—_— Ө Ө Special Edition Cover 4^1 of: 2. ——— —————— ELECTRONIC GAMING The #1 Videogame Magazine MON THLY | WWW. 1UP.COM | NEXT-GENERATION GAMING IS HERE... XBOX360) & Perfect Dark Zero i Exclusively Revealed Inside s 23 ZIFF DAVIS VEDA’ WI 14024 06960 III | Display Ui F July 2005 issue 193 $4.99 U.S. / $6.50 Canada 8 Blood and Gore ИИ З Intense Violence RUE д. asd Nudity $ dE УУ 4 Sexual Themes God of Waris’s trademark of Sony Computer EntertainmentAmeri¢a Inc ©2005 Sony Computer Entegainthent Strong Language j? Apieica lic; PlayStation” andthe Ре "Fdmilylogp are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entartalnment z 1 TnYbur World, Playin Ours; is’ registered trademark of Sony.Computer Entertainment America lag 8 ы $ , PlayStation.e p Lys РГА ЙЕ URS. > BATMAN BEGINS Software ©2005 Electronic Arts Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Electronic Arts, EA, EA GAMES and the EA GAMES logo аге trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Al 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 US. and/or other countries. TM, ©, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube are trademarks of Nintendo, € 2001 Nintendo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners, EA GAMESTM is an Electronic ArtsTM brand, TEEN Violence DC BULLET LOGO, BATMAN and ай related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics. Language WBIE LOGO: TM & © Warner Bros. Entertainment inc. (605) BATMAN BEGINS IN THEATRES SUMMER 2005 BE THE REASON PEOPLE ARE AFRAID OF THE DARK. THE VIDEOGAME THE PATH TO JUSTICE BEGINS AT BATMANBEGINS.EA.COM * IN STORES JUNE 17TH Fear becomes your weapon when you strike terror in the hearts of your adversaries. PlayStation.e _ GAMEBOY ADVANCE Фф. Tear through Gotham streets in the Batmobile, using advanced weapons and technology to threaten those who stand in the way of justice. € X ТҮЛКҮ Xeox Use your ninja combat skills to take-on your enemies and extract vital information. | ® © PLAY AND WIN Race to Save Humanity! Download & find hidden Advent Rising I А icons to win $1,000,000 or hundreds of other cool prizes! * ra Two monty Xbox Live™ trial included with game purchase in specially marked packages. Only on Xbox Live™ Contest starts 6/9/05 a5 cuspis Blood Mild Language 1 LIVE Ce Violence Go «т NS erra EE A For official rules and entry, visit www.adventtrilogy.com/contest. This is a contest of speed and skill for U.S. and Canadian citizens 13 or older void in MD, VT, Quebec and where prohibited. Contest ends August 15, 2005. The Advent Rising logo, characters ond artwork are trademarks of Majesco Entertainment Company. Developed by GlyphX Gomes. Published and distributed by Мојес Entertainment Company. © 2005 Majesco Entertainment Company. All Rights Reserved. The ratings ion is a trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. Microsoft Xbox, Xbox Live, the Live Logo, and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries and are used under гот Microsoft. contents issue 193 · suly 2005 f LETTERS | 12 We'll listen to your cries at EGM@ziffdavis.com, you big baby PRESS START The latest news, previews, features, and gaming gossip 20 HALF-LIFE 2 Killing bad guys with radiators and sofas, now for the Xbox 28 ONLINE Final Fantasy XI is still raking in the gil, even with stiff competition 32 GTA XBOX CJ has a new 'do for the Xbox and is ready to avenge his momma again 34 FINAL FANTASY XII Will this be the final one? We're just kidding, untie that noose 36 BAD GAME IDEAS Our only explanation? Three words: heavy drug use 38 WEIRDER SCIENCE And you thought the robot vacuum was awesome 48 WE LOVE KATAMARI Feel the cosmos one more time in this welcomed sequel 50 OUT OF SIGHT Yeah, but could Ray Charles beat Mortal Kombat? 51 PRINCE OF PERSIA 3 The Prince gets all schizo on us by developing an alter ego 52 AFTERTHOUGHTS: JADE EMPIRE We channel our chi and speak with the makers of this kung fu RPG 56 EGM 200 The 10 most influential people in the biz. Now you know whose ass to kiss GAME OVER Funny reviews and funny pages 123 CROSSWORD 124 REST OF THE CRAP 125 GRUDGE MATCH 126 FINAL WORD 127 RETRO 128 NEXT MONTH 130 HSU & CHAN COVER STORY: XBOX = Ш the Hardware B Perfect 2 ihe Games We finish it off by showing you the rest of the announced Xbox 360 games. We're even giving you the page numbers, so what's the holdup? 82 86 Your piggy bank is squealing because it's that time again— the stampede of the next-gen consoles is coming. Take a look at all of the 360's shiny new features. Dark Zero Then flip on over to our coverage of the biggest game in the 360's lineup. Full Auto 96 Condemned: Criminal Origins Test Drive Unlimited 98 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Too Human 98 Kameo: Elements of Power 99 Nights 102 Tony Hawk's American Wasteland Need for Speed: Most Wanted 106 Madden NFL 2006 Peter Jackson's King Kong 106 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006 Ghost Recon 3 106 NBA Live 2006 Quake 4 107 NBA 2K6 Call of Duty 2 107 Top Spin 2K6 EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS. Editor-in-Chief Dan "Shoe" Hsu Robert Ashley, Che Chou, Robert Executive Editor Mark MacDonald | Coffey, Kevin Convertito, John Managing Editor Jennifer Tsao Davison, Chuck Ernst, Dana Senior Editor Crispin Boyer Jongewaard, Andy Küchenmeister, Previews Editor Shane Bettenhausen | Nich Maragos, Thierry "Scooter" Reviews Editor Demian Linn Nguyen, Andrew Pfister, Joe Rybicki, News Editor Bryan Intihar Ryan Scott, Seanbaby, Gerry Intemational Editor John Ricciardi | Serrano, Giancarlo Varanini Intern James Lee Founder Steve Harris DESIGN Art Director Monique Convertito Associate Art Director Stefan Belavy = недо HONCHOS. Assistant Production Manager Teresa | Northwest TW, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI WY WY | Account Executive Jessica President Scott C. McCarthy Newson Regional Sales Director Amy Canada. Reinert Editorial Director John Davison Mishra Regional Sales Director lan Sinclair Creative Director Simon Cox CIRCULATION Account Executive Brent Martyn | Account Executive Rita ne | Senior Advertising Coordinator Vice President of Operations and Business | Consumer Marketing Director of Retail | Southwest Consumer Accounts Tipler Ubbelohde Development Bill Daniher Sales Wiliam Michalopoulos Southern California and Arizona | Senior Director of Consumer | Advertsing Coordinator Regional Sales Director Leslie C. | Advertising Sales Jessica Reback COPY DESK SALES Gelfand Marc Callison Copy Chief Tom Edwards. Vice President of Sales Scott McDaniel | Account Executive Rita Kline ‘Automotive - Detroit ‘Administrative Assistant Copy Editors Greg Ford, Susie Ochs Senior Director of Advertising Sales | Eas Regional Sales Manager Lynn Fortunato Marci Yamaguchi AL AR, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA ID, | Ken Stubblefield Sales Assistant PRODUCTION IN KS, KY, LÀ, MA, МЕ MI, ММ, Tiffany Ort Senior Production Manager Anne Marie Miguel | Territory Managers & Acct. Execs. | MO. MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, АН NU, | TUPcom Production Manager Monica Brent Gaming Accounts IM, NV MY OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, | Editor-in-Chief Sam Kennedy 8 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com Se REVIEW CREW Slim pickings this month Multiplatform 110 Juiced 111 Predator: Concrete Jungle PlayStation 2 112 Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana 112 In the Groove 113 Samurai Western Xbox 114 Forza Motorsport Nintendo DS 116 Star Wars: Episode IIl Revenge of the Sith Game Boy Advance 116 Pokémon Emerald 117 Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones PSP 118 NBA Street Showdown 118 Rengoku: The Tower of Purgatory 119 Smartbomb 120 Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee Extra Stuff 121 Reviews Wrap-up 122 Reviews Archive PSP VS. DS: ROUND 2 Cute puppies versus a futuristic killing hacker—compare these handheld's upcoming games BLACK Blow crap up in this anticipated Shooter where everything is cannon fodder cut E ENED KINGDOM HEARTS II No Haley Joel Osment in this one; he's too busy fighting puberty ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA ІМС, MARKETING Chairman & CEO Senior Director Robert F. Callahan Rey Ledda President & COO Research Director Bart W. Catalane May Ton Chief Financial Officer. 9 Marketing Coordinator Jason Freidenfelds To contact Sales & Advertising, please call 415-547-8000 (Contact anyone on this ‘masthead va е-тай using: firstname lastnama@zitidavis com) Vice President, Publishing Opérations Tom Мсбг reete Vice President Executiva Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary Gregory Barton Vice Presidents Kenneth Beach (Corporate Sales) ira Becker (Internet) Bill Daniher (Ops and Business Development, Game Group) Presidents Seot C. Mecanhy (Game Group) Sloan Seymour (Enterprise Group) Jason Young (Consumer Tech Group) Group & zit Davis Internet) Database Management Aaron Goldberg (Markel Experts) Вапу Harrigan (internet) Senior Vice Presidents Jasmine Alexander (Technology & Sales Operations) Michael Krieger (Market Experts) Rick Lehrbaum (internet) ‘John Davison (Editorial Director, Game Sara DeCarlo Consumer Marketing & kristin Holmes (International Licensing) Jim Louderback (Editor-in-Chief, Internet) Eric Lundquist (Editor-in-Chief, eWEEK) Chris Maginn (Internet ‘Angelo Mandarano (Internet) Scott McDaniel (баве. Game Groun) Paul O'Reilly (Event Marketing Gro Elen Pearman earch CIO sigh) Beth Repeta (Human Resources) Martha Schwartz (Custom/Conference Group) Tom Steinert-Threlkeld (Editor-in-Chief, Baseline) Stephen Sutton (Internet Audience Development) Elda Vale (Research & Market Intelligence) Stephen Veith Enterprise Group Publisher) Monica Vila (Event Marketing Group) EDITORIAL Гуе gotten to see several hardware launches during my years as a gaming journalist: Nintendo 64, Virtual Boy, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, DS, PSP, and probably 15 iterations of the Game Boy. They’re always exciting to see (except for the Game Boy Pocket), and I’m one lucky guy to be able to cover them as part of my job. It's always strange seeing a new console. You're always questioning the name (Dreamcast), the look (GameCube), and what the hell it's supposed to be about (Virtual Boy). Eventually, you get used to whatever it is you're questioning (OK, maybe not q Virtual Boy), and it's game-on from there...business as usual. Hey, now | think “Dreamcast” is a perfectly fine name for a gaming machine. This issue, we got unprecedented behind-the- scenes access to see the successor to the Xbox, the Xbox 360. Do we like it? Are we impressed? You might expect us to be gushing all over this thing. After all, Microsoft was generous enough to let the press see it early and it is a new, much е powerful game system. But we're not about hype here. We'll be honest about what we think about the Xbox 360 so far (though keep in mind that early opinions are just that: early and opinionated—things always have plenty of time to improve before they ship to stores). Throughout the rest of the issue, from our nuclear-sized 33-page cover feature to li’l ol’ Final Word way in the back, we discuss this new piece of hardware in brutally honest detail. But forget us—what do you think? Read on, then let us know your reactions. But please don't call us, you crazy sons of bitches. Try e-mail (EGM@ziffdavis.com) or our official Electronic Gaming Monthly message boards at boards.1UP.com instead. —Fditor-in-Chief, Dan "Shoe" Hsu SUBSCRIPTION SERVIGE Subscription Service 800-779-1174 ibhelp@egmmag.com Senior Director, Manufacturing Carlos Lugo. Director of Corporate. Communications Randy Zane All content copyright © 2005 zitt Sonor Technical Analyst Davis Media Inc. Reproduction, Bill Schmelzer modification, or transmission, in Тестта! specialist whole or in part, by any means, without written permission from Ziff Davis Media Inc. is strictly prohibited. Ali rights reserved. ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com • 9 | MEDALor HONOR EUROPEAN ASSAULT ranting, raving, and а psp purse The man you love to hate: Jack Thompson. Fe > $ T — 4 = i inbox | thoughtfully e-mailed “antiviolence crusader” Jack Thompson [the trial lawyer from last issue's Head to Head article on videogame violence]. His address is available at www.stopkill.com. | received the following response: "Sorry you don't like my points. | like yours...on your head. Are those horns, by the way?" —Anonymous Here there Regarding the Head to Head article: Gaming is just as big in Japan as it is in the United States, but what about crime? Has anyone compared the countries? —Chris Houston-Ponchak Although Japan's crime rates remain among the lowest of any industrialized nation, reported juvenile offenses—the vast majority involving shoplifting and burglary—are on the rise. However, cultural differences complicate POST OFFICE comparisons of the sort that you suggest—notably, Japan's strict gun- control laws, as well as a greater emphasis on the group and on not standing out or behaving in ways that will bring dishonor to the family. made him do it It seems to me that trial lawyer Jack Thompson is teaching kids that they don't need to take responsibility for their own actions, that they need ever only shout, “Grand Theft Auto made us do it." And as for games such as Full Spectrum Warrior being used to “break down the inhibition to kill," Thompson is dead wrong. The U.S. military uses simulators to train soldiers in the use of squad tactics, not to desensitize them. —Kenny Fahrion Indelible Having a best friend who's a tattoo artist, | get to hear all sorts of fun stories about good ink gone bad. The worst is when a poor shlub thinks he's getting a Japanese symbol for *power" when he's actually being branded with "$5 princess for half hour." Unfortunately, it would appear that Mr. Aaron Stoddard [featured in EGM 1192's Bonus Gallery] has fallen victim to similar circumstances. While it is a very cool design for a tat, it's not Galaga. Any gamer worth his salt can recognize the intergalactic harbinger of bugged-out chrome vengeance that is Yar, from the way-too-cool-to-not-have-a-sequel Yar's of the month Revenge. Break out the bleach and steel wool; it's gonna be a long, painful night. —Mr. Gone Tale | hold Halo 2 LAN parties every weekend (high-speed Internet isn't available here) and after each match we argue, often over team killing. So | got this idea: plug my Xbox into a VCR and pop in a tape so that | can record the matches. Now, when a disagreement arises, we simply rewind the tape and watch what happened in slo- mo. For instance, right when | opened up on an opponent during a team oddball match, my teammate cracks the skull over mine, killing me. Or so | thought. The Rambling and ranting from our message boards, boards.1UPRcom (look for Electronic Gaming Monthly's forums) Ө XBOX 360 Xbox 360: Revolution or going in circles? Read more on page 62. What’s in a пате? Sirayîoxx: 360 makes me think of 300. Je-iee: Better then naming it Ybox. Atihsu: Doesn't 360 mean going around in circles? Perhaps it’s prophetic. Maximum: | hope they come to their _Senses and name it Sexbox. 12 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com Budmanx: Pll buy it, but РІ refuse to call it by name. MrCommandante: It's 360 degrees, as in covering all entertainment sectors: games, music, movies, and maybe the Internet. Mort: Killing Xbox early kind of annoys me. It’s PS2 that needs to make way _ for PS3. Nintendo4Life: That's what they want you to think. NotoriousNeo: True. Releasing it so soon might backfire in the way it did with Sega’s Dreamcast, especially if it looks dated next to Sony’s new system. HymenCrusher: | want опе. Xbox got me into online gaming. MaleficentOgre: XNA [Microsoft's development platform designed to cut costs between PC and Xbox ports] could dissuade me from buying 360. Grispy4001: Yeah, sooner or later, Microsoft is going to have to regulate the traffic between the two platforms if it wants Xbox 360 to keep its own identity. But that won't go over well with developers seeking to profit from both platforms. Congrats, Dan Gallagher. As our Letter of the Month writer (and one of many riled-up readers), you've scored a free M-rated game from EGM's secret stash. replay showed my teammate swinging at the enemy and accidentally smacking me as | stepped in with my shotgun. Now wouldn't it be cool if Halo 3 allowed you to watch (and save) a replay after each game? —vesse Turner Actually, Jesse, at one time Halo 2 had a feature called “saved films” that might’ve let you make movies. When asked about it in EGM #187, Bungie Content Manager Frank O'Connor said, "It would have been nice to have something like that in Halo, but it was not to be." Or, in other words, maybe next time. CONTACT EGM E-mail us at: EGM@ziffda' com Or write to: EGM Letters 101 2nd Street, 8th Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 GOT BEEF? If there’s a problem with your subscription, or if you'd just like to say, “Gosh darn, your partnership with the U.S. Postal Service sure is bearing delicious fruit,” here’s how to do it: E-mail: subhelp@egmmag.com Website: http://service.egmmag.com Phone toll-free: (800) 779-1174 Old-fashioned way: P.0. Box 55722 Boulder, CO 80322-5722 BACK ISSUES? E-mail back_issues@ziffdavis.com to order old issues. Coming June 6, 2005. moh.ea.com MEDALoF HONOR : EUROPEAN ASSAULT Blood Violence PlayStation.2 4 BONUS GALLERY Going the extra mile for love of the game Tri-forceful I just got the June issue with the fine feature on the new Legend of Zelda, and figured I'd show you some pics of a computer case | designed for a customer and fellow fan. He wanted something simple and distinguished, so this is what | came up with. (I plan on making another for my PC, but still haven't decided on a design.) Enjoy. —Patrick Mounts All word, On page 54 of EGM #191, you talk about what you can buy on the “Internets.” Are you clowning on the president, or is that what you meant to print? —Derek Van Dam Families is where our nation finds hope, Derek, where wings take dream. About After rocking Resident Evil 4, | hopped on to Halo 2. Funny thing is, | kept hitting the A button while holding back on the left control stick, basically trying to instantly turn around the way | would in RE4. That got me thinking: Why hasn't anyone tried something similar in a first-person shooter? —Andrew Brasuell Actually, Andrew, both Unreal Tournament (Dreamcast/PS2) and Return Lucky lady My mom's good friend got married a few months back, but get this: The groom is a huge Halo fan, and went so far as to order a custom Halo wedding cake! Of course, he had to have a traditional cake as well, but it’s still awesome, eh? Peep the picture and notice that he even put different-colored Master Chiefs on the corners. —Nicholas A. Lopez to Castle Wolfenstein (PS2/XB) offered the option. Hidden What is it with Splinter Cell and crap? In the past, you printed a letter about a cleaning lady in Pandora Tomorrow who couldn't control her bowels. Now in Chaos Theory, | cap a guard on the crapper, look in, and lo and behold, another big brown sausage. Someone should teach terrorists that, "If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down." —Dan R. outrage [Editor's note: unedited for emphasis] | had my PSP taken! from me yesterday at School. And the worst part is that when | tried to get it back (the Splinter Cell way) Witch got me a suspension instead of my PSP back. Another thing is that since the 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 14 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com STEROID PRIMED Something sinister lurks in the depths of the body- sculpting competition Testoster One. Powerlifting champ Manus is the only one who can destroy this evil...but first he must be primed! But no matter how many muscle-building drugs you pick up and ingest, one thing is absolutely certain: They will morph your balls, —Don Edeaux You haven't printed cosplay pictures for quite some time, so I'm sending you some of myself to make fun of. They’re tributes to Sonic and Knuckles, two of my favorite characters. | plan on making Tails to complete the original three Sonic characters (excluding Robotnik, although that would be sexy, too). And in case you can't tell, Рта gi —Jonna Lybrand school confiscated my PSP and they called my parents and told them the only way to get my PSP back is for them to come in and pick it up them self. Witch my dad sad *| will pick it up at the end of the school year!(for my punishment) witch is approximately 6 months away. | don't know nothing can replace my old PSP, because of everything that we have been throw being first in line at the store were I bout it and all, and | being the first one in the store to open there's and have every one gather around me and the screen of the PSP so that we could marvel at how small we all were compared to the PSP's big screen. But for me the count down begins again, but that's were you guys at EGM come in (wink, wink) —dJesse Rodriguez They did you a favor, phonics rocket. We've hidden at least one movie quote in this issue—spot one and you may have already won our Game of the Month. All that’s left to do is e-mail the PSPurse Somehow my girlfriend got her hands on a PSP before me. What's worse is that she doesn't know squat about gaming (sure, good girl gamers exist, but she’s not one of them). Now she’s so into it that she convinced her employer (leaderwireless.com, which sells cell phone accessories) to design.a purselike case for women with PSPs. —Sam Sanjuan ITISN'TA GAME ANYMORE Met your spouse in an online session? Named your children after Nintendo characters? Enlisted after playing SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs? Send your fanatical fan story to EGM@ziffdavis.com, subject: Obsessed Gamers, and we might tell your terrifying tale in an upcoming issue. quote, the movie it’s from, and the page you found it on to EGM@ziffdavis.com, subject: Movie Quote: EGM #193. Include your full name and mailing address (no PO boxes!) in the e-mail. We'll pick three winners at random and send each of them a copy of our GOTM. This issue's prize: Forza Motorsport. г | PlayStation.c 9X x2OX @ &awcctise. GAMEBOYADVaNcE PC FANTASTIC% "| P. / эе, PRE-ORDER TODAY AND RECEIVE AN EB GAMES EXCLUSIVE FANTASTIC 4" WRISTBAND! Pre-order requires a $5 deposit. While supplies last. Limit one per customer. See Sales Associate for complete details. Typographical errors are not the responsibility of EB Games. Some exclusions may apply. Marvel, The Fantastic Four: TM & (c) 2005 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved. www.marvel.com The Fantastic Four Motion Picture: (c) 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. А! rights reserved. . CALL 1-800-800-5166 FOR THE STORE NEAREST YOU p OR VISIT US AT www.EBgames.com GAMES We take games seriously™ ACTIVISION ` |. Make weapons out-of unk " Send enemies to their maker. Watch the TV series Own the DVDs Read the manga Ef WERL. RUE ч [adult swim] tal Det] x www. fullmetalalchemist.com SQUARE ENIX. www.square-enix.com Published by Square Enix, Inc. Blood Language Violence © 2005 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. Ай Rights Reserved. © HIROMU ARAKAWA/ SQUARE ENIX, MBS, АНХ, BONES, dentst 2004. FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST and the SQUARE ENIX logo are trademarks of Square Enix Co., Ltd. and Tobacco CARTOON NETWORK, ADULT SWIM and logos are trademarks of and © 2005 Cartoon Network. A Time Warner Company. AI rights reserved. “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, PlayStation.? ® press start gaming news, previews, rolling around in crap again, and other stuff PSP VS. DS ROUND 2 As the portable fight enters its second stage, we look at the next round of games for both handheld systems Tracks from Burnouts 1 and 2 collide with Burnout 3's ramped-up gameplay style in this miniversion of the car-busting racer, Play all your favorite multi- player modes online or over Wi-Fi, too. "ш С 18 • ELECTRONIC chum OORT дину o "M HOLD Nintendogs Nintendo * August 2005 dual-screen hand- The ome serious held gets Sí puppy Роме! as у be tasked to raise and train а little pooch. This inclades teaching your portable hound: voice çommangs, di” ing it a bath via the stylus, and taking it for walks. ou Bomb erm Ubisoft o an i June 2005 fal SCORE ^ е bomb-strewn „ , Playfield sprawls TIME Meteors rain down in E وو‎ this plock-dropping it’ puzzle game; and it's your job to group simi- lar ones with the stylus and-hurl them back across b into, Space. ypu get lots EI oth Ds of customizable, modes; s this including wireless ms SR of the tiplayef. ' ا‎ classic, pad a ae DlayerS. ith" ELECTRONI ИС GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.c | 1UP.com e 19 uture gaming scientists will look back at the Xbox's lineup of Halo 2, Doom 3, and Half-Life 2 and scribe it as a trinity HALF-LIFE 2 Why you should care about the PC hit... of shooter perfection. But in the here and now, non-PC gamers may find Half-Life 2 an unknown quantity. We show you why Life is good on Xbox. That Sinking Feeling While Halo 2 feels epic and Doom 3 puts fear in your guts, Half-Life 2 is just plain oppressive. You once again play as crowbar-wielding science nerd Gordon Freeman, who begins the game in a dystopian city- state prowled by faceless goons. The run-down town creates a feeling of despair that permeates the game. And Valve, which is porting the game internally, promises that the dismal experience won't lose its fidelity in the move to Xbox. "We're leveraging the Xbox's unified memory to stream in all the content and bring the entire experience to life without compromise," says Doug Lombardi, Valve's director of marketing. In fact, Valve is sprucing up the graphics with new effects, including the vibrant bloom lighting seen in Halo 2. Publisher: VU Games Developer: Valve Release Date: August 2005 Straight Shooters Sure, the Covenant bad guys in Halo 2 thought they were so clever, but Half-Life 2's troops come with their own tricks. “Our enemy A.I. gives [enemies] the ability to react to any given situation," Lombardi says. Try to hide from them, for instance, and they'll coordi- nate search patterns with each other, toss grenades, or blow up barrels to flush you out. “Not only does it keep the action from becoming repetitious," he says, "it creates some great moments of surprise when you think you have them just where you want them." Physics Is Fun And here we have the main attraction. See any object in Half-Life 2—from barrels to buzz-saw blades to bookcases—and you can have your way with it. But why should you care? Aside from adding Dukes of Hazzard-style thrills to the vehicles (a dune buggy and air boat), the physics figure into the game's puz- zles. Sometimes you'll need to drag barrels underwa- ter to raise a floating platform, or use a crane to build a bridge. Just expect to use your head—and the envi- ronment—as often as your killer weaponry. $ Wait'll you get your hands on cannon. A gift from resistance е he gun lifts objects and launches them a - lint: Buzz-saw blades make a fun mess.) The cannon Works defensively, too: You can lift tables to use as shields, grab grenades in midtoss and furl tem back at whoever threw 'em— even pluck blad@-spinning hoverbots out of the air to use as chain saws. “lt makes for a near-endless form of nontraditional gameplay,’ Lombardi says. forces early in THIS SUMMER MICROSOFT WILL SHIP KINGDOM UNDER FIRE: HEROES (XB). THE ACTION-STRATEGY SEQUEL WILL HAVE A SIMPLER INTERFACE AND MORE ONLINE OPTIONS... 20 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com w Microsoft ind the Xbox Live logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks Blood and Gore Intense Violence Mature Humor Sexual Themes Strong Language Use of Drugs of Alcohol SUSPECT: 9р8 А а tail; Back with a raging hangover, Conker iss drinking, smoking, and chasing more Пор furry tail than ever. Well,.when he's Ша blowing the stuffing out of Te i EGM INTERNATIONAL The poorly dubbed adventuring never ends PS2 YS Ill: WANDERERS FROM YS Whoa! Is there a Super NES chip inside my PlayStation 2? No, no—this is just a really old role-playing game (vintage 1989, in fact) remade for modern consoles. To capitalize on the recent success of Ys: The Ark of Napishtim (PS2), Taito is launching special editions of two games in developer Falcom’s epic series: this one (a side-scrolling RPG similar to Zelda ЇЇ: The Adventure of Link on the 8-bit NES) and Ys IV: Mask of the Sun, an overhead action game widely considered a classic by Japanese role- playing nuts. Why would I care? Ys is one of those odd series that’s enjoyed even by people who claim to abhor this genre. It's fast-paced, easy to play, and, with luck, Wanderers’ revised graphics will merit a U.S. release. PSP ADVENTURE PLAYER A game that plays games for me? If only— it'd save us a lot of time every month. This isn't exactly a game, per se—it's an adventure-game creation system that comes with three premade titles, including the latest in the horror-filled Echo Night series. The software runs on PCs (see Screen on bottom right), plus you can release your masterpieces on the Internet (which gamers will then transfer to the PSP via memory stick). Hot damn! This'll put Square Enix out of business! Well, not so fast—by "adventure game" we're referring to the type of menu-based graphic-and-text games that went out of style with the first George Bush. Still, this is one of the most interactive PSP projects yet, and a Japan- only release would be a shame. Publisher: Tecmo Developer: Tecmo Release Date: August 2005 Tecmo reaches deep into its PS1 back catalog with Trapt—a bloody revival of the sadistic PS1 Deception series. It's ostensibly an original series with a sexed-up new heroine (the appro- priately named Princess Allura), yet the basic gameplay of the old titles remains intact. It's your job to trick helpless saps into triggering various grisly traps that you strategically place — throughout the castle. If everything’s set up efficiently, you'll gleefully watch limbs severed by swinging blades, skulls crushed by boulders, and entire bodies impaled on spikes. Lovely! WHAT'S PLAYING IN THE COMPUTER GAMING WORLD 1 believe it was the Dalai Lama who said, “Happiness is a warm gun.” Regardless, | know he was the guy who coined “Shoot to thrill.” This is why he is my guru, for 1 love wield- ing a weapon in a game. Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil While Xbox owners are finally getting Doom 3, PC gamers are happily head- ing straight to hell—again. This expansion pack isn’t doing a whole lot new here and that’s just fine because, honestly, can you really improve upon blasting zombies into meat chunks? Still, ROE does bring back the series’ beloved double-barreled shotgun, introduces a grabber gun (no, this isn’t Half-Life 2) for picking up and throw- ing objects, and gives you new powers like slowing down time. Killing the minions of hell—it never gets old. Hellgate: London And because killing the minions of hell never gets old, Flagship Studios (made up of a bunch of Diablo II vets) is hard at work on Hellgate: London. This one takes place in a not-too-dis- tant and (hopefully) alternate future in which guns are the order of the day to kill the demons taking over the city. The cool thing about Hellgate's firearms is that you'll be able to modify them via attachments that you'll bolt on for special attacks and the like. Finding those add-ons will be just one of the many carrots dangling from a forest’s worth of sticks in this game when it ships next year. —Robert Coffey, Computer Gaming World ‘SOFTWARE 1 2) , Play as each member of the Fantastic Four іп the ultimate team-based action-adventure game! t. 7 Р ^ / МММ. Е4ТНЕСАМЕ.СОМ GAME BOY ADVANCE JA PlayStation.2 xeox @ МАМЕ ACTIVISION. Violence Mild Language ESRB CONTENT RATING www.esrh.org Marvel, The Fantastic Four, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc., and are used with permission. Copyright © 2005 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved. www.marvel.com. The Fantastic Four Motion Picture and Images from the Motion Picture: ™ & © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation FANTASTIC FOUR Character Likenesses ™ & © 2005 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Activision Publishing, Inc. Game © 2005 Activision Publishing, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. Licensed for play on the PlayStation® 2 computer entertainment systems with the NTSC U/C designation only. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment 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. ™, ^, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo. PC CD-ROM logo TM & © 2005 IEMA. 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 ©) press start ening, it’s lethal, and before.” Guns Are the Stars of the Show “We've come up with this concept we’re calling gun porn,” Chubb says. "We're not emphasizing actors and performances, so we want- ed to make our weapons exciting and exotic.” So far so good. Black's 50-some high-powered firearms— from rifles to riot guns to grenade launchers—rattle like fistfuls of firecrackers and deliver their dialogue loud and clear. SNK REALLY LOVES THEM SOME XBOX LIVE—THE COMPANY ANNOUNCED THAT IT WILL RELEASE FOUR FIGHTING GAMES (KING OF FIGHTERS: NEOWAVE, SAMURAI SHODOWN 5, KOF '94: 24 o ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com so they can’t see well enough to hit me.” Instead of shooting com- listers, Black would rather you reduce cars to smolderii | and : MATCH, HEAD-TO-HEAD, AND TOURNE) З BR REL ©) press start Death Is an Opportunity “In most shooters, foes don’t earn their money—if you shoot them, they fall down and that’s it. We wanted baddies in Black to be much more exciting,” Chubb says. "They're there for a reason; they're there to enhance the experience.” Catch one in the shoulder, and he'll spin around; blow the balcony out beneath another, and he'll fall 50 feet onto a car below, flattening it in the bargain. Here, however, is where comparisons to Hollywood could hurt. It’s hard to get that you-got-yours gratification when opponents throw themselves from windows after a premeditated pause. Bigger and Louder; Louder and Bigger — Leave a Trail of Destruction According to Chubb, "It's classic Hollywood: Don't use a small gun when you can use Think bull in a city-sized china shop—Black re-creates snippets from | a big one; don't blow up something small when you can blow up somethi » every Schwarzenegger flick strung together into hours of rat-a-tat. p | Bullets pulverize plaster and splinter boards; bigger ammo breaks do) loors and shears concrete from buildings in fat chunks. "In short,” hubb says, “when you finish a li i к like. a tornado: LSND VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW Complete Tournament and Eligibility Rules posted at: Eo Bak _ WWW.RYL.NET/TOURNAMENT ONLINE Copyright © 2005 Youxiland Digital Co., Ltd., Gamasoft and Planetwide Games ESRB CONTENT RATING www.esrb.org The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association The software platform logo (ТМ and ©) IEMA 2005 All Rights Reserved ONLINE THIS MONTH Your so-called life in Vana'diel f anything has become apparent to Square Enix in the past 18 months, it's that gamers love their Final Fantasy XI. This titanic mas- sively multiplayer online role-playing game for PS2 (and PC—remember, the two sides can play together) is currently sitting pretty at roughly 500,000 active sub- scribers, even with all the recent competi- tion from PC heavy hitters such as World of WarCraft and City of Heroes—not to mention the new slimmer PS2 model, which eliminates the option to use the hard drive necessary for FFXI. "Our sub- scriber numbers have remained quite strong despite changes in hardware and launches of other high-profile MMORPGs,” remarks Yasu Kurosawa, the game's North >> DO Yí American online producer. "Players have a strong tendency to come back after trying other online games because they miss FFXI's unique gameplay, strategic depth, artistic style, and community." Square Enix takes pride in that player community, too. Since the launch of FFXI's PC version in late 2003, the publisher has hosted seven fan gatherings—the most recent of which was held in Hawaii this past April. Square uses these events, as well as websites and message boards, to cull fan feedback and criticism about FFXI, which Kurosawa claims has had a vast impact on the game. "FFX/ has a very strong and active community that spans hundreds of fan and media websites. We take feedback very seriously." EverQuest Online Adventures Is this thing still on? Though no new FFX/ boxed expansions have been announced just yet, the game's development team is dedicated to creating live in-game events, adding additional areas for players to adventure in (such as the newly opened Grand Palace of Hu'Xzoi and Garden of Ru'Hmet), and continually monitoring game balance. If Square’s annual Vana'diel Census (which is found at www.playonline.com/ff11us/survey) is any indication, this MMORPG will have a healthy, devoted audience for a long time to come—although some fans may be just a little too devoted, according to Kurosawa. "We can now confirm that someone has just recently reached level 75 in all 15 jobs." Yikes. —hyan Scott Surprisingly, this unsightly and rather dull PS2-exclusive MMORPG (which debuted in early 2003) still has a pulse. Publisher Sony Online supports an active communi- ty of close to 30,000 members with regular in-game events and additional content. Yet EQOA could be in for a shaky future, as we haven't seen any sign of another retail expansion since 2003's Frontiers. Are any more products in the works? “[That] has not been determined at this time,” says a Sony Online rep. 28 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com AUS UP AT Starting May 17, there’s going to be a thread on our message boards where you can discuss reviews with our EGM Review Crew members. Also, visit egmvsfragdolls-club.1UP.com for the results of our rematch with the gorgeous (and skilled) gals of gaming, the Frag Dolls. EGMEXTRAS.1UP.COM We hid our Afterthoughts on Splinter Сей Chaos Theory in our extras sec- tion because we're sneaky like that. Read and find out what the heck is up with those strange hidden Easter eggs in the game. CHEATS.1UP.COM If you're having a tough time solving that recently purchased game tape, then you’re in luck. The website just got some cheap labor and hired an intern to man the ever-growing cheats section. There'll soon be FAQs on 1UP.com’s top 50 games. Featured Club: Female Eye for the Gamer Guy Trying to find that special second play- er? Go to Femaleeye-club.1UP.com, where hot girl gamers help out the 1UP.com community by answering the occasional 15-year-old boy’s relation- ship questions. Also, every Monday they feature a female perspective on fashion, dating, and a bunch of other stuff that most males only pretend to care about. Featured Blog: Greg Ford When our copy editor isn’t hard at work correcting our spelleng or reviewing games for us, you can find him ranting about actor Robin Williams naming his daughter Zelda or playing God of War. See what’s on his mind today at egm_ford.1UP.com. ©2005 UNILEVER: Moni Dirty Boy SL саля NEW AXE SHOWER GEL © press start Not shown: Sora’s new Drive transformation, which enables him to merge with party members to become a combo- heavy, dual-key- blade-wielding fightin’ freak. NU PEE ^1 И © эЛ» PlayStation 2 Publisher: Square Enix Developer: Square Enix Release Date: Winter 2005 KINGDOM HEARTS ІІ The wonderful worlds of Disney and Final Fantasy collide yet again quare Enix just loves teasing us. The publisher has provided yet another quick glimpse—via a new batch of screenshots—at Kingdom Hearts Il, the anticipated console follow- up to the blockbuster Disney-meets-Final Fantasy action-RPG. But again, Square is keeping most of the game’s details, well, close to its heart. So far, we know КН2 takes place опе year after the card-based GBA title Chain of Memories and starts off with our keyblade-wielding (and slightly more mature) hero Sora and animated pals Donald and Goofy in a land called Twilight Town. This one will also feature all-new worlds and several Disney- themed areas that the trio didn’t traverse in prior games (Hades’ underworld from Hercules, the Beauty and the Beast cas- tle, the battlefields of Mulan, etc.). And / expect King Mickey, the most famous mouse of them all, to play a larger role in this sequel. More to come next issue, as we grab a controller, play the game, and chat with its creator. —Bryan Intihar = ANYONE WANT TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? MAJESCO SURE HOPES SO, AS THE FIRST 500,000 PEOPLE WHO BUY A COPY OF ADVENT RISING (COMING TO XBOX MAY 31) HAVE THE CHANCE TO 30 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com ^ Square totally ripped off our E ы ‘ fanfiction about Goofy and ү Mulan fighting a giant, fanci- _ ful spacefish. E “Hey ІРІ kid, wanna climb the ig Tree at Neverland Ranch?" Our Heart's Desire Not surprisingly, Square nix remains very | hush-hush about the | new Disney-inspired worlds that will appear in Kingdom Hearts Il. Here are some from our wish list: Robin Hood: The sly fox would make for a great ally (much bet- ter than Kevin Costner, for sure). Lion King: We'd wel- The Sword in the come a trip Stone: Forget the to Simba’s sword—how jungle (just "bout E no singing pulling a | “Hakuna keyblade Matata,” from this | please). rock? ў Tron: This The Incredibles: computer Fighting off the world’s Heartless N blistering- with the lightcycle superheroes race just ofthis CG |% screams film would “minigame.” | be...uh, incredible. sx Use PT al ST ^ IB Will Mulan's merciless Shan Yu join the side of the Heartless? Did you see Mulan? Neither did we. Final Fantasy guest stars (like FFX’s Auron, shown here) drop by to lend a hand. Kind of like when Тітесор was on Friends. Well, not exactly. 7 WIN1MILLION SMACKERS IF THEY FIND WEEKLY EASTER EGGS (WHICH ARE DOWNLOADED THROUGH XBOX LIVE) AND ARE RANDOMLY CHOSEN AS THE GRAND-PRIZE WINNER... ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com • 31 Good things come to those who waited—for the Xbox version | | America's Bloodiest Home Videos Ride a bike up a wall and back flip it onto its wheels, pilot a plane beneath the Gant Bridge, slay a ganglord with your girl's flower bouquet—it'll hap- pen, but nobody will believe it. That is unless you preserve your illicit high- lights for posterity. San Andreas' new- fangled replay feature lets you record your greatest gangsta moments in 30- second snippets. My Tunes There's no knocking San Andreas" soundtrack, an it-came-from-the-'90s collection encompassing everything from Kiss to Heart, Slick Rick to Rick James, Willie Nelson to Ronnie Hudson, and Public Enemy to Humble Pie. Even the entire FM dial can't please everybody all of the time, how- ever, so.this version creates custom stations from the songs you save to the hard drive and plays them random- ly or sequentially, or in a radio format complete with commercial breaks. = Y TES Explore the “alternative lifestyles” of San Fierro. \ Publisher: Rockstar Developer: Rockstar North Release Date: June 2005 Sightseeing “There’s a movie theater in [San Francisco stand-in] San Fierro. On PS2, | couldn't tell what was playing,” says Rockstar rep Devin Bennett, “but now when | went back, | saw that it was King of Ass. All of this stuff you couldn't actually read before is crystal Clear on Xbox.” And the detail doesn’t stop at farcical signs and shop fronts. “[Developer] Rockstar North creates Characters, vehicles, everything in high resolution, but bumps it down to get it onto PS2. When it comes time to con- vert to Xbox and PC, they can go back to those high-res models, and thus everything looks crisper, cleaner, more colorful and vivid,” explains Bennetts. No Loading Zone Where GTA's large-as-life geography seamlessly transitions from suburban Sprawl to glittering gambling strips, Cirrus-clouded skies to silo-studded meadows, walking into a pizzeria means taking a boring trip to the loading.screen on Sony's system. Here it happens lickety-split: Step up to the door, and in the blink of an eye, you're inside eating. Whether you're starting the game or going into a cut- scene, loading times are lean if not nonexistent. me —Shawn Elliott ] Is this the best jou could steal? THIS FALL, 989 SPORTS HEADS BACK TO THE HARDWOOD IN МВА ‘06. AND LIKE A LOT OF „ча SPORTS TITLES THIS YEAR, 9895 сз An FEATURE A STORY MODE. Pri ONN” (FA) NCAA06 Be the first on the field. NCAA 06 Football is back. Bring big time college FOOTBALL football to your house and get the crew together for some serious tailgating. Available i July 13’ on Playstations 2, XBox" and GameCube At Best Buy™ gamers rule. Thousands of Possibilities GET YOURS” © 2005 Best Buy ; "Release date subject to change. Go to www.ESRB.org for video game & computer software game rating information. © press start B PlayStation 2 2: 6 d » З ЗБ isher: Square Enix Developer: 501 „| Release Date: y Finally—a new look at the world’ most wanted RP t's been 12 long and painful | months since Square Enix last released any new screens or information about Final Fantasy XII, the latest PS2 installment in the legendary ` - role-playing franchise. This troubling silence, coupled with continual ^ release-date delays, had many fans ۳ ^^ fearing the worst: Would Square 1 NN | | rework, or possibly even scrap, the N 3 | project? Don’t throw out that cud- dly moogle cosplay outfit just yet, = "cause we bring good news: FFXII is still coming, as evidenced by these Y stylish new cinema shots. We have to | wonder, though, if the core gameplay has changed іп a year's time...we'll let you know next issue. —Shane Bettenhausen 34 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www 1URcom 1 і 41 “ < мое | a Ry T1 % “ In Other Final Fantasy News... Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy Vil Mum’s the word on this PS2 third-person action sequel to the best-loved FF of them all, Final Fantasy VII (PS1). It's due out in late 2005, and stars Vincent Valentine and Cait Sith on a quest set three. years after FFVII's end. TRACKS ONE TEAM'S OWNER, HIS SIDEKICK, AND SEVEI PLAYERS. ROAD TO SUNDAY WILL ALSO INCLUDE MINIGAMES LIKE GAMBLING А! Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children .| Are you ready for some good news? This full-length, CG-animated motion-pic- ture follow-up to FFVII will hit DVD on September 13. It might get a limited the- atrical release before that... dt ND. HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT? UH, GUESS THE IDEA See if you can tell the actual game concepts from our own weird creations Tired of assuming the role of some dirty-looking wise guy in a trench coat who carries a bunch of sucky pistols? Then check this out: Here you play as Tank, the human flamethrower. You can actually breathe fire (and yes, blow it out your ass, too). Unlike in a lot of games these days, resource management doesn't involve stupid rings or stuff—it's gasoline that you drink! Yep, you can get your lips around a car's gas tank and suck, then flip open your Zippo and napalm the damn hippies in the game. It's already all over your living room...why not have Ikea on your TV, too?! This high-intensity puzzle game brings the internationally renowned Ikea experience into a whole new realm. Take blocks, screws, and dowels of all shapes, sizes, and colors, and assemble your furniture fast—without the benefit of helpful instructions—to pile up massive combos. And what Ikea experience would be com- plete without Swedish meatballs? All cafeteria items are unlockable and tradable in multiplayer mode. The race to corrupt America’s youth is officially over. Carefully calculated to provoke maximum moral outrage (and media coverage), Controversy: The Game aims for violence supremacy. Using the innovative bullet-view system, players will guide bullets through all the major organs of the human body, witnessing every gory tear and mutilation in slow motion. Realistic blood-flow physics promise plenty of spurting arteries and Senate hearings. Imagine a squad-based shooter on battle- fields the size of the ones in the Starship Troopers flick, but instead of killing bugs, you'll be targeting 10,000-plus Britney Spearses, Jessica Simpsons, and other cloned female pop stars running rampant onscreen. Each of the divas is covered in armor, and if you're a real crack shot, a critical hit will render her naked. The game will be rated Teen, as it'll be clear that these ladies aren't really human—they are holograms. So you're only killing light. “It was based on an т CINES n - inspiration that this “Being an idiot online? Cursing continually? Making threats? Being a racist jackass? may someday BANNED. Oh, and a word to screamers— _ А : sanen. All you have to do to be the directio! avoid being BANNED is m n ! QUIT BEING AN IDIOT. youre will take us. not funny. You're not clever. You're a boring loser and people hate you." —Sony Electronics spokeswoman Elizabeth Boukis speaks to New Scientist magazine about the company’s patent application for a device that —Bungie.net's weekly update, apparently finally adjusts neurons in the brain so users fed up with explaining four times a month exactly сап experience movies and what will get you banned from Halo 2 videogames in а more direct manner >> OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS, EA PLANS TO RELEASE 20 GAMES FOR MOBILE PHONES, INCLUDING MADDEN NFL 2006, THE SIMS 2, AND NEED FOR SPEED UNDERGROUND 2. 36 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com THE HOT SEAT: THE MATCHMAKER Brian “Ske7ch” Jarrard is the community lead for Bungie.net, which means he’s responsible for Halo 2's online playlists and matchmaking. He’s also quite effective at dealing virtual death in Halo 2, so to save some lives, we pulled him away for a bit and ‘sat him down in our Hot Seat.... Nintendo 64 Shooter GoldenEye Perfect Dark 007 Brian Jarrard: “Nothing beats running around as Oddjob and kicking ass. Wait, he was in that game, wasn’t he?” Space-Marine Adventure Starship Aliens Troopers BJ: “| dunno... Starship Troopers had Denise Richards and the shower scene...but I'd lose all credibility if I picked it over Aliens.” Ouch CANGA L CANE 2 [zu Veri | `[ вис | Losing to Losing to EGM EGM the first in the rematch time in Halo 2 BJ: "Ohh! [Look of pain on Jarrard's face] The first time, because we can say we had the excuse of you having ringers, and we had a bunch of play- ers who didn’t play well as a team. The rematch was all on our terms, and we still got our asses kicked.” Є i ) Massive Online Experience! Mild Language Violence PlayStation. “>> 4-Player Online Co-op E ©2005 SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT INC. А RIGHTS RESERVED. “ARC THE LAD” IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK AND “END OF ТНА, Б А ПИШЕМ ОЕ and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademı s of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertain ciation. All othe: www.namco.com SONY COMPUTER ENTI r tradi ERTAINMENT INC. “Play ape ani irks belong to their respective © press start: шега science WEIRDER SCIENCE Five new experiments in gaming geekery izmo-minded entrepreneurs 6G around the world are braving mockery, broken bones, and stuffy RadioShack employees in the name of art, entertainment, and—in one case—college credit. And you thought Nintendo, masterminds behind bongo controllers and twin-screened touch-and-talk handhelds, had a monopoly on ingenuity. The big N has —Shawn Elliott ш Pongmechanik maker Niklas Roy (left) Clockwork Kraftwerk schools a friend at his own invention. Note . х " the joysticks for controlling the paddles. Put кш C m gone 3D, older-than-old blip-batting hit Pong has actually retro boosted back- ward. Niklas Roy sees the steam train of thought into the station with Pongmechanik, a mechanical Pong repli- ca that mimics the original’s gameplay with gears and old-timey telephone relays instead of silicon. “The idea,” explains the German über-engineer who spent a year perfecting the project, “was to put a piece of virtual reality into reali- ty.” Has he considered selling his con- traption to curiosity collector Michael Jackson? “Unfortunately, he hasn’t con- tacted me yet,” Roy says, "but I'd rather sell it to [Pong inventor] Nolan Bushnell." Sorry Jacko, but your mane might get tangled in the moving parts anyway. Photographs by Andy Küchenmei YOUR FAKE LIFE CONTINUES —THIS FALL, ELECTRONIC ARTS WILL BRING ITS HUGELY SUCCESSFUL PC TITLE THE SIMS 2 TO BOTH CONSOLES (PS2/XB/GC) AND HANDHELDS E: UE 38» ING MONTHLY » www.1UP.com де” PSP). WHILE NO SPECIFICS ABOUT THE HOME VERSIONS WERE RELEASED, EA SAYS THAT EACH. PORTABLE INSTALLMENT WILL FEATURE IQUE STORY LINE... >> “ до GAMING MONTHLY « www.1UP.com • 39 press start: weird science 33 | 3 3 H 3 5595 05558229915: Skyscraping Arcade Play Tetris too long and you ing its boxy pieces in floor til building facades—unless, of you're staring at the side of Paris’ Bibliothèque Nationale, in which case it could really be the classic puzzler that ing. At certain times of the у who know which digits to dial (try +33 1 44 24 73 50 next time you're in town) can use phor 0 play Pong, Breakout, and Pac-Man on the skyscraping arcade’s 3,370- square-meter “screen.” Eiffel what? High score: Dial the right num- bers on your cell phone and you can play a 20-story-tall Pac-Man. 44 هه‎ SÒ ce هه مى‎ a socs Ч яз >> APPARENTLY, HELL AIN'T READY YET FOR THE SILVER SCREEN—UNIVERSAL PICTURES HAS MOVED THE RELEASE DATE OF THE DOOM MOVIE FROM AUGUST 5 TO OCTOBER 21. THE FILM, 40 « ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com Hurts So Good [e Winning Eleven looks and sounds like soccer, but | БИЛДИ ы, 's never felt like it—at least not until now. When = mci 2 omes to simulating the excruciating hurt of 1g a Cleat shoved into your shin, videogames’ lers don’t cut it, so crackpot tin- Iman Reiff, Volker Morawe, and Roman many-based art group FUR creat- hand-sewn shin pad with a Make a stupid play or let the j er his made-for-masochists Ж ree nd the crap out of your lazy шн алаа its hard,” says Kirschner. “In els like it’s stomping into : e couch with a bag of grass — atic cups and FIFA will Y P > vite, 2 YW a ү ( Az ` т, MARIO-MASTERING MACHINE = | In 1997, supercomputer Deep Blue beat chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov. Now a P| robot built from Legos might get the best of wiseacre rapper/actor Will Smith. “Our E robot could take him...despite Will's record of crushing other, lesser robots,” says Tim Dooley, who along with fellow college students Ben Rowe and Matt Sesno created a Lego machine that plays Super Mario Bros.’ world 1-1. The button-tapping "bot even grabs the hidden 1UP, fire flower, and invincibility star along the way. "Building it was easy, but programming it 3 E proved to be a bit more complicated, as we essen- tially had to time out every little portion of the level," says Dooley of the trio's project at Vermont's Middlebury College. "Still, our bot probably couldn't wax the tail of the Nintendo savant from ['80s flick] The Wizard. Look at The Matrix—humans always tri- umph over machines." Finally, a robot that saves us from the drudgery of playing videogames so we can focus on the fun stuff...like lawnwork. The machine uses precise timing to tackle Super Mario Bros. » IPERSTAR DWAYNE "THE JOHNSON, WAS PUSHED BACK SO THAT GEORGE A. ROMERO'S LAND OF THE DEAD COULD HIT THEATERS FIRST. ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com • 41 Message: cman.1 Details: Wealth 24 Pitch 0.7800 Roll 3.8600 Yaw. 115.6300 Picture it: A guy in goggles feverishly walks a series of straight lines connected | by precise 45-degree turns. Sometimes face, he mumbles “Wakka wakka.” You’ve probably seen crazier crazies in your home city, but this guy isn't out of his mind; he’s Pac-Man. Designed at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University and financed by the island nation's military, Human Pac- Man turns the real world into a pellet-lit- tered labyrinth. Wearing a computer and goggles through which he sees virtual objects superimposed on real-time video, “Pac-Man” collects pellets by walking through them while pursuing ghost play- ers try to “eat” him by tapping his back. “Today’s games are restricted to static me ba DON'T LOOK NOW, CHARLIE BROWN, BUT У HE REST OF THE PEANUTS GANG ARE HEADED TO THE LAI 42 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com. TAKING IT TO THE STREETS and monotonous interfaces where players stayed glued to their seats in front of a screen,” says team lead Dr. Adrian Cheok. “We felt a need to explore the untapped frontier in human-computer interaction, where users are immersed physically in the game.” Wanna stage Halo 2 Spartan-vs.- Covenant campaigns on city streets instead? According to Cheok, it's possi- ble: “The technology can [already] be developed to provide real-time guidance and position information to the soldier on the battlefield. It can also be modified to support many other games, including first-person shooters. Adding in weapons and power-ups is definitely feasible; it is just a matter of adjusting hardware to suit the necessary objectives.” =: OF VIDEOGAMES, THANKS TO NAMCO ACQUIRING THE LICENSE. nc magazine Games. Gadgets. Gear. Girls. Sync's Got Gaming Covered Whether it's the Swedish Game Girls, hottest Japanese imports, new reviews or catching up with the greatest arcade players of all time, Sync delivers the entire gaming experience. You'll get 10 cutting-edge issues for only $10. egm7.syncmagazine.com Simply call or log on to subscribe at the special rate! 1-888-340-4452 (please mention code 4CBQ1) IN STORES МОМ WWW.ROCKSTARGAMES.COM/SANANDREAS SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE ON INTERSCOPE RECORDS ШИШАШ Blood and Gore Intense Violence Strong Language Strong Sexual Content Use of Drugs INTERSCOPE Ой Games lc fatter Game Rater North, the lege God Theft Auto end tbe rnd Theft Auta lg ere ademarks end or теўи ей adm of Teke Тув eatin Sas, ec анай ha te Tae lagos ere ier тозе trademarks e ademrk o Шаек Corporation п.б US. andr in otber countries ond ere eed onder bene fe sl AN otber marks osd 1rodermarks ore pees UO ‘especie owners AI igh Reserved. The content his videogame is prey аа andis not имай езе ny el реза business or erganirerien. у sda betwen ге reer logue, event MP MH риву eden. —— P is videogame do aot in ony way endorse condone м колое this id ef bebariot А ROCKSTAR,N& PRODUCTION, ; THE SALES CHARTS 2005 “е. TOP 10 BEST-SELLING GAMES TOP 10 PS2 Hate carrying that cash-heavy purse around? Lighten the load and spend it all on this crap. MVP Baseball 2005 EA Sports Fight Night Round 2 Devil May Cry 3 God of War Major League Baseball 2K5 Tekken 5 iter: Back in '95, 3D0 unveiled its MX vs. ATV Unleashed M2 console. It never came out, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas but that doesn't mean you cai Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 pick up this preproduction unit. Asking Price: $225.50 Item: Ever dream about swimming 1 Star Wars Republic Commando in your prize possessions like 2 EA Sports Fight Night Round 2 Scrooge McDuck? 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Asking Price: $500 o .; 2 Midnight Club 3: DUB Ed. • XB 3 Splinter Cell Chaos Theory * XB 4 Doom 3 * ХВ 5 God of War * PS2 6 Dragon Ball Z: Sagas • PS2 7 Gran Turismo 4 • PS2 в Splinter Cell Chaos Theory • PS2 9 Close Combat: First to Fight • XB 10 MX vs. ATV Unleashed • PS2 1 Twisted Metal: Head-On * PSP Resident Evil 4 2 NFS Underground Rivals * PSP Super Mario Sunshine 3 WarioWare: Touched! • DS MVP Baseball 2005 4 Untold Legends * PSP NBA Street V3 5 Robots • СВА Mario Party 6 6 The Incredibles « GBA Donkey Kong Jungle Beat 7 Yoshi Touch & Go • DS Super Smash Bros. Melee 8 Super Mario 64 DS • 05 Robots 9 Metal Gear Ac!d • PSP Pokémon Colosseum 10 Wipeout Pure • PSP Stem: Sick of that convenient and easy to hide Dance Dance Revolution pad? Well, here’s a metal one, and it supports up to 500 105 of weight, fatty. Asking Price: $185 ee ою Source: Blockbuster Video >> MADDEN MCNABBS A COVER ATHLETE—EA SPORTS HAS SELECTED РКО BOWL QUARTERBACK DONOVAN MCNABB AS ITS SPOKESPERSON FOR MADDEN NFL 201 46 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com guarante 1 id il AN BLO h Je. EUER 3t Offer c uec IL purgo д) ттеп gam ©) press start E Er T d sl s | я br: MCN a ы ines bes (d = : pis PlayStation 2 Wwe m d > € y # ~ Pe m E jn ee о uet + ^ AM $ oe "Ж, ҸЕ 3 3 d + & 4 + dou ха. РА Р а d Ж Publisher: Namco E Developer: Namco "S ^. * - ر ye v‏ Friends‏ /= 7 and Foes “Here are some of Our enterprising nephews and nieces forming study pairs to better absorb their lessons, as well as each other. Competition is healthy for growing Princes and Princesses (and encouraged in this new game), but We are glad they can also put aside their differences and work together in a new cooperative adventure. Splendid!” The King Speaks: “Our wonderful game last year, as indu- bitably excellent as it was, could have been better. There was a lot of Our shrimpy Prince, yes? And not nearly enough of Us, no? Well, Our second game will offer many new experiences and several new heroes more valiant than that lowly Prince. We understand that the readers on Earth are excited about the elfin male, +t tt Link, riding a horse in the ‘Zelda, x and look! Here We are, also on E the royal equine! This proves that ‘ Our game has everything you could possibly desire: gallant steeds, wondrous worlds, and plentiful objects destined to be rolled into balls. Learn all about its boun- tiful virtues here. Tripping “tt is not enough to become book smart, of course. One must also have street smarts, as well as grass smarts and ocean smarts. Our second game will impart copious amounts of cosmic knowledge: You will travel to all- new locales such as frozen Antarctica and gay Paris, where everything is to be rolled up at the earliest con- venience.” 48 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com Katamari Race “We, too, feel the need for speed, yet traffic safety is also а concern of Ours. Here, the Prince races in the safest manner We know of, which is in the precise center between lanes.” Back to School “See! Children! They have made a mess of their classroom, yes? But We thought it might be educational to roll up their pencils and apples and what- ever else one might find in а school. The students have larger hair than We remember, and the giant grizzly bears in the halls seem new, but We chalk this up to education reform.” Objects “Not only are We entertaining, dashing, and edifying, We are also delicious. Candy, doughnuts, and cookies gave Us the splen- did figure you see certainly hope that we have enlightened you regarding Our upcoming mas- terwork We Love Katamari. We guarantee that you will play no finer object-collection simulation all year. This is the King of All Cosmos, signing off.” > press start our Sub-Zero is harpooned, a well-timed uppercut slashes his life bar, and then a humiliating fatality finishes him off. It’s a familiar sight for anyone facing 20-year-old Ryan Conroy in Mortal Kombat, but Conroy never sees his victory; he only hears it through the television’s speakers. Conroy is blind. He lost his sight to a retinal disease when he was 2 years old, but that hasn’t hampered his gaming addiction or his competitive spirit. Conroy’s older brother got him into gam- ing by teaching him how to play Mortal Kombat. It wasn't long before Conroy started winning and the trash talking began. “Eventually, | beat him and all of Polo was tough? Meet a gamer who can kick" your ass without ever looking at the screen his friends,” says Conroy, who lives in Connecticut. “They were amazed, but they’d say stupid things like, ‘Well, you have the game rigged,’ and I'd say, ‘You can think what you want, but you just got beaten by a blind person—it's not my problem." Over the years, Conroy has completed more than 50 games for the Super NES, PS1, and PS2. He’s mastered all the major fighting games (everything from the Street Fighters to the ClayFighters), but he’s also a champion in wrestling, boxing, and baseball games. His secret: He listens up. “I just memorize the sounds so well,” he explains. “Whenever 1 hear a sound | know what’s going on..1 can tell when they’re in the air or if they’re walking towards me.” When he picks up a new game, let's say Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, he'll log on to gamefaqs.com and download the combos. Then he'll have his PC's screen-readout program recite the moves at a blistering 112 words per minute (even a large majority of the blind can’t catch every word at this speed, let alone sighted people). After hours of practicing, he'll conquer the game in a week at the most. “I won’t put [a new game] down until | beat it,” Conroy says. “РІ spend eight hours а day or whatever. it'll take. | beat them a bunch of times, and then І get tired of them and play ++ че. + == W Blind master Ryan Conroy can hear your every move. against other people." Like any gamer, Conroy faces moments of frustration—but rarely because a game’s too tricky. “They have those descriptive movies for blind peo- ple,” he says. “1 wish they would come out with narrative [for games] like Resident Evil, and the person in the background will tell you what you see and what’s on the ground or whatever.” And videogames aren't the only things that could use a little more descriptive help. “1 signed up for [Braille Playboy] once,” he says. “I thought there were going to be...descriptions for what [the pictures] look like. There wasn’t. | canceled it.” —dames Lee Hearing Is Believing Pity the fool: Mr. T takes a blind beating. A blind gamer tells how to beat three games with your eyes closed... * PS2 “In boxing games | block a lot, so when people start throwing punches at me, | know they're right there. It makes a sound when they're stunned, and then I'll start throwing those super punches at them, [or] I'll throw some kind of combo or something." * Super NES "| don't know if they're right next to me and they’re trying to jump back- wards or if they're jumping towards me. So | duck and swing the uppercut, and | usually connect.” When he faces another player, he'll play as Reptile and turn invisible to even things up. * PS1 “The hardest part was the Royal Rumble—there’s like 30 guys in the ring, [but] all the wrestlers had dif- ferent voices when you hit them. It’s harder for me to tell where they are, so | bounce off the ropes a lot and hit 'em with a clothesline.” Photograph by Matthew Monteith /BAReps >> WHAT A TRIO—FORMER HEISMAN TROPHY WINNERS DESMOND HOWARD, HERSCHEL WALKER, AND MARCUS ALLEN WILL BE THE COVER ATHLETES FOR NCAA FOOTBALL 2006....>> 50 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com A Oarkness has fallen over the continent of Magvel... Fantasy Violence 2 2 NN ү: ONTO GALEK 2005 (йоз Таша? SYSTEMS. TM, © and tha ‘ca ame | О) эх EE... W trademarksforgnint endosWoy2005|Nintendos N j £ PRINCE EPHRAIM, HEIR TO THE THRONE OF RENAIS, HAS RUSHED HIS ARMY TO THE NEIGHBORING KINGDOM OF GRADO IN AN ATTEMPT TO UNCOVER WHAT TREACHERY IS BEHIND THESE NEW ATTACKS. OK, men, stay sharp! We can't just rush in and start fighting. First we need to survey the land to try and get some recon on their units. Scouts! See if there is a way to flank them! y n | EE Be P „8 О L к Once the fighting starts, watch your back! Stay together and choose your targets well! Think before you act, and we will triumph! MEANWHILE, EPHRAIM'S SISTER, PRINCESS EIRIKA, HAS BEEN SPIRITED SAFELY AWAY TO FRELIA BY GENERAL SETH. THERE, THEY WILL WAIT AND PLAN FOR THE TIDE OF BATTLE RUSHING THEIR WAY. OK, General, examine each of our troops to see where their strengths and weaknesses lie! We should also start training as soon as possible! It's the only way we will get Strong enough to bear this onslaught! 38105285) а ПО eS x) Qionie—5 zen‏ وو Мово Е Org A- X лл |‏ | M ош 68 Ge O |‏ Doubles as ranged attack.‏ Equipment’ Rig 1-2‏ | Mk isi 6 Hit 93 Avoid’ 32 And make sure everyone is outfitted with the best weapons possible! If we find new gear in the field, get it to where it can do the most good! і а frmorsla gero 1 (Ване It's going to be a long battle. I only hope that if we stick together, communicate and move with caution, we might again see peace and the unity of the Sacred Stones restored! n EE: RT aa UT. r. w сз‏ سے Г‏ - E EmmLE EM THE SACRED STONES A M. аа с D j pe Q А dark cloud is gathering over Magvel. Only Eirika z \% ano Ephraim can reunite the shattered kingdoms, but they can't do it alone--call on the aid of dozens ор heroes, and restore light to the lano! тм www.gameboy.com/fireemblem Available May 23rd 9005 Oti ance PS2/XB/GC SHOW AND TELL: tand down, opposing PRINCE OF PERSIA 3 Hot Babylonian nights with Ubisoft’s raging royal Nights-inspired adventure The Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Release Date: Fall 2005 emphasis on puzzles, exploration, camps in the Prince of Sands of Time and players who and platforming hearkens back to Persia style war. With dug last year’s brutal sequel, what made Sands so special, this third chapter, developer Warrior Within. The story line Persia 3 Producer Yannis Mallat Ubisoft aims to simultaneously continues Warrior's dark, mur- explains how he'll be a uniter— please fans of 2003's Arabian derous mood, but a greater not a divider—this time around.... Fancy Footwork “We've further refined thé combat to make it far less repetitive: Running through the dark streets of Babylon, the Prince uses the newly expanded free-form fighting system to finish off the guards with acrobatic flair—one at a time or both.” press start © L' "ү POP3 takes place,in Babylon, the Prince’s hometown. i a Silent and Deadly ҮМ: “Stealth takedowns are an important new game- play focus: The Prince must use his agility to assassi- nate this soldier quickly and silently before the archer across the way spots the Prince and begins his wave of attack.” A Price on Your Head YM: “When the Prince returns to his turbulent home- town, he’s a wanted man, so he'll have to navigate the back alleys without being captured. With such paranoid tension in the air, he’s not able to just hack and slash his way through enemies—he must be crafty.” S GETS A FRESH COAT OF PAINT—THIS JUNE, NINTENDO WILL OFFER ITS DUAL-SCREEN HANDHELD IN A JAZZY SECONDARY COLOR, ELECTRIC BLUE. Live by the Blade YM: “The Prince's swordplay feels much like it did in Warrior Within. However, as you play through this game, you'll find some rather surprising changes to the game- play that fundamentally alter how the Prince fights...of course, | can’t reveal all these secrets yet.” sx ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ©- ‘www. UP.com +51 AFTERTHOUGHTS: JADE EMPI The game's creators give up the good hink you've seen it all in Jade T Empire? Doubt it. This may be BioWare’s first “short” role- playing game, but one playthrough is only the beginning, according to the folks who made the game. We sat down with joint CEOs Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk to find out a few secrets of their Empire... —Jennifer Tsao EGM: Your games are known for being easily over 40 hours. Was it difficult keeping Jade Empire so short? Ray Muzyka: It was a very conscious decision. We really strove to make this a really replayable game that would be very different on replay, and one that also would allow people to finish it. We want- ed to make sure that fans...would be able to get to [the end] in a reasonable time. EGM: There are three possible endings. Which do you like best? RM: The Neutral ending is almost like a semisecret one. You have to say [what you want to do] like four times in a row. | think that's my favorite. Greg Zeschuk: I really like the Closed Fist one the best. | just found it very moving. EGM: The combat was really fun to watch. How'd you do it? GZ: We tried to simulate the general approach that a martial arts movie would use, where even if you're fighting a group of opponents, you're interacting with one or a couple of them, or maybe once in a while you'll do a big huge move that'll affect a whole bunch of them. So once we had the material to build the styles from, we hired martial artists, stunt doubles from movies we watch all the time...the woman who was the stunt double for Lucy Liu in Kill Bill, and Keanu Reeves’ [double from] The Matrix...and we motion- captured [them]. We'd say, “Do strings of moves, strong hitting moves with your hands, and see what happens.” Then we would literally build the styles out of the strings of moves that these people did. EGM: So much of this game is refreshingly new—why didn’t you com- pletely rework the menu system, too? Or the dialogue trees? A lot of it seems like a rehash of your first Xbox game, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. GZ: We were already innovating on a lot of stuff, and so...we chose our chal- lenges. The combat itself, the overall level of polish, the amount of cut-scenes in the game were pretty huge undertakings... Why fix something that’s not broken? EGM: While we're being honest—that dice game is pretty lame. What gives? ВМ: But that movie is cool though...in the teahouse— EGM: Don’t change the subject... 67: It certainly wasn't meant as a major gameplay element. RM: It’s just a guy standing in the corner that you can roll dice with, to add authen- ticity to the tavern. The movie [of the dice rolling] is pretty cool, though. 67: The movie is cool. RM: You get to see the dice rolling in real time. Our cinematic designers had some time and wanted to make it entertaining for the time that you spent with it. EGM: OK.... So, how come your character doesn't have a voice? 67: We did tests early on, where we had the system up and running. The challenge ended up being...we'd have to have multi- ple sets, a lot of different dialogues, so you could pick the voice that you wanted to be. That was a challenge, the size of it. The second issue is more of a design one, actually. We sat down and modeled a sce- nario where you'd see the line, your character would speak it, and then the other character would respond.... And everyone was just skipping through. They | ® Seek out Hidden Fist style (shown here) for what the BioWare guys call “the best Clear move in the game.” just felt, “Well, | already know what I’m going to say,” so they just wanted to keep things moving. EGM: The followers all bring something different to the table, especially with the dual battle and support modes— 67: One of the tricks there is to leave them in their regular battle mode until they get beaten up and are about to die. Then you can switch them into support mode. EGM: That’s abusing the system! RM: It’s making good use of their help. Use them for what they have, then turn them to support to extend their usability. It’s a very Closed Fist approach [Laughs]. ж Falow M Kang Dawn Star Wild Flower The BioWare Deep Dark Secret: Deep Dark Secret #1: Deep Dark Secret #2: Deep Dark Secret: guys recom- Lord Lao's Magical Furnace quest You can turn her to the Her true identity Her "other" buddy mend talking RM: It's an c end Way of the Closed Fist 67: She's someone special, RM: She's one of entire new area 4 GZ: You actually can con- actually. my favorite charac: to your fol- ү ^" 3 lowers regu | "©! take you to. vert her [and Silk Fox] to — ^ ВМ: If you explore her past, ters once you larl pe You сап unlock a — * be evil. If you pursue all “3 км and Sagacious Zu—you have to unlock that. [The у. whole bunch of new [the Closed Fist dialogue] do it with both of them—you secret follower] is. they've all 8 Ps ў оО minigames, too...some ~ Choices to the end, you get a can find out some more super- one of the best ү aggage. of the best in the дат! chance to switch them. secret, special information. in the game, to 52 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com IF YOU'RE ONE WHO PREFERS RIDING CROTCH ROCKETS OVER HOGS, THEN NAMCO HAS THE GAME FOR YOU: MOTOGP4. THIS ONE WILL HEAD TO PS2 DURING THE FALL... JOIN AND GET ANY ITEM FROM THIS PAGE —— — FOR FREE RIGHT NOW!II* ITS EASY, JUST TEXT CLUB DIRTY AND CODE OF YOUR FREE SELECTION Т0 42222. 42222 CUE OER NEW WALLPAPERS HIP - HOP УГУ» ? 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Ке $ EG59479 - Aaron lewis Outside €G0957 €G0865 €G0910 €G3895 E650210 - Green Day Basket Case Send to “3 EE, gs E659535 -Korn ALIVE Е 7 f ` F; 3 Е659482 -Linkin Park BREAKING THE HABIT Ё650897 -Linkin Park FROM THE INSIDE Е650875 - Linkin Park NUMB | i = | _ || €G1099 €G3916 €64096 7] To: 42222 хера | NM | Send асв Text the word" CLUB" and the Youwill receive a i texting the word code of your free selection message asking you CLUB &your free selection to 42222 to confirm your choice 042222. Nokia eSonye Samsung e Siemens - Motorola "A game with a color dot, i.e. RED, is compatible with SOME models of the corresponding make, i.e. Nokia, Vou will still need to - -— www.dirtuhippo.com to ensure it is compatible with your model." h PA T www.dirtyhippo:com ЖИП 5 Club42 is available to AT&T Wireless and Cingular customers only. T-Mobile customers may only download ringtones and wallpapers individually. Java Games are available to AT&T and Cingular customers only.Polyphonic Ringtones, Wallpapers, Personalized Wallpapers, and Java Games work on compatible phones only. If you're not sure that your phone is supported please visit www.dirtyhippo.com. Internet enabled handset required. You represent that you are of legal age to agree to the terms and conditions set forth in this Privacy Policy, or you are at least 13 years of age and have yonr parent's permission to access and use irtyHippo.com and to register to use thé Company's Services (as defined below). Neither DirtyHippo.com nor the Services are intended to be used by, and are not directed to, children under 13 years of age. DirlyHippo. om does not ask visitors to ШШЕ сот ог registering users to provide age information, and for this reason, the Company will treat all visitors and registered users the same and shall not be responsible for ensuring at parental consent has been obtained. All charges will (О оп уоиг орагаіюг phone bill. ЖП з Club42 is charged at $9.99 per month and will allow you to download up to 7 items from this ШЧ or at WWW. tyhippo.com every month; any additional downloads will be charged at $1.99 individually.Download credits will not carryover from month to month. T-Mobile customers will be charged individually at $1.99 per download Get 1 Free offer is available to Club42 members gu Instructions to discontinue services will be sent E order. Artist names for identification only. Please visit www. dirtyhippo сот for additional products and services.Princess Ai is ©™ by TOKYOPOP & Kitty Radio, @Large is ©™ by L A HOKE & TOKYOPOP, Condorito is ©™ by World Features and Non Sequitur is O™ by Wiley Mille. fter months and months of yours truly dishing the dirt on Microsoft’s next console, the company has finally unveiled the worst-kept secret in gaming. And to Xbox 360 I say, it's about freakin’ time you showed your face. In all serious- ness, I’m stoked for new hardware, as this means my rumor mill won’t be running dry for at least another few years. Aside from my usual assortment of mouthwatering treats, I’ve thrown a few XB360 bones to the crew working on our cover story, so don’t forget to peep those pages, too. Until next time, send your complaints to the following address: quartermann@ziffdavis.com. —The 0 We all can be heroes Last issue, | was rapping about how mas- sively multiplayer online role-playing Q: A Believe It or Not Will the next Game Boy handheld be essentially a portable GameCube? Man oh man, wouldn’t that be a punch to Sony’s gut. From a visual standpoint, a machine like that would put even the PSP to shame. Plu: Where there's always something to talk about games (known to some peeps as simply MMORPGs) would have a much larger presence on the next wave of consoles. | wasn't yanking your chain, as I'm now hearing that an MMORPG using the Marvel license is planned for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. And here are a few nuggets about the game: Instead of donning, say, Spidey's or Wolverine's tights, you'll create a fully customizable character who can meet up with several CPU-controlled Marvel legends, become their temporary protégé, and earn some of their signature moves via completing heroic deeds throughout the game’s crime-filled metropolis. Sounds, uh, super! The Empire strikes back Nope, this gossip ain't about that galaxy far, far away. Rather, I'm referring to devel- oper BioWare’s latest and greatest Xbox role-playing game, Jade Empire. developers wouldn't have to learn new hardware, thus increasing the likelihood of triple-A games at or around launch. Still, a handheld that powerful, not to mention having to stream data off a could be too taxing on its battery (as we all know, the PSP strug- gles in that department). Does Nintendo know some- thing about battery life that Sony doesn’t? Maybe.... жоо > Apparently, one of the reasons the main quest wasn't as long as a typical RPG's is because the studio is saving some ideas for the speedy Jade Empire sequel. Yep, my supersneaky band. of martial artists tells me that you'll be karate chopping your way through mythological ancient China for a second time in 2006. Returning to Prime time Nintendo's resident bounty hunter didn’t have the drawing power of Halo 2's Master Chief or Grand Theft Auto's thug- tastic Carl “CJ” Johnson in 2004, but Samus Aran still turned in yet another stellar performance in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Hopefully, she can go three for three on GameCube, as it looks like Nintendo will release Metroid Prime 3 for its kiddie-looking console sometime next year. But | do have a teeny tiny request: How ‘bout letting the blonde bombshell actually speak, Nintendo? | know I'm not the only one who wants to hear what the lady has to say. Multiplayer GTA Golly gee whiz, trying to find out any- thing on Grand Theft Auto for PSP. has been tougher than convincing an old-fart politician that videogames aren't bad. But alas, here | come finally bearing some specifics on this antici- pated project: The game will include a E Apparently; smiling isn't permitted in Marvel's superfamily. 8 multiplayer mode that, thanks to the PSP's Wi-Fi feature, will allow you and a couple of your friends to-enter the same. city and either work-together to cause law-breaking.mayhem or battle it out for control/of Liberty City. Portable prince And in other handheld happenings, it seems Ubisoft is shrinking down its acro- batic member of the Persian royal family. Look for the PSP version of Prince of Persia to take the best elements from the last two console installments (so lots of puzzles and a darker setting), 4h >> ATTENTION JOHNNY DEPP FANS: BUENA VISTA GAMES IS MAKING A NEXT-GEN TITLE BASED ON THE SUMMER 2006 FLICK PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST. >> 54 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com For the hero іп all of us. Milk’s 9 essential nutrients give me the strength and energy | need to fight the forces of evil. Not drinking milk? Now that would be a crime. got milk? BATMAN and ай related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics. 2005 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. 02005 AMERICA'S MILK PROCESSORS © press start N TO ISSUE 2( MOSTI he website Dictionary.com T defines 200 as “being ten more than one hundred ninety.” That couldn’t be more true. So as we draw one step closer to EGM's historic 190th + 10 issue, it’s time to look at the people who made the industry what it is today. As always, feel free to discuss our selections on the official EGM message boards at 1UP.com. ) Will Wright = | If “thinking outside the box” weren't such a tired cliché, we'd use it to describe Will t. Wright. The inno- vative designer of SimCity and 4 The Sims would is rather have °з! ИМ сге- à ate than b) destroy. And wait till you _ see his ^ next John Carmack | Known more for his amazing A technical ] prowess than traditional game-design skills, Carmack sets the bar high for pro- gramming and graphical engines. As the whiz kid of Id Software, he helped create franchises such as Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake, which in turn gave birth to the first-person shooter genre. Alexey » Pajitnov | Э The man j = | Toru Iwatani 33) | Pac-Man fever swept the United States in the early 1980s created Tetris. Therefore, he is better than you. and was a watershed moment for the indus- try, as videogames hit the mainstream for the very first time. Until this point, most arcade games were of the Space Invaders variety with limited appeal— thanks to Pac-Man, even grand- mas were plunking quarters. >> SINCE 2K SPORTS CAN'T MAKE PRO FOOTBALL GAMES ANYMORE, THE NEXT LOGICAL MOVE IS GOING THE COLLEGIATE ROUTE, RIGHT? IN THE WORDS OF ESPN ANALYST LEE CORSO, “NOT 56 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com. Satoshi Tajiri Honorable Mentions It was 1996, and Nintendo’s Game Boy was starting to run out of steam. Along came Satoshi Tajiri and 151 of his closest friends. Two years later, Pokémon found its way to the United States and launched a marketing phenomenon the likes of which we had never seen. Proving that it is fad resistant, the franchise 30 Render by Chuck Ernst remains healthy nearly a decade later. cS HIRONOBU SAKAGUCHI (Final Fantasy series) УОЛ NAKA (Sonic the Hedgehog series) Gunpei Yokoi The late Yokoi was a driving force behind Nintendo’s hardware design, with his crowning achievement being the venerable Game Boy. He was also a pretty good game developer, responsible for Super Metroid, which coin- cidentally, we voted as our top game of all time in Issue #150. 4» | Nolan Bushnell | a He founded Atari in 1972, and in doing so, sowed the first seeds of the home console industry. Bushnell’s Pong found its way into the living rooms of mainstream America, paving the way for the legendary Atari Ё 2600 system, the great game boom of the early 1980s, and then the great game bust of 1983. Em Ken Kutaragi 4 — | The “father of the PlayStation,” Kutaragi’s |__| technical vision helped Sony do what was, at that point in time, unthinkable: dethrone Nintendo as the No.1 force in the videogame indus- try. And he’s looking to do it again with the PSP. P Shigeru Miyamoto There’s little that hasn’t already been said about Nintendo’s ace designer and producer. Donkey Kong was a breath of fresh air at the arcades and introduced us to the man who would become Mario. Super Mario Bros. revived a dor- mant industry and revolutionized the way we play games at home. The Legend of Zelda was a landmark adventure game that helped sell millions upon millions of | NES consoles. Super Mario 64 estab- lished the standard for 3D action games. Today, his watchful eye and cre- ative mind continue to keep Nintendo’s first-party development on point. si THE The Legend of Zelda GC • Fall 2005 TEN You must really want these games, ‘cause you keep voting for ‘егп Disagree with the list? You’re the ones who created it. Choose and/or lose at Meet Calibur new- comer Zasalamel. Hell, anyone’s a step up from SC2's Necrid. Final Fantasy Xil PS2 • Fall 2005 Animal Crossing DS DS * Fall 2005 Mario Kart DS DS ¢ Fall 2005 Soul Calibur Ш ' PS2 * October 2005 = „=, E PS2 • October 2005 — Given Namco's recent arcade success with Tekken 5 (well, at least in Japan, where people still fill up coin slots), everyone expected a playable-in-public version of Soul Calibur iii...but Namco swears that this puppy will debut on Check out Raph's skeletal hand—he’s totally undead. Eum PS2. Expect three new characters, a much deeper single-player quest, and best of all, a create-a-character mode. As for the game's single-platform fate, we've heard rumors of an enhanced version that might land on next-gen platforms. Here's hoping... Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow DS * August 2005 Kingdom Hearts II PS2 • Fall 2005 Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII PS2 * Fall 2005 Fire Emblem GC * November 2005 | Burnout Revenge PS2/XB * September 2005 FIRE EMBLEM GC • November 2005 — The Fire Emblem tactical-RPG series can be a little intimidating. If you get one of your heroes killed he's not "videogame dead,” he’s worm-food dead. Not coming back. If you don't like it, replay the entire stage. But for gamers who have yet to undergo a baptism by fire, the Cube incarna- tion of the series is willing to spare some mercy—newbies can look forward to less-stressful easy mode (a series first). PS2/XB • September 2005 — We got Burnout Revenge's developers to chat about their new game, and frankly, we were a little scared. The whole idea seems to be born out of repeated viewings of Bad Boys ІІ, and the terms “aggressive,” “carnage,” and “gratification” came up with alarming frequen- Cy. Finally, an outlet for all pent-up angst over discourteous taxi drivers and extra slow "Baby on Board” station wagons.... >> RENOWNED JAPANESE DEVELOPER TREASURE IS WORKING ON GUNSTAR SUPER HEROES, A GBA SEQUEL TO THE SEGA GENESIS CULT CLASSIC. LOOK FOR IT FROM SEGA THIS FALL.... >> 58 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com As a Soldier, I'm going to college and the Army is helping me pay for it. There are over 200 ways to be a Soldier. Find out the right one for you at GOARMY.COM x 1-800-USA-ARMY ©2003. Paid for by the United States Ап (o) press start 12005 j w m AT Ш GR Advent Shadow Majesco • PSP — Kind of like its sci-fi shooter big brother Advent Rising (XB), but pH balanced for a woman...and a PSP. Darkwatch Konami • PS2/XB — Fulfill your dream of controlling a vampiric gunslinger in this Wild West-themed first-person shooter. NCAA Football 2006 EA • PS2/XB — Previous NCAA Football titles have captured EGM's "Most Valuable Game of the Month” trophy, and 2006 has got more hype to it than Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson because the game sports better graphics and a "race for the Heisman” mode. 187 Ride or Die Ubisoft * PS2/XB/GC — It’s a hard-knock life of street racing and drive-by shoot- ings. F'real yo. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2K Games * PS2/XB/GC — Oompa Loompa doompadee doo, strange candy powers and puzzles for you. Far Cry: Instincts Ubisoft e PS2/XB — Break out the Hawaiian shirt, pifia colada, and Brazilian wax for this tropical first-person shooter. Yes, FarOry’s Jack Carverknows he looks hot. Death, Jr. Konami * PSP — Strangely enough, everyone’s complaining that Death just isn’t coming soon enough. This scythe-wielding munchkin couldn’t make it in time for the PSP launch, Nanostray Majesco • DS — Find yourself touching this 3D shooter to scan for bosses or man- age weapons. There’s a co-op mode, too. Ubisoft • PS2 — Just what pinball games always needed: a mission in which you save flamingos from hungry alligators... Atlus e GBA — It’s demons versus angels Namco Museum Collection Namco • PSP — Play new and original versions of timeless classics like Dig Dug, Pac-Man, and Galaga. „ == lE Pac "n Roll Namco • DS — Collecting those same darn pellets again but in a refreshing way: rotating Pac-Man via the touch screen. ® 2a «660! 2 COCCO; IEAS Riviera: The Promised Land Snood 2: Lost in Snoodville Global Star « DS — OK, we failed to find a screenshot of this “game,” but we did find this $99 Snood shirt at www.snood.com. (and angels courting angels) in this apoc- alyptic RPG adventure/dating sim. >> LET'S GET SERIOUS...AGAIN—THIS FAI 60 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com К GAMES WILL RELEASE FOR XBOX THE ENEMY-HEAVY FIRST-PERSON SHOOTER SERIOUS SAM II, WHICH WILL INCLUDE ONLINE CO-OP... >> CALL 1-800-800-5166 FOR THE STORE NEJ OR VISIT US AT www.EBgam GAMES расе electronics boutique’ We take games seriously ™ а the xbox 360 Microsoft wants to conquer the gaming world... ..via an online and high-definition onslaught. Yet only half the country has broadband... ..and even fewer own HDTVs... IS AMERICA READY FOR THE XBOX 360? 62 ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • wiw.1UP.com e will have the most powerful plat- form," says Chief Xbox Officer Robbie Bach. “The Xbox 360 will be the Porsche of videogaming." Bold words from a console maker who less than H four years ago was struggling to prove that its hulk-sized Xbox was as viable a gaming system as anything Sony or Nintendo could bring out. But it’s easy for Microsoft to boast right now. Sony and Nintendo haven’t shown much of their next-generation hands yet, and of course an Xbox successor—now officially named Xbox 360, as you’ve probably guessed—will manhandle the current generation’s now- | ancient-by-comparison hardware. But is the 360—due out this fall with a yet-to-be-determined pricetag— coming out too soon? What if the leap in performance isn’t as great as people expect? What if gamers are expecting the Ferrari Enzo of videogaming instead? Seeing isn’t always believing You can sense the excitement—and overwhelming hype—when listening to Microsoft talk about its new baby. “This is not Xbox 2,” says J Allard, corporate vice > TABLE OF CONTENTS 064 Hardware 086 99 Nights 098 Kameo: Elements of Power 088 Need for Speed: Most Wanted 098 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 072 Perfect Dark Zero 090 Peter Jackson’s King Kong 102 Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland 090 Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 3 106 Madden NFL 2006 082 Full Auto 092 Quake IV 106 NBA Live 2006 086 Test Drive: Unlimited 094 Call of Duty 2 107 NBA 2K6 086 Too Human 096 Condemned: Criminal Origins 107 Top Spin 2K7. ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com s163 > president for Xbox. “This is not an incre- mental thing within an era, like PlayStation was the beginning of the 3D era, and PlayStation 2 was the second half of the era. This is a new era. This is a big jump— kinda like vinyl to CD to iPod.” OK, unless Allard is talking about some sort of fourth- dimensional gameplay, we should expect two things: much-improved graphics and new gameplay experiences not available on current systems. How does the Xbox 360 fare in these two categories so far? It's not fair to criticize a game's graphics five to six months before its release, but that’s not about to stop us. So far, with a few exceptions like NBA 2K6, Xbox 360 64 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com games generally aren't blowing our minds. Where they should be screaming “photo- realistic next-generation graphics,” it's more “I'm a really good-looking Xbox game." Keep in mind, all these titles still have months of development left, and no one was impressed by Halo when it debuted at a trade show six months before its release— and look how that one turned out. So even though Xbox 360 games aren't making the greatest first impression so far—certainly nothing we'd classify as vinyl to CD to iPod— developers have plenty of time to polish things to a high-resolution shine. Part of the problem is, visually, the cur- rent Xbox still has some legs, as proven So here it is. The Xbox 360 can stand vertically or horizontally, just like the PlayStation 2 (it’s roughly the same size, too). Don't ask us how you're supposed to stack other systems or components on top of this curvy thing if it's lying on its side—the little contact-lens-shaped gap that's left probably won't look too hot in your audio-video setup. To get a behind-the- scenes look at how the Xbox 360 evolved from a simple vision into what it is today (including how it got its cir- cular name), check out the second part of our story at with recent hits like Splinter Cell Chaos Theory and Forza. Can games really impress more than those lookers? “With 720p and 16:9 [standard for all games], Xbox 360 is going to knock people's socks off," says Allard, pointing out an HDTV resolution and widescreen ratio that also happen to be options on the Xbox 1. "That said," contin- ues Allard, "we're approaching a [limit] here in graphical fidelity. The difference between a film like Toy Story and Halo 2 is pretty. compressed now. There's still room to go, make no mistake, but it's all finesse. The average consumer goes to see Toy Story and then The Incredibles and says it's the same visual quality. You know how much better The Incredibles is than Toy Story, technically? Huge! But the reality is, we've gone beyond what most consumers can perceive." And what if you don't have a widescreen HDTV? "It will look awesome on a standard 4:3 TV," says Bach about the type of television most Americans own. So gamers who set their 360 graphical expectations on ^ Toy Story to Incredibles” won't be disappointed. Those hoping for games that look like real life...shouldn’t give up hope just yet. A few specific things we've peeped—like a Project Gotham Racing 3 ìn- game car model and hoops star LeBron James dribbling and shooting a basketball in NBA 2K6—looked unbelievable. A casual > THE SYSTEM Sleek and functional Infrared Port When you press any of the buttons on the optional DVD remote control, it beams magic rays into this hole, so your Xbox 360 knows what you want done with your Titanic DVD. Memory Unit Slot Did any of you actually use memory cards for your Xbox? Didn’t think so. Microsoft hinted, however, that future faceplates may be sold with memory units built in, so when you slap that sucker on your console, it'll change the themes and skins in your 360 menus. Wireless Binding Button When your friends bring their wireless controllers over to your house for some multiplayin’, you hit this button to bind them to your console. No more controller ports and messy wires! Power Button/Ring of Light Power button: see DVD Disc Tray, above right. Also note the outer green ring (dubbed “The Ring of Light"). It's actually made of four quadrants, each of which can change colors to indicate something to the different players. For example, if an outside game invite comes in for player 3, the third quad- rant may flash red to let him or her know. Other possible uses considered by Microsoft: a way to indicate your character’s health (yeah, that’s real practical—to have to look away from the screen to get that information) or the health for all four players. The quadrants will adjust properly if the machine is turned sideways. Hard Drive The removable 20GB hard drive (com- pare to the Xbox's 8GB hard drive) sits on top of the machine and will come preloaded with casual games (think arcade titles), demo movies, and Gamer Tiles (your onscreen icon, see pg. 68). It’s possible Microsoft may sell larger hard drives down the line. Ethernet Port Somewhere back here is the Ethernet port to plug in your network cable for local area network (LAN) or Xbox Live broadband gaming. Microsoft will also sell an optional Wi-Fi adapter that snaps on the back of the Xbox 360 to wirelessly connect it to an appropriate router in your home network. DVD Disc Tray If you don’t know what this is for, you're lying. That, or you have no busi- ness reading a videogame magazine. Faceplate Don't like how the Xbox 360 looks? Change it. This entire front panel pops off, so you can swap it for another design, much like cell-phone face- plates. Some designs and themes are already in the works, but we'll be hold- ing out for something unicorn themed. Preferably airbrushed. USB 2.0 Ports Underneath this cover are two USB 2.0 ports to accept peripherals (one more is on the machine's backside). Use these to plug in digital cameras, MP3 players, weird controllers, and more. ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com • 65 THE CONTROLLER Familiar territory—except for one important new button Bumper Buttons The Left and Right triggers are still back there, but now you'll find two more shoulder buttons (called bumpers), similar to the PS2 pad's. These replace the Black and White buttons on the Xbox con- troller and are digital, not analog (meaning they're either “on” or “off,” with no range of motion like the triggers). In between them is a charge port to plug in a power cord for low-battery emergencies. > observer may have trouble distinguishing these things from their real-life counter- parts, but then, we didn't see them in their real in-game situations (i.e., in a full game with other cars, players, crowds, etc.). We'll see how everything turns out this fall. You've got services The other part of the 360 equation has to do with the gameplay experience. Pretty graph- ics aside, what can this new machine offer that its predecessor couldn't? Most 360 developers we talked to can't wait to use the extra horsepower to improve things like artificial intelligence and physics. (And you wonder why more of them aren't married...) But more ambitious than that, Microsoft is attempting to bring about a new world order 66 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com within the gaming community—and it starts with one fat button. The current Xbox offers features you can't find on the GameCube or PS2, like universal friends lists and custom sound- tracks, but have you ever noticed how inconsistent the interfaces are, if these services are even available? Try messaging your friends through Halo 2 and then Chaos Theory—it's a world of difference. On the new controller you'll find a dedi- cated Xbox Guide button, a one-stop shop to access features common to all Xbox 360 games. "The dedicated button flips you out of your game," says Allard. "It pauses Halo or whatever your game is and lets you go manipulate the system—then you push it again to [go back to your game]. It's a sim- ple way to get in and out." This means you can message your friends, send game invites, download new levels, listen to your custom soundtrack, see your stats...all by pressing this one button. The Xbox 360 is always connected (or “Live Aware”), too—if you want it to be. Say you're watching a DVD or playing a sin- gle-player game. Your Xbox 360 can still be hooked up to the Internet so you can receive invitations to play games from your needy friends. A small notification window will pop up, then you hit the Guide button to instantly jump to the message. The idea here—and it's a helluva smart one—is for this one universal button to do it all, offering consistent services on consis- tent menus all of the time, no matter what Audio/Expansion Jack You can also plug just about any head- set mic you want into the round jack here, like the one you have for your cell phone, for example—wired or wireless, it doesn’t matter. Your crappy old (probably busted) Xbox Live head- set will work here, too. The oval holes are for future expansions. Microsoft won't say for what exactly, though. Battery Pack To keep your wireless controller wireless, you can stick store-bought batteries here, or you can use the optional rechargeable battery pack. The buttons, the dual analog sticks, the D-pad, the Left and Right shoulder triggers...they’re all the same as they were on the Xbox controller. you're doing with your console. Forget about whether an individual game supports this or that anymore—your Xbox 360 will always be able to take care of it. Media outlet When you insert a music CD into the 36078 disc drive, MSN Music will kick in (assuming you're connected to the Internet) and have track and album names all ready for you, so you no longer have to type in anything for your custom soundtracks. Even better, “If you have a Windows XP PC on the home network,” says Jeff Henshaw, executive pro- ducer for the Xbox Platform, “you can stream your music right over to the Xbox 360 console without having to go rerip [your CDs]." This should work for all the digital > WHAT А EXTRA 360 D Here's how Microsoft's new Xbox 360 compares to its older brother in the tech department. Too geeky for you? Chris Satchell, general manager of XNA (a development tool for the Xbox platform pioneered by Microsoft), explains what this stuff means for gamers in more everyday gaming terms. Oh, it’s still geeky, but a lot more comprehensible. | XBOX Intel 733MHz Pentium Ill; one hardware thread 1.466 GFLOPS 233MHz custom-designed chip, developed by Microsoft and Nvidia; 4 parallel processing units 64MB Main memory: 6.4GB/sec; EDRAM rendering memory: N/A; frontside bus: 1GB/sec 116.5 million/sec 3.7G/sec Game controllers (x4) | Ethernet port 3D audio; Dolby Digital 5.1 16:9; 720p and 1080i supported DVD 3.5” x 10.25” x 12.75” 8 Ibs., 11 oz. Custom-designed IBM PowerPC- based CPU with 3 symmetrical cores running at 3.2GHz each; 2 hardware threads per core and 6 hardware threads total 115.2 GFLOPS 500MHz custom-designed chip, developed by Microsoft and ATI; 48 parallel processing units (at 24 times total power) 512MB GDDR3 RAM Main memory: 22.4GB/sec; | EDRAM rendering memory: | 256GB/sec; frontside bus: | 21.6GB/sec | 500 million/sec 16; bilinear filtering 16G/sec Wireless game controllers (support for up to 4); 3 USB 2.0 ports; 2 memory unit slots; Ethernet port More than 256 3D audio; Dolby Digital 5.1 16:9; 720p and 10801 standard | DVD 3.27" x 10.16" x 12.17" | 7 Ibs., 11 oz. | thing. There's nothing worse than seeing a beautiful game, but | the character's head is this strange cubey thing. With a higher | polygon count, you can smooth out all those hard edges to make | things look more realistic." | where, which looks artificial. Audio programmers will breathe a WHAT THE DIFFERENCE MEANS FOR YOU Satchell: “Developers can do so many more physical simulations than before, so when you interact with the environment, it'll all feel real and live and not pre-canned or pre-scripted—everything will react properly. You'll feel much less constrained with how you | play with the world. Characters will have better A.I. and be more | realistic in how they move. So imagine shooting a character, and | he's limping and falling against the wall realistically." (uh...ditto) “This allows so much more detail and realistic surfaces, which are the keys to having absolutely lifelike experiences. For example, you'll see characters casting multiple shadows, which is really important for realism.” “Extra memory means bigger, richer, more detailed worlds. They can be huge, and you won't have to wait at loading screens for it all to stream in. This memory is also needed to store all those high-definition graphics.” “This opens up the memory bottleneck so developers can really go to town in how they render up scenes. This means you'll see more realistic worlds and lighting—a lot of effects you’re used to seeing in cinemas you'll now be able to see in-game.” “You won’t be seeing those horrible sharp edges around every- “To make surfaces look real and natural, like leather or skin or wood, you have to have a lot of textures. You will really feel like you're seeing real materials in the game. The game world will feel much more like real life.” “Now we can make all these great visual effects we've been talk- ing about without bogging down the framerate [how smoothly everything runs in motion]." “With developers, no matter how much memory you give them, they always want a lot more. Compressed textures let them use that memory more effectively, so everything in the game world can look unique, rather than having to repeat textures every- sigh of relief, too, because they get more audio space back now.” “The coolest thing about USB 2.0 ports is all the peripherals that we haven't thought of yet that can plug into the Xbox 360. We've opened up the whole market for peripherals, whether it's force- feedback steering wheels or fishing controllers. By having an open [USB] system, the imagination is the limit.” “More channels let developers...give different audio experiences that react to what players are doing. So if you crash your car into a wall, instead of getting the same ‘thud,’ the game can take into account how fast you were going, what materials you hit, and modify the audio in real time to give you the correct sounds.” ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com • 67 (С xbox 360: ЙМ hardware SERVICES What you'll see when you hit that fat button on your controller... Xbox Gamer Guide Hit the Guide button to access a world of new features. Here’s just a sampling. That's you in the picture. (Yes, you're a smilin’ Asian fella.) The Xbox 360 will come preloaded with several gamer tiles (icons) from which to choose, or you can import your own picture here. Control your custom soundtrack from here, whether it's music on your 360's hard drive or tunes streaming in from an MP3 player or a networked PC. This shows which player hit his Xbox Guide button to open up this screen. Y Burning Sky Rep ус; = n 2500 ч Ё Zone Pro = Messages 3 © Friends Marketplace Voice Chat | 4 o! 5 zl 3 а m 2 Visit the Project Gotham Racing 3 garage and check out the new spoilers and rims available for your favorite Normally, the game you were playing before you hit the Guide button would be in this window, not Ms. Dark from Perfect Dark Zero here. This whole thing you're Xbox Live On this screen, you can check your friends list and send messages and invites. Note your, or rather, Burning Sky's gamer card in the upper left corner. His rep is based on feedback other gamers have left for him; gamerscore we'll get to in a bit; and zone is what category of gamer he considers himself (for example: pro zone for hardcore types, family zone for G-rated gamers, or underground zone for jerks who can't stop f'in around). All looking at is just the abbreviated Xbox Gamer Guide. From here, you can get to the full Xbox System Guide to access Xbox Live, the marketplace, and more. of these combine to match the most compatible players together for a better online-gaming experience. Gamerscore, by the way, shows just how serious a gamer you are. You earn points by playing games and completing accomplishments. What accomplish- ments? That’s up to the individual games, but all 360 titles will have the same num- ber of points to offer up. Some points will be easier to get than others... music on your PC except for the protected songs purchased from Apple's iTunes Music Store. (“We've approached Apple,” says Henshaw, “but they are not interested.") A home network too complicated for you? Just plug your portable digital-music player straight into the Xbox 360 to stream the tunes directly. And Microsoft says this method will work with Apple's iPod. You'll also be able to bring in your digital pictures from your Windows XP PC via your home network. Again, if that's too much work, the 360 offers simpler solutions. You can plug a digital camera directly into the 360 and download the files via the USB 2.0 port, or you can get the Xbox Camera, which acts like the PS2 EyeToy, only it takes sharp, high-resolution images and can be used for 68 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com online video chats or video messaging. Once you get those pictures into your 360, the in- game world’s the limit: Map your ugly mug onto characters, put a logo on a T-shirt or car, or create whatever icon you'd like to represent yourself to other gamers online. Just try to keep it PG-rated, OK? At about 2 million subscribers, Microsoft's online service, Xbox Live, is just a small club of avid (and sometimes a-hole) gamers when compared to the 20 million people who own Xboxes. But most of those 2 mil- lion members will tell you that this club is worth not only the $50 a year they're paying for it, but the thousands and thousands of hours of fightin’, shootin’, racin’, puzzlin’, and ball-throwin’ gameplay invested in Live gaming so far. This stellar service can't be beat, and it’s about to get a whole lot better. Noticed how we called some of those Live gamers a-holes? That's because online gaming tends to bring out the most аппоу- ing, racist, sexist, backwoods, cheating jackasses in society. But in the 360 genera- tion, you should see a lot less of them. Matchmaking will be much more refined: For example, if you're playing with JerkStore007 and he's mouthing off throughout the game, just leave negative feedback on his profile, and Xbox Live will not pair you with him for future skirmishes. If you like that dirty talk, however, you can give him positive feedback to bump up your chances of getting matched up with him in the future—and you don't even have to add him to your friends list for that. The Live community will also be divided into general zones and skill levels, so theoretically, you'll be playing mostly with like-minded and similarly skilled gamers when you're not playing with friends. If this all works like it's supposed to, hallelujah. Live gamers will also see microtransac- tions in their online world. These are small purchases you can make with real-world money to enhance something in your virtual world, such as new car models for driving games, new clothes for characters, or... well, just about anything you can imagine that could customize your game-playing experi- ence. "Fable [2] will sell tattoos in the [Xbox Live] marketplace for 50 cents apiece,” HIS IS MY CAR. In Forza Motorsport™ it’s all about you and your car. Over 200 of the sickest racing machines imaginable. Infinite ways to customize them. The tools to tune them to perfection. The power to take on the world on Xbox Live™ And the chance to show the competition what the back of your car looks like. Because in this world, EVERYONE ET CONTENT RATED BY Ferrari Гоа сонно ос xbox 360: hardware LIVE...FROM У If you have broadband, you're automatically an Xbox Live customer on the Xbox 360. Just plug in to access the basic-services-only Xbox Live Silver for free (minus anything you end up buying). If you want to play most multiplayer games, however, you'll have to pay the standard $50 a year for Xbox Live Gold, which is basically what Xbox Live is now with additional features. And good news for current Live subscribers: Your member- ship carries through to the 360, so you can keep your same account and gamertag. CREATE AN ONLINE ID (GAMERTAG) FRIENDS LIST SEND AND RECEIVE TEXT/VOICE MESSAGES VIDEO CHAT DOWNLOAD FREE OR PAID CONTENT EARLY ACCESS TO DOWN- LOADABLE CONTENT ACCESS TO MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER GAMES (ADDITIONAL SUBSCRIP- TION FEES MAY APPLY) PLAY MULTIPLAYER GAMES ONLINE OVER LIVE RUMOR CONTROL YOU CAN'T ALWAYS BELIEVE WHAT YOU READ ON THE INTERNETS Pricing: No official price yet, but one analyst we talked to predicts $349. Backwards compatibility: Nope. The Xbox 360 won't be playing Xbox 1 games. And that includes the rumored 360-optimized version of Halo 2 that people are speculating will come pre- installed on the new console. > Henshaw offers as an example. “So you can really deck your characters out exactly the way you want to deck them out, without spending an arm and a leg." It's an interesting concept, sure, but a dangerous one. What if developers start pulling bits and pieces of content from their games so they can sell them to you later online? Why just make $50 selling one game when you can make $50 plus several 50-cent microtransactions? Microsoft seems to think the market will stay bal- anced on its own: "[Maybe] the community will come back and say 'not interested' and won't buy the game," says Cam Ferroni, general manager for the Xbox platform. “1 think the market will dictate how far this will go. There will be a couple of mistakes along the way; there will be a couple of 70 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com Bundles: Microsoft is only producing one standard package (with 20GB hard drive) for launch, unless retailers make a stink and ask for different configurations. TiVo/WebTV 360: Xbox 360 will not have TiVo-like video-recording capabilities. Microsoft, however, could not rule out Web browsing on the console. revolutions along the way as well." Even gamers can get a piece of the action (hey, 50 cents is 50 cents). Eventually, Microsoft envisions part of the Xbox Live marketplace being run by the gaming community itself, where creative types can design something on a computer, upload it to Live, then sell it to other users (Microsoft is considering taking a small fee for these transactions, eBay style). "You know, the notion of users being able to create their own custom paint jobs for cars,” says Henshaw, “and take them online and sell them to other users...I get excited about the viral community contributions. | think game publishers do a great job of building great downloadable content, but it'll really get good when [gamers] are able to do it themselves.” Premature evaluation Talk to any of the Microsoft executives and you can really feel a sense of readiness on their part: They're ready to unleash the Xbox 360, and they're ready for a full-scale console war with their biggest competitors, Sony and Nintendo. But are gamers ready? Look at an Xbox game like Splinter Cell Chaos Theory and tell us if you really need better graphics right now. See what devel- oper Bungie has done with stat tracking and rankings for Halo 2 and ask yourself whether you're tired yet of what the Xbox can offer. Seems to us there's still plenty of potential left in the big system. Plus, Microsoft's going after the online and high-definition crowd. According to Nielsen//NetRatings, little more than half of the United States is on broadband, and the З This top view of the Xbox 360 almost makes it look like a microphone. Or a sex toy. Whatever turns you on. Consumer Electronics Association says only around 10 percent of Americans own high- definition TVs. Sure, those numbers will grow in time, but it's still not exactly the biggest market Microsoft can go after (that would be Sony's target audience: everyone). Is the Xbox 360 coming out too soon? "Ultimately gamers will be the judge of that," says Bach when presented with that exact question. "When people see the 360, they're either gonna say it's a big leap ahead—or it's not. If we don't produce a great gaming experience, it won't matter if we ship it in '05, '06, '07, or '08. If it doesn't have a next-generation game experience, people won't buy it." This fall, gamers will get to make that decision for themselves. Ready or not, the Xbox 360 is coming. +% FREEVIBE. Com сэ r PERFECT \у | alfway up his forehead, Senior Designer Duncan | | Botwood traces a line. | | “My hairline used to be LJ here,” he says flatly. What's he have to worry about? Maybe it's the stress of making a new multimil- lion-dollar first-person shooter, Perfect Dark Zero. Maybe it’s the challenge of making that game for a system, the Xbox 360, that 72 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com епсус Xbox 360 shooter. Heres what we learned, from A to A lanadia JWGULGA U ledge m doesn't exist yet. Maybe it's the pressure of making that long-awaited game, for that nonexistent system, in time to debut along- side it this fall. Maybe it's all of the above, and the widely held belief that Perfect Dark Zero can't just be good, can't just be great—it has to be The Killer App, a must- play title so essential that gamers will buy the Xbox 360 just to have it. But then Botwood smiles, and another possibility crops up: Maybe he's just kid- ding. Truth is, the thirty-something Brit seems completely at ease, almost eerily relaxed only a month before his game's public debut at the E3 videogame trade show in May. "If we can just make sure we give them the best game we can make,” he says, “then | think we've done our job.” Cool as a cucumber in a snow- storm—hard to believe this is a guy cop- ing with the stress of making a game this important, with a can’t-miss ship date in roughly six months. Which flips our earlier question on its head: Why isn’the tearing at his scalp? The answer: Underneath that scalp is one of the big, beautiful brains at developer Rare Ltd. responsible for two of the best- selling shooters of all time—GoldenEye and Perfect Dark, both for the Nintendo 64. (The fact that Rare is housed in a plush custom- built studio in the middle of the picturesque English countryside also might account for some of the general serenity.) "I've been making shooters for 10 years,” Botwood Says, “so I've got a pretty good idea of what does and doesn't work in regards to our approach to [the genre]. That makes my job a little easier—1 can focus on get- ting the new things working." Which is good, because Perfect Dark Zero brings plenty of "new things" to the crowded genre: a 50-plus player limit, maps that can expand to accommodate that huge number or shrink down small enough for a 1-on-1 fight, innovative new evasive moves like a quick roll and corner lean, and an expansive spectator mode, just to name a few. Add that to everything Zero carries over from its N64 predecessor— gadgets, computer-controlled bot oppo- nents, at least two ways to fire every gun— and what it borrows from the other great shooters of our time—vehicles, online ranking, and matchmaking features from Halo; and modes, options, and other bits from Counter-Strike and Rainbow Six—and you've got a project so ambitious you've already read 500 words about it and we’ve barely scratched the surface. So much to learn, so much to see—how the hell will you ever take it all in?! Relax. Deep breaths. Over the next six pages you'll find everything we discovered during demos, interviews, and hands-on play time in our visit to Rare, all organized and broken down into bite-sized chunks from A to Z. So sit back, relax, and take it all in at your own pace. And don’t worry so much; your hair will fall out. > ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY » www.1UP.com • 73 Every weapon in Perfect Dark Zero has a secondary function you can activate with the new L shoulder button (the В trigger being “shoot,” as usual). Depending on the gun, you might screw on a silencer, launch a grenade, activate stealth camouflage, or turn your and that's just for starters. "We've got some really different secondary [attacks] we haven't talked about yet that you 74 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com. weapon into a stand-alone sentry turret— Alternate Fire haven't seen in any other game,” says Director Chris Tilston with a widening grin, “which are cool as well.” Believe it or not, Some weapons even have a third ability—a special visual filter that makes enemies stand out or a beam that can reprogram those sentry turrets to work for your team, for example. And with 28 total weapons (see W), that’s опе hell of a lot of options. Bots computer-controlled multiplayer combat- 9 good bot against all of you. Ог have your ants, with three adjustable skill levels in PDZ. Though you can use them for their typical offline purposes (to help you learn maps and practice modes or act as friends for you poor saps without broadband), bots also have more interesting uses online in Zero, as Designer Botwood explains. “You could play with your friends against a team of bots,” he says. “Or have one really, really friends hold out against a massive team of bots.” Best of all, these bots when they aren’t wanted; you can set each so that it ducks out as soon as a real live play- er joins your game. Botwood also says there will be some way to give bot teammates simple orders, but he wasn't ready to explain exactly how just yet. ТОШКЕНТ GONNASDIE: Pre-Order the game at these retailers and get the cult classic Plan 9 From Outer Space Limited Edition DVD FREE when you pick up the game!* GAMES electronics boutique" * Deposit for game required, see your retailer for details. While Supplies Last. language Sexual Themes E РТС RM р Violence © 2005 THO Inc. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Pandemic Studios, LLC. Pandemic® and the Pandemic logo® are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Pandemic Studios, LLC and are reproduced under license only. THQ, Destroy All Humans and their respective logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc. All ДР reserved. “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox 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. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners, | Communication | As anyone who’s ever captured a flag in Halo 2 can tell you, voice chat between squadmates is what makes team games so thrilling. But, as anyone who's ever been called a “dog-$#%ing, #$%, @#$%-sucker” in Halo 2 (and really, who hasn't?) can tell you, voice chat with nearby members of the other team isn't always such a great thing. “A certain group of gamers enjoys smack-talking,” says Program Manager Richard Cousins, “but the majority of people don’t. So we decided not to do [proximity voice chat]." Besides, with teams of 25 or more play- ers, the airwaves will be quite hectic enough already. To help, Zero allows for different chat channels within your team—separate channels for offense and defense, for example, or a channel for just your friends. Annoying players that Still manage to buzz in your ear can always be muted or kicked, of course. D жыйы. or dark ops, Zero's two very different ‘multiplayer modes, each with six variants (called sce- narios). Deathmatch is the relatively fast- action style we're all most familiar with from games like GoldenEye and Halo. It includes killcount (what we all usually call deathmatch—con- fused yet?), team killcount, capture the flag, and a few others Rare wouldn't talk about just yet. All of dark ops’ six scenarios are under wraps as well, but from what we learned, ‘the mode sounds more like Rainbow Six or Counter-Strike: Every game is broken up into rounds, with each player granted just one single life. Everyone buys equipment before each round—guns, gadgets (see б), vehicles (see V)—and sets out to kill the other team. "It's more of a slower-paced game,” says Designer Botwood. “In deathmatch ` you can go in guns blazing, but if you try that in dark ops, you'll get cut down pretty quickly.” Which leads us to.... > ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com • 75 xbox 360: ' perfect dark zero vasive actions, our term for two different tactical maneuvers that really set Zero's multi- player game apart: the combat roll and taking cover. A roll is a somersault in any direction—forward, backward, or to either side— you can pull off at any time by moving the analog stick and pressing the R shoulder button. The camera pulls back to show your character flipping over on the ground, before zooming back into first person. This seemingly simple little stunt has com- Аў! adgets are pretty much exactly what they sound like—clever little James Bond-style spy doohickeys. A few examples in Zero: The data thief speeds up the hacking of objects (like turrets or spawn spots) to take them over for your team, the medkit is a one-shot instant resurrection for a dead teammate, the lockbox can hot-wire enemy vehicles, an explosives kit will destroy certain walls to open up new paths into a base or through a level. Some of these gadgets are for the single- player game, but even more will be available in dark ops mode, which puts a whole differ- ent spin on multiplayer. “[When] you can buy gadgets,” says Designer Botwood, “you can tactically organize your team by what role they play. [Like a medical team carrying medkits, or a demolition squad toting explosives]. It puts a greater emphasis on teamwork.” 76 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY » www.1UP.com plex gameplay implications, as Botwood explains. “Since a head age [if you're hit midroll], so if you're doing it all the time, you'll be very, very view, this time allowing you to aim your reticle (a bit) over the obstacle or shot is more powerful than a body shot, vulnerable." around the corner you're hidden behind. suddenly changing your head height Taking cover is similarly Press fire and your character will pop [with the roll] is an important tactic,” he simple: get close to anything out and start shooting, ducking back as says. “Also, you can change your trajec- you could hide behind soon as you let off the R trigger. “The tory slightly [by pushing on the thumb- (benches, balconies, cover move is great,” says Tilston. stick midroll], so they won't necessarily columns) or nearly any “It allows you to see around know where to expect you to [pop up]. square corner and an “A” corners. But it also ties you And it breaks the autoaim, which isuse- icon appears, letting you to a location, at least tem- ful in long-range gunfights.” So why not just roll everywhere? “You can’t fire while you're doing it,” responds Director know you can press that button to duck or lean against cover. Once again, the porarily. And you're a sitting duck for someone coming from the other direc- tion, so you have to use it with care and Chris Tilston, "and you take more dam- camera moves back for a third-person know when it's time to quit and run." eedback, the reason Rare released this art of main its game before release, à la Halo 2 heroine Joanna Dark (left) years ago was (which was given out to about 8,000 to get this from fans. Since the reaction Microsoft employees), it'll be relying on was mixed, the company decided to keep — its own experience and Microsoft's 100- the stylized look but dial it back a bit, as plus testers (its largest team to date) to ‚ you can see from Jo 2.0 (right). balance and refine Zero. With so many Speaking of feedback, since Rare won't maps, modes, vehicles, and have the luxury of a wide audience to test ^ weapons...well, we wish them luck. W Not a girl, not yet a woman: the new Joanna Dark. ealth system Zero’s is quite unique. Every player has health and armor; some guns take off both at once, others armor first, then health. Initially most damage (or all of it from falls or melee attacks) is “shock damage”—you'll get it back auto- matically as long as you don’t take too much and provided you stay out of harm’s way for a bit. But take enough damage quickly and your health bar lowers permanently. That's right: Armor can be replaced but not health. The idea is to level the playing field between the average player and the superelites. Since no one can ever be fully healed, even the best players will Wait, actually, don’t. As in GoldenEye and Perfect Dark, there's no jump button in Zero. Run up to a short ledge and, after a brief pause, your char- acter will simply climb up. A bit surprising in this day and age, but Rare claims the evasive actions and duck move fill the jump's purpose (throwing off nsults Zero will dole them out (ї.е., “EGM Shoe has died 10 times in a row without a kill!”), along with praise for special multiplayer achieve- ments, a la Halo 2. succumb eventually, hopefully limiting the guys who never die in other games and lead every- one by 50 kills from the start. enemy aiming) just fine, without all the ridiculous bouncing about. > “> RR (7, RS J | r JZ) " | 4 А z | i КС, Use of Alcohol Violence 0 ynasty Warriors andthe KOEI logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of KOEI Co, Ltd. ©2005 KOEI Со, Ltd. Al rights reserved. "PlayStation a Produced by П0рогвуј and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software. Force Association, “Dolby, Pro Logic” and the double-D symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratorios. Manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories. oe Аа : 11 | | |! fe! L L OK, now that's what we're talkin" about. Rare is working on t but almost anyone. Imagine learning. tactics by finding the top dark ops player on the game's built-in leader- board and watching him play live. Though it seems to open some doors for cheating, the idea is one of the most exciting we've heard of since Halo Z's stat tracking. whe D 00S6—not just other gamers on your friends list, я “How the hell do those *CLAN187* | guys do it?" Find out for yourself by |F watching them on Kill TV. I We'd guesstimate what you see here is only maybe...1/12th or so of the desert level in the version of Zero we played. | weaponless attacks. Lose | your gun, run out of ammo, | or push up on the D-pad at | any time to put up your | dukes—in this mode, it's the L trigger for a left- handed punch and R for a right-handed one. But even more deliciously humiliat- ing than punching someone to death? Using your fists’ alternate fire to grab ur opponent’s and then killing him with it. 78 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com the system that Zero originally “We reached some barriers [developing Zero on the Cube], says Designer Botwood, “because it wasn’t really online. We felt we'd done just about everything offline we could with the N64 Perfect Dark, so it was frustrating. Along came the. Xbox," he says, "but we couldn't take the same game [we began its life on many years ago. fus. designed] for four-player splitscreen and make it work for 16 [online], so there was a kind of redesign there. We there. But the [graphics] weren’t—the machine wasn’t powerful enough.” Then the 360 rolled in and, well, you can fig- ure out the rest. First the bad news: Only six are promised for multiplayer. But now the good news: ber of players те m For an eight-player deathmatch on the desert level, for example, the level may be Closed off to just a small city and the sur- rounding dunes—a good size in itself, But up the count to 50-plus players and the level more than quadruples in scale, includ- ing expansive canyons, an entire upper cliff area, and scale miles of paths connecting it all. The to show their team- mates where they are on the pop-up map. not, some people who enjoy multi- player shoot- ers don’t have broadband Internet connections. Savages! Zero has mercy on these poor souls with Split: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | I Take college courses on board. Atle y ү : seeing the world and getting the experiences*of atime: n А learning program. Check out the Life Accelerator © 2004. Paid for by the U.S. Navy. All rights reserved | uestions, we still have a few. Like how | good is the A.l. in the single- player game? Hell, how is adar, anything in the single-player a little circle in the upper right of Zero's screen layers, game? What are the other 20 that detects bad guys and gives you a rough out- one for single player, two to four for splitscreen, and 50- or so weapons we haven't line of your surroundings. Well, sort of. “It’s plus (Rare is shooting for 64) online. And although seen like? Or the other four not precisely a radar, it’s not pre- | nothing is confirmed, we have a sneak- multiplayer levels, two vehi- cisely a map, it’s not p | ing suspicion other multiplayer options cles, six dark ops scenarios, threat sensor,” s: says Designer | are in the works. “We think the idea of and all the gadgets? How Botwood. “It’s all of these.” Enemies co-op over Xbox Live is a very attractive smoothly will the final game show up whenever they use a weapon, but even- Опе,” Designer Botwood says coyly. “We were certain- run? Will Rare and tually disappear based on how loud or powerful ly interested to hear Bungie had it planned for Halo Microsoft be able to the gun they shot is (generally, the louder or 2..it'S something we're very interested in.” Other effectively balance more powerful the weapon, the longer they'll sources have hinted that Zero may have new kinds of and bug test such a stay visible). This not only makes silenced and co-op play, possibly including more than two players or huge and wildly weaker weapons more valuable but also creates a mode in which опе guy can play as the enemy... _ ambitious game? another set of skills for players to master; just by E ESI "reading" this radar, seasoned Zero soldiers may tell not only where their enemy is, but what kind шен эшш of weapon he is carrying. - ingle player Though we were invited to Rare to discuss Zero’s multiplayer game and nothing else, we couldn’t help but ask about the solo cam- paign. We knew it takes place in 2019, four years before the N64 Perfect Dark, telling the Story of how Joanna Dark was recruited and became a secret agent (and something to do with her father), but in terms of gameplay, just what will set the game apart? Director Tilston’s answer is understandably vague, but interesting nonetheless. “Replayability...tap- ping each level any way you want їо do it, sort | = ~ of changing it. It’s tied into the gadgets as | well, So there’s tons of replay B Me, Beats not Lara and io, A ^ " that’s not a tomb—that's about ithin a single level...it's | Eco jpeg st like you can play it in an | eU ae ely different way each time." . Green = Good = Don't shoot. Red = Bad = KILL! KILL! KILL! Any questions? hat’s bull#$%@!!” 1. Often exclaimed by those accidentally killed online by their teammates. Zero attempts to minimize this problem by sticking toal universal cotor codo: E Ev sees their friends (and f vehicles) as green and their ene- mies as red. Look closer and you can still tell someone’s team by his player model. 2. Frequently heard by those killed immedi- ately after spawning. A small chamber filled with armor and weapons before you re-enter the level will hopefully limit this expression to special occasions. 80 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com Under- 28 different types, all of which take one (pistols), two (rifles), or 4 three (rocket launcher, giant guns) 1 of your four-available inventory 3 H slots. When you create a death- ~ match game, you can choose from several premade weapon sets (the | group of five guns that will be available on the level) or create your own custom list. In the / | match, you reload by picking up à * generic ammo (pistol bullets, rifle T" by these screenshots? Or maybe you're impressed? Either way, Rare was quick to remind us that the version of Zero you see here is far from final; since the Xbox 360 hardware has yet to be manufac- tured, the game currently runs on a tem- porary and far less powerful development system. “This is a work in progress,” says Program Manager Richard Cousins. “This is not the final look of the game. You want to take what you see with a grain of salt.” come in three flavors: jetpacks (one man with a mounted machine-gun), motorcycles (one dri- ver and a rear gunner), and hovercraft (one dri- ver and "as many as can fit on the back," with a harpoon gun in there somewhere). Vehicles can take damage and will work only for one team but can be repaired or hot-wired—taken over by another team—by standing nearby and holding down the A button. bullets, grenades, etc.) that'll work with anything in its class of weaponry. Other details: Every gun’s reticle starts off small and precise, becoming larger and less accurate as you continue to fire. Also, you need to watch your ammo count and stop shoot- ing to reload—it’s not automatic when you run out of bullets, as in many other shooters. Wl Now you see me, now you really see me: The shockwave rifle's alternate fire mode lets you see through walls. X box Live Rare has plans for an extensive list of online options: a refined version of Halo 2’s ranking system to more accurately pit players and teams against opponents of similar skill, letting friends form squads—like Halo 2's parties—that can move from game to game together, both an automatic match-finding function and one that lets you choose games based on a specific list of criteria, and finally, plans for extra downloadable content down the line. = = not allow players to map their own faces on their characters? After all, that was the plan with the original Perfect Dark, and the Xbox 360 will have a digital video camera peripheral. “There are issues with content, and there are issues with the whole attitude toward shooters,” says Botwood, no doubt referencing how often the genre gets mixed up into media stories about troubled youth. “Besides,” he deadpans, “I have absolutely ho desire to see testicles run- ning around.” ero, the ambitious Perfect Dark first-person shooter that Rare and Microsoft are count- ing on to convince you that you need an Xbox 360 come this fall. Are their hopes justified? (See A-Y.) xh ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com • 81 xbox 360 previews Are we blown away? Read on to find out... * = = Full Auto’s on-the-hood view gives a sweet view of the carnage. 82 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www a^ The Basics: "First and foremost, this is a racing game," admits Full Auto Lead Designer William Ho. “But we figured out how to take racing games to the next level—by letting players destroy every- thing.” And after blowing up several city blocks worth of prime real estate in his new racer, we see precisely what he means. Although the core gameplay fea- tures eight cars careening their way through roped-off urban circuits, a siz- able and deadly arsenal makes that dash for the finish line a lot more apocalyptic. __All of the game's 20-plus cars come “FULL AUTO 1 i with factory-installed standard-issue machine guns, and you're able to further customize your ride with missiles, grenade launchers, oil slicks, and various other implements of destruction. An enforced cease-fire keeps the first 10 seconds of each race pure, but once the lead starts flying, the true nature of Full Auto erupts—cars barrel through coffee shops, sending shattered glass, broken furniture, and flaming rubble into the way of oncoming traffic. Then, two sec- onds later, someone shoots a propane tank...that explodes and launches itself Hands-on Chaos ш Full Auto’s 20-plus cars aren’t real-life mod- els, but there's still something for everyone— classic muscle cars, European coupes, low rid- "Publisher: Sega Developer: Pseudo Release Date: Fall 2005 at an oil tanker...which smashes into а gas station, causing a hellishly huge explosion that takes out half of the com- petition, not to mention the commuter train passing nearby. Or alternately, maybe none of this Craziness occurs. Rather than filling the game with pre-scripted events, the developers at Pseudo instead peppered the game with set pieces—some obvi- ous, others very vague—that can trigger obscenely destructive consequences. It’s purely up to chance (and the game’s incredibly realistic physics engine) ers, even a roadster for the ZZ Top crowd. whether or not these pyrotechnic events take place. “You will never see the same thing twice,” says Ho. “This game will never be boring: You'll always find some- thing new and destroy things in.a new. way, every time you play." The developers promise at least 30 tracks, all set in different sections of the same massive, fictional city. “We don’t want to restrict gameplay to a city grid,” Ho explains. "You'll get dirt, sand, water, mud, switchbacks, and off-road sections: You can drive your car between trees in forested city-park sections, kind of like > Diving directly into the world of Full Auto feels slightly over- whelming at first—steering, boosting, aiming, shooting, brak- ing, and unwrecking (turn the page for the scoop on this neat feature) threatens to overload your senses with chaotic com- plexity. Once you acclimate to the intensity, though, it's awfully addictive. So much of the world can be obliterated, whether to reveal shortcuts or impede your foes’ progress, that it feels almost like a first-person shooter and a racer at the same time. Who would have thought to mix Burnout and Halo? И Take that, outrageous gas prices! т Hmm...what will happen if | fire... ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • v.1UP.com • 83 xbox 360: previews > the speeder-bike scene in Return of the Jedi.” And all that scenery provides more than just a lovely backdrop—everything can be shot, and destruction is conta- gious: Destroy a building and watch as the power lines warp and sway, sending electrical poles crashing on your foes. The 360 Factor: The visuals clearly sport a level of detail beyond that of current- gen games, but Full Auto's most arrest- ing aspects focus on gameplay and physics. “I think it’s impossible for this game to exist on current-gen systems,” says Ho. “In fact, we're already pushing up against the limits of the new hard- ware with our realistic physics and destruction...our replays are bigger than the entire PlayStation 2 memory.” And all | Pseudo Who? Canadian developer Pseudo started developing Full Auto as a PC game eight years ago but scrapped it in favor of Cel Damage (a cartoony vehicular combat game published by EA for Xbox and GameCube). Its fol- lowing project, a PS2 reinterpretation of the Genesis classic Vectorman, was quietly canceled last year. Luckily, all that hard work wasn’t lost. “We ripped off Vectormar's missile launcher and strapped it onto a car," laughs Full Auto producer Cord Smith. 84 » ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com this destruction isn’t just pretty, it’s fun, too—watching buildings and cars explode, crumble, and warp provides a gleefully sadistic rush. “It’s the physics that drives everything: That’s what makes something that’s falling, explod- ing, rolling, or breaking apart really con- vincing,” says Ho. “Previously, all of that would have to be canned, scripted, or done by an artist, but now, we can just say apply these physical properties to this object and it does it.” Full Auto will also offer all the new- fangled Xbox Live features that Microsoft is currently trumpeting: organized tour- naments (both races and arena combat), player-versus-player wagering, and microtransactions (you'll be able to buy new tracks, weapons, and cars). Is It Next-Gen Enough?: Overall, we're impressed with the full package. Full Auto feels remarkably new and fresh, and it’s not just a glossy graphical sheen that sets it apart from the racing-game pack. “We’re not so cocky as to say we're better than Burnout or Twisted Metal, but we're different,” explains Producer Cord Smith. “It’s a unique dri- ving fantasy, different than anything on the market.” —Shane Bettenhausen > Un-Wreck If you’re on the receiving end of Full Auto's cataclysmic accidents, you can “Un-Wreck” to reverse time. This Prince of Persia-inspired effect hap- pens at the touch of a button, and your meter fills up based on perfor- mance. “We wanted to prevent the cycle of getting frustrated with a racer, hitting pause, and starting over,” says Lead Designer William Ho. | TRADE YOUR USED GAMES, SYSTEMS, ACCESSORIES, DVD MOVIES, AND MUSIC CD'S m GASH s STORE CREDIT, EB GAMES! Get 20% off any one Pre-Played Game, GAME: S 3 Accessory, DVD Movie, or Music CD electronics boutique when you present this coupon! mmn We take games seriously " TEST DRIVE U! s: Remember the last Test Drive game, Eve of Destruction, the one about toothless rednecks racing around dirt tracks? Thankfully, this one isn’t like that. Unlimited returns to the series’ supercar roots, with serious exotica like AMG-tuned Mercs, the Lamborghini Murcielago, the McLaren SLR, and even sports bikes. And the racing takes place on crowded public roads, so you'll have to dodge SUV-driving 5: This slash-and-shoot action game has already been dubbed “the Xbox 360’s God of War” by its handlers...and it’s still nearly two years away. Maybe they’re right: “Тоо Human will immerse players in battles between cybernetic gods, machine giants, and mortal men on a scale never before seen,” says Producer Denis Dyack. “As the god Balder, play- ers will explore the mythical setting in a long-forgotten futuristic past and engage in sweeping, epic battles while TAM m You'll race across thousands of miles of open road.,.though hopefully, not | from this angle. soccer moms en route to breaking the ‘sound barrier. Тї F Expect Unlimited to look pretty hot. “The [graphics] are closer to current-generation prerendered sequences,” says Stéphane Baudet, head of developer Eden Games. And the hotness will extend to the Xbox Live Gold online features; “We are pushing online function- Publisher: Atari Developer: Eden Games Release Date: Fall 2005. ) | ality even further than most next-genera- tion Xbox games,” says Baudet. “We are providing a notion of world persistency where players can trade their online belongings. Unlimited also [supports] downloads of additional Xbox Live content such as new vehicles, game modes, and competitions. But our most anticipated features will be real-time radio streams and a spectator mode, which allows the Publisher: Microsoft Developer: Silicon Knights Release Date: Fall 2006 being immersed in oceans of orga- | nized enemies.” Oh, and did we men- tion this is part one of a planned trilo- gy? Talk about ambitious... e 360 tor: Dazzling graphics are a given, but the addition of Xbox Live co-op play comes as a pleasant | surprise. s It Next-Gen Enough? Hopefully. The 360 could use a top-notch original | series... —Shane Bettenhausen | 86 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com entire game community to watch the offi- cial weekly competitions.” Is It Next-Gen Enough? Depends on what you expect from a next-gen racer. If you want it to look as good as these screen- shots and have a ton of online options, yes. If you want it to redefine the concept of dri- ving by letting you race while it fixes you dinner, probably no. — Demian Linn е Concrete details on this title arent redefine “sketchy.” Seriously, we don’t have much to go on, other than this impressive screenshot. We know that renowned producer Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Rez, Lumines) is overseeing the project and that it's being programmed by the folks at Korean developer Phantagram ` (Kingdom Under Fire). Nights appears to be a Dynasty Warriors-esque brawler...but looks can be deceiving. Knowing Mizuguchi's résumé, this could be a wartime rhythm-action game. Publisher: Microsoft Developer: Q!/Phantagram Release Date: Fall 2005 tor: Much like the 360 ver- dn of Kameo, 99 Nights assaults the senses with a terrifying number of onscreen characters. Though, you gotta wonder if combat might get a little boring after you've vanquished grunt No. 8,402. Is It Next-Gen Enough? The slick visu- als and approachable subject matter should make it a hit...but fans of Mizuguchi's artsier games might cry. “sellout.” —Shane Bettenhausen NEW ALLIES, NEW ENEMIES, NEW WEAPONS! — (7 com Features over 50 FE For 1-2 players ificluding Choose your allegiance — Play Mobile Suits! Р vs. 2 team battles. as a member of the AEUB, Titans, Federation or Zeon! www. BANDAIGAMES.-COM www. HUNDAMIDFFICIAL. COM BAN DAI es, drawings and gistered trademark ѕосіайоп, ta Language PlayStation. © 1979-2005 SOTSU AGENCY, SUNRISE. TM SOTSU. © 2004-2005 Bandai other images contained in this product are the exclusive property of Sotsu A of Bandai. All Rights Reserved. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are г 104-2005 CAPCOM CO., LTD. GUNDAM, ZETA GUNDAM, MOBILE SUIT and all related characters, names, logos, distinctive liken and Sunrise Inc. Published and distributed by Bandai Games Inc. Used under license by Bandai Games Inc. BANDAI logo is a red trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software xbox 360: previews | NEED FOR SPEED: Œ We can't wait to race оп this Gary, Indiana track. Publisher: EA Games Developer: EA Canada Release Date: Fall 2005 MOST WANTED The Basics: Most Wanted pinches the open city and deep car customization of the best-selling Need for Speed: Underground series, adds the smokeys-and-bandits cop. chases from previous NFS incarnation Hot Pursuit, and puts it all online. As your racer becomes more and more wanted by the coffee-spilling doughnut-eaters, you'll inch higher on the “blacklist” of most notorious drivers. Which, presumably, tops out at “Duke brothers.” The 360 Factor: Well, so far you’ve got your really nice graphics and your beefed- up online features, although the game’s producer, Michael Mann, is playing coy on that front: “It’s still early to confirm any- thing, but | can share with you that we are looking at how we can enhance the expe- rience for the Xbox 360 and that core mechanics like the blacklist and reputa- tion will be part of the online experience.” Huh. You do that, and don’t forget to let us play as cops, too. Though we haven't seen the game in motion yet, it's clear that the cars them- selves look almost photo-realistic, thanks, mainly, to a technique Mann calls "laser scanning." “A laser wand is scanned over > the car to provide geometry and surface textures of the vehicle,” explains Mann, “which generates amazing detail, like flecks in the paint. And yes—you can see the paint flecks on the in-game cars.” Is It Next-Gen Enough? We reserve the right to be surprised, but considering that Most Wanted is also coming to current- gen platforms, it seems very likely that the Xbox 360 version will be distinguished by its graphics more than anything else. If those graphics are prettying up an other- wise excellent racing game, then it may well be enough. —Demian Linn > : ic 1 sa? p 88 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com "ALSO ONTHE XBOX 360 | We've seen only a fraction of the games slated for release on I Microsoft's new box...here's a | glimpse of what's to come. Available at-launch: | Dead or Alive 4 * Tecmo After seeing what DOA developer Team Ninja squeezed out of the original Xbox, we're scared by how lovely this fighter should look. Gears of War Microsoft | The guys behind the Unreal fran- chise unleash an original third-per- son squad-based shooter set in a bombed-out metropolis. Project Gotham | Racing 3 • Microsoft Although the console surely isn’t hurting for racers, Microsoft dishes up another entry in its long-running urban driving series. In the works: Amped 3 © 2K Games I The Darkness * Majesco | Dark Sector * Digital Extremes Duke Nukem Forever * 2K Games | Fable 2 * Microsoft Forza Motorsport 2 • Microsoft The Godfather * EA Games Scarface • VU Games Splinter Cell 4 • Ubisoft Stranglehold • Midway Taxi Driver • 2K Games Tomb Raider: Legend * Eidos Unreal Champ. 2007 * Midway Heavily rumored: Halo 3 * Microsoft Indiana Jones • LucasArts Mercenaries 2 * LucasArts | Ninja Gaiden 2 • Тесто True Fantasy Live Online • | Microsoft ‘excellent use of ragdoll physics. Nothing i is more satisfying than chucking c a. stick of dynamite and watching the bodies fly." Adam Pavlacka 7 Hardcore Gamer Magazine — — _ [ТАП -— COMING FALL 2005! ESRB CONTENT RATING — www.esrb.org Darkwatch"™ ©2005 High Moon Studios, Inc. Darkwatch and all related trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of High Moon Studios, Inc. The ralings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Associalion. "Havok" and the "buzz saw" logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Havok.com Inc (or its licensors). ® xbox 360: A previews W Original concept art for the Kong flick by Jackson's special effects house, WETA. GHOST SQUAD E E The snazzy picture-in- picture updates keep you abreast of team ops. MEET DEATH, JR. NUMBER ONE SON OF THE GRIM REAPER HIMSELF. ARMED WITH HIS TRUSTY SCYTHE, HE'S OUT TO PROVE HE'S A REAL BONE CHP OFF THE AD BLocK, BUT HELL NEED HIS FRIENDS HELP To DELIVER TRE WORLD FROM ANIL... AND HINGELF Fron A ONE-WAY TICKET Blood and Gore BACKBONE wie | pc ПЫ Еа KONAMI Violence д е ESRB CONTENT RATING www.esrb.org www.konami.com/gs demarks of Backbone Enter gh 2004 Backbone Entertainment. KONAMI? is a registered trademark of KONAMI CORPORATION. All Rights Reserved. "PlayStation" and d PSP is a trademark of SCEI. Memory Stick Duo™ may be required (sold separately). The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. The Basics: No monster closets here: - Scope that strogg harvester, a long- legged parts processor prowling for Scraps, meat, and metal alike. “The strogg | recyclers of the galaxy,” p: | Willits, developer Id Software's co-owner and lead designer. "They take ~ over planets, collecting living creatures— like, if they need legs, they'll take those; if they're short on arms, they'll slap some on. When at war, they salvage everything, cluding smashed enemy ships, even gir own supertanks and stuff.” In Quake they'll find plenty to pick over. The Doom bringers at Id know what you're thinking but insist that this isn't ES the same half-lit house of horrors that he. Y = scared us stupid on today’s hardware. ` “With Doom 3, you were alone in the dark,” says Willits, “With Quake 4, you're at war—part of a bigger battle that goes ‘beyond you versus the forces of evil.” The story picks up immediately after Quake 15: The strogg homeworld's inter- planetary defenses are down, and you assault the planet as part of an invasion force. “Each soldier in your squad has a name and personality,” says Willits. “You'll be with these guys for the whole game and get to know them.” Medics are on hand to help when things heat up, and combat engineers are around to cus- tomize your arsenal. “We've got the clas- sic Quake weapons covered—rail gun, nail gun, etc.—and then we have modifi- cations for each that mix it up as you progress,” explains Willits. That fraternity with fellow marines makes it all the more tortuous when fate tears you apart. “One of the Quake 4's cooler story hooks is that at some point, you're captured and sent to a strogg facility to be turned into a strogg,” Willits Says. “There's a scene where you're on this conveyer belt, and you can see what's happening to yourself and all the other unlucky guys who've been cap- tured. But before you're turned on, so to speak, and jacked into the nexus, you’re rescued and you then become the key to winning the war. Because since you're now part strogg, you're also able to infil- trate strogg defenses." Once you've been strogg-ified, you can run faster, jump higher, and fight harder. These powers further deepen the surpris- ingly complex (for a Quake title) game- play. "We're mixing up being alone and being with your squad, being indoors and being outdoors, being on foot and [being] at the helm of a hovertank—we're going for diverse gameplay," explains Willits. | mGet ready for one gruesome torture scene—our hero gets sliced, poked, and amputated in the strogg-ification plant. 4 Publisher: Activision Developer: Id/Raven Release Date: Fall 2005 3 Doom 3is drop-dead gorgeous on Xbox, but deep-pocketed PC gamers could still boast about how much sharper it looks on their powerful rigs. With Xbox 360, the playing field may be leveled: Id says Quake 4 on Microsoft's new machine looks more or less identi- cal to the future PC version. “Xbox 360 has great CPUs, a great videocard—it's a great platform,” says Willits. So in the end, console gamers can brag about get- ting the better end of the bargain, since a PC of comparable power could cost thou- sands. Plus, we'll get to enjoy the beefy Xbox Live feature set for the team arena online deathmatches.... Is It Ni 1 Enough? Quake 4 is basi- cally a bigger and badder, prettier and more polished take on the tried and true, and that's not a bad thing. According to Willits, it's also smarter: “Strogg fighters are aware of one another and act accord- ingly. We've set it up so that some guys rush you, some guys cover them, and others stay even further back. And they all take the terrain into account, too—we have this really cool area with sloping hills and ravines, and the A.I. is built to take advantage of that.” — Shawn Elliott »- т Ah...outdoor environments. Huge levels set on the strogg’s alien homeworld set Quake IV apart from its cousin Doom 3. < E No, Quake 4 will not receive the new E10+ ESRB rating. 1083 8918 w.tÜP.com e xbox 360: ш previews CALL The Basics: For all its ear-stabbing com- motion and substantial explosions, WWII shooter Call of Duty (PC) is too quiet. Or 50 say military advisors Capt. John Hillen and Col. Hank Keirsey. “They wanted to know, ‘Where’s all the yelling and the shouting?’ explains Vince Zampella, chief creative officer of developer Infinity Ward. “Once the first shot is fired, there’s no more secrecy, there’s constant shouting— guys screaming, ‘Cover me! German on the hill! Get him!’ So for Call of Duty 2, we've built a whole battle chatter system where both Axis and Allies constantly update one other. You'll get word when you’re being flanked and hear it when friendlies need help. If the enemy takes cover behind a blown-out car, a squad- mate will warn, ‘Watch out, sniper behind that rusted wreck’ And you will be flanked. Enemies tended to use lone-wolf OF DUTY 2 tactics [in COD], so we're taking the squad strategies that were successful with the Allies and bringing that to the Axis. You'll see one squad suppress you and another surround your position. You'll see more enemy emotion and reaction to your movements." As in previous CODs (both on PC and consoles), players will wage war along- side Soviet, British, and American squads. Here, however, the intercontinental itiner- ary isn't fixed, meaning you can move from front to front in any order you like. Even the fighting is freer: You'll still see trademark COD scripted events, but much of the game is wide open. “In Toujane [North Africa], you're inserted at one point in the city and can follow the path that the tanks take into the city center," Zampella explains, “but you'll meet heavy resistance and lose half of your squad. However, you can also flank around the outskirts of the city—slip in through any one of several alleyways. There's not just one way to play the game." The 360 Factor: According to Activision's authenticity advisors, Call of Duty's com- bat also needs something more, some- thing only higher-caliber hardware can handle. ^A grenade went off, produced one second of flame, one second of smoke, and then it was gone as if it had never happened," says Chief Technology Officer Jason West. "What these guys brought up was that at the end of a battle, the battlefield is scorched; there's smoke, there's dust, it's been kicked up and abused. So we've worked to fix that feel- ing. Now after an engagement, fires still burn, dust hangs in the streets, and smoke suffuses the whole scene. And it's Publisher: Activision Developer: Infinity Ward Release Date: Fall 2005 good for gameplay. If you come around a corner, you can tell by the atmosphere that allies are engaging the enemy. “So we're putting all this work into the audio, the A.I.—and it all ties together. For instance, in Russia's cold environments, characters stand around rubbing their hands together as steam comes out of their mouths. If something dramatic is happening, you have to handle the situa- tion believably. All this was impossible to do on current-gen [systems].” Is It Next-Gen Enough? Performance- wise, Call of Duty 2’s visuals match those in today’s newest PC titles. Both the superbly detailed graphics and battlefield soundscape feel tooth-rattlingly realistic, going far beyond what you've seen in cur- rent-gen console war games. —Shawn Elliott What about multiplayer modes? “Absolutely,” says Producer Vince Zampella, "hut we're not talking about what the plans are yet.” “We had some off-the-street testers in, and at one point, a few had to pause the game to wipe the ‘sweat from their foreheads,” says Producer Vince Zampella. xbox 360: previews A Sin City game? Nope, it's one of Condemned’s trippy flashback sequences. Publisher: Sega ASO OPS Developer: Monolith Release Date: November 2005 CONDEMNED: The Facts: Playfully splicing together gen- res to engineer an original next-gen hybrid, Condemned christens itself a “first-person psychological thriller.” What does that mean, exactly? “Comparing it to survival-horror games and first-person shooters is a fair place to start,” explains Condemned Producer Dave Hasle. He’s not kidding: The eerie locations, purposefully nebulous story line, and nerve-racking soundtrack borrow from the best of the Silent Hill scare-em-up genre, while the brutally intense combat, tenacious A.l., and FPS control scheme are straight outta 96 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com Doom 3. “In the end, though, the game starts to define a new kind of experience,” says Hasle, “one filled with tension, appre- hension, visceral melee combat, forensic investigation, and a story about the hunt for a serial killer.” Combat consists of frenzied scram- bling to fend off murderous nut jobs— you'll pick up whatever's at your dispos- al, be it a lead pipe, wooden plank, or shotgun, to stay alive. Don’t expect pure fighting, though: The CS/-inspired forensic puzzle elements add a clever twist (e.g., scoping mysterious stains with a black light). Plus, the grisly narrative violently intrudes on your progress, thrusting you into heavily stylized crime-scene flash- back cut-scenes. The 360 Factor: Current-gen games such as Resident Evil 4 and Doom 3 deliver frighteningly beautiful worlds, but Condemned looks to paint an even scarier picture. “The Xbox 360 lets us create detail and atmosphere that approach a level of realism previously unattainable," states Hasle. "For example, we have an enemy that berserk-attacks at an extremely close range—the detail in his face, the flying spit and blood from his mouth, and his filthy fingers as he claws into your eyes...it's really something to experience." Is It Next-Gen Enough? The visuals cer- tainly impress, and since it's neither a tra- ditional shooter nor a driving game, Condemned stands out among the launch- window offerings as a truly unique title. Hopefully, it will be able to sustain its tense, horrific combat without getting too repetitive... —Shane Bettenhausen W You'll find guns in the game...but no ammo. Once it’s empty, toss it. WITH BUILT-IN, RECHARGEABLE LITHIUM-ION _\ BATTERY, A HIEH-FIDELITY SOUND SYSTEM AND '' STYLISH, BRUSHED ALUMINUM ANODIZED CASES, | ~ THE NYKO THEATER EXPERIENCE AND NYKO CHARGERCASE ARE THE NEXT COMING ATTRACTIONS. THEATEREXPERIENCE’ CHARGERHCASE" NYKO www.NYKO.com ~ THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION Publisher: Bethesda/2K Games Developer: Bethesda Release Date: Fall 2005 The Basics: Hardcore roleplayers love Oblivion predecessor Morrowind for its open-ended world and deeply customiz- able gameplay. Now they'll get to return to the world of Tamriel, where they'll match wits, swords, and wands with more than 1,000 unique characters who offer unscripted dialogue and operate on their own 24/7 schedules. The first-person per- spective returns with an all-new combat and magic system. Newbies won't have to worry if they haven't played the first game; the story stands on its own. The 360 Factor: Oblivion will surely make use of the more powerful technology for its lifelike facial animations, realistic lip- syncing, and full speech—icing on top of the game's crisp and detailed overall look. 15 It Next-Gen Enough? Morrowind's graphics made even high-end (at the time) PCs sweat, but on Xbox the game looks only so-so. If these Xbox 360 screens are legit (which Bethesda reps insist they are), then perhaps this time the company can close the graphical gap between its con- sole and PC games. —Jennifer Tsao И One sexy fairy, one Budweiser horse, and 1,000 trolis.. fair odds. oe The Basics: Kameo the fairy collects the souls of powerful elemental warriors and uses their abilities to bash, sneak, battle, and puzzle her way through a world of huge and devious dungeons. Rare Designer George Andreas says, “Kameo really is a game for everybody.” With appealing Ze/da-like gameplay at its core, he's probably right. . . 98 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * АП KAMEO: ELEMENTS OF POWER |: The 360 Factor; According to Andreas, “We had finished the game on Xbox.” The leap to the Xbox 360 has allowed Rare to take a complete game and cram it full of new ideas, Take the battlefields, which feature literally thousands of brawlers at the same time: “The [huge] battlefield is something we've wanted to do, but we lacked the power to do it,” Andreas says. ` play. Still, we're worried that its slightly ENN ` 0n the left, scope... gxtox-Kameo. On the Fight, the 360 version. Wee Microsoft loper: Rare poi Date: Fall 2005 Is it Next-Gen Enough? Beneath a glossy coat of next-gen paint, Kameo appears to be largely the same game that almost hit the original Xbox. You will find a few gameplay touch-ups, though—namely, the heavily-populated battlefields and online تن kiddie art style might damage Kameo’s mainstream appeal. —Christian Nutt > Enter to win a portable console of your choice! Sony PSP, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, Nokia N-Gage QD, Tapwave Zodiac, or Gizmondo. Just log on to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/ zdhandheld Click on the survey name: 2005 Portable Gaming Study and type in this unique ID Code: EGMportables Complete all the questions in the brief survey and enter your name into the sweepstakes to win a portable gaming device of your choice! * Be one of the first 500 people to complete the survey and we will DOUBLE YOUR CHANCES TO WIN! Which portable gaming device will you buy in 2005 * ONLY ONE ENTRY PER HOUSEHOLD ee. p ® Р $, Р о *'am asd x Г Ж. : TN a gud { - JA : py n ] ; є ГЛЫ В. LIKE TO TRY "mua BEFORE YOU BUY? We understand. y You can't judge a game by its box art. So don't. Get a taste of ANY title at Game Crazy and you won't get fooled again. Bring your own milk. LARGEST SELECTION OF NEW, USED AND CLASSIC GAMES AND CONSOLES BEST DEAL ON TRADES IT'S A GUARANTEE TRY BEFORE YOU BUY ONLY GAME CRAZY LETS YOU PLAY BEFORE YOU PAY Hit (Eure for a store near you. эк ] W A quick note: Only the three big ‘screens (one at the top of each page) are from the Xbox 360 version of the game. The smaller ones hail from the current-gen Xbox version. TONY HAWK'S This newest evolution in Activision’s long-running grindathon takes a slightly more realistic route, transporting you to the birthplace of the skateboarding scene—Los Angeles. The game's story line captures the zeitgeist of the skate-punk Publisher: Activision Developer: Neversoft Release date: Fall 2005 lifestyle: You're a wide-eyed Midwestern runaway, new to the city and in need of a radical Jenny Jones skater makeover. Although Tony Hawk's American Wasteland takes place in a modern-day L.A., it’s a world soaked in '80s punk cul- 102 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com ture (cue up some Minor Threat and Dead Kennedys to set the mood). Once you spike up that Mohawk and cut up those jeans in the numerous barbershops and stores scattered throughout the city, you'll be ready for the new Tony Hawk experience. THAW tosses out one of the series’ most established concepts—stages. Instead, the developers have focused on delivering one big-ass city, re-creating L.A’s familiar neighborhoods and landmarks in one huge, interconnected sprawl. “We started HTTP://SUPERNOVA311.1UP.COM Games.Blogs.Clubs.Home. Wanna kick it even older school? THAW ofters a classic Pro Skater mode, with 10 goals per level. Plus, you and a buddy can now team up and barrel through classic in splitscreen co-op. [THAW] right after Tony Hawk's. Underground 2 came out,” says Neversoft Producer Kevin Mulhall. “We wanted a massive city with no loading, a place where you can skate anywhere you want to.” It’s a liberating experience for those weaned on the limited levels of past Hawks: You'll be able to start a combo in Hollywood and land it in East L.A. But wicked combos alone don't make you famous; you'll have to make a name for yourself (again) by impressing people in sponsor challenges, but this time with an array of new moves. Bert slides are a cru- cial addition: These surfing-like pivotal tricks deftly link other moves in a combo. “It's a throwback to the Dogtown days: It's amore stylized trick, like the manual,” says Mulhall. Also, revamped walking con- trols let you Jackie Chan your way around town, running up walls, doing wall-flips, and somersaulting through alleyways. = This new approach to the Hawk fran- chise is an intentional 180 after two exceedingly goofy THUG games. “Last year, we went wacky and did off-the-wall humor,” Mulhall says. “With THAW, Tony goes back to its roots and to the essence of skating.” That means, thankfully, more drought-emptied swimming pools and fewer fiery beaver farts. And although you won't be skating as them, you'll still get cameos from many pro skaters, including many L.A. hotshots and old-timers. Story mode missions will also jive with the game's real-world vibe, as you complete various skating tasks to earn cash. We can guarantee that you won't be controlling some jackass on a mechanical bull. But that's not to say that there won't be any vehicles—7HAW introduces BMX bikes, which you'll be able to hop on at any point. Bikes have their own controls and tricks, such as tailwhips and bar spins. Tony Hawk's Pro BMX Rider? 104 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com ї THAW’s Bert slide allows for mad | trick-linking. It’s a nice addition... But most people will OU Hi THAW performs on the Xbox 360—not some silly bicycle. So far, we haven't seen much proof that it takes advantage of the system's beefy graphical abilities...but hopefully, the developers will polish up the looks in the coming months. At least the 360 THAW will bring Tony Hawk to Xbox Live for the first time. The game will make a great transition to the 360’s multiplayer-friendly Xbox Live Gold by having up to eight players in over 10 different game modes. Gold will make it easier for us wannabe X Game medalists to set up teams or go all-for-one in THAW's smaller sections of the city or levels from its classic mode. N 81?: Looking at these screenshots, we're not that impressed with the 360 version’s visuals— THAW looks more like an Xbox 180 game (as in, headed backwards) to us. Still, developer Neversoft says,"The increase in [power] will allow us to create longer missions and goals, have even more game features and control mechanisms.” But we may not see any- thing different from THAW’s Xbox/PS2 ver- sion besides a bit prettier graphics. We'll keep hope alive that the final version isn’t just a sloppy Xbox-to-Xbox-360 port: Neversoft told us it'd “probably” change stuff around for the Xbox 360. But we're guessing that we'll have to wait till 2006 to see how Tony Hawk taps the true power of the next-gen systems. —Jimmy Lee FOUNDED IN SAN FRANCISCO 1929 BY ARTISTS FOR ARTISTS 1.800.544.ARTS 79 NEW MONTGOMERY ST., А ACADEMY of ART UNIVERSITY REGISTER NOW FOR FALL SEMESTER COURSES OFFERED IN: 2D & 3D ANIMATION | 3D MODELING CHARACTER DESIGN | COMPUTER GRAPHICS DIGITAL IMAGING | FILMMAKING | GAME DESIGN NEW MEDIA | VISUAL EFFECTS | WEB DESIGN AA | BFA | MFA DEGREES | PERSONAL ENRICHMENT ONLINE COURSES | STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITIES 80% OF OUR GRADUATES ARE WORKING IN THE ART & DESIGN INDUSTRY WWW.ACADEMYART.EDU SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105 NATIONALLY ACCREDITED BY ACICS, NASAD, FIDER (BFA-IAD), NAAB - CANDIDATE STATUS (M-ARCH) "E Will the power of a next-gen console fix the humongous gap in Michael Strahan's ^ teeth? It ain't a miracle worker, people. MADDEN It just wouldn't be a true hardware launch without a new edition of Johnny Ballgame's colossal football fran- chise. While the overall feature set may be smaller than the current-gen installments, the XB360 version of Madden NFL 2006 will surely have all of this year’s on-field advancements, which includes Vision and Precision passing (an onscreen cone Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Tiburon Release Date: Fall 2005 represents your quarterback’s field of vision), adaptive А.І. (defenses now adjust if you keep calling the same play), and brand-new juke moves. Next-gen power will bring about subtle events that have been sorely missing from the virtual gridiron. This means you'll finally see running backs leaping over massive pileups near the goal line, players hydroplaning five to 10 yards after being tackled on a muddy, rain-soaked field, and stadiums filled with loud-mouthed fans who no longer look like cardboard cutouts. Yes...if the game really looks as impressive as this batch Madden (along with all XB360 versions of EA Sports titles) should be playable online. of screenshots. You see, all the images here were taken from an EA “visual tar- get” CG video, which is not the actual game. Still, Executive Producer Jeremy Strauser absolutely swears that Madden NFL 2006 will “look better than [these screens]... The game will have a level of detail that'll blow you away.” Here's hoping... —Bryan Intihar ~ Imagine how good Tiger’s hottie wife will look on XB360. TIGER WOODS Like most of the sports titles mentioned on these pages, the develop- ment team isn’t giving up the goods on Tiger’s upcoming feature set. All we know is that Pebble Beach will be one of the courses included with the XB360 version (whoopie). Thanks to the capabili- ties of this next-gen machine, you'll now see more noticeable contours on the courses, especially the greens (which any golfer knows is where it really counts). Also, improved physics will make for real- Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Redwood Shores Release Date: Fall 2005 istic ball flight and bounces. But what really has us excited is being able to walk up to the 18th hole’s green in the final round of a major tournament and see the gallery just littered with cheering fans (current versions of Tiger feature almost no spectators). If the XB360 edition can deliver on the points mentioned above, then we can’t wait to put on our Payne Stewart-inspired knick- ers, grab a bag of clubs, and hit Tiger’s next-generation links. В], 106 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com Lookin’ good. Now let's see Live from an actual gameplay camera. Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Canada Release Date: Fall 2005 NBA | LIVE EA isn't ready to tell us its game plan for NBA Live 2006, but if you go by the last few iterations, expect some more refinements to its freestyle control system and, hopefully, last year’s ‘slam dunk contest. ‘Look for basketball to get rougher on Microsoft's upcoming console. "Imagine [Miami Heat guard] Dwayne Wade driving the lane against the Suns—the lightning-quíck first step, the sick crossover dribble, and the big collision with [the Suns'] Amaré Stoudemire in the paint as he lays it in,” says Producer Tim Tschirner. “[Оп Xbox 360], you'll be able to see dynamic physical collisions like you've never experienced before.” We're all for a li' more banging along the boards, but as with Madden, we're not entirely con- vinced that NBA Live's players can look as realistic as this “visual target" Sscreen—especíally when there are 10 guys on the court at once. So don't believe it until we see it. =B. IM NBA 2K6: Now with nosebleed cam? » The Basics: Like EA, 2K Sports is keeping most of this year's b-ball features in its jockstrap for the time being. We do know, however, that NBA 2K6 will have a new Steal system. "Players can use the right analog stick to make different directional. ‘swipe steals,” says Project Manager Scott Slaby. “And when a player is away from the ball, they can use it to jump in specific directions to block passing lines or even intercept a pass.” The 360 Factor: The crew at 2K Sports is really psyched about high definition. “Our j Fr. | nso p Publisher: 2K spors Е Developer: 2K Sports Release Date: Fall 2005 game looks awesome already, but when you have it running at 720p, it’s unbeliev- ably gorgeous,” professes Slaby, “The power of the Xbox 360 definitely gives us ` the ability to explore new realms in terms of shading and lighting. And our player models are so detailed—it’s just crazy.” Is It Next-Gen Enough?: Visually, this series has always been the cream of the basketball crop, so we have no doubt 2K6 will look pretty. But can it make the neces- sary gameplay strides? (Check out pg. 126 for more on NBA 2K6.) ВІ Apparently, tattoos, bandannas, The Basics: Oh-so-simple controls, silky smooth player animations, and a gigantic career mode made this formerly Microsoft-owned tennis series the only real gem in the company's retired XSN lineup, Now under the watchful eye of 2K Sports, this Top Spin follow-up will feature advanced shot types and abilities that you'll learn while progressing through the main game, plus Xbox Live play. The 360 Factor: According to the game's developer, Microsoft's next-gen console will let them take care of the little things, >> TOP SPIN 2X6 Publisher; 2K Sports o Developer: Indie Built Release Date: Fall 2005 such as touching up the player models, venues, and crowds and adding brainier A.l. “Obviously, high-definition output is very exciting, and people will notice a huge difference with games running in HD,” says Project Manager Thorsten Moeckel. "Xbox 360 allows us to create an - incredibly immersive experience that rivals what you see on television—but now it’s you playing [Maria] Sharapova.” ts Н Next-Gen Enough?: Sure, but how "bout the option to go all John McEnroe on the linesman? >» —В/, Add a neu Olmension to YOUF life. Your education can take you from game research and planning to content development, character development and storytelling — all the way through level design, modeling, programming and project management. CALL NOW FOR INFORMATION Main Campus - Tempe, AZ >> West Campus - Phoenix, AZ з accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). Financial Aid is-available ices assistance. Collins College West is a branch of Collins College. Not all programs available at all locations. by Rick O'Connor | GAME DIRECTORY | MULTIPLATFORM 110 Juiced 111 Predator: Concrete Jungle PLAYSTATION 2 112 Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana 112 Inthe Groove 113 Samurai Western XBOX 114 Forza Motorsport NINTENDO DS 116 Star Wars: Episode Ill Revenge of the Sith GBA 116 Pokémon Emerald 117 Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones PSP 118 NBA Street Showdown 118 Rengoku: The Tower of Purgatory 119 Smartbomb 120 Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee EXTRA STUFF 121 Reviews Wrap-up 122 Reviews Archive САМЕ 0 review Crew а sad month, full of Lamenting and the gnashing of teeth THIS MONTH IN REVIEWS... here’s no getting around T it—we give our own Review Crew a score of 3.0 this issue. But it’s not for lack of tryin’; there just weren’t many games шщ. available to review. You know you’re in trouble when the hottest competition is for Shame of the Month. That Forza, though—it’s a good one. Got any questions about the games we played for this issue? Hit up the cumbersomely titled “EGM July #193 Review Discussion” thread on the EGM message board at 1UP.com and talk it over with Review, Crew members. You can accuse us of bias, we can refute your points with facts, then you can ignore them completely...oh, Internet. And coming next month: The winner of our Review Crew Survivor contest gets his first assignment. Not counting the foot massages, of course. Фм, THE MONT NH FORZA MOTORSPORT PLACE 88 108 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY. « www.tUPRcom | 5.0-6.5 FAIR 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 whole scale. 5.0 IS AVERAGE. Platinum — | Gold—for | Silver— | The highest- | The lowest- straight 105. | games with | for games | scoring rated game For games | an average | withamean | game each | with unani- that are life- score 019.0 | score of 8.0 | month gets | mously bad changing. | or higher. | or higher. | astar scores. ESRB KEY (Also check out www.esrb.org) Everyone: Teen: Saccharine fun for the whole family: The PG-13 of game ratings. Fisticuffs, dancing elves, rampant sharing, and hilarious sexual misunderstandings, and possibly Smurfs. madcap antics. Everyone 10+: Mature: Saccharine tun for family members For the 18-and-over crowd. Intense over 10, that may include mild violence — violence, gore, pixilated sex, drugs; between cartoon squirrels. parents no likey. DAN “SHOE” HSU, Editor-in-Chief Likes: GBA games on DS, Xbox 360 services Dislikes: Rengoku, interns beating him in games Blog: egmshoe.1UP.com MARK MACDONALD, Executive Editor ikes: Adventure: the game, genre, and concept JENNIFER TSAO, Managing Editor RPGs, adventure games, backspin Dislikes: Bad techno, double bogeys Blog: egmjennifer.1UP.com : Adventure games, gravity guns Dislikes: Exploding barrels, crate puzzles Blog: egmcrispin.1UP.com SHANE BETTENHAUSEN, Previews Editor Lil RPGs, karaoke, catching 'em all Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Smartbomb DEMIAN LINN, Reviews Editor Likes: Forza, ending world hunger Dislikes: Cutesy platformers, mean people Blog: egmdemian.1UP.com BRYAN INTIHAR, News Editor Likes: Action, adventure, and sports games say Dislikes: Baby games, nicknames, massages M Blog: egmbryan.1UP.com JON DUDLAK, Staff Reviewer Likes: Action, adventure, and fighting games Dislikes: Sports, simulation Blog: egm_jon.1UP.com SHAWN ELLIOTT, Staff Reviewer ikes: Saving games anytime he wants EA Trax, offline-only Soul Calibur 3 GREG FORD, Staff Reviewer Likes: Action, adventure, and sports games Dislikes: RPGs, catch-up A.l. Blog: egm ford.1UP.com JAMES LEE, Staff Reviewer Likes: Gory shooters, violently killing enemies CHRISTIAN NUTT, Staff Reviewer ikes: RPGs with confusing gameplay systems Dislikes: Smartbomb. Very, very deeply Blog: ferricide.1up.com JOHN RICCIARDI, Staff Reviewer Likes: RPGs, handhelds D Dislikes: Load times in PSP games Blog: johntv.1UP.com JUSTIN SPEER, Staff Reviewer Lil Strat-RPGs, games with soul Dislikes: No-risk design, random battles Blog: zepyulos.1up.com W You may also see reviews written by the folks over at OFFICIAL U.S. PLAYSTATION MAGAZINE and 1UP.COM. Do not be alarmed, we are aware of the incursion. ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www. 1UP.com • 109. Uu. Lu. uu ` OK, backseat dri- ving grandma: why is Juiced telling us to slow down? AN +1 Respect If this all looks strangely familiar, kind of like, oh, page 136 of EGM #184, that's because we've already reviewed this street racer. But before Juiced actually made it to store shelves, then-pub- lisher Acclaim bit the dust. THQ stepped in, put Juiced back in the garage for some needed game- play tweaks, and here we are, for real this time. Aside from the usual tune-race-repeat dynamic, Juiced has a few interesting features. You can bet on races and race for pink slips—a few unwise wagers early on can have serious consequences to your cash flow. You'll also add A.I. drivers to your “crew” as you progress, whose skills increase with track time while you play the pit boss or race alongside in a team battle. As in Gran Turismo 4's B-spec mode, you'll adjust your A.l. racer's driving style with the D-pad—while not tons of fun, it is an easy (and optional) way to earn money. Unfortunately, even when you're behind the wheel yourself, Juiced just isn't in the same race class as its top rivals, Need for Speed and Midnight Club. The cityscapes and cars have a cartoony look, and the handling is stuck somewhere in the not-as-fun-as-it-could-be zone between a sim racer and an outrageous arcade game like Burnout 3. As expected, the Xbox version looks a bit better, but the PS2 game does support online voice chat if you've got a headset (as does the Xbox game, of course). And though you can race your career mode cars online—and lose them in ill-advised pink slip races—you can't bet with other players, which is a shame. Juiced's attempt to bring something new to street racing earns my respect, but not my love. Back when I first reviewed Juiced over six months ago, | had some good times. While it never delivered the same thrills as Midnight Club or NFS Underground, it had a few clever ideas. But many months have passed and the game is only marginally better—its controls are a little smoother, among other tweaks—and the rest of the genre has moved on now that the big boys Respeck, Yo Juiced's career mode is all about respect—after each event, your respect rating with other street racing crews will fluctuate depending on your performance. Some crews are impressed by circuit race wins; oth- ers don't bat an eye unless you race for pinks. They all get pissed if you bang up their cars, though. Problem is, each crew leader says the same one or two things over and over; Carlos of the Legion crew can only say “Jour a deeeeemon wit da piiiiiinks” so many times before it gets a little ridiculous. have their new updates. While still a respectable game that's enjoyable for a few laps, Juiced lacks the impact it would have had last year. The problem with all of these tuner-culture games is that they take themselves so seriously. Even the menu screens have tribal tattoos here, and every new shaven-headed, Supra-driving thug you meet is more desperately earnest than the last. That said, Juiced is a compe- tent entry into the genre. Most of the boxes on the list of necessary features for this kind of thing are checked, and it sits comfortably between Need for Speed Underground and NFSU2. Lots of cars, lots of mods, and gambling, which adds a dynamic that’s only really been done before in Street Racing Syndicate. Driving feel is on the arcade end of the scale, so you can chuck a 200-hp front-drive car into a bend at 80 mph without any tedious under- steer. Realistic? No. But it’s fast, and it’s pretty fun. It’s just not anything particularly special. ri CHALLENGE COMPLETED Respect -50 Publisher: THQ Developer: Juice Players: 1-2 (2-6 online or system link) ESRB: Teen THE VERDICTS (QUTOF 10) DEMIAN www.thq.com 110 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com PS2/XB PREDATOR: CONCRETE JUNGLE Let us prey Good: Creative alternative-combat ideas spice up the fighting Bad: Looks worse than some PS2 launch titles The Moral: If an alien ship lands, don't steal nothin' from it JON D: Props to Concrete Jungle for trying something different from the usual action-game clichés—even though the game's obtuse story will raise a few eyebrows. As a Predator, you gimped your mission in the 1930s and left behind some alien tech. A century later, you return to find a crime syndicate all decked out with Predator gear and weaponry. Third-person action combat ensues, though your first battle will be with the god-awful default camera (change it in the Options menu for a much better view). Too bad there’s no option for correcting the messy graphics and generally one-dimen- sional gameplay, though. Concrete Jungle feels like a giant series of random Grand Theft Auto minimis- sions: Bust up this drug deal, invade this Mafia don’s mansion, etc. Typically sloppy beat-em-up com- bat is actually smoothed out on occasion when you use some of Predator’s tech gadgets and more specialized hunting skills. Scanning foes to identify enemy weaknesses and sniping with the plasmacaster to avoid the melee BS adds some welcome depth. There are some good ideas buried here and there, but they generally feel more forced than fun when you put 'ет all together. JAMES: Even with all the cool gad- gets, Predator will have you hunting for fun gameplay. The cloaking ability is nice, but the game's camera (in both default and "tracking" views) is so bad sometimes that even you don't know where the hell your guy went. Predator gets a little too zeal- ous with the gadgetry, also: In one level, you're supposed to neuro-scan everyone to find the bad-guy pimps...since it's so difficult to spot their big hats and platform shoes. Worse, each stage's two to three - ? ДЬ ۹ * tedious objectives lack in- between save points—as if the game wants you to hate it. OFFICIAL PS MAG Predator is a pretty awesome game—in concept, that is. The story is some bizarre and groovy yarn about you (a Predator) hunting down humans who've reverse-engineered your technology. Think of it as a complete Predator simulator: You've got full access to the classic Pred weapons and gadgets (even that freaky Predator scream). Sounds great, but when you actu- ally play it, the damn default camera completely obscures what you need to kill or where you need to go, there’s too much scanning, the NI occasionally idiotic, and the lack of checkpoints in long missions is obscenely aggravating. What could’ve been an awesome Predator game is actually one ugly motherf***er. дб. SCOOTER: IW You'd think Robocop (the blue refrigerator-looking thing, right) might at least get a name check in the title, if not top billing... THE VERDICTS JON D. JAMES Publisher: VU Games Developer: Eurocom Players: 1 ESRB: Mature SCOOTER www.predatorconcretejungle.com PlayStation 2 ATELIER IRIS: ETERNAL MANA = Colorful characters, yes. Colorful backgrounds, no. Publisher: NIS America Developer: Gust Players: 1 ESRB: Teen THE VERDICTS. (OUT OF 10) JUSUN PlayStation 2 IN THE GROOVE Dont hate it because it's a rip-off SHANE JOHN К. www.nisamerica.com 5.26% Drift Hide Targets ESRB: Everyone THE VERDICTS JENNIFER JOE www.inthegroove.com 112 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY » www.1UP.com To all you jaded, battle-weary role-playing gamers out there: Have you considered a career in alchemy? For any- one who's toiled away for years at a dead- end job in the field of generic monster slaying, stepping into the shoes of an alchemist named Klein in Atelier Iris might provide a welcome change of pace. Where most RPGs make weapon forging and item splicing feel like brain-dead busywork, Atelier imbues these processes with purpose and context. You'll feel com- pelled to create and use items because 1) they're useful, and 2) even rare items can be replaced, so there’s no need to hoard them. Cute, clever tutorials explain every- thing, and while some of it is optional, nothing feels forced or useless. Atelier does exhibit a few tired old- school traits; you're randomly sucked into slow-moving turn-based scuffles from time to time, but thoughtful additions (a pinch of strategy in this case) keep things fresh. Add in an entertaining story loaded with humor and you've got a potent concoction that should appeal to any RPG fan. This time-warp RPG has me wax- ing nostalgic—its dated visuals, goofball characters, and catchy tunes could have easily sprung from some forgotten classic for the Sega Saturn...geez, maybe even JENNIFER: | get what they're trying to do with /n the Groove. The hardcore already know this Dance Dance Revolution spin-off from the arcade; why not give the folks at home some choices, too? This dancepad rhythm-music game makes several nice amendments to the established DDR rule book, starting with the addition of “modifiers” of the standard straight-scrolling arrows: Here, there are twisting arrows, mines, hand steps—all creating a fun, if slightly psychedelic, danc- ing experience. The modifiers give some- thing new and refreshing for the hardcore set while livening things up for the two- left-feet crowd stuck on the easy setting. Dexterous dancers will also raise their hands for the new expert difficulty—this one goes to 13, and those steps are some serious business. Overall, the choreography of the routines is hit or miss: Some feel like true dancing, while others can be awkward even for the pros. And though | understand that dancing games need songs with high BPM, is it so hard to incorporate fast remix- es of hit mainstream songs? This techno tyranny must end! Maybe /n the Groove isn’t a real dance revolution, but it takes some (gulp) steps in the right direction. OFFICIAL PS MAG—JOE: Groove is a game for those of you who think the many itera- tions of DDR just aren't hard enough. When the antiquated Sega CD. Sure, it looks prehistoric, but its heart is in the right place: After a generation of seri- ous, depressing role-playing hits (Final Fantasy X and Shin Megami Tensei), maybe some levity is in order. Speedy, simple battles and wonderfully interactive environments keep the game rolling at a nice clip, and it’s really the perfect length—40 hours for an average playthrough, 70 if you’re a completist. Worth a look if you can handle its retro graphics (and clunky overworld map). Atelier is the kind of RPG I'd like to see more of in the States. The graphics, while a bit dated, have a very clean, color- ful style that lends the game world a dis- tinct, cohesive feel. And the lighthearted story never once takes itself too serious- ly—a far cry from most of today’s self- important, overly melodramatic role-play- ers. The characters are genuinely funny and likable, the English voice-acting is sur- prisingly decent, and most importantly, the gameplay is solid. Battles can be a bit slow at times, but the battle system itself is intuitive and well designed, and synthesiz- ing weapons and items can be extremely addictive. Kudos to developer Nippon Ichi for bringing this over—hopefully, the com- pany is hard at work on the sequel. arrows spin, disappear, reverse their orientation, or turn into mines that must be avoided, you've entered the realm of the Hardcore Dance Freak. That's not to say there's nothing for newcomers; Groove’s easy levels are very, very easy. But it gets hard quickly, and the most difficult setting will probably make your head explode. Even with a near-infinite array of options for tweaking the difficulty, though, this no-frills game is obviously intended for very, very serious dance-game fans—serious enough to not need flashy backgrounds or popular songs. TUPCOM—KAREN: For those wiz kids who have mastered dancing games, here’s a chance to blow another 800 hours—but with Eurotrashy music you'll really hate. For everyone else, prepare to gawk at an over- whelming tornado of arrows. Though Groove's detailed custom settings can be adjusted for beginners, options like making the direction arrows spin and bounce in a bunch of cracked-out ways really make it expertcentric—but also more like a game than an exercise in memorizing permuta- tions of cardinal directions. Think of Groove as a training program for supercoordinated gamers-slash- dancers—but regular Joes may abandon the nifty high-end RedOctane dance pad after 10 minutes. PlayStation W Your enemies called each other in the morn- ing and coordinated their outfits. SAMURAI WESTERN Our cowboys could beat up your cowboys SHAWN: East meets West, swords square off against six-shooters at Shanghai noon...there’s bad and there’s ugly, but I’m having trouble finding the good. Despite its right time, wrong place potential and oddball outlaws who gush French and Gatling gun- fire, Samurai Western isn’t comedy (straight-faced hero Gojiro Kiryu cuts ’em up without cutting up). Then again, it’s hard to take seri- ously as far as hack-n-slash gaming goes. Hit a button to chop. Hit it a bunch to chain together “com- bos”—a see-through technique to make mind- and thumb-numbing mash-mash-mash suggest skill. Samurai can’t fake the fun either. A gazillion gunslinging bores spring into existence, shoot blanks, and act bad; “one-button” Gojiro bleeds 'em back into the ether, and it starts again. The tumbleweed treadmill takes another turn for the tiresome E Dodging bullets—or slicing them іп half (left)—takes serious skill. First, you tap Circle. Then you keep tapping Circle. THE VERDICTS (QUTOF 10) SHAWN JUSTIN 4 in later levels where, instead of x trying new tricks, the same bandits sport triple stamina. The idea is that you trudge back to completed chap- ters, strengthening Gojiro's sword arm and collecting performance- enhancing cowboy apparel, but why bother? Give me more game—strike that: Give me a game. JUSTIN: Playing Samurai Western is like hacking through an improbably cool independent film. Quick-draw samurai Gojiro’s speed, grace, and lethality are reason enough for any action gamer to at least give this one a whirl—and 1 reckon that hearin’ the sweet music of gallons of outlaw blood pourin’ into the dirt is reason enough to pick up that there sword. But while it’s got heart and spirit in spades—heck, even the cut- scenes are up to snuff—it sorely lacks depth. Even with different Publisher: Atlus Developer: Spike Players: 1-2 ESRB: Mature JAMES wwwaatlus.com sword styles, there are only a handful of foes to kill and only one real way to kill "ет. Maybe the developers needed more time (or more cash), but hey, it ain’t half bad. JAMES: “I can taste your hatred...it's like a fine wine,” a Samurai Western bad guy says during just one particu- lar moment of ridiculousness. And at times you'll get drunk with anger, but mostly, as you hack-n-slash-n-hack- s'more through 16 stages, you'll just be bored. Even though you get a nice selection of weapons and ассеѕ- sories (+2 DEF Afro!), it doesn't add to the bland gameplay—it just makes your character look like he couldn't decide what to be for Halloween. Killing the same five guys (fatty with dynamite, Australian giant with boomerangs, etc.), who all whis- tle and say, "Hot darn!" when you dodge has me wondering why this game is so impressed with itself. rah (2 review crew: xbox ДА mid . x What's a Drivatar? If you're the lazy type, train an AL. “dri- vatar" to do the hard work for you. As you ent courses, the A.l. driver will learn your own racing style and drive accordingly. But alas, with someone else behind the wheel you won't earn much cash for a Win.... DEMIAN: Better than Gran Turismo 4. | figured I'd write that when | reviewed Gran Turismo 5 one day, but this is Forza Motorsport, Microsoft's homage to. the greatest driving sim around. Except the student has already lapped the teacher, thanks in no small part to Forza’s online multiplayer. Even without the online stuff, though, Forza is every bit as good and accurate a sim as GT. And while Forza can't match GT4's huge roster of cars, it has more of the cars you actually want to drive, including—finally—Porsches and Ferraris, from classics (773 Porsche 911 RS, Ferrari 250 GTO) to current street spec cars to race-prepared mod- els. There are also eight real-world tracks to race. them on, along with many more fantasy courses. Starting out in career mode, you'll pick a home region—North America, Europe, or Asia—which will determine what cars you have access to ini- tially. And though your garage will quickly balloon Good: Incredibly accurate physics, great car selection Bad: Xbox still doesn’t have a wheel to equal PS2's Force Pro Drift Racing: Fun...but a good way to lose 114» ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com Ultron - Sign up for driver’s ed теу to Jay Leno proportions, Forza's class-based rac- ing means you can spend time tuning and driving a handful of favorite cars if you'd rather. Once on the track, Forza is sublime, although its realism can be as brutal as it is rewarding if you've got the driving aids turned off. Traction and stability control are for sissies, but ABS is almost required; without a real-world brake pedal's feed- back, it’s just too easy to. lock the brakes (a fault that might have been fixed with a little strategic controller rumble). But їп опе of Forza's more ele- gant touches, if you turn off the driving aids—and turn on manual shifting—you'll earn more cash for wins. A nice reward for hardcore players. I'm less enthusiastic about the A.l., though. While it's better than GT4's—cars are smart enough to drive around you if you stop on the race line, say—the other racers still manage to hit you all too frequently. Not as frequently as real people online, however, although you can turn off car collisions in multiplayer events. Like Halo's clan system, you can also create clubs of like- minded players, and even design custom livery for your cars. | noticed a few hiccups in our online Matches (as did John, see below) but nothing to get too upset about. If you play on Live, look out for my C-class 944 Turbo, B-class Lotus Elise, or A-class 911 GT2. 1UP.COM—CHE: Forza Motorsport has rekindled my geek-love for all things with a chassis, motor, and four-wheels. What's fantastic about the game is that, beyond all the gameplay realism Demian's hit upon, Forza is both flexible and robust enough to let you revel in whatever automotive obsession that's currently rocking your world. For me, that compulsion is drifting; nothing beats the feeling of throwing your car around a Ттт emploie RACE. 2% Time 00:08417 Bi THE VERDICTS (QUT OF 10) DEMIAN CHE Developer: Microsoft Players: 1-2 (2-8 online or ‘system link) | Publisher: Microsoft ESRB: Everyone www.forzamotorsport.net амата" й corner at breakneck speeds іп а controlled slide, and Forza captures that sensation perfectly. The game's sub- tle control system means that you actually feel when your tires are at their grip limits, while Forza’s weight distribution model re-creates a real sense of gravity as your car is hurled sideways through a turn. Forget about grip racing. Halfway through my Forza career, | began tuning my Mazda RX-7 FC for maximum downhill drift handling with real-life tuning guides | Googled on the Web. Seriously, that’s how authentic Forza is. Car lovers everywhere, heed the call today and pick up this late- generation gem. 1UP.COM—JOHN: Let's get the obvious and sensational nonsense about Forza out of the way right up front: This is the best racer on Xbox. The extensive car list exhibits impeccable taste on behalf of the Microsoft team and is full of desirable and exotic rides in every class. Forget vanilla-flavored hatchbacks—the career mode dangles Forza’s optional racing line overlay dynamically to your speed. When you're going too Fanatec's new Speedster 3 was designed with Forza in mind, and though it's not bad, it doesn't equal the authentic feel of Gran Turismo 4's Force Pro. The pedal box and shifter paddles seem a bit flim- \ sy for a $150 item, and the pseudo force \ feedback kicks in only when you bump т other cars or walls, spin the wheels, or hit the rumble strips. Good but not great. the delicious possibility of adding Ferraris and Porsches to your garage before you move on to indulge in the so- fast-you-don't-have-time-to-blink GTS and P1 class races. Forza's handling is impeccable. Many car sims have done an adequate job of providing an impression of the forces exerted on a car as it hurtles around a track, but in Forza it’s as though you can feel the exact point where your tires lose traction. As a demo of how impor- tant clever physics models are, there are few experi- ences more tactile on Xbox. Xbox Live will no doubt prolong the life of the game indefinitely, but while testing the game less than two. weeks prior to release, it was not without problems. Drivers with bad ping times would sometimes pop up all over the place, but, when stable, the online play is immeasurably satisfying. | actually found the close-knit battles of the lower classes to be much more fun than lining up a bunch of Enzos and Carrera GTs. Come find me in the A-class lobby; I'll be in an Evo FQ-330. si STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH You've played this Sith before A long time ago is right. Revenge of the Sith looks and plays like а licensed title from 15 years ago—most of this game is 2D side-scrolling hack-n- slash. Sure, that might seem charming in an old-school, Super Nintendo kind of way, but trust me: The nostalgia is lost after you bash your hundredth battle droid or start getting creamed by the enemies’ cheap gang-up-on-you tactics. C’mon—the DS is capable of way more than this (a Jar Jar-torturing minigame on the touch screen, for instance). Still, Revenge has a few things that save it from licensed gaming circa 1990. You get branching paths and a few unique (but still dull) levels for each of the two playable characters: whiny Anakin or wise Obi-Wan. You can cus- tomize their attributes and Force abilities. You get a lot of lightsaber moves and combos for the decent boss battles. And the 3D spaceship-combat stages offer a nice break from the side-scrolling monot- ony (1 wish the whole game had been focused on this mode). But seriously, gameplay this clichéd has no business on а next-generation handheld. | suggest you move along. Move along. As you begin Scene 1 of this pint- sized Revenge of the Sith, a phrase that any Stars Wars fan should know suddenly appears onscreen: “I have a bad feeling about this!” Man, talk about some heavy- duty foreshadowing. Almost every on-foot mission here follows the same played-out formula: Walk left to right mindlessly swinging your light stick, suffer an alarm- ing number of cheap-ass hits, then face off against a boss that will frustrate most young Padawans (who seem to be game's target audience). And while your limited time flying through the galaxy sure looks impressive, there's hardly any dogfight- ing—lame. You know there's a serious problem when a game's (especially a portable one's) high point is its music. Revenge returns to the time- honored tradition of so many Star Wars games: It's not fun, and it makes you question your original high opinion of the franchise as a whole. My biggest gripe is the controls. Perhaps they work OK on GBA SP, but the DS is big enough that having to rely so much on the shoulder buttons to block the (truly endless) hordes of cheap baddies is hand-cramp- ingly burdensome. Then there's the last- generation gameplay—it's predictable, repetitive, and makes no real use of the DS touch screen. The game is not offen- sively bad—l actually enjoyed figuring out how to beat certain bosses. But even regular bad crap like this makes me want to plot my revenge. (QUTOF 10) THE VERDICTS, CRISPIN BRYAN JENNIFER Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Players: 1 (2-4 via Wi-Fi) ESRB: Everyone www.ubisoft.com 116 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com PGROUL SUPERSONIC = Who the hell are these Pokémon? Where's Pikachi? MUDKIP 116 PP 40/40 | | TYPE? NORMAL POKEMON EMERALD Coming soon: Pokémon Cubic Zirconia CHRISTIAN: Only having dabbled in Pokémon before, | wasn't sure it could hook me. But it did—there’s a powerfully subtle and engaging game underpinning the archaic roleplaying of Emerald. Yes, the story is juvenile and practical- ly nonexistent. Yes, it’s missing all the whiz-bang collectible-card systems and branching scenarios of contemporary RPGs. But it’s still a finely honed, if extremely conventional, jewel of a game. The creatures’ powers all play off one another in a perfectly balanced dance...of poorly animated 2D artwork. You could easily spend a hundred hours raising, training, fighting, trading, and questing within the confines of this tiny cartridge. My real problem lies with the fact that Nintendo and developer Game Freak refuse to evolve the series. This is a revamp of a 2-year-old game (Ruby/Sap- phire) millions have already bought, and while it's the best Pokémon for GBA, it's essentially hackwork. That said, it's still the best Pokémon to buy...until the DS version adds enough gimmicks to squeeze out a few million more sales. SHANE: As only a casual Pokémaniac, | haven't bothered to investigate each suc- CHRISTIAN SHANE cessive retread of Pokémon. If | caught 'em once, do | really need to bother catch- ing ’em again? Yes...and no. If you already played Ruby/Sapphire, keep moving— there’s nothing much to see here. If it’s been a few years since you last snuggled with Pikachu, you'll be mildly impressed by how the game’s evolved. Two-on-two battles, wireless fights, improved апі! tion, and a streamlined interface show how far the basic premise has come. The series’ simplistic visuals seem pretty inexcusable at this point, but thankfully, the terrifyingly addictive game- play provides enough of a draw. Pokémon preys on your desire for perfection, suck- ing you back in until you uncover all of its sickly sweet mysteries. Before you know it, 30 hours of your life have vanished... JOHN R: If Pokémons Ruby and Sapphire never existed, I'd have no problem wholeheartedly recommending Emerald. I'm not quite sure | prefer it to the recent FireRed and LeafGreen remakes (could be the nostalgia factor), but it’s still an excellent addition to the series and is well worth playing if you’re a fan of the genre. The problem is, Ruby and Sapphire have been out for two years, and Emerald doesn’t offer enough new content to dif- ferentiate itself. Sure, wireless-adapter support is nice, but the only other major change is the Battle Frontier mode, a Coliseum-like battle arena that isn't even accessible until you beat the game. If you've never played Ruby or Sapphire, skip 'em and go straight to Emerald. Otherwise, wait for Diamond and Pearl. Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Game Freak Players: 1 (2 via Link cable) ESRB: Everyone www.pokemon.com Mete Im FIRE EMBLEM: ® THE SACRED STONES ш The game could use more “X-fac- tors,” like the thick fog in this level. Haven't advanced wars Good: Excellent strategic combat, three difficulty levels Bad: Not much different or new Basically: More of what made the first Emblem great There are two ways to approach a boss in Fire Emblem: send in your strongest pipe-hitting badass for a guaranteed victory or chance saving the kill (and experi- ence points) for a weaker foot soldier who, eventually, could become a valuable badass himself. Developer Intelligent Systems faced a similar risk-versus-reward dilemma in cre- ating the sequel to its excellent GBA strategy role-playing game. The choice it made with Sacred Stones is obvious: don't take any chances and go for the safe, predictable win. Anyone who played 2003's origi- nal Emblem will not only feel at home with the sequel, but also strug- gle to tell the difference between the two. Almost visually identical, they share the same friendly setup and solid gameplay—turn-based tactical combat with a rock-paper-scissors- Style attack priority system. A decent plot again keeps you invested in your individual troops, with the fact that Leave the Link Cable at Home Up to four players can field a team of five combatants each in Emblem's shoddy multiplayer game, but instead of playing on a battlefield where, you know, actual strategy might come into play, you challenge each other in 1-on- 1 arena auto-battles. It makes little sense and is even less enjoyable. THE VERDICTS (QUTOF 10) characters can actually die (and stay dead) heightening the tension. Sacred Stones makes a few wel- come alterations, including soldier- evolving options and easier item retrieval. Also, fewer hand-holding early missions, a branching story, and more optional battles add up to a longer quest. Overall the game is polished and addictive; | just wish it were ambitious. More unique battle- grounds, different attack ranges and effects, a new mechanic or two—the Emblem formula would benefit from some added complexity. Duck the dry dialogue, skip. the story. You'll still dig your clerics, falcon knights, and cavaliers—not for who they are (blue-haired, wide-eyed boilerplate), but for what they do in Fire Emblems whip-smart battles. In fact, when one falls, it's like losing a best friend (or at least the long hours you invested leveling him up). And that—the part that says when he's H Publisher: Nintendo ESRB: Everyone WE Talking-head cut-scenes (above) flesh out the story, but tend to drag on N у К gone, he’s gone forever—is the game’s tactical error. (Not a real Waterloo, but a blunder big enough to discourage risk-taking in the line of turn-based duty.) The rest is four- star strategy, squarely done and with enough back-and-forth between studied defense and decisive sieges to keep your feet on the coffee table. С Strip away the epic story-of good versus evil (I dug it way more than Shawn did) and the dizzy- ing number of characters, and you have very straightforward combat— essentially nothing you haven’t seen before in kindred spirits like Final Fantasy Tactics or Advance Wars. What makes Sacred Stones unique is how it sugarcoats the level-grinding, treadmill-like repetition with a capti- vating, episodic story line. The fact that dead characters are gone for good makes every battle thoughtful and tense. It's definitely one of the GBA's best tactical games. б. Bis uerum шш ce es nu TL Developer: Intelligent Systems Players: 1 (2-4 via Link cable) fireemblem.gameboy.com LIEN NBA STREET SHOWDOWN Same ol’ playground THE VERDICTS (OUT OF 0) BRYAN DEMIAN GIANCARLO = What's less exciting than this screenshot? Showdown's new snoretabulous minigames. Publisher: EA Sports Big Developer: EA Canada Players: 1-4 (2 via Wi-Fi) ESRB: Everyone www.easportsbig.com RENGOKU: THE : TOWER OF PURGAT Purgatory indeed THE VERDICTS (QUTOF10) SHOE 118 ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com We dan buy the white- walled rooms, but who knew purgatory would be heavy on the robots? Publisher: Konami Developer: Hudson Soft Players: 1 (2-4 via Wi-Fi) www.konami.com “Streetball reinvented for the PSP” it says on the back of the game’s box. Color me confused, because after playing Showdown, I'd label this baller as more rehash than reinvention. And a rehash wouldn't be so bad if it were based on the latest console edition, the excellent V3. Instead, the developers copy-and-pasted Vol. 2's gameplay, which means it’s too easy to block and too hard to steal, plus the gamebreaker system (made up of special moves that earn you extra points while reducing your opponent's score) features almost-automatic shots rather than V3's poster-worthy dunks. And the two new minigames—Arcade Shootout and Shot Blocker—are totally forgettable. Now don’t get all pissy like a Pistons fan and start throwing cups at me. The game still possesses several of the quali- ties that have made Street the most enter- taining b-ball brand: Crowd-pleasing showboat moves are easy to perform, transforming your no-name player into the king of all courts proves fairly deep, and the NBA's finest look damn detailed even in portable form. Still, | was hoping for one or two new tricks from this hoopster. Bryan’s low blow at Pistons fans is just the start—Tayshaun Prince’s miser- able 2 out of 5 blocking rating and Rip MARK: One of Halo’s designers once said that a great game is actually the same 15 seconds or so of gameplay over and over. Apparently, the developers at Hudson Soft took him literally when they created Rengoku, a dull, clunky “action” title so repetitive that you almost get the feeling the developers at Hudson Soft took Halo’s designer literally when he said...ahem. Anyway, Rengoku is set entirely in the titular tower, an arena where obsolete rob: soldiers battle for the amusement of an outside world now at peace. You wander from room to room—all practically identi- cal, with only power-up-filled boxes between their bare walls—destroying ene- mies (also all practically identical) before the doors unlock and you can move on. The only solace is in the huge number of weapons and methods available for build- ing up your robot to fight more effectively. But while combat is serviceable (you can lock on targets and quick-roll in any direc- tion to dodge), it's not deep, smooth, or sat- isfying enough to hang a whole game on. In one of the minimal yet pompous story line’s few lucid moments, the final boss (or so you think) says, “Everything that hap- pens in this tower is pointless. Nothing but endless destruction and warfare.” So true. ‘SHOE: Most games make you feel like a badass hero/soldier/robot/car/whatever. Hamilton's З out of 5 shooting (he’s famous for his midrange jumper) hurt even worse. But Bryan’s right: Even though Showdown is the best arcade basketball game on a handheld, after playing Street V3 on the big consoles, | find it hard to go back to Vol. 2's gameplay, in which goaltending blocks are the surest form of defense. | figured the game would suffer further, what with only two shoulder buttons to modify your tricks with, but it doesn’t: You can tap or hold the Trick or Shoot buttons (in combination with the shoulder buttons) to execute a pretty wide range of moves. And though I’m unimpressed by the new multiplayer minigames, regular head- to-head matches are as fun as ever. Everything about the NBA Street series should, theoretically, make for an excel- lent PSP game. But there’s one major problem: Showdown’s controls are really sluggish at times, even when performing something as simple as a regular jump shot. This extends to movement on the court as well—lining up to shoot a three- pointer can occasionally be a hassle. Still, Showdown has some fun elements, but it’s just too bad that a little extra time wasn’t taken to clean up the controls a little more. Rengoku, however, makes you feel like the lab rat that never could figure its way out of the maze. | kept stop- ping every 15 minutes to say, "There's got to be more to this game than this.” Unfortunately, there is not. Shooting enemy after enemy in generic, repetitive stages just to find upgrades for your fighting machine gets tiresome in the first, oh, 10 minutes. But Rengoku makes a boring mat- ter much worse by using the D-pad for 3D movement (uh, hello? The PSP has an ana- log nub for this crap) and forcing you to backtrack in order to save your game. Fantastically unfun. OFFICIAL PS MAG—DANA: There are a lot of things to dislike about Rengoku, but I'll start with the fact that it seems like it was developed for PS2 and then ported to the PSP with no thought for how the two sys- tems differ. The scale is so small that it’s hard to see your opponents, and the details of your robot (who runs like a spaz and isn’t even remotely tough looking) are lost in the mostly dark, repetitive environments. Customization is a terribly boring endeavor, and aside from a lone (and tedious) multi- player mode, there aren’t even any minigames to take advantage of the sys- tem’s portable nature. Ра be more bile filled, but the game is so bad that it’s not even worth getting angry about. CEE SMARTBOMB Plenty of bomb, not much smart Good: Peppy musi Bad: Dippy story, ple Potential Lawsuit: Obvious Mines Smartbomb dares to try а different approach to the venerable portable puzzle genre by melding a wide variety of simple brainteasers (think: flipping switches, aligning lasers, and enduring a lame Minesweeper clone) with a deep plot. It's not a crappy concept, but the story—an overwrought and pre- dictable tale of a mad bomber ver- sus bomb-defusing experts—surely doesn’t do the puzzles (most of which are pretty darned obnoxious to begin with) any favors. In fact, you're probably better off skipping the cheesy story mode alto- gether. Its 10 levels of dull cut- Scenes and duller voice acting com- bined with a smattering of annoying puzzles offers little fun. The develop- ers have even engineered shocking new methods of making the game less enjoyable: First, you can actually die in the menu while choosing your next puzzle, thanks to an ever-pre- THE VERDICTS (OUT OF 10) SHANE MARK eeper rip-off sent countdown timer. Next, the tortuous boss encounters boil down to vague trial-and-error defusing with strict time limits...prepare to replay these levels a few times. You can experience the same assortment of passable-looking puz- zles (sans narrative) in arcade mode, and you'll find a few that aren't too painful, like a Marble Madness-inspired maze and a clever bomb-disposal robot offering. It's not worth it. Stick with Lumines. If you're going to slap together a bunch of dusty old mini- games available for free on the Internet, at least upgrade the graph- ics, polish the controls, discount the price—something. Sadly, the mak- ers of Smartbomb didn't heed this advice. What you’re left with is a bit like WarioWare, just without the per- sonality, humor, originality, or fun. Even if you’re in the market for a Publisher: Eidos Developer: Core CHRISTIAN www.eidos.com If you choose only one obscure British puzzle game for PSP, make it Archer MacLean's Mercury. collection of distracting brain- ticklers, the repetitive setup and some horribly designed interfaces negate what little enjoyment a few of the games might have offered. Smartbomb is beyond merely bad—it's kind of depressing. Even if it were done well, its unam- bitious collection of logic puzzles would still be stale. But the painfully restrictive time limits and sluggish control pushes it well beyond my tolerance, while the die-and-retry gameplay only makes it worse. Then, of course, comes the ultra- laughable story. Tying a puzzle game to a futuristic military weaponry yarn? It worked in the movie WarGames but not here. Smartbomb is just a result of wrongheaded thinking from inception to comple- tion. Its poor quality is so obvious that | don’t understand how this game made it to my PSP. ix Players: 1 (2-4 via Wi-Fi) ESRB: Everyone 10+ review Crew: How much you wanna make a bet 1 can hit this ball over them mountains? HOT SHOTS GOLF: OPEN TEE It's the simple swings that matter CRISPIN: Fans of the Hot Shots series on the PlayStation and PS2 know exactly what to expect from Open Tee. The simple, tap-a-button swing meter remains unchanged, as does the look of the supercutesy golfers and their caddies. In fact, if this installment came out on the big consoles, I'd consider it a bore. But as one of only two on-the-go golf options for the PSP (the other being Tiger Woods), Open Tee is my pick for the game to get. It all comes down to the swing meter. Tiger forces you to use the PSP's analog nub to swing—a tricky tech- nique | could never quite master. Open Tee's but- ton-tapping formula just works better, letting you focus on making good shots rather than fighting unpredictable controls. Unfortunately, Open Tee loses to Tiger in nearly every other department. You can't customize how your character levels up—particular skills increase automatically after each successful game. And it takes too long to unlock new cours- Good: Cinch controls, addicting gameplay Bad: Takes forever to unlock courses What We Really Want: A minigolf minigame 120 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www. 1UP.com es, forcing you to replay the same old holes until you've collected enough stars to move on. At least the pace is fast enough that you can finish most matches on one bus ride. SHAWN: Bobbleheads be damned— Open Tee's Dorf-like duffers wanna be taken for serious golfers, which means you shouldn't expect goof- ball modes where there's a daycare-colored world. Here, practicing passes for a minigame. (Bonus doodads add some drive, but unlocking a single course takes longer than a cartless 18 at Boston behemoth the Pines, so that's sort of a bad thing, too.) Open Tee still finds the hole, only it's some- where between pick-up-and-play party game and serious golf sim. Its blinking grid marks the lay of the green better than most links games do, with- out taking the intuition out of putting. Its triple-tap club control beats Tiger's (PSP) bogey-beckoning touchiness...even if it isn't as fun. Putter Party If you want to play Open Tee’s multiplayer mode, you better find some PSP-owning buddies who also have the game. Unfortunately, its Wi-Fi-only multiplayer options don’t let players take turns on one system. The bright side: Up to eight players can compete simultaneously in the tournament mode. But with match play Still forcing players to take turns, why not just let em pass around the same system? b: THE VERDICTS 70 70 70 CRISPIN JENNIFER: Golf is a weird sport: Its snoozewor- thiness in real life is actually what makes it com- pelling in videogame form. Repetitive, solitary, mildly scientific, surprisingly addictive—Open Tee is all of these things, and it'll neither blow you away nor put you to sleep. Instead, it'll require patience, practice, and occasional poking around in the dark. (You unlock new techniques like super top-spin and high trajectory shots, but after the initial explanation you'll have to consult the manual for how-tos.) Perhaps a little too much patience is required to unlock courses, as Crispin and Shawn mentioned. But in general, this is a fun little portable outing, especially if you're not serious enough for Tiger. And | have exactly three words for the golf snobs: unlockable trucker hats. ri Developer: Clap Hanz Players: 1 (2-8 via Wi-Fi) ESRB: Everyone SHAWN JENNIFER Publisher: Sony CEA www.playstation.com REVIEWS The games that were too little or too late * GBA * Capcom ESRB: E — A classic gaming icon in an adventure about computer hacking, card collecting, and jargon-smothered cyber-dungeon crawling...could Network be any geekier? B e: If you have a friend who wants to trade ` Battle Network items with you, hold on to that person and never let go. ance of the > Ki 5 X e PS2 e Koei ESRB: E Begin your Romance as a free officer, learning the game’s complexities at a gradual pace, or skip the foreplay and get straight to uniting the land through ШП debating, and domestic policy. line: For hardcore romantics only, but if brains turn you on, you'll have a lasting relationship with frequent deep-strategizing. * PS2/XB * Hip e ESRB: T — Stolen's less- than-perfect crime: intellectual property theft. It’s all here— Splinter Cell's movements, spy-game gadgetry, and shadowy ambience—but this thievery-themed sneak-em-up can’t copy Sam Fisher where it counts. Leading lady Anya picks consumer pock- ets with limp-wristed chop-socky, a fussy interface, and boneheaded baddies. * PSP • 989 Sports • ESRB: E — Ironically, the simpleness of 989's baseball franchise (which hurts it on the console side) makes MLB a great fit for Sony's new handheld. It features made-for-dummies controls, players move as smoothly as in its console big brother, and there’s commentary—a first for 989’s PSP lineup. Toss in a few minigames next year, and MLB could put some serious heat on EA’s MVP. i 2 * DS * EA Games ESRB: Е — Unless you’ve just been thawed from a glacier and your Neanderthal brain somehow knows how to read, you already know that Underground 2 is about modding cars and showing ’em off in illegal street races. It's also one of the weakest iterations of the franchise we’ve seen—though far from out-and- out bad, the graphics and sense of speed could definitely be better, the D-pad controls gave us hand cramps, and the touch screen implementation feels tacked on. tom line: Serious on-the-road car junkies will have more fun with the superior PSP version. $h REVIEWS ARCHIVE Our ancient burial ground for reviews GAME ‘SYSTEM American McGee Presents Scrapland ХВ Area 51 PS2/XB Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 PS2/XB Champions: Return to Arms PS2 Close Combat: First to Fight XB Cold Fear PS2/XB Cold Winter Ps2 Dead or Alive Ultimate XB Dead to Rights II PS2/XB Death by Degrees PS2 Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening PS2 Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat GC Doom 3 XB Dynasty Warriors 5 PS2 EA Sports Fight Night Round 2 PS2/XB/GC Enthusia: Professional Racing PS2 FIFA Street PS2/XB/GC Gran Turismo 4 PS2 GunGriffon: Allied Strike XB Haunting Ground PS2 Kessen III PS2 Lego Star Wars PS2/XB. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition PS2/XB MLB 2006 ps2 MLB 2K5 PS2/XB W Average Mortal Kombat: Deception GC score for Musashi Samurai Legend PS2 Brothers: MVP Baseball 2005 PS2/XB/GC Ame MX vs. ATV Unleashed PS2/XB Road to Hill 30 ай Pac-Pix 05 Pariah XB Phantom Dust X8 Playboy: The Mansion PS2/XB Pocket Kingdom: Own the World NG Pokémon Dash DS Project: Snowblind PS2/XB Psychonauts xB Red Ninja: End of Honor PS2/XB bargain bin bounty Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2 PS2 Rise of the Kasai PS2 Sega Classics Collection PS2 Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga PS2 Spider-Man 2 Ds Spider-Man 2 PSP Star Fox: Assault 6с Star Wars Republic Commando XB HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED m Xbox т Released: March 2002 m Original Scores: 10, 10, 10 If you’re one of the two Xbox owners who hasn't played Halo, go grab a copy now that it's only 20 bucks. Even though some levels get repetitive, Halo has a Tony the Tiger “grrrrrreat” last stage (driving with guns blazing and trying to beat the clock). Street Fighter Anniversary Collection ХВ Tekken 5 PS2 TimeSplitters: Future Perfect PS2/XB/GC Tork: Prehistoric Punk XB Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix PSP Twisted Metal: Head-On PSP Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict ХВ Viewtiful Joe 2 PS2/GC WarioWare: Touched! 05 WarioWare: Twisted! GBA Wipeout Pure PSP Worms Forts: Under Siege PS2/XB WWE Wrestlemania 21 XB Xenosaga Episode Il Ps2 Yoshi Touch & Go 05 Ys VI: Ark of Napishtim PS2 *Games in red are previous Game of the Month winners. \ 122 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com W The bad guy from Haunting Ground has a striking resemblance to Sloth from Goonies. SCORES VERDICT (out of 10) W The broken-record gameplay forces you to play through repetitive missions 65 AWARD W This fun, creepy shooter is satisfying even with Duchovny's monotonous voiceover 8.0 W Salute ВАЗ brainy A.l. and squad tactics—it's the best WWII shooter yet 85 W Hack and/or slash to find cooler stuff to let you hack and/or slash some more 7,5 W Belongs in no man's land because of bland gameplay and shell-shocked A.l. 50 WA lukewarm zombie game, but the exploding headshots never get old 60 W 007 meets MacGyver (sans mullet) їп this above-average violent shooter 70 E The bouncing boobs of DOAS 1 and 2 look way nicer revamped for Xbox 70 W This boring sequel about a cop and his dog is great..for us to poop on 40 W We're grateful to have Nina on board—too bad good gameplay didn't come with her E This sequel gives us a new fighting-style system and some crazy combos 80 WI Why work when you can bang on the drum all day in this unconventional platformer? W We promise you'll jump when things go bump in the night in this beautiful shooter т Hack-n-slash through armies as a Chinese Rambo in this addictive sequel W We pity the fool who doesn't climb into the ring with this boxing champ WI Even hardcore Gran Turismo fans should take a ride in this driving sim W Soccer has been Street-ified, and it's decent but not great E Stili the best driving sim on PS2, but not a lot has changed since A-Spec W One of the Dreamcast's finest-looking robot shooters. Май, this is an Xbox game? E Even the bouncy boobs can't make us think this is a top-notch survival-horror game W Though cinematic and ambitious, it never manages any serious action or strategy їй Some fun disassembly is required when you use the Force to take apart battle droids W This time around, cars have superpowers and move faster than a speeding bullet W The series tries to go for a hit, but it's stil just a bunt compared to the competition W Cranks one outta the park thanks to its innovative pitching system and spiffy visuals Wi This bloated sequel has so many extra game modes that there's even MK chess W This swordsman swings a mean blade, but repetitive levels hamper the fun W Slick minigames make it the best hardball sim yet W A worthy game that appeals to more than gearheads with its countless unlockables B All that doodling in school will come in handy in this over-too-soon DS drawing game W This shooter has cool weapons and a semi-interesting story, but it's no Halo-killer W Amass more psychic powers than Miss Cleo has in this slick arena-combat game Hi Its а third-rate Sims clone, but with giant cartoon boobies W The N-Gage's first online RPG, not that you can tell while playing W їп this mediocre Poké spin-off for tykes, rubbin’ really is racing Wi The NRA has its poster game in this weapons-crammed futuristic blaster W Cure more crazies than shock therapy does in this great platform game 3 Gameplay so horrible that it actually ruins a videogame with hot ninjas in panties т Koko the gorilla has an easier time communicating than gamers in REO's online play I The stealth Kilin's easy when your numskull A.l. partner's not getting in your way W Awesome Sega coin-ops are "updated" into monstrosities, while Sega fans weep її Final Fantasy X plus Hinduism, plus Mad Max, but with a cliffhanger ending! W if your spider sense is on the fritz, let us warn you to avoid this ho-hum adventure ва Kirsten Dunst looks nice, but the camera has a hard time focusing on anything else Wi “Dogs of war" takes on new meaning in this Nintendo comeback shooter series W Guide a squad of three smart stormtroopers that actually shoot the bad guys! W Street Fighter Il + Street Fighter Ill = Street Fighter Awesome. But where's Alpha? I The Iron Fist tournament may be getting a little rusty, but it comes with great extras I The ultimate twitch first-person shooter with a killer sense of humor т Platforming clichés in this punkosaurus have been around since the Stone Age W The additional features make you want to keep grinding in the Destruction Tour W This fighting game with cars is OK, but the series is due for some maintenance W Fast-paced deathmatching that's ideal for gamers bored with Halo 2 E More of what you (hopefully) know and (should) love from Joe's first outing W Its wacky minigames keep you—and those watching you play—entertained Wi Spin your GBA like a nutcase in this collection of new three-second microgames W Remind yourself to blink while playing this great, intense racing game W Weird fort building and stupid A.I. make Worms gross again WI The AL. is so bad that this game is even unworthy for a fake sport W Not Xenosaga Episode II, but more like Xenosaga Episode I: The Deleted Scenes W Draw clouds with the stylus and control the environment for Mario's green steed WI A solid, challenging action-RPG the way they used to make 'em X MARKS THE BOX (Solution on page 128) ACROSS 1. Samus Aran’s frigid beam 3. Stone of Streets of Rage 7. Xbox exclusive time-warping cat 8. Madden's two-_ warning 10. The Sims servants 12. Tony Hawk Underground's Margera 13. Devil May Cry swordsman 15. Previously proposed name for Xbox 360 17. Panzer Dragoon Saga hero 19. Vandal Hearts Il bit-part prisoner 20. Green, Red on an Xbox controller 21. Like Lotus or Toyota in Gran Turismo 4 22. Generic videogame collectible? 24. 8-bit Nintendo’s _ Jackson Baseball 26. Shark Tale electric marine life 27. Ys series protagonist 29. Like “action” or “puzzle” 31. Mortal Kombat's yellow cyborg 33. Like Viewtiful Joe's shading 34. Slow down іп 674 36. Flies out, іп baseball games 37. Shredder’s Ninja Turtles boss 38. New Narc drug-injection target 39. The Lord of the Rings Sauron's omniscient portal DOWN 2. Scrapland city 3. Pointed a gun at 4. Hyped Xbox 360 software development tool 5. Raziel’s Soul Reaver punishment 6. UFC fighting style 7. Obi-Wan's street name 8. PS2 knight in boxer shorts 9. Green’s enemy in Army Men 11. NES Rush "n Attack attack 14, Number of main stages in Katamari Damacy 16. Like Raiden, for a while, near the end of Metal Gear Solid 2 18. Xbox trademark color 20. Opposite of 27 down 23. Liquid metal PSP title 24. Friend to an NES Boy 25. Like PS2’s Cooper 27. How you'll rarely find Pokémor's Snorlax 28. Home to 26 across 29. Final Fantasy IIl's feral kid 30. The third ^E" in games trade show E3 32. Like Kingdom Hearts or .hack 35. PS2’s Mark of _ SEANBABY'S e. WORSTTV | GAMES OF ALL TIME Part two in an ongoing series...of two reviously on The Rest of the Crap: “Vanna Р White is a swamp creature.” Later that same day, “My God, these readings prove that every time someone plays a game based on a TV show, God pulls the head off a kitten." And now, the startling conclusion to the painfully researched list of the 10 Worst TV Games of AII Time, in No Particular Order. —Seanbaby E If you can’t negotiate a step, jou deserve to die. = EEE Smurf Rescue in Gargamel's Castle • 2600/Colecovision The TV Show: A wizard and his cat hatch plots to eat the Smurfs. The Game: When you're four inches tall and split your time between smurfing and smurfing to music, every- thing is a danger. The programmers took this idea and ran with it, so a slight brush against ANYTHING will kill you. Fences, steps...if you touch it, you die a tragic, frown-faced death. Which is fine with me. These damn blueies are narcissistic enough to replace every adjective in their language with their own species name, and maybe after a few hundred of them explode by smurfing themselves into fences they’ll get over themselves. You don’t hear me trying to work “humaning” into the description of my day, you damn egomaniacs. Which is probably why stairs don’t hate me enough to try to kill me. 0500 Ig Tim Allen's coke prob» fem m suddenly seems Ноте Improvement * SNES The TV Show: Men grunt! Women like to shop and have periods! The Game: | swear to God, this is based on the family sitcom of the same name, and you fight fire-breathing dinosaurs with a grappling hook. I was wondering how they were going to be faithful to Episode 28: Holy Crap, a Fire- ACCURACY, Breathing Dinosaur! Airwolf e NES The TV Show: EI brother is missing. His helicopter is not, and it kicks total ass. Also starring Ernest Borgnine. 18 Гуе seen better graphics оп ап Etch-A-Sketch. The бате: Оп TV, Hawke сап target an enemy jet, close his eyes, smash his hand across the console, and any of the 25 buttons he hits will shoot the jet down. Airwolf's cigarette lighter will blow you up. Its landing gear travels through time, then blows you up in the future. In the Nintendo version, however, you can take a nap in the time it takes to turn slightly to your left. Some of the enemy pilots were briefed on this limitation and. will taunt you, knowing that as long as they don’t fly directly in front of your machine guns, you can never hit them. Pve piloted Care Bears that were deadlier than the Nintendo Airwolf. And if you've ever tried taking out an F-16 by loving it really hard, then you know how insulting that is. James Bond Jr. • SNES The TV Show: It's like James Bond, only re- tooled for children who like things that suck. W Young Bond: limber and likes to flaunt it. The Game: The feature that sets this game apart from all other bad side- scrollers is that enemies don’t charge into your karate kicks. Instead, they stop short of where your kick would hit them, and throw grenades at your face. Luckily for them, when James Bond Jr. tries to step forward and kick at the same time, he unleashes a super jump-kick that hits enemies 30 feet above his head and nothing else. Fights alternate between getting hit in the face with grenades and leaping over the guy who did it, a combat system rarely seen outside the spaz community. Fun House ° NES |... The TV Show: А game EP show based on another game show based on мыл covering teen contes- tants in food. Host J.D. Roth suggests, “Let’s get messy!” Bi J.D. Roth: Hot pink suits him. Also, lavender. The Game: The show had two teams answer trivia questions whose only purpose was to give the children time to rest between sloppy food fights. For added authenticity, the game leaves out the trivia questions and replaces them with a never-flinching J.D. Roth head that encourages you to roller-skate through futuristic battle zones. And probably due to some kind of miscommunication, the sloppy food fight portion of the show is replaced with this same thing. I can’t think of a single episode in which a ‘Smurf failed to step onto a curb and died— probably because you can’t say, “Let’s give his body a proper smurfing!” on TV. It's probably close—l've never actually seen the show. 1 saw The A-Team, though, and ACCURACY thinking about that put me in a good enough mood to give this game a 96. Sucka! My memory of the show isn’t perfect, but 1 am positive І never saw children roller-skat- ing through laser turrets to bombard manhole covers with throwing stars. Positive. $h 124 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com GRUDGE MATCH Lego my Lando LEGO STAR WARS LUCAS’ STAR WARS to the essential best Advantage: Lego DEMOG Ages Jake Lloyd to Yoda Advantage: Tie Obi-Wan’s rigid plastic claw means he'll never drop a lightsaber Advantage: Lego Amidala’s angular front-butt It sounds like a worse idea than the Bebe’s Kids Super Nintendo game, but by golly Lego Star Wars сап бох! Let’s see if Lucas’ blockbuster Star Wars movies can bust Lego’s blocks. Episodes 1-3 boiled down Midi-chlorians make you an a-hole RAPHIC Certainly this dude Advantage: Tie В JEDI Puny human wrist cost Luke his hand and saber Advanta‘ IF YOU DON'T LIKE SOMETHING Just hack it into smaller blocks! Advantage: Lego DISAPPOII Jabba proved to be too rotund to Lego-ize in-game Advantage: Le ON THE It’s still a game full of friggin’ Legos, man Too bad, sucker— you bought a ticket! INTMENTS Ewoks, in general WHOLE Stellar Episodes 4, 5, and 6 offset frequent lameness of the prequels Advantage: Lucas WINNER: LEGO STAR WARS Turns out swapping the Star Wars cast for a bunch of little plastic men with bad hair makes a good thing even better. STEP INTO THE MIND OF AN ASSASSIN | www.killer7.com 4 МАТОВЕ 17+ Blood and Gore РЕР GAMECUBE PlayStation. N м Intense Violence Sexual Themes Strong Language geme over FINAI WORD Going ‘round and 'round on the Xbox 360 | hal Che Chou were two of the first journalists in the world to see the Xbox 360, but they signed a nondisclo- sure agreement saying they'd keep quiet about everything they'd seen until this issue. Do you have any idea how difficult it was for these two to keep their traps shut on such a major event? Now, the embargo’s up, and the boys are finished with their therapy ses- sions, so let’s see what they really think about Microsoft's new machine. ditor-in-Chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu кш Shoe: It looks like a shrunken-down PC. I guess | was hoping for something sexier here, like the iPod or the PSP. Che: | have to agree. My initial reaction was that the Xbox 360 looked more at К ems 0 | What’s the so far? est thing about the 360. Che: The best'thing about the 360 is that 11ке able to play next-generation games later this year. As an early‘adopter, | want my shiny new gadgets ап@ 1 want them now! Not late next year. The fact that Microsoft will be able to build the 360 on top of its preexisting Xbox Live architec- ture tickles me pink like Kirby. Shoe: The Xbox Live stuff will be amaz- ing—it’s easily the best part about going 360 this fall. The streamlined and “The Xbox Live stuff will be amazing.” home in an office than a living room. It just didn’t look like a traditional console, but then again, isn’t that what Microsoft is banking on? Shoe: I'm glad it's not traditional looking, actually. It definitely has a unique look and feel, though I'm not sure how that thing's going to stack with my other components. It looks cool. Just not iPod cool. 126 • ELECTRONIC, improved matchmaking should make play- ing online with strangers fun again, and as long as developers don’t get greedy, | can see the microtransactions being kind of fun for a game you're really into. Sure I'll pay a buck to get a bunch of new Halo 3 skins or insignias. Just don't charge me for something | should be getting with the game to begin with. Che: Let's not forget, with free basic membership:to all 360 owners, you can finally expect Xbox Live to hit critical mass. f... THLY e www.1UP.com 4 b Wi The Xbox 360: The curviest console you've ever seen. Shoe: Yeah, but also don't forget, you need broadband for that basic service. Only half of the United States has broad- band right now.... The worst? Shoe: When | first saw Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast, itblew my eyes out. | wanted that Sou! Calibur-ness in all of the 360 games. | had it in my head that we would sée photo-realistic and lifelike graphics here, but we're not there quite yet. The closest I've seen so far is NBA 2К6. The LeBron James in the video demo we saw looked and moved almost exactly like the real thing. Let's just see if he'll still look that good when it’s a full 5-on-5 game, with crowds, ball physics, A.l., and: so on. And cheerleaders. Don't forget the cheerleaders. Che: You have a point. | don’t buy that graphics are less important than game- play—for a game to,rock, it’s important to have both in spades. And the visuals we've seen from the 360 thus far look more like.an evolution than a revolution. C'mon; where are the neuro-jacks for the back of my head? Does Sony need to worry? Che: Although Microsoft probably won't become a market leader just yet in the next generation, Sony really can't afford to rest on,its PS2 and PSP arsenal. Look what happened to Nintendo between the Super Nintendo and the Nintendo 64. The game industry is an ever-changing market. Heck, just ask any Japanese pub- lisher—you stagnate at your own peril. Shoe: If Sony were smart, it'd get on the online bandwagon with its next system. Although online gaming isn’t mass market yet, it will be—and if Sony leaves that market space alone long enough, it will be 0 в ө e е © @ left in the dark ages when that time comes. Microsoft is building its online foundation now...all in'preparation for the future when the entire:world is connected. How about Nintendo? Shoe: Nintendo’s problem isn’t the quality of games or hardware—GameCube’s Resident Evil 4 looks just about as good as half the 360 gamés I’ve Seen so far—it’s marketability. Its ext system will impress, I'm sure, but willit sell as well as Microsoft’s or Sony’s? Doubtful. It just doesn't.have that cool, grown-up brand image its competitors have. Che: There's no doubt the Nintendo name no longer carries the weight it used to, but | think it'll be a while yet before you see Nintendo go the way of Sega and leave the hardware business. Its conservative business strategies are both a blessing and a curse; on the one hand, playing it safe has kept Nintendo profitable, even while its.stubbornness to change with the times continues to kill its market share. | don’t expect its attitude to change in the next generation. Shoe: Yeah, Nintendo will just be happy with its niche. It doesn’t seem interested in taking over the world, which is OK. ж W NBA 2K6 for Xbox 360: That’s hot. EGM RETRO: MAKING THE GAME We've gota very good feelin about this Star Wars title | dding something peo reno a snippet better bits of the games from the galaxy far, far | 1 B there, father of the Force George Lucas away and leave the fluff on the cutting-room floor БДЫ likes picking apart his films. In the same to make the ultimate Star Wars videogame. nothing-is-sacred spirit, we cobble together the —Shawn Elliott Star Wars Battlefront Star Wars Republic Star Wars: Knights of PS2/XB ° 2004 Commando * XB ° 2005 the Old Republic Vast and stocked with all the big, Thanks in part to a band of iden- XB ° 2003 scene-stealing vehicles, last tical brothers who do well with- KOTOR charmed fans and con- year’s Battlefront made for out direction and work wonders verted detractors with its popu- blowout online 16-person (or up with it—just the self-sufficient lated planets, didn’t-see-that- to 24, if you had the Xbox ver- sort we'd want to share our coming plot twists, and power to sion) multiplayer matches, Star „| multiseat dropship with—the pick sides in the Force’s light Wars or otherwise. Now, put that recently released Republic and dark clans. We dig shooting freedom to hop in and hit the Commando showed that Star and asking questions, so this. thrusters in a story-heavy, ж | Wars could do squad-based RPG's storytelling and person- single-player epic, please. shooting with the best of ‘em. able cast are coming with us. Associate of Science & Bachelor of Science ) Programs ode Jedi к ars Rogue li г | SA | r ° N64/DC • di Academy w JEG iron Il: Rogue " Bm)" up 1999/2000 XB • 2003 Leader e GC e 2001 — f Real World Education Episode l’s space chariots This Star Wars experience will + | When our identical-looking Р screamed “racing game” from the с surely include Jedis. And since 4 squad (see Republic Commando) school of ,| get-go, and Racer answered these intergalactic ninjas live or takes to the skies, we'll want d "| back. Despite Dreamcast's supe- die by the lasersword, our game starfighter sim Rogue Squadron rior specs, its version did nothing | # will need killer lightsaber duels. 1'$ cockpit cam (which lets you = Nintendo 64's didn’t and every- — * | We liked the cut of Academy’s look around the cabin), targeting thing it did, meaning either is „ | glowstick battles—just add a few computer, coordinated wingmen, good enough for the minigame in |" | more special moves and our screen-clogging sorties, and our Star Wars megagame. s game'd be dangerous. - | enemy aces. Shin TT Recording Arts Show Production & Touring Я DISTURBANCES IN Т Some scenes should stay deleted * EN Star We Episode Star Wars: Super Star Wars: Masters of зоо. ip 7525 ә Î m Att of the Bombad Racing • PS2 • Teras Kasi • PS1 • H.com Clones • GBA • 2001 — Just when you 1997 — Tough to 2002 — Now the get past the idea of Star control, tougher to 3300 University Boulevard Winter Park, FL 32792 Financial aid available to those who qualify collection of Star Wars games has its Wars capitalizing on the enjoy, fighting flop kart-racing craze, you get Teras Kasi stumbled very own Holiday to the part where it’s a bad upon the secret art of Job placement assistance Special. game with jugheaded Jedi. sucking ass. s Accredited Coles ACUSCT < = ki E s *' " : zo » Li game over NEXT MONTH: AUGUST - ISSUE “194 ON SALE JULY 5 NEXT-GEN SYSTEMS [ ae s you know, in this issue we A| opened up our trench coat and flashed you with some Xbox 360 coverage, but get ready to finally see some big news on the Nintendo Revolution and the PlayStation 3. Suddenly feel like you have a mouthful of Pop Rocks? Don’t worry—that sound you hear is just your mind getting blown away. But will these new consoles drastically change the way we play games? From the looks of it, this won't be one of those lame Nintendo Virtual Boy flops. It's a nice feeling knowing what we'll be busy with for the next few years, so we'll share our experiences from ЕЗ, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the world’s largest videogame trade show. Get our hands-on impressions of all the hottest games of the future and our not-so-hands-on impressions of the booth babes. We stuck to what we're good at and also got our mitts on some of the sweet titles coming out this year, such as Zelda, Kingdom Hearts Il, and Burnout Revenge. We'll give you our thoughts on the big games you'll be playing soon. This action-packed issue will do a no-handed cartwheel and hit news- stands soon, so watch out for it! ADVERTISER INDEX Academy of Art University . www.academyartedu . . ACTIVISION Www.bandal.com BEST BUY Blockbuster, Inc. www.blockbuster.com . Capcom USA Inc. .. www.capoom.com .. Clan Servers Hosting, LLC www.choopa.com ............ ATE Collins College www.collinscollege.edu ...............107 Dirty Hippo www.dirtyhippo.com Ecko Unlimited AET ES 33 4111, 113, 115, 117, +119, 121, 123, 125 Electronic Arts www.ea.com Electronics Boutique 15, 61, 85 Full Sail Real World Education www^füllsallcom ............. EL Game Crazy www.gamecrazy.com Koei Corporation www.koei.com ....................... т Konami America www.majescogames.com ............. 5-7 Microsoft www.microsoftcom .............. EI Nyko Technologies Inc. СОТО 97 Office for National Drug Control Policy www.whatsyourantidrug.com ............ т www.highmoonstudios.com .... ‘SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT Take 2 Interactive www.take2games.com ............ е THQ Ino. wwwhq.com ....... BOUES A UNILEVER www.unilevercom ................... EJ Us ARMY ACCESSIONS COMMAND www.goarmy.com ....... DOR DN зе US Navy Recruiting Command мулмламу.сот....................... 79 | "oss cA TOROS Ю Mario Kart (DS) Wi Ninja Gaiden Black (PS2) [ Shadow of the Colossus VEA | M SSX4 (PS2/XB/GC) IB Advent Rising (В) W Batman Begins (PS2/XB/GC) ` W Conker: Live & Reloaded (XB) W Destroy All Humans (PS2/XB) E NCAA Football 2006 (PS2/XB/GC) (All planned editorial content is subject to change.) ANSWERS TO X MARKS THE BOX on page 123 RIECIRONG GAMING MONTY (SSN #10589181) subnet тоу by Z Davis eda ик. 28 East 8 Suse New Yod NY 10016, Pats Postago Paid at Ne York; НҮ 10010 and aditional maling оеш. For subscr пер: пісе egmmag com (ог customer service) oc htp/subscribe egmr апа exceptions: A Without limiting the rights under copyrights reserved herein, no part of this | ZIN Davis Media но. A ns reserved, Electronic Gaming ony В eres logo. c FostoReprins at Tet (896) 879-9144. Visit waw-tostereprints.com t0 obtain quotes. tespece аатай an copyright omer AI materiais itd im this magazi 40009221. 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Outside the U.S. add $16 per year ок! сенеп шка by Prepayments regure, Nae check pns t Босоо Gami weeks before receiving your first issue as well as for any Boulder, CO 80822-3191 ver are not responsible for unsolicited materials. The editors and tho publish without the prior written notice of Ziff Davis Media inc. Copyright © 2005 recording, or otherwise), writen permission of 2И Davis Media Inc. is prohibited. For permission to reuse material from our publications or websites, or to use ticle REPRINTS and E-PRINTS, contact therein are owned by Printed in the U. © GAME (NOT) OVER It hasn't even begun... How do you reach the hottest demographic in 2005? е | Q Ita JU GAM ERS galore! Put your brand front and center at the only event reaching 35,000 consumers and 2,000 press and retailers. Features include: В The Xbox mega-arcade - showcase your brand-new or unreleased game titles just in time for the holidays! The largest PC & Console tournament to hit the East Coast, produced by the Global Gaming League, with huge cash prizes. Wi DigitalLife LANstravaganza, a 500-gamer LAN party running 24x7 for three straight days: the biggest gaming LAN in NYC history! Whether you sell Console or PC games, electronics, music, soft drinks, or apparel, you've got to get your brand in front of these gamers, October 14-16 in NYC. Craft your perfect sponsorship opportunity: call 866-761-7303 or visit www.digitallife.com today. GM :BlackBemy CREATIVE v2 intel. = Microsoft msri@ Q9 KONICA MINOLTA TOSHIBA Ж 5 влиза PlayStation р xeo SATELLITE E = а A Z5 ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA Event game over HSU AND CHAN'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE — WWW.APE-LAW.COM/EVILMONKEY GREETINGS, VIDEO GAMERS! LOOK FOR FULL-LENGTH HSU & CHAN COMICS AT YOUR LOCAL COMIC SHOP! (OR ORDER ONLINE AT WWW.SLAVELABOR.COM.) CGD Gig: THE LAMENTATIONS SURE 15 QUIET, WITH RYBODY GONE. To THE ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT Do you remember the year when they showed the PS2? Ё Shin ww dI The speed, the graphics, they were e Ta ne And even though it turned ои >>, 7 тоо half their lainis\would prove SURL We still dutifully pooped our pants! - 7 Ж s AM V] See the softwaréjmakers tell just how great they are! „a m Shine on, ЕЗ, where newitrends are unveiled! Hear anie ام‎ why peat ind ah are э : KUP e We'll Бе sick оет before the year is done! Sure, it seems гу. ааа carried much too far, Ре \ Shine оп, ЕЗ, where new contracts are sealed! But they're prob'ly/just compensatin' forjhigh School ea Y Gamin’ for three days: intensely guilty fun! And sing about the girls who populate the booths; here + In fetish gear; with.fake guns: d ^ Ё Before you see the pictures that we took with them, last year, Standin in line), though -- not so much. WL THEN I MIGHT Jt FILL THEIR DESKS WITH SUME TCI NAKE. 5 LI : ^ . li listen to their stories, when they b: 5 SAPPHIRE EA y ~~ 130 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com official BATMAN BEGINS. ACCESSORIES available for PLAYSTATION®2 XBOX® PSP® NINTENDO DS" GAME BOY ADVANCE SP ONLY AVAILABLE FROM MAD САТ2° Get yours today! Available in the gaming section at any leading retailer or VISIT madcatz.com to see the entire BATMAN" line madcatz.com (92005 Mad Catz, Inc. 7480 Mission Valley Rd., Suite 101, San Diego, CA 92108-4406. Mad Catz, the Mad Catz logo are trademarks Ar registered trademarks of Mad Catz, Inc its subsidiaries and affiliates The shape and design of this product are a copyright of Mad Catz, Inc. PlayStation and PS one are i f Sony Entertainment Ine. oona SRR уз, eee sae i Nintendo DS, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Advance SP are trademarks or - ў 100%. К 10% OFF ANY ORDER! [Xe ОЭ (97