll find in modern gaming. It’s just a shame it’s bit too ‘American’. So, let’s get into the game, and find out if Assassin’s Creed 2 is the game all the excessive hype and praise has deserved. Well, the controls that were the Achilles heel of the original have been improved. Running and jumping across improbable cityscapes is now more fluent, and although there’s s ll the occasional mad moment, it’s far more controllable than the first game.

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Visually, you’ll be hard pushed to ﬁnd a more breathtaking environment than the 15th century Venice, Florence, and the Tuscan countryside that Assassin’s Creed 2 showcases. Every inch of your ancient playground has been lovingly packed with detail, and if you invest the me into exploring the hidden sec ons, you’ll ﬁnd even more. Also, a word has to be said for the design of the menus; they are simply stunning.

“IT SHOULD BLOW YOU AWAY, IT HAS ALL THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS, BUT IT JUST LACKS THAT LITTLE SPARK THAT MAKES THE GREAT GAMES, GREAT.” As for the gameplay, to be honest it’s s ll a li le drab. It’s be er than the original, as the plot is more involving, and the controls allow you to a ack the game with more vigor, but it s ll disappoints. The missions, although more varied in this case, are s ll repe ve, and there’s nothing new to really get the heart-rate going. Nearly all the gameplay is about ge ng from A to B, and although Assassin’s Creed 2 makes this monotonous task more than exci ng, it can’t disguise the fact that it lacks depth.

To sum up, and answer the ques on of whether or not Ubisort have cracked it with Assassin’s Creed 2; begrudgingly, you’d have to say no. It’s a great game, with a compelling plot, some jaw-dropping visuals and flashes that truly capture the essence of gaming. But Assassin’s Creed 2 just never really takes off. It has everything that should make a truly phenomenal game, and like the first it should be a masterpiece, but it just isn’t. It should blow you away, it has all the right ingredients, but it just lacks that li le spark that makes the great games, great. Assassin’s Creed 2 isn’t a bad game, not by a long way, but it could, and should, have been an epic, and no ma er how hard certain reviews will tell you (however it arrives, ask Computer Bild Spiele!), it simply isn’t. PRESENTATION: 19/20 STORY: 19/20 CONTROLS: 17/20 GAMEPLAY: 17/20 DURABILITY: 16/20

Sco Tierney

OVERALL

88/100

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REVIEWS

LEFT 4 DEAD 2 PUBLISHER: VALVE CORPORATION DEVELOPER: VALVE CORPORATION FORMAT: XBOX 360, PC AVAILABLE: NOW IT DOES EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN; ALTHOUGH THE TIN’S COVERED IN CHUCKS OF BRAIN.

Nothing beats a good shooter, especially when played with a group of blood-thirsty buddies. Death-matches are great, especially for bragging down the pub, but the real enjoyment of playing with friends comes from coopera ve mode. The usual problem that arises when playing through a game with friends, is that there’s not enough bodies for everyone to shoot, and arguments can easily kick-off due to someone pinching someone else’s poten al kill. But in Le 4 Dead 2, that’s not problem; not by a long way! Le 4 Dead 2’s plot reminds us of Home Alone 2; it’s nearly exactly the same as the first apart form the loca on (and Macaulay Culkin not slaughtering sack-loads of zombies). There are four characters, and together they must escape the zombie encrusted confines of the Southern United States, star ng in Savannah, Georgia and ending in New Orleans, Louisiana. There’s a story, which has been improved upon form the first game, but to be honest it’s only occasionally comes into play, as 99% of the game is taken up with horrific zombie dismembering. The name of the game is, in the immortal words of John Virgo, to “Kill as many zombies as you can.” Graphically, Le 4 Dead 2 isn’t mind-blowing. It’s not ugly, and in fact there are sec ons of brilliance, but it’s not the best looking game we’re ever seen. But frankly, we’re glad of this, as the less detail involved, the faster the frame rate, and speed is Le 4 Dead 2’s bread and bu er. The gameplay is where Le 4 Dead 2 really comes to life, on and offline. Personally, I’m not a huge online player, and I enjoy games more for their single player experience rather than the mul player.

Le 4 Dead 2 is best enjoyed with friends, but that doesn’t mean it’s a dull experience on your own; far from it. Valve have given the gameplay a much needed depth the first lacked, with the inclusion of different zombies, more melee weapons, more intricate surroundings and smarter tac cs. It’s s ll as da and as fran c as the first, but overall it’s a more polished experience. One point that needs to be made though, and it’s not a massive cri cism of Valve or Le 4 Dead 2, is that Le 4 Dead 2 is very repe ve. Yes, it’s almost impossible to grow red of gunning zombies down, and the new plot direc on is an improvement, but it’s s ll level a er level of the same stuff. Think of it as one of those shoo ng games you see at fairs, where you have to shoot the ducks off the moving conveyer belt. Its great fun, shoo ng duck a er duck with a group of buddies cheering you on, but that doesn’t stop it get ng dull. Le 4 Dead 2 is the same in this respect, it’s just glorified target shoo ng, and although it’s not a major problem, we would have expected more from a developer such as Valve. Anyone who has seen the advert for Le 4 Dead 2 on TV recently, will probably have that “Bang bang, bang bang!” song stuck in their head. But luckily, those four words sum-up Le 4 Dead 2 perfectly; it’s just bang a er bang a er bang. Le 4 Dead 2 is non-stop ac on of the highest standard, and although there’s an argument to be made that it lacks a certain cinema c punch that Valve’s games usually have, and its repe ve nature is a no ceable flaw, it s ll remains one of the most enjoyable games of the year. PRESENTATION: 17/20 STORY: 17/20 CONTROLS: 20/20 GAMEPLAY: 19/20 DURABILITY: 18/20

Sco Tierney

OVERALL

91/100 phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS

RATCHET AND CLANK: A CRACK IN TIME PUBLISHER: SONY DEVELOPER: INSOMNIAC GAMES FORMAT: PS3 AVAILABLE: NOW

READY THE ORB OF GRATUITOUS IMMOBILISATION Unless Playsta on owners have been living under a rock for quite a few years now (not one near any Cragmites though hopefully) they’ll be well-aware of the winning formula that is a Ratchet and Clank game. Space-hopping between disparate alien planets, relentless alien annihila on with ridiculous, oﬀ-the-wall, and inspired weaponry, crate and scenery smashing in pursuit of bolts to upgrade guns, and solid pla orming – all to defeat a maniacal enemy and save the universe. The plot of course is a device to hang all of the enjoyably-silly destruc on, humour, and pla orming elements on. This me Dr Nefarious returns with a plan to take over me itself. Our heroes spend most of the game apart - while Clank tries to protect the Omniverse in his new role as Caretaker of Time, Ratchet takes on the tradi onal pla orming, rail-grinding and combat without him. The Clank sec ons are excellent and a highlight – he’s given a welcome new weapon, as well as u lising various temporal powers to carry out his new du es in a series of mini-games. Time-based puzzles involve recording and replaying mul ple versions of Clank in tandem to open doors, trigger switches and move pla orms to progress to the next area. Later ones are a real challenge, and extremely rewarding to solve. All can be skipped, at a small cost, if they prove too taxing – deﬁnitely recommended a er a night at the pub.

50 phonica magazine uk

Meanwhile Ratchet visits a series of planets in his quest to rescue his friend. This me around many of the locales and alien races feel stylis cally generic. The level design, though, is superb, and the gameplay just as much fun as ever. The presenta on is no ceably more video game than the near-Pixar quality of Tools of Destruc on, but the pay-oﬀ is clear with the larger scale of many of the environments. They are s ll gorgeous and presenta on is faultless throughout, with a startling a en on to detail. Graphically this Lombax is simply a slightly diﬀerent beast.

“THE GAME IS AN ABSOLUTE BLAST TO PLAY, TAKING MUCH OF THE BEST FROM THE PAST” The selec on of weapons slightly disappoints. Old favourites return from the previous games, in some cases less powerfully, and the new ones are mostly gimmicky and of limited use. That said, it’s always hugely enjoyable to blast away wave upon wave of enemies with most of what’s on oﬀer, and usually in combina on. To surround them with electrocu ng Tesla Spikes, and then unleash a Zurkon the Destroyer for double the carnage – or to freeze them with a Cryomine and take them down with the Nego ator? These are the kinds of tac cal decisions you constantly need to make – and they are o en as challenging as they are entertaining. A breakdancing giant War Grok under the power of the disco-crea ng Groovitron is a treat to behold.

REVIEWS

There are other small niggles. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not quite as much humour as usual. The returning inter-planetary sec ons are limited and become repe ve fairly quickly, but are op onal. Otherwise the game is an absolute blast to play, taking much of the best from the past and gently evolving it. Insomniac possesses a well-honed blueprint for the Ratchet and Clank games, and given the love and a en on to detail the developer lavishes on its crea ons, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unsurprising that ACiT delivers in almost every way. Peter Cox

PRESENTATION: 19/20 STORY: 16/20 CONTROLS: 18/20 GAMEPLAY: 19/20 DURABILITY: 16/20

OVERALL

88/100 phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS

GHOSTBUSTERS: THE VIDEO GAME PUBLISHER: ATARI, SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT DEVELOPER: TERMINAL REALITY FORMAT: ALL FORMATS AVAILABLE: NOW

52 phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS COULD THIS ACTUALLY BE THE GAME THAT THE CLASSIC FILM DESERVES? WELL, YES AND NO… Ghostbusters: The Video Game, promises a huge amount. The chance to play alongside the stars of the films, figh ng off ghosts while wise-cracking the danger away is a hugely likeable premise, and one that is hard to resist. But has all the charm, character, comedy and chills that made the films so enjoyable, been successfully exported to the game? You play the role of a new recruit to the Ghostbusters team, who joins up 2 years a er the events of the second film. Alongside the central Ghostbusters team, you play your way through a whole host of missions that are interlinked with the events of the films. On paper, this sounds like a terrible mish-mash of regurgitated material, which if lazily handled by a developer trying to make a quick buck off the back of a great franchise, could have been a disaster. But thankfully this is not the case, as every cast member from the original films (Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, William Atherton, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Annie Po s) has lent their full support to the project. Aykroyd and Ramis also aided script produc on, and it has made a massive difference to the game as a whole. Aykroyd has said that “this is essen ally the third movie.”, and although that maybe a bit of an over-statement, he’s not far from the mark. Despite all the extensive produc on Ghostbusters: The Video Game received, there’s s ll an awful lot wrong with the package. There’s a lot to like, but for every plus point there’s a nega ve point not too far away, and that’s a real shame. For instance, aesthe cally, Ghostbusters: The Video Game looks fantas c. The se ngs are wonderful, the character anima ons are spot-on and the laser beam weapons are a joy to behold. But at mes, during intense ba les, the screen can become overly crowded with everything from explosions, enemies, flashes, and lasers, which massively affects the gameplay as you can’t tell what’s going on. It’s like a fireworks display in a pinball machine; fun to watch, but you wouldn’t want to be in there!

This good point/bad point concept con nues to the gameplay. At mes it’s superb, as you and the guys blast ghosts to pieces with your laser beams. There’s also a well balanced mix of humour and chills, and the cast do a great job of involving you in the ac on. But it’s infuria ngly repe ve. Every level is fundamentally the same; catch some ghosts, shoot some ghosts, kill a boss, crack a gag. It would have been nice to have a li le change now and then, even if it was something as simple as an occasional set piece. You don’t even get to drive the car, Ecto 1, which would have been a fantas c inclusion (you do get to on the DS version though). Also, it should be noted that there are a lot of bugs, that at mes completely stop the single player game. AI characters o en become stuck or trapped, the sign-pos ng is at mes awful and the dialogue ming is all over the place. As said, there’s a lot wrong with Ghostbusters: The Video Game, but also there’s plenty to enjoy, and thankfully the good (just about) overshadows the bad. Overall, there’s a lot to like, if not love, about Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Yes it’s repe ve, buggy and ﬂawed in nearly every department, but to a certain extent it’s hard to care. When you’re standing next to a pixel-based Bill Murray, blowing a dining room to pieces while exchanging chummy gags, all the ﬂaws just fade away. At the end of the day, you’re a Ghostbuster, and it doesn’t come much be er than that! Sco Tierney

PRESENTATION: 17/20 STORY: 17/20 CONTROLS: 15/20 GAMEPLAY: 16/20 DURABILITY: 15/20

OVERALL

80/100

phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS

DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS PUBLISHER: ELECTRONIC ARTS DEVELOPER: BIOWARE PLATFORM: PC, XBOX 360, PS3 AVAILABILITY: NOW

HERE BE DRAG-ONS I have yet to meet an RPG that doesn’t take a while to get going. This does, of course, mirror the produc on lifecycle. Bioware have been fiddling with their swords for 5 years, and this hotly an cipated tle from the granddaddy (or, at least, the slightly patrician big brother) of RPG gaming has a lot riding on it. First up: this is a console review of what should be, in my opinion, a PC game. It’s not that I don’t love my console, but some things are happier in their natural environment and the inherent nitpicking of a solid, complex RPG always seems to me to suit a keyboard and a mouse rather than a controller. Sadly, this is as true of DA as it is of any of its peers. First up, it’s just pre er on the PC. Anyone who’s played Oblivion will be familiar with the idea of looking at a lot of talking heads while we get on with the exposi on and plot. And you do here, too, but the lack of verisimilitude on the facial features and anima ons is... well, it’s not nice. Then there’s the control system. There are, as RPG fans can readily imagine, a whole lot of commands, item screens and whatnot to manage, and although they’ve been mapped as neatly as I can imagine onto the limita ons offered by a controller, it s ll feels as though you should have a keyboard there. Oh, you can choose to map certain things to certain face bu ons. You can pull up a nice li le in-game radial menu to fiddle with your equipment. It’s not bad. It’s just not enough, and that’s the console’s failing rather than the game’s.

But where it becomes tough to the point of knuckle-gnawing is in the combat. See, this is a party RPG and your management of the guys and gals in your party is crucial. When you’re all ge ng stuck in to one of the bigger bosses, or a medium-sized horde of lesser nas es, you need to pause a lot. An awful lot. Yes, you can queue up orders and yes, you can set up reasonably complicated standing orders. But it feels pernickety and fussy... far from the flowing sensa on that I’m sure Bioware wanted to offer. OK, forget all that. It’s an RPG, and it really lives or dies on the world Bioware has created. Here, they certainly have delivered. It’s not ground-breaking fantasy... demons, dragons, dwarves and elves are present and correct. But it’s done with thought and care, and it gives us RPG fans what we really crave: complexity and loot. You want to feel as though the world is living and you’re affec ng it. You want to pick up something really awesome when you’ve slaughtered a beas e the size of a bungalow. You do and you can. There’s some great voice-ac ng, some memorable characters and some lovely set pieces. And if you’re as much of a nerd as I am, you’ll play it all over again as one of the 6 different characters you can choose to be, just to see how it can work out differently. It’s good. It is, honestly, very good. Sadly, it’s not great, and in my heart of hearts, I know I’d be having more fun with a Quad Core. Sorry, console. I’m just not that into you anymore. Rob Hobson

PRESENTATION: 15/20 STORY: 17/20 CONTROLS: 12/20 GAMEPLAY: 12/20 DURABILITY: 14/20

OVERALL

70/100

54 phonica magazine uk

phonica magazine uk

56 phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS

BUCCANEER: THE PURSUIT OF INFAMY PUBLISHER: BLITZ ARCADE UNDER BLITZ 1UP DEVELOPER: STICKMAN STUDIOS PLATFORM: PC, XBOX 360 AVAILABLE: NOW

RUM, GOLD AND BROADSIDE CANNONS – BUCCANEER HAS IT ALL. Whether you’re sailing around looking for merchant ships to bombard and destroy, or coastal towns to pillage and terrorize, Buccaneer has it all. To be completely honest, I wasn’t expec ng much when I ﬁrst opened the program and started playing, but the game is much be er than I ﬁrst thought.

Having said that, there is a rather guilty sa sfac on when you watch your shots land slap-bang into your target – the pleasure you get from seeing that damned corsair ship (that was chasing you for God-knows-how long and peppering your hull with its measly a acks) sinking into the blue is incredible at mes.

In Buccaneer, you are a pirate captain in a crew that is down on its luck and simply is not infamous enough to be recognized around town. The crew decide to put you in charge of an old veteran ship and ask you to do various missions in order to improve their infamy and their dwindling stocks of loot.

“THERE IS A RATHER GUILTY SATISFACTION WHEN YOU WATCH YOUR SHOTS LAND SLAP-BANG INTO YOUR TARGET.”

A er making some quick improvements to the ship you head out on a mission of your choice (mine was to destroy a number of fisherman huts on some islands), and a er the rather long loading screen you are presented with a rather simple screen, with your ship in the middle and a compass in the corner of your screen. Both the mouse and keyboard are used, in a manner similar to first-person shooters, and players will soon realise that shoo ng their cannons is actually fairly difficult – the cannons are placed exactly at 90 degrees to your bow and more o en than not, you’ll waste ammo shoo ng off in various direc ons.

Buccaneer is a fairly well balanced game but there are a lot of improvements to be made on the whole. I don’t really think that pirate games have the pull of fantasy games or shoot-em-ups and the market for these games are quite a small niche. Having said that, for those who are interested, Buccaneer is a good place to start.

Movement is also very awkward – a lot of the me you end up sailing in circles desperately trying to loot some ﬂoa ng cargo that a sinking ship dropped, ge ng more and more frustrated with every pass of the precious booty.

OVERALL

Paul Park

PRESENTATION: 15/20 STORY: 14/20 CONTROLS: 16/20 GAMEPLAY: 15/20 DURABILITY: 12/20

72/100 phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS

WET PUBLISHER: BETHESDA SOFTWORKS DEVELOPER: ARTIFICIAL MIND AND MOVEMENT FORMAT: XBOX 360, PS3 AVAILABLE: NOW

STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE? PROBABLY, BUT WHAT A STYLE! There’s a common theme doing the rounds in games of late; the make-it feel-like-a-movie style. It’s probably got a be er name than that, but it essen ally means that developers adopt a style that makes the gamer feel like they’re taking part in a film. Valve set the benchmark with the excep onal Half-Life back in 1998, and since then a whole host of developers have gone to excessive lengths to try and capture the same feel. Well, this new shooter, Wet, has taken the theme to new heights, but has the gameplay been neglected as a result? Wet is very much an OTT shooter, with every effort made to make it ooze style. The story behind the ac on (which isn’t all that relevant) is pre y simple; you play the role of a Lara Cro type ac on girl, Rubi Malone, as she goes around shoo ng stuff and drinking Tequila. Every now and then a big baddie will turn up, u er something evil in a gravely voice and unleash a horde of enemies. So, Rubi will have to finish her drink, shoot it, and start whooping some naughty bo om. It’s a very loose plot, but as I say, it’s irrelevant.

58 phonica magazine uk

Wet’s best point, by a long way, is its manic style. The basic premise is that it’s like watching an old 70s B-movie, complete with mid-way adverts and reel changes. The whole game is wrapped in the celluloid of a film, so throughout gameplay, speckles of dust and hairs flicker over the screen. It’s a nice effect, but it does make you feel nauseous a er a while. Also, every now and then, usually when Rubi losses her rag because some guy’s head exploded in her face, the style goes into something similar to a Frank Miller daydream. It’s quite an effect, especially when streams of white blood shower the camera, but unfortunately it’s quite hard to see where you’re going. A word must be said about the soundtrack, which is superb. Its rough-rock beats and La n tempo really adds to the game’s pace, and makes the experience all the more exci ng. But the original ques on s ll remains; has this style detracted from the gameplay?

REVIEWS

“OVERALL, WET IS GREAT IN PLACES, DOUR IN OTHERS.”

To a certain extent, you’d have to say yes, although the cinema c feel does bleed through to the gameplay. Wet u lizes a common method of making a game seem explosive, by using prolonged sec ons of slow-mo on. So when Rubi dives across a room, the slow-mo kicks in and you can pick off the targets one by one. Wet is an absolute riot at mes, as enemies fill the room and you have to perform more and more insane acroba cs to dispose of them, but it does become repe ve. The worst aspect is the gun-shot sound effect, that a er a while becomes as welcome as someone hammering at 2:00am. Also, during fight sequences, Wet doesn’t flow too well. When compared to the epic Batman: Arkham Asylum, which had fight sequences that wouldn’t have looked out of place at a West End ballet, Wet trudges. It’s not bad, but it just lacks that extra edge. Overall, Wet is great in places, dour in others. Occasional moments of brilliance are apparent, but they do get lost under horrid ‘bang bang bang’ gunshots and dusty filter. In a way, Wet is very much like Stranglehold, the hit and miss John Woo shooter; there were some great moments (the shoot-out with the band was hysterical) but ul mately it was let down by a lack of innova on and dodgy controls. It’s the same with Wet; looks great, plays well at mes, but at the end of the day, it’s just not quite good enough. Sco Tierney

PRESENTATION: 18/20 STORY: 14/20 CONTROLS: 14/20 GAMEPLAY: 14/20 DURABILITY: 15/20

OVERALL

75/100 phonica magazine uk

F1 2009 PUBLISHER: CODEMASTERS DEVELOPER: SUMO DIGITAL FORMAT: WII, PSP AVAILABLE: NOW

RACING’S PUREST FORM ARRIVES ONTO THE WII WITH MIXED RESULTS

60 phonica magazine uk

REVIEWS Right oﬀ the bat, let me just say that I wasn’t expec ng a lot from F1 2009. Judging by the early screenshots, the previews that have been available for the past few months and the fact that it’s a Wii game, F1 2009 didn’t look all that great. Well, was I wrong to be so nega ve, and has F1 2009 exceeded expecta ons? No; of course it hasn’t. The ﬁrst thing that strikes you about F1 2009 is the graphics; my word, they’re bad. Although the Wii isn’t the most powerful of consoles, as that’s not what Nintendo focused on, you’d expect be er graphics than this. To give you an idea of how bad the visuals are, I recently revisited the N64 game, F1 World Grand Prix, just to get a rough comparison. Bearing in mind that this is a twelve year old game, the graphics, in places, are actually be er than F1 2009! We don’t judge a game totally on its graphics, as there’s far more to a game than just eye-candy, but these are very poor indeed.

Also, the diﬃculty is all over place. With F1 2009, the designers have tried to use a similar ‘fair play’ system to Mario Kart, where if you’re winning the cars behind catch up, and if you’re losing, you can make up ground. This works well in a game as silly as Mario Kart, but in the world of F1, it just doesn’t work. For instance, you can power past a similar car without any problem, but on the next corner they’ll go past you like you’re not even there. So you catch them up, pass, and the whole cycle happens again. It’s very demoralizing, not to add monotonous! One feature that F1 2009 can be commended for is the excellent career mode. If you want to really experience an F1 season, or three, then this is for you. You start out as a rookie, taking part in test days, and then once you’ve secured a drive, you move on up the teams. The race days are also excellent, with every detail and eﬀort made to make them as real as possible. It may not be for everyone, but it’s the best way to enjoy a game such as this.

“THERE’S NOTHING WORSE THAN HITTING AN APEX PERFECTLY, THEN HAVING TO STAMP ON THE BRAKES AND SLIDE INTO THE NEXT CORNER LIKE A DOG ON ICE.” Let’s move along, leaving the car-crash visuals behind, and take a look at the bread and bu er of any racer; the controls. Uni zing the Wii remote, you can steer your F1 car with a fair amount of direc on. This is great, and although it’s a li le vague for some of the ghter street circuits (don’t go to Monaco!) generally it’s very good. The big problem, handling wise, is the thro le and braking applica ons. In recent games, primarily on the Xbox 360 and PS3, you can easily control the accelera on and braking with the triggers, as you can adjust how much of either is applied. But on the Wii, you can only use bu ons 1 and 2, so you’re either fully on the brakes, or not. This is ﬁne for games like Mario Kart, or Excite Truck, but when the name of the game is to be as precise and as smooth as possible, it complexly ruins any sense of control. There’s nothing worse than hi ng an apex perfectly, then having to stamp on the brakes and slide into the next corner like a dog on ice.

Overall, F1 2009 is a bit of a let down, even though we weren’t expec ng much. Apart from a few good play-modes, and the occasionally stu er of excellent racing, it’s very poor indeed. But let’s be honest, this is only a warm up, as the real version of this game, F1 2010, due for release next year on the Xbox 360 and PS3, should be the actual ﬁnished version. Fingers crossed anyway. Sco Tierney

PRESENTATION: 9/20 STORY: 18/20 CONTROLS: 10/20 GAMEPLAY: 12/20 DURABILITY: 15/20

OVERALL

64/100 phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

PHONICA’S 20 RECOMMENDED EXPERIENCES HALF LIFE 2

MORTAL KOMBAT

GEARS OF WAR 2

MAX PAYNE

CALL OF DUTY 2

(Xbox, Xbox 360, PC, PS3)

(MegaDrive, SNES, PC)

(Xbox 360, PC)

(PC, PS2, Xbox)

(PC, Xbox 360)

STAND OUT MOMENT: “The game is made up of them, but scraping through Ravenholm has to be one of the best.”

STAND OUT MOMENT: “Seeing a man rip another man’s spine out for the ﬁrst me was a life changing moment; in a good way!”

STAND OUT MOMENT: “The moment when Dom ﬁnds his wife is astonishing, and painfully hard to bare.”

STAND OUT MOMENT: “Nothing could prepare you for your ﬁrst slow-mo dive; the birth of bullet- me.”

STAND OUT MOMENT: “Packed with excep onal moments, but the Normandy beach landing is remarkable.”

FORZA MOTORSPORT 3

MODERN WARFARE 2

DEUS EX

QUAKE 3 ARENA

X WING

(Xbox 360)

(Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

(PC, PS2)

(PC, Dreamcast)

(PC)

STAND OUT MOMENT: “Pushing the limits of your bravery, as you man-handle the deadly but rewarding, Nurburgring.”

STAND OUT MOMENT: The break-neck snowmobile chase; perfectly setup and executed.”

STAND OUT MOMENT: “Realising you can save your brother and desperately trying to do it. The whole game, let’s be honest.”

STAND OUT MOMENT: “Running around with a fully loaded rocket launcher screaming “COME GET SOME” over Teamspeak.

STAND OUT MOMENT: “The horror of realising at seven years old that if you got killed your character lost his status permanently.”

62 phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

MARIO KART 64

PSYCHONAUTS

BIOSHOCK

BALDUR’S GATE 2

HALF LIFE

(N64)

(PS2, Xbox, PC)

(Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

(PC)

(PS1, PS2, PC)

STAND OUT MOMENT: “Launching that killer lightning strike or blue shell and zooming past your opponents is more fun than most racing games.”

STAND OUT MOMENT: “Joyfully leaping around the imagina on of a character’s mind; genius yet so simple.”

STAND OUT MOMENT: “Descending into the depths of Rapture s ll sends a shiver down the spine.”

STAND OUT MOMENT: “When you realise Yoshimo, a loyal member of your party, is actually a traitor.”

STAND OUT MOMENT: “Witnessing the epic opening experiment ﬁrst hand, as the world crumbles around Gordon Freeman.”

COUNTER STRIKE

SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS

WORLD OF WARCRAFT

THE SIMS

BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL

(PC)

(PS2)

(PC)

(PC, PS2)

(PS2, Xbox, PC, GC

STAND OUT MOMENT: “There’s no experience like LAN-ing it up with complete strangers and ending up being best buddies a er 4 hours of non-stop trash talking and fragging.”

STAND OUT MOMENT: “Taking down one of the giant beasts, a er endless hours of struggle.”

STAND OUT MOMENT: “No game can touch the social experience that this game brings you.”

STAND OUT MOMENT: “Before you realised that killing the Sims was possible, actually building a successful life was a lot of fun.”

STAND OUT MOMENT: “Running through the roo ops knowing that you have no way of ﬁgh ng and have to escape.”

phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

Size weight Frequency Screen Pixels camera resolu on memory/compa bility bluetooth GPRS WLAN Browser Java Messaging Radio Music downloadable games downloadable ringtones Ba ery talk me - mins (max) Ba ery standy - hours (up to) bluetooth carKit compa ble

Nokia 6730

Nokia 5530

Nokia E75

Nokia 6210

Nokia E63

112 x 46 x 12.6 mm 83 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 320 3.15 MP 48 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 No Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

104 x 49 x 13 mm 107 g Quad-band/3G 640 x 360 3.2 MP 70 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32/HSDPA Yes Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/AMS Yes

111.8 x 50 x 14.4 mm 139 g Quad-band/3G 320 x 240 3.2 MP 50 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32/HSDPA Yes Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

103 x 49 x 14.9 mm 117 g Tri-band 320 x 240 3.2 MP 120 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/miniUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32/HSDPA No Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

113 x 59 x 13 mm 126 g Quad-band 320 x 240 2 MP 110 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 Yes Wap/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC/WAV/WMA MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC/WAV/WMA MP3/AAC/WAV/WMA

MP3/WAV/AAC/WMA

Yes Poly/MP3 600 500 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 222 244 Yes

Yes Polyphonic & MP3 660 432 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 294 351 Yes

Yes MP3 340 264 Yes

Sony Ericsson Naite

Sony Ericsson C901

Sony Ericsson C510

HTC Magic

HTC Hero

108 x 47 x 12.6 mm 84 g Quad-band 240 x 320 2 MP

105 x 45 x 13 mm 107 g Quad-band 240 x 320 5 MP

107 x 47 x 12.5 mm 92 g Quad-band 240 x 320 3.15 MP

113 x 55 x 13.7 mm 118.5 g Quad-band 320 x 480 3.15 MP

112 x 56.2 x 14.35 mm 135 g Quad-band/3G 320 x 480 5 MP

100 MB/microSD

120 MB/Memory S ck Micro ™

100 MB/Memory S ck Micro ™

288 MB/microSD

288 MB/microSD ™

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No Wap/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes No Wap/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No Wap/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

Yes/miniUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 Wi-Fi HTML Yes,via 3rd party SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

Yes/A2DP/miniUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 Wi-Fi HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

MP3/MP4/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/AAC/MP4

MP3/MP4

MP3/AAC+/WAV/WMA 9

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 564 380 Yes

Yes Poly & MP3 570 430 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/Aac 420 400 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 450 420 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 420 750 Yes

64 phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

Nokia N97

Nokia 3720 classic

Nokia 5800 Xpress Music Sony Ericsson Aino

Sony Ericsson Yari

117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm 150 g Quad-band/3G 640 x 360 5 MP 32 GB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 Wi-Fi WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

115 x 47 x 15.3 mm 94 g Tri-band 320 x 240 2 MP 20 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 11 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

111 x 51.7 x 15.5 mm 109 g Quad-band 640 x 360 3.2 MP 81 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 32 Yes WAp/xHTML/HTML/WML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

100 x 48 x 15.7 mm 115 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 320 5 MP 60 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No Wap/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

104 x 50 x 15.5 mm 134 g Quad-band/3G 240 x 420 8.1 MP 60 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10/HSDPA Yes WAP/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

MP3/AAC/eAAC/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/MP4/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/AAc/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/AAC

MP3/eAAC+/WMA

Yes MP3 570 430 Yes

Yes Poly/MIDI/Real Tone/MP3 420 450 Yes

Yes Polyphonic & MP3 528 406 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3 270 360 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/AAC 600 450 Yes

Apple iPhone 3G S

Apple iPhone 3G

INQ Chat 3G

BlackBerry 8520

BlackBerry Bold 9000

11.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm 135 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 320 3.15 MP

11.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm 133 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 320 2 MP

114.5 x 61 x 12.8 mm 93 g Tri-band/3G 176 x 220 3.2 MP

109 x 60 x 13.9 mm 106 g Quad-band 320 x 240 2 MP

114 x 66 x 14 mm 133 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 320 2MP

16/32 GB (internal)

8/16 GB (internal)

120 MB/Memory S ck Micro ™

256 MB/MicroSD

1GB/microSD

Yes/USB Yes/EDGE Wi-Fi HTML (Safari) No SMS/MMS/Email No

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Yes HTML (Safari) No SMS/Email No

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes Yes Net Front Yes SMS/MMS/Email No

Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 Yes HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 Yes HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

MP3/MP3 VBR/AAC/WAV

AMR/AAC/AAC+/eAAC

MP3/AAC/WMA/AAC+/MP4/WMV MP3/WMA/AAC+

Yes Poly & MP3 720 300 Yes

Yes Poly & MP3 600 300 Yes

Yes Poly/MIDI/MP3 270 408 Yes

AMR/AAC/AAC+/eAAC/MIDI/MP3/WAV

480 170 Yes

Yes Poly & MP3 300 310 Yes

phonica magazine uk

THE GUIDE

BlackBerry 8300 Curve Samsung S5600V Blade Samsung Genio Touch

Samsung B3310

Samsung Jet

107 x 60 x 15.5 mm 111 g Quad-band 320 x 240 2MP 64MB/microSD Yes/USB Yes/EDGE No HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM No

91 x 54 x 17 mm 101 g Quad-band 240 x 320 2 MP 40 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

108 x 53.5 x 11.9 mm 110 g Quad-band/3G 480 x 800 5 MP 2/8 GB (internal)/microSD Yes/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 12/HSDPA Wi-Fi WAP/Dolphin Yes SMS/MMS/Email/Vidoe/MS Exchange Yes

102.8 x 54.8 x 12.9 mm 92 g 240 x 320 pixels 240 x 320 3.15 MP 50 MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 12 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

103 x 56.5 x 12 mm 90 g Quad-band 240 x 320 2 MP 40 MB/microSD Yes/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email Yes

MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/WMA/AAC

MP3/MP4/eAAC+/WMV/WMA

MP3/MP4

MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA/AMR

Yes Poly & MP3 240 408 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 120 250 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 480 730 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 300 380 Yes

Yes Poly/MP3/WAV 492 422 Yes

Samsung U900

LG GM750

LG BL40 New Chocolate

103.2 x 49.3 x 10.9 mm 81.5 g Quad-band 240 x 320 3.2 MP 80MB/microSD Yes/A2DP/USB Yes/EDGE Class 10 No WAP/xHTML Yes SMS/MMS/EMS/Email Yes

109.8 x 53.5 x 12.9 mm 120 g Quad-band 240 x 400 5 MP

128 x 51 x 10.9 mm 129 g Quad-band 345 x 800 5 MP 1.1 GB/microSD Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes/EDGE Class 10/HSDPA Yes WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/EMS/Email/IM Yes

128 MB RAM/256 MB ROM/microSD

Yes/A2DP/microUSB Yes Yes WAP/xHTML/HTML Yes SMS/MMS/Email/IM Yes

MP3/MPEG4/AAC/eAAC/WMA

MP3/MPEG4/WAV/eAAC+/WMA

MP3/MP4/WAV/DivX/eAAC

Yes Poly & MP3 210 220 Yes

Yes Poly & MP3 380 450 Yes

Yes Poly & MP3 240 400 Yes