the mobile phone and gaming magazine www.phonicamagazine.co.uk
Issue 6
2
7
16
18
20
38
40
46
48
50
phonica magazine uk
EDITOR IN CHIEF Kevin Leonce
GAMING EDITOR Sco Tierney
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Peter Gray
CONTRIBUTORS Rob Hobson Ian Duncan Paul Park Charles Thompson
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 Š 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.
phonica magazine uk
3
EDITOR’S LETTER HAPPY HOLIDAYS Order the ham and turkey online….check. A empt to buy and decorate Christmas tree….check. Sort presents…..ammmm raincheck. The bells are jingling, kids (young and old alike) are being extra nice, fearful any naughty behavior can lead to Santa (who happens to be their Dad stuffed in a Santa suit) not leaving any presents. But hey, the fes ve holiday season is a me to make others happy. This issue we have stuffed as much goodies as we could, spreading the joy of great deals, swell reviews on what games to get for Christmas Day and ones to keep all to yourself! Be careful of your conduct if you’ve got an Xbox Live. Microso has adopted a no tolerance policy for those who exploit and a empt to abuse the glitches found in games, with consequences unthinkable for gamers….not to men on embarrassing. One can only an cipate the smiles and excitement on Christmas morning, the smell of ham and turkey as a soultry perfume, while you unwrap those Christmas presents. From all of us at Phonica Magazine, Merry Christmas! Enjoy reading. Your Editor in Chief
Kevin Leonce kevin@phonicamagazine.co.uk
4
phonica magazine uk
THE GUIDE
PHONICA’S 20 RECOMMENDED PLATFORMERS SUPER MARIO 64
CRASH BANDICOOT 3: WARPED
BANJO KAZOOIE: NUTS AND BOLTS
(MegaDrive)
(N64)
(PS1)
(Xbox 360)
“Disgus ng toilet humour and a very average game, but if you don’t find killing an enemy with a fart, funny, then there’s something wrong with you.”
“Took Mario from the 2D world of old into the 3D world of new; truly excep onal gaming.”
“Personally, I can’t stand the irrita ng li le cre n, but you can’t argue with his games.”
“Not technically a pla ormer, as it employees some very clever engineering aspects, but a pla ormer at heart.”
PRINCE OF PERSIA: WARRIOR WITHIN
BOOGERMAN: A PICK AND FLICK ADVENTURE
(GC, PS2, Xbox, PC)
“Arguably the best Prince of Persia game, and that itself speaks volumes.”
CASTLEVANIA: SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT
EARTHWORM JIM
SUPER MARIO GALAXY
BRAID
SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
(PS1)
(MD, SNES, GBA, PC)
(Wii)
(PC, XBLA)
(GBA, NES)
“Dark, spooky and incredibly playable; a really enjoyable experience.”
“Earthworm Jim, dededede der deerr, Earthworm Jim, dededede der deerr, earthwo…you know the rest!”
“Packed with ingenuity and inven on; a classic piece of modern gaming.”
“As a game, it is masterfully fiendish and intricate, but it’s Braid’s heart that makes it so memorable.”
“It’s s ll an absolute joy to play, and the benchmark for all pla ormers that followed.”
phonica magazine uk
5
6
phonica magazine uk
REVIEWS SONY ERICSSON W395, W995 & C903 WE PUT THREE OF SONY’S FINEST HANDSETS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE, AND SEE WHAT’S WHAT. Here at Phonica, we’ve got a love/hate rela onship with Sony’s mobiles. On one hand, we love their build, quality, func onality and features. But on the other hand, we find their design and style to be dull, and hugely underwhelming. So, when we received this Sony Ericsson trio, we weren’t hoping for anything but the usual dreary yet clinical experience. And to a certain extent, we were right. Let’s take a quick background check on each of these handsets. Both the W395 and W995 are predominantly music and movie based, with all their features focused in the direc on of on-thego entertainment. The C903 is aimed at the market that likes to have a camera on them at all mes, while s ll having enough gizmos to entertain and delight. They each serve a purpose, albeit to a differing degree of success.
phonica magazine uk
7
REVIEWS AVATAR: THE GAME PUBLISHER: UBISOFT DEVELOPER: UBISOFT MONTREAL FORMAT: PS3, XBOX 360, PC, WII, PSP AVAILABLE: NOW
BLASTER LA VISTA I don’t know what James Cameron is like in person, but I think it’s fair to say that his cinema c oeuvre lacks subtlety. This isn’t a cri cism - you don’t watch Terminator 2 for the intricate moral and social subtext – but it does mean that you walk into Avatar with certain preconcep ons. Avatar is, of course, the game inspired by the upcoming cinema c megabuster. If you happen to have missed the trailers, it’s based around a struggle between the human RDA and the blue humanoid gazelle / kangaroo hybrids, the Na’Vi. And in the game, you can choose to play as either. It’s a reasonably early decision and leads to substan ally different gameplay, with the humans ge ng a sort of Colonial Marine standard 3rd-person shooter layout, and the Na’Vi a melee-based leap-from-tree-to-tree type… er… thing. It’s almost irresis ble to men on Borderlands at this point, because Avatar has a similar RPG element to it. You level up, unlocking weapons and various buffs as your bodycount rises. These, in turns, can tweak how you play the game, from all-out war to a slightly stealthier approach. Enough with the mechanics. Given that a reasonable number of people stopped reading the moment it was made clear that this is a game based on a film, it seems only fair to reward the rest of you by saying that this isn’t a bad effort at all. It’s undoubtedly pre y… in fact, there’s a dis nctly Star Wars feel to the lush alien foliage and oddball beasts. Apparently the game’s been in development for over 3 years, making this considerably more of a labour of love than, say, the execrable Terminator game rushed out to coincide with the equally dubious film some months back.
8
phonica magazine uk
Having said that, the lushness masks a pre y basic set of game concepts here. When you’re choosing your side, for example, the game’s careful not to present you with a clear good-or-evil layout. There are moral cases for both sides… you’re not simply a bunch of humans intent on rapine and pillage, or a commune of doe-eyed naturists with a handy penchant for triggering explosive vegeta on. But the way the game makes you play out either scenario is fundamentally the same: kill everything you see. As R Lee Ermey once said, God may love the marines for exactly that reason. It’s just that these days I demand a li le more dressing on my moral salad. I’m going to go out on a li le bit of a limb and say that you’ll enjoy Avatar, assuming you’re the sort of person who’d even consider buying it. It’s easy on the eye. It performs well. Playing either side will give you a sa sfying few hours of mayhem. Underneath it, though, I failed to detect any of that moral or social subtext. Perhaps I should have walked past the James Cameron movie and bought the cket for the Werner Herzog instead. Rob Hobson
PRESENTATION: 17/20 STORY: 13/20 CONTROLS: 15/20 GAMEPLAY: 16/20 DURABILITY: 14/20
OVERALL
75/100
phonica magazine uk
9
10 phonica magazine uk
phonica magazine uk
11