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WILL YOU FIGHT FOR THE FELLOWSHIP? OR DESTROY [T?
“THE MOST EXCITING RPG SINCE FINAL FANTASY.”
— Electronic Gaming Monthly
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” © 2001 Nintendo. Ali other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. EA GAMES
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Explore deeper into epic battles in the first RPG set in Middle-earth. Define the rules of engagement through an innovative
turn-based battle strategy. Enhance your weapons, fighting styles and character development with every completed mission
from the trilogy. Or just fight on the side of evil and destroy everything. Your new quest begins at eagames.com
ONE NINES
; THE ee AGE
VICTORY DOESN’T CARE HOW YOU GET THERE.
Over 500 cars from every automotive era will test you. Up to 100 of the
world’s most elite tracks will challenge you. Hordes of interactive
spectators will judge you. The rest of the pack will pick apart
LIVE IN YOUR W2XRLOD. ; : PLAY IN QURS: whatever's left. Contenders and champions, prepare to be separated.
©2004 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All manufacturers, cars, names, brands and associated imagery featured or organizations is not intended to be or imply any sponsorship or endorsement of this game by such party or parties. In Ours.” and “The Drive of Your Life” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
Visit www.esrb.org K for updated rating information. GY
POLYPHONY OGG, PA A
PlayStation.c
GRAN TURISMO ‘4
THE REAL DRIVING SIMULATOR
THE DRIVE OF YOUR LIFE.®
in this game are trademarks and/or copyrighted materials of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Any depiction or recreation of real world locations, entities, businesses “PlayStation,” the “PS” Family logo and © are registered trademarks, and Gran Turismo is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Live In Your World. Play
halo2.com
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© 20041 Regency Entertainment (USA) nay in the U.S, only. © 2004 Monarchy Enterprises $.a,c1. in all other territories. All rights eget. Vivendi U Vi q i J in the U.S. and/or other countries, All rights reserved. Games; ENicrostt. Xoy mespy”. ire ii I ise In. Al rights rese eet se éamdhe Soldec | ai : ; Te NR b renistored trademarks of Sony Com nputer ( ol h y e (tor
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SHLECT GRAPHIC CHASE LATER
FLIP ROSLZONTALLY FLIP VERTICALLY SWAP BACKWARD
SWAP FoawARD CoPT 10 OPEN LATER
ST + PLAY OVER 20 GKATEABLE CHARACTERS
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©2004 Activision, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark and THUG is a trademark of Activision, Inc. All rights reserved. Tony Hawk is a registered trademark of Tony Hawk. PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox versions developed by Neversoft Entertainment, Inc. Game Boy Advance version developed by Vicarious Visions. Blood “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Online play requires internet connection, Network Adaptor reas aan (for PlayStation 2) and Memory Card (8MB) (for PlayStation 2) (each sold separately). The Online icon is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Suggestive Themes TM, ®, Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo GameCube are trademarks of Nintendo. ©2001 Nintendo. Microsoft, Xbox, and the Xbox logos are either Use of Alcohol registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. PC CD-ROM Violence logo TM & ©2003 IEMA. GameSpy and the “Powered by GameSpy” design are trademarks of GameSpy Industries, Inc. All rights reserved. The ratings icon is a ESRB CONTENT RATING www.esrh.ory registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. Screenshots taken from PlayStation ® 2 platform.
STARING AT?
It’s Team HAWK vs. Team BAM in an all-out World Destruction Tour!
* STORY MODE _— ey eae
ACTIVISION.
activision.com
www.thugZonline.com
There is nothing | can’t do No truth | can’t find No evil | can’t stop
Blood ; Mild Language Ke 2 PlayStationee Violenc
bey >< —le 4 SOFTWARE GAMEDUBE. °
FREE RAD GAL
GENIUS AT PLAY™
contents
issue 185 - december 2004
LETTERS
24 You never call, you never write. Keep in touch at EGM@ziffdavis.com
PRESS START
The latest news, previews, features, and gaming gossip
32 METROID PRIME 2 Adventure, light, darkness, and a hot chick inside a walking tank
38 METAL GEAR SOLID 3 A look at some of the characters in the upcoming Metal Gear sequel
42 NINTENDO DS NEWS First glimpse of Madden, Spider-Man. 2 details, and other fresh DS info
46 MILITARY TRAINING Videogames teach us something ..#* other than how to shoot. Oh wait
48 KINGDOM HEARTS II First hands-on preview.
52 ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT We get five top game designets to create the ultimate game
56 CELEBRITY INTERVIEW Korn’s Jonathan Davis prefers both his gaming and music hardcore
58 TRAINING DAY A chronicle of a day in the life at the Full Sail Game School
62 AFTERTHOUGHTS: FABLE With the chicken punting and village slaughtering over, we reflect
64 ONLINE other day. We didn’t have anything else to run, Three new maps for SOCOM II
ea ate THEETANTO. Goma oe SO we gave.it some coverage. You probably We cover the thingsitoikriow about won't care, but we threw in some. exclusive
this truly monster title screens and new details, too. Slow news month. 71 JAK3 We take a brief tour of the upcomin sinter peomng | REVIEW CREW 72 HALLOWEEN COSTUMES | Where bad games go to die How to dress up as game characters without the social stigma of cosplay
156 FIFA Soccer 2005 144 Tony Hawk’s Underground 2: 156 Conflict: Vietnam 162 Men of Valor
74 WIRELESS CONTROLLERS World Destruction Tour 158 ESPN NBA 2K5 vs. NBA Live 2005 164 Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors Our rigorous testers find the best of 148 Leisure Suit Larry: Magna
the best for each console
Cum Laude 75 CHEAP TRICKS 148 Demon Stone 160 King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 164 Mega Man Zero 3 Game scams from the cheap and 150 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: 160 Blood Will Tell clever Battle Nexus 161 Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne 150 Robotech: Invasion 161 Guilty Gear Isuka 168 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
ONLINE PREVIEW GUIDE 152 Mortal Kombat: Deception 162 Monster Hunter
86 A taste of the newest batch of games
designed to eat your time editorial TRICKS OF THE TRADE Mj The Halo 2hype Bungie Studios, for this cover story. A the new screenshots do most of the 174 Game counseling, codes, and cheats was getting way minute into my first multiplayer match in _ talking, so don’t expect some 50,000- 4 : out of hand. Sure, months, | was back on the bandwagon. word monster of an article. | don’t like G A ME OVER this magazine This game is seriously good, and | can overly wordy, boring, fluffy stories (notice Fi ; df ‘3 contributed to that tell you that no Halo fan will be how some websites take 5,000 words to Meee Me ary bases , . as much as anyone, _ disappointed with this sequel.* Most of write what can be said in 200? No 178 REST OF THE CRAP j but seriously...it got © you bought an Xbox because of the first thanks). The info (and lots of damn purdy
179 CROSSWORD % to the point where! game; Halo 2 will reaffirm that purchase screenshots) is all here, though. Enjoy. didn’t care about the game anymore. But _ ten times over. —Dan “Shoe” Hsu, Editor-in-Chief 181 NEXT MONTH as ‘ ; then | went to visit the developers, | hope you like our cover story. We let “This is no guarantee, fools. 182 HSU & CHAN
All content copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. Reproduction, modification, or transmission, in whole or in part, by any means, without written permission from Ziff Davis Media Inc. is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.
14 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
| be “It’s possibly the most beautiful GCN title ever made®
— Nintendo Power BB on
aoe : The world of Baten Kaitos exists in an era where lands float in the sky and the once-vast oceans are mere legend. With your help, Kalas and Xelha must struggle to reveal
the mystery of the lost ocean and destroy the corruption that threatens their world.
re ee
Embark upon an emotional journey across a richly Vivid, pre-rendered backgrounds are alive with subtle, An unconventional card-based RPG system
imagined world and detailed character development ambient animations. Enjoy gloriously rendered unites all elements of gameplay with over 1000 spanning over 60 hours of gameplay. battle environments and astounding spell effects. types of “Magnus” cards.
Vannweeian batenkaitos.namco.com
for updated rating www.namco.com
BATEN KAITOS™ Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean&©2003 NAMCO LTD., ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. TM, ®, and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo. All rights reserved. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.
information.
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DAN “SHOE” HSU, Editor-
Being the boss has its privileges. Like being able to hire clue- less college kids for little to no pay to come in and take care of fun things like alphabetizing our game library and writing the table of contents. Read all about it on egmjosh.1UP.com. 1UP.com Blog: egmshoe.1UP.com
Now Playing: Halo 2, Halo, Burnout 3, Advance Wars 2, Otogi 2 Fave Genres: Just about everything
MARK MACDONALD, Executive Editor
After Mark finished playing Halo 2 for this month’s cover story, he calmly handed back the controller, folded his hands neatly on his lap, and this happened.
1UP.com Blog: egmmark.1UP.com
Now Playing: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Monster Hunter, Burnout 3, Midway Arcade Treasures 2, Doom 3 (PC) Fave Genres: Action, Adventure, Shooters, Fell Meats
JENNIFER TSAO, Managing Editor
Jennifer only had one game to review this month, so she decided to use all her spare time to finally fulfill a childhood dream: become a spokesmodel for the world’s finest picnicware. It isn't as easy as she makes it look.
1U®.com Blog: egmjennifer.1UP.com
Nol Playing: Tony Hawk’s Underground 2, Burnout 3
Fave Genres: RPG, Adventure, Action Sports, Rhythm-Action
CRISPIN BOYER, Senior Editor.
Crispin isn’t really a Space Invaders alien—he just plays one in the magazine. No, he hasn't fallen in with a cosplay gang. He’s just modeling one of the cheap and easy game-themed Halloween costumes we show you how to build on page 72. 1UP.com Blog: egmcrispin.1UP.com
Now Playing: Burnout 3, Fable, Midway Arcade Treasures 2 Fave Genres: Action, Adventure, RPG
Curious what virtual vixens look like when deprived of their g ments, Shane investigated the “Gaming Grows Up” pictorial in the latest Playboy. He found it considerably easier, classier, and cheaper than playing The Guy Game. Had better control, too. 1UP.com Blog: egmshane.1UP.com
Now Playing: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, Rumble Roses Fave Genres: Action, Adventure, RPG, Fighting, Karaoke
DEMIAN LINN, Reviews Editor
Don’t believe Crispin—he wears that Space Invader outfit 24/7 these days, chafing be damned. “My rig,” he calls it, as in “Where the hell’s my rig?” and “Who stole my damn rig again?” Speaking of cosplay, look, it’s reader Steven Dyke! (right) 1UP.com Blog: egmdemian.1UP.com
Now Playing: Burnout 3, THUG2, City of Heroes (PC), FIFA 2005 fave Genres: Action, Hockey, Racing, Fighting
BRYAN INTIHAR, News Editor
Where’s Bryan? Where did he go? Look closer, people. He sim- ply took some advice from his ol’ pal Mario and got a little flatter to avoid unwanted visitors. Or maybe Bryan just enjoys looking at himself while working. We suspect the latter. 1UB.com Blog: egmbryan.1UP.com
{ow Playing: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, THUG 2 Fave Genres: Action, Adventure, Sports
The Contributors
@ Veteran EGMer SHAWN SMITH is sick of being forced to sit six feet in front of the boob tube to play games, so he rated the best wireless joypads for each system on page 74.
@ New York City-based writer LAUREN GONZALEZ challenged designer Kerri Mahoney to con- coct four game-themed Halloween costumes for less than $40 each.
@ Freelancer SCOTT STEINBERG held five famous gamemakers at gunpoint and forced them to create a blockbuster title just for EGM. We preview it on page 52.
20 ¢ ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
Guest Reviewers
JON DUDLAK
No longer an EGM staffer, Jon now bores barflys with stories of “the good ol’ days.”
GREG FORD
The Classic Gaming Expo: $20. Vintage Road Runner arcade game: priceless.
KEVIN GIFFORD At 6' 5", Kevin was too busy terrorizing vil- lagers to write a bio this month.
DAN LEAHY
The recent batch of hoops games has Dan reliving his days as the “white tornado.”
PATRICK MAURO Ready for the onslaught of hate mail his b-ball reviews are sure to inspire.
JOHN RICCIARDI If you see John in Japan, yell “Hey whitey!” and pre- tend it wasn’t you when he looks.
JUSTIN SPEER Regular contribu- tor Justin adds a notch to his free- lance belt as a guest reviewer.
EVAN SHAMOON Despite his obvi- ous weight prob- lem, we rarely refer to Evan as “Shamoo.”
ROBERT ASHLEY 2,000 miles into his move, Robert realized Summer of Love ’04 had been canceled.
JOSHUA CAIN Our new intern made beating staffers at Halo look easier than his friend’s mom.
SHAWN ELLIOTT
There, thei
Don’t worry about ex-EGM staffer Shawn. He’s in a better place now.
@ You know those other sources of gam-
ing info GMR, OFFICIAL U.S. PLAYSTA- TION MAGAZINE, XBOX NATION, and 1UP.COM? Well, we oft gank their peeps to help us get our write on.
Editor-in-Chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu Executive Editor Mark MacDonald Managing Editor Jennifer Tsao Senior Editor Crispin Boyer
ditor Shane Bettenhausen Editor Demian Linn
Editor Bryan Intihar
Tricks Editor David Hodgson International Editor John Ricciardi Japanese Correspondent Yutaka Ohbuchi DESIGN
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CONTRIBUTORS
Chris Baker, Che Chou, Robert Coffey, Kevin Convertito, Digital Foundry, Eneone, Chuck Ernst, Matt Leone, James “Milkman” Mielke, Thierry “Scooter” Nguyen, Christian Nutt, Greg Orlando, Jeremy Parish, Joe Rybicki, Marc Saltzman, Michael Sexton, Norm Scott, Seanbaby, Rey Serrano, Carrie Shepherd, David Smith, Justin Speer, Scott Steinberg, Giancarlo Varanini, Koichiro Hayashi, John Gaudiosi, Claude Errera, David Kushner
Founder Steve Harris
Senior Vice President Dale Strang Editorial Director John Davison Creative Director Simon Cox
Business Director Bill Daniher
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VP/General Manager Tom Jessiman Internet S. Account Manager Bill Young Editor-in-Chief Sam Kennedy
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Research Director May Tong
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To contact Sales and Advertising, please call 415-547-8000
Chairman & CEO Robert F. Callahan President & COO Bart W. Catalane
Chief Financial Officer
Derek Irwin
Senior Executive Vice President, Publishing Operations
Michael J. Mille’ e Vice President,
al Counsel & Secretary Gregory Barton
Senior Vice Presidents Tei
& Sales Operations)
EEK) wide Licensing)
Charles Mast (Circulation) Sloan Seymour (Enterprise Group) Dale Strang (Game Group)
Jason Young (Internet) Vice Presidents
Ken Beach ( S)
Sara DeC: a Marketing)
Aaron Goldberg (Market Experts)
Jim Has! (Event Marketing Group)
Julie Herness (Event Marketing Group)
Tom Jessiman (VP and General Manager, 1UP.com) Michael Krieger (Market Experts)
Charles Lee (Integrated Media) Jim Louderback (Editor-in-Chief, Internet) Eric Lundquist (Editor-in-Chief, eWEEK) Chris Maginn (Internet)
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four ae last line. You
with the weapon anuite echnol This is the
I
Visit www.esrb.org |i i a ces
for updated rating |} | DN he WAR )%
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@nds for-4-player split-screen offline.and on Xbox Live™!
jase A Tom Claney’s
; f Py 452004 Réd Storm Entertainment. All’Rights Reserved. Ghost R f Ubisoft Entertainment in the U'S. and/or other countries. R »S/and/on other countries. Red Storm Entertainment, Ing i MB emarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Gard(8MB) (for PlayStation 2) (each solth Xbox, Xbox Live, the Live fogo, and tHE t in other countries and are used under licep
S
ranting, raving, and one helluva ride
Is that ? Ever hear of a component called the DTEC that lets you tune your car with a Game Boy Advance? Is this thing real?
—Tony
It’s real all right. A representative from TurboXS wasn’t available for comment, but the manufacturer’s website claims the product comes preloaded with software that lets you use your GBA as an exhaust or gas gauge, boost gauge, air temperature gauge, and tachometer. A release date and pricing are still pending.
not an issue So EGM #184 shows up and everything seems normal until | turn to page 27 and see none other than TV's Wild Boyz,
POST OFFICE
Steve-0 and Chris Pontius, posing in lame neon leotards to advertise the latest Crash game. Then on pg. 401 find Crash Bandicoot among the few games Steve-O says he'd take to a desert island. Gee, | wonder why that is?
—Manny
At least there was nothing improbable about him picking NFL 2K and Tony Hawk’s Underground, two series he also starred in.
Exceed the bounds of In EGM International, Issue #181, you covered the gritty man-on-man game Friendship Adventure. | smelled a put-on (you didn’t list a publisher or developer), but with some detective work, | finally found a site that sells it. Thing is, | still won't believe it until | see some screenshots. If this is down-and-dirty, no-holds-barred male bonding...well, | just need to see it to believe it. If possible, can you prove me wrong by forwarding some footage?
4 >
ae a —Gary Jones
D> A quick trip to Chippendales might answer some questions
you didn’t even know you had.
Now there’s Director George Lucas can’t stop adding special effects and scenes
of the month
to his Star Wars movies, so when is he gonna tweak the Super Nintendo Super Star Wars trilogy? He could include more colors, add bass to the beeps and boops, and have Greedo shoot first.
—Jared Thorbahn
Get
I'm an Xbox owner without Xbox Live, but |
want the bonuses. Has Microsoft considered
offering downloadable content on discs for
those of us without broadband connections? —Miguel Martinez
“We understand that not all gamers have broadband connections,” answers a Microsoft spokesperson, “which is why we’ve included features that were
Ranting and raving from our message boards, boards.1UP.com (look for Electronic Gaming Monthly's forums)
All hail the Chief
How do you plan on making time to play Halo 2? Have any special plans for the day that it hits stores?
Solidsnake64: I’m installing a toilet in my recliner.
ThePIG: Since games are generally
24 ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ¢ www.1UP.com
released on Tuesday afternoons, | only schedule a.m. classes that day and none on Wednesday.
Xenonexus182: I’m holding a Half-Life 2 pride parade at the local Electronics Boutique to show everyone where the real first-person-shooter action is at this holiday.
Skellington: | could use a clone.
Kurdel: I’ll start stocking up on energy drinks in the coming weeks.
Breaker22: I’ve already warned my wife not to expect to watch TV that day...or any thereafter.
Mariofan420: The stench of the sewers will take a liking to me.
Erdricks_Boxers: | had plans to visit a friend and fellow Halo fan in Orlando this October. I’ve now postponed the flight till November 8.
Firestar46: Stay overnight at my local game outfit with a George Foreman grill.
Congrats, Alessia! As our Letter of the Month writer, you’ve won a free game from our stash! Maybe your dad or boyfriend can teach you how to play it, so you don’t mess up your hair in frustration... Just kidding!
originally released via Xbox Live on exhibition discs sold at various retail outlets like Electronics Boutique and Best Buy. Such discs contain content for games, including Unreal Championship, Ghost Recon: Island Thunder, and Star Wars: Clone Wars. \n addition, Xbox Live content has also been distributed through discs included with various videogame magazines.”
The customer is
Ever since online gaming kicked into gear, I've been wondering why Nintendo is so reluctant to jump on an obviously profitable bandwagon. Well, I'd like to thank President Satoru Iwata for elucidating the issue with his insightful observation that “customers
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&
¢ ah Re ie +,
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¢ =
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Fantasy Violence } LIVE IN YOUR WXRLD.
game bn Eee PlayStation.c INS@MNIAC PLAY IN GURS.
Games
___ Online piay requires internet connection, Network Adaptor (for PlayStation 2) and Memory Card {8MB) (for PlayStation 2) (each sold separately). Online icon is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Ratchet and Clank is a registered trademark of Sony Computer ¥ i y Insomniac Games. © 2004 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Live in Your World. Play in Ours," is a registered trademark of Sony
lea tne. nih ae PRR Sera
Computer Entertainment Amer
do not want online games.” Thanks for nothing, Iwata: You are absolutely insane. —Matthew O'Leary
Just so you know, the online gaming isn’t a huge moneymaker—yet. That’s another reason Nintendo’s been reluctant to enter that side of the business. But when the company finally is ready, will it be too late? Sony and Microsoft are already establishing a strong, loyal online-gaming base....
* es, o#s
Nitta
\
™ GAME DESIGN-O-RAMA
Got proof that game design is best left to the pros? Send your concept (with art) to EGM@ziffdavis.com, subject: design-o-rama
HORSESHOEZ STREET
Step out of the barnyard and into the boroughs to pitch toilet seats at
parking meters
street signs. Handspring, somersault, have at it: The ballsier your handle, the more bling you take home. Make enough
‘Il be
money and you
chucking platinum- plated, iced-out crapper chairs—and don’t forget to accessorize with fashions including camouflage cowboy hats. It’s tack-tossing with rewritten rules, ya heard! —Rory Manion and Shawn Elliott
and
Pee ane eNom WU CMe LiAy® www.1UP.com
My husband’s a hardcore gamer: He spent hundreds of dollars on vinyl stickers for his truck. Challenge him to a game of Burnout next time he cuts you off (VIP Redeemer is his tag). —Sarah Newman
Maddening Madden NFL 2005 is flawed. “Formation Shift,” which allows you to move offensive players at the scrimmage line to confuse the defense, apparently works too well. Keep calling the command as you come out of the huddle, and the opposing defense will get so fatigued that it all but falls over. To counter the glitch, the player on defense would need to call an audible. This solution wasn't good enough for EA, however, so instead of offering a patch to rectify the problem, it’s forcing us to play online ranked games with fatigue turned off, even though the fatigue option shows that it’s turned on. Many of us buy and play Madden for its true-to-life simulation of the NFL. While turning fatigue off prevents cheaters from exploiting the error, it also takes away some of the game’s strategy and realism. Players are already calling more quarter and dime defenses because they know that, no matter how much you run the ball, their defense will still be fresh as daisies for the next play.
Want to see Madden play more like a sim again? Sign the petition at www.petitiononline.com/madden05/ petition.html.
—E.M. Vazquez
EA Sports isn’t offering much comfort. A rep responds: “To protect the game’s integrity for the vast majority of online Madden players, we turned off fatigue so that the game could not be exploited. Gamers who monitor their own quality of play can play unranked games with whatever settings they prefer.”
Oops
The Y2K bug has finally caught up to our
Commodore computers. (We set
the clocks ahead four years
ago and didn’t give it another thought until things started going screwy.) The damage: We forgot to mention that the screens in our Tony Montana, Meet Tommy Vercetti sidebar (Scarface cover story, EGM
#183) came courtesy of
www.gamechronicles.com. Also, all quotes in last month’s GTA: San Andreas cover story were from Rockstar VP of Creative Development Dan Houser, not President Sam Houser. And finally, in our story “Best Offers” (EGM #183), which compared game-retailer trade-in deals, we incorrectly stated that both EB Games and GameStop offer only store credit for used games and not cash. Both chains do offer cash, although they pay 20 percent less than the store-
credit amount.
Readers sound off on EGM’s special newsstand
premium Petty
DVDs.
aw PATCH GAMcSr PA
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To tell the truth, | wondered what, without demos, you’d include to make the disc worthwhile. So while | rightly figured that I’d already seen the gameplay footage online, the goofy Mega64 skits took me by surprise.
Funny stuff.
—Scott Hausetter
Being stuck on a dial-up Internet connection (shakes fist at remote countryside property), | don’t have time to download videos, so watching them on the DVD is really convenient. The classic game demos [Gauntlet and Smash TV] are a great idea, too. —Jon Sorensen
| loved watching the Zelda trailer on my 32-inch TV screen in all its glory rather than on some tiny QuickTime window. But | also learned that Seanbaby isn’t nearly as funny in
person as he is in print.
—Jacob
[Game-geek cover band] The Minibosses music videos rocked. Mega64’s real-life re-creation of Shenmue had me rolling. | couldn’t care less about some of the other stuff on the disc, but the bonus
material is choice.
—Mike Cole
We give this game
10 out of 10
Team Meves
EVERYONE
Cartoon Violence
P
TRAINED AS AN ELITE MIG AGENT YOU'VE BEEN EXPELLED
FROM THEIR RANKS FOR YOUR RECKLESSNESS AND SRUTALITY. NOW, AS A ROGUE AGENT, YOU'LL USE YOUR TRAINING ALONG WITH AN ARSENAL OF OVER 100 TWO-FISTED WEAPON COMBINATIONS TO SHOOT YOUR WAY TO THE TOP OF THE CRIMINAL UNDERWORLD. YOUR SINGLE-PLAYER,
SPLIT-SGREEN MULTI-PLAYER OR ONLINE GRUSADE FOR VENGEANCE BEGINS 7 a VP a
Suggestive Themes
Violence
oriwirlik!. BROADBAND ONLY
SRB Game experience ma (olaF-lave(emeltlatare Reka) iam ENYA
Ze its a PlayStation.-2
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Challenge Everything”
press start
gaming news, previews, a really mature link, and other stuff
CATIONS... ..
The light-and dark.meat of
_ “dimension= ‘jumping gameplay...
hink you have a good idea about what to expect from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes based on the
recently released demo GameCube disc? Think again. “That version is primarily action,” says Nintendo Manager of Public Relations Tom Harlin. “It set up a lot of things so you could go down this path run- ning and gunning, but what it didn’t have is a lot of the exploration elements. Prime 2 is still a first-person adventure, as opposed to a first-person shooter.” In other words, expect a lot more story, exploration, and puzzle elements than the bite-sized demo might have you believe.
Key to these more cerebral aspects of the game are the two different dimensions— dark and light—of the planet that you, as infamous bounty hunter Samus Aran, land
32 ¢ ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ¢ www.1UP.com
upon. “This world of Aether is in distress because space pirates have been mining [the mysterious energy-matter] phazon, causing a rift,” says Harlin. A peaceful race native to the world, the giant moth-like peo- ple known as the luminoth find themselves under siege by the ing—nasty, spider-like creatures from the newly created dark side of the planet. Originally sent to answer a distress call from stranded federation troop- ers, Samus eventually agrees to help the luminoth in their fight to save Aether.
The two versions of the planet make for the biggest gameplay shift in Prime 2. “You need to traverse back and forth between the light and dark worlds to solve puzzles,” says Nintendo rep Thom Leonard, “or you'll see parallels between the two worlds, and you'll have to figure out how to use that to your
advantage.” Leonard shows us an example: A bridge in the light world leads to a black portal, not to a certain ledge we need to reach. A switch nearby might move the bridge, but it looks transparent and faded—
given a Tim Burton makeover with pitch
black rocks and an ominous purple sky. Just
existing in this bleak alternate dimension can hurt; outside the sphere of light energy “rest areas” (sometimes provided by shoot-
“Prime 2 is a first-person adventure,
not a shooter.”
like a hologram. “It’s in a dimensional flux,”
says Leonard, “so you can’t activate it there.
But this is where the light and dark world interaction comes in.”
Remember that portal? We jump through it and arrive in the dark-world version of the room we just left: structurally similar, but
—Tom Harlin, manager of public relations at Nintendo
ing special crystals, other times provided by live animals you need to follow), Samus slowly loses health. Another difference is that switch—it’s now solid and fully func- tional. Activating it causes what looks like a shadow of the bridge to move, signaling what's happened over in the light world.
ATTENTION FANS OF MONKEYS AND BALLS: SEGA RECENTLY ANNOUNCED PLANS TO RELEASE A DELUXE VERSION OF THE HIT ROLL-AROUND ACTION/PUZZLER SUPER MONKEY BALL
Given Prime’s lock-on targeting, Samus’ ability to roll into a ball, and the unique control scheme (the second analog stick is used to change weapons, not look around), it should come as no surprise that Echoes’ multiplayer is different from your average first-person shooter's. Although most of the differ- ent game modes and maps have yet to be revealed, what we've played was simple and fast paced, but fun—more of Wis. ; w4ll55) ng a a twitchy arcade experience. In deathmatch, two to four players (splitscreen) each try to rack up the most kills, using power-ups like super missile, extra damage, death ball (where you need only roll into another player to kill them), and controllable turrets. Another mode challenges everyone to collect the most coins from defeated enemies.
@ Samus’ screw attack returns, allowing her to smash through blocks and bounce back and forth up passages.
@ Once she equips the Dark Suit, Samus takes less damage while exploring the dark world.
Jump back through the portal and sure
enough, the path has shifted. Now we can | Sy ‘ = lag p pe. Oe
reach our goal. % g Activate portals to the two different dimensions by shooting them Stay within the safe confines of these light zones to slowly
Similar puzzles are Salil throughout with light or dark beams. regain health in the dark world. Prime 2, but they aren't the only implication
of the focus on light and darkness. For
one thing, ing occasionally make the dimensional jump themselves, possessing creatures in the light world and turning them into stronger, nastier versions of their former selves. Light and dark beams also become available eventually, each more effective against creatures from the oppo- site dimension. Even a mysterious black version of Samus (who bears a striking resemblance to the one in the best ending of the original Metroid Prime) is running about. Thought you destroyed her (it?) after the boss fight at the end of the Prime 2 demo? Like we said, that was just a taste;
The Echo visor sends out pulses of sound to detect objects you The “rooms” in Prime 2 are generally much larger and more wide
the main course arrives November 15. 1% can’t see with the naked eye (just like Ben Affleck in Daredevil). open than those in the original game. —Mark MacDonald
FOR BOTH PS2 AND XBOX, FEATURING LEVELS FROM SUPER MONKEY BALL 7 AND 2, ALL THE ADDICTIVE MINIGAMES, AS WELL AS 46 ALL-NEW STAGES. IT'S DUE OUTIN EARLY 2005....
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com * 33
E You stay in wonderland and I show
you how deep the rabbit hole goes.
1b A 8 IR QT NR a ATED
Zi th i ge HS EN BS CS le Re LE WOMEN
APA: A TR
(PSs te ~
intense fighting i in wire- fi and bullet-time. The chance ‘to alter Matrix history forever. And a huge, ever-evolving wane the likes of which have never been seen in MMOs. It’s /4e (Matrix Online and the rabbit hole just got deeper.
Visit www.esrb.org @ for updated rating
Sega is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. SEGA and the Sega logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Sega Corporation. Developed by Monolith Productions, Inc. MONOLITH and the Monolith logo are trademarks of and © Monolith Productions, Inc.
TM and © Wamer Bros. Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. THE MATRIX ONLINE characters, names and all related are trademarks of and © Warner Bros.Entertainment Inc. 2004.
Rian Bt ina i
PWagknue|
To pre-order, jack into www.thematrixonline.com
GRUDGE MATCH
May the breast man win
Ag
"SIX FEETUNDER
Microsoft buries Xbox’s
—
THE GUY GAME GIRLS GONE WILD
With a whole Internetful of porn at your fingertips, you’d have to be a real boob to pay good money for soft-core smut. Yet here we are watching two fine examples of marketable masturbation material duke it out. Everyone wins
in this Grudge Match, kids. And no, it won’t make you go blind.
PREMISE Chicks flash
Chicks answer
team-based sports titles
t’s time to pay your respects,
sports fans—the gaming com-
munity recently lost four fran- chises to the ongoing jock war: NFL Fever, NBA Inside Drive, Inside Pitch, and NHL Rivals. Continuous attacks from respected combatants EA Sparts and ESPN Videogames over the past three years proved to be too much, leading Microsoft to pull the plug on these inter- nally developed sports series,
{Third-party} developers are filling the
title pipeline with,an abundance of great
Still Kicking
ae
989 Sports — After sitting out this season on the gridiron and hardwood, Sony’s sports division says it will unveil a new game plan for these categories at next May’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, the industry’s annual trade show.
games ‘across many genres,” says a company spokesperson. “Now, we can focus on creating epic, platform-defining games like Forza Motorsport and Halo 2.”
But this doesn’t mean Microsoft is retiring from sports. WFL Fever and co. are survived by the 7op Spin (tennis), Links (golf), and Amped (snowboarding) series. And while no official announce- ments were made, it’s expected that the threesome will return to their respective playing fields once the company launch- es its next console,
Midway Sports — Also on IR this fall are the NFL Blitz and NHL Hitz series. A company rep tells us that in the future, its football and hock- ey games will be “more lifestyle driven” a la NBA Ballers, Midway’s surprise roundball hit.
36 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
Photograph by-Kevin Gonvertito
camera Advantage: Giris Gone Wild
FUN FOR
trivia questions
wrong, flash camera
As many as will fit in the frat-house rec room Advantage: Giris Gone Wild
FILE UNDER
Up to four players (share controllers at your own risk)
Little room with saloon doors in back of video store Advantage: Girls Gone Wild
CLASSIER ACT
Action, not getting any
Girls ride each other Advantage: Girls Gone Wild
Girls ride big inflatable blue balls
SOMETHING FOR THE GALS
Satisfaction of not having appeared in this videogame Advantage: The Guy Game
Um, swimsuit ideas?
>> FOR THE NINE OF YOU WHO DON’T OWN A GAME BOY ADVANCE SP YET (AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE), NINTENDO HAS RECENTLY CUT THE PRICE OF ITS HANDHELD TO $79.99... >>
Tt 8 j =) , Defeat the Straitjacket Escape
é) ANENANCE NG
=)
b TEEN
ne) Bie ‘
* RNA al
Ni SS gn
SS Ae
t = Gioenis) iy
one —————_ ——__) a
¢ Compete against a colorful cast of characters in 12 spine-tingling stunts Survive Helicopter, Havoc
¢ Random phobias impact your ability to complete stunts
¢ Head-to-head competition for up to six players at a time * Live-action video clips from the show on your GBA screen * Control the Fear Meter and become the FFU Champion!
Ae, PMCS
playentertainment
Mild Violence
ESRB CONTENT RATING www.esrb.org
() press start
@ PlayStation 2
METAL GEAR SOLID 3: SNAKE EATER
Declassified information on this fall’s subversive sequel
ure, you’ve been briefed on unexpected plot twists flow like wine all the sneaking, snake-eat- in the MGS universe, so expect MGS3 ing, and general bad-assery to be no different. Even though we of Konami’s upcoming Metal Gear know next to nothing about the story adventure, but there’s one thing miss- _line, we have tracked down some lim- ing from most of the Snake Eater cov- _ ited intel on the game’s principal @rage so far—any clue as to what the players. Soak in what you can before hell is going on. Wildly imaginative accepting the mission this November.
Characters, crazy situations, and
Naked Snake
This is “Naked Snake,” not “Solid Snake.” He’s “naked” because that’s his mission profile—he has the minimum amount of equipment
and is to procure supplies and pro-
visions off the land. He’s “Snake”
because he was part of Boss’ Cobra
Unit in World War II before moving on
to the Green Berets. The most recent
MGS3 trailer showed Snake (in creepy
skull face paint) making a differ-
ent, more dramatic aerial
entry into enemy ter-
ritory. What’s up
with that?
“The HALO
{high altitude
low opening]
parachute jump is from the pro- logue—since this second jump is
something that is after the HALO jump, we made it a reckless one,” explains Metal Gear head honcho Hideo Kojima. “In other words, Snake is going through an even tougher infil- tration sequence.” Hmm...is this second infil- tration in the real game then? Also, even though Kojima won’t confirm it, we’re still convinced that Snake in this game grows up to be Big Boss in the later MGS titles.
38 ¢ ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
—Thierry “Scooter” Nguyen
’ SEE
Sokolov
The wimp wearing the
monocle is Dr. Sokolov, an‘
exiled Soviet scientist seeking asylum in the United States. The good doctor has some involvement in
the Metal Gear project, so the U.S. government wants him on their side. At the game’s outset, Snake receives orders to extract him him from Tselinoyarsk, a mountainous area deep in Soviet ter- ritory. Will Snake succeed? Unclear at this point, but we do know that the doctor gets attacked by a massive swarm of bees somewhere along the way.
Hope he’s not allergic.
Revolver Ocelot Hmm, a surly Spetsnaz offi- cer from the Ocelot unit who likes using pistols? You've seen this guy before—albeit in much older form—in both Metal Gear Solid and Sons of Liberty. In
this prequel,
he’s a
cocky
young
officer whose
skill with an
automatic pistol
is rivaled only
by that of
Snake. Will
they become
friends by the
end of the
game? Will
Big Boss’
relationship
to Ocelot be
fully explored
here? It
should prove interesting...
>>TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE HAS FOUND A GOLDEN TICKET—THE PUBLISHER HAS SECURED THE RIGHTS TO CREATE GAMES BASED ON NEXT SUMMER'S MEGABUDGET FLICK CHARLIE AND
Eva
Who’s the hottie popping out of the jumpsuit? That’s Eva. Not much is known about her, but at least we see that she’s on Snake’s team. Not
only does she look
like a saucy love interest for
Snake, but in
the latest
trailer, she
also drives
a motorcy-
cle while
Snake sits
in the side-
car Miss
Piggy style,
capping
fools along
the way.
Kojima con-
firmed that this
isn’t just a cut-
scene: You'll
actually control
Snake while
Eva drives.
THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, STARRING HOLLYWOOD HUNK JOHNNY DEPP. HIGH VOLTAGE SOFTWARE (HUNTER: THE RECKONING) |S WORKING ON THE CONSOLE VERSION.... >>
Who’s the strange-looking guy with the electric hands? Seems to be the main villain, one Colonel Volgin. We have no idea why his hands are electric, or
why his face is so messed up. We can
see that he’s
ex-Russian military
and possibly stages
some sort of coup
by having Ocelot
snatch Sokolov
from some KGB
guards. On top of
that, he fires a
miniature nuclear
missile into a
group Russian sol- diers...not very
nice. Oh, and
Boss seemingly
defects to his side,
and as a test of her loyalty, Volgin orders
her to cut out Snake’s eyes. Sweet guy,
isn’t he?
~ ¥ >
ow as
eI
Solid Strategy Konami's stealth-espionage series has another card up its sleeve in Metal Gear Ac!d for Sony’s upcoming PlayStation Portable. No really—this one’s a card- based strategy game featuring charac- ters and environments from MGS1, 2, and 3, plus a few fresh faces like the blondie shown here. Look for a hands- on report of Ac/d next issue.
UE 5S Smo ae ES
Boss
Everything Snake knows? He owes it to Boss, a chilly-yet-beau- tiful female SAS solider who served with Snake in the Cobra Unit during World War Il. (She has no relation to MGS’s Big Boss...well, that we know of, anyway.) In Snake Eater, she defects to Russia, presenting her
newfound comrades
with some small
nuclear missiles \_ 4
as a gift. It’s
tough to figure
out her exact
relationship with
Snake from
what little we've
witnessed:
We’ve also seen
her beating the
crap out of
Snake, not to
mention
snapping
his arm in
half. Love
hurts, don’t
it...
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com « 39
Begin Your Journey
Ptay(htine mye §=s-Enter the amazing world of Vana’diel® Join an ever-growing population of adventurers in exploring the only online FINAL FANTASY game, the award-winning FINAL FANTASY XI! | pase . Be? piMAL FANTASLL
Available for Windows”
-
Or specially packaged with the Hard Disc Drive
for your PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system
The world of Vana’diel gets even a=. bigger with this FINAL FANTASY XI 2c expansion pack, featuring massive eh new regions to explore, frightening —™-» new enemies to engage, and an unfolding mystery to confront.
Animated Blood CD-ROM Mild Language ‘SOFTWARE! Violence atte
CONTENT RATED BY ESRB for
Game Experience May Change During Online Play Windows
A WORLD
a aiid
THIS EXPANSION PACK CANNOT BE PLAYED WITHOUT INSTALLING THI and subscription fees. Online play requires internet connection, Internal Hard:
© 2001-2004 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD, All Rights Reserved. IMAGE ILLUSTRATION: © 2004” Y e $ trademarks of Square Enix Co., Lid. SQUARE ENIX, the SQUARE ENIX Jogo, PLAYONLINE. the 5 ademarks of £ 1h, S Q) uU AR | Cc Ni >.< ‘Square Enix Co., Ltd. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the Unit andthe Way 9 f i Log It's Meant to be Played Logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Gorpors tries. “Pla and the"PS= 5)
Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc: The Online icons a stainment America Ine, The ratings www. playonline.com icon is @ trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. MA 2004, é = ; Y
ADVANCEMENTS
Launch date, price, and other tnfo
on Nintendo’s new handheld
ark your calendar and break
open your piggy bank—
Nintendo has finally announced the launch date (November 21) and price ($149.99) of its portable DS. The dual-screen handheld will also come preinstalled with the DS messag- ing program PictoChat and packaged with a demo of the first-person shooter Metroid Prime: Hunters. And peep below for more Nintendo DS news, Be: ™ including a first glimpse at Madden NFL 2005 and exclusive info on how Spider-Man is webslinging through a two-screened Manhattan.
—Bryan Intihar
and Koichiro Hayashi
TORE ELL
Huddle Up
What a surprise—another system, another Madden. EA Sports brings its gridiron jug- gernaut to DS in full 3D (EA swears that the launch title will sport much prettier visu- als than these early screens). Like its full-sized cousins, this smaller Madden will include a bevy of options, including season and practice modes, two-minute drill, full stat-tracking, and two-player wireless multiplayer. As for its unique DS functions, you'll be able to use the lower touch screen to call plays and audibles, check hot routes, shift defensive alignments, and even kick the ball.
A Tingling Sensation
Your friendly neighborhood superhero will swing onto Nintendo’s new handheld at launch with another game based on the blockbuster movie sequel. But it ain’t no port; Spider-Man 2 will use the DS’s second screen to provide players with hints, let
them change special moves on the fly, and spice up boss battles and puzzle solving. “In one boss fight against Doc Ock, we switch to a first-person view on the bottom touch screen and the player has to web and deflect debris,” says CEO Karthik Bala of Vicarious Visions, the game’s developer. “In another touch-screen game mode, the player has to carefully defuse a bomb before time runs out.”
42 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
Can You Hear Me Now?
In a recent report, the financial firm TNI Securities stated that thanks to the DS’s Wi- Fi abilities, the system is capable of voice chat and should have the ability to make free phone calls at wireless network hotspots like Internet cafes and airports (pre- sumably using some kind of cell phone headset-like device). As with DS’s release date and sticker price, Nintendo has yet to confirm these features.
Will FFV/ (left) and Chrono Trigger (right) make their way to DS? Maybe.
rT é DS Squared When Square Enix released the Game Boy Advance version of Final Fantasy | & Il in Japan this past summer, the company included a survey card asking gamers which of its 8- and 16-bit classics they’d want to see on DS. The list included the likes of Final Fantasy Ill, IV, V, VI, Chrono Trigger, Romancing SaGa, and Front Mission. But don’t wet yourself yet, fanboys. “I can’t promise that every game [on the survey card] that gets a lot of votes will be released,” says Director Takashi Tokita, who heads up one of Square’s DS development teams. “But | will give the survey special attention.” Tokita adds that his group is thinking a lot about making a multiplayer game that’ll take advantage of the machine's Wi-Fi capabilities. Head online to egmextras.1UP.com for the full interview. sh
>> CAPCOM HAS PUSHED BACK THE RELEASE OF ITS PS2 ACTIONER SHADOW OF ROME TO EARLY NEXT YEAR, APPARENTLY TO AVOID THE OTHER 42,786 GAMES COMING THIS FALL... >»
014 $19.99
“Best Action Game”
—Spike TV Video Game Awards
PlayStation’2 Greatest Hits, Xbox” Platinum Hits, Nintendo GameCube” Player's Choice editions.
Blood and Gore
Mature Sexual Themes
} i zs Strong Language Z — PlayStation.e lan
mpm Violence ESRB
qanespy,
*PlayStation'2 Greatest Hits, Xbox Platinum Hits, Nintendo Player's Choice pricing, Individual retailers may, at their discretion, charge a higher price. PC pricing may be different.
© 2003-2004 Activision, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark and True Crime and Streets of LA are trademark: Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. TM, Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association, PC CD-ROM logo TM and © other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. Screenshots taken from PC gameplay.
's of Activision, Inc. All rights reserved, Developed by Luxoflux. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft © and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo, All rights reserved. "PlayStation" and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony
) IEMA 2003. GameSpy and the “Powered by GameSpy" Design are trademarks of GameSpy Industries, Inc. All rights reserved, All
ACTIVISION.
activision.com
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EGM INTERNATIONAL
Two games that put the hard back in hardcore
PS2
What hole did these graphics crawl out of? C’mon, don’t be cruel. It may seem hard
to believe for all the young’uns out there, but there was a time (1992, to be exact) when Virtua Racing was at the bleeding edge of videogaming. Nowadays, FlatOut is more of a trip down memory lane than anything else, complete with two-color race cars, questionable controls, and little triangular sparks whenever you hit something.
What's the likelihood that we'll test-drive this remake? Very little, but it sure would be nice—Virtua Racing FlatOut runs quite smooth- ly, which is far more than you can say for the original. Besides, who doesn’t love F1 racing games with that classic Sega butt-rock blaring in the background?
PS2
Haven’t we sat in these cockpits before? Well, yes. The two Strikers 1945 titles (which hit arcades in 1995 and 1997, respectively) on this disc are among the finest games in the almost- but-not-quite-dead 2D shooter genre. Just don’t get too picky with historical accuracy—the games allegedly take place right after World War Il, but we don’t remember seeing any giant tanks firing pinwheels of glowing shots on the History Channel...
Any chance of the Strikers flying over our turf? Not really. This title is part of a three-vol- ume set of shooters from Japanese developer Psikyo, makers of So/ Divide, Dragon Blaze, and a host of other punishing games. Shooting vets may wanna try the import route.
HALLAM
44 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ¢ www.1UP.com
OLD SCHOOL
10 years ago in EGM
© On the Cover: X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse
This backbreaker of
an issue (it tipped
the scales at 400-
plus pages) looked
at Xavier’s mutated
crew beatin’ up bubs on SNES.
LIME:
Game of the Month: Sonic & Knuckles (Genesis)
The blue speed demon and his fire- red friend kicked the competition right in the Ballz. The platformer received props for its lock-on cart technology, which opened up all- new levels in previous Sonic games.
Saturn and PlayStation Land in Japan
This month’s mag showcased the overseas launch of both Sega and Sony’s 32-bit systems. Piggy banks squealed as gamers shelled out more than $400 for each console.
Sega’s Other Handheld
We were all about the IR7000, a device with PDA-like features and the ability to send text messages to fellow users. And who needs Chuck Woolery for a love connection when you’ve got a matchmaker mode?
>» THE ACTOR WHO PLAYED FRANK CASTLE IN THIS SUMMER'S DISMAL PUNISHER FLICK, THOMAS JANE, WILL VOICE THE CHARACTER IN NEXT YEAR'S GAME (PS2/XB) FROM THQ... >>
QGO\x%!
WWW.METALGEARSOLID.COM
Visit www.esrb.org for updated rating information.
CONTENT RATED BY ESRB
bc aad METAL GEAR SOLID® anc
KONAMI®
KONAMI 4
d SNAKE EATER™ are either registered trademarks or trademarks of KONAMI COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN, INC. ©1987 2004 KONAM! COM 8 a registered trademark of KONAMI CORPORATION. All rights reserved. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software ASBOEIMHON.
oday's U.S. soldiers are the — T world’s most lethal breed of
combat troopers—able to dis- able a man 11 ways with a putty knife— but they were still raised on Nintendo. So it’s no shocker that Army brass are now training them with Nintendo, too. More precisely, they're using ultrarealistic online games and virtual-reality systems to expose green recruits to simulated battlefield conditions. “There’s no fatigue on the soldiers,” says Chris Chambers,
The world’s most al Site games oxo) to boot camp to train our troops, but it’s hardly an Army of fun
‘deputy sine ‘of the Army Game
| make mistakes and
; then hit fe reset button.”
It all began with America’s Army, a shooter used to train soldiers—plus give gamers a virtual taste of combat in a free PC consumer version (get it at Www.americasarmy.com). Since its 2002 launch, the game has enlisted more than 3.4 million players. Publisher Ubisoft is even working on a PS2 and XB version due spring 2005. But the game’s success
‘ wthe Army’s training programs updated constantly to integrate new tactics and military toys, such as the Talon remote- controlled reconnaissance robot (inset).
attracted attention from more than just players: So many government and mili- tary divisions began seeking virtual training tools that the Army opened up a studio in North Carolina to handle the influx of orders. Already, the Secret Service has a classified system in the works that allows its agents to train in a virtual White House—something that’s impossible in George Dubya’s real digs. The studio is at the forefront of artifi- cial intelligence, allowing agencies to train troops in realistic, online-linked vir- tual battlegrounds populated with lifelike A.l|. counterparts, indigenous peoples, and baddies, mingled in scary situations. “We can create real-world scenarios, like performing first aid in a village, and then all of a sudden you hear a loud bang,” says America’s Army Executive Producer Jerry Heneghan. “Is it just a wedding cel-
__ ebration, or is someone shooting at you?”
Atlantis Cyberspace has taken the
| training a step further with its virtual- _ reality pods that transform America’s
Ami into; a true 3D world—complete
in equip a soldier
al n in full gear and rifle and send him | into the game,” says Chambers. “[The sol- diers have become] very. comfortable in”
this virtual environment.”
—John Gaudiosi
ed | rifles (sure beats
@ Soldiers wage virtual war in Atlantis Cyberspace pods on the _ G4 network’s show Arena, while a _ technician (above) keeps the _ troopers of their toes.
Send Reinforcements! After finding that soldiers were playing games in their free time rather than reading tactical manuals (imagine that), the Army enlisted outside devel- opers to make even more games to keep troops busy. Through its Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California, the Army signed Pandemic Studios to a three-game contract that resulted in the for-civvies Full Spectrum Warrior (XB). “We created a world for the Army without any characters or story,” says Pandemic’s William Stahl. “There were just the U.S. and enemy soldiers and the ability to place both into scenarios that could occur in real combat.”
ICT has four other teams working on new sims, including Full Spectrum Command (which puts you in charge of a company) and Full Spectrum Leader (which has you commanding three squads). Like Full Spectrum Warrior, these games will be used to train sol- diers but will likely branch out to the public sector—and your console.
@ Full Spectrum Command
> THE BAND BLACK EYED PEAS WILL PROVIDE TUNES AND PRODUCE THE SOUNDTRACK FOR THE URBZ: SIMS IN THE CITY (PS2/XB/GC). GET THIS LIFE SIM IN NOVEMBER... >
46 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UPcom
Alone, you are mighty. Together, you are legen —Profe or Charles Xavier
er,
Select your team of 4 from 15 playable '-Men* Or join the action in 4-player co-op mode.
Battle Magneto™ and his evil army through a new, epic action/RPG saga.
PlayStation.2 ran
xeox AMEE?
Violence
ESRB CONTENT RATING _www.estb.org
x-men-legends.com
ACIIVISION.
MARVEL, X-MEN, and all Marvel characters and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc., and are used with permission. Copyright © 2004. All rights reserved. www.marvel.com. Published by Activision Publishing, Inc. Game code © 2004 Activision, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision, Inc. All rights reserved. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox Logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. TM, @, and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo.
© 2001 Nintendo. Nokia and N-Gage are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nokia Corporation. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks and trade names
are the properties of their respective owners.
activision.com
® PlayStation 2
HEARTS Il
Return to the Magical Kingdoms
quare Enix debuted this
Disney-meets-Final Fantasy
sequel last fall, but then promptly zipped its lip on the subject, offering no release date, story explana- tion, or gameplay info. It’s enough to make Disney fans toss their Pocahontas I collector’s edition DVDs and FF nuts
Camera Repair
The original Kingdom Hearts suffered from a spazzy, confusing camera sys- tem that often left your hero, Sora, obscured by a wall. KH2 fixes this problem two ways: Now, the in-battle view shifts subtly as you kill foes, giv- ing you a clearer view of the action. You can also re-center the camera directly behind Sora by pressing the right analog stick in—especially useful when locking on to enemies.
Maps and Legends
KH2 makes your life easier by provid- ing a handy map in the upper right- hand corner of the screen (similar to the one in Final Fantasy X). It was sometimes easy to lose your bearings while traversing large dungeons in the first KH, so this simple addition should alleviate those “which way did | come from?” headaches.
48 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
boycott the Sephiroth cosplay competi- tion. Time heals all wounds, though,
and now that we’ve finally gotten our hands on an early copy of the game, the interminable wait until Kingdom Hearts Is Fall 2005 release feels that much longer. Here’s a glimpse of what’s new in KH2.... —Shane Bettenhausen
OV» License to Drive The frantic, mash-happy combat of the first Hearts hasn’t changed much in y this sequel, but Sora does have one nifty new trick in his arsenal—Drive transformation. Once you’ve built up the Drive meter by felling foes, you can merge Sora with another party member (in the levels we played, only the Goofy Drive was available) to form an iiber-ass-kicking Sora who dishes out extreme combos for a limited time.
Worlds of Wonder
A\ :
—
))
We traipsed through two Disney realms in our demo—Hades’
underworld from Hercules and Beast’s castle from Beauty and the Beast. Although both Beast and Hades appeared in Kingdom Hearts, you didn’t actually explore these areas in that game. But in terms of all-new areas based on previously untapped flicks, Square Enix has only shown shots of a Mulan-themed area. Meh. Luckily, we’ve heard rumors of others even more surprising than
last game’s Nightmare Before Christmas. Tron, anyone?
ii,
Vw
>> KARL URBAN, BEST KNOWN AS EOMER IN THE LORD OF THE RINGS FILMS, HAS SIGNED ON TO STAR IN THE 2006 MOTION PICTURE BASED ON THE LEGENDARY SHOOTER DOOM.... >>
“We’re impressed... the game plays as good as it looks.” - PSM
“Looks amazing... plays fantastic.” - Play Magazine | “Face it. You’ve always wanted this.” — 7up.com
They’re on top of you. You’re on top of them. Does it really matter? All female wrestlers. 10,000 polygons per character. And hardcore wrestling gameplay. It’s Rumble Roses and it’s definitely a win-win situation.
WA] PlayStation.2 KONAMI www.konami.com/usa
© 2004 Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. KONAMI is a registered trademark of KONAMI CORPORATION. Rumble Roses is a trademark of Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, Inc. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software Association.
RATING PENDING
CONTENT RATED BY
Visit www.esrb.org for updated rating information.
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ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
We detain five gamemakers and make them build a blockbuster
umor has it that producing a that. We’re doing it quick and dirty, piece of the game’s puzzle—intro, on shooter hot spot Mars. Here’s the R videogame these days takes kidnapping five designers and forcing main character, play mechanics, ene- storyboarded breakdown in the cre-
countless hours and crippling them to slave away on an exclusive mies, and the ending. Their result is ators’ own words. And this game better multimillion-dollar budgets. Well screw game for EGM. We assigned each guya _—‘Red Ice, an imaginary action game set be a hit...or else. —Scott Steinberg
YOUR CHARACTER... By John Romero, cocreator of Doom Latest project: A new Gauntlet for unspecified systems “You are Pierce, a legend among shadowy mercenary groups and a killing machine. You secretly work for a higher organization than the SHN—if someone messes with the delicate political balance on Mars, it’s your job to clean it up and dispose of witnesses. Unlike normal soldiers, being a merce- nary for a distant shadow ops group has its perks: You’re loaded with exotic, futuristic nanogear that replenishes its energy con- stantly. Of particular interest at the beginning of the game is your portable stealth shroud. It lasts for 30 minutes, after which you must squeeze out the photon debris to reuse it.”
YOUR ENEMIES...
By Eugene Jarvis,
creator of Defender and Robotron
Latest project: Target: Terror (arcades) “Pierce is having a crappy day coping with the deadlies on his ass. First are Humaroid stormtroopers—hormon- ally amped meat-soldiers. Highly mobile and lightly armored with self-sealing circulatory systems and brain -| cases, they have a diet consisting largely of SHN organ donors. These ’roid-ragers can sustain attacks for up to |) one minute after decapitation. Next are Robonator drones, which attack with micronuke RPGs and bio- tracking masers, radiating their quarry into microwave popcorn. And then there’s the Lifesukrs. These energy sinks can suck down any power or life source in sec- onds, and they’re guided by methane. Bad news for Pierce: He had burritos for lunch.”
HEADING TO THE ARCADES TO PLAY TEKKEN 5? WELL, DON'T FORGET YOUR ROLL OF QUARTERS OR YOUR PLAYSTATION 2 CONTROLLER. NAMCO ANNOUNCED THATITS LATEST 3D
52 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ¢ www.1UP.com
* : a!
5
THE GAMEPLAY... By Tom Hall, creative director at Midway Latest projects:
| Area 51 (PS2/KB) and Narc (PS2/XB)
“Due to the presence of flammable ; gases in the atmosphere, most weapons } are plastic/graphite projectiles, beams, - and non-steel constructs. Still, flash fires in the atmosphere killed hundreds early on—and can kill Pierce’s enemies as well. With his strength-augmenting nanogear, Pierce can hang from ceilings and knock enemies hundreds of feet skyward in the feeble gravity. He can hear distant conversations, see and leap great distances, and hurl objects at tremendous speed. Close combat takes place in slow motion with realistic colli- sions. Pierce can pilot NHN sandboats, aerial skiffs, and burrow-miners to evade enemies, too. He must also be protected when night hits—the surface temperature drops 200 degrees.”
. ek NN AL u
HOW IT BEGINS...
By Mathieu Ferland,
producer at Ubisoft
Latest project: Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (XB) “It's 2174. Mars is in turmoil due to the recent discovery of a new ice well by the North Human Nation (NHN). While the South Human Nation (SHN)’s president demands equity of resources, hundreds of NHN solders are amassing inside their war dome and preparing for a massive invasion. But one soldier in the group is unlike the others—you are a spy from SHN. While try- ing to subtly leave the dome, you get spotted stealing a vehicle. Within seconds, 50 soldiers give pursuit. You are now a hunted fugitive on a planet that has three-eighths Earth’s gravity.”
Se ak TT
HOW IT ENDS... Brian Fargo, creator of the Bard’s Tale series Latest Project: The Bard’s Tale (PS2/XB) “Clearly the trauma’s started getting to Pierce. A sense of paranoia sets in as he constantly avoids stormtroopers and robots with micronukes, and he realizes he’s risked everything for a friggin’ ice hole. Somehow, it just does- n’t seem worth it. Fortunately, he’s equipped with fancy gadgetry that affords him the ability to get the hell out of this place. After one last brush with death, Pierce man- K) ages to climb aboard a cargo ship and escape to the | closest planet. While no one’s seen him in some time, there’ve been numerous reports of some invisible force cruising through local college dorm rooms.” x ’
FIGHTER WILL ALLOW GAMERS TO PLUG A PS2-COMPATIBLE PAD IN TO THE ARCADE UNIT. ALSO, LOOK FOR TEKKEN 5 PUNCHING ITS WAY TO PLAYSTATION 2 IN 2005... >>
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com ¢ 53
<a Sat al _S
a =
4
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2)
No matter how cool it looks, never stop shooting. Three dimensions. Two playable heroes. One classic franchise returns. Neo Contra. The more things
change, the more they stay insane.
Blood and Gore Violence
PlayStation.2
© 1987 2004 KONAMI & Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. "KONAMI" is a registered trademark of KONAMI CORPORATION. "Neo Contra” is a trademark of KONAMI CORPORATION. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software Association.
1 at a © Hit Rate } %>
KONAMI
www.konami.com/usa
() press start
°° Oise | a ~~ 4,Kornis front m
here’s no denying that Korn’s T Jonathan Davis is hardcore—
and we’re not just talking about his music. “When we’re on the road, | play games at least six hours a day,” the singer tells us. “I’m out of my mind about this stuff.” He’s so out of his mind, in fact, that in between putting together the new Korn compila- tion, Greatest Hits Vol. 1, and codirect- ing an adult movie with his wife, he’s working on a game of his own. And it ain’t his first. —Stan Widrow
EGM: What were your favorite games growing up?
The first game | loved was Combat for Atari 2600. Oh my god,
56 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
Tis Such a
Ie
that was great. | was also f into play- ing the home versions of argatle games like Defender and Galaga. |
EGM: Nowadays, do you prefer playing solo or with friends?
| like to play on my own. The other guys in the band aren't into them, so when we’re on tour, I’ll stay up all night, playing games while they are asleep. But I’ve been getting into Xbox’s system link. We just toured with Linkin Park and got into some crazy Halo matches with them. | also love playing Rainbow Six 3 on Xbox Live. I’m kornjonathan on there.
EGM: Give us your professional opinion. What game has the best soundtrack?
Maybe the first WipeOut [for PlayStation], but just because it was one of the first to have real music and not f***ing stupid 8-bit videogame music.
EGM: What's going on with your game, the star-studded fighter Pop Scars?
Oh, we scrapped that. It was so f***ing hard to get celebrities to sign up for it, and then Def Jam Vendetta and Celebrity Deathmatch came out—though this would’ve blown those away. It was going to be a real fighting game, like Soul Calibur and Mortal Kombat. But f*** it, on to the next thing.
EGM: Which is...? It’s [a game] kind of like Rayman and
>> ACTORS WITH ALIEN EXPERIENCE NEEDED—PARAMOUNT PICTURES HAS RECENTLY OPTIONED THE FILM RIGHTS TO MIDWAY’S AREA 57 SERIES. A RELEASE DATE HAS NOT BEEN SET.... >>
"$0892?
Ratchet & Clank, but it's going to be set in a sideshow carnival. It’s going to be really, really dark. | enjoy games like that.
EGM: We also hear that you’re doing an adult movie. Can we expect any videogame references?
Ah, no. That's funny, though. Yeah, my wife and | are working together, but we're not f***ing in it. We'll be directing other couples. It’s going to be fun.
EGM: So if you could cast any game honey in your flick, who would it be?
The chick from Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, the innkeeper. | can’t remember her name right now, but that’s a fine-ass cyberbabe.
Photograph courtesy of Getty images
JJ | Z Hy e « ¢
" RLOODRAYNE 2 REDE ‘
MAKING IT ONE OF 1
UGOCOM Py ( )]
Blood and Gore |e ‘ , i Intense Violence ji De 8 ae Sexual Themes
i PC Strong Language xBOx*« PlayStation.2 <——> ; °s
Copyright ©2004 Majesco Sales Ino. AM Rights Reserved. The BloodRayne logo, characters and artiork af@ trademarks of Majesco Sales Ine Developed by Terminal Reality Microsoft, Abox and the %box logo are ether registered trademarks, or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. ‘PlayStation’ and the PS Farnily logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Ine The ratings i66n #6 a traderark of the Entertainment Software Association
MN ee) All wwwinejescogames.com
ep *_-*Relass 4 Students y at Full Sail talk games, play games, and—about halfway, +* into the program—
a ' make rian
Photography by Chip Simons and Holly Earhart
A \ i
vtA G6 DAY
Lunch breaks at 9 p.m.? Lectures in the middle of the night? Field trips to the local arcade? Class is in session at a new-school game academy. We chronicle a typical student’s day in the life...
ff a Winter Park, FL, highway study, plus unlimited rounds of Street gramming, as well as meet the standard which emulates the late-night crunch oO crammed with Orlando traffic, Fighter ll, Tempest, and several other core liberal-arts requirements. That time of real-life game development com-
gamers don't just hang at the Classic arcade games in the lobby. And it’s — means logging off Splinter Cell Pandora panies (plus cuts the time it takes to get a strip mall—they own it. This former shop- a much easier school to get into than the Tomorrow at the door. “Playing games has __ degree in half). Classes sometimes run ping center is now the digs of Full Sail, a more exclusive Nintendo-funded DigiPen to take second to actually making until 1 a.m., with a morning class the next school that offers bachelor of science game-design campus in Redmond, WA. games,” says Rob Catto, the program's day at 9. Don’t fret: There’s a Red Bull degrees in videogame development. The But don’t come here thinking the study _ director. And possibly the most demand- machine in the snack room to get you 21-month program costs $58,775, which of games is all fun. Students must endure —_ing requirement of all is Full Sail’s pur- through a typical day, which looks some- includes a laptop during your course of mind-numbing courses in math and pro- posefully brutal 40-hour class week, thing like this...
AFTER COMMISSIONING A SURVEY OF MORE THAN 2,000 PARENTS, NINTENDO CLAIMS THAT 75 PERCENT OF THE PARTICIPANTS BELIEVE POKEMON PROMOTES STRATEGIC THINKING,
58 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
If you’re lucky, your first class won’t begin until 5 p.m., which means you’ve got plen- ty of time to sleep in...in theory. In reality, most Full Sail students stay up all night studying calculus or coding their student project games. By the time they pull into the crowded parking lot outside the school building—or, more likely, cruise in on their skateboards—the humidity is brutal
and so is the bed-head. Fortunately, the vending machines offer three flavors of caffeine: Red Bull, coffee, and the over- whelming favorite, Mountain Dew. “If you don’t like Mountain Dew,” says one stu- dent, “you might as well drop out.”
Between classes, Full Sail students mill about the lobby and snack room, trying to
You call it goofing off. They call it homework.
bust each other’s records in Mr. Do! or Joust. The biggest time sucker is Street Fighter II, which boasts a top score on the record sheet by someone named “Beaten By a Girl.” The fact that only six out of the 500 students in the game-design program are female makes this record all the more impressive. Students can also play on the school’s Wi-Fi laptops (August's title of choice was Doom 3). And throughout the
70 PERCENT FEEL THE SERIES IMPROVES MEMORY SKILLS, AND 60 PERCENT THINK IT BOOSTS MENTAL AGILITY. SOUNDS LIKE 100 PERCENT POKEMON PROPAGANDA TO US.... >>
year, some classes take field trips to Rocky’s, a nearby arcade. But the students aren’t just dropping tokens to blow off steam from a hectic class schedule: They’re expected to review the coin-ops on the floor. House of the Dead didn’t get high marks. “I figured out the artificial intelligence in about 10 seconds,” says Tamir Nadau, a 24-year-old student with rainbow-streaked hair. >
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com ¢ 59
(>) press start: game school
Set in four-hour chunks, Full Sail’s game courses primarily focus on code, code, and, on occasion, code. That means tin- kering around with particle editors and
wrestling with parametric equations. (So,
yeah, you’re going to need some math skills.) While Full Sail does its best to pre- pare students for working on console games, there’s a frustrating catch-22 at play. The holy trinity of console manufac- turers—Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft— have yet to allow educational institutions to make use of their respective develop- ment kits. But it’s not for a lack of trying. “We'd love to have those tools,” says instructor Rob Garfield.
Some classes, however, don’t require any high-tech tools at all. The most popu- lar class at Full Sail is Rules of the Game, a course taught by Dave Arneson, the legendary cocreator of Dungeons & Dragons. This is the one course where game playing is not only encouraged, it’s required—but the games on display here aren’t the ones you might expect. During the course, Arneson focuses on board games and strategy card games, includ- ing Settlers of Catan and the D&D parody game Munchkins. One week, the class even takes a field trip to a local game shop to check out the goods. “There’s a lot you can learn from paper games,” Arneson says, adding that he has one essential rule for his class: “No snoring!”
At two points during the 21-month pro- gram, students roll up their T-shirt sleeves and make games. It starts 10 months in, when students try their hand at making an old-school 2D game like Tetris or Pong. But there’s plenty of room for creativity. Instructor Garfield fondly recalls the Beer Pong he made as a Full Sail student. “When you lost a point, your character had to take a drink,” he said, “and slowly the balls would start to blur on the screen.” Seventeen months into the program, students commence work on their big pro- ject: a full-fledged PC game. Breaking up into small teams, the groups emulate a real development experience, from creat- ing a detailed design document to “com- missioning” artists and audio specialists to contribute assets to the game. After a few demo presentations in class, the stu- dents get to show their game in a nearby theater, where the public may drop in and see if a future (Mario creator) Shigeru Miyamoto is in their midst. And unlike some colleges, Full Sail doesn’t seek to
“Score 40000
own the rights to the games. That means students can take them on the road when they graduate. “I’ve already got my dream game in mind,” says Nadau. “It’s going to be the greatest thing since Pac-Man.”
After spending the last eight hours talking, playing, and making games, students find it hard—if not impossible—to sleep. And
when they do manage to nod off, the games don’t fade away. “I dream about path-finding code,” says Juan Padilla, a 34-year-old who came to the school from Puerto Rico. “You learn to get by on two to four hours of sleep,” says Daniel Fitzgerald, a 24-year-old student from Huntsville, AL. “We’re zombies most of the time.” But, like any hardcore gamer, that’s just the way they like it. As Padilla says, “We’re having the time of our lives.” 4# —David Kushner
Night school: Some students spend more time at Full Sail after dark than during the daylight hours,
Getting Here About 4,000 students attend Full Sail (which offers other entertainment-related degrees besides videogame studies), but getting in is pretty much guaranteed: All you need is a high-school diploma or GED and a “sincere passion for a career in the ae entertainment industry.” And don’t be deterred by the nearly $60,000 tuition; students in the program are eligible for financial aid. Degree programs start + every month rather than in set semesters, meaning you can start whenever you're ready. Head to www.fullsail.com for more information, or see EGM issue 176, page 36, for a look at other schools.
>> ALREADY WORRIED ABOUT LOSING THE STYLUS THAT COMES WITH NINTENDO'S DS HANDHELD THIS FALL? FEAR NOT: INTEC WILL SELL A REPLACEMENT THREE-PACK FOR $9... >>
60 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
i ‘Story you'd expect of a Jak title
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aay
CONFLICT. REVENGE. RESOLUTION.
One year ago, Jak and Daxter put their butts on the line to save Haven City from Kor and his Metal Heads. But the chaos rages ¢ on. Warring factions continue to battle. The -city—even its palace—ties in shambles. And everyone blames the one guy in town with Dark Eco power. How’s that for gratitude? Jak 3 faces our pointy-eared hero with his great- est adventure yet. Now banished to the Wasteland— an aptly named place of exile if there ever was ; one—Jak begins his quest for redemption joined by § pals Daxter and Pecker. Their objective: escape an A . from an area five times the size of Haven City. ft we "Needless to say, it won't be easy. A cavernous : mine, a Vicious volcano, the hostile city of Spargus and other hazardous environments compose the ‘ " Wasteland, Where many inhabitants would sooner Seas eat off a than shake it. Luckily, several
{ «
ance the two adds further intrigue is the compelling
{as Seen in more than an nM P hours worth of cinematic L aA cutscenes). q
Jak 3 concludes Naughty Dog's -
acclaimed Jak trilogy. Loyalties will 2
be tested. A climactic battle will be > fought. Shocking secrets will be ; revealed. And hey...you even - Bey e get to play as Daxter. This a <hy is the one you've been waiting for.
Comic Mischief ma Votes c : . > 2 LIVE IN YOUR WXRLD. aggestive Theres PlayStation.c INAUGHT Yao" c] sf PLAY IN OURS:
Sr
Jak 3 is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Created and developed by Naughty Dog, Inc. © 2004 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. "Live in Your World. Play in Ours." is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America In€. “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
The true story behtnd the fabled role-playing game
y now, if you’re a Fable fan,
you’re probably on your second
or third playthrough. You’re done being good, you’ve stopped caring about your poor sister’s issues with archvillain Jack of Blades, and you’re basically slicing and dicing any and all unfortunate villagers who happen to cross your path at the wrong moment...or is that just us? We recently sat down with one of the makers of this Xbox free-form action-RPG—Lionhead Studios President Peter Molyneux—to chat about development challenges, design decisions, and a couple of unusu- ally twisted things you can do in Fable.
—Jennifer Tsao
EGM: What sorts of things has the game allowed players to do that you didn’t really expect?
| didn’t plan for people in Fable to massacre entire villages, acquire all the vacant property at knockdown prices, and then make a fortune renting out to new- comers. | didn’t plan for one player to use his wife as a human shield, and when we first introduced children into the world, | didn’t expect the testers to do unspeakable things to them—which is why players now don’t have weapons when they’re ina village or town.
EGM: What were the biggest problems in making a game like this?
Our biggest challenge was that we were PC developers, and historically PC developers have struggled to make great console games. Creating a combat system
Child abuse: You can blame Fable’s testers for why weapons aren’t allowed in villages.
62 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ¢ www.1UP.com
that was easy to master and allowed for the mixing of combat styles seemed simple but was very difficult.
EGM: Fable seemed inspired by recent 3D Zelda adventures. Is that true?
Quite a few features in Fable were in fact inspired by [Lionhead’s PC game] Black & White—open-ended gameplay [and] characters that morphed to reflect what you're like. Another influence was Zelda, which always found ways to evoke player emotions. | really cared about Link, and that was something we wanted Fable to have.
EGM: Did you ever consider incorporat- ing proper “dungeons” with puzzles and such?
The really cerebral puzzles you see in other games...we felt [those] wouldn’t sit well with the action part of the game.
ean ts laeesit og
EGM: Why not let players continue doing quests via the guild after they finish Fable?
In story terms, | don’t know that it
would make much sense to still have quests
at the guild.
EGM: Any secrets or in-jokes most gamers might have missed?
It would be a shame to reveal all of them, but two of the secrets in the game are the Sandgoose and the frying pan that doubles as a weapon.
EGM: This game’s original working title was “Project Ego.” Are there any hidden references to that in the final version of the game?
No—it would have been a nice idea.... Why couldn't you have asked that question six months ago? 3%
== BRITISH PUBLISHER SCI IS MAKING A GAME (PS2/XB) BASED ON CONSTANTINE, THE UPCOMING MOVIE STARRING KEANU REEVES. A COMPANY REP SAYS A U.S. RELEASE IS LIKELY... =>
High Scores Those pub minigames don’t play themselves. Here are top scores from the Fable dev team: ¢ Card Pairs (Bowerstone South):
9.9 seconds © Shove Ha’penny (Hook Coast): 40 ¢ Card Sorting (Knothole Glade): 16.1 Spot the Addition (Bandit Camp): 8.2 ¢ Coin Golf (Oakvale): 6
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© Your escort has arrived: The final SOCOM Ii map, Liberation, will send the SEAL team to a town in Algeri
A trio of new maps storm SOCOM II
f you’re one of the SOCOM II:
U.S. Navy SEALs faithful who
bought a PlayStation 2 HDD hard drive in anticipation of downloadable con- tent, your prayers have finally been answered. Next month, our sister mag Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine will include the first of three new maps for Sony’s online squad-based shooter on its December issue demo disc (which hits newsstands November 2). The remaining two will follow on OPM’s January and February demo discs.
The first map, dubbed After Hours, was actually included with the recent Korean release of SOCOM II. It’s set in Seoul, Korea and acts as a suppression level, featuring city structures like a multistory parking garage, an extensive subway sys- tem, and even an Internet café.
The next available download, Last Bastion, is staged in Albania. This one is a breach map, with terrorists holed up inside a huge fortress on a hill that the SEALs must infiltrate through a staggering array of possible entry points. And Last Bastion is especially striking when played as the good guy: You start the level hidden by
must-hit websites
>> THE JEDI RETURNS EARLY—LUCASARTS WILL NOW RELEASE ITS XBOX ROLE-PLAYING SEQUEL STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC II—
dense fog, but as you work your way toward the fortress, the sun slowly breaks through, rendering you plainly visible to any sniping terrorists.
The final SOCOM Ii map coming your way is Liberation, an Algerian area of operation. It’s an escort level based in a small port town with winding alleyways and a huge marketplace packed with loads of hiding spots. Terrorists will have the upper hand here, as they are able to Close off possible avenues of escape with iron gates and have plenty of deadly ambush opportunities.
et en
Series vets will also notice right away that all three maps (which require the PlayStation 2 hard drive) are bigger and more intricate than just about anything currently available. “We figure people have really been playing a lot, and most of them are pretty advanced,” says Senior Producer Seth Luisi. “So we wanted to give them maps that were also advanced.” And until February, OPM’s demo disc is the only place you'll be able to get these levels. (Sony is currently look- ing into additional distribution methods for the third and final map.) —Joe Rybicki
© After Hours
Three maps for 100 bucks...for now Presently, you must own a PS2 hard drive ($100) to play these new maps. The dev team, however, says it’s looking at ways to get around this pricey requirement.
64 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
WHAT'S UP AT
Squarely Seeing Double
As always, remember to scope out egmextras.1UP.com for a gaggle of exclusive content, including Square Enix’s (you know, the folks who make all those Final Fantasy titles) likes and dislikes on Nintendo’s upcoming dual- screen DS handheld.
Online Chaos Also at the egmextras.1UP.com website is our com- plete interview with those sneaky devel- opers behind Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, as they pro- vide us with an extended mission briefing on the game’s all-new online cooperative mode.
1UP.com Club Spotlight: Old Schoolers United
Enough PlayStation 3 and Xbox 2 chitchat—the 170-plus members of this club (oldschool-club.1UP.com) prefer their heroes pixelated and their gameplay 2D. And they are probably the only people who know the exact location of the E.7. (Atari 2600) landfill in the desert.
Must-Hit Blog
So what makes Jeremy Parish’s online journal (toastyfrog.1UP.com) the hottest blog on the site? “Think of it as 1UP Features: The Director’s Cut,” pro- fesses the 1UP.com features editor. “My blog is jam-packed with all the inflammatory remarks, catty asides, and dirty politics they don’t let us put on the main site.”
THE SITH LORDS THIS DECEMBER... >>
: visit us on the web at Consote Protection ry GUARAN PECAS www.pelicanperformance.com
Pelican and its logo are registered trademarks of Pelican Accessories. Gamecube" is a registered trademark of Nintendo of America. Xbox is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. PlayStation®2 is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment. All products featured are manufactured by Pelican Accessories and are not endorsed by Nintendo of America, Microsoft Corporation, or Sony Computer Entertainment.
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THIE WOR
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LD'S.
ee ee ~_o SETHE MOST FRANTIC AND ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING ~ REALISTIC COMBAT SEQUENCES (HOIN INO) FEN se (OXON WER INI AoW EVER PUT INTO A GAME.’ A OTAY —Game Informer Online
AVAILABLE FALE 2004
WWW -CALLOEFDUTY-€O™M
Epic single-player aissioi or go online for Axis vs Alliesteam- based multiplayer action.
'Headito the frontlines and experience the cinematic intensity and chaos ‘of, battle of World War II's most legendary conflicts including the Russian infantry charge at Stalingrad, the British PPA Commando raids
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Visit www.esrb.org
for updated rating : [nh 2 saan | © rx
information. Fo fe : 5 ja) PlayStation J (& gamespy A CIIVISION.
© 2004 Activision, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark and Call of Duty and Call of Duty: Finest Hour are trademarks of Activision, Inc. All rights reserved. PlayStation 2 version developed by Spark Unlimited, Inc. Online play activision.com requires internet connection, Network Adaptor (for Playstation 2) and Memory Card (8MB) (for PlayStation 2) (each sold separately). The Online icon is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox
Live, the Live logo, and the Xbox logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. TM, ® and the Nintendo GameCube logo
are trademarks of Nintendo, © 2001 Nintendo. All rights reserved. “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family fogo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment inc. GameSpy and the "Powered by GameSpy" design are
trademarks of GameSpy Industries, Inc, All rights reserved. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.
(©) press start
= PlayStation 2
A final tune-up before you hit \),, the road to GTA:
t’s been three years since
Grand Theft Auto 3 car-
jacked the gaming world, setting all sorts of sales records while creating more controversial headlines than Jacko. With the lat-
San Andreas
est installment, GTA: San Andreas for PS2, right around the corner (or already upon us, depending on how late you got this issue), we thought it was time for one last dry-run drive-by. —Greg Ford
The Triads: Your
unwelcoming party to
San Fierro’s Chinatown.
The Man
After playing a mute antihero in GTA3 and a foul-mouthed goodfella in Vice City, you now step into the vengeful shoes of Carl “CJ” Johnson. He’s spent the last five years back East in Liberty City (yes, the same city you violated in GTA3) but returns to the hood when he learns of his momma’s death. So what’s CJ’s game plan? Find the peo- ple responsible for his loss while get- ting back some street cred for his gang, the Orange Grove Families.
The Turf
[)
The Gameplay
No one had a problem with the previ- ous games’ car-based missions, which have always been a cornerstone of the GTA franchise, but stepping outta your wheels to do the dirty work was sometimes problematic. The crew at Rockstar hopes to remedy this in San Andreas with more-developed hand- to-hand combat (including stealth kills) and a revamped targeting system that takes a page from the setup of the company’s own Manhunt (PS2/xB).
The two previous G7A games were big—each had a city that could take upwards of 40 hours to fully explore if you completed all the side missions. San Andreas has three: Los Santos (based on Los Angeles), San Fierro (San Francisco), and Las Venturas (Las Vegas). And they all have the landmarks and distinctions you’d expect, including bay-spanning bridges, casinos galore, movie stars, and smog.
rc DYNASTY WARRIORS PSP PSP © Koei © Spring 2005 The wildly popular ancient Chinese slashathon invades Sony’s upcoming portable, los- ing a bit of its luster (but hopefully none of its addictive gameplay) along the way.
The Sticks The fact that San Andreas has three massive cities, each the size and scope of Vice City, should certainly grab your attention, but even more interesting are the acres of countryside in between them. You’ll spend time in the great outdoors, mixing it up with local hillbil- lies, four- TE ae wheelin’, and knocking over mom-and-pop stores.
The Decade
Any of you who tuned in to VH1’s way-too-soon / Love the ‘90s series knows it’s a decade ripe for reverence and raillery. (Just don’t laugh too hard, lest your bud notice those parachute pants and the Troy Aikman jersey in the back of your clos-
et.) And help- ing re-create that early ’90s atmosphere is the game’s music, which promises to feature more than just gangsta-rap tracks.
The Customization
Would you believe San Andreas has some similarities with The Sims? True dat. Much like EA’s life simulator, you’ve got a stamina meter to main- tain (make sure CJ’s properly fed) and respect to keep up (dress sharp, stay fit, make the right friends, etc.). Who knew the Cis
gangsta ut lifestyle was
so high main- tenance?
WANDA AND THE COLOSSUS
PS2 ¢ Sony CEA ¢ Fall 2005 — Previously known under the code name Nico, Wanda hails from the team behind /co, 2001’s artsy PS2 sleeper. We're
not sure if there will be any story connections
between the two games, as here you control
Wanda, a young archer on horseback tasked with
destroying an army of giants. Weird...good weird. —
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Se, ,
x7 2 ir z PLAY AS ONE OF S KNIGHTS, INCLUDING GET A LEG UP ON THE ENEMY RANGED COMBAT GIVES YOU ARTHUR, LANCELOT AND GUINEVERE. WITH POWERFUL HORSE ATTACKS DEAD AIM AND EXPLOSIVE RESULTS ad
Violence
INTERACTIVE > natwctet| — x@Ox | PlayStation.c * asain
PlayStation ral
© 2004 Best Buy
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Better dress up. The game’s on. Need For Speed” Underground 2, to be precise. Pick it up at Best Buy” beginning November 17’ or get a jump on it—and other new releases—by checking out our video game pre-order section in store and online at www.bestbuy.com/VGpreorder. At Best Buy, gamers rule. Also available in Nintendo GameCube” and Xbox®
'Release date subject to change. a Go to WWW.ESRB.ORG for video game & computer software game rating information. Need for Speed * Underground software and related materials ©2004 Electronic Arts Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
@ PlayStation 2
SHOWANDTELL: =~
Speed Buggy
Evan Wells: “Here, Jak speeds through the dunes, deft- ly avoiding marauders—automotive predators that stalk the wasteland. They’re a constant threat to Jak and Dax as they traverse the desert in their quest.”
press start ()
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Guns and Ammo
EW: “Dax’s delighted: Jak gets access to a whole new range of enemy-thrashing gun mods in Jak 3. This shot shows him in the heart of the marauder strong- hold as a deadly firefight unfolds around him.”
Jak and Dax’s Underground Car Talk EW: “Jak gets his jet board back—along with a whole EW: “Here comes the dune hopper, a whole mess of grab bag of new tricks, including a jump boost and a spring-loaded, double-hinged, turbo-boosted fun. Jak repulse attack. This shot shows him in the heart of the can use the hopper to reach parts of the world that he Precursor Temple, pulling some mad air.” and Dax couldn’t get to unaided.”
Get your hands on the code that'll unlock one of the most electrifying car vinyls in
IN [-y-Ye ml elans) o1-1-10 il Olle [lke] ke) 1110 BR elm al-Ms-rolt-mecoye(-Mel ate MoMe]i-"o] Reli-19 head to
GET YOURS"
Thousands of Possibilities
() press start
Don't call it cosplay! We make four fast and funny Halloween costumes for less than $40
houls and ghosts? Boooring! Halloween is the one night a year when you can dress in public as a videogame character and not face ridicule, so why not go for it? It won’t cost you much, either. We wrangled New York City designer Kerri Mahoney and challenged her to create four game-character-based costumes for less than 40 bucks each. Just don’t let us catch you wearing this stuff November 1. —Lauren Gonzalez
Cost: $39
Stuff you need:
“Natural” colored unitard or undergarments: top and briefs
© Two 30-inch-by-36-inch white poster boards
¢ Three 10-inch-by-15-inch pieces of cardboard
¢ Four tubes of cheap acrylic paint in flesh tones of choice (white, tan, pink, brown, etc.)
© 1 foot of Velcro
¢ Spray. mount glue
* One 24-ounce Mountain Dew bottle # ° One dowel ‘a ¢ A glow stick for inside the bottle
Puttin’ it together: The only way you could do this cos-
tume better would-land you in jail. Cut poster boards é into six 10-inch-by-12-inch panels. Use the four ‘ paints to mix skin tones and then paint each panel a eee different color. Then cut the panels into 3-inch-by-3- nat inch squares. These will serve as pixels to cover your pri- &
vate parts. Spray mount these colored squares randomly onto each
10-inch-by-15-inch piece of cardboard. Affix Velcro strips onto cardboard, the front of upper- body garment and on front and back of the bot- toms. For the gem that sits above your Sim’s nog- gin in the game, paint stripes on the soda bottle to create a facet look. Drill a hole into the cap and insert dowel. Tape or strap the dowel to your back and you’re ready to party naked. Let’s hope you
GOT ROOM FOR THE PAST NEXT TO YOUR PLAYSTATION 2? IN NOVEMBER, GO BLOW $45 ON THE ATARI FLASHBACK CLASSIC GAME CONSOLE, A SCALED-DOWN REPLICA OF THE ATARI
72 ¢ ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
don’t have any wardrobe malfunctions.
Cost: $10
Stuff you need:
¢ A big moving box
© 1 quart gray satin enamel ¢ Spray mount
Clear packing tape
Puttin’ it together: Hmm, it’s just a
box—the videogame-costume equiva- lent of cutting two holes in a sheet and going as a ghost. So this costume’s per- fect for you lazy gamers. Start by sealing the box with tape and painting it gray. Head to halloween.1UP.com to find the “The Orange” label, which you’ll print in four pieces and tape to the box. Wear with fatigues and combat boots and
| you’re good to sneak, slacker.
Photographs by Michael Sexton
Cost: $40
Stuff you need:
¢ Costume elf ears
¢ Blond ponytail/used wig
¢ Costume sword and shield
¢ 1.5 yards dark green felt
¢ 3 yards of gold rope
.5 yards of tan moleskin (fake suede) ¢ Gray sweatpants
¢ Hot glue gun
Puttin’ it together: You wanted a grown-up Link? You can’t handle this grown-up Link! Cut one-half yard of green felt into two triangles and glue along the two seams. Turn inside out for Link’s hood. Fold remaining fabric in half and cut a square opening along the fold for your head (add holes at waist for rope belt). Create boot covers out of moleskin. Punch holes in moleskin boot cuff and thread in felt to make laces—tie to secure around calf. Use leftover moleskin for sleeves and cuffs, draped around lower arms and affixed with glue. Place blond ponytail on head backward for wisps. Add ears and hood and affix with bobby pins.
Cost: $40
Stuff you need:
¢ Wardrobe/large box
Two shelving boxes
Two wine boxes (or similar)
¢ Four bolts and nuts
e 3-inch-wide masking tape
2 quarts florescent green tempera paint
© One 32-ounce can of black, glossy enamel © Two rolls of painter’s tape (to mask off grid) White primer or water-based latex paint
Puttin’ it together: This blaster from the past is the most complex costume—and more than a little bulky—but it’s worth the effort. Tape the seams of the large box and cut a hole in the top, just big enough for your head, and a hole in the bottom for your body. Paint with white primer. Let dry, then paint fluorescent green. Repeat the painting steps with the shelving and wine boxes, and then bolt the shelving boxes as “arms” onto each side and the wine boxes onto your shoulders as antennae. Mark out the grid patterns on the body, arms, and antennae with painter’s tape, then paint over the tape with black paint. Peel off the tape when dry. (Novices: Take the easier way out and paint the main box black, then glue green 3-inch-by-3-inch paper cutouts into the invader pattern.) Wear dark pants and a black ski mask—that way all people will see is the glowing green invader.
7800 CONSOLE LOADED WITH 20 CLASSIC 7800 AND ATARI 2600 TITLES, INCLUDING ADVENTURE, ASTEROIDS, HAUNTED HOUSE, AND YAR’S RE VENGE, PLUS TWO CONTROLLERS.
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHL'
WHAT'S PLAYING IN THE COMPUTER
GAIVIING
What do you get when you put a dozen 400-pound gorillas in the same game store? Lots of gorilla juice from 10 dead gorillas and two living, bloodied master apes. So it is with the end of the year product releases. And here are two of them.
The Sims 2
SSS Cam fee nes The sequel to the biggest-selling PC game of all time has just come out and it’s monopolizing the lives of gamers the way breathing usually does. And deservedly so. The Sims 2 does what’s expected of a sequel: better graphics, new features, 3D engine, blah blah blah. But what developer Maxis has done goes above and beyond the usual expectations to deliver a game that’s fuller, more satisfying, and more com- pelling than ever. Steal your mom’s copy and prepare to be hooked.
Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth
EA isn’t letting up on the LOTR movie license teat just yet, as this real-time strategy title from the Command & Conquer crew is definitely going to attract some attention. But will it deserve that attention? I’ve been wowed by the scope of the combat and the stellar graphics and, yet, | still haven’t seen anything showing that the artfully cinematic battling is built atop an engaging game foundation. Battle for Middle-earth is undeniably pretty, but is it going to be any fun? | hope so—and so should EA, or this licensed gorilla is going to be juiced by World of WarCraft, Half-Life 2, and the other big monkeys. —Robert Coffey, Computer Gaming World
com * 73
) press start
FREE ATLAST!
Real-world stress tests reveal each console’s top wireless joypad
t’s tough being an adult gamer, what with annoying things like girlfriends, feeding
the dog, and your career constantly
getting in the way of your playing time. Combining your favorite pastime with average, everyday tasks just might help. We took a look at 15 wireless
THE PLAYSTATION 2 CHALLENGE:
GAMING WHILE SITTING ON THE THRONE
The Winner: Cordless Action ¢ Logitech * $35 www.logitech.com
Logitech has been making controllers for computers for years, and, thankfully, the same impeccable quality transfers over to its wireless gaming pads for today’s consoles. The Cordless Action’s battery life was above par, and the signal never faltered as we sat 15 feet from our gaming rig. Then nature called. So we hightailed it to the dumpitorium some 35 feet from the television (which we could still see thanks to a couple of strategically placed mirrors and magnifying lenses) and kept chug- ging along with a near-perfect signal while losing a cou- ple of necessary pounds.
controllers on the market, testing each on the standard criteria (range, battery life, etc.) and how they performed in
our unique time-efficiency challenges.
When the dust settled, two Logitech pads and a Nintendo-made shoo-in walked away with top honors.
THE XBOX CHALLENGE:
GETTING TO WORK ON TIME
The Winner: Cordless Precision ¢ Logitech * $45 www.logitech.com
That alarm clock knocking you out of bed at 6 in the morning is getting old fast. So after a quick shower and a pot of coffee, it’s time to play through another mission of Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow to pick up your spirits. Too bad work starts in another hour. Solution? The Precision works as well from the couch as it does on the go as you rush around your pad, putting important memos and a flask full of scotch into your junior execu- tive satchel. Now tackle the morning commute with thoughts of snapping necks dancing through your head and pull into work with time to spare.
Challenge Score: sh 1h sith sith ih
DIDN'T QUITE CUT THE CORD
While these wireless controllers work fine, we couldn’t give them the top positions for a variety of reasons...
P/ Air Flo Wireless Nyko ¢ PS2/XB * $50 ¢ www.nyko.com f’ It’s a fact: Your hands sweat when you play, _” especially if you like your games mature and your heroines sleazy. But do you need a fan built into your wireless controller? Nyko thinks so, but we think it makes the whole thing cluttered and over- sized. Alternate use to note: The perfect air freshener for our PS2 real-world challenge above.
_ soWare
RadioWave ¢ Sylvania ¢ PS2 * $30 www.radiowavecontrol.com If you think Sylvania just makes lightbulbs, you're a bit dim. Thanks to a partnership with GoDirect, the company’s consumer electronics divi- sion is now creating gaming accessories. Sylvania’s technologically solid foray into the world of wireless pads would be an excellent choice if it weren’t so huge. The small-handed need not apply.
THE GAMECUBE CHALLENGE:
FREAKING OUT YOUR NEIGHBORS
The Winner: WaveBird ¢ Nintendo * $35 www.nintendo.com
No need to hunt for a wireless pad for GameCube— Nintendo makes the best of the bunch. The WaveBird is flawlessly designed and will let you game for hours on two batteries, even through solid walls. Which gives you an idea. You know those upstairs neighbors who crank Def Leppard to 11? Tired of telling them to turn it down? Next time they rock out, offer them your WaveBird receiver, convincing them it’s a “game enhancer.” Now go back downstairs and start fiddling with your pad. Rest easy knowing they'll be gone by morning, thinking their GameCube is possessed by Beelzebub himself.
Challenge Score: 14h sh 1h sith th
Wireless Controller and Headset ¢ Hip Gear * XB * $100 www.hipgearproducts.com
This controller and headset combo— powered by state-of-the-wireless-art Bluetooth tech- nology—is the only cordless Xbox pad that lets you chat with online pals on Xbox Live. But such freedom comes with a price—one crisp Benjamin. Cut the cost in half and we’d think about it.
>> SEE YOU AT E3, LADY CROFT—EIDOS RECENTLY STATED THAT IT WOULD DEBUT A NEW INSTALLMENT OF THE TOMB RAIDER SERIES AT NEXT MAY’S ANNUAL GAMING TRADE SHOW... >>
74 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY © www.1UP.com
—Shawn Smith
pore alpiss Wile ovine loss
ideogame con-artistry has
come a long way since arcade
cheapskates figured out how to angle for free credits with a quarter,
TRADE-IN TRICKERY
When game stores offer a recently released gem in exchange for a few used games, most of us go ahead and lighten $ $ $ our libraries. Not schemer Rory Manion.
“First, find a Target or someplace similar
with a never-ending clearance cycle of crappy games,” he
Says. For example, Manion found four copies of Mace Griffin
for just $4 each. Buy the cheapo titles, haul ‘em to the spot
with the special offer, and you can essentially get a new hit game for less than $20. But brace yourself for smart-ass com- mentary: “The clerk asked me if Henry Rollins [the guy who
lent his gruff pipes to Griffin] was my uncle,” Manion says. Possible legal pitfalls: Perfectly safe, unless you take into account the mental anguish of owning multiple copies of crappy clearance games, if only for an hour.
some tape, and fishing line. Today’s catch-me-if-you-can tricksters are a brainier, more daring bunch. All gump- tion and no greenbacks, they find ways
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to get what they want for less by working the system within legal limits (well, usually). We got four of these shady characters to share their favorite
SOMETHING FOR NOTHING Who says you have to be a loyal cus- tomer to reap the benefits of customer- loyalty promotions? Trickster Steve MacDougall swears he owned the three games that Nintendo required to take advantage of its free Legend of Zelda: Colfector’s Edition offer. He just “lost the boxes.” Yeah, right. Fortunately, all Nintendo needed as proof was for customers to enter the required games’ product identification numbers on its website. “So | took my cell-phone camera into an EB, found the boxes | needed, and clicked away,” says MacDougall. He logged on to Nintendo’s site and entered the product ID numbers from his photos. The Collector's Edition arrived a few weeks later.
Possible legal pitfalls: This scheme’s more of a white lie than a white-collar crime—so petty it'd be silly to prosecute.
GOING THE EXTRA MILE
Some swindlers go to great lengths when they feel ripped off by a shoddy title. “1 bought a crappy game at one store that won’t let you return opened software,” says jilted gamer Jose Quezada. “So | bought another copy from a store that does take back opened games, took that sealed copy back to the first store, then brought the opened one back to the second store.” Twenty new miles on his odometer later, he had his money back. Possible legal pitfalls: None whatsoever, but unless you're the sort who washes his toilet paper for multiple wipings, tak- ing four trips to two stores only to break even on one bad game isn’t much to brag about. Sometimes it’s better to live up to your mistakes. Or, better yet, just read EGIM’s reviews before you burn that cash on questionable games.
go
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>> MIDWAY'S ARCADEY RACING FRANCHISE TAKES A TRIP DOWN THE PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY AND ARRIVES IN SO-CAL.
THE FIXER
When one gamer, who wisely wishes to remain anonymous, saw his PlayStation 1 go kaput after its warranty expired, he crossed the line and became a criminal: “l rented one that worked and pulled a switcheroo with the insides,” he says. “Unlike today’s con- soles, the PS1 came apart nice and clean. | doubt you could do it nowadays.” He returned the busted system to the rental Store and left them none the wiser. But our mystery man was- n’t ready to go clean just yet. “I scratched up my Madden, so | bought a Game Doctor,” he says, “then took ’em both back and said the device trashed my good disc.”
Possible legal pitfalls: Severe, Some rental outfits forward your late fees to loan collectors, so just imagine what they’d do if they caught you pulling a shenanigan like this.
L.A. RUSH (PS2/XB) STARTS ITS ENGINES NEXT SPRING... >>
schemes. Note: We in no way endorse
these dubious dealings, which we will
now describe in step-by-step detail. —Shawn Elliott
FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTER...
Even if game-store employees haven’t seen it all, they’re sure to pick up on a fair share of the funny stuff. Here are three see-through scams, according to Andrew Shaw, a hard-to-con clerk at a major retailer:
e “Trying to trade in legit cases with AOL discs inside.”
¢ “Buying a console then bringing the box back with a broken one in it.”
¢ “Getting and beating a game, returning it for something else, then returning that for something else—this worked back when we’d give full credit for software people weren’t satisfied with.”
@ Disc-read error: The ol’ AOL scam.
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.iUP.com ¢ 75
THE RUMOR MILL
Gossip so sweet tt’ll make your teeth hurt
rick or treat, smell my feet,
give The Q something good to
eat. If you don’t, | don’t care, | pull down my...ah, never mind. You’re not here to see my Spider-Man Underoos—you want rumors. And luckily, the sugar high from all that Halloween candy has produced some really juicy ones this month; tell your moms and pops not to bother with the x-ray machine—this batch of gossip is razorblade-free. Promise. Until next time, you can reach me at quartermann@ziffdavis.com, and maybe, just maybe I'll respond if candy is sent my way. (Here’s a hint: I'm a sucker for Snickers.) —The Q
PSP still coming in March Everywhere | go, yours truly is barraged with questions about the possibility of a PlayStation Portable delay. Well, you can rest easy, my friends. I’m hearing that Sony
“We killed ’em on football. They could give that thing away for
free, Scotch- taped to a ~ ham sandwich
and we’re still going to beat them.”
—VJeff Brown, EA’s Vice President of Corporate Communications boasts to GameDaily about Madden NFL 2005 outselling
rival ESPN NFL 2K5, despite ESPN's $20 price tag.
has recently sent out the final development kits for its slick-looking handheld, plus several of the original launch titles remain on track for a debut early next year in the good ol’ U.S.A—just as the company announced earlier this spring.
Start your Xenon engine
Is this the next Ridge Racer? Maybe.
As we inch closer to the unveiling of Microsoft's Xbox successor (which some are telling me could happen as early as October, while others are talking next February), this rumormonger has gotten wind of another planned Xenon title— Ridge Racer. But wait, there’s more: Supposedly, Namco is putting Pseudo Interactive, which created a fancy car- crash demo (pic above) using Xenon development software, in charge of the next-gen project.
Going Greek again
Thanks to its killer Devi! May Cry-inspired gameplay and Greek mythology backdrop, God of War is one of many reasons why I’m all jacked up for next year. Apparently, the folks at Sony are expecting big things from its PlayStation 2 actioner, too, as plans for a sequel are already well underway (so more than just cocktail napkin sketches). Guess they never heard the phrase “don’t count your AAA titles before they hatch.”
“We appreciate Mr. Brown’s interest in our business
and find it notable that [EA] has dropped the price of its NBA QaMe this year.”
—Director of PR at ESPN Videogames Matt Atwood responds, referencing the $40 price tag of EA’s NBA Live 2005.
76 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
Taking off their jockstraps
You probably best know EA Tiburon as the sportos who develop that Madden football series (| hear it's pretty popular). Yet that might be changing soon. The developer is currently staffing up for its first nonsports title, and while | have very few deets, early word is that the game will be of the third- person action variety...and John Madden isn’t the final boss. Shucks.
Lady Croft no longer
single (console)
It ain’t a secret that the lovely Ms. Croft will return to her tomb raiding in ’05. But what you don’t know is that PS2 owners won’t be the only ones partaking in this adven- ture, as Eidos will bring the game to Xbox after the PS2 ver- sion lands on store shelves.
Read the body language: Lady Lara is going to Xbox.
>> WELL-KNOWN RAPPER AND AVID GAMER SNOOP DOGG HAS AGREED TO HOST THE 2004 SPIKE TV VIDEOGAME AWARDS ON DECEMBER 14. SHOULD BE A HELL OF A SHIZZOW.... >»
CHARTS
TOP 10 BEST-SELLING GAMES FOR AUGUST 2004
psciedia 6 Sia Fimadden NFL2005 = PS2° EA Sports «© 5
It's a mixed bag of good and not so good.” -
Madden NFL 2005
XB e EA Sports f ESPN NFL 2K5
PS2 e ESPN Videogames
Madden NFL 2005 (Coll. Ed.) PS2 ¢ EA Sports
ESPN NFL 2K5 XB ¢ ESPN Videogames
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow ¢ XB ¢ Ubisoft
Spider-Man 2
PS2 ion NCAA Football 2005 PS2 ¢ EA Sports
Halo XB ¢ Microsoft
GC ¢ EA Sports TOP10GAME RENTALS FOR THE WEEK ENDING 09/05/04 - pancnsusTes
i Source: NPD TRSTS Video Games Service. Call (516) 625-6190 for questions regarding
Street Racing Syndicate PS2 ¢ Namco
Street Racing Syndicate XB ¢ Namco
DRIV3R PS2 e Atari
Madden NFL 2005 XB ¢ EA Sports
Test Drive: Eve of Destruction PS2 « Atari
NCAA Football 2005 PS2 ¢ EA Sports Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3:
Black Arrow XB ¢ Ubisoft
Spider-Man 2 PS2 © Activision
| = @ S a o
Source: Blockbuster Video
the weapon of choice:
[eatucing/oomportor
Tein sans ') BIU@tOOTH sine nin
featuring
bs Bluetooth’ wireless Technology
Hip Gear unleashes the ultimate weapon: XB-Comm Wireless Controller and Headset™
a true wireless solution
for use with Xbox® and Xbox® “Live”*
Xbox” and Xbox"Live are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. This product is not sponsored, endorsed or approved by Microsoft Corporation. Xbox®Live subsciption is not included. The Bluetooth word mark and logos are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Hip Interactive is under license
THE
TEN
You want these games— you really want them
Disagree with the list? You’re the ones who created it. Rock your vote at
-
The Legend of Zelda GC ¢ Fall 2005
Halo 2
XB ¢ November 2004 Jade Empire
XB ¢ March 2005
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes GC * November 2004
Knights of the Old Rep. Il XB ¢ December 2004
Final Fantasy XIl PS2 ¢ Summer 2005
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas PS2 ¢ October 2004
- i GC ¢ January 2005
Prince of Persia 2 PS2/XB/GC * Nov. 2004
Kingdom Hearts Il PS2 e Fall 2005
»» ATARI RETURNS TO THE GOOD OL DAYS—COME THIS NOVEMBER, THE PUBLISHER WILL RELEASE ATARI ANTHOLOGY (PS2/XB), WHICH INCLUDES 85 VINTAGE TITLES FOR $20.... =
78 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ¢ www.1UP.com
bay |
ADE EMPIRE
XB ¢ March 2005 — Hungry for new details on this Asian adven- ture from the Knights of the Old Republic crew? We've seen a wiry new gal named Radiant Jen Zi beating down baddies with giant rings and then finishing the job by transforming into a mag-
ical flaming horse. Even better—check this glimpse of Wu the Lotus Blossom going all zoological on an aberrant elephant with fiery dragon magic. Better yet—scope the trailer of Wu wasting fools with honey-glazed hams on www.bioware.com.
FINAL FANTASY Xi
PS2 ¢ Summer 2005 — Director Yasumi Matsuno hinted in ear- lier interviews that he’d like to address the issues of race and Class in Final Fantasy XII, and it looks like he’ll have plenty of material to work with. The svelte, rabbit-eared viera (pictured above) are made up of two different groups based on their color with a small segment of the population claiming to be of pure blood and isolating themselves from the rest of the world. Four other races populate the world of Ivalice, including diminu- tive moogles, the lizard-like bangaa, and the new-to-Fina/ Fantasy seeg race. Can they all get along? We're guessing...no.
PRINCE OF PERSIA: WARRIOR WITHIN
PS2/XB/GC * November 2004 — Get ready to break out the electric sitar. The scimitar-swinging Purple Rain wannabe is shucking and jiving in Warrior Within. Our swarthy hero leaps across enemies’ faces, steals their weapons, and even slices down two enemies at once...while doing a handstand. The new focus on combat means that dueling bad guys won’t get dull this time around, but expect an equal dose of totally nonviolent platforming and puzzle-solving to balance out all that carnage.
NHL2K5
INTENSE CONTACT CONTR
-.
OLS
a
VIOLENCE
A NHLPA
Live
PlayStation.2
“Based on review ratings compiled by GameRankings.com for 2003 and 2004 NHL titles. Sega is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Sega and the Sega logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Sega Corporation ©SEGA CORPORATION, 2004. All Rights Reserved. NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and team logos and marks depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P.©2004. All rights reserved. Officially Licensed Product of the National Hockey League.ONHLPA. ESPN NHL 2K5 is an Officially Licensed Product of the NHLPA. NHLPA, National Hockey League Players’ Association and the NHLPA logo are trademarks of the NHLPA and are used under license by Sega of America, Inc. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Online play requires Internet connection and Network Adapter (for PlayStation 2) and Memory Card (8 MB) (for PlayStation 2) (each sold separately). The Online icon is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Live, the Live logo, and the Xbox logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. ESPN is a trademark of ESPN, Inc. ESPN Branded Elements ©2004 ESPN, Inc.
) press start
COMING
So many games,
5004
Ghost Recon 2 Ubisoft * PS2/XB/GC — The latest Tom Clancy shooter is so big that one game can’t contain it. Get the scoop on page 96.
Final Fantasy | & Il: Dawn of Souls
Nintendo ¢ GBA — Grace your.GBA with this RPG double pack, revamped with new graphics, dungeons, and bosses.
GoldenEye; Rogue Agent EA Games * PS2/XB/GC — Turn the
tables on that stuffy Bond bloke in this 007 shooter where you’re the bad guy.
M 4
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— ee - = a:
= kt Midnight Club 3: Dub Editi
Rockstar ¢ PS2/XB — Pimp out your gas-guzzling Escalade and cruise the streets of Detroit, San Diego, and Atlanta.
> lay : Lord of the Rings, The Third Age Mario Tennis EA Games ¢ PS2/XB/GC — Ever wonder | Nintendo * GC — Plumber and pals take what would happen if Square Enix’s Final °| to.the courts for some wacky racket high Fantasy X and Frodo had sex? This. jinks, complete with zany minigames.
Konami ¢ PS2/XB/GC — The summer action flick fizzled, but this Lord of the Rings-style brawler shows promise.
oy Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal Sony CEA * PS2 — Will Sony's lovable mascots be as cute when they're blowing your ass up online? Probably not.
Playboy: The Mansion Arush ¢ PS2/XB — Running the Playboy empire requires a lotta management skill, wild parties, and sex in the grotto.
Need for Speed Underground 2 EA Games ¢ PS2/XB/GC — Careen around corners in this living, breathing, go- ects optional.
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Ubisoft ¢ PS2/XB/GC — The ancient art
of TiVo returns when the Prince works his temporal arts in an all-new adventure.
, Wry = i See eee eae eeeennne
Rumble Roses The Urbz: Sims in the City Viewtiful Joe 2 Wild Arms: Alter Code F
Konami ¢ PS2 — Konami's first wrestler EA Games ¢ PS2/XB/GC — Kind of like Capcom ¢ PS2/GC — Joe and his main Agetec * PS2 — Wild west meets high offers sloppy girl-on-girl action destined Sex in the City, but with freakazoid Sims squeeze bounce back to pummel more fantasy in this expanded remake of the to inspire some action below the belt. characters and blurred-out nudity, movie-themed monstrosities. original PS1 Wild Arms role-player.
ATV Off-Road Fury 3 Digital Devil Saga Godzilla: Save the Earth Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Shadow of Rome
Sony CEA © PS2 Atlus ¢ PS2 Atari ¢ PS2/XB Konami ¢ PS2 Capcom ¢ PS2
Baten Kaitos Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 Jak 3 Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Sonic Mega Collection Plus Namco ¢ GC Atari ¢ PS2 Sony CEA « PS2 Nintendo ¢ GC Sega ¢ PS2/XB
Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space EyeToy: Antigrav Karaoke Revolution Vol. 3 NCAA March Madness 2005 Spyro: A Hero’s Tail
Microsoft ¢ XB Sony CEA ¢ PS2 Konami * PS2 EA Sports * PS2/XB VU Games ¢ PS2/XB/GC
Capcom Fighting Evolution Fullmetal Alchemist Mega Man X8 Sega Superstars WWE Smackdown vs. Raw Capcom ¢ PS2/XB Square Enix ¢ PS2 Capcom * PS2 Sega ¢ PS2 THQ ¢ PS2
80 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
U.S.ARMY
It’s not your everyday job.
www.thebardstale.com
RATING PENDING uum Visit www.esrb.org
PlayStation.2 for updated rating
information.
VIVENDI
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‘entertainment™
PlayStation
CONTENT RATED BY ESRB
© 2004 inXile entertainment. All rights reserved. The Bard's Tale is a trademark or registered trademark of inXile entertainment in certain countries; and is a trademark or registered trademark of Electronic Arts Inc. in certain other countries where it is used under license. inXile entertainment and the inXile logo are trademarks of inXile entertainment. Vivendi Universal Games and the Vivendi Universal Games logo are trademarks of Vivendi Universal Games, Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. "PlayStation" and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association, All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
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ESRB CONTENT RATING
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NETGAINS |
Online gaming for everyone
BC with . e elf princesses to massive R At Wai simultaneous WWII b e e t i assaults, online gaming . e delivers action with a uniquely human ~° Q -° edge. Crave a satisfying shooter? Peg i e . . that bratty 12-year-old with a head- - i ° ‘ shot. Sick of the brain-dead A.l. in dri- + bd ° e ving games? Race the toughest players | e = + is in the world. Hell, you can mobilize e Z your friends to battle zombies, pilot = . massive robots, or pull bank heists. As . . e * new genres expand online, the days of : : e Simple deathmatch fragfests are + 8 * quickly becoming as antiquated as . e playing chess via e-mail. This feature p . will give you a quick heads up on a bevy of upcoming online games, including a taste of each game’s $ : e offline action and a snippet of likely ° . a e headset banter. (Also of note: For mul- dad Ad . < 6 . tiplatform games, we've only listed the . * consoles that actually allow online : + a play...sorry, Gamecube.) . . sees —By Shane Bettenhausen, « * . F . - Kevin Gifford, and Justin Speer e
-_— — — a _ = —— — — ———
a 4
86 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com VA >
oS - [GET CONNECTED a
eee ee. Pick your online poison:
: . Shooting — Page 90 ° ‘ ° ° 25 to Life ¢ Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2 rive First to Fight: Close Combat
'‘ "A * GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
i ig : * Call of Duty: Finest Hour ‘ * . Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal e . ¢ Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory ° ° . © Area 51 : Roe ° Project: Snowblind
Rockem Sockem Robots — Page 106 ¢ Gungriffon
: og ° ° S.LA.I. Phantom Crash e > ¢ Mechassault 2
.| | Racing — Page 110 < ° : ¢ Need for Speed Underground 2 ° ee : + # ¢ Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition . Forza: Motorsports © ATV Off-Road Fury 3
: Adventure — Page 112 : p ¢ Rise of the Kasai ee hd ¢ Champions: Return to Arms ¢ Resident Evil Outbreak File #2
Fighting — Page 114 ¢ Fight Club
¢ Capcom Fighting Evolution ¢ Iron Phoenix
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com © 87
“DAZZLING SENSE OF AERIAL FREEDOM.” — IGN
“THE BEST SPIDER-MAN GAME YET.”
—Gamepro.com
te Na 2 ee Pe >) = = el = —vU60
"WILDLY ADDICTING.” —IGN
8 = 9 = — ie ed = 4 = =
—Yahoo Games Domain
xa
i 5 Erie ys eee Do anything Spider-Man® can Go anywhere and interact Pick your:own path: battle Swing through 4 fiving, Web swing for the first. tirne
with breathtaking new moves — with anything, Doc Ock, bust street crimes highly detailed Manhattan. from: street to rooftop across and amazing combos. or clash with classic villains. the entire city.
GAME BOY ADVANCE
Violence NINTENDO E =| De
“Coming Soon.
PlayStation.e
Spider-Man and all related Marvel characters, TM & © 2004 Marvel Characters, Inc. Spider-Man, the Movie, and Spider-Man 2, the Movie © 2004 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Activision Publishing, Inc. Game code © 2004 Activision, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision, Inc. All rights reserved, “PlayStation” and the “PS Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. TM, ®, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube and Nintendo DS are trademarks of Nintendo. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.
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preview Feature: online games
35 to Life gives you all the thrills of large-scale gang warfare but without the mess of getting killed in real life.
PS2/XB © Eidos * Spring 2005
Plugged in: Designer Jake Neri a | describes 25 to Life as “the
first online version of cops and robbers,” but to the seasoned gamer, it may look more like a hip-hop skin for SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs. SOCOM in tha Hood, in other words, or maybe Bro-COM: U.S. Urban Gangbangers. Like Sony’s run-
90 » ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
25 TO LIFE
away online hit, 25 to Life takes two teams of players (up to eight per side), throws them into a large outdoor arena, and lets them work out their differences as violently as possible. The atmosphere here, though, is a bit different: Instead of special-ops hardbodies fighting terrorists in the jungle, you have police crews
fighting guys in wife-beaters and ski masks across the cityscapes of America. It’s a classic portrait of modern urban life—as seen on Cops.
One look at 25 to Life’s online game modes should give you an idea of what to expect here. The default mode is war, a simple deathmatch that pits 16 people against one another in an all-out street riot. If you’re looking for something more involved, there are two variations on cap- ture the flag: raid, where cops break into a safe house and gangsters try to hold them off for as long as possible, and
@ Headshots require a fair amount of skill.
robbery, where gangsters knock off a series of stores and make a run for the escape point before the cops can catch them. The final mode is tag, where gangster crews compete for turf by spraying their clan's name on walls— tags can be customized offline before the game begins. (Just like most sports games these days, you'll get to keep track of your online stats and ranking via the game’s official website at www.25tolife.com.)
So why would anyone want to play a cop in 25 to Life? Because unlike in
>
@ As a general rule, don’t bring a bat to a gunfight.
AQUA TEEN SPACE GHOST HUNGER FORCE™ COAST TO COAST™ VOLUME THREE
VOLUME TWO
2 Osc OVO SET
INCLUDES: 13 EPISODES,
COMMENTARIES, DELETED INCLUDES: 14 EXTENOEO HOW TO SCORE BiG “aa EPISODES, COMMENTARIES. MONEY WRITING FoR ANDY'S PILOT AND MORE! TELEVISION AND MOREL
[adult swim].
C4ALIT COL INT BOIL. adultswim.com
CARTOON NETWORK, ADULT SWIM, the logos, AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE, SPACE GHOST COAST TO COAST and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Cartoon Network. (s04)
ROCKSTAR GAMES PRESENTS
A ROCKSTAR NORTH PRODUCTION
ee cee TO PLAYSTATION®2
WWW.ROCKSTARGAMES.COM/SANANDREAS
Visit www.esrb.org
PlayS tation.c for updated rating
information.
CONTENT RATED BY ESRB
© 2004 Rockstar Games, Inc. Rockstar Games, Rockstar North, the i logo, Grand Theft Auto and the Grand Theft Auto logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other marks and trademarks are properties of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved. Note: The content of this videogame is purely fictional, and is not intended to represent any actual person, business or organization. Any similarity between any character, dialogue, event or plot element of this game and any actual person, business or organization is purely coincidental. The makers and publishers of this videogame do not in any way endorse, condone or encourage this kind of behavior.
preview feature: online games
| Takin’ It to the Street 25 to Life’s debut at the huge E3 gaming trade show this past May led to accusations that Eidos was trying to make a quick buck off America’s cur- rent fixation with underground thug culture. “We’re proud that [the game] embodies the feel of the street,” responds Neri, “but we’re not glamorizing the Bloods versus the Crips here. These are the streets, but it’s not East L.A.”
Not that the developers are shutting their eyes to the scene, of course. Eidos is planning an all-star soundtrack for its game with tunes from DMX, Ghostface Killa, and the still-dead Tupac Shakur. To further deepen the game’s street cred, a “leading member of the hip-hop commu- nity” will write the single-player mode’s story. 50 Cent, maybe? Nah—he’s got a game of his own in the works right now.
SOCOM, 25 to Life's warring sides have decisively different weapons and abili- ties. Your average cop here has a stan- dard-issue pistol and baton, as well as rifles, hand grenades, and even a Taser that can knock out anything smaller than a horse within 10 feet. Even worse, the police also possess the advantage in accuracy—since they’ve had real marks- manship training, they miss far less often at longer ranges. Gangsters, just like in the movies, have to make up the differ- ence with pure firepower—from Ingram MAC-10s and TEC-9s all the way up to sawed-off shotguns and goofy RoboCop-
94 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
style machinery.
With all of this weaponry, your typical online match in 25 to Life tends to become a lurid, slightly unsettling blood- bath—ike you’re living out the climax of Menace II Society in the safety of your living room.
“Our focus here is on immersion and ambience,” Neri explains. “A lot of games seem empty when you play them online, so we wanted to enhance our game’s realism and the way its world feels.” And ambience is what this game has: Helicopters whir above your head, the boom-boom-boom of a nearby club
e echoes across the street, and brushing
~~ Online banging often yields a high body count.
past the wrong car could set off its alarm and give away your position. For even more immersion, you can customize your character’s looks, face, and clothing; rare accessories like bandannas and custom facial hair will be unlocked after com- pleting certain feats online.
Unplugged: Although the solo mode in 25 to Life is primarily
meant as a warm-up for your online debut, it’s still far deeper than the
simple practice sections of online titles like Microsoft's Counter-Strike. The sin-
gle-player game’s divided into four story vignettes, each told from a different per- spective, which come together near the end as the focus shifts to the leader of the local crime syndicate you're fighting and/or abetting. Expect to see the same sorts of robberies and raids you'll pull off online—just with a real plot and without anyone talking about how stoned they are in your headset.
What you might hear: “Yo, this Glock ain’t got s*** on what |
got hidden in my closet upstairs. Crips for life!”
CSTAMI ALONE COMPLEX; ”
~
Coming November 2004
ghostintheshell-thegame.com
| Coming to
It swi | a ee PI ayStation.2 2] PRODUCTION IG Ban
©2003-2004 Production 1.G. ©2004 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc./BANDAI/Production I.G/NYV. Bandai logo is a registered trademark of Bandai. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment inc. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. CARTOON NETWORK, ADULT SWIM and logos are trademarks of and © 2004 Cartoon Network.
@ preview Feature:
online games
21 GR2's new ‘perspective
: nizes the action. ee
PS2/XB ¢ Ubisoft ¢ November 2004
Plugged in: When they talk 8 | about “the army of one” on TV,
they’re really referring to you in Ghost Recon 2—you’re a squad leader with enough high-tech weaponry to win a war against North Korea. All 20 missions in this tactical-shooter sequel are also available for co-op play, and a good dozen online modes—pitting up to 16 players against one another in capture the flag and other games—are set to deploy. Also of note: The PS2 and Xbox games are actually unique, offering different maps, characters, and objectives.
96 + ELECTRONIC: GANWNG: MONTHLY » vewwAUPGom=—_
TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON 2
Unplugged: The sequel to the iW top game of 2003 for the Soldier of Fortune crowd moves
further away from its PC roots. A new behind-the-shoulder camera augments the old first-person view, and you can now take on the whole single-player campaign in lone wolf mode, eschewing your normal teammates for solitary action.
What you might hear: “Hey,
een did you hear that North Korea tried to ban this game
because...(rain of gunfire).”
in restaurants knows, and Rogue Agent, a
XB ¢ Gathering ¢ Early 2005
Plugged in: Real-life Marines helped design this serious team-based first-person shoot-
er, and it shows: Teamwork is an absolute must. “Anybody who has ever played a team-based game online can immediately tell the difference between teams that operate together as a cohesive unit and those that are just a random collection of individuals,” says Producer Peter Tamte. Skilled teams will find stiff competition against like-minded cliques in Fight’s fire team arena mode, where the highest- ranked squads duel for supremacy.
the original GoldenEye,” says Senior Producer Chris Plummer. “And players can unlock multiple maps through online play.” The multiplayer modes, all of which support up to eight players online, range from simple duels to “war games,” where villains fight to complete an objective before the good guys save the day.
Unplugged: Multiplayer is a huge part of the GoldenEye pac age (you can play four-player
FIRST TO FIGHT: CLOSE COMBAT
Unplugged: Strategy is key in First to Fight’s single-player
mode, set in 2006 during a hypothetical Lebanese civil war. Blasting away like you’re in Doom won't keep you alive too long—you need to outflank your Opponents, putting the fear of God in them with your slow, calculated advances.
What you might hear: “I am SaiyanVegeta854! From now on
the first and last word out of your filthy sewers will be ‘sir!’ Sound off!”
‘The few, the proud, the.online.
colleen matches if you' re bor dba Net connection), but the single-player is nothing to spit-take your dry mar- tini at. The game's eight missions chroni- cle the life of an MIG turncoat helping
- assorted Bond villains take over the world and actually keep it this time.
What you might hear: “No, Mr.
“ECE Bond! | don't expect you to camp
out under that stairwell for the entire match... | expect you to die!” >
PRESENTS TUUR MUNITILT GF
PLUG INTO THIS
BREAK OUT OF THE ORDINARY
@ Preview Feature: =? Online games
g SHOOTING
PS2/XB Activision * November 2004
Plugged in: Do you want some 8 | frilly, commie-pinko multiplayer
modes like “daisy-chain node domination,” soldier? Not in this WWII shooter. “It’s really easy for'a [develop- | ment] team to spin its’ wheels on multi- player to create new and different modes and game types and get caught up in ‘new for new’s sake’ design,” comments 3 Thaine Lyman, Hour’s executive produc- er. “So our approach, especially with all the revolutionary things we are already doing in terms of single player, was to focus in on the game modes that gamers
& Finest Hour will also ship for the GameCube this fall but won’t feature online play. D’oh.
98 » ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
want and play most, We’ve really taken the approach of putting the funsfirst.” This means rugged,combat-issue mul- tiplayer bouts of deathmatch; capture the flag; and search and destroy that neatly fill the WWII void teft.by Medal of Honor’s 2004 absence. While you're fighting it out in tried-and-true matches with the series’ famously authentic WWI! weapon- ry, full voice communication lets you coordinate that breach-and-clear maneu- ver with your online war buddies—or just fake a really bad German-accent as
HE
CALL OF DUTY: FINESTHOUR _
Unplugged: Cail of Duty on PC has the meritorious distinction
of cramming a helluva lot of soldiers on the screen at once to create that “you're right in the middle of a war zone and you're probably about to get hit in the face by a grenade” feeling.
Finest Hour isn’t a port, but it has sim- ilar aspirations.[Our aim is] cramming 200-plus allied and enemy soldiers onscreen at once in single player, pack- ing the campaigns with the most harrow- ing and intense action experienced on
sights and sounds of war, and dropping the player into the center of it all,” states Lyman. The game will also focus more on the valiant struggles of individual characters (two for each Allied force) and give you a good amount of time but- toned down in tanks or manning the mounted gun on a jeep.
What you might hear: “Is that fb} an antique DPM 7.62mm Ruchnoy Pulemyot light machine gun in your pants or are you
the console, with all of the authentic
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suodpam 4noA apnabdn ‘ssapps0y) uapply yo]Up)
Unlock hidden characters, upgrade your weapons
and find new worlds with these sweet cheats,
tips and tricks. Cut out the cards, and stash them
in the game case so you can really get into the
game. Check out www.Getintothegame.com to download a coupon for $5 off any game shown here and check out more codes for the latest hot titles.
GET INTO THE GAME.COM
©2004 Target Stores. The Bullseye Design is a registered trademark of Target Brands, Inc. All rights reserved.
POKEMON FIRE RED © LEAF GREEN
PS2, XBOX, GAMECUBE CHALKBOARD STRATEGIES
Hit Stick
PS2, XBOX USE THE FORCE
© Jumping can save your life in certain combat situations. For instance, if you come face-to-face with a droideka, instead of duking it out face-to-face, simply jump on top of it and drop down behind it. From there you can attack, or simply retreat as the slow unit attempts to rotate and re-acquire you within its sights.
e In last year’s
game, the deep
pass was the weapon of choice for many of the country's top players. Players with high jump ratings could literally sky over the opposition, turning many games into offensive shoot outs.
¢ All snipers are equipped with a recon droid. These spherically shaped droids hover across the battlefield and can be used to spot distant units or call in an orbital strike on their own location. Orbital strikes are devastating against stationary positions or slow-moving vehicles, like the AT-TE or AT-AT.
¢ One of the best ways to break up the deep ball is to take control of a safety and
drop him deep into coverage. If you practice enough, you can get into position to deliver a crushing blow. Get back quickly, then use the strafe button to square up. Wait for the ball to get close and flick
the Hit Stick. © Designed for space combat, the
weapons installed on starfighters are often the most powerful on the battlefield. Establish air superiority, a LO nate enemy vehicles and troops. When necessary, land near repair droids to stock up on more missiles,
Nena “4 kit — | |
Creating Turnovers j BREN Sr Ree) al
¢ You will see a lot more penetration by the defense this year, especially on running plays. This will give you many chances at using the Hit Stick to make a highlight reel play.
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PS2 © Sony CEA « November 2004
Plugged in: “Ever wanted to
8 | turn your little brother into a ‘ sheep?” asks Arsenal’s Online Designer Cory Stockton. “Now you can.” When Ratchet and Clank’s crazy weapons and insane action leap online this fall, tons of online newbies will get down with their inner farm animals.
Prepare for an uncontrollable online orgy of destruction withemore than 20
=
@ The critters may be cuddly, but their | gums sure ain't,
(GEE I
| XB e Microsoft ¢ Spring 2005
Plugged in: “I think there’s @ | definitely a market for blood, guts, profanity, big guns, and furry ninja babes,” explains Conker | Designer Chris Seavor. Odds are he’s right. Outside its zany cartoonish trap- | pings, Conker is a war-themed shooter | where players choose a predefined mili- | tary role (like sniper, oops...we mean “long ranger”) and give the bad guys all the hell their little animal hearts can | muster. This may involve riding armored | four-wheelers and causing geysers of blood to erupt from a squirrel’s head-
| CONKER: LIVE AND RELOADED _
weapons (most of which can be upgrad- ed four times), gadgets like magnet boots and grappling hooks, and multiper- son vehicles (you drive while your buds man the guns). “We really wanted to open up online gameplay to a new audi- ence by making it easier to play and understand,” says Stockton. Getting bru- tally transformed into a sheep or duck is pretty easy to wrap your head*around.
less neck. Cool, huh?
o Unplugged: When you're all iy deathmatched out, Conker offers a port of the Nintendo
64 platformer Bad Fur Day, which is a surprisingly good game packed with crude humor and a whole lot of movie references. It could be worth a look, but we’re not sure how well it’s aged.
What you might hear: “Hey, does anyone else find these
animals kinda...well...sexy?”
es altogether) can participate in surprisingly
Unplugged: Although online fragfests constitute the major
focus here, developer Insomniac isn’t neglecting a proper single-player adventure. Ratchet and Clank have-to continue their misadventures, after all. In addition to a bevy of new. weapons, you can also expect a.revamped first-person view mode (available from the outset) and an entire subgame starring series
PS2/XB e Ubisoft ° February 2005
Plugged in: Since everyone you meet online is just hopelessly
insubordinate, Brother in Arms seeks to delete the need for teamwork.
| “We’re giving players the opportunity to : x do something they’ve never done before,”
says Multiplayer Producer Marc Tardif.
| “Here, every human player. commands a
squad of A.I. soldiers in a multiplayer
| environment.” These computer-controlled
privates are completely loyal, know no fear, and will never shout “j00 suxOrz!” A maximum of four players (16 soldiers
Ths Alisne
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.corft
preview feature: online games
villain Qwark, in = yb
which he hops, bops, i ¥
and shoots on MS,
Ratchet’s handheld game sys-
tem. Arsenal Director Ryan
Schneider sums it up nicely:“If you
get bored playing this game, you suck.”
eck What you might fears “Dudé) don't-hit me with that, Quack.”
strategic online combat.
Unplugged: Arms is first and foremost an offline experience
that solemnly and painstakingly re-creates the missions of real soldiers. You'll command a fireteam and an assault team, using a zoomed-out tacti- cal view to plan suppress and flank maneuvers, which were the core of WWII battle tactics.
eck What you might hear: “Kill them, my servants of doom!”
SY NI | DAs
r% Smmmwr 2n .
VES,
i inside, the Intel c. All rights rese;
2
Make sure you play Medal of Honor Pacific Assault”on a PC powered by it just isn’t fair. To get a free download to optimize your motherboard fo
the Intel’ Pentium’4 Processor with HT Technology. Otherwise, faster game play, visit intel.com/go/gaming.
® preview Feature: = online games
XB © Ubisoft * March 2005
Plugged in: Cooperation is the 8 | name of the game in Chaos
Theory, the third Splinter Cell adventure in two years. Online players join forces as Shadownets, spies who work in tandem to complete the mis- sions series star Sam Fisher just doesn’t have time for. “We wanted co-op to be more than just having two guys playing a duplicate of the single-player experi- ence,” explains Theory Producer Mathieu Ferland. To accomplish this, Theory boasts multiplayer-specific missions and moves, such as getting a boost onto a normally unreachable platform and pulling up your fellow spy after you. “Big walls impossible to climb alone and pipes too high in the air to be reached by a single player are just some exam- ples of a new types of gameplay where you think and play in terms of coopera-
tion,” says Ferland. |
While this new co-op action sounds promising, it’s likely no substitute for Pandora Tomorrow's awesome spies vs. mercenaries mode. Ubisoft hints that Theory will offer similar thrills...and well, it had better. Or else.
Unplugged: It's Splinter Cell...again. While*the single-
player experience appears fndamentally unchanged, expect improved graphics, new moves, more realistic A.I., and an undoubtedly sneaky new story.
What you might hear: “OK, 0) gonna take his route, shoot out the lights, whis- tle to distract...damn it! (gunfire) OK, S0 | just shot him in the face.” >
Some, Pre- If Sc-20K LAUNCHE pare to become a
L R | human stepladder. A <4,
Re eee ae” es
LESSON 3: WHEN THE STUDENT IS READY, THE MASTER WILL APPEAR.
GET READY.
(-GUnwe OF FiCiAL
MTERACTIVE GAME GUIDE
PRINTABLE CRIB SHEETS TONS OF EXCLUSIVE WITH FULL MOVE BONUS CONTENT LISTS & MORE — sass
Ee a nae
THE FIRST LESSON WAS THE POWER OF LIGHT. NOW YOU'RE GOING TO LEARN THE POWER OF ENTERTAINMENT. THE DRAGON BALL Z: BUDOKAI 3iGUIDE IS LOADED WITH EXCLUSIVE VIDEO TIPS, SECRETS, AND ENTERTAINMENT ALL ON DVD. THE OFFICIAL iGUIDE ENABLES YOU TO UNLOCK ALL THE FUN AND SURPRISES HIDDEN WITHIN THE GAME. AVAILABLE WHERE THE GAME IS SOLD.
preview feature: mae s ¥ online games hs i
g SHOOTING
Plugged in: Once an arcade Unplugged: Expect a gun game with a cheese Wy behind-the-gun shooter aoe : factor rivaled only by Mad experience on par with ‘
PS2 © Midway ¢ Spring 2005 Dog McCree, Area 51 has gone alittle other modern games in the genre,
bit X-Files (David Duchovny actually but with aliens. Er...well, most of the
voices the lead) and a little bit Half- good shooters these days have
Life. Even better news: Your character —_ aliens, don’t they?
does not have to wear a dorky blue The one thing that might set this
STAAR uniform. one apart (other than a renegade e The deathmatch bloodshed seems alien helper named Edgar, voiced by
fairly straightforward but thoroughly Marilyn Manson) is the mutant DNA
polished. “Our attention to detail will pulsing through your contaminated
be very apparent to the players when _ body. You'll develop abilities far more
| they see the sheer number of multi- fearsome than E.T.’s glowing finger of + player maps we offer, as well as the love or Alf’s cat-fur hairballs, like the amount of variation they have,” ability to spit out life-sucking para- .
explains Producer Zach Wood. “Not to __sitic insects. Ugh. mention having two industry legends,
John Romero and Tom Hall [the cre- What you might hear: ators of the original Doom), adding “LOL, you mutants are total- ly teh suck!”
their creative input.”
15
210
PS2/XB ¢ Eidos January 2005
@ | Plugged in: “The initial focus of the game was to, first
lors FRAG 8
and foremost, deliver an awesome single-player experi-
ence,” admits Multiplayer Designer Noah Hughes. “However, it didn’t take us long to realize that we had the build- ing blocks of an incredible multiplayer game.”
Snowblind’s bio-enhanced soldiers fighting in a Chinese civil war in 2065 are key blocks in that design—thanks to about two dozen weapons, support devices, and customizable bio-mod abili- ties. “We're trying to make sure there’s always some nuance or strategy left to discover...that our weapons, abilities, and gadgets interact in ways that will continually surprise the player,” says Designer Zak McClendon. Shotguns will be able to fire clusters of sticky bombs, portable riot walls provide cover, and living bolts of bio-lighting will snake their way through enemy ranks.
Unplugged: What should you expect from Snowblina’s single-player campaign? Girth. “We’ve got encounters | 5
with a half dozen friendly soldiers and nearly triple that | number of enemies,” states McClendon. “This is the unique experience we're trying to provide, to put the player smack in the | middle of a chaotic, frenzied futuristic war zone and give them k the power and the tools to overcome the odds and lead their friends to victory.”
("0 What you might hear: “Dammit! Will somebody please throw down a riot wall?” >
Cut off behind enemy lines with no to contact help, four young, barely trained soldiers realize their only hope for survival is to head into the heart of darkness. With few rations and dwindling ammunition, the only thing separating them from freedom is 100 miles
of ruthless terrain,
crawling with unseen
enemies and filled with
hidden booby traps.
Welcome to Vietnam.
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Get behind the wheel of Jeeps, tanks, 14 enormous missions in jungles, Use experience points after missions to helicopters, and river boats. villages, temples, and underground tunnels. develop characters in 9 categories.
_— j 2 PlayStation2 =< Bees SCy
Blood and Gore Intense Violence Strong Language
Trademark and © 2004 SCi Games Limited, published by Take-Two Interactive Software and its subsidiaries. Global Star Software, the Global Star Software logo, Take-Two Interactive Softwarg,,Inc. and the Take-Two Company logo are trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Global Star Software, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Pivotal Games and the Pivotal Games Logte@re trademarks of Pivotal Games Limited. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, and the Xbox logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.
Suggestive Themes Use of Drugs
ge preview Feature: online games
& Unlike those e uppity Go-Bats, , s these bots don’t
~ pat on airs.
XB © Tecmo ¢ December 2004
Plugged in: Remember 8 | Gungriffon for the Sega Saturn? Not so much, eh? Oh, well...maybe you recall Gungriffon: Blaze, the PS2 launch title? Can’t blame ya. Well, maybe you're better off coming to the series with a fresh start, with this, the first installment to offer online play. Here, up to 12 players can simultaneously get behind the wheels of massive High Mac mechs for wanton destruction in death- match; team battle, and co-op missions. Expect action that stresses speedy game- play over intense strategy (so leave your
XB ¢ Microsoft ¢ December 2004
Plugged in: “No matter how
; g | interesting we make the arti- ficial intelligence in the game,
many players are more intrigued with | the challenge of matching wits with a | human,” explains Producer Denny _ | Thorley. “Many people think it is more
| satisfying to kick their buddy's ass than it is to beat a well-crafted A.1.”
He’s right, ya know, and MechAssault 2 should please all the | fans who glommed on to the original Xbox Live smash. The machines feel bigger, the battles seem better, and the | explosions look even more impressive. Placing players in the roles of tiny humans not only completely alters the game’s scale, it also makes 31st cen- tury war more dynamic by letting pilots | freely board vehicles or gun emplace- | ments during fierce online battles. Tanks, for instance, have stealth | functions, and air transports can drop | troops, supplies, and bombs. Strap on | the highly maneuverable battle armor and you can attach yourself to the
MECHASSAULT 2
Steel Battalion portable cockpit packed away in storage for this one).
Unplugged: You'll get a full gar- iW rison of offline missions to blow
through, but online play remains the focus here. Director Masato Dobashi tells it straight, “It’s been our
dream to include online multiplayer ever
since the Sega Saturn days.”
ancl “Baka gaijin\”
back of the meanest war machine on the battlefield to forcibly eject its pilot via a button-tap hacking. To top it all off, it’ll use all the Xbox Live features | known to man and allow bitchin’ cus- tom paint jobs for your clan’s mechs.
Unplugged: The single-player iy experience will use all the same elements as the online
game, presenting unique situations where you’ll need to switch vehicles and adopt new tactics within the framework of a self-contained story. “We are dedicated to making the sin- gle-player experience compelling, immersive, and a robust experience in itself,” says Thorley. “The single-player campaign will prepare you for multi- player, and the tricks you learn in mul- tiplayer will make you want to replay the single-player game.”
What you might hear: “Get off my back you *#@%!&% hack-monkey!” >
What you might hear: (If you’ll eek) be able to play with Japanese
PS2 © Konami ° Spring 2005
Plugged in: This sequel to the @ | little-known (but really quite
decent) Phantom Crash for Xbox does in two installments what the Armored Core series has been tryin’ to do for nearly a decade—get robots dueling online. Here, four players hop into mechs for brutal, anything-goes deathmatch action. Customize your bot with gizmos like optical camouflage, superhigh jumping mods, and diamond- tipped chain saws, then impress your foes by stylishly tearing apart their own meager creations.
@ Online, players can join perpetual planet-to-planet wars to control territories.
(\
S.L.A.1. PHANTOM CRASH
your gun...sorry.”
Unplugged: Single-player ty offers a full story mode in which you battle computer-
controlled mechs, gain new parts, and...well...that’s about it. Battling A.1. can’t really compare to taking on real humans, but at least you can invite a bud into the fray via splitscreen robo-on- robo combat.
What you might hear: “Cool, where’d you get that nifty leaf- blower attachment? Oh, that’s
WWW.NYKO.COM/SPEAKERCOM
qa =-N= Oe)
CONTROLLER-MOUNTED SPEAKER AND MICROPHONE UNIT FOR XBOX LIVE™
COMMAND TROOPS, TALK TRASH, AND SET PLAYS WITHOUT THE DISCOMFORT AND DISTRACTION CAUSED BY HEADSETS. THE FOCUSED- MICROPHONE PICKS UP NO AMBIENT NOISE FROM THE TV OR OTHER DEVICES IN THE ROOM, AND THE HIGH-QUALITY SPEAKER PROVIDES CLEARER SOUND THAN A HEADSET. SPEAKERCOM™ WORKS WITH YOUR EXISTING XBOX LIVE COMMUNICATOR MODULE. THE IDEAL VOICE CHAT SOLUTION FOR XBOX LIVE!
COMPATIBLE WITH ALL VOICE ENABLED XBOX LIVE GAMES
ADJUSTS TO FIT ALL XBOX* DUAL-PORT CONTROLLERS
PLUG AND PLAY, NO INSTALLATION OR BATTERIES REQUIRED
From the Makers of (i a eo) od
NYKO®, SpeakerCom™, and Air Flo™ are trademarks of NYKO Technologies, Inc. Xbox® and Xbox Live™ are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. ©2004 NYKO Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
\ INNOVATION FIRST
PRODUCTS RANGE FROM EVERYONE roTEEN
®
-_ Mild Violence
CONTENT RATED BY
© 2004 Mirage Studios, Inc. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ® and related logos, names, characters and distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Mirage Studios, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All Rights Reserved."KONAMI@"” is a registered trademark of KONAMI CORPORATION. © 2004/KONAMI & Konami:Computer Entertainment Studios. Microsoft, Xbox, and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. “PlayStation” and the'*PS” Family logo are registered. trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.™, ®, Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo Game Cube logo are trademarks of Nintendo.
The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software Association.
AND 'DA OTHER TURTLE. AND "DA OTHER TURTLE.
AND ’DA OTHER TURTLE. ‘TEENAGE Mi MUTANT NINA
®
= —
The battle’s on. And the turtles must work together to survive. Leo’s swords. Raph’s strength. Don's computer skills. Mikey’s jumping. You'll need it all. Switch between each character in single player mode or play with friends and have the whole team on screen at
once. Pick your turtle. It’s go time.
AINCLUDES)
2THE\1989)) | |/KONAMIY v3 iAH I . ' www.konami.com/usa
@® preview feature: online games
5 velit Forza is a Gran Ei -Turismo wannabe, yes, but it’s \ the most promising one out there. Over 60 manufacturers are repre- sented, the physics and control are both highly realistic, and you can go all gear- head with superdetailed tweaking.
(QAP What you might hear: “Yo, Wd anyone got an Enzo? | got a uick Electra for trade!”
PS2/XB *\EA Games"* November 2004.
Plugged in: Out of all the games 3 featured here, NFSU2 probably
a
offers the most seamless online experience. Everything you can do offline— drag races, mountain drifting, “outrun” matches—can happen online with up to four players. “Based onthe popularity of online mode last year, we really ramped up our online team to deliver a robust online experience in NFSU2;" explains Producer Justin Wiebe. “We’ve included brand-new four-player outrun tournaments, a progres- sive ranking board, and twice.as many parts to customize your car wn
Nl0+ a GAMING MONTHLY ¢ www.1UP.com
NEED FOR: Ftd UNDERGROUND
Unplugged: Theip i iW this year’s Ufide you, the player, do
want, You like drag faces? Then set the in-game map to display only drag races—the game will keep em coming until you're sick of ‘em. (You still have run other race types, but you aren’t — forced through every single one like you were last year.) P
What you might hear: “Dude,
chug where you at? This city’s huge} Meet me at the Burger King.” “ > *
stated paint jobs.
F Ay
@ And this is one of the more under-
a.
MIDNIGHT CLUB 3: DUB EDITION
PS2/XB © Rockstar ¢ January 2005 Plugged in: The “DUB Edition” bit refers to DUB Magazine,
fl purveyors of high-class rides for the hip-hop community, and the types of cars you'll see in this Midnight Club aren’t what you would expect from a street racer. Up to eight players can race across Atlanta, Detroit, and San Diego online—but instead of Ferrari speed demons, they’ll be using fancy SUVs and
luxury sedans from Ducati and Mercedes-Benz.
Unplugged: Pick a ride (our suggestion: Cadillac
Escalade—iist price: $52,635) and drive it 120 mph down tight city streets, busting through insane shortcuts to finish in first. Playing against the A.I. will help prep you for the stiff online competition, plus you can earn cash and pimp out your ride before you go online.
What you might hear: “Aww man, nice whistle tip, dawg.”
ATV OFFROAD FURY 3
PS2 ¢ Sony CEA ¢ November 2004
Plugged in: If all the other screamers on this page aren’t your bag, then how about
something a little more hoppy? The third ATV Offroad Fury (this one developed by Climax, makers of the MotoGP series) lets six players race online at once on any of the game’s 60 closed-circuit tracks and enduro courses. And if you tire of plowing through muddy ravines, relax with an assortment of wacky multiplayer online minigames—fancy a game of ATV bas- ketball or soccer?
0:17.17
Unplugged: The developer may have changed, but the pick-up-
and-play simplicity of ATV’s controls hasn’t. There’s a new linking system for tricks that works like it does in the Tony Hawk games, as well as: dynamic obstacles like forest fires in the outdoor races, but the arcadey jumping and alarming crashes remain intact.
What you might hear: “Noob! eeem | was riding these back when
they had only three wheels.”
S
preview feature: online games
RESIDENT EVIL OUTBREAK Fl LE #2
PS2 e Capcom ¢ Spring 2005
Plugged in: You and three friends once again face a zombified B-movie hell in this
not-quite sequel. New scenarios include a gruesome outing at the zombie zoo and a return trip to a location series fans are sure to recognize—the infamous Raccoon City police station. The eight original char- acters from File #7 (and possibly more) face down new monsters such as a gigantic flea that grows larger as it sucks blood. Monsters rear their mutated heads at random, which should keep the experi- ence interesting even after a few plays.
Unplugged: Offline you'll be surviving much the same horror,
but with two computer-con- trolled comrades instead of unpredictable, cowardly humans. A collection mode will let you unlock characters, items, and extras as you play.
What you might hear: Probably the same three or four
generic preset phrases over and over again. That’s right—no voice or text
chat...again. Capcom swears that it pre- serves the game’s tension. Uh-huh.
112 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY © www.1UP.com
PS2 ¢ Sony Online * Spring 2005
Plugged in: Who wants to g | quest forever? This EverQuest-
branded sequel to Champions of Norrath adds plenty of fuel to its fore- runner’s fantasy fire. New tigerman vah shir and lizardly iksar characters, streamlined online matchmaking options, more skills, powerful new enchanted weapons, and a shiny selec- tion of cleavage-enhancing armor should appease fans of the first. Plus, it’s not just about cooperative questing now: Friends become foes in vicious death- matches and competitive minigames.
CHAMPIONS: RETURN TO ARMS
Unplugged: Verily, more char- acter customization, good and
evil paths to tread upon, and the ability to import old characters from Champions of Norrath (you can get em back on the power treadmill till they hit level 80) should be nearly as fun offline as it is on.
What you might hear: “Feh, ey) your puny iksar is a disgrace to our proud reptilian heritage.
Make your lizard throb with power using the enlarge spell!”
PlayStation.e
Maneuver a Cyclone vehicle or travel on foot in freeform first-person and third-person action.
7
Experience the Robotech universe as never before across expansive 3D environments.
POWERED BY.
Animated Blood
Mild Language
Violence ; 7 , Vicious ' , CycLe
ESRB CONTENT RATING Wwww.esth.org
sing, Inc.
© 1985-2004 Harmony Gold USA, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ROBOTECH and associated names, logos and all related indi¢i@are trademarks of Harmony. Gold USA, Inc. and are used under license to Take-Two Liceris
wholly owned subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Global Star Software, the ive Software, Inc.’PlayStation” andthe’ PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony
) (for PlayStation 2) (eachsold separately). The Online iconis atrademark of Sony Computer or ze of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used
All Rights Reserved. Robotech: Invasion videogame. © 2004 Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Global Star Softwaré Inceisa Global Star Software logo, Take-Two Interactive Software and the A Take Two Company logoare all trademarks of Take-Twoln :
jem
Computer Entertainment Inc. Online play requires internet connection, Network Adaptor (for PlayStation 2) and Memory Entertainment America Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Live, the Live L ogo and the Xbox Logos are either registered tri under license from Microsoft.Developed by Vicious Cycle Software, Inc. Some elements © 2004 Vicious Cycle Softw other trademarks are property. of their respective owners.
he ratin. ‘on is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All
preview Feature: online games
ein © ee
XB ¢ Sammy « Spring 2005
Plugged in: Run vertically up e | a wall, make a graceful float-
ing leap to a distant rooftop, and descend on your enemy with a deadly blow from the heavens. Just watch out for the other 15 wushu mas- ters on your back. The arena fighting in Iron Phoenix allows for duels, chaotic free-for-alls, and team deathmatches. One of the more interesting modes, giant kill, has one superpowered player squaring off against everyone else. Also, expect full Xbox Live support for clans and custom tournaments.
PS2/XB © VU Games ¢ November 2004
from a new angle between brutal brawls.
FIGHT CLUB
Plugged in: We’re well aware of the famous first ‘ g | rule of Fight Club: You don’t talk about Fight Club. But at the risk of being beaten to death in a flooded basement, we’re going to go ahead and let you know what the game’s all about anyway. Forget fireballs and juggles. Club hands players three fighting styles (brawler, martial artist, and grappler) and the ability to break fellow members’ -| bones with brutal match-ending blows—online. “The online | piece plays an important roll in connecting with the Fight | Club franchise; the ability for you to fight everyday guys any- | time you feel like it is great,” says Producer Chris Miller. - | You'll also get the chance pound in Fred Durst’s face, | whether or not you enjoy Limp Bizkit’s contributions to the | soundtrack. Meatloaf reprises his movie role, so that’s one more musician you can mess up. Intentional or not, beating the hell out of celebrities is surprisingly true to the movie’s ideology. Oh, and you can also play as Abe Lincoln. No, really.
Unplugged: Offline you'll find that the club is much smaller, with standard one-on-one fights and a no-
frills arcade mode, but story mode lets you create your own minor character and experience the movie's plot
What you might hear: “Bend over noob! Time to pick up the Fight Club soap!” 1%
a e G °
XB ¢ Capcom ¢ Winter 2004 : c Plugged in: Capcom rips series break out the custom combos, f
@ | characters straight from its and members of the Street Fighter Ill el respective 2D fighting series, cast represent with deft parries.
rules and all, for a company-sponsored
online throwdown. Unplugged: The only differ- e
A classic Street Fighter like Guile ences between online and
plays simple and hits hard, while highly offline versus play will be how
technical Darkstalkers like Jedah make _far away your opponent is sitting and a
up for low damage with chain combos, how badly Net latency affects game-
pursuit attacks, and ES moves. Freaks play. Pray for no lag....
like the screen-filling dragon Hauzer BS
from the monumentally obscure arcade What you might hear: “SHIN- | -
brawler Red Earth level up to gain SHO-RYUUUKEN!” At least you
power, schoolgirls from the SF Alpha won't see the guy miming it.
Unplugged: Rather than cop- ping out with a series of —- — 5
meaningless arena fights, /ron ) Phoenix seeks to incorporate every ele- ment of online fighting into a story-dri- ven action-adventure playable offline. If you can improve your skills while tak- ing in some backstory, it might be worth the downtime.
What you might hear: “The Eight Deadly Venoms laugh
heartily at your pathetic chal- lenge, mortal. Mwahahaha!”
SAVE TIME! SAVE MONEY! BUY THE HOTTEST PS2, XBOX, GAMECUBE AND GAME BOY GAMES AT
De PLAVERSHUT =
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~ UNBEATA BL OVERNIG
UBISOFT™
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information.
© 2004 Ubisoft Entertainment. Based on Prince of Persia® created by Jordan Mechner. All Rights Reserved. Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Prince of Persia and Prince of Persia Warrior Within are trademarks of Jordan Mechner used under license by Ubisoft Entertainment. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Live, the Live logo, and the Xbox Logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or in other countries and are used under license from Microsoft, TM, ® and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo. S
1 BS demonic incarnation of Fate, you All have choices. And th the power to > deals your own combat sty nets rs {
countless weapons, environmental objects) and Raters: enemy crosses your apvtty
there’ Seno telling what eed warrior within will unleash next. Vou can’t run
‘eine: from Pate. But with whist much freedom, you can stop it dead in its tracks.
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120 + ELECT
cover stor halo e
Master Chief welco Covenant to Earth in our first peek at single-player Halo 2
By Mark MacDonald and Dan “Shoe” Hsu
h, bad news. Can’t talk
about that guy.” “Sorry, not going to
comment on those.”
“We can’t discuss that.” At times, talking to the developers at Bungie about the specifics of single-player
Halo 2 feels less like an interview and more like a prisoner interrogation. Every word having to do with the feverishly anticipated sequel to their Xbox sci-fi first- person shooter is carefully chosen. The*
(“You can’t mention that,” we were told after witnessing an impressive...some- thing...in a cut-scene early in the game.
language is ambiguous whenever possible.
2
mes the
“You can talk about an ‘awesome giant thing,’ though.”) But the most common answer to any question is, well, no answer at all. “You could write a whole feature on what we aren’t talking about,” jokes Frank 0’Connor, Bungie’s content manager. “We're not trying to hide one thing; we’re trying to hide the whole thing.”
Well, maybe not the whole thing. After months of negotiations, much hand-wring- ing, and yes, a little begging, Bungie finally granted us an exclusive hands-on glimpse at the solo campaign of Halo 2 before its November 9 release date. How’s it look? Flip through the next few pages and see for yourself... >
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY © www.1UP.com « 121
ge cover_story:
halo 2
a
ps a > = s 5 °
122 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY
“These guys are called drones,” says Bungie Content Manager Frank O’Connor as es this new Covenant alien species swarms in on him during a demo of Halo 2’s single- player game. “They can fly, they can snipe—they’re total jerks, and I'm actually about to die, so I’d better move it.” Nicknamed “buggers” by Earth soldiers, these insectlike enemies don't have much in the way of armor, but their erratic movement and crafty nature make them difficult targets. “They’re pretty flimsy, but they’re so fast,” says 0’Connor, “and they're really smart, too. They'll hide, which is a real [bitch]. They'll hide almost anywhere.” >
a ; eg Peer
AMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com « 123
pyI24*ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.TURGom
spinner
BROTHERS IN ARMS
With all the nasty new enemies about, it’s only fair that the Marines who fight along- side you should get an IQ boost as well. “Your guys are just much smarter,” says Bungie Studio Manager Pete Parsons. “They can do smarter things like use the rock- et launcher at the right point, snipe appropriately, and drive vehicles.” That’s right— jump into the gunner or shotgun position in any vehicle and a friendly A.|. can get behind the wheel to chauffeur you around. Another bonus courtesy of your fellow Marines: You can now trade weapons with any soldier by simply approaching them
| and tapping A. (This saves you from all of that messy shooting-them-in-the-head
| business.) Also, though Bungie couldn’t confirm it, at least one Marine sounded like he had a celebrity voice—comedian David Cross. >
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ¢ www.iURcom : 125
eS cover_story: halo 2 fy”
SINGLE
PLAYER
n case you got the wrong i impression from all the talk
about Halo 2’s new online multi- player game (more on that on pg. 130), Bungie Studio Manager Pete Parsons has a reminder: “Single player is by far the most important part to us,” he says. “It is the most important thing.”
But outside of a short demo in May of 2002, Bungie has hardly said a word about the solo campaign. All we know is that the Covenant alien alliance Master Chief bat- tled in the first game is now invading Earth—specifically the city of Mombasa in Africa. Why stay so quiet about the most important aspect of the game? “We're try- ing to tell a good story here,” says Parsons. “Giving away all the [secrets] or having people know what they'll play before they play it isn’t that interesting. [It’s like] the Harry Potter books—they keep the story sacrosanct, making sure everybody gets to have fun with that world at the same time.”
We’ll buy that, since even the original Halo’s minimal story raised tons of ques- tions fans still debate to this day and fea- tured one of the greatest surprise moments in gaming history: the pants- moistening introduction of the parasitic alien race known as the Flood. But to hear Parsons talk, the sequel takes it much fur- ther. “[For Halo’s story] we had these mis- sion points to carry you along through the game,” he says, “and it was more of [your A.l. companion] Cortana saying a quick word here or [the dropship] Foe Hammer saying a quick word there. One of the big- ger differences you'll see in Halo 2 is that
+.
X
—~
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we’ve had time to tell the story, to think about a more fleshed-out, well-thought- out story. [We] make you feel more like the ultimate badass than you did before, but also bring out some of the other char- acters and the insight on what’s happen- ing.” Expanded cut-scenes, more in-game scripted events, and nearly 20,000 lines of
This reminds us—Halo 2’s crazy viral marketing campaign continues online at www. ilovebees.com.
126 » ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
dialogue (four times that of the first game) all contribute to the cause.
Another strength of the original exagger- ated for the sequel is the sense of freedom. Superb enemy A.l. and options like deciding which two weapons to carry, whether or not to drive a vehicle, or exactly how to make your way through the large outdoor
Troubled Bridge Over W
You and a few Marines need to cross a
ater — al
ridiculously long bridge in a Scorpion tank. Starting at one end, you slowly make your way across, blasting through a steady stream of advancing Covenant forces on Ghost hovercraft, with the occa- sional enemy dropship flying overhead.
Little touches—the Marines riding shot- gun on your tank taking potshots and talking smack, the destructible lights and car wreckage sprinkled along the bridge—made this section memorable, even if Bungie yanked away the controller before we could reach the other side.
Black Pelican Down *
This level takes place in the streets of Old Mombasa, a dusty city under siege, lined with palm trees and tan buildings in vari- ous states of ruin. Part of the level is
environments made Halo feel like a differ- ent game each time. For Halo 2, Bungie is expanding those options even further, with smarter enemies who better understand how to pilot vehicles and move around (or jump over) terrain, your ability to hold two weapons at once or trade guns with fellow Marines, and multiple paths built into the
spent in one place, as Master Chief and a group of Marines attempt to hold a court- yard from advancing Covenant so a human dropship can land with reinforce- ments. After fighting off dozens of grunts, elites, jackals, and the new flying drone enemies, a ship finally arrives—but it’s not one of yours. It’s a Covenant Phantom, a new midsized alien craft that dumps off soldiers and fires at you with its dual turrets. Blow up the turrets and you'll scare the ship away, only to face the next challenge: two giant hunters bursting through the doors at the oppo- site end of the courtyard. After a dance with these two brutes, their improved plasma cannons knocking burning cars and park benches about, you head through a sniper-filled alley and then out onto the beach to take down a giant Covenant gun placement.
* No, these aren't the actual level names. Pretty good ones though, huh?
f So nae - ee —_— er. ! = Sion. =] e i
@ Enemy encounters can change or not happen at all depending on which difficulty setting you chngse
levels. As Parsons says, “It gives you vari- ety where you can say, ‘Hey, when | went down this way, it was an ambush, but this way was more of a frontal assault.”
This concept should not only encourage replay, but also allow each gamer to play the way they want to play. “There’s mil- lions of ways through the levels,” says
SAY HALO 2 MY LI'L FRIENDS:
MGC pistol
Magazine: 12 rounds
One of the very best weapons from the
original Halo has been downgraded for the sequel. It’s still fairly accurate, with an even higher rate of fire, but it’! take much more than a few head shots to take down an opponent.
M7/caseless submachine gun Magazine: 60 rounds
A great gun for when you want to get up close and personal, this little baby sprays bullets like nobody’s busi- ness. Grab two and dual-wield them for
an instant party—just watch out for their tendency to “ride up” on you from the recoil.
BR55 rifle
Magazine: 36 rounds
The battle rifle is a nice midpoint between a submachine gun and sniper rifle, making it a good choice for both long-range and closer-quarters fights; it fires short three-round bursts and is fairly accurate with its 2X optical scope.
et ae
Other human guns
The shotgun and sniper rifle return nearly identical to their Halo counterparts, while a short delay after firing knocks the rocket launcher down a notch on the overpowered meter.
Needier
Magazine: 30 rounds
Wait, don’t throw it away! The needler was practically worthless in the first Halo, but it’s back with a vengeance. Its projectiles’
sowie i a Brute shot Magazine: 4 rounds
A grenade launcher used by on
Covenant brute soldiers (big _ oe, olny that took Ike a cross betwieon a rien and a govtley fires explosive rounds that can be lobbed over cover or a bounced around corners. Also note the wicked blade on the back end, which is used for devastating melee attacks. eae)
Covenant energy sword Length: 3 feet
Slice and dice with the B button and R trigger (for an uppercut) or lock onto an enemy (hold your crosshair over them until it turns red) to unleash a lethal charge attack. This bad mamba jamba is — Sat so much fun to wield that it’s highly prized in multiplayer.
Other Covenant guns g d Joining the plasma pistol and plasma rifle from the tai d are the powerful Covenant carbine single-shot rifle andthe —_| particle beam rifle, a sniping weapon with a dual-level scope.
Content Manager Frank 0’Connor. “You could punch your way through and not get spotted, try and snipe everything—some levels you can get through a lot of it with- out firing a shot if you want. Even when
we're running through these laborious test
runs—where we'll go through the same level over and over again—even then
@ Thanks to an armor upgrade, Chief's shields recharge faster and his binocular vision can zoom in at any time.
there’s plenty of variety. You’re actually having fun even when you're trying to do some dumb test over and over again.” Speaking of over and over again, the most consistent complaint people have with the original Halo is its recycled levels and repeated structures, most noticeably in the second half of the game. Parsons has
obviously heard this one before. “The vast majority of people [who worked on Halo] wouldn’t change anything about it,” he says, “with one exception: [the repeating environments]. Which is why we’re making sure that, as you’re moving through these enormous levels [in Halo 2], you’re seeing and experiencing new things.” >
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.iUP.com « 127
a povel ore
halo
~.s ” 2. MUCH INFORMATION:
‘AHALO SERIES TIME LINE |.
Of course you beat Halo thrice on umes of fan fiction. Right? Right? It’s straight, we asked Bungie.org’s Claude _ plus the three Halo novels;,The Fall of
Legendary difficulty, studied the just been a while, and you’re a little Errera to assemble this time line Reach, The Flood, and First Strike. He
game’s official novels, and penned vol- _rusty on the series’ mythos. To set you based on the events of the first game, remembers it all:so you don’t have to. A.D. 2500: The Future Starts Here a &
Humans have spread to more than 800 “Outer Colony” worlds via a faster-than- ;
light propulsion system that allows travel through “slipspace.” The United Nations + Space Command (UNSC), a military body with oversight over the entire human
empire, maintains order. Planet Reach, a close-to-Earth fortress world orbiting
Epsilon Eridani, has become the primary UNSC naval yard and training academy.
2517: Master Chief Gets Schooled The Spartan II project begins on Reach. Seventy-five children are taken from their parents and raised to become cybernetic supersoldiers. John 117—the boy who
would grow to become Halo hero Master Chief—is among them. Half of the group survives body augmentation (skeletal and neural enhancements) and are pressed into service by the UNSC to do glorified police work.
2 2525: First Contact With the Covenant
Harvest, an Outer Colony, makes contact with an alien object. The investigating ww . | ship disappears. The colony is then lost to an orbital plasma bombardment that ee
turns the surface of the planet to glass, An alien coalition calling itself the -Covenant is behind the “glassing” of Harvest. One month later, Project Mjotnir begins where the Spartan project left off. Spartans, outfitted in new battle armor, engage the Covenant. The Spartans lose one supersoldier. The Covenant lose an entire warship. Battles continue in the Outer Colonies for 20 years.
August 2552: Master Chief Ships Out On Reach, Master Chief is debriefed by ONI, the Office of Naval Intelligence. Dr. Halsey (the scientist behind the Spartan and Mjolnir projects and the A.1. construct Cortana) assigns Master Chief to UNSC warship Pillar of Autumn for a secret Mjolnir mission. The Mjolnir armor is now augmented by stolen Covenant person- al-shield technology. The Covenant choose this time to attack Reach, which falls after a fierce battle. The Pillar of Autumn escapes through slipspace.
The Covenant : | A one-of-a-kind artificial An alliance of spacefaring
intelligence, she’s based on races organized in religious
Dr. Halsey, the genius behind | | castes. With their superior —
| most of Master Chief’s tech- weapons, they’ve vowed to
nology. She spends most of wipe us from the galaxy. The
| Halo plugged into his helmet. “why” isn’t clear yet.
| The Halo ..2 10,000-kilometer-wide space ring built by an ancient race to house and study the Flood. It’s also designed to wipe out all life in range to stop the Flood’s spread.
oe
Sept. 19, 2552: Halo Begins”
The Pillar of Autumn arrives in the Halo system, kicking off the events _ depicted in Halo. The Autumn is badly. damaged in a’battle with waiting Covenant forces. The crew and Master Chief abandon ship in lifeboats, while the Autumn’s com-
mander, Capt. Keyes, stays aboard to guide the ship down a
Sept. 24, 2552: Halo, hour 76 Cortana decides the only thing to do is to destroy the Hald sta- tion. She orders Master Chief to over-* load the fusion reac- tors on the Pillar of Autumn, which had crashed onto the Halo. The ship self-destructs, taking the Halo station with it. Master Chief and Cortana escape in a short-range fighter.In * the wreckage of the Halo, Master Chief finds a small contingent of UNSC personnel and with them captures a Covenant cruiser ship. Then they all head back to Reach.
best he can. Meanwhile, Orbital Shock Drop Troopers—the ~ :
cream of the UNSC military crop (not counting the enhanced Spartans)—leave the ship in human-entry vehicles. These
“Helljumpers” so far appear only in the Ha/o novels but will play.
a role in Halo 2.
Sept. 2552: Prelude to Halo 2 Master Chief arrives on Reach and finds an under- ground group of surviving Spartans, The gang rejoins Cortana on the captured Covenant vessel. Using intel collected by Cortana, they head to the Eridanus system, where a Covenant battle station prepares to lead a huge fleet against Earth. Master Chief plants a bomb that obliterates most " of the enemy ships, then heads for Earth to report on the (now-delayed) invasion. Three fel- low Spartans—Will, Fred, and Linda (no, seri- ously...that’s*their names)—join him for the
ride. The stage for Halo 2is set. >
Sept. 20, 2552: ” Halo, hours 59-68 Master Chief doesn’t arrive in time to save the captain—he finds the Flood instead. Chief battles back to the surface, where * he encounters 343 Guilty Spark, Halo’s chipper robo-caretaker. The hovering * bot brings Chief to the station’s library, where he’s told he needs to recover the index to activate Halo’s defenses against the Flood. Upon his return to the control room, Master Chief learns from Cortana that activating Halo will mean the destruction of all life within a 25,000-light-year radius (and will trigger the activa- tion of other Halos scattered throughout the galaxy). Chief * refuses to do it, leading 343 Guilty Spark to order him killed by robot drones called sentinels.
Sept. 19; 2552: Halo, hours 3-20 Master Chief finds and takes over the Halo’s control cen- ter, where Cortana then enters the station’s comput- er network. Meanwhile, Capt. Keyes, acting on infor- mation collected from a captured enemy trooper, leads a squadsto recover a cache of Covenant weapons. Instead, they find the Flood. Cortana learns of Keyes’ mission through the Halo network and sends Master Chief to stop him before he releases the Flood, unaware that it’s already too late.
GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP-com © 129 ®
This ugly motherf***er is looking to skewer some multiplayer Spartan meat with his energy sword, which does massive damage, or if locked on to a victim, a lunging one-hit kill. Your only choice here is to jump out of the way—and pray.
On top of returning modes like oddball (seen here on the new Burial Mounds | stage), king of the hill, and several deathmatch and capture-the-flag variants, you'll get a few new ones, like assault (make the enemy base go boom by planting a bomb in it) and territories (“...multiple hills in king of the hill—it’s really crazy,” says Bungie’s Frank 0’Connor). All come with a multitude of customization options. »
Ww.1UP.com ¢ 131
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alo
132 » ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY © ww
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BOARDING ACTION
This mountaintop level’s called Ascension. It’s full of catwalks, narrow paths, sniping positions, and several spots for jumpy players to fall to their embarrassing dooms. If you find the Banshee aircraft seen here, you can cause a lot of havoc from above with lasers and plasma mortars (you can barrel roll and loop-de-loop in it as well). But as with other vehicles in Halo 2, some green-with-envy (or just plain green) play- ers are bound to hop on board, kick you off, and steal your ride.
Some boarding techniques may even vary. For example, with the Wraith (you can now ride those beefy Covenant tanks that launched huge blasts of energy in the first Halo), the boarding player can jump on and either melee-pound the pilot with pro- wrestler flair or toss a grenade into the cockpit. “The pilot’s only option is to jump out and fight you,” says 0’Connor. “That balances out the Wraith’s ridiculously pow- erful gun, because the mortar will destroy anything, including rocks.” >
ONTHLY © www.1UPcom » 133
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cover _story: h 2
alo
Health bars are so early 261 i ‘century; in Halo 2, it’s shields only. (Game mode assault shown here.)
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MULTIPLAYER
e have to test the graphics on bad televisions, too, you know,” says a Bungie representative,
noting our disappointed looks when we entered the room to check out a new mul- tiplayer demo of Halo 2—on blurry 15- inch sets that must’ve come from some Service Merchandise clearance sale three decades ago. No matter. This is Halo 2 we’re talking about, and within seconds of playing, we’ve forgotten all about our tiny boob tubes.
Working on a cover story and playing an intensely fun multiplayer match at the same time is like simultaneously patting your head, rubbing your stomach, reciting the alphabet backwards, and chewing gum, all while skydiving—it ain’t easy. Who can concentrate on interviewing the developers when the red team’s about to capture your flag? But during the skir- mishes, we were able to learn more about the game that practically every Xbox gamer will be playing come November 9.
If you’ve been following Halo 2’s multi- player coverage over the last year, you already know about dual-wielding guns, playing as Covenant aliens, boarding vehi- cles, etc. But before you can even get to all of that, you’ll need people to play with. Halo 2 supports system link and four-play- er splitscreen again, but of course, every- one’s excited about online Xbox Live play, and there, you’ll have a ton of options.
“You can have four players on one Xbox [playing online],” says Content Manager Frank 0’Connor, “split however you want between individual gamertags [XBL accounts] or guest accounts.” Once online, you can play in public or private unranked matches. If you’re looking for a bit of prestige, however, you can enter ranked games, which are hosted and controlled by Bungie—who will only match up play- ers of similar levels, so there’s no chance of jackasses abusing the ranking system. Halo 2 will let you organize proper teams, too, with its clan system. “A single
3: Black Arrow. The overlord is the founder, and he can recruit staff, mem- bers, or peons (all tentative names). Different titles allow different privileges, like the ability to challenge other clans, send voice or text messages to the group, recruit new members, or boot out trouble- makers and/or not-so-sharp-shooters who aren’t contributing to the bottom line (that is, the team score). The best part is, you can keep track of clan activities on Bungie.net. “Every clan gets a private homepage, private forums, all sorts of fun stuff,” says Hoberman. “All clan stats will
“People here started drawing penises.”
—Bungie Content Manager Frank O’Connor on why you won’t be able to personalize emblems
clan can have up to 100 members,” says Bungie Multiplayer Lead Max Hoberman. “But each player can only belong to one clan because we want it to be part of your identity.” Your gang of space thugs can challenge other groups to small (three to four players per team) or large matches (up to eight) to increase your clan ranking, which is independent of your personal one. Of course, you can play unranked clan matches, but you’re not going to gain a lot of cyberspace street cred that way. Halo 2 clans have an internal hierarchy, similar to the system used in Rainbow Six
184 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY © www.1UP.com
8 Wraith tanks (that’s the thing firing the big blue burst), gravity lifts, falling snow, new modes...Halo 2 has plenty new to offer in multiplayer.
be listed right there.” In-game, members can all wear the same emblem, but forget about designing your own. “We [tried let- ting users] create their own emblems,” says 0’Connor, “but even the people here started drawing penises. The user experi- ence may turn porno online. [Laughs]” Not that you’ll need any more reasons (X-rated or not) to play multiplayer Halo 2 this November. The new modes, features, maps, and massive number of options will keep you busy for months...possibly years. Even if you are playing on a 1970 SpectraVISION Picturebox.
§
J
MEDALS OF HONOR
It’s not just the guy at the top of the kills list who gets to beat his chest after a multiplayer match. “You win medals for various antics now,” says Bungie’s Frank O’Connor. “Medals are awarded for sniping, vehicle kills... anything cool that you do. They'll affect your rankings in an invisible way, So if you get lots of sniper kills, you'll be rewarded.”
Here are just a few of the medals you'll see on the postgame report...
Running Riot The guy with the most kills ina row gets this star.
Melee Kill For those who like gun-butts-to-
the-face over bullets.
Stealth Kill Or as we'd like to call it, p**sy kills (behind the back).
Grenade Stick Sticking the most enemies with the sticky plasma grenade.
TFMZ/ YVIRELESS aN Je PLAYERSS
edditonal fees for data walle associated wrth the download of the content, THO will sot give refunds f you download WFL FOOTBALL 2005 tw recompetibie phones or carters o: i your cell phone account 1 not Internet-enabled.
The NFL's biggest playmakers come together on the world’s smallest playing field.
32 NFL teams. Modeled to perform as they do in real life. Play an entire
season. The playoffs and the big game. Grab NFL Football 2005; player D4 cingular ringtones and more at THQsports.com. ENOUGH TALK. LET'S PLAY. fits you best”
Cingular Wireless customers: To download the game, text NFL to FUN (386).
(© 2004 THO Were. lc. © 2004 NFL Properties LLC Team names andlges ae trademarks of the teams indicated. AN ther (FL-elated mass) ae ademas ofthe Natona Fool League. Oily censed product of PLAYERS BUC. The PLAYERS INC ogo is a reitered tademar ofthe NFL player. won afplayer.zam © 2004 PLAYERS INC Used under cess. THO, THO Weles andthe espectve legos ae trademars and/or regitered trademar of TH Ic. lights reserved. Al ter tademarts, legs ad copyrights ae property afte respective owners. Pate by Mike Sith Cigar andthe gropic cn are Registered
Trademarks of Cingular Wireless. LLC. Fits You Best is a Service Mark of Cingular Wireless, LLC. © 2004 Cingular Wireless, LLC. Al rights reserved. ATTENTION: NFL FOOTBALL 2005 currently ocly works on select phones and carriers. Go to wwrw.thasports.com/lootball for a detailed compatibility list In addition, your cell phone account needs to be Internet-enabled to download the content
Voyage through Forgotten Realms, the vast, medieval fantasy world of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS? as JAMDAT brings the epic RPG adventure of war and magic to your mobile phone.
Create your own characters, your own worlds and add adventure. to your own journeys.
) Based on the mega-hit game DUNGEONS & DRAGONS’ J Character creation - custom and template
J Deep combat; spell casting; melee, missile and items Tl wait for you by the $8 edge of the Gror m you're ready to leave, but before I go,
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Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. and are used by JAMDAT under license. All rights reserved. © 2004 Wizards. Software © 2004 Atari, Inc. Ail rights reserved. © JAMDAT Mobile Inc. www. elaerie forelinl 2004. All Rights Reserved. JAMDAT, JAMDAT Mobile and the bubbles logo are registered trademarks of JAMDAT Mobile Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. J fd
™
A bonus supplement to
AHEAD OF THE GAME
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Some of the biggest RPGs of all time come to cell phones in Japan.
BEFORE CRISIS: Return to the world of Midgar and work alongside Sephiroth in this FFUII sequel.
RIFTS: Put away your D20 and take a classic tabletop RPG on the go.
Ee sees: ---—-—
Thought these classic que
Cell-phone games are incredi-
bly popular in Japan, especial- ly ports of ’80s arcade classics and simple puzzlers. So when Square Enix announced it would be bring- ing the first games in its two largest franchises—hell, the two largest franchises in Japan, peri- od—not to mention a new spin-off of one of the most popular RPGs of all time to cell phones, it helped validate the idea of “real games” on phones. Next year, it’s likely the company will bring some, if not all, of these games to the States.
The story of Final Fantasy hasn’t changed in the past 15 years: Four light warriors set out to defeat four elemental fiends, relight their color- coordinated orb, and cleanse the world of evil. The gameplay is based on the older WonderSwan Color remake, not the new Final Fantasy I+ll: Dawn of Souls for Game Boy Advance. Enemy graphics and battle screens are much improved, but the world map, towns, and dun- geons resemble a high-color version of the original NES game.
The simple battle system lends itself extremely well to one-handed play, a must for Tokyo’s crowded subways. The phone's “D-pad” moves the characters and cursor, while the center button controls speaking and confirms commands.
Dragon Quest (known as Dragon Warrior in the States) tells the story of a noble hero who saves the princess, defeats the evil Dragonlord, and brings peace to the land...while killing tons of slimes along the way. The gameplay is the same as ever: 1-on-1 battles are based around basic menu com- mands. The graphics have been completely redrawn in a high-reso- lution, high-color style that blows away previous versions, including the Super Nintendo remake. The screen tears occasionally when scrolling the field map, but the bat- tles are free of graphical blemishes.
The spell effects are particularly impressive and as animated as any- thing found in Dragon Quest VII. Of Square Enix’s two cell-phone games, Dragon Quest is far and away the more impressive.
When Square announced it would make a prequel to Final Fantasy VII starring the antiheroic Turks, fans rejoiced. When, 10 seconds later, Square announced the game would be exclusive to cell phones, fans were confused. Now that the beta test has begun, it’s time to take another look at Before Crisis.
Set six years before the events of Final Fantasy VII, Before Crisis promises to give gamers the “truth” behind the Turks and the shadowy Shinra compa- ny. Favorite characters Rude, Elena, Rufus, and Reno all show up, but there are two new Turks, too: Verd, a grizzled man with an unknown past, and Shion, the current
“leader” of the group. Gamers, how-
ever, take the role of “new recruit,” speaking with and receiving mis- sions from their more famous NPC superiors. A large advertisement in Tokyo's Shinjuku station suggests Sephiroth, Cloud, and Zack all make
cameos—though how the story ties
into Final Fantasy VII's is still unclear. In the world of Before Crisis, the new rebel group Avalanche is starting to become a thorn in Shinra’s side, and the Turks
have been assigned to stop those rabble-rousers.
After accepting a mission from the Turks, players move around the urban environments. Enemies are engaged directly on the field map, but sneaking past without being seen is possible, thanks to the pre- rendered graphics’ overhead per- spective. The battle system is action based; players have access to several different attack and magic techniques. Male characters attack with a melee rod up close, while female characters use a ranged weapon. The game also fea- tures a unique Materia magic sys- tem: Players oe
“create” bee
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WIRELESS GUIDE
A bonus supplement to Electronic Gaming Monthly
sts were addictive before? Now you'll never have to put them down.
prontiok:
: ‘: GARRET 5 ca iP iy
Materia by taking pictures with their cell phone’s built-in camera, and the dominant color of the photo determines the Materia type. The most promising feature of Before Crisis is network connectivi- ty. Players who are captured or overpowered can ask other players to spring them from jail or join forces against their foes—even in the middle of a battle. Players can also swap messages and Materia. Square is already promising addi- tional playable characters down the line. Combined with the easily expandable mission-based struc- ture, it’s clear that Square is treat- ing Before Crisis as a long-term prospect.
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Defeat Doc Ock™ in Spider-Man 2™ The Game
Swing through the city skyline to foil your ingenious nemesis. Race through 5 fully 3D environments and combat a variety of enemies in 15 challenging 2D environments. Explore a world filled with power-ups, secrets and special
items. Post your high scores exclusively through the N-Gage™ Arena. Mobile io CS —. C3 Py anyone
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gaming on the new pocket-size N-Gage™ QD and N-Gage™ game decks. anywhere n-gage.com NOKIA ss MARVEL — ACTIVISION. GAMEs Game Buy.com >= Atel Wireless cl ngul ar ‘Mobile COLOMBIAF “SPIDER-MAN REN 4
Copyright © 2004 Nokia. All rights reserved. Nokia, N-Gage, N-Gage Arena and N-Gage QD are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nokia Corporation. Spider-Man and all related characters, TM & © 2004 Marvel Characters, Inc. Spider- Man 2, the movie, © 2004 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. Published by Activision Publishing, Inc. Game code © 2004 Activision, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision, Inc. and its affiliates, All rights reserved. Other product
or company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
N-Gage plays host to a little old-school roleplaying
For fans of Kevin Siembieda
and his pen-and-paper role- playing game Rifts, the dream of a videogame based on the popular franchise has long been unfulfilled. For 14 years, Siembieda refused all licensing requests for a videogame, but that has finally changed.
Nokia's announcement at this
year’s E3 came as a shock to fans; the first videogame to be based on the epic role-playing game Rifts was to launch on the N-Gage in the summer of 2005. Why did Siembieda say yes to a company like Nokia, and is it even possible to incorporate such a vast universe into a mobile game? At a press event in Vancouver, Nokia finally revealed the first details of the
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MDG: 65 / 65 HP: a3 / a5
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upcoming Rifts: Promise of Power. The pen-and-paper Rifts was published by Siembieda, who had been playing D&D and other RPGs since the 1970s but found the rule set frustrating. He wondered why there couldn’t be one set of rules for all games. That was when Palladium Fantasy and the first “universal” RPG rule set were born. Over the next few years, megahits like Robotech and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came from this game system. Even with all these suc- cesses under his belt, Siembieda still felt something was missing: a
world where anything was possible.
This world would become Rifts, and in 1990, the project he had planned so carefully for years was finally
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A bonus supplement to Electronic Gaming Monthly
ready for print.
Rifts is an epic role-playing game witha story set on a future Earth. In it, billions of human lives were lost in a nuclear holocaust, and the sudden surge of unleashed psychic energy caused the ley lines to surge with insuppressible power. Floods, earthquakes, and natural disasters all ensured more human deaths, feeding energy into the already pulsing ley lines. This unstoppable chain of events caused rifts, or tears in the very fabric of space and time. Players struggled to survive in a world full of multidimensional travel, super- natural beings, gods, demons, a vampire kingdom, time travel and time travelers, robots, cyborgs, automatic weapons, and even Martians. The game was a huge success, selling out 10,000 copies in three months.
So how suitable is the N-Gage for a game of such epic proportions? Backbone Entertainment and Nokia have teamed up to bring Rifts
Looking to download some games for your phone but not sure what to get? Check out the 1UP Wireless Arena at www.mo2do.com to see detailed descriptions and screens of a whole variety
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exclu- sively to the
N-Gage. When asked why Siembieda finally said yes to Nokia, Rifts producer Shane Neville replied, “There are a ton of fans who want to see the franchise carry through, and when your cre- ative director and your producer are two of the biggest Rifts fans around, you know we are going to ensure that happens.”
In a massive undertaking, the title will include over 80 hours of tactical gameplay, 11 playable classes, over 50 enemies and NPCs, and at least six locations, all pulled from the original title. Rifts: Promise of Power is a tactical-RPG featuring turn-based combat with a 3D camera that automatically zooms back, allowing the player to enact multiple attacks on a grid- based battleground. The combat itself is based on an attack-point system similar to the one in Final Fantasy Tactics.
Players will battle in familiar loca- tions such as the New German Republic; the Coalition States, an antimagic coalition in North America; Lazlo, a modem-day Toronto; Scotland, full of spells and fairies; Old Bones, a black-market town in Quebec; and a futuristic China. The designers of the game are also bringing back the most popular character classes for this game: glitterboy, the juicer, head hunter, mind melter, ley line walker, burster, cyber knight, battle magi, crazy, and mystic.
While the game is still in the design stages, Neville announced that multiplayer cooperative play will be available via Bluetooth func- tionality. And while the details are still under wraps, N-Gage Arena will be incorporated into the game, allowing for global connectivity, though online multiplay has not been officially announced.
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ESRB CONTENT RATING — www.esrb.org
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DIRECTORY
150 150
144 156 FIFA Soccer 2005 158 ESPN NBA 2K5
158 NBA Live 2005
Robotech: Invasion Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus Mortal Kombat: Deception
Tony Hawk’s Underground 2: World Destruction Tour Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone Leisure Suit Larry: Magna
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne Monster Hunter
Blood Will Tell King of Fighters: Maximum Impact Guilty Gear Isuka
160 148
148 152
161
Cum Laude
156 Conflict: Vietnam
PS2/XB
THUG2’s levels have even
more high wires, rooftop half-
pipes, and vertigo-inducing rails than ever before.
*
TONY HAWK'S UNDERGROUND 2:
IMALUCS) om --) OPM NAT Movelit) ole Meso ligt Sem COMcy-\-MLIT-TI Latico!
G. FORD: Another year, another Tony Hawk game with higher-than-ever expectations. Tony Hawk’s Underground made waves last year with its fully revamped story mode. Tony Hawk’s Underground 2’s perfectly adequate and entertaining story mode—which focuses on the World Destruction Tour, where teams led by Tony Hawk and Bam Margera face off in different cities, each trying to cause the most havoc—however, just doesn’t, and couldn’t, carry the same novelty. And while THUG introduced the Caveman linking move that lets players get off the board while continuing their combo (it should be noted that running and jumping still feel a little floaty), THUG2 adds the bullet-timey Focus mode and recycles last year’s wall-pushing move, renaming it the Sticker Slap
144 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
and more fully incorporating it into certain challenges—not quite as monumental as Hawk 2’s Manual or Hawk 3’s Revert.
But as you get deeper into the game, you realize it does have a lot to offer. You enter every level with a teammate and a set of goals; when you switch to your teammate, you get a new set of goals either of you can tackle. Ditto for the two secret characters per level (see sidebar). Also, the levels are generally solid and certainly more memorable than those in THUG.
And that’s not all. Perhaps the most exciting addition is the wholly separate classic mode, which plays out like Tony Hawk games of yore, when two-minute timers, secret tapes, and collecting the letters S-K-A-T-E were occupational
hazards. Developer Neversoft even mixed in some old-school levels, including Canada, Philadelphia, and the rail-tabulous Airport, as a tip o’ the cap and a “rock on, dude!” to longtime series fans.
THUG2 is a better game than THUG, and in turn is the most finely polished extreme-sports game ever released, hence the score. However, the degree to which it improved doesn’t match the jump seen from Tony 4 to THUG, something fans should know before taking the plunge. That said, although it took a little longer this year, the superb gameplay once again sucked me in, as it likely will for many of you.
JENNIFER: I can still give this game a 9.0 even though it’s a complete rehash of previous
At EGM, we evaluate only games that have been deemed final and reviewable by their publishers. Three editors rate each game independently, and we use the
THE RATING SYSTEM
162 Men of Valor 164 Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors
164 Mega Man Zero 3
168 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
whole scale. &
fist
SHAME OF
THE MONTH for The highest- The lowest- straight 10s. | games with for games scoring rated game For games an average withamean game each with unani- that are life- score of 9.0 score of 8.0 month gets mously bad
changing. or higher. or higher. a star. scores.
ESRB KEY (Also check out www.esrb.com)
M-Mature:
For the 18-and-over crowd. Intense violence, gore, pixilated sex,
T-Teen:
Like PG-13 movies, Teen games often feature fisticuffs, mild violence, and madcap antics.
£-Everyone:
Saccharine fun for the whole family: dancing elves, rampant sharing, and possibly Smurfs.
drugs; parents no likey.
WORLD DESTRUCTION
versions and the overall concept is, in my opinion, growing fairly stale at this point. (There, | said it. You know you were thinking it, too.)
So how come !’m still smitten? Well, for those first three or four glorious levels—in THUG2, Barcelona is my favorite—every new version manages to renew my interest in the franchise. | always think I’m over Hawk, then | pick up the controller and get sucked right back in, jonesin’ for specials; exploring alleys, roofs, and hidden areas; and simply grinding my little extreme-sports- wannabe heart out. Halfway through the game, | might become a tad jaded, but eventually my inner Jackass can’t resist getting back into it to explore everything else it has to offer—the later levels, the wide variety and intense challenge of the goals,
the classic modes that let you get nostalgic all over again. The addition of an Easy difficulty setting will be good news for those who aren’t shreddin’ so hot in their old age (or for casual newcomers who just want to try out this Tony Hawk thing the kids are so wild on): If you ever had trouble with grind or manual balance before, your prayers are answered. One small gripe: | wish | could see in-game characters demo the goals so | know what the heck I’m supposed to be doing—! hate to read directions in my videogames.
DEMIAN: It’s the most comprehensive and corpulent Tony Hawk ever, with classic (time- limited) goals for every level along with the regular story mode, plus all the best options >
© If you have an irrational fear of clowns and you
| consider harlequins part of
' the clown family, don’t play the New Orleans level (above).
(PS2 only)
Developer Neversoft shows off its creativity with the bevy of secret characters lurking in THUG2, including Steve-O, a shrimp vendor, and Bigfoot. You can find two in each story mode level, one of which has a unique ride (such as a souped-up scooter or go-kart) that handles a little differently but can still hit all the skate lines. You can also unlock additional characters when you beat the game. Our favorite? The Hand.
Pere
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com ¢ 145
review Crew: multiplatform
41652
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from the previous games. And | love it, don’t get me wrong, but I’m at the point in my relationship with Tony where we really need to try something new. And no, the Focus Control bullet-time move doesn’t count— though it does allow for insanely high trick scores and sure, it’s pretty fun. But I’m talking really new, like a persistent (online?), free-roaming city or something. Maybe next time.
The World Destruction Tour part of THUG2, kind of a “you got your Jackass show in my Tony Hawk game” sort of thing, is as good a reason as any to justify the increasingly eccentric mission objectives (barfing on German cops while grinding an overhead rail? Wheeling a sick kid on a gurney so that he can meet Tony...and be instantly cured?), and it’s got some bizarrely funny moments. It’s cool that the secret characters all have their own unique level goals, and the
Good: The biggest and most refined Hawk game yet
Bad: Not as revolutionary as THUG Most Out-There Level: The Triangle
146 ¢ ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
Keeping Things Fresh
In addition to the Sticker Slap, notable new gameplay enhancements include the slow- motion Focus Control—a bullet-time—esque feature useful for nailing long combos—and the ability to “freak out” when you bail, which gives you some points to start off your next combo with. Also, while on foot you can spray-paint your customizable tag on any surface you can reach.
BS Soardslide »Warial Heelflip + Pap ’Shove-it +
alternate vehicles—like the hot-rodded Segway- style scooter piloted by Jesse James—add variety, though they can be hard to control at first.
A couple new online modes have been added: Elimiskate and Scavenger Hunt. Of the two, Elimiskate is more fun—it’s like a grander version of Trick Attack. At the end of each round, the lowest-scoring skater is kicked out until the winner remains, so if you suck it can mean a lot of sideline time, but if you do well it’s all the sweeter. Sadly, voice chat is still a no-go, and if you don’t have a keyboard, well, you won’t be talkin’ much.
Longtime Hawk fans who want new levels and just more of everything in general, you won't find a ton of surprises, but you’ll still have a hell of a lot of fun. If you were hoping for that knock-you-off- the-chair feeling you got from playing your first Hawk, though, it ain’t here. :#%
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Publisher: Activision Developer: Neversoft Players: 1-2 (PS2, 2-8 online) ESRB: Teen
THE VERDICTS
JENNIFER DEMIAN
www.activision.com
GAMER NATION
review Crew: mulLtipLatform
~
Cy
— Lary sperm Keeps) EDN pHze, while Harriet recalls this one time, al band camp, |
@ PS2/XB
LEISURE SUIT LARRY:
MAGNA CUM LAUDE
No happy ending
SHA THE Ma
Good: If cartoon tits count as good, welcome to flavor country
Bad: Playing Quarters for the 100th time
More Stimulating: Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball
DEMIAN: Older, possibly hairy-palmed readers will remember the spurt of Leisure Suit Larry PC games in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Now, eight years since the last game, the eternal quest for cooter resumes with Larry’s nephew (also named Larry), and though the world may now be 3D and free-roaming, the humor hasn’t grown up—it’s just aged.
Larry’s flatulence problems and loose- cannon bladder make for some of the fun- niest moments, but that’s relative to the not just unfunny but straight-up painful minigames, which are recycled endlessly and sandwiched between a slideshow of load screens. Though Larry does boldly go where no console game has gone before, there’s a good chance you don’t really want to trail-blaze that territory—like, say, the scene that kicks off with a little oral sex and ends a lot like that one part in The Crying Game. You know what I’m talking
about. When it comes to Larry, absti- yp, Hence sounds pretty good.
CRISPIN: | can appreciate throbbing innuendo and soft- », Core coitus just as much as the ‘.
DEMIAN CRISPIN itil
/
next guy in Spencer Gifts’
naughty aisle, but Larry's surreal brand of dong-and-fart humor lost me somewhere between the fifth date-rape joke and the gay-bar sing-along. I’m not even sure who this game is supposed to appeal to: You'll see more wangs here than in an ’80s com- puter lab. Oh, you'll find some dumb laughs. But you’ll also cry once you realize you’re playing the 50th version of the same blah minigame—and you've just sat through three load screens to do it.
JON D: If you’ve never seen breasts before, you might end up at the video store choosing between this and the abhorrent Guy Game, but you’re screwed on gameplay either way. Larry’s just a string of mindless tasks based on simple button-tapping and aged arcade titles (Pong, Tapper) to further the plot of dis- robing digital damsels to generally PG-13 ends. Since Larry takes so many swings at humor, it does connect with the odd bit of funny dialogue or college-themed par- ody. But the meat of the game—the cheesy, lowbrow funny business—goes limp in mere minutes.
Publisher: VU Games Developer: High Voltage Players: 1
ESRB: Mature
JON D.
www.leisuresuitlarry.com
GAMING MONTHLY ¢ www.1UP.com
FORGOTTEN REALMS:
DEMON STONE
Bring your own halberd
“1...hawe...the power!”
Good: A visual tour de force Bad: Not much depth
Rainy-Day Fun: Imitating narrator Patrick Stewart's voice
KEVIN: Epic. That's the first, last, and only word that comes to mind when describing Demon Stone, a game by the folks behind EA's Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Every chapter of the story is packed with action, action, and more action—villagers scramble for their lives, orcs flail at each other, and dragons fly about burninating the countryside. Graphical flourishes come at you like volleys of crossbow bolts, and the story (written by fantasy-novel stal- wart R.A. Salvatore) is filled with twists, surprises, and Hollywood-like witty banter between the three heroes.
In terms of production values, then, Demon Stone is virtually unstoppable...but the actual game is exceedingly simple. From start to finish, it’s bash, bash, bash them buttons, and you won’t need much thought to reach the end until you plumb the harder skill levels. Still, the visual pyrotechnics make Demon Stone worth a rental at least—think of it as the game equivalent of a popcorn film, and you won't be disappointed.
BZZZT, wrong. Demon Stone actu-
ally lies closer to McFarlane’s abysmal Evil
Prophecy, with a touch of the tasteful fra- cases in the Lord of the Rings games, but sans the great story. Demon Stone cribs from the Big Book 0’ RPG Clichés—it’s like the developers were aiming just a notch or two above mediocrity (but man- aged to bull’s-eye Kevin’s heart in the process). The biggest fantasy element is the devs believing anyone cares enough about the tired premise and their made-up language to enjoy the unskippable cut-
ce 9s on xo 55 wo x —
KEVIN JON D.
scenes. It’s good-looking, generic hack-em-up monotony.
3. FORD: As much as Demon Stone tried to suck me in with its impressive graphics and presentation, it pushed me away with rote gameplay and imbecilic A.I. Leading a team of adventurers is cool, but your com- rades are so dumb that they can’t cover you while you try to complete a simple objective. And then there’s the level pro- gression—you'll clear a few screens, only to reach an arbitrary checkpoint where you fight wave after “I can’t believe ene- mies are still warping in” wave of baddies. A pretty but shallow tease.
LS) You can upgrade your spells and attacks, but the button-pounding gameplay remains.
Publisher: Atari Developer: Stormfront Players: 1
ESRB: Teen
G. FORD
www.atari.com
08.14
08.15
08.22
08.28
08.29
09.04
UNLEASH THE
SCHOOL THE LOCAL COMPETITION IN THE ULTIMATE VIDEO GAME TOURNAMENT AND WE'LL FLY YOU TO LAS VEGAS FOR A CHANCE TO WIN 50G'S AND BE CROWNED THE GREATEST MADDEN PLAYER.
MINNEAPOLIS THE METRODOME
GREEN BAY LAMBEAU FIELD ATRIUM
CHICAGO NAVY PIER GRAND BALLROOM
INDIANAPOLIS CASTLETON SQUARE
DETROIT GREAT LAKES CROSSING
CLEVELAND CLEVELAND BROWNS STADIUM
CINCINNATI GREAT AMERICAN BALLPARK
PITTSBURGH HEINZ FIELD
and/or other countries. All rights reserved. EA SPORTS'
REGISTER AT MADDENCHALLENGE.COM AND UNLEASH THE DI!
09.11
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may apply. See Maddenchatenge c an Electro ha ™ brand. REEBOK nd Pes
BUFFALO WALDEN GALLERIA MALL
BOSTO GILLETTE STADIUM
NEW YORK SOUTH STREET SEAPORT
PHILADELPHIA GALLERY AT MARKET EAST
WASHINGTON DC UNION STATION
CHARLOTTE CONCORD MILLS
ATLANTA LENOX SQUARE
JACKSONVILLE THE AVENUES
10.09
10.10
10.16
10.17
10.23
1024
10:30
10.31
MIAMI BAYSIDE MARKETPLACE
TAMPA RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM
NASHVILLE OPRY MILLS
ST. LOUIS UNION STATION
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HOUSTON HOUSTON GALLERIA
DALLAS VALLEY VIEW CENTER
SAN ANTONIO THE RIVER WALK
GET MADDEN NFL 2005 AT BEST BUY AND UNLEASH THE D!
© 2004 Electronic Arts inc. Void when iegRied ane estiction
11.05/06 KANSAS CITY
41.07 41.13 11-14 11.20
11.21
WESTPORT
DENVER CHERRY CREEK SHOPPING CENTER
PHOENIX MCDUFFY'S IN DOWNTOWN TEMPE
LAS VEGAS FASHION SHOW
SAN DIEGO MISSION VALLEY
LOS ANGELES THIRD STREET PROMENADE
11.26/27 SEATTLE
11.28
QWEST FIELD
SAN FRANCISCO SBC PARK
review crew: multiplatform
ine od f
PS2/XB/GC
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES 2: BATTLE NEXUS
Heroes in a half-baked half-shell
Good: The unlockable original TMNT arcade game Bad: You have to play through most of Battle Nexus to get it Instead: Why don’t you order a delicious pizza?
G. FORD: Konami’s biggest mistake with TMNT2: Battle Nexus was including the beloved original arcade game as an unlockable—I had more fun in the 30 minutes it took to finish that classic yet shallow beat-em-up than | did in the entirety (six hours or so) of Battle Nexus. It’s amazing that 15 years later, Konami has managed to make an inferior game.
Most of the key problems from last year’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game have been fixed, at least, and four- player support is finally here, which makes TMNT2 more enjoyable in a mis- ery-loves-company kind of way. The near-constant stream of catchphrases has been toned down, too, but it’s the general gameplay that’s busted. Picking up an object is needlessly complex, tricky jumps seem to require more luck than skill, the camera is craptacular, boss battles are tedious, the vehicle-based levels are a joke, and the actual fighting action is bland. It’s a shame because if this is the type of game kids are gonna suffer through, it'll be a wonder if they remain videogame fans for long, let alone turtle aficionados.
Pct? (omit Coe wit C24 wit
@ The unlockable TMNT arcade game, from back when bad beat-em-ups were still good.
”n v2 Se Bs s > 2 we ae; =
G. FORD SHAWN
SHAWN: Space, as the heroes in ha shells find in their half-hearted, half-assed TMNT2 cosmic journey, is infinitely gener- ic and not even gnarly. All simple shapes and colors you’d hang over a crib, it’s packed with spinning platforms to somer- sault, not-so-rockin’ robots to sock (then run from when you tire of the two-button technique), and dialogue that tries to make the banal seem bodacious while sounding dippier than any Dell or Moun- tain Dew ad. “Dude, you can’t do anything with ’em, but you collected coins!”
OFFICIAL PS MAG—CHRIS: Note to developers: If you’re going to make a sequel to a bad game, please make it bet- ter. You’d think that goes without saying, but apparently someone should have yelled it through the hallways of Konami. To be fair, the three biggest factors that brought down last year’s TMNT misad- venture—lack of four-player support, repetitive phrases, and frustrating diffi- culty—have all been fixed. Unfortunately, a zoomed-out camera corrupts any real sense of control, and it’s too easy, aside from some horrendous jumping puzzles.
Publisher: Konami Developer: Konami CES Players: PS2 1-2 (3-4 w/Multitap), XB and GC 1-4 ESRB: Teen
elite)
www.konami.com
150 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ¢ www.1UP.com
(PS2/XB)
@ PS2/XB
ROBOTECH: INVASION
Don't join this protoculture club
Anna
Good: Long game with two-part story Bad: Repetitive combat, blah visuals
Geek Nitpick #57: No rendition of “Lonely Soldier Boy,” damn it!
Two worlds collide in Robotech: Invasion—and I’m not talking about the lobster-armored space robots who pum- mel Earth’s freedom fighters. This game tries to please fans of the late-’80s cult animated series and mainstream players who just wanna blow stuff up while wearing armor that turns into a motorcy- Cle. It fails to please either.
Hoping to give the game broader appeal, /nvasion’s developers nixed the *toony graphical style that made prequel Robotech: Battlecry \ook so much like the show. Without it, the game’s mostly brown, sometimes purple environments look blocky. Series faithful will wonder why the game doesn’t sound like the show, either—it packs few familiar tunes or effects. In fact, Robotech fans will gripe that /nvasion is missing lots of stuff: dinosaurs for its Genesis Pits, missiles for your Cyclone armor, characters from the series (although most of the show’s voice actors have roles here), and more.
And if all of that Robo-geek stuff is Greek to you, all you need to know is that Invasion is a repetitive shooter with a few nifty bits (namely, the online modes and a few chase sequences on your bike). Otherwise, let the space lobsters win.
It takes a certain spark of, shall we say, creativity to look at a show like Robotech and think, “Now this would make a smashing Halo clone.” But that’s exactly what we have here—a first-per- son shooter that cribs from Bungie’s clas- sic in almost every way thinkable, down to the funky color-coordinated space armor,
and does the job well enough to hold my attention (if not Crispin’s) with snappy graphics and most importantly, strategic, give-and-take shooting action. Hardly original, but still entertaining.
Inva- sion’s pretty dull, even for a first-person shooter. Sorry Kev, but battles mostly con- sist of circle-strafing for a few seconds with some occasional sniping thrown in. Still, as a Robotech fan, | liked the little twists in Invasion’s story enough to keep from wanting to turn the game off after the first few levels. And multiplayer is fun, since your ability to transform into a motorcycle is actually useful...
i ill _ a. | One sure shot in the eye and intergalactic Lobsterfest is officially a go.
THE VERDICTS (OUT OF 10)
CRISPIN
KEVIN
GIANCARLO
Publisher: Global Star Developer: Vicious Cycle Players: 1 (2-8 online) ESRB: Teen
www.globalstarsoftware.com
VIDEO: YES. GAME: NO.
NN , YS “3°
U.S. AIR FORCE CROSS INTO THE BLUE
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for by
©2004 Paid
Phantom opponents are one thing, but being matched against arealadversary brings new meaning to the term game over.” And it takes a completely new set of skills to play for real. In the United States Air Force, you're not just a player but a relevant, contributing part of the most highly advanced military on the planet. Which is why we seek those with the talent to win and the intelligence to win under pressure. Call 1-800-423-USAF or log on to AIRFORCE.COM and find out what we can do to help your game. And what you can do to help ours.
© When Freddy Krueger fights Shredder...well, it looks kinda tacky.
PS2/XB
It’s nearly impossible to pay attention to the creepy
"little characters beating the crap out of each other
when you’re playing Puzzle Kombat mode (above).
MORTAL KOMBAT: DECEPTION
EN (-YomUoi co) ay
SMAME: Deception establishes a specific stan- dard by which all other fighters must be judged—no other game comes close to offering such a substantial variety of game types, options, and extras. Take, for example, the massive Konquest mode: Here, Midway morphs the previ- ous Mk’s Soul Calibur-inspired single-player game into a full-fledged role-playing experience. Sure, its 1999-era visuals, dippy fetch quests, and amateur-hour voice acting can’t hold a can- dle to, say, Final Fantasy X, 4 but for a freebie it’s fan- tastic—you'll spend countless hours wandering the country- side, looting huts, and unlocking hidden charac- ters for your trouble. Don’t be surprised if Soul Calibur Il! and Virtua Fighter 5 “borrow” this idea lock, stock, and harpoon-spear. Likewise, the new Puzzle Kombat
(——
+
MONDAY, | Gh.08.01
CHAOSREALM 4 © Konquest mode isn’t much of a looker, but it offers the deepest single-player mode of any fighting game.
152 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
mode delivers a Tetris-esque puzzle melee, com- plete with online play. This mode isn’t terribly original (it’s a thinly veiled rehash of Capcom’s Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo for PS1), but it’s an enjoyable diversion and a superb value-added bonus. Same deal with Chess Kombat, a fast, mildly strategic reworking of old-timey PC hits such as Battle Chess and Archon. Chess Kombat stumbles, however, when two pieces occupy the same square...since, well, then you have to play Mortal Kombat. And playing Mortal Kombat simply isn’t that much fun.
It’s unfortunate that the underlying mano a mano action can’t match the rest of Deception’s ambitious package, but precious little has been done to improve upon the last MK’s (Deadly Alliance) leaden, mash-happy combat. Enhancements include Combo Breakers (easy automatic reversals) and a largely useless graphic
display clueing you in on the best blocking posi- tion. Bouts still transpire with unintuitive, dialed- in combos that require no real timing or skill; silly, overpowered special moves (I once beat the sin- gle-player Kombat mode by performing Nightwolf’s Rhino Charge exclusively); and plenti- ful automatic stage fatalities. Yes, you can play it online, and yes...you can buy a hint book to learn countless ghastly fatalities, and yeah, you can even unlock a huge stable of different-colored ninjas to fight with, but when it comes down to it, this is a just mediocre fighting game. Midway has wisely packaged it with enough sizzle to lure in legions of casual players, but true fighting-game fans won't find much long-term interest here.
X®8N—CHE: For more than a decade, the Mortal Kombat series has been shocking parents and pissing off hardcore fighting fans with great suc- >
Deception brings back Deadly Alliance's inventive method of unlocking secrets—the Krypt. This time, you earn various types of Koins and Keys in the Konquest mode and then use them to open hundreds of mysterious tombs. Some of the rewards rule, such as secret charac- ters and new stages, but the vast majority of the caskets hold total krap like production art or pictures of the development team.
THE VERDICTS (OUT OF 10)
OPEN @
@ watcert
Publisher: Midway Developer: Midway Players: 1-2 (2 online) ESRB: Mature
www.mortalkombatdeception.com
RYHEF.COM
COMING THIS FALL
RATING PENDING jam 3 Visit www.esrb.org
for updated rating information. a>
GAMES CYBERLORE
CONTENT RATED BY SRB
} PlayStation.e
©2004 Playboy. PLAYBOY, BUNNY COSTUME, THE MANSION and RABBIT HEAD DESIGN are marks of Playboy and used under license from Playboy Enterprises International, Inc. by ARUSH Entertainment and GROOVE GAMES PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or in other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners
review crew: muLtipLatform
Midway isn’t expecting Kombat kiddies to really know the rules of chess, so Chess Kombat uses a heavily streamlined rule set with fewer types of pieces.
cess. But the Kombat franchise still hasn’t evolved past its shock and awe gimmicks, giving us, instead, a game more concerned with secret fatality moves rather than a balanced and refined fighting system. Which is perfectly fine for casual chop-socky initiates who want to
| Koming down some brews and tear the spine out of their to Kube buddies’ backs—heck, we’ve heard worse ways Sorry, Game- of male bonding. But for discriminating fans of Cube the genre, Deception couldn't be more sloppy pugilists— and ill-conceived. Deception The crux of the problem is its gameplay, won't be grac- “which more or less mirrors that of its predeces- ' ing your con- sor, Deadly Alliance; large strings of attacks sole this holi- must be memorized and executed like secret day season. “kodes”—if you can enter them within a certain
You'll have to
wait until early
2005 before ini- \ tiating a bloody beatdown on your chums. Plus, the Cube revision will arrive sans any online play.
_
in
y 154 + ELECTRONIC GAMINEMONTHLY ° www.
window of time, your fighter will throw out a canned combo that continues until it’s finished. With Deception’s gameplay, there’s little sense of
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Oldskool
If you’re willing to shell out an extra 10 bones for the Kollector’s edition of Deception, you'll get (in addition to a cavalcade of trad- ing cards and bonus DVD video features) an arcade-perfect rendi- tion of the original Mortal Kombat. Has time been kind to this influ- ential fighter? Will you toss your copy of Street Fighter: Anniversary * Collection into the waste bin of obsolescence? No and no.
real-time immediacy or potential for mind games; rather, it feels like you’re waiting for your buddy to whiff an attack so that you get another little window to tap in another prearranged combo. What’s more, the Combo Breaker reversal system, Mortal Kombat’s best new gameplay feature in years, is arbitrarily limited to only three uses per match—even though it isn’t something you can easily abuse. Deception isn’t a terrible fighting game for part-time disciples, but Soul Calibur 2 this is not.
£17: Like a videogame McGriddle, oesption is all about mixing weird ingredients together. Where else can you find a fighting mode, chess mode, puzzle mode, and adventure mode on one disc? And where else would the
‘adventure mode be part fighting tutorial, part
unlockable collect-a-thon, and part errand run-
Want to see a gruesome stage fatality? Knock some- one into that gaping maw protruding from the wall.
ning (“Sir, do you need a ham? Let me walk 40 feet away and grab one for you.”) Thing is, the Mortal Kombat series is one of the few that makes obscure ideas like these work—they all fit in superbly with the series’ campy nature.
There are minor flaws littered around—the visuals in the puzzle and adventure modes aren’t very detailed, and your character in adventure mode couldn’t make a smart decision if it were . tattooed on his arm (Fable-style good/evil choices would have been great)—but the excel- lent online play and variety make up for them. Deception is one of the few Mortal Kombat sequels to not drastically change the hand-to- hand combat from the version before it, but thanks to all of the new peripheral features, | barely even noticed. Never mind the haters; if you liked Deadly Alliance even a little, you'll like Deception a heck of a lot.
EXPECT THE INCREDIBLE!
“SO EXCITING IT MAKES US JUMP QUT O \ TRYING TO EKE OUT SOME LATENT SUPERPOW. F
- PREVIEW, GMR JUNE 2004 A a
Use your super strength to survive an Use your super speed to Stretch your powers to onslaught of enemies as Mr. Incredible run for your life as Dash the limit as Mrs. Incredible
PlayStation.e = 7C Live IG) aa | OWN THE GAME NOVEMBER 2nd.
a= 4 E x80 ines GAMECUBE SEE In theaters November 5th. Save the day. Dfenep INTER ACTIVE www. incrediblesgame.com
GAMEBOYaovece «860 P T X AR s>)
ANIMATION STUDIOS
Cartoon Violence The Incredibles © Disney/Pixar. © 2004 THQ Inc. THQ and the THQ logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners. The term OMNIDROID is used by permission of Lucas film Ltd. “PlayStation” and the ‘PS” Family logo are registered VZ2." 4A trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. TM, R, Game Boy Advance are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2004 Nintendo. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Live, the Live logo, and the fe
Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. www.thg.com
review Crew: multiplatform
Roque Junior
PS2/XB/GC
(PS2/XB ONLY)
FIFA SOCCER 2005
There's grass on the field...let’s play bal
a VT he
. le
re eS om
@ PS2/XB
CONFLICT: VIETNAM
We're somewhat conflicted, yes
You’ll know the bad guys by their Birkenstocks.
156 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY © www.1UP.com
Good: New First Touch control makes for realistic soccer action
Bad: Slide tackles are pretty ineffective
Fun: Dominating with DC United’s 15-year-old Freddy Adu
PATRICK: Football, soccer, whatever you Call it, the FIFA franchise continues to gain ground and is close to challenging Konami’s Winning Eleven series as the videogame footba—er, soccer—champion.
This year, FIFA looks much crisper, its star players are way more dominating, and the career mode is deeper, keeping you busy for up to 15 seasons. The overall pre- sentation mirrors a British “footy” telecast with BBCers John Motson and often-incom- prehensible Scotsman Ally McCoist provid- ing commentary. Without a doubt, though, the chief improvement is the new First Touch control. Via the right analog stick, you can direct a receiving player’s first touch of the ball. Whether beating a defender with a flick into open space, redi- recting the ball on the run, or receiving a cross, you have control over moves that were previously automated. It’s a simple addition that adds a whole lot of depth and subtlety. The gaping chasm between FIFA and Eleven may now be a photo finish.
DEMIAN: FIFA does a very good job of re- creating the pace of real soccer—which
8.5 7.5 9.0
PATRICK DEMIAN
Good: Character-building skill system
Agent Orange. De Niro. Deer Hunter. Flashbacks. Vietnam’s imagery, inspired by the real and the reel, serves as a perfect backdrop for video war games. But this particular war was never won so much as survived, a premise that serves as the underlying theme in Conflict: Vietnam as you guide your squad behind enemy lines over the course of a 28-day tour.
Conflict plays like SOCOM in that it’s a third-person shooter, but it adds a pseudo- RPG skill system. This customization, along with the sundry requisites for any war game (lots of weapons, good enemy A.I., vehi- cles), makes for a rewarding experience.
The other payoff here is the sound and story line. Tunes like “Paint It Black” and “White Rabbit,” along with the chatter of the nonplayer characters, help bring Conflict to life. Character backgrounds also get some attention, which is a good thing if you’re combat weary (or just like having an actual story).
Though my fellow reviewers might feel differently, Conflict is a mission worth tak- ing—assuming you can live without online multiplayer action.
2 Ss (=e 25 2s we = Fad
SHAWN
Bad: No online mode, sometimes gimpy controls Incoming: Four-letter words up the ying yang
means casual fans might be put
to sleep. Patrick’s right about the First Touch controls adding a new element to gameplay, but | wish it were a little easier to protect the ball once you’ve got it. Forget trying for that miracle dribble—it’s both more productive and more boring to just pass as soon as a defender gets near. FIFA is an excellent sim, but | still shout “did you see that?!” more often with Winning Eleven. Hot tip: Before you do any- thing, turn off auto-player switching. The game’s practically unplayable with it on.
EVAN: FIFA 2005 borders on the sublime: Last year’s complete technical overhaul has been refined into one of the best sports games in recent memory. Though the Freestyle Control (which allows you to per- form moves with the right stick when you have possession) needs a bit more refine- ment, the passing mechanics allow players to easily perform redirects and pass into space, and some of the best physics around put FIFA neck and neck with the superb Winning Eleven 8—except that 8 isn’t coming to the States until spring 2005.
Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Canada Players: PS2 1-2 (3-8 w/ MultiTap, 2 online), XB 1-4 (2 online), GC 1-4
ESRB: Everyone www.easports.com
EVAN
Viktnam
Booby traps and VC machine guns may be bloody murder, but they aren’t the deadliest objects in this dark room. That’d be your suicidal squad- mates whose major malfunctions make Conflict: Vietnam a Groundhog Day in green hell. | played levels over and over because they insisted on standing in plain sight as Charlie took potshots from the game’s lush and somewhat lifelike cover. Fight the war with friends instead: Co-op mode mini- mizes casualties and lets the otherwise captivating “oh s***!” moments shine.
Take Conflict: Desert Storm, replace all the sand with a messy-looking jungle, increase the frequen- cy of enemy encounters, and refuse to fix the crappy controls—kaboom! You've got Conflict: Vietnam. To be fair, the simple squad direction continues to distinguish the Conflict series from other military shooters, as do the vehicles and almost RPG-like stat-leveling system. It’s just a shame about the shoddy controls and graphics. Someday Conflict may be a shooter to con- tend with...but not today. Publisher: Global Star Developer: Pivotal
Players: 1 ESRB: Mature
www.conflict.com
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NBA LIVE 2005 VS. ESPN NBA 2KS
Game 7, seconds on the clock...eh, screw it, everybody wins
ike the gridiron, only EA Sports and ESPN are hitting the hardwood this season. The two have continually gone down to the wire for the b-ball crown, and this year is no different. Now that the fourth-quarter buzzer has sound- ed again, let’s see who’s really got game.
2K5 is the perfect simulation of the NBA—the two-man game, the pacing. Live, however, is still too arcadey; | feel like I’m going coast to coast in a couple of sec- onds. Don’t me get wrong, I’m all for run- nin’ and gunnin’, but it ain’t representative of the actual sport.
I’m with Patrick...for the most part. 2K5 looks better, moves better, and controls more intuitively than EA’s hoopster. But | disagree with Pat about Live’s “arcadey-
ness,” as the series has definitely made some great strides toward a truer sim style of play, thanks to this edition’s set of low- post freestyle moves and increased atten- tion to offensive and defensive systems.
And don’t forget about Live’s brainier A.|.; computer-controlled opponents now play suffocating defense and perform all those fancy dribble moves that, previ- ously, were only in your own repertoire. 2K5, on the other hand, commits some key fouls: jerky animations (especially when adjusting shots in midair), big men setting up more around the three-point line than on the blocks, and everyone standing around watching the person with the ball, thus turning it into a game of 1-on-1.
That’s how real NBA basketball is played—ain’t it fantastic?
Yeah, these days, the pros rarely show much effort when not handling the rock, yet | still dig EA’s emphasis on off- the-ball movement.
But I'm glad to see that one game finally gives you complete control over putbacks—in Live, you can either tip it in or send it home with authority.
Live (above) looks better this year, but it’s still like Steve Nash to ESPN’s cute-as-a-button Kobe.
NBA LIVE 2005
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Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Canada Players: PS2 1-2 (3-8 w/Multitap, 2-10 online), XB 1-4 (2 online), GC 1-4 ESRB: Everyone
www.easports.com
158 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
| have to call out Live and 2K5’s respective franchise modes, though; the majority of the options—which EA and ESPN can’t stop talking up—are simply text-heavy menus that’ll put you to sleep more quickly than a Clippers game. And sadly, this is becoming the norm in almost all sports titles.
I’m a stat man myself, so | really got into managing a franchise in Live, par- ticularly the new GM scouting abilities, where you're always on the hunt for new talent. If only the franchise interface weren’t a multifunctional PDA that only George Jetson could love....
If stats are your bag, then ESPN's title will satisfy you, too. But while dealing with players’ bad attitudes may be the reality of today’s NBA, it’s something | have zero interest in re-creating with generic dialogue exchanges in a videogame, a la 2K5.
Nuff about franchise. Live gets the nod from me this season, partly ‘cause of its extras, which include a three-point and surprisingly deep slam-dunk contest. There are so many different ways to rattle the rim (go all Air Jordan with a leap from the foul
CHARGE!
line, toss off the big screen, etc.) that it borders on Tony Hawk-like trick insanity.
Dunk competition—awesome, love it. Now let me take it to the (Inter)net with online spectators doing the judging. Next season, maybe.
2K5 puts up big numbers in the extras column, too, as ESPN brings back the deep 24/7 mode. Create a player and build him up through a series of training exercises and tourneys versus the league’s past and present—it’s solid.
Problem is, 24/7 hasn’t changed all that much from last year.
Bottom line: Either baller has enough bounce, and at $60 ($40 for Live and $20 for 2K5), I'll be getting both. s%&
2K5’s players (above) chill around the perimeter, while in Live, the lane’s clogged like rush hour.
ESPN NBA 2K5
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BRYAN PATRICK
Publisher: ESPN Videogames Developer: ESPN Videogames Players: PS2 1-2 (3-10 w/Multitap, 2-10 online),
XB 1-4 (2-8 online)
ESRB: Everyone
DAN L.
www.espnvideogames.com
THE COMPETITION IS FIERCE. The finish line lies just up the moun- tain, and all six competitors have a legitimate shot as they cross the wide-open environment. As you guide your all-terrain vehicle onward and upward, the fog builds up and begins to cloud your vision. You don’t care, though—victory looms closer by the second, and you can taste it. There it is! The finish line. If you can just exe- cute this last jump effectively—maybe even bust out a trick just for style— the win is yours. But then...
WHAM!
Out of nowhere, you feel the jolt of another rider from behind. The result: a spectacular crash. Unfortunately, you're part of it. As your position resets, you watch some- one else cross the finish line. Tough luck. You’re not totally bummed, though. Actually, “awed” is more like it. “That was one awesome crash,” you tell the other five players via your USB headset. “Let’s play again.”
It’s all par for the course in ATV
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ATV 3’s offline play remains as strong as ever?but the game really shines online. Got a few buddies you play with regularly? Then join a clan. And don’t forget to check the Scoreboard to see how it stacks up against all of the other ones. Of course, you can also view your own personal accomplishments there. After all, barring a few unforeseen collisions, you're bound to accomplish quite a bit.
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V7) review Crew: playstation 2
Good: More boss fights than you can shake a sword-for-an-arm at Bad: So-so graphics with some sparse or empty environments MVP: Most valuable body part? We're going with good ol’ left leg
PlayStation 2
BLOOD
Pieces of me
@ Each boss (left) gives up a body part—our favorite has to be the coveted lymph nodes.
<=
JUSTIN: When as an infant you’re robbed of 48 vital body parts, is revenge even an option? It is for Hyakkimaru. Standing on principle and prosthetic legs, Blood Will Tell’s hero is out for the blood of four- dozen demons who took his body. Wickedly intriguing concept aside, you’ll slash through foes with flourishes of your bladed forearms and bust bazooka shells from a hollow knee during battles with gruesome fiends—reclaiming your body piece by piece. Parts like the pancreas and pituitary gland will slowly make you faster and stronger, but major acquisitions pro- duce immediate results. Sprout a real leg and beat a superswift dash while the bal- ance imparted by your inner ear allows for snap recoveries from knockdown blows. Further self-improvement in the form of expanding combos keeps combat interest- ing, and a surprisingly strong manga-style story helps push you forward. Certain areas look a bit sparse, and awkward cam- era angles and jumps are occasionally a problem—particularly during your waifish sidekick Dororo’s solo acts—but it's not enough to cripple a great action game.
THE VERDICTS ‘OUT OF 10)
JUSTIN JOSH
GIANCARLO
JOSH: Unlike its handi-capable
hero, this game has heart. Blood sports deep characters, an awesome premise, and an engaging story line that kept me playing long after the novelty of having swords for arms wore off. Unfortunately, the fun but repetitive combat grows tiresome, the cam- era makes platforming a chore and boss battles unnecessarily difficult, and the graphics look about as pretty as Hyakki without his facial prosthetics. In the end, though, the great story and passable game- play make this one a worthy rental.
OFFICIAL PS MAG—GIANCARLO: The exe- cution is iffy, but there are great ideas here. Collecting Hyakki’s organs as power-ups is the coolest lift from Metroid ever, and the monster designs twist Japanese legends into genuinely skin-crawling bosses. Blood has pacing problems after a promising start, though. It’s no good as a platformer or a stealth challenge—the camera and controls aren’t up to it—and between those killer bosses, the battles get boring. But an episodic plot lets you play in small doses; give it a shot if you dig the manga material. Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega Wow
Players: 1-2
ESRB: Mature
www.sega.com
Good: Most moves and mechanics transfer favorably to 3D Bad: Smaller roster means diehards will lose some fave fighters Feels Like: Rival Schools, Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha
A 3D Mai? KOF _ fanboys may need * some alone time.
@ PlayStation 2
KING OF FIGHTERS: MAXIMUM IMPACT
If it ain’t broke....
- SSE |
160 ¢ ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY © www.1UP.com
When Street Fighter went mock-3D
and bring its fighting series
with EX, it lost some of the trademark speed, style, and playability that made the 2D brawler tick. The same goes for Maximum Impact: Although it throttles back on the roster, slows the pacing, and alters the combo system, it’s not neces- sarily a worse experience—just different.
If | didn’t already know KOF and appreci- ate the bouncy novelty of a 3D Mai Shiranui, though, | don’t think Impact would even make a ripple with me. Given that the recent meld with Capcom fighters (Capcom vs. SNK) has made KOF so amazing in two dimensions already, there’s really no reason for the stretch to 3D. But you might find Impact a capable and enjoyable departure from the 2D classic if you’re willing to let go of tradition or have simply never played a King of Fighters game before. | highly recommend a joystick, though—one thing that hasn’t changed is that super moves are tough on a controller, especially the PS2’s fragmented D-pad.
With Capcom spinning its wheels, I’m happy to see SNK step up
into the 21st century. Maximum Impact keeps KOF’s stylish, varied characters while trimming the confusing fat. The result is a surprisingly solid fighter that pleasingly melds old school with new. It needs some work, however. KOF rookie Soiree wants to be Tekken 3’s outdated Eddy Gordo—bad. The other new charac- ters aren’t much better, and the gameplay needs tweaks in general (the archaic side- step, for one). A nice first try; get crackin’ on the sequel, boys.
Maximum Impact is essentially SNK’s ver- sion of the Street Fighter EX series, which isn’t really a good thing. A lot of the preci- sion and strategy in the 2D KOF games is almost completely lost here, since a com- plete novice can easily pull off a five- or six-hit combo within seconds of picking up the controller. Still, that speaks to /mpact’s accessibility. You won’t have to spend hours trying to string three moves together, and fights are really fast paced, much like those in the Dead or Alive games.
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GIANCARLO
Publisher: SNK Developer: SNK Playmore Players: 1-2
ESRB: Teen
www.snkneogeousaconsumer.com
PlayStation 2
Devil in the details
Good: Stylish visuals, deep customization Bad: Battles too frequent and difficult
SHANE: If you’ve never played a role- playing game before, Nocturne’s brutally difficult battles, tricky dungeons, and convoluted character customization will knock you straight into the fetal position. RPG vets, however, should definitely try to tame this beast: It’s something special. From the game’s surreal outset (the world ends in the first 10 minutes) to each of its twisted, unhappy endings (of which there are six), Nocturne serves up a pecu- liar, beautiful, and challenging adventure. Intentionally stark visuals impart a keen otherworldliness that perfectly matches the game’s postapocalyptic, bizarrely reli- gious plot. The narrative arrives in small chunks, though: Most of your time is spent navigating massive dungeons and fighting terribly frequent random encounters. At least the combat is fast and serves a pur- pose—you’ll recruit demons to join your party, then fuse them together to form more powerful mutations. This >» Pokémon-on-crack premise is WG as addictive as it sounds, but ‘ not everything is devilishly . great: The archaic overworld
THE VERDICTS
Sala \\
THIERRY
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SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: NOCTURNE
Special Guest Star: Devil May Cry’s Dante
CHRISTIAN
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G cut-scenes feature spoken dialogue, and the lack of in-game tutorials will have you reaching for a hint book.
OFFICIAL PS MAG—THIERRY: Nocturne is a rarity: a mature RPG that doesn’t merely cave in to using titillation and foul language for its M rating. With its heavy dose of theology and philosophy (done with much more gravitas than the pop philosophy of Xenosaga), Nocturne weaves an incredible story that is pretty much unlike any other RPG. Add to that its quirky-yet-solid gameplay mechanics and you have one of the best PS2 RPGs of the year, despite its Ninja Gaiden- esque tendency to kick your ass.
GMR—CHRISTIAN: Nocturne is flat-out stunning—to my mind, it’s one of the most distinctive-looking games of the generation. And instead of feeding you a canned morality play, it actually lets you influence the highly original story. But the crazy long mazes, turn-based battle system, and slow, demanding pace are throwbacks to bygone days. It’s a flawed but faceted gem.
' 2
Publisher: Atlus Developer: Atlus R&D1 Players: 1
ESRB: Mature
www.shinmegamitensei.com
@ PlayStation 2
GUILTY GEAR —
Fatal four-way
Good: Frantic four-player fighting... Bad: ...is a bit too frantic at times
Shocker: Yo-yo babe Bridget is really a boy. Oops!
Guilty Gear X2: #Reload (XB) required fast fingers. In this go-around, your reflexes have got to be robotic. With four players facing off in team battles or free-for-alls, keeping tabs on your brawler is tough enough. It takes true talent to consistently orchestrate the chaos (four times the flashy signature strikes amount to a psychedelic supernova).
Fighting takes place on a foreground and background, meaning you can side- step projectiles or cooperate to knock an Opponent from one plane and into your partner’s clutches on the other. That’s easy enough; it’s having to hit R1 to turn around that isn’t (unlike typical fighters, crossing up in /suka leaves you facing the wrong way). Whether the controls are clunky or not, | couldn’t get used to ’em...at least not as well as I’d have liked.
And while clobbering different-colored clones in /suka’s side-scrolling, single- player modes (think Final Fight with fewer backgrounds and far more moves) is a decent diversion, it’s also difficult, thanks to the same unwieldy setup made worse because you have to come to a
complete stop before changing directions.
Guilty Gear hearts fighting-game fans. #Reload on Xbox gave us a working online fighter, and /suka here hooks up the four-player action while keeping the traditional, hardcore 2D fighting intact.
The series already goes overboard with the fancy onscreen effects, and it gets infinitely more confusing with four play- ers, the aforementioned “turn around” button, and everyone fighting on nearly
g Qs [a hre Be S5 we na 1
SHAWN SHOE
indistinguishable background and foreground planes. It’s still a blast to play—if you can handle the insanity.
Isuka isn’t as bad an idea as it seems at first glance, but at first glance, it seems like a really bad idea. While you can adjust to some of its oddi- ties, they don’t ever make objective sense, and only the 2-on-2 tag battles are worth the time. Free-for-all matches are a near- total train wreck, and there’s not enough new content to justify 1-on-1 fights with this irrational control scheme. Publisher Sammy should have saved the new back- grounds and soundtrack (which both totally rock) to feature in a better game. SP ac stan amin
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New gal A.B.A. (above, with giant key) inflicts damage on herself—for GG vets only.
Publisher: Sammy Developer: Arc System Works Players: 1-2 (3-4 w/Multitap) ESRB: Teen
www.sammystudios.com
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY © www.1UP.com « 161
Vi;) review crew: pse/xb
(NR? SS
PLAYER 3
MONSTER HUNTER
Time to slay the dragon—again
Technical difficulties limited our online experience: We played a version that included just the first set of missions, then played with a single high- level character supplied by Capcom—but no other publications joined us to play the later missions with these characters. If our opinions change after we hunt with more players, we'll tell you next ish.
Smells like...decency
162 ¢ ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
Coy MEN OF VALOR
“How can you shoot women and children? Easy...you don’t lead
Good: Gorgeous graphics, amazing array of Bad: Awkward combat, online difficulties Major WTF Moment: First time you use the
MARK: In many ways, Capcom’s new role- player is like Phantasy Star Online finally came to the PS2: One to four heroes set out on different missions, traversing the same few dungeons but with different goals each time (everything from killing dragons to cooking meat). You'll notice the graphics immediately; the animation and characters look fantastic, and the outdoor environ- ments are lush and convincing. But the best part of Hunter is the number of items you can gather from the land—fish for food or profit, berries and mushrooms to mix into medicine; you can even mine ore and scavenge dead monster parts to fashion into armor or weapons.
Unfortunately, Hunter shoots itself in the foot elsewhere. Single-player mode might as well not exist, as tedious and difficult as the missions are playing solo. Online, no one can leave or join games in progress, and the lack of voice chat makes communi- cation a chore. Finally, you eventually adjust to the bizarre combat control scheme, but only those with the time and inclination to appreciate Hunter's addictive item collect- ing will play long enough to find out.
THE VERDICTS (OUT OF 10)
MARK BRYAN MILKMAN
tems
‘Provoke” command
BRYAN: As my hunting buddy
Mark mentioned, this one comes oh-so close to completely filling the PSO void on PS2. From the Jurassic Park-like terrain to the hungry-for-your-meat dragons, it just looks stunning. And using pieces of your prey to outfit and arm your character makes the kill worth the exhausting effort. But Hunter occasionally swings and miss- es: online chat is keyboard only (that’s so 2002), the camera’s a bit finicky during combat, and slaying any significant-sized beast on your own is near impossible.
GMR—MILKMAN: If you're able to accept the unorthodox control scheme, the mediocre single-player game (at least it has one), a troublesome camera, and the lack of an effective lock-on mechanism, then you’re tough enough to reap Monster Hunter's unique benefits. For those with an online group mentality, Hunter’s grisly parts collecting offers quite a bit of strategic action. Whether you fancy yourself a melee type or a long-range gunner, almost any player can find his own niche and cus- tomize himself in ways PSO never offered.
Developer: Capcom Players: 1 (1-4 online)
Publisher: Capcom ESRB: Teen
www.capcom.com
Good: Later levels convey the chaos of ‘Nam Bad: Some clunky animation and A.l. problems Best Moment: Following a tank through the city of Hue
At its best, Men of Valor makes you feel like you’re in a Vietnam war movie: The Mamas and the Papas blare on the radio, Marines smoke and make small talk when suddenly—THOOM!—one of your buddies is hamburger meat. The chaos and confu- sion unique to ’Nam is brought home via scripted events, tons of dialogue (including plenty of cursing), and convincing outdoor landscapes. The thick and treacherous jun- gles are a long way from the green walls of the last Medal of Honor game and are definitely the high point of the otherwise decent graphics.
If only the A.I. was as realistic; the Vietcong usually provide a fair challenge (using cover is key), but seeing Marines walk right past them or shoot at them from three feet away—without either of them dying—really spoils the illusion. Online, dif- ferent soldier classes (medic, sniper, etc.) and a couple interesting game modes (both basically variants of capture the flag), in addition to the standard deathmatch games, elevate Valor’s multiplayer above the rank and file, but not enough to recom- mend to anyone except war buffs.
Multiplayer match- es blow it all to hell in the best way. With an awesome arsenal of maps, modes, and character classes, | was high on war the whole time. Sadly, Valor’s sort-of-solid-but- predictable single-player game is Vietnam as a theme-park thrill ride. Overdone dia- logue and cynical caricatures (parasitic cameramen, promotion-hungry COs) don’t capture the piss and corruption of the war any more than the embarrassingly bad A.I. and green corridors (sorry, Mark, but the big, bad bush is more like a lush alley).
It was a time of turmoil, confusion, and frustration. Mind you, I’m talking about my time with Men of Valor, not the actual Vietnam War. | didn’t know whether to laugh (at my idiot A.I. squadmates walking right up to then past enemies, just because the game’s scripting said it was time to move forward) or cry (when I’d get mowed down by invisible gunfire from hidden ene- mies—yes, | know this may be more “real- istic,” but I’m playing a game for “fun,” too, ya know). Only decent multiplayer saves this from a much lower score.
THE VERDICTS (OUT OF 10)
MARK SHAWN
Publisher: VU Games Developer: 2015 Players: 1 (2-12 online) ESRB: Mature
www.menofvalorgame.com
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Visit www.esrb.org for updated rating information.
© 2004 White Wolf Publishing, Inc. Vampire: The Masquerade, White Wolf and the World of Darkness are registered trademarks and Vampire: The Masquerade—Bloodiines is a trademark of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. Game code © 2004 Activision, Inc. Published by Activision Publishing, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision, Inc. All rights reserved. Developed by Troika Games, LLC. This product contains Valve Source technology. © 2004 Valve Corporation. All rights reserved. Valve, Half-Life, Valve Source and the Source logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Valve Corporation. The NVIDIA logo and the “The way it’s meant to be played” logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation. PC CD-ROM logo TM and © IEMA 2003. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners,
activision.com
vampirebloodlines.com
review Crew: xb/gba
Otogi 2 has.a surreal beauty to its..much like kung fu flick Hero.
OTOGI 2:
IMMORTAL WARRIORS
Breathtaking
Good: Gorgeous graphics, beautiful music Bad: Hard to get/find every secret item
Otogi: Makes a good name for a Japanese pet dog
SHOE: You say you listen to our reviews, but when it came to the first Otogi, your wallets sure clamped up tight. One of our highest-reviewed games of 2003, the sleeper-hit action game barely made a squeak on the sales charts. Well, the sequel’s here, and this time you better recognize or there won’t be an Otogi 3. Imagine a beautiful, dreamy, and some- times scary hack-n-slash that takes place in a mythical, magical Japan with demons made of fire, ghouls made of paper, and 10-story-tall spiders. Picture defending a holy tree from skeleton armies, destroying a fleet of ghostly airships in mid flight, and fighting cave-dwelling wraiths in almost total darkness. Everything about Warriors is imaginative at its mind-blowing best. And it’s all packaged with some amazing graphics, a haunting soundtrack, perfect controls, and enough gameplay (via six characters to level up and more than a dozen fun, extra stages in the minigame- ish Havoc mode) to last over 20 hours if you're the thorough type. Don’t miss it.
SHAWN: The world’s your china shop as you chop your way through caverns of pure crystal, sending shards pinballing
like prismatic particles in an
accelerator. Believe it or not, Ofogi is more breathtaking and faultlessly offbeat than before. A few of the six playable heroes are practically clones, the fight- ing’s fancier in effect than it is in execu- tion, and sometimes it’s still fall-on-your- sword frustrating, but you won’t find a better time making beautiful messes this side of Burnout 3.
XBN—CHE: Those of you who missed Otogi the first time around won't miss a beat when you pick up this deeper and more polished sequel. With the addition of new (and diverse, never mind Shawn’s “clone” claims) demigods to its roster, as well as the refreshing emphasis on char- acter development, Warriors moves like Ninja Gaiden with the depth of an action- RPG. Unlike other action-adventures, Warriors keeps me coming back for more with its delectably destructible environ- ments. The game walks a fine balance, giving you ultimate power while simulta- neously pushing your gaming skills by striking at each of your characters’ weak- nesses. This is the best Japanese-devel- oped Xbox game to date.
Publisher: Sega Developer: From Software Players: 1
ESRB: Teen
THE VERDICTS (OUT OF 10)
SHOE SHAWN
9.0 8.0 9.0 HE
C
www.sega.com
164 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
MEGA MAN ZER
Robot salvage for fun and profit
Good: The least frustrating Zero yet...
Bad: ...but it still hands you your ass on a platter Silliest Boss Name: Blazin’ Flizard/Glacher Le Cactank (tie)
There’s no point in beating around the mechanical, self-propelled, missile-spitting bush here. Mega Man Zero 3, just like the two GBA games that preceded it, is a no-holds-barred shoot- a-thon that'll give its audience exactly what it wants—even more punishing robot chaos.
Capcom has relaxed the series’ notori- ously sky-high challenge level a bit for the third game. In addition, nearly every mission has passageways that lead to Cyber Space, an alternate version of the level where you're free to use all your cyber elf power-ups without losing them afterward—it’s still useful for scouting each area before tackling it for real.
This tweak of the challenge level takes what was an utterly impossible game before and makes it into a merely near- impossible one. Sure, you’ll still die countless times with each boss before figuring out its patterns, but the body count is much more tolerable. To me, that made the difference between contently playing Zero 3 all afternoon and angrily heaving it into the trash compactor in disgust. Your mileage may vary.
ROBERT: Lots of stuff has been tacked on to Zero 3 in the name of progress: long, RPG-ish laundry lists of useless items; Cyber Space portals (which turn everything a Matrix green and force ene- mies to drop more items—wow); super- fluous weapons and moves; and a big, empty hub level where you can button- mash through pointless chatter to gain even more pointless items. But heaps of
THE VERDICTS (OUT OF 10)
KEVIN ROBERT
cake icing can’t ruin the original recipe. MM games have always been about tightly controlled action, exciting plat- forming, and brutally difficult boss fights. It’s still fun...for the masochist in you.
Another year, another Zero. You know what to expect here: superb 2D visuals, tight controls, punishing bosses with ridiculous names (Deathtanz Mantisk? Wha?), and extremely challeng- ing gameplay—though it’s not quite as harsh as before. | love a good old- fashioned side-scroller, but when the biggest enhancement you’ve got is Cyber Space—an easier, mostly identical path through each stage—you know the developers are running out of ideas.
Publisher: Capcom Developer: Capcom Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone
JOHN R.
www.capcom.com
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7 OFFICIAL GUIDE : Mie pea BRADY GAIIES namco
Violence Weer /eoe Gate vein ~
d trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All pyrights associated with the manufacturers, aircraft, models, trade names, brands and visual images depi ame are the property of their respective owners, and used with such permissions./Copyright and other rights owned by BAE SYSTEMS PLC and its J are not to be reproduced without the prior written consent of BAE SYSTEMS PLC./Produced under license from Boeing Management Company./MIRAGE and RAFALE are aircraft and registered trademarks of DASSAULT AVIATION./Produced in cooperation with Japan Air Bnse Force./Lockheed Martin Trademarks used under license to Namco Ltd./Produced under a license from Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation.
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© 2004 Gamefly, Inc. GAMEFLY and the GF Logo are trademarks of Gamefly, Inc. All other marks used under license by their respective owners. Lambroghini Murcielago image courtesy of Cindy Lewis photography. Used with permission.
~ Recognizs
‘these guys,from Yoshi's Island?, Old ea and other Nintendo references are everywhere in’
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{> GameCube
Badges? Yes, You Need Some
Steenkin’ Badges!
Part of the beauty of
Paper Mario’s gameplay is the badge system. You
can buy, earn, or find
badges hidden through-
out the world and then
equip them to enhance your abilities. They can
@= adventures, which go on at the same time as your quest.
PAPER MARIO: THE
THOUSAND-YEAR DOOR
Flat-out incredible
Like the original Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64 and its spiritual successor Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga on the GBA, The Thousand- Year Door succeeds as a role-playing game by nailing the most important aspects of the genre, but in a completely unique and refreshing way.
Take the plot. While the overarching story is the same ol’ cliché—save the princess by finding seven crystal stars to unlock the magical door that blah blah blah—the dialogue is so witty and clever that you savor every cut-scene. Even with- out the benefit of voice acting (you’re going to have to get with the times soon, Nintendo), every one of Paper Mario’s huge cast of friends and foes has their own distinct, memorable, and usu- ally hilarious personality. Seriously, random villagers in this game have more character than major players in other RPGs, and certain moments are literally laugh-out-loud funny.
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do all sorts of things—change Mario's appearance or sound effects,
add new attacks, grant more hit points, boost his defense, and more.
168 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
Combat also breaks free of the old turn-based traditions. For those of us accustomed to mind- lessly tapping a few buttons and daydreaming while battle ensues, The Thousand-Year Door’s awesome fighting system is like a butt stomp to the groin. Er, in a good way. Uh, wait...well, you know what | mean. Attacks are executed via unique controller combos (hold the analog stick and release, alternate hitting the L and R triggers, draw circles around your enemies, etc.) that make you an active participant in every battle. Optional button presses take it one step further; time them just right to add damage, boost defense, or even ham it up for the audience watching you fight. All this, along with a nice selection of different side- kicks and power-up items, keeps fighting fun, even against foot soldiers and at the end of the game.
A huge quest full of exotic locales, cool ability- granting badges to improve your characters, devi-
Combat stays fun since you are always active, trying to time button presses for added offense or defense.
ously hidden but worthwhile secrets to encourage exploration—inside Paper Mario’s flat, simple outer wrapping is an incredibly deep and thor- oughly enjoyable adventure. Only a few boring back-and-forth errands near the end and some enemies reused a bit too often slightly crumple this otherwise brilliant masterpiece.
While it may feel like we've waited 1,000 years, Nintendo has finally added another star to the paper-thin stack of GameCube role-playing games. And just like Mark says, this Paper Mario’s a hit because it strays from the genre norm. Forget about realistic visuals and high-bud- get CG cut-scenes; here, you receive a brilliantly stylish 2D/3D world that, at times, can be as cutesy as Link’s home island in Wind Waker or as trippy as a setting from some Dr. Seuss tale. And even though the battles remain turn based, they
The Crustal Stars, you say? 2
They sound like good world-
conquering tools! | want ‘em/
The dialogue is incredibly sharp and often hilarious. Other RPG publishers take note. Please.
(OUT OF 10)
n gz S fa) oe Ww > w = J
MARK BRYAN
Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Intelligent Systems Players: 1
ESRB; Everyone
ANDREW
www.nintendo.com
“Did we just hit some~ thing?” “I heard that too...but all | see is a little green hat floating in the water.”
are fast paced, require platformerlike skill (for timing multiple head stomps, blocking attacks, etc.), and feature the most original and welcome new combat wrinkle in years—spectators, who'll chuck power- ups...or rocks, if they don’t like your style.
What also sets The Thousand-Year Door apart from the rest of the RPG pack is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The game’s stockpiled with quirky and joke- filled dialogue, and unlike most that go the humor route, | promise Mario and company will make you chuckle (just talk to the plumber’s bro Luigi if you want a good laugh). The few bits of backtracking are the only real annoyances, but fortu- nately, they never stopped me from head- ing back into Nintendo’s page-turner. They shouldn’t stop you, either.
; Anse» g | Paper Mario uses its relatively, simple.2D graphics, to its advantage, sometimes filling?
the screen with hundreds of characters.” J
GMR—ANDREW: My few complaints are similar to Mark and Bryan's: There’s a lit- tle too much back-and-forth in a world that feels too small (whoever came up with the completely pointless and time- consuming fetch quest at the beginning of Chapter 6 is no longer my friend). Also, for a storybook-come-to-life, the environ- ments of Paper Mario are surprisingly sta- tic—like a pop-up book that’s already been popped—and the instances in which the world changes in a paperlike fashion are few and far between. But these gripes are ultimately forgivable, because everything else in the game is done incredibly well.
For example, | firmly believe that despite their apparent simplicity, the tim- ing-based combat systems of Paper
Mario, Mario & Luigi, and now The Thousand- Year Door are among the best in the genre. Instead of just choosing “Attack” from the menu, hitting the A but- ton at exactly the right time to dole out more damage makes it feel like you actu- ally are attacking instead of merely issu- ing an order. Throw in the sidekick switching and all the different
enemy types, and The
Thousand- Year Door guar-
antees that fights are
always fresh. A battle
system this satisfying,
dressed with beautiful
visuals and a charming
story, makes The
Thousand-Year Door
worth opening. sh
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Hold R for Mario to turn sideways. Now he can slide between bars, squeeze between buildings, and fall through grates. 2
Twirl the analog stick while pressing R to curl Mario up into a tube so that he can fit under fences and any other low-clear- ance areas.
Mario can fold himself up into a paper airplane and float down from certain designated spots.
Hold the jump but- ton and rotate the stick, and Mario will scrunch up like an accordion; release, and he’ll spring into the air, grabbing on to any hanging pipes above.
Mario can’t swim, but find any specially marked dock, and he can origami himself into a boat.
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com ¢ 169
review Creu: muLtipLatform
REVIEWS
All the games that are fit to blurb:
Speaking of the triple-A games,
‘though, next month threatens to
. destabilize the time-space continuum, _
’ with Halo 2, MGS3: Snake Eater, GTA: San Andreas, Metroid Prime 2, Killzone, the ‘Ratchet and Jaks...oh, and double-D titles like Rumble Roses and Dead or Alive Ultimate, which you may already be play- ing by.the time you read this.
hat with heavyweights the — likes of Paper Mario, Tony Hawk’s Underground 2, and that new Mortal. Kombat game, we did-" n’t have space to give everything a full review, so here’s what didn’t make the: cut. There’s some good stuff down * there, like Midway Arcade Treasures 2..and some not so good stuff; like . " Wings of War. -,
¢ PS2 ¢ Atlus ¢ ESRB: E — By blending racing with roleplaying, this jalopy breaks down on two different levels. While the fanciful racetracks are cute, they don’t redeem the atrocious racing and so- bad-it’s-good-oh-wait-it’s-just-bad dialogue. Skip this and play Burnout 3, in which the cars smash to bits instead of talk to each other.
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© PS2 ¢ Namco ¢ ESRB: T Crisis Zone has the most unique plot to date—terror- ists have taken over something and only one man with a machine gun can liberate it. Pity the innocent drywall, computer gear, and light fixtures that get in your way. This Guncon 2—compatible arcade port is a good rental for a few hours of mindless full-auto fun.
© PS2 ¢ Mastiff ¢ ESRB: M Brooding, masterfully coifed, and not afraid to smite enemies with his coffin, main character Grave has a lot going for him. Too bad his game doesn't. All quirky style with little substance, Overdose has you blasting through endless hordes of goons—although | the real enemy is the camera and clunky controls.
f : pit: Not much of a | window seat, is it?
v =
GBA ¢ Ubisoft ¢ ESRB: E — This action-platformer disses no memorable bits of the classic Star Wars trilogy—you get everything from the Vader saber duels to the Death Star trench. Too bad the side- scrolling gameplay is so generic. You’re best off staying far, far away from this galaxy.
ESRB: M — Because hit coin-ops like Wizard of War, Mortal Kombat II, NARC, and APB never go out of style, and because so-bad-they’re-hilarious travesties like Pit Fighter and Primal Rage should be preserved for future generations to ridicule, you must buy this rad $20 collection of 20 good, bad, and butt-ugly games.
> @ PS2/XB/GC * Midway |
ar © XB © Gathering ¢ ESRB: T A not-so-great Great War biplane shooter, Wings of War is simpatico with the attention-deficit genera- tion, rapid-firing objectives in jumbled missions filled with hundreds of Hun targets. This budget-priced shooting gallery would be more thrilling if your plane | didn’t control like a garbage truck sliding across ice. |
© GBA ¢ Nintendo Mirror evolves the Kirby formula, providing a Metroid-style world to explore. Make your friends buy it for multiplayer.
Don’t let the doe eyes and psychedelic colorscapes fool ya—some of these games aren’t totally crappy
PS2/XB/GC * EA — The lov- able Tasmanian tiger returns
in this shockingly decent
hop-n-bopper with a dash of
Grand Theft Auto—esque design. A steal at $20.
VU Games — Funny writing (courtesy of an ex—Ren & Stimpy scribe) can’t save this uninspired rehash of antiquated Crash antics with lackluster visuals, 3%
- © <17Q © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com: °
‘Redefining “Cold Fusion”
Wireless Freedom meets fir Flo Technology
RF WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY \ | ee oe he Se a | eS Net ae)
SOFT RUBBER GRIPS
i
ARS
Ventilated
& channels
allows grips multiple for comfort players and
control
Air Flo” Wireless Air Flo™ Wireless for Xbox® for PlayStatione2
Air Flo” Wireless for
The coolest wireless technology for the hottest gaming platforms. Air Flo Wireless controllers are available for PlayStation2, for Xbox, for GameCube and for PC. These controllers fuse the award winning, hand cooling technology with long-range, 2.4 GHz RF technology, delivering lag-free response, without line-of-sight interference. With 8 channels, up to eight players can get in the game — wire free! Wireless gaming knows no boundaries.
]
j f wun ei - Wiww.nykKo.com NYicg NYKO® and Air Flo™ are trademarks of NYKO Technologies, Inc. All trademarks, registered trademarks and trade names
are the property of their respective owners. ©2004 NYKO Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. INNOVATION FIRST
REVIEWS ARCHIVE
For the record
bargain-bin Advance Guardian Heroes
Alias
All-Star Baseball 2005
Amazing Island
Armored Core: Nexus
Astro Boy
Astro Boy: Omega Factor
Athens 2004
Bujingai: The Forsaken City Burnout 3: Takedown
Catwoman
Champions of Norrath: Realms of EQ The Chronicles of Riddick
Crash Nitro Kart
Crimson Tears
Custom Robo
Dance Dance Revolution Extreme Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix Dead Man's Hand
Def Jam Fight for NY
Destruction Derby Arenas Donkey Konga
DRIV3R
Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires Echo Night: Beyond
ESPN Major League Baseball ESPN NFL 2K5
ESPN NHL 2K5
EverQuest Online Adventures: Frontiers EyeToy: Groove
Fable
Fatal Frame Il: Crimson Butterfly Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Final Fantasy XI
Front Mission 4
Full Spectrum Warrior
Galactic Wrestling: Feat. Ultimate Muscle Galleon
Ghosthunter
Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
The Guy Game
Gradius V
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Headhunter: Redemption
Hot Shots Golf Fore!
Karaoke Revolution Volume 2
KATAMARI DAMACY
@ PS2
@ Released: September 2004
@ Original Scores: 8.5, 8.5, 8.5
It’s a game about a rolling ball of garbage that eventually engulfs whole apartment blocks. What more do you need to know? What's the problem here? Open your wallet, pry out $20, and get to work.
Katamari Damacy Kingdom Under Fire: Crusaders La Pucelle: Tactics The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adv. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Madden NFL 2005 Mafia at Malice
ooze Manhunt Mario Golf: Advance Tour Mario Pinball Land Mario vs. Donkey Kong McFarlane’s Evil Prophecy Mega Man Anniversary Collection Mega Man X; Command Mission Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes Metal Slug 3 Metroid: Zero Mission MLB 2005
STRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
SYSTEM GBA PS2/XB PS2/XB GC
PS2 PS2 GBA PS2 PS2 PS2/XB PS2/XB/GC PS2
XB PS2/XB/GC PS2
GC
PS2
XB
XB PS2/XB/GC PS2
GC PS2/XB PS2 PS2 PS2/XB PS2/XB PS2/XB PS2 PS2
XB
PS2
Gc
PS2 PS2
XB
PS2
XB
PS2
XB PS2/XB PS2
GC PS2/XB PS2 PS2 PS2
XB
PS2
GC PS2/XB/GC GBA PS2/XB/GC PS2/XB PS2/XB PS2 GBA GBA GBA PS2 PS2 PS2/6C Gc
XB
SCORES
VERDICT (out of 10)
@ Old-school bash-em-up brawling from fan-favorite cult developer Treasure
AWARD
@ Sexy disguises can't conceal shoddy gameplay
@ Take us out to the ball game...just not this one
@ What's amazing is that this game made it to the States at all
@ Impress the ladies with your elaborately customized mechanical avatar. Or not 1 Tweens will take to this robo tyke, but his game's too short and totally not sweet @ Toon-lovers and jaded players alike will enjoy this intense platformer
@ Sony's Summer Olympics aren't as special as we hoped
@ Your average martial arts actioner, but with 100 percent more Japanese rock stars @ Insurance (and heart) rates skyrocket with each spectacular crash
The feline femme looks purrfect, but she’s flea-ridden under the fluff
1 More about slaying orcs than socializing with dorks
W@ With gameplay this good, a life sentence isn’t long enough
@ For roadside assistance, call 1-800-BUY-MARIO-KART
@ Repetitive battles will bore you to tears
@ Impress your schoolyard chums with your elaborately customized minirobot. Or not @ EyeToy support elevates this DDR to a new level of aerobic insanity
@ Lose pounds and prepare for the prom
Find out how the West was dumb in this oddball first-person shooting gallery
1 There's only one rule in this hip-hop-studded fight club: Buy it, foo’
@ This clunker has major problems under the hood
@ (Mostly) great songs and a quality bongo controller make for a lively party game @ Driver meets Grand Theft Auto, and somehow an “e” becomes a “3”
New name, same ol’ beat-em-up game—with light “strategy” elements
@ Echo Night's creepy moonbase has everything you'd want...except for combat @ If MVPis this season's Yankees, then sadly, ESPN is its BoSox
@ The best 20 bucks a sporto could ever spend
@ ESPN's puckster hoists the Cup yet again. Can you say dynasty?
@ It’s a lonely frontier for PS2 EverQuest fans
® Discover just how idiotic you look dancing on TV
@ Hack-n-slash action-RPG with Sims-style dollhouse elements
1 Combating poltergeists with a Polaroid is scarier than it sounds
@ Charming RPG romp works best with three friends along for the GBA-linked-up ride @ They'll never know you're not really a feisty female feline. Well, until the honeymoon @ You'll need to be smart to figure out this deep mech-strategy game
A war-winning coalition of gritty graphics and tactical gameplay
WA bare-bones feature set makes this Muscle worth flexing only as a rental
WA high-seas letdown six years in the making...that plays as clunky as it looks @ Light on the spookiness, with linear gameplay only an algebra teacher could love @ We're not sure how to pronounce it, but this online fighting game rocks
Mi The game part sucks, and the naked chicks, well, that’s what the Internet's for With more games like this, maybe side-scrolling shooters would still be popular @ For those who think farming and videogames are a natural combo
@ iffy controls and a twitchy camera are this hunt’s less redeeming qualities Aside from online play, you won't find many surprises on these links
1 Medleys, more songs to butcher, and a streamlined interface
@ Be the ball—or, in this case, be the rolling sticky blob. Quirky and awesome
@ Dynasty Warriors combat meets Full Spectrum Warrior's troop tactics
@ Deep strategy-RPG gameplay you'll love, with childish characters you'll despise @ Zelda teaches Link a little somethin’ about four-play in this old-school adventure @ Get hackin’ in this beautiful beat-em-up
I Legolas gets shrunk to Keebler size, and your girlfriend still thinks he’s hot Visual touch-ups and superior play keep Johnny Ballgame on top
1 Jack jalopies and outdrive thugs in this glitchy 1930s gangster game
@ You can beat this limp platformer in a single sitting...but why bother?
@ Rockstar’s latest effort to keep the ESRB around
@ Play with your putter on the bus—without getting arrested for once
@ Built for pinball muggles, not wizards—until tricky bosses tilt your temper The plumber and big ape clash again in this good, but not great, platformer/puzzler Wi This half-assed, brainless beat-em-up is evil indeed
@ This quality compendium is well worth it, but only for old fans
B His Blueness’ first console RPG is decent, but strictly by the numbers
WA solid if uninspired update of the PlayStation stealth-action classic
@ Fantastic but frustrating 2D side-scroller for the nimble-fingered
@ Surprise twists supercharge this remake of space chick Samus’ original romp
WA quick trip to the minors has made MLB a title contender again
™® The Guy Game: Its tantalizingly low score (1.5, 1.0, 0.0) will arouse you!
SCORES
VERDICT : \ (out of 10) AWARD MLB SlugFest: Loaded PS2/XB @ Midway's slugger nearly clears the fences with its burning arcade play 8.0 MVP Baseball 2004 PS2/XB/GC @ EA's take on America’s pastime clears the fences with an all-new batting system 8.5 NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup PS2/XB/GC WA great game, even if your nickname isn’t “Cooter” 9.0 NBA Ballers PS2/XB @ Midway's 1-on-1 baller has the skillz to pay the billz (or something like that) 8.0 NCAA Football 2005 PS2/XB/GC @ Subtle but oh-so-effective improvements make NCAA Heisman-worthy 9.0 NHL 2005 PS2/XB/GC @ The Bob Probert of hockey games—all force, no finesse 6.0 NHL Rivals 2004 XB @ Our referees slap Rivals with a five-minute major for sucking 3.5 Nightshade PS2 @ Beverly Hills Ninja on a scale of ninja-tude 6.0 Ninja Gaiden XB @ Download more beautiful, brutal levels on Xbox Live 9.5 Onimusha 3: Demon Siege PS2 @ The soul-sucking series finale has us screaming “Vive la France!” 8.5 Onimusha Blade Warriors PS2 @ Four-player Smash Bros. (GC)-style action cooked with an Oriental flavor packet 7.0 Phantasy Star Online: Episode III GC @ As deep and addictive as real-life card games, but without all that geeky cardboard 9.0 Phantom Brave PS2 @ Only the mentally courageous will be able to handle this hardcore strategy-RPG 8.5 Pikmin 2 GC 1 Just when you think it’s over, this flower-powered game grows a new adventure 8.5 Pokémon Colosseum Gc @ Story mode injects some life into this otherwise mediocre Poké-battler 7.0 Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen GC @ Catch ‘em all again for the first time in this greedy (yet great) remake 7.0 Project Gotham Racing 2 XB @ Where's the Batmobile? We want our money back 9.5 Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy PS2/XB @ Better than bullet time, Psi-Ops’ brain powers are mind blowing 8.0 Puyo Pop Fever GC WA classic puzzle game updated with new modes and short-bus-ready characters 7.0 R: Racing Evolution PS2/XB/GC @ Not much of a racer, but the ladies look lovely 65 RalliSport Challenge 2 XB @ Who knew driving in Sweden could be so much fun? 9.0 Rainbow Six 3 XB @ The shooting-gallery gameplay of single-player is redeemed online... 9.0 Rainbow Six 3 PS2 @ ...but not in this crippled, watered-down PS2 version 5.0 Rainbow Six 3; Black Arrow XB @ Mission pack for the squad-based FPS is worth it for its expanded online features 7.5 Red Dead Revolver PS2/XB @ Guess we skipped the history lesson about the fat cowboy in a dynamite suit 6.0 Resident Evil Outbreak PS2 BA little help? Hello? If only this otherwise gripping online game had a gab function... 5.5 R-Type Final PS2 @ Remind your thumbs of yesterday with this fun throwback to '90s shooters 8.5 Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku PS2/XB/GC @ The TV show's axed, so this hack-n-slasher is all Jack fans have left 6.0 Samurai Warriors PS2 @ The series hasn't been there (Japan), but it's done that (skewer oodles of swordsmen) 7.0 Second Sight PS2/XB/GC @ Earn mind powers that'd make Kreskin jealous, then use ‘em to...flip switches 5.5 Serious Sam: Next Encounter PS2/GC @ Never take your finger off the trigger in this dumb but fun first-person shooter 6.5 Seven Samurai 20XX PS2 @ So boring we wish it would slit its own wretched belly 3.5 Shadow Hearts: Covenant PS2 1 Delightfully weird WWI-era RPG with oddball characters and action-packed battles 7.5 Shadow Ops: Red Mercury XB @ War is hell—but still preferable to this modern-day cliché-ridden first-person shooter 4.0 ShellShock: Nam '67 PS2/XB @ Boom-boom with the ladies after boom-booming the enemy in this grim shooter 7.0 Shining Force: Res. of the Dark Dragon GBA @ Addictive tactical RPG, but still a few steps shy of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 8.0 8.0 7. Showdown: Legends of Wrestling PS2/XB WM This glitchy grappler’s retirees reek of Bengay 3.5 3.0 2. newly-minted Shrek 2 PS2/XB/GC @ Made for the kiddies, but a fun four-player fairy tale all the same 7.5 6.0 5. platinum Silent Hill 4: The Room PS2/XB @ Claustrophobic chills upstage the now-familiar cadavers 7.5 Siren PS2 @ Battle hayseed zombies in this Silent Hill clone that's more convoluted than creepy 5.0 Sly 2: Band of Thieves PS2 @ Sony's slick, cartoony fox returns for madcap heists with his two partners in crime 9.0 Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2 PS2 @ Smash may not look as good as Kournikova, but hey, it plays better 7.0 Spider-Man 2 PS2/XB/GC @ Sticky-string commuting across New York City is a thrill, but combat’s a tangled web 7.0 Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow XB @ The ultimate stealth game with revolutionary 2-on-2 online multiplayer... 10 Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow PS2 @ ...gets a little chopped up on PS2, but non-Xboxers won't even notice. 9.0 Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow GC @ ...unlike GameCube owners, who'll wonder where the multiplayer modes went 7.0 Spy Fiction PS2 @ Spy fact: Creeping around like a third-rate Solid Snake kinda blows 5.5 Star Ocean: Till the End of Time PS2 @ Janky battles keep this epic RPG from attaining Final Fantasy-caliber status 7.0 Star Wars Battlefront PS2/XB @ Shoot droids, stormtroopers, AT-ATs, X-wings, Ewoks, and Gungans online. 'Nuff said 8.0 2 Street Fighter Anniversary Collection PS2 @ Celebrate a decade of street fighting with the champs of 2D combat 8.5 9.0 8. ri : pe Street Racing Syndicate PS2/XB/GC @ SRS showed up fashionably late, but the race had already started 7.0
0 6. — <a Sudeki XB @ Microsoft's full-frontal action-RPG assault is kinda flat 4.5 6.0 5. KNIGHTS OF THE Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain PS2 @ Low-fever shoot-em-up contaminated by foul controls 6.5 6.5 5. Tales of Symphonia GC @ Solid adventure with a dippy plot, but RPG-starved Cubers won't mind 8.5 7.5 8:! OLD REPUBLIC
Terminator 3; The Redemption PS2/XB/GC @ Hasta la vista, quality gameplay. Hola, mondo explosions and so-so vehicle levels 4.0 Test Drive: Eve of Destruction PS2/XB i Slow, floaty, down-home dirt track racing with a side of grits 75 Thief: Deadly Shadows XB @ Adjust your TV set in this too-dark game of grand theft bauble set in medieval times 7.0 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 PS2/XB/GC @ The real-life Tiger may be struggling, but his virtual game remains well under par 8.5 Transformers PS2 @ Carriers that change into mile-high robots? Doesn't get much cooler than that 8.0 Under the Skin PS2 @ This fun little multiplayer hors d’oeuvre needs more substance to stand on its own 5.5 UFC: Sudden Impact PS2 @ There comes a point in every fighter's career when it's time to hang it up 6.0 Van Helsing PS2/XB @ Van doesn’t mind biting Devil May Cry so long as he can stick it to the Count 7.0 Viewtiful Joe PS2 @ Stylish graphics and deep beat-em-up gameplay still rocks socks 8.5 Way of the Samurai 2 PS2 @ The way of the warrior presents plenty of branching paths, but they're all kinda boring 6.0 i out. Xbox owners who haven't already WWE: Day of Reckoning GC We reckon wrestling fans should skip that day 5.5 5.0 6: declared allegiance to the dark or light Worms 3D PS2/XB/GC @ That's an entire extra dimension of caricatured carnage! Great multiplayer fun 7.5 7.5 6: side, get it now for just $19.99!
@ XB
@ Released: July 2003
@ Original Scores: 9.0, 10, 9.5
How close was KOTOR from wresting our 2003 Game of the Year award from the hands of that Prince of Persia guy? You'll have to wait for the History Channel documentary in 2018 to find
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com « 173
trickster
Facial tattoos. It’s all good fun until you realize they’re permanent. Just ask Mike Tyson. So it’s with no hesitation that we delve into this latest character accoutrement— learn how to scare small children with flowing ink designs all over your Fable character’s cranium. And if you’re a small child (or socially underdeveloped adult) yourself, there’s always some Pokémon battles you should be perfecting. That, plus dead WWE superstars and their moves lists, plus Madden, too? Halloween or not, this is indeed the best month ever for tricks and tomfoolery.
—David S. J. Hodgson
GAME DIRECTORY
PRVSR she ites ceriernevens ccd TB Fable 2... 0c cee e cece eee ATE Hot Shots Golf Fore! ...........176 Madden 2005: Collector’s Edition . .177 Madden NFL 2005 .............174 MVP Baseball 2004 ............176 Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen . .176 Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow .....176 Silent Hill 4: The Room .........176 Sly 2: Band of Thieves ..........174 Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow . . .177
SpongeBob SquarePants:
The Movie ........000eeeeee0 977 Viewtiful Joe .........0. iene WWE Day of Reckoning ...... +. 176
@ PS2
SLY 2: BAND OF THIEVES
Bonus Movies
Go to the Episode menu after defeating a boss. Wait eight to
10 seconds, and >= a graphic of
Carmelita’s badge
will appear inthe .
bottom 5
left >
corner ~
with a square-
button icon. Push
the square button,
and you will receive
a bonus movie.
Defeat the five bosses
to get all give
extra flicks.
tricRs of the trade
cheaters may not prosper, but they get more out of their games
@ GC/PC/PS2/XB
Madden Cards return in Madden NFL successfully completing all the which include cheats and unlockable 2005, and it’s up to you to complete Football 101 plays. Note that some teams and stadiums—are the most the dizzying number of tasks to unlock cards are unlocked only by getting a sought after. With so many cards out them. Earn tokens to buy card packs gold rating in the various standard and there, we thought we'd give you a
by completing various Madden All-Madden events within Mini-Camp. checklist that gives you the skinny on Challenge tasks during the game, There are many card types to be all the special cards and, when it working through the Mini-Camp and collected. However, cards 188-281— applies, how to unlock them.
Card| Type | Name
188 189 190
a]
192
193
194 195
196
a)
A)
201 202
204
205
Pall)
211
vay
213 214
rab) ral’) 217 218 val)
220
174 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
Description
This card requires your opponent to get 15 yards to reach a first down for one play (Bronze), the quarter (Silver), or the half (Gold). When this card is played, your first-down yards to go will be set to 5 for one play (Bronze), the quarter (Silver), or the half (Gold). When this card is played, your opponent will fumble every time he tries to juke for one play (Bronze), the quarter (Silver), or
This card awards 2 points for every interception and 1 point for every sack (Bronze), 3 points for every interception and 2 points for every sack (Silver), or 4 points for every interception and 3 points for every sack (Gold). When this card is played, your opponent's uprights will be made very narrow for one play (Bronze), the quarter (Silver), or
When this card is played, you will get 5 downs to make a first (one use) (Bronze), for the quarter (Silver), or for the half (Gold). When this card is played, your opponent will get only 3 downs to make a first (Bronze), for the quarter (Silver), or for the half (Gold).
Cheat | 1st and 15 Cheat | 1 and5 Cheat | Unforced
‘ the half (Gold). Cheat | Extra Credit Cheat | Tight Fit
the half (Gold).
Cheat | 5th Down Cheat | 3rd Down Cheat | Human Plow
Cheat
Cheat
Cheat
Cheat
Cheat
Cheat
Cheat Cheat
Cheat Cheat Cheat Cheat
Cheat
Stdm
Super Dive Da Boot
Da Bomb Lame Duck
Mistake Free Fumblitis BINGO!
Mr. Mobility Touchy
Bad Spot Toast
Jam Pocket Protect Penetration QB on Target Coffin Corner
Wind Gust
Hands of Glue Hands of Stone
Couch Potato Time Out Quch! Worker’s Comp
Passerby
Super Bwl XXXIX
When this card is played, your Broken Tackles will increase by 25% (Bronze), 50% (Silver), or by 75% (Gold) for the game. Unlock by getting gold in the Ground Attack drill. When this card is played, your diving distance increases by 25% (Bronze), 50% (Silver), or 75% (Gold) for the game. When this card is played, you will receive unlimited field-goal range for one play (Bronze), for the quarter (Silver), or for the half (Gold). Unlock by getting gold in the Clutch Kicking drill. When this card is played, you will receive unlimited pass range for one play (Bronze), for the quarter (Silver), or for the half (Gold). When this card is played, your opponent will throw a lob pass for one play (Bronze), for the quarter (Silver), or for the half (Gold). Unlock by getting gold in the Swat Ball drill. When this card is played, you can’t fumble or throw an interception for one play (Bronze), for the quarter (Silver), or for the half (Gold). When this card is played, your opponent’s fumbles will increase by 25% (Bronze), 50% (Silver), or 75% (Gold) for the game. When this card is played, your defensive interceptions will increase by 25% (Bronze), 50% (Silver), or 75% (Gold) for the game. When this card is played, your QB can’t be sacked for one play (Bronze), for the quarter (Silver), or for the half (Gold). When this card is played, your opponent’s penalties will increase by 50% for one play (Bronze), for the quarter (Silver), or for the half (Gold). When this card is played, the ref will spot the ball 1 to 2 yards short for one play (Bronze), for the quarter (Silver), or for the half (Gold). When this card is played, your ability to burn a DB will increase by 25% (Bronze), by 50% (Silver), or by 75% (Gold) for the game. When this card is played, your ability to jam a WR will increase by 25% (Bronze), by 50% (Silver), or by 75% (Gold) for the game. When this card is played, your pass-blocking effectiveness will increase by 25% (Bronze), by 50% (Silver), or by 75% (Gold) for the game. Unlock by getting gold in the Pocket Presence drill. When this card is played, your line penetration will increase by 25% (Bronze), by 50% (Silver), or by 75% (Gold) for the game. Unlock by getting gold in the Trench Fight drill. When this card is played, your QB accuracy will be 100% for one play (Bronze), for the quarter (Silver), or for the half (Gold). Unlock by getting gold in the Precision Passing drill. When this card is played, your punt will go out of bounds at the max distance for one play (Bronze), for the quarter (Silver), or for the half (Gold). Unlock by getting gold in the Coffin Corner drill. When this card is played, field-goal kicks will receive a gust in your favor for one play (Bronze), for the quarter (Silver), or for the half (Gold). When this card is played, your catching ability will increase by 25% (Bronze), by 50% (Silver), or by 75% (Gold) for the game. When this card is played, your opponent’s catching ability will decrease by 25% (Bronze), by 50% (Silver), or by 75% (Gold) for the game. When this card is played, your opponent's fatigue will increase by 25% (Bronze), by 50% (Silver), or by 75% (Gold) for the game. When this card is played, you will get unlimited time-outs for the current quarter (Bronze), half (Silver), or game (Gold). When this card is played, your opponent's injuries will increase by 25% (Bronze), by 50% (Silver), or by 75% (Gold) for the game. This card awards points (based on severity) whenever a player gets injured this quarter (Bronze), half (Silver), or game (Gold). When this card is played, your QB can throw from beyond the line of scrimmage for one play (Bronze), for the quarter (Silver), or for the half (Gold). If you have this card, the Super Bow! XXXVIII stadium will be unlocked at Stadium Select (Gold).
Card | Type
221 ‘| Stadium |Super Bow! XL
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222 | Stadium |Super Bowl XL! 223 =| Stadium |Super Bowl XLII
Description
If you have this card, the ’58 Colts will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold). If you have this card, the ’66 Packers will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold). If you have this card, the ’68 Jets will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold).
If you have this card, the ’70 Browns will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold).
If you have this card, the ’72 Dolphins will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold). If you have this card, the ’74 Steelers will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold).
If you have this card, the ’76 Raiders will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold). If you have this card, the ’77 Broncos will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold). If you have this card, you simply got one that is not needed to unlock (Gold). If you have this card, the ’80 Raiders will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold). If you have this card, the ’81 Chargers will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold).
If you have this card, the ’82 Redskins will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold)..
If you have this card, the ’83 Raiders will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold). If you have this card, the ’84 Dolphins will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold). If you have this card, the ’85 Bears will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold).
If you have this card, the ’86 Giants will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold).
If you have this card, the ’88 49ers will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold).
If you have this card, the ’90 Eagles will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold).
If you have this card, the ’91 Lions will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold).
If you have this card, the 92 Cowboys will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold). If you have this card, the ’93 Bills will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold).
224 | Stadium |Aloha Stadium 225 | Team
226 | Team |’66 Packers 227 |Team |’68 Jets
228 |Team |’70 Browns 229 |Team |’72 Dolphins 230 | Team _|’74 Steelers 231 |Team_— |’76 Raiders 232 |Team _ |’77 Broncos 233 | Team |’78 Dolphins 234 |Team |’80 Raiders 235 |Team |’81 Chargers 236 |Team |’82 Redskins 237 | Team |’83 Raiders 238 |Team |’84 Dolphins 239 | Team |’85 Bears
240 |Team |’86 Giants
241
242 | Team
243. | Team
244 | Team
245 | Team
246 | Team
247 |Team_ |’96 Packers 248 |Team |’98 Broncos 249 |Team |’99 Rams
250 | Cheer {Bears Cheer 251 | Cheer |Bengals Cheer 252 | Cheer {Bills Cheer 253 | Cheer |Broncos Cheer 254 |Cheer |Browns Cheer 255 |Cheer |Buccaneers Ch. 256 | Cheer |Cardinals Cheer 257 | Cheer |Chargers Cheer 258 | Cheer |Chiefs Cheer 259 |Cheer {Colts Cheer 260 |Cheer |Cowboys Cheer 261 | Cheer {Dolphins Cheer 262 | Cheer |Eagles Cheer 263 | Cheer |Falcons Cheer 264 | Cheer |49ers Cheer 265 | Cheer |Giants Cheer 266 {Cheer |Jaguars Cheer 267 | Cheer |Jets Cheer
268 | Cheer Lions Cheer 269 | Cheer |Packers Cheer 270 |Cheer |Panthers Cheer
271 272 | Cheer 273 | Cheer
274 | Cheer 275 | Cheer 276 | Cheer 277 =| Cheer 278 | Cheer 279 | Cheer 280 | Cheer 281 | Cheer
Patriots Cheer Raiders Cheer Rams Cheer Ravens Cheer Redskins Cheer Saints Cheer Seahawks Cheer Steelers Cheer Titans Cheer Texans Cheer Vikings Cheer
If you have this card, the ’94 49ers will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold).
If you have this card, the ’96 Packers will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold). If you have this card, the ’98 Broncos will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold). If you have this card, the ’99 Rams will be unlocked at Team Select (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Bears (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Bengals (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Bills (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Broncos (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Browns (Gold).
When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Buccaneers (Gold).
When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Cardinals (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Chargers (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Chiefs (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Colts (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Cowboys (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Dolphins (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Eagles (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Falcons (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the 49ers (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Giants (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Jaguars (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Jets (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Lions (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Packers (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Panthers (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Patriots (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Raiders (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Rams (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Ravens (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Redskins (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Saints (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Seahawks (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Steelers (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Titans (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Texans (Gold). When this card is played, it will pump up the crowd for the Vikings (Gold).
If you have this card, the Super Bow! XXXIX stadium will be unlocked at Stadium Select (Gold). If you have this card, the Super Bowl XL stadium will be unlocked at Stadium Select (Gold).
If you have this card, the Super Bow! XL! stadium will be unlocked at Stadium Select (Gold).
If you have this card, Aloha Stadium (Pro Bowl) will be unlocked at Stadium Select (Gold).
Associate of Science & Bachelor of Science Degree Programs
Th pee Real World Education
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> fO@relanlolenc-tae-Valiaat-pale)a] > Digital Media
> Entertainment Business
> Game Design & Development
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Satoh ural ndgeleltlosd lola Maa kelelalale]
800.226.7625 fullsail.com
3300 University Boulevard Winter Park, FL 32792
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FABLE
Face Tattoos
Unlike in the real world where it
would break your mother’s heart, Fable grants you the ability to smack a tattoo
across your face. Provided is a list of five face tattoos, their charisma stats, and how to acquire them. The choice is yours, but remember: Choose wisely.
Note: If you unintentionally end up looking like Mike Tyson, you can always get tattoos removed by any tattooist at a cost of 200.
Description Cost | Attract. | Scariness | Align. | Where Acquired
me
Rs ad
Arrow Tongue
A distortion of an Old Kingdom tattoo used by archers, this is the symbol of Hook Coast demagogues.
46
+1
—_ eee cil ; Worn by the Old Kingdom 46 Stolen from a home in the 4 i archers, this symbol was north row of Hook Coast. —F supposed to focus their Bet Arrowhead eyesight into total perfection. ii See
Sold by a Greatwood tattooist.
One of the many decorative 32 +0 +0 Fished from the pier at
images created by Hook Orchard Farm and sold by
Coast artist Ekken Coron. wandering tattooists.
Ancient Knothole 46 +12 -12 +0 In Witchwood Stones and Heroes’ Guild
Glade warriors. Demon Doors bookcases; shoplifted/sold in Knothole Glade tattoo shop; dug up in Lychfield Cemetery.
This pattern is used in parts 57 +0 Stolen from farthest-west home
of Albion to mark mental in Oakvale.
patients that are considered
lost causes.
176 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
@ GameCube
WWE DAY OF RECKONING
Legendary Superstars There are five legendary superstars in Day of Reckoning, four of whom must be unlocked for exhibition mode play by completing story mode stages. All special moves are performed by pressing A + B while in your special state. You must have at least one special slot filled in order to enter your special state.
Rowdy Roddy Piper
Unlocked from the beginning.
Andre the Giant
Complete stage one of story mode.
Greg the Hammer Complete stage two of story mode.
Brutus the Barber Complete stage two of story mode.
Bret the Hitman Complete stage three of story mode.
— Sta
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mwGC Madden NFL 2005
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Press D-pad
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for More Time W9HH-H6VP-8RUB1 V4YQ-21FQ-GRN7Q M569-WKVD-HG4FW
Press Z + B for More Play-Selection Time D4CH-130A-W1PRO Y2JY-QHFD-CGWZP YR70-7922-FTOC7
mw Ps2 Madden 2005: Collector’s Edition
(M) Must Be On
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Profile 1 Codes: Max Tokens Earned 29F9B21E 00517867
Profile 1 Codes: Max Tokens Spent 29F9B2D4 00517867
Profile 1 Codes: Max Token Balance 29F9B262 00517867
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Press R2 for Mega Jump D5609B66 BFB88886 24F25208 44B057B8
1 V-Film Equals 50 249393EC 1£65450B (Don’t use with any other V-Film code!)
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Exclusive f
GBA SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie
(M) Must Be On 92817CCCA621 BD3C5CD953A0 94A86B887723
Moon Jump 8EC724D977A3 B13F5DC5301E
Quick Charge E47D15B2C14C sh
SpongeBob moon-jumps.
THE MATRIX WANTS TO GET IN YOUR HEAD...
ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MATRIX ! ANDENTERYOUR NAME TOWIN A $300 CASH PRIZE OR A COPY OF MATRIX ONLINE.
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#:) Game over
oy OF og ar | a \ | ] Be ih Vg | j
Baby games for babies q
re hen reviewing a game, it’s forced to evaluate Puppet NV ethical to play it.all the way Mugs for Game Boy. That’s through, and to be honest, why | judged each of this most of my EGM colleagues do thatno —_smonth’s games on Jess than an matter what the cost, If you invite a hour of gameplay, knowing full gaming journalist to a party and he (or —_ well that the designers may have she!) says he can't make it, change all —_ intentionally made the first levels. the words in the excuse to “I need to crappy just to trick lazy reviewers | beat Pelvic Scorpion Saga by Monday _ like me into panning them. If morning.” This level of professionalism __ that’s the case, nice work on the __ is not expected from me when I'm trick, idiots! —Seanbahy
@ DinoSAUR!!! Flying through, la-ZERS!! Pohul Pehuuu!, |
Sitting Ducks ¢ PS2 Thunderbirds ¢ GBA Power Rangers Dino Thunder ¢ GBA Sadly, with all the sharks and lawn mowers in the The Thunderbirds are so specialized, they all have to | If the entire population of your city chine their world, a lot of people are missing their arms and legs collaborate just to walk down a hallway. A tiny pit } names to “Monotonous Monotonous” and you were tied } and have to control their PlayStation games through becomes a treacherous obstacle since the youngest to a robot reading the phone book, it would barely begin prayer and watermelon seed spitting. Sitting Ducks | Thunderbird can’t be bothered to hop. You’ll soon to describe this game. You fight a ninja. He sometimes requires a skill level somewhere below that. | learn to hate him, as every puzzle is based around his turns from dark green to black, but make no mistake, A It plays like Grand Theft Auto, in that you can waddle [= | refusal to step over a damn two-foot gap, and the fact it’s him again, and he dies with one hit. To beat a level, y, a anywhere you like in the city and accept different mis- [ | that he’s the only one blessed with the ability of som- |2M} you kill a certain number of him, and then, with no boss sions. Only in this game, every single mission involves ersault won’t make up for it. fight whatsoever, you move on. That's right, there’s not steering your goddamn duck across one city block. The Thunderbirds’ puzzles take seconds to solve and a even a half-assed boss of the ninja stacked on top of only way to lose health is to bump into walls or duck lifetime to finish. At a glance, you'll see what to do. : himself to form Double Ninja. You’re just done. pedestrians, and grabbing the feathers that pop out of Leave the useless somersaulter on a switch to holda |) Some levels switch it up by forcing you to explore you will give it right back. This, combined with a top door open and think about what he’s done, then send [| and find all the whatevers, which is when you'll notice speed of just above stationary, makes it impossible to the one who knows how to shove crates to clear a i that the areas are as identical as your enemy. Good kill your duck, even on purpose. Believe me, | tried. path through the fire-breathing walls. What really luck remembering which areas you’ve been to when makes me mad is that none of the designers thought |) your only landmark is the slightly different placement ) True story of duck invincibility: This isn’t the first to include a button that says, “Hey, Thunderbirds. | see of garbage cans in the background. This game is less time I’ve tangled with unkillable ducks. On a recent how to do it. Let’s just assume we went through the : | fun than playing with a Lego. One Lego. camping trip, my friend Bill and | built a catapult by hours of backtracking and character switching and Be nailing his saucepan to a tree by the river, and then skip to the next level.” >) Fun and games: After you beat a level, you'll unlock we launched rocks at the local ducks with all the mur- i | different types of bonus dinosaurs! Take this multiple derous intent Bill’s cooking gear would allow. Well, | | Two games in one! There’s also a flight combat mode. choice Power Rangers Dino Thunder Super Quiz to see discovered something that day: You can’t kill a duck As you can imagine, when you tell an uninspired devel- if you can guess what that does for you! with a catapult. The little bastards have some kind of opment team rushing out a bad licensed game to go A. Next level, your ninja becomes a different color. death-rocks-from-the-sky catapult sense. | tell you ; ahead and make a second one, the fun doesn’t exactly B. Who cares? this story as a cautionary tale, and because | couldn't | J double. It’s not the worst shooter I’ve ever seen, but | C. The color of your ninja’s costume changes during bring myself to type one more sentence about that have this messed-up job. For a normal person, hell yes the next level. boring-ass Sitting Ducks game. it’s the worst shooter you’ve ever seen. D. All of the above. sh >
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Photograph by Vince BuceVGetp te ges s x4
[2994 JOMSUY
i 178 * ELECTRONIC GAMING
é
(Solution on page 181)
ACROSS
1..PS1 two-part RPG series
8. Dreamcast’s Neo relies on it : 10. Professional portable garnering *
gaming popularity 11. Saturn-era Virtua fighter 13. MLB 2004 bag 14. Golden-or Medal of Honor: Rising 16. Aladdin of Aladdin (Genesis), for one 18. Super Nintendo Raiser 19. Part of Mr Bones (Saturn) 21. Club for gun-game fans? 22. Prickly Haloammo 24. These restore health in Final Fantasy 26. Dreamcast’s Kao’s species, for short 27. Bond’s martini mix-in 28. Excellent edible while gaming? 31. Created Halo 33. Pokémon's Ketchum 34. Super ball of NES fame 36. GT3’s Mustang Cobra epithet 37. Burnout slide 39. Pick up a weapon 40. Short for Ace Combat air-to-air attacks?
41. SOCOM subject 43. NES side-scroller Low _ 44... Star Wars Starfighter enemy ship _. target, for one 47, Halo 2 ads?
DOWN 1. Like Green loun Stone of 30 down 2. You're readin’ it! 3. Rachel’s occupational title in Silent Hill 2? 4. Given to Richard in Resident Evil (GC)
YOU SAY GooD- BYE, 1 SAY HALO
5. Extra innings? 6. Scoreless score? 7:.Home to Dynasty Warriors 8. Halo hero , 9... Castlevania whip upgrade * «_ 10. NASCAR Heat speed-setting car 12, Fight Mr. Big in this arcade/NES ‘~ sidé-scrollér 13. Super Monkey Bail objectives 14, You can’t.do this to cloaked Halo Elites
15. Ratchet & Clank collection item
17. Also known as field goals in NBA Live
19. Halo inhabitants
20. Like latest Bond offering’s Agent
23. The Simpsons: Road Rage Homerism
25. Band that spawned Quake sound- track artist, for short
29. What The Guy Game host Matt Sadler does to girls
30. Baldur's Gate 2 subtitle, for short
31. Background music, for short
32. Koloff of Legends of Wrestling
35. 12 down subject matter
38. Second Sight nonlethal ammo
40. Snake uses a mic to find him in Metal Gear Solid 2
42. Bruce of Xbox Quest of the Dragon
43. GT3 Skyline epithet
45. NCAA Football’s Hawkeye state, for short
46. _-Man of upcoming cartoon turned game
s
United States Postal Service Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation
1. Publication Tite |2. Putsication Number
AUB cate
Electronic Gaming Monthly 2, isswe Frequency [5. Number of issues Pubished Aneuatly |6. Annual Subscripton Price
Monthly | 12 $24.97
T. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication (Not panier) (Street, cy, counly, state, and ZiP +4}
[Contact Person Charles Mast
Telephone 28 East 28th Street, New York, NY 10016 212-503-5361
8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher (Not printer)
28 East 28th Street, New York, NY 10016 9. Ful Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor (Do not leave blank)
Publisher (Mame and complete maiing address)
Lee Uniacke, 101 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94105 Editor (Name and complete mailing address)
Dan Hsu, 101 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94105 Managing Editor (Name and complete mailing address)
Jennifer Tsao, 101 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
10. Owner (Do not leave blank. i the pubécation is ommed by 3 conporatin, give the neme and eckirece of te comporaton immediately kiowed by She x heltheg 1 porceek mare of ro Wid Sted Of HACE: NAN ones EY © comp ratON, ve
i! ommed by a partnership or other ceuscorporsted ot, ve Bs nome aod edciece 50 wet cee of ach individual owner. i the pubtcaton s pubtc.2d by 2 Ronpront orgaritaton ive ks mame and address.)
Full Name _ Complete Mailing Address
Ziff Davis Media Inc. 28 East 28th Street, New York, NY 10016
Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. _ —} 28 Fast 28th Street, New York, NY 10016
11. Known Bondholders, Morigagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or _Other Securities. W none, check box -
12. Tax Status (For completion by nonproki organizations authorized to mad at nonpromt rates) (Check one) The purpose. function. and nonprokt status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes: Has Mot Changed During Preceding 12 Months DD Has Changed During Preceding 12 Months (Publisher must submit exptanation of change with this statement)
(See instructors on Reverse}
PS Form 3526, Octoder 1999
13. Pubsication Tale 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below Electronic Gaming Monthly November 2004 5. j Average No. Copies Each tsi No. Copies of Single Issue Extent and Meture of Circuleton During Preceding 12 Months | Published Nearest to Filing Date 3. Total Number of Copies (Net press nun) 799,349 772,286 (1)| Pad Requested Outside County Mad Subscsipons Stated on Form 3541. flociude advertiser's proof and exchange copies) 410,509 417,625 Paid in-County Subscriptions Stated on Form 3541 b. Paid andior |] Anctude advertiser's proof and exchange copies) Requested alaton Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Steet Vendors, o ()] Counter Sates. and Other Non USPS Pa Detabuacn 120,325 128,700 + (4)| Other Classes Mated Through the USPS. © ‘Total Paid andlor Requested Circulation - Seam of 150. (1), 2),3)a0e (8) > 530,834 546,325 a iF 3 Fretiouton |(")} Ovtside-County 28 Stated on Form 3541 59,542 | 26,824 by Maa (Samples, |(2)} ln-County as Stated on Fox 3541 = 7 T Cher tee) |(3)| Other Classes Maes Through the USPS ©. Froe Distribution Outside the Maal (Carriers or other means} ; = Total Free Distribution (Sum of 15d. and 15e.) > 59,542 26,824 = 4 = 2 © Fotal Distribution (Sum of 15c. and 151) >| 590,376 1a 573,149 m Se ae a | 208,973 199,137 pean oa saan) P| 799,349 772,286 5 Percent Pais andlor Requested Circulation — an | (15c. divided by 15g, times 100) 89.91% 95.32% 16, Pubication of Statement of Ownership C Pubscalion required. Will be printed inthe December 2004 issue of Publication not required 17. Signature ard Tie of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager, or Owner Date Charles Mast, Sr. Vice President, Consumer Mkt 9/14/04
| contty that ail information furnished on this form is rue and complete. | understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form ce who omits materat x information requested on the form may be subject to cline sanctions (ncxing fines and imprisonment) andlor cil sancsons inching cil penatties).
Instructions to Publishers
1 Complete and fie one copy ofthis form with your postmaster annually on or before Oclober 1. Keep a copy of the completed form for your records.
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4 lem 15h.. Copies not Distributed, must include (1) newsstand copies originally stated on Form 3541, and returned to the publisher (2) estimated returns from news agents, and (3), copies for office use, leflovers, spoed, and all other copies not distributed.
5. Mf the publication had Periodicals authorization as a general or requester publication, this Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation must be published; it must be printed in any issue in October or, if the publication is not published during October, the first issue printed after October.
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Failure to file or publish a statement of ownership may lead to suspension of Periodicals authorization. PS Form 3526, October 1999 (Reverse)
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com « 179
Geme over
FINAL WORD
Two geeks > one
’ e don’t do boring ol’ editorials | or op-ed pieces ‘round these parts. Instead, we let two
gaming editors verbally duke it out. Sometimes they see eye to eye—some- times they argue and insult each other. Aww...just like married people. At the altar this month: EGM Executive Editor Mark “Loves Halo” MacDonald and (sister mag) GMR Associate Editor Christian “Loves Hamsters” Nutt.
Can Halo 2 live up to its hype?
Mark: Absolutely. Ask anyone who's played even the early, stripped-down mul- tiplayer version of Halo 2 and you'll get the same answer. And seeing as how no
one knows hardly anythingyabout single player, there’ll be plenty ofsurprises.
Christian: You were hoping I’d come out against it, right? But actually, | think there’s a really good chance it will live up to the hype. Developer Bungie is taking its time to make sure this game is spectacu- lar. They seem to be aware of the prob- lems with the originalpand more impor- tantly, they’re really putting it through the paces internally. But,will it bé the best game ever? | doubt it.
Nas the first Halo overhyped?
Christiati: When Halo was going to be a PC.game, | remerfiber people acting like
“Yes, you enjoy tickling Pokémon with the touch screen while | play Metroid Prime 2: Echoes."
180 * ELECTRONIC,
g" MONTHLY © www.1UP.com N
christian:
idiots over the handful of screenshots that they saw. | instantly got sick of it
and stopped paying attention. When it switched to the Xbox, | had almost forgot- ten it existed, and it took me by surprise.
| don’t think you were alone; prere- lease, most gamers had little idea what to
ari Viarit:
expect from Halo—no surprise since prac-
tically the entire game came together in just the last few months of development. Postrelease, the game got the near-perfect scores it deserved. I’ve seen every type of player—hardcore, casual and ever’ nongamers—pick it.up Once and get ino? addicted.
Well, | wasn’t addicted. | still only play Ha/o multiplayer occasionally, due to peer pressure. Damn peers.
If you can only play one of these, which would you pick and why? Halo 2 (XB), Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2), Metal Gear Solid 3 (PS2), and Metroid Prime 2 (GC)p
Mark; Not to sound like a total Halo
_ Whore, but yeah, Halo 2. Between the sin- “gle- and multiplayer online
modes, there’s just more game there than the oth- ers. And it’s been my most-wanted for years now....
Christian: The truth
is, I’m probably not
going to play any of them—at least not
right away. I’d a probably pick 2 Metroid Prime 2sthough, because nothifig has quite the atmos- phere of. Metroid. Actually, screw that. | want my head messed with, even if | don’t like’stealth. Give me Metal Gear Solid 3.
~ Mark: Wait, are you implying you actually
enjoyed the story in MGS2?
Christian: Actually, | haven’ tiplayed it yet. Like | said, | don’t diké’stealth. But your esteemed previews editor, Mr.
“ Betfénhausen, has assured me that |
would love the story. Remember, you’re talking to someone who understands Evangelion and Xenosaga.
Nhat if we said you can have either ALL thos OR upcoming porta bles N intendo DS and Sony PSP and every game that will ever come out for thos what those games are. But if you pick
Power, "Ove, don ne
‘Mark:
two, even though you don’t know...
one package, you can fever, ever have the other.
Mark: Man, these questions are getting complicated—maybed@should have my lawyer read this oversbefore | answer? I’d choose the above console games; all four are practically guaranteed to kick ass. Bird in the hand and all.
Christian: Mark, Mark, Matk. Don’t be so afraid of new horizons. Fdidn’t even have to think about it! Bold frontiers, tons of games. | love thé)PS2 because of its vari- ety, not becausejit’s technologically the best system...because it’s not. CRS How else could | ee answer? Give me a DS and a lifetime supply of Japanese hamster-petting simulations.
Mark: Yes, you enjoy tick- ling Pokémon with the touch screen while | play Metroid Prime 2.
So...what’s up with Pikmin 2 (GC)? Heard you two were arguing over it.
Christian? try, and | try, and | can’t undefstand how you can give this game an 85 or a 9.0. Nobody calls out the dun- geons—the incredibly lame, lazily designed dungeons, which make up more than half of the game! Mark sort of hinted that they sucked in his review...but come on. Asleep at the wheel!
Hey, | called out the dungeons! | totally agree they are flawed, though | don’t think they got too bad until later in the game. Crispin and Shawn actually
» enjoyed them—go figure. Anyway | think
the new pikmin colors, second leader character, and overall polish still make it one of the best Cube games out there. 4
We go in-depth with the third, and allegedly final, iteration of Konami’s classic stealth series in our Metal Gear Sold 3: Snake Eater review. Will the story be decipherable this time? Do we get to play as Snake, or are the developers going to pull another Raiden on us? We answer these questions, plus provide details on.all the snake-consuming,
camouflage-wearing action.
This year has,just been too big for 12 issues to hold. That’s why we're collecting all the spillover in our special 13th issue. We've got all the big reviews and we preview all the new Sony PSP and Nintendo DS games. Plus, our take on the Holiday Buyers’ Guide gives you the info on what to get for
yourself and what to inflict on your enemies. Those who buy the issue off the newsstand will get a DVD
full of video features of Such hot titles as Metroid Prime 2, Tekken 5, Lord of the Rings, The Third Age,
and Devil May Cry 3.
ADVERTISER INDEX
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vee ee ABT
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PREVIEWS @ Devil May Cry 3 (PS2)
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Q game over
Hello, kiddies! It’s your old fiend the gravedigger here with more hoary haunts from the videogame vault, just in time for Halloween!
Videogames always have such scary-tale end- ings, don’t they? The kingdom gets saved, our hero
gets the ghoul—sounds like everything turns out picture perfect! But not all the time...screams don’t always come true...but sometimes nightmares do! Follow me on a tour of the moldy videogame mausoleum, in a creature feature | like to call...
Mortal Kombat
Clock Tower
—hby Norm Scott
*« HITLER BLOWS UP we
Bionic Commando .
“Remember Mortal Kombat, kiddies? This gruesome game scared up a lot of business back in the ’90s! You could perform a fatality horrifying mothers and delighting onlookers the world over!
“The Mortal Kombat series \urches on, adding new Kombatants to its rosters with each new resur- rection! But don’t fret, kiddies, you can still count on seeing all of your old fiends in bit parts! | just won-
“The original, Japanese Clock Tower told the sinister story of innocent young Jennifer and her three friends—a quivering quartet of orphans who were adopted, en masse, by a reclusive gentleman who lived inside a large old house far from human civi- lization. That this did not set off warning bells is a testament to how young and innocent they were.... “Will Jennifer ever return to that moldy mansion?
“The plot of this moldy oldie originally revolved around a plan that for some reason required digging up Hitler. Publisher Capcom changed it for the U.S. release, yet the final boss remained Hitler himself! “When you finally meet, you are given a single shot to dispose of him: a shot that results in a close- up animation of Hitler’s head exploding! Can you imagine the looks of the Nazi guard when der
der which bits they’ll use....”
Only grime will tell!”
re] |
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
>) “Poor Gonzalez! All he did was skim
) alittle off the top, and his boss
3) decided to skim the top off of him!
“GTA: Vice City featured 99 ways to die, give or take. Our hero Tommy Vercetti tended to give! Whether stabbing a pedestrian with a screw- driver or spinning donuts on rescue personnel, Mr. Vercetti knew how to murder his free time.
“Of all the weapons, the chain saw seems to stick out most clearly in my mind—and in Gonzalez’s, of course! When Cortez presented this diabolical device, you could sense gamers the world over just dying to give someone a splitting headache!
“Though many gamers are still stalking the streets of Vice City, you can bet your bones that there will be gory gobs of new ways to kill some time when Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is released!”
182 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com
Fiihrer’s face hailed on them? Ha ha ha ha! Whew!” ——— : Resident Evil | / N “Chief Brian Irons of the Raccoon City Police Department was an odd buz- — (i) zard, to say the least. His horrific hob- | | ad bies included fine art, taxidermy, rape, : torture, mutilation, and speaking in E V such a flat-out creepy tone of voice ‘ that one wonders how he could so much as order a putrid pizza, much less make chief of police, without strong suspicions that he was a dan- = gerous psychopath. < “What set the excruciating exit of Police Chief Irons apart is that he actually had two deaths! When it came to sheer variety, Police Chief Irons delivered the goods... *...all over the place!”
2ROrDmMa7
pon sox
Well, it looks like that’s about all we have time for tonight, boys and ghouls! Until next Halloween, this
is your old pal the gravedigger wishing you all a good fright! Bye now! :#h
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