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Mario is Here to Lead the Charge

re you ready for a fact that is hard to А believe? Mario hasn't been on the cover of Game Informer for a new Mario game

since August 1996, when we featured the groundbreaking Super Mario 64. That was issue #40. You are currently reading issue #234, just to put it in perspective if "August 1996" didn't already make it sound like forever ago.

Yes, he has appeared a handful of times as part of larger console pieces, all-star casts, or in cases like our Top 200 cover that we dedicated to the world's most famous plumber, but it has indeed been that long since he captured the top Spot for his marquee series.

| don't think it's a coincidence that he once again appears on our cover at a time that is crucial to the future of Nintendo. Back in 1996, Nintendo was facing a new competitor: Sony, а consumer electronics giant that brought all its power to bear to release the original PlayStation. It was a time of change for the video game industry as we went from cartridge media to compact discs. It was also a giant battle for the hearts and minds of gamers everywhere and Nintendo led the charge with its hero, Mario.

The Wii U is set to launch and the industry is once again at a sea change. Technology is evolving as digital downloads, online networks, and new ways to interact with games create new experiences.

As we worked on this issue all about the Wii U, we also saw many unanswered ques- tions about the network and the overall power of Nintendo's newest addition to the console world, but there is one thing that is never in doubt: the power of Nintendo's iconic mascots and the amazing games that Nintendo delivers time and time again.

Enjoy the issue.

Cheers,

contents

»

MULL New Super Mario Bros. U

Nintendo is launching its new console with its biggest star, and we checked out Mario’s latest game. Read about the iconic plumber's

new 2D adventure in this month’s cover story. by Dan Ryckert

regulars

8 Feedback Readers tell us their favorite cover from our E3 Top 50 collection, ask us to add anew bullet-point to our reviews, and debate if true

gamers use strategy guides.

14 Connect

We examine what happened at this year’s Gamescom

in Germany, interview the founders of Telltale Games, and recommend some scary games that might have been lurking behind you in the shadows the whole time.

Gear: Samsung Series 7 Gamer Notebook

70 Previews This month we explore the strategic outer limits of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, reunite with legendary alien- killer Master Chief in Halo 4, and get our hands bloody playing Resident Evil 6.

84 Reviews Darksiders ІІ leads the charge in a good month for games. Transformers: Fall of Oybertron, Borderlands 2, Orcs Must Die 2, and Sound Shapes all get high marks.

Gamescom 2012

100 Game Over We ask Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, all the questions you have always had about the infamous plumber and his friends, but were too afraid to ask.

contents 5

6 contents

Resident Evil 6

Interview: Telltale Takes Adventure Mainstream

games index

Angry Birds Trilogy ............ Borderlands 2 ................ Call of Duty: Black Ops 11........

Contest узенен» parce’

Darksiders 11 ................. Dead Island: Riptide ........... Deadlight eoe on ees Dust: An Elysian Тай ...........

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two............

NASCAR The Game: Inside Line. . . МВА2К13:...2..-2--..-Ҙ.... New Super Mario Bros. 2 ....... Orcs Must Die2 .............. Раро 0.22 rag ara sears Persona 4 Arena .............. Rainbow Moon ............... Ratchet & Clank Collection ...... Remember Me ............... Resident Evil 6 ............... Risen 2: Dark Waters ..........

Rock Band Blitz...............

Sound 5һарев................

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron . . .

Way of the Samurai 4 ..........

Wreckateer, The ..............

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PRE-ORDER CALL OF DUTY”: BLACK OPS Il AND CHOOSE FROM THREE EXCLUSIVES, LIKE THE QUADROTOR PROP FOR YOUR XBOX LIVE’ AVATAR. PLUS YOU GET LOCKED IN TO THE FINAL WAVE OF BONUSES.

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Contact Us

feedback@gameinformer.com

his month in Feedback, readers request an unlikely video game mash-

up, question the continued relevance of a beloved mascot, demand more

superhero cleavage, and complain about having to press the start button.

Is this what the world has come to?

Injustice For All In issue 232, your article on Injustice: Gods Among Us got me really excited. | love hardcore fighters like Mortal Kombat, but my parents always flip out when they see a crazy decapitation or a ridiculous splatter of blood. I'm glad that they're making one that doesn't have all that crap in it. I'm also excited for a real superhero fighter that lets you harness super- powers without making them really lame. Josh Fuhr via email

| loved the Injustice: Gods Among Us cover of your ЕЗ Hot 50 issue. Batman looks awe- some! Superman looks as metro as ever. Then | saw the back. Whose idea was it to make Wonder Woman look like a dude? The artist has her arms crossed, covering her cleavage. If they were trying to suck every ounce of sexy out of that Amazon, he suc- ceeded admirably. | hope Linda Carter gives the artist what-for!

Brian Sheppard

Santa Cruz, CA

Despite Brian's call for more boobs, most readers had nothing but praise for the reveal of NetherRealm's upcom- ing DC fighter. Here's hoping the studio

can give comic book fans a game that lives up to the reputations of their favorite superheroes.

Leaving Cult Sonic Is Sonic the Hedgehog dead? I used to be a huge fan of Sonic, but now it's just getting boring. I’ve played the games over and over, and it's always the same: Eggman wants to take over the world, Sonic gets the Chaos Emeralds, it looks like all hope is lost, and then Sonic saves the day by turning super. Plus, the games are quite easy; | beat Sonic Generations the day | got it. Do you think that there is any chance of Sonic making a comeback by Sega taking it up a notch? Or should | just give up on my hopes of there being a worthy sequel with a new storyline? Alexis Rochester, NH

Will Sega release a new Sonic game that both lives up to his glory days and delivers something exciting and new? Anything is possible - except for that. On the bright side, Alexis, now that you’re a disillusioned Sonic fan, you can bask in all the insults and denials of the diehard Sonic fans who will now dismiss you as just another hater.

The Olympic (Video) Games | think there should be an Olympics for video games, where gamers can watch their countries compete in shooters, RPGs, etc. It would give video games greater exposure and increase national pride, while bringing the global gaming community together. Let's face it: We are not getting the respect a lot of us serious gamers think we deserve. This could earn gaming more global attention, and a bigger audience. The hope being that one day we would enter the real Olympics. | mean, they have curling; | think there's a much bigger audience for games.

Steve Glidden

via email

We doubt adding video games to the actual Olympics would earn our hobby the respect you're looking for, but that's why eSports exist. Gamers can already cheer their countries on in a number of international tournaments, including the World Cyber Games, DreamHack, and the MLG Championships. If that's not enough, there are always those dumb Mario & Sonic at the Olympics games.

5

“Why is it that when you run multiple covers | always get the least cool of them?”

Karma, probably. “Can you imagine if BioWare did

a series similar to Mass Effect but set during the Trojan War?”

No, we can't. “Why do you guys always treat

Dan so badly? He is my favorite editor, so tell the truth.”

You can’t handle the truth!

“There is a rumor that АСЗ will be canceled because of budget cuts.”

I love Minecraft, but my desktop computer was made in 2003, so | bought a new moth- erboard for it. One thing led to another, and

| ended up building a whole new computer. Since | built it and paid for the parts, | made myself admin. My dad saw that | was running a Minecraft server, which is strictly off limits, so he grounded me from said computer, and took away my admin rights. | get that | did something wrong, but | did use almost my entire savings for parts, and | put it together. Any suggestions?

"Except for my Bible, this magazine is my favorite thing to read."

— Rob Blair devoted reader

Chris Holben

via email If you could play as any video game villain, who would you It sounds like you have two options: choose, and why? You can use your newly honed com- puter-crafting skills to build yourself a time machine, then travel back in time and listen to your parents. Or you can apologize to your dad and beg for a second chance. We suggest making time travel plan B.

( ) Ben was just cool enough to hang out with Deadpool and Bruce Campbell, but not cool enough to avoid being mocked with bunny ears. (R ) What better cover for Junction Point Studios’ Warren Spector and Raul Ramirez

to pose in front of than Epic Mickey? Watch the two play Deus Ex in a recent episode of Replay on Gameinformer.com.

E INDI

continued on page 10

feedback 9

On Your Mind

иш (111111111: нашава a

шпшшшнинин SERRE 11111 uum їй “1 Can't Wait For [Insert ЕЗ Hot 50 бате]!" 31%

№ "Why Isn't (Insert Game] On Your E3 Hot 50 List?!” 26%

Favorite Video Game Sounds 17% John/Jim Belushi Screw-Up 13% № Next-Gen Skepticism 8%

№ Jeremy Renner/Hawkeye Defenders 5%

(Left) Recently Capcom’s Greg Moore joined Jason, Tim, and Reiner for 615 “The Hunks of Replay" calendar shoot. Tim’s

a little self-conscious. (Right) Valve's Dan Ballance instantly regret- ted agreeing to give Tim and Dan a tour of the new studio.

continued on page 12

10 feedback

End of Story | think you are missing a very important bullet point when you review your games. You cover graphics, sound, replay value, etc., but you over- look one key element: story. What would a video game be without a story? There would be no dialogue and no motivation. For example, a great game like Half-Life 2 would suck if you just went around shooting things with no purpose. You would feel no emotion because there would be no plot, and no sense of accomplishment upon beating the game. ! believe that if you told us whether the story evokes an emotional response, it would improve your reviews and help us decide whether the game is worth our time or not.

Alex J Malmstrom

via email

We don't deny that story plays an integral part in some games - but not every game. The sports, puzzle, and platforming genres are chock full of excellent titles that don't even bother trying to weave an interesting tale. That's why story doesn't have its own bullet point. If story is a factor in a review, we always describe it in the main text.

A Sound Strategy Me and a buddy had an argument about strategy guides. | am in favor of them, but he believes they are basically cheating and a "true" gamer shouldn't use them, and instead figure out everything on their own. I’m older now and married with two young kids, and frankly | don't have enough time to figure out all the stuff like | used to. Does this make me less of a gamer because | choose to not spend hours upon hours to figure out one of the many secrets of the current game I'm playing?

Greg Long

via email

We're not sure who died and put your friend in charge of defining what a true gamer is, but if you want to use a strategy guide to save yourself some time, go right ahead. The Skyrim strategy guide contains over 650 pages of detailed information; you'd have to be a robot to amass that amount of knowledge by yourself. Besides, for better or worse, you proved your gamer cred by having an argument over strategy guides in the first place.

Seriously, Press Start | have a stupid question. Why do most games nowadays require me to press start to start the game? | mean, if | turn on my console and put the disc in the machine, obviously | want to start it. Ghost Recon: Future Solider asks me to press start, then a loading screen pops up, and then it asks me to press start again. Why? I just don't get it!

Vincent Minjares

via email

You're absolutely right, Vincent - that is

a stupid question. We suppose you could spend hours of your life pondering such

a basic and innocuous design decision. Or you could press a button and play your awesome games! The choice is yours.

Sounding Off

In issue 231, we asked readers what

their favorite video game sound effect

is. Nostalgia ruled the roost, with many respondents calling out sounds from 8-bit classics as their all-time favorites. Here are some responses.

My favorite sound effect has got to be the “puzzle solved" jingle from the Legend of Zelda series, because it's the most iconic sound effect in any video game. Plus, when you hear it, you know you've just gotten that much closer to shoving the Master Sword through Ganondorf's face.

Samuel Harden

My favorite sound effect is definitely the hissing sound Creepers make in Minecraft. No matter how often | play, | am always scared when | hear it. That sound signals mass destruction and death.

Cole Guttormsson

The sound of a running horse in the Assassin

Creed games. They sound just like the Magical

Coconuts from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Chad Lee

My favorite is the warp pipe sound in Super Mario Bros. My wife even agreed to play it at my funeral as | enter the ground.

James Gaspar

DANGEROUS TO GO NE! TAKE THIS.

EXPLOSIVE

SPECIAL FEATURES 1,

RESIDENTEVIL. | 10.02.2112.

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ON BLU-RAY "AND DVD SEPTEMBER 25°

Include 5; ULTRAVIOLET Your Movies in the Cloud

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Enter the Game Informer Reader Art Contest. All you need to do is draw, paint, scratch, spit, or carve the best darn art you can think of and send it to us. Please include your name, phone number, and return address, If you're the monthly winner, we'll feature your work in бі and you'll receive a video game prize from the Game Informer vault. All entries become the property of Game Informer and can't be returned.

Game Informer. Reader Art Contest. 724 1st St. N., 3rd Floor

Mpls, MN 55401

continued from page 10

This month Adam met up with Rising Star Games' Phil Robinson and Bohemia Interac-

tive's Jan Kunt, who swung by the office to show off Carrier Command. ) Every- thing is better with Atlus' Aram Jabbari, including our Persona 4 Arena episode of Test Chamber. Watch the video at Gamein- former.com. ht) Dan and Jeff Cork became an army

of five when they buddied up with Visceral Montreal's Zach Mumbach, Julien Lamoureaux, and Julian Beak.

12 feedback

WINNER

Kara Zisa We can't think of many worse fates than being attacked by Metroids during an. underwater level,

Aaron Bohache If Simon knew what was good for him, he'd give Gabriel a-holy water bath right now and get it over with.

Gabrielle Bailey Apparently, you can make any creature cute with Some white fur and red face paint.

l Bryan Henry You can't see Waluigi.because he already. won the race two laps ago.

This month's winner will receive a copy of Assassin's Creed Ill for Xbox 360.

Corrections:

іп issue 232's Gear section, we desecrated John Belushi’s legacy by stating his. brother Jim was in Animal House; We are currently still logging the guilty editor.

AT&T.

e nation’s largest c network.

2,000 more

4G cities and towns than Verizon.

Rethink Possible’ =

1.866.MOBILITY | ATT.COM/NETWORK | VISIT А STORE

4G speeds not available everywhere. Comparison based on U.S. cities and towns with 4G Coverage. ©2012 AT&T Intellectual Property. Service provided by AT&T Mobility. All rights reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

14

meet your new hero: a closer look at assassin's creed iii's connor

Tare scares: under-the-radar horror games

afterwords: sleeping dogs

top of the table: fantasy flight and. the surprising rise of hobby gaming

massive: wildstar

(4

composing double dragon

interview: telitale's dan connor and kevin bruner

ermany's Gamescom has a lot in common with game conventions such as ЕЗ, with one critical difference: It's open to the public. Organizers say more than 275,000 people crowded into Cologne's convention center to see the latest games, meet up with other gamers, and soak in the festival atmosphere. That mass of humanity translated to long queues – up to five hours for Call of Duty: Black Ops Il, in particular — but a positive communal spirit for the hobby prevailed over the annoyance at the lines. "You've got a lot of gamers here who just want to show up and play the games, and the enthusi- asm is great,” says Shuhei Yoshida, head of Sony Worldwide Studios. Sony fed that passion with five game announcements — a nice contrast from its two ЕЗ reveals (Beyond: Two Souls and Wonderbook). The newly announced games included Media Molecule's Tearaway (see page 16); a striking PS3

game about a puppet boy called Puppeteer; Sony Japan Studios’ Rain, а PS3 tale of a boy who turns invisible until he gets wet; the Move-enabled teen slasher Until Dawn; and a new installment in the Killzone series, the Vita game Killzone: Mercenary.

In contrast to its nearly Vita-free ЕЗ press con- ference, Sony devoted a sizeable portion of its Gamescom presentation to the struggling handheld. Aside from the two new game announcements and details on its Cross Buy and Cross Play (see page 17), the company showed off new trailers for Assassin's Creed ІІ: Liberation and Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified. If its trailer is any indication, COD fanatics may want to stick to their consoles.

"As far as we are concerned, the European market is as big or bigger than the U.S. market, and Gamescom is getting bigger and bigger," Yoshida says. "It's a really important venue for us to be here."

ssin's Creed III: Liberation

Until Dawn

Killzone Mercer

Microsoft and Nintendo shared an opposing perspective on the show's importance, with both companies choosing to stay home. Microsoft has traditionally held an off- Site event before the show, providing a near-compre- hensive look at its roster of upcoming titles. Microsoft seems content to let its third-party partners do the heavy lifting. Still, it was hard not to notice the gaping hole that Halo 4, Gears of War: Judgment, and

Nintendo's absence was especially conspicuous as the company prepares the launch of the Wii U. Nintendo failed to generate any Gamescom buzz for the console, which is an obvious missed opportunity. We're inching closer to the console's supposed holiday release, and the company needs to get it in front of as many players as it can. However, as with Microsoft, the console maintained a small presence at Gamescom thanks to the platform's third-party developers.

Forza Horizon left on the show floor.

Puppeteer

Ubisoft was the most prominent Wii U backer at Gamescom, showing off ZombiU, Rabbids Land, Just Dance 4, Game Party Champions, Rayman Legends, and Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013. The publisher reaped the benefits of supporting the Wii and Kinect at launch, and early adopters can expect to see plenty of Ubisoft logos on shelves in the Wii U section. ZombiU didn't have the strongest showing; aside from an environmental- scanning mode, where you move the GamePad around in 360-degree space, it didn't do anything particularly interesting. On the other hand, Rayman Legends is still great fun, and Rabbids Land looks like a well-constructed alternative to Mario Party. In addition to the company's Wii U lineup, Ubisoft showed Far Cry 3's open world for the first time (in a playable demo, no less) and it was one of the show's highlights. It's a shame Ubisoft didn't reveal it earlier.

EA's floor presence dwarfed its competition — the massive Medal of Honor booth outsized many other exhibitors' entire floor footprints. FIFA was a clear hit during the company's Gamescom press conference, along with new trailers for Criterion's upcoming Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Medal of Honor Warfighter, and Crysis 3. EA brought more than trailers, though. "The timing of Gamescom is always good for us," says EA COO, Peter Moore. "The software is so much further along than it is at E3. Pretty much everything is playable, and you can sit down and play it." Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel was probably the biggest surprise for the audience. The audience snickered when the trailer began, but its ridiculously over-the- "top. action seemed to win the crowd over, replacing the snarky whispers with plenty of "Holy s

connect 15

16

Media Molecule's post LittleBigPlanet game Tearaway starts in your living room. Or on the bus. Or wherever you happen to be using your Vita. As you scan your immediate sur- roundings with the Vita's camera, you notice something unusual. A little tear in reality rips open, and an envelope slides out through the space. Before you can grab the letter, which bears your name on it, it gets sucked back in and transported into another world. And so are you. Kind of.

Your Vita now acts as a portal between the real world (where you presumably live)

Capcom debuted a new IP, Dontnod Entertainment's memory-bending action game Remember Me. We saw a presentation on the game last year, when it was called Adrift, and it seems to have come a long way. It combines Uncharted-style traversal with acrobatic combat and adventure-game elements. Heroine Nilin can enter peoples' memories and remix them, convincing them that they committed murder, for instance. Devil May Cry, Lost Planet 3, and Resident Evil 6 also scored valuable stage time. Of those games, Devil May Cry's demo was the strongest. It was a savage parody on contemporary television news, featuring as much dead-on commentary as it did flashy combos. As good as its games were, they were upstaged by Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono. He took the stage dressed as Blanka, birthday cake in tow, in honor of the series' 25th anniversary. He pretended to announce Street Fighter V, to the horror

of the company's PR team.

Some of the other Gamescom 2012 highlights included SimCity, Hitman: Absolution (and its newly revealed assassination-creation Contracts mode), and Call of Duty: Black Ops II (see the preview on page 70). PC gaming is huge in Europe, and games like Omerta: City of Gangsters (from Tropico developer Haemimont Games), Sacred 3, and the MMO shooter Firefall go a long

way in explaining its popularity.

Gamescom 2012 was Sony's show to lose, but the company had an exceptional showing. Sony's combination of interesting new franchises and meaty announcements would have been impressive in any year, but Nintendo and Microsoft's absence made it all even better.

"| don't know why they're not here," says Yoshida, summing it all up nicely.

and a fanciful place made of paper. The message that brought you into this place lies securely inside a charming little fellow named lota. He wants to deliver the personalized letter to you, but he can't very well pull open his face and hand it over. Instead, you and lota must team up to see if you can find a solution together.

You're a god of sorts in Tearaway's world, which is demonstrated by a particularly clever illusion. If the papery ground is thin enough - think tissue or crepe paper - you can poke the Vita's back touchscreen and your finger

M

. Нер me. Гуе lost my skin! \

will rip through the ground from below.

This convincing effect is more than just a one-note gimmick. Players can tap enemies from below, sending them sky high and out of lota's way. Other Vita functions are incor- porated as well, including bouncy drums that propel lota into the air by tapping the back touchpad, and storms summoned with your breath.

Creativity plays a big role in the game, with incentives that extend beyond the game world. As you explore with lota, you unlock paper models that can be customized and printed out. Once assembled, they can serve as physical reminders of your virtual travels or can be shared with friends in the real world.

Media Molecule earned a reputation for creat- ing whimsical games, and Tearaway continues that tradition. We’re excited to see more from this pop-up book come to life, and also learn more about lota and his fascinating world.

GAMES Ni

the Numbers

Gamescom continues to grow year over year, drawing thousands of gamers and exhibitors from across the world. Here are a few quick stats on the 2012 show, according to the event's organizers.

270,000+ 1.5

people crowded into Cologne's Koelnmesse convention center

million square feet covered by the exhibition hall global, European, and German premieres revealed APPROX.

trade visitors in attendance

25,000

with Son | г Shuhei Yoshida

Shuhei Yoshida, head of Sony Worldwide Studios, had a lot to say during our Gamescom interview. Here are some of the highlights from our wide-ranging conversation:

On mobile gaming and the Vita:

"We've continued to work with third-party publishers and our own studios to provide native content on PS Vita, but at the same time people enjoy using smartphones or tablets to play simple casual games. These games work very well on PS Vita as well.”

On Wonderbook

“The announcement at E3 had some technical difficulties, and we were criticized for spending too much time on Wonderbook during the press conference. ... The reaction from [the mainsteam] media in general was very strong, especially the publishers and content holders who see the oppor- tunity to bring their IP onto this new form of interactive story. We were able to announce partner- ships with the BBC and Disney, and it's just a start.

On PlayStation Move

“It's been a very tough sell for us to talk to the core audience. With any new tech, it takes time for developers to try out different usages, and it could be that the development teams are finding ways to use the device to its strengths other than [creating] confusing ways of playing games.”

Sony revealed a new pricing promotion at the show that’s bound to attract the attention of thrifty gamers who dual-wield PS3s and Vitas. Players who purchase selected titles on Vita or PS3 gain access to the other version at no addi- tional cost. The feature is called Cross Buy in Europe, though

it may get a new name when it makes its way to North America. The promotion is launching with three first-party games in Europe – PlayStation All-Stars, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, and Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault — but it's likely to expand in the future. "We want to make sure the system works first, but we'll offer this new feature to third parties,” says Shuhei Yoshida, head of Sony Worldwide Studios. “Either they can offer a discount to people who purchase the PS3 version or they can combine two SKUs for one price.”

Pricing promotions aren't the only way the PS3 and Vita will interact. Sony highlighted more of its Cross Play functionality in an onstage LittleBigPlanet Vita demo. The game goes beyond letting. players control the action on the big screen by using a Vita, which the company demonstrated at L PI Ч ЕЗ Ма PlayStation All-Stars, At r D а E а Gamescom, we saw Sackboy

navigating the world and solving puzzles that swapped between both screens. For instance, players must look at their Vitas in one section to determine what platforms are safe to walk

on — or risk getting scorched. Unlike the Wii U, which comes with a second screen built into the Gamepad, the Vita/PS3 crossover could be an expensive gamble. Players who already have both systems can simply enjoy the additional content for their brand loyalty.

Competition has been a part of video games ever since Tennis for Two lit up oscilloscopes back in 1958. Gamescom’s open-to-the-public format makes it a great spot for organized tournaments and events — and even some announcements. The show played host to competitive events, including League of Legends and StarCraft II tournaments. The Electronic Sports League held Europe's first Firefall beta tournament at the show, too. Activision hosted an event before Gamescom officially started, showing off new shoutcast tools designed to make Call of Duty: Black Ops II friendlier for eSports participants. Players can broadcast and provide their own color commentary in the shooter without having to buy any special equipment.

connect 717

@ Also called a hatchet, the e e O l l ] tomahawk is the weapon that most distinguishes Connor from

his predecessors in the Assassin lineage. The Assassin symbol cut

^ into the blade seems to indicate some wider importance to the item, but Ubisoft Montreal claims that this

tomahawk's origins are related to a major spoiler from the game.

Ч , A Closer Look At Assassin's , Ө Over the course of the Assassin's Creed Ш S Connor Creed games, the iconic white hooded style has been tailored to the hero's time and place. Note the buttons on Connor's coat, which speak to colonial heritage and functionality. The overall outfit is tighter-fitting and sleek.

© Connor’s bow has been in use since his childhood, except now he uses it to hunt more than just animals. Deadly and silent, it’s an ideal ranged weapon to match Conno deadly missions.

Ө Connor carries this decorative arm band as a memory of his village. The band is formed of wampum, a sacred shell bead common among Native Americans on the East Coast of America. Wampum were used to commemorate special events, and occasionally as a means of trade with outsiders.

© The flintlock pistol is useful in a pinch, but its loud nature and slow reload assures that it won't take over as the centerpiece of Connor's fighting style.

@ While they're not always on display, Connor maintains the centuries- long tradition of dual hidden blades. For up-close assassinations, the weapon can't be beat.

@ Like many elements of his ensemble, Connor's boots speak to an element of his history. These moccasins are styled after the footwear worn in the village where he grew up, which is part of the Iroquian-speaking nation of Kanien'kehá:ka, which translates to the People of the Place of Flint.

Ө Ubisoft Montreal worked extensively with Native American consultants to ensure visual authenticity whenever possible in representations of culture. The pattern work on this. quiver is based on actual historical art of the period.

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or over 20 years, Universal Studios has been cre-

ating some of the world’s mos borate haunted

houses inside its Orlando and Hollywood theme

parks. In the past, Hallow Horror Nights have centered on iconic films like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Saw, and The Thing. This year marks the first time Universal has designed its Halloween experience around a video game property: Konami's Silent Hill.

Universal's Halloween Horror Nights aren't your average strip mall scare-fest. The entertainment giant sinks a movie- sized budget into transforming its parks into living incar- nations of existing horror franchises. Universal's Halloween

Horror Nights take over a year to plan, are staffed by over a thousand actors, and draw in hundreds of thousands of visitors. Recently, we got a sneak peek at how Universal is transforming its parks into Silent Hill this fall.

Step One: An Idea Is Born

by Ben Reeves

Silent Hill's set design, its imagi- native creatures, and its overall horror ambiance alive in our parks. If ever there was a video game we were going to pick, it was Silent Hill."

Step Two: Conceptualizing Hell Konami provided Universal

with hundreds of gigabytes of concept art, audio files, and game footage from the Silent Hill games. Universal's show direc- tors spent hours poring through these files and visiting message boards as they brainstormed the Set pieces, environments, and characters they wanted to bring to life. The nurses and Pyramid Head were obvious choices,

the Bogeyman from Silent H Downpour floated to the top of the list as well.

The idea to frame this year's events around Universal took this stew of information and

Silent Hill came after a chance meeting between Universal and Konami executives during a marketing conference in Los Angeles. "Halloween Horror Nights is a special event and it's treated like a horror movie," says John Murdy, creative director for Universal Studios Hollywood. "As a brand, Silent Hill matched what we do perfectly. We really wanted to bring

drew up a paper description of what people will experience as they walk through the maze. Konami executives then approved the concept and offered suggestions for creatures and moments that they would also like to see in the maze. After the concept was approved, Universal's architects began drafting digital schematics of what the maze would look like.

Step Three: Ideas Take Form

Silent Hil's maze is broken down into a dozen rooms or “scenes,” which take attendees around 8 to 12 minutes to walk through. Construction on the maze began in early summer and took around 10 weeks to complete. All of the props and costumes for Horror Nights are custom made, so as the production schedule ramped up, an army of prop makers, set designers, and decor artists began plying their trade.

“Our production is similar to how you would create a movie, because you use a lot of the same disciplines,” Murdy says. “There are scenic crews, lighting crews, you create the audio like you're creating the audio for a video game or movie. It really is like a movie, except we're doing it live. If you're doing a special effect scene for a movie, it only has to work once, but our effects have to work every ten seconds for over a month."

Step Four: Attack The Five Senses

"We play the angles," says Patrick Braillard, show director for Universal Orlando Resort. “Video games can have fixed camera angles, but we have to prepare the maze for 360 degree immersion. We're not above placing someone at ground level and someone else above them. We're not above changing light scope or dropping that on a dime, because if you strobe someone, blinding them for a second, and then someone suddenly appears in that space, that's terrifying.”

Universal gives its actors the ability to trigger their own point source audio and lighting effects. These effects are designed to blind guests and distract them, giving the actors a variety of ways to approach and scare show- goers. However, sight and sound are only two of the terrifying tools at Universal's disposal. When players walk into the sewers of Silent Hill, Universal wants to attack its audience with a full sensory assault.

“We actually fabricate our own scents,” says Murdy. "It's like those small little scent dispens- ers you have in your home; we have the indus- trial versions of those. People come across them all the time and don’t even realize it. You can be walking through the mall and smell the aroma of baking cookies, but you're not really smelling cookies. It's an artificial smell. We learned about this a long time ago and started tapping in to the darker side of it.”

Step Five: Dress Rehearsal Months before the event, Universal continued to staff up. Halloween Horror Nights generally requires a cast of over 1,000 actors who work in shifts of 500, roaming the park and terrorizing guests who remain after the sun goes down. “We tell all our actors to play the angles,” says Murdy. “If something appears in your peripheral vision it's a heck of a lot more scary than when someone is standing right in front of you. Psychologically people are preparing them- selves when they walk into these things. They know they are going to be scared, but they don't know where it's coming from. Our job is to ensure that every time you go through, we're scaring the hell out of you."