А EXCLUSIVE! PS2 DE! йы: еее f | | | OFFICIAL U.S. S | £I | | MAGAZINE Introducing the Network Adaptor for PlayStation 2. Reach out and smoke someone. N \ x ' Or cross-check, smash, tackle, leg-sweep or ollie over them even if they're in another time zone. With the Network Adaptor (Ethernet/modem) (for PlayStation 2), just about anything is possible. Like downloading new rosters, stadiums and characters. Trash-talking opponents you’ve never met. Or, better yet, starting your very own East Coast-West Coast sports rivalry. All against live competition, so no two games are ever alike. The Network Adaptor for PlayStation 2 is here. Get your game online. WHAT YOU GET: * The Network Adaptor, which offers both dial-up and broadband connectivity * Mail-in offer for a FREE copy of Twisted Metal:Black ONLINE * Start-Up Disc with playable demos of Madden NFL 2003 and Frequency * Video demos of Tribes Aerial Assault, ATV Offroad Fury 2 and Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 * All this for just $39.99 (SRP) WHAT YOU NEED TO CONNECT: * PlayStation 2 (duh) * Network Adaptor (obviously) * Memory card (8MB for PlayStation 2) with at least 137K of space (that ain’t much) * Dial-up or broadband Internet connection (in English: such as cable modem, DSL, T1 or just a plain ol’ phone line) * Network Adaptor Start-Up Disc to create ISP settings (don’t worry, it’s easy) OTHER STUFF: * The Network Adaptor works with just about any ISP subscriber, including AOL, AT&T Worldnet Service, EarthLink, SBC Yahoo! Dial and Sympatico. Check with your ISP for details. Сака 1 EL Twisted Metal:Black ONLINE NFL GameDay 2003 www.playstation.com "PlayStation" and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "Live In Your World. Play In Ours.” is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. NFL GameDay 2003 ©2002 NFL Properties LLC. Team names and logos are trademarks of the teams indicated. All other (NFL related) marks are trademarks of the National Football League. Officially licensed prod. uct of PLAYERS INC. The PLAYERS INC. logo is a registered trademark of NFL players. www.nflplayers.com. ©2002 PLAYERS INC. All other games featured herein are trademarked and copyrighted properties of their respective publishers and/or licensors. + LIVE IN YOUR PLAY IN OURS WXRLD. ЛЕ a Frequency k for this icon ing PS2 games with online capability PRODUCTS RANGE FROM RATING PENDING то MATURE CONTENT RATED BY A iddle-eaRth scands on che brink ор OescRacciop. an ji Blood Violence 22002 New Line Productions, Inc. The Lord of The Rings and the characters, names, and places therein, TM The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises, under license to New Line Productions, Inc. АН Rights Reserved. Electronic Arts, EA GAMES and the EA GAMES logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Ars Inc, in the U.S. and/or other countries, “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. ТМ, © and Game Boy Advance are trademarks of Nintendo. АН other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. EA GAMES™ is an Electronic Arts™ brand, е Two Towers, i The Fellowship of the Ring Ми. Ы HE. ORD ғә... AE Fa TERNES IN STORES NOVEMBER 2002 JOIN THE ADVENTURE AF lordoftherings.ea.com саратех. сот CONTROL FREAKS, Experience unprecedented realism in the only racing game that lets you control the rider lean in turns. asphalt on 200 of the world’s st motorcycles from Yamaha, a, Suzuki and more. Earn upgrades to trick out your bikes with top-of-the-line engines, wheels and suspensions. Through 11/15/02 веет = /S GAMES electronics boutique’ Save *10 Instantly Riding Spirits for PlayStation?2 computer entertainment system One coupon per household. This offer may not be combined with any other coupon or promotion. Good only in stores. Professional No purchase. al to 1/15/03. ood. and Hawaii at least 1 www.ridingspir Entertainment A Yamaha Motor Corp sweepstakes offer = © 2002 Spike Co., Ltd, A rers, п imagery featured nts gane are reserved. YAMAHA" and the Tuning Fork © 2002 BAM! Entertainment. anda jate ogos are Licensed tor play on the PlayStation”? computor entertainment f “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered traden icon is a segistered trademark of the Interactive Digital Softy IT ISN'T LIKE THE ORIGINAL. * What does it feel like to make а million leisure suits stand up and cheer? Slide your skinny ass into Rocky's shorts and find out as you join his relentless quest for the title. Or take yi ‘shot as Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang or 20 others. Start with Training Violence Ba PlayStati GAMECUBE, © 2002 Rage Games Limited except "Rocky" - "Rocky V" (с) 1976-2002 United Artists Corporation. ROCKY ТМ 5 5 Corporation. © 2002 UbiSoft. Inc. UbiSoft and the UbiSoft Ente or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. ТМ, ©) Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trade: EP ГЫ ШЕ. ® Ы , < Y ib WHITE, Ети & Б Е. rademarks of Шо, б. Ш у, reserved. “PlayStation® and the e eserved. The ratings icon; Di What The Other Guys Didn't Tell You Grand Theft Auto III changed video games forever, there's absolutely no doubt about it. It’s now sold 7 million copies worldwide, and it р seems that по опе saw this coming...no опе, that is, apart from 4 OPM—the only magazine in the U.S. that put the game оп the cover P and made a really big deal about Rockstar’s epic. While everyone else was running basically the same Devil May Cry preview over and over, we landed the story of the year. I’m not normally опе to toot our horn quite so vigorously, but I’m particularly proud of that. On Oct. 29 the sequel will be in stores—and if you're reading this issue of OPM just as it hits newsstands, that’s just a few short weeks away. What we've tried to do this month is bring you “what the other guys didn't tell you.” We got exclusive access to the creative team at Rockstar, and have peppered our 14-page feature with facts about the game that you won't read anywhere else. We have details on the music, the new characters, the story, the weapons, the vehicles and the combat. We even have info on some of the promo items that will be in stores to supplement the game. Based on your reaction to GTA3 and the passion you've shown for Vice City, there's no doubt it's going to be an enormous success. Fortunately ћеге' be a few more copies on sale on the 29th so you won't all be scrambling around, wondering if the game has been banned. As soon as you've played it, let us know what you think by e-mailing us at opm{@ziffdavis.com or linking to our message board at www.playstationmagazine.com, um d John Davison Editor in Ch ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTORS ZOE FLOWER KAREN JONES She writes, plays video When she's not busy with games, makes TV shows her main gig at The New and is rumored to have York Times, Karen has been taking time out to hook us up with a Hollywood connection. This month she explores the staggering vitality of James Bond and how Bond games have helped. п one of the original tles. She produces rock videos, designs Web and will kick your 55 at DDR. That's what tells us, anyway. www.zoeflower.com PAUL SEMEL ; JOHN SCALZI Paul spends his days writ- f He keeps telling us he ing for such publications S 1 lives to serve, and that’s as Maxim, Vibe, Blender, А exactly what he does this Revolver, Total Movie and month, busting out his Tongue—and his nights ection of CD a writing for us. Focusing on musicians and other celebrities, he’s got more L.A. style than all the rest of us put together. vs along with his bimonthly Watchdog ‚ бо now. Video Games Have Ratings, Just Like Movies The Entertainment Software ГАТТ [a3 CONTENT RATED BY CONTENT RATED BY ESRB Rating Boar s infor- EARLY EVERYONE ТЕМ MATURE ADULTS ONLY ting Board provides infor- биионоор RATING RATING RATING RATING mation about video game RATING The E replaced Contains These games The extreme of content. ES t Deemed the previous suggestive contain more the ratings, ESRB ratings are зарег K-A rating themes, mild adult themes, suitable intended as guidelines only; children 3 last year. or strong such as blood for adults only. arents should still monitor of older Suitable for [апше and gore, Packs sewal P h ВЕ d кој Products kids ages and animated stronger themes and minors’ purchases caring his балац, violence. language and — extreme label have E-rated games Зоте parents sexual violence. WWW.ESRB.ORG absolutely no тау contain may want themes. Console material that minimal to supervise Deemed not manufacturers would be violence children suitable have yet to considered or crude playing for those allow an inappropriate language. rated under 17. AO-rated дате by parents games. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine [ISSN 1094-6683] is published monthly by Ziff Davis Media Inc rs available to mailers of good ription Service Inquiries call us at го are not responsible for unsolici recording, or otherwise) zine.com, or to use our logo dm ADULTS ONLY g and servi у ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA | hout the prior iff Davis Media's Rights 60 ог [7171 399-1900. or sibility for such c 58 Without limiting the rights under copyrights re: THE MAGAZINE Editor in Chief John Davison Managing Editor Gary Steinman Previews Editor Chris Baker News Editor Sam Kennedy Reviews Editor Joe Rybicki Associate Editor Todd Zuniga Gossip Columnist Clish MacLaver Editorial Contributors Shane Bettenhausen, Zoe Flower, Ravi Hiranand, Karen Jones, Dan Leahy, Miguel Lopez, James Mielke, John Scalzi, Greg Sewart, Doug Trueman Japanese Correspondent Yutaka Ohbuchi European Correspondent Axel Strohm Copy Editor Greg Ford DESIGN Senior Art Director Bob Conlon Art Director Jason Babler Graphic Designer Tina Huynh Illustration Penny Arcade PRODUCTION Manufacturing Director Carlos Lugo Senior Production Manager Anne Marie Miguel Assistant Production Manager Teresa Newson Graphics Manager Michele Kellogg 70 GAME GROUP Senior Vice President Dale Strang Editorial Director John Davison Creative Director Simon Cox Business Director Cathy Bendoff CIRCULATION Senior Newsstand Sales Manager Don Galen ‘SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE NUMBER (800) 627-6458 (U.S. and Canada only) playstation@neodata.com TO SUBSCRIBE ONLINE Mission Statement The Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine is the only Sony Computer Entertainment America-licensed magazine and is published by Ziff Davis - Media Inc. through an exclusive agreement. As such, the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (OPM) remains independent from SCEA, and is a critical, autonomous voice that helps readers get more out of their PlayStation system by delivering the most current, comprehensive and candid coverage of PlayStation software and hardware. and Canada, 103] 604-7445 all other countries ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA INC. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert F. Callahan Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Bart W. Catalane Senior Executive Vice President (Publishing Operations) Tom Мсбгайе Executive Мое President Stephen D. Moylan Executive Vice President and Editorial Director (Editor in Chief, PC Magazine) Michael J. 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Printed in the US: Duel gm TAA Ова vis LA INTRODUCING THE TACTICAL ARTS SYSTEM - a unique battle system never before seen in the APG genre PLAYFRESH.COM SPECIAL FEATURES Call on elemental forces tn battle enemies, heal injured friends, and destroy barriers. Utilize special attack combos and combine weapons and items to create new and more Powerful weapons. Add hours of gameplay with multiple side-missions and mini games. СВИСТ . ТЕЕ № \ 2 4 4 җе Mild Violence REGULAR BITS 11 DEMO DISC Play Sly Cooper. Play Wild Arms 3. Play Hitman 2. Where else can you do that? Nowhere, baby. Nowhere. 18 INPUT You send us letters, we print your letters. Because we care. Here's the address: Along with our regular goodies, we take a look at comic book games and the network adapter launch 152 REPLAY More Arc the Lad! More SOCOM! More strategies, tricks and hints than you can shake a stick at! 168 P.S. Want to be a beta tester for EverQuest Online Adventures? Have we got a contest for you! 158 with Vice 0 PREVIEWS 150 Amazing Sea-Monkeys 132 ATV Offroad Fury 130 Auto Modellista 126 BloodRayne 128 BMX XXX 134 Breath of Fire V 104 Burnout 2 130 Colin McRae Rally 3 96 Contra: Shattered Soldier 140 Crank the Weasel 114 Def Jam Wrestling 92 Devil May Cry 2 146 Dr. Muto 146 D&D: Heroes 132 Evolution Skate. 132 Evolution Snow. 140 FIFA Soccer 2003 134 Freestyle: MetalX 134 Frequency 151 Harry Potter 2 (PS1) 112 Legaia 2: Duel Saga 130 Legends of Wrestling И 98 LOTR: Fellowship 99 LOTR: Two Towers 102 Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance 112 Mortal Kombat 102 NASCAR 138 NBA 2K3 140 NBA Live 2003 102 NHL 2K3 96 Powerpuff Girls: Relish 94 Pro Race Driver 114 RAD: Robot Alch. Drive 146 Ratchet & Clank 138 Red Dead Revolver 150 Rescue Copter 104 Return to Castle Wolfenstein 142 Risk 116 Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown 128 Rygar 110 Shinobi 94 Shox Prepare to kick it "805 style with us as we return to the Decade of Decadence with GTA: Vice City. 142 Silent Hill 3 143 The Sims 126 Star Wars: Bounty Hunter , 112 Tiger Woods PGA 2003 150 Tony Hawk 4 (PS1) 142 Treasure Planet 150 Treasure Planet (PS1) 141 War of the Monsters 94 Whiteout 126 Wreckless 139 WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth 30 32 34 38 50 56 60 61 62 68 72 76 82 84 REPL The Connection Is Made Sony's network adapter has been unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. Join us as we look back at the launch and at what's to come. Zoe's World When the console world hits the online arena, madness ensues. Breaking the Band Breakthrough band Breaking Benjamin breaks into gaming. Here Come the Heroes! The stigma of terrible comic-book games has been broken for good. Take a look at what's coming. Voice of Evil We talk to Temuera Morrison (a.k.a. Jango freakin’ Fett) about his contribution to Bounty Hunter. P.S.AT. Seal of Approval Zipper Interactive tells us what to expect in a SOCOM sequel. Hint: they have wheels and move fast. You Down With DBZ? Yes, it's finally coming. Jet Fueled Jet Li has teamed up with Sony for a new game. Find out all the details. Clish MacLaver CD Reviews DVD Reviews Media Mix Top 10 Charts 200 Kingdom Hearts Seven keys to help you get the most from the game, and walk- throughs of some tough spots. 204 SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs 214 216 218 In-depth hints for two online levels. NFL 2K3 General strategies for earning maximum yardage. Tekken 4 How to apply the beat-down quickly and efficiently. Arc the Lad Collection 220 Reader Reviews Your opinions do count. Соте оп, now, Sly, what’s'With'that ı fae What arê уби, а sea captain? REVIEWS PS2 Games 183 Blade И 183 Commandos 2 184 Defender 184 Grandia Xtreme 184 NASCAR 2003 186 Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 188 NHL Hitz 20-03 188 RLH: Run Like Hell 188 Robotech: Battlecry 188 The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian 190 Sega Bass Fishing Duel 190 Sega Soccer Slam я _ 182 190 Silent Scope 3 182 Sly Cooper 190 Sub Rebellion 192 Summoner 2 192 The Thing 194 Tribes Aerial Assault 192 Turok: Evolution 192 Ty the Tasmai Tiger 196 Wild Arms 3 PSone Games 196 Gundam Battle Assault 2 196 Madden NFL 2003 192 NFL GameDay 2003 PlayStation UNDERGROUND ON THE DISC PLAYABLES: Wild Arms 3 Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus Silent Scope 3 DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution Dual Hearts MX Superfly Red Faction И Dr. Muto Hitman 2: Silent Assassin VIDEOS: Ratchet & Clank Contra: Shattered Soldier shack//INFECTION Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness BEHIND THE SCENES: Ratchet & Clank Lara Croft Interview Tommy Tallarico's Crib NCAA GameBreaker 2003 shack//INFECTION COOL MOVES: Pac-Man World 2 Shifters Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty DOWNLOADS: Medal of Honor: Frontline Scooby Doo! Night of 100 Frights Headhunter As far as we kno related to J Which is a THE UNDERGROUND TEAM Demo Disc Producers Gary Barth, Manuel ‘Sousa, Michael Tyau Marketing Team Shelley Ashitomi, Jesse Caid, Sarai Sequeira, Kim Yuen Executive Producer Andrew House Music Composition Nathan Brenholdt, Ashif Hakik Format Q&A Sam Bradley, DeMario King Account Coordinator Eric Ippolito PROGRAMMING AND INTERFACE ARTWORK BY LIFELIKE PRODUCTIONS, INC. Lead Programmer William Bohan 30 Artists Jason Robinson, Philip Williamson Producer Jessi Harrison President Katherine Williams. Technical Director Tim Edwards CD Animation Introduction by Secret Weapon = Principals Wes Harris, Ryan Ramirez . 30 Animators Jamie Chu, ЈопЈау Montemayor, Bryan Poon s Do! SPECIAL THANKS пе. Тот Gillan, Gerald Martin, Jim Williams, really. Steve Williams DISC PROBLEMS? Did you buy a copy of our magazine that did not contain а demo CD? Simply send the receipt in an envelope marked "ОРМ Replacement Disc” to the address below with the name and address of the store plus your phone runter and address and well send you the disc. Make sure you specify which month the corresponding dise belongs to in order to ensure you get the right one. Als if you have a malfunctioning or non-working demo. dise, call SCEA at 1-800345 SONY. They will provide instructions to obtain repair or replacement services. Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) warrants to the original purchaser of the Official US. PlayStation Magazine that the demo disc included is free from defects in material and worknandi for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of purchase. SCEA agrees for a period of ninety (90) days to either repair or replace, at its option, the SCEA product. You must call 1-800-345-SONY to receive instructions to obtain epairreplacement services. This warranty shall not be applicable and shall be void if the defect in the SCEA product has arisen through abuse, unreasonable use, mistreatment, neglect or breakage dur- ing shipment. THIS WARRANTY IS IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES AND NO OTHER REPRESENTA: TIONS OR CLAIMS OF ANY NATURE SHALL BE BIND- ING ON OR OBLIGATE SCEA. ANY IMPLIED WAR- RANTIES APPLICABLE TO THIS SOFTWARE PROD- UCT, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILI- TY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE LIMITED TO THE NINETY (90) DAY PERIOD DESCRIBED ABOVE. IN NO EVENT WILL SCEA BE ЏАВКЕ FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAM- AGES RESULTING FROM POSSESSION, USE OR MAL FUNCTION OF THE SCEA SOFTWARE PRODUCT. Some states do not alow imitations as to how long an implied warranty lasts andor exclusions or limitations of consequential damages, so the above imitations and/or юсю of ability may not apply to you. This waranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state. ОРМ Demo Disc is published monthly by Sony Computer. Entertainment America Inc, 919 E. Hillsdale Drive, Foster City, CA 94404. АН titles shown herein are trademarks of and copyrights of their respective publishers and/or their licensors. See individual screens for details. ©2002 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Please submit all related demo disc inquiries to: OPM ‘Demo Disc, Inquiries, 919 Е. Hillsdale Drive, Foster City, CA 94404 THIEFY! Here's your chance to play the incredible Sly Cooper for yourself, along with a heaping helping of other fantastic demos. THE DETAILS: Remember back around E3 when you heard all your friends talking about the E3 demo of Sly Cooper? Well—here it is! Explore these three lev- els (plus the hub world) to your heart's content. RED FACTION II THE DETAILS: Faster, sharper and cleaner than the original, RFII throws you in a fren- zied firefight of a level. Check out the rain effects outside, and don't forget to test all the walls for blow-upability. PlayStation HAVE YOU TRIED. ...opening the lightning-sealed tunnel? You'll need all three keys to do it, and your reward is a glimpse of some of the platformy goodness ahead. ..collecting all the clues? There аге a few which are pretty well hidden (watch for a sliding bookshelf in the Reading Room], but once you collect all the clues on a given level you can open the safe and gain access to some hot new moves. HAVE YOU TRIED... ES bypassing the turret in the office? Press L3 to drop your sticky mines on the walls of the cubicles and blast your way through. „listening to the reporter? Once you've cleared out the television studio, listen for the reporter who's stashed himself in a closet. Get close to the door, but don’t go in until he finishes his tirade. Then walk in and point your gun at him. Hysterical! HITMAN 2: SILENT ASSASSIN THE DETAILS: It's a lot like SOCOM, actually, only instead of a SEAL you're a hitman. And you can steal your victims’ clothes to help you infiltrate The Don’s mansion. It’s slow-paced, sure, but loads of fun. MX SUPERFLY THE DETAILS: The newest in the Ricky Carmichael series ended up disappointing us, but this demo offers two of the cooler areas: the ghost-town freestyle arena and the sprawling “Urban Jungle.” DR. MUTO THE DETAILS: He's a mad scientist with the ability to mutate (mutate—Muto! Get it?) into a variety of animals. The demo starts out with only the mouse form available; see if you can open up new animals, HAVE YOU TRIE «beating the mission? We have a feeling you're going to need to save a lot in the final game, ‘cause we just died and died. First, ambush the postman, drag him behind the wall and take his clothes. Then, ambush the delivery boy and take his clothes. (Check out how your character's heart beats when you get close to guards!) Then, head up to the door into the kitchen...from there, you're on your own. HAVE YOU TRIED... jumping farther than 160 feet? There's a series of ramps in the freestyle desert level that sets up this feat nicely, but it won't be easy. jumping higher than 60 feet? You'll really need to pre load" (hold down L2 or R2, releasing just before leaving the jump) to do this; try your hand at this feat on the near-vertical ramps at the start of the freestyle level. HAVE YOU TRIED... .орепїпд the junkyard gate? You'll need to trans- form into mouse form, high-tail it through the pipe, and go fetch the key—then dash back before the whole place ends up covered in goo. ...deciphering Dr. Muto’s idle ramblings? You know, the ones he spouts randomly? We couldn't. ...saying “Muto” 10 times fast? Muto Muto Muto Muto Muto Muto Muto Muto Muto Muto! SOUNDTRACK ALBUMS AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY ON EPIC RECORDS WWW.VICECITYRADIO.COM RATING PENDING B Visit www.esrb.org “331/222 ЕА E = or call 1-800-771-3772 KI ари for more info. PlayStation. us. of this video The evil Nobunaga's demon warriors wreak BEST PS2 ADVENTURE j ; havoc across feudal Japan. A noble young GAME E3 2002 - IGN warrior, Jubei, returns home to find his once- vibrant village laid to waste by Nobunaga's monstrous minions. Fueled by vengeance, Jubei embarks on an epic quest; one which will reveal his ultimate destiny. On this magical journey, you must earn the respect of confidants to help the valiant Jubei battle demons, hideous bosses, and overcome ingenious puzzles. Only then will you defeat the pillaging hordes. Violence Blood and Gore — PlayStation.e ОСАРСОМ CO., LTD. 2002 GCAPCOM U.S.A., INC. 2002. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CAPCOM and the CAPCOM logo are registered trademarks of CAPCOM CO., LTD. ONIMUSHA = =o is a trademark of CAPCOM CO., LTD. Character Yagyu Jubei by ©Yusaku Matsuda Office Saku. Characters: CCROWD/CCAPCOM CO. LTD. 2002. "PlayStation" and the “PS г Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. . HEART RAGING. POLICE SIRENS FLASHING BEHIND YOU. HANDS CLENCHING THE WHEEL AS YOU MANEUVER THROUGH THE MOST REALISTIC TRAFFIC SCENARIOS EVER DEVELOPED. EYES WATERING AS YOU WITNESS THE MOST REALISTIC AND HORRIFIC CRASHES EVER SEEN IN A GAME. MUSCLES TENSING AS YOU TRY TO MAINTAIN CONTROL THROUGH ЗО OPEN ROAD STAGES. YOU'vE PICKED YOUR CAR FROM AN AUTOMOTIVE ARSENAL OF 14 ALL-NEW VEHICLES. HOPEFULLY, CAR AND DRIVER WILL SURVIVE THE POINT OF IMPACT. OR THE LAST THING TO GO THROUGH YOUR MIND WILL BE YOUR ASS. EVERYONE yright 1998 - 2002 Criterio Mild Violence PlayStations АФ ат www.acclaim.com Think you have what it takes to write the Letter of the Month? Send us your video game expositions and you could win a Logitech cordless controller for your PlayStation 2. Neat, huh? € Logitech CONTACT OPM snail mail PlayStation Magazine 50 Beale Street, 12th Floor San Francisco 94105 e-mail opm(üziffdavis.com and check us out on www.playstation magazine.com - fax If you need to reach us now 415.547.8777 B) mee ei lays ^ d fi CTA. 5), VICEGITY -* REVEALED! GETTING ONLINE. м 1448 RATINGS * 16 PAGES OF TIPS Believe in the Magic | just got dene reading your October issue, and I'm ecstatic about the release of Kingdom Hearts. Now, some people may have been skeptical at first, thinking that Square and Disney could never work togeth- er on anything, let alone develop a great game. Some people still think Kingdom Hearts looks crappy, despite the hundreds of cameo appearances, the many references to past games and movies, the simply stunning graphics, the...well, you get the picture. |, on the other hand, have been thinking about how great it will be to slide in the disk for Kingdom Hearts, wait for my PS2 to load, and watch the opening to a great game. Ever since you first mentioned the game, I've been watching for more info about it. The first time you showed Cloud, | let out a squeal. When | found Yuffie in a screenshot, | jumped for joy. Then, when Aeris showed up in one of your previews, | must admit | had to wipe away a tear. I’m not only thrilled at the concept of Final Fantasy characters showing up everywhere, but | can't wait to reminisce about past days when | used to watch those Disney classics. I'm looking forward to see- ing Aladdin, the Genie, Ariel, Mickey and the loads of other characters Disney and Square crammed in. | can't wait to play а game that will dominate my life for a good long time, until | have collected everything, beaten every minigame and completed what will surely be a wondrous experience. Chris AshtonAnchors28(daol.com Some people just get it. You, sir, are among them. Forget about all the doubters— Kingdom Hearts is pure magic that should be enjoyed in the exact spirit of your letter. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine I recently bought SOCOM: U.S. NAVY SEALs along with a network adapter. | was really excited about playing online versus real human opponents, but that only came second to the thought of semi-realistic gameplay. No longer would | have to endure hitting another opponent with three rockets to the head in Quake 3: Arena. | didn't have to compete against 200% health and 200% armor and Quad Damage. | was looking forward to realistic one-shot kills. When I play Quake 3: Arena online, I’m a "camper"—the really annoying guy who hides high up in a dark corner holding a Railgun. Being a “camper” is looked down upon by many 03:А players, from newbies to purists. But now, in SOCOM, | have the chance to be a sniper, to pick from many different types of sniper rifles, to find a nice spot and to pick off the terrorists one by one—all to make things easier for the other seven guys on my team. | quickly earned а name for myself as a sniper, and was invited to join many clans. So, it came as a surprise when one day, while prac- ticing with a random team of unknown young men, that over the headset | was asked to “please leave” because “I wasn't contributing anything to the team." I, of course, wanted to play my own game, and | didn’t leave. | went up to my sniping point and made my usual one or two kills a round. | was almost always that last person оп my “ left alive. | had to put up with taunts of “Camper!” from my own “teammates.” They would even follow me to my favorite sniping spots, firing their weapons at me to draw the opposing team’s attention to me. Аз а sniper, sure there are times when | can lay prone in a spot a whole round and not get a single shot off. However, more often than not, when the round is over, my stats show: 2 shots fired; 2 headshots; 100% hit rate. Even with these statistics, when I didn’t leave | was voted off and kicked out of the game. With a game made to be as realistic and faithfully devot- ed to the Navy SEALs as SOCOM is, being a sniper is some- thing the game developer purposely meant to include, and а good sniper is going to be an integral part of any real SOCOM clan. You can either have a good sniper on your team, or get picked off by a good sniper on the opposing team. Either way, the person who is playing that part has just as much a right to lie there prone, keeping you in his sights, as you have to run around with automatic weapons firing at anything that moves. To finish up, let me just say: I’m a sniper, not a camper, and I’ve got your head lined up on my scope. So the next time your character drops down, dead, and there isn't another player anywhere in sight, check the messaging at the top of your screen, and you'll know that "REAPER" is on the opposing team, and I'm going to continue to take you out, round after round. JP “REAPER” Vaughan vaughanjp(dhotmail.com Gamers are talking about... ОРМ monthly roundup of hot topics, gathered from the OPM message board on Www.gamers.com. * ONLINE AT LAST. Not everyone managed to snag a network adapter at launch, so naturally the unlucky ones were curious about how it was going. "| haven't had time to buy an adapter, let alone play any games lately," Xenoferrit posted. "So, how is it? Half the board seems to be about all the problems people are having getting hooked up, but what about everyone who is already there? Are you having fun yet?" “I don't. think there are THAT many problems, just misguided people," SpideyBuddy respond- ed. ps2payne agreed: "I'm online right now... well | was playing...no problems here, it's very good. | was surprised that every- thing went fast and simple." massive- grooves counts himself among the many new SOCOM addicts. "SOCOM is just fantas- tic online. The headset is what really makes it great, being able to talk and strategize with your teammates. | played with some people today and one group in particular was just great about keeping people informed and using strategy...my kinda players!! Anyway, it seemed like the server may be overloaded at times, got discon- nected twice today, but other than that it has been just great." SOCOM wasn't the only show in town. "I haven't gotten SOCOM yet. It's on back order or something,” said ohjtbehaaave. “But the ones I've played have been sweet. Madden rocks. NFL 2K3is also pretty good, but l'm a Madden guy. And last but not least, Tony Hawk 3 is fricken а blast and a lot of fun. Too bad | suck at it. So far, if you're a football fan or TH fan, it's awesome!!” Even the 56k guys were able to join the party. “I only have dial-up for now, so Madden is terribly slow,” griped FPSGamer. “But Frequency kicks a**. | spent like two hours straight on it last night. And | will do more later tonight.” * RAD. Does Robot Alchemic Drive have what it takes to become a surprise hit? After we featured a demo for Enix’s mecha game on disc 61, gamers have been talking. “| just played the demo today, and | can say that was one of the coolest games | have ever played,” -greensmudge- posted. "Though | couldn't get the camera to work. Was | doing something wrong? If I'm not doing things wrong, the camera needs seri- ous fixing problems, or it might be one of the few games that are ruined by camera angles." Fixius agrees that the game has lots of potential. "My only gripe is the clunky controls (of the people, not the mechs), he said. "The mechs behave the way mechs should, slow and cumbersome. Controlling the mechs from the perspective of the character is interesting, but | would like to move the character while still focused on the mechs. The unskippable cutscenes are a pain, but the game has potential to be great." Still, Zach-o was unimpressed. "I actually thought it was one of the worst games that | have played in a while. Well, at least since Britney's Dance Beat." i yg Dis... е re ~, Re N SO BRUTAL. SO EVIL. SO DEADLY. N Es Ка « ub. „ „ HAPKIDO— = TANG:S00- DO p. = = aA —HAPKIDO — x p а= _ featring ADEMA; immortale muie dde. UUU.MORTALHROMBAT.MIDUAY.COM ХУ А NEW LEVEL OF INTENSE COMPETITION HAS ARISEN AS TWO POWERFUL SORCERERS HAVE 3 ¢ FORGED A DEADLY ALLIANCE THAT NOU REPRESENTS EARTH'S GREATEST THREAT. IT S IN YOUR BLOOD. 2 à edes 3 куе "реши О И но TU RE coming... FATALITY FRIDAY November 22" WARRIORS. EXTREMELY REALISTIC EFFECTS AND BRUTAL NEW FATALITIES. ae © JDMIDWAY NINTENDO PlayStation.e — X9O* | ыг. uks of Midway Amusement Gomes, LLC, Used by permission. Distributed under license by Midway Home Н, Xbox, ond the Xbox logos ore either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Blood and Gore Violence js ond Sony C vnl Games, ШС. AN rights MORTAL KOMBAT, DEADLY ALLIANCE, the di of Ni he "PS F е PSF he Xbox™ video gu d trademarks o Kombat: Deadly Alliance & 2002 Midway Ати dne. "2, Game nt the US. and/or other countries and are used d a V on Tomb Raider How do we feel about the new Tomb Raider? Are you kidding? We have been breathlessly counting down to the day the next one will be released! There isn't another game anywhere that will compare. When TR: Revelation came out, everyone said, "Ho hum, more of the same." As if that werea bad thing! Well, this family says, "Yes! Yes! Give us more of the same! More! More!" The same translates to great stuff! The superior nature of Tomb Raider lies in the con- trols. You can be like a fine pup- peteer with Lara, using all 12 buttons and even combinations thereof, feeling as though you are really involved. The puzzles are second to none. The environments are excellent. When we go to the game store, the first thing we ask is, "Do you have any Tomb Raider-type games?" The answer is no. Nothing compares. No other video game is 50 wonderfully addictive and exciting to play. Now we can, once again, get the real thing. Yup, Yep. We hear nothing makes the heart beat with there will be cars happy anticipation like hearing those in it opening notes of Lara's theme. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Core and Eidos! GOD IS DEAD? The OPM mes- sage board post- ed that Hideo Kojima died in acar crash. A lot of people, which includes me, don't believe the thread. Please tell me he didn’t die. Joshua Cayabyab whoajc @hotmail.com He's still alive. GT4 UPDATE! Are there any plans for Gran Turismo 4? Shane Murray silverx88 @hotmail.com GOOD BUY? IAN KING'S Rory, Cat, Jeremy and Chase Johnston | recently MOST WANTED Las Vegas, NV ordered Midnight 1. Grand Theft Auto: Club: Street Vice City | want to be hopeful for the next Tomb Racing andl | 2. GTA:VC Raider game. I want to believe Eidos can pull RRL 3. СТА 4 off another TR2. But I'm afraid that, ulti- еее а sound опе. Jack Garrison dr_shibby87 fayahoo.com 4. Rockstar North's latest project 5. A network adapter 6. SOCOM 7. THPS4 8. TimeSplitters 2 with online multi- player support 9. SSX 3 10. A game that takes place in "805 Miami where you can drive over 120 vehicles, do 100 to 140 mis- sions and rain doom upon the general population mately, it's just not going to pull together. Making Lara all gritty and hounded just rings false—like when a sitcom starts getting old, and all of a sudden someone gets pregnant. It's a tired cliche in the same unoriginal vein. And that Trent guy doesn't inspire any hope in me either. He leaves me cold. Sorry, Lara, you're really going to have to show me something this time to change my mind. Dan Wheeler Oosknubaaol.com А tad late to ask our opinion, don't ya think? MEMORY OVERLOAD in your latest issue, you say that NFL GameDay 2003 takes up 270 MB? Is that true? You're gonna need 34 memory cards! That's an expensive game Jim Reilly reilly311 (hotmail.com Yah, OK, wiseguy. It's a mistake. We asked; you answered. Seems no one is divided here. Either you can't wait for Lara's next game, or you can't fathom why they're bothering to make yet another one. ost of Living | noticed something odd and kind of disturbing in GTA3. Using a pistol, | tra- versed the city killing various types of peo- ple, which in this game is a commonplace activity. Those people decently to expensive- ly dressed and commonly seen in nicer cars Official Contest Rules ОРМ LETTER OF THE MONTH E-mail your most wanted list to OPM(aziffdavis.com Mark the subject MOST WANTED local regulations apply (20) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine ASK US ANYTHING AND WE'LL DO OUR BEST TO ANSWER If you've got questions, we've got answers. See something in a game and are curious about it? Send us an e-mail and ask whatever you like. Send your questions to OP M/aziffda’ omand use the subject line ASK US ANYTHING. CAN I DOWNLOAD TO MY PS2? Q: | was wondering, with the whole new coming of internet PS2 thing, will you be able to download stuff from the Internet to your PS2? Could you down- load specific things for games, like cars or weapons, or extra racetracks and extra playable characters? Roberto Gomez otrebor17@hotmail.com A: That was in the plans from the very start, but two things are holding it up. that game, and now | don’t think | will. My question is, why did they decide not to include the online play? Rconnl4@aol.com A: According to Eidos, the network infra- structure wasn't in place to handle the online modes and rather than delay the game, they decided to strip out the online portions. If you listen to Clish, though, you'll get another story. She says that Eidos wanted to have Sony support the game on their servers, something they apparently didn’t want to do. We're wondering, though, if Eidos might not consider releasing an add-on disc or discount-value product wi online support at a later time [like Twisted Metal: Black Online]. We can dream, right? You'll have to part with $50 for Madden 2004 to keep playing online First off, broadband isn't nearly as wide- spread as Sony hoped it would be [that fat pipe makes it so much easier to download extras]. Second, Sony has yet to release the PS2 hard drive in the U.S., which you'll need to store all those downloadable goodies. But to release the hard drive, Sony needs a killer app to ship alongside it. We think Final Fantasy XI qualifies very nicely as that killer app, but who knows if it’s even gonna be released here now? (Check out Clish’s column for more on the FFXI situation). DO I NEED NEXT YEAR'S MADDEN? Q: | just got a copy of Madden NFL 2003 and | read on the box that the online con- tract ends on Aug. 31, 2003. Does this mean that I'm going to have to pay $50 for Madden 2004 just so | can keep play- ing online, or will EA Sports come out with a patch or something for Madden fans who wanna keep playing online without paying $50? TKACHUCK14@aol.com A: Basically, the makers of Madden will be fixing up their server for bigger and better things next year, so what's written on the box is more of a disclaimer just in case it doesn't work out that way. But, to answer your question more specifically, yes, you'll have to part with $50 for Madden 2004 if you want to keep playing online. Mow lawns, shovel snow and save up! You've got only 11 months to make that much cash! WHAT GIVES WITH TS2? 0: | was so majorly ticked off when | heard TimeSplitters 2 isn't going to be online. They really messed up. That was the only reason | really wanted to buy HOW САМ I PLAY AS KAREEM? Q: | was wondering why one of the great- est players in the NBA is not in any of the recent basketball games like NBA 2K2 or NBA Live. | noticed he wasn't on any of the МВА 2K2 legend squads. | mean, sheesh...Visual Concepts could have placed him on the "705 East squad with the Milwaukee Bucks if they thought they had too many Lakers cen- ters in the game. | didn't check EA's NBA LIVE 2002...because...welL...OK, OK...it sucked. Anyway, it sure would relieve my mind if | knew why Kareem isn't repre- sented in any of these games. Woodley Polynice wpolynice@msn.com A: Woody, you're not related to Olden, are you? Moving on, we've got some really good news for you. Put in your copy of МВА 2K2 and go to the "805 АЦ- Stars. The West "805 team will have two players that aren't active: Kareem and Bernard King. You'll need to trade out active players for Kareem so he can hoop it up on the court. Easy fix, and just one more reason why we love NBA 2K2 so much. CAN I USE THE LINUX KIT ONLINE? Q: | have a copy of SOCOM, but not the hard drive or modem. (They were sold out.) If | buy the Linux kit, is it compati- ble with SOCOM and can | use it to play online? Any information will be helpful. xenowelltall@yahoo.com А: Since the Linux kit comes with a net- work adapter, you could use that to play SOCOM online. Interestingly, though, the adapter that ships with the Linux kit is broadband only. Ferrari „Р OSD Arallenge, Race the cat you can't afford to own. PlayStation.e Spinouts, bumper grinds, smoking tires - and that's just the first turn. Capture the definitive experience and white-knuckle excitement of real Ferrari racing. PlayStation. Ferrari errari EVERYONE SEGA SEGA is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. SEGA and Ferrari F355 Challenge are registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA CORPORATION ог its affiliates. Original Game © SEGA CORPORATION ©SEGA/AM2, 2000, 2002. All Rights Reserved. www.sega.com "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. АН Rights Reserved. took four pistol shots to kill. Those who appeared to be less financially privileged, such as the homeless and blue-collar work- ers, usually took three pistol shots to kill. | was wondering if the people at Rockstar have some kind of prejudice against home- less people or the underprivileged? Or if they think that the lives of homeless people are somehow of lesser value? Tan Waldschmidt superquackió5(dhotmail.com Memo to Congress: Careful study has proven that the Grand Theft Auto series does indeed have socially redeeming values—the primary one being its subtle ability to teach gamers conservative Republican class distinctions. ) ۸ nt т Раде 70, issue 60: You had questions [about why people keep buying Yu-Gi-Oh], so | asked my 8-year-old daughter. | have answers (ко some). Note: Anything in quotes is a direct quote from her. Why buy the game? "Because it's fun." Why play it? "Because most kids like monsters." Why buy it? "Cause it's really cheap." (Note here from mom—the kid doesn't have to fork out the money, hence it's very cheap.) Why was it made? "Cause there is a TV show and they thought, ‘Hmmm, kids really like this show, so how about we make it into а game?” Why do you watch the awful, cynical car- toons? "Because, well, they're cartoons. And it's not really horrible; it's fun to watch." [Side note: When mom asked, "Don't you find it cynical?" kid answers, "No." When mom asks her, "What does cynical mean?" kid answers, "I don't know.) Why is Yugi so short? (Note: Mom omit- ted the "d" word.) "Because, um, | think that some heroes should be different." | hope that helps your stumpedness. It did nothing for mine. Jo jgaudet@rogers.com Despite your valiant but vain effort at uncov- ering an explanation, we are still overcome with stumpedness. | ат an intelligence officer in the J2 (intel) in the Pentagon. OPM gets passed around, and we are all DYING for the SOCOM game. But PLEASE check your information before you publish. Hey—l am not trying to be a jerk, but gun stuff is what we love. The P90 is made by the Fabrique National Herstal SA of Belgium and is a submachine-gun. The FAMAS [Fusil Automatique, Manufacture d'Armes de St. Etienne] is a French assault rifle. Both fire different ammunition and have very different applications, although in the end both are pretty much made to kill the guy on the receiving end. The FAMAS is from 1973, and the P90 is from 1990. On page 106 (ОРМ 60] you said they were one and the same. Well, thanks for listening to my rant—l bet you rolled your eyes on this one. But thanks for a great article, a great pub, and here's to looking forward to killing some goons with you on the PS2! "Mark" in Wash. D.C. via email Mark left his phone number with his e-mail, so we called to confirm that he's actually, um, a spy. And indeed he is. How cool is that! So be on the lookout for Mark and his Pentagon buddies while sniping away online. Just be sure to get the gun names correct— or else you're in big trouble. So what did you boys think about the finale of the MTV Video Music Awards? Guns N Roses!! Didn't | tell you they'd be back? Watch all the hosts of the show and all of America go crazy. Go ahead, nitpick. Talk about how you didn't like Axl's headband or something. Talk about his rusty voice, even though he was the only one there not lip-syncing. It doesn't matter anymore. Pspower@aol.com E 8 o 8 3 E [3 E E Р 8 z| 8 5 i 5 2 5 3 £ 5 (22) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Put down that issue of Tigerbeat long enough to realize all the crap you've been listening to the last few years! By the way, your leather-clad Britney looked like a cheap "805 wannabe. Welcome to the jungle, geeks. Wow. Still holding a grudge from our disparaging (but completely correct) Axl comments way back in issue 44? Still sore that we called your idol a “bloated, washed-up has-been"? Someone needs to get out of the house more. Once again, we offer you two pics of these stars, side by side, and we'll let our readers judge whom they'd rather see on these pages. (One hint: It should be the one who stars in а game titled 5 Dance Beat.) © \ BLAST THE BASTARD I just got up off of the floor, laugh- ing, after reading your review of SOCOM. “You shoot Boomer in the head, is what you do!” Joe, those three para- graphs about that “insubordi- nate bastard” Boomer were the funniest I've ever read. | do that exact same thing when the A.I. does some- thing stupid. Alex Vigil LtPliskin famsn.com HEART BROKEN | recently pur- chased а game by Midway called Shadow Hearts and was amazed by how good it i Your main dude is a stud, unlike that sniffling wuss Tidus from FFX. Yet | see no articles in your magazine about it. HOW COME?!!! Brandon Soesbe Springfield, 5.0. We reviewed it in issue 52. We liked it, too—we gave it four discs, in fact. SOME GO TO GREAT LENGTHS TOSTOP EVIL. ONE GOES ТО GREAT DEPTHS TSINK IT Hi tech Alliance nuclear attack submari Minus 1,000 feet. Your missio Blow the Meluguis Empire to kingdom со Underwater, your adve Й coming. They better stop, adrenaline-p await you and your c .. around a massive ‘world in the most i т % Utilize guided nuclear, ultrasonic and acoustic torpedoes f underwater overki EJ "8 у Witness hyper realistic www.subrebellion.com |. water-physics and lighting effects M Ф «e I «em Metro 3D are trademarks of Metro3D, Inc. | Software Association. аз ка! PlayStation.e . Rights Reserved, IREM SOFTWARE ENGINEERING and the IREM SOFTWARE ENGINEERING logo are registered ta Y IREM SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INC, Sub Rebel ind the Мехоз0 logo are trademarks of Меко, Inc. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment ine. The тайпа 60 Is а registered rade ©2002 IREM SOFTWARE Published by Метод DANGEROUS! AND SO АМ I: · i- MORE DANGEROUS THAN ANYTHING YOU WILL EVER MEET, UNLESS YOU ABE BROUGHT ALIVE BEFORE THE SEAT Of THE DARE LORD. я VIVENDI UNIVERSAL тоз | Violence “The Fellowship of the Ring” interactive game © 2002 Vivet i rises logo, together with "The: ШЕ erem are trademarks or registered trademarks Of ünder. Se to Vivendi Universal бати ivendi Universal Games togo are trademarks of Vivendi Univ 'osoft, Xbox, and the Xbox logo: f and are used under license from Microsoft. "PlayStation" Computer Entertainment Inc. LIFT YOUR THUMBS WITH PRIDE, FOR THEY SEPARATE MAN FROM BEAST. Keep your thumbs happy. Play video games. EBGAMES сон AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY OUR GAMES THE CLONE WARS ARE FAR FROM OVER Pilot over five land and air combat units. Engage in close combat to all out warfare. Battle through 16 missions on six vast worlds. Where Episode ЇЇ ends, your battle begins. Defend the Republic on the ground and in the air across the battlefields of six different worlds. Battle through four multiplayer modes, including team-based strategy, deathmatch, king-of- the-hill and co-op endurance. Or lead your clone troopers to victory in an epic single-player campaign as Mace Windu, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Your directive: crush the Separatist armies! G GAMECUBE. = | PlayStatione2 = S| ч STAR. WARS CLONE WARS wuu.sucloneuwars.com TEEN T Violence CONTENT RAT ко BY ESRB INSIDE SPIN 32 Zoe's World Our Canadian scribe learns to love American football after playing it online. 34 Breaking the Band Breaking Benjamin breaks into gaming with its breakthrough song. 38 Bring on the Heroes Hot on the heels of the spec- tacular Spidey titles comes an onslaught of comics games. 50 Voice of Evil We talk to Temuera Morrison (a.k.a. Jango Fett) about his contribution to Bounty Hunter. 60 Seal of Approval Five questions with Zipper Interactive, the team behind SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs. 61 Ball Brawl Finally! First info on the Dragon Ball Z game for PS2. 62 Jet Fueled Jet Li teams up with Sony for a new game. 68 Clish MacLaver What's up with FFXI? 72 Jia Roundup Four pages of media fun! Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Folks lined up at Sony’s Metreon mall in San Francisco to be the first to get network adapters. SOCOM and Madden were top game sellers. The PS2 finally goes online, but not for everyone Computer Entertainment of America launched the network adapter for the PS2, allowing thousands of eager gamers to get online and play against each other in standout titles like SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs and Madden NFL 2003. The launch was a major success for Sony, as approximately 250,000 network adapters were released into the market and immediately snapped up by PS2 owners across the nation. Unfortunately, this initial number proved far too small, as shortages were reported almost everywhere. According to Sony, the company didn't expect such a high demand for the peripheral and is hard at work trying to get retailers more adapters in the coming weeks and months. Another 150,000 network adapters will find their way onto shelves before the year's end, followed by an additional 100,000 by March of next year. Sony feels confident that these numbers should satisfy the demand at least through the upcoming holiday season. "We're finding the demand is quite high now, but we don't foresee any problems in the coming months," says Sony spokeswoman Monica Wik. "400,000 units for this year is a number we're quite comfortable with." Either way, the shortages so far have proven that every- one—Sony included—has underestimated the eagerness of gamers to play online. Т. finally happened. On Аид. 27, Sony now available Do you have yours y The PS2 network adapter nationwide for $39. A FEW GLITCHES Unlike the launches of many online PC games, the PS2's online titles were rather stable and faced no server crashes in the weeks following the kickoff. There were a few unforeseen problems, though, as people were often faced with server connection issues and network lag. In SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs, for example, we had difficulty connecting to the West Coast server because it was maxed out. The crowds of online gamers also slowed the network at times, a problem that was nonexistent when we were playing it up until the official public release. Sony apologizes for these slight glitches and claims they won't continue to plague the experience. "On the first day of full release we had a network router which was not operating at maximum perfor- mance," explains SOCOM producer Seth Luisi. "After researching the latency (lag) issue we found that this was the cause. This was fixed the following morning; the router just needed to be reconfigured. We expect that there will be some hiccups as large number of players connect and start playing online. And although we've thoroughly test- ed the SOCOM servers and network hard- "We're finding demand is quite high now, but we don't foresee any problems in the coming months." We caught up with а bunch of gamers at the PS2 network adapter launch event at the Sony Metreon in San Francisco and asked them the question... WHAT ONLINE GAMES ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD ТО? JASON ESTIOKO “Twisted Metal: Black Online at the start, because SOCOM may take a while to learn.” STEPHEN KRAUSE “Believe it or not, but Frequency 2." VINCE LAUREL “SOCOM. | just bought it and I can't wait to get home and play it.” BEN RAIT “Frequency 2and Tony Hawk 3. My friends bought me Tony Hawk За while ago, and it's nice to be able to play that online now.” FARRIS DENNING "Т can't wait to get on with Tony Hawk 3 and then later with Tony Hawk 4.” ware with 20,000 simulated clients and about 150 QA testers, there are always some problems that are only exposed when thousands and thousands of real players start logging on and play SOCOM at the same time. Rest assured, we are ready for any issues and they will be resolved in short order.” Worse for some were the problems of simply getting online with the network adapter (see poll to the right). According to Sony, though, most of the problems have been rather easily remedied by the tech support staff. “I’m quite pleased that most of the questions have been along the lines of ‘do you support this ISP?’ and not simply ‘I can't con- nect’,” says Wik. However, if you're one of those still having trouble, head over to our Web site at for some tips on how to configure your setup. A GREAT START Despite any of the network problems and some of the connection issues, it seems that gaming online with the PS2 is off to a great start. There are plenty of killer titles in the pipeline (check out the chart on page 66), applications for Web browsing and e-mailing are on their way, and the PS2 hard drive ought to appear sometime next year. If you haven't played online yet, you don't know what you're miss- ing—hunt yourself down one of those network adapters and get your butt online. You know, so we imeSplitters 2 Loses Online Play Despite an overall successful launch of the net- work adapter, there was one major blow to the PS2 online plans for this year. Two weeks before the network adapter shipped, Eidos announced that TimeSplitters 2, originally supposed to be one of the flagship titles to support online play, would no longer include any online functionality. According to the company, the infrastructure was not yet in place for them to incorporate any online elements, and rather than delay the game, online play had to be removed. If you're like us, this surely comes as a major disappointment—online play was one of the things we were most looking forward to with this sequel. If there's one consolation, though, the game will still feature iLink and LAN multiplayer support, so up to 16 players can still go at it at once. Actually, scratch that—one of the best parts about having the game online was that you wouldn't have to cram a bunch of guys into your pad for some crazy multiplayer mayhem. Let's hope TimeSplitters 3 will give us what we've been really waiting for. Markup Value Because of how tough they are to get, it’s not uncommon to see PS2 network adapters selling for more than $100 on eBay. You just picked up a PS2 network adapter, so how would you describe your experience in getting online? Easy as pie 53% Had a little bit of trouble I still can't get 25% the darn thing to connect 21% И EverQuest Beta Test Contest PLAY EVERQUEST ONLINE ADVENTURES BEFORE EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD DOES! OPM has teamed up with the folks at Sony Online Entertainment to give you a chance at getting in on the exclusive beta test of the game. That's not all though. SOE is also giving away some great can take you out. limited-edition prizes to our winners! Check out the P.S. page (p.224) for all the details and the full contest rules. What do you think of Capcom making 3D fighting games? Great! 3D is the only way to go these days 20% It's cool as long as they play well 63% NO HELMET REQUIRED Being Canadian, it comes as no surprise that I love ice hockey (She shoots, she зсогез...). | have dreams of playing an exhibition match with my local Vancouver Canucks (mmmm...Todd Bertuzzi). | suppose my hockey fever is not unlike the Super Bowl-sized hype that surrounds the American pastime of “foot- ball.” Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, | can’t bring myself to exude fervor over this seemingly mundane and slow-paced helmet-fest (not even the tight pants get me riled). Like most people, though, 1 do like those cheerleaders—spritely bunch! (Actually, | have а design for a cheerleading game, but that'll have to wait for another column). Suffice it to say, best-selling franchises like Madden and GameDay have little appeal to me. | lack the patience to learn how to pick plays and often find myself in the midst of a field kick on second down (did that sentence make sense?)—and soon after find myself snoozing on the couch during half-time. So when my selection of PS2 online titles arrived on my doorstep, | initially glazed over GameDay 2003, subconsciously placing it at the bottom of the pile with my SOCOM headset. Alas, work called and 1 punted the GameDay disc into the PS2 end zone, preparing for an afternoon of frustration and boredom. Pm all set to go with my St. Louis Rams (I like the color scheme and logo), scanning various hieroglyphics in my playbook...when a cute little mail icon pops up оп my screen! What's this? Help from my opponent? A message from Sony telling me its OK if I don't like football? But NO! I open it to read the following: “Yo mama. Yer gonna take a beatdown from the mastah of disastah!” Surprise, surprise. | was being trash-talked by my anony- mous online foe! Naturally this piqued my interest in continuing to play. Intent on responding, | soon discovered a plethora of programmed responses that can be scrolled through and smacked down even while running the ball down the field. Suddenly, the oafish game of football blossomed with an entirely new dimension of mental stamina. Three hours later 1 was yelling fervently as | sent a string of color commentary to my equally chatty opponent, a 14-year-old from Boise, Idaho, going for my jugular with a custom insult: “You play like a girl!” Yeah, | lost. Badly. | still found myself running the wrong мау occasionally and racked up an obscene amount of penal- ties (mostly because | was too busy trying to insult Idaho). But Iwas honestly having too much fun to notice the score! Who knew the network adapter could add so much spice to a gam- ing classic? 1 can only imagine the vocabulary РИ have devel- oped by the time the NHL logs on. Zoe Flower writes, makes Web sites, illustrates and does funky things in front of a TV camera. w @) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Capcom should stick with 2D 16% DATA STREAM Join the Mafia 1 T Take-Two Interactive is work- ing on a PS2 port of its hit PC mob game Mafia for the Р52. Look for it next spring. KITT Returns ALL-STARS Capcom's next big fighting game revealed emember that new Capcom 3D fighting game Clish spoke of last month? R- it's finally been revealed, and there's good reason to get excited for this one. Titled Capcom Fighting All-Stars, this is the first true entry into the 3D fighting genre for Capcom (unlike the EX games, All-Stars is being developed by Capcom itself and not the external house Arika). The star-studded brawler is packed with classic Capcom characters, including Ryu, Chun-Li, Strider Hiryu, Charlie and Haggar, as well as several new combatants. The arcade version of All- Stars should hit sometime early next year, and since it's being developed on Sony's PS2-friendly System 246 board, expect a quick port to the PS2 shortly after! Everyone's going back to the RN 5 "805. European developer Davilex is working on a Knight Rider game for the PS2. New Atlus RPG Atlus has revealed Shin Megami Tensai III for the PS2, a new installment in the series that the Persona games were spun off from. A U.S. release is likely late next year. 1 FRIDAY 2 saturvay |5 tuespay 6 weowesony |8 FRIDAY 11 monpay * Aaron Eckhart * Nelly ^ * Band of Brothers |. Rebecca Romijn- | Jack Osbourne is|* Leo DiCaprio is and Hilary turns DVD box-set out, | Stamos is 30. 17 the same day | 28, Calista "dat- Swank in The 24 and * along with Spyro, | The multitalented] that Eminem's ing Han Solo" Core and | Spy parties RAD, Batman, Ethan "married new flick, 8-Mile,| Flockhart is 38, with Owen hard. Contra, DDR to Uma comes out. Also, | Demi “come- Wilson and Max, Suikoden Thurman” watch for Femme} back" Moore Eddie Murphy in Ill, FIFA 2003, Hawke is 32. Fatale with is 40. theaters. Spider- Tiger Woods and Rebecca Romijn- Man DVD out. WWE SYM. Stamos. 12 tuesoay |15 свод 19 weso |22 Frivay 28 tHurspay | 29 FRIDAY e New Bond movie | * The insane Аппа | Solaris and Die Another Day Nicole Smith cel-| Treasure Planet * Tomb Raider, Risk, Frogger, * LOTR, Star Wars |j» Harry Potter 2 Ep. 2 out оп DVD. | out in theaters. Bounty Hunter, Keifer Clone Wars, is out. ebrates her 35th | are both worth Malice, The Sutherland's Colin McRae 3, Grown birthday by get- going to the Sims, Rocky, new movie, Evolution men ting her ass movies for. Adam Shinobi, Rayman | Phone Booth, Snowboarding, salivat stuck under Sandler's ani- Arena, Mortal gets completely 007 Nightfire. at Halle something. Jon mated 8 Crazy Kombat, Ratchet | overlooked as а Big day all round.| Berryina Stewart is 37. Nights possibly & Clank, Rygar. consequence. bikini a isn't. Have fun with one of the biggest months for entertainment ever. АЦ the dates were correct when we worked on this page, honest Ескб Function. D PTT BREAKING THE BAND Ben Burnley, the singer/guitarist of the hit new band Breaking Benjamin, tells us about how his group's music wound up in Interplay's Run Like Hell Most bands want to have their songs in video games because they're looking for exposure. You did it because the guy who played Biff in Back to the Future is in the game, didn't you? Biff's in the game? I didn't know that. That's really cool. Uh, so was it because Lance Henriksen from Millennium and Aliens is in it? Or was it because Kate Mulgrew, who was Captain Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager, is in it too? | didn't know that either. This is just getting better and better. No, we did it because I'm real big on action adventure games. | go to Electronics Boutique and preorder all the ones that | know I'm going to like. What's cool is that when my manager called and said they'd got- ten our songs in this game called Run Like Hell, it was a game l'd actually preordered. Who made the decision to use footage from the game in your video for "Polyamorous," like they do with songs from movies? Check out Breaking Benjamin's new video at www.breakingbenjamin.com. Interplay made a trailer for Run Like Hell that mixed shots from the game with clips from the video we'd originally made for the song. But when we saw it, we thought it looked better than our video, so we decided to use their ver- Sion instead. The funny thing is, when a tape of it came to me in the mail, | wanted to see it not because our song was in it, but because | was going to see shots from the game. Had you seen any footage of the game before you were in it? The only thing | saw was screenshots in mag- azines. But | knew from what Id seen, and what they said about it in the magazines, that it was going to be a game | would like. What I think is cool is that this isn't the kind of game that usually has a band in it. Usually the games that have music are racing games or Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Who's the biggest gamer in the band? Me and the bass player [Mark James Klepaski] are the only two guys in the band who own PlayStations, but he's more into the sports side of things. I'm definitely the most hardcore gamer in the band. | like those опе- player games like Metal Gear Solid 2, Devil May Cry and Max Payne. Breaking Benjamin's debut album, Saturate, is out now on Hollywood Records. — Paul Semel И Enter the Animatrix New media and information on the highly anticipated animated Matrix stories With the second Matrix film drawing closer and closer, excitement over the franchise is on the rise again—not only because of Reloaded, but also thanks to Animatrix, the collection of short animated films based on the Matrix universe from some of the top Japanese anime studios. On the official Matrix Web site, , the Wachowski brothers have finally unveiled a trailer for the collection {which will be released in parts online and as a full collection on DVD), and it has fans absolutely raving—us included. Showing glimpses of the 10 different short Official Џ.5. PlayStation Magazine films, the trailer showcases a wide variety of styles (some feature traditional animation, while others use computer rendering). It also shows just how cool anime can look when inspired by the stories and direction of the Wachowski brothers. The film from Square Pictures, Final Flight of the Osiris, is completely CG-ren- dered and looks even better (dare we say it?) than Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (see the shots above]. Interestingly, this film— along with five of the others—actually uses a storyline written by the Wachowskis, and acts as somewhat of a bridge between the events of The Matrix and Reloaded. Another film in the series, called Second Renaissance, from director Mahiro Maeda (known for Blue Submarine No. 6), is said to actually serve as a prequel to the original Matrix. A few of the other films in the set also caught our eye, notably Program, from Yoshiaki Kawajiri (best known for Nínja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D), and World Record, from Takeshi Koike, which apparently: answers many questions about The Matrix. Be sure to head over to the site to check out the trailer and get yourself prepared for when these hit next spring! DATA STREAM Madden Spotlight MONDAY NIGHT EA's Madden NFL 2003 goes prime time. During all 17 games оп this season's Monday Night Football, John Madden will be using his game to break down the weekly matchup and to show plays. Choplifter Returns Fans of the classic Choplifter series from the '80s (a theme this issue, it would seem) should be pleased to hear that Xicat has borrowed the license from Infogrames and is doing а new installment for the PS2. -hacked unfortunately been delayed until next year. What makes the wait worse, though, is that the second chapter, Malignant Mutation (shown above}, has just been released in Japan. Samurai Sequel Japanese developer Acquire is already working on a follow- up to Way of the Samurai for release next year. Look for Bam to handle the translation honors again. THE FIRST THE BEST THE FEW www.playmagic.com x^ Free demo at www.playmagic.com Six million actually. And millions of st The best trading card game Players are Magic: The Gathering’ players. THOUGH BASED ON SCREENS FROM THE FEATURED GAMES, THE МОСК COMICS YOU'LL READ OVER THE NEXT FEW PAGES ARE ONLY LOOSE INTERPRETATIONS OF THE EVENTS IN EACH. THEY DON'T NECESSARILY REPRESENT WHAT TRANSPIRES. Вер Y SQUARESOFT You've still got that sour taste in your mouth from the last Superman game you played, right? Well, there's good reason for that. Titus' N64 title singlehandedly embodies all that can go wrong with а superhero game. Thankfully, this one doesn't. Shadow of Apokolips—which Infogrames probably j delivered to a game store near you—utilizes all of the Man of Steel's powers for the first time in an adventure living up to the quality of an episode of Superman: The Animated Series itself. PLANS TO САМ UNHOLY ALLIANCE... | WITH d TAKE OVER ..HAS CREATED А TECHNOLOGICALLY ј 4 Y s DESPOT RULER | ADVANCED ROBOT Я OF APOKOLIPS ARMY... IS LOOKS LIKE A JOB... L - - f THE MAN OF STEEL'S QUEST WILL SPAN TO THE OUTER REACHES OF METROPOLIS... я =; z HIS SUPER POWERS WILL = Ё PROVE SUPER IMPERATIVE. ..АМО FORCE HIM INTO | CONFLICTS WITH SOME OF THE CITY'S MOST INFA- MOUS SUPERVILLAINS. NOT SO FAST, LIVEWIRE! ( BUT IN THE END, THE LAST SON OF KRYPTON WILL PREVAIL. Let's just forget about the PSone travesty that was Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker for a moment and give Kemco the benefit of the doubt for Dark Tomorrow. While we're still unsure about how the final gameplay will turn out, there's no doubt that the developers have fully captured the feel of the comic. The main reason? A script co-written by DC's own Scott Peterson and Bat-maniac ORACLE AND ROBIN TO BATMAN. COME IN, BATMAN. I'M ALITTLE BUSY HERE, BARBARA. AND IT'S BEEN ONE HELL OF A NIGHT! *...A NICE WAY TO WARM UP AFTER A TUSSLE WITH MR. FREEZE." Р, AT ЦА [^ X. ‘THE NIGHT IS STILL YOUNG..." = A [Porson Ivy |\ [KILLER croc № Kenji Terada (responsible for the stories behind Final Fantasies I to III). “In Dark Tomorrow, I know that the players can become Batman and experi- ence the thrilling sensation of Gotham City,” says Terada, who has included everyone from mainstream villains to such lesser-known fan favorites as Ra's Al Ghul and Mr. Zsasz. The bat signal finally shines this November. PROBLEMS? YOU COULD SAY THAT. Т JUST CUFFED UP A THUG WHO THOUGHT HE COULD SNUFF THE BAT. “NOT TO MENTION SOME QUALITY TIME WITH THE RAT- CATCHER AND HIS FAVORITE PETS.” KNOW WHAT THE FUN PART IS, THOUGH? / ы vx 3 1 - / Е RATCATCHER - w [ Р JOKER № y AND MANY MORE! ‘Dene, р Y SQUARESOFT If you've used a Dual Shock to control an X-Man, odds are you dig fighting games. For years, Capcom and Activision have thrown the X-Men into such titles, and fans have seemingly only clamored for more. For Next Dimension, Activision introduces Marvel's merry mutants to full 3D, with 24 fighters total and a strong emphasis by Paradox Development on putting the individual powers of each mutant to good use. Also cool: The eight arenas come multitiered so that one environment can actually appear as three different ones. Story mode has also been emphasized, acting as sequel to the comic's “Operation: Zero Tolerance" storyline. HOWDY, KIDS! IF "AND IF THERE'S YOU DON'T 2 ONE THING I ALREADY KNOW E A KNOW, IT'S HOW ME, I'M BAS- : lis MUCH MUTANTS TION. AND ГМ : LOVE ТО FIGHT!" MORE THAN JUST [im AHEAD IN A JAR.IM A THREAT TO MUTANTKIND! =. C ye . E "SMALL VERSUS HUGE..." mos m. ШИ |. "..EVEN X-MAN VERSUS X-MAN. (DO WE REALLY NEED TO KNOW WHY?)" Ми AND NOW FOR SOME KNEE-STABBIN' PRACTICE! 2i 5 gran TITRE) remm Б. Ё а " *...ONLY ONE WILL TRIUMPH." " €; a DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS < WHEN А LASERGUN SHOOTS A STORM? THE SAME THING THAT HAPPENS TO EVERYTHING ELSE. “YES, THEY ALL SEEM BENT ON DESTROYING ONE ANOTHER. AND THANKS ТО MY EVIL PLAN..." d^ = qe We'll go ahead and say it: Of all the game's in this feature, Wolverine's Revenge will likely be the best. The story by Larry Hama, former scribe of Wolverine (the comic), places Wolvie in a search for the cure to a virus that will kill him in 48 hours, sending him back to Department H and examining his history. We just have to wait until spring's X-Men 2 hits theaters for Activision to release the game. WHATEVER YOU GOT FOR ME, SABRETOOTH... "SIT AIN'T NOTHIN’ COMPARED ? TO THE HELL I'VE ВЕЕМ тнвоџен TODAY." SO, LOGAN, WE ` MEET AGAIN „е ا‎ а E Pf "NEVER COULD GET THE BESTA МЕ, cO | THOUGH. I'D JUST SNIFF ЕМ QUT am ا‎ | “| WITH MY MUTANT SENSES AND TAKE ие. yu. i а î ‘EM FROM BEHIND." “FUNNY, THE GUARDS AT DEPARTMENT H DIDN'T EXACTLY WELCOME ME ‘НОМЕ.’ MADE THE SEARCH FOR A CLRE TO MY VIRUS KINDA TOUGH." “ae наб инь | "AND THEY SAY NOTHIN’ САМ STOP 3 2 Mc ЛИ LET ME SHOW YOU WHY ТМ THE BEST THERE IS AT WHAT I ро. uM GUESS MY NAME M IS NOTHIN'" о VOICE ACTING WITH FORCE You might have a hard time believing that Mark Hamill, the man best known as Luke Skywalker, voices the perfect Wolverine for Wolverine’s Revenge. But he does (alongside Patrick Stewart's Xavier). We had a chance to chat with the now- prominent voice actor at a recording session. OPM: At one point during your voice session, you said, “1 love this character!” What is it about Wolverine that makes him so great? ls Hamill: Well, | think he kind of personifies what Marvel did in the "605, which was shake up that kind of complacency that had crept over a lot of the superheroes, where everybody was sort of well- rounded and adjusted and comfortable with who they were. Their lives were so messed up—just like the readers’. It was revolu- tionary, [This game goes] back to the roots of Wolverine's kind of outsider status. There's а lot of anger there. And his attitude! There's a kind of quiet menace in Wolverine’s knowing that he can break you in half like a potato chip. He's the best there is at what he does... Yeah. You know, with Wolverine it’s tough, because he's the first character I’ve done since Joker [on Batman: The Animated Series and most related portrayals since] where | feel the kind of weight of the iconic status looming over me. The world judges— everybody is an expert. So, does that mean that previous portrayals of Wolverine influence yours? | would imagine everything in my consciousness on this subject has influenced it. | loved the movie. It's like Joker, though. | had seen the Cesar Romero version; | had seen the Jack Nicholson ver- sion. What happens is, in both cases, | didn’t know at the time that I'd ever be doing it. Then, of course, when you get the part you think, “Oh my God, | can't go back and look at these things!” One of my friends called me up the night before the first recording for Batman, and he said, “Boy, | really admire you. You got some real balls.” And | said, “What're you talking about?" And he said, “Well, | wouldn't want to follow Jack Nicholson in any part.” And | went [hits the couch], “No! Why did you say that?!" And now I'm all thinkin’ [in Nicholson voice], “Are they gonna want me to have that kind of inflection, or what?” As it turned out, it said at the top of the copy when we auditioned, WOLVERINE IS THE ULTIMATE BADASS WHO'S ON THE SIDE OF GOOD. "Don't think Nicholson." | thought, "That's a relief!" ` I'm thinkin’ Wolverine has а lot of [late actor] Lee Marvin in him. He had no time for foolishness or nonsense or games. Also kind of a seething Clint Eastwood thing going оп. Considering that a lot of your characters of the past—Joker, Hobgoblin and more—were villains, do you consider the hero Wolverine a departure? Well, it’s funny because you're all over the board. There couldn't Бе a more iconic good guy than Luke. And then for kids to say, “oh, you're Joker too,” it's a nice kind of yin-yang going on. The vil- lains, | think, are fun because they are so colorful and they present whatever predicament is in the way of the protagonist. It's always fun dramatically, because he can always be a real pain in the ass. Wolverine's interesting because he's а protago- nist who comports himself like an antagonist. He's; got an incredible attitude. | like his sense of humor. He's kind of like we wish we could be in real life. In fact, he’s the opposite of being politically correct, or brown- nosing, or kissing up, or whatever it is we all have to do at some point in our lives to people we want to curry favor with. This guy could care less. Hey, if you had 12- inch claws, you wouldn't have - to worry, either! He's the ulti- mate badass who's on the side of good. It's like, "he's a bas- tard, but he's my bastard." Were you a big fan of his com- ing in to this? Yeah! Sure. And it’s really great to work professionally and bring my hobby along. It's not anything you would have antici- pated as a kid. | always felt: semi-guilty reading comic books, My dad thought they were just trash—for people who were just not smart enough to read regular books. z One of the things | love about comic books is the sort of social aspect of developing friends who have like interests and, you know, “Here, you read my stack, I'll read your stack." | love them, the way they reflect history, whether they're World War II books or, like, Red Scare comic books of the ‘50s. One last thing: Let's pretend the Joker somehow gets sucked into a vortex and ends up in the Х- Mansion in front of Wolverine. What happens? Un Joker voice] | think the Joker would find mutants quite challenging—not like Batman [end voice]. | think he'd be turned on by the whole idea of mutants. Whereas in the DC universe he's so clearly cut a villain, in the Marvel universe, there just may be a place for him! When | get into the head of the Joker, | totally understand his motivations. Yes, I’m a criminal, but I'm enteftaining! | would think that Batman's а psy- cho in a mask who's fighting for self-aggrandizing reasons—and he's just a pain in the ass. Read this entire interview land there is a LOT more) after Nov. 1 at playstationmagazine.com. Фенг Т SQUARESOFT SPIN CHECK OUT OUR REVIEW ON PAGE 183 FOR AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT ACTIVISION'S There may not be any new PS2 games LATEST TAKE ON THE DAYWALKER. announced for these characters yet—but that doesn't mean we won't see them at some point. THE TRUE BAT- ў ы MAN: THE ANI- 4 3 1 Ad « vues A У é JUSTICE LEAGUE (MIDWAY) WAS THE REA- d » SON TO BUY и 4 THIS UBI SOFT 2001 RELEASE. CN ONE OF CAPCOM'S COOLEST га FIGHTING GAMES EVER, THIS ONE PITTED MARVEL HEROES AGAINST CAPCOM ALL-STARS. ll BATMAN ANIMATED (UBI SOFT) BASED ON THE MOVIE, A SPIDER-MAN EXPANDED ON NEVERSOFT'S TRIED-AND- TRUE GAMEPLAY, ADDING MORE FIGHT COMBOS AND AERIAL BATTLES. Games you'll almost certainly see by the end of 2003. THOUGH COMING OUT AT THE SAME TIME AS THE MOVIE EARLY NEXT YEAR, ENCORE'S DARE- j DEVIL LICENSE ONLY IMAGINE IF ACCLAIM'S SIDE- ALLOWS FOR HIS COMIC | SCROLLING BEAT-'EM-UP BOOK LIKENESS. FANTASTIC FOUR GAME HADN'T SUCKED. EARLY WORD | SUGGESTS THAT ACTIVI- SION'S 2003 GAME FROM 7 STUDIOS WILL OFFER A мат УС СИ SIMILAR PREMISE -- ONLY, | SPIDER-MAN (ACTIVISON) ШЕ YOU'LL WANT TO PLAY IT. (E Y и > A MARVEL GAME NOT FROM ACTIVISION? THAT'S THE CASE WITH THQ'S PUNISHER. PLAY AS THE TOUGH-AS- NAILS VIGILANTE LATE NEXT ONE OF NEXT YEAR'S MOST HYPED MOVIES GETS YEAR, AROUND THE TIME OF GAME-IFIED ACTION-STYLE BY UNIVERSAL IN ARTISAN'S MOVIE RELEASE. SPRING 2003. YOU WANT DETAILS? SO DO WE! Фар Y SQUARESOFT P An amazing new adventure 3 from the creators of FINAL FANTASY. You’ll need a car, а very fast car, tick a V12 Vanquish with tons of gadgets, RATING PENDING Visit www.esrb.org or call 1-800-771-3772 for Rating Information. - в ; Xeox ..—PlayStation.e EUM d the EA GAME! А GAMES?" is an Electronic Arts orand. CONTENT RATED BY ESRB enough gadgets, tock to Вер you blow ир а space station, or jump out of a plane and tick stop a secret military force, before breaking into Mayhew’s estate, or, engineering а rooftop escape from Phoenix International's Tokyo о office tock then exiting а burning gondola tick in the alps а! in time to rendezvous tock with secret agents Zoe and tick Dominique Sixty seconds of Bond’s world. but don’t pat yourself on the back tock too much It’s more than most people because tick that was only one minute, and there do their entire life. are still 1,400 left in the day tock. MARK eagames.com ^ — Laert other countries. АН rights reserved. NIGHTFIRE Interactive G ind United Artists Corporation. JAMES BOND. 007. James Bond Gun and Iris Logos and all other James Bond related trademarks TM Danjaq. LLC. James Bond, Lagonda Limited: Ford Motor Comp. layStation” an iputer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox ahd the Xbox logos are the trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used under ou can what you can't see. f ERWORKS” PlayStation. a> VOICE OF EVIL Bee Hale Wakes еден Actor Temuera Morrison—who played Jango Fett in Star Wars-Episode II: Attack of the Another "805 icon is making a return. А : Following in the footsteps of the new Clones—talks about reprising his role for Star Wars: Bounty Hunter Cartoon Network He-Man show, TDK В А 5 : is working on a game for the PS2 With the exception of R2-D2, most of the actors in the Star Was there any difference between doing Bounty starring the beefy hero. Wars films don't do the voices in the games. Why did you Hunter and the previous voice-over work you've done decide to do the voice of Jango Fett in Bounty Hunter? for TV commercials? Because it was one of the best scripts I'd read in No, not really. All the technical things are pretty much ages. It was like Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry in e the same. So I'd just think of Lara Croft and all that space. Pity it wasn't a feature film. We should've stuff. But there | was, doing it—doing the sideways made a movie called Bounty Hunter and then „ЗА й movements. "Hup! Hup! brought out the game. =z» Нир!" And now move to the right. “Hup! Hup! Hup!” And now you have to die, but not a big die, a little die. “Aaargh!” I've never died in so many ways. Did you get to see any of the game before you signed on? No, nothing. All I've seen was some stuff in a PlayStation magazine that | was on the cover of. But | knew with all the heavy Е Jan Fleming novels—the super-sua p 7 artillery that I had, all the stuff | had in ; secret agent has ишелү Шоро 4 f Star Wars to play with, | knew they could i a bevy of girls, guns and gadgets — J make a pretty good game. while saving the world from an ectec- Ji ; We understand that you play video games with your son. What kinds of games are you into? | haven't been playing much lately because I've been away, shooting a movie. But he’s been playing GTA3. He loves that one, but | don’t like him playing it. He's becoming а menace to society. How was doing the voice of Jango in the game different from acting in the movie? Well, the whole game is based on me, so it was like doing my own little movie. But really, there wasn’t too much difference; he's the same character. Though when you're doing the movie, you're on a big set and 1 є George Lucas is there—it's pretty exciting. of other pop icons expires instantly? n d a But when you do the game, you go ina и аер id Bond iU studio and all you see is a microphone. So which is he more impressed with: the fact that you're in a Star Wars movie or the fact that you're in a Star Wars game? The game. He says the game's cooler. — Paul Semel DREAM CAST It's always tough to cast a fighting flick since no one fights anymore. All the big stars are soft, so we've had to stretch a bit to figure out who would fit. But our Tekken 4 movie would be more of a love story than a huge show of pugilism. By the way, we're being sarcastic. So here's who you'll see on opening night. Action! Got any ideas for a Dream Cast of your own for another game? Send them to us at opm@2ziffdavis.com with the subject DREAM CAST. nde s ыл posi e REO RO refreshed without changing the original formula (remember | Kazuya: Jet Li Paul Phoenix: Sean Nina Williams: Nicole Ling Xiaoyu: Zhang Ziyi While we wanted William William Scott Kidman Maybe we want to see Shatner here, he wasn't Sean might need a follicle Since she stunned us in Zhang Ziyi in pigtails. Or available, leaving us with implant to fully realize the Moulin Rouge, we've been at maybe it's that we want to Nightfire is the first video game to include the "ae our second option. Jet Li Phoenix role—but we Ms. Kidman's mercy. Since | see her in those cutesy out- inned" facial features of Pierce Brosnan. Providing lig kicks ass, though, so he couldn't pick Kid from we've been playing Tekken | fits. Or maybe it's because well with both the game and movie, his participation won't disappoint. Kid 'n' Play, now, could we? 4, the same goes for Nina. ме like the way she fights. like a win-win situation. Gamers will get the opportunity to play _ ав the same big-screen Bond plastered all over the media this · winter, and Brosnan will introduce. his screen Ии ае toa new set of younger fans. j г Can James Bond continue to beat the odds long with the j bad guys? рој Holywood and Sen Valley in hie comer Heihachi: Terrence Stamp ` Christie Monteiro: J.Lo Panda: Ling-Ling Marshall Law: Eddie Kneel before Zod, bee-atch! With a backside like This casting call is straight Guerrero What else do we have to say? Christie's, this one's obvious. from Washington, D.C.’s zoo! From WWE to Hollywood! ЕО САШЕ HAS-BEEIIS BEWARE! А NEW BAD BOY. GIVING THE FINC ER. TO LAME © it’s A FIGHT FOR FREEDOM. AND an ADVENTURE FOR REVENGE! FEATURING 6 DANGEROUSLY INTERACTIVE WORLDS WITH OBJECTIVES VIEWABLE FROM ANYWHERE in THE VEXX UrlivERSE! SCALE SHEER B CLIFFS АПР VACOVER DEADLY ATTACK COMBOS ATID SPECIAL abiLitics! But BEWARE OF NIGHTFALL = YOUR ЕПЕШЃЕ5 MORPH into MORE EVİL FORMS AS THE LİGHT OF DAY WANES! VEXxtHEGAME.com Violence ж Xeox PlayStation о NINTENDO [c7 GU ` Vexx™ and Acclaim ® & © 2002 Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Acclaim Studios Austin. АН Rights 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 other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. TM, ® and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. Screens ‘shown were taken from the Xbox version of the video game. = E "4 . ( „те "sunny Today То Ў N „А. < / Software © Кетсо. BATMAN and all related indicia are trademarks and © 2002 DC Co — 5 $5 erved. pack Tomorrow coming November 5, 2002 EVERYONE ga logo, and Sega Sports are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Sega Corporation. © SEGA "and individual NBA member team identifications used on or in this product are trademarks, copyrighted and the respective NBA member teams and may not be used, in whole or in part, without the prior written I fights reserved. Made and printed in the USA. “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks neGube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks ог 5 апо are used under license from Microsoft. ESPN is a trademark of ESPN, Inc. ESPN branded elements © Disney. CONTENT RATED BY E SRB b, 7 Experience the joy of flight. Develop the will to win. It's time to play with the big boys. DRIVE AND DISH ON THESE PLATFORMS | SEGA Т m. в X PlayStation.2 = b segasports.com GAMI BE. xBox Would you be interested in taking а digital photo of yourself and importing it into a game? DATA STREAM P.S.A.T. Nah, | couldn't Maybe if it's ; . ( care less 20% easyenough (PlayStation Aptitude Test) 17% 1. Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 was 6. What was the first RPG released on Time for Terror Yeah, that the first of how many mission packs for the PSone? i sounds cool! the original Grand Theft Auto? a. Final Fantasy VII 61% а. 4 WHAT EV PICTURE PARADISE It seemed like the perfect bit of convergence—the kind of stuff the brass at Sony would hold up as evidence when chattering away about the PS2’s Emotion Engine and “the future of computer entertainment.” Tucked away in a corner of Tecmo’s booth at the May 2001 E3 convention were a pair of Sony reps who were unveiling a middleware application called Picture Paradise. Using a digital camera, Picture Paradise let you load images into games, customizing your PS2 play- time with pics of yourself, possibly even mapping them directly onto a game's characters to create a virtual you. So why were the Sony people parked in Tecmo's booth? Because Tecmo's Monster Rancher 3 was the first U.S. game to utilize Picture Paradise. Granted, the application was a bit rudimentary; you could only upload images onto "masks" worn by monsters. But it was still pretty darn cool. Since then, Picture Paradise has completely disap- peared. No other U.S. game has utilized the middleware solution, and none has any future plans to do so. Why? According to a Sony rep, “The developers here in the U.S. weren't as excited about this as they аге in Japan,” where Picture Paradise is still being incorporated into new games. Sony has since decided to pull back its Picture Paradise program here, though the company plans to leave the door open if any new interest arises. As for Tecmo, the publisher is undecided about including Picture Paradise in its next PS2 Monster Rancher game. “We didn't get as much praise for it as we thought we would," says John Inada, Tecmo's mar- keting director. "If a significantly improved version of Picture Paradise-type technology became available, l'm sure we'd give it a hard look. We still think that the idea is good, but the execution and the education for the idea would have to be improved.” Wanna get the scoop on a product that's fallen off the radar? Then just send an e-mail to орт21110ауіѕ. сот with the subject "What Ever Happened to. nd we'll look into it. 56) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine b.3 с.2 а. 1 2. Rockstar North, the notorious devel- oper of Grand Theft Auto, was also responsible for one other blockbuster franchise back when it was known as DMA Design. Name it. a. Max Payne b. Loaded c. Soldier of Fortune d. Lemmings 3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice Citys lead voice is actor Ray Liotta. But it wasn’t his first appearance ina game. What was? a. No Escape (Genesis, SNES, Sega CD) b. Goodfellas (SNES) c. Grand Theft Auto 3 (PS2) d. Tron (агсаде) 4. No-name lead іп СТАЗ: 8-Ball :: Tommy Vercetti in GTA:VC : 2 а. Steve Scott b. Ken Rosenberg с. Mitch Baker d. Lance Vance 5. Which of the following games does not feature the voice talents of Mark Hamill? a. Batman: Dark Tomorrow b. The Scorpion King c. X-Men: Wolverine's Revenge d. Grandia Xtreme What's that, | again? You want me to do what? b. Beyond the Beyond c. Wild Arms d. Suikoden 7. Cid in Kingdom Hearts comes from which Final Fantasy? a. Final Fantasy IV b. Final Fantasy VI c. Final Fantasy VII d. Final Fantasy VIII 8. Who is the second playable charac- ter in Devil May Cry 2? a. Sparda b. Trish с. Lucia d. Ophelia AN 9. The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2 comes with what as a bonus? a. Solid Snake stickers b. Metal Gear Solid 3 trailer c. MGS2 soundtrack CD d. Five playable VR missions 10. Which of the following games won't be playable online? a. .hack b. Final Fantasy XI c. NBA Live 2003 d. My Street € ‘OL 'P'6278'2'L'q79 'e'g'p'g'e-g'p'z'P'L :5лэмзи\у Т know you want me to bite something, but you cut out there at the end. I'm merely trying to avoid confusion, I don't want to bite the wrong thing inadvertently. Capcom has shown first shots of its new horror game Clock Tower 3. It stars a young girl who slips into an alternate dimension of death. The game hits Japan this winter. No word yet on a U.S. release. Guilty Sequel Sammy is bringing its Guilty Gear X sequel Guilty Gear XX to the PS2 this winter in Japan and the U.S. soon after. Navy Gets Games Gaming while 200 feet below water? You better believe it. All of the 72 ships in the U.S. Navy's submarine fleet were recently outfitted with PS2s, a gift from the Interactive Digital Software Association. Our pick for the Navy's first must-buy game? Sub Rebellion, naturally. | "R brilliant game" - Nintendo Power | “Looks like one of the best FPS yet. We can't wait." - PSM | “athe best-looking first-person shooter currently in development for PS2." - Gamespot.com |" ..8 trug heir tn GoldenEye ...во polished it shines." - НЕОН Nation | | “TimeSplitters 2 is going to be awesome." - IGN.com | THE 05T ACCLAIMED GAME ПЕ aona TOU] Шаш: EDE ERSGAME СОМ ers noisy та te ran oo atria grr x ашыга, сс pul Сто sj Д. г > ѓ чиопе ИЕ S. ] 4 friend of mine was describing | one ofthe more interesting strate- gies being practiced by some of | the folks who are playing SOCOM online. Apparently what happens _ is that for kicks, a group of team- i mates turns on one of its own members and shoots up the guy's ; |. character until he bleeds, This maneuver is known as a “Bloody _ Mary.” Why do they do it? Well, why not? : Welcome, PlayStation fans, to ‘the dark side и ‘online gaming. h Net, some of the for see ejes ee finding ways eat and to irritate their fellow gamers. As the PC online ‘These guys enjoy repeatedly hunting down and killing newer and weaker online characters, killing them over and over. The killing serves no purpose in the game itself—these guys just ‘want to antagonize the guy on the other end of the computer connection. Some of the more organized bullies form gangs. _ that block access ра of the game тар or hoard important _ game objects, jacking up the prices—again, not for any pur- | . pose other than to drive other players ир а wall, Others simply ff harassin “опе but jerks come to play. But I think this behavior also has the potential for more serious repercussions. I've got a clock оп how long it takes before Sony or another company -. Servicing online gaming gets sued. The complaint? Providing these jerks an avenue to humiliate, intimidate and harass others. meone is bound to say his civil rights are under fire every time he goes to play online, and the companies running online games. t letting it! happen. И won't take too many of those kinds | more trouble than they're worth—or to draw the attention of ө those who believe video games are degenerating the moral fiber | life, they just might kill off their online world entirely. So in WE mae, folks. DE SEAL OF APPROVAL 5 questions with the SOCOM development team 1 So SOCOM is finished, done, out the door. How do you think it turned out? What are you most proud of? What makes you cringe when you see it? Overall, | think SOCOM turned out well. A lot of people are having a great time with it online and they're enjoy- ing the single player missions, too, so I'm pleased. l'm most proud of the fact that SOCOM as a whole is a lot of fun. We paid attention to a lot of details, but the core of the game—the controls and the weapons—are very solid. Altogether it just feels good to pick up and play. The one thing that makes me wince is when | see people complaining about the enemies sometimes “just standing there.” What most people don’t know 15 that when you surprise, startle or stun an enemy, they don't move for a brief period and that's when you can most easily take them out. We didn't want to put punc- tuation marks over their heads to indicate their aware- ness states because that would be out of character for SOCOM. | wish we had made the enemy "I'm sur- prised” and “I'm suspicious" sounds and animations more obvious. 2 What would you like to implement in a sequel? Anything you planned for SOCOM but couldn't fit in? Any new ideas that came up during the development process? Any plans for, say, vehicles? We managed to incorporate a lot of our ideas in SOCOM, but didn't have time for everything. On one hand I'd like to make the maximum length of a chat line longer, and on the other, I'd like to add more vari- ety to the close-quarters battle aspects. As for vehicles | guess | should just say that just about everybody likes using them and that the next generation of tactical shooters will have to have them to be competitive. How do you expect the real-life SEALs and other mem- bers of the military to respond to the game? Do you think you've made it real enough for them? Since we made the game with the help of SEAL consul- tants and the Маму, | think there'll be general approval. When we designed SOCOM, we—both our team at Zipper and our SEAL consultants—tried to be realistic but knew that fun is more important. We asked our- selves questions like, "If | were an off-duty SEAL, would | want to spend three hours lying in mud doing recon?" You could say that the missions, enemies, weapons and 50 on are realistic, but we avoided the aspects of being a SEAL that would be least interesting to players. What's your favorite level for multiplayer, and why? Blizzard, definitely. There are good sniping and hide positions, and it's totally serene and beautiful—until the Shooting starts. Makes a nice contrast. Also, the game type for this map is Demolition, my personal favorite. Have there been any surprises regarding the way peo- ple have been playing online? Any tactics you didn't plan for or feats you didn't think could be pulled off? So far we haven't noticed anything too surprising, but SOCOM has been available to the public for only a short time at this point. One thing we noticed immedi- ately is that people are catching on to the importance of team play very quickly and their accuracy is improving at the same time. We thought we'd have an easier time as the developers, but | think our advan- tage won't last too long. [Questions answered by David Sears, creative director, Zipper Interactive] Cool Pars Let's face it: Games just aren't as fun without a good controller in your hands. With that in mind, here are a few of our recent favorite pads. @ Logitech Cordless Controller. At last! A cordless pad that won't do weird things, bug out, lag or cause problems. Although it was delayed, Logitech's new controller has definitely been worth the wait. It's a substantial, comfortable pad with solid-feeling and well-placed buttons. Four AA batteries will see you through 50 hours of play with the vibration function activated, or 100 with it switched off. The range is insane—you can still control the thing in another room. If you're looking to lose some wires from your gaming life, this is the best pad yet. Q Colored Dual Shock 2s. Sony recently launched a line of see-through pads tinted with different colors. Sure, they're still the same as the regular Dual Shock 2s, but now they just look so darn cool! Ө Nyko AirFlo Controller. OK, this may sound like a gimmick at first, but it's actually quite cool (and refreshing) once you get your hands on it. For anyone who gets sweaty palms from heated gaming sessions, this is the controller for you. BALL BRAWL Dragon Ball Z finally hits PS2 or Dragon Ball Z fans, the wait's F utterly interminable—but finally Infogrames has leaked out some actual info about its upcoming PS2 game. Titled Dragon Ball Z: Budokai (which means “tournament,” by the way], the game will be a brawler similar in style to SNK's fighting games. We're also told that it'll likely hit stores early next year, but there's a chance it might even make it out in time for the holidays. Keep an eye on these pages for even more DBZ news as we get closer to release! One Wicked Cricket Take a charming cricket, give him a serious chip on his shoulder, add to that a pair of high-voltage antennae and there’s only one thing that can happen. Someone’s going to get hurt. www.onewickedcricket.com PlayStation.2 <> X нант с хвох GAMECUBE. GAME BOY ADVANCE EVERYONE Comic Mischief INFOGRAMES © 2002 Infogrames Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All trade- marks are the properly of the ive owners. Designed and developed by Blitz Games. TM, те Boy Advance and the C Reserved. Microsoft, Xbox, and the Xbox logos are either regis rks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United are used under license from ‘amily logo are registered rks of Sony Consumer Entertainment Inc. Martial arts superstud Jet Li stars in a new PS2 action game e's already a huge sensation in Asia, and Ы with recent stateside hits like Kiss of the Dragon now under his belt, Jet Li is one of the fastest-rising action stars in Hollywood. He's strong, he's sleek, and he knows how to kick some serious ass. Which is why when Jet recently came to Sony to see if he could star in his own PS2 game, things were immediately set into motion. In fact, you could say that a partnership between the two was destined to happen all along. “When we began the concept stages for Rise to Honor more than three years ago, we knew we wanted it to be based on the style of a Hong Kong action movie," says Jim Wallace, associate director of Sony's Foster City Studio. "We had Jet Li posters all over the studio and were referencing his movies for everything we had planned in the game. We were thrilled when we found out that Jet was interested in collaborating on a PS2 project, knowing that his creative input on Rise to Honor would help us to truly realize our vision for this ambitious game." One of Sony's goals is to provide a new level of realism for action-adventure games. At the Foster City Studio, that means embarking on a detailed process of motion-capturing all of Jet's signature highflying maneuvers. But Jet's not going it alone. To help design the action sequences, Jet has called on fight choreo- grapher Cory Yeun, who's partnered with him on several films, including The One and Lethal Weapon 4. "Working with the Sony Foster City Studio team has been an exciting experience—very different than making a movie," Jet tells us. "The motion-capture system allows for extremely realistic movements and, in addition, we were able to use a lot of actions in the game that we can't normally put in a film." Jet will also lend his voice to the game. Although Rise to Honor isn't due out until fall 2003, what we've seen so far looks exceedingly cool. Jet seems pretty confident that it'll turn out well. “The final game should provide you with a : genuine feel for action," he says. "You can finally feel what it's шнын like to be Jet Li.” @) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine IT BEGINS AS A DREAM... FREEFORMER™” ENGINE MOVES SEAMLESSLY BETWEEN RACING, SHOOTING, FLYING, GLIDING, SOATING AND DOG-FIGHTING GAMEPLAY IN A SEEMINGLY BOUNDLESS UNIVERSE! HAVEN! CALL OF THE KING DELIVERS AN EPIC EXPERIENCE OF MULTIPLE GAMEPLAY STYLES SEAMLESSLY BLENDED TOGETHER IN A MASSIVE UNIVERSE: YOU MUST FIGHT TO SAVE YOUR PEOPLE FROM AN ANCIENT EVIL AND ORAW UPON EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER LEARNED TO FIND THE HERO WITHIN AND ANSWER THE CALL OF THE KING TO FREE YOUR PEOPLE FROM THE TYRANNY OF ENSLAVEMENT.: TEEN Coming 2003 Fall 2002 T Mild Violence ; | х GAME BOY ADVANCE PlayStation.2 = ESRB ЕНА хеох ење ГАД f Мриду =THEN IT GETS REAL. HAVEN.MIDWAY.COM IN JAPAN Rural Living-Tale of the Southern Island Victor Interactive/Polygon Magic, PS2 A few months ago, we told you about a sleeper hit called My Summer 2, а touching little adventure about a young boy visiting his relatives and traipsing about on holiday by the seaside. Unfortunately for publisher Sony, Japanese developers do follow their Western counterparts in quickly copying the latest hits, so welcome to the first clone in the burgeoning, er, relative-vi g- vacation-sim genre. But developer Victor Interactive—of the Make Your Dream Home game, which we also featured a while back— has done things differently enough (much in the way True Crime is that crucial little bit different from GTA3) to merit our attention. The general premise is the same, with your character (this time a girl in junior high!) sent off to grandmother's house on an island in the Okinawa chain. The setting isn’t a token choice; to Victor’s credit, the game really does milk it for all its worth. You can drink Orion beer, for one—an actual Okinawan brew. But the most notable native feature is the fact that everyone speaks a proper indigenous dialect—and you can even be tested on your under- standing of it. Of course, for most of you reading this, that means absolutely nothing (it’s still gibberish, just slightly different), but it’s nice to note Victor’s eye for detail. The rest of the game follows My Summer's lead, with various island-based activities available. You only have two weeks to partake in such fun minigames as swimming, cycling, and, er, sunbathing. Should you be interested in an Okinawan holiday, we recommend calling your nearest trav- el agent—this game isn’t coming stateside anytime soon. GAME WORLDS TO VACATION IN LIBERTY CITY (@ТАЗ): As long as you can handle yourself, why not? Sightseers can enjoy the slums, the red-light dis- tricts and the shipyards; shoppers can visit Ammu-Nation; and thrill-seekers can try to drive through Saint Mark’s after killing Salvatore without suddenly exploding. TRAVERSE TOWN (Kingdom Hearts): How can you resist a Disneyland-esque town populated with Disney characters, Final Fantasy stars and moogles? ICO: Ico’s castle setting was ridiculously beautiful—a defi- nite tourist-puller...if not for the whole imprisoning of homed children and ghostly white princesses, of course. And the evil dark shadows. And the birds. AL BHED (FFX): It may be a hot and sticky desert, but it's Rikku’s homeland and thus the last known whereabouts of Gary Steinman. (66) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine HEARTS AFIRE Kingdom Hearts makes a splash t's only fitting that Disney and Square's colossal collabora- I^ see a massive kickoff in the States. Square held two major launch events for Kingdom Hearts, drawing in both hardcore fans and Hollywood stars. The first was at San Francisco's Sony Metreon mall, where Square fans lined up around the block to get a first chance to play the game. Voice- actors David Gallagher (Riku) and Hayden Panettiere (Kairi) made special appearances, as did game director and character designer Tetsuya Nomura. Our sister pub Electronic Gaming Monthly's James "Milkman" Mielke even popped in to do a DJ set. A few days later Square held a launch party in Los Angeles, drawing in some hot, young talent like Melissa Schuman of the pop group Dream, along with plenty of other Top: Hayden Panettiere with Tetsuya Nomura Right: David Gallagher with Melissa Schuman Bottom: Square fans in costume up-and-coming teen stars. ON LINE It's here. Sony's online invasion has finally struck, and from what we've seen so far, many of you seem to be spending most of your waking hours getting your asses blown off in SOCOM. But what comes next? What's over the online horizon? A whole damn lot. Here are 10 of the most intriguing online-gaming titles slated to arrive in the next year. There are no doubt a whole lot more coming [we have a feeling the next E3 is gonna have our heads spinning], but for now you can savor these tasty tidbits of online goodness. Adventures Sony Online. Spring 2003 My Street Sony CEA И EA Sports LucasArts 2003 November 2002 December 2002 NBA Live 2003 А October 2002 Star Wars Galaxies Title The Game Why Should 1 Care? Possible Pitfalls Sony's underrated racer Discerning racing fans Support for only four players E шу? gets a facelift, a bunch of | loved the original for its | online seems a bit slim; we're new tracks, and a smatter- ing of minigames. difficulty and its wide- open cross-country mode. still waiting to hear if we'll have A.l. opponents online. This is the PS2’s answer to the PC's massively multi- Ent. player online RPG phenom: faster and easier to play. Surely you've heard of “EverCrack”? People have gotten married on EverQuest, fer chrissakes. The PC version is no great beauty to look at, and it seems like the graphics aren't improving much on the PS2. The simple games and the somewhat kiddie style may alienate those who don't like anything without blood in it. It looks like it'll be a nice way to relax after сар- ping terrorists in SOCOM, and it's fine for all ages. Here's a much more relaxed online experience: Simple games like marbles, volleyball and R/C racing. Online play will be two-player only; you can't even bust out a multitap to flesh out the teams with human players. Competition has proven fruitful for EA; this year's edition appears to be on track for success. It's b-ball online; unless you dallied in Dreamcast, this should be a rarity in and of itself. Rumors of delay of the PC ver- sion make Galaxies’ PS2 release a bit of an uncertainty. But it'll come sooner or later. Duh. As if touring a galaxy far, far away weren't enough, you'll be able to pilot your own ship! Another MMORPG, this time from LucasArts. Will you be a humble moisture farmer or try to rule the Empire? Death is my business and business is good. HITMAN 2 OUT NOW Blood Strong Sexual Content Violence ® hitman2.com trademarks of IO Interactive, "PlayStation" and the "PS" Fai ings icon is a registered trademark of the Interactive Di Pure Solid Fun We dig into every nook and cranny of Konami's The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2 DVD For those of you who haven't been keeping up with our coverage of Konami's The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2, here's a quick recap: It's basically the ultimate collec- tor's item for any MGS2 fan. Coming on a DVD that's only playable on your PS2, the disc has loads of goodies that should make any MGS fan go wild—stuff like behind-the- scenes "making of" photos and videos, storyboard illus- trations, timelines and interactive bits, such as in-game 3D characters and environments that can be manipulated on the fly. The disc also contains a five-level demo of the VR missions that we'll see later on in MGS: Substance. We recently got our hands on а final version of the DV and have been fully exploring its depths. The interactive modes are definitely fun to toy around with (yes, changing Snake's hair color amuses some of us]—but what's most interesting on the disc was just reading back on how the whole project took form over the years and checking out all the behind-the-scenes snapshots and movies. Even the technical aspects of the game are quite interesting, such as how the A.I. works and how Konami is able to pull off those incredible visuals—budding developers are going to eat this stuff up. The VR missions add yet another nifty extra for fans who've been aching for more MGS2 game- play; they're diverse and actually somewhat lengthy. Bottom line: At a mere $20, and packed with tons interesting items, the DVD is easily worth the cash. If you're a big MGS2 fan, don't hesitate to pick it up. It should be available in stores by the time you read this. 1. At one point the MGS team toyed with the idea of mak- ing the characters “toon shaded.” 2. They also attempted characters that would match Yoji Shinkawa’s original art- work. 3. The MGS team getting military instruction. 4. MGS2 was originally called MGSIII. Why? You tell us. No, seriously, please tell us—Konami won't say. (68) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Clish MacLaver's GOSSIP GOSSIP Gossip, rumor and scandal. Gaming's biggest secrets dug up and served with gravy. The run up to the holiday season is always full of juicy gossip. There are some big sto- ries this month, both exciting and some- what troubling (see the item on Final Fantasy Х). For more up-to-date info, check our Web site, 3 regularly for more goodies. BUFFY SLAYS THE PS2 My pals at Eurocom (the guys work- ing on the Harry Potter and Bond games for EA) are working оп а Buffy game for EA based on the third sea- son of the show. It's actually been іп development for about 18 months now and the project is said to be totally “top secret.” Expect a third- person game with an emphasis on be quite plausible. The original game was apparently in develop- ment for PSone before it was Switched over to the PS2, so. perhaps the team has gone back and finished the original project? As | dig around to try to find more info on Ico 2, ГЦ see what | can scrounge up on this for you, too. ‘ GEX IS NO MORE Awhile ago | heard that Crystal Dynamics was working on a PS2 update to its once-popular Gex fran- chise. | received word this month that the project has been cancelled now in favor of a new action/plat- former. Some of you will likely be “Rumors are circulating that we may even end up seeing XII before XI makes it!” puzzle-solving but not stupid “pull the lever and get the key” type stuff—they assure me that they've put a lot of thought into the way the puzzles are structured. ICO SLUMS IT PSone STYLE Sounds odd, but rumors of a PSone version of Sony's beautiful game keep on surfacing, making me think that the whole idea could actually BITS AND BOBS disappointed by this, but those of you who had a problem with the repeti- tive wise-ass humor will probably be quite pleased. ONIMUSHA IS A TRILOGY If you check out the interview with the producer of Onimusha 2 in the official strategy guide, you'll notice the following tidbit: Onimusha 3 is the final game in the series. Make sure to keep sending emails to Square about releasing FF! and // in the U.S! Apparently they've been getting lots of emails, and with enough interest they may actually release the things. • Capcom's already working on а Gun Survivor 4 for the PS2 (Мо. 3 was released as Dino Stalker). It should be out in Japan next spring. • Sony's working on a new Ghost in the Shell game. Remember that? It was on the cover of OPM's first issue! This one’s based on the new animated TV show that has proved to be a big hit in Japan. • Матсо’5 doing MotoGP3 for PS2. * Dynasty Warriors 4 is in the works and Koei is looking to release it in the U.S. next spring. Each episode apparently attracts more and more new fans to the series. You should definitely try No. 3 if you haven't looked at any of them yet. E-MAIL ME! Got some good gaming gossip? Or anything you want to say to me? If you hear anything juicy or get your hands on some cool screens or pictures, send me an e-mail at the following address: Look out for me on AIM, too—my buddy name is | FINAL FANTASY XI NOT COMING ТО U.S.? Word is that there are problems afoot with Final Fantasy XIs release date here in the States. Whereas Square is a huge company in Japan, it’s U.S. presence is still comparatively small—small enough, in fact, that it may not be able to shoulder the bur- den of hosting a massively multiplay- er online RPG. So what's going to happen? The most likely outcome is that Square will attempt to partner with someone who can absorb some- thing of this scale. If you're at all interested in who | think might join forces with Square, Id have to say that it'll probably be either EA ог Sony. These may be the only players with enough clout to really make things happen here in the U.S., so if they don’t step up to help, there's always the possibility that, gulp, FFX! may not be released here at all. While all this is being sorted out, development on FFXII is continuing, and rumors are circulating already that we may even end up seeing ХИ before X/ makes it! That would be a little weird. Also, the oft-rumored Final Fantasy X side-stories (сот- monly referred to simply as Rikku and Yuna) are pretty much assured for U.S. release. As long as nothing untoward occurs, we'll no doubt find out what happened to Tidus some- time next year! Hopefully C.Bake will have some screens to show you in previews soon! m DCSHOECOUSA Ec eng nics ar INTRODUCING DAVE MIRRA'S NEW SIGNATURE oe SHOE, THE RATIO. TAKING BMX FOOTWEAR TO THE NEXT LEVEL. it provides cus DG INTRODUCES THE FIRST SOCKLINER EVER BUILT IN A BMX SH ` Designed for supreme stability and ns sup- a port, DC's stretchable inner sock is made from breathable mesh, and has a built-in elastic band $ $ dy for the ultimate in control. 3 S (LT.GREY/DK.RED) (CHARCOAL/C.BLUE) slighty diferent composition of polyurethane, Pertormalte™ is soter and angipi (BLACK/B.ROYAL) RIGHT TURN LEFT TURN AFFIX OWN JETPACK BEFORE ASSISTING OTHERS © 2002 Sierra Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. Sierra, the Sierra logo, Tribes, and the Tribes logo are trademarks of Sierra Entertainment, Inc. PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE THIS FOLDER FROM ЈЕТРАСК FALLING TO YOUR DEATH IN CASE OF MISSILE LOCK T THROW: № | ® FUTILE FLAPPING CANNONBALL PRAYER ENTERING TRANSPORT FLARE GRENADE DO NOT THROW: SHOE SPITBALL TANTRUM OUT OF AMMO LTE? (©) Reavy (2) Lean (3) вемо (4) kiss ass GOODBYE „ IF YOU CANNOT PERFORM THESE FUNCTIONS, PROCEED DIRECTLY ATTENTION: TO TRIBES.SIERRA.COM FOR A TRIBES VIDEO FEATURING “DOWNFALL.” * DON'T FLY ALONE. PLAY WITH UP ТО 16 PEOPLE OVER wd PlayStation. MODEM OR BROADBAND USING SONY’S NETWORK А [| ADAPTER. SHARE THE PAIN. LA Pee * JETPACKS LET YOU TAKE THE CARNAGE AIRBORNE. THE FORECAST CALLS FOR RAIN—OF BLOOD. * CATCH BIG AIR—AND CATCH THEM UNAWARE— WITH EXTREME SKIING, JETPACK-STYLE. " САМТ GET IT UP WITH YOUR JETPACK? JUMP IN A FIGHTER, BOMBER, ARMED TRANSPORT OR GRAVBIKE. * Exclusively for the PlayStation*2 PlayS tation. computer entertainment system. їз ise, da This month's hard-rocking (and mopey as hell, mostly) lineup comes to you courtesy of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, and EA's new EA Trax label. Bush: Golden State Оп one hand: Bush has a history of sounding like better bands, and for the last couple of albums, that band has been Radiohead, circa The Bends. Gavin Rossdale, bless his pretty little heart, isn't so good with those abstract conceptualized lyrics, which come out more Simon LeBon than Thom York. On the other hand, the rest of Bush seems to remember its job is to churn out jagged-but-hook-filled slabs of rock, and they drag Rossdale back to the land of tuneful. End result: Golden State is the triumph of musical competence over musical ambition. Final Score өөө 4 oe Roo ge { Course of Nature: Superkala More of the mopey stuff, but Course of Nature seem to have upped the classic 805 metal portion of their guitar DNA to a high enough level that by comparison they occasionally sound a bit more fresh than some of their contemporaries. Emphasis on "occasionally": Songs like "Gain" and "Someone Else to You” still seem like they were constructed out of Legos made of Alice in Chains, Staind, and POD, clopped on top of each other with a moderate level of skill, although with no real enthusiasm. But a stale sort of freshness is better than none at all. Final Score @@@ Rush: Vapor Trails Now, here's a band with something to actually feel bad about—drummer and lyricist Neil Peart lost his wife and daughter within the same year— but Vapor Trails goes through its paces with an admirable sense of ener- gy and even optimism. The album's title track glancingly essays the transitory nature of life, and follows it up with the thumping “Secret Touch" that admits that "There is never love without pain," but also "Life is the power the remains." Rush fans will be thrilled—dude, it's Rush!— but I'm personally enjoying it for its near-defiant sense of vitality. [occ Final Score 00 John Scalzi remembers listening to Rush's "Tom Sawyer" while playing the Tempest arcade game. And dude, he totally had the high score on the machine! Visit his www. hottest indie bands in the history of the world. How can you not go? com site for reviews of the = (72) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | Ld Rem, } 7 | ж madden NFL 2003 | @ NFL 2кз = "= Bookmarks www.gamers.com It's not just console games. Heck, it's not even just video games. It's a carefully crafted meta-site packed full of news, previews, reviews and creamy nougat. Stay for a night or stay forever. www.futurehorizons.net This month we have a couple of themes permeating Bookmarks. One appears to be “The Future Is Now—Or Nearly So.” Here's a good jumping-off point to explore all those technologies you always thought were only science fic- tion—including a hoverboard a la Back to the Future И. www.lecielestbleu.com And here's the other theme: Flash and Shockwave, and what it can do for you. (More specifically, how it can wile away those long hours at the office or the computer lab.) LCEB is an absolutely extraordi- nary site which appears to focus on logarithmic animation. The puppetry tool you see here is pret- ty hardcore, but there are also tons of wacky games and time wasters. Don't miss the Eye (“Oeil”) section. Creepy! joysticknation.com/mixer This site seems a bit old, so we're not really sure if they're still mak- ing this. But if they are, we want one: It’s basically an isolation booth for gaming. For $75k you too can own your own private retreat, complete with surround sound and PS2. The question is, where the are you going to hang the thing? Especially considering it has room for two. Wink, wink. “JUFOOTBALL ROUNDUP ETREADY: FOR THE 2002 SEASON! № NFL Fever 2003 *& NCAA Football 2003 www.solotrek.com Have we mentioned that The Future Is Now—Or Nearly So? We did? Well, we'll mention it again, for all of you who've ever wanted your own personal jetpack. customviewmaster.com You can have your own images put into a ViewMaster reel! Who needs PowerPoint presentations? www.vectorlounge.com Buried in this site is another bizarre Shockwave puppetry device—this one with human skeletons as the puppets. Not ter- ribly functional, but when you grab а handle and drag the poor sap across the screen, allowing him to bounce back to center, it's per- versely entertaining. www.hubblesite.org ОК, so maybe Hubble wasn't so great back in the day. When NASA sent the thing up, it turned out to be ridiculously nearsighted. But after a particularly large set of bifocals, the Hubble Space Telescope is running at optimum efficiency. Check out the results of its deep-space investigations at this site. You can even get way- cool wallpaper for your PC. www.habbohotel.com We're starting to think Shockwave is going to become the gaming medium of the future. Even though Habbo isn't a game, per se—more of an online lounge environment. But it sure as heck beats AIM chatrooms for meeting people. At least there's a sem- blance of social behavior here... al WHAT ALIENS HANE. TGHTMARES ABOUT ... | | DEFENDER T i: "SAVING THE HUNAN Game preview at www.defender.midway.com Defender © 2002 Midway Amusement Games, LLC. All Rights Reserved. DEFENDER, MIDWAY and the Midway logos are registered trademarks of Midway Amusement Games, LLC. Used by permission. Developed by California Seven Studios, Inc. Distributed under license by Midway Home Entertainment Inc. ™, ®, Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. "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. JD MIDWAY TEEN AJ PlayStation. X © GAME BOY ADVANCE ® GAMECUBE. CONTENT RATED BY ESRB ВЕАЏТУ 8, ТНЕ ВЕА5Т: PLATINUM SE (Robby Benson, Jerry Orbach) This is, hands-down, the best animated film of the last 40 years, and any of you Princess Mononoke fans who dare to disagree know which part of my anatomy you can pucker up to. It was significant in itself—great story and pacing, wonderful music, and production quality that signaled the return to the sort of lush, cinematic animation that the medium had not seen since the days of Sleeping Beauty—and it was also significant in that it was the first animated film to to be nominat- ed for a Best Picture Oscar. In short, the film put animation back on the map. This two- disc DVD offers the film in three versions: The original release, a special edition that includes new animation and an additional song, and a “work-in-progress” that Disney originally presented at the New York Film Festival. This, plus commentary, games and a second DVD stuffed with making-of fea- tures that animation geeks will salivate over. Movie Score DVD Extras Score THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF (Monica ња Samuel Le Bihan) Avery silly film that jams together the French aristocracy, werewolves and Hong Kong-style action scenes—but, you know, why not jam away just to see what happens? It probably won't be necessary to do it again, but in the grand scheme of Things That Only Get Done Once, this is kind of cool. And if you work on the premise that everyone on the flick was suffering from oxygen deprivation while making it, it even makes a twisted bit of sense. Oh, and it's in French. You decide if turning on the subtitles makes it better or not. Extras: Deleted scenes. Movie Score 666 DVD Extras Score 64 ET. 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore) It's a masterwork, there's no denying it, but one of monumentally manipulative propor- tions—as you get older you become aware just how deftly Spielberg was yanking on heartstrings. This version is the 2002 theatri- cal update, which adds a few scenes and dig- Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine THE SCORPION KING: SE A surprisingly genial cheesefest that never quite explains what a Samoan dude [Rock], а Chinese babe (Hu) and a British bad guy (Steven Brand) are doing prancing about the Fertile Crescent 5,000 years ago. Hey, you want archeology, go watch them Indiana Jones flicks! The Rock acquits himself pretty well—he's a better actor in this than Ah-nold was in the first Conan film—and everybody else involved understands the concept that too much thinking would just spoil the fun. Turn your brain down to “simmer” and enjoy. The Rock offers commentary, and there's also an extended version of the film on the disc, along with the usual making-of bits, and a preview of The Rock's next flick, Hamlet. | kid! The Rock, Kelly Hu Movie Score 606 DVD Extras Score 000 | kid! It's actually called Helldorado. Hey, they both start with "Н." itally removes guns from the film, but this is minor cosmetic work. The film is still intact in all its glory, and you'll probably fall for it all, all over again. | did. DVD extras do not feature commentary from Spielberg, which is unforgivable, but offers а cast reunion feature, production informa- tion and games for the kids. Movie Score DVD Extras Score 9004 HIGH NOON: 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly) This isn’t just a Western; many film buffs see it as a metaphor for the cowardice showed by the film industry during the McCarthy hearings and the Hollywood “blacklist” (the film's screenwriter was one of those blacklisted, in fact). Gary Cooper is the sheriff whose arch enemy is a-comin’ to shoot him down and who can't get any of the townsfolk to help him out; Grace Kelly is his bride who has to decide between her pacifist beliefs and standing by her man. The DVD features a commen- tary track with relatives of the filmmak- ers, a Leonard Maltin piece and a never- before-seen documentary. Movie Score DVD Extras Score 6 6 64 INSOMNIA: SE (А! Pacino, Robin Williams) Al Pacino is a cop whose life is imploding; Robin Williams is the murderer he's trying to catch. When the two meet in Alaska, it doesn't go the way either of them expect. Telling any more would ruin the fun of this film—directed by Chris Nolan, the guy who put together Memento, so you know that you're going to have more than a few twists and turns along the way. Just enjoy the ride, and the performances by Pacino, Williams and co-star Hillary Swank. Swank and Nolan show up on commen- tary tracks, and Nolan conducts an inter- view with Pacino for the DVD extras. There are also deleted scenes, production mate- rial and a documentary on insomnia (the actual ailment). Movie Score @ DVD Extras Score 6664 UPCOMING DVD RELEASES Oct. 1, 2002 The Road Warrior The Scorpion King Stephen King's Cat's Eye Oct. 8, 2002 Jason Goes to Hell Jason X Saturday Night Fever Stephen King's It Urban Cowboy Oct. 15, 2002 Oct. 29, 2002 Beauty and the Beast Insomnia Enough ЕТ: JAMES BOND COLLECTION #1 (Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan) This collection features seven of the Bond films, featuring the good (Goldfinger), the bad (Licence to Kill) and the cheesy (The Spy Who Loved Ме). Each of these DVDs comes with various extras, usually includ- ing director commentary and some mak- ing-of features. Each of the DVDs in this boxed set is also available individually, but | can't imagine that the sort of person who buys one Bond film isn't going to buy all the rest, so you might as well get the whole darn set and settle down for a Bond marathon with your vodka marti- nis—shaken, not stirred. Movie Score 0004 DVD Extras Score 000 JASON X: SE (Kane Hodder, Lexa Doig) Jason's in the 25th Century, hacking and slashing his way through teens as if to atone for the fact that his previous attempts to cull the young and stupid from the gene pool had failed, since the teens of the future are still doing all the stupid things that got their predecessors killed hundreds of years before. The movie is complete and utter crap, but there is one truly excellent reason to get the DVD: It comes with a "jump-to-a- death" menu feature [choose "Random Kill" or "Kill АЦ") which lets you dispense with all the pointless exposition (such as it is) and go right to the culling. Now, that's what DVDs are for! Movie Score @ DVD Extras Score @ Law & Order: Season 1 Windtalkers Oct. 22, 2002 Mr. Deeds Baretta: Season 1 The Best of Baretta Eight Legged Freaks Malcolm in the Middle: Season 1 The Santa Clause The Sum of All Fears STRANGE BREW (Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas) Leave it to а couple of Canadians to do a drug comedy where the drug is beer. This film is an artifact of a [very] brief moment in which it was cool to wear a toque and say "eh?" south of the 54th parallel. Strange Brew shows why it didn't last: Two dumpy white guys act like a drunken Cheech & Chong and try to save the world from mind-controlling beer. It's amusing, in a cult-humor sort of way, but better еп you're full of Molsen, Tim Horton yo crullers and about six pounds of back bacon. The movie also comes with "Great White North" skits from SCTV, which are pretty funny, no matter your sobriety. Movie Score 6 6 DVD Extras Score 6 64 WINDTALKERS (Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach) Sooner or later, John Woo's whacked out blend of action and melodrama was going to catch up to him, and this is where it happened. Fans of Woo-flavored action have no beef here: The bullets fly like insects and people [mostly the Japanese, because this is а WWII flick) die in droves. It's the usual bloody Woo ballet. But then there's the story line—about a white offi- cer (Cage) assigned to protect a Navajo code-talker [Beach]—and that's more mush than most people were willing to put up with. Still, if it's action you want, this is veritable buffet of bullets. Dig in. No DVD extras. Movie Score 6 6€ DVD Extras Score N/A ү. I'm Never Gonna Dance Again IN STEP WITH THE "805: FOOTLOOSE AND FLASHDANCE Footloose and Flashdance are hitting the DVD shelves this month, and for those of us of a certain age, watching either one is like crack- ing open the high school yearbook and wish- ing that someone could have come from the future to warn us that leg warmers and Members Only jackets were a bad way to go. Although they were big hits in their day, nei- ther of these films has aged well—"dorky" is probably the best way to describe them both. Mind you, Footloose was never actually cool, merely popular—not unlike a Rubik's Cube. Even at the time, the music from the film Caused even moderately musically hip teens ‘severe pain: There's only so much delusion that would allow one to think Kenny Loggins was speaking to the youth of the ‘80s. But Footloose's entire secret was that it was a ‘50s movie in ‘80s time, with a fresh-scrubbed young rebel (Kevin Bacon) who just wanted to dance and listen to rock and roll, but moved to a town where the constitutional right for free expression was overruled by John Lithgow. In that context—the context that understood that 30 years earlier, Pat Boone would have been in the Kevin Bacon role—Kenny Loggins no doubt seemed fresh and hip. But outside of the girls who had a thing for Kevin Bacon (hey, it hap- pened, once) and the guys who were going out with them, this one was an eye-roller then, and More so now. Not so with Flashdance, which some believed to actually be steamy and hip, although much of that had to do with the scene where Jennifer Beals' body (or more accurately, the body of her dance double, Marine Jahan) was liberally doused from a bucket of water. Flashdance's story was even more tissue-thin than Footloose's (Beals was a Pittsburgh welder by day, exotic dancer by night, and dreamed of going to classical dance school) and to be honest, it's more notable as the launching pad of director Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction, Indecent Proposal), writer Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct, Footloose Street Date: 10/8/2002 MSRP $24.99 Showgirls) and produc- 9 ers Jerry Bruckheimer Ул and Ооп Simpson (too flash 2 many bad, loud action г 4 films to count) than it is for its own qualities. These guys took the ele- ments of that made Flashdance "work"— gauzy eroticism, catchy but bad music, slimmed-down plotting—and made entire Careers out of them. Flashdance is merely a proof-of-concept for the formula. Neither Footloose nor Flashdance comes with DVD extras. Gag me with a spoon. MSRP 52199. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (2 photo by Henry Diltz TO SURVIVE, YOU MUST TO SAVE HUMANKIND, YOU CHANGE INTO A WARRIOR. MUST CHANGE INTO A HERO. www.robotechgame.com Reserved. Videogame © 2002 ТОК Mediactive, Inc. АН Rights Reserved. PUBLISHED AND DISTRIBUTED BY TOK MEDIACTIVE, INC. Developed by Vicious Cycle Software, Inc. Some elements © 2002 Vicious Cycle Software, Inc Licensed by Nintendo. TM, © and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo. 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 Vicious 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 ты (S Microsoft. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. ©» © 1985-2002, Harmony Gold USA, Inc. АН Rights Reserved. ROBOTECH and associated names, logos and all related indicia are trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc. All Rights CHANGE OR DIE. VAILABLE FALL Е OSS ЗАСА” FOR GAME BOY: улс. TEEN ‘CONTENT RATED BY | ж з P N^ и s обој йшй Sum oue, КОЕ ИЛЕШЕ ЕЛ Зи SY > GE ie và "шхо әле ајр {04:20020 ә. aw ado flog ЈО Hope [m p Жм» pry 5 > 5 B А Ф Е E E El > са! 1-800-771-3772 for Rating Information Sütvivi sault. Easy. V Getti into a hot tub... 4 nud SPIN TV SHOW NEWS THE DEAD ZONE RETURNS Nicole deBoer, co-star of The Dead Zone, recently spoke about the show’s season-one finale as well as the course of things to come in season two. And, yes, the show has defi- nitely been picked-up for a second year. The lovely Ms. deBoer (whom you probably enjoyed in 059, too) said that this sea- son’s finale will take aspects from the original Stephen King story and will continue them as a major plot thread next year. “They introduce the charac- ter of Greg Stillson in the last episode of the first season,” she said in a recent interview. “He’s the politician who ends up being the evil guy in the book, who’s basically Johnny’s nemesis, and they met back when they were children. Sean Patrick Flanery [who played Indiana Jones in Adventures of Young Indiana Jones] plays him, and he’s really, really good. So they’re just starting to introduce that now." 24, ERM...2 Although things are extremely quiet on the subject in the Fox camp, it now seems confirmed that the second “day” of 24 will take place a year after the events of the first season. Elisha Cuthbert (who plays Jack's daughter Kim) said in a BLADE III TO FEATURE OTHER MARVEL CHARACTERS David Goyer, writer of the Blade III story, tola) p Comics2Film that'Marvel Comics4ikes his initial " story concept; “if thing et Who he is ?* even after looking him up ^ on IMDB) was being considereg,to helm the third installment of the vampire franchise. ^| met with Oliver, liked his work, andwe discussed the film a bit,” Goyer said. “But it's no more than that at the moment." т WANT MORE OF TNT'S WITCHBLADE? Sign the petition for a third Witchblade season at, ini Hopefully you remembered to TiVo the premiera Айде оп Septi 29, Ww. “Andi think hes ragile and vultiérable this season, j im be, and so it's very сот: $ what's ging on for him.” In parti “lar, 5 appearance affects Jack's budding 3 relationship his estranged daughte "It's causing a great deal of tension, апа” i there's a sort of sense [of], | guess the word Ny is competition, of trying to...keep her, protec „ЈА [her] and continue building up the trust that . he has established,” Garber said. Alias co-star Kevin Weisman, who.plays gadget-geek Marshall, told Sci Fi Wireto , expect more spy toys, more Marshall action = and more guest stars. In an interview at the, ABC Primetime Preview Weekend at Disney's California Adventure theme park, Weisman ‘revealed that David Bowie may make an appearance on the show next year, list of guests from last season that included Quentin Tarantino. With me, there's a lot more weapons and gadgets," Weisman added. "And [creator] 4 Abrams has promised me that | will be ventur- ing out on a mission this year, so watch out for some Marshall ass-kicking, or for Marshall getting his ass kicked, Which is probably mores». of a likely scenario. However, I’m looking for- „ди recent interview her character Kim has “made a big leap from 17-year-old to an 18-year-old.” We're not geniuses at math, but if what she says is true, the timing of the new show seems fairly obvious. NOT JUST VIDEO GAMES! It’s not just games that get the conservatives fired up. Buffy The Vampire Slayer is “the most immoral show on TV,” according to right-wing group Parents Television Council (www.parentstv.org). The reactionary pressure group claims that last year Buffy “became more graphic in its depictions of violence and sex.” (Which was exactly what ие liked about it!) The organiza- tion also criticized Friends for its apparently obscene “depic- tion of promiscuous lifestyles,” and Will and Grace was slammed for its depiction of a gay man and his straight female best friend. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine _ward to that.” ^ SPIDER-MAN 2 Spider-Man 2 scribes Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (who also created Smallville) told Wizard recently that director Sam Raimi wants to see.changes in hero Peter Parker 3 (Tobey Maguire). "We can't really talk too much about the story—because the X-Men will be sent out to kill us—but you will see Peter grow and evolve," Gough said. “That's really the story Sam wants to tell. You'll ve him grow as a person, a superhero and inal his relationships.” DVD NEWS SCORPION KING Oct. 1 sees The Rock bringing home what the Scorpion King is cook...oh we can’t keep that up. Three versions of the Mummy prequel hit at the same time: “normal,” “widescreen” and “rip-off limited edition.” likes to watch really awful movies for the hell of it, Oct. 8 should prove to be a wonderful day for you. J.Lo's dis- tinctly average Enough and the truly awful Jason X are both in stores. ONE WEEK LATER... A MUCH BETTER SELECTION Oct. 15 is much better. The weird interpretation of Little Red Riding HORRIBLE MOVIE DAY If you’re one of those people who Hood that is The Company of Wolves hits stores along with two versions of Insomnia as well as Nicolas Cage's gruesome Windtalkers. YES AND NO Endless versions of £.T. The Extra Terrestrial arrive on Oct. 22, along with the highly anticipated and much- lauded (well, actually not) Mr. Deeds. SPIDEY SENSE TINGLING? On Nov. 1, only one movie worth thinking about is out: Spider-Man! NATIONAL GEEK DAY Beware the streets on Nov. 12, for they will be crawling with geeks, all in search of the super-duper-über- dork version of Fellowship of the Ring and Star Wars: Episode Il. bu PlayStation. FEE > w L á i d $ LUE 1-800-771-3772 | : tombraider.com 1 = for more info. í ү „а 10 СНАВТ5 Р52 Тор 10 Call it the calm before the storm. With the holidays nearing and the online launch a roaring success, look for the next batch of big hits soon to dominate this chart. Our guess? GTA: Vice City will grab the top spot, with challengers like Slyand SOCOM lingering just below. Last Title / Month Publisher 1 E NCAA Football 2003 EA Sports Now that the fall semester is well under way, it's more than apparent by the sales of NCAA Football 2003 that a lot of work isn't getting done. Instead of reading Chaucer or studying the fun- damental theorem of calculus, students are spending their free time locked in dorm rooms trying to bring the national champi- onship to Kent State (ог actually succeeding at it with Texas, Florida State or Tennessee). And with the game's great depth—not to mention its stellar gameplay—we certainly don't blame them. Rating ее cree Grand Theft Auto III Rockstar #0000 Medal of Honor: Frontline ® EA Games Stuntman өөө 4 7 Atari Loved the idea. Hated the execution. “Hardcore” or not, sometimes a game is too darn difficult for its own good. Apparently, some of you like а challenge, though, as Stuntman is currently crashing the charts. 5 6 - 3 Gran Turismo 3: A-spec © Sony CEA MLB Slugfest 20-03 Midway Midnight Club Rockstar Spider-Man Activision 8 4 9 8 ATV Offroad Fury Sony CEA Source: NPDFunworld TRSTS Service, July 2002. Call them at 516.625.6190 for questions about this list. No games for competing console systems le.g., Xbox, GameCube) were included. Overall sales figures may vary. Game descriptions written by the OPM staff Res. Evil-Code: Veronica X | eeeeq« Capcom Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine OPM's Most Wanted PS2 Games N GTA: Vice City Rockstar Shinobi Sega Devil May Cry 2 Capcom Contra Konami War of the Monsters ^ Sony СЕА Rygar Tecmo Ratchet & Clank Sony CEA LOTR: Two Towers EA Games Suikoden Ill Konami The Sims EA Games Japan's Top 10 PS2 Games Gundam: Lost War Chr. Bandai Auto Modellista Capcom Project Minerva D3 Jojo's Bizarre Adv. Сарсот Ape Escape 2 Sony Suikoden III Konami My Summer 2 Sony Kamaitachi 2 Chun Soft RPG Maker 5 Enterbrain -hack//INFECTION Bandai ПИ Маддеп 2003 (PS2) ^ EA Sports 2 | Stuntman (PS2} Atari ВуоивесНооро (Р52) ^ Activision 4 | Mat Hoffman 2 (PS2] Activision МОН: Frontline (PS2) EA Games 6 | NFL Blitz 20-03 (PS2) Midway miesat Rights (Xbox) Namco 8 | NCAA Foot. 2003 (PS2) EA Sports IO NFL 2Кз (PS2) Sega Sports 10! Test Drive (PS2) Atari [SouRcE: BLOCKBUSTER, WEEK оғ AUG. 25, 2002] Top 10-Selling Games, All Systems "EI NCAA Foot. 2003 (PS2] EA Sports 2 | СТАЗ (PS2) Rockstar Bi MOH Frontline (PS2) EA Games 4 | Stuntman (Р52) Atari Б GranTurismo 3 (PS2) Sony CEA 6 | Slugfest 20-03 (PS2) Midway NO BAWZ Goku (GBA) Infogrames 8 | Sup. Mario Adv. 2 (GBA) Nintendo ЭМ: Oh: D. Duel (GBC) Konami 10} Halo (Xbox) Microsoft PSone Top 10 While Yu-Gi-Oh maintains its Svengali-like hold on PSone gamers, and old standbys continue to pepper the charts, a few true-blue new games have quietly popped up. We like it as a sign of the PSone's staying power. You can't keep a good console down! Last Title / Month Publisher Rating Forbidden Memories OK, look—this isn't fair. We're running out of cleverly dismissive things to say або! igi and his card-carrying pals, We didn't like the game, we don't get the whole Yu-Gi-Oh phenomenon...we're just stumped here. So instead of trying to be funny, we'll explain that "Svengali" reference in the above paragraph. Svengali was a villainous hypnotist in George du Maurier's classic novel Trilby. His name has since entered the popular lexicon to refer to some- one who tries to persuade others to do his evil bidding. So there. 3 Digimon World 3 Bandai Spider-Man. Activision Gran Turismo 2 ТТХ] Sony СЕА 5 SpongeBob SquarePants өө | THQ 6 — Stuart Little 2 ел Sony СЕА Driver 2 Atari 7 Spyro: Year of the Dragon Sony CEA Hey, kids—if you don’t already have them and you're looking for some primo platformers, why not try the new Spyro Collector's Edition, which includes this game along with its two prequels? 2 3 4“ 5 9 Gundam: Battle Assault 2 Bandai 10 — . MLB 2003 [IIIJ Sony CEA Source: NPDFunworld TRSTS Service, July 2002. Call them at 516.625.6190 for questions about this list. No games for competing console systems (е... Xbox, GameCube] were included. Overall sales ligures may vary. Game descriptions written by the OPM staff Enter Champs Sports All-Star бате Sweepstakes. Visit your local Champs Sports store of log on to champssports.com snark, Copyrighted designs, and/or other orms of intellectual р ees or d t Aon ез ae ether тарана v TU ии о of Рио ico ond al US. ter received. aon ‘where prohibited. РОКС Б cl V. Ber ВЫ CITY IN FLAMES: A distant shot of Sopot City, capital of the Commonwealth, where a conflict between the Red Faction rebels and the Dictatorship Government has resulted in mass destruction. ee EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS f Р GEO-MOD TECHNOLOGY: Red Faction troops circumvent a heavily guarded front gate by creating an entrance of their own in Sopot's military compound. RED-ERnC'TI COMMONWEALTH COUP The Red Faction is using their entire arsenal in the latest attempt to overthrow FROM THE AIR The Red Faction customized Aesir is a maneuverable air assault vehicle equipped with optical zoom which allows for precise hits on enemy targets. Aesir Fighter 2.0 то eS istered trademarks of THO Inc. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment пс. Drop Point 5:37am Troops assemble at the Sopot Harbor. Geo-Mod "Technology, Volition, THO and their respective logos ar Е RED FACTION 8 CIVILIAN UPRISING " E After Sopot's forces withdrew from the main city, several 8 Red Faction rebels raided Harbor Island and desecrated WWI Ф © the symbolic statue of the dictator. an P ч MATURE S Blood and Gore OD Violence For more up-to-the-minute coverage of the conflict, go to www.redfaction2.com BREAKDOWN D’ETAT the Dictator Sopot. Public Information Building 6:05am Commonwealth Elite Guards attempt to fend off the attacking Faction soldiers. 9 CMRD-32 MAGNETIC RAIL D Fires metal slugs that go through just about any ba targeting scope makes this weapon extremely асси The Slums 6:22am Rebel soldiers continue to fight despite rumors of growing animosity between Faction leaders. - N.LC.W. - NANOTECH INDIVIDUAL COMBI pable of delivering automatic armor-piercing rounds as well as I Lu e. № CAR-72 MILITARY ASSAULT RIFLE A fully-automatic, high-powered rifle in a lightweight compact frame. : volition www.thq.com PlayStation.e PREVIEWS Previewed Inside Amazing Sea-Monkeys (50130 ATV Offroad Fury. 132 Auto Modellista BloodRayne .. ВМХ ХХХ... Breath of Fire V Burnout 2. Colin McRa Contra: Shattered Soldier ...96 Crank the Weasel Def Jam Wrestling 114 Devil May Cry 2 92 Dr. Muto... 146 D&D: Heroes 146 Evolution Skateboarding....132 Evolution Snowboarding ....132 FIFA Soccer 2003 Freestyle: меш id g foyers” 102 112 меа (а Kombat МАЗСАК.... 102 Powerpuff Giris: Pro Race Driver .. RAD: Robot Alchemic Drive. M Ratchet & Clank 146 Red Dead Revolv Rescue Copter.. Tony Hawk 4 (PS1) . Treasure Planet... Treasure Planet (PSi) War of the Monsters.. Whiteout.. Wreckless WWE SmackDown! SY Coming Soon DEVIL MAY CRY 2 Even cooler than before? Quite possibly! "Since this is the sequel, we had to make it twice as good as the original in every sense," says Tsuyoshi Tanaka, producer of Devil May Cry 2, due out this January. "And that includes having twice as much action." He's not kidding. Dante's new moves will totally blow you away. He can now run up walls, backflip off of them, shoot enemies over his shoulder, and even perform flying air kicks. It's way more wild than before, as Dante remains airborne a good while longer this time. Even his regu- lar sword attacks have been beefed up with flashier effects. "There are just a lot more ways to have fun with this one," boasts Tanaka. So, how do you make room for all this action? Widen the environments, of course. "The levels are easily nine times the level size of the original in terms of width," says Tanaka. This time around, you're treated to lots more open areas, ranging from city streets and rooftops to ancient ruins. Locations often have multiple paths and fewer objectives that require backtracking. "One thing | didn't like in the original was that you'd have to run from one area all the way back to another just to accomplish a task—that's something | didn't want this time around." Believe it or not, Devil 2 actually looks considerably better than the original. "We managed to double the resolution of the game," explains Tanaka. "We also used a special technique to make the characters look a lot better." The camera is also less obtrusive now, pulling in and out depending where you are. "One of the problems with the original was that, even though you were doing all of these cool moves, a lot of times you couldn't really see them due to the camera. Not anymore." You'll also notice that Devil 2 features a second playable character named Lucia. "What we were originally thinking was that Dante could be this 007-type guy who could meet a new girl in each game, but since people were disappointed that they couldn't play as Trish in the original, we decided to make Lucia playable." Thankfully, she's just as badass as Dante. Perhaps even more so. PLAYSTATION 2 October hack//INFECTION Bandai RPG BloodRayne Majesco Action Burnout 2:Point/Impact Acclaim Racing Disney Golf EA Sports Dragons Lair 30 Encore Action ЕТ: Return/Green Planet NewKidCo Action Evil Twin Ubi Soft ^ Action Evolution Skateboarding Konami X-Sports Freaky Flyers Midway Racing Grand Theft Auto: VC Rockstar Action Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Eidos Adv. Hot Wheels: Velocity X THQ Racing Legaia 2: Duel Saga Fresh Games RPG Legends of Wrestling П Acclaim Wrestling The Lost Crave Adv. Malice Sierra Action Metropolismania Natsume Sim Moto-X Konami Action NBA 2КЗ Sega Sports NBA Live 2003 EASports Sports NBA Starting Five Konami Sports Need for Speed: HP2 ЕА батеѕ Action NHL 2003 EA Sports Sports NHL 2K3 Sega Sports Pro Race Driver Codemasters Racing RLH: Run Like Hell Interplay Action Rugrats: Royal Ransom THQ Action Silent Scope 3 Konami Shooter Simpsons Skateboarding EA Games X-Sports Sub Rebellion Metro3D Action TimeSplitters 2 Eidos FPS Tribes: Aerial Assault — Sierra FPS Ty the Tasmanian Tiger ЕА Games Action Vexx Acclaim Action Virtua Cop 1&2 Sega Light Gun X-Men: Next Dimension Activision Fighting November Activison Anthology Activision Collection Auto Modellista Capcom Racing ATV Offroad Fury 2 Sony CEA Racing Batman: Dark Tomorrow Kemco Action BattleBots THQ Fighting BMX XXX Acclaim X-Sports Cabela's Big Game HunterActivision Hunting Chess Master’ Ubi Soft Board Colin McRae Rally 3 Codemasters Racing Contra: Shattered Soldier Konami Action Defender Midway Action DDRMAX: Dance Rev. — Konami Rhythm Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Disney's PK: Shadows Ubi Soft Action Drome Racers EA/Lego Racing Evolution Snowboarding Konami X-Sports FIFA Soccer 2003 ЕА Sports Sports Fighter Maker 2 Agetec Fighting Frogger Realms Konami Action Harry Potter: Chamber ЕА батеѕ Action Haven: Call of the King Midway Action James Bond: NightFire ЕА батеѕ FPS J. Camerons Dark Angel Sierra Action Jeopardy! Infogrames Тима Lego Island Xtreme StuntsEA/Lego X-Sports Lord of Rings: Fellowship Universal Action Lord of Rings: Two Towers ЕА Games Action Mace Griffon: BH Crave Action Minority Report Activision Action Monopoly Party Infogrames Board Mortal Kombat: DA. Midway Fighting NASCAR Infogrames Racing Powerpuff Girls: Relish Ват! Action Pride FC THQ Fighting RAD: Robot Alchemic Dr. Enix Action Rally Fusion: ROC Activision — Racing Ratchet & Clank Sony CEA Action Rayman Arena Ubi Soft ^ Racing Red Faction IT THQ FPS Reign of Fire. Bam! Action Risk Infogrames Board Rocky Ubi Soft ^ Sports Rygar: Legendary Adv. Тесто Action Shinobi Sega Action Shrek: Super Party TOK Party The Sims EAGames Эт SpongeBob Squarepants THQ Action Star Wars: Bounty Hunter LucasArts Action Star Wars: Clone Wars LucasArts Action The Sum of All Fears Ubi Soft АМ Suikoden Ш Konami RPG Super Bust-A-Move 2 Ubi Soft Puzzle Tiger Woods PGA 2003 ЕА Sports Sports PS ONE October Austin Powers Pinball Gotham Pinball NBA Live 2003 EA Sports — Sports Shrek: Treasure Hunt ТОК Action November FIFA Soccer 2003 EA Sports Sports Harry Potter: Chamber EA Games Action T. Hawk’ Pro Skater 4 Activision X-Sports Treasure Planet Sony CEA Action Running along walls is just one of Dante's kitler new moves. The second playable character in Devil 2is Lucia, a devil hunter and the protector to a town. She fights with two small swords and martial arts, and is generally better at close combat. You can choose which character to play as at the start of the game, though you can save and contin- ue with the other. At one point in the game, Lucia meets Dante and persuades him to go to her town. "She's one of the mysteries of the game," says Tanaka. "As you play through, you'll find out her relationship with Dante." Did You Know? Dante's trademark "juggle' attacks came as the result of an Onimusha bug where an enemy the air and was repeat- The Devil team loved it and turned it into a feature. We can only imagine the witty taunts Dante has in store for the bosses in Devil 2. But can anything top the original's classic, “Flock off, fedther face! 2 Onty-tirte will tell! “ You want.vast, more wide-open'environ- Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine PREVIEWS SHOX Rally gets the Big treatment While previous EA Sports Big games have been very much about personality and character interaction, Shox breaks from the mold and simply provides us with an incredibly arcadey rally game. There are no white guys with afros, no sassy chicks with attitude, just 24 cars licensed from Audi, BMW, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Lancia and Ford, plus some kick-ass tracks. As with all other Big titles, the gameplay does have a bit of an edge over more traditional rally games. Due to the tight design of the tracks, the pack always stays close together, and there are Dmph = „Ай З challenges throughout the race that encourage you to be as crazy КАНТ 7) as possible as you enter “Shox Zones” that time you between way- = points. There's also the option to “race for pinks” and gamble your car away. Look for Shox in November. Whiteout With all the snowboarding and skateboarding and thisboarding and that- boarding, you'd think a nice snowmobile racing game would make the little gaming boys and girls sing and dance. It seems that Sled Storm already made that happen, though, and with Konami's Whiteout you're getting more of the same—only this game features really bad character models. Luckily, the nine environments are way pretty. It also features a guy named Tucker Hibbard. Which makes us laugh. Watch cutscenes like this between each race. Pro Race Driver Codemasters’ Pro Race Driver takes a different approach to tradition racing games by placing a heavy emphasis on story. After viewing his father's horrible death in an accident on the pro racing circuit, Ryan McKae made it his mission in life to do his dad proud and follow in his footsteps. Select between several leagues to join and experience NASCAR-style racing as you lead Ryan to greatness across 30 tracks. The game's great controls should satisfy all genre fans this November. 94) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine ГИ ЕИ SME РГ NIRS Я Savage World So Real... You'll smell the smoke of war-torn cities and burning jungles ШШШ TURIK CIM See the flaming battlefields below from the saddle of a fully armed. high flying Pterosaur And taste the white-hot stench of a detonated Baby Пике. Turok is back for the kill Blood and Gore Violence @ : н GAMEBOYADVANCE — ninrenno X E PlayStation.2 4ZAXlaim GAMECUBE. расар ‘CONTENT RATED BY ESRB TUROK™: EVOLUTION" TM & © 2002 ACCLAIM ENTERTAINMENT, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ТИВОК: TM & © 2002, CLASSIC MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL OTHER CHARACTERS HEREIN AND THE DISTINCT LIKENESSES THEREOF ARE TRADEMARKS ОР ACCLAIM COMICS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DEVELOPED BY ACCLAIM STUDIOS AUSTIN. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo aro registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox Logos are either registered trademarks or trade- Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. andor in other countries and are used under license кот Microsoft. TM, ® and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. Game Boy and Game Boy Advance are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo, Screens shown were from the Xbox version af the video game. PREVIEWS CONTRA: EVIE SHATTERED SOLDIER The big, bad bosses Anyone who knows Konami's Contra games also knows they're all about the bosses. Shattered Soldier continues the tradition with some of the biggest meanies yet. Each brought to life with incredible graphics, their unique [often grotesque] attacks fill the screen with cool effects. Most of the bosses we've run into have been on the tough side, but that doesn't mean you can't defeat them all in due time. Similar to the previous Contra games, it often takes some patience to learn all of the intricacies of these bosses and how to best defeat them. Thankfully, the new Hit Rate meter often clues you in on which weapons to use on a certain boss so as to take them out in the quickest time possible. Below are some of the bigger guys we haven't yet shown to you in previous issues. Some tend to be very mechanical in nature (such as a massive liquid metal head that shoots lasers] and some are quite organic, shooting puss everywhere when shot. Blast away at these baddies in November. Powerpuff Girls: Relish Rampage It seems a little odd that a game aimed mostly at kids comes straight from Viz, developer of the controversial State of Emergency, but that's the case with Bam!'s first PS2 Powerpuff Girls title. Despite Relish Rampage's cel-shaded graphics that render it nearly indistinguishable from the cartoon, we're pretty sure it actually uses State's engine. And in that spirit, en route to thwarting Mojo Jojo you can even use the girls to destroy innocent civilian cars or attack hapless pedestrians! Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown Strategic conquests, gruelling sieges, majestic jousting tournaments— it's like it's 1986 all over again! That's when the original Defender of the Crown came out on the Amiga; we can hardly believe it's taken 16 years for a sequel. Cinemaware's legendary blend of turn-based strategy and action [picture a medieval Risk with sword-fighting sequences) returns, with a new starring character (Robin Hood played only a small role in the original) and lots more action. Enter Sherwood in early 2003. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Check out this nasty tuna! He smashes his massive head against the wall of his fishtank and it bursts, spewing water everywhere. Then he attempts to eat you by constantly leaping out of the water with an open mouth. ит 'WORLD.TITLES, NEVER THE SAME WAVE TWICE. WA — ЧИ Visit 13 of the most popular surf spots from around the globe. 9 modes of play including 2 SURFING WILL NEVER BE THE SAME TRUE SHORE. Drop in with 6-time World Champion Kelly Slater or one of 8 other top pros in the ultimate surf experience, Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer®. Play a total of 30 levels at the most PRIMA. m challenging surf breaks from around LESS the globe. Pull off big air and fantasy шо с Б tricks like Rodeo Flip, Knack Knack and Hangman that let you take surfing to a whole new = level. Surf in a constantly changing wave environment — you'll never see the same wave twice. à ) H Т | Surf on waves populated with other surfers. Mild Lyrics f = : Mild Violence | i > о EEEN | > PlayStatione2 © GAMEBOYADvANCE Î ARH Es — | ® © 2002 Activision. пс. and its affiliates. Published and distributed by Activision Publishing, Inc, and its affiliates, Activision and Pro Surfer are registered trademarks and Activision 02 is a trademark of Activision, Inc. and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Kelly Slater is з trademark of Kelly Slater. PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube versions developed by Treyarch. Game Boy Advance version developed by HotGen Studios. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo аге registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are ether registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.A, and/or other countries. 1", ©, Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. PREVIEWS LOTR: THE FELLOW- SHIP OF THE RING Straight from the pages of Tolkien Peter Jackson had nothing to do with this video game. But J.R.R. Tolkien most certainly did. Unless you've been stranded in Mordor, you're probably well aware that Universal holds the rights to pub- lish games based on the works of said dead English dude—and it shouldn't surprise even the dumbest orc that the first game to utilize the license follows the first book of The Lord of the Rings. From Frodo's peaceful hobbit hole in the Shire to a not-so-peaceful battle at the shores of the river Anduin, The Fellowship of the Ring adheres to its source material as well as any video game can. With plentiful, fully voiced cutscenes helping to move the plot along, players can expect to strike up conversations with everyone from major characters like Gimli and Elrond to such lesser ones as Farmer Maggot and Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. All this chit-chat adds an RPG feel to an otherwise heavily action-oriented game. As you might suspect, gameplay changes depending on whether you're Aragorn, Gandalf or Frodo. While each has his own respective sword for close-range attacks (ог a stick for Frodo until he acquires Sting], the long-range attacks differ; Aragorn shoots arrows, Gandalf's devastates with magic and Frodo's got a trusty bag o' rocks. As bearer of the One Ring, the heroic hobbit even has the ability to wear it and turn invisible in his levels (which rely more on stealth than those of his allies). The catch? He also has a "corruption meter" that depletes while wearing the Ring—and never regenerates—throughout the course of the game. If it hits zero, he's lost to darkness forever. At this point, developer Surreal has a few minor gameplay snags to work out, but otherwise, Tolkienites should be counting the days until Fellowship's mid-November release. Two Rings +0: Still confused about the differences between the two Lord of the Ri License and lowship members (in thi: Content case, Boromir and Legolas} tag along to help you fight. With the rights to the material of Tolkien's books, Universal's Fellowship follows the entire first book of the trilogy. Starring Characters You play as Aragorn, Gandalf or Frodo, with the rest of the Fellowship pitching in to help at times. Story Presentation In-game cinematics bring the story to life (though some dia- logue is changed from the book to speed up the pace). Voice Acting Universal hired professional voice actors, and each seems quite up to the task. They're unfamiliar, yet effective. ES The Early Word 9 is just one of пу spell attacks. Fellowship is definitely the underdog, but its deeper story could prove more immersive. LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS Zz Straight from the celluloid of Jackson Peter Jackson had a lot to do with this video game. Not only does EA's first Lord of the Rings title follow the first two movies of the lauded Tolkien-based trilogy he's directing, but Jackson himself played an integral role in the game's production. Whatever developers needed, he provided. But will it be enough to make The Two Towers the one game to rule them all? Taking a look at the game's beautiful screens might make you think right away that this mission has been accomplished. And for fans of hack-'n'-slash gameplay, that might just be the case. Although, according to the game's product manager, there's a lot more to it than that: " than just hack-'n’-slash,” says Jon Harris. “You need to think about which combos to use, too." While, based on the healthy portion of the game we've played so far, we certainly wouldn't hesi- tate to classify Towers gameplay as hack-'n'-slash, Harris does raise a valid point—the moves you acquire as you proceed in the game prove integral to your overall success. By defeating orc after orc [not to mention the occasional troll, Warg or other malevolent Middle-earthling), your three charac- ters (Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas} gain points to use toward purchasing moves. When it comes to selecting which combos to buy and when to pick them up, Harris suggests that Tolkien fans will have an advantage. "They know what's coming up!" he says with a smile. If 10 hours of gameplay doesn't sound like much to you, keep in mind that EA has included lots of reasons to play through again, as utilizing certain characters often unlocks secrets like behind-the- scenes movies. And speaking of secrets, a really cool one actually awaits you at the beginning of the game—we just can't tell you what it is. Find out when you pick it up this November. Legolas’ arrow-drawing animation is as smooth and swift as in the films. Rule Them All? games coming out? This chart should clear a few things up. "s more (4 Of the three чүш rdi is э the most wétl-balanced fighter. iw The license for the Rings films is used to highlight the battles of the two movies (no Gollum portion for Towers, though]. License and Content Choose between Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas (plus a secret character), but don’t expect to see all the hobbits. Starring Characters View actual clips from the film that slowly dissolve into gameplay footage. A really cool effect! Story Presentation It would suck if you didn't hear the actors from the movies, wouldn't it? Don't worry. You do! Fans of the movie should love this one. It's just too bad Gandalf isn't playable. Voice Acting As seen in levels like Weathertop, The Early : wers doesn't leave out the Word аснол from Fellowship. 24 Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine HAT'S НОСНЕ _ WITHOUT HITZ? gue GAME BOY ADVANCE G X mom хвох PlayStation. j E sdrennliqe Sila? 3-on-3 ; hockey A action теа goals and ferocious gameplay. Franchise Mode. Deepest Hockey experience available. ; / Season Mode. Every team and every дате. W Full in-depth stat tracking. V International & All-Star Teams, plus Fantasy Teams and Stadiums. Hockey School and Mini-Games. IGNITE YOUR GAME" www. midwaysports.net PREVIEWS >. -— uy nm NASCAR Sure, the Heat is gone, but that doesn't mean Infogrames has forgot- ten how to make a good NASCAR game. In fact, its fall stockcar racer boasts—for the first time ever in a racing game—four different NASCAR racing series. In the game's Career mode, you can start in the Weekly Racing series and work your way up to the Modified, Craftsman Truck and—finally—Winston Cup series. Upgrade your car with more than 100 parts, and race on 31 detailed tracks. METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SUBSTANCE More bang for your buck How do you take one of the best games ever made and make it better? Konami's answer for this enhanced Metal Gear Solid 2: Add to what made it so cool in the first place. Sons of Liberty featured some of the best gameplay ever, and in this package, Konami offers a lot more of it. They've taken all of the original elements and used them for new scenarios—a quick way to add more gameplay without years of effort. After experiencing a few such scenarios, we've found ourselves rapt in MGS2 all over again. Short stories called Snake Tales, for example, require you to hunt down characters or items in the pre-existing MGS2 environments (with some cameos, as well]. Meanwhile, the new VR missions allow you to really hone your skills and test out new gameplay mechanics, such as levels playable entirely in a first-person shooter mode. And for all you Raiden haters out there, just the fact that you can now play the game all the way through with Snake should have you anticipating March. NHL 2K3 Didn't dabble on the Dreamcast? For hockey fans, that's a cryin’ shame. NHL 2K2 was one of the reasons to own Sega's defunct system, but PS2 fans will now get tight sim hockey in October with 23. This is the type of hockey game that will have you playing full seasons, the way you did in the Genesis days (there's a Franchise mode, too!). The goalies are a big highlight, and the puck can actually go off the inside of the his leg and into the net. Like in real hockey. (02) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine EVERYONE Mild Violence There. goes the neighborhood. Spyro: m the Dragonfly. With all new breath weapons: fire, ice, electricity and bubbles, somebody needs to slap a warning label on that dragon. “Spyro: Enter he Dragonfly interactive бате © 2002 Universal Interactie, Ic. Spyro the Dragon and read characters ve Inc. All rights reserved. "^ Gand the Nir d Nintendo. "Pa Sato adt PS PREVIEWS BURNOUT 2: POINT OF IMPACT Big, better, faster, more! If there was one really, really cool thing about Acclaim's original Burnout, it was being rewarded for driving like a lunatic with a burst of adrenaline-cranking speed boost. The only problem was, driving in such a totally insane fashion was really quite difficult, and you ended up seeing a bit too much of the game's other very cool feature, the spectacular crashes. The team at Criterion in the UK is clearly aware of this little dilemma and has proceeded to tweak the gameplay of this sequel such that a proficient player can spend the majority of each race trying to maintain insane levels of speed. As with the original, the game includes no licensed cars, but everything looks pretty convincing in that "oh, that looks a bit like a Viper" kind of way. As you'd expect from one of the most respected code shops in the world (Criterion built the graphics engine that GTA: Vice City uses], the game looks gorgeous and is incredibly fast and smooth. Feel the /mpact this November. HANDS PREVIEON Stere 494,240 Я a 404) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine зый RETURN ТО CASTLE WOLFENSTEIN Shooting demons and Nazis has never looked better The PC version of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, worked on by series-creators id Software with help from Gray Matter, was essentially two games in one package. The first was an extremely competent single-player experience that took the concept of the original game from the dawn of time and zazzed it up with Quake ///-engine-fueled graphics. The second game was a fabulous online multiplayer expe- rience that allowed teams of Allies and Nazis to battle in an extremely convincing selection of WWII- themed missions. Unfortunately, as the game moves to PS2 early next year from Activision, we miss out completely on the latter. Don't be too disappointed, though; the single-player game is a great first-person shooter that mixes Medal of Honor-style Nazi bashing with Resident Evil-esque zombies and crazy demon crea- tures. The story deals with the whole mythology of Hitler and his cronies attempting to wake the dead with an assortment of theological instruments just like he did in the Indiana Jones movies. The result is a clever blend of believable and fantasy environments that has you blasting through things in an old-school fashion. If you're at all familiar with the PC game, you'll be pleased to know that some of the little quirks with last year's game have been fixed, and a number of extra bits have been bolted on to compensate for the lack of multiplayer levels. The PS2 version has been developed by Raster, a team previously known for the marathon job of porting Quake IlI to the Dreamcast, and they've done an incredible job. We can expect some extra single-player missions that PC afficianados won't have seen, and the team has also completely overhauled the spawning points for bad guys, as this was something raised by gamers as something of an issue previously. FROGGER FUN IS GROWING BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS, WITH AMAZING NEW ADVENTURES THAT MIX CLASSIC FROGGER GAMEPLAY WITH FROGGERIFIC NEW FEATURES! JUMP INTO WILD TILE-BASED PLATFORM ACTION WITH FROGGER BEYOND" ON THE XBOX, NINTENDO” GAMECUBE™ AND PC. UNLOCK GAMEPLAY AREAS, COLLECT POWER-UPS AND MORE. FROGGER'S ADVENTURES 2 THE LOST WAND" BRINGS ARCADE-STYLE INTENSITY ON GAME BOY* ADVANCE, AND MULTI-PLAYER MINI GAMES WITH UP TO 3 FRIENDS. BUT WATCH OUT — ONCE YOU HOP, YOU JUST CAN'T STOP! EVERYONE GAME BOY ADVANCE cere x Ls " TAPTE j а © : RS LA ee а. * ` AI. РА Ау: Ж eget gs Vou ФАО ус You'are Voss pridie бое bullet. КУ ү Oe K ~~ =" have no-business, attempting to use supe drs outside the realm of Superman; Shadow “у, of 2 К < of Apokolips. Any attempt tê de 50 will undou нему result in broken legs; arms, fingers e ж» ~~. “and toes, sprained ankles, brüjsed ibs Зеро, logs of limbs, pride, arid uiijetely- to, Júst P ae ЊЕ er remember spórt, when the game я > off, 50 do your powers. xi pad ЖД К рако Kc. E ў е A ce ж: ма Fx. be E 3 + > s. If CRI. А vs # АА Eee Te oe =: ен ^ ^ prgporty of their фере 2 E * | =; м uiu m.) Di и 4 ng are a oN n м. d я hts; - ^ б PERA an а! elated chatablers Bind eleme an Tol Bi» ws : у $ КЕ Р ty cau Aw Жс NEEL Bulle! POLL: WHY CLONE WHEN YOU CAN MORPH? Ú WORLD NEWS Р к} = CN га The Man - Behind The Morph www.drmuto.midway.con Burnitall | Enterprises 5 Stock Soars On New. zzz World-Domination TZ Franchise ; /DMIDWAY www.midway.com WATCH Are You A Man Or A Mouse? Morph into six strange creatures from a gorilla to a spider using Dr. Muto's amazing Splizz Gun 22 computer entertainment system. а Е i r. Muto, the genius mad scientist whose latest experiment accidentally destroyed his home planet, has been the center of a media frenzy with the unveiling of his amazing new "Splizz Gun" technology. Muto’s Splizz Gun enables him to mutate and morph with any living organism in order to accomplish tasks no human As energy magistrate of the А а Centralis solar Р Use a wide variety of gadgets only a mad system scientist could invent such as Rocket Boots P and tbe Super Baller Gunter Burnitall as outperformed all expectations for energy production by strip-mining and pillaging the natural resources of every lanet in the system; hes a master at making energy while demolishing a society. ut the genius Dr. Muto 25 become a wrinkle in is expansion plans. We caught up with the rofessor recently, who told us, “Нез a maniac could achieve alone. According to Muto, the Splizz Gun’s morphing ability will be key in his attempts to rebuild his world. “I simply sample some DNA and ‘BANG, I morph into а mouse, spider, gorilla or any other creature I see fit to become,” Muto madly muttered in an exclusive World News Watch inter- view. “It’s not that I am a megaloma- niac, I just want to play God.” Muto’s technology is receiving so much atten- tion and interest that he idemarks or trademark cials next month. Also, leading videogame publisher Midway has entered into an exclusive deal with the doctor for the release of an action/adventure videogame based on his bizarre and intriguing life and his А н : а 74 ЗА = Я ї on ruining my beautiful energy empire. will begin selling the Splizz | Splizz Gun technology. Information about peat аша n Mato believes he un bald Gun through TV infomer- Muto's videogame, simply titled, *Dr. Muto," is lanet from scraps of DNA and terra, then steal . . . ç (v | 1» revealed on www.drmuto.midway.com, which is a my energy reserves as the catalysts! PAH! bsite:d ООМО univ f Бай Burnital went on to say that Muto is a renegade website devoted to Muto’ universe of baffling terrorist and, "My forces will stop at nothing to puzzles, mind-bending devices, freakish mon- destroy the horrible little man, no matter WHAT p creature he shapes himself into! strosities and twisted humor. Defend yourself , against burly Is Dr. Muto the 21st Century’s Rent-a-Cops, Einstein, or just another mad- vicious “Charks,” man? Judge for yourself this fall and other hench- when “Dr. Muto” the videogame men of your 5 rival, Professor releases for next generation Burnitall videogame platforms. Fall 2002 Coming Soon Coming Soon 4 PlayStation.2 GAME BOY ADVANCE WORLD NEWS WATCH NOVEMBER 2002 57 PREVIEWS SHINOBI Best installment yet? Sega's Shinobi series is one of the most revered in all of gaming, so don't take it lightly when we say that this is potentially the best installment yet. It obviously looks and sounds better than any of the previous games, but what we're focusing on here is the game- play—and boy does it ever shine. We've been playing through a preview copy for the past few weeks, and Hotsuma’s fanciful attacks have us absolutely hooked. The best game to compare it to would be Devil May Cry—you're constantly running, jumping, flip- ping, warping and spinning all over the place. It also feels darn cool to pull off a lot of the attacks, especially the tate (pronounced "tah-tay"] moves, where you can slice multiple enemies in succes- sion for seriously cool kill animations. The gameplay is so cool that we've pretty much overlooked the sometimes repetitive ene- mies and environments, the game's only real flaws so far. We're already betting on this being one of the year's hits, so make sure you check back next month for our expansive cover fea- ture on the game. In the meantime, though, enjoy these latest Screens we've grabbed for you. But don't get too attached to them Apparently, even at this stage in the game, Sega is going back and enhancing Shinobi's graphics engine in time for the title's November release. So by the time you see it next month, Shinobi could potentially look even better. All we can say is wow. The symbols ак the top of the screen represent the enemies you fight at a given time. Manage to take them all out quickly, and an ultra-cool tate kill animation is yours to view. One of our favorite things about playing as Shinob/s new hero, Hotsuma, is that he can hang on to and run along walls. Not only does it look really cool, but this ability can help you bypass ground-based obstacles or get to areas that are not normally attainable by walking or jump- ing. You'll even run into sequences where you fight ene- mies that are also maneuvering along the walls. Sadly, however, for those we remember Revenge of Shinobi, Spider-Man does not make a cameo. UR 3 А @9 Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine RATING PENDING Visit www.esrb.org or call 1-800-771-3772 for Rating Information. ‘CONTENT RATED BY ESRB Dr. Muto © 2002 Midway Games West Inc. All rights reserved. MIDWAY and the Midway Logo are ге ends envi ke your fri we your en "Before I got ту , Splizz Gun, my studio apartment was way too cramped. Not anymore! Now I just morph with the first spider I see, spin a web in the corner, kick back with a bowl of bugs and watch the tube. Thanks, Dr. Muto. Your fiendish gadgets rock!" Doug Morris, Modesto, CA emies mu ous! tate! Fall 2002 Entertainment Inc. TM, ® Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. "PlayStation" and the trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. > PlayStation. Coming Soon NINTENDO GAMECUBE. JD MIDWAY www.midway.com To squeak through the tightest spots, don't be а man— без mouse. www.drmuto.midway.com Coming Soon GAME BOY ADVANCE istered trademarks of Midway Amusement Games, LLC. Used by permission. DR. МОТО is а trademark of Midway Games West Inc. Distributed under license by Midway Home S" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or ° PREVIEWS ШШШ 148 yards Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 Sadly, EA Sports is removing from Tiger 2003 the intriguing “Street Golf" mode we talked about a few months back. But there are still a ton of nifty upgrades from last year's version. The player models look much better, for example. There are also a couple new courses, and the all-new SkillZone, which offers minigame-style challenges for a quick fix. Plus, you get extra cash for having a save from last year’s game—or other recent EA titles. Cool! Tee up in November. АЈВАР. pe Legaia 2: Duel Saga Good things come in ugly packages...at least that's the case so far with Fresh Games' Legaia 2: Duel Saga. But get past the crunky graphics and the dopey characters, and you'll find a pretty cool RPG lurking underneath. The star here? Legaia's battle system, which lets you string together different attacks to pull off tons of unlock- able special moves and combos. Tune in next month to find out if Duel Saga is good enough get you to look past its grody exterior. @2 Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine MORTAL KOMBAT: DEADLY ALLIANCE ж 05-00] Totally reinvented classic VIEW Unlike many of the recent fighting games that have seen to continue the tales of an aging franchise, the team behind Midway's Deadly Alliance has chosen to completely reinvent absolutely everything about the game. Not only have they pushed reset on the storyline, they've also dramatically overhauled the fighting system to the point that it's now arguably one of the most complex out there. By shifting between three seperate stances, fighters can break out completely different types of moves (about 16 or 17 in each stance, by our count), depending on what style they use to fight. As with Tekken and Virtua Fighter, this game places plenty of emphasis on combos as well as throws and counters, which all go to prove how different Alliance is from previous Mortal Kombats. All Kombatants sport two unarmed and one armed stance, with everyone busting out weapons appropriate for their individual and unique styles. Get ready for"Fatality Friday" оп Nov. 22, when the game hits stores. Although lots about Deadly Alliance is different from previous Mortal Kombat games, the franchise just wouldn't seem right if it didn't still sport some gruesome fatality moves. Although much of what will be in the game come November is secret, we have heard of some spectacular moves involving impaling, exploding and even, in this brutal case, ripping out someone's entire skeleton. Ick. D VERT:TITLES. EPIC ROAD, Crank out huge airs like 10-time World Vert Champ Mat Hoffman. > и Tere 7 m 62,038 The only BMX game to BMX WILL NEVER BE THE SAME, offer flatland tricks. Jump on the bus with Mat Hoffman and ten other top pros for the ultimate BMX blowout through eight U.S. cities. Pull hundreds of tricks and combos using the new Trick Tweaking System or keep it on the ground with the only BMX game that offers flatland moves. Unlock behind-the-scenes video footage from Mat's actual road trip and then snap shots of your best tricks for your own photo scrapbook. One day on this road trip and you'll know why BMX will never be the same. [Mem Force your opponent off the screen PRODUCTS RANGE FROM in the 02 exclusive PUSH mode. EVERYONE то TEEN | Ў ^ 4 UT PlayStation.e Pad о. «иғво pe С тай. tation 2 and Xbox versions developed by Rainbow Studios. GameCube version developed by Gratuitous Games. Game Boy Advance version developed by HotGen Studios. Ol Activision, Inc. and its affiliates, All Rights Reserved. Mat Hoffman is a trademark of Mat Hoffman. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks arks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.A, and/or о untries and are licensed under Microsoft. "^, ©, Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo GameCube logo аге Of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners, and its affiliates. Publi id Activision Inc, Microsoft, Xbo shots are from Play ion Publishing, Inc. Pro ВМХ are trad Xbox logos her regi tion 2. The ratings icon is a registered tradem ACTIVISIONO2.COM PREVIEWS DEF JAM WRESTLING Get yo' wrestle on, up in here! Counterculture ultimately becomes pop culture—that's why you lis- ten to hip-hop and why you've never listened to Diana Krall. It's also why EA Sports Big decided to partner with Def Jam Recordings to make a wrestling game. Rappers like games, EA makes games. Perfect marriage. Twelve artists enter this polygamous relationship, all under the Def Jam label. We know 11 of them: DMX, Ludacris, Christina Milian, Foxy Brown, Keith Murray, WC, N.O.R.E., Method Man, Redman, Scarface and Capone. As for the No. 12? Knowing that each is way into game, we're hoping for Ja Rule, L.L. Cool J or Funkmaster Flex. (Heck, why not add ‘em all, EA?) Even though that's quite a roster, the game's strength might lie in its gameplay over its soundtrack. It's being put together by the wrestling stallions who made the Nintendo 64 worth buying, respon- sible for WWF WrestleMania 2000 and No Mercy. So how's it all work? Well, you play through the game as a геди- lar schmo (though, granted, your schmo has some seriously toned muscles). Once you reach a certain point, prepare to face off against Def Jam's stable during boss matches. Not а bad reward. Figure out the first rule of this fight club early next year. mO гҮ) > (a3) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine RAD: ROBOT ALCHEMIC DRIVE Save the world—as soon as school lets out Homework is tough when you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. As the chairperson of a top-secret defense committee, your duty in RAD: Robot Alchemic Drive is to single-handedly pro- tect the cities of Japan from giant fighting robots called Volgara—and you're only 17. But your waifish, anime-style boy or girl character isn't truly alone; you have at your disposal your own giant fighting robot [not to mention a personal antigravity generator that allows you to fly to dizzying heights). Sucker-punching Volgara—via innovative controls that use each analog stick to move the corresponding arm of the robot—and leaping tall buildings in a single bound is all in a day's work in Bandai's homage to Japan's Giant Fighting Monsters film genre (complete with scurrying civilians and impassioned, laughably obvious news broadcasts). Is it serious? Is it tongue-in-cheek? We can't tell; maybe you'll have better luck when the game releases in November. Drive nm Clamber on top of the Медапии GRAB YOUR BAWLS AND — کے‎ PlayStation.e D| Grab your BAWLS 1 2-pack at a participating CompUSA near you. Go to дабот. com for locations. me RLH Ran ike ell 2002 apy ене бир. lights reserved RLH Run Like Hel! the RU logo, ше alm PE сосе demas of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc The Ratings coni о trademark of fhe erative Digital Solta of Interplay Entertainment Corp. Ali sociation. АЙ other copyrights and t Visit www.esrb.org or call 1-800-771-3772 for Rating Information. Ж THE THREAT IS IN YOUR HANDS BOTH OF THEM. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO EXPRESS YOURSELF WITH THE RIGHT ANALOG. The right to freely express yourself in 360 degrees. EA SPORTS” FREESTYLE CONTROL. The right to use both hands, to crossover, to stutter step, to spin. To confuse defenders with behindsthe-back, through-the-legs, one-handed-palming, backing-down-in- RB al fade-away, ball-handling то Cuz you'll never make it in the NBA playing with only one hand. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO BREAK THE DEFENSE ANY WAY YOU SEE FIT. Put together fiendish combinations of 100 new moves and exploit the D. If you cannot afford room for a jumper, room will be provided for you with a little stutter-step fade-away action. Crowded lanes beg to be taken apart with yourspatented brand of hole-picking-360-spinning-crossover artistry. String ‘em out, spin ‘em ‘round, leave ‘em crying and finish big. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO DEFEND AGAINST ANY OFFENSIVE FREEDOMS. The right to form а well regulated- -fastomoving- big-balling defensive force. The right to reach into personal space. To perform b-ball blocks like an eight-armed hogp octopus. To borrow without consent, anywhere, any time. То turn hands into brick; ean the glass, take the charge and dominate the competition morning, noon and night. Saying fly swatters. To pound the floor, UNDERSTAND THE RIGHTS OF ZA EA SPORTS FREESTYLE CONTRO ET IT’S HARDWOOD MAGIC IN THE м ОЕ УОЏВ НАМ 2003 SET YOURSEL mns nbalive2003.ea.com Tote wy It’s in the game: RODUCTS RANGE FROM Û РІ 20 RATING PENDING то EVERYONE CLUB, TPC and Swinging Golfer design are trademarks of trademarks o Nintendo. "PlayStation? and the "PS" Fami Jr Gema ordenar В Mist Corporationia the US and/or nother countries and are used under license! ie stoery и нај рен oes EA SPORTS Beer is band | New competitors who play at a level higher than the grass. . There are many instruments used to remove a man's heart. ‘Most notably, the driver. m SPORTS Visit www.esrb.org or call 1-800-771-3772 for Rating Information. Welcome to the 500-mile commute with only one parking spot. e РОЏЈЕВЕО Ву: О NASCAR ь i я y L 1 Now on PC easports.com EVERYONE Comic Mischief Violence © 2002 Electronic Arts Inc. Electronic Arts, EA SPORTS, the EA SPORTS logo and "It's in the game." are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All rights reserved. МНЕ, National Hockey League, the NHL Shield and the Stanley Cup are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. АТ NHL logos and marks and team logos and marks depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective teams and ‘may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. © 2002 NHL. All Rights Reserved. Officially Licensed Product of the National Hockey League. National Hockey League Players Association, NHLPA and the NHLPA logo are trademarks of the NHLPA and are used under license by Electronic Arts Inc. © NHLPA. Officially licensed product of the NHLPA. The names and logos of all stadiums are trademarks of thelr respective owners and are used by permission. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox Logos are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. Nintendo GameCube is a trademark of Nintendo. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. EA SPORTS™ is an Electronic Arts™ brand. Every great magician uses a magic wand. This one makes frozen rubber disappear. ^ С ЁЗ PlayStationee Time:00:00,00 Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions Wreckless was a so-so Xbox game awhile back, and, from all initial appearances with our preview version, it looks to be a so-so PS2 game, as well. It'll likely turn into an amusing way to kill some time in a Driver-like way. Unlike on Xbox, however, the graphics won't blow you away, but an interesting PS2-exclusive two-player mode just might pull you in this fall: Activision forsakes conventional two- player racing by putting both you and your opponent on one screen! BloodRayne If you don't like looking at the boobs and butts of female vam, you're probably best off sitting BloodRayne out. We've only played а little of Majesco's prospective new franchise, but the in-your-face sex appeal (dare we say "gratuitous"?) is readily apparent after only а level or two. Fortunately, the promise of an enjoyable gameplay expe- rience is there for Halloween, as well, with some really cool fighting maneuvers that almost make you forget about the iffy camera. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine STAR WARS: ERA BOUNTY HUNTER Kill a Jedi today! Sure, they're cursed to die under the least glorious circumstances—but at least they look really, really cool while doing it. We're talking about the Star Wars universe's most beloved cult icons: the Fetts. This November, LucasArts suits up Jango for Bounty Hunter, the first game ever to focus on any of the aforementioned armored badasses. Though its look may suggest something of an adven- ture game, make no mistake— Bounty Hunter focuses primarily on intense double-fisted gunplay. Jango initially wields dual blaster pistols (and quite well, we must say], but don't go thinking that's all—expect all sorts of Jedi-snuffing armaments, including a sniper rifle, a rocket launcher, his trusty wrist-mounted flamethrower and, of course, thermal detonators galore. The action takes you through such notable locales as Tatooine and Coruscant, as well as some lesser-knowns, but one thing is consistent—long, intricate, action-packed levels. And lots of fun playing through them. A Fett just isn't a Fett if he isn't flying. Luckily, Jango can take to the sky in Bounty Hunter, and he does so with the utmost cool. His jetpack comes equipped with enough juice for several decently sized bursts at any given time, and it takes just a few seconds for it to recharge when not in use. So, the short of it: You should expect to do a whole lot of fly- ing. And since you can shoot your guns while in the air, pre- pare to deal mad amounts of death from above. THE МАМА 15 BACK >. 9 лм. > m IM I M M N р а. - 9 - и - К - - - | - Ig ME. Траки... ТА лм. ча» и Ве СУ Же ИГЕ. ОШ полов окоо 000 TSI UTE Legendsofwrestling2.com GAME BOY ADVANCE , = ите кота о X р. PlayStation- ET AM e Visit www.esrb.org xeox ; GAMECUBE Rl or call 1-800-771-3772 Р 2 апа Acclaim ® & © nt, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Acclaim Studios Salt Lake City. All Rights Reserved. “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are regi ‘CONTENT RATED BY for more info. iter Ent Xbox Logos ithe red trademarks or rks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or in other countries and are d ESRB ге trademarks of Nintendo. Game Boy Advance are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo. Screens shown were taken from the Xbox version of the vid | PREVIEWS RYGAR: THE LEGENDARY ADVENTURE True to its name Thanks to а recent trip to Tecmo's Japanese HQ, we've had a first- hand look at one of the big games for November. Rygar's super- sharp visuals and fully orchestrated soundtrack have been strong all through production, but now we've seen more of its awesome gameplay. There are loads of Diskarmors (spinning shields attached to a chains) to collect (each with super attacks), plus tons of combos to pull off. Consider us very impressed. BMX XXX Comedy for the humorless The makers of BMX XXX claim this game features "immature humor for mature people." But we're not even sure the same low- rent pranksters who live and die by Maxim's "20 Ways to Score a Babe" list would even sink this low for laughs. Yes, there's cussing. Yes, there are boobs. Yes there's a peanut vendor shouting, "Hot salty nut sack, get your hot salty nut sack here!" No, it doesn't make the game cool or funny. Unless you're talking in that "oh, man, l'm embarrassed for the guys who made this" type of way. As harsh as we sound about the content, there is a bright light: the gameplay. That's because XXX is Mirra without Mirra [nor any licensed riders or sponsors). The timer is gone, so you can wheel around one of eight freshly modeled areas without feeling rushed. Talk to the edgy locals (а pimp, a mumbling subtitled bum, ven- dors) to get assigned any one of 20 challenges. There's also an extensive Rider Edit mode for created riders. And, yes, that rider can be a topless girl. "The nipples are actually modeled, you know, for realism" we're told. We don't know why Acclaim is risking its strongest franchise this October. The gameplay innovations are strong. But collecting coins around different levels to earn a 12-year old's wet dream— you can unlock a peep show with a real woman with real (maybe fake) breasts—feels like a half-assed idea not worth a laugh. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Whether you want a backwards ball cap, a pair of knee-length shorts or a chick unafraid to bare all (like this опе to the left), you can make it happen in BMX XXX. Create-A-Rider is the game's most admirable feature (unless you like potty humor— which nothing can "top"!]. Seriously, though, you can do whatever you want, and the interface is snappy-quick so you won't have to wait for things to load. Since there are no pro riders, it really makes this feature stand out. Turbo Shock 2 Cyber Shock 2 Controller Controller ig Turbo de Programmable Allows Up To 12 Difficult For AutoFire Capability G $ Multiple Moves То Ве Programmed Into ame creen One Button! Full Color Game Screen Allows You To Play Games, Home Videos & DVD's Anywhere! DVD Remote, Multitap a Game Sound System & Horizontal Stand , ‚ Wireless Control, 4 Player Multitap, " AV Selector and Organize Р5 2 Games and DVD's with Style! - Stereo Speakers м - To Your Gaming | and Favorite CD's! Game, Audio & Video Selector Connect Upto 5 Components! Easily Switch То Game Console, TV, VCR, DVD) Tuner, and More! INCLUDES! Remote Contro] ‚рее E D ТЕХ PREVIEWS Sure, Americans may not dig rally racing as much as the rest о world, but you'd never know that based on the influx of such games headed our way this fall. Our early pick for rally champion? Colin McRae Rally 3 from Codemasters. Beyond its obvious lineage of great PSone rally titles, the fact that we've seen it in action only bol- sters our prediction. In addition to great damage effects, the realism extends so far as actual player models of Colin's crew and navigator! Legends of Wrestling IT If you didn't play the last Legends of Wrestling from Acclaim, don't pick it up now. The sequel will blow it away. The roster is the game's big plus, and now they've added Rowdy Roddy Piper, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Big John Studd. Plus, Andy Kaufman. Yes, that's right, the king of mean comedy. There are also a few new match types (Ladder and Cage), plus previously unseen footage of the wrestlers that can be unlocked that makes use of the DVD. The bell rings in October. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine AUTO MODELLISTA A lot more under this hood Capcom just released Auto Modellista in Japan, so we haven't wasted a minute to dive right in. Our verdict? There's much, much more to this game than just those flashy cel-shaded graphics we've all been marveling at the past few months. Most importantly, it plays really well, somewhere in between a Gran Turismo and a Ridge Racer—it feels both arcadey and simmy at the same time. Tons of customization exists in the game, too, allowing you to alter your vehicle in just about any way you could possibly see fit (see sidebar). One of the coolest aspects of this is that you can go online and trade your customized cars with others. People can check them out in a virtual Destruction Derby-style arena, where you can show off your vehicle and chat at the same time. Racing against others online is pretty solid, though we noticed a few hiccups here and there (opposing cars tend to jitter a little]. It'll be interesting to see how well Capcom can pull off the online portions of the game in the States this November. But for those not interested in playing online, the Garage Life mode offers plenty of Gran Turismo 3-style challenges, as well as an incred- ibly in-depth replay mode that allows you to remix your replays with lots of video and audio effects. lap 1/ " tiy кеч и! total time 00'36°° of fastest lap Dull lap time ) 00369 One of Auto Modellista's great- est accomplishments is the sheer amount of customization available to you. You can load cars up with all sorts of parts, then paint them any way you like. Then come the stickers and decals: Choose from a whole selection of auto makers, or even make your own (check out Sammy K's OPM-Mobile to the right). And here's where you know they're taking customiza- tion to absurd levels: You can even decorate your garage with items that you unlock in racing! Visit www.esrb.org ог call 1-800-771-3772 for more info. mm ) | 190% GAMES ы 2 PlayStation. PMB $5553 21213-B Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503 p (310) 944-5005 f (310) 944-3344 Rygar: The Legendary Adventure™. Tecmo, LTD 2002. Tecmo® and the Тесто logo are registered Of Tecmo LTD. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. x PREVIEWS EVOLUTION SKATEBOARDING Skateboarding for non-skaters You've been too locked down with action and adventure games [Metal Gear Solid 2, Ico, Medal of Honor: Frontline) to hop onto the Tony Hawk bandwagon. But that voice is persistent. The one saying, "Skate, baby, skate!" Many are there right now, and that same elbow-pad-and-helmet-wearing crew feels like it's too late to drop into the Hawk franchise. Understandable. Foolish, but understandable. So if you don't eat, sleep and breathe rail slides, but you have a yearning to pick up hotties at the local skatepark with Solid Snake, Konami's got just the thing. The catch is that there are boss fights. To progress through the 12 levels with any of the eight pro skaters (Danny Way and Arto Saari, to name a сои- ple) you'll have to grind the turret off a pissed-off tank, or kickflip the legs off a creepy-crawly arachnid. Each character you play as has his own storyline, which places each in only eight of the 12 levels, thus enhancing the replay value. Problem is, especially for Hawk experts, the number of challenges is limited— there are only five to seven missions per level (Hawk 4 has boned-up to 21 рег). Another shortcoming is the amount of tricks—only 70 total, which is sparse compared to the big boys. But since this is for the other skaters, it should be a comfy fit. One super-dope feature lets you edit the replays of your run, meaning you can cut and slice and basi- cally make your own skate video—a cool tool worth wasting your time on. Besides that, fully customizable skaters do their thing on fully customizable boards—you don't just get to place stickers on your board, you get to pick where you place them. Very cool. Like we said, if you're not part of the Hawk camp, you've got to join the skate revolution somewhere. This might as well be the game. Drop in Oct. 29. 8 ATV Offroad Fury ONLINE | We're expecting to have Sony CEA's online-enabled racer in Reviews next month [it does, after all, come out in November), but until then we figured we'd lay a couple more teaser screens on you. The big addition to this sequel is the selection of minigames, including Tag, Hockey, King of the Hills and Treasure Hunt. The engine has also been revamped to take advantage of dynamic terrain (mud, sand, water, etc., all affect handling]. Plus: four-way online play! sree” иск 2 ^ Evolution Snowboarding PREVIEW For the aggressive snow bunnies, Konami presents a sort of Road Rash meets SSX. We're not sure how many people long to roundhouse kick a fellow boarder while cruising down a steep hill, but this one demands that you strap on your best kickin' boot. At least it includes Salt Lake Silver medalist Danny Kass, but it doesn't feature much more than fisticuffs. Maybe we'll get more excited about this non-SSX snowboard- ing game when it comes out in November. But we doubt it. (83) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine HOW TO BE A BETTER С FA гп. GAME YOUR WAY AT BLOCKBUSTER® Rent and buy games and systems. BLOCKBUSTER is all about gamers now. Big new game section. Tons of copies, guaranteed to be there. And you can buy previously-played USE COMMON SENSE games for next to nothin’. Need we say more? Anything claiming to be free has to be a sure thing. Unlike your last date, this one is for real. MMA И 56100900048 EVERYTHING EXPIRES Open your fridge and take a big fat whiff of your milk. Nothing lasts forever. So get your butt movin’. TRIM HERE Rip it, tear it, or pull it out. Whatever you do, KNOW YOUR CODES DON’T run with scissors. Open all levels with this cheat? Maybe. If not, try dialin’ it. You might just get yourself-a date. RENT. BUY. GAME YOUR WAY.” See your participating BLOCKBUSTER store for complete details on pre-played games and our “Guaranteed In Stock" offer on select game titles for rent. BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster Inc. © 2002 Blockbuster Inc. All rights reserved, | PREVIEWS Freestyle: MetalX Believe it or not, there are still а few publishers out there that haven't given us a motocross game in recent years. Well, you can scratch Midway off that list come next year. As you might expect from the title, Freestyle: MetalX focuses squarely on the stunt-performing aspect of the sport, leaving the racing to games like MX Superfly and Freekstyle. As real and fictional freestylers, mix and link stunts while getting big air in the game's 10 huge levels. Frequency 2 If you liked the original Frequency, you'll be completely psyched to hear that the sequel, tentatively scheduled for a spring release, offers many more features. Most notable is the fact that the musical tastes of SCEA and developer Harmonix have broadened dramatically. Instead of tunes with a more electronic bent, Егедиепсу 5 new lineup is incredibly eclectic, including bands like Weezer and Garbage. You can also collaborate on mixes, chat and challenge other players online. (34) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine BREATH OF FIRE V Capcom prepares for battle "Up until now, all we've done is fantasy, so we wanted to try something new,” says Breath of Fire Vs producer, Hironobu Takeshita, regarding the new futuristic sci-fi look for Сарсот 5 long-running RPG series. Featuring an underworld setting overrun with technology, plus a quest that sets a band of adventurers on а path toward their planet's surface, Breath V represents a massive departure from the rather traditional Capcom offerings of the past. Similar to what the futuristic Final Fantasy VII did for Square's benchmark series, it's also possible that Breath V could finally push the franchise into the spotlight. From the super-stylish, cel-shaded graphics to the new orchestral soundtrack (which ranges from cool rhythm-heavy dungeon tracks to very Final Fantasy Tactics-sounding melodies], this Breath finally feels like a quality product capable of standing next to its competitors. Takeshita's team has even retooled the battle system for this new installment. "This time we went for something that incorporates action, RPG and simulation elements all in one,” he says. While turn- based, the battles rely on a sphere grid that allows you to move freely inside for better positioning. Environments even come into play in that you can trap enemies, and you can still transform into dragon forms. What's also cool about the battles is that there's no transition between them and the real world—stumble upon an enemy and you'll fight right then and there. Takeshita also plans to up the replay value in a rather innovative way. "This game is designed to be rather difficult," he says. "People may find that after playing halfway through the game, they'll need to restart completely from the beginning." Thankfully, it's not quite as bad as it sounds—you can restart the game with all of your earned character data and open up new areas a second time through. "We don't want to make people mad if they've played 27 hours in and have to start over, so we're going to make sure to balance this aspect correctly." It’s an interesting concept, sure, and it'll be even more interesting to see if his team can pull it off. We'll just have to wait until spring to find out. eame ra To Your Advantage Since all of the battles take place on the main game engine, you can often take enemies by surprise before entering each fight. It’s usually possible to get in an early slice with your sword, but more fun is when you distract enemies with meat (watch as they swarm around it) or toss bombs their way. Unfortunately, this can work against you, too: enemies can also get in the first hit. Presents [LETC ед | BOONE North America Tur 2002. Go to www.activisionO2.com/hawk and enter the "Tour with Tony" Sweepstakes for your chance to win atrip to meet Tony Hawk at Boom Boom HuckJam and other cool prizes. Register today! | Ls E 4 PROS! 4 KATEN RATING PENDING Visit www.esrb.org or call 1-800-771-3772 for more info. 1 b п ing, In ey * x the à у " = h + га К Е ore SPORTS REVOLUTION EVERY NATION HAS ITS FLAG. NASCAR? Dirt to DAYTONA? is a white-knuckle thrill ride that rips through four different intense NASCAR? series. Slide around dirt tracks on the edge of your seat, pull a few G's in a Modified, trade paint with other trucks and discover just how far 750 horses and a steering wheel can take you in the NASCAR? Cup Series. So strap on your helmet for the ultimate racing experience. And remember to salute the flag on your way to victory. EVERYONE BU PlayStation. 2 © 2002 Infogrames, Inc. All Rights Reserved. NASCAR ® is a registered trademark of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc.; TM, ®, and the Nintendo, GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. "PlayStation" and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. CAT and Caterpillar are registered trademarks of Caterpillar Inc. © Caterpillar 2000 The trademarks of “Bill Davis Racing” and the number 22 are licensed under the permission of Caterpillar. Ward Burton's likeness and signature are licensed under permission of TSII. Winston-Salem, NC; John Andretti ~ Officially licensed by Petty Marketing Company, L.L.C. “the General Mills Trademarks used under license.” DAYTONA @ is used under license from International Speedway Corporation. PREVIEWS RED DEAD | NBA 2КЗ R EVO LVE R НАКОВ -o The best keeps getting better NEVIEW ) It's subtle, and you'll have to get into a few games to notice, but Ben Wallace has two different hair- styles in NBA 2K3: a fro and braids. This is just a small detail in a masterfully done game, but it's a Draw! sign of the care and attention being put into the little things. As most sports gamers know, the little Similar to how Maximo remained true in spirit to Capcom's Ghouls things make a big difference. 'N Ghosts games of yesteryear, Red Dead Revolver is an homage The sweetest new feature is the ability to change your shot in mid-air. If you're going to get to the arcade classic Gun.Smoke. It also attempts to re-create stuffed by Shaq while trying to throw down one of 200 dunks, just press X a second time and you'll classic spaghetti western movies with lots of gunslinging, horse- try scooping it off the backboard. It makes a big difference when your tiny guard realizes he's bitten back riding, and silly comedy sequences, all of which seem to be off more than he can chew. Another big play by Sega Sports and Visual Concepts was to incorpo- pulled off quite nicely so far. Red Dead is also quite a looker, with a rate diving into the game. While not seamless, the animation is much tighter than a goofy bellyflop. custom graphics engine created by Angel Studios (Smuggler's If the ball is headed out of bounds, your players attack the ball instead of watching it roll. Run, Midnight Club). We like what we've seen of so far, but not so Probably one of our favorite features is the ability, on the street courts, to pick your team. much as with what we've heard: the music just has this perfect Instead of getting stuck with Shaq, Kobe and the other guy, you can pluck Kevin Garnett off the western flair. You'll hear what we mean next March. Wolves for a serious three-man all-street team. The real hoops season begins Oct. 22. (53) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Dunkadelic There's nothing funkier than a big ol’ slam dunk that embarrass- es your opponent, fires up your team and, least of all, puts two points on the scoreboard. With 2K3 there are over 100 dunks in all, way more than last year. We saw Kevin Garnett throw down a series of big dunks, like the one to the left. There are different dunks for power dunkers than there are for flashy dunkers. WWE SMACKDOWN! SHUT YOUR MOUTH #7 Less yappin', more grapplin’! While solid in pure gameplay, the last SmackDown! disappointed when it came to just about anything else. This November, Shut Your Mouth maintains Just Bring It's great playability and juices it up with more superstars than ever before. Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Diamond Dallas Page, Rick Flair, the nWo and the rest of the WWE have been jammed into THQ's virtual locker room. Even more welcome, you can now journey through a multiple-path Career mode where the outcome depends not solely on defeating opponents, but whether or not a wrestler can win over the crowd. And Create-A-Wrestler? Better than ever, now with an interface freeing you from the difficult series of menus and options. Maintaining fan momentum remains paramount, and THQ has added several match types to hype the crowd into a fury, including Elimination Tag, Six-Man Tag and the Slobber Knocker, a falls-count-anywhere brawl where the entire building becomes a weapon. Even traditional contests like handicap matches get a facelift, as one player can control all wrestlers. Starting with a draft, Career mode re-creates the last year of actual SmackDown! right down to the different costumes worn by the superstars, then evolves into a Franchise where anything can happen. Fans concerned that their favorite Raw wrestlers won't be a part of this title since the WWE employed its "Brand Extension" shouldn't worry, as THQ keeps the entire roster intact. And, perhaps more importantly, Stacy Keibler now wears pink panties. Relive classic moments like the - Rock's introduction of Vince McMahon to Rikishi’s ass. i) E Undertaker The recently head-shaven American Hero stiows the American Badass who's boss. 2. PlayStation.e TEEN BAN "Y Mild Language Violence Mature Sexual Themes ) 2001-2002 BANDAI. tered trademarks of Sony trademark of the Interactive PREVIEWS NBA LIVE 2003 This one's got vert Say what you want, but the blind purchasers of EA Sports products got cheated with last year's NBA Live. NBA 2K3 was a far superior basketball experience. Thankfully, EA noticed, so we're happy to see that Live has rebounded in a big way. The entire game has been reworked. It feels good, it looks good and...well, it's playable. Use of the right analog stick is the game's biggest innovation, and don't be surprised to see it take hold across the EA universe. You can hold the stick in certain directions and then push it to do special moves. For instance, if you take a pass, then hold down, you'll hold the ball away from the defender. Then you can do a crossover (pressing left than right] or a spin move (circling the stick) or a variety of moves within. It's great for getting to the hole, but is just as good to open up space with a killer jump shot. It makes the guards seriously dangerous. Though nothing its competition can't boast, online playability should sell a few more copies of Live in late October. The problem is that you can only play one other person online. No multitap involvement. Not even two-on-two with your controller ports. Bummer. = Crank the Weasel LOOK Think platformers аге too family friendly? Is Sly Cooper's wry grin а bit too precious for ya? Then Midway's got something right up your alley. Out next year, Crank the Weasel is a hop-and-bopper with an edge, packed with all kinds of naughty behavior. Yet despite his twisted demeanor, all Crank really wants is some peace and quiet— so it's up to you to help him lie, cheat and steal his way through nine urban settings, all on his way to retirement on plush Pleasure Island. mme a Break! Running the fast break has been near-impossible in video game hoops. Guys haven't cut at the right time, or they wait Sean - 2 E for defenders to catch up. The Аа bi ) TT à £ hole system is lame. But Li E 1 on pu MS OMNE has mace a huge push to make FIFA Soccer 2003 $ 4 | the fast break a part of the я В " Р game. Now you сап drive it up After this year’s World Cup, the U.S. is definitely soccer hungry. But that the middle, kick it out to the doesn’t mean we'll support the MLS. Especially when we can confi- wing, and then bounce-pass dently dabble in EA Sports’ next footie game. The best new part of the serous the key before the lay- game: how you control the ball. When you're dribbling upfield, it no up finish. It's subtle, but it's longer sticks to your foot. Also, when you're in close for a free kick, you further proof that Live has get to aim it with purpose. It really changes the game. Unfortunately, only 40 international teams will be in there. FIFA kicks off on Nov. 5. made huge strides this year. Official US. PlayStation Magazine Monsters whaling on each other "505 style When SCEA first showed War of the Monsters at E3 in May, it was with very little fanfare. Folks who played it thought it looked cool, but it was hardly touted as the “next big thing.” Know what, though? Now that we've spent some time with the game (which is out in January), we're pretty convinced that it actually is the “next big thing.” A recent event hosted by Sony to roll out its fall/winter lineup revealed the game to be imaginative, enjoyable and light-hearted. The basic premise is simple. Big, '50s-style B-movie monsters fight to the death in huge cityscape arenas. A suitably kitsch back story holds the whole thing together, but ultimately it’s fairly irrelevant. The important thing is that these guys are huge. Think King Kong; think Japanese giant robots; think Rampage for the 21st century mixed with wrestling and the old Neo-Geo game King of the Monsters. Smash buildings, throw the rubble, even pick up cars or buses and use them as weapons. It’s out-and-out mayhem, and it’s incredibly fun. The monsters all have an extremely wide variety of moves that allows them to kick, punch, throw, grapple and zap their opponents—the ensuing destruction is nothing short of spectacular. In one game we played, the crazy-looking Kineticlops (looks like a walking lightning bolt with an eyeball) picked up the rock monster dude, zapped him a couple of times, then threw him through a skyscraper. He pro- ceeded to wander up to the rubble, grab some rebar and beat seven shades out of him. Is that cool or what? TEEN Mature Sexual Themes Mild Language Violence BAN DAI hack TM and © 2001-2002 BANDAI. Program © 2001-2002 BANDAI. PlayStation and the “PS? Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment inc. . The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association PREVIEWS ILENT HILL 3 Meet Heather If there's one thing that the developers of Konami's upcoming third installment in the Silent Hill series really want to impress upon you, it's that the new heroine is just your average, everyday girl. Her name is Heather and she likes to shop. She doesn't know any- thing about undead creatures—let alone what to do when one's staring her in the face. Which is why, when she is suddenly placed into these absolutely horrific environments, the intensity is appar- ently greatly increased for Silent Hill 3. But that's not to say she can't kick a little ass. From what we've seen of the game so far, it's apparent that Heather can hold her own. She may be a little freaked at first, but just wait until you see this girl once she gets her hands on some automatic weaponry. Be sure to check her out next spring. We will. If you haven't huddled around a Risk board within the last five years, you haven't lived! Is there anything more empowering than a big fat X on your homeland of Yakutsk? We think not. But for those more inter- ested in video than board games, Infogrames has struck the perfect balance. The game supports up to six players, and there are varied modes: Classic, Mission Risk and Capitol Risk. We'll know if the transi- tion from board to screen works late this year. Treasure Planet Set in the future, Treasure Planet takes the classic Treasure Island tale by Robert Louis Stevenson and Disneyfies it. You control hero Jim Hawkins in a game combining adventure and space-flying elements, as he fights the evil forces of a cyborg John Silver. Examine mines, caverns and planets (which you'll recognize from the movie], and fight enemies with your laser gun. Clearly targeted at the younger PS2 audience, Planet is released by Sony CEA this November. (42) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine THE SIMS Reality for the rest of us Why bother with any of that reality TV nonsense when you can create your own on your PS2 this November? The Sims is the way to live the life you've always imag- ined without the pain of hard work and commitment. Become a millionaire, then starve yourself as a way to stand up to big corporations, then burn down the kitchen because you're not quite happy with the color of the cabinets. No longer will you have to leave the water cooler when the PC dorks start boasting about their big Sims-date the night before. Now you can join in! But since we trust that you're cool (since you're wise enough to own a PS2 and all), you can condescend them and make them feel foolish! Thanks, EA Games! Here's a conversation we expect you'll have, in fact: Sims-dork No. 1 says, "Dude, did you get your Sims-babe in the hot tub last night?" Then you say, "You're a dork. Plus, | have a real girlfriend. Who actually talks to me." Of course, that's not true, because you'll have stayed up all night trying to con- vince the Sims girl to give you the time of day. But the PC dweebs won't know the difference, because they'll be crying! How fun! All work and no play makes for a dull Sim, so remember that leisure is imperative. The great part is that you just don't press the Leisure button or press on an icon, you actually have to get your Sim out of the house to get them a workout. We wonder: Can b- ball in The Sims top last year's Live? Dominate \ 5412 55РМ www.dothack.com > PlayStation.e Mature Sexual Themes В E hack TM and © 2001-2002 BANDAI. Program © 2001-2002 BANDAI. d the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Entertainment ис. The ratings icon is а trademark of the Interactive Association. MERICANS PLEDGE ALLEGIAI You're one of the most highly-trained U.S. warfare experts on the planet. Put your skills to the test as you battle your way through fifteen levels of realistic tactical combat. When the brass wants a target secured, they send in a platoon. When they want a target erased, they send in your squad of four U.S. special forces. This is the part of the war that the media didn't cover. Welcome to Desert Storm. WWW.GOTHAMGAMES.COM/CONFLICT РЯ CONFLICT: NNA | ш NO DIPLOMATS. | i ; D E SE R S NO NEGOTIATION. | | ٠ NINTENDO GAMECUBE. хеох CONTENT RATED BY “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Nintendo GameCube® and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. Gotham Games and the Gotham Games logo are trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Conflict: Desert Storm and the Conflict: Desert Storm logo are trademarks of SCi Games Ltd. E&OE © 2002 Take-Two Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved. Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes 20K | No doubt inspired by what Interplay achieved with Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Infogrames treats 20-sided-dice rollers to a similar adventure early next year. In Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes, as many as four players (be they Fighter, Wizard, Cleric or Rogue] engage in the never-ending quest against evil, hacking and slashing their way through hordes of monsters straight from the pages of your third edition of the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. Dr. Muto Outside of Mario and pals, it's hard to think of many mascot charac- ters these days who aren't some sort of furry mammal. Midway's solution? Dr. Muto. “Instead of some kind of fuzzy bandicoot, he's a different kind of hero,” says Scot Amos, senior producer on the game named for the humorous mad scientist. But the real catch for this one? Depending on the situation, Dr. Muto can change into animals like a mouse (to get small) or a fish (to swim). Mutate in November. б Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine HAND, & CLANK re; Featuring all the tools for a hit The PlayStation 2 faces a virtual mascot cavalcade this fall, but Insomniac's Ratchet & Clank stands apart from the pack. In fact, it stands a good 10 paces out, with a surly look in its eye while packin' an arsenal of over 30 heavy-duty weapons and gadgets. You can snag these toys by hoarding a currency called Bolts and then outfit Ratchet with your desired implements of destruction via an almost RPG-like inventory system. By focusing squarely on gun-toting gameplay, the developers aim to expand the platformer market beyond the scope of little brothers. Also, while most run-'n'-jump games file you through a linear path, Ratchet lets you blaze your own path. Explore 18 expansive planets during your quest, and tackle them in an the order that's mostly up to you. The developers also sought to spice up the character interac- tion. Don't expect the standard buddy-buddy team dynamic between these heroes—after a few levels of cooperation, a serious philosophical rift begins to erode their fragile friendship. The squabbles get pretty serious...you might even see some solo mis- sions before the quest is over. Watch the sparks fly this November. Tugo must у ИС itis mission. Hugo, the son of Lucia, Karaya Clan chief, sets off to help bring peace to a land that "T Known much grief. The fates of three opposing heroes are (s altered in a battle A will и. the destiny of the entire land. Uncover the 108 Stars of Destiny, create а hor; and castle town, discover the secrets of the 27 True Runes, and save if world from destruction. Mesi SUM . s سے‎ n PlayStation.e | KONAMI! |g SUIKODENG is a registered trademark of KONAMI COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT TOKYO, inc. ©1995, 2002 KONAMI COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT TOKYO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. Emic Dave Violence | L | . Ба PlayStation. aa © 2002 SANDLOT/BONES/ENIX. ENIX is a registered trademark of Enix Corporation. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association, All Rights Reserved. ‘i Ted А IT'S TIME FOR Я LITTLE URBAN RENEWAL M BU PREVIEWS Stripped, but still worthwhile PSone. The reason people still like owning PSones? Activision. It seems they'll never abandon the system that kicked off the Pro Skater franchise. This year it's the same story as last year: a stripped- down version of the PS2 game. We have heard rumblings that there will be a different level in this one that you won't find on PS2—but we've also heard that the PSone can't go online, so don't get cocky. If you've only read the PSone section of Previews because you're too good for the PS2 Hawk 4, then we'll reiterate. Instead of having "+ F5 50-50 + РОР а two-minute time limit, now you're in free skate once your wheels ү 2,023 hit concrete. If you feel like making cash and opening up new levels, then you can go to goal icons [in the PS2 version you talk with pedestrians, but there are no cars or peds here, which also means no skitching). You get missions, and if you complete the missions, you earn a reward. We're not sure if there are still 21 missions per level on PSone as there are on PS2, but we're guessing there will be fewer. Sorry, Charlie. One cool addition to this year's game is the return of Bob Burnquist. He went to skate for ESPN, but now he's back where he belongs. With us. Give him a virtual hug this November. ШО Ё” ROOKIE SCORE 10,000 Р15 1 0871 PRE-ORDER PIPELINE е your conn PUBLISHER RELEASE DATE CE |. PSone. Talk about licensing magic! Conflict: Desert Storm Gotham Games 10/1/02 With a surefire hit movie sequel on the way and a new book coming—someday— Grandia Xtreme Enix 10/1/02 Harry Potter is still quite a powerful property, EA Games is prepared to take advantage of that with its own sequel this November, expanding on the original Hitman 2: Silent Assasin Eidos 10/3/02 PSone game with new spells, characters, locations (reportedly both larger and more interactive] and minigames. Most notable of these are the newly revamped legaia 2: Duel Saga Eidos 10/4/02 Quidditch matches and training; players are now expected to perform more com- plicated maneuvers, including flying under the stands to evade a charmed BloodRayne Majesco Sales 10/4/02 tighter, and the diferent levels of training (there dour, overseen by Oliver Wood Run like Hal теру 10/10/02 с Eee cM deben ООЛАК and до through the ring you missed. So dust off the Nimbus and get ready to fly! TimeSpliters 2 и 10/11/02 Conflict Zone Ubi Soft 10/17/02 IHRA Drag Racing 2 Bethesda Softworks 10/17/02 shack: Treasure Hacker Bandai America 10/17/02 The Sum of All Fears Ubi Soft 10/17/02 The Lost Crave Entertainment 10/18/02 Simpsons Skateboarding Electronic Arts 10/18/02 Dragon's Lair 3D. Encore Software 10/18/02 Silent Scope 3 Konami 10/18/02 Fisherman's Bass Club Tommo 10/18/02 Vexx Acclaim 10/21/02 Pro Race Driver CodeMasters 10/24/02 NBA 2K3 Sega 10/25/02 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Rockstar Games 10/25/02 H2Overdrive Crave Entertainment 10/26/02 Reign of Fire bam! entertainment 10/26/02 Evil Twin Ubi Soft 10/29/02 NBA Live 2003 Electronic Arts 10/31/02 Worms Blast Ubi Soft 10/31/02 Red Faction 2 THQ 10/31/02 Pro Rally 2002 Ubi Soft 11/1/02 NHL 2K3 Sega 11/1/02 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 Activision 11/1/02 PREORDERPIPELINE.COM Release dates sut change. Visit us Online for cu normation. EVERYONE Visit www.esrb.org or call 1-800-771-3772 for Rating Information. PlayStation.e d Ср ROM POWERED BY: CARS LIKE THESE AREN’T EXPORTED. THEY ESCAPE. Ferocious beasts like the Lamborghini Murciélago, Porsche Carrera GT and Ferrari 360 Spider” are born to run. And run fast. Cut one loose on heavily trafficked public roads with unpredictable conditions and waiting police cruisers. Avoid recapture or spend the next 5-to-10 in captivity. Take the reins at needforspeed.com. eagames.com зап Arena is i possible: to Vo down; and multi-player.” у миши бы Sors limbless hero will soon strong-arm У Һе competition...” -Ninten do Power | è ШШ „Ж ав; EVERYONE Mild Violence MHIL | Mun. mor BIRE vertainiméut lago are registered te d АА оно Corpora 244 Py TO THE ЕИН BHTTLE TO THE ЕПИ tiplayer mayhem Rayman styl PTS uud ВЕРЕ есго5$ 15 obstacle filled racecourses and af Here's a tip: keep one eye on the Might smoke’em all. INTERACTIVE Own the movie on DVD! MATURE BLOOD and GORE VIOLENCE PlayStation.? XO Ox соп5ите5 you” ps er. ВИННИ" fii ЦР. Publishes! and di d trademarks or trademark fos. Licensed by хозой, ели. and the Xbox You've pever“seen а game like this before. Now, your survival depends on leadership, firepower, and your ability to сого] fear. 2 “A horrific alien virus runs rampant, but do you know who's ‘infected "and who ‘isnt? You'll need the trust of your squad to survive. But ‘if you capt control their fear, they might КИ each other, ‘take their own lives, oh decide to take di Be aware. ОУ am Don’t let paranoia К you. www.the station Magazine (59) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine ast year, when we entered Rockstar Games’ urban castle to see Grand Theft Auto Ill for the first time, we immediately sensed anxiety about their soon-to-be-released creation. They were proud parents, but nervous parents, too. Was their game going to work? Would people like it? Would people get it? Would they come to love it? Funny how that works. A year later GTA3 is the best-selling PlayStation 2 game (7 million sold as of Sept. 1), the entire franchise has amassed 12 million in sales (5 million of the GTA PSone titles have now sold), and it's on a very quick pace to become the greatest-selling video game of all-time. Get this: 100,000 copies of the game sell each week. Which makes us wonder: What took those other people so freakin' long? It's all just numbers, of course. We know that. But herein lies one of the great phenomenons of our time: Grand Theft Auto's leading the charge that's putting video games on the mainstream map. The game's mete- oric rise and ongoing popularity is a testament to the fact that anyone and everyone will play a game if it's bril- liant, accessible, hilarious and more than anything, fun to play. We remem- ber sending an e-mail to the creators of the game last year, after we had seen it, thanking them for making GTA3, for taking the chance to make something so vastly fascinating and 50 layered and rich with detail. When we sent that e-mail last August, Rockstar was worried that their game might not find an audience. This year they're confidently releasing Vice City, a game so magnificently rich, so superbly detailed, it doesn't just improve on the amazing GTA3, it puts it to shame. “It's an obvious thing for us to say this is just a start. But we mean it," says Sam Houser, president of Rockstar Games. "We're really into it, and we want to make these f—king cool games and put people in these brilliant places." Because of the shocking brilliance of the GTA PS2 universe, it means that ОТАЗ has done what we were '80s FLASHBACK: DO YOU REMEMBER... Piano ties and skeleton shirts? Fashion-past is always a good goof, but there was a lot of pride associat- ed with wearing those ridiculous piano ties. Don't get us started on the dopey skeleton shirts. DRIVE ВЕ LUS BA UT 11 GAMECUBE BLOODRAYNE.COM DRAYN E ec» Blood and Gore У А Strong Language P. 5 Violence О Сал ОВ оО П асаана ©2002 Terminal Reality. Developed by Terminal Reality. Licensed to and published by Majesco Sales, Inc. ©2002 Majesco Sales, Inc. All qus Reserved. PlayStation’ and the ‘PS’ Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. TM, € and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. ©2001 Nintendo. 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. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. PlayStation.2 MATURE Са CONTENT RATED BY ESRB Ken Rosenberg Though Ken's been working with the mob since 1978, he’s always on the outside looking in. A low-rent lawyer who strives to achieve “gang- ster chic,” Ken is high-strung, whiny-voiced and constantly over-excited. He was part of the drug deal gone bad in the opening sequence, and if Vercetti doesn't fix things, Rosenberg knows he'll be sleepin’ wit" da fishes. THE PENTHOUSE SUITE dreaming of when the PS2 launched. It's stomped through the games industry with a puffed chest and a piss-off attitude and a sense that if you want to make something way above and beyond anything else on the store shelf, you can. "You don't have to go that deep into a game to make it really fun," says Terry Donovan, chief operating offi- cer/VP of marketing for Rockstar Games. “1 spent $300 online, buying games the other night, and all of those games are going to be really average, but l'm going to get some fun out of them. | don't think people put as much attention or care into any one of those games as we did with GTA3 or Vice City, and on one level | don't really care. Because | can go have a little bit of fun with them. But if you put some of the stuff we do in context, it takes a different level of care and a different level of under- standing." Putting it in context is the hard part. Try explaining СТАЗ to someone. Go on. On-the-fly gangster film? Living, breathing city? These are terms we've used, but they don't give the scale of what's happening. The scope is too big. Consider that scope expanding to about two and a half times the size for Vice City. In every way. There used to be three hours of audio; now there will be 10. There used to be less than 20 songs; now there are more than 80. There used to be 50 vehicles; now there are 120. There used to be 25 weapons; now there are over 40. But again, just numbers. Until you've actually played Vice City, you can't truly know what we know, which is that it's more com- plete, more refined, more stylized, more detailed, more shiny, more, more, more. "| think Vice City is above and beyond all the gangster and street stuff," says Houser. "It's brilliant, immersive interactive entertainment, and that's what | like about it. It's a compelling way to tell an interac- tive story." "Try the word epic," says Donovan. "Given the Rockstar philosophy, it's slightly more than a film now. You '80s FLASHBACK: DO YOU REMEMBER... The Year of the Balk? In 1988, Major League Baseball decided to pay attention to the balk, demanding that a pitcher make a deliberate stop in his motion. Just one reason why games take so long in 2002. While the whispers of interior locations have been confirmed, there's one indoor environment you don't know about just yet. Sure, there's a bustling disco for shaking your ass, a busy airport (com- plete with lengthy security lines!) and the hotel you've taken up residence in (it's also your save point, instead of some ramshackle garage). But there's one specific spot that caught our eye: the penthouse suite perched above it all. If you can fol- low the Jefferson's example by "movin' on up,” then maybe you'll be looking over the ocean from 40 stories up someday soon. ««BLUE THUNDER, OLIVER NORTH, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF, PARACHUTE PANTS?» Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine " CONTENT RATED BY ESRB ' sn - K а ‘The Scorpion Kfng: Rise of the Akkadian interactive game © 2002 Universal | 8. Scorpion King and related characters are TM and © of Universal Studios. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. Ай rights reserved. A note to parents; The Scorpion King is rated PG-13. с. filmfatings.com for more informa b ratings in. making Viewing ss for children, "PlayStation" and the "PS" family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. TM, ®, the N nu Nintendo Gar rademarks of Nintendo, The ratings icon 1 а registered trademark of the Interactive Digital Association. M 4 A | A— a. Blood "ad Violence SUMMONERZ .COM PlayStation. www.thq.com Ricardo Diaz One of the true snakes in Vice City, Diaz bribed the INS for his Green Card back in “78. The Columbian native now has his hand in every narcotics cookie jar around town. While he's publicly generous and hands out big wads of cash to charities, this sleaze-ball features unpredictable behavior, a Napolean-complex and a massive gun collection. answering. Then | е us. And I'm like, wait, I was months ago, sitting in these bad When you start meeting with these com | that. That equation е, this. And no, thats. things work! ‘i <> standing of who you're going to beat- up, see or interact with later on.” "In GTA3, | think the missions that people really, really like are the mis- sions like ‘Kill Salvatore,” Houser continues. “You just worked with this guy for a long time, he stabbed you in Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine the back, you know who he is and why you have to take him out. That makes sense to people. In Vice City there's more of that sense of development and motivation, which is something | think was missing in СТАЗ.” Having a character with a voice, a name and motivations is an obvious move. A mute main character in GTA3 limited the game's cinematic feel, and how many times during your GTA3 time did you want to tell some Mafia lowlife to screw off? Now Vercetti does it for you. Talking back is a minor bonus; the new cutscenes are the feature to get excited about. The plot twists, which were shocking and revolutionary in GTA3, are back with a little something extra. "We wanted to give the sense of story a twist from last time. So it doesn't feel like, at any level, you're playing the same game as you played with GTA3," says Houser. "Obviously it looks better, the missions are a lot more sophisticated, the missions are built a lot more into the story of the game. Last time you had choices, but when it was finished you ended up in the same place. We like that model, but we wanted to do something a bit different this time." The details are veiled in secrecy, 50 we couldn't figure if these "twists" would parallel the genius script of the last game or if Vice City would have multiple endings. We didn't want to guess, either. If there's anything we've learned from our many hours with Hands Across America? Оп May 25, 1986, more than 5 million Americans joined hands, trying to make a chain from New York City's Battery Park to a pier in Long Beach, California. Ronald Reagan even showed up, dis- regarding the advice of his aides. GTA3, it's that we were always spun on our head when we played the pre- diction game. Too many twists, turns and betrayals. After more prodding and finger-crossing we were clued in, with stubborn ambiguity, to this care- fully worded teaser: "If we were any other company, or in any way sensible, we would have probably just done more of the same," says Donovan. “Risk is the only way we've gotten here; you have to risk everything all the time. There were some mind-blowing things in GTA3, but there's too much at stake creatively, too much of a chance to do something cool with Vice City. Let's just say that the gameplay changes about halfway through the game. The whole game- play mechanic changes. Suddenly your motivations take on a whole new meaning. And it becomes very non-linear.” т 4 И иодешиојиј биден 10} 6146-11 1-008-1 Цер ло бло‘алзэ‘ммм PISIA 74) = Steve Scott A film director who is a fan of the finer things in life—namely sharks and mashed potatoes— Steve Scott rubs elbows with anyone involved in Vice City's organized crime ring. His sole purpose in life? To score barrels of cash for his latest film. But with all the buxom babes in Vice City, we figure he has an eye out for a willing, doe-eyed beauty for his next flick. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine PERIOD PIECE James Cameron can have the Titanic, Martin Scorcese can figure out New York City in the 1800s, but Rockstar has laid serious claim to the 1980s, and has done it in superb fashion. Remember the "805? That unwholesome decade of excess and sin? Marked by a booming economy, а numbskull actor-turned-president, cocaine in droves, car phones (not cell phones], mullets, the A-Team, leg warmers, big hair and Michael Jackson playing the role of a musi- cal god, the "805 were so full of cringeworthy cheese that it’s easy to forget there was—trust us—some cool stuff going down. Miami Vice 15 a prime example. “It was out of control how big Miami Vice was,” says Sam Houser. “They were the biggest stars in this country, and if you go back to watch it, it's like a mission in our game. It's very well put together. I’m a massive fan of Michael Mann, and when you watch it, the gadgetry, the detailing, the cars, the way they hold the weapons, a lot of that style is in Miami Vice and now in Vice City.” But as cool and as popular as Miami Vice was, it still comes off as comical when viewed in hindsight. Rockstar is applying that exact formu- la to Vice City, making humor (again) а big part of their game. Remember how funny GTA3 was? Those commer- cials could get a chuckle even after you've heard them 65 times. It was splendidly subtle, and therein lied the guffaws. So gleaning a decade known for bad hair and worse clothes, there's plenty of source material to score laughs. “You know, there's no way Scarface or Miami Vice or Less Than Zero or Goodfellas set out to be particularly funny,” says Donovan. “They seam- lessly integrated style and fashion and they made those layers work togeth- er. Yet, in the middle of every Miami Vice there's almost always a full pop video. It's insane. How did they get away with that?" The trick for Rockstar to achieve their clever, ironic pasting of the '80s '80s FLASHBACK: DO YOU REMEMBER... When The Joker murdered Robin? In 1988's Death in the Family, [Batman No. 428], The Joker mur- dered Robin. But who really killed him? You. Fans dialed in to vote on Robin's fate. He died by 72 votes. < оешма "uoneuuoju| бицен 104 2126-111-008-1 Цер 40 бло'алземмм JISIA D RAY LIOTTA Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Tommy Vercetti, voiced by Ray Liotta Before GTA%s release, Rockstar was gunning to get the Goodfellas star into the fold, but they couldn’t get a deal together in time. For the sequel, they weren't going to let him slip through the cracks. In Vice City, Liotta plays the lead role as ex-con Tommy Vercetti. His soft, haunting voice reminds us of what a badass he was in Goodfellas. Filmography If you don’t know the name Ray Liotta, shame on you. But instead of belittling you the way you should be belittled, we offer up a list of Liotta’s most noteworthy flicks, splitting them between the ones you should see, and those you should definitely avoid. THE WORTHWHILE I Goodfellas (1990) № Сор Land (1997) E Field of Dreams (1989) E Heartbreakers (2001) E Muppets From Space [I99] THE TO-BE-AVOIDED № John Q (2002) MHannibal(2000) — ША Rumor of Angels (2000) оо oS № № Escape (1994) Liotta's Revenge If you were sensi- ble, you figured Vice | City was Liotta’s video-game debut, and for the most part, you're right. While his voice wasn'ta part of the 1994 Genesis and SNES title No Escape {based on the awful film], his likeness was used. He's even featured in full pho- tographic glory on the game box! 2116-1121-008-1 Ио Јо боја" ммм Л е “prn чиодопроцј 4 МИ "иодешиојиј биден 20} ЕШ ЕДД Auntie Poulet Of all the personalities and characters swarm- ing around Vice City looking for their piece of pie, we have it on good authority that you don't want to make the mistake of double crossing Auntie Poulet. This larger-than-life Haitian matriarch knows a thing or two about a thing or two, and she's a dangerous fang of venom if you get on her bad side. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine is that they don't feel they're at the mercy of their influences. They're merely using those wacky 10 years as a backdrop for stylizing the game and giving them a contemporary slant. "The '80s are only used to give the game a spin, to make it feel differ- ent," says Houser. "We're going back in time and we're telling a story, a story that happened. Though Vice City. is clearly set in the "805, it's very clearly a 2002 reflection on the '80s. It's clearly hindsight being used here. It's not like, You are in 1986!" "The game is very funny and sensi- tive to the time, but you can only make those jokes because it was 15 or 16 years ago," Donovan says. "If you don't couch stuff in black humor, you lose taste. And you can't do СТА without a sense of taste, without a boundary line, without the overpro- tection of pastiche." Understand, though, that Rockstar's take on the '80s is more than just quips about mullets and Social commentary on outdated ‘leisure suits. There's some deep- seeded stuff at work that subtly authenticates their efforts. "Less Than Zero captures the horri- ble cocktail of success and depres- Sion and depravity," Donovan says. "Arguably, my favorite moment in any film is when Jamie Gertz is asked, ‘Are you happy?’ And she says, Мо. But do | look good?’ You know, that's so Vice City. | look f—king phenome- nal and my soul is in threads." That sense of depravity and suc- cess is fueled by a seemingly never- ending soundtrack that adds a whop- ping layer to the game. From leather- and-studs rock to hilariously synthe- sized new wave pop, Rockstar is fill- ing the airwaves with some of the best and worst hits of a decade that skilled musicians seemed to avoid. “In the first game there were about three-and-a-half hours of music, this time there will be nine hours," says Houser. "We're very confident that it'll be better than anything any game or any film has ever done. Partly because of sheer size, but also because, well, we have confidence in our taste in music." '80s FLASHBACK: DO YOU REMEMBER... When televangelist Orel Roberts asked for a fast $2 million? That's right! This class act said God would strike him down if he didn't score $2 million from his viewers. The odd part? People sent him cash! Blondie - iS" cnl Iron Maiden If you don't get enough Vice City music while playing, you'll like that Rockstar and Sony Music (Epic Records] inked a seven- album deal so you can listen to the sound- track in your own car. The albums will release on Oct. 29. Each album will feature music from a different radio station. “It's an enormous deal," said Donovan. “It's the biggest soundtrack for anything ever. They're great albums." Espantoso (Jazz) “Expansions” by Lonnie Liston Smith Fever 105 (Soul/Disco) “Summer Madness” by Kool and the Gang “Ghetto Life” by Rick James Flash (Pop) “Out of Touch” by Hall & Oates “Self Control” by Laura Branigan Emotion (Anthems) “Just Died in Your Arms Tonight” by Cutting Crew V-Rock (Rock) 2 “You Got Another Thing Coming” by Judas Priest ^ JA “Two Minutes to Midnight” by Iron Maiden Wave 103 (New Wave) “Atomic” by Blondie “99 Luftballoons” by Nena "| Ran" by Flock of Seagulls Wildstyle (Hip Hop/Electronic) “The Message” by van Grandmaster Flash “Get It Girl” by 2 Live Crew When Michael Jackson was black? The King of Pop used to have a little more pigmentation before his thou- sandth skin-lightening treatment. At that point, Michaels face also fea- tured a nose and lips. No longer. grand | ay [үт Official US. PlayStation Magazine The diverse soundtrack features mustachioed talents like Hall & Oates, Rob Halford from Judas Priest "singing," one-hit wonders galore, and MTV savior Ozzy Osbourne from his “Bark at the Moon” days. Yowser. “The music is from every label on Earth,” says Donovan. "It's just been six months of hard, grinding work. _ Because you're talking about tracks that have four members, four man- agement teams, anything up to four publishers, one record label and all of those people have approval over what you do. We avoided this in the past, but for this we couldn't." The music-picking process was simple: Rockstar bought every album they thought might work for Исе City and listened to tunes while driving around in ОТАЗ. "There's a certain tempo of record that works well in the game," says Dan Houser. "It can't be too fast, because this isn't a pedal-to-the- metal driving game, so there has to be a certain swing to it." A lot of music, a ton of music actually (look for particulars about their seven-album mega-deal with Sony on page 175), is outstanding, but radio stations make their money on advertising. With more tunes than ever, the number of witty, high-con- cept commercials has tripled from 20 to 60. “One of the things about СТАЗ that spurred us on was that if you're going to play a game for 100 hours, we wanted to make that experience as rich as possible," Donovan says. If you wonder if people bother lis- tening to the commercials, consider that Rockstar sold out of T-shirts for. the fake companies created for the game. Pogo the Monkey was inar- guably our favorite. In Rockstar We Trust What was your favorite part of GTA3? Discovering the Insane Stunt Jumps, finding the hidden packages, punch- ing out clueless pedestrians, flipping the channels on the radio, stuffing your car full of prostitutes, meeting with immaculately voiced bad guys, flying the Dodo? Expect even more facets with Vice City. There are now planes, helicopters and boats, which allow for an altogether new dynamic. The boats are much more integral because of all the waterways. Plus they're a hell of a lot faster. The whole city is bigger, but more importantly, it's not Liberty City plus. It's a new city for you to work, play and steal in. "We could've added 30 or 40 or 50 missions in Liberty City and most people would've been happy. It would've been very straightforward to do, and it would've been accessible," says Houser. “I think a lot of people are just expecting a mission pack. But that's bollocks. GTA3 had a great impact on people, and we wanted to recreate that impact. It was difficult, but we had to do it. You can't keep. everyone happy all the time, but the cool things about GTA3 have been taken to the next level." The "next level" means some kick-ass, all new surprises. Think about the Dodo. Apparently Rockstar just threw it in there, but even they didn't anticipate that it would gain such a huge following. But that's exactly the point. The user defines the experience. It's a product of freedom. It's a wonder why other game makers haven't busted their humps around the clock, figuring out how to follow Rockstar's lead. "With GTA3, we just made a world and let people do what they wanted," says Houser, "While you're in a mis- sion you don't have to go around whacking innocents and cops. But if you want to, you can. And that’s always been the angle, since very early on. ‘I don't want to do a mission, | just want to fart around doing a sub- "805 FLASHBACK: DO YOU REMEMBER... Who Shot J.R.? While John Hinckley tried to impress Jodi Foster by gun- ning for the president on live TV, most of America was more con- cerned with who put a bullet in J.R. Ewing, from Dallas. он ао ү mE S wg 9»: Get ready to come to blows with over 130 types of enemies hell-bent on making mincemeat out of you and your party. Traverse 8 wild elemental lands while discovering the depths of the newly tuned Grandia combat and magic systems and tackling the most brutal Grandia yet. It's not called xtreme for nothing. ہے мм PlayStation.2 Mild Violence Mild Language e PlayStation.2 91997. 1999. 2000 GAME ARTS. ©2002 GAME ARTS/ENIX. ENIX is a registered trademark of Enix Corporation. Grandia is a trademark of Game Arts Co. Ltd Characters designed by Kamui Fujiwara, "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All Rights Reserved WWW.ENIX.COM ја Mitch Baker — ne ех-Мат vet won the Purple Heart 19 out an entire village of Viet Cong. puse his time in Vietnam. Now a motorcycle. enthusiast, he's also a lawless degenerate bit- — ter about the treatment of war veterans. He |. likes pinball, pool, hard rock, public urination _ and fist fights, He also likes hell-raising, which — is d he's been in j o 13 times. à 5 SERIOUS STOPPING POWER Shooting out car tires was the next logical step (we've seen it in every action movie since muskets were invented), but you had to know that Rockstar would push that envelope to the table's edge in their newest game/film. Another way to slow down that runaway ride is to pull out your sniper rifle and put a bullet through the windshield! That's right, folks, if you're about to get a mouth full of grisly car grille, you can curb the vehicle with a bit of accurate aim. If you miss, of course, you can forget about walking for six to eight weeks. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine game or riding around on a bike or driving a car. Or maybe I'll get a flamethrower." Creating freedom in an interactive experience and constructing a world where anything goes is quite a feat. Adding to that seems like the greater challenge. But that’s what Rockstar loves to do. "We hardly ever get an idea sent into the Rockstar mailbox or on a message board that we haven't already had," Donovan told us. "Because if you've had a group of people living with the game for seven or eight years, obviously, all you do is dream about the things you haven't done yet." So, what's the secret? How do they decide what goes in and what gets cut? "If it's fun, it's going in,” says Houser. "We go online and read what people want, and it's a little out there. Most people just want what we want, but someone on the site said they want children and animals in the game, and we're like, Why?' They're u—ÀÁ у 100 Y 100 not fun; they're not funny. We're trying to depict the same kind of stuff you find in similarly relevant gangster movies and TV shows and popular culture. The mass-market stuff." The GTA rip-offs are starting to roll in, and some companies are aiming to create more mature titles because they think they'll sell. But they're all missing something. “The Getaway and games like that are missing what's cool about GTAS," Houser continues. "The GTA series has a lot of personality and vibe about it, it's just that ОТАЗ showed it off [graphically]. It's a game that's really in your face and reacts to you. It talks back to you. The other games don't do that. | don't talk about the competi- tion, but it surprises me that now there are people that are saying, ‘Wow, | guess we should do mature titles. Let's add in X, Y, Z, now focus test and boom, here's the game! And | say no, no, no. You can't make games like that! Do | want to go down the path or do | want to stray from it? In our game you have that choice. That's what people aren't getting." Apparently. But we raised our hand "805 FLASHBACK: DO YOU REMEMBER... M-M-Max Headroom? Ahead of his time, this famous video drone—and Coca-Cola spokesperson—was acted out by Matt Frewer. Here's а Trivial Pursuit shocker: Max was never computer-generated. СВЕТЫ 510250052 HER HURT EPI WS NOVEMBER 2887 Visit wwwesrb.org or call 1-800-771-3772 for more info. with one concern: Will it be fun to do all the old stuff in a different land- scape? So, if you're asking that ques- tion, you're not alone. "| wondered: How fun is that going to be in a new city? But the things I thought | was tired of doing in the original game, I’m pumped about doing again,” says Houser. “It became very fun because of all the new toys and people and things that go with it. If the impact is there for someone like me, who spends a lot of time with it, | think people will really get into it. | was playing, and | pulled out this big handgun and | saw a guy riding by on a bike so | shot him. He fell off and the bike went spinning. | was like, yeah, that's quite fun." "We have the luxury of being in such a pathetically young industry that there's no one around to say, "That's probably not a good idea,’ or, "People probably won't like that,” says Donovan. "We've met a lot of people in the last year from outside this industry, because the phone started ringing somewhat. And they're like, ‘How do you do it? And our answer is, We just do what we like.’ No one wants to buy our answer." THE '80S ARE AROUND THE CORNER You feel a sense of ownership. You bought 6743 the day it came out. You learned to fly the Dodo before any of your buddies, and you found all 100 hidden packages without a cheat sheet [which took a few minutes longer than infinity]. You're still play- ing the game three hours a week, and you can't wait for a sequel. You and everyone else. Grand Theft Auto ЇЇ! made some- thing amazing happen. Rockstar created an interactive world that you lived in at your house, that we lived in at our apartments, while 7 million other players were having a unique experience while living inside that same world. Some peo- ple play for three hours sniping innocents without ever bothering to complete a mission. Others are so polite they slow down so they don't run over pedestrians. Avery Carrington This big-belt buckle wearin’, bolo tie lovin’, strong willed Southerner don't cotton to thug- gish locals. At 51, he figures when the Lord's ready to take him to heaven, he'll be ready to go. But that time ain't come just yet. A man of immovable principles and absolute faith (both of which he shared with his beloved "Daddy"), this is one of Vice City's most dangerous men. STAR POWER Tf you're keeping up with things, you know Ray Liotta is the voice of main character Tommy Vercetti. You might even know there are over 20 celebs lending their pipes to other characters in Vice City. While we don't want to tell you all of the biggest names (there have to be some surpris- es—like when you first heard Michael Madsen in. — GTA3), how about we tell you about these three big-timers: actor Dennis Hopper, porn-star Jenna Jamison and Hall of Fame defensive епд/ех-соке — addict Lawrence Taylor. How's that wet your celeb whistle? Now it all gets to start over with Vice City. Bigger, better, faster, more. Everything applies. It's everything you've been waiting for, and every- thing you don't expect. We are often very picky about the games we play at home, because where's the cultural impact? Who are we going to talk about games with when we hit a bar to have a drink? But we can't wait to spend our 100 hours with Vice City, just so we can trade adventures at the local tavern. That's what GTA has effectively done: It's penetrated our culture in such a way that it's some- thing to talk about, the same as Tom Cruise's latest average performance or Madonna's most recent chart-top- per. Hallelujah. "Liberty City was the worst city on Earth. Vice City is very different, it's simply not the worst city on Earth. It has glamour, underbelly, and the two live together in a very interesting cocktail of emotion. Vice City will be When the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up? The defining tragedy of the '80s, the Challenger took off in January 1986 and blew up within minutes. Seven were killed, includ- ing a public school teacher. bigger than 6743," Donovan says. "It's that simple. Why is it now? It should be now. The technology's there, the enthusiasm’s there, now let's f—king get on with it.” <> бв) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine 0 Ме. November Master Gamer Thanks to CompUSA, you can join game fox" and get free entry and а chance to win big prizes in our tournaments, 40% off on games and accessories" , and access to à huge selection of hardware. Game fixx gamers enjoy priority order status online, so you can stop counting the days until а new product is released. Sign up for game fixx and browse our massive selection online or in а CompUSA store. Join game fixx and master the gaming world today. game fix гм ^ our Со! we're your connection! *For more details go to: http://gamefixx.compusa.com/gamecard/default.asp " fi rd/default. ‘ 18% pusa сот! K © 2002 CompUSA Management Company. CompUSA and CompUSA The Computer Superstore are registered trademarks marks and game fixx is a service mark of CompUSA Management C отрапу. REVIEWS GAMES REVIEWED PS2 Games Blade II Commandos 2 PSone Games Gundam Battle Assault 2 . .196 Madden NFL 2003 Defender NFL GameDay 2003 Grandia Xtreme ... NASCAR Thunder 2003 ... Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 NHL Hitz 20-03 . RLH: Run Like Hell Robotech: Battlecry The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian Sega Bass Fishing Duel ... Sega Soccer Slam Silent Scope 3 Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus Sub Rebellion Summoner 2 The Thing ... Tribes Aerial Assault Turok: Evolution Ty the Tasmanian Tiger . Wild Arms 3 THE FINAL SCORE еве We rate games оп a five-point scale. So, .5 is terrible, 2.5 15 mediocre and 5 is superb. Get it? JOHN DAVISON John bravely bowed to the "805 theme of the issue by dredging up this pic from his glory days of pro gressive metal. Dig those locks, ladies! GARY STEINMAN For Gary, fashion and music began and ended in the "805. Which is why he might visit Vice City, despite all the icky violence there. JOE RYBICKI In 1983 Joe's dad brought home an IBM PC and a copy of Zork Il—the rest is history. He's still stuck in “maximum verbosity” mode. TODD ZUNIGA SAM KENNEDY Infinite video- gamin’, feathered hair and tight-rolled jeans defined ‘80s Todd. And chick- lessness. The more things change... os д CHRIS BAKER Often clad in IZOD, Chris regularly used his Laser Tag gun to pretend he was Luke Skywalker... and this month, he actually met him! like Shinobi and Sam so hooked on games. Playing them now on PS2, he feels just like a kid again. (82) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine In the mid-'80s, titles Contra were what got ==. E SLY COOPER AND THE THIEVIUS RACCOONUS Spyro meets Crash meets..Solid Snake? Publisher Sony CEA Developer Sucker Punch Web Site www.scea.com omething happened while S^ Sly that I've never experienced before. Maybe it's just because I’m a bit lazy, but most platform games that lean heavily on the collection mechanic leave me pretty cold. | liked Jak and Daxter, but | had по real inclination to finish it with 100 percent cleared. Sly is different, though. I'm obsessed. | spotting neat little touches. This keeps the game interesting to watch even when you're revisit- ing a level for the umpteenth time to unlock one of the final extras. The meat-and-potatoes of the game is probably pretty much what you're expecting. It's a slick platform adventure that presents you with a series of hubs from which to visit specific levels, col- lect the necessary goodies and leave the level, Beating levels gives you keys, keys open up new areas, and new areas offer new challenges. Like its spiritual predeces- sors, Spyro and Crash, the gameplay isn’t just hopping and bopping. Aside from the jumping, collecting, running, swinging, sneaking, stealing and hitting things with a big hook on the end of a stick, the game also fea- tures a plethora of simple but incredibly fun mini-games. Variations on Super Sprint, Robotron, Asteroids, turret- “None of the levels are too long, based shooters and, erm, a thing where you run around catching but they all offer challenges that chickens white avoiding tomb- let you grow with the game.” beat the main portion of the game fairly quickly, but for once that wasn’t enough—I had this uncontrollable urge to go back and find everything. | haven’t been this hooked оп a plat- former since Crash: Warped. So what's different? At first you may think it’s just because it's a very pretty game. There's no denying that the visual style Sucker Punch has established is absolutely stunning. The art itself is distinctive and unique, while the animation is slick, car- toon-like and filled with humor. The guys behind this title really seem to have a handle on how to pull off subtle visual gags, so much so that you are constantly toting roosters, keep the pace of the game varied and exciting. None of the levels are too long, | but they all offer challenges that let you grow with the game. The real hook for me was the unlockables. Aside from simply beating a level, there are two other significant challenges for you to meet. First, dotted around most levels are bottles contain- ing clues. Collect all of the clues and you can break into a safe where a page from the Thievius Raccoonus (the book that teach- es young Sly how to be а thief) is stashed. Each page provides a special “commentary” track for that level, just like the director's tracks found on most DVDs these days. Control is tight and instantly accessible. Some of the seem- ingly more complex moves—the ones that involve leaping off a wall, hooking onto something with your stick, swinging, jump- ing and then landing with a flourish on nothing more than a twig—are actually easier than they look. The control system “Like its spiritual predecessors, Spyro and Crash, the gameplay isn't just hopping and bopping.” new skill that in turn makes col- lecting further clue bottles easi- er. Again, the pacing and struc- ture of the game means that the process of achieving goals and being rewarded is sufficiently frequent that you always feel like you're doing something new. Once you've collected all the pages of the Thievius Ráccoonus you then get to go back to each level to try to beat it within a set time limit. Beat the clock and you get to open upa "и evolves with you as you open up all the new skills, and pretty much everything that would be otherwise complicated is con- text-sensitive. If Sly needs to sneak up against a wall, Solid Snake-style, he'll know that’s what you want to do when you walk up to a wall and hit the Circle button. Simple design thoughts like this just don't show up as often as we'd like. If there are any complaints, the only thing | can think of is that you can “beat” the game т less than 10 hours. There's no way you'll have opened every- thing up in that time, but you will have seen all the levels, fought all the bosses (each of which provides a dramatically different challenge, from traditional "hit him lots" brawls to PaRappa- style memory games) and seen the first end sequence. The extra stuff really helps stretch things out, though, and if you're any- thing like me, you'll happily sit for another 10 hours to do so. Final Score John Davison тоне Players: 1 zi Memory Card: 49 KB 1). Fistovammo Blade Il 750 Blade 1 Blade II Publisher Activision Developer Muckyfoot Web Site www.activision.com If there’s one thing I've learned from Blade II, it's this: Vampires love monotony. | guess it's to be expected from a species damned to eat and drink the same thing every day, but who'd have known that within the walls of their inner sanctums—no matter how big they may be—lie multiple rooms and hallways that look almost exactly the same? In Karkov Tower, for example, go through a hallway lined either with golden dragon heads or a series of identical glass-encased statues, and you'll usually encounter a large room perfectly symmetrical in its bal- ance of computers, servers and soda machines. Vamps even take delight in saying "the Daywalker!" or "freak!" every time they see yo: Being half vampire himself, Blade appreciates the art of repeti- tive speech almost as much, be it letting you know this is "so excit- ing" or quoting Pacino with "keep your friends close, keep your ene- mies closer." He does vary things up with a cool arsenal (the boomerang-like glaive works раг- ticularly well—mostly due to poor A.I.], but when it comes to the awkward combat [which you con- trol with the right stick) Blade con- tinues to avoid diversity with a lim- ited assortment of punches and kicks. Using his sword exhilarates you and kills enemies quickly—but you can only use it for short stints. You know...to avoid monotony. Final Score @ Chris Baker Player: Memory Card: 65 KB | If | had any hair, | would have | pulled it out by now. In fact, | Commandos 2 actually had me | flailing at my scalp, grabbing fist- | fuls of imaginary hair in an | stuck, and when you get stuck in | eg Commandos 2 | Commandos 2: | Men of Courage Publisher Eidos Developer Pyro Web Site www.eidos.com extremity of frustration. | was Commandos 2 you get really stuck. | The trouble was, | was stuck on | only the second level. No, wait, | scratch that; it was the second training level—the actual game hadn't even started yet. How, you may ask, is it possible to get so stymied by what appears | to be а real-time strategy? Simple: It's not a real-time strategy at all—it's a puzzle game т camou- flage. You are given very specific | goals, and you need to divine the very specific path to these goals that the programmers had in mind. And if you happen to guess wrong, or happen to misinterpret the vague instruction you're given, ог | happen to miss one tiny element in the densely detailed prerendered environments, you're screwed. It's like those segments of /co you just could not figure out, the parts that | made you feel like your brain had | hita wall at Mach 5. Only with this game, you're not expecting it. However, as with many puzzle- solving games, when you do get it right, there's a profound feeling of accomplishment. And as you build up your cadre of nine different commandos and you learn how to use each of their unique skills effi- ciently and competently, you'll | begin to feel like a true armchair general. The question is, will you have the patience to stick with it? For me the answer was "no." If I hadn't had to review the game, | would have returned it halfway | through that second training mis- sion. [Speaking of which, I'd like to pause for a public service | announcement: There are anti- tank mines in a crate inside the | house pictured in the bottom | screen at left. You're not likely to find them on your own. | didn’t.) It's an interesting concept for a game—a war-based puzzle- solver—but for my money, it's far* too frustrating. And the fact that it looks (and loads} like a PSone game doesn't help matters. 1 can't help feeling like this game was designed by sadists, for masochists. It's that frustrating. | Final Score & Commandos 2 Joe Rybicki Player: Memory Card: 381 KB Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (83) | Defender Defender Publisher Midway Developer 7 Studios Web Site www.midway.com With Spy Hunter last year, Midway set the standard for reinvented "805 games. While Defender does- n't quite equal the year-old bench- mark, it still manages to satisfy any modern gamer out for some good ot alien blasting in futuristic spaceships. Those who can answer "yes" to all of the "Do You Remember?" events seen in this month's Vice City feature will love how closely the game sticks to its granddaddy, while those who con- sider the Sega Genesis days as “way back” can still jump in and enjoy Defender as though it were an entirely new franchise. As part of the PS2-era reinven- tion, you've got a hangar full of dif- ferent, upgradeable starfighters that you earn throughout the course of the game. Not surpris- ingly, the Defender is your most well-rounded ship, and you've just gotta love how its main lasergun sounds exactly like it did in '80. Though each ship comes equipped with many weapons, | still usually found the most basic ones the eas- iest and most fun to use. For the most part, the ships control well, and each seems to have its own personality as it whisks through the air [or trudges in the Guardian's case). However, heading them toward exact spots where there might be a power-up or a colonist falling to his doom often proves a bit too tricky. Despite its negative tone, the sentence you just finished reading likely still managed to thrill Defender veterans. Yes, rescuing colonists from the insectoid ene- mies that would otherwise eat them and become more powerful is a very important element to the game. Not only must you free and catch the captured as you did in the original, but you can also grab stranded colonists and return them to your base before the bad- dies get to them, an action that often rewards you with firepower to bolster defenses. The new story for the game has | its positives (I especially like hav- ing to work through our own solar system en route to reclaiming Earth]—but did Midway really have to call me a "Freaky Flyer" or throw in a character named "Dr. Mudo"? And two-player? Awful. Some additions to a reinvented | classic just shouldn't be made. Final Score @ Chris Baker Memory Card: 86 KB Grandia Xtreme Publisher Enix Developer Game Arts Web Site www.enix.com I've always been a big fan of the Grandia series [even despite the awful PlayStation 2 version of Grandia Il). And the reason why is the unique battle system it | employs. Although it's a turn- based setup, similar to almost any | other traditional RPG out there, it's done in such a way that it feels almost like real-time combat. You have to keep track of who's moving | next and be aware of what they're doing, whether they're charging up to cast a spell or readying a quick attack. The great part is that you can directly affect what your ene- mies will do by how you act; do a quick attack to stop them cold for a few seconds, or a heavy attack to (84 Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Grandia Xtreme make them lose their turn alto- gether. Of course, the forces massed against you have the same advantages, so even the most basic encounter requires loads of strategy. So if the fighting system's so good, why not base an entire game on it, right? Unless, of course, things like an intricate plot and large world to explore in an RPG are important to you. Make no mistake; Grandia Xtreme is a dungeon crawl. All you're really going to do in this game is fight, fight and fight. Oh, and solve a quick puzzle or three. But don't think the game is monotonous—far from it. The vari- ous levels all have different, dis- tinct themes and unique enemies to fight, so the game stays at least somewhat fresh throughout. Of course, you'll be spending hours upon hours in said dungeons, so you may be a tad bored from time to time. But still, there's enough variety here to keep you interest- ed in what amounts to doing the same thing over and over and over again. The point is that if you're not the type of RPG player who wants to endure battle after battle, level- | ing up your party and squirreling | away gold for the best weapons and items, then don't even consid- er buying Grandia Xtreme. However, if you're one of those types who have to get to the high- est experience level and cus- tomize the crap out of your party members, Grandia Xtreme is one of the best dungeon crawls you're likely to find. Final Score Ф Greg Sewart Player: Memory Card: 63 KB Hey, what's with the "honey"? You sound like were husband and wife. Let's see Grandia Xtreme NASCAR Thunder 2003 NASCAR Thunder 2003 Publisher EA Sports Developer EA Tiburon Web Site www.easports.com Last year’s Thunder was an awe- some game. It was the first time NASCAR fans were treated to a title that felt more like a sports game and less like a lame racing game with a big license attached. Well, you ain't seen nothin’ yet. Thunder 2003 takes last year's game and blows the doors off it. The Career mode alone is enough to justify buying this version. Not only are you charged with taking your home-grown race team through a 20-year dynasty, but you also have to keep tabs on things like team performance and payroll. It's a level of depth I've never seen before in a NASCAR game. But don't let that scare you rookies away. Thunder 2003 also contains a bunch of cool, helpful play settings to get you up to speed in comfort—particularly the licens- es that help you learn each track and the Thunder Challenges that introduce you to various drivers and put you in their shoes. Of course, all this is moot if the game plays like crap. No worries: Thunder 2003 handles smooth and fast, making three-wide racing at 200 mph a pleasure. If | have one complaint, it's that the race-day setup isn't really what it should be. The addition of a multi-car practice session before each event (like in real life) would put Thunder in the winner's circle. But still, you can't do any better than this for NASCAR racing on your PS2. Final Score © © e eq Greg Sewart Players: 1-4 Memory Card: 829 KB YOUR KEY TO UNLIMITED ADVENTURES... faxe YOUR GAME FURTHER UA Di т go THE KINGDOM HEARTS OFFICIAL STRATEGY GUIDE. COMING FROM BRADYGAMES FALL 2002 ене INT ER ACTIVE pomum SQUARE. SOFT Ee >, LIMBRADYGAMEY TAKE YOUR GAME FURTHER’ © 2002 Disney. Tarzan™ Owned by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. and Used by Permission. Copyright © 2002 Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. and Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved. © Touchstone Pictures. Characters from FINAL FANTASY video game series: © 1990, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002 SQUARE CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. ^^ N A E N Ос | REVIEWS NEED FOR SPEED: HOT PURSUIT 2 The operative words here are "speed" and "hot" Publisher EA Games Developer Black Box Web Site www.eagames.com 't's entirely possible that my IS enthusiasm for Need for Speed got a little boring around here lately. It's no secret that I'm a sucker for a good driving game and equally fickle when it comes to anything packed with desirable vehicles that cost as much as a small (or indeed, quite large) house. Hot Pursuit 2has everything I’ve ever wanted from a sports car racing game: Cool rides, some of the best engine noises ever committed to a gam- ing soundtrack and most impor- tantly, a sense of incredible speed and power. | don’t know about you, but if I'm behind the virtual wheel of a car that’s packing 500hp+, | want to get a sense of the stool- loosening torque when | floor the gas. If l'm cruising at 150 mph and then easing into a long left-han- der, | want the feeling of velocity to really scare the crap out of me as the tires slide across the asphalt. Everything about the control system in the game feels absolutely spot-on. It may not accurately simulate exactly how each of its cars handles in real life, but it instead provides you with the got at you. First they'll just try and catch you, then they'll try to run you off the road before eventually resorting to roadblocks, tire spikes and even a helicopter that drops flash bombs. Sounds pretty heavy, 1 know, but as with everything else here, this is just a small part of the overall experience—it encour- ages you to be very tactical about the way you race. Road blocks can be avoided, flash bombs can be dodged and cop cars can be out-driven, but "I honestly can't think of any- thing I don't like here. Wow— that's quite a statement.” look and feel that you really want that car to exhibit. If this were just an incredible selection of cars served up with the Need For Speed driving engine and a bunch of races, I'd probably be reasonably satisfied. What real- ly pushes things over the edge, though, is the fact there’s just so much for you to do in this game. Racing and winning is important enough, but you also have to con- tend with the cops, who take exception to you pushing your car north of 200 mph. If they clock you busting the limit—and let's face it, if you're not going at least twice the legal limit, you're hopeless— they'll throw everything they've Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine while you're doing this, you're also required to beat the guys you're racing against—and they all seem to have a pretty good handle on what's going on, too. As with any racing game, there are a variety of different modes to play through, but HP2 mixes things up more than most. If you want to open up every car and every track in the game, you're going to have to work through a complicated competition "tree" that requires you to race a huge range of cars, go against the clock, achieve certain results and even race as the cops from time to time. Every time you beat an objective in the competition, you open some- thing up, which invariably means a new car to add to the garage. Although the car selection isn’t as extensive as 6735, the rides offered here are all certainly desirable. Things kick off with small, lightweight speedsters like the Lotus Elise and soon move up to small coupes and high-powered sedans like the Holden GSV or BMW M5. American muscle comes in various forms including the awesome Corvette Z06, and Grand Tourers are ably represented by the Jag XJ-R and Mercedes CL. From there on things get even cra- zier. Three big names that never appear in other games (unless they're all alone] are Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche. Here you get to play in the F360 (and others], the Diablo AND Murcielago as well as the 911 Turbo. It doesn't end there, either: The game hits gearhead spank material when it dishes up the Mercedes CLR, multiple variations оп the McLaren F1 and even the Porsche Carrera concept. I'm not often moved to make really bold statements about games, but I honestly do think that this may be one of the very best racing games ever made. The combination of desirable rides, the fantastic feel, the won- derful sounds and the awesome visuals make the visceral experi- ence thrilling enough. Throw in the fact that it's as much a varied and objective-oriented game as it TRAX ATTACKS One of the first games to benefit from EA's new "Trax" music label, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 features cool remixes and tracks from a variety of artists, with the most notable coming from Uncle Kracker and Bush. Also listen for Course of Nature, The Buzzhorn, Pulse Ultra and even Canadian prog-rockers, Rush. You can also check out this month's Sound Station for full-on reviews of the lineup. is a car-lover's experience and you have something that will keep you amused for a lot longer than most driving games. | still haven't opened everything up and I've been playing as much as | can for the last few weeks. If | could think of something | didn’t like about the game, believe me, I'd say so. Looking at a review that's this glowing I'd often think, “There must be something wrong with it—what's he missing?" but | honestly can’t think of anything | don't like here. Wow—that's quite а statement. Final Score © John Davison Е Players: 1-2 Memory Card: 134 KB y 3 1 И ted st mark on the Eom in TEEN 3 ES Violenc | шр тч SRB 5 MED НЕ y: ae X e 29 sue lenratks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. NHL Hitz 20-03 Publisher Midway Developer Black Box Web Site www.midway.com Wow. l'm impressed. One of my favorite games last year, Hitz 20- 02, has grown up in a big way. In fact, Hitz 20-03 has become every- thing that Blitz could've been. ГЦ be happy to say that this is the best hockey game on the PS2. Bring on the arguments, but NHL 2003 is too bogged down with ani- mations, NHL 2K3is too serious | and FaceOff 2003 looks like it’s still оп the PSone. The door is wide open, and Hitz has stomped through on sharp skates. Do you remember the first time | you picked up ATV Offroad Fury | and it just felt right? That's the | same experience sports gamers | | | | | | | | will have with Hitz. It feels like hockey, which is the kind of inex- plicable thing that separates it from the other puck efforts. But it’s deep, too. Even though it is only 3- on-3. It makes me feel like I'm playing hockey back in 1994, when no amount of hot co-eds could convince me to put down my Genesis controller. And isn't that what hockey gamers really want? A game so good that you'll smear everything on your dry erase board so you can sit in your apartment and play until З a.m.—work, girls, social life be damned! Hitz makes it possible. The Franchise mode alone is worth 50 bucks, since you can create a team of six guys to battle against the big boys. You can name each player [it was fun for me to have all of my old roller hockey buddies back on the ice with те), then you can give them attributes. Better yet, the attributes are much deeper than last year’s game. To earn more points you'll have to bust your hump on the ice, too. One problem | have with the new game is that the -дате5, unlike last year, don’t have а соп- clusion. Which stinks. But now you can play two players, which does- n't. Also, | wish they'd have kept last year’s mini-games in. Why not? Give us more for our buck. | rarely will mention how good а game looks, because it's PS2 and | figure all quality games look about the same, but Hitz is seri- ously sharp. If you're into that sort of thing. When the puck drops, Hitz proves it's everything every other | hockey game wants to be: fun. Final Score © ө © Todd Zuniga puma Players: 1-2 Memory Card: 147 KB | RLH: Run Like Hell | Publisher Interplay Developer Digital Mayhem Web Site www.interplay.com Since its debut at E3 2000, delays have so plagued the production of Run Like Hell that you might sus- pect that several programmers | took the game's title as a personal demand and departed the project as soon as they could. That may well be the case, but at least the | game hasn't turned out to be a | total mess. While by no means "worth the wait" [for both of you hot for it), RLH still holds your interest with its Aliens-like story held together by run-of-the-mill | run-'n'-gun gameplay solid enough to stave off boredom. To look at screens of RLH, you | might assume it to be a survival- horror game with aliens. Well, a Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | | | | | | | | | the voice of Capt. Janeway does not RLH: Run Like Hell little. The game focuses on action, but features enough puzzles and startling moments to warrant dub- bing as a sort of “survival horror lite.” | actually found myself shout- ing a quick “wah!” a few times when the evil aliens jumped out of nowhere. It’s just too bad that the Shoot-'em-up gameplay setting things up is so generic. You do earn a variety of weapons through- out the game, plus the ability to upgrade them, but I still found the good ol rifle to be the most helpful in just about any situation. It's basi- cally turn the corner, kill enemies, move on. The occasional puzzles often prove more frustrating or tedious than stimulating. What really makes RLH at least worth a look is its story. Frequent cutscenes and a solid voice cast led by Millennium's Lance Henriksen establish a very cinematic feel that actually makes you wonder just what the hell is going on. The game features some unexpected graphic killings that instill in your mind just how much these alien baddies mean business. But what are they? Why are they invading your base? Have they killed your fiancée, or is she alive some- where? If so, will you be able to get to her before they do? Thinking about such things almost helps you forget about how your character looks like Herman Munster with a jaw that moves like Howdy Doody's. And I'm sorry, but fit a bipedal insectoid creature. Maybe a little more production | time could have done some good! Final Score Ө Ө e Chris Baker ШЕТ Players: 1 | а Memory Сага: 199 KB t Robotech: Battlecry Robotech: Battlecry Robotech: Battlecry Publisher TDK | Developer Vicious Cycle Web Site www.tdk-mediactive.com Mind you, I’m no giant Robotech fan, but from what | do know and remember of the series, this game represents it to a tee. The mechs, the characters, the visuals and even the music will make any Robotech freak giggle in delight. But since I'm not really one of those people, | can judge this game purely based on what it is at its core—a pretty darn cool shooter. The intensity that comes from the fantastical dog-fights—filled with swarms of missiles whizzing every which way—is simply too cool. And the fact that your Veritech can change into three dif- ferent forms (each with certain strong and weak points) adds strategy and helps mix up the gameplay. | enjoy how the game forces you to change forms in order to perform better in situa- tions,although | sometimes wish it were a little more apparent which form was best for what. Battlecry also looks friggin’ amazing—here's yet another game where cel-shading does wonders. Just wait until you see some of the space levels that are simply littered with on-screen mayhem. My only big concern with the Battlecry was its rather uneven dif- ficulty; certain missions border on frustrating. Still, when you've got a game that look and plays this good, you're not going to mind playing areas over and over again. Fan or no fan, Robotech will delight. Final Score өө Sam Kennedy The Scorpion King The Scorpion King The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian Publisher Universal Interactive Developer Point of View Web Site universal-interactive.com Okay, seriously, | just blocked a sword slash with my bare forearm. Pain-free! What would The Rock [the game's main voice actor) say? | have a pretty good idea: "The Rock says being able to block a sword with a naked fore- arm is a big load of monkey crap!" Indeed, Rock. But beyond the little complaints (like the trouble- some camera], there's a much bigger problem: The game is so mind-numbingly boring | drifted asleep while playing. The dynamic is cruelly simple. You kill all the guys in a room by hitting the same buttons over and over and over and...then the lock on the door mysteriously lifts and you can enter a new room with new adven- tures where you'll have the excit- ing chance to hit the same but- tons over and over and over. Luckily the Dual Shock 2 is built to last, because it's taken some prime punishment over the last few hours. But it's all | can take, and | can't take no more. I'm trying to figure out what kind of audience chooses to spend $50 on a game like this over something like Metal Gear Solid 2. Someone who doesn't enjoy Stealth in their gameplay? A meat- head who lives and dies with every one of the People's Champ's Rock Bottoms? Regardless, it's certain- ly not sensible gamers with free time, and it's certainly not me. Final Score ® e Todd Zuniga Players: 1 Memory КАУЕ у Unlimited Ammo. Because Reloading Takes Too Long. Exact your deadly revenge with precision and grace. Unlockable secret movies and action figures. Dramatic movie-quality cut-scenes. Super-powered special weapons. Destructible environments. Nightmarish boss battles. Disposable enemies. CONTENT RATED BY Sega Bass Fishing Duel Sega Bass Fishing Duel Publisher Sega Developer Wow Entertainment Web Site www.sega.com Zzzzzzz—huh? Wha? Oh, sorry, must have dozed off there. But come on—a fishing game. Can you blame me? Fishing games are notorious for not exactly being the most exciting genre in the whole gam- ing pantheon (and, let's be honest here, fishing itself isn't exactly a barn-burner of a sport). In fact, of all the fishing games I've played, there's exactly one that hasn't bored me out of my wits within the first hour or so. Ironically, that one was Bass Fishing Duel's predecessor, Sega Bass Fishing on the Dreamcast. The reason why the original was so stimulating (stimulating, it must be said, as compared to the rest of the fishing games on the market] is that it tried in no way to be realistic. It was all about cast and reel, baby, and the focus was on the eternal struggle between a man and his dinner. Duel, on the other hand, makes an obvious effort to up the real- ism a bit—and the results, while not disastrous, are certainly underwhelming. Far too much time is spent trawling around the lake looking for the naughty, hid- ing bass; far too little time is spent actually catching the buggers— even in the Arcade mode. Plus, if realism is your aim, how about not letting fish swim through solid objects? That'd be a step in the right direction. Final Score @@@ Joe Rybicki 1 Players: 1-2 Memory Card: 99 KB REPEAT PASS! 39 09 0 Sega Soccer Slam COMBO TOTAL 10! 4 0 Sega Soccer Slam Sega Soccer Slam Publisher Sega Sports Developer Visual Concepts Web Site www.segasports.com After the World Cup reminded me to fall in love with soccer all over again after four loveless years, | thought I'd become enough of a footy fan to like even the crappiest soccer games that came my way. But Soccer Slam does its best to be the exception to that rule. The concept is interesting: You play three-on-three with a goalie. The moves are outlandish (to avoid a slide tackle you actually do a flip with the ball in between your feet) and the shots are radical (you can pull off a Matrix moment if you press the right button combina- tion). But the game looks so bad | can't begin to like it. | feel like I'm playing a really good looking PSone game. While the game modes are cool, and the control is fine, the awful graphics just bum me out so badly | have to question getting up at 5 a.m. to see the Germany/U.S. match in SoHo. The animations look half-assed and the goalies are overly willing to get out of position and stay out | of position. I'm really ticked, too, because | thought this game would be the high-flyin' crazy character soccer game that would prove that Red Card Soccer isn't all that and a bag of soccer balls. But apparently, comparatively, it is. If you're looking for arcade soc- | cer, this isn't it. It's ugly. From the | player models to the awful looking ка Players: 1-2 turbo streak, this just ain't right. Final Score @@ Todd Zuniga A- Memory Сага: 115 KB Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | | Silent Scope 3 Silent Scope 3 Publisher Konami Developer Konami Web Site www.konami.com Considering that our major beef with the first two Silent Scopes was that there wasn't enough gameplay in them, Konami was wise to include both the arcade game of Silent Scope EX and the brand new Silent Scope 3 in this package. You're basically getting two games in one here, and both are a lot of fun, not to mention loaded with replay value. Not only is the action totally pumped up in these (there are a lot more fast-paced areas, such as helicopter and boat chases), but there is a new health bar that makes a lot more sense. The timer is even diminished in this one—it's built into your health bar and will nibble at it ever so slightly. There's also a lot more strategy, with areas that require you to take water or wind into account and spots where you need to keep your eye on multi- ple targets (such as one scene that asks you to stop a presidential assassination not unlike JFK's). It's just too bad that the games are still plagued by cheesy dia- logue and characters. | understand the need for it to be arcadey, but this really lessens the experience. But l'll say this: taking on the terrorists in these games means more to me now, post-9/11. There's one scene in particular that | didn't mind playing a couple of times— one in which you take out a bunch of terrorists trying to hijack a plane. For some, this stage alone will make 553 worth checking out. Final Score 0004 Sam Kennedy '44"82 SCORE 000] Silent Scope 3 Sub Rebellion Sub Rebellion Publisher Metro3D Developer Irem Web Site www.metro3d.com What a shame that Metro3D didn't hype this game at all! Here's one of the year's biggest surprises. Set in a futuristic world where most of the earth has been sub- merged in water, Sub Rebellion places you on the side of a rebel alliance taking on a military empire and fits you with a highly advanced sub called Chronos. What's so great about this game is that it delivers a true sensation of underwater combat without get- ting all hung up on the details that would normally lead to frustration. For example, there's no damage from bumping into walls and you don't have to constantly keep an eye on your ammo. It's all very straightforward and fun. Your sub's also equipped with what is easily one of the coolest sonar systems ever—triggering it will map out your surroundings with a wireframe that points out enemies and secret items. And speaking of the secret stuff, there's lots of treasure to collect as you go, which not only allows you to earn money for new weaponry, but also adds a ton of replay value. Plus, there's a good amount of gameplay diversity here, as combat will also often extend to above the water's surface. This adds a new level of intensity—focusing on what's above could leave you open to attacks from below. The unset- | tling feeling you'll get just proves | how good this game is. | Final Score @@@@ Sam Kennedy 2 а Only seconds remain to rescue victims from a burning high rise. You’ve gotta get in close. Will you be a rescue chopper or a massive food processor? RATING PENDING Visit www.esrb.org or call 1-800-771-3772 for Rating Information ‘CONTENT RATED 8Y ESRB © 2002 Xicat Interactive, Inc. Published by Xicat Interactive. Developed by ASK Interactive, Inc. ChopLifter, Xicat and the Xicat logo are registered trademarks 7 extra pair anbaard. ES Ny № E - Experience gut- wrenching action as you airlift victims from erupting volcanoes, fierce tornadoes, raging floods and blazing fires. ® PlayStation. You’ve maneuvered your chopper performing death - defying feats of bravery. Now, change your shorts and move on to the next mission. ask Where games meet reality. of Xicat Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. www.XICAT.com 4 Summoner 2 Summoner 2 Summoner 2 Publisher THQ Developer Volition Web Site www.thq.com The first Summoner was a game that only the most RPG-desperate gamer would enjoy. Despite the rich storyline, strong characteriza- tion and the “Summoner Geeks” movie, the game's problems were practically unbearable. The bright side to this story is that two years later, Volition has taken the criti- cisms to heart, and Summoner 2 is a far better game for it. In Summoner 2, you control lini- tially) Maia, a sturdy, strong-mind- ed warrior who also happens to be the queen of Halassar. Some folks think that she's the reincarnation of the goddess Laharah, and to her snobby credit, Maia kind of likes the idea. But in case you tire of playing as a bitchy she-warrior, you can cycle between two other allies (out of your pool of charac- ters) with the flick of a button. Each character's tendencies can be fine-tuned in the deep cus- tomization menus. Allies can be instructed to heal others automati- cally when damage is suffered, or to aggressively attack enemies. Weapons, armor and status-affect- ing accessories can also be tai- lored to taste, Much more action- intensive than the first game, Summoner 2 showcases the improved combat, but it also high- lights the engine’s many flaws. Blocking, for one, is not nearly as effective as it should be, and the controls suffer from a slight delay that reduces melees into a button-mashing frenzy. Spell- casting in battle is also half-point- less, as characters are vulnerable to attacks while they finish their healing-spell animations. Sadly, The Thing for a game with so much combat, the game offers no efficient solu- tion for when hordes of enemies surround you. This is an easy recipe for death in most instances. Graphically, Summoner 2's visuals are a considerable improvement, with sprawling vis- tas, good texture variety and wildly imaginative worlds in which to do your questing. But the reality is that this game still looks like a PC title with harsh angular edges and odd-looking characters. The ultra- linear storyline doesn’t enhance replay value either, but if you can live with these sorts of bumps, Summoner 25 action-heavy focus will keep all but the nit-pickiest gamers happy for hours on end. Final Score 00 James Mielke Publisher Vivendi Universal Developer Black Label Web Site universal-games.com I'm so thrilled that someone has finally broken the apparently iron- clad formula of survival horror games that I'm almost prepared to forgive The Thing its snarling horde of flaws. Almost. But not quite. See, for every thing The Thing does right, it does two things wrong. The good news is that the things it does wrong aren't as momentous as the things it does right, so the balance ends up slightly in the game's favor. Let's start with the good. The | Thing bears nearly no resemblance | to Resident Evil, and that's such a shocking change within this genre that it earns big points for that fact | alone. The engine is fully 3D, with Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine crisp graphics and solid controls. Item and weapon management is handled on-the-fly, and when you do have to use the menus, you'll find them sensibly laid out and generally quicker to access than the clunky genre-standard item screen. Their uniqueness makes for a steeper learning curve than you'd expect, but once you get familiar with the systems it becomes second nature. This extends to the system by | which you distribute orders (and items] to your team, whose exis- tence is another significant inno- vation in the genre. You'll need to interact with your compatriots regularly to get a sense of their state of mind; neglect them too long and they could turn on you. But this innovation is also one of the game's flaws: While it's a notable addition to the game, it has very little bearing on the actu- al gameplay. | can count on one | hand the number of times | had to really tend to a team member. It feels like a great idea that they forgot to use The game feels similarly rushed in dozens of other ways, | from the lack of music to the | fant Players: 1 strange sound glitches to the spotty boss battles to the bizarre, non-sequitur-like jumps between certain levels. (One minute I'm in а sub, then with absolutely no tran- sition I'm running across a snow- field. Huh?!) | can't help feeling like the game would have benefit- ed from another six months or so of development. At least that gives me some hope for a sequel. Final Score @@@ Joe Rybicki Memory Card: 2.5 MB Turok: Evolution Turok: Evolution Turok: Evolution | Publisher Acclaim Developer Acclaim | Web Site www.acclaim.com | was a big fan of Turok back on | the №4. It was an interesting take on the first-person shooter, and it | sold by the truckload. But the sequels each deteriorated some- what, and the trend has continued, culminating in what we have now: Evolution, a sad, painfully execut- ed experience that can't hold a candle to the former glory. The saddest thing about Evolution is that it's brimming with good ideas that are poorly execut- ed. The movement from fantasy- meets-sci-fi FPS levels to dino- bird-riding 3D-shooter levels should be a fun and rewarding experience—but it isn't. The flying levels suffer from appalling con- trols, jerky animation and frustrat- ing objectives, while the FPS sec- tions are mired by dumb A.I. [you can't kill a creature until it's regis- tered your existence...even if you throw 10 grenades at it) and graph- ics that make it impossible to see ledges that can easily kill you. It's also filled with frustratingly unnec- essary platform-jumping sections, and you can't look around when you're climbing ladders. The sound is atrocious, with a water effect that sounds suspiciously like what my cat does when she pukes. Multiplayer, once a staple of the franchise, is terrible. It only supports two players, and there are some insane glitches whenever you shoot at your opponent. In other words, don't bother. Final Score 04 John Davison pna Players: 1-2 Memory Card: 111 KB ў Ty the Tasma Ty the Tasmanian Tiger Publisher EA Games Developer Krome Studios Web Site www.eagames.com Aside from some of the most lush visuals ever seen on the PS2, Ту is a completely average, unremark- able platformer. It has all of the | basic genre mainstays, such as catchy music, a standard set of environments (forest, snow, water, etc.], and lots of hopping and bop- | ping gameplay, but there's not a int of originality here. Well, aside from the Aussie theme, which isn't, | erm, something to get excited over. A platformer is usually only as good as its star, and Ty is basically on the level of your average mas- cot (think: Croc]. He's likeable, sure, but only to a degree. His only major pluses are his boomerangs, which serve as nifty weapons. Gameplay-wise, Ty is fairly solid, though it's one of those titles that centers around collecting | objects. It's not all that exciting, but there's at least moderate fun to be had in the process. I think the main problem | have with Ty is that it’s coming out at a time when there are so many other games in its genre that are really pushing things forward. | mean, it's really hard to recommend something like this when there are such incredible games as Sly Cooper and Ratchet & Clank com- ing out. But you know what? | will. Because even though I'm dying to | play those titles, I'm still going to go back to hunt for more stuff in Ty before | do. And that has to at least say something about the game. Final Scoree e e Sam Kennedy ЕЗ Players: 1 Memory Card: 62 KB RaceFichinna је (40 OLD Me le geris اکر‎ AL di iei | Ruthless CPU > anglers to battle. Sega Bass Fishing Duel will knock you overboard with heated two-player competition. And when you finally run out of friends to beat, you can tackle the CPU opponents, each with their own personalities, strengths and weaknesses. This attitude may not ^ Lakes with fully modeled ecologies, weather, and more! make you popular around the watering hole, but it's lonely at the top, buddy. Who says fishing's not an largo D: Pe Î < The only PlayStation®2 computer entertain- Th. 1 од. md EU ment system fishing game with split-screen extreme sport? б two-player or vs. computer competition. EVERYONE [o рту ТЕ PlayStation.? lemarks or trademarks of SEGA CORPORATION. © WOW ENTERTAINMENT INC./SEGA CORPORATION, 2001, 2002. e "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. SEGA is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. SEGA and Sega Bass Fishing are either regi www.sega.com. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. "Play REVIEWS TRIBES AERIAL ASSAULT The action is fast, the battles are brutal, and the learning curve is steep Publisher Sierra Developer Inevitable Web Site www.sierra.com see Tribes Aerial Assault as IE polar opposite of SOCOM. SOCOM is gritty, realistic, tense—and also disappointingly limited in its multiplayer feature. Here, at the other end of the spec- trum, is Tribes: fast-paced, futur- istic, breezy in its approach to deaths and respawns...and loaded—fairly oozing—with mul- tiplayer options. Whereas SOCOM is a uniquely console-based shoot- er (and by that | mean one that undoubtedly makes PC online vet- erans cringe at the lack of options), Tribes is one of the flag- ship online franchises from the PC, and shows that lineage from every heavily armored angle. But what does this mean to the average player? Well, for one thing, Aerial Assault slaps you in the face with a fairly steep learn- ing curve. Basic controls are first- person-shooter standards, but there are some more advanced 5 RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT AERIAL ASSAULT 1. Why do | keep saying "Shazbot"? techniques and options that take some serious getting used to. One of these is “skiing”: By holding down the jump button and judi- ciously engaging the jetpack, you can slide across the hilly terrain quickly—but it's a technique that outs of the enormous levels. And then there are the vehicles: four different styles, each with their own quirks. The Grav Cycle is nimble but defenseless, the Bomber is devastating but lum- bering, and so on. "There's a whole damn lot to learn before you can become proficient with the game." will take some time to pick up. And then there are the weapon load-outs: You have three types of armor (light, medium and heavy), and each one of these has a selec- tion of weapon and item presets that can be customized to your heart's content. And while the weapon selection isn't spectacu- larly varied, there are а ton of extra items—repair packs, remote turrets, extra inventory stations, etc.—to contend with. Figuring out your ideal setup will be a chore in itself, much less learning the lay- . Why do two of the weapons (Plasma Rifle and Spinfusor) seem identical? 8 . Isn't there any way to communicate with your opponents or teammates? . Really? None? That sucks. . | wish | were playing SOCOM. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine In other words, there's a whole damn lot to learn before you can become proficient with the game. And that means, if you happen to come into an online game against players with a lot more experi- ence, you're going to get your ass handed to you on a very uncom- fortable plate. | suppose that's the case with nearly any game where large groups of people (Aerial Assault supports up to 16 online) ` go head-to-head. But that's not going to make it any easier on the newcomers. It also doesn't help that online play has its own quirks. Yes, you can play 16-way matches—but whoever's hosting had better have a damn fast connection; the game suggests a T1 [i.e., commercial- quality connection) to host a 16- player game, and don’t even try to host more than four players ona dial-up. And even in the smaller games there's a slight lag when firing that never seems to go away. It's not excruciating, just annoying. And then there's the communication: there isn't any. You can't use a keyboard for chat (and there's obviously no SOCOM- style voice chat), and the game doesn’t even include taunts—just positive ("Whoohoo!") or negative ("Shazbot!") comments. What's odd is that, in spite of all this variety in weapons, vehicles, game modes and options, the game feels strangely bland to me. The levels, for one thing, are really hit or miss. Some have extensive indoor areas, but these tend to be confusing and poorly designed; others have huge outdoor areas that just feel empty and barren {though | have to say | dig the up- and-down gameplay the jetpack allows quite a lot). Furthermore, maybe I've played too much SOCOM, but the ultra-fast-paced action of Aerial Assault seems kind of...pointless. But | also don't feel like the game is aimed at me; | feel like it's aimed at PC devotees who want to take the action to the living room. And that's fine, | suppose. But | think the rest of us are going to pop in, fly around for awhile, and quietly slip away. | think this is going to prove a matter of taste for a lot of people; I'd suggest renting it first before you buy. Final Score 0004 Joe Rybicki Players: 1-16 Memory Card: 105 KB l UDE, YOU MISSED A TURN ia * aci ila iit INTRODUCING THE BEST WHEELS EVER MADE PRO RACER DON'T MISS YOUR TURN BY PLAYING WITH AN ORDINARY PAD. GET PAD PRECISION AND PERFORMANCE IN A HAND-HELD WHEEL. DUH. FOR PS2, XBOX™, AND GAME CUBE”. PRO RACER...THE UNFAIR ADVANTAGE. WWW.GAMESTERUSA.COM Wild Arms 3 Publisher Sony CEA Developer Media Vision Web Site www.scea.com It was a dark and stormy night... So begins Wild Arms 3—with perhaps one of the biggest clichés out there. Indeed, the latest chap- ter in this long-running franchise (the original Wild Arms was among the first PSone RPGs] is baldly unabashed about cramming in as many shopworn story and game- play ideas as it possibly can. Which might be just fine for the old-school role-player seeking a change from all those nouveau RPGs of late. After all, sometimes tradition is a good thing, and Wild Arms 3 is as traditional as it gets. The story? Same old stuff: A band of unlikely heroes is thrown togeth- er and reluctantly embarks on a quest to save the world from doom and gloom. The gameplay? Typical turn-based fare that harkens all the way back to the 16-bit days, with reams of repetitive random battles, plenty of puzzle-packed dungeons and a stifling town-dun- geon-town-dungeon setup. In fact, the only thing different about this game is the spectacular cel-shad- ed graphics complemented by a visually striking cross-hatch tex- ture-shading technique [їп other words, it looks really cool). This lack of innovation isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. Cliché or not, Wild Arms 3 does what it does very well. For grumbly, old-school types unful- filled by today's cinematic offer- ings and thumb-numbing action/RPGs, Wild Arms 3 is like | comfort food—a tasty return to | what you once loved. | But for new-school gamers—or | anyone whose tastes have simply | evolved—Wild Arms 3 is like serv- | ing up granny's special meatloaf to | a vegetarian. No matter how good | it may be, it won't go down easy. Basically, if you have the slightest | concern that you might fall into this latter category, then rent the | game first. Wild Arms 3 just isn't interesting enough to overcome its retro-tinged, formulaic game- play (the bone-dry localization doesn't help). Sure, it's solid, it's fun—it's even absorbing at times— but ultimately it falls flat. On the other hand, if you're one of those rare Wild Arms fanboys, then No. 3 will surely please. It's got more of what its predecessors offered—and best yet, it finally | gets the Wild West theme right. | Final Score 0004 | Gary Steinman | Wild Arms 3 (96) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine 2 | deeply featured. It is, however, 8 x» Gundam Battle Assault 2 6 E d Gundam Battle Assault 2 Gundar Publisher Bandai Developer Bandai Web Site www.bandai.com When Gundam: The Battle Master first appeared in Japan, it was a visual innovator of the time. Its | characters were jointed, 2D con- | structs whose fluid animation was | unmatched, resulting їп а remark- | able grace that put sprite-based fighters to shame. Now Bandai is squeezing the most out of its unique engine for Gundam Battle Assault 2, packing this PSone gem with everything a Gundamite could ask for. Every mech is capable of a dev- astating array of special moves and attacks, filling the screen with an orgy of shell casings, hyper- extended plasma swords and all manner of energy-based gunfire. Control is responsive, but given the nature of huge mechs, don't expect | Chun-Li levels of swiftness. The graphics are uniquely Gundam's own. As the mechs go at it, their armor deteriorates with each blow, until interior workings are exposed and the loser either overheats or suffers enough dam- age to warrant а К.О. Being able to | see [without need of a life bar] how much damage you're doing is | one hell of a sweet payoff. СВА2 isn't the most ground- breaking game, nor is it the most | built with the target audience in | mind. So if you're a Gundam fanat- ic, you'll find more than enough in this package to wage your own personal war. \Score@@@@ James Mielke тщ Madden NFL 2003 у s: i zi Madden NFL 2003 | Developer EA Sports | Web Site www.easports.com I'm tempted to copy and paste last year's PSone Madden review into this space. Besides updated ros- ters, the game features little else. But, because because | want to "look" busy so | don't get canned, | ГИ just ramble on for a bit about how this is the best PSone football game out there. I'll also talk about the weather. Madden 2003 plays, feels and looks exactly like it did last year. There's no difference at all. In San Francisco, right now, it's windy and cool. About 66°. The Mulligan—last year's lamest feature—returns, allowing | you to trade a timeout for a do- over. What? | can't imagine that this is the lesson we want to teach kids (or adults] who can't afford a PS2. Whatever happened to life's | hard knocks? With this feature, | have to wonder why there's even a reset button on the system! In London, it's 59? and rainy. Big surprise! The game's only new feature is the play editor, which allows you to | make up your own formation and put people wherever you want. It's | a recipe for endless money plays, but that shouldn't stop you. What's that? Oh, it's 50? and | mostly cloudy in Rejkjavik, Iceland. If you're stuck playing PSone football, Madden still reigns supreme. If you're just looking for a shout-out to meteorology in a review, you're welcome in advance. Final Score @@@@ Todd Zuniga E NFL GameDay 2003 NF ameDay Publisher Sony CEA Developer 989 Sports Web Site www.scea.com | imagine there are still some PSone gamers struggling to figure if they should buy Madden or GameDay. So ГЦ simplify the situa- tion for you: GameDay is no Madden. Like Madden, it's the same game as the year before, and the year before GameDay wasn't as good as Madden. Straightforward enough for you? GameDay is fine but nothing exceptional. Like last year. It's not like they were going to take great pains to fix this game when they were putting all their petrol into their PS2 version. Smart move. Speaking of GameDay, | remem- ber struggling into the playoffs in the "98 version of the game. | bat- tled and battled and my entire sea- son—and a shot at the Super Bowl—was on the line. It was all up to my kicker. | was nervous and excited, and | got to the 2-yard line. But | was on the far right hash mark. Not a big deal, except that you couldn't aim your kicks in that game and my kicker booted the ball and turned a sure field goal into a miss. The good news is that you won't have that problem with this game. You won't suffer the way | suffered. | also really don't like that the | quarterbacks in GameDay take too damn long to throw the ball! Get | rid of it already, will ya! Oh, and the loading times suck. In short, Madden's the only game for PSone footballers. Got it? Final Score Ө Ө e Todd Zuniga Еј T Рогу 5. you've watched the conflict. i \Now you'must make a choice. Who Wil 4 ~ YOU be: с Е of the imperiled Earthi Federation, or leader of the notorious Zeon Forces? Choose your side, then prepare for Фф the fight of your life. in Mobile Suit Gundam: ПЕШ vs. Zeon. Hail Zeon! Y ve Др Style Split Screen m" for HEAD to HEAD or TEAM BATTLE! ve AWESOME CAMPAIGN MODE: Over 200 missions for hours of ч] . • FULL VOICE- ‘OVER performed i a 4 ww actual television series actors! » P^ a • CHOOSE YOUR SIDE! Play through as $ E either a Federation or a Zeon pilot. © ко . NEW OUTER SPACE COMBAT! Take full advantage ~ of 3D environments with fast and furious battles in outer space! „Ў | : Lo Federation vs. Zeon is great. .. it's easy to control, and exactly the same 45 the arcade game, with even more features!” — Famitsu Magazine L BAN Үт № PlayStation.2 DAI ESRB www.bandaigames.com Sa, Agency Sune, P: REPLAY IN THIS EDITION You blew it. Summer's over. Instead of reading Replay to hurry you through all of your games, you tried to go at them alone. We laugh at your indolence. We set fire to it and throw it up in the air and watch it fall to the ground. Moving on, we're going to try to save your autumn. If you're looking for tips on America's favorite pastime (the one that doesn't have labor wars) then you'll find solace in our NFL 2K3 and NCAA 2003 work. If you're interested in playing online, then maybe our SOCOM strategies will do the trick. It certainly helped the OPM staff become a SEALs team you don’t want to mess with. There's also Kingdom Hearts and Arc the Lad for those long, fall evenings and Mat Hoffman's BMX when you're feeling brave. Enjoy this month’s Replay, so you can live! SECRETS REVEALED PS2 Games Grand Theft Auto Ш ....198-199 Kingdom Hearts ..200 Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX2 ...199 NCAA Football 2003 212 NFL 2КЗ pee say .218 so Navy SEALs ... .204, 208 Tekken 4 ..216 PSone Games Arc the Lad Collection ... Spider-Man ... SPECIAL FEATURE: PS2 GREATEST HITS What's greater than Greatest Hits? Well, SOCOM. But for those of you on a shoestring budget, these tricks should do. DARK CLOUD Need help building your town? You don't have to admit it, but we won't tell if you pore over the tips we've listed. TWISTED METAL: BLACK Blowing up cars is, well, strangely enjoyable. Might as well do it in style with these tricks. (98) Official US. Playstation Magazine PS2 Tricks and Review Archive Game names in indicate a Greatest Hits title. Ratings in indicate a five-disc score. A number @ indicates it's rank in the top 10 selling games for each system. Game 18 Wheeler American Pro Trucker 4x4 EVO 2002 FIFA World Cup Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies The Adventures of Cookie & Cream Aggressive Inline Airblade All-Star Baseball 2002 All-Star Baseball 2003 Antz Extreme Racing Aqua Aqua Arctic Thunder Armored Core 2 Armored Core 2: Another Age Armored Core 3 ‘Army Men Air Attack ‘Army Men: Green Rogue ‘Army Men RTS Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2 9 ATV Offroad Fury This game just feels right. That's why you should play it (unless you're holding out for the sequel), Here are a couple of codes you could put to use. Get All the АТУ5 Go into Pro-Career mode and name yourself "CHACHING" if you Publisher Acclaim GOD Games EA Sports Namco Agetec Acclaim Namco Acclaim Acclaim Empire 300 Midway Agetec Agetec Agetec 300 300 300 300 Sony CEA Score Issue want all ATVs. tt will then kick you back to the main screen, but now you'll have all the ATVs! Perfect Drivers Wanted Enter the Career mode and use "ALLOUTAI" for your name. You'll be shoved to the main menu, but the difficulty will be increased. Open the Door to All Levels. Begin a Career mode and enter the name "WHATEXIT." You'll get booted to the main menu, but all the levels will be unlocked. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance Barbarian Bass Strike Virtual Fishing Tournament Batman: Vengeance Blood Omen 2 Bloody Roar 3 Britney's Dance Beat The Bouncer Burnout Capcom vs. SNK 2 CART Fury. Casper: Spirit Dimensions City Crisis Cool Boarders 2001 Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex Crazy Taxi Interplay Titus THQ Ubi Soft Eidos Activision THQ Square EA Acclaim Capcom Midway TDK Mediactive Take 2 Sony CEA Universal Acclaim Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse Metro3D Dark Summit Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore Deus Ex: The Conspiracy Dino Stalker Disney Golf Donald Duck: Goin’ Quackers Downforce Dragon Rage Drakan: The Ancients’ Gates Driven Driving Emotion Type-S Dropship Dual Hearts Dynasty Tactics Dynasty Warriors 2 Sony CEA THQ Acclaim Tecmo Eidos Capcom Capcom EA Games Ubi Soft Titus 300 Sony CEA Bam! Square EA Bam! Atlus Koei Koei Game Publisher Dynasty Warriors 3 Koei Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future Acclaim 56 Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness Kemco 61 Endgame Empire 59 Ephemeral Fantasia Konami 49 Escape From Monkey Island LucasArts 46 ESPN International Track & Field Konami өөө 39 ESPN International Winter Sports 2002 Konami 54 ESPN MLS ExtraTime Konami 44 ESPN National Hockey Night Konami 45 ESPN NBA 2Night Konami 42 ESPN NBA 2Night 2002 Konami 56 ESPN Winter X Games Snowboarding Konami өөө 41 ESPN Winter Х Games Snowboarding 2002 Konami ESPN X Games Skateboarding Konami Eternal Ring Agetec Eve of Extinction Eidos Evergrace Agetec Evil Twin Ubi Soft Extermination Sony СЕА Extreme б И Acclaim Е1 2001 EA Sports Е1 2002 EA Sports F1 Championship Ubi Soft F1 Championship Season 2000 EA Sports Fantavision Sony CEA Fatal Frame Tecmo Ferrari F355 Challenge Sega FIFA 2001 Major League Soccer EA Sports FIFA 2002 EA Sports Final Fantasy X Square EA 53 Fireblade Midway 59 Forever Kingdom Agetec 53 Formula One 2001 Sony CEA 50 Freekstyle EA Sports Big 59 Frequency Sony CEA 52 Frogger: The Great Quest Konami 53 Fur Fighters: Viggo’s Revenge Acclaim 46 Gadget Racers Conspiracy 50 Gallop Racer Tecmo 48 Gauntlet: Dark Legacy Midway 46 Interplay 5 Gitaroo-Man Koei 53 Godai: Elemental Force 300 54 Gradius Ш and IV Konami 5 Gran Turismo Look, this game has no codes. Why not buy something with codes? It's more fun for us, when we put together this Top 10 list of codes. In the meantime we bring you this trick from John Damiani john_damiani@hotmail.com. If you would like to break the 1,000-mph barrier, here's my setup: Tires: Racing Super Soft F&R Suspension: Spring Rate: 4.0 F&R Ride Height: 75 F&R Shock Bound/Rebound: L7 all around Camber/Toe Angles: All at 0 Stabilizers: L3 ЕВИ Brakes: Brake Balance- L1 F&R Drivetrain: Limited Slip- initial at 5/5; Accel at 60/60; Decel at 5/5 Gear Ratios: Bring the auto setting to 48; then bring the final gear to 2.798; final- ly, set the individual gears as far to the left as possible. You should be left with: 1st 4.604, 2nd 2.888, 3rd 2.014, 4th 1.485, 5th 1.157, 6th 0.875, 7th --- FIN 2.798 Other: Downforce - 0.38 front/1,08 Tear, ASM/TCS: 0, VCD: 10% NOTE: Any car with an adjustable downforce (this is a must) and high horsepower can pull off a Wheelie with this formula. Remember to go the opposite direction during the speed test so you can circle the track indefinite 2 Grand Theft Auto Ill Rockstar You've done it all? Well, try these codes to keep the fun alive. Nothing better than sniping from high above with lots of ammo. бате Speed up time While playing a game, press Circle, Circle, Circle, Square, Square, Square, Square, Square, L1, Triangle, Circle, Triangle. И you entered the code correctly, a message will appear. Alternate costumes While playing a game, press Right, Down, Left, Up, L1, L2, Up, Left, Down, Right. If you entered the code correctly, a message will appear. Pedestrians riot While playing а game, press Down, Up, Left, Up, X, R1, R2, L2, L1. If you entered the code correctly, a message will appear. Note: Saving {һе game will make the effects of this code permanent. Pedestrians attack While playing а game, press Down, Up, Left, Up, X, R1, R2, L1, L2. if you entered the code correctly, a message will appear. Note: Saving the game will make the effects of this code permanent, Grandia И Gravity Games Bike: Street, Vert, Dirt GTC Africa Guilty Gear X Gungrave Gungriffon Blaze Half-Life Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland Headhunter Herdy Gerdy Heroes of Might and Magic Hidden Invasion High Heat MLB 2002 High Heat MLB 2003 Hot Shots Golf 3 Ico Jade Cocoon 2 Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy James Bond: Agent Under Fire Jeremy McGrath ‘Supercross World Jonny Moseley Mad Trix Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer Kengo: Master of Bushido Kessen Kessen И Kinetica King's Field: The Ancient City Kingdom Hearts Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil Knockout Kings 2001 Knockout Kings 2002 Le Mans 24 Hours The Legend of Alon О’аг Legends of Wrestling Legion: The Legend of Excalibur Lego Racers 2 Lethal Skies Mad Maestro! Madden NFL 2001 Madden NFL 2002 Madden NFL 2003 The Mark of Kri Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 Max Payne Maximo: Ghosts To Glory MDK2 Armageddon з Medal of Honor: Fror So you still want codes? Fine! Invincibility Pause the game and press Square, L1, Circle, R1, Triangle, L2, Select, R2. The game will automatically resume. Rubber grenade mode Enter BOING at the Enigma Machine. If you entered the code cor- rectly, green lights will flash. Select the Bonus option underneath the Enigma Machine to enable/disable this cheat. Snipe-0-Rama mode Enter LONGSHOT at the Enigma Machine. If you entered the code Correctly, green lights will flash. Select the "Bonus" option under- Publisher Score Issue Game. е neath the Enigma Machine to enable/disable this cheat, This Ch allows all guns to zoom like a sniper rifle. Say what? Enter the options menu and turn on the subtitles. This will allow you to know what the Germans are saying. eat Men in Black Il: Alien Escape Infogrames өөв 60 Metal Gear Solid 2 Konami e 51 Metropolismania Natsume o 61 7 Midnight Club Rockstar е 39 Unlock the Smuggler's Run Buggy Have a save file from both Smuggler's Run and Midnight Club on the same memory card, and the Smuggler's Run Buggy will appear in your garage. Hidden FMV Sequence Wait approximately 30 seconds at the start screen, and an FMV ‘sequence featuring the Beta car will begin. Ubi Soft 53 Manhattan Police Complete Manhattan level 10 in Head-2-Head mode. Midway ‹ 61 ‘London Police Majesco 58 Complete London level 10 in Head-2-Head mode. Majesco/Sammy 51 All Cruseros. Sega 61 Complete Manhattan levels 1, 4 and 7 in Head-2-Head mode to Working Designs Sierra 39 open this up. Taking the Contraband Back Instead of chasing these guys all over the countryside, here's a trick Natsume that'll help you get the contraband to your base before they can get Acclaim it to theirs. Instead of chasing, just wait at the enemy dropoff (the Eidos опе with blue flares). When they try to get to their base, they'll hit 300 you, turn over the goods, and you can motor to your dropoff. It Conspiracy works wonders. 300 Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing Codemasters ө 58 300 Mister Mosquito Eidos/Fresh 56 Sony CEA 6 MLB Slugfest 20-03 Midway 59 Sony СЕА Enter these codes while on the versus page. Ubi Soft Here's how it works: The first number is how many times you press Square or L1. The second number is how many times you Sony CEA press 7 or Triangle. The third number is how many times you EA Games press Circle or R1. After that, press the direction to activate that specific code. Acclaim 1,1, 1, Down Tournament Mode 300 4, 4, 4, Down Unlimited Turbo Activision 2, 4, 2, Down 16 Softball Crave 0, 0, 4, Right Whiffle Bat EA Games 2, 0, 0, Right Big Head Koei 0,0, 4, Up Log Bat Sony CEA 3, 3,3, Up Coliseum Agetec 3,2, 1, Up Rocket Park Square EA 1, 2, 3, Up Extra Time EA Games 2, 4, 2, Up Rubber Ball EA Sports 0, 0, 4, Left Mace Bat EA Sports 2, 0, 0, Left Tiny Head Infogrames 2, 1, 0, Right Pinto Team Ubi Soft 2, 1, 1, Right Horse Team. Acclaim 2, 1, 2, Right Eagle Team Midway 2, 2,0, Right Lion Team Lego Media 3, 0, 0, Left Max Batting Sammy 0, 3, 0, Left Max Power Eidos/Fresh 0, 0, 3, Left Max Speed EA Sports Mobile Suit Gundam: EA Sports Federation vs. Zeon Bandai 61 EA Sports Mobile Suit Gundam: Sony CEA Journey to Jaburo Bandai . 48 Capcom Mobile Suit Gundam: Activision Zeonic Front Bandai 54 Rockstar Monster Rancher 3 Tecmo 50 Capcom Monsters, Inc. Sony CEA 55 Interplay Moto GP Namco 39 EA Games Moto GP2 Namco 53 Motor Mayhem Infogrames 47 MTV Music Generator 2 Codemasters 46 The Mummy Returns Universal e 52 MX 2002 Featuring Ricky Carmichael THO 47 MX Rider Infogrames 52 MX Superfly Featuring Ricky Carmichael THO 59 Namco Museum Namco 53 NASCAR 2001 EA Sports 40 NASCAR Heat Infogrames 47 MAT HOFFMAN 2 So you want to know how to master Oklahoma City? We figured the best people to ask were the players on the team that made Mat Hoffman Here are there tips, with some visuals to make your life a touch easier. * Just got into town? Jump off of the light fixture (the one after you grabbed the bus key] and grind onto the rail behind it. Keep grinding around the cor- ner and jump from there onto the next rail 50 you can grab the CD with the track, "Free Styler.” You can do the rest without us hold- ing your handlebars, right? * Semi-pro flow The crooked bench shouldn't be a problem. It's, get this, the crooked bench. After that, do your Eggbeater from that same manual. Find the two toolboxes in the far left and near right corners of the room, then scour the warehouse for the other three (опе in between the two garage doors leading from the park to the warehouse; one on the near right corner of the warehouse; one on the far left corner} After knocking the last toolbox down, head toward the conveyor belt See the green ramp-shaped machine with a yellow light on top of it? Jump over that and hit the switch on the wall to unlock the ramp to the hidden garage. When that’s all done, figure a way to score 40,000 points (we figure you can find a ramp to do this on], and you'll be all squared with your semi- pro challenges. * Are you all Pro? Jump off and go to Gap One [located just forward and to the right of the start point]. Land a perfect 360 Nothing over Gap One. Now position yourself below the previous- ly mentioned light fixture and face to the left of where the start point is (about 10 o'clock). Ride in that direction and up that vert, jump at the top and grind onto the rail above it. Grind around until you've got- ten the Condor. As for the fire alarms, follow these steps: * Go into the warehouse and go to the middle of the room. Turn right. Ride up and over the vert ramp on the right wall and take a quick left Ride up the two wooden ramps and jump and grind onto the yellow rail Follow that around and hit the second fire alarm * Jump off of the rail and go to the far corner where one of the toolboxes used to be. Ride up the ramp there and you'll area. You can hit it by riding up the vert ramp and jumping really high. Ride back down out of this area and get along the right wall where the green machine with the yellow light is. Jump the machine again and grind onto the ledge above it to hit the fourth fire alarm * Jump off the rail and go directly to the other side of the warehouse where the ramp to the secret garage is. Ride up the ramp and hit the fifth fire alarm. Then score 80K and you're done. Well, done but not done. There a secrets to be discovered, young biker! see а fire alarm up in this * Secret riders While you're up in the secret garage go to the far end of it and transfer to one of the elevated quarter pipes with kickers. Jump off of a kicker and grind on top of the big black machine with the Hoffman Bikes logo on it. This will open a big mechanical half pipe. Above the half pipe there is a helmet floating. Grab this to unlock a padded outfit. Now go back to the same transfer you used to jump onto the top of the half pipe and do it again Grind along the edge of the half pipe, jump off, and grind onto the bull's horns. Jump off of the horns and into the area above it to unlock Day Smith. The other secret characters that you can unlock include Vanessa, a female BMX rider, in Los Angeles. Just perform an adrenaline trick in front of her. Bigfoot can be unlocked by performing an adrenaline trick while transferring the kicker ramps in the outdoor BMX park in Portland Volcano can be unlocked by defeating the Tiki God in Hawaii. Unlock the Mime by finding every gap in the entire game. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (99) Who's your favorite character in Kingdom Hearts? Write us at 925 <û and title the e-mail Replay: Kingdom Come. KINGDOM HEARTS Seven Painfully Obvious Yet Utterly Relevant and Remarkably Useful Tips for Maximizing Your Enjoyment of Kingdom Hearts 1. SLOW DOWN Rush through the game and you can beat it in less than 25 hours. But we guarantee you won't enjoy it as much as we did. Part of the fun in Kingdom Hearts is doing all the extra stuff—finding the Dalmatian puppies, fighting in the tournaments at Olympus Coliseum, building up your char- acters, unleashing the power of all the different Keyblades, and much more. Plus, the story is much richer when you take the time to immerse yourself in it— and you'll often find extra story tidbits along the way. 2. FOCUS Early on, you'll probably lock on to enemies more than you need to. Once you get the hang of combat, though, try to avoid locking on—it tends to whipsaw the camera around for a dizzying effect, and it often forces you to chase after enemies that can easily outpace you. Do yourself a favor and let the game naturally lock on to whichever enemy is closest at hand; you can still chase after a specific Heartless foe, but you've got a better chance of tracking it down without having to tussle with the camera as well. The exception here: bosses that have multiple attack points (you'll want to finish off one section of the boss before moving on to the next] and enemies in areas like Atlantica (since you're underwa- ter and have full freedom of 3D movement, locking on helps you target a foe without swimming completely out of range). 3. GET SOME HELP No, it’s not just you—Donald is, in fact, utterly useless in combat early in the game. But guess what? You can swap in other more-powerful characters while visiting different worlds. And here's the best part: Donald will gain just as much experience even when he's not part of the party. Here’s what we suggest: Put Donald on the sidelines in Deep Jungle and Agrabah, but start using him again once you reach Atlantica. By then, his magic is a lot stronger, and it helps to have him around when squaring off against those under- water meanies. 4. GET SMART Be sure to fiddle with the A.I. set- tings for Donald and Goofy. Here's what we found works best: Start with their overall settings on “Personal,” but then adjust the HP Items and MP Items to read "Only in emergency." Yeah, they'll still use up far too many potions and ethers, but at least they won't be nearly as wasteful about it. 5. TAKE SHORTCUTS. Don't forget to set your magic shortcuts, which you can trigger with a tap of L1 along with X, Square or Triangle. Though you'll eventually have a range of spells at your disposal, we found only бод Official US. PlayStation Magazine Seven keys to getting the most out of this game, plus walk-throughs of some tricky spots КОЛ ја three to be truly useful: cure, fire and thunder. Use these three often (especially cure], and you'll whiz through battles. 6. ROLL AROUND The Dodge Roll ability is а life- saver in certain boss battles. There's no way we would have beaten Cerberus without rolling past his many devastating attacks! Of course, once you gain the ability to fly (much later in the game), the Dodge Roll isn’t quite as useful... 7. GO BACK FOR SECONDS There are so many reasons to come back to Traverse Town, be it a visit to the Dalmatians’ mansion to pick up a thank-you gift, or a stop off at the moogles' Item Workshop to synthesize new accessories, or a quick check of Merlin’s study to add missing pages to Pooh's book and maybe even gain a new summon spell. While you're at it, be sure to head back to all the different worlds when you gain new abilities; you'll finally be able to reach some of those out-of-the-way chests, which contain some great goodies. На а You shouldn't have too much trouble finding your way through Kingdom Hearts, but the game’s got a few spots that'll have you turhing in circles. Following are quick walk-throughs for three of the trickier areas. AGRABAH: CAVE OF WONDERS 1. After entering the cave, stay to the left side and walk forward. Go through the doorway that's in front of you. 2. Enter the Dark Chamber, which is down the stairs located between two torch pillars. 3. Head to the Silent Chamber, which you can reach by swim- ming upstream to the right of the save point. 4. Swim downstream on the right side. 5. Activate the Monkey Statue. You need Aladdin in your party to do so (if you don’t have him, head back to the last save point and swap him in). 6. Head back to the previous area, go up the stairs, then swim to the Hidden Room on the far right. 7. Swim to the stairs, where you can examine the stone pillar. Then blast it with fire magic. 8. Now go all the way back to the Silent Chamber, then go upstairs. 9. Go to the Bottomless Hall, which is through a door on your right. 10. Go forward, jump the gap, then enter the doorway to the Treasure Room. 11. Enter the Lamp Chamber. MONSTRO: CHASING PINOCCHIO | 1. Start off in Chamber 1. 2. Enter Chamber 2 on a platform to your left. 3. Go straight through to enter Chamber 3. 4. Enter Chamber 2 through a passage on the left. 5. Go right to get to Chamber 5. 6. Go straight to get to Chamber 6. 7. Head toward your right and up one step to get to Chamber 5. 8. Go straight to enter Chamber 4. ATLANTICA: URSULA, AGAIN! 1. Go back to the Sunken Ship. 2. Swim to the cave on the upper left of ; the ship. 3. Make sure you have the Mermaid Kick equipped, then use it to swim through the raging currents to the cave across the way. ight, we just couldn't get into the whole business of building a better Gummi ship. Like Final Fantasy Xs blitzball minigame, it just didn't do it for us. But we're sure some of you really dug this. deep diversion, so now it's up to you share your strategies and tips for Gummi ship mastery. E-mail us at opm{@ziffdavis.com with the subject "Gummi 5.0.5." Next month: Grab all the Keyblades. Find all the Dalmatian pups. Get through the last level's massive maze. Plus, some of your tips and tricks for the game (oh, yeah—that means you'll have to e-mail them to us at opm(aziffdavis.com with the subject "KH Tips"). * 3 inan, = 2 HALF-UAMPIBE, AND ONLY HALF-DONE KILLING. ideo game system screenshots shown. ti w ake KEEP THE FORCES OF EVIL AT BAY WITH YOUR 360-DEGREE COMBAT SYSTEM AND UNSTOPPABLE RAGE POWERS. h ч Е E 5 1 É Е в 5 PlayStation*2 сопу © © DELIVER LAST RITES TO YOUR VILE VAMPIRE VICTIMS WITH GRUESOME, OVER-THE-TOP FINISHING MOVES. OF THE DAYWALKER IN A DANCE OF DEATH WITH YOUR INHUMAN ENEMIES. e - . : Р си (реј) a 20140, FN yy а ° А ё AVAILABLE ON VHS AND 2-DISC PLATINUM SERIES™ DVD EVERYWHERE! www.blade2.com Blood and Gore . 2 d. Strong Language} | |. PlayStation. ® ا‎ Violence | ۹ ege HOME ENTERTAINMENT > в і ACTIVISION. Marvel, Blade and the distinctive lkeness(es thereof are trademark) of Marvel Characters, Inc., and are used with permission. Copyright © 2002 Marvel Characters, Inc. A rights reserved. тие сот. Blade 2 motion picture artwork and other motion picture material activision.com 092002 New Line Productions, Inc. AI rights reserved. Game собе © 2002 Activision, Inc. and йз ае, Published and distributed by Activision Publishing, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark cision, Inc. and Из altes. АП rights reserved Licensed for play on the PlayStation" computer entertainment systems wth the NTSC UC designation ony. “PlayStation” andthe "PS" Family logo ae registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Хо the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks ө G g of Microsoft Corporation in the US and/or other countries and are sed under селе from Microsoft. The ratings icon is a trdema the Interactive Digital Software Association. A other trademarks паб are the properties of their respective owners. бате Publisher Score Issue Game Publisher Score Issue NASCAR Thunder 2002 EA Sports өөөө« 51 weapons and medicine for Chris, or he’s screwed. Make every GREATEST H ITS NBA 2K2 Sega Sports 53 sniper shot count against Nosferatu (aim for the heart); then finish REPLAY, NBA Hoopz Midway 44 him off with your knife or handgun. NBA Live 2001 EA Sports 42 * Kill the worm with Chris if you want Claire's Lighter back. It's NBA Live 2002 EA Sports 51 mighty useful! TWISTE D M ETAL: B LAC K NBA ShootOut 2001 Sony CEA 44 * Don't fight the axe-wielding Green Mutant. Just run and use two NBA Street EA Sports Big 47 extra-potent health items, (You'll know when to!) If you're going to play Black, you're going to want all the best stuff. We NCAA College Football 2K3 Sega Sports — eet 60 Whether or not the power is on helps you attain the Red and Blue. deliver all the secret cars. And if you're having problems, just scan the NCAA Final Four 2001 Sony CEA 41 Tiger Eyes. last few lines to figure out how to make yourself invincible. NCAA Final Four 2002 989 Sports 52 * Use the best guns versus the final boss, and finish it off with the. NCAA Football 2002 EA Sports Linear Launcher. HIDDEN CARS YellowJacket 1 NCAA Football 2003 EA Sports Boz Sega е 53 YellowJacket You may love Madden, you should love Madden, but NGAA is OPMS Ridge Racer V Namco ө 38 Јипкуага football game of choice. If you want to get better at it, follow these Riding Spirits Bam! ө 61 Shoot down the airplane circling can't-miss tips: Ring of Red Konami e 43 the level. It'll crash into the gully. Punt Block Road Trip Conspiracy @ 61 The wreckage will open up a You can go with the Punt Return formation, but itll cause more- Romance of the secret passageway that spans the heartache than glory. Go with Punt Block and take the strong safety. Three Kingdoms VII Koei level. Inside the tunnel is a control Once the ball is snapped hold down L1 (strafe) and push down to Rugby EA Sports panel and a weird-looking con- intercept the defender who wants to scoot down the field. Rumble Racing EA Games crete structure. Shoot the panel After that, take control of the punt returner. Once you catch the ball, Rune: Viking Warlord Take 2 until it blows up, then cut immediately to your left or right and speed burst to get away Salt Lake 2002 Eidos YellowJacket is yours. from the defenders. Savage Skies Bam! YellowJacket’s Special Attack Beware, though, if you miss your block, consider calling for a Scooby-Doo: This Special will surround the Taxi Cab with spikes. Trigger the attack › fair catch. Otherwise you might get licked and fumble. Night of 100 Frights THQ to fire the spikes in four directions as the primary attackaAs a sec- NCAA GameBreaker 2001 Sony CEA 41 Sega Sports Tennis Sega Sports ondary attack, you can ram other cars while the spikes are deployed. In NCAA GameBreaker 2003 Sony CEA 61 Shadow Hearts Midway addition, use Turbo when ramming the enemy. The damage will be NCAA March Madness 2002 EA Sports 53 Shadow of Destiny Konami even greater! NFL 2K2 Sega Sports 52 Shadowman: 2econd Coming Acclaim NFL 2K3 Sega Sports 60 Shaun Palmer's Axel NFL Blitz 20-02 Midway 55 Pro Snowboarder Activision Freeway NFL Blitz 20-03 Midway 60 Shifters 300 Grab some Gas Cans and head to NFL GameDay 2001 Sony CEA е 40 Silent Hill 2 Konami the construction site. Find an NFL GameDay 2002 Sony CEA 53 Silent Scope Konami incline so you can aim your NFL GameDay 2003 Sony CEA 61 Silent Scope 2 Konami weapons at the crane holding a NFL Quarterback Club 2001 Acclaim 50 Silpheed: The Lost Planet Working Designs small building. Shoot the Cans into NHL 2001 EA Sports 38 The Simpsons Road Rage EA Games the crane’s control room to force it NHL 2002 EA Sports 50 Sky Gunner Atlus to drop the building. Then blast the NHL FaceOff 2001 Sony CEA 43 Sky Odyssey Activision walls of the dropped building. NHL Hitz 2002 Midway 51 Sled Storm EA Big Inside: Axel. Ninja Assault Namco 61 ‘Smash Court Tennis Axel's Special Attack No One Lives Forever Sierra Pro Tournament Namco 56 Axel can senc a burst of energy out from his wheel to blast enemies Okage: Shadow King Sony CEA Smuggler's Run Rockstar 39 around him. This attack can hit multiple enemies, making packs of cars Oni Rockstar Smuggler's Run 2: a tempting target. By tapping Up while your Special is selected, you'll musha: Warlord: Capcom Hostile Territory Rockstar 52 trigger the second attack. Then he can roll right over opponents. Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Capcom Soccer America: Orphen: Scion of Sorcery Activision International Cup Hot-B 48 Warthog WartHog Pac-Man Fever Namco Soccer Mania EA/Lego 59 Suburbs Pac-Man World 2 Namco ‘SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Sony CEA 60 There's a hill overlooking the fac- PaRappa the Rapper 2 Sony CEA Soldier of Fortune Majesco 52 tory district. Leap off of the hill Paris-Dakar Rally Acclaim Soul Reaver 2 Eidos 52 (marked with a баѕ,Сап) onto the Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat EA Games Space Race Infogrames 59 building “A & L Transportation.” Portal Runner 300 Spider-Man Activision Shoot out the small raise to open a Project Eden Eidos ес 52 Ме love Spidey, and since you do, too, unlock this stuff by using hole into the building. Drop inside Pryzm Chapter One: these handy codes. and shoot the control switch. The Dark Unicorn TDK Mediactive ee« 60 Play as Shocker: HERMANSCHULTZ Warthog’s Special Attack Q-Ball Billiards Master Take 2 Play as Scientist: SERUM Warthog can fry opponents with his cutting laser. Try to immobilize an Quake III Revolution EA Games Play as Thug: KNUCKLES opponent with a Freeze before using the beam. This attack does Rayman 2 Revolution Ubi Soft Play as Spike: STICKYRICE severe damage, and you can increase your victim's plight by firing Rayman Arena Ubi Soft Play as Shocker Thug: THUGSRUS your machine guns to do a little bit more hurting. RC Revenge Pro Acclaim Play as Helicopter Cop: CAPTAINSTACEY Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 2 Midway Play as Old Super Soldier: FREAKOUT Manslaughter Real Pool Infogrames Play as Сор: REALHERO. Prison Ship Е Red Card Soccer 20-03 Midway Play as Mary Jane: GIRLNEXTDOOR Exit the Prison Ship and take a F THQ Unlimited Webbing: ORGANICWEBBING right. Follow the path outside of the boat until you find the crates Capcom All Combos Available: KOALA All Levels Available: IMIARMAS Bullet Time Mode: DODGETHIS Big Head Thugs: JOELSPEANUTS. Micro Spidey: SPIDERBYTE Big Head and Feet: GOESTOYOURHEAD First-Person Mode: UNDERTHEMASK Unlock Everything: ARACHNID t Evil-Code: V There's plenty to do in Veronica X, but not all of it needs loads of with a Health Power-Up on top of explanation, Cut out this tip sheet and tape it to your left eyeball. КИ them. Shoot the crates until they come in real handy-like. form a ramp, then ride up and i , Quick tips. shoot the hull of the ship to reveal * Give the Hemostatic Medicine to Rodrigo when you find it. а secret passage into the * Use the second Blue Shield Crest near the guillotine. Detention Center. * Use the Army, Navy and Air Force Proofs to activate the lift to. ManSlaughter’s Special Attack the plane. Splashdown Infogrames 52 This truck can lob giant explosive rocks. The more that impact, the e Tyrants don't like being hit with crates. Spy Hunter Midway 50 more damage done. If the rocks hit the ground they'll scatter and • Don't waste too much ammo on the giant moths. They're hard to. SSX EA Sports BIG 38 bounce a bit before exploding. This attack can hit over such a wide shoot and respawn. SSX Tricky EA Sports BIG 52 area that it is ideal for exploring levels and finding what you can and * Use the Bar Code Sticker on a conveyer-belt box. Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force Majesco oot 53 cannot destroy. * Just before you pick up Alfred’s sniper rifle, leave some good Star Wars: Episode I— бод) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine SKATERS — SERVED DALY Presenting Evolution Skateboarding—a heaping helping of pure skating goodness. Pull off 70 of the gnarliest tricks. Carve, grind and soar through eight wicked worlds that change for each of your eight pro riders. Conquer 30 trick-based missions in Challenge Mode. And then use your skating skills against powerful boss characters, including a two-ton semi. Open wide. This promises to be tasty. MISSIONS VARY BY SKATER. ГД @ uj Б, о < = о P] a о a ш Е < @ Blood Mild Lyrics Mild Violence INTENDO PlayStation.e а? "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. TM, ®, The Nintendo Game Cube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. King of, LLC € 2002. КОМАМ is a registered trademark of KONAMI CORPORATION. © 2002 KONAMI. All rights reserved. \ \ mn 1] REPLAY SOCOM: DESERT GLORY Desert Glory is one of the most intricate, detailed and densely designed multiplayer levels in SOCOM. This means it can be hell on newcomers, but it also means there are plenty of nooks and crannies in which to take cover—or flush out your enemies when they try to take cover. Most Extraction [i.e., hostage res- cue] missions tend to be a bit better balanced when the SEALs outnumber the Terrorists, and this level is а particularly good example. If you have a full eight-man team of SEALs, you probably don’t want more than five or six Terrorists or the Terrorists will most likely dominate (alternately, put the weakest players on the Terrorist team—it's а natural handicap). Here's a few more specific suggestions. FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES Here's how to teach your enemies to be afraid of heights. In the building where the hostages are kept, take the stairs up to the top level. Off this room are two balconies joined by a wooden plank over their railings: Climb up onto this plank and turn toward the building. You'll notice that another Climb icon shows up here. Go ahead and climb up onto the top of the building. To dis- courage pursuit, drop a grenade down оп the plank or one of the balconies; it'll blow up the plank, making it impossible for anyone else to follow you up to your easily- defended position. — Excuse me while I kiss the sand Now, you've got some options here. If you plop down right above those balconies, you'll get a view of a sizeable рог- tion of the battlefield. aim Alternately, you can head to the back of the building and drop down onto the lower platform. This places you right above the only entrance to the room which contains the hostages, and also gives you a bead on enemies trying to sneak in through the base- ment. Just be aware that you'll make quite a notice- able target in this position. THE BEST OFFENSE IS A 6000 DEFENSE Here's why we recommend that the SEALs outnumber the Terrorists on this level: The area that houses the hostages is spectacularly easy to defend. With just one entrance and a convenient L- shaped passageway to get into the room, the area could conceivably be held by a sin- gle Terrorist for the entire length of the game. (Well, he'd have to be a pretty smart Terrorist, but it cer- tainly is possible.) Lobbing grenades out the door and sniping from the window are both viable options—or lob- bing grenades out the win- dow onto SEALs trying to infiltrate through the base- ment tunnel—but our favorite method is a little more sneaky. If you place claymores just inside the door on both sides (push hard into the corner before placing them and you'll get the best placement), you can be ready with a nasty sur- prise when the enemy comes a-knockin’. Try to lure the enemy through the doors by squeez- ing off а few rounds and ducking behind the wall. When he starts coming toward you, switch to the det- onator. Wait for it...wait for it... NOW. If you plan to go this route, it's a good idea to set the detonator as a quick key so that you can react quickly if an enemy surprises you by popping out the side door. SMOKESCREEN Have you noticed that smol- dering campfire right near the center of the arena? First-time players will often mistake that smoke for a smoke grenade, but as a player becomes familiar with the level he'll start to ignore that smoke. Use that to your advantage: Lob a smoke grenade into the middle of the campfire pit. This will give you a place to hide in plain sight. Sure, the smoke will be thicker and more billowy than usual, but this will likely fool the inter- mediate players the first cou- ple of times. And once they start to notice you're hiding in there, throw the smoke grenade but run in the oppo- site direction. You can circle around and take out the guys who are coming toward what they think is your hiding spot. CUTTING CORNERS We've been focusing on Terrorist strategies for most of this level, but we didn’t want you SEALs to feel left out. Here’s a quick way to penetrate into the heart of the Terrorist stronghold quickly. You know that raised, wooden boardwalk that runs around the building that houses the terrorists? At the innermost “elbow” of the platform is an area with the railing missing. Not coinci- dentally, this happens to lead to a ledge that will give access to the back door of the hostage building. They're not as likely to watch that entrance—right near one of the most common Terrorist start points, and they're not likely to expect SEALs to show up so early in the game—so make the most of your secret arrival. AND ONE TO GROW ON There's a building just across from the building in which the hostages are restrained that looks like it’s been near- ly demolished. You may think by first looking at it that it’s impossible to get up on top of it, but if you thought that you'd be wrong. Just head to the broken stairway and push toward it—a climb icon will pop on-screen, allowing you to jump on up. Use the bal- conies to rain down fire upon thine enemies. L. Nu RN \ á \ " Taf Й „д ПИ ES ms eM. Better T often! Swarms of demons and powerful bosses. 9090065; i Ди |e Three intense modes of play to keep those guns blazing. Insanely fast Guncon"2 blasting action, (GUKCON2 You're part of the action with the fast and accurate бипсоп"2 Demon scum this fast require something with a little more pop. So ditch the sword. Dump the stars. And grab hold of the Guncon™2 — official Demon-Slayer of bad ass Ninjas everywhere. Blood Violence PlayS tation. Ninja’ ASsault™ адеенгоро. 2002 Мисо Ltd, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: Guncon™ 2 4 è 2000 Namco 110, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. M ie Bind НЕ, "PS" готи 1680 are registered Ups ‘Of Sony Computer F P Ino, The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Interactive Digital Soffward Associations REPLAY DARK CLOUD You've got tough questions? Well, we've got competent answers. If you've been trotting through Dark Cloud, congrats, but if you're in a slow trudge, these answers should be a big help. I've collected all the Alta and completed all the events in Norune Village. But I still don’t have 100% in the Request column. What now? Now comes the fun part. Wander through the town and chat with all the residents. They'll have all kinds of requests, from the simple (put me near the windmill) to the challenging (put me somewhere where | can exercise). The goal is to set up your village so that each and every request is fulfilled. While you're at it, throw in some of those extra pieces, just to make things look purty. Below is how we set up Norune Village—although what you do may look drastically different (though we've done something beautiful, haven't ме?). Going forward, just apply this same kind of logical urban planning to future villages. My characters are all a bit wimpy—and they get thirsty all the time! How can | build them up? Have you been searching the villages for those random chests that pop up after you complete a few levels in the local dungeon? И so, you've likely stumbled upon Gourds [which increase your Thirst meter), Fruits of Eden (which increase your Health meter) and Fluffy Doughnuts (which increase Toan's defense—the other characters also have their “favorite” foods that boost their defense, like Fish Candy for Xiao and Carrot Cookies for Osmond). But here's a hifty- neato [did we just say that?) trick that's not mentioned anywhere in the game: When you pop into first-person mode (tap В2) while in a house, you can move around, much like a first-person shooter. Doing so will allow you to see areas in these houses that aren't normally visible. Do a thorough search (be sure to look down toward your feet) in these houses, and you're sure to find a wealth of items. Also, remember to check areas outside of the houses; in Matataki Village, for example, you'll find chests by the pond and near the entrance to Goro's area. Finally, once you've fully finished rebuilding a village, do one last sweep through the entire area. You're bound to find a few more choice items that'll boost your health, defense and water capacity. I can't find any Mimic Breaker attachments—and | need them to build up my weapon. What gives? Forgive us for scolding you, but did you sell those Mimic Breakers you acquired early on because you needed a quick cash fix? Then shame, shame. As you get further into the game, you'll encounter several new stores that sell various attachments and gems, but since Mimic Breakers aren't among them, you'll have to get your hands dirty and earn them the old-fashioned way. Did you remember that you can often acquire an attachment by defeating an enemy using an item? Meaning, if you toss a bomb at a Mimic, rather than slaying it with your sword, chances are good that it'll leave behind a Mimic Breaker. That also goes for all the other enemies out there, so head back into the dun- geons and collect those attach- ments. (If you're looking for 7 Pu Mimics, try the third level of the Sun/Moon Temple.) And don’t forget to troll those back-floor areas for extra gems, items and attachments. I just found a great slingshot for Xiao with this very useful Steal function. But I’m not really focusing on this character. Is there any way | сап get this Steal function on Ruby’s weapon? Sure. Just spend an extra hour building up Хіао'ѕ weapon to at least level five, then break it and attach the SynthSphere to Ruby's ring. You can use any SynthSphere from any character on any other character. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Game Publisher Score Issue Super Bombad Racing LucasArts 45 Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter LucasArts 56 Star Wars Racer Revenge LucasArts 55 Star Wars: Starfighter LucasArts 43 State of Emergency Rockstar 55 Stitch: Experiment 626 ‘Sony CEA 59 Street Fighter EX 3 Capcom 39 Street Hoops Activision 60 Stretch Panic Conspiracy 47 4 Stuntman Infogrames/Atai 59 Our initial advice is to avoid this game, but really, some part of our gaming ego demands that we keep playing until we beat it. With that in mind, we deliver codes to ease your Stuntman headache. Cheat mode Enter MUSSON, a case-sensitive driver's name, at the New Game menu to unlock all cars, toys and trailers. All driving games, cars and toys Enter Bindl, a case-sensitive driver's name, to unlock all driving games, cars and toys. All cars Enter spiDER or ChUmP, a case-sensitive driver's name, at the New Game menu to unlock all cars in stunt constructor and training modes. All toys Enter MeFf, a case-sensitive driver's name, at the New Game menu. to unlock all toys in Stunt Constructor mode. All trailers. Enter FellA, a case-sensitive driver's name, at the New Game menu to unlock all trailers. Quick start During the pre-race countdown, hold R1. Summoner тна 39 Sunny Garcia Surfing Ubi Soft 51 Super Bust-A-Move Acclaim 41 Supercar Street Challenge Activision 52 Surfing H30 Rockstar 40 Swing Away Golf EA Games 38 Tarzan Untamed Ubi Soft 52 Taz: Wanted Infogrames 60 Tekken 4 Namco 61 Tekken Tag Tournament Namco 39 Test Drive Infogrames 58 Test Drive Off-Road: Wide Open Infogrames 48 Tetris Worlds THO 57 Theme Park Roller Coaster EA Games 41 Thunderstrike: Operation Phoenix Eidos 52 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001 EA Sports 44 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 EA Sports 55 Time Crisis 2 Namco 49 TimeSplitters Eidos 39 Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero Crave өөс 45 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 Activision Top Angler Xicat Top Gear Dare Devil Kemco Top Gun: Combat Zones Titus Transworld Surf Infogrames Triple Play 2002 EA Sports Triple Play Baseball EA Sports Tsuganai: Atonement Atlus SCEA Twisted Metal: Black Online SCEA UFC Throwdown Infogrames Unison Tecmo Unreal Tournament Infogrames Vampire Night Empire Victorious Boxers Empire Virtua Fighter 4 Sega War Jetz 300 Warriors of Might & Magic 300 Wave Rally Eidos Way of the Samurai Bam! Wild Wild Racing Interplay Winback Koei Wipeout Fusion Bam! Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land Atlus 53 Woody Woodpecker: Escape from Buzz Buzzard Park Dreamcatcher 57 Game World Destruction League: Thunder Tanks World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars World Tour Soccer 2002 WRC: World Rally Championship WTA Tour Tennis WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It X Squad Yanya Caballista: City Skater Z.0.E: Zone of the Enders 007 Racing 3Xtreme 40 Winks 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue 2002 FIFA World Cup Ace Combat 2 Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere Action Bass Action Man: Operation Extreme Akuji the Heartless Aladdin in Nasira’s Revenge Alexi Lalas International Soccer Alien Resurrection All-Star Slammin’ D-ball Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare Alundra Alundra 2 Animaniacs Ten Pin Alley Animorphs: Shattered Reality Apocalypse Arc the Lad Collection Arcade Party Pak Arcade's Greatest Hits: Atari Collection 2 Arcade's Greatest Hits: Midway Collection 2 Armored Core Armored Core: Master of Arena Armorines: Project S.W.A.R.M. Army Men Air Attack Army Men Air Attack 2 Army Men: Green Rogue Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes 2 ‘Army Men: World War Army Men: World War— Final Front ‘Army Men: World War— Land, Sea, Air Arthur! Ready to Race Assault Atari Anniversary Edition Redux Atlantis: The Lost Empire ATV: Quad Power Racing Auto Destruct Azure Dreams Backstreet Billiards Ball Breakers Ballistic Baseball 2000 Bass Landing Bass Rise Batman & Robin Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker Batman: Gotham City Racer Publisher Score 300 Infogrames Sony CEA Bam! Konami THQ EA Games Koei Konami EA Games өөө 989 Studios e GT Interactive Eidos EA Sports Sony CEA Namco Namco Take 2 Hasbro Crystal Dynamics Sony CEA Rockstar е Fox Interactive Agetec Infogrames e Working Designs ө! Activision ASC өөө Infogrames eet Sony CEA Activision өөө Working Designs ө! Midway б Midway eet Midway ee Sony CEA Agetec eot Acclaim 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 et 300 The Learning Co. Midway Activision Infogrames SCEA Acclaim Electronic Arts Konami Ascii Take 2 Infogrames Interplay Agetec Bandai Acclaim Ubi Soft LI Ubi Soft et Mar Сбвоечтб Mild Violence "| Suggestive Themes м PlayStation.e <. Comic Mischief © 2002 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved. Fox Interactive, The Simpsons and their associated logos are trademarks of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. REPLAY US. PlayStation Magazine SOCOM: BLIZZARD No business like snow business Demolition levels like Blizzard offer the greatest range of defensive tactics. It’s easier to lay traps than it is in Suppression maps, because you have three sep- arate focal points in the level: the bomb, the SEAL base and the Terrorist base. This makes Demolition maps a haven for snipers and campers. You know what this means: Don't ever stop mov- ing, not unless you're well covered. Read on for more specific tactics. NO ESCAPE One of the cruelest methods of dispatching the enemy is to booby-trap your own base. If you lay in wait (especially if you have teammates making noise elsewhere], allow the enemy to pick up the bomb, then blast them just as they're about to plant it, you're dealing some serious psychological damage. They get so close...only to watch victory slip from their grasp at the final moment. Of course, the best tool for such torment is our old friend the claymore. One option is to position your four claymores inconspicuously in strategic locations in your base. Here's one useful placement for the SEAL base: Now, you can either retreat to a safe distance and zoom in, waiting until the enemy is within reach, or you can be particularly nasty and actual- ly let them plant the bomb before you detonate the clay- mores. The advantage of this second option is that you can move around freely, since the computer will inform you when the bomb has been planted. Keep in mind, though, that you'll need to Бе close enough to your base to get back there within 20 sec- onds or so. Make sure you position a claymore near each entrance to the room, since the enemy is likely to make tracks as soon as the bomb is planted; this will also give you a better chance of taking out any support the enemy has brought along. If all goes well, the deal should go down like this: If your enemy tries this tactic on you, you have a few options. If you keep your eyes open, you can note the loca- tions of the claymores; if you. can't find a safe route through them, call in support to back you up. If you're the last man standing, you'll need to just hunt down the enemy. You don't have to blow up the enemy base to win; taking them all out does the job just as well. BOOM A similar approach (опе which requires a great deal more speed and stealth) is to surround the bomb with clay- mores like so: It's likely that once your enemy decides to make a dash for the bomb, he's not going to be watching where he's going as much as he's going to be hauling ass in and out of the building that shelters the bomb. Take advantage of that by position- ing the claymores in the dim environment of this level's bomb shelter. INCOMING! While we're on the subject of the bomb shelter, here's another tactic guaranteed to help keep the enemy on their toes: If you make а practice of lobbing grenades into the bomb shelter from a safe distance, you can generally make your opponent wary of dashing for the bomb. Remember that with friendly fire turned off, your grenades will not damage your team- mates. If you have а í couple people alternately ‘lobbing grenades, you have a virtual- ly impenetrable shield to cover a third person heading in for the bomb. If your enemy tries this on you, don’t even attempt to head in. Just wait for them to run out of grenades. DISTANCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER Yet another way to prevent the enemy from picking up the bomb altogether is to get a bead on the bomb shelter with a sniper rifle. The SEALs have a nice wooded rise on their side of the bomb that makes a good snipe point: Be aware, though, that your enemy will probably catch оп to this tactic pretty quickly. HIDE AND GO DIE Blizzard has a few excellent hiding spots, perfect for pop- ping out like a wild-eyed, gun-toting jack-in-the-box. Most fun are the two out- houses, one at the SEAL base and one at the Terrorist base: You can get inside one of these and close the door, and ог that you can of what’: 5 going (Also, whenever going into hiding, remember that the snow will hold your foot- prints for quite awhile. ‘Solution: Run around т а tight circle, making a mess of the prints; alternately, walk backward.) Another great spot is this long thing stick- ing out of the Terrorist base: 7% ith ie Exit the upper level of the base onto the roof, walk around and head out to the end of whatever that thing is supposed to be, and hit the deck. It's very difficult to see from below. And don't forget about that pipe in the Terrorist base: It makes a great hiding spot, and you can even lob grenades out the side if your enemy tries to plant the bomb. Remember, though, that there's only way into the pipe—if you get caught there, you've got nowhere to run to, baby, and nowhere to hide. > | 4 бате Battle Hunter Battletanx: Global Assault Beast Wars Big Air Big Bass Fishing Big ОР Bass 2 Billiards Bio ЕВЕА.К.5. Black Bass with Blue Marlin Blade Blast Lacrosse Blast Radius Blaster Master: Blasting Again Blasto Bloody Roar Bloody Roar 2 Blues Big Musical Board Game: Top Shop Bomberman Fantasy Race Bomberman Party Edition Bomberman World The Bombing Islands Boombots Bottom of the 9th '97 Bowling Boxing Brave Fencer Musashi Bravo Air Race Breakout Breath of Fire Ill Breath of Fire IV Brigandine Broken Sword Broken Sword И Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2 THQ Bug Riders Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters Infogrames Bugs Bunny Lost In Time Builder's Block Burstrick Wake Boarding! Bushido Blade 2 Bust A Groove Bust A Groove 2 Bust-A-Move 4 Bust-A-Move 99 Buzz Lightyear of Star Command C: The Contra Adventure с-12: Final Resistance Caesar's Palace 2000 Caesar's Palace И Capcom vs. SNK Pro Card Games Cardinal SYN CART World Series Casper: Friends Around the World Castlevania Chronicles Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Castrol Honda Superbike Centipede Championship Bass Championship Motocross 2001 Featuring Ricky Carmichael Championship Motocross Featuring Ricky Carmichael Championship Surfer Chessmaster И Chicken Run Chocobo Racing Chocobo's Dungeon 2 Chrono Cross Circuit Breakers Civilization И Clock Tower Clock Tower Il: The Struggle Within Colin McRae 2.0 Publisher Agetec 300 Hasbro Accolade Take 2 Konami Agetec Midway Hot-B Activision Acclaim Psygnosis Score Crave Sony СЕА Sony CEA Sony CEA THO Agetec Atlus Vatical Atlus Kemco SouthPeak Konami Agetec Agetec Square EA THQ Hasbro Capcom Capcom Atlus THO Crave THQ GT Interactive Infogrames Jaleco Natsume Square EA 989 Studios Enix Natsume Acclaim Activision Konami Sony CEA Interplay Interplay Capcom Agetec Sony CEA ‘Sony CEA Sound Source ө Konami Konami Electronic Arts Hasbro EA Sports THO THQ Mattel Mindscape Eidos Square EA Square EA Square EA Mindscape Activision Ascii Agetec eet Codemasters Issue Game Publisher Colin McRae Rally Sony CEA Colony Wars Psygnosis Colony Wars: Red Sun Psygnosis Colony Wars: Vengeance Psygnosis Command & Conquer: Red Alert Virgin Contender Sony CEA Contender 2 Bam! 2001 Bi Sony CEA 989 Studios 21 Boarders 4 989 Studios Cool Boarders 2001 Sony CEA Countdown Vampires Bandai Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn Activision Crash Bandicoot 2 Sony CEA Crash Bandicoot: WARPED Sony CEA Crash Bash SCEA/Universal Crime Killer Interplay Critical Depth GT Interactive Croc Fox Interactive Croc 2 Fox Interactive Crossroad Crisis Magetec Crusaders of Might & Magic 300 CTR: Crash Team Racing Sony CEA CyberTiger EA Sports Dance Dance Revolution Konami Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix Konami еее 49 Dance Dance Revolution: Konamix Konami Danger Girl THQ Dark Omen Electronic Arts DarkStalkers 3 Capcom Darkstone Take 2 Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX Acclaim Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX: Maximum Remix Acclaim David Beckham Soccer Majesco Dead in the Water ASC Dead or Alive Tecmo Deathtrap Dungeon Eidos Deception IIl: Dark Delusion Tecmo Delta Force: Urban Warfare Novalogic Demolition Racer Infogrames Destrega Koei Destruction Derby Raw Midway Devil Dice THQ Dexter's Laboratory: Mandark's Lab? Bam! Diablo Electronic Arts Die Hard Trilogy: Viva Las Vegas Fox Interactive Digimon Digital Card Battle Bandai Digimon Rumble Arena Bandai Digimon World Bandai Sandwiches and Digimon. To each their gaming own, we guess. New partner Digimon There are eight partner Digimon you can get. They are Agumon, Patamon, Veemon, Guilmon, Renamon, Kumamon, Kotemon and Monmon. After the first three you get, you will need to find the Ultimate level Digimon for the rookie that you want. DRI people are in various locations and they will tell you which Ultimate Digimon they want DNA from. Defeat the Ultimate level Digimon to get the. DNA. Take it back to the DRI person that wants it and you will get that rookie. For example, talk to the DRI person in Tyranno Valley. He wants DNA from MetalGreymon. Go to Bulk Swamp to find MetalGreymon. Fight and defeat him to get the DNA. Take it back to the DRI person and he will put Agumon in your team. Go to Digimon Lab or see Piximon to switch to Agumon. Permanent Digimon Use the following trick to get permanent Digimon such as Paildramon or Omnimon. For example, to get Paildramon perma- nently, you must have a Digimon that can digivolve to Exveemon and Stingmon at level 5. To get Omnimon as well, you must have a Digimon that can digivolve to Metalgarurumon and Wargreymon ак level 40. Experience for all Tag in all your weaker partners first, then tag in your strongest last. Do not forget to heal them to get the experience. Then, finish with ITALIAN JOB: PIZZA GUY Hey all you /talian Job lovers out there, here's a trick to get a secret ride. Enter Free Ride mode and choose a car (preferably the Mini Cooper or a сор саг), and go to Turin. Drive around and soon find a parking garage and you'll go into Destructor Mode. Knock over all the cones in time and a man will come down the ramp and tell you about a job. Follow the arrow to а pizza parlor to get the job. The owner says if you deliver his pizza’s ‘on time he will give you a new ride. You must deliver eight piz- zas. You can go full speed the whole time except when delivering pizza number five. If you deliver the pizzas in time you will go back to the pizza parlor and will be given directions to your new ride which is avery, very small VW Bug. Enjoy! Luke Frazier Hoobastanker13 (daol.com RED FACTION: FULL FUSION My friend found a cool trick for the multiplayer games in Red Faction that will make your oppo- nents run in ter- ror. First find the Fusion rocket launcher [there is one in almost every arena]. Once you have it, quickly run to a Spot that you can easily find later. Then, pull out your Fusion rock- et launcher and blow yourself up. Quickly re-spawn and run to where you killed your- “Hey, Man, You Cuban? бате her бсоте Issue the strongest Digimon. АН the digimon will get the same amount of experience, Dino Crisis Capcom е 25 Dino Crisis 2 Capcom 38 Disney's Dinosaur Ubi Soft 36 Donald Duck: Goin’ Quackers Ubi Soft 39 Downhill Mountain Bike Racing Activision 27 Dracula: The Last Sanctuary — DreamCatcher 56 Dracula: The Resurrection DreamCatcher 48 Dragon Ball GT Bandai 4 Dragon Tales: Dragon Seek NewKidCo 45 Dragon Valor Namco 38 Dragon Warrior МИ Enix 51 Dragonseeds Jaleco 15 GT Interactive Infogrames _ Driver Looking for the secret car in Havana? No problemo, sefior. Drive to the tunnel on the city's west side. Before you go into the tunnel, take the exit to the left and follow the curved road until you literally hit а wall. At the one-third point of the street, turn right and you'll find a switch on your right near some trees. Get out of the car and hit the switch. A secret area will open up. Get back into your ride. ‘and drive back down the road you were just on. The gate will be ‘open, so break on through to the other side. Drive to the end, take a right, and take a left. When you get all the way down, шт left and ‘then right and then left again. Follow the tunnel to the end to find the secret car on a platform. You'll find the switch to the right of the platform on the wall. Rio Is Better With Invincibility Start facing the highway, then turn 180 degrees and go the other way. Take the third street on your right and pass the big lake. After the lake there'll be an intersection. Turn left and find a building with a garage and a normal door. You'll see a barbed-wire fence. Go to the building that's black with white windows. On the. left side of this building find a door. Press Triangle at that door to enable the immunity cheat (there'll be no cops). To activate the cheat, choose Gameplay and then Secrets in the Options menu. Ducati World Championship Racing Acclaim ө! 41 Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes Infogrames 40 Duke Nukem: Time to Kill GT Interactive 14 Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown СТ Interactive 5 Dukes of Hazzard SouthPeak 29 Dukes of Hazzard И: Daisy Dukes it Out SouthPeak 41 Dune 2000 Electronic Arts 27 EA Sports Supercross EA Sports 41 Eagle One: Harrier Attack Infogrames 32 Echo Night Agetec 23 ECW Anarchy Rulz Acclaim 38 ECW Hardcore Revolution Acclaim 30 Ehrgeiz Square EA 21 Einhánder Sony CEA 8 Elemental Gearbolt Working Designs 11 Eliminator Psygnosis 20 The Emperor's New Groove SCEA 40 ESPN MLS GameNight Konami 40 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: Interplanetary Mission NewKidCo 54 Eternal Eyes Crave 38 Evil Dead: Hail to the King тна 41 Evil Zone Titus 25 Expendable Infogrames 34 F1 2000 EA Sports 33 F1 Championship Season EA Sports 40 F1 Racing Championship Ubi Soft 39 Family Feud Hasbro 39 Family Game Pack 300 33 Fantastic Four Acclaim 3 Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition SNK 30 Fear Effect Eidos 31 Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix Eidos 43 Felony 11-79 Ascii 1 FIFA 98 EA Sports 4 FIFA 99 EA Sports 17 FIFA 2000 EA Sports 27 FIFA 2001 Major League Soccer EA Sports 39 The Fifth Element Activision 15 Fighter Maker Agetec a Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine бод) DVD EGGS FAMILY. REDEFINED, ct line DVD EGGS, t Easter Eggs, email us at SHT If you have any extra fresh IG HARDI American Pie 2 DVD Here’s your frickin’ egg! Who can resist American Pie 2? Apparently you can't, so slip in the disc and sweep over to the Bonus Materials. There yet? • Go {о the second раде of bonus materials, which will make “Bonus Materials” at the top of the page selectable. * Select it. ЕЦ play а quick clip with sexy Mena Suvari and Jason Biggs being ironic. Useless, but worth a watch. Usual Suspects Special Edition DVD Four photographs This is one of those rare movies that you can say is perfect. At least it makes for a good argu- ment. As for eggs, follow the dots: * Stick in the disc on the second side. Highlight the logo at the main menu then press X. This will make a screen with a slather of photos appear. * Highlight and select the photos in this order: Quartet, Guatemala, Big Woman, Broken Mug. You'll be privy to two clips of interviews. The Sopranos: The Complete Second Season DVD Bada bing! One of the best TV shows around, The Sopranos is Grand Theft Auto IIl without the controller. So when you're in the mood to watch someone swim with the fishes," try this egg on for size: * Put in Disc 4 and head to the Special Features menu. * Push Up until an outline of one of those wholesome Bada Bing girls shows up in the lower right hand corner. Press X and Бада bing! You'll be able to watch а short montage from your favorite HBO gang- sters yucking it up. Moulin Rouge: Special Edition DVD Cause you can-can-can This is one of the best movies going, and it’s packed with eggs. There are 15 on the second disc. Here are three: Zidler's Cancan * Go to the second submenu. * Highlight Back and press Right. * When the fairy appears, press X. You and Ewan Enter The Stars. * Once the intro has ended, type in nine and 17 (might need to press X between the numbers]. Giggling Nicole * Go to The Cutting Room. * Highlight Main Menu. Press Left to make a red windmill appear. Press X. Hard Eight DVD Track change Look, it’s a slow month for eggs, alright. Here’s а cult favorite from the guy who made Boogie Nights (it's actually better than the porn expose]. Follow these steps: * Fast forward to the ending credits and press Select to get to change the audio. The song normally heard will be different. Cool. (21 ) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Game Publisher Score Issue Master Gundam To unlock it in Street Mode, beat Street Mode on Hard with Burning. Gundam and Gundam Maxter. To unlock it in Versus, Time Attack & Survival Modes, beat Street Mode with the Master Gundam. Acguy To unlock it in Versus, Time Attack & Survival Modes, beat Street Mode with Gundam RX-78. Ball To unlock it in Versus, Time Attack & Survival Modes, beat Street Mode with Gundam RX-78. Gundam Physalis (GP-02A To unlock it in Versus, Time Attack & Survival Modes, beat Street. Mode with Burning Gundam. Bolt Gundam To unlock it in Versus, Time Attack & Survival Modes, beat Street. Mode with Gundam Maxter. Zeong To unlock it in Versus, Time Attack & Survival Modes, beat Street Mode with Zaku IIS. Quin Mantha To unlock it in Versus, Time Attack & Survival Modes, beat Street mode with Master Gundam. Hygoog To unlock it in Versus, Time Attack & Survival Modes, beat Street Mode with Wing Gundam Zero Custom. Heavy Arms Custom To unlock it in Versus, Time Attack & Survival Modes, beat Street Game Publisher Score Issue Eidos 3 Fighting Force 2 Eidos 29 Final Fantasy Anthology ‘Square EA 26 Final Fantasy Chronicles Sony CEA 47 Final Fantasy IX Square EA 39 Sony CEA 5 Sony CEA 1 Square EA 25 Fisherman’s Bait Konami 18 Fisherman's Bait 2: Big Ol’ Bass Konami 27 Flintstones Bedrock Bowling SouthPeak . 37 Ford Racing Empire 44 Psygnosis 15 Formula 1 '99 Psygnosis 28 Forsaken Acclaim 10 Fox Sports Golf ‘99 Fox Interactive Ш Fox Sports Soccer ‘99 Fox Interactive 11 Freestyle Boardin’ ‘99 Capcom 18 Freestyle Motocross: McGrath vs. Pastrana Acclaim 40 Hasbro 4 Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge Hasbro Front Mission 3 Square EA Future Cop L.A.P.D. Electronic Arts G-Police Psygnosis G-Police 2 Psygnosis G.Darius THQ Galaga: Destination Earth Hasbro Galerians Crave Gallop Racer Tecmo Gauntlet Legends Midway Gekido Interplay Gex: Deep Cover Gecko Eidos бех: Enter the Gecko Midway Ghost in the Shell THO Glover Hasbro Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado Sony CEA өө 42 $опу СЕА 9 One of the top games оп the PSone deserves a few codes, right? Arcade Tracking Obtain all licenses in Simulation mode on disc two, including the ‘Super License to get more Arcade mode tracks. FedEx Car Enter the Gran Turismo League race events until reaching the Pacific League races. Then, enter the Midfield Raceway event to be award- ed with an R*Nissan 300ZX GTS FedEx race car. Gets you there on time, every time. Except in the case of Cast Away. Mark Martin's NASCAR #6 Ford Taurus To obtain this car, you must first purchase a Ford Taurus and then perform the Racing modification. Мо" Sports Land Track Obtain all of the licenses, including the Super License, and the Motor Sports Land track will become available in Time Trial mode on the arcade disc. Take 2 10 Grand Theft Auto 2 Rockstar 27 Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 Rockstar 22 Grand Tour Racing ‘98 Activision 1 Grandia Sony CEA 26 Granstream Saga THO 10 The Grinch Konami/Universal @@ 39 Grind Session Sony CEA 34 Grudge Warriors Take 2 34 Guardian's Crusade Activision өөө 19 Gundam Battle Assault Bandai eee 40 it Dork it up with these codes! Unlocking new Mobile Suits Zaku 15 To unlock it in Street mode, beat Street Mode on Hard with Gundam RX-78. To unlock it in Versus, Time Attack & Survival Modes, beat Street Mode with the Zaku IIS. Taligeese Ш Beat Street Mode on Hard with Gundam Deathscythe Hell Custom and Wing Gundam Zero Custom. To unlock it in Versus, Time Attack & Survival Modes, beat Street Mode with the Tallgeese IIl. Mode with Gundam Deathscythe Hell Custom. Full Armor ZZ Gundam. To unlock it in Versus, Time Attack & Survival Modes, beat Street Mode with Tallgeese III. Hydra Gundam To unlock it in Versus, Time Attack & Survival Modes, beat Street Mode with Tallgeese И. Gunfighter: The Legend of Jesse James Ubi Soft 52 HardBall "99 Accolade 15 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone EA Games 53 Harvest Moon: Back to Nature Natsume 40 HBO Boxing Acclaim 41 Heart of Darkness Interplay 13 Hello Kitty's Cube Frenzy NewKidCo 20 Herc’s Adventures LucasArts 2 High Heat Baseball 2000 300 22 High Heat Major League Baseball 2002 300 43 Hogs of War Infogrames 38 Hooters Road Trip Ubi Soft 55 Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth Atlus 53 Hot Shots Golf Sony CEA 7 Hot Shots Golf 2 Sony CEA 30 Electronic Arts 25 Hydro Thunder Midway 31 IHRA Drag Racing Bethesda ‹ 53 In Cold Blood DreamCatcher 49 Incredible Crisis Titus 38 Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Crazy Maze Ubi Soft 50 Intelligent Qube Sony CEA 2 Intellivision Classic Games Activision 28 Int'l. Superstar Soccer ‘98 Konami " Int'l. Track & Field 2000 Konami 27 Invasion From Beyond GT Interactive 19 Iron Soldier 3 Vatical Irritating Stick Jaleco ISS Pro Evolution Konami The Italian Job Rockstar Jackie Chan Stuntmaster Midway Jade Cocoon Crave Jarrett & LaBonte Stock Car Racing Codemasters Jeopardy! Hasbro Jeopardy! 2 Hasbro Acclaim 38 Jersey Devil Sony CEA 10 Sony CEA 3 Jet Moto 3 989 Studios 26 i ү шщ Е. years, countless adventurers have delved deep into the spellbinding realms of MYST. ^ Embark on a desperate hunt through the Ages for an embittered villain — whose vengeance threatens to eradicate an entire civilization. EVERYONE И Visit www.esrb.org | ог call 1-800-771-3772 ? 24 fo info. T i Е рил тоте NO Иа PlayStation.e хео> Ubi Soft www.ubi.com Scrersots oken from XBOX. ©2002 Ubi Sof Entertainment SA. Al rights reserved. Myst В registered trademark of Cyan, Ic under license o Ubi Soft Enertainment S.A. Ubi бой ond the Ubi Soft logo are registered trademarks of Ubi Soh, Inc. The Presto Studios log i a registered trademark of Presto Studio, nc “Романот the PS" Family loo ore registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc Microsoft Xbox and the Xbox Logos are ед registered odemorks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in ће U.S and/or in other countries ond are used under icense from Мико. Made in the USA PT NCAA 2003: DEFENSE! REPLAY College football season is underway and there are plenty of superpowers running roughshod over the has-beens. But that doesn't mean you've gotten any better at play calling. We decided to have NCAA expert Jeremy Watson [jeremy_w24layahoo.com] break it down for you. Enjoy. e Grading the Formations 3-4 Strengths: Spreads out your defense. Stops flats and sweeps. Covers middle of the field. Weakness: No pass rush without blitzes. Runs up the middle, 3+ WR sets force LB to cover WR. Report Card Overall: C+ vs run (Big): C- vs pass (Big): B+ Big: C vs run (Normal): B- vs pass [Normal]: B- Normal: B- vs run (3+ WRs): В vs pass (3+ WRs): D 3+ WRs: C 7 2NDANDS | AT 437 _ 4-3 Strengths: Stops up the middle runs and off- tackle plays. Normal sets allow one blitzer, but still covers wide receivers well. Weakness: Flats and Option-type runs. 3+ WR sets are mucho trouble. Report Card Overall: B+ vs run (Big): В vs pass (Big): A Big: B+ vs run (Normal): A- vs pass (Normal): A+ Normal: A vs гип (3+ WRs]: А vs pass (3+ WRs]: D- 3+ WRs: C Nickel Strengths: 3 and 4 WR sets. Option plays if you blitz. Deep passes out of a Normal formation. Allows double of both WRs with good cover, Weakness: Screens and Draws. 5 WR's can be a problem. Off-tackle plays. Report Card Overall: A- vs run (Big): В- vs pass [Big]: В Big: B- vs run (Normal): B vs pass (Normal): A Normal: A- vs run (3+ WRs): B- vs pass (3+ МК): A- 3+ WRs: A Dime Strengths: 4 and 5 WR sets. Deep passes out of (7) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine а any formation. Allows double of both WRs while still covering the rest of the field. Weakness: Draws and any run. Watch for the QB to take off if you have everyone covered, Watch the fifth WR if you are covering him with your SS. Report Card Overall: D+ vs run (Big): F vs pass (Big): D+ Big: F vs run (Normal): D- vs pass [Normal]: B- Normal: C- vs run (3+ WRs): C- vs pass (3+ МК): А+ 3+ WRs: A- 4-6 Strengths: Shuts down most runs. Screens and Flats. Big formations. Weakness: 3+ WR is deadly. Watch out if you opponent lines up a speedy TE. Play action. Gives up the deep ball if the QB has time. Report Card Overall: B- vs run (Big): A- vs pass (Big): B+ Big: A- vs run (Normal): A vs pass (Normal): C+ Normal: B vs run (3+ МУК): А+ vs pass [3+ МК): Е 3+ WRs: C- 5-2 Strengths: Up the middle runs. Passes out of the Big formation. Weakness: Screens and Flats. Sweeps and Option plays. 3+ WR sets are also a problem. Watch out for the deep ball. Report Card Overall: C vs run (Big): B vs pass (Big): B+ Big: В vs run (Normal): C- vs pass (Normal): С Normal: C vs run (3+ WRs): В vs pass (3+ WRs): D- 3+ WRs: C- Goalline Strengths: Up the middle runs. Passes out of the Big formation. Off tackle plays. Weakness: 3+ WRs is death. If your defense in pinched down Sweeps and Option plays. If the QB has time Play action. Report Card Overall: B- vs run (Big): А+ vs pass (Від): A Big: A+ vs run (Normal): А+ vs pass (Normal): В Normal: B+ vs run (3+ WRs]: А+ vs pass (3+ МК): Е 3+ WRs: D Game Jimmy Johnson VR Football Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Juggernaut K-1 Grand Prix K-1 Revenge Kagero: Deception И Kartia Kensei Sacred Fist Kickboxing Killer Loop King of Fighters ‘99 KISS Pinball Klonoa Knockout Kings Knockout Kings 2000 Knockout Kings 2001 Konami Arcade Classics Koudelka Kurt Warner's Arena Football Unleashed The Land Before Time: Great Valley Racing Adventure The Land Before Time: Return to the Great Valley Largo Winch .// Commando Sar Legacy of Kain; Soul Reaver The Legend of Dragoon Legend of Legaia Legend of Mana Lego Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge Lego Rock Raiders Lilo & Stitch The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure The Little Mermaid И Lode Runner Looney Tunes Racing Looney Tunes: Sheep Raider The Lost World: Jurassic Park Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete Madden NFL 98 Madden NFL 99 Madden NFL 2000 Madden NFL 2001 Madden NFL 2002 Martian Gothic: Unification Marvel Super Heroes Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter Marvel vs, Capcom EX Mary-Kate and Ashley: Magical Mystery Mall Mary-Kate and Ashley: Winners Circle Mass Destruction Mat Hoffman's Pro ВМХ Maximum Force MDK Medal Of Honor Medal Of Honor Underground MediEvil MediEvil И Mega Man Legends Mega Man Legends 2 Mega Man X4 Mega Man X5 Mega Man X6 Men In Black- The Series: Crashdown Metal Gear Solid. Metal Gear Solid VR Missions Metal Slug X Micro Machines Micro Maniacs Mike Tyson Boxing Publisher Interplay Capcom Jaleco Jaleco Jaleco Tecmo Atlus Konami Agetec Crave Agetec Take 2 Namco EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports Konami Infogrames Midway TDK Mediactive Sound Source Ubi Soft Eidos Sony CEA Sony СЕА Square EA Lego Media Lego Media Sony CEA Activision THQ Natsume Infogrames Infogrames Electronic Arts е Working Designs Working Designs EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports Take 2 Capcom Capcom Capcom Acclaim Acclaim ASC Activision Midway Playmates Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Sony СЕА Sony CEA Capcom Capcom Capcom Capcom Capcom Infogrames Konami Konami Agetec Midway Codemasters Codemasters FORUM self. Pick up the Fusion rocket launcher on the ground and it will now have four shells instead of the usual one shell. Brian Wyler bigcheeseps2faya Ё һоо.сот FINAL FANTASY Х: EASY АР. Ву using the method below you can get near- ly 99 levets in just опе fight. 1, Select the character you want to level up. You need to equip him/her with а weapon that has the following abilities: Triple Ap, Triple Overdirve and Overdrive-Ap. You can win items with at least one of these abilities already attached to them in the Arena, west from Calm Lands. That same char- acter must also learn the Comrade Overdrive mode, you'll obtain this опе by letting enemies attack your allies. _ 2. Go to the sunken cave located halfway between Mt. Gagazat and the Calms lands, once there cap- ture at least one specimen from each kind of fiend inside the cave. Once you're fin- ished with that return to the Arena, a new Area Conquest ‘monster should "Бе available (Don Tonberry). Before fighting Don Tonberry equip the charac- tevel up with the Special weapon уви таде for him/her in step опе and set his/her Overdrive mode to Comrade. He/she will actas the COLLECT THEM ALL Order OPM Back Issues or Demo Discs Today! To order, sim- ply send your order form indicating which issues you would like to: Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Back Issues, Р.0. Box 3338, Oak Brook, IL 60522-3338. All requests must be paid for by checlcor money order ONLY, made payable to Ziff Davis Media (Please do not send cash) The cost for each issue is as indicated on the order form PLUS shipping and handling. Shipping and handling charges for each magazine are as follows: $3 US, $3 Canadian and $5 foreign. All payments MUST be in US. funds. Prices and availability subject to change without notice. (Note: Issue 17/February 1999 is completely SOLD OUT.) Issue 56-May 2002-510 Spider-Man PS2 Demo Disc playables: Hot Shots Golf 3, Rez, Jak and Daxter, Baldur's Gate, SSX Tricky Video previews: Spider-Man, Barbarians, Jak and Daxter P Plays Station ама Ё pun vg "E BOUNTY. HUNI ЦЕН Issue = 2002-510 [ ] Star Wars PS2 Demo Disc playables: Medal of Honor: Frontline, Fatal Frame, Herdy Gerdy, Mad Maestro!, Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat Video previews: Delta Force Urban Warfare, Scooby-Doo, Stuntmaner's Stone, NBA ShootOut 2002 Issue 1 - October 1997 Final Fantasy VII Strategy Demo Disc playables: Intelligent Qube, раварра the Rapper, Ace Combat 2, Fighting Force Issue 2 - November 1997 $0 Bushido Blade Strategy ето Disc playables: Crash Bandicoot 2, Croc, ‘Armored Core, Madden NFL 98, Cool Boarders. 2, Colony Wars Issue 3 - December 1997 Cool Boarders Strategy Demo Disc playables: Bushido Blade, Vs., Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi, Jet Moto 2, Cardinal SYN, Ghost in the Shell, Moto Racer, Test Drive 4 50 Issue 4 - January 1998. 50 ‘Tomb Raider II Strategy Demo Disc playables: NFL GameDay 98, CART World Series, Frogger Issue 5 - February 1998 Alundra Strategy Demo Disc playables: NCAA GameBreaker 98, ‘Tomb Raider II, Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Crime Killer $10 Demo Dise palier Bloody Roa, Monster Rancher, Shipwreckers ‘non-playables: Alundra, NBA ShootOut 98, Saga Frontier, Mega Man Neo Issue 7 - April 1998 Resident Evil 2 Strategy Demo Disc playables: Hot Shots Golf, Pitfall 3D, WCW Nitro, ONE. $10 Issue 8 - May 1998 Tekken 3 Strategy Demo Disc playables:Einhander, Gex: Enter the Gecko, Klonoa $10 Issue 9 - June 1998 $5 Tekken 3 Strategy Demo Disc playables: Cardinal SYN, Vigilante 8, Forsaken, N20, TOCA, Dead or Alive. NFL Xtreme, MLB 99, Tekken 3. Issue 11 - August 1998 Vigilante 8 Strategy Demo Disc playables: Tekken 3, Turbo Prop. Racing Issue 12 - September 1998 $0 Elemental Gearbot Strategy Demo Disc playables: Spyro the Dragon, Duke ‘Nukem: Time to Kill, WWF War Zone, The Unholy War, SCARS. 55 of Kain: Soul Reaver, Test Drive 5, Devil Dice, Brunswick Bowling, Ninja, NFL Xtreme, Cool Boarders 3 Issue 15 - December 1998 $10 Crash Bandicoot Strategy Demo Disc playables: Tomb Raider Ш, Crash Bandicoot: WARPED, Bomberman World, A Bug's Life, Running Wild, Kagero, Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo Issue 16 - January 1999 $10 Tomb Raider ITI Strategy Demo Disc playables: Silent НИ, Moto Racer 2, Brave Fencer Musashi, Apocalypse, Tai Fu Issue 18 - March 1999 Syphon Filter Strategy Demo Disc playables: Syphon Filter, Bust A Groove, Shadow Madness, Fisherman's Вай, Акий the Heartless, No One Can Stop Mr. Domino, Street SkBer $10 Issue 52-January 2002-510 Jak and Daxter PS2 Demo Disc playables: Monsters, Inc., Sheep Raider, Mary Kate and Ashley's Crash Course, Jumpstart Wild Safari Field Trip Video previews: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, NBA ShootOut 2002 | ста = EVERQUEST апі . THEPS2AONLINE ` Issue 58-July 2002-$10 Г] 1000 REVIEWS «16 PAGES OF TIPS | PS2 Online PS2 Demo Disc playables: Mister Mosquito, Aggressive Inline, Knockout Kings 2002, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002, Fireblade, Star Wars Jedi Starfighter Video previews; Mark of Kri, Woody Woodpecker, Gravity Games EMERGENCY hake cames oot z ќи а 8 E = £ $ à Final Fantasy X Р$2 Demo Disc playables: Okage: Shadow King, SSX Tricky, Final Fantasy X, TimeSplitters 2, Dynasty Warriors 3, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex Video previews: Batman: Vengeance, Splashdown, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (CLUSIVE: PS2 ти m © lars ion Зи ТН RACCOONDS ques s REMADE Issue 59-August 2002-$1 Sly Cooper Р$2 Demo Disc playables: Street Hoops, UFC: Throwdown, Taz: Wanted, Freekstyle, Sled Storm, Stuntman, Britney's Dance Beat Video previews: Mat Hoffman 2, Dragon's Lair 3D, Kingdom Hearts, Test Drive Issue 54-March 2002-$10 п Tomb Raider: TNG PS one Demo Disc playables: Sheep Raider, Monsters, Inc., Twisted Metal: Small Brawl, Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, ET. Video previews: Batman: Vengeance, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Jak and Daxter EXCLUSIVE PS2 DEMO OVD INSIDE: 0:5. NAVY SEALS [^ "52 OVD INSIDE! TEKKEN 4 КҮҮН ROUN К paws Û уи pue | Issue ra 8 o S.0.C.0.M: U.S. NAVY SEALS PS2 Demo Disc playables: TimeSplitters 2, X-Men: Next Dimension, Hot Shots Golf 3, The Mark of Kri, Frequency, Medal of Honor: Frontline Video previews: Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus and more Bosco Issue 55-April 2002-510 [ ] Virtua Fighter 4 PS2 Demo Disc playables: Maximo, Soul Reaver2, PaRappa the Rapper 2, Frequency, Gitaroo Man, Airblade Video previews: Virtua Fighter 4, Grand Theft Auto Ш, Smuggler's Run 2, Herdy Gerdy (Са sus esa пано oo si GETTING ONLINE MADE EASY Issue 61-October 2002-510 [ ] Kingdom Hearts PS2 Demo Disc playables: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, Summoner 2, Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, Downforce, Drakan: The Ancients’ Gates, The Mark of Kri Video pre- views: Treasure Planet, Kelly Slater, Superman, Kingdom Hearts Issue 19 - April 1999 $10 Silent Hill Strategy Demo Disc playables: ВА: Ridge Racer Type 4, WCW/nWo Thunder, Rollcage, Warzone 2100, Rugrats: Search for Reptar Issue 20 - May 1999 $10 Legend of Legaia Strategy Demo Disc playables: Ehrgeiz, Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko, Legend of Legaia, Contender Issue 21 - June 1999 50 бех 3 Strategy Demo Disc playables: Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, NFL Blitz, Bust-a-Move 4, R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, Elmo’ Letter Adventure Issue 22 - July 1999 50 Street Fighter Alpha 3 Strategy Demo Disc playable: Ape Escape, MLB 2000, The Next Tetris, Топу Hawks Pro Skater, Croc 2, Soul of the Samurai, Bloody Roar 2 Issue 23 - August 1999 50 ‘Ape Escape Strategy Demo Disc playables: Final Fantasy VIII, 3 Xtreme, Tiny Tank, Jade Cocoon, Macross VFX 2, You Don't Know Jack, Centipede, Ultimate 8-Ball Issue 24 - September 1999 $10 Jade Cocoon Strategy Demo Disc playables: Um Jammer Lammy, Sled Storm, Chocobo Racing, Pong, Monaco Grand Prix Racing Issue 25 - October 1999 Final Fantasy VIII Strategy Demo Disc playables: Metal Gear Solid, WipeOut З, Omega Boost, NFL Xtreme 2, Jet Moto 3, Тоу Story 2, Pac-Man World 50 Issue 26 - November 1999 50 Crash Team Racing Strategy Demo Disc playables: Grandia, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Killer Loop, 40 Winks, NFL Blitz, Crash Bandicoot: WARPED, Cool Boarders 3 Issue 27 - December 1999 $10 Dino Crisis Strategy ‘Demo Disc playables: GT 2, Madden NFL 2000, МА GameDay 2000, NCAA Game Breaker 2000, Cool Boarders 4 Issue 28 - January 2000 Resident Evil 3: Nemesis Strategy Demo Disc playables: Dino Crisis, NHL FaceOff 2000, NBA Basketball 2000, Tarzan, Army Men: Air Attack, WCW Mayhem Issue 29 - February 2000 50 Medal of Honor Strategy Demo Disc playables: Tomba! 2, Tomb Raider The Last Revelation, SuperCross Circuit, MTV Sports Snowboarding Tssue 30 - March 2000 GT2 Strategy Demo Disc playables: Syphon Filter 2, Crash Team Racing, NCAA Final Four 2000, Spyro 2,Silent Bomber, Twisted Metal 4 50 Issue 31 - April 2000 sio Saga Frontier 2 Strategy Demo Disc playables: Colony Wars: Red Sun, Spider-Man, Eagle One: Harrier Attack, Hot Shots Golf 2, Rollcage Stage П, Gekido Issue 32 - May 2000 Syphon Filter 2 Strategy Demo Disc playables: MediEvil 11, NCAA March Madness 2000, NASCAR Rumble, Speed Punks, Rugrats Studio Tour $10 Issue 33 - June 2000 50 Fear Effect Strategy ‘Demo Disc playables:X-Men Mutant Academy, Threads of Fate, WWF SmackDown!, Gauntlet Legends, Grind Session Issue 34 - July 2000 Tony Hawks Pro Skater Demo Disc playables: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Legend of Dragoon, MLB 2001, Ме Driller, Star Trek Invasion Issue 35 - August 2000 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Demo Disc playables: Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles, Tenchu 2, WDW: Magical Racing Tour, Destruction Derby Raw, Play with the Teletubbies Issue 36 ~ September 2000 $10 ‘Soul Reaver 2 $10 $10 BE Demo Disc playables: Grind Session, Rayman 2: The Great Escape, Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX, Tyco R/C Racing Issue 37 - October 2000 Star Wars Demo Disc playables: Bust-A-Groove 2, RC Revenge, Team Buddies, Sydney 2000, Muppet Monster Adventure, Sno-Cross Championship Racing Issue 38 - November 2000 PS2 Revealed Demo Disc playables: Crash Bash, Incredible. Crisis, Jarrett & LaBonte Stock Car Racing, Spyro: Year of the Dragon, UFC, plus Metal Gear Solid 2. video! Issue 39 - December 2000 50 Crash Bash Demo Disc playables: Madden NFL 2001, Star Wars Demolition, MTV Sports Pure Ride, Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX, Disney's The Emperors New Groove $10 $10 Issue 40 - January 2001 Gran Turismo 3 Demo Disc playables: Driver 2, Spider-Man, The Grinch, 102 Dalmations, Army Men Air Attack 2 $10 Issue 41 - February 2001 50 ZOE. Demo Disc playables: Spyro: Year ofthe Dragon, Star Wars Demolition, Crash Bash, Cool Boarders 2001, You Don't Know Jack, Mort the Chicken. Issue 42 - March 2001 EA Sports Big Demo Disc playables: CTR: Crash Team Racing, Hot Shots Golf 2, Grind Session, Disney's Tarzan 510 Issue 43 - April 2001 $0 Twisted Metal: Black ‘Demo Disc playables: Championship Surfer, Power Spike Volleyball, Tigger's Honey Hunt Issue 44 - May 2001 $10 Мон: Frontline Demo Disc playables: Cool Boarders 2001, MediEvil 2, Legend of Dragoon, Emperor’s New Groove, Metal Gear Solid, Legacy of Kain, Ape Escape, Tekken 3, Syphon Filter 2 Issue 45 - June 2001 50 Dark Cloud Demo Disc payables: Grind Session, Hot Shots Golf, Dino Crisis, Klonoa Issue 46 - July 2001 $10 Tomb Raider. Demo Disc playables: Tomb Raider И, Ш & Last Revelation, Alone in the Dark, Gran Turismo 2, Dave Mirra: Maximum Remix, Aladdin їп Nasira’s Revenge Issue 47 - August 2001 Final Fantasy Demo Disc playables: Final Fantasy VIII Video previews: Final Fantasy МИ, FFIX, FF Tactics, Klonoa 2, Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing and the Final Fantasy movie trailer 510 Issue 48 - September 2001 510 Ico Demo Disc playables: Mat Hoffman's Pro ВМХ Video previews: Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Okage: Shadow King, Escape from Monkey Island, Drakan II, Legion: The Legend of Excalibur Issue 49 - October 2001 Silent Hill 2 Demo Disc playables: Cool Boarders 2001, Ico, Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing, Portal Runner, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Spy Hunter $10 Issue 50 - November 2001 Grand Theft Auto ПТ Demo Disc playables: Spider-Man 2, X-Men: Mutant Academy 2, Barbie Explorer, Crash Bandicoot: WARPED, Spyro: Year of the Dragon, Twisted Metal 2, Syphon Filter 2, Tekken 3 Video previews: Dragon Warrior VII, Syphon Filter 3 $10 $10 Issue 51 - December 2001 Metal Gear Solid 2 Demo Disc playables: NBA Street, Kinetica, Extermination, Gallop Racer 2001 Video pre- views: Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Ico, GameDay 2002, Kinetica NFL 2КЗ: OPENING DAY TIPS to dominate at NFL 2K3, you might need some help If you're going PRESEASON PLUS Be sure to go through the rigors of your preseason schedule. Getting the guys some work can result in significant rating gains. Who wouldn't want Drew Brees at an 82 instead of a 77? Focus on getting a role player some decent stats and see what happens. We've had some great results with that. SLIP-SLIDING AWAY Here's a little known fact about the sliders used to tweak NFL 2K3's gameplay: Most people assume that if they want better catching, they turn the catch slid- er to the right. Wrong. Moving sliders to the right make that par- ticular skill harder. Thus, if you're concerned with the amount of dropped passes, move that thing to the left. RUN WITH IT NFL 2КЗ has one of the most realistic run games ever seen. The chaos, violence and mayhem of real football is depicted artfully with each play. Bodies twist and fly, holes open and close, and people come out of nowhere to shut you down, or to make the block that springs you. Keeping this in mind, it's no wonder a lot of people are finding 2K3's run- ning game hard. It's not a given that you'll get 100 yards just because you carry the pill 20 times. You have to earn it. Here are some simple tips that'll have you churning out bigger chunks of yardage оп а more consistent basis. * Don't speed burst right away. In fact, don’t use it at all until you're really through the line or not being pursued. Speed burst is a love scent for opposing tacklers. They smell it and track you down—quickly. Hunt to the line with patience and purpose before going for the speed and you'll be much better off. Some of the better special moves don't even require you to charge your arrow. By pressing the right and left triggers simul- taneously, you get a surge that increases your chance of breaking tackles. It also almost always guarantees that you'll have for- ward momentum when being tackled, which can add a yard or two to every гип. * Charge your icon (when in the clear) by pressing X, and your player will get an enhanced speed burst while lowering his head to protect the ball. Do this with big- ger backs and you will typically run over one or two guys and pos- sibly even give a joyride to a cou- ple more. DON'T DROP IT Passing is one of the more excit- ing parts of NFL 2K3, but wide receivers dropping the ball with regularity is a quick turn off. Don't get discouraged. Here's а quick primer on how to up that comple- tion rate and get your receivers in synch with the program. * First off, look for your primary (highlighted in the playcall) receiver at the line. What's the matchup? Can he beat his man? Analyze the situation at hand and Official US. PlayStation Magazine be ready to know where else to go if he’s covered. * Before you throw, get the QB's feet set and planted; very few NFL quarterbacks throw with much accuracy when firing off their back foot. Even fewer can wing it while on the run. Unless you're Donovan McNabb, try to stay in the pocket and step into the pass. * This might seem too hardcore but 2КЗ actually thrives on you playing real football. That even goes for the amount of steps you take with your quarterback’s drop. Here’s how you can tell what drops go for what plays. If an offensive play begins with: 50: The QB should take a five- to seven-yard drop. 90: Quick three-step drop and get rid of it. 100: Play-action pass. QB will fake the handoff, hopefully freez- ing the D and buying some time. 200: QB will roll out toward a par- ticular side of the field, usually a "flood" side with plenty of receivers. How you execute these drops and reading the D is crucial to your success. If you don't fire quickly on plays designed for three step drops, receivers are not prepared to catch the ball, if that makes sense. If you're gun- ning the ball right away on the five to seven yard drops the wide- outs will be like, "You weren't supposed to do that yet.” GET SOME SACKS Recording sacks in this game is a monumental task. It’s rare that CPU quarterbacks hold the ball too long and even when they do, they rarely take the hit that should be coming to them. Here’s a few pointers to help you get in the QB's mug a little more often. * Control a DL and hold X prior to the snap. This will charge your guy up and make for some extra potent special moves. Accomplish those by holding L1 or R1 and tapping face buttons on the PS2 pad. “ Timing is key. Charge in right after the snap and just before making contact with the OL, engage one of the special moves. Follow-up with another and you'll most likely be en route to the QB. * Work stunts to your advantage. Dive inside other DL or rip outside the offensive tackles. A varied approach will pay dividends. LIKE A GLOVE Since covering receivers isn’t explained in the manual, here's а guide to the stick movements required for your CB hot routes. Thanks to Kruza on Operation Sports forum for this info. BUMP/PRESS COVERAGE ["T"] * CBs are lined up 1 yard away from line of scrimmage. * CBs in this coverage have the option of playing "off" (1-11 yards away from LOS). * CBs can be moved to cover out- side of WR, but cannot be moved to cover inside of WR. TIGHT BUMP/PRESS COVERAGE [UPSIDE-DOWN "T"] * CBs are initially lined up 1 yard away from LOS. * CBs in this coverage don’t have the option of playing "off" WR (cannot be moved from LOS). “ CBs can be moved to cover inside of WR, but cannot be moved to cover outside of WR. MAN COVERAGE [LINE POINTING UPWARD] • CBs are initially lined ир 5 yards away from LOS. * CBs in this coverage have the option of playing “off” WR (5-14 yards away from LOS). * CBs can be moved to cover out- side of WR, but cannot be moved to cover inside of WR. TIGHT MAN COVERAGE [LINE POINTING DOWN] * CBs are initially 1 yard away from LOS. * CBs in this coverage have the option of playing slightly "off" WR (1-4 yards away from LOS). * CBs can be moved to cover inside of WR, but cannot be moved to cover outside of WR Zone coverage [line attached to circle]. “ Starting CBs are initially lined up 4 yards away from LOS. » Nickel and/or dime backs are initially lined up about 6 yards away from LOS. * CBs that are not lined up in front of WR or are assigned to blitz instead of cover cannot be moved at all. “ CBs can be moved outside WR, but not inside WR. * CBs can be moved up to 4 yards away from LOS (4-8 yards for starting CBs; 6-10 yards for nickel and/or dime backs). RUN LIKE HELL HUNT OR BE HUNTED 4 [2133 Le PlayStation.2 LH Run Like Hell” © 2002 Interplay Entertainment Corn. RII Rights Reserved. RLH Run Like Ней: the ALH logo. Digital Mayhem, the Digital Mayhem logo, Interplay. and the Interplay logo are trademarks of Interplay Entertainment Corp. РИ Rights Violence Reserved. Licensed for play on the PlayStation’? computer entertainment anaua systems with the NTSC ШС designation only. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family Strong Language logo are registered trademarks of Son Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is а trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of thelr respective owners. Blood and Gore Your pulse pounds in your temples. Your crewmembers це! dead or dying around you. All . you know for sure about the alien invaders ж. ОНЕ t n Wer mA, nning; is that you're Fight an alien takeover авап ене ‘military hero in an intense Tee action-horror adv ге. e г» Struggle to outthink. outrun and outgun intelligent foes who learn from your behavior and adapt to it. AT Get the feeling of living a movie— from the edge-of-your-seat tension to the voice talent of top actors. What's your best Tekken tactic? Write us at opm(azi{{davis.com and title the e-mail Can of Tekken Whoop-Ass. REPLAY Jin goes JinJin with a left-right combo JIN Needle Shrine Scraper Just Frame +0000 Initially, mastering the Just Frame execution of the Needle Shrine Scraper should be para- mount for any Jin player. Noticeable by the small blue spark just before impact, this move produces a high-speed launching unblockable attack. To execute this attack, release the © between frames 25 through 27. The advantages here are obvi- ous: When the first hit of the series connects, it combos into the unblockable lift. Furthermore, even when the first two hits are blocked, it is very difficult to escape the final lifting attack. In fact, if the opponent has a wall on their right side, even if they do block the first two hits, the lifting unblockable is guaranteed. Combos: Simplicity: SOO: 30, OOO, dash in, 3® Style and damage: (ORY АКАНИ ОК ХИ dash in, $ © Pressure Pressuring your opponent is a solid way to force mistakes. Once you learn to read those mistakes, punish them with the Needle Shrine Scraper. The following attacks all impact within 10 frames and give Jin an advantage when blocked: OOO, OOO, апа @@®. There are a variety of ways an opponent may respond to pressure, in most cases it will be to jab their way out of it. Since Jin is at an advantage, о most jabs. However, if it fails, use his parry; 2 @® +©, and then combo with @® ©. KAZUYA Demon God Fist (While Rising €) Jabs are the single most common pressure tool in Tekken. As such, removal of this tool can entirely crush some players. With easy life-draining combos, Kazuya's Demon God Fist is the perfect tool to punish jab-happy players. Anticipate the jab, crouch, and then cut this monster loose, when it connects follow with these com- bos: Combos: Simplicity: ув O, oO 00, SOO Style and damage: WRO, $ OO, > IO Crouch Dash Mix-ups All Mishima characters are reliant on mix-ups from their crouch dash (E? * 354. Pressing € dur- ing a crouch dash produces the ‘combo initiating Rising Uppercut, while pressing produces the Hell Sweeps. Blending these and the occasional Dragon Uppercut should force your opponent to hesitate. Use crouch dash cancel (> * ÜSt* c») with Kazuya's throws to force them into reck- lessly throwing out jabs. Wall Push (9 +0) If you master crouch dashing toward your opponent, you will Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Paul's ballet inevitably force them into a wall. Using the position change system to push your opponent into a wall opens a new breed of combo; a breed that Kazuya excels in. Combos: Close Wall Push, ОХОТА A] j MOI Close Wall Push, @@O, >I O08 o Push, DO, c»» OS PAUL Falling Leaf Combo 0©0®:0) Without question, Paul has опе of the finest jabs in Tekken 4. Not only does it yield a positive advan- tage on hit, it also garners advan- tage when blocked. Spacing is essential for Paul, it provides range for his dreaded Deathfist (USr5€) or Stomping Pedal (Side Step 68). However, at his core Paul has been and always will be a character focused on powerful Low/Mid mix-ups. The Deathfist is one element, while the Falling Leaf is the other. Traditionally, mix-ups that come with power also come with risk, yet the Just Frame version of the Falling Leaf breaks this rule. Not only does the Just Frame version make this attack completely safe, it also forces the opponent out into Paul's ideal range. Spend at least a week straight mastering this; the fruits of your labor will pay off with an invincible Paul. Wall Push With his strong jab game and the venerable Falling Leaf Just WINS: Then Yoshi punches hard Frame, Paul can manhandle his opponents across the ring at will. Doing so produces more opportu- nities for wall push based com- bos. The fundamental wall push combo is as follows: Wall Push, J @+0,o@ 09,06 From here you can continue to land (® if they are stuck ina corner. In fact, depending on the terrain, this can produce an infi- nite combo. Realistically, the combo is as listed and nothing more is guaranteed. However, after this combo the opponent 15 forced to rise next to Paul and then guess between a Falling Leaf Just Frame or a Deathfist, either of which can produce a brutal wall stun combo. CHRISTIE At the higher levels, Christie is all about spacing with safe mix-ups to control the pace of the fight. However, before one reaches that level they need to first delve into the core combos and punishing tools the character has to offer. Combos: (TOR Relaxed Position [BIOIOIX EO] This is easily the most damage combo from a low attack. Christie does not need to hit the initial sweep deep for this combo to con- nect. ӨФӨ, Relax Position O, 0090 Once again, massive damage, but this time from a deceptive mid TEKKEN 4: KICK SOME CAN Part one of our Tekken blowout starts with some defining moves by stud characters · launcher that looks like Christie is going low. ws Ө (counter hit], БОКОЙ (22070) To shut down the | previously listed combos, most players are going to pressure Christie and stay in her face. This combo can sneak under jabs, and, on counter hit, deals massive damage. YOSHIMITSU Yoshimitsu is a character driven by finesse and pure skill and most importantly, a character who's true potential is only realized in the hands of a seasoned expert. Overall, focus on his jabs for pressure, Uppercut (SO) for combos, and stay in constant motion while you learn the basics. Stealing! The Yoshimitsu Flash (@) +© ) used to be an end-all high dam- age counter tool. However, in Tekken 4 it no longer does dam- age, but instead, possesses the unique ability to learn the move it countered. While Yoshimitsu can- not learn every single move from every single character, he can still pull a myriad of the most lethal attacks into his own arse- nal. Ultimately, stealing moves is mere showmanship, however there are a wealth of combos oth- erwise unavailable. Combos: Far wall push, Stolen Kazuya Demon God Fist, 20, «x, + Stolen Steve Stun Gun, > + Sword Spin (240 +®) In the past, the unblockable Sword Spin has been relegated to a handful of carefully planned ‘set-ups. With the inclusion of walls in Tekken 4, it is possible to trap your opponents with this attack, not only using as a shield but also as a combo tool. Each time you drive your opponent into a wall with a <2 © based combo, have them eat a Sword Spin. s Christie 5 flexible- like 4 | | | | | | J 3 | The Misadventures of Tron Bonne Miss Spider's Tea Party Missile Command Mission: Impossible MK Mythologies MLB 98 MLB 99 MLB 2000 MLB 2001 MLB 2003 MLBPA Bottom of the 9th ‘99 Mobil 1: Rally Championship Monaco Grand Prix Monkey Него. Monkey Magic Monopoly Monster Rancher 2 Monster Rancher Battle Card: Episode И Monster Rancher Hop-A-Bout Monster Seed Monsters, Inc. Mort the Chicken Mortal Kombat: Special Forces Mortal Kombat 4 Moto Racer Moto Racer 2 Moto Racer World Tour Motocross Mania Motorhead Mr. Domino Mr. Driller Мз. Pac-Man Maze Madness MTV Music Generator MTV Sports: Pure Ride MTV Sports: Skateboarding featuring Andy MacDonald MTV Sports: Snowboarding MTV Sports: T.J. амп’; Ultimate ВМХ The Mummy Muppet Monster Adventure Muppet Race Mania N.GEN Racing N20 Nagano Winter Olympics '98 NASCAR 98 NASCAR 99 NASCAR 2000 NASCAR 2001 NASCAR Heat Publisher Score Capcom Simon & Schuster. Hasbro. Infogrames Midway Sony CEA Sony CEA 989 Studios 989 Studios Sony CEA Sony CEA Konami Electronic Arts eee Ubi Soft Take 2 ө Sunsoft е Hasbro өөө Тесто ө! Infogrames Take 2 Fox Interactive THQ THQ Konami Midway Midway Infogrames Fox Interactive ӨӨ Konami өө Issue Game NASCAR Rumble NASCAR Thunder 2002 NBA Fastbreak ‘98 NBA Hoopz NBA In the Zone ‘98 МВА In the Zone ‘99 NBA In the Zone 2000 NBA Live 98 NBA Live 99 NBA Live 2000 МВА Live 2001 NBA Live 2002 NBA ShootOut 98 МВА ShootOut 2000 NBA ShootOut 2001 NBA ShootOut 2002 NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC NBA Tonight NCAA Final Four ‘99 NCAA Final Four 2000 NCAA Final Four 2001 NCAA Football 98 NCAA Football 99 NCAA Football 2000 NCAA Football 2001 NCAA GameBreaker 98 NCAA GameBreaker 99 NCAA GameBreaker 2000 NCAA GameBreaker 2001 NCAA March Madness 98 NCAA March Madness 99 NCAA March Madness 2000 NCAA March Madness 2001 Nectaris: Military Madness Need for Speed И! Need for Speed: High Stakes Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed Need for Speed: V-Rally Need for Speed: V-Rally 2 Newman/Haas Racing The Next Tetris NFL Blitz NFL Blitz 2000 NFL Blitz 2001 NFL GameDay 98 NFL GameDay 99 NFL GameDay 2000 NFL GameDay 2001 NFL GameDay 2002 NFL Xtreme NFL Xtreme 2 NHL 98 NHL 99 NHL 2000 NHL 2001 NHL Blades of Steel 2000 NHL Breakaway 98 NHL Championship 2000 NHL FaceOff 98 NHL FaceOff 99 МНЕ FaceOff 2000 NHL FaceOff 2001 NHL Rock the Rink Nick Toons Racing Nightmare Creatures Nightmare Creatures Il Ninja: Shadow of Darkness Nuclear Strike орт. Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee Omega Boost One One Piece Mansion Pac-Man World Pandemonium! 2 Panzer Front Publisher Electronic Arts EA Sports Midway Midway Konami Konami Konami EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports Sony CEA 989 Studios 989 Studios Sony CEA Midway ESPN Digital 989 Studios 989 Studios Sony CEA EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports Sony CEA 989 Studios 989 Studios Sony CEA EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports Jaleco Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Issue 31 Score Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Psygnosis Hasbro Midway Midway Midway Sony CEA 989 Studios EA Sports 989 Studios Sony CEA 989 Studios 989 Studios EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports Konami Acclaim С Fox Interactive © Sony CEA * 989 Studios е 989 Studios LI Sony CEA ө! Electronic Arts е! Infogrames е Activision ө! Konami Eidos Electronic Arts е Psygnosis GT Interactive GT Interactive Sony CEA ASC Capcom Namco Midway Agetec party healer for this fight so make sure you have enough Phoenix Downs with you. The two other characters your party should equip their ‘strongest weapons and armor (Celestials weapons recom- mended). 4. Start the fight against Don Tonberry, cast Haste on your healer and keep attacking Tonberry with your other two characters. Tonberry never attacks until he’s close enough to „ you to use his Chef Knife, but everytime you attack him he will counter with Karma. The more enemies a char- acter has killed, the more damage this attack wilt inflict, so it’s very likely that your fighters will go down with one hit from Karma, just use your healer to revive them. By the end of the fight (if you didn't summon Аеоп5) your healer will obtain an massive amount of Ap (50 plus levels depending on how much dam- aged your fight- ers received). * To attach Triple Overdrive toa weapon you need 30 Winning Formulas. То attach Triple Ap to a weapon you need 30 Wings of Discovei * То attach Overdrive-Ap to a weapon you need 10 Doors to Tomorrow. Efrén Chavez Ochoa weaponstormiaho tmail.com FINAL FANTASY X: REVISIONS in the August issue (60) you Game PaRappa the Rapper Parasite Eve Parasite Eve II Persona 2: Eternal Punishment Peter Jacobsen's Golden Tee Golf PGA Tour 98 Pipe Dreams 3D Pitfall 3D Play With The Teletubbies Pocket Fighter Point Blank Point Blank 2 Point Blank 3 Polaris SnoCross Pong Pool Hustler Populous: The Beginning Porsche Challenge Power Play Sports Trivia Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue Power Shovel Power Soccer 2 Power Spike Pro Beach Volleyball The Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X-Traction Poy Poy Pro 18 World Tour Golf Pro Pinball: Big Race USA Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey Pro Pinball: Timeshock! Psybadek Punky Skunk Putter Golf Puzzle Star Sweep Q*bert Quake Il R-Type Delta R-Types R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 Racing Railroad Tycoon И Rainbow Six Rally Cross 2 Rampage Rampage 2: Universal Tour Rampage Through Time Ray Tracers RayCrisis Rayman 2: The Great Escape. Rayman Brain Games Rayman Rush Razor Freestyle Scooter RC de GO! RC Revenge RC Stunt Copter Re-Volt Ready 2 Rumble Ready 2 Rumble Round 2 Red Asphalt Reel Fishing Reel Fishing И Resident ЕМИ: Director's Cut Resident Evil 2 Resident Evil 2 Dual Shock Resident Evil 3 Nemesis Resident Evil Survivor Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure Rising Zan Risk Rival Schools Riven: The Sequel to Myst Road Rash 3D Road Rash: Jail Break Rock ’Em Sock "Ет Robots Rocket Power Publisher Score Issue Sony CEA ° 2 ‘Square EA 12 Square EA et 37 Atlus 41 Infogrames eon 41 EA Sports Empire Int. Activision Knowledge Adv. Capcom Namco Namco Namco Vatical Hasbro Activision Electronic Arts 94 21 Sony CEA Ubi Soft THQ Acclaim Psygnosis Infogrames Bam! Konami Psygnosis Empire Empire Take 2 Psygnosis Jaleco Agetec Agetec Hasbro Activision Agetec Ascii Namco Agetec Take 2 Red Storm 989 Studios Midway Midway Midway THO Working Designs Ubi Soft Ubi Soft Ubi Soft Crave Acclaim Acclaim Titus Acclaim Midway Midway Interplay Natsume Natsume Capcom Capcom Capcom Capcom Capcom Atlus Agetec Hasbro Capcom Acclaim Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Mattel Official US. PlayStation Magazine (217) "rm REPLAY /ARC THE LAD COLLECTION Even more helpful hints from Working Designs—this time for Arc the Lad ПТ ht, we'll score you VIP status on S ЕЗ g а Which of OPM's editors’ breath smells like cat food? Те! us at THE DREADED CARIOTE CAVE MAZE The maze at the end of the Cariote Cave is one of the toughest parts of Arc the Lad Ill. To escape, take the paths in this order: J, L, F, A, V, X, К, 1, O, Q, G, Y. But don't just go straight through to the end without doing some exploring! Other paths may contain some great treasures, so look around—and use this guide to find an exit when you're ready to move on. NAVIGATING THE SKY CASTLE The final area in Arc the Lad III, the Sky Castle, is filled with brain-twisting mazes. Near the beginning, you'll encounter themed monster rooms that will repeat if you go the wrong way. The first room will be the Feral Trial. From there, go right, up, left, up (there's a save point here), up, right, right, down, and finally right to escape. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Later in the Sky Castle, Alec and company will encounter a series of rooms with three doors on the north end. If they choose the wrong one, they'll end up once again going in ап infinite loop and have to fight the bat- tles again. The correct way to go is to take the doors in this order: left, left, right, left and center. BIG HELP _OFFICIAL STRATEGY GUIDE | Hey, kids—still stuck anywhere ГА S in the first two Arc the Lad titles? Pete LO LG LIUC LU Then check out Working Designs* Arc the Lad Official Strategy Guide: Chapters One and Two. With 570 pages of helpful hints and handy tips, you're sure to find whatever you need. Arc the Lad Illisn't covered, but that’s what these exclusive maps and tips are for! Save Point Game Team Rocket Rescue Rogue Trip Roll Away Rollcage Rollcage Stage II Romance of the Three Kingdoms VI Roswell Conspiracies: Aliens, Myths & Legends RPG Maker Rugrats: Totally Angelica Rugrats in Paris: The Movie Runabout 2 Running Wild Rushdown Sabrina, the Teenage Witch: A Twitch in Time! SaGa Frontier SaGa Frontier 2 Saiyuki: Journey West Saltwater Sportfishing Sammy Sosa High Heat Baseball 2001 Sammy Sosa Softball Slam Samurai Shodown: Warrior's Rage Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase Scrabble Sentinel Returns Sesame Street Sports Shadow Madness Shadow Man Shadow Master Shadow Tower Shanghai: True Valor Sheep Shipwreckers расе Shot arfighter Sanvein Silent Bomber Silent Hill Silhouette Mirage Sim Theme Park The Simpsons Wrestling Skullmonkeys Skydiving Extreme Sled Storm Small Soldiers Smurfs Smurf Racer Sno-Cross Championship Racing Snowboarding Soul of the Samurai South Park South Park: Chef's Luv Shack South Park Rally Space Invaders Spawn: The Eternal. Spec Ops: Covert Assault Spec Ops: Ranger Elite Spec Ops: Stealth Patrol Speed Punks Speed Racer Speedball 2100 ider-Man Publisher THO GT Interactive Psygnosis Psygnosis Psygnosis Koei Red Storm Agetec THQ THO Hot-B 989 Studios Electronic Arts Score et Issue 51 14 13 19 Knowledge Adv. 4 Sony CEA Square EA Koei Agetec 300 300 SNK THQ Hasbro Psygnosis NewKidCo Crave Acclaim Psygnosis Agetec Sunsoft Empire Psygnosis Agetec Agetec Bandai Konami Working Designs Electronic Arts Taito Electronic Arts Banpresto Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Infogrames Infogrames Crave Agetec Konami Acclaim Acclaim Acclaim Activision Sony CEA Take 2 Take 2 Take 2 Sony CEA Jaleco Empire Try these codes on for size. They're web-tastic! Join the Marines, the sub-marines The Sub-Mariner is the last guy in the character viewer. To get him in there, do this: * Enter “What If? Mode" code (GBHSRSPM). * Reach “Spidey vs. Carnage!" level. * You'll be able to see Tthe Sub-Mariner peeking in through one of the windows, outside of the boss area. * Be sure to see him in full view to add him to the character viewer. Alternate Daily Bugle Scene Here's something you might not expect from the team at Neversoft: Game Spider-Man 2 Enter: Electro Spin Jam 5 SpongeBob SquarePants Publisher Score Issue Activision eeo 50 Take 2 38 THO 51 We've been begging for codes for this game for ages, and while many have submitted, the inimitable Patrick Wilson can be thanked (Otaku@cinci.r.com). Level Passwords: 1 BGNR 8 ХМАО 2CLMB 9 НРЈО 3 KVNF 10 QHDG AWKGA 11 МЕХМ 5 ОРУ 12 MNTL 6 NGPS 13 QGAV 7 WMCV 14 LXHK Sports Car GT Spyro: Year of the Dragon Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! в 5руго the Dragon 19 JAST End WMBT Electronic Arts Sony CEA Sony CEA Sony СЕА We'll be the first to admit that these cheats aren't necessarily the cream of the proverbial dragon scale. But they'll do. — _20 Spyro To turn Spyro into а second-dimensional dragon, enter the following code while at the Pause menu: Left, Right, Left, Right, L1, R1, L1, R1, Square, Circle. To turn him back to normal, re-enter the code. 99 Lives Enter the following code at the Pause menu to gain 99 lives: R2, L2, R2, L2, Up, Up, Up, Up, Circle. Star Ocean: The 2nd Story Sony CEA Star Trek: Invasion Activision Star Wars: Episode I— Jedi Power Battles. LucasArts € 33 Star Wars: Episode | The Phantom Men: LucasArts Star Wars: Masters of Terás Kasi LucasArts Star Wars Demolition LucasArts Steel Reign Sony CEA Streak GT Interactive Street Fighter Alpha 3 Capcom Street Fighter Collection Capcom Street Fighter Collection 2 Capcom Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha Capcom Street Fighter EX2 Plus Capcom Street Sk8er Electronic Arts Street Sk8er 2 Electronic Arts Strider 2 Capcom Striker Pro 2000 Infogrames Strikers 1945 Agetec 6 Stuart Little 2 Sony CEA No shortage of Stuart Little's here To get infinite mice, pause game play, then hold L1 and press Circle, Circle, Triangle. Suikoden И Konami Super Shot Soccer Tecmo Superbike 2000 EA Sports SuperCross 2000 EA Sports SuperCross Circuit 989 Studios Surf Riders Ubi Soft Sydney 2000 Eidos Syphon Filter 989 Studios Syphon Filter 2 989 Studios Syphon Filter 3 Sony CEA Tai Fu Activision TR.A.G. Sunsoft Tactics Ogre Atlus Tail Concerto Atlus Tales of Destiny Namco Tales of Destiny И Namco Tarzar Sony CEA Team Buddies Midway Team LOSI RC Racing Fox Interactive Tekken 3 Namco Tenchu Activision Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins Activision 37 Tennis Agetec 53 Tennis Arena Ubi Soft 4 Test Drive 4 Accolade 3 talked about Yevon's Curse, It mental break to lower the effec- tiveness of Yu Yevon's healing, but I discovered a way to beat it in two moves. First use the ability Zombie Attack, which you should at least have with Auron and then either cast Life on him or use a fult healing item (i.e. Phoenix Down or X-Potion). This should cause instant death. But if you want to toy with him you can always attack after using Zombie Attack, and when it attempts to heal itself it will do damage instead. Dan Higgins Kahigg(awmcon- nect.com DARK CLOUD: POTATO CAKES! 1 found a secret in Dark Cloud. Grab some potato cake and head to the oasis in Muska Racka. When you start fishing, look for a really huge fish. If it doesn't appear at first, exit and re-enter fishing mode until it does. When you catch this fish (who's name is Baron багауат) you get 700 fishing points! Plus, when you try to guess the trap on a treasure chest, Baron will show you which one! Jeremiah Lindelof e-mail withheld GRAND THEFT AUTO Ш: DECOY tam looking for hetp on the mis- sion given to you by Donald Love cailed Decoy, This is the mis- sion in which you have to lead the police away from а warehouse with six stars for three minutes and help Game Test Drive Test Drive 6 Test Drive Le Mans Test Drive: Off Road 3 Thousand Arms Thrasher: Skate & Destroy Threads of Fate Thunder Force V Tiger Woods 99 PGA Tour Golf Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001 Tigger's Honey Hunt Time Crisis: Project Titan Tiny Tank. Tiny Toon Adventures: Plucky's Big Adventure Tiny Toons: The Great Beanstalk TOCA 2 Tom & Jerry in House Trap Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Tomb Raider И Tomb Raider Ill Tomb Raider: Chronicles Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation Tomba! Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return morrow Never Dic Tonka Space Station Tony Hawk's Pr Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 Toonenstein: Dare to 5саге Torneko: The Last Hope Toy Story 2 Toy Story Racer Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals Trap Gunner Treasures of the Deep Trick'n Snowboarder Triple Play 99 Triple Play 2000 Triple Play 2001 Triple Play Baseball Turbo Prop Racing wisted Metal Ill kater wisted Metal 4 Twisted Metal: Small Brawl Tyco RC: Assault With a Battery Ultimate 8-Ball Ultimate Fighting Championship Um Jammer Lammy The Unholy War Uprising X Urban Chaos Vagrant Story Valkyrie Profile Vampire Hunter D Vanark Vandal Hearts И Vanguard Bandits Vanishing Point Vegas Games 2000 МІР. Vigitante Vigilante 8: Second Offense Virtual Kasparov VR Baseball 99 VR Sports Powerboat Racing Vs. Walt Disney World Quest Magical Racing Tour Walt Disney's Jungle Book Rhythm n’ Groove War Jetz WarGames: DefCon 1 Warpath: Jurassic Park Score Publisher Accolade Infogrames Infogrames Infogrames Atlus Rockstar Square EA Working Designs EA Sports EA Sports NewKidCo Namco Sony CEA өө 25 Issue 15 27 34 26 Conspiracy ө 50 NewKidCo Activision Eidos Red Storm Eidos Eidos Eidos Eidos Sony CEA Sony CEA Electronic Arts Hasbro. Activision Activision Vatical Enix Activision Activision Bam! Atlus Namco Capcom EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports EA Sports Sony CEA 989 Studios 989 Studios Sony CEA Mattel THQ Crave Sony CEA Eidos 300 Eidos Square EA Enix Jaleco Jaleco Konami Working Designs Acclaim 300 Ubi Soft Activision Activision Titus Interplay Interplay THO е 3 Eidos ог 33 Ubi Soft 41 300 48 MGM Interactive 12 Electronic Arts 27 Official US. PlayStation Magazine Ш 1] REPLAY Me want your reviews of your PlayStation $ games. So write a review and send it to ‚ Get on with it! We can't publish everyone, so keep it short, be witty and remember that not every game deserves a 5-disc rating because you like it! Spider-Man PS2 What you said: “Treyarch’s Spider-Man is a flop. | recognize their hard work, and they're effort is noted, but Spider-Man just goes to show that movie tie-ins suck. | developed a serious case of boredom from the second level. That tells you something. And if you want frustrating, try those stealth levels out. There are some amazingly detailed.graphics and particle effects, not to mention aerial bat- NS READER REVIEWS you with cars and toys.There are also driving games, and they're fun to do—especially the speed tests. The problems are the unforgiving career mode, no multiplayer and the often lengthy load times. But, the positives make up for it. It's а solid if you can stand the difficulty." Your Score eeee McGloogan2(aaol.com What we said: “The problem is that the game itself is so utterly unforgiving.” Our Score е! Virtua Fighter 4 What you said: “| bought VF4 because of all the hype you guys over at OPM keep giving. Unfortunately I’m sadly disappointed in it. | “The villains seem thrown in to make things longer, and combat now makes Spidey look incredibly weak.” tles. But the villains seem thrown in to make things longer, and combat now makes Spidey look incredibly weak. One question: Did C- Bake actually play this?” Your Score е! Nick Riley ЅрійеуВиаауі@тѕп.сот What we said: “It doesn't quite manage to usurp Neversoft's original PSone Spidy title for the ‘best superhero game ever’ crown.” Our Score Final Fantasy X What you said: "| played FFX and was very impressed.The voice acting is excellent lexcept Yuna's], the graphics are sweet, and the music is great! The puzzles are a welcome addition, and Blitzball is fun. The only real problems | have with the game is that it's very linear and the bosses are too easy or cheesy.” Dante Stryfe DanteStryfe(@aol.com inal Fantasy X is among the most entertaining overall experiences in а video game." Our Score eseese Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 What you said: “This is a good game that lacks replay value. If you want to unlock everything you're going to have to play the game through so many times. The multiplayer games get boring since the games aren't that different from prior Tony Hawk games.” Your Score eee о Colby Clemmons game_boy66070(@yahoo.com What we said: “The moment you turn this game on, you'll be at its mercy.” Our Score $6666 Stuntman What you said: “Stuntman is much too hard. But, once beating and completing scenes, you get a good feeling because the game rewards Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine was expecting a much better game—faster paced at least. I'll give you the fact that the game is good and has a lot to do in it, but the best fighter? Far from.” Your Score @ Lara Atkinson deviouslywicked_17(@hotmail.com What we said: “Martial arts fans will be thrilled at the degree of realism this offers.” Our Score The Italian Job What you said: “The Italian Job consists of crappy graphics, poor control of the car [you can't even look backwards) a weird police sys- tem and plenty of action-packed levels. If there is any better way to spend 4 summer, | haven't found it. You can peel around London, Turin and the Alps in Mini's and other funny- looking European cars. What a blast! The loading times suck, though. And so does the control, but otherwise | believe this game should be in everyone's PS2 this summer." Your Score Scott Curtis Tricia deGruyther(awsib.on.ca What we said: “If you're looking for a great drive with cinematic wit, give this a whirl— even if you're a graphics snob." Our Score Parasite Eve 2 What you said: "Wow, where do | start? | just picked this up a week ago. Big mistake. | should have picked it up a lot sooner! Even after being spoiled by the PS2's graphics, | still marvelled at Parasite’s visuals. The gameplay is amazing, albeit difficult at times. The story line seems a bit watered down and almost rushed, but character development is definitely a redeeming factor.” Your Score өөөө« Richard Westover GrayPanther32(@aol.com What we said: "RPGers may find this shallow, but adventure fans will find plenty to love.” Our Score € o Game Publisher Warriors of Might and Magic 300 e Warzone 2100 Eidos WCW Backstage Assault EA Games WCW Mayhem Electronic Arts THO WCW/nWo Thunder THO The Weakest Link Activision Hasbro Wheel of Fortune 2 Hasbro Who Wants to Be а Millionaire: 2nd Edition Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: 3rd Edition Sony CEA Wild 9 Interplay Wild Arms 2 Sony CEA The Wild Thornberrys: Animal Adventure Mattel WipeOut 3 Psygnosis Woody Woodpecker Racing Копаті World Cup 98 EA Sports World Destruction League: Thunder Tanks 300 The World Is Not Enough Electronic Arts World's Scariest Police Chases Activision Worms Armageddon Hasbro Worms World Party Ubi Soft Wu-Tang Shaolin Style Activision WWF Attitude Acclaim THO WWF SmackDown! 2 THO Acclaim X-Bladez: Inline Skater Crave X-Files Fox Interactive ESPN Digital Sony CEA X Games Pro Boarder X-Men: Children of the Atom X-Men: Mutant Academy X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 Xena: Warrior Princess Xenogears You Don't Know Jack! Activision Electronic Arts Square EA Berkeley Systems You Don't Know Jack! Mock 2 Зета ‹ е ө ei e e e e ө e ‹ е е; e e ө e e e ө Boy, oh, boy! Nerd codes! Blue Eyes White Dragon Man-eating Treasure Chest Magical Ghost Sorcerer Of The Doomed 49218300 Dark Magician 46986414 Fissure 66788016 Claw Reacher 41218256. Exodia (Head) 33396948 Ansatsu 48365709 Man-eating Bug 54652250 Giant Soldier of Stone 13039848 Waboku. 12607053 ‘Mystical ЕН 15025844 Curse of Dragon 28219543 Celtic Guardian 91152256 Winged Dragon 877969 Neo The Magic Swordsman 50930991 Dragon Zombie 66672569 Witty Phantom 36304921 Monster Reborn 83764718 Great White 13429800 Ancient Elf 93221206 Beaver Warrior 32452818 The Stern Mystic 87557188 Mystic Clown 47060154 Baron Of The Fiend Sword 86325596 Change Of Heart 04031928 TELL US WHAT YOU THINK Drop us an email, let us know what you like the best about our Replay section, what you'd like to 89631139 13723605 46474915 see more of, and even what you could do without Send your comments to:opm@ziffdavi with REPLAY in the subject li soe se REPLAY FORUM STEPPING OUT OF THESE PAGES AND INTO YOUR HOMES! Join Shoe and the rest of the Game Group editors as they invade your screen with the latest game news and releases that will jumpstart your weekend! Tune in every Thursday 7:45 pm ET/ 4:45 pm PT to HOTWIRED’s Big Video Game Hunting hosted by Renay San Miguel on CNN Headline News. у iui HeadlineNews "ADVENTURE. ASPHALT. ATTITUDE е Original adventure story line that ties in with the gameplay and level progression. е Eight creative and uniquely animated levels populated with pedestrians, traffic, animals and themed enemies. е 7 unique characters and 10 scooters can be unlocked, customized, and used by the player. е Dozens of tracks from 4 genres, hip-hop, rock, punk, and techno, spread throughout the game. Mild Lyrics Violence EVERQUEST BETA TEST CONTEST Enter to win a chance to play EverQuest Online Adventures before anyone else, as well as other prizes! * A copy of EverQuest Online Adventures signed by the development team when released * One year's subscription to EverQuest Online Adventures Just got your network adapter and want to experi- ence the next big thing before all of your friends do? Sony Online Entertainment and the Official U.S. Playstation Magazine invite you to register to win cool prizes and a spot in the EverQuest Online Adventures Beta Test Program. First Prize (9) • A spot т EverQuest Online Adventures Beta Test Program * A copy of EverQuest Online Adventures when released * An EverQuest Online Adventures Gamecard for one month of free gameplay Here's how it works: Simply fill out the online regis- tration form at and you'll be entered to win a secured spot in the beta test, as well as the following cool prizes. Your name will be placed in a pool of valid entrants for a random drawing to take place on or about Nov. 4, 2002 Don't delay, though! The sweepstakes begins at 12:00.01 a.m. Pacific Time, Oct. 1, 2002, and final entries must be received no later than Oct. 30, 2002, 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. Grand Prize (1) * Aspot in EverQuest Online Adventures Beta Test Program * A remarked, signed limited-edition lithograph by renowned G./. Joe and Lady Death artist, David Michael Beck Oh yeah, and you'll just need the following things: * APS2 * A Network Adaptor (for PS2] * AMemory Card 8MB [for PS2) * An Internet connection and Internet Service Provider—the game may be played using either a broadband or narrowband (dial-up) Internet con- nection (note, end-users are responsible for all Internet connection services and fees] Remember, there's only one way to enter: Go to to register. And for more info on EverQuest Online Adventures, check out the official Web site at ‚ Good luck from your friends at Sony Online Entertainment and OPM! Official Contest Rules NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. VOID IN PUERTO RICO, GUAM, ALL OTHER U.S. AND FOREIGN TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS AND WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Sweepstakes begins at 12:01.01 AM Pacific Time on October 1, 2002, and ends on October 30, 2002, at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. One entry per person Must be а U.S. resident, 18 years of age or older. Principals or employees of a developer or publisher of video or computer games are not eligible to part pate. No alternative prize, cash, or other substitution is permitted except by Sponsor in the event of prize unavailability. Prizes are non-transferable. All fed. eral, state, provincial and local taxes are the sole responsibility of Winner. A total of ten [10] prizes will be awarded (1 Grand Prize and 9 First Prizes]. Winners must comply with the terms and conditions of the beta test program and all applicable rules, policies, and guidelines for the EverQuest game. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. To enter, go to: www.everquest.com/opm. The Sweepstakes is subject to the Official Rules, which are posted at: www.everquest.com/opm/officialrules. Sponsored by Sony Online Entertainment, Inc., 8928 Terman Court, San Diego, CA 92121. Sony Computer Entertainment America takes no responsibility for this offer. © 2002 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. EverQuest is a registered trademark and Online Adventures is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved, Ad Index DORK GIVES UP Drunks force Jason to give up marathon wait 'OMPUTER fanatic Jason Read has thrown in the tow- in his long wait outside а shop to buy a new computer game. East End student Jason Read says drunks passing by ford Street made his Ше a misery and he aban- dene his marathon mission to be irs t buy the game, ihadwell, packed up. lihosgh the shoot had lots of people kicking the aut of nightclubs going past. | got the pe Remember that guy we reported on last issue who was trying to break the record for longest time ever waiting in line for a game (for Turok: Evolution, of all games)? Well, he didn't make it—not even close. According to U.K. newspaper reports, after enduring much (justified) ridicule from drunken pub-goers, he simply gave up. We're also betting whatever cash Acclaim must've been hand- ing him for the publicity probably just wasn't enough. HI, MY NAME IS... Believe it or not, the wacky folks pictured here are all named Turok. They were the winners of a contest held by Acclaim UK to nab roughly $800 for legally changing their names to Turok for one year. A contest, mind you, that apparently 10,000 people entered—10,000 people who would willingly walk around with the name Turok for a year. According to Ananova.com, the winners will now have everything from their passports to their telephone bills changed to carry the name “Turok” on them. Oh, but it gets worse. Acclaim U.S. held a similar contest awarding $10,000 in savings bonds for college tuition to the first baby named Turok over Labor Day weekend. We don’t know about you people, but if our parents named us Turok when we were kids, there would be some hell to pay later on in life. Hell to pay! GAMING BANNED IN GREECE If you think we've got some messed up laws here, check this out: The government of Greece recently banned all forms of electronic gaming, including video games. That's right, people there couldn't play arcades, PS2—they weren't even allowed to fiddle around with solitaire on their PCs. Why, you might ask? Well, in an effort to crack down on Internet gambling, the government outright banned all forms of electronic gaming. Funny thing is, the law lasted only for about two weeks—a court later found it unconstitutional when two Internet cafe owners were prosecuted for allowing people to play Counter-Strike and online chess on their computers. Sheesh—and we thought we had it rough with Sen. Lieberman! Acclaim Ent. ....................16-17,51,95,127,161 DC Shoes, Inc . Infogrames, In 58-59, 61, 106-107, Namco Hometek .... 187,205 Тесто Inc. „131 www.acclaim.com www.deshoes.com к -137, 169, 171, 173 — www.namco.com www.tecmoinc.com Activision.. 1.97, 113, 135, 201 Ecko Unlimited: www.infogrames.net Radica USA, ШТО... 195 — Ubi Soft Entertainment ......8-9, 154-155, 211 www.activision.com Bam Entertainment... www.bamáfun.com Bandai America Inc... www.bandai.com Blockbuster Entertainment... www.blockbuster.com BradyGames... www.bradygames.com Capcom U.S.A., Inc. www.capcom.com Comp US, gamefixx.compusa.com Crave Entertainment www.cravegames.com „189, 141, 143, 197 133 185 Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine www.ecko.com Eidos Interactive, Inc .... www.eidos.com Electronic Arts.....4-5, 46-47, 80-81, 116-125, 152-153, 207 www.ea.com Electronics Boutique... www.ebgames.com Enix America... www.enix.com Full Sail Real World... www.fullsail.com Hobarama Cor www.bawls.com -10a-c, 57, 67, 83 26-27 ...148-149, 177 Intec Inc... 129 www.inteclink.com Kemco U.S.A. Inc. www.top-gear.com Konami America.. www.konami.com LucasArts Entertainment. www.lucasarts.com Majesco Sales, In www.majescosales.com Metropolis Digital www.metro3d.com Midway Home Entertainment . 52-53 85, 105, 147, 203 28-29, 179 19, 63-65, 3-75, 100-101, 108-109, 111 www.midway.com www.radicagames.com Sega of America. www.sega.com Sega Of America ........ www.sega.com Sony Computer Entertainment... www.scea.com Square-EA .. www.kingdomhearts.com THQ. 6-91, 164-165, 226-228 www.thg.com Take 2 Interactive Software .. www.take2games.com ТОК Mediactive. www.tdk-mediactive.com 2 48-49, 54-55, 193, 221 2-3 139, 41, 43, 45 12-13, 144-145 ...78-79 www.ubisoft.com Vivendi Universal-Sierra Entertainment ..70-71 www.sierra.com Vivendi Universal Games Inc 24-25, 103, 163, 156-157 www.universalinteractive.com Vivendi Universal Games Inc. - PPG www.interplay.com Wizards of the Coast . www.wizards.com Xicat Interactive ... www.xicat.com - Universal... Play November 2002 On sale now Е СПРОСА Са MONTHLY, Heavenly Halo EGM brings you the inside scoop on the biggest sequel of 2003 Halo 2. Join "ет as they serve up screenshots and chat with Bungie about where they're taking this intergalactic blockbuster. Plus, find out how Halo 2 plans to domi- nate online gaming. Also, check out one of EGM' fattest previews sections ever, with first looks at the new James Bond shooter! November 2002 On sale now Star Fox Returns Star Fox is finally flying into orbit, and the crew at GameNOW will be on hand to record this historic moment. Check out GN's review and tips on how to get through Dinosaur Planet. Elsewhere in the mag, read all about Turok, James Bond and Toe Jam & Earl. Will their new adventures be worth your time? Get the scoop in GameNOW this November! December 2002 On sale Nov. 5 Station MAGAZINE The legend returns! November 2002 On sale now COMPUTER WORLD 007: Nightfire James Bond comes to the PC for the first time ever, and CGW brings you the exclusive in-depth story on the levels, the cars, the gadgets, the weapons and, of course, the babes that will make this game a first-person-shooter classic. Plus, what it's like to be “Jaws” in multiplayer. CGW also checks out one of the hottest RTS games ever: C&C Generals! Editorial content subject to change» by Full Sail Graduate Brian Germain & Real World Education Game Design and Development Computer Animation Digital Media Film Audio Show Production www.fullsail.com • Financial aid available to those who qualify. “ Job placement assistance. * Accredited college, ACCSCT. © 2002 Full Sail, Inc. All rights reserved. The terms "Full Sail,” “Full Sail Real World Education," and the Full Sail logo are either registered service marks or service marks of Full Sail, Inc. |" (8-1-I-I-E EXT ap) , 7 EVERYONE е <. = а @ Ра E PlayStation.c www.thq.com — тм SHUT YOU m mem 7 y Е юш RATING PENDING © Visit www.esrb.org RP or cal 1-800-771-3772 EE for more info. www.thq.com World Wrestling Entertainment" The names of all World Wrestling Entertainment™ televised and live programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans and wrestling moves and all World Wrestling Entertainment™ logos are trademarks which are the exclusive property of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.© 2002 World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Game and Software © 2002 THO/JAKKS Pacific LLC. Used under exclusive license by THO/JAKKS Pacific, LLC. Developed by Yuke's Co, Ltd. Yuke's Co. and its logo are trademarks of Yuke's Co, Ltd. JAKKS Pacific and the JAKKS Pacific logo are trademarks of JAKKS Pacific, Inc. THQ and the THQ logo are registered trademarks of THO Inc. All Rights Reserved. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment пс. Made with love Бу