GOD OF WAR III, HALO 3: ODST, SUPER MARIO Фуу ШЕКП DEAD 2 INSIDE

WORLD EXCLUSIVE AUGUST 2009,

s

Woo JeWojuleweb MMM.

ic"s Brave New World - ~

US $5.99 CAN $5.99 FUK £3.99

Blood

Mild Language Use of Alcohol Violence

0 |" SOFTWARE

M all alo iated logos and designs are trademarks or registered trader Сз Gdfrpdratien EC DVOROM Online logo (TM and G)EMA 2006. The. Мадера of the Entertainment Software Association: All other marks are property of their respective owners

x

А WORLD DIVIDED. A JOURNEY UNCHARTED.

— „545, ——— w

THE FORGOTTEN NEVER FORGIVE

FEW ARE BRAVE ENOUGH TO TRAVERSE OUR SHATTERED ЖОКЕ

YET IN THE SHADOWS, THE ASMODIANS HAVE FOUND STRENGTH. NOW WE SHALL RECLAIM THIS LAND FROM THE ARROGANT CREA THAT INHABIT IT, AND EXPERIENCE LIFE BEYOND THE DARK

AIONONLINE.COM. o

cover story

Id Software is exploring new horizons of game development with its next opus, Rage. Concepts-entirely new to the veteran:studio, from driving to stealth, are incor- porated into a massive open world and tendered by the powerful graphics engine id Tech 5. Teaser trailers for the game fave been floating around for some time, but Game Informer presents the world-exclusive first look at the inner workings of this multiplatform action title.

features

2 10 GAMES

28

ALTERED BEAST We talked to the bigshots within EA

as well as high-profile partner compa-

We pick the hottest of this year's impressive catalog from the show floor. These aren't the only 10 games from E3 worth watching – not

by a long shot - but they are the best-looking titles out of a bumper gaming crop. That's a heck of an endorsement.

nies like Valve Software, Epic Games, and Double Fine Productions to find out how the EA Partners program delivers its startling level of quality.

щл

S 4 Staff 36 Opinion 94

E Read the team’s latest favorites GI's Andrew Reiner talks about the

5 Б GISpy future of game difficulty

E Silly pictures of our life and times 37 Calendar 95 8 Dear Gl Get hip to this month's happenings

Your chance to fire back at us!

I2 Connect

Where news, talk, and technology collide

48

Previews Our preview section has rarely beenas 96 stocked full of quality product as it is in this issue. Splinter Cell: Conviction and

20 Impulse Super Mario Galaxy 2 are just the tip of

Your guide to the world of downloadable the iceberg

ПУ 84 Reviews 100 34 Gear Game of the Month: Fight Night Round

Geeky gadget stuff for the masses

2 GAME INFORMER

4 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

Charts Retail Sales Data and the GI editors’ Top 10 Games

Online See what's happening at Game Informer Online

Secret Access Codes, strategies, and passwords

Classic Gl Reliving gaming's greatest moments

Game Over The end...oris it?

GAME INDEX

GAME PAGE DI ————— ары 69 Arcania: A Gothic Tale. .J46 Assassin's Creed |І. ........... 459. Avatar........... „® Battlefield 1943 ...... ..89 Beatles: Rock Band, The... .58

Bigs 2; The. coe etes BioShock 2....... Borderlands........... Brink. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Conduit, The ..6. eese " Damnation. .

Def Jam Rapstar . Demon's Souls Dit2 „сеек Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter East India Company . EyePet. . Fight Night Round 4.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers . .

Forza Motorsport Ill . . God of War III . Golden Sun DS i Guitar Hero: Smash Hits Halo 3: ODST. Heavy Rain. . Homefront.......... Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier . . Last Guardian, The . . League of Legends: Clash of Fates Left 4 Dead Ov КИИИН see Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, The Legendary Starfy, Тһе......................

LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues.

LEGO Rock Band........ LittleBigPlanet Portable.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story . . Mass Effect 2...

Metroid: Other М ModNation Racers. NCAA Football 10 . .

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle .. .

Overlord !!............. ..90 Overlord: Dark Legend. . . 2.93 Pictoss 3D... cec cores ees еруу ат Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box.......... 81 Ргоќоѓуре........... ПЕРРЛЕИРИРАСДЕЕ OO Scribblenauts........ Г...

Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage . . . Sin and Punishment 2 ................... Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny Splinter Cell: Conviction . . Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes. Super Mario Galaxy 2 . . Supreme Commander 2

Torchlight.......... Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Ee Wii Sports Resort. «eren eene 6074

_ NEW AXE INSTINCT

as FRAGRANCE WITH THE POWER OF LEATHER

Н S j Al f People Who Actually Get Paid To Play Video Games

ANDY’S AMERICAN ACADEMY OF AWESOME AWARDS

ANDY McNAMARA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Or the coveted А55, as | like to call them. Or as my blitzed

friends at a DICE award show once suggested, the “Andy's” So without further adieu, | give you my completely random awards from this year's ЕЗ that have no real meaning other than I wanted to talk about some of my personal highlights.

Game of the Show: Modern Warfare 2 1 know many gave it to Uncharted 2 (deservedly, because it is awesome), but | feel this will be the best game this year.

Game of the Show That Was Only A Video: The Last Guardian

It was previously known as Project: Trico, but it is still awesome.

Game That Impressed But Didn't Get Much Hype: Darksiders

Still need to see more, but this dark horse definitely took me by surprise.

Most Impressive Tech: ModNation Racers The track creation tool is out of this world crazy cool. Let's hope they get the racing right.

Game 1 Had The Most Fun Playing At the Show: Assassin's Creed 2

This game deserved more accolades than it got. The demo is amazing.

Game That Didn't Give A Crap About E3 Awards So I'm Giving It One: BioShock 2

The team doesn't want to spoil the experience, so they didn't show anything. Cheers to you. Even though you showed little, I'm still dying to play it.

Music Game I Can't Stop Thinking About Award:

DJ Hero

The Beatles: Rock Band is amazing, but DJ Hero's new chal- lenge really has me hyped.

Best RPG: Mass Effect 2

Games 1 Can't Wait To Play That Deserved An Award But It Was Too Much Work To Create One For (Tie): God of War III, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Borderlands, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Left 4 Dead 2, Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Final Fantasy XI

Game That Nintendo and Tecmo Better Not Screw Up Award: Metroid: Other M

| think this game was tailor-made for this award.

Enjoy the issue.

Cheers,

Andy >> andy@gameinformer.com

Handle: The Game Hombre Expertise: RPGs, Action/Platform, Driving, First-Person Shooters Interests: Silversun Pickups, Phoenix, The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss Dislikes: That You Aren't Following Me On Twitter: @GI_AndyMc, Bored State Troopers Who Give Me Tickets Just Because Old People Drive Slow Current Favorite Games: World Of Warcraft, Fallout 3, Chrono Trigger, Infamous, DJ Hero

4 GAME INFORMER

Reiner >> reiner@gameinformer.com

Handle: The Raging Gamer Expertise: RPGs, Action, First-Person Shooters, Strategy, Sports, Adventure Interests: Project Natal, Working On A HUGE New Project At Game Informer, District 9, Recording An Album With My Band (Tripping Icarus), My Twitter (Andrew_Reiner) Dislikes: Peter Molyneux Creating The First Cylon (His Virtual Boy, Milo, Will Bring The End Of Mankind), The Cancellation Of Reaper, Thinking Of What Could Come Next After Nintendo's Vitality Sensor (A Device That Makes Your Pets Talk?) Current Favorite Games: Final Fantasy XIII, Assassin's Creed Il, Ghostbusters, Red Faction: Guerrilla, Modern Warfare 2

Matt >> matt@gameinformer.com

Handle: The Original Gamer Expertise: First-Person Shooters, Action/Platform, Action/ Adventure, Puzzle, Action/Sports Interests: D) Quik & Kurupt - Blagkout, Wondering Who The Vikings Quarterback Will Be, CrossFit, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold By John LeCarre, Wild Rice Brats Dislikes: Attack! Attack! (Come Back, Brokencyde, All Is Forgiven), Hipster Bacon Culture Current Favorite Games: The Beatles: Rock Band, Mass Effect 2, Heavy Rain, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, WordJong, Fight Night Round 4, Def Jam Rapstar

Kato >> kato@gameinformercom

Handle: The Game Katana Expertise: Sports, Racing, Action/RPG, Action/Adventure Interests: The Quality Of This Year's ЕЗ Lineup, Junior Continuing To Show That He's Not A Top-Flight Talent, Bill Wyman's Signature Series Metal Detector, The New Era Of Wild Hockey, The Return Of Non-Exclusive NASCAR Titles Dislikes: Vampires, The Rapidly Declining Field Of Sports Journalism, EA Letting You Buy Your Way Through NCAA Current Favorite Games: The Beatles: Rock Band, Mass Effect 2, Heavy Rain, Madden NFL 10, Scribblenauts, Just Cause 2, Alpha Protocol, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Split Second, NHL 10

Adam >> adame@gameinformer.com

Handle: The Alpha Gamer Expertise: RPGs, Strategy, First-Person Shooters, Fighting Interests: iPhone OS 3.0, War For The Oaks By Emma Bull, Best Ез Lineup In Years, The Massively Better Save System And Framerate Of Mass Effect On My Bumpin’ PC, Good Games Coming Out Of Europe Dislikes: Mass Effect's Unbelievably Horrible Equipment System, No Improvement To The Size Of My Gaming Backlog In Years, Mediocre Baseball From The Twins, Bloatware Current Favorite Games: Mass Effect, World Of Warcraft, Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, Chrono Trigger, Plants Vs. Zombies

Joe >> JoeQgameinformer.com

Handle: The Real American Gamer Expertise: RPCs, Adventure, Action, Strategy, Puzzle Interests: Final Fantasy XIll's Long-Awaited Release Date, The Name Of The Wind By Patrick Rothfuss (A Must-Read For Fantasy Fans), My Immunity To The Music Game Craze, Finally Watching The Wire (It Lives Up To The Hype) Dislikes: Bands Who White Crap Lyrics, WoW-Themed Beverages, Being Disappointed By Games | Was Looking Forward To (Overlord Il and Prototype), People Who Live In Their iPhones Current Favorite Games: Mass Effect 2, Heavy Rain, Bayonetta, God Of War Ill, Assassin's Creed II, BioShock 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Final Fantasy XIII

Miller >> mileregameintormer.com

Handle: The Once And Future Gamer Expertise: RPGs, Action/Adventure, Fighting, Platform, First-Person Shooters, Music, Puzzle Interests: Reaper (We Barely Knew You), The Surprisingly Cool Recent Additions To The Rock Band Music Store (James Brown And Neko Case?!), The Revenant In 4th Edition, E3 Getting Done Right, Gunnerkrigg Court Dislikes: Leaky Sinks, The Absurd Minnesota Road Construction This Year (Why Not Just Shut Down All Roads Entirely?) Current Favorite Games: Excitebots: Trick Racing, Heavy Rain, Neverwinter Nights 2, Final Fantasy IV, Infamous, Rock Band 2, Assassin's Creed II, The Beatles: Rock Band

Bertz >> mattbertz@gameinformer.com

Handle: Lord Gamington Ill Expertise: First-Person Shooters, Sports, Action, RPGs, Strategy Interests: Minnesota Wild's New Regime, Chris Kluwe Getting More Famous For His Band No One's Heard Yet Than He Is For Being A Vikings Punter, Chan Park Woo's Thirst, Artie Lange Destroying Joe Buck On Live TV, Post-Rapture Pet Care (Great Business Plan!), Dinosaur Jr – Farm Dislikes: Mafia ll and Red Dead Redemption Delays (Use Your Time Well, Good Sirs), Fixed Elections, Missing The Leonard Cohen Concert Current Favorite Games: NCAA Football 10, Infamous, Red Faction: Guerilla, Battlefield 1943, Assassin's Creed 2, Mass Effect 2, Heavy Rain

Ben >> ben@gameinformercom

Handle: Your Friendly Neighborhood Gamer-Man Expertise: Action/Adventure, Action/ RPGs, Platform, Survival Horror, First-Person Shooters, Racing, Stealth Interests: Smash Burger (Another Reason Colorado Rules), Bigger, Faster, Stronger (| Think l'm Developing An Adonis Complex), Minus: The Race To The Moon (Like Reading A History Book That Tricks You Into Being Interested) Dislikes: Tokyo Zombie (| Know, It Sounds Awesome; It's Not), Tax Audits, Helping People Move Three Days In A Row Current Favorite Games: The Sims 3, Plants Vs. Zombies, Punch-Outl!, Final Fantasy IV, Prototype

Bryan >> bryan&gameinformer.com

Handle: The Gamer's Advocate Expertise: Action/Adventure, RPGs, Survival Horror, First- Person Shooters, Music Interests: ABC's Wipeout (It Blows Away The Classic Obstacle Courses Of Double Dare And Trashes The Boring Quiz Section), Grizzly Bear- Veckatimest Dislikes: Early Cell Phone Contract Cancellation Fees That Don't Scale Down Over Time (I've Only Got Three Months Left And I'm Still Looking At$175 Down The Crapper), When Sod Doesn't Take Current Favorite Games: Rage, Mass Effect 2, The Beatles: Rock Band, Heavy Rain, Final Fantasy IV DS, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits

бАМЕ FORMER

Volume ХУШ • Number 8 * Issue 196

PUBLISHER Cathy Preston EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Andrew McNamara EDITORS Executive Editor Andrew Reiner Senior Editor Matt Helgeson Senior Associate Editor Matthew Kato Associate Editors Adam Biessener * Joe Juba * Matt Miller Ben Reeves * Bryan Vore Content Manager Matt Bertz Mascot Arthur PRODUCTION

Art Director Thomas Bustin Production Director Curtis Fung Graphic Designer Jeff Akervik

CONTRIBUTORS Intems Jeff Marchiafava * Tim Turi GAME INFORMER ONLINE

Online Editor Jeff Cork. Media Editor Nick Ahrens Associate Online Editor Meagan VanBurkleo

ADVERTISING SALES

MINNEAPOLIS Rob Borm Associate Publisher (612) 486-6155 * Fax: (612) 4866101 rob@gameinformer.com

WEST COAST Damon Watson West Coast Advertisinsg Director (310) 450-3260 * Fax: (310) 4503571 damon@gameinformer.com Janey Stringer West Coast Advertising Associate (612) 4866104 * Fax: (612) 486-6101 janey@gameinformer.com

EAST COAST Suzanne Lang East Coast Advertising Sales Director (718) 789-0162 * Fax: (612) 486-6101 suzanne@gameinformer.com

MINNEAPOLIS Amy Amold Advertising Coordinator and Online Sales (612) 4866154 * Fax: (612) 486-6101 amy@gameinformer.com

Rachel Nimerfroh Marketing Coordinator (612) 486-6059 * Fax: (612) 486-6101 rachel@gameinformer.com

Mark Burger Marketing Coordinator (612) 486-6083 * Fax: (612) 4866101 ‘mark@gameinformer.com

CIRCULATION CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT

For renewal, address change and Edge card details: Visit: www.gameinformer.com Email: customerservice@gameinformer.com

Or send correspondence to: 724 North First St., 3rd Floor Minneapolis, MN 55401 • Attn: CIS Dept

For subscription inquiry ONLY: 1 (866) 844-GAME (4263)

Circulation Services Ted Katzung • (612) 486-6107 ted@gameinformer.com

Information Systems Manager Paul Hedgpeth paulhedgneth@gameinformer.com

In memory of Paul Anderson

Manufactured and printed in the United States of America The Editor welcomes company product information for all video games. Such materials shoud bo addressed о: Editor, Game отаг Magazine, 724 North First St, 4 Flor, Minneapots, МН 55401. Unsolcted manuscrps cannot be relumed or acknowledged. Entire contents copyright 2009. Game Informer Magazine. Al gs reserved: reproduction in whole rin par without permission is prohibited. Game Informer is а trademark 21 Gamestop, ne, Ребе атин п есе pages are tac rames о trademarks, of their respective companies. PUBLISHER LIABILITY FOR ERROR The pubisher shall not Бе lable for sight changes or Mpographical eros at бо not Jessen the value of an advertisement. ‘The publisher's tabty for other errors or omissions in connecton wilh зл айбетылеп s иті o рибката ie здат n any

any monies paid for the advertisement INDENI ICATION The adverts andor Анита Agency ages to delend and indemnity Ве publisher against any and ай abit, loss, or expense arising from claims of Roe, untar competion, una irade practices, потоп of trademarks, соруун, vade names, patens, Ce proprietary nights ог violation of rights o privacy, esuling rom th publican of the Advertiser's statement.

4

Member Audit Bureau of Circulations

Jameer” TAKE YOUR PHONE TO TXT TO = THE NEXT LEVEL! 72395

Wallpapers} Zi “ШЙ ТЇШЇ

logo1619 logo1620 teh = logo1622 cL logo1624

EL

logo1627

Good tends dont] | | letyou do stupa 3b things. alone ?

Oe logo1634 logo1635

logo1633

.Icanteven Tay attention

logo1638 logo1639

m 1640 logo 1641 logo1642

Realtones, » vo, RENE e ASHER ROTH - | LOVE COLLEGE 50ng5238 Д ттаеа Screensavers:

BLACK EYED PEAS - BOOM BOOM POW s0ng5239

BOW WOW - YOU CAN GET IT ALL song5240

EMINEM - 3AM 50п95241

EMINEM - WE MADE YOU song5242

EMINEM, DR. DRE AND 50 CENT -CRACK A BOTTLE — song5243. i JAMIE FOXX - BLAME IT (FT T-PAIN) song5244 KANYE WEST - HEARTLESS song5245

KID CUDI - DAY .N’ NITE song5246

LIL KIM - DOWNLOAD song5247

NE-YO - MAD. song5248

SLIM THUG - I RUN song5249

THE FRAY - YOU FOUND ME song5250

TWISTA - WETTER. song5251

YUNG LA FEAT YOUNG DRO AND T.I. - AIN'T 1 song5252

STHEMESONG song5253

E

game4378

HOW TO ORDER Text the Product Keyword to e get 10 graphics, 4 games and 6 ringtones

each month with this $9.99 / per month subscription 19999 e choose from over 125,000 products/month • по credit card needed

Subscribers under 18 need parental consent. By subscribing (a) you certify that you are the account holder or have the account holder's permission, and (b) you agree to these terms, the full Terms and the Privacy Ё

Policy at www.jamster.com. You will be charged $9.99 per month for the Jamster XXL Subscription Plan (6 dy ria 10 graphics and 4 games/apps) until you cancel. Not available on all carriers

or cell phones. Games/apps not available on Verizon Wireless or Virgin Mobile. Virgin Mobile subscribers will be charged $5.99 per month until cancelled. Games/apps, themes and screensavers not available on Alltel. Alltel subscribers will be charged $5.99 per month for 3 graphics and 3 ringtones until cancelled. Charges will appear on your cell phone bill or be deducted from your pre-paid balance. Standard text messaging rates, data charges and other charges may apply. To cancel, text "STOP” to 75555. For help, text " HELP” to 75555, send an email to infofüjamster.com or call (866) 856-5267.

Jamster content is available on the following wireless carriers: AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile, Alltel, Virgin Mobile, Cellular One and Cincinnati Bell For use in the U.S. and Canada: TM & © 2009 Fox Mobile Distribution, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

©2009 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved. ©2009 DreamWorks LLC and Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved. / Devils and Demons © www.handy-games.com GmbH 2009

Candid Photos From The Seedy Underbelly Of The Video Game Industry

1 Ben and Bryan hang with Bender Helper's Shannon McPhee, Elizabeth Stewart, and Cate Lombardo

2 Reiner turns his swag on with Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, Cliff Bleszinski, and Chair Entertainment's Donald Mustard 3 Media Molecule's Siobhan Reddy and Disney Interactive's Mariam Sughayer soak up the E3 vibes in Los Angeles 4 Adam and Sony's Steve Grohl may be party- ing too hard. Even our awesome waiter at Roy's in downtown L.A. got caught in the crossfire 5 Nick gets his groove back with Bethesda's Erin Losi and Rohan Rivas 6 Journalist Russ Fischer chills with Capcom's Melody Ann Pfeiffer, OnLive's Tiffany Spencer, and g-Net Media's Shelby Hill 7 Bertz and Matt enjoy some

ice cold glasses of lemonade with Plugged In PR's Heather Sorenson

8 One of the world's biggest Tekken fans, RC, visited the Namco Bandai offices to met Tekken project direc- tor Katsuhiro Harada, courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation

6 GAME INFORMER

\

re musical chai d more!

EN.

ош. P . t to „ Cake Stack ack Race « ne Po a ү! copy cat an

20 cl sic birthday party gamës: When it’s cake time, everyone can sing along to Happy Birthday. Free party invitations included in the box!

Comic Mischief

а E Ns ESRB CONTENT RATING үлем Bt ће рау 2k. we

© 2009 Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Birthday Party Bash, 2K Play, and the 2K logo are ай trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, nc. in the USA and /or foreign countries. Wii and the Wii logo are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2006 Nintendo. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. АН rights reserved.

For Example

| always thought your magazine showed some bias in favor of the Xbox 360. Now, after reading Andy's Letter from the Editor in issue 195, | have realized that your editor is also a weasel. What a terrible misrepre- sentation of the facts. When he mentioned “amazing games’ for the 360, he must have been referring solely to the first Gears of War. “Impressive technology” must have also been a reference to the same game. | would like another example of an amazing or impressive technological achievement on this outdated console. As for Sony's Home being a joke, it seems to me that the users and developers love it. Also, it's free! You can't even give one example of how the PS3’s software is a mess, and the assertion that you have to update the system too often is wrong. You would think something more than a vague reference would be in order, but then again, everything Andy con- veyed in his little diatribe was unfounded garbage. | can handle a little bias, but Andy McNamara simply lied.

Anonymous via email

Thank you for illustrating exactly what Andy meant when he said his letter — which pointed out equal failings in all

Dead Wrong

After the release of Left 4 Dead, Valve promised a steady release of new downloadable content for the game, much like they did for Team Fortress

2. However, it hasn't even been a year since the release of Left 4 Dead and they're already announcing a sequel? We've hardly seen any of this promised DLC, so what's with the new full-priced game? Left 4 Dead 2 could easily be released as an expansion pack to the original. It’s just a few changes to the director and some new weapons and zombies, so there's really no other rea-

three systems – would "send the fingers of conspiracy theorists and bias-watchers into a frenzy of keyboard hate? Before you cry foul, think about this: Recognizing and acknowledging the problems of a console does not constitute bias. On the other hand, willfully ignoring those problems while exaggerating the flaws in another console...well, that sounds like a textbook definition to us.

Late to the Party Isn't Castle Crashers awesome?

Harold Soward via email

Yep.

Missing Pieces

As a life-long fan of the genre, | enjoyed your article on building the perfect RPG. However, you forgot to address one key issue: the archaic save point system. A perfect RPG would need a system that allows you to save whenever you wish. No experience is more frustrating than spending an hour of your time only to have to start again at the begin- ning of a dungeon, or trying to find a save point when you just want to stop playing.

Michael Muzyka via email

Е | The Readers Strike Back

son that the new Left 4 Dead should even be a separate game. I'm not the only one who thinks this — there is an entire community that has instigated a boycott of Left 4 Dead 2. | hope Valve does the right thing and downgrades its plans for a full retail release.

Cody Hersman via email

The “controversy” surrounding the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 is pathet- ic. Have you played the full game yet?

Do you know exactly how the team is

You completely overlooked two categories in your article about building the perfect RPG: replay value and minigames. Every RPG should have a new game plus fea- ture, allowing you to restart with all of the weapons and stats from the end of your last playthrough. Also, minigames like Final Fantasy X's Blitzball and Rogue Galaxy's Insectron should be included to give gamers something to do when they want to take a break from the normal game.

Steven 5 via email

In issue 195 you built the perfect RPG, and | agree with you on almost everything. The one thing | disagree wasn't something you included, but rather something you omitted. You left out one very important part of any RPG (or games in general): the music. Yes, that thing in the background that does so much, from setting the mood to evoking an emotional response. | can't tell you how many times the soundtrack has made a great game for me.

Anonymous via email

Video games are complex, and develop- ers weave many elements together in order to craft a memorable experience. When we imagined our perfect role-play-

improving the mechanics? Do you know all about the weapons and enemies being added? No, you don't. Furthermore, without that information, you are wholly unqualified to make any judgments relat- ing to the game's scope, quality, and appropriate pricing. Here's a little tip: Complaining about these things with no firsthand experience doesn't make you

a gaming activist. It makes you a whiny, entitled brat.

ing game, it wasn't possible to highlight every aspect, so we focused on the major points. These are all excellent suggestions; unfortunately, it would take more space than a single magazine has available to outline all of the potential categories and the games that exemplify them. Plus, if you were going to go to all that trouble, you might as well try to make the perfect RPG instead of just dreaming about it.

Hardcore Negligence

In the reader art section of issue 195, there was a picture of Jack from the under-appre- ciated MadWorld. I'm one of the few who bought that game — it makes me wonder about gamers who cry on Internet forums about Nintendo failing its hardcore audience on the Wii. I'm starting to think the opposite is true: The hardcore audience has failed Nintendo. Why didn't you buy MadWorld,

Send your comments to Game Informer. Snail Mail: Game Informer Magazine • Attn: Dear GI • 724 North First St., 4th Floor e Minneapolis, MN 55401 Email: deargi@gameinformer.com

Game Informer has a thrivi Hia inity, and this is where can EL LOMMUNITY асе

THE QUESTION:

What news from ЕЗ 2009 excited you the most?

The Last Guardian was probably the best announcement to come out of E3 this year. Just watching the trailer, with a boy and his monstrous cat-dragon, is enough to fill your body with all sorts of excitement.

DanteBunny

Just Cause 2 was a real shocker. The first game. was a terrible and ugly GTA done - the only. saving grace was your character's grappling hook and parachute. Now it looks like they put forth a real effort into a refined game that just screams fun to те,

Halo Reach, simply for the fact that Bungie says they're done with Halo, but keep coming back. Either that or Project Natal, since it could move us within a few steps of the elusive Holodeck.

Forsberg! 785

W Just Cause 2

T

Final Fantasy XI was looking pretty awesome... nol а bumblebee until they revealed thatit would be an MMO.

neobluebat

Metroid: Other M. As the Nintendo press confer- ence went along, | thought it was going to be

another bulles like las year. As soon as Samus appeared, graceful kiling people on the screen,

After waiting forever, the total revamp of Splinter Celt: Conviction stole the show for me. The

The Wi Vitality Sensor. Because, through juxta- (lera writing on the wal, gameplay, and the

postion, it made the announcement of Metroid: ту eyes welled up and tears of joy came upon overall fel of the game just oozes style. Other M seem that much better. те. Yes, Nintendo stil cares about us! SmackeyTheFrog TrueNerd Animan Df WoW

Do you want to make your voice heard? Weigh in with your opinion at www gameinformer.comy/forums

8 GAME INFORMER

T

House of the Dead, Okami, or No More Heroes? All of those titles should have sold more copies. If you call yourself hardcore, why aren't you buying the games made for you?

Patrick Borrelli via email

Hardcore Wii owners, Patrick is call-

ing you out. What do you have to say in your defense? Have hardcore gamers let Nintendo down? Drop us a line and share your thoughts.

Bad Comparisons

Back when | just had a PlayStation 2, | bought a game called Jet Li: Rise to Honor. It was one of the greatest games ever! Not only could you kung fu fight, you could shoot guns and pick up melee weapons from a large variety around you! | loved this game! Instead of comparing games to stupid art-house proj- ects like Beyond Good and Evil and Ico, you should compare them to Jet Li: Rise to Honor.

Will Durum

If we followed your suggestion, you'd prob- ably see a lot more sentences like this: “This game isn’t very good, but it’s still better than Jet Li: Rise to Honor,” or “These terrible stealth sections are reminiscent of Jet Li: Rise to Honor.’ Needless to say, we didn’t enjoy the game as much as you did.

Somewhere In Between

| was reading your review for Infamous, which tackles the game's morality mecha- nism, and it got me reminiscing about the portrayal of morality in games in general. | wonder whether games will ever manage to implement a system that doesn't define the character as simply holy or diabolical. Do you think games will ever succeed in implement- ing a more realistic mechanism?

Damian Lopez

Games like Mass Effect and Fallout 3 make respectable attempts to add nuance to the traditional good and evil choices, but they are still ultimately split between two extremes. Part of the problem may be including a morality framework at all; if

a game gives you a choice to be a goody- goody or a despot, players will naturally gravitate toward one of the two options (when has anyone ever tried to follow the neutral path?). By defining the choices

in those terms, players think “I'm good, so I'm going to do good things,” which preemptively defeats the choice. However, providing options and consequences unrestrained by simplified notions of good and evil would encourage players to evaluate the situation carefully and make a more meaningful choice. Several titles have attempted this, but Sony's upcoming Heavy Rain (see our preview on page 70) looks like it might be the first game to pull it off.

10 GAME INFORMER

ALEX COCKBURN My flesh-melting energy beams. Let me show you them

Send to:

Game Informer Reader Art Contest 724 Ist St. N,,

Ath Floor

Mpls, MN 55401

| MICHAEL SURBER If Peach gets any skankier, she could get her own reality show

| | | RYAN GRIEST | What's the joke here? Is this Master Culinarian? Master Cuisinier? Master Cook? We don't get it

Ё

| К. REARICK

| Майко wants a

| sequel. Don't make | her cut you

RUDY GONZALES The perfect zombie-killing strategy: Dress up as a char- ader from NES boxart and elbow-drop their necks

Half the flavor is before You pull the rip cord. The other па is after.

NEW

Wm. Wrigley Jr рату.

e Ф

тм

Z1 а А SQUR TO SWEET BUBBLE

and all affiliated designs are M У ofthe

'ed. 5, Zing. Stimulate Your Senses

© 2009 Wm. Wrigley Jr.

Breaking News, Views, And Technology From The Cutting Edge Of Gaming

" report card

. » Microsoft had a E Я ' tremendous show. К 1 For triple-A third-party

à P f on the market, and + : it showed with the а E e bevy of impressive „» ә & м

Al Ege

espite continuing issues with the “red rings

of death,” the last few years have been tre-

mendously successful for Microsoft's Xbox

360. While it has clearly become a top-flight console, the company has also learned how to make an impression at the annual E3 convention. Eschewing its past attempts at canned "cool," this year's press conference delivered exactly what fans wanted: great new features, a tremendous lineup of games, and some genuinely exciting surprises.

It kicked off with the biggest celebrity appearances in ЕЗ history: The Beatles. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and widows Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono came on stage to hail Harmonix's upcoming The Beatles: Rock Band. While the appearance was brief, the crowd was clearly thrilled to see rock 'n' roll's most important living legends in the flesh — and the game's opening video looked excellent as well.

From there, things only got better. From strong demos of upcoming games like Modern Warfare 2, Forza 5, and Alan Wake to surprises like Splinter Cell: Conviction and Crackdown 2, there was something to be excited about for almost any gamer.

з Hideo Kojima appeared to m announce that Metal Gear Solid siti à Rising is coming to 360

12 GAME INFORMER

games, the Xbox 360 e 15 the leading console

titles littering the show floor. On the Xbox Live front, the company continued

to improve its already Strong position with à host of great new

d © announcements. Finally, Project

Natal blew away the.

expectations of those

expecting a simple,

3 © Wii-style, motion controller peripheral

g

final grade

There's no question that Xbox Live is the best online gaming platform in history. For gamers of all stripes, the service continually adds exciting new features (give or take avatars) and content. Following last year's block- buster announcement of Netflix on-demand compat- ibility, this year Microsoft came back with a handful of intriguing partnerships with some of the world's most successful content and social networking companies.

The most talked about partnership? Xbox Live com- patibility with Facebook and Twitter, which allows - gamers to send and receive the most banal details of life on Earth without leaving the couch. In addition, online music fans will enjoy the new Last.fm support, allowing access to millions of songs vía the streaming online radio station.

On the video side, Microsoft announced the Xbox 360 will soon be home to a Zune-branded video service capable of streaming movies in 1080p HD and 5.1 surround sound instantly, complete with fast forward and skip capabilities. The Netflix service is adding the ability to browse through its entire catalog directly from Xbox Live.

Perhaps the most exciting announcement of all was exclusively for Europe: compatibility with the cable satellite television giant Sky. Later this year, Sky subscribers will be able watch live and on-demand television right from their Xbox, even gathering their avatars in Xbox Live parties to watch and chat about live events like soccer matches. While nothing has been announced for the U.S., Microsoft said it is working on a similar stateside solution for digital TV viewing. It is worth mentioning that European viewers cannot record pro- grams to the 360 hard drive.

During a post-conference luncheon, Microsoft's Marc Whitten revealed a few more surprises. For one, the company is finally pushing for more in-game items for avatars. We saw an avatar decked out with Halo ODST armor and holding items like a toy R/C warthog and pom-poms. More importantly, the company is ramping up its digital distribution model by releasing titles like Assassin's Creed and BioShock as full retail downloads.

A Mysterious New Halo

In addition to a live demonstration of Halo 3: ODST, which returns to New Mombasa with a new multiple thread storytelling style, Microsoft also showed a teaser trailer for an intriguing new addition to the franchise called Halo: Reach. No gameplay footage was shown, but the video depicts a series of explosions decimating the world — of Reach to the soundtrack of panicked radio chatter and then. ..silence. The last voice heard says, “We've got Spartans on the ground, sir — we're not going anywhere" The apocalyptic atmosphere was heightened by the tagline displayed at the outset of the trailer: "From the — beginning, you know the end.” Speculation has run wild on the Internet, with gamers asking the questions: Will the game star Master Chief? Does it represent the last game in the franchise? Will it be a first-person shooter or anoth- er genre altogether? All these questions will be answered after Halo: ODST ships with a Halo: Reach multiplayer beta and we move closer to the ship date in late 2010.

Ditches The Controller

The biggest news out of Microsoft's press conference was the unveiling of Project Natal, a new camera-based, full body motion control add-on for the Xbox 360. The result of a long- term R&D project, the unit allows for hands-free control on

а much more sophisticated level than what is offered by the Nintendo Wii remote.

General manager of Microsoft Game Studios Kudo Tsunoda came on stage to guide the audience through a series of quick demonstrations. He introduced a quick handball style game, where an on-screen avatar mimed motions instantly, knock- ing out boxes in a 3D environment. The Natal teaser video further showed players using their arms to destroy buildings in a Rampage-style game, driving a racecar and performing wheel changes during pit stops, and skateboarding through a city via mimicking a skater's movements. The motion sensing also applies to menu navigation, allowing viewers to quickly flip through movies and games with their hand. The unit even includes facial and voice recognition, automatically booting ир your profile when you step in front of the television.

In addition to the expected minigames, the unit can per- form much more intricate actions, like "scanning" in objects like skateboards for use as virtual gameplay objects. Midway through the demo, an excited Steven Spielberg came onstage to hail Project Natal as a “historic moment” for gaming, one that could make games as mass market as books, movies, and television.

Then we met the intriguing Milo, a virtual character demo created by Peter Molyneux's Lionhead Studios. Milo, a young boy, interacted and conversed with a Lionhead producer, who even scanned in a drawing that the boy was able to receive, look at, and comment on his virtual world. E3 judges met Milo later on at special event, though our own Andy McNamara felt there was a degree of scripting going on with the E3 demo.

It will be interesting to see if Lionhead can bring Milo to life without that bit of trickery.

Other live demos of Natal were quite impressive. The unit tracked motion accurately, even allowing us to play the already released Burnout Paradise without a controller. The incredibly fast racer requires pinpoint control, and we were pleased to see that Natal steering worked nearly as well as a controller.

For now, the biggest question seems to be: When does this thing come out and how much will it cost? Microsoft said it will not be released in 2009, but didn't rule out a holiday 2010 date. It also promised a competitive price point and a marketing plan on par with the launch of a console. Speaking of which, following ЕЗ, 1up.com reported a rumor that Natal will actually anchor a new version of the Xbox 360 hardware to drop next year but that it's available as an add-on too.

® [Top] Lionhead's “Milo” demo in action [Middle]

A picture of the prototype Natal hardware [Bottom] A live showing

of Project Natal's handball minigame

feature

n le уте м

John Schappert

Corporate Vice President

[Editor Note: Shortly affer this interview Schappert left Microsoft for a position af EA)